Podcasts about Iga

What if the reason you cannot lose weight, think clearly, or stop craving sugar after dinner has nothing to do with discipline and everything to do with your hormones, your gut, and what you are eating at breakfast? These are the questions your doctor might not be asking or answering, but Jenn is.On this episode of Salad With a Side of Fries, Jenn Trepeck pulls back the curtain on the powerful Happy Healthy Hub community by sharing this Q&A from inside the hub. Covering hormonal weight gain, natural cholesterol remedies, healing leaky gut, taming food noise, boosting morning energy, and why protein intake early in the day is the most underrated tool for controlling sugar cravings and stubborn weight loss, it's likely your questions are included too! If you have ever felt like your body is working against you, this episode will help you understand why and what to do about it. For more Q & A, and answers to your personal questions, become a member of the Happy Healthy Hub here: https://asaladwithasideoffries.com/membership/What You Will Learn in This Episode:✅ Why hormonal weight gain and metabolic health are always the root cause of stubborn weight struggles and how willpower is never to blame, plus what actually depletes and replenishes this finite resource throughout your day.✅ How to naturally support cholesterol management through omega-3 supplements, soluble fiber, and reducing sugar and refined grains, and why coenzyme Q10 is essential for anyone currently taking a statin.✅ The key markers of gut health recovery, including zonulin testing and secretory IgA, and how repeated insults like antibiotics and artificial sweeteners compromise intestinal permeability over time.✅ How increasing protein intake earlier in the day dramatically reduces food noise, nighttime eating, and sugar cravings, and why satiety hormones like leptin and ghrelin are the real drivers behind your appetite.The Salad With a Side of Fries podcast, hosted by Jenn Trepeck, explores real-life wellness and weight-loss topics, debunking myths, misinformation, and flawed science surrounding nutrition and the food industry. Let's dive into wellness and weight loss for real life, including drinking, eating out, and skipping the grocery store.TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Intro: You don't lack willpower, you're just spending your finite resources elsewhere throughout the day03:26 Natural cholesterol remedies using omega-3 supplements, soluble fiber, and reducing sugar/grain/starch intake07:13 Why coenzyme Q10 is critical for anyone on a statin and the disconnect between statin use and heart health outcomes09:47 Healing leaky gut: how to recognize recovery, what causes gut lining breakdown, and whether gut health and intestinal permeability damage can fully reverse15:34 Understanding food noise: how restriction, undereating, and low protein intake amplify cravings throughout the day and why low protein intake early in the day leads to nighttime eating20:46 Hormonal weight gain vs. metabolism: the roles of insulin, leptin, ghrelin, and satiety hormones in body weight24:50 How to stop sugar cravings after dinner by switching habits, increasing protein intake, and creating new meal-end rituals27:19 Warm water with lemon as a bedtime ritual: supporting digestion, gallbladder health, and signaling the end of meals naturally30:17 What is the easiest area to change first: nutrition, exercise, or health, and discussion of habits34:04 Jenn's go-to-tips for meal prep, cooking and takeout, favorite fitness activity and wellness habit that made the biggest difference42:00 Looking at health and wellness on social media and how it is tied to economics and the top wellness trends for 2026KEY TAKEAWAYS:

Desiree at the River.By outdoorhorny. Listen to the ►Podcast at Steamy Stories.In May of my senior year in high school, summer came early. It was in the high 80’s every afternoon, and we were sweltering in the ancient high school as the air conditioner struggled to keep up. Desiree and I sweated through morning classes and afternoon study halls, longing to be out of there, somewhere cooler and more private. We were both 18, and the restrictions of school were almost over. That made them even harder to bear!It was one of our teachers who provided the solution; I thank her silently to this day! She suggested that we get together with students from another study hall to work on our Senior Projects. The next day, the four of us told our respective teachers that we were going to go to the other room to work with our partners. In reality, we slipped out through the Tech Ed classroom and went to our cars. Minutes later, we were whipping down the back roads away from school.I have no idea where the other two went. They weren’t a couple, so chances are they simply went home. Desiree had other ideas. Her little Honda Civic zoomed along and ended up on Rte. 6 in the next town. She pulled into a little IGA grocery store that backed up on sparse pine woods. I asked her what she was after, but she smiled and said, “You’ll see!”Intrigued, I followed her inside. She went right to the center aisles where the seasonal goods were. My eyebrows went up when she brought two cheap beach towels. She did not explain. I carried them while she grabbed snacks and drinks and headed for the checkout. She paid quickly, and when we left the store, she walked right past her car. I followed, very puzzled, as she went around the corner. I knew she would tell me when she felt like it, so I carried the bags and watched her ass as it twitched inside her tunic. When she passed the dumpster and entered the shady pine forest, she looked over her shoulder and smiled sexily. I grinned back, knowing she was up to something good.The trail twisted and turned for a hundred yards, then it ended abruptly at a knob of rock that stuck out into a shallow, broad river. I stopped and looked around amazed. I could see a quarter-mile in each direction, and there was nothing in sight. The water slipped over flat smooth rocks, occasionally interrupted by a snagged branch or a small boulder jutting up from the surface. The air smelled of pine, the sunlight was warm and tinged with green as it filtered through the high branches, and besides bird song, the only sound was the gentle hum of the distant road. It was spectacular; a tranquil oasis barely off a road I had driven countless times.“Des; this is beautiful! How did you find it?”“My uncle owns all this; he used to own the IGA before he retired.”“Does anyone come here?”“Nope. Didn’t you see all the "No Trespassing” signs and the rocks across the trail? That keeps people out unless they’re family.“"It’s perfect!” I exclaimed happily.“It’s ours,” she replied simply. “C'mon, let’s get cool first and have a snack!”Kicking off her sandals, she sat down on a low rock with her feet in the water. I brought the snack bag close, tugged off my sneakers and socks, and joined her. The water was still cold, but not as biting as the river we tried back in March. With the sun warm on our shoulders, we munched on chips and split a soda, laying the second bottle in a shallow pool to stay cold. Our shoulders bumped as we sat there side by side, enjoying our unexpected freedom.“Just think,” she said dreamily, “we could be sitting in Mr. Herman’s study hall right now!”“Just think,” I answered, “as far as Mr. Herman knows, we’re going to be in the other study hall for the rest of the year working on our projects!”“Hmm, that does open up some possibilities!”“Yes, it does!” I told her, reaching around to give her a squeeze.Des responded by turning toward me and resting her hands on my leg.“I’d rather be right here than anywhere else in the world.”She leaned forward a fraction and our lips met, softly at first, a slow, loving kiss. That kind of innocent, timeless kiss seems to disappear after high school, but I will never forget the way her lips felt against mine, or the first flicker of her tongue signaling it was time for more. My free hand twined in her hair and pulled her into my arms as our bodies began to respond.With an impatient snort, Desiree broke our kiss and sat back. “I’m too hot like this!” she said in a petulant voice. She stood up, brushed the crumbs off herself into the water. Then she stepped carefully and gracefully up onto the rock’s highest point and turned to look at me. Crossing her arms over her head, she whipped the tunic off in one smooth motion. I sat frozen, looking eagerly up at her as she tossed it further down the rock. Standing there in a pale bra and purple satin panties, she looked like some river goddess come to life. Full tits, winter-pale skin, and broad, luscious hips fought for my attention; Des smiled happily at my wide-eyed ogling.“That’s so much better!” she pronounced. “You should try it.”I stood where I was, turned to face her, and responded to her challenge. My shirt flew through the air to land on top of her tunic. I stepped up onto the rock I had just vacated and pushed my shorts down, taking my boxers along with them. Stepping out of them, I stood back up and tossed them onto the pile as well. The sun played across my body and it was Desiree’s turn to stare admiringly. I had been working out hard for soccer and indoor track and it showed. A smile tugged at her lips as her eyes traveled all over my arms, chest, abs, and then locked onto my semi-erect cock.“Mmm, you look good enough to eat!” she said eagerly.“You first!” I responded.She laughed happily. “I’m game!” she said. Her hands twisted up behind her back and unclasped her bra. A quick shake and it fell forward, revealing her tits and tightening nipples. Onto the pile it went. Her thumbs hooked the waistband of her panties, and drew them down an inch. I’m sure my eyes registered disappointment, because she laughed again at her successful tease and then pushed them down all the way, bending effortlessly at the waist until they brushed the rock between her feet. Then she simply stepped out of them and kicked them aside.It was my turn to stare again. Desiree’s mound was shaved smooth! My eyes locked onto that pale, delightful curve I knew so well, suddenly revealed in an amazing and arousing way. Although her cunt was in shadow, I could tell her grooming extended all the way because her labia were smooth and pale as well. My cock twitched, and Des giggled happily.“You like?” she asked needlessly. “I did it last night thinking we might have a chance today!”“I Love it!” I said fervently.“Grab the towels,” she commanded.Two quick steps, my cock bouncing in time, and I had them out of the bag.“Put one on the rock you were standing on.” I did as she asked.“Put the other one right there,” she said next, pointing at the front jut of the larger rock she stood on. I complied, wondering what she was up to.“Now,” she said with a smile, “what was that about ‘good enough to eat’ you mentioned?”I fumbled for a reply as Des stepped down onto the towel in front of her, then sank down to sit on the towel. She leaned back and spread her legs; she was rarely shy!; and rested her heels on ridges to either side. With one finger, she traced a line from between her tits down across her belly, and then over the shiny patch she had shaved.“Why don’t you kneel down right there and take a closer look?” she asked encouragingly.I nodded and folded the towel double before settling myself comfortably. She was at the perfect height and distance; I rested my hands on her knees and watched as her finger continued lower, tracing the edges of her cunt, stretched open by her pose. When she got to her perineum, she added a finger and came back up, dipping them into her opening just a bit and circling there.I stared hungrily and she smiled at my intense gaze. “Everything is So smooth!” she reported, spreading her juices all around her labia. “Your gonna love it!”No words came to mind, so I acted instead. Leaning in, I licked from as far down as I could, up along her clean-shaven lips, over her clit, and up to the ridge of her mound. There I paused and showered it with kisses, relishing its silky feel.“Des,” I said when I paused, “I fucking love it!”She giggled happily and settled back on her elbows, looking down at me through her lashes.Returning to my task, I lapped at her cunt with a broad tongue a few times and then extended it fully, ramming it as deeply as I could into her opening. My nose bumped her clit as I did this, and I could feel her twitch each time I did. She hummed happily, and I kept going.I moved my hands in close and used my thumbs to spread her lips even more. Then I turned my head a bit and nibbled my way up and down each delicate morsel of flesh, tugging at them and flicking them with my tongue. Another happy noise came from above me.Looking up into her eyes again, I slowly put two fingers into my mouth and sucked them. She raised her eyebrows in anticipation, and I rewarded her immediately. With a twisting motion, I slipped them into her cunt, retreated to coat them with her juices, and then eased them deeper. Soon I was sliding them in and out all the way, only stopping when my thumb jammed against her. Des rocked her hips to meet my strokes, and I had to match her timing when I leaned forward to lick her clit. Each time I buried my fingers inside her, she pushed back, and I gave her sensitive nub a swirling lash with my tongue. We found a steady rhythm then, and Des began breathing heavily, moaning a little every time I licked her.“Are you ready to cum?” I asked her teasingly when I paused my tongue action. I kept my hand moving steadily, and she had to gasp the words out to answer.“Fuck, yes; give me more!”Smiling, I leaned back in. I turned my hand palm up and curled my fingers so that they dragged across her G-spot, pumping them back and forth without fully withdrawing. Then I stiffened my tongue and licked the side of her hood repeatedly, no longer teasing her but trying to drive her over the edge. A deep groan and a raising of her hips told me I was on the right track.“Oh, fuck, oh, fuck, keep doing that!” she gasped in time with her thrusting.I kept doing that, just as she asked, and I soon felt her thighs fluttering. I pressed down hard on her mound with my free hand and began to suck on her clit while the tip of my tongue hit the same spot over and over again.“Oh, fuck!” Desiree moaned when her orgasm burst within her.I kept myself still then, feeling her cunt clamp down over and over on my fingers, soaking them with a rush of sweet, tangy juices. As I watched her body tremble, I admired the sun dappling every inch. The deep flush between her tits was stark against the untanned skin there, and her tits jutted straight up as her back arched in pleasure. I let her relax before withdrawing my fingers, which drew a tired whimper from her lips.When her eyes opened, I brought my fingers to my mouth again and sucked them clean. She smiled enigmatically as I licked them, staring directly into her eyes.“Well?” she asked.“Definitely good enough to eat!” I pronounced with a grin.“I love how you feel against my skin when it’s all shaved like this,” she told me seriously. “It added so much extra to everything you did!”“I love it, too,” I assured her. “You’re so smooth and sexy.”“I’m glad you like it,” she said in pleased tones.With that, she sat up and let her feet down, settling them on the outside of my towel. She leaned down, grabbed my face, and kissed me deeply. I know she could taste herself on my lips, and she even lapped my chin momentarily to gather her own deliciousness.“You know what else is gonna feel good?” she asked playfully.“What’s that?” I responded with an innocent look on my face.“Sliding my cunt all over you and letting you feel how smooth and wet it is.”I pulled her up to her feet and gathered her in my arms. “That,” I said seriously, kissing her between words, “sounds, amazing!”My cock was trapped between us, and Des wriggled her belly against it. Copious clear liquid was leaking from the tip, and the whole thing was twitching with the sudden heat and stimulation.“Besides, I think I need to tease you for a while,” she continued. “I don’t want to get you too excited yet!”I groaned at the thought, but consoled myself with the knowledge that my explosion would be even bigger and better when it happened.“Where do you want to do all this teasing?” I asked her.“Grab the towels,” she said. Then she pointed to a broad, flat rock about six feet from shore. The top was worn smooth by the passage of water over the years, but the top was dry now and looked invitingly warm. I laughed and gathered the cushioning towels. Holding hands, we made our way carefully across the slippery gap between our starting place and our new destination. When we got there, I passed her one towel and flipped the other one out to lie flat on the rock. Des followed suit and created a double layer of padding.“Get on up,” she said hotly. “It’s time for some payback!”I happily complied, sparing only a minute to look around.“No one is here,” she said reassuringly as I lay down on my back. Then her voice took on an Eastern European accent: “No one can help you. No one can hear your screams!”“Well that sucks,” I said with a smile. I settled myself comfortably on the rock and closed my eyes against the bright sunlight. “I’ll try to suffer in silence!”Desiree reached across me and grabbed my cock with one hand, aiming it straight up. She moved down and clambered onto the towel between my feet, and then paused to give me a few strokes. Her hand was warm and gentle on my shaft.Shifting one knee outside my leg, Des began to do exactly what she had said she would. She lowered herself and I felt her cunt bump into my knee. Slick and hot, she caressed her way up to my thigh, then moved across my lower body and did the same on my other leg. When I peeked up at her, I saw she had her lower lip between her teeth and a little frown of concentration on her face. I closed my eyes again and grinned as she moved up again. Her silky mound came down on my scrotum and Des rocked herself forward, arching her back so that she slid along the entire length of my cock from base to tip, her lips parted around me and coating me with lubrication before stopping and then moving back down to the base again.“Do you like that? Do you like how soft and smooth and wet I feel?”My mouth was dry as I answered her: “God, Des, I love it!”“I love rubbing myself all over you!” she said in a happy, sexy voice. I opened my eyes and she was gazing directly at me, her hands braced on her knees as she rocked herself back and forth along the underside of my shaft. Each time she reached the sensitive spot below the head, a pulse of precum leapt from my cock in response.“Des!” I said urgently, feeling the flutter of an approaching orgasm.“I know, I know, but it’s fun to tease you!” she said. Then she rose up, allowing the cool air to soothe the dangerous throbbing of my cock. She scooted forward a little more to straddle my chest. Lowering herself again, she rubbed the silky lips of her cunt on stomach, then on my chest as she eased higher. When her thighs were on either side of my head, I couldn’t help but lick her instantly from bottom to top. She gasped and pulled away.“Hey; you already had your turn!” she said indignantly. “Now I get mine!”With a quick, graceful move, she pivoted her body around, keeping her hips high enough so that her cunt was out of range of my tongue. She kissed my stomach, then trailed her hair across it, lower and lower with each swoop until it was tickling my thighs. Her left hand moved to brace herself on the towel while the other wrapped around my shaft again. She lifted it up to a 45 degree angle, perfectly aligned with her torso, and took me into her mouth.My rolled back with pleasure. I loved this position; it let Des take me as deeply as she wanted without awkward angles or pressure. She made the most of it; nothing fancy, but she sucked steadily and her lips moved from tip to base in one effortless motion. I could feel the restrictive heat at the back of her throat for a second, then she pulled back. A quick breath and she did it again. With each stroke, she squeezed my shaft as she rose and flattened her hand out of the way when she descended. I moaned happily and lifted my hands to hold her hips as they hovered above me.“Fuck, Des, that feels so good!”She hummed happily in response, which gave me a shiver of pleasure. Desiree’s motion was tireless, and I began to thrust upward a bit, knowing that I couldn’t hold back much longer. That signal was clear to her as well, and she paused to look back at me.“Do you want to cum?” she asked, squeezing my cock rhythmically.“I have to cum, Des, I have to cum in your mouth!” I gasped.“OK, I’m ready for that!” she smiled. Then she turned back and resumed her suction.Another dozen strokes and I was ready. My orgasm hit just as her mouth descended, and I arched myself up unconsciously. For a moment, my cock slipped past the ring of her throat and I could feel the twitching of her gag reflex against the sensitive head. The first jet of sperm flew directly down her throat, but she recovered quickly and pulled back, holding just the head between her lips and sucking frantically, pumping my shaft to milk out every drop. I could feel her swallowing as pulse after pulse threatened to overflow her mouth.Slowly, my hips fell back onto the towel. Des kept sucking steadily as my cock began to soften, and her tongue snaked all around to make sure she didn’t miss any of my cum. When she finally released me with a pop, I was completely spent. She planted a kiss on the underside of my cock, drawing a twitch in response that made her giggle. Then she turned herself around again and laid her head on my chest, her hand still wrapped around my spent shaft.“That was so amazing!” I murmured into her hair.“That was the most cum ever!” she said with a snort and a laugh.“Well, you are an exciting woman,” I told her, “so it’s kind of your fault. It’s all that teasing, too.&rd

Desiree at the River.By outdoorhorny. Listen to the ►Podcast at Steamy Stories.In May of my senior year in high school, summer came early. It was in the high 80’s every afternoon, and we were sweltering in the ancient high school as the air conditioner struggled to keep up. Desiree and I sweated through morning classes and afternoon study halls, longing to be out of there, somewhere cooler and more private. We were both 18, and the restrictions of school were almost over. That made them even harder to bear!It was one of our teachers who provided the solution; I thank her silently to this day! She suggested that we get together with students from another study hall to work on our Senior Projects. The next day, the four of us told our respective teachers that we were going to go to the other room to work with our partners. In reality, we slipped out through the Tech Ed classroom and went to our cars. Minutes later, we were whipping down the back roads away from school.I have no idea where the other two went. They weren’t a couple, so chances are they simply went home. Desiree had other ideas. Her little Honda Civic zoomed along and ended up on Rte. 6 in the next town. She pulled into a little IGA grocery store that backed up on sparse pine woods. I asked her what she was after, but she smiled and said, “You’ll see!”Intrigued, I followed her inside. She went right to the center aisles where the seasonal goods were. My eyebrows went up when she brought two cheap beach towels. She did not explain. I carried them while she grabbed snacks and drinks and headed for the checkout. She paid quickly, and when we left the store, she walked right past her car. I followed, very puzzled, as she went around the corner. I knew she would tell me when she felt like it, so I carried the bags and watched her ass as it twitched inside her tunic. When she passed the dumpster and entered the shady pine forest, she looked over her shoulder and smiled sexily. I grinned back, knowing she was up to something good.The trail twisted and turned for a hundred yards, then it ended abruptly at a knob of rock that stuck out into a shallow, broad river. I stopped and looked around amazed. I could see a quarter-mile in each direction, and there was nothing in sight. The water slipped over flat smooth rocks, occasionally interrupted by a snagged branch or a small boulder jutting up from the surface. The air smelled of pine, the sunlight was warm and tinged with green as it filtered through the high branches, and besides bird song, the only sound was the gentle hum of the distant road. It was spectacular; a tranquil oasis barely off a road I had driven countless times.“Des; this is beautiful! How did you find it?”“My uncle owns all this; he used to own the IGA before he retired.”“Does anyone come here?”“Nope. Didn’t you see all the "No Trespassing” signs and the rocks across the trail? That keeps people out unless they’re family.“"It’s perfect!” I exclaimed happily.“It’s ours,” she replied simply. “C'mon, let’s get cool first and have a snack!”Kicking off her sandals, she sat down on a low rock with her feet in the water. I brought the snack bag close, tugged off my sneakers and socks, and joined her. The water was still cold, but not as biting as the river we tried back in March. With the sun warm on our shoulders, we munched on chips and split a soda, laying the second bottle in a shallow pool to stay cold. Our shoulders bumped as we sat there side by side, enjoying our unexpected freedom.“Just think,” she said dreamily, “we could be sitting in Mr. Herman’s study hall right now!”“Just think,” I answered, “as far as Mr. Herman knows, we’re going to be in the other study hall for the rest of the year working on our projects!”“Hmm, that does open up some possibilities!”“Yes, it does!” I told her, reaching around to give her a squeeze.Des responded by turning toward me and resting her hands on my leg.“I’d rather be right here than anywhere else in the world.”She leaned forward a fraction and our lips met, softly at first, a slow, loving kiss. That kind of innocent, timeless kiss seems to disappear after high school, but I will never forget the way her lips felt against mine, or the first flicker of her tongue signaling it was time for more. My free hand twined in her hair and pulled her into my arms as our bodies began to respond.With an impatient snort, Desiree broke our kiss and sat back. “I’m too hot like this!” she said in a petulant voice. She stood up, brushed the crumbs off herself into the water. Then she stepped carefully and gracefully up onto the rock’s highest point and turned to look at me. Crossing her arms over her head, she whipped the tunic off in one smooth motion. I sat frozen, looking eagerly up at her as she tossed it further down the rock. Standing there in a pale bra and purple satin panties, she looked like some river goddess come to life. Full tits, winter-pale skin, and broad, luscious hips fought for my attention; Des smiled happily at my wide-eyed ogling.“That’s so much better!” she pronounced. “You should try it.”I stood where I was, turned to face her, and responded to her challenge. My shirt flew through the air to land on top of her tunic. I stepped up onto the rock I had just vacated and pushed my shorts down, taking my boxers along with them. Stepping out of them, I stood back up and tossed them onto the pile as well. The sun played across my body and it was Desiree’s turn to stare admiringly. I had been working out hard for soccer and indoor track and it showed. A smile tugged at her lips as her eyes traveled all over my arms, chest, abs, and then locked onto my semi-erect cock.“Mmm, you look good enough to eat!” she said eagerly.“You first!” I responded.She laughed happily. “I’m game!” she said. Her hands twisted up behind her back and unclasped her bra. A quick shake and it fell forward, revealing her tits and tightening nipples. Onto the pile it went. Her thumbs hooked the waistband of her panties, and drew them down an inch. I’m sure my eyes registered disappointment, because she laughed again at her successful tease and then pushed them down all the way, bending effortlessly at the waist until they brushed the rock between her feet. Then she simply stepped out of them and kicked them aside.It was my turn to stare again. Desiree’s mound was shaved smooth! My eyes locked onto that pale, delightful curve I knew so well, suddenly revealed in an amazing and arousing way. Although her cunt was in shadow, I could tell her grooming extended all the way because her labia were smooth and pale as well. My cock twitched, and Des giggled happily.“You like?” she asked needlessly. “I did it last night thinking we might have a chance today!”“I Love it!” I said fervently.“Grab the towels,” she commanded.Two quick steps, my cock bouncing in time, and I had them out of the bag.“Put one on the rock you were standing on.” I did as she asked.“Put the other one right there,” she said next, pointing at the front jut of the larger rock she stood on. I complied, wondering what she was up to.“Now,” she said with a smile, “what was that about ‘good enough to eat’ you mentioned?”I fumbled for a reply as Des stepped down onto the towel in front of her, then sank down to sit on the towel. She leaned back and spread her legs; she was rarely shy!; and rested her heels on ridges to either side. With one finger, she traced a line from between her tits down across her belly, and then over the shiny patch she had shaved.“Why don’t you kneel down right there and take a closer look?” she asked encouragingly.I nodded and folded the towel double before settling myself comfortably. She was at the perfect height and distance; I rested my hands on her knees and watched as her finger continued lower, tracing the edges of her cunt, stretched open by her pose. When she got to her perineum, she added a finger and came back up, dipping them into her opening just a bit and circling there.I stared hungrily and she smiled at my intense gaze. “Everything is So smooth!” she reported, spreading her juices all around her labia. “Your gonna love it!”No words came to mind, so I acted instead. Leaning in, I licked from as far down as I could, up along her clean-shaven lips, over her clit, and up to the ridge of her mound. There I paused and showered it with kisses, relishing its silky feel.“Des,” I said when I paused, “I fucking love it!”She giggled happily and settled back on her elbows, looking down at me through her lashes.Returning to my task, I lapped at her cunt with a broad tongue a few times and then extended it fully, ramming it as deeply as I could into her opening. My nose bumped her clit as I did this, and I could feel her twitch each time I did. She hummed happily, and I kept going.I moved my hands in close and used my thumbs to spread her lips even more. Then I turned my head a bit and nibbled my way up and down each delicate morsel of flesh, tugging at them and flicking them with my tongue. Another happy noise came from above me.Looking up into her eyes again, I slowly put two fingers into my mouth and sucked them. She raised her eyebrows in anticipation, and I rewarded her immediately. With a twisting motion, I slipped them into her cunt, retreated to coat them with her juices, and then eased them deeper. Soon I was sliding them in and out all the way, only stopping when my thumb jammed against her. Des rocked her hips to meet my strokes, and I had to match her timing when I leaned forward to lick her clit. Each time I buried my fingers inside her, she pushed back, and I gave her sensitive nub a swirling lash with my tongue. We found a steady rhythm then, and Des began breathing heavily, moaning a little every time I licked her.“Are you ready to cum?” I asked her teasingly when I paused my tongue action. I kept my hand moving steadily, and she had to gasp the words out to answer.“Fuck, yes; give me more!”Smiling, I leaned back in. I turned my hand palm up and curled my fingers so that they dragged across her G-spot, pumping them back and forth without fully withdrawing. Then I stiffened my tongue and licked the side of her hood repeatedly, no longer teasing her but trying to drive her over the edge. A deep groan and a raising of her hips told me I was on the right track.“Oh, fuck, oh, fuck, keep doing that!” she gasped in time with her thrusting.I kept doing that, just as she asked, and I soon felt her thighs fluttering. I pressed down hard on her mound with my free hand and began to suck on her clit while the tip of my tongue hit the same spot over and over again.“Oh, fuck!” Desiree moaned when her orgasm burst within her.I kept myself still then, feeling her cunt clamp down over and over on my fingers, soaking them with a rush of sweet, tangy juices. As I watched her body tremble, I admired the sun dappling every inch. The deep flush between her tits was stark against the untanned skin there, and her tits jutted straight up as her back arched in pleasure. I let her relax before withdrawing my fingers, which drew a tired whimper from her lips.When her eyes opened, I brought my fingers to my mouth again and sucked them clean. She smiled enigmatically as I licked them, staring directly into her eyes.“Well?” she asked.“Definitely good enough to eat!” I pronounced with a grin.“I love how you feel against my skin when it’s all shaved like this,” she told me seriously. “It added so much extra to everything you did!”“I love it, too,” I assured her. “You’re so smooth and sexy.”“I’m glad you like it,” she said in pleased tones.With that, she sat up and let her feet down, settling them on the outside of my towel. She leaned down, grabbed my face, and kissed me deeply. I know she could taste herself on my lips, and she even lapped my chin momentarily to gather her own deliciousness.“You know what else is gonna feel good?” she asked playfully.“What’s that?” I responded with an innocent look on my face.“Sliding my cunt all over you and letting you feel how smooth and wet it is.”I pulled her up to her feet and gathered her in my arms. “That,” I said seriously, kissing her between words, “sounds, amazing!”My cock was trapped between us, and Des wriggled her belly against it. Copious clear liquid was leaking from the tip, and the whole thing was twitching with the sudden heat and stimulation.“Besides, I think I need to tease you for a while,” she continued. “I don’t want to get you too excited yet!”I groaned at the thought, but consoled myself with the knowledge that my explosion would be even bigger and better when it happened.“Where do you want to do all this teasing?” I asked her.“Grab the towels,” she said. Then she pointed to a broad, flat rock about six feet from shore. The top was worn smooth by the passage of water over the years, but the top was dry now and looked invitingly warm. I laughed and gathered the cushioning towels. Holding hands, we made our way carefully across the slippery gap between our starting place and our new destination. When we got there, I passed her one towel and flipped the other one out to lie flat on the rock. Des followed suit and created a double layer of padding.“Get on up,” she said hotly. “It’s time for some payback!”I happily complied, sparing only a minute to look around.“No one is here,” she said reassuringly as I lay down on my back. Then her voice took on an Eastern European accent: “No one can help you. No one can hear your screams!”“Well that sucks,” I said with a smile. I settled myself comfortably on the rock and closed my eyes against the bright sunlight. “I’ll try to suffer in silence!”Desiree reached across me and grabbed my cock with one hand, aiming it straight up. She moved down and clambered onto the towel between my feet, and then paused to give me a few strokes. Her hand was warm and gentle on my shaft.Shifting one knee outside my leg, Des began to do exactly what she had said she would. She lowered herself and I felt her cunt bump into my knee. Slick and hot, she caressed her way up to my thigh, then moved across my lower body and did the same on my other leg. When I peeked up at her, I saw she had her lower lip between her teeth and a little frown of concentration on her face. I closed my eyes again and grinned as she moved up again. Her silky mound came down on my scrotum and Des rocked herself forward, arching her back so that she slid along the entire length of my cock from base to tip, her lips parted around me and coating me with lubrication before stopping and then moving back down to the base again.“Do you like that? Do you like how soft and smooth and wet I feel?”My mouth was dry as I answered her: “God, Des, I love it!”“I love rubbing myself all over you!” she said in a happy, sexy voice. I opened my eyes and she was gazing directly at me, her hands braced on her knees as she rocked herself back and forth along the underside of my shaft. Each time she reached the sensitive spot below the head, a pulse of precum leapt from my cock in response.“Des!” I said urgently, feeling the flutter of an approaching orgasm.“I know, I know, but it’s fun to tease you!” she said. Then she rose up, allowing the cool air to soothe the dangerous throbbing of my cock. She scooted forward a little more to straddle my chest. Lowering herself again, she rubbed the silky lips of her cunt on stomach, then on my chest as she eased higher. When her thighs were on either side of my head, I couldn’t help but lick her instantly from bottom to top. She gasped and pulled away.“Hey; you already had your turn!” she said indignantly. “Now I get mine!”With a quick, graceful move, she pivoted her body around, keeping her hips high enough so that her cunt was out of range of my tongue. She kissed my stomach, then trailed her hair across it, lower and lower with each swoop until it was tickling my thighs. Her left hand moved to brace herself on the towel while the other wrapped around my shaft again. She lifted it up to a 45 degree angle, perfectly aligned with her torso, and took me into her mouth.My rolled back with pleasure. I loved this position; it let Des take me as deeply as she wanted without awkward angles or pressure. She made the most of it; nothing fancy, but she sucked steadily and her lips moved from tip to base in one effortless motion. I could feel the restrictive heat at the back of her throat for a second, then she pulled back. A quick breath and she did it again. With each stroke, she squeezed my shaft as she rose and flattened her hand out of the way when she descended. I moaned happily and lifted my hands to hold her hips as they hovered above me.“Fuck, Des, that feels so good!”She hummed happily in response, which gave me a shiver of pleasure. Desiree’s motion was tireless, and I began to thrust upward a bit, knowing that I couldn’t hold back much longer. That signal was clear to her as well, and she paused to look back at me.“Do you want to cum?” she asked, squeezing my cock rhythmically.“I have to cum, Des, I have to cum in your mouth!” I gasped.“OK, I’m ready for that!” she smiled. Then she turned back and resumed her suction.Another dozen strokes and I was ready. My orgasm hit just as her mouth descended, and I arched myself up unconsciously. For a moment, my cock slipped past the ring of her throat and I could feel the twitching of her gag reflex against the sensitive head. The first jet of sperm flew directly down her throat, but she recovered quickly and pulled back, holding just the head between her lips and sucking frantically, pumping my shaft to milk out every drop. I could feel her swallowing as pulse after pulse threatened to overflow her mouth.Slowly, my hips fell back onto the towel. Des kept sucking steadily as my cock began to soften, and her tongue snaked all around to make sure she didn’t miss any of my cum. When she finally released me with a pop, I was completely spent. She planted a kiss on the underside of my cock, drawing a twitch in response that made her giggle. Then she turned herself around again and laid her head on my chest, her hand still wrapped around my spent shaft.“That was so amazing!” I murmured into her hair.“That was the most cum ever!” she said with a snort and a laugh.“Well, you are an exciting woman,” I told her, “so it’s kind of your fault. It’s all that teasing, too.&rd

