Podcasts about it's covid

This episode first aired on October 6, 2023.It's not a booster, it's a new vaccine just in time for respiratory infection season.Visit Health Lab to read the full story.The transcript for this episode can be found here.Health Lab is brought to you by the Michigan Medicine Department of Communication. Michigan Medicine is the academic medical center for the University of Michigan. Health Lab is a part of the Michigan Medicine Podcast Network. You can subscribe to Health Lab on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever you listen to podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

https://youtu.be/isR1KJfeWcoMatt and Sean talk about a story involving eerily familiar elements. (Stage whisper: It's COVID.). How does Star Trek Strange New World's “Ghosts of Illyria” hold up? YouTube version of the podcast: https://www.youtube.com/trekintimeAudio version of the podcast: https://www.trekintime.showGet in touch: https://trekintime.show/contactFollow us on Twitter: @byseanferrell @mattferrell or @undecidedmf ★ Support this podcast ★

It's not a booster, it's a new vaccine just in time for respiratory infection season.Visit Health Lab to read the full story.The transcript for this episode can be found here.Health Lab is brought to you by the Michigan Medicine Department of Communication. Michigan Medicine is the academic medical center for the University of Michigan. Health Lab is a part of the Michigan Medicine Podcast Network. You can subscribe to Health Lab on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever you listen to podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's COVID Season!  On today's show I discuss the reemergence of COVID! What does it mean for all of us? I also get into some interesting news about David Weiss and Hunter Biden! There is a history here! Web Site: www.DontTreadonMerica.com     DTOM Store (Promo code DTOM for 10% off)     Sponsors: www.makersmark.com   Redcon1 (Promo code DTOM20)   Social Media:   www.facebook.com/donttreadonmerica     www.instagram.com/donttreadonmerica     YouTube Don't Tread on Merica    

Description: Transform meetings from time-wasters to productivity powerhouses with expert insights from Andy Marris, thought leader and Learning & Development Trainer at MRA - The Management Association. Discover actionable tips for meaningful outcomes and progress. Perfect for team leaders, project managers, and professionals seeking to optimize their valuable time. Resources: Leading Effective Meetings - Training  Is This Meeting a Must?  MRA Membership  About MRA  Let's Connect: Guest Bio - Andy Marris  Guest LinkedIn Profile - Andy Marris  Host Bio - Sophie Boler  Host LinkedIn Profile - Sophie Boler  Transcript: Transcripts are computer generated -- not 100% accurate word-for-word. 00:00:00:00 - 00:00:21:03 Unknown Hello everybody and welcome to 30 minute Thrive, your go to podcast for anything and everything HR, powered by MRA, the Management Association. Looking to stay on top of the ever changing world of HR? MRA has got you covered. We'll be the first to tell you what's hot and what's not. I'm your host, Sophie Boler, and we are so glad you're here. 00:00:21:05 - 00:00:43:01 Unknown Now it's time to thrive. Well, hello everybody, and welcome to episode number 50. We're celebrating this episode today, so it's a little special. So thanks for being our 50th guest Andy, Cheers to that! Oh, I know it's your first time being hot here. I am a little hurt, you know, 50. 00:00:43:03 - 00:01:05:05 Unknown There's been 49 without me. I thought you like me, Sophie. No But seriously, though be glad to be here. We saved you for a good episode so. All right, well, that makes me feel better. Well, we all know there's kind of a collective groan when you hear this is going to be a fun meeting. And one of our team members actually has a notebook that says notes and doodles for meetings. 00:01:05:05 - 00:01:28:13 Unknown That should have been emails. Oh, so we've all been there. We've all sat through meetings, have felt like they've kind of been wasting time and just wasting that productive time. And now with the whole hybrid and remote work factors, meetings just seem to have lost their power. So today we're going to be discussing tips on how to make meetings great and not merely just meeting to meet. 00:01:28:15 - 00:01:49:17 Unknown So today I'm here with an expert on the topic, Andy Marris. He's an MRA learning and development instructor, but he really has broad expertise and leadership growth, change management, brand marketing, and much more so in a lot of different roles too, like leader, coach, motivator and trainer. So I know you'll have a lot of great tips for us today. 00:01:49:20 - 00:02:07:22 Unknown Know this is a topic I'm very passionate about. Not a big fan of wasting time and I've been in four or five hour meetings that were really effective. Yes, absolutely. Very 20 meeting, 20 minute meetings, like why am I here? Right. So really important that we get this right. Oh, we got to start out with the negatives. Unfortunately. 00:02:07:23 - 00:02:33:09 Unknown So what are some top complaints of having meetings generally? Oh, there's so many. There's so many. To me maybe my biggest. Yeah. Complaint is when the meeting is supposed to end at a certain time and it goes way over a minute or two or human. I actually try to leave slightly early. We can talk about that later, but it's, it's really irritating when it goes way beyond it. 00:02:33:09 - 00:02:53:13 Unknown And you've got other responsibilities, other duties. Another thing that really bothers me is when it doesn't have an agenda, you sit there wondering, why am I here? And I actually want to add value to the meeting. But if I'm not aware of what we're even going to try and solve or understand. And in the meeting that's really been set up to fail, they already feel like a huge waste of time. 00:02:53:13 - 00:03:13:06 Unknown Yeah, we're all so busy. Oh, add on to the negative ones too. I feel like one of my pet peeves is when no one's really engaged in the meeting either. A certain kind of sitting there looking at each other, that's that's never a good thing. But any other common mistakes people make when running or even planning a meeting. 00:03:13:12 - 00:03:37:23 Unknown So not having an actionable agenda I think is a big one. Not helping people understand their role is supposed to be in the meeting. What are we trying to accomplish? What should I bring? What value? Not having a follow up. There's just so many things that go poorly in meetings, and I think it's really important to think about, you know, why are we having the meeting? 00:03:37:23 - 00:04:00:16 Unknown Yeah, who should be there and then what do we do before, during, after, and then even follow up all of those types of things so that the meetings are really fruitful and it's solving business problems or informing people of what they need to know. Yeah, absolutely. Well, let's dive into some logistics. What are some key principles for conducting efficient and effective meetings? 00:04:00:16 - 00:04:25:15 Unknown And you covered a couple, but any other kind of key principles that we can't miss. Yeah, I really want to emphasize I know I've said it already, but they're really having what we call an action based agenda, an outcome based agenda. We we want it focused on where are we going with this, Right. So instead of having bullets for the meeting, guess I've seen invites that they're trying to even have an agenda. 00:04:25:15 - 00:04:52:12 Unknown And that's better than not having real say, updates or new ideas. And what am I going to do with that? Right now I'm that does it really mean anything? Instead, how about something like brainstorm solution to X problem or vote on realistic deadline for whatever the whatever the project is. And so those types of things, we want to make sure, yeah, we have it be action oriented, right? 00:04:52:12 - 00:05:13:16 Unknown Have verbs that say we're going to do something, not just one more specific. Yes, exactly. Exactly. So how about the length for meetings? Like, do you have a recommendation for an appropriate length of a meeting or any recommendations on that? Well, it really depends on what you're trying to accomplish. I've been to really fruitful all day meetings because it's a major undertaking. 00:05:13:16 - 00:05:38:18 Unknown Or maybe it's a, you know, once a year strategic planning event or something like that. So that could be really long, but it really needs to be fruitful because we're putting together the agenda that helps us understand what we're trying to accomplish and when and why and who is going to do what. And that's at the same time, most meetings are there to not be that long kind of the standard. 00:05:38:18 - 00:05:59:16 Unknown Is it our release? It's COVID. I think it is especially true because people are so many virtual meetings. And so you're not even in the same room physically, and people are stacking meetings on top of each other. And I don't even have time to do take care of my boss. No need to you. Yeah, right. We're we're in the when I'm going from one meeting to another. 00:05:59:16 - 00:06:17:05 Unknown So we've been suggesting that maybe people think about a 50 minute meeting. So you've got a ten minute period to get ready to prep for the next meeting and take care of any physical needs you have. Oh, maybe a 25 minute meeting instead of a half hour, that kind of thing. So people have a time to decompress, they have time to prep. 00:06:17:07 - 00:06:42:24 Unknown And we could just keep stacking these, especially when around that rectangle, right? Yeah, that, that's, that's I think really helpful. Yeah, that's a great idea. I feel like with those daylong meetings or five plus our meetings, it's important that breaks to like, yeah, definitely just even a 15. Malik Let's go take a walk or I don't know. And so spring break, as a trainer, we talk about having breaks every 70 minutes. 00:06:42:24 - 00:07:00:15 Unknown There's actually adult learning science behind there. I think we can apply that to meetings if we know there's going to be along. Would people kind of hit a wall? Yeah, 70 minutes or so. That's what the research tells us. And I think that applies to meetings too. So how about managing time during the meeting and what do you have to say about that? 00:07:00:17 - 00:07:20:09 Unknown It is really important to make sure that people are moving, whatever the topic is forward. So often people go down rabbit holes, they're not the focus of the meeting and squirrel, and now we're now we're we're we're out of alignment with what we're trying to accomplish. So as the meeting leader, you want to make sure you're constantly driving it forward. 00:07:20:11 - 00:07:41:15 Unknown I have a joke that I tell people. I said, Let's follow the five B's. Be brief, baby. Three briefs. Right? And that makes people laugh. But it also reminds people why in the plane ride, you know, it it get your point out, but do it in a way that's concise and that everyone understands, right? Say enough so that people understand. 00:07:41:17 - 00:07:58:23 Unknown But also concise enough that we're not dominating the meeting. In fact, I suggest to people that whatever the number of the people in the meeting, that there's ten people in a meeting, you should be 1/10 of the conversation. And if there is two people of three, that you should be half right? Yeah. And for whatever that is, kind of aim for that. 00:07:58:23 - 00:08:16:16 Unknown And will we set those rules ahead of time? I think that really, really wait a bit and I know we were talking about this before. How about the Alamo acronym? No, I think we got to bring it out of the gate here. So we've got Elmo here and famous Sesame Street character. I know I'm actually too old for this guy. 00:08:16:16 - 00:08:36:15 Unknown My kids like this guy. So he didn't exist when I was Sesame Street eight. But instead. Fair enough. Let's move on. If somebody is just circling and circling and circling in that landing the plane, as I like to say, and let's move on now, of course, we have to set this as a rule out of whole it, Elmo. 00:08:36:18 - 00:08:55:08 Unknown There could be a salty ride like what you shot. It's basically shot up, but in a nice way. Right. But but it really helps people go, okay, you know what? We've we've discussed this enough. We've come to a consensus or whatever it is, somebody can call it Elmo. You definitely want to wait to call it. Some people call Elmo too quickly, right? 00:08:55:08 - 00:09:25:23 Unknown Well, wait a minute. We're not quite done. And otherwise it's something we do on our team. And so we'll even say Elmo has been called in then. Okay. We we we beat this topic to death instead of on something else. Oh, yeah. No, I learned that from the instructors. And I love all of you. SMITH So what are some effective ways to really engage all the meeting participants in a meeting and kind of encourage active collaboration for the whole group and the meeting? 00:09:25:23 - 00:09:45:06 Unknown Leader You want to really be a facilitator, right? It's really about drawing people out. It's not. Everybody loves being the center of attention, so people are very shy and they have great things to add. But if it stays between their ears, does it do us a lot of good, right? So, you know, so B, what do you think? 00:09:45:12 - 00:10:10:15 Unknown Yeah, but not putting people on the spot. Another reason why it's so important to have that outcome based agenda is they know what they're supposed to say in the meeting, what they're supposed to bring, what value they're going to offer, what expertise we're asking for them to bring. And and so they're more prepared because this goes hour, maybe two or three days before the meeting ever takes place. 00:10:10:17 - 00:10:31:20 Unknown I try to shoot for at least 24 hours before the meeting. We've got this action based agenda, you know, in the invitation. Yeah. And how about for remote meetings or virtual meetings? I feel like it might be a little trickier to get that active engagement through a screen. So what are your what's your advice on that? Well, I've got one. 00:10:31:20 - 00:10:51:06 Unknown We've talked straight to the camera on this. Put your camera on that one. Thrives me crazy, right? Because all of a sudden, it's like that conference call from hell that you're probably too young to remember. But with some folks, you know, we used to have just the forward sitting in the middle of the room and you people would interrupt each other and, oh, you go first. 00:10:51:06 - 00:11:04:10 Unknown So you go first. So we that was an extra awkward part of the room. And why have video if we're not going to use it? Cos we don't know what they're doing. I've actually even but it'll fill me in with this one. I mean you know, it's kind of creepy when you, when you don't do your game. Right. 00:11:04:11 - 00:11:26:03 Unknown Boy, does that go out quickly. That's right. You're better. You'd better know your audience. You pull that one out. But we've got to get that camera on. You know, I. I get it. People could be doing laundry during the meeting. I want them focused on what we're doing. Yeah. And it's great that we can work from everywhere. I've been impressed at how we can. 00:11:26:05 - 00:11:45:04 Unknown A lot of people have proven that they can be really good in online meetings where they're not distracted. And but boy, that camera on passionate about that one. And I don't really believe the excuse that you are one or the other camera this 2020 this you do and and you know we just went through a global pandemic recently. 00:11:45:04 - 00:12:11:06 Unknown Everyone has a camera now. I grew up in kind of going off of that what you're talking about with the laundry and just being a little unproductive on the meetings. What are some best practices for handling those, let's say, disruptions or unproductive behavior during meetings? I think it's really important to set the expectations ahead of time, right? There's so many rules of engagement. 00:12:11:06 - 00:12:28:21 Unknown I like to make sure that everyone agrees to at the outset of the meeting, and maybe you can have that for your invite, right? Yeah. So Vegas Rule, which set in the meeting, stays in the meeting so people feel safe to contribute, right? That's a huge part. Like I said, everybody's a certain percentage of the of the conversation. 00:12:28:23 - 00:12:53:00 Unknown No killer phrases like that'll never work or this is a dumb idea, right? Yeah. You know, why would you do that? You shut down conversation. Nobody wants to be told that. And so all of a sudden, the best ideas get lost because people kill the conversation like that. So the idea called the parking lot is a great rule to where we that's not in the scope of this meeting, but it could be a great future meeting. 00:12:53:00 - 00:13:14:05 Unknown Let's put that on the parking lot. Maybe we've got a big sheet of paper or something we can write that on. We don't to lose the idea, but it just doesn't really help us in what we're trying to accomplish right now. And one other thing that I think is really important is to assign minutes to someone. So is taking the notes and what was said and at what point and all those types of things. 00:13:14:07 - 00:13:38:23 Unknown But let's not talk that on the same person every time. I think it's important that we rotate that. And so that's not felt done somewhat. Yeah, that's great advice. And you talked about that meetings kind of carry over to actionable steps after the meeting. So how can follow up actions in accountability be established to ensure that meetings lead to great success for outcomes? 00:13:39:00 - 00:14:01:10 Unknown It's a great question, right? So I liked following up with the meeting on, you know, here are the minutes, here's what was discussed. And oh, by the way, here's your actions. PARTICIPANT Here's the what's in it for me from your perspective, I got to put myself in their shoes. Here's your action items, not just out what are the due dates. 00:14:01:12 - 00:14:22:24 Unknown And so that's really clear. And then of course, any next steps that need to be included and you could be having another meeting maybe didn't accomplish or as boss do in the 50 minutes they are. Instead of going over, I'd rather just call another meeting. And here's what we accomplished so far. Here's what we still need to. I think that's a lot more effective than people tuning out to. 00:14:23:04 - 00:15:00:16 Unknown This is still going on and becomes a just a time waster once again. So how about are there any particular cultural or organizational factors that can impact the effectiveness of meetings and how can you really address those? That's a really good question because it really is cultural. I go to some organizations where if you're if you're not 15 minutes early, you're late, and then they go to others where like the meeting was also started 15 minutes ago, it's somebody still walking in and everyone else having side conversations as if this is normal. 00:15:00:16 - 00:15:20:12 Unknown And so we better set the ground rules right and work within your culture. You can always work to shape it, right. Really hard to change your culture. We could do that over time and set the ground rules upfront, right? That when we're in the meetings that I facilitate on time means on time. Yeah, I expect you to be here. 00:15:20:14 - 00:15:44:08 Unknown And this is what I did want and what concept. We will get this done on a timer ahead of time. Yeah. Instead of going way over because we didn't even start at the appropriate. Yeah. That's funny that you bring up being late or being early because I feel like, you know, the people who, oh, I can be 10 minutes late or I got to be here 30 minutes early or that's just kind of fun. 00:15:44:10 - 00:16:10:02 Unknown But as we wrap up here, what is one key takeaway that you want to share to make your meetings the most effective and efficient as possible? All right. Well, points. Good question. Hard. I come prepared, come prepared. Be ready to speak up, have an open mind, and really be thinking about what is the best way to accomplish what we're trying to do. 00:16:10:04 - 00:16:30:16 Unknown If I can, if if I can give you just my favorite way to brainstorm, since we're talking about meetings of one huge tip, it's a very boring name. It's called the nominal group technique. So you would agree with that. But but you'd say the best way to brainstorm it ever. Funny. Have you ever been in a meeting where it's supposed to be a brainstorm is more like a drizzle? 00:16:30:17 - 00:16:56:11 Unknown Yes. Not even close to a star. Was not even a light brain. Right. And what the what this is, is everybody gets a silent voice. What? You have a group of people, let's say there's eight people in the meeting. Everybody takes a turn. I give people 2 minutes to write every answer they can come up with. Oh, two, whatever the question that we're trying to solve, whatever, whatever the issue is, no talking and then no judge. 00:16:56:13 - 00:17:11:24 Unknown And I get people out of these meetings. I give people one. Mulligan Right. You know, Well, that'll never work. That's zero again. You do that again, you're out of here. And I've kicked people out because they just can't help it, those killer phrases. But can we can we take turn? So we come back from the 2 minutes. Absolute silence. 00:17:12:01 - 00:17:29:00 Unknown Some people are writing stuff right away, so that person that had a real brainstorm would just shout it out. It still could do that great person that needs time to process. Yeah. Has all this time to think about it? It 90 seconds might go by, but then that last 30 seconds, they're writing all kinds of stuff. Yeah, we go around one at a time and every shares their ideas. 00:17:29:00 - 00:17:45:09 Unknown So you really are the most shy person in the group. Yes. Still gets you can to read off that line up. You don't have to make eye contact deep in with anybody if you're comfortable with that. And we capture all these ideas and I think the best practices to go around one more time. Yeah, they now have the ideas. 00:17:45:14 - 00:18:05:20 Unknown Two more minutes. We go around till everybody passes and I find we get the best ideas of that second round. And it may even be something that somebody said, That's a dumb idea. Yeah, but a piggyback on that. Maybe not so good idea could actually foster a terrific idea, you know, And then we can vote on what what we think are the. 00:18:06:00 - 00:18:24:00 Unknown The ideas that we go forward. Yeah, that's a great tip. I feel like I'm I'm a person who has to think and think before I can don't know, say say something or contribute. So that's a helpful way on how to still contribute, but gives me time to think about it and write down my answers and stuff like that. 00:18:24:00 - 00:18:44:02 Unknown Well, I've you know, I've had some brainstorms that were drizzles and I've had some that were actual triggered speakers. We use, Hey, like me. And it's awesome how well it works. Yeah. Okay. So now you've got everybody to kind of contribute their ideas, but what happens if you get too many ideas now? What? So yeah, that's. That's like the opposite probably. 00:18:44:02 - 00:19:01:05 Unknown Right. You go, It's a drizzle now you've got a hurricane, right? It's a great problem to have. I remember one time I asked my group, we came up with 101 ideas during a brain to brainstorm session with the nominal group technique we can't do even because to that right, we want to do maybe five of those things. Well, how do we pick? 00:19:01:09 - 00:19:22:03 Unknown Yeah, well, my favorite way to do that then is something we call multi voting and you could do 3 to 1 where your favorite idea gets three points. Use second to. I think it's much better to go five, three, one. The cream rises to the top, everybody, and you got to read the whole list. And you know, there's a ton of ideas that that's a lot to look at. 00:19:22:08 - 00:19:39:01 Unknown But your favorite idea gets five, your second three. And then just one point for the third and you don't vote for anything else. And then you see who got the most votes. And the cream really does rise. The pop. You might get two or three ideas and then you might do it one more time to pick the favorite idea. 00:19:39:03 - 00:19:58:20 Unknown But that really, really helps us narrow that down. And it's a really good tool to make that brainstorm really fruitful. Absolutely. So, you know, you've given us a lot of great meeting strategies and tips and advice, but is there anything else or am I saying, well, this is why I saved my favorite for last perfect. I call it the Ale rule. 00:19:58:24 - 00:20:22:12 Unknown So let me pour a drink while I'm telling you this early. Always leave early, even if it's only 10 seconds early. So tell me if I give you a shameless plug. Absolutely. I do a class on efficient, effective readings. It's not offered in our catalog. It's more of an on site that companies will bring me in, which I think is actually really effective. 00:20:22:12 - 00:20:45:16 Unknown Because like you asked before about the culture, I can tailor it to their culture. And then I even have other topics that were similar, like having efficient and effective emails and things like that. Maybe a featured topic for a 30 minute podcast, but really helping those things would be really effective and not just time wasters once again. So I'm well, Andy, thank you for all the great content and tips today. 00:20:45:18 - 00:21:10:11 Unknown I'm kind of pumped to go into my meetings today, but welcome to the show. We'd love to have you again and to our listeners, if you liked our chat in topic today, I'd urge you to comment. A new tip you learned on how to have effective and efficient meetings or comment. Anything that you want to add on to the conversation, don't forget to share that episode and consider joining MRA if you aren't a member already. 00:21:10:13 - 00:21:31:14 Unknown We have all the resources you need in the show notes below, as well as some great resources on our topic for today. All the right things for tuning in and we'll see you next week. And that wraps up our content for this episode. Be sure to reference the show notes where you can sign them to connect. For more podcast updates, check out other MRA episodes on your favorite podcast platform. 00:21:31:15 - 00:21:41:08 Unknown And as always, make sure to follow MRA's 30 minutes Thrive so you don't miss out. Thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next Wednesday to carry on the conversation.  

