Podcasts about Golden thread

The guys discuss what we can learn from the history of L.A. from 1945 to today

Steve Rimmer reads the classic tale of a miller's boast which thrusts his gentle daughter into a deadly challenge when the king demands she spin straw into gold. As nights of magic and mystery unfold in the royal tower, a strange bargain with a mischievous imp sets in motion a tale of promises, royalty, and a desperate race against time. Discover this enchanting classic fairy tale filled with wonder, danger, and clever twists.

Spouting Off with Karen Kataline Immigration, Western Civilization, Psychiatric Drugs, and Green Energy Karen Kataline Continues the Alan Nathan Show in Alan's Memory In this episode of The Alan Nathan Show / Alan Nathan All-Stars, host Karen Kataline opens by acknowledging the untimely passing of Alan Nathan and explaining that the show continues in his memory and honor. She notes that she and Alan had often done Mondays together and says it is an honor to help continue the program during this transitional period for the Main Street Radio Network. Throughout the episode, Karen frames the broadcast as part of a new chapter while preserving the spirit, name, and tradition of the Alan Nathan All-Stars. Immigration, Libertarianism, and Sanctuary Policies Karen's first guest is the executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, identified in the transcript as Mark Krikorian or a similar spelling. They discuss immigration enforcement, libertarian arguments for open immigration, and the tension between open borders and a welfare state. Mark argues that libertarians once aligned more closely with conservatives on taxes, regulation, and the size of government, but now often align with the left on questions of sovereignty, borders, and immigration. He cites Milton Friedman's argument that open immigration and a welfare state cannot coexist and says that while social programs can be tightened, the welfare state is not simply going away. Chicago, ICE, and Local Non-Cooperation The discussion then turns to Chicago, Cook County, and Illinois, which Mark describes as sanctuary jurisdictions. He explains that ICE is not asking local police to conduct immigration checks in the street, but to hold criminal suspects who are already arrested and fingerprinted if they are deportable, so ICE can take custody. He argues that sanctuary policies release deportable offenders back into communities and says this especially harms immigrant neighborhoods. Karen and Mark also criticize Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, accusing them of interfering with immigration enforcement and downplaying violence in Chicago. Karen Reflects on Alan Nathan and the Show's Transition After the first interview and intervening ad segments, Karen returns to discuss the show's transition after Alan Nathan's death. She encourages listeners to hear the tribute program that aired over the weekend and recalls clips of Alan and his wife Jane from years earlier, describing their on-air chemistry as entertaining, lively, argumentative, and classic talk radio. Karen says it is a sad time for everyone at Main Street Radio Network, but emphasizes that the Alan Nathan Show and Alan Nathan All-Stars tradition will continue. James Hankins on The Golden Thread and Western Civilization Karen then welcomes James Hankins, described as a Harvard University historian and co-author of The Golden Thread: A History of the Western Tradition. Hankins explains that the “golden thread” is a metaphor for the Western tradition, and that the book aims to recover the history of Western civilization from the ancient Greeks and Romans through the Middle Ages and into the modern world. He argues that this history has not been properly taught in schools or universities for decades, leaving people without a shared understanding of democracy, republics, communism, socialism, and the meaning of Western civic life. Communism, Democratic Socialism, and Historical Amnesia Karen connects the discussion to contemporary politics, warning against Marxism, communism, and democratic socialism. Hankins says many people who call themselves democratic socialists do not understand what the term means or how socialism has operated historically. He argues that adding the word “democratic” does not solve the deeper problem, because socialism has not historically favored democracy. Karen and Hankins agree that many public arguments suffer because people no longer share basic definitions or historical knowledge, especially about the distinction between a republic and a democracy. Dr. Toby Watson on Psychiatric Drugs and Violence Later, Karen interviews clinical psychologist Dr. Toby Watson, who says he has worked on research and testimony related to psychiatric medications, including SSRI antidepressants and black-box warning labels. Watson says his work involves outcome research on psychotropic medications and forensic cases where people with no history of violence commit violent or self-destructive acts after taking medication. Karen asks whether antidepressants and psychiatric medications may be contributing to violence, especially in the wake of Columbine-era discussions. Watson answers strongly that SSRIs can increase suicidal thoughts and behavior and says this is acknowledged in FDA black-box warnings. Akathisia, Political Motives, and Youth Medication Dr. Watson discusses akathisia, describing it as an inner agitation or restlessness that can make people feel as though they want to crawl out of their skin. He says it can occur with SSRIs and is even more common with antipsychotics. Karen asks whether suppression of this information may be about more than money, suggesting possible political motives. Watson agrees that politics can be involved and argues that children in poverty, especially those connected to Medicaid or Medicare systems, are disproportionately medicated at higher doses even when diagnosis and symptom severity are considered. He also references Anatomy of an Epidemic and argues that long-term psychiatric drug use can contribute to disability and general decline. Gender Ideology, Violence Profiles, and Dr. Watson's Cautions Karen and Watson also discuss social contagion, gender ideology, and political violence. Karen asks about the murder of Charlie Kirk and whether the alleged killer was on psychiatric medication. Watson says he has no direct knowledge and is not involved in that investigation, cautioning that too much misinformation is circulating to make a firm claim. However, he says the suspect fits a known profile for certain kinds of shooters and that, statistically, it would not surprise him if psychiatric medication were involved. Karen closes the short segment by inviting Watson back and directing listeners to his work online. Steve Goreham / Gorham on Green Energy and Rising Electricity Prices Karen closes the show with Steve Goreham or Steve Gorham, described as executive director of the Climate Science Coalition of America and author of Green Breakdown: The Coming Renewable Energy Failure. The conversation focuses on rising electricity prices, renewable energy policies, and what Karen calls the “green new scam.” Steve argues that expensive electricity increases are concentrated in blue states that have pursued aggressive green policies, naming California, Maine, New York, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. He contrasts those with states such as Georgia, Florida, Texas, and Missouri, which he says rely more on natural gas or coal and have seen smaller increases. AI, Data Centers, Pipelines, and Energy Reality Steve argues that green-energy policies are running into the reality of rising electricity demand, especially from artificial intelligence and data centers built by companies such as Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon. He says AI-related electricity demand requires constant 24-hour power and cannot be reliably supported by wind and solar alone. Karen and Steve also discuss the Keystone pipeline, New York pipeline politics, natural gas constraints in New England, offshore wind leverage, and the role of Trump administration energy policy. Steve closes by directing listeners to his book Green Breakdown and website. Closing the New Chapter of the Alan Nathan All-Stars Karen ends the show by saying the Alan Nathan All-Stars are heading into a new chapter, but with Alan Nathan still serving as the program's guiding star. The episode as a whole blends remembrance of Alan with Karen's political and cultural commentary, moving through immigration enforcement, Western civilization, psychiatric drugs, gender ideology, energy policy, and the future of American public debate.

In the season finale, Marina and Nabra preview Golden Thread's 2026 season, from Palestinian performance and stand-up comedy to new Arab American plays and ReOrient. They reflect on curation, community, and the future of Middle Eastern, North African, and Southwest Asian theatre. Kunafa and Shay is a podcast produced for HowlRound Theatre Commons by co-hosts Nabra Nelson and Marina Johnson. Kunafa and Shay discusses and analyzes contemporary and historical Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) and Southwest Asian and North African (SWANA) theatre from across the region. Kunafa and Shay highlights MENA/SWANA plays and theatremakers, spotlights community-engaged work in the region and diaspora, and analyzes the past, present, and future of MENA/SWANA theatre in the United States and beyond. Theatre artists and scholars Nabra Nelson and Marina Johnson bring their own perspectives, research, and special guests in order to start a dialogue and encourage further learning and discussion. The name, Kunafa and Shay, invites you into the discussion in the best way we know how: with complex and delicious sweets like kunafa, and perfectly warm tea (or, in Arabic, shay). Kunafa and Shay is a place to share experiences, discuss ideas, and sometimes engage with our differences. In each country in the region, you'll find kunafa made differently. In that way, we also lean into the diversity, complexity, and robust flavors of MENA/SWANA theatre.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This episode is a deep dive into Golden Thread's ReOrient Festival and the MENATMA convening, exploring how short plays, artistic experimentation, and community infrastructure shape the evolving landscape of Middle Eastern, North African, and Southwest Asian theatre in the United States. Kunafa and Shay is a podcast produced for HowlRound Theatre Commons by co-hosts Nabra Nelson and Marina Johnson. Kunafa and Shay discusses and analyzes contemporary and historical Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) and Southwest Asian and North African (SWANA) theatre from across the region. Kunafa and Shay highlights MENA/SWANA plays and theatremakers, spotlights community-engaged work in the region and diaspora, and analyzes the past, present, and future of MENA/SWANA theatre in the United States and beyond. Theatre artists and scholars Nabra Nelson and Marina Johnson bring their own perspectives, research, and special guests in order to start a dialogue and encourage further learning and discussion. The name, Kunafa and Shay, invites you into the discussion in the best way we know how: with complex and delicious sweets like kunafa, and perfectly warm tea (or, in Arabic, shay). Kunafa and Shay is a place to share experiences, discuss ideas, and sometimes engage with our differences. In each country in the region, you'll find kunafa made differently. In that way, we also lean into the diversity, complexity, and robust flavors of MENA/SWANA theatre.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Marina and Nabra explore how Golden Thread Productions amplifies women's voices and mobilizes global artistic solidarity through What Do the Women Say? and 24 Hours for Palestine, where performance becomes archive, resistance, and collective action. Kunafa and Shay is a podcast produced for HowlRound Theatre Commons by co-hosts Nabra Nelson and Marina Johnson. Kunafa and Shay discusses and analyzes contemporary and historical Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) and Southwest Asian and North African (SWANA) theatre from across the region. Kunafa and Shay highlights MENA/SWANA plays and theatremakers, spotlights community-engaged work in the region and diaspora, and analyzes the past, present, and future of MENA/SWANA theatre in the United States and beyond. Theatre artists and scholars Nabra Nelson and Marina Johnson bring their own perspectives, research, and special guests in order to start a dialogue and encourage further learning and discussion. The name, Kunafa and Shay, invites you into the discussion in the best way we know how: with complex and delicious sweets like kunafa, and perfectly warm tea (or, in Arabic, shay). Kunafa and Shay is a place to share experiences, discuss ideas, and sometimes engage with our differences. In each country in the region, you'll find kunafa made differently. In that way, we also lean into the diversity, complexity, and robust flavors of MENA/SWANA theatre.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Deb Googe and Cara Tivey join Mark Millar on the XS Noize Podcast to discuss The Golden Thread — their debut full-length album together as da Googie + Cara Tivey. da Googie is the solo project of Deb Googe, best known as the bass player in My Bloody Valentine and Thurston Moore Group. Cara Tivey is a pianist and composer whose career includes work with Billy Bragg, Everything But The Girl, Blur, Au Pairs and The Lilac Time. In this episode, Deb and Cara talk about bringing The Golden Thread to Belfast as part of the Oh Yeah Presents immersive series, where the music becomes visual as well as sonic. They discuss how the collaboration began, how Cara's piano changed the shape of da Googie, and how improvised pieces were reshaped into finished songs. They also reflect on creative ownership after decades of working inside other people's music, the challenge of performing the material live, the physical force of My Bloody Valentine, women in alternative music, and why there is no grand master plan for what comes next. For the Belfast performance, The Golden Thread will be presented as an immersive live event at the Oh Yeah Centre, co-produced by Oh Yeah Presents and CQAF. The visuals have been designed by Deb Googe and will be operated and installed by The Fully Automatic Model. Listen to episode #283 of the XS Noize Podcast now. Follow XS Noize: Website: xsnoize.com Instagram: @xsnoizemusic Facebook: XS Noize X: @xsnoizemusic YouTube: @thexsnoizepodcast

