Podcasts about Malaysia

Today's Headlines: Four weeks in, the Iran war is getting more expensive, more chaotic, and more geopolitically cursed by the day. The US has lost 13 service members and spent $12 billion — and according to U.S. intelligence, Iran's regime is not only still standing but consolidating power and getting more hardline. Iran struck Dubai's international airport and the UAE's biggest oil terminal over the weekend, gas hit $4.99 a gallon, and the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed to American and Israeli ships — while Iran pockets an estimated $140 million a day selling oil at inflated prices to everyone else. And of course, two of the US Navy's three minesweeper ships were docked in Malaysia this weekend, and the third is MIA.  Israel meanwhile launched a new ground invasion into southern Lebanon against Hezbollah, with its military preparing for at least three more weeks of operations. Trump postponed his China summit, complained that China should be "thanking" the US for the war we started, and alternated between bragging we don't need any of our friends but also demanding our friends send warships. Jared Kushner was also in the region — not for diplomacy, but reportedly fundraising $5 billion for his investment firm from Saudi Arabia and Qatar. On the Epstein beat: Bank of America settled a lawsuit from a woman who alleged the bank maintained ties to Epstein and failed to flag suspicious activity. The House Oversight Committee is calling the prison guard who was on duty the night Epstein died to testify on March 26th — records show she was asleep and googling Epstein news shortly before his body was found. Harvard students and faculty filed a formal proposal to remove Les Wexner's name from campus buildings. And a federal judge in Massachusetts blocked RFK Jr.'s childhood vaccine schedule overhaul and froze his newly appointed CDC advisory committee members — a rare, clean win. Resources/Articles mentioned in this episode: WaPo: U.S. intelligence says Iran's regime is consolidating power BBC: Iran hits key UAE oil port and Dubai airport Financial Times: Iran earns oil windfall as US turns blind eye Financial Times: US diesel prices soar to almost $5 as Iran war pinches global supplies Business Insider: 2 of the US' 3 mine-hunting ships assigned to the Middle East were just seen in Asia NYT: Iran War Live Updates: Trump Pressures China and NATO Countries to Help Open Strait of Hormuz WaPo: Trump-Xi summit delayed as U.S. president pushes China to help open Hormuz Politico: Iran says Russia and China providing ‘military cooperation' WSJ: China Resumes Military Flights Around Taiwan After Sudden 10-Day Hiatus Time: How an Israeli Ground Invasion of Lebanon Could Unfold  NYT: Entering War's Third Week, Trump Faces Stark Choices NYT: Jared Kushner Solicits Funds for His Firm While Working as Mideast Envoy WSJ: Bank of America Agrees to Settle Lawsuit Over Jeffrey Epstein Ties, U.S. Court Says NBC News: House Oversight Committee seeks testimony from prison guard on duty when Jeffrey Epstein died The Crimson: Harvard Kennedy School Faculty, Students File Denaming Proposal for Wexner Building NBC News: Federal judge blocks RFK Jr.'s changes to childhood vaccine schedule PBS: What to expect in the Illinois state primary Subscribe to the Betches News Room and join the Morning Announcements group chat. Go to: ⁠⁠⁠betchesnews.substack.com Morning Announcements is produced by Sami Sage and edited by Grace Hernandez-Johnson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this week's show we start with FOLLOW UP: The world keeps trying to protect kids online — Indonesia just joined Australia, Spain, and Malaysia in banning social media for under-16s, while COPPA 2.0 sailed through the US Senate unanimously. Meanwhile, Roblox is using AI to clean up its chat, because apparently "Hurry TF up" is the hill they've chosen to die on — even as they're still dealing with the whole "pedophile problem" thing from January. On the AI copyright front, Gracenote is the latest company to sue OpenAI for helping itself to proprietary data, joining a growing queue of plaintiffs who apparently didn't get the memo that everything is training data now.IN THE NEWS: Anthropic is suing the Pentagon after being labeled a "supply chain risk" — apparently because the CEO said AI shouldn't be used for mass surveillance or autonomous weapons, which the Trump administration heard as fighting words. The delicious irony: the Pentagon is still running Claude in active operations while trying to phase it out. Speaking of active operations, investigators now think a missile strike on an Iranian girls' school may have been triggered by bad AI-generated intelligence from that same Claude-based system. So yes, the autocomplete that hallucinates your grocery list is also maybe accidentally bombing schools. Meta's Oversight Board is begging the company to get serious about AI-generated content after a fake war video from a Filipino fake news account racked up 700K views — while separately, Zuckerberg dropped cash on Moltbook, a "social network for AI agents" that turned out to be mostly humans larping as bots and had a security flaw that exposed everyone's API keys. The guy who built it basically vibe-coded the whole thing. Meta's own CTO said he didn't "find it particularly interesting." And yet. Oracle is hemorrhaging jobs and drowning in debt chasing AI dreams, its stock down 50% from peak — a timely reminder that "AI will replace workers" is currently manifesting as "companies set money on fire and lay people off to pay the electric bill." Researchers confirmed AI is homogenizing human thought and creativity — a thing some of us have been screaming since day one. A DOGE engineer allegedly walked out of the Social Security Administration with databases containing personal info on 500 million Americans on a thumb drive. The Ig Nobel Prize is relocating to Switzerland because it's no longer safe to invite international guests to America. Nintendo is suing the US government to get its tariff money back. SETI thinks it may have been accidentally filtering out alien signals due to space weather. And Pokémon Go players unknowingly spent a decade building a centimeter-accurate surveillance map of Earth's cities that's now guiding pizza delivery robots — which, honestly, tracks.In APPS & DOODADS: The GOG clan in Clash Royale just hit eight years old — respect. OpenAudible is the cross-platform audiobook manager your Audible library deserves, especially if you've got over a thousand books sitting there judging you.And finally in MEDIA CANDY: Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Season 2 is here, and pretty beige. Live Nation settled its DOJ antitrust case for $200 million, kept Ticketmaster, and avoided a breakup — meanwhile court documents revealed employees joking about "robbing fans blind" and gouging "stupid" customers, which explains basically every concert ticket you've bought in the last decade. YouTube is now officially the world's largest media company at $62 billion in revenue. Bluesky's CEO is stepping down, which is either a bad sign or just the natural order of "person who built the cool thing hands it to the person who scales the cool thing." Dead Set — Charlie Brooker's 2008 zombie-in-the-Big-Brother-house miniseries — is worth a watch if you haven't. And trailers dropped for Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 (March 24th), The Boys final season (April 8th), and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (April 1st — yes, really).Sponsors:DeleteMe - Get 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you go to JoinDeleteMe.com/GOG and use promo code GOG at checkout.CleanMyMac - Get Tidy Today! Try 7 days free and use code OLDGEEKS for 20% off at clnmy.com/OLDGEEKSPrivate Internet Access - Go to GOG.Show/vpn and sign up today. For a limited time only, you can get OUR favorite VPN for as little as $2.03 a month.SetApp - With a single monthly subscription you get 240+ apps for your Mac. Go to SetApp and get started today!!!1Password - Get a great deal on the only password manager recommended by Grumpy Old Geeks! gog.show/1passwordShow notes at https://gog.show/737Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/DgSYnFF6twEFOLLOW UPIndonesia announces a social media ban for anyone under 16Anthropic Sues PentagonMetadata company Gracenote is the latest to sue OpenAI for copyright infringementRoblox introduces real-time AI-powered chat rephraser for inappropriate languageIN THE NEWSCOPPA 2.0 passes the Senate again, unanimously this timeAI Error Likely Led to Iran Girl's School BombingThe Oversight Board says Meta needs new rules for AI-generated contentMark Zuckerberg Decides Meta Needs More Slop, Buys the Social Network for AI AgentsOracle Axing Huge Number of Jobs as AI Crisis IntensifiesYou can (sort of) block Grok from editing your uploaded photosResearchers Say AI Is Homogenizing Human Expression and ThoughtSocial Security watchdog investigating claims that DOGE engineer copied its databasesNintendo is suing the US government over Trump's tariffsSETI Thinks It Might Have Missed a Few Alien Calls. Here's WhyIg Nobel Ceremony Relocates to Europe Amid Safety Concerns in Trump's AmericaAPPS & DOODADSClash RoyaleOpenAudibleBluesky's CEO is stepping down after nearly 5 yearsHow Pokémon Go is giving delivery robots an inch-perfect view of the worldRobot Escorted Away By Cops After Terrorizing Old WomanMEDIA CANDYMonarch: Legacy of Monsters Season 2Live Nation settlement avoids breakup with TicketmasterCourt documents reveal Live Nation employees joking about robbing, gouging "stupid" fansYouTube Is the World's Largest Media Company, MoffettNathanson SaysParadise Season 2DAREDEVIL: Born Again Season 2 Official Teaser Trailer 2 (2026)The Boys Final Season TrailerThe Super Mario Galaxy Movie | Final TrailerDead SetSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

US has issued a new Russia-related general license permitting the sale of Russian crude oil and petroleum products loaded on vessels as of March 12.ByteDance reportedly plans to tap NVIDIA (NVDA) Blackwell processors that are barred for export to China, with the Co. working with Aolani Cloud on plans to use some 500 Blackwell computing systems in Malaysia, according to WSJ.European equities soften, BESI NA surges on takeover rumours; US equity futures muted ahead of PCE, GDP.DXY extends above the 100 handle, GBP slips post-GDP.Fixed income choppy and energy prices and risk tone continue to dictate price action.Brent hovers around USD 100/bbl and metals dragged by a firmer dollar. Looking ahead, highlights include Canadian Jobs Report (Feb), US Core PCE Price Index (Jan), Durable Goods Orders (Jan), Personal Spending (Jan), JOLTS (Jan), University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Prelim. (Mar), Atlanta Fed GDP. Rating updates include Scope Ratings on UK & Spain, S&P on Spain, Moody's on Greece & Germany, Fitch on Spain & Italy.Read the full report covering Equities, Forex, Fixed Income, Commodites and more on Newsquawk

This week on Sinica, I speak with Daniela Stockmann and Ting Luo, co-authors of Governing Digital China, a new book that examines how an authoritarian state governs a digital ecosystem it doesn't fully own, can never fully control, and yet fundamentally depends on. Danie — a professor of digital governance at the Hertie School in Berlin and a returning Sinica guest, having joined us way back in 2014 to discuss her earlier book on media commercialization and authoritarian rule — and Ting, associate professor in government and artificial intelligence at the University of Birmingham, together offer a richly empirical account of the triangular relationship between the Chinese state, major platform companies, and ordinary internet users. Rather than treating firms as mere instruments of party control or citizens as passive subjects of surveillance, they develop a framework they call "popular corporatism," which captures how bargaining, incentives, and user preferences shape what is and isn't permissible in China's digital spaces — including the endlessly misunderstood social credit system.4:32 — The digital dilemma: how digital platforms simultaneously empower economic development and create political risk for the party-state — a tension that isn't unique to authoritarian regimes7:45 — Why the command-and-control model falls short: platforms require technical expertise and user engagement the state lacks, and firms like Tencent and Sina have real leverage as a result11:41 — Popular corporatism explained: why users — including the "silent majority" of lurkers — must be foregrounded in any account of China's digital governance, and how firms become state "consultants" and "insiders"21:09 — The survey: GPS-based nationally representative sampling, how to desensitize politically sensitive questions, and why this kind of research can no longer be conducted in China27:22 — Lurkers vs. discussants: the 90-9-1 rule and the counterintuitive finding that users who perceive more openness on platforms like WeChat and Weibo report higher political trust in the central government35:40 — Functional liberalization: why partial openness should be understood as governance strategy, not mere concession — and what the fandom-community doxing wars illustrate about that39:23 — The social credit system: what it actually is, what it is not, and why the Black Mirror version is a myth42:38 — Two subsystems, one misunderstood system: the financial/commercial credit infrastructure, the local-government behavioral programs, and how Sesame Credit and court blacklists actually fit together46:20 — The privacy paradox and political trust: why convenience routinely overrides stated privacy preferences — and why where Alipay is most embedded, residents trust the state most52:42 — Stability, exportability, and the Orwell-versus-Huxley question: what preconditions popular corporatism requires, which other developmental states it might apply to, and why China's digital governance is better understood as a coercion-cooption balancing actPaying It ForwardTing Luo recommends Ning Leng, assistant professor at Georgetown University and author of Politicizing Business: How Firms Are Made to Serve the Party State in China.Daniela Stockmann recommends Felix Garten, postdoctoral researcher at the Hertie School, whose work examines how Chinese tech companies behave when operating in regulatory environments outside China — including the EU, Malaysia, and Singapore.RecommendationsDaniela: The Legend of the Female General 《锦月如歌》, a Chinese historical drama available on YouTube with English subtitles, especially for anyone interested in internal martial arts and martial heroines in Chinese popular culture.Ting Luo：Bordeaux, France — specifically, just going there and drinking excellent wine.Kaiser: Two Substack newsletters for following China's relationship with the Middle East, especially as the American-Israeli war against Iran continues to unfold: Jonathan Fulton's China-MENA Newsletter and Jesse Marks's Coffee in the Desert See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Sid Kim. Sid didn't become an entrepreneur by following a master plan. He taught himself how to write a business plan from a book, raised venture capital during the dot com boom, and found himself running a company before fully understanding what success or responsibility would actually demand. As the son of immigrants who rebuilt their lives from scratch, Sid saw entrepreneurship as a way to create stability and agency. In this conversation, he reflects on the lessons that came from early wins, sudden losses and building businesses across borders, and how those experiences reshaped his relationship with money, risk and purpose. Sid is a global entrepreneur and business expansion strategist with nearly 30 years of leadership experience across Asia and the United States. His career has centered on building, scaling and diversifying ventures that bridge cultures, markets and industries. As Founder of Vatos Urban Tacos, Urban Mix, Sid Burger & Craft Beer and KoMari, Sid has launched and managed over 20 restaurants and businesses across Singapore, Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and the U.S. As Chairman of Vatos Capital Partners, he continues to oversee concept creation, fundraising, investor relations and brand growth. At SAGE Partners Group, where he serves as CEO, Sid leads cross-border consulting initiatives helping Asian brands expand into the U.S. and guiding North American brands into Asia. From strategy and compliance to design-build and operations, he helps companies navigate the complexities of global expansion while focusing on execution and growth. Beyond F&B, Sid founded GolfX, Singapore's leading indoor golf facility, and serves on the Singapore Golf Association's Golf Development Task Force, promoting the sport's growth and accessibility in the region. Sid recently founded a golf import, export and distribution company for U.S. brands wanting to expand to Asia. A frequent speaker and mentor, Sid shares insights on international expansion, entrepreneurship and cross-cultural leadership with founders, executives, and students worldwide. A Fulbright Scholar and former UC Berkeley Graduate Scholarship Advisory Board member, he combines academic rigor with entrepreneurial instinct—specializing in business development, financial strategy and scalable global ventures. Risk, Reinvention and Redefining Legacy Sid's journey shows that money is more than a measure of success. From his immigrant upbringing to building businesses across continents, his story reflects a thoughtful evolution in how he approaches risk, ambition and stability. Wealth, when guided by intention, creates freedom to pivot, tell meaningful stories and invest in the next generation. Through open conversations with his son about investing and career choices, he illustrates that financial legacy is shaped as much by dialogue and example as by assets. Lessons about money come from experience and shared perspective. If you want to align your resources with the life and legacy you want to create, an Aspiriant advisor can help you design a strategy grounded in purpose and discipline. Follow Money Tales on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or YouTube Music for more stories that guide smarter, more intentional money decisions.

On August 4th, 2019, 15-year-old Nora Anne Quoirin vanished from a remote eco-resort in Malaysia.  She was on vacation with her family at The Dusun, a rainforest retreat meant for rest and quiet. But that morning, her family woke to find her gone. The window of her room was open. Nora—who had developmental disabilities and relied heavily on her parents—had disappeared into dense jungle terrain. Authorities would later say there were no signs of forced entry, and no evidence of abduction.For ten days, hundreds of searchers combed the rainforest. They called her name through thick heat and relentless brush. Helicopters circled overhead. Volunteers trekked through ravines and riverbeds.Then, more than a mile from the resort, Nora's body was found near a stream. An autopsy concluded she likely died from prolonged stress and starvation.  Officials ruled her death a misadventure. But her family has long questioned how a vulnerable teenager could have traveled that far alone—and why certain details have never quite added up.Listen as we dive into Malaysia, the case of Nora Quoirin, and how to stay alive on vacation.Do you have a story to share? Send your email to lasttrippodcast@gmail.comWe're on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheLastTripPodcastFollow us on IG: https://www.instagram.com/thelasttripcrimepod/And join our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TheLastTripPodcastTheme Music by Roger Allen DexterSources:https://www.strangeoutdoors.com/mysterious-stories-blog/nora-quoirinhttps://www.bbc.com/news/topics/cwdzr5dd10kthttps://www.cnn.com/2019/08/06/uk/nora-quoirin-abducted-gbr-scli-intlhttps://theweek.com/102615/what-happened-to-nora-quoirinhttps://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/parents-of-nora-quoirin-utterly-shocked-at-malaysian-documentary-that-contained-exclusive-sensitive-images/a/113557976.htmlhttps://theaseanpost.com/article/mysterious-death-nora-quoirinhttps://www.itv.com/news/topic/nora-quoirinhttps://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/nora-quoirin-how-does-a-vulnerable-british-schoolgirl-just-vanish-into-thin-air-in-the-malaysian-forest_uk_5d4d30a8e4b0066eb70fbd9ahttps://news.sky.com/story/nora-quoirin-inquest-police-were-slow-to-act-on-abduction-claims-mother-claims-12129856https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/asia/nora-anne-quoirin-inquest-abduction-police-malaysia-a9686296.htmlhttps://nypost.com/2019/08/15/nora-quoirin-died-from-starvation-stress-in-malaysia-autopsy/https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/nora-quoirin-funeral-held-for-gentle-and-innocent-girl-found-dead-in-malaysian-jungle-a4233316.htmlhttps://www.lbc.co.uk/article/nora-quoirin-death-not-killed-by-others-malaysia-coroner-rules-DWynzk_2/https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/reports/a28684418/nora-quoirin-body-found-search/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/asia-pacific/nora-quoirin-the-unanswered-questions-1.3988206https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7359151/Nora-Quoirin-Schoolgirl-died-intestinal-rupture-caused-starving.html

Csaba B. Horváth, PhD earned his PhD in International Relations at Corvinus University of Budapest after completing degrees in History and Political Science at Eötvös Loránd University. He is a member of the General Assembly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. His research focuses on geopolitics, with a particular emphasis on the Indo-Pacific as well as on Central and Eastern Europe. He has held visiting research fellowships at several universities in Australia, China and Taiwan, and earlier in his youth, spent two years living in Japan, where he acquired conversational proficiency in Japanese. He is also a regular participant in international conferences and held public talks across the Indo-Pacific, including in Australia, China, India, Korea, Malaysia and Singapore. The talk explores the idea that East-Central Europe is currently experiencing a rare strategic “window of opportunity” not seen since the 18th century. For centuries, the region functioned largely as a buffer zone dominated by external imperial powers. Today, the effective disappearance and disintegration of traditional continental empires has created a structural power vacuum in the region, which, combined with shifting global power balances and growing strategic interest from the United States, is generating unprecedented conditions for East-Central Europe to emerge as a more autonomous geopolitical actor. The presentation examines the risks, constraints, and potential pathways for such a transformation. This lecture is part of the 18th Annual Symposium of the Kosciuszko Chair of Polish Studies. The Kościuszko Chair serves as a center for Polish Studies in the broadest sense, including learning, teaching, researching, and writing about Poland's culture, history, heritage, religion, government, economy, and successes in the arts, sciences, and letters, with special emphasis on the achievements of Polish civilization and its relation to other nations, particularly the United States. This year, the 17th annual Kościuszko Chair Conference focuses on the topic of threats and opportunities in the Intermarium. **Learn more about IWP graduate programs: https://www.iwp.edu/academics/graduate-degree-programs/ ***Make a gift to the IWP Kosciuszko Chair of Polish Studies: https://wl.donorperfect.net/weblink/WebLink.aspx?name=E231090&id=4

“You and I, we’re part of this last analog generation. We had the opportunity to grow up in a time and age where our brains had to evolve against friction.” –Cornelia C. Walther About Cornelia C. Walther Cornelia C. Walther is Senior Fellow at Wharton School, a Visiting Research Fellow at Harvard University, and the Director of POZE, a global alliance for systemic change. She is author of many books, with her latest book, Artificial Intelligence for Inspired Action (AI4IA), due out shortly. She was previously a humanitarian leader working for over 20 years at the United Nations driving social change globally. Webiste: pozebeingchange LinkedIn Profile: Cornelia C. Walther University Profile: knowledge.wharton What you will learn How the ‘hybrid tipping zone’ between humans and AI shapes society’s future The dangers and consequences of ‘agency decay’ as individuals delegate critical thinking and action to AI The four accelerating phenomena influencing humanity: agency decay, AI mainstreaming, AI supremacy, and planetary deterioration Actionable frameworks, including ‘double literacy’ and the ‘A frame’, to balance human and algorithmic intelligence What defines ‘pro social AI’ and strategies to design, measure, and advocate for AI systems that benefit people and the planet The need to move beyond traditional ethics toward values-driven AI development and organizational ‘return on values’ Leadership principles for creating humane technology and building unique, purpose-led organizations in the age of AI Global contrasts in AI development (US, Europe, China, and the Global South) and emerging examples of pro social AI initiatives Episode Resources Transcript Ross Dawson: Cornelia, it is fantastic to have you on the show Cornelia Walther: Thank you for having me Ross. Ross: So your work is very wonderfully humans plus AI, in being able to look at humans and humanity and how we can amplify the best as possible. That’s one really interesting starting point is your idea of the hybrid tipping zone. Could you share with us what that is? Cornelia: Yes, happy to. I would argue that we’re currently navigating a very dangerous transition where we have four disconnected yet mutually accelerating phenomena happening. At the micro level, we have agency decay, and I’m sure we’ll talk more about that later, but individuals are gradually delegating ever more of their thinking, feeling, and doing to AI. We’re losing not only control, but also the appetite and ability to take on all of these aspects, which are part of being ourselves. At the meso level, we have AI mainstreaming, where institutions—public, private, academic—are rushing to jump on the AI train, even though there are no medium or long-term evidences about how the consequences will play out. Then at the macro level, we have the race towards AI supremacy, which, if we’re honest, is not just something that the tech giants are engaged in, but also governments, because this is not just about money, it’s also about power and geopolitical rivalry. And finally, at the meta level, we have the deterioration of the planet, with seven out of nine boundaries now crossed, some with partially irreversible damages. Now, you have these four phenomena happening in parallel, simultaneously, and mutually accelerating each other. So the time to do something—and I would argue that the human level is the one where we have the most leeway, at least for now, to act—is now. You and I, we’re part of this last analog generation. We had the opportunity to grow up in a time and age where our brains had to evolve against friction. I don’t know about you, but I didn’t have a cell phone when I was a child, so I still remember my grandmother’s phone number from when I was five years old. Today, I barely remember my own. Same thing with Google Maps—when was the last time you went to a city and explored with a paper map? Now, these are isolated functions in the brain, but with ChatGPT, there’s this general offloading opportunity, which is very convenient. But being human, I would argue, it’s a very dangerous luxury to have. Ross: I just want to dig down quite a lot in there, but I want to come back to this. So, just that phrase—the hybrid tipping zone. The hybrid is the humans plus AI, so humans and AI are essentially, whatever words we use, now working in tandem. The tipping zone suggests that it could tip in more than one way. So I suppose the issue then is, what are those futures? Which way could it tip, and what are the things we can do to push it in one way or another—obviously towards the more desirable outcome? Cornelia: Thank you. I think you’re pointing towards a very important aspect, which is that tipping points can be positive or negative, but the essential thing is that we can do something to influence which way it goes. Right now, we consider AI like this big phenomenon that is happening to us. It is not—it is happening with, amongst, and because of us. I think that is the big change that needs to happen in our minds, which is that AI is neutral at the end of the day. It’s a means to an end, not an end in itself. We have an opportunity to shift from the old saying—which I think still holds true—garbage in, garbage out, towards values in, values out. But for that, we need to start offline and think: what are the values that we stand for? What is the world that we want to live in and leave behind? As you know, I’m a big defender of pro social AI, which refers to AI systems that are deliberately tailored, trained, tested, and targeted to bring out the best in and for people and planet. Ross: So again, lots of angles to dig into, but I just want to come back to that agency decay. I created a framework around the cognitive impact of AI, going from, at the bottom, cognitive corruption and cognitive erosion, through to neutral aspects, to the potential for cognitive augmentation. There are some individuals, of course, who are getting their thinking corrupted or eroded, as you’ve suggested; others are using it well and in ways which are potentially enhancing their cognition. So, there is what individuals can do to be able to do that. There’s also what institutions, including education and employers, can do to provide the conditions where people are more likely to have a positive impact on cognition. But more broadly, the question is, again, how can we tip that more in the positive direction? Because absolutely, not just the potential, but the reality of cognitive erosion—or agency decay, as you describe it, which I think is a great phrase. So are there things we can do to move away from the widespread agency decay, which we are in danger of? Cornelia: Yeah, I think maybe we could marry our two frameworks, because the scale of agency decay that I have developed looks at experience, experimentation, integration, reliance, and addiction. I would say we have now passed the stage of experimentation, and most of us are very deeply into the field of integration. That means we’re just half a step away from reliance, where all of a sudden it becomes nearly unthinkable to write that email yourself, to do that calendar scheduling yourself, or to write that report from scratch. But that means we’re just one step away from full-blown addiction. At least now, we still have the possibility to compare the before and after, which comes back to us as an analog generation. Now is the time to invest in what I would call double literacy—a holistic understanding of our NI, our natural intelligence, but also our algorithmic, our AI. That requires a double literacy—not just AI literacy or digital literacy, but the complementarity of these two intelligences and their mutual influence, because none of them happens in a vacuum anymore. Ross: Absolutely, So what you described—experiment, integration, reliance, addiction—sounds like a slippery slope. So, what are the things we can do to mitigate or push back against that, to use AI without being over-reliant, and where that experiment leads to integration in a positive way? What can we do, either as individuals or as employers or institutions, to stop that negative slide and potentially push back to a more positive use and frame? Cornelia: A very useful tool that I have found resonates with many people is the A frame, which looks at awareness, appreciation, acceptance, and accountability. I have an alliteration affinity, as you can see. The awareness stage looks at the mindset itself and really disciplines us not to slip down that slope, but to be aware of the steps we’re taking. The appreciation is about what makes us, in our own NI, unique, and the appreciation of where, in combination with certain external tools, it can be better. We all have gaps, we all have weaknesses, and that’s what we have to accept. The human being, even though now it’s sometimes put in opposition to AI as the better one, is not perfect either. Like probably you and most of the listeners have read Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman and many others—there are libraries about human heuristics, human fallacies, our inability for actual rational thinking. But the fact that you have read a book does not mean that you are immune to that. We need to accept that this is part of our modus operandi, and in the same way as we are imperfect, AI, in many different ways, is also imperfect. And finally, the accountability. Because at the end of the day, no matter how powerful our tools are going to be, we as the human decision makers should consider ourselves accountable for the outcomes. Ross: Absolutely, that’s one of the points I make. We can’t obviously make machines accountable—ultimately, the accountability resides in humans. So we have to design systems, which I think provides a bit of a transition to pro social AI. So what is pro social AI, how do we build it, how do we deploy that, and how do we make that the center of AI development? Cornelia: Thank you for that. Pro social AI, in a way, is very simple. It’s the intent that matters, but it starts from scratch, so you have the regenerative intent embedded into the algorithmic architecture. It has four key elements that can be measured, tracked, and can also serve to sensitize those who use it and those who design it—tailored, framed, tested, targeted. The pro social AI index that I’ve been working on over the past months combines that with the quadruple bottom line: purpose, people, profit, planet. Now all of a sudden, rather than talking in an airy-fairy way about ethical AI—which is great and necessary, but I would argue is not enough—we need to systematically think about how we can harness AI as a catalyst of positive transformation that is with environmental dignity and seeks planetary health. How can we measure that? Ross: And so, what are we measuring? Are we measuring an AI system, or what is the assessment tool? What is it that is being assessed? Cornelia: It’s the how and the what for. For example, what data has been used? Is the data really representative? We know that the majority of AI tools are biased. And the other question is, is it only used for efficiency and effectiveness, but to what end? Ross: Yes, as we are seeing in current conversations around the use of models at Anthropic and OpenAI, there are tools, and there are questions around how they are used, not just what the tools are. Cornelia: Yes, so again, it comes back to the need for awareness and for hybrid intelligence, because at the end of the day, we can’t rely on companies whose purpose is to make money to give systems that serve people and planet first and foremost. Ross: This goes on to another one of your wonderful framings, which is AI for IA—AI for inspired action—around this idea of how do we amplify humans and humanity. Of course, this goes on to everything we’ve been discussing so far. But I think one of the things which is very useful there is AI, in a way, leading to humans taking action which is inspired around envisaging what is possible. So, how can we inspire positive action by people in the framing we’ve discussed? Cornelia: AI for IA is the title of the new book that’s coming out next month. But also, as with most of the things I’m saying, it’s not about the technology—it’s about the human being. We can’t expect the technology of tomorrow to be better than the humans of today. As I said before, garbage in, garbage out, or values in, values out—it’s so simple and it’s so uncomfortable, it’s so cumbersome, right? Because we like quick fixes. But unfortunately, AI or technology in general is not going to save us from ourselves, and as it is right now, we’re straightforward on a trend to repeat the mistakes made during the first, second, and third industrial revolutions, where technology and innovation were driven primarily by commercial intent. Now, I would argue that this time around, we can’t leave it at that, because this fourth industrial revolution has such a strong impact on the way we think, feel, and interact, that we need to start in our very own little courtyard to think: what kind of me do I want to see amplified? Ross: Yes, yes. I’ve always thought that if AI amplifies us, or technology generally amplifies us, we will discover who we are, because the more we are amplified, the more we see ourselves writ large. But we have choices around, as you say, what aspects of who we are as individuals and as a society we can amplify. That’s the critical choice. So the question is, how do we bring awareness to your word around what it is about us that we want to amplify, and how do we then selectively amplify that, rather than also amplify the negative aspects of humanity? Cornelia: The first thing, and that’s a simple one, is the A frame. I would argue that’s something everyone can integrate in their daily routine in a very simple way, to remind us of the four A’s: awareness, appreciation, acceptance, accountability. The other one, at the institutional level, is the integration of double literacy. Right now, there’s a lot of hype in schools and at the governmental level about AI literacy and digital literacy. I think that’s only half of the equation. This is now an opportunity to take a step back and finally address this gap that has characterized education systems for many decades, where thinking and thinking about thinking—metacognition—is not taught in schools. Systems thinking, understanding cognitive biases, understanding interplays—now is the time to learn about that. If the future will be populated by humans that interact with artificial counterparts configured to address and exploit every single one of our human Achilles heels, then we would be better advised to know those Achilles heels. So, I think these are two relatively simple ways moving forward that could take us to a better place. Ross: So this goes to one of your other books on human leadership for humane technology. So leadership of course, everyone is a leader in who they touch. We also have more formal leaders of organizations, nations, political parties, NGOs, and so on. But just taking this into a business context, there are many leaders now of organizations trying to transform their organizations because they understand that the world is different, and they need to be a different organization. They still need to make money to pay for their staff and what they are doing to develop the organization, but they have multiple purposes and multiple stakeholders. So, just thinking from an organizational leader perspective, what does human leadership for humane technology mean? What does that look like? What are the behaviors? What are the ways we can see that would show us? Cornelia: I think first, it’s a reframing away from this very narrow scope of return on investment, which has characterized the business scene for many decades, and looking at return on values. What is the bigger picture that we are actually part of and shaping here? What’s the why at the end of the day? I think that matters for leaders who are in their place to guide others, and guidance is not just telling people what they have to do, but also inspiring them to want to do it. Inspiration, at the end of the day, is something that comes from the inside out, because you see in the other person something that you would like in yourself. Power and money are not it—it’s vision. I think this is maybe the one thing that is right now missing. We all tend to see the opportunity, but then we go with what everybody else is doing, because we don’t really take the time to step back and think, well, there is the path of everyone, and there’s another one—how should I explore that one? Especially amidst AI, where just upscaling your company with additional tools is not really going to set you apart, it matters twice as much to not just think about how do I do more of the same with less investment and faster, but what makes me unique, and how can I now use the artificial treasure chests to amplify that? Ross: Yes, yes. I think purpose is now well recognized beyond the business agenda. One of the critical aspects is that it attracts the most talented people, but also, over the years, we’ve had more and more opportunities to be different as an organization. Back in the late ’90s and so on, organizations looked more and more the same. Now there are more and more opportunities to be different. The way in which AI and other technologies are brought into organizations gives an extraordinary array of possibilities to be unique, as you’ve described, and distinctive, which gives you a competitive position as well as being able to attract people who are aligned with your purpose. Cornelia: Yes, exactly. But for that, you need to know your purpose first. Ross: From everything we’ve just been talking about, or anything else, are there any examples of organizations or initiatives that you think are exemplars or support the way in which, or show how, we could be approaching this well? Cornelia: I think—this will now sound very biased—but I’m currently working with Sunway University, and I think they are the kind of academic institution that is showing a different path, seeking to leverage technology to be more sustainable, bringing in dimensions such as planetary health, like the Sunway Centre for Planetary Health, and thinking about business in a re-envisioned way, with the Institute for Global Strategy and Competitiveness. I think there are examples at the institutional level, there are examples at the individual level, and sometimes the most inspiring individuals are not those that make the headlines. That’s maybe, sorry, just on that, for me the most important takeaway: no matter which place one is in the social food chain, the essential thing is, who are you and how can you inspire the person next to you to make it a better day, to make it a better future. Ross: Yes, in fact, that word “inspired,” as you mentioned before. So that’s Sunway University in Malaysia? Cornelia: I think they are definitely a very, very good illustration of that. Ross: Just pulling this back to the global frame, and this gets quite macro, but I think it is very important. It pulls together some of the things we’ve pointed to—the difference between the approach of the United States, China, Europe, in how they are, you know, essentially the leaders in AI and how they’re going about it, but where the global south more generally, I think there’s some interesting things. Arguably, there’s a far more positive attitude generally in the populations, a sense of the opportunity to transform themselves, but of course a very different orientation in how they want to use and apply AI and in creating value for individuals, nations, and society. So how would you frame those four—the US, China, Europe, and the global south—and how they are, or could be, approaching the development of AI? Cornelia: Thank you for that. I think right now there are three mainstream patterns: the US, which is—I’m overly simplifying and aware of that—the US path, which is business overall; the European model, which is regulation overall; and the Chinese model, which is state dominance. I would argue there’s a fourth path, and I think that’s where leaders in the global south can step in. You might know I’m working, on the one hand, in Malaysia and, on the other hand, in Morocco, on the development of a sort of national blueprint of what pro social AI can look like. I think now is the time—again, coming back to leadership—to think about how countries can walk a different path and be pioneers in a field that, yes, AI has been around for various decades, but the latest trend, the latest wave that is engulfing society since November 2022, is still relatively new. So why not have nations in the global south that are very different from the West chart their own path and make it pro social, pro people, pro planet, and pro potential—and that potential that they have themselves, which sets them apart and makes them unique. Ross: Absolutely. Again, you mentioned Malaysia, Morocco. Looking around the world, of course, India is prominent. There are some African nations which have done some very interesting things. Just trying to think, where are other examples of these kinds of domestically born pro social initiatives happening? Of course, the Middle East—it’s quite different, because they’re wealthy, though they’re not among the major leaders, but there’s a whole array of different examples. Where would you point to as things which show how we could be using pro social AI at a national or regional level? Cornelia: Unfortunately, right now, there is not one country where one could say they have taken it from A to Z, but I think there are very inspiring or positive examples. For example, Vietnam was the first country in ASEAN to endorse a law on AI ethics and regulation—I think that’s a very good one. Also, ASEAN has guidelines on ethics. All of these are points of departure. Switzerland did a very nice example of what public AI can look like. So there are a lot of very good examples. The question is not so much about what to do, I think, but how to do it, and why. At the end of the day, it’s really that simple. What’s the intent behind it? What do we want the post-2030 agenda to look like? We know that the SDG—Sustainable Development Goals—are not going to be fulfilled between now and 2030. So are we learning from these lessons, or are we following the track pattern of doing more of the same and maybe throwing in a couple of additional indicators, or can we really take a step back and look ourselves and the world in the face and think, what have we missed? Now, frame it however you want, but think about hybrid development goals and ways in which means and ends—society and business—come together into a more holistic equation that respects planetary health. Because at the end of the day, our survival still depends on the survival and flourishing of planet Earth, and some might cherish the idea of emigrating to Mars, but I still think that overall the majority of us would prefer to stay here. Ross: Yes, planet Earth is beautiful, and it’d be nice to keep it that way. How can people find more about your work? Could you just tell people about your new book and any resources where people can find out more? Cornelia: Thank you so much. They are very welcome to reach out via LinkedIn. Also, I’m writing regularly on Psychology Today, on Knowledge at Wharton, and various other platforms. The new book that you mentioned is coming out next month, and there will be another one, hopefully by the end of the year. Overall, feel free to reach out. I really feel that the more people get into this different trend of thinking, the better. But thank you so much for the opportunity. Ross: Thanks so much for all of your work, Cornelia. It’s very important. The post Cornelia C. Walther on AI for Inspired Action, return on values, prosocial AI, and the hybrid tipping zone (AC Ep35) appeared first on Humans + AI.

Không chỉ ghi lại thời điểm then chốt trong lịch sử Singapore, hồ sơ Albatross còn tiết lộ các cuộc thảo luận cấp cao giữa các nhà lãnh đạo trong quá trình đàm phán để Singapore tách khỏi Malaysia vào tháng 8-1965.

First, we'll go to Malaysia to hear about the Toyol this week.  When cash starts vanishing, a young family assumes stress, forgetfulness or maybe even betrayal are at the root. Then their six-year-old points to the ceiling and whispers about “the little boy” who comes at night and whole new series of possibilities unfolds.  Then we travel to Japan to learn about the Nure-Onna. An American couple follows the sound of cries to find a bundled infant on a lonely riverbank. Or did they? Lynze has three tales this week. Her first is full of sorrow and strange moments around a mirror. Then we revisit The Rake, a creature not regularly covered here. Lastly, a college student needs a place to stay for one week when he finds a good deal. Maybe the deal is too good to be true?  Wet Hot Bad Magic Summer Camp 2026: Have you heard?! We have some amazing friends joining us at camp! Astonishing Legends and True Crime Campfire will both be bringing their shows to the live stage this summer! If you want to see them and us, get your tickets at badmagicproductions.com  Do you want to get all of our episodes a WEEK early, ad free? Want to help us support amazing charities? Join us on Patreon! Want to be a Patron? Get episodes AD-FREE, listen and watch before they are released to anyone else, bonus episodes, a 20% merch discount, additional content, and more! Learn more by visiting: https://www.patreon.com/scaredtodeathpodcast. Send stories to mystory@scaredtodeathpodcast.com Send everything else to info@scaredtodeathpodcast.com Please rate, review, and subscribe anywhere you listen. Thank you for listening! Follow the show on social media: @scaredtodeathpodcast on Facebook and IG and TT Website: https://www.badmagicproductions.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scaredtodeathpodcast Instagram: https://bit.ly/2miPLf5 Mailing Address: Scared to Death c/o Timesuck Podcast PO Box 3891 Coeur d'Alene, ID 83816 Opening Sumerian protection spell (adapted): "Whether thou art a ghost that hath come from the earth, or a phantom of night that hath no home… or one that lieth dead in the desert… or a ghost unburied… or a demon or a ghoul… Whatever thou be until thou art removed… thou shalt find here no water to drink… Thou shalt not stretch forth thy hand to our own… Into our house enter thou not. Through our fence, breakthrough thou not… we are protected though we may be frightened. Our life you may not steal, though we may feel SCARED TO DEATH." Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of Scared to Death ad-free and a whole week early. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Todd Nettleton of The Voice of the Martyrs talks with David about the persecution of Christians in Iran. The Voice of the Martyrs: https://www.persecution.com/ Global Prayer Guide: https://www.persecution.com/todd Register for the Worldview Matters Conference: https://davidfiorazo.com/worldview-matters-conference/ www.worldviewmatters.tv © FreedomProject 2026

Five female Iranian soccer players, in Australia competing for the Asian Cup, escaped in the night from their handlers to seek refuge from their home country, which is in the middle of a war with the US and Israel.Initially another two women decided to join them and defected a day later, but on Wednesday afternoon, one of the pair changed their mind and contacted Iranian officials with the intention of returning home.Today, in a bonus episode, crime and justice reporter Amber Schultz joins us from Malaysia, where she has been tracking the rest of the team on their journey back to Iran.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Join us for the 'This Week in #WordPress' show, with Nathan Wrigley, Taco Verdonschot, Bud Kraus, Dan Knauss, Steve Burge. Wow, that's a LOT! This episode covers the latest developments in WordPress, including updates in WordPress 7.0 and Gutenberg 22.6, new featured plugin initiatives to boost discoverability, and discussions around advanced developer certifications. The panel explores AI's growing role, collaborative editing features, and the FAIR project's shift towards TYPO3. Other topics include WordPress Campus Connect in Malaysia, accessibility efforts, Divi 5's release, and quirky tech stories like neural networks playing Doom and ultra-compact phones. The episode balances technical insights with community highlights and lighter moments, reflecting on both the challenges and innovations shaping WordPress today.

Link Up w/The Morning Sickness Digitally All Over:Instagram: @hms_98_official, @bosskupd, @bretvesely, @dickToledoX/Twitter: @HMSon98, @DickToledo, @bretveselyFacebook: @HMSKUPDYouTube: @hmspodcast9320, @98kupdRequest/Call in/Wakeup Song line:(IN AZ) 585.9800More HMS: holmbergpodcast.com, 98kupd.comEmail: dtoledo@98kupd.com, bvesely@98kupd.com, bbogen@98kupd.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Link Up w/The Morning Sickness Digitally All Over:Instagram: @hms_98_official, @bosskupd, @bretvesely, @dickToledoX/Twitter: @HMSon98, @DickToledo, @bretveselyFacebook: @HMSKUPDYouTube: @hmspodcast9320, @98kupdRequest/Call in/Wakeup Song line:(IN AZ) 585.9800More HMS: holmbergpodcast.com, 98kupd.comEmail: dtoledo@98kupd.com, bvesely@98kupd.com, bbogen@98kupd.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Aside from lechon, other Asian dishes will also be featured, such as Thailand's Pad Thai, Singapore's Chilli Crab, Malaysia and Indonesia's Nasi Lemak, Hong Kong's Har Gow, and Japan's Sushi and Ramen. - Bukod sa lechon, bibida rin ang iba pang pagkain sa Asya gaya ng Pad Thai ng Thailand, Chilli Crab ng Singapore, Nasi Lemak ng Malaysia at Indonesia, Har Gow sa Hong Kong, at Sushi at Ramen ng Japan.

I cut my costs by 60% and tripled my output, without working a single extra hour. Here is the truth about moving my business from Singapore to Malaysia. In this video, I'm pulling back the curtain on why I left Singapore for Johor Bahru (JB) and how it actually impacted my business. We're talking real numbers: going from a $8,000/month rent in Singapore to a 6,000 sq. ft. home in Malaysia for just $1,600 (SGD equivalent). But this isn't just about the 3:1 exchange rate or cheaper groceries. It's about "geographic permission." I'll show you the 6-phase In-Demand Accelerator System I used to build a business that doesn't care where I'm sitting. Whether you're an entrepreneur feeling "tethered" to your local networking scene or a coach wanting to scale globally, these 6 assets are the key to true location independence. In this video, you'll learn: - The "USD Income vs. MYR Expense" math that changed everything. - Why being "busy" in Singapore was actually killing my momentum. - The 6 In-Demand Assets: From Million Dollar Messaging to Automated Funnels. - How to use AI to turn one hour of work into 30 pieces of content.

Vad är bäst? Att hänga på en flygplats eller att tillbringa 2 veckor i Nya Zeeland? Hur många öl kan man dricka i Malaysia utan att få handen avhuggen. Och får man i såna fall ta med sig handen hem? Hur lägger man upp den perfekta matvaruaffären? Vad röstar svenska hockeyspelare på?Detta och mycket mer i ett avsnitt som avhandlar precis allting Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rachel How is one of Malaysia's top UX/UI designer - entirely self-taught - with a huge 330k following she's built over the last 4+ years!But finding her path wasn't easy.She quit law school after 2 months because it wasn't for her.Worked 10 different odd jobs - including as a body lotion rep & real estate agent - to figure out her interests.Her realisation: She enjoyed designing property posters over selling the houses themselves.That led to her joining a hackathon organised by Hong Leong Bank as a designer.They ranked 10 top.That led to a role as a Senior Product Designer Fave.While working full-time, she launched her UX/UI YouTube channel and started building different income streams.By 2022, she was generating $106,241/year from her freelance work itself, which gave her the confidence to take the leap.Quit.And become a solopreneur.But career journeys are never linear.To learn more about how Rachel built her 8 income streams, her advice for building a YouTube channel & what keeps her going, tune in! Highlights: 1:24 The $106,241 year3:15 Growing up wanting to be "somebody" 8:02 The RM50,000 Law School 10:45 Quitting Law after 2 months:13:10 Working 10 odd jobs15:45 The turning point19:12 Entering the Hong Leong Bank hackathon 22:30 Self-teaching UX/UI: YouTube vs. Reality 26:40 Landing the role at Fave 29:15 Launching her YouTube channel: 10k subs in 3 months 32:50 Burnout & health struggles 35:20 Being the sole provider for her family 38:44 Why her revenue dropped to $70k in 202347:12 Don't follow passion, follow curiosity 50:05 Advice for aspiring solopreneurs

China is stepping up efforts to promote the integration of culture and tourism and share its landscapes, culture, history and modern life with visitors from around the world, Minister of Culture and Tourism Sun Yeli said on Saturday.中国文化和旅游部部长孙业礼周六表示，中国正加大力度推动文旅融合，向全球游客展现中国的自然风光、文化、历史以及现代生活。Speaking at a news conference on people's livelihood during the fourth session of the 14th National People's Congress, China's top legislature, Sun said that authorities will continue improving the entire inbound tourism chain, including visa, border clearance, transportation, accommodation, catering and sightseeing services, to make traveling to China easier and more convenient.在全国最高立法机关 —— 第十四届全国人民代表大会第四次会议期间召开的民生新闻发布会上，孙业礼表示，有关部门将持续完善入境旅游全链条服务，涵盖签证、边检、交通、住宿、餐饮和观光等环节，让赴华旅行更加便捷易行。The measures aim to strengthen the global campaigns "Travel in China", "Shopping in China" and "Services in China", he added.他补充称，这些举措旨在强化 “畅游中国”“购物中国”“服务中国” 全球推广活动。In recent years, China has introduced a series of policies to boost inbound tourism. In 2025, inbound tourist trips exceeded 150 million, a year-on-year increase of over 17 percent, while inbound tourism spending surpassed $130 billion, up more than 40 percent year-on-year.近年来，中国出台一系列政策提振入境旅游。2025 年，入境游客量超 1.5 亿人次，同比增长超 17%；入境旅游消费超 1300 亿美元，同比增长超 40%。Visa facilitation has continued to expand, with unilateral visa-free access extended to citizens of 50 countries and visa-free transit policies covering 55 countries. Last year, more than 30 million foreign visitors entered China under visa-free policies.签证便利化持续推进，单方面免签政策惠及 50 个国家公民，55 个国家适用免签过境政策。去年，超 3000 万外国游客凭免签政策入境中国。"Taking a spontaneous trip to China has now become a real possibility," Sun said.孙业礼表示：“如今，来一场说走就走的中国之旅已成为现实。”Authorities have also improved payment services for overseas visitors by linking international bank cards to mobile payment platforms, expanding point-of-sale terminals and increasing currency exchange services to accommodate different payment habits.有关部门还优化了境外游客支付服务，将国际银行卡与移动支付平台对接，扩充销售终端，并增设货币兑换服务，以适配不同支付习惯。Mobile payments have expanded rapidly. Among visitors from countries such as Kazakhstan and Malaysia, more than 80 percent now use mobile payment services. Last year, the total value of mobile payment transactions among inbound tourists reached about 80 billion yuan ($11.6 billion).移动支付普及迅速。哈萨克斯坦、马来西亚等国来华游客中，超 80% 使用移动支付服务。去年，入境游客移动支付交易总额约 800 亿元人民币（合 116 亿美元）。Tax refund services have also become more convenient, with more service points and instant refund options available at some stores. As a result, foreign visitors are purchasing a wider range of Chinese products — from electronics such as smartphones, drones and virtual-reality devices to cultural and creative goods.退税服务也更便捷，新增服务网点，部分门店支持即时退税。由此，外国游客可选购的中国商品种类愈发丰富，涵盖智能手机、无人机、虚拟现实设备等电子产品，以及文创产品。Sun said that stronger promotion of China's tourism image has helped overseas visitors gain a deeper understanding of the country, while experiencing the Chinese lifestyle has become increasingly popular among international visitors.孙业礼表示，加大中国旅游形象推广力度，助力外国游客更深入了解中国，体验中国生活方式也成为国际游客的热门选择。At the same time, China is promoting deeper integration between culture and tourism to create new travel experiences and boost consumption. In 2025, domestic tourist trips exceeded 6.5 billion, up more than 16 percent year-on-year, while tourism spending reached 6.3 trillion yuan, an increase of 9.5 percent — setting records in both volume and spending.与此同时，中国推动文旅深度融合，打造新型旅游体验、刺激消费。2025 年，国内游客量超 65 亿人次，同比增长超 16%；旅游消费达 6.3 万亿元人民币，增长 9.5%，客流量与消费额均创历史新高。Sun said that tourism is becoming increasingly connected with sectors such as sports, commerce, agriculture and industry, while new technologies are helping develop innovative tourism products and services.孙业礼表示，旅游与体育、商贸、农业、工业等产业的关联度持续提升，新技术助力旅游产品与服务创新。"Tourism today is no longer only about visiting scenic spots. More and more travelers want to experience the local life and take part in cultural activities," he said.他说：“如今的旅游不再只是逛景点，越来越多游客希望体验当地生活、参与文化活动。”The ministry will encourage more travel programs linked to performances, intangible cultural heritage experiences and sporting events, while supporting new business models that combine tourism with other industries to create new growth opportunities, he added.他补充称，文旅部将鼓励推出更多演艺、非遗体验、体育赛事类旅游项目，同时支持旅游与其他产业融合的新业态，培育新的增长机遇。integration /ˌɪntɪˈɡreɪʃn/ 融合；整合facilitation /fəˌsɪlɪˈteɪʃn/ 便利化；促进transaction /trænˈzækʃn/ 交易；业务heritage /ˈherɪtɪdʒ/ 遗产；传统

Malaysia's AI future takes shape in Tanjong Malim, where Sungai Samak Estate's five industrial plots merge water, renewable energy, and digital infrastructure. Designed for AI data centres and EV manufacturing, the estate represents a model of sustainable growth amid global demand for greener AI solutions. Sungai Samak Estate City: Kuala Lumpur Address: 2 Jalan Sempurna off Jalan Gombak Website: https://sgsamak.com

"Hello everyone, and welcome back to the ‘All About Thailand' podcast. In this episode, we're taking a step a little outside Thailand to talk about our experiences in Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. We'll explore the contrasts between these two bustling cities—everything from the street vibes, local food, and culture, to the little things that make each place unique. Whether it's the energy of Bangkok's neighborhoods or the modern yet diverse feel of KL, we'll share our first-hand impressions, tips, and a few surprises along the way. So, sit back, relax, and join us as we dive into this city comparison adventure."

Episod 191 Keluar Sekejap membincangkan dakwaan terhadap keluarga Almarhum Tun Daim yang dikaitkan dengan komplot bersama kelompok Zionis dalam usaha menggulingkan kerajaan. Turut dibincangkan ialah tindakan SPRM yang sedang mengesan bekas pegawai kepada Rafizi Ramli, James Chai, bagi membantu siasatan berhubung dakwaan penyelewengan dana RM1.1 bilion melibatkan syarikat semikonduktor British, Arm Holdings.Episod ini juga mengulas kenyataan Presiden UMNO yang membuka pintu kepada bekas ahli parti yang pernah dipecat atau digantung keahlian, serta individu yang ingin kembali bersama dalam perjuangan UMNO.Selain itu, KS turut menyentuh beberapa isu sensitif berkaitan 3R yang hangat diperdebatkan kebelakangan ini, termasuk polemik rumah ibadat tanpa kebenaran serta kontroversi insiden pijak al-Quran.Di peringkat antarabangsa, Keluar Sekejap turut meneliti perkembangan konflik antara Amerika Syarikat dan Iran, serta kemungkinan implikasinya terhadap ekonomi dan kepentingan Malaysia.Ingin jenama anda dikenali oleh ribuan pendengar?Taja episod Keluar Sekejap 2026!Hubungi +6011-1919 1783 atau emel commercial@ksmedia.my

Sign up to Easy Ayurveda Video Classes by clicking the link belowhttps://www.easyayurveda.com/video-classes/Sign up to Easy Ayurveda AIAPGET Coachinghttps://www.easyayurveda.com/aiapget-coaching/Video Course: “Ayurvedic food and Nutrition”https://www.easyayurveda.com/nutrition/Buy Tridosha Made Easy Bookhttps://www.easyayurveda.com/tridosha-made-easy-3/Buy Tridosha Made Easy Book in Spanish LanguageEl corazón de los doshas: Nuevo librohttps://www.easyayurveda.com/el-corazon-de-los-doshas/Click to know more about Easy Ayurveda Hospitalhttps://www.easyayurveda.com/hospital/Buy our new course on Marma Therapy Part 1https://www.easyayurveda.com/marma1Buy our new course on Marma Therapy Part 1Subscribe to Easy Ayurveda Video Classes https://www.easyayurveda.com/video-classes/Subscribe to our free Easy Ayurveda newsletter here (you can unsubscribe and stop them anytime) -  https://forms.aweber.com/form/58/2129766958.htm Buy our course on diabetes reversal, powered by Madhavbaug https://www.easyayurveda.com/diabetes Buy our online video course on Treatment of cardiac disorders with Ayurveda https://www.easyayurveda.com/heartMaster ECG in one week. Sign up for video course https://www.easyayurveda.com/ecgContact Dr. MB Gururaja BAMS MD (Ayu)https://www.easyayurveda.com/gururaja  Contact Dr. Raghuram YS BAMS MD (Ayu)https://www.easyayurveda.com/raghuram Buy Easy Ayurveda Ebooks https://www.easyayurveda.com/my-book Buy Easy Ayurveda Printed Books https://www.easyayurveda.com/books/

I was out today having a really good look around where I'm living now here in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. I've been exploring the area, finding some fantastic places to eat, great little spots to stop for a drink, and really getting a feel for the city.Here at Lonely Traveler Productions we've been keeping very busy — filming, recording podcasts, and putting together a little bit of a video podcast for you as well.There's so much going on here, and it's been a great experience getting out and about, meeting people, discovering new places, and sharing it all with you.Plenty more content coming your way very soon, so stay tuned and keep following the journey with Lonely Traveler Productions.

VOV1 - Thủ tướng Malaysia Anwar Ibrahim vừa thực hiện hai cuộc điện đàm riêng với Tổng thống Các Tiểu vương quốc Ả-rập thống nhất (UAE) và Bộ trưởng Ngoại giao Iran về những diễn biến tại Trung Đông.Theo truyền thông Malaysia, trong cuộc điện đàm với phía Iran, Thủ tướng Anwar gửi lời chia buồn tới chính phủ và nhân dân Iran trước sự ra đi của Lãnh tụ tối cao Ali Khamenei, cũng như những công dân thiệt mạng trong xung đột. Ông kêu gọi các bên chấm dứt đối đầu, thúc đẩy tiến trình tham vấn chính trị và khôi phục hòa bình, ổn định khu vực. Bộ trưởng Ngoại giao Iran Sayed Abbas Araghchi bày tỏ cảm ơn, đồng thời khẳng định Iran không có thái độ thù địch với các quốc gia vùng Vịnh và tiếp tục duy trì chính sách láng giềng hữu nghị.Trong cuộc điện đàm với Tổng thống UAE Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, hai nhà lãnh đạo nhấn mạnh tầm quan trọng của giải pháp hòa bình nhằm bảo đảm ổn định khu vực và an ninh toàn cầu. Malaysia cũng gửi lời cảm ơn UAE đã bảo đảm an toàn và phúc lợi cho khoảng 10.000 công dân Malaysia đang sinh sống tại nước này.Thủ tướng Anwar bày tỏ hy vọng tháng Ramadan sẽ góp phần củng cố đoàn kết trong cộng đồng Hồi giáo, mở đường cho hòa bình và ổn định bền vững ở Trung Đông cũng như trên thế giới.VOV-BangkokẢnh cuộc điện đàm giữa Thủ tướng Malaysia và và Tổng thống Các Tiểu vương quốc Ả-rập thống nhất - Nguồn Facebook Thủ tướng Malaysia

TRANSCRIPT Robertson: [00:00:00] Gissele: Hello and welcome to the Love and Compassion podcast with Gissele. We believe that love and compassion have the power to heal our lives and our world. Gissele: Don’t forget to like and subscribe for more amazing content. And if you’d like to support the podcast, please go to buy me a coffee.com/love and compassion. Today we’re talking about how to become a more compassionate civilization in light of the world’s most recent events. Robertson Work is a nonfiction author, social ecological activist, and former UNDP policy advisor on decentralized government, NYU Wagner, graduate School of Public Service, professor of Innovative Leadership and Institute of Cultural Affairs, country Director, conducting community organizational and leadership initiatives. Gissele: He has worked in over 50 countries for over 50 years and is founder of the Compassionate Civilization Collaborative. He has five published books and has [00:01:00] contributed to another 13. His most well-known book is a Compassionate Civilization. Every week he publishes an essay on Compassionate Conversations on Substack. Gissele: Please join me in welcoming Robertson work. Hi Robertson. Robertson: Hi Giselle. How are you? Gissele: I’m good. How about yourself? Robertson: I’m good, thank you. I here in the Southern United States. I’m glad you’re in wonderful Canada. Robertson: great admiration for your country. Gissele: Ah, thank you. Thank you. Gissele: I wanted to talk about your book. I got a copy of it and it was written in 2017, but as I was reading it, I really found myself listening to things that were almost prophetic that seemed to be happening right now. What compelled you to write Compassionate Civilizations at this moment in history. Robertson: Yes. Thank You you so much, and thank you for inviting me to talk with you today. Robertson: And I wanna say I’m so touched by the wonderful work of the Matri Center for Love [00:02:00] and Compassion. I have enjoyed looking at your website and listening to your podcast and hearing Pema Chodron speak about self-love. If it’s okay, I’d like to start with a few moments of mindful breathing Gissele: Yes, definitely. Robertson: okay. I invite everyone to become aware of your breathing, being aware of breathing in and breathing out. Breathing in the here and in the now. Breathing in love. Breathing in gratitude. I have arrived. I am home. I’m solid. I am free breathing in, breathing out here now. Robertson: Love [00:03:00] gratitude. Arrived home solid free. Okay. And to your question, after working in local communities and organizations around the world with the Institute of Cultural Affairs and doing program and policy work with UNDP and teaching grad school at NYU Wagner, I felt called to articulate a motivating vision for how to embody and catalyze a compassionate civilization. Robertson: So each of us can embody, even now, even here, we can embody and catalyze a compassionate civilization in this very present moment. We don’t have to wait, you know, 50 years, a hundred years, a thousand years. we can embody it in the here and the now. So I was increasingly aware of climate change, climate disasters, [00:04:00] the rise of oligarchic, fascism, and of course the UN’s sustainable development goals. Robertson: I also had been studying the engaged Buddhism of Thich Nhat Hahn for many years, and practicing mindfulness and compassionate action. As you know, compassion is action focused on relieving suffering in individual mindsets and behaviors, and collective cultures and systems. The word that com it means with, and compassion means suffering. Robertson: So compassion is to be with suffering and to relieve suffering in oneself and with others. So, I gave talks about a compassionate civilization in my NYU Wagner grad classes and in speeches in different countries. Then in 2013, I started a blog called The Compassionate Civilization. So in 2017, there was a [00:05:00] new US president who concerned me deeply and who’s now president again. Robertson: So a Compassionate Civilization was published in July of that year, as you mentioned, 2017. The book outlines our time of crisis and provides a vision, strategies and tactics of embodying and catalyzing a compassionate civilization, person by person, community by community. Moment by moment it it includes the movement of movements, mom that will do that. Robertson: Innovative leadership methods, global local citizen, and practices of care of self and others as mindful activists. So there’s a lot in it. Yeah. The Six strategies or arenas of transformation are environmental sustainability, gender equality, socioeconomic justice, participatory governance, cultural tolerance and peace, and non-violence, socio. Robertson: So since then [00:06:00] I’ve been promoting the Compassionate Civilization Collaborative, as you mentioned, to support a movement of movements. The mom, Gissele: thank you for that. I really appreciated that. And I really enjoyed the book as well. It’s so funny that, the majority of people see a world that doesn’t work and they want things to change, but they don’t do something necessarily to change it. When did compassion shift from a private virtue to a public mission for you? Robertson: Great question. Thank you. I think it began the private part began very early in my Christian upbringing. I was raised by loving parents to love others. You know, love of neighbor is the heart of Christianity. And understand that love is the ultimate reality. You know, that you know, as we say in Christianity, God is love. Robertson: So then when I went off to college at Oklahoma State University, I found myself being a campus activist. So I shifted to activism for civil rights. We were [00:07:00] demonstrating for women’s rights and for peace in Vietnam. As you know, the Vietnam War was raging. And after that, I attended Theological Seminary at Chicago Theological Seminary, but. Robertson: My calling happened when I was still in college, and it was in a weekend course, just a one weekend in Chicago. Some of us drove up and attended a course at, with the ecumenical Institute in the African-American ghetto in Chicago. And my whole life was changed in one weekend. I mean, I woke up that I could make a difference and I could help create a world that cared from everyone, you know? Robertson: And here I was. I was what? I was a junior in college. So then after that, I worked after college and grad school. I worked in that African American ghetto in Chicago with the Ecumenical Institute. And then in Malaysia, I was asked to go to Malaysia and my wife and I did [00:08:00] that, Robertson: And then. We were asked to work in South Korea, which we did. And then the work shifted from a religious to secular is we now call our work the Institute of Cultural Affairs. And from there we worked in Jamaica and then in Venezuela, and then back in the US in a little community in Oklahoma Robertson: And then I also worked in poor slums and villages. So then with the UNDP. I worked in around the world giving policy advice and starting projects and programs on decentralized governance to help countries decentralize from this capital to the provinces and the cities and towns and villages to decentralize decision making. Robertson: Then my engaged Buddhist studies particularly with Han and his teachers and practice awakened me to a calling to save all sentient beings. what [00:09:00] an outrageous calling, how can one person vow to save all sentient beings? But that’s what we do in that tradition of the being a BofA. Robertson: So through mindfulness and compassionate actions. So then I continue my journey by teaching at NYU Wagner with grad students from around the world. I love that so much. Then to the present as a consultant, speaker, author, and activist locally, nationally, and globally. So Gissele has been quite a journey, and here we are in this moment together, in this wild, crazy world. Gissele: Yeah, for sure, One of the things that I really loved about your book that you emphasize that we need to have a vision for the world that we wanna create. If we don’t have a vision, then we can’t create it, right? many of us are, focusing on anti, anti-oppressive, anti crime, anti this, anti that. Gissele: But we’re not really focusing on what sort of world do we wanna create? and I’ve had conversations with so many people, and when I ask the question, if people truly [00:10:00] believe. The human beings could be like loving and compassionate, and we could create a world that would be loving and compassionate for all many people say no. Gissele: And so I was wondering, like, did you always believe that civilization could be compassionate or did you grow into that conviction? Robertson: Great question. I definitely grew into it. Yeah. even as a child, I was awakened, you know, by the plight of African Americans in my country, in our little town in Oklahoma. Robertson: So I kind of began waking up. But I wasn’t sure, how much I or we could do about it. So I really grew into that conviction through my journey around the world working in over in 55 countries, it’s interesting the number of people your podcast goes to serving people and the planet. Robertson: So. Everywhere I worked Gissele, I was touched by the local people, that people care for each other, you know, in the slums and squatter settlements, in villages, in cities, the, the rich and the [00:11:00] poor. everywhere I went regardless of the culture, the language, the races, the issues the, the local people were caring. Robertson: So my understanding is that compassion is an action. It’s not just a feeling or a thought. It’s an action to relieve suffering in oneself and in others. but suffering is never entirely eliminated. You know, in Buddhism, the first noble truth is there is suffering, and it continues, but it can be relieved as best we can with through practices, through projects, through programs, and through policies. Robertson: So what has helped me is to see, again, a deep teaching in Buddhism that each person is influenced by negative emotions of greed, fear, hatred, and ignorance. And yet we can practice with these and to become aware of them and just, and to let them go, you know, and to practice evolving into loving kindness as [00:12:00] you, as you do in in your wonderful center. Robertson: Teaching more loving, kindness, trust and understanding. We can embrace inner being that we’re all part of everything. We’re all part of each other. You know, we’re part of the living earth. We’re part of humanity. I am part of you, you are part of me. And impermanence, you know, that there is no separate permanent self. Robertson: Everything comes and goes, and yet the mystery is there’s no birth and death. ’cause you and I. we’re part of, this journey for 13.8 billion years of the universe, and yet we can, in each moment, we can take an action that relieves our own suffering and in others. So, as you said, a vision is so, so important. Robertson: I’m so glad you touched on that, that a vision can give us a calling to see where we can go. It can motivate us, push us, drive us to do all that we can to realize it, you know, if I have a vision for my family. To care for my family. If [00:13:00] I have a vision for my country, if I have a vision for planet Earth, that can motivate me to do all I can do to make that really happen. Robertson: So right now there are so many challenges facing humanity, climate disasters. Oh my, I’m here in Swanno where we’ve had a terrible hurricane in 2024. We’re still recovering from it. Echo side, you know, where so many species are dying of plants and animals. It’s, it’s one of the great diebacks of in evolution on earth, oligarchic, fascism. Robertson: Right now, we’re in the midst of it in my country. I can’t believe it. You know, you’re, you’re on 81. I, I thought I was, gonna die and still live in a country that believed in democracy and freedom and justice. And so now here we, I have to face what can I do about oligarchic, fascism and social and racial and gender injustice. Robertson: Other challenges, warfare. And here we are in this crazy, monstrous war [00:14:00] in the Middle East. You know, what can we do? What can I unregulated? Artificial intelligence very deeply concerns me. we’ve gotta regulate artificial intelligence so it doesn’t hurt humans and the earth. Robertson: It doesn’t just take care of itself. So, you know, it’s easy Gissele to be despairing and to give up, you know, particularly at this moment. But actually at any time in our life, we’re always tempted to say, oh, well, things will be okay, or There’s nothing I can do, you know, but neither of those is true. Robertson: There are things we can do. We can stop and breathe and continue doing what we can where we are. with what we have and who we are. We do not have to be stopped by despair or by cynicism or by hopeism. We don’t. So thank you for that question about vision. I vision still wakes me up every day and calls me forward. Robertson: I’m sure it does. You as well. Gissele: Yeah. I [00:15:00] mean, without vision, it’s like you don’t have a map to where you’re going to, right.what’s our destination if we don’t have a vision? And so this is for me, why I loved your book so much. you are helping us give a vision Gissele: I mean, the alternative is what is the alternative? there’s my next question. What happens to a society that abandons compassion? Robertson: Exactly. Well, I sort of touched on it before. it falls into ignorance and into greed. Wanting more wealth, more power. for me for my tribe and, and falls into hatred, falls into fear, falls into violence, and that’s happening now, she said. Robertson: But I love what Thich Nhat Hahn reminds us of, of is that if there is no mud, there is no lotus. And that, that means is, you know, if there is no suffering, there can be no compassion . So without suffering and ignorance, there is no compassion or wisdom, because suffering calls us to relieve it. when I see [00:16:00] my wife or children in pain, I want to help them. Robertson: or when I see others, neighbors, you know, during the pandemic, our neighbors took food and water to each other. You know, after the hurricane, neighbors brought us water. suffering calls the best from us, it can, it can also call, call other things. But again, there’s no mud. Robertson: The lotus cannot grow. So we can continue the journey step by step and breath by breath. So that’s what I’d say for now. but that’s an important question. Gissele: you said some key things including that, people have a choice. They can choose to be compassionate, or they can choose to use that fear for something else, right. Gissele: But I often hear from people, well, you know, they want institutions to change. why are the institutions more, equitable, generous, compassionate and you know, like. I don’t know if we have a vision for what compassionate institutions look like, [00:17:00] what would compassion look like at that level? Robertson: Oh, that’s where those six areas you know, the compassion would look like practicing ecological regeneration or sometimes called environmental sustainability. You know, that we we’re part of the living Earth gazelle, We’re not separate from the earth . We breathe earth air, we drink earth water. Robertson: We you know, the earth. Hurricanes come. The earth. Floods come We are earthlings. I love that word, earthlings, and so, how do we help regenerate the earth as society? And that’s why, you know, legislation aware of climate change, you know, to reduce carbon emissions. Robertson: The Paris Accord, and that’s just one example, how do we have all laws for gender equality so that women receive the same salaries as men and have the same rights. as men, we gotta have the laws, the institutions you know, and the participatory democracy, that we have a constitution. Robertson: a constitution is a vision. of what we are all about. Why are, we’re [00:18:00] together as a country, so that we can each vote and express our views and our wishes, and that government is by foreign of the people. It is. So it’s, it’s critical, you know, that we vote and get out the vote again and again and again. Robertson: And to create those laws, those institutions they care for everyone. And the socioeconomic justice. we need the laws and institutions that give full rights to people of color to people of every culture and every religion, and every gender every transgender, every human being, every living being has rights. Robertson: That’s why the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is so important. I’m so grateful that it was created earlier in the last century in my country our country cannot go to war without congressional approval. Robertson: Aha. did that just not happen? Yes. But it’s in the Constitution. the law says that we must talk about it [00:19:00] first. We must send the diplomats. We must doeverything we can before we harm anyone. War is hell. there are other ways of dialogue and diplomacy. Robertson: we can do better. But again, it takes the laws and institutions. Gissele: thank you for that. I do think that we have some sort of sense in terms of what we find doesn’t work for us, right? these institutions don’t work, they’re based on separation, isolation, punishment, and we see that they don’t work. We see that, like inequality hurts everyone. Gissele: We see that all of these things that we’re doing have a negative impact, including war. And yet we don’t change. What do you think prevents societies from becoming more compassionate? Robertson: if we’re in a society that if harming people through terrible legislation and laws and policies that makes it hard for people then have to either rebel and then they can be you know, killed. Or they have to form movements peaceful movements like the [00:20:00] Civil Rights Movement in my country, you know, with Martin Luther King leading peace marches and our peaceful resistance, in Minneapolis, the peaceful resistance to ice, so what one big thing that’s, that makes people think they can’t be compassionate again, is the, larger society, you know, the institutional frameworks and legislations and laws and government practices. Robertson: But even then, as we’re seeing, you know, in Minneapolis and everywhere, and Canada is leading in so many ways, I think I, I’m so grateful for the leadership of your, your prime minister, calling the world thatwe must not let go of the international rules rules based international practices that we’ve had for the last 80 years, my whole life. Robertson: You know, we’ve had the, the UN and the international rules and now some powers want to throw those out, but no, no, we are gonna say no. we’re [00:21:00] surrounded by forces of wealth and power as we know. And however we can each do what we can to care for those near hand, far away, the least the last, and the last for ourselves, moment by moment. Robertson: Breath, breath by breath. And sometimes we, the people can change history and the powerful can choose compassion. And, we’ve changed history many times. We’ve created democracy. We, the people who have created civil right. Universal education and healthcare of the UN and much more. Robertson: you touched a moment ago on the pillars of a compassionate civilization. You know, there are 17 UN sustainable development goals, as you know, but I decided 17 was a big number, so I thought, why don’t we just have six? That’s why my book, it has six arenas of transformation for ease of memory and work. Robertson: and they are environmental sustainability, gender equality, socioeconomic justice, participatory governance, cultural tolerance, peace and nonviolence. So modern [00:22:00] societies can be prevented from being compassionate also by Negative emotions as we were talking about, of ignorance, greed, hatred, and violence. Robertson: Greed thinking, I need more wealth. I’m a billionaire, but I need another billion. You know, I’m the richest billionaire in the world, but I wanna buy the US government hatred, violence. So these all for me, all back into the Buddhist wisdom of the belief that I’m a separate self. Robertson: Therefore, all that’s important is my ego. Hell no, that’s wrong. You know, my ego is not separate. When I die, my ego’s gone. You know, all that’s gonna be left when I die, or my words and my actions, my actions will continue forever. my words will continue forever. May I, ego? No. So the, if I believe my ego is all there is, and I can be greedy and hateful and fearful and violent, but ego, unlimited pleasure and narcissism, fear of the other, ignorance of cause and effect, these don’t have to drive us. So [00:23:00] structures and policies based on negative emotions and the delusion of a separate self and harm for the earth. We don’t have to live that way. We don’t have to believe propaganda and misinformation and ignorance, and we can provide the education needed and the experience. Robertson: We don’t have to accept wealth hoarding. You know, why do we have billionaires? Why isn’t $999 million enough? Why doesn’t that go to care for everyone and to care for the earth? So again, we have to let go of wealth hoarding of power hoarding. Robertson: we don’t need all that wealth. We don’t need all that power. We can, we can care for each other. We can care for the earth. Gissele: There, there are so many amazing things that you said. I wanted to touch on two the first one is that I was having a conversation with an indigenous elder, and he said to me, you know, that greed is just a fear of lack, right? Gissele: And it really stopped me in my tracks because, when we see people hoarding stuff in their [00:24:00] house, we think, well, that’s abnormal. And yet we glorify the hoarding of wealth. But it isn’t any different than any sort of other mental health issue in terms of hoarding. And so that really got me to think about the role of fear. Gissele: And, if somebody’s trying to hoard money, it’s not getting to the root of the problem, issue. It’s never gonna be enough because they’re just throwing it into an empty hole. It’s a a billion Jillian, it’s never gonna be enough because it’s never truly addressing the problem. Gissele: But one of the things that you said as we were chatting is, that the wealthy, the elite, they can choose compassion, they can always choose it, which is an amazing insight. And yet I wonder, you know, in terms of people’s perspectives of compassion and power, do you think that the two go hand in hand or can they go hand in hand? Gissele: Because I think there might be some worries around, well, if I’m more compassionate, then I’m gonna be, taken advantage of, I’m gonna be, a mat. what is your [00:25:00] perspective? Robertson: Oh, I agree with everything you said and your question is so, so important. Thank you so much. Robertson: there are billionaires and then there are billionaires like Warren Buffet. Look, he’s given. Tens of billions of dollars away, hundreds of billions of dollars away, and other billionaires have done that. And then there are the billionaires, who think 350 billion isn’t enough. Robertson: You know, I need more. Well, that’s crazy. That is sick. That is sad that, that is a disease. And we have to help those people. I feel compassion for billionaires who think they need another 10 billion or another a hundred billion, or they need five more a hundred million dollars yachts, or they need another 15 $200 million houses around the world and that that is very sad. Robertson: And that they’re really suffering. They’re confused. Yeah. They forget what it means to be human. They’ve forgotten what it needs to be. An earthling that we’re just here for a moment. Gissele: Agree. Robertson: We’re just here for a moment, for a [00:26:00] breath, and we’re gone. Breathe in, we’re here, breathe out, we’re gone. And so we can stop. Robertson: We can become aware of that fear, as you said. We can take good care of that fear. I love the way Thich Nhat Hahn says. He says, hello, fear, welcome back. I’m gonna take good care of you. Fear. I’m gonna watch you take care of you. You’re gonna Evolve. ’cause everything is impermanent. Everything changes. So fear will change. Robertson: Fear can change. Fear always changes It evolves into Another emotion, another feeling, So let it go. Let it go. In the truth of impermanence. ’cause everything is impermanent. Fear is impermanent. So we also can remember the truth of inter being that I am part of what I fear, I am part of. Robertson: This current federal administration. You know, I’m part of the wealthy elite, and it is part of me. I fear of the US administration right now, but it is part of [00:27:00] me and I’m part of it. I fear climate change, but it is part of me. I’m part of it. I fear artificial intelligence , unregulated. I fear old age, but boys, I’m 81 and a half, it’s here. Robertson: So I’m gonna take care of it. I’m gonna say, Hey, old man, I’m gonna take care of you. And they’re all me. There’s no separation. I love Thich Nhat Hahn’s word. We enter are, we enter are now, how can I stop, become aware of fear, breathe in and out, and know the truth of inter being and impermanence and accept it. Robertson: Care for it. get out to vote, care for the self, write , speak, do what I can to care for what I can. My family, my neighbors, my city, my county, my country, my world. And everything changes. Everything passes away. Everything comes in and out of [00:28:00] being, what happened to the Roman Empire? Gissele: Mm, Robertson: what’s happening to the American Empire. Everything comes in and goes out like a breath, breathing in and breathing out. And then everything transforms into what is next? What is next? what is China going to bring? Ah, there is so much that we don’t know, Robertson: I love Thich Nhat Hahn’s teaching that. when we become aware of a negative emotion, we should Stop, breathe, smile. And then say, oh, welcome. Fear. Welcome back. Okay, I’m gonna take care of you. Okay, we’re in this together. Robertson: And then you just, you keep breathing in awareness and gratitude and things change. Your grandkid calls you, your baby calls you, your dog, your cat. You see the clouds, you see the earth, the sun. You see a star. You realize you’re an [00:29:00] animal. You know the word animal means breath. Robertson: We are animals. ’cause we breathe. We’re all breathing. So I love that. You know it. I love to say I am an animal. ’cause I, you know, we, human beings are often not, we’re not animals. We’re superior To animals, you know? Right. we are animals, that’s why we love our dogs and cats and we can love our, the purposes and the elephants and the tigers and the mountain lions and, and the cockroaches and the chickpeas and the cardinals we are all animals. Robertson: We’re all breathing. So I love that. Gissele: Yeah. Yeah. Oh, that was so beautiful. I felt that also, I really appreciated the practice too. In this time when we, like so many us are, are feeling so much fear and so much uncertainty and not knowing how things are gonna pan out, to just take a moment to breathe and reconnect to our true selves, I think is so, so fundamental. Gissele: And I hope that listeners are also doing it with us. you know, as I have [00:30:00] conversations with people around the world we talk a lot about, the way that the systems are set up, the institutions. Gissele: And it took a lot of hard work for me to realize that we are the institutions, just like you said, so the institutions are made up of people. And I was so glad to see that in your book, that you clearly say, you know, like it’s about people. It’s about us. It’s like we make up these institutions, you know? Gissele: And when I’ve looked at myself, I’ve asked myself, who do I wanna be? What do I really, truly wanna embody? And my greatest wish for this lifetime is to embody the highest level of love and to truly get to the point where I love people like brothers and sisters, that I care for them and that we care for one another. Gissele: And yet, there are times when I wanna act from that place, but the fear comes up, the not wanting or not trusting or believing when the fear comes up, how can compassion really help us change ourselves so that we can create a [00:31:00] different world? Robertson: What you said is so beautiful, and your question is so powerful. Thank you. Yes. And I’m gonna get personal here. we can do what we can, we can take care of ourselves, we can take care of others as we can, but we shouldn’t beat ourselves up when we can’t. You know? Robertson: So I, here I’m 80, I’m over 81, and I have issues with balance and walking, and I have some memory issues and some low energy issues. So I have to be kind to myself. I, so I’ve just decided that writing is my main way of caring for the world. That’s why I publish one or two essays a week on Substack, on Compassionate Conversations for 55 countries in 38 states. Robertson: And so I said, you know, I used to travel around the world all the time. Not anymore. I don’t even want like to travel around the county. Robertson: Anyway, I’m an elder , so I have to say , okay, elder, be kind to [00:32:00] yourself, but also do everything you can, write everything you can speak with Gazelle if you can. Robertson: I also have to decide who I’m gonna care for. I’ve decided I’m gonna care for my wife who just turned 70 and my two kids and my two grandkids, my daughter-in-law, my cousins and nieces and nephews, my neighbors here and North Carolina. Robertson: The vulnerable, you know, I give to nonprofits who help the hungry and the homeless to friends and to people around the world through my writings and teachings And so the other day I drove to get some some shrimp tacos for my wife and me for dinner. Robertson: And a lady came up and she had disheveled hair. And she just stood by my car and I put the window down a little and she said. can you drive me to Black Mountain? that’s not where we were. I was in another town. ‘ cause I’m out of my medicine. Robertson: She just, out of the blue said, stood there and said that. And I thought, [00:33:00] oh, oh, hmm. Oh, so, oh yes. So I, I wanted to say, but who are you? How are you? Do you live here? Do do you have any friends or family? Do you, you, can I give you some money? Do you have, but I was kind of, I was kind of struck dumb, you know? Robertson: I thought, oh, oh, what should I do? And so I said, oh, I’m so sorry I don’t live in Black Mountain. And she said, oh. And she just turned and walked away and she asked two other cars and they said no. And then she walked away. And then she walked away. I thought, oh, Rob, Rob, is she okay? Does she have a family? Robertson: Did she have a house? What if she doesn’t get her medicine? How can she walk to that town? Could you have driven her and delayed taking dinner home to your wife? And then I said, but I don’t know. And then I thought, oh, but she’s gone. And I then I said, okay, Rob. Okay, Rob, [00:34:00] you’ve lived 81 years. You’ve cared for people in the UN in 170 countries. Speaker 3: Yeah. Robertson: And you’ve been in 55 countries, you’re still writing every week, you’re taking care of your neighbors and family and friends. Don’t beat yourself up. Old guy. Don’t beat yourself up. But next time, you know what Rob, I’m gonna say, Hey, my dear one, are you okay? I don’t have any money, but I can I buy you? Robertson: We are here at the taco shop, Can I buy you dinner? I would, I’m gonna say that next time, Rob. I’m gonna say that. and then I also gazelle,I’m gonna support democratic socialist institutions. You know, some people are afraid of that word, democratic socialist. Robertson: But you know, the happiest countries in the world are democratic socialist countries. Finland is the world’s happiest country. Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Iceland, those are in the top 10 [00:35:00] when they’ve, when there have been analysis of, if you, if you Google happiest countries in the world, Robertson: those Nordic countries come up every year. Why? They are democratic socialist countries. You pay high taxes and everybody gets free college. You know, free education, free college, free health everybody gets taken care of in a democratic socialist country in the Nordic countries and New York City. Robertson: I’m so proud that our new mayor in New York City Zoran Mai is a democratic socialist. He is there to help everybody, but particularly those who are hurting the poor, the hungry , the sick, or the people of color, women, the elderly, the children. I’m so proud of him and I write about him on my substack and I write him Robertson: I he’s one of my heroes just like Bernie Sanders is one of my heroes. And Alexandria Ocasio Cortes, a OC is one of my, my heroes, CA [00:36:00] Ooc. So, and you know, I used to never tell anybody I was a Democratic socialist ’cause I was afraid. I thought, oh, they’ll think I’m a socialist. Hell no. I am now proud to say I’m a democratic socialist. Robertson: I’m a Democrat. I vote the Democratic ticket, but I’m always looking for progressives, progressive Democrats, you know, democratic socialist Democrats. because, you know, our country can be more like Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Iceland New York City. New York City is showing us the way America can be like a New York City. Robertson: I’m so proud of New York City and I used to live in New York City so as an old person. I can only do what I can do. and I’m not saying, oh, I poor me. I can’t do anything. No, no. I’m not saying that. I’m saying I can do a hell of a lot as this 81-year-old, it’s amazing what I can do, but that is why I write and speak and care for my family, neighbors, friends, the poor. Robertson: [00:37:00] Donate to nonprofits for the homeless and the hungry vote. Get out the vote. So yes, that’s my story. Gazelle. Gissele: I totally relate. I mean, I’ve been in circumstances like that as well, where you wanna help. But the fear is like, what if a person kills you? What if they don’t really have medication? Gissele: What if you get hurt or they try to rob you or they have mental health problems? Mine goes to protection and it is very human of us to go there first. And so, so then we get stuck in that ping pong in that moment and then the moment passes and you’re like, you know, was it true? Could I have driven that person? Gissele: And that would’ve been something I wanted to do for sure. But in that moment, you are stuck in that, yo-yo, when the survival comes in. And so helping ourselves shift out of that survival mode, understanding and learning to have faith and trust. And for me that’s been a work in progress. Gissele: It really has been a work in [00:38:00] progress. The other thing I wanted to mention, which I think is so important that we need to touch on. It’s the whole concept of socialism. So I was born in South America before I came to Canada and so I remember lots of my family members talk about this, there’s many South American countries that got sold communism, as socialism we’re talking about approaches that instead of it being like a democratic socialism that you’re talking about, which is the government, make sure that people are taking care of and that the people are probably taxed and provided for what would happen in those countries was that. Gissele: Everything got taken away. People were rationed certain things, and, it was horrible. it was not good, but it was not socialism. And there was many governments that took the majority of the money, then spent it on themselves, left the country, took it themselves, and so especially the Latin American community is very much afraid of socialism because they think back to that, the [00:39:00] rationing of electricity, the rationing of food, the rationing of all of that stuff, it wasn’t provided openly. Gissele: It was, everybody gets less. And so you have these people with this history that then have come to the US and think they don’t want socialism. They think democracy means that people aren’t gonna take stuff away from them, but that’s not what it means either. ’cause I don’t even know if like in North America we have a true democracy. Robertson: so thinking about reframing of how we think or experience democratic socialism, that it doesn’t mean less for everybody and in everything controlled by the government. It means being provided for abundantly and, also having the citizens be taxed more, which means we are willing to share our money so that we can all live well, Beautiful. Beautiful. Oh, thank you. Hooray. Wonderful. What country are you? May I ask where you coming? Gissele: Yeah, of Robertson: course. Gissele: Peru, I Gissele: [00:40:00] Yeah. Robertson: Wonderful. I’ve been to Peru a few times. A wonderful, beautiful country. And I, I lived in Venezuela for five years. ‘ cause I love, I have many friends in Venezuela. Robertson: But anyway I agree with everything you just said. That’s why I said what I said that I now can, I can confess that I am a democratic socialist. And that’s not socialism. It’s a social democracy is what it’s called. Yeah. That’s what they call it in Finland and Denmark and so on. Robertson: They call it social democracy. It’s democracy. But it, as you say, it’s cares for everyone and for the earth. We have to always add and the earth, ’cause you know, all the other species and, and the other life forms and the ecosystems, the water, the soil, the air, the minerals the plants, the animals. Robertson: and we have the money, as you said. I mean, if I had $350 billion, think of what taxes I could pay if the tax rate was, you know, 30%. [00:41:00] And rather than nothing, some of these, some of these folks pay, Gissele: well, I think we have glorified that we all wanted that, right? Like we got sold this good that oh, we should all want to be as wealthy as possible, right? And so we normalize the hoarding of money. Not the hoarding of other stuff, right? Gissele: And so we have allowed that, which gets me to my, next point, you talk about the environmental impact as part of a compassionate society, which absolutely is necessary. Gissele: And as human beings, we can be so lazy. We want convenience. We want to, have our package the next day. We don’t wanna wait. are we willing to pay higher wages? Are we willing to wait? Longer for our packages, like, are we willing to, invest in our wardrobe instead of buying fast fashion? Gissele: We don’t do these things and these have environmental impacts, and it also have human impacts, and at the end, they have impact on us. What can we do to ensure that, that we address that [00:42:00] complacency so that we are creating a fair, affordable , and compassionate world. Robertson: So important. Thank you. Robertson: It’s, it’s a life and death question. So yes, we should always ask about ecological and social impacts and take actions accordingly. That’s why I recycle every day. You know, some people say, oh, recycling is stupid. What do they really do with this, with it? You know, are they, are they really careful when you, they pick it up? Robertson: but I recycle religiously every day That’s why I support climate and democracy through third act. There’s a group that Bill McKibbon has started here in the US called Third Act. It’s a group of elder activists, activists over 60 who are working on climate and democracy issues. Robertson: So I’m doing that. That’s why I vote and get it out to vote. And as I said, I vote for Democrats and Democratic socialists. That’s why I write and speak and vote for ecological regeneration for social justice, for peace, for [00:43:00] democratic governance. It’s so critical that we keep questioning our actions like. Robertson: Okay, why am I recycling? Is it really worth the time? You know, deciding about every item, where it goes, and then putting out it out carefully and rinsing it first. And is that really going to help the world? ’cause you also know we need systemic changes, because you can always say, oh, but what the individual does doesn’t matter. Robertson: We need laws, we need institutions of ecological regeneration, and we need laws on caring for the climate and stopping climate change. So you can talk yourself out of individual responsibility when you realize that we need laws and institutions that protect the environment. Robertson: But it’s both. It’s both. what each person does, because there are millions of us individuals. So if there are millions of us act responsibly, that has, is a huge impact. And then if we [00:44:00] also have responsible laws and institutions that care for the environment as well as all people, then that’s a double win. Robertson: So I agree with you. We have to keep asking that question over and over and making those decisions and they’re hard decisions. We have to decide. Gissele: Yeah, I’ve had to look at myself like one of the commitments I’ve made to myself is not buying fast fashion. And so, investing in pieces, even though sometimes I feel lack oh my God, spending that much money on this, you know? Gissele: Yeah. It all comes back to me. if I am not willing to pay a fair wage, that means that the next person doesn’t get a fair wage, which means they don’t wanna pay a fair wage and so on and so forth. And then it comes back to me, you know, my husband has a business and then, you get people that don’t also wanna pay a fair wage. Gissele: It’s all interconnected. And so we have to be willing, but that also goes to us addressing our fear, our fear of lack, that we’re not gonna have enough. All of those things. And the biggest fundamental [00:45:00] fear, and you mentioned death to me, is the ultimate Gissele: fear That we must overcome I think once we do, like, I think once we understand that we are not, this human vessel. Gissele: that we’re not just this bag of bones and live in so much constrained fear that perhaps we could. really open up ourselves to be willing to be more compassionate . What do you think? Robertson: Absolutely. I’m with you all the way. Yes. We fear death because we’re caught in that illusion of a separate permanent self. Robertson: You know, it’s all about me. Oh, this universe is all about me. The universe was created 13.8 billion years for me. Robertson: Yeah. But it’s all about me and particularly my ego, honoring my ego. Building up my ego, praising my ego being, you know, that’s why I wanna be rich and famous. Robertson: Fortunately, I never wanted to be rich or famous, but that’s another story. We’ll talk about that some other time. But everything and [00:46:00] everyone is impermanent. When I realized that truth and it, it came to me through engaged Buddhism, but you could, you could get that truth in many, many ways. Robertson: That everything and everyone is impermanent. we’re part of the ocean. But the waves don’t last forever, do they? But the ocean lasts forever. Robertson: So My atoms, are part of the 13.8 billion year old universe. my cells are part of the living earth. Yes, they remain When I die, you know, go back into the earth. back into the soil and the water and the air but My ego doesn’t remain. What, what remains, as I said before, are my actions. Robertson: Everything I did is still cause and effect. Cause and effect. Rippling out. Rippling out. Okay. Rob, what did you do? What did you say? did you help that, did you touch that? Did you say that? so my actions and words continue rippling forever. So Ty calls that, or in the Plum Village tradition of engaged Buddhism, it’s called my continuation. Robertson: Your actions and your words [00:47:00] are your continuation that last forever as your actions and words will continue through cause and effect touching reality forever. So when my ego does not remain so I can smile and let it go. I often think about my continuation. You know, I say, well, that’s why, maybe why I’m writing so much and speaking so much. Robertson: And caring for so many people every day, you know, caring to care for my wife and my children and grandchildren and friends and neighbors, and the v vulnerable and the hungry, and the homeless, and the, and my country, and my city, and my county, and my, and why do I write substack twice a week? Robertson: And containing reflections on ecological, societal, and individual challenges and practices. And so every, week I’m writing about practices of mindfulness and compassion. So I’m trying to be the teacher. I’m trying to send out words of mindfulness and compassion so that they will continue reverberating when I’m dust, Robertson: So [00:48:00] I’m reaching out. In my substack to just those 55 people in 55 countries, in 38 states, touching hearts and minds and even more on social media. every month I have like 86,000 views of my social media. Why do I do it? It’s not just about ego, you know? Robertson: Oh, Rob, be famous. No, Rob is not famous. I’m a nobody. I gotta keep giving and giving and giving, you know, another word, another action, so I can, care for people around me through personal care, donations, voting, volunteering workshops, I’m helping start a workshop in our neighborhood on environmental resilience through recycling, through group facilitation. Robertson: I’m trained in, facilitation. I’ve been trained my whole life to ask questions of groups so they can create their own plans and strategies and actions. that’s some of my answer. Robertson: I hope that makes some sense. Gissele: Thank you very much. I appreciated your answer and it made me really think you are one of our compassionate leaders, right? [00:49:00] You’re, you’re kind of carving the way and helping us reflect, ’cause I’ve seen some of your substack, I’ve seen like your postings. Gissele: That’s actually how I kind of reached out to you. ’cause I was so moved by the material that you were sharing, the willingness to be honest about what it takes to be compassionate and how hard it can be sometimes to look at ourselves honestly, because we can’t change unless we’re willing to look at ourselves. Gissele: All aspects of ourselves, like you said, we are the billionaires, we are the oligarchy, we are all of these people. The racism that voted that in the, the racism that continues to show the fear, all of that is us. And so from your perspective, what do compassionate leaders do differently? Robertson: Yes. Well, it great question. Robertson: what do compassionate leaders do differently? Well, he or she or they. Robertson: are empathic. I think it starts with empathy. What are like, what are you feeling? What are you thinking? Robertson: What are you, what’s happening in your life? So an empathic [00:50:00] leader listens to other people. They see where other people are hurting. They care. They ask questions and facilitate group discussions, enable group projects. They let go of self-importance, you know, that it’s not all about me. Robertson: They let go of narcissism. They let go of, the ego project. They help others be their greatness. They care for their body mind so that they can care for others. and they donate and vote and recycle and more and more and more and more. did you know in Denmark. In elementary school every week, children are taught empathy. Robertson: You know, they have courses on empathy, Robertson: when I was growing up, I,didn’t have courses in school on empathy in church school, you know, in my Sunday school at, in my church. I was taught to love my neighbor and to love everyone, and that God was love. But in school, in my elementary [00:51:00] school and junior high and high school, we didn’t talk about things like empathy and compassion. Gissele: Yeah. Thank you for sharing that. I did know about Denmark ’cause my daughter and I are co-writing a book on that particular topic. The need to continue to teach love and compassion in, Gissele: being a global citizen. Right? And, and I’m doing it with her perspective because she just graduated high school, so she has like the fresher perspective, whereas mine’s from like many moons ago. Gissele: We need to continuously educate ourselves about regulating our own emotions, having difficult conversations, hearing about the other, other, as ourselves. Because that’s, from my perspective, the only way that we’re gonna survive. a friend of mine said it the best that we were having a conversation and she does compassion in the prison system and she says, I can’t be well unless you are well. Gissele: My wellness depends on your wellness. And that just hit me in my heart, like, ugh. Not that I live it every day, Robertson, Gissele: every day I have to choose and some [00:52:00] days I fail, and other days I do good in terms of like be more loving and compassionate and truly helping the world. But it’s a choice. It’s a continual choice. So this goes to my biggest challenge that maybe you can help me with, which is, so I was having this conversation with my students. We were talking about how. In order to create a world that is loving and passionate for all, it has to include the all, even those who are most hurtful, and that is really difficult . Gissele: I’m just curious as to your thoughts on what starting point might be or what can help us look at those who do hurtful things and just horrible things and be able to say, I see God within you. I see your humanity. Even though it might be hard. Robertson: Yes, It is hard. several years ago when I would hear [00:53:00] leaders of my country speaking on the media, I would get so repulsed that I would turn it off but I began practicing. Robertson: I practiced a lot since those days and I realized, you know. People who hurt, other people are hurting themselves. they’re actually hurting. they’re suffering. People who hurt others have their own suffering of, they’re confused. they’ve forgotten what it means to be human. Robertson: They’re, full of, greed, of their own fears, all about me. Maybe they’re filled with hatred they become violent. they’re suffering. I still find it very difficult to read or listen to certain people. Robertson: But what I do is I stop and I breathe and I smile and I say, okay. Robertson: I care. I’m concerned about you. I don’t know what I can do, but I am gonna do everything I can to care for the people, being hurt, you know, like my fellow activists in [00:54:00] Minneapolis are doing, or elsewhere, we could mention many places around the world where people are risking their own lives. Robertson: You know, in Minneapolis, two activists were killed, Ms. Good Renee Good, and Alex Pretty were killed because they went beyond their fear, you know? they got out there in the street because the migrants were being hurt and they got killed. Robertson: So, you know, At some point you have to come to terms with your own death, I don’t know if I have a, a minute to go or 20 years, I still have to let go. And so how do I care for my wife, my family, my friends, my neighbors my country, the vulnerable, the homeless, the hungry, and, as you said, for the wealthy and powerful who are hurting others, you know, starting wars attacking migrants, killing activists. Robertson: It’s hard. You know? So I have to say, I love the story of [00:55:00] when during the Vietnamese war Thich Nhat Hahn and his monks. They did not take sides. They did not say we’re on the side of the Vietnamese or the us. They did not take a side in the war. This is hard for me ’cause I, I usually take sides. Robertson: The practice was, okay, we’re not going to support we’re Vietnamese or the us. Were going to care for everyone. So they just went out caring for people who were getting hurt and during the war, people who were hungry, people who needed food, people who were bleeding, Robertson: So they decided their role was to care for those who were hurt not to attack. To say, I’m for the blue and I’m against the red. They said, I’m just gonna, care . Like, the activists in Minnesota, They’re, they’re not attacking ice, they’re singing to ice. Robertson: And so yes, we have to acknowledge our own anger. [00:56:00] I’m angry with these politicians. sometimes I want, to hate them, but I have to say, I do not hate you, my friend. You are confused. You’re so confused. You’re hurting others. So you’re so hurtful. Robertson: You don’t realize how you’re hurting others. But, I’ve got to try to stop you from hurting others. I’ve got to try to help those who are hurt and maybe I’m gonna get hurt, you know, because in the civil rights movement, if you’re out there doing on a peace march, you might get beaten up. Robertson: as I said, I’ve lived in villages, poor villages, and. Urban slums in several countries. And some people could say, well, that’s stupid. You could get hurt. You know, you could, you could as a white person living in a African American slum or in a Korean village or in a Venezuelan village, Robertson: So, you know, I say, was I stupid? Was I risking and I was with my wife and children? Was I risking the lives of my wife and children by living in slums and, and villages? Yes. Was I stupid? I mean, [00:57:00] no, I wasn’t stupid, but I was risking our lives. But I somehow, I was, called I wanted to do it. I said, okay. Robertson: but my point is it’s risky, you know? And you have to keep working with yourself. That’s why I love the word practice. Robertson: You know, in Buddhism we keep practicing, and I love your, the teaching of that you have on your website of Pema Chodron, you know, on self-love. You know, you have to keep practicing. How do I love myself? Say, okay, I’m afraid and I’m just this little white person, but or I’m this little old white person, but I’m gonna do everything I can and be everything I can. Robertson: I really appreciated the story of Han not choosing sides. I mean, you’re right. If we are going to see each other’s brothers and sisters and is is one global family, we can’t pick a side over the other, even though we so want to. Gissele: And, and I’m with you. when I think that there’s a [00:58:00] unfairness, when there’s people that are vulnerable or suffering, I’m more likely to pick to the side that is like, oh, that person is suffering. They’re the victim. But what you said is spot on. People that truly lovewho have love in their heart, like when you were raised with love. Gissele: You had love to give others because your cup was full. So it overflowed to want to help others, to want to love others. People that are hurting, that don’t have love in their hearts are those that hurt other people. Robertson: Mm-hmm. Gissele: They must because they must be so separated from their own humanity. Robertson: Yes, yes, yes. Gissele: And yet things are changing. You mentioned Minnesota, and I wanted to mention that I love that they’re doing the singing chants, and they’re not making them wrong. they’re singing chants like you can change your mind. You don’t have to be wrong. You don’t have to experience shame and guilt for the choice you’ve made. You can always change your mind. And in your book, you talk a lot about movements. Do you wanna [00:59:00] share a little bit about the power of movements and helping us create a compassionate civilization? Robertson: Oh, yes. Thank you. I’m, I’m a big movement fan. it started in college with the Civil Rights Movement. I realized, wow, you know, if a lot of people get together and do something together, it can make a difference. Like the Civil Rights movement. Gissele: Yeah. Robertson: And the women’s movement and peace movement. Robertson: And like in Vietnam, the peace movement, we could really make a difference if we get out in March. I think that being an individual or part of an organization that is part of a movement can be a powerful force. And so I focus in my life and that, that book on the six movements that I’ve mentioned, and those movements can work together. Robertson: And when they work together, they become a movement of movements. They become mom. Hmm. I like that because I I’m a feminist and I think that we need so [01:00:00] desperately we need more feminine energy inhumanity and in civilization. Robertson: So I’m a unapologetic feminist. And so that’s why I like that the movement of movements, the acronym is Mom, you know, and so it’s the Moms of the World will lead us like you. And so they’re the movements of ecological regeneration, socioeconomic justice, I’m repeating gender equality, participatory governance, cultural tolerance, peace and non-violence. Robertson: And you know, we also have the Gay Rights Movement, the democracy movement. there’s so many movements that it made a huge difference. So. I began saying that I, after writing the book, I said, okay,now my work is the work of the Compassionate Civilization Collaborative. Robertson: And I decided I wouldn’t make an organization, I it, wouldn’t have a website, I wouldn’t register it. I wouldn’t raise money for it. It would just be anybody and everybody [01:01:00] who was part of the movement of movements who was working to create a compassionate civilization. Robertson: So that’s what I did. And that’s where I am. I’m this old guy in my home. I don’t get out a lot. I don’t drive a lot. I just drive to nearby town. I have a car, but I don’t use it a lot. I don’t like to walk up and down hills. Robertson: IAnd sometimes I can’t remember things and I say, Hey, but look, you have so many friends all over the world and you can keep encouraging through your writing. So that’s why I keep writing, you know, it is for the movement of movements. Robertson: I guess that’s why I write. here’s something I want to share, something I thought or felt or something that I wrote about. And maybe it will touch you. Maybe it’ll encourage you. Maybe we’ll help you in your life. Robertson: I live in a homeowners association neighborhood. It’s a neighborhood that has a homeowners association. We’re 34 families and we have straight families, gay families. we have white families and non-white families. [01:02:00] We have Democrats, Republicans and Socialists. Robertson: We have Christians and Buddhists and Hindus. And so what I do, I say, Hey, we’re all neighbors. We all helped each other during the pandemic. We all helped each other after the hurricane. It doesn’t matter what our politics are or our religion or our sexuality, we’re all human beings. Robertson: We’re all gonna die. we all want love. We all want happiness. And We can be good neighbors. We don’t have to have ideology, you know, we don’t have to quote the Bible, we don’t have to quote Buddha. We can just be good neighbors. So we’re gonna have a workshop this spring And so we’re all going to get together down the street in this big room, in the fire station, and we’re gonna have a two hour workshop. And will it help? I don’t know. Will it make us better neighbors? I don’t know. Why am I doing it? I’m driven to do it. I’ve done workshops all over the world and I wanna do a workshop in my neighborhood. Robertson: I’ve done workshops with the un, I’ve done [01:03:00] workshops with governments, with cities So I love to facilitate. I love getting people together to solve problems together to listen to each other, respect each other, to honor each other. Gissele: so I’m just gonna ask you a couple more questions. But I’m just gonna make a comment right now about what you said because I think it’s so important. Gissele: Number one is I love that your neighborhood is a microcosm of what our world could be like . The fact that people got together to help and make sure that people were taken care of. If we could amplify that, that could be our world. I think that’s such a beautiful thing. Gissele: And the other thing that I think is really fundamental is that even through your life, you are showing us that some people are going to go pickett. And that’s okay. Some people are gonna write blogs to help us, and that’s okay. Some people are gonna do podcasts, and that’s okay. There are things that people can do that don’t have to look exactly the same. Gissele: Some people are going to have more courage, and they’re going to put their bodies in front and potentially get hurt. Other people, maybe they can’t do [01:04:00] that. So there are many different ways to help. The other thing that you said that was really, really key is the importance of moms . And that was one of the things that really touched me about your book, the acronym. Gissele: I was like, oh my God, I so resonate with this. Because I do feel that we need more feminine energy. We really kind of really squash the feminine energy. But the truth of the matter is we need more because fundamentally, nurturance is a mother energy is a feminine energy. Gissele: Compassion’s a feminine energy. Yes, yes, yes, Robertson: yes, yes, Gissele: so if I can share my story. Last night I was at hockey game. My son was playing hockey. Robertson: Mm-hmm. Gissele: And our team they don’t like to fight. Gissele: We play our game and we have fun and we’re good. And so the previous teams that were there, it was under Youth 15, most of the game was the kids fighting. And taking penalties. And so the game ends, the people come off the ice and two men that are starting to get like into a fight [01:05:00] now, woman got in front of them. Gissele: Wow. and said, we all signed a form that said, this is just a game. Remember who this is for? even though she was elevated, she totally stopped that fight between two men that we were not small. And So it was, it was really interesting. Robertson: Wonderful. Gissele: it was a woman who actually stopped a fight Gissele: It’s the feminine power. And that doesn’t mean, and I wanna make this clear, that doesn’t mean that men have to be discarded or have to be treated the same way that women are treated. ’cause I think that’s a big fear. That’s a big fear that some white males have. It’s no, you don’t have to be less than, Robertson: right. Robertson: We need Gissele: to uplift the feminine energy. So there’s a balance. ’cause right now we’re not balanced. Robertson: Exactly. Exactly. Oh, boy. Am I with you there? there’s a whole section in my book, as you noticed on gender equality I’m gonna read a tribute to Mothers I. Robertson: Tribute to Mothers Giving Birth to New Life, nurturing, [01:06:00] sustaining, guiding, releasing, launching, affirming Love. Be getting Love a flow onwards. Mother Earth, mother Tree, mother Tiger, mother Eve. My grandmother’s Sally and Arie, my mother, Mary Elizabeth, my children’s mother, Mary, my grandchildren’s mother, Jennifer, my grandchildren’s grandmothe

Welcome to another episode of the Cookbook Love Podcast. Today I'm excited to share a conversation with Helen Goh, the author of the beautiful new cookbook Baking and the Meaning of Life: How to Find Joy in 100 Recipes. Helen is widely known for her work as a recipe developer with Yotam Ottolenghi, co-authoring the New York Times bestselling books Sweet and Comfort. In this episode, we talk about her debut solo cookbook and the deeper meaning behind baking. Helen brings a unique perspective to the kitchen. In addition to her acclaimed baking work, she also maintains a psychotherapy practice. In her new book, she blends these two worlds—sharing not only wonderful recipes, but also reflections on why baking matters and how it can bring joy and meaning to everyday life. Drawing on her upbringing in Malaysia and Australia, as well as years of developing recipes with Ottolenghi, Helen shares both sweet and savory bakes that celebrate creativity, connection, and nourishment. In this episode, we talk about: • Helen's journey from recipe developer to writing her first solo cookbook • Her collaboration with Yotam Ottolenghi and what she learned along the way • The inspiration behind Baking and the Meaning of Life • How baking adds meaning to everyday moments • Why baking is about more than survival. It's about joy and connection • Highlights from the table of contents and some of the recipes in the book • Tips, techniques, and baking insights from Helen's years in professional kitchens Want to Get Paid to Write Your Cookbook? If you're dreaming about writing a cookbook, you might assume you need to finish the entire manuscript before approaching publishers. But in traditional publishing, cookbook authors are often paid an advance before they write the book. In my Get Paid to Write a Cookbook Masterclass, I teach the step-by-step process for positioning your cookbook idea so publishers can invest in it. You'll learn: • How traditional cookbook deals actually work • What publishers are looking for in cookbook ideas • The path to pitching a cookbook proposal with confidence Register here for the masterclass.  

WWW.ADVENTUREFREAKSSS.COM Find your Ideal Destination Here: https://adventurefreaksss.com/ideal-destination-finder/ ================================= How to work with me: =================================

Find out why it has become a paradox decades after its founding. Synopsis: Every first Friday of the month, The Straits Times catches up with its foreign correspondents about life and trends in the countries they're based in. Putrajaya, founded in 1995, turned 30 in 2025. As Malaysia’s administrative capital and inspired by Paris, it was supposed to replace the former tin-mining colony that is Kuala Lumpur. Failure of urban planning that prioritised government offices and grandiosity over organic city life are some of the perceptions cited as to why the city has not lived up to its original promise. The Straits Times’ Malaysia correspondent Hadi Azmi, who recently moved next door to Putrajaya, tells host and foreign editor Li Xueying, about the disconnect between the ambitious vision for Putrajaya and the ground reality. Highlights (click/tap above): 1:47 The vision and reality of Putrajaya 8:13 The “unfinished bridge” and Putrajaya’s shelved monorail system 10:31 Lack of political will leads to urban planning issues 13:28 Lessons from Putrajaya’s township designs 19:22 Hadi’s personal insights and experience in Putrajaya Read Hadi Azmi’s article here: https://str.sg/CF3t Read Li Xueying’s articles: https://str.sg/iqmR Follow Li Xueying on LinkedIn: https://str.sg/ip4x Sign up for ST’s weekly Asian Insider newsletter: https://str.sg/sfpz Host: Li Xueying (xueying@sph.com.sg) Edited by: Fa’izah Sani Executive producer: Ernest Luis Follow Asian Insider on Fridays here: Channel: https://str.sg/JWa7 Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWa8 Spotify: https://str.sg/JWaX Feedback to: podcast@sph.com.sg SPH Awedio app: https://www.awedio.sg --- Follow more ST podcast channels: All-in-one ST Podcasts channel: https://str.sg/wvz7 Get more updates: http://str.sg/stpodcasts The Usual Place Podcast YouTube: https://str.sg/4Vwsa --- Get The Straits Times app, which has a dedicated podcast player section: The App Store: https://str.sg/icyB Google Play: https://str.sg/icyX --- #STAsianInsiderSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Find out why it has become a paradox decades after its founding. Synopsis: Every first Friday of the month, The Straits Times catches up with its foreign correspondents about life and trends in the countries they're based in. Putrajaya, founded in 1995, turned 30 in 2025. As Malaysia’s administrative capital and inspired by Paris, it was supposed to replace the former tin-mining colony that is Kuala Lumpur. Failure of urban planning that prioritised government offices and grandiosity over organic city life are some of the perceptions cited as to why the city has not lived up to its original promise. The Straits Times’ Malaysia correspondent Hadi Azmi, who recently moved next door to Putrajaya, tells host and foreign editor Li Xueying, about the disconnect between the ambitious vision for Putrajaya and the ground reality. Highlights (click/tap above): 1:47 The vision and reality of Putrajaya 8:13 The “unfinished bridge” and Putrajaya’s shelved monorail system 10:31 Lack of political will leads to urban planning issues 13:28 Lessons from Putrajaya’s township designs 19:22 Hadi’s personal insights and experience in Putrajaya Read Hadi Azmi’s article here: https://str.sg/CF3t Read Li Xueying’s articles: https://str.sg/iqmR Follow Li Xueying on LinkedIn: https://str.sg/ip4x Sign up for ST’s weekly Asian Insider newsletter: https://str.sg/sfpz Host: Li Xueying (xueying@sph.com.sg) Edited by: Fa’izah Sani Executive producer: Ernest Luis Follow Asian Insider on Fridays here: Channel: https://str.sg/JWa7 Apple Podcasts: https://str.sg/JWa8 Spotify: https://str.sg/JWaX Feedback to: podcast@sph.com.sg SPH Awedio app: https://www.awedio.sg --- Follow more ST podcast channels: All-in-one ST Podcasts channel: https://str.sg/wvz7 Get more updates: http://str.sg/stpodcasts The Usual Place Podcast YouTube: https://str.sg/4Vwsa --- Get The Straits Times app, which has a dedicated podcast player section: The App Store: https://str.sg/icyB Google Play: https://str.sg/icyX --- #STAsianInsiderSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

- Tổng Bí thư Tô Lâm chủ trì buổi làm việc với Ban Tổ chức Trung ương về các giải pháp nâng cao chất lượng đội ngũ cán bộ cấp cơ sở.- Thủ tướng Phạm Minh Chính yêu cầu hoàn thiện quy hoạch đồng bộ giữa hệ thống đường cao tốc với quy hoạch tỉnh, thành phố.- Chủ tịch Quốc hội, Chủ tịch Hội đồng bầu cử Quốc gia Trần Thanh Mẫn kiểm tra, thực địa công tác chuẩn bị bầu cử đại biểu Quốc hội khóa 16, đại biểu Hội đồng nhân dân các cấp nhiệm kỳ 2026-2031 tại tỉnh Đồng Nai.- Khởi tố 30 bị can tổ chức đánh bạc và đánh bạc liên quan hệ thống "Xôi Lạc TV".- Chính phủ Malaysia công bố chính sách người dưới 16 tuổi sẽ không được tự lập tài khoản mạng xã hội.Tàu di chuyển tại Eo biển Hormuz. (Ảnh: IRNA/TTXVN)

Dinosaurs! Bushy juniors goes fortnightly! Comms opinions! Twits! Nicola regales us with her great adventure to parkrun Malaysia at Presint 18 parkrun, Putrajaya and Danny twits about in Watford at Holywell King George V Playing Fields parkrun.

Today we'll be talking about how the conflict in Iran is affecting Thai nationals and visitors, in greater ASEAN news Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar is blaming zionists for a campaign to destabilize his administration, and a little later in more classic Thaiger fare, and influencer is seeking a full refund after a botched 400,000 baht nose job.

Have you ever considered your profession as a ministry? Come to this session and hear about the biblical roots of nursing as ministry, your sacred calling to serve, and the importance of paying attention to those divine appointments. We will also talk about finding your passion and being persistent, all while drawing on the power of the Holy Spirit.

Back from the EuroTrip, Dustin will share some of the experiences from the AttackYamaha wild card appearances at both Estoril and Jerez.. Also a lot of racing happened. MotoGP in Australia and Malaysia.. Big names crashed, MM93 misses rounds, new guy gets a W.. And now there's only 2 rounds left in GP, while MA and WorldSBK are done. Get signed up for your next TrackDaz event:http://trackdaz.trackrabbit.com**Want a deal on some boxo tools? Use the following link, and save 10% while also helping us get a bit of a commish! Its Win-Win!https://boxousa.com/TrackDazOr the code TrackDaz10*PIRELLI TIRES!! **You can get your Pirelli rubber from us directly on our registration site. Follow us on Facebook: / trackdaz Follow us on Instagram: @trackdazFollow the TrackDaz Crew:@chili144@jimmyz853@phen2210@gil823@formula_r@chili144@lgbrown_@dkm60@canea121@g_offsims@ricardo.abueg@trackdazkaren@fharo3@modbaez@m39023@dreek46@bubblesrides @r6_krissy_@shaunsummers62

Award-winning Egyptologist Dr. Colleen Darnell of Lost Treasures of Egypt explores diverse expressions of love, gender, and identity woven into the civilizations of the ancient Nile in conversation with Brian DeShazor. And in NewWrap: Wendy Faith and Alesi Diana Denise face life in prison in Uganda for kissing “in broad daylight,” increasing the penalty for what it calls “unnatural acts” in Senegal is the goal of a bill introduced by Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko, the gay dating apps Grindr and Blued are now blocked in Malaysia, the drug trials that provided transgender minors in the United Kingdom with the only way to get puberty blockers have been paused, two Kansas trans men are filing suit to stop the state from revoking all government documents that reflect corrected gender identities, and more international LGBTQ news reported this week by Melanie Keller and Tanya Kane-Parry (produced by Brian DeShazor). All this on the March 2, 2026 edition of This Way Out! Join our family of listener-donors today at thiswayout.org/donate/.

Episod 190 Keluar Sekejap membincangkan siasatan PDRM terhadap dakwaan wujudnya komplot melibatkan Toh Puan Naimah yang didakwa bekerjasama dengan sebuah agensi media antarabangsa bagi menjatuhkan kerajaan dan mensabotaj kestabilan negara.Episod ini turut mengulas pelantikan Dr Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar, Naib Presiden PAS dan Menteri Besar Terengganu, sebagai Pengerusi baharu Perikatan Nasional (PN) pada 22 Februari 2026, menggantikan Muhyiddin Yassin yang sebelum ini menerajui gabungan tersebut.Perbincangan juga menyentuh Kongres Khas DAP pada 12 Julai yang bakal menentukan sama ada pemimpin DAP dalam kerajaan perlu kekal atau meletakkan jawatan daripada semua jawatan eksekutif.Selain itu, episod ini mengupas Rang Undang-Undang (RUU) pemisahan kuasa antara Peguam Negara dan Pendakwa Raya yang sedang dibentangkan di Parlimen.Turut dibincangkan ialah keputusan Mahkamah Agung Amerika Syarikat bahawa Akta International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) tidak memberikan kuasa kepada Presiden untuk mengenakan tarif pada 20 Februari 2026, serta implikasinya terhadap ART yang ditandatangani Malaysia.

Click Here,Text Us,Get a Shout-Out next episode.Start with a smile and stay for the substance—we pair the spark of the Fire Horse year with a hands-on guide to listening smarter, supporting freely, and joining a community that talks back. We kick off with the Chinese zodiac, comparing traits for Tiger, Rat, Snake, and Dragon and unpacking what cultural archetypes offer beyond fortune-cookie fate. The result is a grounded take on identity and timing, with a dash of humor and a nod to global celebrations.From there, we get practical. We walk through how podcast 2.0 apps make following easier, auto-downloads safer for commutes, and feedback faster with built-in messaging and boosts. You'll hear exactly where to find our episodes, how to send a quick text or voice note, and simple ways to support through Buy Me a Tea, PayPal, sats on Lightning, or Cash App. Our site ties it together with early posts, photos, and a SpeakPipe button that turns a hello into something we can share on-air.We also deliver a crisp seven-day earthquake report: totals across magnitudes, a trio of 6.0+ events including a 7.1 near Malaysia, and context along the seismically active arcs. Then we look up—sunspots are rebounding, a recent CME points to a likely G1 geomagnetic storm, and radio conditions are shifting in ways hams and skywatchers will notice. On the spacefront, Artemis slips again, but there's a bright human touch: NASA now lets astronauts bring smartphones to the station, promising more personal photos and video from orbit.If you value open shows without paywalls, this one's for you. Follow on your favorite player, try a podcast 2.0 app for extra features, share the episode with a friend, and send us a message or boost to shape what we explore next. Your voice fuels the flock—subscribe, leave a review, and tell us your zodiac sign and why it fits.Support the show I hope you enjoy the show! We believe in Value4Value for the podcaster and the listener alike. If you find value in our show, Come back, and tell a friend. Sharing the podcast with someone is a very good way for us to grow. Pray for us. Contact Us. Email: theuglyquackingduck@gmail.com. Text us: On a podcast 2.0 player you will find a link under the episode description. Leave a voice message: On our “Comment” page there is a link to record your voice. Just letting us know you are out there listening is a big boost! Help us with ideas, technology, art work, etc. Support us financially. The equipment, the Podcast hosting, the web page all costs. “Support the Podcast” Anyway you can support us is very much appreciated! Thank You. Until Next time.73 and may the Father's love go with you.Bruce Email: theuglyquackingduck@gmail.comWebsite: https://theuglyquackingduck.com/

Episode #492: Wong Chen, a Malaysian Member of Parliament active in international relations as Malaysia held the ASEAN chair, argues that the Myanmar crisis will not be resolved through moral appeals, symbolic diplomacy, or repeated Western advocacy alone. He maintains that the Myanmar military is far more resilient than many outsiders assume and largely unmoved by external condemnation. In his view, meaningful progress will come only when the junta faces real leverage generated by coordinated internal resistance, supported by pragmatic regional engagement. Without such pressure, he suggests, dialogue risks becoming performative and ultimately serving the military's interests. Wong Chen situates this argument in Malaysia's 2025 experience leading ASEAN, a consensus-based organization with a rotating annual chair. When Malaysia assumed the role, he initially felt optimistic, given Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's human rights reputation and ASEAN's existing Five-Point Consensus on Myanmar. That optimism faded as Malaysia adopted what Wong Chen describes as “pragmatic engagement” with both the junta and resistance groups. While he accepts that communication with all parties is unavoidable, he stresses its asymmetric effects because the junta is not a good-faith actor. For example, junta-controlled media reframes such meetings as “recognition,” even when this is far from the case. He also argues that ASEAN's institutional design undermines long-term crisis management. Unlike short, bilateral disputes ASEAN has mediated successfully, Myanmar requires sustained, multi-year engagement. Rotating chairs shift operational control to new national bureaucracies, reset personnel and priorities, and prevent the accumulation of institutional memory. The junta exploits these recurring reset points by re-litigating settled issues and using the sheer quantity of engagements to claim legitimacy. Wong Chen therefore calls for a permanent, well-resourced ASEAN mechanism dedicated to Myanmar, one that is not affected despite the changes inherent in the rotating chair. Beyond ASEAN, Wong Chen identifies China as the pivotal external actor, motivated less by ideology than by stability and trade. As long as Myanmar's opposition remains fragmented, Wong Chen points out that China will usually default to dealing with the junta. He criticizes the National Unity Government for strategic stagnation, internal rigidity, and overreliance on Western moral appeals, urging greater unity, clearer goals, and stronger use of diaspora resources. While cautiously optimistic that geopolitical shifts—potentially involving U.S.–China rivalry and even unconventional actors like Donald Trump—could create openings, Wong Chen ultimately places responsibility on Myanmar's resistance and opposition to unify around a shared vision and leadership in order to create the leverage needed to force a resolution. External actors can assist, he says, but “you have to do it yourself.”

Talltale has an idea and executes it - intentionally or not.Resources: Mobilize.usStand With MinnesotaMN Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC)The Immigrant Defense NetworkImmigrant Law Center of MNBook: Super Edition: Tallstar's Revenge Support us on Ko-fi! WCWITCast Ko-fiFollow us on BlueSky! WCWITCastFollow us on Instagram! WCWITCastCat Fact Sources:Instagram - Zoo Negara Malaysia (Official)

On 8 December 1941, Japanese troops landed in northern Malaya marking the start of the second world war in the Pacific.Invasion forces moved quickly down the British colony – which is now called Malaysia - capturing Singapore in just 55 days. Their occupation ended on 15 August 1945, when Japan surrendered to the allies after the US had dropped two atomic bombs.Dorothy Variyan, who lived under Japanese rule for more than three years in south west Malaya, speaks to Jacqueline Paine.This programme contains archive which uses outdated and offensive language.Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by and curious about the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more. Recent episodes explore everything from how the Excel spreadsheet was developed, the creation of cartoon rabbit Miffy and how the sound barrier was broken.We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: the moment Reagan and Gorbachev met in Geneva, Haitian singer Emerante de Pradines' life and Omar Sharif's legendary movie entrance in Lawrence of Arabia.You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, like the invention of a stent which has saved lives around the world; the birth of the G7; and the meeting of Maldives' ministers underwater. We cover everything from World War Two and Cold War stories to Black History Month and our journeys into space.(Photo: Members of an Australian anti-tank gun crew fire weapons at a Type-95 Japanese tank on a road temporarily blocked by a felled tree, outside Singapore, British Malaya, April 1942. Credit: Office of War Information/PhotoQuest/Getty Images)

What does it take to grow a business while setting high standard and holding your values close? Malaysia Speaks, owner of Paw Time Favorite Pet Sitting in San Antonio, shares her journey from working in the veterinary field to building a family-run business rooted in professionalism and heart. She and her husband intentionally structured their business from day one with strong policies, team support, and faith at the center. Malaysia discusses hiring early, trusting her team, maintaining client relationships, and ensuring quality care for every pet. Her story is one of perseverance, balance, and doing business the right way — for her family, her employees, and her clients. Main topics: Building a family-run business From vet tech to owner Hiring early and trusting team Establishing professional standards Client connection and community care Main takeaway: "I wanted to do it the right way from the beginning." That mindset set the foundation for Malaysia Speaks' success. Instead of rushing into business, she focused on structure, education, and integrity—making sure every system reflected professionalism and care. From hiring her first team member to building strong client relationships, her focus on doing things right created long-term stability and trust. For Malaysia, excellence isn't about perfection—it's about intentionality, faith, and consistency. Her journey reminds us that when you start with purpose, growth naturally follows. About our guest: Malaysia Speaks is the founder and co-owner of Paw Time Favorite Pet Sitting, based in San Antonio, Texas. A former veterinary professional with over eight years in the field, Malaysia turned her passion for animal care into a thriving family business alongside her husband, Jonathan. Together, they lead a ten-person team providing dog walking, pet sitting, overnights, and pet taxi services. Malaysia is a UTSA graduate, a proud mom of two, and a strong advocate for professional standards and family balance in the pet care industry. Links: Website: https://pawtimefavoritepetsitting.com Email: pawtimefavoritepetsittingllc@gmail.com Phone: 443-561-5466 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pawtimefavoritepetsittingllc Check out our Starter Packs See all of our discounts! Check out ProTrainings Code: CPR-petsitterconfessional for 10% off

Send a textJermaine Ee is a founder and storyteller interested in three things: how we spend our time, the work we do, and what we leave behind. His career has zigzagged across ed‑tech, logistics, toys, political campaigns, executive search, and impact projects, but the through‑line has always been the same: helping people make better decisions abouttheir money, careers, and futures.He's run financial‑aid workshops in low‑income high schools, built a startup to help kids confront their fear of math, and worked inside the Venture Capital & Private Equity ecosystem, studying how talent shapes enduringcompanies. Through Rotary and other efforts, he has helped lead humanitarian projects from Los Angeles to Colombia, Mexico, and Ukraine, working on refugee housing, medical transport, and frontline logistics.Today, Jermaine spends most of his time on HeirLight, a simple and smart will maker designed to turn one of adulthood's most avoided tasks into a fast, modern, emotionally intelligent experience. Born in Los Angeles and raised between LA and Malaysia, he thinks a lot about belonging, identity, and the quiet instructions we leave behind for the people we loveHeirLight www.heirlight.com/en/podcast | jermaine@heirlight.com | 6266737916Sign up for one of our negotiation courses at ShikinaNegotiationAcademy.comThanks for listening to Negotiation with Alice! Please subscribe and connect with us on LinkedIn and Instagram!

In this era of "permacrisis" and constant disruption, adaptability and resilience are vital traits that require collaboration and an increasing focus on human-centric skills. That's the messaging to come out of the 2025 Global Talent Competitive Index (GTCI), an annual report that highlights the latest talent trends and offers insights into the current global talent landscape.For this episode of “The INSEAD Perspective: Spotlight on Asia” podcast series, Sameer Hasija, Dean of Asia at INSEAD, analyses the results and implications of the 11th edition of the GTCI through an APAC lens alongside two of its authors: L. Felipe Monteiro, Academic Director of the GTCI and Senior Affiliate Professor of Strategy, and Paul Evans, Emeritus Professor of Organisational Behaviour.   Perhaps the most notable theme from the 2025 report is the shifting value of human capabilities, where soft human-centric skills are becoming just as vital as hard digital or technical skills. As AI handles increasingly complex technical tasks, Monteiro and Evans suggest that "generalist adaptive skills" – including leadership, innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship – will increasingly take centre stage.Reflecting on the high ranking of certain countries such as Singapore, Switzerland and the Nordic nations, Evans points to the strength of their integrated ecosystems, where government, business, educational institutions and labour organisations work together to solve problems using a forward-looking approach. He warns that without this deep ecosystem collaboration and a long-term vision, even technologically advanced nations may struggle to implement the systemic changes required to thrive in today's disrupted global economy.That potential danger is highlighted in a concerning trend identified in the report, where several upper-middle-income countries, such as Malaysia, Brazil and Mexico, appear to have reached a "talent plateau" or “trap". Despite making good headway in the earlier stages of their development, these countries have seen their progress stall as they find themselves squeezed between high-innovating top-tier countries and lower-income countries with cost advantages.   Levels of optimism for the future were mixed among the three speakers.However, they agreed that greater collaboration, an increased emphasis on lifelong education and the ability of individuals to learn and adjust on the job will be vital if countries and companies hope to successfully navigate the uncertain waters of the next five years – and beyond.  

On February 20th, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) does not authorize President Donald Trump to impose tariffs - a landmark decision that immediately scrambled U.S. trade policy and sent governments and businesses across the Indo-Pacific into a scramble to figure out what it means for them.Co-hosts Ray Powell and Jim Carouso are joined by two of the sharpest minds in U.S. trade and Asia-Pacific economic policy: Bill Reinsch, Senior Adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and co-host of the Trade Guys podcast, and Nydia Ngiow, Managing Director for Global Trade and Economics at BowerGroupAsia in Singapore.In Episode 132 we break down:• What IEEPA is, how it became a tariff weapon, and why the Court said “no”• Trump's immediate Plan B - a 15% global tariff under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, and why that will almost certainly be challenged in court too• What Section 301, Section 232, and other alternative trade tools mean for countries in the region - and why they may be slower, narrower, and harder to wield• Whether countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, and Cambodia that negotiated trade deals under the IEEPA tariff threat got a raw deal - and what happens to those agreements now• The potential for domestic political backlash against leaders seen as having made too many concessions to Washington• Why the ruling may not have handcuffed Trump as much as the headlines suggest• And what the real-world economic impact of tariffs has - and hasn't - been over the past yearIf you follow U.S.-China trade tensions, Indo-Pacific economics and geopolitics, or global supply chains, this episode is essential listening.

Tony Tan's parents pinned their hopes on him when they sent him from home in Malaysia to Melbourne to become a white collar professional in the 1970s. There he found “funny smelling cigarettes”, a lovely man called Terry and a destiny he couldn't escape.Tony was exposed to deep, rich flavour and the precision of cooking from a young age.His mother was a chef in Malaysian colonial kitchens and Tony would often accompany her to work, where he would sometimes receive a single golden, dripping roasted potato, or pinch the meat from a leftover kitchen carcass.He was a precocious child — known as Little Chilli — always wanting to know how certain cooking techniques worked. His parents didn't want him to follow them into the world of food, so they sent him to study at university in Melbourne, with hopes that he would ascend to the world of white collar work on behalf of the family.He had his first introduction to Lygon Street in the 1970s, and university couldn't keep him away from the world of food.Further informationTony Tan's most recent cook book, Tony Tan's Asian Cooking Class is published by Murdoch Books.This episode was produced by Alice Moldovan. Conversations' Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison.This episode covers food tours, Kuantan, SBS, Shakahari, Stephanie Alexander, char siu, Tatler's, cooking school, Asian cooking class, roast chicken with soy sauce, recipes, sexual awakening, gay marriage, Trentham, regional Victoria.To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you'll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Anya Cheng, Founder and CEO of Taelor, is making personal styling accessible to everyday professionals with an AI-powered clothing-on-demand service built for busy men and influencers. After 15 years leading product teams at companies like Meta, eBay, McDonald's, and Target, Anya turned her own frustration with shopping and laundry into a mission-driven business that helps people look great, feel confident, and save time—while also supporting sustainability by keeping more clothing out of landfills. We explore Anya's Product Management Framework, the structured approach she uses to build and scale products. Instead of starting with technology, she begins by Identifying the Right Problem, then Looking at the Persona, Validating the Buying Journey, and Identifying Pain Points. From there, she Selects Decision Criteria to prioritize what matters most, Brainstorms Solutions, and finally Identifies the Right Solution based on impact, feasibility, and business value. She explains how this framework guides everything from launching Taelor to deciding which AI features to build next. — 7-Steps to Winning Products with Anya Cheng Good day, dear listeners. Steve Preda here, Founder of the Summit OS Group. And my guest today is Anya Cheng, the Founder and CEO of Taelor, an AI-powered clothing on-demand service for men and social media influencers. Anya, welcome to the show.  Hello, this is Anya from San Francisco. I’m the founder of Taelor. We use AI to pick clothes for busy men. In the old days, only celebrities had their own human stylists. Now everyone can have their own AI stylist, and we send people real clothes to rent. Before starting the company, I spent 15 years in big tech companies. Most recently at Meta, where I helped build Facebook and Instagram Shopping. I was Head of Product at eBay and helped them launch new businesses in the US, Latin America, Africa, and Asia. I was also a Senior Director at McDonald’s, where I helped build their food delivery business globally when Uber Eats just started, and I helped Target build a tech office here in Silicon Valley. I’m excited to share more.  Okay, well we already got a lot out of you, so thank you for giving this quick bio. What I’m very interested in is what drives you. So you worked for Target. I think you worked for Amazon, at least with Amazon. You worked for other big tech.  EBay, McDonald’s, and Facebook.  Yes, so big tech companies like Meta. What makes someone who is a successful leader in big tech break out start as an entrepreneur? What is your personal “Why” that drives you and that you want to manifest in your business?  Yeah, it actually start with my personal problems that I had. When I was working for Meta, I was a few female leaders there leading large technology team. So I felt a little bit of imposter syndrome. I wanted to look great, but I don’t want people to find out that I’m freaking out every day. So I tried some subscription boxes like Stitch Fix, which is similar to the old Trunk Club. It's good that someone styles you. But once you receive those boxes, you have to decide right away: how many times am I going to wear these clothes? And you have to buy before you can wear them. So can I find something even cheaper somewhere else? How do I pair these items? And once I buy them, I have to do laundry, ironing, and folding. It's just a lot of work. So I started using rental companies. I rented from companies like Nuuly, which is a $500 million revenue company, or companies like Rent the Runway, which is a public company. They are all great—you can rent, you don’t have to buy. But they require people to pick from hundreds of thousands of garments. You spend two hours picking, picking, picking, browsing, browsing, browsing. And I’m not into fashion. I don’t like fashion. I don’t have time to do shopping. I'm not fashion-forward, so I don't even know how to pick. That was the “aha” moment for me— I realized most fashion companies are designed for people who are into fashion, not for people like me who just want to get ready for the day and be successful.Share on X So I started doing research. Are there other people like me—who hate shopping and laundry but need to look good, be socially active, go to meetings, close deals, get jobs? It turns out there are a lot of people like me: busy men, single guys, salespeople, consultants, pastors, recruiters, professors. There are 15 million single men, 14 million sales professionals in the U.S., and it turns out we started Taelor to help people like me look great without having to think about fashion.  Well, I don't know—if you look at my shirt, I probably could also use some Taelor treatment, an AI telling me how to dress better. So what drives you? I understand this is a great idea and definitely necessary, but what makes you excited about it?  I think I've personally always been passionate about helping people achieve their goals. I started as a blue-collar kid—my mom is a housewife, my dad is a factory worker, originally from Taiwan, and they've been in the U.S. for 20 years. As an immigrant, I came to the U.S. and was very lucky to have a lot of people help me. I got a student long ago, went to Northwestern University, got my MBA from the University of Chicago. I came to the U.S. without knowing anyone here, but many people helped me achieve the American dream. So it has always been in my heart to help more people achieve their dreams. What I realized was that dressing well really helped me—almost like a student who buys a textbook and feels ready for the exam even though they haven't read it yet.Share on X People using amazing software or tools will buy books or start learning and already feel smarter than before. It's really a peace of mind that helped me. So I've always been passionate about how I can help more people achieve their goals, their dreams, and their full potential. I realized this business helps me do that. I've tried to do that in other ways before: I've published books, created online courses, and taught at Northwestern University. But this business is an additional way to help people achieve their goals. At the same time, my co-founder, Phoebe, who is originally from Malaysia, she has been in the U.S. for 20 years. Growing up, she wanted to be a fashion designer, but in an Asian family, she became an accountant and finance professional, eventually a CFO. She always had a little spark in her heart to do something related to fashion, and she is very passionate about sustainability. She constantly talks about how today, 30% of clothes go directly from factories to landfills, generating 10% of carbon emissions and polluting 20% of the world's water. Sustainability is really close to her heart. By the time she had worked for 15 years, she felt ready for a change, and we both shared the same vision. That's how we started the business together.  Love it. It's really a mission-driven company. I didn't realize this when we first talked, but a lot of people are held back by not being well-dressed. Again, I don’t want to be the example here. I also like the idea because my daughter talks a lot about throwing away clothes and how much damage it does to the environment. I really like that you help people wear and buy only the clothes they actually need and send back the ones they don't. This is awesome. So let's switch gears here. I'm really curious about how you develop your products because this is a very creative business. You have to develop a new, revolutionary concept and product. Do you have a framework for developing these products?  Yeah, absolutely. We always start with the problem we are solving. I teach product management at Northwestern University, and most people, when they think about building a product, their first thought is, “Hey, what product am I building? How do I build it? What technology should I use?” We use AI to build this—we build AI agents—but in fact, you should take a step back. There are two equally important questions you need to ask: what problem should I solve, and what solution should I pick?  Most people spend 95% of their time thinking about what solution to pick. But first, you need to figure out what problem you should solve. The problem you solve is actually the most important thing, because if you're solving the wrong problem—one that people don't care about, or one that won't help your business, or one that you can't actually solve—then no matter how great your solution is, it's going to be a waste of time. For example, what we found is that we are totally different from women's rental companies. The problem we are solving is for guys who are busy but socially active. They have dreams. As a realtor, I want to sell one more house. As a small business owner, I want to grow my business to open a second restaurant. So they have a dream. Dressing well and looking good is something that helps increase their chances of success—getting a job, closing a deal, showing up confidently.Share on X What we are really selling is a concierge service, an executive assistant, a fairy godmother, a gadget guy behind the superhero—it's peace of mind. If you look at women's counterparts, like Nuuly or Rent the Runway, they have hundreds of millions in revenue each, but they are solving a problem for women like me. So we want to look great every single day and want to wear different things. So wearing different thing versus, I don’t want to think about it, is actually totally different problem. So if you think of our business model financially is different. For example, in women's rental businesses, margins are very low because people rent clothes and don't buy. On top of typical e-commerce costs like shipping, there are additional costs like laundry, so margins remain low. But in our business, customers use the service as “try before you buy.”. They want to save time and save space. So a lot of our revenue actually also come from people actually buying the secondhand clothes. And those people are people who would never buy secondhand before because they don’t have time. So those are white-collar, busy men renting clothes and also buying them. In addition, they ask me where to buy shoes or accessories, Valentine's Day gifts, where to get haircuts, even where to go on vacation. They treat us more like an executive assistant service. They give us lots of feedback, and we monetize that feedback back to fashion brands to help them predict what's going to sell.  Okay. That’s fascinating. So it's a two-way business because you are also selling the data that you’re collecting from people. Customer feedback, like “the sleeve is too long,” “the fabric is too tight,” “this isn't flexible,” and also insights like, “This is an amazing brand, but it's too expensive compared to 90% of our other brands on the platform, so you should lower your price.” We give that feedback to brands so they can improve. Yeah, which is basically data they don't have—and it's very valuable. That’s fascinating. So, going back to the framework—because we're a podcast about frameworks—I want to make sure we have a clear framework. You identify the right problem first, and then you reverse-engineer from there. What are the steps to get from the right problem to the right solution?  Yeah, so going from the right problem to the right solution—that's step number one. To solve the right problem, you first need to understand your personas. For example, a simple persona for us is a busy man who isn't into fashion, such as a single guy, a busy dad, a sales professional, a consultant, or a pastor. Then you map out their journey. For example, they might need to go on a business trip, attend a meeting, go to a birthday party, or go on playdates with their kids. Along that journey, they realize their clothes are old or out of style, and they need different outfits. But when they look at what they have from last year, the clothes are already too small or too big. So you identify the journey. So for example, they realize they need new clothes, and there’s a moment they say, “Okay, I can either buy exactly the same thing as last year, or… hey, I heard people are actually renting through women’s counterpart—maybe there's something like that for me.” It's like when you're bored and deciding whether to stick with Comcast or try Hulu, Disney+, or Netflix. So identify the journey. After mapping the journey, the third step is identifying the pain points. A simple feature, for example—Facebook. We all use Facebook, and one feature is the birthday feature. The personas are people who have a birthday and people who want to wish their friends a happy birthday. The pain point for the birthday person is: “I'm not sure if I should tell people, but I also don't want everyone to forget my birthday.” For friends who are close to the birthday person, their pain point is: “I forgot my friend's birthday.” So you have a lot of different pain points. Once you have your persona, their journey, and their pain points, the fourth step is to define your selection criteria. For example, you want to pick the biggest problem to solve. What should your selection criteria be? How many people are impacted, how painful it is for those people, and how likely you are to be able to solve the problem effectively. Then you choose one pain point to focus on. For example, for Taelor, we pick that we want to help busy men who are not into fashion to dress well. The pain point we addressed is helping them save time and look great.Share on X We didn't try to solve other problems. For example, a luxury menswear company might offer Louis Vuitton or Burberry for rent. The pain point they address is helping people who want luxury clothes but can't afford them, which is very different from our focus. The key is to use your selection criteria to pick the right pain point to solve first.  Now you have the pain point. For example, for me, it is helping people have peace of mind and achieve their goals. Now you start using exactly the same framework for your solution. You pick your selection criteria and identify different solutions. Take Facebook birthday as an example. Oh, the problem I want to solve is that for people who are birthday boys or girl’s friend, they want to host a party. Now you can come out with plenty of solution. For example, the solution one could be AI generating party locations. The solution two is AI generate invitations. The third could be AI suggesting a party game or activity. Then you do the same thing—you identify your criteria. There are so many solutions, so what’s my criteria? The criteria are: which solution solves the pain point better? Which one requires fewer engineering hours? Which one can drive more engagement, traffic, or revenue for the company? Then you use the framework to pick the solution.  Yeah. Love it. Okay. That’s fascinating. So you find the right problem. Then you look at the persona that has that problem. Then you identify the pain points that really bother these people.  You find those persona and journey. That’s how you find a problem.   The journey as well. So the persona. Okay. And these are busy men, so you map their journeys. They need to go to church, they need to go to meetings. Then you use your criteria to select the solution.  That’s right.  And then you basically stress test. Is this the right solution? Does it fit the criteria? Does it handle the pain points? Fascinating.  Yeah. So you’re selecting criteria for your problem. And after you pick the problem, you have the same different selecting criteria to pick your solutions.  Yeah. Got it. So how do you decide what features to develop? You have your product—you've got the clothes. People can order them, try them out, and send them back. You take care of the laundry. They don't have to worry. AI gives advice. How do you know what features to develop to define your product further?  Yeah. So the features to develop use the same framework. We start with the problem. Then we ask, what feature—or solution—solves that problem? For example, our customers say, “I hate shopping.” The solution is our AI shops for them. But they also say, I have a little bit points of views. So then we offer them a chance, they have a style quiz. They can upload a picture, say “I don't wear pink, blue, or green,” And they can say, “I never wear turtlenecks.” And then they show a few pictures of the style that they like, if they have any, or we show them pictures to like or dislike. This way, we understand their preferences and pain points. And then when they decide a feature, we're thinking about the solutions to address their pain points.Share on X So for this example, and in terms of getting into the Product Management framework: If you are really going into product management, how do you find out the solution using quant and qual? For example, you interview your customers, run focus groups, check Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics, Shopify data, QuickBooks—your data points. Then you have qualitative and quantitative numbers. From there, you see the opportunity for a feature. You might identify a pain point: everyone comes to our homepage, but they drop off on the second page. Why? The homepage isn't very clear. There's no clear call-to-action button; the button was hidden. It was below the fold. Users have to scroll three times before they see the button. So, okay, I have a hypothesis. The hypothesis is that people drop off because they don't see the call-to-action button. So I'm going to come up with a solution. Solution one: move the button to the top. Solution two: have a floating button that is always visible. Solution three: show a pop-out button. And then using the same framework, like, okay, these are three great solutions. Which one take less engineering hours? Which one will potentially solve the problem better? Which one do we think will be more effective or generate more revenue? And then you decide. That's how we decide on the features.  Yeah, that’s great. Then the AI keeps learning your criteria, keeps refining, and keeps suggesting better and better-fitting clothes. It gets faster from there, I presume.  Yeah, because the customer provides feedback. Your Netflix shows—when you start, you might watch all the true crime. But after a few weeks, you start watching other things, like romcoms or Korean dramas. They see what you watch, and you start seeing those suggestions too. At the same time, what's different at Taelor is that we know the problem we're solving: helping people try something a little out of their comfort zone, because that's why they want a stylist.Share on X So we also tend to recommend something new. We work with over a hundred different brands, so we might suggest something they haven't tried before. “Oh, you've never tried purple? Why not try these light purple shirts? They look really good, similar to blue.” “Oh, you've never tried pink? How about this spring pink t-shirt? It's really nice.” It's a rental, so they don't have to commit, and they're willing to try something new—just like with Netflix. “I'm not sure if I'll like the show… watch five minutes, we'll see.”  And then, is this a global business, Taelor, or is it focused on the U.S.?  It's focused on the U.S. We serve nationwide—anywhere the post office can reach. After people sign up, shipping takes one to three days. They wear the clothes for a couple of weeks. After that, they return the clothes in a prepaid envelope. They can go to the post office, or use a post office app with one click to schedule a free pickup. You can also drop it in blue collection boxes on the street. If you're traveling—say, to New York for business—you can just return it at the hotel lobby. It's prepaid, just like any package. You ask, “Can I mail it back?” It’s prepaid. They always say yes, and then you go home, and new clothes has arrived. You don't have to do any laundry when you get home.  And you don’t have to check in your luggage.  Exactly. You don’t have to.  And to get on and off the plane quickly. I love it. That’s great. So if people would like to learn more, or they’d like to check this service out, or want to connect with you personally, where should they go? Where can they find you?  Yeah, go on https://taelor.style. Use the code PODCAST25 to get 25% off your first month or use the code PODCASTGIFT to buy a gift card with 10% off. And if you are great suppliers or business owners, you also want to tap on and work with your product, perfect for man who are busy. We love to partner with you. We work with dating sites, fitness centers, career coaches, and executive coaching companies. We also do holiday gifting, employee gifting, and new hire gifting to help your employees look great and save time. For investors, we are now backed by some of the largest consumer investors in the U.S., such as Goodwater Capital, the investors behind Lyft and Socar, Facebook, Twitter, and Spotify. Reach out to me at anya@taelor.ai.  That’s perfect. So, just so we don't forget, you're an AI-driven company. That's amazing. So, if those of you listening to this enjoyed this conversation and learned something, you learned how to build a product: starting from identifying the right problem, looking at the personas, determining the persona, the journey, the pain points, selecting the criteria, and then picking the right solution. So, if you want to learn more about that and similar frameworks that accelerate your business, make sure you stay tuned, because every week I bring an exciting entrepreneur or thought leader who's going to help you fast-track your business. Anya, thank you for coming, and thank you for listening. Important Links: Anya's LinkedIn: Anya's website: Anya's email: anya@taelor.ai

Scott and Isaac join this episode to talk about their time in China and Malaysia! Check out Main Street Roasters and use code GRKC at check out for a 10% discount! https://mainstreetroasters.com Ghostrunners merch: https://bit.ly/399MXFu Become a Patron and get exclusive content from Jake & Brad: https://bit.ly/2XJ1h3y Follow us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/33WAq4P Leave us a voice memo and ask a question: https://anchor.fm/jake-triplett/message Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the humid jungles of Southeast Asia, where frangipani flowers perfume the night air and the cries of infants echo through kampong villages, she waits—a woman of impossible beauty in flowing white, eternally searching for the baby she lost, ready to drag any soul unlucky enough to cross her path into an endless nightmare of maternal vengeance. freakyfolklore.com #Pontianak #MalaysianFolklore #FreakyFolklore #AsianHorror #GhostStories #SoutheastAsianLegends