Podcasts about Nepal

In this week's Immigration Lawyer's Toolbox® Podcast, host John Q. Khosravi, Esq. shares the latest tips, updates, and insights for immigration lawyers and practitioners. Whether you're an experienced attorney, a paralegal, or someone exploring the immigration field, this episode delivers practical knowledge you can apply right away. Stay sharp, stay informed, and keep your practice ahead of the curve with this week's Toolbox update. Show notes: (1) All Visas Under review (2) No more "Trucker Visas" (3) Matter of Buri Mora (4) TPS Termination for Nepal, Honduras and Nicaragua (5) Travel Ban Cables (6) IJ Issue Removal Order without time to respond  (7) Website attention for Good Moral Character  Start your Business Immigration Practice! (US LAWYERS ONLY - SCREENING REQUIRED): E-2 Course EB-1A Course  Get the Toolbox Magazine!  Join our community (Lawyers Only)  Get Started in Immigration Law! The Marriage/Family-Based Green Card course is for you YouTube | Spotify | iTunes Our Website: ImmigrationLawyersToolbox.com Not legal advice. Consult with an Attorney. Attorney Advertisement. #podcaster #Lawyer #ImmigrationLawyer #Interview #Immigration #ImmigrationAttorney #USImmigration #ImmigrationLaw #ImmigrationLawyersToolbox

Hoje eu recebo duas mulheres com histórias de vida tão distintas quanto impressionantes. As duas tiveram contato com os esportes na infância, mas nada que as envolvesse muito além das aulas de educação física, natação ou ginástica artística. Até que, um dia, os pais de uma delas lhe fizeram um convite inusitado: caminhar com eles até o acampamento base do Everest. Com 15 anos, sem ter muita noção da aventura, ela aceitou. Durante a caminhada, conheceu uma escaladora e se encantou com suas histórias. Ali nasceu o desejo de se aprofundar no montanhismo e um dia alcançar o cume da maior montanha do mundo. Seus pais embarcaram na ideia e, juntos, deram início ao projeto de escalar os sete cumes mais altos de cada continente. Um ano depois, ela se tornaria a brasileira mais jovem a subir o Kilimanjaro e, nos anos seguintes, ao lado do pai, encarou outras  quatro montanhas até chegar ao topo do Everest, em 2018, como a brasileira mais jovem a conquistar esse feito. Nesse caminho, também descobriu outra paixão: a dança, que se tornaria uma parte fundamental da sua vida. Minha outra convidada buscou as trilhas como uma forma de aliviar o estresse e a ansiedade que vieram com a sua ascensão profissional. Sentiu os benefícios e, pouco a pouco, foi se aventurando mais, até participar também da caminhada até o acampamento base do Everest. A experiência foi transformadora e despertou nela a vontade de ir além. Em um curso de escalada em rocha, conheceu um montanhista experiente que, anos depois, se tornaria seu marido. Juntos, criaram um ousado desafio: escalar o Everest e o Lhotse em menos de 24 horas. Dois anos de preparação culminaram na realização do projeto e em dois recordes — tornaram-se o primeiro casal a conquistar esse feito e ela, a primeira mulher sul-americana. Nenhuma das duas veio de uma família de montanhistas ou de um ambiente onde o alpinismo fosse algo comum. Romperam barreiras como o medo, o preconceito e abriram espaço num cenário historicamente masculino. São exemplos claros de como paixão, foco e uma visão ampliada de mundo podem transformar vidas. Este ano, elas se uniram em um projeto inédito. Junto com as montanhistas Daniela Furusawa e Vanessa de Oliveira, farão o trekking e a escalada do Himlung Himal, no Nepal, com 7.126 metros de altitude. O diferencial: toda a equipe será formada por mulheres - guias, carregadoras e equipe de cozinha. Comigo aqui a artista do movimento, fotógrafa, montanhista, graduada em Dança pela Unicamp, que equilibra projetos artísticos e pesquisas com a coordenação de festivais e workshops internacionais, a joseense Ayesha Melo Zangaro; e a engenheira eletricista, com especialização em Gestão e Estratégia de Empresas pela Unicamp, MBA em Finanças Corporativas e Finanças Pessoais, montanhista e planejadora financeira, a guaxupeana Olívia Bonfim Melo. Inspire-se! A 2 Peaks Bikes é a importadora e distribuidora oficial no Brasil da Factor Bikes, Santa Cruz Bikes e de diversas outras marcas e conta com três lojas: Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo e Los Angeles. Lá, ninguém vende o que não conhece: todo produto é testado por quem realmente pedala.  A 2 Peaks Bikes foi pensada e criada para resolver os desafios de quem leva o pedal a sério — seja no asfalto, na terra ou na trilha. Mas também acolhe o ciclista urbano, o iniciante e até a criança que está começando a brincar de pedalar. Para a 2 Peaks, todo ciclista é bem-vindo.  Eu convido você a conhecer a 2 Peaks Bikes, distribuidora oficial da Factor e Santa Cruz Bikes no Brasil. @2peaksbikes @2peaksbikesla SIGA e COMPARTILHE o Endörfina através do seu app preferido de podcasts. Contribua também com este projeto através do Apoia.se.    

Digree Rai and her son David are farmers in Truro. They emigrated here from Nepal in 2011 and they say there's one crop that's common there that almost no one recognizes on the Cape.

Digree Rai and her son David are farmers in Truro. They emigrated here from Nepal in 2011 and they say there's one crop that's common there that almost no one recognizes on the Cape.

Welcome to the 45th episode in the “Prison Pulpit” series on the China Compass podcast on the Fight Laugh Feast network! I'm your China travel guide, Missionary Ben, recording today from Malaysia. Follow and/or message me on Twitter/X (@chinaadventures) where I post (among other things) daily reminders to pray for China.You can also email me @ bfwesten at gmail dot com. Last but not least, to learn more about our ministry endeavors or get one of my missionary biographies, visit PrayGiveGo.us! Why did I begin this weekly Prison Pulpit series? The goal is to remind us all to pray for persecuted pastors and believers as Hebrews 13:3 teaches us to do (“as bound with them”). I do this (in part) by sharing Pastor Wang Yi’s published writings in China, as well as anecdotes from other persecuted ministers who have gone before, such as Richard Wurmbrand. Pray for Brother Daniel in Nepal! (Heb 13:3) Blessed Bitterness https://chinacall.substack.com/p/blessed-bitterness Grandma Mabel: More Than Tongue Can Tell https://chinacall.substack.com/p/more-than-tongue-can-tell Follow China Compass Follow or subscribe to China Compass on whichever platform you use. You can also send any questions or comments on X: @chinaadventures or via email (bfwesten at gmail dot com). Hebrews 13:3!

Welcome to the 45th episode in the “Prison Pulpit” series on the China Compass podcast on the Fight Laugh Feast network! I'm your China travel guide, Missionary Ben, recording today from Malaysia. Follow and/or message me on Twitter/X (@chinaadventures) where I post (among other things) daily reminders to pray for China.You can also email me @ bfwesten at gmail dot com. Last but not least, to learn more about our ministry endeavors or get one of my missionary biographies, visit PrayGiveGo.us! Why did I begin this weekly Prison Pulpit series? The goal is to remind us all to pray for persecuted pastors and believers as Hebrews 13:3 teaches us to do (“as bound with them”). I do this (in part) by sharing Pastor Wang Yi’s published writings in China, as well as anecdotes from other persecuted ministers who have gone before, such as Richard Wurmbrand. Pray for Brother Daniel in Nepal! (Heb 13:3) Blessed Bitterness https://chinacall.substack.com/p/blessed-bitterness Grandma Mabel: More Than Tongue Can Tell https://chinacall.substack.com/p/more-than-tongue-can-tell Follow China Compass Follow or subscribe to China Compass on whichever platform you use. You can also send any questions or comments on X: @chinaadventures or via email (bfwesten at gmail dot com). Hebrews 13:3!

This week on VOMAus Radio, hear part two from Patrick as he shares remarkable stories from the field, of persecution, forgiveness and overcoming, with God's help and strength. You will be amazed and strengthened by the testimonies of Rachana, whose husband tried to kill her after she became a Christian, and Nanda, once a devout Buddhist priest who lost his prominence and reputation for Jesus. Be encouraged as you hear how God is at work in this ‘Hostile' nation. We hope it spurs you on to pray for believers in this nation and pray for VOM Australia too, as we seek to minister for those who suffer for His name.

It's Tuesday, August 26th, A.D. 2025. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 140 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com.  I'm Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com) By Kevin Swanson Women in India raped, murdered, and secretly buried A temple maintenance man in India is under arrest, after he testified of hundreds of women who were allegedly raped, murdered, and secretly buried around the small religious town of Dharmasthala. The BBC reports that nearly 100 bone fragments of human remains have already been found at two spots the man identified. The employee says he worked for the temple administration between 1995 and 2014, when he was allegedly coerced into burying the bodies. In 2025, 950 attacks on Christians in India For the first five months of 2025, Open Doors reports 950 attacks on Christians in India, which accounts for a rate of 2,300 per year. According to this reliable source, “These incidents included attacks, threats to abandon the Christian faith, excommunication, social boycotts, halting prayer services and church closures. Throughout India, 200 cases have been filed against pastors and believers based on fabricated conversion allegations.” India rated as the worst in The Worldview's international morality index  -- or the Evil Index -- released last month. India rated high in persecuting Christians, corruption perceptions, as well as supporting abortion and homosexuality. Most evil nations vs. Best behaved nations The highest rated nations for immorality were India, North Korea, Mexico, Columbia, Vietnam, Pakistan, Nepal, Myanmar, Somalia, Nicaragua, China, and Nigeria. Best nations on the list were Armenia, Eastern European nations, Israel, Japan, and Singapore. Among European nations, Russia, Greenland, and Belgium were rated poorly. Switzerland and Ireland rated best on this International Morality Index.  The nation of Chile lost the most ground over the last eight years. The country was rated at the top of the morality index eight years ago, and has dropped to the 66th position, due largely to approving abortion in 2017, and adopting homosexual faux-marriage in 2022.   The International Morality Index considers nations on the basis of the sixth, seventh, and eighth commandments of God's law as well as the persecution of Christians.  John 1:29 says, “But let us remember, this is why Jesus came. . . John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!'” Kenyan pro-lifers object to Bill Gates' abortion kill pills Kenyan pro-lifers have issued a petition addressed to Kenya's Ministry of Health, complaining of IPAS Africa Alliance's distribution of abortion kill pills throughout the country.   The petition accuses IPAS of breaking Kenya's laws, and flooding schools and pharmacies with the kill pill.   The Citizen Go petition notes that “Kenya's laws protect unborn life, but IPAS is exploiting loopholes. They hand out abortion pills without scans, prescriptions, or medical supervision.” IPAS Africa Alliance is reportedly funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Mexican drug cartel leader pled guilty “Be sure your sins will find you out.” That's what Number 32:23 warns. The founder of the largest drug cartel in the world, Mexican cartel kingpin Isamel “El Mayo” Zambada, pled guilty to federal charges yesterday, reports the Associated Press. He is charged with organizing a drug smuggling operation into the US, called the Sinaloa cartel.   His partner Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman was found guilty of similar charges in 2019. The Mexican Sinoloa cartel is known for assassinations, tortures, and kidnappings — terrorizing parts of the southern border areas of Mexico and Texas. Today, first time home purchase costs double rent For the first time in almost 20 years, the price of buying an entry-level home is double the expense of renting. Austin, Denver, Las Vegas, and Phoenix are some of the worst places for unaffordable properties for first-time buyers. 5% of Canadian deaths due to euthanasia Canada's Doctor Assisted Deaths now account for 5% of total deaths for the nation — more than the deaths attributed to diabetes and Alzheimer's combined.   Persons suffering solely from some sort of mental illness will be able to gain state medical help to kill themselves on March 17, 2027. In related news, the United Kingdom Bill on euthanasia has passed the House of Commons, and now has been presented to the House of Lords. United Kingdom legislature to dismiss jail time for violent offenders And finally, the United Kingdom government has come up with a plan to reduce prison overcrowding by dismissing jail time altogether for thousands of sex offenders, drug dealers, and violent criminals. The Sentencing Bill will be considered next month by parliament, reports The Times.  Exodus 22:1  provides God's wisdom in such matters. “If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and slaughters it or sells it, he shall restore five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep.” Close And that's The Worldview on this Tuesday, August 26th, in the year of our Lord 2025. Follow us on X or subscribe for free by Spotify, Amazon Music, or by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com.  I'm Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.

Join us for a recap of the 2025 Everest season with host Steve House, coach Martin Zohr, and Everest expert Alan Arnette. They discuss key themes of the year, wind, drones, and new climbing aids like xenon gas, plus the challenges of frostbite, illness, and unpredictable weather. The conversation covers how drones improved safety and waste removal but also brought noise, and examines the ethics, risks, and potential of rapid-ascent technologies. Martin and Alan share coaching insights, stressing long-term preparation, realistic expectations, and defining success beyond summiting. They close with predictions for 2026, including possible new regulations, shifting climbing demographics, and emerging trends in high-altitude mountaineering.If you'd like to check out our special offer for podcast listeners visit: uphillathlete.com/letsgoYou can also write to us at coach@uphillathlete.com

AI Upscaling & Survival in Nepal's Tech Landscape. In this insightful video, IT expert Dovan Rai dives deep into the rapid socio-technological evolution of AI and its profound impact on Nepal's digital revolution. Explore how artificial intelligence is reshaping industries, driving digitalization, and transforming data storage centers in Nepal. Dovan Rai discusses the opportunities and risks associated with the growth of AI, especially focusing on Nepal's emerging data infrastructure. This video also covers the realities of Nepal's data storage centers — evaluating whether they are an asset or a potential liability, analyzing high energy consumption, limited job creation, and how these centers fit into the broader tech ecosystem. Learn about AI cognition risks brought by outsourcing, as well as the challenges and chances AI presents for Nepal's survival in a rapidly changing technological landscape. Whether you're interested in AI's consciousness, machine learning bias, or Nepal's standing amidst Silicon Valley dreams and global digital trends, Dovan Rai provides expert commentary and actionable insights. Stay informed on how Nepal can balance AI upscaling with sustainable growth, and what this means for the country's future in big tech. Perfect for anyone passionate about technology, AI advancements, and Nepal's digital transformation in 2025. GET CONNECTED WITH Dovan Rai: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1BtrsEP4V8/  

Send us a textYou might have guessed from the headline for this episode that I am leaving Nepal. It's a family move actually, back to my home country of Canada. Of course I will miss Nepal, where I've now spent 14 years of my life, but I'm confident we'll be back one day. I will also miss doing this: speaking to all of you every couple of weeks about this fascinating place and its people. Thank you for taking the time to listen.I'm not sure what the next episode of Nepal Now will sound like, or when I'll be able to post it, but I can say 100% that there will be another one. So keep checking this feed. While waiting you can explore our back catalogue of more than 100 episodes since 2020, which you can listen to for free. So, Nepal Now… from Canada. I'm not yet sure what that sounds like. Could I actually pull off a Nepal-focused podcast from 11,000 km away? I could simply change the focus to Nepalis in Canada. That would certainly be easier — but I have the feeling that you all might tire of hearing those stories rather quickly. Support the showShow your love by sending this episode to someone who you think might be interested or by sharing it on social media:LinkedInInstagram BlueSkyFacebook Music by audionautix.com.Thank you to PEI in Bakhundole for the use of their studios. Nepal Now is produced and hosted by Marty Logan.

In this episode, Chestly Lunday sits down with Jacob Lierz, Missions Pastor at LifeMission Church in Kansas City, to challenge conventional thinking on global missions. Jacob shares his powerful journey—from becoming a Christian at his home church to planting a church in a refugee camp in Djibouti, and now leading a reimagined missions strategy that prioritizes family-based care over institutional orphanages.They unpack the uncomfortable truths behind short-term trips, the harmful unintended consequences of orphanage-based missions, and why local churches need a new framework for global outreach. Jacob offers a compelling call to action for church planters: don't delay global engagement. Prayer, generosity, and sending are part of your church's DNA from day one.They also talk about reverse culture shock, raising globally-minded kids, and how poverty in the developing world compares to American need. Whether you're planting in the inner city or training teams for Nepal, this episode will stretch your perspective—and maybe your travel budget.Resources and Links Mentioned in this Episode:To connect with Jacob or learn more, email him at jacob.lierz@lifemission.churchWhen Helping Hurts by Steve Corbett and Brian FikkertReliant Mission: reliant.org/cppNewBreed TrainingThanks for listening to the church planter podcast. We're here to help you go where no one else is going and do what no one else is doing to reach people, no one else is reaching.Make sure to review and subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast service to help us connect with more church planters.

'What can we do to bring healing and protection to the earth?'... the question that started a 30+ year journey {and still going} of placing literal clay vases around the world to help do just that.  In this episode, Rebekka sits down with Cynthia Jurs to explore how deep spiritual practice can meet the urgent call of our planet. Cynthia shares the story behind her book Summoned by the Earth, her life-changing encounter with a lama in a cave in Nepal [to whom she asked the question], and how the sacred practice of Earth Treasure Vases has carried her around the globe in service to healing.Together, Rebekka and Cynthia reflect on:What it means to name Gaia as our guruHow personal callings may guide us into actionThe balance between meditation, sacred activism, and everyday choicesSimple but profound ways anyone can reconnect with the Earth and find their own path of serviceand more!This conversation is an invitation to listen more deeply to the Earth, to honor the callings of your own heart, and to remember that each of us is a holy vessel for healing.>> Sublime Mother Gaia Online Retreat : August 28 - 31 : info & registration here>> The Book : 'Summoned By The Earth, Becoming a Holy Vessel for Healing Our World' : purchase & explore more hereAnd Learn more about Cynthia's work and join the Global Healing Community at gaiamandala.net_______________________________________________REBEKKA'S LINKS : *NEW* FEEL 5 WEEK COACHING PROGRAM :: COMING SEPTEMBER! WORK WITH REBEKKA :: START HERE ⚡️ MEMBERSHIP :: RADICAL ALIVENESS :: here

Horaa Esports is a top Nepalese PUBG Mobile team, founded by Sanjan Gautam, popularly known by his online alias CR7 Horaa. The team ranked 9th in the world at the 2025 PUBG Mobile World Cup. Featuring players NoFear, HaitDami, SleepY, JiGGL3, SkY, and coach MafiaNinja, Horaa Esports is renowned for its skill, teamwork, and strong international presence, inspiring a new generation of gamers in Nepal.

Sanjaya Shrestha is a Nepali pop singer and songwriter best known for his evergreen hit Maya Meri Maya. He formed the fusion band Crossroads in 1992, blending Western pop with Nepali musical elements. Beyond music, Shrestha briefly entered politics in 2013, contesting elections from Kathmandu under the Rastriya Prajatantra Party. He remains a notable figure in Nepal's pop music history, remembered for shaping the early wave of modern Nepali pop.

Inside Hip Hop with Nasty: Virality, Angel Numbers & MMA Training. In this exclusive podcast, rapper Nasty dives deep into the realities of the hip hop industry, sharing insights on writing, consistency, and chasing virality. He discusses the important role virality plays in the music world and how it must be meaningful, inspired by his mentor Yama dai. Nasty also opens up about the restrictions and obligations artists face in hip hop today, and how fitness and discipline through MMA training shape his life and music. The conversation shifts to deeper topics such as angel numbers and their significance, superstition, and raising personal standards after the historic Grammy win by Rabindra. Nasty reflects on censorship, use of controversial language, and the ongoing fight for freedom of speech in Nepal's music scene. The discussion highlights the challenges of expressing oneself fully while respecting cultural sensitivities. Whether you're a hip hop fan or interested in the evolving landscape of music freedom and personal growth, this podcast offers a rare look at Nasty's journey, his upcoming album, and his ambitions to raise Nepalese hip hop to global recognition. Tune in for an inspiring blend of music, lifestyle, discipline, and social commentary. GET CONNECTED WITH Nasty: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nastylikenasty/  

