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We definitely have a hope became reality hangover this morning, but we also have a very fun episode for you today! We're talking romance shorts -- not novellas, not short novels, but actual short stories under 15,000 words (or about 50 pages). We talk about why this is such a difficult goal to hit, about why romance lends itself to longer formats, and about why short fiction is a really great way to keep reading when things feel chaotic.We also chat about Sarah's new short story, a part of the Ladies in Waiting anthology, out this week and providing minor characters from Jane Austen their own happily ever afters. Sarah is joined by romance greats Diana Quincy, Nikki Payne and Eloisa James, among others. Get the collection at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books. Also, we want to take a moment to send enormous thanks to everyone who donated to the Fated States Giving Circle at The States Project this year — those donations were gamechangers — last night we expanded our majority in the VA House, and secured a Democratic Trifecta in Virginia! As ever, we're so proud to stand and fight with you!If you'd like more romance chat in your life, please consider joining our Patreon, which comes with an extremely busy and fun Discord community! There, magnificent firebirds hang out, talk romance, and be cool together in a private group full of excellent people. Learn more at patreon.com. Our next read along will be KJ Charles's The Magpie Lord. Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.NotesThe Ladies in Waiting anthology was released this week, and in the anthology, authors wrote HEAs for minor Austen characters. Sarah wrote about Miss Bates from Emma. Sarah has a few short stories: The Bladesmith Queen, a Medieval short available with her newsletter signup; "Fire That Lasts," and a YA short in the Generation Wonder anthology. The duke who has a sheep is in a novella called A Duke Worth Falling For. Sarah asked Threads for recs of romance short stories and that's where many of these...
Love Strategies: Dating and Relationship Advice for Successful Women
After coaching over 44,000 women, I've noticed a few surprising patterns that guarantee you'll stay single—no matter how much you want love. In this video, I reveal seven subtle habits that sabotage even the smartest, most successful women… and what to do instead.NEXT STEP: Book a complimentary Love Strategy Session and let us help you attract love this year: https://go.lovestrategies.com/session
We mentioned the Do You Stand By That? series in a recent episode and we felt like the week we lose an hour of daylight would be the perfect time to revisit potentially dumb things we said in our past. This definitely won't come back to haunt us... THIS EP IS SPONSORED BY- Visit http://growtherapy.com/ladies today to get started. For a limited time, save up to $300 on the Tovala smart oven when you order meals 6+ times, by visiting Tovala.com/LADIES and using code LADIES Go to http://Leesa.com for 25% off mattresses PLUS get an extra $50 off with promo code LADIES, exclusive for my listeners. Cancel your unwanted subscriptions and reach your financial goals faster with Rocket Money. Go to http://RocketMoney.com/ladies today. WE'RE GOING ON TOUR - https://www.ladiesandtangents.com/live-show WE'RE ON CAMEO - https://www.cameo.com/ladiesandtangents WE'RE ON PATREON - patreon.com/ladiesandtangents MERCH - https://ladiesandtangents.kingsroadmerch.com/ *NEW* SUBMIT YOUR STORIES - landtstories@gmail.com FOLLOW ALONG WITH US ON SOCIAL MEDIA - @ladiesandtangents Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Ladies, this episode might include some subpar “French” accents, wild theories, and the kind of over the top heist analysis you'd expect from two mamas who have seen Ocean's 11 once. Grab a croissant and let's unpack the Louvre robbery!00:00:00 Intro & Show Announcements00:04:01 Confidence In Robbing The Louvre 00:06:19 $102 Million in Napoleon's Jewels Stolen00:11:05 How They Got Caught 00:23:11 Famous Heists in History00:29:21 Ireland Lost A Priceless Cello In A Cab00:31:09 Stockholm Syndrome Origin Story00:33:01 Canada's Maple Syrup Heist 00:35:16 Antwerp Diamond Heist00:38:03 Hot FlashMORE PODCAST EPISODES: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTGuNbPgq2EartAwwgs_H-LVho3FvWnXpJUST LISTEN TO THE PODCAST: https://link.chtbl.com/imomsohardSEE US ON TOUR: (FALL DATES COMING SOON)https://www.imomsohard.com/WATCH OUR AMAZON PRIME SPECIAL: https://www.amazon.com/IMomSoHard-Live/dp/B07VBJ34DTIf you are interested in advertising on this podcast email ussales@acast.comTo request #IMOMSOHARD to be on your Podcast, Radio Show, or TV Show, reach out to talent@pionairepodcasting.comFOLLOW US: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/imomsohardInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/imomsohard/Twitter: https://twitter.com/imomsohardGet our sponsor DISCOUNT CODES here!https://linktr.ee/imshpodcastABOUT US Female comedy duo Kristin Hensley and Jen Smedley have been performing, teaching, and writing comedy internationally for a combined 40+ years. They have been moms for one quarter of that time and it shows. How do they cope? They laugh about all of the craziness that comes with being a mom and they want you to laugh about it too! From snot to stretchmarks to sleepless nights, Kristin and Jen know firsthand that parenting is a hard job and they invite you to join them in taking it all a little less seriously (even if for a few short minutes a day). After all, Jen currently has four days of dry shampoo in her hair and Kristin's keys are still in her front door. They try, they fail, they support each other, and they mom as hard as they can.Disclaimer: This podcast is for entertainment purposes only. Views expressed on this podcast solely reflect those of the host and do not reflect the views of Pionaire. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Today on The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast the guys are discussing Flags of the World from Season 35 Episode 15 on February 27th 2010 with host Jennifer Lopez. Once again directed by Jonathan Krisel who is also this week's special guest! In addition they discuss the never-aired “Tooter” digital short with Ashton Kutcher from Season 35 Episode 14 on February 6th 2010. They also discuss some of their favorite sketches from both those episodes including Punk Band Reunion with Fred Armisen, The Teen Who Just Woke Up from Weekend Update, and another ESPN Classics with Jason Sudeikis and Will Forte. Speaking of Will he finally got around to sending a thrilling voicemail recounting his hilarious memories from Closet Organizer from last week's episode! Flags of the World | https://youtu.be/FJ7YqMMmttc?si=Q951zqeRT6im9SnH Sly Stallone Shop | https://www.slystalloneshop.com/ “Sergio” (The Curse) | https://youtu.be/ZNno63ZO2Lw?si=bnZO9gZOq-Z1OdTe Punk Band Reunion At The Wedding | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nd-_UwzSSvQ Weekend Update: The Teen Who Just Woke, | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJuzKmqOQRE ESPN Classic: 1987 Ladies' World Cup of Curling | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIbzfk2I1Mo [from last week in case you're like Will and are just now catching up] Closet Organizer| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aK6WUKO6IKk Bar | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-4tPhGMbj4 If you're done supporting ladders, please support the I Can and I Will Guild | https://www.icanandiwillguild.com/ Not all the clips we mention are available online; some never even aired. Send us an email: thelonelyislandpod@gmail.com Send us a voice note: https://www.speakpipe.com/thelonelyisland Send us stuff: P.O. Box 4024 New York, NY 10185 Photos and everything else can be found by following us on Instagram @lonelymeyerspod Support our sponsors: Tropical Smoothie Tropic Fan Fest is back on at Tropical Smoothie Cafe®! Which means: FREE smoothies**! A free smoothie** every. single. day – for a whole week,Nov 3 - 9 2025 with bowl or food purchase. Joining Tropic Rewards®. Just download the app, sign up and start sippin'! **Terms and conditions apply. Naked Wines To get 6 bottles of wine for $39.99, head to NakedWines.com/ISLAND and use code ISLAND for both the code AND PASSWORD. Wonderful Pistachios Grab a bag today. www.wonderfulpistachios.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Ladies and gentlemen — howdy & aloha! We are HERE, you are THERE, and you're now rockin' with the best. We're lacing up with Coach Bradley Sowder, Director of Cross Country & Track & Field at University of the Cumberlands—back for Round 3 on ABR. We dig into the Patriots' rise (WXC currently top-3, MXC top-4), winning NAIA indoor/outdoor national titles (first men's double in program history), the women's 2025 NAIA Indoor Championship, double-threshold evolution, culture in the transfer/NIL era, and why elite athletes still choose Williamsburg…including the story behind Luca Madeo's return and a run at the German half-marathon record.Listen / Watch Everywhere• YouTube: @AireyBros• Spotify • Apple PodcastsFollow & Support ABR• Instagram: @aireybrosradio• ☕ Buy Me a Coffee Apple Podcasts • Fueled by: Black Sheep Endurance Coaching Coach / Program Links• Coach: Bradley Sowder (University of the Cumberlands) • Program site: Cumberlands XC (Men / Women) & Track & Field (Men / Women) • Team IG: @ucpatriotsxctf (day-to-day updates, recruiting DMsSHOW NOTES / TIMESTAMPS 00:00 – Howdy & aloha intro; ABR mission to spotlight NAIA/NJCAA/D2/D3 distance programs01:01 – Guest intro: Coach Bradley Sowder; current polls (W #3, M #4); UC Patriot pedigree02:57 – Where to send recruits/parents/fans; @ucpatriotsxctf and SIDs doing work 03:59 – Flowers: how Coach Sowder helped launch ABR's TF/XC run; opening doors across divisions06:00 – Kentucky/UK years; teammates John Richardson & Chris Landers; faith & growth arc09:23 – Fall update: depth, vibe, individual meetings, mid-season reset; coach becoming present15:01 – Therapy, pressure, “fear of losing,” hospital scare; reframing wins/losses; leadership growth18:42 – Delegation to staff; balance & family time; being Director and Coach25:01 – Women's rise without last year's “superstars”; transfers/frosh stepping up; depth matters27:27 – Culture with the portal/NIL: 1-year “contracts,” honesty with athletes, helping them level up29:58 – Personal: losing an athlete vs supporting them; why relationships outlast rosters33:36 – Keeping culture strong when top sticks leave; gratitude practice at weekly 125-athlete meeting36:55 – From jail to graduate: why UC's program is built on second chances & accountability38:20 – Silver linings: when multiple athletes earn bigger scholarships—you're doing something right41:07 – Luca Madeo story: Raleigh Relays breakout → altitude year → returns to UC; fifth-year plan; fall target for German HM record & indoor focus (context: UC roster page) University of the Cumberlands Athletics 47:00 – Lactate-guided training: double-threshold tuning (AM vs PM lactate), European athletes bringing meters, individualization54:41 – Benchmarks: Patriot session (tempo + Ks + 600s/400s), classic 12-8-4 x2 ladder, Michigan; last-5-weeks template58:38 – Why fitness is built before November; don't “win the workout/lose the week”59:50 – Who to watch? Everyone. Multiple Conference Athletes of the Week = depth & competition1:02:00 – Load plan to Conference & Nationals (Appalachian Challenge; Milligan, Montreat, TWC in field)1:04:34 – Nationals site strategy: Tallahassee course demands > weather; BYU/ND film study1:09:05 – Final Four: gratitude list; shout to Coach James; daily walk; cappuccino count1:14:16 – Lifting vs running cycles; Boost treadmills for durability; 305 bench @ 44; old-man strength1:21:00 – Deftones dad-daughter car rides; 90s/00s alt-metal lifeblood1:25:49 – Shoutouts to AD Chris Kraftick & staff; UC season outlook; ABR NJ week preview
This week Joy explains why she said something so crazy a few months back about how she prayed in faith for another child and God gave her one (what a crazy thing to say!). The post God Answers Our Prayers appeared first on Sheologians.
The Journey to Becoming | Self Improvement, Productivity, Lower Stress
Ladies… it's time to have the talk — the hormone talk!
Daniella and Barbaranne recap their current events while trying to make aches and pains Rock n Roll. Daniella and Gilby head to Judas Priest and Alice Cooper. Zakk drags Barbaranne to the Mr. Olympia in Las Vegas while they are there for Charlie and Carla Benante's star studded, fabulous wedding. They see the Wizard of Oz at the Sphere and also renew their vows at the Chapel of Crystals. Of course there is a new #flicsaf and #barbsbagoftricks and the ladies are so excited to announce their new HonestAF Show Storefront in Sephora. Please note that the ladies will make a small commission should you purchase any of their picks using their links. No gatekeeping beauty here! Happy shopping Beauties! Links in all our Bios for the Sephora Storefront. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Ladies and gentlemen, we've officially made it to November, which means it's time for the annual In The Circle #NovemberToRemember. We kick off this year's edition by heading west. First, we chat with Fullerton head coach Gina Oaks-Garcia, whose alma mater is ready to make another run at the Big West crown. She discusses coaching back home and what it will take for her team to return to the NCAA Tournament. Our other guest is no stranger to the postseason: Grand Canyon's Shanon Hays. After winning another WAC Championship, the Lopes now make the move to the Mountain West. Coach Hays shares his thoughts on their new home and some familiar faces he'll battle in 2026.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
From Goodwill to runway glam, this week's episode of Wisdom from the Wardrobe kicks off with a viral fashion fairytale. Designer Evan Hursh turned a thrift-store dress into custom couture and set off a chain reaction of upcycled elegance, proving that sustainable fashion and style creativity are a match made in Goodwill heaven. After plenty of "oh wow" moments and DIY daydreams, the team trades dresses for designer soles as we take a deep dive into this season's Fall/Winter 2025 shoe trends for both men and women. On the menswear front: loafers are still having their (80-year!) moment, split-toe shoes are splitting opinions, and sleek Chelsea and cowboy boots are riding in hot. Bonus: the dad sneaker is officially stepping back in favor of its "slimmer, chicer cousin." Ladies, lace up! Derby shoes and brogues are making a statement, red and brown suede is bringing the heat, and slouchy boots are back with a vengeance. And as for sky-high stilettos and studs? Let's just say the team voted studs all the way, no contest. Tune in for witty banter, game-changing inspiration, and the kind of style advice that'll have your wardrobe thanking you later. Happy Styling!
Happy National Polar Bear Week!Ladies and gentlemen we are back for the 9th NFL Sunday of the year! We had an incredible Sunday NFL slate, the 49ers are back, the Broncos comeback again, Bengals lose another 38 point effort, Steelers Defense is alive, NFC North is wild, Bills get the Chiefs again and more … We are going to go down through the top 5 takeaways from the NFL, Plus so much more football!Plus, we had another EPIC week in college football for week 10 where we are left with 4 undefeated teams. Texas beats Vandy, Georgia Tech goes down, Miami upset, Big Ten has two wagons, & more! We will review our picks of the week and the games of the week that we had picked out. Also, our school App State was on a Bye.The football segments continue! We have the shambles-o-meter, hang the banners, and of course our DraftKings DFS/Bets recap! Finally, we all root for different teams (49ers - AK, Bills - JVi, Cowboys - ButchP/Tex, & DYLON - Vikings) so we will have to go to the podium to answer questions and/or brag insufferably. Look alive, and let's laugh!Follow us on:HOF Bets: https://hof-bets.app.link/millygoats (Promo Code: MILLYGOATS)Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/MillyGoatsInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/TheMillyGoatsYouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@TheMillyGoatsTwitch - https://www.twitch.tv/TheMillyGoatsPodcastTikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@TheMillyGoatsApple Pod - https://rb.gy/0meu1Spotify Pod - https://t.ly/ZUfObWeb - https://themillygoats.godaddysites.com/
We sat down with Sarah Hulme, founder and leader of Covem - a space that brings women together through empowering circles and networking events. Sarah is passionate about helping busy women feel inspired, motivated, and confident while building their businesses and living their best lives. She's created a thriving community of women who support and uplift one another every step of the way. In this episode, we talk about Covem's exciting new rebrand and the journey that led Sarah to where she is today. From her own personal growth to becoming a coach and mentor for women through her empowerment circles, Sarah shares the story behind Covem and why creating this space for women means so much to her.
While “Halloween” for most people involves scary costumes, candy, and jack-o'-lanterns, the Ladies are tracing the word back to its roots — “All Hallows' Eve” — as they team up to plan a Halloween-alternative All Saints/Reformation Day party around the theme of “saints, reformers, and heretics.”* The episode starts with each of the Ladies suggesting a pair of apropos costume ideas. Sarah then shares a curated Spotify playlist (link here) to set the musical mood before providing a range of ideas for party decorations, favors, and crafts. With the party “vibes” all in order, Erin offers recipes fit for a feast and Rachel demonstrates a handful of fun party games, including “Two Doctrines and a Heresy” and saints-based pub trivia. Check out ... Companion Party Spotify Playlist Recipe for eyeball buckeyes Pics and instructions for a fake fire craft *Fun fact: Martin Luther fits all three categories. Connect with the Lutheran Ladies on social media in The Lutheran Ladies' Lounge Facebook discussion group (facebook.com/groups/LutheranLadiesLounge) and on Instagram @lutheranladieslounge. Follow Sarah (@hymnnerd), Rachel (@rachbomberger), and Erin (@erinaltered) on Instagram! Sign up for the Lutheran Ladies' Lounge monthly e-newsletter here, and email the Ladies at lutheranladies@kfuo.org.
Dr. Stephen Brand joins the show to talk about how he blends esthetics with restorative dentistry! He shares how to fill up your cup as a dentist, so you in turn can fill others. We break down his dental philosophy, communication tips, labs, and more. Ladies & Gentlemen, you're listening to "Confessions From A Dental Lab" and we're happy you're here. Subscribe today and tell a friend so we can all get 1% better :)Connect with Dr. Brand on instagram at @dr.stephen_brand and email him at stephenbrand@branddentistry.comFollow KJ & NuArt on Instagram at @lifeatnuartdental, you can also reach us via email: kj@nuartdental.comLearn more about the lab and request information via our website: https://nuartdental.com/contactAsk us about our scanner program!
Happy Strahdcast-iversary month, gaggle! In the days leading up to our 4-year anniversary of the debut of The Strahdcast, we're bringing you all a few extra treats! Please enjoy episode 4 of Ladies Who Spook! This is a project Campbell and Kay started exactly 1 year ago so they'd have an excuse to hang out & watch horror movies together more. As if they needed an excuse.Ladies Who SpookSpotifyApple PodcastsSupport the show
How to respond when your friends deconstruct, plus creative ways for men to build friendships, and keeping healthy boundaries with coworkers. Featured musical artist: Mosaic MSC Roundtable: Discouraged by Deconstruction Your friend who once loved Jesus is struggling to keep the faith. He or she has written off parts of the Bible, or stopped going to church, or is excusing sin as not a big deal. All of us go through seasons of doubt, but how should you respond when you see someone drifting away from biblical truth and Christian community? Our guests have experienced this firsthand, and share how to love your friends and entrust them to God in the midst of their struggles. Send Us Your Show Ideas Leave Us a Voicemail Watch This Segment on YouTube Culture: Finding Great Friendships as a Man How do men, especially single men, find meaningful friendships in church and beyond? Ty Dannenbring and Jeff Dillon learned how to cultivate community by sharing activities they love, being more visible in their spheres of influence, and reaching out to neighbors. Because guys do friendship differently than women, the practical ideas Ty and Jeff bring to the table are immensely helpful and attainable for men who crave meaningful connection. Ladies, we dished out friendship ideas for you last week! Find Ty and Jeff on Instagram Party in the Front!: Overcome Loneliness and Build Community Right Where You Are Inbox: TMI on the Job What’s appropriate to share at work, and what’s TMI (or worse)? HR expert Marshonda Dixon weighs in. Find us on YouTube
October 29, 2025 Wednesday night teaching by Rose Colón Website: www.lighthouseontherockky.org Facebook: https://facebook.com/lotrchurch
Every Thursday around this time, we detail some of the wildest confessions from the streets of Mzansi. We get YOU to weigh in on your unfiltered thoughts. Anonymous said: "I used to think marriage was the dream, flowers, surprise dates, happily ever after. What a joke. Now my life is an endless cycle of cooking, cleaning, and picking up his disgusting stained underwear off the floor. Ladies, if you think being a housewife is glamorous, wake up. There's nothing dreamy about losing yourself in someone else's mess. And to top it off, we can't even have kids, so what's left? Nothing. Absolutely nothing to look forward to.” Here's what you had to say...
Anti-ICE activists are now attacking a group of elderly women who serve soup. Republican state lawmakers say two bills would have stopped self-dealing described in whistleblower report. Major job cuts ahead for Amazon. Another disturbing report of the Mercer Island School District covering for teachers accused of abusing students.
Today the team is back for an update on their lives, summers and what they've been watching This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/hallmarkies and get on your way to being your best self Follow Ann on twitter https://twitter.com/awscott21 Follow Jazzman on twitter https://twitter.com/Shreem16 Follow Dory on twitter https://twitter.com/AllTheFeelsPod Follow Bree on twitter https://twitter.com/BreeUnabashedly Listen to the All the Feels podcast https://open.spotify.com/show/41TDuXQXn5ujpFPQ3TzIvZ?si=U-eJTJQ9SiC0I5iyTPKFYA&nd=1 Check out the Mahogany store on amazon using our affiliate link https://amzn.to/3e9sFlZ (ad) Please send feedback@hallmarkiespodcast.com or the twitter call +1 (801) 855-6407 For all of our interviews https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXv4sBF3mPUA_0JZ2r5fxhTRE_-RChCj Check out the merch store https://teepublic.com/stores/hallmarkies?utm_campaign=Hallmarkies&utm_medium=8581&utm_source=affiliat Please support the podcast on patreon at https://www.patreon.com/hallmarkies Follow us on ITunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/hallmarkies-podcast/id1296728288?mt=2 https://twitter.com/HallmarkiesPod on twitter @HallmarkiesPodcast on Instagram Check out our website HallmarkiesPodcast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Send us a textGary takes you on another musical journey in the company of all things bagpipes.PlaylistEabhal with This is How the Ladies Dance, Stoddies Reel, Break in Borve and St Valery Pipes from This is How the Ladies Dance Stuart Liddell with The Highland Wedding and The Cameronian Rant from The P/M Alasdair Gillies Memorial Challenge 2021. Julian Goodacre with The Saunt from Some of Me Pipes Donald Black with Spogan from From My Heart Donald Black with The Melness Reel, Raven's Rock and Traditional Reel from From My Heart Polkemmet Grorud Pipe Band with The Hen's March, The Flame in the Fiddle and Castles in the Fire from From Celtic Roots Beinn Lee with Davy Webster's 40th, Clueless, Andy Renwick's Ferret and The Ferry Road Shenanigans from Osgarra Gary West with The Stirlingshire Militia, Brig. Gen. Ronald Cheape of Tiroran and Drum Major Alister Walker, Atholl Highlanders from the MacKenzie Caledonian Pipe Band Recital Evening October 2025 Gary West and Chris Wright with The Last Trip Home the MacKenzie Caledonian Pipe Band Recital Evening October 2025 Arise and Go with Major George Morrison DSO, The Acadian Reel, Le Voyage and Jack Daniels' from Meeting Place Support the show
Ladies and gents the NBA IS BYKE, the gang share their initial takes and thoughts of the new season, Dion says don't ruin Captain American, is Wemby the MVP, THEY GAMBLING AGAIN, amongst other NBA news and reactions, that new Meg video plus other FNL foolishness......ENJOY!!!!!