Desiree at the River.By outdoorhorny. Listen to the ►Podcast at Steamy Stories.In May of my senior year in high school, summer came early. It was in the high 80’s every afternoon, and we were sweltering in the ancient high school as the air conditioner struggled to keep up. Desiree and I sweated through morning classes and afternoon study halls, longing to be out of there, somewhere cooler and more private. We were both 18, and the restrictions of school were almost over. That made them even harder to bear!It was one of our teachers who provided the solution; I thank her silently to this day! She suggested that we get together with students from another study hall to work on our Senior Projects. The next day, the four of us told our respective teachers that we were going to go to the other room to work with our partners. In reality, we slipped out through the Tech Ed classroom and went to our cars. Minutes later, we were whipping down the back roads away from school.I have no idea where the other two went. They weren’t a couple, so chances are they simply went home. Desiree had other ideas. Her little Honda Civic zoomed along and ended up on Rte. 6 in the next town. She pulled into a little IGA grocery store that backed up on sparse pine woods. I asked her what she was after, but she smiled and said, “You’ll see!”Intrigued, I followed her inside. She went right to the center aisles where the seasonal goods were. My eyebrows went up when she brought two cheap beach towels. She did not explain. I carried them while she grabbed snacks and drinks and headed for the checkout. She paid quickly, and when we left the store, she walked right past her car. I followed, very puzzled, as she went around the corner. I knew she would tell me when she felt like it, so I carried the bags and watched her ass as it twitched inside her tunic. When she passed the dumpster and entered the shady pine forest, she looked over her shoulder and smiled sexily. I grinned back, knowing she was up to something good.The trail twisted and turned for a hundred yards, then it ended abruptly at a knob of rock that stuck out into a shallow, broad river. I stopped and looked around amazed. I could see a quarter-mile in each direction, and there was nothing in sight. The water slipped over flat smooth rocks, occasionally interrupted by a snagged branch or a small boulder jutting up from the surface. The air smelled of pine, the sunlight was warm and tinged with green as it filtered through the high branches, and besides bird song, the only sound was the gentle hum of the distant road. It was spectacular; a tranquil oasis barely off a road I had driven countless times.“Des; this is beautiful! How did you find it?”“My uncle owns all this; he used to own the IGA before he retired.”“Does anyone come here?”“Nope. Didn’t you see all the "No Trespassing” signs and the rocks across the trail? That keeps people out unless they’re family.“"It’s perfect!” I exclaimed happily.“It’s ours,” she replied simply. “C'mon, let’s get cool first and have a snack!”Kicking off her sandals, she sat down on a low rock with her feet in the water. I brought the snack bag close, tugged off my sneakers and socks, and joined her. The water was still cold, but not as biting as the river we tried back in March. With the sun warm on our shoulders, we munched on chips and split a soda, laying the second bottle in a shallow pool to stay cold. Our shoulders bumped as we sat there side by side, enjoying our unexpected freedom.“Just think,” she said dreamily, “we could be sitting in Mr. Herman’s study hall right now!”“Just think,” I answered, “as far as Mr. Herman knows, we’re going to be in the other study hall for the rest of the year working on our projects!”“Hmm, that does open up some possibilities!”“Yes, it does!” I told her, reaching around to give her a squeeze.Des responded by turning toward me and resting her hands on my leg.“I’d rather be right here than anywhere else in the world.”She leaned forward a fraction and our lips met, softly at first, a slow, loving kiss. That kind of innocent, timeless kiss seems to disappear after high school, but I will never forget the way her lips felt against mine, or the first flicker of her tongue signaling it was time for more. My free hand twined in her hair and pulled her into my arms as our bodies began to respond.With an impatient snort, Desiree broke our kiss and sat back. “I’m too hot like this!” she said in a petulant voice. She stood up, brushed the crumbs off herself into the water. Then she stepped carefully and gracefully up onto the rock’s highest point and turned to look at me. Crossing her arms over her head, she whipped the tunic off in one smooth motion. I sat frozen, looking eagerly up at her as she tossed it further down the rock. Standing there in a pale bra and purple satin panties, she looked like some river goddess come to life. Full tits, winter-pale skin, and broad, luscious hips fought for my attention; Des smiled happily at my wide-eyed ogling.“That’s so much better!” she pronounced. “You should try it.”I stood where I was, turned to face her, and responded to her challenge. My shirt flew through the air to land on top of her tunic. I stepped up onto the rock I had just vacated and pushed my shorts down, taking my boxers along with them. Stepping out of them, I stood back up and tossed them onto the pile as well. The sun played across my body and it was Desiree’s turn to stare admiringly. I had been working out hard for soccer and indoor track and it showed. A smile tugged at her lips as her eyes traveled all over my arms, chest, abs, and then locked onto my semi-erect cock.“Mmm, you look good enough to eat!” she said eagerly.“You first!” I responded.She laughed happily. “I’m game!” she said. Her hands twisted up behind her back and unclasped her bra. A quick shake and it fell forward, revealing her tits and tightening nipples. Onto the pile it went. Her thumbs hooked the waistband of her panties, and drew them down an inch. I’m sure my eyes registered disappointment, because she laughed again at her successful tease and then pushed them down all the way, bending effortlessly at the waist until they brushed the rock between her feet. Then she simply stepped out of them and kicked them aside.It was my turn to stare again. Desiree’s mound was shaved smooth! My eyes locked onto that pale, delightful curve I knew so well, suddenly revealed in an amazing and arousing way. Although her cunt was in shadow, I could tell her grooming extended all the way because her labia were smooth and pale as well. My cock twitched, and Des giggled happily.“You like?” she asked needlessly. “I did it last night thinking we might have a chance today!”“I Love it!” I said fervently.“Grab the towels,” she commanded.Two quick steps, my cock bouncing in time, and I had them out of the bag.“Put one on the rock you were standing on.” I did as she asked.“Put the other one right there,” she said next, pointing at the front jut of the larger rock she stood on. I complied, wondering what she was up to.“Now,” she said with a smile, “what was that about ‘good enough to eat’ you mentioned?”I fumbled for a reply as Des stepped down onto the towel in front of her, then sank down to sit on the towel. She leaned back and spread her legs; she was rarely shy!; and rested her heels on ridges to either side. With one finger, she traced a line from between her tits down across her belly, and then over the shiny patch she had shaved.“Why don’t you kneel down right there and take a closer look?” she asked encouragingly.I nodded and folded the towel double before settling myself comfortably. She was at the perfect height and distance; I rested my hands on her knees and watched as her finger continued lower, tracing the edges of her cunt, stretched open by her pose. When she got to her perineum, she added a finger and came back up, dipping them into her opening just a bit and circling there.I stared hungrily and she smiled at my intense gaze. “Everything is So smooth!” she reported, spreading her juices all around her labia. “Your gonna love it!”No words came to mind, so I acted instead. Leaning in, I licked from as far down as I could, up along her clean-shaven lips, over her clit, and up to the ridge of her mound. There I paused and showered it with kisses, relishing its silky feel.“Des,” I said when I paused, “I fucking love it!”She giggled happily and settled back on her elbows, looking down at me through her lashes.Returning to my task, I lapped at her cunt with a broad tongue a few times and then extended it fully, ramming it as deeply as I could into her opening. My nose bumped her clit as I did this, and I could feel her twitch each time I did. She hummed happily, and I kept going.I moved my hands in close and used my thumbs to spread her lips even more. Then I turned my head a bit and nibbled my way up and down each delicate morsel of flesh, tugging at them and flicking them with my tongue. Another happy noise came from above me.Looking up into her eyes again, I slowly put two fingers into my mouth and sucked them. She raised her eyebrows in anticipation, and I rewarded her immediately. With a twisting motion, I slipped them into her cunt, retreated to coat them with her juices, and then eased them deeper. Soon I was sliding them in and out all the way, only stopping when my thumb jammed against her. Des rocked her hips to meet my strokes, and I had to match her timing when I leaned forward to lick her clit. Each time I buried my fingers inside her, she pushed back, and I gave her sensitive nub a swirling lash with my tongue. We found a steady rhythm then, and Des began breathing heavily, moaning a little every time I licked her.“Are you ready to cum?” I asked her teasingly when I paused my tongue action. I kept my hand moving steadily, and she had to gasp the words out to answer.“Fuck, yes; give me more!”Smiling, I leaned back in. I turned my hand palm up and curled my fingers so that they dragged across her G-spot, pumping them back and forth without fully withdrawing. Then I stiffened my tongue and licked the side of her hood repeatedly, no longer teasing her but trying to drive her over the edge. A deep groan and a raising of her hips told me I was on the right track.“Oh, fuck, oh, fuck, keep doing that!” she gasped in time with her thrusting.I kept doing that, just as she asked, and I soon felt her thighs fluttering. I pressed down hard on her mound with my free hand and began to suck on her clit while the tip of my tongue hit the same spot over and over again.“Oh, fuck!” Desiree moaned when her orgasm burst within her.I kept myself still then, feeling her cunt clamp down over and over on my fingers, soaking them with a rush of sweet, tangy juices. As I watched her body tremble, I admired the sun dappling every inch. The deep flush between her tits was stark against the untanned skin there, and her tits jutted straight up as her back arched in pleasure. I let her relax before withdrawing my fingers, which drew a tired whimper from her lips.When her eyes opened, I brought my fingers to my mouth again and sucked them clean. She smiled enigmatically as I licked them, staring directly into her eyes.“Well?” she asked.“Definitely good enough to eat!” I pronounced with a grin.“I love how you feel against my skin when it’s all shaved like this,” she told me seriously. “It added so much extra to everything you did!”“I love it, too,” I assured her. “You’re so smooth and sexy.”“I’m glad you like it,” she said in pleased tones.With that, she sat up and let her feet down, settling them on the outside of my towel. She leaned down, grabbed my face, and kissed me deeply. I know she could taste herself on my lips, and she even lapped my chin momentarily to gather her own deliciousness.“You know what else is gonna feel good?” she asked playfully.“What’s that?” I responded with an innocent look on my face.“Sliding my cunt all over you and letting you feel how smooth and wet it is.”I pulled her up to her feet and gathered her in my arms. “That,” I said seriously, kissing her between words, “sounds, amazing!”My cock was trapped between us, and Des wriggled her belly against it. Copious clear liquid was leaking from the tip, and the whole thing was twitching with the sudden heat and stimulation.“Besides, I think I need to tease you for a while,” she continued. “I don’t want to get you too excited yet!”I groaned at the thought, but consoled myself with the knowledge that my explosion would be even bigger and better when it happened.“Where do you want to do all this teasing?” I asked her.“Grab the towels,” she said. Then she pointed to a broad, flat rock about six feet from shore. The top was worn smooth by the passage of water over the years, but the top was dry now and looked invitingly warm. I laughed and gathered the cushioning towels. Holding hands, we made our way carefully across the slippery gap between our starting place and our new destination. When we got there, I passed her one towel and flipped the other one out to lie flat on the rock. Des followed suit and created a double layer of padding.“Get on up,” she said hotly. “It’s time for some payback!”I happily complied, sparing only a minute to look around.“No one is here,” she said reassuringly as I lay down on my back. Then her voice took on an Eastern European accent: “No one can help you. No one can hear your screams!”“Well that sucks,” I said with a smile. I settled myself comfortably on the rock and closed my eyes against the bright sunlight. “I’ll try to suffer in silence!”Desiree reached across me and grabbed my cock with one hand, aiming it straight up. She moved down and clambered onto the towel between my feet, and then paused to give me a few strokes. Her hand was warm and gentle on my shaft.Shifting one knee outside my leg, Des began to do exactly what she had said she would. She lowered herself and I felt her cunt bump into my knee. Slick and hot, she caressed her way up to my thigh, then moved across my lower body and did the same on my other leg. When I peeked up at her, I saw she had her lower lip between her teeth and a little frown of concentration on her face. I closed my eyes again and grinned as she moved up again. Her silky mound came down on my scrotum and Des rocked herself forward, arching her back so that she slid along the entire length of my cock from base to tip, her lips parted around me and coating me with lubrication before stopping and then moving back down to the base again.“Do you like that? Do you like how soft and smooth and wet I feel?”My mouth was dry as I answered her: “God, Des, I love it!”“I love rubbing myself all over you!” she said in a happy, sexy voice. I opened my eyes and she was gazing directly at me, her hands braced on her knees as she rocked herself back and forth along the underside of my shaft. Each time she reached the sensitive spot below the head, a pulse of precum leapt from my cock in response.“Des!” I said urgently, feeling the flutter of an approaching orgasm.“I know, I know, but it’s fun to tease you!” she said. Then she rose up, allowing the cool air to soothe the dangerous throbbing of my cock. She scooted forward a little more to straddle my chest. Lowering herself again, she rubbed the silky lips of her cunt on stomach, then on my chest as she eased higher. When her thighs were on either side of my head, I couldn’t help but lick her instantly from bottom to top. She gasped and pulled away.“Hey; you already had your turn!” she said indignantly. “Now I get mine!”With a quick, graceful move, she pivoted her body around, keeping her hips high enough so that her cunt was out of range of my tongue. She kissed my stomach, then trailed her hair across it, lower and lower with each swoop until it was tickling my thighs. Her left hand moved to brace herself on the towel while the other wrapped around my shaft again. She lifted it up to a 45 degree angle, perfectly aligned with her torso, and took me into her mouth.My rolled back with pleasure. I loved this position; it let Des take me as deeply as she wanted without awkward angles or pressure. She made the most of it; nothing fancy, but she sucked steadily and her lips moved from tip to base in one effortless motion. I could feel the restrictive heat at the back of her throat for a second, then she pulled back. A quick breath and she did it again. With each stroke, she squeezed my shaft as she rose and flattened her hand out of the way when she descended. I moaned happily and lifted my hands to hold her hips as they hovered above me.“Fuck, Des, that feels so good!”She hummed happily in response, which gave me a shiver of pleasure. Desiree’s motion was tireless, and I began to thrust upward a bit, knowing that I couldn’t hold back much longer. That signal was clear to her as well, and she paused to look back at me.“Do you want to cum?” she asked, squeezing my cock rhythmically.“I have to cum, Des, I have to cum in your mouth!” I gasped.“OK, I’m ready for that!” she smiled. Then she turned back and resumed her suction.Another dozen strokes and I was ready. My orgasm hit just as her mouth descended, and I arched myself up unconsciously. For a moment, my cock slipped past the ring of her throat and I could feel the twitching of her gag reflex against the sensitive head. The first jet of sperm flew directly down her throat, but she recovered quickly and pulled back, holding just the head between her lips and sucking frantically, pumping my shaft to milk out every drop. I could feel her swallowing as pulse after pulse threatened to overflow her mouth.Slowly, my hips fell back onto the towel. Des kept sucking steadily as my cock began to soften, and her tongue snaked all around to make sure she didn’t miss any of my cum. When she finally released me with a pop, I was completely spent. She planted a kiss on the underside of my cock, drawing a twitch in response that made her giggle. Then she turned herself around again and laid her head on my chest, her hand still wrapped around my spent shaft.“That was so amazing!” I murmured into her hair.“That was the most cum ever!” she said with a snort and a laugh.“Well, you are an exciting woman,” I told her, “so it’s kind of your fault. It’s all that teasing, too.&rd