While I discuss often how I prepared for an emergency while working in the World Trade Center I, of course, did not anticipate anything happening that would threaten my life. However, when a major emergency occurred, I was in fact ready. I escaped and survived. Since September 11, 2001, I have met many people who in one way or another work to help others plan for emergencies. Sometimes these people are taken seriously and, all too often, they are ignored.   I never truly understood the difference between emergency preparedness and business continuity until I had the opportunity to have this episode's guest, Chris Miller, on Unstoppable Mindset. I met Chris as a result of a talk I gave in October 2024 at the conference on Resilience sponsored in London England by the Business Continuity Institute.   Chris was born and lived in Australia growing up and, in fact, still resides there. After high school she joined the police where she quickly became involved in search and rescue operations. As we learn, she came by this interest honestly as her father and grandfather also were involved in one way or another in law enforcement and search and rescue.   Over time Chris became knowledgeable and involved in training people about the concept of emergency preparedness.   Later she expanded her horizons to become more involved in business continuity. As Chris explains it, emergency preparedness is more of a macro view of keeping all people safe and emergency preparedness aware. Business Continuity is more of a topic that deals with one business at a time including preparing by customizing preparedness based on the needs of that business.   Today Chris is a much sought after consultant. She has helped many businesses, small and large, to develop continuity plans to be invoked in case of emergencies that could come from any direction.     About the Guest:   Chris has decades of experience in all aspects of emergency and risk management including enterprise risk management. For 20 years, she specialised in ‘full cycle' business continuity management, organisational resilience, facilitating simulation exercises and after-action reviews.   From January 2022 to July 2024, Chris worked as a Short-Term Consultant (STC) with the World Bank Group in Timor-Leste, the Kingdom of Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) and the South Asia Region (SAR) countries – Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Thailand.   Other clients have ranged in size from 2 to more than 100,000 employees. She has worked with large corporates such as NewsCorp; not for profits; and governments in Australia and beyond.   Chris has received several awards for her work in business continuity and emergency management. Chris has presented at more than 100 conferences, facilitated hundreds of workshops and other training, in person and virtually. In 2023, Chris became the first woman to volunteer to become National President and chair the Board of the Australasian Institute of Emergency Services (AIES) in its soon to be 50-year history.   Ways to connect with Chris:   https://b4crisis.com.au/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrismillerb4crisis/ with 10+K followers https://x.com/B4Crisis with 1990 followers     About the Host:   Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.   Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards.   https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/   accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/       Thanks for listening!   Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!   Subscribe to the podcast   If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset .   Leave us an Apple Podcasts review   Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.       Transcription Notes:   Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us. . Well, hi everyone, and I want to welcome you to unstoppable mindset where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet, and today, I guess we get to talk about the unexpected, because we're going to be chatting with Chris Miller. Chris is in Australia and has been very heavily involved in business continuity and emergency management, and we'll talk about all that. But what that really comes down to is that she gets to deal with helping to try to anticipate the unexpected when it comes to organizations and others in terms of dealing with emergencies and preparing for them. I have a little bit of sympathy and understanding about that myself, as you all know, because of the World Trade Center, and we got to talk about it in London last October at the Business Continuity Institute, which was kind of fun. And so we get to now talk about it some more. So Chris, welcome to unstoppable mindset. We're glad you're here.   Chris Miller ** 02:22 Oh, thanks very much, Michael, and I was very impressed by your presentation, because in the emergency space, preparedness is everything that is the real return on investment. So you were wonderful case study of preparedness.   Michael Hingson ** 02:37 Well, thank you. Now I forget were you there or were you listening or watching virtually.   Chris Miller ** 02:42 I was virtual that time. I have been there in person for the events in London and elsewhere. Sometimes they're not in London, sometimes in Birmingham and other major cities, yeah, but yeah, I have actually attended in person on one occasion. So it's a long trip to go to London to go.   Michael Hingson ** 03:03 Yeah, it is. It's a little bit of a long trip, but still, it's something that, it is a subject worth talking about, needless to say,   Chris Miller ** 03:13 Absolutely, and it's one that I've been focusing on for more than 50 years.   Michael Hingson ** 03:18 Goodness, well, and emergencies have have been around for even longer, but certainly we've had our share of emergencies in the last 50 years.   Chris Miller ** 03:30 Sure have in your country and mine, yeah.   Michael Hingson ** 03:34 Well, let's start maybe, as I love to do, tell us a little bit about the early Chris growing up and all that sort of stuff that's funny to talk about the early days.   Chris Miller ** 03:47 Well, I came from a family that loved the mountains, and so it was sort of natural that I would sort of grow up in the mountains close to where I was born, in Brisbane and southeast Queensland. And we have a series of what we call coastal ranges, or border ranges, between Queensland and New South Wales, which are two of the largest states in Australia. And so I spent a lot of time hunting around there. So I sort of fell into emergency management just by virtue of my parents love of the mountains and my familiarity with them and and then I joined the police, and in no time at all, I was training other people to do search and rescues. And that was me in the early days.   Michael Hingson ** 04:31 What got you involved in dealing with search and rescue?   Chris Miller ** 04:36 Oh, it was volunteer in those days. It still is now actually with the State Emergency Service, but it's sort of become more formalized. It used to be sort of, you know, friends and family and people that knew the territory would help out from somebody managed to get themselves a bit tangled up some of those coastal ranges, even to this day, I. You can't use GPS because it's rain forest, and so the rain forest canopy is so dense that you'd have to cut trees down, and it's a national park, you can't do that and or climb the tree. Good luck with that one. You still can't get satellite coverage, so you actually have to know the country. But what?   Michael Hingson ** 05:24 What caused you to actually decide to take that up or volunteer to do that? That's, you know, pretty, pretty interesting, I would think, but certainly something that most people don't tend to do.   Chris Miller ** 05:38 Well, my family's interest in there. My parents have always been very community minded, so, you know, and it's the Australian way, if someone needs help and you can help, you throw them do so,   Michael Hingson ** 05:51 okay, that makes sense. So you joined the police, and you got very much involved in in dealing with search and rescue. And I would presume, knowing you, that you became pretty much an expert in it as much as one can.   Chris Miller ** 06:06 Oh, well, I wouldn't be so reckless as to say experts, because there's always so much to learn. And, yeah, and the systems keep changing. I mean, with GPS and and, for instance, in the early days of search and rescue helicopters were a rare treat. Now they're sort of part of the fabric of things. And now there's drones, and there's all sorts of high tech solutions that have come into the field in the lengthy time that I've been involved in. It's certainly not just ramping around the bush and hoping to find someone it's a lot more complex, but   Michael Hingson ** 06:41 as you but as you pointed out, there are still places where all the tech in the world isn't necessarily going to help. Is it   Chris Miller ** 06:52 exactly and interestingly, my mother in her teenage years, was involved with a fellow called Bernard O'Reilly, and he did a fantastic rescue of a plane crash survivors and and he he claimed that he saw a burnt tree in the distance. Well, I've stood on the Rift Valley where he claimed to see the burnt tree, and, my goodness, he's also it must have been better than mine, because it's a long way, but he was a great believer in God, and he believed that God led him to these people, and he saved them. And it's fascinating to see how many people, over the years, have done these amazing things. And Bernard was a very low key sort of fellow, never one to sort of see publicity, even though he got more than He probably wanted. And they've been television series and movies and, goodness knows, books, many books written about this amazing rescue. So I sort of grew up with these stories of these amazing rescues. And my father came from Tasmania, where his best friend David ended up mountain rescue. So I sort of was born into it. It was probably in my genes, and it just no escaping   Michael Hingson ** 08:12 you came into it naturally, needless to say, so that just out of curiosity, you can answer or not. But where does all of this put you in terms of believing in God,   Chris Miller ** 08:25 oh, well, there's probably been points in my life where I've been more of a believer than ever.   Michael Hingson ** 08:33 Yeah. Well, there. There are a lot of things that happen that often times we we seem not to be able to explain, and we we chalk it up to God's providence. So I suppose you can take that as you will. I've talked about it before on unstoppable mindset, but one of my favorite stories of the World Trade Center on September 11 was a woman who normally got up at seven every morning. She got up, got dressed, went to the World Trade Center where she worked. I forget what floor she was on, but she was above where the planes would have hit, and did hit. But on this particular day, for some reason, she didn't set her alarm to go off at 7am she set it accidentally to go off at 7pm so she didn't get up in time, and she survived and wasn't in the World Trade Center at all. So what was that? You know, they're just so many stories like that, and it, it certainly is a reason to keep an open mind about things nevertheless,   Chris Miller ** 09:39 well, and I've also worked with a lot of Aboriginal people and with the World Bank, with with other people that have, perhaps beliefs that are different to what we might consider more traditional beliefs in Western society. And it's interesting how their spirituality their belief system. Yeah. Has often guided them too soon.   Michael Hingson ** 10:03 Well, there's, there's something to be said for that. Needless to say, well, so you, did you go to college? Or did you go out of whatever high school type things and then go into the police? Or what?   Chris Miller ** 10:18 Um, yes, I joined the police from high school, I completed my high school graduation, as you call it in America, police academy, where in Brisbane, Oxley and then the Queensland Police Academy, and subsequent to that, I went to university part time while I was a police officer, and graduated and so on and so   Michael Hingson ** 10:41 on. So you eventually did get a college degree.   10:45 True, okay,   Michael Hingson ** 10:48 well, but you were also working, so that must have been pretty satisfying to do,   Chris Miller ** 10:55 but, but it was tricky to especially when you're on shift work trying to going to excuse me, study and and hold on a more than full time job?   Michael Hingson ** 11:09 Yeah, had to be a challenge. It was,   Chris Miller ** 11:13 but it was worth it and, and I often think about my degree and the learnings I did psychology and sociology and then how it I often think a university degree isn't so much the content, it's it's the discipline and the and the analysis and research and all the skills that you Get as part of the the process. It's important.   Michael Hingson ** 11:42 Yeah, I agree. I think that a good part of what you do in college is you learn all about analysis, you learn about research, you learn about some of these things which are not necessarily talked about a lot, but if you you do what you're supposed to do. Well those are, are certainly traits that you learn and things that you you develop in the way of tools that can help you once you graduate,   Chris Miller ** 12:13 absolutely and continue to be valuable and and this was sort of reinforced in the years when I was post graduate at the University of Queensland, and was, was one of the representatives on the arts faculty board, where we spend a lot of time actually thinking about, you know, what is education? What are we trying to achieve here? Not just be a degree factory, but what are we actually trying to share with the students to make them better citizens and contribute in various ways.   Michael Hingson ** 12:50 Yeah, I know that last year, I was inducted as an alumni member of the Honor Society, phi, beta, kappa, and I was also asked to deliver the keynote speech at the induction dinner for all of the the students and me who were inducted into phi, Beta Kappa last June. And one of the things that I talked about was something that I've held dear for a long time, ever since I was in college, a number of my professors in physics said to all of us, one of the things that you really need to do is to pay attention to details. It isn't enough to get the numeric mathematical answer correct. You have to do things like get the units correct. So for example, if you're talking about acceleration, you need to make sure that it comes out meters per second squared. It isn't just getting a number, but you've got to have the units and other things that that you deal with. You have to pay attention to the details. And frankly, that has always been something that has stuck with me. I don't, and I'm sure that it does with other people, but it's always been something that I held dear, and I talked about that because that was one of the most important things that I learned out of college, and it is one of the most important things that helped me survive on September 11, because it is all about paying attention to the details and really learning what you can about whatever you need to learn, and making sure that you you have all the information, and you get all the information that you can   Chris Miller ** 14:34 absolutely and in the emergency space, it's it's learning from what's happened and right, even Though many of the emergencies that we deal with, sadly, people die or get badly injured or significant harm to their lives, lifestyle and economy and so on, I often think that the return for them is that we learn to do better next. Time that we capture the lessons and we take them from just lessons identified to lessons learned, where we make real, significant changes about how we do things. And you've spoken often about 911 and of course, in Australia, we've been more than passingly interested in what the hell happened there. Yeah, in terms of emergency management too, because, as I understand it, you had 20, 479, months of fire fighting in the tunnels. And of course, we've thought a lot about that. In Australia, we have multi story buildings in some of our major cities. What if some unpleasant people decided to bring some of them down? They would be on top of some of our important infrastructure, such as Metro tunnels and so on. Could we manage to do 20, 479, months of fire fighting, and how would that work? Do we have the resources? How could we deploy people to make that possible? So even when it isn't in your own country, you're learning from other people, from agencies, to prepare your country and your situation in a state of readiness. Should something unpleasant   Michael Hingson ** 16:16 happen? I wonder, speaking of tunnels, that's just popped into my head. So I'll ask it. I wonder about, you know, we have this war in the Middle East, the Israeli Hamas war. What have we learned about or from all of the tunnels that Hamas has dug in in Gaza and so on? What? What does all that teach us regarding emergency preparedness and so on, or does it   Chris Miller ** 16:46 presently teaches us a lot about military preparedness. And you know, your your enemy suddenly, suddenly popping up out of the out of the under underground to take you on, as they've been doing with the idea as I understand it,   Michael Hingson ** 17:03 yeah. But also,   Chris Miller ** 17:06 you know, simplistic solutions, like some people said, Well, why don't you just flood the tunnels and that'll deal with them. Except the small problem is, if you did that, you would actually make the land unlivable for many years because of salination. So it just raises the questions that there are no simple solutions to these challenging problems in defense and emergency management. And back to your point about detail, you need to think about all your options very carefully. And one of the things that I often do with senior people is beware of one track thinking. There is no one solution to any number of emergencies. You should be thinking as broadly as possible and bringing bringing in the pluses and minuses of each of those solutions before you make fairly drastic choices that could have long term consequences, you know, like the example of the possible flooding of the tunnel, sounds like a simple idea and has some appeal, but there's lots of downsides to   Michael Hingson ** 18:10 much less, the fact that there might very well be people down there that you don't want to see, perishes,   Chris Miller ** 18:20 yeah, return to their families. I'm sure they'd like that. And there may be other people, I understand that they've been running medical facilities and doing all sorts of clever things in the tunnel. And those people are not combatants. They're actually trying to help you, right?   Michael Hingson ** 18:37 Yeah, so it is one of those things that really points out that no solutions are necessarily easy at all, and we need to think pretty carefully about what we do, because otherwise there could be a lot of serious problems. And you're right   Chris Miller ** 18:55 exactly, and there's a lot of hard choices and often made hastily in emergency management, and this is one of the reasons why I've been a big defender of the recovery elements being involved in emergency management. You need to recovery people in the response activities too, because sometimes some of the choices you make in response might seem wonderful at the time, but are absolutely devastating in the recovery space, right?   Michael Hingson ** 19:25 Do you find that when you're in an emergency situation that you are afraid, or are you not afraid? Or have you just learned to control fear, and I don't mean just in a in a negative way, but have you learned to control sphere so that you use it as a tool, as opposed to it just overwhelming you.   Chris Miller ** 19:49 Yeah, sometimes the fee sort of kicks in afterwards, because often in the actual heat of the moment, you're so focused on on dealing with the problem. Problem that you really don't have time to be scared about it. Just have to deal with it and get on to next problem, because they're usually coming at you in a in a pretty tsunami like why? If it's a major incident, you've got a lot happening very quickly, and decisions need to be made quickly and often with less of the facts and you'd like to have at your fingertips to make some fairly life changing decisions for some people. But I would think what in quite tricky,   Michael Hingson ** 20:33 yeah, but I would think what that means is that you learn to control fear and not let it overwhelm you, but you learn that, yeah, it's there, but you use it to aid you, and you use it to help move you to make the decisions as best you can, as opposed to not being able to make decisions because you're too fearful,   Chris Miller ** 21:00 right? And decision paralysis can be a real issue. I remember undertaking an exercise some years back where a quite senior person called me into his office when it was over, was just tabletop, and he said, I'm not it. And I went. He said, I'm not really a crisis manager. I'm good in a business as usual situation where I have all the facts before me, and usually my staff have had weeks, months to prepare a detailed brief, provide me with options and recommendations I make a sensible decision, so I'm not really good on the fly. This is not me and and that's what we've been exercising. Was a senior team making decisions rather quickly, and he was mature enough person to realize that that wasn't really his skill set,   Michael Hingson ** 21:55 his skill set, but he said,   Chris Miller ** 21:59 he said, but I've got a solution. Oh, good, my head of property. Now, in many of the businesses I've worked with, the head of property, it HR, work, health and safety, security, all sorts of things go wrong in their day. You know, they can, they can come to the office and they think they're going to do, you know, this my to do list, and then all of a sudden, some new problem appears that they must deal with immediately. So they're often really good at dealing with whatever the hell today's crisis is. Now, it may not be enough to activate business continuity plan, but it's what I call elasticity of your business as usual. So you think you're going to be doing X, but you're doing x plus y, because something's happened, right? And you just reach out and deal with it. And those people do that almost on a daily basis, particularly if it's a large business. For instance, I worked with one business that had 155 locations in Australia? Well, chances are something will go wrong in one of those 155 locations in any given day. So the property manager will be really good at dealing, reaching out and dealing with whatever that problem is. So this, this senior colleague said, Look, you should make my property manager the chair of this group, and I will hand over delegations and be available, you know, for advice. But he should leave it because he's very good on the fly. He does that every day. He's very well trained in it by virtue of his business as usual, elasticity, smart move. And   Michael Hingson ** 23:45 it worked out,   Chris Miller ** 23:47 yes, yeah, we exercised subsequently. And it did work because he started off by explaining to his colleagues his position, that the head of property would step up to the plate and take over some more senior responsibilities during a significant emergency.   Michael Hingson ** 24:06 Okay, so how long were you with the police, and what did you do after that?   Chris Miller ** 24:17 With the police at nearly 17 years in Queensland, I had a period of operational work in traffic. I came from family of motorcycle and car racing type people, so yeah, it was a bit amusing that I should find my way there. And it actually worked out while I was studying too, because I had a bit of flexibility in terms of my shift rostery. And then when I started my masters, excuse me, my first masters, I sort of got too educated, so I had to be taken off operational policing and put the commissioner office. Hmm.   Michael Hingson ** 25:01 And what did you do there the commissioner's office?   Chris Miller ** 25:05 Yes. So I was much more involved in strategic planning and corporate planning and a whole lot of other moves which made the transition from policing actually quite easy, because I'd been much more involved in the corporate stuff rather than the operational stuff, and it was a hard transition. I remember when I first came out of operational policing into the commissioner's office. God, this is so dull.   Michael Hingson ** 25:32 Yeah, sitting behind a desk. It's not the same,   Chris Miller ** 25:37 not the same at all. But when I moved from policing into more traditional public service roles. I had the sort of requisite corporate skills because of those couple of years in the commission itself.   Michael Hingson ** 25:51 So when you Well, what caused you to leave the police and where did you go?   Chris Miller ** 25:59 Well, interestingly, when I joined, I was planning to leave. I sort of had three goals. One was get a degree leave at 30 some other thing, I left at 32 and I was head hunted to become the first female Workplace Health and Safety Inspector in Queensland, and at the time, my first and now late husband was very unwell, and I was working enormous hours, and I was offered a job with shorter hours and more money and a great opportunity. So I took it,   Michael Hingson ** 26:36 which gave you a little bit more time with family and him, exactly. So that was, was that in an emergency management related field,   Chris Miller ** 26:48 workplace health and safety, it can be emergencies, yeah? Well, hopefully not, yeah, because in the Workplace Health and Safety space, we would like people to prepare so there aren't emergency right? Well, from time to time, there are and and so I came in, what happened was we had a new act in Queensland, New Work, Health and Safety Act prior to the new Act, the police, fire and other emergency service personnel were statutory excluded from work health and safety provisions under the law in Queensland, the logic being their job was too dangerous. How on earth could you make it safe? And then we had a new government came in that wanted to include police and emergency services somehow or other. And I sort of became, by default, the Work Health and Safety Advisor for the Queensland Police at the time. There was no such position then, but somebody had to do it, and I was in the commissioner's office and showed a bit of interest that you can do that.   Michael Hingson ** 28:01 It's in the training,   Chris Miller ** 28:03 hmm, and, and I remember a particularly pivotal meeting where I had to be face the Deputy Commissioner about whether police would be in or out of that legislation, because they had to advise the government whether it's actually possible to to include police.   Michael Hingson ** 28:28 So what did you advise?   Chris Miller ** 28:31 Well, I gave him the pluses and minuses because whatever we decided it was going to be expensive, yeah, if we said no, politically, it was bad news, because we had a government that wanted us to say yes, and if we said yes, it was going to cost a lot of money make it happen.   Michael Hingson ** 28:49 What finally happened? Yes one, yes one, well, yeah, the government got its way. Do you think that made sense to do that was Yes, right.   Chris Miller ** 29:03 It always was. It always was right, because it was just nonsense that   Michael Hingson ** 29:11 police aren't included   Chris Miller ** 29:14 to exclude, because not every function of policing is naturally hazardous, some of it is quite right going forward and can be made safe, right, and even the more hazardous functions, such as dealing with armed offenders, it can be made safer. There are ways of protecting your police or increasing their bulletproof attire and various other pieces of training and procedures soon even possible.   Michael Hingson ** 29:51 But also part of that is that by training police and bringing them into it, you make them more. Which also has to be a positive in the whole process,   Chris Miller ** 30:05 absolutely, and I did quite a lot of work with our some people used to call them the black pajamas. They were our top of the range people that would deal with the most unpleasant customers. And they would train with our military in Australia, our counter terrorism people are trained with the military. The police and military train together because that expands our force capability. If something really disagreeable happens, so   Michael Hingson ** 30:42 it's got to start somewhere. So when, so all this wasn't necessarily directly related to emergency management, although you did a lot to prepare. When did you actually go into emergency management as a field?   Chris Miller ** 31:01 Oh, well. So I was involved in response when I was talking about rescue, search and rescue, and then increasingly, I became involved in exercising and planning, writing, procedures, training, all that, getting ready stuff, and then a lot more work in terms of debriefing, so observing the crisis centers and seeing if there could be some fine tuning even during the event, but also debriefing. So what did we actually learn? What do we do? Well, what might be do better next time? Well, there's some insights that the people that were most involved might have picked up as a result of this latest incident, whatever that might have been.   Michael Hingson ** 31:58 And so when you so where did you end up, where you actually were formally in the emergency management field?   Chris Miller ** 32:07 Well, emergency management is quite a broad field. Yeah, it's preparedness right through to response and recovery and everything in between. And so I've had involvement in all of that over the years. So from preparing with training and exercising right through to it's happening. You're hanging off the helicopter skids and so on.   Michael Hingson ** 32:34 So did you do this? Working   Chris Miller ** 32:36 it come back from you with a bit of a call. Oh, sorry. When through to response and recovery. You know, how are we going to respond? What are our options? What are our assets through to recovery, which is usually a long tail. So for instance, if it's a flood of fire or zone, it'll take a very long time to recover. You know, 911 you didn't rebuild towers and and rebuild that area quickly. It took years to put things back together again. Yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 33:11 the only thing about it is One can only hope that was we put things back together, and as we move forward, we also remember the lessons that we should learn from what happened in the past, absolutely, and I'm not sure that that always happens   Chris Miller ** 33:31 true, and that's why I often get a bit annoyed when I hear particularly politicians talk about lessons learned very hastily after The event. You know they say we will learn the lessons from this or that. No, don't you think? Because for those of us involved in the debriefing and lessons management space, we know that that you have observations, insights, lessons identified, but they're not learned, usually, until some considerable period thereafter when you make the necessary changes to training procedures, whatever it might be, so that those those learnings are embedded in the way forward.   Michael Hingson ** 34:18 Yeah, and not everybody learns the lessons who should learn the lessons, and they don't always listen to the people who really do understand. But you can only do what you can do as well. Well,   Chris Miller ** 34:34 we're trying to structure more of that with lessons management so that it's a lot less hit and miss. I mean, when I first came into emergency management, it was much more, much more, a sort of learning on the job, sometimes learning bad habits from people, and then gradually, hopefully and. Setting aside the bad habits and getting into the good habits. Now you can do a masters and PhDs in disaster management, thank goodness, so that we become much more sophisticated in terms of our evidence base and our research and our understanding. And as I said, this crossover so we learned a lot from what happened with 911 that might be applicable here in Australia, should something unpleasant in their larger cities happen too? So we learn from each other. It isn't a static environment, it's very much a fluid environment, and one that's moving forward. I'm happy to report.   Michael Hingson ** 35:40 Well, that's important that it moves forward and that we learn from what has happened now, of course, we have all sorts of things going on over here with air traffic controllers and losing communications and all sorts of other things that once again, causes people to need to learn how to very quickly react and make strong decisions and not panic with what's going on. I heard on the news this morning about somebody who saw two aircraft that were about to collide, and he was able to get them to divert so that they didn't hit each other, but radar hadn't detected it. So, you know, they're just the people are very resilient when they when they learn and understand what they need to do.   Chris Miller ** 36:34 And I've had the honor of working with air traffic controllers and doing some exercises with them. They're actually amazing people for a number of reasons. One is the stress levels of their job is just beyond belief. But two is they actually have to think in 3d so they've got their radar screens, which are 2d and they actually have to think in 3d which is a really rare and amazing skill. It's like a great sculptor. Yeah, in Europe, I've seen some wonderful sculpture, they actually have to think in 3d in terms of the positioning of their aircraft and how to deal with them. It's a it's a great set of skills, so never to be underestimated. And of course, it raises the question of aging infrastructure and an aging workforce too, something that in a lot of countries, yours and mine, it seems that we've been quite neglectful about legacy systems that we have not upgraded, and about the aging workforce that we have not invested enough effort in terms of bringing new people into the system so that, as our our long time warriors want to retire, and they're entitled to that can leave and Knowing that there will be more useful replacements.   Michael Hingson ** 38:04 I flew last week, and actually for one of my flights, sat next to an air traffic controller who was going to a meeting, which was fascinating. And same point was made that a lot of the infrastructure is anywhere from 25 to 50 years old, and it shouldn't be. It's so amazing that I would, I guess I would say our politicians, even though they've been warned so many times, won't really deal with upgrading the equipment. And I think enough is starting to happen. Maybe they will have to do it because too much is failing, but we'll see and to   Chris Miller ** 38:42 worry when people are doing things that are so important hastily. And interestingly, when I was exercising Sydney air traffic controllers, I usually got a glimpse of a new high tech solution that they were in the process of testing, which was going to put more cameras and more capability around the airfield than they'd ever had before, even though they're sitting in an $80 million tower that would be built for them with Australian tax dollars, but trying to get the system even more sophisticated, more responsive, because the flight levels coming in and out of Sydney continue to grow. 90% of Australians air traffic goes in and out of Sydney at some point in the day, yeah. So they're very busy there, and how can we provide systems that will support the capacity to do better for us and continue to maintain our sales flows?   Michael Hingson ** 39:50 So we met kind of through the whole issue of the business continuity Institute conference last year. What's the difference between emergency. Management and business continuity management   Chris Miller ** 40:03 interesting when I came out of emergency management, so things like the Bali bombings, the Indian Ocean tsunami and so on and so on. A deputy in the Department of Social Security where I used to work, said, oh, we need a business continuity manager. And I said, What's that? Yeah, excuse me, Hey, what's that? Well, I quickly learned it's basically a matter of scale. So I used to be in the business in emergencies, of focusing on the country, united, counter terrorism, all the significant parts of the country, blood, fire and so on, to one business at a time. So the basics of business, of emergency management, come across very neatly to business continuity. You're still preparing and responding and recovering, just on a smaller scale,   Michael Hingson ** 41:08 because you're dealing with a particular business at a time true, whereas emergency management is really dealing with it across the board.   Chris Miller ** 41:19 We can be the whole country, yeah, depending on what it is that you do in the emergency management space or a significant part of the country,   Michael Hingson ** 41:29 when did you kind of transition from emergency management and emergency preparedness on a on a larger scale to the whole arena of business continuity?   Chris Miller ** 41:40 Well, I still keep a foot in both camps. Actually, I keep, I keep boomeranging between them. It depends on what my clients want. Since I'm a consultant now, I move between both spaces.   Michael Hingson ** 41:57 When did you decide to be a consultant as opposed to working for our particular organization   Chris Miller ** 42:04 or the I was a bit burnt out, so I was happy to take a voluntary redundancy from the government and in my consultancy practice   Michael Hingson ** 42:12 from there, when did that start?   Chris Miller ** 42:16 October of 10.   Michael Hingson ** 42:18 October of 2010, yep. Okay, so you've been doing it for almost 15 years, 14 and a half years. Do you like consulting?   Chris Miller ** 42:29 Yeah, I do, because I get to work program people who actually want to have me on board. Sometimes when you work as a public servant in these faces. Yeah, you're not seen as an asset. You're a bit of an annoyance. When people are paying you as a consultant, they actually want you to be there,   Michael Hingson ** 42:55 yeah? Which? Which counts for something, because then you know that you're, you're going to be more valued, or at least that's the hope that you'll be more valued, because they really wanted to bring you in. They recognize what you what you brought to the table as it were.   Chris Miller ** 43:12 Yes, um, no, that's not to say that they always take your recommendations. Yeah. And I would learn to just, you know, provide my report and see what happens.   Michael Hingson ** 43:24 So was it an easy transition to go into the whole arena of business continuity, and then, better yet, was it an easy I gather it was probably an easy transition to go off and become a consultant rather than working as you had been before?   Chris Miller ** 43:39 Well, the hours are shorter and the pain is better.   Michael Hingson ** 43:41 There you are. That helps.   Chris Miller ** 43:48 Tell me if you would a lot more flexibility and control over my life that I didn't have when I was a full time public servant.   Michael Hingson ** 43:55 Yeah, yeah. And that that, of course, counts for a lot, and you get to exercise more of your entrepreneurial spirit, yes, but   Chris Miller ** 44:09 I think one of the things is I've often seen myself as very expensive public asset. The Australian taxpayer has missed a lot of time and effort in my training over very many years. Now they're starting to see some of the return on that investment   Michael Hingson ** 44:25 Well, and that's part of it. And the reality is, you've learned a lot that you're able to put to you, so you bring a lot of expertise to what you do, which also helps explain why you feel that it's important to earn a decent salary and or a decent consulting fee. And if you don't and people want to just talk you down and not pay you very much, that has its own set of problems, because then you wonder how much they really value what you what you bring.   Chris Miller ** 44:55 Yes. And so now i. Through the World Bank and my international consultancy work, I'm sharing some of those experiences internationally as well.   Michael Hingson ** 45:11 So you mentioned the World Bank, who are some of your clients, the people that you've worked with, the   Chris Miller ** 45:18 World Bank doesn't like you talking too much about what you do?   Michael Hingson ** 45:20 Yeah, that's, I was wondering more, what are some of the organizations you worked with, as opposed to giving away secrets of what you   Chris Miller ** 45:31 do? Well, for the wellbeing club, basically worked in the health sector in Africa and in APAC, okay, and that's involved working with Ministries of Health, you know, trying to get them in a better state of preparing this, get their plans and better shape, get them exercising those plans and all that kind of important stuff, stuff that we kind of take for granted in Our countries, in yours well, with FEMA, although, what's left of FEMA now? Yeah, but also in my own country, you know, we're planning and exercising and lessons management and all these things are just considered, you know, normal operations when you're talking to low and middle income countries. And no, that isn't normal operations. It's something that is still learning, and you have the honor to work with them and bring them into that sort of global fold about how these things are done.   Michael Hingson ** 46:35 Well, you worked in some pretty far away and and relatively poor countries and so on. I assume that was a little bit different than working in what some people might call the more developed countries. You probably had to do more educating and more awareness raising, also,   Chris Miller ** 46:55 yes and no. The African country I worked in a lot of these people had studied at Harvard and some of your better universities. But what I noticed was, as brilliant as those people were, and as well trained and educated, there weren't enough of them. And that was one of the real problems, is, is trying to expand the workforce with the necessary skills in emergency management or whatever else you might be trying to do pandemic preparedness or something. Don't have enough people on the ground in those countries that have the necessary skills and experience.   Michael Hingson ** 47:44 Were you able to help change that?   Chris Miller ** 47:48 Yeah, we set up some training programs, and hopefully some of those continue beyond our time with them.   Michael Hingson ** 47:58 So again, it is some awareness raising and getting people to buy into the concepts, which some will and some won't. I remember while at the Business Continuity Institute, one of the people said the thing about the people who attend the conference is they're the what if people, and they're always tasked with, well, what if this happens? What if that happens? But nobody listens to them until there's really an emergency, and then, of course, they're in high demand. Which, which I can understand.   Chris Miller ** 48:33 That's why you want exercises, because it raises awareness so that, so that the what if, the business continuity people are thinking that emergency managers are a bit more front of mind for some of the senior people, it's less of a surprise when something unpleasant happens. Yeah.   Michael Hingson ** 48:56 Well, how is the whole concept and the whole structure or theory of emergency management, changed. You've been involved in this a long time. So how has it evolved and changed over the years?   Chris Miller ** 49:10 Much more education, formal education, not learning on the job, actually going to university and learning properly, but much more evidence based, much more structured lessons management, much more technology. There's so many changes, at least to be very long.   Michael Hingson ** 49:31 Does AI come into play in emergency management? Yet,   Chris Miller ** 49:37 I think it's coming in. More and more we're using it for prediction of fire behavior and all sorts of things now,   Michael Hingson ** 49:47 yeah, and that, and that makes sense, that we're, we're starting to see where the whole technology and the whole ability to monitor so many things. Can tell us there's a fire starting or something is happening a lot more quickly than we used to be able to do it. I'm not sure that we're there yet with earthquakes, but even with earthquakes, we're getting warnings a little bit more quickly than we used to. We had an earthquake here in Southern California a couple of weeks ago, and I forget exactly, but it was a number of seconds that people had some decent warnings. So by the time it was analyzed and determined that there was going to be an earthquake, there was still time to issue a warning that alerted people, because she still had to react pretty quickly if you wanted to take advantage of it. But I think that we're only going to see more and more technological changes that will help the process be better,   Chris Miller ** 50:55 absolutely. And one of the big problems that we're having is a lot of our previous sort of fire mapping, fire behavior, flood mapping is out of date very quickly, because of development and climate change and all sorts of factors, previous behaviors are not actually a very good model, but an AI permits us to do things faster.   Michael Hingson ** 51:24 Yeah, we're going to have to just continue, certainly to encourage it. And again, it's one of those areas where the reality is all of the skills that we and tools that we can bring to the to the process are absolutely appropriate to do, because otherwise we just either take a step backward or we don't progress at all   Chris Miller ** 51:49 well. And to give you another example, um, Life Savers, New South Wales lifesavers. Here, I run the largest grain fleet in the country now for a long time, life saving used to be sort of volunteers, and in pretty old tech, not anymore, oh boy. And they're even looking at things like deploying life saving devices off their drones as they get bigger and smarter and heavier lifting to be able to drop things to people in distress. We're using it for shark netting, whereas we used to take a boat out and check the shark nets, now we can send the drones out, and then if you need to send the boat out, you're not wasting a lot of money chugging up and down in your boat. So there's all sorts of savings and adjustments in this space, in technology with AI and all sorts of other fancy devices like drones,   Michael Hingson ** 52:54 how about emergency management and so on, in terms of dealing with different kinds of people, like people with disabilities, people who are blind or deaf or hard of hearing, maybe heavy people, people who are in the autism spectrum and so on has emerged. Have emergency managers gotten better at dealing with different kinds of disabilities? How much real awareness raising and understanding has gone into all of that   Chris Miller ** 53:26 well. Towards the end of last year, there was a big package of work done by EMA Emergency Management Australia, being conducted in conjunction with AD the Australian Institute of disaster resiliency, and that's in the disability space and the whole lot of that's rolling out in workshops all over the country to try and do even better. Yes, it's still a weakness, I would have to agree, and we still need to do a whole lot better in that whole space of some of those vulnerable groups that you mentioned, and hopefully some of this important initiative that's sponsored by the government and will help raise awareness and improve response activities in the future.   Michael Hingson ** 54:15 I would also point out, and it's, of course, all about training to a degree, because, you know, people say, well, blind people can't do this, for example, or they can't do that. And the reality is, blind people can, if they're trained, if they gain self confidence, if they're given and put it in an environment where they're able to be given confidence to do things. The reality is, blindness isn't the challenge that most sighted people would believe it to be, but at the same time, I think that one of the biggest things, and I saw it on September 11, one of the biggest things, is information, or lack of information. I asked several times what was going on, and no one who clearly had to know. Who would say what was occurring. And I understand some of that because they they didn't know whether I would just panic because they said airplanes had deliberately been crashed into the towers or not. But also, I know that there was also a part of it, which was, when you're blind, you can't deal with any of that. We're not going to tell you, we don't have time to tell you. Information, to me, is the most important thing that you can provide, but I but I do appreciate there. There are two sides to it, but it is also important to recognize that, with a lot of people who happen to have different kinds of disabilities, providing information may very well be an enhancement to their circumstances, because they can make decisions and do things that they might not otherwise have been able to do. Well,   Chris Miller ** 55:50 it was certainly the case for you, because you had information and you had preparedness before 911 right? You were able to respond in more effective ways because you knew what was what. And we certainly saw that in covid, for instance, even things like translating information into different languages. In Australia, we have people from, I think the last census, 170 countries, they don't all speak English as their first language. And having worked with Aboriginal people for eight years, quite specifically, one of my dear friends, English was her sixth language.   Michael Hingson ** 56:32 But at the same time,   Chris Miller ** 56:33 go ahead, yeah, and yet we keep putting information out in all that well, no, we need to do much better in the language phase, in the preparedness space of people with all sorts of challenges. We need to reach out to those people so that as you were prepared for 911 and you knew where the fire escapes were, and this and that really paid benefits on the day that we've done that, that we've taken reasonable steps to prepare everyone in the community, not just the English speakers or the this or that, right? All people get the chance to understand their situation and prepare apparently,   Michael Hingson ** 57:22 I know that if I had had more information about what had occurred, I may very well have decided to travel a different way to leave or after leaving the tower and the building. I might have gone a different way, rather than essentially walking very much toward tower two and being very close to it when it collapsed. But I didn't have that information because they wouldn't provide that. So not helpful. Yeah, so things, things do happen. So I'm sure that along the way you've had funny experiences in terms of dealing with emergencies and emergency management. What's the funniest kind of thing that you ever ran into? I'll   Chris Miller ** 58:08 come back to the old packers, but just quickly, that whole crisis communication space is also a big development in emergency management. Yeah, a long time we kind of kept the information to ourselves, but we realize that knowledge is power. We need to get it out there to people. So we do a lot more with alerts on the phones and all sorts of clever things now, right? Funny things? Well, there's so many of those, which one probably most recently is the dreaded alpacas where I live now, as you see, well, as some people who might see the video of this, I live by the beach, which is pretty common for a lot of Australians. Anyway, we have had fires up in in a nice valley called kangaroo Valley. Then a lot of people that live there are sort of small farmlets. There are some dairy farms and people that are more scale farmers, but other people just have a small plot, excuse me, maybe a couple of horses or something or other. And and then when we had fires up there a few years back, we set up emergency evacuation centers for them, and we set them up for dogs and cats and small animals, and we had facility for horses at the nearby race grounds and so on. But we weren't expecting our hackers and alpacas are actually quite big, and they spit and do other things quite under manage. So I remember we rang up the race course manager and we said, we've got alpacas. What you got? What I. I said, Well, they're sort of about the size of a horse. He said, Yes, yes, but we know what to do with horses. We know what the hell to do without Yes. Anyway, eventually we moved the alpacas to horse stables and kept them away from the horses because we weren't sure how to do and interact. Yeah. And the owner of these alpacas was so attached to her animals that she she insisted on sleeping in her Carney her alpacas. And some people are very attached to their animals, even if they're a little on the large side. Yeah.   Michael Hingson ** 1:00:37 Well, I know during the fires that we had here in Southern California back in January, there were a number of people who had horses and were very concerned about evacuating them, and, of course, other animals as well. But the horses especially were were dealt with, and they had emergency well, they had places to take them if they could get the horses out. I don't know whether we lost horses or how many we lost during all the big fires, but yeah,   Chris Miller ** 1:01:10 I'm serious far as new Canberra, which is my city of residence for many years, and what happened? I decision. What happened was, quite often, the men were all fighting the fires, and the women were left with with smoke affected horses. Oh, and they were trying to get them onto the horse flight. Now, as we quickly discovered, horses are pretty smart, and they're not keen on being near fires. They don't want to be there, right? So they become quite a challenge to me. And to put a horse float onto your vehicle is no easy thing when you've never done it before and you're trying to do it in a crisis. So when all that was over, one of the lessons that we did learn was we arranged to have a sort of open day at the near, nearby race course. We've actually taught people to put the trailer on the back of the vehicle, to deal with a fractious horse, to sort of cover its face or protect it from the smoke and do all sorts of helpful things. So sometimes, when we get it wrong, we do learn and make some important improvements like it.   Michael Hingson ** 1:02:32 What's the kind of most important advice you would give to somebody who's new in emergency management or interested in going into the field   Chris Miller ** 1:02:42 and sign up for a good course, do a bachelor or master's degree in emergency management, because not only will you learn from your instructors, you'll learn from your colleagues, and this is a networking business,   Michael Hingson ** 1:02:56 yeah. Well, I want to Oh, have you? I haven't asked you. Have you written any books? No, you haven't okay? Because if you had, I'd ask you to send me book covers so that we could put them in the show notes. Well, there's something for you to look at in the near future. You could learn to be an author and add that to your skill repertoire. I want to thank you for being Yeah. Well, there is always that right, too many emergencies to manage. Well, Chris, I want to thank you for being here, and I want to thank all of you for listening and being with us today. I hope that this has been helpful and interesting and educational. I found it so I'd love to hear your thoughts, and I'm sure Chris would as well. Chris, how can people maybe reach out to you if they'd like to do. So,   Chris Miller ** 1:03:42 yeah, sure. LinkedIn is a good way to find me, and I've given you all those details. So   Michael Hingson ** 1:03:49 go ahead and say your LinkedIn name anyway.   Chris Miller ** 1:03:53 Good question. Yeah, it's before cross. This is my business   Michael Hingson ** 1:03:58 name before being the number four crisis. That's it.   Chris Miller ** 1:04:03 My LinkedIn name is,   Michael Hingson ** 1:04:08 says before   Chris Miller ** 1:04:09 process, yeah, and your email is going to be full process on LinkedIn.   Michael Hingson ** 1:04:16 Chris Miller at before before crisis, and email is number four process. And in email, it's before, no, it's, it's Chris Miller, before crisis, again, isn't   Chris Miller ** 1:04:30 it? It's Chris at default process, Chris at before crisis.com.au,   Michael Hingson ** 1:04:35 yeah, okay, memorizing the   Chris Miller ** 1:04:41 reason why it's led to be number four crisis right is I like to see my clients before the crisis, right, and I know they'll be more motivated after the crisis.   Michael Hingson ** 1:04:53 Well, I hope that you'll reach out to Chris and find her on LinkedIn, and all the information is in the show notes. She is right. But. Always like to get people to say it, if they can. I'd love to hear from you. Feel free to email me at Michael H I M, I C H, A, E, L, H i at accessibe, A, C, C, E, S, S i b, e.com, or go to our podcast page, w, w, w, dot Michael hingson, that's m, I C, H, A, E, L, H, I N, G, s o n.com/podcast, podcast singular that is, wherever you're listening or watching, please give us a five star rating. We really value your ratings and your reviews and input. We appreciate it, and for all of you and Chris you as well, if you know of anyone who ought to be a guest, or you think should be a guest on unstoppable mindset, we're always looking for more people to talk with and have conversations with, so please introduce us. We're always excited to get that kind of thing from you as well. So once again, Chris, I just want to thank you for being here. This has been fun today.   Chris Miller ** 1:05:54 Thank you, Michael. It was fun to meet   Michael Hingson ** 1:06:02 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com . AccessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for Listening. 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https://dangerouswisdom.org/Meditation can become one of the most dangerous acts of defiance against ignorance in all its forms, from injustice and inequality to ecological degradation and the loss of meaning and connection. But, in order to take full advantage of the potentials of meditation while limiting unwanted side-effects, we need proper education, training, and guidance. The most dangerous forms of meditation are dangerous only to ignorance, and they arise from holistic paths of life and learning.The Buddhist traditions offer some of the most holistic, comprehensive, and varied meditation teachings and practices available to us. In book, A Meditator's Guide to Buddhism, Cortland Dahl translates the Buddhist traditions into a framework that can guide us in our current context.Cortland Dahl, Ph.D. is a leading expert on mindfulness, meditation, and the science of wellbeing. His eclectic background includes long periods of solitary retreat in the Himalayan foothills of Nepal and the translation of ancient Tibetan meditation manuals, as well as cutting-edge research on the science of wellbeing and the creation of an acclaimed meditation app. He is a scientist, author, translator, entrepreneur, and meditation teacher, but his true passion is using ancient wisdom and modern science to help people flourish.More information:https://cortlanddahl.com/https://tergar.org/https://hminnovations.org/meditation-app

