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Pien Meulensteen is joined by Lee Hendrie and Izzy Christiansen to reflect on Wolverhampton Wanderers' impressive 2-0 victory over third-placed Aston Villa.Listen to every episode of the Sky Sports Premier League Podcast here: skysports.com/sky-sports-premier-league-podcastYou can listen to the Sky Sports Premier League Podcast on your smart speaker by asking it to play "Sky Sports Premier League Podcast".For all the latest football news, head to skysports.com/premier-leagueFor advertising opportunities email: skysportspodcasts@sky.uk
Dan Bardell and Sky Sports News' Dave Reed are back to preview the Midlands derby between Wolves and Aston Villa.
In this special episode, glass artist Chris Day and poet and creative producer Gabriella Gay join EMPIRE LINES live, to reflect on the complex histories of the Wedgwood Anti-Slavery Medallion, and the relationships between colonialism, abolitionism, and ceramics in the Midlands, through the collaborative research project, I Am a Man and a Brother (2021-Now).This episode was recorded live at the V&A Wedgwood Collection in Stoke-on-Trent in November 2025. Find all the information about the research project online, and in the first Instagram post: instagram.com/p/DPqjVMWjYwq/Chris Day: Fragmented Truths was at the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery and the V&A Wedgwood Collection in Stoke-on-Trent through 2025.Gabriella Gay's poem, Black Man Cast in Clay (2022), is at the V&A Wedgwood Collection in Stoke-on-Trent, and available online.Magdalene Odundo: The Falcon Cannot Hear the Falconer is on display at the V&A Wedgwood Collection in Stoke-on-Trent until March 2026.Join Chris Day at Craft After Dark during Collect 2026 in London on 27 February 2026.For more about Josiah Wedgwood and Jacqueline Bishop, hear curators Jake Subryan Richards and Vicky Avery on Black Atlantic: Power, People, Resistance (2023) at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge: pod.link/1533637675/episode/a5271ae2bc8c85116db581918412eda2On flows of migration in Trinidad and the Caribbean, hear about Richard Fung's film Dal Puri Diaspora (2012) at the Museum of London Docklands: pod.link/1533637675/episode/OGZkOTY3MDAtYzExOC00MzJmLWIyYWItNDQyMzJmOTY2NzI3On the relationship between rope and other mediums, hear sculptor LR Vandy on Twist (2024) at Chatham Ropery and October Gallery in London: pod.link/1533637675/episode/MjAyOTlhYjUtYzBlMS00MDYwLWEwY2EtMzg2MTc4ZGE4Y2RiAnd on plumbing and artistic practices, hear Sovay Berriman in the live episode from Dhaqan Collective's House of Weaving Songs at the Eden Project in Cornwall in 2024 - and Flamm 2026 in Bodmin, coming soon.PRODUCER: Jelena Sofronijevic.Follow EMPIRE LINES on Instagram: instagram.com/empirelinespodcastSupport EMPIRE LINES on Patreon: patreon.com/empirelines
Niall from the Midlands joins Dave and Fionnuala, he's very unhappy about not getting the category of sausages, because he struggles with jerseys
It's four years today since Russia's full scale invasion of Ukraine. It's obviously been devastating for the population; and while front line fighters and high pressure politics make the headlines, its the country's farmers who have the massive responsibility of keeping the people of Ukraine fed. The war has led to soaring prices of fuel and fertiliser - but more than that, labour shortages and continual power cuts have put massive pressure on what was an efficient and profitable industry. We hear from Kees Huizinga, a Dutch farmer who moved to Ukraine to run a large mixed farm, just before the invasion took place. He estimates that 20 percent of farm land has been lost to the war. We also hear from the BBC's former Ukraine correspondent James Waterhouse who's seen the devastation for himself.Several farmers in the Midlands have been giving up pieces of their land to create wetland habitats for wintering birds. Work is being carried out to make scrapes and channels on fields so they'll attract species like the snipe and the lapwing. Presented by Anna Hill and produced by Sally Challoner
'I decided I wasn't coming to Dublin anymore, and then I remembered I signed a contract..'Dave chats to Dympna Little and Mary-Claire Fitzpatrick about their new podcast, 'Herself & Herself'.
Alpha Drives in Portlaoise is powering into its next phase, with a multi-million euro expansion and ambitious hiring plans. Managing Director John Dwan joins Ronan to discuss automation, engineering careers, and why advanced manufacturing is thriving in the Midlands. Louise McSharry of Make & Share outlines bold plans for a new Midlands Creative Cluster designed to connect designers, makers, and studios at scale. Kevin Scully of The Merry Mill shares the story behind Ireland's only certified organic flour mill—just in time for Pancake Tuesday. Plus, we preview National Enterprise Week 2026 and the packed schedule from the LEOs across Westmeath, Laois, and Offaly.
Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment Darragh O'Brien has announced significant new funding of almost €35 million to further support local authorities as they continue to drive forward climate action in our communities. This funding underpins the continued commitment of Government to local climate action and recognises the key role of local authorities in supporting communities as we transition to a climate neutral economy. €35 million for climate action in communities €30 million START Scheme to support local climate action As part of the European Union's Just Transition Fund (EU JTF) programme, which is co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the EU, €30 million is being provided to local authorities in the Midlands EU Just Transition Territory to support their local climate action. The new scheme, Supporting a Sustainable Transition through Climate Action for a Resilient Territory (START) will support Local Authority-led Climate Action Plan infrastructure projects and feasibility studies that align with the EU JTF programme. The types of projects that local authorities can submit for consideration under this closed call include but are not limited to: Renewable energy solutions, enhancing community engagement, promoting sustainability; Enhancing energy efficiency of public and community buildings; Active travel and sustainable transport; Transforming former landfill sites into tourism/recreational spaces, developing community/heritage spaces, enhancing public amenities. Additional €4.9 million for Local Authority Climate Action: A further €4.9 million is also being made to support Local Authority climate action across Ireland. This will break down as follows: The three Irish cities in the EU Climate Neutral and Smart Cities Mission – Cork, Dublin and Galway – will be able to access funding of €2 million next year. This will help the cities to deliver projects which move them to becoming climate neutral by 2030. A new fund of €1.5 million will be set up to assist local authorities with their Decarbonising Zones (DZs). DZs are spatial areas which have been selected by local authorities as the focus for climate mitigation, adaptation and biodiversity projects. There is a new €2.5 million European Regional Development Fund scheme for local authorities in the northern and western region. It offers funding for local projects in Decarbonising Zones on adaptation or the protection of biodiversity and green infrastructure. The Department is committing €1 million in funding. Climate Action Regional Offices (CAROs) will receive €2.4 million in 2026 – an increase of €400,000. The offices support local authorities to deliver climate action, helping them develop local climate plans and sharing best practice across the regions. These announcements follow a funding commitment at the end of 2025 of €26.9m to fund community climate action projects and a Community Climate Action Officer in each Local Authority to 2027. Commenting on the funding, Minister O'Brien said: "Our local authorities are the leaders in making sustainability at a community level a reality. Through the Community Climate Action Programme, hundreds of projects across communities have been and will be funded with the support of over €50 million from the Climate Action Fund from 2023 to 2027. I'm delighted now to announce, in addition, the launch of a new €30 million Just Transition scheme investing further in the Midlands, and to increased climate funding for local authorities in 2026 of almost €5 million. This funding demonstrates our commitment to local authorities and communities, supporting them to deliver the meaningful, place-based climate action required for their specific needs." Commenting on the launch of the START scheme, Clare Bannon, A/Director for Eastern and Midland Regional Assembly, said: "EMRA is looking forward to launching the START scheme which marks a transformative moment for the wider Midlands region. With this vital boost of investm...
