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Private funders are increasingly shifting from funding short-term service delivery to long-term systems change, pushing nonprofits to rethink their role in their community. Many are now asking, how do we stay mission-focused while building the relationships needed to attract funders who want deeper change? In today's episode, we explore the idea of power ecosystems — what they are, how they work, and why they're reshaping the nonprofit-funder relationship. Tune in to learn how to identify your power ecosystem, build collective power, and engage private funders more effectively. Want to suggest a topic, guest, or nonprofit organization for an upcoming episode? Send an email with the subject "NPFX suggestion" to contact@ipmadvancement.com. Additional Resources Public Health and Racial Equity (PHaRE) Model for Systems Change https://gingerleeglobal.com/public-health-and-racial-equity-phare-model-for-systems-change/ [NPFX] Rethinking How We Do Good: What We Can Learn from This Funding Crisis https://www.ipmadvancement.com/npfx/rethinking-how-we-do-good-what-we-can-learn-from-this-funding-crisis [NPFX] Federal Funding Uncertainty: How to Assess the Risks and Respond Strategically https://www.ipmadvancement.com/npfx/federal-funding-uncertainty-how-to-assess-the-risks-and-respond-strategically [NPFX] Building Resilience in the Face of Funding Cuts https://www.ipmadvancement.com/npfx/building-resilience-in-the-face-of-funding-cuts [NPFX] Advocacy Matters: Defending Federal Funding for Nonprofits https://www.ipmadvancement.com/npfx/advocacy-matters-defending-federal-funding-for-nonprofits Guests Ginger Lee, DrPH, is the founder of the Ginger Lee Global Health Consulting Group, supporting communities and organizations committed to social justice and equitable systems change. Raised in low-resourced neighborhoods, she brings a deep commitment to community power building and transformational change. Dr. Lee has served as CEO of two nonprofits, a highly successful development director, a government policy maker, and president of a globally focused foundation. Her expertise centers on systems and organizational change, non-profit leadership, and on shifting traditional philanthropy to invest in systems-level solutions alongside direct service. She is the author of the research-based Public Health and Racial Equity (PHaRE) Model for Systems Change, which clarifies the mechanisms for systems transformation led by communities most impacted by inequities. https://www.linkedin.com/in/weavingchange/ https://gingerleeglobal.com/ Dr. Anthony "Tony" Iton, CEO of The Health Trust, is a physician, attorney, public health leader, and nationally recognized advocate for health equity. Over a career spanning more than 30 years, Dr. Iton has tackled systemic barriers to health and championed community-led solutions to address inequities. At The California Endowment, he served as Senior Vice President for Healthy Communities, leading the landmark $1 billion, 10-year Building Healthy Communities initiative—one of the largest philanthropic efforts of its kind in the nation. His visionary leadership focused on empowering marginalized communities, shifting policy systems, and reimagining public health practices. Dr. Iton holds an MD from Johns Hopkins University, a JD and MPH from UC Berkeley, and a BS in Neurophysiology from McGill University. He is a Lecturer of Health Policy and Management at UC Berkeley's School of Public Health and serves on the boards of national organizations focused on health equity, including the Public Health Institute and Prevention Institute. https://www.linkedin.com/in/drtonyiton/ https://healthtrust.org/ Elizabeth Silverstein has served the not-for-profit sector for more than 40 years, specializing in transformational giving, vision casting, inspiring boards, and building passionate, effective teams. Beth has been instrumental in cultivating major gifts for capital campaigns in healthcare, two presidential libraries, higher education, K-12 independent schools, and social service organizations. With an ardent passion for protecting and propelling the nonprofit sector, Beth has joined the team at VisionConnect, a consultancy specializing in strategic planning, coalition building, governance excellence, and nonprofit capacity building. A BoardSource-certified Governance Consultant, she is passionate about coaching boards toward purpose-driven leadership and crafting bold strategic plans that drive maximum mission impact. https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-reynolds-silverstein-b211b7a/ https://www.visionconnectllc.com/ Hosts Russ Phaneuf, a co-founder of IPM Advancement, has a background in higher education development, with positions at the University of Hartford, Northern Arizona University, and Thunderbird School of Global Management. As IPM's managing director & chief strategist, Russ serves as lead fundraising strategist, award-winning content creator, and program analyst specializing in applied system dynamics. https://www.linkedin.com/in/russphaneuf/ https://www.ipmadvancement.com/ Rich Frazier has worked in the nonprofit sector for over 35 years. In his roles as senior consultant with IPM Advancement and founder of VisionConnect LLC, Rich offers extensive understanding and knowledge in capital campaigns, fund development, strategic planning, and board of directors development. https://www.linkedin.com/in/richfrazier/ https://www.visionconnectllc.com/
Exploring the connections between Bharata Natyam dance and zazen, Anusha Enryu Fernando helps listeners remember the joy of practice.This conversation was originally recorded on the Paths of Practice Podcast. Listen to more episodes HERE.Today's podcast is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/beherenow and get on your way to being your best self.This time on the BHNN Guest Podcast, Anusha and Vincent discuss:Zen practice and doing full-body meditationsBharata Natyam: a sacred and ancient dance that focuses on the mind-body connectionPaying attention to the body so intently that there is no space for thoughtThe non-abiding mind and continuing to move through human experienceUnderstanding the devotional gestures that are built into zen practiceAnusha's profound experience learning Sanskrit for both ancient dance and studying the dharma The most important vow: to really be alive in this lifeFood preparations, making offerings, and connecting with the ancestors through foodHow people get stuck on the first noble truth and forget that there is joy in practiceCheck out The Great Vow Zen Monastery in Oregon and learn more about residencies, workshops, and more.About Anusha Enryu Fernando:Anusha Enryu Fernando was born in Sri Lanka to a Theravadin Buddhist family. Her grandparents founded the Vipassana Meditation Centre located in Colombo, Sri Lanka in 1957. She began practicing Zen Meditation with Hogen and Chozen Roshi in 2007, and became a dharma holder in 2021. She holds a BA in Religious Studies, specializing in Buddhism and Hinduism from McGill University, and a Masters of Arts in Asian Studies from the University of British Columbia, specializing in Sanskrit. In her dissertation, she translated a Sanskrit poem of the life story of the Buddha, called the Padyacudamani. Enryu has been a teacher and performer of Bharata Natyam, a form of Indian Classical Dance, for the past thirty years and is the founder and Artistic Director of Shakti Dance Society. She has also been the book purchaser at Banyen Books and Sound, Vancouver's iconic spiritual and metaphysical bookstore, for the past twenty-eight years. She is the mother of an adult daughter and lives with her husband, parents, and multiple furry friends in Vancouver, Canada. Read more about Anusha's work in Shakti Dance HERE."Movement is a huge part of the experience of zazen. You're not sitting there like a fallen rock. The connecting with just the aliveness of that experience, that juicy, wonderful aliveness which is movement, is the practice.” –Anusha Enryu FernandoAbout Vincent Moore:Vincent Moore is a creative and creative consultant living in San Francisco, California, with over a decade of experience in the entertainment industry and holds a graduate degree in Buddhist Studies. For years, he performed regularly at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, an improv and sketch comedy theatre based in New York and Los Angeles. As an actor, Vincent performed on Comedy Central, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Late Show with Seth Meyers, Above Average, and The UCB Show on Seeso. As a writer, he developed for television as well as stage, including work with the Blue Man Group, and his own written projects have been featured on websites such as Funny or Die. Additionally, he received a Masters of Buddhist Studies from the Institute of Buddhist Studies with a Certificate in Soto Zen Studies and engages in a personal Buddhist practice within the Soto Zen tradition. Vincent is also the creator and host of the podcast, Paths of Practice, which features interviews with Buddhists from all over the world. Learn more on Vincent's website HERE.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Handing over a project is one of the most underestimated and misunderstood phases in manufacturing and industrial automation. In this episode of Manufacturing Hub, Vlad and Dave sit down to break apart real stories from the field covering MES rollouts, line commissioning, SCADA and ignition development, operational adoption, and the very real consequences of poor knowledge transfer. Most conversations online focus on the technical build, but very few people emphasize the point where engineering lets go and the operations team becomes the true owner of the system. This episode brings forward examples of both well executed handovers and catastrophic failures that every engineer, integrator, or manager can learn from.Vlad begins by walking through his experience building MES and data collection systems for food and beverage facilities where each plant had different architectures, legacy systems, undocumented networks, and obsolete PLCs. These initiatives required deep assessments, phased modernization, server deployments, KPI development, and the long journey from data collection to actual operational use. The most important insight is that success rarely comes from the technology alone. It comes from the extent to which operators, supervisors, and CI teams are trained, empowered, and aligned to use what has been built.Dave then shares a story from a multi year track and trace project that technically worked but failed at the operational handover stage because the one scheduler refused to schedule inside the system. The entire project was mothballed despite millions of dollars invested. The lesson is simple. Technology cannot compensate for missing stakeholder alignment and poor discovery. Human influence can halt even the most well engineered solution.Timestamps 00:00 Welcome and episode setup 01:20 Host introductions and backgrounds 04:00 Vlad's MES and data rollout projects across multiple plants 18:10 Biggest wins and failures from MES handovers 26:20 Dave's chocolate factory MES and traceability project 29:30 The scheduler says no and a multi million project gets mothballed 36:40 Lessons learned about scope creep and realistic timelines 42:00 Vlad's multimillion packaging line rollouts and OEE based handover 49:20 Internal versus external teams and who really owns change 58:50 Connected workforce at an orange juice plant and knowledge capture 01:15:00 Where project handovers are heading in the next three to five years 01:19:00 Career advice, books, and final thoughts HostsVladimir RomanovFounder of Joltek. Electrical engineer with an MBA from McGill University. More than a decade of experience across Procter and Gamble, Kraft Heinz, Post Holdings, and multiple systems integration roles. Specializes in OT systems, industrial data architecture, MES, SCADA, modernization, and digital transformation. Works with manufacturers to unlock value through data and operational decision support.https://www.joltek.com/team-members/vladimir-romanovDave GriffithFounder of Kaplan Solutions. Seventeen plus years of experience across aerospace, automation, system integration, MES delivery, and enterprise manufacturing systems. Dave specializes in ignition development, operations consulting, and project delivery frameworks that reduce risk and increase adoption across manufacturing teams.References Mentioned in the EpisodeNever Split The Difference by Chris Vosshttps://www.amazon.com/Never-Split-Difference-Negotiating-Depended/dp/0062407805How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegiehttps://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-Influence-People/dp/0671027034Traction by Gino Wickmanhttps://www.amazon.com/Traction-Get-Grip-Your-Business/dp/1936661837The E Myth Revisited by Michael Gerberhttps://www.amazon.com/Myth-Revisited-Small-Businesses-About/dp/0887307280Understanding Plant NetworksManufacturing Execution SystemsManufacturing Digital Maturity and AssessmentsControl System ModernizationEngineering Project Management EssentialsManufacturing Consulting and Change Management
Both the climate and tolerance of gender-based violence has changed since the 1989 femicide at Polytechnique Montreal. What was once strides forward in protecting women from violence, now seems like it's gone a few steps back considering GBV's more popular habitat: the internet.Incel culture and the 'manosphere' have dominated online spaces for young men, most who initially search for a sense of community, but find themselves engaging in disturbing, highly violent behaviour towards women. The Carney government has pledged more money in AI investments than in tackling GBV, but some experts believe a cut of the AI money could go towards protecting online spaces and combatting deepfake pornography.Host Maria Kestane speaks to Dr. Cecile Rousseau, Canada Research Chair in Preventing Violent Radicalization and a psychiatry professor at McGill University to discuss how the fight against Canada's incel crisis requires comprehensive, multi-level cooperation between all levels of government, parents and teachers.If you or someone you know is in an unsafe situation, please call 911. We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at hello@thebigstorypodcast.ca Or @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter
Dr. Sara Grimes, Professor at McGill University and expert in children’s digital media culture and children’s rights in the digital environment
In this special musical 250th episode of Wow in the World, Mindy leads Guy Raz and the gang in an exploration of the bonkerballs science of why music moves us - literally! Inspired by new neuroscience brain research from McGill University, this special episode features three brand-new original songs, as the gang discovers how our brains and bodies don't just hear music- they sync up and become part of the beat! from dancing neurons to emotional melodies, it's the Who, What, When, Where, How, and WOW in the world of how music makes us sing, dance, and feel all the feels.Wow in the World is the #1 science podcast for kids and families, sharing the most amazing stories in science, technology, and new discoveries happening in the world around us. Each week, join hosts Mindy Thomas and Guy Raz as they take curious kids and their grown-ups on a cartoon for the ear journey filled with laughter, adventure, and wow-worthy stories. From the tiniest microbes to the farthest reaches of space, every episode of Wow in the World inspires wonder, fuels imagination, and makes science fun for the whole family.New episodes of Wow in the World come out every Monday for free! Plus, each week listeners get even more opportunities to say WOW with two other shows: Two Whats?! And A WOW!, a science-based game show, and WeWow, a rewatch, or should we say relisten, behind-the-scenes talk show hosted by our World Organization of Wowzers president, Dennis, featuring YOUR comments, reviews, and messages!
Ever wonder why some people seem naturally gifted at music? It turns out your personality may have more to do with musical ability than you think. This episode begins with research identifying which personality traits actually predict innate musical potential — and which ones don't. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151013135831.htm Are we too worried about getting scammed? Most of us would rather lose money through an honest mistake than fall victim to a con — and that hyper-vigilance affects far more of our decision-making than we realize. My guest, Tess Wilkinson-Ryan, a University of Pennsylvania law professor and psychologist, argues that our fear of “being the sucker” often makes us worse off. She is the author of Fool Proof: How Fear of Playing the Sucker Shapes Our Selves and the Social Order–And What We Can Do About It (https://amzn.to/3jMqrfo). She explains why this deeply human fear is so powerful — and how putting it in perspective can make us happier, more confident, and even more generous. Food brings out some strong and unusual beliefs. Some people insist eggplant is dangerous… others worry that burnt toast or charred meat causes cancer… and many assume artificial sweeteners wreak havoc on gut bacteria. To separate fact from fiction, I speak with Dr. Joe Schwarcz, Director of McGill University's Office for Science and Society and author of 19 books, including his latest, Better Not Burn Your Toast: The Science of Food and Health (https://amzn.to/3JMmYe3). He breaks down what's real, what's rumor, and what you actually need to know to eat smarter. Finally, what's the right way to stay warm in cold weather? Is it true that you lose most of your body heat through your head? We look at the real science of staying warm, avoiding frostbite, and protecting yourself when temperatures drop. https://www.heart.org/en/news/2025/01/03/what-cold-weather-does-to-the-body-and-how-to-protect-yourself-this-winter PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! AURA FRAMES: Visit https://AuraFrames.com and get $45 off Aura's best selling Carver Mat frames by using promo code SOMETHING at checkout. DAVID GREENE IS OBSESSED: We love the "David Greene Is Obsessed" podcast! Listen at https://link.mgln.ai/SYSK or wherever you get your podcasts. QUINCE: Give and get timeless holiday staples that last this season with Quince. Go to https://Quince.com/sysk for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns! DELL: It's time for Cyber Monday at Dell Technologies. Save big on PCs like the Dell 16 Plus featuring Intel® Core™ Ultra processors. Shop now at: https://Dell.com/deals AG1: Head to https://DrinkAG1.com/SYSK to get a FREE Welcome Kit with an AG1 Flavor Sampler and a bottle of Vitamin D3 plus K2, when you first subscribe! NOTION: Notion brings all your notes, docs, and projects into one connected space that just works . It's seamless, flexible, powerful, and actually fun to use! Try Notion, now with Notion Agent, at: https://notion.com/something PLANET VISIONARIES: In partnership with Rolex's Perpetual Planet Initiative, this… is Planet Visionaries. Listen or watch on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this inspiring episode of Bangladeshi Trailblazers, host Tasnim Hasan sat down with Anil Wasif, Co-Founder of BacharLorai, a global nonprofit dedicated to empowering the Bangladeshi diaspora.With a strong record of cross-sector leadership and a lifetime of community service, Anil balances roles as a senior civil servant in the Ontario Government and serves on boards at University of Toronto and McGill University.Anil takes us behind the resume to reveal his journey, sharing how he overcame the challenges of being an international student to become a sought-after voice in public policy, governance, and community leadership.Together, they unpack the personal battle between external expectations and internal aspirations, redefining resilience as "intellectual humility." Anil challenges the diaspora to move beyond traditional charity, advocating instead for a "supply chain of ideas" where global citizens engage as active partners in co-creating impact.Tune in to discover how the Bangladeshi diaspora can rally for a modern renaissance.
Alberta and Ottawa gleefully shake hands on an agreement that promises to fast-track a pipeline project. We'll ask Calgary's only Liberal MP if this newly chummy relationship between Mark Carney and Danielle Smith can last, and what dissent from other province, First Nations and now his own party says about the project's future. The Quebec government expands its push for secularism -- and a Muslim student in Montreal tells us a new bill that would ban prayer rooms on campus would be devastating for her and her peers.The shooting of two National Guard Members shakes people across the U.S. – including resettled Afghans who fear the suspect's background makes them a target for the Trump administration.Italy passes new legislation making femicide a criminal offense distinct from murder – but an advocate tells us it just distracts from efforts that would do far more to protect women. Thanks to the thrilling discovery of a single, ancient tooth, a researcher at McGill University is shedding new light on the habitat and lifestyle of the woolly mammoth.A Calgary artist tells us how he turned his fascination with armour into a decades-long career of making tiny suits of armour for mice. We'll also see if he can tell us why.As It Happens, the Thursday Edition. Radio that presents a Knight's Tail.
Lynda Quirino has been in the paranormal field for 44 years, and has experienced unexplained phenomena all of her life. At 18 years of age, she began to investigate the paranormal while at Vanier college in her hometown of Montreal, and also during her years at McGill University. She continued to research and investigate on her own until relocating to the Toronto area in 1986. From 1986 to 1996, she continued to work primarily on her own, investigating local hauntings and paranormal issues until, in 1997, she became the Assistant Director of the Toronto Ghosts and Hauntings Research Society. Lynda left the TGHRS in 2003, and once again worked “freelance” in the field, concentrating on investigating and researching local cases. After giving a presentation on ghosts and hauntings at the local library in Georgina, Ontario, the town where she now resides, Lynda realized that the need for a paranormal team was very much needed. In 2012, she founded The Georgina Paranormal Society. Currently, Lynda is the Executive Director of the Georgina Paranormal Society, and appears on the television show “Paranormal Survivor” as one of its paranormal “Experts”. She has appeared on many paranormal podcasts, radio, and local television shows, currently hosting a weekly cable lifestyle show (“Georgina Life”) in her now hometown of Georgina, Ontario, Canada. She is also the co-host of a weekly YouTube show entitled “Paranormally Speaking”, and has been featured in the book “I Want to Believe: An Investigators' Archive” by Jason Hewlett & Peter Renn. Lynda also lectures and gives presentations on the paranormal for various organizations throughout Canada.
Paranormal Heart welcomes Lynda Quirino November 25th, 2025 EP: 61 TOPIC: Paranormal Q&A About Lynda Quirino Lynda Quirino has been in the paranormal field for 44 years, and has experienced unexplained phenomena all of her life. At 18 years of age, she began to investigate the paranormal while at Vanier college in her hometown of Montreal, and also during her years at McGill University. She continued to research and investigate on her own until relocating to the Toronto area in 1986. From 1986 to 1996, she continued to work primarily on her own, investigating local hauntings and paranormal issues until, in 1997, she became the Assistant Director of the Toronto Ghosts and Hauntings Research Society. Lynda left the TGHRS in 2003, and once again worked “freelance” in the field, concentrating on investigating and researching local cases. After giving a presentation on ghosts and hauntings at the local library in Georgina, Ontario, the town where she now resides, Lynda realized that the need for a paranormal team was very much needed. In 2012, she founded The Georgina Paranormal Society. Currently, Lynda is the Executive Director of the Georgina Paranormal Society, and appears on the television show “Paranormal Survivor” as one of its paranormal “Experts”. She has appeared on many paranormal podcasts, radio, and local television shows, currently hosting a weekly cable lifestyle show (“Georgina Life”) in her now hometown of Georgina, Ontario, Canada. She is also the co-host of a weekly YouTube show entitled “Paranormally Speaking”, and has been featured in the book “I Want to Believe: An Investigators' Archive” by Jason Hewlett & Peter Renn. Lynda also lectures and gives presentations on the paranormal for various organizations throughout Canada.
AFH: Season 1, Episode 6 Featuring Kate McAndrew (@Kate_McAndrew)Al sits down with Kate McAndrew, Venture Capitalist, General Partner and Fine Human.About the Guest:Kate Preston McAndrew is the Co-Founder and General Partner of Baukunst, a $100M pre-seed venture fund backing companies at the frontiers of technology and design from inception. With more than a decade of experience investing in hardware, software, CPG and AI-native systems, Kate is known for her high-conviction, founder-first approach and her ability to spot breakthrough talent at the very beginning.Before launching Baukunst, she spent eight years at Bolt, where she helped shape one of the industry's first dedicated pre-seed programs and worked hands-on with dozens of technical founding teams.Kate is also an active voice in the early-stage ecosystem, speaking frequently on founder readiness, product craft, and how to build enduring companies from zero to one. She is a published author, proud single mother, dancer, and San Francisco lover. She holds a BA in Cultural Studies from McGill University.Guest Info:Instagram Kate McAndrewFollow Me:Instagram: @afinehuman Shop Dame: dame.com This podcast was produced by aurielle sayeh, filmed by @thetellychannel, and powered by @dameproducts.
From TikTok diet hacks to influencers declaring certain foods “evil,” it’s getting harder for Canadians to tell what’s credible and what’s just clickbait. Dr. Daiva Nielsen with McGill University's School of Human Nutrition, spoke to Andrew Carter.
New data from the CMHC (Canada Mortgage & Housing Corporation) shows housing vacancy rates have risen across Quebec this summer. Dr. Jayne Malenfant is an Assistant Professor at McGill University in the Department of Integrated Studies in Education and an expert on the housing crisis, tenant rights, and housing equity issues. She spoke to Andrew Carter. Image: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
A transcript of this interview is available [here] Preserving Disability: Disability and the Archival Profession (Library Juice Press, 2024) weaves together first-person narratives and case studies contributed from disabled archivists and disabled archives users, bringing critical perspectives and approaches to the archival profession. Contributed chapters span topics such as accessibility of archives and first-person experiences researching disability collections for disabled archives users; disclosure and accommodations and self-advocacy of disabled archivists; and processing and stewarding disability-related collections. Collectively, these works address the nuances of both disability and archives-critically drawing attention to the histories, present experiences, and future possibilities of the archival profession. Dr. Gracen Brilmyer is an Assistant Professor in the School of Information Studies at McGill University and the Director of the Disability Archives Lab. Their research lies at the intersection of feminist disability studies, archival studies, and the history of science, where they investigate the erasure of disabled people in archives primarily within the history of natural history museums and colonial histories. This historical-archival research is complemented by empirical research on how living disabled people use and experience archives today. Their work has been featured in publications such as The Journal of Feminist Scholarship, Archival Science, and First Monday. Their research is shaped by their experiences as a white, Disabled, non-binary person. For more: here Dr. Lydia Tang is an Outreach and Engagement Coordinator for LYRASIS. Previously, she held archivist positions at Michigan State University, the Library of Congress, and numerous graduate positions at the University of Illinois, where she received her MLIS and Doctor of Musical Arts degree. Passionate about accessibility and disability representation in archives, she served on the Task Force to Revise the Best Practices on Accessible Archives for People with Disabilities and spearheaded founding the Society of American Archivists' (SAA) Accessibility & Disability Section (ADS). She is the 2020 recipient of SAA's Mark A. Greene Emerging Leader Awardand was recognized in three SAA Council resolutions as a co-founder of the Archival Workers Emergency Fund, for spearheading the Accessibility & Disability Section's“Archivists at Home” document, and for the “Guidelines for Accessible Archives for People with Disabilities.” In addition to her professional service with SAA, she has contributed to accessibility initiatives within DLF Digital Accessibility Working Group and the ArchivesSpace open source software and community by leading the Staff Interface Enhancement Working Group, Development Prioritization subteam, founding the Usability subteam, and chairing the Users Advisory Council. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network
A transcript of this interview is available [here] Preserving Disability: Disability and the Archival Profession (Library Juice Press, 2024) weaves together first-person narratives and case studies contributed from disabled archivists and disabled archives users, bringing critical perspectives and approaches to the archival profession. Contributed chapters span topics such as accessibility of archives and first-person experiences researching disability collections for disabled archives users; disclosure and accommodations and self-advocacy of disabled archivists; and processing and stewarding disability-related collections. Collectively, these works address the nuances of both disability and archives-critically drawing attention to the histories, present experiences, and future possibilities of the archival profession. Dr. Gracen Brilmyer is an Assistant Professor in the School of Information Studies at McGill University and the Director of the Disability Archives Lab. Their research lies at the intersection of feminist disability studies, archival studies, and the history of science, where they investigate the erasure of disabled people in archives primarily within the history of natural history museums and colonial histories. This historical-archival research is complemented by empirical research on how living disabled people use and experience archives today. Their work has been featured in publications such as The Journal of Feminist Scholarship, Archival Science, and First Monday. Their research is shaped by their experiences as a white, Disabled, non-binary person. For more: here Dr. Lydia Tang is an Outreach and Engagement Coordinator for LYRASIS. Previously, she held archivist positions at Michigan State University, the Library of Congress, and numerous graduate positions at the University of Illinois, where she received her MLIS and Doctor of Musical Arts degree. Passionate about accessibility and disability representation in archives, she served on the Task Force to Revise the Best Practices on Accessible Archives for People with Disabilities and spearheaded founding the Society of American Archivists' (SAA) Accessibility & Disability Section (ADS). She is the 2020 recipient of SAA's Mark A. Greene Emerging Leader Awardand was recognized in three SAA Council resolutions as a co-founder of the Archival Workers Emergency Fund, for spearheading the Accessibility & Disability Section's“Archivists at Home” document, and for the “Guidelines for Accessible Archives for People with Disabilities.” In addition to her professional service with SAA, she has contributed to accessibility initiatives within DLF Digital Accessibility Working Group and the ArchivesSpace open source software and community by leading the Staff Interface Enhancement Working Group, Development Prioritization subteam, founding the Usability subteam, and chairing the Users Advisory Council. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A transcript of this interview is available [here] Preserving Disability: Disability and the Archival Profession (Library Juice Press, 2024) weaves together first-person narratives and case studies contributed from disabled archivists and disabled archives users, bringing critical perspectives and approaches to the archival profession. Contributed chapters span topics such as accessibility of archives and first-person experiences researching disability collections for disabled archives users; disclosure and accommodations and self-advocacy of disabled archivists; and processing and stewarding disability-related collections. Collectively, these works address the nuances of both disability and archives-critically drawing attention to the histories, present experiences, and future possibilities of the archival profession. Dr. Gracen Brilmyer is an Assistant Professor in the School of Information Studies at McGill University and the Director of the Disability Archives Lab. Their research lies at the intersection of feminist disability studies, archival studies, and the history of science, where they investigate the erasure of disabled people in archives primarily within the history of natural history museums and colonial histories. This historical-archival research is complemented by empirical research on how living disabled people use and experience archives today. Their work has been featured in publications such as The Journal of Feminist Scholarship, Archival Science, and First Monday. Their research is shaped by their experiences as a white, Disabled, non-binary person. For more: here Dr. Lydia Tang is an Outreach and Engagement Coordinator for LYRASIS. Previously, she held archivist positions at Michigan State University, the Library of Congress, and numerous graduate positions at the University of Illinois, where she received her MLIS and Doctor of Musical Arts degree. Passionate about accessibility and disability representation in archives, she served on the Task Force to Revise the Best Practices on Accessible Archives for People with Disabilities and spearheaded founding the Society of American Archivists' (SAA) Accessibility & Disability Section (ADS). She is the 2020 recipient of SAA's Mark A. Greene Emerging Leader Awardand was recognized in three SAA Council resolutions as a co-founder of the Archival Workers Emergency Fund, for spearheading the Accessibility & Disability Section's“Archivists at Home” document, and for the “Guidelines for Accessible Archives for People with Disabilities.” In addition to her professional service with SAA, she has contributed to accessibility initiatives within DLF Digital Accessibility Working Group and the ArchivesSpace open source software and community by leading the Staff Interface Enhancement Working Group, Development Prioritization subteam, founding the Usability subteam, and chairing the Users Advisory Council. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This week on Conflicted, Thomas is joined by T.V. Paul, Distinguished James McGill Professor in the Department of Political Science at McGill University. Prof. Paul is one of the world's leading thinkers in international relations and author of Restraining Great Powers: Soft Balancing from Empires to the Global Era and The Unfinished Quest: India's Search for Major Power Status from Nehru to Modi. In this wide-ranging conversation, Thomas speaks with Prof. Paul about: India's strategy as a rising power in a shifting multipolar world How ‘soft balancing' works as an alternative to military alliances The benign and malign dimensions of American hegemony Why globalization both empowered and destabilized the global middle class India's complex status anxiety and its quest for recognition How China and India navigate rivalry, nationalism, and regional threats The future of the liberal international order—and whether it can survive What a new global settlement might require from the West, China, and India alike Join the Conflicted Community here: https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/ Find us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MHconflicted And Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MHconflicted Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
A recent report by the Canadian Cancer Statistics Advisory Committee found that after more than three decades of steady decline, cases of cervical cancer have plateaued in the past 20 years. In an effort to make screening less daunting, the Canadian Cancer Society is pushing for all provinces and territories to replace the traditional pap smear examination with the human papillomavirus (HPV) test. So far, only four provinces have made the switch.But the switch is just a piece of the puzzle. Access to screening, education on reproductive health, and destigmatizing testing all play a role in bringing down cases of cervical cancer - which Canada committed to eliminate by 2040.Host Maria Kestane speaks to Dr. Lucy Gilbert, director of the McGill University Gynecologic Oncology service, and chair of oncology for McGill University's Gerald Bronfman Department of Oncology to discuss the risks related with lack of access to proper screenings, and how Health Canada needs to keep health education top of mind if they want to meet its 2040 goal. We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at hello@thebigstorypodcast.ca Or @thebigstoryfpn on Twitter
In Rutger Bregman's first book, Utopia for Realists, the historian describes a rosy vision of the future – one with 15-hour work weeks, universal basic income and massive wealth redistribution.It's a vision that, in the age of artificial intelligence, now seems increasingly possible.But utopia is far from guaranteed. Many experts predict that AI will also lead to mass job loss, the development of new bioweapons and, potentially, the extinction of our species.So if you're building a technology that could either save the world or destroy it – is that a moral pursuit?These kinds of thorny questions are at the heart of Bregman's latest book, Moral Ambition. In a sweeping conversation that takes us from the invention of the birth control pill to the British Abolitionist movement, Bregman and I discuss what a good life looks like (spoiler: he thinks the death of work might not be such a bad thing) – and whether AI can help get us there.Mentioned: Moral Ambition, by Rutger BregmanUtopia for Realists, by Rutger Bregman If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies: The Case Against Superintelligent AI, by Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate SoaresMachines Like Us is produced by Mitchell Stuart. Our theme song is by Chris Kelly. Video editing by Emily Graves. Our executive producer is James Milward. Special thanks to Angela Pacienza and the team at The Globe and Mail.Support for Machines Like Us is provided by CIFAR and the Max Bell School of Public Policy at McGill University. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Si Sciences Po Paris reste une référence, plusieurs universités internationales offrent des formations de qualité en sciences politiques et relations internationales, avec des parcours pluridisciplinaires et des opportunités internationales. Des établissements au Canada, au Royaume-Uni, aux Pays-Bas et en Irlande offrent des alternatives stimulantes, tout en préparant les étudiants à des carrières diplomatiques et publiques.✅ DANS CET ÉPISODE NOUS ABORDONS :Les programmes en sciences politiques à McGill University, LSE et Trinity College Dublin.Les cursus interdisciplinaires aux Pays-Bas, tels que ceux de l'Université de Leiden et l'Université d'Amsterdam.Les programmes spécifiques sur les enjeux mondiaux et sociaux à l'Erasmus University Rotterdam.
In this episode of MyHeart.net, cardiologist Dr. Alan Bouchard sits down with Dr. Timothy Garvey, Professor of Medicine in the Department of Nutrition Sciences at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, to discuss the evolving definition of obesity as a disease. Drawing from The Lancet's 2025 clinical framework, Dr. Garvey explains when excess adiposity begins to impair organ function, how this redefinition changes patient care, and why understanding obesity as a chronic disease is essential for preventing cardiometabolic complications.About the TeamDr. Alain Bouchard is a clinical cardiologist at Cardiology Specialists of Birmingham, AL. He is a native of Quebec, Canada and trained in Internal Medicine at McGill University in Montreal. He continued as a Research Fellow at the Montreal Heart Institute. He did a clinical cardiology fellowship at the University of California in San Francisco. He joined the faculty at the University of Alabama Birmingham from 1986 to 1990. He worked at CardiologyPC and Baptist Medical Center at Princeton from 1990-2019. He is now part of the Cardiology Specialists of Birmingham at UAB Medicine.Dr. Philip Johnson is originally from Selma, AL. Philip began his studies at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN, where he double majored in Biomedical and Electrical Engineering. After a year in the “real world” working for his father as a machine design engineer, he went to graduate school at UAB in Birmingham, AL, where he completed a Masters and PhD in Biomedical Engineering before becoming a research assistant professor in Biomedical Engineering. After a short stint in academics, he continued his education at UAB in Medical School, Internal Medicine Residency, and is currently a cardiology fellow in training with a special interest in cardiac electrophysiology.Medical DisclaimerThe contents of the MyHeart.net podcast, including as textual content, graphical content, images, and any other content contained in the Podcast (“Content”) are purely for informational purposes. The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read or heard on the Podcast!If you think you may have a medical emergency, call your doctor or 911 immediately. MyHeart.net does not recommend or endorse any specific tests, physicians, products, procedures, opinions, or other information that may be mentioned on the Podcast. Reliance on any information provided by MyHeart.net, MyHeart.net employees, others appearing on the Podcast at the invitation of MyHeart.net, or other visitors to the Podcast is solely at your own risk.The Podcast and the Content are provided on an “as is” basis.
Human Papillomavirus, or HPV, is responsible for 6 different kinds of cancers…Cervical, anal, oral pharyngeal, vaginal, vulvar, and penile. So, it was a big deal when the HPV vaccine was approved in 2006 females between the ages of 9 and 26. In 2018, the age range was expanded to include adults up to the age of 45. But, what about women over 45? Shouldn't they have the option of getting a vaccine that prevents 90% of HPV related cancers? My guest is Dr. Vivien Brown, an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto with a special interest in Adult Immunization and Vaccine Preventable Illness. Dr. Brown presented HPV initiatives in Canada at the UN meetings for the Commission on the Status of Women. Background on the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine and HPV Cancers associated with HPV Who should get HPV vaccines Why it is best to vaccinate young girls and boys If women with cervical cancer should still get vaccinated If people who got the original vaccine with 4 serotypes, should get the newer vaccine with 9 serotypes How much the vaccine reduces the risk of cancer Side effects of the vaccine Why the vaccine was expanded from age 26 to age 45 Vaccine efficacy is less in older women How HPV is transmitted in older women Time of exposure of HPV to cancer Reasons that women over the age of 45 are at risk of exposure to HPV The case for universal vaccinations and STI screening If MEN are (should) getting vaccinated over age 45 If women should get tested for previous infections before getting vaccinated Why Canadian dentists are now counseling and administering HPV vaccinating If single women in their 60s should get vaccinated if they are not sexually active and have no plans for sexual activity Other vaccines recommended in older women Tetanus Pneumonia Influenza Shingles RSV Covid If it's OK to get tvaccines all at once or if dosing should be divided The Case for Seeing a Gynecologist No Matter How Old You Are Vivien Brown MDCM,*CCFP, MSCP Dr. Vivien Brown, is a family physician and Assistant Professor, Department of Family & Community Medicine, University of Toronto, is renowned for her expertise in women's health, brain health, immunization, health promotion and healthy aging. *MDCM stands for Medicinae Doctorem et Chirurgiae Magistrum, which translates to "Doctor of Medicine and Master of Surgery" in Latin. It is a medical degree awarded by McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Dr. Streicher is on SUBSTACK DrStreicher.Substack.com Articles Monthly newsletter All COME AGAIN podcast episodes Monthly News Flash Reports on recent research Monthly Zoom Ask Me Anything Webinar Information on Dr. Streicher's COME AGAIN Podcast- Sexuality and Orgasm Lauren Streicher MD, is a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, the founding medical director of the Northwestern Medicine Center for Sexual Medicine and Menopause, and a Senior Research Fellow of The Kinsey Institute, Indiana University. She is a certified menopause practitioner of The Menopause Society. Dr. Streicher is the medical correspondent for Chicago's top-rated news program, the WGN Morning News, and has been seen on The Today Show, Good Morning America, The Oprah Winfrey Show, CNN, NPR, Dr. Radio, Nightline, Fox and Friends, The Steve Harvey Show, CBS This Morning, ABC News Now, NBCNightlyNews,20/20, and World News Tonight. She is an expert source for many magazines and serves on the medical advisory board of The Kinsey Institute, Self Magazine, and Prevention Magazine. She writes a regular column for The Ethel by AARP and Prevention Magazine. LINKS Subscribe To Dr. Streicher's Substack Information About the COME AGAIN Podcast Dr. Streicher's CV and additional bio information To Find a Menopause Clinician and Other Resources Glossary Of Medical Terminology Dr. Streicher's Inside Information podcast is for education and information and is not intended to replace medical advice from your personal healthcare clinician. Dr. Streicher disclaims liability for any medical outcomes that may occur because of applying methods suggested or discussed in this podcast.
Former prime minister Justin Trudeau is dating the American pop star Katy Perry. He's been spotted with her on her yacht, singing along at her concerts, and globetrotting with her hand in hand.It's not the kind of post-political life Canadians are used to witnessing. So today, a look at the lives of Canadian Prime Ministers once they've left office and the post-electoral endeavors of American presidents. Are they extensions of who they were as leaders or breaks from the past? Susan Delacourt is a longtime political journalist with the Toronto Star, and Gil Troy is a historian of American history and professor at McGill University. They join us to talk about the second acts of many of our most notable leaders.For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts
Food and farming is facing an unprecedented tsunami of anti-science movements, misinformation, and myth-making that makes it tougher than ever to maintain and build consumer trust in the food production system. “The quacks are taking over." That's how Dr. Joe Schwarcz, director of the Office of Science and Society at McGill University, summed things up... Read More
The former Montreal psychology professor, and author of ETs, and Alien Abductions a Scientist looks at the Evidence, is convinced extraterrestrial... Retired Montreal psychology professor Don Crosbie Donderi is convinced extraterrestrial life exists. The educator, who spent 47 years at McGill University, including as associate dean of the faculty of graduate studies and research - applies his insights into psychology to a book: UFOs, ETs, and Alien Abductions, a Scientist looks at the Evidence.For Your Listening Pleasure for these Lockdown / Stay-At-Home COVID and Variants Times - For all the radio shows available on The 'X' Zone Broadcast Network visit - https://www.spreaker.com/user/xzoneradiotv.Our radio shows archives and programming include: A Different Perspective with Kevin Randle; Alien Cosmic Expo Lecture Series; Alien Worlds Radio Show; America's Soul Doctor with Ken Unger; Back in Control Radio Show with Dr. David Hanscom, MD; Connecting with Coincidence with Dr. Bernard Beitman, MD; Dick Tracy; Dimension X; Exploring Tomorrow Radio Show; Flash Gordon; Imagine More Success Radio Show with Syndee Hendricks and Thomas Hydes; Jet Jungle Radio Show; Journey Into Space; Know the Name with Sharon Lynn Wyeth; Lux Radio Theatre - Classic Old Time Radio; Mission Evolution with Gwilda Wiyaka; Paranormal StakeOut with Larry Lawson; Ray Bradbury - Tales Of The Bizarre; Sci Fi Radio Show; Seek Reality with Roberta Grimes; Space Patrol; Stairway to Heaven with Gwilda Wiyaka; The 'X' Zone Radio Show with Rob McConnell; Two Good To Be True with Justina Marsh and Peter Marsh; and many other!That's The ‘X' Zone Broadcast Network Shows and Archives - https://www.spreaker.com/user/xzoneradiotvBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-x-zone-radio-tv-show--1078348/support.Please note that all XZBN radio and/or television shows are Copyright © REL-MAR McConnell Meda Company, Niagara, Ontario, Canada – www.rel-mar.com. For more Episodes of this show and all shows produced, broadcasted and syndicated from REL-MAR McConell Media Company and The 'X' Zone Broadcast Network and the 'X' Zone TV Channell, visit www.xzbn.net. For programming, distribution, and syndication inquiries, email programming@xzbn.net.We are proud to announce the we have launched TWATNews.com, launched in August 2025.TWATNews.com is an independent online news platform dedicated to uncovering the truth about Donald Trump and his ongoing influence in politics, business, and society. Unlike mainstream outlets that often sanitize, soften, or ignore stories that challenge Trump and his allies, TWATNews digs deeper to deliver hard-hitting articles, investigative features, and sharp commentary that mainstream media won't touch.These are stories and articles that you will not read anywhere else.Our mission is simple: to expose corruption, lies, and authoritarian tendencies while giving voice to the perspectives and evidence that are often marginalized or buried by corporate-controlled media
Iggy Ioppe is Chief Investment Officer at Theo, a gateway connecting onchain capital to global markets via institutional-grade trading infrastructure. Previously, Iggy was Co-Head of Polygon Ventures and Managing Partner at Procul Capital, a fintech and Web3-focused venture firm. Earlier, he served as Group Head of Proprietary Investing at Credit Suisse and held investing roles at Sureview Capital, Vinik Asset Management, and Bain Capital. He holds a B.S. in Mathematics from McGill University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. In this conversation, we discuss:- The convergence of TradFi Crypto - High-speed traders are now the smartest folks on Wall Street - Going beyond issuance - why tokenizing assets is not enough - Current trends in tokenized RWAs - The value of engaging tokenized assets in spot markets - The future of tokenized finance and the path to institutional adoption - Connecting to liquidity venues - HIP-3 exchange denominated in t-bills - Money-market funds - Tokenized gold with yield TheoX: @Theo_NetworkWebsite: theo.xyzLinkedIn: TheoIggy IoppeX: @iggyioppeLinkedIn: Iggy Ioppe---------------------------------------------------------------------------------This episode is brought to you by PrimeXBT.PrimeXBT offers a robust trading system for both beginners and professional traders that demand highly reliable market data and performance. Traders of all experience levels can easily design and customize layouts and widgets to best fit their trading style. PrimeXBT is always offering innovative products and professional trading conditions to all customers. PrimeXBT is running an exclusive promotion for listeners of the podcast. After making your first deposit, 50% of that first deposit will be credited to your account as a bonus that can be used as additional collateral to open positions. Code: CRYPTONEWS50 This promotion is available for a month after activation. Click the link below: PrimeXBT x CRYPTONEWS50FollowApple PodcastsSpotifyAmazon MusicRSS FeedSee All
At Donald Trump's inauguration earlier this year, the returning president made a striking break from tradition. The seats closest to the president – typically reserved for family – went instead to the most powerful tech CEOs in the world: Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and Sundar Pichai. Between them, these men run some of the most profitable companies in history. And over the past two decades, they've used that wealth to reshape our public sphere.But this felt different. This wasn't discreet backdoor lobbying or a furtive effort to curry favour with an incoming administration. These were some of the most influential men in the world quite literally aligning themselves with the world's most powerful politician – and his increasingly illiberal ideology.Carole Cadwalladr has been tracking the collision of technology and politics for years. She's the investigative journalist who broke the Cambridge Analytica story, exposing how Facebook data may have been used to manipulate elections. Now, she's arguing that what we're witnessing goes beyond monopoly power or even traditional oligarchy. She calls it techno-authoritarianism – a fusion of Trump's authoritarian political project with the technological might of Silicon Valley.So I wanted to have her on to make the case for why she believes Big Tech isn't just complicit in authoritarianism, but is actively enabling it.Mentioned:The First Great Disruption 2016-2024, by Carole CadwalladrTrump Taps Palantir to Compile Data on Americans, by Sheera Frenkel and Aaron Krolik (New York Times)This is What a Digital Coup Looks Like, by Carole Cadwalladr (TED)The Nerve NewsMachines Like Us is produced by Mitchell Stuart. Our theme song is by Chris Kelly. Video editing by Emily Graves. Our executive producer is James Milward. Special thanks to Angela Pacienza and the team at The Globe and Mail.Support for Machines Like Us is provided by CIFAR and the Max Bell School of Public Policy at McGill University. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
The Twenty Minute VC: Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch
Joelle Pineau is the Chief Scientist at Cohere, where she leads research on advancing large language models and practical AI systems. Before joining Cohere, she was VP of AI Research at Meta, where she founded and led Meta AI's Montreal lab. A professor at McGill University, Joelle is renowned for her pioneering work in reinforcement learning, robotics, and responsible AI development. AGENDA: 00:00 Introduction to AI Scaling Laws 03:00 How Meta Shaped How I Think About AI Research 04:36 Challenges in Reinforcement Learning 10:00 Is It Possible to be Capital Efficient in AI 15:52 AI in Enterprise: Efficiency and Adoption 22:15 Security Concerns with AI Agents 28:34 Can Zuck Win By Buying the Galacticos of AI 32:15 The Rising Cost of Data 35:28 Synthetic Data and Model Degradation 37:22 Why AI Coding is Akin to Image Generation in 2015 48:46 If Joelle Was a VC Where Would She Invest? 52:17 Quickfire: Lessons from Zuck, Biggest Mindset Shift
The true story of America is that it was built on a caste system comparable to India's, says Pulitzer-prize-winning American journalist Isabel Wilkerson. The author argues that it's key to recognize the roots of the U.S. caste "structure" as she calls it, to understand why conflicts relating to race and class persist. Wilkerson delivered the 2025 Beatty Lecture at McGill University in Montreal.
Dr. Irwin Goldstein is one of America's leading sexual health physicians, a pioneer in the field, and the director of San Diego Sexual Medicine.In this episode, he breaks down his latest research into what's known as post-SSRI sexual dysfunction (PSSD)—a condition that's not uncommon but rarely discussed publicly.He's found that a class of antidepressants known as SSRIs can cause lasting physiological damage even after patients discontinue the medication—contrary to what many patients are told.“When they stop the medicine, the usual teaching is that everyone returns to their pre-medication sexual function, and that's not what we're seeing in our sexual health clinic here,” Dr. Goldstein says.His recent research showed that SSRIs can cause structural damage to genital tissue as well as many other physiological problems, like genital numbness, erectile dysfunction, and loss of libido. These problems persist long-term after discontinuing SSRI antidepressants.“It's kind of an awful thing, and it doesn't go away,” Dr. Goldstein says. “These individuals in my clinic who have been given the medicines: Our youngest is age 11. They'll never experience what one would otherwise consider a normal sexual life.”Dr. Goldstein holds a degree in engineering from Brown University and a medical degree from McGill University in Montreal. He is credited with advancing the study and treatment of both male and female sexual dysfunctions and has authored more than 360 academic publications in the field.Views expressed in this video are opinions of the host and the guest, and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
In this episode of The Mentors Radio, Host Tom Loarie talks with Daniel Levintin, PhD, a neuroscientist, cognitive psychologist, musician and best-selling author whose newest book, I Heard There Was a Secret Chord: Music as Medicine, explores how music changes the brain, strengthens memory and restores joy. Dr. Levitin's research explains why that happens. He's a Founding Dean of Arts and Humanities at Minerva University in San Francisco, James McGill Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Neuroscience at McGill University in Montreal, and the author of ten acclaimed books, including This Is Your Brain on Music and The Organized Mind. Before turning to science, he spent years as a studio musician and producer, working with artists like Sting, Joni Mitchell, and Steely Dan—so he understands music from the inside out. Today, we'll explore why music is remembered when everything else fades, how it reduces pain and loneliness, and how we can use it as a form of service — to comfort others, strengthen connection, and even rediscover ourselves. LISTEN TO the radio broadcast live on iHeart Radio, or to “THE MENTORS RADIO” podcast any time, anywhere, on any podcast platform – subscribe here and don't miss an episode! SHOW NOTES: DANIEL LEVITIN: BIO: https://www.daniellevitin.com/bio BOOKS: I Heard There Was a Secret Chord: Music as Medicine, by Daniel Levitin, PhD This is Your Brain on Music, by Dr. Daniel Levitin, PhD The Organized Mind, by Daniel Levitin, PhD WEBSITE: https://www.daniellevitin.com/
My conversation with Ophira starts at about 41 minutes after headlines and clips Subscribe and Watch Interviews LIVE : On YOUTUBE.com/StandUpWithPete ON SubstackStandUpWithPete Stand Up is a daily podcast. I book,host,edit, post and promote new episodes with brilliant guests every day. This show is Ad free and fully supported by listeners like you! Please subscribe now for as little as 5$ and gain access to a community of over 750 awesome, curious, kind, funny, brilliant, generous soul Ophira Eisenberg is a Canadian-born standup comedian, writer, and host. She hosted NPR's comedy trivia show Ask Me Another for 9-years, where she interviewed and played silly games with hundreds of celebrities including Sir Patrick Stewart, Awkwafina, Rosie Perez, Yo-Yo Ma, Bob The Drag Queen, Nick Kroll, Chelsea Handler, Jim Gaffigan, Michael C. Hall, and so many others. As a comic and a parent to a 6-year-old, Ophira is the host of the new comedy podcast Parenting Is A Joke co-produced by iHeart Radio and Pretty Good Friends Productions. The show launches on October 18th. She can be seen live, regularly headlining across the United States, Canada, and Europe delivering her unique blend of standup and storytelling to a loyal fan base of smart, irreverent comedy lovers. She has appeared at Montreal's Just for Laughs Festival, The New Yorker Festival, The New York Comedy Festival, Moontower Comedy Festival, Bumbershoot, The Nantucket Film Festival, Women in Comedy Festival and more. Her new comedy album at special Plant-Based Jokes is available on iTunes and is streaming now on YouTube. Lauded as "hilarious, high risk, and an inspiration," Ophira filmed her comedy special Inside Joke, when she was 8½ months pregnant. The show's material revolves around how she told everyone that she was never going to have kids, and then unexpectedly found herself expecting at "an advanced maternal age." Her other comedy albums, Bangs! and As Is She has appeared on Comedy Central, This Week at The Comedy Cellar, Kevin Hart's LOL Network, HBO's Girls, Gotham Live, The Late Late Show, The Today Show, and VH-1. The New York Times called her a skilled comedian and storyteller with "bleakly stylish" humor. She was also selected as one of New York Magazine's "Top 10 Comics that Funny People Find Funny," and hailed by Forbes.com as one of the most engaging comics working today. Ophira is a regular host and teller with The Moth and her stories have been featured on The Moth Radio Hour and in two of The Moth's best-selling collections, including the most recent New York Times Bestseller: How To Tell A Story: The Essential Guide to Memorable Storytelling from The Moth. Ophira's first book, Screw Everyone: Sleeping My Way to Monogamy (Seal Press), is a comedic memoir about her experiments in the field as a single woman, traveling from futon to futon and flask-to-flask, gathering data, hoping to put it all together and build her own perfect Frankenmate. It was optioned for a feature film. She is also sought after as a brilliant interviewer and moderator, and has interviewed dozens of celebrities, writers, and actors including Neil Gaiman at New York's Town Hall; Jane Curtain, Anne Beatts, Heather Gardner, Sudi Green, Alysia Reiner, Jeanne Tripplehorn, David Crane, Jeffrey Klerik at The Nantucket Film Festival; Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Daniel Levy and Annie Murphy at the 92nd Street Y; and Nell Scovell and Sloane Crosley at The Mark Twain House. Originally from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Ophira graduated with a Cultural Anthropology and Theater degree from McGill University. She now lives in Brooklyn, NY where she is a fixture at New York City's comedy clubs including the Comedy Cellar, Gotham Comedy Club, New York Comedy Club and Carolines, as well as Brooklyn's famed performance venues The Bell House, Union Hall, and Littlefield. She resides with her husband and son where she can regularly be seen drinking a ton of coffee. Pete on Blue Sky Pete on Threads Pete on Tik Tok Pete on YouTube Pete on Twitter Pete On Instagram Pete Personal FB page Stand Up with Pete FB page Gift a Subscription https://www.patreon.com/PeteDominick/gift Send Pete $ Directly on Venmo All things Jon Carroll Buy Ava's Art Subscribe to Piano Tuner Paul Paul Wesley on Substack Listen to Barry and Abigail Hummel Podcast Listen to Matty C Podcast and Substack Follow and Support Pete Coe Hire DJ Monzyk to build your website or help you with Marketing
My conversation with Ophira starts at about 41 minutes after headlines and clips Subscribe and Watch Interviews LIVE : On YOUTUBE.com/StandUpWithPete ON SubstackStandUpWithPete Stand Up is a daily podcast. I book,host,edit, post and promote new episodes with brilliant guests every day. This show is Ad free and fully supported by listeners like you! Please subscribe now for as little as 5$ and gain access to a community of over 750 awesome, curious, kind, funny, brilliant, generous soul Ophira Eisenberg is a Canadian-born standup comedian, writer, and host. She hosted NPR's comedy trivia show Ask Me Another for 9-years, where she interviewed and played silly games with hundreds of celebrities including Sir Patrick Stewart, Awkwafina, Rosie Perez, Yo-Yo Ma, Bob The Drag Queen, Nick Kroll, Chelsea Handler, Jim Gaffigan, Michael C. Hall, and so many others. As a comic and a parent to a 6-year-old, Ophira is the host of the new comedy podcast Parenting Is A Joke co-produced by iHeart Radio and Pretty Good Friends Productions. The show launches on October 18th. She can be seen live, regularly headlining across the United States, Canada, and Europe delivering her unique blend of standup and storytelling to a loyal fan base of smart, irreverent comedy lovers. She has appeared at Montreal's Just for Laughs Festival, The New Yorker Festival, The New York Comedy Festival, Moontower Comedy Festival, Bumbershoot, The Nantucket Film Festival, Women in Comedy Festival and more. Her new comedy album at special Plant-Based Jokes is available on iTunes and is streaming now on YouTube. Lauded as "hilarious, high risk, and an inspiration," Ophira filmed her comedy special Inside Joke, when she was 8½ months pregnant. The show's material revolves around how she told everyone that she was never going to have kids, and then unexpectedly found herself expecting at "an advanced maternal age." Her other comedy albums, Bangs! and As Is She has appeared on Comedy Central, This Week at The Comedy Cellar, Kevin Hart's LOL Network, HBO's Girls, Gotham Live, The Late Late Show, The Today Show, and VH-1. The New York Times called her a skilled comedian and storyteller with "bleakly stylish" humor. She was also selected as one of New York Magazine's "Top 10 Comics that Funny People Find Funny," and hailed by Forbes.com as one of the most engaging comics working today. Ophira is a regular host and teller with The Moth and her stories have been featured on The Moth Radio Hour and in two of The Moth's best-selling collections, including the most recent New York Times Bestseller: How To Tell A Story: The Essential Guide to Memorable Storytelling from The Moth. Ophira's first book, Screw Everyone: Sleeping My Way to Monogamy (Seal Press), is a comedic memoir about her experiments in the field as a single woman, traveling from futon to futon and flask-to-flask, gathering data, hoping to put it all together and build her own perfect Frankenmate. It was optioned for a feature film. She is also sought after as a brilliant interviewer and moderator, and has interviewed dozens of celebrities, writers, and actors including Neil Gaiman at New York's Town Hall; Jane Curtain, Anne Beatts, Heather Gardner, Sudi Green, Alysia Reiner, Jeanne Tripplehorn, David Crane, Jeffrey Klerik at The Nantucket Film Festival; Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Daniel Levy and Annie Murphy at the 92nd Street Y; and Nell Scovell and Sloane Crosley at The Mark Twain House. Originally from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Ophira graduated with a Cultural Anthropology and Theater degree from McGill University. She now lives in Brooklyn, NY where she is a fixture at New York City's comedy clubs including the Comedy Cellar, Gotham Comedy Club, New York Comedy Club and Carolines, as well as Brooklyn's famed performance venues The Bell House, Union Hall, and Littlefield. She resides with her husband and son where she can regularly be seen drinking a ton of coffee. Pete on Blue Sky Pete on Threads Pete on Tik Tok Pete on YouTube Pete on Twitter Pete On Instagram Pete Personal FB page Stand Up with Pete FB page Gift a Subscription https://www.patreon.com/PeteDominick/gift Send Pete $ Directly on Venmo All things Jon Carroll Buy Ava's Art Subscribe to Piano Tuner Paul Paul Wesley on Substack Listen to Barry and Abigail Hummel Podcast Listen to Matty C Podcast and Substack Follow and Support Pete Coe Hire DJ Monzyk to build your website or help you with Marketing
What if retirement isn't the end of something — but the beginning of something better - and deeply meaningful? Dr. Susan Reid thought she was ready for her next chapter when she retired early from her career as a university professor. But within weeks, she realized she'd gone from 100% full throttle to zero — and felt adrift. That awakening led her on a powerful journey to re-vision retirement — for herself and for the millions of others who feel they're “not done yet.” In this conversation, Dr. Reid shares the insights from her research and personal experience — about identity, purpose, and how to craft a clear vision for the next phase of life. You'll hear how to move from “what am I leaving?” to “what am I moving toward?” and how meaning, contribution, and joy can fuel a longer, healthier, and more fulfilling life after you leave full-time work behind. If you're planning your own next act — or helping someone who is — this episode will change how you think about what comes next. Susan Reid joins us from Halifax. _____________________________ Bio SUSAN REID is an award-winning expert on the topic of vision. Until 2021, Susan was a tenured professor of marketing and entrepreneurship at Bishop's University in Lennoxville, Quebec. As a teacher, researcher, and keynote speaker, she works at the intersection of marketing, innovation, and user-focused design, with an in-depth focus on the topic of vision, particularly for older adults and entrepreneurs. Her book on Entrepreneurial Vision: A guide for charting and implementing the vision process (co-authored with Charles Crawford). Susan is also the co-founder of Domaine Pinnacle, a pioneering Canadian producer of craft ciders and spirits. When she retired at age 57, after years of helping businesses and individuals develop their visions, Susan realized, to her surprise, that she had not set a vision for her own retirement. This led her to develop a workbook (Re-Visioning Retirement) for people just like her. Susan holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Queen's University, an MBA from McGill University, and a Ph.D. from Concordia University's John Molson School of Business. _____________________________________ For More on Susan Reid Re-Visioning Retirement: A Workbook Website ______________________________________ Podcast Conversations You May Like Joyspan – Kerry Burnight, PhD The Power of Reinvention – Joanne Lipman When Will You Flip the Switch? – Dr. Barbara O'Neill Make Your Next Years Your Best Years – Harry Agress, MD ________________________________________ About The Retirement Wisdom Podcast There are many podcasts on retirement, often hosted by financial advisors with their own financial motives, that cover the money side of the street. This podcast is different. You'll get smarter about the investment decisions you'll make about the most important asset you'll have in retirement: your time. About Retirement Wisdom I help people who are retiring, but aren't quite done yet, discover what's next and build their custom version of their next life. A meaningful retirement doesn't just happen by accident. Schedule a call today to discuss how the Designing Your Life process created by Bill Burnett & Dave Evans can help you make your life in retirement a great one — on your own terms. About Your Podcast Host Joe Casey is an executive coach who helps people design their next life after their primary career and create their version of The Multipurpose Retirement.™ He created his own next chapter after a 26-year career at Merrill Lynch, where he was Senior Vice President and Head of HR for Global Markets & Investment Banking. Joe has earned Master's degrees from the University of Southern California in Gerontology (at age 60), the University of Pennsylvania, and Middlesex University (UK), a BA in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and his coaching certification from Columbia Uni...
Join Daniel Saks, CEO & Co-Founder of Landbase, in conversation with Gary Fowler, as they explore how Agentic AI is revolutionizing the way companies generate demand, build relationships, and drive growth. Discover how the next evolution of AI — systems that act intelligently on our behalf — is reshaping go-to-market strategy and redefining the future of work.
Every time I look into research on the summer slide, I get more confused. It's no wonder professionals and families are scrambling every May as they think about how kids should be spending their time in the summer. I've intended to do a deep dive into the research and gain a better understanding of how significant the “slide” is, for who, and what, exactly, is sliding. At the time I'm writing this, I still don't feel I've done that. What I can do is speak to what I DO understand, which is why I wanted to share my commentary and a clip from my interview with my colleague, David Schipper, as we discuss our conclusions on the “summer slide”. At the end of the interview, I ended up with more questions than answers, but we both came to the conclusion that kids who are already behind will benefit from consistent, explicit intervention, and that we'd both want to take advantage of time available to close gaps in students who are already behind at the end of the school year. David Schipper is the director of Strategic Learning Clinic, a position he has held since 2013. David obtained a B.A. in English Literature from Concordia University in 1998 as well as a B.Ed. in Secondary Education (English and History) from McGill University in 2002. After some work as a local teacher in Montreal, David founded 2Torial Educational Centre in 2007. Aside from his ability to put both parents and students at ease, David is able to help families get to the root of the problem(s) and propose the most suitable programs to resolve these issues. As a father of two children, David knows how to relate to the concerns of parents and as an experienced educator and passionately understands the struggles of students. His passion and dedication to teaching and learning is second to none.Here are some questions and discussion points from this episode:✅ Why we need to think about the summer in the preceding fall, not in May.✅ Looking at cumulative gains over the entire year rather than focusing on ONE time period.✅ Some students are already behind when summer starts. So how much time should we spend debating if a “slide” exists”? In this episode, I mention the School of Clinical Leadership, my program for related service providers who want to take a leadership role in implementing executive functioning support. You can learn more about the program here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/efleadershipI also mentioned Language Therapy Advance Foundations, my program that gives SLPs and other service providers a system for language therapy. You can learn more about the program here: https://drkarenspeech.com/languagetherapy/You can connect with David on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-schipper-1537972a/You can learn more about Strategic Learning Clinic on their website here: https://strategiclearning.ca/, on their Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/SLCStrategicLearningClinic, or on Instagram @strategiclearningclinic (https://www.instagram.com/strategiclearningclinic/). We're thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. IXL's comprehensive teaching and learning platform for math, language arts, science, and social studies is accelerating achievement in 95 of the top 100 U.S. school districts. Loved by teachers and backed by independent research from Johns Hopkins University, IXL can help you do the following and more:Simplify and streamline technologySave teachers' timeReliably meet Tier 1 standardsImprove student performance on state assessments
This month's episode features a conversation with Sophie Wu, a Master's candidate in Digital Humanities at McGill University, about AI and one of its potential applications in the publishing industry: storytelling analysis.
This week on The Sausage of Science, Chris and Cara talk with Dr. Josh Brahinsky, a researcher in the Transcultural Psychiatry Department at McGill University and the Department of Religious Studies at Stanford University, whose work sits at the intersection of anthropology, psychology, and neuroscience. Josh explores how contemplative practices like prayer and meditation shape sensory experience, perception, and emotion, focusing especially on the embodied and affective dimensions of charismatic evangelical worship. With a background that bridges the humanities and sciences, a PhD in the History of Consciousness from UCSC, and a postdoctoral fellowship in Anthropology at Stanford, Josh brings a truly interdisciplinary lens to understanding what happens when people reach for the divine, and how those moments transform the body and mind alike. ------------------------------ Find the book discussed in this episode: Tongues of Fire: How Charismatic Prayer Changes Evangelical Brains and Mobilizes Spirit-Filled Activism www.bloomsbury.com/us/tongues-of-f…-9798881804992/ Find the Article: Brahinsky, J., Mago, J., Miller, M., Catherine, S., & Lifshitz, M. (2024). The Spiral of Attention, Arousal, and Release: A Comparative Phenomenology of Jhāna Meditation and Speaking in Tongues. American Journal of Human Biology, 36(12), e24189. doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.24189 ------------------------------ Contact Dr. Brahinsky: jbrahins@gmail.com ------------------------------ Contact the Sausage of Science Podcast and Human Biology Association: Facebook: facebook.com/groups/humanbiologyassociation/, Website: humbio.org, Twitter: @HumBioAssoc Chris Lynn, Host Website: cdlynn.people.ua.edu/, E-mail: cdlynn@ua.edu, Twitter:@Chris_Ly Cara Ocobock, Host Website: sites.nd.edu/cara-ocobock/, Email:cocobock@nd.edu, Twitter:@CaraOcobock Cristina Gildee, SoS Co-Producer, HBA Fellow Website: cristinagildee.org, E-mail: cgildee@uw.edu,
Broadcast from KSQD, Santa Cruz on 10-23-2025: Dr. Dawn opens with a passionate plea about E-bike safety after observing riders ignoring stop signs and wearing inadequate helmets in Santa Cruz. She explains the physics of collisions, noting that force equals mass times acceleration, and a car hitting an E-bike rider at 20 mph delivers impact equivalent to falling from a two-story building. She emphasizes that 97% of bike fatalities in New York involved helmetless riders, and brain injuries result from the brain striking the skull twice during impact - once on the impact side and again on the opposite side during deceleration. She urges drivers to honk at helmetless riders and calls for stricter helmet law enforcement. An emailer asks about hydroxyapatite in toothpaste. Dr. Dawn traces its origins to NASA research in the 1960s by Dr. Bernard Rubin studying crystal growth for preventing bone and tooth mineral loss in astronauts. Japanese company Sangi acquired the patent and created the first hydroxyapatite toothpaste by 1980, receiving official anti-cavity recognition in 1993. Studies show it matches fluoride's cavity prevention effectiveness by filling microscopic cracks where bacteria take root. It also relieves temperature sensitivity by sealing micro-fractures in enamel that expose the dentin layer, making it especially helpful for people who clench their jaws. Researchers from UC Berkeley and the Allen Institute used electrodes and lasers to study how mouse brains process optical illusions like the Kanizsa triangle. They discovered specialized IC encoder neurons in the visual cortex that fill in missing information, creating complete shapes from partial cues. When these pattern-completing circuits activate inappropriately, they may trigger hallucinations in conditions like schizophrenia. Dr. Dawn explains that illusions occur when the brain perceives something different from actual visual input, while hallucinations create perceptions with no external stimulus. She discusses frontotemporal dementia where visual hallucinations result from protein deposits in the occipital cortex, and notes that a 2021 British Journal of Psychiatry study found hallucination rates varying from 7% in young people to 3% in those over 70. An emailer describes unbearable chronic lumbar pain with degenerative disc disease shown on MRI. Dr. Dawn emphasizes that MRI findings don't necessarily correlate with pain levels, citing shopping mall studies showing equal degenerative changes in people with and without back pain. She stresses checking for sciatica symptoms including leg pain below the knee, sensory differences between sides, calf size asymmetry, and ability to walk on tiptoes and heels. Without these red flags, the degenerative disease likely isn't causing the pain. She warns against unnecessary surgery citing frequent "failed back" syndrome when surgery for a disk image doesn't "fix" the pain. She recommends water jogging with a ski vest, McKenzie exercises, abdominal strengthening, ergonomics, removing wallets from back pockets, and alternating heat and ice therapy. She discusses mindfulness meditation and cognitive behavioral therapy for pain management. A caller references Daniel Levitin's book "Your Brain on Music," discussing research using functional MRIs showing distinct brain activation patterns in musicians versus non-musicians due to integrated auditory, visual, and kinesthetic training. Dr. Dawn describes how infant brains develop from three to six layers with increasingly complex synaptic connections resembling circuit boards. She highlights a blindfold study where college students' visual cortices began responding to sound within two weeks as the auditory cortex expanded. She shares her husband's remarkable recovery demonstrating adult brain plasticity through intensive rehabilitation. Learning new musical instruments helps dementia patients by activating multiple brain regions simultaneously and improving standard cognitive test performance. A caller describes an eight-day chest cold with thick white phlegm. Dr. Dawn recommends guaifenesin as a mucus-thinning expectorant to prevent bacterial growth in respiratory secretions that serve as "bacteria chow." She emphasizes the importance of current flu, COVID, and RSV vaccinations. Secondary bacterial infections develop when bacteria colonize viral-induced mucus in the lungs and invade tissues. She advises aggressive hydration and chicken soup, which research shows helps clear mucus. Another caller provides additional information about Daniel Levitin as a musicologist, neurologist, and musician who runs the Music Perception, Cognition and Expertise laboratory at McGill University.
We've got another edition of our intermittent interview show for you, this one featuring Sadie Couture in conversation with Hannah Tollefson.You'll remember Sadie as co-producer and reporter of FE3.4 — Dama Drama. Since then, she's become a PhD student in Communication Studies at McGill University pursuing research at the intersection of media history, sound studies, and feminist science and technology studies.Hannah's work is situated at the intersection of environmental, media, and infrastructure studies. She researches the role of socio-technical systems in land, water, and labour struggles, infrastructures of energy transition, and the politics of green capitalism.This episode focusses on Hannah's writing on the Port of Vancouver, the concept of "tidewater", the nature of logistics, and the supply chain in which we're all entangled. Don't miss it.(Hannah's dissertation, the main subject of this discussion, is under University embargo until Dec 14, 2025. Check back here after then for a link. Until then, one chapter is available below).Hannah kindly compiled the following citations:ReferencesKD Derickson, The Annihilation of Time by Space: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/335733261_The_annihilation_of_time_by_spaceDeborah Cowen, The Deadly Life of Logistics: https://www.upress.umn.edu/9780816680887/the-deadly-life-of-logistics/Reconstructing Pre-contact Shoreline (UBC article): https://open.library.ubc.ca/soa/cIRcle/collections/facultyresearchandpublications/52383/items/1.0407075Hannah Tollefson, on the ECHO program in The Journal of Environmental Media https://www.researchgate.net/publication/383972463_On_synchronicity_Green_shipping's_logistical_and_real-time_mediaRelated news & linksFuture Ecologies episode “Terminal”: https://www.futureecologies.net/listen/fe-4-2-terminalOn plans to dredge Burrard Inlet: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/dredge-burrard-inlet-vancouver-fraser-port-authority-tsleil-waututh-nation-1.7545465On tanker traffic impacts of TMX: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/tanker-traffic-trans-mountain-pipeline-expansion-1.7305702Report on effectiveness of habitat compensation in the Fraser :
October 30th marks the 30th anniversary of one of the most pivotal and divisive moments in Quebec history. On that day, Quebeckers held a referendum on whether or not to secede from Canada.The votes against independence won out by a tiny margin — 50.6% voted "no," while 49.4% voted yes.A new Léger poll shows that Quebecers' attitudes on sovereignty have shifted significantly in the last 30 years. Sixty five percent of respondents said they'd vote 'no' on separating from Canada if asked to vote today. Fifty five percent said they do not believe Quebec has the economic means to become a sovereign nation.On Vermont Edition, two Canadian political science professors shared their memories of the 1995 referendum. Luc Turgeon was a college student at the time at McGill University in Montreal. He is now a professor at the University of Ottawa in Ontario. Antonia Maioni was Turgeon's professor; she still teaches at McGill. Callers from the U.S. and Canada also joined the conversation.
AI art is everywhere now. According to the music streaming platform Deezer, 18 per cent of the songs being uploaded to the site are AI-generated. Some of this stuff is genuinely cool and original – the kind of work that makes you rethink what art is, or what it could become.But there are also songs that sound like Drake, cartoons that look like The Simpsons, and stories that read like Game of Thrones. In other words, AI-generated work that's clearly riffing on – or outright mimicking – other people's art. Art that, in most of the world, is protected by copyright law. Which raises an obvious question: how is any of this legal?The AI companies claim they're allowed to train their models on this work without paying for it, thanks to the “fair use” exception in American copyright law. But Ed Newton Rex has a different view: he says it's theft.Newton Rex is a classical music composer who spent the better part of a decade building an AI music generator for a company called Stability AI. But when he realized the company – and most of the AI industry – didn't intend to license the work they were training their models on, he quit. He has been on a mission to get the industry to fairly compensate creators ever since. I invited him on the show to explain why he believes this is theft at an industrial scale – and what it means for the human experience when most of our art isn't made by humans anymore, but by machines.Mentioned:Copyright and Artificial Intelligence: Generative AI Training, by the United States Copyright OfficeA.I. Is Coming for Culture, by Josha Rothman (The New Yorker)Machines Like Us is produced by Mitchell Stuart. Our theme song is by Chris Kelly. Host direction by Athena Karkanis. Video editing by Emily Graves. Our executive producer is James Milward. Special thanks to Angela Pacienza and the team at The Globe and Mail. Media sourced from BBC News.Support for Machines Like Us is provided by CIFAR and the Max Bell School of Public Policy at McGill University. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
This week on The Sausage of Science, Chris and Cara talk with Dr. Josh Brahinsky, a researcher in the Transcultural Psychiatry Department at McGill University and the Department of Religious Studies at Stanford University, whose work sits at the intersection of anthropology, psychology, and neuroscience. Josh explores how contemplative practices like prayer and meditation shape sensory experience, perception, and emotion, focusing especially on the embodied and affective dimensions of charismatic evangelical worship. With a background that bridges the humanities and sciences, a PhD in the History of Consciousness from UCSC, and a postdoctoral fellowship in Anthropology at Stanford, Josh brings a truly interdisciplinary lens to understanding what happens when people reach for the divine, and how those moments transform the body and mind alike. ------------------------------ Find the book discussed in this episode: Tongues of Fire: How Charismatic Prayer Changes Evangelical Brains and Mobilizes Spirit-Filled Activism https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/tongues-of-fire-9798881804992/ Find the Article: Brahinsky, J., Mago, J., Miller, M., Catherine, S., & Lifshitz, M. (2024). The Spiral of Attention, Arousal, and Release: A Comparative Phenomenology of Jhāna Meditation and Speaking in Tongues. American Journal of Human Biology, 36(12), e24189. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.24189 ------------------------------ Contact Dr. Brahinsky: jbrahins@gmail.com ------------------------------ Contact the Sausage of Science Podcast and Human Biology Association: Facebook: facebook.com/groups/humanbiologyassociation/, Website: humbio.org, Twitter: @HumBioAssoc Chris Lynn, Host Website: cdlynn.people.ua.edu/, E-mail: cdlynn@ua.edu, Twitter:@Chris_Ly Cara Ocobock, Host Website: sites.nd.edu/cara-ocobock/, Email:cocobock@nd.edu, Twitter:@CaraOcobock Cristina Gildee, SoS Co-Producer, HBA Fellow Website: cristinagildee.org, E-mail: cgildee@uw.edu,
An avalanche of information besets us on what to eat. It comes from the news, from influencers of every ilk, from scientists, from government, and of course from the food companies. Super foods? Ultra-processed foods? How does one find a source of trust and make intelligent choices for both us as individuals and for the society as a whole. A new book helps in this quest, a book entitled Food Intelligence: the Science of How Food Both Nourishes and Harms Us. It is written by two highly credible and thoughtful people who join us today.Julia Belluz is a journalist and a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times. She reports on medicine, nutrition, and public health. She's been a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT and holds a master's in science degree from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Dr. Kevin Hall trained as a physicist as best known for pioneering work on nutrition, including research he did as senior investigator and section chief at the National Institutes of Health. His work is highly regarded. He's won awards from the NIH, from the American Society of Nutrition, the Obesity Society and the American Physiological Society. Interview Transcript Thank you both very much for being with us. And not only for being with us, but writing such an interesting book. I was really eager to read it and there's a lot in there that people don't usually come across in their normal journeys through the nutrition world. So, Julia, start off if you wouldn't mind telling us what the impetus was for you and Kevin to do this book with everything else that's out there. Yes, so there's just, I think, an absolute avalanche of information as you say about nutrition and people making claims about how to optimize diet and how best to lose or manage weight. And I think what we both felt was missing from that conversation was a real examination of how do we know what we know and kind of foundational ideas in this space. You hear a lot about how to boost or speed up your metabolism, but people don't know what metabolism is anyway. You hear a lot about how you need to maximize your protein, but what is protein doing in the body and where did that idea come from? And so, we were trying to really pair back. And I think this is where Kevin's physics training was so wonderful. We were trying to look at like what are these fundamental laws and truths. Things that we know about food and nutrition and how it works in us, and what can we tell people about them. And as we kind of went through that journey it very quickly ended up in an argument about the food environment, which I know we're going to get to. We will. It's really interesting. This idea of how do we know what we know is really fascinating because when you go out there, people kind of tell us what we know. Or at least what they think what we know. But very few people go through that journey of how did we get there. And so people can decide on their own is this a credible form of knowledge that I'm being told to pursue. So Kevin, what do you mean by food intelligence? Coming from a completely different background in physics where even as we learn about the fundamental laws of physics, it's always in this historical context about how we know what we know and what were the kind of key experiments along the way. And even with that sort of background, I had almost no idea about what happened to food once we ate it inside our bodies. I only got into this field by a happenstance series of events, which is probably too long to talk about this podcast. But to get people to have an appreciation from the basic science about what is going on inside our bodies when we eat. What is food made out of? As best as we can understand at this current time, how does our body deal with. Our food and with that sort of basic knowledge about how we know what we know. How to not be fooled by these various sound bites that we'll hear from social media influencers telling you that everything that you knew about nutrition is wrong. And they've been hiding this one secret from you that's been keeping you sick for so long to basically be able to see through those kinds of claims and have a bedrock of knowledge upon which to kind of evaluate those things. That's what we mean by food intelligence. It makes sense. Now, I'm assuming that food intelligence is sort of psychological and biological at the same time, isn't it? Because that there's what you're being told and how do you process that information and make wise choices. But there's also an intelligence the body has and how to deal with the food that it's receiving. And that can get fooled too by different things that are coming at it from different types of foods and stuff. We'll get to that in a minute, but it's a very interesting concept you have, and wouldn't it be great if we could all make intelligent choices? Julia, you mentioned the food environment. How would you describe the modern food environment and how does it shape the choices we make? It's almost embarrassing to have this question coming from you because so much of our understanding and thinking about this idea came from you. So, thank you for your work. I feel like you should be answering this question. But I think one of the big aha moments I had in the book research was talking to a neuroscientist, who said the problem in and of itself isn't like the brownies and the pizza and the chips. It's the ubiquity of them. It's that they're most of what's available, along with other less nutritious ultra-processed foods. They're the most accessible. They're the cheapest. They're kind of heavily marketed. They're in our face and the stuff that we really ought to be eating more of, we all know we ought to be eating more of, the fruits and vegetables, fresh or frozen. The legumes, whole grains. They're the least available. They're the hardest to come by. They're the least accessible. They're the most expensive. And so that I think kind of sums up what it means to live in the modern food environment. The deck is stacked against most of us. The least healthy options are the ones that we're inundated by. And to kind of navigate that, you need a lot of resources, wherewithal, a lot of thought, a lot of time. And I think that's kind of where we came out thinking about it. But if anyone is interested in knowing more, they need to read your book Food Fight, because I think that's a great encapsulation of where we still are basically. Well, Julie, it's nice of you to say that. You know what you reminded me one time I was on a panel and a speaker asks the audience, how many minutes do you live from a Dunkin Donuts? And people sort of thought about it and nobody was more than about five minutes from a Dunkin Donuts. And if I think about where I live in North Carolina, a typical place to live, I'm assuming in America. And boy, within about five minutes, 10 minutes from my house, there's so many fast-food places. And then if you add to that the gas stations that have foods and the drug store that has foods. Not to mention the supermarkets. It's just a remarkable environment out there. And boy, you have to have kind of iron willpower to not stop and want that food. And then once it hits your body, then all heck breaks loose. It's a crazy, crazy environment, isn't it? Kevin, talk to us, if you will, about when this food environment collides with human biology. And what happens to normal biological processes that tell us how much we should eat, when we should stop, what we should eat, and things like that. I think that that is one of the newer pieces that we're really just getting a handle on some of the science. It's been observed for long periods of time that if you change a rat's food environment like Tony Sclafani did many, many years ago. That rats aren't trying to maintain their weight. They're not trying to do anything other than eat whatever they feel like. And, he was having a hard time getting rats to fatten up on a high fat diet. And he gave them this so-called supermarket diet or cafeteria diet composed of mainly human foods. And they gained a ton of weight. And I think that pointed to the fact that it's not that these rats lacked willpower or something like that. That they weren't making these conscious choices in the same way that we often think humans are entirely under their conscious control about what we're doing when we make our food choices. And therefore, we criticize people as having weak willpower when they're not able to choose a healthier diet in the face of the food environment. I think the newer piece that we're sort of only beginning to understand is how is it that that food environment and the foods that we eat might be changing this internal symphony of signals that's coming from our guts, from the hormones in our blood, to our brains and the understanding that of food intake. While you might have control over an individual meal and how much you eat in that individual meal is under biological control. And what are the neural systems and how do they work inside our brains in communicating with our bodies and our environment as a whole to shift the sort of balance point where body weight is being regulated. To try to better understand this really intricate interconnection or interaction between our genes, which are very different between people. And thousands of different genes contributing to determining heritability of body size in a given environment and how those genes are making us more or less susceptible to these differences in the food environment. And what's the underlying biology? I'd be lying to say if that we have that worked out. I think we're really beginning to understand that, but I hope what the book can give people is an appreciation for the complexity of those internal signals and that they exist. And that food intake isn't entirely under our control. And that we're beginning to unpack the science of how those interactions work. It's incredibly interesting. I agree with you on that. I have a slide that I bet I've shown a thousand times in talks that I think Tony Sclafani gave me decades ago that shows laboratory rats standing in front of a pile of these supermarket foods. And people would say, well, of course you're going to get overweight if that's all you eat. But animals would eat a healthy diet if access to it. But what they did was they had the pellets of the healthy rat chow sitting right in that pile. Exactly. And the animals ignore that and overeat the unhealthy food. And then you have this metabolic havoc occur. So, it seems like the biology we've all inherited works pretty well if you have foods that we've inherited from the natural environment. But when things become pretty unnatural and we have all these concoctions and chemicals that comprise the modern food environment the system really breaks down, doesn't it? Yeah. And I think that a lot of people are often swayed by the idea as well. Those foods just taste better and that might be part of it. But I think that what we've come to realize, even in our human experiments where we change people's food environments... not to the same extent that Tony Sclafani did with his rats, but for a month at a time where we ask people to not be trying to gain or lose weight. And we match certain food environments for various nutrients of concern. You know, they overeat diets that are higher in these so-called ultra-processed foods and they'd spontaneously lose weight when we remove those from the diet. And they're not saying that the foods are any more or less pleasant to eat. There's this underlying sort of the liking of foods is somewhat separate from the wanting of foods as neuroscientists are beginning to understand the different neural pathways that are involved in motivation and reward as opposed to the sort of just the hedonic liking of foods. Even the simple explanation of 'oh yeah, the rats just like the food more' that doesn't seem to be fully explaining why we have these behaviors. Why it's more complicated than a lot of people make out. Let's talk about ultra-processed foods and boy, I've got two wonderful people to talk to about that topic. Julia, let's start with your opinion on this. So tell us about ultra-processed foods and how much of the modern diet do they occupy? So ultra-processed foods. Obviously there's an academic definition and there's a lot of debate about defining this category of foods, including in the US by the Health and Human Services. But the way I think about it is like, these are foods that contain ingredients that you don't use in your home kitchen. They're typically cooked. Concocted in factories. And they now make up, I think it's like 60% of the calories that are consumed in America and in other similar high-income countries. And a lot of these foods are what researchers would also call hyper palatable. They're crossing these pairs of nutrient thresholds like carbohydrate, salt, sugar, fat. These pairs that don't typically exist in nature. So, for the reasons you were just discussing they seem to be particularly alluring to people. They're again just like absolutely ubiquitous and in these more developed contexts, like in the US and in the UK in particular. They've displaced a lot of what we would think of as more traditional food ways or ways that people were eating. So that's sort of how I think about them. You know, if you go to a supermarket these days, it's pretty hard to find a part of the supermarket that doesn't have these foods. You know, whole entire aisles of processed cereals and candies and chips and soft drinks and yogurts, frozen foods, yogurts. I mean, it's just, it's all over the place. And you know, given that if the average is 60% of calories, and there are plenty of people out there who aren't eating any of that stuff at all. For the other people who are, the number is way higher. And that, of course, is of great concern. So there have been hundreds of studies now on ultra-processed foods. It was a concept born not that long ago. And there's been an explosion of science and that's all for the good, I think, on these ultra-processed foods. And perhaps of all those studies, the one discussed most is one that you did, Kevin. And because it was exquisitely controlled and it also produced pretty striking findings. Would you describe that original study you did and what you found? Sure. So, the basic idea was one of the challenges that we have in nutrition science is accurately measuring how many calories people eat. And the best way to do that is to basically bring people into a laboratory and measure. Give them a test meal and measure how many calories they eat. Most studies of that sort last for maybe a day or two. But I always suspected that people could game the system if for a day or two, it's probably not that hard to behave the way that the researcher wants, or the subject wants to deceive the researcher. We decided that what we wanted to do was bring people into the NIH Clinical Center. Live with us for a month. And in two two-week blocks, we decided that we would present them with two different food environments essentially that both provided double the number of calories that they would require to maintain their body weight. Give them very simple instructions. Eat as much or as little as you'd like. Don't be trying to change your weight. We're not going to tell you necessarily what the study's about. We're going to measure lots of different things. And they're blinded to their weight measurements and they're wearing loose fitting scrubs and things like that, so they can't tell if their clothes are getting tighter or looser. And so, what we did is in for one two-week block, we presented people with the same number of calories, the same amount of sugar and fat and carbs and fiber. And we gave them a diet that was composed of 80% of calories coming from these ultra-processed foods. And the other case, we gave them a diet that was composed of 0% of calories from ultra-processed food and 80% of the so-called minimally processed food group. And what we then did was just measured people's leftovers essentially. And I say we, it was really the chefs and the dieticians at the clinical center who are doing all the legwork on this. But what we found was pretty striking, which was that when people were exposed to this highly ultra-processed food environment, despite being matched for these various nutrients of concern, they overate calories. Eating about 500 calories per day on average, more than the same people in the minimally processed diet condition. And they gained weight and gained body fat. And, when they were in the minimally processed diet condition, they spontaneously lost weight and lost body fat without trying in either case, right? They're just eating to the same level of hunger and fullness and overall appetite. And not reporting liking the meals any more or less in one diet versus the other. Something kind of more fundamental seemed to have been going on that we didn't fully understand at the time. What was it about these ultra-processed foods? And we were clearly getting rid of many of the things that promote their intake in the real world, which is that they're convenient, they're cheap, they're easy to obtain, they're heavily marketed. None of that was at work here. It was something really about the meals themselves that we were providing to people. And our subsequent research has been trying to figure out, okay, well what were the properties of those meals that we were giving to these folks that were composed primarily of ultra-processed foods that were driving people to consume excess calories? You know, I've presented your study a lot when I give talks. It's nice hearing it coming from you rather than me. But a couple of things that interest me here. You use people as their own controls. Each person had two weeks of one diet and two weeks of another. That's a pretty powerful way of providing experimental control. Could you say just a little bit more about that? Yeah, sure. So, when you design a study, you're trying to maximize the efficiency of the study to get the answers that you want with the least number of participants while still having good control and being able to design the study that's robust enough to detect a meaningful effect if it exists. One of the things that you do when you analyze studies like that or design studies like that, you could just randomize people to two different groups. But given how noisy and how different between people the measurement of food intake is we would've required hundreds of people in each group to detect an effect like the one that we discovered using the same person acting as their own control. We would still be doing the study 10 years later as opposed to what we were able to do in this particular case, which is completed in a year or so for that first study. And so, yeah, when you kind of design a study that way it's not always the case that you get that kind of improvement in statistical power. But for a measurement like food intake, it really is necessary to kind of do these sorts of crossover type studies where each person acts as their own control. So put the 500 calorie increment in context. Using the old fashioned numbers, 3,500 calories equals a pound. That'd be about a pound a week or a lot of pounds over a year. But of course, you don't know what would happen if people were followed chronically and all that. But still 500 calories is a whopping increase, it seems to me. It sure is. And there's no way that we would expect it to stay at that constant level for many, many weeks on end. And I think that's one of the key questions going forward is how persistent is that change. And how does something that we've known about and we discuss in our books the basic physiology of how both energy expenditure changes as people gain and lose weight, as well as how does appetite change in a given environment when they gain and lose weight? And how do those two processes eventually equate at a new sort of stable body weight in this case. Either higher or lower than when people started the program of this diet manipulation. And so, it's really hard to make those kinds of extrapolations. And that's of course, the need for further research where you have longer periods of time and you, probably have an even better control over their food environment as a result. I was surprised when I first read your study that you were able to detect a difference in percent body fat in such a short study. Did that surprise you as well? Certainly the study was not powered to detect body fat changes. In other words, we didn't know even if there were real body fat changes whether or not we would have the statistical capabilities to do that. We did use a method, DXA, which is probably one of the most precise and therefore, if we had a chance to measure it, we had the ability to detect it as opposed to other methods. There are other methods that are even more precise, but much more expensive. So, we thought that we had a chance to detect differences there. Other things that we use that we also didn't think that we necessarily would have a chance to detect were things like liver fat or something like that. Those have a much less of an ability. It's something that we're exploring now with our current study. But, again, it's all exploratory at that point. So what can you tell us about your current study? We just wrapped it up, thankfully. What we were doing was basically re-engineering two new ultra-processed diets along parameters that we think are most likely the mechanisms by which ultra-processed meals drove increased energy intake in that study. One was the non-beverage energy density. In other words, how many calories per gram of food on the plate, not counting the beverages. Something that we noticed in the first study was that ultra-processed foods, because they're essentially dried out in the processing for reasons of food safety to prevent bacterial growth and increased shelf life, they end up concentrating the foods. They're disrupting the natural food matrix. They last a lot longer, but as a result, they're a more concentrated form of calories. Despite being, by design, we chose the overall macronutrients to be the same. They weren't necessarily higher fat as we often think of as higher energy density. What we did was we designed an ultra-processed diet that was low in energy density to kind of match the minimally processed diet. And then we also varied the number of individual foods that were deemed hyper palatable according to kind of what Julia said that crossed these pairs of thresholds for fat and sugar or fat and salt or carbs and salt. What we noticed in the first study was that we presented people with more individual foods on the plate that had these hyper palatable combinations. And I wrestle with the term terminology a little bit because I don't necessarily think that they're working through the normal palatability that they necessarily like these foods anymore because again, we asked people to rate the meals and they didn't report differences. But something about those combinations, regardless of what you call them, seemed to be driving that in our exploratory analysis of the first study. We designed a diet that was high in energy density, but low in hyper palatable foods, similar to the minimally processed. And then their fourth diet is with basically low in energy density and hyper palatable foods. And so, we presented some preliminary results last year and what we were able to show is that when we reduced both energy density and the number of hyper palatable foods, but still had 80% of calories from ultra-processed foods, that people more or less ate the same number of calories now as they did when they were the same people were exposed to the minimally processed diet. In fact they lost weight, to a similar extent as the minimally processed diet. And that suggests to me that we can really understand mechanisms at least when it comes to calorie intake in these foods. And that might give regulators, policy makers, the sort of information that they need in order to target which ultra-processed foods and what context are they really problematic. It might give manufacturers if they have the desire to kind of reformulate these foods to understand which ones are more or less likely to cause over consumption. So, who knows? We'll see how people respond to that and we'll see what the final results are with the entire study group that, like I said, just finished, weeks ago. I respond very positively to the idea of the study. The fact that if people assume ultra-processed foods are bad actors, then trying to find out what it is about them that's making the bad actors becomes really important. And you're exactly right, there's a lot of pressure on the food companies now. Some coming from public opinion, some coming from parts of the political world. Some from the scientific world. And my guess is that litigation is going to become a real actor here too. And the question is, what do you want the food industry to do differently? And your study can really help inform that question. So incredibly valuable research. I can't wait to see the final study, and I'm really delighted that you did that. Let's turn our attention for a minute to food marketing. Julia, where does food marketing fit in all this? Julia - What I was very surprised to find while we were researching the book was this deep, long history of calls against marketing junk food in particular to kids. I think from like the 1950s, you have pediatrician groups and other public health professionals saying, stop this. And anyone who has spent any time around small children knows that it works. We covered just like a little, it was from an advocacy group in the UK that exposed aid adolescents to something called Triple Dip Chicken. And then asked them later, pick off of this menu, I think it was like 50 items, which food you want to order. And they all chose Triple Dip chicken, which is, as the name suggests, wasn't the healthiest thing to choose on the menu. I think we know obviously that it works. Companies invest a huge amount of money in marketing. It works even in ways like these subliminal ways that you can't fully appreciate to guide our food choices. Kevin raised something really interesting was that in his studies it was the foods. So, it's a tricky one because it's the food environment, but it's also the properties of the foods themselves beyond just the marketing. Kevin, how do you think about that piece? I'm curious like. Kevin - I think that even if our first study and our second study had turned out there's no real difference between these artificial environments that we've put together where highly ultra-processed diets lead to excess calorie intake. If that doesn't happen, if it was just the same, it wouldn't rule out the fact that because these foods are so heavily marketed, because they're so ubiquitous. They're cheap and convenient. And you know, they're engineered for many people to incorporate into their day-to-day life that could still promote over consumption of calories. We just remove those aspects in our very artificial food environment. But of course, the real food environment, we're bombarded by these advertisements and the ubiquity of the food in every place that you sort of turn. And how they've displaced healthy alternatives, which is another mechanism by which they could cause harm, right? It doesn't even have to be the foods themselves that are harmful. What do they displace? Right? We only have a certain amount the marketers called stomach share, right? And so, your harm might not be necessarily the foods that you're eating, but the foods that they displaced. So even if our experimental studies about the ultra-processed meals themselves didn't show excess calorie intake, which they clearly did, there's still all these other mechanisms to explore about how they might play a part in the real world. You know, the food industry will say that they're agnostic about what foods they sell. They just respond to demand. That seems utter nonsense to me because people don't overconsume healthy foods, but they do overconsume the unhealthy ones. And you've shown that to be the case. So, it seems to me that idea that they can just switch from this portfolio of highly processed foods to more healthy foods just doesn't work out for them financially. Do you think that's right? I honestly don't have that same sort of knee jerk reaction. Or at least I perceive it as a knee jerk reaction, kind of attributing malice in some sense to the food industry. I think that they'd be equally happy if they could get you to buy a lot and have the same sort of profit margins, a lot of a group of foods that was just as just as cheap to produce and they could market. I think that you could kind of turn the levers in a way that that would be beneficial. I mean, setting aside for example, that diet soda beverages are probably from every randomized control trial that we've seen, they don't lead to the same amount of weight gain as the sugar sweetened alternatives. They're just as profitable to the beverage manufacturers. They sell just as many of them. Now they might have other deleterious consequences, but I don't think that it's necessarily the case that food manufacturers have to have these deleterious or unhealthy foods as their sole means of attaining profit. Thanks for that. So, Julia, back to you. You and Kevin point out in your book some of the biggest myths about nutrition. What would you say some of them are? I think one big, fundamental, overarching myth is this idea that the problem is in us. That this rise of diet related diseases, this explosion that we've seen is either because of a lack of willpower. Which you have some very elegant research on this that we cite in the book showing willpower did not collapse in the last 30, 40 years of this epidemic of diet related disease. But it's even broader than that. It's a slow metabolism. It's our genes. Like we put the problem on ourselves, and we don't look at the way that the environment has changed enough. And I think as individuals we don't do that. And so much of the messaging is about what you Kevin, or you Kelly, or you Julia, could be doing better. you know, do resistance training. Like that's the big thing, like if you open any social media feed, it's like, do more resistance training, eat more protein, cut out the ultra-processed foods. What about the food environment? What about the leaders that should be held accountable for helping to perpetuate these toxic food environments? I think that that's this kind of overarching, this pegging it and also the rise of personalized nutrition. This like pegging it to individual biology instead of for whatever the claim is, instead of thinking about how did environments and don't want to have as part of our lives. So that's kind of a big overarching thing that I think about. It makes sense. So, let's end on a positive note. There's a lot of reason to be concerned about the modern food environment. Do you see a helpful way forward and what might be done about this? Julia, let's stay with you. What do you think? I think so. We spent a lot of time researching history for this book. And a lot of things that seem impossible are suddenly possible when you have enough public demand and enough political will and pressure. There are so many instances and even in the history of food. We spend time with this character Harvey Wiley, who around the turn of the century, his research was one of the reasons we have something like the FDA protecting the food supply. That gives me a lot of hope. And we are in this moment where a lot of awareness is being raised about the toxic food environment and all these negative attributes of food that people are surrounded by. I think with enough organization and enough pressure, we can see change. And we can see this kind of flip in the food environment that I think we all want to see where healthier foods become more accessible, available, affordable, and the rest of it. Sounds good. Kevin, what are your thoughts? Yes, I just extend that to saying that for the first time in history, we sort of know what the population of the planet is going to be that we have to feed in the future. We're not under this sort of Malthusian threat of not being able to know where the population growth is going to go. We know it's going to be roughly 10 billion people within the next century. And we know we've got to change the way that we produce and grow food for the planet as well as for the health of people. We know we've got to make changes anyway. And we're starting from a position where per capita, we're producing more protein and calories than any other time in human history, and we're wasting more food. We actually know we're in a position of strength. We don't have to worry so acutely that we won't be able to provide enough food for everybody. It's what kind of food are we going to produce? How are we going to produce it in the way that's sustainable for both people and the planet? We have to tackle that anyway. And for the folks who had experienced the obesity epidemic or finally have drugs to help them and other kinds of interventions to help them. That absolve them from this idea that it's just a matter of weak willpower if we finally have some pharmaceutical interventions that are useful. So, I do see a path forward. Whether or not we take that is another question. Bios Dr. Kevin Hall is the section chief of Integrative Physiology Section in the Laboratory of Biological Modeling at the NIH National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Kevin's laboratory investigates the integrative physiology of macronutrient metabolism, body composition, energy expenditure, and control of food intake. His main goal is to better understand how the food environment affects what we eat and how what we eat affects our physiology. He performs clinical research studies as well as developing mathematical models and computer simulations to better understand physiology, integrate data, and make predictions. In recent years, he has conducted randomized clinical trials to study how diets high in ultra-processed food may cause obesity and other chronic diseases. He holds a Ph.D. from McGill University. Julia Belluz is a Paris-based journalist and a contributing opinion writer to the New York Times, she has reported extensively on medicine, nutrition, and global public health from Canada, the US, and Europe. Previously, Julia was Vox's senior health correspondent in Washington, DC, a Knight Science Journalism fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, and she worked as a reporter in Toronto and London. Her writing has appeared in a range of international publications, including the BMJ, the Chicago Tribune, the Economist, the Globe and Mail, Maclean's, the New York Times, ProPublica, and the Times of London. Her work has also had an impact, helping improve policies on maternal health and mental healthcare for first responders at the hospital- and state-level, as well as inspiring everything from scientific studies to an opera. Julia has been honored with numerous journalism awards, including the 2016 Balles Prize in Critical Thinking, the 2017 American Society of Nutrition Journalism Award, and three Canadian National Magazine Awards (in 2007 and 2013). In 2019, she was a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Communications Award finalist. She contributed chapters on public health journalism in the Tactical Guide to Science Journalism, To Save Humanity: What Matters Most for a Healthy Future, and was a commissioner for the Global Commission on Evidence to Address Societal Challenges.
What makes food queer? Is it possible to name and list it out as simple, clearcut elements? In their new co-edited volume, Queers at the Table, Drs. Alex Ketchum and Megan Elias explore this question with a community of writers, illustrators, and recipe creators. As an anthology of essays, comics, and recipes, the book reveals the dynamic and transformative ways that queerness informs food production and restaurant culture, and how food empowers, transforms, and unites queer and trans folk. Alex is an Associate Professor at McGill University's Institute for Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies, and the co-organizer of the Queer Food Conference. Since she was last on the show to discuss her DIY zine, How to Start a Feminist Restaurant, she's also written Ingredients for a Revolution: A History of American Feminist Restaurants, Cafes, and Coffeehouses, and Engage in Public Scholarship! A Guide to Feminist and Accessible Community. Megan is the director of Food Studies Programs at Boston University, and a historian of American foodways. They are the author of five books about food history, with the most recent being Food on the Page: Cookbooks and American Culture. She teaches courses in food history, food and gender, and food memories, and the Introduction to Gastronomy. Together, they share behind-the-scenes about how Queers at the Table came to be after the Queer Food Conference, the intersections of queer identity and food culture, including the important of community in queer food work, challenging traditional culinary and gastronomic norms and binaries through cooking and sharing food, safety in cooking and kitchen spaces, and expansive considerations for queering food spaces in the future. Resources: Queer Food Conference Alex Ketchum Website Megan Elias Website Instagram @queerfoodconference
Ophira Eisenberg! Comedian! Writer! Story-teller! Host! Friend! Delight! More! Ophira is taping her next 1-hour comedy special, produced by Lewis Black, at The Comedy Cellar on Nov 9, 2025 at 5pm and 7pm. You can follow me @ophirae everywhere except for TikTok where she is @ophiranyc. We have a great chat! You can have a great listen! Also, this is only the first HALF of our chat. For part two, subscribe via Apple Podcasts OR merely click on over here to Patreon! PS Below is more about Ophira, from the bio on her website. Enjoy that as well! Ophira Eisenberg is a Canadian-born standup comedian, writer, and host. She hosted NPR's comedy trivia show Ask Me Another for 9-years, where she interviewed and played silly games with hundreds of celebrities including Sir Patrick Stewart, Awkwafina, Rosie Perez, Yo-Yo Ma, Bob The Drag Queen, Nick Kroll, Chelsea Handler, Jim Gaffigan, Michael C. Hall, and so many others. As a comic and a parent to a 6-year-old, Ophira is the host of the new comedy podcast Parenting Is A Joke co-produced by iHeart Radio and Pretty Good Friends Productions. The show launches on October 18th. She can be seen live, regularly headlining across the United States, Canada, and Europe delivering her unique blend of standup and storytelling to a loyal fan base of smart, irreverent comedy lovers. She has appeared at Montreal's Just for Laughs Festival, The New Yorker Festival, The New York Comedy Festival, Moontower Comedy Festival, Bumbershoot, The Nantucket Film Festival, Women in Comedy Festival and more. Her new comedy album at special Plant-Based Jokes is available on iTunes and is streaming now on YouTube. Lauded as “hilarious, high risk, and an inspiration,” Ophira filmed her comedy special Inside Joke, when she was 8½ months pregnant. The show's material revolves around how she told everyone that she was never going to have kids, and then unexpectedly found herself expecting at “an advanced maternal age.” Her other comedy albums, Bangs! and As Is She has appeared on Comedy Central, This Week at The Comedy Cellar, Kevin Hart's LOL Network, HBO's Girls, Gotham Live, The Late Late Show, The Today Show, and VH-1. The New York Times called her a skilled comedian and storyteller with “bleakly stylish” humor. She was also selected as one of New York Magazine's “Top 10 Comics that Funny People Find Funny,” and hailed by Forbes.com as one of the most engaging comics working today. Ophira is a regular host and teller with The Moth and her stories have been featured on The Moth Radio Hour and in two of The Moth's best-selling collections, including the most recent New York Times Bestseller: How To Tell A Story: The Essential Guide to Memorable Storytelling from The Moth. Ophira's first book, Screw Everyone: Sleeping My Way to Monogamy (Seal Press), is a comedic memoir about her experiments in the field as a single woman, traveling from futon to futon and flask-to-flask, gathering data, hoping to put it all together and build her own perfect Frankenmate. It was optioned for a feature film. She is also sought after as a brilliant interviewer and moderator, and has interviewed dozens of celebrities, writers, and actors including Neil Gaiman at New York's Town Hall; Jane Curtain, Anne Beatts, Heather Gardner, Sudi Green, Alysia Reiner, Jeanne Tripplehorn, David Crane, Jeffrey Klerik at The Nantucket Film Festival; Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Daniel Levy and Annie Murphy at the 92nd Street Y; and Nell Scovell and Sloane Crosley at The Mark Twain House. Originally from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Ophira graduated with a Cultural Anthropology and Theater degree from McGill University. She now lives in Brooklyn, NY where she is a fixture at New York City's comedy clubs including the Comedy Cellar, Gotham Comedy Club, New York Comedy Club and Carolines, as well as Brooklyn's famed performance venues The Bell House, Union Hall, and Littlefield. She resides with her husband and son where she can regularly be seen drinking a ton of coffee.
Atrial fibrillation raises stroke risk fivefold. But what if blood thinners are too dangerous after a brain bleed or major fall?A new monthly injection, abelacimab, may prevent strokes without the bleeding risk of traditional anticoagulants.Is this the future for AFib patients who can't take blood thinners? Cardiologist Dr. Alain Bouchard discusses this groundbreaking drug with Dr. Charles V. Pollack, a consultant clinical scientist and professional educator with Novartis, owner of abelacimab.About the TeamDr. Alain Bouchard is a clinical cardiologist at Cardiology Specialists of Birmingham, AL. He is a native of Quebec, Canada and trained in Internal Medicine at McGill University in Montreal. He continued as a Research Fellow at the Montreal Heart Institute. He did a clinical cardiology fellowship at the University of California in San Francisco. He joined the faculty at the University of Alabama Birmingham from 1986 to 1990. He worked at CardiologyPC and Baptist Medical Center at Princeton from 1990-2019. He is now part of the Cardiology Specialists of Birmingham at UAB Medicine.Dr. Philip Johnson is originally from Selma, AL. Philip began his studies at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN, where he double majored in Biomedical and Electrical Engineering. After a year in the “real world” working for his father as a machine design engineer, he went to graduate school at UAB in Birmingham, AL, where he completed a Masters and PhD in Biomedical Engineering before becoming a research assistant professor in Biomedical Engineering. After a short stint in academics, he continued his education at UAB in Medical School, Internal Medicine Residency, and is currently a cardiology fellow in training with a special interest in cardiac electrophysiology.Medical DisclaimerThe contents of the MyHeart.net podcast, including as textual content, graphical content, images, and any other content contained in the Podcast (“Content”) are purely for informational purposes. The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read or heard on the Podcast!If you think you may have a medical emergency, call your doctor or 911 immediately. MyHeart.net does not recommend or endorse any specific tests, physicians, products, procedures, opinions, or other information that may be mentioned on the Podcast. Reliance on any information provided by MyHeart.net, MyHeart.net employees, others appearing on the Podcast at the invitation of MyHeart.net, or other visitors to the Podcast is solely at your own risk.The Podcast and the Content are provided on an “as is” basis.
In this episode:L-theanine is found in tea leaves and promises to help you be calm and focused. Does it work and is there evidence it can help you perform better? We look in to it on the Medical Mailbag. Then, we're diving headfirst into the wild world of wellness disinformation in this episode, where we tackle the absurdity of trusting health influencers like Dr. Joseph Mercola, who somehow manages to make a fortune peddling questionable advice. Our guest, Jonathan Jarry, a science communicator from McGill University, spills the tea (pun totally intended) on Mercola's bizarre reliance on a psychic medium for guidance on health matters. You heard that right—this guy's taking medical advice from someone channeling a spirit named Balon. We chat about how this all ties into the larger trend of seeking simple answers to complex health questions, and why people are so easily duped by flashy claims. As we dissect the ludicrousness of it all, we'll arm you with some tools to cut through the nonsense and hopefully make better choices in your health journey. So buckle up, because this rollercoaster of ridiculousness is about to get real!Segments:[06:49]- Medical Mailbag: L-theanine[28:57]- Interview: Jonathan Jarry LinksJonathan's Website The Mercola Tapes on YouTube
In this week's episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng and Eos Foundation's Andrea Silbert interview Dr. Gil Troy, senior fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute, Distinguished Scholar in North American History at McGill University, and editor of Theodor Herzl: The Collected Zionist Writings and Addresses of Israel's Founder. He offers […]