Podcasts about George Mason University

On February 20, the Supreme Court ruled that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, known as IEEPA, does not authorize President Trump's sweeping tariffs. In Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump, and the consolidated case, the Court held that the statute does not grant the President the power to impose tariffs under a declaration of economic emergency.  In this episode, we explore what the Court held, why the Justices disagreed about the reasoning, and what this decision might tell us about the future of presidential emergency power. To help us explore these questions are two leading Court watchers and constitutional experts, Zachary Shemtob of SCOTUSblog and Ilya Somin of the George Mason University. Julie Silverbrook, vice president of civic education of the National Constitution Center, moderates.  Resources  Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump (2026)  “Supreme Court strikes down tariffs,” SCOTUSblog (2/20/2026)  Ilya Somin, “How the Supreme Court Spared America,” The Atlantic (2/21/2026)  Ilya Somin, “The Supreme Court Spurns a Presidential Power Grab,” The Dispatch (2/23/2026)  Ilya Somin, “Trump's new tariffs are another dangerous presidential power grab,” Boston Globe (2/24/2026)  Ilya Somin, “Not Everything Is an Emergency,” The Dispatch (1/31/2025)  “Are Trump's Tariffs Lawful?,” We the People (11/06/2025)  Biden v. Nebraska (2023)  Whitman v. American Trucking Associations, Inc. (2001)  Dames & Moore v. Regan (1981)  Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1953)  United States v. Yoshida International, Inc. (CCPA, 1975)  United States v. Curtiss-Wright Export Corp. (1936)  Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States (1935) Stay Connected and Learn More Questions or comments about the show? Email us at ⁠podcast@constitutioncenter.org⁠⁠ Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr Explore the ⁠⁠America at 250 Civic Toolkit⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Sign up⁠⁠ to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate Subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen Join us for an upcoming ⁠⁠live program⁠⁠ or watch recordings on ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ Support our important work ⁠⁠Donate

What are the FTC’s 2026 priorities in the areas of consumer protection, privacy, and artificial intelligence? This panel will discuss FTC's enforcement, policymaking, and rulemaking priorities and how they may differ from those in the Biden Administration. The panel is happy to take questions from the audience in advance of the webinar. Please send any questions to matthew.sawtelle@fed-soc.org by February 12th.Featuring:Brian Berggren, Acting Associate Director, Division of Enforcement, Federal Trade CommissionSvetlana Gans, Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLPTodd Zywicki, George Mason University Foundation Professor of Law, George Mason University, Antonin Scalia Law School(Moderator) Asheesh Agarwal, Antitrust Consultant, American Edge Project and U.S. Chamber of Commerce

S6E2 The Retail Growth Strategy Retailers Need for 2026 with Today's Economic Realities, Tariffs, Fed Moves, and Consumer ShiftsIn this powerful episode of The Retail Razor Show, Dr. Rebecca Homkes, London Business School lecturer, Duke faculty member, high‑growth strategy advisor, and author of Survive, Reset, Thrive: Leading Breakthrough Growth Strategy in Volatile Times, joins Ricardo and Casey to break down what retailers must understand about the economic outlook in 2026, shifting consumer behavior, and the strategic moves that separate winners from laggards.Rebecca explains why uncertainty is not a threat but a catalyst for growth, and how her Survive, Reset, Thrive (SRT) framework helps leaders stabilize quickly, reset strategy intelligently, and execute a retail growth strategy that works even in volatile conditions. She also unpacks the realities behind sticky inflation, tariffs, the no‑hire/no‑fire labor market, and the rise of the K‑shaped consumer economy.If you want to build a retail growth strategy that thrives in the face of market shocks, this episode gives you the playbook.What We CoverWhy the economic outlook in 2026 is full of contradictions, and what that means for retailHow the SRT loop helps leaders stabilize, reset, and thriveReal‑world examples of companies using SRT to turn crises into growthWhy averages hide the truth about consumer sentimentThe rise of the K‑shaped economy and the death of the “everyman” consumerValue vs. price: why consumers will still pay more for what they truly valueHow retailers should think about store formats, assortment, and experimentationThe must‑win battles for 2026Where AI actually moves the needle in a retail growth strategyKey TakeawaysUncertainty is the best time to grow: because customers, partners, and employees are more honest about what they value.Value ≠ price. Consumers want their dollar to go further, not necessarily cheaper products.The middle of the market is the danger zone. Retailers must choose: differentiated premium or true value leadership.Retail growth strategy in 2026 requires testing, iteration, and abandoning legacy assumptions.Economic outlook in 2026 signals a decoupling between GDP strength and consumer reality: leaders must plan accordingly.Subscribe & FollowSubscribe to the Retail Razor Podcast Network: https://retailrazor.com/Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://retailrazor.substack.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel: https://go.retailrazor.com/utubeAbout our GuestRebecca Homkes, https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebecca-homkes/https://www.rebeccahomkes.comAuthor, Survive, Reset, Thrive: Leading Breakthrough Growth Strategy in Volatile Times. https://a.co/d/0aXECIB2Rebecca Homkes, is a high-growth strategy specialist, CEO and executive advisor. After more than a decade of advising her clients on developing, executing and innovating on strategy, Rebecca is sharing her proven and practical playbook in Survive, Reset, Thrive: Leading Breakthrough Growth Strategy in Volatile Times. She is a Lecturer at the London Business School, Faculty at Duke Corporate Executive Education, Advisor and Faculty at the Boston Consulting Group focused on AI and Climate and Sustainability, and a former fellow at the London School of Economics Centre for Economic Performance. A global keynote speaker and recognized thought leader, she is also the global Faculty Director of the Active Learning Program with the Young Presidents Organization (YPO), leads several fintech accelerators, and serves on the boards of many high-growth companies. She earned her doctorate at the London School of Economics as a Marshall Scholar and is now based in Miami, San Francisco, and London.Chapters00:00 Teaser01:10 Show Intro04:40 Welcome Dr Rebecca Homkes05:46 The Survive Reset Thrive Framework08:04 Real World SRT Success Stories12:55 Macro Economic Outlook for 202617:38 Understanding the K Shaped Economy19:39 Value vs Price Strategy24:06 Differentiation and Competitive Advantage26:41 Store Strategy and Expansion30:37 Consumer Experience and AI32:34 B2B Software Experience Gap34:04 Financing and Inventory Strategy36:28 Supply Chain Robustness38:10 No Regret Moves40:40 Defining Right to Win43:45 Hard Reset Strategy45:51 Strategic Center of Gravity48:24 Must Win Battles49:34 Closing and Contact Info51:36 Show CloseMeet your hostsHelping you cut through the clutter in retail & retail tech:Ricardo Belmar is an NRF Top Retail Voice for 2025 and a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2021 – 2026. Thinkers 360 has named him a Top 10 Thought Leader in Retail, a Top 25 Thought Leader in AGI and Careers, a Top 50 Thought Leader in Agentic AI and Management, and a Top 100 Thought Leader in Digital Transformation and Transformation. Thinkers 360 also named him a Top Digital Voice for 2024 and 2025. He is an advisory council member at George Mason University's Center for Retail Transformationand the Retail Cloud Alliance. He was most recently the partner marketing leader for retail & consumer goods in the Americas at Microsoft.Casey Golden, is the North America Leader for Retail & Consumer Goods at CI&T, and CEO of Luxlock. She is a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2023 - 2026, and Retail Cloud Alliance advisory council member. After a career on the fashion and supply chain technology side of the business, Casey is obsessed with the customer relationship between the brand and the consumer and is slaying franken-stacks and building retail tech! MusicIncludes music provided by imunobeats.com, featuring Overclocked, and E-Motive from the album Beat Hype, written by Heston Mimms, published by Imuno.

Newt talks with Liya Palagashvili, a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University about the potential impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the labor market. Their conversation highlights the transformative potential of AI in reorganizing work, potentially leading to a shift towards self-employment and independent entrepreneurship. Liya emphasizes that AI can empower workers by automating mundane tasks, allowing them to focus on more valuable activities, and suggests that AI might change how work is organized rather than simply replacing jobs. Their discussion also touches on the historical context of technological advancements, noting that while some jobs are lost, new markets and occupations emerge, leading to overall job growth. They conclude with a discussion on the role of education in preparing for an AI-driven future, considering different approaches to integrating AI into learning environments.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's a case that's captivated America and grabbed headlines around the world. The disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, the mother of Australian-born US Today show host Savannah Guthrie.The 84-year-old has been missing for more than three weeks and the mystery only deepened with the release of eerie doorbell footage showing a masked person at her door.Today, we speak to former FBI profiler, Mary Ellen O'Toole, who spent her career studying the criminal mind.  She tells us why it's not likely a burglary gone wrong and what she sees in the demeanour of the masked figure. Featured: Mary Ellen O'Toole, former FBI profiler and currently director of the forensic science program at George Mason University

This episode is different. We're tackling China's energy transition, and instead of David, Sara, and Ed just talking about it, they went out and interviewed different experts on the subject.Why China? Because it's arguably the most important energy story on the planet right now. China is the world's largest emitter. It's also the world's largest investor in clean energy. It manufactures the lion's share of solar panels, batteries, and now electric vehicles in the world.Functionally, what happens there determines whether the world has any real shot at meeting long-term climate targets. David spoke with Andrew Light, distinguished professor at George Mason University and former Senior Climate Official in the Biden administration.Sara talked with Jeremy Wallace, professor of China Studies at John Hopkins and Christina Pan, a PhD candidate at Cornell researching renewable energy in China. And Ed interviewed Hong Li, a professor at the Institute of Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and an expert on battery chemistry.Three different perspectives followed by David, Sara, and Ed trying to make sense of it all.

On this episode of the Hayek Program Podcast, Chris Coyne talks with Abigail Hall and Jayme Lemke about Kenneth and Elise Boulding's insights into what it means to build and sustain peace. Drawing on her paper “In Search of Stable Peace,” Hall explores Kenneth Boulding's framework for understanding peace and war, focusing on the roles of strain and strength and the shifting taboo lines that shape movement between stable and unstable peace. Lemke then turns to Elise Boulding's vision of peace as an active, everyday practice, emphasizing the often-overlooked forms of peacebuilding embedded in ordinary social relationships and institutions. Together, the conversations emphasize peace as a process shaped by ideas, institutions, and imagination.Dr. Abigail R. Hall is an Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Tampa and a Senior Affiliated Scholar at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. She has published numerous books, including her most recent satirical book, How to Run Wars: A Confidential Playbook for the National Security Elite co-authored with Christopher J. Coyne (2024). She holds a PhD in Economics from George Mason University and is an alum of the Mercatus PhD Fellowship.Dr. Jayme Lemke is a Senior Research Fellow and a Senior Fellow with the F. A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. She is co-editor of Economy, Polity, and Society, an Associate Editor for the Review of Behavioral Economics, and Secretary of the Society for the Development of Austrian Economics.Show Notes:The Journal of Conflict ResolutionKenneth Boulding's book, Stable Peace (University of Texas Press, 1978)Robert Higgs's book, Crisis and Leviathan: Critical Episodes in the Growth of American Government (Independent Institute, 2025)Elise Boulding's book, Cultures of Peace (Syracuse University Press, 2000)Kenneth Boulding's book, The Image: Knowledge in Life and Society (University of Michigan Press, 1956).Elise Boulding's book, The Underside of History: A View of Women Through Time (SAGE Publications, 1992)Julian Simon's book, The Ultimate Resource 2 (Princeton University Press, 1998)**This episode was recorded September 15, 2025 and December 29, 2025.If you like the show, please subscribe, leave a 5-star review, and tell others about the show! We're available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and wherever you get your podcasts.Check out our other podcast from the Hayek Program! Virtual Sentiments is a podcast in which political theorist Kristen Collins interviews scholars and practitioners grappling with pressing problems in political economy with an eye to the past. Subscribe today!Follow the Hayek Program on Twitter: @HayekProgramFollow the Mercatus Center on Twitter: @mercatusCC Music: Twisterium