Melissa Lavasani & Jay Kopelman join our podcast to discuss how psychedelic policy is actually moving in Washington, DC. Lavasani leads Psychedelic Medicine Coalition, a DC-based advocacy organization focused on educating federal officials and advancing legislation around psychedelic medicine. Kopelman is CEO of Mission Within Foundation, which provides scholarships for veterans and first responders seeking psychedelic-assisted therapy retreats, often outside the United States. The conversation centers on veterans, the VA, and why that system may be the first realistic federal pathway for psychedelic care. Early Themes Lavasani describes PMC's work on Capitol Hill, including hosting events that bring lawmakers, staffers, and advocates into the same room. Her focus is steady engagement. In DC, progress often happens through repeated conversations, not headlines. Kopelman shares his background as a Marine and how his own psychedelic-assisted therapy experience led him to Mission Within. The foundation has funded more than 250 scholarships for veterans and first responders seeking treatment for PTSD, mild traumatic brain injury, depression, and addiction. They connect this work to pending veteran-focused legislation and explain why the VA matters. As a closed health system, the VA can pilot programs, gather data, and refine protocols without the pressures of private healthcare markets. Core Insights A recent Capitol Hill gathering, For Veteran Society, brought together members of Congress and leaders from the psychedelic caucus. Lavasani describes candid feedback from lawmakers. The message was clear: coordinate messaging, avoid fragmentation, and move while bipartisan interest remains. Veteran healthcare is not framed as the final goal. It is a starting point. If psychedelic therapies can demonstrate safety and effectiveness within the VA, broader adoption becomes more plausible. Kopelman raises operational realities that must be addressed: Standardized safety protocols across providers Integration support, not medication alone Clear training pathways for clinicians Real-world data beyond tightly screened clinical trials They also address recent negative headlines involving ibogaine treatment abroad. Kopelman emphasizes the need for shared learning across providers, especially when adverse events occur. Lavasani argues that inconsistency within the ecosystem can slow federal confidence. Later Discussion and Takeaways The discussion widens to federal momentum around addiction and mental health. Lavasani notes that new funding initiatives signal growing openness to innovative treatment models, even if psychedelics are not named explicitly in every announcement. Both guests stress that policy moves slowly by design. Meetings, follow-ups, and relationship building often matter more than public statements. For clinicians, researchers, operators, and advocates, the takeaways are direct: Veterans are likely the first federal pathway Public education remains essential Safety standards must be shared and transparent Integration and workforce development need attention now If psychedelic medicine enters federal systems, infrastructure will determine success. Frequently Asked Questions What do Melissa Lavasani & Jay Kopelman say about VA psychedelic policy? They argue that veteran-focused legislation offers a realistic first federal pathway for psychedelic-assisted care. Is ibogaine currently available through the VA? No. They discuss ibogaine in the context of private retreats and future possibilities, not an existing VA program. Why do Melissa Lavasani & Jay Kopelman emphasize coordination? Lawmakers respond more positively when advocates present aligned messaging and clear priorities. What safety issues are discussed by Melissa Lavasani & Jay Kopelman? They highlight the need for standardized screening, monitoring, integration support, and transparent review of adverse events. Closing Melissa Lavasani & Jay Kopelman provide a grounded look at how psychedelic policy develops inside federal systems. Their message is practical: veterans may be the first lane, but long-term success depends on coordination, safety standards, and sustained engagement. Closing This episode captures a real-time view of how federal policy could shape the next phase of the psychedelic resurgence, especially through veteran-facing legislation and VA infrastructure. Melissa Lavasani & Jay Kopelman argue that coordination, public education, and shared safety standards will shape whether access expands with credibility and care. Transcript Joe Moore: [00:00:00] Hello everybody. Welcome back to Psychedelics Today. Today we have two guests, um, got Melissa Sani from Psychedelic Medicine Coalition. We got Jake Pelman from Mission Within Foundation. We're gonna talk about I bga I became policy on a recent, uh, set of meetings in Washington, DC and, uh, all sorts of other things I'm sure. Joe Moore: But thank you both for joining me. Melissa Lavasani: Thanks for having us. Jay Kopelman: Yeah, it's a pleasure. Thanks. Joe Moore: Yeah. Um, Melissa, I wanna have you, uh, jump in. First. Can you tell us a little bit about, uh, your work and what you do at PMC? Melissa Lavasani: Yeah, so Psychedelic Medicine Coalition is, um, the only DC based Washington DC based advocacy organization dedicated to the advancing the issue of psychedelics, um, and making sure the federal government has the education they need, um, and understands the issue inside out so that they can generate good policy around, around psychedelic medicines. Melissa Lavasani: [00:01:00] Uh, we. Host Hill events. We host other convenings. Our big event every year is the Federal Summit on psychedelic medicine. Um, that's going to be May 14th this year. Um, where we talk about kinda the pressing issues that need to be talked about, uh, with government officials in the room, um, so that we can incrementally move this forward. Melissa Lavasani: Um, our presence here in Washington DC is, is really critical for this issue's success because, um, when we're talking about psychedelic medicines, um, from the federal government pers perspective, you know, they are, they are the ones that are going to initiate the policies that create a healthcare system that can properly facilitate these medicines and make sure, um, patient safety is a priority. Melissa Lavasani: And there's guardrails on this. And, um, you know, there, it's, it's really important that we have. A home base for this issue in Washington DC just [00:02:00] because, uh, this is very complicated as a lot of your viewers probably understand, and, you know, this can get lost in the mix of all the other issues that, um, lawmakers in DC are focused on right now. Melissa Lavasani: And we need to keep that consistent presence here so that this continues to be a priority for members of Congress. Joe Moore: Mm. I love this. And Jay, can you tell us a bit about yourself and mission within Foundation? Jay Kopelman: Yeah, sure. Joe, thanks. Uh, I, I am the CEO of Mission within Foundation. Prior to this, most of my adult life was spent in the military as a Marine. Jay Kopelman: And I came to this. Role after having, uh, a psychedelic assisted therapy experience myself at the mission within down in Mexico, which is where pretty much we all go. Um, we are here to help [00:03:00] provide, uh, access for veterans and first responders to be able to attend psychedelic assisted therapy retreats to treat issues like mild TBI, post-traumatic stress disorder, uh, depression, sometimes addiction at, at a very low level. Jay Kopelman: Um, and, and so we've, we've been doing this for a little more than a year now and have provided 250 plus scholarships to veterans and first responders to be able to access. These retreats and these, these lifesaving medicines. Um, we're also partnered, uh, you may or may not know with Melissa at Psychedelic Medicine Coalition to help advance education and policy, specifically the innovative, uh, therapy Centers of Excellence Act [00:04:00] that Melissa has worked for a number of years on now to bring to both Houses of Congress. Joe Moore: Thank you for that. Um, so let's chat a little bit about what this event was that just, uh, went down, uh, what, what was it two weeks ago at this point? Melissa Lavasani: Yeah. Yeah. It's called For Veteran Society and it's all, um, there's a lot of dialogue on Capitol Hill about veterans healthcare and psychedelics, but where I've been frustrated is that, you know, it was just a lot of. Melissa Lavasani: Talk about what the problems are and not a lot of talk about like how we actually propel things forward. Um, so it, at that event, I thought it was really important and we had three members of Congress there, um, Morgan Latrell, who has been a champion from day one and his time in Congress, um, having gone through the experience himself, um, [00:05:00] at Mission within, um, and then the two chairs of the psychedelic caucus, uh, Lou Correa and Jack Bergman. Melissa Lavasani: And we really got down to the nitty gritty of like w like why this has taken so long and you know, what is actually happening right now? What are the possibilities and what the roadblocks are. And it was, I thought it was a great conversation. Um, we had an interesting kind of dynamic with Latres is like a very passionate about this issue in particular. Melissa Lavasani: Um, I think it was, I think it was really. A great event. And, you know, two days later, Jack Bergman introduced his new bill for the va. Um, so it was kind of like the precursor to that bill getting introduced. And we're just excited for more and more conversations about how the government can gently guide this issue to success. Joe Moore: Hmm. Yeah. [00:06:00] That's fantastic. Um, yeah, I was a little bummed I couldn't make it, but next time, I hope. But I've heard a lot of good things and, um, it's, it sounded like there was some really important messages in, in terms of like feedback from legislators. Yeah. Yeah. Could you speak to that? Melissa Lavasani: Yeah, I mean, I think when, uh, representative Latrell was speaking, he really impressed on us a couple things. Melissa Lavasani: Um, first is that, you know, they really kind of need the advocates to. Coordinate, collaborate and come up with like a, a strategic plan, you know, without public education. Um, talking to members of Congress about this issue is, is really difficult. You know, like PMC is just one organization. We're very little mission within, very little, um, you know, we're all like, kind of new in navigating, um, this not so new issue, but new to Washington DC [00:07:00] issue. Melissa Lavasani: Um, without that public education as a baseline, uh, it's, it's, you have to spend a lot of time educating members of Congress. You know, that's like one of our things is, you know, we have to, we don't wanna tell Congress what direction to go to. We wanna provide them the information so they understand it very intimately and know how to navigate through things. Melissa Lavasani: Um, and secondly. Um, he got pretty frank with us and said, you know, we've got one cha one chance at this issue. And it's like, that's, that's kind of been like my talking point since I started. PMC is like, you have a very limited window, um, when these kind of issues pop up and they're new and they're fresh and you have a lot of the veteran community coming out and talking about it. Melissa Lavasani: And there's a lot of energy there. But now is the time to really move forward, um, with some real legislation that can be impactful. Um, but, you know, we've gotta [00:08:00] be careful. We, we forget, I think sometimes those of us who are in the ecosystem forget that our level of knowledge about these medicines and a lot of us have firsthand experience, um, with these drugs and, and our own healing journeys is, um, we forget that there is a public out there that doesn't have the level of knowledge that we all have. Melissa Lavasani: And, um. We gotta make sure that we're sticking to the right elements of, of, of what needs to happen. We need to be sure that our talking points are on track and we're not getting sideways about anything and going down roads that we don't need to talk about. It's why, um, you know, PMC is very focused on, um, moving forward veteran legislation right now. Melissa Lavasani: Not because we're a veteran organization, but because we're, we see this long-term policy track here. Um, we know where we want to get [00:09:00] to, um. Um, and watching other healthcare issues kind of come up and then go through the VA healthcare system, I think it's a really unique opportunity, um, to utilize the VA as this closed system, the biggest healthcare system in the country to evaluate, uh, how psychedelics operate within systems like that. Melissa Lavasani: And, you know, before they get into, um, other healthcare systems. What do we need to fix? What do we need to pay attention to? What's something that we're paying too much attention to that doesn't necessarily need that much attention? So it's, um, it's a real opportunity to look at psychedelic medicines within a healthcare system and obviously continue to gather the data. Melissa Lavasani: Um, Bergman's Bill emerging, uh, expanding veteran access to emerging treatments. Um, not only mandates the research, it gives the VA authority for this, uh, for running trials and, and creating programs around psychedelic medicines. But also, [00:10:00] one of the great things about it, I think, is it provides an on-ramp for veterans that don't necessarily qualify for clinical trials. Melissa Lavasani: You know, I think that's one of the biggest criticisms of clinical trials is like you're cre you're creating a vacuum for people and people don't live in a vacuum. So we don't necessarily know what psychedelics are gonna look like in real life. Um, but with this expanding veteran access bill that Bergman introduced, it provides the VA an opportunity to provide this access under. Melissa Lavasani: Um, in a, in a safe container with medical supervision while collecting data, um, while ensuring that the veteran that is going through this process has the support systems that it needs. So, um, you know, I think that there's a really unique opportunity here, and like Latrell said, like, we've got one shot at this. Melissa Lavasani: We have people's attention in Congress. Um, now's the time to start acting, and let's be really considerate and thoughtful about what we're doing with it. Joe Moore: Thanks for that, Melissa and Jay, how, [00:11:00] anything to add there on kind of your takeaways from the this, uh, last visit in dc? Jay Kopelman: Yeah, I, I think that Melissa highlighted it really well and there, there were a couple other things that I, I think, you know, you could kind of tie it all together with some other issues that we face in this country, uh, and that. Jay Kopelman: Uh, representative Correa brought up as well, but one of the things I wanted to go back and say is that veterans have kind of led this movement already, right? So, so it's a, it's a good jumping off point, right? That it's something people from both sides of the aisle, from any community in America can get behind. Jay Kopelman: You know, if you think about it, uh, in World War ii, you know, we had a million people serving our population was like, not even 200 million, but now [00:12:00] we have a population of 330 million, and at any given time there might be a million people in uniform, including the Reserve and the National Guard. So it's, it, it's an easy thing to get behind this small part of the population that is willing to sign that contract. Jay Kopelman: Where you are saying, yeah, I'm going to defend my country, possibly at the risk of my l my own life. So that's the first thing. The other thing is that the VA being a closed health system, and they don't have shareholders to answer to, they can take some risks, they can be innovative and be forward thinking in the ways that some other healthcare systems can't. Jay Kopelman: And so they have a perfect opportunity to show that they truly care for their veterans, which don't, I'm not saying they don't, but this would be an [00:13:00] opportunity to show that carrot at a whole different level. Uh, it would allow them to innovate and be a leader in something as, uh, as our friend Jim Hancock will say, you know. Jay Kopelman: When he went to the Naval Academy, they had the world's best shipbuilding program. Why doesn't the VA have the world's best care program for things like TBI and PTSD, which affects, you know, 40 something percent of all veterans, right? So, so there's, there's an opportunity here for the VA to lead from the front. Jay Kopelman: Um, the, these medicines provide, you know, reasonably lasting care where it's kind of a one and done. Whereas with the current systems, the, you know, and, and [00:14:00] again, not to denigrate the VA in any way, they're doing the best job they can with the tools in their toolbox, right? But maybe it's time for a trip to Home Depot. Jay Kopelman: Let's get some new tools. And have some new ways of fixing what's broken, which is really the way of doing things. It's not, veterans aren't broken, we are who we are. Um, but it's a, it's a way to fix what isn't working. So I, I think that, you know, given there's tremendous veteran homelessness still, you know, addiction issues, all these things that do translate to the population at large are things that can be worked on in this one system, the va that can then be shown to have efficacy, have good data, have [00:15:00] good outcomes, and, and take it to the population at large. Joe Moore: Mm-hmm. Brilliant. Thanks for that. And so there was another thing I wanted to pivot to, which is some of the recent press. So we've, um, seen a little bit of press around some, um, in one instance, some bad behavior in Mexico that a FI put out Americans thrive again, put out. And then another case there was a, a recent fatality. Joe Moore: And I think, um, both are tragic. Like we shouldn't be having to deal with this at this point. Um, but there's a lot of things that got us here. Um, it's not necessarily the operator's fault entirely, um, or even at all, honestly, like some medical interventions just carry a lot of risk. Like think, think about like, uh, how risky bypass surgery was in the nineties, right? Joe Moore: Like people were dying a lot from medical interventions and um, you know, this is a major intervention, uh, ibogaine [00:16:00] and also a lot of promise. To help people quite a bit. Um, but as of right now, there's, there's risk. And part of that risk, in my opinion, comes from the inability of organizations to necessarily collaborate. Joe Moore: Like there's no kind of convening body, sitting in the middle, allowing, um, for, and facilitating really good data sharing and learnings. Um, and I don't, I don't necessarily see an organization stepping up and being the, um, the convener for that kind of work. I've heard rumors that something's gonna happen there, and I'm, I'm hopeful I'll always wanna share my opinion on that. Joe Moore: But yeah. I don't know. Jay, from your perspective, is there anything you want to kind of speak to about, uh, these two recent incidents that Americans for Iboga kind of publicized recently? Jay Kopelman: Yeah, so I, I'll echo your sentiment, of course, that these are tragic incidents. Um, and I, [00:17:00] I think that at least in the case of the death at Ambio, AMBIO has done a very good job of talking about it, right? Jay Kopelman: They've been very honest with the information that they have. And like you said, there are risks inherent to these medicines, and it's like anything else in medicine, there are going to be risks. You know, when I went through, uh, when I, when I went through chemo, you know, there were, there are risks. You know, you don't feel well, you get sick. Jay Kopelman: Um, and, and it. There are processes in place to counter that when it happens. And there are processes and, and procedures and safety protocols in place when caring for somebody going through an ibogaine [00:18:00] journey. Uh, when I did it, we had EKG echocardiogram. You're on a heart monitor the entire time they push magnesium via iv. Jay Kopelman: You have to provide a urinalysis sample to make sure that there is nothing in your system that is going to potentially harm you. During the ibogaine, they have, uh, a cardiologist who is monitoring the heart monitors throughout the ibogaine experience. So the, the safety protocols are there. I think it's, I think it's just a matter of. Jay Kopelman: Standardizing them across all, all providers, right? Like, that would be a good thing if people would talk to one another. Um, as, as in any system, right? You've gotta have [00:19:00] some collaboration. You've gotta have standardization, you know, so, you know, they're not called standard operating procedures for nothing. Jay Kopelman: That means that in a, you know, in a given environment, everybody does things the same way. It's true in Navy and Marine Corps, air Force, army Aviation, they have standard operating procedures for every single aircraft. So if you fly, let's say the F 35 now, right? Because it's flown by the Navy, the Marine Corps, and the Air Force. Jay Kopelman: The, the emergency procedures in that airplane are standardized across all three services, so you should have the same, or, you know, with within a couple of different words, the same procedures and processes [00:20:00] across all the providers, right? Like maybe in one document you're gonna change, happy to glad and small dog to puppy, but it's still pretty much the, the same thing. Jay Kopelman: And as a service that provides scholarships to people to go access these medicines and go to these retreats, you know, my criteria is that the, this provider has to be safe. Number one, safety's paramount. It's always gotta be very safe. It should, it has to be effective. And you know, once you have those two things in place, then I have a comfort level saying, okay, yeah, we'll work with this provider. Jay Kopelman: But until those standardized processes are in place, you'll probably see these one-off things. I mean, some providers have been doing this longer than others and have [00:21:00] really figured out, you know, they've, they've cracked the code and, you know, sharing that across the spectrum would be good. Um, but just when these things happen, having a clearing house, right, where everybody can come together and talk about it, you know, like once the facts are known because. Jay Kopelman: To my knowledge, we still don't know all the facts. Like as, you know, as horrible as this is, you still have to talk about like an, has an autopsy been performed? What was found in the patient's system? You know, there, there are things there that we don't know. So we need to, we need to know that before we can start saying, okay, well this is how we can fix that, because we just don't know. Jay Kopelman: And, you know, to their credit, you know, Amio has always been safe to, to the, to the best of my knowledge. You know, I, [00:22:00] I haven't been to Ambio myself, but people that I have worked with have been there. They have observed, they have seen the process. They believe it's safe, and I trust their opinion because they've seen it elsewhere as well. Jay Kopelman: So yeah, having, having that one place where we can all come together when this happens, it, it's almost like it should be mandatory. In the military when there's a training accident, we, you know, we would have to have what's called a safety standout. And you don't do that again for a little while until you figure out, okay, how are we going to mitigate that happening again? Jay Kopelman: Believe me, you can go overboard and we don't want to do that. Like, we don't wanna just stop all care, but maybe stop detox for a week and then come back to it. [00:23:00] Joe Moore: Yeah. A dream would be, let's get like the, I don't know, 10, 20 most popular, uh, or well-known operators together somewhere and just do like a three day debrief. Joe Moore: Hey, everybody, like, here's what we see. Let's work on this together. You know how normal medicine works. And this is, it's hard because this is not necessarily, um, something people feel safe about in America talking about 'cause it's illicit here. Um, I don't understand necessarily how the operations, uh, relate to each other in Mexico, but I think that's something to like the public should dig into. Joe Moore: Like, what, what is this? And I, I'll start digging into that. Um, I, I asked a question recently of somebody like, is there some sort of like back channel signal everybody's using and there's no clear Yes. You know? Um, I think it would be good. That's just a [00:24:00] start, you know, that's like, okay, we can actually kind of say hi and watch out for this to each other. Jay Kopelman: It's not like we don't all know one another, right? Joe Moore: Yes. Jay Kopelman: Like at least three operators we're represented. At the Aspen Ibogaine meeting. So like that could be, and I think there was a panel kind of loosely related to this during Aspen Ibogaine meeting, but Joe Moore: mm-hmm. Jay Kopelman: It, you know, have a breakout where the operators can go sit down and kind of compare notes. Joe Moore: Right. Yeah. Melissa, do you have any, uh, comments on this thread here? And I, I put you on mute if you didn't see that. Um, Melissa Lavasani: all right, I'm off mute. Um, yeah, I think that Jay's hits the nail on the head with the collaboration thing. Um, I think that it's just a [00:25:00] problem across the entire ecosystem, and I think that's just a product of us being relatively new and upcoming field. Melissa Lavasani: Um, uh, it's a product of, you know. Our fundraising community is really small, so organizations feel like they are competing for the same dollars, even though their, their goals are all the same, they have different functions. Um, I think with time, I mean, let's be honest, like if we don't start collaborating and, and the federal government's moving forward, the federal government's gonna coordinate for us. Melissa Lavasani: And not, that might not necessarily be a bad thing, but, you know, we understand this issue to a whole other level that the federal government doesn't, and they're not required to understand it deeply. They just need to know how to really move forward with it the proper way. Um, but I think that it. It's really essential [00:26:00] that we all have this come together moment here so we can avoid things. Melissa Lavasani: Uh, I mean, no one's gonna die from bad advocacy. So like I've, I have a bit of an easier job. Um, but it can a, a absolutely stall efforts, um, to move things forward in Washington DC when, um, one group is saying one thing, another group is saying another thing, like, we're not quite at a point yet where we can have multiple lines of conversation and multiple things moving forward. Melissa Lavasani: Um, you know, for PMC, it's like, just let's get the first thing across the finish line. And we think that is, um, veteran healthcare. And, um, I know there's plenty of other groups out there that, that want the same thing. So, you know, I always, the reason why I put on the Federal Summit last year was I kind of hit my breaking point with a lack of collaboration and I wanted to just bring everyone in the same room and say like, all right, here are the things that we need to talk about. Melissa Lavasani: And I think the goal for this year is, um. To bring people in the same room and say, we talked about [00:27:00] we scratched the surface last year and this is where we need to really put our efforts into. And this is where the opportunities are. Um, I think that is going to, that's going to show the federal government if we can organize ourselves, that they need to take this issue really seriously. Melissa Lavasani: Um, I don't think we've done a great job at that thus far, but I think there's still plenty of time for us to get it together. Um, and I'm hoping with these two, uh, VA bills that are in the house right now and Senate is, is putting together their version of these two bills, um, so that they can move in tandem with each other. Melissa Lavasani: I think that, you know, there's an opportunity here for. Us to show the federal government as an ecosystem, Hey, we, we are so much further ahead and you know, this is what we've organized and here's how we can help you, um, that would make them buy into this issue a bit more and potentially move things forward faster. Melissa Lavasani: Uh, at this point in time, it's, I think that, [00:28:00] you know, psychedelics aren't necessarily the taboo thing that they, they used to be, but there's certainly places that need attention. Um, there's certainly conversations that need to be had, and like I said, like PMC is just one organization that can do this. Um, we can certainly organize and drive forward collaboration, but I, like we alone, cannot cover all this ground and we need the subject matter experts to collaborate with us so we can, you know, once we get in the door, we wanna bring the experts in to talk to these officials about it. Melissa Lavasani: So I. I, I really want listeners to really think about us as a convener of sorts when it comes to federal policy. Um, and you know, I think when, like for example, in the early eighties, a lot of people have made comparisons to the issue of psychedelics to the issue of AIDS research and how you have in a subject matter that's like extremely taboo and a patient population that the government [00:29:00] quite honestly didn't really care about in the early eighties. Melissa Lavasani: But what they did as an ecosystem is really organized themselves, get very clear on what they wanted the federal government to do. And within a matter of a couple years, uh, AIDS research funding was a thing that was happening. And what that, what that did was that ripple effect turned that into basically finding new therapies for something that we thought was a death, death sentence before. Melissa Lavasani: So I think. We just need to look at things in the past that have been really successful, um, and, and try to take the lessons from all of these issues and, and move forward with psychedelics. Joe Moore: Love that. And yes, we always need to be figuring out efficient approaches and where it has been successful in the past is often, um, an opportunity to mimic and, and potentially improve on that. Melissa Lavasani: Yeah. Jay Kopelman: One, one thing I think it's important to add to this part of the conversation is that, [00:30:00] you know, Melissa pointed out there are a number of organizations that are essentially doing the same thing. Jay Kopelman: Um, you know, I like to think we do things a little bit differently at Mission within Foundation in that we don't target any one specific type of service member. We, we work with all veterans. We work with first responders, but. What that leads to is that there are, as far as I've seen, nothing but good intentioned people in this space. Jay Kopelman: You know, people who really care about their patient population, they care about healing, they are trying to do a good job, and more importantly, they're trying to do good. Right? It, it, I think they all see the benefit down the road that this has, [00:31:00] pardon me, not just for veterans, but for society as a whole. Jay Kopelman: And, and ultimately that's where I would like to see this go. You know, I, I would love to see the VA take this. Take up this mantle and, and run with it and provide great data, great outcomes. You know, we are doing some data collection ourselves at Mission within foundation, albeit anecdotal based on surveys given before and after retreats. Jay Kopelman: But we're also working with, uh, Greg Fonzo down at UT Austin on a brain study he's doing that will have 40 patients in it when it's all said and done. And I think we have two more guys to put through that. Uh, and then we'll hit the 40. So there, there's a lot of good here that's being done by some really, really good people who've been doing this for a long time [00:32:00] and want to want nothing more than to, to see this. Jay Kopelman: Come to, come full circle so that we can take care of many, many, many people. Um, you know, like I say, I, I wanna work myself out of a job here. I, I just, I would love to see this happen and then I, you know, I don't have to send guys to Mexico to do this. They can go to their local VA and get the care that they need. Jay Kopelman: Um, but one thing that I don't think we've touched on yet, or regarding that is that the VA isn't designed for that. So it's gonna be a pretty big lift to get the right types of providers into the va with the knowledge, right, with the institutional knowledge of how this should be done, what is safe, what is effective, um, and then it, it's not just providing these medicines to [00:33:00] people and sending them home. Jay Kopelman: You don't just do that, you've gotta have the right therapists on the backend who can provide the integration coaching to the folks who are receiving these medicines. And I'm not just talking, I bga, even with MDMA and psilocybin, you should have a proper period of integration. It helps you to understand how this is going to affect you, what it, what the experience really meant, you know, because it's very difficult sometimes to just interpret it on your own. Jay Kopelman: And so what the experience was and what it meant to you. And, and so it will take some time to spin all that up. But once it's, once it's in place, you know, the sky's the limit. I think. Joe Moore: Kinda curious Jay, about what's, what's going on with Ibogaine at the federal level. Is there anything at VA right now? [00:34:00] Jay Kopelman: At the va? No, not with ibogaine. And, you know, uh, we, we send people specifically for IBOGAINE and five MEO, right? And, and so that, that doesn't preclude my interest in seeing this legislation passed, right? Jay Kopelman: Because it, it will start with something like MDMA or psilocybin, but ultimately it could grow to iboga, right? It the think about the cost savings at, at the va, even with psilocybin, right? Where you could potentially treat somebody with a very inexpensive dose of psilocybin or, or iboga one time, and then you, you don't have to treat them again. Jay Kopelman: Now, if I were, uh, you know, a VA therapist who's not trained in psychedelic trauma therapy. I might be worried [00:35:00] about job security, but it's like with anything, right? Like ultimately it will open pathways for new people to get that training or the existing people to get that training and, and stay on and do that work. Jay Kopelman: Um, which only adds another arrow to their quiver as far as I'm concerned, because this is coming and we're gonna need the people. It's just like ai, right? Like ai, yeah. Some people are gonna lose some jobs initially, and that's unfortunate. But productivity ultimately across all industries will increase and new jobs will be created as a result of that. Jay Kopelman: I mean, I was watching Squawk Box one morning. They were talking about the AI revolution and how there's gonna be a need for 500,000 electricians to. Build these systems that are going to work with the AI [00:36:00] supercomputers and, and so, Joe Moore: mm-hmm. Jay Kopelman: Where, where an opportunity may be lost. I think several more can be gained going forward. Melissa Lavasani: And just to add on what Jay just said there, there's nothing specific going on with Ibogaine at, at the va, but I think this administration is, is taking a real look at addiction in particular. Uh, they just launched, uh, a new initiative, uh, that's really centered on addiction treatments called the Great American Recovery. Melissa Lavasani: And, um, they're dedicating a hundred million dollars towards treating addiction as like a chronic treatable disease and not necessarily a law enforcement issue. So, um, in that initiative there will be federal grant programs for prevention and treatment and recovery. And, um, while this isn't just for psychedelic medicines, uh, I think it's a really great opportunity for the discussion of psychedelics to get elevated to the White House. Melissa Lavasani: Um, [00:37:00] there's also, previous to this announcement last week from the White House, there's been a hundred million dollars that was dedicated at, um, at ARPA h, which is. The advanced research projects, uh, agency for healthcare, um, and that is kind of an agency that's really focused on forward looking, um, treatments and technologies, uh, for, um, a, a whole slew of. Melissa Lavasani: Of issues, but this a hundred million dollars is dedicated to mental health and addiction. So there's a lot of opportunity there as well. So we, while I think, you know, some people are talking about, oh, we need a executive order on Iboga, it's like, well, you know, the, the president is thinking, um, about, you know, what issues can land with his, uh, voting block. Melissa Lavasani: And I think it's, I don't think we necessarily need a specific executive order on Iboga to call this a success. It's like, let's look at what, [00:38:00] um, what's just been announced from the White House. They're, they're all in on. Thinking creatively and finding, uh, new solutions for this. And this is kind of, this aligns with, um, HHS secretaries, uh, Robert F. Melissa Lavasani: Kennedy Junior's goals when he took on this, this role of Health Secretary. Um, addiction has been a discussion that, you know, he has personal, um, a personal tie to from his own experience. And, um, I think when this administration started, there was so much like fervor around the, the dialogue of like, everyone's talking about psychedelics. Melissa Lavasani: It was Secretary Kennedy, it was, uh, secretary Collins at the va. It was FDA Commissioner Marty Macari. And I think that there's like a lot of undue frustration within folks 'cause um, you don't necessarily snap your fingers and change happens in Washington dc This is not the city for that. And it's intentionally designed to move slow so that we can avoid really big mistakes. Melissa Lavasani: Um. [00:39:00] I think we're a year into this administration and these two announcements are, are pretty huge considering, um, you know, the, we, there are known people within domestic policy council that don't, aren't necessarily supportive of psychedelic medicine. So there's a really amazing progress here, and frustrating as it might be to, um, just be waiting for this administration to make some major move. Melissa Lavasani: I think they are making major moves like for Washington, DC These, these are major moves and we just gotta figure out how we can, um, take these initiatives and apply them to the issue of psychedelic medicines. Joe Moore: Thanks, Melissa. Um, yeah, it is, it is interesting like the amount of fervor there was at the beginning. You know, we had, uh. Kind of one of my old lawyers, Matt Zorn, jumped in with the administration. Right. And, um, you know, it was, uh, really cool to [00:40:00] see and hopeful how much energy was going on. It's been a little quiet, kind of feels like a black box a little bit, but I, you know, there was, Melissa Lavasani: that's on me. Melissa Lavasani: Maybe I, we need to be more out in public about like, what's actually happening, because I feel like, like day in and day out, it's just been, you gotta just mm-hmm. Like have that constant beat with the government. Mm-hmm. And, um, it's, it's, it's not the photo ops on the hill, it's the conversations that you have. Melissa Lavasani: It's the dinner parties you go to, it's the fundraisers you attend, you know? Mm-hmm. That's why I, I kind of have to like toot my own horn with PCs. Like, we need to be present here at, at not only on the Hill, not only at the White House, but kind of in the ecosystem of Washington DC itself. There's, it's, there are like power players here. Melissa Lavasani: There are people that are connected that can get things done, like. I mean, the other last week we had a big snow storm. I walked over to my friend's house, um, to have like a little fire sesh with them and our kids, and his next door neighbor came over. He was a member of Congress. I talked about the VA bills, like [00:41:00] we're reaching out to his office now, um, to get them, um, up to speed and hopefully get their co-sponsorship for, uh, the two VA bills. Melissa Lavasani: So, I mean, it, the little conversations you have here are just as important as the big ones with the photo ops. So, um, it, it's, it's really like, you know, building up that momentum and, and finding that time where you can really strike and make something happen. Joe Moore: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Jay, anything to add there? Jay Kopelman: Yeah, I was just gonna say that, you know, I, I, I think the fervor is still there, right? Jay Kopelman: But real life happens. Melissa Lavasani: Yes, Jay Kopelman: yes. And gets in the way, right? So, Melissa Lavasani: yeah, Jay Kopelman: I, I can't imagine how many issues. Secretary Kennedy has every day much less the president. Like there's so many things that they are dealing with on a daily basis, right? It, we, we just have to work to be the squeaky wheel in, in the right way, right. Jay Kopelman: [00:42:00] With the, with the right information at the right time. Like just inundating one of these organizations with noise, it's then it be with Informa, it just becomes noise, right? It it, it doesn't help. So when we have things to say that are meaningful and impactful, we do, and Melissa does an amazing job of that. Jay Kopelman: But, you know, it, it takes time. You know, it's, you know, we're not, this is, this is like turning an aircraft carrier, not a ski boat. Melissa Lavasani: Yeah, Joe Moore: yeah, absolutely. Um, and. It's, it's understandably frustrating, I think for the public and the psychedelic public in particular because we see all this hope, you know, we continue to get frustrated at politics. It's nothing new, right? Um, and we, we wanna see more people get well immediately. [00:43:00] And I, I kind of, Jay from the veteran perspective, I do love the kind of loud voices like, you're making me go to Mexico for this. Joe Moore: I did that and you're making me leave the country for the thing that's gonna fix me. Like, no way. And barely a recognition that this is a valid treatment. You know, like, you know, that is complicated given how medicine is structured here domestically. But it's also, let's face the facts, like the drug war kind of prevented us from being able to do this research in the first place. Joe Moore: You know? Thanks Nixon. And like, how do we actually kind of correct course and say like, we need to spend appropriately on science here so we can heal our own people, including veterans and everybody really. It's a, it's a dire situation out there. Jay Kopelman: Yeah. It, it really is. Um, you know, we were talking briefly about addicts, right? Jay Kopelman: And you know, it's not sexy. People think of addicts as people who are weak-minded, [00:44:00] right? They don't have any self-control. Um, but, but look at, look at the opioid crisis, right? That Brian Hubbard was fighting against in Kentucky for all those years. That that was something that was given to the patient by a doctor that they then became dependent on, and a lot of people died from that. Jay Kopelman: And, and so you, you know, it's, I I don't think it's fair to just put all addicts in a box. Just like it's not fair to put all veterans in a box. Just like it's not fair for doctors, put all their patients in a box. We're individuals. We, we have individual needs. Our, our health is very individual. Like, I, I don't think I should be put in the same box as every other 66-year-old that my doctor sees. Jay Kopelman: It's not fair. [00:45:00] You know, if you, if you took my high school classmates and put us all in a photo, we're all gonna have different needs, right? Like, some look like they're 76, not 66. Some look like they're 56. Not like they're, we, we do things differently. We live our lives differently. And the same is true of addicts. Jay Kopelman: They come to addiction from different places. Not everybody decides they want to just try heroin at a party, and all of a sudden they're addicted. It happens in, in different ways, you know, and the whole fentanyl thing has been so daggum nefarious, right? You know, pushing fentanyl into marijuana. Jay Kopelman: Somebody's smoking a joint and all of a sudden they're addicted to fentanyl or they die. Melissa Lavasani: I think we're having a, Jay Kopelman: it's, it's just not fair to, to say everybody in this pot is the same, or everybody in this one is the same. We have [00:46:00] to look at it differently. Joe Moore: Yeah. I like to zoom one level out and kind of talk about, um, just how hurt we are as a country, as a world really, but as a country specifically, and how many people are out of work for so many. Joe Moore: Difficult reasons and away from their families for so many kind of tragic reasons. And if we can get people back to their families and back to work, a lot of these things start to self-correct, but we have to like have those interventions where we can heal folks and, and get them back. Um, yeah. And you know, everything from trauma, uh, in childhood, you know, adulthood, combat, whatever it is. Joe Moore: Like these things can put people on the sidelines. And Jay, to your point, like you get knee surgery and all of a sudden you're, you know, two years later you're on the hunt for Fentanyl daily. You know, that's tough. It's really tough. Carl Hart does a good job talking about this kind of addiction pipeline and [00:47:00] a few others do as well. Joe Moore: But it's just, you know, kind of putting it in a moral failure bucket. It's not great. I was chatting with somebody about, um, veterans, it's like you come back and you're like, what's gonna make me feel okay right now? And it's not always alcohol. Um, like this is the first thing that made me feel okay, because there's not great treatments and there's, there's a lot of improvements in this kind of like bringing people back from the field that needs to happen. Joe Moore: In my opinion. I, it seems to be shared by a lot of people, but yeah, there's, it's, it's, IGA is gonna be great. It's gonna be really important. I really can't wait for it to be at scale appropriately, but there's a lot of other things we need to fix too, um, so that we can just, you know, not have so many people we need to, you know, spend so much money healing. Joe Moore: Mm-hmm. Jay Kopelman: Yeah. You ahead with that. We don't need the president to sign an executive order to automatically legalize Ibogaine. Right. But it would be nice if he would reschedule it so that [00:48:00] then then researchers could do this research on a larger scale. You know, we could, we could now get some real data that would show the efficacy. Jay Kopelman: And it could be done in a safe environment, you know? And, and so that would be, do Joe Moore: you have any kind of figures, like, like, I've been talking about this for a while, Jay. Like, does it drop the cost a lot of doing research when we deschedule things? Jay Kopelman: I, I would imagine so, because it'll drop the cost of accessing the medicines that are being researched. Jay Kopelman: Right? You, you would have buy-in from more organizations. You know, you might even have a pharma company that comes into this, you know, look at j and j with the ketamine, right? They have, they have a nasal spray version of ketamine that's doing very well. I mean, it's probably their, their biggest revenue [00:49:00] provider for them right now. Jay Kopelman: And, and so. You know, you, it would certainly help and I think, I think it would lower costs of research to have something rescheduled rather than being schedule one. You know it, people are afraid to take chances when you're talking about Schedule one Melissa Lavasani: labs or they just don't have the money to research things that are on Schedule one. Melissa Lavasani: 'cause there's so much in an incredible amount of red tape that you have to go through and, and your facility has to be a certain way and how you contain those, uh, medicines. Oh, researching has to be in a specific container and it's just very cumbersome to research schedule one drugs. So absolutely the cost would go down. Melissa Lavasani: Um, but Joe Moore: yeah, absolutely. Less safes. Melissa Lavasani: Yeah. Joe Moore: Yes. Less uh, Melissa Lavasani: right. Joe Moore: Locked. Yeah. Um, it'll be really interesting when that happens. I'm gonna hold out faith. That we can see some [00:50:00] movement here. Um, because yeah, like why make healing more expensive than it needs to be? I think like that's potentially a protectionist move. Joe Moore: Like, I'm not, I'm not here yet, but, um, look at AbbVie's, uh, acquisition of the Gilgamesh ip. Mm-hmm. Like that's a really interesting move. I think it was $1.2 billion. Mm-hmm. So they're gonna wanna protect that investment. Um, and it's likely going to be an approved medication. Like, I don't, I don't see a world in which it's not an approved medication. Joe Moore: Um, you know, I don't know a timeline, I would say Jay Kopelman: yeah. Joe Moore: Less than six years, just given how much cash they've got. But who knows, like, I haven't followed it too closely. So, and that's an I bga derivative to be clear, everybody, um mm-hmm. If you're not, um, in, in the loop on that, which is hopeful, you know? Joe Moore: Mm-hmm. But I don't know what the efficacy is gonna be with that compared to Ibogaine and then we have to talk about the kind of proprietary molecule stuff. Um, there's like a whole bunch of things that are gonna go on here, and this is one of the reasons why I'm excited about. Federal involvement [00:51:00] because we might actually be able to have some sort of centralized manufacturer, um, or at least the VA could license three or four generic manufacturers per for instance, and that way prices aren't gonna be, you know, eight grand a dose or whatever. Joe Moore: You know, it's, Jay Kopelman: well, I think it's a very exciting time in the space. You know, I, I think that there's the opportunity for innovation. There is the opportunity for collaboration. There's the opportunity for, you know, long-term healing at a very low cost. You know, that we, we have the highest healthcare cost per capita in the world right here in the us. Jay Kopelman: And, and yet we are not the number one health system in the world. So to me, that doesn't add up. So we need to figure out a way to start. Bringing costs down for a lot of people and [00:52:00] at the same time increasing, increasing outcomes. Joe Moore: Absolutely. Yeah. There's a lot of possible outcome improvements here and, and you know, everything from relapse rates, like we hear often about people leaving a clinic and they go and overdose when they get home. Tragically, too common. I think there's everything from, you know, I'm Jay, I'm involved in an organization called the Psychedelics and Pain Association. Joe Moore: We look at chronic pain very seriously, and IGA is something we are really interested in. And if. We could have better, you know, research, there better outcome measures there. Um, you know, perhaps we can have less people on opioids to begin with from chronic pain conditions. Um, Jay Kopelman: yeah, I, I might be due for another Ibogaine journey then, because I deal with chronic pain from Jiujitsu, but, Joe Moore: oh gosh, let's Jay Kopelman: talk Joe Moore: later. Jay Kopelman: That's self inflicted. Some people would say take a month off, but Melissa Lavasani: yeah, Jay Kopelman: I'm [00:53:00] not, I'm not that smart. Joe Moore: Yeah. Um, but you know, this, uh, yeah, this whole thing is gonna be really interesting to see how it plays out. I'm endlessly hopeful pull because I'm still here. Right. I, I've been at this for almost 10 years now, very publicly, and I think we are seeing a lot of movement. Joe Moore: It's not always what we actually wanna see, but it is movement nonetheless. You know, how many people are writing on this now than there were before? Right. You know, we, we have people in New York Times writing somewhat regularly about psychedelics and. Even international media is covering it. What do we have legalization in Australia somewhat recently for psilocybin and MDMA, Czech Republic. Joe Moore: I think Germany made some moves recently. Mm-hmm. Um, really interesting to see how this is gonna just keep shifting. Um Jay Kopelman: mm-hmm. Joe Moore: And I think there's no way that we're not gonna have prescription psychedelics in three years in the United States. It pro probably more like a [00:54:00] year and a half. I don't know. Do you, are you all taking odds? Melissa Lavasani: Yeah. I mean, I think Jay Kopelman: I, I gotta check Cal sheet, see what they're saying. Melissa Lavasani: I think it's safe to say, I mean, this could even come potentially the end of this year, I think, but definitely by the end of 2027, there's gonna be at least one psychedelic that's FDA approved. Joe Moore: Yeah. Yeah. Melissa Lavasani: If you're not counting Ketamine. Joe Moore: Right. Jay Kopelman: I, I mean, I mean it mm-hmm. It, it doesn't make sense that it. Shouldn't be or wouldn't be. Right. The, we've seen the benefits. Mm-hmm. We know what they are. It's at a very low cost, but you have to keep in mind that these things, they need to be done with the right set setting and container. Right. And, and gotta be able to provide that environment. Jay Kopelman: So, but I would, I would love, like I said, I'd love to work myself out of a job here and see this happen, not just for our veterans, [00:55:00] but for everybody. Joe Moore: Mm-hmm. Um, so Melissa, is there a way people can get involved or follow PMC or how can they support your work at PMC? Melissa Lavasani: Yeah, I mean, follow us in social media. Melissa Lavasani: Um, our two biggest platforms are LinkedIn and Instagram. Um, I'm bringing my newsletter back because I'm realizing, um, you know, there is a big gap in, in kind of like the knowledge of Washington DC just in general. What's happening here, and I think, you know, part of PC's value is that we're, we are plugged into conversations that are being had, um, here in the city. Melissa Lavasani: And, you know, we do get a little insight. Um, and I think that that would really quiet a lot of, you know, the, a lot of noise that, um, exists in the, our ecosystem. If, if people just had some clarity on like, what's actually happening or happening here and what are the opportunities and, [00:56:00] um, where do we need more reinforcement? Melissa Lavasani: Um, and, and also, you know, as we're putting together public education campaign, you know. My, like, if I could get everything I wanted like that, that campaign would be this like multi-stakeholder collaborative effort, right? Where we're covering all the ground that we need to cover. We're talking to the patient groups, we're talking to traditional mental health organizations, we're talking to the medical community, we're talking to the general population. Melissa Lavasani: I think that's like another area that we, we just seem to be, um, lacking some effort in. And, you know, ultimately the veteran story's always super compelling. It pulls on your heartstrings. These are our heroes, um, of our country. Like that, that is, that is meaningful. But a lot of the veteran population is small and we need the, like a, the just.[00:57:00] Melissa Lavasani: Basic American living in middle America, um, understanding what psychedelics are so that in, in, in presenting to them the stories that they can relate to, um, because that's how you activate the public and you activate the public and you get them to see what's happening in these clinical trials, what the data's been saying, what the opportunities are with psychedelics, and then they start calling their members of Congress and saying, Hey, there is this. Melissa Lavasani: Bill sitting in Congress and why haven't you signed onto it? And that political pressure, uh, when used the right way can be really powerful. So, um, I think, you know, now we're at this really amazing moment where we have a good amount of congressional offices that are familiar enough with psychedelics that they're willing to move on it. Melissa Lavasani: Um, there's another larger group, uh, that is familiar with psychedelics and will assist and co-sponsor legislation, but there's still so many offices that we haven't been able to get to just 'cause like we don't have all the time in the world and all the manpower in the world to [00:58:00] do it. But, you know, that is one avenue is like the advocates can speak to the, the lawmakers, the experts speak to the lawmakers, and we not, we want the public engaged in this, you know, ultimately, like that's. Melissa Lavasani: Like the best form of harm reduction is having an informed public. So we are not, they're not seeing these media headlines of like, oh, this miracle cure that, um, saved my family. It's like, yes, that can happen psychedelics. I mean, person speaking personally, psychedelics did save my family. But what you miss out of that story is the incredible amount of work I put into myself and put into my mental health to this day to maintain, um, like myself, my, my own agency and like be the parent that I wanna be and be the spouse that I wanna be. Melissa Lavasani: So, um, we, we need to continue to share these stories and we need to continue to collaborate to get this message out because we're all, we're all in the same boat right now. We all want the same things. We want patients to have safe and [00:59:00] affordable access to psychedelic assisted care. Um, and, uh. We're just in the beginning here, so, um, sign up for our newsletter and we can sign up on our website and then follow us on social media. Melissa Lavasani: And, um, I anticipate more and more events, um, happening with PMC and hopefully we can scale up some of these events to be much more public facing, um, as this issue grows. So, um, I'm really excited about the future and I'm, I've been enjoying this partnership with Mission Within. Jay is such a professional and, and it really shows up when he needs to show up and, um, I look forward to more of that in the future. Joe Moore: Fantastic. And Jay, how can people follow along and support mission within Foundation? Jay Kopelman: Yeah, again, social media is gonna be a good way to do that. So we, we are also pretty heavily engaged on LinkedIn and on Instagram. Um, I do [01:00:00] share, uh, a bit of my own stuff as well. On social media. So we have social media pages for Mission within Foundation, and we have a LinkedIn page for mission within foundation. Jay Kopelman: I have my own profiles on both of those as well where people can follow along. Um, one of the other things you know that would probably help get more attention for this is if the general public was more aware of the numbers of professional athletes who are also now pursuing. I began specifically to help treat their traumatic brain injuries and the chronic traumatic encephalopathy that they've, uh, suffered as a result of their time in professional sports or even college sports. Jay Kopelman: And, you know. I people worship these athletes, and I [01:01:00] think that if more of them, like Robert Gall, were more outspoken about these treatments and the healing properties that they've provided them, that it would get even more attention. Um, I think though what Melissa said, you know, I don't wanna parrot anything she just said because she said it perfectly Right. Jay Kopelman: And I'd just be speaking to hear myself talk. Um, but being collaborative the way that we are with PMC and with Melissa is I think, the way to move the needle on this overall. And like she said, if she could get more groups involved in, in these discussions, it would, it would do wonders for us. Joe Moore: Well, thank you both so much for your hard work out there. I always appreciate it when people are showing up and doing this important, [01:02:00] sometimes boring and tedious, but nevertheless sometimes, sometimes exciting work. And um, so yeah, just thank you both and thank you both for showing up here to psychedelics today to join us and I hope we can continue to support you all in the future. Jay Kopelman: Thank you, Joe. Thank you, Joe. It's a pleasure being with you today and with Melissa, of course, always Melissa Lavasani: appreciate the time and space. Joe Moore: Thanks.  

