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“Following” usually means scrolling past someone's highlight reel. But Jesus calls us to something entirely different. Pastor Mike explores what it really meant when Jesus said, “Follow me”—and why some ordinary guys dropped everything to do it. You'll see that following Jesus isn't about casually liking his content but living under his direction. It's not always easy, but it's real, it's deep, and it leads to something far better than anything the world can offer.
A major Super Rugby Pacific clash is looming. The Blues are back at Eden Park, set to take on the Crusaders in a primetime match up tonight. The Crusaders will be looking to keep their momentum rolling after a dominant showing against the Chiefs last weekend, while the Blues will be aiming to bounce back after a final play defeat to the Brumbies. Lock for the Blues, Josh Beehre joined D'Arcy to preview the clash. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Question: What are some practical things to do to our environment to optimize for absorption in the holy name? First of all, make your bed in the morning. Make sure it's completely neat and clean, and then get everything out of your way; that's a distraction to you. Get rid of stuff you don't need. Don't pile up a bunch of junk in your room. If you collected teddy bears when you were a kid, start giving them away and get down to simplicity in your environment. Don't over-collect anything. And then, get rid of your phone. Lock it up, put it in another room, or turn it off. That's drastic—turn it all the way off! And your mind's going, "Wait a minute, where's that little glow that I'm so used to putting in front of my face?" It's a bane on society nowadays; it's actually a travesty that this thing has been invented. Steve Jobs didn't let his kids have iPods or iPhones—do you know that? Because he knew the harmful nature of it. So, shut down your phone, lock it up, put it in another county, and then start chanting. Make an inventory of those things that distract you and then put them somewhere else, out of reach. Baby-proof your room. Your mind's like a little baby: "I want this, I want that." So, you know ahead of time: put it out of reach so that you have every advantage. Practice being bored. The mind is going, "I'm bored," and so you say, "Good. That's good. Be bored." Better that than to be scrolling. And if you practice being bored, sooner or later, you are going to break through. Try for breakthrough. Don't be like everybody else, just getting carried along. Even so-called "smart" people in the world—they don't have this practice. So we're really lucky, and we should take full advantage of it and try to get into absorption. And if you do, Kṛṣṇa will help you. The mercy is there. It's not impossible; it's very, very possible. It's just that we have to practice a lot. We have to practice daily, and we've got to want it and make it a discipline. Then the mind will conform, and Kṛṣṇa will.. (21:55) (excerpt from the answer by HG Vaisesika Dasa) ------------------------------------------------------------ To connect with His Grace Vaiśeṣika Dāsa, please visit https://www.fanthespark.com/next-steps/ask-vaisesika-dasa/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=launch2025 https://vaisesikadasayatra.blogspot.com/ ------------------------------------------------------------ Add to your wisdom literature collection: https://iskconsv.com/book-store/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=launch2025 https://www.bbtacademic.com/books/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=launch2025 https://thefourquestionsbook.com/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=launch2025 ------------------------------------------------------------ Join us live on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FanTheSpark/ Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sound-bhakti/id1132423868 For the latest videos, subscribe https://www.youtube.com/@FanTheSpark For the latest in SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/fan-the-spark ------------------------------------------------------------ #spiritualawakening #soul #spiritualexperience #spiritualpurposeoflife #spiritualgrowthlessons #secretsofspirituality #vaisesikaprabhu #vaisesikadasa #vaisesikaprabhulectures #spirituality #bhaktiyoga #krishna #spiritualpurposeoflife #krishnaspirituality #spiritualusachannel #whybhaktiisimportant #whyspiritualityisimportant #vaisesika #spiritualconnection #thepowerofspiritualstudy #selfrealization #spirituallectures #spiritualstudy #spiritualquestions #spiritualquestionsanswered #trendingspiritualtopics #fanthespark #spiritualpowero
Thor fields questions from listeners about the online outburst from Javon Hargrave, if the Oregon safety is destined to be a Viking, thoughts on specific prospects, and more on this ‘Ask Thor Anything' edition of TTP!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
CBS Sports NFL Draft writer Josh Edwards
Alanna Rizzo, Katie Woo, and Clint Pasillas recap the Wednesday, March 4th game between Team Mexico and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Analysis, insight, fan reactions and more! Tyler Glasnow was mostly in control until he ran out of gas in his third inning of work. Are we seeing enough out of Glasnow to expect another step forward as a potential ace? The hosts discuss. Non-roster invitee Santiago Espinal continued his fine spring with another couple of hits. At this point, he appears to be a roster lock, but can he win out the opening day nod at second base? Katie shares her insight. Plus, the World Baseball Classic is upon us and the gang makes their tourney predictions on this edition of Dodgers Territory. Start your 7-day free trial today at FOXOne.com Check out DT merch at dodgersterritoryshop.com Support Guidry's Guardian at guidrysguardian.org Find Clint on YouTube at youtube.com/@alldodgers Follow Katie's work at The Athletic www.nytimes.com/athletic/author/katie-woo/ Subscribe to Dodgers Territory on YouTubeRate and review our podcast on Apple and SpotifySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This episode is the real February: the grief, the sickness we didn't see coming, the leadership stretch, the backend friction, and the growth that came because the systems held. I'm sharing what strengthened, what slipped, and what sharpened me as a wife, mom, and CEO so you can see what sustainable scale actually looks like in real life. This is about building a foundation that doesn't collapse when life gets full, and deciding your business matters enough to treat it that way. xoxo, Chelsi Jo . . . . . Watch the 20 Minute Operating System Masterclass Learn how to build your life + business operating system that holds when grief, sickness, launches, and leadership growth collide. https://chelsijo.co/workflowworkshop Join Systemize to Scale Before Prices Go Up April 1st! Systemize to Scale is my 12-month group coaching program where we build your complete life + business operating system, so you can scale without overwhelm. What's new inside: • Added office hours • More live coaching calls • Expanded bonuses • Quarterly strategic planning workbooks • Deeper scaling support for hiring and internships If you've been waiting… this is your last chance to snag it before prices go up! Lock in the current price before April 1. https://chelsijo.co/systemizetoscale
The Top 5 Issues Managing Multiple AI Agents in Production Managing 1-2 AI agents? Easy. Managing 20+? That's a different game entirely. After 9+ months running nearly 30 AI agents in production at SaaStr, we've learned what actually breaks at scale - and nobody's talking about it. This isn't about deployment tips or vendor selection. This is about the brutal realities that only emerge when you're juggling 20+ agents generating $1M+ in revenue.
This week Erik and Aidan discuss a few of the tournaments that that took place across the globe last week. In Dubai, Medvedev had a relatively easy run to the final where he was slated to play Talon Griekspoor before Griekspoor withdrew from the final with an injury. In Acapulco, the top seeds floundered and Flavio Cobolli rose to the occasion, defeating Frances Tiafoe in the final. Then in South America, another Italian Luciano Darderi emerged as the champion to wrap up the Golden Swing in South America. Stay tuned for a fun one and be sure to check back next week for another episode!ContentsDubai Recap 0:00Acapulco Recap 8:21Chile Recap 14:35Indian Wells Preview 18:20Stan Fact 23:44What's New 26:11Bet of the Week 29:45Match of the Week 31:32
Karl de la Guerra is the Founder and CEO of KDI Protective Services which provides executive protection, security services, protective intelligence, and training. On this episode Karl and I discuss current events, preparedness, and being a protector. You can find Karl and all KDI has to offer here https://www.teamkdi.com You can find our sponsor RallyPointISRSolutions here https://www.rallypointisrsolutions.com You can find our sponsor Absolute Security and Lock here http://absolutesecurityandlock.com You can find Greenville Combatives Academy, sign up for seminars, and the training Zane has to offer here https://greenvillecombatives.com The views, information, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and guest speakers and do not necessarily represent those of any associated organizations, employers, or sponsors. The opinions and views shared do not reflect the positions of our sponsors or their affiliated companies. This podcast is for entertainment and informational purposes only and should not be considered professional advice in any field including but not limited to legal, medical, financial, or technical matters. All content is provided "as is" without warranties of any kind. We make reasonable efforts to ensure accuracy but cannot guarantee that all information presented is correct, complete, or up-to-date. Listeners should verify any critical information independently. Guest opinions belong to them alone. Our interviews with various individuals do not constitute endorsement of their views, products, or services. By listening to this podcast, you agree that we are not responsible for any decisions you make based on the information provided. Please consult with qualified professionals before making important decisions related to your health, finances, or legal matters. This podcast may contain explicit language or mature themes. Listener discretion is advised. © 2025 The Distinguished Savage, Savage Concepts LLC
Crime Talk Store: https://scottreisch.com/crime-talk-store Lock up the rifle… or the system will lock you up. Shocking concept, right? A Georgia jury convicted Colin Gray on 27 counts for failing to secure the AR-15-style rifle used by his 14-year-old son in the Apalachee High School attack. Four lives were lost—students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, and teachers Richard Aspinwall and Cristina Irimie—and the warning signs weren't exactly subtle. Watch to the end for what this verdict means for parent accountability in future school shooting cases—subscribe for sharp legal breakdowns. #TrueCrime, #CrimeTalk, #SchoolShooting, #GunSafety, #LegalNews, #Georgia
The GoPowercat staff gathers to discuss the state of Kansas State football, basketball and baseball on this week's episode of the K-State Insiders. This week's show features GoPowercat managing editor Ryan Gilbert, GPC senior recruiting analyst Cole Carmody, staff writer Grant Snowden, and Wyatt Wheeler, the K-State beat writer for the state's Gannett newspapers. Are you enjoying our free video coverage of the Wildcats? Lock in at GoPowercat with a VIP subscription and unlock everything we have to offer. Our premium message board — Wabash Station — is a fan-favorite, as K-State nation joins together with non-stop discussion, debates and banter. Whether you want to join in on the action and post your thoughts on a daily basis or just sit back and see what people are saying, everyone has a place on Wabash Station. With premium scoop from our staff members, along with constant recruiting updates, Wabash Station is the place to be. But gaining access to Wabash Station only scratches the surface. While some articles are free, a good chunk of our written content is available exclusively for VIPs at GoPowercat. Whether it's top-notch breakdowns or unfiltered analysis, our VIP articles offer insight found nowhere else. Longtime publisher Tim Fitzgerald has assembled a one-of-a-kind crew. His right-hand man, Ryan Gilbert, serves as managing editor, overseeing the day-to-day operations on the site. Recruiting editor Cole Carmody not only keeps you in the loop with all things recruiting but also pitches in with cerebral football coverage. Jon Grove and Grant Snowden, both current journalism students at K-State, provide a fresh perspective on the Wildcats. Ethan Fitzgerald is the true jack of all trades, covering everything from women's basketball to soccer. Former offensive lineman Brien Hanley and former defensive back Monte Spiller also proudly contribute to GoPowercat with unmatched football knowledge. On the basketball side, GoPowercat is also blessed to have Clent Stewart on board, as the former K-State guard from 2004-08 is a literal hoops expert. So, what are you waiting for? Sign up to GoPowercat now! CLICK HERE AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OUR CURRENT OFFER To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
If you keep digging up the seeds of what you want, you'll always be starting over—and you'll become the greatest obstacle to your own growth. Stop letting external circumstances steer your direction. Recalibrate your mindset. Lock in on your vision and let it become an obsession.Join Mykie and Arash as they break down why real momentum begins when you stop reacting to outcomes and start mastering your focus. They unpack the two core principles behind building real wealth, what it truly means to detach from your circumstances, and how to reclaim control over how you feel, no matter what's happening around you. Thanks for listening!Key Points From This Episode:Why being controlled by your current results is a dangerous way to live.The consequence of being addicted to your old self. Two things that create great wealth. Not getting emotionally involved in your results.Developing the most positive, prosperous mental attitude.What happens when you are overly focused on the outside circumstances.Why we have to stop operating from the physical side of our personality.Arash explains how you can check whether you're reacting or responding.Tracking goal progress without becoming emotionally involved.Don't stack your bad days.He defines what it truly means to detach from your circumstances.How to recognize whether the outside circumstances have stopped affecting you.The empowering nature of taking control of how you feel within yourself (not based on anything or anyone else!)What Arash means by accepting an idea.Today's main takeaway. Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:Voss Coaching CoVoss Coaching Co on LinkedIn Voss Coaching Co on InstagramVoss Coaching Co on FacebookMykie Stiller on LinkedInMykie Stiller on Instagram Arash Vossoughi on LinkedInArash Vossoughi on YouTube
Fantasy football is unpredictable, but your internet price doesn't have to be. Lock in fast, reliable WiFi with Xfinity's 5-Year Price Guarantee.https://ad.doubleclick.net/ddm/trackclk/N8667.5415713FLNEWSLETTERLLC/B34798571.4365895[…]gdpr=${GDPR};gdpr_consent=${GDPR_CONSENT_755};ltd=;dc_tdv=1We're back with another episode of Fantasy Life with Ian Hartitz and in today's episode Ian is joined by fantasy football expert Dwain "The Rock" McFarland to break down everything you need to know about the wide receiver position heading into NFL free agency.This offseason's wide receiver free agent class is maybe not as deep as some may like — buit where these players end up will completely reshape fantasy football drafts for 2026.We break down every WR that matters this offseason, from the headliners to the names flying under the radar. For each player, we cover what they did in 2025, the landing spots that make sense, and what it all means for your fantasy team next season.In today's episode: Is Alec Pierce really the best free agent WR? Are the Bills honing in on Rashid Shaheed? Can Mike Evans produce somewhere other than Tampa? We're breaking down all this and so much more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This week's topics: • Helping people on the street asking for help • Fake help stories • English v Yoruba sensual language • Checking taxes • Yoruba not having its own text / characters • African languages being lost due to colonization • Racial Tourette outburst at the Brits • BBC's issue with quality control • Gen pop's ignorance on Tourette's • Should people with Tourette's always have to apologise • Gianluca Prestianni alleged racial abuse to Vinicius Jnr • How to deal with receiving racism in football • Vinicius Jnr crying in press conferences over racism • Football players violent outbursts • Mourinho's disappointing views on racial incident • Irish MP, Thomas Gould, gaining notoriety for having a Jamaican sounding accent • The connection between Ireland and Jamaica • If indigenous Jamaicans could pass for Black or not • Are indigenous people from around the world, Black? • Farmers being systematically eradicated for nefarious purposes • The 'mark' being placed onto people as a mode of control • GM fruits with no seeds • The problems with removing cash • Gold & Silver at record highs • AI bubble burst • Lock down test • #StavrosSays : Nigerian Modernism @ Tate Modern [https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/nigerian-modernism] & Los Angeles: A Visual Lineage @ Woodbury House [https://artplugged.co.uk/los-angeles-a-visual-lineage-woodbury-house/] Connect with us at & send your questions & comments to: #ESNpod so we can find your comments www.esnpodcast.com www.facebook.com/ESNpodcasts www.twitter.com/ESNpodcast www.instagram.com/ESNpodcast @esnpodcast on all other social media esnpodcast@gmail.com It's important to subscribe, rate and review us on your apple products. You can do that here... www.bit.ly/esnitunes
MMA Lock of the Night is back to give you breakdowns and predictions for UFC 326: Holloway vs Oliveira 2. Also on the card, Borralho vs de Ridder, Font vs Rosas Jr, Dober vs Johnson, and Rodrigues vs Ferreira.