What a nourishing conversation with a truly inspirational soul. Join me as I engage in an insightful discussion with Lainie Sevante Wulkan, international bestselling wellness author, multi-modality healer and intuitive, Founder of CIFT (the Center for Intuitive Food Therapy and Nourish Your Soul Ayurveda and Nourish Your Soul Retreats. Please join us as we discuss: the enlightened wisdom which inspired her to create the Food Oracle deck her insights on intuitive food therapy her philosophies on what food is telling us her Nourish Your Soul retreats the High Vibe Wellness Tribe the inspiration behind Nourish Your Soul herbal infusions Angelic Resonance book release and so much more! Welcome to The Healing Place Podcast! I am your host, Teri Wellbrock. You can listen in on Pandora, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Deezer, Amazon Music, and more, or directly on my website at www.teriwellbrock.com/podcasts/. You can also catch our insightful interview on YouTube. Bio: Lainie Sevante Wulkan Lainie “Sevante” Wulkan is the founder of CIFT – Center for Intuitive Food Therapy Co-Creatress of The Food Healing Oracle Deck series, Volumes I and II, Owner of Nourish Your Soul Ayurveda, importer of organic, ayurvedic teas and incense from Nepal, is a #1 International Bestselling Author with her books, High Vibrational Wellness – Intuitive Healing Therapies to Nourish Your Body Temple, her chapter on Intuitive Food Therapy in the Energy Healer's Oracle (which was listed as the #21 out of #100 healing books of all time on BookAuthority.org), #1 Bestselling Top Exotic Foods for Natural Healing and Smoothies, Nourishing Wisdom Beyond the Blend. With an extensive background as a 4th Generation Intuitive, Food Scientist and Multi-Modality Energy Healer (Advanced Theta Healing, EFT/Tapping, Law of Attraction) Wulkan's passion steers towards bridging the worlds of spirit and science to understand one's journey into wellness by learning the deeper connection to self and how we “feed” our mind, body and spirit. Her focus on emotional, mental, physical and spiritual (EMPS) wellness thru the metaphysical arts allows one to intuitively see how ‘food is medicine” and by realizing we are nature, we can begin to heal with the connection to nature's five elements, color, the Archangelic Realm, Ascended Masters, sacred geometry and our chakra systems. Her next series of 7 books for 2025 are called Feeding Your Chakras. She is the Host of the Nourish Your Soul show, a ten year online program that interviews top world healers and spiritual leaders. Nourish Your Soul retreats take attendees across the globe to learn about the consciousness of food and how to truly nourish your soul with deep, self-care and restoration. She offers a private practice for her readings/healings with clients worldwide to bring balance in all areas of their lives. She incorporates all her healing techniques including The Food Healing Oracle Deck to look at removing subconscious blocks, emotional stagnation and physical well-being. When Sevante isn't traveling the globe or having a speaking engagement, she is nestled on a beautiful island in Southwest Florida with her Husband, Music Producer, Howard Merlin, and their four-legged brood amongst the palm trees, enchanted ponds, peacocks, and the best of Mother Nature's bounty. Website: https://centerforintuitivefoodtherapy.com/   Teri's #1 best-selling books and #1 new-release book can be found here. Teri's inspirational audiobook productions can be found here. Teri's monthly newsletter can be found here. Teri's book launch team can be found here. AMAZON AFFILIATE Teri Wellbrock and Unicorn Shadows are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Shot in a rural village in northern Nepal and jointly produced by the Australian filmmaker Kalani Gacon and Nepal's Prawin Takki Karki, ‘Family Man' recently premiered in Australia at the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF). SBS Nepali spoke with Gacon, also the movie's director, about the idea behind this short film. - उत्तरी नेपालको रसुवामा छायाङ्कन गरिएको एक चलचित्र ‘फ्यामिली म्यान', हाल जारी मेलबर्न इन्टर्नेश्नल फिल्म फेस्टिभल २०२५ मा प्रदर्शन भइरहेको छ। विश्वभरका २७५ भन्दा बढी सिनेमाहरू प्रदर्शनीमा समावेश गरिएको उक्त वार्षिक चलचित्र महोत्सवको यो ७३औँ संस्करणमा अस्ट्रेलियन चलचित्रकर्मी कलानी ग्याकन तथा नेपालका प्रवीण कार्कीद्वारा संयुक्त रूपमा निर्माण गरेका हुन्। ‘फ्यामिली म्यान' बनाउने योजनादेखि नेपालको बसाइ र कलाकारका दायित्वका बारेमा सो सिनेमाका निर्देशक समेत पनि रहेका ग्याकनसँग एसबीएस नेपालीले गरेको कुराकानी सुन्नुहोस्।