Join 4-time Grand Slam Champion Kim Clijsters and tennis reporter Blair Henley as they break down the latest headlines, from Ben Shelton's title run in Dallas to the pressure of following up a Grand Slam win when there's barely time to celebrate. The duo dives into the behind the scenes of the Nexo Dallas Open, Victoria Mboko breaking the top 10, Karolína Muchová's tactical brilliance and coaching change, Maria Sakkari's technical adjustments, and the controversy surrounding Iga Świątek and Aryna Sabalenka's withdrawals from Dubai. Welcome to Love All! If you want to hang out with us behind the scenes follow us on all of our socials: https://www.instagram.com/loveallpodcast/ https://www.tiktok.com/@loveallpodcast https://x.com/loveallpodcast  ⏰ TIMESTAMPS:  0:00 Welcome to Love All  1:37 Kim's Achilles rehab update  3:14 The truth about Kim smashing rackets  6:03 Folding laundry as a US Open Champion  7:21 Learning hard lessons about focus at 18  10:16 Behind the scenes at the Dallas Open  14:27 The character of Ben Shelton off-court  17:45 Karolina Muchova tactical masterclass  21:03 Muchova's Belgian rehab and new coaching  23:14 Victoria Mboko breaks into the Top 10 at 19  25:38 The technical shift in Maria Sakkari's game  27:53 The controversy surrounding Dubai withdrawals  34:05 Walkovers piling up in Dubai 35:12 Destanee Aiava and the toxic side of tennis  39:40 Federer and Carillo Hall of Fame sellout  43:23 Rec Room  56:33 Closing thoughts and wrap-up Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

CyberArk founder and executive chairman Udi Mokady returns to Security Matters at a transformational moment—now as part of Palo Alto Networks, following the acquisition's close on February 11. In this far‑reaching conversation, Udi and host David Puner explore why identity has become the attack vector for modern enterprises, driven by an unprecedented surge in human, machine and AI‑powered identities that attackers increasingly exploit.Udi discusses what the combined companies' scale and capabilities mean for customers, why identity security must now operate as frontline defense rather than a management layer, and how AI agents are rapidly reshaping the threat landscape. He also reflects on CyberArk's long‑distance entrepreneurial journey, the cultural foundations that have made the company durable over 26 years, and how productive paranoia, innovation and trust continue to guide the mission forward inside Palo Alto Networks.Note: This episode was recorded in January, prior to the acquisition's close.

Imaginez apprendre que vous participez aux Olympiques seulement 48 heures avant la compétition... C'est l'histoire incroyable d'Annie Guglia, mon invitée sur le balado Isa Femme de sports, présenté par IGA.Figure influente du skateboard, Annie nous transporte dans le tourbillon de Tokyo, où elle a appris sa participation in extremis, prouvant que la résilience et le plaisir sont la clé de tout parcours.Mais au-delà de la performance, Annie est une leader engagée. Présidente de Canada Skateboard et conseillère chez Égale Action, elle travaille activement à rendre le sport plus sécuritaire, équitable et accessible pour toutes les femmes.Au menu de cette discussion inspirante :▶️ Le rêve olympique : Vivre cette expérience unique dans des circonstances hors du commun.▶️ La représentation : L'importance vitale du concept « See it, be it » à tous les niveaux.▶️ Engagement : Une fan dévouée qui voit le sport comme un puissant levier social.▶️ Ses piliers : Bâtir un environnement sportif sécuritaire, équitable et accessible.▶️ Tirs de barrage : On découvre l'univers du skate à travers le regard d'une pionnière.Si tu crois que le sport est un puissant levier de changement social, c'est un épisode que tu veux absolument regarder.Parce que, oui, le rêve sportif des jeunes filles est aussi important que celui des jeunes garçons.Aime, commente et abonne-toi pour plus d'histoires inspirantes du monde sportif.Le balado Isa, Femme de sports présenté par IGA est diffusé le jeudi à 16h30 à TVA Sports.

Welcome back to regularly scheduled podcasting! The tours have gone to South America, Transylvania, the Netherlands, Texas, and the UAE -- regional tours ftw, btw -- over the past two weeks. Karolina Muchova finally gets a big title, Mboko notches an incredible run to the Doha final, Zheng announces herself, Felix becomes king of Canada, and most importantly we're back from Mexico, caught up on sleep and armed with fresh takes. We decide to finally dip our toes in the apparently imminent Serena comeback, whatever it shall be, and how it interacts with her endorsement of GLP-1 drugs (and her family's vested interest). We've also got random takes on Bad Bunny, Brad, Puerto Vallarta, and Destanee Aiava's eye-opening retirement announcement. 0:30 Catching up with us 12:00 Shelton Does Dallas; Canada's Indoor King; the ATP's hottest final  17:05 Muchova finally gets that elusive second title. A big one! 25:30 Zheng, Sakkari, Iga's d****e b****e   36:00 Red card! 39:50 I guess we should tackle the “comeback”  50:15 Odds and ends: Jack's gateway haircut, Naomi picks on a podcast (not us, confirmed) 55:20 Destanee Aiava drops a hell of a retirement announcement

多くの「IGAヴァニア」の制作を支えていた片腕的存在が亡くなりました。

Good morning from Pharma Daily: the podcast that brings you the most important developments in the pharmaceutical and biotech world. Today, we delve into a series of significant events shaping the landscape of drug development, regulatory scrutiny, and industry advancement. As we navigate this complex terrain, we'll explore how these changes impact both companies and patients.In recent news, Moderna has encountered a substantial hurdle as the FDA declined to review its flu vaccine candidate, mRNA-1010. This decision marks a notable shift from the expedited processes witnessed during the COVID-19 pandemic, reflecting a more cautious regulatory approach under current administrative leadership. Analysts suggest this could indicate broader regulatory changes that might affect future vaccine approvals. Moderna's situation is emblematic of the challenges companies face in maintaining momentum post-pandemic, especially as their research and development spending saw a significant decrease of 31% last year due to completed respiratory trials. This reduction highlights a strategic pivot as the company reassesses its priorities amidst an evolving market landscape.Vertex Pharmaceuticals is making headlines with its ambitious revenue goals outside its established cystic fibrosis franchise. By 2026, Vertex aims to generate $500 million from non-CF medications, with recent launches like Casgevy and Journavx already showing promise by collectively bringing in $175.6 million last year. This diversification strategy is critical for mitigating risks associated with dependence on a single therapeutic area and reflects a broader industry trend towards strategic realignment. Additionally, Vertex remains under close observation within kidney disease portfolios, particularly with Povetacicept—an IgA nephropathy treatment—and the success of Journavx impacting market positions by offering chronic kidney disease patients new therapeutic options.PTC Therapeutics has faced setbacks with its FDA application withdrawal for Translarna, intended for treating nonsense mutation Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The decision came after receiving adverse feedback from the FDA, highlighting the complexities involved in gaining approval for therapies targeting intricate genetic conditions. Such hurdles underscore the high-risk nature of biotech ventures that are heavily reliant on regulatory timelines.Novartis is pushing forward with plans to seek full FDA approval for Vanrafia, its IgA nephropathy drug, despite not meeting primary kidney function goals in Phase 3 trials. This move aligns with a growing trend where companies pursue approval based on secondary endpoints or other supportive data when primary outcomes fall short. Such strategies underscore the competitive and high-stakes environment surrounding drug approval pathways.Novo Nordisk is expanding its production capabilities in Ireland to meet increasing demand for Wegovy, their obesity drug that's seen impressive sales in the U.S. This investment underscores the global potential for obesity treatments and highlights how manufacturing expansions are pivotal to supporting international market entry.In Europe, Amgen has secured approval for Uplizna in treating myasthenia gravis, adding another option to an already crowded treatment landscape but offering patients additional therapeutic choices. Meanwhile, AbbVie has launched a legal challenge against Botox's inclusion in drug pricing negotiations under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), arguing it should be excluded due to its plasma-derived nature.Ultragenyx has announced a 10% workforce reduction amid halted gene therapy plans and unsuccessful late-stage trials in brittle bone disease. These adjustments often reflect broader strategic shifts within biopharma companies as they realign focus and resources. Ultragenyx's operational challenges highlight the volatile nature of biotech ventureSupport the show

This week on WTA Weekly, we break down Karolína Muchová's stunning title run in Qatar TotalEnergies Open, as she captures the biggest trophy of her comeback and makes a major statement ahead of the Sunshine Swing. We also look ahead to the Dubai Tennis Championships, where the draw has been shaken up by high-profile withdrawals from Maria Sakkari, Aryna Sabalenka, and Iga Świątek. What does it mean for the title race — and who's ready to seize the opportunity? Plus, we spotlight rising stars Alex Eala and Iva Jovic, who are making waves with breakthrough debuts on the big stage. All that and more on this week's episode of WTA Weekly.

Get ready for a dramatic week in the desert as we break down the draw at the Dubai Tennis Championships!

IgA nephropathy remains the most common immune-mediated glomerular disease worldwide — and up to 50% of patients may progress to kidney failure within a decade.

Tresorraum der Sparkasse in Buer freigegeben, Schwerer Unfall in Scholven, Neuer Meilenstein zur IGA 2027, Event-Highlights 2026 in Gelsenkirchen

This week includes studies on promising new therapies for IgA nephropathy, evolving antithrombotic strategies after coronary stenting, and the inciting antigen in rare vaccine-related clotting syndromes. We review the urgent challenge of mucormycosis and follow the case of a young woman with headaches and hypertension. We discuss human-subjects research. Perspectives examine rural health, data interoperability, drug labels in the courts, and a pediatrician's dilemma.