Episode Summary Brooke and Margaret recap the passed year of horrifying events, from climate collapse, to inflation economics, to developments with Covid, mass shooting, why the police continue to suck, culture wars, bodily autonomy, why capitalism ruins everything, as well as a glimpse of what could be coming this next year both hopeful and dreadful in This Year in the Apocalypse. Host Info Margaret can be found on twitter @magpiekilljoy or instagram at @margaretkilljoy. Brooke is just great and can be found at Strangers helping up keep our finances intact and on Twitter or Mastodon @ogemakweBrooke Publisher Info This show is published by Strangers in A Tangled Wilderness. We can be found at www.tangledwilderness.org, or on Twitter @TangledWild and Instagram @Tangled_Wilderness. You can support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/strangersinatangledwilderness. Next Episode Hopefully will come out Friday, Jan. 31st. Transcript This Year in the Apocalypse 2022 Brooke 00:15 Hello and welcome to Live Like the World is Dying, your podcast for what feels like the end times. I'm Brooke Jackson, your co-host for this episode, along with the indomitable Margaret killjoy. Margaret 00:27 Hiiii Brooke 00:28 We have something extra special for you. Hi, Margaret. You might be familiar with the monthly segment we started in 2022: This Month in the Apocalypse, and today we will take that into a sub segment: This Year in the Apocalypse. But, first we have to shout out to another member of the Channel Zero network of anarchists podcasts, but playing a little jingle from one of our comrades, Boo doo doo doo, doo doo. Brooke 01:18 And we're back. So, before I tell people about this extra special episode, I want to officially say "Hello," to my co host, Margaret. Hi, Margaret. Margaret 01:36 Hello, how are you? Brooke 01:38 I'm doing okay. How are you doing? Margaret 01:42 I'm doing terrible, and I'm not going to talk about it. Brooke 01:45 Okay, that's fair. That sounds like me most of the time. Okay, well, speaking of terrible, how did the last year treat you now that we've flipped the calendar? Is there anything you would like to say to the year 2022? Margaret 01:59 You know, it's fine. It's just the year 2020 part three. As far as the other parts of the year 2020, it's been...it was chiller, then parts one and two. Not from a climate point of view, but from a fascism point of view. Brooke 02:21 Oh, okay. That's a good point. Well, I feel like 2022 as with most years....Sorry. What, Margaret? Margaret 02:30 Everything's fine. Nothing bad happened. That's the end of the episode. Brooke 02:33 Always. Margaret 02:34 Everything's good. Brooke 02:35 Okay, cool. Well, this has been a fun recording. Yeah. Well, as with most years, in the last decade, I say, "Fuck you to 2022," and would like to burn it all down. So, we have that going for us. Margaret 02:51 Alright, fuck you, 2022. I do that when I leave a state. Brooke 02:58 You say, "Fuck you," to the State behind you? Margaret 02:59 Yeah, yeah. Brooke 03:01 Even even Oregon, even when you came to visit us out here? Margaret 03:05 Why would I? Why would Oregon be any different? Brooke 03:08 Because some of the people you love are in Oregon. Margaret 03:16 Whatever, fuck you too....I mean, many of the people I love were also in the year 2022. Brooke 03:21 Okay, all right. You got me. Margaret 03:24 Okay. Brooke 03:24 One point: Margaret , zero points: Brooke. Margaret 03:26 Yep, that's what I was saying. Brooke 03:27 Yeah. So. So, I was thinking about how we do this extra fun, special episode of This Year in the Apocalypse. And being typical Brooke, I was like, let's come up with a very orderly fashion in which to do this. I shall take all of the months and pick one thing per month, and we shall be organized. And spoiler alert for the audience. Margaret and I came up with separate lists. We haven't seen each other's lists. We don't know what each other shittiest things are. Margaret 03:53 Wait, I didn't pick the shittiest things. I just picked stuff. Brooke 03:56 Oh, damn, I pick the shitty stuff. Margaret 04:00 Okay, well, I tried to go with a little bit of, there's not a lot of hope in here. There's a little bit of hope in here. Brooke 04:08 It's funny, because when I was thinking about this, I was like, oh, Margaret should do the happy stuff, because Margaret does Cool People. And I can be the the Roberts Evans, everything's bastards side of the simulation. Margaret 04:20 Okay, well, it's a good thing we're figuring this out right now, on air. Brooke 04:23 Right? Margaret 04:24 Okay. So, we'll start with your month by month and then I'll interject? Margaret 04:28 That's fine. Brooke 04:28 Super fun. Yeah. And like a disclaimer on the month by month is that not all months were created equal. So, it's like, whatever the shittiest thing in one month, maybe, you know, way shittier than next month. That's annoying to like, try and compare them in that way. It was a silly way for me to do it, but.. here we are. Brooke 04:30 All right. flashing back 12 months to January, 2022: America hit a million COVID cases with Omicron surging, so Good job America. COVID ongoing and bad. Margaret 05:04 We're number one. Brooke 05:06 Yeah. The other the other real shitty, horrible thing in January was inflation, which technically was pretty crappy in 2021, as well. But we started feeling it more in January like that's when it started hitting and then was kind of ongoing throughout this year as businesses responded to the inflation, had to start raising prices and stuff. Well, had to...some had to, some chose to because they could get away with it. Margaret 05:34 Should I? I wrote down all the inflation numbers for the end of the year. Brooke 05:39 Yeah, baby. Margaret 05:41 The OECD, which stands for something something something, it's a group of 38 countries that sit around and talk about how great they are, or whatever economic something, something. You think I would have written it down. They do. They calculate inflation for their member countries, based on the Consumer Price index. It averaged. This is as of October, the report in December, talks about it as of October, it averaged about 10.7% overall inflation across these 38 countries in the last year. Food averaged at...I wrote down 6.1%. But, I actually think it was slightly higher than that. I think I typo-ed that. Brooke 06:22 In the US was closer to 8%. Margaret 06:26 Yeah, and then, okay. More developed nations saw this all a little bit lower the G7, which is the Group of Seven, it's the seven countries who have the elite cool kids club, and try and tell everyone what to do. Their overall inflation was 7.8%, as compared to the 10.7%. Inflation in the US actually tapered off most than most other countries, probably because we fuck everyone else over, but I couldn't specifically tell you. Inflation is a bit of a black box that even the people who know what inflation is don't really understand. And, energy inflation in general was the most brutal. Italy saw 70% energy inflation in the last year. It was 58%. In the UK, it was 17% in the US. So energy, inflation is actually outpacing even food inflation. And most of the food inflation, as we've talked about, at different times on this is caused by rising costs of fertilizer and like diesel and things like that. Yeah, that's what I got about inflation. There was a lot of it. It's technically tapering off a little bit in the United States. Just this moment. Brooke 07:41 Yeah, I was actually listening to a economics report about that yesterday about how it's tapering off a little bit. The extra shitty thing that happened in February, which added to the drastically increasing fuel prices and food prices, was that fucking Russia invaded Ukraine,and started bombing shit there. Margaret 08:04 Boo. Brooke 08:06 And that that might win as...if we're taking a poll here of all of the worst things that happened in the last year, I kind of feel like that, you know, that's got to be one of the top three. Margaret 08:16 It's, it's up there. Yeah. Even in terms of its effects on the rest of the world, even like, if you're like, on a, well, what do I care about what two European countries are doing? Because, but it affects the shit out of the global south. Ukraine in particular, and also Russia providing a very large percentage of the grain and wheat that goes to, especially Africa. So, yeah, a lot of the energy inflation in the rest of Europe is also a direct result of Russian imperialism. Brooke 08:47 Yeah, it's pretty...it's fucked up a lot of stuff. There was another shitty thing that happened before that happened in February, which is what the Olympics began. And you know, Boo the Olympics. Yeah. So then we then we moved into March and there was this thing called COVID. And then there was this bad inflation happening and then this war over in Ukraine, but then we also, in Florida decided to pass a bill, the nicknamed 'Don't Say Gay' bill. Margaret 09:18 Yeah. I can't believe that was less than a year ago. That was like eight culture wars ago. Brooke 09:26 I know, because I got some of the other ones coming up here. And it was like, oh, fuck, that's still a thing. And then moving into April, so, there was like this war going on, and inflation was bad, and people were dying of this pandemic that we were living in, and then also, the Johnny Depp vs Amber Heard trial began. And that might not seem like one of the shittiest things, but for like anyone who's been a survivor of domestic violence, and the way that trial it seemed like you know, every social media platform like you were getting like ads for it. Right? I know, other people talked about this, like everyone was seeing all these ads for news reports on it. It was like way at the top of the list. And, you know, again, domestic abuse survivor, like, I don't, I don't need to be reminded about, you know, this awful ongoing domestic abuse trial. Margaret 10:19 Yeah, yeah, that was, um, I like try to avoid everything that has to do with celebrities, but realizing how much that that like, ties into, I don't know, how we all talk about all of this shit. I have nothing really clever to say besides like, oh, my God, it's so fucked up. And I don't trust mainstream discourse around any of it. Yeah, Brooke 10:39 For sure. We also saw because of climate issues, Lake Mead was dropping to dangerously low levels, starting all the way in April. And I feel like we could have done this whole episode on climate catastrophes that happened in the last year, like This Year in the Apocalypse could have just been climate change. It was a lot. Margaret 11:00 Yes, well, fortunately that will start overriding everything else over the next couple of years. So, you know....One or the other just to Lake thing on my note, Lake Powell, which provides power to 4.5 million people could reach minimum power pool status by July [2023]. So that's a that's an upcoming thing to look forward to. Brooke 11:29 Yay, for the year ahead. Yeah, I don't even know what the status of Lake Mead is right now. I'm sure it's not doing great. And we'll probably start hearing about it again in the spring as it's at dangerously low levels, find more bodies and boats and whatever else. Margaret 11:46 And they're both. Both are on the Colorado River. Yeah, they're both on the Colorado River. Brooke 11:51 Yeah. And if you're not familiar with why Lake Mead matters, John Oliver actually did a really good piece on it on his show that talks about the water rights and stuff. I think it was John Oliver. Maybe it was John Stewart. Margaret 12:07 And if you want to read a terrible...a very good, although misogynist dystopia about what's coming in terms of water rights, there's a book called "The Water Knife" by Paulo [Bacigalupi], whose name last name I don't know how to pronounce. It's an Italian name. I think yeah, Brooke 12:21 I actually have that on my to-read-shelf. Margaret 12:23 Yeah, it's, um, that man should not be allowed to write sex worker characters ever again. Brooke 12:29 Thank you for the notice there on what to expect on that aspect. Margaret 12:34 But other than that, other than that, it's very interesting book. Brooke 12:40 Okay. May brought us a couple of big bad shootings, which is, you know, not again, not to diminish any other school shootings or shootings that happened or the fact that they're going on, you know, all the time in schools, but they were the ones that like, hit the news, really big. There was the Buffalo, New York supermarket shooting that happened. And then the towards the end of the month was that just God awful Robb Elementary School shooting in Texas, that I don't know how everyone else experienced it. But I, as a parent, you know, whose child who's only slightly older than that. It was absolutely horrifying for me and enraging, and I had a lot of feelings about it. And you know, school shootings are always hard to see, but that one in particular... Margaret 13:29 This is the coward cops one, where they kept parents out who were the parents who were trying to like save kids? Brooke 13:33 Yeah, for like 72 minutes or something like that, more than that they were outside the door where the guy was actively shooting on children. Margaret 13:41 This is...the character of American law enforcement was laid bare on that day, is how I feel. I mean, I have many feelings on all of it, but... Brooke 13:53 And that was in Uvalde, Texas, where they have two separate police systems. There is a police system just for the schools there in addition to the town's police. Margaret 14:07 There was that, uh, there was that lawsuit 10,15,20 years ago, something, where a man who was like, I think it was someone who's like stabbing people on the train, you know, just like, just just doing that thing. And, and a man stopped him, stopped the stabby guy while the cops cowered in behind, like they went into, like the driver's compartment of the train, and they just hid from the stabby guy. And the the guy stopped the stabby guy sued...I might have the details of this wrong. Sued and was like, the police have a duty to protect people. And it came back, the judge is like, "Actually they don't, it is literally not the jobs. The police's job is not to protect you. That is not their job." And, the sooner we all realize that the safer we'll be, because the more people will realize that safety is something that we're going to have to build without the infrastructure that pretends to offer a safety, but absolutely does not. And legally is not required to. Brooke 14:21 Yeah, I didn't know all the backstory of that. But, I know that that one went to the Supreme Court. And that became, you know, the national standard, because I remember reading about that part of it that, yeah, they don't, they don't have they don't have a duty to protect. Margaret 15:27 I think it was the stabby guy on the train. But I, you know, I'm not like a classic thing rememberer, it's not like my skill set. I didn't put my points in character creation in memory. Brooke 15:41 Well important thing there is was the the outcome of that. The other big bad shooting I remember making the news pretty loudly this year was also the Highland Park Parade shooting that actually happened in July. So that was a couple of months later. But yeah, good times. Guns. Margaret 15:58 Hurray. [sadly] Brooke 15:59 All right. So, we moved into June. And a couple of things are going on, on the global stage. Flooding began in Pakistan. And that flooding continued for a couple of months. We talked about this on one of our This Month, episodes, and even to right now, there is still flooding. And that flooding that did occur, you know, has displaced 1000s, if not millions of people. And it's really, really fucked things up and continues to fuck things up in Pakistan. Margaret 16:25 And I would say that flooding in general, is one of the things that we're seeing more and more of all over the world. And it's one of the things that like...I think a lot of people and maybe I'm just projecting, but you know, I grew up thinking of floods as sort of a distant thing. And then actually where I lived, most recently, we all had to leave because of constant flooding as climate changed. And I think that floods need to be something....It's the opposite of quicksand. When you're a kid you think about quicksand is like this thing to like, worry about, and then you grow up and realize that like quicksand is like not...don't worry about quicksand. That's not part of your threat modeling. And, so I think that flooding is something that whether or not it was on something that you were really worried about, wherever you live, it is something that you should pay attention to. It's not like, a run out and worry, right. But, it's a thing to be like more aware of, you know, there was recent...New Years in San Francisco and Oakland, there was really bad flooding. And then again, a couple of days later, might still be going on by the time people listen to this, but I'm not actually sure. And you know, there's the footage of people running out with like boogie boards or surfboards or whatever into the streets and, and playing in the flood. And, I'm not actually going to sit here on my high horse and tell people to never go into floodwater, you shouldn't, it is not a thing you should do, but it is a thing that people do. But I think people don't recognize fast moving currents, how dangerous they are, just how dangerous floods are, no matter how they look. And, if there's more than a foot of water, don't drive through it. Brooke 17:58 Yeah, if you're not experienced with floods, those are things you wouldn't know. So I have, you know, you said, that wasn't a big thing in your childhood, but because of where I live, it you know, I don't know if this is true of all the Pacific Northwest, but certainly, in my town, flooding is a big concern, we''re right on a river, and when there was bad rainstorms back in 96', like most of downtown got flooded. I mean, I was I was a kid then. I was I was a youth. And that experience, you know, kind of informed some of my youth, you know, we had a lot of lessons learned about how to manage flooding, what you do and don't do inflooding. So that's something that's been in the forefront of my mind. And yeah, as I see other people dealing with flooding for the first time in the news, it's like, oh, no, no, you don't. No. That's bad. Don't do that. Don't go in those waters. But it's their first time. They wouldn't know. Margaret 18:53 Yeah. Unless you were like, directly saving something or someone, especially someone, and then even then you have to know what you're doing. You know, they're a bigger deal, even smaller ones are a bigger deal than you realize, I guess is the thing to say about floods. Anyway, so Okay, so where are we at? Brooke 19:10 We're still in June, because there was, you know, in addition to the inflation, and the flooding, and the heat waves, and the war going on, and people dying of a pandemic, this little thing happened in the US where the Supreme Court's overturned a little a little old law called Roe v. Wade. Margaret 19:29 That was about two different ways of interacting with water? [joking] Brooke 19:33 Yes, exactly. Ties, ties, right and flooding there. Yeah. It was just a minor... Margaret 19:39 Yeah, that's my joke about people losing their capacity to control their own bodies. Just a little light hearted joke. Very appropriate. Brooke 19:48 As a person with a uterus, I genuinely can't...i can't joke about that one. Like, it's just too close to home. Margaret 19:54 Yeah, fair enough. I'm sorry. Brooke 19:57 No, it's I'm glad that you are, because it is good to laugh about these things that are actually very upsetting. It's how, it's part of our, you know, grieving process, how we deal with it as being able to laugh a little bit. Margaret 20:08 Yeah. Yeah, although and then, you know, okay, so we've had this like, fight, you know, America's polarizing really hard about a lot of very specific issues: people's ability to control the reproductive systems being a very major, one people's ability to control their hormonal systems and the way they present being another one, I'm sure I'll talk about that more. And, you know, the, the weirdly positive thing that happened this week that I started writing notes about, but didn't finish, is about how there's now...they're changing the laws about how the accessibility of abortion pills and so that they're going to be available in more types of stores for more people in the near future. This will not affect people who are in abortion ban states. So it's this polarization, it's becoming easier to access reproductive health and control in some states, and it's becoming harder and illegal to access it in other states. My other like, positive...It's not even a positive spin. It's the glint of light in the darkness is that abortion was illegal for a very long time in the United States, and people did it, and had access to it and not as well, and it is better when it is legal. Absolutely. But underground clinics existed. And people did a lot of work to maintain reproductive health. And now we have access to such better and safer tools for reproductive health, whether you know, it's access to abortion pills, or just everything about reproductive health has...we know a lot more about it as a society than at least medical and Western, you know, methods of abortion. We know a lot more about than we did a couple decades ago. And then, the other big thing that I keep thinking about...so there was the Jane Collective, right, in the US is I'm just like moving into history mode. Is that annoying? Brooke 22:06 Go for it. Margaret 22:07 Teah. It's my other fucking podcast, all history and so like there's the Jane Collective in the US. And they were really fucking cool. And they provided all these abortions to people in Chicago, and they actually pioneered a lot of methods of abortion and pushed forward a lot of important shit, right? In the 1920s, in Germany, anarchists ran more than 200 abortion clinics. Basically, if you wanted an abortion in 1920s, Germany, you went to the syndicalists, you went to the anarcho syndicalists. And because they sat there, and they were like, "Oh, a large amount of crime needs to be done on an organized fashion. And what is anarcho syndicalism? But a way to organize crime?" In this case, usually it's like class war against bosses and illegal strikes and stuff. But, "How do we organize that on a large scale?" And the anarchists were the ones who had the answer answers to, 'How do you organize crime on a large scale,' and I want to know more about that information. I haven't found that much about it in English yet. But, that kind of thing gives me hope. It gives me hope that we can, it's better when it is legal, I'm not being like, this is great, you know, it's fucked up, but we can do this. And, you know, on this very podcast, if you listen to one of the Three Thieves, Four Thieves? Some Number of Thieves Vinegar Collective, Margaret, famous remember of details, they they talk about their work, developing reverse engineering or making accessible, different abortion drugs and how to basically like, create them, and get them to where they need to be, regardless of the legality of those things. But, you might have more to say about this, too. I just wanted to go into history mode. Brooke 23:50 No, I I liked that. And yeah, you did those episodes in a few different ways about it that are super important. I mean, I don't think I need to rehash why Roe is so important. We we know that, you know, and it's not just about reproductive rights for people with uteruses, either. It's about the trends towards you know, bodily autonomy and regulation of bodies. And you know, what that signals as well, it's an issue for everybody. Margaret 24:17 Yeah. And remember, like at the very beginning, some people were like, they might be coming for birth control next, and everyone's like, Nah, they're not coming for birth control. And now you can see the same, the same right wing people who are like, "We should probably just kill the gay people." They like say it and city council meetings. They're also being like, "And birth control on my right, like, fuck that thing?" Brooke 24:36 Yeah. Frustrating. Margaret 24:39 Yeah. Get it out of someone's cold dead hands. Brooke 24:45 Yeah, this is one of those things where the months don't necessarily compare. Yeah. Margaret 24:49 There's that meme....Go ahead. I'm sorry. No, go. Brooke 24:52 We...you know there were historic heat waves going on. Continued flooding and droughts. And all kinds of climate nastiness. And then in, in Tariff Island, we saw a whole bunch of British officials resign, and then Boris Johnson resigning, which, you know, fuck the government and all of those kinds of things, and fuck that guy. But, it did also lead into this, what has been kind of a lot of turmoil in the UK as they've gone through now a couple of different prime ministers and just like, you know, just the the, the sign of the crumbles of how just overwhelmingly corrupt political leaders are, you know, at this point in so called, you know, democratic and stable democracies, that, you know, they're falling apart too. Margaret 25:39 Now, that's a good point. Um, what year did that lady I didn't like die? What day? What month? Queen? Brooke 25:48 I didn't put down the month because that's a happy thing that happened, not a shitty thing. Margaret 25:51 I know. Remember positive things about 2022. And like, stadiums full of like, Irish folks being like, "Lizzie's in a box. Lizzie's in a box." There's like some positive things. Brooke 26:08 I might rewatch some of those after this, just for a little pick me up. Margaret 26:11 Yeah. The people dancing in front of the palace, anyway. Yeah. I don't like colonialism or monarchy. I don't know if anyone knew this about me. Brooke 26:20 Yeah. No, same. I've been trying to explain to my kid about why Queen Elizabeth was bad. And she's having a hard time. Because, you know, children and fantasies and stories and kings and queens, and blah, blah, blah. Margaret 26:32 Yeah. Which is the fucking problem. Brooke 26:34 Yeah, a similar kind of thing happened in August in terms of like, you know, unstable, so supposedly stable governments, in that the the FBI had to raid Mar-a-Lago and Trump which, again, fuck Trump and the FBI and the federal government and all of that, but as a sign of, you know, our democracies actually not being very sound, and how just grossly corrupt politicians are and stuff, the only way they could get back a bunch of confidential documents and like, nuclear related stuff was to fucking invade a former president. Yeah. Also in August Yeah. monkeypox started hitting the news, which of course, speaking of culture was, right, that led into a whole bunch of stuff about, you know, a bunch of anti-gay stuff and reminders of what the AIDS epidemic was like, and just a whole bunch of fucking nonsense up in the news because of that. Margaret 27:32 God, I barely remember that. Brooke 27:34 Right, I think we did it on an episode, a This Month episode. Margaret 27:38 I mean, I remember it now. It's just there's so much. There's so much. Yeah. Yeah. Brooke 27:44 So September brought us protests starting to erupt in Iran. Finally. There was a woman, Masha Amini, who was arrested, you know, they had been doing caravans, were doing these crackdowns and the morality police and stuff. And so that was the start of a bunch of turmoil there that went on for at least three months. It's finally settled down some last month. But that was going on, and then also towards the end of the month hurricane Ian hit in Florida. So, not to make it all about the climate. But again, historic hurricanes and flooding and stuff. Margaret 28:19 Yeah. And these things are related to each other. I mean, like, as you have global insecurity caused by climate, it's going to show all of the cracks in the systems and like, it's hard, because it's like, overall, you know, I see the the attempted revolution, the uprising in Iran is an incredibly positive thing and like reminder of the beauty of the human spirit. And also, like, what happened, the end result of that, that, I don't even want to say, 'end result,' though, right? Because like, every social struggle is going to ebb and flow. And, our action is going to cause reaction. And you know, and whenever people have uprisings, they remember power. They also remember fear, right? And the system is hoping that people remember fear. And the people are hoping that they remember power, you know, and, and it