Podcasts about Poland

Yannis Pappas delivers a sharp, hilarious rant on how data has a way of dismantling our perceptions and deeply held beliefs, while most people would still rather cling to a good story. He riffs on how we're conditioned from childhood, first through the stories our parents tell us, and then through the narratives we continue to absorb as adults. With his signature mix of humor and insight, he offers condolences to laid-off tech workers before diving into what the data actually reveals about capitalism versus communism. He caps it off with a compelling breakdown of Poland's rapid transformation into an economic powerhouse in just one generation, using it as a real-world case study that challenges popular narratives. Support our sponsors: Get up to $200 off Square hardware when you sign up at https://square.com/go/yannis! #squarepod To get simple, online access to personalized, affordable care for ED, Hair Loss, Weight Loss, and more, visit https://Hims.com/YANNIS. https://lucy.co/yannis Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Preet Majithia breaks down the biggest moments and surprises from day two at the 2026 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Poland.A couple of today's highlights include:- After getting beaten by Cole Hocker in his first race of the season at the Millrose Games two mile, Josh Kerr has the last laugh by outkicking Hocker and the field to win his third global title and second in the 3000m, running 7:35.56 ahead of Hocker's 7:35.70.- Nadia Battocletti finally got her golden moment in the 3000m, as the Italian used a 28.54 final lap to outkick Jessica Hull with Battocletti claiming her fourth global medal in 8:57.64.- Khaleb McRae led for about 390 meters of the 400m final, but it wasn't quite enough to hold off the late charge of Christopher Morales Williams, who closed best to win in a championship-record of 44.76.- Lurdes Gloria Manuel had only won one 400m so far in 2026 heading into this weekend, but she clocked three straight indoor PBs in the three rounds of racing and won her first global title in 50.76.+ More____________Host: Preet Majithia | ⁠⁠@preet_athletics⁠⁠Produced by: Jasmine Fehr |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠@jasminefehr⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠____________SUPPORT OUR SPONSORSOLIPOP: Olipop's Tropical Punch tastes like a vacation in a can. It has the perfect balance of pineapple, passionfruit, mandarin, and apple. You get that nostalgic fruit punch flavor, but way more crisp and way more refreshing. Every can contains their Olismart blend, which includes ingredients designed to support digestive health and help feed your gut microbiome. If you haven't had tried Olipop yet, grab a can and see what the hype is all about!⁠⁠⁠⁠ Head to DrinkOlipop.com and use code CITIUS25 at checkout to get 25% off your orders.⁠⁠⁠⁠XENDURANCE: When you finish a hard workout, the work isn't actually done. That's when recovery starts. Xendurance Protein is designed specifically to help your body recover, rebuild, and get stronger after training. It combines four different types of protein, so your body gets both fast absorbing protein for immediate recovery and slower release protein to support muscle repair over time. ⁠⁠⁠⁠Check it out at Xendurance.com and use code CITIUS for 25% off your first order.

WarRoom Battleground EP 973: Poland's Nationalist President Vetoes “Centre-Right” Government's Plot To Give EU Say On Defence

It's Indicators of the Week (now on YouTube!). It's our weekly look at some of the most fascinating economic numbers from the news. On today's episode: The Trump administration cracks down on immigrant truck drivers, Poland becomes a top-twenty economy, and the booming business of … ant smuggling? Related episodes: A trucker, a farmer, and an entrepreneur walk into a global supply shock You Could Always Go To Poland The little pet fish that saved a town in the Amazon For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Julia Ritchey and Vito Emanuel. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter. To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

14. Anatol Lieven Headline: NATODisunity and Eastern EuropeanHardliners Lieven highlights internal friction within NATO regarding Donald Trump's isolationist rhetoric. While hardliners in Eastern Europe demand unity against Russia, countries like Poland remain primarily focused on their own national defense strategies. (14)1896 PETERSBURG

SHOW SCHWDULE 3-19-20261939 OKLAHOMA OILFIELDS, ROUSTABOUT FAMILY HOUSING1. Gregory Copley Headline: The Strait of Hormuz and Global Energy Panic Copley analyzes the strategic fallout of Iranian attacks on Qatari gas fields, which have sent global markets reeling. He argues the Iranian Navy is finished, yet regional instability requires American leadership to ensure regime change. (1)2. Gregory Copley Headline: Russia's Energy Leverage and the Donbass Proposal Russia benefits significantly from rising oil prices and its desanctioned shadow fleet. Copley notes that some European nations are considering a "Donbass for energy" deal with Putin to stabilize their struggling economies. (2)3. Gregory Copley Headline: China's Economic Paralysis and Naval Limitations China faces deep internal trouble, with growth expectations falling and Xi Jinping struggling to trust his military commanders. Copley highlights that the PLA Navy remains significantly behind the United States in carrier operations. (3)4. Gregory Copley Headline: British Political Turmoil and the Monarchy's Role King Charles III plans to attend America's 250th anniversary despite potential diplomatic friction with President Trump. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces historic unpopularity and internal party dissent, though he remains difficult to remove. (4)5. Evan Ellis Headline: Cuba's Energy Crisis Amidst Cold War Echoes Cuba suffers from nationwide blackouts as Russian oil shipments attempt to bypass U.S. surveillance. Ellis explores the symbolic importance of the island and the complexities of U.S. negotiations with the Castro family. (5)6. Evan Ellis Headline: Venezuela's Oil Interests and Democratic Hopes While the Trump administration views Venezuela as a success, the Chvista regime remains entrenched through hardline appointments. Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado pushes for democratic stability to attract essential foreign investment into the oil sector. (6)7. Evan Ellis Headline: Crime and Political Instability in Latin America Violent spillover from drug trafficking affects the Colombia-Ecuador border, leading to significant casualties and military strikes. Ellis also discusses the arrest of a major gang leader and the ongoing cabinet instability in Peru. (7)8. Evan Ellis Headline: Chile's Security Reforms Under President Kast President Jose Antonio Kast has prioritized border security and tackling organized crime since his inauguration. His inclusive approach aims to stabilize the economy and address social frustrations lingering from the 2019 riots. (8)9. Edward J. Larson Headline: The Bombardment of Norfolk: A Revolutionary Turning Point In January 1776, the Royal Navy's attack on Norfolk, Virginia, destroyed civilian homes and convinced colonists that reconciliation with Britain was impossible. George Washington viewed this aggression as a decisive catalyst for independence. (9)10. Edward J. Larson Headline: Henry Knox's Heroic Artillery Mission Larson recounts the daring winter transport of heavy cannons from Fort Ticonderoga to Boston. This strategic feat allowed Washington to fortify Dorchester Heights, forcing British evacuation and marking his first major military victory. (10)11. Edward J. Larson Headline: Washington's Desperate Defense of New York Following the victory in Boston, Washington moved to defend New York against an overwhelming British force. Despite the Howe brothers' initial desire for negotiation, the conflict escalated as the colonies formally declared independence. (11)12. Edward J. Larson Headline: The Intellectual Shift Toward Republican Sovereignty Larson explores how 1776 transformed colonists into independent actors seeking republican governance over royal charters. Washington adopted a "Fabian" strategy, prioritizing army survival over holding territory after the defeat in Manhattan. (12)13. Anatol Lieven Headline: Seeking a Settlement in the Eurasia Crisis High energy prices are pressuring European nations like Belgium and Hungary to consider resuming trade with Russia. Lieven proposes a deal exchanging energy for compromises on the Donbass, though European leadership remains divided. (13)14. Anatol Lieven Headline: NATO Disunity and Eastern European Hardliners Lieven highlights internal friction within NATO regarding Donald Trump's isolationist rhetoric. While hardliners in Eastern Europe demand unity against Russia, countries like Poland remain primarily focused on their own national defense strategies. (14)15. Sadanand Dhume Headline: India's Strategic Neutrality in the BRICS Grouping Dhume analyzes India's unique position, balancing relationships with the U.S. and Israel against energy needs. He describes BRICS as an economically underperforming and politically fractured group with deep-seated internal rivalries. (15)16. Conrad Black Headline: Canada's Commitment to Arctic Defense Black praises Prime Minister Mark Carney for prioritizing Arctic defense and military modernization. He notes that while Canadians support pulling their weight in NATO, challenges persist regarding pipeline development and international participation. (16)

Preet Majithia unpacks the first day of action at the 2026 World Athletics Indoor Championships live from Poland, where we saw fireworks in the men's 60m, a tactical affair in both the men's and women's 1500m, and an exciting first round of the 800m early this morning.Some of today's highlights include: - Jordan Anthony's Team USA debut is a smashing success, as the 21-year-old defeats a stacked field to win the 60m final in a world-leading 6.41, also equal to #4 all-time.- Eloisa Coiro leads all qualifiers to tomorrow's semi-final in the women's 800m with 1:59.87. World record holder Keely Hodgkinson auto qualifies easily with a 2:00.32.- On the men's side, Eliott Crestan leads all qualifiers to tomorrow's 800m semi-final with 1:45.51.- Americans Gracie Morris and Nikki Hiltz both qualify to the 1500m final, running 4:12.57 and 4:16.32 respectively.- As for the men, Mariano García leads all qualifiers to the final with 3:38.19 and American Nathan Green auto qualifies with 3:40.97.+ More____________Host: Preet Majithia | ⁠@preet_athletics⁠Produced by: Jasmine Fehr |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠@jasminefehr⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠____________SUPPORT OUR SPONSORSOLIPOP: Olipop's Tropical Punch tastes like a vacation in a can. It has the perfect balance of pineapple, passionfruit, mandarin, and apple. You get that nostalgic fruit punch flavor, but way more crisp and way more refreshing. Every can contains their Olismart blend, which includes ingredients designed to support digestive health and help feed your gut microbiome. If you haven't had tried Olipop yet, grab a can and see what the hype is all about!⁠⁠⁠ Head to DrinkOlipop.com and use code CITIUS25 at checkout to get 25% off your orders.⁠⁠⁠XENDURANCE: When you finish a hard workout, the work isn't actually done. That's when recovery starts. Xendurance Protein is designed specifically to help your body recover, rebuild, and get stronger after training. It combines four different types of protein, so your body gets both fast absorbing protein for immediate recovery and slower release protein to support muscle repair over time. ⁠⁠⁠Check it out at Xendurance.com and use code CITIUS for 25% off your first order.

Episode 803: Neal and Toby chat about the Fed's decision to keep rates unchanged as it monitors the risks from the Iran War. Then, the WNBA and its players' union reach a historic deal that reflects the growth of value for women's basketball. Plus, the company behind the ‘steroid Olympics' is breaking into the consumer market as it will begin selling injectable peptides. Meanwhile, it's Neal's Numbers on Poland's economy, radioactive mice and rats, and the most requested song at a piano bar.  Learn more at linkedin.com/MBD Join our March Madness bracket! Join our March Madness bracket!  Mens: https://fantasy.espn.com/games/tournament-challenge-bracket-2026/group?id=4f3dc815-5efe-4a5f-ab31-1479c99af85d&joining=true Womens: https://fantasy.espn.com/tc/sharer?challengeId=278&from=espn&context=GROUP_INVITE&edition=espn-en&groupId=bf3953cf-e486-4a98-9925-9f56ef480bfa Subscribe to Morning Brew Daily for more of the news you need to start your day. Share the show with a friend, and leave us a review on your favorite podcast app. Listen to Morning Brew Daily Here:⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.swap.fm/l/mbd-note⁠⁠⁠  Watch Morning Brew Daily Here:⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@MorningBrewDailyShow⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, we discuss the life and legacy of Sholem Asch. Born in Poland to an Orthodox Jewish family, Asch was a novelist, playwright, and essayist acclaimed by both critics and readers alike. He was one of the first Yiddish writers to attract a wide readership in translation and was one of the best-known [...]

Happened In the 90's hosted by Steve and Matt picks a day, any day, and then goes back in time to that magical decade we all know and love the 90's, to revisit episodes of tv, movies that premiered, or cultural events that occurred on that day in the 90's. This week Steve & Matt discuss the underrated genius of David Cross, Stans who want your life, & Rocket Fuel Malt Liquor...Dayuuummm!!!SEGMENT 1Show: The Drew Carey ShowEpisode: “Two Drews and the Queen of Poland Walk into a Bar” (Season 2 | Episode: 20)Premiere Date: 3/19/1997Story: The gang support Drew when crazy-man Earl is let out of the mental institution and moves next door to Drew. Mimi prepares to meet the King of Poland with the hopes of becoming queen.SEGMENT 2Show: NewsRadioEpisode: “Office Feud” (Season 3 | Episode: 19)Premiere Date: 3/19/1997Story: The staff deals with noisy new neighbors on the floor above them. Catherine is unhappy with Bill--with the way he reads a commercial, and with his faking an endorsement of a product he's never tried.

How much power does The New York Times really have , and what happens when that power is used to shape narrative instead of pursue truth? In this episode of The Curious Middle, we speak with Ashley Rindsberg, author of The Gray Lady Winked, about the Times' reporting on some of the most important stories of the last century: the Nazi invasion of Poland, Stalin's Soviet Union, the Holocaust, Israel, the 1619 Project nd more. Ashley Rindsberg is an investigative journalist and author focused on media malfeasance, information warfare, and the hidden systems influencing public discourse. Ashley joins us to explain why he believes the paper has repeatedly protected power, buried inconvenient truths, and helped shape public opinion in ways that changed history. We also talk about the Sulzberger family, the culture inside elite newsrooms, the collapse of trust in journalism, and how listeners can build a healthier media diet today. Follow Ashley's Substack In this episode: What first inspired Ashley to write The Gray Lady Winked Why the New York Times is unlike any other media institution The Times' Holocaust coverage and what was buried Soviet propaganda, Stalin, Hitler, Cuba, Iraq, Israel and the Intifada, The 1619 Project and narrative-driven reporting The Tom Cotton op-ed controversy, safe spaces, silencing dissent and newsroom ideology Why media trust has collapsed How to find better journalism in a fractured media environment Key Quotes "They set cultural agendas, they set the news agenda, they influence politics, they influence culture." "They didn't want to appear to be the Jewish newspaper that was advocating for Jewish lives or Jewish people. So they did the exact opposite." "You don't bury a story about tens of thousands of people being murdered in Europe by accident." "The narrative was so overpowering for them that it obliterated what was in front of their faces." "It became a culture of silence."   Follow @thecuriousmiddlepod Contact us: thecuriousmiddlepod@gmail.com

Today we kick things off discussing Adaeja Hodge who was recently announced to have served a ban dating back to 2024, but has already been cleared to run and recently won the NCAA 200m title for Georgia. We discuss why the AIU waited so long to announce her suspension and the larger problems with her situation.We then discuss the upcoming world indoor championships which will be going down in Poland this Friday March 20th to Sunday March 22nd. I break down and preview all the sprint, hurdle and jump events and the top names to look out for.⁠-------------------------------------------

In this episode of the We LOVE Arabian Horses Podcast, Paul sits chats with Tex Kam, a longtime Arabian horse breeder, industry leader, and passionate advocate for the breed.Tex shares how his journey began as a young teenager mesmerized by Arabian horses, and how that early fascination led him into pedigrees, Pure Polish bloodlines, breeding, buying and selling horses, and eventually leadership within the Canadian Arabian Horse Registry. He also talks about helping create and grow the Canadian National Arabian Championship, building a welcoming horse show culture, and why hospitality, community, and shared ownership matter so much.The conversation also explores Tex's role in broader Arabian horse industry discussions, including governance change, collaboration, and the kind of leadership needed to move the breed forward for the next generation.This is a thoughtful and wide-ranging episode about passion, persistence, reinvention, and the power of pulling together for the future of Arabian horses.

