Podcasts about Asian

US equity futures point to a flat open ahead of key payrolls risk, with Asian markets mostly higher and European equities trading firmer. Today focus is on elevated event risk ahead of Friday's US payrolls report, a potential Supreme Court ruling on IEEPA tariffs as soon as Friday, and the start of Q4 earnings next week led by major banks. Defense stocks outperformed following renewed discussion of a 50% increase in Pentagon spending, reinforcing a broader pro-cyclical rotation away from mega-cap technology. In addition, reports that China may approve limited Nvidia H200 chip imports as early as Q1 are being monitored alongside ongoing rare-earth and export-control tensions, while markets also remain focused on the Fed chair nomination timeline and the US 10-year yield approaching the 4.2% level.Companies Mentioned: Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount, Boeing, Strava, Inc.

US equity futures point to a softer open, with Asian markets generally weaker and European equities narrowly mixed. Today's focus is on a pause in the recent pro-cyclical rally as geopolitical risks and upcoming event risk weigh on sentiment. Energy and financials underperformed amid renewed uncertainty around Venezuela developments, while Trump's social media comments on restricting institutional housing investment and curbing defense-sector buybacks added to sector-specific volatility. Moreover, macro data sent mixed signals, leaving Fed expectations broadly unchanged. Investors are now looking ahead to Friday's payrolls report, the pending Supreme Court ruling on Trump tariffs, and the next round of earnings and policy decisions as near-term catalysts.Companies Mentioned: Nvidia, Chevron, Eli Lilly, Ventyx Biosciences

Bigfoot Observed on the Mississippi RiverIn the summer of 2017, while fishing alone on the lower Mississippi River near Osceola, Arkansas, a man encountered an approaching storm. He moved his boat upriver to shelter behind a small island with trees and overhanging willows, tied off, and covered himself with a tarp as the rain began. From his position, he noticed a large, dark, hairy figure—approximately 8 feet tall—about 200 yards away on the opposite bank. The creature waded waist-deep into the water and deliberately moved to startle invasive Asian carp, causing them to leap out of the water. It then swatted the jumping fish onto the bank, successfully catching several.As the rain intensified and visibility dropped, the narrator last saw the creature gathering the fish in its large hands and retreating into the trees. The narrator concluded that the creature had secured a good meal that afternoon.Join my Supporters Club for $4.99 per month for exclusive stories:https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/what-if-it-s-true-podcast--5445587/support

This episode contains description of addiction, eating disorders and discussion of suicide. Our guest today is the pioneering comedian, actor and activist Margaret Cho. She began performing comedy as a teenager, opening for Jerry Seinfeld at just 14, before becoming one of the most influential stand-ups of her generation. Now in her 50s, Margaret reflects in this episode on the cancellation of her groundbreaking sitcom, All-American Girl, and the surreal "miscalculations" of a network that hired consultants to ensure she was "doing Asian right". She speaks candidly about the "mind f***" of being told she was "too fat to play herself", which triggered a dangerous spiral into disordered eating, 90s diet drugs and eventual kidney failure. She opens up about a suicidal near-death experience that she was initially too afraid to admit even to herself - and about the intervention by friends that finally led her to sobriety. This conversation explores shame, rage and the life-saving importance of humour. Because, as Margaret says, sometimes laughter can be the thing that keeps you breathing. ✨ IN THIS EPISODE: 00:00 Introduction 04:37 Childhood Reflections 06:59 Political and Social Commentary 10:43 The Sitcom Experience 18:35 Body Image and Health Struggles 26:13 Legacy and Influence 26:54 The Struggle with Diet Culture 28:34 Embarrassing Moments on Stage 32:10 Family Influence on Weight Issues 33:22 Seeking Help and Therapy 34:05 Childhood Abuse and Its Impact 37:27 Battling Drug and Alcohol Addiction 43:09 Intervention and Recovery 46:51 Finding Hope and Happiness

Happy New Year, everyone! Today, we're taking a look back at 2025 to see (for us) which K-Dramas were hits, which were misses, and what scenes from our favorite dramas of the year still live rent free in our minds. K-Pop Recs of the Year:"What it Sounds Like" by Huntrix (Ejae, Rei Ami, & Audrey Nuna)"Background" by Jin"Killin' It Girl" by J-Hope (feat. GloRilla)"CHEST" by JUST BReady to download your first audiobook? Don't forget to click HERE for your free Audible trial.*Audible is a sponsor of Afternoona Delight Podcast*Are your family and friends sick of you talking about K-drama? We get it...and have an answer. Join our AfterNoona Delight Patreon and find community among folks who get your obsession. And check out www.afternoonadelight.com for more episodes, book recs and social media goodness. And don't forget about the newest member of our network: Afternoona Asks where diaspora Asians living in the West find ways to reconnect to Asian culture via Asian/KDramas.Last but CERTAINLY not least....love BTS? Or curious what all the fuss is about? Check out our sister pod Afternoona Army for "thinky, thirsty and over thirty" takes on Bangtan life. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Watch The X22 Report On Video No videos found (function(w,d,s,i){w.ldAdInit=w.ldAdInit||[];w.ldAdInit.push({slot:17532056201798502,size:[0, 0],id:"ld-9437-3289"});if(!d.getElementById(i)){var j=d.createElement(s),p=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];j.async=true;j.src="https://cdn2.decide.dev/_js/ajs.js";j.id=i;p.parentNode.insertBefore(j,p);}})(window,document,"script","ld-ajs");pt> Click On Picture To See Larger PictureTrump placed tariffs on many nations, the Asian nation exports are surging, even with the tariffs. More money for the people. Fuel prices are below $2 in many states. Trump has cut 646 regulations.Trump is using the Jacksonian Pivot to bring down the [CB] and go back to the constitution. The [DS] is losing it money laundering system. They are having a difficult time funding their operations. Trump is continually putting the squeeze on the [DS] and each nation run by dictators is going to fall one by one. Trump gave the [DS] 8 months to comply with his EO. He brought the NG into their states, they forced them out. He gave them a chance but they decided to escalate the situation. Next move is POTUS. Economy (function(w,d,s,i){w.ldAdInit=w.ldAdInit||[];w.ldAdInit.push({slot:18510697282300316,size:[0, 0],id:"ld-8599-9832"});if(!d.getElementById(i)){var j=d.createElement(s),p=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];j.async=true;j.src="https://cdn2.decide.dev/_js/ajs.js";j.id=i;p.parentNode.insertBefore(j,p);}})(window,document,"script","ld-ajs"); https://twitter.com/KobeissiLetter/status/2008258196322856968?s=20   all-time high. This is despite US tariffs which were initially set at to 49%, but later negotiated down to ~20%. At the same time, Chinese exports to the US plunged -40% YoY in Q3 2025. This comes as the region has a massive cost advantage over US and European manufacturing, which ranges from 20% to 100%, even after tariffs. Companies use Southeast Asian economies as alternative export bases to avoid China’s 37% reciprocal tariff. As a result, the amount of trade rerouting from China hit a record $23.7 billion in September. US trade flows are shifting sharply amid tariffs. https://twitter.com/TrumpWarRoom/status/2008327708200104042?s=20 https://twitter.com/profstonge/status/2008516399564509382?s=20  https://twitter.com/DrJStrategy/status/2008306299235189133?s=20   and a decisive shift of policy emphasis toward productive capital and economic sovereignty rather than financial engineering, Trump has reoriented the engines of growth toward productive capital, investment, industry, and national capacity. Anchored by the Trump Corollary, asserting a sovereign, American‑led Western Hemisphere and demonstrated in both the flawless military operation in Venezuela and the broader regime‑pressure strategy, this doctrine is not theater but an integrated fusion of economic, security, and hemispheric power. These changes are as profound in their structural implications as the original Jacksonian pivot, and those who assume Trump is a merely performative politician and strategist are therefore sorely mistaken, confusing a disruptive style with a coherent focused project to realign America's coalition, its economic model, and its role in the world. Political/Rights https://twitter.com/KatieMiller/status/2008286018722562351?s=20 https://twitter.com/seanmdav/status/2008263492030349618?s=20 Hilton Axes Hotel From Their Systems After Video Shows Them Continuing to Ban DHS and ICE Agents  https://twitter.com/nicksortor/status/2008497245826556404?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2008497245826556404%7Ctwgr%5E65c50b3797a2e502ba8c026a05c290955554706a%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fredstate.com%2Frusty-weiss%2F2026%2F01%2F06%2Fhilton-axes-hotel-from-their-systems-after-video-shows-them-continuing-to-ban-dhs-and-ice-agents-n2197811 Less than two hours after the video had been uploaded to X, Hilton issued another statement saying they were dropping that particular hotel from their list of franchisees and accusing ownership of lying to them about making corrections to their policy. https://twitter.com/HiltonNewsroom/status/2008522493171298503?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2008522493171298503%7Ctwgr%5E65c50b3797a2e502ba8c026a05c290955554706a%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fredstate.com%2Frusty-weiss%2F2026%2F01%2F06%2Fhilton-axes-hotel-from-their-systems-after-video-shows-them-continuing-to-ban-dhs-and-ice-agents-n2197811 Source: redstate.com https://twitter.com/amuse/status/2008256013162410201?s=20   mandatory detention without bond hearings. Judges opposing the move admitted the goal is to promote self-deportation rather than extended courtroom battles. Conservatives say the numbers reveal a coordinated judicial campaign to override Trump’s immigration policy. SCOTUS has yet to rule on the matter. DOGE Corporation for Public Broadcasting Board Votes to Dissolve Organization in Act of Responsible Stewardship to Protect the Future of Public Media   The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), the private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress to steward the federal government's investment in public broadcasting, announced today that its Board of Directors has voted to dissolve the organization after 58 years of service to the American public. The decision follows Congress's rescission of all of CPB's federal funding and comes after sustained political attacks that made it impossible for CPB to continue operating as the Public Broadcasting Act intended. Source:  cpb.org Geopolitical https://twitter.com/Object_Zero_/status/2008524560891588691?s=20   flight path (ballistic or powered) from Kola to anywhere on the lower 48, then everything goes over Greenland. Greenland is the theatre where any strategic exchange between Washington and Moscow is contested. If you want to intercept a ballistic missile, the best point to do so is at the apogee, at the top of the flight path. The shortest route for an interceptor to get to an apogee is from directly below the apogee. That's where Greenland is. So, without stating what should happen here, this is **why** the Trump administration says they **need** Greenland for national security. The other thing that is happening is that the Northern Passage through the Arctic is opening up, and soon there will be Chinese cargo ships sailing through the Arctic to Rotterdam. It's faster than the Suez and the ships aren't limited to Suezmax size so China and EU trade is going to accelerate a lot. This means Chinese submarines will also be venturing under the Arctic into the Northern Atlantic, IF THEY AREN'T ALREADY DOING SO. Hence, the North East coast of Greenland serves not 1 but 2 critical strategic security objectives of US national security. If this wasn't clear to you, please understand that the Mercator global map projection is for children and journalists only. It is not a useful guide to where any countries or territories actually are in the real world that we live in. No self respecting adult should be using Mercator for their worldview. Anyone saying “there must be some other secret reason for Trump being interested in Greenland” is a certified ignoramus. https://twitter.com/sentdefender/status/2008414070425206927?s=20  permission from the Ministry of Defense. “We want to clarify that what happened in downtown Caracas was because some drones flew over without permission and the police fired dissuasive shots. No confrontation took place. The whole country is in total tranquility,” said a Spokesman for the Information Ministry. https://twitter.com/sentdefender/status/2008420269480694261?s=20  Miraflores Presidential Palace.   Seems like a failed coup attempt https://twitter.com/jackprandelli/status/2008298246675021881?s=20   offshore oil, creating a massive geopolitical risk. The most immediate outcome in capture of Maduro is to neutralize this threat and secure the operating companies stakes in Guyana, as well as Western Hemisphere’s energy security. By stabilizing Guyana’s production, which is set to hit 1.7 million barrels per day, the intervention guarantees way more oil flow in near term than reviving Venezuela’s aged infrastructure and heavy sour oil. This move protects billions in U.S. investment and positions Guyana producers as the ultimate winners. https://twitter.com/Rasmussen_Poll/status/2008448254095012088?s=20 https://twitter.com/profstonge/status/2008591197728813564?s=20  Mass Protests Enter 9th Straight Day in Iran — Regime Accused of Killing Young Woman and Multiple Peaceful Protesters as Officials Deny Responsibility — Brave 11-Year-Old Iranian Boy Calls on Nation: “Take to the Streets! We Have Nothing to Lose!” (VIDEO)  Protests against Iran's murderous Islamic regime continued across the country for a ninth straight day over the weekend, as nationwide unrest intensifies and the government struggles to maintain control. Demonstrations have now spread to multiple cities throughout Iran, with citizens openly defying the Islamic Republic and targeting its symbols of power. The latest wave of protests was initially sparked by the collapse of Iran's currency, further devastating an already-crippled economy and pushing ordinary Iranians to the brink. Source: thegatewaypundit.com https://twitter.com/ElectionWiz/status/2008537318035173629?s=20 https://twitter.com/ElectionWiz/status/2008532051331526713?s=20 https://twitter.com/infantrydort/status/2008501122902774238?s=20   when reminded that teeth still exist. They insist the world runs on rules now and that borders are sacred. Also that true power has been replaced by paperwork. This belief is not moral in the least. It's f*****g archaeological. They live inside institutions built by violence, defended by men they no longer understand, and guaranteed by forces they refuse to acknowledge. Like tourists wandering a fortress, they admire the stonework while mocking the idea of a siege. They confuse order with nature. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. Then blame the person that reminds them of this. Civilization is not the default state of humanity. It is an achievement that is temporary, fragile, and expensive. It exists only where force once cleared the ground and still quietly patrols the perimeter. A lion does not debate the ethics of hunger. Neither does a starving empire. History is not a morality play, it is a pressure test. When pressure rises, abstractions collapse first. Laws follow power; they do NOT precede it. Property exists only where someone can prevent it from being taken. Sovereignty is not declared, it is enforced. The modern West outsourced this enforcement, then forgot the invoice existed. So when someone points out uncomfortable realities (whether about Greenland, Venezuela, or the broader balance of power) they respond with ritual incantations: “You can't do that.” “That's wrong.” “That's against the rules.” As if the rules themselves are armed. As if history paused because we asked nicely. This is how empires fall. Not from invasion alone, but from conceptual rot. From mistaking a long season of safety for a permanent condition. From believing lethality is immoral instead of foundational. Every civilization that forgot how violence works eventually relearned it the hard way. The conquerors did not arrive because they were monsters; they arrived because their victims could no longer imagine them. The tragedy is not that power still exists. The tragedy is that so many have forgotten it does. Idk who needs to hear this but civilization is a garden grown atop a graveyard. Ignore the soil, and someone else will plant something far less gentle. Hate me for being the messenger and asking the hard questions about conquest if you want. You're just wasting your time. War/Peace Zelenskyy Announces the Appointment of Former Canadian Deputy Prime Minister, Chrystia Freeland as Economic Advisor  Chrystia Freeland was the former lead of the Canadian trade delegation when Trudeau realized he needed to try and offset the economic damage within the renegotiated NAFTA agreement known as the USMCA. Freeland was also the lead attack agent behind the debanking effort against Canadian truckers who opposed the vaccine mandate. In addition to holding Ukraine roots, the ideology of Chrystia Freeland as a multinational globalist and promoter for the World Economic Forum's ‘new world order' is well documented.    given the recent revelations about billions of laundered aid funds being skimmed by corrupt members of the Ukraine government, we can only imagine how much of the recovery funds would be apportioned to maintaining the life of indulgence the political leaders expect. In response to the lucrative “voluntary” appointment, Chrystia Freeland has announced her resignation from Canadian government in order to avoid any conflict of interest as the skimming is organized. Source: theconservativetreehouse.com https://twitter.com/disclosetv/status/2008618653500273072?s=20 https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/2008610869924757613?s=20 this aligns with Trump’s stated approach, where Europe takes a leading role in postwar security but with American support to ensure durability—such as the proposed 15-year (or potentially longer) guarantees discussed in recent talks. The “Coalition of the Willing” (including the UK, France, Germany, and others) is coordinating these pledges to reassure Kyiv, but the framework explicitly ties into U.S.-backed elements like ceasefire verification and long-term armaments.  Russia has not yet shown willingness to compromise on core demands, so the deal’s success remains uncertain, but this step advances the security pillar of the overall plan. Medical/False Flags https://twitter.com/DerrickEvans4WV/status/2008435766742179996?s=20    dangerous diseases. Parents can still choose to give their children all of the Vaccinations, if they wish, and they will still be covered by insurance. However, this updated Schedule finally aligns the United States with other Developed Nations around the World. Congratulations to HHS Secretary Bobby Kennedy, CDC Acting Director Jim O'Neil, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, CMS Administrator Dr. Oz, NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya, and all of the Medical Experts and Professionals who worked very hard to make this happen. Many Americans, especially the “MAHA Moms,” have been praying for these COMMON SENSE reforms for many years. Thank you for your attention to this matter! DONALD J. TRUMP PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA [DS] Agenda https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/2008416829404746084?s=20  https://twitter.com/WeTheMedia17/status/2008558203077095579?s=20 President Trump's Plan https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/2008278499153637883?s=20   who tried to kill Justice Kavanaugh at his family home in Maryland. Read: https://twitter.com/mirandadevine/status/2008312587197497804?s=20 https://twitter.com/PubliusDefectus/status/2008542355838955625?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2008542355838955625%7Ctwgr%5E08a8ea4b3726984aaeb1e460fafe90ec5a25b84f%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thegatewaypundit.com%2F2026%2F01%2Fhillary-clinton-launches-attack-trump-january-6%2F Developing: Lt. Michael Byrd Who Shot Ashli Babbitt Dead on Jan. 6, 2021 in Cold Blood, Runs an ‘Unaccredited' Day-Care Center in Maryland at His Home and Has Pocketed $190 Million in HHS Funds   Captain Michael Byrd and his home daycare in Maryland. In one of his autopen's last acts before Joe Biden left office was to pardon Capt. Mike Byrd, the DC officer who shot and killed January 6 protester Ashli Babbitt in cold blood during the protests on Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021.  Paul Sperry discovered recently and posted on Tuesday that Former Lt., now Captain Mike Byrd, has been running an unaccredited day-care center with his wife in their Maryland home since 2008. That is nearly 17 years! The Byrds have received $190 million in this HHS day-care scheme. Via Paul Sperry. Via Karli Bonne at Midnight Rider: https://twitter.com/PattieRose20/status/2008547480431218991?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2008547480431218991%7Ctwgr%5Ec607b3d9ed0b3fbdb6e390fdfadc416d9a45a379%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thegatewaypundit.com%2F%3Fp%3D1506321 Source: thegatewaypundit.com The White House has published a page revealing the full TRUE story of January 6 — before, during, and after. It includes: – Video and evidence showing Nancy Pelosi's involvement – A complete, detailed timeline of events – A tribute to those who died on or because of J6 A full investigation into Nancy Pelosi and everyone involved is now essential. You can view the page here: https://whitehouse.gov/j6/  https://twitter.com/TrumpWarRoom/status/2008569594550895005?s=20 EKO Put This Out April 28, 2025. President Trump signs Executive Order 14287 in the Oval Office. The title reads like standard bureaucracy: “Protecting American Communities from Criminal Aliens.” But in the third paragraph, a single phrase changes everything: Sanctuary jurisdictions are engaging in “a lawless insurrection against the supremacy of Federal law.” Insurrection. The exact statutory term from 10 U.S.C. §§ 332-333 . The language that unlocks the Insurrection Act of 1807. Georgetown Law professor Martin Lederman publishes analysis within days. The executive order mirrors Section 334 requirements. The formal proclamation to disperse before military deployment. It designates unlawful actors, issues formal warning, establishes consequences. Governors dismiss it as political theater. Constitutional attorneys recognize something else. The proclamation was already issued. Trump just didn't announce it as such. THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK January 20, 2025. Inauguration Day. Hours after taking the oath, Trump issues Proclamation 10886 declaring a national emergency at the southern border. Section 6(b) requires a joint report within 90 days on whether to invoke the Insurrection Act. The deadline falls April 20, 2025. Eight days later comes Executive Order 14287 . National emergency declaration establishes crisis conditions. The 90-day clock forces formal evaluation. The executive order provides the legal predicate. Section 334 of the Insurrection Act mandates the president issue a proclamation ordering insurgents to disperse before deploying military force. April 28 order satisfies every requirement. It names the actors. Describes their unlawful conduct. Warns of consequences. Grants opportunity to comply. Governors treated it as negotiation leverage. It was legal notification. The trap locked in April 2025. Everything since has been documentation. THE TESTING PHASE Throughout 2025, the administration attempts standard enforcement. National Guard deployments under existing authority. October 4, 2025 . Trump federalizes 300 Illinois National Guard members to protect ICE personnel in Chicago. Governor J.B. Pritzker files immediate legal challenge. Federal courts block the deployment. Posse Comitatus restricts military involvement in domestic law enforcement. November 2025 . Portland judge issues permanent injunction against Guard deployment in Oregon. December 23, 2025 . The Supreme Court denies emergency relief in Trump v. Illinois. Justice Kavanaugh files a brief concurrence with a consequential footnote: “One apparent ramification of the Court's opinion is that it could cause the President to use the U.S. military more than the National Guard.” Northwestern Law professor Paul Gowder decodes the signal : “This is basically an invitation for Trump to go straight to the Insurrection Act next time.” The courts established ordinary measures cannot succeed when states organize systematic resistance. They certified that regular law enforcement has become impracticable. They documented the exact threshold Section 332 requires. The founders designed a system that assumed conflict between federal and state authority. For decades, that friction was suppressed. Emergency powers normalized after 9/11, federal agencies expanded into state domains, courts deferred to administrative expertise. The Guard deployment battles weren't system failure. They were constitutional gravity reasserting itself. Courts blocking deployments under Posse Comitatus didn't weaken Trump's position. They certified that ordinary measures had become impracticable, crossing Section 332's threshold. December 31, 2025 . Trump announces Guard withdrawal from Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland via Truth Social. Governor Newsom celebrates: “President Trump has finally admitted defeat.” But the machine's interpretation misreads strategic repositioning as retreat. You cannot claim ordinary measures have been exhausted if contested forces remain deployed. Pull back. Let obstruction resume unchecked. Document the refusal. Then demonstrate what unilateral executive action looks like when constitutional authority aligns. THE DEMONSTRATION Trump v. United States . THE HIDDEN NETWORKS Intelligence sources describe what the roundups since fall 2025 actually target. Embedded cartel operatives running fentanyl distribution chains under state-level protection. The riots following military arrests aren't organic resistance. They're funded backlash from criminal enterprises losing billions. Pre-staged materials appear at protest sites. Simultaneous actions coordinate across jurisdictions. The coordination runs deeper. Federal employee networks across multiple agencies held Zoom training sessions in early 2025. Officials with verified government IDs discussed “non-cooperation as non-violent direct action,” the 3.5% rule for governmental collapse, and infrastructure sabotage through coordinated sick calls. They planned to make federal law enforcement impracticable. The exact language Section 332 requires. Sanctuary policies exist because cartel operations generate billions flowing through state systems. Governors sit on nonprofit boards receiving federal grants. Those nonprofits contract back to state agencies, cycling federal dollars through “charitable” organizations. Cartel cash launders through these same construction and real estate networks. When Trump's operations extract high-value targets, they disrupt the business model. The Machine defends itself through coordinated obstruction designed to make federal enforcement impracticable. This transcends immigration policy. This tests whether states can capture governance for criminal enterprises and nullify federal supremacy. THE LINCOLN PARALLEL Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation confounded supporters and critics alike. Abolitionists expected moral thunder. Instead they received dry legalese about “military necessity” and “war powers.” The document deliberately avoided the word “freedom.” It specified which states, parishes, counties. It exempted border states still in the Union. Constitutional historians recognize the genius. Lincoln wasn't making a moral proclamation. He was establishing irreversible legal predicate under war powers. Once issued, even Northern defeat couldn't fully restore slavery. The proclamation made restoration of the old order structurally impossible. Trump's April 28 order follows identical construction. Critics expected immigration rhetoric. Instead: technical language about “unlawful insurrection” and “federal supremacy.” Specified sanctuary jurisdictions, formal notification procedures, funding suspensions. Avoided inflammatory language. Constitutional attorneys recognize the structure. Irreversible legal predicate under insurrection powers. Even political defeat cannot fully restore sanctuary authority. States would have to prove they're not in systematic insurrection. Both presidents disguised constitutional warfare as administrative procedure. THE COMPLETE RECORD When you review the eight-month timeline you recognize what most ‘experts' miss. The April 28 EO satisfied every Section 334 requirement. It designated sanctuary conduct as insurrection. It provided formal notification. It established consequences. It granted eight months to comply. Compliance never arrived. California and New York passed laws shielding criminal networks. Illinois officials threatened to prosecute ICE agents. Multiple states coordinated legal defenses against federal authority. Courts blocked every standard enforcement attempt. They certified that ordinary measures have become impracticable. Every statutory requirement checks complete: Formal proclamation warning insurgents to disperse: April 28, 2025 Executive Order 14287 Extended opportunity to comply: Eight months from April to December 2025 Documented systematic multi-state obstruction: Sanctuary laws, prosecution threats, coordinated resistance Exhausted ordinary enforcement measures: Guard deployments blocked by federal courts Judicial certification of impracticability: Supreme Court ruling with Kavanaugh footnote The legal architecture stands finished. The predicate has been established. Only the final triggering event remains. Thomas Jefferson signed the Insurrection Act into law on March 3, 1807 . He understood executive authority: forge the instrument ahead of the storm, then await the conditions that justify its use. Abraham Lincoln used it to preserve the Union when eleven states organized systematic resistance. Ulysses S. Grant invoked it to shatter the Ku Klux Klan when Southern governments refused to protect Black citizens. Dwight Eisenhower deployed federal troops to enforce Brown v. Board when Arkansas chose defiance. Each invocation followed the same pattern. Local authorities refuse to enforce federal law. The president issues formal proclamation. Forces deploy when resistance continues. The current situation exceeds every historical precedent in scale and coordination. Multiple state governments coordinating systematic obstruction. Sanctuary jurisdictions spanning dozens of cities. Criminal enterprises funding the resistance through captured state institutions. The April proclamation gave them eight months to stand down. They chose escalation. THE COUNTDOWN The January 4 statement confirms what the legal timeline already established. Prerequisites met. Constitutional threshold crossed and judicially certified. The operational timeline is active. The next escalation triggers the formal dispersal order. Section 334 requires the president issue proclamation ordering insurgents to “disperse and retire peaceably to their abodes” before deploying military force. That's the legal tripwire. Once issued, if obstruction persists after the compliance window closes, federal troops can enforce federal law. Active duty forces under the Insurrection Act. Constitutional. Unreviewable. The forces won't conduct door-to-door immigration raids. They'll provide security perimeters while federal law enforcement executes targeted operations against high-value assets. Operatives. Trafficking nodes. Criminal infrastructure. Targeting oath-bound officials elected and appointed, as well as federal employees who swore to uphold federal law and chose insurrection instead. THE RESTORATION Sanctuary jurisdictions received explicit insurrection warnings last spring. More than half a year to comply. Every olive branch rejected. Courts blocked ordinary enforcement repeatedly, certifying impracticability. The Venezuela op demonstrated unilateral resolve. Yesterday's statement activated the operational sequence. Pattern recognized. Machine is exposed. Evidence is complete. What remains is execution. They're just waiting to hear it tick. The most powerful weapon restrains until every prerequisite aligns. Until mercy extends fully and meets systematic rejection. Until the constitutional framework demands its use. Every prerequisite has aligned. Mercy has been extended and rejected. The framework demands its use. Revolution destroys. Reversion restores. The Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves. The Insurrection Proclamation frees a republic.  https://twitter.com/EkoLovesYou/status/2008304655156342936?s=20 https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2008597603412308341?s=20 (function(w,d,s,i){w.ldAdInit=w.ldAdInit||[];w.ldAdInit.push({slot:13499335648425062,size:[0, 0],id:"ld-7164-1323"});if(!d.getElementById(i)){var j=d.createElement(s),p=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];j.async=true;j.src="//cdn2.customads.co/_js/ajs.js";j.id=i;p.parentNode.insertBefore(j,p);}})(window,document,"script","ld-ajs");

Click the post for details on this episode! Welcome back to Open House! Randy Seidman here, coming to you from Thailand with another two hours of the grooviest beats. Happy holidays to you all of my listeners around the world, I'm wishing you the best for 2026. Amazing times this past month at BOHO in Pattaya and Baccarat in Bangkok, thank you to everyone who made it out. This week I'm playing the mighty Jungle Experience in Koh Phangan, and then Mustache in Bangkok January 30th. Today's episode is a special one with some of my favorite tunes in the first hour, followed by an exclusive session with the versatile South East Asian slayer, TNZ. For now, turn it up. Randy Seidman's Website Randy Seidman's SoundCloud Randy Seidman's Beatport Randy Seidman's Spotify Randy Seidman's Facebook Randy Seidman's Twitter Randy Seidman's Track List: 01. Jerome Robins, Karsten Sollors - Don't Stop The Music (Original Mix) [Randy Edit] 02. Noah Devega 'Rock to the Rhythm' (Randy's 'Bad Boy BKK' Edit] 03. Zurra - Pow! (Extended Mix) [Randy Edit] 04. Jorge Montia, Joe Red & Jose Ponce - Dark Valley (Original Mix) [Randy REdit] 05. Angel Heredia - Sing Ha He (Original Mix) [Randy Edit] 06. Angel Heredia - Zurek (Original Mix) [Randy Edit] 07. Angel Heredia - Atlas (Original Mix) [Randy Edit] 08. Angel Heredia - Unknow (Original Mix) [Randy Edit] 09. Siwell, Lucky Vegas - Count On You [Randy Edit] 10. TAI, Son Of 8 - In & Out (Earth n Days Remix) [Randy Edit] 11. Yvvan Back, Helvig - Dream Of You [Randy's 'So Many Times' Edit] 12. Tiesto, Poppy Baskcomb - Drifting (KREAM Remix) 13. Steve Angello - Tivoli (KREAM) [Randy Edit] 14. Kryder, Natalie Shay - Rapture [Randy Edit] 15. Caelu, OutFlux, HYPERS - Afterlife (feat._Caelu) (Extended Mix) [Randy Edit] 16. Thomaz Krauze - I'm Still Standing Feat. Stee Downes (Going Deeper Remix) [Randy Edit] I hope you enjoyed the first hour with some of my top recent tunes. Up next is a special exclusive session with the talented and versatile rising star out of South East Asia, TNZ. I had the pleasure of playing with TNZ at my recent show in Pattaya, and we ended up closing out the night together with a special B2B. I was very impressed by her skills, and I think you will be too! With residencies at Thailand's top spots, and stage time at the best clubs around Asia, TNZ is making her mark on the Asian dance music scene. She commands respect for her well-crafted mixes that range from House to Techno, and today she is here just for you. For the next hour, TNZ is in the mix. TNZ's Instagram TNZ's Linker.ee TNZ's MixClloud TNZ's Track List: 01. Haffenfold - Day & Age (Original Mix) 02. Franc Fala, Benja (NL) - Colombian Shipment (Original Mix) 03. Doruk (TR) - Bounce (Original Mix) 04. Angels Noise - Huracan (Original Mix) 05. Max Styler, Deomid - Every Night (Original Mix) 06. Jon.K - Wimbo (Original Mix) 07. Para Noir - One More Track (Extended Mix) 08. Stefano Mapo - Fuego (Original Mix) 09. Zac, Undercode - Hold Me Closer (Extended Mix) 10. Hidden Empire - Turn It Up (Extended Mix) 11. Landau, Silver Panda - Take No More (Extended Mix) 12. Rozenbergg - Title Doesn't Matter (Original Mix) 13. Clim - Feyko (Original Mix) 14. Contenance - Kush Coma (Extended Mix) 15. Artique - Out Of Mind (Original Mix) 16. Lena Storm - Shukr (Original Mix) Randy Seidman · Open House 251 w/Randy Seidman + TNZ [Jan. 2026]

New Orleans is an indispensable element of America's national identity. As one of the most fabled cities in the world, it figures in countless novels, short stories, poems, plays, and films, as well as in popular lore and song. T. R. Johnson's book New Orleans: A Writer's City (Cambridge UP, 2023) provides detailed discussions of all of the most significant writing that this city has ever inspired - from its origins in a flood-prone swamp to the rise of a creole culture at the edges of the European empires; from its emergence as a cosmopolitan, hemispheric crossroads and a primary hub of the slave trade to the days when, in its red light district, the children and grandchildren of the enslaved conjured a new kind of music that became America's greatest gift to the world; from the mid-twentieth-century masterpieces by William Faulkner, Tennessee Williams and Walker Percy to the realms of folklore, hip hop, vampire fiction, and the Asian and Latin American archives. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Cooperative Evangelist: Kagawa Toyohiko and His World, 1888-1960 (University of Hawai'i Press, 2025) by Bo Tao uncovers the extraordinary world of a Japanese man who was once described as the “Saint Francis” or the “Gandhi” of Japan. A renowned religious figure on the world stage, Kagawa Toyohiko (1888–1960) received wide acclaim for his work as a street preacher in the slums of Kobe as well as his espousal of nonviolent methods of social reform. His reputation as a pacifist figure, however, rested uneasily with his wartime actions, which became increasingly supportive of the Japanese government and its expansionist policies. Reluctant to speak up against Japan's increasing aggression in the late 1930s, he emerged as a full-blown apologist during the Pacific War, appearing on several Radio Tokyo broadcasts as a propagandist defending the interests of the state. Adopting a transnational approach that accounts for the rapid flow of information between Japan and the United States, Bo Tao examines the career of Kagawa as it unfolded within the context of the wars, imperialism, and economic depression of the early to mid-twentieth century. Using official documents and personal correspondence that have received scant attention in previous works, Tao reveals, for the first time at this level of detail, the extent of Kagawa's cooperative relationship with the Japanese government, as well as the ways in which his idealized image was carefully constructed by his ardent missionary supporters. This book provides a window into the global dimensions of broader cultural shifts during the interwar period, such as the rise of Christian internationalism and the Depression-era popularity of cooperative economics. Offering a holistic and nuanced exploration of the tensions resulting from Kagawa's hybrid identity as a Japanese Christian, Cooperative Evangelist adds a new layer to our understanding of religion, empire, and politics in the shaping of social and international relations. Bo Tao is Lecturer in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Chiba University in Chiba, Japan. His research interests include global history, U.S.-Japan relations, religion and politics, modern Japanese history, and the history of Christianity. Shatrunjay Mall is a PhD Candidate in the Department of History at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He works on transnational Asian history, and his dissertation explores intellectual, political, and cultural intersections and affinities that emerged between Indian anti-colonialism and imperial Japan in the twentieth century. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/east-asian-studies

For more of my latest content, subscribe to my YouTube channel, Dark Asia with Megan and join our awesome community. Your support means everything, and I can't wait to share more Asian cases with you! On Other Platforms: • TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@darkasiawithmegan • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darkasiawithmegan • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/darkasiameganlee Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Nepal on the World Boxing Map. Nepali boxing is entering a historic era, and this powerful podcast brings together three of the biggest names driving that change — Lal Prasad Upreti, Chandra Bahadur Thapa, and Sujit Kumar Pun Magar (Jet Boxing). Lal Prasad Upreti gained international recognition at the IBA Men's Elite World Boxing Championships, while Chandra Bahadur Thapa made history as the first Nepali to win a medal at the World Boxing Championships. Guiding this rise is Jet Boxing, an IBA and USA Boxing-certified coach and founder of H2O Athletics, who has shaped Nepal's elite fighters. In this episode, they discuss what it truly takes to compete at the world level in boxing, sharing insights on international tournament experience, Asian amateur boxing standards, and the intense fight camps in Rangasala. The conversation dives into strict training routines, no-holiday policies, mental pressure before fights, and how fighters are selected for global tournaments. They also open up about their personal boxing journeys, family reactions, sacrifices, and what boxing means to them beyond medals. With Mission 2026 in focus, this episode captures the grit, discipline, and vision behind the rapid growth of Nepali boxing on the world stage. A must-watch for boxing fans, athletes, and anyone inspired by Nepal's sporting evolution. GET CONNECTED WITH {guest name}: Lal Prasad Upreti: Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/pradipkazi__/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/pradip.upreti.102 TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@lalprasadupreti Chandra Bahadur Thapa: Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/boxer_chandra/?g=5 Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/chandra.thapa.magar.116183 TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@chandrathapa426 Sujit Kumar Pun Magar (Jet Boxing): Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/p/DSePIuIk27O/?img_index=1 Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Jetslick/ Threads - https://www.threads.com/@jetboxing Tiktok - https://www.tiktok.com/@jetboxing  

Cooperative Evangelist: Kagawa Toyohiko and His World, 1888-1960 (University of Hawai'i Press, 2025) by Bo Tao uncovers the extraordinary world of a Japanese man who was once described as the “Saint Francis” or the “Gandhi” of Japan. A renowned religious figure on the world stage, Kagawa Toyohiko (1888–1960) received wide acclaim for his work as a street preacher in the slums of Kobe as well as his espousal of nonviolent methods of social reform. His reputation as a pacifist figure, however, rested uneasily with his wartime actions, which became increasingly supportive of the Japanese government and its expansionist policies. Reluctant to speak up against Japan's increasing aggression in the late 1930s, he emerged as a full-blown apologist during the Pacific War, appearing on several Radio Tokyo broadcasts as a propagandist defending the interests of the state. Adopting a transnational approach that accounts for the rapid flow of information between Japan and the United States, Bo Tao examines the career of Kagawa as it unfolded within the context of the wars, imperialism, and economic depression of the early to mid-twentieth century. Using official documents and personal correspondence that have received scant attention in previous works, Tao reveals, for the first time at this level of detail, the extent of Kagawa's cooperative relationship with the Japanese government, as well as the ways in which his idealized image was carefully constructed by his ardent missionary supporters. This book provides a window into the global dimensions of broader cultural shifts during the interwar period, such as the rise of Christian internationalism and the Depression-era popularity of cooperative economics. Offering a holistic and nuanced exploration of the tensions resulting from Kagawa's hybrid identity as a Japanese Christian, Cooperative Evangelist adds a new layer to our understanding of religion, empire, and politics in the shaping of social and international relations. Bo Tao is Lecturer in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Chiba University in Chiba, Japan. His research interests include global history, U.S.-Japan relations, religion and politics, modern Japanese history, and the history of Christianity. Shatrunjay Mall is a PhD Candidate in the Department of History at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He works on transnational Asian history, and his dissertation explores intellectual, political, and cultural intersections and affinities that emerged between Indian anti-colonialism and imperial Japan in the twentieth century. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/biography

⬜ Welcome to Palvatar Market Recap, your go-to daily briefing on the latest market movements, global macro shifts, and crypto trends—powered by Raoul Pal's AI avatar, Palvatar. ⬜ In today's update, Palvatar highlights a volatile start to 2026 as global markets react to U.S. strikes on Venezuela and rising geopolitical risk. Asian equities hit record highs led by Japan and South Korea, while oil prices climb on expectations of greater access to Venezuelan reserves. Gold surges, equities aim to extend last year's rally, and crypto markets start the year strong, with Bitcoin firmly back above $90,000.

In this episode, we delve into the intricate world of the Chicago Outfit’s informants, featuring insights from my late friend, Cam Robinson, and Paul Whitcomb, a well-respected expert on the mob. This special compilation draws from past interviews and shorts that once highlighted various informants who operated during the notorious 1980s era of organized crime in Chicago. Through a series of concise segments, we explore the lives of key players who chose to turn against the Outfit, revealing the complex motivations and consequences of their decisions. We kick things off by revisiting the tale of Paul “Peanuts” Pansko, an influential figure leading the Polish faction of the Outfit. Pansko's criminal activities, including a racetrack heist, not only placed him in dangerous territory but also set into motion a chain of events that would later link to the infamous Family Secrets trial. It's during this journey that we outline how interconnected the informants’ narratives are, showcasing how Pansko’s actions inadvertently unraveled parts of the organization.   The discussion shifts to more dramatic stories, including Mario Rainone. Rainone's infamous decision to cooperate with the authorities opened the door to significant revelations about Lenny Patrick, one of the highest-ranking Outfit members to switch sides. Rainone's tapes ultimately led to the dismantling of major sections of the Outfit’s operations, including political connections that had long shielded them from legal repercussions.   We also explore the tale of Ken “Tokyo Joe” Eto, a Japanese mobster who thrived within the Outfit’s ranks. His attempts at self-preservation after surviving an assassination effort highlighted the stark realities faced by those who navigated the perilous landscape of organized crime. As he eventually became a witness for the prosecution, Eto’s insights illuminated the internal workings of one of Chicago’s most feared organizations. The episode further examines dramatic betrayals and deadly encounters that shaped the Outfit’s legacy. From the chilling events surrounding the murders of the Spilotro brothers, orchestrated by their own associates for reasons steeped in loyalty and betrayal, to the grim fate that met informants like Al Toco and the impact of domestic discord on organized crime, each tale is a window into the bleak realities faced by both mobsters and informants alike. As we round out the episode, we reflect on the cultural dynamics surrounding informants, particularly how personal relationships and family ties heavily influenced their decisions to cooperate. It becomes clear through the interviews that while fear of retribution often compels loyalty, the specter of betrayal looms large within the mob. This multifaceted examination blends personal stories with historical context, providing a deeper understanding of the Chicago Outfit’s complexity and its operatives. Join us in this retrospective journey through the shadows of organized crime as we pay homage to those who bravely shared their stories, revealing the inner workings of a criminal empire that continues to fascinate and terrify in equal measure. Hit me up on Venmo for a cup of coffee or a shot and a beer @ganglandwire Click here to “buy me a cup of coffee” Subscribe to the website for weekly notifications about updates and other Mob information. To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup, click here To rent ‘Brothers against Brothers’ or ‘Gangland Wire,’ the documentaries click here.  To purchase one of my books, click here. Transcript [0:00] Well, hey, guys, after listening to Bob Cooley, one of the more damaging sources and witness and informant to the Chicago Outfit outside of the Calabrese family, [0:13] Nick and his nephew, Frank Jr., I got the rest of the Chicago Outfit informants on tap here. No, not really. They’re not coming in. But I did do a story. I did a series of shorts a few years, or I don’t know, two or three years ago, maybe. [0:32] I interviewed my late friend, Cam Robinson, rest in peace, Cam. So you get to hear from him again. And Paul Whitcomb, who is a Chicago outfit expert, he’s been on this. They used to have some kind of a round table show up there. I don’t know if they still have it or not with the Seiferts. But anyhow, I got these guys to sit down with me and talk about all the different informants in Chicago during the, it was during the 80s. So this is just kind of a series of shorts that I put up before. They’re six or eight minutes long, I think, each one of them, that they talk about different informants. This kind of threw it together as another little bonus episode we’ve done. And I went to Chicago, if you notice, after Johnny Russo, which I apologize for in a way, I don’t know. I mean, the guy’s got some crazy-ass stories, doesn’t he? Who am I to say that he didn’t do it? But most people know that he didn’t do most of that stuff. Anyhow, so I threw up another Chicago right away about the guy that had the race wire that they killed, James Reagan. [1:38] Then i had this interview that i’d been doing during those last couple weeks with bob cooley who’s appeared uh out of nowhere and he’ll maybe see him on some other shows now he’s he’s wanting to do shows he tells me so after hearing bob cooley talk i thought well i’m doing do one more i want to just throw it up as an extra uh from some of my old chicago outfit stuff and that’ll finish me off on the Chicago outfit for a while. I hadn’t, I hadn’t been in Chicago, uh, doing shows about Chicago for quite a while. And, and I didn’t want to, uh, neglect you guys. You know, I get a lot of books written about New York and I’ve got all these authors that are wanting to do these books about New York. Uh, not so much about Chicago. So if you got anybody that, you know, wants to, got a book and wants to come on the show, uh, talking about the outfit, why steer them to me. So anyhow, just sit back and relax and enjoy. [2:37] My late, great friend, Cam Robinson. One more look at Cam, for those of you who remember him, and Paul Whitcomb. And we’re going to talk about famous snitches from Chicago. Thanks, guys. Well, let’s move along now to, this is kind of interesting, Paul Peanuts Panczko, who was the leader of the Polish branch of the outfield. Is that what you would call Peanuts Panczko, the leader of the Polish branch? If the Polish branch is the Panczko family, which you could easily say there were three brothers, then yeah, that wouldn’t be right. We haven’t really done a show on them. I don’t know a whole lot about them other than they were released at all. So we said non-Italian, Peckerwood, as we call them at Kansas City, professional criminals who did a lot of business with different outfit people. And he did a robbery of a racetrack. I think it’s the Balmoral Racetrack. It’s the name of it. James Duke Basile and then Panczko was in trouble for that and he convinced Basile to come in and they did some talking remember anything about that situation, you know in a lot of ways you. [3:50] Panczko could be considered one of the first dominoes that eventually led to the Family Secrets trial. Panczko, as you said, led to Dookie Bazile, who they had done robberies together. Bazile led them to Scarpelli, who was a much higher guy. I mean, there’s debate, but he was, because there was a making ceremony at this time, but Scarpelli was pretty highly ranked. I mean, he was a known killer, and he was up there. He was in the wild bunch. But Scarpelli then did tell them about a lot of the things that Frank Calabrese had done. [4:28] He wasn’t known as well as Scarpelli had brought him up to be. And a lot of those things dominoed into what would eventually lead to family secrets years later. [4:42] Scarpelli, I think, did not know so much about Nick, but he did know about Frank. And so a lot of that information sort of filled in the gaps. And even though Frank Calabrese Jr. Led them led them to Nick They A lot of seeds were planted And can be traced back to Pianus Pansico Um. [5:01] So it is kind of an interesting line. Basile, he wore a wire on Scarpelli and not even talking about a lot of these things. It’s not the FBI knew about that. They were in a car together. Right. If I remember right, he even talked about a mob graveyard. They went up there and they found two or three bodies. One of them was connected. It wasn’t anybody really important, but one of them was connected to Harry Aleman. So it was a pretty important wearing of a wire on Scarpelli, who then came at himself for a while. And that’s what led to the family secrets. He talked about Frank Calabrese. Is that what you’re saying? Yeah, that’s right. And some of those bodies in that graveyard were 10 years apart, which was interesting. I’ve got, it’s on the map that I created, but some of those bodies, there was years in between them. So it was something they were going back to and they believed that there were a lot of things there they did not find. Yeah, because they built a health care facility or something. They built some big building over where there would have been bodies. Right. Right. And the fascinating thing about this is Scarpelli, like, just like Cam said, this guy was a serious killer. He was a muscle builder. He was a terrifying guy. I mean, he had almost inhuman physical strength. Yeah. And when he flipped, he was completely debriefed by the FBI and the DOJ and then decided to try and change his mind. [6:27] But before he could do that He hung himself in the bathroom Of the Metropolitan Correctional Center With his hands behind his back And a bag over his head, Who was he in prison with? Who was he in MCC with, Paul? Was it anybody? He did happen to be in the MCC with the German at the time. He bound his hands behind his back and put a bag over his own head. He did. He did. And so the outfit continues to somehow persuade people to take their own lives rather than testify against them. [7:07] It’s a hell of a way to die by suicide it is by suicide at least they didn’t have arrows in his back, not as far as we know yeah it was terrible he cut his own head off I saw a cartoon once that the homicide guy liked to go ahead and maybe real suckle of suicide because then you could just walk away from it so there’s a dead body laying there with a bunch of arrows at his back and a homicide detective standing over him with a hand and pencil and says, hmm, suicide, huh? [7:44] Got the inside joke. It worked homicide. You see how those guys sometimes will try to make something into a suicide that probably is a homicide. On the other hand, we had one, we had a mob guy, he wasn’t really a mob associate, who had gone to Vegas. He lost a lot of money and they found his body in his car at the airport parking lot after coming back from Vegas and they found out later lost a lot of money and the car was parked up against the fence and he was shot in the head and there was no gun in the car you know found so just assume that somebody shot him in his head the car kept going and rolling up against the fence. [8:25] But this one detective, I remember Bob Pence is his name. He was dumb. And he started, he went back over and he dusted that car for prints again. And he got some more evidence out of it. And then he went back to the airport and he looked and started asking questions. And he found out later that somebody who had a pickup truck parked there had a week later, three or four days later, come back and got his truck. When he got home he found a pistol inside the bed of his truck and he called the airport or he called somebody turned it in Pinson found that pistol that was a pistol that that shot the guy so Pinson's theory was he was rolling along in his car he shot himself in the head and then he flipped that pistol out is with a reaction he flipped it out and went in the bed in that pickup and then it rolled on up against the fence and they ruled it a suicide wow damn that’s not that different than Scarpelli I mean the fbi to this day insists it was suicide yeah well, Oh, well, right. All right. Let’s move along to Mario. John, the arm. Rainone. [9:41] Is that correct, Cam? That yeah, that’s Rainone. Yeah. So tell us about that. I know we talked about this, you know, a little bit about this one. [9:50] This is kind of a funny one. He was he was sent to kill a building inspector. Raynaud was with the Grand Avenue crew and so he’s en route to kill this guy and this is one of those mob blunders and he sees a couple guys following him and it’s Rudy Fredo and Willie Messino and he recognizes him when he’s driving over there and it’s important to point out who these guys are, Cam, not to interrupt you Willie Messino, was the right hand man and bodyguard for Tony Accardo for 30 years I mean, he was serious, serious business. Rudy Frayto, you know, the chin, but Massino was serious news. If you saw Willie Massino, you knew he were in for trouble. Yeah, he wasn’t there as backup to do anything except clean up after Rainone, including Rainone. So Rainone saw the writing on the wall. He pulls up and he goes straight to the FBI. [10:54] And he informs, he talks to them and gives them his information. And later on, he sort of regrets doing so, denies that he ever did. Uh, there were, there were, uh, articles written about him. There’s a, there’s a Chicago Tribune writer, John Cass, and Ray Nolan had a back and forth with him writing letters. This is how these mob guys in Chicago operate, talking about, I’m, I ain’t no beefer. And, uh. Once he was out of prison in 2009, he was busted several more times. If you can believe it, he stayed in the criminal life. He was robbing a liquor store with another guy. And the guy he was robbing with, this is why I jump ahead a little bit, was a guy named Vincent Forliano. He claimed that he didn’t even know Fratto or Messino. These were guys he didn’t know, so he never would have informed against them. The guy he was robbing the liquor store with and he was committing other robberies with, Vincent Forliano, was Fredo’s son-in-law. [11:56] So he was committing robberies with a guy related to the guy, but he didn’t know who they were. And to say that somebody didn’t know, as Paul said, Willie Messino, is just ludicrous. Anybody in the criminal atmosphere, period, knew who Willie Messino was because you were probably paying money to it. to exist. And this is extremely important because Rainone, at the time this happened, Rainone cooperated long enough to record conversations with Lenny Patrick. That’s right. That’s right. And that set dominoes in place that would lead to the fall of the outfit. Even though he tried to take back his cooperation, to say he never cooperated, I’ve heard those tapes that were played in trials that I participated in, so I I know better. Uh, and that’s why they call him Mario flip flop Rainone because he, uh, would cooperate and uncooperate and then cooperate. But he is the one who got Lenny Patrick on the hook. Yeah. [13:00] Interesting, interesting. Let’s just continue on with this Lenny Patrick because we weren’t going to talk about him. That’s a good lead hand to talk about another, really one of the most important informants that year who testified. [13:13] Can you talk about the domino that led to the end? Rainone really, really flipped the domino that kicked over. Go ahead, Paul. Well, Lenny Patrick was the highest, and even to this day, remains the highest ranking member of the outfit to ever turn state’s evidence. The guy was a capo in all but name. He had been in charge of Rogers Park, the gambling. He was essentially the head of the Jewish arm of the mafia, kind of the Meyer Lansky figure of Chicago. And when the Lawndale neighborhood moved north to Rogers Park, he moved with them, and he had his own crew. He reported directly to Gus Alex, who was, of course, at the very top, and Sam Carlisi. And he was dealing with Marcello and Carlesi in a number of different outfit ventures, loan sharking. He personally had been staked by Carlesi with a quarter million in cash to put out on the street. And he was involved in extortions Bombings of theaters All these things directly at the command of Sam Carlisi Who was then the boss of bosses of the Chicago outfit So when Rainone got him on tape They set up what was the beginning of the end for the outfit And I think people need to understand who Gus Alex is also For people outside of Chicago Gus Alex was. [14:40] Basically, I guess you could call him the equivalent of maybe the consigliere in Chicago. When you look at Chicago, the triumvirate in the 70s, once a guy like Paul Ricca died and several major outfit leaders died in the early 70s. [14:58] Tony Accardo decided that the outfit would be led by himself, by Joy Iupa, and the political wing and all of the non-Italians and all of the grift and a lot of aspects would be led by Gus Alex. So he was essentially on the same level as Joey Iupa, and he was responsible for much more for things of greater import than Joey Iupa. I mean, controlling the political arm and all the payoffs and all of that is much, much more than the streets and the murders. So all the politics and all the anything that had to do was definitely fell under gus alex and he was part of a ruling triumvirate he was a non-italian part of a ruling triumvirate with iupa and uh acardo so he was the the leader top of the outfit and he had been for years going back to going back to the 30s and the 40s 40 he had come up under, the Murray the Camel Humphreys and had made those connections he was the most connected guy in the Chicago outfit, so for a guy like Lenny Patrick to be. [16:15] Rollover against is essentially the political leader, national political leader and political leader of Chicago. This was absolutely crippling to the outfit. That was he wiped out the entire political arm of the Chicago outfit. After Lenny Patrick brought down Gus Alex, this became a basically a street crime organization. It was that those political contacts. I mean, I think that’s a fair statement, right, Paul? Those political contacts and judges, I mean, that was all but eliminated with Gus Alex going away. You’re absolutely right, Cam. And he not only took out Gus Alex, but he took out the boss of the Italians, too. That’s right, yeah. Both of them at the same time. He wiped out the outfit, and you put it beautifully by saying it became a street crime organization. You think about the division of labor and it started with IUP and IUP and. [17:19] La Pietra, Jackie Cerone, they had all the gambling, a lot of the sports gambling, but they also had the skim from Las Vegas, and they ran all that stuff, while Gus Alex, along with Lenny Patrick, ran all that politics, and you can’t have a mob organization if you don’t have cover politically. That’s why even in Kansas City, we’re pretty clean here, but we still never had any real mob prosecutions. [17:47] And it certainly had very few, if any, little, if any mob prosecutions at Cook County. And you couldn’t even get convicted of a real crime, murder, assault, or something. It’s just a straight-out crime. You weren’t even trying to do a RICO, I think, on anybody. So it was, you know, they just operated with impunity. Well, you took out that whole gambling side. That was all the money coming in. And then shortly thereafter, you take out the political side, who then turns back and gets the new boss on the gambling side and loan sharking and all that. [18:23] I’ll tell you, by 1990, the outfit’s gone. It really is. It still exists to a degree, but Sam Carlisi was the last traditional old line boss of the outfit. you, that, in my opinion, that ever ruled. After that, it was never the same. Yeah, I think a guy like Gus Alex, you know, like you said, Gary, you had Aiuppa who was dealing with gambling, but I think that’s a lot of, there’s a lot of optics to that, you know, and you’ve got all these cities who have got characters who are not Italian, Gus Alex in Chicago, and, you know, as Paul said, Meyer Lansky, who was New York, and you had Mashie Rockman in Cleveland, and these characters not italians so they know when to step back and let and let the italians talk but that doesn’t mean that they’re not running things it’s just for the optics of city to city where the italians have to see that they’re dealing with italians they don’t walk in the room it doesn’t mean that behind the scenes they’re not pulling the levers they just because of of the uh uh criminal um. [19:34] The the criminal view of of non-italians in that world sort of sort of their own prejudices these guys don’t always walk in the room when they’re dealing with other cities gus alex is is sitting down with anybody in chicago but you go to kansas city you go to new york, you know meyer lansky would leave the room when they were when they were talking you know italian to Italian. And the same thing with Gus Alex or Mace Rockman or any of those other guys who are not Italian. It was just an optics city to city. It doesn’t mean that they weren’t pulling the levers. Is it Yehuda or Jehuda, Cam? Jehuda. I’ve always heard of Jehuda. Yeah, Jehuda. So he kind of dealed with the IRS that year. [20:23] He must have had some. The IRS was really strong working the mob in Chicago. I’ve noticed several references to IRS investigations. We did not have that in Kansas City, and the IRS did a little bit, but they were not as strong as they were up in Chicago. [20:38] Yeah, he met with an agent, Tom Moriarty, who’s been around and worked Chicago for a long time. He was a pretty well-known guy up here. But Bill Jehota worked under Ernest Rocco Infelice, who was a real powerhouse going back a long time. And out in Cicero, and his crew, a lot of these crews had their own little names, and they called the good shit Lollipop. He was a huge gambling enterprise, you know. And they bought a house up in Lake County, which is north of the city. It’s funny, this house they bought was actually the family that had lived in it. The son had murdered the family. It was a murder house before the outfit bought it. and uh they bought it used it as a as a gambling den and and after that moved out they used it for prostitution and they would park cars at a nearby motel that they ran and then then have a uh a, valet service that drove him to this this gambling house and there was also quite a few uh murders that uhJahoda witnessed i’m sure he took no part in it he just happened to be standing outside of the house when they when they these murders were committed there was a uh was it hal smith and um. [21:57] Oh i can’t remember the they killed somebody else in this home and they burnt these were guys who didn’t want to pay his tree tags, and they were gamblers who refused to give in. And he brought down this entire crew. I mean, Rocco and Felice was… There’s a famous picture of the day after the Spolatros were killed. And it was really the upper echelon of the up that you’ve got. You’ve got little Jimmy Marcello. You’ve got the boss, Sam Wings-Carlesi. You’ve got the street boss, Joe Ferriola. And you’ve got Rocco and Felice, who’s right there. These are the four top guys, basically, in the outfit as far as at this time, the Cicero crew had risen to the top. That was the powerhouse crew. And so he was involved in those discussions because he was such a powerhouse out there with Ferriola being the street boss. So he was, it really can’t be thatJahodatestimony that eventually brought down this crew was really, it really crippled that crew for a long time. Well, those people that went down in that trial have only in the last five years come out of prison. Yeah, we’ve actually had been talking to somebody. We’ve had the… [23:13] Opportunity to meet he brought down uh uh robert um to go beat um bellavia and another guy who doesn’t like to be mentioned who runs a pretty successful pizza pizza chain up in lake county and uh these guys went down for a long time the beat was down for 25 years and he just came out. [23:39] So and billJahoda have if you read his testimony it is kind of kind of odd that he was standing outside of the building and just looked in the window and they were committing a murder and he just he he places himself outside of the house witnessing a murder through the window which is convenient when you’re the one testifying against murderers it certainly is yeah. [24:03] So so that was he was involved in the gambling so that makes sense then the irs got him and millions of dollars millions of dollars a month they were bringing and he met uh, i don’t remember paul and you did he he contacted moriarty right or did moriarty reach out to him because he was under investigation i i thought Jahoda was was worried about himself so he reached out to them i can’t remember the details i think you’re right yeah i i think he was worried about his own his own safety gary and he reached out to moriarty and they met up at a hotel just outside the city on the uh up in the northwest and uh they talked about things i actually found the location and on the little map you can find where where they met each other but he they met each other in disgust and they would meet different locations and and jahuda wore a wire and some of those some of those wiretaps are they really make for that. [25:05] That those conversations come right out of the movie just i love what we’re doing out here and i love my job and and you actually where i’m going to make you trunk music i mean you really hear these things that that you see it right in the movies i mean you you can’t write the dialogue that these guys are actually using it’s it’s it’s you know it it comes straight out of a book i mean You’ve got, you’ve got, uh, this is the toughest dialogue you’ll ever hear. Interesting. How’d you buy it? Where’d you find that at? Is that, uh, it’s probably not the audio in probably anywhere. No book or something. Yeah. You can, if you look up, if you look up different, different, you know, you go on newspapers.com or you go in different, uh, I believe, uh, I’ve got, um, uh, mob textbook by, um, Howard Abedinsky. I’ve got a couple of copies of his, of his textbook, organized crime. And he’s got some clips of it. This guy who owns a pizza shop up north is talking about how he loves his job. He loves what he does. And it’s funny to hear he talk about smashing somebody and loving what you do. Really? I’ve heard a few conversations like that back at the station house. [26:25] I don’t care. It’s on both sides. Is that what you’re saying? When you live in that world. Those guys can go either direction. [26:37] Well, let’s talk about ex-Chicago cops. Speaking of cops, let’s talk about, Vince Rizza, his daughter actually appeared on that Chicago Mob Housewives, or they tried to do a show. And Frank Schweiss’ daughter was on it. And Pia Rizza, who has gotten some notoriety as a model or something, I can’t remember. And she really, she was tight. She would not talk about her dad at all. I read an interview of her. She would just talk about her dad at all. But he came in and he testified against Harry Aleman, of all people, and linked him to the murder of this bookie, Anthony Ritlinger. Remember that one? [27:22] Go ahead, Paul. No, that one I’m not very up on, Cam. I’m sorry. So, Ritlinger, I believe he didn’t want to pay his street tax, if I’m right, Gary. Yeah, you’re right. He had been warned. Rattlinger had been warned that he needs to pay, he needs to pay, and he was making a good deal of money. And Ratlinger was he was brought in just the normal course of action with the wild bunch because he was a wild bunch murder I’m a little rusty but here it comes so he was a wild bunch killing, he was brought in he was warned it was the typical Harry Ailerman and if I’m remembering correctly and people correct me if I’m not it was Butch Petruccelli they sat him down. [28:11] Usually it would be Butch and, um, uh, Borsellino who would do the talking, uh, Tony Borsellino, and they would do the talking. And then afterwards, Butch Petruccelli would just sit down and glare. So he was a pretty scary guy. And he had that, uh, uh, Malocchio, the, the evil eye, and he would just glare at people. And that would send the message and Rattlinger didn’t, didn’t listen. He was making too much money, he’s not going to pay any damn Degos, that kind of line. And so he, of course, fell victim to these guys. And I believe he may have been trunk music. I think I remember this one, Matt, but I can’t remember. Yeah, I got this one. He went to a restaurant. That’s right. That’s right. And he had already, his daughter lived with him. I’m not sure about the wife, but he had warned his family to take all kinds of extra cautious. He knew something was coming. And it was, you know, after reading that thing, it’s, It’s kind of like, well, we talked about Spilotro taking off their jewelry. Ken Eto did this similar kind of a thing and told his wife he may not be coming back. [29:22] I tell you, another guy that did the same thing was Sonny Black. That’s right. It came out about Joe Pistone, the Donnie Brasco story. He did the same thing. He went to a sit-down or a meeting, and he took off his jewelry, I believe left his billfold, when he went to the meeting. this. Ken Eto was the same way. Ken Eto, I think, thought he could talk his way out. I think all of them thought they could talk their way out of it. So Rettlinger went out by himself and sat in a prominent place in this local restaurant that was really well known up there in the north side. It’s north of downtown Chicago, and I can’t remember the name of it. [30:02] And he just sat there and pretty soon a car pulls up and two guys run in kind of like a Richard Cain kind of a deal and just start popping. And that was a Harry Aleman deal. That’s right. He did, I believe. There’s an old guy who married the girlfriend of Felix Adlericio, I believe. He and this woman are sitting out in front of their brownstone, and Aleman and some other dude pull out and get out when guys walk up to him and shoot him and kill him. [30:31] And so that was – Yeah, that was Petrocelli and Aleman walked up, And he had been, he had been dating, uh, uh, Aldericio’s, Alderico’s girlfriend. Now that’s the famous hit from beyond the grave. Because we’re going to go on the old Samuel’s just sitting in the lawn chair thinking he’d got it made. That’s right. You know, Gary, you and I did the show on the outfit, uh, a long time ago. No, I’m sorry. On the wild bunch, a long time ago. So a lot of those, and they did so much work back in the day. A lot of those run together, but yeah, you’re now, uh, now that you’re right, writing her was he was eating in a restaurant. I’m, Uh, I can’t remember the name. It may have been, been Luna’s, but he was, went out in public. He thought he’d be safe. And like you said, a lot of these guys have a six cents because they come up on the street and they know these things. And, uh, like a guy like Sammy and Reno knew it was coming. He was dodging them for a long time, but they, they know that their time is coming. Eventually they just, they stay ahead of it for a while and figure they can fight their way out or talk their way out. And yeah, they, he was blown away right in public. Like it was similar to the, I remember it being similar to the, to the Richard Cain murder. And this was in, it was right around the same time. It was, it was in the mid seventies, 75, 74, 75, 76. It might’ve been 75 that writing or happened right, right in the middle of the restaurant. [31:58] I’ve been a lot cheaper to pay the street tax, I reckon. You know, and it wasn’t, I don’t recall that they’re asking for so much, but once these murder started happening yeah i think it was it wasn’t like it was half or 75 i think they just wanted it was you know it might have been a quarter it might have just been a flat fee across the board but once that street tax was was instituted i mean we’ve talked about this before gary that was when the wild bunch was out there that was that was they really didn’t play around When Ferriola told these guys, get everybody in line, [32:31] they really cracked down and they weren’t playing at all. You pay or you die. And guys like Alem and Patrick Shelley, whether it was right in public or whatever, in the outfit in the 70s, Paul, you know this from Richard Cain and several others. They just write in public would just blow you away. and writing her was just was almost textbook just like the Richard Cain it was it was right in the right in the restaurant yeah I’ll tell you I’ll tell. [33:05] I was conflating him with Hal Smith. Okay. I’ll tell you something about those mob hits. When they kill somebody in public like that in a public way, more than likely it’s because whoever the victim is has been alerted, and they can’t get anybody to get close to them. They will already try to send somebody around to get them isolated, and when they can’t get them isolated, then they want them bad enough. They’ll just lay, as Frank Calabrese, I heard him say once, well, lay on them. And I thought, oh, that’s interesting. Well, lay on them. I read that somewhere else. They use that term when you’re following somebody and you’re trying to set them up, or yet they lay on them. Calabrese even said, you know, you’re like, get an empty refrigerator box and hide inside of it. I mean, it’s just like the kind of stuff we used to do at the intelligence unit to run surveillances on people. And so they’ll lay on them for a while until they can get you somewhat isolated. And if they can’t, then they’ll just take you out in public. It might be to send a message, but I don’t think so because it’s so risky to get somebody in public. You can have a young, all-fitty cop in there that you didn’t even notice, and he comes out blazing. And, you know, it’s just not worth it. Even if you take him out, he’s probably got to get you. [34:21] So it’s kind of a last resort. A desperation. Yeah, it’s desperation because they can’t get you isolated. [34:28] You look at some of these public murderers, guys like Richard Cain or Ridinger, like you said, who was on the watch. Sam Annarino, who was right on Cicero. [34:39] A guy like Chris Carty, who was years later. I mean, these are guys who would have been smart enough and street smart enough to be on the watch, to watch their step, to know what was going on. With the exception of a guy like Michael Cagnoni, who just happened to be difficult to get, and he probably might have had an idea that something was happening, but I think just he was a family guy, and so it was hard to isolate. They blew him up on the interstate, but I think that in general, that’s a good point, Gary. These guys, if they just run up and blow away, it’s just a last resort. That’s an excellent point. I have always been in that camp of, oh, that must be sending a message. But you, with your experience, I think you’re exactly right. One thing, guys, I think we’re mixing up Sambo Cesario with Sam Annarino. I was thinking when they – yeah, you’re right, Paul. I was thinking, though, when they blew away Sam Annarino in the parking lot with his family, though, they had been trying to get him for several months. And they finally just went after him in the parking lot, called in a robbery, and blew him away in the furniture store parking lot. That was what I meant. Yeah, Gary was referring to Sambo earlier. I just meant they had been trying to get Sam Annarino for a long time, and when they couldn’t, they just got him in the parking lot. [36:08] Well, interesting. You know, no matter how much terror these guys strike in the heart of their underlings, in the end, they still will turn once in a while. And I think people don’t really not turn because they’re afraid of getting killed so much if they don’t turn because they don’t want to have their family suffering the disgrace of them being a rat or a snitch. I think that’s more important to be a man and go out like a man in this subculture and believe me I’ve lived in a subculture where being a man and being a tough guy is more important than anything else, I think that’s the most important thing that keeps people from coming in you’re like a wimp you’re a puss, you can’t take it, can’t handle it you know what I mean you can’t handle five years I could do five years standing on my head or a tray like the dude told me so uh you know but even even with all that and still there’s a certain percentage that will end up coming in sure and usually there are people that either don’t care about their family like lenny patrick yeah or that don’t have close family so that they don’t have it so much of that pressure that you’re talking about gary because you make a really valid point that that that cultural value is so strong yeah yeah it’s it’s. [37:36] In a lot of these small towns, you see in Detroit where they’re all family tied in and everything, you don’t see informants. I think they’ve had one. Kansas City, as you said, Gary, you don’t see. But then you look at a place like Rochester where they’re all just lower tier mob guys. Everybody was informing on everybody because they really weren’t as upper echelon sort of mob guys. So I think that, like you said, once you get that culture seeped in, you’ve got those families and all, there’s a lot of factors. But if it’s a deep-rooted mob town, you really don’t see a lot of real informants. [38:11] So, guys, now we’ve got one that I did a show on. I did a couple of shows on him. I talked to the FBI agent who brought him in and dealt with him for quite a while. Ken Tokiojo Eto. He survived a murder attempt. When that didn’t happen for him with the outfit, what happened after that? [38:32] I believe his attempted assassins got killed themselves. So tell me a little bit about Tokyo Joe Eto. There’s a photograph I have from the late 50s, early 60s And it shows Joe Ferriola And a couple of other heavyweights Hanging around with a young Ken Eto, And a lot of people didn’t know who Ken Eto was But he ran the Japanese game, Gambling, Bolita And lots of money Poured into the outfit through Tokyo Joe As they called him And there was a rumor that perhaps Tokyo Joe was going to turn under a little bit of pressure. And so Jasper Campisi put three slugs in the back of his head. [39:22] Miraculously, he survived three slugs at point blank range. And if he wasn’t going to turn state’s evidence before, he certainly had a powerful incentive to do so now. He seems to insist As I’ve heard that he was not His intention was not It’s hard to say at this point But he says he had no intention Of flipping and that he’s not sure What the evidence was against him But he was not going to flip until, It was Yeah. [39:55] I’m drawing a blank, Paul. Who was it that sent? It wasn’t the saint. It was Vincent Solano. He was kind of Vincent Solano, who was a union guy and a made guy up there. He kind of had which one. [40:11] He was a capo. And which crew was it? Do you remember? He was on the north side. North side crew. North side crew. And actually, Ken went to Vince Solano and had a talk with him. Said you know what i can do this he was looking at a tray i had a dude tell me what’s that pressure and tried to get him to talk and he said uh he said what am i gonna get out of this a tray he said man i can do a tray standing on my head and i threw him right then that’s right gotta talk to me so uh and that’s all he had to do but solano for some reason uh who knows what was in his head because uh ken Eto had made him a lot of money a lot of money and he was a tough little dude he had he had survived he had been put in the uh concentration camps if you will during the internment camps yeah internment camps and then came as a young man up chicago and been around for a long time by the time this all came down he’d been with him for a long time and made him a lot of money and all kinds of different gambling operations but particularly the bolita. [41:13] So uh it just didn’t make sense i heard one thing that these guys in chicago got the idea Yeah, to keep the noise down, they were loading their own rounds with lighter loads of powder. I don’t know. They had like a hit car up there. The guys in Chicago were pretty sophisticated or tried to be. And so they used these lighter loads. And when it went into his head, it just didn’t penetrate his skull. I remember I was at the hospital once, and there was a young guy who had gotten shot in the head. And they said that the bullet was not a good bullet because it went in under his skin and then went under his scalp, along his skull, and then lodged up on his forehead. [41:56] Wow. And so Eto was kind of the same way. Those bullets were probably lodged up underneath his scalp. He pulled himself to a neighboring, I believe it was a pharmacy that was right there, a corner store. And then that guy went to help him. I think he had to dial a call of 911 or whatever. 911 was in place then. He had to call for help for himself from a phone booth. You know, he saved his own life by being smart and playing dead. Yeah, that’s right. And you look at Chicago, it’s a city of neighborhoods, and you’ve got the Mexican town, and you’ve got the different towns, and you’ve got Chinatown where there’s so much money and so much gambling. And while Haneda was Japanese and there’s obviously division between Japanese and Chinese, it would be much easier for him to go in and then some of these outfit guys and because of different things going on back in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. But he could go into neighborhoods and represent the outfit in ways in different communities that the outfit wouldn’t go into or a lot of these made guys. [43:12] And that gave him entry into a lot of communities. In the Asian community, there’s a lot of gambling that he was able to tap into. He was smart enough to see that as a route that maybe the Italian guys didn’t, just like Lenny Patrick, who we’ve talked about in other episodes, had that access into the Jewish communities and other Jewish gangsters. There’s a lot of gambling there. If you can get somebody who has an in to different communities, that’s really a way to go and that’s part of why he made so much money. A game like BolEto wouldn’t normally be and that’s huge in the Hispanic communities and huge with Asians also. You know in kansas city that’s interesting that you should point that out camp we had a um large vietnamese community moved in after the the boat peoples when it started and they moved in through the same church uh. [44:09] Sacred Heart Church and Don Bosco Center that the Italians moved in, the Sicilians moved into back in the turn of the century, the same neighborhoods. And Italians are getting successful and they’re moving out the suburbs and the Vietnamese are moving in and creating the Vietnamese restaurants and Vietnamese shops. And they brought, they have a love for gambling. Like you said, they have huge love for gambling. They don’t drink so much or do so many drugs, but they do love to gamble, it seemed to me like. [44:36] And so they had their own book. he was called the king a guy a friend of mine told me a story uh there’s a mob book he got on the periphery that neighborhood’s got a joint and he he was running a sports book and he had a lot of action going in and out of his joint so this one vietnamese guy had a big debt owed to the king so he goes down and talks to this guy’s name was Larry Strada, he ends up getting killed by some other uh mobsters in a deal they thought he was going to testify but i just needed to hear are there, this young, middle-aged Vietnamese guy goes down to the Caddyshack, Larry Strada’s bar. And he starts telling him about the king. He said, man, he said, the king, you take all your business. He said, he got all business down here. He take all your business. He said, you know, you need to do something about the king. He said, you know, we’re close to the river here. And then he made a motion across his throat like he was cutting his throat. So he was trying to get out of his gambling debt to convince this Italian, La Cosa Nostra bookie to go back and kill me yeah king piano. [45:42] You know i’ve heard a lot of stories and some of them are true some are not that one had to ring a truth to it it had a definite ring of truth that that got to do that playing them against each other yeah you bet and you know another thing about tokyo joe and you know he could testify But Ben Solano had Campizé and Gattuso killed right away. Found them in the trunk of their car, I think. Maybe at the airport, even. [46:09] Chicago trunk music, but they have some saying like that. And so Solano knew that they could testify against him, and they didn’t want to go down for attempted murder, more than likely, and he just didn’t take a chance. So he had them killed, and I can’t remember if he went down behind this or not. But another thing Tokyo Joe was able to do, I mean, he certainly could expose all the inner workings of what he knew about to the FBI, which gives you a lot of tips on where to go, who to work on, and maybe where to throw up microphones or some wiretaps. But he also traveled around he came to Kansas City during the skimming trial because they’re working on the Chicago hierarchy. So they just fly him into town. They show him that picture, the last separate picture where everybody’s in the picture. And they say, now, who’s that? Oh, that’s Aiuppa. Okay, then who’s that? Oh, that’s Vince Solano. Yeah, he reports to Aiuppa. You know, and who’s that guy? I can’t remember the other people at all. So the nation said that Joe is up hard. Oh, yeah, he reports to this guy. So to show the organization of the mob in Chicago and that it is an organization that gives orders to have other people carry it to make the RICO case, that he was a storyteller for that. And he didn’t know anything about the skim at all. But he was a storyteller on getting the mob name and the organization in front of a jury. That’s huge, as you know, Paul. [47:35] Absolutely. We had a similar arrangement during the Carlesi trial about how [47:40] the Carlesi crew operated and who was who, and to tell the story. Yeah. You have to make it a story. Let’s take a look at Betty Toco, which, uh, this is pretty interesting. There was a, um, I’m not sure. Albert Toco was your husband. Remind me what his position was at the outfit at that time. So Al Toco was, there’s sort of a division on who was the leadership of, who was the central leader of Chicago Heights. There’s Dominic Tuts Palermo and Al Toco, who was really a powerhouse in Chicago Heights. And Tuts Palermo was definitely highly connected and across the pond too, also in Italy. But uh Toco was involved in the in the chop shop wars really really heavily involved and he had a lot of connections in chicago too he was involved with lombardo and a lot of these chop shops throughout chicago he had a lot of partnerships and so this was a 30 million dollar a year racket stolen cars chop shops international car rings uh car rings throughout stolen car rings throughout the country. Toco was responsible for burying the Spolatro brothers. It was very sectioned off. Each crew had a part in their murder. And then Chicago Heights was responsible for the burial. [49:02] And they were down in Enos, Indiana. They got kind of turned around a little bit. They were down a farm road. They were burying them in a freshly tilled field. And the road where they’re on, there’s a little side road that you would drive down. There’s very little down there. I’ve, I’ve seen it, but a car happened to come down middle of night and they were in a, there’s a, there were a couple of feet off of a wooded area and they see this car coming down and they sort of all panicked and before they had a chance to cover the area or really do anything, it just looked like a freshly dug, it really just looked like freshly dug mound. And so they all fled and three of Toco’s guys went one way and he went the other. They had the car in both radios. [49:46] He’s wandering around barefoot, and he calls his wife finally. She shows up, and he’s screaming and yelling. And he runs to Florida, and he’s waiting for permission to come back from Joe Ferriola. He’s worried he’s going to get killed because they find the Spallachos immediately because the farmer sees his field all messed up, freshly tilled ground, and it looks really suspicious, like somebody had been poaching deer and burying the carcass. Uh but Toco was a tyrant to his wife he was he was horrible to her he was he was when you think of what a mob guy was that was Toco you know tipping the guy who mows his lawn the kid who mows his lawn hundred bucks and wandered around town everybody knows him but he’d come home and unlike a lot of these guys he was he was a real you know a real. [50:36] Real bastard to his wife you know and for years she put up with this sort of abuse and finally after this this happened and it was in the news and all he finally pushed her too far and she began informing on him and and he was arrested later on he was in his jail cell talking about all the murders he had committed and and this and that about his wife and uh his his uh uh A cellmate repeated everything that he said to try and lessen his sentence. So really, Toco got buried by his big mouth and his terrible behavior. He initially fled to Greece before he was arrested, and they extradited him back from Greece. So this is, I mean, Toco is like deep in mob behavior. [51:22] I mean, fleeing the country and all. I mean, it doesn’t get much more mafia than Al Toco. I hesitate to use that word with Chicago, but that was, Al Toco was running deep. and that Betty Tocco’s testimony eventually led to the trial of Al Tocco. And that was really a blow to the Chicago Heights crew that nowadays, I mean, they continued on and had a few rackets, but after the eventual trial that stemmed from that, it really wasn’t, there’s not much activity now. I’m in that area and there’s just, there’s really nothing here. [51:59] Interesting. Now, so Tony and Michael Spilotro had been lured to somebody’s house on the promise that Michael was going to be made. It’s my understanding. I believe that’s what Frank Collada had reported. And some other people, not part of the Chicago Heights crew, killed him. How did that go down? And how did they pass off the body? You guys, is there anything out there about that? Wasn’t that the family secrets trial, maybe? It was. And, of course, it’s been popularly portrayed in the movie Casino. And it’s surprisingly accurate Except for the fact That where they were beaten But what happened was Little Jimmy Marcello called them. [52:41] And said Sam, meaning Sam Carlisi, the boss, wanted to see them. And they knew that that was ominous because of what was going on beyond the scope of this show. But they took off the jewelry. They left. They told their wives, if we’re not back by 930, it’s not good. They really did not suspect that it was to make Michael. That’s what Collada said. You’re absolutely right about that, Gary. But I don’t think that’s correct at all. They knew that it was bad. And they went. He took a pistol, which was against the rules. They hit him a pistol. Tony hit a pistol on his brother, which you do not do when you go to see the boss. And they were picked up by, by Marcello and taken to a house. I, uh, was it Bensonville? Yeah. Up in Bensonville. Uh, in, in the basement, they walked down the stairs and all of a sudden they looked into the eyes of Carlici and, uh, DeFranzo and everybody, the whole, all the couples were there to spread the, the, uh, liability around and they were beaten to death with, with fists and feet, uh, in, in that basement and then transported to that burial ground, which coincidentally was just maybe a couple hundred yards away from Joey Aupa’s farm. [54:00] Right. So I guess that they must have had, uh, Toco standing by, because I don’t believe he was in that basement. I like that. He must have had him standing by to go grab the bodies and take them out. Really interesting. He should have had the old Doug before he got there. You know, that’s what they always say. First you dig the hole then you go do the murder right and i don’t think he had it done before he got there yeah i don’t i really that’s a good that’s a good point gary i really don’t know and nobody’s ever come forward to say what the status of the hole was beforehand uh you know it was a deep it was a deep it was it was a pretty deep hole uh but they may have had a dug ahead of Tom, but, but, uh, cause they knew the location and it’s pretty obscure location. So they had clearly been there before. And, and, you know, everybody knew that that was, I, I hope was, I got it right. Farm. And, uh, So they may have had it dug, and they just did a shoddy job covering it up. [55:05] But I also haven’t heard the specific details about how they handed it off to Toco. I don’t recall seeing that in Calabrese’s testimony. Yeah, it was Nick Calabrese that testified about that. It brought up the light. He named the killer. So he may not have gone that far, probably having Toco and having his wife testify that he did do this. that she picked him up out there. It was just a piece of the entire prosecution on the spot, which it really never was a trial or anything on that. I don’t believe. Another odd thing is he, I believe he ranted and raved the entire car ride back. And from where he was, you would run up with, It’s now turns into Indianapolis. So it’s a good car ride from where they were to Chicago Heights. I believe he ranted and raved about the guys and his crew and the burial and everything, the entire car ride, which was not something most guys would do in front of their wives. But I really, especially when he treated like that. Right. And complained about how long it took her to get there and everything. So she was able to verify a lot of what Calabrese was saying from the final end of it. Interesting. A friend of mine was in the penitentiary, and he said, there’s a guy in there who called himself a verifier. He said, what do you mean? He said, I’m a professional verifier. What he was, he was an informant. That’s what he was, but he called himself a verifier. [56:33] A girl would come to him and say, well, I heard this, this, and this. Is that true or not? He’d say, well, that’s true. That’s not true. [56:40] I guess that’s a more preferable term. Yeah, she was a verifier. Well, that was great. I really appreciate having that on there and Paul. And I really, I still miss Cam. Every time I get ready to do a Chicago show, I think, oh, I want to get Cam or Rochester. [56:58] We did one about Rochester. We did one about Utica. I did several other shows about other families. And he was a good guy and a real great researcher and a real expert on the outfit and other mafia families. So rest in peace, Cam and Paul. I hope to talk to you again one of these days. Guys, don’t forget, I got stuff to sell out there. Just go to my website or just search on my name for Amazon. I can rent my movies about the skim in Las Vegas, about the big mob war between the Savella brothers and the Spiro brothers in Kansas City. Then one about the great 1946 ballot theft in which the mob… Rigged election, helped Harry Truman rig an election. It’s a little harder to find than mine. You need to put ballot theft and Gary Jenkins. I think you’ll find it then. The other two, Gangland Wire and Brothers Against Brothers, Sabella Spiro, were a little bit easier to find. Had to put it up a different way because Amazon changed the rules, but I got them up there. So thanks a lot, guys.

Welcome to Season 6, Episode 01! Happy New Year! Our guest today is Peter Jae, a multi-hyphenate performer in Hollywood. Peter Jae is an actor, stunt performer, producer, and multidisciplinary creative with over two decades of experience working across film, television, and independent projects. Born in Brooklyn and raised primarily in the Bronx—with time spent in Queens as well—Peter grew up navigating identity as a Korean American in predominantly Black and Latinx neighborhoods. Those early experiences deeply shaped his worldview and continue to inform the stories he chooses to tell and the characters he brings to life. Before entering Hollywood, Peter pursued a wide range of creative paths. He attended a performing arts high school, studied menswear design at the Fashion Institute of Technology, and even launched his own urban greeting-card business. That early blend of art, entrepreneurship, and storytelling set the tone for a career defined by versatility rather than a single lane. Although his first opportunities in Hollywood were focused on stunt work and action, he has expanded into more substantial acting roles, appearing in projects such as Blackhat, Olympus Has Fallen, and numerous television productions. He is especially recognized for his work in Ktown Cowboys, an Asian American–led project that allowed him to portray a multidimensional Korean American character—something he has long advocated for in an industry that often limits Asian men to narrow stereotypes. Most recently, Peter stars in The Workout, an independent action-driven film that blends physical intensity with psychological tension. The story centers on discipline, survival, and the personal battles that unfold when routine, control, and identity collide—both inside and outside the gym. The film highlights Peter's ability to merge his background in stunts with grounded dramatic performance, reinforcing his reputation as an actor who brings authenticity and depth to physically demanding roles. You can follow Peter Jae and his latest work on Instagram at @peterjaenyla. If you like what we do, please share, follow, and like us in your podcast directory of choice or on Instagram @AAHistory101. For previous episodes and resources, please visit our site at https://asianamericanhistory101.libsyn.com or our links at http://castpie.com/AAHistory101. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, email us at info@aahistory101.com.

In this episode of The Daily, we break down the record-breaking peak retail season of 2025, which saw tender rejections soar above 13% amidst severe winter storms. We also explore why truckload order lead times continue to rise, hitting a six-year high as shippers adjust their strategies to cope with escalating trade tensions. The discussion turns to a critical regulatory standoff as California faces threats of federal funding cuts and CDL program decertification over improperly issued non-domiciled licenses. This potential "nuclear option" from the FMCSA could ground hundreds of thousands of drivers, creating a massive liability risk for carriers and brokers alike. On the labor front, we analyze a major court ruling where Amazon lost its bid to halt NLRB proceedings, keeping the controversial "joint employer" designation in play for delivery service providers. Meanwhile, in the rail sector, Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern defend their merger application against competitors claiming the nearly 7,000-page filing is incomplete. Finally, we look south at the booming nearshoring trend where Chihuahua has emerged as Mexico's top exporting state driven by advanced manufacturing and electronics. We also discuss how Mexico's new tariffs on Asian imports are aligning with U.S. trade policy to reshape cross-border logistics in 2026. Follow the FreightWaves NOW Podcast Other FreightWaves Shows Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kaila Yu lived many lives before she decided to write a memoir. As an actress, musician, and import model, Kaila learned firsthand about all the ways it is challenging to be Asian American, particularly as a woman. But she didn't write about that experience until seeing her fellow Asian Americans attacked and vilified in 2020. Now a travel, food and culture writer, she has released a memoir titled Fetishized: A Reckoning with Yellow Fever, Feminism, and Beauty. In this book of essays, Kaila challenges the pressures Asian American women face to perform for the white male gaze and details some of the history surrounding that social pressure. With Fetishized, Kaila is shining a bright light on a specific prejudice in our country and I am excited to amplify that light with our conversation today. Today's episode was produced by Tani Levitt and Mijon Zulu. To check out more episodes or to learn more about the show, you can visit our website Allaboutchangepodcast.com. If you like our show, spread the word, tell a friend or family member, or leave us a review on your favorite podcasting app. We really appreciate it. All About Change is produced by the Ruderman Family Foundation. Episode Chapters 0:00 Intro 1:31 How has Kaila's memoir been received in the Asian American community? 2:52 A brief history of the fetishization of Asian women in America 11:43 Who was the intended audience for Kaila's memoir? 15:23 Becoming an activist wasn't part of Kaila's plan 19:05 We are in a golden age for healthy Asian representation in American culture 21:42 The full scope of Kaila's activism 25:48 Outro and Goodbye For video episodes, watch on www.youtube.com/@therudermanfamilyfoundation Stay in touch: X: @JayRuderman | @RudermanFdn LinkedIn: Jay Ruderman | Ruderman Family Foundation Instagram: All About Change Podcast | Ruderman Family Foundation To learn more about the podcast, visit https://allaboutchangepodcast.com/ Jay's brand new book, Find Your Fight, in which Jay teaches the next generation of activists and advocates how to step up and bring about lasting change. You can find Find Your Fight wherever you buy your books, and you can learn more about it at ⁠https://www.walmart.com/ip/Find-Your-Fight-Make-Your-Voice-Heard-for-the-Causes-That-Matter-Most-Hardcover-9781963827071/10817862336

This week, we're kicking off 2026 with our opening keynote from last year's Music Tectonics conference: "Optimization is Not Enough: Are You Ready for Streaming's Reckoning?"  In this keynote, Tatiana Cirisano from MIDiA Research joins Dmitri to ask a provocative question: Is the music industry so focused on optimizing streaming revenue that it's missing what comes next?  Tatiana argues that streaming has removed so much friction from music that it's accidentally removed fans' emotional connection (especially for Gen Z and Gen Alpha), and that music's real competitor isn't a new format but the attention economy (social video, gaming, etc).  We explore what the industry can learn from gaming's "productized friction," why Asian streaming services built around fandom might show the way forward, and whether platforms should actually make the experience harder, not easier. We also tackle audience questions about user-centric payment models, AI-generated music, and whether scarcity could return to digital music. If you've wondered whether streaming is coasting on past success, this conversation will challenge how you think about music's future.   The Music Tectonics podcast goes beneath the surface of the music industry to explore how technology is changing the way business gets done. Visit musictectonics.com to find shownotes and a transcript for this episode, and find us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. Let us know what you think!  Get Dmitri's Rock Paper Scanner newsletter.

US equity futures point to a positive open today, with Asian markets broadly higher and European equities trading mostly firmer. Focus is on the heightened geopolitical tensions after American forces abducted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Potential systematic moves largely revolve around crude oil. The longer term price outlook seems skewed to the downside. Asia equities set Venezuela developments to one side and continued their AI-inspired rally, while focus in Europe is on oil companies.Companies mentioned: Cisco Systems, L3Harris Technologies, Paramount Skydance, Warner Bros Discovery

Dive into the world of Gaysians, the graphic novel everyone needs to read as author Mike Curato shares the inspiration behind this powerful story of friendship, chosen family, and queer Asian experiences. Set in Seattle during the early 2000s, the novel explores universal connections and the beauty of diverse identities while tackling themes of representation and resilience. From heartfelt character dynamics to a stunning visual design, discover why "Gaysians" is a must-read and how it is breaking barriers in LGBTQ and Asian storytelling. Don't miss this engaging conversation about community, connection, and the transformative power of seeing yourself in media.Learn more about Gaysians here: https://www.mikecurato.com/gaysians#seattlestories #queerliterature #chosenfamilythemes #mikecuratointerview #flamerbymikecurratoCHAPTERS:00:00 - Introductions00:15 - What is Gaysians01:03 - Inspiration Behind Gaysians02:46 - Chosen Family vs. Biological Family04:23 - Color Palette Choices for Gaysians08:35 - Asian American Monolith Misconception10:51 - Impact of Interviews on Gaysians12:21 - Most Relatable Character16:11 - Favorite Scene to Write19:08 - "It Cannot Be Helped" Discussion21:00 - White-Centric LGBTQ+ Media Spaces24:05 - Book Banning Issues28:37 - Reader Takeaways from GaysiansIf you want to support us and gain access to bonus content become a Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BGE Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Wanna talk queer media with us and our friends? Join our Discord: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BGE Discord Link⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠This episode along with all our other episodes are now available on YouTube: Check out the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BGE Channel⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠As always, please feel free to reach out to us on all the things. We love hearing from you!

In this episode, Dr. Theodore Schurr shares insights from his career researching genetic prehistories, linkages, and identities within transforming geopolitical landscapes of the past as well as contemporary sociopolitical shifts, including post-Soviet Russia and Georgia. Next, Dr. Schurr and hosts Cara and Chris reflect on the evolution of anthropology and genetic research, including breakthrough technologies and advanced field methods, changing bioethics, intentional relationships with communities, and exciting new approaches that are expanding our understanding of variation and genetic-environmental interactions of the past and present. Dr. Theodore (Tad) Schurr is a Professor in the Department of Anthropology and the Director of the Laboratory of Molecular Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania. For over thirty years, he has investigated the genetic prehistory of Asia and the Americas through studies of mtDNA, Y-chromosome, and autosomal DNA variation in Asian, Siberian, and Native American populations. For these studies, his lab characterized genetic diversity in indigenous populations of Canada, the United States, Mexico, and the Caribbean. His research group is currently exploring the population history of Georgia (Caucasus), Pakistan, Kazakhstan, and Polynesia through collaborative studies in those regions. Other projects have investigated the role of the mtDNA in adaptation, cancer, complex diseases, and metabolism. ------------------------------ Find the papers discussed in this episode: Yardumian, A., Shengelia, R., Chitanava, D., Laliashvili, S., Bitadze, L., Laliashvili, I., ... & Schurr, T. G. (2017). Genetic diversity in Svaneti and its implications for the human settlement of the Highland Caucasus. American journal of physical anthropology, 164(4), 837-852. Schurr, T. G., Shengelia, R., Shamoon-Pour, M., Chitanava, D., Laliashvili, S., Laliashvili, I., ... & Yardumian, A. (2023). Genetic analysis of Mingrelians reveals long-term continuity of populations in Western Georgia (Caucasus). Genome Biology and Evolution, 15(11), evad198. Ancient Lineages: Reconstructing the Genetic History of Svaneti, Northwest Georgia https://www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/ancient-lineages/ ------------------------------ Contact Dr. Schurr: tgschurr@sas.upenn.edu ------------------------------ Contact the Sausage of Science Podcast and the Human Biology Association: Facebook: facebook.com/groups/humanbiologyassociation/, Website: humbio.org, Twitter: @HumBioAssoc Chris Lynn, Co-Host Website: cdlynn.people.ua.edu/, E-mail: cdlynn@ua.edu, Twitter:@Chris_Ly Cara Ocobock, Co-Host Website: sites.nd.edu/cara-ocobock/, Email:cocobock@nd.edu, Twitter:@CaraOcobock Mecca Howe, SoS Co-Producer, HBA Fellow LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mecca-howe/, Email: howemecca@gmail.com

The Von guests hosts with Brendan and the guys start off by roasting each other, and talk favorite pizza's, Pizza Hut vs Domino's vs Little Ceasar's, previous jobs as a janitor and busboy, revenge on ex's, embalming ideas, discovering Asian people Vietnamese parrots, coffee shop girls, fake news and much more!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jeffrey Dahmer, also known as the "Milwaukee Cannibal" or the "Milwaukee Monster," was an American serial killer and sex offender. He gained notoriety for a gruesome series of murders and acts of necrophilia and cannibalism that occurred in the 1980s and early 1990s. Here is a summary of his life and crimes:Early Life: Jeffrey Dahmer was born on May 21, 1960, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. He grew up in a seemingly normal family but exhibited troubling behavior as a child, including an early fascination with dead animals.First Murder: His killing spree began in 1978, shortly after high school graduation, when he murdered a hitchhiker named Steven Hicks. Dahmer later said this was the point at which he felt a compulsion to kill.Modus Operandi: Dahmer's modus operandi involved luring young men, often of Asian or African-American descent, to his apartment. He would then drug and strangle them, engaging in sexual acts with the corpses and sometimes dismembering them.Arrest and Imprisonment: Dahmer's crimes went undetected for years. However, in 1991, police arrested him for a different reason and discovered gruesome evidence in his apartment, leading to his arrest and eventual conviction.Confessions: Dahmer confessed to the murders of 17 young men and boys, revealing chilling details of his crimes during interrogations. He showed a complete lack of remorse for his actions.Trial and Sentencing: In 1992, Dahmer went to trial in Wisconsin. He was found guilty of 15 counts of murder and sentenced to 16 consecutive life terms in prison without the possibility of parole.Death in Prison: On November 28, 1994, Dahmer was murdered by a fellow inmate, Christopher Scarver, in a prison in Portage, Wisconsin. Scarver also killed another inmate during the same attack.In a new documentary being presented by Fox, we are hearing never before released audio of Jeffrey Dahmer and his father during a phone call where Dahmer admits to his father that he kept body parts from a victim in a box at his grandmothers house. to contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.comsource:EXCLUSIVE: Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer bragged to his father that he kept the mummified head and genitals of one of his victims in a box in his grandmother's basement, never-before-heard prison phone call reveals | Daily Mail Online

Cooperative Evangelist: Kagawa Toyohiko and His World, 1888-1960 (University of Hawai'i Press, 2025) by Bo Tao uncovers the extraordinary world of a Japanese man who was once described as the “Saint Francis” or the “Gandhi” of Japan. A renowned religious figure on the world stage, Kagawa Toyohiko (1888–1960) received wide acclaim for his work as a street preacher in the slums of Kobe as well as his espousal of nonviolent methods of social reform. His reputation as a pacifist figure, however, rested uneasily with his wartime actions, which became increasingly supportive of the Japanese government and its expansionist policies. Reluctant to speak up against Japan's increasing aggression in the late 1930s, he emerged as a full-blown apologist during the Pacific War, appearing on several Radio Tokyo broadcasts as a propagandist defending the interests of the state. Adopting a transnational approach that accounts for the rapid flow of information between Japan and the United States, Bo Tao examines the career of Kagawa as it unfolded within the context of the wars, imperialism, and economic depression of the early to mid-twentieth century. Using official documents and personal correspondence that have received scant attention in previous works, Tao reveals, for the first time at this level of detail, the extent of Kagawa's cooperative relationship with the Japanese government, as well as the ways in which his idealized image was carefully constructed by his ardent missionary supporters. This book provides a window into the global dimensions of broader cultural shifts during the interwar period, such as the rise of Christian internationalism and the Depression-era popularity of cooperative economics. Offering a holistic and nuanced exploration of the tensions resulting from Kagawa's hybrid identity as a Japanese Christian, Cooperative Evangelist adds a new layer to our understanding of religion, empire, and politics in the shaping of social and international relations. Bo Tao is Lecturer in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Chiba University in Chiba, Japan. His research interests include global history, U.S.-Japan relations, religion and politics, modern Japanese history, and the history of Christianity. Shatrunjay Mall is a PhD Candidate in the Department of History at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He works on transnational Asian history, and his dissertation explores intellectual, political, and cultural intersections and affinities that emerged between Indian anti-colonialism and imperial Japan in the twentieth century. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Screening Precarity integrates a cultural analysis of film texts and history, industry transformations, and the violence and crises of political economy infrastructures, to study post-liberalization shifts in the Hindi film industry in India. The book investigates Bollywood as a media system that has moved away from the glee and gusto of liberalization in the 1990s to an industry contending with the failures and inadequacies of neoliberalism's promises, and the ascendency of the material-affective redressals offered by religious ethnonationalism. The monograph examines 19 Hindi-language films released post-2010 to study contemporary India's precarious public sphere which has been characterized by a pervasive sense of professional-personal insecurity experienced by the vast majority. This is a book about the role of cinema, or cultural texts more generally, in a period marked by incredible insecurity, violence, and the absence of collective political alternatives. Screening Precarity is an intervention in the politics of representation, particularly, of how marginal identities are shaped, scripted, and screened in precarious times. It is also a cultural analysis of how the biggest film industry in the world is embedded in global media networks, and marshals state power and star power, national histories and transnational fantasies, structural impossibilities and individual agency. Megha Anwer is a theorist of literature and visual culture. Her research areas include contemporary postcolonial literature, global cinema, Victorian literature and visual culture. Anupama Arora is a professor of English and Communication, and Women's and Gender Studies, at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. Dr Priyam Sinha is an Alexander Von Humboldt Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Institute for Asian and African Studies, Humboldt University in Berlin. Her research interests lie at the intersection of critical media industry studies, disability studies, gender studies, affect studies, production culture studies, and anthropology of the body. So far, her articles have been published in the European Journal of Cultural Studies, Media, Culture and Society; Communication, Culture and Critique; South Asian Diaspora, among others. She is also a regular podcast host at NewBooksNetwork and has been published in public writing forums like the Economic and Political Weekly, FemAsia, Asian Film Archive, among others. More information on her ongoing projects can be found on her website www.priyamsinha.com and you can follow her on https://x.com/PriyamSinha Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/critical-theory

Protect Your Retirement with a PHYSICAL Gold and/or Silver IRA https://www.sgtreportgold.com/ CALL( 877) 646-5347 - You Can Trust Noble Gold ---- January 1st, 2026 is the first day that changes everything for the global physical silver market: Export controls go into effect for the world's most undervalued tangible asset, PHYSICAL silver. China is locking their vaults as what remains of physical Silver in the West is drained from both the LBMA and COMEX. In this discussion with precious metals expert David Jensen we discuss fiat facts that will make you vomit, Asian guy's videos and much more.   David's Substack: As Sovereign Bonds Sell-Off Physical Silver Shortage In London Continues https://tinyurl.com/ycyz3dv3   They are destroying us all, here's the PROOF: https://www.coinflation.com/silver_coin_values.html https://rumble.com/embed/v71kjnq/?pub=2peuz

Last week in 2025, silver surged to nearly $84 an ounce before swinging wildly all week and closing above $72, a high volatility stretch that shook the market. From a blistering Asian-market surge to a brutal midweek sell-off, here's what really drove silver's dramatic price action and why it matters now. This past week in silver was anything but boring, and it all started with a bang. The spot silver price ripped higher in Asian trading, surging nearly $84 an ounce to a new nominal high before most investors had their morning coffee. What followed was a violent, whipsaw sell off, with sharp up and down moves that shook out anyone unprepared for real volatility. By the end of the week, silver settled at $72.86 an ounce, but the story behind those moves matters far more than the closing price. If you want to understand what really happened, why it matters, and what it could signal next, this is a week you do not want to miss.

PEARL HARBOR AND LINDBERGH'S BLOCKED MILITARY SERVICE Colleague H.W. Brands. H.W. Brandsrecounts the immediate aftermath of the Pearl Harbor attack. The Japanese strike and Hitler's subsequent declaration of war united the European and Asian theaters, resolving FDR's political dilemmas. Lindbergh attempted to volunteer for the Army Air Corps but was blocked by the Roosevelt administration due to his pre-war criticism. Consequently, he served as a civilian consultant, eventually flying unauthorized combat missions against the Japanese in the Pacific. NUMBER 8

US equity futures point to a firmer open, with Asian markets broadly higher and European equities trading mostly firmer. Today focus is on continued pressure in US equities after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell for a fourth straight session, even as markets closed out 2025 with double-digit annual gains; Attention also remains on the US macro backdrop after initial jobless claims came in below consensus, reinforcing views of a still-resilient labor market and shaping expectations for the Fed's rate-cut path in 2026; Moreover, investor sentiment is weighing fading year-end seasonal support against longer-term positives, with markets now looking ahead to early-January ISM, labor market data, and broader confirmation of growth momentum.Companies Mentioned: Apple, Critical Metals

Screening Precarity integrates a cultural analysis of film texts and history, industry transformations, and the violence and crises of political economy infrastructures, to study post-liberalization shifts in the Hindi film industry in India. The book investigates Bollywood as a media system that has moved away from the glee and gusto of liberalization in the 1990s to an industry contending with the failures and inadequacies of neoliberalism's promises, and the ascendency of the material-affective redressals offered by religious ethnonationalism. The monograph examines 19 Hindi-language films released post-2010 to study contemporary India's precarious public sphere which has been characterized by a pervasive sense of professional-personal insecurity experienced by the vast majority. This is a book about the role of cinema, or cultural texts more generally, in a period marked by incredible insecurity, violence, and the absence of collective political alternatives. Screening Precarity is an intervention in the politics of representation, particularly, of how marginal identities are shaped, scripted, and screened in precarious times. It is also a cultural analysis of how the biggest film industry in the world is embedded in global media networks, and marshals state power and star power, national histories and transnational fantasies, structural impossibilities and individual agency. Megha Anwer is a theorist of literature and visual culture. Her research areas include contemporary postcolonial literature, global cinema, Victorian literature and visual culture. Anupama Arora is a professor of English and Communication, and Women's and Gender Studies, at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. Dr Priyam Sinha is an Alexander Von Humboldt Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Institute for Asian and African Studies, Humboldt University in Berlin. Her research interests lie at the intersection of critical media industry studies, disability studies, gender studies, affect studies, production culture studies, and anthropology of the body. So far, her articles have been published in the European Journal of Cultural Studies, Media, Culture and Society; Communication, Culture and Critique; South Asian Diaspora, among others. She is also a regular podcast host at NewBooksNetwork and has been published in public writing forums like the Economic and Political Weekly, FemAsia, Asian Film Archive, among others. More information on her ongoing projects can be found on her website www.priyamsinha.com and you can follow her on https://x.com/PriyamSinha Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

This week's agriculture news covers USDA priorities for the year ahead, newly released commodity payment rates, and a drone ban that could impact farmers. We also take a closer look at the tools producers can use to help prevent New World screwworm from entering their herds. Agriculture headlines this week include what the USDA will be prioritizing in 2026, reports projecting a trade deficit this year, and an official report showing USDA has lost 18% of its workforce. Additional coverage includes lawmakers divided on whether a farm bill can be passed in 2026, a historic rail merger application being filed, and a study estimating the economic impact of a beef packing plant closure in Nebraska. Today's interview features Elanco Beef Technical Consultant Dr. M. Wayne Ayers, who discusses available tools and ongoing conversations around preventing New World screwworm, Asian longhorned tick, lice, and other parasites. Stay connected with us for more agriculture content on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube, along with our weekly videos!

For more of my latest content, subscribe to my YouTube channel, Dark Asia with Megan and join our awesome community. Your support means everything, and I can't wait to share more Asian cases with you! On Other Platforms: • TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@darkasiawithmegan • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darkasiawithmegan • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/darkasiameganlee Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

SK Hynix and Samsung pushed global markets higher, including many facets of the U.S. tech trade. Sam Vadas takes investors through the stories she sees as most important to 2026's first trading session. ======== Schwab Network ========Empowering every investor and trader, every market day.Options involve risks and are not suitable for all investors. Before trading, read the Options Disclosure Document. http://bit.ly/2v9tH6DSubscribe to the Market Minute newsletter - https://schwabnetwork.com/subscribeDownload the iOS app - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/schwab-network/id1460719185Download the Amazon Fire Tv App - https://www.amazon.com/TD-Ameritrade-Network/dp/B07KRD76C7Watch on Sling - https://watch.sling.com/1/asset/191928615bd8d47686f94682aefaa007/watchWatch on Vizio - https://www.vizio.com/en/watchfreeplus-exploreWatch on DistroTV - https://www.distro.tv/live/schwab-network/Follow us on X – https://twitter.com/schwabnetworkFollow us on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/schwabnetworkFollow us on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/schwab-network/About Schwab Network - https://schwabnetwork.com/about

Screening Precarity integrates a cultural analysis of film texts and history, industry transformations, and the violence and crises of political economy infrastructures, to study post-liberalization shifts in the Hindi film industry in India. The book investigates Bollywood as a media system that has moved away from the glee and gusto of liberalization in the 1990s to an industry contending with the failures and inadequacies of neoliberalism's promises, and the ascendency of the material-affective redressals offered by religious ethnonationalism. The monograph examines 19 Hindi-language films released post-2010 to study contemporary India's precarious public sphere which has been characterized by a pervasive sense of professional-personal insecurity experienced by the vast majority. This is a book about the role of cinema, or cultural texts more generally, in a period marked by incredible insecurity, violence, and the absence of collective political alternatives. Screening Precarity is an intervention in the politics of representation, particularly, of how marginal identities are shaped, scripted, and screened in precarious times. It is also a cultural analysis of how the biggest film industry in the world is embedded in global media networks, and marshals state power and star power, national histories and transnational fantasies, structural impossibilities and individual agency. Megha Anwer is a theorist of literature and visual culture. Her research areas include contemporary postcolonial literature, global cinema, Victorian literature and visual culture. Anupama Arora is a professor of English and Communication, and Women's and Gender Studies, at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. Dr Priyam Sinha is an Alexander Von Humboldt Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Institute for Asian and African Studies, Humboldt University in Berlin. Her research interests lie at the intersection of critical media industry studies, disability studies, gender studies, affect studies, production culture studies, and anthropology of the body. So far, her articles have been published in the European Journal of Cultural Studies, Media, Culture and Society; Communication, Culture and Critique; South Asian Diaspora, among others. She is also a regular podcast host at NewBooksNetwork and has been published in public writing forums like the Economic and Political Weekly, FemAsia, Asian Film Archive, among others. More information on her ongoing projects can be found on her website www.priyamsinha.com and you can follow her on https://x.com/PriyamSinha Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/film

What if most marketing struggles have nothing to do with tactics and everything to do with clarity? In this episode of Unstoppable Mindset, I sit down with marketing strategist and global entrepreneur Sacha Awaa to explore why so many small businesses waste money on marketing that never works. Sacha shares how growing up across cultures shaped her approach to strategy, leadership, and customer connection. We talk about why understanding your audience matters more than any tool, how AI is changing speed to market without replacing human judgment, and why marketing should be treated as an investment rather than an expense. You'll hear practical insights on audits, go-to-market strategy, process building, and leadership decisions that help businesses grow with intention instead of noise. I believe you will find this conversation both grounding and useful as you think about how to build something sustainable in a crowded marketplace. Highlights: 00:09 – Hear how growing up across cultures shaped a broader view of leadership, communication, and business.10:11 – Learn why AI improves speed to market but still requires human judgment to work well.12:13 – Discover why not truly understanding your audience is the biggest reason marketing fails.19:22 – Understand what marketing strategy actually means beyond tactics, tools, and trends.27:51 – See what small businesses can borrow from enterprise companies without losing agility.46:09 – Learn why strong leaders know when to step back and let the right people lead. About the Guest: Sacha Awaa is a marketing strategist, entrepreneur, and co-founder of My Marketer Mentors, a fast-growing community designed to help small business owners cut through the noise and succeed with marketing that actually works. With a unique ability to blend creativity and data, Sacha has guided startups and small businesses in turning limited budgets into measurable results. Her career has been driven by a passion for helping entrepreneurs avoid costly mistakes, drawing on insights from both Fortune 500 playbooks and scrappy startup strategies. Through workshops, mentorship, and one-on-one guidance, she empowers business owners to find clarity in today's overwhelming marketing landscape. Sacha's own journey reflects the intersection of design thinking and strategic planning—leveraging both sides of the brain to unlock powerful growth. She believes that marketing isn't just about selling products, but about building authentic communities, which inspired her to create a peer-led space where entrepreneurs can learn from and support each other. Whether she's breaking down practical go-to-market frameworks, rethinking outdated marketing tactics, or sharing her personal story of resilience and innovation, Sacha brings both warmth and wisdom to the small business world. Ways to connect with Sacha: www.mymarketermentors.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/sachaawwa/https://www.instagram.com/uncomplicate__it/https://www.linkedin.com/in/sachaawwa/ About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset . Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes: Michael Hingson  00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us. Michael Hingson  01:21 Well, hi everyone, and I want to welcome you to another episode of unstoppable mindset today. I your host Michael hingson gets a chance to talk with Sacha Awa, who is a marketing professional. She's going to tell us a lot about that I know, and she's a marketing strategist in general. She's an entrepreneur, and she's co founder of whoop I lost it there, my marketer my marketer mentors. So we'll learn about that as we go forward, if I don't get tongue tied anyway, Sasha, I want to welcome you to unstoppable mindset. We're glad you're here. Sacha Awaa  02:05 Yes, thank you so much. I'm really happy to be here. Well, why Michael Hingson  02:08 don't we start? I love to do this to have you start by talking maybe about the early Sasha, growing up, and just telling us a little about you. Yeah. Sacha Awaa  02:18 So I was born in Dallas, Texas, where my middle eastern dad and my European, Swedish mother collided. And then I grew up in the Middle East and migrated my way down south, down to the US, really, to attend college, where both of my parents went, and I have since stayed and been here. So I am sort of a, a, I guess, a global citizen in the sense that, you know, I, I, I travel a lot to my parents hometown and countries as well as, you know, have a base here in South Florida in the United States. And it's just really great to, you know, have that connection across the board, and I think it truly helps with work just, you know, working alongside and coming from different parts of the world, Michael Hingson  03:09 what do you think about the fact that you have lived in various parts of the world, and how that has really shaped the way you view working with people and viewing the job that you do. Sacha Awaa  03:22 Well, I think that when you are sort of that global citizen, and I think a lot of you know, my generation is having lived all over, it really creates that sense of truly understanding and being able to connect with folks all over just, you know, really the nuances of culture and you know, really how things sort of function and work in their in their country, and really being able to adapt it so it's not just, and I have clients globally. And you know, some clients are some, some people are like, Oh my gosh, it's so hard to do business in X country, or so on and so forth. And I think you just, you adapt, and you, as long as you're open to understanding how other people work and how they get things done, then I think it's a great fit for you to for you to be, for you to be doing that. Michael Hingson  04:11 Yeah, I think it's so important to have a broader perspective than so many of us do. I also think that, and know that traveling around the US, there are a lot of different kinds of attitudes and cultures, if you will, in different parts of the country, which is really cool, this country is large enough that it has that but then traveling to other countries has also allowed me to gain a broader perspective, which is why I asked the question. Because I agree with you. I think that there's so much to be gained by seeing and experiencing various parts of the world. Yes, it broadens your horizons in so many ways. Sacha Awaa  04:49 Yes, in so many ways. I couldn't agree more. Yeah, Michael Hingson  04:53 which is, which is really cool. So, so how long did you live in the Middle East? Sacha Awaa  05:00 I was in the middle east from when I was four months until I was, how should I say, until I was 16, and then came here for boarding school, and then later continued on and lived here. So it hasn't, it's, you know, I've probably spent a majority of my life in the US. But I think what's interesting is when you grow up at a young age, anywhere you really get into really having that foundation and that makes you who you are. Michael Hingson  05:34 Yeah, yeah. Well, how, why did you come back to the US when you were 16, or how did that work out? Sacha Awaa  05:43 I came for the purpose of education. Michael Hingson  05:46 Yeah, your parents were all in favor of that. 05:49 Yes, that's where they went to school. So they Michael Hingson  05:52 wanted you to get that that sense as well. I mean, you've certainly had 16 years almost of learning and so on in the Middle East, but it must have been quite a big difference coming to the US. Sacha Awaa  06:07 Yes, it was, but yeah, of course. I mean, it's when you're when you're at the tender age of 16. Yeah, you know, coming here and migrating anywhere away from your family, especially long distance, even though you're probably like, banging your fists on the wall and saying, I can't wait to leave home. You then have a rude awakening when that happens. Michael Hingson  06:28 Mm, hmm. Well, so are you so your parents still in the Middle East? Or how does that work? Sacha Awaa  06:36 No, my parents are. Well, they're between the Middle East, Europe and the US as well. They're all over Flin around, huh? Yeah. And they continue to do so well, Michael Hingson  06:48 which gives them a broader set of horizons about things. But they they do come and visit daughter occasionally, I gather, Sacha Awaa  06:57 yes, they do. And they come and they stay for two to three months at a time. So it's 07:01 great. Well, that's cool. Michael Hingson  07:04 And so what languages do you speak? Sacha Awaa  07:08 I speak both Swedish, English and Arabic. Michael Hingson  07:12 Okay, wow. So what? What prompted Swedish as part of it? Sacha Awaa  07:18 What prompted Swedish as part of it, my mother is Swedish. Michael Hingson  07:22 Oh, that's true. You said she was, didn't, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, cool. So, so that gives you, certainly a plethora so next you have to learn an Asian language, and then you're going to really have a number of continents. Much less you could do Africa. 07:39 Yes, exactly. Michael Hingson  07:42 But that's, that's cool. So where did you go to college? Sacha Awaa  07:45 I went to American University in Washington, DC. Michael Hingson  07:48 Ah, okay, what did you study marketing, I assume. Sacha Awaa  07:52 No, actually, I studied, I studied graphic design. I mean, I eventually worked for advertising agency, but I was on the design side. Okay? Michael Hingson  08:02 And then you graduated. Did you get an advanced degree or just a bachelor's just a bachelor's degree that was enough to get you going, Yes. What did you do after you You graduated? Sacha Awaa  08:17 What did I do after I graduated? I worked in, I worked in two advertising agencies. I worked in a much smaller one that, you know, when you live in Washington, DC, you either work for the government or you have government contracts. Yeah, yeah. So I worked with government contracts and advertising agency backgrounds Michael Hingson  08:40 cool and you, you liked it. Sacha Awaa  08:46 I did. I worked as a graphic designer for about four years, and I switched over leaving graphic design because I just felt that it was really hard to be creative under pressure. Michael Hingson  09:01 Yeah. Well, yeah, but as you transitioned into doing more marketing things, that's pretty creative under pressure, isn't it? Yeah. Sacha Awaa  09:12 I mean, I guess marketing in general is just a lot of pressure to begin with, Michael Hingson  09:17 yeah, but still, but you, you certainly seem to do okay with it all. Sacha Awaa  09:26 I Yeah, and I think it's I'm always up for a good challenge. Michael Hingson  09:31 When did you go out and start your own company? Sacha Awaa  09:36 Started my own company, if you'd imagine, I graduated in 2003 and then I worked all throughout the years, and then I started my own company in 2022 Michael Hingson  09:46 oh so. Post somewhat, post pandemic, Sacha Awaa  09:50 somewhat in the midst of why did Michael Hingson  09:54 you decide to start your own company rather than just continuing to work for others? Sacha Awaa  10:00 I wanted to break the shackles and basically have my own freedom. Michael Hingson  10:08 And it's working out for you. Okay, Sacha Awaa  10:10 yeah. I mean, starting anything is tough, right? Michael Hingson  10:13 Yeah, yeah. But you like being an entrepreneur. I do. I love it. So what do you do in your own company? Maybe, what do you do different? Or what do you do that you didn't do when you work for others? Yeah, I think Sacha Awaa  10:30 everything that I learned in terms of working for other companies was really just, you know, my bottom line and focus is ensuring that small business owners and entrepreneurs survive and thrive in this environment, of, how should I say, survive and thrive in the environment, of, of what it's like to build a business these days. It's no longer that American dream in the 40s, 50s and 60s and the 70s, really. That made that was so much easier. I think the AI boom is making things a lot easier. To start a company again, but it's just, you know, it it's a different time, right? So owning any kind of business is a struggle. Michael Hingson  11:13 Why is AI making it easier? AI is Sacha Awaa  11:17 making it easier because AI has created platforms that can build a website in Six Minutes or Less versus, you know, I don't know, you know, I mean, it's, it's very, it's very different, you know, so, and I think it's, it's really speed and agility is what it is. It's speed and agility to market. You know, yeah, Michael Hingson  11:45 well, and with AI and all of it, it does. Do you find that it still makes mistakes, or that it may be a better way to put it, rather than it still makes mistakes? Maybe a better way to say it is that even with AI, you need to go in and tweak whatever it does so that it really comes out more like what you're specifically looking for. Yes, yeah, yes, yeah, because AI is great, but it isn't you, and it never will be. It's going to work at times to get closer to what you are, but still being able to go in and and tweak it is probably a very helpful thing 100% so that that makes a lot of sense. Yes, so you have been working now at this company. Talk about being under pressure, I mean now, but it's, it's, it's a self imposed pressure, so it's really not the same as what you would experience working for someone else, right? Correct, yeah. So Correct, yeah. So it's not really the same kind of pressure, not at all. You can make the pressure what you want it to be. Oh, yeah. Well, so what are the most common mistakes that you see small businesses making that you when, when you start to talk with them about marketing so on, what are the what are the mistakes that they usually make? Sacha Awaa  13:18 Oh, the it's, it's not necessarily mistakes that they make. I think it's just the lack of education of what people understand marketing truly is to really, then be able to develop out, you know what that could look like, right? Or you know how it would work for them. So it's just really, not truly understanding, you know, where they are in their business, maybe even doing the work of, you know, digging into, you know, who their customer audience is, and so on and so forth. So it really then becomes a struggle as to, you know, creating creating content for them to connect with. How should I say their audience? Because they have maybe a message that doesn't make sense to their audience, because they really haven't dug into the mindset. So I think really to answer your question, the biggest mistake that that small business owners make, and this is what I push all the time, is ensuring that you do the work of understanding who your audience is and connecting your product and service to that. Michael Hingson  14:28 So when you asked me, before we started about what the audience is like, and I said, it's really a general, pretty eclectic audience because of the way we do the podcast, that must have drove you crazy. 14:38 No, not at all, Sacha Awaa  14:40 because I think that in a medium like this is different, right? I mean, you probably deliver, you probably deliver a lot of content that makes sense for for a lot of people. And so, you know, I think that that that works in so many ways. Oh, so, in essence, kind of do understand who you're. Audiences in a way, Michael Hingson  15:01 yeah, well, as much as we can. But the other part about it is that in this podcast, having different kinds of guests with different kinds of messages, like yesterday, I talked with two people who are very religious and faith based. And I'm sure that there are people who aren't going to be interested in that, who listen to our podcast, they might listen to it. I hope they will, just because I think it's good to always hear other perspectives. But I do understand that sometimes people in the audience will listen to one thing and they won't listen to someone else and what they do, and I think that's perfectly okay, yes, because the kind of medium that we have exactly so I my background has has been since 1979 in sales. Okay, of course, we work very closely with marketing, and there's a lot of overlap and all that, but in looking at the people that you work with and so on, can you give us a story of maybe a company or someone who really overspent on a marketing campaign that they really didn't need to spend so much on their or a tactic where they just overspend without getting any real results. Sacha Awaa  16:27 That happens when there's a lack of understanding of, you know, jumping into something just because you think the world has told you that that's what you need, or, you know, you've been told, you know, this is what you should be doing. So in that sense, it makes it very hard because of the simple fact that they don't really they jump into making a mistake when it's not the right time for their business. And most of these sort of marketing agencies that are out there kind of focused on a one track setup so they don't really it then becomes a bad marriage. If that makes sense, you're meeting the you're meeting the client. You're connect a client is being connected to an agency at the wrong time, and it's it's just not where they should be as a as a business. Michael Hingson  17:26 So a company starts doing something in a particular way because someone told them to do it that way, but they don't get results. Then what happens? Sacha Awaa  17:36 Then they think marketing sucks, and that's the majority of who comes to me, you know, yeah. Michael Hingson  17:42 So when that happens, what do you do? Sacha Awaa  17:46 I have to rehabilitate them back into understanding that marketing does actually work. And that's when I build out my whole process and explain to them like, this is, this is how it actually works, you know, you just it wasn't the fault of, you know, the the business that you were working with. It was just the simple fault that you weren't ready and they didn't guide you in the manner that they should have. Michael Hingson  18:15 How do people take that, when you, when you, when you say that to them? Sacha Awaa  18:20 I wish I had met you, you know, before this happened. Because sometimes, you know, dependent, there can be a lot of money that's wasted, right? So, and that's really what the struggle is, and so, but then it automatically gains trust because they know that I'm not here to, you know, to just rip them off and tell them I'm going to TEDx your business and so on and so forth, when I'm actually really going to, you know, support them getting to where they need to get to. Have you Michael Hingson  18:58 had situations where you started working with a company, and you you thought you understood what was going on, but then when you started a campaign, it didn't work either, and you had to punt, as it were. Sacha Awaa  19:10 Well, I always tell them, you know, we have to test and learn, and that's what marketing is all about. So it's going through those motions, and they have to be open for it, but what I do when I test and learn is that I don't throw money out. I make sure I dip our toes in very cautiously to then, you know, make sure that we build accordingly. 19:33 Yeah, yeah. It is. It Michael Hingson  19:37 isn't an exact science, as it were, but it is certainly something that, when you understand it, you know, you know generally how to proceed. And there's a lot of Troy that has to go on. And so it's not magic. But by the same token, it is a process, yes, and I think most people don't really understand. Marketing, they don't understand exactly what it is that you really do that helps companies grow. And maybe that's a way to ask that question. So what? What really, when it comes down to it, is marketing, and what do you do? Sacha Awaa  20:16 Yeah, so think of I'm a strategic I'm a marketing strategist, whereby I really look at a company in terms of what products and services they've created, who they've created for, and then how do we go to market, and where do we find their audiences at a high impact, low cost? So that's essentially what I do, is maximize their dollars spent just based on making sure that their foundation is in a good place. Have I confused you even more? Michael Hingson  20:45 No, no, not at all. Okay, good, but, but I understand it. So yeah. And I think that that it, it really is important for people to be aware that, that it is all about trying to, well, in a lot of senses, you're educating the people you work with, but through and with them, you're also educating the rest of the world about what these people have to offer, and showing that it's a valuable thing and and that's something that, Again, that's what marketing really is all 21:20 about, yes, absolutely. Michael Hingson  21:24 And so it's important to understand that it is a that it is a give and take. It is a process, and it doesn't happen all at once. One of my favorite examples still continues to be, and you're probably familiar with the case was it back in 1984 when somebody put poison in one bottle of Tylenol and yes, and within a day, the president of the company jumped out in front of it and said, We're going to take every bottle off the shelf until we Make sure that everything is really clean. What a marketing campaign by definition. That really was because he was he was building trust, but he was also solving a problem. But I think the most important part of it still is that he was building trust. And I'm just amazed at how many people haven't learned from that. And when they experience a crisis, they they hide rather than learning how to get out in front of it. Absolutely, I couldn't agree more. How do you deal with that? Sacha Awaa  22:32 Um, I don't know. Sometimes I ask myself why I didn't get a degree in psychology as a second major? Michael Hingson  22:39 Yeah. Yeah, it is. It is amazing. But, well, you got to do what you got to do? 22:49 Yeah? Absolutely, right. Michael Hingson  22:52 So what's the first thing that a company should do to make sure that their marketing dollars are really being well spent, Sacha Awaa  23:02 make sure that their marketing dollars are being well spent. And it really goes back to the foundation, ensuring that they really know what their mission and their vision and who they're actually talking to, because if they're creating content that is is not aligned with the pain point of who their audience is, then you've completely missed the beat. Michael Hingson  23:22 And I'm assuming that you find a lot of people who haven't really thought nearly enough about their vision and their mission, and who haven't really learned to understand what their audience 23:32 is. Oh yeah, 100% Michael Hingson  23:36 so what do you do to fix that? Sacha Awaa  23:39 What do I do to fix that, um, that's when I go through my, my, my three part process, in the sense of, I really take a look at, what's the word I'm looking for, understanding, you know, again, like the foundation, I come in and I do an audit, and I really look into, you know, the details of, you know, how they've set up, how they haven't set up, what they've been doing, you know, that hasn't worked for them, and so on and so forth, and really moving through that process, you know, Michael Hingson  24:17 yeah, Do you? Do you find that you often surprise customers because they thought they knew what they were doing, they thought they understood their mission and their audience, and oh, 24:30 they do all the time. 24:32 They're just surprised, Sacha Awaa  24:33 yeah, I mean, they definitely think that they know what they're talking about, you know? And sometimes it's it's difficult to to unpack that, you know, with clients, but it works out in the end, Michael Hingson  24:49 yeah, it's all about education and teaching, and as long as they're willing to learn, which is, of course, part of the issue. Have you had some people that no matter what you tell them, they just refuse to. Buy into what they really need to do to improve, Sacha Awaa  25:04 to try and see if I can make sure that when we're having the initial setup, to ensure that, you know, it's a good fit for both of us that we, we, we make sure that, you know, in general, it's a good fit, right? And so I tend to, I tend to try and hope to have that interview process that that makes it work in the end, right? So, more than not, I'm, I'm pretty I'm pretty accurate with it. But of course, you know, we can always make mistakes, and I have, you know, I have yet to, to let go of a client. But you know, sometimes you have to, you have to allow the client to to, you know, to guide you. But then, you know, I always am Frank in the beginning that, you know, this is what we're going to be working with. This is what we're set up to do so on and so forth. And, you know, if there's pushback, I feel it in the beginning, you know, and I tell them how I work, and they tell me how they work, and we just hope that it becomes a good marriage. Michael Hingson  26:23 Ultimately, it's all about education. And I gather, since you said you've never had to really let go of a client that you've you've been successful at working out some sort of an educational process between the two of you. Yes, because that's really what it's what it's all about. Yeah, I'm assuming that you've learned things along the way too. Sacha Awaa  26:49 I definitely have learned things along the way. Yes. Michael Hingson  26:53 Do you find that sometimes customers, or a customer of yours really did know more of what they were talking about than you thought? And you had to adapt. Sacha Awaa  27:03 Those are a blessing when they when, when they have that. So I'm always open for that, and I think that that's great when they've done the work, you know, yeah, Michael Hingson  27:16 but they've obviously done something that brought them to you, because they were or they felt they were missing something, I assume, yes. So again, it's, it's a learning experience, and I think that's so important, that that that we all learn. I know for me in sales, I figure I learned from every customer that I have ever had, and whenever I hired someone, I told them, at least, especially at least for the first year, you need to think of yourself as a student. Your customers want to teach you. They want you to be successful, as long as you develop a mutual trust and in and ultimately, you have to be a student to understand them, and let them teach you what they do, and so on. Then you go from there, Sacha Awaa  28:07 100% 100% I couldn't agree more, Michael Hingson  28:11 and it's so important to do that, and it makes for a much better arrangement all the way around. When that happens, doesn't 28:18 it? Yes, it does Michael Hingson  28:22 so fortune 500 companies tend to have strategies they've used, and that's probably what brought them to the point where they became fortune 500 companies. But what are some of the strategies, maybe, that they have, that smaller companies can adapt to? Well, it's Sacha Awaa  28:41 interesting that you asked that you asked that because I worked for a fortune 1000 company. I mean, I worked for the New York Times, and what I really have been excited about leaving them and going into the startup world is the simple fact that enterprises have processes and systems in place that startups don't. And that's what's so interesting, is that, you know, while a startup is beautiful chaos and they have more speed and agility to get to market, they just don't have the process, the practice of the processes in place to really be organized to get to market. So that was really one thing that I brought into, into the system, to be able to help support Michael Hingson  29:30 so for example, what are some of those Sacha Awaa  29:34 processes, you know, creating road maps, go to market strategies, you know, digging into systems. And what really tends to happen at startups, it's just like, go, go, go, go, go, just get market. You know, Michael Hingson  29:50 that doesn't work necessarily at all, because even if you're successful, if you don't have a system in place, do you. Really end up figuring out what it was that made you successful? 30:04 Yes, absolutely. Michael Hingson  30:07 So there is, there's a lot of value in in putting processes in place in terms of documenting what you do. Yes, and documentation is a very key part of it, I would think, yes. Because if you do that, then people, or you, when you go back and look at it, can say, Oh, this is what I did, and this is this worked. So we ought to continue that process, yes, 30:37 for sure, for sure, for sure. Michael Hingson  30:41 So the other part about it is, though, that some of these processes may may cost a bunch of money. How do they implement some of these without breaking the bank? Sacha Awaa  30:55 How do they without breaking the bank? In Michael Hingson  30:57 other words, it's going to cost to put processes in place. How do you convince business people, or how do they realize they can do it without losing all their money and just getting a marketing plan going? Sacha Awaa  31:13 I hope that they get in touch with, you know, somebody like me that can really help them through that process and really just, you know, guide them along the way and and support them in that sense, right? So it's a risk listen like with everything that you take in life, with any a vendor that you work with, with any support system that you have, it's a risk that you take to ensure that you know, it is, it is a it is a good marriage at the end of the day. That's why, when I sign up with clients, I ensure that, you know, I guide them along the way to, you know, support what they're doing, understanding that, you know, they may be bootstrapped from a budget standpoint, so it's going in slowly, giving them a proof point that, you know, hey, this is working. And then moving from there, Michael Hingson  32:07 yeah, so you have checkpoints along the way so that they can see that they're making progress. 32:13 Yes, exactly, yeah. Michael Hingson  32:16 And then, by doing that, they gain more confidence. Yes. But it is, it is just, it is a process, and marketing is a process. And we, we all need to really understand that. 32:34 Yes, I Sacha Awaa  32:35 completely agree, you know, but it's an exciting thing, and if clients start to stop, start, stop, to look at it as a line item, but rather an investment. They will, they will see the difference in that. Michael Hingson  32:50 Yeah, that's really the key. It's an investment, and they need to recognize that. And yeah, I'm sure that's part of what you have to teach. Yes, people take that pretty well? Sacha Awaa  33:03 Um, it's not that they take it well immediately. They have to, they have to adapt to it. And, you know, it's, it's once they see that it works, then, then they can feel comfortable about it. You know? Michael Hingson  33:19 Yeah, yes. So can you share a story where a small business applied, maybe the large business approach to branding and so on and experience growth? 33:38 Let's see that question again. Michael Hingson  33:40 Can you share a story where a small company applied a big brand approach and did see growth, Sacha Awaa  33:51 where they applied a big brand approach and they did see growth when you say brand? Are you talking about changing logos, like all that kind of stuff. Michael Hingson  34:02 Well, I don't know that's why. I was wondering if you had a story where somebody looked at a major company and they said, Well, we like what these people are doing. We're going to try to apply that to our business. And they did it with your help, and they were successful. Sacha Awaa  34:22 Um, so, like, so, as I mentioned, like, logos and stuff like that. Okay, that what you mean, like, from a brand. I just want to make sure I understand what you mean by, well, brand, Michael Hingson  34:36 I'm I'm open. That's why I wanted to get your sense of so big companies are successful for one reason or another, and so I was looking for maybe a story about a smaller company that adopted what a bigger company was doing, and found that they really were able to experience growth because of adopting whatever it was that they did. Sacha Awaa  34:59 Yes. Yes, so Well, I think that the audit is the most important part in the beginning, and it's focusing on that audit to ensure that they're in the right place for growth, and that's why we do that work, to make sure that we set them up for success, right? And that, to me, is extremely important, because if that work isn't done, then, then it can be set up to fail. You know, Michael Hingson  35:34 when you say audit, you mean what? Sacha Awaa  35:38 So I look at their their previous marketing history. I look at their mission, their vision. I really dig into who they think is their ideal customer profile. And then, lo and behold, we find out that there's a multitude of different customer profiles that they haven't even thought to look out for, you know? Michael Hingson  35:57 And so then your job is to help guide them to bring some of those other customer potentials into what they do. 36:05 Yes, exactly. Michael Hingson  36:09 So when you're helping a company develop a strong go to mention go to market strategy, what are some of the key elements that you you put in place and that you you you invoke Sacha Awaa  36:24 the key elements that I put in place, it really goes back to really doing the work on who their customer is. Because a lot of, like I said, it goes back to the beginning of what you asked me, What's the biggest mistake? The biggest mistake is that they don't really, truly uncover who they're targeting. They really, they really don't, you know, a lot of companies don't, even enterprise companies don't. Michael Hingson  36:44 So what is the process that you use to get people to recognize and put process, put procedures in place to really experience growth, so that you discover that they don't know their their customer base, for example, like they should, or the way they're they're speaking to their customer base, isn't necessarily the best way to do it. What are, what are some of the procedures and the processes that you actually put in place that help move them forward in a positive way? Yeah. Sacha Awaa  37:18 So you know, when, when we look into the audit. You know, we we really get their content in a good place. We really tighten up their mission. We tighten up their vision. We really expand on who their customer profile is. We make sure that all of their marketing tech is connected so that they can track a lead in through the funnel, from from from the lead to the final sale. And that's that's really important, you know. So that's really, that's really where we start. And then whatever we uncover from the, how should I say, from the audit, then we start to put, and every business is different. And then we really start to put implement and implementations in place to build from, and that becomes the ground up. Michael Hingson  38:09 And how, how long do you typically work with a company? They come to you and they have a problem or whatever, is there kind of any sort of average amount of time that you end up spending with them, or is it a kind of ongoing relationship that lasts a long time? Sacha Awaa  38:26 Project Based clients, and then I have clients that are sort of, you know, have been with me since day one. Marketing never stops. So as long as clients understand that, then, you know, we keep moving. It's the heartbeat of every company, right? Michael Hingson  38:47 So you continue to work with them, and you continue to create and run their marketing campaigns. Yes. How many people do you have in your company? Sacha Awaa  38:58 Um, I am a solopreneur, and I contract people depending on the clients that I bring in. So I also help with other solopreneurs. So that's, that's how I have managed to to make it work, because it will be difficult to keep people on staff if I don't have work for them, right? Yeah, right. Michael Hingson  39:16 Yeah, right. But, but you bring people in so that works out. Well, do you have customers outside the US, or is it primarily in the US? 39:28 They're global. Michael Hingson  39:29 They're global, okay, yeah, yeah, the value of video conferencing, right? 39:36 Exactly, exactly, exactly. Michael Hingson  39:40 So say the pandemic has helped in in fixing some things anyway, or enhancing some things, 39:46 I think so, Michael Hingson  39:49 yeah, I know zoom has become a lot better because of the pandemic as a video conferencing tool. Yes, it's more accessible than most. Which is which is really pretty good. 40:00 But, yes, Michael Hingson  40:03 but it's, I think that that we're, we're seeing the value of it. Do you, which brings up a question a little bit away from marketing, but how do you think that the entire working world is, is changing? Do you think that there, there are a number of companies that are recognizing more the value of hybrid work, whereas people can spend some of their time working at home, as opposed to just having to come into an office every day. Or do you think we're really falling back on just being in the office all the time? Sacha Awaa  40:38 Some people want to go back into the office. I think that they missed the point of of the hybridness of being able to, you know, to connect with people that I really give somebody the opportunity overseas, that can really support them. So I think a majority of people pre covid were maybe not as open. And I think they're, they're very much open to it now, Michael Hingson  41:05 and so you're seeing more people work in a more hybrid way, exactly, yeah, I I'm glad to hear that. I think it's, it's so important. I think that we're seeing that, that workers are happier when they they are in an environment that they're really comfortable in. And the reality is, while offices are great and there's a lot of value and people spending time with each other in the office, that doesn't work all the time or shouldn't work. Yeah, it's true, so it's nice to see some changes that that will help that, yes, exactly, does AI help all that in any way? Sacha Awaa  41:51 Oh, I mean, there, there are some things that AI can help with. But, I mean, from a connect to, it's, it's really maybe platforms that help you connect, that help you get, you know, the job done that maybe assimilate you being together, you know, and and, you know, brainstorming and so on and so forth, right, right? 42:11 So, what Michael Hingson  42:14 do you think about the people who say that AI is going to take away so many jobs? Sacha Awaa  42:19 I don't think that it's going to take away so many jobs. I think the people that focus on jumping on the bandwagon of AI and ensuring that they make their job a lot better with AI are the ones that are going to survive with AI. Yeah, yeah. Michael Hingson  42:36 We had someone on the podcast about a year ago, who pointed out that AI will never take away anyone's job. It's people that will take away jobs and they'll give to AI without finding other opportunities for the people who are potentially being displaced. But in reality, that AI still is not going to do everything that a person can do. So Sacha Awaa  43:03 you Yeah, there's going to be things that AI can never do. And I think that that is great, you know? I mean, I think people are going to look more for authenticity than, you know, focusing on what is not real, right? I think, I think, you know, people are so scared that it's going to backlash. I actually think that it's going to showcase that we, we need things. We need certain things, right? Yeah, yeah. Michael Hingson  43:44 Well, and I've talked about it here, but one of my favorite interesting things about AI is, when I first started hearing about it, I was talking to a couple of teachers who said that, well, AI is just going to make life really difficult because students are just going to let AI write their papers, and students aren't going to learn anything. And and I asked, What are you going to do about that? Well, what can we do? We we're working on programs so that we can try to figure out whether AI wrote the speech or the or the paper, or they wrote the paper. And that got me thinking, and I finally realized what a wonderful opportunity AI is providing. So you assign a paper for a class of students, and the students go off and do their papers. A lot of them may use AI to do the paper, but if you're concerned about whether they've really learned from the experience. The way to handle it is let everyone turn their papers in, then take a day and let the students in the class each have like a minute, get them up in front of the class and say, now defend your paper. You'll find out very quickly who knows what? Sacha Awaa  44:58 Yeah, it's. True, and they are saying that more people that are using AI, it's actually like hurting their brain from becoming creative, right? Michael Hingson  45:09 Well, I I use AI, but I use AI to perhaps come up with some ideas that I hadn't thought of, but I still create the article or create the paper, because the only way to do it, I think AI is great at coming up with some possibilities that maybe we didn't think of. But yeah, it still needs to be us that does it. 45:31 I completely agree. I couldn't agree more, yeah, and that works. Yeah, for sure, for sure. Michael Hingson  45:40 So when, when startups start launching and doing things, what are some of the common mistakes that they make? Sacha Awaa  45:56 They rush to get to market, and they don't do the foundational work that we chatted about, and then that can really, that can really have a major pushback on them. Michael Hingson  46:13 Are there others that you can think of? There are other things that companies ought to do that they don't Sacha Awaa  46:21 organizational, creating project plans. But it's at its core, you know? I mean, if they, if they rush to get somewhere, and it doesn't turn out to work in the end, it's because, you know, they haven't done the work to really ensure that they're in a good place before they start spending money. You know, Michael Hingson  46:47 companies need to to have leaders and visionaries. How would you define a leader? 46:54 How would I define a leader? Sacha Awaa  46:58 Well, that's a little bit of a loaded question. I would define a leader who understands that they are as strong as who they bring on to support the growth of the company and their ability to know when to take a step back, because they're the founders, and to allow whoever they brought on to help them grow. If that makes sense, it does, yeah, because a lot of the times people hire somebody and they're and they just do the work for them, but it's like, why have you hired them? You know, Michael Hingson  47:43 I think that one of the key attributes of any leader is to know when as to learn your people and know when to step back and let somebody else take the lead because they happen to have more of a talent to do a particular thing than you do 100% I think that is so crucial, because so many leaders 48:06 don't do that. Yep, I completely agree. Sacha Awaa  48:12 They don't. They don't do that at all, you know? Michael Hingson  48:15 Yeah, I you know. And there's a big difference between being a leader and being a boss. 48:22 Yes, absolutely. And Michael Hingson  48:24 I, you know, I always tell every person that I ever hired, my job is not to boss you around. You convinced me that you could do the job we're hiring you for, but my job is to use my talents to help you be more successful, and you and I need to figure out how to make that work. How do we use each other's talents to do the things that you need to be successful? 48:48 Yes, exactly. Michael Hingson  48:51 I don't think that all that many people tend to do that, and they really should. 48:56 Yes, yes. I couldn't agree more. Michael Hingson  49:01 Well, there are a lot of tools and tactics available that people can use. How do you decide to use what in a particular stage of growth or to help people move forward? Sacha Awaa  49:14 It really is just dependent on, on, on their business and their industry and that's what makes it unique to just to focus on, you know, because the same industry could, should, just could have different needs, right? So it's, it's understanding what their needs are that you then assign that to particular tools that help them with growth and so on and so forth. Michael Hingson  49:43 Yeah, that that clearly makes sense. So there's a lot of noise and lot of distractions in marketing. How do you recommend cutting through the noise and focusing on what really matters in any given situation? Um, Sacha Awaa  50:06 what really matters in any given situation? Michael Hingson  50:10 So there's, again, there's there. There's so many ways to get distracted. How do you how do you help to keep people focused on the job at hand, whatever that is to to ignore distractions and focus. Sacha Awaa  50:27 So I guess distractions can come in many different packages. So it's really understanding how those distractions are and what they mean to the company. So just depending on them on that. It's, it's, it's really offering up whether that distraction is important, you know what I'm saying, or if it is, you know, something that is just something to bypass, or if it's noise, so it's really kind of analyzing the worth of spending time and effort on it. Michael Hingson  51:05 How do you get people to get past focusing on those distractions, though? So I mean, you're right and all that you've said, but how do you get people to to recognize what they really need to do in any given situation? Um, Sacha Awaa  51:23 it's really the analysis of of throwing back data to them. So it's like, okay, so this is a distraction. What does this mean to the company? You know, how can we leverage this or not leverage this? Does it make sense, or are we wasting time focusing on think it's just reasoning, right? It's logical reasoning with any type of distraction, whether it's business or personal. Michael Hingson  51:48 Yeah, I know for me, when I worked for a company a number of years ago, I was the first person into the office, because I sold to the east coast from California. So I was in the office by six, and I had two to three hours that I could focus on doing all the phone calls and the other things that I needed to do, because it was nine o'clock on the East Coast, and I started to observe after a while, not so much for me, but when other people started to arrive, they spend time chatting and all sorts of stuff like that. And sometimes I would get interrupted, and it slowed things down. But people chatted and didn't focus as much for quite a while on whatever it is that their job responsibilities required them to do. Yeah, and of course, that's a distraction. It's an interesting distraction of just communications. But still, I never saw that. The company did a lot to get people to really focus. They did some things. They put some procedures in place, for example, where you could see how many phone calls you made in a given day. Yes, some people took that to heart, but a lot of people didn't, and the bottom line is they continue to be distracted. Sacha Awaa  53:14 Yes, it's true, but I think, I think then what, what that what that becomes, it's, it's the personal characteristic. 53:26 Yeah, they have to solve for Michael Hingson  53:30 that they didn't have to solve for. But if you were the leader of a company where you saw some people who were doing that, what would you do? How do you get them to understand, Sacha Awaa  53:44 how do I get them to understand Michael Hingson  53:46 that they need to focus? And how do you help them focus? Sacha Awaa  53:51 I think that's out of my paycheck. Hopefully they have a psychologist back Michael Hingson  53:56 to getting that degree again, right? Sacha Awaa  53:59 Yeah, you know, I mean, like, there's only so much that I can do honestly, you know, 54:06 yeah, yeah, Sacha Awaa  54:11 there really is only so much that I can do in the arena of supporting people, You know, 54:17 right, yeah. Michael Hingson  54:20 So if you encounter an overwhelmed business owner who's trying to create a clear marketing path to do something and they feel overwhelmed, what kind of advice would you give them Sacha Awaa  54:39 that it's natural to feel overwhelmed, Michael Hingson  54:44 and but, but they feel overwhelmed. How do you deal? How do you fix that again? Sacha Awaa  54:50 I mean, I'm somebody that focuses on marketing, so it would be, it would be out of my, my core scope, to be honest. You know? I mean, I just. You know, I can talk them through a certain amount of things, but like, you know, I mean, I can't really change somebody's personality, and it's either, you know, I can guide them in one direction as to, like, what is going to hurt or make or break their company. But I'm not an organizational psychologist. I think that that would be a really good question for an organizational psychologist versus a marketer, 55:21 okay, you know, yeah. Michael Hingson  55:24 Well, if people want to reach out to you and engage you in terms of your services and so on, how do they do that? Sacha Awaa  55:32 Yeah, so you can find me on LinkedIn. It is Sasha Awa. And then can you spell that S, A, C is in Charlie H A, and then the last name is a W, W, A, and my website is S A M, as in Mary G, as in George H Q, so headquarters.com Michael Hingson  55:52 so it's S A M, G, H Q, H 55:57 Q, exactly.com. Yes. Michael Hingson  56:02 And they can reach out to you through the website, and, of course, on LinkedIn and so on. 56:06 Yes, exactly. Well, we've Michael Hingson  56:09 been doing this a while, but do you have any kind of final words of wisdom and things that you want to say to the audience here to get them thinking and maybe reach out to you? Yeah, yeah. Sacha Awaa  56:20 I think, you know, marketing isn't as complicated as it's made out to be. It is. It is loud and noisy. But you know, there are, there are marketers that are here to support you on complicated and to really support your growth. So really lean on them and and and trust in the process Michael Hingson  56:46 and through that, they'll grow exactly well. Sasha Sacha, I want to thank you very much for being with us today. This has been a lot of fun, and I appreciate it, and I appreciate your time. And I urge all of you to when you're thinking about marketing and growing your business, Satya is a person who can help with that clearly. So hopefully you'll reach out. I'd love to hear from you. Love to hear your thoughts about today. Feel free to reach out to me. At Michael H i@accessibe.com that's m, I, C, H, A, E, L, H, I, at, A, C, C, E, S, S, i, b, e.com, love to hear from you and get your thoughts and for all of you and such as you as well, if you know anyone else who might ought to be a guest on our podcast, love to get introductions to people and wherever you're observing the podcast today, Please give us a five star rating. We really value your ratings. We value your thoughts and your your ratings and your opinions are what keep us going. So we really appreciate you giving us those and for you again. Sacha, I want to thank you for being here. This has been a lot of fun. So thank you. 57:58 Thank you so much. Michael. I really appreciate it. Michael Hingson  58:06 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com . AccessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for Listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.

Screening Precarity integrates a cultural analysis of film texts and history, industry transformations, and the violence and crises of political economy infrastructures, to study post-liberalization shifts in the Hindi film industry in India. The book investigates Bollywood as a media system that has moved away from the glee and gusto of liberalization in the 1990s to an industry contending with the failures and inadequacies of neoliberalism's promises, and the ascendency of the material-affective redressals offered by religious ethnonationalism. The monograph examines 19 Hindi-language films released post-2010 to study contemporary India's precarious public sphere which has been characterized by a pervasive sense of professional-personal insecurity experienced by the vast majority. This is a book about the role of cinema, or cultural texts more generally, in a period marked by incredible insecurity, violence, and the absence of collective political alternatives. Screening Precarity is an intervention in the politics of representation, particularly, of how marginal identities are shaped, scripted, and screened in precarious times. It is also a cultural analysis of how the biggest film industry in the world is embedded in global media networks, and marshals state power and star power, national histories and transnational fantasies, structural impossibilities and individual agency. Megha Anwer is a theorist of literature and visual culture. Her research areas include contemporary postcolonial literature, global cinema, Victorian literature and visual culture. Anupama Arora is a professor of English and Communication, and Women's and Gender Studies, at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. Dr Priyam Sinha is an Alexander Von Humboldt Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Institute for Asian and African Studies, Humboldt University in Berlin. Her research interests lie at the intersection of critical media industry studies, disability studies, gender studies, affect studies, production culture studies, and anthropology of the body. So far, her articles have been published in the European Journal of Cultural Studies, Media, Culture and Society; Communication, Culture and Critique; South Asian Diaspora, among others. She is also a regular podcast host at NewBooksNetwork and has been published in public writing forums like the Economic and Political Weekly, FemAsia, Asian Film Archive, among others. More information on her ongoing projects can be found on her website www.priyamsinha.com and you can follow her on https://x.com/PriyamSinha Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/south-asian-studies

It's the first episode of the new year, and Jim Hill and Lauren Hersey ring in 2026 by digging into the annual Disney merch reset. From the surprisingly nostalgic look of next year's dated park souvenirs to a brand-new Star Wars droid collector program, there's a lot changing on shelves just as holiday decorations disappear overnight. Plus, Jim takes a deep dive into one of Disney's most baffling merch success stories and why it still doesn't quite translate stateside. NEWS • A first look at Disney's 2026 dated park merchandise, including a color palette that feels straight out of vintage Walt Disney World road signage • Disney confirms Droid Factory Fridays, a new monthly Star Wars collector program kicking off January 2 • How Disney is using timed drops and bonus build incentives to keep Star Wars fans buying all year long • Valentine's Day arrives overnight, with Sweethearts' Nite at Disneyland and new couples-focused merch leading the charge FEATURE • Why Stitch dominated 2025 with billions in merch sales following the live-action film • The strange history of Duffy the Disney Bear, from U.S. failure to massive success in Asia • Disney's new slow-and-steady strategy to finally make Duffy stick with American audiences • How Asian parks are going all-in on Duffy with restaurants, parades, shows, and anniversary celebrations HOSTS • Jim Hill - IG: @JimHillMedia | X: @JimHillMedia | Website: JimHillMedia.com • Lauren Hersey - IG: @lauren_hersey_ | X: @laurenhersey2 FOLLOW • Facebook: JimHillMediaNews • Instagram: JimHillMedia • TikTok: JimHillMedia SUPPORT Support the show and access bonus episodes and additional content at Patreon.com/JimHillMedia. PRODUCTION CREDITS Edited by Dave Grey Produced by Eric Hersey - Strong Minded Agency SPONSOR This episode is sponsored by Unlocked Magic, the same trusted team behind the DVC Rental Store and the DVC Resale Market. If a trip to Disney or Universal is in your future, visit UnlockedMagic.com to score great ticket deals from people who truly know Disney travel. If you would like to sponsor a show on the Jim Hill Media Podcast Network, reach out today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

TV Round-Up 2025: The Year That Television Lost the Plot — with Paul Critoph

Today, I catch up with Brandt Stickley, Associate Professor at the National University of Natural Medicine in Portland. We discuss his practice of “Chinese medicine anti-psychiatry,” which involves exorcising spirits using acupuncture needles. Along the way, we talk about mass possession, spiritual shark bites, and how to properly unwind a wayward ghost. If you want to hear scholars and practitioners engaging in deep conversations about the dark side of Asian religions and medicines, then subscribe to Black Beryl wherever you get your podcasts. Also check out our members-only benefits on Substack.com to see what our guests have shared with you. Enjoy the show!Resources mentioned in this episode:Brandt's websiteCertificate in Chinese Medicine PsychiatryBrandt's courses and mentorshipBlood, Fire, Light, & Time on SubstackBecome a paid subscriber on blackberyl.substack.com to unlock our members-only benefits, including downloading:Brandt Stickley, "Approaching the Origin: The Diaphanous Body and Classical Chinese Medicine" (2024)

Meet the dynamic Kim Thanh Le ! Many thanks to my producer, Bright Su ,for introducing us. We had such fun getting to know each other and learning about her improv journey! She was born and raised in Hanoi and loves her city. She is a Hanoi-based improviser/writer. She is the founder and director of The Improv Hub, Vietnam's first community space dedicated to improv, and the Vietnam Improv Festival. Thanh has been building the improv community across Vietnam, bringing this special art form to audiences who are mostly experiencing it for the first time. A lot of the shows and classes she has produced in her country are bilingual, to treasure both local cultures and international bonds. She has also taught and performed in Australia, China, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand. With an academic background in education and business, she also applies improv to design training and facilitation programs on collaboration and development for organizations. This past year she taught at the Oslo Impro Festival and taught "Culturally Proud" and "Generational Bridges" which she describes on our podcast. When not doing improv, she gets nerdy and writes case studies about Asian businesses, or takes her motorbike and wanders around Vietnam. You can learn more about her at: The Improv Hub https://www.improv.vn or any of the social media handles for The Improv Hub (FB/IG) and Vietnam Improv Festival (FB/IG).

A weekly magazine-style radio show featuring the voices and stories of Asians and Pacific Islanders from all corners of our community. The show is produced by a collective of media makers, deejays, and activists. Tonight's show features Asian Refugees United and Lavender Phoenix in conversation about art, culture, and organizing, and how artists help us imagine and build liberation. Important Links: Lavender Phoenix: Website | Instagram Asian Refugees United: Website | Instagram | QTViệt Cafe Collective Transcript: Cheryl: Hey everyone. Good evening. You tuned in to APEX Express. I'm your host, Cheryl, and tonight is an AACRE Night. AACRE, which is short for Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality is a network made up of 11 Asian American social justice organizations who work together to build long-term movements for justice. Across the AACRE network, our groups are organizing against deportations, confronting anti-blackness, xenophobia, advancing language justice, developing trans and queer leaders, and imagine new systems of safety and care. It's all very good, very important stuff. And all of this from the campaigns to the Organizing to Movement building raises a question that I keep coming back to, which is, where does art live In all of this, Acts of resistance do not only take place in courtrooms or city halls. It takes place wherever people are still able to imagine. It is part of how movements survive and and grow. Art is not adjacent to revolution, but rather it is one of its most enduring forms, and tonight's show sits in that very spirit, and I hope that by the end of this episode, maybe you'll see what I mean. I;d like to bring in my friends from Lavender Phoenix, a trans queer API organization, building people power in the Bay Area, who are also a part of the AACRE Network. This summer, Lavender Phoenix held a workshop that got right to the heart of this very question that we're sitting with tonight, which is what is the role of the artist in social movements? As they were planning the workshop, they were really inspired by a quote from Toni Cade Bambara, who in an interview from 1982 said, as a cultural worker who belongs to an oppressed people, my job is to make the revolution irresistible. So that raises a few questions worth slowing down for, which are, who was Toni Cade Bambara? What does it mean to be a cultural organizer and why does that matter? Especially in this political moment? Lavender Phoenix has been grappling with these questions in practice, and I think they have some powerful answers to share. So without further ado, I'd like to introduce you to angel who is a member of Lavender Phoenix. Angel: My name is Angel. I use he and she pronouns, and I'm part of the communications committee at LavNix. So, let's explore what exactly is the meaning of cultural work.  Cultural workers are the creators of narratives through various forms of artistic expression, and we literally drive the production of culture. Cultural work reflects the perspectives and attitudes of artists and therefore the people and communities that they belong to. Art does not exist in a vacuum. You may have heard the phrase before. Art is always political. It serves a purpose to tell a story, to document the times to perpetuate and give longevity to ideas. It may conform to the status quo or choose to resist it. I wanted to share a little bit about one cultural worker who's made a really big impact and paved the way for how we think about cultural work and this framework. Toni Cade Bambara was a black feminist, cultural worker, writer, and organizer whose literary work celebrated black art, culture and life, and radically supported a movement for collective liberation. She believed that it's the artist's role to serve the community they belong to, and that an artist is of no higher status than a factory worker, social worker, or teacher. Is the idea of even reframing art making as cultural work. Reclaimed the arts from the elite capitalist class and made clear that it is work, it does not have more value than or take precedence over any other type of movement work. This is a quote from an interview from 1982 when Toni Cade Bambara said, as a cultural worker who belongs to an oppressed people, my job is to make revolution irresistible. But in this country, we're not encouraged and equipped at any particular time to view things that way. And so the artwork or the art practice that sells that capitalist ideology is considered art. And anything that deviates from that is considered political, propagandist, polemical, or didactic, strange, weird, subversive or ugly. Cheryl: After reading that quote, angel then invited the workshop participants to think about what that means for them. What does it mean to make the revolution irresistible? After giving people a bit of time to reflect, angel then reads some of the things that were shared in the chat. Angel: I want my art to point out the inconsistencies within our society to surprised, enraged, elicit a strong enough reaction that they feel they must do something. Cheryl: Another person said, Angel: I love that art can be a way of bridging relationships. Connecting people together, building community. Cheryl: And someone else said. Angel: I want people to feel connected to my art, find themselves in it, and have it make them think and realize that they have the ability to do something themselves. Cheryl: I think what is rather striking in these responses that Angel has read aloud to what it means to make art that makes the revolution irresistible isn't just aesthetics alone, but rather its ability to help us connect and communicate and find one another to enact feelings and responses in each other. It's about the way it makes people feel implicated and connected and also capable of acting. Tony Cade Bambara when she poses that the role of cultural workers is to make the revolution irresistible is posing to us a challenge to tap into our creativity and create art that makes people unable to return comfortably to the world as is, and it makes revolution necessary, desirable not as an abstract idea, but as something people can want and move towards  now I'm going to invite Jenica, who is the cultural organizer at Lavender Phoenix to break down for us why we need cultural work in this political moment. . Speaker: Jenica: So many of us as artists have really internalized the power of art and are really eager to connect it to the movement.  This section is about answering this question of why is cultural work important.  Cultural work plays a really vital role in organizing and achieving our political goals, right? So if our goal is to advance radical solutions to everyday people, we also have to ask ourselves how are we going to reach those peoples? Ideas of revolution and liberation are majorly inaccessible to the masses, to everyday people. Families are being separated. Attacks on the working class are getting worse and worse. How are we really propping up these ideas of revolution, especially right in America, where propaganda for the state, for policing, for a corrupt government runs really high. Therefore our messaging in political organizing works to combat that propaganda. So in a sense we have to make our own propaganda. So let's look at this term together. Propaganda is art that we make that accurately reflects and makes people aware of the true nature of the conditions of their oppression and inspires them to take control of transforming this condition. We really want to make art that seeks to make the broader society aware of its implications in the daily violences, facilitated in the name of capitalism, imperialism, and shows that error of maintaining or ignoring the status quo. So it's really our goal to arm people with the tools to better struggle against their own points of views, their ways of thinking, because not everyone is already aligned with like revolution already, right? No one's born an organizer. No one's born 100% willing to be in this cause. So, we really focus on the creative and cultural processes, as artists build that revolutionary culture. Propaganda is really a means of liberation. It's an instrument to help clarify information education and a way to mobilize our people. And not only that, our cultural work can really model to others what it's like to envision a better world for ourselves, right? Our imagination can be so expansive when it comes to creating art. As organizers and activists when we create communication, zines, et cetera, we're also asking ourselves, how does this bring us one step closer to revolution? How are we challenging the status quo? So this is exactly what our role as artists is in this movement. It's to create propaganda that serves two different purposes. One, subvert the enemy and cultivate a culture that constantly challenges the status quo. And also awaken and mobilize the people. How can we, through our art, really uplift the genuine interests of the most exploited of people of the working class, of everyday people who are targets of the state and really empower those whose stories are often kept outside of this master narrative. Because when they are talked about, people in power will often misrepresent marginalized communities. An example of this, Lavender Phoenix, a couple years ago took up this campaign called Justice for Jaxon Sales. Trigger warning here, hate crime, violence against queer people and death. Um, so Jaxon Sales was a young, queer, Korean adoptee living in the Bay Area who went on a blind like dating app date and was found dead the next morning in a high-rise apartment in San Francisco. Lavender Phoenix worked really closely and is still connected really closely with Jaxon's parents, Jim and Angie Solas to really fight, and organize for justice for Jaxon and demand investigation into what happened to him and his death, and have answers for his family. I bring that up, this campaign because when his parents spoke to the chief medical examiner in San Francisco, they had told his family Jaxon died of an accidental overdose he was gay. Like gay people just these kinds of drugs. So that was the narrative that was being presented to us from the state. Like literally, their own words: he's dead because he's gay. And our narrative, as we continue to organize and support his family, was to really address the stigma surrounding drug use. Also reiterating the fact that justice was deserved for Jaxon, and that no one should ever have to go through this. We all deserve to be safe, that a better world is possible. So that's an example of combating the status quo and then uplifting the genuine interest of our people and his family. One of our key values at Lavender Phoenix is honoring our histories, because the propaganda against our own people is so intense. I just think about the everyday people, the working class, our immigrant communities and ancestors, other queer and trans people of color that really fought so hard to have their story told. So when we do this work and think about honoring our histories, let's also ask ourselves what will we do to keep those stories alive? Cheryl: We're going to take a quick music break and listen to some music by Namgar, an international ethno music collective that fuses traditional Buryat and Mongolian music with pop, jazz, funk, ambient soundscapes, and art- pop. We'll be back in just a moment with more after we listen to “part two” by Namgar.    Cheryl: Welcome back.  You are tuned in to APEX express on 94.1 KPFA and 89.3 KPFB B in Berkeley and online at kpfa.org.  That song you just heard was “part two” by Namgar, an incredible four- piece Buryat- Mongolian ensemble that is revitalizing and preserving the Buryat language and culture through music. For those just tuning in tonight's episode of APEX Express is all about the role of the artist in social movements. We're joined by members of Lavender Phoenix, often referred to as LavNix, which is a grassroots organization in the Bay Area building Trans and queer API Power. You can learn more about their work in our show notes. We talked about why cultural work is a core part of organizing. We grounded that conversation in the words of Toni Cade Bambara, who said in a 1982 interview, as a cultural worker who belongs to an oppressed people, my job is to make revolution irresistible. We unpacked what that looks like in practice and lifted up Lavender Phoenix's Justice for Jaxon Sales campaign as a powerful example of cultural organizing, which really demonstrates how art and narrative work and cultural work are essential to building power Now Jenica from Levner Phoenix is going to walk us through some powerful examples of cultural organizing that have occurred in social movements across time and across the world. Speaker: Jenica: Now we're going to look at some really specific examples of powerful cultural work in our movements. For our framework today, we'll start with an international example, then a national one, a local example, and then finally one from LavNix. As we go through them, we ask that you take notes on what makes these examples, impactful forms of cultural work. How does it subvert the status quo? How is it uplifting the genuine interest of the people? Our international example is actually from the Philippines. Every year, the Corrupt Philippines president delivers a state of the nation address to share the current conditions of the country. However, on a day that the people are meant to hear about the genuine concrete needs of the Filipino masses, they're met instead with lies and deceit that's broadcasted and also built upon like years of disinformation and really just feeds the selfish interests of the ruling class and the imperialist powers. In response to this, every year, BAYAN, which is an alliance in the Philippines with overseas chapters here in the US as well. Their purpose is to fight for the national sovereignty and genuine democracy in the Philippines, they hold a Peoples' State of the Nation Address , or PSONA, to protest and deliver the genuine concerns and demands of the masses. So part of PSONA are effigies. Effigies have been regular fixtures in protest rallies, including PSONA. So for those of you who don't know, an effigy is a sculptural representation, often life size of a hated person or group. These makeshift dummies are used for symbolic punishment in political protests, and the figures are often burned. In the case of PSONA, these effigies are set on fire by protestors criticizing government neglect, especially of the poor. Lisa Ito, who is a progressive artists explained that the effigy is constructed not only as a mockery of the person represented, but also of the larger system that his or her likeness embodies. Ito pointed out that effigies have evolved considerably as a form of popular protest art in the Philippines, used by progressive people's movements, not only to entertain, but also to agitate, mobilize and capture the sentiments of the people. This year, organizers created this effigy that they titled ‘ZomBBM,' ‘Sara-nanggal' . This is a play on words calling the corrupt president of the Philippines, Bongbong Marcos, or BBM, a zombie. And the vice president Sara Duterte a Manananggal, which is a, Filipino vampire to put it in short, brief words. Organizers burnt this effigy as a symbol of DK and preservation of the current ruling class. I love this effigy so much. You can see BBM who's depicted like his head is taken off and inside of his head is Trump because he's considered like a puppet president of the Philippines just serving US interests. Awesome. I'm gonna pass it to Angel for our national perspective. Angel: Our next piece is from the national perspective and it was in response to the AIDS crisis. The global pandemic of HIV AIDS began in 1981 and continues today. AIDS is the late stage of HIV infection, human immunodeficiency virus, and this crisis has been marked largely by government indifference, widespread stigma against gay people, and virtually no federal funding towards research or services for everyday people impacted. There was a really devastating lack of public attention about the seriousness of HIV. The Ronald Reagan administration treated the crisis as a joke because of its association with gay men, and Reagan didn't even publicly acknowledge AIDS until 19 85, 4 years into the pandemic. Thousands of HIV positive people across backgrounds and their supporters organize one of the most influential patient advocacy groups in history. They called themselves the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power or ACT up. They ultimately organize and force the government and the scientific community to fundamentally change the way medical research is conducted. Paving the way for the discovery of a treatment that today keeps alive, an estimated half million HIV positive Americans and millions more worldwide. Sarah Schulman, a writer and former member of ACT Up, wrote a list of ACT UPS achievements, including changing the CDC C'S definition of aids to include women legalizing needle exchange in New York City and establishing housing services for HIV positive unhoused people. To highlight some cultural work within ACT Up, the AIDS activist artist Collective Grand Fury formed out of ACT Up and CR and created works for the public sphere that drew attention to the medical, moral and public issues related to the AIDS crisis. Essentially, the government was fine with the mass deaths and had a large role in the active killing off of people who are not just queer, but people who are poor working class and of color. We still see parallels in these roadblocks. Today, Trump is cutting public healthcare ongoing, and in recent memory, the COVID crisis, the political situation of LGBTQ people then and now is not divorced from this class analysis. So in response, we have the AIDS Memorial Quilt, this collective installation memorializes people who died in the US from the AIDS crisis and from government neglect. Each panel is dedicated to a life lost and created by hand by their friends, family, loved ones, and community. This artwork was originally conceived by Cleve Jones in SF for the 1985 candlelight March, and later it was expanded upon and displayed in Washington DC in 1987. Its enormity demonstrated the sheer number at which queer folk were killed in the hiv aids crisis, as well as created a space in the public for dialogue about the health disparities that harm and silence our community. Today, it's returned home to San Francisco and can be accessed through an interactive online archive. 50,000 individual panels and around a hundred thousand names make up the patchwork quilt, which is insane, and it's one of the largest pieces of grassroots community art in the world. Moving on to a more local perspective. In the Bay Area, we're talking about the Black Panther Party. So in October of 1966 in Oakland, California, Huey Newton and Bobby Seale founded the Black Panther Party for self-defense. The Panthers practiced militant self-defense of black communities against the US government and fought to establish socialism through organizing and community-based programs. The Black Panthers began by organizing arm patrols of black people to monitor the Oakland Police Department and challenge rampant rampant police brutality. At its peak, the party had offices in 68 cities and thousands of members. The party's 10 point program was a set of demands, guidelines, and values, calling for self-determination, full employment of black people, and the end of exploitation of black workers housing for all black people, and so much more. The party's money programs directly addressed their platform as they instituted a free B Breakfast for Children program to address food scarcity Founded community health clinics to address the lack of adequate, adequate healthcare for black people and treat sickle cell anemia, tuberculosis, and HIV aids and more. The cultural work created by the Black Panther Party included the Black Panther Party newspaper known as the Black Panther. It was a four page newsletter in Oakland, California in 1967. It was the main publication of the party and was soon sold in several large cities across the US as well as having an international readership. The Black Panther issue number two. The newspaper, distributed information about the party's activities and expressed through articles, the ideology of the Black Panther Party, focusing on both international revolutions as inspiration and contemporary racial struggles of African Americans across the United States. Solidarity with other resistance movements was a major draw for readers. The paper's international section reported on liberation struggles across the world. Under Editor-in-Chief, David Du Bois, the stepson of WEB Du Bois, the section deepened party support for revolutionary efforts in South Africa and Cuba. Copies of the paper traveled abroad with students and activists and were tra translated into Hebrew and Japanese. It reflected that the idea of resistance to police oppression had spread like wildfire. Judy Juanita, a former editor in Chief Ads, it shows that this pattern of oppression was systemic. End quote. Paper regularly featured fiery rhetoric called out racist organizations and was unabashed in its disdain for the existing political system. Its first cover story reported on the police killing of Denzel Doel, a 22-year-old black man in Richmond, California. In all caps, the paper stated, brothers and sisters, these racist murders are happening every day. They could happen to any one of us. And it became well known for its bold cover art, woodcut style images of protestors, armed panthers, and police depicted as bloodied pigs. Speaker: Jenica: I'm gonna go into the LavNix example of cultural work that we've done. For some context, we had mentioned that we are taking up this campaign called Care Not Cops. Just to give some brief background to LavNix, as systems have continued to fail us, lavender Phoenix's work has always been about the safety of our communities. We've trained people in deescalation crisis intervention set up counseling networks, right? Then in 2022, we had joined the Sales family to fight for justice for Jaxon Sales. And with them we demanded answers for untimely death from the sheriff's department and the medical examiner. Something we noticed during that campaign is that every year we watch as people in power vote on another city budget that funds the same institutions that hurt our people and steal money from our communities. Do people know what the budget is for the San Francisco Police Department? Every year, we see that city services and programs are gutted. Meanwhile, this year, SFPD has $849 million, and the sheriff has $345 million. So, honestly, policing in general in the city is over $1 billion. And they will not experience any cuts. Their bloated budgets will remain largely intact. We've really been watching, Mayor Lurie , his first months and like, honestly like first more than half a year, with a lot of concern. We've seen him declare the unlawful fentanyl state of emergency, which he can't really do, and continue to increase police presence downtown. Ultimately we know that mayor Lurie and our supervisors need to hear from us everyday people who demand care, not cops. So that leads me into our cultural work. In March of this year, lavender Phoenix had collaborated with youth organizations across the city, youth groups from Chinese Progressive Association, PODER, CYC, to host a bilingual care, not cops, zine making workshop for youth. Our organizers engaged with the youth with agitating statistics on the egregious SFPD budget, and facilitated a space for them to warm up their brains and hearts to imagine a world without prisons and policing. And to really further envision one that centers on care healing for our people, all through art. What I really learned is that working class San Francisco youth are the ones who really know the city's fascist conditions the most intimately. It's clear through their zine contributions that they've really internalized these intense forms of policing in the schools on the streets with the unhoused, witnessing ice raids and fearing for their families. The zine was really a collective practice with working class youth where they connected their own personal experiences to the material facts of policing in the city, the budget, and put those experiences to paper.   Cheryl: Hey everyone. Cheryl here. So we've heard about Effigies in the Philippines, the AIDS Memorial Quilt, the Black Panther Party's newspaper, the Black Panther and Lavender Phoenix's Care Cop zine. Through these examples, we've learned about cultural work and art and narrative work on different scales internationally, nationally, locally and organizationally. With lavender Phoenix. What we're seeing is across movements across time. Cultural work has always been central to organizing. We're going to take another music break, but when we return, I'll introduce you to our next speaker. Hai, from Asian Refugees United, who will walk us through, their creative practice, which is food, as a form of cultural resistance, and we'll learn about how food ways can function as acts of survival, resistance, and also decolonization. So stay with us more soon when we return.   Cheryl: And we're back!!. You're listening to APEX express on 94.1 KPFA, 89.3 KPFB in Berkeley. 88.1. KFCF in Fresno and online@kpfa.org. That was “Juniper” by Minjoona, a project led by Korean American musician, Jackson Wright.  huge thanks to Jackson and the whole crew behind that track.  I am here with Hai from Asian Refugees United, who is a member QTViet Cafe Collective. A project under Asian Refugees United. QTViet Viet Cafe is a creative cultural hub that is dedicated to queer and trans viet Liberation through ancestral practices, the arts and intergenerational connection. This is a clip from what was a much longer conversation. This episode is all about the role of the artist in social movements and I think Hai brings a very interesting take to the conversation. Hai (ARU): I think that what is helping me is one, just building the muscle. So when we're so true to our vision and heart meets mind and body. So much of what QTViet Cafe is, and by extension Asian refugees and like, we're really using our cultural arts and in many ways, whether that's movement or poetry or written word or song or dance. And in many ways I've had a lot of experience in our food ways, and reclaiming those food ways. That's a very embodied experience. We're really trying to restore wholeness and health and healing in our communities, in our bodies and our minds and our families and our communities that have been displaced because of colonization, imperialism, capitalism. And so how do we restore, how do we have a different relationship and how do we restore? I think that from moving from hurt to healing is life and art. And so we need to take risk and trying to define life through art and whatever means that we can to make meaning and purpose and intention. I feel like so much of what art is, is trying to make meaning of the hurt in order to bring in more healing in our lives. For so long, I think I've been wanting a different relationship to food. For example, because I grew up section eight, food stamps, food bank. My mom and my parents doing the best they could, but also, yeah, grew up with Viet food, grew up with ingredients for my parents making food, mostly my mom that weren't necessarily all the best. And I think compared to Vietnam, where it's easier access. And there's a different kind of system around, needs around food and just easier access, more people are involved around the food system in Vietnam I think growing up in Turtle Island and seeing my parents struggle not just with food, but just with money and jobs it's just all connected. And I think that impacted my journey and. My own imbalance around health and I became a byproduct of diabetes and high cholesterol and noticed that in my family. So when I noticed, when I had type two diabetes when I was 18, made the conscious choice to, I knew I needed to have some type of, uh, I need to have a different relationship to my life and food included and just like cut soda, started kind of what I knew at the time, exercising as ways to take care of my body. And then it's honestly been now a 20 year journey of having a different relationship to not just food, but health and connection to mind, body, spirit. For me, choosing to have a different relationship in my life, like that is a risk. Choosing to eat something different like that is both a risk and an opportunity. For me that's like part of movement building like you have to. Be so in tune with my body to notice and the changes that are needed in order to live again. When I noticed, you know, , hearing other Viet folks experiencing diet related stuff and I think knowing what I know also, like politically around what's happening around our food system, both for the vie community here and also in Vietnam, how do we, how can this regular act of nourishing ourselves both be not just in art, something that should actually just honestly be an everyday need and an everyday symbol of caregiving and caretaking and care that can just be part of our everyday lives. I want a world where, it's not just one night where we're tasting the best and eating the best and being nourished, just in one Saturday night, but that it's just happening all the time because we're in right relationship with ourselves and each other and the earth that everything is beauty and we don't have to take so many risks because things are already in its natural divine. I think it takes being very conscious of our circumstances and our surroundings and our relationships with each other for that to happen. I remember reading in my early twenties, reading the role of, bring Coke basically to Vietnam during the war. I was always fascinated like, why are, why is Coke like on Viet altars all the time? And I always see them in different places. Whenever I would go back to Vietnam, I remember when I was seven and 12. Going to a family party and the classic shiny vinyl plastic, floral like sheet on a round table and the stools, and then these beautiful platters of food. But I'm always like, why are we drinking soda or coke and whatever else? My dad and the men and then my family, like drinking beer. And I was like, why? I've had periods in my life when I've gotten sick, physically and mentally sick. Those moments open up doors to take the risk and then also the opportunity to try different truth or different path. When I was 23 and I had just like crazy eczema and psoriasis and went back home to my parents for a while and I just started to learn about nourishing traditions, movement. I was Very critical of the us traditional nutrition ideas of what good nutrition is and very adamantly like opposing the food pyramid. And then in that kind of research, I was one thinking well, they're talking about the science of broths and like soups and talking about hard boiling and straining the broth and getting the gunk on the top. And I'm like, wait, my mom did that. And I was starting to connect what has my mom known culturally that now like science is catching up, you know? And then I started just reading, you know, like I think that my mom didn't know the sign mom. I was like, asked my mom like, did you know about this? And she's like, I mean, I just, this is, is like what ba ngoai said, you know? And so I'm like, okay, so culturally this, this is happening scientifically. This is what's being shared. And then I started reading about the politics of US-centric upheaval of monocultural agriculture essentially. When the US started to do the industrial Revolution and started to basically grow wheat and soy and just basically make sugar to feed lots of cows and create sugar to be put in products like Coke was one of them. And, and then, yeah, that was basically a way for the US government to make money from Vietnam to bring that over, to Vietnam. And that was introduced to our culture. It's just another wave of imperialism and colonization. And sadly, we know what, overprocessed, like refined sugars can do to our health. And sadly, I can't help but make the connections with what happened. In many ways, food and sugar are introduced through these systems of colonization and imperialism are so far removed from what we ate pre colonization. And so, so much of my journey around food has been, you know, it's not even art, it's just like trying to understand, how do we survive and we thrive even before so many. And you know, in some ways it is art. 'cause I making 40 pounds of cha ga for event, , the fish cake, like, that's something that, that our people have been doing for a long time and hand making all that. And people love the dish and I'm really glad that people enjoyed it and mm, it's like, oh yeah, it's art. But it's what people have been doing to survive and thrive for long, for so long, you know? , We have the right to be able to practice our traditional food ways and we have the right for food sovereignty and food justice. And we have the right to, by extension, like have clean waters and hospitable places to live and for our animal kin to live and for our plant kin to be able to thrive. bun cha ga, I think like it's an artful hopeful symbol of what is seasonal and relevant and culturally symbolic of our time. I think that, yes, the imminent, violent, traumatic war that are happening between people, in Vietnam and Palestine and Sudan. Honestly, like here in America. That is important. And I think we need to show, honestly, not just to a direct violence, but also very indirect violence on our bodies through the food that we're eating. Our land and waters are living through indirect violence with just like everyday pollutants and top soil being removed and industrialization. And so I think I'm just very cognizant of the kind of everyday art ways, life ways, ways of being that I think that are important to be aware of and both practice as resistance against the forces that are trying to strip away our livelihood every day. Cheryl: We just heard from Hai of Asian refugees United who shared about how food ways function as an embodied form of cultural work that is rooted in memory and also survival and healing. Hai talked about food as a practice and art that is lived in the body and is also shaped by displacement and colonization and capitalism and imperialism. I shared that through their journey with QTV at Cafe and Asian Refugees United. High was able to reflect on reclaiming traditional food ways as a way to restore health and wholeness and relationship to our bodies and to our families, to our communities, and to the earth. High. Also, traced out illness and imbalance as deeply connected to political systems that have disrupted ancestral knowledge and instead introduced extractive food systems and normalized everyday forms of soft violence through what we consume and the impact it has on our land. And I think the most important thing I got from our conversation was that high reminded us that nourishing ourselves can be both an act of care, an art form, and an act of resistance. And what we call art is often what people have always done to survive and thrive Food. For them is a practice of memory, and it's also a refusal of erasure and also a very radical vision of food sovereignty and healing and collective life outside of colonial violence and harm. As we close out tonight's episode, I want to return to the question that has guided us from the beginning, which is, what is the role of the artist in social movements? What we've heard tonight from Tony Cade Bambara call to make revolution irresistible to lavender Phoenix's cultural organizing here, internationally to Hai, reflections on food ways, and nourishing ourselves as resistance. It is Really clear to me. Art is not separate from struggle. It is how people make sense of systems of violence and carry memory and also practice healing and reimagining new worlds in the middle of ongoing violence. Cultural work helps our movements. Endure and gives us language when words fail, or ritual when grief is heavy, and practices that connect us, that reconnect us to our bodies and our histories and to each other. So whether that's through zines, or songs or murals, newspapers, or shared meals, art is a way of liberation again and again. I wanna thank all of our speakers today, Jenica, Angel. From Lavender Phoenix. Hi, from QTV Cafe, Asian Refugees United, And I also wanna thank you, our listeners for staying with us. You've been listening to Apex Express on KPFA. Take care of yourselves, take care of each other, and keep imagining the world that we're trying to build. That's important stuff. Cheryl Truong (she/they): Apex express is produced by Miko Lee, Paige Chung, Jalena Keane-Lee, Preeti Mangala Shekar. Shekar, Anuj Vaidya, Kiki Rivera, Swati Rayasam, Nate Tan, Hien Nguyen, Nikki Chan, and Cheryl Truong  Cheryl Truong: Tonight's show was produced by me, cheryl. Thanks to the team at KPFA for all of their support. And thank you for listening!  The post APEX Express – January 1, 2026 – The Role of the Artist in Social Movements appeared first on KPFA.

Protect Your Retirement with a PHYSICAL Gold and/or Silver IRA https://www.sgtreportgold.com/ CALL( 877) 646-5347 - You Can Trust Noble Gold The gulf between the Shanghai silver market and the fraudulent US paper market has never been wider or more obvious. And while China and India wisely hoard PHYSICAL precious metals, the criminal bankers continue dumping mountains of PAPER silver because you can't build jack sh#t with it BUT you CAN suppress prices with it! The jig is almost up. GOT PHYSICAL? Bix Weir joins me to discuss the "Asian guy" silver videos, the true silver supply-demand story and much more. Thanks for tuning in.   BIX'S WEBSITE: Road to Roota https://www.roadtoroota.com/ https://old.bitchute.com/video/18bo9M3V25uz/

Get in Babes, We're Going to the Cottage. Amy, Lia, and Megan take a departure from Seoul and dive headfirst in Canada to talk about our new obsession, the queer hockey romance TV series, Heated Rivalry, based on the Game Changers book series by Rachel Reid. This isn't a deep dive, and instead we discuss all the ways that the show's creator Jacob Tierney nails the romance novel conventions and gives us the best romance adaptation we have ever seen. Also, we learn rivalry is a hard word to say out loud repeatedly.Books mentioned:Hamartia by Scarlett DrakeShow Me Wonders by Riley NashThe Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi LeeReady to download your first audiobook? Don't forget to click HERE for your free Audible trial.*Audible is a sponsor of Afternoona Delight Podcast*Are your family and friends sick of you talking about K-drama? We get it...and have an answer. Join our AfterNoona Delight Patreon and find community among folks who get your obsession. And check out www.afternoonadelight.com for more episodes, book recs and social media goodness. And don't forget about the newest member of our network: Afternoona Asks where diaspora Asians living in the West find ways to reconnect to Asian culture via Asian/KDramas.Last but CERTAINLY not least....love BTS? Or curious what all the fuss is about? Check out our sister pod Afternoona Army for "thinky, thirsty and over thirty" takes on Bangtan life. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Synopsis:  From his early days as an illustrator for the Black Panther Party to winning the prestigious Mohn Award in 2023, artist Akinsanya Kambon has been using art to amplify marginalized voices and tell stories of resilience.Make a tax deductible YEAR END DONATION and become a member go to LauraFlanders.org/donate. This show is made possible by you! Description: With each glimmering piece he creates, artist Akinsanya Kambon brings suppressed histories of both colonization and liberation to life. His ceramic works depict struggle and survival across the African diaspora, and stepping into his studio is a spiritual experience, as Laura Flanders recently discovered. Kambon was a member of the Sacramento chapter of the Black Panther Party where he worked on the layout and illustration of the party's famous paper and became lieutenant for culture, illustrating among other things the party's ten point plan and works for young people. In 2023, he won the prestigious Mohn Award — the top prize given by the Hammer Museum for his participation in their biennial “Made in LA” show, titled Acts of Living. His one-man show opened in Beverly Hills at Marc Selwyn Fine Art in April 2025. An exhibition of his work will open at the New York Sculpture Center in May 2026. In this unique conversation, Flanders asks Kambon about his own survival stories, including his polio diagnosis, getting drafted into the Vietnam War, and his year on death row. Kambon was arrested in connection with the killing of a police officer and was later acquitted from that high-profile Oak Park Four case. Join Flanders and Kambon as they discuss how art keeps spirits alive, and catch Flanders' commentary on today's fight to control our nation's stories.“Art educates the masses of people. Not Black or white or Asian, this educates the masses of young people to our struggle, to how long they're struggling and how it's connected.” - Akinsanya Kambon“I thought of myself as an artist even when I was a child, because art was therapy for me . . . I used to always seem like I would always take the side of the underdog.” - Akinsanya KambonGuest:  Akinsanya Kambon, Artist, Former Marine, Black Panther & Art Professor Additional Credits:Additional Crew:  Marco Amador, Producciones Cimarrón Clips from the documentary short- "Akinsanya Kambon The Hero Avenges," Produced by The Hammer Museum;  Directed by Gabriel Noguez and Sean Rowry.Special thanks: Cynthia Wornham, Annie Philbin, Marc Selwyn Fine Art  Full Conversation Release: While our weekly shows are edited to time for broadcast on Public TV and community radio, we offer to our members and podcast subscribers the full uncut conversation. These audio exclusives are made possible thanks to our member supporters.Watch the special report on YouTube; PBS World Channel September 5th, and on over 300 public stations across the country (check your listings, or search here via zipcode). Listen: Episode airing on community radio September 10th  (check here to see if your station is airing the show) & available as a podcast.Full Episode Notes are located HERE.-Related Podcast:  Uncut Conversation with Akinsanya Kambon, Artist, Former Marine, Black Panther & Art Professor RESOURCES:Related Laura Flanders Show Episodes:•  Jacqueline Woodson & Catherine Gund: Breathing Through Chaos & the “Meanwhile”, Watch / Listen:  Episode Cut - Full Uncut Conversation•  Genesis Be & Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis: Building Collective Freedom with a Poet & Preacher, Watch / Listen:  Episode Cut   •  Ai Weiwei: How Do We Save Our Humanity?  Watch / Listen:  Episode Cut - Full Uncut Conversation  Related Articles and Resources:• Akinsanya Kambon exhibit for ‘Made in L.A. 2023: Acts of Living' the Hammer Museum's biennial exhibition highlighting the practices of artists working throughout the greater Los Angeles area• Akinsanya Kambon Receives $100,000 John Award, Made in L.A. Biennial's Top Prize Honors Artistic Excellence, by Victoria L. Walntine, December 12, 2023, Culture Type•  Akinsanya Kambon's exhibition April 17-May31, 2025 at Marc Selwyn Fine Art•. 10 Shows to see in Los Angeles May 2025, by Matt Stromberg, May 1, 2025 Hyperallergic• Upcoming Akinsanya Kambon Exhibitions: He will be featured in a solo exhibition represented by Ortuza Projects in collaboration with Marc Selwyn Fine Art during Frieze New York in May 2026, and concurrent with a solo exhibition at the New York Sculpture Center.  Art Media Agency Laura Flanders and Friends Crew: Laura Flanders-Executive Producer, Writer; Sabrina Artel-Supervising Producer; Jeremiah Cothren-Senior Producer; Veronica Delgado-Video Editor, Janet Hernandez-Communications Director; Jeannie Hopper-Audio Director, Podcast & Radio Producer, Audio Editor, Sound Design, Narrator; Sarah Miller-Development Director, Nat Needham-Editor, Graphic Design emeritus; David Neuman-Senior Video Editor, and Rory O'Conner-Senior Consulting Producer. FOLLOW Laura Flanders and FriendsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauraflandersandfriends/Blueky: https://bsky.app/profile/lfandfriends.bsky.socialFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/LauraFlandersAndFriends/Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lauraflandersandfriendsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFLRxVeYcB1H7DbuYZQG-lgLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lauraflandersandfriendsPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/lauraflandersandfriendsACCESSIBILITY - The broadcast edition of this episode is available with closed captioned by clicking here for our YouTube Channel

Friends in Bangtan...Well, we've made it. Half the world is already in 2026, and your hosts today (Lia and Megan) are almost there. 2026 = BTS Year. For many ARMY, it will be our first big OT7 comeback. It's time to start adjusting eyes and blinking around at this new purple-hued world. Join us for a quick recap on the most famous cat reveal in history (3 cats hard launched this month), and a round up on member news. Also, it's been noted Namjoon can't stop/won't stop referencing Ddaeng. Is our spoiler king coming through with a new year treat? Get in the clown car, baby. Time to ride.Are your family and friends sick of you talking about K-drama? We get it...and have an answer. Check out our sister pod www.afternoonadelight.com for more episodes, book recs and social media goodness. And don't forget about the newest members of our network: Afternoona Asks where diaspora Asians living in the West find ways to reconnect to Asian culture via Asian/KDramas.Want to find more great BTS content? Head over to Afternoona Army for more takes on Bangtan life and links to our social media.

Today on the virtual bench we visit with longtime thermal enthusiast, friend, and SaunaTimes contributor Kev who takes us through the public bathhouses in and around Chicago for this Sauna Circuit. As you'll hear in this episode, Kev is no stranger to the saunas, banyas, and bathhouses in his hometown. What's cool about Chicago is that the banya culture is well developed.. and also quite historic thanks to aptly entitled Chicago Bathhouse, a traditional bathhouse at 1914 W. Division Street in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, which has operated since 1906. Formerly Red Square, this Russian-style bathhouse has been in operation since 1906. Featured in a 2016 SaunaTimes blog post here. And layered on top of that, you'll hear about the Asian inspired King Spa, the deep heavy heat offered at Chicago Sweatlodge, the new Kiln floating sauna – a dream come true right there floating on Lake Michigan at Navy Pier, and a Kev fan favorite the Sauna Club, where its affirmed that "we can solve for heat, but sometimes solving for the cold is more of a challenge." And in this case, the time to leave the hot room is when the idea of a fresh cold lake plunge in Lake Michigan, just steps away, is about the best idea you've ever heard. And each Sauna Circuit includes a few gems and "adjacencies." These are special places shared with you by Kev, the Chicago Sauna Scout. These adjacencies are in the spirit of "people like us do things like this." For example, the Navy Pier and Lakefront Path give Chicago visitors a real flavor of the city, and also a chance to get some exercise before round one. And there's some extra special restaurants to check out – each conveniently adjacent to a Chicago bathhouse, like Smoke Daddy BBQ, Lou Malnattis Pizza, and SuperDawg Drive-In, just to name a few. So, whether you live in Chicago, or thinking of heading to Chicago for a vacation, or on the march to the Windy City for work or a trade show, this Sauna Circuit is right here for you. To access, simply go to SaunaTimes.com, click on the Sauna Circuit map, and then the Chicago Sauna Circuit.. and from there, you're well on your way. Let's visit with Kev, and bring you along to the Chicago Sauna Circuit.

This week on Tea and Soju, the Drama Trio is settling in to roll the highlight reel on our year in dramas and podcasting in The Drama Trio's 2025 Highlight Reel. We're chatting about the shows that defined our watching year, the moments that surprised us most, and the dramas that stayed with us long after the final episode.We're also taking a moment to reflect on our podcasting journey this year — the growth, the laughs, the learning curves, and everything in between. Expect cozy vibes, honest reflections, and a whole lot of appreciation as we look back on what 2025 has meant for us behind the mic.Grab your drink of the day, get comfy, and join us for a warm, heartfelt year-end catch-up with the Drama Trio.If you like the episode and would behind the scenes, deleted content and further reviews join Patreon - patreon.com/user?u=82789007 To join a safe, Asian drama chatter community there's Discord  - https://discord.com/invite/8CEPFjnaRY Social Liliana (Tea and Soju)Instagram: teaandsojupod - https://instagram.com/teaandsojupod?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA== Tiktok - teaandsojupod- https://www.tiktok.com/@teaandsojupod?_t=8gXFJT3Q6Ov&_r=1 Email - teaandsojupodcast@gmail.com  Jess Instagram- daebakpod - https://instagram.com/daebakpod?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA== TikTok - daebakpod - https://www.tiktok.com/@daebakpod?_t=8gXFSIxnLMG&_r=1 CaitlinBlog - NoSleep4Dramas - https://www.nosleep4dramas.com/my-blogInstagram - nosleep4dramas - https://instagram.com/nosleep4dramas?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA== TikTok - nosleep4dramas -  https://www.tiktok.com/@nosleep4dramas?_t=8gXFc8RgiTB&_r=1

Please note that this episode was recorded prior to Kenya's passing.In our final podcast of 2025, we start by clearing up last episode's “acre-gate” and confirming the size of the expanded female Asian habitat: once completed, our elephants will have approximately 280 acres to roam.There is still time to support our year-end fundraiser for this major expansion. With a USD 75k match in place, every dollar you give is doubled.We look back on a year filled with both heartbreak and hope — from Argentina becoming elephant-free to the milestones, losses, and moments that shaped life at Elephant Sanctuary Brazil. Kat and Scott share their personal highlights of 2025, and we close with a look ahead to 2026, including early plans and possibilities for the year to come.Links:Donate here for the expansion of the female Asian habitat: https://globalelephants.org/room-to-roam-fundraiser-last-chance-to-give/Watch our Vision for Sanctuary: Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, X, Threads & YouTube. 

Let me start with a disclaimer—this isn't a political editorial. It's a conversation about ideas. Lessons from business, design, culture, and philosophy that might help us grow—individually and collectively. And if you disagree, email me at ConvoByDesign@Outlook.com. I welcome the debate. As this year closes, I'm feeling a mix of frustration and optimism. This moment feels chaotic—as does most of life lately—which is why I often end the show with, “rise above the chaos.” We can't eliminate it, but we can manage what's within our control. The Stoics told us that long ago: focus on what you can control, release what you can't, act with virtue, and let obstacles sharpen resilience. This essay is about taking back even a small amount of control through the work we do and the spaces we shape. The Problem with Trend-Driven Design This year, phrases and hashtags flew faster than ever—Quiet Luxury, Brat Green, Fridgescaping, Millennial Grey. Much like the “big, beautiful bill” language we've all heard tossed around in political discourse, design's buzzwords can distract from what actually matters. They generate attention, not meaning. They look good on social media, not necessarily in the lived experience of a home, workplace, or public square. So instead of centering our design conversations around fleeting edits, let's pivot toward the global innovations that are transforming the built world in ways that truly matter. Designer Resources Pacific Sales Kitchen and Home. Where excellence meets expertise. Design Hardware – A stunning and vast collection of jewelry for the home! TimberTech – Real wood beauty without the upkeep Real Innovation Worth Talking About Across the globe, designers, architects, and researchers are developing ideas that transcend buzz. These are the concepts with longevity—the ones shaping smart, resilient, human-centered spaces: Biophilic Design, rooted in the work of Edward O. Wilson, Erich Fromm, and Japanese shinrin-yoku, continues to reframe our relationship with nature. Net-Zero Architecture, pioneered in Canada, Germany, and Australia, redefines building performance through projects like Seattle's Bullitt Center and Colorado's RMI Innovation Center. Smart Homes and Invisible Tech, building on early Asian innovation, hiding circuitry and functionality behind seamless design powered by Apple, Google, and Amazon ecosystems. Prefab and Modular Construction, originally exemplified by structures like the Crystal Palace and the Sydney Opera House, now reimagined by firms such as Plant Prefab. Passive House Design, born in Germany but rapidly shaping U.S. projects in California, New York, and the Pacific Northwest. And the list goes on: Self-Healing Concrete by Hendrik Marius Jonkers Guggenheim Abu Dhabi by Frank Gehry Bët-bi Museum in Senegal by Mariam Issoufou Powerhouse Parramatta in Australia Pujiang Viewing Platform in China by MVRDV Landscape and biophilic approaches—Wabi-Sabi gardening, edimental gardens, climate-adaptive landscapes, and indoor biophilia—are redefining how we engage with natural systems in daily life. Even infrastructure has become a site of innovation: CopenHill/Amager Bakke, Denmark's waste-to-energy plant with a ski slope Urban Sequoias by SOM—skyscrapers designed as carbon sinks 3D-printed timber in Germany, Finland, and France This is the work that deserves our attention—not the color of the week on TikTok. Rethinking the Shelter Space For years I described architecture as a language, design as a dialect, and landscape as the narrative. Mies van der Rohe famously introduced the concept of architecture as language. It caught on, and then the bandwagon effect took over. But today, the metaphor feels insufficient—especially for the shelter space, where people spend their lives, raise families, work, heal, and age. The shelter space isn't like a retail store or restaurant, where design is often intended for those who pass through briefly while the people who labor there navigate the leftover space. The shelter space must serve those who inhabit it deeply and continuously. And that shifts the conversation. Design begins with the usual questions—purpose, function, users, goals, budget. But these questions don't define design. They only outline it. There is no universal purpose of architecture or design, no single philosophy, no singular “right” answer. The shelter space varies as widely as the people living within it. So instead of treating architecture and design as technical processes, we should approach them philosophically. A Philosophical Framework for Design Stoicism offers clarity: Accept that budget overruns and changes will occur. Respect the expertise of the designer you hired. Invest in authenticity rather than dupes. Create environments that support health—clean air, clean water, noise reduction, resilience. Utilitarianism reminds us that choices have consequences. If the design decisions you make are based on influencer content instead of expertise, the result is no surprise. And now, a new framework is emerging that could transform our shared spaces entirely. Sensorial Urbanism: Designing the City We Actually Feel One of the most compelling movements emerging globally is Sensorial Urbanism—a shift from focusing on how the city looks to how it feels. It's neuroscience, phenomenology, and inclusive design rolled into a multi-sensory toolkit. Five Key Sensory Principles Soundscaping Water features masking traffic. Acoustic pavilions. Designed sound gardens. Paris' Le Cylindre Sonore. Soundscape parks in Barcelona and Berlin. Smellscaping Native flowers, herbs, and aromatic trees restoring identity—especially critical after disasters like wildfires. Kate McLean's smellwalks map a city's olfactory signature. Tactile Design Materials that invite touch and respond to temperature—stone, wood, water—connecting inhabitants to place. Visual Quietness Reducing signage and visual clutter, as seen in Drachten, Netherlands, creates calmer, more intuitive environments. Multisensory Inclusivity Design that accommodates neurodiversity, PTSD, aging, and accessibility through tactile paving, sound buffers, and scent markers. Why It Matters Because cities didn't always feel this overwhelming. Because design wasn't always rushed. Because quality of life shouldn't be compromised for aesthetics. Sensorial Urbanism reconnects us with spaces that are restorative, intuitive, and emotionally resonant. A city is not just a picture—it is an experience. The Takeaway for 2026 Rising Above the Chaos: Lessons from 2025 for a Smarter 2026 HED (3-sentence summary): As 2025 closes, the design and architecture world has experienced unprecedented chaos and rapid trend cycles. In this episode, Soundman reflects on lessons from business, culture, and global innovation, emphasizing resilience, purposeful design, and human-centered spaces. From Stoic philosophy to sensorial urbanism, this conversation offers guidance for navigating the next year with clarity and intentionality. DEK (Expanded description): Twenty twenty-five tested the design industry's patience, creativity, and adaptability. In this reflective episode, we explore the pitfalls of trend-driven design, the enduring value of service, and the innovations shaping architecture globally — from net-zero buildings to multisensory urbanism. With examples ranging from TimberTech decking to Pacific Sales' trade programs, we examine how designers can reclaim control, prioritize meaningful work, and create spaces that heal, inspire, and endure. A philosophical lens, practical insights, and actionable guidance make this a must-listen for professionals and enthusiasts alike. Outline of Show Topics: Introduction & Context Reflection on the chaotic year of 2025 in design and architecture. Disclaimer: this is a philosophical conversation, not a political editorial. Invitation for audience engagement via email. Trends vs. Meaningful Design Critique of buzzwords like “quiet luxury” and “millennial gray bookshelf wealth.” Emphasis on global innovation over social media-driven trends. The gap between American design influence and international innovation. Global Innovations in Architecture & Design Biophilic design and its philosophical roots. Net-zero buildings: Bullitt Center (Seattle), RMI Innovation Center (Colorado). Smart homes, modular construction, and passive house adoption in the U.S. vs. abroad. Focus on Service & Professional Support Pacific Sales Kitchen & Home: Pro Rewards program and exceptional service. TimberTech: innovation in sustainable synthetic decking. Importance of performance, durability, and client-focused solutions. Philosophical Approach to Design Architecture as experience, not just a visual language. Stoicism, utilitarianism, and mindfulness applied to design. Sensorial urbanism: engaging all five senses in public and private spaces. Emerging Global Examples of Innovation Self-healing concrete (Henrik Marius Junkers), Copenhill (Denmark). 3D printed timber in Germany, Finland, France. Climate-adaptive landscapes, Wabi-sabi gardening, inclusive urban design. Moving Beyond Social Media Trends Rejecting influencer-driven design priorities. Returning to performance, resilience, and quality of life. Practical guidance for designers in all regions, including overlooked U.S. markets. Closing Reflections & New Year Outlook Encouragement to rise above chaos and focus on what can be controlled. Goals for 2026: intentional, human-centered, and innovative design. Call to action: share, subscribe, and engage with Convo by Design. Sponsor Mentions & Callouts Pacific Sales Kitchen & Home TimberTech Design Hardware If you enjoyed this long-form essay, share it with a friend. Subscribe to Convo By Design, follow @convoxdesign on Instagram, and send your thoughts to ConvoByDesign@Outlook.com. Thank you to TimberTech, The AZEK Company, Pacific Sales, Best Buy, and Design Hardware for supporting over 650 episodes and making Convo By Design the longest running podcast of it's kind!

Ann Vanino is a career and new directions coach and author whose passion is collaborating with her clients to create the life they want to live. Prior to coaching, Ann enjoyed a 21-year career in the environmental, health, and safety field, including running New York City's 24-hour chemical emergency response team, responding to over 600 emergencies a year. Ann authors a weekly blog, Opening, and a monthly newsletter, Working Happy, guiding readers to work that leaves them happy at the end of the day.In today's episode of Smashing the Plateau, you will learn what it takes to reinvent yourself when the path forward isn't clear and how vulnerability builds true resilience.Ann and I discuss:Ann's non-linear career journey from Asian history to environmental studies [02:05]How she became the leader of NYC's chemical emergency response team [04:14]Navigating male-dominated environments as a young woman [06:17]Leading without formal authority when people don't listen [08:29]What triggered her transition to entrepreneurship [10:14]Hitting the glass ceiling and recognizing it wasn't her fault [11:31]Starting Williams and Vanino environmental consulting firm [12:36]The rainmaker and operator business partnership dynamic [13:33]Taking the leap from security-conscious family to coaching [16:48]Joining the founding board of International Coach Federation in LA [20:20]Her husband's illness and passing in 2022 [20:35]Navigating life alone on two acres in wildfire country [21:56]The dramatic wildfire evacuation during her home sale [25:00]The connection between vulnerability, community, and resilience [29:13]Getting comfortable with change as a key to a fulfilling life [32:34]Ann authors a weekly blog and a monthly newsletter called Working Happy, guiding readers to work that leaves them happy at the end of the day.Learn more about Ann at: https://annvanino.com, https://annvaninoauthor.com, and https://www.linkedin.com/in/annvanino/__________________________________________________________About Smashing the PlateauSmashing the Plateau shares stories and strategies from corporate refugees: mid-career professionals who've left corporate life to build something of their own.Each episode features a candid conversation with someone who has walked this path or supports those who do. Guests offer real strategies to help you build a sustainable, fulfilling...