seems impossible to predict which uprisings will lead to fear and which ones will lead to power in terms of even when they're crushed, right? Whether that is the fertile soil for the next rising or whether it you know, has salted the earth to try and keep my metaphor consistent. Brooke 29:43 Nah, mixed metaphors the best. Okay, yeah, it's not a bad thing that people were protesting against what was going on there. It's it's awful that they had to get to that point that the morality police were so bad that they had to start protesting and ongoing conflict and unrest in the Middle East, never ending. Margaret 30:06 And I want to know more. I haven't done enough research on this yet, but another like hopeful thing about, you know, sort of global feminist, radical politics, there's been a recent movement of men in Afghanistan, who are walking out of exams and walking out of different positions that only men are allowed to hold, you know, in schools and things like that, in protest of the fact that of women's disinclusion. Brooke 30:33 Okay, I hadn't heard anything about that. So that's, yeah, We'll have to add that to a This Month, because I want to know more about that too. That sounds really positive. Margaret 30:40 Yeah. Yeah. And I don't know whether it's, you know, happened three times, and it's caught headlines each time or I don't know enough about it to talk about it as a movement. But it matters. That kind of stuff matters. And yeah, it's hopeful. Brooke 30:57 Well, we moved into October and the fall season, and y'all might remember this little one, some South African asshole named Elon Musk, Mosh, Mosk, whatever that guy's name is, Margaret 31:10 He's named after the rodent, the muskrat. Brooke 31:13 Okay, that'll be easy to remember. That guy officially took over at the only social media platform that I don't mostly hate, which is Twitter. A lot of his fucked-up-ness...Nah, he did some of that the first week, that was still in October. And then definitely more came after that. But, he's destroying the microblogging site that we all love so much. Margaret 31:36 Yeah, I will say, my favorite meme that come out of that was basically like, you know what, I've decided that I am okay with Elon Musk being in charge of the exodus of all the rich people to Mars. [Laughs] Brooke 31:50 Yes, winning. Do that quickly. Margaret 31:53 Yeah. He'll fuck it up. Like he fucks everything up. You've seen Glass Onion? Brooke 31:58 Yes, I did. Margaret 32:00 I don't want to like spoil it for people. But, I'll just say that movie did a really good job of pointing out that Elon Musk is just a fucking...is not an intelligent person, is not doing genius things. And it was pointed out really well. Brooke 32:15 Can I point out something embarrassing? Margaret 32:17 Absolutely, it's just you and I here. Brooke 32:21 No one will ever know. I didn't realize when I watched it that that guy was supposed to be a parody of like Elon Musk specifically. I thought it was just like generic, you know, rich people are terrible. And then it wasn't till like after I watched it, and everyone else started watching it and commenting that it was Musk and I was like, "Oh, damn, obviously it is." Margaret 32:42 Yeah, it's the like, the car thing and the space thing are the main nods. I mean, it's at the same time. It could be Bezos it could be any fucking, like tech billionaire asshole. But I think it was, I think it was intentionally Musk. Brooke 32:56 Yeah, I've got to rewatch it with that in mind. I was too busy going, "Oh, it's that guy. It's that actor or actress. Someone I know that person. Enjoy the characters. Yeah. That was a thing that happened in December, but we haven't done November, so November, Powerball made some poor asshole into a billionaire. So I feel bad for that guy. Yeah. So the Powerball, nobody had won it for like three months, and the pot got up to like $2 billion. And a single a single person had the winning ticket when it was finally pulled. Which, if they take the cash payout, which I think most people do, it's actually only $1 billion. And then, probably the government takes that. So you're only half a billionaire, probably by the time all is said and done. But still, that's, you know, what a way to fuck up the rest of your existence by suddenly having that much money. Margaret 33:51 I'm like, I'd take a shot. Brooke 33:56 I like to think, you know, I have this list of all these nice things that I would do and people I would support and love, but the evidence bears out that anyone who's ever won something like that doesn't make all the great choices. Margaret 34:09 No, no. Okay. Yeah, I think you need to have a council of people who direct...I think that any anarchist who's like, possibly going to end up rich, like, whether through inheritance or becoming the next Stephen King or whatever needs to, like, seriously consider how the dealing with that money should be a collective effort and not an individual effort. Anyway. Brooke 34:35 I agree. Yeah. Margaret 34:36 I went through this when, at one point, I did not get...I did not become a millionaire. But, at one point, Hollywood was interested in one of my my books, and we had long conversations about it. I had conversations with the Hollywood director around it, about whether or not they would adapt a certain book of mine into a TV show. And it didn't work out in the end. But, I like sat there and mathed it out and was like, oh, if they make it TV show out of my book, I will become a millionaire. And like, what would that mean? And, and so that's when I started having these, like, which just totally the same as winning the Powerball and having a billion dollars, and also not just not my weird...I don't know, whatever. Now everyone knows this. Brooke 35:16 I don't think that's a unique thing. Yeah, so that happened in November. And that sucks. And it didn't make the news the way it should have. So I just wanted to highlight that horribleness. And then, also that orange clown douchebag potato that lives in Florida, said that he's going to run for president again. So, we have that to look forward to. But, then the third thing that happened, which isn't just isolated to November, but the World Cup started, and I have nothing against football, love football, the World Cup as a concept. Fine, but there are so many problems, much like the Olympics, with the way they do it. And what happens around all that. Margaret 36:00 Yeah, yeah, I love...I love that I should be able to like a lot of things. And then the way that they're done by our society precludes me from really deeply enjoying them. Brooke 36:10 Why do you have to take such a nice thing and ruing it. Margaret 36:13 All things. All things. You could name anything, and we could talk about how capitalism and fucking imperialism ruined it. Brooke 36:20 Yeah, pretty much. Down with those systems. Alright, so now we're finally getting into the end. You'll remember this one, because it was only like a month ago that there were some targeted attacks in North Carolina on power stations. 40,000 people without power for several days, in fact, it wasn't like a quick fix thing. They really fucked some shit up there. One that I didn't hear about, but that has some pretty big implications is that the country of Indonesia banned sex outside of marriage, even for foreigners living in their country, and stuff. Brooke 36:54 Yeah. So, I don't know if the ramifications for that are. I didn't dig deeper into like, what is the consequence of you doing that. But you know, Indonesia's massive. I mean, that populations huge. Margaret 36:54 I had no idea. Margaret 37:05 Yeah, Lousiana just banned, as of I think January 1, you're not allowed to access porn on the internet from Louisiana without showing a government ID to the website. Which, means that now everyone, basically they passed a law saying you have to install a VPN in order to access porn in Louisiana. Brooke 37:27 That's madness. Margaret 37:29 Yeah, and it fucks up sex workers, right? Like any of this stuff, any of this bullshit, it always just fucks sex workers. Brooke 37:39 Yeah, they become the victims of the law, even though they're not, they're not the bad guys here. And in porn, they're never the bad guys, Pro sex workers. My last horrible thing that happened in December was that China decided to just completely give up on all of its COVID protocols that it spent the whole year continuing to be super restrictive, and have lock downs and all of that. And then all of a sudden, it's just like, "No, we're not gonna do any of that anymore." Oh, just a great way to change policy is just to stop completely all of a sudden. Yeah. Margaret 38:15 I just think it's really funny, because it's like, what? Sometimes people like really talk about how they want like a multipolar world where there's like, it's like what people use to defend the USSR, right, is that they're like, well, at least, there was someone competing with the US or whatever. But, when I think about COVID response, there was always like the US response, which was absolute dogshit. And then there was the Chinese response, which was like, too authoritarian and caused a lot of suffering and all of these things, but, was not a non response. And now, that one has fallen as well. And there's just like, I mean, there's more countries than the US and China. I'm reasonably sure. I couldn't promise. So, hurray, we're in it. We're just in it. That's...this is just COVID world now. It's COVID's world. We just live in it. Brooke 39:13 Yeah, exactly. So I think you had some, like bigger overarching trends of things that happened in 2022. Margaret 39:21 A lot of the stuff I have is a little bit like what we have to look forward to. Brooke 39:26 Oh, nice. Margaret 39:27 Just some like nice, light stuff. The National Farmers Union in the UK says that the UK is on the verge of a food crisis. Brooke 39:35 Great. Margaret 39:36 Yields of tomatoes and other crops, especially energy intensive ones like cucumbers and pears are at record lows. And there's already an egg shortage in the UK, and a lot of places where there were stores are rationing sales of eggs, you can only buy so many eggs at any given time. And, it's not because there's no chickens. It's that rising costs of production have convinced more and more farmers...it's a capitalism thing in this like really brutal way. It's the markets logic, right? If it costs too much to produce a thing, don't produce it. But, when the thing you do is produce food, there's some problems here. Brooke 40:13 Are there? Margaret 40:14 And I mean, I'm a vegan. And I got to admit, when I hear things like, they're cutting back beef production, because it costs too much. I'm like, that's good. That is good for animals. And that is good for the climate. However, that's not being replaced with more of other types of foods. So it's not necessarily good. Brooke 40:33 And if Casandra were here, and she has very restrictive things on what she can eat, because of her health, she would be jumping in to say, "But protein!" because she needs to be able to have access to that. Margaret 40:45 No, totally. And I'm not trying to, I'm not like specifically pushing for a vegan world. And I recognize that everyone's bodies are different, and have different needs around a lot of things. But, I do think that data shows fairly clearly that the level of animal agriculture that we do, especially in centralized ways, across the world is a major driver of climate change. And, it is a major driving of a lot of really bad stuff. It's just a very inefficient way to produce food for a large number of people. This is different at different scales. And I am not, I'm not specifically trying to advocate for...Yeah, I don't think a vegan world is a good or just idea. I think it is perfectly natural for people to eat animals. However, I think that there's both needless suffering that can be cut back and as well as like, just specifically from a climate change point of view. So... Brooke 41:39 I hear you. Margaret 41:39 That said, UK, dealing with egg shortage. Basically, farmers might stop selling milk because of production...that it cost so much to produce the milk. Not like, I'm sure there's still farmers who are going to produce milk. But, more and more farmers are stopping. Beet farmers are considering the same. There's also just literally about 7000 fewer registered food production companies in the UK than three years ago. Brooke 42:04 Wow. Margaret 42:05 Because at least in the UK, fertilizer costs have tripled since 2019. And diesel costs are up at about...both feed and diesel costs are up about 75% from what they were before. Shortages. The infant formula shortage might last until Spring according to one major formula producer. We very narrowly avoided a major disruption as a result of a diesel shortage in the United States recently. Basically, they like brought more diesel plants...I don't know the word here, refineries? Refineries, like online kind of at the last minute, like because there was going to be like really major disruptions in the way that we move food and other things around the United States because of diesel shortages. Let's see what else... Brooke 43:00 Have...I'm super curious here, have food shortages in the UK ever caused problems of any kind? It seems like that's not a big deal. Like they're...they can deal with that. Right? That hasn't killed anyone, right? Margaret 43:10 Ireland's not part of the United Kingdom. [laughs] Yeah, yeah. No, it's okay. I mean, it's interesting, because like, modern farming has really changed the face of famine. Famine used to be a very common part of...I can actually only speak to this in a very limited context, it's like something that came up in my history research, like Napoleon, the middle one, or whatever. I can't remember. Probably the second, maybe the third I'm not sure. The Napoleon who like took over and like 1840...8? Someone is mad at me right now. In France, who modernized Paris and made it like, impossible to build barricades and shit. Brooke 43:52 We can FaceTime, Robert, real quick and find out. Margaret 43:55 Yeah, yeah, totally. And, but one of the things that he did, or rather, that happened under his reign as a part of 19th century development, is that famine had been a very major common regular part of French life. And it ceased to be, and famine is something that the modern world, developed parts of the modern world, have been better at minimizing as compared to like, some historical stuff. Obviously, a lot of this just gets pushed out into the developing world. And you know, famine is a very major part of a great number of other countries' existence. But, I think that people get really used to the idea that famine doesn't really happen. And it does, and it can again, and it's similar what you're talking about, like we have this like, kind of unshakable faith in our democracies. But, they are shakable they, they they shake. Brooke 43:56 They've been shooked. Margaret 44:48 Yeah, they're They are not stirred. They're shaken. Okay. Okay, so other stuff: Pfizer's currently working on an RSV vaccine. I consider that positive news. My news here is about a month old. It's been given the like, go ahead for further studies and shit and, and that's very promising because we're in the middle of a triple-demic or whatever. But there's actually been as a weird positive thing. I mean, obviously, we've learned that society does not know how to cope with pandemics. But, one thing is we have learned a lot more about a lot of health stuff as a result of this, you know, and the types of new vaccines that people are able to come up with now are very, they're very promising. And a fun news, as relates to the climate change thing that's happening, more and more Americans are moving to climate at risk areas. Specifically, people are leaving the Midwest. And they're moving to the Pacific Northwest and Florida. And these are two of the least climatically stable from a disaster point of view areas in the United States. Brooke 46:04 Okay. Margaret 46:05 Specifically, specifically because of wildfire in the Pacific Northwest, and hurricanes in Florida. Also earthquakes on the West Coast and things like that, but specifically wildfire. And also within those areas, a thing that causes...humans have been encroaching into less developed areas at a greater rate. And this is part of what causes, obviously the fires are getting worse out west as a result of climate change, but it's also the way in which new communities are developed out west that is causing some of the worst damages from fires. So yeah, everyone's moving to those places. That's not a good idea in mass. I'm not telling individuals who live in those places to leave. And there's actually, you know, the Pacific Northwest has some like stuff going on about fairly stable temperature wise, and for most climate models, but this is part of why disasters are impacting more and more Americans as people are leaving the places to move to places where it's greater risk. Yeah, there's this map, just showing where people are leaving and where people are going to. And it's actually, there are other places that people are going to that would have surprised me like, Georgia, North Carolina, parts of Tennessee, like kind of like Southern Appalachian kind of areas, like more and more people are moving towards, and more and more people are leaving upstate New York, which really surprised me. But, and more people are leaving North Texas and moving to Southeast Texas, or like the general eastern part of Texas is growing very rapidly. Okay, what else have I got? Taiwan has set up a set group called the Doomsday Preppers Association, which is just sick, because it's called the Doomsday Preppers Association. And it's like, not a wing nut thing. And they have a wing nut name which rules, I'm all for it. There's about 10,000 people or so who are organizing together to prepare for natural disasters, and also to prepare for the potential invasion from China. Which, China's back to threatening to, to do that. And it's but, it's like people just like getting together to like, build networks, learn radios, and just like, be preppers, but in a, like, normalized way, and it's fucking cool. And, I'd love to see it here. Okay. What else? I don't have too many notes left. Florida, is expected to have major wildfires starting in 2023 according to the National Interagency Fire Center report, as well as Georgia, New Mexico and Texas. I'm willing to bet that New Mexico and Texas in particular, and probably Georgia, that's probably...those are very big states with very different bio regions within them. And, so I couldn't point you, if you live in one of those places, you might want to look for the National Interagency Fire Center Report, and read more about it. Brooke 48:56 Speaking of moving, it's a great time to get the fuck out of Florida. With like, I could have done almost every month something just atrocious happened in Florida. Margaret 49:06 Yeah. And one of the things that, you know, we talked a little bit about the culture war stuff. One of the things that's happened in 2023, overall, is that we've started to see more political refugees from within the United States to the United States. We have seen a lot of trans families, or families of trans children, have had to leave states where their providing medical care for their children has become criminal. Obviously also with the end of Roe v. Wade, a lot of people have had to change which state they live in. Although, I don't like doing this like comparison thing, because it's just fucked for everyone, but you can you can vacation your way out of pregnancy. You know? Brooke 49:50 I don't know that I've heard it described that way, but... Margaret 49:54 But if you want to be a 13 year old on hormone blockers, or whatever that you need in order to stay safe, a lot of people are moving, and a lot of people can't move. And there's really complicated questions that we all have to ask ourselves right now about like, stay and go. And like, like stay and fight, versus get the fuck out. And everyone's gonna have to make those questions differently. Okay, another positive thing a weird, like positive tech thing... Brooke 50:20 Yay positive. Margaret 50:22 So like I own, and I recommend it to people who spend a lot of time off grid or out outside the range of cell service. I own like a Garmin satellite communicator, it's a little tiny device, it looks like a tiny walkie talkie. And it can talk to satellites. And I can like text from anywhere in the world, I can see the sky, whether or not I have cell service. And more importantly than that, I can send an SOS. And these are fairly expensive things, they cost a couple hundred dollars. And then you have to sign up for service. And they make sense for people who are like backpacking a lot or driving in areas where there's no, you know, service or whatever, right? New new phones, specifically the iPhone 14, I hate to be like, I'm not telling everyone to run out get new phone, but as a trend is very positive, that some new phones have this already built in. So you won't need to have a separate device. And I think that is a very positive thing from a prepper point of view, to have access to a way to communicate when cell service is not there. Yeah, that is really important. And I have one final thing and it's very positive. Brooke 51:29 Okay, I'm ready. Margaret 51:30 It's actually a double edged sword. On January 5, I'm cheating. This was in 2023. On January 5, 2023, this current year, like last week, yesterday, as we record this, two assholes in Bakersfield, California tried to set an Immigration Services Center on fire, like it was a center that like, um, I mean, ironically, it helped undocumented folks or like immigrant folks pay income taxes, and like helped people navigate the paperwork of being immigrants, you know, because there's actually something that people don't know, all these like, right wing pieces of shit, is that like, undocumented people, like, many of them pay taxes. I don't know. Whereas a lot of the people who like to talk all kinds of shit about undocumented people, don't pay taxes. Anyway, whatever. What were you gonna say? Sorry. Brooke 52:16 Oh, just this, that as an economist, as a group, undocumented people pay more into the system than they as a group take out of the system. Margaret 52:25 That makes a lot of sense. So, there's an Immigration Services Center. Two assholes, tried to set it on fire. They set themselves on fire, fled the scene on fire and left their cell phone at the scene. The reason it's double edged is, because one it sucks that people attack this and they actually did do damage to the center as well, mostly to some equipment used by someone who ran I believe a carwash out of that shared some space or whatever. But yeah, they like poured accelerant everywhere. And then a guy just like, knelt down over the pool of accelerant and like, lit it. And then just like, his, like, his leg was on fire. So, his friend ran over to help and like got caught on fire too. And then, they just both like, ran out of range of, because it's all caught on camera, you know? And fuck them. And I hope that their fucking wounds are horrible. And by the time you listen to this, they were probably caught because they left their fucking phone there. And fuck them. That's my light news. Brooke 53:36 I'll take it. Margaret 53:37 Okay, what are you excited for, looking forward? Go ahead. Sorry. Brooke 53:40 Well, hopefully more fascists are gonna light themselves on fire and other types of right wing assholes. I mean, I would be very happy about that happening in 2023 Margaret 53:48 Yeah. May this be the year of Nazis on fire. Brooke 53:54 Yes. Agreed. That would be lovely. I don't know about...I don't know if I have a lot of global stuff that I thought about being positive. I have. I have like personal stuff, like I am going to be doing...hosting more these podcast episodes. I've got one coming up. Maybe this month, we're releasing it? But I did it all by myself. Yeah, more lined up to come out in the next couple of months and some really cool topics and people that I get to chat with. So I'm stoked about that. Margaret 54:21 That is also something I'm excited about for 2023 is that this podcast is increasingly regular and it is because of the hard work of me...No, everyone else. Is the hard work of everyone else who works on this show are like really kind of taking the reins more and more and it is no longer, it's no longer the Margaret Killjoy Show and I'm very grateful and I believe you all will too. And if you're not grateful yet, you will be, because there'll be actual other voices, like ways of looking at things and and more of it because, you know, one person can only do so much. So I'm really grateful for that. Brooke 55:03 I'm excited about this book that's coming out next month, that... Margaret 55:06 Oh, yeah? Brooke 55:07 Some lady I know, wrote it. And, and I got to do some editing work on it. And, it's hilarious and the cover is gorgeous. Margaret 55:17 Is it called "Escape from Incel Island"? Brooke 55:19 Yeah, that one. Margaret 55:22 Is this my plugs moment? Brooke 55:24 Did you know If you preorder it right now, you can get a poster of that gorgeous cover that comes comes with the preordered one? Margaret 55:31 And, did you know that if you preorder it, I get a cut of the royalties when the book is released for all the preorders, which means that I can eat food. Brooke 55:43 Oh, we like it when you get food. Margaret 55:44 And I like having food. Yeah. So, if you go to tangledwilderness.org, you can preorder "Escape from Incel Island" and get a poster. And it's a fun adventure book. You can literally read it in a couple hours. It's very short. It's a novella. It's, to be frank, it's at the short end of novella. But that makes it good for short attention spans like mine. Brooke 56:08 Yeah, that's dope. I'm looking forward to that. And there'll be some other books coming out from that Strangers Collective one, one that I just started editing, that I don't know how much we're talking about it yet or not. Margaret 56:20 It's really cool. Brooke 56:20 So, I won't give too much away here, but just sucked me right in as I was editing, and it's cool. I'm so excited to read the rest of it. And then for us to release it. Margaret 56:29 Yeah. All right. Well, that's our Year in the Apocalypse, 2022 edition. And I know...wait, you're doing the closing part. Brooke 56:40 Yeah, sure. Margaret 56:41 I'm just the guest. Brooke 56:43 No, you're my co host. Margaret 56:45 Oh, I'm just the co host. Okay. Brooke 56:47 Yeah. Yeah. So I'm curious what other people think the worst things are that happened in 2022, if it's something that was on one of our lists, or something else that you know of, and reach out to us like on Twitter at tangledwild or Instagram, or you can reach out to me personally on Mastodon @ogemakwebrooke, if you can find me there. And the Collectiva Social, I think is my whatever, I don't remember how it works. But I'm yeah, I'm curious what other people would have to say is the worst which thing they want to vote for, if they have their own. So hit us up? Let us know. Margaret 57:22 Yeah, do it. Brooke 57:29 So, our listeners, we thank, we appreciate you listening. And if you enjoy this podcast, we would love it if you could give it a like or drop a comment or review or subscribe to us if you haven't already, because these things make the algorithms that rule our world offer our show to more people. The podcast is produced by the anarchist publishing collective Strangers in a Tangled Wilderness. Like I said, you can connect with us on Twitter, Instagram, or me personally on Mastodon, or through our website tangledwilderness.org. The work of Strangers is made possible by our Patreon supporters. Honestly, we couldn't do any of it without your help. If you want to become a supporter, check us out patreon.com/strangersInatangledwilderness. There are cool benefits for different support tiers. For instance, if you support the collective at $10 a month, one of your benefits is a 40% off coupon for everything we sell on our website, which includes the preorders for Margaret's new book, we'd like to give a specific shout out to some of our most supportive patreon supporters including Hoss dog, Miciaah, Chris, Sam, Kirk, Eleanor, Jenipher, Staro, Cat J., Chelsea, Dana, David, Nicole, Mikki, Paige, SJ, Shawn, Hunter, Theo, Boise Mutual Aid, Milica, paparouna, and Aly. Thanks so much. Find out more at https://live-like-the-world-is-dying.pinecast.co

