Podcast appearances and mentions of John Smith

TOPICS: * Mohammed’s Military Career * Islam’s Conquests & the Renaissance * Islamic Expansion * The Crusades & Tamerlane * Voyage of Columbus * Muslim Pirates, Martin Luther, John Smith & the Pilgrims * Making the U.S. a Dhimmi Nation * Muslims and the Slave Trade * Muslim Santa Claus * Richard the Lionheart * The Word ‘Assassin’ * Seven Churches of Revelation

TOPICS: * Mohammed’s Military Career * Islam’s Conquests & the Renaissance * Islamic Expansion * The Crusades & Tamerlane * Voyage of Columbus * Muslim Pirates, Martin Luther, John Smith & the Pilgrims * Making the U.S. a Dhimmi Nation * Muslims and the Slave Trade * Muslim Santa Claus * Richard the Lionheart * The Word ‘Assassin’ * Seven Churches of Revelation

This is a Grave Talks CLASSIC EPISODE! PART TWOInvestigating the paranormal can be exciting—but some places demand far more than curiosity. In this classic episode of The Grave Talks, paranormal investigator John Smith shares the chilling story of a case he now refers to only as Hell House. What began as a routine investigation into reported activity quickly shifted into something far darker—something that didn't just exist in the background, but seemed to react.As the night unfolded, the atmosphere inside the home grew increasingly heavy, building toward a moment John still struggles to fully explain. At one point during the investigation, he unexpectedly lost consciousness inside the house, leaving behind disturbing questions about what may have happened in those missing moments—and whether something unseen was responsible.Looking back, John reflects on the risks of stepping into active locations without the experience, preparation, or protection these encounters may require. Because sometimes, it's not just about what you witness inside a haunted place—it's about what might follow you out.#TheGraveTalks #HellHouse #DemonicHaunting #HauntedHouse #ParanormalInvestigation #PossessionCases #DarkEntity #ParanormalPodcast #SupernaturalEncounter #HauntedLocationLove real ghost stories? Don't just listen—join us on YouTube and be part of the largest community of real paranormal encounters anywhere. Subscribe now and never miss a chilling new story:

This is a Grave Talks CLASSIC EPISODE!Investigating the paranormal can be exciting—but some places demand far more than curiosity. In this classic episode of The Grave Talks, paranormal investigator John Smith shares the chilling story of a case he now refers to only as Hell House. What began as a routine investigation into reported activity quickly shifted into something far darker—something that didn't just exist in the background, but seemed to react.As the night unfolded, the atmosphere inside the home grew increasingly heavy, building toward a moment John still struggles to fully explain. At one point during the investigation, he unexpectedly lost consciousness inside the house, leaving behind disturbing questions about what may have happened in those missing moments—and whether something unseen was responsible.Looking back, John reflects on the risks of stepping into active locations without the experience, preparation, or protection these encounters may require. Because sometimes, it's not just about what you witness inside a haunted place—it's about what might follow you out.#TheGraveTalks #HellHouse #DemonicHaunting #HauntedHouse #ParanormalInvestigation #PossessionCases #DarkEntity #ParanormalPodcast #SupernaturalEncounter #HauntedLocationLove real ghost stories? Don't just listen—join us on YouTube and be part of the largest community of real paranormal encounters anywhere. Subscribe now and never miss a chilling new story:

Join Nick Fletcher as he talks to Dr. John Smith from the University of Utah. Dr. Smith is an icon in pediatric spine surgery and shares his experience in managing complex spinal deformities in young patients, the origin of the Pediatric Spine Study Group, the development of the VEPTR, and lessons learned along the way as his young patients became ready for their "graduation" surgery. 

What if you feel like you don't know enough about the Bible to really make a difference? In this episode, the guys welcome back Dr. John Trent to talk about the incredible impact one person can have on the lives of others—even when they may feel like they don't have much to offer. John shares the powerful story of one man who made a difference in his life and the lives of his friends. It's a reminder that God doesn't need us to know everything. He simply asks us to trust Him with what we do know and be willing to use it. You may never know how much your small acts of faith, encouragement, or obedience can impact someone else. Don't underestimate the little things. God can use them for something much bigger than you realize. Check out Johns Book and all of his resources here: https://www.strongfamilies.com/ Get your own Wake up Guide and seven day reset: https://mailchi.mp/knownlegacy/the-wake-up-guide Join our weekly mens study - Adrenaline Shot - every Thursday morning at 6:45 am Central. https://soldiersforfaith.com/bible_study/soldiers-adrenaline-shot/ Join the Brotherhood on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1EZL78qtya/ Pick up your own copy of More Than You at www.morethanyoubook.com Chapters (00:00:00) - Known Legacy: Best of Series(00:02:00) - Question of the Day(00:02:13) - Summertime Highlights(00:03:19) - Jimmy Kimmel on His Summer Sabbatical(00:05:36) - John Trent(00:06:04) - John Oliver on Driving a Dog From Seattle to Phoenix(00:07:50) - John Graham on His Journey to the Lord(00:12:15) - Billy Graham(00:14:56) - John 3:8-(00:19:07) - Determining the Right Father for You(00:21:43) - Dads and the Life of Walking(00:25:12) - How to Love Each Other(00:30:09) - John Smith on The Known Legacy Podcast