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen chapter 7 , narrated by Isaac BirchallSubscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on Patreon and support me as an independent creator :Dhttps://ko-fi.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/joinSummary:Barton house is not too far from the cottage, and the Ladies head there to be properly welcomed to the area by their new Landlord and Lady. The Middleton's always seem to have company and almost seem to need the company of others. Sir Middleton, hunts, and the Lady takes care of, and spoils their children. Sir Middleton, in the summer, always gets the local boys together to eat and hunt, and in the Winter, holds balls for all of the local ladies. When the ladies arrive, Sir Middleton welcomes them and takes them to the living room. They meet an old friend of Lord Middleton's, Colonel Brandon, and Mrs. Jennings, Lady Middleton's mother. The colonel is on the wrong side of 35, but his is sensible and gentlemanly. Once they get on the topic of Music, Marianne is invited to play Piano, and she charms everyone with her abilities. SEO stuff I don't want to do. Jane Austin's timeless classic Sense and Sensibility follows the story of two girls, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, and their endeavors in love, marriage, and societal expectations. Love is not easy however, and Elinor finds her sense tested by her charming brother-in-law, while Marianne's sensibility brings her nothing but heartbreak.
Ladies and gents the NBA IS BYKE, the gang share their initial takes and thoughts of the new season, Dion says don't ruin Captain American, is Wemby the MVP, THEY GAMBLING AGAIN, amongst other NBA news and reactions, that new Meg video plus other FNL foolishness......ENJOY!!!!!
This is a fully spoiler-y discussion of the latest installment in the Maddock Horror Comedy Universe, which frankly feels a little...de-fanged. SORRY NOT SORRY. Subscribe to Filmi Ladies on Spotifyhttps://open.spotify.com/show/7Ib9C1X5ObvN18u9WR0TK9 or Apple Podcastshttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/filmi-ladies/id1642425062@filmiladies on Instagram Pitu is @pitusultan on InstagramBeth is @bethlovesbollywood on BlueskyEmail us at filmiladies at gmailSee our letterboxd for everything discussed on this podcast. https://boxd.it/qSpfyOur logo was designed by London-based artist Paula Ganoo @velcrothoughts on Instagram https://www.art2arts.co.uk/paula-vaughan
The Plan-B Show with Brock & Kiki - October 29th 2025See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Every traveller carries a mental list of places they long to see, from childhood dreams to newly discovered wonders. These bucket lists reveal our deepest fascinations and evolve as our relationship with travel changes.Tracy and new permanent co-host Melissa share their own wishes, from African safaris to singing along while landing in Anchorage, Alaska. They reflect on how priorities shift over time. Many start with iconic sights, then find deeper joy in slower, more immersive trips to less visited places. As Melissa says of a month in India, “What surprised me wasn't the destinations or attractions, but the interactions we had with people.”Our rapidly growing Ladies Who Travel community (5,000+ members in six weeks) echoes this shift. Members are organising meet-ups across continents and joining group trips to Morocco, helping each other realise dreams like the Northern Lights, European Christmas markets, or long-awaited Greece.Whether you keep a written list or a mental one, this episode celebrates destinations that call to you. As Tracy says of finally seeing the Golden Gate Bridge after nearly forty years, “Sometimes you don't get to them straight away. But eventually you can, and that dream never went away.”Ready to turn your travel dreams into reality? Join our vibrant community of women travellers and discover how shared wanderlust creates lifelong friendships and unforgettable adventures.⭐️ Co-host - Melissa (QueenslandTravelGuide.com.au)
Grab some cake and a candle and blow one out for us because we've made it another year around the sun. We're celebrating 6 whole years of tangents sharing your stories from Ciara's hot tub! https://www.skims.com/ladies Make sure the link is clickable! Simplify your kids' mealtimes. Go to: littlespoon.com/LADIES and enter our code LADIES at checkout to get 50% OFF your first Little Spoon order. Earn points on rent and around your neighborhood, wherever you call home, by going to http://joinbilt.com/ladies For 55% off your order + FREE shipping, head to http://NurtureLife.com/LADIES and use code LADIES. Go to http://mnniceethno.com/LT22 and use code LT22 for 22% off your first order. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In our second catch up episode of the year we chat Charlie Kirk, postpartum time, current reads, favorite movies, and more yappy catch-uppy things. Join us! The post Break Thoughts appeared first on Sheologians.
It's our annual check-in with Becks Quirk, while Kris is recovering from Women's Week in P-town! Becks and Tara talk about what's changed in the last year, where they're at, what keeps them motivated, as well as Becks's reflections after Banned Books Week. Official Recommendations From Becks: Every Step She Takes by Alison Cochrun In keeping with the annual nature of her visits, Becks's official recommendation this week is another Alison Cochrun audiobook, Every Step She Takes. A bout of turbulence provokes Sadie into coming out and sharing her deepest secrets with her seat companion, Mal, only to learn they're both joining the same tour of Camino de Santiago in Portugal. Becks is a sucker for physical journeys that exhaust the body and mind, leading to revelations and change. From Tara: Ladies in Hating by Alexandra Vasti Tara's official recommendation this week is Ladies in Hating by Alexandra Vasti. Lady Georgiana Cleeve is the author of many popular novels, which helps her support herself and her mother. When Lady Darling's books are equally popular and have details that are eerily similar to Georgiana's own books, Georgiana knows she has to unmask Lady Darling. She's in for the shock of her life when Lady Darling ends up being none other than Georgiana's teenage crush. Tara loved the emotional journeys in this one and how it plays with conventions from gothic novels. Works/People Discussed Banned Books Week Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel (recommended in QR 064) Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe (recommended in QR 057) Flamer by Mike Curato They Came from Below by L Dreamer After All: A Sapphic Romance (Latitude & Longing Book 3) by Bryce Oakley Olive Oil and White Bread by Georgia Beers The Shape of You by Georgia Beers RuPaul's Drag Race UK (BBC Three, BBC One) Hades 2 (Supergiant Games) Iceberg by Gun Brooke Course of Action by Gun Brooke Hope in the Dark by Rebecca Solnit Meditations in an Emergency - Essays by Rebecca Solnit The Fortune Hunter's Guide to Love by Emma-Claire Sunday Heather Rose Jones Support & follow the show Buy us a Ko-fi Facebook Instagram Threads Bluesky TikTok YouTube Get all our links on Linktr.ee
Have you ever felt like your body wasn't cooperating even when you were doing all the right things? This episode is for you. In this week's episode of driving with Jev, we are going to dive into stress emotionally and spiritually and how you can create a calm safe space in your body again. These things affect our womb… did you know that? It's one of the biggest things I dealt with when trying to get pregnant. Hopefully this brings hope to you and some helpful/practical insight.
Send us a textThe dating scene may appear to be declining, but this often happens when you lower your standards. Many men today expect women to be the providers while they benefit from the women's efforts and finances. Ladies, maintain your standards and stop entertaining men who offer nothing but excuses. Remember, you are not their safety net. https://www.instagram.com/traceylau99/
What does it take to keep your voice—and your purpose—strong through every season of life? In this episode of Unstoppable Mindset, I sit down with my friend Bill Ratner, one of Hollywood's most recognized voice actors, best known as Flint from GI Joe. Bill's voice has carried him through radio, animation, and narration, but what stands out most is how he's used that same voice to serve others through storytelling, teaching, and grief counseling. Together, we explore the heart behind his work—from bringing animated heroes to life to standing on The Moth stage and helping people find healing through poetry. Bill shares lessons from his own journey, including losing both parents early, finding family in unexpected places, and discovering how creative expression can rebuild what life breaks down. We also reflect on 9/11, preparedness, and the quiet confidence that comes from trusting your training—whether you're a first responder, a performer, or just navigating the unknown. This conversation isn't just about performance; it's about presence. It's about using your story, your craft, and your compassion to keep moving forward—unstoppable, one voice at a time. Highlights: 00:31 – Hear the Flint voice and what it takes to bring animated characters to life. 06:57 – Learn why an uneven college path still led to a lifelong acting career. 11:50 – Understand how GI Joe became a team and a toy phenomenon that shaped culture. 15:58 – See how comics and cartoons boosted classroom literacy when used well. 17:06 – Pick up simple ways parents can spark reading through shared stories. 19:29 – Discover how early, honest conversations about death can model resilience. 24:09 – Learn to critique ads and media like a pro to sharpen your own performance. 36:19 – Follow the pivot from radio to voiceover and why specialization pays. 47:48 – Hear practical editing approaches and accessible tools that keep shows tight. 49:38 – Learn how The Moth builds storytelling chops through timed, judged practice. 55:21 – See how poetry—and poetry therapy—support grief work with students. 59:39 – Take notes on memoir writing, emotional management, and one-person shows. About the Guest: Bill Ratner is one of America's best known voice actors and author of poetry collections Lamenting While Doing Laps in the Lake (Slow Lightning Lit 2024,) Fear of Fish (Alien Buddha Press 2021,) To Decorate a Casket (Finishing Line Press 2021,) and the non-fiction book Parenting For The Digital Age: The Truth Behind Media's Effect On Children and What To Do About It (Familius Books 2014.) He is a 9-time winner of the Moth StorySLAM, 2-time winner of Best of The Hollywood Fringe Extension Award for Solo Performance, Best of the Net Poetry Nominee 2023 (Lascaux Review,) and New Millennium "America One Year From Now" Writing Award Finalist. His writing appears in Best Small Fictions 2021 (Sonder Press,) Missouri Review (audio,) Baltimore Review, Chiron Review, Feminine Collective, and other journals. He is the voice of "Flint" in the TV cartoon G.I. Joe, "Donnell Udina" in the computer game Mass Effect, the voice of Air Disasters on Smithsonian Channel, NewsNation, and network TV affiliates across the country. He is a committee chair for his union, SAG-AFTRA, teaches Voiceovers for SAG-AFTRA Foundation, Media Awareness for Los Angeles Unified School District, and is a trained grief counsellor. Member: Actors Equity Association, Screen Actors Guild-AFTRA, National Storytelling Network • https://billratner.com • @billratner Ways to connect with Bill: https://soundcloud.com/bill-ratner https://www.instagram.com/billratner/ https://twitter.com/billratner https://www.threads.net/@billratner https://billratner.tumblr.com https://www.youtube.com/@billratner/videos https://www.facebook.com/billratner.voiceover.author https://bsky.app/profile/bilorat.bsky.social About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset . Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes: Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us. Michael Hingson ** 01:21 Well on a gracious hello to you, wherever you may be, I am your host. Mike hingson, and you are listening to unstoppable mindset. Today, we get to have a voice actor, person, Bill Ratner, who you want to know who Bill Radnor is, go back and watch the old GI Joe cartoons and listen to the voice of Flint. Bill Ratner ** 01:42 All right. Lady Jay, you better get your battle gear on, because Cobra is on their way. And I can't bring up the Lacher threat weapon system. We got to get out of here. Yo, Joe, Michael Hingson ** 01:52 there you go. I rest my case Well, Bill, welcome to unstoppable mindset. Bill Ratner ** 02:00 We can't rest now. Michael, we've just begun. No, we've just begun. Michael Hingson ** 02:04 We got to keep going here. Well, I'm really glad that you're here. Bill is another person who we inveigled to get on unstoppable mindset with the help of Walden Hughes. And so that means we can talk about Walden all we want today. Bill just saying, oh goodness. And I got a lot to say. Let me tell you perfect, perfect. Bring it on. So we are really grateful to Walden, although I hope he's not listening. We don't want to give him a big head. But no, seriously, we're really grateful. Ah, good point. Bill Ratner ** 02:38 But his posture, oddly enough, is perfect. Michael Hingson ** 02:40 Well, there you go. What do you do? He practiced. Well, anyway, we're glad you're here. Tell us about the early bill, growing up and all that stuff. It's always fun to start a good beginning. Bill Ratner ** 02:54 Well, I was a very lucky little boy. I was born in Des Moines, Iowa in 1947 to two lovely people, professionals, both with master's degree out at University of Chicago. My mother was a social worker. My father had an MBA in business. He was managing editor of Better Homes and Gardens magazine. So I had the joy of living in a better home and living in a garden. Michael Hingson ** 03:21 My mother. How long were you in Des Moines? Bill Ratner ** 03:24 Five and a half years left before my sixth birthday. My dad got a fancy job at an ad agency in Minneapolis, and had a big brother named Pete and big handsome, curly haired boy with green eyes. And moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and was was brought up there. Michael Hingson ** 03:45 Wow. So you went to school there and and chased the girls and all that stuff. Bill Ratner ** 03:54 I went to school there at Blake School for Boys in Hopkins, Minnesota. Couldn't chase the girls day school, but the girls we are allowed to dance with certainly not chase. Michael was at woodhue dancing school, the Northrop girls from Northrop girls school and the Blake boys were put together in eighth grade and taught the Cha Cha Cha, the waltz, the Charleston, and we danced together, and the girls wore white gloves, and we sniffed their perfume, and we all learned how to be lovers when we were 45 Michael Hingson ** 04:37 There you are. Well, as long as you learned at some point, that's a good start. Bill Ratner ** 04:44 It's a weird generation. Michael, Michael Hingson ** 04:46 I've been to Des Moines before. I was born in Chicago, but moved out to California when I was five, but I did some work with the National Federation of the Blind in the mid 19. 1970s 1976 into 1978 so spent time at the Iowa Commission for the Blind in Des Moines, which became a top agency for the Blind in well, the late 50s into the to the 60s and so on. So Bill Ratner ** 05:15 both my parents are from Chicago. My father from the south side of Chicago, 44th and Kenzie, which was a Irish, Polish, Italian, Jewish, Ukrainian neighborhood. And my mother from Glencoe, which was a middle class suburb above Northwestern University in Evanston. Michael Hingson ** 05:34 I Where were you born? 57th and union, north, south side, no, South Bill Ratner ** 05:42 57th union is that? Is that west of Kenzie? Michael Hingson ** 05:46 You know, I don't remember the geography well enough to know, but I know that it was, I think, Mount Sinai Hospital where I was born. But it was, it's, it's, it's a pretty tough neighborhood today. So I understand, Bill Ratner ** 06:00 yeah, yeah, my it was tough, then it's tough now, Michael Hingson ** 06:03 yeah, I think it's tougher, supposedly, than it was. But we lived there for five years, and then we we moved to California, and I remember some things about Chicago. I remember walking down to the local candy store most days, and had no problem doing that. My parents were told they should shut me away at a home somewhere, because no blind child could ever grow up to amount to anything. And my parents said, You guys are you're totally wrong. And they brought me up with that attitude. So, you Bill Ratner ** 06:32 know who said that the school says school so that Michael Hingson ** 06:35 doctors doctors when they discovered I was blind with the Bill Ratner ** 06:38 kid, goodness gracious, horrified. Michael Hingson ** 06:44 Well, my parents said absolutely not, and they brought me up, and they actually worked with other parents of premature kids who became blind, and when kindergarten started in for us in in the age of four, they actually had a special kindergarten class for blind kids at the Perry School, which is where I went. And so I did that for a year, learn braille and some other things. Then we moved to California, but yeah, and I go back to Chicago every so often. And when I do nowadays, they I one of my favorite places to migrate in Chicago is Garrett Popcorn. Bill Ratner ** 07:21 Ah, yes, with caramel corn, regular corn, the Michael Hingson ** 07:25 Chicago blend, which is a mixture, yeah, the Chicago blend is cheese corn, well, as it is with caramel corn, and they put much other mozzarella on it as well. It's really good. Bill Ratner ** 07:39 Yeah, so we're on the air. Michael, what do you call your what do you call your program? Here I am your new friend, and I can't even announce your program because I don't know Michael Hingson ** 07:48 the name, unstoppable mindset. This Bill Ratner ** 07:51 is unstoppable mindset. Michael Hingson ** 07:56 We're back. Well, we're back already. We're fast. So you, you, you moved off elsewhere, out of Des Moines and all that. And where did you go to college? Bill Ratner ** 08:09 Well, this is like, why did you this is, this is a bit like talking about the Vietnam War. Looking back on my college career is like looking back on the Vietnam War series, a series of delusions and defeats. By the time I the time i for college, by the time I was applying for college, I was an orphan, orphan, having been born to fabulous parents who died too young of natural causes. So my grades in high school were my mediocre. I couldn't get into the Ivy Leagues. I got into the big 10 schools. My stepmother said, you're going to Michigan State in East Lansing because your cousin Eddie became a successful realtor. And Michigan State was known as mu u it was the most successful, largest agriculture college and university in the country. Kids from South Asia, China, Northern Europe, Southern Europe, South America all over the world came to Michigan State to study agricultural sciences, children of rich farmers all over the world and middle class farmers all over the world, and a huge police science department. Part of the campus was fenced off, and the young cadets, 1819, 20 years old, would practice on the rest of the student body, uniformed with hats and all right, excuse me, young man, we're just going to get some pizza at eight o'clock on Friday night. Stand against your car. Hands in your car. I said, Are you guys practicing again? Shut up and spread your legs. So that was that was Michigan State, and even though both my parents had master's degrees, I just found all the diversions available in the 1960s to be too interesting, and was not invited. Return after my sophomore year, and in order to flunk out of a big 10 University, and they're fine universities, all of them, you have to be either really determined or not so smart, not really capable of doing that level of study in undergraduate school. And I'd like to think that I was determined. I used to show up for my exams with a little blue book, and the only thing I would write is due to lack of knowledge, I am unable to complete this exam, sign Bill ranter and get up early and hand it in and go off. And so what was, what was left for a young man like that was the theater I'd seen the great Zero Mostel when I was 14 years old and on stage live, he looked just like my father, and he was funny, and if I Were a rich man, and that's the grade zero must tell. Yeah, and it took about five, no, it took about six, seven years to percolate inside my bread and my brain. In high school, I didn't want to do theater. The cheerleaders and guys who I had didn't happen to be friends with or doing theater. I took my girlfriends to see plays, but when I was 21 I started acting, and I've been an actor ever since. I'm a committee chair on the screen actors guild in Hollywood and Screen Actors Guild AFTRA, and work as a voice actor and collect my pensions and God bless the union. Michael Hingson ** 11:44 Well, hey, as long as it works and you're making progress, you know you're still with it, right? Bill Ratner ** 11:53 That's the that's the point. There's no accounting for taste in my business. Michael, you work for a few different broadcast entities at my age. And it's, you know, it's younger people. It's 18 to 3418 years to 34 years old is the ideal demographic for advertisers, Ford, Motor Company, Dove soap, Betty, Crocker, cake mixes and cereals, every conceivable product that sold online or sold on television and radio. This is my this is my meat, and I don't work for religion. However, if a religious organization calls, I call and say, I I'm not, not qualified or not have my divinity degree in order to sell your church to the public? Michael Hingson ** 12:46 Yeah, yeah. Well, I, I can understand that. But you, you obviously do a lot, and as we talked about, you were Flint and GI Joe, which is kind of cool. Bill Ratner ** 13:01 Flynn GI Joe was very cool. Hasbro Corporation, which was based in Providence, Rhode Island, had a huge success with GI Joe, the figure. The figure was about 11 and a half inches tall, like a Barbie, and was at first, was introduced to the public after the Korean War. There is a comic book that was that was also published about GI Joe. He was an individual figure. He was a figure, a sort of mythic cartoon figure during World War Two, GI Joe, generic American soldier, fighting man and but the Vietnam war dragged on for a long time, and the American buying public or buying kids toys got tired of GI Joe, got tired of a military figure in their household and stopped buying. And when Nixon ended the Vietnam War, or allotted to finish in 1974 Hasbro was in the tank. It's got its stock was cheap, and executives are getting nervous. And then came the Great George Lucas in Star Wars, who shrank all these action figures down from 11 and a half inches to three and a half inches, and went to China and had Chinese game and toy makers make Star Wars toys, and began to earn billions and billions dollars. And so Hasbro said, let's turn GI Joe into into a team. And the team began with flint and Lady J and Scarlett and Duke and Destro and cover commander, and grew to 85 different characters, because Hasbro and the toy maker partners could create 85 different sets of toys and action figures. So I was actor in this show and had a good time, and also a purveyor of a billion dollar industry of American toys. And the good news about these toys is I was at a conference where we signed autographs the voice actors, and we have supper with fans and so on. And I was sitting next to a 30 year old kid and his parents. And this kid was so knowledgeable about pop culture and every conceivable children's show and animated show that had ever been on the screen or on television. I turned to his mother and sort of being a wise acre, said, So ma'am, how do you feel about your 30 year old still playing with GI Joe action figures? And she said, Well, he and I both teach English in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania school system, and last year, the literacy level of my ninth graders was 50% 50% of those kids could not read in ninth grade. So I asked the principal if I could borrow my son's GI Joe, action figures, comic books and VHS tapes, recordings of the shows from TV. And he said, Sure, whatever you want to try. And so she did, and she played the video tapes, and these kids were thrilled. They'd never seen a GI Joe cartoon in class before. Passed out the comic books, let him read comics. And then she said, Okay, you guys. And passed out notebooks and pens and pencils, and said, I want you guys to make up some some shows, some GI Joe shows. And so they said, Yeah, we're ready. All right, Cobra, you better get into the barber shop, because the barber bill is no longer there and the fire engines are in the way. And wait a minute, there's a dog in the street. And so they're making this up, using their imagination, doing their schoolwork, by coming up with scenarios, imaginary fam fan fiction for GI Joe and she raised the literacy level in her classroom by 50% that year, by the end of that year, so, so that was the only story that I've ever heard about the sort of the efficacy of GI Joe, other than, you know, kids play with them. Do they? Are they shooting each other all the time? I certainly hope not. I hope not. Are they using the action figures? Do they strip their guns off and put them in a little, you know, stub over by the side and and have them do physical battle with each other, or have them hump the woods, or have them climb the stairs, or have them search the trees. Who knows what kids do? Same with same with girls and and Barbies. Barbie has been a source of fun and creativity for lots of girls, and the source of of worry and bother to a lot of parents as Michael Hingson ** 17:54 well. Well, at the same time, though, when kids start to react and relate to some of these things. It's, it's pretty cool. I mean, look what's happened with the whole Harry Potter movement and craze. Harry Potter has probably done more in the last 20 or 25 years to promote reading for kids than most anything else, and Bill Ratner ** 18:17 that's because it's such a good series of books. I read them to my daughters, yeah. And the quality of writing. She was a brilliant writer, not only just the stories and the storytelling, which is fun to watch in the movies, and you know, it's great for a parent to read. If there are any parents listening, I don't care how old your kids are. I don't care if they're 15. Offer to read to them. The 15 year old might, of course, say mom, but anybody younger than that might say either, all right, fine, which is, which means you better do it or read, read a book. To me, sure, it's fun for the parent, fun for the kid, and it makes the child a completely different kind of thinker and worker and earner. Michael Hingson ** 19:05 Well, also the people who they got to read the books for the recordings Stephen Fry and in the US here, Jim Dale did such an incredible job as well. I've, I've read the whole Harry Potter series more than once, because I just enjoy them, and I enjoy listening to the the voices. They do such a good job. Yeah. And of course, for me, one of the interesting stories that I know about Jim Dale reading Harry Potter was since it was published by Scholastic he was actually scheduled to do a reading from one of the Harry from the new Harry Potter book that was coming out in 2001 on September 11, he was going to be at Scholastic reading. And of course, that didn't happen because of of everything that did occur. So I don't know whether I'm. I'm assuming at some point a little bit later, he did, but still he was scheduled to be there and read. But it they are there. They've done so much to help promote reading, and a lot of those kinds of cartoons and so on. Have done some of that, which is, which is pretty good. So it's good to, you know, to see that continue to happen. Well, so you've written several books on poetry and so on, and I know that you you've mentioned more than once grief and loss. How come those words keep coming up? Bill Ratner ** 20:40 Well, I had an unusual childhood. Again. I mentioned earlier how, what a lucky kid I was. My parents were happy, educated, good people, not abusers. You know, I don't have a I don't have horror stories to tell about my mother or my father, until my mother grew sick with breast cancer and and it took about a year and a half or two years to die when I was seven years old. The good news is, because she was a sensitive, educated social worker, as she was actually dying, she arranged a death counseling session with me and my older brother and the Unitarian minister who was also a death counselor, and whom she was seeing to talk about, you know, what it was like to be dying of breast cancer with two young kids. And at this session, which was sort of surprised me, I was second grade, came home from school. In the living room was my mother and my brother looking a little nervous, and Dr Carl storm from the Unitarian Church, and she said, you know, Dr storm from church, but he's also my therapist. And we talk about my illness and how I feel, and we talk about how much I love you boys, and talk about how I worry about Daddy. And this is what one does when one is in crisis. That was a moment that was not traumatic for me. It's a moment I recalled hundreds of times, and one that has been a guiding light through my life. My mother's death was very difficult for my older brother, who was 13 who grew up in World War Two without without my father, it was just him and my mother when he was off in the Pacific fighting in World War Two. And then I was born after the war. And the loss of a mother in a family is like the bottom dropping out of a family. But luckily, my dad met a woman he worked with a highly placed advertising executive, which was unusual for a female in the 1950s and she became our stepmother a year later, and we had some very lovely, warm family years with her extended family and our extended family and all of us together until my brother got sick, came down with kidney disease a couple of years before kidney dialysis was invented, and a couple of years before kidney transplants were done, died at 19. Had been the captain of the swimming team at our high school, but did a year in college out in California and died on Halloween of 1960 my father was 51 years old. His eldest son had died. He had lost his wife six years earlier. He was working too hard in the advertising industry, successful man and dropped out of a heart attack 14th birthday. Gosh, I found him unconscious on the floor of our master bathroom in our house. So my life changed. I My life has taught me many, many things. It's taught me how the defense system works in trauma. It's taught me the resilience of a child. It's taught me the kindness of strangers. It's taught me the sadness of loss. Michael Hingson ** 24:09 Well, you, you seem to come through all of it pretty well. Well, thank you. A question behind that, just an observation, but, but you do seem to, you know, obviously, cope with all of it and do pretty well. So you, you've always liked to be involved in acting and so on. How did you actually end up deciding to be a voice actor? Bill Ratner ** 24:39 Well, my dad, after he was managing editor of Better Homes and Gardens magazine in Des Moines for Meredith publishing, got offered a fancy job as executive vice president of the flower and mix division for Campbell within advertising and later at General Mills Corporation. From Betty Crocker brand, and would bring me to work all the time, and would sit with me, and we'd watch the wonderful old westerns that were on prime time television, rawhide and Gunsmoke and the Virginian and sure Michael Hingson ** 25:15 and all those. Yeah, during Bill Ratner ** 25:17 the commercials, my father would make fun of the commercials. Oh, look at that guy. And number one, son, that's lousy acting. Number two, listen to that copy. It's the dumbest ad copy I've ever seen. The jingles and and then he would say, No, that's a good commercial, right there. And he wasn't always negative. He would he was just a good critic of advertising. So at a very young age, starting, you know, when we watch television, I think the first television ever, he bought us when I was five years old, I was around one of the most educated, active, funny, animated television critics I could hope to have in my life as a 56789, 1011, 12 year old. And so when I was 12, I became one of the founding members of the Brotherhood of radio stations with my friends John Waterhouse and John Barstow and Steve gray and Bill Connors in South Minneapolis. I named my five watt night kit am transmitter after my sixth grade teacher, Bob close this is wclo stereo radio. And when I was in sixth grade, I built myself a switch box, and I had a turntable and I had an intercom, and I wired my house for sound, as did all the other boys in the in the B, O, R, S, and that's brotherhood of radio stations. And we were guests on each other's shows, and we were obsessed, and we would go to the shopping malls whenever a local DJ was making an appearance and torture him and ask him dumb questions and listen obsessively to American am radio. And at the time for am radio, not FM like today, or internet on your little radio tuner, all the big old grandma and grandpa radios, the wooden ones, were AM, for amplitude modulated. You could get stations at night, once the sun went down and the later it got, the ionosphere would lift and the am radio signals would bounce higher and farther. And in Minneapolis, at age six and seven, I was able to to listen to stations out of Mexico and Texas and Chicago, and was absolutely fascinated with with what was being put out. And I would, I would switch my brother when I was about eight years old, gave me a transistor radio, which I hid under my bed covers. And at night, would turn on and listen for, who knows, hours at a time, and just tuning the dial and tuning the dial from country to rock and roll to hit parade to news to commercials to to agric agriculture reports to cow crossings in Kansas and grain harvesting and cheese making in Wisconsin, and on and on and on that made up the great medium of radio that was handing its power and its business over to television, just as I was growing As a child. Fast, fascinating transition Michael Hingson ** 28:18 and well, but as it was transitioning, how did that affect you? Bill Ratner ** 28:26 It made television the romantic, exciting, dynamic medium. It made radio seem a little limited and antiquated, and although I listened for environment and wasn't able to drag a television set under my covers. Yeah, and television became memorable with with everything from actual world war two battle footage being shown because there wasn't enough programming to 1930s Warner Brothers gangster movies with James Cagney, Edward G Michael Hingson ** 29:01 Robinson and yeah Bill Ratner ** 29:02 to all the sitcoms, Leave It to Beaver and television cartoons and on and on and on. And the most memorable elements to me were the personalities, and some of whom were invisible. Five years old, I was watching a Kids program after school, after kindergarten. We'll be back with more funny puppets, marionettes after this message and the first words that came on from an invisible voice of this D baritone voice, this commercial message will be 60 seconds long, Chrysler Dodge for 1954 blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I watched hypnotized, hypnotized as a 1953 dodge drove across the screen with a happy family of four waving out the window. And at the end of the commercial, I ran into the kitchen said, Mom, mom, I know what a minute. Is, and it was said, it had suddenly come into my brain in one of those very rare and memorable moments in a person's life where your brain actually speaks to you in its own private language and says, Here is something very new and very true, that 60 seconds is in fact a minute. When someone says, See you in five minutes, they mean five times that, five times as long as that. Chrysler commercial, five times 60. That's 300 seconds. And she said, Did you learn it that that on T in kindergarten? And I said, No, I learned it from kangaroo Bob on TV, his announcer, oh, kangaroo Bob, no, but this guy was invisible. And so at five years of age, I was aware of the existence of the practice of the sound, of the magic of the seemingly unlimited access to facts, figures, products, brand names that these voices had and would say on the air in This sort of majestic, patriarchal way, Michael Hingson ** 31:21 and just think 20 years later, then you had James Earl Jones, Bill Ratner ** 31:26 the great dame. James Earl Jones, father was a star on stage at that time the 1950s James Earl Jones came of age in the 60s and became Broadway and off Broadway star. Michael Hingson ** 31:38 I got to see him in Othello. He was playing Othello. What a powerful performance. It was Bill Ratner ** 31:43 wonderful performer. Yeah, yeah. I got to see him as Big Daddy in Canada, Hot Tin Roof, ah, live and in person, he got front row seats for me and my family. Michael Hingson ** 31:53 Yeah, we weren't in the front row, but we saw it. We saw it on on Broadway, Bill Ratner ** 31:58 the closest I ever got to James Earl Jones. He and I had the same voice over agent, woman named Rita vinari of southern Barth and benare company. And I came into the agency to audition for Doritos, and I hear this magnificent voice coming from behind a closed voiceover booth, saying, with a with a Spanish accent, Doritos. I thought that's James Earl Jones. Why is he saying burritos? And he came out, and he bowed to me, nodded and smiled, and I said, hello and and the agent probably in the booth and shut the door. And she said, I said, that was James Earl Jones. What a voice. What she said, Oh, he's such a nice man. And she said, but I couldn't. I was too embarrassed. I was too afraid to stop him from saying, Doritos. And it turns out he didn't get the gig. So it is some other voice actor got it because he didn't say, had he said Doritos with the agent froze it froze up. That was as close as I ever got to did you get the gig? Oh goodness no, Michael Hingson ** 33:01 no, you didn't, huh? Oh, well, well, yeah. I mean, it was a very, it was, it was wonderful. It was James Earl Jones and Christopher Plummer played Iago. Oh, goodness, oh, I know. What a what a combination. Well, so you, you did a lot of voiceover stuff. What did you do regarding radio moving forward? Or did you just go completely out of that and you were in TV? Or did you have any opportunity Bill Ratner ** 33:33 for me to go back at age 15, my brother and father, who were big supporters of my radio. My dad would read my W, C, l, o, newsletter and need an initial, an excellent journalism son and my brother would bring his teenage friends up. He'd play the elderly brothers, man, you got an Elvis record, and I did. And you know, they were, they were big supporters for me as a 13 year old, but when I turned 14, and had lost my brother and my father, I lost my enthusiasm and put all of my radio equipment in a box intended to play with it later. Never, ever, ever did again. And when I was about 30 years old and I'd done years of acting in the theater, having a great time doing fun plays and small theaters in Minneapolis and South Dakota and and Oakland, California and San Francisco. I needed money, so I looked in the want ads and saw a job for telephone sales, and I thought, Well, I used to love the telephone. I used to make phony phone calls to people all the time. Used to call funeral homes. Hi Carson, funeral I help you. Yes, I'm calling to tell you that you have a you have a dark green slate tile. Roof, isn't that correct? Yes. Well, there's, there's a corpse on your roof. Lady for goodness sake, bring it down and we laugh and we record it and and so I thought, Well, gee, I used to have a lot of fun with the phone. And so I called the number of telephone sales and got hired to sell magazine subscriptions and dinner tickets to Union dinners and all kinds of things. And then I saw a new job at a radio station, suburban radio station out in Walnut Creek, California, a lovely Metro BART train ride. And so I got on the BART train, rode out there and walked in for the interview, and was told I was going to be selling small advertising packages on radio for the station on the phone. And so I called barber shops and beauty shops and gas stations in the area, and one guy picked up the phone and said, Wait a minute, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Are you on the radio right now? And I said, No, I'm just I'm in the sales room. Well, maybe you should be. And he slams the phone on me. He didn't want to talk to me anymore. It wasn't interested in buying advertising. I thought, gee. And I told somebody at the station, and they said, Well, you want to be in the radio? And he went, Yeah, I was on the radio when I was 13. And it just so happened that an older fellow was retiring from the 10am to 2pm slot. K I S King, kiss 99 and KD FM, Pittsburgh, California. And it was a beautiful music station. It was a music station. Remember, old enough will remember music that used to play in elevators that was like violin music, the Percy faith orchestra playing a Rolling Stone song here in the elevator. Yes, well, that's exactly what we played. And it would have been harder to get a job at the local rock stations because, you know, they were popular places. And so I applied for the job, and Michael Hingson ** 37:06 could have lost your voice a lot sooner, and it would have been a lot harder if you had had to do Wolfman Jack. But that's another story. Bill Ratner ** 37:13 Yeah, I used to listen to Wolf Man Jack. I worked in a studio in Hollywood. He became a studio. Yeah, big time. Michael Hingson ** 37:22 Anyway, so you you got to work at the muzack station, got Bill Ratner ** 37:27 to work at the muzack station, and I was moving to Los Angeles to go to a bigger market, to attempt to penetrate a bigger broadcast market. And one of the sales guys, a very nice guy named Ralph pizzella said, Well, when you get to La you should study with a friend of mine down to pie Troy, he teaches voiceovers. I said, What are voice overs? He said, You know that CVS Pharmacy commercial just carted up and did 75 tags, available in San Fernando, available in San Clemente, available in Los Angeles, available in Pasadena. And I said, Yeah. He said, Well, you didn't get paid any extra. You got paid your $165 a week. The guy who did that commercial for the ad agency got paid probably 300 bucks, plus extra for the tags, that's voiceovers. And I thought, why? There's an idea, what a concept. So he gave me the name and number of old friend acquaintance of his who he'd known in radio, named Don DiPietro, alias Johnny rabbit, who worked for the Dick Clark organization, had a big rock and roll station there. He'd come to LA was doing voiceovers and teaching voiceover classes in a little second story storefront out of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles. So I signed up for his class, and he was an experienced guy, and he liked me, and we all had fun, and I realized I was beginning to study like an actor at 1818, who goes to New York or goes to Los Angeles or Chicago or Atlanta or St Louis to act in the big theaters, and starts acting classes and realizes, oh my goodness, these people are truly professionals. I don't know how to do what they do. And so for six years, I took voice over classes, probably 4050, nights a year, and from disc jockeys, from ex show hosts, from actors, from animated cartoon voices, and put enough time in to get a degree in neurology in medical school. And worked my way up in radio in Los Angeles and had a morning show, a lovely show with a wonderful news man named Phil Reed, and we talked about things and reviewed movies and and played a lot of music. And then I realized, wait a minute, I'm earning three times the money in voiceovers as I am on the radio, and I have to get up at 430 in the morning to be on the radio. Uh, and a wonderful guy who was Johnny Carson's staff announcer named Jack angel said, You're not still on radio, are you? And I said, Well, yeah, I'm working in the morning. And Ka big, get out of there. Man, quit. Quit. And I thought, well, how can I quit? I've always wanted to be a radio announcer. And then there was another wonderful guy on the old am station, kmpc, sweet Dick Whittington. Whittington, right? And he said at a seminar that I went to at a union voice over training class, when you wake up at four in the morning and you swing your legs over the bed and your shoes hit the floor, and you put your head in your hands, and you say to yourself, I don't want to do this anymore. That's when you quit radio. Well, that hadn't happened to me. I was just getting up early to write some comedy segments and on and on and on, and then I was driving around town all day doing auditions and rented an ex girlfriend's second bedroom so that I could nap by myself during the day, when I had an hour in and I would as I would fall asleep, I'd picture myself every single day I'm in a dark voiceover studio, a microphone Is before me, a music stand is before the microphone, and on it is a piece of paper with advertising copy on it. On the other side of the large piece of glass of the recording booth are three individuals, my employers, I begin to read, and somehow the text leaps off the page, streams into my eyes, letter for letter, word for word, into a part of my back brain that I don't understand and can't describe. It is processed in my semi conscious mind with the help of voice over training and hope and faith, and comes out my mouth, goes into the microphone, is recorded in the digital recorder, and those three men, like little monkeys, lean forward and say, Wow, how do you do that? That was my daily creative visualization. Michael, that was my daily fantasy. And I had learned that from from Dale Carnegie, and I had learned that from Olympic athletes on NBC TV in the 60s and 70s, when the announcer would say, this young man you're seeing practicing his high jump is actually standing there. He's standing stationary, and the bouncing of the head is he's actually rehearsing in his mind running and running and leaping over the seven feet two inch bar and falling into the sawdust. And now he's doing it again, and you could just barely see the man nodding his head on camera at the exact rhythm that he would be running the 25 yards toward the high bar and leaping, and he raised his head up during the imaginary lead that he was visualizing, and then he actually jumped the seven foot two inches. That's how I learned about creative visualization from NBC sports on TV. Michael Hingson ** 43:23 Channel Four in Los Angeles. There you go. Well, so you you broke into voice over, and that's what you did. Bill Ratner ** 43:38 That's what I did, darn it, I ain't stopping now, there's a wonderful old actor named Bill Irwin. There two Bill Irwin's one is a younger actor in his 50s or 60s, a brilliant actor from Broadway to film and TV. There's an older William Irwin. They also named Bill Irwin, who's probably in his 90s now. And I went to a premiere of a film, and he was always showing up in these films as The senile stock broker who answers the phone upside down, or the senile board member who always asks inappropriate questions. And I went up to him and I said, you know, I see you in everything, man. I'm 85 years old. Some friends and associates of mine tell me I should slow down. I only got cast in movies and TV when I was 65 I ain't slowing down. If I tried to slow down at 85 I'd have to stop That's my philosophy. My hero is the great Don Pardo, the late great Michael Hingson ** 44:42 for Saturday Night Live and Jeopardy Bill Ratner ** 44:45 lives starring Bill Murray, Gilder Radner, and Michael Hingson ** 44:49 he died for Jeopardy before that, Bill Ratner ** 44:52 yeah, died at 92 with I picture him, whether it probably not, with a microphone and. His hand in his in his soundproof booth, in his in his garage, and I believe he lived in Arizona, although the show was aired and taped in New York, New York, right where he worked for for decades as a successful announcer. So that's the story. Michael Hingson ** 45:16 Michael. Well, you know, I miss, very frankly, some of the the the days of radio back in the 60s and 70s and so on. We had, in LA what you mentioned, Dick Whittington, Dick whittinghill on kmpc, Gary Owens, you know, so many people who were such wonderful announcers and doing some wonderful things, and radio just isn't the same anymore. It's gone. It's Bill Ratner ** 45:47 gone to Tiktok and YouTube. And the truth is, I'm not gonna whine about Tiktok or YouTube, because some of the most creative moments on camera are being done on Tiktok and YouTube by young quote influencers who hire themselves out to advertisers, everything from lipstick. You know, Speaker 1 ** 46:09 when I went to a party last night was just wild and but this makeup look, watch me apply this lip remover and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, no, I have no lip. Bill Ratner ** 46:20 You know, these are the people with the voices. These are the new voices. And then, of course, the faces. And so I would really advise before, before people who, in fact, use the internet. If you use the internet, you can't complain if you use the internet, if you go to Facebook or Instagram, or you get collect your email or Google, this or that, which most of us do, it's handy. You can't complain about tick tock, tick tock, tick tock. You can't complain about tick tock or YouTube, because it's what the younger generation is using, and it's what the younger generation advertisers and advertising executives and creators and musicians and actors are using to parade before us, as Gary Owens did, as Marlon Brando did, as Sarah Bernhardt did in the 19 so as all as you do, Michael, you're a parader. You're the head of the parade. You've been in on your own float for years. I read your your bio. I don't even know why you want to waste a minute talking to me for goodness sakes. Michael Hingson ** 47:26 You know, the one thing about podcasts that I like over radio, and I did radio at kuci for seven years when I was in school, what I really like about podcasts is they're not and this is also would be true for Tiktok and YouTube. Primarily Tiktok, I would would say it isn't as structured. So if we don't finish in 60 minutes, and we finish in 61 minutes, no one's gonna shoot us. Bill Ratner ** 47:53 Well, I beg to differ with you. Now. I'm gonna start a fight with you. Michael, yeah, we need conflict in this script. Is that it The Tick Tock is very structured. Six. No, Michael Hingson ** 48:03 no, I understand that. I'm talking about podcasts, Bill Ratner ** 48:07 though, but there's a problem. We gotta Tone It Up. We gotta pick it up. We gotta there's a lot of and I listen to what are otherwise really bright, wonderful personalities on screen, celebrities who have podcasts and the car sucks, and then I had meatballs for dinner, haha. And you know what my wife said? Why? You know? And there's just too much of that. And, Michael Hingson ** 48:32 oh, I understand, yeah. I mean, it's like, like anything, but I'm just saying that's one of the reasons I love podcasting. So it's my way of continuing what I used to do in radio and having a lot of fun doing it Bill Ratner ** 48:43 all right, let me ask you. Let me ask you a technical and editorial question. Let me ask you an artistic question. An artist, can you edit this podcast? Yeah. Are you? Do you plan to Nope. Michael Hingson ** 48:56 I think conversations are conversations, but there is a but, I mean, Bill Ratner ** 49:01 there have been starts and stops and I answer a question, and there's a long pause, and then, yeah, we can do you edit that stuff Michael Hingson ** 49:08 out. We do, we do, edit some of that out. And I have somebody that that that does a lot of it, because I'm doing more podcasts, and also I travel and speak, but I can edit. There's a program called Reaper, which is really a very sophisticated Bill Ratner ** 49:26 close up spaces. You Michael Hingson ** 49:28 can close up spaces with it, yes, but the neat thing about Reaper is that somebody has written scripts to make it incredibly accessible for blind people using screen readers. Bill Ratner ** 49:40 What does it do? What does it do? Give me the elevator pitch. Michael Hingson ** 49:46 You've seen some of the the programs that people use, like computer vision and other things to do editing of videos and so on. Yeah. Bill Ratner ** 49:55 Yeah. Even Apple. Apple edit. What is it called? Apple? Garage Band. No, that's audio. What's that Michael Hingson ** 50:03 audio? Oh, Bill Ratner ** 50:06 quick time is quick Michael Hingson ** 50:07 time. But whether it's video or audio, the point is that Reaper allows me to do all of that. I can edit audio. I can insert, I can remove pauses. I can do anything with Reaper that anyone else can do editing audio, because it's been made completely accessible. Bill Ratner ** 50:27 That's great. That's good. That's nice. Oh, it is. It's cool. Michael Hingson ** 50:31 So so if I want, I can edit this and just have my questions and then silence when you're talking. Bill Ratner ** 50:38 That might be best. Ladies and gentlemen, here's Bill Ratner, Michael Hingson ** 50:46 yep, exactly, exactly. Now you have won the moth stories. Slam, what? Tell me about my story. Slam, you've won it nine times. Bill Ratner ** 51:00 The Moth was started by a writer, a novelist who had lived in the South and moved to New York City, successful novelist named George Dawes green. And the inception of the moth, which many people listening are familiar with from the Moth Radio Hour. It was, I believe, either late 90s or early 2000s when he'd been in New York for a while and was was publishing as a fiction writer, and threw a party, and decided, instead of going to one of these dumb, boring parties or the same drinks being served and same cigarettes being smoked out in the veranda and the same orders. I'm going to ask people to bring a five minute story, a personal story, nature, a true story. You don't have to have one to get into the party, but I encourage you to. And so you know, the 3040, 50 people showed up, many of whom had stories, and they had a few drinks, and they had hors d'oeuvres. And then he said, Okay, ladies and gentlemen, take your seats. It's time for and then I picked names out of a hat, and person after person after person stood up in a very unusual setting, which was almost never done at parties. You How often do you see that happen? Suddenly, the room falls silent, and someone with permission being having been asked by the host to tell a personal story, some funny, some tragic, some complex, some embarrassing, some racy, some wild, some action filled. And afterward, the feedback he got from his friends was, this is the most amazing experience I've ever had in my life. And someone said, you need to do this. And he said, Well, you people left a lot of cigarette butts and beer cans around my apartment. And they said, well, let's do it at a coffee shop. Let's do it at a church basement. So slowly but surely, the moth storytelling, story slams, which were designed after the old poetry slams in the 50s and 60s, where they were judged contests like, like a dance contest. Everybody's familiar with dance contests? Well, there were, then came poetry contests with people singing and, you know, and singing and really energetically, really reading. There then came storytelling contests with people standing on a stage before a silent audience, telling a hopefully interesting, riveting story, beginning middle, end in five minutes. And so a coffee house was found. A monthly calendar was set up. Then came the internet. Then it was so popular standing room only that they had to open yet another and another, and today, some 20 years later, 20 some years later, from Austin, Texas to San Francisco, California to Minneapolis, Minnesota to New York City to Los Angeles. There are moth story slams available on online for you to schedule yourself to go live and in person at the moth.org as in the moth with wings. Friend of mine, I was in New York. He said, You can't believe it. This writer guy, a writer friend of mine who I had read, kind of an avant garde, strange, funny writer was was hosting something called the moth in New York, and we were texting each other. He said, Well, I want to go. The theme was show business. I was going to talk to my Uncle Bobby, who was the bell boy. And I Love Lucy. I'll tell a story. And I texted him that day. He said, Oh man, I'm so sorry. I had the day wrong. It's next week. Next week, I'm going to be back home. And so he said, Well, I think there's a moth in Los Angeles. So about 15 years ago, I searched it down and what? Went to a small Korean barbecue that had a tiny little stage that originally was for Korean musicians, and it was now being used for everything from stand up comedy to evenings of rock and roll to now moth storytelling once a month. And I think the theme was first time. And so I got up and told a silly story and didn't win first prize. They have judges that volunteer judges a table of three judges scoring, you like, at a swim meet or a track beat or, you know, and our gymnastics meet. So this is all sort of familiar territory for everybody, except it's storytelling and not high jumping or pull ups. And I kept going back. I was addicted to it. I would write a story and I'd memorize it, and I'd show up and try to make it four minutes and 50 seconds and try to make it sound like I was really telling a story and not reading from a script. And wish I wasn't, because I would throw the script away, and I knew the stories well enough. And then they created a radio show. And then I began to win slams and compete in the grand slams. And then I started submitting these 750 word, you know, two and a half page stories. Literary magazines got a few published and found a whole new way to spend my time and not make much Michael Hingson ** 56:25 money. Then you went into poetry. Bill Ratner ** 56:29 Then I got so bored with my prose writing that I took a poetry course from a wonderful guy in LA called Jack grapes, who had been an actor and a football player and come to Hollywood and did some TV, episodics and and some some episodic TV, and taught poetry. It was a poet in the schools, and I took his class of adults and got a poem published. And thought, wait a minute, these aren't even 750 words. They're like 75 words. I mean, you could write a 10,000 word poem if you want, but some people have, yeah, and it was complex, and there was so much to read and so much to learn and so much that was interesting and odd. And a daughter of a friend of mine is a poet, said, Mommy, are you going to read me one of those little word movies before I go to sleep? Michael Hingson ** 57:23 A little word movie, word movie out of the Bill Ratner ** 57:27 mouths of babes. Yeah, and so, so and I perform. You know, last night, I was in Orange County at a organization called ugly mug Cafe, and a bunch of us poets read from an anthology that was published, and we sold our books, and heard other young poets who were absolutely marvelous and and it's, you know, it's not for everybody, but it's one of the things I do. Michael Hingson ** 57:54 Well, you sent me pictures of book covers, so they're going to be in the show notes. And I hope people will will go out and get them Bill Ratner ** 58:01 cool. One of the one of the things that I did with poetry, in addition to wanting to get published and wanting to read before people, is wanting to see if there is a way. Because poetry was, was very satisfying, emotionally to me, intellectually very challenging and satisfying at times. And emotionally challenging and very satisfying at times, writing about things personal, writing about nature, writing about friends, writing about stories that I received some training from the National Association for poetry therapy. Poetry therapy is being used like art therapy, right? And have conducted some sessions and and participated in many and ended up working with eighth graders of kids who had lost someone to death in the past year of their lives. This is before covid in the public schools in Los Angeles. And so there's a lot of that kind of work that is being done by constable people, by writers, by poets, by playwrights, Michael Hingson ** 59:09 and you became a grief counselor, Bill Ratner ** 59:13 yes, and don't do that full time, because I do voiceovers full time, right? Write poetry and a grand. Am an active grandparent, but I do the occasional poetry session around around grief poetry. Michael Hingson ** 59:31 So you're a grandparent, so you've had kids and all that. Yes, sir, well, that's is your wife still with us? Yes? Bill Ratner ** 59:40 Oh, great, yeah, she's an artist and an art educator. Well, that Michael Hingson ** 59:46 so the two of you can criticize each other's works, then, just Bill Ratner ** 59:52 saying, we're actually pretty kind to each other. I Yeah, we have a lot of we have a lot of outside criticism. Them. So, yeah, you don't need to do it internally. We don't rely on it. What do you think of this although, although, more than occasionally, each of us will say, What do you think of this poem, honey? Or what do you think of this painting, honey? And my the favorite, favorite thing that my wife says that always thrills me and makes me very happy to be with her is, I'll come down and she's beginning a new work of a new piece of art for an exhibition somewhere. I'll say, what? Tell me about what's, what's going on with that, and she'll go, you know, I have no idea, but it'll tell me what to do. Michael Hingson ** 1:00:33 Yeah, it's, it's like a lot of authors talk about the fact that their characters write the stories right, which, which makes a lot of sense. So with all that you've done, are you writing a memoir? By any chance, I Bill Ratner ** 1:00:46 am writing a memoir, and writing has been interesting. I've been doing it for many years. I got it was my graduate thesis from University of California Riverside Palm Desert. Michael Hingson ** 1:00:57 My wife was a UC Riverside graduate. Oh, hi. Well, they Bill Ratner ** 1:01:01 have a low residency program where you go for 10 days in January, 10 days in June. The rest of it's online, which a lot of universities are doing, low residency programs for people who work and I got an MFA in creative writing nonfiction, had a book called parenting for the digital age, the truth about media's effect on children. And was halfway through it, the publisher liked it, but they said you got to double the length. So I went back to school to try to figure out how to double the length. And was was able to do it, and decided to move on to personal memoir and personal storytelling, such as goes on at the moth but a little more personal than that. Some of the material that I was reading in the memoir section of a bookstore was very, very personal and was very helpful to read about people who've gone through particular issues in their childhood. Mine not being physical abuse or sexual abuse, mine being death and loss, which is different. And so that became a focus of my graduate thesis, and many people were urging me to write a memoir. Someone said, you need to do a one man show. So I entered the Hollywood fringe and did a one man show and got good reviews and had a good time and did another one man show the next year and and so on. So But writing memoir as anybody knows, and they're probably listeners who are either taking memoir courses online or who may be actively writing memoirs or short memoir pieces, as everybody knows it, can put you through moods from absolutely ecstatic, oh my gosh, I got this done. I got this story told, and someone liked it, to oh my gosh, I'm so depressed I don't understand why. Oh, wait a minute, I was writing about such and such today. Yeah. So that's the challenge for the memoir is for the personal storyteller, it's also, you know, and it's more of a challenge than it is for the reader, unless it's bad writing and the reader can't stand that. For me as a reader, I'm fascinated by people's difficult stories, if they're well Michael Hingson ** 1:03:24 told well, I know that when in 2002 I was advised to write a book about the World Trade Center experiences and all, and it took eight years to kind of pull it all together. And then I met a woman who actually I collaborated with, Susie Florey, and we wrote thunder dog. And her agent became my agent, who loved the proposal that we sent and actually got a contract within a week. So thunder dog came out in 2011 was a New York Times bestseller, and very blessed by that, and we're working toward the day that it will become a movie still, but it'll happen. And then I wrote a children's version of it, well, not a children's version of the book, but a children's book about me growing up in Roselle, growing up the guide dog who was with me in the World Trade Center, and that's been on Amazon. We self published it. Then last year, we published a new book called Live like a guide dog, which is all about controlling fear and teaching people lessons that I learned prior to September 11. That helped me focus and remain calm. Bill Ratner ** 1:04:23 What happened to you on September 11, Michael Hingson ** 1:04:27 I was in the World Trade Center. I worked on the 78th floor of Tower One. Bill Ratner ** 1:04:32 And what happened? I mean, what happened to you? Michael Hingson ** 1:04:36 Um, nothing that day. I mean, well, I got out. How did you get out? Down the stairs? That was the only way to go. So, so the real story is not doing it, but why it worked. And the real issue is that I spent a lot of time when I first went into the World Trade Center, learning all I could about what to do in an emergency, talking to police, port authorities. Security people, emergency preparedness people, and also just walking around the world trade center and learning the whole place, because I ran an office for a company, and I wasn't going to rely on someone else to, like, lead me around if we're going to go to lunch somewhere and take people out before we negotiated contracts. So I needed to know all of that, and I learned all I could, also realizing that if there ever was an emergency, I might be the only one in the office, or we might be in an area where people couldn't read the signs to know what to do anyway. And so I had to take the responsibility of learning all that, which I did. And then when the planes hit 18 floors above us on the other side of the building, we get we had some guests in the office. Got them out, and then another colleague, who was in from our corporate office, and I and my guide dog, Roselle, went to the stairs, and we started down. And Bill Ratner ** 1:05:54 so, so what floor did the plane strike? Michael Hingson ** 1:05:58 It struck and the NOR and the North Tower, between floors 93 and 99 so I just say 96 okay, and you were 20 floors down, 78 floors 78 so we were 18 floors below, and Bill Ratner ** 1:06:09 at the moment of impact, what did you think? Michael Hingson ** 1:06:13 Had no idea we heard a muffled kind of explosion, because the plane hit on the other side of the building, 18 floors above us. There was no way to know what was going on. Did you feel? Did you feel? Oh, the building literally tipped, probably about 20 feet. It kept tipping. And then we actually said goodbye to each other, and then the building came back upright. And then we went, Bill Ratner ** 1:06:34 really you so you thought you were going to die? Michael Hingson ** 1:06:38 David, my colleague who was with me, as I said, he was from our California office, and he was there to help with some seminars we were going to be doing. We actually were saying goodbye to each other because we thought we were about to take a 78 floor plunge to the street, when the building stopped tipping and it came back. Designed to do that by the architect. It was designed to do that, which is the point, the point. Bill Ratner ** 1:07:02 Goodness, gracious. And then did you know how to get to the stairway? Michael Hingson ** 1:07:04 Oh, absolutely. And did you do it with your friend? Yeah, the first thing we did, the first thing we did is I got him to get we had some guests, and I said, get him to the stairs. Don't let him take the elevators, because I knew he had seen fire above us, but that's all we knew. And but I said, don't take the elevators. Don't let them take elevators. Get them to the stairs and then come back and we'll leave. So he did all that, and then he came back, and we went to the stairs and started down. Bill Ratner ** 1:07:33 Wow. Could you smell anything? Michael Hingson ** 1:07:36 We smelled burning jet fuel fumes on the way down. And that's how we figured out an airplane must have hit the building, but we had no idea what happened. We didn't know what happened until the until both towers had collapsed, and I actually talked to my wife, and she's the one who told us how to aircraft have been crashed into the towers, one into the Pentagon, and a fourth, at that time, was still missing over Pennsylvania. Wow. So you'll have to go pick up a copy of thunder dog. Goodness. Good. Thunder dog. The name of the book is Thunder dog, and the book I wrote last year is called Live like a guide dog. It's le
A record-breaking hurricane, a $40 billion election win, and 40 million Americans about to go hungry — all while Trump plans to intensify mass deportations with a switch from ICE to CBP.Hurricane Melissa-via CNNArgentine Win-via NY TimesGovernment Shutdown-via NPR and NBC NewsTake the pledge to be a voter at raisingvoters.org/beavoterdecember. - on AmazonSubscribe to the Substack: kimmoffat.substack.comAll episodes can be found at: kimmoffat.com/thenewsAs always, you can find me on Instagram/Twitter/Bluesky @kimmoffat and TikTok @kimmoffatishere
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The Assistant and Secretary join the SnailBoys to discuss the move from ground camping to trailers and campers. What do they like about this move? Is it the final answer, or what do they want to change? So many emotions in this episode, and now lots of work for the SnailBoys. Episodes with the Ladies Episode 50: The Secretary And Assistant Explain Camping Episode 51: SnailTrail4x4 Party Details and Toy Drive Shenanigans 150: The Ladies Are Taking Over The Show! 250: Camping Essentials That Guys Always Forget 350: Keep The Trip Moving (With The Ladies) 450: Off-Roading/Camping with Kids (Baby Tyler Jr.) 550: Dream Trips With The Wives Yokohama Tire Winners! Congratulations to A13XMONT, who won a set of tires from Yokohama for the 750 Apple Podcast reviews giveaway. Our next giveaway is when we reach 800 reviews; we are giving away an OnX Elite Membership. Go over to Apple Podcasts to leave your review now and become eligible to win. Call us and leave us a VOICEMAIL!!! We want to hear from you even more!!! You can call and say whatever you like! Ask a question, leave feedback, correct some information about welding, say how much you hate your Jeep, and wish you had a Toyota! We will air them all, live, on the podcast! +01-916-345-4744. If you have any negative feedback, you can call our negative feedback hotline, 408-800-5169. 4Wheel Underground has all the suspension parts you need to take your off-road rig from leaf springs to a performance suspension system. We just ordered our kits for Kermit and Samantha and are looking forward to getting them. The ordering process was quite simple, and after answering the questionnaire, we ensured we got the correct and best-fitting kits for our vehicles. If you want to level up your suspension game, check out 4Wheel Underground. SnailTrail4x4 Podcast is brought to you by all of our peeps over at irate4x4! Make sure to stop by and see all of the great perks you get for supporting SnailTrail4x4! Discount Codes, Monthly Give-Always, Gift Boxes, the SnailTrail4x4 Community, and the ST4x4 Treasure Hunt! Thank you to all of those who support us! We couldn't do it without you guys (and gals!)! SnailSquad Monthly Giveaway October Giveaway is with us, SnailTrail4x4. Since it's Gift Box Month, they are giving away a Gift Box to two lucky winners. The Gift Boxes are a fun time that happens two times a year in April and October, and this month's Gift Box is one you don't want to miss. Massive congratulations to Andrew Clampt for winning the Stellar Built September's giveaway with a trash bag. This isn't just a plain old trash bag; this is a high-quality version from Dobinsons USA. If you want a chance to win, you need to sign up as a SnailSquad member on Irate4x4.com Listener Discount Codes: SnailTrail4x4 -SnailTrail15 for 15% off SnailTrail4x4 MerchMORRFlate - snailtraill4x4 to get 10% off MORRFlate Multi Tire Inflation Deflation™ Kits4WheelUnderground - snailtrail 10% offIronman 4x4 - snailtrail20 to get 20% off all Ironman 4x4 branded equipment!Sidetracked Offroad - snailtrail4x4 (lowercase) to get 15% off lights and recovery gearSpartan Rope - snailtrail4x4 to get 10% off sitewideShock Surplus - SNAILTRAIL4x4 to get $25 off any order!Mob Armor - SNAILTRAIL4X4 for 15% offSummerShine Supply - ST4x4 for 10% offBackpacker's Pantry - Affiliate LinkLaminx Protective Films – Use the Link to get 20% off all products (Affiliate Link) Show Music: Midroll Music - ComaStudio Outroll Music - Meizong Kumbang
ImmaLetYouFinish... Episode #234 is here! Court & Amy urge you to vote, dig into the new Lily Allen cd(hint..she's not happy), and welcome our guest, A&R queen Debbie Southwood-Smith to discuss signing QOTSA , the Yeah Yeah Yeahs ,and more! ImmaLetYouFinish... Podcast is a proud member of Pantheon Podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Happy National Pumpkin Day!Ladies and gentlemen we are back for the 8th NFL Sunday of the year! We had blow out games galore AGAIN, the Bills have a new MVP, the Texans worked the 49ers, Jets get a win, Colts are a wagon, Eagles set season record, Cowboys got spanked and more … We are going to go down through the top 5 takeaways from the NFL, Plus so much more football!Plus, we had another EPIC week in college football for week 9 where the 6 undefeated teams remain that way. Brian Kelly FIRED, Ole Miss beats Oklahoma, Bama avoids a scare, TAMU is for real, respect BYU, & more! We will review our picks of the week and the games of the week that we had picked out. Also, our school App State falls to ODU.The football segments continue! We have the shambles-o-meter, hang the banners, and of course our DraftKings DFS/Bets recap! Finally, we all root for different teams (49ers - AK, Bills - JVi, Cowboys - ButchP/Tex, & DYLON - Vikings) so we will have to go to the podium to answer questions and/or brag insufferably. Look alive, and let's laugh!Follow us on:HOF Bets: https://hof-bets.app.link/millygoats (Promo Code: MILLYGOATS)Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/MillyGoatsInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/TheMillyGoatsYouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@TheMillyGoatsTwitch - https://www.twitch.tv/TheMillyGoatsPodcastTikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@TheMillyGoatsApple Pod - https://rb.gy/0meu1Spotify Pod - https://t.ly/ZUfObWeb - https://themillygoats.godaddysites.com/
ImmaLetYouFinish... Episode #234 is here! Court & Amy urge you to vote, dig into the new Lily Allen cd(hint..she's not happy), and welcome our guest, A&R queen Debbie Southwood-Smith to discuss signing QOTSA , the Yeah Yeah Yeahs ,and more! ImmaLetYouFinish... Podcast is a proud member of Pantheon Podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
#1,092 - Scott Adams Returns Scott Adams returns to The Paul Leslie Hour! Are you here? Buckle up for episode 1,092 of The Paul Leslie Hour—your rendezvous of unfiltered observations, humor, and thought-provoking chats that shift your worldview. We've got behind-the-scenes scoops, examinations on creativity and culture, and conversations that linger long after they end. We're thrilled to welcome back a fan-favorite for round two: the renowned cartoonist, best-selling author, and sharp-witted commentator who's predicted trends, parodied office life, and sparked debates with his bold takes on persuasion, success, and politics. Ladies and gentlemen, it's the one and only Scott Adams! Follow Scott Adams on X: @ScottAdamsSays The Paul Leslie Hour is a talk show dedicated to “Helping People Tell Their Stories.” Some of the most iconic people of all time drop in to chat. Frequent topics include Arts, Entertainment and Culture.
Ladies and Gentlemen, here we are at the end of all things. Just kidding, but it is the end of SPOOKTOBER. Sadness. For this episode, we have two special guests. Matt and DREW! It was Drew's pick today and he decided to go with a film that was UNSETTLING. From the legendary director Alex Garland, comes a very creepy, unsettling film called, “Annihilation.” Characters in this film enter The Shimmer and crazy unexplained things begin to happen. Featuring Natalie Portman, This film was absolutely crazy and we REALLY dove into it. Self-Destruction, cancer, loss, marriage, monsters, biology, discovery, etc…We hope you all enjoy this bonkers film. Film Discussed: Annihilation (2018)Letterboxd: Eric Peterson:letterboxd.com/EricLPeterson/ Jared Klopfenstein:letterboxd.com/kidchimp/ Ethan Jasso:letterboxd.com/e_unit7/ Caleb Zehr:letterboxd.com/cjzehr/ Ricky Wickham:letterboxd.com/octopuswizard/ Cody Martin: letterboxd.com/codytmartin/Here is a COMPLETE LIST of every film that we have done an episode for. Enjoy!https://letterboxd.com/ericlpeterson/list/a-complete-list-of-every-the-film-snobs-episode/Five star reviews left on the pod get read out loud!
Leah wraps up Defiance Month with a pair of queer Irish ladies that she found so adorably defiant that she just wanted to be in their orbit and share their story. Remember Leah is high on cold medicine as she talks about Lady Eleanor Butler & Sarah Ponsonby. The Ladies of Llangollen were two upper-class women who lived together as a couple in the late 1700s. People wrote poems about them, their house is a museum.
Happy Paraween!!!!! As you all know, our girl is taking some personal time off. So, this week we have Ciara as previously scheduled for our PARAWEEN drop! We wanted to save the ghosties for next weeks episode, so we decided to find the creepiest human encounters we could on Reddit! I actually wish they were ghost stories... As always, thanks for listening! Taylar and I love you all so incredibly much. Talk soon besties xoxoxoxoxoxox Need to Call Susan (Angel Wings and Healing Things)? Text Ellen at 704-562-3476 to book!! Make sure to tell her we sent you for a Besties only Special discount!! If you have a Creepy Account of your own you would like to submit, you can go to our Reddit (CreepsandCrimes) or email it to us at CREEPSANDCRIMES.CA@GMAIL.COM Love yall sooo much!! We will talk to ya next week!!! vvvvvv Creeps and Crimes Merch: https://creepsandcrimesmerch.com/ Join our OG Pick Me Cult (Patreon): https://patreon.com/creepsandcrimes SUBSCRIBE AND SUPPORT WHEREVER YOU GET YOUR PODCASTS: - Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/creeps-and-crimes/id1533194848 - Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0v2kntCCfdQOSeMNnGM2b6?si=bf5c137913dd4af7 - Youtube: https://youtube.com/@creepsandcrimespodcast?si=e6Lwuw6qvsEPBHzG Business Inquiries please contact Management: maggie@MRHentertainment.com FOLLOW US ON SOCIALS: Creeps and Crimes Podcast - Insta: https://www.instagram.com/creepsandcrimespodcast/?hl=en - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/creepsandcrimespodcast/ - TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@creepsandcrimes Taylar Jane (True Crime Host) - Insta: @Taylarj - TikTok (True Crime Channel): @TaylarJane98 - TikTok (Personal): @TaylarJane1 Morgan Harris (Paranormal & Conspiracy Host) - Insta: @morgg.m - Tiktok: @morgg.m Want More Info? Check out our Website: www.creepsandcrimespodcast.com Send Us Mail & Fan Art to our PO Box!!! CREEPS AND CRIMES PODCAST PO BOX 11523 KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE 37939 Have a Creepy Account You'd like to share and be featured on the Podcast? Email it to: CreepsAndCrimes.CA@gmail.com Submit it through the Portal on our Website (Listed above) or Post in on our Reddit Thread with the tag "creepy account" Love our TBB episodes and want to get in on the Action or submit an AIMS? Head over to our Reddit Community: @creepsandcrimes Need to contact us or request sources? Email us at creepsandcrimespodcast@gmail.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
What's better than a Drag Race green screen acting challenge? Apparently a lot! Episode 4 of Drag Race UK Season 7 asks the queens to act in romance novel inspired ‘Ladies of the 80's' camp skits featuring huge shoulder pads and crusty wigs. One could argue the competitive nature of Drag Race does not foster a vibrant creative environment. And the runway is a tribute to the iconic TV show ‘Absolutely Fabulous' which left Willam and Alaska hungry for some Edina looks!Listen to Race Chaser Ad-Free on MOM PlusFollow us on IG at @racechaserpod and click the link in bio for a list of organizations you can donate to in support of Black Lives MatterFOLLOW ALASKAhttps://twitter.com/Alaska5000https://www.instagram.com/theonlyalaska5000https://www.facebook.com/AlaskaThunderhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9vnKqhNky1BcWqXbDs0NAQFOLLOW WILLAMhttps://twitter.com/willamhttps://www.instagram.com/willamhttps://www.facebook.com/willamhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrO9hj5VqGJufBlVJy-8D1gRACE CHASER IS A FOREVER DOG PODCASTSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.