Kennedy has been sick for a month so she regaled us with an amazing Carly Rae Jepsen parody called "It's Covid Baby!"

Kennedy has been sick for a month so she regaled us with an amazing Carly Rae Jepsen parody called "It's Covid Baby!"

Holidays and winter illnesses go hand in hand. Today on Post Reports, we unpack how to prevent the spread.As families face a “tripledemic” of highly contagious respiratory viruses, we turn to national health reporter Lena Sun to understand the latest on how to stay healthy this holiday season. From effective flu and covid vaccines to DIY air filters, we find out what she has learned to keep viruses at bay, as well as what happened when she pressed a leading health official about the current masking guidance. Coronavirus cases are on the rise again in many parts of the country, and this year's surge in flu is the worst in more than a decade. It's overwhelming hospitals and leaving many families out sick for weeks. Yet it's unlikely that mask mandates are coming back anytime soon. And while the uptake of covid booster shots is still very low nationwide, new studies have found that the updated versions can prevent serious illness and deaths, especially among older adults.

“I decided to start listening to my body instead of the doctor…”In preparation for her VBAC, Zoei found a wonderful midwife and a VBAC Link-trained doula. She did her research and stayed patient as her pregnancy carried on past 41 weeks. Once labor started, she was in it for the long haul. Unfortunately, a hospital shift change brought a new, unsupportive doctor who Zoei had never met. She felt the energy change. She recognized the fear tactics, but stood her ground.  You will find yourself both gasping and cheering with Zoei as you listen to her inspiring VBAC story! Zoei ends with her best tips on how to navigate labor when you unexpectedly find yourself under the care of an unsupportive provider. Additional linksThe VBAC Link Doula DirectoryThe VBAC Link Blog: How to Find a Truly Supportive ProviderThe VBAC Link Blog: Family-Centered CesareansHow to VBAC: The Ultimate Prep Course for ParentsFull transcriptNote: All transcripts are edited to correct grammar, false starts, and filler words. Meagan: Hello, Women of Strength. We are so excited to be with you today. I am hoping that it is Wednesday or maybe you're just listening all over and it's a Tuesday or a Saturday, but this is Wednesday and we are so excited to be back with you with another amazing story as usual. We have our friend, Zoei, today. She is from Washington and she is going to share her VBAC story with you. We're going to talk a little bit about unsupportive providers, so if you are finding yourself stuck in that spot of not having a supportive provider, stick around because we are going to be sharing some tips. She's even got a name to give you if you are in Washington, so hang tight and listen up for that. Review of the WeekMeagan: Before we dive into her amazing story, we are going to do, of course, a Review of the Week. This review is on Apple Podcasts and it says, “I got my VBAC. I am four days out from my VBAC. I told my husband today it was the greatest accomplishment of my life thus far. Thank you Julie and Meagan and all of the women of strength who have shared their stories. I cried so many times on my daily walks while listening to this podcast including the day before my TOLAC started. It was truly inspiring and one of my main resources in preparing for my VBAC and I will continue to listen to every new episode.”Well, this is from jmclane04, and thank you for your review. Congrats on your VBAC and I hope that you are still sticking around so you can hear your review today.Zoei's story Meagan: Okay, Zoei. Thank you so much for being here with us today. I can't wait to hear your story and how you navigated through working with a not-so-supportive provider.Zoei: Yeah, absolutely. I'm really excited to be here. Meagan: Well welcome, welcome. Dive right in. Zoei: All right. So when I had my son, he was ten days past due when I had him. He had been breech up until he was about 35 weeks. I had been really concerned about it actually because I know that breech can't run in the family, but my brother was breech, my mother was breech, her mom was breech and I didn't even know that that could happen. They were all breech so I was really concerned about it. I talked to my midwife and fortunately, my son flipped at about 39.5 weeks right before that cutoff where we would have to do something. Meagan: Oh yeah and kind of nerve-wracking. Zoei: Incredibly nerve-wracking because COVID was happening and we weren't sure what the hospital policies were. They were changing nonstop so I was really anxious about it. But thankfully, he did flip at 39.5 weeks. It was crazy because when he flipped, I actually got this feeling of dread. I was so worried that something bad was going to happen to him or me during birth. I just couldn't shake it. Whenever anything bad is going through my head, I usually just try to write it down to get it out, but every time I wrote it down, it would almost be a goodbye letter to my husband. Meagan: Oh. Zoei: I just could not shake it for the life of me which is crazy because I had complete faith in my body. I truly believe that our bodies are made to birth and that my body could do it, but I was just really afraid for the first time and it was the instant I found out he had flipped. So at 9 days past my due date, I woke up at 5:30 in the morning and I was getting this lower back pain pretty consistently and I was starting to go into labor. My husband hung out with me all day and we just were really chill for the whole day. By about 10:00 p.m., the midwife said that I was good to go into the birth center. My contractions were about two minutes apart, a minute each. But the thing was that even though I had been in labor that long and my contractions were so close together, I didn't feel like anything was changing or adjusting in my body if that makes sense. Meagan: Yeah. No, yeah. Totally. I mean, that's something that we talk about with our doula clients is that sometimes that pattern reflects really close to go-time, but that doesn't always mean that physically inside things are changing the way that you would think the pattern would show. Zoei: Yes. I had watched my best friend give an all-natural, unmedicated birth to her daughter and what I saw happening with her was not physically happening to me. I could think through each contraction and it just felt like the contractions were all that was happening. My son was still moving. He was doing good, but nothing was changing in my body which was kind of adding to my feeling that something was wrong. We get to the birth center at about midnight and my midwife checks me. I'm barely a centimeter dilated if that. Meagan: Mmm. Zoei: Yes. She's about to send me home. She's like, “You're a first-time mom. It happens. It's just one of those things.” She sits and watches me for a few contractions and she was like, “You know, I think I'm going to have you stay for a little bit if you're okay.” Absolutely. She has me lying in bed. My husband is behind me so I lay into him through each contraction. My midwife gave me these pills. I'm not quite sure what they were, but it was to ease any anxiety between each contraction. Meagan: Oh, I can see it because I have had a client that has been given them. Did you put it under your tongue?Zoei: Yes. Meagan: Yeah. Oh, what is it? I'm going to think about it. We'll come back, but I have had clients that have had that and it did help them. Zoei: Perfect. Yes. Yes, and it did. I was laying into my husband between each contraction and relaxed and then went through the next one. My midwife was telling me to vocalize between each contraction, but I didn't have an urge to do that. I didn't really need to which was another thing that just felt a little odd for birth.So it was midnight when that happened. At about 5:00 a.m., my midwife woke me up because I had actually fallen asleep. My contractions had basically stopped. So 24 hours after they started, they stopped all on their own. She asked if she could do a cervical check because she wanted to know what was going on. I agreed and she does a cervical check. The first thing she says is, “Wow, you're handling this really well,” because I guess some people get pain with cervical checks. But the instant she did it, I felt almost a relief of pressure inside.She finishes. I still haven't really dilated. She tells me that she thinks that my son is stuck behind my pelvis and she would like to transfer me to the hospital. As soon as she said that, I had this wave of relief like maybe I haven't been crazy this whole time. Meagan: Yeah. Zoei: We go to the hospital. We check-in. It's COVID, so there's not really anyone in the labor and delivery other than those needed. We honestly just had the best experience from there. My midwife met us at the hospital and she was like, “These are the options that we have for you. We're pretty sure he's stuck behind your pelvis.” We didn't know the gender at the time, so she was just saying, “The baby”. We had the option to do Pitocin to possibly jumpstart my contractions. She said, “It could push the baby into where he needs to be, but you can be in labor for up to three days or we can do a C-section.” I took a moment to talk to my husband. Hearing that Pitocin could push my baby into where he needed to be sounded so scary to me. I'm like, “I don't like to be pushed as an adult. I don't want to push my newborn and possibly hurt him.”So we decided to do a C-section. It was really amazing because I had a really hard time coming to that conclusion. The midwife came in and she asked how we were feeling. I started asking all of these questions about C-sections because I was stalling. I didn't want to say that I wanted a C-section because it felt like giving up.My midwife looks at me and says, “You have permission to have a C-section. It is okay if that is what you need to do. You've done everything you can.” I just started crying. It was just exactly what I needed to hear. Meagan: Because you felt relief? Yeah.Zoei: Yes. Yes. I needed to know that it was okay for me to do that. We were so lucky. I hadn't done any research on C-sections at all. Every single person that was going to be in my birth room took the time to come in and introduce themselves. They told me exactly what they were doing, and asked me what I wanted out of this birth. They offered me the clear drape. I didn't even know that was a thing, so I was incredibly fortunate. We get into the room for the C-section. They do the spinal tap. They bring my husband in afterward. I get really nauseous. The anesthesiologist is on top of it. He gives me medication to help with it. At this point, I was just so exhausted and everything felt fuzzy, but I was still there which was nice.They started to lift my son out of me and we didn't know the gender. They lifted him up and I just remember the umbilical cord was in the way, so we still didn't know if it was a boy or a girl. They moved the umbilical cord. We found out it was a boy and we were so excited. All of a sudden, everyone in the room was taking bets on how much he was going to way. They were like, “Oh my gosh, he's huge.” It was just such a lighthearted, wonderful thing. My son was 10 pounds, 1 ounce and it was just great. We were so excited. They put him on my chest and something that I'll never really forget though is that they put him on my chest and I couldn't even feel excited. I was just so exhausted and I had so many drugs running through my system. I looked at my husband and I asked him to take our son. I was like, “I'm just so tired.” My husband scooped him up on me. They finished sewing me up and they wheeled me back. I was sweating so much that they couldn't even stick anything on me. Everything was sliding off. I remember all of those small things. When it was time for me to get to bond with my son, I felt really protective of him but I wouldn't say that I had that immediate love for him. I would do anything for him. I would make sure he was okay. But everyone always talks about this overwhelming sense of love you have as soon as your baby is born. I just felt really protective over him and it took a little bit for that love to come in. But it did. I was able to breastfeed him and we had an amazing breastfeeding journey for about 20 months. When my son was about a year and a half, my husband and I decided to try for another baby. We got pregnant right away. At this point, we had moved to Wenatchee, Washington. As soon as we found out we were pregnant, my husband actually started calling the midwives and the birth centers. That's how we found out that they don't do VBACs here in Washington.I started doing a lot of research and I found an amazing provider. Her name is Bridget Kamen and she was the most amazing provider I could have found. Something else I wanted to add is that after I had my son, my midwife had come in and she was like, “You would be an amazing candidate for a VBAC.” My husband was like, “What's a VBAC?” He looked at me and asked. I thought it was a vacuum birth. I didn't know. That's how little I knew. Meagan: Vacuum, VBAC. I mean, V. Vacuum. Zoei: Yes. I just assumed that because my son was stuck, she was saying that in case the next one is, it could be a vacuum birth. Meagan: I could totally see how you would have related that. I really do. Zoei: I just had no idea. It's crazy that once you have a C-section, it's like a stamp. You are forever a VBAC or another C-section. I had no idea. But you don't know what you don't know. So back to being pregnant with my second, I found the most amazing provider and I knew right away that I would need support. I was so worried about a hospital because you hear those horror stories about how you just get pushed around and bullied in a hospital sometimes. Meagan: It can happen. Zoei: Yes. I don't think that's normal, but I know that it can happen and I didn't want to have to feel like I was fighting. So I messaged a couple of doulas. I met up with them and they weren't the right fit for me. Then I remembered that The VBAC Link has a full list of doulas that are certified through you guys and I really wanted someone that knew about VBAC. I went and looked at your list. There was a small handful in Washington, but one of them was in Wenatchee. I reached out. Her name is Christine Potter and she was amazing. The instant I met her, I knew that she was perfect. She was so warm and kind and supportive. I remember my son was just running around everywhere at this cafe where we met. She looks at me and she goes, “There's a park down the street. Do you want to walk there?” We started walking to the park and it was icy. I'm holding my son and I almost slip. She didn't even hesitate. She reached over, picked up my son out of my arms, and started walking with him instead. I knew right away that she was perfect. She preemptively helped with everything before I even realized that I needed help. Meagan: That's how it should be though. Zoei: Yes, yes. It was amazing. She saw my needs before even I realized that I needed them. She was like that throughout the entire pregnancy. I had a really normal pregnancy. With my first, I gained about 70 pounds, and then with this one, I gained about 50. I was walking. I was a lot more active. You can't sit around as much when you have a toddler. Around 36 weeks, my doctor and I sat down and were talking about what I'm looking for with my birth. She's like, “I know you said you don't want to be induced. What is that looking like for you?” I was like, “Well, I would really prefer not to be induced. I don't want Pitocin. I don't want an epidural. I'd really like for my body to do things as naturally as possible.” She was like, “Okay. If you change your mind, just let me know.” That was the whole conversation. It was amazing. Meagan: Yeah. Zoei: She knew that my son was 10 pounds, 1 ounce. Every now and then, she'd ask if this baby felt any larger. I was like, “I really couldn't even tell you. It's such a different pregnancy. I wouldn't know.” At about 36 weeks, every time I went in, the nurse that would check me in would ask me if I was ready for my cervical check. Each time, I would say, “No, thank you. No, thank you. No, thank you.” At 38 weeks, I decided to ask my doctor, “Hey. I've done my research, but is there really any reason for a cervical check that I should know about?” It was really nice because she was just really upfront and really honest. She was like, “No. There is honestly no reason for a cervical check unless you want a membrane sweep or if you are just interested in where your body is at. It doesn't make a difference and it doesn't do anything,” which was perfect. When I hit 39 weeks, my older sister came to stay with us. We don't have any family in the area, so she was here to be here until we had the baby to be able to watch our son. Over the next week up until my due date, we were walking every day. We were being really active and just trying to get the baby out. I hit 40 weeks and my husband and I sit down. We decided that at my next doctor's appointment, I would ask for a membrane sweep. I would do a cervical check, get the membrane sweep, and go from there. Because my son was so late, I just had it in my head that if I went past 41 weeks, it would hit that spot for me of starting to be more afraid of a VBAC and the reality of it. I didn't want to be thinking about a C-section while I was working so hard for this VBAC. At 41 weeks and 3 days, I go to my doctor's appointment to do a membrane sweep. I get there and the nurse is– it was really crazy because the nurse who had been asking if I wanted the cervical check each time was like, “I can't believe you're still pregnant. Are we planning your induction today? What are we doing?” I was like, “No, no, no. We're just going to do a cervical check. I don't want an induction.” So it's 2:00 in the afternoon. I'm three days past my due date. My doctor comes in. She does the cervical check and I'm not dilated at all. So they can't do the membrane sweep. At this point, it was almost again, a release like it was out of my hands. I felt conflicted about it. I wanted my body to do things naturally and on its own, but I was so worried about going past 41 weeks that we had decided to do a membrane sweep if it was possible, but because I wasn't dilated at all, it wasn't possible. It was just like, “Okay. It's out of my hands. I've done everything I can. Whatever happens at this point happens.” We leave the doctor's appointment and we go to the park with my son and my best friend and her kiddo, my sister, my husband, and we just spent the rest of the day really just enjoying the moment and getting to be outside and getting to be together. Between 5:00 and 6:00, I realized that I was getting a lot of Braxton Hicks. They were just still going and going. Usually, they taper off and die down. Around 7:00, I realized that they were still going. So I decided to start casually looking at my watch and seeing how far apart they are. They were about 5-7 minutes apart. After I realized that, I started timing them in between. They were about an hour, excuse me. They were about a minute each. So they were 5-7 minutes apart, a minute each, but they just felt like Braxton Hicks so I'm like, “Oh, my body is just doing its thing.” At about 10:00, it was still going. I stand up and my sister looks at me. My husband looks at me and I look down and my stomach has dropped. It is the lowest it has ever been because my son didn't drop. We were like, “Whoa. That's crazy.” I'm still thinking that this is just prodromal labor, Braxton Hicks. At about 10:00, I decided that I was going to go lay down. I lay down in bed and all of a sudden, they get so much stronger. I can't sleep through them. I'm really uncomfortable. At midnight, I decided to draw a bath. I'm like, “If this is prodromal labor, a bath should help it stop so I can get some sleep tonight.” As I'm drawing my bath, it wakes up my husband and he comes in. He sits next to me and I try and convince him to go back to sleep. I'm like, “This is nothing. It's just prodromal labor and if it's not, then you should still get some sleep before anything happens.”He's like, “No. I'm not leaving.” So he sat next to me and I have him text my doula and tell her that they are 5 minutes apart, about a minute each, but I am still not quite convinced that anything is happening. Probably within 15 minutes of being in the bath, my contractions go from 5-7 minutes down to 2 minutes apart, a minute each. I'm someone who always thought I would want this natural, beautiful water birth and I hated being in the water. I hated it. I wanted to move. I felt so trapped and I needed to be moving. Meagan: Isn't that funny how that works? You have this whole vision. I always envisioned giving birth in the tub and I gave birth on the bathroom floor. Zoei: It is. No, I just was like, “I need to move. I can't just sit in this water anymore.” My contractions within an hour went from 5 minutes apart down to 2 minutes apart, still a minute each, and it's all in my back. It was just really strong. My doula messages me and she is like, “Your contractions are pretty close together. Are you ready for some more support?” I say yes, so she comes over. At this point, my husband and I are in the living room. I'm on the birth ball. I'm moving. I'm using hip support during each contraction. I go and I wake up my sister. I'm like, “Hey, I think I'm actually in labor and I just want you to know that you are going to be here alone with our son soon.” So she comes out into the living room also to be a big support. My sister is almost like my mom. She is 9 years older, so she was always really great about being there for whatever I needed as well. My doula gets there probably at about 1:30. She starts doing some rebozo on me and starts having my husband do some rebozo on me. They try and do some counterpressure and again, I hate it. I'm like, “Don't touch me. I know you're trying to help me. Don't touch me.” At this point, they are still 2 minutes apart, a minute each and I'm getting really vocal. I didn't feel the need to get vocal with my son at all, but this one, I understood what my midwife was asking me to do the first time. I couldn't help it. They were these deep moans. I was getting really worried about waking up my son in the other room, so we decided to go to the hospital at 3:00 a.m. It's a little over 12 hours since I had been at the doctor and I hadn't been dilated at all. We get to the hospital. They check me in and I am maybe a centimeter dilated. I'm like, “Okay, well, almost exactly like what happened with my son, right?”Meagan: Yeah, but you were