What happens when a childhood dream refuses to let go? In this episode, I sit down with cartoonist and Lum and Abner historian Donnie Pitchford to explore how old-time radio, comic strips, and a love for storytelling shaped his life. Donnie shares how he grew up inspired by classic radio shows like Lum and Abner, pursued art despite setbacks, and eventually brought the beloved Pine Ridge characters back to life through a modern comic strip and audio adaptations. We talk about creativity, persistence, radio history, and why imagination still matters in a visual world. If you care about classic radio, cartooning, or staying true to your calling, I believe you will find this conversation both inspiring and practical. Highlights: 00:10 Discover how a childhood love of Lum and Abner sparked a lifelong dream of becoming a cartoonist. 08:00 Hear how college radio and classic broadcasts deepened a passion for old time radio storytelling. 14:33 Understand how years of teaching broadcast journalism built the skills that later fueled creative success. 23:17 Learn how the Lum and Abner comic strip was revived with family approval and brought to modern audiences. 30:07 Explore how two actors created an entire town through voice and imagination alone. 1:00:16 Hear the vision for keeping Lum and Abner alive for new generations through comics and audio. Top of Form Bottom of Form About the Guest: Donnie Pitchford of Texas is a graduate of Kilgore College, Art Instruction Schools, Stephen F. Austin State University and the University of Texas at Tyler. He has worked in the graphic arts industry and in education, teaching at Hawkins High School, Panola College, and Carthage High School at which he spent 25 years directing CHS-TV, where student teams earned state honors, including state championships, for 20 consecutive years. In 2010, Donnie returned to the endeavor he began at age five: being a cartoonist! The weekly “Lum and Abner" comic strip began in 2011. It is available online and in print and includes an audio production for the blind which features the talents of actors and musicians who donate their time. Donnie has created comic book stories and art for Argo Press of Austin, illustrated children's books, written scripts for the "Dick Tracy" newspaper strip, and produced the science fiction comedy strip "Tib the Rocket Frog." He has collaborated with award-winning writers and cartoonists George Wildman, Nicola Cuti, John Rose, Mike Curtis, Joe Staton, and others. In 2017, Donnie began assisting renowned sculptor Bob Harness and currently sculpts the portraits for the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame plaques. Awards include the 1978 Kilgore College "Who's Who" in Art, an Outstanding Educator Award from the East Texas Chapter of the Texas Society of CPAs in 1993, the CHS "Pine Burr" Dedicatee honor in 2010, and a Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2018 from Spring Hill High School. In 2024, Donnie was inducted into the City of Carthage Main Street Arts Walk of Fame which included the placement of a bronze plaque in the sidewalk and the Key to the City. Donnie and his best friend/wife, Laura, are members of First Methodist Church Carthage, Texas. Donnie is a founding officer of the National Lum and Abner Society and a member of Texas Cartoonists, Ark-La-Tex Cartoonists, Christian Comic Arts Society, and the National Cartoonists Society. Ways to connect with Michaela**:** https://www.facebook.com/groups/220795254627542 https://lumandabnercomics.com/ About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset . Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes: Michael Hingson 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us. Michael Hingson 01:21 Well, hi everyone, and welcome to another episode of unstoppable mindset. I've been looking forward to this one for a while. We have Donny Pitchford as our guest today. You're probably going, who's Donnie Pitchford? Well, let me tell you. So years ago, I started collecting old radio shows. And one of the first shows that I got was a half hour episode of a show called Lum and Abner, which is about a couple of characters, if you will, in Pine Ridge, Arkansas. And I had only heard the half hour show sponsored by frigid air. But then in 1971 when ksi, out here in Los Angeles, the 50,000 watt Clear Channel station, started celebrating its 50 year history, they started broadcasting as part of what they did, 15 minute episodes of lemon Abner. And I became very riveted to listening to lemon Abner every night, and that went on for quite a while. And so I've kept up with the boys, as it were. Well, a several years ago, some people formed a new Lum and Abner society, and Donnie Pitchford is part of that. I met Donnie through radio enthusiast of Puget Sound, and yesterday, USA. And so we clearly being interested in old radio and all that, had to have Donnie come on and and talk with us. So Donnie, or whatever character you're representing today, welcome to unstoppable mindset. Donnie Pitchford 02:58 Huh? I'm glad to be here. Michael Hingson 03:00 He does that very well, doesn't he? It's a Donnie Pitchford 03:04 little tough sometimes. Well, I'm really glad to be here. Thank you. Michael Hingson 03:10 Well, I appreciate the audio parts of lemon Abner that you you all create every week, and just the whole society. It's great to keep that whole thing going it's kind of fun. We're glad that that it is. But let's, let's talk about you a little bit. Why don't you start by telling us about the early Donnie, growing up and all that. I'm assuming you were born, and so we won't worry about that. But beyond that, think so, yeah. Well, there you are. Tell us about tell us about you and growing up and all that, and we'll go from there. Donnie Pitchford 03:42 Well, I was born in East Texas and left for a little while. We lived in my family lived in Memphis, Tennessee for about seven years, and then moved back to Texas in 1970 but ever since I was a kid this I hear this from cartoonists everywhere. Most of them say I wanted to be a cartoonist when I was five years old. So that's in fact, I had to do a speech for the Texas cartoonist chapter of the National Cartoonist Society. And that was my start. I was going to say the same thing, and the President said, Whatever you do, don't do that old bit about wanting to be a cartoonist at age five. Everybody does that, so I left that part out, but that's really what I wanted to do as a kid. And I would see animated cartoons. I would read the Sunday comics in the Memphis Commercial Appeal, and then at some point, my dad would talk about radio, and my mother would talk about listening to radio. We would have the reruns of the Lone Ranger television show and things like Sky King and other programs along those lines, and my parents would all. Way say, Well, I used to listen to that on the radio, or I would hear Superman on the radio, or Amos and Andy or whatever was being rerun at that time, and that fascinated me. And I had these vague memories of hearing what I thought were television programs coming over the radio when I was about two years old. I remember gunshots. I remember, you know, like a woman crying and just these little oddball things. I was about two years old, and I kept thinking, Well, why are we picking up television programs on my mother's radio? Turns out it was the dying gasps of what we now call old time radio. And so at least I remembered that. But when I was about, I guess eight or nine we were, my dad took me to lunch at alums restaurant in Memphis, and I saw that name, and I thought, What in the world? So what kind of name is that? And my dad told me about London Abner, and he said it reminds me. It reminded him of the Andy Griffith Show or the Beverly Hillbillies. I said, I'd love to hear that. He said, Ah, you'll never hear it. He said, those were live they don't exist, but years later, I got to hear them. So yeah, but that's how I grew up wanting to be a cartoonist and coming up with my own characters and drawing all the time and writing stories and that sort of thing. Michael Hingson 06:24 So when did you move back from Memphis to Texas? Donnie Pitchford 06:28 July 2, 1970 I just happened to look that up the other day. How old were you then? I was 12 when we came back. All right, so got into, I was in junior high, and trying to, I was trying to find an audience for these comic strips I was drawing on notebook paper. And finally, you know, some of the kids got into them, and I just continued with that goal. And I just, I knew that soon as possible, you know, I was going to start drawing comics professionally. So I thought, but kept, you know, I kept trying. Michael Hingson 07:06 So you, you went on into college. What did you do in college? Donnie Pitchford 07:11 Well, more of the same. I started listening to some old time radio shows even as far back as as high school. And I was interested in that went to college, first at a college called Kill Gore College, here in East Texas, and then to Stephen F Austin State University. And I was majoring in, first commercial art, and then art education. And I thought, well, if I can't go right into comics, you know, maybe I can just teach for a while. I thought I'll do that for a couple of years. I thought it wouldn't be that long. But while I was at Stephen F Austin State University, the campus radio station, I was so pleased to find out ran old time radio shows. This was in 1980 there was a professor named Dr Joe Oliver, who had a nightly program called theater of the air. And I would hear this voice come over the radio. He would run, he Well, one of the first, the very first 15 minute lemon Abner show I ever heard was played by Dr Oliver. He played Jack Benny. He played the whistler suspense, just a variety of them that he got from a syndicated package. And I would hear this voice afterwards, come on and say, It's jazz time. I'm Joe Oliver. And I thought, Where have I heard that voice? It was, it's just a magnificent radio voice. Years later, I found out, well, I heard that voice in Memphis when I was about 10 years old on W, R, E, C, radio and television. He was working there. He lived in Memphis about the same time we did. Heard him on the campus station at Nacogdoches, Texas. Didn't meet him in person until the late 90s, and it was just an amazing collection of coincidences. And now, of course, we're good friends. Now he's now the announcer for our audio comic strip. So it's amazing how all that came about. Well, I Michael Hingson 09:16 I remember listening to sort of the last few years of oval radio. I think it was, I don't remember the date now, whether it's 57 or 50 I think it's 57 the Kingston Trio had come out with the song Tom Dooley, and one day I was listening to K and X radio in Los Angeles. We lived in Palmdale, and I heard something about a show called suspense that was going to play the story of Tom Dooley. And I went, sounds interesting, and I wanted to know more about it, so I listened. And that started a weekly tradition with me every Sunday, listening to yours truly Johnny dollar and suspense, and they had a little bit of the FBI and peace and war. Then it's went into half and that that went off and Have Gun Will Travel came on, and then at 630 was Gun Smoke. So I listened to radio for a couple of hours every week, not every Sunday night, and thoroughly enjoyed it. And so that's how I really started getting interested in it. Then after radio went off the air a few stations out in California and on the LA area started playing old radio shows somebody started doing because they got the syndicated versions of the shadow and Sherlock Holmes with Sir John Gielgud and Sir Ralph Richardson. And I still maintain to this day that John Gielgud is the best Sherlock Holmes. No matter what people say about Basil Rathbone and I still think Sir John Gielgud was the best Sherlock Holmes. He was very, very good. Yeah, he was and so listen to those. But you know, radio offers so much. And even with, with, with what the whole lemon Abner shows today. My only problem with the lemon Abner shows today is they don't last nearly long enough. But that's another story. Donnie Pitchford 11:11 Are you talking about the comic strip adaptation? Okay, you know how long, how much art I would have to 11:21 do every week. Michael Hingson 11:25 Oh, I know, but they're, they're fun, and, you know, we, we enjoy them, but so you So you met Joe, and as you said, He's the announcer. Now, which is, which is great, but what were you doing then when you met him? What kind of work were you doing at the time? Donnie Pitchford 11:45 Well, of course, there was a gap there of about, I guess, 15 years after college, before I met him. And what ended up happening my first teaching job was an art job, a teaching art and graphic arts at a small high school in Hawkins, Texas, and that was a disaster. Wasn't a wasn't a very good year for me. And so I left that, and I had worked in the printing industry, I went back to that, and that was all during the time that the National London Abner society was being formed. And so I printed their earliest newsletters, which came out every other month. And we started having conventions in MENA, Arkansas and in the real Pine Ridge and the my fellow ossifers As we we call ourselves, and you hear these guys every week on the lemon Abner comic strip. Sam Brown, who lives in Illinois, Tim Hollis, from Alabama. Tim is now quite a published author who would might be a good guest for you one day, sure. And just two great guys. We had a third officer early on named Rex riffle, who had to leave due to various illnesses about 1991 but we started having our conventions every year, starting in 1985 we had some great guests. We brought in everybody we could find who worked with lemon Abner or who knew lemon Abner. We had their their head writer, Roswell Rogers. We had actors, I'm sure you've heard of Clarence Hartzell. He was Ben withers, of course, on the Old Vic and Sade show. He was Uncle Fletcher. We had Willard Waterman, parley Bayer, some of their announcers, Wendell Niles. And my memory is going to start failing me, because there were so many, but we had Bob's, Watson, Louise curry, who were in their first two movies. We had Kay Lineker, who was in their third movie. The list goes on and on, but we had some amazing when did Chester lock pass away? He passed away? Well, Tuffy passed away first, 1978, 78 and Chet died in 1980 sad. Neither of them, yeah, we didn't get to media. Yeah, we didn't meet either one of them. I've met Mrs. Lock I've met all of chet's children, several grandchildren. We spoke to Mrs. Goff on the phone a time or two, and also, tuffy's got toughie's daughter didn't get to meet them in person, but we met as many of the family as we could. Michael Hingson 14:32 Still quite an accomplishment all the way around. And so you you taught. You didn't have success. You felt really much at first, but then what you taught for quite a while, though, Donnie Pitchford 14:45 didn't you? Yes, I went back to the printing industry for about a year, and in the summer of 85 about two weeks before school started, I had got a call that they needed someone to teach Broadcast Journalism at. Carthage High School, and we had a department called CHS TV. I ran that for 25 years. I taught classes. We produced a weekly television program, weekly radio program. We did all kinds of broadcasts for the school district and promotional video. And then in the last I think it was the last 10 years or so that I worked there, we started an old time radio show, and we were trying to come up with a title for it, and just as a temporary placeholder, we called it the golden age of radio. Finally, we said, well, let's just use that, and I think it's been used by other people since, but, but that was the title we came up with. I think in 19 I think it was in 93 or 9495 somewhere in there. We started out. We just ran Old Time Radio, and the students, I would have them research and introduce, like, maybe 45 minutes of songs, of music, you know, from the 30s, 40s, maybe early 50s, big band and Sinatra and Judy Garland and you name it. Then, when the classes would change, we would always start some type of radio program that was pre recorded that would fill that time, so the next class could come in and get in place and and everybody participated, and they went out live over our cable television channel, and we would just run a graphic of a radio and maybe have some announcements or listing of what we were playing. And we did that for several years, usually maybe two or three times a year. And then in I think it was 2004 or so, we had an offer from a low power FM station, which was another another county over, and we started doing a Sunday night, one hour program each week. And I think we ended up doing close to 300 of those before I left. And so we got old time radio in there, one way or the other. Michael Hingson 17:03 Well, I remember. I remember, for me, I went to UC Irvine in the fall of 1968 and by the spring the last quarter of my freshman year, I had started getting some old radio shows. So started playing shows, and then in the fall, I started doing a three hour show on Sunday night called the Radio Hall of Fame, and we did radio every night. And what I didn't know until, actually, fairly recently, was our mutual friend Walden Hughes actually listened to my show on Sunday, and so did the gas means actually, but, but we had a low power station as well, but it made it up, and so people listened to it. And I've always been proud of the fact that during the fact that during the time I ran the Radio Hall of Fame, I'd heard of this show called 60 minutes with a guy named Mike Wallace, but never got to see it. And then it was only much later that I actually ended up starting to watch 60 Minutes. Course, I always loved to say I would have loved to have met, met Mike Wallace and never got to do it, but I always said he had criminal tendencies. I mean, my gosh, what do you think he was the announcer on radio for the Green Hornet, a criminal show, right? Sky King, a lot of criminals. Clearly the guy. Anyway, I would have been fun to meet him, but, Donnie Pitchford 18:31 and his name was Myron. Myron Wallach at the time. Wallach, you're right. I think that's right. Michael Hingson 18:37 But it was, it was fun and and so I've actually got some Sky King shows and green Hornets with him. So it's, it's kind of cool, but Right? You know, I still really do believe that the value of radio is it makes you imagine more. I've seen some movies that I really like for that the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers with Kevin McCarthy back in 1955 I thought was such a good movie because they didn't show the plants taking over the humans. It was all left to your imagination, which was so cool, and they changed all that in the later remake of it with Leonard Nimoy, which I didn't think was nearly as good, not nearly as suspenseful. But anyway, that's just my opinion. But radio, for me was always a and continues to be a part of what I like to do. And so I've been collecting shows and and enjoying and, of course, listening to lemon Abner, So what made you decide to finally end teaching? Donnie Pitchford 19:38 Well, you know, I could only do that so long. I was getting I was getting very tired, getting kind of burned out, and I had to have a change. There's something had to change. And I was able to take a few years early and retire, and I still the whole time I had a. That it was like a haunting feeling. I, you know, I wanted to be a cartoonist. I would pray, you know, you know, Lord, is there some way can I, can I get out of this? And can I do what I really want to do? And I had some mentors that was finally able to meet people that I would write letters to as a kid, a cartoonist and comic book editor named George Wildman was one of them. He was nice enough to answer my letters when I was a kid, and I'd send him drawings, and he would encourage me, or he would send little corrections on there, you know. And another one was a gentleman named high Eisemann, who passed away recently at age 98 on his birthday, but men like this inspired me, and that it kept at me through the years. I finally met George in 1994 at a convention of the the international Popeye fan club. And I'm I'm at high the same way, and also a writer named Nicola Cuddy, who wrote some Popeye comics. I met him the same way, same event, we all became friends, and I had a good friend named Michael Ambrose of Austin, Texas, who published a magazine devoted to the Charlton Comics company. Sadly, he's deceased now, but Mike and I were talking before I retired, and finally I got out of it. And he said, now that you're out of that job, how would you like to do some art? I said, That's what I want to do. So he gave me the opportunity to do my first published work, which was a portrait of artist George Wildman. It was on the cover of a magazine called Charlton spotlight, then I did some work for Ben Omar, who is bear Manor media publisher for some books that he was doing. One was Mel Blanc biography that Noel blank wrote, did some illustrations for that. This was all happening in 2010 and after that. So I was getting it was getting rolling, doing the kind of work I really wanted to do. And there's a gentleman named Ethan nobles in Benton, Arkansas, who wanted to interview me. I'd gotten, I don't know how he I forgot how he got in touch with me. Maybe he heard me on yesterday USA could be wanted to interview me about London Abner. And so he was starting a website called first Arkansas news. And somewhere in early 2011 we were talking, and I said, you know, you want this to be an online newspaper, right? He said, Yes. I said, What about comics? He said, I hadn't thought about that. So I said, Well, you know, you're a big Lum and Abner fan. What if we could we do a Lum and Abner comic strip? He said, Well, who would Where would I get? Who would do? And I said, Me. So I drew up some proposals, I drew some model sheets, and we did about four weeks of strips, and got approval from Chester lock Jr, and he suggested there's some things he didn't like. He said, The lum looks too sinister. He looks mean. Well, he's mad. He said he's mad at Abner. This won't happen every week. He said, Okay, I don't want LOM to be I said, Well, you know, they get mad at each other. That's part of the that's the conflict and the comedy Michael Hingson 23:30 at each other. Yeah. Donnie Pitchford 23:33 So we, we ironed it all out, and we came up with a financial agreement, and had to pay royalties and one thing and another, and we started publishing online in June 2011, and about six weeks later, the MENA newspaper, the MENA star in MENA, Arkansas, which was the birthplace of Lyman, Abner, Chet Locke and Norris Goff, they picked it up, and then we had a few other newspapers pick it up. And you know, we're not, we're not worldwide, syndicated in print, but we're getting it out there. And of course, we're always online, but and the first