On this episode of Future of Freedom, host Scot Bertram is joined by two guests with different viewpoints about ICE immigration enforcement efforts in the country. First on the show is Cameron Abrams, policy analyst for Next Generation Texas at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Later, we hear from Ilya Somin, B. Kenneth Simon Chair in Constitutional Studies at the Cato Institute, and a professor of law at George Mason University. You can find Cameron on X @CameronSAbrams and Ilya at @IlyaSomin. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Send a textIn this episode of Navigating the Customer Experience, Gal Borenstein, Founder and CEO of The Borenstein Group, joins us for a powerful conversation on trust, branding, and customer experience in the digital and AI era. With nearly 30 years of experience advising growth-oriented organizations in complex and regulated industries, Gal shares how leaders can protect credibility and build sustainable brands when trust is on the line.Gal's journey is a true immigration success story. Born and raised in Israel, he served as a military journalist before moving to the United States at 21 to pursue his education. After completing his undergraduate degree at Temple University in just two and a half years and earning a master's degree from George Mason University, he quickly recognized a major gap in the marketplace: highly technical companies struggled to communicate their value clearly.Armed with a $2,000 loan and a vision, he launched The Borenstein Group in the Washington, DC area, focusing on helping B2B technology firms connect complex solutions to clear messaging. Over the past three decades, he has worked closely with CEOs and executive teams navigating cybersecurity, AI, advanced analytics, and government contracting—industries where trust, precision, and differentiation are critical.In this episode, Gal discusses his latest book, Don't Believe the Hype: When Trust Is On The Line in the Age of Digital and AI, and explores what's driving the breakdown of trust between brands and customers today.From his perspective, the erosion of trust accelerated with digital transformation and automation. As companies adopted CRM systems, AI tools, and scripted customer service processes, they unintentionally removed the human element that once anchored relationships. What used to be human-to-human trust has often become process-driven interaction—efficient, but emotionally disconnected. AI can execute tasks faster, but it cannot replace empathy, judgment, or values.Gal emphasizes that customer experience failures are rarely external problems alone. They usually reflect internal disconnects. Leadership may believe they are communicating clearly, while employees feel unheard or misaligned. Without internal trust, external trust collapses. He challenges organizations to develop a measurable “trust index” that identifies strengths, weaknesses, and perception gaps across departments.We also explore one of today's biggest CX threats: fake reviews and AI-generated misinformation. In the past, companies largely controlled their narrative. Today, anonymous posts on review platforms and social media can shape perception overnight. Gal explains that reacting defensively is not enough. Brands must actively monitor conversations, engage in social listening, and integrate feedback into internal systems. Trust must become an ecosystem—shared by executives, middle management, and frontline employees alike.When asked about tools he relies on, Gal highlights LinkedIn as an essential knowledge hub, connecting professionals across industries and geographies. He also leverages AI platforms like OpenAI, while cautioning leaders to “trust but verify” due to AI hallucinations and inaccuracies.What excites him most right now is helping companies operationalize trust—turning it from an abstract value into a measurable, monetizable strategy that aligns culture, communication, and customer experience.His guiding mindset, inspired by Seinfeld, is both humorous and profound: “It's not a lie if you believe it.” For Gal, this reflects the power of vision. When leaders truly believe in their narrative—and back it with integrity and proof points—they inspire teams, partners, and customers alike.This episode challenges CX leaders and business professionals to see trust as a cr

It's possible to look at the course of history over the past few centuries and discern a movement toward increasing democracy, freedom, and individual rights -- "liberalism," in the political-philosophy sense of the term. But such movement isn't inevitable or irreversible, and in very recent times there have been both intellectual arguments explicitly pushing back against the liberal consensus, and political movements that are more openly nativist and authoritarian. I talk with Adam Gurri, the editor-in-chief of Liberal Currents, a web site that "publishes writers of diverse perspectives who share an unflinching commitment to freedom, pluralism, and democracy, in opposition to authoritarianism at home and around the world." Go to https://surfshark.com/mindscape or use code MINDSCAPE at checkout to get 4 extra months of Surfshark VPN! Blog post with transcript: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2026/02/16/344-adam-gurri-on-liberal-democracy-and-how-to-fight-for-it/ Support Mindscape on Patreon. Adam Gurri received an M.A. in Economics from George Mason University. He is the co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of Liberal Currents. Web site Liberal Currents Bluesky

Join Hill for a special Black History Month episode of the show featuring a conversation with George Mason University Women's Basketball Coach, Vanessa Blair-Lewis. Learn about Blair-Lewis' rise to prominence in college coaching, her coaching accomplishments, and her insights on leadership.

When host Janet Michael talks with Rosemary Wallinger and Laura Fogle for this episode of The Valley Today, she expected a straightforward conversation about local history. What unfolded instead was a remarkable story of discovery, perseverance, and the fight to preserve a crucial piece of American—and African American—heritage that has been hiding in plain sight for nearly 90 years. A Tale of Two Camps Rosemary, president of the CCC Legacy organization, and Laura, the vice president, share how Shenandoah County is home to two historically significant Civilian Conservation Corps camps. While Camp Roosevelt is well-known as the nation's first CCC camp, Wolf Gap - located just 22 miles away - has remained virtually unknown. "Nobody here that we've talked to, other than maybe three people, had ever heard of it," Rosemary reveals. "So we are giving concentrated effort to get it into public awareness." Both camps were among the first ten CCC camps established in the nation. But there's a crucial difference: Wolf Gap became one of the very first African American CCC camps in the country, opening just one month after Camp Roosevelt in 1933. Roosevelt's New Deal in Action As the women explain, the CCC was born from desperation. When Franklin D. Roosevelt took office in 1933, 15 million Americans were unemployed. People were starving. The CCC became one of his fastest-activated New Deal programs, up and running within weeks of his inauguration. The scale was staggering: over 3 million men employed across 4,500 camps nationwide, including 250,000 African Americans and 80,000 Native Americans. Young men—officially aged 17 to 25, though many lied about their age to enroll as young as 15—earned $30 a month. Twenty-five dollars went directly home to their families; they kept just $5 for themselves. "It was another great stimulus program for the whole country," Laura explains. "The guys that were working got to keep $5 a month and their families got the other 25 back home to spend on groceries and needs. The communities around the CCC camps profited because they supplied the food. The farmers had work, the mercantiles had work, the lumber yards had work." The average enrollee gained 35 pounds during their service—a stark testament to the poverty they'd escaped. They learned carpentry, metalworking, and conservation skills. Those who couldn't read or write were taught in camp classes. The Accomplishments History Forgot During the conversation, Rosemary rattles off Wolf Gap's impressive achievements: 16,000 acres of trees planted, 45 miles of road built, 60 miles of horse trails, 100 miles of telephone line, 50 miles of roadside naturalization, and three miles of stream improvement. The camp protected 100,000 acres of local forest, fought a three-day fire at Cedar Creek in 1935, and rescued more than 1,200 residents from floodwaters in March 1936. "Their accomplishments were just astonishing," Rosemary says. "It's shocking that it's unknown to have a list of accomplishments that long, and yet nobody even knows they were here," says Janet. The infrastructure these young men built—in national parks, state parks, and forests across America—still stands today, a testament to the quality of their work. A Serendipitous Discovery Rosemary's discovery of Wolf Gap came while researching her family's involvement in the 1880 race riot at Columbia Furnace. On the Edinburg Memories website, she found a post from Helen Larkin Burton describing how, as a young girl in her father's store, she watched "the boys from the Wolf Gap CCC" come to shop. It was, Burton wrote, the first time she'd ever seen a Black person. "I thought, what CCC are we talking about at Wolf Gap?" Rosemary recalls. She contacted a local historian who confirmed it: "Best kept secret in Shenandoah County." That discovery sparked a grassroots movement. Rosemary assembled a team of dedicated women to pursue state byway designation for Route 675, the road connecting both camps. They succeeded in getting the byway designation and are now working to have it officially named the Shenandoah County CCC Memorial Byway. The Segregation Story The conversation delves into the painful reality of segregation within the CCC. Though African American legislator Oscar De Priest had declared there would be "no discrimination according to race, creed, or color," Robert Fechner, a southerner who helped administer the program, declared that "separate was not unequal." Wolf Gap started as a white camp in its first year but became an African American camp in 1934 when administrators realized they hadn't factored in "how deeply segregated the south still was in the thirties," as Laura explains. African American camps were intentionally placed in remote areas, presumably to avoid racist confrontation. The irony, Rosemary notes, was that when African American enrollees worked battlefields to the point where tourists wanted to visit, they were often transferred to another remote location. Local populations frequently protested the placement of these camps. Finding the Descendants One of the team's greatest accomplishments, shared emotionally during the conversation, was connecting with Roy Allen Cooper, whose father, Oswald Bentley Cooper, was an enrollee at Wolf Gap. While serving, Oswald met Evelyn McAfee from Woodstock. They married and raised nine children—eight boys and one girl named Georgia—on Water Street and Spring Street in Woodstock. Roy's brother Bobby became a well-known local restaurateur, first as the opening cook at the Spring House restaurant in 1973, then running his own establishment. Roy now serves on the CCC Legacy board, providing a vital personal connection to Wolf Gap's history. The Research Challenge "The white CCC was well recorded, records up your wazoo," Rosemary says candidly during the conversation. "But the history of the Black camps is just sparse and what's there is difficult to find." The team has uncovered treasures, including a regional annual with the only known photographs of Wolf Gap enrollees—two large portraits showing the men's names and hometowns. Many came from a community in Southwest Virginia called Agricola, offering potential leads for finding more descendants. Rosemary's research has also uncovered broader stories, including the Preston Lake Rebellion in upstate New York, where African American enrollees trained as leaders were told to step down when white enrollees joined the camp. The men rebelled for three days before being sent back to Harlem—a story that even New York State's historical resources department didn't know about. The Interpretive Center and What's Next The women discuss the James R. Wilkins Sr. Interpretive Center at the US Forest Service Office in Edinburg—a partially completed museum dedicated to CCC history. Wilkins supervised projects at both camps. His son, Jimmy, has been a primary funder along with his sister Donna. The center is open to the public but unfinished. The organization is working to finalize a new agreement with the US Forest Service. As Laura emphasizes in the conversation, 2033 will mark the hundredth anniversary of the CCC's birth, and Camp Roosevelt was the first CCC camp in the nation. "Virginia was truly the epicenter of the CCC," she says. "The state of Virginia needs to embrace that history." Why This Matters When board member Colette Sylvestri presented to 300 students at George Mason University, the most frequent question was: "Why weren't we taught this?" "So much of the history of the CCC in general has just fallen by the wayside," Laura laments. Many people in their forties have never even heard of the Civilian Conservation Corps, let alone understand its contribution to the nation. The CCC didn't just build infrastructure—it restored America. As Laura puts it: "These men who built this country, really the CCC restored the United States of America to what it became after World War II." How to Get Involved The CCC Legacy welcomes new members at $35 annually. Members receive quarterly publications including bulletins and a journal with stories from CCC camps across the country. The organization also offers presentations to civic groups and is actively seeking volunteers, particularly web developers to help update their website at ccclegacy.org. For those with family connections to the CCC, the National Archives has digitized enrollee names, making it possible to search for relatives online. As the conversation wraps up, Rosemary makes a simple request: "Spread the word that this is a thing. We want people to know that this is our history." Both Camp Roosevelt and Wolf Gap are accessible to visitors today. Camp Roosevelt operates as a Forest Service campground with interpretive signage throughout. Wolf Gap, currently undergoing Forest Service renovations, will soon have its own signage installed. Standing at these remote, quiet sites at dusk, Rosemary shares, "I can hear the voices" - a poignant reminder that history isn't just about dates and statistics. It's about the young men who slept in West Virginia, walked to Virginia for breakfast, and built the America we know today. To learn more about the CCC Legacy organization, visit ccclegacy.org or find them on Facebook. Donations can be mailed to CCC Legacy, PO Box 341, Edinburg, VA 22824.