feeling further this time, right?Zoei: Yes, definitely. I could feel the changes in my body this time and I didn't feel the changes at all with my son. So I was like, “Things are happening now. I understand now. I see what was missing the first time.”We go ahead and they decide to check me in because my contractions are still so close together. They are consistently 2 minutes apart. The nurses look at my doula and they were like, “Hey, has it been back labor the whole time?” She says, “Yes.” So again, she knew right away what was happening and I wasn't sure, but my baby was OP. Her spine was to my spine. It was miserable. I had planned for unmedicated. I wanted to be able to move around. I wanted to be able to experience this birth, but more than anything, I wanted to be able to enjoy it. I told my husband, “I am not going to be able to enjoy this as long as I have this back labor. I need an epidural.” He was really supportive. He's like, “I want to make sure that you actually want this because you've talked so much about not wanting an epidural.” I was like, “It's so important for me to be able to look back and be excited about this birth and not look back and cringe about how much pain I was in the whole time.” It gets to be about 6:00 a.m. and I ask the nurse when I can have an epidural. They didn't check me again, so as far as they know, I'm still at 1 centimeter. They were like, “We will order one for you right now.” They were like, “The only thing we ask is that while you can still be up and moving around, have your doula do some more rebozo on you to try and flip the baby around.” I go and I sit on the toilet backward. Christine starts doing some rebozo trying to help flip the baby. Baby is just not having it. By 6:30, I have the epidural. It starts working immediately and I can feel my legs which was fantastic. It just numbed the pain which was great, but I could still move around in the bed with no issues at all. At 7:00 a.m., it was a shift change and that is when I met my new doctor. I hadn't had another cervical check since I had first been checked in and this doctor walks in at 7:30 and he introduces himself. He sits down, leans forward, and looks at me. At this point, I think he's only read my chart. The first thing he says is, “Do you want more kids?”Meagan: What?Zoei: Yeah. I was like, “We talk about having a third sometimes,” and he's just sitting there silent. I'm like, “Are you asking because of the C-section?” because he didn't say anything after that. He was like, “Yes I am.” I was like, “Okay, why are you asking that?” He was like, “Well, at this point, our fear is that the same exact thing is happening that happened with your first. You had such a large baby the first time and shoulder dystocia is such a tragic thing when it happens. With a VBAC, you can rupture and although it might not happen when it does, it is absolutely awful and tragic.” He's really laying it on. Meagan: So lots of fear. Lots of fear was poured out onto you. You are in a very vulnerable state already. Zoei: Yes. Yes. I was like, “I understand. I have done the research, but I really am looking forward to doing this VBAC.” He was like, “Okay, but why? Why do you even want to have birth naturally?” Meagan: Oh my gosh. Zoei: Right? At this point, my doula has also left. After I got the epidural, she asked if it was okay if she went home to sleep. I was like, “Absolutely. Go for it.” She had her phone on loud, so at this point, it was the doctor, me, and my husband. I'm like, “I want a VBAC because I have a two-year-old at home that I need to be able to go home and play with. It's really important to me because I wasn't mentally present when my son was born. I just felt really out of it and I really want to be mentally present for this baby.”He's like, “Okay, but I don't even think that your body is going to be able to progress past what it already is. You haven't done it before.” I was like, “Okay. I'm not concerned about what my body is able to do. If you would like to do a cervical check to see where I am, that is completely fine, but I am not worried about it.” He actually word-for-word says, “Okay. Well, I would like to see if your bony pelvis is even capable of birthing a child.” Meagan: Oh boy. And he has never touched you before? Or even seen you? Yeah.Zoei: No. First time meeting him. No. I have this huge blanket over me. He can't even see my pelvis for starters. Meagan: He's already diagnosing your pelvis as a bony pelvis. Zoei: Yes. Correct. Meagan: Okay. Zoei: He keeps trying to tell me about how he doesn't think I'm going to progress at all. It goes on for about 20 minutes before he has even checked me still and it gets to the point where I tell him, “Can you please do the cervical check? If I'm not dilated past the 1, we can keep talking about what you are talking about, but unless I or baby is in danger, I am planning on this VBAC.” He lets me know right then that baby being in danger is really subjective to what the doctor views as danger. Meagan: Oh! Okay. Zoei: I just said, “Can we please do the cervical check?” We do the cervical check and lo and behold, I'm 4 centimeters. Meagan: Woohoo!Zoei: Yes. It was funny because he was like, “That's interesting. When I started the cervical check, you were at a 1, but now you are at a 4. So he was saying that while he did it, I went from a 1 to a 4. I'm like, “I don't even know if that's possible, but whatever. You can see that my body is progressing.” Meagan: Yeah. Zoei: He gives the okay for me to continue. Or I guess he gives me his blessing to continue the VBAC because I was doing it one way or another. He leaves the room and my husband and I just sleep. We sleep until about noon which was when our doula came back. Around 2:00, the nurse comes in and asked if she could do a cervical check. I'm still only at a 4. Nothing has changed at all. But my contractions were still really consistently every 2 minutes apart because you could see it on the monitor. Baby's heart rate was great. They weren't worried. They just let me keep doing what my body wanted to. Oh, also, because I could move, every hour, I was changing positions with the peanut ball. I would be on my right side for an hour, then my left side for an hour, and I just kept going back and forth. So probably about 4:00, I decide that I want to see if gravity can help at all. My doula and my husband helped me get onto all fours on the bed and they start doing some rebozo work for me. She does it for a little bit, and then she shows my husband how to do it and he does it. I'm in that position for about an hour and then after that, we do the throne position for an hour. By then, I'm exhausted again. With an epidural, it's really easy to forget that your body is running a marathon. So while you're getting exhausted and you think that you're just sitting there–Meagan: You're not. Zoei: No. Your body is doing so much work. Meagan: Yep. Yep. Zoei: I'm exhausted and I decide to lie down for a little bit. The doctor comes in at about 6:00 and he checks me. I'm at a 7. After that, about every hour, the nurse would ask me if I wanted a cervical check. I kept declining because I could start to feel pressure in my pelvis and so I knew that we were getting closer, but I didn't want to do a cervical check and have them see that I was at a 10 and try and get me to start pushing because I really learned a lot listening to your podcast that just because you're at a 10 doesn't mean that you're ready to have the baby. I kept declining until I was feeling a lot of pressure between my bottom and my pelvis. I felt just a lot of pressure had built. At about 10:15, my nurse checks me and she says that I am at least at a 9, but she didn't want to check further than that because my water was bulging. It hadn't broken yet. I'm like, “Okay great. I'm going to go nap some more.” And then, I woke up at 11:15 to the doctor coming in. He has two other nurses with him. They walk in and the doctor wakes me up. He has me lay on my back and he says that we are about to get going. What I didn't know at this point was that my daughter's heart rate had been having these small drops. So at 11:15, they get everything all set up. It was funny because we had actually planned to have my husband catch the baby, so my doctor walks my husband through what that was going to look like. I'm on my back and he's like, “With this next contraction, I want you to bear down.” I did and my water broke. The doctor, at this point, looks at me. It's the same doctor as in the beginning and he says, “Okay. You can't feel your contractions so I'm going to tell you when to push.” I let him know that I actually can feel my contractions so I will be pushing on my own. Meagan: I was going to say, did he ask?Zoei: No, he kept telling me what was happening with my body. He kept not asking me. Meagan: Oh man. Zoei: I was like, “I will be doing this, thank you.” He was like, “Well, you can try.” This man has the audacity to turn around and start talking to a nurse during my next three contractions. Each one, I'm pushing. I'm not making any sounds, but I'm pushing. Meagan: Yeah. Zoei: He turns back to me and he's like, “Are you going to start pushing?” The nurse who was with me was like, “She's been pushing each time.” He looks at me. Again, hasn't even watched me through a contraction. He was like, “You are going to have to push a lot harder with each contraction if you want this baby out.” He continues with, “This baby is OP which means it's going to be a lot harder and a lot more work. It's going to be a lot more difficult. You're going to be pushing for hours so you are going to need to be prepared for that.” Oh, I was just completely just tuning him out at this point. He's not helping me. He's not mentally encouraging me. He's just telling me how hard it's going to be over and over again. He finally watches me push on the next one and he's like, “Oh, that wasn't bad.” Thank you. I'm aware. I'm still on my back and it feels so uncomfortable. I know I have the epidural and I'm feeling all of the pressure, but I do not want to be on my back. I look at him and I'm like, “Hey. I would like to move on to all fours. Is that okay?” He stops and looks at me. He says, “Well, I guess you can, but you're going to make it a lot harder for me and the nurse if you do that.” Meagan: Okay, well thank you for letting me know. Yeah. Sorry I am making it harder on you. Zoei: Yes. This is not your birth. This is my birth. Meagan: I'm pushing a baby out of my vagina right now. Zoei: Yep. So it's 11:15 and he sends the two nurses that he brought in away. It's me, my husband, my doula, the doctor, and the nurse that is assigned to me. I switch onto all fours and my baby's heart rate evens out. He's like, “Oh, it looks like the baby actually really likes that position.” So I'm pushing with each contraction, but again, I don't feel this need to push. I'm almost getting frustrated that I'm pushing because I don't want to be. Nothing in me is saying “push”. I know I've had the epidural and I know it can numb you, but at this point, it felt like my body had told me everything to do, so I don't know why I wasn't listening to it. I decided to start listening to my body instead of the doctors and I stop pushing. I'm on all fours and I just start swaying my hips back and forth. I do that for about three contractions and the nurse really kindly and really gently is like, “Hey, you're having a contraction.” I was like, “I know. I'm taking a break.”At midnight, the doctor walks over to the nurse, doesn't look at me, doesn't say anything and he says to the nurse, “Baby is still OP. This is going to take a while. I'm going to go do other things,” and he walks out. My first thought is, “Why am I pushing if he doesn't even think I'm going to have this baby anytime soon?”I turn and I say that to the nurse. She's like, “Well, it can just take a lot of time.” I was like, “I don't think I should be pushing, so I would like to just labor longer.” The nurse and my doula start talking about the best position to get me in to sit there and labor more. I'm still on all fours and I'm swaying my hips. I keep going into the resting child position and I can't stop moving. I feel so much pressure. I don't feel the need to push, but I can't stop moving. It feels almost like this tingling is happening. At 12:08, I go into the resting child position and I feel my daughter flip and go directly into my pelvis. Immediately, I knew I needed to push. Meagan: Whoa, that's amazing. Zoei: Yes, it was 8 minutes after the doctor left the room. She dropped so far down that I actually reached my hand down to see if I could feel her head because it was just so quick and sudden. I came back up and all I had was just some blood on my hand, but I was like, “It's about to happen.” I'm on all fours and all of a sudden, I start pooping. The nurse goes to clean me up and she sees the head start coming out. She runs over and presses a button and she calls anyone that is in the hallway. She runs back up to me and she is like, “You need to slow down.” The only thought I had was, “I'm not slowing down for anyone.” My doctor chose to leave. I am doing this. I go and it was absolutely amazing because I felt everything. It felt so natural and so right. Within two or three pushes, she was completely out. A nurse had run in and caught her. She was, as they put it, a little floppy when she was born, so they had to cut the umbilical cord pretty quick and bring her over to their little warming area and help her out for a minute. She didn't get immediately placed on my chest or anything, but that was totally fine. I was just so excited and so proud that I had done it. The doctor walks in five minutes later. And he's just like, “Wow, that happened really fast.” I had a second-degree tear. Again, you would think at this point that he would start asking me questions, but he was like, “You can't feel anything so I'm going to start stitching you.”I tell him again, “I can feel everything.” So he gives me a little bit of numbing but not enough to numb everything. But he finishes stitching me up. One of my really big fears was actually that I would feel an immediate love and connection to this baby when I didn't with my first. I was really worried about the guilt that would come with that. But for me, it was almost cool because I didn't feel that immediate love for this baby either. Not in a bad way, I felt so protective and I knew that she was mine, but you give birth to a little stranger, you know? That's not wrong. There's no issue with that because I still knew that I would do anything for her, super protective, but just like with my son, it just took a little bit for those love hormones to really hit me hard. That was my VBAC. It was amazing and I got to come home. I got to play with my son and I got to hold him. It was just exactly what I wanted it to be. Meagan: I love that. I love that. I hate when providers doubt, but I love when people prove providers wrong. It's so bad. Zoei: It was my favorite part. I'm not going to lie to you. Meagan: You know, that was one of the things right after I had my baby. I was like, “Yeah. I did that.” I said his name. I was like, “Yep. I did that.” In fact, I actually said, “Screw you.” Zoei: It was so funny. My doula took notes. Yes, exactly. My doula took notes through the entire birthing process to be able to give to me later and when the doctor left the room, she actually wrote a specific note saying, “So glad he left. He was not bringing any good energy.” And then after I gave birth to my daughter, she wrote a note saying, “Gave birth. Doing amazing. Felt good to just almost give a giant ‘screw you' to the doctor.”Meagan: I know and I don't want to feel that way. I really don't, but man. Zoei: But it feels kinda good. Meagan: It does feel good and there was no reason to doubt when nothing was telling anybody anything but positive. Zoei: Yes, exactly.Meagan: He brought this negative feeling into this space that was undesired and placed fear, and doubt. It's so hard. It's so hard. You had started with a shift change and here you meet your new doctor who is already telling you that your pelvis is probably bony and things like that. I would say, what would be one of your tips to our listeners because unfortunately, this happens all of the time when we are with our supportive provider, yet that supportive provider is unable to specialize. I call it “specialize” meaning to only see and catch your baby. They are in shifts, which, I understand why these providers out there work shifts. It's hard work. They are long shifts. They get tired. They get burned out. We are grateful for all of the providers out there. But what tips would you personally give to anyone that one, maybe going into it with an unsupportive provider because they are unable to find a supportive provider in their area, and two, dealing with that shift and that doubt and that fear that was placed? Zoei: I think that the biggest thing to remember is that you and the doctor have the same exact goal. You both want a healthy baby and a healthy mom. But you guys might have two different routes on how to get there. That doesn't mean that either is wrong, but I think that just knowing that you have the final say is. It's not up to the doctor. Really, anything that they are saying is a suggestion. It's up to you. It's your body. It's your baby and it's your birth. They're not going to look back on your birth and be like, “Oh wow, such a great job.” If it's a C-section, they might look back and be like, “Wow, that was some great stitch work,” right? If it's vaginal, “Wow, that went really smoothly,” but it's your birth. You have to live with it. Meagan: Mmhmm. I love that. Zoei: Yes. You're not going to forget it. You're going to look back on it. It's your birth story, not their birth story. Meagan: Yeah, and that is something even when I was debating on changing providers. In the end, I loved that provider, but in the end, this is an experience that I am going to live with for the rest of my life, that I am going to hold onto. Although, I agree. Our providers are there to have a safe mom and a safe baby with everyone healthy and happy. That is true. However, they are not going to live with this experience for the rest of their life more than likely. Some providers may hold onto it. I'm sure they have births that they hold onto, but yeah. It's more unlikely that they are going to remember your birth forever. Zoei: People aren't going to go up to them and be like, “Hey, how was that birth today?” like how people will go up to you, “How was the birth?”Meagan: Right. Or, “Do you remember that birth four years ago?” And they would be like, “Uhh, kinda.”Zoei: “Which one? I had five that day.” Meagan: Exactly. So it's your birth. It's your baby. It's your experience and it's okay for you to stand up. We do have a blog on VBAC-friendly care providers and all of the different types of providers because we have got midwives. We have family doctors. We have OBGYNs. We have MFMs which are maternal-fetal medicine doctors. We have a love of people that can help with VBAC. It's just finding the right provider for you. This blog talks all about that. How to find out whether they are truly supportive or not, questions, we have some questions in there. If you are looking to start interviewing VBAC providers, check out our blog at thevbaclink.com/blog. It's all about finding a supportive provider. We've got lots of questions in there that you can take with you while you are interviewing providers. Even if you're not interviewing providers, feel free to take the questions with you to your prenatals. They always say, “Do you have any questions?” Well, usually, in prenatal visits, and a lot of the times, we don't really have any questions or we don't really know what questions to ask. But a lot of these questions are really great to do a little check-in and see if your provider is truly supportive of your desires of the way you want to birth. Sometimes that's in regards to a VBAC and sometimes that's maybe through your research and you are learning that you are not comfortable or you are not desiring a VBAC. Talk about a CBAC or talk about having a scheduled Cesarean. Ask those questions as well. We also have a blog on CBAC if you are not wanting to VBAC and how to do a family-centered Cesarean as well. We will provide those in the show notes for you and definitely suggest taking these with you along with your provider because it can help. And if you're like Zoei and you run into a situation where a nonsupportive provider comes in, like she said, stand your ground. This is your birth. It's okay to be strong. It's okay to advocate for yourself. So I'm proud of you. So happy for you. Huge congrats and thank you so much for being with us today. Zoei: Thank you so much. I'm so glad to be here and just have one more thing to add. If any doctor is trying to use fear tactics, the last thing you want to do is make a decision out of fear. Meagan: Yes.Zoei: That is not going to give you the results that you want.Meagan: Yes. Zoei: Do what your heart is telling you but don't do it because you are afraid.Meagan: Yeah. Earlier before we started talking, you were talking about, “Don't make a decision that is fueled by fear.” That can happen. Sometimes, when you've got scary things coming in and being said, you feel like you have to make a quick decision. Zoei: Mhmm. Meagan: Because those scary things seem urgent. Sometimes it might be. Sometimes it's like, “We have to go down for a C-section,” and you have to make those decisions really quickly, but a lot of the time, you can stop. Wait. Discuss. Look at the pros, the cons, and the alternatives, and really go through things. Do not make a decision that is fueled by fear, but fueled by education, peace, knowledge, and following your intuition. ClosingWould you like to be a guest on the podcast? Tell us about your experience at thevbaclink.com/share. For more information on all things VBAC including online and in-person VBAC classes, The VBAC Link blog, and Julie and Meagan's bios, head over to thevbaclink.com. Congratulations on starting your journey of learning and discovery with The VBAC Link.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

It was the worst of times and it was... honestly the worst of times and in this week's episode it was like that until the year 2034. It's COVID 19: Invasion a gripping tale about family and extremely cheap filming locations. Big Daddy Cool himself Kevin Nash has a plan to stop the spread of COVID once and for all. It's a plan that makes so little sense you wouldn't blame Nash if he just left the movie for 80 minutes or so. (Spoiler: That's what he actually does.) But through it all, a hero will rise. A hero named Crutchy.

No. It's COVID-19 and conspiracy theorists need to stop and think for once. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/whatsbotherin... Twitter: https://twitter.com/BotheredBoy Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/whatsbotheringm... Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WhatsBotheri...

The most important part of last night's poll is the fact it backs up the other two most recent numbers, thus confirming a trend.The tide is going out on Labour. Their arrogance and incompetence have caught up with them. They have played us for fools too often and now they are paying the price.Short of National shooting themselves in the foot, the tide has not just turned, there is more where this came from.The fact they keep talking about the Māori Party holding the balance of power will by September next year be irrelevant. National will have surged to a lead that will only require ACT to cross the line.If Covid alone had been their issue, the time between now and Election Day might have been overcome. Time heels most ills. But it's not Covid.It's Covid and the ensuing recession that has been brought about by their extraordinary approach to debt and spending. They have run us bankrupt. The Reserve Bank doesn't know what to do apart from increase the OCE 50 points at a time.Look at Australia. It's the most popular destination for the thousands that are now out of here. Yesterday, their Reserve Bank for the first time in a decade put their rates up by 25 points, not 50. Their rate is now 0.35% not the 1.50% we have.Their growth rates are higher than ours, their economy is stronger than ours, they are better off than us, and that's why so many leave.Then we get to co-governance, Three Waters, wealth tax, the closed borders, the labour crisis, the crime rates, the gang problems, and you can see why the supporters of this government are scampering like rats from a sinking ship.Some of us have been pointing this out for years. It was always heading this way. Labour governments given free reign like they were in 2020 can't contain themselves. They mix their inexperience with their arrogance and end up in the mess they are. They deserve everything they have got and all that is coming.This country lacks the inspiration, exuberance, entrepreneurial excitement, rock star status it had but a handful of years ago.It does so because Labour is interested in punishing success, promoting mediocrity, supporting the trouble makers, excusing the reprobates, and redirecting the country's future and outlook based on race.It's a recipe for disaster. The good news is the numbers tell the story.  Thank God we've woken up to it.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In our continuing series looking at the latest medical research and news on COVID-19, Larry Mantle speaks with Dr. Sam Torbati, co-chair of the department of emergency medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.  Topics today include:  Is it COVID or allergies?  Colds and flu make a comeback after pandemic downturn.  WHO says global COVID cases are trending down, but they're watching new Omicron subvariant.  F.D.A. advisors debate how to update current COVID vaccines.  L.A. County expands test-to-treat services and adds a tele-health option.  What endemic disease looks like.  CDC lowers travel warning for Canada and many other destinations.  The debate over long COVID in kids.  This program is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people. 

Finally! Welcome to Episode 96! (Sunday, 3/27/22) This week's cast members: Greg, Chris, Ben, & Alejandro Listen to us discuss: Our Return Life Updates Flamethrower Working Out Religion Lent Growing Up/Improving Yourself Keeping Up Internet Please take some time to give us a follow, like, comment, review, and share! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Socials Facebook: Let's Talk It's So Eassssy! Twitter: @letstalkitssoez Instagram: @letstalkitssoeassssy -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Intro Song: "Chrono Logic" - Streambeats Outro Song: "Reverie" - Streambeats

Innovation during a global pandemic Robert Baldock, Founder and MD of the Clustre Innovation Network, on a bright side of COVID-19. Robert has 45 years of experience of conceiving innovative solutions, as well as selling and delivering them to major institutions. Most of his career was spent at Accenture where he became one of the firm's youngest-ever partners. Prior to leaving, he was Global Managing Partner responsible for the growth and success of Accenture's Customer Relationship Management, Mergers & Acquisitions, and e-Commerce businesses within the financial services industry, where he achieved a global revenue target of £900m. Upon leaving Accenture, Robert was the Global Leader of the Financial Services Industry practice within EDS where he grew an already large $3.4bn, 15,000 person outsourcing and consulting business. He was a top 40 leader within EDS. Today he is the Managing Director of Clustre - the innovation brokers. He now helps major companies solve their most complex problems with certainty and speed by connecting these problem owners with companies with a proven track record of solving these problems, time and time again. hyperlink to his linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertbaldock/ Sponsored by Microshare. Listen to our other podcasts on the Manifest Density portal. - Subscribe to DataStream: the Microshare Newsletter - View our LinkedIn page -  Contact Us   Episode transcript: The transcription of this episode is auto generated by a third-party source. While Microshare takes every precaution to insure that the content is accurate, errors can occur. Microshare, Inc.  is not responsible for any errors or omissions, or for the results obtained from the use of this information. Michael Moran [00:00:17] This is manifest density. Hello, everyone, and welcome to the latest edition of Manifest Density, your host Michael Moran here to explore the intersection of COVID 19 global business and society benefits. Density is brought to you by the global smart building and ESG data company Microshare. Unleash the data. Well, today I'm unleashing Robert Bolduc, who is the managing director of Cluster the Innovation Network. Robert, welcome.   Robert Baldock [00:00:53] Welcome to you. Thank you, Michael, for having me.   Michael Moran [00:00:56] Well, Robert, you're based in London, of course, and your mission and the mission of cluster is quite an innovative one. Why don't you give us just start out by giving us a sense of what it is that cluster does and how you got involved in this?   Robert Baldock [00:01:13] So I should describe myself first as someone who's have a lifelong passion for innovation. I'm an out of the box thinker, and I always try to see if there's a smart, clever way of solving a problem rather than the standard way. Notwithstanding that, I spent the first 23 three years of my professional life with this large firm called Accenture, whose proud boasts at the time 20 client with the problem was We can solve every problem there is. We're a mile wide in capability. And for a long time that that was sufficient to be a mile wide and capability. But as the world got more more complicated and technology more and more sophisticated, it started to show us and in particular that if you're going to solve a complex problem you need to have at your disposal people who have solved that problem. Time and time again, so switch forward to 10 years ago when I'd left these big companies behind me. I started to think that the the way in which big companies should be solving their most complex problems was not by turning to the large companies like Accenture and IBM and Capgemini, but actually to try to put their faith of trust in some of these smaller niche companies that were popping up left, right and center who would apply very innovative thinking and solutions to these very complex problems. That said, if you buy into that argument, who would you turn to if you're a large corporation? Which of these thousands of companies offering to to solve your every problem quickly? Would you turn to if you've never come across before, never knew that existed and indeed was slightly nervous about whether they could actually do what they promised? And so we 10 years ago conceived this business cluster as a business that words, on one hand, listen to a client who felt that they had a problem. They were willing to be seen sold by one of these niche firms and would trust us enough to introduce them to just that firm. And so in life, we play a dual role. We help large companies meet small, niche players who are very well placed to help those large companies solve that particular complex problem, in our words, with certainty and speed.   Michael Moran [00:03:40] So you are kind of a human crowdsource.   Robert Baldock [00:03:45] Well, it's less about the crowd. Some people describe as laughing is the business version of Tinder is that we make companies get together rather than individuals.   Michael Moran [00:03:57] And so you essentially there was a very innovative firm here that's now must be 15 to 20 years old. Angie's List. I'm sure you're familiar with yes, of course, which is a service that essentially acted as a reputation broker for tradesmen. Yeah. And and was very successful, and I haven't really followed them lately, but I imagine they've branched out into other things. How do you how do you identify the smaller companies that that make the grade?   Robert Baldock [00:04:33] So I'd love to say that whenever we see a space where we need to have someone on our books that is a deep expert in that space, let's take artificial intelligence, for example. Actually, that's a bad example because they actually I'll explain how we found the best firm in that field in a minute because we did it the proper way. Would you believe it's true recommendation? Someone will say to us, you've got to meet this from here, they are just out of the world, amazing at what they do. And so we meet with them because if someone has recommended to us, why wouldn't we go and see them? And if we see what we like, we then basically say, right, we'll only represent you if you can introduce us to three large corporate clients that you have taken all the way to success. We will interview those three large corporate clients, and unless they give us a 10 out of 10 each, they'll give us a 10 out of 10. We won't represent you because we cannot risk you not giving one of our clients and 10 out of 10 service. Now that's that has been the norm by and large. But what we basically saw in the imminent interest in air technology this over 25 years. By the way, we said maybe we should approach this differently. So a friend of mine had recently compiled a database of some four thousand eighty seven companies who all said they knew a thing or two about A.I.. Now, there was no way I could sift through four thousand eighty seven companies, one by one. But he said, luckily, I've got a little search engine as well. So to cut a long story short, I went from four thousand eighty seven to twenty five to 10 to five two three two one, and I ended up taking on board the one of those four thousand eighty seven companies to to represent them as an all honest opinion. The best, though, there is an AI consultant.   Michael Moran [00:06:30] Well, Robert, hold that thought, we're going to take a quick break to hear from our friends at Microshare. And we're back with Robert Bolduc, who is the managing managing director of Cluster Innovation Network in London. Robert, you know, I've had the experience of vetting big companies for various jobs that the company I worked for wanted to have. So we we when I was with Nouriel Roubini years ago, we decided to hire a PR firm. And I remember the experience of sitting in the conference room and watching the young people from Ogilvy and Mather and Edelman and Ruder Finn one after another. These phalanxes of young, bright people kind of file into our conference room and then some senior guy would present what they're going to do for us. And we all we kind of knew right there that we were never going to see that senior guy again. It was going to be one of these young people who looked it looked a bit like, you know, the the the veteran surgeon making his rounds with students traveling along behind. And, you know, when they cut you open, it was going to be one of those students.   Robert Baldock [00:07:45] So what do I do next, boss?   Michael Moran [00:07:47] Yeah. So I mean, why? Why does the small company model that you are pursuing Trump these bigger, you know, big four accounting or infamous global firms?   Robert Baldock [00:08:03] Actually, you've partly answered that question yourself, Michael. Well, actually, when I was with Accenture, our proposal was what you saw was what you got. That is not the norm, as you rightly said yourself, you know, they went in there, the superstars, they dazzle you and then basically you get a bunch of young kids signed up to do the job. What you tend to find with these niche companies, the scale ups as they call them, is you absolutely because all they've got is what you see. They're small and they don't have people fronting them. But secondly, because they're small, they're hungry, they're agile, they're nimble. They bend and adjust much more rapidly, much more appropriately to the needs of the client than a big company will ever do.   Michael Moran [00:08:51] That makes a lot of sense, I think. I mean, just from my experience here at Microshare as opposed to the corporate career I've had before. You know, we tried not to be bespoke, but you almost have to be. Yeah, when you're when you're dealing with complex things like smart building technology or, you know, the contact tracing wearables. Of course, that was a giant experiment when we when we launched it. So you really co-development some of these things with your clients. And that's that's both a a challenge from a business model standpoint, but it's also really builds loyalty and trust among the client service provider relationship. So I totally see where that happens. I want to turn the conversation to one of the expertize is that you list on your website when it is sustainability. Obviously, you know, the ESG, the environmental social government term is everywhere in the financial press these days, and it's its equivalent CSR corporate social responsibility is also everywhere. How do you define sustainability and what kind of a filter do you apply when you're trying to find the right people to recommend?   Robert Baldock [00:10:12] So there are a number of terms are inextricably linked. You've not used a number of other terms that get used on net zero climate change, et cetera. So for only the second time in my professional life. We've come across a a need to change, which has been embraced by and large by every single company on this planet. You can describe that need as we've got to get to net zero. We've got to reduce our carbon emissions for the sake of this planet. But there's there's a broader need than that, which is we need to make sure that we are creating a good business, one that's contributing not just the economy, but to the environment, to the welfare of all manner of people that we touch on a day to day business. And so this this move, this drive to become sustainable is is a move to change the way you approach your business so that everything you touch people, companies, the environment, products, cetera are creating a positive effect rather than necessarily perhaps a detrimental effect.   Michael Moran [00:11:31] Do you feel as though you're getting. Back feedback from the corporate world that suggests they're taking this seriously for the right reasons, or is this really a box they have to check to avoid reputational damage or regulatory issues?   Robert Baldock [00:11:48] Well, guess what, you get you, you do get both. We've sort of got a rule of thumb, which is if the large corporate has appointed a chief sustainability officer. And if that person reports direct to the chief executive, you know, they're taking it seriously. Secondly, if every other word that the chief executive mutters is either sustainable or climate change or net zero or diversity, you know they're taking it seriously because, you know, those words are being recorded. And unlike politicians, promises they will live up to them. They have to because the stakeholders expect them to. Yes, there are some people that basically come out and say we will be net zero by 2050, 2016, 2017. I don't think some of those people have really thought it through as to what's really involved. So you do get a mixture, but there's a there's a tidal effect here and those are taking it seriously, almost forcing those who are taking it less seriously to take it more seriously.   Michael Moran [00:12:56] Robert, hold on a second. We're going to call. Go for a word from the sponsor and we'll be right back. OK, I'm back with Robert Belder, the managing director of Cluster Innovation Network. Robert, you are at the nexus of innovation. If I could put it that way. What is what are you seeing out there? That's not in the newspapers and in the in the financial media every day that seems to be really new and exciting.   Robert Baldock [00:13:31] Well, let's look at what COVID caused. That was actually beneficial. So I talk about the U.S. put on the March 23rd, 2019, we were all ordered to work from home. We have to leave our offices with very little notice and work from home. Can you imagine the scramble that that caused for companies to change their work mode from owning an office to no one in an office and all that they had to do in order to make that possible? And that was achieved in a very short period of time. Compare and contrast that to anyone trying to get anything done quickly in the past. There was all sorts of processes and forms and obstacles, and they got brushed out of the way, pushed out of the way by COVID. And one of the things that we expect to continue now that we never had before is this whole notion of hybrid working, it being OK to work from home. You've being trusted to work from home and not watch Netflix. And it's forced us to find ways of collaborating where we are not in the same space. Whereas before the only way we can imagine collaboration was all being in the same space. So what COVID has done is it's made us reinvent the way we do work and basically get rid of some of the obstacles to getting things done more quickly. And so our hope is notwithstanding, you know, there's a lot of exciting things going on about with A.I., with data, with sensors, with no code apps that we've broken the back of slowness and this in itself in the same way some people joke. It's COVID drove digitization. More than anything else, we'd like to think that COVID has also driven up speed and removed obstacles to change.   Michael Moran [00:15:48] You know, some of the guests I've had on some, some fairly well known thinkers have tackled issues like the effect on the labor markets. Of course, in the US, there's this ongoing mystery about what's going on in the labor markets here, still very tight despite the low unemployment rate. There's also questions about how it affects global supply chains and kind of redefined in some way the whole concept of national security. I had the chief defense correspondent, the New York Times, on a couple of episodes back and I put him this question. You know, we've spent billions and billions of dollars to protect ourselves from foreign invasion. And lo and behold, we get it foreign invasion. And not only did we not, we're we're not prepared for it, but we couldn't even unite to fight it,   Robert Baldock [00:16:41] or we couldn't even find out what the best answer was and all follow suit.   Michael Moran [00:16:46] Yeah. And you know, he conceded that the the Pentagon, for instance, is now classifying global pandemic as a as a an enemy. If you want to put it that way. So what is it done socially? To innovators, I mean, I mean, innovation, when you think of innovation, you think of Edison in his laboratory with his collaborators, you think of people who are in collaboration with other great minds. How had had COVID affected that process?   Robert Baldock [00:17:23] I've got the best possible story to tell. You had Michael. So one of the companies may represent is go flux. They are innovation consultants. And in the good old days that you got in that room, you got out your stickers and you brainstormed a solution to the problem. Now it's March 23rd or thereafter and you can't get in the same room again. And who knows for how long? So does that kill innovation stand that? No, when you're innovators, you innovate. And so what this firm did was basically work out how to innovate when you want in the same room. And what would you know, Michael? They bid for a project that they would never bid for before. It would never won before, but they ended up working with a global confectionery company, helping them to conceive new products and services. This global confectionery company is headquartered in Chicago. They've never been to the client. I've never met them face to face. But they basically were able to convince them that we can show you how to innovate on a distributed basis. Another example is the copy that that was used so effectively here in the UK to warn you if you've been in close proximity to someone testing positive for COVID. This was developed by one of our firms in six weeks flat using 75 people working in 75 different locations around the world. This was an app that was developed literally 24 by seven. When they went to bed in London, they passed it over to Asia and they said, keep working on it. But they weren't working on it from a single office in Asia. They were working from their homes. So if you're smart and clever, you, you, you basically reconfigure. And that's what firms did, the smart ones we convicted.   Michael Moran [00:19:12] Yeah, I'm I can't not fail to mention the fact that we did that exact thing at the beginning of the pandemic when we we repurposed an asset zoning sensor into a wearable contact tracing solution, which had the additional advantage of not being on your cell phone. So the battery never died and it didn't scrape up your PII.   Robert Baldock [00:19:38] Well, on top of that, the cloud that you're mentioning had a role that banned the use of mobile phones in their factories, so they had to find a new mobile phone based solution to ensure that they kept their employees safe and you guys rode to the rescue.   Michael Moran [00:19:54] That's right, and I'm happy to say we're allowed to say who that is. It's GlaxoSmithKline's, and we're now in, I think, 21 factories around the world of theirs to help them keep up and running and producing pharmaceuticals, which takes density. You can't get around density in a factory like that.   Robert Baldock [00:20:12] Guess what? My and I told you about the process we go through to vet people. We talked to three of their clients before we decided to represent microshare. We spoke to, among others, GSK and we got a ten out of ten from GSK.   Michael Moran [00:20:24] That's great. And we've had we've just done a slam dunk self-promotional moment there. Robert, listen, this has been fascinating. I want to give you an opportunity to tell people, how would they learn more about cluster and about your own work?   Robert Baldock [00:20:41] So very simply, of course, they just go to our website WW w dot cluster spelt c l t r e dot net. And then the next thing they might want to do is just sign up to receive our monthly newsletter because in our monthly newsletter, we'll have thought leadership pieces. We'll have notification of future events and your own child's promote did a great job for us on on sensing as a service and one of our events. And then you can also read the write ups of past events. Each of our events are literally showing people in the art of the possible. We've had people like Nassr talking about at our events about how they've gone outside of Nasser to find solutions to their problems. So go to our website. Sign up for our newsletter, see what catches your eye, attend this and learn.   Michael Moran [00:21:36] Thank you, Robert. That is great, and of course, you can learn more about microshare and how we helped get the world safely back to work during the early stages of the pandemic with our suite of products, ever smart solutions, boost efficiency, enable cost savings and bring safety and reassurance to the people inside your buildings, even as it produces data that is very relevant to sustainability and ESG. You can learn more about these things on the MICROSHARE website WW Dot Microshare Dot Io and there you can subscribe to Manifest Density downloaded on iTunes, Google Play, iHeartRadio, Spotify and many other audio platforms. And that's going to do it for this week on behalf of Microshare and all its global employees. I want to thank once again Robert Waldeck, and this is Michael Moran saying so long. Be well and thank you for listening.

The fellas tell old war stories while Jay coughed 21 times during a pandemic --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/acquirednuts3/message

Guest: Dr. Darren Markland, Intensive care doctor based in Alberta

We are doing great. Prognosis good!

Happy Friday Sheeple. Starting off on a high note, a 42-year old man accidentally drugs his elderly mother and her bridge squad with pot brownies.  Then, Israel is using every tool imaginable after Hamas accuses it's rival of using dolphins as marine soldiers.  Finally, a man is shockingly found alive in Scotland after faking his own death to avoid jail time for sexual assault.

Sick kids. Can't get around it. They are little germ monsters. We recap some of our worst sick kid moments as Moms. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/momstersthepodcast/support

In Episode 3 of Season 2: COVID-21 (It's COVID's world, we're just living in it) Pt 2/2, we discuss if things are really starting to get back to the “old normal” amidst the latest variants, COVID faux pas', social burnout, and how just about everyone is down bad to go out and party. Music provided by: Lakey Inspired

It's Covid-19 versus hockey this week and so far Covid has the edge. Leah, Petey and Craig discuss the NHL's latest adjustments to protocol, the World Junior Championship cancellation, the status of the Winter Classic, and Coyotes tank watch. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 2 of Season 2: COVID-21 (It's COVID's world, we're just living in it) Pt 1/2, is the first of two episodes covering the world since we started this journey navigating the nasty C-word that has taken over our lives. The BT boys reflect on our individual experiences, what we've learned and what we'll miss about the 14-month lockdown in Canada. Music provided by: Lakey Inspired

Every doctor is concerned about your vital signs, but a good doctor cares about your overall health. Your website deserves the same care, and Hey Check It is here to help- Hey Check It is a website performance monitoring and optimization tool- Goes beyond just core web vitals to give you a full picture on how to optimize your website to give your users an optimal, happy experience- Includes AI-generated SEO data, accessibility scanning and site speed checks with suggestions on how to optimize, spelling and grammar checking, custom sitemaps, and a number of various tools to help youStart a free trial today at heycheckit.comMichele Hansen Hey, Colleen, Colleen Schnettlergood morning, Michelle.Michele Hansen  0:45  How are you?Colleen Schnettler  0:47  I'm doing great. How are you?Michele Hansen  0:49  I am I'm working working through stuff.Colleen Schnettler  0:52  Okay, can I start with the funny story? Sure. Our listeners. Okay. So if you listen to our podcast about Michelle's burnout, you might remember that I suggested some very dramatic things, like quit your job or move to a different country. So the next morning, Michelle texted me and told me she went for a walk. I made me laugh, because I was like, yes, you know, that's a good first step going for a walk.Michele Hansen  1:22  Yes, I actually, I did go for a walk that day, because it was sunny for once in Scandinavia in the wintertime. So you got to take advantage of that. So yeah, so I, I just want to start by saying I like I've gotten so much support from so many people and so many stories from people about their burnout, or their spouses burnout, or just feeling really, really supported and appreciating it. So much. How much other people have been sharing with me and how vulnerable they have been with me. It's been, it's been kind of amazing, I guess I didn't really know what to expect, going going into it, like recorded that episode. And I was kind of like, ah, like, I don't have any advice for people like is, right, is that going to be like useful for people. And it turns out, I guess, sort of just feeling seen, and knowing that other people go through it was helpful. And I think for me, like, just saying, like, sort of raising my hand and saying I have a problem, like, for me is often the first step in getting through it. Like, absolutely, um, so so that was really helpful for me. And just being open about it, and then all of the support from people. As has kind of given me like a little bit of motion on it. I mean, so many people reached out to me offering to, like, have a phone call or something about it. And, um, I haven't taken anyone, because, like, I don't have enough time. But I really appreciate it. And I'm just kind of like, I don't know, I'm like marinating and everyone's stories, like, like, I kind of feel like, I don't know if you ever do this, but like, you know, you get like a steak and then you put it in the fridge with salt on it, and for a couple of days, and then it gets really tender. And I feel like I'm just a piece of steak sitting in the fridge. And like every story and and sort of encouraging word people have sent to me as sort of, you know, their each one little piece of Maldon salt that's just kind of working its way in and tenderizing me and this is a little bit of a weird metaphor, but like people who take their seriously know what I'm talking about. Like, I'm just kind of, you know, I'm sort of like, yeah, I don't know, something marinating is like totally the wrong word for that. But you know, I'm just kind of absorbing, I guess all of that. Okay. Um, that's great. And yes, I have started to try to try to make some changes, but I think something that really helps crystallize for me, in hearing so many stories about burnout was like, there's kind of it feels like there's kind of like two different categories of burnout. There's like, work burnout, and then there's life burnouts. Okay. And work burnout is, you know, that's like your, your burnout from your work situation, right. And then life is like, you know, everything else going on, right? I have life burnout. It turns out and so that has been helpful for me in framing this because then it's kind of like a sort of, like, it feels like sort of like the first direction sign. You know, it's like, do I turn left? Do I turn right? Is it work burnout, is it life burnout, okay, now we know which way to go. Okay. And then that's like a, you know, sort of like another step to go down. like researching how people get through this. So I think that that was really key and helped me start, I think start even just like thinking about changes to make, because it's one, it's like everything possibly that you have going on that you might need to change. Like, that's a little bit overwhelming. But at least knowing which domain to think about is helpful, I think.Colleen Schnettler  5:27  So how do you know it's life burnout and not work burnout, what's the distinguishing characteristics?Michele Hansen  5:32  So I think it's that, you know, for me, like, like, I really enjoy work to the point where, like, you know, most of my life, I have found work easier than life, quite frankly, like, I tend to escape into work or school or, you know, whatever that is. And I think actually, the, the fact that I was like, one of my initial stressors couple weeks ago was like, I don't have enough time to work was not actually a sign that I was burning out from work, it was a sign that I was going into one of my oldest tried and true stress responses, which is trying to disappear into work. And then the fact that I didn't have enough time to do so was stressing me out. And that like that that outlet was not available. So it's not that I didn't have enough time to work. It's that like, I didn't have enough time to neglect the rest of my life and just disappear into work.Colleen Schnettler  6:40  Okay, I understand, I think, did weMichele Hansen  6:43  did we ever talk about like the four archetypes of like, stress and trauma responses, we were talking about that. Okay, so we're talking about that. So there's like four main categories of these. And it's just worth sort of noting and it's like, not any of them are better or worse than others. It's just intended to be descriptive, and like, help you understand how you respond to stressful situations. And so the first one is anger, which is, you know, respond with anger, whether that's verbally or physically, you know, with violence against yourself against other people, against objects, right. And so like, if something really stressful happens, and you really want to punch a pillow, or a punching bag, like anger might be one of your primary stress, or trauma responses, most people are a combination of a couple. The next one is flight, which is you are leaving the situation that can that that can be physically or it can also be sort of mentally, but that often takes the form of workaholism so disappearing into work. Hello, me raising hand. Um, that can be exercise, like, so I was a competitive gymnast growing up. So that's also in the flight response. You know, it can be physically moving places, like, you know, like, when, like, COVID got really bad, I decided to move country. So that is also a flight response. Like, hello, all the bells are going off here. Right? Um, so that's like the flight response. I think especially like, in our community, like, I come across a lot of people with the like, workaholic flight response. And the thing like, is like, though, the thing about flight responses is that like, they can often be sort of extreme versions of healthy behaviors, or like socially rewarded behaviors, which makes them really hard to identify. Because, of course, you should exercise a lot like, oh, like having a good career and being ambitious. Like, that's a good thing. Right? So, like it kind of, yep, but at least you know, everything is bad and extremes, right? You know, even you know, anger is healthy. But having too much of it and hurting other people is not working is you know, we all need to work but like doing it to the point where it's how you deal with life is not there's a freeze response, which is I sort of think of that as the like hiding under a blanket watching Netflix for 12 hours and just being unable to move kind of a response. Like this is a reaction I heard from actually quite a few friends after January 6, they were like I was just like frozen for days. Like, like you just use completely like withdraw. And so maybe that's like, you get home from work and you just play video games for eight hours and you can't do anything else like playing video games is healthy. Everybody loves watching Netflix, including me. Okay, I know that I seem like totally like Little Miss, like Type A overachiever, but I do watch Netflix. Thank you very much. I'm currently rewatching our way through Parks and Rec and it is such a delight. Okay. So there's the freeze response. And then there's also the fawn response, which is basically when things are really bad for you, you go into the mode of like trying to rescue or help other people. And also that you try to like appease other people. So it's very much like the people pleasing response. So fights, flights, freeze, and fawn. Those are these four main stress and trauma responses. And I think it's really helpful to understand those like four main categories, because when we're talking about burnout, like how you experience the burnout seems like, like those kind of those themes come through quite a bit. And also how you deal with burnout is very different. And so like, for me, like, as a sort of person who's sort of primarily in that flight response category, like, for me, trying to all of a sudden start exercising and like signing up for a 10k like, would not actually really be very healthy or productive for me, because that's just furthering myself in that stress response category. And, and like that would just lend itself to more extremism in that same type of thing, if that makes sense. And so that was really how I identified like, this is actually, this is not a work problem, but the existence of me being like, I don't have enough time to work and like feeling stressed about that. And like, wanting to work like this is a sign that I'm falling into one of my, my oldest stress reaction paths. Like that was those that was really helpful for me. Um, and then so kind of taking some time tothink about things and made a couple of like, really small changes you had recommended to me atomic habits, like probably a bunch of times, and it's one of those books, I feel like everybody is like, oh my god, it's so amazing. And like, so then I didn't read it, because like, I felt like I'd read it because of everybody else had told me about it's kind of like, it's not the same way I feel about avatar. Like, I feel like everybody raved about avatar. And then I was like, I feel like I've seen this movie. Everybody's talking about it. Like, can we just please stop talking about this thing? Because like, all I've heard about is this is avatar. I don't know. Did you ever see Avatar? Do you know what I mean?Colleen Schnettler  12:08  I did I know exactly what you mean. I was not impressed. I didn't see it till later till everyone was talking about it. So I agree. By the time I saw it, I was like,Michele Hansen  12:17  so I kind of like had that. I was like, okay, everyone's been raving about atomic habits. Like, you know, I've read so many like blog posts to talk about it. And people do these homework essays. And I like felt like I had the gist of it. Um, but you recommended it. So I was like, Okay, fine. I'll get it. I think I bought it like a couple of months ago. And it was just sitting on my shelf collecting dust. And then we started like, getting kind of like tightening things up a little bit for like, getting ready to put Christmas stuff out. And I like saw it in my pile of books to be read, which, well, there's actually multiple of those piles in my house. But um, I was like, You know what, Colleen recommended that book to me. I should like, I should really read it. And I'm so glad I did. Like I am eating my previous words about No, I was so glad to read it. Kind of interesting, because I feel like you have said how you don't read self help books. But this is totally a self help book. It's like a self help book for people who don't read self help books.Colleen Schnettler  13:12  I know. And that's the only book I've ever recommended to you. It was so good. It's like a self help book. But it's like so practical. Like some of the things you're just like, oh, this is like a practical thing. Like the habit chaining is so obvious in retrospect, but like, had never occurred to me how I could, you know, change the habit chaining and the identity stuff I really enjoyed too. So I'm glad that I'm glad that you're Are you finished? Did you read? Oh,Michele Hansen  13:37  yeah. Yeah, I finished it today. I'm glad you enjoy me when I sink my teeth into a book. I finished it in like three days. Like, yeah, you just read it. I just Yeah, I just Yeah. So um, so one thing that I really enjoyed from it was this. And I'm going to see if I can find the exact phrasing here. He has his I think it's action versus motion.Colleen Schnettler  14:02  Yeah, I think I remember that. Yeah. And actually,Michele Hansen  14:04  I thought of you as I was reading that. So let me just find the exact. You're like, oh, I have done it. I'mColleen Schnettler  14:10  like, so excited. Well, I read it. It's one of those books that I actually like, bought on Kindle and then bought the freaking book because I liked it so much.Michele Hansen  14:17  Oh my god. So I'm reading another book on burnout. It's called what is it called by yourself? The effing lilies, which is like, yeah, no, that's actually a title. And it's like so is this woman like talking about her her path through burnout and her like her burnout is very different. Like the beginning of the book, like starts with her, like, you know, waking up hungover after her 25th birthday and like, kind of, you know, she's smoking too much and going out too much and like drunk dialing her therapist and I'm like, Okay, we're in very different parts of our lives and like I had a two year old at that point in my life and was definitely not doing that. But I think her her ways of going through are actually really similar. Like her tactics like They both like both her and James clear want you to journal and I'm like, I don't journal. I know, your journal this morning pages thing. I'm like maybe like I bought my journal, I don't know. But anyway, it's actually been really good, but I was reading it on Kindle and I was like, I need the paper version of this book so I can like highlight it. So. Okay, so James clear on motion versus action from atomic habits. So, quote, I refer to this as the difference between being in motion and taking action. The two ideas sound similar, but they're not the same. When you're in motion, you're planning and strategizing, and learning. Those are all good things, but they don't produce a result. Action, on the other hand, is the type of behavior that will deliver an outcome. If I outlined 20 ideas for articles I want to write that's motion. If I actually sit down and write an article, that's action. So attendees, yeah, sometimes motion is useful, but it will never produce an outcome by itself. It doesn't matter how many times you talk to the personal trainer, that motion itself will never get you in shape. So I think like as I was thinking about this, and he has a really great story in here, too, about like photography students, and how there was this professor who said, Okay, this group, you have to take as many pictures as possible by the end of the semester, and your grade is based on how many pictures you take. And this other group is you only have to take one perfect picture and turn that in the end of the semester. And the group that produced the best work was the group that just produced a ton of pictures, because they just kept doing things like they were constantly in action of doing things. And as you know, as I say, as somebody who feels like they have been marinating for the past two weeks, and you know, covered in salt,Colleen Schnettler  16:50  salt.Michele Hansen  16:54  I'm, like, I actually, so I was like you don't I have to start doing this as I read this book, because I can't just like wait until I'm done to start doing and I think this is what I really liked about this book is it's like, do a really small thing, if, you know, we talked about how, like I have allowed my physical health to deteriorate with all this. And it's like, okay, it's not I want to start working out or I want to work or join a gym or whatever that is, it's like, you have to switch the identity, as you mentioned from I want to start doing this to I am someone who does this. And then how can you do really small things every day, that prove to yourself that you do that, so that you build that identity. So he's like, just do a two minute habit, every day of whatever that thing is. But then also do the thing that you really uniquely enjoy and is easy for you that isn't for other people. And so for me, that was like, Okay, it's not that, like I want to start working out again, it's like, so that identity should have to do has to be I am a fit person, I guess. Or like I am a person who works out every day. And then so like I you know, I did a handstand for like, two minutes earlier today. And like, that's something that's very easy and fun for me, but makes me feel like oh, yeah, I guess I did some sort of workout today, even if it was really short. Um, so I've like started on these little habits. And I feel like I'm probably still in burnout. But at least now I'm doing things. You know, like, it just sort of got me it was reading atomic habits really helped me kind of like, okay, what are like small things I can do. As he says that, they're not going to make me 100% better, they're not going to take me from burnout to not burn out or whatever the opposite of burnout is. But they're going to make me 1% better. So like doing a handstand that makes me 1% better. That really probably only applies to me, you know, and everybody else that's going to be something different. Um, I've also started like plugging in my phone after dinner, downstairs in the office and making it unavailable so that I can't end up like aimlessly like scrolling Twitter or Instagram or whatever, like later on at night and like staying up too late at night. Um, my phone is still accessible to me, but it's downstairs in the office and stays plugged in. Like because I don't need it as an alarm clock because we got one of those like, Sun lamps that like wakes you up with sunlight because you know, hashtag Scandinavian winter you don't have this problem in California. We don't have enough IColleen Schnettler  19:37  don't wake up without an alarm. Because there's so much sunlight. ThatMichele Hansen  19:41  sounds just lovely. Um, yes, we get, you know, just a little sprinkling of sunlight if that a day. Sometimes it's just gray. So I also got better D vitamins. Apparently they're more effective if you take vitamin K too with them or something and not better medical advice. That's just what I read on the internet. So I started doing that, too. I'm just like, you know, lots of little things. Um, I also like I got permission from my, my Danish school to only go into the class once a week and do self study at home the other day of the week. Ooh, that sounds like a big one. Yeah, so like, I was really nervous to talk to the head, the head of the school. And that's also something that like, you know, for anyone else, listening who's going through burnout, like, you're probably not feeling burned out with Danish school being a contributor to it, if you are, though, seriously, reach out to me, because we probably want to comment. Um, but yeah, just like reducing that to like, one day a week. And I was, like, Look, I've proven that I'm a good student, like, it's so much easier for me to like, if this is a six hour or five, six hour class, like, I would rather do one hour, every night. And I have my eight year old correct my spelling and pronunciation, like what she loves, then, like, have to be here in a class all day, like it just for my schedule, like, then I have four days, one day of class, and, and decided that I'm going to book a massage for myself after I go to the class to nice, um, which is, I think something else from atomic habits is like, if you have to do something you don't enjoy, like, schedule in a reward afterwards, so you know, and it took me like, a lot of research to actually like, find like to get a massage, because when you're, I don't know, expat, or in a new place. Like, everything is just, you know, you don't have those go twos for anything. So I'm just trying to make and that's not like a huge difference, because I was like, What should I drop out of that? Like, you know, like, do I take all these things? And do I get rid of them, right, like, and you know, because some people are, like, I was burned out. And so I went to Bali for three months. And then like, that sounds like it really worked for you. And it was awesome. And sitting on a beach for three months. Sounds amazing. But like, I have a family, I have a life like I like I like that's just that's just not an option for me. Um, and so there were some people I was kind of, like, DMing, with who were kind of like, you know, here's how I worked through it. Like, I didn't quit my job, like I, you know, I didn't move I didn't, you know, change anything about my life. I just kind of got through it with the existing structure of my life, that was really helpful for me to hear that, like, you don't have to just kind of walk away from everything in your life in order to burnout because, like, especially like, I feel like you read like burnout stories from like, for lack of a better way of putting it like San Francisco types that's like, I, you know, sold my company quit my job, and like, you know, lived in a camper van for six months. And I'm like, That's awesome. That That sounds like that was amazing, and helped you. That's just not my life. Like, I just like, That also sounds like flight response to me, which as we have discussed, probably not something I should do more, I need to do like, a moderate, like moderate things like going for a walk and yeah, getting sunlight. And, you know, kind of pulling back on things where I can and also like, recognizing, like, when am I falling into patterns that are not good for me and and whether that's like big things like throwing myself way too much into work or like small things like being on my phone way too much. I haven't done the habit inventory that I read a long time ago, I haven't done that. It's like you have to like list out all of the habits that you do and whether they're a good habit, a neutral habit or a negative one. So like, for me, like a bad habit is like waking up in the morning and, you know, checking my email and Twitter and intercom and everything else for like 20 minutes before I get out of bed. That was a bad habit. Like, maybe for some people, it's neutral. But like for me, like that was kind of just like the note I started my day out on. And it's probably better for my mental health. If I start the day with like five minutes of like, cuddling with my dog, right, like, right, that's probably much better than seeing, you know, whatever is waiting for me in my inbox. And so it's like going through all of those, um, I had kind of like, that feels this feels like a slippery slope into journaling. SoColleen Schnettler  24:41  I mean, I cannot get I can't get soMichele Hansen  24:43  resistant to journaling.Colleen Schnettler  24:46  Like our job is in my nightstand. Like by my bed. I have like eight journals. They all have like three pages filled in. Because every year I'm like, Oh, this is the year I'm going to start journaling. Yeah, I've just accepted that about myself that it's just not my jam. I loveMichele Hansen  25:02  buying journals. And I know they're like, especially like the rifle paper ones like I'm a little bit obsessed.Colleen Schnettler  25:09  Really nice but not Yeah,Michele Hansen  25:12  so I but of course I have bought more journals and I don't have any morning pages thing like if there's anybody listening who does morning pages, which is the thing it's like you're supposed to like write when you wake up in the morning, you're supposed to write three pages. Now James clear is like, you should just write a sentence or like just write like anything and mourning pages is like you get up write three pages. Is there anyone with kids? Who does that? And like, how do you fit it into your life, like, and some people like to wake up at 530. And that's what I turned on them. Like, again, that sounds lovely. But like, every hour of sleep, I can get like, I'm going to take it like I am not going to like get up at 530 and light a candle and do yoga and don't like I'm sorry, that is just not me.Colleen Schnettler  26:01  What is the benefit? What is the purported benefit of these morning pages?Michele Hansen  26:04  So the by the I think Lily's book talks a lot about, okay, um, which is that it's sort of like a space to completely let your mind empty out. And it's kind of, you know, you know, how I talked about, like, customer interviews are where you're just there to listen to them without any judgement, and whatever they want to say, you know, you know, sort of on the topic, you know, is welcome, and you're not, you're just not judging anything they say, and it's just about their experience, and you're kind of you're holding space for them. And their experience is basically like doing that for yourself. Oh, my God, I have to do this. I can't like preach that you should do that to other people. And then not even. And that self empathy is important than than not hold space for myself. Goddamnit Ah,Colleen Schnettler  26:56  let me know how it goes. I probably don'tMichele Hansen  26:57  want to turn it. Well, I have to wait at least like a week or a week and a half for all these pretty new journals. I ordered to arrive. Right, right.Colleen Schnettler  27:06  Yeah, right. Yeah. Like,Michele Hansen  27:08  yeah, report, and then I'm going away for Christmas. So like, realistically? Oh, my goodness. Yeah.Colleen Schnettler  27:16  So Okay, but seriously,Michele Hansen  27:18  if you journal, and you're listening, and you have to somehow make this work in your life, like, I want to know, like details. Not that like I do it every day. Like when, like, how do you fit in? Yes, I need specifics and logistics and details. Okay, sorry. You're gonna say something galling.Colleen Schnettler  27:35  Okay, so let's go back to this and your burnout. So all of the stories, the majority of the stories I have heard are also those I couldn't work for six months after burnout. So do you feel with with the small steps that you're taking to try and kind of recover from burnout within the construct of your life? How are you feeling? It's been what, two weeks? I mean,Michele Hansen  27:57  yeah, I still feel like I'm just kind of, I still feel like I'm in it. I feel like I have a little bit of motion because of the book. Okay, but, um, I don't know, I still feel like there's a lot of stuff that is not working. And you know, like so like that founder summit thing, for example, like that, that wheel thing we talked about where it's like, you rate your life for, you know, career and spiritual and physical, social emotional, there was like some other category there of like, how your life is going and all those different areas. And it was like, if there's anything below, like a four, you really need to focus on that. So I gave myself you know, I think physical was pretty low. But then also social was pretty low. Like, my family is wonderful. And I love them. I don't have any friends here, though. And like, so I think I also gave that one a pretty low rating, but like, I'm in another country. It's COVID. II, Europe is like terrible with COVID right now, I don't know if you've heard like, so that one almost like I didn't even like, it really occurred to me that I could do something about that. Because it's like, at least like physical it's like, okay, I can like do handstands and like workout every day. But like, I can't, like, go out and somehow, like, have all of my best friends here. Like, right, like, that doesn't really happen. So I think that is part of it. Like not having like a, as much of a support system as I used to, like, you know, can't just roll up to your house and like, hang out, right, like so I think that, that that that's going to be a bigger challenge that I need to work through. I mean, I think the social part is a challenge for a lot of people right now and like not feeling supported, like even if you are in your community like I think just With the pandemic, like so many people are burned out for various reasons. And I think something I have been thinking through, like, why did it get to this point, and I think part of me, like didn't really feel entitled to burnout. You know, like, you're still, you know, knowing people in the medical field, like with everything they have dealt with over the past two years, like, there is serious burnout in the medical field right now. And I think seeing that, and and, you know, being very close to people in that field, who are burned out from that, like, I guess I just, I didn't feel entitled to it. Or like, you know, there's people who scaled companies to like, 1000s of employees and billions of dollars in revenue, and like, they get burned out. And it was like, This feels like something that is for other people. And part of it was like, Yes, I'm special. It's not gonna happen to me, but also part of that feeling was, Who am I to think that I get to say that I'm feeling this way? Right? Like, does that make sense? Like, is this a feeling I am entitled to is this like, like, have I earned this title of being burned out? Which is kind of a ridiculous thing to say, now that I've actually verbalized it. But yeah, I think that was contributing to it too, because I kept denying that it was going on, because I didn't feel like I deserved it. Interesting. And so I think kind of the last two weeks has been really important for me, and that not only accepting that I have burnout, but also accepting thatColleen Schnettler  31:32  it'sMichele Hansen  31:35  it's something that I'm allowed to feel or allowed to describe myself as I guess, if that makes any sense. I think that's when it makes total sense. Sort of. Yeah. Yeah.Colleen Schnettler  31:46  It's like, and I think that's, you know, that goes to a lot of other things. But like, You were absolutely entitled, you have, you know, to feel to feel that and to have your own problems. It's kind of like when your kid breaks his arm. Are you supposed to say Oh, it's fine, because other kids have cancer? Right? Like it's, it's Yeah, cuz daddy upset because your kid broke his arm, like it's, it's, it's relative. Sure. And it helps you keep it in perspective. But again, it is still a very real and very pressing problem.Michele Hansen  32:14  I heard this very, in articulately if amusingly phrased once as someone else's suck does not make your suck, suck any less.Colleen Schnettler  32:25  That's terrible. But yes, exactly.Michele Hansen  32:28  Right. All problems are valid.Colleen Schnettler  32:31  And all problems are valid. Yeah, see, we can again, but yeah, absolutely real, and you're feeling it? And you're in it?Michele Hansen  32:39  Yeah. So I think that's the, I guess that's kind of how I'm feeling. I still, I still feel like a steak sitting in the fridge covered in salt. Just kind of kind of absorbing and tenderizing and whatnot. But I think atomic habits is like, it's helping me with it just just kind of giving I think the idea that I you know, I tend to do think everything like, you know, totally balls to the wall, right? Like the idea of doing something and doing it 1% better. Like I tend to do things like okay, how do I do this is like significantly better. And that was also part of that activity. We did it founder Summit, it wasn't trying to go from two to 10. In the next 90 days, it's tried to go to two to four. Right? Like, how do you get slightly marginally better? And I guess allowing myself to adjust my expectations down and say, and it just give me like ideas of okay, what can I What are little things I can do 1% Better that are, you know, are gonna are going to help me through this.Colleen Schnettler  33:56  Okay, yeah, great. Sounds like a good, a good way to approach it with everything you have going on. Yeah, I'veMichele Hansen  34:03  gotten a ton of other book recommendations, but haven't gotten to any of them except this one. So I'm gonna, you know, I'm gonna keep reading. But again, you know, I think talking about that motion versus action, like, it's important that I don't just like sit here and read and write, don't be stressed out and still be burned out. Like, I need to do stuff and just do lots of stuff. And maybe some of its gonna work and maybe some of it isn't, but it's all, you know, action. It's all, you know, maybe helping, it's better than nothing. So and I think that applies a lot to like, business. I just feel like it's really similar to the situation you were in a year and a half ago, where you were just reading about starting a software company and reading and researching and talking to people but not doing a lot of action on doingColleen Schnettler  34:56  it. That park that part have the book really spoke to me and I think I don't regret the path I took at all. Because even though when I finally when I launched something I kind of did it wrong, because I just launched it to launch it that motion or wait, that would be action. That was that was me moving from motion to action. And it was awesome. So I mean for me that I totally agree. And I love that, that distinction he makes between motion and action.Michele Hansen  35:24  Did you read atomic habits around that time that you made that mental shift?Colleen Schnettler  35:28  Maybe? I mean, I read it a couple years ago, so it might that that might have been part of it. Yeah, that might have been then. Interesting.Michele Hansen  35:41  Well, I think that will wrap us up for today. I will continue working on these these 1% habits andif anyone journals or also if you've used atomic habits to you know get through burnout or stress. Definitely would love to talk to you. Thanks for listening

Deval Sanghavi speaks to Safeena Husain, the founder of Educate Girls, an NGO that works to support girls' education across India.  Educate Girls has just completed 14 years, and during this period they have grown from working with fifty schools to working in over 18,000 villages across India and reaching millions of children.    Safeena talks about her own personal journey that led her to set up Educate Girls and how they learnt to use machine learning to identify the most vulnerable locations to work in. She also speaks about how she set up the world's first Development Impact Bond in education (a proof-of-concept that ties funding to outcomes), what we're not seeing when it comes to the fate of millions of children post-COVID, and her pet peeves on the structural dynamics of the development sector.    Safeena Husain is the founder of Educate Girls, a non-profit that focuses on mobilizing communities for girls' education in India's rural and educationally disadvantaged areas.    For more information on NCE go to dasra.org/nce and follow Deval on Twitter at @Deval_Sanghavi and @Dasra

All-In - Wallis Mainline Drive-In Closes Mainline Drive-In Memories (Calls) Andy Lee - "The Hundred" Christmas Show Interview All-In - It's COVID Day - How Are You Feeling? + Calls Producer Mel Gives Bec, Cosi and Lehmo Some Interview Feedback All-In - Songs To Welcome COVID To SA + Calls Bec's Bits - Adele's English Teacher / Jacqui Lambie Slams Pauline Hanson COVID Day - Ollie Haig Live From Adelaide Airport / Jason "Snowy" Carter At The Border See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The cause of death for Gabby Petito has been determined, even as the search for her boyfriend remains ongoing with no known solid lead -- so we'll go In Depth. Aspirin and heart attacks. You've probably heard the advice that's practically gospel by now: low-dose aspirin dramatically reduces the risk of a cardiovascular event. Well today, a medical panel has turned that guidance on its head.  And why is Moderna charging poorer countries more for doses of its COVID vaccine? Raiders coach Jon Gruden is out of a job, over sexist, homophobic, and racist comments in emails. But is he just the tip of an NFL toxic culture iceberg? If your dog is hurt and needs a blood transfusion ... there's a new set of rules governing how that's done in California. And meet the new Superman..........he's bisexual and politically active.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The cause of death for Gabby Petito has been determined, even as the search for her boyfriend remains ongoing with no known solid lead -- so we'll go In Depth.Aspirin and heart attacks. You've probably heard the advice that's practically gospel by now: low-dose aspirin dramatically reduces the risk of a cardiovascular event. Well today, a medical panel has turned that guidance on its head. And why is Moderna charging poorer countries more for doses of its COVID vaccine?Raiders coach Jon Gruden is out of a job, over sexist, homophobic, and racist comments in emails. But is he just the tip of an NFL toxic culture iceberg?If your dog is hurt and needs a blood transfusion ... there's a new set of rules governing how that's done in California.And meet the new Superman..........he's bisexual and politically active.  To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

SQUADcast Network presents: The TopFlight Podcast every Wednesday morning, Pure Uncut Podcasting at it's finest! EP: 153 “If It AInt Fentanyl Its Covid” Youtube: https://youtu.be/zETO3vDIhbA Like, Subscribe, Share, Give me 5 STAR review! Tell ya people! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/thetopflightpodcast/message

Guest: Doug Brown, Former 12 year CFL Defensive Lineman, Seven-time CFL All-Star, and Colour Analyst, Winnipeg Blue Bombers Football, CJOB Radio. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, we're talking to me!  For the 100th Episode of the ADHD Essentials Podcast, my friend Cameron Gott, offered to flip the script, and interview me about what I learned over the course of doing 100 episodes.  Well, we're doing it again for episode 200!  Cameron is a phenomenal ADHD coach, who's been doing it for over two decades, as well as the co-host of the Translating ADHD podcast with Shelly Collins. In today's episode Cam interviews me about the past present and future of the ADHD Essentials podcast.  I talk about my goals for the show, why the second hundred was so much harder than the first (hint:  It's COVID), and the value of  connecting, and how I posted 200 episodes of a podcast in a row without missing a week, despite having ADHD.   >>>Register for TEFOSCheck Out My Buddy Tim's Charity Twitch Stream

Hey folks, Jon Najarian. 60 seconds you need to know before you go very windy on the North Shore make the front of ITOS monoclonal antibody to treat cancer, they're teaming up with Glaxo Smithkline Wow, this one is up 60% in the pre market. Take a look at NVAX Novavax. This one moving up. It's COVID treatment 90% effective 93% against variance. So fantastic news there. Take a look at Ride RIDE CFO and CEO resigned and shares are down about 8% PHG these guys make those c pap machines. Apparently there's some toxicity that they're worried about and so those that stock is down eight or 9% and Ferrari symbol RACE they get a double downgrade from Goldman Sachs apparently they're not letting anybody at Goldman buy those. Alright folks, I will be on the Daily Crypto Byte and 10am Eastern, then I'll be on the halftime report. And then I'll be on three and three and guess what time 3pm pacific time. I'll see you at noon on the hat.

It's COVID week as the boys are stuck at home waiting for test results to let them go back to work. What better time than to play video games? Nathan jumps onto (and promptly bounces off) Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice but finds some solace in the arms of Recore. Also, Golden Week sale on Steam gets him to drop some cash on a bunch of stuff, like Tekken. Paul jumps into Nier and its obvious the two will talk more at length about it soon. Also, apparently Dare might be the best Gorillaz song? I dunno about that... --- If you want to leave a voice message, apparently you can use this link and just do it.

Listen up, we talk about Discord's capabilities, Our personal regrets, Alan's exclusive La-Rona experience, Thinh's experience at work recently, and our thoughts around the new COVID-19 Vaccine! Pretty hefty topics if you'd ask me! Enjoy! Leave some feedback you fools. We'd love to hear from you! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

• Today's marketers were already facing exponential challenges. Then came COVID • The authority on being agile in marketing offers tips, examples and ideas (Total Recorded Time is 23:48) It's COVID, COVID, COVID. The pandemic is so serious, so widespread and an end to it seems so distant that it could make one wonder if marketing means anything today. But our Bizgnus Podcast guest says savvy marketers can still make impactful campaigns, even in the midst of the pandemic. He's Jim Ewel, who pioneered the concept of agile marketing. Today's marketers were already facing exponential challenges. then came COVID. Now what? Mr. Ewell offers tips and examples in this exclusive Bizgnus Podcast.

Are you someone who loves to work from home, or has the new arrangement we've gotten used to during the pandemic completely shaken up the separation of your job from the rest of your life? It can be hard to set clear boundaries at work when work is so close to home, but it is both possible and necessary to do so in a way that works for you.   On this episode of The Bridge to Fulfillment, Blake discusses the common areas of complexity that surround the search for work-life harmony - particularly while so many of us are working from home - including the internal and external pieces you need in place to keep work separate from the rest of your life, the questions you need to be asking yourself in order to instill boundaries without coming off badly, and the first step you need to take to gain some momentum and find new solutions. Listen in to start clearing away the stress and confusion caused by your less-than-ideal work situation.   What You'll Learn: How a work environment that isn't properly confined to its place can ultimately lead you to burnout Why asking the wrong question may actually end up landing you in the cycle you were hoping to escape in the first place What you can't change about your work situation, what you do, in fact, have control over - and how to tell the difference And much more!   Favorite Quote: “It can become so easy to believe it's our boss's fault. It's this project's fault. It's COVID's fault. It's the fact that you don't have a great workspace wherever you live. We can put [the blame] on a lot of things. But you can't actually change those things. You can only change your actions, your beliefs, and your behaviors. And the good news is, that alone is enough.”   Blake Schofield     How to Get Involved: To schedule a 15-minute discovery call to see if or how Blake can help you, go to: www.connectionsilluminated.com.   To get access to free resources, updates & future events, join Blake's newsletter at: www.bridge2fulfillment.com.   Like this episode? Hear more on Apple Podcasts - don't forget to rate and review!

Chris Griz and Robert deliver a massive episode covering the week in wrestling!

Liam Frap ‘Daddy' + Madam Chan Kick Start a Movie Marathon in Tribute to David + Margaret! Delve into the minds of Liam Frap and Madam Chan to understand why these two are so kooky?! It's Covid-19 isolation indefinitely so you might as well give these a go! Of course, Liam recommends John Wick – Parrabellum, Avengers 4 + Once Upon a Time in Hollywood! While Madam Chan goes for Jumanji V2.0, Train to Busan, Wyrmwood + Warm Bodies! #ZombieFest! THANK YOU LISTENERS! Thank you for listening to Captain Bagrat and supporting our Mission to Fight Boring News in Asia and Australia! YOUR MISSION should you dare to accept it is to click on a Captain Bagrat episode of your persuasion and leave a review on ApplePodcast! Click here https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/captain-bagrat/id1488838852 SHOUT OUT + U R A WINNER | We will give everyone who have reviewed Captain Bagrat a special shout out! We will pick a winning review each month. The lucky winner will have the chance to podcast with Captain Bagrat in Downtown Chinatown! You pick the topic! Madam Chan will prep a cocktail of your choice and Liam will croon your fav song! #DoIt FANCLUB | Throw a few bucks at us each month on Patreon + TELL US WHAT YOU WANT! That'll keep us busy at the recording studio. Your support will forever be honoured with early access to new episodes, behind the scenes, patron only messages and more. Click here https://www.patreon.com/CaptainBagrat SPONSOR | Why not throw a few '00s or even ‘000s at us. In-kind sponsorship is also great. WE WILL NEVER SAY NO TO BEERS! Like Trump, we love quid pro quo deals! Contact us at Captain.Bagrat@gmail.com or Facebook to strike a deal and get your brand noticed! FOLLOW US: Facebook https://www.facebook.com/captainbagrat/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/captainbagrat/?hl=en Apple Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/captain-bagrat/id1488838852 Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/6Vue3tjzKWoY6g70xrW3yp?si=XIRWKSDcS2SrL5uiejrukA Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT9jjT1khKsG4UwZRngYa2g Patreon https://www.patreon.com/CaptainBagrat Thanks for your support! Bagrat Out! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/captainbagrat/message

Have you noticed lately that no one is at fault for anything? Like, literally, anything. Couldn't get your work done? It's COVID's fault. Don't like your neighbors? It's because they're stupid. Can get along with people in other religions or political parties? It's because they don't get it. Can I ask a question here? Where are all the grown-ups? Where's the accountability and responsibility? Is everyone really this small? Can we not handle bumps, bruises, and challenges anymore? For years I've been calling our phones “Weapons of Mass Distraction” and now, I know more than ever, that's absolutely what they are. In this week's episode, I tell you the 3 red flags that will let you know you've slipped into victimhood thinking. Whenever you hear yourself say these things (either out loud or in your own head), you'll know you're slipping into submission, you're allowing your life to be taken over by childlike thinking and other people's agendas. This move towards accountability is going to take all of us. Every single one of us is going to have to look at where we pacify ourselves with our phones, where we avoid having tough conversations to go through the vapid “tap-tap, tap-tap” that's so seductive. I also give you a quick exercise you can use whenever you find yourself wanting to avoid your responsibilities, whether it's grocery shopping, preparing your next meal, or getting ready for a huge presentation. Every step in the right direction matters. For all of us. This will start with you, and it will grow.

As COVID-19 has spread across the world, the ability to understand the spread of the virus in our communities, as well as diagnose the patient right in front of us, has been a challenge. Molecular, antigen, and antibody tests are now widely available, and the FDA recently approved the SalivaDirect test, which offers a rapid and inexpensive option for testing. In this episode, hear from the experts about the current state and future directions for testing for COVID-19. (Originally recorded September 10, 2020) Moderator: Holly L. Keyt, MD, FCCP Panelists: Kelly Cawcutt, MD, MS; Charles Dela Cruz, MD, PhD; and Anne Wyllie, PhD For more tools to help in the fight against COVID-19, visit CHEST's COVID-19 Resource Center at chestnet.org/COVID19.

ER nurse Meredith Armstrong talks to Ben & Jenn about having Covid and taking care of patients in the before and during times.

Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic, The Partnership for the Homeless has significantly expanded its eviction prevention and financial assistance services in the five boroughs, to reach more struggling New Yorkers. President and CEO Áine Duggan talks about responding to the crisis and her thoughts on the looming eviction “tsunami.”

In this episode, we'll look at two news points related to the Indian Council of Medical Research. Last week, the ICMR released some numbers from a sero survey, or a general population test for antibodies, to look at how widespread the disease is in the country. We'll take a look at those numbers and also go a bit beyond what was in the press conference. Another report that has been in the news recently that the ICMR is actually now trying to distance itself from is a study saying that India's COVID-19 peak may come only in November. We'll also get a news update on the situation in Beijing, where despite some of the world's most stringent measures on containment, a surge of new cases is being reported. Guests: Jacob Koshy, Deputy Science Editor, The Hindu; Ananth Krishnan, former Beijing Correspondent, The Hindu. Find the In Focus podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Stitcher. Search for In Focus by The Hindu. Write to us with comments and feedback at socmed4@thehindu.co.in

It's Covid-19 isolation time, so Don and Marcus take the time to talk about character creation, engagement, and session 0. This episode also appeared on Deadpan Fury.

Does Jacque' finally receive her PPP money so she can pay her employees? Plus Jonathan describes what it's like going to a Governor Abbot press conference.

We're rockin' this show Prince style or not!

A Quick update on what's happening in South Dakota, Minnesota, and around the country. It's COVID everyday!

This podcast is delivered in Bahasa, so if some of you come across to this topic but don't know the meaning I am so sorry. It's COVID 19 and how it has spread already and the challenges for some countries on applying social distancing.

Y'all. This world has lost its cool, and we have lost our calm. This episode is all about easy tips for ways to be productive, positive & peaceful during a messy scary time. It's Covid-19 vs Cofield-29 in a battle for social distancing sanity! Hopefully these tips on self-care and smart ways to stay busy and happy will bring you some joy (or at the very least a laugh!) Thanks for the listen! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app