Golden ThreadsLast July, Nick Jeffery and I put together a month long review of Rowling's work in celebration of her 60th birthday, a Kanreki party. Every day we posted conversations about each of Rowling's works with Nick discussing a ‘Lake' point, something biographical or bibliographical, and me talking about a ‘Shed' quality of the work, the author's traditional tools, artistry, and meaning.That worked great for about twenty days. Then we ran out of books. What to do for the remaining days of the month?We decided to talk about Golden Threads, the plot points, themes, and twists that run through everything Rowling has written. We started out with a survey of the fifteen-plus already identified by Rowling Re-readers and Fourth Generation types (see here and here) and then with more in depth looks at the ones that were controversial or more difficult to see. We closed off the month with the ‘Lost Child' Golden Thread and the possibility that Rowling's inspiration for the Harry Potter series was the trauma of pre-natal infanticide (‘abortion').As disturbing as that Golden Thread was to many Rowling fans and Feminist Gate Keepers, there was another third-rail string we didn't discuss, namely, the plot point of incest that readers encounter again and again in the Potter and Strike series as well as the stand-alone stories.Incest as Golden ThreadNick and I discuss the Incest Golden Thread on the fly in the conversation above about Strike-Ellacott fandom theories about Sleep Tight, Evangeline and the series finale. Here are some written references if you want to review them by looking at the books in question on your shelf.* Harry PotterThe foundation crime of the Hogwarts Saga is the abuse of Merope Gaunt by her father Marvolo and her brother Morfin. The abuse in question in this children's book series is not explicitly sexual. As with the abuse of Ariana Dumbledore by the Muggle boys, however, that Merope's father and brother violated her is there between the lines; her trauma is so great that she loses her capacity for magic (as she does after her Riddle lover leaves her) and the family does not send her to Hogwarts lest their shameful secret be revealed. No broken Merope, no Lord Voldemort, no Potter family murder and orphan Harry — no series. Though the Saga's foundation crime, the Gaunt family's abuse of its only young woman, is not revealed until Order of the Phoenix, it is the tragedy on which all the core conflicts of the septology are built.* Casual VacancyStuart ‘Fats' Wall is the adopted son of Tessa and Colin Wall. A teenager in Vacancy, he and Krystall Wheedon are the star-crossed lovers around whose choices and behaviors the ensemble drama largely turn. Fats at the end of the book claims responsibility for all the Ghost of Barry Fairbrother posts by means of which the secrets of Padford citizens are spilled.In the climax of the Wall family drama after Robbie's drowning and Krystall's suicide, Tessa reveals to Fats his personal history. His biological mother was only fourteen when he was born, an age that sadly means it is possible-to-likely that he is the fruit of incest. Tessa, a diabetic woman unlikely to carry a baby to term successfully, compelled her unwilling husband to agree to the adoption despite his mental fragility. Again, the foundation crime of this very involved story is incest, the abuse of a young woman by her family. * Lethal WhiteIn the first of only two Rowling books in which every epigraph was taken from a single work, the fourth Strike novel takes all of its headings from Henrik Ibsen's Rosmersholm, a play in which suicide and incest go hand in hand, especially in the White Horse finale. The novel parallels its epigraph source in astonishing ways.The Chiswell family has its secrets. The Minister of Culture hires Strike's agency to find ‘dirt' on Jimmy Knight and Geraint Winn that can used as counter “bargaining chips” to end their capacity to blackmail him. He shares neither what information they have that they are holding over his head to extort money and revenge nor what Billy Knight witnessed years ago. If Jasper or Izzy Chiswell had told Strike this information in the beginning, it is likely the pater familias would not have been murdered. The biggest secrets, of course, are about the sexual relationship between Raphael and his step-mother and the step-son's plans to murder father and eventually Kinvarra in order to be free to spend the millions he'll make from sale of the Stubbs. Not quite incest, a step-mother in bed with her step-son, but something like it.Rosmersholm‘s family secrets are if anything more disturbing. Kroll reveals to Rebecca that Dr. West, her adoptive father, was very likely her biological father as well. It is implied heavily that after her mother's death Rebecca's relationship with Dr. West changed from filial to sexual; Kroll's revelation about this is something of an Oedipus Rex moment. Rebecca realizes that she had been sleeping with her father and the incest taboo crushes her ability to accept Rosmer's overdue marriage proposal, a proposal for which she had convinced the ailing Mrs Rosmer to commit suicide.* Troubled BloodThe psychopathic murderer and torturer of children that the police and public believe killed Margot Bamborough is Dennis Creed. We learn in chapter 8 of Strike 5 via the Peg-Legged PI reading The Demon of Paradise Park that Creed was the incestuous rape off-spring of Agnes Waite and her step-father Awdry, a man who wanted to kill the child at birth but which the mother prevented (to her eventual regret). Awdry abused the boy all through his childhood, especially after Agnes' escape as a young woman (reminiscent of Peggy Nancarrow's flight from St Mawes). Troubled Blood is haunted by the victims of Creed's madness, all of whose deaths can be traced back to Awdry's violent sexual violation of his step-daughter.* Hallmarked ManThe mystery Cormoran Strike agrees with no little hesitation to try to solve is ‘What happened to Rupert Fleetwood?' Decima Longcaster Mullins, mother of Fleetwood's son Lion, believes her baby-daddy was the unidentifiable murdered man in the Ramsey Silver Vault. We learn before that victim's identity is revealed that Fleetwood fled the UK after he learned that the woman he loved was his half-sister and his son the product of unwitting incest. Rowling-Galbraith reveals only in the epilogue that Ian Griffiths murdered Tyler Powell because the young man was determined to rescue the young woman living with Griffith as his daughter who was pregnant with his child. Once again, the foundation crimes of a Rowling work turn on the intentional sexual abuse of a girl by a father-figure, here compounded by an Oedipus Rex like incest-in-ignorance episode. Incest Notes* Fantastic BeastsAs in the Harry Potter novels, there are no explicitly incestuous relationships in the Fantastic Beasts screenplays. The conception of Leta Lestrange, however, checks the ‘rape,' ‘power abuse,' and ‘inter-family' boxes of father-daughter incest nightmare. Her mother, Laurena Kama, was desired by Corvus Lestrange III even though she was married to Mustafa and the mother of Yusof. Corvus compelled her by the Imperius Curse to join him and, while she was under his control, which is to say ‘unable to consent or resist his will,' conceived Leta, who took his name as if her mother had been his wife. Leta unknowingly avenges the Kama family by her switching her younger half-brother Corvus IV with the Dumbledore baby that results in his death by drowning.* IckabogNick Jeffery points out in our conversation that there can be no more incestuous means of conceiving a child than the Ickabog species' parthenogenic reproduction. If one accepts that as incest, the Ickabog's death after delivery and the imprinted character of the Ickaboggle by its first contact post partum have to be read allegorically.* Cuckoo's CallingThere is no mention made in the first Strike novel of John Bristow's having sexually abused his younger also-adopted sibling-sister, Lula Landry. I'm going to include it in these ‘Incest Notes' because I think it possible that the man who killed his brother Charlie and envied his sister Lula ‘played' with her cruelly, which fostered her mental instability. I think this is more than imaginative free association head-canon because of Lula's successful search for and planned meeting her real sibling brother Jonah Agyeman the night of her death. Bristow-Agyeman, the false and true brothers, are figures of erotic and anterotic love in her life, so much that I don't think incest is a stretch for John Bristow, the unloved chick in the nest.Hogwarts Professor is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.So what?There has been a real up-tick in speculation about how the Strike series will finish in its last two books with the guess work largely turning on how the Big Unresolved Mysteries will play out. The reason I've written up these thumbnail etchings of incest occurrences through Rowling's work is because several of the theories Nick and I are seeing in the comment boxes here and on the YouTube HogwartsProfessor channel are incest driven.To get that, a Serious Striker, beyond grasping that incest is a ‘thing' to expect in a Rowling piece like Bad Dad, Divine Mother, Violence Against Women, and at least one Lost Child, has to have in sight at all times three ideas that act as premises:* Closing Trilogy Theory: Hallmarked Man the first of a three book finale which introduces the main characters;There's a real split in Strike fandom about what to think of Hallmarked Man. The great mass of readers on Reddit I'm told and at least one Substack Sage believe it is “the worst book of the series,” a real stinker. Nick and I — and most of the Hogwarts Professor readers who comment on our posts and conversations — in contrast think it is a brilliant book, one that may eventually be considered one of the best in the Strellacott decalogy.The difference is that the one group reads Strike 8 as if it were just like the first seven books in the series, i.e., a stand alone mystery whose cast of characters will in large part disappear from the stage before the next book begins. That working assumption makes the extraordinarily large cast of players in Hallmarked Man and the five different story-lines just with respect to whom the silver vault corpse might be, not to mention the Strike-Ellacott romance and over arching mysteries clues seem a confusing pile-up of plot points and people, few of which made this book fun-to-read. The author seems like she just lost control of the story and threw everything that occurred to her into the story and cut none of it out.Our working theory disagrees with that Just-Like-All-the-Others assumption and finds the possibility that Rowling has just lost her way very unlikely. Having just finished charting each of Strike 8's chapter sets or ‘Parts' and found that each is an intricate ring, as well as those Parts working as a ring, too, believing that the author is asleep at the wheel seems borderline preposterous.We think that the first seven books, each written playfully on the model of its Harry Potter numeric counterpart, are a closed set — and that the last three books in the ten book series are being written as a trilogy in which the Great Mysteries introduced in the first seven will be resolved.Hallmarked Man, as the first book in this three part series, is burdened with introducing all the principal players of this extended finale inside a book whose mystery allows their appearance and character reveal without pointing too obviously to their part in the upcoming drama. Hence Tara, Dino, Valentine, Ralph Lawrence, Sacha, and at long last Rokeby playing the roles they do in this book.* Trilogy will resolve at last the Leda Margaret, Charlotte, and Strike/Ellacott story line mysteries; The end of Strike 10 seems to be a hard stop according to Rowling. She is obliged, consequently, in the next two books to give her readers satisfaction on the many hanging threads in the series, most notably:* The story of Strike's conception, the IED explosion, and his SIB medal;* Peggy Nancarrow, a.k.a., Leda Strike, why she left St Mawes as she did, why she raised her children as she did, and all the circumstances of her seeming suicide (Where's Switch?); and* Charlotte Campbell-Ross, sometimes referred to as the Honorable Milady Bezerko, and the baby she claims to have conceived with Strike, her backstage efforts to upend Strike's relationship with Robin, her break-up with the hotelier billionaire, her suicide note, and, echoing Leda, the circumstances of her seeming suicide.That's the shortest of lists obviously with nothing about Murphy or Robin or the host of other key players in the series. Given the ending of Hallmarked Man, I'm very much inclined to think that Sleep Tight, Evangeline's mystery will turn on where Robin went after Strike's proposal on the stairs which will necessarily involve Murphy, and, forgive me, many of the players from Strike 8 as Rowling-Galbraith begins rolling out the stunning twists hidden beneath the surface of Strike 8. All those fun confrontations with Charlotte's bizarro family, from Emilia at the end of Grave to Tara, Dino, Valentine, and Sacha? My bet is we'll learn in the next books how much Strike and Ellacott missed in their meetings with each.* Serious Strikers think incest is at the heart of the Strike, Nancarrow, and Campbell mysteries.Leda's Conception* Ted's Daughter with an Unknown WomenA real stretch, I know, but Ted, per the invaluable Cormoran Strike Timeline, was fourteen years older than his younger sister Peggy. If you think it inconceivable that Ted was Leda's father, you either imagine that just-barely-teenage boys cannot sire children (see George Hamilton's life for his sexcapades at age twelve with his stepmother) or you make nothing of the fact that Trevik gave up his daughter for his mother's upbringing when his wife died. Perhaps the cause of the Nancarrow house nightmare and Ted's departure for the Army “lest murder be done” was because, a la Hamilton, Leda's mother was not a young lass with whom Ted met outside The Victory but Trevik's abused wife, Ted's own mother. Which is to say he was both Leda's brother and biological father. Hence the otherwise almost inexplicable relationship of Ted, his barren wife, and Peggy-Leda. Just sayin'!Strike's conception:* Son of Leda and Ted;Leda is 23, give or take a year, at Strike's conception early in 1974 and her older brother is 37 and married to Joan who cannot have children. It's possible that Ted is Cormoran's dad, just as Joan is delighted to hear Strike say he is in Troubled Blood, the only barrier being our being told repeatedly that Ted was a “proper man.” Perhaps that repeated telling is a marker that he wasn't always that proper but did his best to set his sister (daughter?) up well with the Rokeby paternity evidence. See ‘Uncle Ted It' for more speculation along these lines.* Son of Leda and Trevik Nancarrow;I'm thinking that if Rowling is pointing to an incest relationship in the Nancarrow family it isn't with “proper man” Ted, the long-suffering and ever vigilant older brother but to the “pure terror” and “hard-drinking” man despised by sister and brother. You'll forgive for thinking that anything to which Rowling-Galbraith is clearly hopeful her readers will believe is not the surprise ending of her ten book series.* Rokeby deception If Strike's or Leda's conception was incestuous, especially if Ted was the father of either, then Rokeby was deceived about his parentage, I presume with Ted's SIB-driven assistance. The best motivation I have read about why Leda was murdered and her death staged as a seeming suicide, beyond even the Mad Guillespie theories, is that she tired of this deception, hence her refusal to accept Rokeby's child support, and intended to tell Cormoran who his father really was. So Ted killed her. Charlotte Conception and Abuse by Father, Relations with Half-Brother:* Tara and Dino's DaughterFiona wrote to me privately to share her theory that Dino is not only the father of Valentine, Cosima, Decima, and Rupert, but also of Charlotte:In response to a post by Cheryl Rose Orrocks on 17 Feb 2026, my current theory is that Dino Longcaster is Charlotte's father and that his son, Valentine Longcaster, will be revealed as her abuser and the possible biological father of Charlotte's children. Hence the 2nd incest storyline will also involve the Longcaster family. This could be why Charlotte's mother, Tara, despised Charlotte so much.If Jago Ross is somehow linked to the matter of the DNA test involving Bijou and Strike, it may be because he had Charlotte's birth children DNA tested to confirm parentage. Maybe Jago discovers he is not the biological father and assumes Strike is, hence the reason he wants to obtain Strike's DNA results.This would need a whole longish post to unfurl but the high points of Fiona's idea is that, just as with the Fleetwoods, Dino impregnated Campbell's wife Tara unknown to the father. When the Campbells divorced (he doesn't seem to have found out?), Dino then became Charlotte's stepfather in addition to being her biological father.And maybe even the father of her children that she claimed were Cormoran's and Jago's? Whew.* Dino's Sexual AbuseRubes posted her theory on a thread here on 3 March that Dino Longcaster abused Charlotte his step-daughter after his marriage to her then mother, Tara Campbell Longcaster:I think Charlotte got involved with Dino as a teenager (whether willingly or not). That is why she ran away and attempted to kill herself. She told her mother who disbelieved her or knew and it is the source of their conflict. Dino was also maybe the stepfather that tried to have her committed.Dino and his daughter [Cosima] gave me Ivanka and Donald Trump vibes. Maybe he sublimated that incestuous desire with young Charlotte. He is also obsessed with looks and perfection and we know Charlotte as Venus is the epitome of beautyI think Charlotte either extorted him all these years or else continued the on-and-off affair so he would help support her lifestyle.He might even be the father of the twins. It would support both the false paternity and incest themes in THM. We also have multiple examples of (step)fathers grooming/abusing their stepdaughters throughout the series.* Valentine or Sacha relations; Strike child, Ross twinsBoth the ‘Dino Did Her' theories suggest in turn that, a la the Brockbank twins Noel and Holly, the Longcaster and Legard half-siblings Valentine and Sacha had sexual relationships with their beloved swinging sis Charlotte. Either man could be the father of the mystery baby she told Strike was theirs and either one could also be the baby daddy of Jago Ross' supposed twins.As Fiona suggests, if the results of Bijou's DNA testing of Strike winds up in Ross' hands — perhaps Rowling makes the whole effort Ross-inspired after he discovers the twins are not his? — he is the one who reveals to Strike that neither of them was the father of Charlotte's only children. If so, I look forward to reading how Rowling has Strike or Robin connect the dots with the incestuous Campbell-Legard-Longcaster family love-pit.ConclusionsDoes incest tie up all the loose threads in this series? No way. I suppose incest or at least cousin-marriage is a way of life in Afghanistan but I don't see how incest explains for us all the questions surrounding the IED blast.But with respect to the several conception questions we've been straddled with, incest definitely throws up some fascinating possibilities (and ‘throws up' reflects the nausea inducing aspects of this viscerally felt taboo). If you accept the Finishing Trilogy Idea and its corollary that all the mysteries will be resolved in the last three books and that Hallmarked Man has given us our cast of characters, then the possibility that the soft-incest of Decima and Rupert with its sort of happy ending in Strike 8 was an introit to an inbreeding heavy finish in the last two books.Please share your thoughts in the comment boxes below about these theories and about my conversation with Nick in the video above!Hogwarts Professor is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hogwartsprofessor.substack.com/subscribe

Ed Bonderenka speaks with Professor James Hankins, the co-author of The Golden Thread that runs through Western Civilization.

A comprehensive overview of the Bible's purpose and message is captured through its 7 major doctrines—from inspiration and the divinity of Christ to reconciliation and the return of Christ—offering a clear framework to understand Scripture's story and its call to faith and unity with God.

Hébergé par Ausha. Visitez ausha.co/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.

This episode is a deep dive into Golden Thread's evolution. Sahar Assaf reflects on leadership, hybridity, and making Middle Eastern, North African, and Southwest Asian theatre beyond stereotypes—centering community, complexity, and art as resistance in moments of crisis. Kunafa and Shay is a podcast produced for HowlRound Theatre Commons by co-hosts Nabra Nelson and Marina Johnson. Kunafa and Shay discusses and analyzes contemporary and historical Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) and Southwest Asian and North African (SWANA) theatre from across the region. Kunafa and Shay highlights MENA/SWANA plays and theatremakers, spotlights community-engaged work in the region and diaspora, and analyzes the past, present, and future of MENA/SWANA theatre in the United States and beyond. Theatre artists and scholars Nabra Nelson and Marina Johnson bring their own perspectives, research, and special guests in order to start a dialogue and encourage further learning and discussion. The name, Kunafa and Shay, invites you into the discussion in the best way we know how: with complex and delicious sweets like kunafa, and perfectly warm tea (or, in Arabic, shay). Kunafa and Shay is a place to share experiences, discuss ideas, and sometimes engage with our differences. In each country in the region, you'll find kunafa made differently. In that way, we also lean into the diversity, complexity, and robust flavors of MENA/SWANA theatre.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Playwright Yussef El Guindi reflects on Golden Thread's pivotal second decade; writing in the post-9/11 landscape; and how Middle Eastern, North African, and Southwest Asian theatre carved space for nuance, resistance, and community in the US. Kunafa and Shay is a podcast produced for HowlRound Theatre Commons by co-hosts Nabra Nelson and Marina Johnson. Kunafa and Shay discusses and analyzes contemporary and historical Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) and Southwest Asian and North African (SWANA) theatre from across the region. Kunafa and Shay highlights MENA/SWANA plays and theatremakers, spotlights community-engaged work in the region and diaspora, and analyzes the past, present, and future of MENA/SWANA theatre in the United States and beyond. Theatre artists and scholars Nabra Nelson and Marina Johnson bring their own perspectives, research, and special guests in order to start a dialogue and encourage further learning and discussion. The name, Kunafa and Shay, invites you into the discussion in the best way we know how: with complex and delicious sweets like kunafa, and perfectly warm tea (or, in Arabic, shay). Kunafa and Shay is a place to share experiences, discuss ideas, and sometimes engage with our differences. In each country in the region, you'll find kunafa made differently. In that way, we also lean into the diversity, complexity, and robust flavors of MENA/SWANA theatre.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This episode is a deep dive into the founding of Golden Thread Productions with founding artistic director Torange Yeghiazarian—tracing how one artist's vision grew into a movement that reshaped Middle Eastern theatre in the US. Kunafa and Shay is a podcast produced for HowlRound Theatre Commons by co-hosts Nabra Nelson and Marina Johnson. Kunafa and Shay discusses and analyzes contemporary and historical Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) and Southwest Asian and North African (SWANA) theatre from across the region. Kunafa and Shay highlights MENA/SWANA plays and theatremakers, spotlights community-engaged work in the region and diaspora, and analyzes the past, present, and future of MENA/SWANA theatre in the United States and beyond. Theatre artists and scholars Nabra Nelson and Marina Johnson bring their own perspectives, research, and special guests in order to start a dialogue and encourage further learning and discussion. The name, Kunafa and Shay, invites you into the discussion in the best way we know how: with complex and delicious sweets like kunafa, and perfectly warm tea (or, in Arabic, shay). Kunafa and Shay is a place to share experiences, discuss ideas, and sometimes engage with our differences. In each country in the region, you'll find kunafa made differently. In that way, we also lean into the diversity, complexity, and robust flavors of MENA/SWANA theatre.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It's one of the oldest debates in political philosophy: Do good laws make good men, or do good men make good laws? Minds have been wrestling with this question since the days of Petrarch and Machiavelli, but both sides may have insights that can inform modern political philosophy. James Hankins is a professor of history at Harvard University, a visiting professor of humanities at the University of Florida's Hamilton School, and author of numerous books including Virtue Politics: Soulcraft and Statecraft in Renaissance Italy and Political Meritocracy in Renaissance Italy: The Virtuous Republic of Francesco Patrizi of Siena. He's also the co-author of the textbook, The Golden Thread, which focuses on the history of Western civilization.  Greg and James discuss Renaissance humanism, sparked by Petrarch's response to 14th‑century crises, and explore the humanist education focused on virtue, rhetoric, and moral philosophy. They also delve into Machiavelli's critiques and pushback against humanism, how Chinese Confucianism compares with the West's legal system, and why James believes virtue should be brought back into modern education. *unSILOed Podcast is produced by University FM.* Episode Quotes: Why we need both systems and good character 11:47: I think I agree with the people who think there should be a balance between good character and the formation of good character and expertise and wisdom and competence and the people who say that systems can solve all your problems and you just get the right systems and thinkful function. I think that is a very, kind of left, left hemispheric way of understanding human nature. Good law is nothing without good people 07:59: If you have great laws, but corrupt judges, you are going to have bad laws. If you have laws being written by corrupt people, that is even worse. So the humanist is saying the whole problem is, the human heart, right? This is where the problem is. And what we have to do is to bring back antiquity. Is democracy only the legitimate form of government? 47:14: Today, we might say that a democracy is the only legitimate form of government where a republic reflects the will of the people. But they would not say that in the Renaissance. They talk about better and worse, that monarchs are better when you have got a good monarch. But when you have a bad monarch, the monarch of the republic is better. It is that kind of calculation. It is not the way we think about political regimes today as being, legitimate or illegitimate. Show Links: Recommended Resources: Petrarch Francesco Patrizi Niccolò Machiavelli Isocrates Lorenzo Valla Thomas Aquinas Cola di Rienzo Guest Profile: Faculty Profile at Harvard University Faculty Profile at Hamilton School at the University of Florida Professional Website Guest Work: Virtue Politics: Soulcraft and Statecraft in Renaissance Italy The Cambridge Companion to Renaissance Philosophy Political Meritocracy in Renaissance Italy: The Virtuous Republic of Francesco Patrizi of Siena The Golden Thread: A History of the Western Tradition, Volume I: The Ancient World and Christendom Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Marina and Nabra take a sweeping look at thirty years of Middle Eastern, North African, and Southwest Asian theatre in the United States—from Golden Thread's founding in 1996 to a growing ecosystem of bold, community-rooted companies shaping the American stage through urgency, artistry, and refusal. Kunafa and Shay is a podcast produced for HowlRound Theatre Commons by co-hosts Nabra Nelson and Marina Johnson. Kunafa and Shay discusses and analyzes contemporary and historical Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) and Southwest Asian and North African (SWANA) theatre from across the region. Kunafa and Shay highlights MENA/SWANA plays and theatremakers, spotlights community-engaged work in the region and diaspora, and analyzes the past, present, and future of MENA/SWANA theatre in the United States and beyond. Theatre artists and scholars Nabra Nelson and Marina Johnson bring their own perspectives, research, and special guests in order to start a dialogue and encourage further learning and discussion. The name, Kunafa and Shay, invites you into the discussion in the best way we know how: with complex and delicious sweets like kunafa, and perfectly warm tea (or, in Arabic, shay). Kunafa and Shay is a place to share experiences, discuss ideas, and sometimes engage with our differences. In each country in the region, you'll find kunafa made differently. In that way, we also lean into the diversity, complexity, and robust flavors of MENA/SWANA theatre.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to Exponential View, the show where I explore how exponential technologies such as AI are reshaping our future. I've been studying AI and exponential technologies at the frontier for over ten years. Each week, I share some of my analysis or speak with an expert guest to make light of a particular topic. To keep up with the Exponential transition, subscribe to this channel or to my newsletter: https://www.exponentialview.co/ ----- AI has become so embedded in how I work that I can no longer cleanly separate it from my thinking. That raises a question I find genuinely unsettling: is intensive AI use making me a sharper thinker, or quietly doing the opposite? In this episode I pull back the curtain on my full research and writing process — the custom tools, the friction points, and the places where I'm still not sure I've got it right. For Ezra Klein, having AI summarize material is a disaster for original thought. But my AI systems are designed to protect the cognitive work that has to stay human, while they handle everything else. Knowing where to draw that line turns out to be the hardest and most important question. I covered: 00:00 - Is AI worsening our thinking? 02:35 - Ezra Klein on AI and the death of original thought 04:02 - Cognitive offloading vs cognitive surrender 09:20 - Signal detection at scale 11:06 - Why I use several AI personas to scan for different insights 13:37 - AI tells me what NOT to think about 16:25 - The value of quietness 19:07 - Small notebooks, small ideas 20:01 - Writing reveals what you don't yet know 23:24 - The golden thread 25:20 - Speaking drafts aloud 28:05 - How I stress-test my arguments before publishing 29:35 - Using AI to stress-test my own house views 31:44 - Stylometer: my AI style and grammar tool 33:10 - Did AI make the thinking better? For more on this week's topics, subscribe to my newsletter https://www.exponentialview.co/ ----- Where to find me: Exponential View newsletter: https://www.exponentialview.co/ Website: https://www.azeemazhar.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/azhar/ Twitter/X: https://x.com/azeem Production by EPIIPLUS1 Production and research: Baba Films, Chantal Smith, Marija Gavrilov. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this solo conversation, Amy Wheeler makes a clear case for yoga therapy as a distinct clinical discipline—not a “licensed healthcare modality + a few yoga tools.” She explores why yoga therapy has struggled to define its contribution, and she proposes a steady answer: yoga therapy's central work is helping people reorganize their inner landscape through a coherent philosophical and practical framework—most clearly articulated in Patañjali's Yoga Sūtra, with the Eight Limbs as a regulatory pathway for mind, nervous system, body, relationship, and meaning.What you'll hear in this episodeWhat “regulatory framework” means in this series: regulating mind, nervous system, body, perception, relationships, and connection to the EarthThe “golden thread” Amy feels the yoga therapy field risks losing aA practical comparison of domain-specific problem solving in other professions, including:Physical therapy: movement dysfunction, strength, mobility, pain through biomechanical/neuromuscular modelsOccupational therapy: functional capacity, ADLs, sensory integration, environmental adaptationPsychotherapy/counseling: cognition, emotion regulation, behavior patterns, diagnostic frameworks and treatment modelsSocial work: psychosocial context, systems, resources, advocacy, and the web of supportThe key distinction: yoga therapy does not start with “What is broken and how do we fix it?”Yoga therapy's starting question: How are you perceiving and relating to your lived experience—and what patterns are shaping suffering or freedom?The clinical emphasis on capacity (what's available, what can be strengthened) rather than diagnosisYoga therapy as an integrative map across “layers” of the human system (physical, energetic/breath, mental-emotional, relational, and sacred/spiritual)A clinical example: when “back pain” becomes a doorway into insight about life patterning, stress physiology, and meaning—not just mechanicsWhy we don't need to speak traditional yogic language in medical settings—but we do need to retain the models internally and translate skillfullyHow the guṇa model supports daily self-regulation by tracking fluctuations in mood, energy, motivation, clarity, and reactivityWhy “embodied awareness” becomes essential when people cannot access cognition reliably under stress, pain, or trauma—and why bottom-up regulation mattersA grounded caution: yogic models vary by lineage, can be oversimplified or “whitewashed,” and can be hard to standardize—yet they remain clinically powerful when held with integrityAmy's argument for where yoga therapy can be sustainable in healthcare: often on the health education / behavioral health / worksite wellness / stress reduction side, while remaining a parallel, adjunctive support to medical careThe call to action: yoga therapy needs a unifying clinical framework and clinical reasoning that stays aligned with its own scope and philosophical foundationThe culminating proposition: Patañjali's Yoga Sūtra offers a coherent, ethical, clinically applicable framework—especially through Chapter 2 and the Eight LimbsKey concepts and phrases from the episode“Regulatory framework” (broad, layered, relational)“Golden thread” (the essential philosophical lens of yoga therapy)“A different set of glasses” (a different starting question than biomedical/diagnostic paradigms)“Reorganization of the inner landscape” (a tangible way to describe yoga therapy's deeper aim beyond symptom management)“Translator” and “bridge” (the yoga therapist's role in interdisciplinary settings)“Whole person over diagnosis” (holistic mapping rather than narrow domain reduction)“Freedom = inner spaciousness” (not escape, but a changed inner relationship to experience)“Clinical reasoning within our framework” (not borrowing another field's logic to justify our work)Books Amy recommends (mentioned in the episode)T.K.V. Desikachar — The Heart of YogaT.K.V. Desikachar — Reflections on the Yoga Sūtra of PatañjaliRanju Roy & David Charlton — Embodying the Yoga Sūtra (Amy's strongest recommendation for translating Yoga Sūtra into yoga therapy)What's ahead in the seriesAmy shares that this year of The Yoga Therapy Hour will stay closely aligned with the Eight Limbs as a regulatory framework, and she's beginning a longer-term writing project to explicitly translate Patañjali's Yoga Sūtra into a clinically usable foundation for yoga therapy.Listener reflection promptsWhere in your work (or life) do you notice yourself defaulting to “problem-fixing,” and what changes when you shift to “perception and relationship”?If yoga therapy's domain is reducing suffering through clarity and self-regulation, how would you describe that in the language of your current setting?What is one way you can strengthen your ability to translate yogic models into interdisciplinary language without losing the model itself?What does “reorganizing the inner landscape” mean for you personally—and how do you recognize when it's happening?ClosingAmy closes by encouraging listeners to spend time with the Yoga Sūtra—not as an abstract philosophy, but as a practical guide for daily living, clinical reasoning, and long-term change through discernment, self-awareness, and the steady cultivation of freedom.School of Integrative Health at NDMU:https://www.ndm.edu/academics/integrative-health Master of Science in Yoga Therapy at NDMU:https://www.ndm.edu/academics/integrative-health/yoga-therapy Explore NDMU's Post-Master's Certificate in Therapeutic Yoga Practices, designed specifically for licensed healthcare professionals:https://www.ndm.edu/academics/integrative-health/yoga-therapy/post-masters-certificate-in-therapeutic-yoga-practices Try our Post-Bac Ayurveda Certification Program at NDMU:https://www.ndm.edu/academics/integrative-health/ayurveda/post-baccalaureate-ayurveda-certification #IntegrativeHealth #HealthcareEducation #InterprofessionalEducation #GraduateSchool #NDMUproud #SOIHproud #SOIHYoga #SOIHAyurveda #NDMUYoga #NDMUAyurveda #SOIHGraduateSchool 

Women's History Month has begun and International Women's Day is this Sunday. Women around the world will be celebrated and celebrating. The UN theme this year is “Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls”Here in the Bay Area, there is no shortage of events marking the day. One is the annual "What Do the Women Say?" An extravaganza of women's performance held every year for the past 30 years by Golden Thread Productions that features Middle Eastern and North African artists.They're marking their 30th year with a show that has music, song, poetry and plays- and dedicating it to the women of Iran. To learn more about the event, Hana Baba, host of KALW's Crosscurrents, talked to their brand new artistic director Nabra Nelson, who is a playwright herself.

Kathleen O’Toole, associate vice president for K-12 Education at Hillsdale College, is joined by James Hankins to discuss the first volume of his co-authored series of textbooks, The Golden Thread: A History of the Western Tradition, and the importance of classical education. James Hankins is a visiting professor of humanities at the Hamilton School for Classical and Civic Education at the University of Florida. Learn more: https://k12.hillsdale.edu/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Every aspect of a believer's relationship with God is connected to the massive, yet often underrated, doctrine of our union with Christ. This sermon explores how being "in Him" provides a new identity that frees us from the performance treadmill and provides the strength to face daily struggles through the Spirit

Running Grave, book Seven of the ten novel Cormoran Strike murder mystery series by Joanne Murray (‘J. K. Rowling') writing as ‘Robert Galbraith,' is what the author described as her “cult novel.” The cult in question is the Universal Humanitarian Church led by Jonathan Wace; the Strike-Ellacott Agency is hired by a father to rescue his youngest son who has disappeared into the UHC's Chapman Farm property. Robin Ellacott successfully infiltrates the compound and she and the young man escape.Soon after Robin's near-thing deliverance and return to London, Strike attends a UHC rally in that city with hopes that he will be spotted by Wace and invited to meet back-stage. ‘Papa J' takes the bait and he and Strike square off in the cult leader's dressing room. Strike reveals much of what Robin and he have learned about the UHC's criminal past and present in that verbal confrontation. Strike exits only after delivering a warning; stay away from his partner or “I will burn your church to the f*****g ground” (Part 8, chapter 112, 808; italics in original).In the midst of this tense back-and-forth between private detective and religious guru, Strike thrice mentions a book published in 1930, Who Moved the Stone?, a relatively short work of popular Christian apologetics:‘I see you're one of those who prides themselves on disrespecting rites, mysteries, and religious observance,' said Wace, smiling again. ‘I shall pray for you, Cormoran. I mean that sincerely.'‘I'll tell you one book I've read, that's right up your street,' said Strike. ‘Came across it in a Christian mission where I was spending a night, just outside Nairobi. This was when I was still in the army. I'd drunk too much coffee, and there were only two books in the room, and it was late, and I didn't think I'd be able to make much of a dent in the Bible, so I went for Who Moved the Stone? by Frank Morison. Have you read it?'‘I've heard of it,' said Wace, sitting back in his chair, still smiling. ‘We recognise Jesus Christ as an important emissary of the Blessed Divinity, though, of course, he's not the only one.'‘Oh, he had nothing on you, obviously,' said Strike. ‘Anyway, Morison was a non-believer who set out to prove the resurrection never happened. He did an in-depth investigation into the events surrounding Jesus' death, drawing on as many historical sources as he could find, and as a direct result, was converted to Christianity. You see what I'm driving at?'‘I'm afraid not,' said Wace.‘What questions d'you think Morison would've wanted answered, if he set out to disprove the legend of the Drowned Prophet?' (805)This calling into question of the UHC's historical claim to other-worldly power causes those of Wace's inner-circle minions to chafe and counter with traditional Oriental wisdom about wrestling with pigs. Strike again alludes to Morison's book:‘Is that from the I Ching?' asked Strike, looking from Zhou to Mazu. ‘Funnily enough, I've got a few questions on the subject of degradation, if you'd rather hear those? No?' he said, when nobody answered. ‘Back to what I was saying, then.'‘Let's suppose I fancy writing the new Who Moved the Stone? – working title, “Why Paddle in the North Sea at Five a.m.?” As a sceptical investigator of the miraculous ascension into heaven of Daiyu, I think I'd start with how Cherie knew Jordan Reaney would oversleep that morning. Then I'd be finding out why Daiyu was wearing a dress that made her as visible as possible in the dark, why she drowned off exactly the same stretch of beach as your first wife and – parallels with Who Moved the Stone? here – I'd want to know where the body went. But unlike Morison, I might include a chapter on Birmingham' (805-806).John Granger and Nick Jeffery, as part of their Kanreki celebration of Rowling-Galbraith's 60th birthday last July, discussed Texts-Within-the-Text as a Golden Thread that runs through all of the author's work. Most of those embedded texts, though, are of Rowling's invention, e.g., Dumbledore's Chocolate Frog Card, Tales of Beedle the Bard, Bombyx Mori, The Predictions of Tycho Dodonus, Wace's The Answer, etc. It's fairly rare for Rowling-Galbraith to drop a reference to a real world book even in the relatively non-magical Strike series.In addition to the I Ching, however, Running Grave has Prudence Donleavy recommend two psychology texts to Robin (Lifton's Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: A Study of Brain Washing in China and Hassan's Combatting Cult Mind Control: Protection, Rescue, and Recovery from Destructive Cults) in addition to Strike's weaponization of Morison's Who Moved the Stone?John and Nick chose to discuss Who Moved the Stone? this week rather than an embedded text that works as a template (cf., Aurora Leigh) or a Rowling favorite-book that shaped her perspective (e.g., I Capture the Castle) or a real-world book tied to the plot of Hallmarked Man (Bridge to Light, Pike's Morals and Dogma) because it seemed to connect the dots of several recent Rowling revelations:* the “God-shaped vacuum” tweet; * the unforced admission that she suffers from VWD, a blood-clotting disorder; * the search for the coming Big Twist in the final books of the Strike series;* the Psalter charm on the Strike9 Christmas gift bracelet-of-clues; * the Church of St Giles in the Fields' existence and its incredible absence from the first eight Strike books despite its overshadowing Denmark Street; and* the absence of Strike-series parallels to the Christian content and meaning of the Potter series, especially with respect to the Struggle to Believe in Deathly Hallows.For reasons the two discuss, all the above are pointers to possible Christian content of Strike books nine and ten, even that this content will be a substantial part of the mind-bending surprise finish to the series, namely, Strike's transformation from a skeptic with respect to all things religious to believer. What bigger clue has Rowling presented in the series for that possibility than Strike's confronting a religious “fraud and hypocrite” (799) with a book by an English skeptic about the evidence for belief in Christ's Resurrection from the dead?Nick and John discuss both Who Moved the Stone? itself, its use in Running Grave in the Strike-Wace confrontation, and its possible meaning as a pointer to revelations and transformations to come:1. Why is a Rowling Reader interested in Frank Morison's Who Moved the Stone? ? 2. Who was ‘Frank Morison‘? What is the story behind the writing of Who Moved the Stone? ? What place does it have, if any, in UK Christian apologetics?3. Do you think there are echoes of ‘Morison's conclusions in the Passion parts of Dorothy Sayers' Man Born to be King series for the BBC (1941)? 4. Chesterton per Wikipedia wrote in his review of Stone that he had been “under the impression it was a detective story” when he picked it up; how much does it read like a murder mystery, something akin to how Strike might sift through the evidence of a case?5. Five instances of deductive insights Ross-Morison offers by reasoning that even most Christian believers would have considered —6. A compare-and-contrast exercise of different perspectives -- John, believer, familiar with passion gospels; Nick, seeker, not so much -- how did their reading experiences differ?7. Why would Rowling-Galbraith have Strike mention this book, one that fosters conversions to Christian faith, in his face-to-face meeting with a religious charlatan? Shouldn't he be belittling faith at that point?8. If there is a single ‘keyword' in Stone, John believes it is “vacancy.” Nick and John discuss (1) the possibility that Rowling may have read this book as a young person and been struck by the God-shaped “vacancy” or “Vacuum” in her own life and (2) whether it could have been an influence on the Casual Vacancy title. They review Rowling comments about “the light of God shining from every soul” in her Vacancy interviews.9 - John expresses his bewilderment that Robin and Cormoran have never discussed their faith backgrounds or lack of one in the course of their relationship, especially in light of their UHC cult experiences and Talbot's True Book with its occult and Christian content. Nick explains the fall out of the English Civil War to John.10. Could Strike's familiarity with and seeming sympathy with the arguments of Stone a place-marker for future conversations about faith, not to mention revelations of why both Strike and Robin are so casual about the vacancy of a spiritual dimension in their lives?The remarkable take-away from this conversation was a discussion of the possibility that Rowling's tweeted ‘Psyche Ascendant' suggests the imminent death of Robin Ellacott in Strike 9 with Strike 10 being fallout of that death in the life of Cormoran Strike. ‘Fall out' meaning Strike will learn the truth about all the questions to which he mistakenly thought he knew the answers — the suicides of his mother and Charlotte Campbell-Ross, the character of Jonny Rokeby, Ryan Murphy's real motivation for pursuing Robin Ellacott, Cormoran's relationships with his half-sister Lucy and “oldest mate” Dave Polworth — as well as ‘Who Killed the Better Half of the Strike Ellacott Detective Agency?'John thinks the revelations coupled with Strike's grief may drive him to his knees in St Giles in the Fields Church, a ‘Digging Dobby's Grave on Easter morning' parallel. Make your case in the comment boxes below if you think that he has lost his mind somewhere on the drive east from Oklahoma to the Carolinas.The Granger family is now well settled in their South Carolina bungalow and Hogwarts Professor will be posting with regularity. Nick and John thank you for your patience and for your support!Links to Sources and Subjects Mentioned in Conversation:‘A Ring Reading of Running Grave, Part Eight' (John Granger)Who Moved the Stone? by Frank Morison (Amazon)‘Albert Henry Ross' aka ‘Frank Morison' (Wikipedia)‘Frank Morison and Who Moved the Stone? Advertiser, Novelist, Apologist, Spy' (Philip Johnson, Lecturer, Morling College, New South Wales, 2018)* Most of the information that Nick and John shared about Ross/Morison and his book Who Moved the Stone? came from this carefully researched paper.‘Philip Johnson' UC Berkeley Law Professor, author Darwin on Trial (Wikipedia)Darwin Retried: An Appeal to Reason (Norman MacBeth)Dorothy Sayers' Man Born to be King series for the BBC (1941)?G. K. Chesterton review of Who Moved the Stone? in The Illustrated London News (5 April 1930)‘Reading Troubled Blood as a Medieval Moral Play and Allegory:' Roy Phipps the “bloody bleeder” as King Philip of Spain (John Granger)‘Justin Martyr and the Fourth Gospel' (Fr John Romanides, 1958, on the relationship of the Synoptic Gospels and the Gospel According to St John)An examination of the Biblical sources reveals the fact that underlying the New Testament is the catechetical principle that one is able to discern the will and acts of God only according to the measure and degree in which he has been liberated from demonic influences and by spiritual exercise learns to distinguish between divine and satanic energies. This liberation is accomplished in Christ by the power of the Spirit but its effect on man is not automatic. Where it does begin its process is generally gradual as is evident in the tardy way in which the Apostles came to a full understanding of the way the kingdom of God had come upon them. Failure to understand and partake of the mysteries of the kingdom is attributed to continuance in the ways of Satan (e.g., Mtth. 13, 1-23; Mk. 4, 1-20; Lk. 8, 4-15; II Cor. 4, 3-4).Before a person was admitted to baptism, he had to be instructed in the old Testament revelations of the divine activities as well as in the ways of satan. Otherwise, he would continue being blinded by the devil and would be in danger of confounding divine and satanic activities as happened in the case of the Jews who went so far as to say that Jesus cast out demons by the power of Belzebub (Mtth. 12, 22-37; Mk. 3, 22-30; Lk. 11, 14-23). This is the blasphemy against the Spirit which cannot be forgiven. Those who are not able to recognize the energies of God are those who by hearing hear but do not understand and seeing see but do not discern (Is. 6, 9; Mtth. 13, 14; Mk. 4,12; Lk. 8, 10; John 12, 40; Acts 28, 26 ff.). The fourth gospel is a continuous play on the divinity of Christ as witnessed to by the divine activities which He shares in common with the Father and the Spirit and which are eventually understood by those who are defeating the devil but continuously misunderstood by those blinded by the prince of darkness. The fourth gospel is understood only by those who have been previously exercised in the discernment of the saving and sanctifying acts of God in both the Old Testament and Synoptic tradition, apart from whose soteriological presuppositions it is totally meaningless.Contemporary Case for Religious Belief in General:Believe: Why Everyone Should Be ReligiousAdvice to the Serious SeekerWhy Religion Matters: The Fate of the Human Spirit in an Age of DisbeliefThe Last Superstition: A Refutation of the New AtheismAtheist Delusions: The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable EnemiesSeven Christian Apologetics ClassicsThe Case for Christ (Movie version!)Evidence that Demands a Verdict: Life Changing Truth for a Skeptical WorldMere Christianity (C. S. Lewis)Handbook of Christian ApologeticsExposing Myths about ChristianityDid the Resurrection Happen?Elements of Faith: An Introduction to Orthodox TheologyHogwarts Professor is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hogwartsprofessor.substack.com/subscribe