Listen on Apple Podcasts - watch or listen on Spotify - watch on YouTube. Welcome to 1865, and our FOOTBALL TERRORISTS show! This is our monthly(ish) game show which also offers a deep dive and reflection into the life of a supporter at Nottingham Forest. In Part 1 of this show, we pre-Pereira for another new Head Coach at the City Ground, and think about player performance and how the Big Guy is actually one of the most enthusiastic Nottingham Forest supporters around. We also have a game of 'Penny For Your Thoughts', in which Tom, Matt and the Maradona of the Midlands put themselves in the shoes of Sean Dyche, Edu, and Evangelos Marinakis (but in a nice way). Presented by Rich Ferraro, and the Football Terrorists Sketch is written and presented by Jeremy Davies. Part 2 of the podcast is being released adjacent to this episode. Subscribe to 1865: The ORIGINAL Nottingham Forest Podcast via your podcast provider, and please leave a review, as it helps other Forest supporters find our content. Join us on X, Instagram, Bluesky, Threads or TikTok. 1865: The Nottingham Forest Podcast is part of the Sports Social Network, and partnered with FanHub. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Listen on Apple Podcasts - watch or listen on Spotify - watch on YouTube. Welcome to 1865, and our FOOTBALL TERRORISTS show! This is our monthly(ish) game show which also offers a deep dive and reflection into the life of a supporter at Nottingham Forest. In Part 2 of this show, we speak to a seasoned Premier League watcher about whether Forest are a basket case and what other clubs' fans really think about Evangelos Marinakis. We also have our quickfire round, in which Tom, Matt and the Maradona of the Midlands predict how the Reds will end the season, and we compare billionaire owners - who would you rather have? Presented by Rich Ferraro, with thanks to Neil Atkinson of The Anfield Wrap. Part 1 of the podcast has been released adjacent to this episode. Subscribe to 1865: The ORIGINAL Nottingham Forest Podcast via your podcast provider, and please leave a review, as it helps other Forest supporters find our content. Join us on X, Instagram, Bluesky, Threads or TikTok. 1865: The Nottingham Forest Podcast is part of the Sports Social Network, and partnered with FanHub. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Backed by one of the largest appropriations in the college's history from the South Carolina Legislature, MTC is accelerating its response to the state's widening skills gap across high-growth industries. The investment positions the college to significantly expand the pipeline of job-ready graduates prepared to seize emerging, high-wage opportunities—including those created by Scout Motors. As the official education and training partner for the Scout Motors production center, MTC collaborated with company leaders to launch a new Electric Vehicle Engineering Technology program and strengthen four additional programs, ensuring students are equipped for the next generation of EV careers.
Jesus taught that we are "salt of the earth" and the "light of the world." So should we be concerned that we will lose our "saltiness?" Paul White preaching from The Garden Church of the Midlands in Irmo, SC.
Making a Scene Presents Gerry Casey's Interview with Billy Bucklers of BillobucklersBillobucklers is a UK band built around the songwriting, voice, and restless musical spirit of Billy Bucklers, a Leicester-and-Nottingham original who writes like he's lived it and plays like he means it. Rooted in the Midlands but never boxed in by geography, Billy brings a hard-earned perspective to every song—mixing grit, humor, and heart in a way that feels immediate and real. http://www.makingascene.org
Emma speaks to Professor Bola Owolabi, a practising GP in the Midlands and the chief inspector of primary care and community services at the CQC. Before this she director of the National Healthcare Inequalities Improvement Programme at NHS England, where she led the Core20PLUS5 approach to tackling healthcare inequalities.Bola took on her role at the CQC in July last year at a particularly turbulent time for the regulator.In this conversation, she discusses how the CQC is working to turn things around after facing significant criticism about its work, the development of a new sector-specific assessment framework for primary care, and how she hopes inspections will become a less stressful experience for GPs, practice managers and the rest of the practice team.Bola also talks about her own experience of leading the turnaround of a GP practice in a deprived area that was rated inadequate, the role of the CQC in improving care and tackling health inequalities, and how the regulator views the move towards neighbourhood health and the use of AI in general practice.This episode was presented by GPonline editor Emma Bower. It was produced by Czarina Deen.Useful linksCQC regulators pioneers' fund informationLack of investment in community services will hit plans to shift care out of hospitals, says CQCCQC mythbuster on AI in general practice Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Was Mystic Meg the end of an era? Could Madagascar happen in real life? Can you see Scotland from the Midlands? http://instagram.com/pappyscomedy https://www.tiktok.com/@pappysflatshare Support us on Patreon - http://patreon.com/pappysflatshare UPCOMING FLATSHARE SLAMDOWNS: MONDAY FEBRUARY 23RD: SAM NICORESTI + STEVIE MARTIN TUESDAY FEBRUARY 24TH: MATT FORDE + AMY MASON Find tickets to all our live shows here - http://pappyscomedy.com/live Produced by Olivia Swash Technical expertise by @AceMcRenegade Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
William McGrath is CEO of C suite pension strategies. He has a financial and industrial sector background and was a longtime CEO of AGA range master. He has an honorary doctorate from Birmingham City University for work to sustain the relevance of the Midlands industrial heritage. He returned to the financial sector after 25 years working in industry.In our discussion we trace William's own career path and the source of his interest in pensions and the financial sector more generally. Moving then to his current perspective on pension funds at C Suite Pension Strategies, he discusses the importance of corporate pensions, emphasizing that they should be seen as a corporate wealth fund rather than a burden. He highlights that there is still £1.2 trillion in private sector investments in the UK, advocating for a "run on" strategy over "buyout." William criticizes the lack of scrutiny in actuarial work and calls for better regulation and oversight of some of the workings of this sector. Overall he emphasizes the importance of a "members first" approach which puts member interests at the center of pension fund governance. We move then to broader governance issues and we talk in some detail about his experience in leadership at Aga and getting back to his love of history and the industrial heartland refers us to “Aga, Allied and Ogilvy – The Management of Groups”, which contains remarkable Boardroom records of a group of allied iron founders seeking to integrate businesses between the 1930s and 1950s – https://homehearthistory.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/aga-allied-ogilvy-book.pdfThis podcast is kindly sponsored by Evanston Capital and Alvine Capital. For over 20 years Evanston Capital has had a key focus in identifying early-stage investment managers it believes are capable of generating long-term, value-added returns in complex, innovative strategy areas. Alvine Capital is a specialist investment manager and placement boutique with a particular focus on alternative assets with significant presence in London and Stockholm.