Shannon Spotswood – CEO, RFG Advisory Choosing a platform isn't just about technology or economics. It's about finding a partner that helps you build the business you actually want to own. Shannon Spotswood explains why growth without compromise starts with choosing the right partner. In Summary What should advisors really look for in a platform partner? Jason Diamond sits down with Shannon Spotswood, CEO of RFG Advisory, to discuss why the best platforms do more than provide technology and operational support—they help advisors build stronger businesses. Shannon shares lessons from helping grow RFG into one of the industry's leading supportive independence firms, covering everything from private equity partnerships and advisor experience to enterprise value, branding, and overcoming the fear that keeps many advisors from pursuing the business they truly want. The Storyline Most advisors evaluating independence compare technology, payouts, and service offerings. Shannon Spotswood believes they're asking the wrong first question. After spending two decades in institutional investing and later helping to rebuild RFG Advisory from the ground up, Shannon has developed a philosophy centered on partnership. She argues that the best platforms function less like vendors and more like long-term business partners, helping advisors spend more time with clients, build enterprise value, and create businesses aligned with their vision rather than forcing compromises. Jason and Shannon discuss what meaningful support actually looks like, why the right private equity partner can accelerate growth rather than restrict it, and why advisors should demand evidence – not marketing promises – when evaluating a platform. The conversation also explores one of the industry's biggest obstacles to change: fear. Shannon explains why outdated assumptions about transitioning firms continue to prevent advisors from building businesses they enjoy, even though data suggests the experience is often far less disruptive than many believe. Ultimately, the discussion reframes independence itself—not as the destination, but as the beginning of choosing the right long-term partners. Topics Covered Evaluating advisor platforms as long-term business partners Building an independent business without compromise Enterprise value and organic growth Private equity as a strategic growth partner Advisor experience and client experience Branding and authenticity in wealth management Overcoming fear and transition myths Technology, outsourcing, and operational leverage Leadership, succession, and organizational growth The future of supportive independence   > Download a transcript of this episode… Listen and Learn Highlights for Advisors Why should advisors think of a platform as a business partner? (10:00) Shannon explains why technology and service alone aren't enough—and why the right partner should help advisors build the business they ultimately want to own. What does “growth without compromise” actually mean? (10:00–17:30) RFG's philosophy centers on helping advisors focus on their highest-value work while surrounding them with integrated support designed to drive enterprise value. Can private equity make a firm better? (25:00) Rather than debating whether private equity is good or bad, Shannon explains why success depends on choosing a partner whose values and long-term vision align with yours. How should advisors evaluate competing platforms? (43:00) Her advice is simple: don't rely on marketing. Speak with advisors already using the platform and ask firms to demonstrate – not simply promise – how they solve problems. Why does fear keep so many advisors from making a change? (48:30) Shannon discusses the “PTSD” many advisors carry from outdated transition stories and why today's reality often looks very different. What does the future of advisor platforms look like? (34:00–42:00) The conversation explores advisor demand for greater personalization, stronger brands, AI-enabled efficiency, and partners that help advisors grow without sacrificing independence. Key Takeaways The best advisor platforms function as long-term strategic partners—not simply service providers. Enterprise value grows when advisors spend more time serving clients and less time managing operations. Private equity can be highly beneficial when partners share a common vision and respect management autonomy. Advisors should evaluate firms based on demonstrated execution rather than marketing claims. Fear remains one of the biggest barriers to advisor movement despite significant improvements in transition support. Authentic branding and deeper client relationships will become increasingly important as AI reshapes wealth management. https://youtu.be/jaSt3-mO0so Quotable Moments “The right partners make you better. The wrong ones can quietly hold you back.” “Don't tell me. Show me.” “Everything you want is on the other side of fear.” “Your team deserves to be happy. You deserve to be happy.”   FAQs What should advisors look for when evaluating an advisor platform? Shannon believes advisors should look beyond technology and economics and evaluate whether a platform acts like a true long-term business partner that helps them grow and build enterprise value. How does RFG define “growth without compromise”? By providing integrated support – from technology and compliance to marketing and coaching – that allows advisors to spend more time with clients while maintaining control of their businesses. Is private equity always good or bad for advisor firms? No. Shannon argues that success depends less on private equity itself and more on choosing partners who share the firm's long-term vision and values. Why do advisors hesitate to make a move? Fear and outdated perceptions about transitions still influence decision-making, even though today's transition experience is often much smoother than advisors expect. How should advisors compare competing platforms? Talk directly with affiliated advisors, ask for measurable evidence of results, and focus on how a platform responds to advisor feedback rather than marketing claims. How is AI changing advisor businesses? AI should enhance – not replace – the advisor relationship by creating operational efficiencies that allow advisors to spend more time delivering personalized advice. Shannon believes advisors should look beyond technology and economics and evaluate whether a platform acts like a true long-term business partner that helps them grow and build enterprise value. By providing integrated support – from technology and compliance to marketing and coaching – that allows advisors to spend more time with clients while maintaining control of their businesses. No. Shannon argues that success depends less on private equity itself and more on choosing partners who share the firm's long-term vision and values. Fear and outdated perceptions about transitions still influence decision-making, even though today's transition experience is often much smoother than advisors expect. Talk directly with affiliated advisors, ask for measurable evidence of results, and focus on how a platform responds to advisor feedback rather than marketing claims. AI should enhance – not replace – the advisor relationship by creating operational efficiencies that allow advisors to spend more time delivering personalized advice. Related Resources How to Evaluate a Firm Beyond the Obvious: A Framework for Advisors Why You Should Stay at Your Current Firm   Shannon SpotswoodCEO Shannon Spotswood is a 25+ year industry veteran with a tremendous amount of experience across both retail and institutional finance and an outstanding reputation built on her passionate leadership and ongoing success in investment banking, hedge fund portfolio management, business development and retail wealth management. Joining RFG in 2015, Shannon recognized the opportunity to channel her entrepreneurial experience and passion for service into leading a mission to create an Advisor-focused RIA of the Future delivering a supported independence platform that empowers Financial Advisors to build the businesses they want to have, without compromise. Shannon's career has been characterized by her determination to build something bigger than herself. Having fallen in love with finance at only age 14, she was focused on making an impact in a male-dominated industry. After graduating from college, Shannon spent 20 years in San Francisco working in institutional finance. She began her career in investment banking and eventually achieved her dream job as a Portfolio Manager of a long- short equity fund at Symphony Asset Management. The company was acquired by Nuveen in 2001. After a decade at that firm and now a mother of 3 young children, Shannon turned her entrepreneurial passion in a new direction with a drastic pivot to start a luxury children's clothing brand, Busy Bees. Taking her years of experience in qualitative analysis of retail companies, Shannon and her business partner built the brand from the ground up, ushering its' growth from a garage to “Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop” over the course of a few years. Shannon and her family made the decision to move from the Bay Area to Birmingham, Alabama to be closer to family. And shortly after, the call to return to her first love, finance, grew to great to ignore. In 2015, Shannon joined RFG Advisory as President, leading RFG as the firm has grown from $1.8B to over $5B. In July of 2024, Shannon was named CEO of RFG Advisory and currently serves in that role. NOTE: The views and opinions expressed by the guests on this podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Diamond Consultants. Neither Diamond Consultants nor the guests on this podcast are compensated in any way for their participation. View the transcript of this episode… Growth Without Compromise: Building Around the Advisor Experience A conversation with Jason Diamond and Shannon Spotswood, CEO of RFG Advisory. Jason Diamond: Welcome to the latest episode of our podcast series for Financial Advisors. Today’s episode is Growth Without Compromise: Building Around the Advisor Experience. It’s a conversation with Shannon Spotswood, the CEO of RFG Advisory. I’m Jason Diamond, and this is the Diamond Podcast for Financial Advisors. Mindy Diamond: At Diamond Consultants, we help elite advisors identify the right environment for their businesses to thrive, whether that’s at a wirehouse, boutique, or independent firm. With nearly three decades of experience, we’ve guided thousands of advisors and represented more than a quarter of a trillion dollars in assets transitioned. And each year, one in four advisors managing a billion dollars or more who change firms are our clients. Our process is education-driven and based on building relationships, starting as your strategic partner well before you’re even thinking of a move. To schedule a confidential conversation, call us at 908-879-1002. Wondering why advisors change firms and where they’re headed? Are transition deals going up or down? Those very questions and more inspired us to create our annual advisor transition report. It’s the award-winning data-driven resource designed for advisors that connects the dots between the motivations around movement and the firm’s appetite for top talent. Arm yourself with the knowledge you need to make smart decisions. Download your copy at diamond-consultants.com/transitionreport. Jason Diamond: The right partners make you better. The wrong ones can quietly hold you back. Most conversations about independence focus on platforms as providers of technology, service, or infrastructure. Shannon Spotswood sees them differently. She believes advisors should evaluate a platform the same way they’d evaluate any long-term business partner, by asking whether it will help them build the kind of firm they ultimately want to own. That’s exactly what we explore in this episode. Shannon is the CEO of RFG Advisory, a firm that has grown from a startup into one of the industry’s leading supportive independence platforms. Along the way, she’s developed a unique perspective on what advisors should be looking for beyond economics and technology, and why the right partner can accelerate growth, strengthen culture, and help create a business that’s built to last. It’s a conversation that goes well beyond advisor platforms. We explore why Shannon believes so strongly in growth without compromise, what private equity can look like when the partnership is aligned, why firms shouldn’t try to be everything to everyone, and how advisors can separate marketing promises from meaningful support. We also spend time on a topic that comes up in nearly every transition conversation my team has with advisors, fear. Shannon shares her perspective on why outdated assumptions about making a move continue to hold advisors back and why asking better questions and demanding evidence instead of promises can fundamentally change the way advisors evaluate every opportunity in front of them. Whether you’re considering independence, evaluating your current platform, or simply thinking about what comes next for your business, I think you’ll find Shannon’s perspective both practical and though-provoking, especially the sage advice in her words, “Don’t tell me, show me.” There’s a lot to take away from this conversation, so let’s get to it. Shannon, thanks so much for joining me. Thrilled to have you here. Shannon Spotswood: It’s excellent to be here. I’m really looking forward to it. Jason Diamond: Me too. Let’s dive right in. I want to start with your background. You spent 20 years in San Fran as an investment banker, then as a portfolio manager at Symphony Asset Management before even touching the world of wealth management. So what made you walk away from, we’ll call it the institutional world and enter the world of wealth management? Shannon Spotswood: It’s a little bit of a circuitous story, but I’m going to take us on the short route. I fell in love with Wall Street as a teenager, so I knew I wanted to work on Wall Street. My dream job was actually the time that I spent at Symphony Asset Management. I was a hedge fund manager for them for six years running a long/short equity fund. I then had three children in three and a half years. The firm was acquired by Nuveen Investments, and we grew very large, and I was on this really interesting trajectory within the institutional investment management world. And somewhat of the unexpected happened to me in 2010, we’d come through the financial crisis. I looked around the room, I had these three young children, and having loved finance since a very early age, I couldn’t crawl on an airplane anymore. I fell out of love with what was honestly my first love. And I made a pretty radical pivot. I left Symphony, the tallest building at the time in San Francisco, and I partnered with a woman, and we built a luxury children’s clothing company for the next three years. So about as radical of a move as you can make, a $30 billion firm, big team, a tremendous growth ahead of us to upside down boxes of infant cashmere in a garage that flooded when it rained. So I had my startup in a garage moment. And while I was running the children’s clothing company, my husband and I took a big leap of faith and decided to move from San Francisco to Birmingham, Alabama to get closer to family, to raise our kids in the South, and just manifest the life that we wanted. In the third year of running the kids’ clothing business, we checked every box of our initial business plan, and I turned to my business partner and I was like, “Now what? Should we raise capital? Should we open stores? Should we diversify manufacturing?” And we realized this beautiful little luxury brand that we had created was exactly what it needed to be. And so we restructured the company and I punched out of that. And I spent, really for the first time in my life, about five months in deep contemplation. What was the first hedge fund that I was a part of in San Francisco, my tour of duty through investment banking as an analyst associate and helping them start an M&A group. This incredible decade that I’d spent at Symphony, and then this wild out of left field moment of building a luxury children’s clothing brand. And it had such an epiphany, Jason. And it was this, that I was on the ground floor of all of those businesses. And my aha moment was, oh my gosh, I’m a builder. What I love more than anything is sitting at the intersection of talent and opportunity and what I think is truly one of life’s greatest gifts, and certainly I think the most fun way to live your professional life, which is building something. So I put my resume together and I titled… It wasn’t even really a job search. It was more, I was new to Birmingham. I wondered if there was anything I could be of service in being a part of building something. So I put that resume together and I titled it Seeking the Intangible. And I was looking for that opportunity of talent and building something bigger than myself. And it was through some networking with my across the street neighbor who went on to become a board member of RFG who thought all I did was sell his wife incredibly expensive clothing who networked me to Bobby White, who’s the founder of RFG. And in the first 10 minutes of my conversation with Bobby, and I’ll tell you, both of us went into that meeting thinking it was going to be a filler meeting. He was doing a favor for a friend, and I had seen a little bit of the wealth management industry after Nuveen had acquired Symphony and was like, “That’s not really my bag. My jam is more on the institutional side of things.” And 10 minutes into our very first meeting, we both canceled the rest of our day, and we spent the next two and a half hours in his office having a conversation that really started with what if. What if we took RFG, which had been founded in 2003, and at the time was an OSJ with LPL, what if we took that business and we tore it all the way down to the ground? And we rebuilt it from the ground floor up to be a platform that is designed, that is intentionally engineered, to serve independent advisors? What would it look like to be a client experience company first, a technology company second, and a corporate RIA third? And I’ll tell you, walking out of that meeting, I was like, “This is it. This is it. This is the intangible. This is an opportunity to really build something very special.” And that’s how I found myself sitting in this talking to you today. Jason Diamond: Wow. So there’s a lot to unpack there. Thank you for sharing. And you shared it with a degree of vulnerability that I personally, I have a two-year-old and a three-week-old as of this recording. So it resonates with me. I think it resonates with a lot of advisors, people in our, and honestly, probably most industries, the constant pull in multiple different directions. And I love what you called it, seeking the intangible. And it sounds like you didn’t go in with any preconceived notion about… Many of our guests, by the way, that is the case. They walk in saying, “I knew since I was two years old I wanted to be in wealth management. I wanted to help be a steward of client…” And I love that your circuitous route took you a different direction. I want to talk more about the firm, and we’ll dive in on some of these elements of your background also. But before we do, you mentioned a little bit of, at a high level, what RFG is. Give me a little more context, types of advisors you serve, types of clients you serve. And if you don’t mind, provide some stats around size as well. Shannon Spotswood: Absolutely. So we are on a mission to help independent advisors build their business without compromise by driving organic growth to create enterprise value. And I share that because in our mission statement is the passion that links us all together, which is helping independent advisors build what they want to envision for their clients, what they believe is the best representation of their vision and their values. So we are a platform, a full turnkey platform for independent advisors. We talk about our services as a flywheel. There’s a very intentional interdependency from technology to marketing to compliance to talent to investment management to coaching, operations, transition services, and capital solutions. All of it is knit together very thoughtfully in order to be able to deliver to the advisors on our promise to help them operationalize and professionalize their business, to serve their clients and to generate that organic growth, which is what translates into enterprise value. What is so cool about the RFG advisor community, and I think is really the thread that binds between our teams and our advisors team is this servant heart growth mindset that you find it in every nook and cranny of RFG and certainly within all of our advisor partners. So the advisor profile for us, we do tend to skew a little bit younger. Average age is 45 years old. Organic growth across all of our advisors is north of 10%. So we’re very focused and leaned in on growth. We do have advisors that are lifestyle. We talk about them as lifestyle scaling and enterprise, and they run all along that growth at growth spectrum, depending on what do they want to build in their lives, what is going to help them really realize their dreams? And we’ll talk about this a little bit and just the growth of the firm and what we’ve been building, but we are at $9 billion. So it’s been a big run in 2026, as I say, 10 years of pre-game warmup to be able to really talk about that level of growth. So just knocking on the door of $10 billion and truly, Jason, I can tell you, I feel like we’re just getting started. I feel like we are just at the beginning of the J-curve as advisors are really realizing that their most valuable asset is their time and the amount of enterprise value that they can create being independent. There’s a lot of different flavors of that. We’ve got some incredibly well-capitalized and very strong competitors, but the collective awareness around this bull market for advice that we’re sitting at the very beginning of is shining such a bright light on what does it mean to be independent? What does it mean to be really supported by a partner who’s all in to help them win? And that’s where we find ourselves. And by design, that’s where we find ourselves. Jason Diamond: Yeah, and it’s an exciting time. I completely agree. The space, the vertical you’re in, probably as much or more than any other pocket of the industry. You took the words out of my mouth, the J-curve. I completely agree with the story you’re telling. There’s one component of your background that I do want to ask about, which is many RIAs, platforms, and the like, the leadership team is intentionally ex-advisors in their own right. So I’m curious, do you think of it as a benefit or maybe to what degree is it not a benefit that you have never been an advisor and served clients? I do love the idea that you’re a business builder and you’re helping advisors to build a business. That’s not lost on me, but I’m curious specifically about never having been an advisor. Shannon Spotswood: I think it is so critical that we were advisor-founded. What we like to say is we’re advisor-founded and professionally-led. Bobby founded the firm in 2003. We partnered in 2015. Our third partner, Rick Wedell, who’s our chief investment officer, managing partner, joined in 2016. So the three of us really co-founded the version of RFG that is- Jason Diamond: The right version. Shannon Spotswood: … expressed in the market today. But you’re a hundred percent right to double click on this. And I think it is such an important area for reflection for advisors in terms of where are their greatest skills? Where does their passion lie? And what are they interested in building? That very first day that I met Bobby, his telling of the story is he looked at my resume the morning that we were meant to meet, and he is like, “Well, why would I hire her? She could do my job.” And he often talked about that where you get to this point as an advisor where the business is scaling and growing. And we certainly are seeing this in a lot of the larger teams that we’re talking to and the relationships that we’re beginning to build within the pipeline of these advisors who were attracted to the industry because they wanted to serve clients and find themselves as accidental CEOs, COOs, their chief cook and bottle washer to advisor to all of these C-suite titles. And it’s not amplifying their natural skillset and it’s not aligned with what is actually their passion for the business. So I give a tremendous amount of credit to Bobby for recognizing more than 10 years ago really what it would take and how he could align team around him and build partnerships around him to be able to maximize the impact that we can have for advisors. So that north star of keeping advisors front and center is truly our, it is woven into our DNA and it is our north star. So we are a client experience company by design. We talk about it all the time, whether it’s how we’re building our team, how we’re thinking about investing in technology, how we’re soliciting feedback for advisors. I always say one of our greatest strengths as an organization is we’re active listeners and then we actually execute on it. Our best ideas come from our advisors, but you’ve got to have that posture as a firm that everything you do is orienting around how do we help advisors operationalize, professionalize, drive organic growth, and create enterprise value? And you can’t do it sometimes. You’re either all in, chips all in, only winning when your advisors win, and only having that lens of will this benefit the advisor and their team or not. It’s not something that you can just dip your toe in and out of. And I think RFG, having that foundation from which to always build is absolutely critical. Jason Diamond: Can I try and paraphrase or synthesize, and you tell me if I get this right? The pitch is something to the effect of, “We are really good at what we do. Let us take all the BS off of your plate so that you can go out and be an advisor. Service your client and prospect.” Do you find that story is resonating more over time? I mean, you’ve been with the firm now long enough to see this kind of cycle of movement towards independence. How has that story evolved over time? Do you find it easier to tell? Shannon Spotswood: Oh my gosh, without question. And I would even put a shorter term window on it. I would say in the last 12 to 15 months- Jason Diamond: Oh wow. Shannon Spotswood: … there has been a collective awakening by advisors, and I think there’s a lot of contributing factors to that. One is obviously as we are all aware, the majority of the industry is now private equity backed. There has been a real focus on the aggregator model, transitioning advisors into a W-2 model. And as that has played out and that financial engineering has translated into some incredible valuations and returns, there has also been simultaneously advisors picking their head up and like, wait a minute, I wanted to get independent so I could serve my clients in a way that I felt best represented my vision and my values. And I’m finding myself increasingly in a captive environment. All the while the technology is getting better, the valuations are getting larger, the ability to control both your branding and what that means for your family legacy is increasing. So over the course of the last 15 to 18 months, that story has just, while it’s been there for a long time, the independent movement was obviously sparked more than, gosh, now 16, 20 years ago in earnest. Now it’s just the passion and the knowledge that advisors are showing up to conversations in recognizing I want more. I want to spend my time where I want to spend it. I want to serve more families. I want to be well-positioned for generational wealth transition. I want to own the enterprise value. I want to build my team and I want the best tech. And that to me is exactly why we’re at the beginning of this J-curve. Jason Diamond: Yeah, I think you nailed it. And I agree with you that this notion of independence is not a destination in and of… It’s too broad of a term I think to use. And there are plenty of advisors who either started at one version of independence and need something different now, or to your point, thought they were going independent only to realize perhaps there’s elements of the business that aren’t as independent as they realized. And that’s where I think a firm like RFG to me, it’s not an accident that your firm fills this niche. This was advisor demand driven. Advisors said explicitly and implicitly, “We want to be independent. We want to own our equity. We want to have control over the things we like, but we want a support partner that helps us with all the back office, the middle office, investment management, the flywheel,” as you call it. Shannon Spotswood: That’s right. Jason Diamond: One other element of your journey to this point that I want to ask about, the succession journey or the journey to CEO, and I’m only asking because it’s somewhat recent, I think it was 2024, so we’re about two years in CEO. For the eight years prior to that, you were president. Shannon Spotswood: Yes. Jason Diamond: And this dynamic is near and dear for a lot of advisors. This idea you’re the heir apparent, but the date hasn’t happened until it happened. Was that a smooth transition date or did you find yourself, and I hope you can be honest about it, and if not, I understand, but I think this is something that a lot of advisors in their own businesses struggle with. So as somebody who’s gone through a major succession journey in the last two years, I’m curious what your thoughts are. Shannon Spotswood: The timing coincided with us bringing on a growth capital partner. So we closed on that partnership with Long Ridge in the fall of 2023, and we really set our sights on how do we bring this capital into the business and invest in our team, invest in our technology, invest in this desire to help independent advisors build their business. And Long Ridge really shares that long-term strategic belief that independence and the corporate RIA model is the ultimate winning model. So we have a lot of room to run there. So entering into that growth partnership with Long Ridge really provided a natural opportunity for that succession conversation to take place and to be able to take the company to the next leg. So we’ve tripled the size of the company over the course of the last two and a half years. Jason Diamond: Good for you. Shannon Spotswood: And as I said, I feel like we’re just getting started. I always joke we’ve had the longest pre-game warmup in history. In a lot of ways that’s by design. For me, the way that I can sleep at night is knowing that we are waking up as a team in this unified front to walk the walk for our advisors. It is incredibly important to us to honor the promise that we’ve made, whether it’s on tech or talent or transition services or marketing growth. So being able to lean in and deliver that, it takes a long time to build that institutional know-how and to be uncompromising in consistently making hard decisions, whether it’s around talent or the investments that you’re making or how you’re running and growing and building the firm. And so Bobby reached and Long Ridge and all of us reached this point where it was just a very natural way. And I think it was such a gift that I had such a long warmup, if you will, in the bullpen, running the day-to-day of the business as president, being so close to sweating the details of how we built the foundation, how we run the firm. And then obviously Ed Swenson joined us as president in last fall in October of 2025, having joined our board when we partnered with Long Ridge. So he joined our board in September of ’23, and he and I set up a call every other week. So we just became this incredibly trusted confidant of mine as we made a lot of strategic investments and key strategic decisions in that first 15 to 18 months of our partnership with Long Ridge. So to be able to build and attract the caliber of talent that we have to RFG, I mean, I’m totally biased and talking my own book, but I think we have the best leadership team. Doug Nelson joined us from Long Ridge as our CFO in November of last year, just bringing that rigor, particularly around capital strategies into our C-suite. So it was the right time to make that transition. And what I would say for founder advisor-led firms, it’s all about what are your growth ambitions? It’s what are your growth ambitions? Without question, when I joined and Bobby and Rick and I set upon this journey to tear the entire company down and build this robust tech stack and be at the forefront as an innovator in that space, that was experience that I had from my 20 years in San Francisco. And Rick had this incredible institutional pedigree having spent 12 years at Bain Capital plus two years at Stanford Business School, complimenting this authenticity that Bobby brought as an advisor, bringing that together. So recognizing as a founder advisor, if you have growth ambitions to 10X your business, it’s going to require that you bring high caliber talent to the table and allow for that room both from an equity participation perspective, but also just from what does the business need as it continues to scale up? Jason Diamond: That’s exactly right. And part of this gets back to private equity sometimes gets a bad rep in our space, but the reality is capital from private equity enables a lot of what you’re talking about. And I give you a lot of credit. I mean, you make the half joke about the longest pregame warmup ever, but I think of it as you learned on your own dime and you built all the kinks and ironed out all the kinks prior to having this critical mass of advisors on your platform. And we’ve seen certainly plenty of firms go that route too. So I give you credit for that. I think because we’re on the topic, let’s talk about it, private equity. Positive experience, negative experience, neutral, neither good nor bad. Just give me your… I don’t want to make the episode about the perils- Shannon Spotswood: Right. Jason Diamond: … and benefits of private equity capital, but just curious what your experience has been. Shannon Spotswood: I think this is one of those life lessons. Choose your partners wisely and great things can happen, whether it’s in your marriage or your friendships- Jason Diamond: Spouse. Yep. Shannon Spotswood: … or your business partners. And Long Ridge found us very serendipitously. I mean, we were probably two years from even contemplating bringing in a growth capital partner. They were introduced to us by a former board member and they were in our offices in January of 2023. And the most important things for us were twofold. Number one, they shared our vision and belief that the corporate RIA independent is the winning model for the industry and for advisors and clients. And number two, who they are as people is very much who we are as people. They’re builders. Jason Diamond: Culturally. Shannon Spotswood: They have this servant heart growth mindset that they share with us. So I feel incredibly blessed to say they’re amazing partners. And what’s interesting, and I’ll share this very openly, they’re the majority owners of RFG. We were very early in that time of bringing them on. They have always honored the promise that they made to us, which is we run the business. They are a strategic partner. They’re a great thought partner. They are the capital provider, but there has been multiple examples where we have made business decisions where there’s been some heat in the kitchen, in the boardroom, and we’ve felt very strongly about it. So I just couldn’t say enough great things about them. And one thing that I will just share, and I say this because they’ve shared this with me, I have had this incredible personal journey of growth bringing such a deep bench in Long Ridge into the firm. And that has been certainly challenging at times. Do hard things, get comfortable being uncomfortable. It’s the ultimate definition. But I really think that is something that never gets talked about is what it means in upskilling the caliber of your talent, yourself, how you have to grow and evolve as an individual has been really, I won’t say it’s been easy, but I look back on what I’ve learned over these two years and just feel prepared as a leadership team, how we operate as a team, what is expected of us to be able to deliver and execute for our advisors in this next leg of growth. Jason Diamond: I think your marriage analogy is the perfect one, and I’m going to use it. And honestly, in a lot of ways. First of all, marriage is hard, good or bad. It’s hard. Second of all, it’s the ultimate… The institution of marriage is not good or bad. Private equity capital is not good or bad, but your answer is the right one. Pick your partner very wisely. My favorite part of your answer, because it’s the most original, was around a good capital backer, a good partner, whatever you want to call it, pushes you to be better. And I think that you’re surrounding yourself with, by definition, some of the smartest people in the industry, and that can’t be a bad thing. And the proof is in the pudding. The growth trajectory you’ve seen, it’s certainly no accident. I think part of it is tied to your incredible stewardship. You don’t have to answer that. You don’t have to be humble, but I’ll attribute it to you. That brings me to my next question. Shannon Spotswood: I do have to say really quickly. Jason Diamond: Please do. Shannon Spotswood: I will be celebrating my 27th wedding anniversary in October. So yeah, pick your partners. Jason Diamond: Congrats. And I feel equally blessed, I assume as you do. I have a great partner, I’ll say. I don’t know if she’s listening right now, but she’s a great spouse. What I was going to say though, good segue, I think there’s been more in recent years, but not a ton certainly of female C-suite wealth management executives. How do you feel about your role? Do you feel an increased burden? Is it an honor to you? Is it something that you don’t think much about at all? I’m curious what your thoughts are. Shannon Spotswood: I feel immense gratitude. I mean, just in general, leading RFG and locking arms with our team and our advisors is, I mean, a gift of a lifetime. I was incredibly fortunate to not just have mentors during my 20 years in San Francisco, but to have true sponsors. Whether it was the first hedge fund I worked at, I took that job because it was a female portfolio manager and at the time one of the only in the country. And she really opened up her heart to me and poured into me. And then 10 years at Symphony, the founding partners of Symphony, they dropped me into the deep end of the pool and gave me a lot of rope to make a lot of mistakes and continued to invest. So I have this foundation from which to build and to lead and to be ready for this role. I couldn’t do any of this without my partners. Rick and I have been partners for more than 10 years. It really does take a village in the same way that it takes a village to raise your family. It takes a village to find the courage and the strength to lead in a way that really honors the gravity of the mission. But I’ll tell you this. One, I knew I wanted to work on Wall Street from a very young age, so I chose this. I knew what I was getting into, that it was a male-dominated industry. I have made particularly, this is one of the unique facets of the wealth management business, we have phenomenal both male and female talent, and I have made the strongest female relationships on this side of the business as compared to the institutional side of the business. So I think there is a richness to our side of the industry that doesn’t get enough air cover. There are just phenomenal leaders, and I think increasingly so, we’re seeing more women stay in the game and raise into positions within the C-suite and leading these firms. I will tell you one thing in 2019, and I really give a lot of credit to Bobby for this in coaching me, is I was raised by wolves on Wall Street without question. I sat on a trade desk, I was completely comfortable with compartmentalizing emotion, and I made it a mission to develop intentionally my emotional intelligence. And that truly unlocked everything for me, and I think plays such a huge part of who I want to be and who I challenge myself to be as a leader. And so it’s funny when I get the question asked of me about being a female CEO, because I think that’s what people feel must be like came very intuitively to me, but I had to learn it. I had 20 plus years of being able to run with boys and I needed to develop that skill. And it is a skill that I challenge myself on a daily to continue to lean into. And I think it is increasingly important both for men and women who aspire to leadership to hone the strategic and execution alongside that emotional intelligence. Jason Diamond: Great answer. And I think you know I admire a lot about you, but it’s certainly one of the things I admire most about you is over the last couple years in particular you’ve been a real beacon of positivity, of empowerment in that regard. You’re active on socials, you’re active at industry events, you’re always willing to talk to people. And honestly, that to me is the answer. A lot of people complain about this as a problem, and I want to just take a second to applaud you because I think you and your firm actually do something to at least try and actively solve some of this. And also you mentioned it earlier, but same thing with some of the next gen dynamics. You skew much younger than the average firm on the industry. And I think that too is to your credit around, okay, we’ve identified that we have a major succession problem in our industry. What are we doing to solve that? Shannon Spotswood: Absolutely. Jason Diamond: Let’s talk about growth a little bit. I agree with your thesis. This space you occupy, no better time to be in it. We’re at the perfect spot on the J-curve. Unfortunately, we are not the only two people to think that. There are also, I think, some other firms. This space has become crowded. What do you think about that? Just the fact that there’s more competition than ever. I mean, my view of it is there are enough quality advisors to go around, but curious what you think. Shannon Spotswood: Anytime I find myself wading into the waters of fear and scarcity around this topic, I’m reminded that 67% of the assets still remain within the wirehouse and IBD space. We got lots of room to run. I believe in a mindset of abundance. The data will tell us that the demand for advice is increasing by 30% over the next decade while the number of advisors is decreasing by 1%. So we’ve got, find me another industry where you see a graph that looks like that. On top of that, next gen, which I think this is so fascinating, next gen actually wants more advice when compared to the baby boomers. So baby boomers created our industry, and here we are sitting on $87 trillion worth of generational wealth that’s going to begin to transition. That doesn’t even include all of the wealth that will be monetized through real estate and family-owned businesses. It is a tsunami. And what is, I think, really interesting is that next gen recognizes the value of their time. I’m sure if I had a conversation, Jason, with you and my husband about how intentional you want to be in terms of showing up for your children and the equal nature of parenting, that alone is changing the way the next gen thinks about both their professions as well as their family life, which means you by default have to hire professionals to do the things that you don’t want to spend the time doing. Jason Diamond: Really good point. Shannon Spotswood: So we have this incredible convergence that’s happening right now, and it’s coming at a time that technology is finally going to allow us to serve more families more intentionally along that wealth spectrum. So it is like, bring it on. There is more than enough to go around. We are in an era of abundance. And what I worry the most about, and this, it’s like climb up on the soapbox and let’s roll, about independence because I see and have so many conversations with advisors where they have been willing to accept such a compromised service experience that they would never allow to be delivered to their clients. So advisors are delivering this 24-hour concierge, high-touch, deeply thoughtful experience, estate planning, tax planning, financial planning, multi-generational conversations. They’re in it. They’re in the trench. And then they turn around and their service partner is so subpar. They’re compromising their growth. They’re burying them in compliance and ops and clicks and swivel chair and tech that doesn’t work. So we’re at the very beginning of this bull run for advice. And I think advisors who recognize, I want to serve more families, I want more control over my time, I want to be able to build enterprise value on my personal balance sheet, have room to do it. So I welcome the competition. I think the best way to talk about it is iron sharpens iron. I learn so much from our peers and like, ah, they did this or they did that. How do we think more disruptively, more innovatively? How do we do it differently? So I think there’s a lot of room for all of us. You’re going to be busy, my friend. You’re already sitting there advising the lion’s share of the big deals, and I think you guys are just getting started as well. Jason Diamond: Yeah, it certainly feels like a bull market for advice and also I think a bull market for some of the… You allude to an interesting paradox, which is some of the biggest and most sophisticated advisors in the industry have really high-touch impressive service models, but they don’t seem to demand the same in return. I have some thoughts as to why. I think one could just be Kool-Aid drinking, like you don’t know any better and you’ve been there for so long. There’s just so much friction associated with moving a business and fear associated that it’s unless things get really dire or unless I find something that’s better enough or meaningfully better enough, I can gut it out. But the third one that comes to mind is these firms we’re talking about have unequivocally, they do a lot of good, a lot of bad, but unequivocally one of the things they do really well is brand. Shannon Spotswood: Yeah. Jason Diamond: How do you reconcile that question with a firm that obviously doesn’t have a brand that the average American consumer would know? Shannon Spotswood: We take a posture on this that is rooted in an Accenture study that was conducted several years ago, but I think still remains so true today, is that advisors think that the value proposition that their clients are looking for, either it’s that big monobrand that’s advertising at the Super Bowl or the alpha they’re ever able to generate or the portfolio investments. But the clients tell us that what they’re looking for in an advisor is, do you get me? Do you share my values? And do I want to spend time with you outside the office? And that is basically distilled down the way we talk about it is people connect with people. So now more than ever, particularly if you take a big step back and you think about the influencer economy and how brands, big brands, Nike or big consumer brands have really leaned into niche branding. How do I get my brand into the hands of someone who’s very passionate about it? So advisors who develop their own brand, who have a presence on social, who have a presence in AEO and SEO, who are leaning in and expressing not only their client experience, but their vision and their values through their brand, I actually think as this generational wealth unfolds, that authenticity carries so much more weight than is my name on a football stadium. So it is those three factors. It’s just I’m comfortable. I don’t want ripple. It is friction and fear for sure. And then it’s like that branding is up for grabs because we certainly see one of the most fun parts of advisors joining RFG, this is a big part of what we do is helping them design and develop or reimagine their brand name, their logo, all the rest of it. Once that creative energy is unlocked and you get to tell your story, your my why, that connective tissue is so powerful with the clients and with the growth that comes from that because I mean, I truly believe people connect with people. They’re looking for that. And I think more so now than ever with AI. Jason Diamond: You just took the words out of my mouth. Do you think AI perpetuates that? Shannon Spotswood: I think people are craving that. And this is why advisors who are powered by AI without question are going to win. Advisors are not going to be disrupted by AI unless they haven’t made the move to get themselves in a position to be able to leverage the technology, the brand, the talent, the maximizing of their time. But especially with something as important and as personal as money, as you walk through life, I mean, you are at the very beginning. I’m sending, I’ll have all three kids in college. But as you make these critical decisions in your life, whether it’s getting married or starting a business or changing jobs or buying your first house, buying your vacation house, all of these things, you can go right or you can go wrong. And having a trusted partner who really understands you, I actually think that we’re going to see the fees paid for advisors increasing as there is a greater premium placed on, I want deeply personal relationships that are tailor-made for me. Jason Diamond: But I assume the flip side of that is you have to do more. You as a firm and you as an advisor have to do more, and you can’t just raise fees with the same service model. So I think what is the corollary of that? What are some of the ancillary growth areas that you do beyond the financial planning and asset management that says, “We’re worth that money you’re going to pay us”? Shannon Spotswood: It is, and I love the work that wealth.com is doing here. I mean, the estate planning and tax planning, making that more accessible along that continuum of wealth spectrum, the blurring of the lines between ultra high net worth and high net worth, and then mass affluent is so exciting. Better, more robust planning is good for our industry overall. Obviously there’s a huge amount of demand on the tax side of things, particularly the 1040. It’s easy to find a CPA to do the cool complex stuff. It’s increasingly more challenging for advisors. That’s an area that I know a lot of firms have leaned into. We’re certainly doing a lot of work. But so much of this, Jason, is showing up at the right time for clients with the resources. It’s a really interesting conversation about, yes, you have to do more for your clients, but you don’t have to do more for all your clients at exactly the same time. Jason Diamond: That’s well said. The flip side of that is as an advisor, because ultimately the advisors are the ones making this decision. There are a lot of firms, and not even just firms that you would be competitors with, because the reality is you and I understand the industry landscape and where various firms fit in. For many advisors, it’s a long list of various firm names that they’ve heard. So what are some things that you think advisors should be asking a firm like you or a business development person at your firm to suss this out? How does an advisor go about understanding if a platform is empty or is really going to be able to deliver in all these areas? Shannon Spotswood: Remember back in the day when the Wall Street Journal used to run have a monkey throw a dart and see if you can beat the pros on stock picking? I love to do that with regards to our advisors. We always tell our prospects, “Throw a dart at any advisor that’s affiliated with RFG and call them. Certainly we can provide a list of advisors who we think you’re going to most align with in terms of what your growth ambitions are or the way you want to run your business or who you are, life stage, all the rest of it.” But I do think that getting that unfiltered experience, the good, the bad, the ugly. We always are like, “Are we perfect? Absolutely not. Do we though immediately want the feedback so that we can iterate to excellence to get better? Absolutely. Get that firsthand testimony.” So that’s number one. Number two is don’t tell me, show me. There are so many, and it always pulls at my heart because as much as I love to win business and transition advisors, and I think that we’re working certainly at RFG on some really interesting technology that is anchored around removing that friction and fear by speeding up the time that you can make that transition in. And the tech is finally there to allow for this. So I think we’re going to be able to take variable number two and at least make that box a little bit smaller. But if I’m sitting as an advisor, I would want to see the evidence. Show me how you’ve solved the problems that advisors have brought to you. How have you refined your tech stack? How have you invested in your team? How have you made the decisions where the ROI can be measurable and tangible? And I think too often I’m surprised that advisors get, it’s almost as if they get overwhelmed by the amount of information that they’re taking in trying to compare all these different firms. If I’m ever asked, I’m like, please work with a third-party recruiter. You need someone not only to act as an interpreter, but you need someone to help really keep your top three priorities at the front of your decision-making matrix, because it really is apples to oranges to orangutans and you get decision fatigue. And then advisors end up making this decision that is anchored in like, well, this is the highest payout, and I’m willing to take all of these sacrifices and paper cuts for this highest payout. And that is just such a travesty. So it’s like, know what you want. What are your top three problems that you’re trying to solve? Talk to advisors that you get to pick just so you can do some secret shopping, and then demand evidence of how the firm, the platform has responded to feedback and gotten better as a result because that will tell you, are they really going to walk the walk or are they just going to talk the talk? Jason Diamond: I’m super grateful that you gave specifics there because it’s an easy question to dodge and talk around. So I completely agree. Your first answer, actually all three of those points you just made, but certainly doing name-blind calls, and I say name-blind because advisors worry about confidentiality. I think that’s one of the best and most underrated tools to learn about a firm is advisors now have so many colleagues. There’s been this diaspora of advisors where advisors know advisors everywhere. And that’s a benefit if you wanted to go and just network and have conversations with other advisors on your own. But if you’re worried about confidentiality, there’s certainly the mechanisms, and we do this all the time for advisors to set up name-blind calls. You dial into a conference line, it’s John Smith, and you pick an advisor’s brain and say, “Hey, you moved your book from LPL to RFG, and tell me what that experience was like and what were the positives? Give me all the negatives.” To your point, you want advisors to ask those questions in advance. It’s better to ask those questions than to end up in the wrong marriage with the advisor. Shannon Spotswood: Absolutely. And the other thing is what an easy answer to BS around is tell me who’s a good fit for your firm. And it’s like, “Everyone’s welcome here.” Jason Diamond: Everybody. Yeah. Shannon Spotswood: It’s just not true. RFG is not a good fit for an advisor who is not open to using technology, who is not interested in outsourcing investment management, who doesn’t want to have a conversation about how are you spending your time and do you want to create enterprise value? Do you want to grow? So it really is important to have that vulnerability and that honesty and the answer to that question. Jason Diamond: I love it. We have time for one more. I can’t believe it’s been almost an hour. Shannon Spotswood: I know, it flies by. Jason Diamond: We speak with plenty of advisors who aren’t considering a move, but I’m interested. I think you have a really nice lens into the industry. What is one thing you wish advisors knew? You have a megaphone to just talk to advisors who maybe are considering change, but maybe aren’t. What’s the questions they should be thinking about? What keeps you up at night? Just what would be your public service announcement? Shannon Spotswood: I’m going to focus on the friction and fear because that’s the number one barrier to making a move is PTSD, either first person PTSD or the collective negative experience that the industry has had. It took me 90 days to transition. I got sued by my former firm. I lost all these clients. I didn’t have income. The wise tales of fear are very widely trafficked and widespread. And what I would say to an advisor is everything you want is on the other side of fear. And I look at all of this data that suggests exactly the opposite, which is you have the relationship with the client. You have the trust with the client. You are the one who they call on Sunday night when they need a shoulder to cry on or sage advice for making a decision. Just believe it with the core of your being because what we see is 99% of assets transition, whether it’s a restrictive transition or you’re taking full data, that the majority of assets are transitioning within 30 days, that this is still a free country, and you can make a move while honoring your contract around non-solicitation, non-competes, and non-associations. So it is like this fear of holding advisors back is preventing them from realizing and monetizing this enterprise value, but equally as importantly, loving their business. Have fun. This should be fun. We spend the majority of our life at work. And so being able to surround yourself with people who win when you win, with a team who’s aligned and isn’t just drudgery with all their operations compliance headaches that they’re dealing with. Your team deserves to be happy. You deserve to be happy. And that fear factor is holding so many advisors back. So that’s my advice is that it just doesn’t have to play out that way. And I think not just at RFG, collectively where we are as an independent industry with technology, with the way that AI is changing and our ability to harness data and business intelligence, getting to that point of next best action, how am I spending my time, how am I realizing, what is the blueprint for realizing my growth goals is more tangible now than ever. That’s immediately where I go. Jason Diamond: I’ve never been an advisor. I’ve never had a book of business, so I don’t want to minimize the fear, but I will say this. If we speak to advisors, let’s say a year post-transition, by far the number one thing we hear from them is, “I wish I did this sooner.” Shannon Spotswood: Wish I did it sooner. Jason Diamond: And that to me is the most telling data point there is to your point about fear and getting over it. Shannon Spotswood: So I do this exercise all the time with our team as we’re onboarding advisors is I want you to go home and look at your spouse and tell them, “I’m going to leave my job. I have no certainty that everything is going to work out. We might not receive any kind of compensation. Are you cool with that?” Walk that emotional journey. And while there’s plenty obviously that we can do with Capital Solutions to ease the financial fear associated with it, I still think at the baseline, it’s a great exercise to keep everyone very humble. You are asking an advisor to take their life’s work. And someone was sharing this analogy with me the other day and I was like, “Oh my gosh, that’s so good,” which is imagine moving houses. It’s such a hassle packing up moving one house. Now imagine moving 400 households or 1,200 households. It’s a lot, but I always hear the same thing, “I wish I’d done it sooner.” Jason Diamond: Thank you for sharing. You had some really sage wisdom that you shared with our audience. I can’t wait to see the next chapter, the continuation of the J-curve. This has been a fantastic episode, Shannon. Thank you. Shannon Spotswood: I love being with you, Jason. Thank you so much. We appreciate it. Mindy Diamond: As a financial advisor, you hold yourself to the highest standards of integrity, honesty, and credibility. You are successful because you take your professional responsibilities seriously and are dedicated to your clients. But are you living your best business life? Are your goals aligned with your firms or could a better option exist? Should I Stay or Should I Go? is a book written with you in mind. It’s a self-guided journey that walks you through the key steps that we take with our advisor clients. This strategic thought process and roadmap to professional self-discovery is designed to help you ask the right questions and think critically and objectively, whether you’re considering change or not. Learn how to get your copy at diamond-consultants.com/thebook.   Growth Without Compromise: Building Around the Advisor Experience A conversation with Jason Diamond and Shannon Spotswood, CEO of RFG Advisory. Jason Diamond: Welcome to the latest episode of our podcast series for Financial Advisors. Today’s episode is Growth Without Compromise: Building Around the Advisor Experience. It’s a conversation with Shannon Spotswood, the CEO of RFG Advisory. I’m Jason Diamond, and this is the Diamond Podcast for Financial Advisors. Mindy Diamond: At Diamond Consultants, we help elite advisors identify the right environment for their businesses to thrive, whether that’s at a wirehouse, boutique, or independent firm. With nearly three decades of experience, we’ve guided thousands of advisors and represented more than a quarter of a trillion dollars in assets transitioned. And each year, one in four advisors managing a billion dollars or more who change firms are our clients. Our process is education-driven and based on building relationships, starting as your strategic partner well before you’re even thinking of a move. To schedule a confidential conversation, call us at 908-879-1002. Wondering why advisors change firms and where they’re headed? Are transition deals going up or down? Those very questions and more inspired us to create our annual advisor transition re