Infrastructure was passé…uncool. Difficult to get dollars from Private Equity and Growth funds, and almost impossible to get a VC fund interested. Now?! Now, it's cool. Infrastructure seems to be having a Renaissance, a full on Rebirth, not just fueled by commercial interests (e.g. advent of AI), but also by industrial policy and geopolitical considerations. In this episode of Tech Deciphered, we explore what's cool in the infrastructure spaces, including mega trends in semiconductors, energy, networking & connectivity, manufacturing Navigation: Intro We're back to building things Why now: the 5 forces behind the renaissance Semiconductors: compute is the new oil Networking & connectivity: digital highways get rebuilt Energy: rebuilding the power stack (not just renewables) Manufacturing: the return of “atoms + bits” Wrap: what it means for startups, incumbents, and investors Conclusion Our co-hosts: Bertrand Schmitt, Entrepreneur in Residence at Red River West, co-founder of App Annie / Data.ai, business angel, advisor to startups and VC funds, @bschmitt Nuno Goncalves Pedro, Investor, Managing Partner, Founder at Chamaeleon, @ngpedro Our show: Tech DECIPHERED brings you the Entrepreneur and Investor views on Big Tech, VC and Start-up news, opinion pieces and research. We decipher their meaning, and add inside knowledge and context. Being nerds, we also discuss the latest gadgets and pop culture news Subscribe To Our Podcast Nuno Gonçalves Pedro Introduction Welcome to episode 73 of Tech Deciphered, Infrastructure, the Rebirth or Renaissance. Infrastructure was passé, it wasn’t cool, but all of a sudden now everyone’s talking about network, talking about compute and semiconductors, talking about logistics, talking about energy. What gives? What’s happened? It was impossible in the past to get any funds, venture capital, even, to be honest, some private equity funds or growth funds interested in some of these areas, but now all of a sudden everyone thinks it’s cool. The infrastructure seems to be having a renaissance, a full-on rebirth. In this episode, we will explore in which cool ways the infrastructure spaces are moving and what’s leading to it. We will deep dive into the forces that are leading us to this. We will deep dive into semiconductors, networking and connectivity, energy, manufacturing, and then we’ll wrap up. Bertrand, so infrastructure is cool now. Bertrand Schmitt We're back to building things Yes. I thought software was going to eat the world. I cannot believe it was then, maybe even 15 years ago, from Andreessen, that quote about software eating the world. I guess it’s an eternal balance. Sometimes you go ahead of yourself, you build a lot of software stack, and at some point, you need the hardware to run this software stack, and there is only so much the bits can do in a world of atoms. Nuno Gonçalves Pedro Obviously, we’ve gone through some of this before. I think what we’re going through right now is AI is eating the world, and because AI is eating the world, it’s driving a lot of this infrastructure building that we need. We don’t have enough energy to be consumed by all these big data centers and hyperscalers. We need to be innovative around network as well because of the consumption in terms of network bandwidth that is linked to that consumption as well. In some ways, it’s not software eating the world, AI is eating the world. Because AI is eating the world, we need to rethink everything around infrastructure and infrastructure becoming cool again. Bertrand Schmitt There is something deeper in this. It’s that the past 10, even 15 years were all about SaaS before AI. SaaS, interestingly enough, was very energy-efficient. When I say SaaS, I mean cloud computing at large. What I mean by energy-efficient is that actually cloud computing help make energy use more efficient because instead of companies having their own separate data centers in many locations, sometimes poorly run from an industrial perspective, replace their own privately run data center with data center run by the super scalers, the hyperscalers of the world. These data centers were run much better in terms of how you manage the coolings, the energy efficiency, the rack density, all of this stuff. Actually, the cloud revolution didn’t increase the use of electricity. The cloud revolution was actually a replacement from your private data center to the hyperscaler data center, which was energy efficient. That’s why we didn’t, even if we are always talking about that growth of cloud computing, we were never feeling the pinch in term of electricity. As you say, we say it all changed because with AI, it was not a simple “Replacement” of locally run infrastructure to a hyperscaler run infrastructure. It was truly adding on top of an existing infrastructure, a new computing infrastructure in a way out of nowhere. Not just any computing infrastructure, an energy infrastructure that was really, really voracious in term of energy use. Nuno Gonçalves Pedro There was one other effect. Obviously, we’ve discussed before, we are in a bubble. We won’t go too much into that today. But the previous big bubble in tech, which is in the late ’90s, there was a lot of infrastructure built. We thought the internet was going to take over back then. It didn’t take over immediately, but there was a lot of network connectivity, bandwidth built back in the day. Companies imploded because of that as well, or had to restructure and go in their chapter 11. A lot of the big telco companies had their own issues back then, etc., but a lot of infrastructure was built back then for this advent of the internet, which would then take a long time to come. In some ways, to your point, there was a lot of latent supply that was built that was around that for a while wasn’t used, but then it was. Now it’s been used, and now we need new stuff. That’s why I feel now we’re having the new moment of infrastructure, new moment of moving forward, aligned a little bit with what you just said around cloud computing and the advent of SaaS, but also around the fact that we had a lot of buildup back in the late ’90s, early ’90s, which we’re now still reaping the benefits on in today’s world. Bertrand Schmitt Yeah, that’s actually a great point because what was built in the late ’90s, there was a lot of fibre that was built. Laying out the fibre either across countries, inside countries. This fibre, interestingly enough, you could just change the computing on both sides of the fibre, the routing, the modems, and upgrade the capacity of the fibre. But the fibre was the same in between. The big investment, CapEx investment, was really lying down that fibre, but then you could really upgrade easily. Even if both ends of the fibre were either using very old infrastructure from the ’90s or were actually dark and not being put to use, step by step, it was being put to use, equipment was replaced, and step by step, you could keep using more and more of this fibre. It was a very interesting development, as you say, because it could be expanded over the years, where if we talk about GPUs, use for AI, GPUs, the interesting part is actually it’s totally the opposite. After a few years, it’s useless. Some like Google, will argue that they can depreciate over 5, 6 years, even some GPUs. But at the end of the day, the difference in perf and energy efficiency of the GPUs means that if you are energy constrained, you just want to replace the old one even as young as three-year-old. You have to look at Nvidia increasing spec, generation after generation. It’s pretty insane. It’s usually at least 3X year over year in term of performance. Nuno Gonçalves Pedro At this moment in time, it’s very clear that it’s happening. Why now: the 5 forces behind the renaissance Maybe let’s deep dive into why it’s happening now. What are the key forces around this? We’ve identified, I think, five forces that are particularly vital that lead to the world we’re in right now. One we’ve already talked about, which is AI, the demand shock and everything that’s happened because of AI. Data centers drive power demand, drive grid upgrades, drive innovative ways of getting energy, drive chips, drive networking, drive cooling, drive manufacturing, drive all the things that we’re going to talk in just a bit. One second element that we could probably highlight in terms of the forces that are behind this is obviously where we are in terms of cost curves around technology. Obviously, a lot of things are becoming much cheaper. The simulation of physical behaviours has become a lot more cheap, which in itself, this becomes almost a vicious cycle in of itself, then drives the adoption of more and more AI and stuff. But anyway, the simulation is becoming more and more accessible, so you can do a lot of simulation with digital twins and other things off the real world before you go into the real world. Robotics itself is becoming, obviously, cheaper. Hardware, a lot of the hardware is becoming cheaper. Computer has become cheaper as well. Obviously, there’s a lot of cost curves that have aligned that, and that’s maybe the second force that I would highlight. Obviously, funds are catching up. We’ll leave that a little bit to the end. We’ll do a wrap-up and talk a little bit about the implications to investors. But there’s a lot of capital out there, some capital related to industrial policy, other capital related to private initiative, private equity, growth funds, even venture capital, to be honest, and a few other elements on that. That would be a third force that I would highlight. Bertrand Schmitt Yes. Interestingly enough, in terms of capital use, and we’ll talk more about this, but some firms, if we are talking about energy investment, it was very difficult to invest if you are not investing in green energy. Now I think more and more firms and banks are willing to invest or support different type of energy infrastructure, not just, “Green energy.” That’s an interesting development because at some point it became near impossible to invest more in gas development, in oil development in the US or in most Western countries. At least in the US, this is dramatically changing the framework. Nuno Gonçalves Pedro Maybe to add the two last forces that I think we see behind the renaissance of what’s happening in infrastructure. They go hand in hand. One is the geopolitics of the world right now. Obviously, the world was global flat, and now it’s becoming increasingly siloed, so people are playing it to their own interests. There’s a lot of replication of infrastructure as well because people want to be autonomous, and they want to drive their own ability to serve end consumers, businesses, etc., in terms of data centers and everything else. That ability has led to things like, for example, chips shortage. The fact that there are semiconductors, there are shortages across the board, like memory shortages, where everything is packed up until 2027 of 2028. A lot of the memory that was being produced is already spoken for, which is shocking. There’s obviously generation of supply chain fragilities, obviously, some of it because of policies, for example, in the US with tariffs, etc, security of energy, etc. Then the last force directly linked to the geopolitics is the opposite of it, which is the policy as an accelerant, so to speak, as something that is accelerating development, where because of those silos, individual countries, as part their industrial policy, then want to put capital behind their local ecosystems, their local companies, so that their local companies and their local systems are for sure the winners, or at least, at the very least, serve their own local markets. I think that’s true of a lot of the things we’re seeing, for example, in the US with the Chips Act, for semiconductors, with IGA, IRA, and other elements of what we’ve seen in terms of practices, policies that have been implemented even in Europe, China, and other parts of the world. Bertrand Schmitt Talking about chips shortages, it’s pretty insane what has been happening with memory. Just the past few weeks, I have seen a close to 3X increase in price in memory prices in a matter of weeks. Apparently, it started with a huge order from OpenAI. Apparently, they have tried to corner the memory market. Interestingly enough, it has flat-footed the entire industry, and that includes Google, that includes Microsoft. There are rumours of their teams now having moved to South Korea, so they are closer to the action in terms of memory factories and memory decision-making. There are rumours of execs who got fired because they didn’t prepare for this type of eventuality or didn’t lock in some of the supply chain because that memory was initially for AI, but obviously, it impacts everything because factories making memories, you have to plan years in advance to build memories. You cannot open new lines of manufacturing like this. All factories that are going to open, we know when they are going to open because they’ve been built up for years. There is no extra capacity suddenly. At the very best, you can change a bit your line of production from one type of memory to another type. But that’s probably about it. Nuno Gonçalves Pedro Just to be clear, all these transformations we’re seeing isn’t to say just hardware is back, right? It’s not just hardware. There’s physicality. The buildings are coming back, right? It’s full stack. Software is here. That’s why everything is happening. Policy is here. Finance is here. It’s a little bit like the name of the movie, right? Everything everywhere all at once. Everything’s happening. It was in some ways driven by the upper stacks, by the app layers, by the platform layers. But now we need new infrastructure. We need more infrastructure. We need it very, very quickly. We need it today. We’re already lacking in it. Semiconductors: compute is the new oil Maybe that’s a good segue into the first piece of the whole infrastructure thing that’s driving now the most valuable company in the world, NVIDIA, which is semiconductors. Semiconductors are driving compute. Semis are the foundation of infrastructure as a compute. Everyone needs it for every thing, for every activity, not just for compute, but even for sensors, for actuators, everything else. That’s the beginning of it all. Semiconductor is one of the key pieces around the infrastructure stack that’s being built at scale at this moment in time. Bertrand Schmitt Yes. What’s interesting is that if we look at the market gap of Semis versus software as a service, cloud companies, there has been a widening gap the past year. I forgot the exact numbers, but we were talking about plus 20, 25% for Semis in term of market gap and minus 5, minus 10 for SaaS companies. That’s another trend that’s happening. Why is this happening? One, because semiconductors are core to the AI build-up, you cannot go around without them. But two, it’s also raising a lot of questions about the durability of the SaaS, a software-as-a-service business model. Because if suddenly we have better AI, and that’s all everyone is talking about to justify the investment in AI, that it keeps getting better, and it keeps improving, and it’s going to replace your engineers, your software engineers. Then maybe all of this moat that software companies built up over the years or decades, sometimes, might unravel under the pressure of newly coded, newly built, cheaper alternatives built from the ground up with AI support. It’s not just that, yes, semiconductors are doing great. It’s also as a result of that AI underlying trend that software is doing worse right now. Nuno Gonçalves Pedro At the end of the day, this foundational piece of infrastructure, semiconductor, is obviously getting manifest to many things, fabrication, manufacturing, packaging, materials, equipment. Everything’s being driven, ASML, etc. There are all these different players around the world that are having skyrocket valuations now, it’s because they’re all part of the value chain. Just to be very, very clear, there’s two elements of this that I think are very important for us to remember at this point in time. One, it’s the entire value chains are being shifted. It’s not just the chips that basically lead to computing in the strict sense of it. It’s like chips, for example, that drive, for example, network switching. We’re going to talk about networking a bit, but you need chips to drive better network switching. That’s getting revolutionised as well. For example, we have an investment in that space, a company called the eridu.ai, and they’re revolutionising one of the pieces around that stack. Second part of the puzzle, so obviously, besides the holistic view of the world that’s changing in terms of value change, the second piece of the puzzle is, as we discussed before, there’s industrial policy. We already mentioned the CHIPS Act, which is something, for example, that has been done in the US, which I think is 52 billion in incentives across a variety of things, grants, loans, and other mechanisms to incentivise players to scale capacity quick and to scale capacity locally in the US. One of the effects of that now is obviously we had the TSMC, US expansion with a factory here in the US. We have other levels of expansion going on with Intel, Samsung, and others that are happening as we speak. Again, it’s this two by two. It’s market forces that drive the need for fundamental shifts in the value chain. On the other industrial policy and actual money put forward by states, by governments, by entities that want to revolutionise their own local markets. Bertrand Schmitt Yes. When you talk about networking, it makes me think about what NVIDIA did more than six years ago when they acquired Mellanox. At the time, it was largest acquisition for NVIDIA in 2019, and it was networking for the data center. Not networking across data center, but inside the data center, and basically making sure that your GPUs, the different computers, can talk as fast as possible between each of them. I think that’s one piece of the puzzle that a lot of companies are missing, by the way, about NVIDIA is that they are truly providing full systems. They are not just providing a GPU. Some of their competitors are just providing GPUs. But NVIDIA can provide you the full rack. Now, they move to liquid-cool computing as well. They design their systems with liquid cooling in mind. They have a very different approach in the industry. It’s a systematic system-level approach to how do you optimize your data center. Quite frankly, that’s a bit hard to beat. Nuno Gonçalves Pedro For those listening, you’d be like, this is all very different. Semiconductors, networking, energy, manufacturing, this is all different. Then all of a sudden, as Bertrand is saying, well, there are some players that are acting across the stack. Then you see in the same sentence, you’re talking about nuclear power in Microsoft or nuclear power in Google, and you’re like, what happened? Why are these guys in the same sentence? It’s like they’re tech companies. Why are they talking about energy? It’s the nature of that. These ecosystems need to go hand in hand. The value chains are very deep. For you to actually reap the benefits of more and more, for example, semiconductor availability, you have to have better and better networking connectivity, and you have to have more and more energy at lower and lower costs, and all of that. All these things are intrinsically linked. That’s why you see all these big tech companies working across stack, NVIDIA being a great example of that in trying to create truly a systems approach to the world, as Bertrand was mentioning. Networking & connectivity: digital highways get rebuilt On the networking and connectivity side, as we said, we had a lot of fibre that was put down, etc, but there’s still more build-out needs to be done. 5G in terms of its densification is still happening. We’re now starting to talk, obviously, about 6G. I’m not sure most telcos are very happy about that because they just have been doing all this CapEx and all this deployment into 5G, and now people already started talking about 6G and what’s next. Obviously, data center interconnect is quite important, and all the hubbing that needs to happen around data centers is very, very important. We are seeing a lot movements around connectivity that are particularly important. Network gear and the emergence of players like Broadcom in terms of the semiconductor side of the fence, obviously, Cisco, Juniper, Arista, and others that are very much present in this space. As I said, we made an investment on the semiconductor side of networking as well, realizing that there’s still a lot of bottlenecks happening there. But obviously, the networking and connectivity stack still needs to be built at all levels within the data centers, outside of the data centers in terms of last mile, across the board in terms of fibre. We’re seeing a lot of movements still around the space. It’s what connects everything. At the end of the day, if there’s too much latency in these systems, if the bandwidths are not high enough, then we’re going to have huge bottlenecks that are going to be put at the table by a networking providers. Obviously, that doesn’t help anyone. If there’s a button like anywhere, it doesn’t work. All of this doesn’t work. Bertrand Schmitt Yes. Interestingly enough, I know we said for this episode, we not talk too much about space, but when you talk about 6G, it make me think about, of course, Starlink. That’s really your last mile delivery that’s being built as well. It’s a massive investment. We’re talking about thousands of satellites that are interconnected between each other through laser system. This is changing dramatically how companies can operate, how individuals can operate. For companies, you can have great connectivity from anywhere in the world. For military, it’s the same. For individuals, suddenly, you won’t have dead space, wide zones. This is also a part of changing how we could do things. It’s quite important even in the development of AI because, yes, you can have AI at the edge, but that interconnect to the rest of the system is quite critical. Having that availability of a network link, high-quality network link from anywhere is a great combo. Nuno Gonçalves Pedro Then you start seeing regions of the world that want to differentiate to attract digital nomads by saying, “We have submarine cables that come and hub through us, and therefore, our connectivity is amazing.” I was just in Madeira, and they were talking about that in Portugal. One of the islands of Portugal. We have some Marine cables. You have great connectivity. We’re getting into that discussion where people are like, I don’t care. I mean, I don’t know. I assume I have decent connectivity. People actually care about decent connectivity. This discussion is not just happening at corporate level, at enterprise level? Etc. Even consumers, even people that want to work remotely or be based somewhere else in the world. It’s like, This is important Where is there a great connectivity for me so that I can have access to the services I need? Etc. Everyone becomes aware of everything. We had a cloud flare mishap more recently that the CEO had to jump online and explain deeply, technically and deeply, what happened. Because we’re in their heads. If Cloudflare goes down, there’s a lot of websites that don’t work. All of this, I think, is now becoming du jour rather than just an afterthought. Maybe we’ll think about that in the future. Bertrand Schmitt Totally. I think your life is being changed for network connectivity, so life of individuals, companies. I mean, everything. Look at airlines and ships and cruise ships. Now is the advent of satellite connectivity. It’s dramatically changing our experience. Nuno Gonçalves Pedro Indeed. Energy: rebuilding the power stack (not just renewables) Moving maybe to energy. We’ve talked about energy quite a bit in the past. Maybe we start with the one that we didn’t talk as much, although we did mention it, which was, let’s call it the fossil infrastructure, what’s happening around there. Everyone was saying, it’s all going to be renewables and green. We’ve had a shift of power, geopolitics. Honestly, I the writing was on the wall that we needed a lot more energy creation. It wasn’t either or. We needed other sources to be as efficient as possible. Obviously, we see a lot of work happening around there that many would have thought, Well, all this infrastructure doesn’t matter anymore. Now we’re seeing LNG terminals, pipelines, petrochemical capacity being pushed up, a lot of stuff happening around markets in terms of export, and not only around export, but also around overall distribution and increases and improvements so that there’s less leakage, distribution of energy, etc. In some ways, people say, it’s controversial, but it’s like we don’t have enough energy to spare. We’re already behind, so we need as much as we can. We need to figure out the way to really extract as much as we can from even natural resources, which In many people’s mind, it’s almost like blasphemous to talk about, but it is where we are. Obviously, there’s a lot of renaissance also happening on the fossil infrastructure basis, so to speak. Bertrand Schmitt Personally, I’m ecstatic that there is a renaissance going regarding what is called fossil infrastructure. Oil and gas, it’s critical to humanity well-being. You never had growth of countries without energy growth and nothing else can come close. Nuclear could come close, but it takes decades to deploy. I think it’s great. It’s great for developed economies so that they do better, they can expand faster. It’s great for third-world countries who have no realistic other choice. I really don’t know what happened the past 10, 15 years and why this was suddenly blasphemous. But I’m glad that, strangely, thanks to AI, we are back to a more rational mindset about energy and making sure we get efficient energy where we can. Obviously, nuclear is getting a second act. Nuno Gonçalves Pedro I know you would be. We’ve been talking about for a long time, and you’ve been talking about it in particular for a very long time. Bertrand Schmitt Yes, definitely. It’s been one area of interest of mine for 25 years. I don’t know. I’ve been shocked about what happened in Europe, that willingness destruction of energy infrastructure, especially in Germany. Just a few months ago, they keep destroying on live TV some nuclear station in perfect working condition and replacing them with coal. I’m not sure there is a better definition of insanity at this stage. It looks like it’s only the Germans going that hardcore for some reason, but at least the French have stopped their program of decommissioning. America, it seems to be doing the same, so it’s great. On top of it, there are new generations that could be put to use. The Chinese are building up a very large nuclear reactor program, more than 100 reactors in construction for the next 10 years. I think everybody has to catch up because at some point, this is the most efficient energy solution. Especially if you don’t build crazy constraints around the construction of these nuclear reactors. If we are rational about permits, about energy, about safety, there are great things we could be doing with nuclear. That might be one of the only solution if we want to be competitive, because when energy prices go down like crazy, like in China, they will do once they have reach delivery of their significant build-up of nuclear reactors, we better be ready to have similar options from a cost perspective. Nuno Gonçalves Pedro From the outside, at the very least, nuclear seems to be probably in the energy one of the areas that’s more being innovated at this moment in time. You have startups in the space, you have a lot really money going into it, not just your classic industrial development. That’s very exciting. Moving maybe to the carbonization and what’s happening. The CCUS, and for those who don’t know what it is, carbon capture, utilization, and storage. There’s a lot of stuff happening around that space. That’s the area that deals with the ability to capture CO₂ emissions from industrial sources and/or the atmosphere and preventing their release. There’s a lot of things happening in that space. There’s also a lot of things happening around hydrogen and geothermal and really creating the ability to storage or to store, rather, energy that then can be put back into the grids at the right time. There’s a lot of interesting pieces happening around this. There’s some startup movement in the space. It’s been a long time coming, the reuse of a lot of these industrial sources. Not sure it’s as much on the news as nuclear, and oil and gas, but certainly there’s a lot of exciting things happening there. Bertrand Schmitt I’m a bit more dubious here, but I think geothermal makes sense if it’s available at reasonable price. I don’t think hydrogen technology has proven its value. Concerning carbon capture, I’m not sure how much it’s really going to provide in terms of energy needs, but why not? Nuno Gonçalves Pedro Fuels niche, again, from the outside, we’re not energy experts, but certainly, there are movements in the space. We’ll see what’s happening. One area where there’s definitely a lot of movement is this notion of grid and storage. On the one hand, that transmission needs to be built out. It needs to be better. We’ve had issues of blackouts in the US. We’ve had issues of blackouts all around the world, almost. Portugal as well, for a significant part of the time. The ability to work around transmission lines, transformers, substations, the modernization of some of this infrastructure, and the move forward of it is pretty critical. But at the other end, there’s the edge. Then, on the edge, you have the ability to store. We should have, better mechanisms to store energy that are less leaky in terms of energy storage. Obviously, there’s a lot of movement around that. Some of it driven just by commercial stuff, like Tesla a lot with their storage stuff, etc. Some of it really driven at scale by energy players that have the interest that, for example, some of the storage starts happening closer to the consumption as well. But there’s a lot of exciting things happening in that space, and that is a transformative space. In some ways, the bottleneck of energy is also around transmission and then ultimately the access to energy by homes, by businesses, by industries, etc. Bertrand Schmitt I would say some of the blackout are truly man-made. If I pick on California, for instance. That’s the logical conclusion of the regulatory system in place in California. On one side, you limit price that energy supplier can sell. The utility company can sell, too. On the other side, you force them to decommission the most energy-efficient and least expensive energy source. That means you cap the revenues, you make the cost increase. What is the result? The result is you cannot invest anymore to support a grid and to support transmission. That’s 100% obvious. That’s what happened, at least in many places. The solution is stop crazy regulations that makes no economic sense whatsoever. Then, strangely enough, you can invest again in transmission, in maintenance, and all I love this stuff. Maybe another piece, if we pick in California, if you authorize building construction in areas where fires are easy, that’s also a very costly to support from utility perspective, because then you are creating more risk. You are forced buy the state to connect these new constructions to the grid. You have more maintenance. If it fails, you can create fire. If you create fire, you have to pay billions of fees. I just want to highlight that some of this is not a technological issue, is not per se an investment issue, but it’s simply the result of very bad regulations. I hope that some will learn, and some change will be made so that utilities can do their job better. Nuno Gonçalves Pedro Then last, but not the least, on the energy side, energy is becoming more and more digitally defined in some ways. It’s like the analogy to networks that they’ve become more, and more software defined, where you have, at the edge is things like smart meters. There’s a lot of things you can do around the key elements of the business model, like dynamic pricing and other elements. Demand response, one of the areas that I invested in, I invest in a company called Omconnect that’s now merged with what used to be Google Nest. Where to deploy that ability to do demand response and also pass it to consumers so that consumers can reduce their consumption at times where is the least price effective or the less green or the less good for the energy companies to produce energy. We have other things that are happening, which are interesting. Obviously, we have a lot more electric vehicles in cars, etc. These are also elements of storage. They don’t look like elements of storage, but the car has electricity in it once you charge it. Once it’s charged, what do you do with it? Could you do something else? Like the whole reverse charging piece that we also see now today in mobile devices and other edge devices, so to speak. That also changes the architecture of what we’re seeing around the space. With AI, there’s a lot of elements that change around the value chain. The ability to do forecasting, the ability to have, for example, virtual power plans because of just designated storage out there, etc. Interesting times happening. Not sure all utilities around the world, all energy providers around the world are innovating at the same pace and in the same way. But certainly just looking at the industry and talking to a lot of players that are CEOs of some of these companies. That are leading innovation for some of these companies, there’s definitely a lot more happening now in the last few years than maybe over the last few decades. Very exciting times. Bertrand Schmitt I think there are two interesting points in what you say. Talking about EVs, for instance, a Cybertruck is able to send electricity back to your home if your home is able to receive electricity from that source. Usually, you have some changes to make to the meter system, to your panel. That’s one great way to potentially use your car battery. Another piece of the puzzle is that, strangely enough, most strangely enough, there has been a big push to EV, but at the same time, there has not been a push to provide more electricity. But if you replace cars that use gasoline by electric vehicles that use electricity, you need to deliver more electricity. It doesn’t require a PhD to get that. But, strangely enough, nothing was done. Nuno Gonçalves Pedro Apparently, it does. Bertrand Schmitt I remember that study in France where they say that, if people were all to switch to EV, we will need 10 more nuclear reactors just on the way from Paris to Nice to the Côte d’Azur, the French Rivière, in order to provide electricity to the cars going there during the summer vacation. But I mean, guess what? No nuclear plant is being built along the way. Good luck charging your vehicles. I think that’s another limit that has been happening to the grid is more electric vehicles that require charging when the related infrastructure has not been upgraded to support more. Actually, it has quite the opposite. In many cases, we had situation of nuclear reactors closing down, so other facilities closing down. Obviously, the end result is an increase in price of electricity, at least in some states and countries that have not sold that fully out. Nuno Gonçalves Pedro Manufacturing: the return of “atoms + bits” Moving to manufacturing and what’s happening around manufacturing, manufacturing technology. There’s maybe the case to be made that manufacturing is getting replatformed, right? It’s getting redefined. Some of it is very obvious, and it’s already been ongoing for a couple of decades, which is the advent of and more and more either robotic augmented factories or just fully roboticized factories, where there’s very little presence of human beings. There’s elements of that. There’s the element of software definition on top of it, like simulation. A lot of automation is going on. A lot of AI has been applied to some lines in terms of vision, safety. We have an investment in a company called Sauter Analytics that is very focused on that from the perspective of employees and when they’re still humans in the loop, so to speak, and the ability to really figure out when people are at risk and other elements of what’s happening occurring from that. But there’s more than that. There’s a little bit of a renaissance in and of itself. Factories are, initially, if we go back a couple of decades ago, factories were, and manufacturing was very much defined from the setup. Now it’s difficult to innovate, it’s difficult to shift the line, it’s difficult to change how things are done in the line. With the advent of new factories that have less legacy, that have more flexible systems, not only in terms of software, but also in terms of hardware and robotics, it allows us to, for example, change and shift lines much more easily to different functions, which will hopefully, over time, not only reduce dramatically the cost of production. But also increase dramatically the yield, it increases dramatically the production itself. A lot of cool stuff happening in that space. Bertrand Schmitt It’s exciting to see that. One thing this current administration in the US has been betting on is not just hoping for construction renaissance. Especially on the factory side, up of factories, but their mindset was two things. One, should I force more companies to build locally because it would be cheaper? Two, increase output and supply of energy so that running factories here in the US would be cheaper than anywhere else. Maybe not cheaper than China, but certainly we get is cheaper than Europe. But three, it’s also the belief that thanks to AI, we will be able to have more efficient factories. There is always that question, do Americans to still keep making clothes, for instance, in factories. That used to be the case maybe 50 years ago, but this move to China, this move to Bangladesh, this move to different places. That’s not the goal. But it can make sense that indeed there is ability, thanks to robots and AI, to have more automated factories, and these factories could be run more efficiently, and as a result, it would be priced-competitive, even if run in the US. When you want to think about it, that has been, for instance, the South Korean playbook. More automated factories, robotics, all of this, because that was the only way to compete against China, which has a near infinite or used to have a near infinite supply of cheaper labour. I think that all of this combined can make a lot of sense. In a way, it’s probably creating a perfect storm. Maybe another piece of the puzzle this administration has been working on pretty hard is simplifying all the permitting process. Because a big chunk of the problem is that if your permitting is very complex, very expensive, what take two years to build become four years, five years, 10 years. The investment mass is not the same in that situation. I think that’s a very important part of the puzzle. It’s use this opportunity to reduce regulatory state, make sure that things are more efficient. Also, things are less at risk of bribery and fraud because all these regulations, there might be ways around. I think it’s quite critical to really be careful about this. Maybe last piece of the puzzle is the way accounting works. There are new rules now in 2026 in the US where you can fully depreciate your CapEx much faster than before. That’s a big win for manufacturing in the US. Suddenly, you can depreciate much faster some of your CapEx investment in manufacturing. Nuno Gonçalves Pedro Just going back to a point you made and then moving it forward, even China, with being now probably the country in the world with the highest rate of innovation and take up of industrial robots. Because of demographic issues a little bit what led Japan the first place to be one of the real big innovators around robots in general. The fact that demographics, you’re having an aging population, less and less children. How are you going to replace all these people? Moving that into big winners, who becomes a big winner in a space where manufacturing is fundamentally changing? Obviously, there’s the big four of robots, which is ABB, FANUC, KUKA, and Yaskawa. Epson, I think, is now in there, although it’s not considered one of the big four. Kawasaki, Denso, Universal Robots. There’s a really big robotics, industrial robotic companies in the space from different origins, FANUC and Yaskawa, and Epson from Japan, KUKA from Germany, ABB from Switzerland, Sweden. A lot of now emerging companies from China, and what’s happening in that space is quite interesting. On the other hand, also, other winners will include players that will be integrators that will build some of the rest of the infrastructure that goes into manufacturing, the Siemens of the world, the Schneider’s, the Rockwell’s that will lead to fundamental industrial automation. Some big winners in there that whose names are well known, so probably not a huge amount of surprises there. There’s movements. As I said, we’re still going to see the big Chinese players emerging in the world. There are startups that are innovating around a lot of the edges that are significant in this space. We’ll see if this is a space that will just be continued to be dominated by the big foreign robotics and by a couple of others and by the big integrators or not. Bertrand Schmitt I think you are right to remind about China because China has been moving very fast in robotics. Some Chinese companies are world-class in their use of robotics. You have this strange mix of some older industries where robotics might not be so much put to use and typically state-owned, versus some private companies, typically some tech companies that are reconverting into hardware in some situation. That went all in terms of robotics use and their demonstrations, an example of what’s happening in China. Definitely, the Chinese are not resting. Everyone smart enough is playing that game from the Americans, the Chinese, Japanese, the South Koreans. Nuno Gonçalves Pedro Exciting things are manufacturing, and maybe to bring it all together, what does it mean for all the big players out there? If we talk with startups and talk about startups, we didn’t mention a ton of startups today, right? Maybe incumbent wind across the board. But on a more serious note, we did mention a few. For example, in nuclear energy, there’s a lot of startups that have been, some of them, incredibly well-funded at this moment in time. Wrap: what it means for startups, incumbents, and investors There might be some big disruptions that will come out of startups, for example, in that space. On the chipset side, we talked about the big gorillas, the NVIDIAs, AMDs, Intel, etc., of the world. But we didn’t quite talk about the fact that there’s a lot of innovation, again, happening on the edges with new players going after very large niches, be it in networking and switching. Be it in compute and other areas that will need different, more specialized solutions. Potentially in terms of compute or in terms of semiconductor deployments. I think there’s still some opportunities there, maybe not to be the winner takes all thing, but certainly around a lot of very significant niches that might grow very fast. Manufacturing, we mentioned the same. Some of the incumbents seem to be in the driving seat. We’ll see what happens if some startups will come in and take some of the momentum there, probably less likely. There are spaces where the value chains are very tightly built around the OEMs and then the suppliers overall, classically the tier one suppliers across value chains. Maybe there is some startup investment play. We certainly have played in the couple of the spaces. I mentioned already some of them today, but this is maybe where the incumbents have it all to lose. It’s more for them to lose rather than for the startups to win just because of the scale of what needs to be done and what needs to be deployed. Bertrand Schmitt I know. That’s interesting point. I think some players in energy production, for instance, are moving very fast and behaving not only like startups. Usually, it’s independent energy suppliers who are not kept by too much regulations that get moved faster. Utility companies, as we just discussed, have more constraints. I would like to say that if you take semiconductor space, there has been quite a lot of startup activities way more than usual, and there have been some incredible success. Just a few weeks ago, Rock got more or less acquired. Now, you have to play games. It’s not an outright acquisition, but $20 billion for an IP licensing agreement that’s close to an acquisition. That’s an incredible success for a company. Started maybe 10 years ago. You have another Cerebras, one of the competitor valued, I believe, quite a lot in similar range. I think there is definitely some activity. It’s definitely a different game compared to your software startup in terms of investment. But as we have seen with AI in general, the need for investment might be larger these days. Yes, it might be either traditional players if they can move fast enough, to be frank, because some of them, when you have decades of being run as a slow-moving company, it’s hard to change things. At the same time, it looks like VCs are getting bigger. Wall Street is getting more ready to finance some of these companies. I think there will be opportunities for startups, but definitely different types of startups in terms of profile. Nuno Gonçalves Pedro Exactly. From an investor standpoint, I think on the VC side, at least our core belief is that it’s more niche. It’s more around big niches that need to be fundamentally disrupted or solutions that require fundamental interoperability and integration where the incumbents have no motivation to do it. Things that are a little bit more either packaging on the semiconductor side or other elements of actual interoperability. Even at the software layer side that feeds into infrastructure. If you’re a growth investor, a private equity investor, there’s other plays that are available to you. A lot of these projects need to be funded and need to be scaled. Now we’re seeing projects being funded even for a very large, we mentioned it in one of the previous episodes, for a very large tech companies. When Meta, for example, is going to the market to get funding for data centers, etc. There’s projects to be funded there because just the quantum and scale of some of these projects, either because of financial interest for specifically the tech companies or for other reasons, but they need to be funded by the market. There’s other place right now, certainly if you’re a larger private equity growth investor, and you want to come into the market and do projects. Even public-private financing is now available for a lot of things. Definitely, there’s a lot of things emanating that require a lot of funding, even for large-scale projects. Which means the advent of some of these projects and where realization is hopefully more of a given than in other circumstances, because there’s actual commercial capital behind it and private capital behind it to fuel it as well, not just industrial policy and money from governments. Bertrand Schmitt There was this quite incredible stat. I guess everyone heard about that incredible growth in GDP in Q3 in the US at 4.4%. Apparently, half of that growth, so around 2.2% point, has been coming from AI and related infrastructure investment. That’s pretty massive. Half of your GDP growth coming from something that was not there three years ago or there, but not at this intensity of investment. That’s the numbers we are talking about. I’m hearing that there is a good chance that in 2026, we’re talking about five, even potentially 6% GDP growth. Again, half of it potentially coming from AI and all the related infrastructure growth that’s coming with AI. As a conclusion for this episode on infrastructure, as we just said, it’s not just AI, it’s a whole stack, and it’s manufacturing in general as well. Definitely in the US, in China, there is a lot going on. As we have seen, computing needs connectivity, networks, need power, energy and grid, and all of this needs production capacity and manufacturing. Manufacturing can benefit from AI as well. That way the loop is fully going back on itself. Infrastructure is the next big thing. It’s an opportunity, probably more for incumbents, but certainly, as usual, with such big growth opportunities for startups as well. Thank you, Nuno. Nuno Gonçalves Pedro Thank you, Bertrand.