Welcome to Ozempic Weightloss Unlocked, where we dive into the latest on Ozempic from medical breakthroughs to real-life health impacts.Recent research from the University of Cambridge highlights a key nutrition risk with Ozempic and Wegovy. These drugs slash calorie intake by sixteen to thirty-nine percent by mimicking glucagon-like peptide-one, curbing appetite and boosting fullness. But without proper guidance, users risk muscle loss up to forty percent of total weight shed and deficiencies in protein, vitamins, and minerals, leading to fatigue, hair loss, or weakened immunity. Experts like Doctor Marie Spreckley urge structured nutrition support, drawing from bariatric surgery principles: prioritize nutrient-dense foods and high-quality protein spread across meals. Doctor Adrian Brown from University College London notes most users, about ninety-five percent in the United Kingdom, get these privately without follow-up, unlike National Health Service programs pairing them with diet and exercise.Sex differences are emerging too. A study in PubMed Central reports glucagon-like peptide-one receptor agonist use surged from twenty nineteen to twenty twenty-two, especially among women, where obesity links strongly to prescriptions and yields greater weight loss, like fifteen point three kilograms in semaglutide trials.Looking ahead per GoodRx projections for twenty twenty-six, Ozempic is under Food and Drug Administration review for peripheral artery disease, improving walking in diabetes patients, and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. Higher Wegovy doses up to seven point two milligrams could hit nearly twenty-one percent weight loss. Exciting combos like CagriSema show twenty-three percent loss in trials, outpacing rivals. Oral options expand too: Wegovy pills launched this year, and orforglipron may approve mid-year, easing access without needles.The Food and Drug Administration warns against unapproved versions mimicking semaglutide, sold illegally online. Experts from George Mason University, like Martin Binks and Raedeh Basiri, stress holistic care: pair drugs with dietitians, exercise, and mental support to avoid regain, as a twenty twenty-six BMJ review notes two-thirds weight return within a year off meds.Ozempic transforms lives but thrives with lifestyle integration for lasting health.Thanks for tuning in, listeners. Subscribe for more updates. This has been a Quiet Please production. For more, check out Quiet Please dot ai. Some great Deals https://amzn.to/49SJ3QsFor more check out http://www.quietplease.aiThis content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI

This week, scholars Lisa Marie Gring-Pemble and Martha Watson discuss their book Your Daughters Will Prophesy: Religion and Rhetoric in the Nineteenth-Century Woman's Movement. Their work explores how four 19th-century women—Jarena Lee, Sarah Moore Grimké, Lucretia Coffin Mott, and Frances Willard—used the Bible to claim their voice on the moral questions of their day. This conversation originally took place January 27, 2026 and was recorded live via Zoom. AWM PODCAST NETWORK HUB This episode is presented in conjunction with the American Writers Museum's special exhibit American Prophets: Writers, Religion, and Culture. This exhibit and programming series explores the profound ways writing reflects and influences our understanding of religion. American Prophets is now open. We hope you enjoy entering the Mind of a Writer. More about Your Daughters Will Prophesy: Caught between their identity as Christians and social norms that silenced them, American women used scripture to claim moral and then rhetorical agency. They reinterpreted familiar biblical passages, recovered previously ignored stories about women, and contested passages used to circumscribe women's activities. By strategically adopting a rhetorical posture of dissent, these women became prophetic voices in American society. In Your Daughters Will Prophesy, Lisa Marie Gring-Pemble and Martha Watson analyze the argumentative resources four women—Jarena Lee, Sarah Moore Grimké, Lucretia Coffin Mott, and Frances Willard—used to counter gendered restrictions and gain access to platform and pulpit, catalyzing what became known as the woman's movement. About the authors: LISA MARIE GRING-PEMBLE is an associate professor at George Mason University. She is author of Grim Fairy Tales: The Rhetorical Construction of American Welfare Policy, and her writing has appeared in journals, including the Quarterly Journal of Speech and Rhetoric and Public Affairs. MARTHA WATSON is author and editor of several books, including Lives of Their Own: Rhetorical Dimensions in Autobiographies of Women Activists. She is a priest in the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland.

This week, the GovNavigators are joined by Mike Wetklow, former Chief Risk Officer at the IRS and longtime federal financial leader, to kick off a new series on the pod, introducing you all to the illustrious members of the GovNavigators Network. Mike reflects on his career across DHS, NSF, OMB, and IRS, his decision to return to school mid-career to study data analytics, and his current work preparing the next generation of public servants at George Mason University. The conversation explores how AI, data science, and emerging technologies are reshaping risk management and financial oversight, and why government's real challenge may be learning to oversee technology that increasingly does the work itself.In the news, Robert and Adam break down a brief partial shutdown, ongoing DHS funding uncertainty, and GAO's latest report on federal shared services. They unpack why progress remains slow, what leadership commitment is missing, and why agencies continue to struggle to stop paying for duplicative systems. The episode also covers the administration's move to reclassify parts of the federal workforce, revisiting the spirit of Schedule F, and a rare bipartisan moment out of the House Oversight Committee that raises cautious questions about the future of good-government reforms.Show Notes:Learn more about the GovNavigators NetworkGAO report on Federal Shared ServicesOPM Federal Workforce Reclassification RuleWhat's on the GovNavigators' Radar:Feb 10-12: AFCEA WestFeb 11: PSC Law Enforcement ConferenceFeb 18-19: AGA National Leadership TrainingMar 5: Government Efficiency Summit

Robert M. Hazen is Senior Staff Scientist at the Carnegie Institution's Geophysical Laboratory and Clarence Robinson Professor of Earth Sciences at George Mason University. He received the BS and SM in geology at the MIT, the PhD at Harvard University in Earth science, and was NATO Postdoctoral Fellow at Cambridge University. Michael Wong is an astrobiologist and planetary scientist whose primary scientific interests are planetary atmospheres, habitability, biosignatures, and the emergence of life. He is co-authoring a revised edition of the textbook Astrobiology: A Multidisciplinary Approach. He also hosts a podcast that examines science, technology, and culture through the lens of Star Trek. He is working with Staff Scientist Bob Hazen to assess the network topologies of exoplanet atmospheres for potential biosignatures. Please check out these relevant links: Dr. Robert Hazen (Carnegie Science) Dr. Robert Hazen (George Mason University) Dr. Michael Wong (Carnegie Science) Dr. Michael Wong (Website) Time's Second Arrow: Evolution, Order, and a New Law of Nature Strange New Worlds: A Science & Star Trek Podcast Welcome to Dice in Mind, a podcast hosted by Bradley Browne and Jason Kaufman to explore the intersection of life, games, science, music, philosophy, and creativity through interviews with leading creatives. All are welcome in this space. Royalty-free music "Night Jazz Beats" courtesy of flybirdaudio.

ABOUT JOE BAER:Joe's LinkedIn profile: linkedin.com/in/joe-baer-4479385Websites:zengenius.com visual911.com Email: jbaer@zengenius.comBIO:Joe is the Co-Founder, Creative Director, and CEO of ZenGenius, Inc., an experiential design firm specializing in visual merchandising and event design. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, Joe brings over three decades of mastery in innovative leadership and creative direction to the design, visual merchandising and special events industries. He has extensive knowledge of the customer journey from working in stores for decades and is a seasoned public speaker who has traveled the world to inspire and educate others through the art of visual merchandising, design and special events.Additionally, Joe has contributed his retail know-how to multiple publications, authored The Art of Visual Merchandising: Short North, and created one of my favorite events in the retail industry the Iron Merchant Challenge, a popular interactive visual merchandising competition held annually at the International Retail Design Conference. Joe's passion for the world of design is evident in his role as President of the PAVE Global leadership board - a 501(c)(3) charitable foundation with the mission to support, connect, and inspire the next generation of professionals in the retail design, visual merchandising, and consumer environments industry. He also holds Advisory Board roles at Columbus College of Art and Design and VMSD Magazine. SHOW INTROWelcome to Episode 85! of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast…In every episode we follow our catch phrase of having “Dynamic Dialogues About DATA: Design, Architecture, Technology and the Arts.” And as we continue on this journey, we'll have guests that are thought provoking futurists, AI technology mavens, retailers, international hotel design executives as well as designers and architects of brand experience places.We'll talk with authors and people focused on wellness and sustainable design practices as well as neuroscientists who will continue to help us look at the built environment and the connections between our mind-body and the built world around us.If you like what you hear on the NXTLVL Experience Design show, make sure to subscribe, like, comment and share with colleagues, friends and family.The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is always grateful for the support of VMSD magazine.VMSD brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. I think the IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing us to keep on talking about what makes retailing relevant. You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience. SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.org Today, EPISODE 85… I talk with Joe Baer of Zen Genius an experiential design firm specializing in visual merchandising and event design. Joe had spent more than 3 decades working the in the retail industry bringing visual merchandising know-how to the creation of emotionally resonant branded places. Visual merchandising is allot more than simply making things look good in a store. It's very much about 3D storytelling, sensory experiences, emotions and making places sing as Joe explains.We'll get there in a minute but... first a few thoughts…*                     *                          *                          *Monique worked in the visual merchandising departmentshe was the director there and I was the director in the interior design department our two programs ran concurrently we shared some students across our programs but we seldom actually shared lunchAnd so it was slightly strange but intriguing that she invited me to have lunch with her across the street from the college at a little Thai placeWe sat down, talked about students and then - more as a throw away - she said “they want me to go to Singapore…”And I waited for the next sentence.“But I don't really want to go to Singapore.” she said. “I'd have to leave here. I'd have to leave my son who's thinking about collage a few years and I'd really just prefer to stay in Montreal.”And then there was a silence.“Singapore?!” I said.“I don't even know where Singapore is. That's in Southeast Asia, right? ““yeah, it's like on the other side of the world.” she said.“Sounds exotic. I'd go for sure. Besides, I love Chinese food. I could eat it every day.”“Really?” she said .“Sure, why not? I'd love to go. I love the whole idea of adventure.” “Well anyway,” she said, “I don't know what they are going to do if I don't go. It's to be the Director of the visual merchandising program in an international fashion school and they've got no one else who could do it.” “No seriously, I'd go. I mean I have no idea about what you do and… I'm a guy and that means genetically I actually don't like shopping and I've only ever designed the escalator and fountain at the Eaton center. But let them know that I'd do it.”We finished lunch, climbed over the snowbank of freshly plowed snow, crossed the street to get back for afternoon classes and a few weeks later I was walking down the stairs of a plane in the stultifying humidity at Changi airport.Monday morning, I was the program Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School … in Singapore… and… I had no idea what I was doing but knew my career had taken a significant and abrupt turn.The world of retail design had found me, and I never looked back for the next 20 years.Over those 20 plus years I learned from some masters in retail design and visual merchandising. I arrived in New York after a year, spent an afternoon with Gene Moore, was introduced to Peter Glenn and ended up working with Joe Weishar New Vision Studios. I spent the next four years listening to and watching Joe talk about visual merchandising practice as both art and retail strategy.For Joe Weishar visual merchandising wasn't just a display tactic but was a creative discipline that blended art, design and retail psychology. He merged visual perception and design principles and he would layout a store or a wall with the same mechanics of laying out a composition of a painting – proportions, scale, focal points. He celebrated Visual merchandising as an art form that shaped memorable experiences rather than simply placing products on the shelvesAll of those basic art principles were things that I was deeply familiar with. I had been in private art studios that my parents put me in at the age of nine because they recognized my passion for painting.I had gone to architecture school and spent the first eight years of my career doing traditional architectural projects – museums, libraries, houses, schools… that sort of thing and I taught the design same principles of scale proportion, balance, color, harmony and how you could use those things ultimately to tell a story to students in a College's interior design program in Montreal.Even in those early years of my career in the late 90s, I was learning that retail stores needed to be engaging the senses, and we should be thinking about creatively implementing textures, variations in lighting as well as sound and scent and not just focusing on what customers would experience with their eyes.I was learning that the senses were conduits for emotion and memory - that if you implemented design principles and thoughtful sensory-based visual merchandising elements correctly, that they would help to fill shopping baskets and engage customers in long-term relationships with a brand. These sorts of environments that engaged the senses would increase loyalty and invite return visits because, in the end, the store was simply a backdrop, a theater set for the full-bodied experience of a brand where main feature was the merchandise.If you thought of merchandise as elements in a composition and wrapped them in memorable display moments, it could make stores sing.This sort of thinking positioned retail as experience design rather than a purely commercial layout. The goods were a necessary part of the equation to be sure, but as I working through the foundational years of a retail design career, I saw that great retail places were more than a depository for stuff to be consumed, they had a palpable emotional resonance, they had soul. It was remarkable to me then, as a young retail architect, that we were designing with the purpose of selling…but it was more than that. Great stores fulfilled basic needs, desires and dreams. They were places for relationship building, with people as well as brands.They were story telling places that helped to message group belonging, wellbeing, connection and status. They were places where displays weren't random; they were meant to guide customers through a narrative journey. Every element was intentional, geared towards telling a brand story that invited the customer to participate in the story's unfolding.All of the effort that the designers, merchants and visual teams put into making the store wasn't just about “making it look good,” but making it work well. The design and visual strategy had to be grounded in retail metrics and customer behavior. In the end, our job as co-authors of this retail experience script was to move product.We would calculate merchandising units per square foot. We thought about how product would flow through a department from delivery to markdown and how adjacencies were critical – why groups of products were located next to what other products. We knew how many units had to sell in a department to make the financials work. There was business behind the beauty. Visual merchandising was a silent seller as author Judy Bell would say.In my early years, we didn't think too much about what happened to all the stuff after the store had aged or the season had changed. Graphics, fixtures and display items shifted along with the seasonal changes, holidays or special promotions. And a lot of it just got trashed. We began to think more deeply about the sustainability factor of our work and the impact of retail place making on our environment. It was no longer acceptable that the disposable economy would direct the design of store without any consideration for how it was eventually ending up in landfill sites. Lighting, manufacturing processes, materials, and lifecycles came under more scrutiny. These days, thinking about the sustainable nature of how we design and build stores is very much at the forefront of our thinking from the get-go.  Design firms are becoming B-Corporations whose mission is to be better stewards of our little blue dot. Along the way, teaching - both our clients as well as students in design programs - was something that never left the radar. What had been the precipitating moment - going from teacher to running a visual merchandising program at an international school in Singapore - would remain key to my professional experience. And this is where we can bring in my guest Joe Baer   into the story. Joe's story is so familiar because it is so similar. While we came to the retail world from different angles, our paths have many parallels and similarity in purpose – despite being from different orientations in the retail place-making paradigm.Joe is the Co-Founder, Creative Director, and CEO of ZenGenius, Inc., an experiential design firm specializing in visual merchandising and event design. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, Joe brings over three decades of mastery in innovative leadership and creative direction to the design, visual merchandising and special events industries. He has extensive knowledge of the customer journey from working in stores for decades and is a seasoned public speaker who has traveled the world to inspire and educate others through the art of visual merchandising, design and special events.Additionally, Joe has contributed his retail know-how to multiple publications, authored The Art of Visual Merchandising: Short North, and created one of my favorite events in the retail industry the Iron Merchant Challenge, a popular interactive visual merchandising competition held annually at the International Retail Design Conference. Joe's passion for the world of design is evident in his role as President of the PAVE Global leadership board - a 501(c)(3) charitable foundation with the mission to support, connect, and inspire the next generation of professionals in the retail design, visual merchandising, and consumer environments industry. He also holds Advisory Board roles at Columbus College of Art and Design and VMSD Magazine. Joe leads with passion, purpose, pure joy and believes in celebration so I see our conversation as a celebration of Joe Baer's commitment to his retail industry involvement.ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582bWebsites: https://www.davidkepron.com    (personal website)vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645  (Blog)Email: david.kepron@NXTLVLexperiencedesign.comTwitter: DavidKepronPersonal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/Bio:David Kepron the Retail Studio Principal for the architecture and design firm Little (https://www.littleonline.com). He is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand ‘why', ‘what's now' and ‘what's next'. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe. David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriott's “Premium Distinctive” segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels. In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies. As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace. David currently shares his experience and insight on various industry boards including: VMSD magazine's Editorial Advisory Board, the Interactive Customer Experience Association, Sign Research Foundation's Program Committee as well as the Center For Retail Transformation at George Mason University.He has held teaching positions at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), the Department of Architecture & Interior Design of Drexel University in Philadelphia, the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (L.I.M.) in New York, the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Montreal and he served as the Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School (L.I.F.S.) in Singapore.  In 2014 Kepron published his first book titled: “Retail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven World” and he is currently working on his second book to be published soon. I caught up with Bryan at the SHOP Marketplace event in Charlotte and chatted about his focus on shaping what comes next in digital signage and experiential design. The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production is by Kano Sound. The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL “Dialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Arts” wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.