Abhi Subedi is a Nepali poet, playwright, critic and scholar, who has penned books and plays that bring tradition and modernity together. Subedi, who has contributed towards Nepal's literature, culture and education, is also a cultural activist who has helped shape the country's contemporary intellectual and artistic discourse. As Nepal marks Father's Day on Saturday, August 23 this year, our Nepal correspondent Abhi Subedi took this opportunity to reflect back on Professor Girish Subedi's insights on the celebration. - अभि सुवेदी एक नेपाली कवि, नाटककार, समालोचक तथा प्राज्ञ हुन् – जसले नेपालको साहित्य, संस्कृति र शिक्षामा योगदान दिने क्रममा परम्परा र आधुनिकतालाई जोड्ने पुस्तक तथा नाटकहरू लेखेका छन्। सुवेदी समकालीन नेपाली बौद्धिक र कलात्मक विमर्शलाई आकार दिने एक सांस्कृतिक अभियन्ता पनि हुन्। नेपालमा शनिवार, अगस्ट २३ मा मनाइने बुबाको मुख हेर्ने दिनको सन्दर्भ पारेर, नेपाल संवाददाता गिरिश सुवेदीसँग एक पिताको दृष्टिकोणबाट प्राध्यापक अभि सुवेदीले व्यक्त गरेका विचारहरू कुराकानीमा सुन्नुहोस्।

As Nepal's national cricket team continues its debut in the Top End T20 Series in Darwin, they will play against the Pakistan Shaheens on Friday, August 22. SBS Nepali spoke with Nepalese Cricket Association Canberra (NCAC) President Ajay Lama and a Melbourne-based cricket expert, Prem Raj Upreti, to unpack Nepal's performance in the competition so far. Uprety is also a past president of the Nepalese Association of Victoria (NAV). - आफ्नो पहिलो ‘टप एन्ड टी-२० सिरिज' खेल्न नेपालको राष्ट्रिय क्रिकेट टोली हाल अस्ट्रेलियामा छ। नर्दन टेरिट्रीमा बिहीवार, अगस्ट १४ देखि सुरु भएको उक्त प्रतियोगितामा आफ्ना पहिला तीन खेलमा हारको मुख हेर्नु परेता पनि नेपालले त्यस पछिका दुई खेलमा होबार्ट हरिकेन्स एकेडेमी र मेलबर्न रेनेगेड्स एकेडेमी विरुद्ध जित हासिल गर्न सफल भएको थियो। नेपालले आफ्नो छैटौँ खेल शुक्रवार, अगस्ट २२ मा पाकिस्तान शाहिन्स विरुद्ध खेल्दै छ। सेमिफाइनल अगिको यो अन्तिम निर्णायक खेलमा नेपालको प्रदर्शनी कस्तो रहला? यस लगायत विगत एक हप्ता यताका खेलहरूका बारेमा नेप्लिज क्रिकेट एसोसिएसन क्यानबराका अध्यक्ष अजय लामा र लामो समयदेखि नेपाली क्रिकेटका एकजना जानकार तथा नेप्लिज एसोसिएसन अफ भिक्टोरिया न्याभका पूर्व अध्यक्ष प्रेमराज उप्रेतीसँग एसबीएस नेपालीले गरेको कुराकानी सुन्नुहोस्।

In today's episode of the Second in Command podcast, Cameron shares a powerful analogy between preparing for a trek through Nepal and leading a growing business. Just like training for a demanding physical challenge, business leaders must begin with a broad vision, identifying where they want to go before diving into the finer details. Early momentum, even without a fully formed plan, sets the stage for long-term success and enables thoughtful preparation when it matters most.You'll learn how forward-looking strategy—distinct from rigid long-term plans—can shape critical business decisions. By thinking through “what if” scenarios and visualizing future states, companies can anticipate needs like infrastructure, staffing, or supply chain adjustments. This mindset doesn't require perfect predictions but encourages strategic conversations that prime the team for rapid execution when real opportunities or challenges arise.Cameron emphasizes the value of proactive visualization over exhaustive five-year plans. Instead of locking in static goals, this episode advocates for flexible, evolving strategy discussions that spark innovation, expose blind spots, and keep teams agile. The takeaway? Look ahead boldly, plan backwards, and be ready to act when the future arrives faster than expected.Want a clearer path to your $100M vision? This episode reveals how to lead with agility, think ahead, and make bold moves now—tune in and take the first step. If you've enjoyed this episode of the Second in Command podcast, be sure to leave a review and subscribe today!Enjoy!In This Episode You'll Learn:Insights on setting long-term goals, such as hitting $100 million, and the importance of working backward to determine the necessary steps and timelines.Why Cameron prefers a one-year tight plan and broad-brush plans for three and five years, as the landscape changes rapidly.The importance of strategic thinking and visualization, which can lead to proactive actions.The monthly strategy meetings at 1-800-GOT-JUNK, where they laid out 12 months and brainstormed about potential future scenarios.And much more...Resources:Connect with Cameron: Website | LinkedInGet Cameron's latest book – "Second in Command: Unleash the Power of Your COO"Get Cameron's online course – Invest In Your LeadersDisclaimer:The views, information, or opinions expressed during this podcast are solely those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily represent those of The Second in Command podcast or its affiliates. The content provided is for informational and entertainment purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice. We make no representations as to the accuracy, completeness, suitability, or validity of any information on this podcast and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. Listeners should consult with a professional for specific advice tailored to their situation. By accessing this podcast, you acknowledge that any reliance on the content is at...

Redada migratoria en un almacen que gestiona paquetes en Nueva Jersey deja decenas de detenidos. Captan el dramático arresto de un inmigrante mexicano en Washington D.C. Una corte de apelaciones aprueba el fin del TPS para Nicaragua, Honduras y Nepal.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Un tribunal federal de apelaciones permitió temporalmente que la administración de Donald Trump termine las protecciones de deportación bajo el Programa de Estatus de Protección Temporal (TPS) para más de 66,000 personas de Honduras, Nicaragua y Nepal.

CBP realiza operativo en almacén de Nueva Jersey: reportan 50 detenciones de trabajadores.Ernesto Barajas, del grupo Enigma Norteño, fue acribillado por dos sujetos en Zapopan, Jalisco, las autoridades investigan el asesinato.Un tercer juez federal se niega a publicar documentos del caso Epstein.Peligra la enseñanza de inglés para estudiantes migrantes.Hispanos presentan una demanda contra el departamento de seguridad nacional.En Los Ángeles decenas de personas realizan una vigilia por la hispana asesinada supuestamente por su esposo.Corte federal autoriza suspensión de TPS para Honduras, Nicaragua y Nepal.Aprueban rediseño de los mapas electorales de Texas.Escucha de lunes a viernes el ‘Noticiero Univision Edición Nocturna' con Elián Zidán.   

Corte de apelaciones permite poner fin al TPS para Honduras, Nicaragua y Nepal; la Cámara de Representantes de Texas aprobó un nuevo mapa de distritos electorales y el huracán Erin deja estragos en Carolina del Norte mientras se aleja hacia el noreste, entre otras noticias. Más información en UnivisionNoticias.com.

AP correspondent Ben Thomas reports the Trump administration has another court victory in its immigration crackdown.

This Day in Legal History: ABA FormedOn August 21, 1878, 75 lawyers convened in Saratoga Springs, New York, and formally established the American Bar Association (ABA). Their shared aim was to advance the “science of jurisprudence,” promote uniform legislation, strengthen justice administration, uphold the profession's honor, and encourage collegial interaction among lawyers. Their organizing document—the original constitution—still shapes the ABA's mission today.Over time, the ABA became the premier professional association for attorneys in the U.S., influencing national legal education, ethics, and law reform. It introduced the first national ethics code in 1908 (the Canons of Professional Ethics), which eventually evolved into today's Model Rules of Professional Conduct.While the ABA once counted about 400,000 dues-paying members, by the low‑point of 2019, it had lost approximately 56,000 members—a symptom of shifting professional norms and changing perceptions of organizational value. Membership has continued to decline, with figures dropping as low as 227,000 by 2024. In response, the ABA has implemented membership reforms and reduced dues tiers to attract and re-engage lawyers, especially those early in their careers.The American Bar Association's recent actions reflect a mixed record in the face of escalating political pressure—particularly from the Trump administration and its allies. On one hand, the ABA has forcefully resisted efforts to erode legal independence: in 2025, it filed a federal lawsuit accusing the administration of intimidating law firms engaged in politically sensitive representation, and it criticized the DOJ's move to exclude the ABA from vetting judicial nominees as a blow to transparency and professionalism. It also defended its longstanding role in law school accreditation amid efforts to strip that authority.On the other hand, the ABA's decision in August 2025 to eliminate five Board of Governors seats historically reserved for women, LGBTQ+ individuals, people with disabilities, and racial minorities marks a notable concession under pressure. The newly adopted policy opens these seats to anyone with a demonstrated commitment to diversity, regardless of their own demographic identity. While proponents framed the shift as a legal safeguard against lawsuits, critics viewed it as a capitulation—especially given the broader political context, including targeted attacks on ABA diversity programs and threats to its accreditation authority. The organization has also paused enforcement of its law school diversity standards until at least 2026.The Justice Department under the Trump administration has dramatically escalated its investigation into gender-affirming care, targeting the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia with a sweeping subpoena demanding detailed records—including names and Social Security numbers—of patients who received such treatments. This move is part of a broader campaign to prosecute medical providers offering care to transgender youth, following a directive from Attorney General Pam Bondi to aggressively pursue these cases.The hospital pushed back against the subpoena, calling it an invasive overreach into a vulnerable population's privacy. In response, DOJ took the unusual step of asking the court to unseal the litigation, a departure from standard practice in sensitive investigations where proceedings are typically kept sealed to protect investigatory integrity. The judge sided with the DOJ, opening the docket earlier this month.The subpoena was signed by Brett Shumate, the newly confirmed head of DOJ's civil division, bypassing career officials who had refused to sign similar subpoenas due to ethical and legal concerns. Internal dissent had already emerged, with former officials warning that collecting such data lacked a strong legal basis, especially since off-label prescriptions like puberty blockers are not illegal under federal law.Critics say the investigation appears more performative than prosecutorial, designed to chill gender-affirming care through public pressure rather than build viable legal cases. The Trump administration has also directed other agencies, including HHS and the FTC, to scrutinize these practices, while states like Pennsylvania have filed lawsuits challenging the administration's actions. The outcome of the Philadelphia case, now in front of a federal judge, could shape how far the administration can go in turning gender-related health care into a legal battleground.Justice Department Expands Gender Care Probe as Hospital FightsA recent ruling in the Epic Games v. Apple case has sparked growing concern among corporate legal teams that the boundaries of attorney-client privilege—especially for in-house counsel—are being narrowed in ways that could harm innovation and compliance. The district court found Apple had improperly claimed privilege over documents that mixed legal advice with business guidance, drawing a sharp rebuke that “adding a lawyer's name to a document does not create a privilege.”That finding is now being appealed, with organizations like TechNet and the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) warning that upholding the decision could upend how legal departments operate—particularly in fast-moving sectors like AI and cybersecurity, where legal and business decisions are tightly intertwined. In-house counsel argue they need the flexibility to weigh legal risks within the real-world context of product development, market pressures, and regulatory uncertainty.At issue is the standard used to define privilege. The Ninth Circuit has previously backed the “primary purpose” test, which protects dual-purpose communications if a significant purpose was legal. But the district court's approach appeared more rigid, raising fears that companies will be discouraged from seeking or documenting legal guidance unless they rely on expensive outside counsel.Legal leaders say this shift would disproportionately impact smaller firms and startups already stretched thin. They also point to a broader ambiguity across federal circuits regarding dual-purpose communications, and argue that only a Supreme Court ruling can definitively resolve the inconsistencies.Oral arguments in the appeal are set for October 21.Apple Ruling Raises Business Fear of Legal Privileges ErodingA federal appeals court has allowed the Trump administration to move forward with ending deportation protections and work permits for over 60,000 immigrants from Honduras, Nicaragua, and Nepal. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an unsigned order permitting the termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for these groups while legal challenges continue. No legal reasoning was provided in the brief order.The decision lifts an earlier block by a federal district judge, who had ruled that the move was likely driven by racial animus, violating constitutional protections. The new ruling immediately ends protections for Nepali nationals, with protections for Honduran and Nicaraguan immigrants set to expire by September 8.The Department of Homeland Security praised the ruling as a step toward restoring the immigration system's integrity, arguing TPS has been misused as a backdoor form of asylum. Immigrant advocates, meanwhile, condemned the lack of explanation from the court and warned of serious humanitarian consequences for those now facing deportation to unstable regions.The case remains ongoing, but for now, thousands of individuals who have lived and worked legally in the U.S. for years are left in legal limbo.Trump can end deportation protections for 60,000 immigrants, appeals court says | ReutersElon Musk must face a lawsuit alleging he and his political action committee, America PAC, ran an illegal election-year lottery disguised as a $1 million-a-day giveaway. A federal judge in Texas ruled that plaintiff Jacqueline McAferty plausibly claimed Musk misled voters—particularly in battleground states—into signing a petition supporting the U.S. Constitution by offering what appeared to be a random chance at a $1 million prize.McAferty alleges that, in exchange for signing, voters were required to provide personal data—names, addresses, phone numbers, and emails—which she claims was exploited for political targeting. Musk argued that the program was not a lottery because recipients were chosen to “earn” the funds and serve as America PAC spokespeople. But the judge pointed to conflicting language used in promotional materials suggesting the money could be “won,” making it reasonable for voters to think it was a sweepstakes-style contest.Judge Robert Pitman, an Obama appointee, also rejected Musk's argument that voters suffered no harm, noting that expert testimony could establish the market value of political data collected during the promotion.The lawsuit, filed on Election Day 2024, underscores growing concerns over the use of high-dollar giveaways in political campaigning and how voter data is gathered and deployed in swing states. Musk and his PAC have not yet commented on the ruling.Elon Musk must face lawsuit claiming he ran illegal $1 million election lottery | ReutersAnd in a piece I wrote for Forbes earlier this week: the new One Big Beautiful Bill Act revives full expensing for U.S.-based research and development, a policy designed to encourage domestic innovation and hiring. At first glance, it seems like a major win for the tech sector and high-skilled job creation. But the labor market response reveals a deeper issue: you can't stimulate demand for talent without also addressing supply. With immigration pathways constrained and no meaningful expansion of domestic training infrastructure, the policy has triggered a spike in labor costs rather than a boom in innovation.In the absence of new talent pipelines, startups and tech firms are now paying steep premiums to hire U.S.-based engineers, effectively converting the R&D tax break into a subsidy for a tight labor market. Meanwhile, immigration policy remains restrictive, and education-focused workforce solutions aren't being scaled fast enough to meet the moment. The result is a bottleneck: jobs going unfilled, innovation slowing, and companies forced to reconsider hiring or delay projects altogether.The piece argues that while R&D expensing is smart fiscal policy, it only works as part of a broader strategy that includes visa reform, immigration support for high-skilled workers, and real investments in talent development. Without those pieces in place, we're left with a politically appealing tax tweak that, in practice, fails to deliver the innovation surge it promises.Turns Out Research Tax Breaks Alone Can't Conjure Developers This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.minimumcomp.com/subscribe