⁠The World Athletics Indoor Championships descend on Toruń, Poland this weekend. Here's your event-by-event preview via Chris Chavez and Preet Majithia.- Men's 60m: Defending champion Jeremiah Azu faces the deepest field in recent memory, led by American Jordan Anthony (world list leader, 6.43) and Jamaica's Kishane Thompson (6.46).- Women's 60m: Julien Alfred vs. Zaynab Dosso, both at 6.99 and both in career form. Alfred seeks history as a two-time world indoor champion; Dosso has silver and bronze but never gold.- Men's 60m hurdles: A three-way tie at 7.37 between Poland's unbeaten home favorite Jakub Szymański and Americans Dylan Beard and Trey Cunningham, with three-time defending champion Grant Holloway absent for the first time in years.- Women's 60m hurdles: Devynne Charlton can become the first woman to win three consecutive world indoor titles in the event, having won in Glasgow and Nanjing. Swiss world champion Ditaji Kambundji has been just 0.01 behind her twice this season.- Men's 400m: Two of the three fastest short-track 400m runners ever, Khaleb McRae (world record pending, 44.52) and Christopher Morales Williams (44.49 all-time best, unratified), meet in a new split-final format using only lanes 3 to 6.- Women's 400m: Several top seeds are absent, opening the door wide for Norway's Henriette Jæger and the Netherlands' Lieke Klaver, who beat Jæger at last year's European Indoors.- Men's 800m: Belgium's Eliott Crestan enters as the top seed chasing history, but American teenager Cooper Lutkenhaus, just 17, set a world U20 short-track record of 1:44.03 last month and could become the youngest men's 800m medalist in World Indoor Championships history.- Women's 800m: Keely Hodgkinson is the story of the meet. The British Olympic champion broke a 24-year-old world record last month, running 1:54.87 on the very day she was born. Three injuries have kept her from the World Indoors. She finally arrives healthy and dangerous.- Men's 1500m: World champion Isaac Nader looks to finally convert after two consecutive fourth-place finishes, chasing Portugal's first title here since 2001. Dutch 800m specialist Sam Chapple brings a dangerous finishing kick.- Women's 1500m: Georgia Hunter Bell leads a deep field stacked against Ethiopia's three-athlete squad, with Nikki Hiltz's big kick a wildcard in the final lap.- Men's 3000m: The entire Paris Olympic 1500m podium, Cole Hocker, Josh Kerr, and Yared Nuguse, races together, making this arguably the meet's marquee event.- Women's 3000m: Freweyni Hailu is chasing a third straight world indoor distance title, representing a broader Ethiopian dynasty that has won 10 of the last 12 world indoor 3000m crowns.____________Hosts: Chris Chavez | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@chris_j_chavez⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ + Preet Majithia | @preet_athleticsProduced by: Jasmine Fehr |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠@jasminefehr⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠____________SUPPORT OUR SPONSORSOLIPOP: Olipop's Tropical Punch tastes like a vacation in a can. It has the perfect balance of pineapple, passionfruit, mandarin, and apple. You get that nostalgic fruit punch flavor, but way more crisp and way more refreshing. Every can contains their Olismart blend, which includes ingredients designed to support digestive health and help feed your gut microbiome. If you haven't had tried Olipop yet, grab a can and see what the hype is all about!⁠⁠ Head to DrinkOlipop.com and use code CITIUS25 at checkout to get 25% off your orders.⁠⁠XENDURANCE: When you finish a hard workout, the work isn't actually done. That's when recovery starts. Xendurance Protein is designed specifically to help your body recover, rebuild, and get stronger after training. It combines four different types of protein, so your body gets both fast absorbing protein for immediate recovery and slower release protein to support muscle repair over time. ⁠⁠Check it out at Xendurance.com and use code CITIUS for 25% off your first order.

Soccer Over There looks at the European continent and the leagues that have their own brand of chaos (Poland), have chaos internally with teams making it difficult for others (England), and players that are leaving Over There to come back here (Cat Macario)All that and PICKS OF THE WEEK FROM THE FAROES TO SIERRA LEONE AND ALL POINTS IN BETWEEN

Further reading: Identifying the beasts in Caesar's forest Reindeer: Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I'm your host, Kate Shaw. After the glaciers retreated from Europe at the end of the last ice age, around 11,000 years ago, forests grew wherever there was enough soil to support a tree. As these new forests spread, they joined forests that had survived the glaciations. By the time ancient Romans were writing about the things they encountered while exploring western Europe, around 2,000 years ago, the forest stretched across much of the continent and was considered a wild, dangerous place. They called it the Hercynian [her-SIN-ian] forest and it was supposed to be full of peculiar animals. An account of the forest appears in the book Commentarii del Bello Gallico, the first edition of which was published just over 2,000 years ago in 49 BCE. It was written by Julius Caesar, or at least he was involved in it even if he didn't actually write it personally, since it was about his military campaigns. In one section of the book he discusses the Hercynian forest and three remarkable animals that lived in it. The first was called the uri, which were supposed to look like bulls but were almost the size of elephants, and were incredibly aggressive. This is probably the same animal often called the aurochs, which we talked about in episode 58. The aurochs was probably the wild ancestor of the domesticated cow and could stand almost six feet tall at the shoulder, or 1.8 meters. It had already gone extinct in most places 500 years before Caesar wrote his book, but it still lived in parts of Europe. The second animal is a lot harder to identify. The alces looked like a big goat that either didn't have horns or had very short ones, but its legs didn't have joints. If an alces fell over, it couldn't get up again. Caesar explained that hunters used this to their advantage. Because the alces couldn't lie down at night, it would sleep by propping itself against a tree. The hunters would note which tree an alces preferred, and during the day they'd cut a notch in the trunk. When the alces leaned against it at night to sleep, the tree would topple over, taking the animal with it. The waiting hunters would then be able to just stroll up and kill the alces. Naturally, this story doesn't make any sense. All tetrapods have jointed legs. But the story of an animal without joints in its legs crops up in various stories from around this time, including the part where hunters cut a notch in a tree trunk to knock the animal over. It's a story once told about the elephant and the Eurasian elk, among others, and the alces was probably based on the Eurasian elk. That's the Eurasian population of the animal called the moose in North America. Because the story specifies that the alces either didn't have horns or had very small ones, it's possible that Caesar based his story on the female elk, which doesn't have antlers. Incidentally, we're so certain that the alces was the same animal as the Eurasian elk that its scientific name is actually Alces alces. Finally, the Hercynian deer was likewise large and had a single horn. A translation of the passage states: “There is an ox with the shape of a deer; projecting out of its forehead, in the middle, between the ears, is a single horn, which is both longer and more upright than those horns we are used to seeing.” Other sources that talk about this animal also say that the horn branched at the end, and Caesar notes that both males and females had these horns. This gives us a big clue as to what animal might have inspired the account. Unlike most deer, both male and female reindeer have antlers. Unlike caribou, the North American reindeer species, the European reindeer often has relatively long and straight main shafts on its antlers that then enlarge at the end in what's called a palmate structure. That basically means it's shaped like a hand. But reindeer have two antlers, not one. It's possible that the story of the Hercynian deer was inspired by the unicorn legend, which was based on the rhinoceros. It might also have been inspired by Caesar sighting a reindeer that had dropped one antler but hadn't yet lost the other one, since like other deer, reindeer shed their antlers and regrow them every year. The reason Caesar wrote about the animals of the Hercynian forest in the first place was to underline how strange and uncivilized the people living in the area were. The people in question are what today we would call Germans. Caesar stresses that all these animals are ones never seen anywhere else, and he might easily have added exotic details from other fabulous animals to make these animals seem extra weird. These days most of the Hercynian forest is long gone, chopped down for people to turn into farmland and towns. While the Eurasian elk and the reindeer are still around, they no longer live as far south as Germany. The last aurochs went extinct in 1627 in Poland. But the German people are doing just fine, and they're a lot more civilized than Caesar gave them credit for 2,000 years ago. Thanks for your support, and thanks for listening!

In this Resilience Unravelled episode, Dr Russell Thackeray meets Jerzy Gregorek, born in Poland, recounts becoming a firefighter at 19, studying fire protection engineering, and joining Solidarity during the 1981 crackdown, including a crushed 10-day strike and three years underground after the murder of a priest he knew. After warnings he could be captured, he left Poland in 1985 and later moved to the U.S., where he was rejected by the fire department as “overeducated.”Turning to weightlifting and early personal training in gyms, he built a successful coaching career focused on customised, measurable progression in flexibility, strength, posture, and bodyweight. He describes developing the “Happy Body Program” over 10 years as “athletic lifestyle medicine,” emphasising numbers, micro-progression, and long-term goals to combat aging, improve health, and avoid entertainment-only exercise.00:00 Meet Jerzy Gregoreck00:27 Firefighter Roots in Poland01:12 Solidarity Strike and Crackdown02:50 Losing Everything Finding Love05:57 Alcoholism to Empathy07:25 New Life in America09:25 Personal Training Breakthrough12:40 Engineering a Training Method14:56 Making Progress Fun18:52 Coaching Culture and Mentors21:08 Happy Body Lifestyle Medicine24:36 Aging Proof Strength Stories28:59 Big Goals and Resilience29:40 Where to Learn More30:12 ClosingYou can contact us at info@qedod.comResources can be found online or link to our website https://resilienceunravelled.com#resilience, #burnout, #intuition

POLAND V VENEZUELA IS NO CONTEST And I am thrilled to have the President Emeritus of FEE Larry Reed back on the show to talk about Poland's adoption of capitalism versus Venezuela's adoption of socialism near the same time. The charts don't lie and if you need more proof that socialism is a greed based nightmare wherever it's tried tune in today at 1 to here Larry. Find his article on the subject here.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Alleged Canadian 'The Comm' Hacker Arrested, Interpol's Operation Synergia Takedown, Stryker Cyberattack Update and more.. Cybersecurity Today  would like to thank Meter for their support in bringing you this podcast. Meter delivers a complete networking stack, wired, wireless and cellular in one integrated solution that's built for performance and scale.  You can find them at Meter.com/cst Host David Shipley covers new details on the alleged takedown of "Waifu," a Canadian hacker tied to the cybercrime group The Com, after a harassment campaign against investigator Allison Nixon helped lead to his identification and arrest; he now faces U.S. charges including extortion and unauthorized computer access. The episode also highlights Interpol's six-month Operation Synergia, a major international crackdown that disabled 45,000 malicious IPs and led to 94 arrests across 72 countries, targeting ransomware, phishing, and malware infrastructure. An update on Stryker describes an attack on its Microsoft corporate systems allegedly involving Intune to wipe over 200,000 devices, with Stryker saying connected medical devices and services remain safe while ordering and operations are disrupted. Finally, Poland reports it stopped an attempted hack on its National Center for Nuclear Research that may have Iranian links, though officials caution indicators could be misdirection. 00:00 Sponsor Meter Intro 00:19 Headlines And Welcome 00:50 Calm Hacker Takedown 02:49 Threats Against Researcher 04:21 Unmasking And Arrest 05:46 Interpol Operation Synergy 08:10 Stryker Intune Attack Fallout 12:56 Iran Cyber War Updates 13:43 Poland Nuclear Hack Attempt 16:14 Wrap Up And Thanks 16:52 Sponsor Meter Outro

New reporting suggests President Trump knew of all the risks of going to war with Iran, but decided to do it anyway; Ali digs into new polling that shows Americans have serious doubts about the fairness of our elections; Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes reacts to the Trump administration's new investigation into his state's 2020 election results; and, as the war between Russia and Ukraine enters its fifth year, Ali reconnects with a former Ukrainian refugee he met in Poland at the start of the current war, in 2022. To listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Full Text of Readings Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent Lectionary: 244 The Saint of the day is Saint Clement Mary Hofbauer Saint Clement Mary Hofbauer's Story Saint Clement Mary Hofbauer might be called the second founder of the Redemptorists, as it was he who carried the congregation of Saint Alphonsus Liguori to the people north of the Alps. John, the name given him at Baptism, was born in Moravia into a poor family, the ninth of 12 children. Although he longed to be a priest, there was no money for studies, and he was apprenticed to a baker. But God guided the young man's fortunes. He found work in the bakery of a monastery where he was allowed to attend classes in its Latin school. After the abbot there died, John tried the life of a hermit, but when Emperor Joseph II abolished hermitages, John again returned to Vienna and to baking. One day after serving Mass at the Cathedral of St. Stephen, he called a carriage for two ladies waiting there in the rain. In their conversation they learned that he could not pursue his priestly studies because of a lack of funds. They generously offered to support both John and his friend Thaddeus, in their seminary studies. The two went to Rome, where they were drawn to Saint Alphonsus' vision of religious life and to the Redemptorists. The two young men were ordained together in 1785. Newly professed at age 34, Saint Clement Mary Hofbauer, as he was now called, and Thaddeus were sent back to Vienna. But the religious difficulties there caused them to leave and continue north to Warsaw, Poland. There they encountered numerous German-speaking Catholics who had been left priestless by the suppression of the Jesuits. At first they had to live in great poverty and preach outdoor sermons. Eventually they were given the church of St. Benno, and for the next nine years they preached five sermons a day, two in German and three in Polish, converting many to the faith. They were active in social work among the poor, founding an orphanage and then a school for boys. Drawing candidates to the congregation, they were able to send missionaries to Poland, Germany, and Switzerland. All of these foundations eventually had to be abandoned because of the political and religious tensions of the times. After 20 years of difficult work, Saint Clement Mary Hofbauer himself was imprisoned and expelled from the country. Only after another arrest was he able to reach Vienna, where he was to live and work the final 12 years of his life. He quickly became “the apostle of Vienna,” hearing the confessions of the rich and the poor, visiting the sick, acting as a counselor to the powerful, sharing his holiness with all in the city. His crowning work was the establishment of a Catholic college in his beloved city. Persecution followed Saint Clement Mary Hofbauer, and there were those in authority who were able for a while to stop him from preaching. An attempt was made at the highest levels to have him banished. But his holiness and fame protected him and prompted the growth of the Redemptorists. Due to his efforts, the congregation was firmly established north of the Alps by the time of his death in 1820. Saint Clement Mary Hofbauer was canonized in 1909. His liturgical feast is celebrated on March 15. Reflection Saint Clement Mary Hofbauer saw his life's work meet with disaster. Religious and political tensions forced him and his brothers to abandon their ministries in Germany, Poland, and Switzerland. Clement Mary himself was exiled from Poland and had to start all over again. Someone once pointed out that the followers of the crucified Jesus should see only new possibilities opening up whenever they meet failure. Clement Mary encourages us to follow his example, trusting in the Lord to guide us.Saint of the Day, Copyright Franciscan Media

Scholars keep predicting nationalism will fade, and it keeps surprising us. Slavica Jakelic argues we're asking the wrong questions. Drawing on her experience in Croatia during the Yugoslav wars and her research on religious-secular alliances in Poland and South Africa, she makes the case for 'ethical nationalism,' a form of belonging that serves pluralism rather than undermining it. We discuss why particular attachments matter, how religious and secular actors can work together, and what it might mean to reclaim symbols like the American flag for more expansive visions of national identity.Show Notes:Collectivistic Religions: Religion, Choice, and Identity in Late Modernity (https://www.routledge.com/Collectivistic-Religions-Religion-Choice-and-Identity-in-Late-Modernity/Jakelic/p/book/9781138260399)Pluralizing Humanism: Religions and Secularisms Beyond Power (https://www.routledge.com/Pluralizing-Humanism-Religions-and-Secularisms-Beyond-Power/Jakelic/p/book/9781032151083)Send a text

11. Paul Thomas Chamberlain: Details the struggle over Poland's sovereignty and Churchill's "percentages agreement" to divide influence,,. He also highlights the transition to Truman and Attlee at Potsdam and Stalin's continued regional ambitions,. (35 words) (11)1944

(Presented by TLPBLACK: High-fidelity threat intelligence and research tools for modern security teams. From curated Passive DNS and real-time C2 monitoring to actionable IOC feeds and daily malware samples, we help defenders detect, hunt, and disrupt threats faster, with seamless integration into SIEM and SOAR workflows.) Three Buddy Problem - Episode 89: We discuss Iran hacktivist group 'Handala' wiper attacks against US medical device maker Stryker, Microsoft Intune MDM tool abuse, and whether Iran's cyber retaliation is as scary as the headlines suggest. Plus, ESET's discovery that Russia's APT28 original implant developers are back after years of silence, Dutch intelligence warnings on Russian campaigns targeting Signal and WhatsApp accounts, Apple finally patching Coruna exploit kit vulnerabilities for older iPhones, and Google sharing Coruna samples that raise new questions about the exploit kit's proliferation chain. Cast: Juan Andres Guerrero-Saade, Ryan Naraine and Costin Raiu.

Send a textWe trace how Poland is crushed between Nazi and Soviet violence, then follow the Nazareth Sisters of Novogrodek as they become the town's spiritual backbone. We tell how eleven nuns choose to take the place of imprisoned men and walk into the woods to die, and why their witness is later honored rather than forgotten. • Poland's geography as a battleground between Germany and Russia • Indoctrination, dehumanization, and the targeting of civilians in World War II • The Nazareth Sisters arriving in 1929 and facing local suspicion • How prayer and daily routines slowly win a community's trust • Soviet occupation forcing the sisters out and banning their habits • Nazi takeover bringing public executions and terror in the town square • The arrest of local men and the fear of deportation or death • Sister Stella's offhand vow and the sisters' shared willingness to substitute their lives • The summons to the commissar and the final night in confinement • The executions in the Novogrodek woods and the silence afterward • The hidden grave, later exhumation, and reburial at the Church of the Transfiguration • The beatification cause opened in 1990 and the lasting memory of martyrdomJourneys of Faith StoreOpen by Steve Bailey Support the showChat with US 24/7 Ask us anything https://chatting.page/mjxs9aerrtgm3lmpndlcepmbyosntrjn View all of our blog posts here https://journeysoffaith.com/blogs/eucharist-mary-saints Download Journeys of Faith App for Iphone or Android FREE https://journeysoffaith.com/pages/download-our-app Journeys of Faith brings your Super Saints Podcasts Please consider subscribing to this podcast or making a donation to Journeys of Faith we are actively increasing our reach and we are seeing good results for visitors under 40! Help us Grow! ***Our Core Beliefs*** The Eucharist is the Source and Summit of our Faith." Catechism 132 Click Here “This is the will of God, your sanctification.” 1Thessalonians 4“ ...