If you want to understand food – and eat better – economics is a good place to start. How do immigration patterns shape a country's cuisine? How do labour laws make our working lunches worse? And why do strip malls serve such good grub? To find out, Soumaya Keynes talks to Tyler Cowen, economics professor at George Mason University and chair of the Mercatus Center think-tank. Cowen has written about food for more than two decades, including in his 2012 book An Economist Gets Lunch.Read Soumaya's columns here: https://www.ft.com/soumaya-keynesSubscribe to The Economics Show on Apple, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you listen. Presented by Soumaya Keynes. Produced by Mischa Frankl-Duval. Manuela Saragosa is the executive producer. Cheryl Brumley is the FT's global head of audio. Original music and sound design by Breen Turner.Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As the 2026 Winter Olympics approach, Immigration Nerds explores the hidden immigration stories behind Team USA's more than 230 athletes heading to Italy. Immigration researcher Marissa Kiss from George Mason University reveals that nearly 17% of Team USA has direct immigrant ties—including foreign-born athletes from five countries and second-generation immigrants whose parents came from around the world. The conversation between host Lauren Clarke and Mariss covers athletes competing despite citizenship delays, the "reverse flow" of US-born athletes representing other countries, and how immigration policy has become a competitive tool in international sports. Plus, the latest news, including updates on FIFA World Cup visa processing, Texas's H-1B hiring pause for state agencies, and the latest on immigrant visa suspensions.Resource Links: George Mason University Institute for Immigration ResearchHOST: Lauren ClarkeGUEST: Marissa Kiss, Assistant Director, Immigration, Race, and Sports, George Mason University's Institute for Immigration ResearchNEWS NERD: Rob TaylorPRODUCER: Adam Belmar

If your body and mind are the engine of your leadership, what fuel are you putting into it? In this episode of The Fitness Business Podcast, Justin Tamsett sits down with Heather Wise Soubra, founder and CEO of Wiser Way Coaching and Director of the George Washington Leadership Institute at Mount Vernon. Heather shares powerful, practical insights on self-leadership—exploring how clarity, presence, values, habits, and alignment shape not just how we lead others, but how we lead ourselves first. This conversation is especially relevant for fitness business owners and leaders navigating pressure, chaos, and constant decision-making. Heather offers grounded strategies for responding instead of reacting, setting boundaries with integrity, and building daily practices that support sustainable leadership performance.   Key highlights from the episode: ✔ Why self-leadership is the foundation of effective leadership ✔ How to build the "well" so you're resourced before pressure hits ✔ The importance of identifying and living by your personal leadership values ✔ How morning routines shape decision-making, communication, and energy ✔ Practical tools for boundary setting without guilt or conflict ✔ Why alignment—not hustle—is the key to long-term leadership impact   Curious about the future host of Fitness Business Podcast? That's Zoe, the host JT's daughter!   Got value from today's episode? ✔ Leave us a review on your favorite podcast app ✔ Send us a voicemail at fitnessbusinesspodcast.com/leaveusavoicemail ✔ Share this episode with a colleague who wants to build a stronger team   Ready for more: ✔ Become an FBP Insider and get 7 days FREE to start! Learn more on Patreon: https://patreon.com/FitnessBusinessPodcast ✔ Our FREE LIVE online events created specifically for fitness business owners, managers, and coaches who want to sharpen their skills and grow their business - Learn More: https://fitnessbusinesspodcast.com/onlineevents ✔ Call in and let JT know if you think this has been the best season: https://fitnessbusinesspodcast.com/leave-us-a-voicemail/ ✔ Leave a rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts: https://fitnessbusinesspodcast.com/review/ Resources: ✔ Become an FBP Insider on Patreon: https://patreon.com/FitnessBusinessPodcast ✔ Fitness Business Podcast's LinkedIn Community: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/9878228/ ✔ Mystery Shopping for Fitness Businesses: https://mysteryshoppingforfitnessbusinesses.com.au/    Recommended Books: ✔ Walk the Talk by Carolyn Taylor ✔ The 4‑Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss ✔ The Way of Integrity by Martha Beck ✔ PDF of Brene Brown's value exercises - https://fitnessbusinesspodcast.com/prod/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/22_0120-Values-Document-BBbrandedUU.pdf   Our Guest: Heather Wiser Soubra, Founder, Wiser Way Coaching and Director, George Washington Leadership Institute, Leadership Coach and Executive Facilitator ✔ Website: https://wiserwaycoaching.com/ ✔ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heatherwisersoubra/ ✔ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heathersoubra/    Merch Sponsor: Mystery Shopping for Fitness Businesses (Australia exclusive) Be a Merch Sponsor - https://fitnessbusinesspodcast.com/merch/   REX Roundtables: Website: www.REXRoundtables.comEmail: Eddie@REXRoundtables.com   A heartfelt thank you to the partners who support The Fitness Business Podcast: ✔ BeBalanced Centers: Provides natural hormone balancing for weight loss and symptom relief. https://www.bebalancedcenters.com/ ✔ Instinctive Insights: Provides profit-driven marketing and data science services to increase customer acquisition. https://www.instinctiveinsights.com/ ✔ Eleiko: Manufactures and sells premium strength and weightlifting equipment. https://eleiko.com/en-us✔ NetGym: Provides automated staff operations and sub-request management for fitness studios. https://www.netgym.com✔ EGYM: Provides smart, connected fitness technology and equipment for gyms. https://egym.com/us   About Our Guest: Heather Wiser Soubra is Founder and CEO of Wiser Way Coaching and Director of The George Washington Leadership Institute at Mount Vernon. An ICF Professional Certified Coach (PCC), she empowers leaders and teams to reach their fullest potential by tapping into inner wisdom and building on strengths. Previously Senior Vice President at the International Dairy Foods Association, Heather holds degrees from George Mason University in intercultural communication and coaching, plus an Executive Certificate in Facilitation from Georgetown University. About Your Host: Justin "JT" Tamsett is a fitness industry veteran with over 30 years of experience who aims to reduce global healthcare costs by promoting physical activity. Through his company Active Management, he provides business coaching to fitness entrepreneurs, leads 8 REX Roundtables in the US and Australia, and has spoken at over 40 conferences across 23 countries. His ultimate goal is to create a world of opportunity for his daughter Zoe by helping more people move and stay healthy, while empowering gym owners to build successful businesses that contribute to a healthier society Please note: We only recommend products we care about (affiliate links support our free content). Thank you for your support!