Lorraine Lewis is the Co-Founder and CEO of The Lewis Foundation, an award-winning cancer charity providing free gift packs and ongoing support to adult cancer patients across 17 hospitals in the Midlands. Founded from lived experience, the charity has become a lifeline for thousands of people diagnosed with cancer. Beyond her role as a charity leader, Lorraine is a highly sought-after motivational speaker, inspiring audiences ranging from school children to corporate professionals. She has delivered talks for organisations including The Eden Project, the European Chartered Institute of Fundraising, and AJ Bell, sharing powerful messages of resilience, purpose and hope. Lorraine's remarkable journey has captured national attention. She has been featured in publications such as The Sun and HELLO! Magazine, and has appeared on Channel 4 News, highlighting her work and personal story. Her dedication to community service has been recognised through numerous accolades, including the HELLO! Magazine Inspiration Award, Great British Entrepreneur Award, and the prestigious Prime Minister's Point of Light Award. In recognition of her services to cancer, Lorraine was recently invited to meet Their Majesties The King and Queen. In addition to her charitable work, Lorraine is an author, with her memoir Dare To Dream chronicling her journey from lawyer to charity founder. She also hosts the podcast "See Through The Big C", amplifying the voices of those living with cancer, their loved ones, and healthcare professionals. A passionate artist, Lorraine discovered her love for art in her forties and continues to explore creativity alongside her enthusiasm for fitness, including HYROX competitions, running, and ultra-distance challenges—living proof that it's never too late to dream, create, and push beyond perceived limits. *** New episodes of the Tough Girl Podcast drop every Tuesday at 7 AM (UK time)! Make sure to subscribe so you never miss the inspiring journeys and incredible stories of tough women pushing boundaries. Do you want to support the Tough Girl Mission to increase the amount of female role models in the media in the world of adventure and physical challenges? Support via Patreon! Join me in making a difference by signing up here: www.patreon.com/toughgirlpodcast. Your support makes a difference. Thank you x *** Show notes Who is Lorraine Being based in Northampton Co-founder of The Lewis Foundation which supports cancer patients in hospital Writing her book, 'Dare to Dream' Her early years growing up Not being sporty and always trying to get out of PE Being into reading and writing Her dream of wanting to become a barrister Being supported and encouraged by her parents Her determination and resilience Not knowing how she would achieve her goals Doing old school research by heading to the library Creating her own opportunities to gain the experiences she needed Doing the Bar Vocational Course Not having time for sport or physical activity £50k of student debt…. Being determined to make it happen Dealing with challenges and changes How it changed their life Starting to question everything and why there must be more to life What can be done? Wanting to make people feel better Dealing with cancer, death and grief Supporting people with cancer Bringing joy to peoples days Getting into fitness and ultra running to raise funds for the charity Deciding to sign up to do a Tough Mudder (Obstacle Run) Wanting to push herself more physically and step outside her comfort zone Running out of money for the charity How Mike supported the charity with a £50k donation The kindness of strangers Deciding to take on the 3 Peaks Challenge Taking on more and more running challenges Being consumed by the Lewis Foundation and starting to neglect herself Rat Race The Wall Discovering Hyrox Getting back on her feet and being more active and more healthy Starting to feel stronger mentally and more resilient to handle challenges January 2025 - and doing her vision board and goals for the year Deciding to sign up for the 70 mile race Not training for the ultra in the best way… Being at the start of the race The struggle during the race and crossing the finishing line Feeling physically broken but knowing it was her mental resilience that got her across the finish line The mental side of running 70 miles Setting a big challenge for 2026 Taking on a 100 mile ultra! The Rat Race Castle to Castle The Lewis Foundation will be celebrating it's 10th Anniversary in 2026 Starting to follow a specific running program Being pushed in her training Making sure to eat better The challenges of fuelling while being coeliac Feeling in a much better place physically Needing to exercise at 6am Training about 35 hrs a week What is the race strategy…. Breaking down the training Fuelling her training and needing to eat more Not being afraid to consume food—especially carbs Taking supplements to help with iron levels Creatine and omega-3 The benefits of hiking poles/sticks Rotating trainers The financial impact of taking on challenges/runs etc How to connect with Lorraine on social media Podcast: See through the big C Final words of advice The importance of living your life Make the most of the time we have on this planet Social Media Website: www.lorrainelewisbcah.co.uk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/lorraine-lewis-bcah Youtube: @Seethroughthebigc Instagram: @lorraine_lewisbca Book: Dare to Dream
Step into YATESY'S ESPRESSO BAR for a jam-packed review of events at the City Ground: Women's team lose to the Blues, but have a bumper transfer window Ten-man Reds - a point gained or two lost? Forest Netz new left-back, but what about Cuiabano? Plus welcome to Ortega and other transfers that did, and didn't happen Leeds preview: 3 at the back good for Forest? Presented by Rich Ferraro with Matt Turpin and the Maradona of the Midlands. This is our 70th podcast of the season, so thanks for joining us - we'll be back on Saturday with a match report on the trip to Leeds. Subscribe to 1865: The ORIGINAL Nottingham Forest Podcast via your podcast provider, and please leave a review, as it helps other Forest supporters find our content: Apple - Spotify - YouTube. Join us on X, Instagram, Bluesky, Threads or TikTok. 1865: The Nottingham Forest Podcast is part of the Sports Social Network, and partnered with FanHub. Come on you Reds! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In this episode, we discuss happiness. What it is and how we find it.Richard Nicholls is an Author, Podcaster and Registered Psychotherapist working in the Midlands in the UKIf you want to contact the show to ask a question and get involved in the conversation, then please email us: unquestionablepod@gmail.comFind us here:Twitter: @unquestionpodInstagram: @unquestionablepodTik Tok: @unquestionablepodFacebook: @unquestionablepodcastYoutube: @unquestionablepod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
DJ Jesse Luscious dives into fast Midlands punk from the 80s to today with Heresy, Rat Cage, Stray Bullet, & Dry Heaves, spins current oi with Booze & Glory, The Chisel, Hard Skin, The Mess, & Swingin' Utters, and plays a BRAND NEW track by SUZI QUATRO! He also plays new tracks from Twat Union, Home Front, Detroit Illharmonic Symphony, & Epimetheus, and classics from Coughin Vicars, Metallica, Municipal Waste, Cliterati, Altar De Fey, Dash Rip Rock, Accidente, Electric Love Muffin, Homobiles, Rubber City Rebels, Ramones, False Fed, Amebix, & Slayer! Twat Union- Pay Me More Home Front- Between The Waves Coughin' Vicars- Until The Feeling Turns Cold Altar De Fey- Death To My Enemies Detroit Illharmonic Symphony Night Of The Racoons Dash Rip Rock- Chariots Of Hell Fire (with Mojo Nixon) (edit) Electric Love Muffin- Backstreet Ride Accidente- Demonio Suzi Quatro-Freedom Homobiles- Which Side Are You On? Chisel- Not The Only One (edit) Booze And Glory- Only Fools Get Caught (edit) Hard Skin- We Are The Wankers Sham 69- Hey Little Rich Boy Mess- FTW (For The Win) Swingin' Utters- E.C.T. Ramones- Teenage Lobotomy Rubber City Rebels- (I Wanna) Pierce My Brain False Fed- The Tyrant Dies Amebix- Drink And Be Merry Heresy- Flowers In Concrete Rat Cage- Weapon Desire Stray Bullet- Stripmined Dry Heaves- The Fear Cliterati- Latinx Taken Municipal Waste- Unleash The Bastards Slayer- War Ensemble Metallica- Ride The Lightning Epimetheus- Perseus 9
When the Football League started in 1888 there were six clubs from the Midlands and six from Lancashire. Now look at the Premier League. Of the current 20 clubs, nine come from the effete South of England, in other words almost half. Jon Holmes, Colin Shindler and Jim White discuss whether this is a North-South divide or a London-versus-the-rest-of-the-country divide. We know to what extent football is ruled by money and we know that the North-South divide is a slightly euphemistic way of describing the disadvantaged North versus the over privileged South. So much is self-evident. But is this increasing concentration of wealth in the southern half of the country a good thing or a bad thing for football?” Listen to the podcast and let us know what you think (and where you live!) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Mike Switzer interviews Sam Herskovitz, executive director of the Boyd Innovation Center in Columbia, SC.