In this milestone episode of Identity at the Center, Jeff and Jim celebrate 400 episodes and reflect on their journey over the past six and a half years. They discuss the podcast's evolution, from its early days focusing on strategy and framework to recent themes like cloud identity, governance, and AI-driven technologies. Jim shares his New Year's resolution of writing a book about identity, blending practitioner stories with educational elements, and utilizing AI tools. The duo also highlights significant trends in identity and access management, including frictionless authentication and privilege access management. They look forward to the future of identity within an AI-driven landscape, urging listeners to adapt to technological advancements. Tune in for insights, reflections, and their plans for continuing to grow the podcast.Connect with us on LinkedIn:Jim McDonald: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmcdonaldpmp/Jeff Steadman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffsteadman/Visit the show on the web at http://idacpodcast.comTimestamps00:00 Welcome and Milestone Celebration00:44 Reflecting on the Podcast Journey01:27 Jim's New Year's Resolution: Writing a Book05:16 Using AI in the Writing Process09:34 Podcast Growth and Listener Support13:08 Remembering Luis Almeida16:59 Conference Highlights and Discount Codes19:05 Lessons Learned from Podcasting29:01 The Evolution of the Podcast36:01 Pandemic Disruptions and Podcast Challenges36:30 Funny Moments and Swearing on the Show37:24 Identity Management Trends in 202039:20 Cloud Identity and Certifications in 202141:54 Governance and Compliance in 202244:23 Security Convergence and Milestones in 202351:07 Privilege Access Management in 202455:15 Frictionless Authentication in 202558:20 AI and the Future of Identity in 202601:09:00 Reflections and GratitudeKeywords:IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald, IAM, podcast, cybersecurity, digital identity, AI, agentic identity, PAM, IGA, cloud security, passkeys, professional development, IDPro, identity governance

As featured in Food & Beverage Magazine (www.fbmagazine.com), the culinary and hospitality landscape of 2026 is defined by high-profile partnerships, regional revitalizations, and shifting consumer preferences in the beverage sector.Major industry events continue to drive engagement, such as the South Beach Wine & Food Festival (SOBEWFF) 2026, which remains a primary draw for food enthusiasts. In the corporate sphere, McCain Foods has secured a prominent role as the official french fry partner for Team Canada, while the Georgia Restaurant Association has established its leadership for the year by unveiling its 2026 Board of Directors. Innovation is also taking center stage at the NGA Show in Las Vegas, where the industry celebrated IGA's 100th anniversary alongside new retail inspirations.Significant infrastructure and tourism developments are reshaping key destinations. Myrtle Beach is undergoing a "coastal glow-up" featuring new attractions and contributions from Guy Fieri, while San Juan, Puerto Rico, is seeing a massive $850 million investment with the arrival of a new Hard Rock property. On the high seas, Atlas Ocean Voyages is elevating luxury travel by unveiling a curated celebrity chef lineup for its 2026 itineraries.The beverage industry is witnessing a "potency arms race" in the THC drink market, where 2.5mg has emerged as the preferred "sweet spot" for consumers seeking controlled experiences. Traditional beverage sectors are also evolving; Coca-Cola has expanded its portfolio with new Cherry Float and Diet Coke Cherry variants, and the wine trade is adapting to the new i2a framework introduced at ProWein Düsseldorf. Furthermore, the inaugural Kentucky Bourbon Country Auction in Louisville and the cultural intersection of craft beer and rock music demonstrate the ongoing diversification of craft spirits and brews.Whether it is the fusion of NBA All-Star Weekend and Valentine's romance in Beverly Hills or Mardi Gras-inspired recipes from New Orleans chefs, the industry remains vibrant and multifaceted, as documented by Food & Beverage Magazine (www.fbmagazine.com).

Nigel Seeley and Tim Dennis preview the 1000-level WTA Doha event with top players like Iga Świątek and Amanda Anisimova vying for victory. The betting experts discuss weather conditions affecting gameplay and make predictions on outright winner markets. 00:00 Nigel's Trip To Montpellier 01:30 WTA Doha Preview 09:20 WTA Doha Winner Market 16:45 Paula Badosa v Jelena Ostapenko 21:35 Round 1 matches

Matters Microbial #123: What Whooping Cough Can Teach Us February 6, 2026 Today Dr. Seema Mattoo, Associate Professor of Biological Sciences at Purdue University, joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss the fascinating molecular genetics of the bacterium Bordetella pertussis, which can cause the human disease whooping cough. Host: Mark O. Martin Guest: Seema Mattoo Subscribe: Apple Podcasts, Spotify Become a patron of Matters Microbial! Links for this episode Here is a link to Tiffany Ard's fine science related art. CDC information regarding Whooping Cough also called pertussis. An overview of the causative agent of whooping cough, Bordetella pertussis. A video about pertussis and its symptoms and treatment. More detail about B. pertussis and close relatives. Recent outbreaks of pertussis. An overview of vaccine development and its history for B. pertussis. An article about vaccine hesitancy and the return of childhood diseases like pertussis. Information on "whole cell" versus "acellular" vaccines. An article discussed today, demonstrating that the same molecule (a fragment of bacterial cell wall peptidoglycan) can be a factor for disease in humans, and facilitate symbiotic light organ development in the Hawai'ian Bobtail Squid More information of B. pertussis' trachael cytotoxin, or TCT.  An overview of bacterial effectors interacting with our physiology in general. The concept of virulence factors. IgA versus IgG responses to infections. An overview of Type III Secretion Systems. An overview of sigma factors in bacteria. ECFs as  sigma factors. Partner-switching studies. Fic genes. An overview of post translational modification. An essay on Theodosius Dobzhansky and his famous maxim. Protein misfolding and disease. The role of mentorship in science. The Hypothesis Fund and its aims. An article by Dr. Mattoo and colleagues discussed today about partner switching and Type III Secretion Systems. An article by Dr. Mattoo and colleagues discussed today about Fic proteins and adenylation. An article by Dr. Mattoo and colleagues discussed today about Fic proteins, post translational modification, and Parkinson's Disease. An article by Dr. Mattoo and colleagues discussed today about AMPylation, Fic proteins, and sensing misfolding in the endoplasmic reticulum. Dr. Mattoo's faculty website. The fascinating laboratory website of Dr. Mattoo and colleagues. Intro music is by Reber Clark Send your questions and comments to mattersmicrobial@gmail.com

Olympiques. Super Bowl. Évangéline hier. La folie chez IGA. Vers une fin de semaine assez fraîche! Tour de table entre Isabelle Perron, Alexandre Dubé et Mario Dumont. Regardez aussi cette discussion en vidéo via https://www.qub.ca/videos ou en vous abonnant à QUB télé : https://www.tvaplus.ca/qub ou sur la chaîne YouTube QUB https://www.youtube.com/@qub_radioPour de l'information concernant l'utilisation de vos données personnelles - https://omnystudio.com/policies/listener/fr

Jim McDonald is joined by Jeff Margolies, Chief Product and Strategy Officer at Saviynt, to discuss the intersection of artificial intelligence and identity security. Jeff shares his decades of experience in the industry, from building the IAM practice at Accenture to his current leadership role at Saviynt. The conversation covers how AI is making manually intensive identity tasks more efficient, the emergence of Identity Security Posture Management (ISPM), and the critical need to govern identities for AI agents. Jeff also provides his perspective on the future of the identity practitioner and why he remains an optimist in a rapidly changing technological landscape.Connect with Jeff Margolies on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jmargolies/Connect with us on LinkedIn:Jim McDonald: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmcdonaldpmp/Jeff Steadman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffsteadman/Visit the show on the web at http://idacpodcast.comTimestamps:00:00:00 - Introduction and Gartner Identity Conference Recap00:02:11 - Jeff Margolies' Career Journey in Identity and Security00:04:36 - Returning to Identity and Joining Saviynt00:06:13 - How AI is Impacting Identity Security and Governance00:09:56 - The Future of Identity Services in an AI World00:13:58 - Will AI Disrupt the SaaS Model for Identity?00:19:50 - The Impact of AI on the Identity Practitioner Job Market00:26:16 - Identity for AI: Governing Agents and Delegated Authority00:32:00 - Combating Deepfakes and Proving What is Real00:34:40 - The Rise of Identity Security Posture Management (ISPM)00:41:46 - Comparing Posture Management and ITDR00:44:17 - Advice for CISOs: Why Posture Should Come First00:49:35 - The Secret to Saviynt's Success and Future Outlook00:52:19 - Lighter Note: Why Jeff Chose a Tesla for His DaughterKeywords:IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald, Jeff Margolies, Saviynt, IAM, Identity and Access Management, AI, Artificial Intelligence, ISPM, ITDR, Cybersecurity, Identity Governance, SaaS, IGA

Send us a textA surprising number of security leaders admit they're flying blind on hardware and firmware. We start by exposing how shared BIOS passwords, slow maintenance cycles, and careless e‑waste practices create avoidable risk, then lay out the fixes: privileged vaulting, disciplined asset disposition, and practical ways to repurpose gear without leaking data. That real-world foundation sets the stage for a focused tour through CISSP Domain 5—Identity and Access Management—built for practitioners who want clarity over jargon.We break down least privilege in plain terms and show how to reduce the initial friction with cleanly defined roles and entitlement catalogs. From there, we compare RBAC and ABAC: when baseline roles are enough, and when context-aware attributes like device, location, and data sensitivity should drive policy. Authentication gets the same treatment. Multi-factor authentication, biometrics, and phishing-resistant methods raise the bar, while single sign-on and identity federation streamline access across cloud apps using standards like OAuth, OpenID Connect, and SAML. In modern cloud environments, token-based models win for scalability and security, and we explain why.Governance ties it all together. We walk through identity proofing for solid onboarding, separation of duties to curb fraud, and IGA workflows that make approvals, recertifications, and audits far less painful. Regular access reviews emerge as the unsung hero that prevents privilege creep before it becomes an incident. If you're prepping for the CISSP—or just tightening your IAM program—this episode gives you the why behind the what, with steps you can apply today.Enjoyed the conversation and want more deep dives? Subscribe, share with a teammate who needs a quick IAM refresher, and leave a review to help others find the show.Gain exclusive access to 360 FREE CISSP Practice Questions at FreeCISSPQuestions.com and have them delivered directly to your inbox! Don't miss this valuable opportunity to strengthen your CISSP exam preparation and boost your chances of certification success. Join now and start your journey toward CISSP mastery today!

2 sacs de fruits du Québec pour le prix d’un: IGA assume son erreur, mais garde son rabais! Tour de table entre Isabelle Perron, Alexandre Dubé et Mario Dumont. Regardez aussi cette discussion en vidéo via https://www.qub.ca/videos ou en vous abonnant à QUB télé : https://www.tvaplus.ca/qub ou sur la chaîne YouTube QUB https://www.youtube.com/@qub_radioPour de l'information concernant l'utilisation de vos données personnelles - https://omnystudio.com/policies/listener/fr

In this episode, Jim McDonald welcomes back Martin Kuppinger, Principal Analyst at KuppingerCole, to discuss the rapidly evolving landscape of identity in 2026. With Jeff Steadman away, Jim and Martin dive deep into the intellectual challenges posed by AI agents and the limitations of traditional non-human identity frameworks. Martin explains why organizations are feeling a sense of disillusionment with AI and how a capability-based identity fabric approach can help manage the complexity. They also explore the balance between security and business enablement, the rise of workload identities, and what to expect at the upcoming European Identity and Cloud Conference (EIC) in Berlin.Connect with Martin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martinkuppinger/KuppingerCole: https://www.kuppingercole.comEuropean Identity and Cloud Conference (EIC) (don't forget to use our discount code idac25mko): https://www.kuppingercole.com/events/eic2026Connect with us on LinkedIn:Jim McDonald: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmcdonaldpmp/Jeff Steadman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffsteadman/Visit the show on the web at http://idacpodcast.comTimestamps00:00 - Welcome back to 2026 and EIC preparations02:48 - The shift from future potential to current AI agent challenges03:12 - Understanding AI disillusionment and the lack of control in regulated industries05:19 - Security as a business enabler vs progress prevention09:55 - Why AI agents should not be classified simply as non-human identities11:43 - Complex relationships between humans, agents, and delegated tasks15:17 - Self-service identity for knowledge workers and AI productivity18:40 - The risks of decentralized agent creation and "shadow" AI21:58 - How AI is being baked into identity products beyond role mining26:55 - Using usage data to reduce over-entitlements34:10 - The Identity Fabric: A capability-based approach to IAM40:33 - Vendor rationalization and the flexibility of the fabric47:19 - Previewing EIC 2026 topics: Wallet initiatives and consent52:44 - Final advice: Curing symptoms vs addressing causesKeywords:IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald, Martin Kuppinger, KuppingerCole, IAM, AI Agents, Identity Fabric, EIC 2026, Non-Human Identity, Workload Identity, ITDR, IGA, Cybersecurity

In this episode of The Corner of Story and Game, returning guest Willem Delventhal joins us for our year-end conversation, looking back on what 2025 taught us and looking ahead to what it will take to thrive in 2026 as indie creators.Quick note up front: this episode was recorded at the start of the new year, and it's coming out later than planned. That one is on us. Life got loud, timelines got messy, and this finale slipped. Thanks for sticking with me!In the conversation, Willem and I dig into what actually moves the needle for small teams. Discipline, deadlines, and building systems that help you ship. We talk about the difference between being inspired and being consistent, why indie work often lives or dies on follow-through, and how to keep making games when the industry feels shaky.

O faworytach i oczekiwaniach turnieju AO w Melbourne - Piotr Haczek, nasz korespondent z Australian Open. Z ostatniej chwili: Iga Świątek nie sprostała Jelenie Rybakinie, przegrywając 5:7 i 1:7. Szkoda, że nie wykorzystała break-pointów, gdy Iga prowadziła już 40:0 w drugim gemie. W pierwszym secie Polka grała agresywnie i skutecznie, aż do utraty własnego serwisu przy stanie 5:6. Niestety, w drugim secie Polka nieco obniżyła tempo gry i wkradła się nerwowość, którą Rybakina szybko wykorzystała. Jan Zielinski i Luke Johnson pokonali jednego z faworytów do tytułu, parę Arevalo/Pavic, 7/6 6/2, awansując do półfinału turnieju deblowego.

It's not officially a Slam until Jelena Djokovic accuses Naomi Osaka of being so nasty and so rude while Jelena's husband narrowly avoids a default for something completely of his own making (again). Anyway, how was your first week??? The Australian Open has given us some exciting breakouts (Jovic, Bartunkova, Tien again) and a marquee quarterfinal lineup, with the top 6 men and women through for the first time in the Open Era. Osaka reminded us who she is – and what tennis is missing – with her audacious walk-out jellyfish look. But to be serious for a minute, American players are being asked to speak during this unprecedented and dangerous period in our history, and most are failing miserably. It's time to be brave. 3:45 A historically great quarterfinal lineup 5:45 Highlights of the first week of the men's draw 11:30 The extreme heat rule: Jannik gets lucky, but it's not unfair  18:35 Women's first week: Mboko and Jovic break out; Sabalenka sails; Iga wants a day session, dammit 32:05 The Osaka-Cirstea dustup + a Dramatic Reading 45:25 American players, it's time to be brave 57:25 It's fashion! God forbid a girl wants to be a jellyfish!  66:15 Lulu, K-Swiss, New Balance, and a shoulder blade

IgA nephropathy is a chronic kidney disease involving deposition of IgA-containing immune complexes in the glomerulus, which often causes kidney failure within 10 to 20 years. Author Michelle Marie O'Shaughnessy, MB, BCh, BAO, MS, of Galway University joins JAMA Deputy Editor Kristin Walter, MD, MS, to discuss the symptoms, risk factors, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of IgA nephropathy in adults. Related Content: IgA Nephropathy in Adults

Full Day 3 reaction including Naomi Osaka, Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton, and the rise of NCAA Tennis in Slams. Andy Roddick and Producer Mike discuss why the "four lost years" of college are now the ultimate training ground. From SMU's world-class facilities to the 34 collegiate players in the 2026 draw, the data proves the old federation model is dying. COMMENT BELOW: What was your favorite match from Day 3? What are the popcorn matches in Day 4?

Jeff and Jim are joined by Gartner Analyst Rebecca Archambault for a special live edition of the podcast recorded at the Gartner Identity & Access Management Summit in Grapevine, Texas on December 10, 2025. Instead of a traditional interview, the trio hosts "Majority Rules," an interactive game show where the live audience votes on pressing and fun identity topics. Listen in to hear the pulse of the room on everything from the biggest buzzwords of the year and the true purpose of analyst 1:1 sessions, to the best strategies for navigating the vendor hall. The group explores audience preferences on IGA, AI risks, non-human identities, and the most common lies told in sales cycles. It is a fun, lighthearted look at what identity professionals are actually thinking about the current state of the industry.Connect with Rebecca: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebecca-becky-archambault-4b4285111/Connect with us on LinkedIn:Jim McDonald: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmcdonaldpmp/Jeff Steadman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffsteadman/Visit the show on the web at http://idacpodcast.comChapter Timestamps00:00 - Intro and Game Rules02:40 - First Question: Favorite Podcast03:15 - Networking vs. Education04:08 - Buzzword of the Year: Agentic Identity04:47 - User Behavior Analytics Usage05:37 - Expo Hall Memories and Socks06:20 - The Twist: Battle Royale Rules06:45 - The True Purpose of Analyst 1:1s07:55 - Mitigating Agentic AI Risks08:55 - Strategies for the Vendor Hall09:37 - The Future of IGA10:15 - Favorite Gartner Reports11:05 - Benefits of Just-in-Time Access11:45 - AI in Authentication Priorities12:35 - Securing Non-Human Identities13:05 - Keys to Successful B2B IAM 13:40 - The Hardest Part of Role Mining14:15 - PAM for AI Agents14:50 - Keynote Takeaways15:40 - Measuring IAM Success16:20 - Defining ITDR17:05 - The Biggest Lie in IAM Sales17:35 - Least Favorite Gartner Report18:10 - Audit Preparation Preferences18:45 - Common Lies in the Vendor Hall19:15 - The Most Dangerous Access Right19:35 - Winner Announcement and OutroKeywordsIAM, identity management, cybersecurity, Gartner IAM Summit, Majority Rules, game show, Rebecca Archambault, IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald, Agentic Identity, ITDR, non-human identity, role mining, zero standing privileges

Featuring perspectives from Dr Sagar Lonial and Dr María-Victoria Mateos, including the following topics:  Introduction (0:00) Best of ASH Multiple Myeloma (1:56) Case: A man in his late 50s with t(11;14) IgA kappa myeloma discovered during workup for new Stage IV kidney disease who has a chest wall plasmacytoma receives daratumumab with CyBorD and radiation therapy to the plasmacytoma with minimal response — Jeremy Lorber, MD (8:35) Antibody-Drug Conjugates and Other Emerging Novel Therapies for Relapsed/Refractory (R/R) Multiple Myeloma (MM) — Dr Lonial (16:58) Case: A man in his mid 80s with severe obesity and coronary artery disease, chronic heart failure and sleep apnea receives belantamab mafodotin with low-dose pomalidomide for multiregimen-relapsed myeloma — Neil Morganstein, MD (27:57) Case: A man in his mid 60s with a history of stroke with aphasia receives teclistamab for multiregimen-relapsed MM after daratumumab, proteasome inhibitors, immunomodulatory drugs and selinexor — Justin Favaro, MD, PhD (34:42) Integrating Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-Cell Therapy and Bispecific Antibodies into the Management of R/R MM — Dr Mateos (39:09) Case: A man in his early 70s with kappa light chain myeloma experiences complete response on cilta-cel CAR T-cell therapy with hypogammaglobulinemia requiring IVIG and develops melanoma of the abdominal wall — Bhavana (Tina) Bhatnagar, DO (52:07) Case: A man in his mid 50s with heavily relapsed MM who received multiple prior lines of therapy, including CAR T-cell therapy, receives talquetamab — Priya Rudolph, MD, PhD (55:44) CME information and select publications

For the first regular episode of the year (excepting our New Year's recap) we take a look at the New Year Traditions at Temmu's court.  How did the court celebrate the New Year in the late 7th century? For more, check out our blogpost:  https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-141 Rough Transcript: Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.  My name is Joshua and this is episode 141: Temmu's New Year's Traditions   The chill winter air meant that most of the assembled crowd had donned multiple layers of robes.  Men and women had assembled together, upon the open, rock-covered courtyard, both to see and be seen.  To the north and east of the courtyard were the walls and gates of the buildings that made up the royal palace, the rooves of the buildings just visible beyond the gates. The onlookers stood arrayed around the open lanes that had been created for the event—at one end of the rocky field were targets, while at the other were archers, also arrayed in their finest outfits.  While technically they wore hunting robes, cut to allow greater movement in the arm, many of these fabrics had no business being anywhere near a moor or the dirt of open fields.  After all, this wasn't just some hunt:  They were demonstrating their skills in the center of the State.  At the officials' command, the archers let loose their arrows.  The crowd murmured at the soft crack of the bowstring, the faint whisper of arrow as the fletchings cut through the air, and the thud as the arrows struck their targets.  Looking downrange, approval bubbled through the crowd: the targets were well-struck.  Behind the archers on the field, another group awaited their turn. The events of the day would be the talk of the court, from the lowest clerk to the highest prince , for days to come.   Not just the well-placed shot, but also the grace and poise of the one who had let loose an arrow of particular note.  And heaven forbid an arrow miss its target.  Even kicking up stones or scraping the earth could have negative social consequences.  A particularly good showing could inspire poetry, and beyond the prizes being offered to the winner, could also bring notice to those from more obscure backgrounds. The new year had just started, and a good performance might be just what was needed to help put the rest of the year on a good footing.     Welcome back!  This is the first episode of the new year, 2026, and we are still going through the reign of Ohoama, aka Temmu Tenno, covering the period from 672 to 686. Before we get started, though, a quick shout out to Suzuki for supporting us on Patreon.  It means a lot and helps us keep this thing going.  If you would like to support us or our efforts to maintain the website, where we also have the Armor manual, clothing, and a miscellany on various topics, we have information at Sengokudaimyo.com and we will have more information at the end of this and every episode.  Support is appreciated as I really do want to try and minimize ads—I don't put any into the podcast myself, though some platforms may place ads around the podcast, which I cannot always control.  Now we've covered a lot this reign, but this episode we are going to cover three things in particular.  First off, and perhaps a bit of a tangent, we'll talk about some of the issues with the Chronicles when it comes to reading it,especially in translation.  It seems quite clear to me that even the sources that the Chroniclers were using weren't always in agreement with each other on how they spelled certain things or even in properly recording when things happened. After that we'll cover the major topics of this episode, focusing primarily on the New Year traditions of the court—we'll look at the major events of the first month for each year in the reign, allowing us to see some of the similarities, and differences. Finally, we'll look at the last year of Ohoama's reign, particularly as he grew ill, because it can be a fascinating question:  What did people do when disease struck before we had modern medicine?  Here the Chronicles reveal a lot about not only the beliefs of the time, but of their syncretism: how people were willing to reach out to whatever power they could in order to cure disease.  Whether it was Yin-yang divination, beseeching the local kami, or attempting to make merit, all of these things were on the table when it came to illness and mortality. And so, let's get into it. One of the first things I want to talk about is the problem that we have in trying to read the Chronicles, both in the way they are written and then the translation issue on top of that.  Even in Japanese the Chronicles have to be translated out of an ancient form of kanbun—basically a Japanese version of Chinese, using Sinitic characters.  Like any document written by non-native speakers, the Chronicles have their idiosyncrasies that make it different from what someone in Chang'an might be writing at the same time.  There are times and places where it is clear that something is meant to be read in the Japanese pronunciation, which itself was different from modern Japanese.  Add to this the fact that there are many times that different Sinitic characters sound alike in Japanese—especially in modern Japanese.  So any English translation of the Chronicles which doesn't give the actual characters in the source text can add to the confusion.  This is why I like to consult either the Japanese Historical Text Initiative or an electronic version of the National History series text—though even those have issues at times when the characters used in the text don't exist in modern character sets, though that seems to be less and less of a problem. One example I want to give of the complexities of reading the Chronicles, and the need to dive deeper into the original language and consult multiple versions, is a set of records for Ki no Omi no Abemaro and others.  He is our first mention of a member of the Ki family: on the 9th day of the 8th month of 673, the first year since Ohoama's ascension and one year after the Jinshin no Ran, we are told that Ki no Omi no Abemaro and others were given favors and rewards for their service during the war in Iga province.  Indeed, Ki no Omi no Abemaro is listed prominently in the records of the Jinshin no Ran and appears to have been one of the generals for Ohoama and the Yoshino faction in general.  Less than a year later, on the 28th day of the 2nd month, Ki no Omi no Abemaro died and was posthumously awarded the rank of Daishi, which was 5th from the top in the old system of 26 ranks.  A rather respectable rank, to be sure. Later that same year we get a note that Ki no Omi no KATAmaro—another member of the family, apparently--was appointed, along with a "Prince Mino" as a commissioner for the erection of the Great Temple of Takechi. Two years later, however, we get a record on the 22nd day of the 4th month of 676 that the sovereign, Ohoama, sent an order to the Governor of Mino telling him to let the children of Ki no Omi no Abemaro, resident in the district of Toki, be removed to the East country and become peasants in that country.  On the face of it, this appears to be an incredible fall from grace.  Ki no Omi no Abemaro is basically one of the top generals and heroes of the Jinshin no Ran, but his children are so unruly that they are banished to the East and stripped of their noble status?  There has to be a story there, right? Then in 679, on the 3rd day of the 2nd month, we are told that Ki no Omi no Katamaro died.  For his service in the Jinshin War he received the posthumous rank of Upper Daikin.  That would have been roughly the 7th rank—two below Ki no Abemaro.  So was the Ki family back in the good graces of the court?  What is going on? First off, when we go to the original text, we see that Aston, whose translation of the Nihon Shoki we've been working on Ihas made an apparent error in translation.  Remember, Aston was translating the Chronicles back in 1896, without the aid of modern computers, along with a lot of other research that has happened since then, and I can hardly fault him for missing things here and there.  This is why, if you cannot check the original, you may want to also look at the new translation from John Bentley.  Here we can see that he translates the name not as "Ki no Omi no Abemaro", but rather that of "Ki no Omi no KASAmaro".  And if we compare Ki no Omi no KaSAmaro with the previous entry on Ki no Omi no KaTAmaro we can see that these are actually the exact same names except for a single character.  Which leads us to the question:  Are these the same person, and the scribes simply miswrote one of the characters in the name?  It may not even be on the Chroniclers so much as whatever texts they were, themselves, working on.  This isn't helped by the fact that we later on see another entry for Ki no KATAmaro, but that one uses character for "KATA", meaning "hard", using the kun'yomi, or Japanese reading, rather than using two phonetic characters in the on'yomi reading.  So is this just another way to write "KATAmaro" or is this a different person altogether? Ultimately, we cannot be entirely sure.  It does seem wild that there would be two "Ki no Omi no Katamaro" at court at the same time and nobody otherwise distinguished the two.  The question about KaSAmaro and KaTAmaro, and whose kids were sent into exile, is a bit harder to untangle. And, truth be told, it is ultimately a minor point.  We have only a couple of lines here, and maybe these passages will help illuminate something later in the histories, but for now, they are just fragments of the story of what was happening.  Parts of the tattered tapestry from which the royal history was ripped out and restitched together, the rest of the story largely discarded, unless it made its way to us through other means. The Chronicles may be flawed, but they are still our main source for the period, and while we might challenge individual items, we still get a glimpse at how things operated back at this time.  For instance, if we look at the events happening around the New Year, we can see some common threads. The New Year is an important tradition in many cultures.  Whether it was a solar or lunar cycle—or some combination—the new year indicated a new cycle, and was often accompanied by associated symbols and rituals.  Today in the US it is often celebrated with fireworks and champagne, followed by making resolutions for the new year.  In Japan, people will often go to their local shrine or temple for an important first visit, and temple bells will ring out 108 times. Another tradition is the osechi-ryori, the  traditional new years foods.  This has grown over time from a tradition of eating a large bowl of rice to various other foods that are seen as auspicious or having special properties, such as the hardening of teeth—a major concern before the era of modern dental hygiene!  Then there are traditions such as the Kagami Biraki, or opening of the mirror, and the creation of special mochi, or rice cakes for the purpose.  Of course all of these traditions started somewhere and have evolved over time, so what do we know about the New Year celebrations during the late 7th century? One caveat: in the Chronicles, we only really see what was happening in the court, and the Yamato court at that.  There may have been local traditions that others were following that, unless we find documentation about them, we likely would never know.  But many of the court traditions were passed down to later generations. These traditions appear to include the giving of gifts; large, celebratory banquets; and the annual archery tournament. Banquets are some of the first and most common things we see.  We see a banquet as Ohoama assumed the throne in 673—which probably was the event that overshadowed anything else they might have done that year.  The following year, 674, there doesn't seem to have been much recorded, and I wonder if they were still pulling everything together after the turmoil of Ohoama's ascension.  And so it is that in the first month of 675 we really get to see the annual new year's events in their full form.  On the second day of that year, from the Royal Princes on down, all of the public functionaries presented their respects to the sovereign.  I suspect that this was a large ceremony, where everyone gathered in the courtyard of the palace together or something similar, not that each person individually went up and presented their respects—I doubt Ohoama would have wanted to sit through all of that.  Also, as we've already seen, there were limits on what parts of the palace different functionaries were allowed to enter.  So some of these well-wishers may have been "outside", others in the courtyard, and others in the palace building itself, depending on their rank and importance in the bureaucratic hierarchy. On the following day, all public functionaries, from the initial rank upwards, presented firewood.  Aston notes that this is the first mention of what would become a yearly practice.  Firewood may not seem like much, but it would have likely been important to keeping things running, especially given how early people were supposed to arrive at the palace and administrative complex each day.  This wasn't firewood for a fireplace—they didn't have those—but probably would have been used either for cooking or, I suspect, for the large braziers that burned with wood and pitch to light the darkness, particularly in the winter months.  Firewood could also be processed into smaller pieces of coal for other uses.  It is interesting that for the first ceremony, the Chronicles describe the court from the Royal Princes on down, while for the giving of firewood the order is from the initial—which is to say the lowest—ranks upwards.  This could indicate the order in which things progressed in these cases. Several days after that, on the 7th day of the first month, a banquet was given at court for the Ministers—so only the higher ranking functionaries.  But ten days later, on the 17th, everyone of rank—the Ministers of State; the Daibu, or high officials; and all of the public functionaries from the initial rank upwards had an archery meeting in the Court of the Western Gate. Archery and archery contests had been important to the Yamato people for ages—and the same on the continent.  Confucius, in his day, suggested that archery was a martial skill that even nobles should cultivate.  I believe we've noted before how archery could be used both for warfare and for just feeding your family.  As such, it was considered a particularly useful skill for just about everyone to have.  It probably also helped that it was a martial skill that noblemen and others could use to show off without actually risking any injury to themselves in the process.  I'm just saying.  And as we described at the top of the episode, this particular archery contest would, for both participants and spectators, likely have been a chance to show off the top of their game, whether in martial prowess, clothing, or behavior. And since we are looking at the new year's celebrations, let's keep this going and look at later years in Ohoama's reign. As I go through these you'll start to see the patterns, where the events I've just described will generally recur year after year, but not identically, sometimes with a shuffle in the schedule. In 676, we see that the Ministers and public functionaries pay their respects on the first day of the new year.  On the 4th day, the sovereign granted gifts to the higher level officials, from Royal Prince Takechi, down to the high officials, or Daibu, of Shoukin rank.  Their not so secret Santa gifts included robes, hakama, lined garments, obi for their waist, leg straps, and staves, or walking sticks.  We are also told that everyone above the rank of Shoukin also got an armrest thrown in, as well.  Further gifts or grants were given out several days later, on the 7th, to everyone from Shoukin on up, based on their individual circumstances.  Then, on the 15th, we again see all of the functionaries present firewood and then they were all entertained at a court banquet. The following day they held the annual new year's archery contest, with prizes, at the court of the western gate.  Those who hit the target received prizes of different values.  In his recent translation of the Nihon Shoki, Bentley references Kuroita on Article 41 of Miscellaneous Statutes, saying that this archery event was apparently a regular new year's occurrence, and even the prizes were noted as varying over time. The same day they held the archery contest, that year, Ohoama held a banquet at the Shima Palace.  Shima was the name given to the Soga Prime Minister, back in the day, so I assume that this was at or near the site of the old Soga residence? In 677, by comparison, we don't see nearly as much referenced.  There is archery at the South Gate, vice the west gate, but that is it.  The festivities in 678 similarly only talk about the archery at the south gate.  There is also mention of a preparation for worshipping the kami of heaven and earth, for which a purification was held throughout the state.  In addition, an abstinence palace, or saiguu, was erected on the bank of the Kurahashi river.  Kurahashi appears to refer to a tributary of the Ohara river, in Sakurai.  This feels less like a New Year's celebration, however, and more like a sign of merit-making.  The Saiguu would have likely been to prepare for a trip to Ise shrine, and three months later Ohoama was preparing to go to the Saiguu, but that is when Princess Towochi suddenly died, and they scuttled the plans. In 679, the court greeted the New Year with a new decree.  Ohoama declared that Princes, Ministers, and public functionaries—anyone in service to the government, basically, were to refrain from paying respects during New Years or other ceremonies to anyone except relatives of the grade of elder brother, elder sister, and above, or to the senior members of the Houses.  Princes weren't even to pay respects to their own mothers unless they were, themselves, princesses.  Ministers were likewise not to pay respects to their mothers if they were of "mean" rank.  In other words, if they were commoners. These kinds of statutes are interesting.  First of all, you ask yourself why?  In all likelihood, there were various local traditions and individuals paid respects to their parents as well as to others to whom they owed respect for one reason or another.  Here the State is ordering society such that there is a clear hierarchy, at least among the members of the court.   Since women often found advancement by marrying up, it was usual for one's mother to have been born a lower rank in society than oneself.  And so we see them enforcing the social order. That new order was based on Confucian concepts of hierarchy, and this seems to go along with those same ideas. What we don't really see is how this was enforced—if at all.  The day after that, the yearly archery competition took place at the West Gate of the palace. The next year, 680, we see a New Year's Banquet at the Court of the Great Hall.  Ohoama himself occupied the Mukai-kodono, which appears to refer to one of the smaller wings.  Based on the palace layout that we see in the posthole remains, this probably means that he was set up in the smaller wing, likely in a more intimate space, while most of the other guests were in the large hall, maintaining that crucial separation of sovereign and subjects. This New Year's archery event included Princes of the Blood all the way down to the rank of Shouken—the very lowest rank in the court—and it was held at the South Gate. You may be noticing a pattern, that the archery competition is listed as being held at either the south or west gates.  The south gate probably refers to the main gate of the later Okamoto—aka the Kiyomihara—palace.  The West gate refers to the west gate of the Ebinoko enclosure.   We talked about these and the general layout of the palace back in Episode 134, and you can check out that podcast blog post for some images of what things looked like, as well.  These gates were on the north and east sides of a large, rectangular courtyard, which was likely the actual event location.  So it isn't as if these were separate areas, just a difference of where things were set up in what was otherwise the same relative space. The following year, 681, we see similar ceremonies.  We see offerings made to the kami of Heaven and Earth, and we once again see a note about various functionaries paying their respects at court.  Even though this wasn't mentioned every year, it could have been an annual thing and just wasn't always recorded so the Chroniclers just wrote down what they had records for.  There are certainly other things we don't necessarily witness in the records, such as the annual promotions and promulgations.  We see irregular promotions, of course, such as on someone's passing, but the regular administration of the government and promotions of people to new positions is not something we really see regularly documented, since it doesn't really shed much light on the sovereign and the royal household.  And so we sometimes see things if they get mentioned, but otherwise we only see glimpses.  That would change as records became more administrative and the histories were more about simply recording what was happening—though still from a particular angle.  At this point, however, we aren't dealing with a single court record, but rather with numerous records, stories, and recollections.  That same year, 681, we also see another banquet, with Ohoama situated in the Mukai no Kodono, while the Princes of the Blood and non-royal Princes were both introduced into the inner reception chamber.  Ministers attended in the outer reception chamber.  They all received sake and musical performances, and rank advancements were given out.  Kusakabe no Kihi no Ohogata was graduated from the rank of Upper Daisen to Lower Daikin, and given the title of Naniwa no Muraji.  A few days later, Sakahibe no Muraji no Iwazumi was granted a fief with 60 horses and received presents of coarse silk, floss silk, cloth, and one hundred mattocks—the last one being a rather interesting gift, I have to admit.  Of course, in true Chronicles fashion, we have no idea why these gifts were made—we don't even have another reference to Iwazumi around there, but he must have done something. We are later told that there was the annual archery shoot, and then a decree, possibly unrelated to New Years, that the various provinces were ordered to repair the shrines to the kami of heaven and earth. The year 682 is an anomaly.  There is no mention of a banquet, nor of an archery tournament.  I wonder if this may have to do with some of the sad events of that first month.  While it started fine—Toneri no Miyatsuko no Nukamushi was raised from Daisen to Lower Shoukin—we are told that on the 18th, Lady Higami, one of Ohoama's consorts, died in the palace.  The next day there was an earthquake, and she was buried on the 27th.  A prominent illness and death may have put a pall on the ceremonies, and could explain why we don't see any mention of them for that year. It is also possible that some of this New Year tradition had become so routine that people were no longer commenting on it, and therefore the Chroniclers weren't including references to it. The following year, in 683, we again see the functionaries paying their respects.  We also see the presentation of a three legged sparrow by the Viceroy of Tsukushi, Tajihi no Mabito no Shima, along with others.  A three legged sparrow would have been something: it is reminiscent of the three legged crow, often depicted in the sun.  It is unclear if it was still alive, but that wasn't the point.  They invited the Princes of the Blood down to the Ministers to great hall, the Daigokuden, for a banquet, where the three legged sparrow was displayed. .  Later that month, Ohoama issued a decree in regards to all of the auspicious omens and made presents to everyone, from Shouken rank upwards.  There was also a general amnesty—all crimes were pardoned, from capital offenses on down, and all forced labor was remitted, so that people didn't have to provide the normal service.  The phrasing for this particular entry is intriguing.  Ohoama is mentioned as Yamato Neko Sumera no Mikoto and is specifically called a "God Incarnate".  This is one of the rare times that we see the Chronicles explicitly call out the sovereign as a living deity.  Of course, they trace the royal lineage back to Amaterasu, but there isn't a lot suggesting that the sovereign is necessarily a deity. And in reality, this was probably something that was more honorific than anything else.  Heck, at times in Japanese history we would see sovereigns selling their calligraphy to help keep the royal palace funded while warriors went around actually being in charge of things.  However, this divine language did show up in the 19th and 20th century, especially as the Tennou, now called Emperor in English terminology, once again was recognized as the Head of State, and people would actually pray to him.  Not necessarily like praying at a shrine, but out of respect.  And remember, a lot of time the Tennou was kept out of sight of regular people and hidden, much like the way that the kami were treated.  The concept of the Emperor's divinity was very much tied up in the elevation of the State and the general sense of Nationalism that had gripped Japan in the early half of the 20th century.  And so the allies quite explicitly had Emperor Showa renounce his divinity after Japan  World War II. Those studying Japanese history have probably heard of this concept, and so it is interesting to see evidence of it here, as well as the nature of the royal house, where the sovereign is kept at a distance from those of lower rank, unless they are directly serving him.  But it was not as though the sovereign was a god in the sense of being all powerful.  Even if he were considered a living, visible kami, the kami were not omnipotent, and there was no getting over the fact that our particular sovereign, Ohoama, was getting older.  Only a year or so earlier, he had suffered a rather bad illness, so he clearly was not invincible.  And it is of course possible that this language was simply royal exaggeration, rather than any attempt to define the sovereign as something more than he was.  Still, that concept would continue to play a part throughout Japanese history. The same day in 683 that Ohoama issued the pardons, we are told that there was a special performance at the Woharida Court of dance and music from Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla—the "Three Countries" of the Korean peninsula, even if only one of them was still going strong.  The Woharida palace is thought to have been north, along the banks of the Asuka River.  It may have been moved over time—there appears to have been a palace in the Furumiya area, near Toyoura, but there is also evidence of a palace by a shared name over by Ikazuchi-no-oka, on the other side of the river.  Excavations at Ikazuchi no oka revealed pottery with the name of the palace, suggesting that this was the site, but even then, that pottery was from the later Tempyo era.  Regardless, it seems that the Asuka valley was just chock full of palaces, new and old, though the older ones were not as regularly used for government functions, one assumes. The following year, 684, we again get told about the annual archery shoot.  It took place in the Eastern court this time, with Ministers in attendance.  Apparently they had men skilled in archery shooting alongside palace attendants and little people—the word used in Japanese is "Shuju" or "Hikihito".  This word is often translated as "dwarf"; it appears to be a derogatory term for anyone considered short of stature, though it is also used to refer more generally to those seen as either lacking wit or to actors and performers. This isn't the first time we see the term.  Back in 675, about 9 years prior, Ohoama had sent orders to a number of regions near the capital, from Awaji to Tamba, to Afumi and to Mino and Wohari, among others, to send as tribute common people who could sing, shuju—or dwarfs—and jugglers.  More generally they seem to be referring to entertainers, and it strikes me that could be what is meant here.  Either way, the entertainment industry was hardly a lucrative one, and we can see that performers are almost more of a commodity, to be "paid" as tribute, rather than a professional who is "hired" to work.  I suspect that, as in many other times and places, individuals who were shorter than average often found work as entertainers in this sense—whether they wished it or not. The year 685 we don't see any mention of archery, though it probably still happened.  Instead the Chronicles focus on the various government officials paying their respects to their sovereign.  The rest of the entries for the month are largely concerned with changes to the rank system as of that year. The year 686, we get the last records of various new years festivals—four months later, the sovereign would grow terribly ill, and he would eventually pass away later that year.  However, for those still celebrating the new year in 686, that was all in the future. The last year of Ohoama's reign started out relatively like others. Ohoama went to the Daigokuden, the Great Hall of Audience, and gave a banquet to the Princes and High Officials.  There he decided to have something of a riddle challenge.  He would ask riddles, and then offer prizes for the correct answer. And no, unfortunately we don't have any of the riddles, at least that I have seen.  Aston calls these "conundrums" and notes that they are specifically nonsensical questions, and provides examples such as "Why does a horse, after a rapid run, listen to the earth? Why does a dog, when he goes slowly, raise his leg?"  Ohoama's son, Prince Takechi, answered correctly, and so did Prince Ise.  Their prizes differed in content, but in both cases were pretty extensive.  The winners received ceremonial robes, brocade or purple hakama, numerous bolts of coarse silk, many pounds of thread, hundreds of pounds of flossed Silk, and hundreds of bolts of cloth. I think that makes it quite a bit more lucrative than any of the quiz nights I've ever been to. Later that month, there was another banquet, this time for nine Buddhist monks of Daikan-daiji. Besides its status as a national temple, this may have also been related to the year before, when Ohoama had fallen ill, and prayers had been offered at Daikandaiji for his recovery.  The courthad likewise provided gifts to the temple in the last month of the previous year, and then, at the banquet, gave to the attending monks silk and cloth, based on their rank. But that wasn't the end of the gifts.  The following day the Princes and High Officials all received upper garments and hakama—likely referring to official garments—each getting one suit, each. Then, on the 13th day of the new year, the court invited 20 exceptional individuals to a banquet.  These were talented people, professors, divination specialists, and physicians.  They were also wined and dined and presented various gifts. On the 16th day, the Princes and High Officials were then invited to a banquet in the Daigokuden.  They were given gifts of silk and cloth, based on their rank.  Then they held another riddle competition, with correct answers rewarded with gifts of coarse and flossed silk. This was only a short time after disaster had struck, though a bit removed—two days earlier, in the evening, the royal storehouse at Naniwa had caught fire, eventually burning the entire Toyosaki palace complex to the ground.  Some claimed that it was actually started at a private residence,  that of Ato no Muraji no Kusuri, and then spread to the Palace.  In the end, only the military storehouse was spared. This would have been quite the tragedy for the government, but it did not halt the festivities happening down in Asuka.  The Naniwa Palace appears to have been a major government center for the administration of the state, but it was not the royal court which had been in Asuka for over a decade.  Indeed, I imagine that the news probably reached Asuka around the time of the Banquet itself. And yet, rather than putting a damper on the festivities, they continued another couple of days – presumably everything was already prepared and there was no point in canceling.  On the 17th, the court sponsored a banquet in the rear palace, presumably for the Queen and members of the imperial family.  Then the following day there was a great revel at the palace.  Ohoama took his place in front of the royal muro and made presents to performers, as well as to the singers.  As before everything varied according to rank. Asuka wasn't the only place to get in on the festivities.  The same month, the court also sponsored a banquet for the Silla envoys in Tsukushi, sending Prince Kawachi and others. Regrettably, that would be the last new year that Ohoama would see.  In the fifth month, he grew ill, and what we see in the Chronicles after that is an interesting look into how people of the time dealt with sickness. First, the court had the Sutra of Yakushi expounded at Kawaradera and held a Buddhist retreat in the palace, inviting monks to come and expound Buddhist teachings.  Yakushi, or Yakushi Nyorai—Bhaisajyaguru in Sanskrit—was known as the Medicine Buddha, and his name in Sinitic characters was basically "Master of Medicine".  It is said that he was responsible for the Eastern Pure Land, and that, as a Bodhisattva, he had made 12 great vows to cure the illnesses of all living beings in the world.  For that reason, Yakushi Nyorai was often called upon to cure illness.  In fact, six years earlier, when the Queen, Uno no Sarara Hime, had taken ill, Ohoama erected an entire temple to Yakushi Nyorai, known as Yakushiji.  He then had 100 people take vows as priests, and they attributed her recovery to this effort. In this case, however, it seems that it didn't have quite such an effect, and Ohoama remained under the weather.  We are also told that the court sent Palace Attendants, the Oho-toneri, to clean the pagodas of various temples and that a general amnesty was announced for all under heaven, emptying the prisons.  All of this points to the idea of making merit in the hope of bringing good karma, and thus healing. But the following month, Ohoama was still ill.  Divination was performed by the Onmyoji, the court diviners, and they claimed that there was a curse from Kusanagi, the sword that is considered one of the three main royal symbols.  This is the sword that was said to have been found by Susanowo in the tale of Yamata no Worochi, and which gained its name, Kusanagi, when used by Yamato Takeru, cutting down the grass to save him when his enemies tried to catch him by setting fire to the field where he was hunting.  For more on that, check out Episodes 34 and 35. Given the importance of Kusanagi, I suspect that the idea of destroying it to remove the curse was out of the question, and so it was sent to Atsuta Shrine, where it was enshrined and would largely stay except when needed for enthronement ceremonies.  And yet, even after the sword was taken away, the illness remained.  Six days later, on the 16th day of the 6th month, the court sent Prince Ise and officials to Asukadera and asked the monks there to make and oath with the Buddha to make Ohoama whole through the power of the Three Treasures of Buddhism.   For their work, the three Buddhist Officers, the Master of the Law, and the Upadhyaya and temple directors, as well as those monks with the rank of "master" each received a donation of one robe and one cover, or "Ohi". Three days later, the court ordered the hundred officials to go to Kawaradera and perfom the ceremony of lighting lanterns and giving offerings to Buddha.  Then they held a great feast and offered repentance for their transgressions.  All of this sounds like a continued attempt to make merit for the state, and thus for Ohoama. We then see the court granting the monks Hounin and Gishou 30 stipend-households to provide for them in their old age, which may be more merit-making, or possibly was related to some of the many other activities so far.  There are a few issues with this entry, and Aston and Bentley don't seem to agree on the actual date.  Bentley has it on the 28th, but that seems odd as it comes before the entry for the 22nd of the same month.  Aston has it as the 20th, but then claimes that there is something odd about the date of the 22nd. On the 22nd, we are simply told that the district kitchen of Nabari caught fire.  Aston notes that this would have been the official government arm in the district gathering food to supply the royal household—rather than being a kitchen in terms of a place to prepare food. Merit-making continued into the 7th month.  We see the Soujou and Soudzu, the primary and secondary prelates of the Asukadera, performing ritual repentance.  The following day there is another general amnesty, and Aston specifically mentions performing a Oho-harai, or cleansing. The day after taxes were halved from the provinces and corvee labor with local conscripted labor was exempted for the year.  Then we see the court presenting paper offerings to the Kunikasu Kami in Ki provinces, as well as the four shrines in Asuka and the Great Suminoe—aka Sumiyoshi—shrine. On the 8th day of the 7th month, 100 monks were invited to the court to read the Golden Light Sutra—Konkoymyou kyou.  And on the 15th there was another court issued amnesty. Despite all of these attempts to make merit and intercede with the Buddha or with various kami, Ohoama's illness continued.  We see that the court issued a decree that all things that should occur, great or small, should be reported to the queen and the crown prince—presumably because Ohoama was no longer in a state to be able to do so. Continuing with their efforts, the court declared that destitute commoners who had been forced to borrow rice seed or money before the 12th month of the previous year would be exempted from repayment.  And then the court changed the name of the year to Akami-tori, or Shuuchou.  They also renamed the palace in Asuka to "Kiyomihara"—again, go check Episode 134 for more on the palace.  "Shuuchou" is the Red Bird, likely referring to Suzaku, though Aston also points out that "Asuka" here is given as "flying bird", as well, and there had been numerous bird-related omens reported throughout the reign. Although these names would not have been used prior to this point—the 7th month of the final year of the reign—the Chroniclers applied the nengo, Shuuchou, to all of the entries for this year, and the name of the palace is often given as "Kiyomihara" is given to distinguish it from the Later Okamoto Palace, even though it was simply the latter palace with the addition of the Ebinoko enclosure. The changing of the era name was likely another attempt to change the seemingly inauspicious year, along with all of the merit-making that the court had been undergoing. And yet they kept going. The court selected 70 people who were diligent in keeping Buddhist laws and had them take the tonsure, and they sponsored a feast—or festival—in the Royal Muro of the Palace. At the same time the various princes had a statue of the Boddhisatva of Compassion, Kannon, made for the sovereign and had the Lotus sutra—the sutra where Kannon is first mentioned—read out at Daikandaiji. Kannon, or Avalokitesvara, was originally seen as a male Boddhisatva, but is often depicted as a woman.  They are also known as Guanyin, from which we get Kannon in Japanese.  Guanyin is also seen as Goddess of Mercy, and is one of the most popular figures across multiple sects of Buddhism and even outside of the Buddhist faith, where she is still seen as a goddess.  In this case, however, it seems clear that the princes were seeking compassion to relieve the sovereign of his affliction. And yet it persisted. They had 80 more people take the tonsure, and then 100 more men and women, placed 100 statues of the Boddhisatva, Kannon, in the palace, and then read out 200 volumes of the Lotus Sutra. And then they made prayers to the kami of Heaven and Earth.  And they dispatched Hata no Imiki no Iwakatsu to present paper offerings to the Tosa great shrine.  Nothing seemed to be working. In the 9th month, we see the royal princes and others, down to the various ministers, all gathered at Kawaradera making oaths for the health of the sovereigns.  This last ditch effort would go unrewarded.  Five days later, and Ohoama would pass away.  Of course, they couldn't just say that he died:  The Chronicles actually say that he divinely departed.  After all, didn't they call him an incarnate kami? Two days later, the court began the ritual of mourning, raising voices in lamentation, and setting up a temporary palace of interment in the courtyard, south of the palace.  Ohoama's body was placed there some thirteen days later, and people mourned his passing. For the rituals, we see monks and nuns performing ritual lamentation in the courtyard between 3 and 5 am, around the time that court officials would normally be waiting at the gates.  Over the next several days, various ceremonies were held and eulogies given.  We are told that the court presented offerings of food for the dead for the first time, and over the next several days monks and nuns would offer their laments and then various individuals would provide their eulogies.  Finally, on the last day of the ninth month, the eulogies concluded with Nyang-u, a Baekje prince, who pronounced a eulogy on behalf of his father, and then the Miyatsuko of various provinces came and did likewise.  There were also performances of all manner of singing and dancing. With that, the reign of Ohoama would come to an end.  The government would continue under his wife, the Queen, and Crown Prince.  We'll get into the succession in a later episode.  For now I'll just say that he was eventually buried in a large tomb in the modern Noguchi area of Asuka, and you can still go see it. And while that does bring us to the end of the reign, we still have a few more things that I want to discuss.   This episode just seemed a good time to talk about all of the various new years ceremonies, and that seemed to lead naturally into the very last year, but there is still more to discuss.  For one thing, we still haven't quite covered the spread of Buddhism and the changes in the structure.  There are also various laws and punishments that are worth covering.  Finally, there are the Chronicles themselves: we've talked about it all along, but the Nihon Shoki and the Kojiki are attributed to this era, as is the start of what would become the capital of Fujiwara-kyo—many works that Ohoama would not live to see to the end, but is largely held responsible for starting. But until then, if you like what we are doing, please tell your friends and feel free to rate us wherever you listen to podcasts.  If you feel the need to do more, and want to help us keep this going, we have information about how you can donate on Patreon or through our KoFi site, ko-fi.com/sengokudaimyo, or find the links over at our main website,  SengokuDaimyo.com/Podcast, where we will have some more discussion on topics from this episode. Also, feel free to reach out to our Sengoku Daimyo Facebook page.  You can also email us at the.sengoku.daimyo@gmail.com.  Thank you, also, to Ellen for their work editing the podcast. And that's all for now.  Thank you again, and I'll see you next episode on Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.  