Emily Mackay joins me on the podcast after a huge moment in her career, winning her first national title in the 3000 meters at the USATF Indoor Championships. Emily is no stranger to the world stage. She competed in the 2024 Paris Olympics and is also a World Indoor bronze medalist, but capturing her first national title was a really special milestone. In this episode we talk all about that race, what it felt like to finally get that win, and what the moment meant after years of competing at such a high level. Emily is sponsored by New Balance and currently trains with Union Athletics Club under coach Pete Julian. Last summer she made the move from Team New Balance Boston to Union Athletics Club, and we talk about that transition, what training has looked like in this new environment, and how the change has helped her continue to grow as an athlete. We also talk about what's next as Emily prepares to compete at the World Indoor Championships in the 3000 meters in Poland. It's always fun catching up with Emily. This is actually her fourth time on the podcast, and it's been incredible to follow her journey over the years and see the progression in her career. I hope you enjoy this conversation with Emily Mackay. Support our sponsors! Previnex — I've been using their Muscle Health formula and I love that it combines creatine monohydrate with BCAAs and essential amino acids to support strength, recovery, and muscle maintenance. They just released a new citrus flavor that's really refreshing, and it's formulated to improve amino acid absorption and protein synthesis. I also take Previnex Gut & Greens every day and swear by it. Codes you can use: LINDSEYSUPERFOODS when Gut & Green is in cart; otherwise ANOTHER or LINDSEYSTRENGTH for Muscle Health at previnex.com. Amazfit Smartwatches – A wellness and recovery brand offering targeted supplements designed to support runners with energy, strength, and sleep. Use code “ANOTHER” at checkout! Sign up for the Marathon Project! The Marathon Project is a fast, flat race weekend in Chandler, Arizona designed to give amateur runners a pro-style marathon experience, with features like personal bottles, pace groups, indoor warmup space, and a highly supported race environment. Price increases on April 1st, so sign up now at themarathonproject.com and use the code “lindsey” (all lowercase!) for $25 off! CURE Hydration — No added sugar or dyes; electrolyte mix for adults and kids; non-GMO; FSA/HSA eligible. Use ANOTHER for 15% off at curehydration.com/another.

Lawrence Welk is only good if your mouth is stuck open permanently for birds to make a nest in. Buying JAV magazines owned by Richard Ramirez is cost prohibitive unlike suggestively-shaped waffles at the Icelandic prick museum. If you eat there and learn at the same time they would call that hitting two flies with one slap. In Poland they would call it roasting two pieces of meat on one fire which is considered a daunting task

Polish prosecutors have opened a formal investigation into potential links between Jeffrey Epstein's trafficking network and activities connected to Poland after newly released U.S. documents suggested the possibility that victims may have been recruited there. Authorities from the National Prosecutor's Office said the probe will examine suspected human trafficking that may have occurred between 2009 and 2019 involving women and girls who were allegedly recruited under false pretenses and then transported abroad for sexual exploitation. Investigators are focusing on whether Polish citizens, including minors, were targeted as part of a broader international trafficking scheme tied to Epstein and his associates. The inquiry is being handled by a specialized investigative team established specifically to examine the Polish threads emerging from the newly disclosed Epstein records.The investigation could expand beyond trafficking allegations to examine the activities of an organized criminal group operating internationally and any crimes connected to Poland, whether committed within the country or involving Polish citizens abroad. Prosecutors said the probe was triggered after reviewing the large trove of Epstein-related documents released in the United States, which raised credible suspicions that trafficking may have involved recruitment efforts in Poland. As part of the investigation, Polish authorities plan to seek evidence and cooperation from other European countries while also encouraging potential victims to come forward. Officials have emphasized that the goal is to determine the full scope of any Polish connections to Epstein's network and to pursue criminal accountability wherever Polish jurisdiction applies.to contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.comsource:Poland launches investigation into Epstein files

Mac Millings makes his tournament debut as England's hopes hang by a thread. Bobby Robson is forced into some changes and, although familiar issues are still apparent early on against Poland, goals change games. And careers. There is also Morocco discovering what can be done when you cross the halfway line, progress for the hosts, Paraguay and Belgium fight to avoid the USSR, Italy remain unconvincing and some love for Jorge Valdano. South Korea v Italy - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03ISodmB7jg Argentina v Bulgaria - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cyy0KjsS0os Mexico v Iraq - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2G2xrWF-sIQ Paraguay v Belgium - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8opR05tJ-E England v Poland - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jcCQetmfAU & https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBmpdKC1Ye8 Morocco v Portugal - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkauTeF1NA8 If you want weekly exclusive bonus shows, join our Nessun Dorma community chat, want your episodes without ads and a couple of days earlier or just want to support the podcast, then head over to ⁠⁠⁠patreon.com/NessunDormaPodcast⁠⁠⁠ where you can subscribe for only $3.99 a month (less than 75p a week!). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week on Energy Transition Today, we're focusing on news and analysis from Poland and Romania ahead of our Decarbonising Central & Eastern Europe event in Warsaw on 19 March.We open with Poland's UC84 grid connection reform, the most significant regulatory intervention in the sector in years, and what its mandatory milestones, digitalisation requirements and new financial framework mean for developers and investors navigating the market.We then cover PGE's EPC contracts for a 1.2GW open cycle gas peaking portfolio across two sites, and what that long-term flexibility bet says about Poland's energy transition strategy. We also look at the EBRD's equity investment into Virya Energy's newly established Polish renewables vehicle.In the second half of the episode, we turn to Romania, with a deep dive into the country's energy transition, from coal phase-out and nuclear expansion to the CfD framework and the growing role of BESS. We examine the €150 million EC-approved grant scheme for standalone battery storage in the country, and close with Enery's €460 million financial close on one of the largest solar and BESS project in Europe.Hosted by: Maya Chavvakula, Mathilde Dorbessan, Stanley LamEdited by: Mathilde DorbessanReach out to us at: podcasts@inspiratia.comFind all of our latest news and analysis by subscribing to inspiratia For tickets to our events email conferences@inspiratia.com or buy them directly on our website. Listen to all our episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other providers. Music credit: NDA/Show You instrumental/Tribe of Noise©2025 inspiratia. All rights reserved.This content is protected by copyright. Please respect the author's rights and do not copy or reproduce it without permission.

