Podcasts about long beach

In Acts 4, we are given a snapshot of what life looks like when resurrection power moves beyond a moment and into a community.This message explores how the Holy Spirit reshapes everyday life, not just our beliefs or worship gatherings. We see a church formed by covenant rather than convenience, marked by deep commitment to one another, a transformed relationship with possessions, and a shared responsibility for those in need.Rather than mastering spiritual content, the early church was shaped by the living presence of Jesus. Their unity, generosity, and care for one another became a visible witness to the resurrection. Not through programs or pressure, but through a reordered way of life.This teaching invites us to consider how resurrection life takes shape in ordinary spaces. Our relationships, our resources, and our response to need. It is a call to move from consumer Christianity toward a rooted, shared life centered on Jesus.

Jordan Taylor has won just about every major event in sports car racing including the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring, Petit Le Mans and the 24 Hours of Le Mans in addition to winning multiple class championships in Prototypes and GT cars. He's currently racing in the IMSA GTP class for his dad's Wayne Taylor Racing Team in one of two Cadillac V-Series.R prototypes.  During the COVID pandemic he decided to do some triathlon training and has since competed in multiple Ironman full-distance triathlons. We caught up with Taylor at the 50th Anniversary of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach where he tells us about how he got started in triathlon, how it helps him prepare for his auto racing, while also giving advice to new and experienced drivers on how this type of training can help improve their results. This guy is impressive on the track and off and his insight into this other world of racing is fascinating. Enjoy!NOTE:  You can catch Jordan Taylor at the Rolex 24 this weekend with live coverage from the “World Center of Racing” on Peacock, NBC and IMSA.com.

Canadian Robert Wickens not only has the heart of a champion, he's won multiple championships from karting through the junior open-wheel series. In addition to his success on the open-wheel ladder, he also scored multiple wins and poles while competing in the highly competitive DTM championship from 2013-2017. In 2018, he made his mark known to everyone in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES by winning the pole for his very first race at the season opening St. Pete Grand Prix! Unfortunately, later that year he would suffer from a catastrophic crash at the Pocono oval where he broke his back, neck, legs and had numerous other injuries that left him a paraplegic. He returned to racing with Bryan Herta Autosport in 2022 scoring a podium finish with his co-driver in his first race using hand controls! In 2023 he won the Michelin Pilot Challenge championship in a Hyundai Elantra N. This guy is amazing, and in this interview at the 2025 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach media luncheon, he talks about his latest ride in the DXDT Corvette ZO6 GT3.R IMSA GTD car with new Bosch hand controls. In the second practice session of the weekend, he set the fastest lap! Listen in as he fills us in on the technology that's helping him return to top-level racing. Enjoy!

Brent Nordmann is the principal engineer for HRC Performance Parts and as part of Honda Racing, he showed off the Acura Integra Type S HRC Prototype “proof of concept” car at the 2025 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. We met up with Nordmann there during press day and he was nice enough to give us a walkaround on this stunningly beautiful, track-day focused car. Since this car is not available yet, and performance specifications may change, certain details are quite hush- hush. However, from what we could see, it's a good bet that Honda and Acura fans alike will be salivating over this piece of machinery and wringing their hands until the moment they can take delivery! Enjoy!

Rinus VeeKay is a winner in the NTT IINDYCAR SERIES and spent most of his career at Ed Carpenter Racing. After the two parted ways, VeeKay found himself without a ride until about two weeks before the start of the 2025 season when he was picked up by Dale Coyne Racing. We spoke to VeeKay in the media bullpen at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach where he fills us in on his new ride, his quest for Indy success as well as his teammate Jacob Abel. He's a talented driver who hasn't yet reached his full potential, although he's always been fast at “The 500.”  Enjoy!NOTE: Although Long Beach wasn't a great race for VeeKay, he would just miss the podium in the next race at Barber Motorsports Park finishing fourth. He earned a second-place finish in Toronto later in the season. Over the off-season it was announced that VeeKay had signed to race with Juncos Hollinger Racing for the 2026 season.

Sting Ray Robb has been with three different teams in three seasons in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. For 2026 he will return with Juncos Hollinger Racing and will be teamed with Rinus VeeKay. In this interview, it was a group of journalists asking questions in the media bullpen at the 2025 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. We managed to get a couple of questions in and I left the other questions roll too as they did cover some interesting topics. He was very relaxed and forthcoming with information in regards to generalities and technical aspects of his season so far.   Enjoy!

Scott McLaughlin is a three-time champion of the Australian Supercar series and the 2024 Indianapolis 500 polesitter. Since coming from the tin tops to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, he's visited Victory Lane seven times, which is super impressive having spent the majority of his racing career learning how to race a completely different car. In this interview in the media bullpen at the 2025 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, McLaughnlin dishes on the contact controversy at the Thermal Grand Prix, talks about how special it is to race at the 50th Anniversary of the AGPLB, and gives us some keen insight into his Indy 500 prep including a big assist he's receiving from former “500” and series champ, Simon Pageanaud.  Enjoy!

Gray Newell drives an Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT in the SRO GT America Series. I met Newell at the 50th Anniversary of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach where I was looking at the Aston Martin Valkyrie GTP car. He happened to be standing there in his Aston Martin shirt and I asked him some questions about that car. I also asked him what his role was and he responded that he was a driver for the Heart of Racing Team in the SRO series. At that point, I asked if he had time for an interview sometime during the weekend. In quite the serendipitous way, besides saying “yes” he also won the pole for his race. Immediately following his press conference, he came to the FastLane Racing School booth in the Expo and we conducted the interview live in front of race fans. A super cool guy with a real thoughtful process for his driving, Newell was a real crowd-pleasing guest. Enjoy!NOTE:  Although Newell started from the pole in Race 1, he ended up third on the podium. In Race 2, things didn't go as well and he finished 11th.

(January 21, 2026) US overdose deaths fell through most of 2025, federal data reveals. A Month of First: The January events that changed the world. Dr. Jim Keany, Chief Medical Officer at Dignity Health St. Mary Medical Center in Long Beach, joins The Bill Handel Show for 'Medical News'! Dr. Keany talks with Bill about food borne bacteria causing urinary infections, Shingles vaccine reducing the risk of heart attack, and wildfire exposure in pregnancy linked to Autism.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of The Freedom Writers Podcast, something unexpected happens. During a visit to Green Valley High School, what began as a classroom exercise turned into an unscripted podcast—led entirely by students. Original Freedom Writer Melvin Logan responds in real time to their thoughtful questions, reflecting on growing up in Long Beach amid gang violence, navigating loss at home, and the choices that shaped his life. This conversation is shared at the students' request, capturing a rare moment of trust, curiosity, and courage—where young voices lead, and real learning unfolds.

For decades, the narrative surrounding schizophrenia has focused almost exclusively on controlling symptoms. But with no cure, can someone actually get better? Recovery in the context of schizophrenia isn't about the absence of symptoms. It's a deeply personal process — one that centers on restoring hope, self-determination, and a meaningful life, even when hallucinations, delusions, and setbacks continue to exist. In this episode, host Rachel Star Withers, who lives openly with schizophrenia, and co-host Gabe Howard explore what recovery really means for people with serious mental illness. From clinical symptom remission and functional abilities to redefining purpose and identity, they unpack how recovery can look — and why it rarely fits the “back to normal” expectation held by loved ones and society. Later in the episode, Dr. Mark Ragins, who is a pioneer and leading voice in person-centered, recovery-based psychiatry, joins the conversation. Listener takeaways  why people — not illness — should be at the center of treatment how recovery can include setbacks and still be real progress how the psychosis triangle explains both breakdown and healing how relationships can stabilize psychosis even when symptoms persist Listen now as this episode challenges outdated ideas of recovery, validating lived experience and showing how a meaningful life is possible with schizophrenia, symptoms and all. Our guest, Mark Ragins, MD, has been a psychiatrist for 40 years, working in community mental health centers, as the Medical Director for 27 years at the Mental Health America Village in Long Beach, California, an award-winning model of recovery-based mental health services, as the students' psychiatrist at Cal State Long Beach, and on street medicine teams working with homeless people on the streets throughout LA county. His book, “Journeys Beyond the Frontier: A Rebellious Guide to Psychosis and Other Extraordinary Experiences,” is based on true stories of working with some of the most underserved and difficult-to-engage people in our community. Countless people have come to experience the work being done at the Village firsthand and Mark has given hundreds of presentations and lectures to wide-ranging audiences nationally and internationally. He is one of the true pioneers and leaders of person-centered, recovery-based psychiatry. Many of his writings are posted online at markragins.com, including his short book A Road to Recovery. He was also featured in Steve Lopez's book The Soloist. Over the years, Mark has won a number of awards, including from the American Psychiatric Association, the Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association, NAMI, and Mental Health Advocacy Services. Our host, Rachel Star Withers, (Link: www.rachelstarlive.com) is an entertainer, international speaker, video producer, and schizophrenic. She has appeared on MTV's Ridiculousness, TruTV, NBC's America's Got Talent, Marvel's Black Panther, TUBI's #shockfight, Goliath: Playing with Reality, and is the host of the HealthLine podcast “Inside Schizophrenia”. She grew up seeing monsters, hearing people in the walls, and having intense urges to hurt herself. Rachel creates videos documenting her schizophrenia, ways to manage, and letting others like her know they are not alone and can still live an amazing life. She has created a kid's mental health comic line, The Adventures of ____. (Learn more at this link: https://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Fearless-Unstoppable-Light-Ambitious/dp/B0FHWK4ZHS ) Fun Fact: She has wrestled alligators. Our cohost, Gabe Howard, is an award-winning writer and speaker who lives with bipolar disorder. He is the author of the popular book, "Mental Illness is an Asshole and other Observations," available from Amazon; signed copies are also available directly from the author. To learn more about Gabe, please visit his website, gabehoward.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, we break down new data revealing that organized crime rings are keeping cargo theft levels near record highs across North America. We discuss how these sophisticated groups are increasingly targeting rail corridors and exploiting security gaps during freight handoffs. Next, we look at the Postal Service's bold strategy to transform its last-mile network by requiring retailers to bid for delivery space. Postmaster General David Steiner hopes this premium product approach will generate billions in revenue to help offset recent financial losses. Finally, the Port of Long Beach is preparing for a massive cargo surge with plans to double container volume to 20 million units by 2050. Officials are fast-tracking nearly $2 billion in rail projects to triple capacity and turn the Southern California hub into a zero-emissions powerhouse. Follow the FreightWaves NOW Podcast Other FreightWaves Shows Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Jim Keany, Chief Medical Officer at Dignity Health St. Mary Medical Center in Long Beach, joins The Bill Handel Show for 'Medical News'! Dr. Keany talks with Bill about food borne bacteria causing urinary infections, Shingles vaccine reducing the risk of heart attack, and wildfire smore exposure in pregnancy linked to Autism.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

 Episode 100 10 Favorite (current) Worship Songs 1. My Testimony by Elevation Worship 2. Yet Not I but Through Christ in Me by City Alight 3. Scars by I Am They 4. I Thank God by Maverick City Music 5. Goodness of God by CeCe Winans 6. Sing Wherever I Go by We the Kingdom 7. Thank You Jesus for the Blood by Charity Gayle 8. What an Awesome God by Phil Wickham 9. Bless God by Brooke Ligertwood 10. Jesus Lifted Me by Cain  10 Favorite Bible Verses 1. “Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10 2. “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” II Corinthians 1:3-4 3. “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” Genesis 5:20 4. “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” Isaiah 43:19 5. “I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart. I will tell of all your wonders. I will be glad and rejoice in you. I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.” Psalm 9: 1-2 6. “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Act 4:12 7. “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” Romans 12:12 8. “So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten,” Joel 2:25 9. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4: 6-7 10. “Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel.” Ephesians 6:19 10 Favorite Treats 1. Milka chocolate bars 2. Iced lattes 3. Manzanilla green olives from Trader Joe's (yes, specifically these) 4. Homemade popcorn 5. Coffee ice cream 6. Roasted and salted macadamia nuts  7. Kettle cooked potato chips 8. Kouign-amann pastries 9. Chips and salsa 10. Italian Confetti Almonds from Trader Joe's (yes, specifically these) 10 Favorite Books 1. How Green Was My Valley by Richard Llewellyn 2. Everything Sad Is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri 3. The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings 4. The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom 5. The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder 6. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee 7. Persuasion Jane Austen 8. The Chronicles of Narnia (the whole series) C. S. Lewis 9. Rainbow Valley by Lucy Maud Montgomery 10. God's Smuggler by Brother Andrew 10 Favorite Movies 1. It's a Wonderful Life 2. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty 3. Napoleon Dynamite + Nacho Libre (cannot pick one and they are a pair to me) 4. My Fair Lady 5. Sleepless In Seattle 6. Little Women (1994 version) 7. Sense and Sensibility 8. That Thing You Do 9. To Kill a Mockingbird 10. Up  10 Favorite Places I've Visited 1. Cinque Terre, Italy 2. The Cotswolds, England 3. Big Sur, CA 4. Murren, Switzerland 5. Meteora, Greece 6. Olympic National Park, WA 7. Annecy, France 8. Hyderabad and Secunderabad, India 9. Reykjavik, Iceland 10. Glacier National Park, MT  10 Favorite Coffee Shops  1. Scout Coffee, San Luis Obispo, CA 2. Honest Coffee, Franklin, Tenn 3. Orange Inn, Laguna Beach, CA 4. Certified Kitchen and Bakery, Boise, ID 5. Merchant, Long Beach, CA 6. Giovanni Cova & C, Milan, Italy 7. Jo's Coffee, Austin, TX 8. Barista Parlor, Nashville, TN 9. Hooray Coffee, Redlands, CA 10. Sant' Eustachio Il Caffee', Rome, Italy  10 Favorite Things That Were Also Really Hard 1. Natural childbirth 2. Writing books 3. Being a public high school teacher 4. Becoming a speaker 5. Sharing the most vulnerable parts of our marriage story publicly 6. Running a half marathon 7. Fighting porn 8. Parenting teens and young adults 9. Home schooling 10. Becoming a podcaster  10 Favorite Things from Nature 1. Giant Sequoia trees 2. Cardinals 3. Sea otters 4. California Poppies 5. Coast Live Oak trees 6. Moss 7. Tidepools 8. Red Tailed Hawks 9. Wild Mustard 10. Dolphins  10 Favorite Adventures 1. My Christian walk 2. Being married to Aaron 3. Becoming a mom 4. Spending 2 summers in my teens in India with my dad 5. Summering in Scotland with 25 teens + Aaron when we were newlyweds 6. Becoming an author 7. Family road trip from California to Minnesota 8. Home schooling our kids 9. Backpacking through Europe as a young married couple 10. Family trip to Italy  10 Misc Favorite Things: 1. The color yellow 2. My Blundstone boots 3. My Nugget ice maker 4. Wearing brand new socks 5. Watching travel shows with Aaron (especially Stanley Tucci, Rick Steves and Travel Man) 6. Colorful bags from Orla Keily 7. My collection of Yearly bangles that Aaron started for me 8. Red shoes 9. Stickers – especially travel and encouraging words 10. My collection of Ronnie Kappos jewelry that Aaron started for meThe Greta Eskridge Podcast is a part of the Christian Parenting Podcast Network. For more information visit www.ChristianParenting.org

For my first episode of 2026, I'm shining a huge spotlight on what we do for a living and explaining why we are sitting pretty in this current day and age to create incredible amounts of success. It's all about the anatomy of our belief systems. It happens to be similar to our fascia. It's 2026 my friends. Let's go!! Host Bio:         Contact Allison Denney: rebelmt@abmp.com             Allison's website: www.rebelmassage.com                      Allison Denney is a certified massage therapist and certified YouTuber. You can find her massage tutorials at YouTube.com/RebelMassage. She is also passionate about creating products that are kind, simple, and productive for therapists to use in their practices. Her products, along with access to her blog and CE opportunities, can be found at rebelmassage.com.           About our Sponsors:   Rebel Massage Therapist: My name is Allison. And I am not your typical massage therapist. After 20 years of experience and thousands of clients, I have learned that massage therapy is SO MUCH more than a relaxing experience at a spa. I see soft tissue as more than merely a physical element but a deeply complex, neurologically driven part of who you are. I use this knowledge to work WITH you—not ON you—to create change that works. This is the basis of my approach. As a massage therapist, I have worked in almost every capacity, including massage clinics, physical therapy clinics, chiropractor offices, spas, private practice, and teaching. I have learned incredible techniques and strategies from each of my experiences. In my 20 years as a massage therapist, I have never stopped growing. I currently have a private practice based out of Long Beach, California, where I also teach continuing education classes and occasionally work on my kids. If they're good.   website: www.rebelmassage.com FB: facebook.com/RebelMassage IG: instagram.com/rebelmassagetherapist YouTube: youtube.com/c/RebelMassage email: rebelmassagetherapist@gmail.com Anatomy Trains is a global leader in online anatomy education and also provides in-classroom certification programs for structural integration in the US, Canada, Australia, Europe, Japan, and China, as well as fresh-tissue cadaver dissection labs and weekend courses. The work of Anatomy Trains originated with founder Tom Myers, who mapped the human body into 13 myofascial meridians in his original book, currently in its fourth edition and translated into 12 languages. The principles of Anatomy Trains are used by osteopaths, physical therapists, bodyworkers, massage therapists, personal trainers, yoga, Pilates, Gyrotonics, and other body-minded manual therapists and movement professionals. Anatomy Trains inspires these practitioners to work with holistic anatomy in treating system-wide patterns to provide improved client outcomes in terms of structure and function.                      Website: anatomytrains.com                        Email: info@anatomytrains.com             Facebook: facebook.com/AnatomyTrains                       Instagram: www.instagram.com/anatomytrainsofficial   YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2g6TOEFrX4b-CigknssKHA    Precision Neuromuscular Therapy seminars (www.pnmt.org) have been teaching high-quality seminars for more than 20 years. Doug Nelson and the PNMT teaching staff help you to practice with the confidence and creativity that comes from deep understanding, rather than the adherence to one treatment approach or technique. Find our seminar schedule at pnmt.org/seminar-schedule with over 60 weekends of seminars across the country. Or meet us online in the PNMT Portal, our online gateway with access to over 500 videos, 37 NCBTMB CEs, our Discovery Series webinars, one-on-one mentoring, and much, much more! All for the low yearly cost of $167.50. Learn more at pnmt.thinkific.com/courses/pnmtportal!  Follow us on social media: @precisionnmt on Instagram or at Precision Neuromuscular Therapy Seminars on Facebook.   Heights Wellness Retreat is redefining whole-body wellness through an innovative, integrated approach to physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Built on more than two decades of Massage Heights expertise in massage and skin therapy, this next-generation wellness destination represents the evolution of our mission to transform lives through wellness.  At Heights Wellness Retreat, we believe every person is an unstoppable force, whether navigating daily demands, pursuing goals, or striving to be their best. This drives everything we do. We go beyond traditional spa services by creating a purpose-driven environment where wellness professionals are empowered, valued, and positioned to grow. With steady clientele, support, and a wellness-forward culture, Heights Wellness Retreat is where therapists build meaningful, sustainable careers while shaping the future of the wellness industry.  www.massageheightscareers.careerplug.com/jobs  www.heightswellnessretreats.com  https://www.instagram.com/heightswellnessretreat/  https://www.facebook.com/heightswellnessretreat/   

I saw the power of storytelling and the responsibility we have to share stories to educate and change lives.Dr. Terésa Dowell-Vest is an Associate Professor of Communication at Prairie View A&M University and President of the University Film and Video Association (UFVA), an organization that supports film, television, and media studies in higher education.In this conversation Terésa and I discuss:* The music of Janet Jackson, Prince, and Jimmy Jam/Terry Lewis* Teaching media in a post-truth world* What UFVA is, why it matters, and how professional associations can sharpen teaching and creative practice* What filmmaking trends she sees with her students at Prairie View A&M* The short documentary her students did in collaboration with students from USC (link here)* “The Death of Cliff Huxtable” and the process of separating art from a problematic artistThanks for reading The Creativity, Education, and Leadership Newsletter! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.Here is an AI generated transcript. Don't come for me.BEN: Hi everyone—Ben Guest here. Welcome to The Creativity, Education, and Leadership Podcast. Today my guest is Professor Terésa Dowell-Vest, an associate professor of Communication and Media at Prairie View A&M University and the President of the University Film and Video Association (UFVA).In this conversation we talk Janet Jackson, the media landscape for young people interested in production, what UFVA does, and more. Enjoy.Professor, thanks so much for joining me today.TERÉSA: Thank you. Thank you for having me. It's my pleasure to be here.BEN: I always like to start with a fun question. Senior year of high school—what music were you listening to?TERÉSA: Senior year of high school—1989. 1990 was a great year to be a Janet Jackson fan. *Rhythm Nation* was probably worn out in my car's tape deck. I was a huge fan.BEN: Did you do the choreography?TERÉSA: Oh yes. I can do the hands and all that—the “A‑5‑4.” I would do it, for real.And Janet Jackson was the big one, even though Prince's *Purple Rain* came out a few years earlier. That album was still in regular rotation for me in high school.And then in 1988 New Edition put out *Heart Break*—produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. That was such a good time. So yeah: Janet, Prince, New Edition—Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis were the soundtrack.BEN: '88 was when Bobby Brown's *Don't Be Cruel* came out, right?TERÉSA: Listen, lemme tell you, the eighties to be a teenager in the eighties, to be in your twenties in the nineties. What a time to be alive.BEN: Yeah. I love it. Okay, second fun question. What's your pick for best picture this year?TERÉSA: I'd say *Sinners*. There are a few this year, but funny enough I actually focused more on television—I was obsessed with *Stranger Things* and *Severance* (and one other show I'm blanking on), so I didn't get to the movies as much. But I did see *Sinners* and it really stuck with me. I should preface that by saying I'm not as familiar with the entire pool, but I'm almost confident it'll be a strong contender.BEN: So good. I saw that your MFA thesis was titled *The African American Producer Is the American Griot*. Can you talk about that—maybe even in relation to *Sinners*?TERÉSA: I've always been fascinated by the power of storytelling. My bachelor's degree and my MFA are both in theater because I love live engagement. That also shaped me as a professor—I love being in front of students and engaging in a transactional, interactive way, not just a linear one. Theater and education give me that kind of exchange with an audience.For my graduate thesis I came to know Dr. Maulana Karenga—best known for creating Kwanzaa. He was chair of the Black Studies program at California State University, Long Beach. During my years there (1994–1997), I was the only Black student in the program, and in 1997 I became the first Black person to graduate with my particular degree from that program. Even in the '90s I was thinking: why are we still talking about “firsts” and “onlys”?I wanted to bridge storytelling with the legacy of slavery and survival—my own ancestors were from Virginia, where I was born and raised. Dr. Karenga taught me the concept of the *griot*—the storyteller—and the responsibility that comes with that. In the U.S., storytelling often gets treated as frivolous—an extracurricular, “nice to have.” A lot of Black parents, especially, don't want their kids studying film, theater, or the liberal arts because it doesn't seem like a stable livelihood. I started undergrad as an accounting major and didn't tell my dad I'd switched to theater until graduation day—he found out when they called my name under the College of Arts instead of the College of Business. That's the mindset I came from: my family wanted us to succeed, and the arts read as struggle, not a viable career.But there's honor in being a storyteller. That idea changed how I saw theater.And it was the '90s—*Rent* was happening, and I was in Los Angeles, flying back and forth to the East Coast to see Broadway shows that weren't just entertaining; they were educating and changing lives. I remember *The Life*—not a massive hit, but it told the story of Black and Brown women working as call girls in New York City. You'd think, “Is that a Broadway story?” But the music was outstanding.And there were so many others—*Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk* with Savion Glover, looking at African American history through tap and music. During that period I really saw the power of storytelling—and the responsibility we have to tell stories that educate and change lives.BEN: That's so powerful. The responsibility of storytelling to educate and change lives.TERÉSA: Yeah.BEN: It's one of the things I've often thought as a teacher: I'm a storyteller. How do you construct a lesson so students are receptive? It's like you're telling a story over a unit, a curriculum, or even a single lesson.TERÉSA: When you engage with students and give them permission to share their stories, you're not really “teaching” in the traditional sense anymore. It becomes more like peer engagement than “I'm the teacher, I know the things, and I'm telling you the things.”Students receive it differently when they feel you're invested in who they are—not just their grade.BEN: There's a great quote, I think it's Roger Ebert films, but really stories are empathy machines.TERÉSA: Yeah.BEN: It allows us to walk in someone else's shoes for a moment. There was a reconciliation group in Mississippi whose motto was: “Enemies are people whose stories we haven't heard.”TERÉSA: Incredibly profound. When we think about fear, it's often a lack of understanding—no connection to the thing you're afraid of. Hearing stories can build that connection.BEN: Can you talk about the importance of media education? I'm a documentary filmmaker, documentary filmmaking in today's world where so much of where we are in a post-truth society.TERÉSA: There are mechanics to telling the truth, and mechanics to telling a lie. In fiction you see this a lot—shows like *The Mentalist* or *Law & Order* where someone reads body language, eye movement, and so on to figure out whether someone is lying.What matters for media education is helping students understand the “tells” in information—how to challenge and debunk claims instead of assuming, “Someone told me a thing, so it must be true.”I didn't fully appreciate how urgent that was until the pandemic, when early reporting was all over the place and a lot of it conflicted. Being able to sort honest, vetted information from dishonest or speculative claims mattered in a very concrete way—like realizing you probably shouldn't drink bleach.Coming out of that period, teaching media studies has meant teaching reporting with integrity. You can't just assume something is true—not because people are “bad,” but because people absorb information differently based on what they've experienced.I do a lecture with my senior capstone students on the difference between **knowledge** and **information**. Knowledge is shaped by culture, character, race, gender, where you grew up, what language you speak, what faith you practice—so it can carry bias. Information, on the other hand, is verifiable and can be vetted. 2 + 2 = 4 no matter who you are.Good storytelling—and good journalism—knows how to bridge knowledge and information with integrity. When I have journalism students who lean into opinion-driven news—whether it's Fox, MSNBC, whatever—I tell them: that's playing to an audience's sensibilities. It can be entertaining, but it isn't the same as straight reporting. Then there's reporting that aims to be more information-based—“Here's what happened today.” That also needs to be taught. We're in a moment where students need tools to tell the truth, recognize lies, pick them apart, and trust their internal compass about what's important to share.And Ben—my answers get long. You might have to cut me off.BEN: I'm going to cut you off when what you're saying stops being interesting—so I doubt I'm going to cut you off.You're the President of the University Film and Video Association. For listeners: what is UFVA?TERÉSA: UFVA is a nationally recognized organization of university and college educators and institutions focused on film, television, and media studies—both practice and theory. We're a collective of makers and scholars. Our members hold a range of degrees—MAs, MFAs, MS degrees, PhDs, EdDs.As an organization, we examine how film and television are used—and we keep digging into how the field is evolving through innovation and emerging technology. Each year we host a conference (typically in July) where we share classroom best practices and research, and we analyze how film sparks conversation.You asked me earlier about a front-runner for Best Picture. I think about *Sinners* as a kind of textbook in a lot of ways. One of my students gave an informative speech last semester on the history of hoodoo, and she referenced *Sinners* heavily because it's central to the film. In that moment she used a movie as a learning text.That's what UFVA does: we create space to share those opportunities through research and scholarship, and we bring it back to our students and institutions.BEN: You said “best practices,” and I want to come back to that because it's a rabbit hole I love.But first: in an interview you did with the *Journal of Film and Video*, you said you were about to start your UFVA presidency and weren't sure what to expect. Now that you've lived it—how was it?TERÉSA: One of the biggest things I've learned—maybe I've only really realized it in the last couple of months—is that joining an association as an educator keeps the fire hot. It keeps you learning.As UFVA President, I've met so many people who've inspired me. It's not that I want the presidency to end; it's more like, “I need more time to implement everything I'm learning from colleagues.” It also pushed me to partner with other organizations and communities I knew about but hadn't been deeply involved with.I joined UFVA because of the pandemic. Before that I'd never even heard of the University Film and Video Association. I was the kind of person who kept my head down and did my work in my silo, and I was fine with that. But when the pandemic hit, no one knew what to do with film production courses in quarantine.I reached out to colleagues—thinking maybe eight or ten of us would hop on Zoom and talk through hybrid and online teaching. That snowballed. People said, “Can I invite a colleague?” I said yes. I posted on Facebook: if you teach film production or media studies and want to talk about what we're doing this fall, let's meet.Jennifer Proctor replied and asked, “Have you heard of UFVA?” I hadn't. She suggested sharing the call with UFVA, and we kept casting the net. By the time we met, there were 126 professors from around the world—about 100 universities represented, including USC, Ivy League schools, and institutions in Germany and Australia.I ran the meeting as breakout rooms—nine of them—named after Black women in film and television: Shonda Rhimes, Julie Dash, and others. So even in the mechanics of the meeting, people were saying these names and being reminded of who matters in media.Two things came out of that experience. First, UFVA invited me to join the board. I said, “Let me be a member first,” but within a few months I knew: yes, this is where I want to be.Second, I saw the gaps. There was very little representation from HBCUs, and very few Black people involved. Not because UFVA was “bad,” but because people simply didn't know. So I understood my call: help bring people in, build bridges, and create collaboration without turning it into a slogan. I love that we get to do the work without making it a “thing.” That's been the value of the presidency for me.BEN: Love it. Can you talk about with your students at Prairie View, what are some trends you're seeing with what the young people are doing?TERÉSA: Oh, child. They want to be influencers.This is the social media age, and a lot of students see it as the primary industry of their generation—and I get it. If you have enough followers and a couple brands offer deals, it can be real money. I have students with tens of thousands of followers. I'm like, I can barely get my family to like a post. And they're like, “Oh, I do nails,” or “I do lashes,” or “I show my sneaker collection,” and they'll get 10,000 likes every time they post.My reaction is: we need to be teaching this. We need to teach students how to parlay that into careers. Even if I don't personally understand every part of it, that doesn't make it non-viable.It reminds me of when we were in school. The internet wasn't even a thing when I was in college (1990–1994), and then suddenly we were on the edge of being connected to the world. Professors were saying, “This will create cheaters—you'll never look things up in books again.” Sound familiar?Now students are figuring out VR, AR, AI. They're building brands, protecting brands, learning to be CEOs of themselves. That's exciting.BEN: Yeah. I think about that all the time. It's like when people first started writing letters—somebody must have said, “No one's going to talk to each other anymore. They're just going to send letters.”TERÉSA: Exactly. Every generation has a thing—“Who's using this calculator? You need to learn long division.”BEN: I graduated high school in '93, so when you're talking about Janet, my “Janet album” is literally *janet.*—“Again,” “That's the Way Love Goes,” all of that. It's funny how, year by year, the soundtrack shifts just a bit.BEN: Okay—teaching and best practices. What's something you've done in your classroom that really leveled up your teaching?TERÉSA: Oh, wow. Gosh, I think it's less something I've done and more the intention of showing the students that their success is not coming from looking up. It's from looking over. It's the concept that. When you graduate from college, it isn't some executive that's going to give you an opportunity. It's the people you're in the trenches with right now that you're gonna build with right now. So I think the thing that's leveled up my teaching is less a thing that I can show them as much as relationships that I can help them forge and the power of networking. So our program has has a pipeline relationship with the Annenberg School of Communication at the university. The University of Southern California professor Mickey Turner, who's a professor there at USC teaches the senior storytelling for Media course similar to the communication capstone course that I teach here. And so every semester, professor Turner and I collaborate. Those two classes together and we introduced those students to each other through pitches, research topic pitches for their final capstone project. And what they see is. Students at an HBCU or students at this PWI are not different at all. They just, they, live in different states. Perhaps they come from different backgrounds, but by and large, they have similar goals. And we teach them that this is who you need to forge a relationship with because when you are at the stage of making deals or going out and work, this is the person you're gonna want to call. So I think the thing that's leveled up my teaching is my understanding. And my teaching of that understanding of how the industry works and how it can best work for them. Since you no longer have to live in LA or New York to, to make movies people are making movies on their devices. You have to now find your tribe to tell your stories and it can be much more localized. And so I teach them to build their team where they are and not. Go after this aspirational. The only way I can make it if is if I put it in the hands of someone so far away from me. No, put it in the hands of the guy sitting next to you or the young lady that's sitting on this other side and shoot your film, make your short tell the story. Do your podcast. I feel like that's leveled up. The final piece to that USC story is that during the pandemic, five of our students from Prairie View and five students from USC collaborated on a short documentary about the pandemic and how it impacted students at HBCUs, at this HBCU versus how it impacted students at a private, pWI Prairie View is 45 minutes outside of the city of Houston. We're a rural community. We're in the middle of nowhere essentially, whereas USC is in the heart of Los Angeles and those students taught, told an amazing story. I'll send you the link to the film. It's on YouTube. Told an amazing story from two different vantage points. That is a great indication of how education can be collaborative. Just as film is.BEN: Yeah. Before we started recording, we were talking about travel—and it just reminds me: travel is one of the best educations people can get. The more you interact with people from around the country and the world, the more you realize how similar we are and what we want: better lives for our kids and a better world to live in.That feels like a good place to end. For people interested in your work, where can they find you?TERÉSA: A good starting point is **thedeathofcliffhuxtable.com**. That's where you'll find my fan-fiction series—and later scholarly series—about separating the art from the artist when the artist is problematic.Bill Cosby's work touched every stage of my life: as a child I watched *Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids* on Saturday mornings; as a teenager in the '80s I watched the Huxtables and wanted to be part of that world; and in college in the '90s—at James Madison University, a PWI—every Thursday night at 8:30 we gathered to watch *A Different World*, and it made us feel connected in a way.When I think about the more than 60 women who came forward, my first thought is: that many people aren't lying. Even if one person tells the truth, it changes everything.In 2015—around the time the New Yorker reporting was circulating and more women were speaking—I started writing fan fiction centered on the Huxtable family at the moment Cliff Huxtable dies. I “killed” Cliff Huxtable to push back on the idea that Bill Cosby was “America's dad.” That moniker belonged to Cliff Huxtable—a fictional character written by an artist who created something meaningful and also did something horrific.We can't see Cliff the same way because he wears Bill Cosby's face, but they are not the same person—one of them isn't even real. Writing the series helped me illustrate that tension, and it eventually became a scholarly project.During the pandemic we hosted a virtual series with 51 artists, scholars, and actors who read chapters and then joined post-show discussions on the themes. You can find all of that through the website, and it's also the easiest way to contact me.BEN: Wow. Professor, thank you for all the, for your time today, but also for all the good work you're doing in so many different spaces.TERÉSA: Thank you. Thank you. And I look forward to listening to the podcast even more. I'm sorry that I'm just now getting hip to your great work, but I tell you what, I am going to tune in and probably hit you up with some questions and excited remarks shortly thereafter.BEN: I love it.That was my conversation with Professor Dowell-Vest. If you enjoyed it, share it with a friend. Have a great day. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit benbo.substack.com

In this episode, Slauson Girl speaks with female rappers from The Cypher House for a raw, unfiltered conversation about lyricism, visibility, and carving space in a male-dominated industry. These artists speak on the power of the cypher as a community practice, the realities of being women in Hip-Hop from Watts, Compton and Long Beach and what it means to build something collective in a culture that often prioritizes individual clout.From navigating gender bias to preserving authenticity, this conversation goes beyond music—it's about movement, sisterhood, and ownership. The Cypher House isn't just a platform; it's a statement. And these women are proving that bars, brilliance, and leadership can—and do—coexist.The Cypher House honors the fact that women have always been part of Hip-Hop's foundation—and are actively shaping its future.Guest: The Queen of Compton, Bon Tha Don, Queen Ye, and Leelee babii.

Estad Quietos, Y Conoced Que Yo Soy Dios – Pastor Luis Parada by Iglesia Bautista Bíblica de Long Beach

Reb Gershon Schusterman grew up in Brooklyn and today lives in Los Angeles.Almost forty years ago he was on shlichus in Long Beach, California when his first wife and mother of their eleven children suddenly passed away.In the years since he remarried, raised his children and continued to build his life, but he has also spent his time thinking about the religious and chassidic approach processing tragedy.Not just what the texts say about it, but what they can't say, the space of faith that is beyond answers.In this episode we discuss his upbringing and how it framed his approach to dealing with personal tragedy.____His book, "Why God Why" can be purchased here: https://www.amazon.com/Believe-Heaven-When-Hurts-Like/dp/0826608469____Support this podcast at: https://www.hflpodcast.com/donateIf you would like to sponsor an episode or advertise on the podcast please reach out to bentzi@yuvlamedia.com____This week's episode is brought to you by "This World Is A Garden," a new film and live concert production by Yuvla Media based on the Rebbe's first talk, Bosi Lgani.Combining beautiful cinematography with a live performance by a string quartet, this production is a meditation on hope and holding on to a vision even as time passes by.Now you can bring this groundbreaking experience of Bosi Lgani to your community.For more info please visit: ⁠https://www.yuvlamedia.com/thisworldisagarden____Homesick for Lubavitch is a project of Yuvla Media.Bentzi Avtzon is a filmmaker who specializes in telling the stories of thoughtful and heartfelt organizations. Business inquiries only: hello@yuvlamedia.comConnect with BentziWebsite | ⁠https://www.yuvlamedia.com

Pre Game chat with Andy Newman, ahead of showdown with Long Beach State, at Premier America Credit Union, Northridge, CA. Audio Courtesy CSUN Matadors' Sports Properties & Learfield

Manufacturing has traditionally been a tentpole of the American economy. And car manufacturing has historically played a big part in the nation’s strong economy. President Trump made a deal with Japanese vehicle maker Toyota to reshore its car manufacturing on US soil. It appears the threat of tariffs worked. Meanwhile, at the Port of Long Beach, the amount of trade has exploded, moving a record amount of cargo last year. Because of Trump tariffs, American workers now have the advantage. In the 1980s, we shipped all manufacturing overseas to countries like Mexico, Canada and parts of Asia. But now manufacturing is making a return to prop up our economy. And we don’t even have to build the infrastructure — because all the old factories and rail lines are still here. President Trump was in Detroit this week to talk about bringing the manufacturing plants back to the US. US auto workers historically got a bad rap because of the way they were treated, not because of anything bad they did. They lived under constant threats of factory closures, robot replacement and docked pay, which was demoralizing to the American labor force. Meanwhile Frigidaire mini fridges are being recalled as a fire hazard. Where are they manufactured? Mostly in China. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on Enjoying Orange Slices with Jeff & Ian

La Murmuración- El Precio Oculto De Quejarse – Hno. Reynoso by Iglesia Bautista Bíblica de Long Beach

Fellas, is is gay to gaze lovingly into your friends' eyes? We're talking about the discourse surrounding the press tour for Wicked For Good, but really we're talking about how we should just let things be gay. We also talk about the movie, so spoiler alert in the second half of the episode.You can find the video about the queer conventions of Wicked here: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRC4uCZjuo8/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D You can find the video of Arianna and Cynthia affirming that Oz is a queer place here: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DK7U-_9uFvE/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D We also wanted to share some resources for protecting your communities from ICE:You can learn more or get involved with Órale (local to Long Beach, CA) here: https://www.orale.org/Immigrant Defense Project has toolkits for defending against ICE raids and community arrests: https://www.immigrantdefenseproject.org/raids-toolkit/

California's new congressional maps clear a major hurdle in federal court. A judge is ordering the city of L.A. to pump the brakes on the rollout of a new RV law. Long Beach breaks ground on a new waterfront amphitheater. Plus, more from Morning Edition. Support The L.A. Report by donating at LAist.com/join and by visiting https://laist.comSupport the show: https://laist.com

This week's episode: Prema Racing's IndyCar future is in doubt after the team's co-owners left the organization earlier this week. Plus, The Grand Prix Association of Long Beach announced that President and CEO Jim Michaealian is shifting to a new role with Penske Entertainment. 

(January 14, 2025) The new crash test dummy could keep women safer in car accidents. As Gen Z struggles to break into the job market, boomers stick around. Dr. Jim Keany, Chief Medical Officer at Dignity Health St. Mary Medical Center in Long Beach, joins The Bill Handel Show for 'Medical News'! Dr. Keany talks with Bill about dental health can predict reduced lifespan, whether you should get a full body scan, and nasal spray: at some point you can breath without it.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

L.A. is in for a winter heat wave. LAist transportation correspondent Kavish Harjai talks about how the first ever L.A. Metro chief of police is navigating officer recruitment. Plus, the new Long Beach professional basketball team is going by two names. Support The L.A. Report by donating at LAist.com/join and by visiting https://laist.comSupport the show: https://laist.com

Welcome to Season 6, Episode 2 ! Have you been caught up in the ube craze? For many people, especially in Southeast Asia, it's not a trend, it's a beloved food staple. This is most true in the Philippines where Ube is ubiquitous with many of their sweets. So in this episode, we talk ube… What is it? How is it used? What contributed to its rise in popularity, and more.  We also take time to explain the differences between ube, Okinawan sweet potato, and taro, and we wax poetic about our ube memories. Finally, we take time to talk about some specific restaurants (like Kasama in Chicago, Illinois and San & Wolves Bakeshop in Long Beach, California) and dishes to look for if you want to try ube (we highly recommend ube macapuno ice cream, ube crinkle cookies, ube matcha lattes, and sapin-sapin.  We begin the episode with some talk about New Years resolutions, 2025 Women's world champion figure skater Alysa Liu, and ube memories. At the end of the show, we also share another segment of What Are We Watching where we talk a little about Heated Rivalry as well as YouTube matcha content creators Michelle Kanemitsu, emily wada, and ur mom ashley.   If you like what we do, please share, follow, and like us in your podcast directory of choice or on Instagram @AAHistory101. For previous episodes and resources, please visit our site at https://asianamericanhistory101.libsyn.com or our links at http://castpie.com/AAHistory101. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, email us at info@aahistory101.com. Segments 00:25 Introduction… Talking New Years Resolutions, Celebrating Alysa Liu, and Sharing Ube Memories 12:34 The History of Ube 25:57 What Are We Watching? Heated Rivalry and YouTube Videos Ube Cheez Pandesal by San & Wolves Bakeshop

In Acts 4, the early church is offered a deal: you can keep your faith, just keep it quiet.After a public miracle and a public proclamation of the resurrected Jesus, Peter and John are arrested and brought before the most powerful and educated leaders of their day. The pressure is clear. Stop speaking. Stop teaching. Keep the name of Jesus out of the public square.But instead of shrinking back, Peter is filled with the Holy Spirit and speaks with boldness. He names what's true: the man was healed by Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the One they crucified, the One God raised from the dead. And then comes the line that still confronts every generation: “We cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”This message challenges two kinds of Christianity that the enemy loves: silent Christians and private Christians. It exposes how our culture trains us to compartmentalize faith, keeping it personal, polite, and manageable. And it invites us into a different way, a witness that is humble, faithful, and visible.The world isn't waiting for impressive Christians. It's waiting for ordinary people who have been with Jesus.

We're back for 2026 and the name of the game is quality over quantity. Conor and Josh shake off the barnacles, look for their sea legs, and perform other nautical metaphors, all in the name of talking comics, which is likely why they were placed on this earth. Note: Time codes are estimates due to dynamic ad insertion by the distributor. Running Time: 01:15:03 Pick of the Week:00:01:43 - The Amazing Spider-Man #983 (19) Comics:00:11:39 - Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: The Ghost Ships of Labrador #200:21:18 - Batman #500:25:51 - Absolute Superman00:32:01 - Devil on My Shoulder #200:35:54 - Batman/Green Arrow/The Question: Arcadia, Book Two00:43:40 - Nova: Centurion #3 Patron Pick:00:47:34 - The Twilight Zone #3 Patron Thanks:00:57:38  - Pastor Will Rose Audience Questions:01:00:55 - Gavin from Long Beach asks who we'd put on a "West Coast Avengers #1" style cover. Brought To You By: Huel - Get Huel today with this exclusive offer for New Customers of 15% OFF with code IFANBOY at huel.com/IFANBOY (Minimum $75 purchase). Shopify – This episode is sponsored by Shopify. Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period and take your business to the next level. iFanboy Patrons – Become one today for as little as $3/month! Or join for a full year and get a discount! You can also make a one time donation of any amount! iFanboy T-Shirts and Merch – Show your iFanboy pride with a t-shirt or other great merchandise on Threadless! We've got TWENTY THREE designs! Music:“Good Times Roll”The Cars Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We hear from protesters at yesterday’s “ICE Out For Good” protests that took place across Los Angeles -- more are planned today. A beloved Long Beach bookstore needs a new home -- or risks closing. The story of a cafe opened by the Downtown Women's Center, which helps women to transition out of homelessness. Plus, more. Support The L.A. Report by donating at LAist.com/join and by visiting https://laist.com Visit www.preppi.com/LAist to receive a FREE Preppi Emergency Kit (with any purchase over $100) and be prepared for the next wildfire, earthquake or emergency!Support the show: https://laist.com

Visión Y Propósito – Pastor Luis Parada by Iglesia Bautista Bíblica de Long Beach

At the start of a new year, I always notice a shift. It's subtle, but it's there. A little lightness. A sense that I can pause, take stock, and step into something new. Even though it's just one calendar year turning into the next, it still feels like permission to begin again. To set new intentions. To let the past be the past. I don't overthink it. I just pay attention to that sense of possibility. As I look back on the year behind me, it wasn't especially easy. There were moments that felt heavy, uncertain, and stretching in ways I didn't expect. Yet, when I slow down and really look, I can also see where pleasure lived right alongside that expansion. Travel, learning, connection, small moments that mattered more than I realized at the time. It reminds me how misleading it can be to label a year as good or bad when most years are a mix of both. My word for this year is bloom, and it feels honest for where I am right now. Instead of evaluating the past year through success or failure, I'm choosing to look at it through the lenses of pleasure and expansion. Noticing what felt nourishing. Noticing what stretched me. On this Wise Walk, we'll slow down and reflect on where those two experiences showed up, and what they might be opening up as we move into the year ahead. As you reflect on the past year, what was the overall feeling you experienced, if you had to name just one feeling? Did the year feel joyful, satisfying, like you were in your groove, or did it feel heavier or harder than you expected? Can you write down that overall feeling without judging it, changing it, or trying to rationalize your way into a different one? As you look back on the year, where did you experience pleasure, whether through moments, activities, trips, connections, or things you gifted yourself? Where did you feel waves of pleasure, satisfaction, joy, appreciation, or gratitude, and can you document those experiences in detail? As you reflect on your list of pleasurable moments, are there any expansion experiences that stand out, meaning challenges or uncomfortable situations that prompted you to grow or evolve? Which of those expansion experiences felt hard, uncomfortable, or even necessary at the time, and how did they ultimately build competence or strength? As you review your lists, can you look back through your calendar or memory to see if there is anything you missed that deserves acknowledgment or appreciation? Can you recognize that whatever you moved through, whether pleasurable or challenging, you found a way forward, and can you offer yourself credit for that? I look forward to continuing this journey of noticing pleasure and expansion with you as the year unfolds.  As always, I'd love to hear what stood out for you from today's episode, so feel free to reach out and share.  Then tune in next Thursday for another Wise Walk. Until then, happy, happy New Year. In this episode: [06:58] When I started this reflection exercise, I listed some pleasurable moments for me over the last year. [07:17] I had some awesome trips including a trip to Ireland, seeing a Wrexham football match, exploring Nantucket, New York, Long Beach, and my cross-country road trip.  [08:14] I feel so much pleasure and gratitude for these trips. [09:02] Selling my home was a double experience of pleasure and expansion. My certifications were also very fulfilling. I also met multiple cool people and had all kinds of adventures. [10:29] When I reflected on how heavy last year felt, I was discounting the abundance of pleasurable experiences I had. [11:45] The growth and expansion has been such a blessing, and I feel even more grounded now. [12:13] We dive into the expansion experiences of last year including the loss of a loved one and emotional heaviness.  [14:13] As you look at the contrast of pleasure and expansion in your life, have you noticed things that you forgot about or things that need acknowledgment? [15:01] Now that we're in the new year and you've found your word to set your guiding intention, take time to do this pleasure and expansion exercise at the close of each week or month. By year-end, you'll have the list to easily reference when you wrap up and reflect on the year. [16:14] 2025 was hard for me, but I feel gratitude for all of the pleasurable moments I had. I'm going to hold these memories near my heart and embrace them. Memorable Quotes: "Expansion doesn't usually feel good while it's happening. It makes sense only when you look back." - Mary Tess "When you stop judging the year and just notice how it felt, something softens." - Mary Tess "In any given year, we're going to have pleasure and we're going to have expansion. Both deserve reflection and acknowledgment." - Mary Tess "When we have those hard moments, something shifts in us. We realize this doesn't feel right, and we're ready to expand in a new direction." - Mary Tess Links and Resources: Mary Tess Rooney Email Heart Value Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram

CJ is LIVE from Watch Me! Sports Bar in Long Beach, joined by acclaimed comedian Erin Foley, D1 Baseball Sr Writer Eric Sorenson, and Watch Me! co-owner Jax Diener! Thanks to all my partners:  California Fresh Markets, Live Well SLO, Avila Bay Athletic Club & Spa,  Michael Moore's Wholesum Kinetic Clinic, and Gymnazo.    

Every year, Long Beach claims to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.But last year, community leaders said the celebration missed the mark — failing to reflect the core of King's life's work: the liberation of Black people.In response to that criticism, Sixth District Councilmember Suley Saro helped restructure the event, bringing community members into planning committees. A new promotional video was released featuring African American Cultural Center board president Darick Simpson and Dr. Autrilla “Sheba” Gillis of The Sixth.The video emphasizes fairness and inclusion for all residents — but omits any direct reference to Black liberation, Black excellence, Black history, or Black pride, despite these themes being central to Dr. King's legacy and the reason this celebration exists in the first place.Requests for comment sent to Saro's office have gone unanswered. Committee members have voiced concerns — but mostly behind closed doors.So the question remains:Why is it so difficult to explicitly name Black liberation in a celebration honoring Dr. King? And who will fight to change it?This isn't about optics.It's about truth, accountability, and whether Long Beach is willing to honor Dr. King's legacy all year round, without watering it down.

(January 07, 2025) A report by U-Haul shows California recorded the largest exodus of do-it-yourself movers of any state in 2025. KFI reporter Heather Brooker joins the show from a neighborhood in Altadena where the rebuilding has started. Dr. Jim Keany, Chief Medical Officer at Dignity Health St. Mary Medical Center in Long Beach, joins The Bill Handel Show for 'Medical News'! Dr. Keany talks with Bill about the CDC slashing vaccine recommendations for kids, flu reaching the highest levels in the U.S. in 25 years, and Wegovy now in pill form.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome your new favorite tour guide Cody Havard as he joins Stan Solo, Holly Crawford, Jason Thomason, Francince Cochrane and Dan Hansen on the Grand Circle Tour Podcast! Plus, staying dockside in Orlando, A-Team or F-Troop, Disneyland is easier with kids, flying into Long Beach and more! Follow us on Facebook at Disney Friends of the Grand Circle Tour Podcast, on Instagram at @grandcircletourpodcast  and on YouTube at @grandcircletour Brought to you by https://celebratingflorida.com/  and https://mei-travel.com/ The Grand Circle Tour Podcast is in no way part of, endorsed or authorized by, or affiliated with the Walt Disney Company or its affiliates. As to Disney artwork/properties: © Disney. Disclosure | Privacy Policy

Dr. Jim Keany, Chief Medical Officer at Dignity Health St. Mary Medical Center in Long Beach, joins The Bill Handel Show for 'Medical News'! Dr. Keany talks with Bill about the CDC slashing vaccine recommendations for kids, flu reaching the highest levels in the U.S. in 25 years, and Wegovy now in pill form.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

https://bbvproductions.co.uk/products/Faction-Paradox-The-Confession-of-Brother-Signet-AUDIO-DOWNLOAD-p389922366 The first season of the American science fiction horror drama television series Stranger Things premiered worldwide on the streaming service Netflix on July 15, 2016. The series was created by the Duffer Brothers, who also serve as executive producers along with Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen. This season stars Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Cara Buono, and Matthew Modine, with Noah Schnapp, Joe Keery, and Shannon Purser in recurring roles. The first season of Stranger Things received critical acclaim, in particular for its originality, homages to the 1980s, characterization, tone, visuals, and performances (particularly those of Ryder, Harbour, Wolfhard, Brown, Heaton and Modine). Premise The first season begins on November 6, 1983, in a small town called Hawkins. Researchers at Hawkins National Laboratory open a rift to the "Upside Down," an alternate dimension that reflects the real world. A monstrous humanoid creature escapes and abducts a boy named Will Byers and a teenage girl. Will's mother, Joyce, and the town's police chief, Jim Hopper, search for Will. At the same time, a young psychokinetic girl who goes by the name "Eleven" escapes from the laboratory and assists Will's friends, Mike Wheeler, Dustin Henderson, and Lucas Sinclair, in their efforts to find Will.[1] Cast and characters See also: List of Stranger Things characters Main cast Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers[2] David Harbour as Jim Hopper[2] Finn Wolfhard as Mike Wheeler[3] Millie Bobby Brown[3] as Eleven ("El") Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin Henderson[3] Caleb McLaughlin as Lucas Sinclair[3] Natalia Dyer as Nancy Wheeler[3] Charlie Heaton as Jonathan Byers[3][4][5] Cara Buono as Karen Wheeler[6] Matthew Modine as Martin Brenner[7] Recurring Noah Schnapp as Will Byers Joe Keery as Steve Harrington Shannon Purser as Barbara "Barb" Holland[8] Joe Chrest as Ted Wheeler Ross Partridge as Lonnie Byers[9] Rob Morgan as Officer Powell John Paul Reynolds as Officer Callahan Randy Havens as Scott Clarke Catherine Dyer as Connie Frazier Aimee Mullins as Terry Ives[10] Amy Seimetz as Becky Ives Peyton Wich as Troy[11] Tony Vaughn as Principal Coleman Charles Lawlor as Mr. Melvald Tinsley and Anniston Price as Holly Wheeler Cade Jones as James Chester Rushing as Tommy H. Chelsea Talmadge as Carol Glennellen Anderson as Nicole Cynthia Barrett as Marsha Holland Jerri Tubbs as Diane Hopper Elle Graham as Sara Hopper Chris Sullivan as Benny Hammond Tobias Jelinek as lead agent Robert Walker-Branchaud as repairman agent Susan Shalhoub Larkin as Florence ("Flo") Episodes See also: List of Stranger Things episodes No. overall No. in season Title Directed by Written by Original release date 1 1 "Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers" The Duffer Brothers The Duffer Brothers July 15, 2016 On November 6, 1983, in Hawkins, Indiana, a scientist is attacked by an unseen creature at a U.S. government laboratory. 12-year-old Will Byers encounters the creature and mysteriously vanishes while cycling home from a Dungeons & Dragons session with his friends Mike Wheeler, Dustin Henderson and Lucas Sinclair. The following day, Will's single mother Joyce Byers reports his disappearance to the police chief Jim Hopper, who starts a search but assures Joyce that almost all missing children are quickly found. The lab's director, Dr. Martin Brenner, investigates an organic substance oozing from the lab's basement, claiming that "the girl" cannot have gone far. A nervous young girl wearing a hospital gown wanders into a local diner. The owner, Benny, finds a tattoo of "011" on her arm and learns that her name is Eleven. Brenner, monitoring the phone lines, sends agents to the diner after Benny calls social services. The agents kill Benny, but Eleven manages to escape using telekinetic abilities. Joyce's phone short circuits after receiving a mysterious phone call that she believes is from Will. While searching for Will in the woods, Mike, Dustin, and Lucas come across Eleven. 2 2 "Chapter Two: The Weirdo on Maple Street" The Duffer Brothers The Duffer Brothers July 15, 2016 The boys bring Eleven to Mike's house, where they disagree on what to do. Mike formulates a plan for Eleven to pretend to be a runaway and seek help from his mother, Karen. Eleven refuses, however, revealing that "bad men" are after her. Will's brother Jonathan visits his estranged father Lonnie in Indianapolis to search for Will, but Lonnie rebuffs him. Hopper's search party discovers a scrap of hospital gown near the lab. After recognizing Will in a photograph and demonstrating her telekinesis, Eleven convinces the boys to trust her, as they believe she can find Will. Using the Dungeons & Dragons board, Eleven indicates that Will is on the "Upside Down" side of the board and is being hunted by the "Demogorgon" (the creature). Mike's sister Nancy and her friend Barbara 'Barb' Holland go to a party with Nancy's boyfriend Steve Harrington. Searching for Will near Steve's house, Jonathan secretly photographs the party. Joyce receives another call from Will, hears music playing from his stereo, and sees a creature coming through the wall. Left alone by the swimming pool, Barb is attacked by the Demogorgon and vanishes. 3 3 "Chapter Three: Holly, Jolly" Shawn Levy Jessica Mecklenburg July 15, 2016 Barb awakens in the Upside Down: a decaying, overgrown alternate dimension. She attempts to escape but is attacked by the Demogorgon. Joyce believes Will is communicating through pulses in light bulbs. Hopper visits Hawkins Lab, and the staff permits him to view doctored security footage from the night Will vanished, leading Hopper to investigate Brenner and discover his involvement with Project MKUltra and that a woman named Terry Ives alleged years earlier that Brenner took her daughter. Eleven recalls Brenner, whom she calls "Papa," punishing her for refusing to hurt a cat telekinetically. Steve destroys Jonathan's camera after discovering the photos from the party. Nancy later recovers a photo of Barb, simultaneously realizing that Barb is missing. Returning to Steve's house to investigate, Nancy finds Barb's untouched Volkswagen and encounters the Demogorgon but manages to escape. Joyce paints an alphabetic board on her wall with Christmas lights, allowing Will to sign to her that he is "RIGHT HERE" and that she needs to "RUN" as the Demogorgon comes through the wall. Believing Eleven knows where Will is, the boys ask her to lead them to him. Eleven leads them, to their frustration, to Will's house. From there they follow emergency vehicles to a nearby quarry just as Will's body is recovered from the water. 4 4 "Chapter Four: The Body" Shawn Levy Justin Doble July 15, 2016 Joyce refuses to believe that the body found at the quarry is Will's. Mike feels betrayed by Eleven until she proves that Will is still alive, channeling his voice through Mike's walkie-talkie. The boys theorize that Eleven could use a ham radio at their school to communicate with Will. Nancy notices a figure behind Barb in Jonathan's photo, which Jonathan realizes matches his mother's description of the Demogorgon. Nancy tells the police about Barb's disappearance. She later fights with Steve, who only cares about not getting in trouble with his father. Hopper has suspicions regarding the authenticity of the body found in the quarry when he learns that the usual coroner was sent home. Hopper confronts the state trooper who found it and beats him until he admits he was ordered to lie. The boys sneak Eleven into their school to use the radio, while Joyce hears Will's voice through her living room wall. Tearing away the wallpaper, she sees him. Eleven uses the radio to channel Will talking to his mother. Hopper goes to the morgue and finds that the body is a fake, and, suspecting that Brenner is responsible, breaks into the lab. 5 5 "Chapter Five: The Flea and the Acrobat" The Duffer Brothers Alison Tatlock July 15, 2016 Hopper searches the lab before being knocked out by the lab's guards. The boys ask their science teacher, Mr. Clarke, if it would be possible to travel between alternate dimensions, to which he answers that there could be a theoretical "gate" between dimensions. Hopper awakens at his house and finds a hidden microphone, realizing that Joyce was right the whole time. The boys follow their compasses, searching for a gate that could disrupt the Earth's electromagnetic field. Eleven recalls memories of being placed in a sensory-deprivation tank to telepathically eavesdrop on a man speaking Russian; while listening, she came across the Demogorgon. Fearing another encounter with the Demogorgon, Eleven redirects the compasses. Lucas misinterprets this as an act of betrayal, leading Mike and Lucas to fight and Eleven to telekinetically fling Lucas away from Mike. While Dustin and Mike tend to the unconscious Lucas, Eleven runs off. Nancy and Jonathan formulate a plan to kill the Demogorgon. While searching in the woods, they come across a small gate to the Upside Down. Nancy crawls through it but inadvertently draws the Demogorgon's attention. Jonathan unsuccessfully tries to look for Nancy, as the gate to the Upside Down begins to close. 6 6 "Chapter Six: The Monster" The Duffer Brothers Jessie Nickson-Lopez July 15, 2016 Jonathan pulls Nancy back through the gate. That night, Nancy is afraid to be alone and asks Jonathan to stay in her bedroom. Steve, attempting to reconcile with Nancy, sees them together through her bedroom window and assumes they are dating. Joyce and Hopper track down Terry Ives, who is catatonic and tended by her sister Becky. Becky explains that Terry was a Project MKUltra participant while unknowingly pregnant and that Terry believes Brenner kidnapped her daughter Jane at birth due to her supposed telekinetic and telepathic abilities. Nancy and Jonathan stockpile weapons to kill the Demogorgon, theorizing that it is attracted by blood. Steve is brutally beaten up in a fistfight with Jonathan after he insults Will and calls Nancy a slut. Jonathan is arrested and held at the police station for beating up Steve and inadvertently punching one of the responding officers in the face. Eleven walks into a grocery store and shoplifts several boxes of Eggo waffles. Searching for Eleven, Mike and Dustin are ambushed by two bullies but are rescued by her, as she uses her powers to break one bully's arm after he attempts to kill Mike. Eleven collapses and recalls being asked by Brenner to contact the Demogorgon and, in her terror, inadvertently opening the gate. She tearfully admits to Mike that she is responsible for allowing the Demogorgon to enter this dimension. Lucas sees agents, who have tracked down Eleven, preparing to ambush Mike's house. 7 7 "Chapter Seven: The Bathtub" The Duffer Brothers Justin Doble July 15, 2016 Lucas warns Mike that agents are searching for Eleven. Mike, Dustin, and Eleven flee the house. Eleven telekinetically flips one of the vans that block their path as the kids escape. Lucas reconciles with Mike and Eleven, and the kids hide in the junkyard. Nancy and Jonathan reveal their knowledge of the Demogorgon to Joyce and Hopper. Hopper also learns that Eleven is with the kids. The group contacts the kids, and everyone meets at the Byers' house. Joyce and Hopper realize that Eleven is Jane Ives. The group asks Eleven to search for Will and Barb telepathically, but her earlier feats have weakened her. They break into the middle school and build a makeshift sensory deprivation tank to amplify Eleven's powers. After telepathically entering the Upside Down again, Eleven finds Barb dead and Will alive, hiding in the Upside Down version of his backyard fort. Realizing that the gate is in the basement of the lab, Hopper and Joyce break into the lab and are apprehended by security guards. Nancy and Jonathan sneak into the police station to retrieve the weapons they purchased previously, planning to lure and kill the Demogorgon. In the Upside Down, the Demogorgon breaks into Will's fort. 8 8 "Chapter Eight: The Upside Down" The Duffer Brothers Story by : Paul Dichter Teleplay by : The Duffer Brothers July 15, 2016 Hopper, haunted by the death of his daughter Sara from cancer years earlier, gives up Eleven's location to Brenner, who in exchange allows Hopper and Joyce to enter the Upside Down to rescue Will. Nancy and Jonathan cut their hands to attract the Demogorgon at the Byers' house. Steve, intending to apologize to Jonathan about their fight, arrives just as the Demogorgon appears. Steve, Nancy, and Jonathan fight the Demogorgon and light it on fire, forcing it to retreat to the Upside Down. Meanwhile, Eleven and the boys hide in the middle school when Brenner and his agents arrive to kidnap Eleven; she kills most of them before collapsing from exhaustion. As Brenner and his remaining agents pin Eleven and the boys down, the Demogorgon appears, attracted by the dead agents' blood, and attacks Brenner and the remaining agents as the boys escape with Eleven. Hopper and Joyce enter the Upside Down's version of the Hawkins library, where they encounter several corpses of the Demogorgon's victims, including Barb, and find Will unconscious with a tendril down his throat. Hopper revives him using CPR after removing the tendril. The Demogorgon corners the kids, but Eleven recovers from her exhaustion and disintegrates it, causing them both to disappear. Will recovers in the hospital, reuniting with his family and friends. One month later, it is Christmas and Nancy is back together with Steve, and both are friends with Jonathan. Will coughs up a slug-like creature and has a vision of the Upside Down, but hides this from his family. Production Development Ross (left) and Matt Duffer, the creators of the series Stranger Things was created by Matt and Ross Duffer, known professionally as the Duffer Brothers.[12] The two had completed writing and producing their 2015 film Hidden, which they had tried to emulate the style of M. Night Shyamalan, however, due to changes at Warner Bros., its distributor, the film did not see a wide release and the Duffers were unsure of their future.[13] To their surprise, television producer Donald De Line approached them, impressed with Hidden's script, and offered them the opportunity to work on episodes of Wayward Pines alongside Shyamalan. The brothers were mentored by Shyamalan during the episode's production so that when they finished, they felt they were ready to produce their own television series.[14] The Duffer Brothers prepared a script that would essentially be similar to the series' actual pilot episode, along with a 20-page pitch book to help shop the series around for a network.[15] They pitched the story to a number of cable networks, all of which rejected the script on the basis that they felt a plot centered around children as leading characters would not work, asking them to make it a children's show or to drop the children and focus on Hopper's investigation in the paranormal.[14] In early 2015, Dan Cohen, the VP of 21 Laps Entertainment, brought the script to his colleague Shawn Levy. They subsequently invited The Duffer Brothers to their office and purchased the rights for the series, giving full authorship of it to the brothers. After reading the pilot, the streaming service Netflix purchased the whole season for an undisclosed amount;[16] the show was subsequently announced for a planned 2016 release by Netflix in early April 2015.[17] The Duffer Brothers stated that at the time they had pitched to Netflix, the service had already been recognized for its original programming, such as House of Cards and Orange Is the New Black, with well-recognized producers behind them, and were ready to start giving upcoming producers like them a chance.[15] The brothers started to write out the series and brought Levy and Cohen in as executive producers to start casting and filming.[18] The series was originally known as Montauk, as the setting of the script was in Montauk, New York and nearby Long Beach locations.[17][19] The brothers had chosen Montauk as it had further Spielberg ties with the film Jaws, where Montauk was used for the fictional setting of Amity Island.[20] After deciding to change the narrative of the series to take place in the fictional town of Hawkins instead, the brothers felt they could now do things to the town, such as placing it under quarantine, that they really could not envision with a real location.[20] With the change in location, they had to come up with a new title for the series under the direction from Netflix's Ted Sarandos so that they could start marketing it to the public. The brothers started by using a copy of Stephen King's Firestarter novel to consider the title's font and appearance and came up with a long list of potential alternatives. Stranger Things came about as it sounded similar to another King novel, Needful Things, though Matt noted they still had a "lot of heated arguments" over this final title.[21] Writing The idea of Stranger Things started with how the brothers felt they could take the concept of the 2013 film Prisoners, detailing the moral struggles a father goes through when his daughter is kidnapped, and expand it out over eight or so hours in a serialized television approach. As they focused on the missing child aspect of the story, they wanted to introduce the idea of "childlike sensibilities" they could offer and toyed around with the idea of a monster that could consume humans. The brothers thought the combination of these things "was the best thing ever". To introduce this monster into the narrative, they considered "bizarre experiments we had read about taking place in the Cold War" such as Project MKUltra, which gave a way to ground the monster's existence in science rather than something spiritual. This also helped them to decide on using 1983 as the time period, as it was a year before the film Red Dawn came out, which focused on Cold War paranoia.[14] Subsequently, they were able to use all their own personal inspirations from the 1980s, the decade they were born, as elements of the series,[14][22] crafting it in the realm of science fiction and horror.[23] The Duffer Brothers have cited as influence for the show (among others): Stephen King novels; films produced by Steven Spielberg, John Carpenter, Wes Craven, Robert Zemeckis, George Lucas and Guillermo del Toro; films such as Alien and Stand by Me; Japanese anime such as Akira and Elfen Lied; and video games such as Silent Hill and The Last of Us.[21][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31] With Netflix as the platform, The Duffer Brothers were not limited to a typical 22-episode format, opting for the eight-episode approach. They had been concerned that a 22-episode season on broadcast television would be difficult to "tell a cinematic story" with that many episodes. Eight episodes allowed them to give time to characterization in addition to narrative development; if they had less time available, they would have had to remain committed to telling a horror film as soon as the monster was introduced and abandon the characterization.[15] Within the eight episodes, the brothers aimed to make the first season "feel like a big movie" with all the major plot lines completed so that "the audience feels satisfied", but left enough unresolved to indicate "there's a bigger mythology, and there's a lot of dangling threads at the end", something that could be explored in further seasons if Netflix opted to create more.[32] While explaining their intentions for the show, the Duffers adamantly stated their intentions to not explain the mythology in the show so they could leave a mystery and lot for the audience to speculate over their lack of understanding by the season finale, which they accepted but asked to be explained about at the very least, which they found like a really good exercise as they spent quite a bit of time with their writers' room figuring out exactly what the Upside Down would actually consist for, writing a 20-page mythology document whose details wouldn't be clarified for the audience until the show's fifth and final season.[33] Regarding writing for the children characters of the series, The Duffer Brothers considered themselves as outcasts from other students while in high school and thus found it easy to write for Mike Wheeler and his friends, and particularly for Barbara "Barb" Holland.[21] Joyce Byers was fashioned after Richard Dreyfuss's character Roy Neary in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, as she appears "absolutely bonkers" to everyone else as she tries to find her son Will Byers.[34] Other characters, such as Billy in the second season, have more villainous attributes that are not necessarily obvious from the onset; Matt explained that they took further inspiration from Stephen King for these characters, as King "always has really great human villains" that may be more malicious than the supernatural evil.[35] Casting The Duffers cast David Harbour as Sheriff Hopper believing this was his opportunity to play a lead character in a work. In June 2015, it was announced that Winona Ryder and David Harbour had joined the series as Joyce and as the unnamed chief of police, respectively.[2] The brothers' casting director Carmen Cuba had suggested Ryder for the role of Joyce, which the two were immediately drawn to because of her prominence in 1980s films.[14] Levy believed Ryder could "wretch up the emotional urgency and yet find layers and nuance and different sides of [Joyce]". Ryder praised that the show's multiple storylines required her to act for Joyce as "she's out of her mind, but she's actually kind of onto something", and that the producers had faith she could pull off the difficult role.[36] Upon being offered the role, Ryder felt intrigued at being given the pilot's script due to know knowing what streaming was and finding it "terrifying", with her sole condition to the Duffers for accepting the role being that, if a Beetlejuice sequel ever materialized as she and Tim Burton had been discussing since 2000, they had to let her take a break to shoot it, a condition the Duffers agreed and ultimately proved to work out when Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was greenlighted years later.[37] The Duffer Brothers had been interested in Harbour before, who until Stranger Things primarily had smaller roles as villainous characters, and they felt that he had been "waiting too long for this opportunity" to play a lead, while Harbour himself was thrilled by the script and the chance to play "a broken, flawed, anti-hero character".[21][38] Additional casting followed two months later with Finn Wolfhard as Mike, Millie Bobby Brown in an undisclosed role, Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin Henderson, Caleb McLaughlin as Lucas Sinclair, Natalia Dyer as Nancy Wheeler, and Charlie Heaton as Jonathan Byers]].[3] In September 2015, Cara Buono joined the cast as Karen Wheeler,[6] followed by Matthew Modine as Martin Brenner a month later.[7] Additional cast who recur for the first season include Noah Schnapp as Will,[3][5] Shannon Purser as Barbara "Barb" Holland,[8] Joe Keery as Steve Harrington,[39][5] and Ross Partridge as Lonnie Byers,[9] among others. Actors auditioning for the children's roles read lines from Stand By Me.[14] The Duffer Brothers estimated they went through about a thousand different child actors for the roles. They noted that Wolfhard was already "a movie buff" of the films from the 1980s period and easily filled the role, while they found Matarazzo's audition to be much more authentic than most of the other audition tapes, and selected him after a single viewing of his audition tape.[15] As casting was started immediately after Netflix greenlit the show, and prior to the scripts being fully completed, this allowed some of the actors' takes on the roles to reflect into the script. The casting of the young actors for Will and his friends had been done just after the first script was completed, and subsequent scripts incorporated aspects from these actors.[32] The brothers said Modine provided significant input on the character of Dr. Brenner, whom they had not really fleshed out before as they considered him the hardest character to write for given his limited appearances within the narrative.[34] Filming The brothers had desired to film the series around the Long Island area to match the initial Montauk concept. However, with filming scheduled to take place in November 2015, it was difficult to shoot in Long Island in the cold weather, and the production started scouting locations in and around the Atlanta, Georgia area. The brothers, who grew up in North Carolina, found many places that reminded them of their own childhoods in that area, and felt the area would work well with the narrative shift to the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana.[20] The filming of the first season began on September 25, 2015, and was extensively done in Atlanta, Georgia, with The Duffer Brothers and Levy handling the direction of individual episodes.[40] Jackson served as the basis of the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana.[41][42] Other shooting locations included the Georgia Mental Health Institute as the Hawkins National Laboratory site, Bellwood Quarry, Patrick Henry High School in Stockbridge, Georgia, for the middle and high school scenes,[43] Emory University's Continuing Education Department, the former city hall in Douglasville, Georgia, Georgia International Horse Park, the probate court in Butts County, Georgia, Old East Point Library and East Point First Baptist Church in East Point, Georgia, Fayetteville, Georgia, Stone Mountain Park, Palmetto, Georgia, and Winston, Georgia.[44] Set work was done at Screen Gem Studios in Atlanta.[44] The series was filmed with a Red Dragon digital camera.[34] Filming for the first season concluded in early 2016.[41] While filming, the brothers tried to capture shots that could be seen as homages to many of the 1980s references they recalled. Their goal was not necessarily to fill the work with these references, but instead to make the series seem to the viewer like a 1980s film.[21] They spent little time reviewing those works and instead went by memory. Matt further recognized that some of their filming homages were not purposely done but were found to be very comparable, as highlighted by a fan-made video comparing the show to several 1980s works side by side.[14][45] Matt commented on the video that "Some were deliberate and some were subconscious."[14] The brothers recognized that many of the iconic scenes from these 1980s films, such as with Poltergeist, was about "taking a very ordinary object that people deal with every day, their television set, and imbuing it with something otherworldly", leading to the idea of using the Christmas light strings for Will to communicate with Joyce.[21] The brothers attributed much of the 1980s feel to set and costume designers and the soundtrack composers that helped to recreate the era for them.[14] Lynda Reiss, the head of props, had about a $220,000 budget, similar to most films, to acquire artifacts of the 1980s, using eBay and searching through flea markets and estate sales around the Atlanta area. The bulk of the props were original items from the 1980s with only a few pieces, such as the Dungeons & Dragons books made as replicas.[46] Visual effects To create the aged effect for the series, a film grain was added over the footage, which was captured by scanning in film stock from the 1980s.[34] The Duffers wanted to scare the audience, but not to necessarily make the show violent or gory, following in line with how the 1980s Amblin Entertainment films drove the creation of the PG-13 movie rating. It was "much more about mood and atmosphere and suspense and dread than they are about gore", though they were not afraid to push into more scary elements, particularly towards the end of the first season.[34] The brothers had wanted to avoid any computer-generated effects for the monster and other parts of the series and stay with practical effects. However, the six-month filming time left them little time to plan out and test practical effects rigs for some of the shots. They went with a middle ground of using constructed props including one for the monster whenever they could, but for other shots, such as when the monster bursts through a wall, they opted to use digital effects. Post-production on the first season was completed the week before it was released on Netflix.[14] The title sequence uses closeups of the letters in the Stranger Things title with a red tint against a black background as they slide into place within the title. The sequence was created by the studio Imaginary Forces, formerly part of R/GA, led by creative director Michelle Doughtey.[47] Levy introduced the studio to The Duffer Brothers, who explained their vision of the 1980s-inspired show, which helped the studio to fix the concept the producers wanted. Later, but prior to filming, the producers sent Imaginary Forces the pilot script, the synth-heavy background music for the titles, as well as the various book covers from King and other authors that they had used to establish the title and imagery, and were looking for a similar approach for the show's titles, primarily using a typographical sequence. They took inspiration from several title sequences of works from the 1980s that were previously designed by Richard Greenberg under R/GA, such as Altered States and The Dead Zone. They also got input from Dan Perri, who worked on the title credits of several 1980s films. Various iterations included having letters vanish, to reflect the "missing" theme of the show, and having letters cast shadows on others, alluding to the mysteries, before settling into the sliding letters. The studio began working on the title sequence before filming and took about a month off during the filming process to let the producers get immersed in the show and come back with more input. Initially, they had been working with various fonts for the title and used close-ups of the best features of these fonts, but near the end the producers wanted to work with ITC Benguiat, requiring them to rework those shots. The final sequence is fully computer-generated, but they took inspiration from testing some practical effects, such as using Kodalith masks as would have been done in the 1980s, to develop the appropriate filters for the rendering software. The individual episode title cards used a "fly-through" approach, similar to the film Bullitt, which the producers had suggested to the studio.[48] Music Main articles: Music of Stranger Things and Stranger Things (soundtrack) The Stranger Things original soundtrack was composed by Michael Stein and Kyle Dixon of the electronic band Survive.[49] It makes extensive use of synthesizers in homage to 1980s artists and film composers including Jean-Michel Jarre, Tangerine Dream, Vangelis, Goblin, John Carpenter, Giorgio Moroder, and Fabio Frizzi.[50] According to Stein and Dixon, The Duffer Brothers had been fans of Survive's music, and used their song "Dirge" for the mock trailer that was used to sell the show to Netflix.[49][51] Once the show was green-lit, the Duffers contacted Survive around July 2015 to ask if they were still doing music; the two provided the production team with dozens of songs from their band's past to gain their interest, helping to land them the role.[49] Once aboard, the two worked with producers to select some of their older music to rework for the show, while developing new music, principally with character motifs.[51] The two had been hired before the casting process, so their motif demos were used and played over the actors' audition tapes, aiding in the casting selection.[51][52] The show's theme is based on an unused work Stein composed much earlier that ended up in the library of work they shared with the production staff, who thought that with some reworking would be good for the opening credits.[49] The first season's original soundtrack, consisting of 75 songs from Dixon and Stein split across two volumes, was released by Lakeshore Records. Digital release and streaming options were released on August 10 and 19, 2016 for the two volumes, respectively, while retail versions were available on September 16 and 23, 2016.[53][54] In addition to original music, Stranger Things features period music from artists including The Clash, Toto, New Order, The Bangles, Foreigner, Echo and the Bunnymen, Peter Gabriel and Corey Hart, as well as excerpts from Tangerine Dream, John Carpenter and Vangelis.[54][55] In particular, The Clash's "Should I Stay or Should I Go" was specifically picked to play at pivotal moments of the story, such as when Will is trying to communicate with Joyce from the Upside Down.[54] Music supervisor Nora Felder felt the song "furthered the story" and called it an additional, unseen, main character of the season.[56]

Buscando El Reino De Dios – Pastor Luis Parada by Iglesia Bautista Bíblica de Long Beach

  Host: Annik Sobing Guest: Peter Tirschwell, Senior Director, S&P Global / TPM Conference Founder Length: ~25 minutes Presented by: Global Training Center In this Simply Trade Roundup, host Annik Sobing sits down with global shipping and trade journalism leader Peter Tirschwell, the driving force behind the TPM Conference, to explore how a niche maritime newspaper event evolved into one of the premier gatherings in global container shipping. Peter shares the origin story of TPM: how the Journal of Commerce reinvented itself around 2000 by turning its deep reporting network into a live, editorially independent forum timed to the annual trans‑Pacific contract season.​ They discuss how TPM, held each March in Long Beach in the heart of the LA–Long Beach port complex, became a place where BCOs, carriers, NVOs, ports, and tech providers can gauge supply–demand balance, negotiate with better intelligence, and refresh critical relationships. Peter explains how the attendee mix has shifted over 25+ years, with hundreds of major shippers now present and representation from about 50 countries, turning TPM from a trans‑Pacific event into a broadly global container‑trade platform.​ What You'll Learn in This Episode How the Journal of Commerce pivoted from a collapsing print model to launch TPM as a data‑driven, neutral conference for BCOs and carriers.​ Why TPM is held in early March in Long Beach and how that timing aligns with trans‑Pacific contract cycles and port/rail/warehouse visits.​ How TPM's strictly editorial program (no “pay‑to‑speak”) builds trust, attracts senior executives, and shapes real contract and routing decisions.​ How the attendee base has grown to include ~575 shipper companies and participants from around 50 countries, spanning Asia–Europe, North–South, and more.​ How 2025's tariff shock—from ~2% to ~17–18% average duties—has pushed shippers to use TPM for cost‑reduction ideas, legal tariff strategies, and sourcing shifts.​ How TPM Tech and AI discussions are tackling repetitive-process automation, carrier cost reduction, and competitive risk if rivals adopt AI faster.​ Practical ways to “do TPM right”: coming in with a plan, choosing sessions strategically, and using the event to build and refresh critical relationships.​ Key Takeaways TPM now functions as a market pulse + relationship engine: attendees leave with clearer views on capacity, pricing, risk, and who they can rely on when markets tighten.​ Shippers are under intense pressure from tariffs and volatility; events like TPM help them hunt for every legal saving—from transport choices to customs strategies.​ AI is moving “fast and hard” into container shipping; companies that ignore it risk being undercut on cost and losing business to more efficient competitors.​ To get real value from TPM, attendees should arrive with specific problems to solve, a prioritized session list, and pre‑planned meetings across their network.​ Credits Host/Producer: Annik Sobing Guest: Peter Tirschwell – S&P Global / TPM TPM CONFERENCE DETAILS Subscribe & Follow New Roundup episodes every week. Presented by: Global Training Center — education, consulting, workshops, and compliance resources for trade professionals.​

2026 Rose Parade Live Updates. Dr. Jim Keany, Chief Medical Officer at Dignity Health St. Mary Medical Center in Long Beach, joins The Bill Handel Show for 'Medical News'! Dr. Keany talks with Neil about what we can look forward to in medicine in 2026.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mirando Atrás Para Seguir Adelante – Pastor Luis Parada by Iglesia Bautista Bíblica de Long Beach

This episode discusses the benefits of drone as first responder (DFR) programs for police departments and public safety offices. Guest Biographies Officer J. "Matt" Rowland is a 20-year veteran of the Fort Wayne Police Department (FWPD) located in Fort Wayne, IN. He was a founding member of the FWPD Air Support Unit (ASU) in 2017. He spent 15 years in the Operations division and served 6 years during that time as a hostage negotiator. He is a certified instructor both in the classroom and emergency vehicle driving. Todd Withers is a 34-year veteran of law enforcement with the last 28 years at the Beverly Hills Police Department. He is currently a Lieutenant in charge of the Real Time Watch Center and UAS/ Drone program. He holds a Master of Science Degree from California State University, Long Beach in Emergency Services Administration and is a certified FAA Part 107 UAS Pilot. Don Redmond is a retired Chula Vista Police Captain with over 25 years in law enforcement and now serves as Vice President of Drone as First Responder (DFR) at BRINC Drones. He works with public safety agencies to advance drone technology, improve response times, and save lives. During his career, he was instrumental in developing Chula Vista PD's pioneering Drone as First Responder program, which has become a national model. Dr. Tom Christoff is a Senior Research Scientist with CNA where he is responsible for leading projects involving local assessments, research, and developing technical assistance for agencies nationwide.  Dr. Christoff recently served as a Project Director on a COPS Office project where he oversaw the development of a technology implementation guide and six case studies highlighting agencies using technology in innovative ways.

All photos and videos to accompany this episode are on our substack! Askajew.substack.comIn this episode we cover the events of last week, from the horrific murders in Sydney, to Ben Shapiro at TPUSA, to - of course - Mandy Patinkin.In case you missed it, Ben Shapiro took to the stage last week at Turning Points USA's AmericaFest, and in front of 30,000 people, for 30 glorious minutes, tore into all the haters. And yes, he named names. I was wondering in the episode what the reaction was in the room to Ben's speech, or rather - how many of these kids are actually buying into the Candace/Tucker nonsense? This week I got my answer, when Blake Neff, Charlie Kirk's producer, posted the results of a straw poll of the attendees (most were under 30 years old btw).Well, well, well. Would you look at that. Almost 87%, wait, let me spell that out - EIGHTY SEVEN PERCENT, view Israel as either a top ally or one ally of many. Only 13.3% don't view Israel as an ally at all. This is not to say the online poison spewed by many of these straight-up antisemitic f*******s isn't real. But perhaps, after all, the kids are alright. You see, the problem with all these people as I explain is that they went full retard, aka full antisemite. They could have gotten away with it if they just harped on about the manufactured famine or the USS Liberty, maybe even the dancing Israelis conspiracy theory would have gone over smoothly with people who enjoy alternative facts and dance recitals. But they went full batshit, mossad-tried-to-kill-me, Israel-made-me-pay-for-sex-with-girls, Brigitte-Macron-is-a-man, Jewish-bees-are-trying-to-kill-me, crazy. And they are losing. Take some free advice from a PR person - stick to the acceptable antisemitism of lying about Israel and parroting Hamas talking points. It's worked for the left.Ok, enough about politics. In this episode we also cover:* Our response to Sydney - don't cancel any events. Show up stronger. Here is the Weest Village Chabad event on the first night of Hanukah. It was packed, joyful, and freezing. That's how we roll.* How low or high is the bar to be a good Jews? Chaya Leah thinks you need to celebrate a holiday that isn't in the top 5 and not wear wool and linen together, Yael thinks you just need to listen to this podcast (and would and Instagram story or two kill you?)* A wonderful Shabbat Dinner in Long Beach ful of listeners and love.* You can't scream people into being on your side.* A beautiful sermon to an empty room:* Hanukkah movie recommendation!UPDATE: I watched this movie. It is not good. Watch the Alicia Silverstone one instead.Never a bad time to remind you that all your favorite Christmas songs were written by Jews. How do we know? A few years ago we had a Rabbi on who talked to us about the Jewish roots of many Christmas songs. It's a story of immigration, love and hope. You should definitely listen, and yes - there's a Spotify playlist. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit askajew.substack.com/subscribe

(December 24, 2025) A 70-year Christmas tradition started with a kid, a wrong number and Col. Harry Shoup. What ‘giving up’ on home ownership REALLY means, because an entire generation is resigning to that fate. Dr. Jim Keany, Chief Medical Officer at Dignity Health St. Mary Medical Center in Long Beach, joins The Bill Handel Show for 'Medical News'! Dr. Keany talks with Bill about the ‘Christmas Coronary,’ when to utilize urgent care or the ER, and HHS announcing an overhaul of the child vaccine schedule.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.