Become a part of the Progressive Property refer-a-friend scheme and Earn up to £250 when someone attends one of our events – you can enrol here: https://www.progressiveproperty.co.uk/raf/ 2026 has kicked off with fear, headlines, and a very soft market – but also some of the best buying conditions Mark has seen in years. In this episode, he breaks down what's really happening across the UK property market: London's slow‑motion crash, why the Midlands and North are holding firm, and how the Renters' Rights Act and higher taxes are quietly reshaping the game for landlords. He reveals where the real value is right now for investors, developers, and landlords, how to use falling interest rates and rising incomes to your advantage, and why this “weak” market is exactly when serious investors should be buying, not selling. If you want to take the next step and put what you have learned from this podcast into action, you only need to click here - https://www.wealthbuilders.co.uk/progressive-podcast KEY TAKEAWAYS The UK market is fragmented. Prime central London has been in a slow‑motion correction, with falls of 30%+ over 10 years. While the Midlands and North still stack up on yield and even trade below rebuild cost. Focus your buying on high‑yield, real‑demand areas first, and be highly selective if you buy in the softened prime areas of London. The Renters' Rights Act and extra regulation will push out smaller landlords, tighten supply, and keep rents rising. Hoover up the stock smaller landlords are dumping that stacks up compliance-wise. Don't panic, and sell solid, high‑yield assets - use this weak market to add to your portfolio over the long-term. Interest rates are easing, incomes are up, and affordability is set to gradually improve. Lock in good deals now, let inflation quietly reduce your debt, and ride the capital growth when confidence returns. BEST MOMENTS "You should be holding and using the weak market to increase your portfolio. That's what we're doing.” "I think there's still genuine, below market value stuff to buy, for flipping and for landlords to refurb. So, I think it's a great time to buy." "Inflation erodes. Inflation actually destroys and reduces your mortgage." "You can't really reliably predict when capital growth is going to come. You just know it will do over the long run." “You'll be able to buy lots of rental properties from landlords exiting.” VALUABLE RESOURCES MSOPI – Multiple Streams of Income: https://www.progressiveproperty.co.uk https://kevinmcdonnell.co.uk ABOUT THE HOST Sean Fitzpatrick is a property investor, educator, and the Face of Progressive Property. With a 6-figure portfolio and expertise in creative strategies, finance, and off-market deals, Sean shares success stories from the Progressive Property community, expert insights, and real-world strategies to help investors succeed. Tune in for practical tips and no-nonsense advice to accelerate your property journey. ABOUT THE HOST Kevin McDonnell is a Speaker, Author, Mentor & Professional Property Investor. He is an expert when it comes to creative property investment strategies. His book No Money Down: Property Invest talks about how to control and cash flow other people's property to create financial freedom. CONTACT METHOD https://www.facebook.com/kevinMcDonnellProperty https://kevinmcdonnell.co.uk TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@progressiveproperty YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0g1KuusONVStjY_XjdXy6g Twitter: https://twitter.com/progperty LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/progressiveproperty Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/progressiveproperty Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/progressivepropertycommunity Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Progperty This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/
What did John mean when he called Jesus, "Lamb of God," and if the sin of the world was to be removed, why do we still sin? Paul White preaches from The Garden Church of the Midlands in Irmo, SC.
H3-S1-Fri1/23/26-TCJS-Charlie James interviews Justin Powell , Secretary of Transportation for SCDOT 00:00 All right, coming up tomorrow night, it is going to start getting very, very nasty here in South Carolina. We are advising everyone to stay home unless you absolutely have to travel. Joining us right now is Justin Powell, the Secretary of Transportation for the South Carolina Department of Transportation. Mr. Powell, welcome to the program. Have you had a busy week? Thank you, Charlie. No, it's been absolutely busy all across South Carolina as we get ready for this. Well, it could be a 00:28 very significant and historic ice storm coming to the upstate. long ago did you guys start preparing for this? Now we started efforts earlier this week. You know, we had had an event come through this past weekend where we thought we were going to have some freezing rain and we already were already at it. So our crews really started moving into action. The past two days they have been pre-treating the interstate. So you've been seeing a spray brine down on the interstate's primary routes and then 00:57 routes where people are getting to critical facilities like a hospital. So we've been working hard at it over the past several days and then we will start going into 24 hour operations in many parts of the state tonight and starting tomorrow as well, where folks will be out there working to fight the high, big amount of ice that we're anticipating might be falling in the upstate as Weatherport said, at least a half inch in ice, which is really, really. 01:26 That is significant. usually we have these things that happen, they just affect the upstate, they just affect the Midlands, or they just affect the low country. How do you, I mean, this is, practically everybody in the state's gonna be affected by this thing in one way or another. That's gotta be a massive undertaking. Yeah, no, it's an all hands on deck for the 3,000 men and women who have frontline responsibilities at DOT in terms of maintaining our highways. 01:51 So we've been working from the coast all the way up to the mountains of Oconee County getting ready for this storm. So it's been all hands. We've been, not only everybody on our own team working at it, obviously we've been bringing in some uh contract resources. So we have contractors also working on the interstates, putting down brine. We are bringing in uh crews to cut and toss uh any tree limbs that might fall. 02:19 on that, but it's just a recognition of the team we have at DOT that they're going to be willing to uh stay away from their families, working some really cold and hard temperatures that I think all of us are going to be dealing with soon and then putting out there to try to get the roads reopened as quickly as possible. How many trucks do we have in South Carolina that are able to spread brine, sand, calcium chloride, all of that stuff? 02:44 So it's about 1200 pieces of equipment that we have mobilized and we're bringing in extra resources in terms of uh those contractors to help us get there. so, you what I see is we'll be working to try to get the ice off the roads. It'll be a challenge just because it's going to get very, very cold in the upstate in the coming days. then, but we'll bring in our crews from the coast and for any trees that are down, we'll start bring them in with chainsaws to cut and clear the roads as fast as we can. 03:14 Is there any conditions to where you guys would go, all right, it's too dangerous for even us to get out here? I I think we're going to do, we're going to go out as long as we can, but obviously there are going to be opportunities when we get into the actual event. Well, you know, my first priority is the safety of our employees, the safety of the motoring public. So, you know, we may have to look at that and that applies to the traveling public as well in terms of making sure that if it's 03:40 It's cold and icy out, know, four wheel driv ...
Welcome to YATESY'S ESPRESSO BAR - pull up a chair, grab a coffee and join us for another discussion on all things Forest. In this show: Dyche's tactical approach Edu and the ripple effect Transfer rumours Braga preview Hosted by Rich Ferraro with the Maradona of the Midlands. Subscribe to 1865: The ORIGINAL Nottingham Forest Podcast via your podcast provider, and please leave a review, as it helps other Forest supporters find our content: Apple - Spotify - YouTube. Join us on X, Instagram, Bluesky, Threads or TikTok. 1865: The Nottingham Forest Podcast is part of the Sports Social Network, and partnered with FanHub. Come on you Reds! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Become a part of the Progressive Property refer-a-friend scheme and Earn up to £250 when someone attends one of our events – you can enrol here: https://www.progressiveproperty.co.uk/raf/ In this high pace episode, Mark Homer lays out his no-nonsense predictions for the UK property market in 2026. He covers where he thinks the real growth will be (and where it won't) for both residential and commercial properties, why the Midlands and the North are !likely to beat London for profits, and how the Renters Reform Act, EPC rules and tax changes will actually hit landlords and developers on the ground. If you're serious about making money from property - whether that´s using HMOs, buy-to-lets, industrial or small-scale developments - this episode will help you to see what's coming, where the opportunities are, and how to stay profitable in spite of the chaotic rate of change we are experiencing. If you want to take the next step and put what you have learned from this podcast into action, you only need to click here - https://www.wealthbuilders.co.uk/progressive-podcast KEY TAKEAWAYS · Focus on buying stuff that stacks in today´s market - Properties that generate solid yields and cash flow, rather than chasing speculative capital growth. · Consider shifting capital out of over‑taxed London and into stronger‑yielding Midlands and Northern markets and carefully selected industrial developments. · Treat Renters Reform and the loss of Section 21 as a given – tighten your paperwork, ASTs, and evidence so you can still deal with problem tenants. · Use 2026–2030 to get your stock to EPC C as cheaply and intelligently as possible. · The right EPC assessor is worth their weight in gold. · Despite the high levels of political and legislative change, the realities of supply and demand will exert themselves. So, those landlords and developers who adapt their strategy will remain profitable, regardless. BEST MOMENTS "Even Starmer and Rachel from accounts can't beat the market. They cannot beat the supply and demand curve." " In order to get builders building again, and investors investing, capital values and rents need to go up in order to make projects viable." "I think capital growth probably will come back to something like four or 5% that's assuming that Bank of England base rate drops maybe half a percent by the end of 2026." VALUABLE RESOURCES MSOPI – Multiple Streams of Income: https://www.progressiveproperty.co.uk https://kevinmcdonnell.co.uk ABOUT THE HOST Sean Fitzpatrick is a property investor, educator, and the Face of Progressive Property. With a 6-figure portfolio and expertise in creative strategies, finance, and off-market deals, Sean shares success stories from the Progressive Property community, expert insights, and real-world strategies to help investors succeed. Tune in for practical tips and no-nonsense advice to accelerate your property journey. ABOUT THE HOST Kevin McDonnell is a Speaker, Author, Mentor & Professional Property Investor. He is an expert when it comes to creative property investment strategies. His book No Money Down: Property Invest talks about how to control and cash flow other people's property to create financial freedom. CONTACT METHOD https://www.facebook.com/kevinMcDonnellProperty https://kevinmcdonnell.co.uk TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@progressiveproperty YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0g1KuusONVStjY_XjdXy6g Twitter: https://twitter.com/progperty LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/progressiveproperty Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/progressiveproperty Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/progressivepropertycommunity Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Progperty This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.o.uk/
Desi pubs, boozers run by people of South Asian heritage, have been around since the 1960s. Originally a safe haven for immigrant drinkers during a time when they were often barred or excluded from pubs, they are now celebrated as successful businesses and diverse spaces. They are also food destinations serving some of the best grills and curries in the country. In this programme, Jaega Wise visits desi pubs in London and the Midlands to talk to landlords and drinkers about why these places are so special. She also interviews author David Jesudason on his books Desi Pubs: A guide to British-Indian Pints, Food and Culture.Pubs featured: The Gladstone Arms, Borough in London The Red Lion, West Bromwich The Red Cow, Smethwick The Regency Club, Queensbury in LondonShe also talks to journalist Nina Robinson and curator/historian Raj Pal. His podcast with Corinne Fowler is Only in BirminghamProduced for BBC Audio Bristol by Sam Grist
Mike Switzer interviews Nate Terracio, director of the Koger Center for the Arts in Columbia, SC.
Protests are taking place in the city of Minneapolis, where an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot dead 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good on Wednesday. Vice President JD Vance today called the dead woman a ‘deranged leftist'. Minnesota governor Tim Walz has said state officials are being frozen out of the investigation by the FBI. Also on the programme: as Storm Goretti hits the UK and prompts a red warning for "danger to life", we hear live from an emergency responder in the Midlands. And Baby Elsa, found abandoned in east London two years ago, has been adopted and will see her siblings. A man who was a foundling passes on his lessons for her adoptive parents.
Discover the world's earliest known system of astrology• Explores ancient Mesopotamian astrology, which originated with those who created Göbekli Tepe, and details the system's eighteen zodiac signs• Shares the author's decades-long research to decipher the meanings and characteristics behind each of the original eighteen signs• Shows how the original zodiac can enrich and expand our understanding of astrology, personal relationships, and our sense of self and destinyToday the zodiac is divided into twelve signs through which the sun appears to travel in a year. A person's sign can influence their personality, physical characteristics, and fate. However, in ancient Mesopotamia, the first zodiac was divided into eighteen signs—different from the Western and Vedic systems in use today. The Original Zodiac reveals, for the first time in more than 4,000 years, this earliest known system of astrology.The original Mesopotamian zodiac offered very different birth signs, including the Serpent, Swan, Crane, Horse, Wolf, and Eagle. This zodiac was recorded on a clay tablet that is now housed in the British Museum, cataloged as BM 86378, but there is no written record of how these signs were interpreted. Now, after decades of intensive research, Graham Phillips reveals the meanings of these mysterious signs and their relevance for our times.To determine what traits might be shared by those born in each sign of the original zodiac, Phillips comprehensively surveyed hundreds of volunteers from diverse backgrounds. He measured each participant's likes, dislikes, hobbies, habits, employment, health information, and other pertinent aspects of their lives and identities. Not intended to replace or challenge our traditional understanding of astrology, his findings offer an original system to enrich our current knowledge of the personality, character, and destiny of those born in each of its enigmatic signs.Graham Phillips is one of Britain's bestselling nonfiction authors. A former radio journalist and broadcaster for the BBC, and founder of Strange Phenomena magazine, he is a historical investigator of unsolved mysteries. The author of many books, including The Templars and the Ark of the Covenant, The Lost Tomb of King Arthur, The End of Eden, and Atlantis and the Ten Plagues of Egypt, he lives in the Midlands of England.https://www.grahamphillips.net/Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/earth-ancients--2790919/support.
Wolves received a late Christmas present at Molineux on Sunday as West Ham gifted the Old Gold three points by turning in a dismal effort in the Midlands to hand Rob Edwards his first win as Wolves boss. Elsewhere on a busy day in the top flight, Man City let another late goal in to drop more points in the title race, Arsenal extended their lead at the top of the table, and Aston Villa returned to winning ways, but are they in a title race or not? Niall and Marley react to another jam-packed weekend of talking points from the Premier League's busy festive period on the latest FSD! Make sure you keep up to date with our socials for more! SUBSCRIBE NOW: https://footballsocialdaily.supportingcast.fm/NEW: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fsdpod?igsh=MjQ5d29veGdoMmZ4&utm_source=qr Twitter: https://twitter.com/FSDPod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@footballsocialdaily Telegram Group: https://t.me/FootballSocial Merch Store: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/FootballSocialDaily Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Looking back on it, how weird was Covid? Luke and Pete share some of their oddest memories of a strange time, before going on to chat about potential new pandemics, executions and the story of pellagra in the Deep South.After that, they open up the email pipes and hear your stories about wallabies in the Midlands, guide dogs failing their training and a food poisoning story with a twist. To get involved yourself, it's hello@lukeandpeteshow.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jesus and his family journeyed into Egypt and then back again, and Matthew claimed it fulfilled prophecy. What prophecy, and why is it important? From The Garden Church of the Midlands in Irmo, SC.
Another defeat for the Reds, making it four in a row and a very Unhappy New Year for Sean Dyche and his men. The first half was a war of attrition, with Forest absorbing Villa pressure, until the inevitable momentary lapse of concentration saw Ollie Watkins' powerful 20 yarder hit the back of the net. Almost straight after half-time, John McGinn scored to end the contest, and although Morgan Gibbs-White pulled one back on the break, just minutes later, Forest threw it away. If John Victor got the benefit of the doubt for the first goal, then there was nowhere to hide for the third as he came racing into no-man's land, and McGinn slotted into an empty net. The Maradona of the Midlands is joined by a despondent and angry George Edwards to conduct a post-mortem, with a view from the home fans provided by Neil of our Sports Social stablemates "For The Love of Paul McGrath". We'll be back the day after the six-pointer/Nuno grudge match against West Ham in midweek. Subscribe to 1865: The ORIGINAL Nottingham Forest Podcast via your podcast provider, and please leave a review, as it helps other Forest supporters find our content: Apple - Spotify - YouTube. Join us on X, Instagram, Bluesky, Threads or TikTok. 1865: The Nottingham Forest Podcast is part of the Sports Social Network, and partnered with FanHub. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The FloWrestling Radio Live crew talks Powerade, Midlands, and hands out awards for the year of 2025. Send in user submissions and questions to FRLsubmissions@flosports.tv. Get your Flo merchandise here - https://stores.inksoft.com/flo-wrestling/shop/home (0:00) Jax Forrest update after Powerade (14:49) Midlands - how good is Seidel? (23:12) Scuffle entries (26:35) match of the year (33:30) wrestler of the year (41:43) moment of the year (51:20) comeback of the year (59:40) surprise of the year (1:06:34) breakout wrestler of the year (1:16:15) rivalry of the year (1:21:20) Penn State of the year (1:24:25) Magic Man of the year (1:28:50) unluckiest wrestler of the year (1:32:00) you're never too young to experience something new of the year (1:36:10) fan of the year (1:37:15) backside of the year (1:40:00) questions from friends Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jacob isn't just a business owner; he's a community builder. As the force behind one of the Midlands' most loved local coffee shops (and a podcast host himself), Jacob brings a unique perspective on entrepreneurship, storytelling, and what it really means to create a space that feels like home.We dive into his journey with Piecewise Coffee, the challenges and wins of running a neighborhood staple, and how intentionality, creativity, and connection fuel both his business and his life. Whether you're a coffee lover, a small-business supporter, or someone who loves a good origin story — this episode has something for you.Thank you so much for listening! If you would like to see more from Piecewise Coffee Co., you can find them here:https://www.instagram.com/piecewisecoffee/https://www.facebook.com/piecewisecoffeeThis episode is sponsored by Columbia Family Chiropractor: https://www.cfcforhealth.com https://www.instagram.com/columbiafamilychiropracticIf you would like to follow us, we are on everything at Here For The Health Of It Podcast:https://www.instagram.com/hereforthehealthofitpodcasthttps://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/hereforthehealthofit
The FloWrestling Radio Live crew talks holiday tournaments, their biggest NCAA surprises so far this year, biggest storylines to look forward to in 2026, and more! Send in user submissions and questions to FRLsubmissions@flosports.tv. Get your Flo merchandise here - https://stores.inksoft.com/flo-wrestling/shop/home (0:00) new studio and scheduling update (4:00) Anthony Knox update (9:15) Jax Forrest update (12:45) Midlands talk - Reneiri Ortega, Aaron Seidel, VA Tech's 149 situation, and more (26:20) is there any hope to make holiday tournaments great again? (28:18) best potential matches at Soldier Salute (32:45) back to the strength of the holiday tournaments (35:03) Social Studies With Spey: Masoumi has officially transferred to Azerbaijan (42:00) biggest surprises of the NCAA season so far (50:30) more best matches at Soldier Salute (53:15) biggest NCAA wrestling storylines coming in 2026 (1:03:10) questions from friends Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Advent 4, 2025. Paul White looks at the Isaiah prophecy of the sign given to us: a son born of a virgin and how there is one character who can trip it up. From The Garden Church of the Midlands in Irmo, SC.
This episode is sponsored by House of Macadamias -- Click Here to get our specially curated box that also comes with the free snack bars and 15% offer for CURVA MUNDIAL listeners! Also, be sure to visit our merch store!Martyn Ware of the iconic new wave band Heaven 17 joins CURVA MUNDIAL to talk about his fandom of Sheffield Wednesday, what it means to be from the Midlands, his time in Human League and legendary career.
Irish Stew couldn't make it to Dublin, so cohost Martin Nutty and John Lee settled for the Dublin House, a venerable watering hole on New York's Upper West Side, known for its low-key vibe, high quality pints and its 10-foot-tall neon sign in the shape of a harp that has been lighting the way to a great craic for decades.The occasion was a meet-up over a pair of those pints for “Stew in Review,” a holiday retrospective on their 2025 season. Martin reflected on the core message of the Joseph Kennedy III episode as the former US Special Envoy to Northern Ireland advocates for the healing power of civility over the destructive impulse of rage.John notes for craic it's hard to top the episode recorded in the cavernous, cacophonous Common Market with Belfast Night Czar Michael Stewart and Belfast Food Tours' Caroline Wilson, and for raw, riveting emotions the episode with Northern Irish actors John Duddy and Ciaran Byrne as they relived their experiences of The Troubles.That was one of two episodes of Irish Stew recorded live before a (paying!) audience as part of the Origin Theatre First Irish Festival, a 2025 highlight made possible by then artistic director Mick Mellamphy, an high-energy experience the pair hopes to expand on in the year to come.With a pint or two oiling the conversational gears the pair shared recollections of The Irish Stew residency at the Solas Nua Capital Irish Film Festival, a standout episode with the groundbreaking Irish president Mary Robinson, the sense of commitment to community they found throughout their Off the Beaten Craic in the Hidden Heartlands Road Trip, the destination dining at Thyme Restaurant in Athlone, and the serendipitous stories they stumbled upon in their off-season Midlands ramble.The podcasters also raise a toast to their travel partner Tourism Ireland, media partner IrishCentral, the Dublin House for welcoming them into their cozy confines, and, above all, the folks who lend their ears--the listeners. The episode wraps with a sneak preview of what's to come in 2026, and, after settling their bar tab, the podcasters head back into the windy winter weather on West 79th Street, pausing for a selfie under the glowing green harp that heralds the Dublin House.Irish Stew LinksWebsiteInstagramLinkedInEpisode Details: Season 7, Episode 37; Total Episode Count: 140
Advent 3, 2025. Isaiah's prophecy speaks of a day when God will arrive with vengeance, but then what that God does looks far more like the ministry of Jesus than it does of wrath and mayhem. This sermon looks at Jesus as the arrival of God's goodness, and the road he has us on as the way of heaven on the earth. Paul White preaching from The Garden Church of the Midlands in Irmo, SC.
What happens when curiosity, resilience, and storytelling collide over a lifetime of building something meaningful? In this episode, I welcome Nick Francis, founder and CEO of Casual Films, for a thoughtful conversation about leadership, presence, and what it takes to keep going when the work gets heavy. Nick's journey began with a stint at BBC News and a bold 9,000-mile rally from London to Mongolia in a Mini Cooper, a spirit of adventure that still fuels how he approaches business and life today. We talk about how that early experience shaped Casual into a global branded storytelling company with studios across five continents, and what it really means to lead a creative organization at scale. Nick shares insights from growing the company internationally, expanding into Southeast Asia, and staying grounded while producing hundreds of projects each year. Along the way, we explore why emotionally resonant storytelling matters, how trust and preparation beat panic, and why presence with family, health, and purpose keeps leaders steady in uncertain times. This conversation is about building an Unstoppable life by focusing on what matters most, using creativity to connect people, and choosing clarity and resilience in a world full of noise. Highlights: 00:01:30 – Learn how early challenges shape resilience and long-term drive. 00:06:20 – Discover why focusing on your role creates calm under pressure. 00:10:50 – Learn how to protect attention in a nonstop world. 00:18:25 – Understand what global growth teaches about leadership. 00:26:00 – Learn why leading with trust changes relationships. 00:45:55 – Discover how movement and presence restore clarity. About the Guest: Nick Francis is the founder and CEO of Casual, a global production group that blends human storytelling, business know-how, and creativity turbo-charged by AI. Named the UK's number one brand video production company for five years, Casual delivers nearly 1,000 projects annually for world-class brands like Adobe, Amazon, BMW, Hilton, HSBC, and P&G. The adventurous spirit behind its first production – a 9,000-mile journey from London to Mongolia in an old Mini – continues to drive Casual's growth across offices in London, New York, LA, San Francisco, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Sydney, Singapore, Hong Kong and Greater China. Nick previously worked for BBC News and is widely recognised for his expertise in video storytelling, brand building, and corporate communications. He is the founding director of the Casual Films Academy, a charity helping young filmmakers develop skills by producing films for charitable organisations. He is also the author of ‘The New Fire: Harness the Power of Video for Your Business' and a passionate advocate for emotionally resonant, behaviorally grounded storytelling. Nick lives in San Francisco, California, with his family. Ways to connect with Nick**:** Website: https://www.casualfilms.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@casual_global Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/casualglobal/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CasualFilms/ Nick's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickfrancisfilm/ Casual's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/casual-films-international/ Beyond Casual - LinkedIn Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=6924458968031395840 About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset . Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes: Michael Hingson 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us. Michael Hingson 01:21 Well, hello everyone. I am your host, Mike hingson, that's kind of funny. We'll talk about that in a second, but this is unstoppable mindset. And our guest today is Nick Francis, and what we're going to talk about is the fact that people used to always ask me, well, they would call me Mr. Kingston, and it took me, as I just told Nick a master's degree in physics in 10 years to realize that if I said Mike hingson, that's why they said Mr. Kingston. So was either say Mike hingson or Michael hingson. Well, Michael hingson is a lot easier to say than Mike hingson, but I don't really care Mike or Michael, as long as it's not late for dinner. Whatever works. Yeah. Well, Nick, welcome to unstoppable mindset. We're glad you're Nick Francis 02:04 here. Thanks, Mike. It's great to be here. Michael Hingson 02:08 So Nick is a marketing kind of guy. He's got a company called casual that we'll hear about. Originally from England, I believe, and now lives in San Francisco. We were talking about the weather in San Francisco, as opposed to down here in Victorville. A little bit earlier. We're going to have a heat wave today and and he doesn't have that up there, but you know, well, things, things change over time. But anyway, we're glad you're here. And thanks, Mike. Really looking forward to it. Tell us about the early Nick growing up and all that sort of stuff, just to get us started. Nick Francis 02:43 That's a good question. I grew up in London, in in Richmond, which is southwest London. It's a at the time, it wasn't anything like as kind of, it's become quite kind of shishi, I think back in the day, because it's on the west of London. The pollution from the city used to flow east and so, like all the kind of well to do people, in fact, there used to be a, there used to be a palace in Richmond. It's where Queen Elizabeth died, the first Queen Elizabeth, that is. And, yeah, you know, I grew up it was, you know, there's a lot of rugby played around there. I played rugby for my local rugby club from a very young age, and we went sailing on the south coast. It