Looking radiant might have less to do with makeup and more to do with how you care for yourself every day. In this recap, Lesley Logan and special guest co-host Clare Solly break down the advice shared by double board-certified aesthetic nurse Rachel Varga. They explore how simple rituals, nervous system support, and intentional self-care can transform both skin health and your overall wellbeing. From hydration and breathwork to lymphatic massage and shower routines, this episode highlights small habits that can create powerful results. If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co mailto:beit@lesleylogan.co. And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/#follow-subscribe-free.In this episode you will learn about:Why daily skincare routines can become powerful acts of self-love.Activating your parasympathetic system to boost natural beauty.A simple salt scrub hack for better sleep and skin.How posture and humming instantly regulate your nervous system.The importance of filtering your water for hair and health.Episode References/Links:Contrology Pilates Conference (Wroclaw, Poland) - xxll.co/polandPilates Workshop (Bruges, Belgium) - xxll.co/brusselsPilates On Tour® (London, UK) - xxll.co/potOPC Spring Training (Virtual Event) - opc.me/events30-Minute Biohacking Video for Skin - https://www.theschoolofradiance.comRachel Varga Website - https://theschoolofradiance.com (Discount Code: Use LesleyLogan15)The School of Radiance Podcast – https://theschoolofradiance.comHigherDOSE Red Light Shower Head - https://www.google.com/search?q=https://beitpod.com/higherdose (Code: BALANCEDDOSE for 20% off)Self-Love Ep 640 - https://beitpod.com/ep640Self-Love Ep 641 - https://beitpod.com/ep641Jessica Valant Podcast - https://jessicavalant.com/podcast If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox. https://lovethepodcast.com/BITYSIDEALS! DEALS! DEALS! DEALS! https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentCheck out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSox https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/memberships/perks/#equipmentBe in the know with all the workshops at OPC https://workshops.onlinepilatesclasses.com/lp-workshop-waitlistBe It Till You See It Podcast Survey https://pod.lesleylogan.co/be-it-podcasts-surveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates Mentorship https://lesleylogan.co/elevate/FREE Ditching Busy Webinar https://ditchingbusy.com/Resources:Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-gLesley Logan website https://lesleylogan.co/Be It Till You See It Podcast https://lesleylogan.co/podcast/Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan https://onlinepilatesclasses.com/Online Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjogqXLnfyhS5VlU4rdzlnQProfitable Pilates https://profitablepilates.com/about/Follow Us on Social Media:Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lesley.logan/The Be It Till You See It Podcast YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq08HES7xLMvVa3Fy5DR8-gFacebook https://www.facebook.com/llogan.pilatesLinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesley-logan/The OPC YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@OnlinePilatesClasses Episode Transcript:Lesley Logan 0:00  And she said, look, the best makeup doesn't work on bad skin, so your best thing you could be doing for looking beautiful is to have a really good skincare routine. Lesley Logan 0:14  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started. Lesley Logan 0:56  Welcome back to the Be It Till You See It interview recap where my co-host in life, well, not. Clare Solly 1:02  I totally could be. Lesley Logan 1:05  Well, you are my slingshot friend. So my my co-host and my part time co-host in life, Clare Solly and I are going to dig into the vital convo I have with Rachel Varga in our last episode. If you haven't yet listened to that one. You have no idea the number of tools you I have to listen to it twice. I'm definitely already re-listening to it because I took one of her ideas from this episode. I have been doing it every day ever since. I'm like, okay, I'm ready to add in a new one from that. So I definitely think it's one you'll go back to. Clare Solly 1:36  Yeah. I took notes, copious notes. Lesley Logan 1:38  I was like, okay, thank God, because Brad would love this. But like, the like I said last week, the timing of you being here so you could be my co-host on this episode, way more fun, way more fun, because you and I have shared so just when you're here, you're like, oh, did you know if you spray this, like antibacterial stuff on your armpits, and then you're deodorant, it lasts longer. And I was like, life has changed. I don't even know how to start that process, but I'm going to. Lesley Logan 2:00  Anyways, we are gonna jump right into things. Today is March 12th, 2026, it's Girl Scouts Day, everyone. Clare Solly 2:07  I love Girl Scout cookie. Lesley Logan 2:09  I told Clare. I was like, do you know it's Girl Scouts Day? She's like, are you serious? I'm like, yeah, it is. So steal your resolve. Dieters, beware. This is obviously like, pre you know, body neutrality. There are Girl Scouts everywhere, and they're all trying to sell you kryptonite, aka their most delicious cookies, whether your favorite flavor is minty Thin Mints or googie, gooey, gooey, Gooey Tagalongs.Clare Solly 2:31  Those are my two favorites, both the googie and the Gooey Tagalongs.Lesley Logan 2:35  I love a Thin Mint. If I could have gluten and dairy, I would be all over these Girl Scouts of America. I'm just saying in the year of our Lord.Clare Solly 2:43  They do make a gluten free cookie, but it's not. Lesley Logan 2:45  Well on the year of our Lord 2026 I think you could find a way to make a gluten free cookie in Vegas, there's a brewery who does Girl Scout Cookies with beers. And they like do a whole thing. It's like, I don't know, Google it Vegas. I don't know where it's at, because I can't drink beer or have these cookies, but I do know that I sent all the men in my life to do it, and they had the best time. They're so good. They deserve a holiday, and they have one of sorts get ready to celebrate this March 12, because it's National Girl Scout day, part of Girl Scout week. National Girl Scout Day commemorates the anniversary of the first girl scout meeting. In 1912, Juliette “Daisy” Gordon Low organized the meeting. That's a that's a name that's a definitely sign of the times. Gordon Low organized the meeting in Savannah, Georgia, and Girl Scouts have only grown from there. So grab a cookie or 12 and get ready to celebrate. Honestly, buy them even if you can't eat them and give them to people.Clare Solly 3:32  You can, yeah, you can actually donate them to soldiers and and folks like on their website too. Yeah, it's easy. And actually you can just donate money to help Girl Scout troops.Lesley Logan 3:41  Because that would allow Girl Scout troops, of all areas, to be able to join in and do what they want to do.Clare Solly 3:46  When I was a daisy through a senior Girl Scout, it really changed out my life. So I'm a Girl Scout supporter.Lesley Logan 3:52  I love that. I, you know, Girl Scouts weren't a thing for me. Because I think I don't know. I might I think, because my I was already over scheduled as a child. Clare Solly 4:00  So many sports. Lesley Logan 4:01  I have sports, dance, sewing classes, but, and I was in like, a church version of the whole thing, which still had patches. And you know what? I'm just gonna say, I missed out. I missed out. I think that's why I probably don't have as many girlfriends. Clare Solly 4:12  We could be a we could be adult Girl Scouts. Lesley Logan 4:14  Is there a way to do that? Anyways, I want patches. Do you remember? Okay, hold on side note. Do you remember Troop Beverly Hills? Clare Solly 4:20  I love Troop Beverly Hills. Such a good movie. Lesley Logan 4:23  The best movie, like, the opposite of, like, oh my god, her outfits. Beverly Hills, what a thrill. Beverly. And they do, and like, I love how they made up their own patches. Like, I just like, that was a, that's a be it till you see it movie. I mean, yes, that's your like, no one's crying for the rich girls. But also, like, I liked what they did. They got outside, they tried to do things, and I hope it ages well, sorry if it doesn't, okay. So real quick I leave next week for Poland, so if there is space is not too late, xxll.co/poland it's me and Karen Frischmann and all the Controlology stuff and some really epic workshops. And even if you're not Polish, you can come because Karen and I will speak in English, and it'll be translated to Polish, and so you have double the time to write your notes, and then we'll be in Bruges. And I thought we're in Brussels. So this is why Brad travels with me, because I've been telling everyone to be in Brussels and we are going to be in Bruges. So.Clare Solly 5:13  It's good to have, everyone needs a Brad.Lesley Logan 5:15  Everyone needs a Brad. And when I told my psychiatrist, the reason I didn't think I had ADHD is because I was an Aquarius. This is a this is evidence.Clare Solly 5:24  I love this for you, though. Lesley Logan 5:25  I know xxll.co/brussels to get your tickets to Bruges. It's still in Belgium, so I didn't fuck it up that much and and so it's gonna be a really fun time. That's Karen Frischmann and myself and Ignacio and Els of Pilatal. And it's just gonna be a wonderful time with some friends who love to teach alongside each other, and you're gonna want to come because the spots are almost sold out. And then after Brad and I finally get to France, that's the goal. It's been a set time with the second honeymoon. We'll be in London, and they'll probably be the last time in London for a couple of years. So, xxll.co/pot. Actually can see all the POT's from Balanced Body on that schedule. The only one I'm excited to teach at right now that I can share is London, so you want to come. My first workshop is sold out, but the second one has a couple spots left, and that's on a Sunday, so why not? And then when I come home, we'll be doing spring training. That is a virtual week long event where, no matter your Pilates level, we are going to help you understand the foundations to getting Pilates deeper in your body. It's at opc.me/events. Okay, Clare's taken over the the questions, and so it's like, what is Clare gonna ask me?Clare Solly 6:27  They're always kind of fun and kind of scary. So today, you're gonna get a multiple choice. Are you ready for that? Lesley Logan 6:32  I'm ready. Clare Solly 6:33  Would you rather be able to teleport so you can go anywhere at any time in an instant? Would you rather have six more hours in the day, and it won't feel like your day's any longer. It's just like you'll have six more hours to get all the stuff done, and everybody else will be on 24 or would you rather have, like, an on call body technician to like massages, do your hair, do your makeup, you know, anything you want that like, is self-care, body stretch you out, anything. What of those three would you rather have?Lesley Logan 7:01  Well, instant, my first gut before I heard the second two would have, I would hit the buzzer, but like, teleport, because that's like the problem. I want to just teleport. I hate the time, like, in between things. But when you got me to the third one, it was the on, like the body technician, like I do. I am jealous that, like, these amazing, famous people have, like, someone who, like, does their hair, does their nails, like, I have to do my makeup, and I hate the lighting in my bathroom where my makeup is I realized I could just switch bathrooms, but, like, no, the annex is the bathroom, so I but I just want someone to do that for me, because I look so good when someone else does it. Like Cynthia Rivo, her team is amazing, right? Like, obviously she has good, like aesthetic and like, lens and style, but like, that's what happens when you have an on call team. So I think I have to do number three.Clare Solly 7:47  Yeah, yeah, that's a good one. I don't know which. Lesley Logan 7:49  Also, if I could be doing, like, if someone's doing my hair, I could be actually getting other things done. So I think I would like solidly fix number 3.Clare Solly 7:56  We know how you like to multitask on this pod. Lesley Logan 7:59  What would you choose? What would you choose? Clare Solly 8:01  I even though I think I would like the on body technician, I think I would take teleport. Because if I could save the time in traveling, I think I would just like, I mean, I like, you can kind of hear it like I've been traveling for two weeks. So I'm like, travel makes me if I don't hydrate enough, I, you know, don't do so well. So I think I would take teleport. What do you think Brad would do? Lesley Logan 8:21  Brad? Brad would teleport in a second? Clare Solly 8:23  Would he? Lesley Logan 8:23  Yeah, in a second. Clare Solly 8:24  Okay. Well, we'll have to see. Maybe he can put it in the show notes and confirm that for everybody listening. Lesley Logan 8:28  Yeah, put it in the show notes, go read the show notes to see if I got it right. We'll put it in there. If you don't know how to find the show notes, I can't help you know what device you're on. But like usually, if you go to the episode, then you can click, there's a link for the show notes. Or if you go to our website, you actually can see every single podcast has a blog and a transcription. So if you want to read what we're saying, because I talk too fast.Clare Solly 8:47  And then you can binge everything too, all the podcasts you missed. Lesley Logan 8:50  Everything is there, still there you know. So however, you like it. Okay. Clare Solly 8:53  Should we talk about Rachel Varga now?Lesley Logan 8:55  Before we do that, you need to also send your questions in, because Clare can't be here every week to be the question asker, so go to beitpod.com/questions you can also send your wins in. I share those on Fridays.Clare Solly 9:07  Oh, fantastic. I love this. I love it. You can also text them right, to 1-310-905-5534.Lesley Logan 9:15  Yeah. Someday I'll remember that number, and then I'll become like, who should we call on emergency? And I'll be like, that's the one I know.Clare Solly 9:22  Why? Is it your own voice?Lesley Logan 9:27  You know what, here's the thing, I'm gonna die when I actually put that number down for Brad, and they're like, I got your customer service team is like, look, I'm calling your customer service. You can call mine.Clare Solly 9:38  Okay, now let's talk about Rachel Varga. Rachel Varga is a double board certified aesthetic nurse specialist who has been practicing since 2011, created skin care products and hosts The School of Radiance Podcast. As a traditionally trained esthetic nurse, she's performed thousands of rejuvenation procedures on patients, including peels, lasers, injectables and assisting with surgery. After years in traditional medical aesthetics, she incorporated biohacking longevity practices and home care routines that make a significant long-term difference. Then you can see it in Lesley already, and it's been short term. Her overall mission is to help people both look and feel their best.Lesley Logan 10:19  Oh my gosh. Okay, so here's the deal. She's been on this podcast for a second time. Probably have to have her back, because there's like, so many tools in my mind, too, but I really was like, peppering her with, like, do I need to, like, derma plane? Do I need to do this kind of thing, like, anything? I was like, What about the Gua Sha? Should I do this X, Y and Z? So I'm going to tell you right now. We can't get into all the things, because she said it best, and she's the expert. Clare Solly 10:40  Yeah, just listen to the podcast and take notes. Lesley Logan 10:42  But I will say, so what I love that she said is, like, self-care, particularly your morning and evening rituals, are an act of self-love. And if you don't know what self-love is, go listen my self-love series, it came out in February. But like, I think that that is a lot of people are like, trying to find the new the right mascara or right foundation color, but truly, like when I got rid of my fake lashes, and I was like a mole rat with, like, no lashes, like alopecia on my eyes. No offense to people with alopecia, but like, it was like, a shocking difference from having zero. And the girl was helping. I said, you have to teach me to do my makeup, because I've had fake lashes for five years, so I've just never done it, and she said, look the best makeup doesn't work on bad skin, so your best thing you could be doing for looking beautiful is to have a really good skincare routine. Now, luckily, I did do that, because I'm a Californian afraid of wrinkles, all that stuff, but like, so I was like, Okay, so I'm halfway there. And so I couldn't agree with her more about like your evening and night routines are part of the of the self-love that you can give yourself, and also, like she gave you in that episode, so many ways of doing things for free or for low cost money. And then she stressed the importance of of engaging the parasympathetic nervous system so your body's rest and regenerate mode. Ladies, like, if you are not sleeping, you're not digesting. If you're not digesting, you're not absorbing stuff. You're getting high cortisol. That is not fun in the perimenopause. So it's not fun. Clare Solly 12:09  Start those practices now.Lesley Logan 12:10  So I you should. And if you're already in it, and you're like us, like if you owe it to yourself to try out something, one thing at a time, trying to do all the things at a time to really help you intentionally drop into your parasympathetic of the nervous system.Clare Solly 12:22  Well, and to piggyback on that, like, do one thing at a time, even though you're like, I mean, I took notes and not like, and I know you did too. And like, all the things, try one thing at a time and give it like, a week or two to see if it's actually working for you. Because if you do five things at once, I mean, yes, we want you to, like, give yourself all the self-care you can. Lesley Logan 12:39  You won't know what's working. Clare Solly 12:40  You don't know what's working.Lesley Logan 12:41  And then you can't drop it off. And then you're gonna freak out like, oh my god, I can't take this on the plane. I can't do this. So I was on a podcast with Jessica Valant, her her podcast, and she was asking about, like, when I travel, how I take care of myself. And I'm like, because when I'm at home, I'm so good about knowing all the different things that work for me. I know what I can do when I travel and what I can't get away with. I'm not experimenting on a trip, you know, so but you have to do one thing at a time. And she said, the more relaxed you are in the parasympathetic state, the more beautiful you are going to be perceived as. And that is so true. I don't ever see someone walking around stressed out, going, look how pretty she is. You're kind of like, oh my god, that woman scares the hell out of me. Like, but we like, see these people who look so calm and confident. It's like, oh, because they're parasympathetic nervous system, it's like, totally taking, like, getting it what it needs. Clare Solly 13:27  Well, and two of the easiest way to help. It's the Wonder Woman pose that, like, was big a couple years ago. You know, the little the little girl next to the bull, put your arms on your and your shoulders back and down, and like, already, like, if you're watching on YouTube, you can see, like Lesley and I just became 10 times more beautiful. Lesley Logan 13:42  Yeah, adjusted ourselves in our chairs. You totally do. Clare Solly 13:45  It posture does so much for you and like and it does actually do something to your heart and makes you, like, radiate, and opens up your chest and your body, and then humming. Like, honestly, if you're nervous about anything, it will also help you regulate. This is I'm a trained singer, so like that. And Brad can probably like recount this too, but just humming to yourself, even if it's quietly, even in the car, if you're traveling to something that you're nervous about, just hum.Lesley Logan 14:09  Also just inhale for five counts and exhale for five counts. So the perfect breath is between 10 and 11 seconds long. And if you just go inhale and count and exhale and count, you can, I can feel myself even just talking about it, like, drop in. There's also a way that you can breathe. You do two inhales, one exhale, yeah, and that's an instant reset as well. Clare Solly 14:30  Yeah, all the breath work, all the breath work. Lesley Logan 14:33  I know. So I mean, like, you might even have tools that you used to do, and we haven't brought them up, and you haven't done them in a while. And I would just say it's worth it to do because, like, like, my, my Sephora girl said, I can teach you all the makeup tips in the world. But if you are tired and stressed out, and your skin is not, you know, shining and glowy like it, it won't be as wonderful. And we're talking about beauty like, beauty is skin deep. I think it's really, truly, like how you take care of of the skin that you're in, then whatever you apply to that is gonna be better. Doesn't have any makeup. It could actually just be, maybe don't wear any makeup. But like, just taking care of yourself is gonna be a really nice, wonderful thing.Clare Solly 15:11  And also just like, again, gut check when you're like, when something feels like it's too much for you, or, like, too long of I mean, take care of yourself in any way you can. But if it's too long of a commitment or too difficult for you to resource the things, like, don't like, it's not, it's not going to help you.Lesley Logan 15:26  No and real quick, I'll just say one of the things that I have been doing from this talk, because everyone talks about Epsom salt baths, and like, because, like, you know, I'm perimenopausal and like, inflammation, all these things and like, my joints were bothering me, and everyone's like, Epsom salt bath. Are you kidding me? My bath is set up as a cold plunge. I can't have a cold plunge Epsom salt bath. So I was just like, and I'm not a bath person. Like, the cold plunge is easy, because I can drop in, I wake right up, right? But like, a bath, it's kind of like that, like you just said, it takes more time than I want to give it. And so, like, the like, it just doesn't feel like doable, right? Who's going to take a five minute hot bath? First of all, it takes 15 minutes to load the tub up, right? And I'm in Vegas, and they check our water. So at any rate, she said, you don't even need to do an Epson salt bath. She said, get some oil, avocado, or, like, I think human sesame, but, like, single source oil, put it on your body in the shower. So I get a hot shower on me. I put the oil on, and then I just take a bag of Epsom salt bath. I put my wet hand in it. It's covered in Epsom salt, and I just scrub. And she was very clear on the episode. We're not. Clare Solly 16:26  I was gonna ask you about that. So as you said you were doing it. Lesley Logan 16:28  I do it. I don't do it every single night, just because it is a drier climate here, but I do it like at least every other night. But if I'm having, if I had a more stressful day, I'll just do it anyways, even if I did the night before. So arms, legs, and I, first of all, I don't even need to put lotion on afterwards. Your skin is so soft. It's like, we went to the Korean spa and, like, they took off the skin so so soft. And I sleep like a baby. You get all the benefits of the Epsom salt bath without having to take the bath. And then it all just washes down the drain. So real quick, we have a bag of Epsom salt on subscription. So it comes, it's a wonderfully sourced Epsom salt, and then we took those, like, restaurant like, like, mustard squeeze bottle, and we just poured a bunch of oil in it. It's in the shower, and it's just, like, easy, easy. And you walk out so clean, and I have a bath to clean afterwards.Clare Solly 17:15  And what I really loved was her skeptical on a lot of these, like, I loved that you were, like, asking about all these tools. And she was like, well, and she, like, she had opinions on all of them. You like, you could hear it. But she was also like, yeah. And I, like, I loved that she, like, gave you different things to do, like, you asked her about face yoga, and should you do it? And she was like, No, do the lymph node things. And like, automatically I was starting to do that. And like, and, you know, press things. And it felt so much better. Like, and I like that she also, like, gave you things like, you know, was the was the lady who did the thing on the one side of her face, like, didn't actually work. She's like, well, it could be that because, because she sleeps on that side, and because she, like, she dries and gets sun on that side, things you don't think about. Lesley Logan 17:57  I know she's like, she had a healthy skepticism that made me go, oh, okay, she's like, I'm watching it, and I know that there's like, fake stuff out there. But also, like, I don't know, like, my girlfriend does this, like, brushing to her face, and it her face looks so good so, you know, like, but it's that lymphatic drainage stuff, I don't know, like, so. Clare Solly 18:16  Oh and lymphatic drainage is something like, I'm convinced that's actually why I have this little bit of a head cold right now because I had like, a massage with, like, massive lymphatic (inaudible).Lesley Logan 18:23  If Rachel is listening to this, she's gonna send us a link of, like, what you should be doing. Clare Solly 18:26  Oh, please, please Rachel, please send it. Please, please, like I would listen to you and like I'm following you and I'm doing all the things. But I loved that, like that just working out, like things that you do and adding to your normal routine. I think you mentioned, like, can I do the massage while I'm putting on my facial lotion? And she was like, yes, absolutely.Lesley Logan 18:45  Is that great? Because you're already doing it. You're already doing your skincare. And you can, just like, make sure your hands are nice and moisturized, and you can do the things. I'm like, if you're watching this, I'm like, doing the things. And, like, it really does make a massive difference.Clare Solly 18:57  Yeah, it does. It does well and make sure your hands are clean and moisturized, not and just like, you've had French fries and you're like, oh, there's some (inaudible).Lesley Logan 19:05  Like, let's not, let's not make it, let's not it's like they no good deed goes unpunished. Like, don't fuck up. We don't, like, clean your hands. I think people need to wash their hands more. But anyways, I couldn't agree more. And I just thought, like, I just keep going back to, like, self-care is, like, such a self act of love. And like, I mean, we always think, oh, I should go get a facial. Oh, I should go get a massage. And think you could be doing like, little massages to yourself. Clare Solly 19:28  Yeah, yeah. I mean, again, not after French fries, but like at the stoplight, while you're driving in your car. You could do something like quick, like knuckle Gua Sha on yourself, press those lymph nodes in your in your clavicle, and release things. Lesley Logan 19:39  Oh, yeah. I love this one girl online, she like, shows you, like, okay, clear your things. And I'm like, whenever I see her, I'm like, let's just clear them. Like, what are we doing here? And I feel like mine are so tight, no wonder, like, my eyes are always so puffy.Clare Solly 19:48  Oh yeah, yeah. So so many good tips that she had. And I love that you were like, I felt like you were asking the hard questions. And then one thing that I'm fascinated with is the energy in your fingertips. Like, I want to read more about that. I'm like, my fingers are magic. Lesley Logan 20:03  I know the visualization of me is like, oh, does that mean like, I have, like, little like, I want that. What a super power. Like, then you can just, like, someone who annoys you just walk by and, like, shock them. Clare Solly 20:22  So good, so good. Lesley Logan 20:23  Yeah. But, you know, I really so one of the things, like, she's so educated, and obviously the way you can do Botox and things like that, like, she's not any anti any of that stuff, but I really appreciate her honesty. Like, you could also try these things first, if you're, like, not interested in the injectables and but then also, don't just go buy anything that says it's, like, better than Botox. Like, yeah, you know, it's just, I just appreciate like, she's like, you can spend good money in good places, and you could waste it, or you could use your own hands. Clare Solly 20:48  Yeah, well, and, like, I mean, you and I talked about Gua Sha, I think, like, a year ago, and you were like, you have to do this. And I started doing it, and I was good for like, two months, and then I'm like, oh, and I travel, and I forget to take my Gua Sha or, Oh, I'm, you know, you know, off doing whatever and forget to Gua Sha, but my fingers are always attached, and I can't use that as an excuse. Lesley Logan 21:08  I agree, and like, I still like my Gua Sha, but also, it's not always where I am, you know, like it's or it's I found, like I almost want a Gua Sha in the shower, because I'm in the shower already, you know, like I'm already there, but then, like, I have dropped a Gua Sha, don't do that. Then it cracks, and you don't want to scratch your face, so, like, it's so I kind of like that, if I forgot my Gua Sha, if I can't travel with it, if I'm asleep, I could still do it, you know, like, because I think a lot of us look for an excuse of why we can't do something. You have, you know, you have your hands. If you have hands, and if you don't have hands, then teach someone to Gua Sha you.Clare Solly 21:43  Oh, and you said the thing, sorry, I'm circling back to the thing that you said about the like the cold well, she said something about the cold plunge, like you should rinse off at the end of you can stand it. And I am a person that likes the water so hot that it burns my skin when I'm in the shower. Lesley Logan 21:55  I agree with you, because I think that's effective. Clare Solly 21:57  I love a hot, hot shower. I love a hot shower. And I know she was saying she, you know, prefers a shower in the morning. I'm a night person because I like to, like, calm down and cool down and, like, it makes me sleep better. But here's a tip for somebody like me that is, like, afraid of the cold water. I turned down my hot just a little bit so I have, like, room temperature water, and I'll do that for a couple of showers, and then slowly, like, turn down the heat a little bit more, a little bit more. Lesley Logan 22:22  Yeah, I so there's a lot of studies on, like, women's temperature for cold plunge. And so I, you know, like, our cold plunge is set 50. I mean, like, I'm sure men will say that Brad should have it colder, like, he doesn't like cold, like, it's not good for his constitution. So 50, 50, is fucking cold. I'll just say that. And I we use it in the morning as a such a great way to, like, wake up. Like it is, like, better than coffee, like it's you do. You can, like, be hung over and get in that fucking thing, and you are not hung over anymore. You're like, okay, it's not going over my head, it's not going my face, but, like, I get up to my neck and shoulders. I do it for a few minutes. It's enough. I like the routine of it. I like the way I'm starting the day. Like, hello. Like, let's go. But we used to do cold showers. And I will just say, those suck. Those are so miserable. But obviously, like, not everyone can have a cold plunge. So I think that you have to figure out what works for you. And I will say, like, the act of doing something that's uncomfortable does allow me to be in more discomfort on most days, not on my worst days, but like on my best days. Discomfort happens things. And I because, like, kind of trained my mind, like I can handle this only a few minutes, like, not a big deal. It does translate. So I think even if you're not doing it for like, the aesthetics of it or the biohacking of it, like, there's reasons to do it. But I also, like to me, the shower needs to burn my skin. I want to be a red I want to be a lobster. I tell Brad, I'm like, it's killing the germs. He's like, That's not it. I'm like, it's gotta be doing something there's never too hot of a hot shower for me. I am, like, just so.Clare Solly 23:52  I'm a lizard. I just want the hot. Lesley Logan 23:54  Yeah, what he used to do is, like, get in the shower at like, the middle, and then, you know, get himself wet at that, like, more like, room temperature water, and then, like, dip it down to a cold that he could tolerate, and then he would do it. That is too long of a commitment, but, hey, you know, but that that's how we're different. Clare Solly 24:13  That's how we're different, yeah, and it's good to talk about these things and things that, like, work for you and don't work for you, and try things.Lesley Logan 24:18  I think it's so funny because the internet's like, you must do this. It's the best thing for, like, the belly fat or the cortisol or the menopause or whatever. If you don't like it, don't do it. Like, oh my god, you know, like, there's so many tools out there, and they might have worked for someone. They don't have to work for you. And then also, like, Whatever happened to like, if it doesn't work for you, it's okay for it to work for someone else. Don't you? I just feel like, you know, we don't have to be the same.Clare Solly 24:43  Yeah, well, and your body changes too. Like Rachel was saying, like, some of the things that you'll do, and that she suggests, your body will actually change while you're doing it. And so maybe the thing that you're you start doing today isn't going to work for you in a year. And so, you know, just, you know. Find a new thing. Lesley Logan 25:00  I know I had to change my skincare line after 40 I found a really great one that I love, but, like, the stuff I was doing before, just like, stopped being great. That's okay. It's not there's nothing wrong with the line. It just wasn't right for me. And like, oh my god, you know. So if you love your Gua Sha, keep doing it. But if you if you hate your cold plunge, don't. Find something else that like challenges your body a different way? Clare Solly 25:22  Yeah, absolutely. Let's talk about the Be It Action Items. What bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted action items can we take away from your convo? I know I took away two crucial foundational elements for overall health and skin, drink 1.2 to 2.5 liters of water daily. One of my hacks for this, I actually, when I'm setting up my coffee at night, I put a cup of water by the coffee machine so I don't even have to fill it up. It's ready when I wake up, and I like, I'm just like, I dummy proof it like I drink my cup of water while I'm waiting for the coffee to brew. And then I'm gonna start doing this. I'm gonna put a pinch of salt in it. I actually put magnesium drops in mine, because I drink them all day long, because, like, your bottled waters, like Perrier and those mineral waters that are European have magnesium in them. So I get my magnesium that way too, although they say magnesium is best absorbed through the skin. So I could just be doing it for fun. Lesley Logan 26:19  That's why the Epsom salt thing is so good. Clare Solly 26:21  Yeah, I'm gonna try that. Lesley Logan 26:22  I'm telling you tonight, since you have one more night here, yes, put it in your bathroom. You're doing it. We're gonna do all the magnesium, and then make sure that water is filtered, whether you're putting it on your body or in your body.Lesley Logan 26:33  Yeah, guys, find a shower filter. Oh, my god. Like, even if you're renting, like, you gotta do it, yeah? Because, like, there's so much crap in that water, or they've taken everything out of it, so there's nothing good in it, like you got, if you can't change the filtered water in your house, we could, but because we, but, like, that's, it's an investment we're not making right now. So we have a shower head filter, and we've had it for a year. Whole my hair is different, my skin is different, everything's different. Clare Solly 26:59  Yeah, I just got one. I rent my apartment, and I just bought one. Pro tip, though, make sure you can actually find filters for your shower head and for if you I have one on my sink, too, make sure you find filters that like they're out there and they're not hard to find, and they're not expensive, or the way you can afford them.Lesley Logan 27:14  Ours is like, ours was a gift because we asked for it at Christmas, and I actually do wonder if, like it even as a filtered change, or if we just buy it a whole new thing, if we can find a filter for it, I'm gonna move it to the guest bathroom, because, yeah, I got you guys to listen to the HigherDOSE. I was like, oh, we're due for a new filter. And then HigherDOSE is like, hey, we have a red light filtered water head.Clare Solly 27:35  Ooh, okay, maybe I need to try that one while I'm here too. Lesley Logan 27:39  Okay, I'm we're recording it, and it's supposed to ship tomorrow. So I don't have it, I can tell you right now, like, the number of red lights that I live under. Like, I can't even wait to shower, light off. Red in the bathroom, red light on.Clare Solly 27:51  Amazing, amazing, amazing.Lesley Logan 27:55  Rachel's probably like, girl, I don't know. I fell for all of it. I'm in.Clare Solly 28:00  You know what? Sometimes, sometimes things that we think make us beautiful actually do make us beautiful because we like them. Lesley Logan 28:06  Yeah, beitpod.com/higherdose okay, use that link. It's our affiliate, so that helps you support this podcast. And then Balanced Dose, Balanced with so, like, like, two Ds in the middle, we'll get you 20% on anything you want there. But I'm, like, big on the show. I'm so excited about it.Clare Solly 28:22  Amazing. So Lesley, what were your biggest takeaways?Lesley Logan 28:25  Okay, so she said, we just have to, like, hear this, look at your beautification routine as self-love, because you're worth it. You are worth it, right? And so we've said it already, but I think, I think some of the best, Be It Action Items are the ones we repeat. Because, like, I just think so many people see it as, like, something they have to buy into. And it's like, it is part of it. We did this with the fascia blaster lady. She's like, massaging your body is like time spent with your body. It's an act of self-love and like, so that you guys, we don't realize when things change in our body, because we're just so used to kind of like living with it. We're kind of like a frog like, although I have heard that the frog in boiling water is, is a myth but everyone says it, so it makes sense, so we'll use it, but it is a totally, apparently, a myth. So we don't realize, like, that ache we had yesterday, and we're like, oh, it's still there. And then we kind of, like, we kind of start to live with it. So I just really believe, the more time you spend with yourself, like you will recognize when things are changing and some of those things are changing, or your moles, like, I have pre skin cancer, and I didn't know you could be I thought we were all pre, weren't you? Apparently there's another level. It's an in between. But it's because I was like, hey, this mole is acting differently. Can you check it out? You know? And so, like, if you're not spending time with yourself and your body, you don't notice these changes that are happening, so. Clare Solly 29:38  Yeah, and it's really worth it. I mean, you taught me years ago to put on my calendar the things that were worth it for me to do for myself. So like, even if you have to block off your like, mentally block off your calendar for 15 more minutes to, like, go take that extra time in the shower, to do your Gua Sha, to do your Epsom salt. Like, do it like, you are worth the extra five minutes, 15 minutes out. You're worth it.Lesley Logan 30:00  You really are. I mean, I think, I think a lot of us are spending way too much time on things that actually don't care for us, make us feel good. And so I just think that, like, notice if you actually made the time for your skincare, notice what you don't have time for. And I promise you, you're letting go of the things you didn't need to be doing. Clare Solly 30:16  I'm sure we could all stop scrolling for 15 minutes. Lesley Logan 30:18  Well, here's the thing. Like, if I was to say, hey, you know, like, Clare, you're like, Oh, I'm flying down. Oh, you're flying tomorrow, right? Yeah. Oh, my God, Clare, I just want a shopping spree. You know, at our favorite store that you're, you know, it's at two o'clock, you move your fucking flight. I would move it. You would move it. You would just do that. Like, so we make time for things we want to do. And if you say you really want to take care of yourself, you will make time for it. If you just so she also reminded us, we have one body, so we have to care for it. We have to make good decisions for it. And like, I was telling you the other day, I don't always feel motivated to work out, but I I want to when I'm 80, I'm gonna be glad I did. So that's why I do it. Like, that's literally, like, the days I want to do I'm like, I have this one body, and when I'm 80, I'm gonna be glad I did it. So she also wanted to remind you she has a free 30 minute biohacking video. It's for the skin video. So I think you should go do that. Why not? You can find it at theschoolofradiance.com so I would go do that. Clare Solly 31:11  I'm gonna go click on it after this, I'm gonna go watch it. Lesley Logan 31:14  Also, her skin is fucking stunning. I thought I had good skin. She is great, great skin. Clare Solly 31:20  I also wanted to train me how to do that like, three way braid like that was awesome.Lesley Logan 31:23  I I know that's my next thing is to learn how to braid my hair. But at any rate, maybe that's funny. If you have someone who teaches people how to braid hair as that you follow or you love, like that, I need that person on the pod. I want them to teach me on the pod like that is, oh yeah, like, that's why i It's the year of learning how to deal with my hair so.Clare Solly 31:42  Because you tried them, then I could come try your red lights. Lesley Logan 31:45  I'm at the point where I would chop it off, but it does look beautiful when it's done. So you know, I feel really good about my mascara. Feel really good about my brows. I feel really good about the skincare. I just need someone to fucking do my hair. So she's brilliant. So go check that out, schoolofradiance.com you guys, I'm Lesley Logan. Clare Solly 32:00  And I'm Clare Solly. Lesley Logan 32:01  And tell us what you what of these things you're trying, what? Try one at a time if you hate it, right? Move on. The next thing we want to know, and also Rachel's gonna want to know, so make sure you let her know and send us a friend who is buying all the things off of Instagram that they think will work, so that they can, you know, maybe hear some tricks that are better and that you'll have a fun more conversation, I think, than one on. Hey, did you try this 17th thing that you have to buy and then it doesn't work? Send it to anybody who needs to hear it and until next time, Be It Till You See It. Clare Solly 32:30  Bye. Lesley Logan 32:32  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.Brad Crowell 33:14  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.Lesley Logan 33:19  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.Brad Crowell 33:23  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.Lesley Logan 33:30  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.Brad Crowell 33:34  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Transcribed by https://otter.aiSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Polish prosecutors have opened a formal investigation into potential links between Jeffrey Epstein's trafficking network and activities connected to Poland after newly released U.S. documents suggested the possibility that victims may have been recruited there. Authorities from the National Prosecutor's Office said the probe will examine suspected human trafficking that may have occurred between 2009 and 2019 involving women and girls who were allegedly recruited under false pretenses and then transported abroad for sexual exploitation. Investigators are focusing on whether Polish citizens, including minors, were targeted as part of a broader international trafficking scheme tied to Epstein and his associates. The inquiry is being handled by a specialized investigative team established specifically to examine the Polish threads emerging from the newly disclosed Epstein records.The investigation could expand beyond trafficking allegations to examine the activities of an organized criminal group operating internationally and any crimes connected to Poland, whether committed within the country or involving Polish citizens abroad. Prosecutors said the probe was triggered after reviewing the large trove of Epstein-related documents released in the United States, which raised credible suspicions that trafficking may have involved recruitment efforts in Poland. As part of the investigation, Polish authorities plan to seek evidence and cooperation from other European countries while also encouraging potential victims to come forward. Officials have emphasized that the goal is to determine the full scope of any Polish connections to Epstein's network and to pursue criminal accountability wherever Polish jurisdiction applies.to contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.comsource:Poland launches investigation into Epstein filesBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-epstein-chronicles--5003294/support.

With five more national finals, we've made it to the end of the super Saturdays until 2027, but not without first covering Romania's Selecția Națională, the San Marino Song Contest, Poland's Krajowych Kwalifikacji, Sweden's Melodifestivalen, and Portugal's Festival da Canção. And our beloved Oscar is across the pond this week, so we're instead joined by our Eurovision-obsessed neighbor to the north, Worldvishawn, to talk about what we liked and what we didn't. Jeremy doesn't think one song is all that Bellissima, Shawn finds Portugal to be just a little too chill, and Dimitry revels in the madness that is San Marino. Watch Romania's Selecția Națională on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/live/EX_FcyzRDFw Watch our San Marino Song Contest playlist on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7l0Co_QRmM&list=PLd2EbKTi9fyWy6_wKl4jSFHqX8EGGDjyf&pp=sAgC Watch the performances from Poland's Krajowych Kwalifikacji on TVP's website here: https://vod.tvp.pl/programy,88/eurowizja-odcinki,276170/odcinek-9,S09E09,2793303 Watch Sweden's Melodifestivalen on SVT's website here: https://www.svtplay.se/video/K5dYakN/melodifestivalen/final?video=visa Watch Portugal's Festival da Canção on RTP's website here: https://www.rtp.pt/play/p16368/festival-da-cancao-2026 This week's companion playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2SLqpKzcsU7ZuDi3HF9tM6 The Eurovangelists are Jeremy Bent, Oscar Montoya and Dimitry Pompée.The theme was arranged and recorded by Cody McCorry and Faye Fadem, and the logo was designed by Tom Deja.Production support for this show was provided by the Maximum Fun network.The show is edited by Jeremy Bent with audio mixing help was courtesy of Shane O'Connell.Find Eurovangelists on social media as @eurovangelists on Instagram and @eurovangelists.com on Bluesky, or send us an email at eurovangelists@gmail.com. Head to https://maxfunstore.com/collections/eurovangelists for Eurovangelists merch. Also follow the Eurovangelists account on Spotify and check out our playlists of Eurovision hits, competitors in upcoming national finals, and companion playlists to every single episode, including this one!

On this episode of The Bandwich Tapes, I sit down with pianist, composer, improviser, label founder, and educator Kris Davis—one of the most forward-thinking voices in creative music today. Our conversation left me feeling genuinely energized. Kris approaches music with a rare combination of curiosity, discipline, and fearless experimentation, and it was a joy to dig into how all of that shows up in her work.We start with what's immediately ahead for her: a trip to Hamburg to premiere a newly expanded big band version of a trio piece with the NDR Big Band. Kris shares the very real “composer panic” that comes with catching an engraving mistake right before rehearsal—one of those behind-the-scenes realities of composing that every musician can relate to.From there, we talk about festivals—especially Big Ears, which feels like its own musical universe—and dive into two major pillars of her work: prepared piano and large-form composition. Kris reflects on studying with pianist Benoît Delbecq, whose approach to prepared piano emphasized rhythm, individuality, and finding a personal sonic vocabulary.One of the highlights of our conversation is a deep look at her remarkable Solastalgia Suite, written for the Lutosławski Quartet after a commission through Poland's Jazz to Pad Festival. Kris talks about learning how to write for strings in real time and how the concept of **solastalgia—the grief you feel for your home while you're still living in it—**became the emotional core of the piece.We also zoom out into the bigger picture of her work: her leadership role alongside Terri Lyne Carrington at Berklee's Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice, and her decade-long journey building Pyroclastic Records, a label dedicated to supporting adventurous music and the artists creating it. At its heart, this conversation is about craft, community, curiosity, and the importance of taking creative risks on purpose.Key TakeawaysThe behind-the-scenes realities of composing for large ensembles—including last-minute engraving panic before a premiere.Why festivals like Big Ears create a unique ecosystem for creative music.How studying with Benoît Delbecq shaped Kris Davis's approach to prepared piano.The creative challenge of writing for string quartet for the first time.The emotional meaning of solastalgia and how it shaped the Solastalgia Suite.Kris's work at Berklee's Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice alongside Terri Lyne Carrington.How Pyroclastic Records has grown into an important platform for adventurous and forward-thinking music.Music from the EpisodeDiatom Ribbons — Kris DavisInterlude (from the Solastalgia Suite) — Kris DavisLife on Venus (from the Solastalgia Suite) — Kris DavisRun the Gauntlet — Kris DavisAbout the PodcastThe Bandwich Tapes is a long-form conversation podcast where host Brad Williams sits down with some of the most thoughtful musicians, composers, and artists working today. The show explores the stories behind the music—creative process, collaboration, career paths, and the human experiences that shape the sounds we love.Connect with the ShowEmail: contact@thebandwichtapes.com

Professor Przemysław Żurawski vel Grajewski - Polish political scientist, an academic, and an associate professor at the University of Lodz. Furthermore, he is an associate of the European Institute in Łódź, the Center for Political Thought, and a lecturer at the Natolin European Center and the National School of Public Administration. In 2015, Mr. Żurawski vel Grajewski became a member of the National Development Council, appointed by President Andrzej Duda. His main areas of research include international relations and geopolitics. This lecture is part of the 18th Annual Symposium of the Kosciuszko Chair of Polish Studies. The Kościuszko Chair serves as a center for Polish Studies in the broadest sense, including learning, teaching, researching, and writing about Poland's culture, history, heritage, religion, government, economy, and successes in the arts, sciences, and letters, with special emphasis on the achievements of Polish civilization and its relation to other nations, particularly the United States. This year, the 17th annual Kościuszko Chair Conference focuses on the topic of threats and opportunities in the Intermarium. **Learn more about IWP graduate programs: https://www.iwp.edu/academics/graduate-degree-programs/ ***Make a gift to the IWP Kosciuszko Chair of Polish Studies: https://wl.donorperfect.net/weblink/WebLink.aspx?name=E231090&id=4

Csaba B. Horváth, PhD earned his PhD in International Relations at Corvinus University of Budapest after completing degrees in History and Political Science at Eötvös Loránd University. He is a member of the General Assembly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. His research focuses on geopolitics, with a particular emphasis on the Indo-Pacific as well as on Central and Eastern Europe. He has held visiting research fellowships at several universities in Australia, China and Taiwan, and earlier in his youth, spent two years living in Japan, where he acquired conversational proficiency in Japanese. He is also a regular participant in international conferences and held public talks across the Indo-Pacific, including in Australia, China, India, Korea, Malaysia and Singapore. The talk explores the idea that East-Central Europe is currently experiencing a rare strategic “window of opportunity” not seen since the 18th century. For centuries, the region functioned largely as a buffer zone dominated by external imperial powers. Today, the effective disappearance and disintegration of traditional continental empires has created a structural power vacuum in the region, which, combined with shifting global power balances and growing strategic interest from the United States, is generating unprecedented conditions for East-Central Europe to emerge as a more autonomous geopolitical actor. The presentation examines the risks, constraints, and potential pathways for such a transformation. This lecture is part of the 18th Annual Symposium of the Kosciuszko Chair of Polish Studies. The Kościuszko Chair serves as a center for Polish Studies in the broadest sense, including learning, teaching, researching, and writing about Poland's culture, history, heritage, religion, government, economy, and successes in the arts, sciences, and letters, with special emphasis on the achievements of Polish civilization and its relation to other nations, particularly the United States. This year, the 17th annual Kościuszko Chair Conference focuses on the topic of threats and opportunities in the Intermarium. **Learn more about IWP graduate programs: https://www.iwp.edu/academics/graduate-degree-programs/ ***Make a gift to the IWP Kosciuszko Chair of Polish Studies: https://wl.donorperfect.net/weblink/WebLink.aspx?name=E231090&id=4

Dr. Sebastian Bojemski graduated from the Institute of History of Warsaw University and gained his doctoral degree at The Cardinal Wyszyński University in Warsaw. At the Institute of World Politics (Washington, DC) he attended individual courses in geography and strategy, geoeconomy, strategic influence and propaganda. He was awarded scholarships by the Kosciuszko Foundation (USA) and the M. Grabowski Fund (UK). Mr Bojemski also has extensive experience in strategic communication, marketing, sales and management. For over 15 years (2003-2018) he had owned a Warsaw-based consulting firm. Between 2018-2024 he was an executive director for marketing at PKN Orlen – the largest oil company in Central Europe, a vice chairman at Lotos Fuels, the second largest oil company in Poland and a vice chairman at PERN, the largest fuel and logistics company in the region and critical infrastructure operator. He is currently affiliated with the University College of Professional Education as a member of the Center for Research on Disinformation and Cybersecurity and a senior fellow at the Eastern Flank Institute, a Brussels-based think tank. The start of the Russian invasion in 2014 changed the security architecture in Central and Eastern Europe. These changes deepened in 2021 after Belarus launched a border operation targeting Poland. Another milestone in this process was Russia's full-scale aggression against Ukraine. The level of security on Poland's eastern border has significantly decreased. In this situation, it is necessary to make changes in the area of national security. This includes the development of the armed forces, the assignment of new strategy to the secret services, and the strengthening of critical infrastructure protection. This lecture is part of the 18th Annual Symposium of the Kosciuszko Chair of Polish Studies. The Kościuszko Chair serves as a center for Polish Studies in the broadest sense, including learning, teaching, researching, and writing about Poland's culture, history, heritage, religion, government, economy, and successes in the arts, sciences, and letters, with special emphasis on the achievements of Polish civilization and its relation to other nations, particularly the United States. This year, the 17th annual Kościuszko Chair Conference focuses on the topic of threats and opportunities in the Intermarium. **Learn more about IWP graduate programs: https://www.iwp.edu/academics/graduate-degree-programs/ ***Make a gift to the IWP Kosciuszko Chair of Polish Studies: https://wl.donorperfect.net/weblink/WebLink.aspx?name=E231090&id=4

George Byczynski is a defense and security expert specializing in Central and Eastern Europe. He is an Adviser to the UK's All-Party Parliamentary Group on Poland and a Chief Operating Officer of Anders de Wiart Associates. A former Adviser to the All-Party Parliamentary Groups on Lithuania and Ukraine and a founder of the British Poles Media Group. He holds an LLM in International Law from the University of Westminster and a BSc in International Politics from Brunel University. He is a member of the New Security Leaders of the Warsaw Security Forum and co-author of the reports Three Seas Initiative and the Opportunities for Global Britain and Financing the Future – How to Attract More Foreign Investors to the Three Seas Region. He was awarded the Commission of National Education Honours (KEN) by the Polish Minister of Education and the “Ambassador of Polish History” state award by the Institute of National Remembrance. Byczynski volunteers for the Royal British Legion and the RAF Museum Charity and serves as an Ace Ambassador of the National Spitfire Project. This lecture examines the critical contributions of the British Polish community and the United Kingdom government to Poland's Solidarity movement during the 1980s. It analyzes the significance of the Polish Solidarity Campaign, Solidarity Working Group and the strategic advocacy by Polish émigrés in briefing British parliamentarians, the imposition of economic and diplomatic sanctions on Poland's communist regime following the introduction of martial law in December 1981, the public demonstrations that galvanized support for the Polish cause and the multifaceted approach of British trade unions towards Polish anti-communist movements. The lecture elucidates how these concerted efforts bolstered Poland's struggle for liberty and shaped the broader narrative of international solidarity against the communist oppression. This lecture is part of the 18th Annual Symposium of the Kosciuszko Chair of Polish Studies. The Kościuszko Chair serves as a center for Polish Studies in the broadest sense, including learning, teaching, researching, and writing about Poland's culture, history, heritage, religion, government, economy, and successes in the arts, sciences, and letters, with special emphasis on the achievements of Polish civilization and its relation to other nations, particularly the United States. This year, the 17th annual Kościuszko Chair Conference focuses on the topic of threats and opportunities in the Intermarium. **Learn more about IWP graduate programs: https://www.iwp.edu/academics/graduate-degree-programs/ ***Make a gift to the IWP Kosciuszko Chair of Polish Studies: https://wl.donorperfect.net/weblink/WebLink.aspx?name=E231090&id=4

Full Text of Readings Thursday of the Third Week of Lent Lectionary: 240 The Saint of the day is Blessed Angela Salawa Blessed Angela Salawa's Story Angela served Christ and Christ's little ones with all her strength. Born in Siepraw, near Kraków, Poland, Blessed Angela Salawa was the 11th child of Bartlomiej and Ewa Salawa. In 1897, she moved to Kraków where her older sister Therese lived. Angela immediately began to gather together and instruct young women domestic workers. During World War I, she helped prisoners of war without regard for their nationality or religion. The writings of Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross were a great comfort to her. Angela gave great service in caring for soldiers wounded in World War I. After 1918, her health did not permit her to exercise her customary apostolate. Addressing herself to Christ, she wrote in her diary, “I want you to be adored as much as you were destroyed.” In another place, she wrote, “Lord, I live by your will. I shall die when you desire; save me because you can.” At her 1991 beatification in Kraków, Pope John Paul II said: “It is in this city that she worked, that she suffered and that her holiness came to maturity. While connected to the spirituality of Saint Francis, she showed an extraordinary responsiveness to the action of the Holy Spirit” (L'Osservatore Romano, volume 34, number 4, 1991). Reflection Humility should never be mistaken for lack of conviction, insight or energy. Angela brought the Good News and material assistance to some of Christ's “least ones.” Her self-sacrifice inspired others to do the same.Saint of the Day, Copyright Franciscan Media

With word of an urgent lead, Josh jets to Poland to join in the opening of a secret Nazi tunnel system dug into a dormant volcano. Josh helps a local team tear away a stone wall built by the Germans in the last days of World War 2. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A great story is truly timeless. However, since “A Question of Price” is pretty mid at best, we're giving it a little less than 90 minutes. In our newest side quest, we're returning to the world of Witcher comics to discuss Dark Horse's adaptation of the Andrzej Sapkowski short story, determining if this recent graphic novel has anything new to offer besides some pretty art. (In fairness, it's VERY pretty art.) Does the story that introduced The Witcher's Law of Surprise still hold some surprises of its own? Does the return of “Headband Geralt” hit differently after Crossroads of Ravens? And does Calanthe bring that milf energy and thirst for Geralt that she has in other versions of this story? Sharpen your swords and don your doublets, we're returning to Cintra!

In Episode 34 DDSWTNP sit down for a revelatory talk with Tom LeClair, a founding critic in the study of DeLillo, his longtime friend and liaison to the literary world, and a figure who has both written fiction shaped by DeLillo's and (he suggests) seen his own stories turned into scenes and dialogue by DeLillo himself. We get into LeClair's relationship with DeLillo going back more than forty years, starting from the time the author sent him a copy of Ratner's Star and proceeding to a 1979 interview in Athens that illuminated a then rather reclusive and secretive writer, including the story behind a card DeLillo handed out in those years reading “I don't want to talk about it.” We also ask LeClair questions about his many readings of DeLillo's and others' works over the years, starting from his major books In the Loop: Don DeLillo and the Systems Novel (1987) and The Art of Excess: Mastery in Contemporary American Fiction (1989), studies that initiated LeClair's career-long examination of encyclopedic works that form categories of “systext,” “monsterpiece,” and others he has defined in his many major magazine and newspaper reviews and in his current substack. What does LeClair make of the many mentions of “systems” in Underworld? What does a line from Point Omega suggest to him about the possibility someday of a DeLillo biography? What does LeClair mean when he calls DeLillo a thoroughly “intuitive” writer and an artist obsessed his whole life with embodiment, birth, death, and fear? Is “mystery” the right word for what drives DeLillo's narrative seeking, and is Catholicism a useful lens? What to make of the ending of Zero K? Why did DeLillo want to visit Beirut with LeClair? And what do these two talk about when they have lunch together? The interview also gets into depth on the many comparisons LeClair sees with his own fiction, its set of Kierkegaardian maneuvers through the Greece-based world of basketball player Michael Keever, the hero of Passing Off (1996) who begins for LeClair a series of examinations of games, terrorism, and some familiar DeLillo territory that extends through the four other Passing novels that LeClair has published in the thirty years since.    Cover photograph by Kinga Owczennikow. A native of Poland, Kinga Owczennikow is currently based in New York City. She holds a BA (Hons) in Photography from the University for the Creative Arts in the UK. Kinga is an Associate of the Royal Photographic Society, a member of the Center for Photographic Art in Carmel and an exhibiting member of the Soho Photo Gallery in New York City. Kinga had a solo exhibition “The secret paths of Hong Kong” at the Asia and Pacific Museum in Warsaw, in 2011. Her photographic work has also been exhibited internationally in group shows. Her first photobook "Framing the World" was published by Ephemere in Tokyo, in 2025.   Texts by Tom LeClair and others discussed in this episode:   “Don DeLillo: The Word, The Image, The Gun.” BBC, 1991. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4029096/   Amy Hungerford, “Don DeLillo's Latin Mass.” Contemporary Literature 47.3 (Autumn 2006): 343-380.   Tom LeClair and Larry McCaffery, eds. Anything Can Happen: Interviews with Contemporary American Novelists. U. of Illinois P., 1983.   Tom LeClair. In the Loop: Don DeLillo and the Systems Novel. U. of Illinois P., 1987.   ---. The Art of Excess: Mastery in Contemporary American Fiction.U. of Illinois P., 1989.   ---. “Me and Mao II” (1993). https://perival.com/delillo/meandmaoii.html   ---. Passing Off. Permanent Press, 1996.   ---. “An Under-history of Mid-Century America” (review of Underworld). The Atlantic, October 1997.   ---. “Two On One: Writing a Basketball Novel.” In What to Read (and Not): Essays and Reviews. Dzanc Books, 2014.   ---. “Serious But Not Dangerous Don DeLillo” (review of The Silence). American Book Review 42.4 (May/June 2021): 10-11.   —-. Harpooning Donald Trump: A Novelist's Essays. Mediacs, 2017.   ---. Passing Again. 2022.   Tom LeClair's Substack: https://tleclair.substack.com/   Vince Passaro, “Dangerous Don DeLillo.” New York Times Magazine, May 19, 1991. https://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/19/magazine/dangerous-don-delillo.html   Lawrence Weschler, Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder: Pronged Ants, Horned Humans, Mice on Toast, and Other Marvels of Jurassic Technology. Vintage, 1995.

We're now in the second year of Donald Trump's second term. And there's a lot to be concerned about as it relates to the future of American democracy. How can everyday people push back against authoritarianism and antidemocratic forces? Zack Beauchamp is a senior correspondent at Vox. He's also the author of “The Reactionary Spirit,” a book about this topic. Beauchamp joins WITHpod to discuss Democratic backsliding, the role of protests in stopping dictators and lessons that can be learned from Brazil, South Korea and Poland. Sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads. You'll also get exclusive bonus content from this and other shows. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In February, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk posted a social media video celebrating new figures from the International Monetary Fund suggesting that the average person in Poland now has slightly more spending power than the average person in Spain, the European Union's fourth largest economy. It's a symbolic milestone for a country that emerged from communism just over three decades ago and once struggled with hyperinflation and economic upheaval. In 2025, Poland's economy also passed the trillion-dollar mark, putting it in an elite group of just 20 countries globally.Investment from across the EU has helped drive growth. But can Poland keep its edge as labour shortages grow and the war in neighbouring Ukraine continues to shape the region? This week on The Inquiry, Tanya Beckett asks: Why is Poland's economy booming?Contributors: Dr Pawel Bukowski, lecturer in economics at University College London and Polish Academy of Sciences, UK Iga Magda, associate professor at the Warsaw School of Economics, Poland Katarzyna Rzentarzewska, chief CEE macro economist at Erste Group Bank AG, Austria Rafal Benecki, chief economist at ING, PolandPresenter: Tanya Beckett Producer: Matt Toulson Researcher: Evie Yabsley Editor: Tom Bigwood Technical Producer: Cameron Ward Production Management: Phoebe Lomas and Liam Morrey(Photo: A high street in Warsaw. Credit: NurPhoto/Getty Images)