On this episode of Love All, Kim Clijsters joins Blair Henley from Melbourne to break down what's really happening at the Australian Open, from the energy on the grounds to the viral $1 million One Point Slam. Kim gives her expert take on Coco Gauff's evolution against Iga Swiatek, Daniil Medvedev's reset after a coaching change, and Alexander Bublik's breakthrough. They also cover Aryna Sabalenka's title run, Elina Svitolina's win in Auckland, and the biggest storylines heading into the main draw.  Welcome to Love All! We're so happy you're here. If you want to hang out with us behind the scenes and stay close to the heart of the game, follow us on all of our socials: https://www.instagram.com/loveallpodcast/ https://www.tiktok.com/@loveallpodcast https://x.com/loveallpodcast    ⏰ TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 Welcome to Love All0:47 Melbourne weather & the "Happy Slam" vibe4:48 The One Point Slam: Rules, community, and the $1M15:33 Henley's Headlines: United Cup15:47 Coco Gauff vs Iga Świątek: why the tide has turned20:20 Belinda Bencic's great week: Is peaking before a Slam dangerous?24:00 Svitolina's Auckland title26:46 Medvedev wins Brisbane: 22 titles in 22 cities32:45 Bublik wins Hong Kong, Musetti's finals struggles & mental pressure35:10 Memory Lane: Kim's first Australian Open at 1639:26 2004 AO final vs Justine Henin & learning from losses41:55 2011 AO title, comeback as a mom & becoming World No. 143:55 Guest Question: What motivated Kim more: fear of failing or joy of success?45:53 Rec Room: Blair's makeup secret47:22 Kim's rec: The Australian Open app49:00 Closing thoughts & wrap-up Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

#395 - Sponsor Spotlight - RedblockThis episode is sponsored by Redblock. Visit redblock.ai/idac to learn more.Jeff and Jim come to you live from the Gartner IAM Summit in Grapevine, Texas, for a special Sponsor Spotlight with Redblock. They sit down with CEO Indus Khaitan to discuss how Redblock uses AI and computer vision to solve the "last mile" problem in identity management: disconnected applications.Indus explains how Redblock acts as an "agentic" layer, using screen recordings to learn administrative tasks for apps that lack APIs. The conversation covers the origin of the company name, the urgency of securing the "long tail" of applications, and how they build trust and guardrails around AI execution. They also discuss the "DoorDash" analogy for identity fulfillment and wrap up with a fun chat about Indus's passion for flying planes.Connect with Indus: https://www.linkedin.com/in/khaitan/Learn more: redblock.ai/idacConnect with us on LinkedIn:Jim McDonald: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmcdonaldpmp/Jeff Steadman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffsteadman/Visit the show on the web at [idacpodcast.com](http://idacpodcast.com)Timestamps00:00 Introduction from Gartner IAM Summit00:46 Guest Introduction: Indus Khaitan of Redblock01:40 Indus's Journey into Identity02:41 The Origin of the Name "Redblock"04:20 The Underserved Market: Services vs. Software07:34 The Urgency of Securing Disconnected Apps09:19 Why Traditional IGA and PAM Aren't Enough11:35 The DoorDash Analogy: Where Redblock Fits14:30 What Makes Redblock Unique? (Agentic Process Automation)16:15 Trusting AI with Security Tasks18:50 Onboarding Apps via Video Recording21:23 Deployment: Running Air-Gapped on Customer Cloud22:17 Handling UI Changes and "Full Self-Driving" Analogy25:40 Integration with SailPoint and Governance Tools27:13 Speed of Integration: Days vs. Years32:00 How the "Headless Browser" Works33:35 Limitations: Web Apps vs. Thick Clients36:58 Redblock's 2025 Milestones and Future Outlook39:48 Call to Action: Solving Disconnected Apps40:27 Impressions of the Gartner IAM Summit44:26 Are We in an AI Bubble?46:46 Indus's Hobby: Flying PlanesKeywordsIDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald, Redblock, Indus Khaitan, AI, Artificial Intelligence, IAM, Identity and Access Management, Disconnected Apps, Agentic AI, Computer Vision, Gartner IAM Summit, RPA, IGA, Cybersecurity

We're back from break with season 12 of The Body Serve! The off-season didn't let up for a second, with its fair share of surprising breakups: Carlos and Juan Carlos, Naomi and Evolve, and Novak splitting from the players' organization he co-founded. We also cover Potapova's copypasta, Venus' wedding, the ESPN commentary reshuffle, Iga's viewing habits, and more off-season stuff. We look ahead to the coming season with our usual breakout picks – no ADF this time – plus we recap the opening week Down Under, as Bencic leads her team to the final while Poland snatches their first United Cup. 3:25 Alcaraz and Ferrero split 10:35 Naomi Evolves away from the agency she co-founded 15:10 Djokovic quits the PTPA 22:10 Other off-season stuff: Iga didn't watch, ATP rolls out safeguarding program, Next Gen Finals, Venus at the altar!  35:30 Looking ahead: our breakout picks for 2026 45:30 Changes to the ESPN commentary lineup 51:50 United Cup highlights: Hubie, Belinda, Zizou 60:00 Titles for Sabalenka, Svitolina, Medvedev, Bublik 65:35 The podcast landscape

On this episode Fred Goldstein invites Ami Gopalan, Senior Vice President of Strategic Content and Growth Optimization at Precision AQ in a continion of AMCP's rare disease series with an in-depth look at IgA nephropathy (IgAN), a progressive autoimmune kidney disease that often goes undiagnosed until advanced stages. As a patient living with IgAN, Ami brings both a professional and personal perspective to the discussion as we explore the disease's silent progression, the burden it places on patients and families, the evolving treatment landscape, and how managed care can better incorporate patient value, clinical guidelines, and emerging evidence to support long-term outcomes. This podcast is supported by an independent medical education grant from Alexion and AstraZeneca Rare Disease. AMCP offers CPE for this podcast through December 31, 2026. For additional information and to claim credit, please visit: The Power of Partnership: Bridging Patients and Payers in IgA Nephropathy Management. Find all of our network podcasts on your favorite podcast platforms and be sure to subscribe and like us. Learn more at www.healthcarenowradio.com/listen

In this episode of the IRH Clinician's Corner, guest host (and IRH lead practitioner) Sara Fields sits down with Dr. Julie Greenberg, a licensed naturopathic doctor and registered herbalist renowned for her root-cause approach to skin and hair disorders. Listeners will hear fresh insights on the vital connections between gut health and skin conditions, uncover the most common root causes behind eczema, acne, and hair loss – and learn why functional medicine offers hope for patients who've felt helpless in conventional care.   In this interview, we discuss:   The foundations of functional dermatology  Common skin conditions in functional practice (how to identify & treat them) Various root causes and disease patterns associated with skin conditions How to use assessment tools and lab testing to enhance results Food, nutrition, and sensitivity considerations  The role of histamines, toxins (like mold/mycotoxins), and autoimmunity in chronic derm conditions Treatment planning and patient/client management The Clinician's Corner is brought to you by the Institute of Restorative Health. Follow us: https://www.instagram.com/instituteofrestorativehealth/   Connect with Dr. Julie Greenberg: Website: https://rootcausedermatology.com  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dermatologycenter/  Dr. Greenberg is offering $250 off her Root Cause Dermatology course. Enter code RWSlistener to sign up and learn more about this fascinating topic.   Timestamps:  00:00 "Journey to Clean Skincare" 08:33 "Eczema and Acne: Beyond Skin" 14:39 "Gut Patterns in Skin Diseases" 19:15 SIBO, Fungal Overgrowth, Gut Testing 31:22 Healing Gut to Ease Sensitivities 34:35 "Nutrition, Acne, and Underlying Triggers" 46:17 "Functional Medicine Approach to Eczema" 53:55 "Overwhelmed Immune System Analogy" 01:00:45 "Tracking Progress and Healing Time" 01:08:46 Conclusion Speaker bio:    Dr. Julie Greenberg is a licensed Naturopathic Doctor (ND) and Registered Herbalist RH(AHG) specializing in functional dermatology. She is the founder of The Center for Integrative & Naturopathic Dermatology, Inc., a holistic medical clinic dedicated to identifying and treating the root causes of skin and hair disorders. She also founded RootCauseDermatology.com, an educational platform that trains functional medicine practitioners in evidence-based approaches to dermatologic care. Dr. Greenberg holds degrees from Northwestern University (BA), Stanford University (MBA), and Bastyr University (ND). She is the co-author of The Holistic Psoriasis Management and Nutrition Guide, the first comprehensive text on natural approaches to psoriasis treatment. A respected educator and innovator, Dr. Greenberg teaches dermatology at several naturopathic medical schools and lectures internationally. She is a highly sought-after speaker at integrative and functional medicine conferences across the United States and abroad.   Keywords:  functional dermatology, eczema, acne, psoriasis, gut microbiome, leaky gut, stool testing, organic acid test (OAT), GI MAP, food sensitivities, mycotoxin testing, mold exposure, autoimmune skin conditions, histamine, mast cell activation syndrome, skin microbiome, hair loss, alopecia areata, integrative health, naturopathic medicine, chronic skin disease, thyroid health, Hashimoto's, blood sugar dysregulation, dietary fiber, plant-based nutrition, topical steroid withdrawal, allergy testing, hormone testing (Dutch Test), secretory IgA, nutrient deficiencies Disclaimer: The views expressed in the IRH Clinician's Corner series are those of the individual speakers and interviewees, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Institute of Restorative Health, LLC. The Institute of Restorative Health, LLC does not specifically endorse or approve of any of the information or opinions expressed in the IRH Clinician's Corner series. The information and opinions expressed in the IRH Clinician's Corner series are for educational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice. If you have any medical concerns, please consult with a qualified healthcare professional. The Institute of Restorative Health, LLC is not liable for any damages or injuries that may result from the use of the information or opinions expressed in the IRH Clinician's Corner series. By viewing or listening to this information, you agree to hold the Institute of Restorative Health, LLC harmless from any and all claims, demands, and causes of action arising out of or in connection with your participation. Thank you for your understanding.  

Welcome to HCPLive's 5 Stories in Under 5—your quick, must-know recap of the top 5 healthcare stories from the past week, all in under 5 minutes. Stay informed, stay ahead, and let's dive into the latest updates impacting clinicians and healthcare providers like you!Interested in a more traditional, text rundown? Check out the HCPFive!Top 5 Healthcare Headlines for January 3-10, 2025:Here are one-sentence, clinician-focused summaries with titles restated and no statistics included:1. FDA Approves Caplacizumab-yhdp (Cablivi) as First Pediatric aTTP TherapyThe FDA approved caplacizumab for adolescents with aTTP, making it the first therapy specifically indicated for pediatric patients with this condition.2. Pemvidutide Gets Breakthrough Therapy Designation for MASHThe FDA granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation to pemvidutide for MASH, supporting its accelerated development based on promising mid-stage clinical data and alignment on a registrational phase 3 program.3. FDA Grants Priority Review Of Biologics License Application For Atacicept In IgA NephropathyThe FDA granted Priority Review to the BLA for atacicept, advancing a potential new biologic therapy for adults with IgA nephropathy.4. FDA Approves 2-Gram Presentation of Fibryga for Acquired Fibrinogen DeficiencyThe FDA approved a higher-dose presentation of Fibryga, expanding dosing flexibility for fibrinogen replacement in patients with acquired fibrinogen deficiency.5. FDA Accepts for Priority Review sBLA for Teplizumab for Children With Stage 2 T1DThe FDA accepted a Priority Review sBLA for teplizumab to expand its use to younger children in order to delay progression to clinical type 1 diabetes.

Join Jeff, Jim, and special guest Ian Glazer at the Gartner IAM Summit 2025 as they discuss the Identity and Access Management (IAM) industry, the evolution of IAM practices, and the exciting new concepts like Continuous Identity. They delve into topics such as the impact of AI, shared signals framework, and the struggles and triumphs of identity practitioners. Plus, hear about the Digital Identity Advancement Foundation's mission and enjoy some lighter moments with tales of 'chuckles' and supper clubs. Don't miss this insightful and entertaining episode of the Identity at the Center podcast.Connect with Ian: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iglazer/Connect with us on LinkedIn:Jim McDonald: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmcdonaldpmp/Jeff Steadman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffsteadman/Visit the show on the web at http://idacpodcast.comTimestamps00:00 Introduction and Casual Banter00:50 Conference Highlights and Podcast Milestones03:00 Introducing Ian Glazer05:43 Digital Identity Advancement Foundation (DIF)08:09 Challenges in Identity Governance and Administration (IGA)13:28 Continuous Identity: A Paradigm Shift22:31 Real-World Applications and Organizational Impact31:51 Realistic Security Measures32:28 Maturity of Identity and Access Management34:54 Skills and Challenges in IAM36:44 Metrics and Outcomes in IAM40:23 Identity Practitioner Skills41:19 Solving Problems with AI46:21 Continuous Identity and Future Trends48:45 Identity Salon and Community54:19 Wrapping Up and Future EventsKeywordsIan Glazer, Continuous Identity, Shared Signals Framework, CAEP, Gartner IAM Summit, Identity Security, Joiner Mover Leaver, IGA, Access Certification, Identity Salon, IDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald, IAM, Cybersecurity, Non-Human Identity, Identity Practitioner, DIAF

In this special year-end WTA predictions podcast, tennis analysts Brenner Morton and Carson Nix break down their top 10 predictions for the 2026 WTA season. From the battle for world No.1 to the next generation of rising stars, they analyze the biggest storylines shaping women's tennis.Will Aryna Sabalenka hold onto the No.1 ranking, or can Iga Świątek reclaim the top spot in 2026? What does the future hold for teenage sensation Mirra Andreeva—continued rise to superstardom or a challenging season? Brenner and Carson also discuss Grand Slam contenders, potential breakout players, ranking shake-ups, and bold predictions that could redefine the WTA Tour.Perfect for WTA fans, tennis analysts, and anyone following women's professional tennis, this episode delivers expert insight, sharp debate, and forward-looking analysis ahead of the new season.Topics covered:2026 WTA rankings predictionsSabalenka vs Świątek: the fight for No.1Mirra Andreeva's trajectory in 2026What lies in store for Coco Gauff and Elena Rybakina?Breakout players and potential disappointmentsYear-end WTA storylines and bold forecasts

Experts decode American Society of Nephrology (ASN) 2025 immunoglobulin A (IgA) nephropathy trials: B‑cell therapies, who benefits, and practical steps to improve patient care. Credit available for this activity expires: 12/24/2026 Earn Credit / Learning Objectives & Disclosures: https://www.medscape.org/viewarticle/navigating-advances-iga-nephropathy-key-developments-2025a100105j?ecd=bdc_podcast_libsyn_mscpedu

The FiltrateJoel Topf‍ ‍@kidneyboy.bsky.social‬ (COI)Sophia Ambruso @sophia-kidney.bsky.socialSwapnil Hiremath @hswapnil.medsky.social and on LinkedInSpecial Guests Jonathan Barratt Professor of Renal Medicine, University of Leicester Google Scholar (COI: all the companies)Editing and Show Notes byNayan Arora @captainchloride.bsky.socialThe Kidney Connection written and performed by Tim YauShow NotesProteinuria Reduction as a Surrogate End Point in Trials of IgA Nephropathy (Aliza Thompson, 2019 PubMed)The number, quality, and coverage of randomized controlled trials in nephrology (PubMed 2004)A Randomized, Controlled Trial of Rituximab in IgA Nephropathy with Proteinuria and Renal Dysfunction (PubMed 2017)BLISS Belimumab in lupus nephritis (NephJC | PubMed)The Phase 2 trial of atacicept A phase 2b, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, clinical trial of atacicept for treatment of IgA nephropathy (PubMed)The phase 3 trial of atacicept, the subject of this podcast A Phase 3 Trial of Atacicept in Patients with IgA Nephropathy (PubMed | NephJC)The use of Gd-IgA1 in the Testing Trial Role of Systemic Glucocorticoids in Reducing IgA and Galactose-Deficient IgA1 Levels in IgA Nephropathy (PubMed)If you can't get enough Jon Barratt, take a look at his grand rounds at The University of Ottawa. Updates to the KDIGO Guidelines for the treatment of IgA nephropathy, with Prof Jonathan Barratt (YouTube)Tubular SecretionSwapnil Hiremath Pluribus on Apple TV (Wikipedia)Jon Barratt Lynyrd Skynyrd (Wikipedia) Slow Horses (Wikipedia) on AppleTVJoel Topf the new ASN

In this episode, we break down the WTA Match of the Year 2025 (No.1) — the unforgettable Australian Open semi-final between Madison Keys and Iga Świątek.

This week the gang talked about Fallout TV show, One Piece 3v3, Duskfade, Bullshit Jobs, Good. News:Expedition 33 IGA award rescindedhttps://www.polygon.com/clair-obscur-expedition-33-indie-game-awards-goty-rescinded/DoS 3 will be “next level”https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2025-12-16/-baldur-s-gate-3-maker-promises-divinity-will-be-next-level?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc2NTg5MzY2NSwiZXhwIjoxNzY2NDk4NDY1LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUN0Q4ODFLSVAzSTkwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJCMUVBQkI5NjQ2QUM0REZFQTJBRkI4MjI1MzgyQTJFQSJ9.D26Cs7X_5kH5HuJT2frcX_AMIXyuXWefzz5NK2VlXEI&leadSource=uverify+wall&embedded-checkout=trueLarian on AIhttps://x.com/LarAtLarian/status/2001011042642505833Switch cartridges https://x.com/Nintendeal/status/2001309529339023380Starfieldhttps://www.windowscentral.com/gaming/xbox/is-xboxs-starfield-going-to-get-its-cyberpunk-2-0-moment-rumors-swirl-around-a-secret-event-and-a-ps5-launchVince Zampella Deathhttps://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/video-game-developer-vince-zampella-crash-call-of-duty/3819576  Call the show 804-286-0626 Theme song remixed by http://www.Poisonfrog.bandcamp.com

Carlos Alcaraz and Juan Carlos Ferrero have officially parted ways after seven years. In this week's Served Five Setter, we break down the split heard 'round the world, including reactions from Toni Nadal and Feliciano Lopez. Is Carlitos ready for the next step without his mentor? Plus, a massive shakeup in Madrid as Garbiñe Muguruza takes charge, the ATP finally adopts a strict Heat Rule for 2025, and Iga Świątek gives back to the next generation in a big way. COMMENT BELOW What was your favorite racket story from this week?

Join hosts Jeff Steadman and Jim McDonald for a special live episode recorded on location at Identiverse DC! In this interactive session, Jeff and Jim host a game of "Majority Rules," where the audience competes not to answer correctly, but to guess the most popular answer in the room.The game covers a wide range of topics, from the trivial (worst conference swag and the official uniform of an IAM architect) to the technical (securing API keys, the biggest bottlenecks in IGA, and the primary causes of role explosion).Things get intense halfway through with the introduction of the Battle Royale rules, where picking the minority answer sends a player's score back to zero. Watch to see who survives the explosions and takes home the grand prize.Connect with us on LinkedIn:Jim McDonald: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimmcdonaldpmp/Jeff Steadman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffsteadman/Visit the show on the web at http://idacpodcast.comChapter Timestamps00:00 Intro to Identity at the Center Live00:36 Explaining the Rules of Majority Rules04:25 Question 1: The Worst Conference Swag06:00 Question 2: Replying to Access Denied07:05 Question 3: AI in Identity Management08:40 Question 4: Favorite MFA Method10:12 Question 5: Least Favorite Auth Factor11:15 Turning up the Heat: Battle Royale Mode12:10 Question 6: Why RBAC is Difficult at Scale13:30 Question 7: The IAM Architect Uniform14:50 Question 8: Best Place to Hide a Secret16:15 Question 9: Protocols You Secretly Miss17:25 Question 10: Most Hated Specialized Key18:40 Question 11: Conference Responsibilities20:00 Question 12: Securing API Keys21:20 Question 13: Secrets to Surviving Keynotes22:55 Question 14: The Biggest Bottleneck in IGA24:45 Question 15: Causes of Role Explosion25:50 Question 16: What Breaks First After a Schema Update26:40 Final Question: Fastest Way to Confuse a User27:40 Crowning the WinnerKeywordsIDAC, Identity at the Center, Jeff Steadman, Jim McDonald, Identiverse, Identiverse DC, IAM, Identity and Access Management, Cybersecurity, InfoSec Game Show, Live Podcast, Majority Rules, MFA, IGA, API Security, RBAC, Role Explosion, Tech Humor, Cyberrisk Alliance

In this 2025 Season Recap, Andy Roddick, Jon Wertheim, and Producer Mike dig into their “winners and unforced errors” of the tennis season: from successful US Open mixed doubles exhibition to the much-criticized extended Masters 1000 events. They debate the sport's failure to empower creators and players to use match footage, and the power struggle over prize money and revenue share at the Grand Slams. The crew also relives Sinner–Alcaraz's unforgettable Roland Garros epic, Coco Gauff's and Iga Świątek's seasons, Sabalenka's resilience, and the booming depth of American tennis on both tours. Finally, they zoom out to why tennis is “having a massive moment” globally and why that makes the structural mistakes and missed opportunities even more frustrating. COMMENT BELOW What was your biggest “winner” and “unforced error” of the 2025 tennis season?

Susan Diane Wolff Cappel was a 19‑year‑old woman from Newcomerstown, Ohio, who mysteriously disappeared on March 16, 1982. She was last seen leaving her job at the local IGA grocery store, where witnesses reported her speaking briefly with the driver of an older model, light blue car before getting inside. She has never been seen again. If you have any information about why Susan went missing or who was responsible for her disappearance, please call the Tuscarawas County Sheriff's Office @ 330-339-2000 or the Newcomerstown Police Department @ 740-498-6161. ⁠Click here⁠ to join our Patreon.  ⁠Click here⁠ to get your own Inhuman merch.  Connect with us on ⁠Instagram⁠ and join our ⁠Facebook group⁠.  To submit listener stories or case suggestions, and to see all sources for this episode: ⁠https://www.inhumanpodcast.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices