Podcasts about Heartland

"quite to the heart of the matter" [MUSG] We head to the Gateway City to preview the "Holmes in the Heartland" conference, coming up on July 24–26 in St. Louis. Organizers Rob Nunn, BSI ("Elementary") and Heather Hinson share the inside scoop on what attendees can expect from this third triennial gathering.    Hosted by The Parallel Case of St. Louis — a BSI scion founded in 1988 — this year's event centers around the eerie theme of "Sherlock Haunts." The planning committee's lineup of eight speakers includes our own Scott Monty, as well as a dealers' room of Sherlockian treasures from new vendors, and some special events.   You'll hear Rob and Heather discuss some of the weekend's highlights, including a nearby screening of The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes. There's excitement, too, around their new venue: The Cheshire, a British-themed boutique inn with Tudor architecture, country manor decor, and rooms dedicated to legendary British authors.    There's also a raffle for a stay in the hotel's exclusive Sherlock Holmes Suite. When we recorded, the conference was practically sold out, with 80 attendees expecting a memorable weekend.   Our "Learned Societies" segment kicks off with Sherlockian society activities coming up in the first half of August. Then, it's a new edition of "Examining the Pictures," with the film critic, journalist, and author Christian Monggaard, BSI, as he reviews a cult classic. Finally, the Canonical Couplet quiz will test your Sherlock Holmes knowledge, with something from the IHOSE vaults for the winner. Send your answer to comment @ihearofsherlock.com by June 30, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. DST. All listeners are eligible to play.   As a reminder, our supporters can listen to the show ad-free and have access to occasional bonus material. Join us on the platform of your choice (Patreon | Substack). And if you need some show swag or gift ideas, or if you want to show off your good taste to other Sherlockians, check out our Merch Store, with mugs, notepads and more.   Leave I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere a five-star rating on Apple Podcasts and Spotify; listen to us wherever you listen to podcasts.   Links Holmes in the Heartland The Cheshire Inn I Bet You're Wondering How I Got Here by Heather Hinson The Asylum's "Sherlock Holmes" Is Unique Other episodes mentioned on the show: Episode 266: Holmes in the Heartland I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere / Trifles Merch Store     Explore more here. Find all of our relevant links and social accounts at linktr.ee/ihearofsherlock.   And would you consider leaving us a rating and or a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or the player of your choice? It would help other Sherlockians find us. Your thoughts on the show? Leave a comment below, send us an email (comment AT ihearofsherlock DOT com), call us at 5-1895-221B-5. That's (518) 952-2125.  

The Big 12 enters the 2026 college football season with plenty of momentum, but what would actually qualify as a successful year for the conference?In this Heartland College Sports show, Pete Mundo lays out the five benchmarks the Big 12 must hit in 2026, from College Football Playoff expectations to national rankings, non-conference performance, and more.Join Mundo as he breaks down what success, failure, and everything in between could look like for the Big 12 this season.Join the conversation in the comments and subscribe for more BIG 12 coverage!

Leslie Lopez reports from New York, severe storms impacting more than 70 million Americans from the Heartland to the East through tomorrow, flooding rain, high winds and damaging hail; Selina Wang reports from Washington, D.C., President Trump's name comes down from the Kennedy Center, amid high security for tomorrow's UFC fights at the White House; Lama Hasan reports from London, the U.S. and Iran appear close to a deal, President Trump says it will be signed tomorrow and more on tonight's broadcast of World News Tonight with David Muir. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Big 12 has had itself another wild week, with basketball schedule releases, fighting between leadership and an attorney general and a viral coach's comment. This week on Winners & Losers, Heartland College Sports' Pete Mundo dives into:- Big 12 Basketball Schedule Winners and Losers- Texas Tech vs. the World- PLUS, much more from around the leagueJoin the conversation in the comments and subscribe for more BIG 12 coverage!

Alex Perez reports on the severe weather outbreak bringing dangerous thunderstorms and tornado threats to Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin just 24 hours after violent storms in the Heartland triggered more than a dozen reported tornadoes, and Lee Goldberg tracks the system; after threatening to hit Iran “very hard” and seize its oil industry, Pres. Trump now says there's a settlement to end the war in Iran – Rachel Scott reports as a source with knowledge of the talks tells ABC News, “the deal is very close as mediators have hit some breakthroughs;” Aaron Katersky reports on police warnings about criminal organizations recruiting teenagers online to commit violent crimes, according to authorities; and more on tonight's broadcast of World News Tonight with David Muir.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Part two of Kiera's conversation with Howard Farran on the Dentaltown podcast. As a business owner, the greatest gift you can give yourself is to get systems in place so you are not dependent on core people. This second part of Kiera's conversation with Howard is about determining your weaknesses as a practice, building systems to fix those weaknesses, and letting your practice hum regardless of who's sitting in the seats. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:02) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and quick heads up, today's episode is a special repost from a podcast I joined as a guest. It is a great conversation for practice owners who want to progress without carrying everything. I cannot wait for you to hear it. Let's dive right in.   speaker-0 (00:16) And you know, I was doing a million dollars in the eighties, a million dollar practice, and I went to two and and I I thought I actually think I had a higher treatment plan acceptance rate than my buddies on just measuring the same day. My clothes is always like, you don't want to come back. I mean, we could you know, I'm when I'm doing the hygiene check, I'm gonna say, I'm gonna leave. The hygienist gonna Denise Missy, they'll numb me up.   speaker-1 (00:21) They're like eight million now there, Howard.   speaker-0 (00:44) And and then and then move her to room eight and we'll we'll we'll knock this out in 30 minutes because you don't want to drive all way from work and then kid and school. You just pulled your kid out of school, now you want to do it twice. It I just always s insisted on just the same day because if we do this because from my perspective, if we do this filling a day, it's two fifty. If you walk out that door, half of you never come back until it hurts, and then it's a twenty five hundred dollar root connected crown.   speaker-1 (00:50) Amen.   speaker-0 (01:12) It's only one tenth the price to do the filling. I got a room. The hygienist can numb you up. And then I always hit the hygienist on the show and said, You should have numbed her up before I got here and I could be doing it right now. And she laughed and she said, but that's illegal. I said, I'm not a lawyer. I'm a dentist. Let's get this done. But just by really leaning on same day. And I really think that was a huge part of our success.   speaker-1 (01:37) Well, and Howard, I think what you said is like going back to the COVID crank, I think so many business businesses right now have lost that like customer service and let's make it easy. Like, as you said, one of our core values in Dental A Team is ease. And I'm always like, How can you make it easy for everybody? Because that's what people want. Like you said, like no one wants to take time off for the dentist. I'm switching dentists right now and they're like, So you're gonna come in for a hour appointment and then we'll bring you back in like three months for your hygienist. And I told my assistant, I was like, just call them back. I was like, tell them no, no, no, like   Make it easy. I don't want to come back. And so I think when offices take on the mentality, I have grown practices 10, 20, $30,000 a month just by same day treatment. Like just get it done. Let's train our team. Like, let's be quick. Let's have that quick turnaround time. Now, of course, doctors, you've got to be like Howard can get that done and he can rock it out and he's great. If you're a dentist that is not quite that quick, like we do not want to scale back all your patients. So maybe you do like add, add on an extra filling that's already in the quad that you're getting numb.   Like, where can we do it? Can we add that fluoride in today? Can we add in this thing? Can we take the scan today? Because you're right, no patient wants to take time off of work to come to the dentist. So like let's just rock it out, make them a raving fan because we went above and beyond to make them happy.   speaker-0 (02:49) And and and it also is a good variance counterbalance to no shows and cancellations. You know, she said yes, and then your next patient didn't show up as opposed to reschedule this one a week from now and then then this doesn't show up. But hey, I want to ask you, I'm gonna hold your feet to the fire on this. True. Would you rather build a dental office on rock star employees or rock star systems?   speaker-1 (03:16) ⁓ this one is I think the this it's ⁓ it's interesting because I think that there's space for both. However, Rockstar employees can walk out that door and then you are left. And I say that this to me is where as a business owner, you're shackled and you're always going to feel scared. You're gonna feel scared to hold accountability, you're gonna feel scared to ask people to do their job because you're so afraid of them leaving. Whereas if you have systems, I'm not here to say be a jerk, like that's not what we're here for, but it becomes so much easier to just   plug and play. And then also for team members, they tend to stay longer because they understand they've got clear systems. And people get really weird on systems, Howard. And I think they feel like systems are so hard. And it's like, I'd rather just bring someone in who knows what they're doing. And I'm like, but make that repeatable. So if they're out and I make my rock stars go on vacation for a week. I'm like, absolutely. And people are like, no, no, no. I don't want them to leave. And I'm like, you need them to leave because you need to see where it breaks down and you need to build systems. But I will say as a business owner, the greatest gift you can give yourself   is to get systems in place where you are not dependent on those core people. Like I want great team members that love my patience and do what they have, but I want it to be a repeatable process that every time, no matter if I've got Susie, Sarah, Jenny, Mike, John, anybody, we're giving the exact same experience. Like I look at Chick-fil-A and it's the same amazing experience. Every time I walk in there, they say the same thing and none of us are annoyed by that. And teams are super happy and thriving. I interviewed a guy who's a big wig in Chick-fil-A and I was   Fascinated by the culture. I was like, tell me more about this. And he's like, we have systems. We have buddy systems. We have it built on systems. That is the core to great success. And it's the core to like less stress in your business. Like obsessively, I am so obsessed about simple systems. I've been called the Dr. Seuss of systems. Make it so simple that anyone can do it. And then hire amazing talent that treats your patients with the great culture that you want.   speaker-0 (05:08) Yeah, and if the systems are so good, they don't even have to have dental experience. I mean, I the best receptionist I had was the the teller at Chase Bank next to me and I absolutely said her, I said, You are so dang good. You're always happy, always you remember my name. I said, What do I have to do to get you to work for me? And she she told me and she's been here for you know, over a decade. just the same things.   speaker-1 (05:36) Howard, I want to highlight, I hope dentists listen to you. ⁓ there are not a lot of dentists that are scrap like you. And that's something I love about you. And this is just like a little, it's not intentional, like boost your ego, but like please take it. Like it's a good boost. You are so scrap, right? It's like, let's just get that done. Like again, like let's do same-day treatment. My best employee in the company was my next door neighbor. I knocked on her door. She like took care of my plants when I traveled. She's like, those things are gonna die. I was like, the fact that someone as a neighbor just watered my plants to be nice to me.   She's been amazing. She's been with me five years, best incredible EA I've ever had. You ask the bank teller. We look for great talent. You build on systems. And I just hope the dentists realize like, just saying yes and GSDing, like, let's just get it done. That is something that I think so many people have like lost that art. And truly, that's what impresses me with your podcast, with who you are. And I just hope that people here, you don't have to go for perfect. You don't have to find this perfect person. You just gotta be scrappy and gritty.   And your practice will grow and you'll have great team members with you. Like it's not actually hard. And I think we make it hard, but just hearing your examples, I hope people listen as a dentist, this is what makes successful dentists in dental offices and great team culture as well. That is the core vote values that he's got. And it is why he's so successful. And I hope dentists can learn from that.   speaker-0 (06:53) Well, thank you. And I got did I ever tell you a story about the third hygienist they hired? I I already had my two full time hygienists, everything was great. And ⁓ this ⁓ young girl walked in, just graduated straight out of hygiene school, and I could hear someone giggling up front and they said I was busy, you know, she wanted to talk to me and then she just took it upon herself just to just to walk through the office and I I er and anyway, long story short, I finally got done. I broke, I met her.   speaker-1 (06:57) Tell me, I'm ready.   speaker-0 (07:20) And had no opening for hygiene, and she was so into the office, and she's asking all the right. I can just feel her energy, she's like sucking out my soul. And I and the first thought I said is she's from Alwatukee, she lives in Alwatuki. Do you want to compete against this girl for the next 40 years? Or you know you want her on your team, you don't have room for her on their team, but she ain't gonna end up across the street. I hired her and told everybody we'll just have to figure it out because this is a rock star personality.   I mean, you know, she just walking through like she owned the place and probably probably one of the top two or three, her and Jan, probably the best employees I ever had. I mean, unbelievable. ⁓ how do you get the dentist to stop being the limit to his own growth? I mean, it's it seems like I don't know about dental school curriculums, and it seems like shooting yourself in the foot has got to be the first and the last course they teach you there. How do you get the dentist to quit being the ceiling to their own practice?   speaker-1 (08:21) Think it's a I actually want to just like shout out a lot of the dentists. I feel that the new generation of dentists coming through actually are very prone and open to understanding business and recognizing there's so many books out there that talk about like CEOs and owners of businesses are the bottleneck to their success. And so I just want to say, like, I think a lot are starting to recognize that, but I think that there's still a lot that don't. And I I usually help people say, like,   When the pain is bad enough is usually when people change. Or you can recognize that you need to get yourself out of the weeds. You need to become the CEO of your business. You need to be working at the highest level of your ⁓ license. And everybody in your practice needs to be doing the same. And if you're not, like I do a delegation exercise. I just did it with our doctors on Tuesday. I was like, write down everything that you're working on right now, everything on your to-do list, everything there. And then I want you to go back through it and I want you to literally look at that and like only things that you can do. And like, please don't like   Boost your ego, but what are the things that only you could do? And I had a group of 50 doctors the other night and they were like, really, it's like vision, culture, and profitability. Like everything else can be someone else can do. And so when doctors recognize like that is your sweet spot and no one else is doing that, you need to have other people in there. Like you're welcome to hold it all yourself. But there's also another path where you can elevate people around you. You do great dentistry and you own the visionary and the CEO seat. Be obsessive in there.   But I think so many of them want to just do everything. I'm like, that's great, but you're gonna run right into burnout really quickly. So it's a helping them realize, go look at your to-do list. Honestly, of that, who can you delegate this to? Who can do it better than you? And who's gonna be somebody that's gonna light up and be excited about it and get yourself continually moving towards that CEO seat? I think so many dentists don't realize that they are a CEO of a multi-million dollar business. And I think, like, look at Jeff Bezos, look at some of these really prominent people.   That are great CEOs. What are they doing all day long? They are not answering emails. They're not responding to these things. Like they're not doing any of that. They've got teams around them that are incredible at that. How can you get yourself closer to that? Because that is where the practice flourishes. But if you're sitting there doing every single thing, you're stopping it constantly. It's truly a bottleneck. ⁓ and I think that's when people are ready for it, when people actually recognize that, there's there's two types of dentists. There's the one who calls when they're absolutely burnout, exhausted, and they can't see like past like one foot in front of them.   There's the other dentist that realizes I don't want to be that. I've seen too many dentists like that. And I want you to coach me into how to become like not there. And I say, like, life's so much easier. I have a dentist hired us two months before he started his practice. As a brand new practice owner, this year he should be clearing 2.5 million. And I'm like, why? Because he recognized, get out of the way, have these other people do it, train my team. I'm going to bottleneck this. I don't want to be burnt out. I want to be present for my kids.   Teach me how to be the CEO of my practice and empower my team. And so I'm like, again, it's choose your hard. Which path do you want to live? It's all in Wonderland. There's both, there's paths. It's just what path do you want to go on? And also what mentors and what people be the CEO of your practice. Do not be the operator that's doing it all.   speaker-0 (11:35) You know, I always call a great idea is I always call them a giraffe. I'll never forget when I took my kids ⁓ to a ⁓ Serengeti and the guide was so funny, he would he would all of a sudden he'd stop. Well he stopped for a reason. He's giving us a guide and and it was one of these long tour to trucks where you'd stand up in the middle and you look out, and after about five minutes, we just said, What? What? And he's like, It's right in front of you and we're just like, Well, we're looking all around, my boy, everybody's gonna find it.   And he says, Are you kidding me? Look at that tree. Look at to the left of that tree. And it was a giraffe standing right next to the tree. Totally camouflage. And that that's what I mean when I say, you know, they can't see the giraffe. And here's a missing giraffe for 40 years. Remember the great Jennifer D. St. George? She's still out there. I love her to death. And she had this lecture on schedule. It's called Rocks, Sand and Water. She goes, You gotta schedule your rocks first. Do all your rocks. And then she'd fill up a glass with rocks.   And then she say, Then you can do your sand. And she'd pour like a half glass of sand on top of the rocks and you still didn't have a full. And then she'd say, and then the water, then she'd take like a full bottle water and pour it in the sand and and it was still full. And I already know when you talked about block scheduling, I already know that at least fifty to a hundred and fifty percent of the dentists said, ⁓ I don't care if I do a root canal in the morning or night. I they they don't understand block scheduling.   They don't understand rock, standing water. They haven't for 40 years. Jennifer lectured for 40 years and and I still don't think anybody saw the giraffe. Can you just slow down and talk about you just made the example about how all you did was change the scheduling and you got the it up. So show that giraffe. What what does that giraffe look like?   speaker-1 (13:23) Well, thank you, Howard, because I do love giraffes. I do have freckles and have I've definitely been like and have a very long neck and I'm very tall. So I do love giraffes in and of itself. So thank you. Like let's just talk about it. ⁓ but I I agree. It's so I don't know. I think as a team member, you just get obsessed with making puzzles. And like for me, I'm like, how can I maximize and squeeze more juice out of your lemon tree? Like, let's just do it. It's gonna be a great time. ⁓ and so what I love to do is.   Like, let's just go through and build you a perfect day. And I love to build my rocks. And I used to do like high production. And then I learned it was even more fun if I put a dollar amount on those high production blocks. Because as a team member, like, hi, Kiera, I'm Kiera. I sit up front. I am now looking for puzzle pieces that are coming through my puzzle. And instead of just filling your day with a bunch of water, aka no production, I'm actually able to like fill you full.   Make sure I've got you up to production and then I move on to my next day. And then as I have my little water that comes through, I just fill in the gaps. And you, doctor, are so happy. And I did this with an office and the doctor was like used to making five, seven thousand dollars a day max. We got him to a twelve thousand dollar day and he walked out the door at four o'clock. And normally he was there till 536. And he's like, Here, how'd you do it? And I was like, Because we actually put in blocks, we actually scheduled it of what's the most efficient way to use your time.   And it's playing seduco in a schedule is how you really do it. It's like perfect. Where is the doctor? And then where does doctor need to be for hygiene exams? What does my hygienist need to be producing? How much period do I have? How many new patients do I have? Let's block those so I can get those people in on our schedule. Make sure my hygienists are up to goal every single day. So, like, what are they supposed to be producing? Usually three times their pay is typical. And then on the doctor side, doctors, what do we want to be producing for the year? What do we need to be producing per day? Let's build in those dollar amounts.   That is going to make you feel so easy to get through to get to exams where you're not running behind. And now let's figure this out. And when we go through, and I look to see how much procedures cost, how much like on average, how many new patients we need, how many SRPs we need, how many perio maintenance we need. And then you take those pieces, those are your rocks, and I'm gonna go build a schedule to where it actually flows really, really well. And then from there, I'm gonna duplicate that over every single week.   And what's crazy about it is when you do this, people realize they're gonna be walking out with $10 to $12,000 days, getting out on time. We're doing the easy stuff in the afternoon, the harder stuff in the morning or whatever you like to work. I don't care. And when people see how much they can produce with minimal effort, no extra patience and no extra time, like usually that's how it builds. You're able to, like you said, see the draft, but it's crazy because you're a happier dentist, you're not running behind all day long, and you're actually profitable. We hold those blocks, I usually say for 24 hours as team members.   And me as a treatment coordinator, I am scanning my canvas, I'm scanning my own scheduled treatment to find something of that dollar amount or that rock to fill in my blocks. And I'm not gonna put multiples in there. We're gonna make sure if you only have one root canal system, we're not putting two next to each other. If you have one implant system, I'm not doing two back to back. Like you just have it to where the day flows and 85% of your days will be great. And the other like, you know, 15% are like, shoot, we couldn't get anybody in it. We just fill it with whatever we can, get you up to that, put emergencies in there.   But that's how you do it. And it's so, it's so satisfying. I've got an office that they lost two doctors. So I've only got two doctors. We are producing as much as they were on four doctors with better blocks, better scheduling. And it's just incredible to see how much more efficient you can be with your time without more patience, more effort. And it's very, very fun and fulfilling. And when people follow it, they're shocked at how much their practice grows without any, like hardly any extra effort.   speaker-0 (17:07) Tell me, tell me this. Why do my DSO buddies, who have hundreds of office locations, tell me that that when someone calls their office, they can convert 70 to 80% of the people on the phone to getting their butt physically measured in the chair? And that in private practice, it routinely shows up at about 42%. How can Heartland   close seventy to eighty percent of the callers as measured by you called on the phone and now your butt is sitting in a chair in private practice forty two percent. What do you think explains that the most?   speaker-1 (17:44) I think Howard, it's they're obsessive about numbers. I have an office that works for Aspen and I've just watched like they are obsessive about KPIs and tracking and measuring. And I feel like in private practice, we don't track and measure nearly as much as they do. Like they've got metrics, they've got numbers, they're looking at it. And so what they do in Heartland and corporate, they're smart businesses. They look to see where is our leaky hole and how are we going to fix it. So I know what they're doing is they're watching their call conversions.   They're talking to their offices and they're setting this of like your goal is 75%. And this is the training and the verbiage. And we're going to track this and we're going to measure it because what we track and measure improves. And I like tell me a private practice out there that's like, we know our call percentage rate. None of them could probably tell us, but you ask a DSO and you better believe they're going to know all their metrics. And that's where I love like so many offices are obsessed about systems and what system do I put into place and how do I grow my practice? And I'm like,   Number one, let's figure out where you want to go and what's your vision. I call that why. And then E is earnings and profitability. Like based on those two things, based on where you want to go and what the profitability and our our numbers are, then you determine the systems. And then we look at those metrics of the profitability and our KPIs and the metrics, and you put systems into place for that. So these DSOs are so good at tracking and measuring. And like I've got a practice doing 29 million. And what we do is we have a scorecard. They know.   We just hit the most important things that are going to drive the needle forward and we watch those numbers like a hawk and that's all we coach and focus on. You coach and focus on those items, your practice will grow. But I promise you it's because they're tracking, measuring, and training to that and having metrics of what they need to hit. They're not better than us. They're just better at measuring and then improving those numbers.   speaker-0 (19:24) Well, they they say that just by weighing yourself at the same time every day will start bringing your weight down just because you're focusing on it. Totally. And things like that. ⁓ I want you to do the same thing to treatment plan. Why do you think most patients are saying no? And what's the draft that one of my homies could listen to right now that could help him increase his treatment plan acceptance rate?   speaker-1 (19:46) I think the no is just surface level. And what you gotta hear is what they're not saying. And I also would say a lot of people, they're like, it's about money. And I'm like, again, you're looking for reasons and you're gonna continue to find that. So for me, my mantra, and this is a great thing for the homies out there, my mantra is everybody says yes to me and everybody loves me. Like, no joke, I say that every time I'm going into a treatment plan. Why am I sitting here thinking about my gosh, they can't afford it or they can't do this? You're creating more of that.   Rather than going in with a confidence, they're buying your confidence. Like hands down, I can I can close a fifty thousand dollar case same day. Let's swipe a credit card, like let's buy a boat. But it's confidence. And I'm walking in there of like, we're doing this, we're doing it now. My job is just to figure out how you're paying for it. And so when we look at that case acceptance, I've coached an office and we've added, I've got five locations. All I do is train their treatment coordinators. I just rep them. We are constantly going through reps. We add   One to two million annually amongst those five offices just by focusing on it. And I'm like, it's 80% psychology. What are you thinking about? You walk in there, everybody loves me, everybody says yes to me, and let's make this happen. And I do it in a way where I love them. I give them like a warm virtual hug, like I'm not actually hugging. I want them to feel so comfortable, so confident. But then I also say, like, watch out. How are you using words? Words are free, Howard. Like, I'm not going to lead with, do you want to get this done? No, I'm going to assume they want to get this done.   Hey Howard, let's get that treatment done. So I'm gonna schedule you. Doctor is really busy. So I'm gonna do Monday or Wednesday, which works best for you. ⁓ Kiera, I want to talk about fees. Howard, absolutely, I'm gonna talk about fees. Let's just make sure we get this time locked in. I've got Monday or Wednesday, which do you prefer? We schedule you on Wednesday. You're already halfway there for me. I've got you scheduled. Perfect. So treatment's gonna be this amount. This is what the total will be. This is what our insurance estimates are, this is what our total will be when I see you on Wednesday. What questions do you have for me? Howard then asked me. I'm not gonna say I'm like, so do you want to talk about money? Do you want to get scheduled?   Like, why? Why am I bringing this up? Like, let them come up with it. Give them the time. Have the things. Don't bombard them, but be so confident. If I've got a great dentist that I know has great dentistry, they diagnose my job is to close and let's have that type of attitude. Walk in their doctors, don't be like, I don't know if they want to do this. Like, what if they can't afford? No, be the freaking clinician that's like amazing and like they all love you. They say yes to you. Diagnose them. Stop scrimping on them. Like morally, that is your job is to tell me what's going on.   Your job is to diagnose for me and then I get to make the decision from there. But truly it's eighty percent psychology. What are you thinking about? What's your mantra? And then twenty percent is skill, but get that confidence because they're buying your confidence, they're not buying dentistry.   speaker-0 (22:18) Then I want you to pontificate on ⁓ this. ⁓ I watch this in my own eyes. ⁓ every American I know that's as old as me, ⁓ or by the time they die, has bought one new car in their lifetime. Am I right? You know any do you know anybody that lived to be 80 that never bought a new car? Yeah, yeah. And right now the average new car is 50,000.   speaker-1 (22:41) They all do it.   speaker-0 (22:45) And I would say ninety-five percent of all the dentists go to retirement and they never sold one case for the price of a new car, which would be fifty thousand dollars a day. And then I watched Clear Choice, my favorite DSO, because they rolled out a hundred locations, and the only thing they sell is fifty thousand dollar two arcs all on fours, twenty-five thousand dollars an arch. They rolled into Phoenix and all the world surgeons and paradox, like, I don't know, I don't know if I like this.   And they start doing all these infomercials. Remember, remember, orthodontists have always been ahead of general dentists in advertising. All the orthodontists were advertising before 10% of the flipping general dentists were. And when the general dentists finally got to like two or three percent, the orthodontists were at five. And now all my two million dollar dental orthodontist offices on up are spending eight percent on marketing. Here's clear choice.   You go through the channels, they got all these 30 minute infomercials and and all this stuff like that. No, I never I never had heard of an all on four until I heard it on a clear choice deal. And then all my paces were coming in saying, Do you do all on four? I'm like, what are you even talking about? Then then they tell me, and then because I I would have called it a you know, four implant. You know, I didn't think of four, say whatever. And and then the next thing you knew.   Every oral surgeon and peridonist in the valley of Arizona was doing more cases because they were selling it to so many people that our pace that we were benefiting from it. So I just want to hold your feet to fire. How come ClearChoice with a hundred locations? Don't tell me it's demographics. They're in the hundred biggest cities in America. And and in each one of those cities, 95% of the dentists will retire without selling a single $50,000 case. And ClearChoice is doing it in their backyard.   Every single day of the week. Explain that to me.   speaker-1 (24:42) gosh. I I don't disagree with you. And I think there's I I ⁓ to me it's kind of like the four minute mile, right? Like so many people did not think that they could do it. And then once the four minute mile broke, it was like, my gosh, now all these people can do it. I still cannot run a four minute mile mark. Like I'm still working on that, Howard. So I get it. There's like limitations still. But I think a lot of dentists I watch, a lot of them get weird. Like they get uncomfortable. They feel like, well, do they really need it? Should I really offer this? Like   They get into this weird space in their head rather than just like, why don't I just offer it? Like I have a dentist who literally presents $250,000 treatment plans consistently. And they do all like full cosmetic. I have another doctor. It's 75 per arch, 75k per arch, and they're closing them consistently. And I think there's a space of like, why are we not doing this? And like you said, clear choice is doing it in their backyard. I think there's a   My background's marriage and family therapy as well. So I studied that when I was in college. And so I love the psychology of it. And I think so many people are truly afraid of rejection. And so they're like, I'm just not going to offer it. And they like justify it in their brain of why, like, I don't need to do that. Like other people can do that. Like, I want to make sure I'm taking care of my patients. And they live in this world that's their own reality. And I think that we all create our own reality. And clear choice is like, no, there are patients out there that do this. My client that does 250,000 consistently.   My other client who does 150,000 consistently, that's just their level of comfort, right? And so, how can dentists get to a higher level of comfort? I think one, be confident in your clinical skills. If you know you're the best dentist out there and you can do this, like for me, I feel like that's my moral obligation to make sure that patients are getting the best dentistry because they don't know if Howard or John or Sarah or Tom is a better dentist than you. So if you aren't confident that you are a dang good dentist,   Your job is to make sure that those patients know that. The second thing is get more confident presenting larger cases. and I tell all the offices I coach on these large cases, like please drop the mindset of a large case. I think we psych ourselves out by being like, ⁓ it's like a $30,000. Like, no, it's just a case. There's no big, there's no small. It's just a case. And I'm going to present what this patient needs and I'm going to present it to them. And I'm going to believe that they want this and I'm doing the best thing. And then we get to decide from there. And our job is to make this to where it's easy. We follow up.   There are so many people that want to do this, but I think people hold themselves back and they live in lies that they choose to tell themselves, but they believe are truth. But they're only the truth to you because there's other people doing it just like the four-minute mile, and you can too. So I think it's a matter of why not? And so when dentists are nervous about this, the way I usually am able to break it is like going from a $5,000 treatment plan to a $50,000 treatment might feel a little scary.   And so I'm like, perfect. Let's just diagnose one more thing or let's present one treatment that we normally wouldn't. And let's start to like build that confidence for you. And whether they choose to say yes or no, you just got to work on your presenting, like presenting skills. It's not like they're not saying yes or no to you. It's just how are we presenting it? How are we using the words? Are we assuming the yes? Are we assuming that they want to do it? There's so many ways that you can present treatment better. Like it's an art, it's not a skill. But I think people choose like Howard, they   They just want to live in this world and they believe that that's the world. And so I'm like, until you choose to get uncomfortable, it's like we've got a little thermometer in our world and in our world. Like if I say that I am comfortable at 75 degrees, if the temperature goes up to 78, I'm like, this is out of control. Get it back to 75. If it drops down to 70, I'm like, it feels uncomfortable. So how can we take it to where I can get comfortable getting out of my 75 degrees and move me to the next level of whatever that is, to where that becomes my new norm. And then I move myself up to the new norm.   There are people doing 35, 75, 150,000. And I don't say that for you to like belittle yourself, but to see that's possible. Other people are doing it. Believe in yourself. If you're the best dentist, be confident in that. And then truly, please, for the love of everything, I am a patient. No hygienist offers me fluoride Howard. No dentist offers me emphasizaline. I would say yes to both of you, but you are selfish. And I'm saying this with like love and respect. You are selfish by not giving me the chance to say yes or no to you.   And I would say give more people the opportunity to say yes to you, offer it, get better at it, check to see why they're saying no to you, refine that and keep offering. I love my offices that set it a 35% case acceptance because I know that they're presenting 50, 2000, like they're sending 10,000, 15,000, $50,000 cases consistently because they know that the more things that they say yes to with great dentistry and great confidence, the more people will say yes to them. But like get out of your own way.   nudge it up a little bit more, get uncomfortable, but truly do great dentistry, offer to patients and stop like holding back and assuming that they don't want to do it because more patients want to than you believe that they do.   speaker-0 (29:37) And you know, a lot of dentists don't like the blood and guts. They don't want to place implants. They don't want to play certain modes. I get it. But you know what? I know a handful of dentists, at ⁓ five at least. I think the sixth one might have retired, but one of the reasons they're probably so big, they didn't they didn't like blood and guts either. But they would always tell ladies, they go, Well, I'll tell you what, before you go back to your twenty fifth wedding ⁓ school high school anniversary or or whatever, I mean tell you what, you always remember   For 50 grand, the price of a new car, what we do here is we take everything out, every filling and crown comes out, we put it all back in in the most beautiful portion. You'll leave with a Hollywood movie star smile. I know it's a lot of money, it's 50 grand, but you gotta think about that. And he and they both tell me they say, Well, you know, if you say that 10 times a month, yes, someone always always says it. And they go, Really? I'd have a movie star smile, and I'd say,   Absolut flipping Lutley, man. We take all that old crap out and veneers, inlays, onlays. I mean, when you're done, you'll look like a movie star. And and and I got a a a couple that is in not so rich areas of town like Tempe and Chandler Mesa. And they say that they have to say that about 10 times ⁓ to get one or two to do it. And in North Scottsdale Paradise Valley, ⁓ boulder area, ⁓ they they they say it's about a one in three close rate. If they just say it right like,   Be because when when someone gets a new car, what do they do? They drive around, they show it to everybody, you know, they just they they just love it. So I we're over an hour and we try to keep it under hour. So I wanna ask you one question. But first you said your background's a marriage advice and I just wanna tell you the best marriage advice you can have. Just like you're saying, it's all in your attitude. You don't you know, you start every day. When you wake up, the first thing you do is you tell your wife, I love you. Not you again. And ⁓   speaker-1 (31:35) I agree.   speaker-0 (31:35) If you if if you just drop the U again and it's so last question. What are ⁓ the one or two KPIs that ⁓ you think every dentist should be reviewing every single week? And what should they stop tracking? That's my final question.   speaker-1 (31:49) Hmm, this is a great one. ⁓ KPIs for dentists to be tracking specifically. ⁓ I really feel like the things that are gonna move you forward on a weekly basis are we've talked a lot about them. Your case acceptance is gonna drive you fast, like forward the best. Like track that, look at that, review it, get really good with that. And then I also really like to look at my hygiene. How is my hygiene doing? What's my what are they producing?   And then if you wanna add a third, like look at your schedule maximization and optimization. Like those are gonna be like really big, like heavy hitters for you constantly. And then I'm gonna throw in one on a monthly basis because I'm really big on I prefer weekly, but I get most aren't obsessive with me. I call it like my mind and my money. So every morning I meditate and I look at my money. So that's like my mantra of how I do it. But if you wanna do it at least monthly, you've gotta be looking at your overhead and your PNL and like what you're producing, what you're collecting, and what you're spending. ⁓   Just if you look at it alone, you're gonna get better. So it's like weighing ourselves. Now things for them to stop tracking. Gosh, there's like to me, I actually feel like really I don't want to say everything, like keep tracking, but I actually think people over track on a lot of things that don't move the needle forward. Like we want to track on, I don't know, I just see people like, well, we're gonna track on this and this and this. And like it's just like it feels like it's such a smorgasborg of items. But I'm like, what really is gonna move your practice forward?   Production collections, new patients, case acceptance, our scheduling optimization or overhead. Like those things and like sure you can look at like dollar amount per patient if you want, like so our marketing ROI. But like that's like really the core. And the more you can simplify it down, the easier it is for you. Cause like you can get lost in data, like buried in it, and actually not be able to execute on what really is gonna move you forward. And I'm like, I've got offices and I'm just a broken record. I say profit and production, profit and production, and that ties to collections. If you focus on that, your practice will grow.   So those would be the things that I'd end with.   speaker-0 (33:42) Garrett, you are a gift to dentistry. Thank you so much for all that you do for dentistry and thank you so much for coming back on the show. You gotta promise you'll come back again before the dirt nap. Gonna come back on again.   speaker-1 (33:52) I will.   I will. Don't take a dirt nap anytime soon, Howard. The world needs you and I'm grateful to be a part of it. So thank you.   speaker-0 (34:00) ⁓ thanks for all you do. It was an honor to podcast you.   speaker-1 (34:03) Likewise, thank you so much.   The Dental A Team (34:05) And that wraps up today's guest interview. If you liked this style of episode, let us know and we'll be sure to share more of them. For more resources, events, next steps, head on over to TheDentalATeam.com. And as always, thanks for listening. We'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.  

The West Virginia Mountaineers are off to the College World Series. Heartland College Sports' Pete Mundo is joined by West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey to discuss the importance of this run for the state, the baseball program, the university and how WVU has enjoyed its time in the Big 12. Plus, how important is Pat McAfee to its brand and much more!

Part one of Kiera's conversation with Howard Farran on the Dentaltown podcast. They discuss how many details a dentist should know about their business, what about the COVID-19 pandemic still haunts practices, the AI of dentistry and the human care of patients, hidden gaps draining profitability, and more. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: The Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners, this is Kiera. And today we are sharing a guest interview I did on another podcast. And it was too valuable not to bring you guys here.   this episode, you're gonna hear this host lead the conversation and then I'll wrap us up at the end. I cannot wait. It was truly one of my most   episodes and I truly hope you enjoy.   The Dental A Team (00:17) It's just a huge honor for me today to bring back Kiera Dent. How are you doing, Kiera? my gosh, Howard. It's so great to be back. I remember my very first podcast with you. I was actually at an office in Alabama and I went like hid in this room because I was starstruck podcasting with you. So to be able to be back on the show with you ⁓ several years later is just fun. I love what you guys are doing. I love Dentaltown. I love your posts. so it's really fun to be back. So thank you. ⁓ the honor is all mine. Just remember Kiera likes Shakira.   And Dent is just her nickname. The full name is Dental Queen Goddess. So thank you. And ⁓ she is the founder and CEO of the Dental A Team, committed to elevating dentists and their teams to their highest level through customized in-office and virtual consulting and training. Her vast experience ranges from the front office to assistant, regional manager, and dental practice owner, giving her a perspective few consultants can claim.   She and her team work with hundreds of dental practices nationwide and confidently say we don't just understand you, we are you. Among her many accomplishments, Ciara has grown a practice from 500,000 to 2.4 million in just nine months with a doctor straight out of dental school. She's coached hundreds of practices, authored numerous articles, and designed a customizable operations manual manual that serves as a roadmap for systems and team success.   Her Dental A Team podcast has amassed nearly 2 million downloads, making it one of the most impactful resources in all of dentistry. Kiera lives every day by her core values. Do the right thing, ownership, passion for excellence, ease, grit, innovator, die, and fun. Her motto says it all. There is always a solution. And my gosh, I just want to tell you the truth. And the reason I was so excited to bring you on. It seems like dentistry has turned into two groups of dentists.   There's all the old farts like me who, you know, we had, you know, we had great practices, great lives, great careers. And then you got these younger dentists that look at us and say, ⁓ man, you graduated in the good old days. You know, you didn't have five hundred thousand dollars of student loans, you didn't have DSOs, Delta hasn't given us a raise in four generations, and and and they're mad at the ADA. I think they're even mad at their mom. I I they're I think so and they're not happy. Do you have any good news?   For these dental graduates with $500,000 of student loans, or did they make the wrong decision and should have become a plumber? I mean, you know, plumbing is always a backup plan if dentistry doesn't work. So I think you're like at least in that realm. Like, you know, there's always options. But I love dentistry and I actually, ⁓ I think we're actually in the best time of dentistry. And I know that yes, there's the good old days. Then Howard, those were great days for you. But I think like, how many options do people have now? We have AI, we have these innovations, and I mean.   Your my example of a student straight out of dental school, we actually had one million. So I actually called her 2.5 because we had $2.5 million. So from student debt to practice loan debt to buying another location, all within a couple of months of us starting the practice. And so I called her 2.5 every time I walked past her. I was like, get that back straight, girl. Like we got 2.5 mil of debt on us. but to be able to grow our practice in nine months was   Absolutely incredible. And I think that that's where dentistry is amazing. There is no cap, there is no ceiling, and you have a way to truly impact and change people's lives. And I'm like, you have DSOs as options. Like there were not the times where you were getting the multiples that you get today. You also have like there are so many avenues that dentistry can afford you. but I think it's a it's a matter of what you choose to focus on, is what you're going to find more of. If you want to sit here and say, ⁓ my gosh, it's awful. We have 500,000 of debt. And I'm like, Yeah, but guess what? My husband had   Not quite the same, but we had several hundreds, thousands of dollars of debt. And he's a pharmacist. And so I understand what it's like to come out of school and have hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt on us. But guess what? He's making, you know, hundred, hundred and fifty. If we're lucky on a good day, we're capped out. It took us forever to pay back our student loans. But as dentistry, you have untapped and uncapped potential. And so for me, you get to change people's lives, you get to give them confidence, you get to help them have better health, and you're able to make people smile like.   I can't think of a better opportunity to be a part of. And I'm not just Pollyanna over here. I coach hundreds and thousands of offices. I've seen the good, the bad, the ugly, and the in between. But I'll tell you, depending upon how you choose to view this, you can either find the good or the bad. And I'd recommend like, let's find the great because it's a gold line of opportunity if you want to see it. What what do you say to dentists who say, Mm-mm, you know, I I really don't want to complain really a bit. I mean, on paper my   My practice looks perfect. I got two hygienists. I do a million dollars. I do all this, but just internally it just feels chaotic and stressful. So it looks like on paper he's doing everything right. But she says, I still feel like chaos and stress. What's what's that about? I think like welcome to being a business owner. I think that there's two sides of success. In the word success, there's literally the word suck. Like there are parts of success that are going to suck. Like that's just how it is, guys.   And so that chaos and internal turmoil, I think I there I have lots of offices where you don't have to be that way. And I think going from like operator doing all the pieces, being stressed out into like a CEO of a business. ⁓ I think sometimes dentists are such gunners doers, they're so hands-on that they have this internal chaos. But there there are paths again that don't have to be that way. But I also think this is part of the game of business that we signed up for. And I think when you get to the level like Howard.   You've seen, I've seen over our career, we've got the gunners and the doers and the like zero to two year business owners. Like it's freaking chaos. It's psycho. Like you're learning these things just like you're back in dental school. But as you mature, you start to realize that the chaos is just part of the game. And the more you're able to learn to weather it, to see it, and to not do all the pieces, elevate your team, get great people, do like hire it out. You can hire, I mean, a practice is doing a million and you got great profitability and overhead.   You can hire a lot of great people to take away a lot of your problems. And so like, let's get some of those things done. And then you actually become happier and you make more money. So that you don't have to sit in that chaos. I think that there's a part of it that will always suck. but there's also a part that can really be the successful part too, that's fulfillment and enjoyment. But you got to make the steps and take the steps to do it rather than just sit and complain about it.   Love it, love it, love it. ⁓ what do you what do you say about the ⁓ the dentist who got out of school, goes and works for a major DSO, say say he's working for Rick Workman, Heartland, and he works there two years, and you know, he you know, he's working for a guy that owns eighteen, nineteen hundred dental offices, but he can't tell you the code for a profit. Can't he'll say, like, you know, are they paying my pay right? Really? You can't check at you. I mean, it it's like   It's like they'll listen to a forty hour lecture on the difference between two different composites, but they did I mean th they worked through two years, they don't know insurance codes, they can't check out a patient, they don't know the software. I mean, I had one guy tell me, ⁓ the only thing you could tell me about the practice manager software is the brand name. He couldn't tell me and then he's asking me, you know, it what which one you know, but anyway, do you think do you think a dentist doesn't need to know all the business details?   Or do you think that's a blind spot and you can't delegate anything till you can do it and master it? I think that there's two types of owners. And I think that there's some that are really great at hiring people that they are great at hiring people, knowing it, listening to podcasts, hiring coaches, training the team, and like having somebody spot check for you. Then there's others that like they've got to know the ins and outs. But I think that like Howard, there's   To me, there's also a middle ground where I think that you can go sit with your biller for one day and just like say, like, walk me through your process. So you have a general idea and an understanding of what they do. Go watch to see how they schedule. ⁓ I think when it comes to billing, I do think the dentists have a very big blind spot. And to me, that is like as a business owner, not to know how your money comes to you. To me, that feels like a pretty big blind spot of like even just understanding that knowledge. And so   If I were to say, I don't think you need to know the ins and outs. I love like I recognize this. I was a business owner of it. I own practices. I worked with hundreds of dentists at Midwestern University's Dental College. Like, I hear what you guys are taught. Plus, I'm a team member on the other side. And so I created a billing course and an office manager course because I just want a dentist to know like, what should I be able to expect? And I think like if you want to just have a general overview so you don't get blindsided, you you can have it. I think you can quickly within like a week.   Know the bulk of like everything you need to know in a practice very simply, very easily. So that way you can delegate. That way you can have it. You're not gonna be perfect. but I think just having a general awareness. And then I love to give doctors just a quick checklist, like once a month, go spot check, go grab an EOB. Even if you don't know what the heck that EOB is, go ask your front office for it, check it. And just the more you learn that language, just like the language of business, I think it doesn't need to be an overnight sensation.   But I do think the more you're aware of it, I don't think you have to do every single role though to be a successful practice owner. And I mean, shoot, if Heartland can do it, I think it's a good example. But I think who are you? And are you a hands-on tactical person? Are you somebody who's really good at hiring people, t trusting other people, getting the checklist and spot checking? I think you can do it either way. But my recommendation is like just like one week, go like sit in every seat of your practice and get a general awareness and educate yourself on the things that you don't know. I'm really big on money, understanding at least how insurance works. And then also how do we like   present cases, what are kind of the flow that way those big zones that really impact your financials, you can you can be aware of. So those courses, those online CE courses, your website is The Dental A Team. The Dental A Team. Now I think the A Team, you need that guy with the Mohawk and all the bling. I mean that's who I am in my like spare time. This hair is just a facade. Like, you know, I hang out as Mr T. Mr T. Mr T, Mr T, yeah.   That's why I was thinking the A Team, but is that on your on your website, the th those courses? Yeah, they are. So we have an online library, it's all C E. We've got downloadable checklists, we've got operations manual. You got it. That's exactly right. And Howard, in real time, I'll have our marketing team actually put together a code. If you guys put in Dentaltown, since you're listening, we'll make sure that you guys get a coupon code for that as well. Well, since it's my compass podcast IRS that you just put Fabio.   you want Fabio? Okay. well in that case. So ⁓ so is I also see you have a ⁓ Summit twenty twenty six is live on Friday, April twenty fourth. Grab your ticket. Where's where's that show gonna be? Is it Reno where you are? You know, that's actually virtual, Howard, and it's one of our like favorite comebacks constantly. And the reason I do it virtual, people have been asking me for years, like, why don't you do it in person, Kiera? And what I found is   Because it's so like again as a team member, I really struggle to get my team ramped up, amped up, and have it be financially affordable. So what I found is if we can have it virtual in your practice with your full team, you guys are able to get this boost and surge of energy and have a good time. So it's for leadership teams, it's for doctors. ⁓ we've been doing it for six years strong and we tend to have hundreds of offices. You get your whole office there, you have a good time.   But yeah, it's virtual and it's C E and it's a great time. ⁓ I attend a lot of Tony Robbins, a lot of Brendan Bouchard, Rachel Hollis. So we've learned how to do people have told me the online experience is so fun. ⁓ we just get continual people coming back year after year after year. So yeah, come join us. It'd be a great time. I love Tony Robbins because ⁓ you know, my boys they wrestled year round from age five to fifteen.   Yeah. Made our garage. I got two real wrestling mats from the manufacturer in Pennsylvania delivered by an AJ Miller. So I never ever parked in my garage ever. And we would we were listening to that Tony Robbins 30 day, 30 day personal power. Yep. And then I and then I bought my first laptop when I went to MBA school. And so I took notes on it. And then when I was done, I I ⁓ closed down Saturday and I went to a studio Saturday, Sunday, and I ranted out my notes.   And I said, this has got to be 30 hours because I mean it's still Tony Robbins 30 day personal power. And that was the 30-day dental MBA. ⁓ and it worked out to be about thirty hours. But I'm telling you, the pandemic changed everything. That was when ⁓ online CE at Dentaltown just went through the roof and it hasn't come back and dental meetings haven't come back. Cause why do I need to fly to Chicago to listen to you if I got a Zoom call or   or streaming video or this event. I mean, I mean, just think of the plane ticket, the hotel, the sitting and attending. If you're in Phoenix, you know, just to get to New York is a five hour flight. I mean, why I I gotta fly five hours each way when I could see you on YouTube or a podcast or or whatever. But I wanna but I want to go back to that pandemic because that pandemic, I really think the reason you can really do this so successfully today is because of that pandemic. That's why we realize   I don't have to be in the flesh to learn knowledge. And and like I I I feel fine talking to you. I me too. The only thing I regret is teaching my mother how to do that. I got her FaceTime and all that kind of stuff. And because she calls to tell me about ever every one of her exciting things is junk mail she has. She's eighty seven and she believes every piece of junk mail. I love it. She's always free freaking out on her junk mail. But but I want to talk about the pan the dark side of the pandemic.   And that is a lot of people think about 20% of the hygienists left to practice. Before, you know, when I got out of school, your labor was supposed to be twenty percent, your overhead was supposed to be fifty percent. And by the time it was it didn't even take 10 or 20 years, and and due to insurance, I think not keeping up, ⁓ overhead went to basically two thirds. It went to about sixty-five percent and labor went to about twenty five, sometimes twenty-seven percent.   I'm hearing thirty percent labor all the time. And I mean I mean I'm talking about serious dudes who know the business of dentistry. And I don't I don't want to get my buddy Rick Kirstram out of me. He owns a hundred comfort dentals and he said he can't he said he's got the mean and lean where labor is twenty. He says he's got mean and leans with labor at twenty-eight, twenty-eight and a half. So so the the pandemic is ⁓ it that was five years ago. Why do you think it   seriously impacted labor cost of the pandemic. I do, Howard. And I think I think we kind of have this perfect storm, right? Like I think we've got multiple waves coming at us that have impacted. I think the pandemic pushed out those that were like, you know, I'm done. Like, like I'm good. I'm at the end of my career. I don't really want to do that. ⁓ a lot of hygienists are female and I think a lot of them realize they did not need two incomes anymore. And so it's like, you know, I want to be with my kids. I want to be home.   And then hygiene schools don't pump out a lot of hygienists and it's usually like a two year span. So yes, I have actually seen like hygiene is it really did, and then it clicked up. So the cost of hygienist has gone up astronomically. I mean, I think the highest I've seen of a hygienist being paid was 85 an hour. And to me, I was like, at that point, that was up in ⁓ it was up in Washington, up by Bellevue, Mount Vernon, that area. And I literally saw the the posting for 85 plus a a bonus, and I was like,   Screw that at that point. Like in all respect to hygienists, I'm gonna hire a dentist for that cost. Like I truly will. And that's not being disrespectful. It's just like a dentist is a more multifaceted. I understand they are not great hygienists, but if I have to and I'm gonna be putting this number up, like we've got to get to a space where it does work. So yes, I do. However, there are more hygienists coming onto the market. I still know that this is one of the hardest things, but ⁓ I have a practice that's out in Maui, rough life, huh, Howard? I get to fly to Maui to go do work, like.   You know, shout out to that office. ⁓ but what we found is we were able to find a way to get the hygienist to be paid exponentially higher by doing assisted hygiene. And so I think I'm seeing people innovate. I think I'm watching them create. I think I'm seeing people do some more outsourced costs in the front office. And so they're able to then offset the costs of the clinical team. ⁓ I think that people are just getting innovative and creative. And what I want to highlight is while this feels annoying, this is also business. And if we don't innovate and if we don't continue to evolve,   We actually decay and decline as an as an organization and as an industry. And so I know it's annoying and I absolutely empathize. And you're right. Like for me on our payroll, we're at 30%. Like I've had that as our metric for our clients for the last five years because payroll costs have gone up. But I'm like, but just because they've gone up, like let's look at several other industries. I mean, we're not here to like love on or hate on McDonald's, but I'm like, they have kiosks. They figured it out.   I checked in at a hotel in downtown San Francisco. There was no person there when I checked in. It was literally a person on Zoom just like this. I clicked in, they said hello to me. They took my information, but they didn't have to have a physical body in the office. And I think with AI and technology, dentistry is going to evolve, but I think the art and the care of patients does not need to evolve. And so, like, let's put our dollars where that matters and let's be able to look and innovate in other ways that keep our costs low. ⁓ I still think dentistry, I mean, why is there a one percent default rate on loans? Like,   Banks are still lending. We had the first down year of DSOs last year and the first uptick of private practice last year. And so when I look at these things, like it is still a great business to be in, even though labor costs, like, guys, again, it's just another flavor of business. So like let's figure out how to innovate. Let's figure out how to do it. And like, yes, I'm gonna pay for great people. I see team members as assets, not liabilities. And I'm gonna cut and chop on other areas that I can, but I'm also gonna be smart with my labor costs and make sure each person hitting their KPIs, they've got numbers that they're driving.   We are running this as an efficient business while like loving and taking care of our patients at the same time. I'm glad you mentioned bank loans because it's less than one percent default rate. Yes. All the defaults have the same thing in common. They all had their license taken away. Right. Always. And and if it's for drugs or alcohol, they now treat that as a medical disease. And the dentists still say, Screw you, I'm not gonna quit doing biking. And then they run south of the border. And that's why whenever you find a dentist down there that looks like me.   They're running for free Vicada. They they they said I'm not peeing any. So unless you, you know, do something just horrible. I mean, and you know, you have you have to get your it licensed in your way. But I w I wanna tell you about you know, there's just so many other things that you can focus on besides labor, like increasing their productivity. ⁓ I know dental offices. you can get a full if you pay a dentist in the Philippines five dollars an hour.   You get the best dentists in the Philippines. And I and there's dental offices that with Zoom and things like that are doing all their insurance and their claims and all that stuff. I mean, ⁓ so the with with with ⁓ with the internet, I mean you can literally have someone ⁓ be at the front desk ⁓ on a on a kiosk that's actually a dentist from the Philippines from five dollars an hour who when he's not busy can be calling your insurance companies all that. I I want to ask you another thing that's really hot on Dentaltown.   today. Everybody keeps talking about these dental insurance EFTs versus virtual credit cards. but basically everybody's reporting that major dental companies like even Delta are gonna stop sending paper checks and you gotta do it all electronic. And I guess that that electronic could be free, but it could be you know it could be another three and a half or three percent credit card fee on all your claims. Or what or what are your thoughts on all that? I'm hard on that   I have and I'm a hard no on the credit cards. Like, why? Why are you doing that? EFTs are so fast. Like there's absolutely no reason to be paying this. Explain to my home. A lot of them don't even know what a EFT. Mo I I bet 80% of the the dentists listen don't even know what we're talking about. Will you explain it? Will you explain it like I just graduated from dental school eight minutes ago? Of course. Well, I think that this is also where going back a little bit where you said, like, do dentists need to know the business? To me.   You don't even have to know that much, but I want to just challenge you that if you're getting a three, three and a half percent cut on your payments for quote unquote ease, that's a real big hit. And I would just challenge you to think about like for what and why. And so coming in, there's different ways the insurances are going to pay you. So they're gonna pay you via paper check, they're gonna pay you via EFT, which is a electronic fund transfer, or they've got this new thing where they're gonna pay you via credit card. And like honestly, to me, the credit card is so scammy.   And I've talked to so many people and like educate me, like, why would anybody do this? Like, I cannot comprehend. Like, I'm already taking a cut on insurance as is. Like, thank you for my marketing fee to be an insurance. Like, that's how I view that that write-off. Like, I know you hate it, but you're also gonna, you're either gonna have to do that, or you're gonna have to pay for marketing to bring in fee for service patients. So, like, again, let's just think about that. But I'm like, so I've already got a cut there, but I'm then gonna take another hit in addition to that for a credit card ease.   So as we're talking about that electronic fund transfers, they deposit straight into your bank account. The reason that some offices don't care for electronic fund transfers is because like trying to match it up is a like it kind of dumps and chunks into your bank account. So all you need to do is help your team members. Like there's ways that you can have it where it automatically emails your team when that comes through. So then they can go online and they can find out what the EFT was, so then they can balance and like enter it in.   I do think dentistry software is so dated because what happens is when we get paid from the insurance company, we get either like it's called an EOB, it's an explanation of benefits, and it's like batch checks. So when they dump this money to you, Delta's gonna give me like 20 grand. But like, who do I allocate that 20 grand to of all these patients? So that's I think where some people have like, well, electronic funds are so annoying and this and that. But I'm like, they're very quick, they're very fast, they're a lot safer than paper checks. Paper checks people do get embezzled on.   That I literally see no reason. Like, I don't care if you get it like one day sooner with a credit card, you are paying a huge hefty fee on that unnecessarily when electronic fund transfers are pretty much just as fast. Like maybe a like smidgey of a delay. But to me, that's a that's a very worthwhile smidgey of a delay. Because you're getting your payments so much faster. And as long as you're staying on top of it, you should still be able to maintain a 98% collections rate, even if you do checks or if you do electronic fund transfers. It just is so.   So dumb. I've yet to see a reason. But to me, I'm like insurances are so smart because it's just another way for them to take a chip out of what they're paying you and to have it come back to them. So again, think of the motive as to why they're offering. These people are not dumb. Those insurance companies, if you've ever gone to a business who's the biggest building in the entire city, it's your insurance companies. They're not dumb businesses. And I think we need to be smarter business owners that out think that. They always but Delta always says, we're   Yeah, so is Rolex Watch. Rolex Watch is a non profit. And and some of the CEOs of some of the anyway, we won't go there. But ⁓ yeah, ⁓ so what other ⁓ besides you know, when when someone tells me about their overhead, I tell them, look, I can't call the government and have my tax rate lowered. I can't call the nuclear power plant SRP or APS and tell them to lower my electric bill. I mean, something I i if the hygienists can   Wants a dollar an hour and if I say no, I'll give you 75 cents and she can go get a dollar across the street. I mean the market sets many, many prices. So the only way to fight that back is to ⁓ increase your productivity. You know, I mean if if if you have a dollar in labor and they do a dollar in dentistry, your overhead is a hundred percent. But if your dollar in overhead can do two dollars in dentistry, now it's down to fifty percent. So how so ⁓ are there other   ⁓ hidden gaps that are quietly draining profitability, or has it just come down to production? Or is it both I like I'm so glad you brought this up because I think like it's so easy to sit here and say, like, dentistry's not profitable. But I'm like, go find me another business that has a one percent fell rate that usually can run twenty to thirty percent profit margins if you run a business right. And this is not just Kiera sitting here fluff. This is like I got real clients running at these margins consistently. They've got large practices, small practices.   And so when I look at this and I'm like, okay, how do we make this more efficient? A lot of people want to go to the first thing of like, let's cut insurances. And I'm like, yay, pop the confetti, but be real smart. Because again, you're gonna then increase marketing fees, you're gonna lose a lot of your patient base. Like, let's just think through the ramifications. And so there's lots of different ways that we can increase productivity and not have to go for the cut. So I look at three levers that I found that can increase a practice. So one is we can increase our production. We're talking net production, not gross, like please feed your family, not your ego. So that's number one.   Number two is what's your collection percentage? Cause half the time doctors feel like they're broke and they don't have money, but your money's sitting in AR, which is your aging reports or your accounts receivable. We're not collecting the money and we don't have a good billing process. We got to get our collections up to 98%. And then the third thing is like we cut costs. And so looking at that, a lot of people want to go to just cut costs. I'm like, but in dentistry, let's break it down. If I want to add 10 grand more to my practice.   I love to help teams. Most offices are working four days a week. So if we're wanting to add 10 grand to a practice, working four days a week, let's do 10,000 and we're working 16 days a month. That's an extra six twenty-five a day. Well, how can we make six twenty-five in a dental practice? Let's think about our fluoride applications. Let's think about FMXs. Like I'm just talking, this is your lowest hanging fruit for you. Let's talk about could we add one or two fillings? Could we add like same-day dentistry, which is going to make more raving fans for our patients? There is so much ease in there.   Now, to increase our production, we can also look at our case acceptance. Doctors have so much case acceptance. And also, what are we diagnosing? I'm like, doctors, if you want to be producing 100 grand a month, the statistics are you need to be diagnosing three times that amount. And then we need to make sure our treatment coordinators are really good at diagnosing explaining treatment to them. They're not diagnosing, but they're explaining the treatment. They're presenting it in a way. We're not using insurance as our main driver. We're using it as like a coupon. And then we're really good at our follow through and our follow up.   Gotta have a right person, right seat in your treatment coordinator seat that's obsessive with hitting the right goals. And so there's like so many little ways. Like you can in I have added block scheduling, which I know is like a consultant's number one favorite thing to talk about, but like make it really make sense and easy for your team. I've added a million to a practice with no extra days, no extra work. We literally are just being more strategic with how we schedule. And so there's just so many little ways that I want dentists to realize like,   To me, I get really excited. This is where I geek out as a consultant. I geek out and I love to help that is because I'm like, how can I like squeeze more juice from the lemon you're already in? Like, let's just make more lemonade. Let's figure out ways to do it. And then let's make sure our costs are effective. So we teach your teams how to look at the business as a business. We teach each team member about their one KPI that's really going to drive it forward. We help them track. I just did this with an office manager this week and she's so lit up to look at her numbers, to look at her metrics, to see how she can do it.   And when they start to see how they can click it through, it's not you trying to push and drive more money. Like doctors, I tell everybody, every team member, you want your doctor to be so freaking profitable. Because if they're profitable and they're like they're secure, your life is so much better. So like I'm like dentists, we got to get you profitable, we to get the cash flow, we got to get you less stressed because you're gonna be a better dentist and a better business owner. But how are there's so many little easy ways where it's just low-hanging   Typically I'm able to add 10 to 30% of production in usually 90 days to an office, like very consistently with just small little reps, no real extra work. How are we doing our exams? Are we being directive in our treatment planning? Are we using like, okay, next visit I want to see you for this? And when do I want to see you back? And how much time is this going to take? Like, let's break down the barriers of treatment planning. There's so many little simple things that if you just implement, you can be very profitable very easily.   And then look at your P L. If you're not looking at your P and L every single week or month, like just being aware, getting into the language of business, that's also gonna help you too. So yes, cut. ⁓ but I found that it's always a lot easier to make sure our collections match, our production matches, and we use those little low hanging fruits. ⁓ and it's there. Like dentistry is such a magical, like, like it's a great lemon tree. You can make a lot of lemonade out of a dental practice. I want you to tell me if I'm right or wrong or or   I think I think there's two threes to double your price. Number one, if three people call your front desk, one is going to come in because they're smart and they need to they know they need to get their teeth clean. One isn't gonna come in for anything and you can hear them vaping and smoking and drinking beer and eating Cheetos on the call. But one out of three needs a little extra push. And if you train the person answering the phone, they can close that one out of three. And if they do, they doubled your practice. Then when they get in, you still got the now you got three people in chair.   One's gonna do what you say because you're a doctor and they've done their their author search and and you say they got a cavity, they're not gonna argue with you. One's not gonna do anything. In fact, in fact in fact I was like I had about a dozen patients that in the middle of my treatment plan, they asked me if they could just take a cigarette break ⁓ from my presentation and they went outside, had a cigarette, came back. They're gonna do it. But the other one in three needs some some closing skills. And so if you if you can close on the phone   You doubled your practice. You you got two butts in instead of instead of one. And if you fix your treatment plan presentation, you're gonna do two cases at one. And I think it's so funny now because the dentists have never let their hygienist or assistant, let alone receptionist, do any diagnosing treatment plan. But now AI, Pearl, and Overjet diagnosing all the cavities. So you wouldn't let your hygienist while she's in there for an hour.   Diagnose and treatment plan and sell the dentistry, the assistant while they're taking FMX, they they can't point out, yeah, see, that's a cavity, you don't need a filling and a root now. yeah, they couldn't do it because they were humans. But now Pearl and Overjeck can do it all day long and you're good with that. I mean, so so what how do you how do you double the close rate from one out of three to two out of three on the phone? How do you double the treatment plan acceptance rate from one to two out of three? Yeah. Do you do you agree those are possible goals?   Absolutely, Howard. I think again, this is the low hanging fruit that people are like, but that feels so hard. And I'm like, choose your hard. Like, is it harder to spend a little time with a front office and train them how to do this? Is it a little like, or is it harder to be cash flow negative? Like you choose what's your hard to me? Absolutely. Let's go after that. And I agree with you. Like teaching a team to preheat an oven, I call it what would doctor do. And so like, let's train our hygienist.   Like I tell all hygienists, doctor should be the second opinion, not the first opinion. And you got Pearl and you got Overjet. And so just spending a little bit of time with your team. So what we typically do for case acceptance, like let's go hit that one quick and then we'll talk about scheduling. Is I'm really big on let's get the whole team where we're talking the same language. So we recommend, like, what would doctor do? I recommend you run this over the course of six weeks, is typically how long it takes, anywhere from six weeks to maybe three months.   but we're gonna sit there and we're literally going to go through. We're gonna pull up an FMX. We're gonna do it one day over lunch. Hygienists, doctors, and if you want front office and dental assistance, rock on. But really, I want my like people that are seeing the bulk of my patients with doctor and hygiene. We're gonna look there and I want all of our hygienists to start like if we have an FMX up there and the interaurals, what is doctor going to recommend and how is doctor gonna talk about it? We're not just gonna sit here and have a nice little chit-chat. We're each gonna write it down because I wanna make sure every hygienist starts to get very, very comfortable. And the goal that I tell all hygienists is   Your goal should be at the end of this, what would doctor do training over six weeks? And if doctors are really consistent with it, I'm like six weeks of training to be able to double your practice and increase your case acceptance to me is a very good use of my time. So if I can do that, doctors and hygienists, you should be able to have 95% accuracy with your doctors at the end of this. And they do it. So hygienists get really lit up and they get very excited about it because now they're able to preheat the oven. They're able to talk to patients about it, use Pearl, use Overjet.   And then doctors, when they tee it up to you, and I say like hygienist, you've got to be the ones who first like introduce it, talk about it with the doctor as soon as they come in, but be real quick. So we introduce the patient, we compliment the patient on something, we recap the treatment that's discussed and we say something personal. Hygienist, you do that, your doctor exams will be much shorter for you and doctors will love it because it's very quick. If we can get that dialed in, and then doctors, you have a very like confirm the treatment.   then recommend exactly what needs to happen. And then we take that same baton up to the front office and front office, we schedule first. We then present the treatment. We use insurance secondary. I'm never leading with insurance. You do these little items which seem like, ⁓ no, that's like very quick, easy things. You're going to rapidly be able to help those ones. And then I do a two two two follow-up. So if they did not close for me and I'm going to go through it and I'm going to work through and I'm going to track all the people that didn't say yes to me and all the people that did say yes to me.   I'm gonna look for patterns. What are people saying yes? Like those are easy ones. Those are the gimme's. Those are the easy patients that Howard said. I'm looking for the people that say no and what's my pattern in there? And how do I change my verbiage? Because treatment planning is 80% psychology, 20% skill. So like what are you thinking? How are we presenting it? What are the words we're saying? One or two little changes usually will close that. What are the patterns and how can I get that number up higher? And I follow up with them in two days, two weeks, two months to make sure that they don't follow off.   People are like, Kiera, you really make your treatment coordinator do that? And like, yeah, I was your treatment coordinator that closed $50,000 same day. And this is exactly what I did. This is how I've trained co offices across the nation to do it. You just have these simple little things that help them out. And then you flip over to our scheduling. Like, I think scheduling's easy, Howard. I genuinely do. I'm like, half of it is just be nice. Like you got the COVID crank, and so many people are so grumpy and so like.   Annoyed when they pick up the phone, then I'm like, you can already leap your ahead by just being nice and being excited to welcome a patient. Then take like charge of that conversation. So let's take the ownership of that conversation. If someone's Do you take my insurance? I'm going to quickly redirect and say, my gosh, how did you hear about us? I'm going to answer that, but I want to find out how did they hear about us? If it's our Google reviews, if it's a referral, if it's somewhere else, I want to like say, my gosh, you're so lucky to be here.   We love our patients. We love our reviews. I can't wait for you to be a great raving fan too. let's talk about this. I can everything can be overcome. Please do not let being out of network stop people. It's a thousand dollar coupon and we're turning people away over that. No, no, no. We are better than that. And if we are the best dentist, they need to be coming to us. We need to win these patients over, make them feel so loved. Let's get them scheduled. Let's make this a great experience for them. Let's make them feel so excited. I did it with PT called like six offices.   And the office I chose, like so many people were annoyed I was calling. Can I put you on hold? Can I do this? And I was like, no one really wants my business. If you're just nice and you take control of that conversation, you can easily turn and transform your practice. So hopefully that was like not too much. I like I love these things. I love training treatment planning. I love training how to like take control of a phone call. I love helping teams overcome those little simple objections because it's very, very simple things.   that make massive leaps and bounds of change. And it's a great way to double your practice very easily, like you said.   The Dental A Team (36:13) All right, Dental A Team listeners, that was the guest interview that I absolutely loved. And I hope that if there was one idea that stood out to you, don't just agree with it, but actually go implement it this week. And if you need help setting this up in your practice or you need help just navigating or need a friend, head on over to TheDentalATeam.com and I'll be able to help you guys out. Click on the book of call or any way that we can support and serve you. That's what we're here for. That's what we're obsessed with. And as always, thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.

Is it time for the rest of the BIG 12 to boycott Texas Tech in all sports after the Brendan Sorsby decision on Monday, allowing him to play in the 2026 college football season?! Plus, your questions on the College World Series, Pete's black shirt, the future of the show and much more from you guys this week!Subscribe for more BIG 12 coverage!

My Summer Lair host Sammy Younan talks to author Keith O'Brien about his latest book Heartland: A Forgotten Place, an Impossible Dream, and the Miracle of Larry Bird. My Summer Lair Chapter #354: Do You Know Larry Bird's Origin Story As Well As You Know Superman's?  Recorded: Friday, April 17, 2026 3:30 p.m. (EST) For more show notes visit MySummerLair.com. Bonus Fun? Sign up for my newsletter because the F in FOMO doesn't stand for Fun. Stress free pop culture (TV shows! Books! Movies! Music! So Many Recommendations!!) tastefully harvested for your divine delight. Once a week a carefully curated edition of My Pal Sammy goes directly to your inbox. Magic or Science? You decide.

Are you buying what the SEC is selling?! SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey told Paul Finebaum there is no interest in a super conference with the Big Ten. But Heartland College Sports' Pete Mundo explains why Big 12 fans, and the rest of college football, can't believe him.Plus, Mundo digs into the latest NCAA vs. Brendan Sorsby drama, along with a CELEBRATION for West Virginia University, as the Mountaineers are going to the College World Series for the first time ever! Subscribe for more BIG 12 coverage!

About the Show:"Black Paper Party doesn't exist if it's not for the authentic representation of the Black diaspora and our products." – Jasmine HudsonWhat does it really take to build a business rooted in culture, stay true to your mission, and scale to 20,000 points of distribution—all from Northwest Arkansas? Jasmine Hudson, co-founder of Black Paper Party, is living proof that it's possible.In this episode of I Am Northwest Arkansas®, host Randy Wilburn welcomes Jasmine back for a candid and wide-ranging conversation about entrepreneurship, representation, and what growth really looks like when you refuse to compromise your values. From packing orders in her garage during the early days to landing shelf space with major retailers, Jasmine pulls back the curtain on the journey—including what really happened after the Shark Tank cameras stopped rolling.Jasmine also shares how Black Paper Party is using AI and technology to operate smarter, what it means to be selected for the prestigious Endeavor Heartland Scale Up Accelerator, and why staying connected to the mission of celebrating Black joy and culture has been their greatest competitive advantage.Whether you're a founder grinding through the early stages, an entrepreneur looking to scale without losing your soul, or someone who simply believes that representation matters—this episode is for you. Pull up a chair and get ready to be inspired.Key Takeaways:Authenticity Matters: Staying true to your mission and serving your community is at the heart of lasting growth and brand loyalty.Growth Is a Journey: Black Paper Party went from the garage to major retailers by focusing on both process and relationships.Technology as a Tool: Leveraging AI can help small teams do more, from managing e-commerce to automating business tasks—but it should never replace original thinking.Retail Wisdom: Walmart can be a powerful incubator for brands, especially for those who understand their customer and the importance of scalability.Community and Networking: Programs like Endeavor Heartland Scale Up provide important mentorship and support, but you have to put in the work to benefit.Resilience in Business: Setbacks, like shipping disasters or lost deals, are part of the journey—true grit keeps you moving forward.All this and more on this episode of the I Am Northwest Arkansas® podcast.Important Links and Mentions on the Show*Website: Black Paper PartyBlack Paper Party on InstagramBlack Paper Party on FacebookBlack Paper Party on LinkedInEndeavor Heartland Scale Up Accelerator: endeavor.org (Check show notes for direct links.)Canem Arkan Endeavor Heartland EmailShawn Morris Endeavor Heartland EmailJasmine Hudson on LinkedInFindItNWA.com NWA's Hyperlocal Business DirectoryThis episode is sponsored by*Signature Bank of Arkansas "Community Banking at its Best!"*Note: some of the resources mentioned may be affiliate links. This means we get paid a commission (at no extra cost to you) if you use that link to make a purchase.Connect more with I am Northwest Arkansas:Grab our Newsletter Email Us at hello@iamnorthwestarkansas.comConnect With Our Facebook Page Connect With Us on Threads Connect With Our Instagram Connect With Our LinkedIn PageJoin The Facebook Group Connect with our Fearless Host, Randy Wilburn on LinkedInThank you for listening to this I am Northwest Arkansas podcast episode. We showcase businesses, culture, entrepreneurship, and life in the Ozarks.Consider donating to our production team to keep this podcast running smoothly. Donate to I Am Northwest ArkansasMentioned in this episode:FindItNWA.comLooking to discover the best local businesses in Northwest Arkansas?

Pedro Pechar is one of my great friends from Argentina. He came to the Heartland in 1996, our second year in business. From there, he returned to Argentina and has had a massive influence in the farrier industry. I got to sit down with him at Emilio Gionnotti's amazing place in Sierra de los Padres when Kelly and I were down there doing a clinic and FITS Exam. Let me introduce you to Patagonia Pedro. We are cleared for takeoff.

In this week's winners and losers across the Big 12, Pete Mundo runs down three BIG winners, and three BIG losers, from Texas Tech owning all the blue bloods, to the Big Ten and SEC crying to congress, and the great run of college baseball, there was plenty to discuss this week!Subscribe for more BIG 12 coverage!

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit jimhightower.substack.comLast week, Hightower and I sat down for a couple beers with author Cory Haala, who's just released When Democrats Won the Heartland and who is a professor at the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point. Cory has brilliantly documented how, as the national Democratic Party moved towards corporate cash in the 1980s, maverick politicians throughout the Midwest and Plains states practiced good ol' fashioned populism—and won. Not only did they win, but they also executed on the policies that they had championed while campaigning. Imagine that! With Hightower being part of the coalition of Texas populists who took the 1980s by storm, and who traveled to the northern states Cory covers to campaign, speechify and rally the grassroots, he's featured prominently throughout the book. My favorite Hightower highlight comes right in the introduction:Rather than give a handout, they believed the role of government was to give a hand up. Put more bluntly by Texas Agriculture Commissioner Jim Hightower: “If we'd have been liberals,” discussing struggling watermelon growers in Texas, “we'd have retrained them to do something else. As populists, we changed the market structure that was f***ing them over. That's the difference.”Paid subscribers can watch the whole video above, and also read an excerpt of Cory's book below. Enjoy!

The NCAA Baseball Super Regionals get underway this weekend, and at Heartland College Sports, we want to know if the Big 12 can get two teams to Omaha?!Heartland College Sports' Pete Mundo is joined by College Baseball Central's Noah Darling to discuss the wild NCAA Baseball Tournament, the fact that two Big 12 teams are hosting Super Regionals, plus who will advance?Subscribe for more BIG 12 coverage!

Doubts are being raised about a proposal to merge TSB Bank with Heartland Bank with one former director of the Taranaki institution likening it to selling off the family silver. Taranaki Whanganui reporter Robin Martin reports.

In this Big 12 mailbag episode, Heartland College Sports' Pete Mundo runs down the top Big 12, college football and other top college sports stories of the week, plus your mailbag questions!0:00 Intro0:30 ESPN Selling CFP Games?5:45 College Softball is On Fire11:00 Will Texas Tech ever Play Texas again in football?17:31 2027 Recruiting Question21:37 Brendan Sorsby's Latest 24:01 Breaking News ON the Show Subscribe for more BIG 12 coverage!

A banking expert says a TSB–Heartland Bank merger may not transform the market but could still be a good thing for Kiwis. Heartland has struck a deal to buy TSB for $620 million and form a new entity by the end of the year, pending consultation and regulatory approval. Banking Reform Coalition Convener Kent Duston told Heather du Plessis-Allan the banks' regional focus is a point of difference. He says compared to the big Aussie banks, both have a great reputation for good customer service and doing things well. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's a view a merger by Heartland and TSB won't hand the big four banks a massive blow. Heartland Bank has struck a deal to buy TSB for $620 million, pending consultation and regulator approval. Massey University banking professor Claire Matthews says the combined bank will still be smaller than the big four, and Kiwibank. She says a lot of work's still needed to increase competition. "It's not necessarily going to open up a huge access to capital, which is what's really needed for them to grow, and to become truly competitive." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

TSB and Heartland Bank are looking to join forces by the end of the year. TSB owner Toi Foundation's seeking feedback on the plan to join with Heartland Bank, to the tune of $620 million. Finance Minister Nicola Willis welcomes this decision to team up and take on the big Australian banks. "That's positive, and good for the state of banking competition." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

(4) Timothy Ryback describes how, during the fall campaign of 1932, Hitler pioneers the use of an airplane to reach "heartland Germany," visiting up to six locations daily. This allows him to bypass a government radio ban and reach rural voters untouched by mainstream Berlin politicians. He frequently mocks Alfred Hugenberg, a powerful media magnate who controlled thousands of newspapers and was the one figure wealthy and conservative enough to challenge him. Despite Hitler's empty but emotionally resonant rhetoric attacking the Treaty of Versailles, his momentum falters. By the November 6 election, the Nazis suffer a stunning blow, losing two million votes.1945

The BIG 12 vs. the SEC was on full display this week between top level executives, football coaches, softball teams and baseball teams. It may have been the craziest week in Big 12 vs. SEC history. Heartland College Sports' Pete Mundo breaks down what it means during a crucial off-season for college sports.Plus, we touch on the latest in the NCAA vs. Brendan Sorsby: Who knew what and when? Also, should the Big 12 go to 10 conference football games? Subscribe for more BIG 12 coverage!

In this episode of the Industry Matters podcast, Tyler Coulander sits down with Alan Morris to explore what makes the VGM Heartland Conference a must-attend event for the HME and DME industry. As Heartland celebrates its 25th anniversary, Tyler and Alan break down why this year's conference is more relevant than ever — from navigating margin pressure and evolving payer networks to leveraging technology for operational efficiency. Whether you're a business owner, an operator, or an emerging leader, they share why Heartland delivers practical, actionable takeaways you won't find anywhere else. If you're serious about growing your business and staying ahead of the industry's biggest challenges and opportunities, this episode — and this conference — is for you.Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/zW2UrWjREAs

The Big 12 offseason never slows down.This week on Winners & Losers, Heartland College Sports' Pete Mundo dives into:

Occitania: the land of courtly love, sun and poetry, before its ruin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The world seems to not lack for climate alarmist Bond villains with wild schemes to “save the earth” by way of geo-engineering that ranges from the silly to the dangerous. A company is now poised to “cool the earth” by spraying the skies of the world with “sunlight-reflecting aerosols.” What could possibly go wrong?On Episode #203 of The Climate Realism Show, we will also cover other Crazy Climate News of the Week, including how crappy it is to be a “climate migrant,” a push by alarmists to regain their policy momentum by declaring climate change a global public health crisis, and how Heartland's push to spread climate realism in Europe has the alarmists in a bit of a panic.Join Anthony Watts, Sterling Burnett, Linnea Lueken, Jim Lakely, and special guest James Taylor LIVE at 1 p.m. ET on YouTube, Rumble, X, and Facebook. Participate in the show by leaving your comments and questions in the chat. In The Tank broadcasts LIVE every Thursday at 12pm CT on on The Heartland Institute YouTube channel. Tune in to have your comments addressed live by the In The Tank Crew. Be sure to subscribe and never miss an episode. See you there!Climate Change Roundtable is LIVE every Friday at 12pm CT on The Heartland Institute YouTube channel. Have a topic you want addressed? Join the live show and leave a comment for our panelists and we'll cover it during the live show!

The world seems to not lack for climate alarmist Bond villains with wild schemes to “save the earth” by way of geo-engineering that ranges from the silly to the dangerous. A company is now poised to “cool the earth” by spraying the skies of the world with “sunlight-reflecting aerosols.” What could possibly go wrong?On Episode #203 of The Climate Realism Show, we will also cover other Crazy Climate News of the Week, including how crappy it is to be a “climate migrant,” a push by alarmists to regain their policy momentum by declaring climate change a global public health crisis, and how Heartland's push to spread climate realism in Europe has the alarmists in a bit of a panic.Join Anthony Watts, Sterling Burnett, Linnea Lueken, Jim Lakely, and special guest James Taylor LIVE at 1 p.m. ET on YouTube, Rumble, X, and Facebook. Participate in the show by leaving your comments and questions in the chat. In The Tank broadcasts LIVE every Thursday at 12pm CT on on The Heartland Institute YouTube channel. Tune in to have your comments addressed live by the In The Tank Crew. Be sure to subscribe and never miss an episode. See you there!Climate Change Roundtable is LIVE every Friday at 12pm CT on The Heartland Institute YouTube channel. Have a topic you want addressed? Join the live show and leave a comment for our panelists and we'll cover it during the live show!

In this week's Big 12 mailbag with Heartland College Sports, Pete Mundo reacts to whether or not the Big 12 got hosed, most recently by the NCAA Baseball Selection Committee, and what it means across the other major sports like football and basketball. PLUS, the rest of your mailbag questions! Let's go!Subscribe for more BIG 12 coverage!

Another US Senator Assaulted by Trump and Stephen Miller's ICE and DHS Thugs | The California Crackup That Could Have Republican Reality TV Gadflys Elected in the Bluest State | The Rise of Progressive Populism in the Heartland as the Con of Trump's Authoritarian Populism Sinks In backgroundbriefing.org/donate x.com/ianmastersmedia bsky.app/profile/ianmastersmedia.bsky.social facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

REMINDER! Join us TONIGHT at 6pm CT for happy hour live with Cory Haala, author of “When Democrats Won the Heartland.”Other than the fact that they are such blood-sucking greedheads, why have today's multibillionaires, high-tech barons of AI become so despised by so many grassroots Americans?By “so many,” I mean they've sparked a hell-raising mass revolt, originating in farm country, spreading through working-class suburbs, into community colleges, and other centers of Middle America – now including environmental, religious, and democracy movements.This is a genuine populist rebellion of workaday families against the corporate oligarchy of Musk, Zuckerberg, Altman, Bezos, and other “geniuses” of artificial intelligence. The billionaires are racing to install millions of supersmart A.I. robots in nearly every workplace, from manufacturing to health care, farming to finance.Amazingly, the tech elites consider themselves to be “humanitarians,” for they say turning work over to A.I. would free humans to… well, do what? Geniuses can't bothered with such mundane details, so they're not interested of soon-to-be displaced masses of people who'll be “made redundant.”So – hello – people are revolting (in the very best sense of that term). Interestingly, some of the strongest backlash is coming from a huge group generally assumed to be politically apathetic or enthusiastic about all technology: Young people. Columnist Michelle Goldberg reports that several tech honchos who've given college commencement speeches this month were startled when they launched into gushing praise for the glorious future promised by A.I. They were practically driven off-stage by roaring cascades of boos from the students!The pain that A.I. profiteers are imposing is one thing, but an even greater cause of this spreading revolt is the imperious arrogance and stupidity of royal elites who think ordinary people don't matter. Did these oligarchs never hear about the revolution of 1776?Do something!To stay on top of the rapid development of AI and its impact on the public interest, check out the work of the AI Now Institute, ainowinstitute.org.Jim Hightower's Lowdown 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 jimhightower.substack.com/subscribe

What happens when you trade the comfort of a small town for the beautifully unpredictable journey of a music career? In this episode, country-pop singer-songwriter Neah McMeen sits down with Jamie to share the raw truth about chasing dreams in Music City. From balancing online health science studies at Kansas University to finding creative sanctuary on long drives, Neah opens up about the exact moment she decided to pursue music with a "no holds barred" mindset. We dive deep into how her heartland roots in Webber, Kansas shape her worldview, the pressure of singing the national anthem versus a vulnerable Nashville songwriter round, and the vital importance of surrounding yourself with the right team. If you're trying to navigate your own season of uncertainty, Neah's story is the reminder you need that sometimes not knowing the destination is the most honest part of the road. ⚡️ JOIN THE INNER CIRCLE: Before you listen, make sure you are signed up for The Vanguard, our weekly newsletter. Get premium music journalism, exclusive industry insights, and curated cultural commentary sent straight to your inbox. Sign up at our website today.

Published by Temple University Press in 2026, The Heartland of US Empire: Race, Region, and the Queer Filipinx Midwest examines Filipinx cultural representations in the Midwest since the early twentieth century. In it, Dr. Thomas Xavier Sarmiento shrewdly considers the impact of American exceptionalism and U.S. imperialism in a region where white, middle-class, heterosexual, and Christian is the norm. He employs a queer, decolonial Filipinx methodology that traces how narratives of America's heartland position Filipinxs in the region as non-normative due to their racial, gender, sexual, and national statuses. As a result, The Heartland of US Empire locates queer Filipinxs in the geographic center of the nation and at the center of cultural narratives, thereby mapping alternative images of diasporic Filipinx identity and experience alongside U.S. regional and national identities, histories, and realities. Tom Sarmiento is an associate professor of English and Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies at Kansas State University. He specializes in Filipinx American and queer literature and culture and teaches courses in Asian American literature, Cultural Studies, film adaptation, and Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies. His works have appeared in MELUS: Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States, The SAGE Encyclopedia on Filipina/o/x America Studies, Asian American Literature Discourse and Pedagogies, and in a special issue he guest edited for American Studies. In addition to his work in Literature & Cultural Studies, he is invested in helping students see writing as a nonlinear process and as a tool for social change. Donna Doan Anderson is an assistant professor in History at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies

With the 2025-26 college football and basketball seasons wrapped up, Heartland College Sports' Pete Mundo ranks the Big 12 programs from worst to first!Subscribe for more BIG 12 coverage!

Dr Ugo Perego tests the most pressing Mormon DNA claims. Did Joseph Smith have secret children from his plural marriages? What really triggered the Mountain Meadows Massacre? And does Native American DNA align with the Book of Mormon? https://youtu.be/ni5d6D90VoU Don’t miss our other conversations with Ugo! https://gospeltangents.com/people/ugo-perego/ Copyright © 2026 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved   In this fascinating throwback episode of Gospel Tangents, we sit down with Dr. Ugo Perego, a leading expert in population genetics and Mormon DNA. Dr. Perego shares the incredible results of his decades-long research, including the reconstruction of Joseph Smith’s Y-chromosome which revealed his unexpected Irish ancestry. He also details the massive 15-year scientific quest to solve the 150-year-old mystery of whether Josephine Lyon was Joseph’s biological daughter. The conversation then dives into the dark history of the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Dr. Perego explores the chilling theory that an anthrax outbreak from infected cattle may have escalated the tragic violence. He also shares how mitochondrial DNA testing finally identified the true parentage of a rumored secret “18th surviving child” of the massacre. Finally, Dr. Perego breaks down the science of Native American DNA, explaining the ancient Bering Strait migration and debunking the genetic claims of “Heartland” Book of Mormon geography theorists. 0:00 Chapter 1: Introduction & Meet Dr. Ugo Perego Dr. Perego discusses his background, his 12 years of work building genetic databases, and his PhD research on Native American DNA origins. 14:10 Chapter 2: DNA Basics: Why Siblings Have Different Ancestry Results A brief dive into how genetics work, explaining why siblings can take DNA tests and receive different ancestral percentage breakdowns. 22:31 Chapter 3: Did Joseph Smith Have Children with Plural Wives? Dr. Perego introduces his efforts to use Y-chromosome testing to determine if Joseph Smith had any children from his polygamous marriages, finding no genetic matches among suspected sons. Chapter 4: The Shocking Irish Connection While attempting to reconstruct Joseph Smith’s Y-chromosome, Dr. Perego discovers that Joseph Smith’s early American ancestor carried an indigenous Irish Y-chromosome, not English. 44:56 Chapter 5: Solving the Josephine Lyon Mystery Dr. Perego details the massive $20,000 project to test the DNA of Josephine Lyon, finally proving she was the biological daughter of Windsor Lyon, not Joseph Smith. 1:00:22 Chapter 6: Mountain Meadows Massacre: The Secret “18th Child” The conversation shifts to a 150-year-old rumor about a secret 18th surviving child of the Mountain Meadows Massacre, a mystery finally solved using maternal DNA. 1:11:09 Chapter 7: Did Anthrax Escalate the Mountain Meadows Massacre? Dr. Perego explores the theory that local cattle given to Native Americans were actually infected with anthrax, sparking deadly tensions just days before the massacre. Chapter 8: Biblical Literalism, Pre-Adamites, & Evolution A discussion on the Church’s neutral stance regarding evolution and the literal interpretation of Genesis, including how incoming populations genetically mix with older, established populations. 1:29:41 Chapter 9: Book of Mormon DNA & The Bering Strait Migration Dr. Perego breaks down the science of Native American DNA, explaining why Lehi’s small group of Middle Eastern immigrants would have seen their DNA “swallowed up” after intermarrying with indigenous people. 1:58:21 Chapter 10: The Lemba Tribe, European DNA, & The “Heartland” Theory An examination of how isolated genes behave and a heavy critique of “Heartland” geography theorists who misuse “X2a” DNA lineages to claim proof of Middle Eastern Book of Mormon DNA. 2:14:56 Chapter 11: The Gospel Topics Essays & Book of Mormon Geography Dr. Perego shares his experience acting as the lead author behind the LDS Church’s Gospel Topics essay on DNA and concludes by sharing his personal thoughts on a Central American Book of Mormon geography model. Don’t miss our other conversations with Ugo! https://gospeltangents.com/people/ugo-perego/ Copyright © 2026 Gospel Tangents All Rights Reserved What do you think of all these DNA tests?

Published by Temple University Press in 2026, The Heartland of US Empire: Race, Region, and the Queer Filipinx Midwest examines Filipinx cultural representations in the Midwest since the early twentieth century. In it, Dr. Thomas Xavier Sarmiento shrewdly considers the impact of American exceptionalism and U.S. imperialism in a region where white, middle-class, heterosexual, and Christian is the norm. He employs a queer, decolonial Filipinx methodology that traces how narratives of America's heartland position Filipinxs in the region as non-normative due to their racial, gender, sexual, and national statuses. As a result, The Heartland of US Empire locates queer Filipinxs in the geographic center of the nation and at the center of cultural narratives, thereby mapping alternative images of diasporic Filipinx identity and experience alongside U.S. regional and national identities, histories, and realities. Tom Sarmiento is an associate professor of English and Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies at Kansas State University. He specializes in Filipinx American and queer literature and culture and teaches courses in Asian American literature, Cultural Studies, film adaptation, and Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies. His works have appeared in MELUS: Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States, The SAGE Encyclopedia on Filipina/o/x America Studies, Asian American Literature Discourse and Pedagogies, and in a special issue he guest edited for American Studies. In addition to his work in Literature & Cultural Studies, he is invested in helping students see writing as a nonlinear process and as a tool for social change. Donna Doan Anderson is an assistant professor in History at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Published by Temple University Press in 2026, The Heartland of US Empire: Race, Region, and the Queer Filipinx Midwest examines Filipinx cultural representations in the Midwest since the early twentieth century. In it, Dr. Thomas Xavier Sarmiento shrewdly considers the impact of American exceptionalism and U.S. imperialism in a region where white, middle-class, heterosexual, and Christian is the norm. He employs a queer, decolonial Filipinx methodology that traces how narratives of America's heartland position Filipinxs in the region as non-normative due to their racial, gender, sexual, and national statuses. As a result, The Heartland of US Empire locates queer Filipinxs in the geographic center of the nation and at the center of cultural narratives, thereby mapping alternative images of diasporic Filipinx identity and experience alongside U.S. regional and national identities, histories, and realities. Tom Sarmiento is an associate professor of English and Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies at Kansas State University. He specializes in Filipinx American and queer literature and culture and teaches courses in Asian American literature, Cultural Studies, film adaptation, and Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies. His works have appeared in MELUS: Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States, The SAGE Encyclopedia on Filipina/o/x America Studies, Asian American Literature Discourse and Pedagogies, and in a special issue he guest edited for American Studies. In addition to his work in Literature & Cultural Studies, he is invested in helping students see writing as a nonlinear process and as a tool for social change. Donna Doan Anderson is an assistant professor in History at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/asian-american-studies

Published by Temple University Press in 2026, The Heartland of US Empire: Race, Region, and the Queer Filipinx Midwest examines Filipinx cultural representations in the Midwest since the early twentieth century. In it, Dr. Thomas Xavier Sarmiento shrewdly considers the impact of American exceptionalism and U.S. imperialism in a region where white, middle-class, heterosexual, and Christian is the norm. He employs a queer, decolonial Filipinx methodology that traces how narratives of America's heartland position Filipinxs in the region as non-normative due to their racial, gender, sexual, and national statuses. As a result, The Heartland of US Empire locates queer Filipinxs in the geographic center of the nation and at the center of cultural narratives, thereby mapping alternative images of diasporic Filipinx identity and experience alongside U.S. regional and national identities, histories, and realities. Tom Sarmiento is an associate professor of English and Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies at Kansas State University. He specializes in Filipinx American and queer literature and culture and teaches courses in Asian American literature, Cultural Studies, film adaptation, and Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies. His works have appeared in MELUS: Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States, The SAGE Encyclopedia on Filipina/o/x America Studies, Asian American Literature Discourse and Pedagogies, and in a special issue he guest edited for American Studies. In addition to his work in Literature & Cultural Studies, he is invested in helping students see writing as a nonlinear process and as a tool for social change. Donna Doan Anderson is an assistant professor in History at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/gender-studies

A.M. Edition for May 22. The U.S. puts arms sales to Taiwan on hold, saying the munitions and arms are needed for the war with Iran. Plus, weight-loss drugs like WeGovy and Mounjaro show a surprising ability to stall cancer. And WSJ's Laura Cooper details how bourbon distillers are facing a hangover as more Americans pinch pennies and join the ranks of the sober-curious. Daniel Bach hosts. Sign up for the WSJ's free What's News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Who are the WINNERS & LOSERS from the last week in the Big 12 Conference? From Steve Sarkisian to Texas Tech, BIG Utah Alums and even a Tom Brady cheap shot, we cover it all from a busy week across the conference! Subscribe for more BIG 12 coverage!

This Week on In Stride  Sinead Halpin-Maynard sits down with Amber Marshall to explore the surprising parallels between horsemanship and acting, and what it looks like when a teenage English rider finds her true home in Alberta's cowboy culture.Meet the Guest: Amber Marshall  Amber Marshall is best known for her role as Amy Fleming in Heartland, CBC's beloved drama and Canada's longest-running one-hour scripted drama, now in its 19th season. Born and raised in London, Ontario, Amber began riding at age five and started pursuing acting in theatre at eight. As a teenager, she moved to Alberta to film the pilot of Heartland and never looked back. Today, she lives on a hobby farm outside of Calgary with her husband. She is a passionate advocate for animal welfare, with a focus on fostering and spay/neuter initiatives.In This Episode, Sinead and Amber Discuss:How growing up as an English rider and transitioning into Western and cowboy culture shaped both her identity and her character of Amy Fleming over 19 seasonsThe unexpected overlap between acting and horsemanship and why the subtle body language you learn with horses translates directly to compelling performance on screenThe behind-the-scenes reality of working with horses on a TV set, from casting and sourcing animals to the concept of "actor action" (creating the illusion of training without actually training)What working ranch horses taught her about partnership, trust, and the true meaning of a horse with a jobEpisode SponsorConnaway & Associates The friendly and knowledgeable team at Connaway & Associates brings together more than 30 years of experience to offer a wide range of insurance services, including horse insurance, farm insurance, and liability insurance. Visit www.connaway.net or call 501-868-8084 to explore your options.In Stride Is Brought to You by Ride iQRide iQ helps everyday riders ride with more clarity, confidence, and purpose through on-demand audio lessons from world-class coaches.Members also get:Weekly live Q&As with equestrian expertsExclusive podcast episodesDressage test prep resourcesA supportive learning communityStart your free 14-day trial at Ride-iQ.com

Brit, Julia & Mike are LIVE on location at Let's Dish in Woodbury with Darcy, we get Julia's take on some of our biggest recent pop culture scandals & Zac Rodvold from Second Harvest Heartland joins us. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this conversation, Heartland College Sports' Pete Mundo is joined by D1Baseball's Kendall Rogers to preview the 2026 Big 12 Baseball Tournament. Who can make a surprise run? Who needs to make a deep run to make the Field of 64? All those questions answered and more! Subscribe for more BIG 12 coverage!

You can't make this up! Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby has quite a line up of excuses as to why he should be allowed to play college football in 2026. Heartland College Sports' Pete Mundo discusses this and the REST of your BIG 12 mailbag questions in this episode!Plus, we react to sleepers in 2026, the purpose of expanding the College Football Playoff, who stands to benefit, if anyone, a little Notre Dame-Big Ten chatter and four Big 12 softball teams are heading to the Super Regionals! Subscribe for more Big 12 coverage!

Trevor Ault has the latest on the deadly shooting at the largest mosque in San Diego County that left three people dead, including a security guard; Ginger Zee tracks the system that's forecast to bring powerful tornadoes from Texas to the Great Lakes after a dangerous and violent 24 hours of storms in the Heartland; amid an Ebola outbreak in central and eastern Africa, Steve Osunsami has details on the American physician in the Democratic Republic of Congo who contracted the disease, according to the Serge International Missionary Organization, and his wife who was exposed but is showing no symptoms; and more on tonight's broadcast of World News Tonight with David Muir. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sam Seder and Emma Vigeland welcome Corey Haala, assistant Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and author of "When Democrats Won the Heartland: Progressive Populism in the Age of Reagan" https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=p089176 Watch the Majority Report live Monday–Friday at 12pm EST on YouTube or http://www.Majority.fm To connect and organize with your local ICE rapid response team visit ICERRT.com The Congress switchboard number is (202) 224-3121. You can use this number to connect with either the US Senate or the House of Representatives. Today's Sponsors: • JUST COFFEE: Go to https://JustCoffee.coop and use coupon code MAJORITY for 10% off your purchase! • ZOCDOC: Go to https://Zocdoc.com/MAJORITY and download the Zocdoc app to sign-up for FREE and book a top-rated doctor. 

While the Big 12 Conference is trying to gain access, is it doing it at the expense of the greatness that is college football? Heartland College Sports' Pete Mundo explains why he HATES that he has to agree with the SEC here, but he does.Also, Mundo dives into recent comments by a current, and a former, Big 12 coach, and why one made himself look good, and another did not.

Is what's BEST for the Big 12 Conference actually the WORST thing for college football?That's the internal struggle for Heartland College Sports' Pete Mundo, as we start the conversation there this week. Mundo also discusses why BIG 12 fans should give up the DREAM on Notre Dame every joining the conference, and why the league is generating surprisingly good off-season hype.

In this episode, Heartland College Sports' Pete Mundo takes your Big 12 MAILBAG questions, including discussing whether or not the Big 12 got a raw deal with this specific part of the schedule.Plus, what BIG 12 teams can make the jump to be competitive in 2026?! And which BIG 12 teams making the jump would be best for the conference's image? All those questions and more! Subscribe for more Big 12 coverage!