A weekly magazine-style radio show featuring the voices and stories of Asians and Pacific Islanders from all corners of our community. The show is produced by a collective of media makers, deejays, and activists.   Important Resources: Asian Refugees United: Website | Instagram | Learn about the Disappearances of Bhutanese American refugees: Website | Toolkit Hmong Innovating Politics: Website | Instagram Lavender Phoenix: Website | Instagram Minjoona Music: Instagram   Transcript: Cheryl (Host): Good evening. You're tuned in to Apex Express. I'm your host, Cheryl, and tonight we're diving into the vibrant summer programming happening across the AACRE network. That's the Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality Network. AACRE is made up of 11 Asian American social justice organizations working together to build collective power and create lasting movements .  Throughout tonight's show, we'll be spotlighting a few of these groups [00:01:00] and the incredible work they're leading this summer. First up, we're joined by Pratik from Asian refugees United Pratik. Thank you so much for being here. Do you mind introducing yourself and to kick things off in the spirit of tonight's show, maybe share what's something that's been bringing you joy this summer? Pratik (ARU): Hello, namaste everyone. My name is Pratik Chhetri. He, him. I'm the program manager at ARU, Asian Refugees United in Pennsylvania. I'm originally from Nepal. I grew up in Nepal. I am an immigrant, came to the for college long time ago. And I've been working in social justice, health justice field for over 15 years now. Initially it was mostly around advocacy policy relating to access to medicines, issues, especially in lower and middle income countries, and the past six, seven. More than seven [00:02:00] years. I also started an organization, a nonprofit organization in Nepal, that works at the intersection of social, economic and climate justice. And with ARU, I got introduced to ARU back in 2020. So by that time I had some skills that I felt I could bring to the community. Even though I'm not from Bhutanese refugee community, I speak the language, I understand the culture to a certain extent. So I felt with the linguistic skill I could be of some help. I think right around that time COVID happened, everything and end of 2021 is when I reconnected with Robin and started talking about possibilities. For about two years, I was part of the CAMP for Emerging Leaders, the leadership program ARU has, and [00:03:00] starting last year, early this year formally, I am a staff, for ARU. I'm in charge of programs under wellness, education, and civic engagement largely but depending on time and resources, I become available for other programs as well. It's a joy working with ARU. I was just telling Cheryl earlier that it doesn't feel like work ‘ cause I enjoy it, working with people, getting to work on impactful programs, and being a part of an organization that has so much potential, so much responsibility, but also trying to find new ways to become, useful for the community. That's very exciting. Yeah.  Cheryl (Host): That's great. I'm glad that your work is what's bringing you joy this summer. That's so special. And before we get into some of that impactful programming that you've been running this summer, could you [00:04:00] tell us a little bit about, ARU, Asian Refugees United  Pratik (ARU): Sure. ARU started back in 2016 in California and back then all of the programs used to be in California. The community that ARU serves since then, and even to this day are Nepali speaking, Bhutanese refugee community and Vietnamese community, Korean and other Pan-Asian community. After the pandemic, there has been a lot of secondary migration of the Bhutanese folks from across the United States to two major locations. One being central PA around Harrisburg area and Pennsylvania, and the second one around Columbus, Ohio, and other major cities in Ohio. The secondary migration mostly to Pennsylvania triggered a, shifting of ARU programs, to Pennsylvania as well in addition to [00:05:00] California. So at this point in 2025, the Pennsylvania side of ARU caters to the Nepali speaking Bhutanese folks. And the California side of ARU works with Vietnamese, Korean, and other Asian communities. I work with the Pennsylvania, ARU, and here we have four different pillars around health and wellness, education, art and storytelling. And the fourth one is civic engagement, and that is the newest one. I can talk about programs under each of the pillars but for summer the programs that is bringing me joy, not only for me, but also ARU's staffs is this longitudinal five month long leadership program called Camp for Emerging Leaders, where we recruit Nepali speaking folks from all across United States, and they go through virtual sessions every other [00:06:00] week on, history to the story of displacement, intergenerational trauma. How it started, how it used to be back in Bhutan, how it used to be in the refugee camps in Nepal, and now how it is in the US and Canada, wherever they are. So end of summer, end of July, early August is when all of those cohort members, the youth leaders will come physically to Harrisburg and we'll spend a few days here connecting with each other, building that trust, but also working together to build projects for the community, addressing community challenges that's happening. And for that I think five or six of the ARU staff from California are also coming. We have guest speakers. I think one of them is coming from all the way from Australia. It's fun. Largely I think [00:07:00] I'm looking forward to meeting with all of these youth leaders who have so much potential to do, so much good, not only for Bhutanese community, Nepali speaking, south Asian community, but also, their potential goes beyond that, yeah.  Cheryl (Host): It is powerful to hear how ARU's work has evolved and now spans across the nation, and also how Camp for Emerging Leaders is creating space for Nepali speaking Bhutanese youth to reflect their community's history, build deep connections, and grow as leaders. You mentioned that during the summer youth leaders gather in Harrisburg to create community projects. Could you share more about what kinds of projects they're working on and what kind of issues they're hoping to address? Pratik (ARU): For education, one of the main ones that we just concluded is, so we started high school success program called First Step Forward. And the interesting thing, the exciting thing about this program [00:08:00] is the concept of First Step forward from one of the Camp for Emerging Leaders cohort from two years ago. And similarly so that's how most of ARU programs have been. The ARU Youth Center, the ARU Office, that concept also started from the camp for emerging leaders. There are a couple other programs ARU does. Youth Wellness Day. That started from the camp as well. For the First Step Forward, what we do is early winter of, I think January or February we accepted a cohort of 10. These were high school juniors and seniors, and largely the purpose of the program is to make sure that they are well equipped for college and for any other professional avenues they end up going even if higher education is not for them. We did a lot of like leadership sessions, public speaking [00:09:00] sessions, like how to write essays, how to apply for different scholarships. We just concluded it literally last Saturday, we went hiking and went to one of the Six Flags amusement parks. But learning from that program, we are scaling it up. We're taking 20 people next year, and we will do it a year long cohort. So starting from September up until May, June. We'll integrate college tours, not only for the kids, but also for their family because in Bhutanese community and Nepali speaking folks a lot of the times the parents do not understand how the system works, even with their best intent and best intention. So along with the students, it is very important for us to work with the family, the parents as much as possible to take them through the process, right? On education, we also do a lot of cultural navigation training to [00:10:00] different county level and different governance agencies. Some of the cultural navigation trainings that we did in the past year that I can think of is we did one for the. Panel of judges from Dauphin County, which is where Harrisburg is. We did similar thing for different school districts in Dauphin and Cumberland County, different nearby counties for juvenile probation unit, child and youth services. And while we do that, as an organization, it gave us a better sense of where the gaps are, especially for parents to run into difficulties. 'cause a lot of times, for example, if a kid is sent home with a sheet of paper, even when it's bilingual, because their movement happened from Nepal to Bhutan, such a long time ago, a lot of the folks in the community speak the language but do not understand how to read or write the [00:11:00] language. So there are double language barrier, right? When a kid is called into a meeting or a disciplinary meeting, the parents a lot of times don't even look at the sheet of paper or don't know where to show up or how to show up or what to expect. Based on those things we're using that knowledge and experience to design further programs in the future. That's just for education. With civic engagement, for example, this 2024 cycle was the first election for our community members to vote in their lifetime. Back in Bhutan they didn't have that opportunity and then they spent decades in refugee camps, and it took most of them some time to get the green cards and five years after Green card to secure their citizenship. So we saw a lot of even elderly folks show up to voting. That was their first time that they were voting. And when that happens, it's not [00:12:00] just generic voter education. It's teaching the community how to register, where to register, where to show up at the precincts. A lot of precincts we were seeing, 30 to 40% of the folks show up to the wrong precincts. So there's a lot of need, but also in 2024 we saw, unfortunately, a lot of folks fall victim to misinformation and disinformation. So there's that need to do something about that part as well in the future. One of the things we started doing under civic engagement work is not just teach folks where to register, how to register on voter education, but also preparing some of the community members to run for office.  Two or three weeks ago, mid-June, we did our first round of run for office training. We partner up with another organization called Lead PA. And even for the folks who showed up, all of us [00:13:00] are politically inclined, educated to a certain extent, and a lot of the things that were shared in that training, it was mostly new to us, especially around local government. Like what are the positions that they are and how so many important positions, people run unopposed and what kind of ramifications that might have for our daily lives. Right. Starting 2026 election cycle, we're hoping some of our trainees run for office as well, starting from school board to all the way, wherever they want to. And there are wellness focused events, youth wellness Day that I talked about, around mental health is one of the great needs for the community. One piece of data might be very important to mention, based on CDCs 20 12 data, there was a report out, the research was conducted in 2012, and the report came out in 2014, basically what it said [00:14:00] was, Bhutanese folks in the US have the highest of suicide in the whole nation, and that's something that has not received a lot of attention or resources because generally those numbers get mixed up with generic Asian data and the numbers get diluted. Right. So one of the things, what, as an organization, what we are trying to do is bring awareness to that number. And the other thing is like, it's been over 10 years since that study happened and there has not been a follow-up study. What we are seeing is previously how mental health and it's ramifications how it was affecting the community, it was mostly about 10 years ago, mostly affecting older folks. Now we are seeing a lot of younger folks commit suicide or suicidal attempts. So there is a lot of work in that respect as [00:15:00] well. These are also some of the very crucial topics to work on. But as an organization, we are taking baby steps toward being able to efficiently address the community needs. I missed some of them, but overall, our organizational goal is to empower the community in one way or the other. And one of the tools that we use is focusing on youths because youths in the community, similar to other immigrant communities, our youths are mostly bilingual, bicultural, and many times they're the translators and system navigators for their whole family. And in many cases their extended family as well. Yeah.  Cheryl (Host): Wow. There are so many layers to the work that you all do. From developing leaders to run for office, to supporting mental health, to helping folks navigate voting and helping folks access higher education or career pathways.[00:16:00]  That's such a wide scope, and I imagine it takes a lot to hold all of that. How do you all manage to balance so much, especially with a small team, is that right?  Pratik (ARU): Yes. Technically we only have one full-time staff. Most are part-time, but ranging from. 10% to 80%. Largely we rely on the community members, volunteers, and we pay the volunteers when we can. And other times, I think it speaks to how much time and effort and how genuinely, folks like Robin, who is the co ED of ARU and Parsu who is the office manager, and other folks in Harrisburg, connected with different community leaders, folks of different subgroups over the years. So. When ARU moved to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania post pandemic, it took them a while to get the hang of the community, the growing community. Back then it used to [00:17:00] be 10, 20,000 max in central PA and now our estimation is like 70, 80,000 in central PA. It took them a while to create space of trust, that ARU are people that they can come for when they run into problems. And even when we don't have a lot of resources, people show up. People volunteer. People volunteer their time, their spaces for meetings and events. Yeah. And that's how we've been running it. I feel like we do five or 10 x amount of work with the resources that we have, but that's largely because of the perception the community has about Robin, about Parsu, about other individuals, and about the organization.  Cheryl (Host): That's so amazing. ARU clearly has such deep community roots, not just through the incredible work that of course Robin, [00:18:00] Parsu and so many others you have named have done to build lasting relationships that now sustain the work in the organization, but also I think it's also evident in the examples you've shared through Camp for Emerging Leaders, how you all really listen to youth and learn from their experiences. And you all shape programs that respond directly to the needs that you're seeing. And in that same spirit of care and commitment that is reflected in ARU's amazing staff and volunteers. I'm curious, are there any moments or memories from camp for emerging leaders that stand out to you? I imagine there must be so many.  Pratik (ARU): Yeah. Many stories. I started attending and facilitating the sessions for the camp I from 2022 cohort and maybe even 23 cohort. I think this is the third one that I'm doing. I'll talk about Kamana. [00:19:00] Kamana joined the 23 cohort and at that time she was still in high school. But you know, she was bubbly, full of energy and she was one of the pretty active members of the cohort and eventually after the cohort, she ended up joining ARU as initially, I think as an intern, and now she is the lead of the education program. She will be a sophomore or rising junior, starting this fall. But now she'll be running the education program, First Step Forward. Primarily it was internally us staff, we see the growth in them with experience. But also I think one of the things that ARU does is we create a sort of non-hierarchical structure within our office space in the sense that anyone can [00:20:00] design a program or any idea, and they do not feel intimidated to speaking up. I think because of that, people like Kamana, I can talk about other folks like Nawal. Them growing within ARU space shows not just with experience, but also I think the kind of open and inclusive and non hierarchical space that we create they feel comfortable enough in leading. A lot of times when we have , X, y, and Z needs to be done in the group chat, people just volunteer. Even when they don't get paid, we see our staff, our volunteer base just show up time and time again. Yeah.  Cheryl (Host): Wow. ARU is such a special container. You've created this beautiful space where people can grow and then also have agency to shape that container in whatever way that they want. That is so special. How can listeners support your work this [00:21:00] summer? Whether that's showing up or donating or volunteering or spreading the word.  Pratik (ARU): One of the things is for the listeners, I feel like not a lot of folks know about Bhutanese community much. So yes, they speak Nepali. They sometimes they identify as Nepali because it's just easy. , Bhutanese folks normally identify as either Bhutanese or Nepali or American or any combination of those three identities. A lot of folks do not know, including folks from Nepal about the atrocity, the trauma that the community went through had to go through the forced persecution out of Bhutan and then living under very limited means while in the refugee camps in Nepal and even the number of challenges the community still [00:22:00] faces. I talked a little bit about mental health needs. There's. There are needs around, health seeking behavior and similar to other immigrant communities as well, but also, on education. Because of the historical division around caste and class and other demographic details, certain folks in the community are geared towards success versus others aren't. And we see that. We see the pattern quite distinct by their indigeneity, by their caste, by their last names. In our community you can tell what their caste is, what their ethnic background is with their last names. So I would invite the audience to learn a little bit more about this community and if you have that space and resources [00:23:00] to be, if you're a researcher, if you want to do some research studies, if you want to bring some programs. If you have scholarship ideas, if you want to create any scholarship for the kids in the community, or if you have means, and if you can donate, either or. It doesn't have to be just, financial resources. It can be sometimes being available as mentor to some of the kids to show them these are the possibilities. To summarize, learn more about the community if you don't know already including some of the new atrocities, the community's facing right now with ICE detention and deportation, even when the community was brought in to this country after years and years of approval through the process. And if you have resources and means help with knowledge sharing, being available or with [00:24:00] financial means either or. I just wanted to mention that I work with ARU and I work with the Bhutanese community, but like I said, I'm not from the Bhutan community. I grew up in Nepal. I speak the language, I understand the culture to a certain extent, but I definitely cannot speak for the experience of going and living as a refugee. So,, if you have any question, if you want to learn more about that, Cheryl and I, we are happy to put you in touch with folks with incredible stories, inspiring stories of resilience in the community. Cheryl (Host): Thank you so much. All of the links, whether to learn more, donate or get involved, as well as information about the disappearances impacting the Bhutanese American community will be included in our show notes. A huge thank you to Pratik from Asian Refugees United for joining us tonight. We're deeply grateful for the work you do and the love you carry for our [00:25:00] communities. To our listeners, thank you for tuning in. We're going to take a quick music break and when we come back we'll hear more about the summer programming happening across the AACRE network with folks from Lavender Phoenix, and Hmong innovating politics. So don't go anywhere. Next up, you're listening to a track called “Juniper” by Minjoona, a project led by Korean American musician, Jackson Wright. This track features Ari Statler on bass, josh Qiyan on drums, and Ryan Fu producing. Juniper is the lead single from Minjoona's newest release, the Juniper EP, a five track p roject rooted in indie rock, 60 throwback vibes, and lyric forward storytelling. You can follow Minjoona on Instagram at @minjoonamusic or find them on Spotify to keep up with upcoming releases. We'll drop the links in our show notes. Enjoy the track and we'll be right back. [00:26:00] [00:27:00] [00:28:00] [00:29:00] [00:30:00]  And we're back!!. You're listening to APEX express on 94.1 KPFA, 89.3 KPFB in Berkeley. 88.1. KFCF in Fresno and online@kpfa.org. That was “Juniper” by Minjoona.  Huge thanks to Jackson Wright and the whole crew behind that track [00:31:00] Before the break, we were live with Pratik from Asian Refugees United, talking about the powerful summer programming, supporting the Nepalese speaking Bhutanese community in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Now I'm joined by from Blair Phoenix. From Lavender Phoenix, who's here to share about her experiences as a summer organizer In Lav N'S annual summer in Lav N's annual summer organizer in Lav N'S annual summer organizing program. Hi Mar. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you so much for being here. Do you mind introducing yourself to our listeners? Okay. Mar, do you mind for our listeners out there who are just tuning in, do you mind introducing yourself? Mar (LavNix): Yes. Thank you, Cheryl. Hi, y'all. My name is Mar Pronouns, [00:32:00] she/siya/any! I come from the lands of the Ibaloi people in the Philippines or “Maharlika”. I am a queer Muslim and yeah, I'm just happy to be here. Cheryl (Host): Yay. We're so happy to have you here, mar! For those who might not be familiar, Mar is joining us from Lavender Phoenix as part of this year's summer organizing program. Mar,, could you start by giving our listeners a quick introduction to Lavender Phoenix? And then could you tell us a little bit about the summer organizing program and what it's all about? Mar (LavNix): Yeah, of course. Cheryl. Let's start with Lavender Phoenix. Lavender Phoenix is a really awesome nonprofit over here in the Bay Area who focus on trans queer, API. Work basically. I really love Lavender Phoenix because of their unwavering commitment to collective liberation [00:33:00] and the very specific focus and centering around trans queer API leadership because our leadership is often underrepresented and because there's so many intersections there, we need to have trans queer API leadership to be able to move the work. And so really fond of lavender Phoenix's ethos and mission values. This year for the summer 2025, I'm part of their summer organizer program, which is a cohort of organizers both emerging, established and wanting to learn, and we learn a lot of transformative interpersonal organizing skills, but also building our more technical skill sets alongside with that. So we're actually three weeks from graduation [00:34:00] nooooooooo!. Anyways, yeah, just really happy to be in this cohort. I'm feeling really aligned in that I am here and it is transforming me in the way I had intentions for when I applied for it. Cheryl (Host): Wow. It sounds like this was a really impactful program for you. I wanna know what kinds of projects are you all working on?  Mar (LavNix): Yeah, so it's really beautiful because it's not just like a single project the cohort works on, it's kind of a myriad of things. We have two folks who are doing projects with other organizations, and then we have the rest of the folks working on two projects within Lavender Phoenix's programming. And so for my group, my very awesome group, we are doing the River of Life Project, and the River of Life Project is a five week long cohort where we practice storytelling in a very vulnerable and honest way, and this is for the [00:35:00] purpose to really witness one another and to cultivate our storytelling skills because our stories and narratives is so important. There's whole states and governments trying to take that away from us, and so our project is to guide and facilitate this project and meet with members across rank. It's super cool seeing the different facets of lavender Phoenix come together and be down, to be in the act of vulnerability and honesty and that is their praxis for collective liberation. Yeah.  Cheryl (Host): Yeah. Yeah. That's so well said. And it's so important that we have these spaces to practice that vulnerability because we are so often punished for being who we are. Right. So, mm-hmm. These programs are so crucial as you have uplifted for us. I am so curious to learn more about this River of Life project, but [00:36:00] also before we even get to that, I wanna zoom out a little bit and focus on your growth and who are you now as you get closer three weeks from graduation?  Mar (LavNix): Ooh, that is such a beautiful question, Cheryl. Yeah. I've been really reflecting on how this program transformed me this summer and to bring us back to when I first applied. I first applied sometime in March, I believe. I remember 'cause it was around Ramadan. I was at a point in my life where I felt stagnant in my organizing journey. I would attend all these workshops, I would keep reading, but there was a disconnect in how my mind wanted to move next. So here we are in 2025, I was accepted into the program. I was like, yay, my people. And you know, [00:37:00] my expectations was met. In fact, it was exceeded. Very exceeded because I didn't know these things that i'm learning now. I didn't know how much I needed them until I learned them. In my time with Lavender Phoenix, as I'm reflecting to this point, graduation being three weeks out, I realized that before joining this cohort, my heart and my spirit was in a really bad place, and I think a lot of people could resonate. There's genocides, ethnic cleansings, and just terrible things happening all over the world, and there's like a dichotomy of people who are trying so hard and then there's a dichotomy of people who are unaffected by it. And so my spirit and my heart was so broken down seems really dramatic, but it wasn't being rejuvenated for sure. And so, being in this space and being in a [00:38:00] container that's just honesty and vulnerability and it's all rooted in each other's liberation really replenish that cup. The teachings and the knowledge and the wisdom that I'm getting, it's helping me add more to my North Star, which I'm really thankful of because I didn't know this is what I needed in March. Cheryl (Host): That is so beautiful. So much of what's going on right now by the systems that be, the powers that be, it's meant to isolate us and to make us feel exactly what you said. Capitalism isolates us and keeps us in that place because that's how it benefits . So Lavender Phoenix is summer organizing program, what I'm hearing from you is this revolutionary space that is counter to that. It's filled with hope and dreaming for a better world. So how is that being informed in River of Life, in the storytelling leadership development that you are developing within Lavender Phoenix's membership?  Mar (LavNix): Oh, yes. I'm [00:39:00] understanding the responsibility on how I move in this space. And so before the cohort of the River of Life project presents, it's actually gonna be me and another facilitator going to share our stories. And so we're also in the act of being vulnerable and honest and really wanting the others to witness us as we will witness them. We've removed kind of that superiority in that space. When I think of this, it brings me back to Freire's idea of an engaged pedagogy, but not necessarily like an educator and a student, but like removing hierarchies, which I think is really, a value that's rooted in, or lavender Phoenix is rooted in that value. There's no hierarchy, but there is ranks and we all see each other as equals. It's really beautiful to be able to see that and then know how I move in this [00:40:00] space to prepare our cohort. I hope that my storytelling, I can only hope, I do not know how it's gonna be received inshallah it's received super well. But I really do hope that they see how vulnerable I also get and how I'm doing this so that I could build deeper relationships with these people as I continue my journey with Lavender, Phoenix and to them as well. I hope these values, if not already present in our people, this project helps them cultivate that even further.  Cheryl (Host): I wanna ask what is something you want to share with our listeners who were in a similar space as you who felt lost and that they wanted something to grow in. What advice would you give?  Mar (LavNix): This is a really beautiful question [00:41:00] and So many things flooded my brain as you were asking this question, but i'm feeling more pulled and called to share this one thing . As I'm going through the summer organizer program, I really realized the importance of tending to myself so that I could show up for others. I have to be able to know how to advocate for my needs and what I need so that I can be in spaces with other people. It's so important that I know how to acknowledge my shame or whatever pain points I'm experiencing and let that not be a hindrance to the work, but integrate it in a way that I will tend to it, and by tending to it, I can continue doing the work. And I know it's really [00:42:00] hard to prioritize yourself when it feels like you should prioritize everything else in the world right now, but I am really learning that that's what I needed to do. When I say prioritize myself, I'm not saying oh, I need to go do this and I need to go drink all my water. Yes, also care for our physical bodies and our mental bodies, but also taking time to know who I am as a person and what I could offer to the movement, and knowing how to communicate to others in the movement so that I could show up as a better organizer. And so the final words that I will have to share is I hope everyone who's hearing this shows the love that they have for other people to themselves [00:43:00] too.  Cheryl (Host): That was so beautiful. What you just shared right now about tending to yourself that's part of the work too. And that's so counterintuitive, I feel. This project that you're leading, the river of life where the focus is so much on your story and honoring who you are, I think that is the true essence of what it means to be trans and queer. Showing up with your whole self and embracing that. And in turn, by doing that, you are holding everybody else too, that very practice. To find out more about Lavender Phoenix Mar, how can our listeners plug into Lavender Phoenix's work?  Mar (LavNix): Follow us on Instagram or check out Lavender, Phoenix website. We post a lot. Sign up for the newsletter. Volunteer. We're really cool. Or just look at the staff and see if anybody calls you and you wanna hit them up. We're so awesome. Cheryl (Host): Thank you for joining us on tonight's show, Mar, and for sharing your experiences on Lavender Phoenix's [00:44:00] summer organizing program with all of All of the links that Mar mentioned on how to stay in touch with Lavender Phoenix's work be available in our show notes as per usual. We are so grateful, thank you again, Mar! Next up, we're joined by Katie from Hmong Innovating Politics. Katie. Welcome, welcome. I'm so happy to have you on our show tonight. Would you mind introducing yourself to our listeners? Katie (HIP): Hi everyone. My name is Katie. I use she her pronouns. My Hmong name is ING and I mainly introduce myself as ING to my community, especially elders because one ING is my given name. Katie is like a self-assigned name. In my work with HIP I've been trying to figure out what feels more natural when, but I do catch myself introducing myself to my Hmong community. And yeah, I'm totally cool if folks referring to me as Katie Oring and my ask is just pronouncing my name correctly. Who are my people? Who's my community? I would say my community is my family. And then the young people that I work [00:45:00] with, the elders in my community, the ones who would like to claim me, my team. I would say Hmong women that I've met through some of the work that I do at my volunteer org, and oh my goodness, there're so many people. My friends, oh my gosh, if my friends are listening to this, my friends are my community, they're my people. They keep me grounded, alive and fun. My siblings. All of the folks in Fresno and Sacramento that have been a part of the spaces that I've shared at HIP and the spaces that we've created together.  Cheryl (Host): You are a community leader through and through . For folks who are listening and don't know, Hmong Innovating Politics is one of the AACRE groups and it has two different hubs basically in Central California, one in Sacramento, and one in Fresno. Katie, do you mind sharing a little bit about HIP and the work that you all do? Katie (HIP): Yeah. So, we are a power building organization and what does that mean, right? One is that we are [00:46:00] a part of empowering and supporting our community to become active change makers in their community. We believe that those who are most impacted by issues should also be the ones that receive resources and training to lead solutions and design, the dreams of their community. A framework that we use is called Belong Believe Become. We want to create space where young people feel their belongingness, know that they are rooted here in their community, and that they have a place. The believing part of our framework is that we want young people to also see themselves and see themselves as leaders. In their community and leadership can mean many forms, right? There's like passive and active leadership, and we want young people to know that there is enough space in this world for everyone in whichever capacity, they're choosing to show up in their community. The important piece of believing is that, believing that you also like matter and that your decisions are also impactful. And then become is that. [00:47:00] we share this framework and it's circular because we notice that some people can come into our space feeling like I know exactly who I'm gonna be. I know exactly what I wanna do, and feel really disconnected from their history and their, and the multiple parts of their identities. belong, believe become is cyclical and it's wherever you're at. And in this third piece of becoming it is that our young people know that they are leading the charge and transforming systems. That they are shifting the narratives of our community, that they get to own the narratives of our community, and that they are a part of the Power building our community as well. Cheryl (Host): Yeah, I love that . As we're talking, I'm noticing that you talk so much about young people and how so much of your work's framework is centered around young people. Do you mind giving context into that? So much of HIP's programming is on youth leadership, and so I'm wondering what does that look like programming wise and especially right now in the summer? Katie (HIP): Yeah, so it's more [00:48:00] recently that HIP has been identifying ourselves as a power building organization. Before we had claimed our work as base building, and this is through our civic engagement work for voter engagement and empowerment, and turning out the vote that, that is like what we, our organization was like centered on. Through that work, what we noticed was that like cycles and seasons after season, it was young people coming back and then they started asking are you all gonna have like consistent programming space for us, or is it just gonna always be around the election cycle? Through our civic engagement work, a framework that we use is the IVE model, integrated voter engagement. And that is that you are relationship building year after year, even outside of the election season. And so then it was how do we be more intentional about centering the people who are coming to us and centering the people who are shifting and challenging and pushing our leadership. And that was to [00:49:00] then move and prioritize the young people in our community. I think it's been maybe four or five years since this shift where we've really prioritized young people and really centered our work around youth justice. So then we had to create these spaces. Civic engagement work had primarily consisted of phone banking and canvassing and through that I think a lot of young people were then getting firsthand experience of this is like what it's like to be angry about these issue in my community. This is also what it's like to hold space for other people to go through and process their emotions. And then it was like, how do we train and skill up our young people to not only listen to their community, but be able to strategize and lead and take their ideas and dreams and put 'em into action. At the time folks working in our civic engagement programs were high school youth, college transitional age, young adults who are not in college. And we even had parent [00:50:00] age folks in our programs as well. In figuring out how do we better support our young folks was that a lot of young people were asking for more like designated space for youth that are in high school. The other request was can you all not be college based because not all young adults go to college in our community, yet we still wanted to access the programs. We had to strategize around these pieces. Also at the time when we were running civic engagement program, we were also building up our trans and queer work in the Central Valley and figuring out like what is HIP's place in this work? So that landed us into three programs. We have a program called Tsev which is TSEV. Um, and that means House in Hmong, but it's an acronym. It stands for Transforming Systems, empowering Our Village, and the reason why we named our youth program that is in the Hmong community, we refer to our community a lot “lub zos” which means village in English. And so that is why we wanted to name our program with something around the word village and then also [00:51:00] home, belongingness, right? We wanted our program to signify belonging. And so that is what landed us in this program. This program is based at a high school and we train cohorts of youth and the curriculum that we cover in all of our programs are pretty similar, but they are adjusted to be more relevant to the age group and the experiences that we are serving. So we have our high school program. We have our trans and queer young adult program called QHIP, queer Hmong intersectional Pride. And then we also have a young adult program called the Civic Engagement Fellowship, but I feel like we're gonna be revamping next year, so we might have a new name next year. And that one is, open to all young adults of all gender and sexuality. The projects that is focused in that is what's coming up on the election. So specific propositions and measures or whatever we are bringing to the ballot. And then with QHIP, it is very focused on intentionally building up leadership in the trans and queer community. [00:52:00] Yeah.  Cheryl (Host): You all tackle power building in so many different intersections, and I think that's so brilliant. You really tailor these spaces to the needs of your community and you're always listening to your community. That is honestly such a theme within the AACRE network. Could you tell us how these groups stay active during the summer?  Katie (HIP): Yeah! During the summer, we close off the cohort in June when the school year ends. And so we're actually in the assessment phase of this program right now. Our seniors throughout the summer go through a one-on-one exit with one of the staff in Fresno or Sacramento. After the senior exit closes out, then we'll be doing a overall annual assessment with all of the young people that were in the program this year. We're actually closing both these pieces out next week. We try to make things fun, right? So for the one-on-ones, we'll all come to the office and we'll have the one-on-one exit interviews and after that we'll go get lunch. somewhere cute, somewhere fun. Then with the end of the year evals, after we complete them for everyone, we'll just hang out. This [00:53:00] year we're planning to do like a paint by numbers night. And then we always somehow end up karaoking. For QHIP, our trans and queer young adult program we actually partner with Lavender Phoenix and have them attend the leadership exchange program that's happening right now. We did our own onboarding and then we celebrated the month of pride. And we also celebrated the trans march. Then after that transition into the leadership exchange program at Lavender Phoenix. After that program, I believe our lead members are going to be designing some projects this summer. And then they'll have the rest of the summer and hours to do their projects, and then we'll eventually close out with a retreat with them. Cheryl (Host): And for our listeners out there, do you mind giving a quick a preview on what lavender, Phoenix's leadership exchange program is and how you all work in tandem with each other?  Katie (HIP): Yeah. Okay. I know in the past, we've sent our more new to organizing leaders [00:54:00] to the leadership exchange program. This year the intention is that we wanted to send leaders from our community who might already have some organizing experience who have some experience in social justice and movement work. And so, during this I think some of my favorite things from the leadership exchange program is teaching folks how to ask for help. I think a lot of our young adults navigate their lives not knowing who to turn to for help and how to formulate and ask that is clear and supportive of their needs. So that's something that we really appreciate through the leadership exchange program. And another piece is mutual aid funding. Lavender Phoenix trains up leaders around fundraising support and that's something I'm really looking forward to our young people gaining. The other piece is ultimately training of trans and queer leaders in our community so that we can continue to sustain this movement and this lifelong work of trans and queer liberation. The leadership exchange program has been able to equip folks with very necessary skills so that they can continue to sustain trans and queer [00:55:00] leadership. I bring in the fundraising piece because, I think a lot of young people that I work with, they're so scared to ask for resource support, especially money. And I think a lot of it comes with our own family trauma around finances, right? So, I'm excited to see what they debrief about and what they reflect on.  Cheryl (Host): That's so amazing. It really sounds like all of these programs that you all do are really building up leaders for the long term of our movements. Asking for help is so related to navigating money, trauma and is so key in shaping liberatory futures. For folks out there who wanna get plugged into some of HIP's programming work, how can we stay in touch with you all? Katie (HIP): Our Instagram is the best spot. And then on our Instagram you can click on the little short link to sign up for our newsletter. We have some volunteer opportunities coming up in the month of August so if folks in the Central Valley wanna support with one of our community engagement [00:56:00] surveys, either to partake in the survey or to support us in doing the outreach and getting the word out so that folks complete the survey. There's two ways that you can participate with us. Yeah.  Cheryl (Host): Thanks, Katie, and of course all of those links will be available in our show notes. Thanks so much for coming on our show tonight, Katie, and thank you to our listeners for tuning in. We'll see you next time. [00:57:00] [00:58:00]  The post APEX Express – August 21, 2025 Sumer Programming in the AACRE Network appeared first on KPFA.