Nick is joined by John Granger and special guest star Guido in their temporary headquarters as they await the move to Granger Towers. We discuss the revelation that J. K. Rowling has an inherited blood clotting disorder, and speculate that this could be von Willebrand Disease, and discuss what this could mean for a Golden Thread that John first explored more than five years ago. Nick surveys the instances of blood in all her published work, and John identifies a theme that Nick has missed - the Eucharist. Could this be the key to understanding the final narrative arch of the Strike series?Links Discussed in this Episode:The revelation of J. K. Rowling's condition:https://www.hogwartsprofessor.com/j-k-rowling-and-the-roy-phipps-connection/John discusses the Golden Thread on the Reading Writing Rowling Podcast in 2020.https://audioboom.com/posts/7566531-episode-37-troubled-blood-and-the-faerie-queene-strike-5John Granger's book How Harry Cast his Spell exploring the Christian content and meaning in Harry Potter.https://www.amazon.com/How-Harry-Cast-His-Spell/dp/1414321880John's visit to Denmark Street and St Giles-in-the-Fields in 2016.https://web.archive.org/web/20171130161236/https://www.hogwartsprofessor.com/visiting-cormoran-strikes-pub-and-denmark-street-premises-in-london/Victor Turner - Colour Classification in Ndembu Ritual (1966)https://gwern.net/doc/psychology/vision/1966-turner.pdfThe Blood Survey:Harry Potter and the Philosopher's StoneThe word “Blood” appears 33 times.dragon's bloodThe Bloody BaronHarry thought Flint looked as if he had some troll blood in him.One book had a dark stain on it that looked horribly like blood.That's unicorn blood.It put its hand into its pocket and pulled out a blood-red stone.Harry Potter and the Chamber of SecretsThe word “Blood” appears 46 times.not a drop of magical blood in their veins‘Wizard blood is counting for less everywhere –'No Malfoy's worth listenin' ter. Bad blood, that's what it is.‘No one asked your opinion, you filthy little Mudblood,' he spat.who think they're better than everyone else because they're what people call pure-blood.Most wizards these days are half-blood anyway.‘… I smell blood … I SMELL BLOOD!'Harry Potter and the Prisoner of AzkabanThe word “Blood” appears 21 times.‘It all comes down to blood, as I was saying the other day. Bad blood will out. Now, I'm saying nothing against your family, Petunia'Ron and Hermione were standing underneath it, examining a tray of blood-flavoured lollipops.‘BLOOD!' Ron yelled into the stunned silence. ‘HE'S GONE! AND YOU KNOW WHAT WAS ON THE FLOOR?'Harry Potter and the Goblet of FireThe word “Blood” appears 37 times.Now that they had removed their furs, the Durmstrang students were revealed to be wearing robes of a deep, blood red.‘B-blood of the enemy … forcibly taken … you will … resurrect your foe.'I wanted Harry Potter's blood. I wanted the blood of the one who had stripped me of power thirteen years ago, for the lingering protection his mother once gave him, would then reside in my veins, too …Harry Potter and the Order of the PhoenixThe word “Blood” appears 85 times.‘Yoooou!' she howled, her eyes popping at the sight of the man. ‘Blood traitor, abomination, shame of my flesh!'‘Because I hated the whole lot of them: my parents, with their pure-blood mania, convinced that to be a Black made you practically royal‘The pure-blood families are all interrelated,' said Sirius. ‘If you're only going to let your sons and daughters marry pure-bloods your choice is very limited; there are hardly any of us left.‘Terrified? I hope I, Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, have never been guilty of cowardice in my life! The noble blood that runs in my veins –'Again and again Harry wrote the words on the parchment in what he soon came to realise was not ink, but his own blood.‘It seems there was some rather unusual kind of poison in that snake's fangs that keeps wounds open. They're sure they'll find an antidote, though; they say they've had much worse cases than mine, and in the meantime I just have to keep taking a Blood-Replenishing Potion every hour.‘While you can still call home the place where your mother's blood dwells, there you cannot be touched or harmed by Voldemort. He shed her blood, but it lives on in you and her sister. Her blood became your refugeHarry Potter and the Half-Blood PrinceThe word “Blood” appears 105 times.‘If I had murdered Harry Potter, the Dark Lord could not have used his blood to regenerate, making him invincible –'Harry had never hated Malfoy more than as he lay there, like an absurd turtle on its back, blood dripping sickeningly into his open mouth.‘My daughter – pure-blooded descendant of Salazar Slytherin – hankering after a filthy, dirt-veined Muggle?'It was as though something large and scaly erupted into life in Harry's stomach, clawing at his insides: hot blood seemed to flood his brainI've learned more from the Half-Blood Prince than Snape or Slughorn have taught me in –'‘Harry, I'd like you to meet Eldred Worple, an old student of mine, author of Blood Brothers: My Life Amongst the Vampires – and, of course, his friend Sanguini.'Blood spurted from Malfoy's face and chest as though he had been slashed with an invisible sword. He staggered backwards and collapsed on to the waterlogged floor with a great splash, his wand falling from his limp right hand.‘Payment?' said Harry. ‘You've got to give the door something?' ‘Yes,' said Dumbledore. ‘Blood, if I am not much mistaken.' ‘Blood?'Harry Potter and the Deathly HallowsThe word “Blood” appears 125 times.As I reveal in chapter sixteen, Ivor Dillonsby claims he had already discovered eight uses of dragon's blood when Dumbledore “borrowed” his papers.'MUDBLOODS and the Dangers They Pose to a Peaceful Pure-Blood Society‘Splinched,' said Hermione, her fingers already busy at Ron's sleeve, where the blood was wettest and darkest.Was it his own blood pulsing through his veins that he could feel, or was it something beating inside the locket, like a tiny metal heart?‘Drop your wands,' she whispered. ‘Drop them, or we'll see exactly how filthy her blood is!'Every drop of magical blood spilled is a loss and a waste.‘Precisely!' said Dumbledore. ‘He took your blood and rebuilt his living body with it! Your blood in his veins, Harry, Lily's protection inside both of you! He tethered you to life while he lives!'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find ThemThe word “Blood” appears 11 times.The Kappa feeds on human blood but may be persuaded not to harm a person if it is thrown a cucumber with that person's name carved into it.Re'em blood gives the drinker immense strength, though the difficulty in procuring it means that supplies are negligibleSalamander blood has powerful curative and restorative properties.Quidditch Through the AgesThe word “Blood” appears 6 times.The first Bludgers (or ‘Blooders') were, as we have seen, flying rocksThe Tales of Beedle the BardThe word “Blood” appears 5 times.There is not a witch or wizard in existence whose blood has not mingled with that of MugglesCasual VacancyThe word “Blood” appears 97 times.Then pain such as he had never experienced sliced through his brain like a demolition ball. He barely noticed the smarting of his knees as they smacked onto the cold tarmac; his skull was awash with fire and blood; the agony was excruciating beyond endurance, except that endure it he must, for oblivion was still a minute away.All they could get out of her at first was, ‘The Fields, the bloody, bloody Fields …'‘Mrs Weedon's new pills are upsetting her stomach,' said Parminder calmly. ‘So we're doing your bloods today, aren't we?'Sharp, hot pain and the blood came at once; when she had cut herself right up to her elbow she pressed the wad of tissues onto the long wound, making sure nothing leaked onto her nightshirt or the carpet.Some of her self-hatred had oozed out with the blood.Pagford, bloody Pagford. Samantha had never meant to live here.That morning, at breakfast, she had tested her blood sugar with the glucometer for the first time, then taken out the prefilled needle and inserted it into her own belly. It had hurt much more than when deft Parminder did it.Did she find it easier to accept him as a separate individual than if he had been made from her flesh and blood? Her glucose-heavy, tainted blood …The Cuckoo's CallingThe word “Blood” appears 64 times.Her accidental assailant was massive; his height, his general hairiness, coupled with a gently expanding belly, suggested a grizzly bear. One of his eyes was puffy and bruised, the skin just below the eyebrow cut. Congealing blood sat in raised white-edged nail tracks on his left cheek and the right side of his thick neck, revealed by the crumpled open collar of his shirt.Perhaps a knife would plunge between his shoulder blades as he walked through the front door of her flat; perhaps he would walk into the bedroom to discover her corpse, wrists slit, lying in a puddle of congealing blood in front of the fireplace.‘Pushing someone over a balcony's a spur-of-the-moment thing,' said Strike, as though he had felt her inner wince. ‘Hot blood. Blind temper.'When Lucy's lips were pursed she bore a strong resemblance to their Aunt Joan, who was no blood relation to either of them.You're a cold-blooded b*****d, aren't you? No f*****g wonder old Jonny's not keen on you.'Strike, however, knew Charlotte as intimately as a germ that had lingered in his blood for fifteen yearsSergeant Gary Topley lying in the blood-spattered dust of that Afghanistan road, his face unscathed, but with no body below the upper ribs.The SilkwormThe word “Blood” appears 140 times.Message after message, stuck out on the bloody cliffs at Gwithian trying to get reception—Strike had never taken the time to consider, although Polworth, a man of many pithy theories, took the view that such women (‘nervy, overbred') were subconsciously looking for what he called ‘carthorse blood'.‘—and she says he won't let them sell. There was bad blood between Fancourt and Quine.'Strike would have advised any friend to leave and not look back, but he had come to see her like a virus in his blood that he doubted he would ever eradicate‘So much for love being a mirage and a chimera,' sighed Mrs Ellacott as she tossed down her pen. ‘This is no good. I wanted blood and guts, Michael. Blood and guts.'Career of EvilThe word “Blood” appears 115 times.He had not managed to scrub off all her blood. A dark line like a parenthesis lay under the middle fingernail of his left hand.He was good at reading people. He had read and charmed the girl who had died yesterday among the blood-soaked peach towels.“He doesn't like talking about personal stuff. Blood out of a stone.”On a high metal table sat a pillow in a plastic evidence bag; it was covered in dark brown bloodstains. A cardboard box next to it contained bottles of spirits. Where there was bloodshed, there was always alcohol.Strike remembered the wide patch of blood on the sheets, the excoriated skin on her wrist where Rhona had tried to free herself.Nevertheless, those long hours of driving through the darkness when he had known an encounter with the police might be fatal, when he had feared a request to turn out his pockets or a shrewd-eyed passenger noticing dried blood on him had taught him a powerful lesson.He was wearing a yellow T-shirt and on his right forearm was the rose tattoo, which had undergone a modification: a dagger now ran through it, and drops of blood fell out of the flower towards the wrist.If they'd been five minutes later she'd've been a goner. It took two blood transfusions to keep her alive.Lethal WhiteThe word “Blood” appears 143 times.He had been left with a deep dislike of being driven by anybody else and, to this day, with dreams of blood and agony that sometimes woke him, bathed in sweat.She could imagine Raphael bloody at the steering wheel, and the broken figure of the young mother on the road, and the police cars and the incident tape and the gawpers in passing cars.“Last night, when he was stoned. He said he knew a government minister who had blood on his hands.”“Would you mind waiting outside the curtain? We need to take bloods, change his drips and his catheter.”Strike could taste blood, but, from what he could see, the splintered and torn remnants of Jimmy's placard had been scattered by the mêlée.There was a piece of thick cream writing paper headed with a red Tudor rose, like a drop of blood, and the printed address of the house in which Robin stood.The old knife wound on her arm had been gaping open and it was the trail of her spurting blood that her pursuers were following, and she knew she would never make it to the place where Strike was waiting for the bag of bugs . . .‘She come into the yard, seen what had happened, ran towards Mr Chiswell, grabbed the hammer and just swung for him. Blood everywhere. It was horrible,'Troubled BloodThe word “Blood” appears 171 times.“Yeah, well, blood and soil's never been my—”She'd heard stories that Ilsa gave titles like cheap thrillers: the Night of the Bread Knife, the Incident of the Black Lace Dress and the Blood-Stained Note.She believed, I think, like Suhrawardy, that ‘bloodshed and disorder are not necessarily evil in themselves, if resorted to for a noble cause.'”And even in the seventies, before DNA testing, the police did pretty well with fingerprints, blood groups and so forth.“Anyway, one of the things she told Lawson was that she'd sponged blood off the spare-room carpet the day Margot disappeared.“According to Roy, the age difference and the blood relationship ought to have constituted a total prohibition on the relationship in the minds of all decent people. But as we know, he managed to overcome those qualms seven years later.In the second week of November, Joan's chemotherapy caused her white blood cell count to plummet dangerously, and she was admitted to hospital.She'd only once in her life had to face the possibility that she might be pregnant, and could still remember the relief that had flooded her when it became clear that she wasn't, and wouldn't have to face still more contact with strangers, and another intimate procedure, more blood, more pain.“But there was something bloodless about the man. Not wet exactly, but—” Oonagh gave a sudden laugh. “‘Bloodless'—you'll know about his bleeding problem?”The demon he “saw” was carrying a cup of blood and a sword.‘She – never seemed – to remember – that I couldn't – protect her – couldn't – do anything – if somebody tried – to hurt – because I'm a useless – bleeder … useless … bloody … bleeder … 'A few pages inside was a brown smear. Strike halted the cascade of pages to examine it more closely. It was, he suspected, dried blood, and had been wiped across a few lines of writing.This I will say more, to wit, that those who walk in their sleep, do, by no other guide than the spirit of the blood, that is, of the outward man, walk up and down, perform business, climb walls and manage things that are otherwise impossible to those that are awake.She'd taken the full force of Strike's elbow between her eyebrows, and she realised her nose was bleeding only when she accidentally sprayed blood onto the kind American's white shirt front.‘It – was – a – f*****g – joke,' said Morris, examining the blood smeared on his hands. ‘I only meant to make you jump – f**k's sake—'The Ink Black HeartThe word “Blood” appears 214 times.There was bad blood between Strike and Mitch Patterson, the boss of the agency in question, which dated back to the time Patterson had put Strike himself under surveillance.‘Thanks – I ripped off a nail opening the last one. Yeah, so she was banging on about blood diamonds, and I…'Having explained the Christian symbolism of the pelican, which was feeding her chicks with her own blood, Groomer wondered aloud whether Legs was ready for a coffee‘Second letter of the alphabet, eighth letter: BH. Stands for blood and honour. Blood and Honour are a neo-Nazi skinhead group.'Might still be a bit of Edie's blood on the grass. You could frame it. Sell it on eBay.Vilepechora: I fkn love a redhead. Proper Viking bloodStrike parked, then used the old man's handkerchief and his own saliva to remove from his face all traces of blood, of which there was a surprising amount.Red Soles lay where he'd been deposited on the platform, blood trickling from his inner ear.They fort there was a vampire in the real cemetery, in the seventies. Edie fort it was corny, 'avin' a vampire, but I drew 'im so she could see what I was finking. I wanted 'im to be inept, like, tryna kill tourists but never gettin' enough blood to live on, so 'e was, like, weak an' feeble…'‘Julius Evola. Far-right philosopher. Ludicrous racial theories. A rather determinedly eccentric classmate of mine at Radley was partial to him. Used to carry The Myth of the Blood around and read it ostentatiously at meal times.It was impossible to know whether Ross had turned pale, because the man had always looked as though antifreeze ran in his veins rather than blood, but he'd certainly become unnaturally still.Robin stamped hard on his bare foot before both slipped in another puddle of Inigo's blood.As the door shuddered, Robin saw, by the dim glow from a skylight, Katya slumped on the floor beside the bath, blood all over the hands she was pressing against her stomach.The Running GraveThe word “Blood” appears 194 times.It's important to say that my mother – I was raised to call her Louise, because the UHC forbids naming blood relationships – isn't stupid.It'll have been used for chopping wood, but Oisin was convinced it had blood on it. We couldn't get it out, though. We couldn't reach.I don't know what's normal for a birth but she seemed to lose a huge amount of blood. I was present when the baby was actually born because one of the birthing team couldn't cope any more and I volunteered to take her place.Strike's imagination insisted on showing him a vivid picture of Charlotte submerged in her own blood, her black hair floating on the clotted surface.There was a puddle of blood seeping from under one of the toilet cubicle doors. She could see Lin's bloodstained legs, which weren't moving.They committed nine murders in all, one of them of a pregnant actress, and those young women were right in the thick of the action, ignoring the victims' pleas for mercy, dipping their fingers in the victims' blood to scrawl – Jesus,' said Strike, with a startled laugh, as he remembered a detail he'd forgotten, ‘they wrote “pigs” on the wall as well. In blood.'The Hallmarked ManThe word “Blood” appears 246 times.Some might have considered her flat tone insensitive, given Charlotte's recent death in a blood-filled bathtub, but as Strike was more than happy to dispense with prurient questions or faux sympathyThe body was blood group A positive – that's the same.‘The splash patterns from the blood were un-fakeable, according to forensics. There was also a partial footprint that had clearly been made while the blood was still liquid.'The back wall broke the monotony of the sea of silver, because it displayed many antique aprons and sashes embroidered in gold, and Robin's eye lingered on an apron embroidered with a bloody severed head, held up by a single hand.‘Yeah, somefing like… an' 'e dropped 'is doob tube, remember, Daz? An' 'e told you it was a f****n' blood sample, like you was gonna nick it off 'im.'Previously a Conservative MP, he now headed various charitable and political organisations and committees, was ever-ready with a quote for the papers, sprinkled his conversation with Latin tags and capitalised to the full on the English public's weakness for a toff who seemed ready to laugh at himself, having a fondness for appearing on political quiz shows, where he played to the hilt the part of genial, bumbling blue-blood.Blood must've started pooling in the lower part of the body before they started to mutilate it. Maybe that was deliberate. Maybe they didn't want blood seeping out under the vault door.'As Strike watched, life and blood started to drain from the brindle, its legs twitching ever more feebly as blood flooded from its jugular.Robin took the turn into the road at speed, then looked sideways at Strike, one of whose hands was pressed to his inner thigh, blood seeping through his fingers.The bodies of Jim Todd and a woman Strike assumed to be his mother, Nancy, were lying on the dirty carpet in a foul miasma encouraged by the gas fire that continued to blaze. Todd, who was fully dressed, had been stabbed multiple times. His now black blood had soaked his shirt and the floor beneath himBlood now gushing from his head wound, Strike succeeded in grabbing the wrist of Griffiths' knife-holding hand, then slammed it down on the rough concrete floor,He could feel a weird coldness, as though flesh that had never been exposed to fresh air was meeting it for the first time, and this contrasted unpleasantly with the continuing flow of warm blood.Possibly combining heavy blood loss and neat whisky hadn't been the very best idea, Strike was prepared to concede that now, but he had to keep talking, because he wanted the man to know he knew.The IckabogThe word “Blood” appears 11 times.‘If Beamish was half-eaten, why wasn't there more blood?' asked the second.soldiers who'd been sent back to the marsh to find out what happened to Private Nobby Buttons had discovered nothing but his bloodstained shoes, a single horseshoe, and a few well-gnawed bones.Finally, the same man cut off the head of one of the hens and made sure plenty of blood and feathers was spread around, before breaking down the side of the coop to allow the rest of the chickens to escape.In hundreds, Ickabogs were slain, Our blood poured on the land like rain, Our ancestors like trees were felled And still men came to fight us.The Christmas PigThe word “Blood” appears 2 times.They all seemed to be bits of humans. Some were mouths: one was loudly chewing gum and others smoking stinking cigarettes, which made the glowing red dots and the nasty smell. There were noses, ears, a single finger, its nail chewed to a bloody stub, several oozing spots which were so disgusting Jack could barely look at them, and a couple of fists, which were pounding the ground in a menacing fashion as though they couldn't wait to start hitting someone.The Cursed ChildThe word “Blood” appears 22 times.ALBUS (with power and strength) No, you need to listen to me, you said it yourself – how much blood is on my father's hands. Let me help you change that. Let me help correct one of his mistakes. Trust me.POLLY CHAPMAN The Blood Ball of course – who you – the Scorpion King, are taking to the Blood Ball.POLLY CHAPMAN Mudbloods of course. In the dungeons. Your idea, wasn't it? What's going on with you? Oh Potter, I've got blood on my shoes again . . .DRACO We were capable of having children, but Astoria was frail. A blood malediction, a serious one. An ancestor was cursed . . . it showed up in her. You know how these things can resurface after generations . . .Fantastic Beasts (Screenplay)The word “Blood” appears 2 times.Fantastic Beasts and the Crimes of GrindelwaldThe word “Blood” appears 20 times.A baby Chupacabra—part lizard, part homunculus, a blood-sucking creature of the Americas—is chained to GRINDELWALD'S chair.SKENDER Once trapped in the jungles of Indonesia, she is the carrier of a blood curse. Such Underbeings are destined, through the course of their lives, to turn permanently into beasts.We see TEENAGE DUMBLEDORE and TEENAGE GRINDELWALD facing each other in a barn. Both score their palms with their wands. Now bleeding, they interlace their hands . . .DUMBLEDORE turns his head away, fighting the impulse to cover the glass again. Bracing himself, he looks up.From their bloody palms rise two glowing drops of blood, which mingle and merge to create one. A metal shape begins to form around the droplet, becoming more defined and intricate. It is GRINDELWALD'S vial.NEWT It's a blood pact, isn't it? You swore not to fight each other.Fantastic Beasts and the Secrets of DumbledoreDumbledore stares at him, then slowly brings a hand into view and reveals: the BLOOD TROTH. As he cradles it, its chain slowly slithers between Dumbledore's fingers, as if alive.Theseus nods, eyeing the troth, watching as the DROPLETS OF BLOOD circle one another like weights in a clock.The blood troth flashes red and flies free, caroming off the floor and to the wall. As he draws his wand, taking aim, the troth's chain, still tethered to his arm, constricts, burrowing deep into his flesh.CREDENCE I'm a Dumbledore. You abandoned me. The same blood that runs my veins runs yours. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hogwartsprofessor.substack.com/subscribe

Do you apologize when someone else bumps into you? Do you scan the room to ensure everyone else is happy, leaving yourself exhausted and invisible?This isn't just "being nice"—it is a biological survival strategy known as the Fawn Response.In the final episode of our Nervous System Reset mini-series, we tackle the hidden trauma response of People Pleasing. We move beyond the mindset of "just say no" and use Somatic Healing to teach your body that it is safe to take up space.In this guided session, you will learn:The Science of Fawning: Why your nervous system chooses to "merge" with others to avoid conflict.Somatic Grounding: Using the "Dinosaur Tail" and "Golden Thread" techniques to find your physical center.The "Bubble of Authority": A powerful physical exercise to define your personal boundaries and stop energy leaks.Boundary Affirmations: Rewiring the brain to understand that "My 'No' is a complete sentence".Key Affirmation from this episode: "I do not need to earn love by being useful. It is safe for me to disappoint others to protect myself." Complete the Series:Ep 2: Escaping Functional Freeze (The "Shutdown" Response)Ep 3: Calming the Racing Mind (The "Fight or Flight" Response)Share the Healing: If this series helped you understand your own nervous system, please Share this episode with a friend who needs a reset. You can text them the link right now—it might be the permission they need to set a boundary today.

It's one of our favorite episodes of the year! Cole and Terry discuss their favorite books from 2025 and a few for next year as well.  Let us know your favorites from this year!   Chapters: 00:00 Introduction to the Best Books of 2025 03:02 Reflections on Reading Habits 05:56 Exploring Hasidic Judaism 08:46 Navigating Technology in Parenting 12:06 Christian Perspectives on Parenting 15:06 Art, Beauty, and Christianity 18:01 Insights from Tim Keller 20:51 The Role of Rituals in Life 23:51 Churchill and World War II 27:00 British Politics and John Major 29:53 The Influence of Christianity on Western Values 32:48 The Golden Thread of Western Civilization 36:06 Fiction and Science Fiction Recommendations

Welcome to the Hogwarts Professor New Year's Celebration! John and Nick look back to a packed 2025, as John looks forward to big changes in 2026. From the marathon Kanreki celebration in July to the joys of sharing The Hallmarked Man with friends around the world and plans for The Hogwarts Professor in 2026. John Granger, Nick Jeffery and the HogPro faculty wish you and your families a happy, healthy and fulfilled new year!1.) John, this time last year you said “I'm hopeful that 2025 will be the most exciting year in Hogwarts Professor's 20+ year history, at least the busiest since the madhouse period following the publication of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.” As someone who was part of the initial fandom frenzy, how did this year compare?Not anything like 2007 which was a continuous love fest for Harry Potter and that series' author, Woman of the Year, etc. I was on national teevee repeatedly in the run-up to Deathly Hallows publication and the weblog and podcasts and book sales and speaking dates all did numbers they will almost certainly never do again. Rowling world was the world undivided and I rode that tsunami wave for several years afterwards.Times have changed. Rowling is a much more influential and consequently divisive figure. Her legacy is proving to be at least as great in the political realm as it is in literature with almost 14 million people reading her tweets and her books not selling that well if very well by any other measure.And our role at Hogwarts Professor has changed correspondingly. We sided with Team Rowling against the Gender Theory Extremists in 2020 and were cancelled in consequence. No book deals, no speaking dates, and no podcasts because I refused to bend the knee to Potter fandom's collective effort to cancel Rowling as a transphobic murderer for stating simple biological and psychological truths.In 2025, though, as I hoped last December and January, we re-emerged as leaders of the Royal Society of Rowling Readers. I am still ostracised, of course, from Potter fandom conventions and the like as well as from Strike podcasts, but our conversations, Nick, have an ever growing following globally and locally and one participating in the best conversations anywhere about the artistry and meaning of Rowling's work.It's been a great year and I am again hopeful, especially in light of our move east, that 2026 will be another break through year at Hogwarts Professor.Nick and John share their highlights of 2025 - 2.) Non-Rowling HogPro HighlightNick - Suzanne Collins - Sunrise on the Reaping Elizabeth Baird-Hardy's posts inspired me to not just read the Hunger Games series, but Gregor the Overlander as well.John: The closing of ‘The Rowling Library' magazine3.) Highlight from the Lake:Nick - Rowling's blood disorder - von Willebrand DiseaseJohn: Tough Call! High on my list were (1) Rowling's legal fund for defending women discriminated against for gender critical beliefs and (2) Rowling in Greenland but I'm going to go with both Rowling's 7 August ‘Lake and Shed' Tweets and Rowling's 12 September ‘Changes in Beliefs' tweeting post Charlie Kirk.4.) Highlight from the Shed:Nick - the Golden Threads! We have shared “Pregnancy Traps” and “Lost Child” threads this year which join “Bad Dad” and “Ghosts” which feature front and centre in “Hallmarked Man” John: Mythology – the forgotten Shed tool or more precisely the one neglected by even the most serious Strikers and Potter Pundits despite our efforts here really came to the fore in the wake of Rowling's tweet post Hallmarked Man kerfuffle along with the advent of mythological mavin Dimitra Fimi's into our conversations.5.) Highlight from Rowling Inc:Nick - The all-cast audio editions of Harry PotterJohn: Casting decisions about Bronte Studios/Netflix casting decisions for the small screen teevee adaptations – Black Snape!6.) Highlight from The Hallmarked Man release:Nick - That first English language sneak peek from Germany and the Robin ectopic pregnancy reveal!John: The realisation that for the first time Rowling wasn't writing a self-contained Strike mystery with over-arching story details but the first of a three-part series-ending piece in which many of the players from the book will be returning in feature roles.7.) Highlight book 9 and 10 tease:John - Cupid and PsycheNick - J. K. Rowling's fourth (or fifth) charm bracelet.8.) John Introduces the Kanreki Project and its relationship to fourth generation potter scholarship….· 55 total Substack posts 2023-2024· 3 posts Jan-June 2025…· 31 posts in July and 34 since (today #69)The Goal: Shift the Rowling Reader focus from latest book to work as a whole with the three critical taxonomy categories of Lake springs, Shed tools, and Golden Thread as our guides or lensesThe Means: the Kanreki blitz of Lake, Shed, and Golden Thread highlights from all of Rowling's work in celebration of Rowling's 60th birthday (the old) and the follow-up engagement with Serious Strikers before and after the publication of Hallmarked Man (the new)The Results:We nowhere near the finish line or even, I think, the avalanche tipping point that an authorised critical biography will push us over, but we have cleared the forest and prepared the field for that event, work that we will take another quantum leap forward in 2026 with our Lake, Shed, and Golden Thread Rowling Studies 101 online class.Which is to say that this is the year that the Substack Platform has really taken off, with an engaging and intelligent comments section that is really unparalleled, certainly J. K. Rowling fandom. I think much of this has been generated by our video conversations here. We have moved from the audio only Rowling Studies podcast; Nick, as the technical wizard, can you give us a peek behind the curtain? How have we done this, and what's next?9.) One of the reasons I'm exploring better quality audio and video, is that we can start creating content that can be used as a reference, potentially for many years. Once we can do this, then we can start offering online courses, can we say anything yet about our plans, John?John: As soon as I'm settled in, we'll finish the Hallmarked Man ring charting (I've been listening to the painful Part Five chapters while packing…) and then offer a free five part introduction to L/S/GT thinking and survey of what is known in those categories followed by a ten week course for those wanting a much deeper appreciation of Rowling, roots, branches, and leaves10.) John and Nick Wish Fulfillment Predictions for 2026John: Special guests on our shows – Elizabeth Baird-Hardy, Beatrice Groves, Lindsey and Company from Strike FansNick: A proper interview with Beatrice Groves, Dimitry Fimi or John Granger. I'm more than happy to be the impartial invigilator.John: Critical Biography news, More Rowling Biographical RevealsNick: A biography! (Authorised)John: Michael is Doorstepped and Tells All!Nick: A book! We know Rowling has the plots for a further 5 books one of which is “futuristic” but not set in space. But not the WB television reboot, that is scheduled for 2027!John: Rowling Confirms ‘Ending Trilogy Theory'Nick: Rowling to talk about Fantastic Beasts – this will be difficult… John: Rowling is Special Guest on Hogwarts Professor ShowNick: A get together, with The HogPro team.Apologies for limited commenting on threads and posting during my family relocation!Thank you for your patience, support, and prayers since November and in the coming month! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hogwartsprofessor.substack.com/subscribe

Does this holiday season feel heavier than it should? Are emotions feeling closer to the surface, leaving you exhausted, anxious, or unsteady without knowing why? What if this isn't just "holiday stress," but a massive energetic transition that is literally dissolving your past? Michael welcomes back Jim Self, spiritual teacher and co-founder of Mastering Alchemy, to explain exactly what is happening beneath the surface of this overwhelming time. Jim reveals the shocking truth: We are in the middle of a massive transition from a third-dimensional state of reaction and duality into a new state of Wellbeing.  This isn't just about coping; this is about understanding that you cannot take your "baggage" with you where we are going. Discover why linear time is dissolving, how the "monster under the bed" is actually just an old towel, and the specific tools you need to dissolve the shadows before they bite. Key Topics: Moving out of the 3rd dimension (reaction, duality, linear time) and why it feels so "choppy" right now. The Baggage Rule: Why you cannot take your old wounds and beliefs ("baggage") with you into the new frequency. A simple, powerful visualization to instantly explode negative thoughts and remove unfinished emotions from your space. Linear Time vs. Present Time: Why living in the past creates suffering, and how "Present Time" is the only place where wellbeing exists. How we are finally weaving the emotional flow of Mu with the structure of Atlantis to create a new, unbreakable "Golden Thread" of love and intelligence. The 2026 & 2027 Acceleration: Jim's prediction on why the next two years will dissolve the memory of "not being okay" and lead to a spectacular expansion of consciousness. Why asking "What's wrong with me?" attracts more pain, and how to shift your attention to dissolve it instantly. If you are ready to stop arguing for your limitations and start remembering who you truly are, this message will help you find the excitement in the unknown. Join the Inspire Nation Soul Family!

Merry Christmas! In between looking at houses to rent and packing up the Granger house in Oklahoma City, Nick and John put together this yuletide conversation about perhaps the most neglected of Rowling's influences, Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle. John was a reluctant reader, but, while listening to the audio book, reading the Gutenberg.com file on his computer, and digging the codex out of his packed boxes of books, the author of Harry Potter's Bookshelf was totally won over to Nick's enthusiasm for Castle.In fact, John now argues that, even if Rowling didn't read it until she was writing Goblet of Fire as some have claimed, I Capture the Castle may be the best single book to understand what it is that Rowling-Galbraith attempts to do in her fiction. Just as Dodie Smith has her characters explain overtly and the story itself delivers covertly, When Rowling writes a story, like Smith it is inevitably one that is a marriage of Bronte and Austen, wonderfully accessible and engaging, but with important touches in the ‘Enigmatist' style of Joyce and Nabokov, full of puzzles and twists in the fashion of God's creative work (from the Estecean logos within every man [John 1:9] continuous with the Logos) rather than a portrait of creation per se. Can you say ‘non liturgical Sacred Art'?And if you accept, per Nick's cogent argument, that Rowling read Castle many times as a young wannabe writer? Then this book becomes a touchstone of both Lake and Shed readings of Rowling's work — and Smith one of the the most important influences on The Presence.Merry Christmas, again, to all our faithful readers and listeners! Thank you for your prayers and notes of support and encouragement to John and for making 2025 a benchmark year at Hogwarts Professor. And just you wait for the exciting surprises we have in hand for 2026!Hogwarts Professor is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.The Twelve Questions and ‘Links Down Below' Referred to in Nick and John's I Capture the Castle Conversation:Question 1. So, Nick, we spoke during our Aurora Leigh recording about your long term project to read all the books that Rowling has admitted to have read (link down below!), first question why? and secondly how is that going?Rowling's Admitted Literary InfluencesWhat I want is a single internet page reference, frankly, of ‘Rowling's Admitted Literary Influences' or ‘Confessed Favorites' or just ‘Books I have Read and Liked' for my thesis writing so I needn't do an information dump that will add fifty-plus citations to my Works Cited pages and do nothing for the argument I'm making.Here, then, is my best attempt at a collection, one in alphabetical order by last name of author cited, with a link to at least one source or interview in which Rowling is quoted as liking that writer. It is not meant as anything like a comprehensive gathering of Rowling's comments about any author; the Austen entry alone would be longer than the whole list should be if I went that route. Each author gets one, maybe two notes just to justify their entry on the list.‘A Rowling Reading of Aurora Leigh' Nick Jeffery Talking about ‘A Rowling Reading of Aurora Leigh' Question 2. ... which has led me to three works that she has read from the point of view of writers starting out, and growing in their craft. Which leads us to this series of three chats covering Aurora Leigh by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith and the Little Women series by Louisa May Alcott. I read Castle during the summer. Amid all the disruptions at Granger Towers, have you managed to read it yet? How did you find it?Capturing Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle: Elizabeth Baird-Hardy (October 2011)Certain elements of the story will certainly resonate with those of us who have been to Hogwarts a fair few times: a castle with an odd combination of ancient and modern elements, but no electricity; eccentric family members who are all loved despite their individual oddities (including Topaz's resemblance to Fleur Delacour); travel by train; a character named Rose who may have been one of the reasons Rowling chose the name for Ron and Hermione's daughter; descriptions of food that make even somewhat questionable British cuisine sound tasty; and inanimate objects that have their own personalities (the old dress frame, which Rose and Cassandra call Miss Blossom, is voiced by Cassandra and sounds much like the talking mirror in Harry's room at the Leaky Caldron).But far more than some similar pieces, I Capture the Castle lends something less tangible to Rowling's writing. The novel has a tone that, like the Hogwarts adventures, seamlessly winds together the comic and the crushing in a way that is reflective of life, particularly life as we see it when we are younger. Cassandra's voice is, indeed, engaging, and readers will no doubt see how the narrative voice of Harry's story has some of the same features.A J. K. Rowling Reading of I Capture the Castle: Nick Jeffery (December 2025)Parallels abound for Potter fans. The Mortmain's eccentric household mirrors the Weasleys' chaotic warmth: loved despite quirks, from Topaz's nude communing with nature (evoking a less veiled Fleur Delacour) to Mortmain's intellectual withdrawal. Food descriptions—meagre yet tantalising—prefigure Hogwarts feasts, turning humble meals into sensory delights. Inanimate objects gain voice: the family dress-frame “Miss Blossom” offers advice, akin to the chatty mirrors or portraits in Rowling's world. Even names resonate—Rose Mortmain perhaps inspiring Ron and Hermione's daughter—and train journeys punctuate the plot.The Blocked Writer: James Mortmain, a father who spent his fame early and now reads detective novels in an irritable stupor, mirrors the “faded glory” or “lost genius” archetypes seen in Rowling's secondary characters, such as Xenophilius Lovegood and Jasper Chiswell.The Bohemian Stepmother: Topaz, who strides through the countryside in only wellington boots, shares the whimsical, slightly unhinged energy of a character like Luna Lovegood or Fleur Delacour.Material Yearning: The desperate desire of Cassandra's sister, Rose, to marry into wealth reflects the very real, non-magical pressures of class and poverty that Rowling weaves into Harry Potter, Casual Vacancy, Strike and The Ickabog.Leda Strike parallels: Leda Fox-Cotton the bohemian London photographer, adopts Stephen, the working-class orphan, and saves him from both unrequited love and the responsibility that comes with the Mortmain family.Question 3. [story of finishing the book last night by candle light in my electricity free castle] So, in short Nick, I thought it astonishing! I didn't read your piece until I'd finished reading Capture, of course, but I see there is some dispute about when Rowling first read it and its consequent influence on her as a writer. Can you bring us up to speed on the subject and where you land on this controversy?* She First Read It on her Prisoner of Azkaban Tour of United States?tom saysOctober 21, 2011 at 4:00 amIf I recall correctly, Rowling did not encounter this book until 1999 (between PoA & Goblet) when, on a book tour, a fan gave her a copy. This is pertinent to any speculation about how ‘Castle' might have influenced the Potter series.* Rowling Website: “Books I Read and Re-Read as a Child”Question 4. Which, when you consider the other books on that virtual bookshelf -- works by Colette, Austen, Shakespeare, Goudge, Nesbit, and Sewell's Black Beauty, something of a ‘Rowling's Favorite Books and Authors as a Young Reader' collection, I think we have to assume she is saying, “I read this book as a child or adolescent and loved it.” Taking that as our jumping off place, John, and having read my piece, do you wish you had read it before writing Harry Potter's Bookshelf?Harry Potter's Bookshelf: The Great Books behind the Hogwarts Adventures John Granger 2009Literary Allusion in Harry Potter Beatrice Groves 2017Question 5. So, yes, I certainly do think it belongs -- with Aurora Leigh and Little Women -- on the ‘Rowling Reader Essential Reading List.' The part I thought most interesting in your piece was, of course, the Shed elements I missed. Rowling famously said that she loved Jo Marsh in Little Women because, in addition to the shared name and the character being a wannabe writer, she was plain, a characteristic with which the young, plain Jane Rowling easily identified. What correspondences do you think Little Jo would have found between her life and Cassandra Mortmain's?* Nick Jeffery's Kanreki discussion of Rowling's House on Edge of Estate with Two Children, Bad Dad ‘Golden Thread' (Lethal White)Question 6. Have I missed any, John?* Rockefeller Chapel, University of ChicagoQuestion 7. Forgive me for thinking, Nick, that Cassandra's time in church taking in the silence there with all her senses may be the biggest take-away for the young Rowling; if the Church of England left their chapel doors open in the 70s as churches I grew up in did in the US, it's hard to imagine Jo the Reader not running next door to see what she felt there after reading that passage. (Chapter 13, conversation with vicar, pp 234-238). The correspondence with Beatrice Groves' favorite scene in the Strike novels was fairly plain, no? What other scenes and characters do you see in Rowling's work that echo those in Castle?* Chapter 13, I Capture the Castle: Cassandra's Conversation with the Vicar and time in the Chapel vis a vis Strike in the Chapel after Charlotte's Death* Beatrice Groves on Running Grave's Chapel Scene: ‘Strike's Church Going'Question 8. I'm guessing, John, you found some I have overlooked?Question 9. The Mortmain, Colly, and Cotton cryptonyms as well as Topaz and Cassandra, the embedded text complete with intratextuual references (Simon on psycho-analysis), the angelic servant-orphan living under the stairs (or Dobby's lair!) an orphan with a secret power he cannot see in himself, the great Transformation spell the children cast on their father, an experiment in psychomachia a la the Shrieking Shack or Chamber of Secrets, the hand-kiss we see at story's end from Smith, love delayed but expressed (Silkworm finish?), the haunting sense of the supernatural everywhere especially in the invocation that Rose makes to the gargoyle and Cassandra's Midsummer Night's Eve ritual with Simon, the parallels abound. Ghosts!* Please note that John gave “cotton” a different idiomatic meaning than it has; the correct meaning is at least as interesting given the Cotton family's remarkable fondness for all of the Mortmains!* Kanreki ‘Embedded Text' Golden Thread discussion 1: Crimes of Grindelwald* Kanreki ‘Embedded Text' Golden Thread discussion 2: Golden Thread Survey, Part II* Rose makes an elevated Faustian prayer to a Gargoyle Devil: Chapter IV, pp 43-46* Cassandra and Simon celebrate Midsummer Night's Eve: Chapter XII, pp 199-224Let's talk about the intersection of Lake and Shed, though, the shared space of Rowling's bibliography, works that shaped her core beliefs and act as springs in her Lake of inspiration and which give her many, even most of the tools of intentional artistry she deploys in the Shed. What did you make of the Bronte-Austen challenge that Rose makes explicitly in the story to her sister, the writer and avid reader?“How I wish I lived in a Jane Austen novel.” [said Rose]I said I'd rather be in a Charlotte Bronte.“Which would be nicest—Jane with a touch of Charlotte, or Charlotte with a touch of Jane?”This is the kind of discussion I like very much but I wanted to get on with my journal, so I just said: “Fifty percent each way would be perfect,” and started to write determinedly.Question 10. So, I'm deferring to both Elizabeth Barrett Browning and J. K Rowling. Elizabeth Barrett Browning valued intense emotion, social commentary, and a grand scope in literature, which led her to favour the passionate depth of the Brontës over the more restrained, ironical style of Jane Austen. Rowling about her two dogs: “Emma? She's a bundle of love and joy. Her sister, Bronte, is a bundle of opinions, stubbornness and hard boundaries.”Set in the 30s, written in the early 40s, but it seems astonishingly modern. Because her father is a writer, a literary novelist of the modern school, do you think there are other more contemporary novelists Dodie Smith was engaging than Austen and Bronte?Question 11. Mortmain is definitely Joyce, then, though Proust gets the call-out, and perhaps the most important possible take-away Rowling the attentive young reader would have made would have been Smith's embedded admiration for Joyce the “Enigmatist” she puts in Simon's mouth at story's end (Chapter XVI, pp 336-337) and her implicit criticism of literary novels and correction of that failing. Rowling's re-invention of the Schoolboy novel with its hidden alchemical, chiastic, soul-in-crisis-allegories and embedded Christian symbolism can all be seen as her brilliant interpretation of Simon's explanation of art to Cassandra and her dedication to writing a book like I Capture the Castle.* Reference to James Joyce by Simon Cotton, Chapter IX, p 139:* The Simon and Cassandra conversation about her father's novels, call it ‘The Writer as Enigmatist imitating God in His Work:' Chapter XVI, pp 331-334* On Imagination as Transpersonal Faculty and Non-Liturgical Sacred ArtSacred art differs from modern and postmodern conceptions of art most specifically, though, in what it is representing. Sacred art is not representing the natural world as the senses perceive it or abstractions of what the individual and subjective mind “sees,” but is an imitation of the Divine art of creation. The artist “therefore imitates nature not in its external forms but in its manner of operation as asserted so categorically by St. Thomas Aquinas [who] insists that the artist must not imitate nature but must be accomplished in ‘imitating nature in her manner of operation'” (Nasr 2007, 206, cf. “Art is the imitation of Nature in her manner of operation: Art is the principle of manufacture” (Summa Theologia Q. 117, a. I). Schuon described naturalist art which imitates God's creation in nature by faithful depiction of it, consequently, as “clearly luciferian.” “Man must imitate the creative act, not the thing created,” Aquinas' “manner of operation” rather than God's operation manifested in created things in order to produce ‘creations'which are not would-be duplications of those of God, but rather a reflection of them according to a real analogy, revealing the transcendental aspect of things; and this revelation is the only sufficient reason of art, apart from any practical uses such and such objects may serve. There is here a metaphysical inversion of relation [the inverse analogy connecting the principial and manifested orders in consequence of which the highest realities are manifested in their remotest reflections[1]]: for God, His creature is a reflection or an ‘exteriorized' aspect of Himself; for the artist, on the contrary, the work is a reflection of an inner reality of which he himself is only an outward aspect; God creates His own image, while man, so to speak, fashions his own essence, at least symbolically. On the principial plane, the inner manifests the outer, but on the manifested plane, the outer fashions the inner (Schuon 1953, 81, 96).The traditional artist, then, in imitation of God's “exteriorizing” His interior Logos in the manifested space-time plane, that is, nature, instead of depicting imitations of nature in his craft, submits to creating within the revealed forms of his craft, which forms qua intellections correspond to his inner essence or logos.[2] The work produced in imitation of God's “manner of operation” then resembles the symbolic or iconographic quality of everything existent in being a transparency whose allegorical and anagogical content within its traditional forms is relatively easy to access and a consequent support and edifying shock-reminder to man on his spiritual journey. The spiritual function of art is that “it exteriorizes truths and beauties in view of our interiorization… or simply, so that the human soul might, through given phenomena, make contact with the heavenly archetypes, and thereby with its own archetype” (Schuon 1995a, 45-46).Rowling in her novels, crafted with tools all taken from the chest of a traditional Sacred Artist, is writing non-liturgical Sacred Art. Films and all the story experiences derived of adaptations of imaginative literature to screened images, are by necessity Profane Art, which is to say per the meaning of “profane,” outside the temple or not edifying spiritually. Film making is the depiction of how human beings encounter the time-space world through the senses, not an imitation of how God creates and a depiction of the spiritual aspect of the world, a liminal point of entry to its spiritual dimension. Whence my describing it as a “neo-iconoclasm.”I want to close this off with our sharing our favorite scene or conversation in Castle with the hope that our Serious Reader audience will read Capture and share their favorites. You go first, Nick.* Cassandra and Rose Mortmain, country hicks in the Big City of London: Chapter VI, pp 76-77Question 12. And yours, John?* Cassandra Mortmain ‘Moat Swimming' with Neil Cotton, Chapter X, 170-174* Cassandra seeing her dead mother (think Harry before the Mirror of Erised at Christmas time?): Chapter XV, pp 306-308Hogwarts Professor is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hogwartsprofessor.substack.com/subscribe

The West's greatest peril is forgetfulness, its loss of cultural memory. Without knowing where we came from, how can we know what to defend, or even what to value?In an age when history itself is contested...when the past is either dismissed or distorted...The Golden Thread reminds us why the study of civilization matters. Drawing on nearly three millennia of art, philosophy, politics, and faith, Hankins weaves the story of how our ideas of law, liberty, and virtue emerged...and why they still matter in the modern world.In this conversation, James Hankins of Harvard and Michael Fontaine of Cornell delve into the urgent question of understanding our history and inheritance, to determine what traditions of the West should be kept... or discarded.We ask: Was Alexander Great because he attempted to bridge the West and the East? Should armies have foreign soldiers? What happens when there is a breakdown in trust in the judicial system? How has the Islamic world shaped the western tradition?And is religion and spirituality necessary to revive Classics? You can find James Hankins' book, The Golden Thread, Here.Michael Fontaine's latest book, How to Have Willpower, can be found here. This discussion was hosted by Anya Leonard of Classical Wisdom. To learn more about Classical Wisdom and sign up for our free newsletter, please go to: https://classicalwisdom.substack.com/

Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Golden-Thread-Modern-Contemporary-West/dp/1641774010/ _______________________________________ If you appreciate my work and would like to support it: https://subscribestar.com/the-saad-truth https://patreon.com/GadSaad https://paypal.me/GadSaad To subscribe to my exclusive content on X, please visit my bio at https://x.com/GadSaad _______________________________________ This clip was posted on December 3, 2025 on my YouTube channel as THE SAAD TRUTH_1949: https://youtu.be/0A2O_cJo5ec _______________________________________ Please visit my website gadsaad.com, and sign up for alerts. If you appreciate my content, click on the "Support My Work" button. I count on my fans to support my efforts. You can donate via Patreon, PayPal, and/or SubscribeStar. _______________________________________ Dr. Gad Saad is a professor, evolutionary behavioral scientist, and author who pioneered the use of evolutionary psychology in marketing and consumer behavior. In addition to his scientific work, Dr. Saad is a leading public intellectual who often writes and speaks about idea pathogens that are destroying logic, science, reason, and common sense.  _______________________________________  

Hillary Weiss, brand strategist and positioning coach, reflects on growing up in suburban South Florida where attending the same school for 14 years meant everyone remembered who peed their pants in pre-K yet created lifelong friendships that watched her evolve from emo to punk rock to professional white woman. Weiss challenges the dangerous mindset mantra in entrepreneurship, arguing that privilege and circumstance—like having a home to return to if everything went belly up—allow some people to take risks that others cannot afford. She introduces the elevator framework: going one floor down beneath surface-level statements like I help clients find their voice to uncover the golden thread that makes someone exceptional. Weiss explains why imitation is a reasonable starting point but becomes a trap when entrepreneurs copy successful people's maps without understanding why they do things a certain way, resulting in indistinguishable businesses wearing outfits not made for them. She warns against the Protestant work ethic that led her to six figures by 25 but also total burnout from working seven days a week. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

12/2: Sen Paul Mark: legislators dress code! book bans & food insecurity. Sci-Tech Cafe w/ MHC Profs Kerstin Nordstrom & Ted Gilliland: birds. Harvard prof James Hankins, co-author of “The Golden Thread: A History of the Western Tradition.” Rich Michaelson w/ local poet Aiyana Masla: “The Underdream.”

Allen C. Guelzo, Senior Research Scholar in the Council of the Humanities at Princeton University and author, most recently, of The Golden Thread: A History of the Western Tradition, joins by phone to discuss the book, detailing the importance and history of Western Civilization, the battle between civilization and barbarism, and the quest to capture what is truly beautiful.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this rich and heartfelt conversation, Amy Wheeler sits down with Canadian yoga therapist and author Leila Stuart to explore her life's journey through yoga, Ayurveda, chronic illness, and the groundbreaking field of experiential anatomy.Leila shares how yoga first saved her as a 19-year-old in debilitating back pain, again when chronic fatigue and inflammatory arthritis nearly ended her career, and finally when Ayurveda and Panchakarma restored her vitality. Through these challenges, she developed a unique approach to anatomy—one that goes beyond memorization to help people truly feel their bodies from the inside out.Together, Amy and Leila unpack the profound role of interoception (the ability to sense internal states), the therapeutic power of somatics, and the importance of teaching anatomy as a lived experience. They also discuss the “golden thread” that guides each of us toward our dharma—even in times of suffering.This episode is both a personal healing story and a teaching in embodied practice, offering hope, inspiration, and practical insights for yoga therapists, teachers, and anyone seeking wholeness.What You'll Learn in This EpisodeThe difference between therapeutic yoga and yoga therapyHow yoga and Ayurveda supported Leila through back pain, chronic fatigue, and arthritisThe concept of experiential anatomy and why it's transformational for students and practitionersHow interoception and somatic awareness rewire the brain-body connectionGentle ways to support people who feel “numb” or disconnected from their bodyWhy beauty, simplicity, and embodiment matter in both healing and teachingThe importance of finding your dharma—and how it can become a pathway to healingAbout Leila StuartLeila Stuart is a yoga therapist, somatic movement educator, and author dedicated to bringing experiential anatomy to the forefront of yoga therapy education. She is the co-author of Pathways to a Centered Body (with Donna Farhi) and author of The Anatomy of Yoga Therapy. Her work blends deep anatomical knowledge with embodied practices that reconnect people with their inner wisdom. Learn more at leilastuart.com.Resources MentionedPathways to a Centered Body by Donna Farhi & Leila StuartThe Anatomy of Yoga Therapy by Leila StuartLeila's website for workshops, resources, and writings www.leilastuart.com Learn with Amy WheelerMaster of Science in Yoga Therapy – MUIHPost-Master's Certificate in Therapeutic Yoga PracticesPost-Baccalaureate Ayurveda CertificationStay ConnectedJoin our Optimal State Mobile App for daily check-ins and simple interventionsExplore our Online Community with weekly classes and a growing library at www.AmyWheeler.com Follow The Yoga Therapy Hour podcast wherever you listen

Do you have a heart for change but find that the loud, confrontational, and extroverted norms of traditional activism don't suit your natural temperament? In this episode of The Gentle Rebel Podcast, I talk with Sarah P Corbett, the award-winning activist, author, and founder of the Craftivist Collective. I've been following Sarah for years on Instagram, and after seeing she was Craftivist in Residence at Greenbelt Festival, I thought I'd reach out and see if she fancied a chat. This episode works as a companion piece to my conversation with Dorcas Cheng-Tozun, author of Social Justice for the Sensitive Soul, which includes quotes from Sarah (something I only realised later!). Sarah's philosophy of Gentle Protest shows that there are many other tools we can carry in our activism toolbox, and that campaigning can be quietly relational rather than transactional or performative endeavour. https://youtu.be/8EgDlswKn1k What Is Gentle Protest? Sarah says that Gentle Protest invites us to challenge injustice through curiosity, empathy, and imagination rather than shame, aggression, or polarity. Instead of fighting fire with fire, Gentle Protest asks: What if activism could entice, intrigue, and attract people to ask questions rather than shout them down? What if change could be built through dialogue, beauty, and patience? This philosophy is rooted in gentleness as a form of strength, not passivity. It's about engaging people, including those in power, with respect and relational awareness, creating conditions where meaningful change can take root. Relationships Over Transactions For Sarah, this kind of activism is not about noise or confrontation. It's about relationship-building. Gentle Protest works by diffusing defensiveness and replacing finger-wagging with curiosity and creative connection. When protest becomes relational, it stops being about winning arguments and starts being about transforming understanding. It allows for mutual learning and a recognition of our shared humanity, even in disagreement. The Firm Backbone of Gentleness Gentleness is often mistaken for weakness, but as Sarah puts it, it actually requires maturity, emotional intelligence, and depth. To practice Gentle Protest is to treat people as equals while respecting the realities of their workload, their blind spots, and their humanity. It's a strategic and pragmatic approach that asks: Who can bring about the change we seek? and How can we engage them in ways that build trust, not tension? This isn't about letting things slide. It's about working intelligently, relationally, and with purpose. Craftivism is a Tool, Not a Taskmaster In the Gentle Protest Toolkit, craftivism is one potential tool rather than a catchall dogma. It's about finding creative methods that fit each situation, rather than repeating the same tactics out of habit. Sarah uses these questions to help people work backwards when figuring out the best approach for their campaign: What's the problem? What's the desired outcome? Who are the decision-makers? Who influences them? What creative medium could best reach them? If craftivism fits, use it. If not, find another way. The key is flexibility, imagination, and a commitment to relationships. Letting Go of Perfection Perfectionism can quietly strangle our ability to act. Sarah reminds us that activism isn't about knowing everything or producing perfect work; it's about participating in something bigger than ourselves. The moment we make a campaign about personal performance, we lose sight of its purpose and make it less impactful. Gentle Protest frees us from that pressure, allowing imperfection and humanity to shine through. The “Golden Thread of Gentleness” What runs through everything Sarah does is what she calls the golden thread of gentleness. Gentle Protest challenges the false dichotomy between soft and strong, showing that kindness can be an act of rebellion when the world rewards cruelty. In this sense, gentleness is a radical choice we can make in the face of power. It is not passive or submissive, but profoundly and existentially creative. About Sarah P Corbett An award-winning activist, author and Ashoka fellow, Sarah P Corbett founded the global Craftivist Collective in 2009 and coined ‘Gentle Protest' as her unique methodology. Corbett creates products and services for individuals, groups and organisations to do effective craftivism (craft + activism) prioritising audiences who have never done activism before. Sarah's pioneering work has helped change government laws, business policies as well as hearts and minds. She has worked with V&A, Tate, Craft Council, Climate Coalition, Helsinki Design Week, Save the Children and Secret Cinema amongst others. One of her campaigns directly led to 50,000 staff of Marks and Spencers receiving the real Living Wage. Plus WWF used Corbett's 10-point manifesto to create their own successful craftivism campaign that led to a change in law to protect migrating birds in Spain. Her TED x talk ‘Activism Needs Introverts' was chosen as a TED Talk Of The Day. Corbett Co-created the Girlguiding Craftivism badge and her third book The Craftivist Collective Handbook was published 2nd May 2024 and won ‘best multimedia book’ at 2025's The Creative Book Awards. Connect with Sarah Find Sarah on Instagram (@craftivists and @sarahpcorbett), Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and subscribe to receive the Craftivist Collective newsletter.

Stress doesn't just live in your head—it shapes your breath, your hormones, and the choices you make when you're tired and tense. We sit down with intimacy coach and educator Stacie Steinbock of The Golden Thread to explore how pleasure can be a reliable, ethical, and practical medicine for bodies carrying burnout, shame, and even post-cancer changes. Stacie brings a rare blend of expertise: two decades in sexuality education, including medical curriculum work with the UofL School of Medicine, and a rigorous Tibetan Five Element Tantra certification that roots her methods in lineage-based somatic practice.We trace the real gaps in sex education—silence around desire, relationships, and body image—and how that silence becomes a generational pattern. Stacy shares her ovarian cancer story, surgical menopause, and the intimate process of relearning pleasure when familiar pathways no longer work. From there, we get specific: what somatic healing means, how cellular memory keeps trauma in the tissues, and why talk therapy alone can't always resolve what the nervous system still flags as threat. You'll hear how the chemistry of pleasure—dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, endorphins—protects against chronic cortisol, restoring focus, motivation, and calm. We also explore an Eastern perspective that frames orgasm as a momentary taste of freedom from suffering, while reminding us that everyday joys—like a quiet walk or a warm bath—can return the body to safety.Stacie offers a grounded framework: movement, meditation, connection practices, and pleasure practices clients take home—no touch, clear ethics, collaborative care with medical providers when needed. We include a short guided exercise to feel the difference between recalling pain and invoking a nourishing sensory memory, illustrating how quickly the body can shift states. The takeaway is simple and powerful: pleasure isn't an indulgence that steals from productivity; it's the fuel that sustains creativity, resilience, and a clear connection to your why.If this resonates, subscribe, share with a friend who needs relief, and leave a review to help more listeners find this conversation. To explore Stacie's work, reach out for her free 30-minute consultation and ask for the complimentary ebook on pleasure as medicine.Offer: 1:1 private intimacy coaching with Stacie for individuals, couples, and partnership systemsOffer Link: https://www.goldenthreadtantra.com/servicesSupport the showConnect with Wendy Manganaro: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendymanganaro1/

Link to purchase the book on Amazon: https://shorturl.at/FsMNQ _______________________________________ If you appreciate my work and would like to support it: https://subscribestar.com/the-saad-truth https://patreon.com/GadSaad https://paypal.me/GadSaad To subscribe to my exclusive content on X, please visit my bio at https://x.com/GadSaad _______________________________________ This clip was posted on October 20, 2025 on my YouTube channel as THE SAAD TRUTH_1919: https://youtu.be/aUs-LMaf2iM _______________________________________ Please visit my website gadsaad.com, and sign up for alerts. If you appreciate my content, click on the "Support My Work" button. I count on my fans to support my efforts. You can donate via Patreon, PayPal, and/or SubscribeStar. _______________________________________ Dr. Gad Saad is a professor, evolutionary behavioral scientist, and author who pioneered the use of evolutionary psychology in marketing and consumer behavior. In addition to his scientific work, Dr. Saad is a leading public intellectual who often writes and speaks about idea pathogens that are destroying logic, science, reason, and common sense.  _______________________________________

How can you stand out from thousands of MBA applicants with impressive CVs?Darren sits down with Ellin Lolis, Founder and President of Ellin Lolis Consulting and one of the top ranked MBA admissions consultants on Poets & Quants, to learn how she helps MBA applicants craft powerful personal narratives. With a near 99% success rate, Ellen shares the process she uses to transform an applicant's collection of achievements into a cohesive and compelling personal narrative.Show NotesIntroduction (0:00)How Ellin Fell into Admissions Consulting (2:37)The Importance of Narrative: Why Data and CVs Aren't Memorable (3:37)What's Your Career Goal & Career Purpose? (10:20)Finding the Golden Thread of Your Personal Narrative (22:20)Dealing with "My Story Isn't that Interesting" (40:12)How to Differentiate Yourself when You Have a Common Career Goal (39:55)The Power of Vulnerability (45:23)Darren's Hot Dog Story - How Mundane Moments Can Make for a Memorable Story (47:19) How MBA programs are Evolving with AI (50:07) Using AI in Your MBA Applications (52:54) Video Essay Tips (59:28)About Our GuestEllin Lolis is founder and president of Ellin Lolis Consulting, which has helped 98.9% of their clients get accepted to at least one program of their choice. Ellin and her team have spent over a decade helping MBA applicants craft their story and build their careers. Prior to starting her admissions consulting firm, Ellin worked in marketing and communications.Ellin graduated from Vanderbilt University with a Bachelors in International Cultural Studies, and is a member of the Association of International Graduate Admissions Consultants (AIGAC).Show NotesEllin Lolis ConsultingMy Admit CoachCo-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI by Ethan MollickTomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow: A Novel by Gabrielle Zevin More Resources⁠Get free school selection help at Touch MBA⁠⁠Get pre-assessed by top international MBA programs⁠⁠Get the Admissions Edge Course: Proven Techniques for Admission to Top Business Schools⁠⁠Our favorite MBA application tools (after advising 4,000 applicants)

You can't build great products on gut instinct, and yet, according to IBM's global study of 1,000 enterprises, 77% of organisations using generative AI aren't seeing any financial benefit. In this episode on The Product Experience podcast, Lily Smith sits down with Matthew Certner, Digital Product Engineering and Design Partner at IBM, to unpack the four key traits that drive ROI in AI-powered product teams: flexibility, incremental and targeted delivery, data-led decisions, and cross-functional collaboration. Recorded live at the Industry conference, this conversation offers practical lessons for any product leader navigating the hype and reality of AI adoption. Chapters00:00 – The danger of building on gut instinct00:37 – IBM's global study on generative and agentic AI adoption01:00 – Meet Matthew Certner, Digital Product Engineering Partner at IBM02:00 – Why most enterprises aren't realising ROI from AI04:50 – What the top-performing 20% of companies do differently05:10 – The four key behaviours driving success07:00 – Flexibility: adapting quickly to market feedback08:10 – Incremental and targeted delivery — the “golden thread” principle10:30 – Data-led decision-making versus the HIPPO effect11:45 – Cross-functional collaboration and robust adoption13:10 – Behavioural factors that make or break AI adoption14:20 – Inside IBM's “value orchestration” framework15:10 – The Golden Thread in practice — a sticky-note story from Dallas17:10 – Transparency and traceability in product development18:00 – How IBM helps teams that aren't seeing value from AI21:00 – The paradox of moving too fast or too slow with AI24:00 – Making the Golden Thread a living document25:20 – Inside IBM Garage: speed of a startup, scale of an enterprise27:40 – Why productivity savings, not hype, drive AI ROI29:00 – How large organisations structure innovation teams30:00 – The future: 800 million new products by 202631:00 – Why 95% will fail — and what the 5% will get right33:10 – Final reflections: value, purpose and the human elementFeatured Links: Follow Matthew on LinkedIn | IBM Garage | Industry Conference Cleveland 2025 recap at Mind The ProductWe want to hear from you! Help make The Product Experience podcast even better. Share your feedback in a quick form: Share your thoughts here! It takes 2 minutes, and your input will help shape future episodes.

Want the full transcript, English translation, and vocabulary list? ⁠Become a member⁠ and turn every episode into a full Spanish learning experience.In “The Cobbler and the Golden Thread”, a poor but honest shoemaker named Mateo receives a mysterious gift: a spool of golden thread that stitches shoes by itself—and reveals the truth about the people who wear them. As Mateo sews, he discovers hidden kindness, secret injustices, and the quiet power of honesty. This magical story is about integrity, compassion, and how generosity can transform an entire community.Have a story you'd love to hear on the podcast? We'd love to read it! Email us at spanishstoriespodcast@gmail.com.________________¿Quieres la transcripción completa, la traducción al inglés y la lista de vocabulario? ⁠Hazte miembro⁠ y transforma cada episodio en una experiencia completa para aprender español.En “El Zapatero y el Hilo dorado”, un zapatero pobre pero honesto llamado Mateo recibe un regalo misterioso: un carrete de hilo dorado que cose los zapatos por sí solo… y revela la verdad sobre quienes los usan. A medida que cose, Mateo descubre bondad oculta, injusticias secretas y el poder silencioso de la honestidad. Un cuento mágico sobre la integridad, la compasión y cómo la generosidad puede transformar a toda una comunidad.¿Tienes una historia que te gustaría que leamos? Escríbenos a spanishstoriespodcast@gmail.com—¡nos encantará compartirla!

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FINALLY A TEXTBOOK THAT SHARES THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE WONDERFUL OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION I've long said the worst thing to happen to the United States was Howard Zinn's patently Anti-American textbook. Now we've got a completely different sort of textbook called A History of the Western Tradition by highly regarded historians Allen Guelzo and James Hankins. Read this summary:THE GOLDEN THREAD contends that Western civilization has, in our lifetimes, been simultaneously challenged by secular totalitarianisms and yet remarkably successful in laying the foundations for material prosperity around the globe. These contradictions will present to the reader the most significant problems facing Western civilization today. Guelzo and Hankins, above all, wish for their readers to “understand just how fragile our tradition is and how many times in the three-thousand-year-long history of the West the golden thread that ties us to our past and enriches us beyond measure has come close to snapping.”Perfect timing for this sort of pro-Western Civilization revival that is desperately needed before people willingly march themselves towards totalitarianism. Allen Guelzo joins me at 2:30 to discuss it. Find out more about Golden Thread Academics here. Guelzo has written some really incredible books on Lincoln and the Civil War that you can find out more about here.

In Episode 257, Greg and Pam discuss emus, 3D printing, and being directionally correct. Many thanks to scitchr Diane for the episode introduction! We would love to have YOU record an introduction to the show! You can find details in the Ravelry Group Pages or on our website here. Check out our group on Facebook! We would love to have you join us there. GIVEAWAY: Check out our MONTHLY giveaway just because our listeners are AWESOME! You can enter the monthly giveaway using this Google Form. SUPPORT THE SHOW KnitPicks & Crochet.com We are KnitPicks and Crochet.com (owned by KnitPicks) Affiliates! This means if you are going to shop at KnitPicks or Crochet.com, and start by clicking their names, the Unraveling Podcast will get a small commission at no extra cost to you! It's an easy way to support the podcast passively. (Note: links to specific yarns or products will appear like https://shrsl.com/3xzh0 or https://tidd.ly/4mGsyws. These are correct and are custom links to track our account. They are safe!) Knitpicks Coupon Page * WeCrochet Coupon Page (Pam hasn't been able to find a page on crochet.com!) Patreon You can financially support Unraveling…a knitting podcast on Patreon! Monthly membership levels are available at Swatch ($1), Shawl ($3), and Sweater ($6) and come with rewards like early access to book club episodes, access to a quarterly Zoom call, discounts on all Knitting Daddy patterns, and holiday cards. Everything available via Patreon is extra, the show remains unchanged and free. Financial support through Patreon helps us cover expenses like web hosting, prizes, prize shipping, and equipment upgrades. NOTES Greg's Projects Greg is knitting a pair of Fish Lips Kiss Heel socks for himself using String Theory Colorworks yarn in the Gottlebei colorway. Greg continues working on the Cirith Ungol shawl using The Fiber Faerie yarn. Greg is thinking about casting on the Sturbridge Fingerless Mitts pattern. Greg is talking about assembling a circular sock machine. Pam's Projects Pam worked on Recalibrate by Shana S. Cohen. She used PAKnitWit, Sarah Jordan's, blog post about Recalibrate math. She is using Robin's Promise, Madeleine Tosh, Twist Fiber Studio (no longer dyeing). Pam finished Choose Your Own Adventure Tee by Allyson Dykhuizen. She used Juniper Moon Farms Zooey. Pam worked on a thermal stitch crochet potholder using KnitPicks Dishie. She uses these wooden rings in 35mm. Pam uses the pattern/recipe from My Crochet Space. The written directions can be found here and the Youtube tutorial can be found here. Pam started another pair of Fish Lips Kiss Heel Socks. She is using String Theory Colorworks yarn in the displacement base and the colorway Black Body Radiation. Miscellaneous We shared an article about how knitters are affected by the tarrifs. Pam is going to see the movie The Nuclear Frontier. Greg is enjoying a new-to-him podcast: Lateral with Tom Scott. Pam read the book The Abominable by Dan Simmons, which referenced climbing clothing we learned about in The Golden Thread. Some of our Denver area listeners are meeting to knit monthly. If you are in the area and want to join in, reach out to MartaSchmarta. Pam and Greg mentioned a fiber festivals in NC that is coming up: SAFF on October 24-26. Greg can also be found talking about knitting and playing Dungeons & Dragons at Crits and Knits. Affiliate Link Disclousure We are a KnitPicks Affiliate! This means that if you click on a KnitPicks link or Crochet.com, or the banner ad and make a purchase, we will receive a commission at no extra cost to you. This post contains affiliate links. That means that if you click on a link to Amazon and subsequently make a purchase, we'll receive a small commission from the sale. You pay the same, and the commissions will help cover our podcasting expenses. Our opinions are always our own. Find us all over the Internet Patreon: Unraveling…a knitting podcast Subscribe in iTunes: The Unraveling Podcast Podcast RSS Feed: Unraveling Podcast Facebook: Unraveling Podcast Instagram: @UnravelingPodcast Ravelry Group: Unraveling Podcast Greg is KnittingDaddy on Ravelry, @KnittingDaddy on Instagram, and also writes the KnittingDaddy blog. Pam is pammaher on Ravelry  and @pammaher on Instagram

This guided meditation will introduce you to the Golden Thread Process and Inner Child healing work. It will help you manage painful emotions and reconnect with a deeper, calmer, and more authentic part of you - with Taoist monk and teacher, David James Lees.⚠️ PLEASE DO NOT LISTEN TO THIS MEDITATION WHILE DRIVING OR OPERATING MACHINERYThis meditation can be practised daily or whenever you need it. Learn more about our online consultations, events and shop: https://www.wuweiwisdom.comSubscribe to David's FREE Journal: https://davidjameslees.substack.com/Other teachings and guided meditations you may enjoy:The Golden Thread Process | Master Your Emotions https://youtu.be/psP55sTtf1kGUIDED MEDITATION PLAYLIST https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9NQ_PWX4zIA12P7BftG6a18lIWFDjL35&si=bWWub6YyoZpXhFubOur GOLDEN THREAD PROCESS PLAYLIST https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9NQ_PWX4zIAsS_wgdRN7QGBKIk54sbyDIs there a question you'd like answered on the show? Submit it at: https://bit.ly/askusyourquestion Join our free Wu Wei Wisdom Community Facebook support group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/wuweiwisdomcommunity  If you love our work, you can now make a small donation to help fund the continued production of our weekly teachings by buying us a 'virtual coffee'! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/wuweiwisdom Book an online Golden Thread Process & Inner Child Consultation with David: https://www.wuweiwisdom.com/therapies-for-body-mind/ Follow us on Instagram: @wuweiwisdomSign up to receive a relaxing guided meditation gift, plus our weekly newsletter + offers via email: https://www.wuweiwisdom.com/signup -Disclaimer: This podcast and any associated teaching and comments shared are not a substitute for professional therapy, mental health care, crisis support, medical advice, doctor diagnosis, or professional healthcare treatment. Our show episodes provide general information for educational purposes only and are offered as suggestions for you and your professional therapist or healthcare advisor to consider and research.Music by Earth Tree Healing

Ever felt like who you are… is changing? Like the roles you've worn no longer fit the soul you've become?Colin Hudon, tea monk, healer, and co-founder of Living Tea, pours his wisdom with grace as he joins host Jeff Scult for a conversation steeped in stillness, soul, and the sacred unraveling of identity. Together, they sip through themes of surrender, service, and the soft power of letting go.You'll journey through:

In Episode 254, Greg and Pam discuss the final and thirteenth chapter, Book Club: The Golden Thread The Golden Cape: Harnessing Spider Silk, of our book club book, The Golden Thread: How Fabric Changed History by Kassia St. Clair. Share how you are will enjoy the book on social media with #UnravelingBookClub. See Spider Silk being harvested here. Read about MicroSilk from Bolt Threads here. Check out our group on Facebook! We would love to have you join us there. GIVEAWAY: Check out our new MONTHLY giveaway just because our listeners are AWESOME! You can enter the current giveaway using this Google Form. SUPPORT THE SHOW KnitPicks & Crochet.com We are KnitPicks and Crochet.com (owned by KnitPicks) Affiliates! This means if you are going to shop at KnitPicks or Crochet.com, and start by clicking their names, the Unraveling Podcast will get a small commission at no extra cost to you! It's an easy way to support the podcast passively. (Note: links to specific yarns or products will appear like https://shrsl.com/3xzh0. These are correct and are custom links to track our account. They are safe!) Patreon You can financially support Unraveling…a knitting podcast on Patreon! Monthly membership levels are available at Swatch ($1), Shawl ($3), and Sweater ($6) and come with rewards like early access to book club episodes, access to a quarterly Zoom call, discounts on all Knitting Daddy patterns, and holiday cards. Everything available via Patreon is extra, the show remains unchanged and free. Financial support through Patreon helps us cover expenses like web hosting, prizes, prize shipping, and equipment upgrades. Affiliate Link Disclosure We are a KnitPicks Affiliate! This means that if you click on a KnitPicks link or Crochet.com, or the banner ad and make a purchase, we will receive a commission at no extra cost to you. This post contains affiliate links. That means that if you click on a link to Amazon and subsequently make a purchase, we'll receive a small commission from the sale. You pay the same, and the commissions will help cover our podcasting expenses. Our opinions are always our own. Find us all over the Internet Patreon: Unraveling…a knitting podcast Subscribe in iTunes: The Unraveling Podcast Podcast RSS Feed: Unraveling Podcast Facebook: Unraveling Podcast Instagram: @UnravelingPodcast Ravelry Group: Unraveling Podcast Greg is KnittingDaddy on Ravelry, @KnittingDaddy on Instagram, and also writes the KnittingDaddy blog. Pam is pammaher on Ravelry  and @pammaher on Instagram

Have you ever felt stuck in emotional overwhelm—caught in anxiety, stress, or self-doubt—without truly knowing why? Those emotions are not your enemies but messengers, gently pointing you toward a more profound truth. In this episode, we explore one of the most powerful practices in Wu Wei Wisdom — the Golden Thread Process. This isn't just therapy or self-help — it's a sacred invitation to trace your emotional reactions to the beliefs that formed your inner world.With your hosts, David James Lees (ordained Taoist monk, emotional and spiritual health teacher) and Alexandra Lees (mindset and business coach).Discover our online consultations, events and shop: https://www.wuweiwisdom.comSubscribe to David's FREE Journal: https://davidjameslees.substack.com/Other related teachings on our YouTube channel that will help you:How to Understand Your Emotions https://youtu.be/9XuoL9pQSR8?si=d81djIwV-uKkpS7MEssential Steps to Master Your Emotions https://youtu.be/EQqGDnER3mA?si=z_7FDZ7XpP9gy3oXINNER CHILD PLAYLIST  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9NQ_PWX4zICGLRS1b7q1HSJhZRash5qqGOLDEN THREAD PROCESS PLAYLIST https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9NQ_PWX4zIAsS_wgdRN7QGBKIk54sbyDIs there a question you'd like answered on the show? Submit it at: https://bit.ly/askusyourquestion Join our free Wu Wei Wisdom Community Facebook support group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/wuweiwisdomcommunity  If you love our work, you can now make a small donation to help fund the continued production of our weekly teachings by buying us a 'virtual coffee'! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/wuweiwisdom Book an online Golden Thread Process & Inner Child Consultation with David: https://www.wuweiwisdom.com/therapies-for-body-mind/ Follow us on Instagram: @wuweiwisdomSign up to receive a relaxing guided meditation gift, plus our weekly newsletter + offers via email:  https://www.wuweiwisdom.com/signup Music by Earth Tree HealingDisclaimer: This podcast and any associated teaching and comments shared are not a substitute for professional therapy, mental health care, crisis support, medical advice, doctor diagnosis, or professional healthcare treatment. Our show episodes provide general information for educational purposes only and are offered as suggestions for you and your professional therapist or healthcare advisor to consider and research.