On this episode of the Hayek Program Podcast, Chris Coyne delivers a keynote lecture at the 2023 Markets & Society conference on the foundations of peace. He contrasts “top-down” peacemaking driven by elites with “bottom-up” peacemaking that emerges from the everyday practices of ordinary people.Coyne argues that much of the social-scientific and policy conversation treats peace as a public good best supplied through state-intervention. He develops an alternative framework—pax hominem—that treats peace as an emergent, learned, and constantly renewed process. Drawing on mainline political economy and the work of Kenneth Boulding, Coyne shows how peaceful cooperation depends on local knowledge, social norms, and institutions that help people navigate conflict without violence across families, communities, and markets. Together, these insights point toward a research and policy agenda focused less on imposing order and more on creating space for self-governance and the bottom-up cultivation of peace.Dr. Christopher J. Coyne is Associate Director of the F.A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at the Mercatus Center and Professor of Economics at George Mason University. He has published numerous books, including How to Run Wars: A Confidential Playbook for the National Security Elite (Independent Institute, 2024), In Search of Monsters to Destroy: The Folly of American Empire and the Paths to Peace (Independent Institute, 2022), and Doing Bad by Doing Good: Why Humanitarian Action Fails (Stanford University Press, 2013).**This episode was recorded October 20, 2024.Show Notes:Kenneth Boulding's book, Stable Peace (University of Texas Press, 1978)Elise Boulding's book, Cultures of Peace(Syracuse University Press, 2000)James C. Scott's book, Seeing Like a State (Yale University Press, 1999)Caroline Elkin's book, Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire (Penguin Random House, 2023)James M. Buchanan's Nobel Prize LectureElinor Ostrom et. al's paper, “Covenants with and without a Sword: Self-Governance Is Possible” (APSR, 2013)Virgil storr et. al's book, Community Revival in the Wake of Disaster: Lessons in Local Entrepreneurship (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015)Mikayla Novak's book, Freedom in Contention: Social Movements and Liberal Political Economy (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2021)Virgil Storr and Ginny Choi's book, Do Markets Corrupt Our Morals? (Palgrave Macmillan, 2019)If you like the show, please subscribe, leave a 5-star review, and tell others about the show! We're available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and wherever you get your podcasts.Check out our other podcast from the Hayek Program! Virtual Sentiments is a podcast in which political theorist Kristen Collins interviews scholars and practitioners grappling with pressing problems in political economy with an eye to the past. Subscribe today!Follow the Hayek Program on Twitter: @HayekProgramFollow the Mercatus Center on Twitter: @mercatusCC Music: Twisterium

Novo Nordisk's new drug CagriSema has outperformed Ozempic in a recent Phase III trial for type 2 diabetes patients, according to Clinical Trials Arena. In the REIMAGINE 2 study, CagriSema reduced HbA1c levels by 1.91 percentage points and achieved 14.2 percent weight loss after 68 weeks, compared to 1.76 percentage points and 10.2 percent with Ozempic. No weight loss plateau occurred with CagriSema, and 43 percent of patients lost at least 15 percent of their body weight. Martin Holst Lange, Novo Nordisk's executive vice president and chief scientific officer, stated that combining semaglutide and cagrilintide delivers superior blood glucose control and weight reduction.Researchers are urging a more holistic approach to weight loss amid the Ozempic era, as reported by Medical Xpress on February 3. Experts like Martin Binks and Raedeh Basiri from George Mason University note that GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic cause rapid weight loss but can lead to nutrient deficiencies, muscle loss, and struggles without proper nutrition, exercise, and psychological support. Many patients receive only prescriptions without multidisciplinary care, and access remains limited by cost and insurance gaps. Binks predicts broader availability with upcoming pill forms.A study highlighted by Science Daily on January 29 warns of rapid weight regain after stopping drugs like Ozempic, with people regaining about 0.4 kilograms per month, often faster than with diet and exercise alone. Heart health and diabetes risk improvements also reverse quickly, emphasizing the need for long-term strategies beyond medication.Oprah Winfrey has shared her experiences with GLP-1 medications, similar to Ozempic, in recent interviews covered by AOL and other outlets. At 71, she regrets not using them sooner, saying they silenced the food noise in her head and helped her view obesity as a disease, not a personal failure. She gained 20 pounds after stopping briefly but now sees these drugs as a lifelong tool, like blood pressure medication, and encourages others without shame.These developments show evolving options and cautions in weight loss treatments. Listeners, thanks for tuning in, please subscribe, and remember, this episode was brought to you by Quiet Please podcast networks. For more content like this, please go to Quiet Please dot Ai. Come back next week for more.Some great Deals https://amzn.to/49SJ3QsFor more check out http://www.quietplease.aiThis content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI

S6E1 Retail Media's New Reality: DSP Shifts, Agentic Commerce & Brand Strategy for 2026Season 6 of The Retail Razor Show kicks off with a deep dive into one of the most important topics in commerce today: retail media. Ricardo and Casey sit down with Jeff Cohen, Chief Business Development Officer at Skai, to unpack the newly released 2026 State of Retail Media Report, created in partnership with Stratably.This episode explores how brands, versus retailers, are navigating the rapid evolution of retail media. From DSP shifts and CTV growth to AI adoption and agentic commerce, measurement challenges, and the widening gap between leaders and laggards, this conversation delivers the insights every brand marketer needs heading into 2026.What We CoverWhy retail media now commands nearly 30% of US digital ad spendThe rise of retail media maturity and what separates leaders from laggardsWhy organizational structure is now a top predictor of retail media successThe growing importance of Amazon DSP and Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC)How brands should evaluate incrementality, attribution, and ROIWhy CTV and sponsored brand video are acceleratingThe role of AI and agentic commerce in shaping future shopping journeysWhat brands must do in 2026 to stay competitiveDownload the 2026 State of Retail Media Report (free):https://skai.io/reports-and-whitepapers/2026-state-of-retail-media-report/Subscribe to the Retail Razor Podcast Network: https://retailrazor.com/Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://retailrazor.substack.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/RRShowYouTubeAbout our GuestsJeff Cohen, Chief Business Development Officer, Skaihttps://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreycohen/Jeff Cohen leads global business development at Skai, overseeing partnerships and innovation across the commerce media ecosystem. A recognized thought leader, he is focused on uniting brands, agencies, retailers, and publishers around the next era of growth. Previously, Jeff was Principal Evangelist at Amazon Ads.Chapters:00:00 Preview Teaser 00:53 Show Intro 03:45 Welcome Jeff Cohen 06:24 Retail Media Maturity and Brand Strategies 08:30 Leaders vs. Laggards in Retail Media 12:12 Organizational Structure and Retail Media Success 17:35 Amazon Ads and DSP Insights 24:36 Evaluating Performance Across Platforms 27:45 The Shift to Full Funnel Advertising 29:46 Challenges in Measurement and Attribution 30:50 The Role of AMC in Retail Media 33:01 Incrementality and Budget Constraints 35:45 AI's Impact on Retail Media 37:10 Strategies for Brands in an AI World 42:54 Key Takeaways and Final Thoughts 48:21 Show CloseMeet your hosts, helping you cut through the clutter in retail & retail tech:Ricardo Belmar is an NRF Top Retail Voice for 2025 and a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2021 – 2026. Thinkers 360 has named him a Top 10 Thought Leader in Retail and AGI, a Top 50 Thought Leader in Management, Careers, and Transformation, and a Top 100 Thought Leader in Agentic AI and Digital Transformation. Thinkers 360 also named him a Top Digital Voice for 2024 and 2025. He is an advisory council member at George Mason University's Center for Retail Transformation and the Retail Cloud Alliance. He was most recently the partner marketing leader for retail & consumer goods in the Americas at Microsoft.Casey Golden is the North America Leader for Retail & Consumer Goods at CI&T, and CEO of Luxlock. She is a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2023 - 2026, and Retail Cloud Alliance advisory council member. After a career on the fashion and supply chain technology side of the business, Casey is obsessed with the customer relationship between the brand and the consumer and is slaying franken-stacks and building retail tech! Includes music provided by imunobeats.com, featuring Overclocked, and E-Motive from the album Beat Hype, written by Heston Mimms, published by Imuno.

Associate professor and founding director of the Race, Politics, and Policy Center at George Mason University, Dr. Michael K. Fauntroy, shares his take on trending political topics.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

With a rebellion underway in New England, the Continental Congress orders an invasion of Quebec, confident that Catholic French Canadians will rally to the Patriot standard, a mere fifteen years after Protestant British Americans helped to conquer the old colony of New France for their king. Featuring: Rick Atkinson, Jeffers Lennox, and Alexandra Lund Montgomery. Voice Actors: Emmanuel Dubois, Evan McCormick, John Terry, and John Winters. Narrated by Dr. Jim Ambuske. Music by Artlist.io This episode was made possible with support from a 2024 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.  Help other listeners find the show by leaving a 5-Star Rating and Review on Apple, Spotify, Podchaser, or our website. Follow the series on Facebook or Instagram. Worlds Turned Upside Down is a production of the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media at George Mason University.

Today, we have Editor-in-Chief Shikha Dalmia in conversation with two of the foremost thinkers of our time, Frank Fukuyama, an American political theorist and public intellectual best known for The End of History and the Last Man who is now a senior fellow at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute, where his work focuses on political order, governance, and democratic backsliding. And Tyler Cowen, an economist, author, and public intellectual who has written books on innovation, talent and cultural change. A professor at George Mason University and director of the Mercatus Center, he writes the highly influential blog Marginal Revolution and hosts the long-running podcast Conversations with Tyler.One reason for the populist revolt in America is the notion of the “deep state”—that an unaccountable bureaucracy is secretly ruling the country. Frank and Tyler come from very different intellectual traditions. Frank, a centrist, is a student of Max Weber and Tyler is a limited government libertarian. Yet they have both argued that liberal states in complex modern societies need a functional bureaucracy— aka state capacity—to deliver public goods and solve collective action problems. But they also have a ton of disagreements, especially on just how broken American governance is—and they duke it out in a spirited discussion.We hope you enjoy.***Thanks for checking out The UnPopulist! Subscribe to support our project.Follow us on Bluesky, Threads, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and X.© The UnPopulist, 2026 Get full access to The UnPopulist at www.theunpopulist.net/subscribe

Agentic Commerce, Retail Media, and the Human Experience: Season 6 PreviewSeason 6 of The Retail Razor Show is here, and we're diving into the future of retail through the lens of Agentic Commerce and Retail Media. In this trailer, Ricardo Belmar and Casey Golden introduce a season built around the collision of technology, content, and the human experience. As Agentic Commerce reshapes how consumers discover and buy products, Retail Media becomes the environment where every decision is influenced, measured, and optimized.This season builds on the momentum from Season 5, where we explored resilience, digital marketing, sustainability, resale, marketplace strategy, and leadership in an AI saturated world. Now we move into a new era where AI agents may shop on behalf of consumers, and retailers must understand how Agentic Commerce changes engagement, loyalty, and the path to purchase. At the same time, Retail Media continues to expand as a core revenue engine and a critical part of the customer journey.You'll hear from innovators who are building systems powered by Agentic AI, leaders redefining Retail Media strategy, and operators proving that frontline teams can thrive when technology is designed to support them. This season explores how Agentic Commerce transforms merchandising, planning, and customer experience, and why the human connection still matters more than ever.Follow the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, TuneIn, iHeartMedia, YouTube, and Goodpods. Stay connected with us on LinkedIn, Blue Sky, Threads, and Instagram.If you want to understand where retail is heading in 2026, this is the podcast for you!Subscribe to the Retail Razor Podcast Network: https://retailrazor.com/Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://retailrazor.substack.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/RRShowYouTubeChapters:00:00 Cold Open 00:23 Intro to Season 6 00:50 Reflecting on Last Season 01:38 Introducing Agentic AI 01:51 The Role of Media in Retail 02:09 Human Connection in a Digital World 03:02 The Era of Agentic Commerce 04:03 Looking Ahead: Innovators and Leaders 04:44 Stay Connected and EngagedMeet your hosts, helping you cut through the clutter in retail & retail tech:Ricardo Belmar is an NRF Top Retail Voice for 2025 and a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2021 – 2025. Thinkers 360 has named him a Top 10 Thought Leader in Retail and AGI, a Top 50 Thought Leader in Management, Careers, and Transformation, and a Top 100 Thought Leader in Agentic AI and Digital Transformation. Thinkers 360 also named him a Top Digital Voice for 2024 and 2025. He is an advisory council member at George Mason University's Center for Retail Transformation and the Retail Cloud Alliance. He was most recently the partner marketing leader for retail & consumer goods in the Americas at Microsoft.Casey Golden, is CEO of Luxlock, a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2023 - 2026, and Retail Cloud Alliance advisory council member. Obsessed with the customer relationship between the brand and the consumer. After a career on the fashion and supply chain technology side of the business, now slaying franken-stacks and building retail tech! Currently, Casey is the North America Leader for Retail & Consumer Goods at CI&T.

In this episode, we have Mike Derrios with us, the new Executive Director of the Greg and Camille Baroni Center for Government Contracting within the Costello College of Business at George Mason University. Mike discusses with us the concept to create a common culture within GovCon across Government, Industry and Academia and the benefits associated.  To connect with Mike, find him on LinkedIn.  Learn more about the Greg and Camille Baroni Center for Government Contracting

A special episode with a unique message of hope. The sport of volleyball is the carrier for the Side-Out Foundation's mission to end breast cancer. On the frontlines of that mission is Dr. Emanuel Petricoin. He's a pioneering researcher in personalized medicine, and Co-Director of the Center of Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine at George Mason University. Hear how his work with the Side-Out Foundation is helping transform how we treat breast cancer.Links mentioned: For more information go to www.side-out.org. Follow the side-out organization on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/digpinkHave suggestions for the podcast? Email Janice: leaveitbetter@side-out.org

The White House's Situation Room is one of those real-life places that, because it plays such a key role in historic moments but is so rarely seen by outsiders, takes on an outsized air of mystery. And while it's recently captured the public's imagination again, thanks to the Netflix film A House of Dynamite, the Situation Room is just one point in a complex web of government security and intelligence operations.    On this episode of Access to Excellence, President Gregory Washington is joined by Larry Pfeiffer—director of George Mason University's Michael V. Hayden Center for Intelligence, Policy, and International Security, and expert consultant for A House of Dynamite—to discuss his experiences in the Situation Room: both in the White House and on the sound stage.   

**This episode was recorded September 29, 2025.On this episode of the Hayek Program Podcast, Chris Coyne speaks with Amy Crockett and Erwin Dekker about how economics shapes our understanding of peace, conflict, and cooperation, drawing on the work of Kenneth Boulding and James Buchanan.First, Coyne speaks with Amy Crockett about her upcoming paper, “Addressing Peace in Undergraduate Economics Textbooks.” Crockett examines how peace is often treated as a background assumption in economics education and presents evidence from introductory and upper-level textbooks on how war, conflict, and policy responses are typically framed, highlighting missed opportunities to emphasize bottom-up, cooperative solutions.Coyne then speaks with Erwin Dekker about his paper, “Kenneth Boulding and James Buchanan on the Public Function of Economics.” Decker discusses how both thinkers understood economics as shaping the public “image” of social life, emphasizing exchange, moral foundations, and the importance of economists addressing citizens rather than policymakers.Together, these conversations show how economic ideas—whether taught in classrooms or communicated to the public—can either reinforce conflict-centered narratives or help sustain cultures of peace and cooperation.This is the fourth episode in a short series of episodes that will feature a collection of authors who contributed to the volume 1, issue 2 of the Markets & Society Journal or to a forthcoming special issue from The Review of Austrian Economics.Dr. Erwin Dekker is Senior Fellow with the F.A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics and a Senior Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. He has published numerous books, including Realizing the Values of Art (Palgrave Macmillan, 2023), Jan Tinbergen (1903-1994) and the Rise of Economic Expertise (Cambridge University Press, 2021), and The Viennese Students of Civilization: The Meaning and Context of Austrian Economics Reconsidered (Cambridge University Press, 2016).Dr. Amy Crockett is a Senior Lecturer at Vanderbilt University. She earned her Ph.D. and M.A. in economics from George Mason University, an M.A. in teaching from Relay Graduate School of Education, and a B.S. in systems engineering & economics from George Mason University. She is an Alum of the Mercatus PhD Fellowship.Show Notes: Tensions in Political Economy SeriesKenneth Boulding's book, The Image: Knowledge in Life and Society (University of Michigan Press, 1956).Robert Higgs' paper, “Wartime Prosperity? A Reassessment of the U.S. Economy in the 1940s” (The Journal of Economic History, 2009).James Buchanan's paper, “Positive Economics, Welfare Economics, and Political Economy” (The Journal of Law & Economics, 1959).James M. Buchanan's Nobel Prize LectureIf you like the show, please subscribe, leave a 5-star review, and tell others about the show! We're available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and wherever you get your podcasts.Check out our other podcast from the Hayek Program! Virtual Sentiments is a podcast in which political theorist Kristen Collins interviews scholars and practitioners grappling with pressing problems in political economy with an eye to the past. Subscribe today!Follow the Hayek Program on Twitter: @HayekProgramFollow the Mercatus Center on Twitter: @mercatusCC Music: Twisterium

ABOUT JENNIFER:LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thejenniferwalsh/ Websites:https://www.walkwithwalsh.comBio:For nearly 30 years, Jennifer has been at the forefront of transformative movements in beauty, retail, & biophilic design. As a consummate innovator, she has been dedicated to reimagining the human experience, whether through pioneering retail concepts, creating immersive outdoor experiences, or driving biophilic design solutions across industries.In the 1990s, Jennifer founded Beauty Bar, the first experiential omni-channel beauty brand in the U.S., introducing open-sell environments, curbside service, and men's skincare departments, concepts that reshaped how people shop for beauty. This trailblazing work integrated biophilic principles long before they became mainstream, earning recognition as an industry innovator. After selling Beauty Bar ultimately purchased by Amazon in 2011, she continued to build groundbreaking businesses and brands, always staying ahead of the curve. Another first was created in 2014 with Pride & Glory, a collegiate beauty brand. Today, she guides large and small scale biophilic design projects to create spaces that promote human flourishing. From Recharge Rooms to retail spaces, homes, schools, and urban landscapes, her work transforms environments into ecosystems of opportunity. All inspired from lived experiences. Jennifer helps organizations leverage the neuroscience of nature to enhance experiences, foster resilience, and build deeper connections within their organizations.SHOW INTRO:Welcome to Episode 84! of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast…In every episode we follow our catch phrase of having “Dynamic Dialogues About DATA: Design, Architecture, Technology and the Arts.” And as we continue on this journey, we'll have guests that are thought provoking futurists, AI technology mavens, retailers, international hotel design executives as well as designers and architects of brand experience places.We'll talk with authors and people focused on wellness and sustainable design practices as well as neuroscientists who will continue to help us look at the built environment and the connections betw een our mind-body and the built world around us.We'll also have guests who are creative marketing masters from international brands and people who have started and grown some of the companies that are striking a new path for us follow.If you like what you hear on the NXTLVL Experience Design show, make sure to subscribe, like, comment and share with colleagues, friends and family.The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is always grateful for the support of VMSD magazine.VMSD brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. I think the IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing us to keep on talking about what makes retailing relevant. You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience. SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.org Today, EPISODE 84… I talk with Jennifer Walsh who for nearly 30 years, has been at the forefront of transformative movements in beauty, retail, & biophilic design. Jennifer is an innovator, and has been dedicated to reimagining the human experience, whether through pioneering retail concepts, creating immersive outdoor experiences, or driving biophilic design solutions across industries.Talking about biophilic design isn't new on the podcast, this time though we bolt on retailing, neuroscience and experience. This conversation is more introspective and looks at one's motivation to change to considering our environments and biophilic design from the point of view of sense of well-being and personal growth.We'll get there in a minute but... first a few thoughts…*                     *                          *                          *If you go back to the early episodes of the podcast, you'll come across Bill Browning. Bill and I connected while I was working the hospitality industry and focusing my efforts on the redesign of the Westin guestroom and lobby design strategy.Bill's world is Biophilic – both literally and philosophically, may be even existentially. He literally wrote the book on Biophilic Design's 14 principles, which now includes a 15th with the addition of ‘Awe,' and he has written a more recent publication with Katie Ryan called “Nature Inside,” it is a terrific handbook to implementing Biophilic design principles in built environments.I think a lot about the design of places where nature has been completely eliminated - think major downtown cities in any corner of the world.It is also not lost on me that when I sit working in my Home Office I have the extraordinarily good fortune to lookout on 2 1/2 acres of green space with a rolling hill down towards a creek that when it rains particularly hard overflows and becomes a small river in my backyard. But this point of view to my backyard and the way I feel sitting on my deck having a morning coffee is not just about the warm feeling of my cup in my hands but that there are key principles of biophilic design at play - namely refuge and prospect. Being exposed daily to these perspectives towards a forest at the back of my property I have an immediate body sense of calm, wonder and awe.I see sun rises to the left of my property and sun sets to the right. The re are Canada geese that, like clockwork, fly over my backyard every fall as they migrate South. I'm attuned to the textures and colors of the sky and the varying degrees of light intensity - bright and brilliant and dreary and diffused.All of these features of a natural world have the effect of putting me at ease.In the past few years, I've begun to connect that mind body experience, the somatic experience of natural places, with what I understand about neuroscience and our long evolutionary history of living the largest proportion of our human development among trees - in a real jungle versus the concrete ones that we have now built all around us.It's no surprise that the Japanese practice of Shinrin-yoku – forest bathing – is actually therapeutic. When we immerse ourselves in a forest atmosphere, using all five senses to connect with nature, we are promoting stress reduction and well-being. Slowing down, and taking mindful walks, appreciating sights, sounds, and smells is so good for us and yet many of us, especially those who are city dwellers, rush from place to place making sure to stay on the clock moving from one appointment to the next and filling our schedules every day with a mind-numbing number of things to check off on our To Do List Taking a moment to disconnect from technology calms the mind and body and has proven benefits like lower stress hormones and boosting immunity.The multi layered, highly textured and colored natural environments that we have evolved from, are often being replaced by environments of banality that actually have deep psychological effects when we are continually exposed to boring buildings.Bringing this intuitive sense, that natural environments support well-being, into the design of built environments, and intentionally creating places that reference biophilic principles, often proves very hard to do in a world where efficiency and productivity leading to increased profitability are what we are taught to drive towards as a reflection of success.Many times, adding plants to a space is an afterthought, like decoration, to make things look better - but they are not really being incorporated as a strategy for building environments to enhance well-being. Interestingly though, when people learn more about how to apply biophilic principles, beyond simply introducing plants as a nod to creating more nature-based experiences, they begin to also understand that their assumptions about adding additional cost may not be well founded. If you consider designing with nature in mind from the get-go, incorporating principles of biophilic design in the places we build as part of the strategy, then managing the costs is totally achievable.Anthropologie stores are a great example of introducing living green walls to their stores. Too be sure, these are not without expense both in their implementation and maintenance but the effect of walking up the grand staircase with this green wall rising from floor to ceiling across multiple levels feels wonderful. I still remember one of my first experiences in the Anthropologie store on Regent Street in London and have since sought to find similar experiences in other retail stores around the world. Design ideas like the green walls in Anthropologie stores is a conscious, intentional, move that enhances experience as well as environmental air quality. We simply feel better when we were places like this and if that turns into reduced absenteeism of associates or increased customer visits then… all the better. There's no question that being under a wash of fluorescent light standing on hard surfaces or sitting in cubicles is perhaps one of the worst ways to be productive and happy in our workplaces. I would imagine that sales associates in Anthropologie stores generally feel better than in big boxes with uniform high intensity lighting, relentless aisles of merchandise, hard surfaces and stale air with no natural sunlight.Full disclosure, when I look back over my career of designing retail places, very infrequently has the design team spent time considering what it would be like to be a sales associate in one of these places. Standing for hours on end in environments that are depleting leads to poor interactions between sales teams and customers. Seems kind of obvious but when people feel better in their workplaces, they're more likely to translate that to positive interactions with guests. More positive interactions with guests could naturally lead to larger basket size and increased number of return visits. All good if you're a retailerAnd yet, we seldom see retail places that fully embrace ideas that support well-being through the strategic introduction of biophilic design principles.New disciplines in the world of neuroscience like neuroaesthetics are beginning to be more widely accepted in the design community and there is a broader recognition about the positive effects of creating environments that apply principles of biophilia that enhance a sense of well-being. And while there is a growing trend of wider adoption of neuroaesthetics we need to keep on beating the drum about environments that are actually good for us.This is where the story leads to my guest Jennifer Walsh.In the 1990s, Jennifer founded Beauty Bar, the first experiential omni-channel beauty brand in the U.S., introducing open-sell environments, curbside service, and men's skincare departments - concepts that reshaped how people shop for beauty. Jennifer says that she just wanted people to feel good when they came into her store and she somehow intuitively knew that introducing elements of biophilia, though I'm not sure that we actually even had a name for it back then, into her store, would attract people, have them stay longer and return more often.Jennifer's integration of biophilic principles, long before they became mainstream, earned her recognition as an industry innovator. After Beauty Bar was ultimately purchased by Amazon in 2011, she continued to build groundbreaking businesses and brands, always staying ahead of the curve.Today, she guides large and small scale biophilic design projects to create spaces that promote human flourishing. In retail spaces, homes, schools, and urban landscapes, her work transforms environments into ecosystems of opportunity. All inspired from lived experiences. Jennifer helps organizations leverage the neuroscience of nature to enhance experiences, foster resilience, and build deeper connections within their organizations.ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582bWebsites: https://www.davidkepron.com    (personal website)vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645  (Blog)Email: david.kepron@NXTLVLexperiencedesign.comTwitter: DavidKepronPersonal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/Bio:David Kepron the Retail Studio Principal for the architecture and design firm Little (https://www.littleonline.com). He is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand ‘why', ‘what's now' and ‘what's next'. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe. David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriott's “Premium Distinctive” segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels. In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies. As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace. David currently shares his experience and insight on various industry boards including: VMSD magazine's Editorial Advisory Board, the Interactive Customer Experience Association, Sign Research Foundation's Program Committee as well as the Center For Retail Transformation at George Mason University.He has held teaching positions at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), the Department of Architecture & Interior Design of Drexel University in Philadelphia, the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (L.I.M.) in New York, the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Montreal and he served as the Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School (L.I.F.S.) in Singapore.  In 2014 Kepron published his first book titled: “Retail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven World” and he is currently working on his second book to be published soon. I caught up with Bryan at the SHOP Marketplace event in Charlotte and chatted about his focus on shaping what comes next in digital signage and experiential design. The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production is by Kano Sound. The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL “Dialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Arts” wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.

** We'll be discussing this episode on Tuesday, January 13th (8 pm ET/5 pm PT) in our online gathering, Macro ‘n Chill. We've invited Erald Kolasi to join us. So bring your questions. Register here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/aYopZXEIQ9SPN9gQL2ajXQSteve welcomes back Erald Kolasi, physicist-economist, author, and friend of the podcast. Erald is here to do a demolition job on “institutional” development fables like Acemoglu & Robinson's Why Nations Fail. He argues that by treating good institutions as the master key (inclusive vs. extractive) they smuggle in a liberal moral scoreboard while dodging the real motors of history: power, class struggle, imperial systems, and material constraints like energy, trade dependence, war, and ecological shocks.To “steelman” Acemoglu and Robinson's position, Erald uses their favorite showcase case – North vs. South Korea. He lays out their comparison of the “tyrannical dictatorship” vs the “open” society and presents their explanation for these differences.Erald then flips the script: the DPRK outperformed for decades, then crashed not because its “institutions got worse,” but because the USSR collapsed. Cheap, subsidized energy disappeared, wrecking agriculture and triggering famine.The pattern repeats across history. Using examples like China and Venezuela, the episode explores how wars, sanctions, resource access, and global power structures shape economic outcomes far more than abstract institutional rules. Development is a struggle rooted in material conditions and geopolitical realities, not a neutral competition between better or worse policy designs.Erald Kolasi is a writer and researcher focusing on the nexus between energy, technology, economics, complex systems, and ecological dynamics. His book, The Physics of Capitalism, came out from Monthly Review Press in February 2025. He received his PhD in Physics from George Mason University in 2016. You can find out more about Erald and his work at his website, www.eraldkolasi.com. Subscribe to his Substack: https://substack.com/@technodynamics

1.9.26, George Mason University Men's Basketball Coach Tony Skinn joins The Kevin Sheehan Show to discuss GMU's 15-1 record on the season and how they stack up the Atlantic 10 conference this year.

If you've ever wondered why so many people assume progress is automatic, why trillion-dollar deficits barely raise eyebrows anymore, or why “economic planning” keeps making a comeback despite its long record of failure—this episode gets to the heart of the issue.Prosperity doesn't happen by accident. Freedom doesn't sustain itself. And history doesn't bend toward progress unless the rules of the game allow it to.That's why this conversation matters.My guest is Dr. Peter Boettke, Distinguished University Professor of Economics at George Mason University and Director of the F.A. Hayek Program at the Mercatus Center. This is Peter's third appearance (episodes 10 and 119) on the Let People Prosper Show, and every time he joins, he brings clarity to questions most policymakers avoid.Today's discussion centers on his new book, The Historical Path to Liberty and Human Progress, which makes a simple but uncomfortable point: human flourishing depends on institutions—and bad institutions destroy progress faster than good intentions can save it.At a time of runaway federal spending, renewed industrial policy, and bipartisan refusal to confront tradeoffs, this conversation couldn't be more timely.

In today's government marketplace, the rules aren't just changing, they're being rewritten; and agencies are rethinking risk, innovation, cybersecurity, and the role small businesses play in the mission.Procurement reform, mission shifts, cybersecurity pressure, and the rise of data-driven acquisition are transforming how small businesses compete. And for small GovCon firms, especially the ones trying to position themselves for the future, the biggest question isn't “How do we survive?” It's “How do we stay ready?”Guest Bio:Lisa Wood is the Statewide Director of the Virginia APEX Accelerator, hosted by George Mason University. Before joining the APEX community in 2010, Lisa was a Procurement Specialist for Bechtel Plant Machinery, Inc. in the Greater Pittsburgh Area. In this role, she performed contract administration and negotiation duties. She also recommended bidders, handled issue inquiries, negotiated bids, performed cost and price analysis, and prepared comprehensive letters to justify recommended contract actions. Ms. Wood holds an MBA from the University of New Haven and is also an Adjunct Professor of Management at George Mason University.Call(s) to Action:Have you heard of My Bid Match? Here's the step-by-step, how a small business can register with their APEX Accelerator (registration is required) and activate MyBidMatch, which is a very valuable but underutilized tools. Go to your APEX Accelerator site (GMU AA: https://virginiaapex.org) and locate the “Request Counseling” or “Client Registration” link/tab; and then:Create a Client ProfileTypical information required may include: Business name, UEI, NAICS codes, Contact info, and a Summary of needsStep 3: Activate MyBidMatchSelect preferred agencies and NAICS codes / PSCs, choose keyword filters, and set frequency (daily or weekly)Step 4: Meet with an APEX CounselorCounselor helps refine: Target agencies, market intelligence, bid/no-bid criteria, and opportunity alignmentStep 5: Begin a Consistent Forecasting RoutineReview MyBidMatch alertsCheck agency forecastsMap opportunities 6–18 months outBuild capture sequences earlyHelp spread the word about Unveiled: GovCon Stories: https://shows.acast.com/unveiled-govcon-storiesDo you want to be a guest or recommend a topic that you would like to learn or hear about on the podcast? Let us know through our guest feedback and registration form.Links & Resources:GMU Apex AcceleratorUnveiled: GovCon Stories Cheat Sheet – “Make it Make Sense for Small Business”Project SpectrumRevolutionary FAR OverhaulSponsors:The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the hosts and guests, and do not reflect the views or endorsements of our sponsors.Withum – Diamond Sponsor!Withum is a forward-thinking, technology-driven advisory and accounting firm, helping clients to be in a position of strength in today's complex business environment. Go to Withum's website to learn more about how they can help your business! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S5E14 2025 Retail Year in Review - AI, Consumer Shifts, and the Future of Commerce with Guest Host, Alicia Esposito!In this Season 5 finale of The Retail Razor Show, guest host Alicia Esposito (Future Commerce) sits down with Ricardo Belmar and Casey Golden for a deep, unfiltered 2025 retail year in review. Together, they unpack the biggest trends shaping the industry, from AI's accelerating influence, to the emotional needs of today's consumer, the rise of resale, the evolution of marketplaces, and the shifting definition of value.Across the Retail Razor Podcast Network - The Retail Razor Show, Blade to Greatness, Data Blades, and Retail Transformers - this year's guests revealed a powerful through‑line: retail is no longer just about convenience or price. It's about culture, community, emotion, and the human experience.This episode explores:How AI is reshaping leadership, decision‑making, and personalizationWhy consumers—especially Gen Z—are craving analog joy and emotional shoppingThe rise of marketplaces like Temu and AliExpressRetail media's evolution and the coming disruption from agentic commerceThe loyalty shakeout and why brand equity matters more than everThe explosive growth of resale and secondhand shoppingHoliday shopping behavior and the psychology behind “perpetual shopping lists”The keywords that will define 2026: velocity and joyIf you want to understand where retail is heading in 2026, this is the episode you can't miss!Subscribe to the Retail Razor Podcast Network: https://retailrazor.com/Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://retailrazor.substack.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/RRShowYouTubeAbout our Guest HostAlicia Esposito, Director, Content + Media Strategy - Future Commercehttps://www.linkedin.com/in/aliciaesposito/Alicia is the head of content and insights for Future Commerce. At Future Commerce we are big on dissecting the intersection of culture and commerce and not just covering what's happening today, but also what are the ripple effects for tomorrow, and for the future. Future Commerce delivers consumer insights for e-commerce and retail brands. Newsletters, essays, podcasts, and research. For the risk-takers in Commerce! Future Commerce helps brands manifest vision and create goals which lead to future-altering impacts for their customers, and for the world around them.Chapters:00:00 Preview01:06 Introduction and Host Introduction03:02 Balancing Automation and Human Intuition06:57 Consumer Behavior and AI10:18 The Evolution of Retail Experiences18:21 The Importance of Brand Value24:14 Challenges in Fast Fashion and Marketplaces28:23 The Future of Commerce31:36 Retail Media Evolution36:50 Consumer Behavior and Shopping Trends41:09 The Impact of Resale and Sustainability50:12 Personalization and AI in Retail53:16 The Keyword That Will Represent 202655:45 Show CloseMeet your hosts, helping you cut through the clutter in retail & retail tech:Ricardo Belmar is an NRF Top Retail Voices for 2025 & a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2021 – 2025. Thinkers 360 has named him a Top 10 Retail, & AGI Thought Leader, a Top 50 Management, Transformation, & Careers Thought Leader, a Top 100 Digital Transformation & Agentic AI Thought Leader, plus a Top Digital Voice for 2024 and 2025. He is an advisory council member at George Mason University's Center for Retail Transformation, and the Retail Cloud Alliance. He was most recently the director partner marketing for retail & consumer goods in the Americas at Microsoft.Casey Golden, is CEO of Luxlock, a RETHINK Retail Top Retail Expert from 2023 - 2025, and a Retail Cloud Alliance advisory council member. Obsessed with the customer relationship between the brand and the consumer. After a career on the fashion and supply chain technology side of the business, now slaying franken-stacks and building retail tech! Currently, Casey is the North America Leader for Retail & Consumer Goods at CI&T.Includes music provided by imunobeats.com, featuring Overclocked from the album Beat Hype, written by Heston Mimms, published by Imuno.

Bryan Caplan is a professor of economics at George Mason University and a New York Times bestselling author of thoughtful, persuasive, and contrarian books that challenge conventional wisdom on topics like immigration, education, government regulation, and feminism.This interview is a grab bag that covers some of his more controversial arguments and will be a delight to libertarians who are interested in "challenging the statist quo."Audio Production by Podsworth Media - https://podsworth.com Use code LCI50 for 50% off your first order at Podsworth.com to clean up your voice recordings and also support LCI!Full Podsworth Ad Read BEFORE & AFTER processing:https://youtu.be/vbsOEODpQGs  ★ Support this podcast ★

Veronique de Rugy is the George Gibbs Chair in Political Economy and a Senior Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. In Veronique's first appearance on Macro Musings she discusses her career as a think tanker's think tanker, what the difference is between classical liberals and libertarians, how America's mindset has shifted on trade and immigration, the fiscal health of the United States, the US's impending debt crises, solutions for fixing the fiscal health of the United States, and much more. Check out the transcript for this week's episode, now with links. Recorded on November 18th, 2025 Subscribe to David's Substack: Macroeconomic Policy Nexus Follow David Beckworth on X: @DavidBeckworth Follow Veronique on X: @VerodeRugy Follow the show on X: @Macro_Musings Check out our Macro Musings merch! Subscribe to David's new BTS YouTube Channel  Timestamps 00:00:00 - Intro 00:01:18 - Vero's Career 00:17:35 - Vero's Career 00:24:32 - Fiscal Policy at Mercatus 00:40:59 - Steps Toward a Sustainable Fiscal Path  00:48:34 - Flattening the Debt Curve 00:59:13- Outro

This episode of the BioTalk with Rich Bendis Podcast brings together leaders from industry, academia, and economic development to unpack the vision behind a new life sciences Innovation District anchored in Prince William County. With introductions to NAUGEN, George Mason University's Institute for Biohealth Innovation, and the Prince William County Department of Economic Development, setting the stage for how each organization contributes to the district's foundation. The guests talk about the life science assets, research strengths, and translational capabilities that define the district and explain why it is positioned to support biotechnology and advanced R&D companies. The conversation explores how the partnership between Prince William County, George Mason University, and the City of Manassas came together, outlining the distinct roles each plays in advancing a shared strategy. The episode also introduces the NISA program, detailing how it supports companies seeking a soft-landing pathway into the district, the types of organizations best suited for the program, and the facilities, talent, and collaborative resources participants can access both immediately and over time. Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com). Jaehan Park is Founder and CEO of NAUGEN, a global innovation accelerator advancing novel technologies across life sciences and deep tech. With more than 25 years of experience in strategy and business development, he has led collaborations spanning cancer immunotherapy, vaccines, and biologics with global pharmaceutical companies and academic institutions. He leads the NISA Program in partnership with George Mason University and serves as a Mentor-in-Residence at KIC DC, supporting international startups entering U.S. markets. Amy Adams is Executive Director of George Mason University's Institute for Biohealth Innovation, where she advances biohealth research and innovation across more than 300 faculty and thousands of students. Her work focuses on partnerships, shared research infrastructure, and building hubs that connect academia with industry. She is co-leading the development of the Innovation District anchored at Mason's SciTech campus and serves on the boards of BioHealth Innovation and the Association of University Research Parks. Christina Winn leads the Prince William County Department of Economic Development, guiding investment, business growth, and redevelopment efforts across one of Virginia's largest counties. She is overseeing the development of a research-driven Innovation District in partnership with George Mason University and the City of Manassas, supported by a GO Virginia grant. Her career includes leading large-scale economic development initiatives that have driven significant capital investment, job creation, and national visibility for the region.

Send us a textIn this final episode of The Great Antidote, I sit down with my mom, Veronique de Rugy (does this feel like a Mr. Big name reveal for some of you?!), to reflect on the podcast and the remarkable journey of the past five years. Together, we revisit how the show started, the ideas that shaped it, the moments that changed me, and the people whose support made everything possible. This episode is a reflection on learning, growth, and gratitude—and a thank-you to everyone who has been part of this project.Veronique de Rugy is the George Gibbs Chair in Political Economy and Senior Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. She is also an incredible mother (just ask me (if you don't trust me, you can ask my sister)).Support the showNever miss another AdamSmithWorks update.Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

In this episode of The Brief Dive, I sit down with Nuhamin and Mariamawit, two George Mason University students who serve on the Executive Board of the Ethiopian & Eritrean Student Association (EESA). We get real about what it feels like to lose your culture in college, how to stay grounded in your identity, and what keeps us connected to our roots when everything around us is pulling us in a different direction.But of course… we also got very sidetracked — in the best way possible.We talked about Habesha men slander, why some Habeshas try to “act Black,” crazy travel stories, friendship dynamics, and the hilarious realities of being East African in the U.S.Both guests are also TikTok creators, so we dive into what it really takes to go viral, why they post the type of content they do, and how they balance school, clubs, culture, and the pressure of social media.If you're Habesha, a first-gen student, a creator, or someone who feels like you're trying to keep your identity alive in a world of distractions — this episode is for you.SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST: https://www.youtube.com/@thebriefdivepodcast/videos?sub_confirmation=1LISTEN ON:SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2cPd9uVZqjmEmM9VF0zuGg?si=ef2246bd89c34b4APPLE PODCASTS: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-brief-dive/id1551664039FOLLOW ON:INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/thebriefdive?igsh=cm5iaWEyazRvMnpySNAPCHAT: https://snapchat.com/t/zzap27fGTIKTOK: https://www.tiktok.com/@thebriefdive?_t=8qIJLtOvM0l&_r=1INTRO MUSIC: INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/valmaddoxaero?igsh=MWJraWRoYmE4aXN6Mg==TIKTOK: https://www.tiktok.com/@val_maddox_music?_t=ZT-8yRqOSfTGFj&_r=1Both Socials:https://www.tiktok.com/@marynuha?_r=1&_t=ZT-9279pSbdVJWNuhamin's Socials:https://www.tiktok.com/@nuhamin_k?_r=1&_t=ZT-9278yUNZBDZMariamawit's Socials:https://www.tiktok.com/@06maryy06?_r=1&_t=ZT-9278vR8keJDTimestamps:00:00 Preview0:24 Intro3:52 "Who's Most Likely To...?"7:20 Why They Joined EESA at GMU?8:01 How These Two First Met11:18 Is Your Content A Job To You?13:56 Their Favorite TikTok They've Ever Made17:11 Balancing School, Content, & EESA?20:04 Keeping Eachother Accountable24:06 Choosing Their Career Paths?29:38 Friendships Outside The Habesha Community37:40 Why Some Habeshas Try To "Act Black"?46:30 Roller Coasters47:56 How Their Friendship Affected Them49:38 Crazy Travel Stories53:00 Have They Lost Their Culture?56:40 Habesha Community And Their Content?1:06:43 Is This Generation Too Sensitive?1:11:44 Where Did Habesha Men Slander Come From?!1:16:55 Marry Men Back Home vs. Marrying Here?1:20:03 What Helps Them Preserve Their Culture?1:22:40 Showing Affection In Habesha Friendships/Families1:24:57 Last Piece Of Advice1:28:10 Dive & Deliver1:34:39 Outro

Hours after the Battles of Lexington and Concord, rebel British Americans begin laying siege to Boston, trapping thousands of civilians and soldiers in town for months with dwindling supplies, compelling the British to make a costly assault on nearby Bunker Hill and Breed's Hill. Featuring: Rick Atkinson, Lindsay Chervinsky, Brad Jones, and Rosemarie Zagarri. Voice Actors: Adam Smith, Grace Mallon, John Turner, Annabelle Spencer, Evan McCormick, John Terry, Spencer McBride, and Peter Walker. Narrated by Dr. Jim Ambuske. Music by Artlist.io This episode was made possible with support from a 2024 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.  Help other listeners find the show by leaving a 5-Star Rating and Review on Apple, Spotify, Podchaser, or our website. Follow the series on Facebook or Instagram. Worlds Turned Upside Down is a production of the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media at George Mason University.

In this inspiring and educational episode of The Big Bid Theory, host Bill Culhane engages in a powerful conversation with procurement thought leader Chris Smith about the evolving role of public procurement and what it means to lead with purpose in 2026 and beyond. Public procurement professionals, leadership‑minded listeners, and anyone passionate about ethical impact will discover fresh perspectives on how the field is transforming from a compliance‑driven function into a strategic engine of trust, innovation, and measurable outcomes. Together, Bill and Chris explore:Why public procurement is a tremendous opportunity for professionals driven by ethics and meaningful impact.The core principles of servant leadership and how putting people first builds more effective teams and sustainable results in government procurement.The role of AI and strategic thinking in optimizing procurement processes while safeguarding integrity and accountability.How professional certification, including the NIGP Certified Public Procurement (CPP) credential, boosts credibility, career growth, and elevates procurement as a respected profession.Real‑world insights on leadership, career development, and the future of public procurement that will inspire you to think differently about your role and opportunities ahead.Appropriate to this episode, Bill shares a reminder that the 2025 David and Beverly Nash Leadership Award recipient will be named this week!Whether you're a seasoned Chief Procurement Officer, an emerging leader in public procurement, or someone curious about the intersection of leadership and public service, this episode delivers compelling insights, practical advice, and strategic inspiration to fuel your professional journey.If you believe public procurement should be more than a checkbox, you want to build trust, drive impact, and lead with purpose, this episode of The Big Bid Theory is made for you.Rick Jennings shares the final Crazy Bids You Can Win of season 11. Don't miss it!

This week author Matthew Davis drops in to talk about the complex history and significance of Mount Rushmore, including its ties to the Lakota people, the role of Gutzon Borglum, and the evolving meaning of the monument in contemporary society. We also dig in on the misconceptions surrounding Rushmore, the importance of indigenous perspectives, and the future of the site in terms of stewardship and representation.About our guest:Matthew Davis is a writer who lives in Washington, D.C. He is the author of When Things Get Dark: A Mongolian Winter's Tale and the founder of the Cheuse Center for International Writers at George Mason University. His new book, A Biography of a Mountain: The Making and Meaning of Mount Rushmore, is available everywhere.

As we wrap up 2025, we are featuring some of our most important conversations, including this conversation about IQ, intelligence, and intelligence assessment. Emily Kircher-Morris welcomes Dr. Jack Naglieri, an emeritus professor at George Mason University and senior research scientist at the Devereux Center for Resilient Children. Dr. Naglieri is renowned for his work in intelligence testing and the development of the Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test. In this sprawling conversation, Emily and Jack talk about his insights on the evolution and misconceptions surrounding intelligence assessment. They discuss the history of intelligence testing, and the limitations and biases inherent in traditional methods. Dr. Naglieri describes the experiences that led him to question the validity of verbal-based intelligence tests, and ultimately inspired his development of nonverbal assessment tools. They discuss the PASS theory of intelligence, and how it forms the foundation of the Cognitive Assessment System (CAS), a tool designed to measure these processes and offer a nuanced profile of an individual's cognitive strengths and weaknesses. You can download a free copy of the PASS Theory of Intelligence and the CAS2. Dr. Jack A. Naglieri, Ph.D., is Emeritus Professor at George Mason University and Senior Research Scientist at the Devereux Center for Resilient Children. His main interest is the development of psychological and educational tests and the implications these approaches have for accurate and equitable assessment. He has published about 25 books, 50 tests and rating scales, and approximately 300 research papers. Jack is the author of tests used for identification of gifted students, including the Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test. He partnered with Dina Brulles and Kim Lansdowne to coauthor the Naglieri Tests of General Ability Verbal, Quantitative and Nonverbal, and the book, Understanding and Using the Naglieri General Ability Tests: A Call to Equity in Gifted Education (Brulles, Lansdowne & Naglieri, 2022). Dr. Naglieri has received many awards for his extensive research program that includes scholarly research, books, and psychological tests with an emphasis on uniting sound theory with equitable scientific practice. BACKGROUND READING PASS Theory of Intelligence and the CAS2, Jack's website, The Naglieri General Ability Tests If you'd like members of your organization, school district, or company to know more about the subjects discussed on our podcast, Emily Kircher-Morris provides keynote addresses, workshops, and training sessions worldwide, in-person or virtually. You can choose from a list of established presentations, or work with Emily to develop a custom talk to fit your unique situation. To learn more, visit our website. The Neurodiversity Podcast is on Facebook, Instagram, BlueSky, and you're invited to join our Facebook Group.

 Associate Professor and Founding Director of the Race, Politics, and Policy Center at George Mason University, Dr. Michael K. Fauntroy shares his thoughts on how Trump's hateful rhetoric has flipped America's race conversation into a dangerous space for its citizens.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tavis-smiley--6286410/support.

In this episode, Dan Hugger speaks with Peter J. Boettke, Distinguished University Professor of Economics at George Mason University, as well as the director of the F. A. Hayek Program for Advanced Study in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, about the importance of the history of economic thought […]

In this episode of The Puck, Jim Baer sits down with Jack Goldstone—the Hazel Chair Professor of Public Policy at George Mason University and one of the world's foremost scholars on revolutions and social change. Goldstone has advised the National Intelligence Council, the World Bank, and the U.S. State and Defense Departments. His latest book, Revolutions: A Very Short Introduction, distills decades of research into why societies unravel—or endure. Jim and Jack explore how rising debt, political polarization, elite fragmentation, and declining public trust mirror the early stages of historic revolutionary periods. They discuss China's global ambitions, the impact of social media algorithms, the stagnation facing America's working class, and what it would take to restore stability and rebuild a shared national purpose. Goldstone offers a candid assessment of where the U.S. stands in 2025—and why compassionate, unifying leadership will be essential to avoid deeper turmoil. A wide-ranging and timely conversation about the forces reshaping democracy, the risks ahead, and the paths that might still lead America toward renewal.