Master LinkedIn Marketing | Krishna Khanal | Profile & Content Hacks. Discover expert insights with Krishna Khanal, marketing professor turned LinkedIn influencer, as we dive deep into LinkedIn marketing, influencer hiring, content creation, and personal branding strategies tailored for Nepal's dynamic market in 2025. This video uncovers how to build an authentic LinkedIn profile, push niche content, and foster genuine community engagement without relying on clickbait or rage bait tactics. Learn the secrets behind viral content and how engagement outranks simple takeaways for lasting impact. Krishna shares how influencer marketing in Nepal should align with business goals and the nuances of marketing versus branding in today's digital landscape. Hear about the remarkable influence of Tanmay Bhatt and how authenticity drives success on social platforms. Plus, get a step-by-step guide on creating systematic marketing plans and boosting your LinkedIn SEO to attract recruiters and grow your professional network. Whether you're a creator, marketer, or business owner, these actionable strategies are designed for 2025's evolving algorithm to help you thrive and get discovered fast.

In this episode, I introduce you to Verna R. and her husband are empty nesters.  You may remember Verna and her daughters coming on the podcast in 2020. It was the first timeI got to talk to a whole family who was using the Organize 36® systems. And the second time just Verna and I talked about her organization journey. Verna was referred to Organize 365® by her daughters to get organized since it didn't come naturally to her. Her mother and mother in law were natural organizers so Verna appreciated systems and organization but none of the systems she tried stuck until she tried Organize 365®.  In 2002-2004, Verna had cancer. Once she finished treatment she decided it was time to hire an organizer because she needed help due to low energy from recovery. Yes, I pointed out that the organizer can help with all the visible work. And the second thing I pointed out was that over the span of you get a home, then probably add a spouse, maybe some kids. As we get older, the complexities of daily life build on each other and there is no break time to reset for middle school years, Sports years, or heaven forbid a time with an illness. Everything still had to get done. But Verna had been sick. A professional organizer help in the short term but Verna desired a system for a lifetime. The last point I made was that the organizer cannot deal with the invisible work. Verna agreed with me and we talked about offloading to the external brain, the Sunday Basket®.  I added that as our executive functions decline, starting as early as your 30's or 40's, the calendar with the external brain and planning helped to prolong the speed of decline. How can we do that? Have a system like the Productive Home Solution™ that provides training!! And we all want to be independent as long as we can!  Verna shared her three purple slash pockets are for making gifts, her house, and volunteer work. She uses planning day to process those activities. She also credited her husband, Bruce, to being a good partner and sharing the daily tasks. We had a little side discussion about retirement and how much work the wife gains once her husband retires. I'm making Greg think about what he's gonna do with all his time once he retires. Bruce kept himself busy for a couple more years after he retired. Now they are teaching together in Nepal from time to time and even have started to bring their grandchildren.  Verna has more calmness and purpose. She took the time to really observe herself. She paid attention to what she was saying yes to and directly then what that meant she was saying no to. She extends herself a lof grace knowing she can't change the past and really loves who she is today. She's looking forward to setting a S.M.A.R.T.I.E. goal for her storage and getting her grown kids stuff out of her storage. That will free up some of her cognitive load to think about what their future living situation may look like.  Verna's advice is, “Notice what you do. Pay attention. It will show you what you value and what you prioritize.”  EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Productive Home Solution® Home Planning Day Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter  On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365­® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday. Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!

She did it. At 10:06 a.m. on May 24th, two-time guest Jeannette McGill stood on top of the world. Jeannette, 52, summited Mount Everest after three years of navigating hot flashes, heavy, erratic periods, joint pain, stubborn injuries, brain fog, and maybe most difficult of all for a high altitude mountaineer–newfound fear that made tasks that once came easily feel overwhelming. Along the way, including two abandoned summit attempts, Jeannette learned that through the power and support of community and with patience, persistence, and practice you can get through even the darkest of tunnels to reach your goals. She shares her journey and the wisdom learned along the way this week.Jeannette McGill is the first South African woman to summit Manaslu and the first-ever South African to climb Dhaulagiri - two of the 14 8,000-meter (26,000 feet) mountains in the world. She is passionate about supporting others to achieve their outdoor goals through her mountain mentoring and leads bespoke adventures in the Australian Alps and Nepal. Her portfolio career also includes industrial technology management, and she has a PhD from the Colorado School of Mines. You can learn more about her and her work as a mentor and guide at www.mcgillsmountains.com/ResourcesMenopause Lessons from the Mountains with Jeannette McGill (Episode 89)Fear and the Quest for Everest in Menopause with Jeannette McGill (Episode 195)Sign up for our FREE Feisty 40+ newsletter: https://feistymedia.ac-page.com/feisty-40-sign-up-page Learn More and Register for our Feisty 40+ Strong Retreat: https://www.womensperformance.com/strongretreat Follow Us on Instagram:Feisty Menopause: @feistymenopause Hit Play Not Pause Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/807943973376099 Support our Partners:Phosis: Use the code FEISTY15 for 15% off at https://www.phosis.com/ Midi Health: You Deserve to Feel Great. Book your virtual visit today at https://www.joinmidi.com/Hettas: Use code FEISTY20 for 20% off at https://hettas.com/ Previnex: Get 15% off your first order with code HITPLAY at https://www.previnex.com/ This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Spotify Ad Analytics - https://www.spotify.com/us/legal/ad-analytics-privacy-policy/Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacyPodscribe - https://podscribe.com/privacy

In a first time event, we replay podcast episode #48 from June, 2017, in which local adventurer Jerry Rhodes tells his story of being on Mt Everest during the Nepal earthquake of 2015. This replay coincides with the new Netflix documentary "Aftershock: Everest and the Nepal Earthquake" which also tells the story of the same event through the eyes of people on Mt. Everest and in Kathmandu In the intro to this re-play, Bob suggests that listeners watch the Netflix documentary along with listening to Rhodes give his first-person account of the earthquake. Jerry Rhodes Pottery website: http://www.jerryrhodespottery.com/ Netflix documentary: https://www.netflix.com/ Please consider becoming a patron of this podcast! Visit: https://www.patreon.com/hikingbob for more information Hiking Bob website: https://www.HikingBob.com Wild Westendorf website: https://wildwestendorf.com/ Where to listen, download and subscribe to this podcast: https://pod.link/outdoorswithhikingbob

Today on The Rock Fight Colin & Shawnté discuss the following topics that have come out of the outdoor adventure community over the past week:Fake summit selfies! Scandal breaks in the mountaineering world as a climber is accused of faking summits. (08:44)Nepal pimps other peaks! Nepal is issuing free permits to 97 other mountains to try and relieve some of the traffic on Everest. Will it work? (17:32)The Rock Fight Lightning Round! Today's topics: a bear kills Japanese hiker, a rattlesnake kills a Tennessee hiker, and SUPs are killing more people than ever before. (24:30)Is completing the Triple Crown of Hiking 'dumb'? A recent blog post ponders the motivation of those who pursue thru hiking the PCT, CDT, and AT. Do we agree? (29:12)For The Parting Shot, Shawnté reflects on Hurricane Katrina's 20 year anniversary while Colin follows up on Kilian Jornet's new venture.Thanks for listening! The Rock Fight is a production of Rock Fight, LLC. Sign up for NEWS FROM THE FRONT, Rock Fight's semi-weekly newsletter by heading to www.rockfight.co and clicking Join The Mailing List.Please follow and subscribe to The Rock Fight and give us a 5 star rating and a written review wherever you get your podcasts.Want to pick a fight with The Rock Fight? Send your feedback, questions, and comments to myrockfight@gmail.com.

Varios ciudadanos estadounidenses y un residente permanente demandan al gobierno de Trump tras ser arrestados durante operativos migratorios.En otras noticias: Agentes de migración llevaron a cabo una mega redada en un warehouse en Nueva Jersey, donde detuvieron a más de la mitad de los empleados. Más de 60 mil inmigrantes de Honduras, Nicaragua y Nepal podrían perder su estatus de protección temporal TPS.Aumenta la tensión con el gobierno de Nicolás Maduro tras el envío de 3 buques de guerra.La Casa Blanca dirige su atención a los museos Smithsonian donde pide una investigación sobre el contenido de las exposiciones acusándolas de ser muy liberales. 

James takes us on his 4,000 km electric vehicle odyssey to the West Coast—an audio vacation slideshow with EVs, chargers, and road trip surprises. Brian dives into the strange story of Russian hackers seizing control of a Norwegian dam, while James shares a shocking climate realization from salmon on the Pacific coast. Plus, we unpack the dangers of gas station neurotoxins, and Colorado's new law requiring health warning labels on gas stoves. Support The Clean Energy Show on Patreon. Episode Highlights: Colorado requires air quality warning labels on gas stoves. Gas station neurotoxins and neurological health risks. The Lightning Round: Ukraine hits Russia's Druzhba oil pipeline. Nepal's EV share of new car sales reaches 87.6%. And: in April, China installed more solar than Australia has in its entire history (abc.net.au). Donate via PayPal

This week on VOMAus Radio, hear from VOM Australia staff member Patrick as he provides us with insights on his recent trip to Nepal. Though officially a secular republic, Nepal remains a predominantly Hindu nation, and the government is taking a strong stand against religious conversion. This nation is classified as ‘Hostile' towards the gospel, but there is a small, vibrant and bold church in Nepal faithfully following Christ, sometimes at great cost. Listen to understand what persecution is like in the diverse and complex nation of Nepal. And hear how our Bibles Plus project is blessing believers.

Every month at AKBAR, a small neighborhood LGBTQ+ bar on the east side of Los Angeles, queer artists of all kinds find a place to play in a unique cabaret. Executive Director Travis Wood, Creative Director Ian MacKinnon, and performers Lore Randolph (aka Fleur The Tease) and Ari (aka Odious Ari) celebrate 13 years of Planet Queer — with a nod to the late playwright Robert Patrick (produced by Brian DeShazor). And in NewsWrap: a pair of Indonesian college students caught hugging and kissing in a public restroom is set to receive 80 lashes for same-gender sex, Moroccan feminist and human rights activist Ibtissame Lachgar is under arrest for an anti-Islam post in which she wore a t-shirt that reads “Allah is lesbian,” Kathmandu LGBTQ Pride blends with Nepal's traditional Gai Jatra festival with hundreds of queer celebrants and allies, Arkansas' pediatric trans care ban is the second such law to be upheld by a U.S. federal appeals court, a school district in Virginia is standing by its trans-positive bathroom policy in defiance of the Trump administration's order to abandon it, a Minnesota biracial cisgender lesbian teen fights back after a restaurant employees indecent toilet test, and more international LGBTQ+ news reported this week by Marcos Najera and Lucia Chappelle (produced by Brian DeShazor). All this on the August 18, 2025 edition of This Way Out! Join our family of listener-donors today at http://thiswayout.org/donate/

Exploring Language & Its Influence: Prof. Madhav Pokharel on Nepal-China Ties. In this insightful podcast episode, join Professor Madhav Pokharel, a leading expert in language studies, as he unpacks the intricate Nepal-China relations through the lens of language, history, and geopolitics. Explore how the complexities of the Chinese language and its cultural influence intersect with Nepal's unique linguistic landscape. Professor Pokharel delves into the evolution of language education in Nepal, highlighting the impact of English introduced during Junga Bahadur Rana's era and how these language dynamics have shaped Nepal's development and foreign policy. This episode also examines the role of language as a tool of power and diplomacy, revealing how language weaponization has historically influenced cultures and political alignments. Discover the significance of Nepal's strategic partnership with China, including the implications of the Belt and Road Initiative and the historic balancing act Nepal performs between its two giant neighbors. The discussion further touches on the similarities between Newari and Chinese languages, showcasing the deep cultural ties that transcend borders. Whether you are interested in language evolution, geopolitical strategy, or Nepal's cultural identity, this episode with Professor Madhav Pokharel offers valuable perspectives that connect linguistic studies with practical diplomacy. Perfect for listeners eager to understand how language shapes national identity and international relations in South Asia.

Dr. Deonne Johnson is the definition of transformation. She has raised four amazing kids on her own, earned her PhD, climbed the corporate ladder, remodeled homes, and even dug trenches in Nepal. But the most powerful thing she has done is trade in a life of titles and checklists for one that's aligned with her heart.   Today, she's a coach, speaker, author, and humanitarian helping people especially women navigating big transitions, turn their pain into purpose. Her new guided journal From Tired to Inspired is a beautiful tool for anyone ready to rise.   Deonne reminds us all that growth happens the moment we step outside our comfort zone and choose a life that truly inspires us.  You are going to love her story.   … #Transformation #Purpose #Inspiration #Growth #Resilience #Authenticity #Leadership #WomenEmpowerment #toddinspires   Follow Dr. Deonne's journey:

Nonprofits, your “10 blue links” era is over. In this episode, Avinash Kaushik (Human-Made Machine; Occam's Razor) breaks down Answer Engine Optimization—why LLMs now decide who gets seen, why third-party chatter outweighs your own site, and what to do about it. We get tactical: build AI-resistant content (genuine novelty + depth), go multimodal (text, video, audio), and stamp everything with real attribution so bots can't regurgitate you into sludge. We also cover measurement that isn't delusional—group your AEO referrals, expect fewer visits but higher intent, and stop worshiping last-click and vanity metrics. Avinash updates the 10/90 rule for the AI age (invest in people, plus “synthetic interns”), and torpedoes linear funnels in favor of See-Think-Do-Care anchored in intent. If you want a blunt, practical playbook for staying visible—and actually converting—when answers beat searches, this is it. About Avinash Avinash Kaushik is a leading voice in marketing analytics—the author of Web Analytics: An Hour a Day and Web Analytics 2.0, publisher of the Marketing Analytics Intersect newsletter, and longtime writer of the Occam's Razor blog. He leads strategy at Human Made Machine, advises Tapestry on brand strategy/marketing transformation, and previously served as Google's Digital Marketing Evangelist. Uniquely, he donates 100% of his book royalties and paid newsletter revenue to charity (civil rights, early childhood education, UN OCHA; previously Smile Train and Doctors Without Borders). He also co-founded Market Motive. Resource Links Avinash Kaushik — Occam's Razor (site/home) Occam's Razor by Avinash Kaushik Marketing Analytics Intersect (newsletter sign-up) Occam's Razor by Avinash Kaushik AEO series starter: “AI Age Marketing: Bye SEO, Hello AEO!” Occam's Razor by Avinash Kaushik See-Think-Do-Care (framework explainer) Occam's Razor by Avinash Kaushik Books: Web Analytics: An Hour a Day | Web Analytics 2.0 (author pages) Occam's Razor by Avinash Kaushik+1 Human Made Machine (creative pre-testing) — Home | About | Products humanmademachine.com+2humanmademachine.com+2 Tapestry (Coach, Kate Spade) (company site) Tapestry Tools mentioned (AEO measurement): Trakkr (AI visibility / prompts / sentiment) Trakkr Evertune (AI Brand Index & monitoring) evertune.ai GA4 how-tos (for your AEO channel + attribution): Custom Channel Groups (create an “AEO” channel) Google Help Attribution Paths report (multi-touch view) Google Help Nonprofit vetting (Avinash's donation diligence): Charity Navigator (ratings) Charity Navigator Google for Nonprofits — Gemini & NotebookLM (AI access) Announcement / overview | Workspace AI for nonprofits blog.googleGoogle Help Example NGO Avinash supports: EMERGENCY (Italy) EMERGENCY Transcript Avinash Kaushik: [00:00:00] So traffic's gonna go down. So if you're a business, you're a nonprofit, how. Do you deal with the fact that you're gonna lose a lot of traffic that you get from a search engine? Today, when all of humanity moves to the answer Engine W world, only about two or 3% of the people are doing it. It's growing very rapidly. Um, and so the art of answer engine optimization is making sure that we are building for these LMS and not getting stuck with only solving for Google with the old SEO techniques. Some of them still work, but you need to learn a lot of new stuff because on average, organic traffic will drop between 16 to 64% negative and paid search traffic will drop between five to 30% negative. And that is a huge challenge. And the reason you should start with AEO now ​ George Weiner: [00:01:00] This week's guest, Avinash Kaushik is an absolute hero of mine because of his amazing, uh, work in the field of web analytics. And also, more importantly, I'd say education. Avinash Kaushik, , digital marketing evangelist at Google for Google Analytics. He spent 16 years there. He basically is. In the room where it happened, when the underlying ability to understand what's going on on our websites was was created. More importantly, I think for me, you know, he joined us on episode 45 back in 2016, and he still is, I believe, on the cutting edge of what's about to happen with AEO and the death of SEO. I wanna unpack that 'cause we kind of fly through terms [00:02:00] before we get into this podcast interview AEO. Answer engine optimization. It's this world of saying, alright, how do we create content that can't just be, , regurgitated by bots, , wholesale taken. And it's a big shift from SEO search engine optimization. This classic work of creating content for Google to give us 10 blue links for people to click on that behavior is changing. And when. We go through a period of change. I always wanna look at primary sources. The people that, , are likely to know the most and do the most. And he operates in the for-profit world. But make no mistake, he cares deeply about nonprofits. His expertise, , has frankly been tested, proven and reproven. So I pay attention when he says things like, SEO is going away, and AEO is here to stay. So I give you Avan Kashic. I'm beyond excited that he has come back. He was on our 45th episode and now we are well over our 450th episode. So, , who knows what'll happen next time we talk to him. [00:03:00] This week on the podcast, we have Avinash Kaushik. He is currently the chief strategy officer at Human Made Machine, but actually returning guest after many, many years, and I know him because he basically introduced me to Google Analytics, wrote the literal book on it, and also helped, by the way. No big deal. Literally birth Google Analytics for everyone. During his time at Google, I could spend the entire podcast talking about, uh, the amazing amounts that you have contributed to, uh, marketing and analytics. But I'd rather just real quick, uh, how are you doing and how would you describe your, uh, your role right now? Avinash Kaushik: Oh, thank you. So it's very excited to be back. Um, look forward to the discussion today. I do, I do several things concurrently, of course. I, I, I am an author and I write this weekly newsletter on marketing and analytics. Um, I am the Chief Strategy Officer at Human Made Machine, a company [00:04:00] that obsesses about helping brands win before they spend by doing creative pretesting. And then I also do, uh, uh, consulting at Tapestry, which owns Coach and Kate Spades. And my work focuses on brand strategy and marketing transformation globally. George Weiner: , Amazing. And of course, Occam's Razor. The, the, yes, the blog, which is incredible. I happen to be a, uh, a subscriber. You know, I often think of you in the nonprofit landscape, even though you operate, um, across many different brands, because personally, you also actually donate all of your proceeds from your books, from your blog, from your subscription. You are donating all of that, um, because that's just who you are and what you do. So I also look at you as like team nonprofit, though. Avinash Kaushik: You're very kind. No, no, I, I, yeah. All the proceeds from both of my books and now my newsletter, premium newsletter. It's about $200,000 a year, uh, donated to nonprofits, and a hundred [00:05:00] percent of the revenue is donated nonprofit, uh, nonprofits. And, and for me, it, it's been ai. Then I have to figure out. Which ones, and so I research nonprofits and I look up their cha charity navigators, and I follow up with the people and I check in on the works while, while don't work at a nonprofit, but as a customer of nonprofits, if you will. I, I keep sort of very close tabs on the amazing work that these charities do around the world. So feel very close to the people that you work with very closely. George Weiner: So recently I got an all caps subject line from you. Well, not from you talking about this new acronym that was coming to destroy the world, I think is what you, no, AEO. Can you help us understand what answer engine optimization is? Avinash Kaushik: Yes, of course. Of course. We all are very excited about ai. Obviously you, you, you would've to live in. Some backwaters not to be excited about it. And we know [00:06:00] that, um, at the very edge, lots of people are using large language models, chat, GPT, Claude, Gemini, et cetera, et cetera, in the world. And, and increasingly over the last year, what you have begun to notice is that instead of using a traditional search engine like Google or using the old Google interface with the 10 blue links, et cetera. People are beginning to use these lms. They just go to chat, GPT to get the answer that they want. And the one big difference in this, this behavior is I actually have on September 8th, I have a keynote here in New York and I have to be in Shanghai the next day. That is physically impossible because it, it just, the time it takes to travel. But that's my thing. So today, if I wanted to figure out what is the fastest way. On September 8th, I can leave New York and get to Shanghai. I would go to Google flights. I would put in the destinations. It will come back with a crap load of data. Then I poke and prod and sort and filter, and I have to figure out which flight is right for that. For this need I have. [00:07:00] So that is the old search engine world. I'm doing all the work, hunting and pecking, drilling down, visiting websites, et cetera, et cetera. Instead, actually what I did is I went to charge GBT 'cause I, I have a plus I, I'm a paying member of charge GBT and I said to charge GBTI have to do a keynote between four and five o'clock on September 8th in New York and I have to be in Shanghai as fast as I possibly can be After my keynote, can you find me the best flight? And I just typed in those two sentences. He came back and said, this Korean airline website flight is the best one for you. You will not get to your destination on time until, unless you take a private jet flight for $300,000. There is your best option. They're gonna get to Shanghai on, uh, September 10th at 10 o'clock in the morning if you follow these steps. And so what happened there? I didn't have to hunt and pack and dig and go to 15 websites to find the answer I wanted. The engine found the [00:08:00] answer I wanted at the end and did all the work for me that you are seeing from searching, clicking, clicking, clicking, clicking, clicking to just having somebody get you. The final answer is what I call the, the, the underlying change in consumer behavior that makes answer engine so exciting. Obviously, it creates a challenge for us because what happened between those two things, George is. I didn't have to visit many websites. So traffic is going down, obviously, and these interfaces at the moment don't have paid search links for now. They will come, they will come, but they don't at the moment. So traffic's gonna go down. So if you're a business, you're a nonprofit, how. Do you deal with the fact that you're gonna lose a lot of traffic that you get from a search engine? Today, when all of humanity moves to the answer Engine W world, only about two or 3% of the people are doing it. It's growing very rapidly. Um, and so the art of answer engine optimization [00:09:00] is making sure that we are building for these LMS and not getting stuck with only solving for Google with the old SEO techniques. Some of them still work, but you need to learn a lot of new stuff because on average, organic traffic will drop between 16 to 64% negative and paid search traffic will drop between five to 30% negative. And that is a huge challenge. And the reason you should start with AEO now George Weiner: that you know. Is a window large enough to drive a metaphorical data bus through? And I think talk to your data doctor results may vary. You are absolutely right. We have been seeing this with our nonprofit clients, with our own traffic that yes, basically staying even is the new growth. Yeah. But I want to sort of talk about the secondary implications of an AI that has ripped and gripped [00:10:00] my website's content. Then added whatever, whatever other flavors of my brand and information out there, and is then advising somebody or talking about my brand. Can you maybe unwrap that a little bit more? What are the secondary impacts of frankly, uh, an AI answering what is the best international aid organization I should donate to? Yes. As you just said, you do Avinash Kaushik: exactly. No, no, no. This such a, such a wonderful question. It gets to the crux. What used to influence Google, by the way, Google also has an answer engine called Gemini. So I just, when I say Google, I'm referring to the current Google that most people use with four paid links and 10 SEO links. So when I say Google, I'm referring to that one. But Google also has an answer engine. I, I don't want anybody saying Google does is not getting into the answer engine business. It is. So Google is very much influenced by content George that you create. I call it one P content, [00:11:00] first party content. Your website, your mobile app, your YouTube channel, your Facebook page, your, your, your, your, and it sprinkles on some amount of third party content. Some websites might have reviews about you like Yelp, some websites might have PR releases about you light some third party content. Between search engine and engines. Answer Engines seem to overvalue third party content. My for one p content, my website, my mobile app, my YouTube channel. My, my, my, everything actually is going down in influence while on Google it's pretty high. So as here you do SEO, you're, you're good, good ranking traffic. But these LLMs are using many, many, many, literally tens of thousands more sources. To understand who you are, who you are as a nonprofit, and it's [00:12:00] using everybody's videos, everybody's Reddit posts, everybody's Facebook things, and tens of thousands of more people who write blogs and all kinds of stuff in order to understand who you are as a nonprofit, what services you offer, how good you are, where you're falling short, all those negative reviews or positive reviews, it's all creepy influence. Has gone through the roof, P has come down, which is why it has become very, very important for us to build a new content strategy to figure out how we can influence these LMS about who we are. Because the scary thing is at this early stage in answer engines, someone else is telling the LLMs who you are instead of you. A more, and that's, it feels a little scary. It feels as scary as a as as a brand. It feels very scary as I'm a chief strategy officer, human made machine. It feels scary for HMM. It feels scary for coach. [00:13:00] It's scary for everybody, uh, which is why you really urgently need to get a handle on your content strategy. George Weiner: Yeah, I mean, what you just described, if it doesn't give you like anxiety, just stop right now. Just replay what we just did. And that is the second order effects. And you know, one of my concerns, you mentioned it early on, is that sort of traditional SEO, we've been playing the 10 Blue Link game for so long, and I'm worried that. Because of the changes right now, roughly what 20% of a, uh, search is AI overview, that number's not gonna go down. You're mentioning third party stuff. All of Instagram back to 2020, just quietly got tossed into the soup of your AI brand footprint, as we call it. Talk to me about. There's a nonprofit listening to this right now, and then probably if they're smart, other organizations, what is coming in the next year? They're sitting down to write the same style of, you know, [00:14:00] ai, SEO, optimized content, right? They have their content calendar. If you could have like that, I'm sitting, you're sitting in the room with them. What are you telling that classic content strategy team right now that's about to embark on 2026? Avinash Kaushik: Yes. So actually I, I published this newsletter just last night, and this is like the, the fourth in my AEO series, uh, newsletter, talks about how to create your content portfolio strategy. Because in the past we were like, we've got a product pages, you know, the equivalent of our, our product pages. We've got some, some, uh, charitable stories on our website and uh, so on and so forth. And that's good. That's basic. You need to do the basics. The interesting thing is you need to do so much more both on first party. So for example, one of the first things to appreciate is LMS or answer engines are far more influenced by multimodal content. So what does that mean? Text plus [00:15:00] video plus audio. Video and audio were also helpful in Google. And remember when I say Google, I'm referring to the old linky linking Google, not Gemini. But now video has ton more influence. So if you're creating a content strategy for next year, you should say many. Actually, lemme do one at a time. Text. You have to figure out more types of things. Authoritative Q and as. Very educational deep content around your charity's efforts. Lots of text. Third. Any seasonality, trends and patterns that happen in your charity that make a difference? I support a school in, in Nepal and, and during the winter they have very different kind of needs than they do during the summer. And so I bumped into this because I was searching about something seasonality related. This particular school for Tibetan children popped up in Nepal, and it's that content they wrote around winter and winter struggles and coats and all this stuff. I'm like. [00:16:00] It popped up in the answer engine and I'm like, okay. I research a bit more. They have good stories about it, and I'm supporting them q and a. Very, very important. Testimonials. Very, very important interviews. Very, very important. Super, super duper important with both the givers and the recipients, supporters of your nonprofit, but also the recipient recipients of very few nonprofits actually interview the people who support them. George Weiner: Like, why not like donors or be like, Hey, why did you support us? What was the, were the two things that moved you from Aware to care? Avinash Kaushik: Like for, for the i I Support Emergency, which is a Italian nonprofit like Ms. Frontiers and I would go on their website and speak a fiercely about why I absolutely love the work they do. Content, yeah. So first is text, then video. You gotta figure out how to use video a lot more. And most nonprofits are not agile in being able to use video. And the third [00:17:00] thing that I think will be a little bit of a struggle is to figure out how to use audio. 'cause audio also plays a very influential role. So for as you are planning your uh, uh, content calendar for the next year. Have the word multimodal. I'm sorry, it's profoundly unsexy, but put multimodal at the top, underneath it, say text, then say video, then audio, and start to fill those holes in. And if those people need ideas and example of how to use audio, they should just call you George. You are the king of podcasting and you can absolutely give them better advice than I could around how nonprofits could use audio. But the one big thing you have to think about is multimodality for next year George Weiner: that you know, is incredibly powerful. Underlying that, there's this nuance that I really want to make sure that we understand, which is the fact that the type of content is uniquely different. It's not like there's a hunger organization listening right now. It's not 10 facts about hunger during the winter. [00:18:00] Uh, days of being able to be an information resource that would then bring people in and then bring them down your, you know, your path. It's game over. If not now, soon. Absolutely. So how you are creating things that AI can't create and that's why you, according to whom, is what I like to think about. Like, you're gonna say something, you're gonna write something according to whom? Is it the CEO? Is it the stakeholder? Is it the donor? And if you can put a attribution there, suddenly the AI can't just lift and shift it. It has to take that as a block and be like, no, it was attributed here. This is the organization. Is that about right? Or like first, first party data, right? Avinash Kaushik: I'll, I'll add one more, one more. Uh, I'll give a proper definition. So, the fir i I made 11 recommendations last night in the newsletter. The very first one is focus on creating AI resistant content. So what, what does that mean? AI resistant means, uh, any one of us from nonprofits could [00:19:00] open chat, GPT type in a few queries and chat. GD PT can write our next nonprofit newsletter. It could write the next page for our donation. It could create the damn page for our donation, right? Remember, AI can create way more content than you can, but if you can use AI to create content, 67 million other nonprofits are doing the same thing. So what you have to do is figure out how to build AI resistant content, and my definition is very simple. George, what is AI resistance? It's content of genuine novelty. So to tie back to your recommendation, your CEO of a nonprofit that you just recommended, the attribution to George. Your CEO has a unique voice, a unique experience. The AI hasn't learned what makes your CEO your frontline staff solving problems. You are a person who went and gave a speech at the United Nations on behalf of your nonprofit. Whatever you are [00:20:00] doing is very special, and what you have to figure out is how to get out of the AI slop. You have to get out of all the things that AI can automatically type. Figure out if your content meets this very simple, standard, genuine novelty and depth 'cause it's the one thing AI isn't good at. That's how you rank higher. And not only will will it, will it rank you, but to make another point you made, George, it's gonna just lift, blanc it out there and attribute credit to you. Boom. But if you're not genuine, novelty and depth. Thousand other nonprofits are using AI to generate text and video. Could George Weiner: you just, could you just quit whatever you're doing and start a school instead? I seriously can't say it enough that your point about AI slop is terrifying me because I see it. We've built an AI tool and the subtle lesson here is that think about how quickly this AI was able to output that newsletter. Generic old school blog post and if this tool can do it, which [00:21:00] by the way is built on your local data set, we have the rag, which doesn't pause for a second and realize if this AI can make it, some other AI is going to be able to reproduce it. So how are you bringing the human back into this? And it's a style of writing and a style of strategic thinking that please just start a school and like help every single college kid leaving that just GPT their way through a degree. Didn't freaking get, Avinash Kaushik: so it's very, very important to make sure. Content is of genuine novelty and depth because it cannot be replicated by the ai. And by the way, this, by the way, George, it sounds really high, but honestly to, to use your point, if you're a CEO of a nonprofit, you are in it for something that speaks to you. You're in it. Because ai, I mean nonprofit is not your path to becoming the next Bill Gates, you're doing it because you just have this hair. Whoa, spoiler alert. No, I'm sorry. [00:22:00] Maybe, maybe that is. I, I didn't, I didn't mean any negative emotion there, but No, I love it. It's all, it's like a, it's like a sense of passion you are bringing. There's something that speaks to you. Just put that on paper, put that on video, put that on audio, because that is what makes you unique. And the collection of those stories of genuine depth and novelty will make your nonprofit unique and stand out when people are looking for answers. George Weiner: So I have to point to the next elephant in the room here, which is measurement. Yes. Yes. Right now, somebody is talking about human made machine. Someone's talking about whole whale. Someone's talking about your nonprofit having a discussion in an answer engine somewhere. Yes. And I have no idea. How do I go about understanding measurement in this new game? Avinash Kaushik: I have. I have two recommendations. For nonprofits, I would recommend a tool called Tracker ai, TRA, KKR [00:23:00] ai, and it has a free version, that's why I'm recommending it. Some of the many of these tools are paid tools, but with Tracker, do ai. It allows you to identify your website, URL, et cetera, et cetera, and it'll give you some really wonderful and fantastic, helpful report It. Tracker helps you understand prompt tracking, which is what are other people writing about you when they're seeking? You? Think of this, George, as your old webmaster tools. What keywords are people using to search? Except you can get the prompts that people are using to get a more robust understanding. It also monitors your brand's visibility. How often are you showing up and how often is your competitor showing up, et cetera, et cetera. And then he does that across multiple search engines. So you can say, oh, I'm actually pretty strong in OpenAI for some reason, and I'm not that strong in Gemini. Or, you know what, I have like the highest rating in cloud, but I don't have it in OpenAI. And this begins to help you understand where your current content strategy is working and where it is not [00:24:00] working. So that's your brand visibility. And the third thing that you get from Tracker is active sentiment tracking. This is the scary part because remember, you and I were both worried about what other people saying about us. So this, this are very helpful that we can go out and see what it is. What is the sentiment around our nonprofit that is coming across in, um, in these lms? So Tracker ai, it have a free and a paid version. So I would, I would recommend using it for these three purposes. If, if you have funding to invest in a tool. Then there's a tool called Ever Tool, E-V-E-R-T-U-N-E Ever. Tune is a paid tool. It's extremely sophisticated and robust, and they do brand monitoring, site audit, content strategy, consumer preference report, ai, brand index, just the. Step and breadth of metrics that they provide is quite extensive, but, but it is a paid tool. It does cost money. It's not actually crazy expensive, but uh, I know I have worked with them before, so full disclosure [00:25:00] and having evaluated lots of different tools, I have sort of settled on those two. If it's a enterprise type client I'm working with, then I'll use Evert Tune if I am working with a nonprofit or some of my personal stuff. I'll use Tracker AI because it's good enough for a person that is, uh, smaller in size and revenue, et cetera. So those two tools, so we have new metrics coming, uh, from these tools. They help us understand the kind of things we use webmaster tools for in the past. Then your other thing you will want to track very, very closely is using Google Analytics or some other tool on your website. You are able to currently track your, uh, organic traffic and if you're taking advantage of paid ads, uh, through a grant program on Google, which, uh, provides free paid search credits to nonprofits. Then you're tracking your page search traffic to continue to track that track trends, patterns over time. But now you will begin to see in your referrals report, in your referrals report, you're gonna begin to seeing open [00:26:00] ai. You're gonna begin to see these new answer engines. And while you don't know the keywords that are sending this traffic and so on and so forth, it is important to keep track of the traffic because of two important reasons. One, one, you want to know how to highly prioritize. AEO. That's one reason. But the other reason I found George is syn is so freaking hard to rank in an answer engine. When people do come to my websites from Answer engine, the businesses I work with that is very high intent person, they tend to be very, very valuable because they gave the answer engine a very complex question to answer the answers. Engine said you. The right answer for it. So when I show up, I'm ready to buy, I'm ready to donate. I'm ready to do the action that I was looking for. So the percent of people who are coming from answer engines to your nonprofit carry significantly higher intention, and coming from Google, who also carry [00:27:00] intent. But this man, you stood out in an answer engine, you're a gift from God. Person coming thinks you're very important and is likely to engage in some sort of business with you. So I, even if it's like a hundred people, I care a lot about those a hundred people, even if it's not 10,000 at the moment. Does that make sense George? George Weiner: It does, and I think, I'm glad you pointed to, you know, the, the good old Google Analytics. I'm like, it has to be a way, and I, I think. I gave maximum effort to this problem inside of Google Analytics, and I'm still frustrated that search console is not showing me, and it's just blending it all together into one big soup. But. I want you to poke a hole in this thinking or say yes or no. You can create an AI channel, an AEO channel cluster together, and we have a guide on that cluster together. All of those types of referral traffic, as you mentioned, right from there. I actually know thanks to CloudFlare, the ratios of the amount of scrapes versus the actual clicks sent [00:28:00] for roughly 20, 30% of. Traffic globally. So is it fair to say I could assume like a 2% clickthrough or a 1% clickthrough, or even worse in some cases based on that referral and then reverse engineer, basically divide those clicks by the clickthrough rate and essentially get a rough share of voice metric on that platform? Yeah. Avinash Kaushik: So, so for, um, kind of, kind of at the moment, the problem is that unlike Google giving us some decent amount of data through webmaster tools. None of these LLMs are giving us any data. As a business owner, none of them are giving us any data. So we're relying on third parties like Tracker. We're relying on third parties like Evert Tune. You understand? How often are we showing up so we could get a damn click through, right? Right. We don't quite have that for now. So the AI Brand Index in Evert Tune comes the closest. Giving you some information we could use in the, so your thinking is absolutely right. Your recommendation is ly, right? Even if you can just get the number of clicks, even if you're tracking them very [00:29:00] carefully, it's very important. Please do exactly what you said. Make the channel, it's really important. But don't, don't read too much into the click-through rate bits, because we're missing the. We're missing a very important piece of information. Now remember when Google first came out, we didn't have tons of data. Um, and that's okay. These LLMs Pro probably will realize over time if they get into the advertising business that it's nice to give data out to other people, and so we might get more data. Until then, we are relying on these third parties that are hacking these tools to find us some data. So we can use it to understand, uh, some of the things we readily understand about keywords and things today related to Google. So we, we sadly don't have as much visibility today as we would like to have. George Weiner: Yeah. We really don't. Alright. I have, have a segment that I just invented. Just for you called Avanade's War Corner. And in Avanade's War Corner, I noticed that you go to war on various concepts, which I love because it brings energy and attention to [00:30:00] frankly data and finding answers in there. So if you'll humor me in our war corner, I wanna to go through some, some classic, classic avan. Um, all right, so can you talk to me a little bit about vanity metrics, because I think they are in play. Every day. Avinash Kaushik: Absolutely. No, no, no. Across the board, I think in whatever we do. So, so actually I'll, I'll, I'll do three. You know, so there's vanity metrics, activity metrics and outcome metrics. So basically everything goes into these three buckets essentially. So vanity metrics are, are the ones that are very easy to find, but them moving up and down has nothing to do with the number of donations you're gonna get as a nonprofit. They're just there to ease our ego. So, for example. Let's say we are a nonprofit and we run some display ads, so measure the number of impressions that were delivered for our display ad. That's a vanity metric. It doesn't tell you anything. You could have billions of impressions. You could have 10 impressions, doesn't matter, but it is easily [00:31:00] available. The count is easily available, so we report it. Now, what matters? What matters are, did anybody engage with the ad? What were the percent of people who hovered on the ad? What were the number of people who clicked on the ad activity metrics? Activity metrics are a little more useful than vanity metrics, but what does it matter for you as a non nonprofit? The number of donations you received in the last 24 hours. That's an outcome metric. Vanity activity outcome. Focus on activity to diagnose how well our campaigns or efforts are doing in marketing. Focus on outcomes to understand if we're gonna stay in business or not. Sorry, dramatic. The vanity metrics. Chasing is just like good for ego. Number of likes is a very famous one. The number of followers on a social paia, a very famous one. Number of emails sent is another favorite one. There's like a whole host of vanity metrics that are very easy to get. I cannot emphasize this enough, but when you unpack and or do meta-analysis of [00:32:00] relationship between vanity metrics and outcomes, there's a relationship between them. So we always advise people that. Start by looking at activity metrics to help you understand the user's behavior, and then move to understanding outcome metrics because they are the reason you'll thrive. You will get more donations or you will figure out what are the things that drive more donations. Otherwise, what you end up doing is saying. If I post provocative stuff on Facebook, I get more likes. Is that what you really wanna be doing? But if your nonprofit says, get me more likes, pretty soon, there's like a naked person on Facebook that gets a lot of likes, but it's corrupting. Yeah. So I would go with cute George Weiner: cat, I would say, you know, you, you get the generic cute cat. But yeah, same idea. The Internet's built on cats Avinash Kaushik: and yes, so, so that's why I, I actively recommend people stay away from vanity metrics. George Weiner: Yeah. Next up in War Corner, the last click [00:33:00] fallacy, right? The overweighting of this last moment of purchase, or as you'd maybe say in the do column of the See, think, do care. Avinash Kaushik: Yes. George Weiner: Yes. Avinash Kaushik: So when the, when the, when we all started to get Google Analytics, we got Adobe Analytics web trends, remember them, we all wanted to know like what drove the conversion. Mm-hmm. I got this donation for a hundred dollars. I got a donation for a hundred thousand dollars. What drove the conversion. And so what lo logically people would just say is, oh, where did this person come from? And I say, oh, the person came from Google. Google drove this conversion. Yeah, his last click analysis just before the conversion. Where did the person come from? Let's give them credit. But the reality is it turns out that if you look at consumer behavior, you look at days to donation, visits to donation. Those are two metrics available in Google. It turns out that people visit multiple times before [00:34:00] they make a donation. They may have come through email, their interest might have been triggered through your email. Then they suddenly remembered, oh yeah, yeah, I wanted to go to the nonprofit and donate something. This is Google, you. And then Google helps them find you and they come through. Now, who do you give credit Email or the Google, right? And what if you came 5, 7, 8, 10 times? So the last click fallacy is that it doesn't allow you to see the full consumer journey. It gives credit to whoever was the last person who sent you this, who introduced this person to your website. And so very soon we move to looking at what we call MTI, Multi-Touch Attribution, which is a free solution built into Google. So you just go to your multichannel funnel reports and it will help you understand that. One, uh, 150 people came from email. Then they came from Google. Then there was a gap of nine days, and they came back from Facebook and then they [00:35:00] converted. And what is happening is you're beginning to understand the consumer journey. If you understand the consumer journey better, we can come with better marketing. Otherwise, you would've said, oh, close shop. We don't need as many marketing people. We'll just buy ads on Google. We'll just do SEO. We're done. Oh, now you realize there's a more complex behavior happening in the consumer. They need to solve for email. You solve for Google, you need to solve Facebook. In my hypothetical example, so I, I'm very actively recommend people look at the built-in free MTA reports inside the Google nalytics. Understand the path flow that is happening to drive donations and then undertake activities that are showing up more often in the path, and do fewer of those things that are showing up less in the path. George Weiner: Bring these up because they have been waiting on my mind in the land of AEO. And by the way, we're not done with war. The war corner segment. There's more war there's, but there's more, more than time. But with both of these metrics where AEO, if I'm putting these glasses back on, comes [00:36:00] into play, is. Look, we're saying goodbye to frankly, what was probably somewhat of a vanity metric with regard to organic traffic coming in on that 10 facts about cube cats. You know, like, was that really how we were like hanging our hat at night, being like. Job done. I think there's very much that in play. And then I'm a little concerned that we just told everyone to go create an AEO channel on their Google Analytics and they're gonna come in here. Avinash told me that those people are buyers. They're immediately gonna come and buy, and why aren't they converting? What is going on here? Can you actually maybe couch that last click with the AI channel inbound? Like should I expect that to be like 10 x the amount of conversions? Avinash Kaushik: All we can say is it's, it's going to be people with high intention. And so with the businesses that I'm working with, what we are finding is that the conversion rates are higher. Mm. This game is too early to establish any kind of sense of if anybody has standards for AEO, they're smoking crack. Like the [00:37:00] game is simply too early. So what we I'm noticing is that in some cases, if the average conversion rate is two point half percent, the AEO traffic is converting at three, three point half. In two or three cases, it's converting at six, seven and a half. But there is not enough stability in the data. All of this is new. There's not enough stability in the data to say, Hey, definitely you can expect it to be double or 10% more or 50% more. We, we have no idea this early stage of the game, but, but George, if we were doing this again in a year, year and a half, I think we'll have a lot more data and we'll be able to come up with some kind of standards for, for now, what's important to understand is, first thing is you're not gonna rank in an answer engine. You just won't. If you do rank in an answer engine, you fought really hard for it. The person decided, oh my God, I really like this. Just just think of the user behavior and say, this person is really high intent because somehow [00:38:00] you showed up and somehow they found you and came to you. Chances are they're caring. Very high intent. George Weiner: Yeah. They just left a conversation with a super intelligent like entity to come to your freaking 2001 website, HTML CSS rendered silliness. Avinash Kaushik: Whatever it is, it could be the iffiest thing in the world, but they, they found me and they came to you and they decided that in the answer engine, they like you as the answer the most. And, and it took that to get there. And so all, all, all is I'm finding in the data is that they carry higher intent and that that higher intent converts into higher conversion rates, higher donations, as to is it gonna be five 10 x higher? It's unclear at the moment, but remember, the other reason you should care about it is. Every single day. As more people move away from Google search engines to answer engines, you're losing a ton of traffic. If somebody new showing up, treat them with, respect them with love. Treat them with [00:39:00] care because they're very precious. Just lost a hundred. Check the landing George Weiner: pages. 'cause you may be surprised where your front door is when complexity is bringing them to you, and it's not where you spent all of your design effort on the homepage. Spoiler. That's exactly Avinash Kaushik: right. No. Exactly. In fact, uh, the doping deeper into your websites is becoming even more prevalent with answer engines. Mm-hmm. Um, uh, than it used to be with search engines. The search always tried to get you the, the top things. There's still a lot of diversity. Your homepage likely is still only 30% of your traffic. Everybody else is landing on other homepage or as you call them, landing pages. So it's really, really important to look beyond your homepage. I mean, it was true yesterday. It's even truer today. George Weiner: Yeah, my hunch and what I'm starting to see in our data is that it is also much higher on the assisted conversion like it is. Yes. Yes, it is. Like if you have come to us from there, we are going to be seeing you again. That's right. That's right. More likely than others. It over indexes consistently for us there. Avinash Kaushik: [00:40:00] Yes. Again, it ties back to the person has higher intent, so if they didn't convert in that lab first session, their higher intent is gonna bring them back to you. So you are absolutely right about the data that you're seeing. George Weiner: Um, alright. War corner, the 10 90 rule. Can you unpack this and then maybe apply it to somebody who thinks that their like AI strategy is done? 'cause they spend $20 or $200 a month on some tool and then like, call it a day. 'cause they did ai. Avinash Kaushik: Yes, yes. No, it's, it's good. I, I developed it in context of analytics. When I was at my, uh, job at Intuit, I used to, I was at Intuit, senior director for research and analytics. And one of the things I found is people would consistently spend lots of money on tools in that time, web analytics tools, research tools, et cetera. And, uh, so they're spending a contract of a few hundred thousand dollars or hundreds of thousands of dollars, and then they give it to a fresh graduate to find insights. [00:41:00] I was like, wait, wait, wait. So you took this $300,000 thing and gave it to somebody. You're paying $45,000 a year. Who is young in their career, young in their career, and expecting them to make you tons of money using this tool? It's not the tool, it's the human. And so that's why I developed the the 10 90 rule, which is that if you have a, if you have a hundred dollars to invest in making smarter decisions, invest $10 in the tool, $90 in the human. We all have access to so much data, so much complexity. The world is changing so fast that it is the human that is going to figure out how to make sense of these insights rather than the tool magically spewing and understanding your business enough to tell you exactly what to do. So that, that's sort of where the 10 90 rule came from. Now, sort of we are in this, in this, um, this is very good for nonprofits by the way. So we're in this era. Where On the 90 side? No. So the 10, look, don't spend insane money on tools that is just silly. So don't do that. Now the 90, let's talk about the [00:42:00] 90. Up until two years ago, I had to spell all of the 90 on what I now call organic humans. You George Weiner: glasses wearing humans, huh? Avinash Kaushik: The development of LLM means that every single nonprofit in the world has access to roughly a third year bachelor's degree student. Like a really smart intern. For free. For free. In fact, in some instances, for some nonprofits, let's say I I just reading about this nonprofit that is cleaning up plastics in the ocean for this particular nonprofit, they have access to a p HT level environmentalist using the latest Chad GP PT 4.5, like PhD level. So the little caveat I'm beginning to put in the 10 90 rule is on the 90. You give the 90 to the human and for free. Get the human, a very smart Bachelor's student by using LLMs in some instances. Get [00:43:00] for free a very smart TH using the LLMs. So the LLMs have now to be incorporated into your research, into your analysis, into building a next dashboard, into building a next website, into building your next mobile game into whatever the hell you're doing for free. You can get that so you have your organic human. Less the synthetic human for free. Both of those are in the 90 and, and for nonprofit, so, so in my work at at Coach and Kate Spade. I have access now to a couple of interns who do free work for me, well for 20 minor $20 a month because I have to pay for the plus version of G bt. So the intern costs $20 a month, but I have access to this syn synthetic human who can do a whole lot of work for me for $20 a month in my case, but it could also do it for free for you. Don't forget synthetic humans. You no longer have to rely only on the organic humans to do the 90 part. You would be stunned. Upload [00:44:00] your latest, actually take last year's worth of donations, where they came from and all this data from you. Have a spreadsheet lying around. Dump it into chat. GPT, I'll ask it to analyze it. Help you find where most donations came from, and visualize trends to present to board of directors. It will blow your mind how good it is at do it with Gemini. I'm not biased, I'm just seeing chat. GPD 'cause everybody knows it so much Better try it with mistrial a, a small LLM from France. So I, I wanna emphasize that what has changed over the last year is the ability for us to compliment our organic humans with these synthetic entities. Sometimes I say synthetic humans, but you get the point. George Weiner: Yeah. I think, you know, definitely dump that spreadsheet in. Pull out the PII real quick, just, you know, make me feel better as, you know, the, the person who's gonna be promoting this to everybody, but also, you know, sort of. With that. I want to make it clear too, that like actually inside of Gemini, like Google for nonprofits has opened up access to Gemini for free is not a per user, per whatever. You have that [00:45:00] you have notebook, LLM, and these. Are sitting in their backyards for free every day and it's like a user to lose it. 'cause you have a certain amount of intelligence tokens a day. Can you, I just like wanna climb like the tallest tree out here and just start yelling from a high building about this. Make the case of why a nonprofit should be leveraging this free like PhD student that is sitting with their hands underneath their butts, doing nothing for them right now. Avinash Kaushik: No, it is such a shame. By the way, I cannot add to your recommendation in using your Gemini Pro account if it's free, on top of, uh, all the benefits you can get. Gemini Pro also comes with restrictions around their ability to use your data. They won't, uh, their ability to put your data anywhere. Gemini free versus Gemini Pro is a very protected environment. Enterprise version. So more, more security, more privacy, et cetera. That's a great benefit. And by the way, as you said, George, they can get it for free. So, um, the, the, the, the posture you should adopt is what big companies are doing, [00:46:00] which is anytime there is a job to be done, the first question you, you should ask is, can I make the, can an AI do the job? You don't say, oh, let me send it to George. Let me email Simon, let me email Sarah. No, no, no. The first thing that should hit your head is. I do the job because most of the time for, again, remember, third year bachelor's degree, student type, type experience and intelligence, um, AI can do it better than any human. So your instincts to be, let me outsource that kind of work so I can free up George's cycles for the harder problems that the AI cannot solve. And by the way, you can do many things. For example, you got a grant and now Meta allows you to run X number of ads for free. Your first thing, single it. What kind of ad should I create? Go type in your nonprofit, tell it the kind of things you're doing. Tell it. Tell it the donations you want, tell it the size, donation, want. Let it create the first 10 ads for you for free. And then you pick the one you like. And even if you have an internal [00:47:00] designer who makes ads, they'll start with ideas rather than from scratch. It's just one small example. Or you wanna figure out. You know, my email program is stuck. I'm not getting yield rates for donations. The thing I want click the button that called that is called deep research or thinking in the LL. Click one of those two buttons and then say, I'm really struggling. I'm at wits end. I've tried all these things. Write all the detail. Write all the detail about what you've tried and now working. Can you please give me three new ideas that have worked for nonprofits who are working in water conservation? Hmm. This would've taken a human like a few days to do. You'll have an answer in under 90 seconds. I just give two simple use cases where we can use these synthetic entities to send us, do the work for us. So the default posture in nonprofits should be, look, we're resource scrapped anyway. Why not use a free bachelor's degree student, or in some case a free PhD student to do the job, or at least get us started on a job. So just spending 10 [00:48:00] hours on it. We only spend the last two hours. The entity entity does the first date, and that is super attractive. I use it every single day in, in one of my browsers. I have three traps open permanently. I've got Claude, I've got Mistrial, I've got Charge GPT. They are doing jobs for me all day long. Like all day long. They're working for me. $20 each. George Weiner: Yeah, it's an, it, it, it's truly, it's an embarrassment of riches, but also getting back to the, uh, the 10 90 is, it's still sitting there. If you haven't brought that capacity building to the person on how to prompt how to play that game of linguistic tennis with these tools, right. They're still just a hammer on a. Avinash Kaushik: That's exactly right. That's exactly right. Or, or in your case, you, you have access to Gemini for nonprofits. It's a fantastic tool. It's like a really nice card that could take you different places you insist on cycling everywhere. It's, it's okay cycle once in a while for health reasons. Otherwise, just take the car, it's free. George Weiner: Ha, you've [00:49:00] been so generous with your time. Uh, I do have one more quick war. If you, if you have, have a minute, uh, your war on funnels, and maybe this is not. Fully fair. And I am like, I hear you yelling at me every time I'm showing our marketing funnel. And I'm like, yeah, but I also have have a circle over here. Can you, can you unpack your war on funnels and maybe bring us through, see, think, do, care and in the land of ai? Avinash Kaushik: Yeah. Okay. So the marketing funnel is very old. It's been around for a very long time, and once I, I sort of started working at Google, access to lots more consumer research, lots more consumer behavior. Like 20 years ago, I began to understand that there's no such thing as funnel. So what does the funnel say? The funnel says there's a group of people running around the world, they're not aware of your brand. Find them, scream at them, spray and pray advertising at them, make them aware, and then somehow magically find the exact same people again and shut them down the fricking funnel and make them consider your product.[00:50:00] And now that they're considering, find them again, exactly the same people, and then shove them one more time. Move their purchase index and then drag them to your website. The thing is this linearity that there's no evidence in the universe that this linearity exists. For example, uh, I'm going on a, I like long bike rides, um, and I just got thirsty. I picked up the first brand. I could see a water. No awareness, no consideration, no purchase in debt. I just need water. A lot of people will buy your brand because you happen to be the cheapest. I don't give a crap about anything else, right? So, um, uh, uh, the other thing to understand is, uh, one of the brands I adore and have lots of is the brand. Patagonia. I love Patagonia. I, I don't use the word love for I think any other brand. I love Patagonia, right? For Patagonia. I'm always in the awareness stage because I always want these incredible stories that brand ambassadors tell about how they're helping the environment. [00:51:00] I have more Patagonia products than I should have. I'm already customer. I'm always open to new considerations of Patagonia products, new innovations they're bringing, and then once in a while, I'm always in need to buy a Patagonia product. I'm evaluating them. So this idea that the human is in one of these stages and your job is to shove them down, the funnel is just fatally flawed, no evidence for it. Instead, what you want to do is what is Ash's intent at the moment? He would like environmental stories about how we're improving planet earth. Patagonia will say, I wanna make him aware of my environmental stories, but if they only thought of marketing and selling, they wouldn't put me in the awareness because I'm already a customer who buys lots of stuff from already, right? Or sometimes I'm like, oh, I'm, I'm heading over to London next week. Um, I need a thing, jacket. So yeah, consideration show up even though I'm your customer. So this seating do care is a framework that [00:52:00] says, rather than shoving people down things that don't exist and wasting your money, your marketing should be able to discern any human's intent and then be able to respond with a piece of content. Sometimes that piece of content in an is an ad. Sometimes it's a webpage, sometimes it's an email. Sometimes it's a video. Sometimes it's a podcast. This idea of understanding intent is the bedrock on which seat do care is built about, and it creates fully customer-centric marketing. It is harder to do because intent is harder to infer, but if you wanna build a competitive advantage for yourself. Intent is the magic. George Weiner: Well, I think that's a, a great point to, to end on. And again, so generous with, uh, you know, all the work you do and also supporting nonprofits in the many ways that you do. And I'm, uh, always, always watching and seeing what I'm missing when, um, when a new, uh, AKA's Razor and Newsletter come out. So any final sign off [00:53:00] here on how do people find you? How do people help you? Let's hear it. Avinash Kaushik: You can just Google or answer Engine Me. It's, I'm not hard. I hard to find, but if you're a nonprofit, you can sign up for my newsletter, TMAI marketing analytics newsletter. Um, there's a free one and a paid one, so you can just sign up for the free one. It's a newsletter that comes out every five weeks. It's completely free, no strings or anything. And that way I'll be happy to share my stories around better marketing and analytics using the free newsletter for you so you can sign up for that. George Weiner: Brilliant. Well, thank you so much, Avan. And maybe, maybe we'll have to take you up on that offer to talk sometime next year and see, uh, if maybe we're, we're all just sort of, uh, hanging out with synthetic humans nonstop. Thank you so much. It was fun, George. [00:54:00]

Kicked the week off with hundreds dying in a single day of flash flooding in Pakistan, and then talked about a failed coup attempt in Mali. Also Trump meets Putin in Alaska, Mayor of New Orleans indicted, US mountaineer dies in Spain, Mali coup failure, and a guy in Nepal needed surgery to remove a vodka bottle his friends had inserted into his rectum. Music: Nine Inch Nails/"Every Day is Exactly the Same"

Free Flow Karnali & Bagmati: Megh Ale on Protecting Nepal's River Heritage. In this insightful podcast episode, river conservationist Megh Ale discusses the critical importance of protecting Nepal's last free-flowing Karnali River and the iconic Bagmati River. Megh Ale elaborates on the threats posed by dam construction on the Karnali, highlighting how such projects can disrupt the delicate aquatic ecosystem, especially the habitat of the apex freshwater predator, the Saur fish. The conversation also explores the rich heritage of the Karnali River, deeply connected to the Khas-Arya people, and underscores why preserving this cultural and natural legacy is vital. We delve into ongoing Karnali conservation initiatives aimed at maintaining the river's free-flowing status and safeguarding its biodiversity. Additionally, Megh Ale shares perspectives from the local communities living along the Karnali, emphasizing their relationship with the river and their hopes for sustainable future management. The episode also touches on the Bagmati River cleanup campaigns and the unique Bagmati River Festival that celebrates river conservation awareness. This comprehensive discussion provides a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities in conserving Nepal's rivers, advocating for balanced development that respects ecological integrity. Join us to learn more about the urgent need for river conservation in Nepal and how community-driven efforts can help protect these vital waterways for generations to come. Keywords: Karnali River, Bagmati River, river conservation, free-flowing river, dam construction, ecosystem, Saur fish, heritage, Khas-Arya, local communities, cleaning campaign, Bagmati Festival, Megh Ale.

The podcast we make when the boss isn’t looking… Joining us on MMC Unsupervised today is Arju our digi queen! You know those videos of us you watch as you lie in bed or sit on the toilet? She makes those! And has the hard job of making us seem funnier than we actually are. Here's what we talked about: Where she's from and what Nepal is like as a country. Nepal doesn't have Maccas?! How she got her start in radio. What her day to day looks like at work. Where she used to work before radio. What was her worst day at work, and what was her best day at work. Which Disney characters would we be? Thanks for listening ball bags! Love Nickson, Fame, Shanieka, Arun & Eds x

Venerable Lama Konchok Sonam is the Spiritual Director of the Drikung Meditation Center. Born in Lhasa, Tibet, Lama Sonam began his Buddhist training when young within the Drikung Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. At the age of 18, Lama Sonam took full ordination and became a monk (Gelong). Lama Sonam then went on to complete a retreat on Ngondro (Common and Extraordinary Preliminaries) and the Five-Fold Path of Mahamudra under H.H. Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang Rinpoche and Gelong Yeshe. Lama Sonam received teachings and blessings from more than twenty-five great masters, including Nyedak Rinpoche, his beloved main teacher, and the Most Venerable Pachung Rinpoche, the renown scholar and retreat master at Drikung Thil monastery. Lama Sonam served as disciplinarian at Jang Chub Ling monastery, in Dehra Dun, India. This difficult position required an extremely vast knowledge of the Dharma, and inspirational deep inner qualities. Lama Sonam has also served as the personal attendant to H.H. Chungtsang Rinpoche, H.E. Drubwang Rinpoche, Tongkar Tulku, and H.E. Thritsab Rinpoche, and tutored American tulku Thadag Rinpoche (Jack Churchward).   On June 9, 2003, Lama Sonam arrived in Boston to be the Resident Lama at the Drikung Meditation Center. Lama Sonam has shown himself to be expert in both the theoretical and practical aspects of training the mind through meditation and Vajrayana methods for awakening our Buddha Nature. In the fall of 2005, Lama Sonam started the Jowo Rinpoche Statue Project to benefit the Boston area, the United States, and the world. Lama Sonam began to realize his vision of bringing the blessings of Buddhism, from Buddha Shakyamuni and countless other enlightened masters from the East- India, Nepal, and Tibet, to the United States by creating a pilgrimage site. Arriving in May of 2008, the centerpiece of the pilgrimage site is an eight foot tall gilded, jewel-encrusted bronze, the U.S. Jowo Rinpoche Statue. The magnificent U.S. Jowo Rinpoche statue is a replica and spiritual emanation of the most revered Jowo Rinpoche statue that was made at the time of the historical Buddha and brought to Lhasa, Tibet in 641 AD.

How does a childhood spent in the Himalayas of Nepal and India shape a life and a love for the mountains of Scotland? How can fiction help us understand the complex, painful history of India's Partition? I discuss all this and more with the award-winning author, Merryn Glover.   Merryn's nomadic “third culture kid” upbringing […] The post Writing Partition: Merryn Glover on History, Home, and the Hill Stations Of India appeared first on Books And Travel.

Rabi's Showdown! Rabindra Dhant's Mindset Before & After | Coach Diwiz Strategy Revealed. Nepal's MMA pride first bantamweight champion Rabindra Dhant returns after his epic MFN fight, sharing untold stories from fight night, pre-fight mindset, training strategies, and post-fight fame. Joined by Coach Diwiz, this powerful podcast dives deep into fight analysis, mental toughness, injury concerns, ruthless 5x5 training, and what's next in their MMA journey. From surviving a dangerous choke, handling media without playing the victim, to inspiring the next generation of Nepali fighters, this conversation is raw, honest, and inspiring.Enjoy candid moments on trash talks, handling fame and media, and the powerful “It's Rabi's show” declaration. Rabindra opens up about his family life and rejecting victim mindsets, while Coach Diwiz sends a strong message to mainstream media about respecting fighters' journeys. With highlights from the MFN fight night and discussions on Nepal's unique fighting genes on the MFN fight cards, this podcast offers fans an unfiltered look at the realities of professional fighting. Perfect for fight enthusiasts and those interested in mixed martial arts, training strategies, and the mental and physical demands of competitive fighting. GET CONNECTED WITH Diwiz Piya Lama: https://www.instagram.com/diwizpiyalama/ Rabindra Dhant: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rabindra_dhant1/  

Nepal's national cricket team will debut in the Top End T20 series in Australia on Friday, August 15, against the host Northern Territory Strike. SBS Nepali spoke with the newly elected President of the Nepalese Cricket Association of Western Australia (NCAW), Basant Khati, about his expectations for Nepal's performance in the tournament, which began in Darwin on Thursday, August 14. - आफ्नो पहिलो ‘टप एन्ड टी२० सिरिज' खेल्न नेपालको राष्ट्रिय क्रिकेट टोली अस्ट्रेलिया आइपुगेको छ। नर्दन टेरिट्रीमा बिहीवार, अगस्ट १४ देखि सुरु भएको उक्त प्रतियोगितामा नेपालले आफ्नो पहिलो खेल शुक्रवार, अगस्ट १५ मा स्थानीय टोली नर्दन टेरिट्री स्ट्राइकसँग खेल्ने छ। नेपालको प्रदर्शनीलाई लिएर कत्तिको उत्साहित हुनुहुन्छ भनेर नेप्लिज क्रिकेट एसोसिएसन अफ वेस्टर्न अस्ट्रेलियाका नवनिर्वाचित अध्यक्ष वसन्त खातीसँग एसबीएस नेपालीले गरेको कुराकानी सुन्नुहोस्।

What does it feel like when your mind gets stuck on a loop, telling you again and again that you're a bad person? That's the reality of Pure OCD. In this episode of The OCD Whisperer Podcast, Kristina Orlova sits down with Sah D'Simone, spiritual teacher, humanitarian, and creator of the Somatic Activated Healing method, for an open and heartfelt conversation.   Sah shares his journey with intrusive thoughts that made him question his worth, how growing up in a Buddhist culture shaped his experience, and how the loss of his mother made everything even more intense. Instead of letting OCD take over, he's leaned into Buddhist wisdom, somatic healing, and service to others as powerful ways to heal.   Together, Kristina and Sah unpack how OCD fuels cycles of self-obsession and why real healing often begins with learning to slow down, relax, and be present. They talk about the role of evidence-based treatments like ERP and ACT, while also highlighting holistic practices that calm the nervous system and nurture recovery.   If you've ever felt trapped by your own thoughts, this conversation offers hope, practical tools, and a fresh perspective on what healing can truly look like.   The 3 things you'll learn in  today's episode: Why relaxation and not constant productivity is crucial for calming an OCD brain. How Pure OCD manifests and why labels can be both freeing and limiting. Practical ways to balance evidence-based OCD treatments with Buddhist-inspired mindfulness and self-compassion. In This Episode [00:01] Introduction and guest welcome [58] Sah's background and work [03:09] OCD and self-obsession [04:03] Sah's personal OCD story [04:54] Pure OCD and identity [07:16] Cultural and religious influences [09:04] OCD manifestations and coping [09:53] Kristina's OCD experience [10:45] The internal experience of OCD [12:51] Relaxation and cultural challenges [15:21] The importance of true relaxation [16:18] Blending Buddhist wisdom with evidence-based OCD therapies [17:57] Mind wandering and savoring the moment [18:57] Closing and farewell Our Guest Sah D'Simone is a spiritual teacher, grief educator, humanitarian, and creator of the Somatic Activated Healing Method, which blends Buddhist teachings, dance, and social justice. With a mission to bring love where love is not, Sah has dedicated his life to both personal transformation and global humanitarian service, supporting communities from Los Angeles to Nepal and India. Resources & Links   Kristina Orlova, LMFT Instagram YouTube OCD CBT Journal Tracker and Planner Website   Sah D'Simone Website Instagram    Somatic Activated Healing Online Membership, which comes with a 7-day free trial Please note, while our host is a licensed marriage and family therapist specializing in OCD and anxiety disorders in the state of California, this podcast is for educational purposes only and should not be considered a substitute for therapy.   Stay tuned for weekly episodes filled with valuable insights and tips for managing OCD and anxiety. And remember, keep going in the meantime. See you in the next episode!