Podcasts about Humanities

THE RIPPLE EFFECT PODCAST:Website: http://TheRippleEffectPodcast.comSupport: https://rickyvarandas.com/support/IPAK-EDU (Empower Yourself Through Knowledge)Website: https://IPAK-EDU.org/ (use RIPPLE for 10% off)VN Alexander, PhD (aka Tori)Website: https://vnalexander.com/IG: https://www.instagram.com/rednaxelairot/AI & Transhumanism Essay: posthumousstyle.substack.comBio: Philosopher of science known for her work on Vladimir Nabokov's theory of insect mimicry evolution. She is a member of the Third Way of Evolution research group and currently works in the field of Biosemiotics.  She earned her Ph.D. in 2002 in English at the Graduate Center, City University New York and did her dissertation research in teleology, evolutionary theory, and self-organization at the Santa Fe Institute. She is a Rockefeller Foundation Residency alum, a former NY Council for the Humanities scholar, and a 2020 Fulbright scholar in Russia. Books include The Biologist's Mistress: Rethinking Self-Organization in Art, Literature and Nature and several literary fiction and political science novels.Xavier A. Figueroa, Ph.D (aka Dr. X)X: https://x.com/DrXFig0708Bio: The principal scientist for EMulate Therapeutics overseeing pre-clinical research and the application of EMulate Therapeutics technology in multiple disease areas. He has more than 20 years of experience in basic and neurological clinical research, including Alzheimer's research, neuron biology, cancer research, bioengineering and biophysics. Dr. Figeuroa received his doctoral degree in Neurobiology & Behavior from the University of Washington. His doctoral training was followed by two post-doctoral fellowships within the University of Washington's Department of Bioengineering. He is currently an affiliate assistant professor in the School of Medicine at the University of Washington. Specialties include, Molecular Biology, Toxicology, Apoptosis Signaling and Regulation, Neuroscience and Neurodegenerative Expertise.Dr. James Lyons-Weiler (aka Dr. Jack)Website: https://jameslyonsweiler.com/Substack: https://popularrationalism.substack.com/Earned his PhD in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology. He has held research positions at esteemed institutions, including the University of Nevada, Reno, and the University of Pittsburgh (Dept Pathology & Dept. of Biomedical Informatics). Dr. Lyons-Weiler has an extensive portfolio of peer-reviewed articles covering various scientific disciplines such as genetics, evolution, and public health. Notably, he has conducted research on the safety of aluminum adjuvants in vaccines, focusing on their dosing and potential health implications, especially in pediatric populations. His work on “pathogenic priming” and its potential relevance to COVID-19 has also been significant. Lyons-Weiler founded the Institute for Pure and Applied Knowledge (IPAK), a research organization. He also founded IPAK-EDU, an educational platform that has educated over 1,400 students in advanced courses across a wide variety of subjects. You can find more information about these courses on their official website.

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are Professor of History and International Relations at Vassar College Robert Brigham, Tetherless World Senior Constellation Professor of Computer, Web and Cognitive Science at RPI Jim Hendler, Professor of History at CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the CUNY Graduate Center and Director of the Humanities and Justice program Allison Kavey, and Executive Director of The Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York Nic Rangel.

In this Berkeley Talks episode, Ramzi Fawaz, a professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, explores why the humanities and psychedelics might have more in common than you'd think, and how literature, much like psychedelics, can help open one's mind to the world.Fawaz, who spoke at UC Berkeley in September, argues that the humanities classroom functions as a vital space for shared sense-making, where deep engagement with art and literature can rewire the brain much like a psychedelic experience — helping students heal from the rigid constraints of competitive individualism.During the talk, Fawaz recalls reading bestselling author and Berkeley Professor Emeritus Michael Pollan's How to Change Your Mind. “I am sort of mind-boggled by the specific chapter where he talks about the neuroscience of psychedelics,” Fawaz tells Ramsey McGlazer, an associate professor in Berkeley's Department of Comparative Literature, with whom he joined in conversation. “As I was reading it, I was like, ‘He's just describing humanities education ... except we don't use drugs, we use art and literature to invoke these transformative effects.'"Fawaz points out a divide in academia: While scientists look for "magic bullets" to treat mental health — with a specific pill or clinical treatment — humanities scholars often shy away from discussing the intense, emotional ways that art allows us to lose ourselves. He argues that by avoiding these deep sensory experiences, the humanities fail to use their full power to help people heal and grow.By bridging these fields, he suggests that the study of film and literature can pull us out of our narrow perspectives, enabling us to embrace diversity and multiplicity rather than feel threatened by it. “This is an extraordinary value of the humanities classroom that we don't talk about,” he says. “It literally has the potential to not only make people critical thinkers, but to actually heal them in a way.” The event, which took place on Sept. 25, 2025, was organized by the Center for Interdisciplinary Critical Inquiry and co-sponsored by the Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics as part of the Psychedelics in Society and Culture programming.Fawaz is the author of two books — The New Mutants: Superheroes and the Radical Imagination of American Comics (2016) and Queer Forms (2022) — and is at work on a book titled How to Think Like a Multiverse: Psychedelic Pathways to Embracing a Diverse World. He recently launched his podcast Nerd from the Future, where he engages in conversations with the nation's leading humanities professors about the state of higher education today. Listen to the episode and read the transcript on UC Berkeley News (news.berkeley.edu/podcasts/berkeley-talks).Music by HoliznaCC0.Photo by Bryce Richter/University of Wisconsin–Madison. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are Founder and Academic Director of the Hannah Arendt Center for Politics and Humanities and Professor of Politics, Philosophy, and Human Rights at Bard College Roger Berkowitz, writer, analyst, recently retired President of Siena College and former NY Congressman Chris Gibson, and Professor Emeritus of Russian at Hofstra University Alexander Mihailovic.

Faedah Totah is a walker. So when she traveled to Damascus, Syria in the 2000's, she ditched the car and sauntered the streets to really take in the beauty of the old city. She soon came across a neighborhood that sparked her forthcoming book, Palestinian Refugees in the Old City of Damascus. Also: The report card is out for America's stormwater infrastructure. Spoiler alert: it's a grade that probably would've gotten us all grounded by our parents. Tanjina Afrin explains where America is failing and why effective stormwater management is such an important but largely forgotten public amenity. Later in the show: As the Cold War drew to a close in the 1990s, the Hispanic Caribbean was rocked by what Elena Valdez calls “crisis moments.” She says these “crisis moments” sparked important changes in representations of sexuality and gender in the public sphere - especially in the urban spaces of Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico.

Ralston College Dr President Stephen Blackwood speaks with newly appointed Chancellor Dr Iain McGilchrist about the fate of the universities and their role in the future of civilization. Reflecting on education, tradition, and the conditions necessary for genuine understanding, Dr McGilchrist shares his hope that we can restore places of truth, beauty, and wisdom despite the pressures of  reductionism, instrumentality, and mechanistic thought. The conversation also traces prevailing academic narratives such as reduction and computation, which risk a flattening of human life into utility, data, and procedure. McGilchrist distinguishes information, knowledge, understanding, and wisdom, arguing that wisdom depends on lived experience, sustained attention, and a cultivated disposition toward reality itself.  Applications for Ralston College's MA in the Humanities are now open. Learn more and apply today at www.ralston.ac/apply Authors and Works Mentioned in this Episode: Plato's Seventh Letter Aristotle's Political Animals Johann Sebastian Bach Isaac Newton  Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Simon Conway Morris The Matter with Things The Cathedral Builders of the Middle Ages - Alain Erlande-Brandenburg Margaret Mead  

News of beloved author Philip Yancey's years-long affair with a married woman sparks a tough but worthwhile conversation between Brian and theologian Lindsey Hankins. From initial grief and accountability to the ultimate legacy of their work, join us as we explore what to do when a Christian public figure we trust and respect experiences a fall from grace.Christianity Today article: https://www.christianitytoday.com/2026/01/author-philip-yancey-confesses-affair-withdraws-from-ministry/The Dunning-Kruger Effect: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/dunning-kruger-effectDr. Brian Doak is an Old Testament scholar and professor: https://www.georgefox.edu/academics/undergrad/departments/religion/faculty/doak.htmlDr. Lindsey Hankins is the Director of the School of Humanities and Assistant Professor of Theology at George Fox University: https://www.georgefox.edu/academics/undergrad/departments/religion/faculty/hankins.htmlIf you enjoy listening to the George Fox Talks podcast and would like to watch, too, check out our channel on YouTube! We also have a web page that features all of our podcasts, a sign-up for our weekly email update, and publications from the George Fox University community.

******Support the channel******Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thedissenterPayPal: paypal.me/thedissenterPayPal Subscription 1 Dollar: https://tinyurl.com/yb3acuuyPayPal Subscription 3 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/ybn6bg9lPayPal Subscription 5 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/ycmr9gpzPayPal Subscription 10 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/y9r3fc9mPayPal Subscription 20 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/y95uvkao ******Follow me on******Website: https://www.thedissenter.net/The Dissenter Goodreads list: https://shorturl.at/7BMoBFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedissenteryt/Twitter: https://x.com/TheDissenterYT This show is sponsored by Enlites, Learning & Development done differently. Check the website here: http://enlites.com/ Sarah Dierna is a PhD candidate in Interpretation Studies at the Department of Humanities at the University of Catania, where she collaborates with the chair of Theoretical Philosophy. She has published essays, articles, and reviews in various scholarly journals and collective volumes. In 2023, she edited the Italian translation of David Benatar's The Misanthropic Argument for Antinatalism for Oxford University Press. In 2025, she published the monograph È il nascere che non ci voleva. Storia e teoria dell'Antinatalismo (Mimesis). In this episode, we focus on “È il nascere che non ci voleva”. We start by talking about how Sarah got interested in antinatalism. We then talk about the metaphysics of antinatalism, what it is to be born, whether people really want children, abortion, the harms of life, and the reality of death. We discuss why people reject antinatalism. We go through the history of antinatalism in the West and the East, including the Greeks, Christianity, and Buddhism. We discuss the strongest arguments in favor of antinatalism, whether death is always a harm, the ethics of parenthood, the strongest arguments against antinatalism, and extinctionism. Finally, we talk about how to approach people about antinatalism.--A HUGE THANK YOU TO MY PATRONS/SUPPORTERS: PER HELGE LARSEN, BERNARDO SEIXAS, ADAM KESSEL, MATTHEW WHITINGBIRD, ARNAUD WOLFF, TIM HOLLOSY, HENRIK AHLENIUS, ROBERT WINDHAGER, RUI INACIO, ZOOP, MARCO NEVES, COLIN HOLBROOK, PHIL KAVANAGH, SAMUEL ANDREEFF, FRANCIS FORDE, TIAGO NUNES, FERGAL CUSSEN, HAL HERZOG, NUNO MACHADO, JONATHAN LEIBRANT, JOÃO LINHARES, STANTON T, SAMUEL CORREA, ERIK HAINES, MARK SMITH, JOÃO EIRA, TOM HUMMEL, SARDUS FRANCE, DAVID SLOAN WILSON, YACILA DEZA-ARAUJO, ROMAIN ROCH, YANICK PUNTER, CHARLOTTE BLEASE, NICOLE BARBARO, ADAM HUNT, PAWEL OSTASZEWSKI, NELLEKE BAK, GUY MADISON, GARY G HELLMANN, SAIMA AFZAL, ADRIAN JAEGGI, PAULO TOLENTINO, JOÃO BARBOSA, JULIAN PRICE, HEDIN BRØNNER, FRANCA BORTOLOTTI, GABRIEL PONS CORTÈS, URSULA LITZCKE, SCOTT, ZACHARY FISH, TIM DUFFY, SUNNY SMITH, JON WISMAN, WILLIAM BUCKNER, LUKE GLOWACKI, GEORGIOS THEOPHANOUS, CHRIS WILLIAMSON, PETER WOLOSZYN, DAVID WILLIAMS, DIOGO COSTA, ALEX CHAU, CORALIE CHEVALLIER, BANGALORE ATHEISTS, LARRY D. LEE JR., OLD HERRINGBONE, MICHAEL BAILEY, DAN SPERBER, ROBERT GRESSIS, JEFF MCMAHAN, JAKE ZUEHL, MARK CAMPBELL, TOMAS DAUBNER, LUKE NISSEN, KIMBERLY JOHNSON, JESSICA NOWICKI, LINDA BRANDIN, VALENTIN STEINMANN, ALEXANDER HUBBARD, BR, JONAS HERTNER, URSULA GOODENOUGH, DAVID PINSOF, SEAN NELSON, MIKE LAVIGNE, JOS KNECHT, LUCY, MANVIR SINGH, PETRA WEIMANN, CAROLA FEEST, MAURO JÚNIOR, 航 豊川, TONY BARRETT, NIKOLAI VISHNEVSKY, STEVEN GANGESTAD, TED FARRIS, HUGO B., JAMES, JORDAN MANSFIELD, CHARLOTTE ALLEN, PETER STOYKO, DAVID TONNER, LEE BECK, PATRICK DALTON-HOLMES, NICK KRASNEY, RACHEL ZAK, DENNIS XAVIER, CHINMAYA BHAT, AND RHYS!A SPECIAL THANKS TO MY PRODUCERS, YZAR WEHBE, JIM FRANK, ŁUKASZ STAFINIAK, TOM VANEGDOM, BERNARD HUGUENEY, CURTIS DIXON, BENEDIKT MUELLER, THOMAS TRUMBLE, KATHRINE AND PATRICK TOBIN, JONCARLO MONTENEGRO, NICK GOLDEN, CHRISTINE GLASS, IGOR NIKIFOROVSKI, AND PER KRAULIS!AND TO MY EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS, MATTHEW LAVENDER,SERGIU CODREANU, AND GREGORY HASTINGS!

Federal parliament returns early today and the prime minister has removed a racial vilification offence from Labor's proposed hate speech laws and will now deal with restrictions on guns in a separate bill.Anthony Albanese had to change course after the bill came under huge criticism from the Greens and the federal opposition, with leader Sussan Ley describing it as half-baked and unsalvageable. The bill came after the Bondi attack in a bid to stamp out antisemtism. So, what was in the doomed bill? And was it really that bad? Today, Professor Kath Gelber, an expert in regulating hate speech from the University of Queensland, on the problems she saw in the government's bill. Editor's note: Organisers of August's pro-Palestinian protest on the Sydney Harbour Bridge estimated 300,000 were there. The police estimate on the day was 90,000 people and the NSW Premier has said more than 100,000 attended. Featured: Professor Kath Gelber, Deputy Executive Dean and Associate Dean (Academic) in the Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Queensland

In this episode, we continue our discussion of scientism. We talk about 6 problems with scientism that have been raised by Susan Haack, if we should feel bad about having some sympathy for scientism, and whether the contributions of all scientifici disciplines deserved the label of 'knowledge'. Enjoy.    References:   Haack, S. (2012). Six Signs of Scientism. Logos & Episteme, 3(1), 75–95. https://doi.org/10.5840/logos-episteme20123151 Brown, N. J. L., Sokal, A. D., & Friedman, H. L. (2013). The complex dynamics of wishful thinking: The critical positivity ratio. American Psychologist, 68(9), 801–813. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0032850 Peels, R. (2023). Scientism and scientific fundamentalism: What science can learn from mainstream religion. Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, 48(2), 395–410. https://doi.org/10.1080/03080188.2022.2152246 de Ridder, Jeroen. “Science and Scientism in Popular Science Writing.” Social Epistemology Review and Reply Collective 3, no. 12 (2014): 23-39. https://social-epistemology.com/2014/11/03/science-and-scientism-in-popular-science-writing-jeroen-de-ridder/  Meehl, P. E. (2004). Cliometric metatheory III: Peircean consensus, verisimilitude and asymptotic method. The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 55(4), 615–643. Mizrahi, M. (2017). What's so bad about scientism? Social Epistemology, 31(4), 351–367. https://doi.org/10.1080/02691728.2017.1297505 Hayek, F. A. (1952). The Counter-Revolution of Science: Studies on the Abuse of Reason. Glencoe, Illinois: The Free Press.  Rulkens, C. C. S., Peels, R., Stols-Witlox, M., Meloni, S., Lechner, I. M., & Bouter, L. (2025). The attribution of two portraits of Rembrandt revisited: A replication study in art history. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 12(1), 1347. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-05523-2  

Are we as a population getting dumber? How would we know if we were? This hour: stupidity. We’ll look at the history and philosophy of stupidity, and explore how it shows up in our daily lives and politics. GUESTS: Lane Brown: Features writer for New York Magazine, who recently wrote "A Theory of Dumb" Stuart Jeffries: Journalist and author. His new book is A Short History of Stupidity Shannon Mancus: Teaching Professor and Associate Department Head in the Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences Department at the Colorado School of Mines. You can follow Dr. Shan on Instagram and Substack at “Pop Smart Media” MUSIC FEATURED (in order): Able Sisters – Animal Crossing New Leaf OST Manchild – Sabrina Carpenter Dumb All Over – Frank Zappa Get Stupid – Aston Merrygold How Sweet to Be an Idiot – Neil Innes Idiot Wind – Bob Dylan Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Scientists are using video cameras and glorified fitbits to decipher the body language of trees. Geology professor Dom Ciruzzi says the way trees sway tells us a lot about tree overall health. Also: The location of trees affects home values. A study by Kevin Boyle and the U.S. Forest Service reveals that adding trees can boost home prices but there is a sweet spot where too much canopy can reduce value. Later in the show: Each year David Goodman captivates hundreds of children and families in Appalachia with a thrilling live science show, complete with flames, explosions and interactive experiments and a particular crowd favorite called Puking Pumpkins.

Send us a textFrom the Fanachu archives - here is the twelfth ever episode of Fanachu, recorded and hosted by the Godfather and Founder of Fanachu - Manny Cruz way back in 2017. Fanachu was started by Manny Cruz through the Media Committee for Independent Guåhan and many of those early episodes were recorded either in classrooms in the Humanities and Social Sciences Building at the University of Guam.For this episode, Manny spoke Joni Kerr and Sabina Flores Perez, community activists who were founding members of what would later become Prutehi Litekyan/Save Ritidian and today known as Prutehi Guåhan. The group was formed by a coalition of organizations, activists, families and scholars who were all seeking at the time to protect the Litekyan (Ritidian) area from becoming part of the Surface Danger Zone (SDZ) for the US military's proposed firing range. The conversation also focused on issue of indigenous rights and environmental stewardship in the Marianas. This episode was produced by Manny Cruz and premiered on Soundcloud on February 12 2017. Look out for more episodes from the archives as continue to migrate Fanachu content to new platforms. Support the show

When children grow up and look back on their childhood, what do they remember most about their parents? It turns out it's not what many parents assume. This episode begins with research revealing which parenting behaviors leave the strongest, longest-lasting impressions — and how they shape adult relationships. https://time.com/4097995/parenting-kids-remember/ Some emotions can completely hijack your day. Anger, anxiety, frustration, and stress often feel automatic — as if you have no control once they show up. But that's not actually true. Dr. Ryan Martin explains science-backed ways to regulate emotions both before they spiral and in the moment. Ryan is Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and Professor of Psychology at the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay, and author of several books on emotions, including Emotion Hacks: 50 Ways to Feel Better Fast (https://amzn.to/4qrv9fj). Laughter feels good — but why do we do it? And why do humans laugh so much more than other animals? Is laughter actually good for your health, or is it just enjoyable? And what makes something funny in the first place? Christopher Duffy joins me to unpack the science and psychology of laughter. He's a comedian, television writer, host of the TED podcast How to Be a Better Human, and author of Humor Me: How Laughing More Can Make You Present, Creative, Connected, and Happy (https://amzn.to/3LjKOyi). And finally, you've probably heard you should never let your gas tank drop below a quarter full — but is that really true? We wrap up by separating myth from reality and explaining when low fuel actually matters and when it doesn't. https://www.carparts.com/blog/fact-or-myth-driving-with-less-than-a-quarter-of-a-tank-of-fuel-is-bad-for-your-car/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are Founder and Academic Director of the Hannah Arendt Center for Politics and Humanities and Professor of Politics, Philosophy, and Human Rights at Bard College Roger Berkowitz, Political Consultant and Lobbyist Libby Post, and Associate Professor in the department of sociology at Vassar College Catherine Tan.

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are Tetherless World Senior Constellation Professor of Computer, Web and Cognitive Science at RPI Jim Hendler, Semi-retired, Editor at large/columnist/editorial writer for the Times Union Jay Jochnowitz, and Professor of History at CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the CUNY Graduate Center and Director of the Humanities and Justice program Allison Kavey.

I really enjoyed this conversation with Natalie and her mother, Mary, because it reminded me how an unstoppable mindset is often built quietly, over time, through creativity, learning, and persistence. Together, they share what it has been like to navigate life across generations while facing learning disabilities, health challenges, workplace adversity, and the constant need to adapt. We talk about Natalie's journey with attention deficit disorder and anxiety, how creative outlets like baking, art, music, and storytelling helped her find focus and confidence, and why returning to school later in life became an act of self-trust rather than fear. Mary's story adds another powerful layer. She reflects on growing up with low self-esteem, navigating male-dominated workplaces, and dealing with sexual harassment long before there were systems in place to address it. As a mother, artist, and professional, she shares what it means to keep moving forward while supporting her daughter's growth. Throughout our conversation, we explore accessibility, creative entrepreneurship, lifelong learning, and why accommodations and understanding still matter. I believe you will find this episode both honest and encouraging, especially if your own path has been anything but linear. Highlights: 00:00 – Hear how creativity and resilience shaped an unstoppable mindset across two generations.08:35 – Learn how attention deficit disorder and anxiety changed the way focus, learning, and confidence developed.14:33 – Discover why stepping away from a demanding career can open the door to new growth.21:23 – Understand how workplace sexual harassment leaves lasting effects long after it happens.35:16 – See why protecting and celebrating local artists became a personal mission.59:09 – Learn why accessibility, accommodations, and empathy still matter in everyday life. About the Guest: Mary Dunn: Mary was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA.  She was the only child of Norman and Lucille Rump.  At a young age, she liked to draw and as she grew older she enjoyed painting.  Her first painting was in oil and Mary was eleven years old.  However, because of the expense of art supplies, it was difficult to pursue a continuous endeavor in that particular form of art. While in high school, nothing really exciting happened as Mary was on the shy side.  She didn't belong to any groups and she really just wanted to graduate.  She graduated in the upper third of her class.  The most momentous part of the graduation was that Jeff Goldblum was also a graduate of her class. After graduation, Mary continued her education at The Pittsburgh Beauty Academy.  There she studied cosmetology and acquired a teacher license.  Although she never taught, she did work at a few different shops and also managed a shop.  These experiences helped Mary to become less shy. At that time, she met her first husband and had two children.  The marriage lasted for eleven years, and Mary was left with two small children.  Mary realized that her background in cosmetology would not be sufficient to raise two small children. She decided to go to college. With the support of her parents, she was accepted to attend Carlow College which is now Carlow University.  There she studied business and minored in theology.  She almost minored in art, but she needed one more credit to have that as a minor.  It was important for her to graduate in order to take care of her children.  While in college she belonged to several organizations.  One organization was an honor society called Delta Epsilon Sigma.  There she became an assistant chair of the organization.  The second organization was OASIS.  The organization was for non-tradition students.  She was vice-president during her senior year at Carlow.  She graduated in 1991 cum laude. After Carlow, she found her first employment opportunity working the Equitable Gas Company as a “Technical Fieldman”.  In this position, Mary would draft pipeline installations, work up costs for those installations, and fill in for supervisors when they went on vacations.  The job was difficult as it had usually been filled by men prior to her.  She was thrust into a job that she learned on her own and was subject to sexual harassment.   At that time, sexual harassment was not spoken about.  Mary didn't even realize that her peers were doing these things to her.  When she supervised union personnel, they were nice and valued her expertise.  However, when she returned to the office, more harassment continued. During that period, Mary decided to get a Master's Degree and enrolled in Carnegie Mellon's Heinz school of Public Management.  Her classes were very valuable as she learned about leadership, information systems, and marketing communications.  She graduated in 1996 with distinction.  Even though after she graduated from CMU, she continued to be sexual harassed.  She thought it might be a good idea to document the issues that made her position difficult.  She began to take notes on these incidents.  When she went to Human Resources, Mary was told that she should confront these people and tell them how she was feeling.  Mary couldn't do that because she felt it would make matters worse.  She applied for another position within the company.  In 1997, Mary became Program Manager of Energy Technology. While there, Mary developed and implemented a marketing plan to promote the use of alternative fuels.  As a Program Manager, Mary became a member of Pittsburgh Region Clean Cities which focused on alternative fueled vehicles.  During this time, she became a board member and focused on grants and wrote the Pittsburgh Region Clean Cities Newsletter. In 1999, her position was eliminated at Equitable.  In some ways, Mary was relieved about the elimination, but in other ways, it was the first time this ever happened to her.  She was now remarried and was concerned about her children. It was very scary. Thankfully, Mary was not unemployed for long.  She was hired at Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission as a Transportation Planner.  In this position she implemented a newly designed client tracking system of their products and services that helped to increase revenue. Additionally, she worked on a communication plan to implement branding and crisis communications. Eventually, Mary became a Marketing/Communication Specialist for Southwestern Pennsylvania Communications.  She was responsible for multi-media communications connected with branding. Mary designed logos for special projects, arranged special affairs, open houses and conferences.  She remained a part of Pittsburgh Region Clean Cities.   Mary additionally prepared presentations for executive management to deliver regarding the Joseph A. James Memorial Excellence in Local Government Achievement Award that recognizes a municipal government elected or appointed official in any local government, agency, or Council of Government for a lifetime of exemplary governance or management. Unfortunately, a new Executive was hired to replace the past Executive who had passed away.  Because of this, our whole department was eliminated. After Southwestern, Mary was hired as the Manager of Administration and Human Resources for THE PROGRAM for Female Offenders.  While at THE PROGRAM, Mary was responsible for maintaining the policies and daily operations in THE PROGRAM.  She implemented a cost effective foodservice program, introduced staff ID cards and implemented the Windows NT network server and computer security using a Digital Subscriber Line which is a type of high-speed internet connection that uses existing copper telephone lines to provide internet access to three PROGRAM facilities. Additionally, Mary implemented a human resource database for directors and managers that targeted specific employment information. Mary maintained safety equipment and introduced a safe evacuation plan for her building.. Unfortunately, because THE PROGRAM was grant based and when it was time to acquire grant money much of the previous grants were not renewed and Mary lost her job.  Mary eventually was hired by Roach and Associates, Inc. as a Project Manager. In this position, she negotiated oil and gas leases for exploration and productions of future gas wells in Clearfield County Pennsylvania.  During this time, Mary was responsible for permitting activities with the state, county and federal agencies as well as prepared training seminars to meet pipeline safety regulations as per U.S. Department of Transportation, CFR49, Parts 192-193. Mary authored documentation regarding pipeline regulations for various housing authorities and gas production companies within Pennsylvania, West Virginia and New York.  Besides working at Roach, Mary became part of the Transition Team for Peduto for Mayor of Pittsburgh.  That was such a memorable experience as my team focused on some of the issues facing the newly elected Mayor. It was nice to be a part of change. After working ten years at Roach and Associates, Inc., Mary decided it was time to retire in 2015. While working at Roach, Mary began dabbling in art again.  It had been quite a while since college and painting.  But she began to work in pastels and eventually more in the line of acrylic painting.  She became president of the Pittsburgh Pastel Artist League.  She no longer is president of that group.  Mary now belongs to the Pittsburgh Society of Artists where she was juried into the group.  She has had her work display at The Galaxie in Chicago,  Pittsburgh Technical Institute, Monroeville Library, Gallery Sim, Boxheart Gallery, Southern Allegheny Museum of Art, Saville Gallery in Maryland and various other galleries around Pittsburgh.  Her Study in Pastels won an Award of Excellence from Southern Allegheny Museum of Art.  Mary also came in second place in the Jerry's Artarama Faber Castel Contest. As time went on, Mary decided to focus more on her art work and began teaching students how to paint with Acrylic.  She also began a YouTube channel, Pittsburgh Artist Studio, where she gave free art lessons in acrylic to future artists around the country.  Unfortunately, Mary developed chronic back issues, and she had to give up her teaching.  She has had two back operations to alleviate the pain, but the second operation really didn't help.  It has caused more painful issues.  Therefore, it is difficult for her to paint a long period of time.  Currently, Mary devotes her time to illustrating her oldest daughter's books for children.  The books are a series about a little boy's adventures in his life.  Her books can be found on Amazon under her name “Nicole Leckenby”.  Additionally, she has illustrated a book for her younger daughter, Natalie Sebula, entitled “The Many Colors of Natalie”. In conclusion, now that Mary is retired, she has had more time to work on different art projects a little at a time.  She lives with her husband Steve and two dogs Grumpy and Sally.  She belongs to a group of wonderful women who review Bible Psalms each week. Since my minor in theology, I do enjoy reading various books on different religious subjects.  I am thankful for each day that I have and continue to work on the gifts God has given me. Natalie Belin: I am focusing on the arts. I am a creator with an ambitious attitude. I have no problem thinking BIG and dreaming BIG. While everyone else stays inside the lines, I boldly color outside the lines. Natalie resides near Pittsburgh, PA. She is 40 years old and loves adventures. Within these 40 years Natalie has experienced highs and lows. However, during the low points she was like water: adaptable, resilient, and always finding a way through. At toddler age, it was brought to the attention that she had high pressure in her eyes. However, nothing was really done about it because of her age. Typically, high pressures occur in older adults. After many years, one eye doctor took it seriously.  He prescribed eye drops and finally recommended a laser technique to open the tear ducts.  This alleviated the high pressure and since no eye drops have been needed. In 5 grade, she was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder. Her mother, Mary Dunn advocated for her until someone listened, and her teachers realized it was a real problem. Steps were taken to help Natalie focus more.  As she grew older, it was important to do activities that helped her focus such as cheerleading and possible careers in culinary. Because of the importance of focusing, Natalie decided that culinary arts would be beneficial.  Natalie graduated in October of 2004 from the Pennsylvania Culinary Institute with an associate's degree in Specialized Technology Le Cordon Bleu Program in Patisserie & Baking.  While there, she was elected class president. The Pennsylvania Culinary Institute offered externships to various prestigious areas to hone the craft.  Natalie's externship was at the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulpher Springs where she was ultimately hired. However, Natalie decided to return to Pittsburgh after a car accident. Natalie continued to work as a pastry chef for about five years. After, she decided to further her education, and Natalie graduated in December of 2023 from the University of Pittsburgh with a Bachelor of Arts in Humanities. Some of her academic achievements are National Society of Collegiate Scholars, National Society of Leadership and Success, Alpha Sigma lambda-Alpha Chi Chapter at the University of Pittsburgh, Delta Alpha PI Honor Society. During her academic life, Natalie became an Emmy nominated producer for Pitt to the Point (a class focusing on the news as well as behind the scenes of a news/magazine program that covers the City of Pittsburgh, the University of Pittsburgh regional campuses as well as national and international events.) Currently, Natalie is in a Graduate Certification Program which is also at the University of Pittsburgh. The Certification is in Sports, Entertainment, and Arts Law (SEAL). She hopes to use this program as a steppingstone to complete her master's degree in Sports, Entertainment, and Arts Law. In addition to the SEAL certification, one could say that Natalie is a woman of many colors.  She works full-time as an Administrator for the Rehabilitation Science Program in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh. This is where she provides administrative support for general program management, advising and faculty. Another aspect of Natalie's many colors is writing.  Several years ago, she wrote a poetry book called The Many Colors of Natalie. This is a book for 18+. There are several illustrations in the book that complement the poems. Mary Dunn, Natalie's mother, created the illustrations. In August of 2020, Natalie launched The Many Colors of Natalie Blog. She started this blog to give a new perspective to Pittsburgh other than being known for sports. This allows individuals the ability to educate themselves on different variations of Pittsburgh's art or artists as well as bringing awareness to the art scene. Natalie's motto is Love Art & Support Your Local Artist! Additionally, Natalie has been a model/actor since 2012. Most of her work consists of being an extra in various music videos and movies. Furthermore, she is an ambassador for Ambassador Sunglasses and Just Strong Clothing. Just Strong Clothing's Mission “We are a clothing brand on a mission to empower those who are not just strong for a girl, they are just strong. Whether you are an experienced lifter, a new starter or have simply overcome great adversaries in your life, the JustStrong community are here to empower and motivate you to never give up.” “Ambassador was formed to extract, refine, and exhibit the marriage between what was and what will be in fashion culture. When wearing Ambassador, you break the mold of the mundane to embrace your unmatched individualism.” Besides being an ambassador, Natalie became a Creative Percussion Artist in 2020. “Creative Percussion is a family-owned business, established in 2018, and run by husband-and-wife team, Kevin and Cheri Feeney.” Her picture is on the site as a CP percussion artist. Not only is Natalie a musician, but she dabbles in various mediums in art. Her mixed media piece Peace, Love, and Woodstock is currently in the Woodstock Museum located in Saugerties, New York. “The purpose for the Woodstock Museum is: To gather, display, disseminate and develop the concept and reality of Woodstock, encompassing the culture and history of a living colony of the arts, with special emphasis placed on the exhibition of self-sustaining ecological technologies. To encourage and increase public awareness of Woodstock by providing information to the general public through cultural events, displays of artifacts, outreach programs, communication media events and personal experiences, and to contribute, as an international attraction, to the cultural life and prosperity of our region; and to engage in all lawful activities in pursuit of the foregoing purposes.” Lastly, Natalie and her mother Mary Dunn started a side hustle several years ago. Mother and Daughter Collaboration (vending show name) is a great opportunity for Natalie to showcase her entrepreneurial skills in addition to her art. Their Etsy name is Maker's Collab Studio. In conclusion, Nat is excited for the future, and to see what is in store. She considers herself to be dynamic and resilient. Even those who know Natalie would say the same.  Regardless of what she has been through, she keeps going. She realizes that the tough times eventually do end. In self-reflection, the “tough time” may have been a life lesson, or a possible steppingstone to what's next in her life. Only time will tell. Natalie will always be a supporter of the arts, and she will always create in some way. As Natalie ages, she sees the importance of advocating for the disabled. At one point in her life, she was embarrassed about sharing her learning disability because she felt that we live in a society where having a disability isn't necessarily welcomed and is frowned upon. Do not fear individuals who need special accommodations.  Instead, educate yourself. Try being that individual who needs certain accommodations, and the accommodations are not provided or easily accessible. Progress has been made in educating the ignorant. However, there is more work that needs to be done. Ways to connect with Natalie & Mary**:** Blog website: Home - The Many Colors of Natalie Personal website: Home | natalie-sebula-belin Book of poetry: The Many Colors of Natalie: Written by: Natalie Belin - Kindle edition by Dunn, Mary, Leckenby, Nicole, Merlin, Grace, Palmieri, David. Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com. Facebook: (1) Facebook Instagram: Natalie Sebula (@themanycolorsofnatalie) • Instagram photos and videos Etsy: MakersCollabStudio - Etsy About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset . Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes: Michael Hingson  00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us. Michael Hingson  01:21 Hi everyone, and welcome to another edition of unstoppable mindset. We're doing something that we've done a few times before, and we get to do it again today. We have two people as guests on unstoppable mindset this time, mother and daughter, and that'll be kind of fun they have, between them, lots of experiences in art, but in all sorts of other kinds of things as well. They live in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area, and I'm not going to say a whole lot more, because I want them to tell their stories. So I want you to meet Natalie bellen and her mother, Mary Dunn. So Natalie and Mary, both of you, welcome to unstoppable mindset. We're glad you're here. Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  02:03 Well, thank you for Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  02:03 having us. Yes, we're happy to be here. Thank you. Michael Hingson  02:06 Well, let's see. We'll start with mom. Why don't you tell us something about the early Mary growing up, and you know what? What life was like growing up? Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  02:18 Well, growing up, I was born in Pittsburgh. I was actually born on in the south side of Pittsburgh, and it was called St Joseph Hospital, and now it's an apartment building, but we lived here. I've lived here all my life. I lived in Hazelwood until I was about the age of three. Then we moved to Whitaker, Pennsylvania, and now I'm in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania. So it's like we hopped around a bit. Growing up in my family was a little bit difficult. I had been bullied quite a bit by my cousins, so it kind of like left you know how it does with bullying. You know, it's not like today. Of course, I didn't want to go out and do something terrible to myself. It's just that it left my self esteem very low, and I just kind of stayed and was by myself most of the time. So until I grew up, I graduated from high school, I went to West Midland, North High School, I graduated in the same class as Jeff Goldblum. Although I didn't know him, I knew that he was very talented. I thought he was more talented on a piano than he was with acting, but he is still he's still very good with the piano, with his jazz music, and that's basically it. I've been in West Mifflin now for she's been quite a bit Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  03:49 since I was in seventh grade, and now I'm 40 years old, so we've been here a long time. Michael Hingson  03:54 Yeah, so it's sort of like 3027 years or so, or 28 years? Yes, well, Natalie, tell us about you when it was like growing up in and all of that. Sure. Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  04:08 No problem. So I grew up in Whitaker for the most part, my yearly eight years, like until about fifth grade, I guess about like fifth grade, and then we moved, well, we just moved to a different house and whatever. Yeah, that when we moved for the second time, it was more in a neighborhood with kids, so that was, like, a lot more fun. And we played like tag and all that. So that my early years, I remember that like playing tags, swimming, I love, like skiing on the water, jet skis, stuff like that. Definitely. I loved running around. And I loved dance as a kid too, that was a lot of fun. Michael Hingson  05:00 Okay, and so you went to high school? Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  05:05 Oh, yeah, I went, Yes. I went to West Midland area high school, and I graduated in 2003 in 2004 I graduated from the Pennsylvania Culinary Institute as a pastry chef and part of the things that I had to do to graduate, I had to do, like, about a six month internship where I resided in white sulfur springs, West Virginia, and I got to do my externship at the Greenbrier, and that was pretty exciting, because it has quite the history. There. People love it there for Well, one of the things that sticks in my mind is Dorothy Draper, who decorated that resort. Her taste is very cool, because she went bold, like with flower print and stripes mixed together for wallpaper. There's stories in history behind the sulfur water there. And then most people might know the Greenbrier for their golf courses, for the golf course actually, or in history about the sulfur water Michael Hingson  06:26 now, you had high eye pressure for a while after you were born, right? Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  06:31 Oh, yes, the eye pressures. That's quite the story, let me tell you so at a very young age, like different doctors and eye doctors that I went to. They knew that I had high pressures, but they didn't seem like it was a big issue. But my mom had the inkling that I needed to go to a different doctor when I was like, I guess you Middle School, Michael Hingson  06:58 yeah, yeah, you were about now, was there a lot of pain because of the pressure. Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  07:02 I didn't even know was happening, so I wasn't in discomfort or anything. So they said, don't they kind of dismissed it. So I wasn't worried about it, Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  07:14 Neither was I. But you know, like eventually we did go to a doctor and he said, Oh, my goodness, you have these high pressures. And it's, it could be like glaucoma. We don't ever see that in a young person, you know, they haven't ever seen anything like that. He was just amazed by it. And go ahead, you can finish this. Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  07:36 Dr Al, I have so much respect for him, because he truly took care of my eyes for a very long time. I started seeing him in middle school, and I saw him up until, like my late 30s, and he I would see him quite frequently, because he would always monitor those pressures, because he knew the importance of that and how they could damage my eyes and I can lose my sight. So he always had me do like fields test eye pressure checks, because your pressures in your eyes can fluctuate throughout the day. So I would come in in like different times of the day to make sure they're not super high and stuff like that. He would prescribe me on different eye pressure medications like eye drops, because the they like the eye drops would help my eyes to it to regulate the pressures to a certain point, and then my eyes would get used to them, it seemed like, so then we would have to go to a different prescription. I caused that doctor a lot of stress, I think, because he was always thinking about my case, because it was so rare. And he went to a conference, actually, and brought that up at a conference, and at that conference, they said for me to get the laser, laser procedure done to Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  09:10 open the tear ducts. Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  09:12 Yeah, yeah. And luckily, that solved it. Michael Hingson  09:18 Wow, so you so the the tear ducts were, were small or not draining properly, correct? Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  09:26 Yeah, it was points where, like, if I wanted to cry, no tears would come Michael Hingson  09:31 out, no tears would come out. Well, yeah, yeah. Then you also discovered, or somehow you you learned about being Attention Deficit Disorder. Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  09:45 Yeah, so, um, when I was from like one or like, from kindergarten to third grade, I went to a Catholic school, and I didn't seem like there was anything. Being really wrong. But then when I went to a public school, I was really having a hard time grasping the material, and I would get really frustrated when I was at home trying to do the homework and I just wasn't understanding. I believe the educators there said like I was also behind, which could have been part of the issue. But my mom would like try to help me with my homework, and it was like Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  10:28 it was hard. She would, she would get so frustrated and throw the papers and just, you know it, because it was very difficult for her, and we really couldn't under I couldn't understand why. You know this was happening, because my, my other daughter, I never had issues like that with so we had, I guess we were told to go. Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  10:53 I think that was Miss Lenz in fifth grade. Yeah, she had me get tested for a learning disability, and with all the testing that was done with that, they said that I had attention deficit disorder. So whenever that diagnosis was made, I was able to get like teacher teaching aids to help me through tests to help me understand the curriculum a little bit better. Tutors did the counselor Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  11:28 I well they I did take her to get tested outside of school, and that's they actually told me some things that could help her with this. And then I went to the teachers, and the teachers, some of them, didn't, like, actually take this into consideration. They, they didn't really realize attention deficit disorder at that time. It was new. And so they, they kind of said, well, we don't, we don't believe in that or whatever. And I said, Well, can you just have her, like, sit up front, because she would pay attention more and she would focus better, because that's the problem she couldn't focus on. So it took a while, and then finally, the principal in the fifth grade, he had a meeting with the teachers us, and he actually was the one who brought that to their attention, that this is a problem, that attention disorder, you know, does occur, and some of it is hyper, just hyperactive disorder. So it luckily she didn't have that part of it, but it was the focusing, and we just got her more involved in things that she could learn how to focus. They recommended cheerleading, they recommended culinary school, and I think that really helped her to learn more on focusing. But she still has anxieties and things like that. It's still Michael Hingson  13:03 it's still there. So why culinary school? Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  13:07 So that is such a fun question. When my grandma used to watch me, she was very particular on what I was like watching. She didn't want me to watch anything like super crazy or out there. So I would always watch cooking shows, and I thought he was so unique, the different recipes and everything that these chefs were making. And I love some of their personalities, like emerald, he was always so hyper and loud, so fun. And it was interesting to see the different types of foods that they were creating that, like certain countries make. You know, I love Spanish food. It's so good. Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  13:55 She decided not to even get into that part. That was the thing. She wanted to be a pastry chef, yeah, Michael Hingson  14:02 something to be said for chocolate chip cookies. But anyway, go ahead. Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  14:07 Yeah, she makes a good one, too. At Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  14:10 this point, I don't even know why. What drew me to baking more than culinary I think the two different styles are cooking are very interesting, because like with cooking, you don't have to be so exact with the measurements and everything with certain things like the spices and stuff. If you don't like rosemary, you don't have to put it in there. But with baking, it's definitely more scientific. Have to be more accurate with the measurements of certain ingredients, like baking soda, because it's lavender and like, altitude will totally screw up your baking Yes, so many reasons that elevation is so important. So yeah, so Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  14:59 mine's to it. Or whatever, you know? Yeah, Michael Hingson  15:01 so you went and did an externship, and then what did you do? Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  15:06 So with the externship, I was there for a little bit over six months, I was officially hired, and I graduated from culinary school, but, um, I got in a car accident. So that's like, why left? So I was in baking professionally for about a total five years, and then I went back to school. Sorry, that's grumpy. Can you hear him barking? 15:36 I'm sorry. I'll go. No, no, it's fine. Michael Hingson  15:41 So why did you leave culinary? Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  15:43 Um, I was just ready for a change. Because I started working professionally when I was like 19, so by my mid 20s, I was just ready to go back. I mean, that is a very demanding field. You're working several hours. Um, you're working with all types of personalities, certain pressures, long days sometimes. And I was just ready to see what else was out there for me. Michael Hingson  16:12 So you went back to school to study, Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  16:15 yes, so my when I graduated in 2023 with my undergraduate degree, it was in humanities, and it focused on three areas of art, music, studio, arts and theater. The main focus was theater, okay? Michael Hingson  16:39 And so, what did you do with that? Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  16:42 So with that degree, I did several different things. I wrote a poetry book, which I provided a link so people can access if they would like to purchase it. I created a blog in 2020 called the many colors of Natalie, and I created a blog to help bring a different perspective to Pittsburgh, other than just it being a city for sports, because there's a lot of talented artists out there, and plus, like during a pandemic, that caused a lot of strain on a lot of things, and I was really worried about certain venues that were iconic here closing and completely wiping out the whole art industry here, you know. So, um, with that too, I also, um, I was doing music at the time as a percussionist, and that's when I got introduced to creative percussion products, and I was using that with the different performances that I was doing. And I ended up being one of their artists featured on their page, website or website, yeah. Okay, yeah, and I also volunteered at a local dance studio called Lisa de gorrios dance, and I got to work with the younger kids, and I did that for a couple years. So that was interesting to see what it was like to teach and put on performances. It's a lot of you get to see the behind the scenes and time management and stuff like that. Also, I'm thinking here for a second, sorry. How about, oh, we, my mom and I created an Etsy shop. So we started a few years ago, called Mother Daughter collaboration, a vending that was like our vending show name, and we did that for Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  18:56 we've been doing that for a while. Yeah, we, we put different products up. I kind of tend to do my artwork, and she puts up some things also in art, we have, we have interesting things like CD, telephone, covers, cases, purses, you know. And we're working on a new product now to to put on to the Etsy shop this year. We didn't do many vending shows. I had surgery last last year on my back, and I had a hard time recovering because it was pretty expensive. So we're hoping to get that going again this year, or towards the end of the year, when the Christmas shows start happening, Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  19:47 we did, um, create an Etsy shop called makers collab studio, and we were focusing more on that this year. Um, so we do have, like, a variety of different products. Um. Um, which I also provided the link to the Etsy shop. If anybody wants to check out our products and what we have, that'd be great if you stop checked out that. Michael Hingson  20:11 Yeah, my late my late wife, was a quilter and tried to run an Etsy shop, but people didn't want to pay any kind of real prices for handmade quilts, because they just thought that quilts should be, like, 50 or $75 and that just wasn't realistic. Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  20:30 But, well, that's, that's the trouble. What we're seeing also, yeah, we do, I do, like, we do t shirts and things like that too. But people it. I don't think people realize what's behind the whole process. No, or they don't care. No, you know, I mean, there's a lot involved as far as your equipment. When it was covid, I was, well, I'm retired, but I was working part time, and I was able to, you know, get what is it, you know, workers, whatever, yeah, you know, yes. And with that money, I actually bought like things to do, T shirts, like the heat press and different parts to like a cricket that we can do things with. And so, you know, like the things that you know, you still have to buy supplies, even with my artwork, it's so expensive anymore, when I first started back in, you know, when my kids grew up and they were on their own, where I really focused on it, and I can't believe the expense of it. You know, it's just, it's everything's expensive these days. So, yeah, really watch what you're doing and how you approach it too. You know, you can't spend a lot of money on things. We don't have, like, a whole backlog of products. I mean, we just do a few things and hope that the things that we make are sellers, you know, Michael Hingson  22:05 yeah, well, and I hope it, it can is more successful for you going forward. That's a useful thing. You You've done a lot Mary with with art over the years, but you've also had other, other kinds of jobs where you've worked for some pretty large companies, and you've been reading your bio, you faced some sexual harassment issues and things like that, haven't you? Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  22:29 Yes, yes, that was difficult boy, and I didn't realize that at the time I went to college late in life because I was getting divorced and I needed a job that I could take care of my family, my girls, and so I decided to go to college and my my mom and dad watched my kids while I went to school, which was nice. And the first job I had was with the gas company here, and I was called a technical Fieldman. And what I would do is, like, I would draw pipeline installations and the and sometimes I would fill in as a supervisor. When I filled in first as a supervisor, it was great. I mean, the guys were decent. We always came to a conclusion. I always trusted what they're you know what they would say about pipeline? Because I knew nothing about pipeline. It was all new to me. But when I would go back to the office, it was, it was just like crazy things that would happen. I mean, I won't go into detail, and I started writing these things down because I thought this just doesn't seem right, that these people are saying these things to me or doing these things to me. I had a nice little book of all these incidents that happened, and I went to the HR department, and they wanted me to confront these people in my office, to tell them how I felt. Well, that, to me, would have made everything worse, because that's just that, you know, kind of work environment. So luckily, I was, I was promoted into a job that lasted two years, and then my job was eliminated. So that was my first, my first thing with that was the only time I really had sexual harassment that was really bad. I went on to another which was the program for female Well, I worked for a university for a while, and then I went into the program for female offenders, which was really interesting work. I enjoyed that it was like people that were out on that needed to, that were like drug addicts and and they were looking for a new way. They had been in jail and this incarcerated, and they came into this. Program they had that was part of their incarceration or parole. They had to do this, this program, and that was so interesting. I mean, it was just heartfelt, because you just saw these people that were trying so hard to make a good life for themselves and not to go back to their original way of living. And unfortunately, that was all grant money. And that job ended also so that, you know, and I was a transportation planner, I did a lot of things, and then I ended up going back into the gas industry. I worked for an engineer, and we were working in the production side of everything. So he had drove to you wells, and we had leases, and I took care of those. And I liked that job for about 10 years. I stayed there, and then I I retired. I was getting tired of it at that point. Michael Hingson  26:02 Yeah. Why was your first why was your first job at the original gas company eliminated? Or when you were promoted and you said it was eliminated, yeah? Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  26:10 Well, that's what I like to know why it was eliminated. I think sometimes that job was just to keep me quiet. That's how I felt. I mean, I, I they, they knew that I was upset and that I didn't like what was happening. And I think it was just to keep me quiet, and they realized that that job wasn't going to last, but it was a marketing job. We were using different ways to use gas, alternative fuel vehicles, fuel cells, you know. So it was an interesting job, too, but it it didn't really have the supervisor we had was not really a person that pushed the product, you know. So that could have been the reason, too, that they eliminated a lot of that. Yeah, so I wasn't the only one that went I mean, there was another person in that at that time, and eventually that whole department was eliminated. Now that gas company, they sold all that off, and another gas company took it over and equitable. Still is EQT here, and they work, I think at this point, they work with the leases and things like that, and horizontal drilling, they call it. Michael Hingson  27:38 So now that you're retired, what do you do? Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  27:41 Well, for a while there, Michael Hingson  27:44 in addition to Etsy, yeah, for Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  27:47 a while, I was actually doing hair. I was my first, my first, I guess, employment type, or whatever. I went to beauty school, and I became a cosmetologist, and I also became a teacher in cosmetology. So when I first became all that the money wasn't so great. I worked my first job. I was so excited I had this job because I thought I was going to be making millions. You know, they they really pump you up in in beauty school that you're going to really succeed and you're going to make this money. Well, my first job, I worked over 40 hours at that job, and I only got $15 in my first pay. It was like we had to stay there the whole time until everyone was finished working. So the girls that had their clientele that they worked the whole day and into the evening, like till eight o'clock. Maybe we had to stay till eight o'clock. Even though I didn't have anybody to do. I might have had one person that day, yeah, so that that wasn't too I just worked at that for a few years, and then I decided to leave and take care of my family. Yeah, well, that that I went back to it when I retired, and it had changed significantly, making pretty good money. I was only working three days a week, and I did pretty well. But then my back. I had the issues with my back, and I couldn't go back to it, which really upset me. I really love that job. Michael Hingson  29:29 Well, things happen. Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  29:31 Yeah, it does. You know, I'm happy not to stay at home. I figured now that I'm actually 73 years old now, so I think I I should retire Michael Hingson  29:47 and enjoy my life a little. Well. So Natalie, you graduated in 2023 and so then what did you start to do? And what are you doing now? Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  29:57 So what I'm doing now is I'm. Still focusing on the Etsy shop, but I also got into a graduate certificate program, and this certificate is in sports entertainment and arts law, and I really hope to use this program as a stepping stone to complete my master's degree in the sports entertainment and arts law program. Michael Hingson  30:25 What exactly is a graduate certification program, as opposed to a master's degree? Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  30:32 So that's a great question. So the certificate program is like a newer program, and it's like the only one in the world, I'm pretty sure, that focuses on sports, entertainment and art. So it's like a newer, more modern type of learning program. And this certificate is a great stepping stone, and for me to check it out before I actually go in to the master's program. This is, like, my second week, and I love it so far, and all these classes that I'm doing, and if I keep my grades up and everything, will apply to the master's program if I get in. Michael Hingson  31:15 Okay, well, so Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  31:20 less credits than, like, what you would need for a master's program, and it's less I don't need a textbook. I have these things called nutshells, where I'm pretty sure, like, I'll be studying different types of cases or something like that through that. So it's like online stuff. Michael Hingson  31:43 The Okay? And how long do you think it will take you to complete that Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  31:49 the certification program should be about a year, and it's all online, okay? Michael Hingson  31:55 And how, how long have you been doing it so far? Just two weeks. Oh, so next August, yeah, yeah, yeah. And the hope is then you can use that to go forward and actually work toward getting a master's degree. Which, which sounds pretty cool, yeah, for sure. What do you want to do with it once you get a master's degree? Well, like Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  32:20 all those points like sports entertainment and arts, I think is Pittsburgh is a great city to represent all of those. And I hope to help represent like clients, maybe do like to protect their works and them as an artist. And I would like to hopefully get into paralegal work. That's what I'm focusing on right now. Michael Hingson  32:47 So is school pretty much full time for you these days? Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  32:51 No, it's still part time, and that's what I like love about this program, because, like all week, you'll be doing 10 hours outside of so I still work full time as an administrator in the SHRS program, and I am the administrator for Rehabilitation Science. So yeah, it's great to have like, bosses and everything that support me in my educational journey, because that makes my life a lot easier too. Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  33:26 Yeah, that's some great bosses. Michael Hingson  33:29 Well, it's good to have some people who tend to be a little bit more supportive. It helps the psyche when you get to do that. Yes, yeah. Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  33:39 Because the one thing that I noticed with this program, it is definitely more manageable, because, like the undergrad program, I did enjoy the process. For most parts, some of it was really challenging. But the undergraduate program, it was really hard for me to get late night classes. Most of those classes that I had to take were I had to be in person, so like late classes were pretty hard to get, but my bosses allowed me to take earlier classes so I could help finish the program faster, but I just had to make up that time. Right? Michael Hingson  34:28 When did you discover that you had artistic talent? Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  34:32 Um, I don't know if I ever really discovered that I had the talent, but I was very passionate at a young age, like when my mom was going back to school, I always loved watching her paint, because she had like the painting classes. I always thought so I like sit on the floor and watch her paint. And at a very young age, I was in the dance class. Do you remember the name? A France Dance School of Dance, France School of Dance. And I love dance class so much. I remember one time the dance school was closed because of a holiday, and I was, like, so upset, like, I didn't believe, like, the dance school was closed and I didn't understand, like, why I wasn't allowed to go. So they called the school and it went straight to, like, the answering machine so they could prove, like, it was closed and nobody was there. I was like, ready to show up. Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  35:30 She wanted to go, yeah. She was just about three or four when she was taking the dance classes at that time. Yeah. But then it became on, you know that they both the kids were involved, but I couldn't afford it anymore. Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  35:45 So dance is very expensive. Yeah? Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  35:48 Well, you know, like, at that time too, I was going to school, and I didn't have much of a salary, and I was living with my parents, so, I mean, and they were retired, so it was, like, very tight. Yeah, right. Michael Hingson  36:04 Well, it nice to have an enthusiastic student, you know, Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  36:13 so true. Well, Michael Hingson  36:15 so you've created the many colors of Natalie blog, tell me about that. Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  36:22 So I reach out to different artists that were that are located in Pittsburgh or at one time, working or living in Pittsburgh. So this is like musicians, photographers, actors and they, I I create questions for them, for them to answer in their own words, like advice that they would give, or funny stories that they had while working in the field. And that's that's the main point of the blog, because I want it to be a resource for people and for them to also see, like, why that genre is cool. And I think another reason that motivated me to create that blog is some people just don't see an importance to art, and I find that so offensive. Like, yeah, so I just wanted it to be as an educational type thing as well. Michael Hingson  37:28 How long has the blog been visible? Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  37:33 So it's been visible for about five, six years now, five years, yeah, and I did over like 50 some posts. Michael Hingson  37:45 Do you do that with consistency? Or So do you have one, like, every week or every three weeks, or every month, or something like that? Or how does that work? Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  37:53 So when I first started, I was consistent with the posts I don't ever leave my blog, like, not active for like a year. Like, I always try to post something, but it's a little more challenging to do a post. Like, every month, whenever I'm working, going to school, volunteering for different things, running the Etsy shopper, vending so I had to cut it back a little bit because that is just me running it. Michael Hingson  38:30 So you've also created a mixed media piece. First of all, what is a mixed media piece? Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  38:35 You want to explain Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  38:36 the mixed media? Oh, well, a mixed media is like different mediums. It could be paint, it could be pictures, and it's posted on a board, a canvas, or whatever it can be in a journal. You know, you just use various types of mediums. It could be using lace, it could be using fabric, it could be using, like I said, pictures, paper, and they call it mixed media. So she decided she wanted to create a mixed media. I had a huge canvas that was given to me. It was like 36 by 36 giant. It was huge, and I knew I couldn't do anything on that, because I don't paint big. I like to paint on smaller canvas, like an eight and a half by 11, or eight and a half by 14. So she, she decided she wanted to use that Canvas for something. But you go ahead and tell them. Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  39:38 So, um, whenever Woodstock had their 50th anniversary, and I believe that was around 2019 I had the opportunity to go to yaska's Farm and camp where the original campers from the very first Woodstock would stay in that. Campsite was like, right next to this yaska farms. So I took some pictures of it, like me with the yaska farm house. And so it was very inspirational to go to that because I was doing research on what Woodstock was, the original Woodstock. And what that was about, I talked to Uber drivers that were actually at the original Woodstock. Jimi Hendrix is one of my favorite musicians, and for him to not be there, I was like, so sad. Very sad. So with all the education experience. I needed to release that. And I took my mom, let me have that canvas, and like I created a mixed media giant collage, and I got that into the Woodstock Museum in Socrates, New York. Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  41:01 Wow, it's actually there now, Michael Hingson  41:04 yep. How long has it been there? Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  41:07 I believe got that in there? Yeah, about two years. Michael Hingson  41:13 Wow. So it's kind of almost a permanent piece there. Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  41:17 I hope so. I hope they keep it there for sure. What? Michael Hingson  41:21 What prompted them to be interested in having it there. Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  41:25 So I that piece was so giant, and I loved how it turned out, and I wanted that more than just in my house, my art pieces are very close to me, because that's like my soul and my work, and I want it out there to somebody who cares about it. So I reached out to Shelly nation, Nathan, because they, I believe, are the owners of the Woodstock Museum, and they were more than happy to have it. I had it shipped out there. And then, whenever the season was to reopen the museum, I went out there and visited it. And it's a very great it's a very cool place. Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  42:10 Recommend, yeah, she, she was interviewed by them, also, right? Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  42:14 Oh, yeah, we did go on a radio station. And that was also a cool experience, because I was never on a radio show at that time. Cool. Michael Hingson  42:25 Well, that's pretty exciting. I have not been to the Woodstock Museum, so that might be something to explore at some point when I get get back there next that'd Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  42:35 be great. Yeah, Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  42:37 all those things like, you know, like I grew up during that period, of course, I didn't go to the Woodstock. Original Woodstock wouldn't let me do that. I was only 16 at the time, and but I mean, you know, like, like looking back at that and and seeing how all those people were there, and not nothing terrible happened, you know, I mean, hundreds of 1000s of people, and nobody got hurt. Well, they might have passed out, maybe from things, but nobody was, like, shot or killed or and like today. I mean, you can't you're so afraid to do anything today, you don't know what's going to happen. And it just was a different time. And the musicians that were there. I mean, that music was is still good today. You know, it's it, it hasn't faded. And I wonder sometimes about today's music, if it will continue to be popular in years to come, or if it's just going to fade out. You know, we won't know that, and so well I won't be here, probably Michael Hingson  43:44 we won't know for a while anyway, yes, but I did hear on a radio station a rebroadcast of a lot of the Woodstock concerts that was kind of Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  43:56 fun. Yes, yes. Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  44:00 Sorry I didn't mean to cut you. Go ahead. Go ahead. When I was talking to like the Uber drivers and stuff like that, and people who were at the original Woodstock, it seems like they were reliving that experience when they were telling the stories. I mean, it was great. Michael Hingson  44:15 Yeah. Well, you play creative percussion. First of all, what is pre creative percussion? Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  44:23 So I actually have that written in some notes, what it actually is. So do you mind if I read off my notes? Michael Hingson  44:30 You're welcome to however you want to answer, perfect. Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  44:33 So I was asked to be a creative percussion artist in 2020 and creative percussion is a family owned business established in 2018 and run by husband and wife team, Kevin and Sherry Feeney. They're great. I've had the opportunity to talk to them very much a couple of times, and my pictures also on the site. Um. Uh, under like my stage name now is a Bulla. So if you scroll down spell that it's S, E, B as a boy, u as in unicorn, L, L as in Len and a is an apple. Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  45:16 Okay, what types of things, kinds Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  45:18 of there's various types of shakers that I played because of various bands that I was in, I was the percussionist, so I played tambourine and stuff. But like, they have uniquely shaped shakers, like there's the hatch shakers, which I love them. They had a baseball shaker, and these little golf ball shakers, and they all carry different sounds, and they really blended differently with the type of song that I was playing was playing, yeah, so it's cool, Michael Hingson  45:53 yeah, so interesting. So you you play them as part of being with a band, or what Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  46:01 for the most part, yeah, sometimes there was an acoustic band or just like a full band, and either way, I tried to have those pieces blend into the song. What I didn't learn when I was doing that is and an acoustic you really have to be on your game, because, like, if you mess up, like, people are gonna hear it more than if you're in a full band. So, yeah, right. Michael Hingson  46:38 So you do you still do that? Do you still play Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  46:42 at this time? I don't, um, just because I wanted to focus on other things, so I took a step back from that. Michael Hingson  46:51 Do you think you'll do more of it in the future, or Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  46:56 possibly, but like, that's how I am. I kind of just like, experience it, do it until I'm ready to move on to something else. Michael Hingson  47:04 So you flit, you flip from thing to thing, yeah, yeah, yeah. Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  47:10 So, like, if you ever follow me, you might just see, like, me evolving and just trying other things. Michael Hingson  47:19 Well, you're adventurous. Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  47:22 Yes, I love adventure. Michael Hingson  47:25 Nothing wrong with having an adventure in the world and getting to really look at things. So what are you doing now if you're not doing creative percussion and so on? Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  47:38 Well, for the last couple months, I was helping my mom recover from like the back surgery. And then I was I was focusing on my blog, just really paying attention to that, getting certain interviews, and then schooling, getting ready to go into the certificate program. Michael Hingson  48:05 So you think you're gonna go ahead Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  48:09 and I'm setting up the Etsy shop. Michael Hingson  48:13 So you're pretty excited about seal, the sports entertainment, art and law. Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  48:19 Yes, I'm very excited about that. I was very excited to get into the program. The professors are great. The whole programs like really good. The people involved in it, they seemed, they seem really organized and let me know what I need to do to get into the program. And they are really nice. If I have a question, they're happy to answer it. I love the curriculum, so I hope you go, Well, Michael Hingson  48:46 do you experience anything any more dealing with like attention deficit? Oh, 100% it still creeps up, huh? Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  48:55 Well, it's more anxiety than anything. But like this program, I think, is to help calm my anxiety with just different things that are set up. And like, how responsive the professors are and how nice they are. But my goodness, when I was in my undergraduate program, like I was really pushing myself, and I would like, of like, when 2020, came around in the pandemic, I needed to talk to my doctor and get on meds, like I could no longer not do that without meds. Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  49:29 Yes, she was, she was struggling. It was tough. Yeah. I mean, when I went for my Bachelor's, I I I wasn't working. She was working. When I went for my master's, I was working, but, and I know how hard that is, you know, trying to balance things, especially I was working at equitable at the time, and the things that I was going through and being, you know, filling in for supervisors was I. I was on call, like, 24 hours a day, and it, you know, like that was, I can see how difficult it is to do both. It's just, I know what she was going through there, and she goes through it, but she did well. She graduated sigma, sigma cum laude. Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  50:17 Yeah, I did get some honorary, like accolades for like, whenever I graduated. So that was pretty exciting, because the hard work did pay off. Michael Hingson  50:29 What do you think about studying and attending classes virtually as opposed to physically being in the room? Hybrid learning? Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  50:38 Some people may have an issue with that, but I personally, cause I was working full time and it was hard for me to get later classes, I preferred the online learning, but I understand, like some of the classes really did need me to be there, like the theater classes, and I was okay with that. I don't mind either, either or, but it just seems like online learning is more manageable. For me, it Michael Hingson  51:08 takes more discipline to to stick with it and focus on it, as opposed to being in the classroom. Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  51:14 Um, yeah, I agree, but I think which, which is not a negative thing, by the way. Oh, yeah, no, no, no, I totally understand, but I think, um, I forget what I was going with that. Michael Hingson  51:26 Sorry. Well, we were talking about the fact that more discipline dealing with, Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  51:33 Oh, yeah. Oh, that's right, thank you. It's just, um, I think if you truly want it, you're gonna put forth the effort in anything. You know, it's may not always be enjoyable, but like, if you want it, you'll put through it. You'll push through it, like with high school, my mom knows, just like from elementary to high school, like that curriculum, I was just not feeling it, but I knew I had to stick it out. I wanted to be a high school dropout. I voiced that many of times, but like, I knew if I wanted to get to culinary school, I had to really focus on my academics through then and just try to push through and just do it, do what I had to do to graduate. Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  52:19 Yeah, it's such a different environment to high school, I believe, you know, like I found that I really enjoyed college. I enjoyed my subjects. They went fast. The classes went fast. It was fast paced, but it was an I learned more. I you know, I think that slowness of the way that they do things in in the high school, it takes them like three weeks to get through one chapter, you know, and so it, it just, it just made it a big difference. And I, I wished I could continue to go to school. I think I was a really good student. Michael Hingson  52:59 I think one of the things about college is, and I've talked to several people who agree, is, you certainly learn from the courses that you take, but College offers so much more with with with the extracurricular activities, with the interaction with people, with The greater responsibility. College offers so many more life lessons if you take advantage of it, that really makes it cool. And I, I always enjoyed college. I liked it a lot. Natalie Belin & Mary Dunn  53:29 Yeah, yeah, I did too, I think with some of my challenges and frustrations, not only with my learning disability, but like the fact that

An engaging investigation of how 13 key Enlightenment figures shaped the concept of race, from the acclaimed author of Diderot and the Art of Thinking Freely. Over the first decades of the 18th century, Christianity began to lose its grip on the story of humankind. Yet centuries of xenophobia, religious intolerance, and proto-biological ideas did not simply disappear. This raw material was increasingly “processed” by secularly minded thinkers who claimed the right to rethink the category of the human. By century's end, naturalists and classifiers had divided the human species into racial categories using methods that we now associate with the Enlightenment era. In Biography of a Dangerous Idea, prize-winning biographer and Enlightenment specialist Andrew S. Curran retells this story through the medium of group biography. Written more like a detective story than traditional history, the book traces the emergence of race through the lives of 13 pivotal figures, among them Louis XIV, Buffon, Linnaeus, Voltaire, Hume, Adam Smith, Blumenbach, Kant, and Jefferson. Moving from the gilded halls of Versailles to the slave plantations of the Caribbean, from the court of the Mughal Empire to the drawing rooms of Monticello, this sweeping narrative not only reveals how the Enlightenment's ultimate Promethean quest intertwined with systems of oppression and empire, but also offers a groundbreaking reassessment of the era's most famous luminaries. Andrew S. Curran is the William Armstrong Professor of the Humanities at Wesleyan University. Caleb Zakarin is CEO and Publisher of New Books Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

The Chesapeake Bay is ballooning with an apex predator that can only be defeated with grease and breading – blue catfish! They were introduced to Virginia's freshwater rivers in the 70s and 80s for recreational fishing. Now, the Bay is teeming with 700 million to 1 billion pounds of blue catfish. Michael Schwarz says that we can restore balance to the bay by eating the fresh, white saltwater catfish filet. And it's best served fried! And: Growing up, Maurica Bynum smelled the funk of the Franklin County paper mill and collected water samples with her parents who were water treatment operators. Now, she brings her childhood experience with public health and environmentalism to the classroom, preparing the next generation of public health experts. Later in the show: Indigenous people throughout the Amazon basin understand themselves to be deeply connected to the more-than-human world. So the pollution of waterways and loss of biodiversity is not just an environmental loss, it's a loss of spiritual protection and livelihood. Jeremy Larochelle says that indigenous amazonian people honor poets as much as they honor the fishermen. And poets like Juan Carlos Galeans and Ana Varela Tafur are sounding the alarm about the urgent need to save the Amazon by honoring it.

Award-winning journalist and author Steven Petrow joins Dori Mintzer to explore how to “make” joy, even in some of life's darkest seasons. Drawing on his new book, The Joy You Make: Find the Silver Lining Even on Your Darkest Days, Steven distinguishes joy from happiness, shares his personal journey through grief and loss, and offers research-informed, highly practical ways to cultivate joy from the inside out. From gratitude practices and community connections to play, reading, and embracing imperfection, this conversation invites listeners to see joy as an inner resource that can coexist with sorrow and uncertainty.What We Talk AboutHow joy differs from happiness, and why joy is more of an enduring inner state than a short-lived “high”Steven's shift from a “Big Bang” fireworks idea of joy to quieter, everyday forms like serene, spiritual, and shared joyThe core “recipe” for joy, including gratitude and connection/community as foundational ingredientsUsing practices like a 21‑day gratitude journal to retrain attention toward everyday blessingsHow joy and grief can coexist, and what Steven learned about this through the deaths of his parents and sisterVulnerability, shedding emotional “armor,” and how being more open deepens relationships and joyCreating space to “be” rather than “do,” including the joy of getting lost, the joy of the mundane, and silent retreatsJoy in aging, being single, play, and intergenerational relationships in later lifeAbout the Guest: Steven PetrowSteven Petrow is an award-winning journalist and author best known for his essays in The Washington Post and The New York Times on aging, health, and civility, and he is also a regular contributor to NPR and other outlets. His TED Talk, “Three Ways to Practice Civility,” has drawn nearly 2 million views, and he is the former president of NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists.Steven-Petrow.txt​He has received numerous awards and grants from organizations including the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Smithsonian Institution, the Ucross Foundation, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and the National Press Foundation, and in 2017 he endowed the Steven Petrow LGBTQ Fellowship at VCCA. Steven is the author of several books, including the bestseller Stupid Things I Won't Do When I Get Old and his latest, The Joy You Make: Find the Silver Lining Even on Your Darkest Days; he serves as North Carolina's 2024 Piedmont Laureate and lives in Hillsborough, North Carolina.Steven-Petrow.txt​Connect with Steven PetrowWebsite: stevenpetrow.com Social: Active on LinkedInWhat to do next: Click to grab our free guide, 10 Key Issues to Consider as You Explore Your Retirement Transition Please leave a review at Apple Podcasts. Join our Revolutionize Your Retirement group on Facebook.

Maggie Dillow is the founding member of the Post-apocalyptic Poets for a Pre-apocalyptic World, Her work as a writer and educator has been supported by the Tiny Spoon Residency, the National Women's History Museum, and the National Enodwment of the Humanities. She has her MFA from Hollins University and teaches in Southwest Virginia. You can learn more about Maggie at https://maggiedillow.com/ Appalachian Vibes Radio Show from WNCW is listener nominated, you can nominate an artist by emailing Amanda at appalachianvibes@gmail.com. Appalachian Vibes Radio Show is created and produced by Amanda Bocchi, a neo soul singer-songwriter, multi instrumentalist and journalist hailing from the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia.

An engaging investigation of how 13 key Enlightenment figures shaped the concept of race, from the acclaimed author of Diderot and the Art of Thinking Freely. Over the first decades of the 18th century, Christianity began to lose its grip on the story of humankind. Yet centuries of xenophobia, religious intolerance, and proto-biological ideas did not simply disappear. This raw material was increasingly “processed” by secularly minded thinkers who claimed the right to rethink the category of the human. By century's end, naturalists and classifiers had divided the human species into racial categories using methods that we now associate with the Enlightenment era. In Biography of a Dangerous Idea, prize-winning biographer and Enlightenment specialist Andrew S. Curran retells this story through the medium of group biography. Written more like a detective story than traditional history, the book traces the emergence of race through the lives of 13 pivotal figures, among them Louis XIV, Buffon, Linnaeus, Voltaire, Hume, Adam Smith, Blumenbach, Kant, and Jefferson. Moving from the gilded halls of Versailles to the slave plantations of the Caribbean, from the court of the Mughal Empire to the drawing rooms of Monticello, this sweeping narrative not only reveals how the Enlightenment's ultimate Promethean quest intertwined with systems of oppression and empire, but also offers a groundbreaking reassessment of the era's most famous luminaries. Andrew S. Curran is the William Armstrong Professor of the Humanities at Wesleyan University. Caleb Zakarin is CEO and Publisher of New Books Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/african-american-studies

An engaging investigation of how 13 key Enlightenment figures shaped the concept of race, from the acclaimed author of Diderot and the Art of Thinking Freely. Over the first decades of the 18th century, Christianity began to lose its grip on the story of humankind. Yet centuries of xenophobia, religious intolerance, and proto-biological ideas did not simply disappear. This raw material was increasingly “processed” by secularly minded thinkers who claimed the right to rethink the category of the human. By century's end, naturalists and classifiers had divided the human species into racial categories using methods that we now associate with the Enlightenment era. In Biography of a Dangerous Idea, prize-winning biographer and Enlightenment specialist Andrew S. Curran retells this story through the medium of group biography. Written more like a detective story than traditional history, the book traces the emergence of race through the lives of 13 pivotal figures, among them Louis XIV, Buffon, Linnaeus, Voltaire, Hume, Adam Smith, Blumenbach, Kant, and Jefferson. Moving from the gilded halls of Versailles to the slave plantations of the Caribbean, from the court of the Mughal Empire to the drawing rooms of Monticello, this sweeping narrative not only reveals how the Enlightenment's ultimate Promethean quest intertwined with systems of oppression and empire, but also offers a groundbreaking reassessment of the era's most famous luminaries. Andrew S. Curran is the William Armstrong Professor of the Humanities at Wesleyan University. Caleb Zakarin is CEO and Publisher of New Books Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Universities have been trying to curb dangerous binge drinking for years. Today's students are glued to their phones, and Abby Braitman (Old Dominion University) and her colleagues are meeting them where they are for interventions. And: Meagan Brem (Virginia Tech) says that drinking is intertwined with a lot of the intimate partner violence that happens on college campuses. Later in the show: There's a psychedelic renaissance going on in Javier González-Maeso's (Virginia Commonwealth University) biochemistry lab. He's hoping to develop a new drug using psilocybin, the component found in magic mushrooms, to help people battling alcohol abuse disorder. Plus: How Jasmohan Bajaj (Virginia Commonwealth University) discovered that addiction lives in the gut, not the mind.

Dr. John Powers is back for another chat on the show—largely about Tibetan Buddhism, meditation practices, and the nature of self and consciousness. John shared his personal journey into Buddhism, including a transformative experience with the Dalai Lama that led him to explore meditation further—I absolutely loved this part! We also discussed the concept of emptiness in Buddhism, the idea of rebirth and karma, and the challenges of maintaining a sense of self in a constantly changing world (let alone whether or not the ‘self' even exists!). John also explained his atheistic views on God and the importance of empirical evidence in understanding religious concepts. Finally, John and I touched on the similarities between meditation-induced states and those experienced under the influence of psychedelics. It was also really wonderful to hear how John has navigated his transition into (semi) retirement. I thoroughly enjoyed spending time once again with John and look forward to having him back on the show.John Powers currently holds a joint position at the University of Melbourne in the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies and the Contemplative Studies Centre. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Humanities and author of 20 books and more than 100 articles, mainly on Buddhism and Tibetan history.***The Mind Mate Podcast explores the human condition at the intersection of philosophy and psychotherapy. Hosted by counsellor and psychotherapist Tom Ahern, the podcast engages deeply with questions of meaning, anxiety, freedom, identity, death, love, and what it means to live authentically in the modern world.Find out more here: https://ahern.blog/

In this two-part episode, we delve into the topic of scientism. Is science the best way to generate knowledge? Or are we giving too much deference to science if we believe this? In this first part, we discuss what scientism is, what - if anything - is wrong with scientism, and whether it is bad to be a scien-ti-sim-ist?   References:   Haack, S. (2012). Six Signs of Scientism. Logos & Episteme, 3(1), 75–95. https://doi.org/10.5840/logos-episteme20123151 Brown, N. J. L., Sokal, A. D., & Friedman, H. L. (2013). The complex dynamics of wishful thinking: The critical positivity ratio. American Psychologist, 68(9), 801–813. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0032850 Peels, R. (2023). Scientism and scientific fundamentalism: What science can learn from mainstream religion. Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, 48(2), 395–410. https://doi.org/10.1080/03080188.2022.2152246 de Ridder, Jeroen. “Science and Scientism in Popular Science Writing.” Social Epistemology Review and Reply Collective 3, no. 12 (2014): 23-39. https://social-epistemology.com/2014/11/03/science-and-scientism-in-popular-science-writing-jeroen-de-ridder/  Meehl, P. E. (2004). Cliometric metatheory III: Peircean consensus, verisimilitude and asymptotic method. The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 55(4), 615–643. Mizrahi, M. (2017). What's so bad about scientism? Social Epistemology, 31(4), 351–367. https://doi.org/10.1080/02691728.2017.1297505 Hayek, F. A. (1952). The Counter-Revolution of Science: Studies on the Abuse of Reason. Glencoe, Illinois: The Free Press.  Rulkens, C. C. S., Peels, R., Stols-Witlox, M., Meloni, S., Lechner, I. M., & Bouter, L. (2025). The attribution of two portraits of Rembrandt revisited: A replication study in art history. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 12(1), 1347. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-05523-2  

An engaging investigation of how 13 key Enlightenment figures shaped the concept of race, from the acclaimed author of Diderot and the Art of Thinking Freely. Over the first decades of the 18th century, Christianity began to lose its grip on the story of humankind. Yet centuries of xenophobia, religious intolerance, and proto-biological ideas did not simply disappear. This raw material was increasingly “processed” by secularly minded thinkers who claimed the right to rethink the category of the human. By century's end, naturalists and classifiers had divided the human species into racial categories using methods that we now associate with the Enlightenment era. In Biography of a Dangerous Idea, prize-winning biographer and Enlightenment specialist Andrew S. Curran retells this story through the medium of group biography. Written more like a detective story than traditional history, the book traces the emergence of race through the lives of 13 pivotal figures, among them Louis XIV, Buffon, Linnaeus, Voltaire, Hume, Adam Smith, Blumenbach, Kant, and Jefferson. Moving from the gilded halls of Versailles to the slave plantations of the Caribbean, from the court of the Mughal Empire to the drawing rooms of Monticello, this sweeping narrative not only reveals how the Enlightenment's ultimate Promethean quest intertwined with systems of oppression and empire, but also offers a groundbreaking reassessment of the era's most famous luminaries. Andrew S. Curran is the William Armstrong Professor of the Humanities at Wesleyan University. Caleb Zakarin is CEO and Publisher of New Books Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/intellectual-history

An engaging investigation of how 13 key Enlightenment figures shaped the concept of race, from the acclaimed author of Diderot and the Art of Thinking Freely. Over the first decades of the 18th century, Christianity began to lose its grip on the story of humankind. Yet centuries of xenophobia, religious intolerance, and proto-biological ideas did not simply disappear. This raw material was increasingly “processed” by secularly minded thinkers who claimed the right to rethink the category of the human. By century's end, naturalists and classifiers had divided the human species into racial categories using methods that we now associate with the Enlightenment era. In Biography of a Dangerous Idea, prize-winning biographer and Enlightenment specialist Andrew S. Curran retells this story through the medium of group biography. Written more like a detective story than traditional history, the book traces the emergence of race through the lives of 13 pivotal figures, among them Louis XIV, Buffon, Linnaeus, Voltaire, Hume, Adam Smith, Blumenbach, Kant, and Jefferson. Moving from the gilded halls of Versailles to the slave plantations of the Caribbean, from the court of the Mughal Empire to the drawing rooms of Monticello, this sweeping narrative not only reveals how the Enlightenment's ultimate Promethean quest intertwined with systems of oppression and empire, but also offers a groundbreaking reassessment of the era's most famous luminaries. Andrew S. Curran is the William Armstrong Professor of the Humanities at Wesleyan University. Caleb Zakarin is CEO and Publisher of New Books Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us a textFrom the Fanachu archives - here is the eleventh ever episode of Fanachu, recorded and hosted by the Godfather and Founder of Fanachu - Manny Cruz way back in 2017. Fanachu was started by Manny Cruz through the Media Committee for Independent Guåhan and many of those early episodes were recorded either in classrooms in the Humanities and Social Sciences Building at the University of Guam.For this episode, Manny spoke to taotao Hågat and former Assistant Secretary to the Department of the Interior for Insular Affairs Tony Babauta. He talked about his experiences working in Guam politics and in D.C. on on issues related to the US territories and how we could gain some traction on issues like political status and decolonization. This episode was produced by Manny Cruz and premiered on Soundcloud on February 15, 2017. Look out for more episodes from the archives as migrate Fanachu content to new platforms. Support the show

Alle Thyng Hath Tyme: Time and Medieval Life (Reaktion, 2023) recreates medieval people's experience of time: as continuous and discontinuous, linear and cyclical, embracing Creation and Judgement, shrinking to ‘atoms' or ‘droplets' and extending to the silent spaces of eternity. They might measure time by natural phenomena such as sunrise and sunset, the motion of the stars or the progress of the seasons, even as the late medieval invention of the mechanical clock was making time-reckoning more precise. Negotiating these mixed and competing systems, medieval people gained a nuanced and expansive sense of time that rewards attention today. Gillian Adler is Associate Professor of Literature and Esther Raushenbush Chair in Humanities at Sarah Lawrence College in New York. She is the author of Chaucer and the Ethics of Time (2022) Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube Channel: here 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

Alle Thyng Hath Tyme: Time and Medieval Life (Reaktion, 2023) recreates medieval people's experience of time: as continuous and discontinuous, linear and cyclical, embracing Creation and Judgement, shrinking to ‘atoms' or ‘droplets' and extending to the silent spaces of eternity. They might measure time by natural phenomena such as sunrise and sunset, the motion of the stars or the progress of the seasons, even as the late medieval invention of the mechanical clock was making time-reckoning more precise. Negotiating these mixed and competing systems, medieval people gained a nuanced and expansive sense of time that rewards attention today. Gillian Adler is Associate Professor of Literature and Esther Raushenbush Chair in Humanities at Sarah Lawrence College in New York. She is the author of Chaucer and the Ethics of Time (2022) Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube Channel: here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/religion

Alle Thyng Hath Tyme: Time and Medieval Life (Reaktion, 2023) recreates medieval people's experience of time: as continuous and discontinuous, linear and cyclical, embracing Creation and Judgement, shrinking to ‘atoms' or ‘droplets' and extending to the silent spaces of eternity. They might measure time by natural phenomena such as sunrise and sunset, the motion of the stars or the progress of the seasons, even as the late medieval invention of the mechanical clock was making time-reckoning more precise. Negotiating these mixed and competing systems, medieval people gained a nuanced and expansive sense of time that rewards attention today. Gillian Adler is Associate Professor of Literature and Esther Raushenbush Chair in Humanities at Sarah Lawrence College in New York. She is the author of Chaucer and the Ethics of Time (2022) Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube Channel: here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alle Thyng Hath Tyme: Time and Medieval Life (Reaktion, 2023) recreates medieval people's experience of time: as continuous and discontinuous, linear and cyclical, embracing Creation and Judgement, shrinking to ‘atoms' or ‘droplets' and extending to the silent spaces of eternity. They might measure time by natural phenomena such as sunrise and sunset, the motion of the stars or the progress of the seasons, even as the late medieval invention of the mechanical clock was making time-reckoning more precise. Negotiating these mixed and competing systems, medieval people gained a nuanced and expansive sense of time that rewards attention today. Gillian Adler is Assistant Professor of Literature and Esther Raushenbush Chair in Humanities at Sarah Lawrence College in New York. She is the author of Chaucer and the Ethics of Time (2022) Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube Channel: here 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

Alle Thyng Hath Tyme: Time and Medieval Life (Reaktion, 2023) recreates medieval people's experience of time: as continuous and discontinuous, linear and cyclical, embracing Creation and Judgement, shrinking to ‘atoms' or ‘droplets' and extending to the silent spaces of eternity. They might measure time by natural phenomena such as sunrise and sunset, the motion of the stars or the progress of the seasons, even as the late medieval invention of the mechanical clock was making time-reckoning more precise. Negotiating these mixed and competing systems, medieval people gained a nuanced and expansive sense of time that rewards attention today. Gillian Adler is Assistant Professor of Literature and Esther Raushenbush Chair in Humanities at Sarah Lawrence College in New York. She is the author of Chaucer and the Ethics of Time (2022) Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube Channel: here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/critical-theory

Alle Thyng Hath Tyme: Time and Medieval Life (Reaktion, 2023) recreates medieval people's experience of time: as continuous and discontinuous, linear and cyclical, embracing Creation and Judgement, shrinking to ‘atoms' or ‘droplets' and extending to the silent spaces of eternity. They might measure time by natural phenomena such as sunrise and sunset, the motion of the stars or the progress of the seasons, even as the late medieval invention of the mechanical clock was making time-reckoning more precise. Negotiating these mixed and competing systems, medieval people gained a nuanced and expansive sense of time that rewards attention today. Gillian Adler is Assistant Professor of Literature and Esther Raushenbush Chair in Humanities at Sarah Lawrence College in New York. She is the author of Chaucer and the Ethics of Time (2022) Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube Channel: here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/religion

As we age, we come to appreciate the holiday traditions of our youth. Ricky Mullins (University of Virginia at Wise) remembers receiving treat bags at his small, backroads church. The poke bags were stuffed oranges, peanuts, cracker jacks and sometimes even a chocolate bar. Now, he's passing the tradition along to the youth at the church that he pastors. And: Mary Lou Williams was a renowned jazz pianist and composer. She brought sacred Black jazz music to Duke University's chapel every year. Gayle Murchison (William and Mary) shares some of Williams' music with us. Later in the show: How Ryan Stouffer (Longwood University) learned the value of fellowshipping over food from his dad's rib spot. Plus: Mary Beth Matthews (Mary Washington) walks us through how the American traditions of Hanukkah and Christmas have changed over the years.

It's YOUR time to #EdUp with Dr. Anthony K. Wutoh, Provost, Howard UniversityIn this episode, sponsored by the ⁠⁠⁠ELIVE 2026 Conference in Denver, Colorado, April 19-22, & the 2026 InsightsEDU Conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, February 17-19,YOUR cohost is Megan Dusenbery, Chief Executive Officer, KnackYOUR host is ⁠Elvin Freytes⁠How does a provost increase graduation rates by over 20% & create programs like Karsh STEM Scholars & Humanities & Social Science Scholars that send students to PhD programs at Harvard, Stanford & Johns Hopkins?What happens when an HBCU partners with Google & Amazon Studios to create Tech Exchange & Howard Entertainment programs that give students real world experience in technology & the business of entertainment?How does a university leader with 30 years of experience think about AI's transformational impact on higher education while maintaining focus on ethics, access & preparing students for the world that's coming?Listen in to #EdUpThank YOU so much for tuning in. Join us on the next episode for YOUR time to EdUp!Connect with YOUR EdUp Team - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Elvin Freytes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠& ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Dr. Joe Sallustio⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠● Join YOUR EdUp community at ⁠The EdUp Experience⁠We make education YOUR business!P.S. Want to get early, ad-free access & exclusive leadership content to help support the show? Then ⁠⁠​subscribe today​⁠⁠ to lock in YOUR $5.99/m lifetime supporters rate! This offer ends December 31, 2025!

Welcome back for our series on AI for the clinician. This episode is a discussion about the ethical challenges and questions of AI in surgery, and there are often more questions than answers. Hosts: Ayman Ali, MD Ayman Ali is a Behind the Knife fellow and general surgery PGY-4 at Duke Hospital in his academic development time where he focuses on data science, artificial intelligence, and surgery.  Ruchi Thanawala, MD: @Ruchi_TJ Ruchi Thanawala is an Associate Professor of Thoracic Surgery and Faculty in the Informatics Division at Oregon Health and Science University (tOHSU) and founder of Firefly, an AI-driven platform that is built for competency-based medical education. In addition, she directs the Surgical Data and Decision Sciences Lab for the Department of Surgery at OHSU.  Phillip Jenkins, MD: @PhilJenkinsMD Phil Jenkins is a general surgery PGY-4 at Oregon Health and Science University and a National Library of Medicine Post-Doctoral fellow pursuing a master's in clinical informatics.  Steven Bedrick, PhD: @stevenbedrick Steven Bedrick is a machine learning researcher and an Associate Professor in Oregon Health and Science University's Division of Informatics, Clinical Epidemiology, and Translational Data Science. His research is focused on biomedical applications for speech and language technologies, with particular emphases on facilitating secondary use of electronic health record data and on supporting the diagnosis and management of language and communication disorders. Ryan Antiel, MD: @RyanAntiel Ryan Antiel is an Associate Professor of Pediatric Surgery at Duke Hospital and an associate director of the Trent Center for Bioethics, Humanities, and History of Medicine. His research addresses ethical challenges surrounding the care of seriously ill fetuses and neonates. He is also interested in the moral formation of surgical trainees.   Kayte Spector-Bagdady, JD: @KayteSB Kayte Spector-Bagdady is the Wantz Professor of Bioethics and Director of Michigan Bioethics at the University of Michigan Medical School. Her research focuses on increasing accessibility of health data for research and generalizability for diverse patient populations. She is also the former Associate Director for President Obama's bioethics commission. Please visit https://behindtheknife.org to access other high-yield surgical education podcasts, videos and more.   If you liked this episode, check out our recent episodes here: https://behindtheknife.org/listen Behind the Knife Premium: General Surgery Oral Board Review Course: https://behindtheknife.org/premium/general-surgery-oral-board-review Trauma Surgery Video Atlas: https://behindtheknife.org/premium/trauma-surgery-video-atlas Dominate Surgery: A High-Yield Guide to Your Surgery Clerkship: https://behindtheknife.org/premium/dominate-surgery-a-high-yield-guide-to-your-surgery-clerkship Dominate Surgery for APPs: A High-Yield Guide to Your Surgery Rotation: https://behindtheknife.org/premium/dominate-surgery-for-apps-a-high-yield-guide-to-your-surgery-rotation Vascular Surgery Oral Board Review Course: https://behindtheknife.org/premium/vascular-surgery-oral-board-audio-review Colorectal Surgery Oral Board Review Course: https://behindtheknife.org/premium/colorectal-surgery-oral-board-audio-review Surgical Oncology Oral Board Review Course: https://behindtheknife.org/premium/surgical-oncology-oral-board-audio-review Cardiothoracic Oral Board Review Course: https://behindtheknife.org/premium/cardiothoracic-surgery-oral-board-audio-review Download our App: Apple App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/behind-the-knife/id1672420049 Android/Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.btk.app&hl=en_US

Nicholas Boggs is the New York Times bestselling author of Baldwin: A Love Story, the first major biography of the iconic figure in more than three decades. He is the recipient of a 2023 Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant and fellowships from the Leon Levy Center for Biography, the Scholars-in-Residence program at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the Gilder Lehrman Center and Beinecke Library at Yale, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, as well as residencies at Yaddo and MacDowell. Most recently he was the 2024-2025 John Hope Franklin Fellow at the National Humanities Center. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., he received his BA from Yale and his PhD from Columbia, both in English, as well as an MFA in Creative Writing from American University. He now resides in New York City. Nicholas joined Barbara DeMarco-Barrett to talk about his path to writing nonfiction, what moved him to write a biography of James Baldwin, how he went about structuring the book, perseverance versus talent, research, how his background in music influences his writing, surprises in writing the Baldwin biography, writing what you don't know, and more.To learn more about Writers on Writing and to become a supporter, visit our Patreon page. For a one-time donation, visit Ko-fi. You will find hundreds of past interviews on our website. You can help out the show and indie bookstores by buying books at our bookstore on bookshop.org. It's stocked with titles by our guest authors, as well as our personal favorites. And on Spotify, you'll find an album's worth of typewriter music like what you hear on the show. It's perfect for writing. Look for the artist, Just My Type. If you'd like to contact us, email writersonwritingpodcast@gmail.com. We love to hear from our listeners! (Recorded on December 19, 2025) Host: Barbara DeMarco-BarrettHost: Marrie StoneMusic: Travis Barrett (Stream his music on Spotify, Apple Music, Etc.)

In this episode, Noah and I speak from inside desire as it moves across fraternity, finance, philosophy, and painting—without attempting to reconcile or redeem the worlds it passes through.The conversation unfolds through Noah's experience of hazing as formative conditions of belonging, where masochism functions not as pathology but as a mechanism through which coherence, loyalty, and libidinal circulation are produced.As these structures are named, art and philosophy enter as parallel economies—fields that carry their own disciplines, devotions, and sacrifices, even as they often refuse to acknowledge the violence implicit in their formation. Drawing on Bataille and Deleuze we attempt to allow theory to act as pressure within the speaking itself, expanding the limits on what kinds of communication are possible across language games and communal worlds. This episode holds tension as something that acts—allowing incompatible economies of desire to brush up against one another without purification, refusal, or narrative closure.---Noah Louis Trapolino (b. 1998) is a self taught artist with an emphasis in erotic figuration based in Brooklyn, NY. Noah was born and raised in Houston, Texas, and is the eldest of eight siblings.Studying finance and philosophy at the University of Texas in Austin, Trapolino pursued art as a way to bridge the gap between two seemingly distinct fields of academia; desire as an absent center for each would manifest in his art. He has continued to study the overlap of such worlds through a part time research program in political-theology, which informs his works.--This episode features sonic art produced by V 0:00-1:30 a reading from "In the Slaughterhouse of Love" by Ken Hollings, essays on George Bataille in the Penguin Edition of a compilation of My Mother, Madame Edwarda, The Dead Man16:25-17:21 a reading from "In the Slaughterhouse of Love" by Ken Hollings, essays on George Bataille in the Penguin Edition of a compilation of short stories; My Mother, Madame Edwarda, The Dead Man by George Bataille32:34-33:34 a reading from Story of the Eye by George Bataille1:16:10-1:16:37 a reading from Story of the Eye by George Bataille1:28:35-1:30:48 a reading from Variations on the Right to Remain Silent by Anne Carson 1:53:19-fin a reading from Story of the Eye by George BatailleAll readings accompanied by manipulated fragments of Sound made by V: Againstfixedrep--------------------Support Noah --> www.pen-keeper.comMimbres School for Humanities --> www.mimbres.orgAcid Horizons --> acidhorizonpodcast.comSupport V --> https://saturnvox.comSupport the Show --> https://ko-fi.com/saturnvox156

The Buckcherry frontman became a phlebotomist during the Covid pandemic . He's also into playing tennis, boxing, true crime stories, and studying Self, Society, and the Humanities. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My conversation with Dr Emanuel begins at about 34 minutes Subscribe and Watch Interviews LIVE : On YOUTUBE.com/StandUpWithPete ON SubstackStandUpWithPete Stand Up is a daily podcast. I book,host,edit, post and promote new episodes with brilliant guests every day. This show is Ad free and fully supported by listeners like you! Please subscribe now for as little as 5$ and gain access to a community of over 750 awesome, curious, kind, funny, brilliant, generous soul In Eat Your Ice Cream, renowned health expert Dr. Ezekiel J. Emanuel argues that life is not a competition to live the longest, and that "wellness" shouldn't be difficult; it should be an invisible part of one's lifestyle that yields maximum health benefits with the least work Ezekiel J. Emanuel, MD, PhD, is the Vice Provost for Global Initiatives, the Co-Director of the Healthcare Transformation Institute, and the Diane v.S. Levy and Robert M. Levy University Professor at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. Emanuel is an oncologist and world leader in health policy and bioethics. He is a Special Advisor to the Director General of the World Health Organization, Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, and member of the Council on Foreign Relations.  He was the founding chair of the Department of Bioethics at the National Institutes of Health and held that position until August of 2011. From 2009 to 2011, he served as a Special Advisor on Health Policy to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget and National Economic Council. In this role, he was instrumental in drafting the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Emanuel also served on the Biden-Harris Transition Covid Advisory Board. Dr. Emanuel is the most widely cited bioethicist in history.  He has over 350 publications and has authored or edited 15 books. His recent publications include the books Which Country Has the World's Best Health Care (2020), Prescription for the Future (2017), Reinventing American Health Care: How the Affordable Care Act Will Improve our Terribly Complex, Blatantly Unjust, Outrageously Expensive, Grossly Inefficient, Error Prone System (2014) and Brothers Emanuel: A Memoir of an American Family (2013). In 2008, he published Healthcare, Guaranteed: A Simple, Secure Solution for America, which included his own recommendations for health care reform. Dr. Emanuel regularly contributes to the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, and often appears on BBC, NPR, CNN, MSNBC and other media outlets. He has received numerous awards including election to the National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Association of American Physicians, and the Royal College of Medicine (UK). He has been named a Dan David Prize Laureate in Bioethics, and is a recipient of the AMA-Burroughs Wellcome Leadership Award, the Public Service Award from the American Society of Clinical Oncology, Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society of Bioethics and Humanities, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation David E. Rogers Award, President's Medal for Social Justice Roosevelt University, and the John Mendelsohn Award from the MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Emanuel has received honorary degrees from Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Union Graduate College, the Medical College of Wisconsin, and Macalester College. In 2023, he became a Guggenheim Fellow. Dr. Emanuel is a graduate of Amherst College. He holds a M.Sc. from Oxford University in Biochemistry, and received his M.D. from Harvard Medical School and his Ph.D. in political philosophy from Harvard University. On YOUTUBE.com/StandUpWithPete ON SubstackStandUpWithPete   Listen rate and review on Apple Podcasts Listen rate and review on Spotify Pete On Instagram Pete on Blue Sky Pete on Threads Pete on Tik Tok Pete on Twitter Pete Personal FB page Stand Up with Pete FB page All things Jon Carroll  Gift a Subscription https://www.patreon.com/PeteDominick/gift Send Pete $ Directly on Venmo  

Music is wrapped up in how we celebrate the holidays. Musician and band director Stephanie Sanders (Norfolk State University) shares some of her favorite holiday tunes and why they're so meaningful for her. Later in the show: As a performing trombonist, Dayl Burnett (Radford University) plays the same holiday songs year after year. But he doesn't get tired of them! We listen to a few of the songs that he's always happy to hear when December rolls around.

Why does one negative moment stick with us while positive experiences fade so quickly? In this episode of Psychology and Stuff, host Alison Jane Martingano welcomes back Dr. Ryan Martin – psychology professor, author of Emotion Hacks, and dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at UW-Green Bay – to explore new research showing how negative emotions linger longer than positive ones, especially for people who experience anxiety. Ryan (also known as "The Anger Professor") breaks down the science behind emotional habituation, explains why our brains are wired to hold on to bad feelings, and discusses how evolution, anxiety, and memory shape our emotional lives. Together, they explore practical ways to manage emotions more intentionally without falling into toxic positivity, and how to make positive moments last longer.

The Roundtable Panel: a daily open discussion of issues in the news and beyond. Today's panelists are Specialist in Government and Public Services Healthcare Consulting Azmat Ahmad, Executive Vice President and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Bard College and Director for the Center for Civic Engagement; Professor of Political Studies Jonathan Becker, Founder and Academic Director of the Hannah Arendt Center for Politics and Humanities and Professor of Politics, Philosophy, and Human Rights at Bard College Roger Berkowitz, and Albany Law School Professor and director of the Edward P. Swyer Justice Center at Albany Law School Sarah Rogerson.

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

In this episode of Top Line, Sam Jacobs, Asad Zaman, and A.J. Bruno dive into the economic and mental health crises facing young professionals, analyzing data on why entry-level opportunities are shrinking in the age of AI.  Shifting to business strategy, the group also examines the nuances of pricing power, warning companies against raising rates without delivering commensurate value to the customer.  Thanks for tuning in! Catch new episodes every Sunday Subscribe to Topline Newsletter. Tune into Topline Podcast, the #1 podcast for founders, operators, and investors in B2B tech. Join the free Topline Slack channel to connect with 600+ revenue leaders to keep the conversation going beyond the podcast! Chapters: 00:00 Introduction and Episode Overview 00:35 Quiz Pro: Testing Knowledge with Fun Questions 02:40 Discussion on Young Professionals' Challenges 13:44 Advice for Young Professionals Entering the Workforce 15:43 Mental Health and Employment Challenges 20:50 The Impact of Technology and Inequality 32:57 Navigating Career Choices for Young Professionals 33:22 The Importance of Cultural and Historical Awareness 34:57 Balancing STEM and Humanities in Education 35:21 Building Community and Identity 36:35 Practical Advice for Job Seekers 38:56 The Challenge of Pricing in Today's Market 45:16 The Impact of Private Equity on Industries 51:57 The Role of Strategy in Business Success 58:49 Personal Reflections and Inspirations

Caroline is Professor of English, Carlson Professor in the Humanities, and Vice President for Global Strategy at Rice University. We discuss how to foster a creativity mindset in students, interdisciplinarity, specialists vs generalists in academia, literature, fiction versus nonfiction reading, among many interesting topics. Caroline's latest book "Invent Ed: How an American Tradition of Innovation Can Transform College Today" (MIT Press) will be released on December 16, 2025. Amazon link: https://shorturl.at/9DvTM _______________________________________ If you appreciate my work and would like to support it: https://subscribestar.com/the-saad-truth https://patreon.com/GadSaad https://paypal.me/GadSaad To subscribe to my exclusive content on X, please visit my bio at https://x.com/GadSaad _______________________________________ This clip was posted on December 10, 2025 on my YouTube channel as THE SAAD TRUTH_1957: https://youtu.be/FjJX1NO-6ng _______________________________________ Please visit my website gadsaad.com, and sign up for alerts. If you appreciate my content, click on the "Support My Work" button. I count on my fans to support my efforts. You can donate via Patreon, PayPal, and/or SubscribeStar. _______________________________________ Dr. Gad Saad is a professor, evolutionary behavioral scientist, and author who pioneered the use of evolutionary psychology in marketing and consumer behavior. In addition to his scientific work, Dr. Saad is a leading public intellectual who often writes and speaks about idea pathogens that are destroying logic, science, reason, and common sense.  _______________________________________  

In the final episode of When We All Get to Heaven, we catch up on what's happened in the many years between the emergence of effective treatment for AIDS in the late ‘90s and the fall of 2025, when we recorded this episode. We linger on a moment back in June 1999, when Jim was still pastor and called on the church to remember that AIDS wasn't over. Because—advances notwithstanding—it still isn't over.    For more on Gilbert Baker and the history of the rainbow flag see the  Gilbert Baker Foundation. For more on Prep see San Francisco AIDS Foundation, What is PrEP?  “The Path that Ends AIDS: 2023 UNAIDS Global Update” outlines a possible end to the AIDS epidemic.    The story of Jacob's Ladder is in the book of Genesis chapter 28, verses 10-19. The text for “This is the Day that God Has Made” is biblical with music by Leon C. Roberts. “We are Climbing Jacob's Ladder” is a traditional hymn. “This Little Light of Mine” – text traditional, music by Penelope Gneisen “Song of the Soul” is by Cris Williamson and was sung by her at MCC San Francisco on April 24, 2000.  For images and links about this episode visit https://www.heavenpodcast.org/episode-10. When We All Get to Heaven is produced by Eureka Street Productions. It is co-created by Lynne Gerber, Siri Colom, and Ariana Nedelman. Our story editor is Sayre Quevedo. Our sound designer is David Herman. Our managing producer is Krissy Clark. Tim Dillinger is our consulting producer and Betsy Towner Levine is our fact-checker. We had additional story editing help from Sarah Ventre, Arwen Nicks, Allison Behringer, and Krissy Clark. For a complete list of credits, please visit https://www.heavenpodcast.org/credits. This project received generous support from individual donors, the Henry Luce Foundation (www.hluce.org), the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, and California Humanities, a non-profit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities (www.CalHum.org). Eureka Street Productions has 501c3 status through our fiscal sponsor FJC: A Foundation of Philanthropic Funds. The music for this episode is from the Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco's archive. It was performed by MCC-SF's musicians and members with Bob Crocker and Jack Hoggatt-St.John as music directors. Additional music is by Domestic BGM. Thanks to Dr. Judy Auerbach of the University of California at San Francisco.  Thanks to Sue Fulton for permission to use “This Little Light of Mine.”  Thanks to Cris Williamson for permission to use “Song of the Soul.”  Great thanks, as always, to the members and clergy of the Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco who made this project possible.   Some links to good groups: The Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco – the congregation's current website.  Metropolitan Community Churches – the denomination of which MCC San Francisco is a part.  San Francisco AIDS Foundation – a place to seek information about HIV.  POZ Magazine – a place to learn everything else about HIV (information included). Save AIDS Research – their recent, epic 24 hours to Save Research conference with all the latest HIV research is available on YouTube through this site.    LGBTQ Religious Archives Network – the place to get lost in LGBTQ+ religious history.  Get more Outward with Slate Plus! Join for weekly bonus episodes of Outward and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Outward show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or visit slate.com/outwardplus for access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My conversation with Dave Daley starts at about 34 minutes after headlines and clips and my guest appearance with Francesca Fiorentini on her show "The Bituation Room: starts at 1:14 Subscribe and Watch Interviews LIVE : On YOUTUBE.com/StandUpWithPete ON SubstackStandUpWithPete Stand Up is a daily podcast. I book,host,edit, post and promote new episodes with brilliant guests every day. This show is Ad free and fully supported by listeners like you! Please subscribe now for as little as 5$ and gain access to a community of over 750 awesome, curious, kind, funny, brilliant, generous soul David Daley is a senior fellow for FairVote and the author of Ratf**ked: The True Story Behind the Secret Plan to Steal America's Democracy, which helped spark the recent drive to reform gerrymandering. Dave's second book, Unrigged: How Americans Are Battling Back to Save Democracy, chronicles the victories and defeats in state efforts to reform elections and uphold voting rights. A frequent lecturer and media source about gerrymandering, he is the former editor-in-chief of Salon.com, and the former CEO and publisher of the Connecticut News Project. He is a digital media fellow at the Wilson Center for the Humanities and the Grady School of Journalism at the University of Georgia. His work has appeared in the New Yorker, The Washington Post, The Guardian, New York magazine, the Atlantic, the Boston Globe, Rolling Stone, Details, and he's been on CNN and NPR. When writing for the Hartford Courant, he helped identify Mark Felt as the "Deep Throat" source for Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein.  Subscribe to Piano Tuner Paul Paul Wesley on Substack Listen to Barry and Abigail Hummel Podcast Listen to Matty C Podcast and Substack Follow and Support Pete Coe Hire DJ Monzyk to build your website or help you with Marketing