Podcasts about Kang

In this episode of Fortress of Comic News, hosts Chris and Travis Gibb discuss a variety of topics including Travis's upcoming cruise, his Kickstarter projects, and a tribute to a late friend. They delve into Marvel's future, including the anticipated Daredevil Season Two and the new Vision Quest show, as well as the delays of major Marvel movies. The conversation also touches on the potential of a Magic the Gathering show and speculations surrounding the Fantastic Four and Galactus. In this conversation, Travis Gibb and Chris delve into various topics surrounding the current state of comic book adaptations and new series announcements. They discuss the redemption of Kang in the Marvel universe, the future of Star Wars under Rian Johnson, and the challenges faced by Marvel's new Thor series. The duo also explores the return of the Punisher amidst controversies, the launch of DC's new webcomics initiative, and the revival of Dark Horse's Powers series. Each topic is examined with a critical lens, reflecting on the implications for fans and the industry as a whole. In this conversation, the hosts delve into various themes within the comic book industry, discussing the impact of political narratives, the evolution of beloved franchises like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and the exciting new series from Mad Cave Studios. They explore the balance between escapism and real-world issues in storytelling, the gritty edge of modern comics, and the resurgence of Dune adaptations in the comic world. The discussion also highlights the importance of seizing opportunities to collect niche comics and the shifting dynamics of superhero narratives. In this conversation, Travis Gibb and Chris delve into various comic book recommendations, discussing notable titles and their impact on the comic book landscape. They explore the challenges of writing iconic characters like Superman, the excitement surrounding indie comics, and the future of major comic characters. The discussion wraps up with reflections on the current state of the comic industry and the importance of storytelling.In this engaging conversation, Jon Westoff shares his journey from a lifelong comic fan to a creator, discussing his various projects including 'Bulletproof Chicken', 'Drumsticks of Doom', and 'Child Possession Services'. He reflects on the evolution of comic publishing from webcomics to Kickstarter, the challenges of indie publishing, and the importance of collaboration in storytelling. Jon emphasizes the significance of creativity and community in the comic industry, while also promoting his current Kickstarter project, 'Final Heist'.https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/parttimecomix/final-heisthttps://linktr.ee/ParttimecomixJon Hestoff's Socials X - @Anti_Drummer Instagram - @Part_Time_Comix BlueSky – @parttimecomix.bsky.socialComics we discuss in this episode:Amazing Spider-Man #4Superman Unlimited #1DC x Sonic the Hedgehog #3Batman: Dark Patterns #6Godzilla vs. X-Men #1Superior Avengers #2One World Under Doom #4Bug Wars #4The Ultimates #12Foolkiller #3The Federalist AshcanGet your Fortress Comics merchandise with the link belowhttps://www.teepublic.com/user/fortress-comicsFortressofComicNews.comhttps://chriscomicscorner.substack.com/YouTube.com/FortressComicsFind Chris: https://bio.site/chrisrundtTravis Gibb X - @jesterlouTravis Gibb Comics: https://orangeconeproductions.com/Patreon.com/FortressComicshttps://www.tiktok.com/@chriscomicscornerThanks for Listening!#marvel #marvelcomics #mcu #dccomics #comicbooks #comicnews #podcast #indiecomics #batman

Send us a textIn this powerful episode of the Light Up Your Worth podcast, host Debbie features Casey Kang Head, a three-time acute lymphoblastic ALL leukemia and stroke survivor who has transformed her life into a mission of helping others. Casey shares her journey from battling cancer to becoming a trauma-informed cancer coach, author, and yoga instructor. The discussion delves into her emotional and mental struggles, the impractical advice she faced during recovery, and how she discovered joy and purpose through somatic movement, breathwork, and yoga. Key topics include the importance of nervous system regulation, self-care, societal pressures on women, and the profound effects of small joys and gratitude practices. Listeners are encouraged to reflect on their self-worth and reach out for support through social media at The Happier Hustle.IG & FB @thehappierhustle www.thehappierhustle.comLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/casey-kang-head-37a4b488/Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyApiKxkUYmVGioZgadGv_gFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/thehappierhustle Thank you for tuning into another illuminating episode of Light Up Your Worth. Your presence here is a testament to your commitment to healing, personal growth, and self discovery. As we conclude, remember, your worth is innate, your light is powerful beyond words, and your potential is limitless.Remember, when you own your worth, your light shines with abundance. Until next time, let your inner light shine. Sending sunshine.Support the showI'd be honored to walk beside you in this intimate space through my monthly Light Up Your Worth Society soul circle. Come home to yourself and join our heart-centered community. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lightupyourworth YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/Lightupyourworthpodcast Facebook Business Page: https://www.facebook.com/LightUpYourWorthwithDebbieMcAllister From my heart to yours, I'd love to invite you to support our podcast journey! If you've found value in our conversations and would like to share some love, you can treat me to a virtual coffee for just $5. It's a beautiful way to contribute whenever you feel called - no pressure, no commitments, just pure appreciation flowing both ways. https://www.buymeacoffee.com/lightupyrworth Spread your light with our soul family across 35 countries and beyond!

Is it time to rethink the ways law firms operate?This week, I'm joined by Mel Kang, the Founder & CEO of Mezzle. This amazing company is one of the fastest growing fee-sharing law firms in the UK. Mel shares why the fee-share model is transforming legal careers, the rise of remote-first law firms and how AI is shaping the future of legal work.If you're a lawyer thinking of breaking free from tradition, this episode is a must-listen, go give it a listen now!So why should you be listening in? You can hear Rob and Mel discussing:- AI in Legal Practice Enhances, Not Replaces, Human Lawyers- The Fee-Share Model Offers Flexibility and Empowerment- Building Mezzle with Core Cultural Values (PRCB)- Remote-First and Tech-Enabled Firms Are Thriving- How Vulnerability and Setbacks Can Lead to Entrepreneurial SuccessConnect with Mel here - https://uk.linkedin.com/in/mel-kang

In this episode, I return to a topic I covered early on: rejection resilience. This time, I'm taking a direct look at ghosting. We explore the difference between hurt and harm, why not every disappearance is an act of betrayal, and how emotional entitlement shows up in the aftermath. For those in the BDSM community, where intensity and vulnerability run deep, ghosting can feel like a violation. But is it always? I break down why autonomy includes the right to walk away, how we confuse discomfort with danger, and what it really takes to move on without closure. It won't be easy listening, but it's a conversation that needs to happen.ReferencesCampbell, W. K., Bonacci, A. M., Shelton, J.,Exline, J. J., & Bushman, B. J. (2004). Psychological entitlement:Interpersonal consequences and validation of a self-report measure. Journalof Personality Assessment, 83(1), 29–45. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa8301_04Kruglanski, A. W., Webster, D. M., & Klem,A. (1993). Motivated resistance and openness to persuasion in the presence orabsence of prior information. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,65(5), 861–876. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.67.6.1063Romero-Canyas, R., Downey, G., Berenson, K.,Ayduk, O., & Kang, N. J. (2010). Rejection sensitivity and therejection-hostility link in romantic relationships. Journal of Personality,78(1), 119–148. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.2009.00611.xSchaan, V. K., & Vögele, C. (2016).Resilience and rejection sensitivity mediate long-term outcomes of parentaldivorce. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 25(11), 1267–1269. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-016-0893-7Continue the discussion on Fetlife: @Enhanced-MindDon't forget to hit the follow button and rate my show 5 stars so others may find it. What to be on the show or have an idea for an upcoming episode? Email me at TheKinkPerspective@gmail.comFind me on Substack - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Enhanced-Mind's Substack | Chris C. | Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠If you are looking for a therapist that is knowledgeable about the lifestyle, or just a therapist in general, please feel free to reach out through my website at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://enhanced-mind.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠I have a book out, Tangled Desires: Exploring the Intersection of BDSM and Psychology. Can find it where you purchase most of your ebooks. Print version out now!#BDSM #Psychology #Rejection #Ghosting #Resilience

This episode we start with a pseudo-Astro City issue, with Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson teaming up to tell a story together about Wonder Man and the Scarlet Witch!  And then the heroes gather to fight Kang for the final time!

No, it isn't a crossover between malefic monkeys King Kong and Mojo Jojo. Rather, we're exploring some curious side stories featuring everyone's favorite villains. Kang! Kingpin! Mojo! …well, Stephen likes Mojo.

Have you come across the terms Protection Orders and Restraining Orders? What do they mean, and what legal process does a domestic violence victim undergo after reporting to the authorities? Here's a guide and explanation from family lawyer Atty. Jesil Cajes. - Narinig mo na ba ang terminong Protection Orders at Restraining Orders? Ano ang mga ito ano ang legal na proseso na pinagdaraanan ng isang biktima ng domestic violence matapos magsumbong sa mga awtoridad. Narito ang gabay at paliwanag mula kay family lawyer Atty. Jesil Cajes.

Want to Practice Speaking Tagalog?⁠⁠ Hire a Tagalog Conversation Tutor here ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://LearnTagalogFilipino.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or Join our community ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Https://patreon.com/learntagalogfilipino⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ And get access to all the lessons plus regular free online Google meet conversational Tagalog lessons #learntagalog #tagaloglessons #learntagalogfilipino #filipino #tagalog #learnfilipino #learnfilipinowords #tagalogwords #filipinowords#tagaloglanguage #filipinolanguage#filipino #tagalog#tagalogvocabulary #flipinovocabularyIf You Want to Practice Speaking Tagalog?⁠⁠ Hire a Tagalog Conversation Tutor here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/posts/120741420

Den här veckan träffar vi stjärnan Milly, tokkänd från succén Love is Blind. Vi ville prata om Millys relation till ångest och psykisk ohälsa. Vi får höra om en period i hennes liv där hon inte hade lika bra självförtroende och självkänsla som hon har idag. Och speaking of: Hur har hon jobbat med sig själv och sin självkänsla? Är den så bra som det framstår? Det blir såklart också snack om Love is Blind. Hennes relation till Ola där, men också nu. Känslan av att inte få tillbaka det man ger. Att bli ifrågasatt och även förödmjukad inför miljonpublik. Och så en massa snack om kärlek och dejting. Längtan efter kärlek och tron på att kapseln ju skulle ta bort fokus från utseende. Vad är statusen på livet, idag? SPRING VÅRRUSET MED OSS! Den 21 maj springer vi Vårruset i Stockholm. Oavsett vart du befinner dig och vill springa loppet, ange rabattkod: ÅPXVR20 för 20% rabatt på startavgiften. Läs mer på: varruset.seProgramledare: Ida Höckerstrand & Sofie Hallberg Klippning: Sofie Hallberg Instagram: @angestpodden @idahockerstrand @sofiehallbergFacebook: ÅngestpoddenTikTok: @therealangestpoddenHar du förslag på ämnen, ett dilemma eller gäster du skulle vilja höra i Ångestpodden?Mejla oss gärna: angestpodden@ingetfilter.seBehöver du prata med någon?https://hjalplinjen.semind.se spes.se suicidezero.se teamtilia.sebris.se Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“Okay, Tony. I have no idea what the hell is going on, but I'm fired up about the knicks.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

***Skriv dig op til Birgittes gratis ugentlige nyhedsbrev "Tirsdagsmailen" lige her for at få en mail om podcastepisoder og andet nyt:>>> Ja tak til nyhedsbrev***I dagens episode deler jeg tips og erfaringer med dig, der kan give dig en oplevelse af at have mere tid og ikke mindst mere ro i hovedet. Mange er udmattede og tidspressede, og i årenes løb har jeg lært, at planlægning og prioritering kan gøre underværker, og rent faktisk kan give os en fornemmelse af at have flere timer i døgnet. Derfor har jeg lavet et gratis minikursus med tips til stressfri planlægning, som du kan skrive dig op til lige her >> Minikursus: Stressfri Planlægning. Udover det vil jeg gerne dele nogle betragtninger og praktiske råd, der på daglig basis hjælper mig med at komme tilbage til ro og god energi, når jeg bliver overvældet, og føler at jeg bruger tid og kræfter på alt det forkerte – eller at der bare ikke er tid nok!  Lyt med her og lad dig inspirere og hør om ting, du kan gøre for at få din tid og ro tilbage. Hop desuden over til blogindlægget, som indeholder en kort opsummering af de 4 anbefalinger ved at trykke lige her.

“Wong tuwa nyebarke winih sing bakal semi lan ngasilke woh sing becik utawa sing ala” “Roh Allah makarya karo wong sing makarya sing andhap asor, sing tetep ana ing Kristus lan ana ing tetunggalan karo Panjenengané”

Brad Holmes speaks about the Lions' offseason and addresses calls for him to get another edge rusher. Plus, Kang hits on a draft pick, Valenti and Rico discuss if the Lions got it right in the draft, and Costa & Jansen debate if they're more or less confident in the team going into this season as compared to last.

Brad Holmes speaks about the Lions' offseason and addresses calls for him to get another edge rusher. Plus, Kang hits on a draft pick, Valenti and Rico discuss if the Lions got it right in the draft, and Costa & Jansen debate if they're more or less confident in the team going into this season as compared to last.

Brad Holmes speaks about the Lions' offseason and addresses calls for him to get another edge rusher. Plus, Kang hits on a draft pick, Valenti and Rico discuss if the Lions got it right in the draft, and Costa & Jansen debate if they're more or less confident in the team going into this season as compared to last.

Is it really possible to eliminate client churn in professional services? Knownwell's CMO Courtney Baker, CEO David DeWolf, and Chief Product and Technology Officer Mohan Rao dive deep into the myths surrounding unavoidable churn and why too many companies accept it as inevitable. They challenge this mindset, exploring how AI-driven insights can shift businesses from resignation to proactive client retention strategies. Special guest Peter Kang, co-founder of Barrel Holdings, joins Pete Buer for a revealing conversation about "silent churn" — when clients slip away without warning. Kang shares how systems thinking, deeper client engagement, and recognizing early warning signs are key to building resilient agency relationships. And why when you start to hear, "All is good" over and over, alarm bells should start going off in your head.  In "AI in the Wild," Pete Buer breaks down new research from the Pew Research Center highlighting the gap between public and expert perceptions of AI's future — and what it means for businesses today. Ready to rethink your churn strategy? Visit www.knownwell.com to see how Knownwell's AI platform can help you keep more of the clients you've already earned. Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/_KKLpnZsU0o 

***Skriv dig op til Birgittes gratis ugentlige nyhedsbrev "Tirsdagsmailen" lige her for at få en mail om podcastepisoder og andet nyt:>>> Ja tak til nyhedsbrev***Selvom jeg er psykolog med speciale i stress og angst, er jeg (desværre) ikke en undtagelse fra menneskeheden. Jeg kan også blive stresset i dagligdags forstand. Og for 10 år siden blev jeg sygemeldt med stress i mere alvorlig forstand. Så jeg har stor respekt for stress og ved, hvor vigtigt det er at holde stressniveauet nede i dagligdagen.Jeg møder hele tiden mennesker, der er hårdt ramt af stress. Og min erfaring er, at vi har det med at give os selv hele skylden. Det skal vi lade være med. Vi bor i et samfund, der er gennemsyret af stress (hvilket Den Nationale Sundheds Profil fra Sundhedsstyrelsen viser med al tydelighed), og når vi først er voldsomt stressede, er det svært at stoppe op og få overblik.De store og de små ting, der hjælper mig med at holde stressniveauet nede i dagligdagen  Lyt til episoden her, hvor jeg fortæller om de konkrete ting, jeg gjorde den anden dag, da jeg selv var blevet for stresset. Hvordan jeg kom fra en tilstand af søvnløshed, hjertebanken og følelsen af stress, selvom jeg havde fri, og så til en tilstand af ro – selvom der objektivt set ikke er noget, der har ændret sig.  Jeg kommer bl.a. ind på:Hvorfor jeg ikke med det samme tyr til planlægning og prioritering, når jeg først sidder fast i stressHvilken beslutning, jeg anbefaler dig at tage for at kunne give helt slip på stressHvordan jeg bruger min bullet journal til at planlægge dagen, ugen og måneden forfraHvilke ting, der ofte stresser os ubevidst, selvom vi fortæller os selv, at det er de daglige gøremål og arbejde, der overvælder osOg andet godt!

Steve Kang is the founder of Revive the Nations and the School of Ministers, serving as both an evangelist and pastor. Commissioned by the Send Network of the SBC to plant churches, also a graduate of Biola University. Steve served as a Chaplain in the U.S. Army and experienced a near-death experience in 1998, where he saw Heaven and Hell and met Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. He currently resides in Orange County, California, with his wife, Grace Goeun Kim, a professional pianist who also serves in the church. You can Find Steve and support him through the channels below:  https://www.instagram.com/stevekang97/ https://www.allnationsjc.org/som  If you are interested in sharing your story on my podcast or have questions or just want to get support, you can email me at dana@danacanneto.com All other ways to find me here: https://linktr.ee/danacanneto  Be sure to subscribe, share and like this video to help more people to find their way here!  #newagetojesus #provision #healing ##mindset #biblical #christianfaith #proverbs31woman #leadership #newagedeception #religion #spirituality #testimony #buddhism #christianity

It's the latest among the vast plethora of parenting styles: Gentle Parenting...but just how gentle is it? And for whom? The US General Surgeon has issued public health advisory on the impact of modern stresses on parents' mental health, listing six factors it says contributes to parent/caregiver burnout. They include financial strain, time demands, children's health & safety, loneliness & isolation, technology& social media, and cultural pressures. Host Pooja Handa speaks to Dr. Shimi Kang, Psychiatrist and Best-Selling Author of the parenting book, 'The Dolphin Parent', about the current struggles today's parents are facing, and what they can do to find the balance between raising emotionally regulated, well-rounded children. You can learn more about Dr. Kang at the following links: https://www.drshimikang.com www.futurereadyminds.comWe love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us: Through email at hello@thebigstorypodcast.ca  Or @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter

NB: Allerførst kommer lige et link til den eksklusive T-shirt fra Lykkeberg & Corydons spontant opståede, men dybfølte bevægelse 'Folkebevægelsen Mod Monokausale Forklaringsmodeller'.  Indtil videre fås den i begrænset periode, i begrænset oplag, men med ubegrænsede muligheder og i alle størrelser.   Og så til podcasten, hvor Bjarne Corydon har været til møde i Washington D.C. i Den Trilaterale Kommision – et møde, der endte med at stå i skyggen af Trumps såkaldte 'Liberation Day'. Og det er netop Trumps nye toldregime og konsekvenserne af det, som Lykkeberg og Corydon forsøger at udarbejde en »analytisk stemningsrapport« af i denne uges program.  Og der er rigeligt at tage fat i. Med sin annoncerede straftold har Trump ført kampen over på en bane, hvor EU faktisk har strategisk autonomi og kan slå tilbage, mener Rune Lykkeberg. Det kan skabe et Canada-moment for Europa, som altid længes nostalgisk efter at demonstrere den politiske betydning og handlekraft, det engang havde.    Bjarne Corydon er enig, men mener dog, at der er grund til at være forsigtig med at eskalere konflikten ud i ukendt territorium, da EU's reaktion kan blive afgørende for, hvordan situationen udvikler sig verdenspolitisk og -økonomisk. Som det ser ud nu, er Tyskland og Frankrig enige om at svare igen med told på amerikansk serviceeksport – herunder den digitale eksport. Men man skal nødig havne i en eskalationslogik, der kan ende med at forværre den europæiske sikkerhedssituation og rive den digitale rygrad ud af den Europæiske Union.  Hvis du vil høre mere til de to chefredaktører, rykker Lykkeberg & Corydon i øvrigt uden for podcaststudiet og ind på Bremen Teater den 28. april, hvor de vil tale om Trumps første 100 dage i Det Hvide Hus. Du kan købe billetter her.

Send us a textWhat happens when the players break? Dr. Pat DeMeo takes us into the sacred space of the Pittsburgh Pirates' trainer's room at LECOM Park to reveal the hidden world of Major League Baseball medicine.Growing up as a Yankees fan in 1960s New York, DeMeo never imagined he'd one day become the Pirates' medical director and head of orthopedic surgery at Allegheny Health Network. With remarkable candor, he shares the unexpected path that led him to this rare position – one of only 30 MLB medical directors in the world – and the steep learning curve he faced during his first years with the organization.Behind every pitcher's devastating injury or miraculous comeback lies an intricate dance between medical science and the business of baseball. Dr. DeMeo pulls back the curtain on how these decisions unfold, revealing the seasonal rhythm that dictates his work from spring training physicals to draft preparations and trade deadline medical evaluations. His philosophy remains steadfast through it all: "I don't represent management. I represent the player."The conversation takes a dramatic turn when DeMeo recounts saving a man's life on the field during spring training, performing CPR and using a defibrillator while players watched on bended knee. He describes Jung Ho Kang's catastrophic 2015 knee injury as "the worst baseball injury I've ever seen – worse than anything in football" and details the innovative surgical approach that allowed Kang to return to play when the odds seemed impossible.From AJ Burnett's transformative impact on team chemistry to the emotional challenges of forming bonds with players who might be "here today, gone tomorrow," Dr. DeMeo provides a deeply human perspective on medicine at the highest level of sports. His stories reveal not just the physical demands of baseball, but the mental fortitude required from both players and the medical professionals who care for them.Want more insider baseball stories? Subscribe to Hold My Cutter for conversations with the personalities who make baseball America's most storied game.THANK YOU FOR LISTENING!!!!www.holdmycutter.com

Yoo Jin, the founder of the Eldest Daughters Collective, shares her journey of navigating life as the eldest daughter of an immigrant family. The discussion dives deep into topics like the unique responsibilities of eldest daughters, the importance of self-compassion, and the healing processes involved. Follow Yoo JinYoo Jin Website: https://www.ykangconsulting.com/Eldest Daughters Collective: https://eldestdaughterscollective.my.canva.site/Follow Yellow ChairEntwine Community: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://entwinecommunity.org/⁠⁠⁠⁠ Yellow Chair Collective: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://yellowchaircollective.com/⁠⁠ IG: ⁠ https://www.instagram.com/yellowchaircollective/?hl=enTikTok: ⁠ https://www.tiktok.com/@yellowchaircollectiveTime Stamps00:00 Introduction and Eldest Daughter Struggles00:35 Meet Yoo Jin: Artist and Astrologer01:21 Astrology Insights and Personal Traits07:26 Eldest Daughter Responsibilities and Immigrant Experience17:12 Childhood Responsibilities and Cultural Context17:49 The Complexity of Codependency18:39 The Role of Eldest Daughters21:10 Navigating Relationships and Self-Identity23:15 Challenges in Professional Life25:47 Sacrifice and Guilt in Immigrant Families27:20 Healing and Self-Compassion31:15 Founding the Eldest Daughters Collective33:35 Community Care and Joy37:08 Conclusion and Future Collaborations

In this episode of Reading With Your Kids our host Jed Doherty sits down with author / illustrator Angie Kang to celeebrate her debut Picture Book Our Lake. Imagine a picture book that tackles big feelings in the most beautiful way possible. Angie Kang, who's super talented and has this incredible art background, created a story about two brothers dealing with losing their dad. But here's the cool part - it's not sad in a heavy way, it's actually kind of hopeful. The whole book started as a random poem Kang wrote after reflecting on a painting. Her husband was like, "Hey, this could be an awesome kids' book!" And boom - "Our Lake" was born. The illustrations? They're seriously gorgeous. We're talking museum-quality artwork that'll make you want to stare at each page. What's really special is how Kang tells the story. She uses barely any words, letting the pictures do most of the talking. There's even this cute little hidden red bird that represents the dad. It's like a secret message in the artwork that kids will love hunting for. The book isn't just about sadness - it's about memories, love, and how families stick together. Kang wants kids to know it's totally okay to miss someone and remember them in happy ways. She's created something that helps kids understand big emotions without feeling overwhelmed. If you're looking for a children's book that's way more than just another story, "Our Lake" is totally your jam. It's beautiful, meaningful, and might just become that special book your kids ask to read over and over again. Trust me, this book is something special - Angie Kang is definitely an author to watch! Click here to visit our website – www.ReadingWithYourKids.com Follow Us On Social Media Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/readingwithyourkids Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/readingwithyourkids/ X - https://x.com/jedliemagic LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/reading-with-your-kids-podcast/ Please consider leaving a review of this episode and the podcast on whatever app you are listening on, it really helps!

www.brianturnershow.com, www.eastvillageradio.comFROST GIANT - Going Back To Country - Heavy Encounter (Elefantplatte, 2003)COMUS - Song To Comus (Live 2008) - East of Sweden (Dirter, 2011)DEATH SS - Murder Angel - The Story of Death SS 1977-84 (Minotauro, 1987)BEAVIS AND BUTTHEAD CRITIQUE LIVE'S I ALONEULTIMATE DISASTER - What Right? - For Progress.... (Grave Mistake, 2025)MANWICH - Valley of the Giants - V/A: We Were Living In Cincinnati Vol 2 1982-88 (Hozac, 2025)THE EX - In The Rain - If Your Mirror Breaks (The Ex, 2025)MOSKITO - Mashonisa - Idolar (2001, re: Awesome Tapes From Africa, 2025)A TRIBE CALLED QUEST - Show Business - The Low End Theory (Jive, 1991)HARVEY MATUSOW'S JEW'S HARP BAND - War Between Fats and Thins - War Between Fats and Thins (Head, 1969)LA BREA PULPIT - Bluntdestroyer - Anandamide Aberration (Liquid Library, 2025)PANCRACE - La Papotier - Papotier (Penultimate Press, 2025)NADAGEN - Staccato - Nadagen (Futura Resistenza, 2024)KLINGONS - Dr. Jekkyl & Mr. Hyde - 7" (Kang, 1980)COUNTER INTUITS - Anarchy On Yr Face - V/A: Volcanic Tongue - A Time-Travelling Evangelist's Guide to Late 20th Century Underground Music (Disciples, 2025)RON  HOUSE - Restraining Order - Obsessed (2002, re: Siltbreeze, 2025)CLOTHING -  Alucinidad -  La Muerte En Realidad no Existe (Tin Angel, 2025)CHINGIZ KAM - Part Three - Tuvan Shamanism Anxiety Killer (BC, 2025)JON BLUM QUARTET WITH MARSHALL ALLEN - Levitation - Deep Space (Astral Spirits, 2024)CHRISTINE 23 ONNA - New Dawn In Mexico - Space Age Pad Psychedelic Music (Insignificant, 1996)J.T. - God Is Red - Meshes In the Afternoon (Twisted Village, 1992)OVER-GAIN OPTIMAL DEATH - Oversleep - Die Underground (Riot Season, 2025)LEE RANALDO & MICHAEL VALLERA - Early New York Silver II - Early New York Silver (Amish, 2025)

Ed Kang is the Chief Strategy Officer of Startups.com, which has helped thousands of startups grow faster and wiser.In this episode we talk about many ways in which e-commerce brands succeed and fail.

China is accelerating the digitalization of ancient texts and boosting access to oracle bone script data, aiming to integrate cultural heritage with digital Chinese, officials said on Monday.中国正加速推进古籍数字化进程并扩大甲骨文数据开放，旨在将文化遗产保护与数字中文建设相结合。The Ministry of Education, the National Language Commission and the Cyberspace Administration of China issued a guideline to promote the digitalization of the Chinese language and characters. The focus is on developing national language resources and large-scale Chinese language models to support artificial intelligence.有关部门周一表示，教育部、国家语言文字工作委员会及中央网信办已联合发布《关于推进语言文字数字化的指导意见》，重点开发国家语言资源和大规模中文语言模型，为人工智能发展提供支持。The guideline aims to establish a national corpus and strategic language resources information database by 2027. By 2035, the country hopes it will have significantly expanded the presence of the Chinese language in global digital and generative AI scenarios.该指南提出，到2027年将建成国家语料库和战略语言资源信息库；至2035年，中文在全球数字化场景及生成式人工智能领域的应用影响力将显著提升。Liu Peijun, head of the Department of Language Information Management at the Ministry of Education, said the guideline calls for the digitalization of linguistic and cultural heritage, while promoting the construction of a national digital language and script museum.教育部语言文字信息管理司司长刘培俊表示，该指南要求推进语言文化遗产数字化，同时推动建设国家数字语言文字博物馆。It emphasizes advancing key technologies for ancient text digitalization, enhancing the accessibility of oracle bone script data and launching a multilingual digital education program to facilitate Chinese language learning globally, Liu said at a news conference.刘培俊在新闻发布会上强调，需重点突破古籍数字化关键技术，增强甲骨文数据的可获取性，并启动多语种数字教育计划，助力中文教育的全球化发展。A key aspect of this initiative is the development of large-scale linguistic data resources. The guideline outlines a plan to build a national corpus with extensive Chinese language datasets to support AI applications.该计划聚焦大规模语言数据资源建设。根据指南要求，将系统性构建国家语料库，整合海量中文数据集，为人工智能应用提供支撑。Among the pilot projects, Beijing Normal University has launched a large-scale Classical Chinese language model, an AI-driven initiative that sets a new benchmark in the field, Liu said.在试点项目中，北京师范大学已推出大规模文言文语言模型。刘培俊指出，这一人工智能驱动的举措为该领域树立了新的标杆。Kang Zhen, vice-president of BNU, said the university has developed a range of digital language databases, including a comprehensive holographic Chinese character database, a digital resource of the ancient Chinese dictionary Shuowen Jiezi, and repositories for ancient inscriptions and handwritten texts.北师大副校长康震表示，该校已构建包括全息汉字数据库、《说文解字》数字资源库，古代铭文及手写文本库在内的系列数字化语言数据库体系。These resources have played a crucial role in linguistic research and cultural preservation, Kang added.康震补充称，这些资源对语言研究和文化保护发挥了关键作用。The university's AI Taiyan, a Classical Chinese large language model trained with 1.8 billion parameters, has been designed for high-accuracy interpretation of ancient texts, supporting tasks such as word and phrase explanations, as well as classical-to-modern Chinese translation.该校研发的文言文大语言模型“AI太炎”基于18亿个参数训练出来的古汉语大型语言模型，专为高精度古籍解读而设计，可支持字词释义、文言文与现代汉语互译等任务。China is also spearheading the construction of a new national corpus to strengthen linguistic infrastructure in the AI era, said Wang Hui, deputy head of the Ministry of Education's Department of Language Application and Administration.教育部语言文字应用管理司副司长王晖表示，中国正带头建设新型国家语料库，以强化人工智能时代的语言基础设施。"Currently, most linguistic datasets remain limited to single-text formats and specific academic domains, lacking the scale and diversity required for AI applications," Wang said.王晖指出，当前语言数据资源仍主要集中于纯文本形态与特定学术研究领域，在数据规模与类型多样性方面存在明显不足，难以满足人工智能技术发展的多维需求。The department has begun planning for the corpus this year, seeking to launch two flagship databases, the Chinese civilization corpus for AI-assisted teaching and research, and the Chinese grand reading system corpus, Wang said.王晖表示，该司今年已启动语料库规划，计划推出两大核心数据库：一是支撑人工智能辅助教学研究的中华文明语料库，二是中华经典诵读系统语料库。oracle bone script甲骨文national corpus国家语料库the National Language Commission国家语言文字工作委员会strategic language resources information database战略语言资源信息库cultural heritage文化遗产ancient text digitalization古籍数字化benchmarkn.标杆spearheadv.带头;先锋

The MCU is once again in the spotlight as major Avengers: The Kang Dynasty leaks have surfaced online—and we're diving into everything we've learned. On today's episode of The Kristian Harloff Show, we break down the original plan for Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, its evolution into Avengers: Doomsday, and what it all means for Marvel Phase 5, Secret Wars, and the future of the Multiverse Saga. Marvel Studios seems to have scrapped Kang as the main villain in favor of Doctor Doom—and for good reason. After Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania flopped and Jonathan Majors' legal issues became a major concern, insiders say the studio lost faith in the Council of Kangs storyline. Now, with Stephen McFeely rewriting both Avengers 5 and Secret Wars, and the Russo Brothers returning to direct, the entire direction has shifted. We're breaking down the leaked Kang Dynasty script that includes wild reveals like a Moon Knight team-up, Miles Morales' MCU debut, a Deadpool 3 crossover, and even a Spider-Man: No Way Home reunion. Plus, what role was Doctor Doom supposed to play before becoming the central threat in Avengers: Doomsday? And how does this affect the lead-in to Avengers: Secret Wars? Other stories covered: Captain America: Brave New World nears $200M at the domestic box office. A Working Man dominates Snow White in a surprise upset. Warner Bros. shakeups and early talks of new leadership. First reactions for The Minecraft Movie are in—and they're surprisingly mixed but intriguing. AND — in a massive shift — Warner Bros. has completed the worldwide sale of Coyote vs. Acme to Ketchup Entertainment. Yes, the previously shelved, fan-beloved Looney Tunes film is back! The Wile E. Coyote movie—starring Will Forte, John Cena, and Lana Condor, directed by Dave Green and written by Samy Burch—was shelved for tax reasons despite strong test screenings. But now it's getting a theatrical release in 2026, with Ketchup shelling out close to $50 million for the rights. Produced by James Gunn, this film has become symbolic of Hollywood's internal battles between artistry and cost-cutting. Marvel. DC. Box office drama. Studio shakeups. Leaks. Come for the nerd news—stay for the chaos.

Our Top 10 for today: #BiglaKangSumakses - thanks @victorianodc for the topic!Follow us on our socials: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ channel for more content!

Welcome to Week In Geek Wednesday! That's right, we've spun off our quick-hits segment of entertainment and interesting bits of internet debris into its own show! This week, we run down Uncle Todd's first ever indie wrestling show, The Man They Call Tim being initiated into a college fraternity almost 30 years after graduation, and a ton of MCU news!   FULL VIDEO EPISODES! That's right folks, you can see our bright smiling idiotic faces in full color on our YouTube channel. Full episodes available as well as clips.   LINKS OF INTEREST: - Rest easy Star Wars and Marvel fans, we shan't have an Incursion between the two beloved franchises - Another article that supports the rumor that Dr. Doom may layeth the smacketh down on Kang's candyass - Will Loki be the next Avengers Duology's version of the Infinity Stones? - Russo brothers confirm that Tony Stark's death is part of Dr. Doom's story   ...AND ANOTHER THING: The Man They Call Tim suggests watching "WWE Rivals" on A&E Uncle Todd suggests checking out Limitless Wrestling in Maine or watching them on YouTube   FOLLOW US ON THE SOCIAL MEDIAS: Facebook - http://facebook.com/freerangeidiocy Instagram - http://instagram.com/freerangeidiocy YouTube - http://youtube.com/@freerangeidiocy

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Join Frank and Jonathan in this week's packed episode of Geek Freaks, where they break down the hottest entertainment news and dive into thought-provoking pop culture discussions. The duo shares their excitement about the newly released trailers for Happy Gilmore 2 and Mortal Kombat 2, explores possibilities for Disney's Coco 2, and offers their take on Microsoft's potential game-changing integration with Steam. Plus, they talk about the return of beloved animated series American Dad to Fox and the future of Xbox gaming. Don't miss out on their insightful opinions and hilarious banter! Timestamps and Topics: 00:00 - Introduction and Overview 00:26 - Question of the Week: Which pop culture universe has the best soundtrack? 02:58 - Happy Gilmore 2 Trailer Reaction 08:10 - First Look at Mortal Kombat 2 13:00 - House of the Dragon Casting Update 16:38 - Disney Announces Power Rangers Reboot 21:47 - Coco 2 Announced: Theories and Expectations 27:37 - American Dad Returning to Fox 32:05 - Jonathan Majors' Future as Kang in the MCU 36:17 - Xbox Potentially Integrating Steam: A Gaming Revolution 41:08 - Xbox's Plans for Future Video Game Adaptations Key Takeaways: Happy Gilmore 2 might lean heavily into nostalgia but promises a more mature comedic approach. Mortal Kombat 2 struggles to capture interest despite Karl Urban's casting. The Power Rangers reboot aims for higher-quality storytelling to attract a new generation. Coco 2 could explore themes of family, remembrance, and legacy with emotional depth. Xbox integrating Steam could drastically reshape gaming experiences and console competitions. Quotes: "Millennials are so interested in nostalgia because it was easier back then." - Frank "Disney movies have to nail the music—it's the number one thing we remember." - Jonathan "Xbox bridging the gap between PC and console gaming is the biggest and easiest slam dunk they could do." - Frank Call to Action: Subscribe, review, and share this episode on social media! Join the conversation using the hashtag #GeekFreaksPodcast. Links and Resources: Visit GeekFreaksPodcast.com for all news and articles discussed during our podcast episodes. Follow Us: Facebook: Geek Freaks Podcast Twitter: @geekfreakspod Instagram: @geekfreakspodcast Patreon: Geek Freaks Listener Questions: We want to hear from you! Send us your questions or suggest future episode topics through social media or our website. Apple Podcast Tags: Happy Gilmore 2, Mortal Kombat 2, Coco 2, House of the Dragon, Power Rangers reboot, American Dad, Xbox Steam Integration, Jonathan Majors, Disney announcements, pop culture news

Jonathan Majors, once poised as the central villain Kang the Conqueror in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, still hopes to return despite being dropped following a guilty verdict in a domestic assault case. Marvel Studios has reportedly shifted its focus to Doctor Doom for future MCU phases, but Majors expressed a deep love for the Kang role, calling it one of the most challenging and unique of his career. In recent interviews, he confirmed he reached out to Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige after his dismissal but received no response. Still, Majors believes that as long as fans continue talking about Kang, there's a chance for a comeback in Avengers: Doomsday or Secret Wars. While Marvel is unlikely to reinstate him, his comments have reignited conversation around Kang's potential return—either recast or written off through multiverse twists.

Its the end of the Alan Davis run (sniff, sniff) as the Kang plot continues with a threat in Russia and another master villain enters the fray!

THE GEEK BUDDIES go LIVE today for a brand new episode of HAPPY HOUR to give their thoughts on the big entertainment stories and answer your questions as well. John Rocha and Michael Vogel talk the Jonathan Majors come back is in full swing with today's THR article, is a Kang return more likely, Ted Lasso is back for Season 4, the F1 and Freakier Friday trailers, Tom Cruise possibly playing Joe-El in SUPERMAN, Sadie Sink might be MJ in Spider-man 4, that Thunderbolts shot of Bucky in Congress, and more! PLUS, they answer all your Streamlabs and Superchat questions! To send a question, thought or comment for THE GEEK BUDDIES, go to: https://streamlabs.com/johnrochasays/tip SUBSCRIBE: https://www.youtube.com/johnrochasays #MARVEL #DC #APPLE #NETFLIX #WB #TedLasso #JonathanMajors #TheGeekBuddies Chapters: 0:00 Introduction and Rundown 5:11 Jonathan Majors THR Interview Signals a Comeback 24:40 Is Sadie Sink Playing a New MJ in Spider-Man 4? 33:15 Tom Cruise Rumored for Jor-El in SUPERMAN 45:11 Ted Lasso S4 Is Greenlit, Is that a Good Thing? 51:09 Freakier Friday and F1 Trailers Discussion 1:00:19 Does Bucky Barnes Join Congress in THUNDERBOLTS*? 1:08:25 Streamlabs and SuperChat Questions FOLLOW THE GEEK BUDDIES: Twitter: https://twitter.com/Geek_Buddies Follow John Rocha: https://twitter.com/TheRochaSays​​​​​ Follow Michael Vogel: https://twitter.com/mktoon Follow Shannon McClung: https://twitter.com/Shannon_McClung Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stephen Stay Schemin | Stephen A. Smith vs Lebron James | Agendas in Movies | Building Your Own |

The Avengers have beaten Diablo, but now they have to face the menace of Kang and the Scarlet Centurion!  Kang wants to take over the world, but only for the best of reasons!  

Here's what we're reading, recommending, and revisiting this week.Catherine's library find is a picture book called I Worked Hard on That! by Robyn Wall with pictures by A.N. Kang. It stars a cute (really!) spider whose web-weaving efforts are frequently thwarted. We also recommend a scroll down Wall's list of other titles, including My First Book of Beards, "a super-stylish board book for babies and toddlers with bearded dads" (really!).​Terri's random recommendation this week is more of an observation: AI is everywhere! There's Claude, Grok, ChatGPT, and more, with some useful applications and some less so. In the archives, we checked in on an episode from 2019 on how sharing our words of wisdom sometimes feels like talking to a brick wall.Next week's lineup: Lost S2 E12, "Fire + Water," on Tuesday, March 10A Man on the Inside S1 E7, "From Russian Hill with Love," on Wednesday, March 11Weekly roundup on Thursday, March 12Until then (and anytime you're in need), the archives are available.

This episode we continue to follow the monk Xuanzang on his path along the silk road.  From Gaochang, he traveled through the Tarim Basin, up over the Tianshan Mountains, to the heart of the Western Gokturk Qaghanate.  From there, he traveled south, through the region of Transoxania to Bactria and the land of Tukhara.  He pushed on into the Hindu Kush, witnessing the stone Buddha statues of Bamiyan, and eventually made his way to the land of Kapisa, near modern Kabul, Afghanistan.  From there he would prepare to enter the Indian subcontinent: the home of the historical Buddha. For more discussion and some photos of the areas along this journey, check out our podcast blog at https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-121   Rough Transcript Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.  My name is Joshua, and this is Episode 121: Journey to the West, Part 2   The cold winds blew through the travelers' doubled up clothing and thick furs.  Cold, wet ground meant that even two sets of boots were not necessarily enough after several days.  The frozen mist would often obscure everything except for the path immediately in front, hiding the peaks and making the sky a uniform white. In many places, the path would be blocked by rock, ice, or snow—the remnants of an avalanche, which could easily take an unsuspecting traveler.  And there was the elevation.  Hiking through the mountains, it was easy enough to reach heights of a mile or higher, and for those not accustomed to that elevation the thin air could take a surprising toll, especially if you were pushing yourself.  And the road was no less kind to the animals that would be hauling said travelers and their gear. And yet, this was the path that Xuanzang had agreed to.  He would continue to push through, despite the various deprivations that he would be subjected to.  No doubt he often wondered if it was worth it.  Then again, returning was just as dangerous a trip, so why not push on?   Last episode we introduced the monk Xuanzang, who traveled the Silk Road to India in the 7th century and returned to China.  He brought back numerous sutras to translate, and ended up founding a new school, known as the Faxian school—or the Hossou school in Japan.   As we mentioned last time, Xuanzang during his lifetime met with students from the archipelago when they visited the continent.  The records of his travels—including his biography and travelogue—are some of the best information we have on what life was like on the silk road around this time. In the last episode, we talked about Xuanzang: how he set out on his travels, his illegal departure from the Tang empire, and his perilous journey across the desert, ending up in Gaochang.  There, King Qu Wentai had tried to get him to stay, but he was determined to head out.  This episode we are going to cover his trip to Agni, Kucha, and Baluka—modern Aksu—and up to the Western Gokturk Qaghanate's capital of Suyab.  From there, we'll follow his footsteps through the Turkic controlled regions of Transoxania and into Tukhara, in modern Afghanistan.  Finally, we'll cover the last parts of his journey before he reached the start of his goal:  India. From Gaochang, Xuanzang continued on, through the towns he names as Wuban and Dujin, and into the country of Agni—known today as the area of Yanqi—which may also have been known as Wuqi.  The route was well-enough known, but it wasn't necessarily safe.  At one point, Xuanzang's caravan met with bandits, whom they were fortunately able to pay off.  The following night they encamped on a river bank with some merchants who also happened to be traveling the road.  The merchants, though, got up at midnight and headed out, hoping to get to the city early so that they could be the first ones to the market.  They only made it a few miles down the road, however, before they encountered more bandits, who slaughtered them and took their goods.  The following day, Xuanzang and his retinue came upon the merchants' remains lying in the road and saw the aftermath of the massacre. This was an unforgiving land, and the road was truly dangerous, even for those who traveled it regularly.  And yet Xuanzang was planning to travel its entire length until he reached India. So with little alternative, they carried on to the royal city of Agni. Agni, or Yanqi, sits on the southwestern edge of the basin, west of Bositeng lake, on the border between the Turfan basin and the larger Tarim Basin.  The name is thought to be a Tocharian—or Turfanian—name for the city, which is also known as Karashr. According to the biography by Huili, Xuanzang and his party didn't stay long in Agni.  Apparently Agni and Gaochang were not exactly on friendly terms, and even though the King of Agni and his ministers reportedly came out to greet Xuanzang and welcome him to their city, they refused to provide any horses.  They spent a single night and moved on. That said, Agni still made an impression on Xuanzang.  He noted how the capital was surrounded by hills on four sides, making it naturally defensible.  As for the people, he praises them as honest and straightforward.  They wore clothing of felt and hemp cloth, and cut their hair short, without hats or any kind of headwear.  Even the climate was pleasant, at least for the short time he was there.  He also notes that they used a script based on India—likely referring to the Brahmic script, which we find in the Tarim basin. However, as for the local lord, the King of Agni, he is a little less charitable.  Xuanzang claimed he was brave but “lacked resourcefulness” and he was a bit of a braggart.  Furthermore, the country had “no guiding principles or discipline and government orders are imperfect and not seriously implemented.”  He also mentioned the state of Buddhism in the country, noting that they were followers of Sarvastivada school, a Theravada sect popular along the Silk Road at the time.  Xuanzang was apparently not too pleased with the fact that they were not strict vegetarians, including the “three kinds of pure meat”.  From Agni, Xuanzang continued southwest, heading for the kingdom of Kucha.  He seems to have bypassed the nearby kingdom of Korla, south of Agni, and headed some 60 or 70 miles, climbing over a ridge and crossing two large rivers, and then proceeding another 200 miles or so to the land of Kucha. Kucha was a kingdom with over one hundred monasteries and five thousand monks following a form of Theravada Buddhism.  Here, Xuanzang was welcomed in by the king, Suvarnadeva, described as having red hair and blue eyes.  While Xuanzang was staying in Kucha, it is suspected that he probably visited the nearby Kizil grotto and the Buddhist caves, there, which include a painting of King Suvarnadeva's father, King Suvarnapuspa, and his three sons. You can still visit Kucha and the Kizil grottos today, although getting there is quite a trek, to be sure.  The ancient Kuchean capital is mostly ruins, but in the Kizil caves, protected from the outside elements, you can find vivid paintings ranging from roughly the 4th to the 8th century, when the site was abandoned.  Hundreds of caves were painted, and many still demonstrate vibrant colors.  The arid conditions protect them from mold and mildew, while the cave itself reduces the natural bleaching effect of sunlight.  The paintings are in numerous styles, and were commissioned by various individuals and groups over the years.  They also give us some inkling of how vibrant the city and similar structures must have been, back when the Kuchean kingdom was in its heyday. The people of Kucha are still something of a mystery.  We know that at least some of them spoke an Indo-European language, related to a language found in Agni, and both of these languages are often called Tocharian, which we discussed last episode.  Xuanzang himself noted that they used Indian writing, possibly referring to the Brahmi script, or perhaps the fact that they seem to have used Sanskrit for official purposes, such as the inscription on the cave painting at Kizil giving the name of King Suvarnapuspa.  The Kucheans also were clothed in ornamental garments of silk and embroidery.  They kept their hair cut, wearing a flowing covering over their heads—and we see some of that in the paintings. Xuanzang also notes that though we may think of this area as a desert, it was a place where rice and grains, as well as fruit like grapes, pomegranates, plums, pears, peaches, and almonds were grown.  Even today, modern Xinjiang grows some absolutely fantastic fruit, including grapes, which are often dried into raisins. Another point of interest for Xuanzang may have been that Kucha is known as the hometown of none other than Kumarajiva.  We first mentioned Kumarajiva back in episode 84.  Kumarajiva was one of the first people we know of who translated many of the sutras from India that were then more widely disseminated throughout the Yellow River and Yangzi river basins.  His father was from India and his mother was a Kuchean princess.  In the middle of the 4th century, when he was still quite young, he traveled to India and back with his mother on a Buddhist pilgrimage.  Later he would start a massive translation project in Chang'an.  His translations are credited with revolutionizing Chinese Buddhism. Xuanzang was initially welcomed by the king, his ministers, and the revered monk, Moksagupta.  They were accompanied by several thousand monks who set up tents outside the eastern gate, with portable Buddha images, which they worshipped, and then Xuanzang was taken to monastery after monastery until sunset.  At one of the monasteries, in the southeast of the city, there were several tens of monks who originally came from Gaochang, and since Xuanzang had come from there, they invited him to stay with them. The next day he met and feasted with the King, politely declining any meat, and then went to the monastery in the northwest to meet with the famous monk: Moksagupta.  Moksagupta himself had made the journey to India, and had spent 20 years there himself.  It seems like this would have been the perfect person for Xuanzang to talk to about his plans, but instead, the two butted heads.  Moksagupta seems to have seen Xuanzang's Mahayana faith as heretical.  He saw no reason for Xuanzang to travel all the way to India when he had all the sutras that anyone needed there in Kucha, along with Moksagupta himself.   Xuanzang's response seems to have been the Tang dynasty Buddhist version of “Okay, Boomer”, and then he went ahead and tore apart Moksagupta's understanding of his own sutras—or so Xuanzang relayed to his biographers.  We don't exactly have Moksagupta's side, and, let's face it, Xuanzang and his biographers are not necessarily reliable narrators.  After all, they followed Mahayana teachings, which they considered the “Greater Vehicle”, and they referred to the Theravada teachings as the “Hinayana” or “Lesser Vehicle”.  Meanwhile, Theravada Buddhists likely saw many of the Mahayana texts as extraneous, even heretical, not believing them to actually be the teachings of the Buddha. It must have been winter time, as the passes through the mountains on the road ahead were still closed, and so Xuanzang stayed in Kucha, spending his time sightseeing and meeting with various people.  He even went back to see Moksagupta, but the older monk shunned him, and would get up and exit the room rather than engaging with him, so they had no more conversations. Eventually, Xuanzang continued on his way west, following along the northern rim of the Tarim basin.  Two days out from Kucha, disaster struck.  Some two thousand or so Turkish bandits suddenly appeared—I doubt Xuanzang was counting, so it may have been more or less.  I imagine that memories of what had happened to the merchants near Agni must have gone through Xuanzang's mind.   Fortunately, for him, they were fighting over loot that they had pillaged from various travelers, and since they couldn't share it equally, they fell to fighting each other and eventually dispersed. He travelled for almost 200 miles after that, stopping only for a night at the Kingdom of Baluka, aka Gumo—the modern city of Aksu.  This was another Theravada Buddhist kingdom.  Xuanzang noted tens of Buddhist temples, and over 1000 Buddhist monks.  The country was not large—about 200 miles east to west and 100 miles north to south.  For reference that means it was probably comparable in size with Kyushu, in terms of overall area, or maybe the size of Denmark—excluding Greenland—or maybe the US state of Maryland.  Xuanzang described the country as similar to Kucha in just about every way, including the written language and law, but the spoken language was different, though we don't get many more details. From Baluka, he crossed northward through the Tianshan mountains, which are classified as an extension of the Pamirs known as the Ice Mountains.  Had he continued southwest, he would have hit Kashgar and crossed over between the Pamir and Tian Shan ranges into the Ferghana valley, but instead he turned north. We don't know exactly why he took this perilous option, but the route that may have been popular at the time as it was one of the most direct routes to the seat of the Western Gokturk Empire, which he was currently traveling through. The Tian Shan mountains were a dangerous journey.  Avalanches could block the road—or worse.  Xuanzang describes the permanent ice fields—indeed, it is the ice fields and glaciers of the Tian Shan that melt in the summer and provide the oasis towns of the Tarim Basin with water, even to this day.  In Xuanzang's day, those glaciers were likely even more prevalent than today, especially as they have been recorded as rapidly disappearing since 1961.  And where you weren't on snow and ice, the ground was probably wet and damp from the melt.  To keep warm, you would wear shoes over your shoes, along with heavy fur coats, all designed to reduce exposure. Xuanzang claims that 3 or 4 of every 10 people didn't survive the crossing—and that horses and oxen fared even worse.  Even if these numbers are an exaggeration, the message is clear:  This was a dangerous journey. After about seven days, Xuanzang came out of the mountains to the “Great Pure Lake”, the “Da Qing Hai”, also known as the Hot Sea or the Salt Sea, which likely refers to Issyk Kul.  The salt content, along with the great volume of water it possesses, means that the lake rarely freezes over, which is likely why it is seen as “hot” since it doesn't freeze when the fresh water nearby does.  This lake is the second largest mountain lake in the world, and the second deepest saltwater lake.  Traveling past the lake, he continued to Suyab, near modern Tokmok, in Kyrgyzstan, just west of the modern capital of Bishkek.  This was an old Sogdian settlement, and had since become the capital of the Western Gokturks.  Sogdians—like Xuanzang's guide, Vandak—were integral to the Gokturk kingdom. Their language was the lingua franca of the Silk Road, and at the time of the Gokturk Khaganate, it was also the official court language, and so when Xuanzang appeared at the court of the Great Khagan of the Western Gokturks, it was likely the language of diplomacy. When we think of Turkic people, many in the English speaking world think of Turkiye, and perhaps of the mighty Ottoman empire.  Some may think of Turkmenistan, Kazhakstan, Kyrgyzstan, or Uzbekistan, among others.  And of course, there are the Uyghur people in Xinjiang.  All of these people claim roots in the ancestral Turkic homeland in the Altai mountains, which sit largely in western Mongolia, north of China's Xinjiang region.  Much like the Xiongnu and the Mongols, they were pastoral nomads, moving their herds across the steppes, often covering great distances.  They would regularly move through different regions, perhaps returning each season, though sometimes not returning for years at a time.  They were often seen as barbarians by settled people living in cities, and yet their goods and horses were highly prized. Nomad and sedentary lifestyles would often collide.  Farmers would turn pastureland into fields, and when the nomadic people returned on their circuits, they would find walls and fences where there was once open land, and the people there would claim to “own” the land, a concept often foreign to people who were always on the move.  Nomadic people, such as the Gokturks, were not necessarily keeping vast libraries of records about themselves and their histories, and so much of what we get comes from external sources, which do not always have incredibly reliable narrators.  To many of the settled agriculturalists, groups like the Turks were marauders who raided their villages and farms.  They were a great bogeyman of the steppes, which required the firm hand of strong defenses to keep out—or so their opponents would want people to think. While they were known for their warfare, which incorporated their mobility, but they were keenly interested in trade, as well.  They understood the value of the trade routes and the various cities and states that they included in their empire.  Thus, the Sogdians and the Gokturks seem a natural fit: the Sogdians were more settled, but not entirely so, as demonstrated by their vast trade networks.  And the Sogdians also were part of the greater central Eurasian steppe culture, so the two cultures understood each other, to a degree.  They are even depicted similarly in art, with slight differences, such as long hair that was often associated with Turks over the Sogdians.  In some areas of the Gokturk empire, Sogdians would run the cities, while the Gokturks provided military aid and protection. Xuanzang's description of the people of Suyab, or the “City of Suye River”, doesn't pick out anyone in particular, and he even says that it was a place where traders of the Hu, or foreign, tribes from different countries mingle their abodes.  He mentions the people here as being called Suli, which is also the name given to the language—this may refer to “Sogdian” in general.  They write with an alphabet that is written vertically rather than horizontally—this may refer to a few scripts that were written this way, possibly based off Syriac or Aramaic alphabets that were adapted to Sogdian and other Iranian languages, but it isn't clear. We are told that the people dressed in felt and hemp clothing, with fur and “cotton” garments.  Their clothes fit tightly, and they kept their hair cut short, exposing the top of their heads—though sometimes they shaved it completely, tying a colored silk band around the forehead. He goes on to describe these people as greedy liars, possibly a reference to the mercantile nature of many of the people at the time. Something to note: The Turks of this time had not yet encountered Islam, which was just now starting to rise up in the Middle East.  The Prophet Muhammad is said to have been born around the end of the 6th century CE and was preaching in the early 7th century, though his teachings would begin to spread outward soon enough.  But that means that the Gokturks were not an Islamic empire.  Rather, their own traditions seem to have focused on the worship of Tengri, an Altaic personification of the universe, often simplified as a “sky god”.  Tengrism can be found amongst the Xiongnu, Mongols, and others, and it was the national religion of the Gokturks themselves, but there were many who also adopted other religions that they encountered, including Zoroastrianism, Christianity, Manichaeism, and Buddhism.  In fact, Xuanzang notes that the Turks he met in Suyab would not sleep or sit on beds made of wood because wood was thought to contain the spirit of fire, which he says they worshipped.  That sounds similar to Zoroastrian beliefs, where fire is associated with Ahura Mazda, who is also worshipped as a sky god.  These may have been beliefs inherited from their Eastern Iranian Sogdian partners. In Xuanzang's biography, we are given more details about his visit to Suyab.  Apparently, as he was headed to the city, he met a hunting party, which we are told was the retinue of Yehu Khan.  Hunting was an important part of life on the steppes, and it continued to be a favorite sport of the Gokturk nobility. Yehu Khan—possibly Yagbhu Khan, though that is up for some debate—is described as being dressed in a green silk robe, with his hair exposed, and wearing  a turban of white silk about ten feet long that wrapped his forehead and hung behind his back.  His “hunting” expedition wasn't just a couple of the guys.  It included about 200 officials, all with plaited hair and dressed in brocade robes—they weren't exactly out there roughing it.  He also had his soldiers, dressed in furs, felt, or fine woolen clothes, and there were so many cavalry that they stretched out of sight.  The Khan seemed pleased to meet Xuanzang, but his hunt was expected to last another couple of days, at least, so he sent an attendant named Dharmaja to take Xuanzang back to wait for the Khan to return. Three days later, Xuanzang was given an audience.  The khan was seated in a large yurt.  Xuanzang noted the seeming incongruity between the khan, sitting there in the tent, decorated with golden flowers, with the officials dressed in magnificent brocade garments sitting in two long rows in front of him and the armed guards behind him, compared to the simple felt walls of the tent. A ”yurt” is a common feature of nomadic life on the steppes.  It wasn't exactly a single person operation to haul them around, but they can be taken down and put up with relative ease.  And while yurts could be relatively simple, there are examples of much more elaborate structures.  There is little reason they couldn't be made larger, perhaps with some extra support.  In later centuries, there are examples of giant yurts that seem like real construction projects.  Use of tents, even in a city, where they had permanent palace buildings, was likely a means of retaining the nomadic steppe traditions, even while enjoying the benefits of city life. Whom exactly Xuanzang met with is a matter of debate.  His records seem to indicate that it was Tong Yabghu Qaghan of the Western Gokturk Khaganate, but other sources say that Tong Yabghu Qaghan died in 628, and the earliest Xuanzang could have been meeting with him was 630, two years later, so if that is the case, he must have met with Tong Yabghu's son, Si Yabghu Qaghan.  It is likely that Xuanzang, who was dictating his accounts years after, mentioned the Qaghan and then, when they looked up who it was, they simply made a mistake.  Remember, Xuanzang would have had everything translated through one or two languages.  He did know what he saw, however, and he recounted what he remembered. Tong Yabghu Qaghan oversaw the height of the Gokturk Qaghanate, and appears to have favored the Buddhist religion, though there were many different religions active in their territories at the time.  They oversaw an extremely cosmopolitan empire covering huge swaths of central Eurasia, including the lucrative silk road.  Xuanzang notes that at the court there were individuals from Gaochang and even a messenger from the Han—which is to say the Tang Empire.  One wonders if Xuanzang—or anyone at that time—realized just how tenuous the Khan'sposition was.  After Tong Yabghu's death, the Qaghanate would decline, and less than a decade later it would fall to the Tang dynasty, who took Suyab and made it their western outpost.  In fact, Suyab is thought to have been the birthplace, over a century later, of a young boy who would find a love of poetry.  That boy's name was Li Bai, or Ri Haku, in Japanese. He would become one of the most famous poets in Chinese history, and his poems were even known and studied in Japan.  And it was largely through Japanese study of Li Bai's poems that his works came to the English speaking world: first through Ernest Fenollosa, who had studied in Japan, and then by the celebrated Ezra Pound, who had used Ernest's notes to help with his own translations of the poems. This was, though, as I said, over a century after Xuanzang's journey.  At the time of our story, the Qaghan was throwing a feast, including Xuanzang and all of the foreign envoys.  Xuanzang comments on the food and drink—his hosts provided grape juice in lieu of wine, and cooked a special vegetarian feast just for him, while the other guests ate a feast of meat, such as veal, lamb, fish, and the like.  There was also the music of various regions along the Silk Road, which Xuanzang found to be catchy, but of course not as refined as the music he was used to, of course.  After dinner Xuanzang was asked to expound upon the Darma, largely about the basic principle that you should be kind to one another—I doubt he was getting into the deep mysteries of Buddhist philosophy. Xuanzang stuck around the court for three more days, during which time the Qaghan tried to get him to stay, but Xuanzang insisted that he had to make it to India.  And so the Qaghan relented.  He found men in his army who could translate for Xuanzang along his journey, and had letters of introduction written to at least as far as the state of Kapisa, in modern Afghanistan. And so, armed with the Qaghan's blessing and a fresh translator, Xuanzang struck out again.  They headed westward for over one hundred miles, eventually reaching Bingyul, aka the Thousand Springs.  This is the area where the Qaghan and his court would spend his summers, and the deer in the area were protected under his orders, so that they were not afraid of humans—which sounds similar to the situation with the deer in Nara.  Continuing on another fifty miles or so—the distances are approximate as Xuanzang's primary duty was not exactly to map all of this out—Xuanzang arrived at the city of Taras, in modern Kazakhstan, another place where the cultures of the Silk Road mixed and mingled.  Xuanzang didn't have much to say about Taraz, apparently, though it is one of the oldest cities in Transoxania, founded near the beginning of the Common Era.  A few miles south of there, Xuanzang reportedly found a village of re-settled ethnic Han that had been captured by the Gokturks and settled here.  They had adopted the dress and customs of the Turkic people, but continued to speak a version of Chinese. Southwest of that he reached the City of White Water, likely referring to Aksukent.  This is the same “Aksu” as the city in Xinjiang, both of which mean “White Water” in Turkic, but this one is in the south of Kazakhstan.  Xuanzang found the climate and products an improvement over what he had experienced in Taras.  Beyond that, he next arrived at the city of Gongyu, and then south again to Nujkend, and then traveling westward to the country of Chach, aka Tashkent.  Both Nujkend and Chach were large cities in nations of smaller, mostly autonomous city-states, which made up a lot of the political geography of Transoxania. I would note that Xuanzang's notes here are much more sparse than previously.  This may be because these were outside of the Tarim basin and therefore of less interest to individuals in the Tang empire.  Or perhaps he was just making his way more quickly and not stopping at every kingdom along the way. From Tashkent, he continued southeast to the Ferghana valley—the country of Feihan.  Oddly, this country doesn't appear in Xuanzang's biography, even though the Ferghana Valley seems to have been fairly well known back in the Tang Empire—it was known as the home of some of the best horses, which were one of its first major exports.  In fact, the Han dynasty even mounted a military expedition to travel to Ferghana just to obtain horses.  Xuanzang is oddly silent on this; however, he does talk about the fertile nature of the land.  He mentions that their language here is different from the lands he had been traveling through up to this point, and also points out that the people of the Ferghana valley were also visibly different from others in the area. From the Ferghana valley, Xuanzang headed west for about 300 miles or more to the land of Sutrushana—perhaps referring to the area of Ushrusana, with its capital of Bunjikat.  This country was also largely Sogdian, and described as similar to Tashkent.  From there, he traveled west through a great desert, passing skeletons, which were the only marker of the trail other than a view of the far off mountains.  Finally, they reached Samarkand, known as the country of “Kang” in Chinese, which was also the term used to mark Sogdians who claimed descent from the people of Samarkand. Samarkand is another of the ancient cities of Central Asia, and even today is the third largest city in modern Uzbekistan.  Human activity in the region goes back to the paleolithic era, and the city was probably founded between the 8th and 7th centuries BCE.  Samarkand was conquered by Alexander the Great, and during the Achaemenid Empire it was the capital of Sogdiana.  During Xuanzang's visit, Samarkand was described as an impenetrable fortress with a large population. For all of his travel, Samarkand was the first place Xuanzang notes as specifically not a Buddhist land.  In fact, there were two monasteries, suggesting that there had been Buddhists, but if any monks tried to stay there then the locals would chase them out with fire.  Instead, they worshipped fire—likely meaning Ahura Mazda and Zoroastrianism.  This leads to a story that I have to wonder about, given the reliability of our narrators. It is said that Xuanzang was met by the King with arrogance, but after staying the night Xuanzang was able to tell the King about Buddhism and its merits.  The king was intrigued, and asked to observe the Precepts, and treated Xuanzang with hospitality and respect.  So when two of Xuanzang's attendants went to the monasteries to worship, they were chased out with fire.  When the king heard about this, he had the people arrested and ordered their hands to be cut off.  Xuanzang could not bear to witness such suffering, however, and he intervened to have them spared.  So instead the king had them flogged and banished from the city.  Ever since then, all the people believed in Buddhism. Some parts of this strike true.  It was likely that the king would entertain this strange wanderer who had arrived with letters from the great Qaghan—that may have even explained why Xuanzang had been encouraged to make the dangerous journey to Suyab in the first place, so that he could obtain such permission.  And it would not be strange for the king to listen to his teachings.  If Xuanzang's attendants were attacked, that would have been a huge breach of hospitality, and however the King felt about it, he no doubt had to do something about it.  And so all of that sounds somewhat believable.  Does that mean everyone suddenly converted to Buddhism?  I don't know that I'm quite willing to go that far.  It is also likely that there were Buddhists there already, even if the majority religion was Zoroastrianism. From Samarkand, Xuanzang traveled farther southwest, to the country of Kasanna, which seems to have been the edge of what we might call Sogdiana.   According to his biographers, however, there was a little more to all of this.  Rather, he headed west to Kusanika.  Then he traveled to  Khargan, and further on to the country of Bukhara, and then to Vadi.  All of these were “An” in Chinese, which was the name element used for Sogdians from this region.  He then continued west to the country of Horismika, on the other side of the Amu Darya, aka the Oxus River of Transoxanian fame. From there he traveled further southwest, entering into the mountains.  The path here was often such that they had to travel single-file, and there was no food or water other than what you brought with you.  Eventually they came to a set of doors, known as the Iron Gate.  This was a Turkic fortress.  It was no doubt fortuitous that he had come from his meeting with the Qaghan, and likely had permission to pass through.  From there, they entered the country of Tukhara. As we noted in Episode 119, Tukhara was in the region of Bactria.  It was bordered by the Pamir range in the east, and the Persian empire in the west.  There were also the Great Snow Mountains in the south, likely referencing the Hindu Kush. Tukhara had been conquered by the Gokturks just within the past couple of decades, and Xuanzang notes that the country had been split into largely autonomous city-states as the local royalty had died without an heir many years before.  With the Gokturk conquest, it was now administered by Tardu Shad, the son of Tong Yabghu Qaghan.  “Shad” in this case was a local title. Here, Xuanzang's narrative gets a little dicey, especially between his biography and his records.  The records of the Western Regions denotes various countries in this area.  It is unclear if he traveled to all of them or is just recounting them from records he obtained.  He does give us at least an overview of the people and the region.  I would also note that this is one of the regions he visited, again, on his return trip, and so may have been more familiar with the region than those areas he had passed through from Suyab on down. For one thing, he notes that the language of the region was different from that of the “Suli”, which appears to refer to the Sogdians.  This was the old territory of the Kushan empire, and they largely spoke Bactrian.  Like Sogdian, it was another Eastern Iranian language, and they used an alphabet based largely on Greek, and written horizontally rather than vertically.  They also had their own coins. This region had plenty of Buddhist communities, and Xuanzang describes the cities and how many monasteries they had, though, again, it isn't clear if he actually visited all of them or not.  These are countries that Li Rongji translates as “Tirmidh”, “Sahaaniyan”, “Kharuun”, “Shuumaan”, etc. It does seem that Xuanzang made it to the capital city, the modern city Kunduz, Afghanistan. Xuanzang actually had something specific for the local Gokturk ruler, Tardu Shad.  Tardu Shad's wife was the younger sister of King Qu Wentai of Gaochang, whom we met last episode.  Qu Wentai had provided Xuanzang a letter for his younger sister and her husband.  Unfortunately, Xuanzang arrived to learn that the princess of Gaochang had passed away, and Tardu Shad's health was failing.  It does seem that Tardu Shad was aware of Xuanzang, however—a letter had already come from Qu Wentai to let them know that Xuanzang was on his way.  As I mentioned last episode, letters were an important part of how communities stayed tied together.  Of course, given the perils of the road, one assumes that multiple letters likely had to be sent just in case they didn't make it.  The US Postal Service this was not. Tardu Shad, though not feeling well, granted an interview with Xuanzang.  He suggested that Xuanzang should stick around.  Then, once the Shad had recovered from his illness, he would accompany Xuanzang personally on his trip to India.  Unfortunately, that was not to be.  While Xuanzang was staying there, he was witness to deadly drama.  Tardu Shad was recovering, which was attributed to the recitations by an Indian monk who was also there.  This outcome was not exactly what some in the court had wanted.  One of the Shad's own sons, known as the Tagin prince, plotted with the Shad's current wife, the young Khatun, and she poisoned her husband.  With the Shad dead, the throne might have gone to the son of the Gaochang princess, but he was still too young.  As such, the Tagin Prince was able to usurp the throne himself, and he married his stepmother, the young Khatun.  The funeral services for the late Tardu Shad meant that Xuanzang was obliged to stay at Ghor for over a month. During that time, Xuanzang had a seemingly pleasant interaction with an Indian monk.  And when he finally got ready to go, he asked the new Shad for a guide and horses.  He agreed, but also made the suggestion that Xuanzang should then head to Balkh.  This may have meant a bit of backtracking, but the Shad suggested that it would be worth it, as Balkh had a flourishing Buddhist community. Fortunately, there was a group of Buddhist monks from Balkh who happened to be in Kunduz to express their condolences at the passing of Tardu Shad, and they agreed to accompany Xuanzang back to their hometown, lest he end up getting lost and taking the long way there. The city of Balkh is also known as “Baktra”, as in “Bactria”, another name of this region.  A settlement has been there since at least 500 BCE , and it was already an important city when it was captured by Alexander the Great.  It sits at the confluence of several major trade routes, which no doubt were a big part of its success.  Xuanzang's biography notes that it was a massive city, though it was relatively sparsely populated—probably due to the relatively recent conquest by the Gokturks, which had occurred in the last couple of decades.  That said, there were still thousands of monks residing at a hundred monasteries in and around the city.  They are all characterized as monks of Theravada schools.  Southwest of the city was a monastery known as Navasamgharama, aka Nava Vihara, or “New Monastery”.  Despite its name, the monastery may have actually been much older, going back to the Kushan emperor Kaniska, in the 2nd century CE.  Ruins identified as this “New Monastery” are still visible south of Balkh, today. The monastery is described as being beautifully decorated, and it seems that it had a relic—one of the Buddha's teeth.  There are also various utensils that the Buddha is said to have used, as well.  The objects would be displayed on festival days.  North of the monastery there was a stupa more than 200 feet in height.  South of the monastery was a hermitage.  Each monk who studied there and passed away would have a stupa erected for them, as well.  Xuanzang notes that there were at around 700 memorial stupas, such that they had to be crammed together, base to base. It was here that Xuanzang met a young monk named Prajnaakara, who was already somewhat famous in India, and well-studied.  When questioned about certain aspects of Buddhism, Xuanzang was impressed by the monk's answers, and so stayed there a month studying with the young monk. Eventually, Xuanzang was ready to continue on his journey.  He departed Balkh towards the south, accompanying the teacher Prajnakara, and together they entered the Great Snow Mountains, aka the Hindu Kush.  This path was even more dangerous than the trip through the Tian Shan mountains to Suyab.   They eventually left the territory of Tukhara and arrived at Bamiyan.  Bamiyan was a kingdom in the Hindu Kush, themselves an extension of the Himalayan Mountain range.  It Is largely based around valley, home to the modern city of Bamyan, Afghanistan, which sits along the divide between Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent.  Today it is a major center for individuals of the Hazara ethnic group, one of the main ethnic groups in Afghanistan, which is a multi-ethnic state that includes, today, the Pashtun, Hazara, Tajik, and Uzbek people, along with a number of smaller ethnic groups.  Today they largely reside in the mountainous areas of the Hindu Kush. Bamiyan made an impact on our protagonist.   Their language was slightly different from that in Tukhara, but using the same—or similar enough—writing system.  Buddhism was thriving in the capital, and we are told of a rock statue of the standing Buddha, over a hundred feet in height, along with a copper statue of the standing Buddha nearby.    There was also another reclining Buddha a mile or two down the road.  There were multiple monasteries with thousands of monks, and the ruler of that kingdom received Xuanzang well. Xuanzang wasn't the first monk to travel to Bamiyan from the Middle Kingdom—in this he was, perhaps unwittingly, on the trail of the monk Faxian.  Faxian likely did not see these statues, though, as we believe they were built in the 6th and early 7th century—at least the stone Buddha statues.  They were a famous worship site until February 2001, when the Taliban gave an order to destroy all of the statues in Afghanistan.  Despite this, they were inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003. Fortunately, we have images from before their destruction.  These statues were a blend of Greco-Buddhist and Gandharan art styles—appropriate as it stands between the Hellenistic area of Tukhara and the ancient region of Gandhara—including the modern city of Kandahar and into the Indus Valley region of Pakistan. Continuing east through the mountains, Xuanzang eventually came out at the kingdom of Kapisa.  This may have had its capital around modern-day Bagram, north of modern Kabul, but the country seems to have been quite large.  Kapisa over saw some tens of other countries, and it is thought that at one time its influence extended from Bamyan and Kandahar to the area of modern Jalalabad.  Their language was even more different than that of Tukhara, but they were still using the same writing system.  The king of Kapisa is said to have been of Suli ethnicity—which would seem to indicate that he was Sogdian, or at least descended from people of the Transoxanian region.    Xuanzang notes that the ruler, as rough and fiery as he is described—as a true warlord or similar—he nonetheless made a silver image of the Buddha, eighteen feet in height, every year.  He also gave charity to the poor and needy in an assembly that was called every five years.  There were over one hundred monasteries and some 6000 monks, per Xuanzang's recollection, and notably, they were largely following Mahayana teachings. For the most part the monks that Xuanzang had encountered on this journey were Theravada—Xuanzang refers to them as “Hinayana”, referring to the “Lesser Vehicle” in contrast to Xuanzang's own “Mahayana”, or “Greater Vehicle”.  “Theravada” refers to the “way of the elders” and while Mahayana Buddhism largely accepts the sutras of Theravada Buddhism, there are many Mahayana texts that Theravada Buddhists do not believe are canonical.  We discussed this back in Episode 84. There was apparently a story of another individual from the Yellow River being sent as a hostage to Kapisa when it was part of the Kushan Empire, under Kanishka or similar.  Xuanzang recounts various places that the hostage, described as a prince, lived or visited while in the region.  Xuanzang's arrival likely stirred the imagination of people who likely knew that the Tang were out there, but it was such a seemingly impossible distance for most people.  And yet here was someone who had traveled across all of that distance.  One of the monasteries that claimed to have been founded because of that ancient Han prince invited Xuanzang to stay with them.  Although it was a Theravada monastery, Xuanzang took them up on the offer, both because of the connection to someone who may have been his countryman, but also because of his traveling companion, Prajnakara, who was also a Theravada monk, and may not be comfortable staying at a Mahayana monastery. Xuanzang spends a good deal of ink on the stories of how various monasteries and other sites were founded in Kapisa and the surrounding areas.  He must have spent some time there to accumulate all of this information.  It is also one of the places where he seems to have hit at least twice—once on the way to India, and once during his return journey. The King of Kapisa is said to have been a devotee of Mahayana Buddhism.  He invited Xuanzang and Prajnakara to come to a Mahayana monastery to hold a Dharma gathering.  There they met with several leading figures in the monastery, and they discussed different theories.  This gathering lasted five days, and at the end, the king offered Xuanzang and the other monks five bolts of pure brocade and various other gifts.  Soon thereafter, the monk Prajnakara was invited back to Tukhara, and so he and Xuanzang parted ways. And it was about time for Xuanzang to continue onwards as well.  From Kapisa, he would travel across the “Black Range” and into Lampaka.  This may refer to the area of Laghman or Jalalabad.  Today, this is in modern Afghanistan, but for Xuanzang, this would have been the northwestern edge of India.  He was almost there. And so are we, but we'll save his trip into India for next episode. Until then thank you for listening and for all of your support. If you like what we are doing, please tell your friends and feel free to rate us wherever you listen to podcasts.  If you feel the need to do more, and want to help us keep this going, we have information about how you can donate on Patreon or through our KoFi site, ko-fi.com/sengokudaimyo, or find the links over at our main website,  SengokuDaimyo.com/Podcast, where we will have some more discussion on topics from this episode. Also, feel free to reach out to our Sengoku Daimyo Facebook page.  You can also email us at the.sengoku.daimyo@gmail.com.  Thank you, also, to Ellen for their work editing the podcast. And that's all for now.  Thank you again, and I'll see you next episode on Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.

The gang is back with our picks for the all-time worst comic book movies. We also break down the latest casting news for the Masters of the Universe film and Coleman Domingo's rationale for saying no to playing Kang.

Send us a textWhole-person care is the gold standard for treating elderly patients by delivering care where they need it when they need it, but traditional healthcare models make it tough to scale.Can value-based care and home-based medicine change that?In this episode of CareTalk, host John Driscoll speaks with Jeffrey Kang, CEO of WellBe, to explore the challenges and opportunities of geriatric care, the evolution of Medicare risk adjustment, and why integrating whole-person care into value-based models is key to keeping vulnerable patients healthier.

Strange stories are often used to fill gaps in human knowledge. But why do people love bizarre explanations for the unexplained? Dr. Lydia Kang and Nate Pedersen look to answer this in their new book, Pseudoscience: An Amusing History of Crackpot Ideas and Why We Love Them. In today's episode, Kang and Pedersen speak with NPR's Ayesha Rascoe about some of the most popular conspiracies, being careful about which ones to indulge in, and the dangers of being misinformed.To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookofthedayLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

In the thrilling finale, our heroes, with the help of allies like Giant Man and Vision, successfully dismantle all the enemy monuments across New York. With their initial mission complete, they prepare for a final showdown against Baron Zemo, who has enlisted Thunderball, twin Hydra Clairvoyance Prototypes, and Arnim Zola. Just when the odds seem overwhelming, Moon Knight and Daredevil enter the fray, turning the tide of battle. In a dramatic and hard-fought confrontation, the team overcomes the villains, securing victory and saving New York from destruction.   Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1628612284256101/   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leagueofmelanatedgentlemanpod/   YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheLMGPodcast   Hosts: Jordan Mitchell    

This week Robbie and Art welcome a special guest and friend of the show, Stefan Tribble. Stefan works for Ross Video, a Canadian company that designs and manufactures live event and video production equipment. Stefan gives us the low down on his most recent event, Super Bowl LIX. Stefan worked on the in-venue production, the show within the show. So for our listeners who attended the game, Stefan was behind what you saw on the jumb– big LED screens in the Super Dome. It's so interesting, Art didn't even think to make a Star Trek reference about Stefan's last name! Geeks this week include a new Kang, a new D&D Netflix series, and possibly a new iPhone. 

Marvel just dropped the first teaser for The Fantastic 4: First Steps, and I have a lot to say!

Captain America: Brave New Bird has finally hit cinemas the world over! And people are loving it! They LOVE it. And we love it, which we clarify why in our review. Plus we talk Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 3, Dumbledor casting, Rebel Moon Part III, trailers for The Accountant and How Could You Train This Dragon and Colman Domingo joining the MCU as Kang but probably another role. Thanks for listeningNew bonus book club ep out now and it's Batman/Daredevil: Eye for an Eye! Plus entire back-catalogue of let's play videos, bonus podcasts, movie commentaries, early access and ad-free episodes all available on bigsandwich.coPlease be aware timecodes may shift up to a few minutes due to inserted ads.00:00 The Start03:32 Lotr: Rings of Power Season 307:45 New Dumbledore Harry Potter Casting12:33 Rebel Moon Part Three Maybe16:46 The Accountant 2 Trailer19:42 How To Train Your Dragon Trailer21:27 Colman Domingo's MCU Casting Plea24:20 Captain America: Brave New World Review45:00 Brave New World Spoiler Segment01:12:35 What We Reading, What We Gonna Read01:21:30 Letters, It's Time For LettersSUBSCRIBE HERE ►► http://goo.gl/pQ39jNJames' Twitter ► http://twitter.com/mrsundaymoviesMaso's Twitter ► http://twitter.com/wikipediabrownPatreon ► https://patreon.com/mrsundaymoviesT-Shirts/Merch ► https://www.teepublic.com/stores/mr-sunday-moviesThe Weekly Planet iTunes ► https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-weekly-planet/id718158767?mt=2&ign-mpt=uo%3D4The Weekly Planet Direct Download ► https://play.acast.com/s/theweeklyplanetAmazon Affiliate Link ► https://amzn.to/2nc12P4 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to Multiverse News, Your source for Information about all your favorite fictional universesMarvel made the most of their Super Bowl time by releasing a “big game trailer” for Thunderbolts*. Featuring a needle drop of Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now by Starship, the team of misfits gets a little bit more screen time plus an ominous look at, presumably, Sentry played by Lewis Pullman.Last Wednesday, Universal shared the first teaser trailer for Jurassic World Rebirth. The new Jurassic film features a stacked cast of Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, Jonathan Bailey, and Rupert Friend. The newest dinosaur flick in the epic franchise arrives July 2 among other blockbusters that month, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, and Superman. Directed by Gareth Edwards, the film takes place five years after the storyline of Jurassic World Dominion and the creators are citing Michael Crichton's original book as providing a lot of plot inspiration.A couple of Marvel stories are making the rounds after being revealed on podcasts recently. Firstly, actor Colman Domingo verified that he did have conversations with Marvel executives, though only after rumors of him playing Kang the Conqueror were circulating. Domingo emphasized that he wants a role that will allow him to “build something from the ground up” and that the Kang rumors were never a conversation from his point of view. On the comics side, Deadpool co-creator Rob Liefield left some comments on the floor of the Robservations podcast about feeling slighted during the Deadpool & Wolverine creative process and that Marvel boss Kevin Feige ignored him on the red carpet. Liefield also said that Marvel has a history of not treating comics creators well, specifically name dropping Feige. Hasbro Entertainment is teaming with Legendary Entertainment to develop a shared Magic: The Gathering universe that it says will span film and TV. The first property to be adapted in the universe will be a film.Star of HBO's The Franchise, Ruaridh Mollica is stepping into the MCU with a series regular role in Marvel's Vision Series, sources tell Deadline.During the Super Bowl, a first look teaser was shown for Mission Impossible: Final Reckoning, which hits theaters on May 23.Amy Adams has joined Javier Bardem in the Cape Fear series being developed by executive producers Martin Scorcese and Steven Spielberg and showrunner Nick Antosca for AppleTV+. Game of Thrones star Peter Dinklage has joined Michael C. Hall and Uma Thurman in Dexter: Resurrection, the continuation series of Showtime's Dexter franchise.John Ross Bowie who played Barry Kripke on The Big Bang Theory, has closed a deal to return to the role in a spin off series currently being developed by series creator Chuck Lorre for Max.During a recent interview on The Movie Podcast, Head of Marvel TV Brad Winderbaum revealed that Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man has been renewed for a second and third season.James Purefoy and Charlotte Riley have been cast as King Randor and Queen Marlena in Amazon MGM Studios and Mattel Films' live-action take onMasters of the Universe.

On our buddy Josh Horowitz's show, Coleman was asked about Kang and replacing Majors to which he said the conversations NEVER happened. So is he up for a role in the MCU? TV picks and more on this episode of The Kristian Harloff show with Kristian and Roxy.  #marvelstudios #mcu #kang #fantasticfour #spiderman  OUR SPONSORS:  Go to Mando at https://bit.ly/3PqN5WS and use promo code KRISTIAN5 to Control Body Odor ANYWHERE! get $5 off your Starter Pack plus free shipping (that's over 40% off). Thanks to Mando for sponsoring this video! #mandopartner  NORDVPN: EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/khshow Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! AG1: AG1 is offering new subscribers a FREE $76 gift when you sign up. You'll get a Welcome Kit, a bottle of D3K2 AND 5 free travel packs in your first box. So make sure to check out hhtp://www.DrinkAG1.com/bigthing to get this offer!  STITCHFIX: Make style easy—get started today at http://www.stitchfix.com/KHS! HelloFresh: Get up to 10 FREE meals and a free high protein item for life at http://www.HelloFresh.com/kristian10fm One item per box with active subscription. Free meals applied as discount on first box, new subscribers only, varies by plan. That's up to 10 free HelloFresh meals – just go to http://www.HelloFresh.com/kristian10fm.  

We explore where medical science and spirituality intersect in meaningful ways in Episode 1527. Kaustubha interviews Dr. Chetna Kang as she outlines five key pillars of spirituality that have been shown through research to positively impact mental health. These pillars are supported both by ancient spiritual wisdom and modern scientific studies.  Key Highlights: ✨ Spiritual Practices like Meditation, prayer, yoga, and mantra chanting reduce stress, lower blood pressure, regulate heart rate, improve cognitive functions, and decrease activity in fear centers of the brain. ✨ Like-Minded Spiritual Communities enhance emotional support, reduce feelings of isolation, and promote accountability in personal growth. ✨Positive Spiritual Psychological Attributes like forgiveness, gratitude, kindness, tolerance, patience foster emotional resilience and mental balance. ✨Sacred Architecture and Environments influence mental clarity, reduce stress, and create a sense of grounding. ✨Collaborative Relationships with Divinity promote psychological resilience, reduce anxiety, and foster a sense of purpose.