In 1608, English explorer and soldier of fortune John Smith left Jamestown, Virginia, on a mission to chart the upper Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries - including the Susquehanna River. He became the first European to find out that the Susquehanna is non-navigable. That's because of the many, many obstacles in the mighty Susquehanna. There are countless natural barriers such as rapids and waterfalls. Also, the Susquehanna is famously a mile wide and a foot deep. These are just some of the factors that have prevented development of a continuous commercial waterway.But that wouldn't stop generations of people from trying. However, no matter how much they tried, no matter how much money they spent, they couldn't do it. Then, utility companies came calling. If they couldn't navigate the river, they would dam it and use it to produce electricity. But that created its own problems. Obstructions blocked the paths of fish that needed to swim upriver to get to their spawning grounds. Native species such as American shad and eels were dying at historic numbers. Solutions had to be developed to keep these important populations alive. But nothing has made a serious difference. One dam has a fish elevator that transports fish over the dam. Then, they the fish have to be trucked further up river. Fish passages were created, but older designs have not been incredibly helpful with guiding fish upstream. A new way of thinking was needed. A new kind of passageway was needed. In 2025, Shikellamy State Park became home to one of the largest and most naturalistic fishways on the East Coast. Located at the confluence of the North and West branches of the Susquehanna River, this new naturalistic fish passage would help aquatic life go around the park's inflatable dam. Let's learn more about this incredible project. On this episode, I speak with Gabriel Martin and Ben Bender. Gabe is a project civil engineer at Kleinschmidt Group and Ben is the Park Manager at Shikellamy State Park. Be sure to support our 2026 sponsors:Keystone Trails AssociationPurple Lizard MapsPennsylvania Parks and Forests FoundationSisters' SunflowersDiscover Clarion CountyGo Laurel Highlands Support the showVisit our website to learn more about the podcast, to purchase merch and to find out about our incredible sponsors. Follow us on Instagram and Meta to stay connected. Hosting, production and editing: Christian AlexandersenMusic: Jon SauerGraphics: Matt Davis

Kathy breaks down this week's episodes, reveals behind-the-scenes stories, explains what you might've missed, and tells you what's worth listening to and why. Tune in to hear all the details including hear all about Amber cheating on her husband even though they were already hotwifing and how he reacted when he found out, why listeners loved Brian's story about full swaps, adult resorts and how and why he went from homophobic to hooking up with guys, how Patty went from failed relationships and cheating to sex parties and the lifestyle, why Christine's post-gangbang update reveals way more about the cracks in her marriage and sets up next week's crazy conclusion, John Smith's obsession with pantyhose and how he's using AI to fulfill his fetish, how Marni the Wing Girl helps men get their game back and what women really want from guys, plus Kathy gives a sneak peek at Sunday's Fuck, Marry, Kill sexpert edition, announces the newest Discord contest and a whole lot more. Tune in for all the details. GET A COPY OF THE STRICTLY ANONYMOUS BOOK! Strictly Anonymous Confessions: Secret Sex Lives of Total Strangers. A bunch of short, super sexy, TRUE stories. GET YOUR COPY HERE: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://amzn.to/4i7hBCd⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  or Pre-order audiobook version ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠   To see HOT pics of my female guests + hear anonymous confessions + get all the episodes early and AD FREE, join my Patreon! It's only $7 a month and you can cancel at any time. You can sign up here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/StrictlyAnonymousPodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and when you join, I'll throw in a complimentary link to my private Discord! To join SDC and get a FREE Trial! click here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.sdc.com/?ref=37712⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or go to SDC.com and use my code 37712 Want to be on the show? Email me at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠strictlyanonymouspodcast@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://www.strictlyanonymouspodcast.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and click on "Be on the Show." Want to confess while remaining anonymous? Call the CONFESSIONS hotline at 347-420-3579. All voices are changed.   Sponsors:  ⁠⁠https://shamelesscare.sjv.io/xLQ3Jv⁠⁠⁠ Get $15 OFF Shameless Desire or any other product at Shameless Care ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://beduc.at/pd2630-anonymous⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Click here to take the quiz and  get your personalized SUMMER roadmap to sexual happiness  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://LoadBoost.com⁠⁠⁠⁠- To get 10% off LOAD BOOST by VB Health, use code: STRICTLY   ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bluechew.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ — Buy 2 months of Bluechew GOLD and get the third month FREE! Use code: STRICTLYANON⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Follow me! Instagram  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/strictanonymous/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ X  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/strictanonymous?lang=en⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Website  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://www.strictlyanonymouspodcast.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Everything else: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/Strictlyanonymouspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

FETISH FRIDAY John Smith loves legs in pantyhose and loves wearing them too and he called in totally all about it. Tune in to hear all the details including how he has always been a leg guy and how pantyhose are tied his attraction to women's legs, why he thinks his fetish is in his DNA and the similarities he sees in the men in his family, how and why he thinks guys develop a pantyhose fetish, why he can't understand why more women don't realize how much guys love seeing them in hose, his fave colors and looks on women and why he prefers a satin glow over a super bright shine, his fave brands and deniers and why, the trick he uses to hide the hair on his legs without shaving, why he prefers sheer-to-waist on both himself and women, how and why he wears pantyhose and why wearing them himself is still all about his attraction to women in hose, how his fetish has recently expanded to include feet in pantyhose, where he finds his favorite pantyhose content online, how and why he uses AI to create the exact pantyhose fantasies he wants to see, the kind of content he creates and why he recently started his own YouTube channel to share it, plus a whole lot more. You can contact him at  inggs2@yahoo.com Youtube channel is Inggs2 GET A COPY OF THE STRICTLY ANONYMOUS BOOK! Strictly Anonymous Confessions: Secret Sex Lives of Total Strangers. A bunch of short, super sexy, TRUE stories. GET YOUR COPY HERE: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://amzn.to/4i7hBCd⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  or Pre-order audiobook version ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠   To see HOT pics of my female guests + hear anonymous confessions + get all the episodes early and AD FREE, join my Patreon! It's only $7 a month and you can cancel at any time. You can sign up here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/StrictlyAnonymousPodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and when you join, I'll throw in a complimentary link to my private Discord! To join SDC and get a FREE Trial! click here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.sdc.com/?ref=37712⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or go to SDC.com and use my code 37712 Want to be on the show? Email me at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠strictlyanonymouspodcast@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://www.strictlyanonymouspodcast.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and click on "Be on the Show." Want to confess while remaining anonymous? Call the CONFESSIONS hotline at 347-420-3579. All voices are changed.   Sponsors:  ⁠⁠⁠https://shamelesscare.sjv.io/xLQ3Jv⁠⁠⁠⁠ Get $15 OFF Shameless Desire or any other product at Shameless Care ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://beduc.at/pd2630-anonymous⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Click here to take the quiz and  get your personalized SUMMER roadmap to sexual happiness  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://LoadBoost.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠- To get 10% off LOAD BOOST by VB Health, use code: STRICTLY   ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bluechew.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ — Buy 2 months of Bluechew GOLD and get the third month FREE! Use code: STRICTLYANON⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Follow me! Instagram  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/strictanonymous/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ X  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/strictanonymous?lang=en⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Website  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://www.strictlyanonymouspodcast.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Everything else: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/Strictlyanonymouspodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is a Grave Talks CLASSIC EPISODE! PART TWOInvestigating the paranormal can be exciting—but some places demand far more than curiosity. In this classic episode of The Grave Talks, paranormal investigator John Smith shares the chilling story of a case he now refers to only as Hell House. What began as a routine investigation into reported activity quickly shifted into something far darker—something that didn't just exist in the background, but seemed to react.As the night unfolded, the atmosphere inside the home grew increasingly heavy, building toward a moment John still struggles to fully explain. At one point during the investigation, he unexpectedly lost consciousness inside the house, leaving behind disturbing questions about what may have happened in those missing moments—and whether something unseen was responsible.Looking back, John reflects on the risks of stepping into active locations without the experience, preparation, or protection these encounters may require. Because sometimes, it's not just about what you witness inside a haunted place—it's about what might follow you out.#TheGraveTalks #HellHouse #DemonicHaunting #HauntedHouse #ParanormalInvestigation #PossessionCases #DarkEntity #ParanormalPodcast #SupernaturalEncounter #HauntedLocationLove real ghost stories? Don't just listen—join us on YouTube and be part of the largest community of real paranormal encounters anywhere. Subscribe now and never miss a chilling new story:

This is a Grave Talks CLASSIC EPISODE!Investigating the paranormal can be exciting—but some places demand far more than curiosity. In this classic episode of The Grave Talks, paranormal investigator John Smith shares the chilling story of a case he now refers to only as Hell House. What began as a routine investigation into reported activity quickly shifted into something far darker—something that didn't just exist in the background, but seemed to react.As the night unfolded, the atmosphere inside the home grew increasingly heavy, building toward a moment John still struggles to fully explain. At one point during the investigation, he unexpectedly lost consciousness inside the house, leaving behind disturbing questions about what may have happened in those missing moments—and whether something unseen was responsible.Looking back, John reflects on the risks of stepping into active locations without the experience, preparation, or protection these encounters may require. Because sometimes, it's not just about what you witness inside a haunted place—it's about what might follow you out.#TheGraveTalks #HellHouse #DemonicHaunting #HauntedHouse #ParanormalInvestigation #PossessionCases #DarkEntity #ParanormalPodcast #SupernaturalEncounter #HauntedLocationLove real ghost stories? Don't just listen—join us on YouTube and be part of the largest community of real paranormal encounters anywhere. Subscribe now and never miss a chilling new story:

今回のエピソードでは、トモエとアンドレアが日本とアメリカにおける「名前の付け方」の文化的な違いについて語り合います！リスナーからの質問をきっかけに、漢字の意味や画数（姓名判断）を重視する日本の名付けと、聖書由来や個人の好みを尊重するアメリカの名付けを徹底比較。「山田太郎」や「John Smith」といった日米の定番仮名（プレースホルダー）の話題から、このポッドキャストの番組名が生まれたきっかけまで、楽しく深掘りしていきます。