Last time we spoke about the end of the battle of khalkin gol. In the summer of 1939, the Nomonhan Incident escalated into a major border conflict between Soviet-Mongolian forces and Japan's Kwantung Army along the Halha River. Despite Japanese successes in July, Zhukov launched a decisive offensive on August 20. Under cover of darkness, Soviet troops crossed the river, unleashing over 200 bombers and intense artillery barrages that devastated Japanese positions. Zhukov's northern, central, and southern forces encircled General Komatsubara's 23rd Division, supported by Manchukuoan units. Fierce fighting ensued: the southern flank collapsed under Colonel Potapov's armor, while the northern Fui Heights held briefly before falling to relentless assaults, including flame-throwing tanks. Failed Japanese counterattacks on August 24 resulted in heavy losses, with regiments shattered by superior Soviet firepower and tactics. By August 25, encircled pockets were systematically eliminated, leading to the annihilation of the Japanese 6th Army. The defeat, coinciding with the Hitler-Stalin Pact, forced Japan to negotiate a ceasefire on September 15-16, redrawing borders. Zhukov's victory exposed Japanese weaknesses in mechanized warfare, influencing future strategies and deterring further northern expansion.   #192 The Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. Despite the fact this technically will go into future events, I thought it was important we talk about a key moment in Sino history. Even though the battle of changkufeng and khalkin gol were not part of the second sino-Japanese war, their outcomes certainly would affect it.  Policymaking by the Soviet Union alone was not the primary factor in ending Moscow's diplomatic isolation in the late 1930s. After the Munich Conference signaled the failure of the popular front/united front approach, Neville Chamberlain, Adolf Hitler, and Poland's Józef Beck unintentionally strengthened Joseph Stalin's position in early 1939. Once the strategic cards were in his hands, Stalin capitalized on them. His handling of negotiations with Britain and France, as well as with Germany, from April to August was deft and effective. The spring and summer negotiations among the European powers are well documented and have been examined from many angles. In May 1939, while Stalin seemed to have the upper hand in Europe, yet before Hitler had signaled that a German–Soviet agreement might be possible, the Nomonhan incident erupted, a conflict initiated and escalated by the Kwantung Army. For a few months, the prospect of a Soviet–Japanese war revived concerns in Moscow about a two-front conflict. Reviewing Soviet talks with Britain, France, and Germany in the spring and summer of 1939 from an East Asian perspective sheds fresh light on the events that led to the German–Soviet Nonaggression Pact and, more broadly, to the outbreak of World War II. The second week of May marked the start of fighting at Nomonhan, during which negotiations between Germany and the USSR barely advanced beyond mutual scrutiny. Moscow signaled that an understanding with Nazi Germany might be possible. Notably, on May 4, the removal of Maksim Litvinov as foreign commissar and his replacement by Vyacheslav Molotov suggested a shift in approach. Litvinov, an urbane diplomat of Jewish origin and married to an Englishwoman, had been the leading Soviet proponent of the united-front policy and a steadfast critic of Nazi Germany. If a settlement with Hitler was sought, Litvinov was an unsuitable figure to lead the effort. Molotov, though with limited international experience, carried weight as chairman of the Council of Ministers and, more importantly, as one of Stalin's closest lieutenants. This personnel change seemed to accomplish its aim in Berlin, where the press was instructed on May 5 to halt polemical attacks on the Soviet Union and Bolshevism. On the same day, Karl Schnurre, head of the German Foreign Ministry's East European trade section, told Soviet chargé d'affaires Georgi Astakhov that Skoda, the German-controlled Czech arms manufacturer, would honor existing arms contracts with Russia. Astakhov asked whether, with Litvinov's departure, Germany might resume negotiations for a trade treaty Berlin had halted months earlier. By May 17, during discussions with Schnurre, Astakhov asserted that "there were no conflicts in foreign policy between Germany and the Soviet Union and that there was no reason for enmity between the two countries," and that Britain and France's negotiations appeared unpromising. The next day, Ribbentrop personally instructed Schulenburg to green-light trade talks. Molotov, however, insisted that a "political basis" for economic negotiations had to be established first. Suspicion remained high on both sides. Stalin feared Berlin might use reports of German–Soviet talks to destabilize a potential triple alliance with Britain and France; Hitler feared Stalin might use such reports to entice Tokyo away from an anti-German pact. The attempt to form a tripartite military alliance among Germany, Italy, and Japan foundered over divergent aims: Berlin targeted Britain and France; Tokyo aimed at the Soviet Union. Yet talks persisted through August 1939, with Japanese efforts to draw Germany into an anti-Soviet alignment continually reported to Moscow by Richard Sorge. Hitler and Mussolini, frustrated by Japanese objections, first concluded the bilateral Pact of Steel on May 22. The next day, Hitler, addressing his generals, stressed the inevitability of war with Poland and warned that opposition from Britain would be crushed militarily. He then hinted that Russia might "prove disinterested in the destruction of Poland," suggesting closer ties with Japan if Moscow opposed Germany. The exchange was quickly leaked to the press. Five days later, the first pitched battle of the Nomonhan campaign began. Although Hitler's timing with the Yamagata detachment's foray was coincidental, Moscow may have found the coincidence ominous. Despite the inducement of Molotov's call for a political basis before economic talks, Hitler and Ribbentrop did not immediately respond. On June 14, Astakhov signaled to Parvan Draganov, Bulgaria's ambassador in Berlin, that the USSR faced three options: ally with Britain and France, continue inconclusive talks with them, or align with Germany, the latter being closest to Soviet desires. Draganov relayed to the German Foreign Ministry that Moscow preferred a non-aggression agreement if Germany would pledge not to attack the Soviet Union. Two days later, Schulenburg told Astakhov that Germany recognized the link between economic and political relations and was prepared for far-reaching talks, a view echoed by Ribbentrop. The situation remained tangled: the Soviets pursued overt talks with Britain and France, while Stalin sought to maximize Soviet leverage. Chamberlain's stance toward Moscow remained wary but recognized a "psychological value" to an Anglo–Soviet rapprochement, tempered by his insistence on a hard bargain. American ambassador William C. Bullitt urged London to avoid the appearance of pursuing the Soviets, a view that resonated with Chamberlain's own distrust. Public confidence in a real Anglo–Soviet alliance remained low. By July 19, cabinet minutes show Chamberlain could not quite believe a genuine Russia–Germany alliance was possible, though he recognized the necessity of negotiations with Moscow to deter Hitler and to mollify an increasingly skeptical British public. Despite reservations, both sides kept the talks alive. Stalin's own bargaining style, with swift Soviet replies but frequent questions and demands, often produced delays. Molotov pressed on questions such as whether Britain and France would pledge to defend the Baltic states, intervene if Japan attacked the USSR, or join in opposing Germany if Hitler pressured Poland or Romania. These considerations were not trivial; they produced extended deliberations. On July 23, Molotov demanded that plans for coordinated military action among the three powers be fleshed out before a political pact. Britain and France accepted most political terms, and an Anglo-French military mission arrived in Moscow on August 11. The British commander, Admiral Sir Reginald Plunket-Ernle-Erle-Drax, conducted staff talks but could not conclude a military agreement. The French counterpart, General Joseph Doumenc, could sign but not bind his government. By then, Hitler had set August 26 as the date for war with Poland. With that looming, Hitler pressed for Soviet neutrality, or closer cooperation. In July and August, secret German–Soviet negotiations favored the Germans, who pressed for a rapid settlement and made most concessions. Yet Stalin benefited from keeping the British and French engaged, creating leverage against Hitler and safeguarding a potential Anglo–Soviet option as a fallback. To lengthen the talks and avoid immediate resolution, Moscow emphasized the Polish issue. Voroshilov demanded the Red Army be allowed to operate through Polish territory to defend Poland, a demand Warsaw would never accept. Moscow even floated a provocative plan: if Britain and France could compel Poland to permit Baltic State naval operations, the Western fleets would occupy Baltic ports, an idea that would have been militarily perilous and diplomatically explosive. Despite this, Stalin sought an agreement with Germany. Through Richard Sorge's intelligence, Moscow knew Tokyo aimed to avoid large-scale war with the USSR, and Moscow pressed for a German–Soviet settlement, including a nonaggression pact and measures to influence Japan to ease Sino–Japanese tensions. On August 16, Ribbentrop instructed Schulenburg to urge Molotov and Stalin toward a nonaggression pact and to coordinate with Japan. Stalin signaled willingness, and August 23–24 saw the drafting of the pact and the collapse of the Soviet and Japanese resistance elsewhere. That night, in a memorandum of Ribbentrop's staff, seven topics were summarized, with Soviet–Japanese relations and Molotov's insistence that Berlin demonstrate good faith standing out. Ribbentrop reiterated his willingness to influence Japan for a more favorable Soviet–Japanese relationship, and Stalin's reply indicated a path toward a détente in the East alongside the European agreement: "M. Stalin replied that the Soviet Union indeed desired an improvement in its relations with Japan, but that there were limits to its patience with regard to Japanese provocations. If Japan desired war she could have it. The Soviet Union was not afraid of it and was prepared for it. If Japan desired peace—so much the better! M. Stalin considered the assistance of Germany in bringing about an improvement in Soviet-Japanese relations as useful, but he did not want the Japanese to get the impression that the initiative in this direction had been taken by the Soviet Union."  Second, the assertion that the Soviet Union was prepared for and unafraid of war with Japan is an overstatement, though Stalin certainly had grounds for optimism regarding the battlefield situation and the broader East Asian strategic balance. It is notable that, despite the USSR's immediate diplomatic and military gains against Japan, Stalin remained anxious to conceal from Tokyo any peace initiative that originated in Moscow. That stance suggests that Tokyo or Hsinking might read such openness as a sign of Soviet weakness or confidence overextended. The Japanese danger, it would seem, did not disappear from Stalin's mind. Even at the height of his diplomatic coup, Stalin was determined not to burn bridges prematurely. On August 21, while he urged Hitler to send Ribbentrop to Moscow, he did not sever talks with Britain and France. Voroshilov requested a temporary postponement on the grounds that Soviet delegation officers were needed for autumn maneuvers. It was not until August 25, after Britain reiterated its resolve to stand by Poland despite the German–Soviet pact, that Stalin sent the Anglo–French military mission home. Fortified by the nonaggression pact, which he hoped would deter Britain and France from action, Hitler unleashed his army on Poland on September 1. Two days later, as Zhukov's First Army Group was completing its operations at Nomonhan, Hitler faced a setback when Britain and France declared war. Hitler had hoped to finish Poland quickly in 1939 and avoid fighting Britain and France until 1940. World War II in Europe had begun. The Soviet–Japanese conflict at Nomonhan was not the sole, nor even the principal, factor prompting Stalin to conclude an alliance with Hitler. Standing aside from a European war that could fracture the major capitalist powers might have been reason enough. Yet the conflict with Japan in the East was also a factor in Stalin's calculations, a dimension that has received relatively little attention in standard accounts of the outbreak of the war. This East Asian focus seeks to clarify the record without proposing a revolutionary reinterpretation of Soviet foreign policy; rather, it adds an important piece often overlooked in the "origins of the Second World War" puzzle, helping to reduce the overall confusion. The German–Soviet agreement provided for the Soviet occupation of the eastern half of Poland soon after Germany's invasion. On September 3, just forty-eight hours after the invasion and on the day Britain and France declared war, Ribbentrop urged Moscow to invade Poland from the east. Yet, for two more weeks, Poland's eastern frontier remained inviolate; Soviet divisions waited at the border, as most Polish forces were engaged against Germany. The German inquiries about the timing of the Soviet invasion continued, but the Red Army did not move. This inactivity is often attributed to Stalin's caution and suspicion, but that caution extended beyond Europe. Throughout early September, sporadic ground and air combat continued at Nomonhan, including significant activity by Kwantung Army forces on September 8–9, and large-scale air engagements on September 1–2, 4–5, and 14–15. Not until September 15 was the Molotov–Togo cease-fire arrangement finalized, to take effect on September 16. The very next morning, September 17, the Red Army crossed the Polish frontier into a country collapsed at its feet. It appears that Stalin wanted to ensure that fighting on his eastern flank had concluded before engaging in Western battles, avoiding a two-front war. Through such policies, Stalin avoided the disaster of a two-front war. Each principal in the 1939 diplomatic maneuvering pursued distinct objectives. The British sought an arrangement with the USSR that would deter Hitler from attacking Poland and, if deterred, bind Moscow to the Anglo–French alliance. Hitler sought an alliance with the USSR to deter Britain and France from aiding Poland and, if they did aid Poland, to secure Soviet neutrality. Japan sought a military alliance with Germany against the USSR, or failing that, stronger Anti-Comintern ties. Stalin aimed for an outcome in which Germany would fight the Western democracies, leaving him freedom to operate in both the West and East; failing that, he sought military reassurance from Britain and France in case he had to confront Germany. Of the four, only Stalin achieved his primary objective. Hitler secured his secondary objective; the British and Japanese failed to realize theirs. Stalin won the diplomatic contest in 1939. Yet, as diplomats gave way to generals, the display of German military power in Poland and in Western Europe soon eclipsed Stalin's diplomatic triumph. By playing Germany against Britain and France, Stalin gained leverage and a potential fallback, but at the cost of unleashing a devastating European war. As with the aftermath of the Portsmouth Treaty in 1905, Russo-Japanese relations improved rapidly after hostilities ceased at Nomonhan. The Molotov–Togo agreement of September 15 and the local truces arranged around Nomonhan on September 19 were observed scrupulously by both sides. On October 27, the two nations settled another long-standing dispute by agreeing to mutual release of fishing boats detained on charges of illegal fishing in each other's territorial waters. On November 6, the USSR appointed Konstantin Smetanin as ambassador to Tokyo, replacing the previous fourteen-month tenure of a chargé d'affaires. Smetanin's first meeting with the new Japanese foreign minister, Nomura Kichisaburö, in November 1939 attracted broad, favorable coverage in the Japanese press. In a break with routine diplomatic practice, Nomura delivered a draft proposal for a new fisheries agreement and a memo outlining the functioning of the joint border commission to be established in the Nomonhan area before Smetanin presented his credentials. On December 31, an agreement finalizing Manchukuo's payment to the USSR for the sale of the Chinese Eastern Railway was reached, and the Soviet–Japanese Fisheries Convention was renewed for 1940. In due course, the boundary near Nomonhan was formally redefined. A November 1939 agreement between Molotov and Togo established a mixed border commission representing the four parties to the dispute. After protracted negotiations, the border commission completed its redemarcation on June 14, 1941, with new border markers erected in August 1941. The resulting boundary largely followed the Soviet–MPR position, lying ten to twelve miles east of the Halha River. With that, the Nomonhan incident was officially closed.  Kwantung Army and Red Army leaders alike sought to "teach a lesson" to their foe at Nomonhan. The refrain recurs in documents and memoirs from both sides, "we must teach them a lesson." The incident provided lessons for both sides, but not all were well learned. For the Red Army, the lessons of Nomonhan intertwined with the laurels of victory, gratifying but sometimes distracting. Georgy Zhukov grasped the experience of modern warfare that summer, gaining more than a raised profile: command experience, confidence, and a set of hallmarks he would employ later. He demonstrated the ability to grasp complex strategic problems quickly, decisive crisis leadership, meticulous attention to logistics and deception, patience in building superior strength before striking at the enemy's weakest point, and the coordination of massed artillery, tanks, mechanized infantry, and tactical air power in large-scale double envelopment. These capabilities informed his actions at Moscow, Stalingrad, Kursk, and ultimately Berlin. It is tempting to wonder how Zhukov might have fared in the crucial autumn and winter of 1941 without Nomonhan, or whether he would have been entrusted with the Moscow front in 1941 had he not distinguished himself at Nomonhan. Yet the Soviet High Command overlooked an important lesson. Despite Zhukov's successes with independent tank formations and mechanized infantry, the command misapplied Spanish Civil War-era experience by disbanding armored divisions and redistributing tanks to infantry units to serve as support. It was not until after Germany demonstrated tank warfare in 1940 that the Soviets began reconstituting armored divisions and corps, a process still incomplete when the 1941 invasion began. The Red Army's performance at Nomonhan went largely unseen in the West. Western intelligence and military establishments largely believed the Red Army was fundamentally rotten, a view reinforced by the battlefield's remoteness and by both sides' reluctance to publicize the defeat. The Polish crisis and the outbreak of war in Europe drew attention away from Nomonhan, and the later Finnish Winter War reinforced negative Western judgments of Soviet military capability. U.S. military attaché Raymond Faymonville observed that the Soviets, anticipating a quick victory over Finland, relied on hastily summoned reserves ill-suited for winter fighting—an assessment that led some to judge the Red Army by its performance at Nomonhan. Even in Washington, this view persisted; Hitler reportedly called the Red Army "a paralytic on crutches" after Finland and then ordered invasion planning in 1941. Defeat can be a stronger teacher than victory. Because Nomonhan was a limited war, Japan's defeat was likewise limited, and its impact on Tokyo did not immediately recalibrate Japanese assessments. Yet Nomonhan did force Japan to revise its estimation of Soviet strength: the Imperial Army abandoned its strategic Plan Eight-B and adopted a more defensive posture toward the Soviet Union. An official inquiry into the debacle, submitted November 29, 1939, recognized Soviet superiority in materiel and firepower and urged Japan to bolster its own capabilities. The Kwantung Army's leadership, chastened, returned to the frontier with a more realistic sense of capability, even as the Army Ministry and AGS failed to translate lessons into policy. The enduring tendency toward gekokujo, the dominance of local and mid-level officers over central authority, remained persistent, and Tokyo did not fully purge it after Nomonhan. The Kwantung Army's operatives who helped drive the Nomonhan episode resurfaced in key posts at Imperial General Headquarters, contributing to Japan's 1941 decision to go to war. The defeat of the Kwantung Army at Nomonhan, together with the Stalin–Hitler pact and the outbreak of war in Europe, triggered a reorientation of Japanese strategy and foreign policy. The new government, led by the politically inexperienced and cautious General Abe Nobuyuki, pursued a conservative foreign policy. Chiang Kai-shek's retreat to Chongqing left the Chinese war at a stalemate: the Japanese Expeditionary Army could still inflict defeats on Chinese nationalist forces, but it had no viable path to a decisive victory. China remained Japan's principal focus. Still, the option of cutting Soviet aid to China and of moving north into Outer Mongolia and Siberia was discredited in Tokyo by the August 1939 double defeat. Northward expansion never again regained its ascendancy, though it briefly resurfaced in mid-1941 after Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union. Germany's alliance with the USSR during Nomonhan was viewed by Tokyo as a betrayal, cooling German–Japanese relations. Japan also stepped back from its confrontation with Britain over Tientsin. Tokyo recognized that the European war represented a momentous development that could reshape East Asia, as World War I had reshaped it before. The short-lived Abe government (September–December 1939) and its successor under Admiral Yonai Mitsumasa (December 1939–July 1940) adopted a cautious wait-and-see attitude toward the European war. That stance shifted in the summer of 1940, however, after Germany's successes in the West. With Germany's conquest of France and the Low Countries and Britain's fight for survival, Tokyo reassessed the global balance of power. Less than a year after Zhukov had effectively blocked further Japanese expansion northward, Hitler's victories seemed to open a southern expansion path. The prospect of seizing the resource-rich colonies in Southeast Asia, Dutch, French, and British and, more importantly, resolving the China problem in Japan's favor, tempted many in Tokyo. If Western aid to Chiang Kai-shek, channeled through Hong Kong, French Indochina, and Burma could be cut off, some in Tokyo believed Chiang might abandon resistance. If not, Japan could launch new operations against Chiang from Indochina and Burma, effectively turning China's southern flank. To facilitate a southward advance, Japan sought closer alignment with Germany and the USSR. Foreign Minister Yosuke Matsuoka brought Japan into the Tripartite Pact with Germany and Italy, in the hope of neutralizing the United States, and concluded a neutrality pact with the Soviet Union to secure calm in the north. Because of the European military situation, only the United States could check Japan's southward expansion. President Franklin D. Roosevelt appeared determined to do so and confident that he could. If the Manchurian incident and the Stimson Doctrine strained U.S.–Japanese relations, and the China War and U.S. aid to Chiang Kai-shek deepened mutual resentment, it was Japan's decision to press south against French, British, and Dutch colonies, and Roosevelt's resolve to prevent such a move, that put the two nations on a collision course. The dust had barely settled on the Mongolian plains following the Nomonhan ceasefire when the ripples of that distant conflict began to reshape the broader theater of the Second Sino-Japanese War. The defeat at Nomonhan in August 1939, coupled with the shocking revelation of the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact, delivered a profound strategic blow to Japan's imperial ambitions. No longer could Tokyo entertain serious notions of a "northern advance" into Soviet territory, a strategy that had long tantalized military planners as a means to secure resources and buffer against communism. Instead, the Kwantung Army's humiliation exposed glaring deficiencies in Japanese mechanized warfare, logistics, and intelligence, forcing a pivot southward. This reorientation not only cooled tensions with the Soviet Union but also allowed Japan to redirect its military focus toward the protracted stalemate in China. As we transition from the border clashes of the north to the heartland tensions in central China, it's essential to trace how these events propelled Japan toward the brink of a major offensive in Hunan Province, setting the stage for what would become a critical confrontation. In the immediate aftermath of Nomonhan, Japan's military high command grappled with the implications of their setback. The Kwantung Army, once a symbol of unchecked aggression, was compelled to adopt a defensive posture along the Manchurian-Soviet border. The ceasefire agreement, formalized on September 15-16, 1939, effectively neutralized the northern front, freeing up significant resources and manpower that had been tied down in the escalating border skirmishes. This was no small relief; the Nomonhan campaign had drained Japanese forces, with estimates of over 18,000 casualties and the near-total annihilation of the 23rd Division. The psychological impact was equally severe, shattering the myth of Japanese invincibility against a modern, mechanized opponent. Georgy Zhukov's masterful use of combined arms—tanks, artillery, and air power—highlighted Japan's vulnerabilities, prompting internal reviews that urged reforms in tank production, artillery doctrine, and supply chains. Yet, these lessons were slow to implement, and in the short term, the primary benefit was the opportunity to consolidate efforts elsewhere. For Japan, "elsewhere" meant China, where the war had devolved into a grinding attrition since the fall of Wuhan in October 1938. The capture of Wuhan, a major transportation hub and temporary capital of the Nationalist government under Chiang Kai-shek, had been hailed as a turning point. Japanese forces, under the command of General Shunroku Hata, had pushed deep into central China, aiming to decapitate Chinese resistance. However, Chiang's strategic retreat to Chongqing transformed the conflict into a war of endurance. Nationalist forces, bolstered by guerrilla tactics and international aid, harassed Japanese supply lines and prevented a decisive knockout blow. By mid-1939, Japan controlled vast swaths of eastern and northern China, including key cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Nanjing, but the cost was immense: stretched logistics, mounting casualties, and an inability to fully pacify occupied territories. The Nomonhan defeat exacerbated these issues by underscoring the limits of Japan's military overextension. With the northern threat abated, Tokyo's Army General Staff saw an opening to intensify operations in China, hoping to force Chiang to the negotiating table before global events further complicated the picture. The diplomatic fallout from Nomonhan and the Hitler-Stalin Pact further influenced this shift. Japan's betrayal by Germany, its nominal ally under the Anti-Comintern Pact—fostered distrust and isolation. Tokyo's flirtations with a full Axis alliance stalled, as the pact with Moscow revealed Hitler's willingness to prioritize European gains over Asian solidarity. This isolation prompted Japan to reassess its priorities, emphasizing self-reliance in China while eyeing opportunistic expansions elsewhere. Domestically, the Hiranuma cabinet collapsed in August 1939 amid the diplomatic shock, paving the way for the more cautious Abe Nobuyuki government. Abe's administration, though short-lived, signaled a temporary de-escalation in aggressive posturing, but the underlying imperative to resolve the "China Incident" persisted. Japanese strategists believed that capturing additional strategic points in central China could sever Chiang's lifelines, particularly the routes funneling aid from the Soviet Union and the West via Burma and Indochina. The seismic shifts triggered by Nomonhan compelled Japan to fundamentally readjust its China policy and war plans, marking a pivotal transition from overambitious northern dreams to a more focused, albeit desperate, campaign in the south. With the Kwantung Army's defeat fresh in mind, Tokyo's Imperial General Headquarters initiated a comprehensive strategic review in late August 1939. The once-dominant "Northern Advance" doctrine, which envisioned rapid conquests into Siberia for resources like oil and minerals, was officially shelved. In its place emerged a "Southern Advance" framework, prioritizing the consolidation of gains in China and potential expansions into Southeast Asia. This pivot was not merely tactical; it reflected a profound policy recalibration aimed at ending the quagmire in China, where two years of war had yielded territorial control but no decisive victory over Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists. Central to this readjustment was a renewed emphasis on economic and military self-sufficiency. The Nomonhan debacle had exposed Japan's vulnerabilities in mechanized warfare, leading to urgent reforms in industrial production. Tank manufacturing was ramped up, with designs influenced by observed Soviet models, and artillery stockpiles were bolstered to match the firepower discrepancies seen on the Mongolian steppes. Logistically, the Army General Staff prioritized streamlining supply lines in China, recognizing that prolonged engagements demanded better resource allocation. Politically, the Abe Nobuyuki cabinet, installed in September 1939, adopted a "wait-and-see" approach toward Europe but aggressively pursued diplomatic maneuvers to isolate China. Efforts to negotiate with Wang Jingwei's puppet regime in Nanjing intensified, aiming to undermine Chiang's legitimacy and splinter Chinese resistance. Japan also pressured Vichy France for concessions in Indochina, seeking to choke off aid routes to Chongqing. War plans evolved accordingly, shifting from broad-front offensives to targeted strikes designed to disrupt Chinese command and supply networks. The China Expeditionary Army, under General Yasuji Okamura, was restructured to emphasize mobility and combined arms operations, drawing partial lessons from Zhukov's tactics. Intelligence operations were enhanced, with greater focus on infiltrating Nationalist strongholds in central provinces. By early September, plans coalesced around a major push into Hunan Province, a vital crossroads linking northern and southern China. Hunan's river systems and rail lines made it a linchpin for Chinese logistics, funneling men and materiel to the front lines. Japanese strategists identified key urban centers in the region as critical objectives, believing their capture could sever Chiang's western supply corridors and force a strategic retreat. This readjustment was not without internal friction. Hardliners in the military lamented the abandonment of northern ambitions, but the reality of Soviet strength—and the neutrality pacts that followed—left little room for debate. Economically, Japan ramped up exploitation of occupied Chinese territories, extracting coal, iron, and rice to fuel the war machine. Diplomatically, Tokyo sought to mend fences with the Soviets through the 1941 Neutrality Pact, ensuring northern security while eyes turned south. Yet, these changes brewed tension with the United States, whose embargoes on scrap metal and oil threatened to cripple Japan's ambitions. As autumn approached, the stage was set for a bold gambit in central China. Japanese divisions massed along the Yangtze River, poised to strike at the heart of Hunan's defenses. Intelligence reports hinted at Chinese preparations, with Xue Yue's forces fortifying positions around a major provincial hub. The air thickened with anticipation of a clash that could tip the balance in the interminable war—a test of Japan's revamped strategies against a resilient foe determined to hold the line. What unfolded would reveal whether Tokyo's post-Nomonhan pivot could deliver the breakthrough so desperately needed, or if it would merely prolong the bloody stalemate. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. In 1939, the Nomonhan Incident saw Soviet forces under Georgy Zhukov decisively defeat Japan's Kwantung Army at Khalkin Gol, exposing Japanese weaknesses in mechanized warfare. This setback, coupled with the Hitler-Stalin Nonaggression Pact, shattered Japan's northern expansion plans and prompted a strategic pivot southward. Diplomatic maneuvers involving Stalin, Hitler, Britain, France, and Japan reshaped alliances, leading to the Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact in 1941. Japan refocused on China, intensifying operations in Hunan Province to isolate Chiang Kai-shek.   