Arkansas news went under three or four years later, and so now we have our own website, which is Lum and Abner comics.com so that's where you can find us Michael Hingson 24:24 online. So where's Pine Ridge? Donnie Pitchford 24:28 Pine Ridge is about 18 miles from Mena, Arkansas. MENA is in western Arkansas, and Pine Ridge is about 18 miles east, I believe I'm trying to picture it in my mind, but it's it's down the road, and it actually exists. It was a little community originally named for a postmaster. It was named waters, waters, Arkansas, and in 1936 the real. At cuddleston. He was a real person who owned a store there in waters, and was friends with the locks and the golfs with their parents, as well as Chet and Tuffy. But he proposed a publicity stunt and an actual change of name to name the community Pine Ridge. So that's how that happened. Michael Hingson 25:24 Now, in the original 15 minute episodes, who is the narrator? Donnie Pitchford 25:28 Well, it depends what era their first one trying to remember. Now, Gene Hamilton was an early announcer in the Ford days, which was the early 30s. We don't have anything recorded before that. Charles Lyon was one of the early announcers, possibly for for Quaker Oats. I don't have any notes on this in front of me. I'm just going on memory here. Memory at the end of a long week. Gene Hamilton was their Ford announcer. Carlton brickert announced the Horlicks malt and milk did the commercials when they 1934 to 38 or so. Lou Crosby took over when they were sponsored by General Foods, by post them, the post them commercials, and Lou stayed with them on into the Alka Seltzer era. And his daughter, the celebrity daughter, is Kathie Lee Crosby, you may remember, right, and she and her sister Linda, Lou were a couple of our guests at the National lemon Avenue society convention in 1996 I think let's see. Crosby was Gene Baker came after Crosby, and then in the 30 minute days, was Wendell Niles. Wendell Niles, yeah, in the CBS the 30 minute series and Wendell. We also had him in Mina, super nice guy when it came, when it got into the later ones, 1953 54 I don't remember that announcer's name. That's when they got into the habit of having Dick Huddleston do the opening narration, which is why we now have Sam Brown as Dick Huddleston doing that every week. Michael Hingson 27:27 So was it actually Dick Huddleston? No, it Donnie Pitchford 27:30 was North golf, tough. He always played the part of Dick Huddleston. Okay, the only, the only time that, as far as I know, the only time the real dick Huddleston was on network radio, was at that ceremony in Little Rock Arkansas, when they changed the name of the town that the real dick Huddleston spoke at that event. And we actually, we discovered a recording of that. I was just gonna ask if there's a recording of that there is. Yeah, it's on 12 inch, 78 RPM discs. Wow. And they were probably the personal discs of lock and golf, and they weren't even labeled. And I remember spinning that thing when Sam Brown and I after we found it, it was down in Houston, and we brought them a batch of discs back, and I remember spinning that thing and hearing the theme song being played, I said, this sounds like a high school band. And suddenly we both got chills because we had heard that. I don't know if it was the Little Rock High School band or something, but it's like, Can this be? Yes, it was. It was. We thought it was long lost, but it was that ceremony. Wow. So that was a great find. Michael Hingson 28:45 Well, hopefully you'll, you'll play that sometime, or love to get a copy, but, Donnie Pitchford 28:50 yeah, we've, we have we played it on yesterday, USA. Oh, okay, so it's out there. Michael Hingson 28:57 Well, that's cool. Well, yeah, I wondered if Dick Huddleston actually ever was directly involved, but, but I can, can appreciate that. As you said, Tuffy Goff was the person who played him, which was, that's still that was pretty cool. They were very talented. Go ahead, Donnie Pitchford 29:19 I was gonna say that's basically tough. He's natural speaking voice, yeah, when you hear him as Dick Huddleston, Michael Hingson 29:24 they're very talented people. They played so many characters on the show. They did and and if you really listen, you could tell, but mostly the voices sounded enough different that they really sounded like different people all the time. Donnie Pitchford 29:41 Well, the fun thing are the episodes where, and it's carefully written, but they will, they will do an episode where there may be seven or eight people in the room and they get into an argument, or they're trying to all talk at the same time, and you completely forget that it's only two guys, because they will overlap. Those voices are just so perfectly overlapped and so different, and then you stop and you listen. So wait a minute, I'm only hearing two people at a time, but the effect is tremendous, the fact that they were able to pull that off and fool the audience. Michael Hingson 30:15 I don't know whether I'd say fool, but certainly entertained. Well, yeah, but they also did have other characters come on the show. I remember, yes, Diogenes was that was a lot of fun listening to those. Oh yeah, yeah, that was Frank Graham. Frank Graham, right, right, but, but definitely a lot of fun. So you eventually left teaching. You decided you accepted jobs, starting to do cartoons. What were some of the other or what, well, what were some of the first and early characters that you cartooned, or cartoons that you created, Donnie Pitchford 30:50 just, you mean, by myself or Well, or with people, either way, I did some things that were not published, you know, just just personal characters that I came up with it would mean nothing to anybody, but a little bit later on, I did a little bit of I did a cover for a Popeye comic book. Maybe 10 years ago, I finally got a chance to work with George Wildman, who was the fellow I talked about earlier, and it was some of the last work he did, and this was with Michael Ambrose of Argo press out of Austin, Texas. And we did some early characters that had been published by Charlton Comics. They had, they had characters, they were, they were rip offs. Let's be honest. You know Harvey had Casper the Friendly Ghost. Well, Charlton had Timmy, the timid ghost. There, there was Mighty Mouse. Well, Charlton Comics had atomic mouse, so and there was an atomic rabbit. And Warner Brothers had Porky Pig. Charlton had pudgy pig, but that was some of George's earliest work in the 1950s was drawing these characters, and George was just he was a master Bigfoot cartoonist. I mean, he was outstanding. And so Mike said, let's bring those characters back. They're public domain. We can use them. So I wrote the scripts. George did the pencil art. Well, he inked the first few, but Mike had me do hand lettering, which I don't do that much. So it was that was a challenge. And my friend high Iseman taught lettering for years and years, and so I was thinking, high is going to see this? This has to be good. So I probably re lettered it three times to get it right, but we did the very last story we did was atomic rabbit and pudgy pig was a guest star, and then George's character named brother George, who was a little monk who didn't speak, who lived, lived in a monastery, and did good deeds and all that sort of thing. He was in there, and this was the last thing we did together. And George said, you know, since I've got these other projects, he said, Do you think you can, you can ink this? So that was a great honor to actually apply the inks over George's pencil work. And I also did digital color, but those were some things I worked on, and, oh, at one point we even had Lum and Abner in the Dick Tracy Sunday comic strip, and that was because of a gentleman named Mike Curtis, who was the writer who lived in Arkansas, was very familiar with Lum and Abner, and he got in touch with me and asked, this was in 2014 said, Would it be possible for me to use Lum and Abner in a Sunday cameo? So I contacted the locks. First thing they first thing Chet said was how much I said, I don't think they're going to pay us. I felt like, Cedric, we hunt, no mom, you know. And I felt like he was squire skimp at the time, yeah, but I said, it's just going to be really good publicity. So he finally went for it, and Lum and Abner had a cameo in a Sunday Dick Tracy comic strip, and about four years later, they honored me. This was Mike Curtis, the writer, and Joe Staton, the artist, who was another guy that I grew up reading from as a teenager, just a tremendous artist, asked if they could base a character on me. And I thought, what kind of murderer is he going to be? You know, it was going to be idiot face or what's his name, you know. So no, he was going to be a cartoonist, and the name was Peter pitchblende. Off, and he was, he said his job was to illustrate a comic strip about a pair of old comedians. So, I mean, who couldn't be honored by that? Yeah, so I don't remember how long that story lasted, but it was an honor. I mean, it was just great fun. And then then I had a chance to write two weeks of Dick Tracy, which was fun. I wrote the scripts for it and and then there's some other things. I was able to work with John rose, a tremendously nice guy who is the current artist on Barney Google and Snuffy Smith. We did a story, a comic book story, on Barney Google on Snuffy Smith in a magazine called Charleton spotlight, and I did the colors, digital coloring for that. So just these are just great honors to me to get to work with people like that. And Nick Cuddy, I did some inking, lettering coloring on some of his work. So just great experience, and Michael Hingson 36:02 great people, going back to atomic rabbit and pudgy pig, no one ever got in trouble with, from Warner Brothers with that, huh? Donnie Pitchford 36:09 Well, not, not on atomic rabbit, however, pudgy pig created a problem because George was doing some art, and I think somebody from Warner Brothers said he looks too much like Porky, so the editor at the time said, make one of his ears hang down, make him look a little different. But pudgy didn't last long. Pudgy was only around maybe two or three issues of the comic book, so, but yeah, that's George. Said they did have some trouble with that. Michael Hingson 36:44 Oh, people, what do you do? Yeah, well, I know you sent us a bunch of photos, and we have some of the Dick Tracy ones and others that people can go see. But what? What finally got you all to start the whole lemon Abner society. Donnie Pitchford 37:07 Oh, well, that goes back to 1983 right, and I'll go back even farther than that. I told you that my dad had mentioned lemon Abner to me as a kid. Dr Joe Oliver played a 15 minute lemon Abner show on KSA you at Stephen F Austin State University. That got me. I was already into old time radio, but it was the next summer 1981 there's a radio station, an am station in Gilmer, Texas Christian radio station that started running Lum and Abner every day. First it was 530 in the evening, and then I think they switched it to 1215 or so. And I started listening, started setting up my recorder, recording it every day. And a friend of mine named David Miller, who was also a radio show collector, lived in the Dallas area, I would send them to him, and at first he wasn't impressed, but then suddenly he got hooked. And when he got hooked, he got enthusiastic. He started making phone calls. He called Mrs. Lock chet's widow and talked to her. He spoke to a fellow who had written a number of articles, George Lily, who was an early proponent or an early promoter of lemon Abner, as far as reruns in the 1960s and it was through George Lilly that I was put in touch with Sam Brown in Dongola, Illinois, and because he had contacted Mr. Lilly as well. And before long, we were talking, heard about this guy named Tim Hollis. Sam and I met in Pine Ridge for lemon Abner day in 1982 for the first time, and hit it off like long lost friends and became very good friends. And then in 84 I believe it was Sam and Tim and Rex riffle met again, or met for the first time together, I guess in Pine Ridge. And I wasn't there that time. But somehow, in all of that confusion, it was proposed to start the national lemon Abner society, and we started publishing the Jot them down journal in the summer of 1984 Michael Hingson 39:43 and for those who don't know the Jotham down journal, because the store that lemon Abner ran was the Jotham down store anyway, right? Donnie Pitchford 39:50 Go ahead, yes. And that was Tim's title. Tim created the title The Jotham down journal, and we started publishing and started seeking information. And it started as just a simple photocopy on paper publication. It became a very slick publication. In 1990 or 91 Sam started recording cassettes, reading the journals, because we were hearing from Blind fans that said, you know, I enjoy the journal. I have to have somebody read it to me. This is before screen readers. And of course, you know this technology better than I do, but before any type of technology was available, and Sam said, Well, I'll tell you. I'll just start reading it on tape and I'll make copies. Just started very simply, and from then on, until the last issue in in 2007 Sam would record a cassette every other month, or when we went quarterly, four times a year, and he would mail those to the the blind members, who would listen to those. And sometimes they would keep them, and sometimes they would return them for Sam to recycle. But incidentally, those are all online now, Michael Hingson 41:03 yeah, I've actually looked at a few of those. Those are kind of fun. So the London Avenue society got formed, and then you started having conventions. Donnie Pitchford 41:14 Yes, yes. First convention was in 1985 and we did a lot of things with we would do recreations. We would do a lot of new scripts, where, if we had someone that we got to the point where we would have people that hadn't worked with lemon Abner. So we would have lemon Abner meet the great Gildersleeve. Actually, Willard had worked on the lumen Abner half hour show at some point. I believe les Tremain had never worked directly with them, but he was well, he was in some Horlicks malted milk commercials in the 1930s and of course, the Lone Ranger was never on the London Abner show and vice versa, until we got hold of it. So we had Fred Foy in 1999 and he agreed to be the announcer, narrator and play the part of the Lone Ranger. So we did Lum and Abner meet the Lone Ranger, which was a lot of fun. We had parley bear, so Lum and Abner met Chester of Gun Smoke. And those were just a lot of fun to do. And Tim, Tim would write some of them, I would write some of them, or we would collaborate back and forth to come up with these scripts. Did love and amner, ever meet Superman? No, we never got to that. That would have been great. Yeah, if we could have come up with somebody who had played Superman, that would have been a lot of fun. We had lemon Abner meet Kathie Lee Crosby as herself. Yeah, they met Frank brazzi One time. That must be fun. It was a lot of fun. We had some people would recreate the characters. We had the lady who had played Abner's daughter, Mary Lee Rob replay. She played that character again, 50 years later, coming back home to see, you know, to see family. Several other things, we had London Abner meet Gumby one time. Of all things, we had Dow McKinnon as a guest. And we had Kay Lineker come back and reprise one of her roles, the role she played in the London Abner movie. Bob's Watson did that as well. Some years we didn't have a script, which I regret, but we had other things going on. We had anniversaries of London Abner movies that we would play. So whatever we did, we tailored it around our guest stars, like Dick Beals, Sam Edwards, Roby Lester, gee whiz. I know I'm leaving people out. Michael Hingson 43:52 Well, that's okay, but, but certainly a lot of fun. What? Yes, what? Cartoonist really influenced you as a child? Donnie Pitchford 44:01 Oh, wow. I would say the first thing I saw that got my attention was the Flintstones on on prime time television, you know, the Hanna Barbera prime time things certainly Walt Disney, the animation that they would run, that he would show, and the behind the scenes, things that would be on the Disney show, things like almost almost anything animated as a kid, got my attention. But Walter Lance, you know, on the Woody Woodpecker show used to have, he'd have little features about how animation was done, and that that inspired me, that that just thrilled me. And I read Fred lachel's Snuffy Smith Chester Gould's Dick Tracy. Tracy, which that was a that's why the Dick Tracy connection, later was such a big deal for me. Almost anything in the Sunday comics that was big. Foot. In other words, the cartoony, exaggerated characters are called, sometimes called Bigfoot, Bigfoot cartooning, or Bigfoot characters. Those were always the things I looked for, Bugs Bunny, any of the people that worked on those some were anonymous. And years later, I started learning the names of who drew Popeye, you know, like LZ seagar, the originator, or bud sagendorf or George Wildman, and later high eysman. But people like that were my heroes. Later on, I was interested in I would read the Batman comics, or I would see Tarzan in the newspaper. I admired the work of Russ Manning. Michael Hingson 45:49 Do you know the name Tom Hatton? Yes, I do. Yeah. Yes. Tom did Popeye shows on KTLA Channel Five when I was growing up, and he was famous for, as he described it, squiggles. He would make a squiggle and he would turn it into something. And he was right on TV, which was so much fun. Donnie Pitchford 46:09 We had a guy in Memphis who did the same thing. His name was, he's known as Captain Bill, C, A, P, you know, Captain Bill. And he did very much the same thing. He'd have a child come up, I think some, in some cases, they're called drools. Is one word for them. There was a yeah, in Tim hollis's area, there was cousin Cliff Holman who did that. And would he might have a kid draw a squiggle, and then he would create something from it right there on the spot, a very similar type of thing, or a letter of the alphabet, or your initials, that sort Michael Hingson 46:43 of thing. Yeah. Tom did that for years. It was fun. Of course, I couldn't see them, but he talked enough that I knew what was going on. It's kind of fun. My brother loved them, yeah? So later on, when you got to be a teenager and beyond what cartoonist maybe influenced you more? Donnie Pitchford 47:03 Well, I would have to say George, probably because I was corresponding with him, right? Also, I would see the work of Carl Barks, who created Uncle Scrooge McDuck and the Donald Duck comics and all that. His stuff was all in reprint at that time, he was still living, but I didn't know he could be contacted. I didn't try to write to it, right? Years later, years later, I did get an autograph, which was, was very nice. But those people, a lot of people, Neil Adams, who did Batman, the guys at Charlton Comics, Steve Ditko, who was the CO creator of spider man, but he had a disagreement with Stan Lee, and went back to Charlton Comics and just turned out 1000s of pages, but his work was was inspirational. Another was Joe Staton, who was working at Charleton comics, who I got to work with on several projects later on, and I would say just all of those guys that I was reading at the time. Pat Boyette was another Charlton artist. I tend to gravitate toward the Charlton company because their artists weren't contained in a house style. They were allowed to do their own style. They didn't pay as much. But a lot of them were either older guys that said, I'm tired of this, of the DC Marvel system. I want to just, you know, have creative freedom. Charlton said, come on. And so they would work there and less stress, less money, probably one guy named Don Newton started there and became a legend in the industry at other companies. So I found all of those guys inspiring, and I felt I could learn from all of them. Michael Hingson 48:59 Well, you always wanted to be a cartoonist. Did you have any other real career goals, like, was teaching a goal that you wanted to do, or was it just cartooning it? Donnie Pitchford 49:07 Well, it was just a secondary, you know, as I said, when I started, I thought, I'll just do that for a few years. You know, I didn't know it was going to be like 27 but I we had a lot of success. We had, I had some student groups that would enter video competitions. And for 20 straight years, we placed either first, second or third in state competition with one Summit, one entry, another or another every year. And that was notable. I mean, I give the kids the credit for that. But then about five or six of those years, we had what we call state championship wins, you know, we were like the number one project in the state of Texas. So, you know, we had some great success, I think, in that so a lot of years there, I really, you know, that was a blessing to me. Was that career, you. Well, it just, it just got to be too much time for change. After a while, Michael Hingson 50:05 was art just a talent that you had, and cartoon drawing a talent you had, or, I don't remember how much you said about did you have any real special training as such? Donnie Pitchford 50:14 Well, all of my training was, I just couldn't afford to go to a specialized school. You know, at one time, the Joe Kubert School opened just about the time I graduated high school, it was in New Jersey. I just couldn't make that happen, so I went to state colleges and universities and did the best I could. I took commercial art classes, drawing classes, design classes, even ceramics, which came in very handy when I did some sculpting here in the last eight or nine years and worked as an assistant to a sculptor named Bob harness who lives here in Carthage, but I never had any actual comic strip slash comic book training, so I learned as much of that as I could from guys like George wild. And then after I started the lemon Avenue comic strip, an artist named Joe, named Jim Amish, who worked for Marvel, did a lot of work for the Archie Comics. And tremendous anchor is his. He's really a tremendous anchor, and does a lot of ink work over other artists pencils. Jim would call and say, he said, I want to give you some advice. I'm like, okay, at 3am he's still giving me advice. So I'd go around for two or three days feeling like a failure, but then I would, I would think about all the lessons, you know, that he had told me. And so I learned a lot from Jim and tremendous, tremendous guy. And I would listen to what high, sometimes high would call up and say, Why did you use that purple beg your pardon. So it was fun. I mean, those fellows would share with me, and I learned a great deal from those guys. Michael Hingson 52:11 Are you in any way passing that knowledge on to others today? Donnie Pitchford 52:16 I don't know that I am. I've had an offer or two to do some teaching. I just don't know if I'm if I'm going to get back into that or not. Yeah, I'm so at this point, focused on, quote, unquote, being a cartoonist and trying to make that, that age five dream, a reality, that I'm not sure I'm ready to do that again. And you know, I'm not, I'm not 21 anymore. Michael Hingson 52:45 I didn't know whether you were giving advice to people and just sort of informally doing it, as opposed to doing formal teaching. Donnie Pitchford 52:51 Well, informally, yes, I mean, if anybody asks, you know, I'll be glad to share whatever I can. But yeah, I'm not teaching any classes at this point. Michael Hingson 53:01 Well, you have certainly taken lemon Abner to interesting places in New Heights. One, one thing that attracted me and we talked about it before, was in 2019, lemon Abner in Oz. That was fun. Donnie Pitchford 53:17 Well, the credit for that goes to Tim Hollis. Tim wrote that as a short story years ago when he was first interested in lemon Abner. And I don't know if he ever had that published through the International oz society or not. I don't remember, but Tim later turned that into a radio script when we had a batch of guests. This was in 2001 we had, let's see Sam Edwards, Dick Beals, Roby Lester and Rhoda Williams. And each of them had done something related to Oz, either the children's records or storybook records or animation or something. They were involved somewhere in some type of Oz adaptation. So Tim turned his short story into a radio script that we performed there at the convention. So that was a lot of fun. And then he suggested, Why don't I turn that into a comic strip story? So that's what we did. But that was fun, yeah, and we used the recordings of those people because they had given us permission, you know, to use a recording however we saw fit. The only problem is we had a mistake. The fellow that was running the sound had a dead mic and didn't know it. Oh, gosh. So some of them are bit Off mic in that audio, but we did the best. I did the best I could Michael Hingson 54:40 with it's it sounded good. I certainly have no complaints. 54:45 Thank you for that. Michael Hingson 54:47 I I said no complaints at all. I think it was really fun and very creative. And it's kind of really neat to see so much creativity in terms of all the stuff that that you do. As a cartoonist, me having never seen cartoons, but I learned intellectually to appreciate the talent that goes into it. And of course, you guys do put the scripts together every week, which is a lot of fun to be able to listen to them well. Donnie Pitchford 55:17 And that's what that was, the audience I hoped that we would would tap into right there and it, it was guys like you that would would talk to me and say, What am I going to do? You know, I can't see it. So that's why the audio idea came about. And it's taken on a life of its own, really. And we've got Mark Ridgway, who has created a lot of musical cues for us that we use and Michael Hingson 55:45 who plays the organ? Donnie Pitchford 55:47 That's Mark Ridgway. It is Mark, okay, yes, yes. And it's actually digital, I'm sure. I think it's a digital keyboard, Michael Hingson 55:55 yeah, but it is. It's a, it's a really good sounding one, though. Donnie Pitchford 55:59 Yes, yes. There are a few cues that I did, which probably are the ones that don't sound so good, like if we ever need really bad music. If you remember the story we did, and I don't remember the name of it, what do we call it anyway? Lum tries to start a soap opera. Think this was about a year ago. Yeah, and Cedric is going to play, I don't remember it was an organ or a piano, and I don't remember what he played, but whatever it was, I think was Mary Had Michael Hingson 56:32 a Little Lamb, Mary's, Mary Had a Little Lamb on the piano. Sort of kind played. Donnie Pitchford 56:35 It was played very badly, well that, yes, it was on purpose. When mom plays lum tries to play the saxophone. That was me, and I hadn't played this. I used to play the sax. In fact, I played in a swing orchestra here in Carthage, Texas for about five years back in from the early 90s. And so I had this idea, and I hadn't played the horn probably since, probably in 20 years, and his. So I got it out, and I thought, you know, it's gonna sound terrible because it needs maintenance, but it doesn't matter. It's lump playing it, so I got to play really badly. Michael Hingson 57:14 It was perfect. It was perfect, Donnie Pitchford 57:16 yeah, because it had to sound bad. Michael Hingson 57:19 How do y'all create all these different plots. I remember so many, like the buzzard, you know, and, oh yeah, that was fun. And so many. How do you come up with those? Donnie Pitchford 57:28 Well, I used to get some really good ideas while mowing the yard. Don't ask me, why? Or I get ideas. I get ideas in the weirdest thing, weirdest places. Sometimes I have ideas in the shower. You know, I said, I better write this down. Sometimes I'll wake up in the middle of the night with an idea, but there the ideas just come to me. Yeah? The buzzard was fun. I'd had that one. Pretty creative. Yeah, the one about, the one about, let me see. Oh, there was one we did, where wasn't the buzzard? What was that other one? I called the Whisper? Yeah, there was a strange voice that was coming lum thought it was coming from his radio. And he turns his radio off, and He still hears it, and it was a villain who had somehow hypnotized everyone so that they wouldn't see him and he would use his voice only. And then there's a character I came up with, and let me see Larry Gasman played it, and I called him Larry John Walden, and he was the only guy he was blind. He was the only guy that wasn't hypnotized because he couldn't see the you know, I use the old thing about the watch in front of the eyes. I mean, he was the only guy that wasn't hypnotized, so he wasn't fooled by the whisper, and he could track him, because his hearing was so acute that he was able to find him. In fact, I think he could hear his watch ticking or something like that. So he was the hero of that piece. But, well, I just, I just think up ideas and write them down. Tim Hollis has written some of the scripts, maybe three or four for me, I've adapted some scripts that London Abner did that were never broadcast or that were never recorded. Rather, I've adapted a few, written several, and I keep saying, Well, when I completely run out of ideas, I'll just have to quit. Michael Hingson 59:32 Well, hopefully that never happens. What? What are your future plans? Donnie Pitchford 59:38 Well, right now, there's nothing major in the works other than just maintaining the strip, trying to continue it, trying to make it entertaining, and hopefully doing a little work on the website and getting it into the hands of more people. And I'd like to increase. Least newspaper coverage, if at all possible. And because this thing doesn't, you know, it's got to pay for itself somehow. So you know, I'm not getting rich by any means. But you know, I want to keep it fun. I want to keep having fun with it. Hopefully people will enjoy it. Hopefully we can reach younger readers, listeners, and hopefully lemon Abner can appeal to even younger audiences yet, so that we can keep those characters going. Michael Hingson 1:00:29 Yeah, there's so much entertainment there. I hope that happens now in the the life of Donnie Pitchford. Is there a wife and kids? Donnie Pitchford 1:00:40 Yes, there's a wife of almost 40 years. We unfortunately don't have any children. We've almost feel like we adopted several children all the years we were teaching. We we've adopted several cats along the way. And so, you know, we've had cats as pets for almost ever, since we were married. But that's she's, she's great, you know, she's, she's been my best friend and supporter all these years. And we were members of first Methodist Church here in Carthage, Texas, and doing some volunteer work there, and helping to teach Sunday school, and very involved and active in that church. Michael Hingson 1:01:19 So I have a cat, and I hear her outside, not outside the house, but outside the the office here, she wants me to go feed her, and we, we shaved her yesterday because her hair gets long and Matt's very easily. So she got shaved yesterday. So she's probably seeking a little vengeance from that too, but, but my wife and I were married 40 years. She passed away in November of 2022 so it's me and stitch the cat and Alamo the dog, and Karen is monitoring us somewhere. And as I tell everyone, I've got to continue to be a good kid, because if I'm not, I'm going to hear about it. So I got to be good. But it's a lot of fun. Well, I want to thank you for being with us today. This has been a lot of fun. I've learned a lot, but it's just been great to have another podcast talking about old radio shows. And you said again, if people want to reach out, they can go to lemon Abner comics.com if people want to talk to you about doing any kind of cartooning or anything like that. What's the best way they can do that? Donnie Pitchford 1:02:24 Well, they can go to the London Abner dot lumen, Abner comics.com website, and there's a contact a link right there at the top of the page. So yeah, they can contact me through that. Probably that's the easiest way to do it. Michael Hingson 1:02:37 Okay, well, I want to thank you again for being here, and I want to thank all y'all out there. That's how they talk in Texas, right? It's all y'all for everybody. Donnie Pitchford 1:02:46 Well, some of them do, and some of them in Arkansas do too. Well, yeah. Michael Hingson 1:02:49 And then there's some who don't, yeah, y'all means everything, and it Speaker 1 1:02:54 don't, yeah, I don't think squire skimp says it that way. Michael Hingson 1:02:58 Well, Squire, you know, whatever it takes. But I want to thank you all for being here, and please give us a five star rating wherever you're listening or watching the podcast. Donnie would appreciate it. I would appreciate it, and also give us a review. We'd love to get your reviews, so please do that. If you can think of anyone else who ought to be a guest, and I think Donnie has already suggested a few. So Donnie as well, anyone else who ought to come on the podcast, we'd love it. Appreciate you introducing us, and you know, we'll go from there. And I know at some point in the future, the Michael hingson Group Inc is going to be a sponsor, because we've started that process for lemon. Abner, yes, thank you. Thank you. So I want to, I want to thank love and Squire for that 1:03:45 years. Well, it's been my pleasure. Michael Hingson 1:03:50 Well, thank you all and again, really, seriously, Donnie, I really appreciate you being here. This has been a lot of fun. So thank you for coming. Donnie Pitchford 1:03:58 Thank you. It's been a great honor. I've appreciated it very much. Michael Hingson 1:04:06 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.
In today's episode, Court records in-location while prepping to photograph the Rocky Mountains from Boulder, Colorado—then pours a couple decades of landscape photography lessons into a practical, no-fluff playbook. From where to focus (so everything's sharp) to when to shoot (with specifics for best times of day), to nearly a dozen other tips, this is a field guide you can use immediately—whether you're shooting mirrorless, DSLR, or point-and-shoot. He concludes with bonus content on editing and forecasting for the best weather and sun position.SummaryLandscape photography gets dramatically easier when you simplify it into a repeatable workflow:Build the scene in layers (foreground, mid-ground, background).Lock in focus and stability (hyperfocus “one-third in,” tripod, and a no-shake shutter method).Let time-of-day do the magic (golden hour + blue hour are your unfair advantage).Nail exposure the smart way (manual settings, protect highlights, and hedge with slight underexposure).Edit with intention, not chaos (masking first, then a few powerful sliders).Scout light and weather (and use tools like Sun Surveyor to predict where the sun will be in relation to your subject). Mentioned Resources & LinksSun Surveyor (official site): https://www.sunsurveyor.com/ Will Patino's Editing Videos: https://www.youtube.com/@WilliamPatinoPhotographyCourt's Websites Check out Court's photo portfolio here: shop.courtwhelan.com Sign up for Court's photo, conservation and travel blog at www.courtwhelan.com Follow Court on YouTube (@courtwhelan) for more photography tips View Court's personal and recommended camera gear Sponsors and Promo Codes: MBP.com - Buy, Sell, or Trade Camera Gear ArtStorefronts.com - Mention this podcast for free photo website design. BayPhoto.com - 25% your first order (code: TWP25) ShimodaDesigns.com - Whelan10 for 10% off Arthelper.Ai - Mention this podcast for a 6 month free trial of Pro Version LensRentals.com - WildPhoto15 for 15% off
Mortgage rates aren't just moving… they're skyrocketing — and today we break down why this is happening right now:• Stock markets plunged• Geopolitical unrest (Middle East + Iran risks)• Inflation pressures still lingering• MBS & Treasury yields jumping• What you should do now if you're buying or refinancingWe follow the data — not the headlines — and show you exactly how markets are reacting in real time.
https://ontargetpodcast.caThis week on On Target, Mod Marty lets the records speak in bold strokes and clean lines. The set snaps into place with tight transitions, deep grooves, and moments that catch you off guard. It's focused, confident, and built to hold your attention from the first crackle to the final fade. Lock in and let the rhythm draw the map.-----------------------------------------------The playlist is:"Hector"The Village Callers- Rampart"Come To Me"Mary Wells- Motown"Hip-Huggin' Mini"Sunny & The Sunliners- RPR"I Won't Be Your Fool Anymore"The Soul Sisters- Sue"What You Gonna Do"Lonnie & Floyd- Jewel"Oh Darling"Z.Z. Hill- Kent"Tell Daddy"Clarence Carter - Atco"Up-Hard"Willie Mitchell- Hi"Gonna Fix You Good (Everytime You're Bad)"The Alan Bown Set- Pye"Come Down To Earth"Force Five- United Artisits"Hungry For Love"The San Remo Golden Strings- Reo"Baby Please Come Back Home"J.J. Barnes- roovesville"We're Acting Like Lovers"The Spellbinders- Columbia"I Found Out"The Astors- Stax"I've Gotta Find Her"The Cavaliers- RCA-Victor"You Got To Have Money"The Exits- Gemini"The Jupe"Dave Davani Four- Capitol"Livin' Too Fast"Fountain Of Youth- RCA-Victor"Back On My Feet Again"The Foundations- Pye"Hip Soul"Shirley Scott- Prestige
Denny Hamlin is back from COTA on this week's Actions Detrimental, breaking down a huge weekend for 23XI Racing after the NASCAR Cup Series race at Circuit of the Americas. Tyler Reddick's scorching start has created early separation in the standings, and Denny explains why that kind of cushion completely changes strategy under the new format. He also touches on Bubba Wallace's continued growth. Denny reacts to his top-10 and apologizes for causing a wreck he had no idea he started. Corey Day, for the second consecutive week, has drivers upset at him. Plus, failing cool shirts had drivers in a rough condition during the race. Denny shares his thoughts on the All-Star Race format and a competitive fishing trip recap. Real fans wear Dirty Mo. Hit the link and join the crew.
After some chat up top, Musa and Ryan begin with Bayern's 3-2 win at Dortmund (06:02) to open up an eleven point gap at the top of the Bundesliga. They then round up some other results around Europe, before heading to the Premier League (19:24).There's chat about Arsenal's win over Chelsea, where all three goals were set pieces, Manchester United going third, as well as some of the other results, most of which also contained set pieces. There's also chat about Arne Slot's comments about… set pieces (40:31), and how they're making the Premier League tougher to watch. Finally, the new law changes were outlined by IFAB this weekend, so there are some thoughts on the ones that will be introduced at this summer's World Cup (51:41).March is our Patreon push, so to get 30% off your first month, go to patreon.com/stadio and use promo code SPRING at checkout!For more podcasts, ad-free and in full, plus access to the Stadio Social Club and much more, you can become a Stadio member by signing up at patreon.com/stadio. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week's episode of The Dive Driven by Kia begins with a lengthy conversation about the play-off finals: Lyon vs Cloud9 Kia. After battling through three separate Bo5s this weekend, Lyon caused quite the upset in our hosts' week one power rankings. Two teams have punched their tickets to the Americas Cup, while one powerhouse team is headed to First Stand… but it may not be who we originally thought!Plus, the players will be working with the newest release: Patch 26.5. With plenty of item buffs, Kobe is looking forward to more flexibility in builds for a wide range of characters. There's also midlane nerfs, could it be enough to shake up the pro scene?Finally, our hosts noted how many amazing fans of The Dive they were able to meet this past weekend! Seeing the energy and support at the live events means the world to both the casters and players. Thanks for coming by!Timestamps:0:00 - Intro1:30 - Cloud9 vs LYON Finals Review19:07 - Closer Look at LYON Saint25:06 - Revisiting Power Rankings28:06 - Americas Cup Lookahead33:22 - Scrims vs Stage39:35 - Patch 26.5
SEGMENT - Jones and Keefe turn their attention to the Bruins ahead of Friday's trade deadline. The team has proven they are worthy of investing in, but at what level should Sweeney and company go in at the deadline? Can Jeremy Swayman take his Olympic experience and turn that into a new level back with the Bruins? Jones isn't holding his breath on that one.
Ben Standig joins Scott Jackson and Anthony Armstrong sharing his thoughts from his time at the NFL Combine. Should Jeremiah Love be the selection at 7, or is a defensive disruptor in the mix for the Commanders? 00:17 Nick Allegretti back in the fold 2:00 Detroit Lions TRADE David Montgomery to the Houston Texans 7:45 Ben Standig's biggest takeaway from the NFL Combine 9:15 Will Reuben Bain Jr's Arm Length be an issue? 12:00 Is Jeremiah Love a LOCK at 7? 14:30 Will Deebo Samuel be a Commander in 2026? 16:30 Caleb Downs at 7? 18:50 How far would you trade BACK and feel comfortable to land a top player? 23:45 What is your ideal Washington offseason? 25:45 Washington's need this type of WR 26:17 Will Luke McCaffery or Jaylen Lane work in the slot? Thanks for listening and making it this far! #RaiseHail Follow Scott Follow Anthony Brought to you by @FanDuel on the @BleavNetwork Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Lock in to this week's episode where the guys discuss Bruno Mars new album "The Romantic" and the "Scary Movie 6" movie trailer! Is the album any good? Is this the revival of the old franchise? Tune in now and check out this new episode of The Cruz Control Show!
In this episode, Steve Fretzin and Josh Hodges discuss: Turning challenges into determination Finding opportunity in small markets Building influence through consistency and service Leading with accountability and learning Key Takeaways: Unconventional paths and high-stakes personal challenges build resilience and drive. Success becomes non-negotiable when urgency is present. Leveraging local connections and analyzing lawyer-per-capita dynamics uncovers untapped opportunities. Diversifying practice areas ensures financial stability and community impact. Treating marketing, content creation, and networking as long-term habits fosters credibility and goodwill. Prioritizing service-first approaches generates multiple professional opportunities over time. Investing in systems, mentorship, and operational structure strengthens sustainable growth. Making timely personnel decisions maintains firm performance and prevents operational strain. "If you wait until you're not busy or things slow down to start networking, you will retire one day, and it never will occur." — Josh Hodges Check out my new show, Be That Lawyer Coaches Corner, and get the strategies I use with my clients to win more business and love your career again. Ready to go from good to GOAT in your legal marketing game? Don't miss PIMCON—where the brightest minds in professional services gather to share what really works. Lock in your spot now: https://www.pimcon.org/ Thank you to our Sponsor! Rankings.io: https://rankings.io/ Lawyer.com: https://www.lawyer.com/ Ready to grow your law practice without selling or chasing? Book your free 30-minute strategy session now—let's make this your breakout year: https://fretzin.com/ About Josh Hodges: Josh Hodges brings a unique blend of life and professional experience to his practice. After working full-time factory jobs while completing his undergraduate degree, he graduated Summa Cum Laude from Salmon P. Chase College of Law, serving as Student Bar Association President and National Treasurer of NLLSA. He gained experience at a major Midwestern law firm, handling complex civil litigation and high-stakes personal injury cases. Now based in Hamilton, Ohio, Josh focuses on personal injury law throughout Southwest Ohio as managing partner of Kruger & Hodges Hometown Injury Lawyers. He has personally handled hundreds of cases and leads a team that has successfully managed over 1,000 cases, securing more than $10 million for clients in 2025 alone. Josh is also a sought-after speaker on national legal podcasts and conferences, teaching lawyers to serve their communities and build stronger practices. He actively mentors younger lawyers, emphasizing the value of guidance and community support in building a successful career. Connect with Josh Hodges: Website: https://thehometownlawyers.com/attorneys/josh-hodges/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-hodges-hplaw/ Connect with Steve Fretzin: LinkedIn: Steve Fretzin Twitter: @stevefretzin Instagram: @fretzinsteve Facebook: Fretzin, Inc. Website: Fretzin.com Email: Steve@Fretzin.com Book: Legal Business Development Isn't Rocket Science and more! YouTube: Steve Fretzin Call Steve directly at 847-602-6911 Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.
Middle East escalation. Oil surging. Inflation fears reigniting. And mortgage rates are jumping.Today we break down:• Why conflict involving Iran is sending oil prices higher • How rising oil feeds directly into inflation expectations • Why the bond market is selling off instead of rallying • What this means for the 10-Year Treasury • And how all of it impacts YOUR mortgage rateNormally, geopolitical conflict pushes investors into bonds — which lowers mortgage rates.That's not happening.Instead, the market is pricing in higher inflation risk, fewer Fed cuts, and longer-lasting rate pressure.If oil stays elevated, inflation could reaccelerate. If inflation reaccelerates, mortgage rates don't fall.We'll walk through exactly what needs to happen next for rates to stabilize — or drop.Transparent. Data-driven. No hype.
Dr. Noor Al-Humaidhi is a pioneer in the field of women's wellness.A doctor who has spent decades studying and practicing medicine in Ireland, the United Kingdom, and, since 2017, the United States, Dr. Noor has seen just about everything you can see in her field.In the U.K., women used to visit Dr. Noor, often complaining of memory lapses and unexplained feelings of confusion. For years, Dr. Noor would prescribe medication and then send them on their way.Because back then, modern medicine didn't understand (or care to) treat women who were clearly undergoing what we now understand to be perimenopause and menopause.But when Dr. Noor herself started experiencing perimenopause during the pandemic - and when she began hormone replacement therapy - she realized she could bring a whole new level of care to the Seacoast and beyond.Enter Lifestyles By Noor, an Exeter-based business which offers comprehensive 1:1 care to help women (and now men) get back to feeling like their best selves. Plus, to her 126,000 (and quickly-growing) Instagram followers, Dr. Noor regularly posts videos for women undergoing health issues that most of the medical industry is still trying to wrap its head around.From her office in Exeter, Dr. Noor and host Troy Farkas sit down to discuss why women's wellness was so under-researched for so long, her personal experience of perimenopause, how the idea for Lifestyles By Noor smacked her in the face, why her business has taken off since launching it in 2023, her own personal wellness routines, and more.Plus, what it was like working in the U.K.'s NHS system, that time Troy got hit by a car in London, and Dr. Noor's childhood years in Kuwait.To stay up-to-date with Dr. Noor's big plans and latest medical musings, you can follow her on Instagram @askdrnoor or visit LifestylesByNoor.com.SPONSORS:Business coach Jennifer Wilder: Women can get $100 off 1:1 private advisory with one of the Seacoast's top business minds! Lock in your discount and book your time with Jen by visiting TheJenniferWilder.com/seacoaststoriesVisit Budget Blinds of the Seacoast for local windows, shades, & creating your cozy Seacoast dream home!Ash Alchemy Spa: Portsmouth's award-winning, holistic spa focused on restoration, healing, and intentional self-care.AFFILIATE LINKS:3 Bridges Yoga: NEW yoga students can unlock a stellar deal of $45 for unlimited classes at the Seacoast's top yoga studio for a month! Visit 3BridgesYoga.com, select the "Seacoast Stories" special, and type in promo code SEACOASTSTORIES to activate the deal.Studio One: Use the code COASTIE26 at checkout on the Studio One website to unlock a 1-month trial of UNLIMITED spin, yoga, strength, pilates, and barre classes for a special price of $25 for "Seacoast Stories" listeners ONLY!UPCOMING EVENTS:Seacoast Stories Dinner Club: Friday, April 3, in Amesbury, MA! Sign up here.EPISODE CHAPTERS:Dr. Noor's childhood in Kuwait (00:00)Studying medicine in Ireland and the U.K. (12:25)SPONSORS: Business coach Jennifer Wilder & Ash Alchemy Spa (24:32)Why modern medicine misunderstood women for so long (27:56)Understanding menopause & perimenopause (36:55)SPONSOR: Budget Blinds of the Seacoast (49:50)Why Lifestyles By Noor has taken off (51:25)Dr. Noor's wellness routines (01:07:28)
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Episode 279-Bang or Bong. Maybe both. Also Available OnSearchable Podcast Transcript Gun Lawyer — Episode Transcript Page – 1 – of 11 Gun Lawyer — Episode 279 Transcript SUMMARY KEYWORDS Supreme Court case, marijuana user ban, Second Amendment rights, ACLU, NRA, New Jersey, Hughes amendment, West Virginia, machine guns, loopholes, gun rights, felon restoration, Epstein files, Michael Bloomberg, gun violence prevention. SPEAKERS Speaker 2, Evan Nappen, Teddy Nappen Evan Nappen 00:16 I’m Evan Nappen. Teddy Nappen 00:18 And I’m Teddy Nappen. Evan Nappen 00:20 And welcome to Gun Lawyer. So, we have some exciting things coming in the future here. I want to make sure the listeners are well aware. In the Supreme Court, we have a case coming up that is going to look at the prohibitor for firearm possession concerning marijuana use, if you’re a user of marijuana. And the case is U.S. versus Hemani. This is very interesting, because it is widely believed that the Court is going to strike down the gun ban for marijuana users. Regardless of how you feel about marijuana use, I’m looking forward to seeing this opinion, because it may be useful in knocking down other gun disqualifiers. Because, folks, gun disqualifiers, such as the gun ban for marijuana use, is an area of exploitation by the gun rights oppressors. Evan Nappen 01:38 So, if they can’t just get a flat out gun ban through, which they try to do all the time, if they can piece meal gun bans to various classes of individuals, then they get the job done that way. That’s why you see the ever expanding list of persons who they try to get disqualified from being able to exercise their Second Amendment rights. And this case has, I believe, potentially very far reaching implications as to subverting that anti-gun rights, that gun rights oppression tactic. So, we want to look at it at as more than just the marijuana. It will be fascinating to see it be a victory, because we have parties in support of this ban going away as diverse as, on the same side now, the ACLU and the NRA. Both. The ACLU is in favor of getting rid of the marijuana user gun ban, because it is, of course, beneficial to in their view, I’m sure, legalization of marijuana, which is something that they would be in support. The NRA is in favor of it going away, because it is consistent with The NRA’s position of supporting Second Amendment rights. So, this has created the classic strange bedfellows situation. (https://www.marijuanamoment.net/aclu-attorney-confident-supreme-court-will-strike-down-gun-ban-for-marijuana-users-after-oral-arguments-next-week/ ) Page – 2 – of 11 Evan Nappen 03:28 But ultimately, what we see coming from it should be a victory for gun rights. And I believe and hope it will be even further reaching than simply addressing the marijuana question. It’s going to be, I believe, very helpful in fighting other disqualifications. Remember, New Jersey is one of the states that tries to always have an expansive list of what disqualifies a person from being able to exercise their Second Amendment rights. They love to create disenfranchisements of our rights because they are rights oppressors, and this tactic, hopefully, will be taking a hit here. So, we’ll keep you informed about the progress and what occurs under the Hemani decision. Teddy Nappen 04:30 I will say, just from the ACLU, just to be clear, they are heavily backed by the Democrat for their super PACs. I’m just saying. Like that is the, and I can’t wait to see all the individuals of the ACLU all out in mass as they’re about to help win a pro-gun victory as well. Yeah. Evan Nappen 04:55 I guess they’re looking at it more as a pro-marijuana victory and ending prejudice toward marijuana users. But whatever their motivation may be, we are going to be consistent in our support for Second Amendment rights. Getting rid of disqualifiers is getting rid of disqualifiers that are disenfranchisements to our Second Amendment rights. So, hey, at least they’re on the right side on this one, and maybe we can get them to continue to see the light on other disqualifiers. Such as restoration of rights for felons and such, right? I mean, this is something you would think they would be in favor of, as well, for restoration of rights. You paid your dues. You served your time. And if you’re not a violent felon, why are you disenfranchised of your rights? I mean, even violent felons, when you get right down to it. I mean, there’s, I missed that in the Second Amendment, where it says we have a right to keep and bear arms, unless you’re a felon, you know, or any of these exemptions. They aren’t there. So, to what degree we tolerate them, to what degree we may think they’re even valuable, I don’t know, but we need to. I’d rather be seeing us pull back on every type of ban and maximize freedom and maximize our Second Amendment rights. Evan Nappen 06:31 Also, in regards to maximizing our rights, there is a really interesting I just love this. I love this. There is an attempt, now, a very shrewd attempt on the pro-rights side to create the ability to get around, yes, a loophole, folks. Because you know what loopholes are. Loopholes are freedom finding a way. And this. Teddy Nappen 07:08 I thought it was a hole in a Castle. Evan Nappen 07:10 Yeah. Right, exactly. Loopholes were the hole in the castle that you would fire your arrows from, because you would still be protected. You could still fire through those, those square, rectangular hole. They’re the loopholes. So, that’s why they’re called that. But, anyway. The key loophole here is in the Hughes Amendment. What there’s an attempt to do, particularly in West Virginia, who has taken the lead here with a bill in West Virginia, which is SB 1071. This is right from AmmoLand, by the way. Page – 3 – of 11 (https://www.ammoland.com/2026/02/contact-chairman-willis-now-sb1071-could-restore-machine-gun-rights-in-west-virginia-if-it-gets-a-hearing/) It could restore access to modern machine guns. That’s right. Evan Nappen 08:00 What they’re doing, what they’re attempting to do is a bill that will create a state run Office of Public Defense within the West Virginia State Police. To procure and sell modern, select-fire machine guns directly to qualified, law-abiding citizens. That’s right. You know how some states have State liquor stores. This will become the state machine gun store. That’s right. It can operate via the Hughes Amendment. Now, the Hughes Amendment was the law back in ’86 that prohibited the, I mean, actually the Hughes Amendment prohibited the new, the sale of new manufacture of machine guns. Okay? So, that created this situation we have now where it’s legal for a citizen to obey the NFA and acquire a machine gun and pay the $200 tax. But the problem is no new machine guns could be put into registration, you see. And that created this essentially, artificially, ridiculously high, crazy prices to own full auto. So, this bill takes the Hughes Amendment and essentially flips the script on the Hughes Amendment by stating that, and this is under Title 18 922(o), that the Hughes Amendment. Here’s, the key loophole language. “. . . does not apply with respect to a transfer to or by, or possession by or under the authority of, a State or any department or political subdivision thereof.” Evan Nappen 10:20 So, in other words, the bill will create a State agency that purchases machine guns and transfers them by quote, right in the law, “by or under the authority of”, the State of West Virginia. The transfers are therefore fully compliant with federal law and critically exempt from the National Firearms Act $200 transfer tax because they’re government facilitated. It’s brilliant. It’s brilliant. It’ll make it so that qualified persons, any adult, who can legally possess firearms under federal and state law, they’d undergo a background check at state police, state police troop headquarters. The office would, where possible, prioritize West Virginia manufacturers, operate distribution points using existing facilities, and issue official state certificates of transfer. Subsequent transfers between qualified citizens would require a simple $275 re-transfer fee through the office, which is waived for heirs. A $250 surcharge per gun plus a modest administrative fee capped at 50 bucks, would flow to the new Public Defense Fund to cover costs, generating revenue for the state without raising taxes. Evan Nappen 11:48 And it was GOA (Gun Owners of America) that drafted this bill. This is really cool. And now I think Kansas is putting a bill forward, and I’m sure we’ll see other pro-gun states moving to create this. This way we can gut the Hughes Amendment and open up the market for new full auto. And by doing that, they’ll become even more commonly owned and become an even greater argument for the Second Amendment and their protection. Eventually, with enough exploitation of loopholes, laws themselves that created the original ban become useless and in fact, go away. We’ve seen this happen. We’ve seen this happen. For example, when it came to NFA Trusts, to purchase NFA, you had to get, at one point, what was called a chief law enforcement officer to sign off. And if your chief didn’t sign off on that, you could not appeal it. You were just dead in the water and could not acquire NFA. Then along comes the idea of setting up a trust where trusts do not require a chief law enforcement to sign off. So, everyone started doing NFA Trusts to acquire NFA, because it avoided the Chiefs sign off. And Page – 4 – of 11 because of that, there were about 10,000 trusts at ATF on NFA. So many just got around it that they finally just repealed the rule and said, guess what? You don’t need to have your chief law enforcement approve it. They just have to get notice of it. But they got rid of the sign off. Why? The loophole defeated it. Evan Nappen 13:50 We see that even going on with switchblades. We’ve seen how there’s been a huge expansion in knife rights based on the ability to work the loopholes for interstate sale and for state sales to be independent. And how the federal prohibition was simply affecting very specific transactions under federal law. To the point where the federal government, in trying to uphold the federal switchblade law, said, as one of their justifications, well, the law isn’t even enforced anymore. That’s right. Why? Loopholes! Loopholes. Freedom finding a way. And so this is exciting to see this taking place on machine guns. Finally going at the NFA. Not shying away from taking on the big stuff. Not letting them get away with claiming that any firearm is somehow intrinsically evil, wrong or bad. We’re finally fighting back with offense. Offense for once. Not just totally on the defense. Evan Nappen 15:07 Speaking of which, you may encounter a new group called “Bridging the Divide”. (https://bridgethedividenow.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Brief-Policy-Outline.pdf) Bridging the Divide on Firearm Policy. Oh yeah, they’re claiming that there’s some bipartisan, that they have taken pro-gun folks and anti-gun and uniting them on principles that everybody believes in. They’re claiming to do this. And here’s their wonderful policies. Lo and behold, when you look closely at this so-called, you know, “Bridging the Divide”, which is, you know, bridging the gap, which is more of laying a trap, my friends. Laying a trap. What you see are their policies that they’re claiming is, you know, they have this bipartisan, so to speak. This is pro-gun and anti-gun right oppressors. Gun rights oppressors and gun rights people. Evan Nappen 16:08 And of course, here’s their policies. They have eight of them, eight of them. This so-called “Bridging the Divide.” One, Prohibiting Factors for Firearm Purchase and Possession. This is right from their “Firearm Policy Outline.” They want to prohibit gun possession by those convicted of violent crime at the misdemeanor level while removing state restrictions on those non-violent felonies. So, they want to expand prohibitions to misdemeanors. Claiming, of course, non-violent felonies, right? Yeah. And then remove prohibition of gun purchases by persons who use marijuana. Well, yeah, guess what? The Court’s already going to kill that. So, they’re throwing this in. They want to, essentially, what they’re looking to do is expand prohibitions to misdemeanors. Who’s kidding who? Come on. Give me a break. Evan Nappen 17:04 Two, Background Checks. Create state level background checks for private sales. Oh, so, in other words, Universal Background Checks, and they want to impose it state by state. More of that. So, end private sales. But they want to have “logical exemptions”? Well, it’s the same, so-called logical exemptions. Let’s just instead of logical, we’ll call it “narrow”, narrow exemptions. No. Private sales should remain private sales. It is more of an intrusion, more of oppression, on our gun rights. How about three? What’s the third thing? Extreme Risk Protection. Oh, seriously? Red flag. We have seen, Page – 5 – of 11 experienced, and are currently experiencing the unbelievable denial of due process that takes place from that garbage. Evan Nappen 17:55 Four, Dealer Registration and Gun Trafficking. They want to focus on the small number of dealers from whom the majority of traced crime guns originate. Oh, really? Well, guess what? What creates those statistics? Anytime they’re run – when guns are seized. And if you’re seizing guns the way New Jersey does, at the drop of a hat and those guns are run, that raises dealer numbers as quoting “crime guns”, even though they’re not crime guns. It is absolutely a flawed basis, and they want to focus on that. Five, Child Firearm Access Prevention. Oh, lock up your safety. That’s what that’s called. Lock up your safety to protect the children. Here we go again. Six, Firearm Suicide Prevention. Ah. In states where murder rates are low, well, let’s go at suicide. Anything we can do to go at the guns, right? And what happens with suicide prevention? Oh, well, that’s the wellness check. You know what’s going on in New Jersey with wellness checks? Anybody calls on anybody, and the police come. They take you away. They take your guns. They hold you for about three days to see if you’re okay. And even though you’re fine, now we got to fight to get your rights back. Fight to get your guns back. There’s a million ways to kill yourself, folks. Focusing on the gun isn’t the answer. Focus on actual causes. But no, it’s just an excuse. Teddy Nappen 19:34 I think the biggest issue with this whole concept of “Bridging the Divide” is take a step back and let us, let us be on equal terms. Here’s the problem, they cannot define what an assault firearm is. They are. Evan Nappen 19:50 Wait, wait, Teddy. I haven’t even gotten to that yet. I haven’t gotten to that. Teddy Nappen 19:54 All right. Evan Nappen 19:54 Number seven, Firearm Injury Prevention Education. They want to tie public health to firearm injuries. Why? Because that goes to healthcare so they can regulate it. Get it regulated back through the health, federal health agencies. Get it back to the CDC. Get them back on it. Cranking out anti-gun nonsense. That’s the game. Eight, Community Violence Intervention. Oh, that gets funding to who? Anti-gun groups. That’s what it’s about. Evan Nappen 20:33 So, we’re looking at these policies and then who’s on it? Well, their board is chock full, chock full of all former and bunch of all anti-gun rights folks. Then they sprinkle in a few that are supposedly pro-gun. So, who’s one of them? Rob Pincus. Rob Pincus is on there, proudly on there. They have listed him as a gun rights advocate. Except here’s a little article from Lee Williams back in March 29, 2021, from thegunwriter.com. (https://thegunwriter.substack.com/p/huh-rob-pincus-supports-expanded?utm_source=publication-search) It says, “Huh? Rob Pincus calls for expanded background checks, gun control and then says he didn’t.” Oh, really? Interesting. You can read that article and see. Page – 6 – of 11 The people they’re getting on board. There’s no major player there that is truly an advocate of our gun rights that I could find, and plenty that aren’t. Evan Nappen 21:30 Nowhere in their policy does it say repeal assault firearm bans, repeal large capacity magazine bans, repeal sensitive place prohibitions, or enact national reciprocity. All the things that we’re fighting for, for our rights. No. All it is is more, more, more. Just a subterfuge of more bans, more back doors to taking away rights. I didn’t see a damn thing here that expands our rights. Nothing. It’s just take, take, take. And package it as some kind of compromise. Their compromise is always us giving up our rights. Forget it, folks. Just forget it. Evan Nappen 22:18 And finally, let me point out, right from The Trace, right from The Trace. Sent out in an email blast, and I just want to read you this from The Trace. (https://mailchi.mp/thetrace/inside-the-loosely-regulated-world-of-gun-manufacturing-4869976?e=a13774efb8) This is fascinating. “Since the Trump administration snatched. . . ” This is The Trace. Snatched. They think of the Mel Brooks. You know, sees snatched, right? But anyway. “Since the Trump administration snatched funding from gun violence prevention . . .” Oh, in other words, let’s decode that. Since Trump took away all the money going to gun rights oppression groups, “. . . the field’s practitioners have had to confront an uncertain future.” Oh, they’re no longer getting the money from the Government. Huh. “Without federal dollars, state and local governments will have to decide whether to pick up the tab. It’s far from a sure thing. Gun violence intervention programs have long had to fight to prove the value of their work. The problem, however, is that it’s difficult to measure. Studying gun violence is expensive, and the nature of violence makes it a uniquely challenging subject to pull apart.” In other words, to propagandize into an anti-gun policy, to take away our rights. “And while gun violence research has seen a resurgence in recent years, the Trump administration cut funding for that field, too.” Yeah, isn’t that cute? I love it. “. . . meaning the available evidence for these programs could grow slimmer.” Evan Nappen 23:46 So folks, The Trace is bitching and moaning about losing their money, and who took it from them? President Trump. And it’s about time. There’s no reason our tax dollars need to go to oppression of our gun rights, and it’s the Trump administration that ended this funding. Keep that in mind. Teddy Nappen 24:10 Just to kind of going back to the whole issue. Whenever the Left try to present themselves like no, no, we need to find these common sense issues. Okay. Let’s define our terms, because the Left does not see the Second Amendment as a right. We know this because the Left wing nut case of a judge, Jackson went and broke down her entire descent of Bruen, describing how it is not a right. It’s a privilege. Arguing that when we deal with gun cases, you have to consider the victims of gun violence rather than looking to the law and the Constitution. That is where they’re coming from. They’re coming from the stupidity and suicidal empathy when they say they’re bridging the gap. That is their argument. Page – 7 – of 11 Evan Nappen 25:01 Just don’t fall for it. Don’t fall for it. But here’s something that you would, that you would like to do, something that you should do, something that you would enjoy doing. And that is going to WeShoot. WeShoot is an indoor range in Lakewood, New Jersey. It’s the range where Teddy and I shoot and where we get our training. You will love WeShoot. And WeShoot is offering some great deals on guns. As a matter of fact, they have a Troy A4 Defender. It’s compact, balanced, and NJ compliant. This platform delivers serious capability in a maneuverable package. It shoulders naturally, runs smoothly, and feels purpose built. They also have a Sig Sauer P365 AXG Fuse. This is where innovation meets metal. The AXG alloy grip module gives you the premium weight and control, while the longer slide and enhance sight radius makes fast, accurate shooting effortless. Try out that SIG P365 at WeShoot. Evan Nappen 26:16 They’re also offering a Smith & Wesson CSX. Now, this is a micro-compact with an aluminum frame and a very crisp single-action trigger feel. It’s slim. It’s refined, and it’s built for discrete carry without sacrificing shoot ability. It has that classic metal construction in a defensive, ready size. Also, you can see Julianna and the MAC 5. This is a retro-inspired style with modern execution. The MAC 5 delivers iconic roller-delayed energy, and Juliana brings the confidence to match. So, check that out as well. Go to weshootusa.com, weshootusa.com. Check out the guns, check out Julianna, and check out the great things that are offered there. Fantastic training, top training. You can get your CCARE certificate so you can get your carry and have a great time in their pro shop. The service you’ll receive is second to none. Go to weshootusa.com. Evan Nappen 27:37 Also, please, please make sure you are a member of the Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs. They are the premier gun rights group in New Jersey. They are the umbrella organization of gun clubs in New Jersey. They are fighting for our rights. My good friend and colleague, Dan Schmutter, is there in federal court. He’s doing a great job. We’re waiting for some more results to report. Exciting times. We’re going to have some, I feel, excellent results over “sensitive places”, the magazine ban and the assault firearm ban, as we keep fighting and slogging through it. Getting our rights back. Plus the Association is on guard at the courts, at the legislature and the courthouse, both. We have a full-time paid lobbyist and, man, New Jersey is always a challenge. So, make sure you’re a member. Go to anjrpc.org and join today. You’ll get news sent right to your email. You’ll get a beautiful newsletter, and you’ll know that you’re part of the solution. You want to be part of the solution. The solution to the problem. The problem is gun rights oppressors, and the Association fights them in the belly of the beast, New Jersey, right there. ANJRPC.org. Evan Nappen 29:04 And don’t forget to get a copy of my book, New Jersey Gun Law. It’s the bible of New Jersey gun law. It is the book you need to navigate through the insanity that is New Jersey gun law. I try to make it as easy as possible. Question and answer format with 120 topics. It’s a book everybody uses, and you need one. Just go to EvanNappen.com and order yours. And when you get it, don’t lend it out, because you’ll never get it back. I hear that complaint all the time. So, make sure you keep your hands on it, or you’ll lose it. Go to EvanNappen.com and get a copy of New Jersey Gun Law today. Now, we have Press Checks with Teddy. Teddy, what do you have for us today in Press Checks? Page – 8 – of 11 Teddy Nappen 29:50 Well, as you know, Press Checks are always free, and I just want to preface this on this one. Where you see in the news media, they’ve been pushing the whole Epstein thing. All right? They’ve been trying to push that. And of course, the Left ended up destroying themselves, as they’ve lost multiple power players who have been implicated in the whole, in the whole surroundings that it comes with the Epstein files being released. And one of the individuals who, by the way, this individual had close ties to Jeffrey Epstein since, like, the early days, Michael Bloomberg. You know, maybe it was because he had a, you know, big gulp in his hand, and that’s why, you know, he’s like, Oh, how dare you. But, yeah. Teddy Nappen 30:41 So, we go to AmmoLand, where this was a wonderful article written up by Alan Gottlieb. (https://www.ammoland.com/2026/02/ccrkba-demands-bloomberg-come-clean-about-epstein-relationship/) Regarding the fact that now we are demanding that all the anti-gun groups, including Everytown, including all of his multi anti gun right the gun rights oppressors groups cut ties with Michael Bloomberg. You know, the money. And there was, I actually went. And funny enough, anyone can do this. You can go on to the Epstein files on the government website, and they have the entire files library. You can type in word searches. So, you type in “Michael Bloomberg”. I went and read through the different documents on it. Now, to preface this, there was no showing of wrongdoing in what was discovered by the fact he was. However, he was invited with Michael Bloomberg, George Stephanopoulos, Eric Schmidt, all these individuals, to a cocktail party with Jeffrey Epstein to watch The Imitation Game. You know, that movie about Alan Turing where he broke the German Enigma. Okay. Bear in mind, this is 2015. Jeffrey Epstein had already been convicted of the first initial charges back in 2000. Evan Nappen 32:05 He was a felon, you know. So, hey, they love to make a point that they shouldn’t have guns. Epstein kept trying and trying and trying to get his rights back so he could get guns. Yet, here he is with the king of anti-gun funding, Bloomturd. Teddy Nappen 32:25 Yeah. Evan Nappen 32:26 What’s that all about? Teddy Nappen 32:27 There was also a letter. Now, again, there was no direct correspondence with Michael Bloomberg. However, there was a letter from Maxwell, Jillian’s mother, basically inviting him to attend a premiere, apparently, this was a movie, Power of Good. I’ve never heard of this one. But this very clearly shows that there was direct information going back and forth. There was also, it seemed to be, there was a massive invitation, and Jeffrey Epstein was trying to create this almost investor group. I want to tell you. Like he wanted to make this online new media. He was naming these board of directors, one of which was Michael Bloomberg, the Rothschild, Lee Rothschild, Alan Goodman. So, various individuals. He Page – 9 – of 11 seemed to be almost like a financial advisor or a bank roller for Jeffrey Epstein. Again, there’s no showing of wrongdoing, but it’s just, clearly, he had a relationship with him. Even highlighted to the articles where, in 2011 the Palm Beach Daily News, Epstein’s address book included Michael Bloomberg. In 2013, there were multiple pictures taken with Bloomberg and Maxwell together having book parties at the Four Seasons restaurant in New York City, where I guess they were reading gender queer, but also the level. Evan Nappen 33:51 Well, the way they brought in the Clintons to the committee, they need to bring Bloomberg in. I mean, you know, this is. The Left kept pushing and pushing and pushing about the Epstein files. Hoping against hope, that they could somehow get President Trump on this, when, in reality, what we’re seeing is it blowing up in the Left’s face, aren’t we? Teddy Nappen 34:12 Yeah. Also, here’s a really big one. Epstein was invited to a Bloomberg hosted fundraiser for Plaskett. Congresswoman Plaskett. You know, the woman who took direct funding from Jeffrey Epstein, actually got donation money. So, not only was he hosting the dinner, cordially inviting Epstein to come on down. Even writing a letter. Please join our host. Michael Bloomberg. Dear Jeffrey Epstein, please join our host, Michael Bloomberg, to the dinner. So, very clearly he was running in these circles. There’s a very clear tie relationship. Again, no showing of wrongdoing. There wasn’t a direct correspondence with him in the emails. And if you actually go through a lot of the emails, he would email news articles. That’s why you know Bloomberg News. And he would email them to others. So, that did also come up. It just shows the very clear ties. This is the one that really sticks out to me. Documents release revealed he was interested in gun politics and Bloomberg’s work. They don’t show direct donations to EveryTown. However, in 2013 there’s an email soliciting Epstein for a donation to American for Responsible Solutions, which is run by Gabby, Gabby Giffords, who later became Giffords. Evan Nappen 35:34 That’s right. But all they care about with Epstein is Trump. And how does that all relate? Is Trump in the Epstein files, Teddy? Teddy Nappen 35:46 Oh, very much. Yes, yes, Trump is in the Epstein files. Okay, I’ve got to tell this to everyone here. The black pillars, all those out there, we do not have all the information. We know that for a fact. Okay? Has it been mishandled? Absolutely. Pam Bondi should resign. Fall on her sword. Because she has damaged the administration on Trump for the mishandling with the stupid binder gate, all the stupidity of, oh, I have the client list on my desk. That was a lie. And the whole situation there. However, if you actually look at the timeline, you can go see the articles. See the full breakdown of it for Donald Trump. Teddy Nappen 36:24 Here’s the timeline, 2004 to 2005, there was reported abuse by a 14-year-old girl by Epstein. Then Trump immediately ended the relation with Jeffrey Epstein. Banned him from Mar a Lago. In 2008, Epstein was convicted with the help of Donald Trump, who cooperated with the victims of Jeffrey Epstein’s lawyer, who fully deposed himself to the lawyers. As opposed to all the other people that are Page – 10 – of 11 implicated, who just stayed away. He actually went in to help the victims. Imagine that. And going in next 2000, after Maxwell is convicted as well, where she trafficked to Epstein. Also in 2019, he’s later arrested again. Guess who’s President in 2019? Donald Trump. He was arrested for sex who invested arrested Epstein for sex trafficking, and then he’s later dead in 2019. So, not only does it exonerate, where, after he was convicted, Trump broke off all relationships with Epstein. He helped get Jeffrey Epstein. That is all that they have on Donald Trump when it comes to Jeffrey Epstein. Teddy Nappen 37:32 All the fake news, all the fake and you know why he said hoax? He wasn’t saying the Jeffrey Epstein whole pedo ring was a hoax? No, he is saying hoax, as in talking about the Dems whole plot to directly connect Trump to the pedophile ring. That is their plot. That was the hoax. Was it misspoken? Yes, Trump fires from the hip. Sue him. That’s how it goes. But actually looking at the facts of what came down, this is what he should have said. Under four years of Biden, not one committee was formed to go at the Epstein files, to go after the Epstein files. The Dems didn’t even want to touch it, which, by the way, all the people that were running in Epstein circles, Schumer, all the, all the heavy donators, Bill Gates, all these individuals are running in Michael Bloomberg, running heavily donations, including Jeffrey Epstein, who heavily donated to the Democrats. So, it’s the level of insanity that goes into it. Teddy Nappen 38:37 By the way, for everyone to remember. Did you know? Did you also know the fact that all of a sudden, the victims who never spoke out during the four years under Biden are now taking Super Bowl ads saying, release more files. Okay, what happened to we have our list. We’re making our list. Just say it. Are you worried about defamation? Musk said he’ll pay for defamation. And good luck as trying to go after women of victims of sexual abuse. I’m sure a go fund me will be immediately formed and covered. So, what are you waiting on? Oh, that’s right, these are just political cudgels for you to abuse. Okay? That is a fact, and that’s what I’m saying to the victims who, all of a sudden, will not name names. So, that it’s one of the big things, like, very clearly, it’s being used as a political tool. They don’t actually want to release the names. Evan Nappen 39:28 Well, I think it’s interesting that it’s come around to Mr. Bloomberg, and that has major effect in terms of funding of further gun rights oppression. He needs to explain the way they’re looking at it. Forced it to be opened up. Hey, guess what? You’re there. You need to explain it now. At least do that. Teddy Nappen 39:52 Also this. Evan Nappen 39:53 There you go. Teddy Nappen 39:54 Proof in concept. Peter Mandelson, who was directly connected to Jeffrey Epstein. He was Keir Starmer’s Cabinet Minister, who just recently resigned. He resigned in shame. So, the proof is in the Page – 11 – of 11 proof is, in fact, that this has the effect. If we could break up Bloomberg from EveryTown. I mean, there is their money. They have nothing aside from. Evan Nappen 40:17 Well, they’re not getting funding anymore from the Government. Yeah, from USAID killed all that. Yeah, so that’s good. Well, let me tell you, Teddy, about this week’s GOFU. That is a Gun Owner Fuck Up, where you learn about expensive mistakes that others have made so that you don’t make them. Now this week’s GOFU that I want to talk about, might even be considered a future GOFU. But it applies still today. If West Virginia, Kansas, or any of these places end up creating State machine gun stores, if you will, which I believe they will, and this ends up taking off, make sure that you do NOT, as a non-resident of those states, acquire a machine gun from those states and then, no less, bring it to New Jersey. In other words, the GOFU, in the big picture, is you have to be cognizant of your jurisdiction and what you’re doing in your jurisdiction, and when you’re in another jurisdiction, what you can and can’t do. Evan Nappen 41:34 We see the jurisdictional problem arise all the time. Whether it’s in carrying a gun where you’re allowed to carry in one state and not in another, whether it’s purchase or possession of a firearm in any given state versus another, people bringing guns or accessories or other things that were legal in one place and illegal in another. The burden is on you to know this. I am constantly seeing cases where people make that very critical error. So, the GOFU, in a general term, my friends, is make sure you know your jurisdictions laws and do not inadvertently violate them because you are in another jurisdiction, and you are coming into this other jurisdiction, this is where the trouble can begin. It can be quite serious. So, be very cognizant of this when dealing with guns. Evan Nappen 42:40 This is Evan Nappen and Teddy Nappen reminding you that gun laws don’t protect honest citizens from criminals. They protect criminals from honest citizens. Speaker 2 42:51 Gun Lawyer is a CounterThink Media production. The music used in this broadcast was managed by Cosmo Music, New York, New York. Reach us by emailing Evan@gun.lawyer. The information and opinions in this broadcast do not constitute legal advice. Consult a licensed attorney in your state. Downloadable PDF TranscriptGun Lawyer S5 E279_Transcript About The HostEvan Nappen, Esq.Known as “America's Gun Lawyer,” Evan Nappen is above all a tireless defender of justice. Author of eight bestselling books and countless articles on firearms, knives, and weapons history and the law, a certified Firearms Instructor, and avid weapons collector and historian with a vast collection that spans almost five decades — it's no wonder he's become the trusted, go-to expert for local, industry and national media outlets. Regularly called on by radio, television and online news media for his commentary and expertise on breaking news Evan has appeared countless shows including Fox News – Judge Jeanine, CNN – Lou Dobbs, Court TV, Real Talk on WOR, It's Your Call with Lyn Doyle, Tom Gresham's Gun Talk, and Cam & Company/NRA News. As a creative arts consultant, he also lends his weapons law and historical expertise to an elite, discerning cadre of movie and television producers and directors, and novelists. He also provides expert testimony and consultations for defense attorneys across America. Email Evan Your Comments and Questions talkback@gun.lawyer Join Evan's InnerCircleHere's your chance to join an elite group of the Savviest gun and knife owners in America. Membership is totally FREE and Strictly CONFIDENTIAL. Just enter your email to start receiving insider news, tips, and other valuable membership benefits. Email (required) *First Name *Select list(s) to subscribe toInnerCircle Membership Yes, I would like to receive emails from Gun Lawyer Podcast. (You can unsubscribe anytime)Constant Contact Use. Please leave this field blank.var ajaxurl = "https://gun.lawyer/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php";
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A chat with bestselling and prolific author John Van Stry about his career and his newest novel, Lock & Load, Book 3 in the Valley of Fire trilogy set in is popular Wolfhounds universe. Websitevanstry.net Facebook@johnvanstry X@JohnVanStry Amazon.com | Amazon.ca About Lock & Load: Valley of Fire Book 3 In the heart of the Fire … Continue reading "Episode 212: John Van Stry – Lock & Load: Valley of Fire Book 3" Source
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Episode 89 From An Essay on Man by Alexander Pope Mark McGuinness reads and discusses an excerpt from Epistle II of An Essay on Man by Alexander Pope. https://media.blubrry.com/amouthfulofair/media.blubrry.com/amouthfulofair/content.blubrry.com/amouthfulofair/89_From_An_Essay_on_Man_by_Alexander_Pope.mp3 Poet Alexander Pope Reading and commentary by Mark McGuinness From An Essay on Man Epistle II By Alexander Pope Know then thyself, presume not God to scan;The proper study of mankind is man.Placed on this isthmus of a middle state,A being darkly wise, and rudely great:With too much knowledge for the sceptic side,With too much weakness for the stoic's pride,He hangs between; in doubt to act, or rest;In doubt to deem himself a god, or beast;In doubt his mind or body to prefer;Born but to die, and reasoning but to err;Alike in ignorance, his reason such,Whether he thinks too little, or too much:Chaos of thought and passion, all confused;Still by himself abused, or disabused;Created half to rise, and half to fall;Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all;Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurled:The glory, jest, and riddle of the world! Go, wondrous creature! mount where science guides,Go, measure earth, weigh air, and state the tides;Instruct the planets in what orbs to run,Correct old time, and regulate the sun;Go, soar with Plato to th' empyreal sphere,To the first good, first perfect, and first fair;Or tread the mazy round his followers trod,And quitting sense call imitating God;As Eastern priests in giddy circles run,And turn their heads to imitate the sun.Go, teach Eternal Wisdom how to rule –Then drop into thyself, and be a fool! Podcast Transcript In the early 18th century, Alexander Pope's poetry was known to every cultured person in England. He was a fashionable, successful, wealthy writer and the preeminent poet of his age. He was also a canny businessman who published his translations of Homer via subscription, an early form of crowdfunding, and they sold so well he built himself, an extravagantly large villa in Twickenham – and its famous subterranean grotto still exists today. His political satires were so sharp and topical that he was rumoured to carry a pair of loaded pistols when going for a walk, in case one of his targets took violent exception. Phrases from his poetry are still proverbial: ‘hope springs eternal', ‘Fools rush in where angels fear to tread', ‘a little learning is a dangerous thing', ‘To err is human; to forgive divine', ‘What oft was thought but ne'er so well expressed', and also the title of the movie, ‘eternal sunshine of the spotless mind'. But these days, Pope has really fallen out of fashion. He's seen as archaic and artificial. In an age when formal poetry is out of fashion, for many people he represents the worst kind of formal poetry: his very regular metre and full rhymes sound clunky to our ears. His rhyming couplets are undoubtedly clever, but that's part of the problem, because these days we associate poetry with emotions and self-expression, so cleverness is seen as a little suspect and somehow inauthentic. And I'll be honest, for a long time, I had that image of Pope. He represented everything the Romantics rebelled against at the end of the 18th century, and as a young poet I was on the side of the Romantics, so I had no interest in Pope. However, a few years ago, I challenged myself to have another look at his work, and what I discovered was a really sharp and thought-provoking and witty and formidably skilful poet, who in certain moods, is an absolute pleasure to read. And he doesn't fit every mood, but then there aren't many poets who do. So turning to today's poem, An Essay on Man is one of Pope's major works, it's about 1,300 lines long. As the title suggests it's a meditation on the nature of what he called mankind, and we call humankind, we have to make allowance for the historic focus on the male as representative of the species. It's also a didactic poem, he's not just reflecting on the subject, he is telling us what we should think about it. Which again, is a deeply unfashionable stance for poets these days, at least when they are on the side of a conservative or establishment position. And he does this in the form of a series of verse epistles, verse letters, which are addressed to Henry St John, Viscount Bolingbroke. The epistle form also means that the poem addresses the reader in a very direct manner, as you would expect in a letter. His basic stance, which we find in many of his poems, is of a reasonable man writing for a group of like-minded people, trying to establish some sort of common sense, shared ideas and principles, in a world where these need to be debated and defined and defended. This was the world of the coffee house and the salon, where people came together to debate, sometimes in very robust fashion. It came to be known as the Augustan age in English literature, by comparison with the satirical and political poetry of the age of Augustus Caesar. OK looking more closely at the poem itself, the excerpt I just read is from the second Epistle, and one of the first things we notice is what Milton would have called the ‘jingling' rhymes: Know then thyself, presume not God to scan; The proper study of mankind is man. Placed on this isthmus of a middle state, A being darkly wise, and rudely great: With too much knowledge for the sceptic side, With too much weakness for the stoic’s pride, It's pretty unmistakeable isn't it? One pair of rhymes after another. And in case you're wondering, yes, these rhyming couplets do go on all the way through the poem, and indeed all the way through most of Pope's work. And not just in Pope: for over a century, from about 1650 to 1780, this was a hugely popular verse form. They are known as heroic couplets because they are associated with epic narrative poems, such as John Dryden's translations of Virgil and Pope's translations of Homer. Each line is in iambic pentameter, the familiar ti TUM ti TUM ti TUm ti TUM ti TUM, with two lines next to each other forming couplets, and the poem proceeding with one couplet after another. The form can be traced back to Chaucer, who used rhyming couplets for many of his narrative poems. But by the time of Dryden and Pope it had evolved into a tighter couplet form, described as closed couplets, meaning that they were typically self contained, with a sentence, or a discrete part of a sentence, beginning and ending inside the couplet. For instance: Know then thyself, presume not God to scan; The proper study of mankind is man. That stands on its own as a single thought, a unit of sense, ending with a full stop. And the full rhyme of ‘scan' and ‘man' means the couplet snaps shut at the end – this is the closed couplet effect we associate with heroic couplets. In the next couplet he introduces the idea of man as a creature of ‘middle state': Placed on this isthmus of a middle state, A being darkly wise, and rudely great: And then another couplet elaborates on the sense of being pulled in different directions: With too much knowledge for the sceptic side, With too much weakness for the stoic's pride, So the poem proceeds one unit of sense at a time. The couplets are like Lego bricks, and Pope used them to build just about anything he wanted: literary and philosophical discourse here in the Essay on Man and in his Essay on Criticism; mock-heroic social comedy in The Rape of the Lock; actual epic in his translations of the Iliad and the Odyssey; and satire in The Dunciad. It's easy to see how this could become monotonous, and in the work of most poets of the time, it did. But Pope's great achievement was to take this established form and perfect it, sticking very strictly to the formal pattern, while varying the syntax, the grammatical patterns, with great subtlety and complexity, to keep the reader on their toes. Let's take another look at the first couplet. Notice the little pause in the middle of the first line, after ‘thyself': Know then thyself, presume not God to scan; This divides the line into two parts, conveying the dramatic tension in Pope's argument: he's saying that humans are ambitious for knowledge, they want to ‘scan' God, to examine him, but they should really focus on self-knowledge. This tension between opposites is known as antithesis, it's a rhetorical pattern we looked at back in episode 58 about one of Sir Philip Sidney's sonnets, and it's very common in Pope. And the tension is resolved in the next line, which is all one phrase, with no pause: The proper study of mankind is man. Have another listen to the couplet, to hear how the tension is established and then released: Know then thyself, presume not God to scan; The proper study of mankind is man. So when all of this comes together, the tension and release, the regular rhythm of the metre and the full rhymes clinching the couplet, it has the effect of making the words sound truer than true. The following couplet picks up on the antithesis, and extends it into paradox: Placed on this isthmus of a middle state, A being darkly wise, and rudely great: An isthmus is a narrow strip of land between two bodies of water, so standing on it, you could easily feel precarious and threatened. ‘Darkly wise' means ‘dimly wise', possessing a little knowledge, but not enough for full understanding. And ‘rudely great' means ‘powerful but coarse and unfinished'. And I think we can recognise what Pope is saying from our own experience – that sense of knowing enough to know how little we really know; of having great potential, but struggling to fulfil it. And isn't it delightful how Pope compresses all those feelings into these neat little paradoxes: ‘darkly wise and rudely great'. In another famous line, he describes true eloquence as ‘What oft was thought but ne'er so well expressed', which is exactly what he achieves here. We can also note that ‘darkly wise' and ‘rudely great' are not only antitheses expressed as paradoxes, they are also an example of another rhetorical pattern: parallelism, where similar structures are repeated with variation. In this case ‘darkly' and ‘rudely' are both adverbs and ‘wise' and ‘great' are both adjectives, so grammatically they are identical, which suggests both similarity and difference in mankind's relationship to knowledge and power. The next couplet uses a more elaborate parallelism: With too much knowledge for the sceptic side, With too much weakness for the stoic's pride, So both lines say ‘With too much something for the something else'. It's hard to miss the pattern, isn't it? And notice how the couplet form is perfect for laying out two ideas that seem to counterbalance each other perfectly. So we're only six lines in and Pope has put his finger on a central conundrum in human existence, and conveyed it with at least three rhetorical patterns nested inside each other – antithesis, paradox and parallelism. Not only that, he's handled the metre and rhyme with great skill, wrapping each thought up in the neat little bow of a rhyming couplet. And if your mind is starting to boggle, welcome to the world of Pope's verse: elegant, authoritative and very, very clever. When we look closely, there's a lot going on inside every single couplet. He's like a watchmaker, working at a tiny scale, making an instrument with great precision and balance, that keeps perfect time, and chimes beautifully. And Pope's contemporaries would have found it easier to follow the sense than we do, because they were used to reading this kind of stuff. But I'm sure the poetry would often have given them pause, even if only for a moment, as they read. And my guess is that they would have enjoyed this slight difficulty, and the pleasure of making out the sense, with the little dopamine hit of understanding. Like unwrapping a sweet before you can pop it in your mouth and taste it. So I hope we're starting to see why Pope is the undisputed master of the heroic couplet. Even T. S. Eliot had to admit defeat, when he wrote a passage in this style for The Waste Land, only for Ezra Pound to point out tactfully that he couldn't compete with Pope, and draw the red pencil through it. But the form is more than simply one couplet after another. When he stacks them together, they create verse paragraphs, longer units of thought, that function very like paragraphs in prose. So having established the idea of man caught between opposing forces, he goes on to elaborate on the theme to dazzling effect: He hangs between; in doubt to act, or rest; In doubt to deem himself a god, or beast; In doubt his mind or body to prefer; Born but to die, and reasoning but to err; Alike in ignorance, his reason such, Whether he thinks too little, or too much: The couplets are individually brilliant, and cumulatively overwhelming, both in terms of the mental effort required to tease out their meanings, and the tension between action and inaction, divine and bestial impulses, mind and body, birth and death, reason and error. And I think that's why I find this line so funny: Whether he thinks too little, or too much: It feels like he's throwing his arms up and laughing and admitting that he's overthinking it all. The verse paragraph ends with three more couplets, where he sums up the nature of man: Chaos of thought and passion, all confused; Still by himself abused, or disabused; Created half to rise, and half to fall; Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all; Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurled: The glory, jest, and riddle of the world! Although Pope is describing a ‘chaos of thought', his own thinking is always sharp, however convoluted his argument becomes. So he sticks to the themes of power and knowledge, undercutting man's pretension by saying he is ‘Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all', and ‘Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurled'. And he ends this paragraph with another rhetorical device, the tricolon, which uses three parallel elements to build to a conclusion: The glory, jest, and riddle of the world! We're familiar with this pattern in famous quotes from Julius Caesar, ‘I came, I saw, I conquered', the US Declaration of Independence, ‘Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness', and Shakespeare: ‘Friends, Romans, countrymen!' Here, Pope uses it with typical precision, since if someone is both the ‘glory… of the world' and it's ‘jest', i.e. the butt of its jokes, then that makes that person a ‘riddle': The glory, jest, and riddle of the world! So this sums up the nature of man, and sets up the jesting irony of the next verse paragraph: Go, wondrous creature! mount where science guides, Go, measure earth, weigh air, and state the tides; Instruct the planets in what orbs to run, Correct old time, and regulate the sun; If this were the start of the poem, we might be forgiven for taking Pope's words at face value, but in the light of what has gone before, it's pretty clear that ‘wondrous creature' is a mocking criticism. He was writing this in an age where Newtonian physics was in the ascendancy and people were full of enthusiasm about the new discoveries in science and the possibility of understanding and mastering the physical world. And given that we are still living in a so-called age of reason, I think his criticisms of scientific overreach are still relevant, and the joke is still funny, when he talks about instructing the planets in what orbits to follow, correcting time and regulating the sun. As if measuring were full understanding, let alone complete power. But Pope doesn't confine his criticism to scientists. He also has philosophers in his sight: Go, soar with Plato to th' empyreal sphere, To the first good, first perfect, and first fair; Or tread the mazy round his followers trod, And quitting sense call imitating God; He clearly doesn't have a lot of time for Plato's first principles. Neither is he impressed by the contemporary vogue for what we would call Orientalism: As Eastern priests in giddy circles run, And turn their heads to imitate the sun. It's possible that he had in mind the whirling dervishes of Persia, or maybe this is just a caricature of his idea of ‘Eastern priests'. So obviously this is a joke that hasn't aged so well. OK he ends this verse paragraph with a final jab, which restates the idea from the opening couplet in bluntly comic fashion: Go, teach Eternal Wisdom how to rule – Then drop into thyself, and be a fool! It's hard to imagine a more apt image of intellectual presumption than trying to teach Eternal Wisdom a thing or two, but just in case we miss the point, Pope rams it home with relish: Then drop into thyself, and be a fool! And this is another characteristic aspect of Augustan poetry, particularly the satirical kind, that it can be very crude and direct, with a passage of sophisticated argument followed by a line or two where the mask drops and the insult is laid bare. And no, it's not big or clever, but let's face it, sometimes it can be deeply satisfying. One more little detail, which I can't help wondering about: notice how both of these couplets, conveying the same basic idea in very different tones, both hinge on the word ‘thyself': Know then thyself, presume not God to scan; The proper study of mankind is man. Go, teach Eternal Wisdom how to rule – Then drop into thyself, and be a fool! So that word ‘thyself' could be used to refer to various individuals, and knowing Pope, I wouldn't be surprised if he intended all of them at once. Firstly, the phrasing sounds proverbial, in which case each couplet is an injunction to mankind at large. Secondly, it could refer to the reader, any reader, of the poem, whether Viscount Bolingbroke, an 18th-century wit, or you and me, reading the poem together on this podcast. It could also refer to the specific targets of Pope's criticism, such as the overreaching scientists or philosophers. I think Pope may also have had in mind a target nearer to home: himself. W. B. Yeats wrote in one of his essays, ‘We make out of the quarrel with others, rhetoric, but of the quarrel with ourselves, poetry'. And it's entirely possible that Pope is doing both at once: we've seen the brilliance of his rhetoric, in puncturing the pretensions of his fellow men and women. Yet by making poetry as well as rhetoric, he is arguably arguing with himself as well. It was of course be entirely right and proper and expected for a Christian such as Pope to admonish himself as well as others, for the many and various sins he describes in An Essay on Man. So from a moral viewpoint, I think I'm on pretty safe ground in suggesting that ‘thyself' includes Pope. But I would go further, and say that the idea of a brilliant mind that is not quite brilliant enough to fully understand itself may have been a deeply personal subject for Pope. Because what we have here is an extremely clever warning about taking cleverness to extremes. Maybe the irony was not lost on Pope. As he wrote in another poem, An Essay on Criticism, ‘A little learning is a dangerous thing'. So perhaps as we hear this passage again, and enjoy the sparkling wit and scurrilous attacks on others, we can also detect a note of self-reflection, and self-accusation, that makes it a little more poignant than it first appears. From An Essay on Man Epistle II By Alexander Pope Know then thyself, presume not God to scan;The proper study of mankind is man.Placed on this isthmus of a middle state,A being darkly wise, and rudely great:With too much knowledge for the sceptic side,With too much weakness for the stoic's pride,He hangs between; in doubt to act, or rest;In doubt to deem himself a god, or beast;In doubt his mind or body to prefer;Born but to die, and reasoning but to err;Alike in ignorance, his reason such,Whether he thinks too little, or too much:Chaos of thought and passion, all confused;Still by himself abused, or disabused;Created half to rise, and half to fall;Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all;Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurled:The glory, jest, and riddle of the world! Go, wondrous creature! mount where science guides,Go, measure earth, weigh air, and state the tides;Instruct the planets in what orbs to run,Correct old time, and regulate the sun;Go, soar with Plato to th' empyreal sphere,To the first good, first perfect, and first fair;Or tread the mazy round his followers trod,And quitting sense call imitating God;As Eastern priests in giddy circles run,And turn their heads to imitate the sun.Go, teach Eternal Wisdom how to rule –Then drop into thyself, and be a fool! Alexander Pope Alexander Pope was an English poet and translator who was born in 1688 and died in 1744. As a Catholic he was barred from university and public office, so he educated himself and forged a brilliant literary career, becoming the leading poet of Augustan England, celebrated for his razor-sharp satire and polished heroic couplets. Early success came with An Essay on Criticism and The Rape of the Lock, followed by monumental translations of Homer that made him financially independent. His later works, including The Dunciad, attacked dullness and corruption. In An Essay on Man, he explored human nature, providence, and moral order with epigrammatic clarity. He lived at Twickenham, where he created a famous garden and grotto. A Mouthful of Air – the podcast This is a transcript of an episode of A Mouthful of Air – a poetry podcast hosted by Mark McGuinness. New episodes are released every other Tuesday. You can hear every episode of the podcast via Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts or your favourite app. You can have a full transcript of every new episode sent to you via email. The music and soundscapes for the show are created by Javier Weyler. Sound production is by Breaking Waves and visual identity by Irene Hoffman. A Mouthful of Air is produced by The 21st Century Creative, with support from Arts Council England via a National Lottery Project Grant. Listen to the show You can listen and subscribe to A Mouthful of Air on all the main podcast platforms Related Episodes From An Essay on Man by Alexander Pope Episode 89 From An Essay on Man by Alexander Pope Mark McGuinness reads and discusses an excerpt from Epistle II of An Essay on Man by Alexander Pope.Poet Alexander PopeReading and commentary by Mark McGuinnessFrom An Essay on Man Epistle II By Alexander Pope Know... Occupied by Tim Rich Episode 88 Occupied by Tim Rich Tim Rich reads ‘Occupied' and discusses the poem with Mark McGuinness.This poem is from: Dark Angels: Three Contemporary PoetsAvailable from: Dark Angels is available from: The publisher: Paekakariki Press Amazon: UK... 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Episode 227 crashes through your speakers like a UFO with WiFi.Sleazy, Mr. PBS, and Robzilla are back in the lab, and this one is stuffed tighter than a Blockbuster bargain bin in 1999. Sleazy opens the show by unveiling Gemini AI–crafted theme songs for Mr. PBS and Robzilla. Think digital lounge act meets robot roast session. The future has a beat, and it's slightly passive aggressive.From there, the crew tackles the latest wave of celebrity passings, remembering the impact of legends like Catherine O'Hara, James Van Der Beek, Eric Dane, and Robert Carradine. It's reflective, it's chaotic, it's exactly how you'd expect this trio to process Hollywood headlines.Then it's time for Crazy News. Sleazy dives into the chilling story of a scientist who studied planets and astronomy and was shot to death, followed by a deep dive into President Donald Trump ordering the release of Alien and UFO/UAP records. Disclosure season? Tin foil stocks are soaring.Zilla's Tubi Pick returns, shining a dusty spotlight on another streaming diamond in the algorithmic rough. After that, the fellas fire up Whatchu Watchin and unload their latest binge sessions, including:The Lincoln LawyerThe BeautyA Knight of the Seven KingdomsThe PittNeighborsAnd more. Because these guys treat streaming services like an all you can eat buffet with no shame.To close it out, Mr. PBS and Sleazy square up over Scream 7. Is it a must see return to Woodsboro or a franchise running on fumes and nostalgia vapor? Gloves off. Ghostface on.Episode 227 has AI serenades, Hollywood goodbyes, government UFO files, streaming obsessions, and a horror showdown to finish it off.Plug in. Lock the doors. And press play.
Some of the best lessons come when everything goes sideways. I'm recording this with a raspy voice and a cough I'm fighting to hold back — but when a client named Dave asked how I create content so effortlessly, I realized I'd never actually broken it down before. So today I'm doing exactly that. Whether you're a content creator, a business owner trying to get noticed, or just someone who wants to communicate better at work, this four-part framework will change how you show up. In the age of attention, how you communicate is everything. Featured Story Dave came to me wanting help with YouTube shorts and a podcast. He'd seen me teach a 20-minute Inner Circle session on pre-planned responses and asked how long it took to put together. Eight or ten minutes, I told him — walking my dogs when the idea hit, came back and made five slides. He couldn't believe it. Did you rehearse the podcast you recorded right after? I said no. I hung up the Zoom call, hit record, and went. He wanted to know how. And honestly? I'd never thought about it before. But that question cracked open something I've been doing for 20 years without even realizing it. Important Points The content game has nothing to do with technique — it's about knowing your subject so cold nobody can shake you. Your personal style isn't a bonus. It's the reason people choose you over a thousand other experts in the same space. A strong POV will definitely run some people off — and that's exactly how you know it's working the way it should. Memorable Quotes "If you don't have a strong point of view, I can just go to ChatGPT and get whatever view I want — it'll agree with me." "I know when I hit the mark — it's always the exact moment I'm pissing you off the most. That's how this works." "All of us are content creators now, every single one of us — and if you can get somebody's attention, you can win." Scott's Three-Step Approach Start with absolute mastery — know your subject so well that you can teach it sick, off the cuff, without notes. Layer in a style so distinct and consistent that people recognize how you think before they even see your name. Lock it in with a POV strong enough to polarize — then pivot and give your audience a take they didn't see coming. Chapters 0:02 - Still showing up even when everything hurts 1:24 - When a sick voice becomes a premium asset 3:00 - The question Dave asked that changed everything 6:31 - Rule one: Know it so cold nobody can shake you 8:10 - Rule two: Know exactly who you're talking to 9:54 - Rule three: Own the style only you can pull off 11:51 - Rule four: The POV that makes people pay attention Connect With Me Search for the Daily Boost on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify Email: support@motivationtomove.com Main Website: https://motivationtomove.com YouTube: https://youtube.com/dailyboostpodcast Instagram: https://instagram.com/heyscottsmith Facebook Page: https://facebook.com/motivationtomove Facebook Group: https://dailyboostpodcast.com/facebook Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
GoPowercat publisher Tim Fitzgerald presents a new episode of Fighting Ever Fighting, a conversation with new Kansas State football quarterbacks coach Christian Ellsworth. Are you enjoying our free video coverage of the Wildcats? Lock in at GoPowercat with a VIP subscription and unlock everything we have to offer. Our premium message board — Wabash Station — is a fan-favorite, as K-State nation joins together with non-stop discussion, debates and banter. Whether you want to join in on the action and post your thoughts on a daily basis or just sit back and see what people are saying, everyone has a place on Wabash Station. With premium scoop from our staff members, along with constant recruiting updates, Wabash Station is the place to be. But gaining access to Wabash Station only scratches the surface. While some articles are free, a good chunk of our written content is available exclusively for VIPs at GoPowercat. Whether it's top-notch breakdowns or unfiltered analysis, our VIP articles offer insight found nowhere else. Longtime publisher Tim Fitzgerald has assembled a one-of-a-kind crew. His right-hand man, Ryan Gilbert, serves as managing editor, overseeing the day-to-day operations on the site. Recruiting editor Cole Carmody not only keeps you in the loop with all things recruiting but also pitches in with cerebral football coverage. Jon Grove and Grant Snowden, both current journalism students at K-State, provide a fresh perspective on the Wildcats. Ethan Fitzgerald is the true jack of all trades, covering everything from women's basketball to soccer. Former offensive lineman Brien Hanley and former defensive back Monte Spiller also proudly contribute to GoPowercat with unmatched football knowledge. On the basketball side, GoPowercat is also blessed to have Clent Stewart on board, as the former K-State guard from 2004-08 is a literal hoops expert. So, what are you waiting for? Sign up to GoPowercat now! CLICK HERE AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OUR CURRENT OFFER To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
All content from the Sons of UCF is brought to you by the law office of Werner, Hoffman, Greig & Garcia. With a combined 70+ years of legal experience, WHG specialize in personal injury, workers comp, veteran disability, and SSI/SSDI cases. For more information, contact them at wernerhoffman.com, or call 1-800-320-HELP In this edition of ATK-Overtime, Eric Lopez, Trace Trylko, and Adam Eaton continue the conversation from Around The Kingdom as they discuss - The decisive win over BYU - The decision UCF has to make with Johnny Dawkins - and more... For more, check out the Sons of UCF YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@sonsofucf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In this episode of The Real Triathlon Podcast, the original trio is back—Jackson, Nicholas, and Garrick—catching up on sick weeks, conference travel in Nashville, and nagging injuries before diving into how to actually train smart in February and March. They break down: How hard you should be training now if your key races are months away The right mix of volume vs. intensity for age-groupers and pros Using swim sessions for “safe” suffering and open-water prep in the pool Brick training: how much you really need and when to do it Why zone 2 alone won't make you fast (and where hard VO2/threshold work fits in) Fueling like a pro: eating enough to actually support 25–30 hour weeks They wrap up with “Pass or Smash” (protein shakes, wired headphones, leftovers, jet skis, and more) and “What Spins My Crank,” including Valtteri Bottas' YouTube, Ironman's move to YouTube coverage, and the mental boost of finally hitting good workouts after a rough patch. Head to pillarperformance.shop or TheFeed.com/pillar and enter code REALTRI15 for 15% off first-time purchases. If you want to go above and beyond consider supporting us over on Patreon by clicking here! Follow us on Instagram at @realtrisquad for updates on new episodes. Individual Instagram handles: Garrick Loewen - @loeweng Nicholas Chase - @race_chase Jackson Laundry - @jacksonlaundrytri Lisa Becharas - @lisabecharas
http://www.matinicuswannabe.com/PODCAST-AUDIO/MW%202-27-26%20final.mp3
This week's episode of The Dive Driven by Kia kicks off with the latest LCS news: our hosts recapped this past week of swift matches, each winning team dominating and showing the world what NA could be. C9 Zven continues to stack several massive leads- gold leads, that is. Meanwhile, Inspired shared his true thoughts about FlyQuest's jungler during a post-match interview following the sweep, prompting a reaction tweet from Gryffinn.To wrap things up, audiences from every platform submitted questions for our first FAN Q+A segment of the year. Thank you to everyone that sent one in!Don't forget: new merch is live! Check the link below for the latest wearables and plushes.LCS returns on Friday, February 27th at 1pm (PT) for Team Liquid Alienware vs LYON live from the Riot Games Arena in Los Angeles. Come see the pros play in person, tickets are on sale now!Get your tickets here: https://www.tixr.com/groups/lcs/Merch: https://merch.riotgames.com/collection/league-s26-kickoff/?utm_source=thedive&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=lols26kickoffTimestamps:0:00 - Intro1:26 - Inspired via Sheep Esports9:38 - LYON vs FLY Recap32:12 - TLAW vs DSG Recap47:36 - LYON vs TLAW Predictions51:20 - SEN vs C9 Recap1:03:07 - New Merch Just Dropped1:04:00 - Fan Q+A!
Fighting red eyes, cloudy water, or scale that keeps coming back? We unpack the exact chemistry that drives pool comfort and clarity, then give you a simple plan to control pH without wrecking alkalinity. You'll learn why total alkalinity is the true pH buffer, how cyanuric acid and borates play supporting roles, and when to pick borax, baking soda, or muriatic acid to get fast, stable results.We start with the essentials: what pH means for swimmer comfort, equipment protection, and chlorine strength. From there, we explain how high alkalinity blunts acid and traps you with rising pH, while low alkalinity removes the cushion and lets pH crash. We walk through smart targets for plaster, vinyl, and fiberglass pools, and show how trichlor tablets quietly push pH and TA in the background. If your salt pool drifts high, you'll hear why turbulence from the cell accelerates pH rise and how borates at 50 ppm calm the swings while boosting chlorine performance.Then we get practical. Skip the mess of soda ash and use 20 Mule Team Borax to raise pH cleanly with minimal impact on TA. Use baking soda only to raise alkalinity. When TA is sky-high, follow our proven cycle: create aeration with a submersible pump or water features, dose measured acid to lower TA, let turbulence lift pH back up without changing TA, and repeat until you're in range. We also share dosing tips, why borates mean you'll need a bit more acid, and how to set up a stable “buffer stack” that keeps water clear and comfortable.• ideal pH targets for comfort and sanitizer strength• corrosion risks at low pH and scaling at high pH• alkalinity as the main pH buffer and target ranges• cyanuric acid's minor buffering and tablet effects• borates at 50 ppm for pH stability in salt pools• why muriatic acid lowers both pH and alkalinity• why soda ash clouds water and spikes alkalinity• borax as a cleaner way to raise pH• baking soda for raising alkalinity only• step-by-step aeration method to lower high alkalinity• practical dosing notes and app recommenSend a textSupport the Pool Guy Podcast Show Sponsors! HASA https://bit.ly/HASAThe Bottom Feeder. Save $100 with Code: DVB100https://store.thebottomfeeder.com/Try Skimmer FREE for 30 days:https://getskimmer.com/poolguy Get UPA Liability Insurance $64 a month! https://forms.gle/F9YoTWNQ8WnvT4QBAPool Guy Coaching: https://bit.ly/40wFE6y
Fantasy football is unpredictable, but your internet price doesn't have to be. Lock in fast, reliable WiFi with Xfinity's 5-Year Price Guarantee.https://ad.doubleclick.net/ddm/trackclk/N8667.5415713FLNEWSLETTERLLC/B34798571.4365895[…]gdpr=${GDPR};gdpr_consent=${GDPR_CONSENT_755};ltd=;dc_tdv=1Dwain McFarland joins fantasy football expert Ian Hartitz on the show to unveil his Rookie WR Super Model for the 2026 NFL Draft class. We break down what the model looks for, its historical hit rates, and then go prospect-by-prospect through the top names: Carnell Tate, Jordyn Tyson, Makai Lemon, KC Concepcion, Denzel Boston, Elijah Sarratt, and Omar Cooper — the good, the not-so-good, and the comps. (edited) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this episode, Steve Fretzin and Brooke Lively discuss: Recognizing that law firms must master the business of law Prioritizing rocks before everything else Building culture through the right people and real accountability Understanding personal wiring and stage fit Key Takeaways: Law school teaches legal doctrine, not leadership, systems, or execution. Firms that struggle often lack clear vision, aligned people, and real accountability. Frameworks like EOS provide structure for turning intention into consistent results. You cannot pursue every opportunity at once without diluting impact. Identifying quarterly “rocks” forces focus and determines what gets a firm's time and attention. Without clear priorities, “urgent” noise will crowd out important progress. Success depends on having the right people in the right seats and refusing to tolerate toxic high performers. Clear metrics, documented processes, and regular follow-through create traction. When accountability becomes normal, execution improves across the firm. Leaders thrive in different environments, whether scrappy growth or mature stability. Misalignment between personality and company stage can create friction and unintended chaos. Self-awareness allows both the leader and the firm to operate at their best. "The urgent overtakes the important, and the important never gets done." — Brooke Lively Check out my new show, Be That Lawyer Coaches Corner, and get the strategies I use with my clients to win more business and love your career again. Ready to go from good to GOAT in your legal marketing game? Don't miss PIMCON—where the brightest minds in professional services gather to share what really works. Lock in your spot now: https://www.pimcon.org/ Thank you to our Sponsor! Rankings.io: https://rankings.io/ Lawyer.com: https://www.lawyer.com/ Ready to grow your law practice without selling or chasing? Book your free 30-minute strategy session now—let's make this your breakout year: https://fretzin.com/ About Brooke Lively: Brooke Lively is a speaker, author, and profitability expert, and the founder of Cathedral Capital, a team of CFOs and Profitability Strategists dedicated to helping entrepreneurs transform their private practices into profitable, well-managed businesses. With an MBA in Investments and Corporate Finance, Brooke has leveraged her experience growing multiple companies to guide clients—from law firms to marketing agencies—in understanding financial statements, making data-driven decisions, and increasing profitability. She is the author of the 6 Key Numbers series, providing accessible financial guidance for business owners, psychologists, and attorneys. Known for her approachable yet candid style, Brooke also delivers engaging keynote presentations that educate entrepreneurs on financial stability, growth management, and sustainable profitability. Connect with Brooke Lively: Website: https://brookelively.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CathedralCapital LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brookelively/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg1JD7XBFwGjizaa9_566sg Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cathedralcapital/ Connect with Steve Fretzin: LinkedIn: Steve Fretzin Twitter: @stevefretzin Instagram: @fretzinsteve Facebook: Fretzin, Inc. Website: Fretzin.com Email: Steve@Fretzin.com Book: Legal Business Development Isn't Rocket Science and more! YouTube: Steve Fretzin Call Steve directly at 847-602-6911 Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.
SAASTR 843: Software Stocks Have Massively Crashed. Here's What Founders Need to Know. SaaStr founder and CEO Jason Lemkin joins the TBPN show for a wide-ranging conversation on the state of SaaS, AI, and venture capital. Jason shares how he shrunk his team from 15 to 3 people by going all-in on AI agents, why he's lost patience with companies that haven't re-accelerated growth, and the real economics behind running large-scale events. He breaks down why PE has "said goodbye to B2B," how vibe coding is flooding the market with competitors, and what's making the IPO window both exciting and treacherous. Plus: why the agent that closed a $100K deal on a Saturday night matters more than any demo day pitch, and how AI discoverability is quietly reshaping how businesses choose their software stack. --------------------- This episode is Sponsored in part by HappyFox: Imagine having AI agents for every support task — one that triages tickets, another that catches duplicates, one that spots churn risks. That'd be pretty amazing, right? HappyFox just made it real with Autopilot. These pre-built AI agents deploy in about 60 seconds and run for as low as 2 cents per successful action. All of it sits inside the HappyFox omnichannel, AI-first support stack — Chatbot, Copilot, and Autopilot working as one. Check them out at happyfox.com/saastr --------------------- Hey everybody, the biggest B2B + AI event of the year will be back - SaaStr AI in the SF Bay Area, aka the SaaStr Annual, will be back in May 2026. With 68% VP-level and above, 36% CEOs and founders and a growing 25% AI-first professional, this is the very best of the best S-tier attendees and decision makers that come to SaaStr each year. But here's the reality, folks: the longer you wait, the higher ticket prices can get. Early bird tickets are available now, but once they're gone, you'll pay hundreds more so don't wait. Lock in your spot today by going to podcast.saastrannual.com to get my exclusive discount SaaStr AI SF 2026. We'll see you there.
After their win against Tennessee, The Drive explained why Mizzou should be a lock to make the NCAA Tournament.
The GoPowercat staff gathers to discuss the state of Kansas State football, basketball and baseball on this week's episode of the K-State Insiders. This week's show features GoPowercat publisher Tim Fitzgerald, managing editor Ryan Gilbert, GPC senior recruiting analyst Cole Carmody, and Big 12 Insiders host Brien Hanley. Are you enjoying our free video coverage of the Wildcats? Lock in at GoPowercat with a VIP subscription and unlock everything we have to offer. Our premium message board — Wabash Station — is a fan-favorite, as K-State nation joins together with non-stop discussion, debates and banter. Whether you want to join in on the action and post your thoughts on a daily basis or just sit back and see what people are saying, everyone has a place on Wabash Station. With premium scoop from our staff members, along with constant recruiting updates, Wabash Station is the place to be. But gaining access to Wabash Station only scratches the surface. While some articles are free, a good chunk of our written content is available exclusively for VIPs at GoPowercat. Whether it's top-notch breakdowns or unfiltered analysis, our VIP articles offer insight found nowhere else. Longtime publisher Tim Fitzgerald has assembled a one-of-a-kind crew. His right-hand man, Ryan Gilbert, serves as managing editor, overseeing the day-to-day operations on the site. Recruiting editor Cole Carmody not only keeps you in the loop with all things recruiting but also pitches in with cerebral football coverage. Jon Grove and Grant Snowden, both current journalism students at K-State, provide a fresh perspective on the Wildcats. Ethan Fitzgerald is the true jack of all trades, covering everything from women's basketball to soccer. Former offensive lineman Brien Hanley and former defensive back Monte Spiller also proudly contribute to GoPowercat with unmatched football knowledge. On the basketball side, GoPowercat is also blessed to have Clent Stewart on board, as the former K-State guard from 2004-08 is a literal hoops expert. So, what are you waiting for? Sign up to GoPowercat now! CLICK HERE AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OUR CURRENT OFFER To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In this deeply personal episode, my love Jon and I sit down together to talk about the music that mirrors our journey — especially his latest single release, Free Fall (coming out Feb 28th): https://ditto.fm/free_fall_746ce4c9We explore how the song was written, what it represents, and how creativity becomes a living thread inside our relationship. This conversation moves beyond music into something more intimate: how two creators met and fell in love. We talk about:• The story behind Spark in the Dark (Jon's first album)• How Jon nearly died from toxic mold illness• Building love during life transitions• Holding space for each other's becoming• Creativity as devotionThis episode is raw, reflective, and real. If you've ever fallen in love during a threshold moment… if you've ever found light when everything felt uncertain… this one is for you.Listen to Spark in the Dark:https://ditto.fm/spark-in-the-dark---SPONSOR: AirDoctor comes with a 30-day money back guarantee so if you don't love it, just send it back for a refund, minus shipping!Head to airdoctorpro.com and use promo code MANIFEST and you'll receive UP TO $300 off air purifiers! Exclusive to podcast customers, you will also receive a free 3 year warranty on any unit, which is an additional $84 value! Lock this special offer by going to A-I-R-D-O-C-T-O-R-P-R-O dot com and use promo code MANIFEST
Lock her up. Lock her up too. Kid Fury | Crissle Thisistheread.com Patreon Fury: patreon.com/kidfury Patreon Crissle: patreon.com/cw/CrisslesCouch Merch: shoptheread.com/ IG: @thisistheread Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.