Taking off the uniform can leave a man wondering where he fits next. The rank is gone. The built-in mission is gone. The people around you may respect that you served, but they do not always understand what that service cost or why civilian life can feel so strange afterward. John Smith knows that feeling. After 20 years in the Marine Corps, retiring as a Master Sergeant, he had to face one of the hardest parts of transition: figuring out who he was without the uniform doing the talking for him. In this conversation, John opens up about identity after service, faith, family, divorce, deployments, pride, purpose, and learning how to ask for help instead of carrying everything alone. This episode also gets into why veteran stories matter. Through his podcast, The Unsung Veteran, John gives other veterans a place to talk about more than their MOS, rank, or years served. He wants to understand the person behind the service, including the struggles they still carry today. That includes PTSD, TBI, addiction, failed businesses, transition problems, VA struggles, and the search for meaning after the military. For any veteran who misses the camaraderie, feels disconnected from civilian life, or is trying to rebuild their sense of purpose around faith, family, and service, this conversation offers a reminder that the uniform may come off, but the mission can continue in a new way. And because no veteran conversation is complete without some humor, John closes with the call sign story he rarely tells and a nickname that followed him longer than he wanted. Timestamps: 00:04:08 - Why a fourth-generation Marine finally joined 00:12:29 - The hardest part of taking off the uniform 00:18:25 - Building a podcast around the person behind the veteran 00:27:59 - How veteran conversations helped him process old wounds 00:39:15 - The call sign story he rarely tells Links & Resources Veteran Suicide & Crisis Line: Dial 988, then press 1 Website: https://www.theunsungveteran.com/

https://youtu.be/KUPg9BuYSaM David B. Jones, CEO and Partner of Mercer Assessments, is helping organizations attract the right A-Players by making labor markets more efficient through defensible human capital insights. By combining psychometric science, workforce analytics, and AI-enabled technology, David helps employers identify, develop, and retain the right talent while empowering people to discover careers where they can thrive and make meaningful contributions.  In this conversation, David introduces The R.E.A.P.E.R. Framework—Review the Situation, Explore Alternatives, Agree a Course of Action, Execute the Plan, and Refine the Approach. He explains why organizations should begin every challenge with a thorough situation review, how collaborative decision-making creates alignment before execution, and why continuous refinement drives long-term organizational success. David also discusses how AI is reshaping talent management, why organizations need real-time workforce insights instead of static reports, and how Mercer Assessments leverages technology while preserving the integrity and defensibility of human capital assessments. — Attract the Right A-Players with David B. Jones  Good day. Steve Preda here with the Management Blueprint Podcast. Today, my guest is David Jones, the CEO and partner of Mercer Assessments, focused on providing defensible human capital insights and foresight in the fields of talent acquisition, leadership development, and organizational productivity. David, welcome to the show.  Thank you, Steve. Great to be here.  Well, I’m excited to have you here, especially because you are the first guest—maybe not completely from the Middle East because we had a couple of guests from Israel—but definitely from Dubai, where you are. Maybe that is also impacting the answer that you’re going to give to my question. So here is my first question. What’s your personal ‘Why’, and how are you manifesting it in your business, Mercer Assessments?  Yeah. Well, I mean, I think obviously a lot of skills around resilience and being able to think about how you maintain your own personal well-being, but also the well-being of the workforce, is something which has come to the fore in the last couple of weeks, for sure, living in Dubai. But I think very much of my North Star—by educational background, I’m a labor market economist. Although I’ve worked in HR and talent management for pretty much all of my career, I think I’m always thinking about how to make markets more efficient.  I think the labor market, in some ways, and what it takes to become efficient, is very similar to a fish market, a stock market, or any other market that you can think of. What you need to be able to make the best decisions is really good data, really good up-to-date information, both on the supply side and on the demand side.Share on X I think a lot of what we do at Mercer Assessments, and a lot of what we do in talent management more generally, is really about trying to do that. Trying to help individuals understand what their strengths are.  Trying to match them to specific careers that will be more fulfilling for them in the long term and also help them be more productive for their employers. As well as helping employers understand what the important skills are for today and tomorrow, and how they can predict how people will perform in certain environments. So really trying to bring the supply side and demand side together. I think, notoriously, labor markets have very bad information.  Typically, most people get their career guidance from their parents or their grandparents, which can be great for aspiration but doesn’t always necessarily keep them up-to-date in terms of what’s happening in today’s workplace. So I think this is really my anchor, if you like, where a lot of what we do in our innovation, our technology, or our engagements with clients typically comes back to this point. Fundamentally, how do we make labor markets more efficient and more functional for all of the stakeholders?  Yeah, that’s fascinating. So would you say that if you are doing this well, then more people will feel fulfilled in the roles that they work in?  I mean, I think that’s definitely the aspiration, right? That’s definitely what you would hope to do. I think, as individuals, I’m sure we can all think of those really, really great days where you think that you nailed it at work, and you think that this is something where you can make a really specific contribution. It just feels good, and all those people around you have the benefit of that. It becomes something which is infectious for those around you.  I think it’s important for the economy on a macro level, right? I think if we are able to provide opportunities, provide career paths, and help people understand what their unique strengths are, then this is something which helps to promote productivity and positivity more generally, right? At the individual, team, family, and societal level, it affects all sorts of dimensions.  So maybe this is kind of a side question, but I’m really wondering, is this AI revolution, as we’re going through it, influencing your work, and is it changing the requirements of employers?  Yeah. I think we’re in a very interesting time. I mean, I’m not a futurologist. I’m not a prophet. I’m not somebody who makes these sorts of big predictions about the future. But I think the case for AI, to some extent, is still unproven in terms of what it’s actually delivered to date. I mean, I think there’s obviously a lot of investment. There’s a big impact on the environment. But I don’t think we’ve had something really groundbreaking discovered by AI at this point that’s new.  It seems to be quite backward-looking in many ways, based on ingesting data from all the novels that you have on your shelf and that I have on my shelf. Maybe they’re going to ingest this podcast in the future. I don’t know. It doesn’t seem that there’s been a unique breakthrough that humanity has not been able to, or would not be able to, achieve by itself. And yet, I think the promise and the anticipation of what AI can do is quite compelling, right?  I think the way that it is impacting the labor market especially… Ironically, it’s impacting probably software developers the most today. It’s interesting that a lot of people in white-collar fields, professionals maybe, are also feeling like it’s changing the way they’re working. So there’s a big debate, I think, about whether it’s going to be an augmentation or whether it’s going to be a replacement of some sorts of tasks. I think one thing you can say with certainty is that the concept of a job is definitely going to change. If you look at the roots of the word—the etymological roots of the word “job” in the English language—it literally means “a task” rather than a role as such. Yeah. So I think we’re going to get this greater atomization of people’s roles. What used to be bundled together as one job is now going to be much more atomized into specific skills, specific tasks.  The opportunity there is that we all get to do more of the things that we find more fulfilling and less of the repetitive, dangerous, or dull types of things that we have to do in our jobs sometimes.Share on X But I think it has some second-order impacts in terms of how people develop their careers and the competence and confidence that people, particularly when they’re junior in their jobs, need time to build—the ability to operate at a higher level. So I think we’re all going to have to be leaders in lots of ways, even leaders in our own work.  Yeah, I agree with you. That’s fascinating. So, David, let’s talk about the framework. What would be a framework? Think of something that allows you to be more effective in your job—something maybe that you personally discovered or that you and your colleagues developed. Something that helps you be more effective in creating those labor market matches, finding the right candidates, and assessing them. Something that you can describe in three, four, or five steps, or maybe three or four ways of looking at things. Anything that comes to mind?  So there are a few things. I did miss a few things because I think—I don’t know if you’ve heard the news. We’re recording this, and I think the British prime minister has just resigned today. This is, I think, our seventh prime minister in 10 years. I’m sure each one of those prime ministers had their own framework in terms of what they wanted from their political leadership and how they were going to operate in government.  So I think we’re definitely operating in a much more VUCA world, right? This mnemonic is about being volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. I think, to some extent, that means that having a framework has to be something that is constantly being amended, reviewed, and updated in many ways. A lot of what we do in assessment—we have very clear statistical frameworks where we look at particular behaviors or particular characteristics, and we try to make sure we measure them. But I thought maybe that was too detailed and too comprehensive.  So one of the things we do when engaging with our clients is that we have a sort of consulting approach. It’s like a cycle. We start by reviewing the situation, so it’s like a situation appraisal, if you like. We use this internally as well in Mercer Assessments. So we try to understand what’s happening, what’s going well, and what we’re concerned about—just trying to get any data or information that we can.  Then it's important, particularly with a team or with a client, to explore what the priorities are, what's important, and what is causing them the most thought or requiring the most energy to address.Share on X So reviewing, exploring, and then agreeing on a course of action. Making sure that there’s consensus or, if you’re in an organization, making sure you’ve got the budget and the endorsement from headquarters or senior management. Then I think you can go into a planning stage. Making sure you’ve got a focus on execution and that you know what has to happen and when.  Then I think you can go into the ability to have that as a cycle and review or evaluate the plan itself. Is it on track? Is it on time? Is it on budget? Is it achieving its objectives? You can continue on this sort of reflexive cycle. So if you were to do that, it becomes quite sinister. The mnemonic becomes R.E.A.P.E.R., like the Grim Reaper or like “reap what you sow,” because you review, explore, agree, plan, execute, and then review again.Share on X So it can become, hopefully, a virtuous cycle, but it can also become an ongoing process.  I love it. So Yeah. So if you refine, maybe the last one is refined, and then you avoid repeat— Yes. Yeah.  Yeah. Oh, great.  That’s good. Yeah, I like it. Yeah, love it. So basically, what you’re looking for is helping your customers with an initial problem and then helping them generally improve their organization by continuing to refine and add to it, making it better over time.  Yes, correct. Yeah.  So it turns into a recurring engagement.  Yes, that’s the hope. Well, yeah. I mean, hopefully, if you have that relationship with the client and also with your team, you have this ability to recognize what you’ve achieved together, but you can also plan what you want to do differently next time.  So you’re the CEO of Mercer Assessments, which is the Dubai operation. Is this just a geographic branch of the Mercer Group, or is it a separate business that operates in multiple geographies?  Yeah. So actually, it’s a new venture for Mercer globally. My background is that I was one of the founders of a company called The Talent Enterprise, which was acquired by Mercer just over two years ago. It had also made an acquisition of another company before that called Mettl. So we were more of a talent assessment type of company.  We would do talent acquisition, talent development, leadership development, things like high-potential identification, succession planning, and these types of applications. Employee engagement as well, things like employee well-being assessments and stuff like this. The psychometric assessment field. So if you or your listeners are good at Greek, you would know that “psychometric” means “measurement of the mind.”  Yeah, right. So this is really what we’re trying to do. We’re accredited by the British Psychological Society to say that the tools we have, use, or develop have validity, reliability, and are statistically stable within the sorts of bounds that you would expect when measuring human beings.  It can never be perfect, but it’s considered to be predictive. Mettl was more focused on skills assessment. That was one of their big areas of focus, along with educational assessment. So coming together as Mercer Assessments, we’re now part of this big global organization. Although we’re based in the Middle East, we’re now working in Asia, Europe, North America—we’re just starting to do more work in North America—and Australasia. So this is the sort of big, hairy, audacious plan that we have.  That must be pretty intense if you’re working around the clock, essentially working around the globe. Then Mercer is… It can be.  Yeah, it can be. Even working in the Middle East, you have different working weeks. Some of our clients work on Sundays. But we have a good team. We have a big team. We have great technology. So we have scalable ways of doing it.  So what drives growth in this business?  I think it is changing. If you were to ask me that question even two years ago, I would say it’s to do with the change, the transformation, or the aspiration of the client, of the organization. If they’ve got a new operation, or they’re expanding, or they need to develop new skills, or they need to make sure their productivity and positivity are enabling them to keep up with their competitors, then these things would often trigger the sorts of interventions that we help our clients with.  That’s still true to a large extent, but what's changing a lot is what you were talking about earlier—to do with AI and expectations from technology. So I think what we're doing a lot more of now is real-time decision support.Share on X It used to be that our deliverables would look like a PDF report. They would say, “Okay, this is Steve. We’ve assessed Steve. These are Steve’s strengths. These are his areas for development. This is the sort of team or the certain type of colleague that he would thrive working with.  These are the people or the situations that he might struggle with.” That type of static report. Then either we or the client—sometimes if you’re looking at large numbers of people—you’d have to do a lot of spreadsheet work or a lot of PowerPoint work and say, “Okay, now we need to match that with your strategic objectives.” So I think what’s happening now is we’re focusing a lot more on the data.  Our technology is providing much more of a dashboard report, so Steve can access his results straight away because that’s actually when Steve is most interested in them and they’re most relevant—not two weeks later when you schedule a coach or someone to give him feedback. You’re interested as soon as you finish the last question. You want to know, “Okay, what does this say about me?” We can add lots of AI layers to that to help you implement it or understand it. Then for the organization, we now provide much more of a dynamic dashboard-type report.  So if, I don’t know, the CFO leaves this afternoon and the CEO calls the CHRO and says, “Okay, who are the internal candidates for this role?” You can come up with an answer. It doesn’t have to be something where you say, “Let me check my filing cabinet,” or, “Let me put a PowerPoint together for you and get back to you later this week or next week.” You can actually do that type of matching within the platform that we have. We have our own platform called Lighthouse, and it really helps you match individuals or teams to certain tasks or to certain ventures or aspirations that the organization might have.Share on X  Yeah. So instead of providing individual reports for individuals, you now operate this platform for your clients, and then they can look up the people involved in changes. So how is it different to scale the business with this type of approach? What makes it more complex?  Yeah. So on the one hand, it can help us a lot as our own organization because we can be much more pervasive 24 hours a day across the different time zones that we operate in. If you’re our client, you don’t always have to rely on having a meeting or a call with us in person. You can go and find that answer yourself. It’s quite an intuitive process and platform. You can access it and get value from your own data. I think that’s the key thing that I’m trying to emphasize that’s changed.  Clients are now impatient with SaaS platforms in particular when they’re not able to access their own data directly. So there’s a little bit of disintermediation going on in the enterprise software business as a whole. That’s the key trend that I’m trying to highlight here. But it also helps us to be more scalable. Just to take a step back to the previous discussion about AI, I think when it comes to using AI in your business, the key strategic choice is what you’re not going to use AI for.  For us, we made the choice actually three or four years ago that we’re not going to use AI in the assessments themselves. Not today. Maybe in five years’ time or ten years’ time we might change our mind, and we’re constantly reviewing that. But we need these defensible assessments. We need to be able to say, “This is fair and objective, and we’re coming with an external point of view that is transparent and defensible in every sense of that word.”  Yeah. You don’t want to hallucinate assessments for clients or even run the risk of that happening, right?  Yeah, absolutely. And there are some companies that have done that, right? I mean, there are lots of cases you can find where companies have said, “Hey, we just need a five-minute video, and I can tell you everything you need to know about this person, and you can make decisions about their career and all sorts of stuff,” right? I’m not saying we won’t get there in the future, but I just don’t think that’s good enough at the moment.  And I think with a lot of things that you do with chatbots now, if you’re judicious about it, you might be able to say, “Well, actually, that’s interesting, but it’s not good enough,” right? It’s not a finished product. It’s not something that I can execute on. What we can do is add a lot of value around the assessment. So we can do things like AI-based development planning, right?  When someone wants to see their results—and people normally want to see their results almost immediately after they’ve finished their assessments—you can start to say, in the flow of work, in the client’s environment, whatever their learning partners or learning architecture may be, “Okay, here’s a development plan for you,” customized and curated within that environment for your strengths, how to emphasize them, and also for any development areas or new learnings that you want to address.  We can also do things like AI-based proctoring, right? We can give the client a risk report on an application and say, you know, how genuine is this? What other software does Steve have open on his laptop? Is there a shadow in the room? Where are his eyes going? Is he looking at someone else? Is he getting help from someone else? Is this really Steve? All these sorts of things, right? We can do that. We can also develop customized case studies for the organization around its specific tasks and challenges that the organization has.  So you can come up with very specific, job-related assessments. AI can add a lot of value to all of these things. It can provide greater scale and a greater ability to sustain our growth. But with the core of what we do today, we’re saying, “Look, you need to be able to trust us.” And we want to be able to show you the answer. If you have a question about any of our assessments, we can check. There’s an audit trail, and we can show you the answer. It’s not just, “The computer came up with this idea. We don’t know.” But that’s intellectual property, and you know that it works, and you’re sticking with it. You don’t allow AI to bastardize it, basically, yeah, which makes sort of sense. So, David, what is one thing that you’re actively trying to figure out in your business right now? That’s a great question. I mean, there’s lots of things. I think a lot of them come around, you know, what is this threshold between what we do as humans and what we use AI or other technology to help us do? And I think that threshold is constantly being reviewed. A lot of it is to do with how do you make growth sustainable. We have had massive growth in the last five or six years, and that’s a great thing.  But I think it means you have to make sure the foundations of your organization are strong so that you can move from one to another. I mentioned earlier that we’re just starting to focus on North America as one of our new markets, and I was very keen that we didn’t do that until this point or even next year because we’re not the organizational equivalent of The Beatles, right? Like, we can’t just expect to turn up in a big, sophisticated, very strong, highly cultured market and be able to expect that we’re going to do things like we’ve done them everywhere else, or that we don’t need to think about how we communicate with those prospects and those clients.  So that’s a really big step for us. And how we manage data, I think, is probably the key thing. Fundamentally, if I was to come back to answer your question, I think it’s how we manage data because I think clients are becoming much more sophisticated, much more impatient with people who curate their data. They say, “Look, you know, we know we’re generating lots of data inside the organization,” right? Which is typically what we do, right? It’s people data.  Normally in most work environments, you can tell when somebody opens their laptop, or you can tell when they walk in the office door, or you can tell sometimes even what they’re doing inside the working space, right? Their ID has got an RFID in it or something like that. So there’s lots of data that’s constantly being generated inside the organization, and clients want to get value from that data. And having a sort of third-party proxy come in and say, “Hey, we can do your payroll for you,” or “We can send a questionnaire to people once a year, and that can let you know whether they understand health and safety or they’re engaged in their workplace,” it’s not really satisfactory anymore, right?  The clients are saying, “Okay. I want to be able to get value from my data, and I want to be able to see that. I want the analytics. I want to ask questions that are not able to be prescribed at the beginning.” “And I want to be able to do these queries in real time.”  So essentially, would that require you to get integrated with your clients to some degree so that you can process the data in real time as it emerges? It’s really interesting because I think what I’m hearing from my clients is they’re actually frustrated with that. In the sort of classic SaaS world, which we’ve had in organizations now for 20, 30, maybe even 40 years, you integrate the big internal ERP systems or CRM systems, and you integrate them, and then you have to sort of work within their framework, right? And you might see a report that’s already pre-programmed, but you don’t necessarily see the data, right? If you wanted to say, “Okay, what’s the trend today over the 24-hour clock?” or “How is it changing in June compared to May?” or “How does it relate to the temperature?” or whatever, right?  You can come up with all these questions that you might not be able to predict and then plan and have a sort of pull-down standard report. So to do that, you need access to the data. And I think clients are saying, “This is our data.” This data belongs to us. We want to be able to see that directly, and we want to be able to use that as a decision-support tool, and not necessarily just have a report.”  Yeah. So they’d rather own the data and apply your tools to their data without you necessarily having access to the data or something like that?  Yeah. It’s also a source of differentiation for them, right? Because they know that if… I’m not going to mention these companies. I’m sure you and all your viewers know the big brands. It’s interesting what’s happening with their share prices recently, right? They’re all maybe suffering a little bit from a decline in their share prices, on average. It’s basically a standardized way of doing things, right?  There’s pretty much the same way that any corporation in any part of the world is going to do it because that’s the way you get efficiency through that software. But if an organization says, “Actually, we’ve got an insight into something that we think is unique and differentiated, and we want to make decisions in a slightly different way, or make them faster,” that’s a point of competitive advantage.  Does that mean they wouldn’t want you to apply their idea to other customers because it’s their unique property? They’d just want your tools to help them process their data. They don’t want to share it with you.  Yeah. There are clients like that. We do deal with very sensitive industries, and sometimes government departments, where we have to be able to certify that type of approach. I think that’s likely to become more common in the future as people become more sensitive and more aware of the value, the opportunity, and the threat of what can happen with their data.  Yeah. I mean, some people say that information is now ubiquitous. It’s the questions that are really important because that’s how you communicate with AI. Maybe the question itself can be proprietary know-how—knowing how to ask the right kind of question. They don’t want…  No. I mean… Yeah, I agree. Completely. Yeah. You’re absolutely right. Again, to go back to assessments, we’ve recently released a whole bunch of assessments that measure skills in AI as a domain. We’ve got all sorts of technical and non-technical AI assessments. Obviously, one of the skills that we look at is prompt engineering. If you’ve used some of the generative AI platforms, you’ll always get an answer.  They’re pre-programmed to give you an answer, and most of them are also pretty polite. They fluff up your ego a little bit and say, “Hey, great question.” “That was really interesting.” Then they’ll give you an answer. You need to be aware of that. You need to probe and make sure you’ve not just got an answer—you’ve got the answer. Or at least the best answer that makes sense for you. Then you’ve quality-checked it.  You’ve taken it from one platform, put it into another platform, and then into a third platform. Whatever you’ve done, you need to have that awareness and those specific skills to get the most value out of it. It’s very dangerous, and I think we can all see it. I’m sure your inbox is like my inbox. You get emails from people and think, “Okay, well, that’s not an email from a person.” It’s a bulleted email. It’s not personal. It’s not directed at you. Sometimes it’s hard to understand what it even means.  Yeah. You’re right. So David, who is the ideal customer for you that can most benefit from your solution?  That’s a good question. Personally and professionally, I like clients who challenge us. I like clients who ask questions that make us think in a different way, so we can hopefully give them value and really answer those questions. I think that’s important for us to develop. Clients who are looking for new insights or different foresights that help them in their business—those are the kinds of clients we’re looking for. Definitely the ones who are pushing the envelope and helping take us forward in terms of quality.  So if those types of people are listening to this show and would like to learn more about what you do and how you might be able to help them, where should they go? Where can they find out more?  Yeah, absolutely. You can find me on LinkedIn. I’m David B. Jones on LinkedIn. There are a lot of David Joneses. I think David Jones is the most common name for a British man—even more common than John Smith—so there are a lot of us around. But you’ll be able to find me as David B. Jones. You can also find Mercer Assessments. You can find out more about us through those channels. I’ll be happy to answer any questions or provide more information.  Is there a website people should check out? Do you have a separate website for Mercer Assessments?  We do. Mercer Assessments is part of the mercer.com website. That’s where you’ll find more information. There are also a number of books we’ve published on particular subjects to do with assessment, talent, and leadership development more generally. Those are all available on Amazon as well.  Okay. So if you’re out there and you’re looking to have a more sophisticated view of your people and their aspirations and how they fit the type of work that you want them to do, and you’d like to understand more deeply, then check out Mercer Assessments, David B. Jones. Actually, it’s easy to just put in “David Jones Mercer,” and David will pop up that way.  Check out the books that David and his colleagues have published. And if you enjoyed this conversation, then make sure you follow us on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts. And David, thanks for coming to the show and sharing your experience and insights. I mean, it seems to me that you have a much more nuanced approach than most talent assessment or performance assessment organizations, and you have a lot more tools at your disposal. It’s a combination of technology and professional expertise. So that’s fascinating. Thanks for coming on the show. And if you enjoyed this conversation, make sure you follow us because we come out every week with exciting entrepreneurs like David. I will. I will. Thank you, Steve. Important Links: Davidi's LinkedIn David's  website

durée : 00:05:05 - Les Matins de France Culture - par : Marie Sorbier - Le Centre culturel de rencontres internationales John Smith de Ouidah au Bénin est un lieu pluridisciplinaire qui propose des spectacles de théâtre, des ateliers, des séminaires, des résidences ainsi que des actions de valorisation patrimoniale et touristique. - invités : Janvier Nougloï Directeur du Centre culturel de Rencontres International de Ouidah au Bénin Vous aimez ce podcast ? Pour écouter tous les épisodes sans limite, rendez-vous sur Radio France

Most veterans don't need another program—they need one honest conversation with someone who's been there.EPISODE PREMISERetired Marine Master Sergeant John Smith thought he was praying about changing careers. Instead, he found a new mission: helping veterans tell their stories.In this episode, John shares how intentional transition planning set him up for success, why storytelling can be therapeutic, and how his podcast, The Unsung Veteran, is preserving experiences that might otherwise be lost forever.In this episode, you'll discover:• Build a military transition plan years before separation instead of waiting until the last minute• Recognize why veteran networking can be one of the most valuable tools during transition• Understand how sharing personal experiences can create healing for both the speaker and the listener• Learn why authentic conversations often uncover deeper truths than scripted interviewsAbout John SmithJohn Smith is a retired Marine Corps Master Sergeant who served for 20 years as a Tactical Air Defense Controller, supporting both Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.Today he works in government contracting and hosts The Unsung Veteran, a platform dedicated to documenting veteran experiences and creating meaningful conversations that help service members navigate life after the military.

The Rother Valley Railway is a remarkable project to restore a missing 3.5 mile link to reconnect the Kent & East Sussex Railway with the London – Hastings main line at Robertsbridge. When it's complete, this 14 mile long railway will take visitors through some of England's most beautiful countryside past Bodiam Castle to Tenterden. The Rother Valley Railway recently passed a major milestone with the opening of Robertsbridge station and the rededication of the link to Network Rail. Naturally, Green Signals went along to join in the fun and met, amongst others, Lord Hendy, Huw Merriman, John Smith of GB Railfreight and Suzy Eddie Izzard, the Actor and Comedian. Membership: If you want to see even more from Green Signals, including exclusive content, become a member and support the channel further too.YouTube -⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@GreenSignals/join⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon -⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/GreenSignals⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Green Signals: Website -⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://www.greensignals.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Merchandise - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://greensignals.etsy.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Newsletter -⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://www.greensignals.org/#mailing-list⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow: X (Twitter) -⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/greensignallers⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ LinkedIn -⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/green-signals-productions-ltd⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Important notes:Green Signals Productions Limited was commissioned to produce the Alpine Belle film by Belle Trains Limited. Our tickets and expenses were paid for by them.Notwithstanding that, the opinions expressed by us in the film are our own. You can view our legal disclaimer, copyright information and privacy policy here - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.greensignals.org/legal/⁠⁠

There's a feast of big field Handicap action on Saturday with the Bunbury Cup at Newmarket along with the John Smith's Cup at York. And then there's the small matter of the Group 1 July Cup. TC and Ross are on hand to guide you through it all. Download SBK: https://betsbk.comFollow us on X - https://x.com/sbk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Emmet Kennedy, Andy Newton, George Gorman, Jaime Wrenn and Jake Wilkes return with the Final Furlong Podcast Weekend Betting Guide, previewing a blockbuster Saturday from Newmarket, York and Ascot.

We found what might be the worst (and funniest) Mormon history explanation on the internet.A comedian tried to explain how Joseph Smith started Mormonism… and it went very wrong. From calling him “John Smith,” to saying Brigham Young snitched on him to the government, to claiming he was killed in Philadelphia — this one has it all.We break it down, laugh at it, and decide if it's actually good rage bait or just straight-up misinformation.Is this the worst Mormon history take you've ever heard?Drop your favorite bad history take in the comments

Olympic gold medalist THE English Gardner joins Ready Set Go for one of the rawest, funniest, and most powerful conversations we've had yet.From being discovered as a kid running in basketball shoes, to becoming a five-time NCAA champion at Oregon, to winning a U.S. title and running 10.74 at the Olympic Trials, English's story is not the clean, perfect highlight reel people think they know.She opens up about the ACL injury that nearly ended her college dream, her mother's battle with stage 4 breast cancer, the pressure of turning pro, training under John Smith, the dark mental health battle she faced in 2016, and the torn meniscus she carried all the way to Olympic gold.Then she takes us inside one of the wildest moments in Olympic history: the 2016 Team USA women's 4x100 relay, the dropped baton, the protest, running alone in lane one, stolen spikes, a bad knee, and still walking away with gold.This is English Gardner like you've never heard her before: hilarious, brutally honest, spiritual, competitive, emotional, and still every bit the dog.Tap in for a real conversation about Track & Field, survival, greatness, faith, coaching, and what it actually takes to keep going when everything goes wrong.Featuring Justin Gatlin, Rodney Green, and English Gardner.

If you want to see the world through John Smith's eyes, you have to see the world through John Smith's eyes… and on today's throw back Thursday podcast, Rich is going to show you how to get inside John Smith--your prospect's--head… and then write headlines that capture what he's thinking and put them on paper. Or a screen. Anyway, in the ad. Rich says that HEADLINES do 75% of the lifting in your marketing… and what he calls "John Smith Headlines" are one of the most effective ways to write headlines. If you're a marketing student, this is a great podcast for you! Tons of examples, tons of hands-on application…. Get ready to LEARN!

In 2024, Coleman Scott seemed primed to become the next coach at Oklahoma State. He was about to be inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame after a stellar career as a four-time All-American, an NCAA champion, and an Olympic bronze medalist.Then things took a quick turn. Instead of being the heir to John Smith's program in Stillwater, uncertainty was present.A quick reset and a chance to change things up, Coleman and his wife Jessica bought some land and build a wrestling room - and basically a dorm and a kitchen. Now, hundreds of kids pass through the doors at The Farm Wrestling Camps just outside of Stillwater, Oklahoma and the Scotts are thriving.What's new and what's to come?Want an ad-free version of the show AND the best in wrestling news from around the world? Sign up for the Daily Wrestling Newsletter presented by Resilite on Substack at https://www.mattalkonline.com/news Links to FollowJoin the Discord: https://www.mattalkonline.com/discordDaily Wrestling Newsletter: https://www.mattalkonline.com/newsContribute: https://www.mattalkonline.com/contributePatreon: https://www.patreon.com/mattalkonline The Short Time Time Wrestling Podcast is proudly supported by Compound Sportswear: https://www.mattalkonline.com/compound Quick Subscribe: https://www.Podfollow.com/shorttime

Posted June 12, 2026 In this episode of The Kubik Report, Victor Kubik sits down with Tina Kuo Graham, Director of Operations at Eastgate Ministries International, for a thoughtful discussion about faith, biblical prophecy, Israel, and the challenges facing the next generation.  She is married to Ned Graham, who is the President of East Gates and the youngest son of the late Evangelist Billy and Ruth Graham.   Tina shares her personal journey to Christianity, beginning with the influence of a supervisor, John Smith, at Lockheed Missiles and Space Corporation. What started as workplace conversations eventually led her to a deeper understanding of the Bible and a lifelong commitment to faith. The conversation then turns to the Middle East and the significance of Israel in biblical prophecy. Tina explains why she views Israel as God's prophetic "time clock" and discusses how the Hamas attack of October 2023 became a watershed moment for Israeli society and for those watching world events through a biblical lens. She offers insights into the historical roots of anti-Semitism and how it has changed over time—from religious opposition, to racial prejudice, and now increasingly to disputes centered on land and national identity. Victor and Tina also explore the spiritual dimensions behind many of today's global conflicts, examining the concept of spiritual warfare and why the Middle East remains at the center of world attention. The discussion concludes with Tina's vision for the future through Eastgate Ministries International. She shares plans for an educational institute designed to disciple Generation Z, helping young people develop a strong biblical foundation while navigating the opportunities and challenges of an increasingly technology-driven world. Topics such as Sabbath observance, spiritual formation, healthy boundaries, and purposeful living are central to this mission. This episode offers a compelling blend of personal testimony, current events, prophetic perspective, and practical guidance for living faithfully in a rapidly changing world. 

John Smith sodi med ključne predstavnike britanske filmske avantgarde, čeprav sam takšnim oznakam že dolgo nasprotuje. Od sedemdesetih let prejšnjega stoletja ustvarja filme in videe, ki so zaznamovali tako eksperimentalni film kot galerijsko umetnost, njegova dela pa danes hranijo in predstavljajo najuglednejše svetovne ustanove sodobne umetnosti. Ob bok avtorjem, kot so Malcolm Le Grice, Lis Rhodes in Michael Snow, ga postavljajo predvsem zaradi izvirnega raziskovanja razmerij med podobo, jezikom in pomenom. Čeprav njegovi filmi pogosto izhajajo iz povsem vsakdanjih prizorov – ulice, hotelske sobe, pogleda skozi okno ali napisa v izložbi –, se iz njih razvijajo duhoviti in hkrati natančni premisleki o zaznavi, jeziku in načinih, kako ustvarjamo pomen. Njegov znameniti film Dekle, ki žveči čigumi danes velja za eno ključnih del britanskega eksperimentalnega filma, med njegove najbolj znane stvaritve pa sodijo tudi Črni stolp, videoesejistični cikel Hotelski dnevniki ter najnovejši celovečerni film Biti John Smith, v katerem z razmislekom o lastnem imenu preplete avtobiografijo, samoironijo in kritičen pogled na sodobni svet. Maja je bil John Smith gost 6. festivala eksperimentalnih avdiovizualnih praks V-F-X; posvetili so mu retrospektivo in ob tej priložnosti je tudi obiskal Ljubljano. Z njim se je pogovarjala Tina Poglajen. Bralec Igor Velše, ton in montaža Robert Markoč.

Dzisiaj jest ze mną Książkara Sonia i zdradzamy sekrety Targów Książki w Warszawie! Poznacie historię marakui Marioli oraz dowiecie się, jak pisać dla pieniędzy (muahahaha!).Odcinek 1 na 3 z Sonią. Bez spojlerów. W kolejnych dwóch odcinkach będą już spojlery do "Kim jest John Smith". Odcinki będą wychodziły co poniedziałek.

This week on Autonomy Signals, Grayson Brulte and Rob Grant discuss Uber's OEM-agnostic robotaxi strategy in Europe, FedEx Freight CEO's declaration that autonomous trucks are ready for prime time, and the AUKUS alliance accelerating undersea autonomy.At GTC Taipei, Uber, Autobrains, and NVIDIA announced a strategic collaboration to launch a robotaxi program in Munich, pending regulatory approval, built on Autobrains' agentic AI and the NVIDIA DRIVE Hyperion Level 4 platform. With no German OEM attached and Stellantis the likely production partner, the move extends Uber's asset-light playbook of contributing its demand network while pushing vehicle CapEx off its balance sheet and onto its partners.On June 1st, FedEx Freight began trading as an independent standalone company, and CEO John Smith stated that its autonomous tractor-trailers can run yard to interstate to facility with 99.9% autonomy. By framing the primary barrier to commercialization as regulatory rather than technical, Mr. Smith flipped the industry narrative from can we build it to will we be allowed to use it.Then there is AUKUS, where Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom formally initiated a trilateral project to develop unmanned undersea vehicles with an aggressive 2027 delivery target. The UUVs are designed for reconnaissance, strike, anti-submarine warfare, and protection of critical infrastructure like undersea cables, signaling that autonomy is no longer just a commercial endeavor but a core pillar of national security, though trilateral interoperability and contested deep-sea environments pose real execution risk.Episode Chapters00:00 Signal 1: Uber's European Robotaxi Strategy33:19 Signal 2: AUKUS Accelerates Unmanned Undersea Autonomy56:16 Signal 3: FedEx Freight CEO Flips the Script01:09:26 AUTNMY AIAutonomy Signals is presented by KPMG.--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy is the leading applied intelligence platform covering the convergence of automation, autonomy, and the Autonomy Economy.™.Through our podcasts, newsletter, and proprietary market intelligence, we set the narrative for institutional investors, industry executives, and policymakers navigating the convergence of automation, autonomy, and economic growth.Join institutional investors and industry leaders who read This Week in The Autonomy Economy every Sunday. Each edition delivers exclusive insight and commentary on the autonomy economy, helping you stay ahead of what's next.Subscribe today: https://www.roadtoautonomy.com/ae/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Most people dream about “giving back someday.”John Smith actually did it.After years in corporate IT, moving from Arizona to Hawaii to Illinois, John and his wife realized something was missing: community, purpose, and real human connection.So they did something radical.They started a nonprofit farm designed to grow fresh food for people facing food insecurity—and they're learning everything from scratch.But this episode isn't really about farming.It's about loneliness.Disconnection.Modern life.The quiet emptiness so many people feel after chasing success for years.And it's about what happens when you finally decide to build something that matters.In this powerful conversation, Kellan and John unpack community, technology, purpose, failure, service, family, meaning, and why helping others may be the thing that saves us.Key Takeaways:Why John and his wife launched Dizzy Goat FarmsFood insecurity and disappearing community connectionThe emotional emptiness of modern corporate lifeWhy technology can increase isolationThe importance of service and contributionLearning farming from scratchBuilding something meaningful later in lifeParenting, identity shifts, and becoming empty nestersWhy failure is necessary for growthThe future vision for Dizzy Goat FarmsCreating movements instead of chasing attentionCommunity resilience and local impactWhy people feel disconnected in the digital ageTravel, culture, and human similarity

Začela se je 79. izdaja Cannskega filmskega festivala, v teku je 6. Festival V-F-X Ljubljana, ki sta ga med drugimi obiskala veliko ime britanskega avantgardnega filma John Smith in japonski slikar Shunsaku Hayashi, ustvarjalec čarobnih analognih animacij. Razmišljamo tudi o drugem delu Hudičevke v Pradi.

Pocahontas became a MOTHER, when she married English planter John Rolfe in 1614 and gave birth ten months later to their son, Thomas Rolfe, in January 1615. Thomas Rolfe, who survived into adulthood and had his own descendants, lived in England and later returned to Virginia. Pocahontas took her son with her when she traveled to England in 1616, where she was introduced to high society. Shortly before returning to Virginia, Pocahontas died in 1617 of a suspected illness at age 22, leaving Thomas in England with his uncle before he later went to live in Virginia. While some oral histories suggest she may also have had a child named Ka-Okee with her first husband, Kocoum, this is not documented in mainstream historical records, which focus on her son with Rolfe. Her marriage and son were seen at the time as a symbol of the "peace" between the English settlers and the Powhatan people, and her name at baptism, Rebecca, was interpreted by some as "mother of two peoples". In 1608, Pocahontas (1596–1617) befriended the daring English explorer and adventurer John Smith (1580–1631) and later converted to Christianity. Her story has been romanticized over the years, many aspects of which are fictional, with the most famous being the many celebrated stories told about her and John Smith. Check out the YouTube version of this episode at https://youtu.be/vH8qtKxJfsI which has accompanying visuals including maps, charts, timelines, photos, illustrations, and diagrams. Pocahontas items available at https://amzn.to/3IerBc7 John Rolfe books available at https://amzn.to/3yy4cOh John Smith books available at https://amzn.to/40NdyCE Jamestown products available at https://amzn.to/3RW5kEm ENJOY Ad-Free content, Bonus episodes, and Extra materials when joining our growing community on https://patreon.com/markvinet SUPPORT this channel by purchasing any product on Amazon using this FREE entry LINK https://amzn.to/3POlrUD (Amazon gives us credit at NO extra charge to you). Mark Vinet's video channel: https://youtube.com/c/TIMELINE_MarkVinet Mark's HISTORICAL JESUS podcast at https://parthenonpodcast.com/historical-jesus Website: https://markvinet.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mark.vinet.9 X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/MarkVinet_HNA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/denarynovels Mark's books: https://amzn.to/3k8qrGM Audio credits: LibriVox—The Thrilling Adventures of Captain John Smith by Charles Morris (Historical Tales, Vol II: American II), read by Kalynda; Nice Try! podcast with Avery Trufelman by Curbed-Jamestown: Utopia for Whom. Audio excerpts reproduced under the Fair Use (Fair Dealings) Legal Doctrine for purposes such as criticism, comment, teaching, education, scholarship, research and news reporting.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Retired Kansas City Police Intelligence Unit detective Gary Jenkins reports his previous contributor, Matt, who he interviewed on a new theory on the Carmine Galante hit, answers questions we have seen on various social media outlets. Matt claims the U.S. attorney and the FBI got it wrong when they alleged and convicted Bruno Indelicato for this murder. Challenging the official story, Matt reveals new theories, missing evidence, and the role of younger mobsters in one of the Mafia's most infamous assassinations. In this bonus episode, I had Matt record his answers to the doubters of his theory. click here to see the book Made on Long Island.   [0:00] Well, hey, all you wiretappers out there, this is Gary Jenkins, as a lot of you know, retired Kansas City Police Intelligence Unit detective [0:06] and now podcast host and producer and all that. And I was contacted by my guest I had on recently, who was only known as Matt. He’s a guy who supplied all the information to the author of Brantley Scarbrough, who wrote Made in Long Island. That was just out a couple of weeks ago. And I’ve never met Scarborough, and I don’t know any more about him. and I’ve never met Matt in person. I’ve had some emails and some Zoom calls with Matt, but I’ve never actually seen him either. But I recognize his accent, and he does come from the Long Island, New York area. And he does have some interesting stories about growing up with younger mobsters and the Bonanno and Gambino families and doing the fireworks business with Gotti and some of the other horse racing fixing business and that kind of thing, but he made quite a claim that the accepted suspects and the hit on the banana wannabe boss, Carmine the Cigar Galante. [1:11] Was not who the government claims it is. [1:14] And the government only claims one guy, and that’s Bruno or Anthony Bruno Indelicato. He claims it was some young guys who had a grudge against Galante, and they heard that this hit was approved by the commission, and they jumped in there and did it before Joe Massino got his crew set and were all ready to go and carry out this approved hit. Now, there’s no dispute that the commission approved this hit, I don’t think. There may be some disagreement about who actually carried it out. I think there’s no doubt that the two Zips, who were bodyguards, Cesare Bonaventure and Baldassario Amato, did not resist the hit. They took no action and just walked out and left, and then were interviewed by the government later on. Of course, they wouldn’t say anything. They probably knew he was scheduled to be hit, and they knew this was coming. And both were promoted in the Bonanno family right after, so that tells you something. Now, in the commission trial, that’s where Anthony Delicato got convicted for the hit on Carmine Galante. And in the commission trial, the government did convict Tony Salerno, boss of the Genovese family. [2:26] Anthony Tony Dux Corralo, boss of the Lucchese family, Gennaro Jerry Lang Langella, the Colombo family acting boss and regular underboss, Salvatore Tom Mix Santoro, who was a Lucchese family underboss. Christopher Christie Tick Funari, Lucchese family consigliere. [2:45] Ralph, little Ralphie Scopo, the Colombo family soldier. Carmine Junior Persico, who was the boss of the Colombo crime family at that time. [2:55] Stefano Canone, Bonanno family consigliere. [3:00] Anthony Bruno Indelicato, Bonanno family capo. Paul Castellano and Mr. Neal, Neal Delacroche, were not in the trial because they died. They were charged, but they died just before the trial. Now, on the YouTube show we did, we got a lot of comments and Matt’s got a lot of questions. And he wants to address and clarify why he doesn’t believe that the government’s claim that Anthony Delacato and two unknown men killed Galante. So I said, you know, I don’t know what to tell you. I said, you know, record and clarify your claim and see if you can address any of these questions that people have had in the comments section. Now, this may end up like all the competing theories on Jimmy Hoffa’s death and where his body by body might be. I don’t know. But at least Frank Sheeran, the Irishman, did not claim the Galante hit as best I can remember. So anyhow, here’s Matt’s story. I just want to say thank you so much for the interest we’ve generated from Gary’s Gangland podcast. [4:03] A lot of learning goes on here, and that’s where I’m going to start off. One item keeps coming up, and believe me, I’m not being the slightest bit condescending. If you don’t study this stuff and look at it, you have no way of knowing this. If you were to punch in right now, because we’ve done it, like Google searches, what evidence was used against Bruno and Delicato? Well, one thing that comes up, and a couple people referenced in the emails and on the posts, was ballistics. [4:27] They had ballistic evidence against Bruno Indelicato. Boy, that’s pretty strong. I mean, ballistic evidence is very, very strong. So let’s go through the ballistic evidence. Let me start off by saying there’s none. What you’re reading on that, and if you read the fine print closely and go back to the source, that is AI-generated garbage. That’s why we don’t like AI. The definition of ballistic evidence would be something like this. We pulled a slug out of a wall. We pulled a slug out of a victim. We locked a guy up. The guy had that gun on him. We matched that slug to that gun. That is ballistic evidence. There was absolutely none of that presented against Bruno Indelicato, despite what AI says. Again, if you take away one thing, please take away the fact that don’t ever use AI as a source. Now, I know one other thing people asked about was the progression on all this. And again, the book details it with so many stories, so many different John Gotti stories in there that people never heard about. But here’s a brief summary of the progression. [5:28] Our friends were young. We were crazy. We dealt fireworks. We dealt so much, they had to bring in the boss. The boss at that time for that area was John Gotti. To us, it was the same as John Smith. We never heard of the guy. He was great to us. We sold a ton of fireworks. He gave us more and more locations, more and more responsibility. Our friends made a fortune. One of our friends, we thought, had a car accident. Two of the bodyguards who helped our friends kill Galante, Baldo and Chesaree, they approached us at a wake and said, look, your friend was not the victim of an accident. Your friend was the victim of a homicide authorized by Galante. We verified there was bulletholes in his car from the impound yard, from the police sources we had. Kept it under wraps for two years. One of the card games, Angelo got word to our friend Tommy that the commission, in fact, did authorize a hit on Galante. The hit was to be done conjunctively with the Gambinos and the Bananos. Our friend Tommy jumped the gate. He said, we’re going to avenge our friend’s death, put together the team that did it. The details are shocking about what our team did to get the hit done. I mean, details you’re shocked about an alibi jumping off of a boat to create an alibi. I want people to read about this. Having police sources helping the hit, Including holding the spaces on July 12th When the hit went down Holding two different parking spaces at that location I hope this helps people Now I want to get back to another one that keeps coming up People keep saying Oh well they’re on tape celebrating. [6:57] People, please, we’ve made some videos on this at YouTube. Go look at them. You can pull them up. They’re online. You can find them. [7:05] There’s a bunch of sources that have them. Watch the raw video. That is not a celebration. That is a beef being put in. Sonny Red Indelicato is furious. He’s going at it with his consigliere, Stefano Canaan, Stevie Beefs. And you can see in his face, you can see his body language and mannerisms. He walks away from him and then he rushes back quickly and goes to his face. That is not a celebration. That’s anger. Stefano Canone actually points in back of him, pointing at the Ravenite. And he’s basically telling him, look, we’ve registered the beef. Neil is inside. Neil is trying to decipher all of this also, because, again, the whole conflict was this. The commission ordered this hit. People say, oh, they approved that. I’m telling you, the commission, the ones who ordered the hit, they gave the work to Joe Massino, who was going to oversee the job. However, the commission specified that it had to be done jointly between the Gambino family and the Bonanno family. Sonny Red and Indelicato was furious that he was left out of the hit. Simultaneously, John Gotti over in Ozone Park, Queens, was furious that he was let out of the hit. [8:19] You just have to understand, in Cosa Nostra, you do not go out and celebrate a hit after it’s done. You don’t even show your face. Everything in a hit like this is meticulously planned and organized. You know exactly where the getaway cars are going to go and who’s going to chop them up. There is no shot in the world that an expert like Sonny Redd is going to leave a getaway car from a triple homicide out in the middle of the street. That does not happen. Let me tell you something. That’s called botching a hit, both of those acts. If you botch a hit in Cosa Nostra, you’re the next one on the other end of the next hit. You’re going to get hit. There’s plenty of cases where people screwed up hits and didn’t dispose of vehicles properly, and they’re the next ones to get hit. So anyone who thinks it’s a celebration and thinks that that’s Cosa Nostra protocol to go out and celebrate is sadly mistaken. That’s why right away the FBI and Cosa Nostra members knew, obviously, Sonny Red Indelicato, his brother JB, Phil Lucky, Bruno and Delicato, all those guys had nothing to do with the hit. If they did, they would have been buried in a safe house. They would not be out in front of what we call the FBI screen test at Mr. Neal’s Club, the Ravenite in Manhattan. Now, people also say another phrase or two that I really love, the smell test. Okay, the smell test. Let’s talk about that. You had two trials going on simultaneously in 1985. [9:48] Same building, Brooklyn, Pizza Connection case and the commission case. The FBI had been broken down into five different squads, one for each family. You know them all, Colombo, Gambino, Lucchese, Genovese, and of course, the Bonanno. Now, the Bonanno section of the FBI, the Bonanno squad, had the most to do in these cases. Most, if not all, the pizza connection focused on the Bonannos, and a good chunk, especially 100% of the Gallant they hit, focused on the Bonannos, and that was in the commission case. These guys talk to each other. They live, eat, and breathe with each other. So if you want to talk about a smell test, can somebody tell me why in Richard Martin, he was the prosecutor, by the way, in the Pizza Connection case, they absolutely refused to say who killed Delonte in that case? [10:39] They came out and said in the indictment and in testimony, three unknown males killed Delonte. [10:46] Now, people talk about it’s easy to see. Bruno and Delicato did it. So you want to tell me that five and six years after the hit, FBI agents that were on the Banano squad, they couldn’t come out and say Bruno and Delicato did it. Why? Because they knew he didn’t. They didn’t want to get a perjury rap. Richard Martin didn’t want to blow his case by telling nonsense that Bruno and Delicato did it. If it was common knowledge that Bruno Indelicato did it, and if there was a legitimate shred of evidence that Bruno Delicato did the work, the Pizza Connection case would have also said Bruno Indelicato is one of the shooters. It did not. That’s what doesn’t pass the smell test. But they even went to an appellate court to throw out any testimony about Galante’s murder in the Pizza Connection case. And sure enough, the judge agreed and said, yeah, we’re not putting one stitch of Galante’s murder in the Pizza Connection case. Now, had those FBI agents in the Bonanno Squad had presented legitimate evidence against Bruno and Delicato in the Pizza Connection case, be it ballistic, be it anything, the judge wouldn’t have done that, but he did. Read the transcripts of the case we have. There was nothing like that presented against Bruno in that case. And again, that’s why the FBI in the Pizza Connection case kept saying, we have no idea who killed Carmine Galante. That is critical for people to understand. [12:10] And last note, I want to get on to people wondering about the Joe Messino angle. Yes, Joe Messino, when he flipped right out after his conviction, he gave up murders all the way back from 1969. Now, Joe Mezzino had a motivation. If he left out any crime or any detail and failed to disclose anything, they throw him out of the program. They did the same to gas pipe case, so they threw him out of the program. So Joe Messino, of course, is going to tell the feds every single thing he knew about the Bonanno family’s involvement with the Galante hit. [12:46] Joe Messino, you know, did come out and say, yes, he got the order and he informed Rusty about the hit. But notice that’s when the trail stops. Joe Messina, who was a hands on guy, never came back and said, hey, Sonny Red did the hit with his kid Bruno and his brother JB. He gave them no details why because he didn’t have details thank you so much again for all of your questions and comments so guys that’s matt’s reasoning and that’s his story the government did not charge or convict any of the others for this murder any other people for this murder in that commission trial now those guys who were convicted were convicted for racketeering under rico and the murder of Galante was not a racketeering. That was a criminal predicate offense that proved that there was an organization known as a commission. It existed, and they ordered criminal acts. And this was a criminal act that they ordered. They need a predicate act where they’ve ordered criminal acts. And the Galante hit was one of them, and murder’s the best one to throw out there. And I think they convicted him based on his palm print on the getaway car that they found. [13:55] They never claimed during the trial to know the other two hit men. So I’ll leave it up to you guys to argue this out in the comments section on my YouTube shows with Matt or on this one here. And he’ll be monitoring those and, you know, come back with any questions that you have. So thanks, Matt, for this interesting look at Young Associates of Gotti and the fireworks business and the horse race fixing business and your theory based on information from your friends in the younger element of the New York mob. And you were kind of on the periphery of that yourself and the people that you [14:29] talked to that were really basically were involved in this hit and the setup. I thought it was really slick using cops to block out parking spots and then to pull out if it was all good to go. And leave the area so that’s uh didn’t have ring cameras and all the cameras back then so we’re gonna never know how much all that’s true you know but it’s uh history is is kind of an agreed upon set of facts or lies or whatever because eventually we agree upon it and that’s becomes the history and this is some of the history of the new york mob in the 70s to the 80s and the murder of Lilo or Carmine the Cigar Galante. Thanks, guys, so much for tuning in. And don’t forget to hit on YouTube, like and subscribe. Post this on your own social media pages and let other people know about the show. We like to get a lot of people watching or listening and watching to the show.  

What happens when a producer in the heart of dairy country decides to build a grass-based beef herd? In this episode of the Grazing Grass Podcast, Cal visits with John Smith from northern Vermont.John shares how his family farm moved out of dairying decades ago, how his career in dairy co-ops shaped his perspective, and how a desire to raise his own food led him back to livestock ownership. After trying multiple breeds, John found the fit he was looking for in South Poll cattle.They discuss restoring worn-out pastures through grazing management, adapting southern cattle genetics to Vermont winters, raising pigs in wooded systems, and building a future seedstock herd for the Northeast.This episode is full of practical lessons on persistence, genetics, pasture recovery, and finding livestock that match your goals and environment.Topics Covered: Growing up connected to a former dairy farm  Working in the dairy industry and helping producers  Returning home to raise food for the family  Leasing family ground and restoring poor pasture  Why South Poll cattle stood out  Adapting cattle to harsh Vermont winters  Multi-move grazing and tighter paddock management  Using cattle to rebuild soil fertility  Raising feeder pigs in woodland systems  Building a seedstock future for New England producers Resources Mentioned:Greg Judy South Poll cattle breeders and community Grazing conferences and producer networks Find Out More:Wandering Brook Farms | https://www.wanderingbrookfarm.comIf you enjoyed this episode, share it with a friend and leave a review.Until next episode, keep on grazing. Looking for grass-based breeders? Explore the Grass Based Genetics directory.Upcoming Grazing EventsNoble Land Essentials - Ardmore, OK, May 12-13, 2026. https://noble.orgVisit our Sponsors:Noble Research InstituteRedmond Agriculture Grassroots Carbon3 Springs UtahGrazing Grass LinksWebsiteCommunity (on Facebook)Original Music by Louis Palfrey

www.patreon.com/theconspiracypodcastThe ocean has always been the last great unknown. Long before maps were complete, before satellites scanned every inch of the earth, sailors stared out into endless water and swore something was staring back.Mermaids didn't begin as the bright, red-haired figure we know today. They began in the shadows—ancient myths of half-human creatures tied to gods, shame, and transformation. In Greece, they weren't even fish, but deadly Sirens whose voices lured men to their deaths. By the Middle Ages, they became symbols of temptation—beautiful, dangerous, and impossible to trust.But not all stories paint them as monsters.Some tell of mermaids living among humans… quietly learning how to survive on land. Others speak of sea-women taken from the ocean, only to leave years later when they find their way back. Sailors like Christopher Columbus claimed to see them—though not quite as beautiful as expected—while others, like John Smith, described something far more captivating.And then there are the strange cases. The stitched “Feejee Mermaid” that fooled thousands. The eerie mermaid mummies in Japan. Even modern sightings, where people still claim to see something sitting on rocks just before disappearing beneath the waves.So what are mermaids, really?A misidentified animal? A shared illusion? Or something deeper—something that lives in the space between what we see and what we want to believe?Tonight, the boys dive into the long, strange history of mermaids—from ancient myth to Disney—and explore why, even now, we're not entirely ready to let them go.