Fiona Hill is one of the most authoritative voices on the forces reshaping global politics today. Born in County Durham, from 2017 to 2019 she was a senior adviser on European and Russian Affairs at the White House and in October 2019 she was a key witness in President Trump's first impeachment inquiry. In 2024 and 2025 she co-led the British Government's Strategic Defence Review, which sets out how the UK should scale up its response to risks from an emboldened Russia and a less predictable United States.  Hill cautions that we are not in a second Cold War, but in a more volatile era of asymmetric threats. She warns that Trump's engagement with autocratic leaders such as Putin and Xi is strengthening authoritarian regimes and eroding long‑standing alliances, and highlights sabotage and disinformation – the kind of threats seen in recent incidents such as the Russian spy‑ship Yantar encroaching on UK waters and the rail explosion in Poland.  Hill came to the Intelligence Squared stage in February 2026 where, in conversation with journalist Jon Sopel, she set out the practical steps she believes the West must take to bolster its resilience and safeguard security and stability. --- If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full ad free conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosts Ania and Roy talk about International Womens Day (March 8), comparing Polish and Irish traditions, gift ideas like flowers and jewelry, and what the day means in modern life. Hear personal stories, thoughts on gender roles and equality, and warm wishes for women learning Polish. Find episodes and show notes at learnpolishpodcast.com.   "Dzień Kobiet" means "Women's Day," and in this micro-lesson you'll say it like you're handing flowers to every woman you know. First you hear the phrase at native speed, then slowed down so you can master the soft "Dzień" and the flowing "Kobiet." We drop it into three celebration-ready sentences: – "Wszystkiego najlepszego w Dzień Kobiet!" (All the best on Women's Day!) – "Kupiłem kwiaty na Dzień Kobiet." (I bought flowers for Women's Day.) – "To ważne święto w Polsce." (It's an important holiday in Poland.) Repeat-along track included—perfect while you pick tulips or write a card. Challenge: record yourself saying "Dzień Kobiet" and tag us @learnpolishpodcast—we'll repost the sweetest ones! Key Words: English → Polish Table Copy English Polish Women's Day Dzień Kobiet flowers kwiaty tulips tulipany best wishes wszystkiego najlepszego March 8th ósmy marca gift prezent chocolate czekolada celebrate świętować important ważny / ważna holiday święto mother matka wife żona girlfriend dziewczyna colleague koleżanka respect szacunek love miłość  

Fiona Hill is one of the most authoritative voices on the forces reshaping global politics today. Born in County Durham, from 2017 to 2019 she was a senior adviser on European and Russian Affairs at the White House and in October 2019 she was a key witness in President Trump's first impeachment inquiry. In 2024 and 2025 she co-led the British Government's Strategic Defence Review, which sets out how the UK should scale up its response to risks from an emboldened Russia and a less predictable United States.  Hill cautions that we are not in a second Cold War, but in a more volatile era of asymmetric threats. She warns that Trump's engagement with autocratic leaders such as Putin and Xi is strengthening authoritarian regimes and eroding long‑standing alliances, and highlights sabotage and disinformation – the kind of threats seen in recent incidents such as the Russian spy‑ship Yantar encroaching on UK waters and the rail explosion in Poland.  Hill came to the Intelligence Squared stage in February 2026 where, in conversation with journalist Jon Sopel, she set out the practical steps she believes the West must take to bolster its resilience and safeguard security and stability. --- This is the first instalment of a two-part episode. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full ad free conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to another riveting episode of Impact Theory with Tom Bilyeu, where navigating the complexities of our ever-changing world is front and center. In this episode, Tom Bilyeu and co-host DREW dive headfirst into the turbulence of our current global landscape—covering everything from intensifying conflicts in Iran and shifting U.S. military strategies, to the surprising moves of countries like Poland pursuing nuclear weapons, and the intricate economic warfare playing out beneath the headlines. Together, they unravel the “narrative warfare” shaping public perception and challenge the official stories behind major decisions. You'll hear candid analysis of the recent U.S. and Israeli military operations, the economic underpinnings driving geopolitical clashes, the hidden power of sovereign wealth funds, and how insurance, oil, and investment dollars are quietly influencing the course of world events. Beyond the headlines, Tom Bilyeu lays out his perspective on why economics—not just ideology or politics—is at the core of these dramatic moves, and why the survival and prosperity of entire regions might depend on who controls capital flows in the age of AI. It's an unflinching look at the real motivations behind international power plays and the very human narratives built along the way. Whether you're here for insights on global economics, political chess, or just want to better understand how world leaders spin the truth, this episode promises a thought-provoking, transparent conversation you won't want to miss. What's up, everybody? It's Tom Bilyeu here: If you want my help... STARTING a business: join me here at ZERO TO FOUNDER:  https://tombilyeu.com/zero-to-founder?utm_campaign=Podcast%20Offer&utm_source=podca[%E2%80%A6]d%20end%20of%20show&utm_content=podcast%20ad%20end%20of%20show SCALING a business: see if you qualify here.:  https://tombilyeu.com/call Get my battle-tested strategies and insights delivered weekly to your inbox: sign up here.: https://tombilyeu.com/ ********************************************************************** If you're serious about leveling up your life, I urge you to check out my new podcast, Tom Bilyeu's Mindset Playbook —a goldmine of my most impactful episodes on mindset, business, and health. Trust me, your future self will thank you. ********************************************************************** FOLLOW TOM: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tombilyeu/ Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tombilyeu?lang=en Twitter: https://twitter.com/tombilyeu YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TomBilyeu Ketone IQ: Visit https://ketone.com/IMPACT for 30% OFF your subscription orderShopify: Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial period at https://shopify.com/impactSumm: code TOMVIP20 for 20% off your first year at https://summ.com?via=tombilyeu&coupon=TOMVIP20Blocktrust IRA: get up to $2,500 funding bonus to kickstart your account at https://tomcryptoira.comQuo: Try for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months at https://quo.com/impactQuince: Free shipping and 365-day returns at https://quince.com/impactpod Duck.Ai: Protect your privacy at https://duck.ai/impact Monetary Metals: Future-proof your wealth at https://monetarymetals.com/impact Plaud: Get 10% off with code TOM10 at https://plaud.ai/tom Iran war, Khamenei succession, US military strategy, nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles, South Korea stock market, oil prices, narrative warfare, Trump Genius Act, crypto industry, US-Ecuador military operation, insurance companies, Strait of Hormuz, Middle East conflict, air superiority, B-2 bombers, B-52 bombers, economic drivers of war, City of London, UK-US relations, AI investments, sovereign wealth funds, US-Navy escorts, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Israel-Iran tensions, Netanyahu, political narratives, private equity, Amazon Web Services, Epstein files. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices