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Under our Constitution, the federal government and the states have distinct powers — especially when it comes to elections. But the Trump administration has repeatedly tried to interfere with how states run elections, pushing unlawful policies that undermine faith in safe, secure and accurate elections.Host Simone Leeper sits down with Catie Kelley, Senior Director of Policy and Strategic Partnerships at Campaign Legal Center, and Jonathan Diaz, CLC's Director of Voting Advocacy and Partnerships, to examine how the Trump administration has attempted to federalize elections, impose unconstitutional voter restrictions and silence Americans.They unpack CLC's major court victory against the administration's unlawful election executive order; explain how new proof-of-citizenship requirements could disenfranchise millions of voters; and discuss lawsuits defending states' rights and voters' privacy against federal overreach. They also explore broader threats—from troubling legislation and to presidential attacks on mail-in voting—and what Campaign Legal Center is doing to preserve checks and balances, protect election integrity and defend every American's freedom to vote.Timestamps:(00:00) — What does “federalism” mean, and why is it under attack?(02:50) — How is the Trump administration overstepping its authority on elections?(06:44) — What lawsuits has CLC filed to stop the president's election overreach?(07:58) — Why are proof-of-citizenship rules so dangerous for voters?(11:28) — How are military families impacted by new voting restrictions?(14:50) — Why is the DOJ demanding states' voter data—and why is it alarming?(17:56) — How are states pushing back to defend their power and voters' privacy?(19:10) — What is the SAVE Act, and how could it silence millions of voters?(25:16) — Why is mail-in voting under attack again?(28:41) — How does misinformation from the president erode trust in elections?(30:51) — What lessons from 2024 should shape the 2026 midterms?(34:04) — What can states do to strengthen confidence in elections?(36:24) — What should voters remember heading into 2026 and beyond?(40:17) — How can Americans hold the line for democracy?Host and Guests:Simone Leeper litigates a wide range of redistricting-related cases at Campaign Legal Center, challenging gerrymanders and advocating for election systems that guarantee all voters an equal opportunity to influence our democracy. Prior to arriving at CLC, Simone was a law clerk in the office of Senator Ed Markey and at the Library of Congress, Office of General Counsel. She received her J.D. cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in 2019 and a bachelor's degree in political science from Columbia University in 2016.Catie Kelley is Senior Director of Policy & Strategic Partnerships at Campaign Legal Center. Catie oversees CLC's policy work at the federal, state and local levels. She is leading CLC's work to address the emerging threats of election sabotage. Previously, Catie built and ran CLC's state campaign finance program. In that capacity, she worked with state and local stakeholders and policymakers to advance innovative policies designed to decrease the influence of money in the political process. She began her legal career in the Federal Election Commission's Office of General Counsel.Jonathan Diaz is Director of Voting Advocacy and Partnerships at Campaign Legal Center. Jonathan advocates for laws and policies that expand the freedom to vote for all Americans; leads CLC's work on combatting election sabotage; and coordinates CLC's relationships with national, state and local voting rights partners.Jonathan manages CLC's work to protect election results and defend against election sabotage, and he works directly with CLC's litigation, communications and policy teams to help set organizational strategy on voting rights and elections advocacy. He also works directly with election officials at the state and local level to improve election administration processes, and he represents CLC in democracy reform coalitions to coordinate legal, advocacy and messaging strategies with partner organizations across the country.Jonathan has also litigated voting rights cases in federal courts across the country, including LULAC v. Executive Office of the President (challenging the President's unconstitutional executive order on voting); LUCHA v. Fontes (challenging Arizona's burdensome and discriminatory proof-of-citizenship requirements for voter registration); VoteAmerica v. Raffensperger (challenging Georgia's restrictions on the distribution of absentee ballot applications); and Raysor v. Lee (challenging Florida's conditioning of rights restoration for voters with past felony convictions on the payment of legal financial obligations).Links:Victory! Anti-Voter Executive Order Halted in Court – CLCVoting Is an American Freedom. The President Can't Change That – CLCHow CLC Is Pushing Back on the Trump Administration's Anti-Voter Actions – CLCTaking Action Against Presidential Abuses of Power – CLCWhat You Need to Know About the SAVE Act – CLCVote-By-Mail: A Secure and Accessible Way to Cast Your Ballot – CLCA Raging Battle for Democracy One Year from the Midterms – Trevor Potter's newsletterAbout CLC:Democracy Decoded is a production of Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization dedicated to solving the wide range of challenges facing American democracy. Campaign Legal Center fights for every American's freedom to vote and participate meaningfully in the democratic process. Learn more about us.Democracy Decoded is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what's broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Wir springen in dieser Folge ins Jahr 1938, und sprechen über die vier Schwestern Sigmund Freunds. Nachdem Freud nach England geflüchtet ist, bleiben die betagten Schwestern in Wien zurück. Abgesichert, zumindest hoffen so Sigmund und sein Bruder Alexander, durch einen beträchtlichen Geldbetrag, den sie ihnen zurückgelassen haben. Doch sie unterschätzen damit die Radikalisierung und die Perfidie des NS-Regimes. Vielen Dank an Johanna Frei und Daniela Finzi vom Freud Museum in Wien für das Gespräch und die Quellen für diese Folge. Die Ausstellung "Der Fall Freud – Dokumente des Unrechts" läuft noch bis November 2026. https://www.freud-museum.at/de/ausstellungen_detail/articles/der-fall-freud-dokumente-des-unrechts //Erwähnte Folgen * GAG207: William Stewart Halsted und die Chirurgie des 19. Jahrhunderts – https://gadg.fm/207 * GAG142: Bertha Pappenheim – Gründerin des Jüdischen Frauenbundes und Sozialpionierin – https://gadg.fm/142 * GAG195: Wie Gerta Stern auf der Flucht nach Panama ihren Mann aus dem KZ befreite – https://gadg.fm/195 * GAG292: Paul Grüninger – https://gadg.fm/292 // Literatur * Finzi, Daniela & Frei, Johanna. „Listen der Geschichte. Über die neue Sonderausstellung ‚Der Fall Freud. Dokumente des Unrechts‘ im Sigmund Freud Museum“. * Frei, Johanna. „Provenienz: ‚österreichischer Privatbesitz‘. Vom Verschwinden und Auftauchen eines Originals“. * Kurzweil, Loïc. „Alexander Freud. Von den Wegachsen des Weltverkehrs zur erzwungenen Emigration“). * Raggam-Blesch, Michaela. „‚Du ahnst ja nicht, wie armselig wir sind ohne Euch alle, zu Viert verknäuelt, hoffnungslos, abgetrennt.‘ Das Schicksal älterer jüdischer Wiener:innen am Beispiel der Schwestern von Sigmund Freud“. * Rathkolb, Oliver. „Restitution wider Willen“. * Waldinger, Roger. „Leben und Tod von Pauline Freud Winternitz“. Die Interviews von K.R. Eissler gibt es hier: https://www.loc.gov/collections/sigmund-freud-papers/articles-and-essays/audio-recordings-of-eisslers-interviews-about-freud/ Das Episodenbild zeigt Rosa Graf im Jahr 1927 (© Rosa Graf Papers, Library of Congress, Washington D.C.) //Aus unserer Werbung Du möchtest mehr über unsere Werbepartner erfahren? Hier findest du alle Infos & Rabatte: https://linktr.ee/GeschichtenausderGeschichte //Geschichten aus der Geschichte jetzt auch als Brettspiel! Werkelt mit uns am Flickerlteppich! Gibt es dort, wo es auch Becher, T-Shirts oder Hoodies zu kaufen gibt: https://geschichte.shop // Wir sind jetzt auch bei CampfireFM! Wer direkt in Folgen kommentieren will, Zusatzmaterial und Blicke hinter die Kulissen sehen will: einfach die App installieren und unserer Community beitreten: https://www.joincampfire.fm/podcasts/22 //Wir haben auch ein Buch geschrieben: Wer es erwerben will, es ist überall im Handel, aber auch direkt über den Verlag zu erwerben: https://www.piper.de/buecher/geschichten-aus-der-geschichte-isbn-978-3-492-06363-0 Wer unsere Folgen lieber ohne Werbung anhören will, kann das über eine kleine Unterstützung auf Steady oder ein Abo des GeschichteFM-Plus Kanals auf Apple Podcasts tun. Wir freuen uns, wenn ihr den Podcast bei Apple Podcasts oder wo auch immer dies möglich ist rezensiert oder bewertet. Wir freuen uns auch immer, wenn ihr euren Freundinnen und Freunden, Kolleginnen und Kollegen oder sogar Nachbarinnen und Nachbarn von uns erzählt! Du möchtest Werbung in diesem Podcast schalten? Dann erfahre hier mehr über die Werbemöglichkeiten bei Seven.One Audio: https://www.seven.one/portfolio/sevenone-audio
Mexican Americans were disproportionately killed and injured during the Vietnam War. Historian Dr. Gene Chávez has said the contributions and stories of those service members are often overlooked, but his recent project with the Library of Congress will help preserve those stories.
On Purplish, our focus is usually on exploring the politics of the moment. But for Veterans Day, we're offering something different -- a chance to experience a defining moment in World War II from one of the last remaining veterans to live through it.The battle of Iwo Jima was one of the toughest in Marine Corps history. Nearly 7,000 Marines lost their lives taking the volcanic island from its Japanese defenders.80 years on, few remain who served in that grueling conflict. One of them is Jim Blane of Denver.It took Blane decades after the war ended to begin to talk about his time in combat. But as he prepares to celebrate his 101st birthday this month – just as the U.S. Marine Corps marks its 250th anniversary – the veteran says when it comes to the war and Iwo Jima, he's now wide open. Blane recently shared his story with CPR's Bente Birkeland.Purplish is a production of member-supported Colorado Public Radio and the Colorado Capitol News Alliance. The CCNA is a collaboration between KUNC News, Colorado Public Radio, Rocky Mountain PBS and the Colorado Sun, with support from news outlets throughout the state. Funding for the Alliance is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. I'm Bente Birkeland.Purplish's producer is Stephanie Wolf and the story editor is Megan Verlee. Sound design and engineering by Shane Rumsey – with additional sound design support on this episode from Stephanie Wolf and Megan Verlee. Our theme music is by Brad Turner. CPR News' executive producer of podcasting is Rachel Estabrook. Special thanks to the National WWII Museum in New Orleans for assisting with archival sound used in this episode, and the Library of Congress for its archive of images.
In this episode I join Charles Manson in Oxford, England to visit the Bodleian Library (Oxford University) where he is the specialist librarian for its Tibetan Collections. Charles leads us through the streets of Oxford to visit the old Bodleian Library, founded in 1602. Then we arrive at the Weston Library to explore its collection of Tibetan manuscripts. Charles guides us through gold lettered texts about Lamdre and expiation, describes the process of textual revelation known as “terma”, and shares a warning based on his own experiences of dark retreat. Charles explains the Tibetan doctrines of the afterlife while showing a rare copy of the Tibetan Book of the Dead, muses on Coleridge's advice for visiting a library, and reflects on why he believes converts to Tibetan Buddhism should attempt to learn the Tibetan language. Charles also details his working routine as a librarian and archivist, reflects on his own academic journey from SOAS to Harvard and Oxford, and considers the role his religious faith plays in his work with Tibetan texts. … Video version: https://www.guruviking.com/podcast/ep332-oxford-librarian-of-tibet-charles-manson Also available on Youtube, iTunes, & Spotify – search ‘Guru Viking Podcast'. … Topics include: 00:00 - Intro 01:16 - The old Bodleian 03:25 - Entering the Weston Library 06:13 - Retrieving the texts 06:48 - The Driver collection 08:29 - Close look at a Lamdre text 12:33 - Features of a terma treasure text 13:14 - Mind vs earth termas 15:15 - How termas are composed 15:51 - Charles' terma experience 16:54 - 4 ways of changing the mind 17:30 - Expanding a terma 18:02 - The Driver collection 19:00 - Dakini script and images 20:52 - Manuscript care 21:20 - Unwrapping a text, discovering a washing prayer 22:30 - More texts 24:50 - The Tibetan Book of the Dead 26:03 - Bardo doctrine of 49 days between lives 26:24 - Opportunities for liberation at and after death 27:43 - How to use the Tibetan Book of the Dead 28:39 - The process of rebirth 29:48 - Liberation upon hearing 30:18 - Phowa practice for the dead 33:16 - Dark retreat as preparation for death 34:11 - Dark retreat warnings 35:40 - Charles' studies at SOAS, Harvard, and Oxford 38:45 - Beginning at the Bodleian Library 39:58 - Coleridge on libraries 41:15 - Work at the British Library 41:46 - Why Charles would like more time 43:06 - First days at the Bodleian Library 44:36 - Initial work on the collection 45:27 - The Library of Congress and other partnerships 50:59 - Range of acquisitions 52:46 - Tibetan medical writing 53:41 - Access and the goals of Charles' library acquisitions 57:14 - What would Charles do with more funding 01:01:41 - Providing online access for the world 01:03:32 - Day in the life at the Bodleian Library 01:06:33 - Importance of specialist knowledge 01:09:19 - Charles' religious devotion 01:13:45 - Separation of religion and scholarship 01:14:53 - Why converts should learn the Tibetan language 01:16:43 - Scholar practitioners and the importance of study 01:18:17 - Teaching the Tibetan language 01:19:02 - Curation as religious service 01:19:17 - Charles' invitation to viewers … Previous episode with Charles Manson: - https://www.guruviking.com/podcast/ep243-scholar-practitioner-charles-manson To find our more about Charles Manson, visit: - https://www.shambhala.com/authors/the-second-karmapa-karma-pakshi.html - https://uk.linkedin.com/in/charles-manson-07420911 - charles.manson@bodleian.ox.ac.uk … For more interviews, videos, and more visit: - www.guruviking.com … Music ‘Deva Dasi' by Steve James
A federal agency that supplies budget and economic information to Congress has suffered a cybersecurity incident, reportedly at the hands of a suspected foreign party. A spokesperson for the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) acknowledged the incident Thursday after The Washington Post reported that the office was hacked, with the attackers potentially accessing communications between lawmakers and researchers at the agency. CBO spokeswoman Caitlin Emma said: “The Congressional Budget Office has identified the security incident, has taken immediate action to contain it, and has implemented additional monitoring and new security controls to further protect the agency's systems going forward.” Congress established the office in 1974 to serve as a nonpartisan research organization for the legislative branch. Republicans took aim at the CBO this year when it assessed that a GOP tax and spending policy bill would add trillions to the national debt, prompting conservatives to criticize its conclusions. It's not unprecedented for unauthorized parties to obtain access to sensitive information from congressional offices. Hackers who broke into the Library of Congress last year were able to read email correspondence with offices on Capitol Hill. And a breach of a health insurance marketplace two years ago exposed the data of House staffers. The Trump administration's ongoing decimation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has rendered the agency's overall information security program ineffective, a federal watchdog revealed Monday. In an audit of CFPB's cybersecurity program, the Federal Reserve's Office of Inspector General found that the agency is no longer keeping up with its authorizations to operate many systems, and is “using risk acceptance memorandums without a documented analysis of cybersecurity risks.” As a result of those floundering protocols, the Fed OIG said the CFPB's overall information security program has declined to level-2 maturity (defined) in fiscal 2025, down from level-4 (managed and measurable), and overall is not effective. Backsliding on these security measures can be at least partially attributed to a loss of contractor support for continuous security monitoring and testing, per the audit, as well as the mass exodus under the Trump administration of CFPB staff. The Daily Scoop Podcast is available every Monday-Friday afternoon. If you want to hear more of the latest from Washington, subscribe to The Daily Scoop Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube.
CBS's Face the Nation, ABC's Nightline, CBS's Sunday Morning, NBC's Today Show, PBS,, CNN,, Fox; National Public Radio;Washington Post, NewYork Times, are just some of the places you have read or seen him!Civil & Disability Rights are the topics of this show. With Civl Rights History being Preserved for Generations to learn about, What about Disability Rights with it's Multiracial History of Leadership & Activists?? I am concerned.Ralph was an author of the Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973& the American with Disabilities Act along with many others in many Drafts it took to get through a Bi-Partisian Congress as the national law. His work in Civill Rights is amazing as he was trained by many icons including Dorothy Height, Senator Edward Brooke (R, MA), Benjamin Hooks, Roy Wilkins, Wade Henderson. Senator Edward Kennedy, Bayard RustinYou hear very little of Black Disability Leaders & Activists that are so pivitol to helping in this fight. Brad Lomax, The Black Panters, Dr. Sylvia Walker, (my mentor), Don Galloway or The Honorable Rep. Major Owens ( D, NY). & the Honorable Justin Dart, Tony Coehlo, Ed Roberts, Senator Lowell P. Weicker(R.CT) & others to advance Disability Rights & ADA History.Ralph Neas was both active duty and reserve in the United States Army (1968–1976). In late 1971, he joined the Congressional Research Service's American Law Division at the Library of Congress as a legislative attorney on civil rights. In January 1973, he was hired as a legislative assistant to Republican Senator Edward W. Brooke of Massachusetts, eventually becoming the Senator's chief legislative assistant.From 1981 through 1995, Neas served as Executive Director of the nonpartisan Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR), the legislative arm of the civil rights movement. Neas coordinated successful national campaigns that led to the Civil Rights Act of 1991; the Americans with Disabilities Act; the Civil Rights Restoration Act; the Fair Housing Act Amendments of 1988; the Japanese American Civil Liberties Act; the preservation of the Executive Order on Affirmative Action (1985–1986 and 1995–1996);and the 1982 Voting Right Act Extension.Final passage on all these laws averaged 85% in both the House of Representatives and the Senate; in addition, another 15 Leadership Conference on Civil Rights legislative priorities were enacted into law in the 1981–1995 period"The Americans with Disabilities Act Award" from the Task Force on the Rights of the Empowerment of Americans with Disabilities for "historic leadership regarding the enactment of the world's first comprehensive civil rights law for people with disabilities" October 12, 1990;Benjamin Hooks "Keeper of the Flame" award from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the 91st Annual Convention, Baltimore, Maryland, July 10, 2000"President's Award for Outstanding Service", Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, September, 2007.© 2025 Building Abundant Success!!2025 All Rights ReservedJoin Me ~ iHeart Media @ https://tinyurl.com/iHeartBASAmazon ~ https://tinyurl.com/AmzBASAudacy: https://tinyurl.com/BASAud
"At least three record companies have extended million dollar contracts to people who create AI music. The US Copyright office has said it will begin extending protection those who use AI as a tool. The PROs will extend licensing. We will tell you what is going on."
Before Clarence Birdseye, frozen food was perceived as being low-quality and kind of gross. But after spending time in extremely cold climates, Birdseye figured out that speed freezing was the key to retaining freshness. Research: “$1,900,000 Fraud Attempt Alleged in Insurance Deal.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch. May 2, 1917. https://www.newspapers.com/image/138253870/?match=1&terms=%22Clarence%20Birdseye%22 “Alleged Clean-up of $1,900,000 in Two Days.” The Bennington Evening Banner. May 2, 1917. https://www.newspapers.com/image/546110078/?match=1&terms=%22Clarence%20Birdseye%22 Birdseye, C. “Animal Food Product.” U.S. Patent Office. Aug. 12, 1930. https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/ff/f3/e3/ea3d0a5d1b6b7a/US1773080.pdf Birdseye, C. “METHOD OF PRESERVING PISCATORIAL PRODUCTS.” U.S. Patent Office. April 18, 1924. https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/b7/d9/5a/aeb7fae023f47e/US1511824.pdf Birdseye, Clarence, 1886-1956. Some Common Mammals of Western Montana in Relation to Agriculture and Spotted Fever, pamphlet, 1912; Washington D.C.. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc87555/ Britannica Editors. "Clarence Birdseye". Encyclopedia Britannica, 3 Oct. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Clarence-Birdseye “Celebrating American Innovation: Clarence Birdseye.” Council for Innovation Promotion. Sept. 14, 2023. https://c4ip.org/celebrating-american-innovation-clarence-birdseye/ “Clarence Birdseye.” Lemelson-MIT. https://lemelson.mit.edu/resources/clarence-birdseye “Clarence Birdseye Is Dead at 69; Inventor of Frozen-Food Process; Developed Method for Quick Freezing and Also Devised System for Dehydrating.” New York Times. Oct. 9, 1956. https://www.nytimes.com/1956/10/09/archives/clarence-birdseye-is-dead-at-69-inventor-of-frozenfood-process.html “Frozen Food Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Type (Frozen Ready Meals, Frozen Seafood & Meat Products, Frozen Snacks & Bakery Products, and Others), Distribution Channel (Supermarkets/Hypermarkets, Specialty Stores, Convenience Stores, and Online Retail), and Regional Forecast, 2025-2032.” Fortune Business Insights. Oct. 6, 2025. https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/frozen-food-market-10413 “How Did Clarence Birdseye Shape the American Diet?” National Inventors Hall of Fame. Nov. 28, 2022. https://www.invent.org/blog/inventors/clarence-birdseye Kile, O.M. “Food That Is Fresh Though Frozen: New Preserving Process Aims to Maintain Cell Structure.” The Baltimore Sun. Nov. 10, 1929. https://www.newspapers.com/image/373627550/?match=1&terms=%22quick-frozen%22%20 Kurlansky, Mark. “Birdseye: The Adventures of a Curious Man.” Thorndike Press. 2012. “Reinsurance for Policyholders in Defunct Concerns.” New-York Tribune. Nov. 11, 1917. https://www.newspapers.com/image/894239796/?match=1&terms=%22Clarence%20Birdseye%22 “Supervisory Methods Lax.” The Kansas workman. Nov. 1, 1917. https://www.newspapers.com/image/480092568/?match=1&terms=%22Clarence%20Birdseye%22 “Who invented frozen food?” Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/everyday-mysteries/technology/item/who-invented-frozen-food/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
LIBERTY Sessions with Nada Jones | Celebrating women who do & inspiring women who can |
Lisa Congdon is an internationally known, award-winning artist and illustrator. She is best known for her colorful, graphic style and her exploration of themes of joy, liberation, and inclusion. She makes art for clients around the globe, including The Library of Congress, Target, The U.S. Postal Service, Wired Magazine, Amazon, Google, Warby Parker, Method, Comme des Garçons, Brooks Running, Peets Coffee, REI, and MoMA, among many others. Lisa exhibits internationally, including solo shows at Saint Mary's College Museum of Art (California), Chefas Projects (Oregon), and Paradigm Gallery (Philadelphia), along with group shows at Hashimoto Contemporary in Los Angeles, Museum of Design Atlanta, and The Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco. Lisa is self-taught and didn't achieve momentum in her career until she was nearly 40 years old. Despite her untraditional path, Lisa has achieved recognition, not just as an artist but as a leader in the industry for her work in social justice, mentoring, and teaching. In March of 2021, she was named “One of the 50 Most Inspiring People and Companies According to Industry Creatives,” published by AdWeek. When she's not making art, you can find her racing her bike around the gravel roads of the United States. In today's episode, Nada talks with Lisa about finding success later in life as an artist, author, and shop owner. Lisa reflects on the relationship that first inspired her creativity, the time she spent in art classes, and the daily practice that honed her unique aesthetic. Lisa brings an honest and optimistic outlook for what lies in the middle third, as the two reflect on the advantages of grit and determination that accumulate throughout life, helping us embrace the messiness of new endeavors. Be sure to check out Lisa's book, A Glorious Freedom, and her website for information on books, classes, and her shops. Follow on Instagram: @lisacongdon. Please follow us at @thisislibertyroad on Instagram; we want to share and connect with you and hear your thoughts and comments. Please rate and review this podcast. It helps to know if these conversations inspire and equip you to consider your possibilities and lean into your future with intention.
People use language to express themselves, but do you ever wonder how other animals communicate with each other? If they don't speak like us, how do they convey information? In our first Animal Talk episode we learned about the complex ways animals communicate, and how some species even have their own languages and dialects. In “Paw 2” we find out even more about the amazing world of animal talk, and about the science behind linguistic development in animals. Evan interviews Dr. Irene Pepperberg, research professor at Boston University in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences about her groundbreaking work with Alex the African Grey Parrot. Dr. Pepperberg worked with Alex for 30 years and taught him over 100 English words. Not only was Alex able to communicate with humans, he even asked what color he was when looking at himself in the mirror, becoming the first known non-human to ask a question! Nichole goes beneath the waves with Dr. Aude Pacini from the Marine Mammal Research Program at the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology. Dr. Pacini records whale and dolphin song with sophisticated underwater microphones. She was part of an expedition where the world-class cellist Yo Yo Ma played music for whales from the deck of a famous Hawaiian canoe! Evan takes us down to North Georgia with Project Chimps, a chimpanzee sanctuary where over 90 retired lab chimps roam freely on six protected acres of forest. Our hosts are also joined by the very human creator of the Brooklyn Folk Festival, Eli Smith, who plays some banjo for us and talks about the upcoming festival this November 7-9. This episode is jam-packed, but don't worry, we still found room for favorites like Cryptid Corner, Grandparent Stories, jokes and more. Let's get wild!Listen now and have a whale of a time - this episode's a hoot!Parents: visit our website to help your kids contribute jokes or favorite sounds, or to send us a message.Timestamps for this episode are available below.00:00 - Episode 17 Intro01:36 - Dr. Irene Pepperberg & Alex, the African Grey Parrot14:03 - Joke Time14:57 - Cryptid Corner: The Wow! Signal20:09 - Riddle Clue 20:31 - Deep Listening with Dr. Aude Pacini27:48 - Favorite Sound28:35 - Call for Submissions29:02 - Eli Smith & the 2025 Brooklyn Folk Festival 34:44 - Going Ape at Project Chimps with Caregivers Lauren and Tawnya44:31 - Grandparent Stories: Papa Artie48:22 - Riddle Answer49:00 - Preview of Episode 1849:13 - Credits49:45 - BloopersThe background music in our interview with Dr. Aude Pacini features audio of live performances by Hawaiian musicians Gary Haleamau and Ledward Kaapana, as retrieved from the Library of Congress.wildinterest.com
Amazon Web Services (AWS) has announced Fastnet, a new state-of-the-art transatlantic subsea fibre optic cable system connecting Maryland, U.S., and County Cork, Ireland. When operational in 2028, Fastnet will add vital diversity for customers by building a new data pathway with unique landing points, keeping services running even if other undersea cables encounter issues. This enhanced network resilience will improve global connectivity and meet rising demand for cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI). Increasing resilience through system diversity Fastnet is a dedicated transatlantic cable system designed with two strategic landing points that deliver critical route diversity away from traditional cable corridors. This strategic placement strengthens the network in two ways: it provides backup routes if other cables encounter issues, and it creates a network design for growing demands in cloud computing, AI, and edge applications that use AWS services such as Amazon CloudFront and AWS Global Accelerator. The Fastnet system incorporates advanced optical switching branching unit technology, engineered to accommodate future topology needs. This state-of-the-art unit is strategically positioned on the cable route, enabling seamless redirection of data to future landing points as network demands evolve. This scalable architecture is specifically designed to handle growing AI traffic loads, allowing customers to rapidly expand their data demands while the system adapts to accommodate future growth. Fastnet is designed for long-term reliability and performance. The system combines robust cable armoring with additional layers of protective steel wires in nearshore areas to protect against natural and human activity. With a design capacity exceeding 320 terabits per second (Tbps), Fastnet will integrate directly into AWS's comprehensive global network. To put this capacity in perspective, the system could transmit the entire digitized Library of Congress three times every second, or stream 12.5 million HD films simultaneously. This integration enables rapid data rerouting and multiple layers of redundancy, helping ensure uninterrupted operations for customers. Unlike the public internet, where each networking device makes routing decisions with limited network visibility, AWS's centralized, real-time traffic monitoring system has complete visibility into every link within the global network. This system implements millions of daily optimizations to ensure customer traffic always uses the most available and performant path, avoiding congestion and other issues before they impact applications. Through Fastnet, customers benefit from secured long-term capacity and rapidly scalable bandwidth for their most critical operations, from generative AI and cloud-native applications to advanced research, transatlantic business connectivity, and international commerce. This investment in network diversity helps ensure customers can reliably access their cloud resources, with the flexibility to quickly expand capacity as their demands grow. Driving community development Infrastructure projects of this scale succeed when they're built in partnership with communities. From day one, AWS has worked closely with local organisations, nonprofits, and residents in both Maryland and County Cork to understand what success looks like for them. As part of our commitment to these communities, we are establishing Community Benefit Funds for both Maryland's Eastern Shore and the local community in County Cork. We will work directly with stakeholders to identify and support initiatives that address each community's unique needs and priorities. These community-driven funds could support a range of local initiatives, such as sustainability and environmental programs, health and wellbeing services, Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) education, future workforce development, economic development and leadership training, inclusion and diversity...
Our podcast on the legislative branch and civic engagement focuses on the interactions between politicians and their constituents. Do you know who your congressman is? Do you know who your two state senators are? Do you know how to reach them? Well we will get into all of this and more! Jeananne is joined by Bradford Fitch, the former CEO of the Congressional Management Foundation. He has spent 40 years in Washington as a journalist, congressional aide, consultant, college instructor, Internet entrepreneur, and writer/researcher. He is a leading trainer of citizen-advocates in the U.S., with more than 50,000 Americans participating in one of his programs. Take a listen as there is always more to learn! -Jimmy & Jean BradfordFitch.com Find Your Members in the U.S. Congress | Congress.gov | Library of Congress
The Well Seasoned Librarian : A conversation about Food, Food Writing and more.
Author Bio: Ashley Rose Young is the American History Curator in the Rare Book and Special Collections Division at the Library of Congress. She is also a Smithsonian Research Associate and was formerly the Historian of the Smithsonian Food History Project at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. A curator and public historian, she has written for the New York Times and and Washington Post, among other outlets.Website: https://ashleyroseyoung.com/Nourishing Networks https://www.amazon.com/Nourishing-Networks-Public-Culture-Orleans/dp/0197794033Cookbook lovers, this one's for you! Get 25% off a subscription to ckbk with code WELLSEASONED — the ultimate digital cookbook library. Access nearly 1,000 full cookbooks from top authors Use on web and mobile app for cooking anytime, anywhere Save favorites, create custom "recipe playlists", search by ingredient and dietary preference Sync with your print cookbook collection via Eat Your BooksPerfect for serious home cooks and cookbook collectors alike.Go to the link https://join.ckbk.com/ckbk?code=WELLSEASONEDIf you follow my podcast and enjoy it, I'm on @buymeacoffee. If you like my work, you can buy me a coffee and share your thoughts
Christian College Sex Comedy: Part 22 Belle, Paige, Hope, & Madness In 30 parts, By FinalStand. Listen to the podcast at Explicit Novels. To understand why Hope was currently so meek (for her) and attentive, you had to understand that her Father was a stern warrior-patriarch of a very proud and mostly traditional Korean family. At home, she was the dutiful eldest daughter in a family with no sons; here at FFU, she was aloof and deadly, except around Christina and company, where she got to be a relatively normal American girl in her early twenties. Hope's only experience with men was with her Father, who was rumored to have killed any male who looked at her sexually, or expected her to kill the ones he missed. At FFU there were no guys at all for her to form relationships with, until I arrived. It wasn't a Daddy-issue thing, Hope didn't charge off into the great unknown; she became a good student and learned, patiently and confidently. I would have time later to marvel at my brilliance; at the moment, Hope planting small kisses across my abs and chest as my shirt came up was beyond pulse searing. She didn't know stimulation so much as she understood how a body worked. She also was coolly efficient in easing my shirt over my head and off my arms. She used a strong, steadying maneuver to take each shoe and sock off before she removed my pants and underwear together. When she finished, she was left kneeling in front of me, my cock bobbing an inch or two from her lips. She stared at it. I cupped a hand over each ear and guided her lips to my blood-engorged head. I had no intention of ramming it down her throat; her parting of the lips was enough. It was on her own initiative that she licked off the pre-cum starting to appear along the slit. Her lips took in the top of the head and I stopped the pressure on her head. Hope quickly took over, leaning forward, taking in the whole head, retiring before bobbing back and letting her lips pass over the head to the start of the shaft. I let her figure out by using her mouth and wrapping my cock up with one hand what felt good to me. She was growing in confidence by leap and bounds but I was still in charge. I touched each shoulder and she looked up (pretty damn sexy with her cheeks dimpling in as she sucked my cock). "Stand up and take off your clothes," I instructed. I held her hand as she stood. Hope's removal of her clothing was no striptease, although it did have a certain military grace to it, physically perfect and fearless. Four times I had to stop myself from stepping up and ravish her as her body's muscles rippled under her smooth, ochre skin and her breasts swung loose, perfectly round and excited. "On the bed," I instructed. Hope turned presenting her taut athletic ass to me, each cheek rolling in tandem with each stride. She moved to pull back the covers but I stopped her with a word. "No," I corrected her. "I want you above the covers." Hope smoothly altered her motion so that she crawled on all fours onto the bed. She looked over her shoulder at me, deliciously presented, before rolling onto her back. I approached her on my hands and knees from the foot of my sleeping platform and languidly stalked up her body until I stopped and kissed her at the joining of the thigh to the torso. Hope remained attentive and quiet, watching me plant kisses on each side of her pubic triangle without touching it. As I worked my way up to her diaphragm, Hope raised her left leg, bent at the knee, foot resting next to her other knee. I gave a quick smile; Hope was relaxed and enjoying the moment, which is pretty special for a first-timer. I let my lips nibble along the bottom rib until I took a nip out of her waist and made her giggle. Hope shifted away as she brought the back of her hand up to stifle her snickers. I let her go. I wanted to give her a wide range of sensations to sample. Had I done this with any of the other women I'd taken to bed? No, but no two women are alike. The only person Hope compared herself to was Hope and I gave her that level of respect. I laid a path of licks and lip suction up her sternum to her far (left) breast. I circled the areola with my tongue, making sure to rub the nipple with my upper or lower lip as I made my circuit. Hope made this cute little coughing noise but otherwise remained still. Her nipple twirled around my tongue before I engulfed it with my mouth and started a strong steady suction that I accentuated by pulling my head up with her nipple extended by the upward maneuver. This earned me a twitching in her hips. Her raised leg began to flop back and forth to the side while the right leg pressed against me and opened up her crotch for exploration. I took the offer and ran my right hand along her inner thigh above the knee to her plump, moist cunt lips. On the first trip I pushed a finger in up to the first knuckle. I drew some of her juices down along her other inner thigh until I made a circle under her knee. She shivered slightly as I did so. I zigzagged on the return trip, this time running a finger from the perineum, dipping in to her cunt and making a quick twirl right beneath the clit. Two desperate breaths escaped past Hope's clenched teeth. Hope's orgasm was close, closer than she realized. I moved my lips from her breast to her ear once more. I also subjected her cunt to the energies of another finger. I made slow, shallow strokes directed at parting the labia around her now rather impressive clitoris, twisting it and squeezing it between my fingers. (Strong fingers are something you work on in Marksmanship btw.) When Hope's arms snaked up and wrapped me tightly to her, I knew she was on the home stretch. "I am going to take you now," I whispered in her ear. The thrill and confusion of my intentions tore her apart inside. She wanted to learn and obey but she also wanted to maintain her virginity, and the two ideas collided like twin locomotives. Remember, sex is in the mind and Hope's thoughts were on fire. I bit down on her earlobe at the same time I grappled with her right tit and gave several quick sharp spanks to her quim. "Zane!" she started out with a hiss but boiled into a thunderous shout. Her thighs clamped onto my fingers and she drove (no, she didn't claw, she impaled) her fingers into me like nails. The temporary deafness in my right ear was its own reward. I kissed her, running my tongue along the top and back of her teeth while her body shook and shivered. When the last of the tremors subsided I released her and pushed up with my arms, keeping my elbows half bent. "Zane, I'm sorry. I've hurt you," Hope sounded worried that her fingernails had blood on them. The pain was nothing compared to the humiliation I'd go through in the showers tomorrow. Rio took perverse glee crowing over every new sexual scar I accumulated. "Hush now; on your knees facing me," I commanded. This time Hope gave a barely noticeable blink before complying. She sat there attentively, her ass resting on her heels and her palms on her thighs looking smoking hot with damp thighs and perky nipples. I shifted up the bed, keeping to my side until I was properly positioned. I then reached for the back of Hope's head and confidently directed her toward my cock once more. Hope picked up right where she'd left off; slurping my head like a lollipop. Hope didn't get overly ambitious. She sucked me in, rolled my head around her mouth using her tongue with the occasional sojourn an inch or two down my shaft. Being at loose ends since Hope was drooling all over my rod so well, I reached out and began fondling her closest breast. This time I was rough, milking her breast, gripping the base of the breast and pulling down until I pulled the nipple. No response from Hope wasn't a bad thing; if she didn't like it she'd let me know. A few more pleasurable minutes with Hope and I sat up and put my other hand on the small of her back (I have really good abdominal muscles). I brushed my hand knife-like and pinkie first down between her ass cheeks. I brushed her anus but only briefly because my target was her cunt once more. She was hot, wet, and welcoming. I worked two fingers in and pumped her as hard as I dared. When I had her rocking her hips in response to my thrusts, I jumped my fingers down and vibrantly worked over her clit. Hope choked and little shimmies emanated from her hips. Again, I switched things up on her; I moved my hand up and rotated my forefinger against her anus until it gave way. Hope made a slight gagging noise but recovered masterfully and upped the tempo of her blowjob. "Come this way," I directed her by pulling her right buttocks to me. Hope wiggled from the waist slightly so she could look down the length of my body into my eyes. I repeated my hand motion, her eyes flashed with pleasure and she quickly straddled my body. Now her cunt was nearly at mouth level (Hope's pretty tall) while her blowjob continued non-stop in our '69'. I gripped a buttock in each hand, pulled them apart and then lifted my head to her honey box. With my first lick, Hope's resolve began to fracture. I would grove my tongue, move her hips over me and then lick from her clit to the bottom of her cunt. I massaged her several times before resting my head and alternating my fingers in. When my tongue lapped at her creases once more, I trailed a finger up to her anus, no reaction. I tickled her backside for half a minute, then substituted my tongue. I probed delicately and Hope stuttered in response. I went back to twirling her clit while pushing my index finger through her sphincter. Her oral attentions finally broke down. She let my cock plop out of her mouth and rested her forehead on my hip while the overwhelming sensations crashed over her senses. I felt the tightness of her anal cavity around my finger and her cunt throbbing against my tongue. I pushed deeper with my finger and her juices started flowing as Hope became more and more aroused. Valiantly, she stepped up her game, kissing and sucking one of my balls into her mouth. I moaned, which made her very happy. Hope's clit played along my lips as I took it in and sucked on it. She was rubbing my cock shaft as she tantalized my balls when she felt it start to pulse in her hand. My cockhead was engulfed by her lips and she remorselessly gobbling up the top third of my cock with the addition of a little twisting motion with her head and throat. "I'm cumming," I growled. "Take it all but don't swallow until I tell you to." Hope drove me on faster and harder and I reciprocated on her two holes. When I took on her clit once more, it wasn't in the form of a monster wave crashing on the beach but like a building tsunami pulling the energy before pummeling in one overwhelming surge. I poked a second finger into her anus to drive her over the top. Hope's back arched violently and a thin stream of fluid squirted into my mouth. She humped my face and squeezed my fingers in her asshole in a corkscrew fashion. "Zane!" she belted out musically. "Oh, God, that's great, umm, oh, yes, don't stop." My member slapped against my stomach and my balls were starting to boil and I couldn't hold back for long. Several more flexes and grunts came from Hope before she settled down enough for me to get her to do what I wanted. "Hope, I'm cumming," I ground out once more and just in time. Hope barely got my shaft upright and her lips over my head before I began ejaculating into her mouth. She breathed sharply through her nose but didn't choke or spew. Time after time she took my seed until I mustered the strength to let her know I was done. Hope dismounted me and resumed her kneeling position supported by unsteady thighs. I was a little slower in following her though her eyes sparkled when I looked into their brown depths. "Show me," I told her. Hope opened her mouth and I saw my semen brimmed inside. I kissed her lower lip along its entire length then did the same to her upper. I didn't take any of my jizz this time, that would came another time. For now, "Swallow," I spoke, and she did in a mighty gulp. I pulled her into me and led us down onto the comforter, Hope resting in my embrace. I soaked up the gentle passion of the moment with Hope in my arms. When she started kissing me on the neck I realized that was her way of asking for more. I twisted my body and pulled Hope past me so she could extend herself onto her hands and knees with me at her side. She lowered herself, letting her long, luxurious black hair cascade over her far shoulder. My hands roamed over the back of her neck and shoulders while I kissed her mid and lower back. I shifted from her side, ending up behind her. I gave a slight nudge to her calf to get Hope to open her legs wide and let me position my hips behind her. I gave my rod a few strokes to get it ready but really the visual tableau of the tightly sculpted muscles of her shoulders, back, hips, and buttocks made the physical stimulation superfluous for me. Keeping my eyes on Hope, I leaned way back and rummaged under the rolled-up blanket at the foot of the bed. The heating pad I'd asked Barbie Lynn to place there made finding the vial of viscous scented oil that was being warmed up easy. I was pleasantly assured of my feel for Hope to notice she hadn't looked back to see what I was up to. That took a great deal of confidence and trust. The serenity with which Hope greeted the thin stream of liquid as it steamed while flowing from her tailbone into her cleft was intensely arousing to my sight. I set down the container and began rubbing the oil in. First I started around the anus but I soon moved over each cheek, massaging them as well. When I coasted down to her inner thighs Hope figured out what was really going on and I could swear I heard a phantom cough of amusement. She knew I'd tricked her in a playful way. A few seconds later she pieced together the why, distracting her was secondary to easing the fatigue creeping through her thighs, lower back and ass brought on by several tense orgasms. There would be no muting of our joining. For ten minutes she relaxed and soaked up the hot oil working into her flesh. I restarted my efforts by kissing each hip, signaling her that I was anxious for her flesh. I placed one hand on the small of her back and lined up my cock at the top of her ass crack. I gently rocked forward, pushing my cock onto her back. Swaying back, I let my cock slip off her ass, letting it swing free before thrusting forward once more. This time I directed it languidly along the base of her cunt, letting my cockhead part her lips and plow her furrows until I touched then passed the clit on my way through her pubic hair and beyond. I repeated this orchestra of lust, adding in a movement where my bulbous head pressured her sphincter to the point of violation before sliding elsewhere. "Jesus, Zane," Hope sung out, "make up your mind. You are driving me crazy." Hope wasn't being exhorted to climax by any loss of control; it was the tension brought about by not knowing what direction the lesson was going to take. For someone else it would be as if you were reading LA Confidential one night only to discover that the last quarter of the book was missing and not accessible until the next morning. "There will be no intercourse for us tonight, Hope," I informed her. I began pumping along her cunt, mimicking the fucking motion. Time and again I let my cock head cut along her labia, brush her clitoris until it was stimulated by the low ridges along the shaft. It didn't take long for Hope to start pushing back against me to maximize my 'depth'. Hope clenched the sheets as we both increased the violence of our impacts. Her breath was coming in labored huffs and sweat began beading up all over her skin. Considering how fit Hope was, I was impressed with the intensity with which she embraced our sympathetic coupling. "No, not yet; keep going," was her self-encouraging mantra. "Don't let go, don't let go. Push him, push him harder." I scooped up the long tail of Hope's hair and guided her body up off her hands so that her back slid up and down my chest. Our hands did a little dance of their own. She ended up with her left reaching across and holding on to my right at her breast. My right still held the majority of her long locks, and I used those to give a silken caress to my coaxing of her right breast to sensual overload. My left hand landed on her stomach and used that perch to push her harder into me with each thrust. Her left hand wandered back to my ass. Hope's nails dug in deep (am I being marked/branded?) and she matched her pull with my push between her legs. When she finally succumbed to her climax, vaginal juices washed over my cock and down both our thighs. I was perfectly poised to support my lovers body as she surrendered to her orgasmic impulses and erotic energies coursed chaotically through her system. Her murmurs signaled she was regaining control and she made it definite by placing a series of kisses along my right arm. I coaxed us down on the bed facing one another. "I still don't know if I want to have sex tonight," Hope smiled sleepily. "It is your choice to make," I answered. "We both know you have the confidence now to make that decision when you are ready." "Are you looking out for me, Zane?" Hope teased me wearily. "Of course. I look out for all my ladies, even those who can take care of themselves just fine," I noted. She nodded and I realized that she'd tentatively opened the door into her inner circle of friends. "To answer an earlier question, I take no pleasure in ordering you around as some kind of power trip. I communicated with you in a manner that maximized your focus on our caresses." She nodded and gave me an affectionate peck on the forehead, reaffirming her dominant status. "You will come with me and shower," she ordered me. I retrieved two robes and my shower kit and a naked Hope lead me to the Solarium shower. We did not bathe ourselves; we lathered, rubbed, and rinsed the other, and I could tell Hope relished the experience. "Tell me something: how come you and Heaven have never snuck off in the woods and knocked boots?" she mused. "You are not asking because you think we did and didn't talk about it so you must be wondering what it would be like if we did, so yes, I would fuck you if you asked me to while doing a little shooter-spotter bonding out in the forest," I related to Hope; on the Marksmanship team, I was the spotter to her shooter. Her eyes flashed like lightning on a pitch black night. A powerful, lethal rifle in hand and a lover penetrating her was Hope's aphrodisiac, her perfect storm. "You should get ready for that. I definitely think it will make us a more simpatico team," Hope smiled and rubbed her breasts against my chest. "Are you going to make me obey you?" "I'm going to stick a ponytail up your ass and make you call me Master," I confided. "Oh, so how do you want your bullets; orally, anally or at high-velocity?" she remarked as her grin became more feral. "I've got nothing but love for you, Baby," I joked. We finished toweling off and headed for the bedroom area. We immediately noticed that while the sofa-beds were still open, they were unoccupied. Had we been that loud? I'm being rhetorical, I am the soul of discretion but I bring out the vocalist in every woman I meet. Inside the screens I could make out the forms of multiple girls having already settled in under the covers. Rio and Mercy were intertwined at their usual place on the far side of the bed. Barbie Lynn was curled up, facing away from us, in the middle of the platform, and Vivian was on her back, eyes closed, stretching out on the near side. I motioned Hope to follow me to the spot between Barbie Lynn and Vivian at the foot of the bed. She looked down at her carefully placed clothes then back to me. Her gaze went to the clock on one of the wardrobes, back to me, then she followed. We lay in each other's arms for a few minutes as our hair dried and bodies wound down. "Umm, that was definitely more than I envisioned, Zane," Hope sighed happily while staring up at the clouds in the night sky. "I need to be going but I look forward to seeing you in the morning." "No, you are staying the night," I stated. Hope pushed herself up into a kneeling position, hands on her thighs and her ass resting on her heels. "You are getting off on ordering me around, aren't you?" Hope smirked. To maintain the illusion, I didn't answer. I did get on my knees, wrapped my arms around her waist, and pulled us both into a kneeling, upright posture. Our mutual attraction brought our fresh bodies into contact. Hope exhaled and let her hands come to rest on my buttocks and the side of her head rest against my collarbone while my hands cupped each of her ass cheeks. Hope then did something I hadn't even imagined; she purred like a sated cat and snuggled firmly into my embrace. "Thank you, Zane," she whispered. "You're welcome, my Little Thunder" I responded. I knew I could have said something like 'you are worth it' or 'you did all the real work,' but I went with what felt right and those were the words she wanted to hear. Never just another Monday Morning. Death is inevitable; no one can force it upon you or save you from it. "Zane," a woman whispered in my ear. It is a testament to my out-of-control sex life that I didn't immediately know the identity of the woman in my bed even though drugs and/or alcohol were not involved. "Yes, Hope?" I turned and whispered back. "We are surrounded," her eyes glimmered. Indeed, we had been surrounded in the few hours we'd been asleep. Barbie Lynn had crowded in on Hope's section of the bed. As Hope rolled onto her side and snuggled into me, Barbie Lynn wiggled in behind her and pressed her magnificent boobs into Hope's back. She had even put her upper arm to rest on Hope's and had situated her right lower thigh and calf between Hope's legs. On the other side of the equation, Vivian was on her side, left leg laid over my thighs and left hand on my chest, on top of Hope's hand. Both our new female companions were sound asleep and snoring softly. "What do you want me to do about it?" I inquired quietly. "I don't know," Hope seemed conflicted. "Barbie Lynn is having a good dream." "And?" I wondered. "Her nipples are digging into my back and she's humping my ass," Hope grinned. At least she wasn't offended. "What would you do?" "Turn over slowly, push her on her back, spread her legs and then slip two fingers into her cunt and pump her," I tried not to snicker. "Work in small circles, then start suckling on a nipple; she likes a bit of teeth." "I've never been sexually involved with a woman," Hope said. It wasn't a statement but a declaration of an issue she was contemplating. "You would like to see Barbie Lynn and me, pleasuring one another, would you not?" Hope mused. "Absolutely," I nodded slightly, enough not to wake our companions. "I'll bring it up to her over breakfast," she informed me thoughtfully. "I need to look into her clear blue eyes when I talk this idea out with her." "She'll like that," I murmured, "and that is what she deserves too." Though asleep (we hoped), Barbie Lynn nuzzled into Hope's ear and let her hand drop down onto Hope's closest breast. "She's not making waiting easy," Hope looked worried concerning her desire to postpone the encounter. "The best things in life are never easy," I pointed out before we both drifted back off. Good News, Rejection I woke up with the feeling that something was wrong but I couldn't place it. The alarm wasn't going off, the phone wasn't ringing, and there were no sirens screaming. Vivian, on my left side, had worked her way between my arm and my body and was draped over half of my form. The awkwardness only increased when I realized she'd slid a hand between her legs. That wasn't so bad except it also meant the back of her hand was also rubbing along my cock. Her other hand had come to rest against my neck on the far side and her face was blowing softly on my neck's near side. Remember the arm she'd separated from my side? The devilish hand at the end of that arm had somehow wedged itself under her underwear and was holding one of Vivian's ass cheeks. Vivian began the slow, steady process of awakening, bringing about a strange paralysis in me. As her mind wandered its way toward alertness, both of her hands fidgeted slightly. My pulse jumped and my rod raced to iron hardness against her wrist as she stirred. "Your hand is on my ass," she murmured. "I'm sorry," I gulped. "I wish I could say I was sorrier but I'm not. My only excuse is that I was asleep when it happened." "I know, Zane, I put your hand on my ass," Vivian said, her breath tickling my jugular. "It was already close and, I was curious." I blinked up at the ceiling, having moments ago misread the evidence and believed I'd violated this woman's trust in me. "I am going to spank you," I seethed. "I am going to strip down your panties and spank your ass for putting me through what you just put me through." "Does it buy me any goodwill if I tell you that Chastity brought some things over for Hope last night?" Vivian wondered. "They're over on the dresser. That's why I cut the alarm off, so you two could get some more sleep." "The alarm is off," Hope whispered. "What time is it?" She didn't sound so happy. "I didn't hear you wake up," Vivian apologized. "Long-range shooting involves controlled breathing," Hope answered. "What time is it?" Vivian rolled over, leaned off the bed, and retrieved her phone. "5:27," Vivian hissed back to us. "Oh," moaned a sleepy Barbie Lynn. "I guess Zane and I will have to do it in the shower again, not that I mind," she finished with a sexy grin. "No marathon session if you go downstairs," Vivian cautioned. "Zane and I have already showered," Hope said, "So we can avoid the ritual at this time." "How was it?" Barbie Lynn propped herself on an elbow and gazed upon Hope's face. "I will never look at Zane touching or kissing another woman in the same way," Hope imparted to her. "I'll talk about the details when I've digested the lessons I learned last night." "Yes, lessons," Hope confirmed as she rolled back the covers and sat up. "It is his chosen method for our sex play, that of female student and male instructor." "That's just fascinating;" grumbled Rio, "but some of us do need showers. If Zane doesn't put in an appearance, hey, what are you doing, Monkey?" Rio's attention turned to Mercy. Mercy had rolled on top of Rio, elevated on all fours, and was now sucking on and nibbling Rio's left nipple. "Did I tell you to do that?" Rio quizzed Mercy. Mercy shook her head in the negative but kept hold of the tit in her mouth. "Don't you worry, you annoying cunt," Rio grinned evilly, "I've got something planned for your insubordination this time. Now scoot." This time Mercy did wiggle off Rio. "Why don't you play teacher/student with me?" Barbie Lynn teased me. "You eat ice cream with a spoon and steak with a knife, Barbie Lynn, but hell, if you want to play Merry Monk and Naughty Nun with me, I'm game," I grinned. Barbie Lynn's grin equaled mine and added a salacious tongue running along the lips. She is my best sexual partner ever. "Before you run off can I ask Zane for one favor first?" Vivian asked the ladies. I was hoping she'd be considerate enough to ask me too. "Atta girl," Rio perked up. "Ride his face. Get his patented tongue-tickle wakeup call." "That's not what I have in mind," Vivian responded. "Sure," Barbie Lynn answered Vivian's request. "What; are we stockholders in Zane now?" Hope inquired. "I withhold my vote until I know what Zane has to do and how he feels about it." "Thanks, Hope," I looked over at her. "You are my spotter. If you are distracted, your performance suffers and so does mine," she smiled. "It is enlightened self-interest." Yeah, right. "I understand, Hope," Vivian nodded. "I knew if I asked Zane, he would consult with you ladies so I elected to take on any of your rejections myself. Zane, would you let me cuddle up against you for a few more minutes? That's all I want." "Sure," I agreed. This wasn't going to be so hard. Unfortunately, fate is cruel and I'm an idiot if there was ever any doubt. Vivian maneuvered so that her back was to me and she was pressed into my body. Hellish complication number one: when Vivian had leaned off the bed, I had removed my hand from her underwear, causing it to have ridden half-way down her ass. Hellish complication number two: I sleep naked; my cock was hard and wedged between said ass cheeks, and I mean wedged in deep. Hellish complication number three: "Zane, could you wrap your arm around me, please?" Vivian murmured. I had a feeling she had closed her eyes, feigning sleep, so I draped an arm over and rested it on her stomach, nice and safe. Vivian took my hand and pulled it to a point underneath her right tit and slightly into her cleavage beneath her shirt. Okay, I'm thinking, I'm still safe. I can do this for a few minutes and not crack. I had a really good time with Hope last night and I'm not running at a 100% over-stupid like I normally am. Vivian started to stretch, her back arching away from me while her shoulders and hips pushed in. I had to admit that her hair smelled great. I knew what to do next, but then I realized that what I had to do was think like someone who didn't know what to do. (Confused? Join the club) "What do I call you?" I whispered into her ear. "Vannie," she responded quietly. 'Vannie' must be the nickname her boyfriend uses. "Time to wake up, Vannie," I breathed. Vivian kept arching her back, with some gradual hip rotation added to the mix. My cock was rubbing down between each buttock; my hand was being pushed over the top of her shirt-covered breast. I had a reprieve when the bell's edge of my phallus caught on the waistband of her panties. Vivian swiveled her hips a few more times and then rotated her shoulders so that the palm of my hand wove circles over her breast. Her enticed nipple came out to play by twisting with my movements. I still had some hope, though, that she'd stop soon. When she ran her hand from her stomach to her crotch I prayed that a little self-stimulation was all she was seeking. With her left hand, which I hadn't tracked, she worked her panties half way down her thighs before resuming her gymnastic routine. Then her fiendish hand migrated over her thigh and cheek until it wrapped around my cock and gave it a squeeze. I had to do something quickly. "Vannie," I whispered with more urgency, "you really need to wake up." Vivian faked a yawn then wiggled violently against my hips. This allowed her to force my cock through her ass crack and between her thighs. Vivian was showing a surprisingly inherent talent as a champion lap-dancer. I had done the whole pseudo-sex thing last night with Hope so why was I being subjected to this again? "Vannie, I wish you didn't have to go." That caused a hiccup in her performance. Her hip movements became almost romantic in their tenderness and a low contented growled emanated from her chest. I racked my personality assessment of Vivian to figure out what to do next. Sexual conduct is best when you know what your partner is looking for and meeting that expectation. I took my hand from her breast, sauntered it up her sternum to her neck and jaw. I tilted her head toward me. Her eyes were still closed as if asleep so she made no reaction as I leaned in for a chaste kiss, no tongue. She kissed back in an equally tender fashion. "You need to wake up, Vannie," I said one last time. She nodded, gave me another kiss, and then let her head settle back on the pillow. "Thank you, Zane," Vivian told me as she looked up and over her shoulder at me. "Fuck it all, Bro!" Rio yelled. "Your cock is in her ass. Fuck her! Fuck her! This is your chance to nail the stuck up bitch." "She's not a stuck up bitch and my cock is not in her ass," I countered. "Trust me," Barbie Lynn provided her input, "if that meat was up her ass, the look on her face would be totally different." What happened to normal days of waking up where we greet each other, ask about our plans for the day, and wonder what we are having for breakfast? Seriously, who has discussions about what a girl's face would look like with my cock up their ass first thing in the morning? "On that wonderful note, I'm going to, I suddenly realized I was boned by reality. I had nowhere to go. I didn't need to shower and I didn't have to be anywhere for an hour and a half. Speaking of boners, why wasn't Vivian letting go of my cock, which she held tightly against her cunt lips? Well, if you can't be happy, "Vivian, could you stay with me a little longer?" I requested gently. "That's it," Rio chuckled. "Lure her in with that patented Braxton seduction then tap that ass good." There was rustling from Rio's side of the bed. "Mercy, you stay put." "I'm going down and talking to the other girls," Barbie Lynn announced. "Zane, I'll explain things to our shower buddies." With that, she scooted away from the covers and crawled off the foot of the bed. "I'm going to put some clothes on," Hope spoke up. "It is something of a marvel that so many of you seem comfortable in your nakedness but I'm not there yet." She too made her way off the bed and to the clothes Chastity had left for her friend. "Sure, Zane, I'll stay a little longer if you like," Vivian was finally allowed to respond. I nestled into her and she molded tightly to me. As I was busy inhaling the scent of her hair my hand returned to her stomach. This time it was a little lower, like brushing the top of her pubic hair lower. Vivian did me two better. Her right hand reached back and stroked my hair as I rested my lips on her neck, innocently of course. Her left hand was up to far worse; she reached down and began to pet my cockhead that was conveniently poking between her legs at cunt level. At that point, I'm trying to figure out why in the hell Vivian is torturing me. A loud slap of a hand on ass echoed to me from Rio's side of the bed. Mercy squeaked. Then it occurred to me; two could play at Vivian's game. The hand on the stomach wandered up her body, underneath her sleeping jersey and began fondling her left breast, including the occasional pull on the nipple. Another spanking resounded from the Rio/Mercy duo as I freed my left hand from beneath me and wrapped up Vivian's hair. I tilted her head toward me and began kissing her lips. Her mouth opened at my approach and we were soon wrestling back and forth with our lips and tongues. A third slap of Rio's paddle on Mercy's ass rang out. I began pumping against Vivian's ass. As my cockhead withdraw deep into her muscular thighs her hand followed. I stopped when her fingers touched her clit. I'm still somewhat unclear on how Christian school girls stand on masturbation but it obviously didn't matter that Vivian was doing it right now, she had her shirt bunched up above her breasts, her panties around her knees, and my cock massaging her cunt. Two more smacks echoed from Mercy's paddling which concluded with a squeal of pleasure. Sometimes those two, I guess the next step is for them to be the first FFU openly lesbian couple or a Bonnie and Clyde crime spree, based on which way the neuron misfires in Rio's noggin. As for which way Vivian's brain was going off the rails, I wasn't totally certain. "Yes," she broke our kiss. "Yes, yes, yes," she panted. We were now rocking with some real synergy. She titled her face away from me and placed her chin on her chest as her breathing became rapid and shallow. Farther down, my cock and her fingers became impossibly slick with a mixture of my pre-cum and her vaginal fluids. I picked up the tinglings from her cunny first but they rapidly spread to her stomach and thighs. "Yes, oh, yes, oh, Holy God, ugh, ugh, ugh, Yes!" Vivian cried out. More liquid sloshed against my cock, not too much but enough to make me shoot, all over her hand and thighs. "Oh, oh, oh, it's been so long," she wheezed through tortured lungs. We rapidly put the brakes on our action and settled into a comfortable embrace. A minute later she gave me one last playful ass wag and sat up. My cock was thankfully going into a dormant state. Vivian had swung her feet off the bed, then turned and kissed me (chastely once more). "Thank you, Zane," she smiled as she began lapping my semen off her hand. "I can't wait to try this out with my boyfriend." Plus side: Vivian was getting the courage to get back with the long-time boyfriend who had 'accidentally' taken her virginity. I'd like to make Vivian's quality of life better. She also liked the taste of my seed. Down side: I'm back to being a practice dummy for the ambitious girls around me. Also, she liked the taste of my seed. "I appreciate you letting me loosen up and work out some of my issues with you," Vivian completed. Why can't a woman be satisfied with being a total jerk to me so I can stay angry with them for more than five seconds? I know there are chicks out there that get out of bed, sneer down at their former lover, and belittle them before laughing like the Wicked Witch and sauntering out the door. I blame my misconceptions on Lifetime TV, my Aunt watches it, honest. I flopped down on the bed and stared at the last bit of dark skies before the first rays of sunlight drove them away. Hope stepped into my field of view, grinning, with her ponytail dangling down and tickling my nose. "Zane, I really care for you and I am saying this with the utmost sincerity," Hope began. "You should have let Christina throw you out that first day," she smiled. "I have trained in the martial arts since I was five yet I've never seen anyone take a beating like you have in my entire life. The Energizer Bunny has nothing on your staying power, Zane. From Barbie Lynn at the beginning of the semester to Vivian right now, you just get it coming and going. I'm in awe with your inability to learn from your mistakes. I mean that in the kindest way." "Have I done anything right?" I sighed. Hope grabbed my nose, pinched it painfully, and yanked my head over for eye-to-eye contact. "You do a lot right, Zane, no pity party for you. I can name a dozen women who would charge into a burning building to save you, me included," she pointed out. "Zane, I want to protect you, and my Father taught me to ignore the cries of my own family if we were ever attacked because that would reveal my position," Hope informed me. Man, that is just plain fucked up in so many ways I don't even want to get into. What kind of father does that to his little girl? "I've never had a pet; I sleep with an automatic pistol under my pillow and a combat shotgun beneath my bed. I couldn't imagine anyone would consider himself a man unless he was versed in at least three forms of combat. I don't think I need to go into my instructions should a man touch me inappropriately, much less touch me when I was naked," she smiled warmly. "Wait," I mused after a moment's retrospection, "you want to protect me? Can't I be the one protecting you?" "Okay," she replied thoughtfully, "after Karate Club today, you and I can spar and if you can take me two out of three submissions, I will allow you to protect me." Wait, I am going to risk getting my ass kicked for what? It isn't like she's going to sleep with me if I win, and I can definitely get some action with Cappadocia if I refuse. "I'd like to but I have plans," I shrugged. "I am sure Cappadocia will understand. Besides, I might finish you off quickly and the two of you can get at it when I leave," Hope countered. "What makes you think, ?" I get out. "Zane, you live in a glass house, literally. You and her are no great secret," Hope interrupted. "Fine, let's see who gets schooled this time," I agreed. "So, how many years of Karate have you had?" "None," she smiled sweetly. "If it matters, I am advanced in the teachings of Taekkyeon, Hapkido, and Geom Do." "I have no clue as to what those styles are," I admitted. "A striking techniques style, a mixed martial arts style, and Korean Sword fighting," Hope informed me without a hint that she was offended by my ignorance. I knew that was a vast simplification of what those schools taught but from my limited experience, we could sit back and discuss them for twenty years and not cover every nuance. What I did know was, this school had more than its fair share of females unusually skilled in the arts of killing their fellow sentient life forms. Wait, was this the Hell Mouth and I am surrounded by an army of Buffy's, Faith's and Willow's? Did that make me Zander? Maybe I was Oz. He got to be a werewolf after all. "Where do you go," Hope asked with intense curiosity, "between that blink of your eye and the next?" "I'm imagining what you look like without your bra and panties on," I lied. I said that because I wanted to see her reaction, not because I had a hope in hell of her believing that. She did nothing. "I try to put my current circumstances in a context, no matter how crazy, that allows me to figure out what I should do next." "I should have known that you would embrace a cosmic embryonic spirit when making crucial decisions," Hope noted. Translation: I'm nuts. "I am glad you pierce through my many layers of obfuscations to see the real me," I retorted. "I am glad you see the real me too," she smiled. I got dressed, pulled out some homework, was jumped by my cohort of hotties, stripped down so they could examine my new collection of war wounds before finally letting me regain my clothing and dignity, while the ladies whispered conspiratorially about me. With the help of Vivian and Iona, I actually made it to the Dining Hall for breakfast by seven. Hope, Barbie Lynn, and Vivian broke free and headed for the senior tables first but soon it was just Iona, Rio and me. Paige stopped by only long enough to check on our status; I kissed her on the inside of each wrist and she ran her fingers through my hair and straightened my collar. I had Rio check me for electronic devices because Paige likes me but she is in the Time Lord Mafia, as is Iona. I have a little feud going on with their leader. On the way out the door, Raven caught up with me for a status update on our project. She'd written a beautiful opening paragraph and I told her that we would have the books from George Mason on Wednesday or Thursday. We asked how our weekends went; she went to the Soccer match up in Maryland and I had avoided sex the entire time. Raven seemed pleased by the news and I'm not even in a relationship with her. Okay, I may be the only one who believes I'm not in a relationship with her but I'm happy ignoring the rest of the world at this moment. Once I passed the Dining Room threshold I was brutally reminded that I still had Handmaiden's Duty. She was a nice, voluptuous junior named Georgia who was quite tall and quite well stacked. My task; to name all the descendants of Noah listed in the Book of Genesis. Every time I got one wrong I had to kiss her. I'd complain about the blatant sexual harassment but a) I like kissing girls and b) I could do without the ridicule of the entire school, check that; anymore ridicule from the entire school than what I was already getting. My some miracle I made it through enough names for Christina and company to surround us (Vivian, my guardian, was right there too). Georgia suspended her punishment gracefully as Heaven pulled me aside. "We have a date for Tuesday night," she beamed like a thousand suns. "Cool. Should we bring anything?" I inquired. "No. She's doing barbeque pork chops and chicken breasts, plus some other Southern stuff that I have no clue about what it is," Heaven informed me. "What is a hush puppy?" "Deep-fried corn meal batter, I think," I tossed out there. "When do we go over?" "5:30, and she'll have beer for me and Doctor Pepper or Sun Drop for you," she giggled. She was of legal drinking age and I wasn't, and Danica, our date, was a Lancaster City patrolwoman. "I'll meet you at the car, Babe," I grinned down at her while squeezing her in my arms. "But we have to be going," I noted. Arriving late to Assembly was unforgivable. "Zane, I've decided to tell my Father about you," Hope dropped her bomb right as we headed off again. I stumbled. "Zane?" Vivian and Georgia asked simultaneously. "Do you know how I say we should all live every moment as if it were our last? Well, never have I felt that to be truer than right now," I grinned fatalistically. "Thanks Hope." Around Memselbub, or whatever his God-damn name was, I lost track of Noah's grandsons and began kissing Georgia a lot. About Using-Half-The-Damn-Letters-In-The-Alphabet's name, I caught a furtive hand movement by Rio and Mercy give a little jolt but I didn't have time to delve into that right then because I caught sight of Cordelia coming to Assembly from another angle. I had a stroke of inspiration, or maybe I just had a stroke, because I dropped my bag and charged the svelte, sexy brunette Top Gun of the Time Lord Mafia, aka the Science Club, and it was about time I applied a fresh coat of paint (whoop ass) to her little red wagon. I pushed through the crowd of girls and got within six feet of Cordelia before I registered on her radar. Cordelia is a quick thinker and meticulous planner so it took her only one foot of space to figure out that this was the 'he's got no plan' that she'd been told about. I chose the blindly opportunistic blitz attack because even I didn't know what I was doing, so how could she figure it out? Cordelia squealed, dropped her book bag, and ran for it. Now, I'm not really the moron that I often appear to be and this attack was not me blindly flailing at the world. Safety laid in either a building she could shut the doors upon entry or the Assembly Hall. Her problem was that both options sucked. She'd have to push through a press of girls to get inside the Assembly Hall; I was bigger and stronger and would definitely catch her if she tried that. Running to another building, then, was her only real chance. That was a problem of physics, crowd dynamics, and physiology, all of which she was good at. Sure, I was the faster runner, but Cordelia would break free of the crowd first, giving her a head start. The question was; would it be enough? Cordelia made for Simmons Hall, which was a good plan except for one annoying aspect of school life, politeness. Two girls were hurrying out of the building but stopped to hold the door for her, and me. Had Cordelia made it to the stairwell at the end of the hall she could have held the door against me long enough for us to risk being late for Assembly. It was good, quick thinking. The politeness cost her one lonely second and that was all it took. I grappled her in the hallway and rolled us onto the ground. Cordelia was giggling and screeching and trying to wiggle free but I would have my revenge. I finally got her on her stomach and her arms pinned behind her back when Vivian caught up, looking incredibly peeved. "Okay, Zane, you got me, you got me. I give up," panted Cordelia. "That's nice," I responded. I hooked her closest leg, flung off her shoe and yanked off her sock. "Damn, Zane, are you going to make me walk around barefooted?" Cordelia snickered. "Nope," I answered as I went after her other foot. Cordelia struggled but not overly much. It was all fun and games until I tied one sock around her ankle then secured the same side hand to the ankle behind her back. She fought harder to keep the other wrist/ankle set free but I got those to. I'd hog-tied her, sort of. "Oh, come on," Cordelia moaned, starting to get pissed. "Zane, stop this," Vivian warned. "Vivian, do you want to see pictures of us, you and I, on the internet? Because that is exactly what this is about," I explained. "Cordelia feels like she can fuck with my life without repercussions. I'm not even asking her to stop, only to give me a warning before she does anything that is going to make my life rough." "Things like Barbie Lynn and me in the shower, Cordy," I grumbled. "But it was so hot to watch, Zane," Cordelia countered. "All it takes is two phone calls; one to me and one to her," I pointed out. "Vivian, can I have a red marker?" Vivian thought about it for a second, then handed it over. I went around to Cordelia's face and began writing on it. Cordelia was fuming and only got angrier when, by touch alone, she figured out what my message was. "Fine," Cordelia growled, "lesson learned. Let me up." "Nope. They will find you when Assembly is over," I informed her. Now she thrashed about for real. "Don't do this, Zane," Vivian cautioned me. "I'll explain later, I promise," I responded to my guardian. "Cordelia, we are going now. Do you need anything?" "I could use a sip of water," she smirked. I went over to the water fountain, drank some in, filled up my cheeks then knelt down beside her and let her suck the water out of my mouth. "Umm, Zane spit, my favorite flavor," Cordelia joked. Vivian and I made for the door. "Oh, come on, Zane," Cordelia called out. "This isn't funny anymore. Let me go." "They will let you go around 9:05 when the first students show up, Cordelia," I shouted over my shoulder. "I hope you give this little exhibition some thought." As we sprinted across the campus grounds, we spotted Iona standing guard over my book bag. "Thanks, Iona," I grinned. "It was something I had to do." "Oh, it gets worse," Iona sighed morosely. "Zane, it wasn't my idea." She handed a cloth bracelet made of an intertwined white and green thread to Vivian. "I'll get you a blue thread as it seems you've earned it." Any explanation was cut off by the bell for Assembly. We raced into the seats various compatriots had saved for us with bonus confusion of having Georgia sitting next to me. Chancellor Bazz was back in charge but I didn't have too much time to notice; Georgia had returned to her Bible quiz and I was screwing up big time. Much secretive kissing ensued. Once we exited the Assembly, the mass of us disseminated to our various first classes. Iona had to go a different way than me but Rio stuck close. I noticed she and Mercy both had more elaborate bracelets. "So, what's up with this," I tapped it. "He-he," Rio gloated. "It is an indicator of what you've done to us, or we to you." "Whose idea was this?" I groaned. "Three guesses, Brainiac," she laughed. "What does mine indicate?" Vivian worried. "Kissing and groped," Rio snickered. "I'll make sure you get your blue strand asap. That means you've been naked with him." Vivian gave me a concerned look. "Still feeling sorry about leaving Cordelia tied up?" I joked. "Our Lord Christ teaches us to forgive those who have trespassed against us," Vivian quoted. "Wait, you guys tied up Cordelia? Where? And can I go get me some?" Rio exulted. "She's free by now," I let down my buddy. "He did write 'Paige is smarter' on her face with a red marker," Vivian added. "Bro, she is going to kill you," Rio giggled. "Nah, Cordelia is angry but she doesn't buy into revenge," I stated. "She will look for other schemes to control me and I'll find other ways to keep her in line." "What has Cordelia done to control you?" Vivian asked. "Vivian," I sighed, "why do you think Cordelia would create a free porn site with my sexual antics as the main attraction? She can see me perform whenever she wants, but why share it?" "That is convoluted as fuck," Rio griped. Vivian was thinking that over. "So she gets at you by putting at risk the women you are with," she thought out loud. "You two are playing a game of chicken. She threatens to expose those who have sex with you, and you dare her to do just that. It seems to me you two are putting other girls at risk in your simple little game." "It is not a game, Vivian, it is not little, and it definitely isn't simple," I explained. "It is not me versus Cordelia any more than it is Rhaine versus Christina, or the Progressives resisting Chancellor Bazz. Everyone wants something and most are willing to aggressively pursue those goals. I mean, you found a use for me in less than four days." "I, I, Vivian stuttered because I'd laid bare this morning's activities. She was saved by the entrance to my classroom. She dropped me off, then returned to her normal schedule. My ass had barely touched my seat when I got a text. Apparently, I had an important phone message. It turned out to be from the Vice Chancellor's office. "Hello," Ms. Reveal, who, like the Vice Chancellor, was new to the school, answered, "Doctor Scarlett's office." "Hi, this is Zane Braxton. Did you assign me a meeting with the Vice Chancellor?" "Yes, Mr. Braxton, and you have one minute to get here," the young lady informed me. "When did Doctor Scarlett tell you to call me?" I asked, right as Ms. Goodswell walked into the room. I was almost out of time. "I don't see how that was relevant," Ms. Reveal sounded cross. "Well, sorry then, but the nine o'clock hour isn't good for me. English rocks so call me back when there is another opening in the good Doctor's schedule," I said smugly. "Wait, you can't, Reveal got out before I hung up. I enjoyed the class while noticing that no one rang me back. I was suspicious that Scarlett was yanking my chain and no calls pretty much confirmed that. At the end of class Virginia Goodswell pulled me and Raven, my project partner, aside. After all, last time she'd seen us together, we'd had, difficulties. "Are you two making positive progress?" She smiled to us. "Yes, we are," Raven chimed in. "I've created our opening statement and Zane is getting four books from George Mason for us to use as source material." Virginia looked at me askance. "Raven, this might be a good time to inform you that we are getting those books under a third party's name because Rio picked his pocket and checked them out using his student ID and password," I told my partner. "Zane, if you are exhibiting this much larceny for a freshman English project, what are you going to do for Finals?" Virginia teased me. It was clearly too late to chastise me. "As I recall, the Library of Congress's security is provided by the lowest bidder," I retorted. "God give me strength," Raven and Virginia said with perfect symmetry. I may not be respected but I am treated with tolerance and compassion, which is more than I should expect. Vivian escorted me to the second class of the day, Biblical Archeology, which I shared with Rio. At the door Vivian tapped my arm. "At Homecoming I'd like you
A história de uma das celebrações mais icônicas do ocidente e, consequentemente, a história de diversas culturas antigas que culminaram no Halloween.BibliografiaASSOCIAÇÃO SOSACI. The origins of Halloween. In: Noticias [Cambridge School]. 2 out. 2017. Disponível em: [Endereço eletrônico não fornecido]. Acesso em: [Data de acesso].BUSTAMANTE, Regina Maria da Cunha. Festa das Lemuria: os mortos e a religiosidade na Roma Antiga. [S.l.: s.n.], 2011.HISTORY. The Frightening Pagan History of Halloween | Full Special. [S.l.: s.n.], [s.d.].MARK, Joshua J.. History of Halloween. In: World History Encyclopedia, 21 out. 2019. Disponível em: https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1456/history-of-halloween/. Acesso em: [20/10/2025].MARTINEZ, Conia G.. LEMURIA: FESTIVIDAD RELlGlOSA O ANTROPÓNIMO, SEGÚN LA INSCRIPCIÓN ROMANA DE S. JUSTO DE LA VEGA (LEÓN). León: Departamento de Estudios Clásicos, Universidad de León, [s.d.].THOMAS, Heather. The Origins of Halloween Traditions. In: Headlines & Heroes, Library of Congress, 26 out. 2021.VIEIRA, Maressa de Freitas. O Saci da Tradição Local no Contexto da Mundialização e da Diversidade Cultural. 2009. Tese (Doutorado em Língua Portuguesa) – Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, 2009. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.escribacafe.com/subscribe
Gerrymandering—the manipulation of voting maps for partisan gain—has been part of American politics since its founding, but today, the problem is reaching a breaking point.In this episode, host Simone Leeper shares the story of Vicki and Malcolm Reed, a Utah couple who Campaign Legal Center are representing in a landmark lawsuit defending voters' rights, alongside Mark Gaber, CLC's Senior Director of Redistricting. Together, they trace how Utahns fought back after lawmakers attempted to overturn a voter-approved ballot measure that created a citizen-led independent redistricting commission—and how the Utah Supreme Court ultimately sided with voters.As Malcolm and Vicki's story unfolds, we also highlight how the current wave of mid-decade redistricting arms race that started in Texas and is now spilling into other states threatens to weaken voters' voices nationwide. We explore how voters, courts and Congress can act to restore fairness to America's elections and ensure that voters — not politicians — decide the outcome.Timestamps:(00:01) — Who are Vicki and Malcolm Reed, and why did they take on Utah's legislature?(02:10) — What is gerrymandering, and how does it work?(05:11) — How did the framers envision fair representation?(10:10) — What is redistricting, and why does it matter for voters?(11:25) — What was Utah's Proposition 4, and how did it aim to end gerrymandering?(14:42) — What's the difference between racial and partisan gerrymandering?(15:12) — How do “packing” and “cracking” weaken voters' power?(16:02) — How has technology supercharged modern gerrymandering?(17:12) — How did Utah lawmakers gut the independent redistricting commission?(20:44) — Why did Campaign Legal Center sue the Utah legislature?(23:22) — What happened when CLC argued the case before the Utah Supreme Court?(25:15) — What did the unanimous court decision mean for Utah voters?(28:50) — What is happening right now in Texas and other states across the country?(32:55) — What federal laws could end gerrymandering nationwide?(36:13) — Why should the fight for fair maps in Utah give us hope for democracy?Host and Guests:Simone Leeper litigates a wide range of redistricting-related cases at Campaign Legal Center, challenging gerrymanders and advocating for election systems that guarantee all voters an equal opportunity to influence our democracy. Prior to arriving at CLC, Simone was a law clerk in the office of Senator Ed Markey and at the Library of Congress, Office of General Counsel. She received her J.D. cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in 2019 and a bachelor's degree in political science from Columbia University in 2016.Mark Gaber manages Campaign Legal Center's redistricting litigation and policy program, which seeks to achieve fair maps for racial and language minority groups, and to curb the influence of partisanship in redistricting.Mark has led CLC's redistricting program to major successes since the 2020 Census. He argued for petitioners in the Wisconsin Supreme Court in Clarke v. Wisconsin Election Commission, which resulted in the invalidation of Wisconsin's state legislative maps and the transformation of the state's legislative maps from being among the most politically skewed to among the most politically fair in the country. He is lead counsel in League of Women Voters of Utah v. Utah State Legislature, in which CLC has successfully challenged the Utah legislature's repeal of a voter-adopted initiative reforming the state's redistricting process and its enactment of an extremely gerrymandered congressional map. In that case, Mark has (to date) argued twice in the Utah Supreme Court, resulting in two unanimous decisions in favor of CLC's clients.Mark has also led CLC's redistricting team to victories enforcing the Voting Rights Act (VRA). These include two cases on behalf of North Dakota's Native American voters, where he has argued in the Eighth Circuit against a challenge aiming to neutralize the VRA by precluding citizens from filing suit and where CLC's clients have secured two legislative districts providing Native American voters an equal opportunity to elect their preferred candidates. Mark also led CLC's successful challenge to Washington's legislative map, which was found to discriminate against Latino voters in the Yakima region, and CLC's ongoing challenge to the racially discriminatory Galveston County, Texas, map.Links: Cartoon, "The Gerry-Mander", 1813 — Smithsonian Gerrymandering: The Origin Story — Library of Congress Blogs LWV Utah and MWEG v. Utah State Legislature — CLC Voting Rights Groups Sue To Ensure All Utah Voters Have a Voice — CLC Opinion: Why we sued Utah lawmakers for alleged gerrymandering — Desert News CLC, Utahns Score Huge Victory in the Fight for Fair Maps — CLC Utahns Score Huge Victory Voiding Amendment D — CLC What Is Gerrymandering? — CLC How Can We Combat Gerrymandering? — CLC Do Independent Redistricting Commissions Really Prevent Gerrymandering? Yes, They Do — CLC New Report Outlines How to Make a Redistricting Commission Effective — CLC Independent Redistricting Commissions: Primer and Best Practices — CLC Redistricting Commissions in the 2021 Redistricting Cycle — CLC League of Women Voters on the Utah win — LWV Understanding the Current High Stakes Redistricting Fight – Trevor Potter's Newsletter Inside the Trump Administration's Efforts to Discriminate Against Texas' Black and Latino Voters — CLC About CLC:Democracy Decoded is a production of Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization dedicated to solving the wide range of challenges facing American democracy. Campaign Legal Center fights for every American's freedom to vote and participate meaningfully in the democratic process. Learn more about us.Democracy Decoded is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what's broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
"The number changes, but as of the writing of this description, only 1883 songs have topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart including all its earlier versions. This week back in 1990, the first rap song topped the chart. That got me wondering how many other firsts and other interesting facts surround the top spot. Here is a list."
Across the South, the word witch has been used to explain what people fear and cannot control. For generations, healers, midwives, conjurers and root workers carried knowledge their communities needed, yet often faced suspicion when tragedy struck. In this episode of Southern Mysteries, we explore the real lives and southern legends behind those branded as witches. From colonial courts to mountain cabins and coastal swamps, these stories reveal how the line between healing and haunting has always been thin and how fear can turn ordinary people into figures of folklore. Join the Community on Patreon: Want more Southern Mysteries? You can hear the Southern Mysteries show archive of 60+ episodes along with Patron exclusive podcast, Audacious: Tales of American Crime and more when you become a patron of the show. You can immediately access exclusive content now at patreon.com/southernmysteries
Presidential power has expanded far beyond what the framers of the Constitution envisioned. From Lincoln and Roosevelt to Nixon and Trump, presidents have pushed the limits of executive authority — often during moments of crisis. Understanding this history is key to understanding what comes next for American democracyIn this episode, host Simone Leeper speaks with American historians Douglas Brinkley and Rick Perlstein, CLC Executive Director Adav Noti and Juan Proaño, CEO of LULAC. In conversation, they trace how the presidency has gathered sweeping power over time; what happens when oversight of this executive power breaks down; and what legal, legislative and civic reforms could restore accountability, prevent presidential overreach and safeguard the constitutional separation of powers that defines the United States.Timestamps:(00:05) — Why were federal troops deployed in Los Angeles?(05:11) — Can the president legally invoke emergency powers?(07:31) — How did the Founders limit presidential authority?(09:14) — When did executive orders begin to expand presidential power?(10:25) — How did FDR and later presidents redefine the presidency?(13:04) — What did Nixon's “If the president does it, it's not illegal” comment really mean?(15:22) — What are the origins of the so-called unitary executive theory?(18:21) — How are checks and balances failing?(19:42) — Is America sliding toward authoritarianism?(27:57) — How is Campaign Legal Center fighting unlawful presidential overreach through litigation?(30:00) — Why does birthright citizenship matter for American democracy?(33:13) — What can be done to stop abuses of presidential authority?Host and Guests:Simone Leeper litigates a wide range of redistricting-related cases at Campaign Legal Center, challenging gerrymanders and advocating for election systems that guarantee all voters an equal opportunity to influence our democracy. Prior to arriving at CLC, Simone was a law clerk in the office of Senator Ed Markey and at the Library of Congress, Office of General Counsel. She received her J.D. cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in 2019 and a bachelor's degree in political science from Columbia University in 2016.Juan Proaño is an entrepreneur, technologist and business leader who is active in civic affairs, social impact, and politics He has served as the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) since November 2023. As LULAC's CEO, Juan oversees the day-to-day operations at LULAC; identifies strategic growth areas; and works to amplify the organization's advocacy initiatives and action-oriented programs.Rick Perlstein is an American historian, writer and journalist who has garnered recognition for his chronicles of the post-1960s American conservative movement. He is the author of five bestselling books. Perlstein received the 2001 Los Angeles Times Book Award for History for his first book, Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus, and appeared on the best books of the year lists of The New York Times, The Washington Post and the Chicago Tribune. His essays and book reviews have been published in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Nation, The Village Voice and Slate, among others. A contributing editor and board member of In These Times magazine, he lives in Chicago.Douglas Brinkley is the Katherine Tsanoff Brown Chair in Humanities and Professor of History at Rice University, CNN Presidential Historian and a contributing editor at Vanity Fair. He works in many capacities in the world of public history, including on boards, museums, colleges and historical societies. The Chicago Tribune dubbed him “America's New Past Master.” The New York Historical has chosen Brinkley as their official U.S. Presidential Historian. His recent book Cronkite won the Sperber Prize, while The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast received the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award. He has received a Grammy Award for Presidential Suite and seven honorary doctorates in American Studies. His two-volume annotated The Nixon Tapes recently won the Arthur S. Link – Warren F. Kuehl Prize. He is a member of the Century Association, Council of Foreign Relations and the James Madison Council of the Library of Congress. He lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife and three children.Adav Noti coordinates all of Campaign Legal Center's operations and programmatic activities, overseeing CLC's efforts to protect elections, advance voter freedom, fix the campaign finance system, ensure fair redistricting and promote government ethics. Adav has conducted dozens of constitutional cases in trial and appellate courts and the United States Supreme Court. He also advises members of Congress and other policymakers on advancing democracy through legislation. Prior to joining CLC, Adav served for more than 10 years in nonpartisan leadership capacities within the Office of General Counsel of the Federal Election Commission, and he served as a Special Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia. Adav regularly provides expert analysis for television, radio and print journalism.Links: Voting Is an American Freedom. The President Can't Change That – CLC What Are Executive Orders and How Do They Work? – CLC The Significance of Firing Inspectors General: Explained – CLC CLC's Kedric Payne on Trump's Brazen Removal of Nation's Top Ethics Official – CLC The Justice Department Is In Danger Of Losing Its Way Under Trump – CLC It's almost Inauguration Day. Will there be any checks on Trump's power? – Trevor Potter op-d in The Hill Amidst the Noise and Confusion – Trevor Potter's newsletter Understanding Corruption and Conflicts of Interest in Government | Campaign Legal Center – CLC CLC Sues to Stop Elon Musk and DOGE's Lawless, Unconstitutional Power Grab | Campaign Legal Center – CLC Trump's Executive Orders 2025 – Federal Register Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections (Trump's EO on voting) – The White House Defending the Freedom to Vote from the Trump Administration's Unconstitutional Presidential Overreach (LULAC, et al. v. Executive Office of the President) – CLC CLC Sues to Block Trump Administration's Illegal Election Overreach – CLC Victory! Anti-Voter Executive Order Halted in Court – CLC Understanding the election tech implications in the Trump Administration's executive order – Verified Voting Independent Agencies Must Remain Independent – CLC Can President Trump Do That? – CLC Why Birthright Citizenship Is an Essential Part of Our Democracy – CLC Authoritarianism, explained – Protect Democracy The Authoritarian Playbook – Protect Democracy U.S. Supreme Court Significantly Limits Restraints on Unconstitutional Presidential Actions – CLC Reconciliation Bill Passes the Senate Without Two Dangerous Provisions: Campaign Legal Center Reacts – CLC The “Self-Evident” Case for Opposing Tyranny – Trevor Potter's Newsletter White House Eyes Rarely Used Power to Override Congress on Spending – NY TimesAbout CLC:Democracy Decoded is a production of Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization dedicated to solving the wide range of challenges facing American democracy. Campaign Legal Center fights for every American's freedom to vote and participate meaningfully in the democratic process. Learn more about us.Democracy Decoded is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what's broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Today, the Spotlight shines On David Harrington, founder and violinist of Kronos Quartet.For fifty years, David has led one of the most adventurous musical ensembles on the planet. Kronos has commissioned over 1,100 works, collaborated with everyone from Philip Glass to Nine Inch Nails, and earned three Grammys along the way. Their recent "Hard Rain" project brought together nearly fifty artists worldwide to reimagine Bob Dylan's nuclear-age anthem, while the Library of Congress has just acquired David's archive.David shares stories from five decades of musical exploration and why he believes musicians must listen to the world and respond with purpose.If you enjoyed this episode, check out my discussions with Dorothy Lawson, Philip Golub, and Lisa Pegher. All three are available on spotlightonpodcast.com.(The musical excerpts heard in the interview are from Kronos Quartet + The Hard Rain Collective's Hard Rain EP)–Dig DeeperVisit Kronos Quartet at kronosquartet.org and follow them Instagram, Facebook, and YouTubePurchase Kronos Quartet + The Hard Rain Collective's Hard Rain EP from Bandcamp or Qobuz and listen on your streaming platform of choice.Dig into this episode's complete show notes at spotlightonpodcast.com–• Did you enjoy this episode? Please share it with a friend! You can also rate Spotlight On ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.• Subscribe! Be the first to check out each new episode of Spotlight On in your podcast app of choice.• Looking for more? Visit spotlightonpodcast.com for bonus content, web-only interviews + features, and the Spotlight On email newsletter. You can also follow us on Bluesky, Mastodon, YouTube, and LinkedIn.• Be sure to bookmark our online magazine, The Tonearm! → thetonearm.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
"The NOW CDs, as they are often called, started in the UK in 1998 with Richard Branson. They were a hit out of the gate, each crafted to a specific formula. They are a professionally made mix tape. We have the full history and a good bit of trivia about the series."
AI promises efficiency and better public service delivery, but how realistic is that promise today? This week on Feds At the Edge, our panel of experts take a grounded look at what it really takes to implement AI responsibly and effectively across government. Chris Bunton, CIO, Texas Dept of Agriculture, cautions that past technology shifts - like the move to cloud - often took years to deliver a return on investment, reminding agencies to weigh AI's costs and sustainability. Natalie Buda Smith, Director of Digital Strategy, Library of Congress, shares how the nation's largest data repository—over 193 petabytes—underscores the need to capture the right data and ensure systems can talk to each other. And Jonathan Alboum, Federal CTO, ServiceNow, stresses that real change starts at the top, with leaders who empower users and drive change through vision and accountability. Tune in on your favorite podcast today as we explore why strong governance, clear policy, and constant reevaluation are essential to realizing AI's promise in the federal space.
Today, the Spotlight shines On David Harrington, founder and violinist of Kronos Quartet.For fifty years, David has led one of the most adventurous musical ensembles on the planet. Kronos has commissioned over 1,100 works, collaborated with everyone from Philip Glass to Nine Inch Nails, and earned three Grammys along the way. Their recent "Hard Rain" project brought together nearly fifty artists worldwide to reimagine Bob Dylan's nuclear-age anthem, while the Library of Congress has just acquired David's archive.David shares stories from five decades of musical exploration and why he believes musicians must listen to the world and respond with purpose.If you enjoyed this episode, check out my discussions with Dorothy Lawson, Philip Golub, and Lisa Pegher. All three are available on spotlightonpodcast.com.(The musical excerpts heard in the interview are from Kronos Quartet + The Hard Rain Collective's Hard Rain EP)–Dig DeeperVisit Kronos Quartet at kronosquartet.org and follow them Instagram, Facebook, and YouTubePurchase Kronos Quartet + The Hard Rain Collective's Hard Rain EP from Bandcamp or Qobuz and listen on your streaming platform of choice.Dig into this episode's complete show notes at spotlightonpodcast.com–• Did you enjoy this episode? Please share it with a friend! You can also rate Spotlight On ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.• Subscribe! Be the first to check out each new episode of Spotlight On in your podcast app of choice.• Looking for more? Visit spotlightonpodcast.com for bonus content, web-only interviews + features, and the Spotlight On email newsletter. You can also follow us on Bluesky, Mastodon, YouTube, and LinkedIn.• Be sure to bookmark our online magazine, The Tonearm! → thetonearm.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
From the Great Hall of the Library of Congress, master of the legal thriller John Grisham joins host David M. Rubenstein to discuss his early life, writing process, latest novel and his work with wrongfully convicted prisoners. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Library of Congress, the NAACP, Rotary International“Your will to succeed remains one of your greatest assets.”Clifton TaulbertAccording to Clifton L. Taulbert, noted author and entrepreneur businessman, he could have failed had he not encountered community builders and entrepreneurial thinkers early on in his life. Taulbert was born on the Mississippi Delta during the era of legal segregation where he completed his secondary education. Though opportunities were few and barriers were plentiful, Taulbert managed to dream of being successful, not knowing the shape that success would take. Today Taulbert is the President and CEO of the Freemount Corporation (a human capital development company) serving clients nationally and internationally-Fortune 500 Companies, small businesses, federal agencies, professional organizations, community colleges and K-12 leadership. Additionally, entrepreneur Taulbert is the President and CEO of Roots Java Coffee-an African-American owned national coffee brand, importing coffee from Africa. To pass his life lessons along, Taulbert shares his entrepreneurial journey with others as a Thrive15.com mentor.He is a Generational Bridge of Segregated Times tio Integrated Times Today.In "The Invitation," Clifton Taulbert returns to the themes of "Once Upon a Time When We Were Colored," his award-winning book and the source of a major motion picture. This new memoir chronicles Taulbert's transformative experience of a supper invitation to a former plantation house in Allendale, South Carolina, where the successful adult confronts his childhood memories and wrestles with the legacies of slavery and segregation that demand to be acknowledged in his present circumstances.Transported back to a setting that looks and feels like the cotton fields and shotgun shacks of his childhood, Taulbert finds himself expected to cross racial barriers that no "colored" man could have broached without dire consequences. "The Invitation" is the story of the man and the little boy inside him wrestling with a past they both know so well, and of stepping into a future that is still being determined.Taulbert is a trustee of the University of Tulsa, has been recognized international by the Sales and Marketing Academy of Achievement, the Library of Congress, the NAACP, Rotary International as a Paul Harris Fellow and has been a recipient of the Jewish Humanitarian of the Year Award and the Richard Wright Literary Award. The Freemount Corporation is located in Tulsa, Oklahoma.© 2025 All Rights Reserved© 2025 Building Abundant Success!!Join Me on ~ iHeart Radio @ https://tinyurl.com/iHeartBASSpot Me on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/yxuy23ba
Moon Duchin is a math professor at the University of Chicago whose theoretical work has practical applications for voting and democracy. Why is striving for fair elections so difficult? SOURCES:Moon Duchin, professor of mathematics at Cornell University. RESOURCES:"Gerrymandering: The Origin Story," by Neely Tucker (Timeless: Stories from the Library of Congress, 2024)."Redistricting for Proportionality," by Gabe Schoenbach and Moon Duchin (The Forum, 2023)."The Atlas Of Redistricting," by Aaron Bycoffe, Ella Koeze, David Wasserman, and Julia Wolfe (FiveThirtyEight, 2018)."In a Comically Drawn Pennsylvania District, the Voters Are Not Amused," by Trip Gabriel (The New York Times, 2018). EXTRAS:"State of Texas to begin calling witnesses in federal hearing over Trump-backed congressional map," by Blaise Gainey (KUT News, 2025)."Utah's Redistricting Battle Explained," (PBS Utah, 2025)."Is This the Future of High School?" by People I (Mostly) Admire (2022). Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Corruption defines both the perception and reality of government, eroding trust and even threatening national security. Today, the safeguards meant to keep our government accountable are failing. From the mass firing of inspectors general to congressional stock trading and Supreme Court ethics scandals, abuses of power are weakening public trust and raising fears that the U.S. could slide toward kleptocracy.In this episode, host Simone Leeper speaks with Mark Lee Greenblatt, former Inspector General of the U.S. Department of the Interior; Jodi Vittori, Georgetown University professor and expert on corruption and national security; and Kedric Payne, Vice President and General Counsel at Campaign Legal Center. Together, they trace America's long fight against corruption — from the founders' earliest fears to Watergate reforms — and examine how today's failures of accountability threaten American democracy. The episode closes with solutions for restoring integrity, eliminating conflicts of interest and rebuilding trust in American government. Timestamps:(00:05) — Why did Trump fire 17 inspectors general?(07:36) — How has corruption shaped U.S. history?(11:14) — What reforms followed Watergate?(18:22) — Why does corruption feel worse in daily life now?(23:01) — How did Trump weaken watchdog offices and ethics enforcement?(28:47) — Why does congressional stock trading undermine trust?(33:58) — What do Supreme Court ethics scandals reveal?(39:59) — Could the U.S. slide toward kleptocracy?(46:04) — How does corruption threaten national security?(56:57) — What reforms could restore accountability and integrity? Host and Guests:Simone Leeper litigates a wide range of redistricting-related cases at Campaign Legal Center, challenging gerrymanders and advocating for election systems that guarantee all voters an equal opportunity to influence our democracy. Prior to arriving at CLC, Simone was a law clerk in the office of Senator Ed Markey and at the Library of Congress, Office of General Counsel. She received her J.D. cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in 2019 and a bachelor's degree in political science from Columbia University in 2016.Mark Lee Greenblatt is an expert on government ethics and compliance, an attorney and author. Most recently, he served as Inspector General for the U.S. Department of the Interior. His work bolstered the integrity of the agency's programs, rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse in the Department's $10 billion in grants and contracts and $12 billion in natural resource royalties. Mark was elected by the 74 Inspectors General to serve as the Chairman of the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency in 2022. He previously served in leadership roles at the U.S. Department of Commerce Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. He also served as an investigative counsel at the U.S. Department of Justice. He clerked for U.S. District Judge Anita Brody and was a litigator in two international law firms. Mark is the author of Valor, which tells untold stories of 21st century American soldiers, sailors and Marines who faced gut-wrenching decisions to overcome enormous odds. He is a frequent speaker at industry events, and he regularly appears in the news media. He graduated from Columbia University School of Law, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone scholar, and he earned his undergraduate degree from Duke University.Jodi Vittori is an expert on the linkages of corruption, state fragility, illicit finance and U.S. national security. She is a Professor of Practice and co-chair of the Global Politics and Security program at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service. Jodi is also an associate fellow with RUSI's Centre for Finance and Security and was previously a non-resident fellow with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Before joining the Georgetown University faculty, she was the U.S. Research and Policy Manager for Transparency International's Defense and Security Program and a senior policy advisor for Global Witness. Jodi also served in the U.S. Air Force; her overseas service included Afghanistan, Iraq, South Korea, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, and she was assigned to NATO's only counter-corruption task force. She was an Assistant Professor and military faculty at the US Air Force Academy and the National Defense University. Jodi is also a founder and co-moderator of the Anti-Corruption Advocacy Network (ACAN), which facilitates information exchange on corruption-related issues amongst over 1,000 participating individuals and organizations worldwide. She is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy and received her PhD in International Studies from the University of Denver.Kedric Payne leads the government ethics program at Campaign Legal Center, where he works to strengthen ethics laws and hold public officials accountable at the federal, state and local levels. He conducts investigations into government corruption and initiates legal actions against officials who violate the law. At CLC, Kedric has been at the forefront of advancing reforms on issues such as congressional stock trading, Supreme Court ethics enforcement, executive branch conflicts of interest, and state ethics commission autonomy. His legal work and analysis have been featured in major media outlets. He has also testified at congressional hearings on government ethics and accountability. Before joining CLC, Kedric built a broad legal career across all three branches of the federal government and in private practice. He began as a litigator at Cravath and later practiced political law at Skadden. He went on to serve as Deputy Chief Counsel at the Office of Congressional Ethics and as a Deputy General Counsel at the U.S. Department of Energy, where he advised on federal ethics laws. Earlier in his career, he clerked for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.Links: Understanding Corruption and Conflicts of Interest in Government – CLC Holding Government Officials Accountable for Unlawful Conflict of Interest Violations – CLC Ethics Pledges by Trump Cabinet Draw Questions and Skepticism – NY Times CLC Sues to Stop Elon Musk and DOGE's Lawless, Unconstitutional Power Grab – CLC Elon Musk Stands to Gain Even More Wealth by Serving in Trump's Administration – CLC Is Musk Using the FAA to Benefit Himself and His SpaceX Subsidiary, Starlink? – CLC Have Wealthy Donors Bought the Trump Administration? – CLC How a Second Term Introduces More Conflicts of Interest for Trump – CLC CLC's Kedric Payne on Trump's Brazen Removal of Nation's Top Ethics Official – CLC The public won't get to see Elon Musk's financial disclosures. Here's why that matters. – CBS Justice Clarence Thomas Should Be Held Accountable Under Federal Ethics Law – CLC Judicial Conference Decision Lowers Ethics Standards for Federal Judges and U.S. Supreme Court – CLC Improving Ethics Standards at the Supreme Court – CLC The Justice Department Is In Danger Of Losing Its Way Under Trump – CLC Congress Has an Ethics Problem. Now It's Trying to Get Rid of Ethics Enforcement – CLC A Win for Ethics: CLC, Partners Succeed in Preserving Office of Congressional Conduct – CLC Crypto Political Fundraising Raises Questions About Senate Ethics Committee Efficacy – CLC Stopping the Revolving Door: Preventing Conflicts of Interest from Former Lobbyists – CLC The Trump Administration Has Opened the Door to More Corruption – CLC Solving the Congressional Stock Trading Problem – CLCAbout CLC:Democracy Decoded is a production of Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization dedicated to solving the wide range of challenges facing American democracy. Campaign Legal Center fights for every American's freedom to vote and participate meaningfully in the democratic process. Learn more about us.Democracy Decoded is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what's broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
For 13 days beginning on October 16, 1962 the world teetered on total nuclear destruction. Today, Dr. Renata Keller joins in to talk about the Cuban Missile Crisis, how it is depicted in the film 13 Days, and how the events played out in Latin America. This is a deep dive into arguably the most consequential two weeks in world history.About our guest:Dr. Renata Keller specializes in Latin American and Cold War history. Her second book, The Fate of the Americas: The Cuban Missile Crisis and the Hemispheric Cold War (UNC Press, 2025), uncovers how people and governments across the Americas caused, participated in, and were affected by the Cuban Missile Crisis. Her first book, Mexico's Cold War: Cuba, the United States, and the Legacy of the Mexican Revolution (Cambridge, 2015), explored how the Cuban Revolution transformed Mexico's domestic politics and international relations. It was awarded SECOLAS's Alfred B. Thomas Book Prize and honorable mentions for RMCLAS's Thomas McGann and Michael C. Meyer Prizes.She received her B.A. in History and Spanish from Arizona State University and her Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. She taught international relations at Boston University for five years before joining the History Department at the University of Nevada in 2017. She has published journal articles in The Journal of Latin American Studies, The Journal of Cold War Studies, The Journal of Cold War History, The Latin American Research Review, Diplomatic History, Contexto Internacional, and Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos, as well as popular articles in History Today and The Washington Post. Her research has received funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Fulbright Foundation, the Social Science Research Council, the Philanthropic Educational Organization, the Kluge Center at the U.S. Library of Congress, the American Philosophical Society, and other institutions. She is co-editor of InterConnections: The Global Twentieth Century, a new book series at UNC Press that is home to innovative global, international, and transregional histories of the long twentieth century.She is also a dedicated educator. She teaches classes on modern Latin American history, Cuban history, the global Cold War, and drugs and security in the Americas. She also enjoys training the next generation of thinkers, historians, and history teachers in my classes on historical research and writing, historiography, historiography of the Americas, and her graduate research seminar on twentieth-century history.
"Cryptozoology is the study of a creature that probably doesn ot exist. Think Bigfoot. What is great about it is that every state seems to have its own monster. Maybe people really do think it exists or maybe it was invented to scare children at Halloween. We built up a list along with songs about candy. It is Halloween 2025."
Host Alan Lowe continues AMSEcast's exploration of 250 years of American innovation with Smithsonian experts Harold Wallace Jr., Dr. Eric Hintz, and Tim Pula. Together, they trace invention from Benjamin Franklin's experiments to modern breakthroughs, highlighting the Smithsonian's exhibitions, collections, and hands-on learning at Spark!Lab. The discussion spans collaboration with the Library of Congress, the role of failure in creativity, and how patents shape (but don't define) innovation. The guests also reflect on nuclear technology's history and social impact, and share how listeners can connect with the Lemelson Center and its nationwide Spark!Lab network inspiring inventors of all ages. Guest Bio Harold Wallace Jr., curator of the electricity collections, holds an MA and a PhD from the University of Maryland and specializes in the history of electric light and power. Dr. Eric Hintz, acting director of the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation, earned his MA and PhD from the University of Pennsylvania and curates exhibits on invention and creativity. Tim Pula, interpretive exhibits inventor for Spark!Lab, designs hands-on activities that inspire visitors of all ages to explore the process and spirit of invention. Show Highlights (3:13) How the Smithsonian shares Franklin's contributions for the understanding of electricity and innovation (6:24) How the Lemelson Center uses examples of American inventors as part of their work and research (7:57) The back-and-forth of learning from shared collections (9:55) The inventions and ideas explored at Spark!Lab (11:08) The artifacts used to tell the Edison story (14:58) How failure factors into the discussion of innovation at the Lemelson Center (17:42) The processes inventors followed to become innovative in their fields (22:42) Patent models in the electrical collection of the Smithsonian Institute (26:11) How the Lemelson Center and Spark!Lab approaches the patent process (30:33) How the evolution of nuclear technology is represented (35:20) How to learn more about the offerings from the Smithsonian, Lemelson Center, and Spark! Lab Links Referenced Wallops Station and the Creation of an American Space Program: https://www.amazon.com/Wallops-Station-Creation-American-Program/dp/1018138579 Inventing for Sports: https://scholarlypress.si.edu/store/all/inventing-for-sports/ American Independent Inventors in An Era of Corporate R&D: https://www.amazon.com/Independent-Inventors-Corporate-Invention-Innovation/dp/0262542587 Does America Need More Innovators: https://www.amazon.com/America-Innovators-Lemelson-Invention-Innovation/dp/0262536730 Lemelson Center: https://invention.si.edu Smithsonian main website: https://www.si.edu/ American History Museum: https://americanhistory.si.edu/ Smithsonian Collections Search Center: https://collections.si.edu
A Chinese Reformer in Exile: Kang Youwei and the Chinese Empire Reform Association in North America, 1899-1911 is an encyclopaedic reference work documenting the exile years of imperial China's most famous reformer, Kang Youwei, and the political organization he mobilized in North America and worldwide to transform China's autocratic empire into a constitutional monarchy. Chinese in Canada, the United States, and Mexico formed at least 160 Chinese Empire Reform Association chapters, incorporating schools, newspapers, military academies, women's associations, businesses, and political pressure campaigns. Based on Robert Worden's 1972 Georgetown University Ph.D. dissertation, a multinational team of historians contribute new insights from 50 years of additional scholarship and previously unknown archival materials. Robert L. Worden, Ph.D. (1972) Georgetown University, retired in 2007 after 34 years at the Library of Congress where he authored more than 100 Asia-related studies for government agencies, and numerous China-related books, articles, and book reviews of personal interest. Jane Leung Larson is an independent scholar whose broad-based research on the Chinese Empire Reform Association evolved from studying the papers of her grandfather Tom Leung, Kang Youwei's student in Guangzhou and host, travel companion, and confidant in North America. Li-Ping Chen is a visiting scholar in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Southern California. Her research interests include literary translingualism, diaspora, and nativism in Sinophone, inter-Asian, and transpacific contexts. Relevant Links Open Access of A Chinese Reformer in Exile here Sweet Bamboo: A Memoir of a Chinese American Family by Louise Leung Larson here NBN interview for Transpacific Reform and Revolution: The Chinese in North America, 1898-1918: here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network
A Chinese Reformer in Exile: Kang Youwei and the Chinese Empire Reform Association in North America, 1899-1911 is an encyclopaedic reference work documenting the exile years of imperial China's most famous reformer, Kang Youwei, and the political organization he mobilized in North America and worldwide to transform China's autocratic empire into a constitutional monarchy. Chinese in Canada, the United States, and Mexico formed at least 160 Chinese Empire Reform Association chapters, incorporating schools, newspapers, military academies, women's associations, businesses, and political pressure campaigns. Based on Robert Worden's 1972 Georgetown University Ph.D. dissertation, a multinational team of historians contribute new insights from 50 years of additional scholarship and previously unknown archival materials. Robert L. Worden, Ph.D. (1972) Georgetown University, retired in 2007 after 34 years at the Library of Congress where he authored more than 100 Asia-related studies for government agencies, and numerous China-related books, articles, and book reviews of personal interest. Jane Leung Larson is an independent scholar whose broad-based research on the Chinese Empire Reform Association evolved from studying the papers of her grandfather Tom Leung, Kang Youwei's student in Guangzhou and host, travel companion, and confidant in North America. Li-Ping Chen is a visiting scholar in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Southern California. Her research interests include literary translingualism, diaspora, and nativism in Sinophone, inter-Asian, and transpacific contexts. Relevant Links Open Access of A Chinese Reformer in Exile here Sweet Bamboo: A Memoir of a Chinese American Family by Louise Leung Larson here NBN interview for Transpacific Reform and Revolution: The Chinese in North America, 1898-1918: here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history
In 1944, the Hartford Circus Fire turned the “Greatest Show on Earth” into one of America's deadliest disasters. Flames consumed the Big Top in less than 10 minutes. This episode of An Ounce takes you inside the Hartford Circus Fire — the spark, the panic, and the aftermath. Why was the tent waterproofed with gasoline and paraffin? Why were families trapped under burning canvas? And what lessons from earlier fires like Triangle Shirt waist and Coconut Grove went ignored until it was too late? If this story struck you, please like, subscribe, and share it with someone else who should hear it.
A Chinese Reformer in Exile: Kang Youwei and the Chinese Empire Reform Association in North America, 1899-1911 is an encyclopaedic reference work documenting the exile years of imperial China's most famous reformer, Kang Youwei, and the political organization he mobilized in North America and worldwide to transform China's autocratic empire into a constitutional monarchy. Chinese in Canada, the United States, and Mexico formed at least 160 Chinese Empire Reform Association chapters, incorporating schools, newspapers, military academies, women's associations, businesses, and political pressure campaigns. Based on Robert Worden's 1972 Georgetown University Ph.D. dissertation, a multinational team of historians contribute new insights from 50 years of additional scholarship and previously unknown archival materials. Robert L. Worden, Ph.D. (1972) Georgetown University, retired in 2007 after 34 years at the Library of Congress where he authored more than 100 Asia-related studies for government agencies, and numerous China-related books, articles, and book reviews of personal interest. Jane Leung Larson is an independent scholar whose broad-based research on the Chinese Empire Reform Association evolved from studying the papers of her grandfather Tom Leung, Kang Youwei's student in Guangzhou and host, travel companion, and confidant in North America. Li-Ping Chen is a visiting scholar in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Southern California. Her research interests include literary translingualism, diaspora, and nativism in Sinophone, inter-Asian, and transpacific contexts. Relevant Links Open Access of A Chinese Reformer in Exile here Sweet Bamboo: A Memoir of a Chinese American Family by Louise Leung Larson here NBN interview for Transpacific Reform and Revolution: The Chinese in North America, 1898-1918: here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/asian-american-studies
If you love great storytelling, you'll connect with this conversation. I sit down with Walden Hughes, a man whose Unstoppable passion has kept Old Time Radio alive for decades. As the voice behind YESTERDAY USA and a driving force with REPS, Walden has dedicated his life to preserving the art, sound, and soul of classic radio. We talk about what made those early shows so timeless, the craft of the actors, the power of imagination, and how simple audio could create entire worlds. Walden also shares how modern technology, archives, and community support are bringing these programs to new audiences. This conversation is about more than nostalgia. It's about keeping storytelling alive. Walden reminds us that great radio never fades and that imagination will always be Unstoppable. Highlights: 00:10 – Discover why Old Time Radio still captures the imagination of listeners today. 01:19 – Hear how the end of an era shaped the way we think about storytelling. 02:32 – Learn what made the performances and production of classic radio so unique. 04:25 – Explore how legendary shows left a lasting influence on modern audio. 05:16 – Gain insight into what separates timeless audio drama from today's versions. 08:32 – Find out how passion and purpose can turn nostalgia into something new. 12:15 – Uncover the community that keeps classic radio alive for new generations. 16:20 – See how creativity and teamwork sustain live radio productions. 24:48 – Learn how dedication and innovation keep 24/7 classic broadcasts running. 33:57 – Understand how listener support helps preserve the magic of radio history. 37:38 – Reflect on why live storytelling still holds a special kind of energy. 41:35 – Hear how new technology is shaping the future of audio storytelling. 46:26 – Discover how preservation groups bring lost performances back to life. 50:29 – Explore the process of restoring and protecting rare audio archives. 55:31 – Learn why authenticity and care matter in preserving sound for the future. About the Guest: From a young age, Walden Hughes developed a lifelong love for radio and history. Appearing in documentaries on “Beep Baseball,” he went on to collect more than 50,000 old-time radio shows and produce hundreds of live nostalgic broadcasts. His work celebrates radio's golden era through events, celebrity interviews, and re-creations performed nationwide. His deep family roots reach back to early American history — from a Mayflower ancestor to relatives who served in major U.S. wars — shaping his respect for storytelling and legacy. With degrees in economics, political science, and an MBA in finance, he built a successful career in investments before turning his passion into purpose. As general manager and producer for Yesterday USA and longtime board member of SPERDVAC, he's preserved classic entertainment for future generations. Honored with awards like the Herb Ellis and Dick Beals Awards, he continues to consult for icons like Kitty Kallen and the Sinatra family, keeping the voices of radios past alive for audiences today. Ways to connect with Walden: Cell: 714/454-3281 Email: waldenhughes@yesterdayusa.com or www.yesterdayusa.com Live shows are Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights beginning at 7:30 PDT. 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 ** 01:20 Well, hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of unstoppable mindset. Wherever you are listening from, we're really glad you're here, and we are going to have a guest who we've had on before we get to have him on again, and we're going to grill him really good. I want you to remember that a few weeks ago, we talked to Walden Hughes. And Walden is a collector of old radio shows. He's been very involved with organizations that help promote the hobby of old radio shows, and old rate Old Time Radio, as I do, and I thought it would be kind of fun to have him back, because there are a number of events coming up that I think are very relevant to talk about, and so we're going to do that. So Walden, welcome back to unstoppable mindset. We're glad you're here. Michael, been such a long time, and glad you invited me back. Well, I know it's been so long well, so tell me, let's, let's go back again. You know, radio people talk about the golden days of radio, or the time of old radio. When do we think that? When do we say that officially ended, although I think it went beyond Walden Hughes ** 02:29 it. I though I jumped 30th, 1962, I'm, yeah, I I think the style changed a little bit, I'm probably a romantic somewhat. I love the style of old time radio. I love how it sound. Yeah, I think in in the 3040s and 50s, the studios and the theater that they use sounded great for radio, and it disturbed me, and I bet you have the same feeling, Michael, that when you get new production and new the new studio, it just doesn't sound right. I feel the equilibrium is not quite the way. I love old time radio. I think Old Time Radio A prime web. I think a lot of new productions out there that, you know, release their podcasts and things on a weekly basis. I think they're handicapped. They just don't have the budget to really create and build a studio the way I think it should be, that if they have, it sound just natural and just right. Michael Hingson ** 03:43 And I think that's part of it, but I think the other part of it is that people today don't seem to know how to act and create the same kind of environment with their voice that Old Time Radio actors did in the 30s, 40s and 50s and into into the early 60s, even we had Carl Amari on several weeks ago. And of course, one of the things that Carl did was, did complete recreations of all of the Twilight Zone shows. And even some of those are, are they sound sort of forced? Some of the actors sound forced, and they they haven't really learned how to sound natural in radio like some of the older actors do. Walden Hughes ** 04:34 Yeah, and I know Bob we call did it for a bike I get thrown off when he generally way. Did have the highway stars remote end, and he had a Stock Company of Chicago after, and I could hear the equilibrium just not quite right. That bothers me. I don't know if the average person picks up on that, and you're right. I don't know if. Is it the style of acting that they teach in film and TV? It needs a radio acting different in a lot of ways, and you got it as you point. It's got to be realistic into the environment. And actors don't get that for radio, Michael Hingson ** 05:25 yeah, and you talked about the last day for you of real radio was September 30, 1962 and we should probably explain why that is Walden Hughes ** 05:36 diet throughout the CBS your Troy John and suspense as the two main keys of old time radio. And that was the last day of old time radio out of New York. And I hardcore Lacher sister. Think that's one radio Shane died per se Michael Hingson ** 05:58 Gunsmoke and Have Gun Will Travel were gone, right, Walden Hughes ** 06:01 and the soap operas ended in November 2560 I like soap operas. I know a lot of people do not, but there's something can't there's something campy about it that I like. I would, I would like, I prefer to listen to somebody also proper than do some of the new production and make sure the acting style, Michael Hingson ** 06:27 but I think there's a lot to do with it that that makes that the case. And I think you're absolutely right that so many things are different, but at the same time, radio did sort of continue. And there was, there were some good shows zero hour, the Hollywood radio theater that Rod Serling did later. And of course, NPR did Star Wars. Walden Hughes ** 06:58 And I like that I did. Michael Hingson ** 07:02 Yeah, I think that was done pretty well. And what do you think of CBS mystery theater? Honestly, CBS mystery theater, I thought that generally, CBS mystery theater had some good actors, and they did a pretty good job. I I can't complain too much about that, and it was on for a long time. Walden Hughes ** 07:18 But what do you think of the script, though? Michael Hingson ** 07:22 Well, part of the problem for me and CBS mystery theater is, and I'm sure it was a cost issue. There weren't very many people in most of the scripts. There was like two or three or so and and that was a problem. But I think that that the scripts suffered because there weren't more people in the scripts to really make it again sound pretty natural. I think that was a problem. Walden Hughes ** 07:52 Yeah, Hyman Brown really knew how to crank it out. I think it has a good, solid B production, you know, the scripts. And I think the scripts are quite hampered. You couldn't, actually couldn't knock the actors. I thought the actors were Mercedes McCambridge and all those were terrific actors, but you're right. Sam dam wrote a lot of them, yeah, and things like that. But I Michael Hingson ** 08:21 think, I think they would have been nicer to have more people in the scripts. But I understand that, that that probably was more difficult to do just because of union and scale and the cost. But gee, I think it would have made a big difference in the shows. But Hyman Brown really knew, as you said, How to crank them Walden Hughes ** 08:39 out. Yeah, that's why, in some ways, I think the series, radio theater, the way 70 is a it's a terrific series. Didn't have the financial backing to make it last longer than the two years I was Michael Hingson ** 08:52 on. Now, one show I really liked on in PR later was alien world, which I thought was good. I'd never heard any of them, so they were good, yeah, yeah, okay. I'm very happy with alien worlds. There were some actors from radio and in early television and so on. Hans con read, for example, was on some, yeah, I thought alien worlds went really well. I guess we're gonna have to get you some and get you to lose, Okay, interesting. Walden Hughes ** 09:21 I just got done taking a eight week course on entrepreneurship for disabled people, and my idea is to pitch that we should be doing audio theater as a podcast. I think if it's big enough, it attracts national sponsors. And if you look at the numbers, everybody podcasting, 135 million people in the USA download a podcast once a week. Revenue, $2.46 billion yeah. Worldwide, 5 billion people download a podcast once a week. Revenue, three. $4 billion and so she had a well known he had a podcast with well known stars. I think she could get that 1% in that market, and then you can generate between the 24 to 40 million, $40 million in revenue a year. That would easily sure be a good financial model, and that's what I'm pitching. But when I went to the court, they asked me what to analyze, what's wrong with my what obstacles I have. And one of the things I put down is besides the studio we talked about and the acting, which a really good actor, actress, everybody, like a Beverly Washburn can pick up a script and knock it out of the park right away. Most actors are not able to do that. That's a real gift, as Michael was pointing out. But the other thing most scripts are written for film and TV, which is a verbal which is a eye medium, and a radio script is written for the ear, and I have produced enough the ear is faster than the eye. If you take like a TV script and a book and read it out loud, the mind wander. It has to have a faster pace for the ear. And I don't think more people notice that when they're analyzing a script, Michael Hingson ** 11:31 yeah, but you you're sort of treading around the edges of something else. I think that is fascinating, that we can start to talk about one of the things that has occurred some over the past few years, and whether it be with a podcast or even just with the mechanisms we're using today, is there are some attempts to recreate some of the old radio shows and and you and I have both Well, we Have to get you acting in one of those shows, Walden. But I have, I've acted in the shows Walden works behind the scenes, and there are a number of people who have been involved with him. And you really can tell some of the good actors who performed in old radio as you said, Beverly Washburn, Carolyn Grimes and others. Carolyn, of course, is Zuzu from It's A Wonderful Life, and by the way, she's going to be coming on unstoppable mindset in the not too distant future. But, but the point is that you can tell those people because they've done it, and they're very comfortable with it, and they know how to make it come across really well. So for example, you're the president of the radio enthusiasts of Puget Sound. Now you're down here in Southern California. How did you work out being the president of reps? Walden Hughes ** 13:01 Why my closest friends a hobby, Brian Haygood, and Brian's been one of the big movers and shakers of reps over the years. And when the founder, Mike Sprague, decided to step down, they were looking for new people to run showcase back in 2007 so Brian asked me, because I'm the one that has the contacts, you know, I'm the one booking guests for y USA rep, I'm sure the go to person with contacts and phone numbers, everybody. And so I just wound up doing the CO produced showcase back in 2007 with Brian. So that's been one of the things I wound up doing. 13:50 I produce Walden Hughes ** 13:52 almost 30 923, or four days events of All Time Radio around the country. So tell us about showcase, showcase. It will be September 18, 19/20, 21st is a big event for us, for reps, and we got funding thanks to Ford culture and the state of Washington to do this. And it's free. You can go to reps online.org, and RSVP and come. And people that you get to see this time around are Beverly Washburn from Star Trek, when the bear ministry shows, yeah, when, when the bear man a good, solid voice actress, and also is a coach. Carolyn Grimes, as you mentioned, Margaret O'Brien, of course, you know Margaret from Oscar war winner from meet me in St Louis, Gigi Perot, and she goes back to the 40s and 50s. And did the belly hunting TV show, Tommy cook and Lacher Riley, a radio show. Ivan Kirk. Troy. Bobby Benson. Bill Owen, who you had on ABC TV announcer, author of The Big broadcast, Ron cocking. He and his great wife, Gloria Macmillan ran acting school for children. Michael Hingson ** 15:15 Bill Ratner Miller, of course, is famous for radio. Walden Hughes ** 15:18 Right arm is Brooks. Bill Ratner from GI Joe. Bill Johnson, who does Bob Hope around the country. John provoke to Timmy Lacher. Chuck Daugherty, the announcer for second announcer for Sergeant president of the Yukon King and discover the Beach Boys. David Osman from fire sign theater. Phil prosper from fire sign theater. John Iman, who was from the TV show Lacher. And there was Larry Albert and John Jensen, the big band Lacher. John Laurie gasping, and Dan Murphy used to be the program director ki Xi out in Seattle. And so that's gonna be a great weekend. We'll produce close to it, I think, 1819 radio recreation that's still negotiating. And we have several interviews and panel. It's all free. So you can go to repsonline.org, and that's one of our two major events, the other major events at the Christmas show in December, the first week in December. I'm hoping Mike can make it up that Michael Hingson ** 16:31 weekend, I was hoping to be able to come to the Showcase. And one of my favorite shows, and Walden and I had talked about doing it, is Richard diamond private detective. And I actually asked to be cast as Richard diamond, but then a speaking engagement came up. So unfortunately, rather than being in Washington, I am going to be in Minnesota, I'm sorry, in Pennsylvania, speaking. So I won't be able to be there, but we'll do Richard diamond. That's gonna be a fun show one of these days. We'll do it. Walden Hughes ** 17:06 We'll put we put it aside. So when Mike can can do it, we can do it so but no, really blessed to have the financial grants to keep audio theater live on a nonprofit basis, and that that that's a great board, and cannot every group's had that financial abilities right now to do that, and it's so expensive around the country to do it, terms of airfare, hotel commitments and Just meeting room costs, I mean, for people who may or may not know, when you go to a hotel a live event now, a lot of hotels expect that that meeting room needs to generate at least $10,000 of income per day. That that's a lot of money. And so we have a place that doesn't, that doesn't do that, and we're able to produce that. And so rep definitely focus on the live, live audio theater part, and also has a large library, like 33,000 shows I heard where we have so people can download, and we're also aggressively buying discs and things to add to the library. And I remember spur back I part of and I'll tell you some of the latest news and that when we talk to that topic, but it's just old time radio is in really good Michael Hingson ** 18:41 shape at the moment. You mentioned Larry Albert, and most people won't know, but Larry Albert's been in radio for what, 40 years, and has played Detective Harry Niles that whole time, and he's also Dr Watson on Sherlock Holmes again, there are some really good professionals out there, which is cool, yeah, yeah, who understand and know how to talk in a way that really draws people in, which is what it's all about, Walden Hughes ** 19:15 absolutely. And considering Larry and a co founder, they run all vacations, sure, the after of imagination theater. Sure they carry the banner up in Seattle, and it's pretty amazing what they're able to produce. Michael Hingson ** 19:32 Yeah. Now, in addition to the Showcase and the Christmas show that reps is going to be doing, reps also does some other shows, don't they, during the year for like veterans and others up in the Seattle area, Tulsa, right? Walden Hughes ** 19:46 We I thought that idea down here at spur back in 2017 the Long Beach Veterans Hospital, they still have the original theme. Leader, Mike, that Jack Benny and Bob Hope did their shows in front of the Vets at Long Beach. And I know you and I have radio shows from the Long Beach Veterans Hospital. Yes, and the stage is still there. It's the biggest stage I've ever seen. Mike, the seating area is mobile, so that way they can bring patients in who are wheelchairs or whatever, or in bed. They still have the 1940 film projectors and booth up above that they want to run movies in there, and it's just a remarkable feeling to be on stage that Bob Hope and and Jack Bailey did a show, and then the famous broadcast were Ralph Edward consequences, yeah, the Hubert Smith, who was A patient at the hospital and and so in 2017 we did. It's a Wonderful Life. And we had a gigantic crowd. I think it was almost 200 people came to that. And I was for the public and people inside the hospital. And it was, it was a exciting event to have deluxe version of It's a Wonderful Life, which was the 70th anniversary of the broadcast, right? And so I decided to take that concept and take up to Seattle and start performing shows inside the VA hospital system in Seattle. It took a while. It's hard, it's hard to get into the VA, VA system to put on shows, because you got to talk to the right people, and you gotta get a hold of PR and not always easy. So I found the right contacts, and then the state awards, and then has a grant for for veterans or veteran family member to be in shows, and so we're able to get some funding from the state for that so, and then we will also encourage them to come to showcase in September so. But no, that's that's another program we got going for that, Michael Hingson ** 22:20 someone who I unfortunately never did get to meet, although I heard a lot of his shows, and he helped continue to bring memories of radio to especially the military. Was Frank brazzi, who was around for quite a while, and then he he was also on yesterday USA, a lot. Wasn't he sure where he's Walden Hughes ** 22:46 from, from 1993 until 2018 so he had a good 25 year run on why USA, Frank and I co host the Friday night show for many years, until he passed away in 2018 show from 2000 to 2018 Frank was amazing guy. He was. He owned his own radio station in South Carolina, South Carolina Island. When he was 19, he had to form the first tape course in Hollywood show Bob Hope would hire him, and he would record all Bob stuff at Paramount Studio and sit to radio station and travel with Bob to record his radio Show. He also was Jim Hawthorne producer for television, Frank wound up developing board games a pass out sold 6 million copies in the new wedding the dating game. He had a company that got gift for game shows on television. He also set up a brother in a company to monitor when commercials were run on TV. Frank also produced record albums every day. He had Walter Winchell record the life of Alex joelson. Met with Jimmy Durante, had Jimmy Durante do an album, Eddie Cantor and so frank is one of these great entrepreneurs that was able to make a lot of money and spend a lot of it on his love for radio. He was the substitute for little beaver, for example, on Red Rider so and he loved doing the show the golden days of radio, which started in 1949 and from 1967 on, it was part of the Armed Forces Radio Service, which was put on 400 stations. And I'm the, I'm the care caregiver, caretaker of. All that items. So I have all the shows and getting them transferred and play them on y USA and Frank wanted to make sure his entire collection was available to collectors. So we want to make sure things were copied and things like that for people to enjoy. But no big part of old time radio, in a lot of ways, not behind the scene a little bit. You know, wasn't a big name person during the golden days of radio, but afterwards, wound up being a major person that carried the fire Troy, full time radio. Michael Hingson ** 25:35 I know we talked about a little bit, but talk to us about yesterday, USA, that has been around quite a while, and in general, for those who don't know, yesterday, USA is an internet radio station, actually two, if you will. There's a red and a blue network of yesterday USA, and they both stations broadcast to old radio 24 hours a day, although conversations and up to date conversations are interspersed, it still primarily is a a vehicle for playing old radio shows, right? Walden Hughes ** 26:13 Yeah, been around since 1983 founded by its start. Yeah. Founded by Bill Bragg, Bill started the largest communication museum in the world back in 1979 in Dallas, Texas, and he had a film exchanger. And there was a TV station called a nostalgia channel, and it had these films of old TV shows, but they didn't have the media to transfer it, and so they contacted Bill. Bill agreed to transfer the film. He asked what it is exchanged for him. They said, we can give you an audio channel on satellite. And they gave that to him. And so he tried to decide what to do. So he started a broadcast Old Time Radio over satellite, and he was over the big C span satellite Speaker 1 ** 27:12 until Oh into the 2005 Walden Hughes ** 27:16 era or so. Wound up being the audio shop carrier for WGN got it high in 2000 at the third most popular internet broadcast site in the world, behind the BBC and CNN around the Lacher saw around 44 that's not too bad, with 15,000 stations online. Michael Hingson ** 27:41 I remember, I remember it was probably like 1998 or so, maybe 97 we were living in New Jersey, and I was doing something on my computer. And I don't even remember how I discovered it, but suddenly I found yesterday, USA, and at that time, yesterday, USA was one channel, and people could become DJs, if you will, and play old radio shows. You could have an hour and a half slot. And every other week you updated your broadcast, and they put on your shows at different times during the the two week period. But it was a wave that, again, a lot of people got an opportunity to listen to radio, and I'm sure it was very popular. Walden Hughes ** 28:32 Yeah, yeah, if they'll to Lacher show, we don't, we don't get 40,000 to 60,000 listening hours a month, with it a lot, because a lot, maybe some people might listen to seven minutes, some might people listen to a half hour and all that accumulative, it's almost 60,000 hours a month. So that's a lot of hours that people are accessing in it, there's something nice about being alive. I don't know what you think Mike, but doing something live is pretty special, and that's, that's the nice thing about what yesterday USA can provide, and we can talk, take calls, and then, you know, in the old days, you have more and more people talk about Old Time Radio. No doubting, but a lot of new people don't have those memories, so we we might do some other things to keep it interesting for people to talk about, but it's still the heart and soul. Is still old time radio in a lot of ways, and we're definitely the fiber, I think for new people to find old time radio. 29:43 How did you get involved with it? Walden Hughes ** 29:47 I became aware of it in the early 80s when sperback mentioned it in the news trailer, so I knew it's out there. And I called, and Bill returned my call. I said, I would like my cable TV. A company to play it, and I contacted my cable TV. They couldn't get to that channel that was on the satellite, so they put big band music on those dead on the community board. And so at the same time as you about 1998 I had a good enough computer with a good enough sound card I could pick up yesterday, USA. I was aware of it. It started on the internet in 1996 I started to listen, and then I would sort of call in around 2000 they would ask a question Bill and Mike and not really know the answer, so I will quickly call and give the answer, then leave. Eventually, they realized that I knew kitty Cowan, the big band, singer of the 40s and 50s. They asked me to bring on and do the interview, which we did September 17 of 2000 and then they asked, Could I do interviews on a regular basis? And so when a kiddie friend who I knew, Tess Russell, who was Gene Autry's Girl Friday, who ran kmpc for the audience, that was the station with the stars down the road, easy listening music, Michael Hingson ** 31:21 golden broadcasting, and that was the station Gene Autry owned, yep. Walden Hughes ** 31:26 And I think everybody in the music business but the old touch rush all favor. So she she hooked up, she signed up. She gave me set book 17 guests for me, right away from Joe staff or the Troy Martin to Pat Boone Patti Page, who wrote them all out. So I had a major start, and then I started to contact people via letters, celebrities and things. And I think it's a really good batting average. Mike, I had a success rate of 20% Wow. Wish it was a person that didn't I had no contact with that I could turn into a guess. I always thought I was a pretty good batting average. Yeah, and I got Margaret Truman that way. I mean, she called me, said, Wong, I forgot I did this radio show with Jimmy Stewart. She did jackpot, you know, the screen director of Playhouse. And we talked about her time on The Big Show with Tallulah Bankhead. They said, a big help with Fred Allen to her. She we talked about she hosted a show, NBC show called weekday with what the weekday version of monitor was, Mike Wallace. And she talks about how Mike had a terrible temper, and if he got upset with the engineer, she has to grab his jacket and pull him back in his chair just to try to cool them off. And so we had a great time with Margaret O'Brien, Margaret Truman, but, but I always thought that would a pretty good bat Navy getting 20% and in those days, in early 2000 a lot of celebrities would be were willing to interact with the through the website, with you, and so I did that. So I booked hundreds of celebrity interviews over the years, and so it's been a, I think, an important part what I do is trying to preserve people's memories, right that way we have the recordings. Michael Hingson ** 33:43 And so how long was Bill with yesterday, USA. Walden Hughes ** 33:49 I passed away in 2019 so Bill from 83 to 2019, to us, 10 years or so of his wife, though he had Michael Hingson ** 34:05 Alzheimer's and dementia, and so you could tell he was he was sounding older, yeah, and Walden Hughes ** 34:11 he wasn't behind the scene. He was really erratic in a lot of ways. So Kim, Kim and I wound up his wife, and I wound up running the station for the last 10 years, behind the scene, okay, Bill wasn't able to do it, and so I would be the one handling the interaction with the public and handling the just jockeys, and Kim would do the automation system and do the paperwork. So she and I pretty much ran the station. 34:43 And now you do Walden Hughes ** 34:45 it, I do it, yeah, and so I think Bill always had in mind that I'd be the one running the station in a lot of ways. And think to the listeners, we've been able to pay the bills enough to keep it. Going, I would love to generate more income for it. Michael Hingson ** 35:03 Well, tell us about that. How are you doing the income generation? And so most of it is through Walden Hughes ** 35:09 a live auction that we have in November this year, will be on Saturday, November 22 and people donate gift cards or items, and people bid on it, or people donate, and that money we basically use to help pay the monthly bills, which are power bills and phone bills and things like that, and so, which is a remarkable thing. Not every internet radio station has a big enough fan base to cover the cost, and so all the internet stations you see out there, everybody, the owners, sort of really have to pull money out of their own pocket. But why USA been around long enough, it has enough loyal following that our listenership really kicks in. I mean, we built a brand new studio here with the with the audience donating the funds, which is pretty remarkable. You know, to do that, Michael Hingson ** 36:16 yeah, you got the new board in, and it's working and all that. And that's, a good thing. It really is. Well, I have been a listener since I discovered y USA. When we moved out to California for a while, I wasn't quite as active of a listener, but I still worked at it as I could. But then we moved down here, and then after Karen passed, was easier to get a lot more directly involved. And so I know I contribute to the auction every year, and I'm gonna do it again this year. Walden Hughes ** 36:49 So would you, when you were after what you knew, why you said, Did you did you come with your question still quite a bit when you were working and traveling all the time over the years. Michael Hingson ** 37:01 Oh, yeah, yeah, oh, I did a lot of times, and still, do I listen to some internet radio stations? Why USA among them when I travel, just because when I go to a new hotel, sometimes I can make the TV work, and sometimes I can't, but also sometimes finding the stations that I want to listen to is a little bit more of a challenge, whereas I can just use my my smartphone, my iPhone, and I've got a number of stations programmed in the only time I have had A little bit of a challenge with some of that is when I travel outside the US, sometimes I can't get direct access to some of the stations because of copyright laws. They don't they don't allow them to be broadcast out of the US, but mostly even there, I'm able to do it. But I do like to listen to old radio when I travel, typically, not on an airplane, but when I when I land, yes, yeah. Walden Hughes ** 38:08 I think that's one thing that they ended up taking over. I think a lot of people grew up listening to the radio. Enjoy the uniqueness of radio station had. I don't know if you see that today, but I think the internet have replaced that. Michael Hingson ** 38:24 Well, somewhat, I've seen some articles that basically say that there is a lot more shortwave listening and actual radio listening to radio stations than there is through the internet, but there is an awful lot of listening to the radio stations through the internet as well, but people do still like to listen to radio. Walden Hughes ** 38:50 What do you think podcast? How you think podcasts fit in? I mean, you'd be hosting your own show. How you think that fit into the overall consumer questioning habit? Michael Hingson ** 38:59 Well, I think then, what's going on with podcasts is that, like with anything, there are some really good ones. There are a lot of people who just do do something, and it's not necessarily really great quality. They think they're doing great, and they maybe are, but, but I think that overall, podcasting is something that people listen to when they're running, when they're walking, when they're doing exercising, when they're doing something else, running on a treadmill or whatever, a lot More than listening to a radio program that probably requires a little bit more concentration. But make no mistake about it, podcasts are here to stay, and podcasts are very dominant in in a lot of ways, because people do listen to them Walden Hughes ** 39:56 a niche audience. So you find you find your audience who. Are looking for that particular topic, and so they tune into that their favorite podcast that they knew there really might be covering that topic. Michael Hingson ** 40:07 Sure, there is some of that. But going back to what you were talking about earlier, if you get some good audio drama, and I know that there are some good podcasts out there that that do some things with good drama, that will draw in a wider audience, and that gets to be more like radio and and I think people like radio. People like what they used to listen to, kids so much today, don't but, well, they never heard old they never heard radio. But by the same token, good acting and good drama and good podcasts will draw people in just like it always has been with radio. Walden Hughes ** 40:54 What I'm also noticing like the day the disc jockeys are, they somewhat gone. I mean, we grew up in an era where you had well known hosts that were terrific Dick jockey that kept you entertained. And I make it, I don't listen to too much because, for example, everybody the easy listening big band era, pretty much not in LA in the La radio market right now, right and I missed it. Michael Hingson ** 41:23 I miss it too. And I agree with you, I think that we're not seeing the level of really good radio hosts that we used to there are some on podcasts. But again, it is different than it used to be. And I think some podcasts will continue to do well and and we will see how others go as as time passes, but I think that we don't see a Gary Owens on television on radio anymore. We don't see Jim Lang or Dick Whittington and whitting Hill and all those people, we don't see any of that like we used to. And so even Sirius XM isn't providing as much of that as as it used to. Walden Hughes ** 42:20 And so what do you think AI is going to fit? I was listening to, I'm a sport fan, and Mike is a sport fan, so I like listening to ESPN and Fox Sports Radio. Michael Hingson ** 42:32 And I was listening to a discussion over the weekend that they are, they are working some of the immediate it to replace the play by play announcer they're working with. Ai, can I figure eventually that can be a caution. It to do away with all announcers. I'm not sure that's going to happen, because I don't know. It doesn't seem like it could. I'm not sure that that will happen. I think that even if you look at the discussions about audible and other organizations providing AI voices to read books, what people say, and I'm sure over time, this will change a little bit, but and I'll get back to the button in a moment, people Say, I would much rather have a human narrated book than an AI narrated book, and the reason is, is because AI hasn't captured the human voice. Yet you may have somebody who sounds like an individual person to a degree, but you don't have the same pauses, the same intonations, the same kind of thing with AI that you do with humans. Now, will that get better over time? Sure, it will. But will it get it to be as good as humans? I think that's got a long way to go yet, and I don't think that you're going to see AI really replacing people in that regard. I think AI's got a lot that it can do, but I actually had somebody on the podcast last year, and one of the things that he said is, AI will never replace anyone. People will replace people with AI, maybe, although that may or may not be a good thing, but nobody has to be replaced because of AI, because you can always give them other jobs to do. So for example, one of the discussions that this gentleman and I had were was about having AI when you have autonomous vehicles and you have trucks that can drive themselves, and so you can ship things from place to place, keep the driver in the truck anyway. And instead of the driver driving the vehicle, the driver can be given other tasks to do, so that you still keep that person busy. And you you become more efficient. And so you let i. I do the things that it can do, but there are just so many things that AI isn't going to do that I don't think that AI is ever going to replace humans. The whole point is that we make leaps that AI is not going to be able to do. Walden Hughes ** 45:15 Yeah, I think a good example in the audio book field, a really great reader can give you emotion and play the characters and make it realistic. And I don't know AI ever going to reach that point to bring emotions and feelings into a reading of story Michael Hingson ** 45:32 not the same way. And as I said, I've been involved or listened and watched discussions where people say, for example, I might use AI to read a non fiction book because I'm not really paying so much attention to the reader and I'm just getting the information. But when it comes to reading a fiction book, and when it comes to really wanting to focus on the reader, I don't want AI is what I constantly hear. I want a person, and I understand that, Walden Hughes ** 46:00 yeah, I think what you'll see AI, especially, take over the drive thru when people go to a fast food place. I can see AI replacing the interaction and trying to get those things corrected. I can see that Michael Hingson ** 46:14 maybe, maybe, I mean, you know some of that to a degree, but I think that people are still going to rule out in the end, for quite a while. Well, you know, in talking about all the different radio organizations, I know we talked about a little bit last night last time, but tell me about spurt back. Walden Hughes ** 46:36 Yeah, I can give you some new updates. Spoke actually been around to 1974 Michael Hingson ** 46:42 I remember when spurred back began a person who I knew, who was a listener to my radio program, Jerry Hindi, guess, was involved with with all of that. My problem with attending spurred back meetings was that it was they were way too far away from me at UC Irvine to be able to do it, but I joined by mail for a while, and, and, and that was pretty good. But by the same token, you know, it was there, Walden Hughes ** 47:11 it was there. And spur back. Have honored over 500 people who worked in the golden days of radio. A lot of district donated. They had the meetings in the conventions now we're evolving very quickly this year into more preservation work. So we have bought over $10,000 in computers here recently. We bought and we donated, actually, we won a prize, although the first Lacher disk turntables from Japan, which is over a $10,000 turntable, we'll be using that to help dub disc. And the board is just voted in. It's going to increase the board to at least 11 people next year who will have a carryover of the seven board member and we want to have no new board members. So maybe you and I can talk about that Mike for you to be on for next year, because we'll be definitely expanding the board with 11 one. So I think it'd be really strong in the preservation stuff, because perfect got 20 to 30,000 deaths that need to get out there. And with all your new equipment, it's amazing how full time radio sounds so good today terms of the new technology, and compare where I started collecting the 70 and I ran into a lot of even commercial stuff really muddy in those days. Mike, I bet you did too, and it's a remarkable difference. Spur back is planning to be at the Troy Boston festival next April, what does spread back? Stand for the society to preserve and encourage radio drama, variety and comedy. And you can go to spur back.com Join. You can go to repsonlect.org to join. And we then mentioned yesterday, USA. Yesterday usa.com or.net and can go there and listen away and participate in the auction, which will be coming up November 22 Yeah, very important to do as well. But anyway, I really think full time radio is in a really good spot. Mike. I think if it was for the internet, I don't know if we would find all the young people who are interested in it. I think it then it been a double edged sword. It knocked out a lot of dealers. You know, they used to make money selling their tapes and CDs and everything, and I bought a lot. I know you did too over the years, but those days are pretty. Pretty much done, and but if found a lot of new younger people to find the stations or find podcast and they get to learn about yesterday USA and Old Time Radio, and all the different radio ones more and all the different internet station are playing it until they can expose and I don't think that would have happened before the internet, so I think it'll always have it created a whole new listenership. Michael Hingson ** 50:30 I am still amazed at some of the things that I hear. I remember once when somebody found a whole bunch of old Petri wine sponsored Sherlock Holmes with basil, Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. They were horrible quality. Was it Chris who Walden Hughes ** 50:50 found? Yep, Chris one best founded me up and found me a bookstore. Michael Hingson ** 50:55 And the quality wasn't wasn't good at all, but they were remastered, and they sound incredible. They do how they do it, because I'd love to be able to do that with shows that I have, and like to remaster them. Walden Hughes ** 51:13 Yeah, what happened was, you know, they were two writers, green and Boucher, Lacher, Lacher, right, and Boucher was a famous bachelor Khan. The famous mystery convention is named after him. And Dennis Green was an actor on radio, and he was also a historian. He knew, like all everything about Sherlock Holmes. And so they created the new venture who saw a comb based upon maybe a scene from a previous right story and gets expanded upon it. And so when it when one of them passed away, the collection wound up in a bookstore in Berkeley, California, and crystal investor found out. And so there became a buying group led by John tough fellow, Kenny Greenwald, Dick Millen, Joey brewing and others, got in a bidding war with the Library of Congress, and they outbid and won. They paid $15,000 for the sets of Sherlock, Holmes and so and Shirley Boone was an NBC audio engineer and chief film engineer. He really knew how to dub, and so they they did a terrific job. And then they decided to put out a record album on their own with the first two episodes. And then after that, they decided to market it to Simon Schuster, and they decided to do small vignettes. They could copyright the vignette. These were quite three minutes introduction, so they would get Ben Wright, who wanted to always Sherlock Holmes and Peggy Webber in order to reminisce and or create little scenes to set up the stories that way they could copyright that part. They couldn't copyright the show because they fell in the public domain, right? But they wound up paying the estates of everybody anyway. But that's what how they all came out, and they were hoping to do Gunsmoke. We talked to Kenny Greenwald and others, but that never, that never came off and but that's part of the remarkable thing that Karl Marx done. He's been able to get into CBS, and I think he's working on NBC, and he licensed them, so he'll be able to get into the vault and get more stuff out for all of it to enjoy. And that's an amazing thing that Carl drives for the hobby is to get new stuff out there. It's been locked away for all these years. Michael Hingson ** 53:53 I am just amazed at the high quality. I'd love to learn more about audio engineering to be able to do that, because I have a lot of recording I'd love to make a lot better than they are. Walden Hughes ** 54:05 Yeah, Jerry Henry used to use a software called Diamond Cut, ah, and I would the those originally was used for the Edison solder records. And the guy who issued this, Joe, they developed the software. And that's where Joe, hi, who did so much transfer work, that was the program he wound up using to create good sound, Michael Hingson ** 54:32 yeah, and, and did a lot of it, Walden Hughes ** 54:36 yep, see there, see, there was a software, everybody, I think original is hardware. And I think originally almost was a $50,000 piece of equipment, harder before 2000 now it's gone to software base and a couple $1,000 that's another way. That's another program that people use to clean disk. Now. Crackles and pop out of the recording. Michael Hingson ** 55:02 So but it's not just the snap crackle and pop. It's getting the the real fidelity back, the lows and the highs and all that you said, what was the one he used? Diamond Cut. Diamond Cut, yeah. Diamond Cut, yeah. But yeah. It's just amazing. The kinds of things that happen, like with the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and and others. Walden Hughes ** 55:23 But you also have good ears for that. Because, yeah, I remember about 2025, years ago, it was serious. XM. Everybody has this stereo sound, I know, if you're shooting, has a certain ambiance about it. And there were companies that were taking old time radio and creating that same effect, and that could bug me. I was so used to listen to old radio show in an analog feel about it. And they when they try to put false stereo in a recording, yeah, oh my gosh. It just didn't sound right. And so they've gotten away from that pill, a lot of new dubbing. They do don't have that. So it sounds terrific now, yeah, Michael Hingson ** 56:15 sounds a lot better. What do you think is the future of the hobby? Walden Hughes ** 56:19 I think more and more stuff are coming out. A lot of stuff that were with agreements to hold on to the material have disappeared, because a lot of it is passing from generation to generation. And so I think over the next 10 years, you see so much more stuff coming out. In some ways, that's sort of what you John Larry and I do. We collect almost everything, just because you got to make sure it's captured for the for the next generation, even though we might not be listening to it. There's so much stuff we don't listen to do everything. But I think we're, we're short of the wide billions of old time radio so we try to capture all of it and preserve it on hard drives, yeah, but eventually it'll go to future generations. But I really think more and more stuff are coming out. I think with the yesterday USA, more and more people will find it. And I'm hoping, with creating new audio theater, I would like to reproduce the great radio scripts we have no recordings for, like one man, family, I love, a mystery, all those things. That's sort of what I want to do, is one of my goals. And I think be great to hear stories that we've all collected, that we wonder about, and to get audio production behind some of these scripts. And I think it's in very good shape. It will all come down to money, Michael, as you know, you know, Michael Hingson ** 57:58 but I also think that it's important that we, as we're recreating the shows, that while we can, we have people who understand what we really need for actors who are going to be recreating the shows, are able to find the right people to do it, train them how to do it. I think that's so important. Walden Hughes ** 58:19 I think so. I think, I think you find a lot of young people who like theater, who are not necessarily radio fan, if they came, if the radio fan, like Brian Henderson and people like that, they become really good actor because they love to listen to the shows ahead of time. Yeah. Beverly Washburn does the same. She likes hearing the original performances that way. She get field for me to the show. And I think you and I think Larry does it that way. And you might not necessarily want to copy everything, but you got a benchmark to work from, and you sort of know what, with the intent when Michael Hingson ** 59:01 you say Larry, which Larry? Larry Gasman, Walden Hughes ** 59:03 great, yeah. And I think that's a great help to study and listen how people did it, because I think a lot of old time radio, it's like the prime rib. It was the best of the best of all time of radio drama, and it's a great way to learn the craft, by listening to it and absorbing it. Michael Hingson ** 59:30 Well, if people want to reach out to you and maybe learn more about yesterday, USA or reps and just talk with you about radio, how do they do that, they can give me a Walden Hughes ** 59:41 call at 714-545-2071, that's my studio number for the radio stations. Lot of times I can, I'll pick it up and talk to on air, off air. They can always drop me an email Walden shoes at yesterday. Us. Dot com and happy the answer, you can always call my cell phone at 714-454-3281, Walden Hughes ** 1:00:11 you can chase me down at over, at reps, at reps online.org. You know, get forward to me or spur vac at S, P, E, O, D, V, A, c.com, or you can even get hold of Michael Henson and Mike. Michael Hingson ** 1:00:26 You can always get a hold of me. And people know how to do that, and I will get them in touch with you as well, you bet. So I'm glad to do that. Well, I want to thank you for being here, and I want to thank all of you for listening. I hope you've enjoyed this. This is a little bit different than a lot of the podcast that we've done. But it is, it is so important to really talk about some of these kinds of concepts, and to talk about old radio and what it what it still adds and contributes to today. So I hope that you enjoyed it. I'd love to hear from you. Feel free to reach out to me. Michael H, i@accessibe.com that's m, I, C, H, A, E, L, H, I at accessibe, A, C, C, E, S, S, i, b, e.com, love to hear from you. Wherever you're listening, please give us a five star rating. We value that a lot, and I hope that you'll go listen to YESTERDAY usa.com, or.net then again, in both, there's the red and the blue Network, or repsonline.com, and we, we have a lot of fun. Every so often we do trivia contests, and we'll take hours and and gentlemen in New Jersey and his wife, Johnny and Helen Holmes, come on and run the trivia, and it's a lot of fun, and you're welcome to add your answers to the trivia questions, and you can come on in here and learn how to even do it through the chat. Walden Hughes ** 1:01:51 But my kids watch this every Friday night on, why USA too? Michael Hingson ** 1:01:56 Yeah, I get to be on every Friday night, and that's a lot of fun. Yeah. So we'd love to hear from you, and we'd love you to to help us further enhance the whole concept of old radio show. So I want to thank you again. And if you know of other people who ought to be on the podcast, Walt, and of course, you as well as you know, please introduce us. We're always looking for more people to talk to us about whatever they want to talk about. So I want to again. Thank you all and for being here. And Walden, thank you for being here as well. Walden Hughes ** 1:02:27 All right, Mike, I'll be talking a little while. Michael Hingson ** 1:02:33 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com . AccessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for Listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.
Steve Roud is a Librarian, folklore scholar and creator of the Roud Folk Song Index, which contains upwards of 750,000 entries to around 45,000 English language folk songs, as found in books, recordings, manuscripts and other sources the world over. His index, and ‘Roud Numbers' (a numbering system employed to identify the same song across many different titles) are widely acclaimed for the scope, breadth, depth and impact. Steve worked as a local studies Librarian in the London Borough of Croydon, and also served as Honorary Librarian for the Folklore Society for eighteen years. He has published books on calendar custom, popular tradition, folk belief, London lore, children's games, and folk drama. In 2004, he was the winner of the Folklore Society's Katharine Briggs Folklore Award for The Penguin Guide to the Superstitions of Britain and Ireland. In 2009, he was one of five people to be awarded the Gold Badge of the English Folk Dance and Song Society. This award recognises "those who have made unique or outstanding contributions to the art or science of folk dance, music or song, and/or those who have given exceptional support in furthering the aims of the Society”. For four years now, Steve has been visiting the NFC, parsing through our manuscript and book, broadside and pamphlet collections for entries to add to his index. He is an incredibly gifted, meticulous and generous scholar, who is always glad to share his expertise with us, particularly in discussion around the inherent problems in the description, cataloguing and indexing of folklore materials. It was an honour, and a great pleasure to host Steve at the NFC recently, and during his visit (for our collective benefit) I subjected him to a 75 minute interview, in which we discussed his index, the problems inherent in describing folk song, approaches to the cataloguing of folklore, conducting research in folklore archives, and the problems inherent in the digitisation of folklore records and some scholarly critique of the NFC's online platform Dúchas.ie. As a health warning for this episode - listeners (or viewers!) hoping to listen to scores of lovely ballads will be sorely disappointed, as our discussion essentially consists of nerding out about folklore indexes for over an hour. Steve's Folk Song Index can be found here, at the website of the Vaughan William's Memorial Library: https://www.efdss.org/vwml-catalogues-and-indexes/vwml-help/roud-indexes-help For a wonderful talk of Steve's at the Library of Congress, see here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVTMoN4Arvo My thanks especially to Veronica, Andrew and Dominic in UCD Communications, for their support of the podcast, and for filming this episode!
The foundation of our democracy is the Constitution, a system of checks and balances and the rule of law. But today, those cornerstones are being blatantly disrespected by a presidential administration attempting to consolidate power at all costs..In this episode, host Simone Leeper is joined by Campaign Legal Center litigators Anna Baldwin and Brent Ferguson. They examine the most pressing examples of the erosion of the rule of law, from the politicization of the Department of Justice to the stifling of free speech. Along the way, they highlight how Congress and the courts have failed as effective checks — leaving civil society and citizens to defend constitutional principles — and explore the reforms that could restore accountability, protect the rule of law and strengthen democracy against threats. Timestamps:(00:05) — Why is free speech under attack in the U.S.?(03:50) — How is political opposition being falsely linked to political violence?(05:38) — Why is deploying federal troops in U.S. cities a threat to democracy?(09:50) — How are Congress and the courts failing to check presidential abuses of power?(15:09) — How has the DOJ been transformed into a political tool?(20:17) — Why is the Voting Rights Act no longer being enforced?(21:17) — What's at stake with the DOJ's demand for voter data?(27:27) — How is CLC challenging unlawful executive orders?(32:30) — What reforms are needed to restore checks and balances?Host and Guests:Simone Leeper litigates a wide range of redistricting-related cases at Campaign Legal Center, challenging gerrymanders and advocating for election systems that guarantee all voters an equal opportunity to influence our democracy. Prior to arriving at CLC, Simone was a law clerk in the office of Senator Ed Markey and at the Library of Congress, Office of General Counsel. She received her J.D. cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in 2019 and a bachelor's degree in political science from Columbia University in 2016.Anna Baldwin is a member of Campaign Legal Center's voting rights team working to protect the freedom to vote, litigating cases in state and federal courts, from filing through appeal to the Supreme Court. Prior to joining CLC, Anna spent 14 years in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. In North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP v. McCrory, Anna led briefing and appellate argument for the United States to overturn a North Carolina law that purposefully restricted voting and registration opportunities for Black voters in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Anna was also a member of the trial team that successfully challenged Texas's racially discriminatory voter ID law. Anna has argued eighteen cases before the federal courts of appeal, including four en banc cases. Previously, Anna was an associate in the Washington D.C. office of Jenner & Block LLP, and clerked for Judge James Robertson on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, and for Judge M. Blane Michael on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.Brent Ferguson leads Campaign Legal Center's strategic litigation team, focusing on anti-authoritarianism and litigating in all areas of election law. Brent has worked on protecting and improving our democracy for most of his career. At CLC, he has led litigation teams challenging state and federal laws and policies that seek to unlawfully purge voters, limit voter registration activity and otherwise prevent Americans from exercising their constitutionally protected rights. He has authored academic articles on election law and other constitutional issues in the Washington Law Review, the Cornell Journal of Law & Public Policy, the Emory Law Journal Online and elsewhere. Before coming to CLC, Brent was senior counsel at the National Redistricting Foundation, where he helped develop strategy for federal and state redistricting litigation. For four years, he served as counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice, focusing on campaign finance reform and working on a broad range of other democracy issues. He was also an assistant district attorney in the Manhattan District Attorney's office, where he litigated appeals of public corruption convictions. He clerked for Judge Michael Chagares of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and Judge Jeffrey Miller of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.Links:Taking Action Against Presidential Abuses of Power | Campaign Legal CenterAbout CLC:Democracy Decoded is a production of Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization dedicated to solving the wide range of challenges facing American democracy. Campaign Legal Center fights for every American's freedom to vote and participate meaningfully in the democratic process. Learn more about us.Democracy Decoded is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what's broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
"Many music outlets noticed there was no traditional Summer Song this year. No poppy dance tune that rose to the top of the charts. The Billboard Summer Song chart claimed a number one but it was a down tempo ballad. We will explore what happened and why."
In this episode, we explore the profound interconnections between land and sea with legendary marine scientist Sylvia Earle. Discover how our understanding of the ocean has evolved, the critical role it plays in Earth's climate and chemistry, and the urgent need for conservation. Join us as we unveil the mysteries of the ocean and the vital importance of protecting our planet's life support system. Support the Podcast via PayPal https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=LBGXTRM292TFC&source=url We also feature an excerpt of the documentary about Blue Latitudes Foundation's expedition to the SeaVentures Dive Rig off the island of Mabul in Malaysia. The interest was to research, document, and explore the ecological, economic and social implications of repurposing an oil and gas structure as an ecotourism dive resort. The documentary was produced along with Matador Network. For an extended interview and other benefits, become an EcoJustice Radio patron at https://www.patreon.com/ecojusticeradio Sources: Sylvia Earle TED Talk excerpt 2009: https://youtu.be/43DuLcBFxoY Chumash of Santa Barbara County songs: https://www.chumashmedicinewoman.com/stories-songs/ Sylvia Earle talk courtesy of Rivian South Coast Theater, Laguna Beach. “Rigs to Reefs: Transecting Borneo,” featuring Amber Sparks and Emily Hazelwood, Directed by Scott Sporleder from Matador Network. https://youtu.be/J0IG8R6ymrI?si=dDmcDekHowUeV4Fn Sylvia Earle PhD is President and Chairman of Mission Blue and The Sylvia Earle Alliance [https://missionblue.org/]. She is a National Geographic Society Explorer in Residence, and is called Her Deepness by the New Yorker and the New York Times, Living Legend by the Library of Congress, and first Hero for the Planet by Time Magazine. She is an oceanographer, explorer, author and lecturer with experience as a field research scientist, government official, and director for several corporate and non-profit organizations. Amber Sparks, Co-President of Blue Latitudes Foundation [https://www.bluelatitudesfoundation.org/], is a marine biologist, educator, and entrepreneur. She has a B.A. in Marine Science from UC Berkeley and a M.A.S in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation from Scripps Institution of Oceanography. In 2018 Amber and Emily were recognized on Forbes 30 Under 30 list in the energy sector for their work developing sustainable, creative, and cost-effective solutions for the environmental issues that surround the offshore energy industry. Emily Hazelwood, Co-President of Blue Latitudes Foundation, is a marine conservation biologist, offshore energy consultant, and entrepreneur. She has a B.A. in Environmental Science from Connecticut College and an M.A.S degree in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation from Scripps Institution of Oceanography. As a leader and explorer, Emily is committed to elevating the scientific understanding of our oceans in communities worldwide and she volunteers her time as a science educator at schools across the country. Jack Eidt is an urban planner, environmental journalist, and climate organizer, as well as award-winning fiction writer. He is Co-Founder of SoCal 350 Climate Action and Executive Producer of EcoJustice Radio. He writes a column on PBS SoCal called High & Dry [https://www.pbssocal.org/people/high-dry]. He is also Founder and Publisher of WilderUtopia [https://wilderutopia.com], a website dedicated to the question of Earth sustainability, finding society-level solutions to environmental, community, economic, transportation and energy needs. Podcast Website: http://ecojusticeradio.org/ Podcast Blog: https://www.wilderutopia.com/category/ecojustice-radio/ Support the Podcast: Patreon https://www.patreon.com/ecojusticeradio PayPal https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=LBGXTRM292TFC&source=url Executive Producer and Host: Jack Eidt Engineer and Original Music: Blake Quake Beats Episode 269 Photo credit: Amber Sparks
The Reno Brothers pulled off the first moving train robbery in U.S. history in Jackson County, Indiana, on 6th October, 1866. Overpowering the guard, the gang made off with a significant haul of gold, cash, and canvas bags (though, while they tried to steal a hefty safe, they couldn't open it and simply pushed it off the train). Their daring heist revolutionised the way criminals targeted trains forever. Arion, Rebecca and Olly discover how the crew evolved their activities from "bounty jumping" during the Civil War; marvel at the local newspapers' repeated requests for public lynchings; and reveal how their luck ran out when notorious private security force The Pinkerton Detective Agency got on their case… Further Reading: • ‘Of Rails and Robbers' (Library of Congress): https://www.loc.gov/item/today-in-history/october-06/ • 'Reno Gang & the 1st Big Train Robbery' (Legends of America, 2021): https://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-renogang/ • ‘The Reno Gang - The story of the first train robbery in the U.S.' (Jackson County Visitor Center, 2020): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKo1eblt2Xk This episode first aired in 2024 Thanks so much for supporting the show! We massively appreciate it. The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Edit producer: Ollie Peart Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Ways of Knowing: Oral Histories on the Worlds Words Create (Litwin Books, 2025) sits at the heart of the library project, shaping how materials are described and organized and how they can be retrieved. The field has long understood that normative systems like Dewey Decimal and Library of Congress do this inadequately and worse, deploying language and categories that are rooted in white supremacy, patriarchy, and U.S. imperialism. In Ways of Knowing, Emily Drabinski and Amanda Belantara present unique and timely oral histories of alternative thesauri created in response to the inadequacies and biases embedded within widely adopted standards in libraries. The oral histories tell the stories behind the thesauri through the narratives of the people who created them, revealing aspects of thesauri work that ordinarily are overlooked or uncovered. The set of oral histories included in the volume document the Chicano Thesaurus, A Women's Thesaurus, and Homosaurus. Drabinski and Belantara recorded hour-long oral histories with two representatives from each project, documenting the origins of each thesaurus, the political and social context from which they emerged, and the processes involved in their development and implementation. Introductory essays provide a context for each thesaurus in the history of information and activism in libraries. The book and accompanying digital files constitute the first primary source of its kind and a unique contribution to the history of metadata work in libraries. Capturing these stories through sound recording offers new ways of understanding the field of critical cataloging and classification as we hear the joy, frustration, urgency, and seriousness of critical metadata work. Find the Ways of Knowing project online at https://waysofknowing.org/. This interview also makes reference to Sorting Things Out: Classification and Its Consequences by Geoffrey C. Bowker and Susan Leigh Star, available open access from MIT Press. Amanda mentioned her online exhibit about the Chicano Studies Library, available at https://bibliopolitica.org/. Amanda Belantara is Assistant Curator at New York University Libraries. Emily Drabinski is Associate Professor and librarian at the City University of New York. Jen Hoyer is Technical Services and Electronic Resources Librarian at CUNY New York City College of Technology. She is co-author of What Primary Sources Teach: Lessons for Every Classroom (2022) and The Social Movement Archive (2021), and co-editor of Armed By Design: Posters and Publications of Cuba's Organization of Solidarity of the Peoples of Africa, Asia, and Latin America (2025). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network
Ways of Knowing: Oral Histories on the Worlds Words Create (Litwin Books, 2025) sits at the heart of the library project, shaping how materials are described and organized and how they can be retrieved. The field has long understood that normative systems like Dewey Decimal and Library of Congress do this inadequately and worse, deploying language and categories that are rooted in white supremacy, patriarchy, and U.S. imperialism. In Ways of Knowing, Emily Drabinski and Amanda Belantara present unique and timely oral histories of alternative thesauri created in response to the inadequacies and biases embedded within widely adopted standards in libraries. The oral histories tell the stories behind the thesauri through the narratives of the people who created them, revealing aspects of thesauri work that ordinarily are overlooked or uncovered. The set of oral histories included in the volume document the Chicano Thesaurus, A Women's Thesaurus, and Homosaurus. Drabinski and Belantara recorded hour-long oral histories with two representatives from each project, documenting the origins of each thesaurus, the political and social context from which they emerged, and the processes involved in their development and implementation. Introductory essays provide a context for each thesaurus in the history of information and activism in libraries. The book and accompanying digital files constitute the first primary source of its kind and a unique contribution to the history of metadata work in libraries. Capturing these stories through sound recording offers new ways of understanding the field of critical cataloging and classification as we hear the joy, frustration, urgency, and seriousness of critical metadata work. Find the Ways of Knowing project online at https://waysofknowing.org/. This interview also makes reference to Sorting Things Out: Classification and Its Consequences by Geoffrey C. Bowker and Susan Leigh Star, available open access from MIT Press. Amanda mentioned her online exhibit about the Chicano Studies Library, available at https://bibliopolitica.org/. Amanda Belantara is Assistant Curator at New York University Libraries. Emily Drabinski is Associate Professor and librarian at the City University of New York. Jen Hoyer is Technical Services and Electronic Resources Librarian at CUNY New York City College of Technology. She is co-author of What Primary Sources Teach: Lessons for Every Classroom (2022) and The Social Movement Archive (2021), and co-editor of Armed By Design: Posters and Publications of Cuba's Organization of Solidarity of the Peoples of Africa, Asia, and Latin America (2025). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literary-studies
Record-breaking sums of money are pouring into American politics — from billionaires spending hundreds of millions to dark money groups hiding their donors. These sums have given wealthy interests outsized access and influence — while the Federal Election Commission (FEC), created to enforce campaign finance laws, has become unable to fulfill its mission.In this episode, host Simone Leeper speaks with former FEC Commissioner Ellen Weintraub, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and Campaign Legal Center President Trevor Potter. Together, they trace how court rulings like Buckley v. Valeo, Citizens United v. FEC and SpeechNOW v. FEC opened the floodgates to unlimited political spending — and explore reforms that could restore transparency, strengthen the Federal Election Commission and curb the outsized role of big money in our democracy.Timestamps:(00:01) — Why was an FEC commissioner suddenly removed?(03:14) — How much money was spent in the 2024 election cycle?(07:00) — What campaign finance lessons came out of Watergate?(09:35) — What was the McCain-Feingold Act, and why did it matter?(10:45) — How did Citizens United and SpeechNow change U.S. elections?(13:41) — What is dark money and why is it dangerous?(15:18) — Why has the FEC failed to enforce campaign finance laws?(21:48) — How did Elon Musk become the biggest mega-donor in U.S. history?(24:14) — What government power did Musk gain after funding Trump?(30:03) — How has campaign finance evolved since Watergate?(33:41) — What reforms could reduce dark money and strengthen transparency?(40:57) — What must Congress do now to curb big money in politics? Host and Guests:Simone Leeper litigates a wide range of redistricting-related cases at Campaign Legal Center, challenging gerrymanders and advocating for election systems that guarantee all voters an equal opportunity to influence our democracy. Prior to arriving at CLC, Simone was a law clerk in the office of Senator Ed Markey and at the Library of Congress, Office of General Counsel. She received her J.D. cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in 2019 and a bachelor's degree in political science from Columbia University in 2016.Ellen L. Weintraub served as Commissioner and four-time Chair of the U.S. Federal Election Commission from 2002 to 2025. There, she advocated for meaningful campaign-finance law enforcement and robust disclosure and strove to combat "dark money" and foreign influence in our elections. She has been a critic of the system that gives disproportionate influence to billionaire donors and has refuted unfounded claims of voter fraud. On February 6, 2025, she was informed that the President was removing her from office.A graduate of Yale College and Harvard Law School, Weintraub has published articles in The New York Times, The Washington Post and leading law reviews and is a frequent speaker on news shows and at conferences at home and abroad. Previously, she practiced law at Perkins Coie LLP and was Counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives Ethics Committee. Sheldon Whitehouse represents Rhode Island in the U.S. Senate. Senator Whitehouse serves as a senior member of the Judiciary Committee and the Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Courts Subcommittee.Trevor Potter is President of the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center. A Republican former Chairman of the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Trevor was general counsel to John McCain's 2000 and 2008 presidential campaigns and an adviser to the drafters of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law. To many, he is perhaps best known for his recurring appearances on The Colbert Report as the lawyer for Stephen Colbert's super PAC, Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow, during the 2012 election, a program that won a Peabody Award for excellence in reporting on money in politics. The American Bar Association Journal has described Trevor as “hands-down one of the top lawyers in the country on the delicate intersection of politics, law and money.” He has provided testimony and written statements to Congress on federal election proposals, campaign finance regulation and, recently, the effects of the January 6th attack on our democracy. During the 2020 election season, Trevor was named to the cross-partisan National Task Force on Election Crises. Links:Democracy Decoded: Season 1, Episode 4 – CLC How Does the Citizens United Decision Still Affect Us in 2025? – CLC Dark Money Groups Are Pumping Millions Into the 2024 Election – CLC Elon Musk Stands to Gain Even More Wealth by Serving in Trump's Administration – CLC New CLC Report Examines FEC's Role in Letting Big Money Dominate Elections – CLC From Dysfunctional to Destructive (FEC Report) – CLC The Impact of Big Money and Secret Spending on Trump's Second Inauguration – CLC Have Wealthy Donors Bought the Trump Administration? – CLC Preventing Wealthy Special Interests from Using Shell Companies to Keep Their Political Spending Secret (Case Page) – CLC Opposing Special Interest Loopholes in Campaign Finance Law Enforcement — ECU v. FEC (Rick Scott Appeal - Case Page) – CLC CLC Steps Up to Promote Enforcement of Federal Campaign Finance Law (Case Page) – CLC Defending Federal Limits on Corporate Spending in Elections (Citizens United v. FEC - Case Page) – CLC Campaign Legal Center Releases New Report on the FEC's Deregulatory Trend – CLC The Agency That's Supposed To Provide Election Oversight Badly Needs Oversight – CLC Campaign Legal Center Letter Responds to President Trump's Unlawful Attempt to Exert Control Over the FEC – CLCAbout CLC:Democracy Decoded is a production of Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization dedicated to solving the wide range of challenges facing American democracy. Campaign Legal Center fights for every American's freedom to vote and participate meaningfully in the democratic process. Learn more about us.Democracy Decoded is part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what's broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
“Founding Fathers” like Washington or Jefferson have gigantic monuments in Washington, statues galore and palatial house-museums. But what about…Thomas Paine? The author of “Common Sense,” the pamphlet that brought the idea of American independence to the masses, was considered a hero after the American Revolution. But then he experienced a remarkable fall from grace, which ended in his burial in a pauper's grave and…well, some graverobbers disinterring his body and spreading his bones all over the world.Feelin' the Paine? Check out the biography “Thomas Paine: Enlightenment, Revolution, and the Birth of Modern Nations” by Craig Nelson, this Library of Congress article on Paine's bones, and a discussion of Paine's philosophy on this episode of the BBC's In Our Time. Or see his New Rochelle farmhouse (and…former grave) for yourself: https://www.thomaspainecottage.org/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
In this episode, Nick sits down with three amazing leaders of the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition (NABS). NABS is conducting an oral history project documenting the stories of boarding school survivors for the Library of Congress. The work of NABS includes development and implementation of a national strategy to increase public awareness and cultivate healing for the traumas experienced by those who attended these schools, their families and communities. At the heart of this work is healing. Join us as we dive into the cross-intersections of LANDBACK, truth, reconciliation, healing and boarding schools. GUESTS: Charlee Brissette, Sault St. Marie Tribe of Ojibwe Lacey Kinnart, Sault St. Marie Tribe of Ojibwe Jason Packineau, MHA Nation/Jemez/Laguna Pueblo LEARN MORE: boardingschoolhealing.org To learn about our big wins and hear stories from our grantees and loan relative across Turtle Island, read our 2024 Impact Report on our website at: https://ndncollective.org/impact-reports Support the For the People Campaign today! Your donation to NDN Collective directly supports Indigenous organizers, Nations, Tribes, and communities leading the fight for justice and liberation. Donate now to fund the frontlines, fuel the movement, and rematriate wealth. ndnco.cc/ftpcdonate For more ways to support, read our For the People Campaign blog: ndnco.cc/25ftpcbb1 EPISODE CREDITS: Host: Nick Tilsen Producer: Willi White Music: Mato Wayuhi Editor: Willi White Copywriter: Jordynn Paz Digital Engagement: Angie Solloa Production Support: Layne L. LeBeaux PRESS & MEDIA: press@ndncollective.org
The Supreme Court's destruction of our civil liberties under the 4th Amendment only took 1 paragraph. 2 federal courts today stop Trump's hostile take over of the Federal Reserve and the Library of Congress. The Supreme Court throws a 95 year precedent out long the morning trash and it only took 1 paragraph (sensing a theme here?). Former FBI Agents file a new lawsuit to get their jobs back. Trump's “forgery” birthday card to Jeffrey Epstein defense falls apart. All on the top rated Legal AF podcast with Michael Popok and Karen Friedman Agnifilo. Support Our Sponsors: Armra: Head to https://tryarmra.com/legalaf or enter promo code: LEGALAF to receive 15% off your first order! Qualia: Head to https://qualialife.com/LEGALAF and use promo code: LEGALAF at checkout for 15% off your purchase! Oracle: See if your company qualifies at https://Oracle.com/LEGALAF Fatty 15: Get an additional 15% off their 90-day subscription Starter Kit by going to https://fatty15.com/LEGALAF and using code LEGALAF at checkout. Subscribe to the NEW Legal AF Substack: https://substack.com/@legalaf Remember to subscribe to ALL the MeidasTouch Network Podcasts: MeidasTouch: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/meidastouch-podcast Legal AF: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/legal-af MissTrial: https://meidasnews.com/tag/miss-trial The PoliticsGirl Podcast: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-politicsgirl-podcast The Influence Continuum: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-influence-continuum-with-dr-steven-hassan Mea Culpa with Michael Cohen: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/mea-culpa-with-michael-cohen The Weekend Show: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-weekend-show Burn the Boats: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/burn-the-boats Majority 54: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/majority-54 Political Beatdown: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/political-beatdown On Democracy with FP Wellman: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/on-democracy-with-fpwellman Uncovered: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/maga-uncovered Coalition of the Sane: https://meidasnews.com/tag/coalition-of-the-sane Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jase prays his and Missy's second attempt at a joint speaking gig doesn't go as awry as the first. Al laments that no one saw his big Hollywood movie cameo. Missy takes on Washington, D.C., with Brave Books CEO Trent Talbot, reading books at the Library of Congress to champion wholesome, faith-guided story hours for kids. She describes how her hardest seasons built gratitude and a calling to help families trust the Lord. “Unashamed” Episode 1155 is sponsored by: https://chministries.org/unashamed — See why Christians are ditching health insurance for good. Get a simpler alternative at half the cost! https://bruntworkwear.com — Get $10 off at BRUNT when you use code UNASHAMED at checkout. https://duckstamp.com/ — Get your all-new digital duck stamp today. It's easier than ever!https://andrewandtodd.com or call 888-888-1172 — These guys are the real deal. Get trusted mortgage guidance and expertise from someone who shares your values! http://unashamedforhillsdale.com/ — Sign up now for free, and join the Unashamed hosts every Friday for Unashamed Academy Powered by Hillsdale College Listen to Not Yet Now with Zach Dasher on Apple, Spotify, iHeart, or anywhere you get podcasts. Chapters: 00:00–08:33 Changing Jase's Mind About Changing Clothes 08:35–13:48 Al's Hollywood Movie Cameo 13:49–21:03 Jase & Missy's Disastrous Joint Speaking Event 21:03–34:34 Don't Say No When God Says Yes 34:35–43:50 Hard Times Make Us Who We Are 43:40–59:56 Missy Reads Aloud at the Library of Congress — Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jane Cunningham Croly, who wrote under the pen name Jennie June, was a journalist who advocated for equality for women. She is most well known for founding one of the earliest clubs for women in the U.S. Research: Croly, Jennie June. “Jennie June's American Cookery Book, Containing Upwards of Twelve Hundred Choice and Carefully Tested Receipts.” Excelsior. 1878. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Jennie_June_s_American_Cookery_Book_Cont/enEEAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 Croly, J.C. “Sorosis: Its Origin and History.” New York. J.J. Little & Co. 1886. Accessed online: https://archive.org/details/sorosisitsorigin00crol/page/n3/mode/2up Croly, J.C. “Thrown on her own resources, or, What girls can do.” New York. T.Y. Crowell & Co. 1891. https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/100170730 Croly, J.C. “The history of the woman's club movement in America.” New York. H.G. Allen. 1898. https://archive.org/details/historywomanscl00clubgoog/page/n10/mode/2up “The Dickens Dinner.” Louisville Daily Courier. April 19, 1868. https://www.newspapers.com/image/119304180/?match=1&terms=%22Jennie%20June%22%20press%20club%20dickens https://web.archive.org/web/20120120014321/http://www.gfwc.org/gfwc/Jane_Cunningham_Croly.asp “Jane Cunningham Croly.” General Federation of Women’s Clubs. https://web.archive.org/web/20120120014321/http://www.gfwc.org/gfwc/Jane_Cunningham_Croly.asp “Jane Cunningham Croly.” National Women’s Hall of Fame. https://www.womenofthehall.org/inductee/jane-cunningham-croly/ “Jane Cunningham (“Jennie June”) Croly.” Ebsco. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/womens-studies-and-feminism/jane-cunningham-jennie-june-croly “Our Mission.” General Federation of Women’s Clubs. https://www.gfwc.org/who-we-are/ “Rockford Register (Rockford, Ill.) 1855-187?” Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn82014331 Morse, Caroline M., ed, and Woman’s Press Club of New York City, “Memories of Jane Cunningham Croly, ‘Jenny June,’” Produced by Ari J Joki and PG Distributed Proofreaders. Accessed online: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/12099/pg12099-images.html “The New York Sorosis.” The Charleston Daily News. Nov. 5, 1868. https://www.newspapers.com/image/87596013/?match=1&terms=sorosis Puchko, Kristy. “Journalist Jennie June Was "Having It All" in the 19th Century.” Mental Floss. April 14, 2015. https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/62964/journalist-jennie-june-was-having-it-all-19th-century “The Sorosis Lunch.” Chicago Evening Post. Sept. 28, 1868. https://www.newspapers.com/image/668238331/?match=1&terms=sorosis “Sorosis.” Leavenworth Daily Commercial. Aug. 11, 1868. https://www.newspapers.com/image/425238609/?match=1&terms=sorosis See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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