Episode 287- It’s Time to Red Flag, Red Flag Also Available OnSearchable Podcast Transcript Gun Lawyer — Episode Transcript Gun Lawyer Transcript – Episode 287 SUMMARY KEYWORDS Gun rights, Virginia gerrymandering, red flag laws, due process, gun confiscation, Mel Brooks, Spaceballs, New Jersey gun laws, universal background checks, defensive weapons, Second Amendment, Trump re-annexation, social media, gun owner faux pas, civil liberties. SPEAKERS Teddy Nappen, Speaker 3, Evan Nappen Evan Nappen  00:15 I’m Evan Nappen. Teddy Nappen  00:17 and I’m Teddy Nappen. Evan Nappen  00:18 And welcome to Gun Lawyer. So, Teddy, we were talking today, and you had some interesting things to discuss. What did you have? What did you have in mind, buddy? Teddy Nappen  00:31 Well, aside from watching the new “Space Balls” trailer, which, you know, I’m looking forward to it. But it’s never going to be, better. Evan Nappen  00:40 I love Mel Brooks. Teddy Nappen  00:42 That’s the other thing, too. I will give them credit in the trailer, because then he said we unfortunately had to change the name of the trailer. It’s not “Space Balls 2: The Search for Money” because he found money. It was literally just a bag of money that said “Space Balls”. Evan Nappen  00:59 Well, and Mel Brooks is in his 90s, man. But he’s still. Teddy Nappen  01:03 Correct. Oh, wait, I think he, I think he is like 99 like, something crazy. Evan Nappen  01:07 He’s close. I guess that’s what happened when you were married to Bancroft. I guess. You live long. Teddy Nappen  01:15 Oh, yeah, she was Mrs. Robinson? Evan Nappen  01:17 Yeah. Teddy Nappen  01:17 I guess that’s how it kept them alive. Aside from scrolling through. Evan Nappen  01:24 Well, actually, he’s trying to be the world’s oldest man. Wasn’t that his? The other thing that used to do? Teddy Nappen  01:29 Well, that was the, that was the 10,000 year old man. Evan Nappen  01:32 Right. I guess he’s trying to actually be it. I don’t know. Teddy Nappen  01:35 Yeah, and I like to stand up where it was. I think he was like, 10,000 year old man. He’s like, 0h, did you try polygamy? He’s like, yeah. And what do you, what do you think about it? Well, to be honest, I always get out voted. That’s a horrible idea. Horrible. Evan Nappen  01:58 Right! Teddy Nappen  01:58 But anyways, I saw you. You’ve been seeing what’s going on Virginia, aside from the stupid gerrymandering that they’re doing. Evan Nappen  02:07 Well, this is bad for gun rights, because Teddy Nappen  02:09 Their gun rights is the worst. Evan Nappen  02:10 Because if they take the House by gerrymandering Virginia to flip the House to the party of evil, you know, the Democrats there, we’re gonna have our hands full again. Teddy Nappen  02:25 Yeah, other than the record gun sales now, because people were paranoid thinking that Virginia was going to start going door to door to take their guns, just because of how poorly the bills were written. To the point where the Virginia State Police comes out and, you know, the Superintendent Jeffrey Katz, Spanberger’s pick to lead the State Police goes on and says, there is no legislative proposal seeking to do this. (https://wset.com/news/local/not-now-not-ever-virginia-state-police-dispel-rumor-of-law-leading-to-gun-confiscation-firarm-control-abigail-spanberger-gun-control-bill-april-2026) There will be no. The Virginia State Police work every day to enhance public safety and protect civil liberties. Those liberties not granted by Government and will not be impeded by Government. Cut to all the laws that they just passed. (https://crimeresearch.org/2026/04/virginias-long-list-of-new-gun-control-laws/) Not now, not ever. Activity of this nature, by its very nature, is un-American. Huh? Let’s and then cutting to all the bills of Universal Background Check, Safe Home Storage, the Assault Weapon ban, Red Flag, Ghost Gun ban. You know, everything else that is impeding our rights. Evan Nappen  03:32 Right! Well, the thing is, they have, there’s a history of going door to door in the history of gun control itself, which is what we’ve always talked about with the four key words. Beginning with Legislation and then leads to Registration, and then that leads to Confiscation, which leads to Extermination. And every major Holocaust has been preceded by those four words. And Virginia, you know, would get on the pathway of confiscation and them saying, oh, you know, we won’t go door to door. But of course, they will go door to door, and they’re liars. I mean, if you want to see their lies, just look at their Governor, who is the epitome of lying. I mean, that’s what she did to get into office. Teddy Nappen  04:25 She called herself moderate. Evan Nappen  04:26 She misrepresented herself, and then is doing this. So, they’re all about lies. And in America, we’ve had attempts at going door to door. New York did it, New York City, because they have registration of long arms. So, they actually, at a point, attempted confiscations. And folks may not know this, but New Jersey was going to do that. After the assault firearm law passed in 1990, there was an attempt, by way of the Administrative Code, to change what had been New Jersey’s procedures regarding Certificate of Eligibility. So, in those days, you could do a private sale. Private sales were allowed. And this is why having so-called Universal Background Checks is really just a gateway to the registration / confiscation scheme. Because back then in New Jersey, you could have private sales for long arms by doing a Certificate of Eligibility, and the Certificate of Eligibility was simply kept by the seller. As a matter of fact, with the old Certificate of Eligibility, the buyer didn’t even get a copy. The new Certificate of Eligibility that came after that, the buyer and the seller got a copy. But with the old one, only the seller got the copy when a long arm was sold. And it got filed nowhere. There was no requirement that it be filed with the Government. Evan Nappen  06:02 They tried to promulgate, through the code, a rule that said Certificates of Eligibility had to be filed with the State Police. That was not in the law. The reason they wanted that was because they needed to connect the chain so they could go door to door, confiscating so-called “assault firearms”, which were long arms, rifles and shotguns, and to force on private sales the revealing of the information as to who they got transferred to by claiming that there was a failure to file the certificate of eligibility. And I personally, when I was working at the time for the Coalition of New Jersey Sportsmen, and we were fighting the assault farm ban, I opposed in the rulemaking process. I sent a whole piece in fighting and opposing that rule change. That it was not based on the law, that they were going beyond the Administrative Procedures Act in trying to promulgate this, and I succeeded in stopping them from doing it, which broke that link in the chain for them to continue with their confiscation scheme that they wanted to do back then. So, I saw it firsthand and was able to stop it. Teddy Nappen  07:24 Imagine if you weren’t, you weren’t there, Dad. If you were in some other state or some other spot, and that had gone through. My G-d. Just that would have been. The only thing I could think of, is just bullets first at that point, like. Evan Nappen  07:37 It would have been a radically different scenario, because they were on a path of wanting and considering it. And we knew this for a fact. They were actually going to try to implement the door to door confiscation and searching down every assault farm they could find. But that didn’t happen. And the other thing that didn’t happen, interestingly, is they were supposed to put forward guns they wanted to add to the list. That’s actually in the law. They have never done that, although they still could, but they never did that. Teddy Nappen  08:16 Mass does that. Evan Nappen  08:17 Yeah. Mass does it there. Jersey has it in the law to do it. But they never did it in New Jersey, weirdly and oddly, but they could. Teddy Nappen  08:25 Who was it? The firearms bureau that was the Mass attorney? He was the one that worked for the Bureau. And then. Evan Nappen  08:33 Yeah, Jason. Teddy Nappen  08:35 Jason. And then he saw the dark side of what they were doing, and then came back and started fighting the good fight. But my G-d. Just imagine those meetings where, like, all right, what are we going to ban today? Like it’s the arbiters of truth. Like, just decide. Evan Nappen  08:50 Yeah. They purposely, in Mass, purposely had a meeting to try to figure out how to make it as difficult as possible to get licenses, particularly for non-residents. They focused on what to do. And I’ll tell you, even to this day, that was the worst carry license application process I’ve experienced. And I’ve gotten carry licenses from everywhere you could get them. And it took, it took 14 months to get a Mass carry license, and it’s only good for 12 months. It took longer to get it than the license lasts for. It’s insane. We applied in January. They  force you to have a personal meeting, and they didn’t schedule the personal meeting for nine months after the application. Then it was another five months after that before they even issued it. And that personal meeting is utterly useless. All they do is ask you the very same questions that you’ve already certified on an application, and they fingerprint you there electronically, which could be done anywhere else. Evan Nappen  10:02 So, it’s all just a load of absolute garbage. Just to discourage. And this is what licensing laws are designed to do. They’re designed to discourage and stop. And you know, any of these courts that rationalize say, oh, it’s. Like with Maine now, reenacting their, letting the injunction lapse so that they have a three-day waiting period, even on long arms. Oh, that’s just a small burden. Oh, it’s a small burden. You know, what are you an inconvenience? I mean, no, this, this is our rights. Teddy Nappen  10:38 Well, they don’t see it that way. Evan Nappen  10:39 This is intrusion in our rights. You know, how about before a news article gets published, you have to wait three days. It’s just a small burden. Just a three-day waiting period before you can exercise your First Amendment. How does that fly? Is that all right? Teddy Nappen  10:55 You have to do a background check before you post. Evan Nappen  10:59 Well, Virginia is really scary with what’s going on there. Especially, too, with the redistricting as they’re attempting to. Basically, you know, I mean, leave it to the Democrats. They always have to look for ways to cheat. So, this is their latest ploy. Teddy Nappen  11:15 They cheated heavily all over New England. They cheated all over New England. Have you ever seen the breakdown? Like, the entire New England is so gerrymandered, like the split is 56, like around 56/65 in a lot of these states in New England, and it’s all Blue representatives. How does that work for Congress, if not for gerrymandering? Evan Nappen  11:38 Well, there is a really interesting power move Trump could make in Virginia. You and I were talking about this. What Trump could do, if the redistricting cheat takes place, Trump could re-session Arlington and such. That area of land that was originally part of the District of Columbia. In 1847 that was given back, so to speak, unconstitutionally, by the way, to Virginia to keep slavery in place, essentially. It was an unconstitutional move. It was even recognized unconstitutional by President Taft, who also happened to be a Supreme Court Justice. He understood the law, and he said it was unconstitutional. It wasn’t challenged, but it was done. President Trump, by way of Executive Order, could re-secession and take Arlington and that area of land, where it’s all the Blue of the federal workers, the solid Blue, and put it in back where it belongs, into the District of Columbia. And therefore they would not have any representation in the House or in the Senate, and push it right back and literally make Virginia Red again. The way it used to be – a great state. So, that might be a power move by Trump, and he’d be better legally positioned than many of the crazy things Biden did with the auto pen. I mean, Trump has justification, constitutionally, to actually take that back and literally take away the Blue that is destroying Virginia. So, it’s something we might see happen. Teddy Nappen  13:33 It’s really almost like having a lot of Republicans who are willing to fight and have backbone. Like, I think it was in New Hampshire where Kelly Ayotte refused to redistrict, which you see clearly, it’s been gerrymandered  into the Dems favor. They’re not willing to. It’s just the weakness and so many of them that halt and stop. Like it’s amazing where Trump, the amount of foreign power that he can exert outside the country, but he’s just hamstrung so much in from everything and the weak Republicans like Thune, who I even called. Evan Nappen  14:09 Thune. It is true there. I mean, the problem is, Republicans need a backbone, not made a Styrofoam, a lot of them, and it’s really sad to see that the one thing you got to give the Democrats credit for is they stay together. They unite in their insanity. They do that. Teddy Nappen  14:33 They do it out of fear, though. It’s 90%. Evan Nappen  14:35 Right! Teddy Nappen  14:35 They’re all in lockstep, and it’s just fear. Evan Nappen  14:37 Well, yeah, unless you want to end up with like the hit on (Eric) Swalwell, Swalwell there that, you know, of course, was engineered by Pelosi, right? I mean, oh, he denies it. But. Teddy Nappen  14:42 Or you end up like Jeff Shapiro, you know, with them, fire bombing your home. Evan Nappen  14:53 Or you end up like Biden. You literally win the nomination, and then don’t run. And then they pick who they anoint for their candidate. You know, you know, like that. They’re pretty totalitarian as far as a party goes, aren’t they? Teddy Nappen  15:09 Yeah, it’s very, it’s very funny how much they rig their elections. But, uh, anyways, I will say the other article I did catch, which you know at this point now, you just gotta learn to laugh every time you read articles from our opposition. So, everyone’s favorite gun rights oppressionists, The Trace, decided to put out a new article. “This Law May Help Prevent Mass Shootings, but GOP-Led States Are Trying to Ban It.” (https://www.thetrace.org/2026/04/republican-states-ban-red-flag-erpo-laws/) Oh, wow. So, they are trying to justify red flag. They go down this whole tangent of trying to justify red flag, which everyone here knows, the damning no due process use that they try to push where there is just no due process. You are swatted, put through the system with no, little to no recourse. But don’t worry, The Trace has their answer, because they’ve been getting so much, you know, blow back for the arguments of Red Flag. Don’t worry, Dad. You know, they say there’s due process for Red Flag laws. Evan Nappen  16:15 Ha, ha. Okay! So, let’s just take New Jersey. I have worked New Jersey, and in New Jersey, Red Flag is called ERPOs, Extreme Risk Protection Orders. That is New Jersey’s version of so-called Red Flag. It begins with a TERPO, a Temporary Extreme Risk Protection Order, and then that can become a final permanent order called a FERPO, a Final Extreme Risk Protection Order. So, you have a TERPO. Yeah, well, they’re all known as ERPOs. The beginning document is a TERPO. It then can become a FERPO, and if it’s in Bergen County, it’s called a BERPO. I’m just kidding about calling it a Berpo. But it is really bad, because there’s no due process upfront at all, folks. Let that sink in – zero due process. Attention The Trace – zero due process! Evan Nappen  17:24 The TERPO, the document, the court order, that initiates the Red Flag. There is no due process in its issuance for the person who gets subjected to it. It is done ex parte. In other words, the gun owner has no idea it’s taking place. Somebody makes a claim, a wild claim, and that claim is taken at face value. A judge just hears the claim, issues the order, ordering the surrender of the person’s firearms, and then ordering the search and seizure of the person’s firearms. The privacy gets invaded. Your home gets searched. Your guns get taken. You’re hit with this order. And you had no idea that it was coming. You had no chance to say anything before it’s implemented. You’re hit with it, and only after being served and having your home and privacy raped by the Government and having your property taken by the Government, only after all that occurs, do you finally get a hearing. That hearing is to take place within 10 days. That’s called railroading. Now, 10 days after you’ve just been screwed over with zero due process, folks, you then have to fight to regain your rights. That is how New Jersey’s Red Flag system works. And if the TERPO becomes a FERPO, Not only are you disenfranchised of your Second Amendment rights, not only do you lose your guns, but you are put on an electronic database that declares you to be an extreme risk. That’s real helpful in employment and other things to be on that list, huh? Teddy Nappen  19:42 You also have to consider. Evan Nappen  19:44 And then it affects your ability. Wait. It affects your ability to even fly, because that’s put through to TSA databases as well. So, it is bad news with zero due process up front. And it is a nightmare. So, these laws need to pay. We need a federal law banning Red Flag. Red Flag is an egregious violation of our civil rights. Teddy Nappen  20:15 You also have to factor in the politically-appointed judges who are, you know, a political bias, who already hate gun owners, and then, you know, give them a free very, you’ve seen in the hearings. They’re very much like, oh, all this fate, it’s good to be the king and get to decide one’s fate. And hands and hands over. And every time someone like, oh, domestic violence, you know, “he threw pretzels at me”. Evan Nappen  20:41 Yeah! I actually had that case where that was the allegation. He threw pretzels at me. I mean, yeah, the level of allegation can be just de minimis, and they don’t care. It’s essentially harder to get, you know, a sandwich at Wawa than getting these gun confiscation orders done in the courts, They have created the pre-printed forms. They are always leaning toward taking guns and sorting it out after intruding on gun owners’ rights and privacy. That’s never a concern of any great detail, and this is constantly going on in New Jersey. The lame stream media will never cover it, folks, but I see it every day. Teddy Nappen  21:42 It also goes back, Dad. I remember the once case, I don’t remember when it was, but it was the husband and wife get into the argument. You know, they heard shout, a neighbor heard shouting, calls it in. The whole thing’s red flagged. The wife says, no, we were just having an argument. And then still they push for the Red Flag, even after everything else. They’re dragging them all through the system, where now the husband and wife are now united in that fight against the state. Evan Nappen  22:12 So, most of the time on this, on these DV restraining orders, I’d say about half the time, the person calling me is and often it’s the wife, calling me to save the husband. To save their marriage, to save their household. Because of the devastating impact of it. She had no idea that it would cause the effect of costing the husband his job, of blowing apart their relationship. It essentially is the embodiment of Reagan’s statement, “We’re here from the Government. We’re here to help.” It isn’t helping. It’s actually destroying the family, and it’s a giant wake up call. I’ve heard it so many times in the practice. The person that originally pulled the trigger cannot believe the impact, because that’s never, ever been explained to them. What will happen is never explained. And when they see it, it’s devastating, devastating to their family. Yep. Teddy Nappen  23:34 Yeah. But also, to go back to the article before I forget, their argument by The Trace. I love this. ERPO laws do have legal protections. The orders require approval from a judge, sworn evidence and a prompt court hearing. Isn’t that nice? People subject to the order receive notice. Evan Nappen  23:57 Oh, yeah, yeah. Teddy Nappen  23:59 They can contest the allegations. Evan Nappen  24:00 First of all, nothing’s up front in New Jersey. The so-called “sworn testimony”. I’ll tell you what. Of all the times I’ve done this. I mean, I’ve had hundreds of these cases. I’ve never had a single case where a person made statements that were false, where the ERPO was not issued, and that person was prosecuted for what they said. I don’t know of a single case. Never experienced it. Never experienced it. Teddy Nappen  24:31 This one is my favorite. Most laws also guarantee the return of firearms when the order has expired. How many guns cases do we have now where we are still waiting? Evan Nappen  24:40 Okay. There is no guarantee of return of firearms on the expiration of a TERPO or FERPO. As a matter of fact, when it’s issued, your guns are ordered forfeited. Okay. Tat’s how it works in New Jersey. There’s no, oh, we hold them till the orders over and you get them back. That’s not New Jersey’s law. That’s not it at all, folks. Non existent. These are lies. The typical liberal nonsense. Sell the lie, sell the lie. The reality is a whole other story. And we see it over and over again. That is The Trace. Just putting out what is not true in New Jersey. It’s not true. And they love to use New Jersey as a model for Red Flag laws. Model Red Flag laws. The worst of the worst, right? Worst of the worst. Teddy Nappen  25:44 Well, my favorite is the last bit, which is, many states punish those people who lie in their petitioners the process. Evan Nappen  25:52 Ha! Show me the person punished in New Jersey who lied on a Red Flag. Show me. Yeah, let me put it this way. The reason they don’t want to do it is they don’t want to discourage the lies. They don’t want to discourage people from doing Red Flags. So, they will not prosecute. The prosecution is within the discretion of the county prosecutors who have an agenda that is against the Second Amendment. They don’t want to discourage anyone from spouting any BS they want to spout because they want this to continue. They don’t want to discourage it. If they actually prosecuted somebody and made an example of them lying, it would discourage the abuse from taking place. They don’t want to do that. It’s against the interest of the agenda, the anti-Second Amendment agenda. So, that’s why we don’t see it happen, folks. We just don’t. Nope. Due process? That’s a joke when it comes to Red Flag. We need a national law to end Red Flag. We need to end it dead. No more Red Flag. It is one of the worst intrusions in our Second Amendment rights that has ever been contrived – just insane. Evan Nappen  27:07 Hey, Teddy, let me tell you about our buddies at WeShoot. WeShoot now has Civilian Shoot House Training. This is really cool! On April 25th – brand new at WeShoot. This is not a beginner class. This is where things start to feel real. That’s their new Civilian Shoot House Training. This is where you’ll learn how to move through spaces, clear rooms, and make decisions under pressure. You’ll learn room clearing fundamentals, shooting while moving, target ID under stress, use of light and positioning, working alone or as a team. It’s this kind of training that will help you to protect your home and not make, avoid making, a life-changing mistake. This training is great for homeowners, parents, Houses of Worship, security teams, armed guards and civilian groups. Anyone serious about real-world defense. Their top lineup of instructors that will be doing this is Jim Weinberg. Now Jim has got 30 years of experience in law enforcement. He’s former SWAT and UCERT operator and Police Academy instructor. Todd Friedman is a retired Detective Lieutenant, Special Operations Group Leader, with 500 tactical entries under his belt, over 500 actually. Scott Bonito is a 25-year veteran, former Lieutenant, tactical team leader, and a certified instructor across multiple disciplines. And Ryan Bonito is an Army combat veteran, 173rd Airborne, team leader, Master Breacher and CQB instructor. These are your phenomenal team of instructors. Bottom line is, shooting is one skill, and moving safely through your home is another. If you’re serious about protecting what matters, you want to look into this course and take it. Spots are limited, so check out WeShoot for this amazing shoot house training. Go to weshootusa.com, weshootusa.com. Check out their great range down in Lakewood, where Teddy and I both shoot. We got our training, got our Certifications. Great pro shop with a great group of folks down there. They’ll treat you like family. We love WeShoot, and you will, too. Go to weshootusa.com. Evan Nappen  29:57 Let me also mentioned the Bible of New Jersey gun law. That’s my book, and it is called, surprisingly, New Jersey Gun Law. You can get your copy at EvanNppen.com, EvanNappen.com. It’s 120 topics, all Question and Answer to help you not be a GOFU and to help you get through the insane matrix of New Jersey gun laws. Go to EvanNappen.com and get your copy today. Hey, Teddy. What else do you have up your sleeve for us, for me to get all excited about? I know you’ve got something. Teddy Nappen  30:33 Well, I think we need a good laugh from Babylon B. Now this is from “notthebee.com”, though. (https://notthebee.com/article/scottish-12-year-old-who-went-viral-with-axe-testifies-in-court-that-migrant-called-her-sexy-harassed-her?from_social=twitter) So they have to. Evan Nappen  30:41 Well, “not the bee” is their real stuff, which is cool, yeah. Teddy Nappen  30:45 Do you remember? Do you remember that Scottish girl who fought off the pedophile with the knife and AX? Evan Nappen  30:51 How dare she defend herself in Scotland. Teddy Nappen  30:54 I know, right? They dubbed her the “Sophie of Dundee”, which I appreciate that. I think it was the light, like the all the people trying to fight back against the mass migration. That is, you know, you know. You go from 12,000 rapes a year to 70,000 rapes a year and a massive cover up from the Government for grooming gangs. You know, things happen. But, apparently, she had to tell the court because, of course, you’ve got to prosecute the young. Evan Nappen  31:24 Always prosecute the victim. That’s their rule,  right? Throughout U.K. and Scotland, Australia, New Zealand. Prosecute the victim. Make sure no one ever wants to be a defender, right? Teddy Nappen  31:40 Yeah, of course, of course, you got to make sure to do that. Evan Nappen  31:43 So did they make any? Did they happen to say, I bet they have wonderful statements about what a horrible person she was, or whatever. What did they say? I’m sure they something. Teddy Nappen  31:54 Of course. First they dragged her through, trying to make a claim like saying, no, no, it wasn’t against a migrant. It was two white Europeans. Oh, yes. The two white Europeans – Ilia Belov and Nadjedzha Belov. Evan Nappen  32:15 You can’t pronounce their names. Well, so it wasn’t John Smith. Teddy Nappen  32:21 No, no. It was not. Evan Nappen  32:23 No, no, no, but, yeah. But did they have bad teeth? Oh, no, that would be England. Teddy Nappen  32:30 Okay, I know. So, it’s so ridiculous on that end. Then they try to deem like she was alt-right extremist. Evan Nappen  32:39 OH, an alt-right extremist. That’s why she had the nerve to even defend herself, I guess. Huh? Teddy Nappen  32:45 Of course, having the right to defend yourself and suggested that probably having a good reason to carry weapons for herself to protect herself. You know, when the Third World invade your country, and was proven right when two migrant were arrested in connection to the incident. The 13 year old said, the man repeatedly said to her, come here, sexy, which, you know, I guess he thought that would work. Evan Nappen  33:11 Just a friendly greeting, Teddy Nappen  33:13 Yeah, just a friendly greeting to a child, mind you. Just keep that in mind. Evan Nappen  33:18 How old was she? Teddy Nappen  33:20 Oh, 13. But I believe it might have been 12, but you know, Evan Nappen  33:25 She was a sexy 12 year old or 13 year old. So, that makes it okay, Teddy Nappen  33:32 Yeah. I know. She is accused of attacking Ilia Belov, accused of attacking the girl in Dundee. By the way, my wife and I went there for our honeymoon. We went to Scotland. Now, I didn’t get to Dundee. Evan Nappen  33:48 Well, you have Scottish blood in you. You’re a Baird. Yeah, that’s your middle name, Baird. You’re part of the Baird clan, who also were American patriots that fought alongside George Washington. Captain David Baird and General Ray Baird, and they’re buried at the Old Tenant Church in Freehold. Teddy Nappen  34:04 Funny enough. We actually found there was a little book that broke down the Baird clan. I love the tagline, Patriots and Traitors. We were all or nothing with people. Evan Nappen  34:16 Well, your relative was William Wallace’s right hand man. His top man was Baird. Yep. So, you have quite an amazing history there with the Baird clan. Teddy Nappen  34:30 Apparently, the Honor Guard was a Baird of the clan who was for the Bonnie Prince Charlie during the risings. But anyways, so Ilia Belov was accused of following her and the three girls. By the way, the ages were 12 to 14 for the girls. Belov was charged. She told the court she had been walking with her sister and three friends in the Lockheed area, and then pointed out the sexual remarks. She turned around and shouted. The girl said her sister also started shouting, but the pair were away from the friends. At some point, Belov pushed Sophie, pushed her, so already committed assault and battery. And the other witness, the beloved sister, Nadjedzha, who also was not from the country, attacked them as well. So, the sister jumps in and attacks the girl. So, the pedophile and the pedophile’s sister have already attacked Sophie, to which, drawing the ax and knife Evan Nappen  35:33 That she carries. Good for her. Teddy Nappen  35:35 that she carries. Then in the viral video was the man filming, speaking of the migrant rape gangs that have been going on over the year. Thousands of British girls are now following a new trend. And it was the Babylon doing the joke where it looks like like the new fashion trend, knives and axes. Evan Nappen  35:40 Oh, that’s the new fashion trend. Teddy Nappen  35:52 Yeah, but this is what takes the cake. So, we’ll see if the prosecution, if they’re actually going to go and follow the prosecution here, they said. But I love this, Sheriff Tim Smith told the girl, I hope you reflect that it’s not a good idea to carry weapons in the City of Dundee. There’s no such thing as defensive weapons. There’s only offensive weapons. Evan Nappen  36:23 Let that sink in. Teddy Nappen  36:25 That is the true pussification of a nation right there. Evan Nappen  36:28 Oh, my G-d. There’s no such thing as a defensive weapon. Weapons are only offensive. Imagine living in a country whose attitude is that. It’s bad enough that our states have taken that attitude to a certain degree. And of course, New Jersey had that attitude about carry licenses. They wanted everyone to be a victim and not a defender. The Bruen decision changed that. We’re still fighting to remove sensitive places and everything else that the anti-rights, the Second Amendment oppressionists try to foist upon us, because they don’t want anyone to be a defender. They want us all to be victims. But here they just say the quiet part out loud. They honestly believe that there’s no such thing as defensive weapons. I’ll tell you what. That’s what law-abiding citizens weapons are – defensive weapons, because a weapon is how it is utilized. If it is utilized in defense, it is a defensive weapon. And those that are law-abiding, that are facing threats of serious bodily injury or death when they use a weapon to defend their lives. That is defensive use. Evan Nappen  36:37 Just to state, she was charged with possession of offensive weapons. Now, I don’t know if they’re going to proceed with it other than that. This was mostly the case against the two pedophiles. Thankfully, they’re being prosecuted, but. Evan Nappen  38:07 As well? Teddy Nappen  38:08 Yes, oh, of course. You know the multiple charges of pedophilia usually goes to that. Huh? Nice, huh? Evan Nappen  38:17 Really? So, this is what they want to bring to the United States. And keep in mind, our modern gun control came to America from across the pond, as they say. It came from the U.K. It originated there after World War One, and it came here. The movement came here. Since then, the U.K. has now changed their focus after destroying all their gun rights to knives and edged weapons. This defender is facing their anti-knife laws that we have to be keenly aware of in America not to happen. So, we talk about fighting for our knife rights as well as our gun rights. Because remember, folks. The Second Amendment is not the right to keep and bear guns. It’s the right to keep and bear arms, and arms include edge weapons. It includes firearms, includes less than lethal, includes anything that can be used to defend one’s self, and underline and bold defend, and that’s what we’re about. Defensive weapons for law-abiding citizens, so that law-abiding citizens do not become victims, but instead defenders. Evan Nappen  39:48 Well, Teddy, I’ve got to tell you about this week’s GOFU. And the GOFU is, of course, the Gun Owner Fuck Up. And reason we look at GOFUs is because these are actual F UPS made by gun owners that create real problems. Real cases and real issues. So, this week’s GOFU that I want to talk about is what you post. This, you know, is so important. You have to be careful with social media. The Government intrudes into your social media. Others observe your social media, and it can lead to ERPOs. They’ll say, oh, look what he posted, and they misinterpret it. And next thing you know, you’re a victim of no due process ERPO. Being hit with a ERPO with no due process over something on social media. Or it’s used for other investigations. It’s used to deny licensing when you apply and they look at your character. They say, we don’t like this political opinion. We’ve had cases of individuals who were persecuted for their religious beliefs. We’ve had cases because they posted about their religious beliefs. It’s really dangerous. So, the GOFU is be very careful with what you post, what you put out in public, what you do on social media. It can come back and be used by those forces that want to disenfranchise us of our rights. It can be used against you. Evan Nappen  41:33 This is Evan Nappen and Teddy Nappen reminding you that gun laws don’t protect honest citizens from criminals. They absolutely protect criminals from honest citizens. Speaker 3  41:48 Gun Lawyer is a CounterThink Media production. The music used in this broadcast was managed by Cosmo Music, New York, New York. Reach us by emailing Evan@gun.lawyer. The information and opinions in this broadcast do not constitute legal advice. Consult a licensed attorney in your state. Downloadable PDF TranscriptGun Lawyer S5 E287_Transcript About The HostEvan Nappen, Esq.Known as “America's Gun Lawyer,” Evan Nappen is above all a tireless defender of justice. Author of eight bestselling books and countless articles on firearms, knives, and weapons history and the law, a certified Firearms Instructor, and avid weapons collector and historian with a vast collection that spans almost five decades — it's no wonder he's become the trusted, go-to expert for local, industry and national media outlets. Regularly called on by radio, television and online news media for his commentary and expertise on breaking news Evan has appeared countless shows including Fox News – Judge Jeanine, CNN – Lou Dobbs, Court TV, Real Talk on WOR, It's Your Call with Lyn Doyle, Tom Gresham's Gun Talk, and Cam & Company/NRA News. As a creative arts consultant, he also lends his weapons law and historical expertise to an elite, discerning cadre of movie and television producers and directors, and novelists. He also provides expert testimony and consultations for defense attorneys across America. Email Evan Your Comments and Questions  talkback@gun.lawyer Join Evan's InnerCircleHere's your chance to join an elite group of the Savviest gun and knife owners in America.  Membership is totally FREE and Strictly CONFIDENTIAL.  Just enter your email to start receiving insider news, tips, and other valuable membership benefits.   Email (required) *First Name *Select list(s) to subscribe toInnerCircle Membership Yes, I would like to receive emails from Gun Lawyer Podcast. (You can unsubscribe anytime)Constant Contact Use. Please leave this field blank.var ajaxurl = "https://gun.lawyer/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php";

This is a Grave Talks CLASSIC EPISODE! PART TWO Investigating the paranormal can be exciting—but some places demand far more than curiosity. In this classic episode of The Grave Talks, paranormal investigator John Smith shares the chilling story of a case he now refers to only as Hell House. What began as a routine investigation into reported activity quickly shifted into something far darker—something that didn't just exist in the background, but seemed to react.As the night unfolded, the atmosphere inside the home grew increasingly heavy, building toward a moment John still struggles to fully explain. At one point during the investigation, he unexpectedly lost consciousness inside the house, leaving behind disturbing questions about what may have happened in those missing moments—and whether something unseen was responsible.Looking back, John reflects on the risks of stepping into active locations without the experience, preparation, or protection these encounters may require. Because sometimes, it's not just about what you witness inside a haunted place—it's about what might follow you out.#TheGraveTalks #HellHouse #DemonicHaunting #HauntedHouse #ParanormalInvestigation #PossessionCases #DarkEntity #ParanormalPodcast #SupernaturalEncounter #HauntedLocationLove real ghost stories? Want even more?Become a supporter and unlock exclusive extras, ad-free episodes, and advanced access:

This is a Grave Talks CLASSIC EPISODE!Investigating the paranormal can be exciting—but some places demand far more than curiosity. In this classic episode of The Grave Talks, paranormal investigator John Smith shares the chilling story of a case he now refers to only as Hell House. What began as a routine investigation into reported activity quickly shifted into something far darker—something that didn't just exist in the background, but seemed to react.As the night unfolded, the atmosphere inside the home grew increasingly heavy, building toward a moment John still struggles to fully explain. At one point during the investigation, he unexpectedly lost consciousness inside the house, leaving behind disturbing questions about what may have happened in those missing moments—and whether something unseen was responsible.Looking back, John reflects on the risks of stepping into active locations without the experience, preparation, or protection these encounters may require. Because sometimes, it's not just about what you witness inside a haunted place—it's about what might follow you out.#TheGraveTalks #HellHouse #DemonicHaunting #HauntedHouse #ParanormalInvestigation #PossessionCases #DarkEntity #ParanormalPodcast #SupernaturalEncounter #HauntedLocation Love real ghost stories? Want even more?Become a supporter and unlock exclusive extras, ad-free episodes, and advanced access:

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  I hate the term "hallucinations" for when AIs say false things. It's perfectly calculated to mislead the reader - to make them think AIs are crazy, or maybe just have incomprehensible failure modes. AIs say false things for the same reason you do. At least, I did. In school, I would take multiple choice tests. When I didn't know the answer to a question, I would guess. Schoolchild urban legend said that "C" was the best bet, so I would fill in bubble C. It was fine. Probably got a couple extra points that way, maybe raised my GPA by 0.1 over the counterfactual. Some kids never guessed. They thought it was dishonest. I had trouble understanding them, but when I think back on it, I had limits too. I would guess on multiple choice questions, but never the short answer section. "Who invented the cotton gin?" For any "who invented" question in US History, there's a 10% chance it's Thomas Edison. Still, I never put down his name. "Who negotiated the purchase of southern Arizona from Mexico?" The most common name in the United States has long been "John Smith", applying to 1/10,000 individuals. An 0.01% chance of getting a question right is better than zero, right? If I'd guessed "John Smith" for every short answer question I didn't know, I might have gotten ~1 extra point in my school career, with no downside. You can go further. https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/shameless-guesses-not-hallucinations

Virginia began from a small, undersupplied wooden fort immersed in a brackish and malarial marsh to become, after a 30 years, the largest and most valuable colony in North America, pulling in thousands of indentured workers and African slaves each year and pumping out millions of pounds of tobacco. In achieving this shocking metamorphosis, the colonists had to contend with the Powhatan Confederacy, one of the strongest indigenous states in the Americas, which ruled the Tidewater region; and they had to to choose among different forking paths that might have led to an entirely different relationship between Indians and English. We consider the unrealized possible histories that iconic figures like John Smith and Pocahontas came to symbllize, and the reasons why the English backers poured so many resources and human lives into this endeavor of conquest and colonization, ultimately supplanting Powhatan civilization and creating a cash-crop colony. Please become a patron to hear all patron-only lectures: www.patreon.com/c/u5530632 Suggested further reading: Morgan, “American Slavery, American Freedom: The Ordeal of Colonial Virginia”; Wertenaber, “The Planters of Colonial Virginia”; Kupperman, “The Jamestown Project”; Billings, Selby, & Tate, “Colonial Virginia: A History” Image: Portrait of Matoaka / Pocahontas / Rebecca Rolfe, by WL Sheppard, 1891, based on an unknown original allegedly from life, 1616

A mysterious armored skeleton discovered in 1831 sets the stage for a sweeping journey into America's earliest days.  In this premiere episode of The American Story: the Beginnings, we trace the chain reaction that led from Columbus' westward gamble to Martin Luther's world-shaking Reformation, and finally to the deadly struggle for survival at Jamestown.  John Smith's capture, Pocahontas' dramatic intervention, the Starving Time, the rise of tobacco, the first representative assembly, and the early roots of slavery all collide in this gripping narrative.  It's a story of ambition, faith, conflict, and providence – revealing how a swampy outpost in Virginia became the unlikely birthplace of a new nation. GLENN'S SPONSORS: PreBorn: Together, we can end the tragedy of abortion, one mother and baby at a time. To donate securely, dial #250 and say the keyword “baby,” or visit https://preborn.com/glenn.Relief Factor: If you're living with aches and pains, see how Relief Factor, a daily drug-free supplement, could help you feel better and live better. Try the three-week QuickStart for just $19.95 by visiting https://ReliefFactor.com.Real Estate Agents I Trust: When you're buying or selling a home, you need a real estate agent you can trust. Visit https://realestateagentsitrust.com/ to find the top-selling real estate agents in your area. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dominic Mohan saw Britpop on the inside from the showbiz desk of the Sun in the days when it sold 4.5m copies, a series of heated memories recorded in ‘1996: My Backstage Pass to the Wildest Year of Britain's Wildest Decade', a lost age of hedonism, stupidity, drunkenness and creativity. He makes a compelling case in this very funny and colourful podcast which stumbles into … … the advice David Hepworth gave him when he was 16 … Euro 96 and headlines you couldn't run now … how the deaths of Kurt Cobain and John Smith changed the picture … doorstepping Phil Collins' ex-wife … the wreath for Noel Gallagher “the fat dancer from Take That” sent to the Sun … Cool Britannia and that brief love affair between music and politics … on the dancefloor at the Labour Conference with Mo Mowlam, John Prescott and Chris Evans … Knebworth 1996, the perfect marriage of alternative music and club culture with a £250,000 bar bill … the debt Pulp, Oasis and Blur owe Ray Davies - “less the Godfather of Britpop, more a concerned uncle” … is it hard to identify a new zeitgeist when people don't congregate as much? … the ‘reverse-ferret' from American culture towards bespectacled blokes from Sheffield … the shameless age before people public apology … how the post-Spice Girls TV talent shows soaked up the budgets and column inches … and Madonna dancing with Dennis Hopper. Order copies of ‘1996' here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/1996-Backstage-Wildest-Britains-Decade/dp/B0FZBZHPNR The Barbican Show curated by Dominic: https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2026/event/1996-a-celebration-of-the-wildest-year-of-britains-wildestHelp us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dominic Mohan saw Britpop on the inside from the showbiz desk of the Sun in the days when it sold 4.5m copies, a series of heated memories recorded in ‘1996: My Backstage Pass to the Wildest Year of Britain's Wildest Decade', a lost age of hedonism, stupidity, drunkenness and creativity. He makes a compelling case in this very funny and colourful podcast which stumbles into … … the advice David Hepworth gave him when he was 16 … Euro 96 and headlines you couldn't run now … how the deaths of Kurt Cobain and John Smith changed the picture … doorstepping Phil Collins' ex-wife … the wreath for Noel Gallagher “the fat dancer from Take That” sent to the Sun … Cool Britannia and that brief love affair between music and politics … on the dancefloor at the Labour Conference with Mo Mowlam, John Prescott and Chris Evans … Knebworth 1996, the perfect marriage of alternative music and club culture with a £250,000 bar bill … the debt Pulp, Oasis and Blur owe Ray Davies - “less the Godfather of Britpop, more a concerned uncle” … is it hard to identify a new zeitgeist when people don't congregate as much? … the ‘reverse-ferret' from American culture towards bespectacled blokes from Sheffield … the shameless age before people public apology … how the post-Spice Girls TV talent shows soaked up the budgets and column inches … and Madonna dancing with Dennis Hopper. Order copies of ‘1996' here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/1996-Backstage-Wildest-Britains-Decade/dp/B0FZBZHPNR The Barbican Show curated by Dominic: https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2026/event/1996-a-celebration-of-the-wildest-year-of-britains-wildestHelp us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dominic Mohan saw Britpop on the inside from the showbiz desk of the Sun in the days when it sold 4.5m copies, a series of heated memories recorded in ‘1996: My Backstage Pass to the Wildest Year of Britain's Wildest Decade', a lost age of hedonism, stupidity, drunkenness and creativity. He makes a compelling case in this very funny and colourful podcast which stumbles into … … the advice David Hepworth gave him when he was 16 … Euro 96 and headlines you couldn't run now … how the deaths of Kurt Cobain and John Smith changed the picture … doorstepping Phil Collins' ex-wife … the wreath for Noel Gallagher “the fat dancer from Take That” sent to the Sun … Cool Britannia and that brief love affair between music and politics … on the dancefloor at the Labour Conference with Mo Mowlam, John Prescott and Chris Evans … Knebworth 1996, the perfect marriage of alternative music and club culture with a £250,000 bar bill … the debt Pulp, Oasis and Blur owe Ray Davies - “less the Godfather of Britpop, more a concerned uncle” … is it hard to identify a new zeitgeist when people don't congregate as much? … the ‘reverse-ferret' from American culture towards bespectacled blokes from Sheffield … the shameless age before people public apology … how the post-Spice Girls TV talent shows soaked up the budgets and column inches … and Madonna dancing with Dennis Hopper. Order copies of ‘1996' here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/1996-Backstage-Wildest-Britains-Decade/dp/B0FZBZHPNR The Barbican Show curated by Dominic: https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2026/event/1996-a-celebration-of-the-wildest-year-of-britains-wildestHelp us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1819, Illinois lawmakers enacted the Black Laws, which required Black people to have a certificate of freedom to live in Illinois and made it illegal to gather in groups of three or more. That is, however, unless the gathering was for religious observances. From then on, churches made for and by Black people became hubs for connecting each other to resources, for education, as well as providing a spiritual home. In an ongoing series, WBEZ explores the history of Black churches in Chicago and their impact on their communities, faith and social justice movements. In the Loop sits down with Nicole Jeanine Johnson, WBEZ and CST investigative reporting fellow; Alden Loury, WBEZ senior data projects editor; and the Rev. John Smith of Olivet Baptist Church to learn more. For a full archive of In the Loop interviews, head over to wbez.org/intheloop.

Craig opens the show with a discussion about a couple of interesting moments on both The Amigos and Chris Salcedo's shows on KSEV. Later, Craig continues our Veteran Voices series with John Smith of Combined Arms!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-craig-collins-show--6214297/support.

This week we talk about The Eminence in Shadow Season 2. We start off by discussing our views on the pacing as well as the main character's ridiculous luck. Jack breaks down the rapid-fire arcs, from the Lawless City to a literal corporate war, arguing that the 12-episode run felt rushed and entirely predictable. He saw the protagonist, Cid, as an idiot with blinders on who just stumbles into success through the whole series. Rick, on the other hand, thinks the pacing is a solid step up from season one. He argued that Cid doesn't stumble but rather he "confidently saunters" through the plot as the ultimate edgelord, spitting out gibberish and half-remembered facts that his fanatical followers interpret as absolute genius. In the end we discuss how the series was overall and if it was something that is worth the watch.About the anime:The Eminence in Shadow Season 2 continues where season 1 largely left off. Kicking off with the "Lawless City Arc," where Cid and Shadow Garden investigate the red moon phenomenon and clash with the city's three monarchs: the Blood Queen Elisabeth, Juggernaut, and Yukime. After a very chaotic and rapid first few episodes, everything transitions into the "Corporate War Arc," where Cid takes on a new persona of John Smith and moves into a massive counterfeit currency  operation to cause a crisis meant to bankrupt the Mitsugoshi Company. In the end everything results in a massive misunderstanding for him but to his peers everything went according to plan. Leading to the third and final “Oriana Kingdom Arc” where we learn more about the Cult of Diablo, their plans and views and the worlds(?). The show maintains that Cid constantly misunderstands the gravity of the plot while effortlessly looking like a tactical genius to everyone around him.Next Week's Pick: “I Parry Everything”Have you had the chance to watch Eminence In Shadow Season 2 or any of our previous selections? We'd love to hear your thoughts and recommendations for future picks!Deals for You:Supporting your anime binge sessions is what we do best! Here are some exclusive deals that'll make your anime-watching experience even better.Crunchyroll Affiliate Offers:Get 15% off your first anime merch order here.Stream your favorite anime with Crunchyroll. Start Your Free TrialTokyoTreat Special: Use code "FEATUREDANIME" for $5 off your first box through this TokyoTreat link.Looking for some podcast merch? We've got you covered:Main StoreAlternative ShopSupport Our PodcastLove what we do? Support the podcast through Patreon! You can get access to ad-free episodes, bonus content, and more.Support us on PatreonStay Connected With UsDon't miss out on our latest episodes or discussions! Join us across our social channels and be part of the community:Contact UsAnime List: Check out our anime list on MyAnimeList.Twitch: Watch us live on twitch.tv/featuredanimepodcastEmail: info@featuredanimepodcast.comX (Twitter): @ThoseAnimeGuysFacebook: Featured Anime PodcastDiscord: Join our DiscordAnime Info and Our Ratings: Producers: Kadokawa, Sentai Filmworks, AT-X, Studio: NexusSource: Light NovelGenres: Action, Comedy, Fantasy, Ecchi, Isekai, SeinenAired: October 2023 to December 2023Number of Episodes: 12Our Scores: Jack's Score: 5 / 10Rick's Score: 8 / 10

Send a textTedd Williams MMA & Gladiator Challenge Tedd Williams is a UFC veteran, grappling pioneer a national AAU Sambo champion, Gene LeBell black belt, and 7-1 pro fighter and one of the longest tenured promoters in the country.  Tedd Williams shares stories from the sport's raw early days: training with Bas Rutten, his UFC 24 main-event elbow KO over Steve Judson, co-founding King of the Cage, launching Gladiator Challenge, and building the regional scene that helped launch fighters like Urijah Faber and Charles Bennett.A deep dive into MMA's Wild West era straight from one of its true architects. 0:00 MMA history podcast intro  0:32 Joey Venti's guest introduction 0:50 interview start 1:40 learning Sambo early on 3:36 training with Gene LeBell 5:15 training with John Perretti 6:37 interactions with John Lewis 7:28 starting friendship with Oleg Taktarov8:29 using sambo to become a better wrestler 9:26 starting Victorville Jets program 11:33 Universal above ground fighting 14:10 Antonio McKee vs John Smith 15:27 Antonio McKee gun story 17:15 owning half of KOTC at the beginning 21:09 meeting Terry Trebilcock22:39 using same venue for KOTC and Gladiator Challenge 25:24 hosting Gladiator Challenge in Colorado 26:41 Tedd Williams vs Robert Burnell 28:06 Empire fighting 29:10 Bas Rutten invitational 30:14 training Bas Rutten 33:00 Tedd Williams vs Joseph Marquez 34:46 Tedd Williams vs Travis Fulton37:30 experience with Jamie Levine 38:29 Tedd Williams vs Joe Campanella 40:25 Holiday Fight Party 47:20 Phillip Miller split from the UFC50:45 Phillip Miller vs James Zikic 52:07 Lee Murray and Tito Ortiz street fight 54:26 letter to get into ADCC 200056:46 training with Rowdy Roddy Piper57:44 Tedd Williams vs Steve Judson 1:02:08 false UFC fighter resumes 1:03:13 Tedd Williams fight camp exposed 1:05:17 cancelled bout with Andre Roberts1:06:27 friendship with Cal Worsham 1:09:37 dealing with Dan Severn 1:10:30 cross training bjj and wrestling 1:11:02 KOTC purchased by EliteXC 1:19:43 Tedd Williams vs Bill Parker 1:21:39 dealings with Bob Shamrock 1:23:01 Tony Galindo 1:23:41 Ken Shamrock backstage fight with Mark Hall 1:24:15 attending regional shows 1:25:25 pushing Tito Ortiz out of cage 1:30:05 KOTC Wet ‘N' Wild 1:34:43 selling Gladiator challenge video library 1:37:16 KOTC losing money 1:38:07 experience with Charles Bennett 1:41:58 Charles Bennett changing name to Felony 1:43:03 sued by Terry Trebilcock1:46:43 Gladiator Challenge, KOTC buyouts 1:50:27 relationship with Chris Cordero 1:52:36 Experience with Rafiel Torre 1:55:49 Gerald Strebendt 1:56:34 interview wrap up 1:59:55 outro/ closing thoughtsPlease follow our channels on Follow the MMA History Team on Instagram: MMA Detective Mike Davis @mikedavis632 Co Host Joey Venti @aj_ventitreRecords Keeper-  Andrew Mendoza @ambidexstressSocial Media Manager Andy Campbell  @martial_mindset_Thumbnails Julio Macedo  @juliosemacentoInstagram https://www.instagram.com/mmahistorypodcast?igsh=aHVweHdncXQycHBy&utm_source=qrSpotify https://open.spotify.com/show/3q8KsfqrSQSjkdPLkdtNWb?si=aL3D5Y3aTDi-PQZdweWL8gApple Podcast MMA History PodcastYouTube https://youtube.com/@MMAHistoryPodcast?si=bj1RBXTZ2X82tv_JOutro song: Power - https://tunetank.com/t/2gji/1458-powerMike - The MMA Detective - @mikedavis632 Cash App - $mikedavis1231VenmSupport the show

Send a textTedd Williams MMA & Gladiator Challenge Tedd Williams is a UFC veteran, grappling pioneer a national AAU Sambo champion, Gene LeBell black belt, and 7-1 pro fighter and one of the longest tenured promoters in the country.  Tedd Williams shares stories from the sport's raw early days: training with Bas Rutten, his UFC 24 main-event elbow KO over Steve Judson, co-founding King of the Cage, launching Gladiator Challenge, and building the regional scene that helped launch fighters like Urijah Faber and Charles Bennett.A deep dive into MMA's Wild West era straight from one of its true architects. 0:00 MMA history podcast intro  0:32 Joey Venti's guest introduction 0:50 interview start 1:40 learning Sambo early on 3:36 training with Gene LeBell 5:15 training with John Perretti 6:37 interactions with John Lewis 7:28 starting friendship with Oleg Taktarov8:29 using sambo to become a better wrestler 9:26 starting Victorville Jets program 11:33 Universal above ground fighting 14:10 Antonio McKee vs John Smith 15:27 Antonio McKee gun story 17:15 owning half of KOTC at the beginning 21:09 meeting Terry Trebilcock22:39 using same venue for KOTC and Gladiator Challenge 25:24 hosting Gladiator Challenge in Colorado 26:41 Tedd Williams vs Robert Burnell 28:06 Empire fighting 29:10 Bas Rutten invitational 30:14 training Bas Rutten 33:00 Tedd Williams vs Joseph Marquez 34:46 Tedd Williams vs Travis Fulton37:30 experience with Jamie Levine 38:29 Tedd Williams vs Joe Campanella 40:25 Holiday Fight Party 47:20 Phillip Miller split from the UFC50:45 Phillip Miller vs James Zikic 52:07 Lee Murray and Tito Ortiz street fight 54:26 letter to get into ADCC 200056:46 training with Rowdy Roddy Piper57:44 Tedd Williams vs Steve Judson 1:02:08 false UFC fighter resumes 1:03:13 Tedd Williams fight camp exposed 1:05:17 cancelled bout with Andre Roberts1:06:27 friendship with Cal Worsham 1:09:37 dealing with Dan Severn 1:10:30 cross training bjj and wrestling 1:11:02 KOTC purchased by EliteXC 1:19:43 Tedd Williams vs Bill Parker 1:21:39 dealings with Bob Shamrock 1:23:01 Tony Galindo 1:23:41 Ken Shamrock backstage fight with Mark Hall 1:24:15 attending regional shows 1:25:25 pushing Tito Ortiz out of cage 1:30:05 KOTC Wet ‘N' Wild 1:34:43 selling Gladiator challenge video library 1:37:16 KOTC losing money 1:38:07 experience with Charles Bennett 1:41:58 Charles Bennett changing name to Felony 1:43:03 sued by Terry Trebilcock1:46:43 Gladiator Challenge, KOTC buyouts 1:50:27 relationship with Chris Cordero 1:52:36 Experience with Rafiel Torre 1:55:49 Gerald Strebendt 1:56:34 interview wrap up 1:59:55 outro/ closing thoughtsPlease follow our channels on Follow the MMA History Team on Instagram: MMA Detective Mike Davis @mikedavis632 Co Host Joey Venti @aj_ventitreRecords Keeper-  Andrew Mendoza @ambidexstressSocial Media Manager Andy Campbell  @martial_mindset_Thumbnails Julio Macedo  @juliosemacentoInstagram https://www.instagram.com/mmahistorypodcast?igsh=aHVweHdncXQycHBy&utm_source=qrSpotify https://open.spotify.com/show/3q8KsfqrSQSjkdPLkdtNWb?si=aL3D5Y3aTDi-PQZdweWL8gApple Podcast MMA History PodcastYouTube https://youtube.com/@MMAHistoryPodcast?si=bj1RBXTZ2X82tv_JOutro song: Power - https://tunetank.com/t/2gji/1458-powerMike - The MMA Detective - @mikedavis632 Cash App - $mikedavis1231VenmSupport the show

Same name problems rarely get solved because you find one perfect record that settles everything. More often, the break comes when you stop staring at your ancestor's name and start paying attention to the names surrounding it. That's because a name like John Smith or William Jones can appear dozens of times in the same county. In that situation, the main name in a record is almost useless by itself. The separating clues are usually the witnesses, the bondsmen, the sureties, the neighbors, the appraisers, the administrators, and the other people who keep showing up with one candidate and not the other. This method is one of the most practical tools you can learn. It works if you are brand new and only have a handful of records. It also works if you have years of experience and you're digging into deeper court and probate material. The process stays the same. You collect the surrounding names, you track them in a structured way, and you let repetition build proof... Podcast Notes: https://ancestralfindings.com/same-name-ancestors-use-witnesses-bondsmen/ Ancestral Findings Podcast: https://ancestralfindings.com/podcast This Week's Free Genealogy Lookups: https://ancestralfindings.com/lookups Genealogy Giveaway: https://ancestralfindings.com/giveaway Genealogy eBooks: https://ancestralfindings.com/ebooks Follow Along: https://www.facebook.com/AncestralFindings https://www.instagram.com/ancestralfindings https://www.youtube.com/ancestralfindings Support Ancestral Findings: https://ancestralfindings.com/support https://ancestralfindings.com/paypal  #Genealogy #AncestralFindings #GenealogyClips