was, it was great, really. And then, you know, unfortunately, when I was 10 years old, my my dad died. He had had a very powerful job at the BBC, and then he ran the British Council, which is the overseas wing of the Arts Council, so promoting, I guess, British soft power around the world, going and opening art galleries and going to ballet in Moscow and all sorts. So he had an incredible life and worked incredibly hard. And you know, that has brought me all sorts of privileges, I think, when I was a kid. But, you know, unfortunately, age 10 that all ended. And you know, losing a parent at that age is such a sort of fundamental, kind of shaking of your foundations. You know, you when you're a kid, you feel like a, you're going to live forever, and B, the things that are happening around you are going to last forever. And so, you know, you know, my mom was amazing, of course, and, you know, and in time, I got a new stepdad, and all the rest of it. But you know, that kind of shaped a lot of my a lot of my youth, really. And, yeah, I mean, Grief is a funny thing, and it's funny the way it manifests itself as you grow. But yeah. So I grew up there. I went to school in the Midlands, near where my stepdad lived, and then University of Newcastle, which is up in the north of England, where it rains a lot. It's where it's where Newcastle Football Club is based. And you know is that is absolutely at the center of the city. So. So the city really comes alive there. And it was during that time that I discovered photography, and I wanted to be a war photographer, because I believe that was where life was lived at the kind of the real cutting edge. You know, you see the you see humanity in its in its most visceral and vivid color in terrible situations. And I kind of that seemed like an interesting thing to go to go and do. Michael Hingson 05:27 Well, what? So what did you major in in college in Newcastle? So I did Nick Francis 05:31 history and politics, and then I went did a course in television journalism, and ended up working at BBC News as a initially running on the floor. So I used to deliver the papers that you know, when you see people shuffling or not, they do it anymore, actually, because everything, everything's digital now digital, yeah, but when they were worried about the the auto cues going down, they we always had to make sure that they had the up to date script. And so I would be printing in, obviously, the, you know, because it's a three hour news show, the scripts constantly evolving, and so, you know, I was making sure they had the most up to date version in their hands. And it's, I don't know if you have spent any time around live TV Mike, but it's an incredibly humbling experience, like the power of it. You know, there's sort of two or 3 million people watching these two people who are sitting five feet in front of me, and the, you know, the sort of slightly kind of, there was an element of me that just wanted to jump in front of them and kind of go, ah. And, you know, never, ever work in live TV, ever again. But you know, anyway, I did that and ended up working as a producer, writing and developing, developing packets that would go out on the show, producing interviews and things. And, you know, I absolutely loved it. It was, it was a great time. But then I left to go and set up my company. Michael Hingson 06:56 I am amazed, even today, with with watching people on the news, and I've and I've been in a number of studios during live broadcasts and so on. But I'm amazed at how well, mostly, at least, I've been fortunate. Mostly, the people are able to read because they do have to read everything. It isn't like you're doing a lot of bad living in a studio. Obviously, if you are out with a story, out in the field, if you will, there, there may be more where you don't have a printed script to go by, but I'm amazed at the people in the studio, how much they are able to do by by reading it all completely. Nick Francis 07:37 It's, I mean, the whole experience is kind of, it's awe inspiring, really. And you know, when you first go into a Live, a live broadcast studio, and you see the complexity, and you know, they've got feeds coming in from all over the world, and you know, there's upwards of 100 people all working together to make it happen. And I remember talking to one of the directors at the time, and I was like, How on earth does this work? And he said, You know, it's simple. You everyone has a very specific job, and you know that as long as you do your bit of the job when it comes in front of you, then the show will go out. He said, where it falls over is when people start worrying about whether other people are going to are going to deliver on time or, you know, and so if you start worrying about what other people are doing, rather than just focusing on the thing you have to do, that's where it potentially falls over, Michael Hingson 08:29 which is a great object lesson anyway, to worry about and control and don't worry about the rest Nick Francis 08:36 for sure. Yeah, yeah, for sure. You know, it's almost a lesson for life. I mean, sorry, it is a lesson for life, and Michael Hingson 08:43 it's something that I talk a lot about in dealing with the World Trade Center and so on, and because it was a message I received, but I've been really preaching that for a long time. Don't worry about what you can't control, because all you're going to do is create fear and drive yourself Nick Francis 08:58 crazy, completely, completely. You know. You know what is it? Give me the, give me this. Give me the strength to change the things I can. Give me the give me the ability to let the things that I can't change slide but and the wisdom to know the difference. I'm absolutely mangling that, that saying, but, yeah, it's, it's true, you know. And I think, you know, it's so easy for us to in this kind of modern world where everything's so media, and we're constantly served up things that, you know, shock us, sadness, enrage us, you know, just to be able to step back and say, actually, you know what? These are things I can't really change. I'd have to just let them wash over me. Yeah, and just focus on the things that you really can change. Michael Hingson 09:46 It's okay to be aware of things, but you've got to separate the things you can control from the things that you can and we, unfortunately aren't taught that. Our parents don't teach us that because they were never taught it, and it's something. That, just as you say, slides by, and it's so unfortunate, because it helps to create such a level of fear about so many things in our in our psyche and in our world that we really shouldn't have to do Nick Francis 10:13 completely well. I think, you know, obviously, but you know, we've, we've spent hundreds, if not millions of years evolving to become humans, and then, you know, actually being aware of things beyond our own village has only been an evolution of the last, you know what, five, 600 years, yeah. And so we are just absolutely, fundamentally not able to cope with a world of such incredible stimulus that we live in now. Michael Hingson 10:43 Yeah, and it's only getting worse with all the social media, with all the different things that are happening and of course, and we're only working to develop more and more things to inundate us with more and more kinds of inputs. It's really unfortunate we just don't learn to separate ourselves very easily from all of that. Nick Francis 11:04 Yeah, well, you know, it's so interesting when you look at the development of VR headsets, and, you know, are we going to have, like, lenses in our eyes that kind of enable us to see computer screens while we're just walking down the road, you know? And you look at that and you think, well, actually, just a cell phone. I mean, cell phones are going to be gone fairly soon. I would imagine, you know, as a format, it's not something that's going to abide but the idea that we're going to create technology that's going to be more, that's going to take us away from being in the moment more rather than less, is kind of terrifying. Because, I would say already, even with, you know, the most basic technology that we have now, which is, you know, mind bending, compared to where we were even 20 years ago, you know, to think that we're only going to become more immersive is, you know, we really, really as a species, have to work out how we are going to be far better at stepping away from this stuff. And I, you know, I do, I wonder, with AI and technology whether there is, you know, there's a real backlash coming of people who do want to just unplug, yeah, Michael Hingson 12:13 well, it'll be interesting to see, and I hope that people will learn to do it. I know when I started hearing about AI, and one of the first things I heard was how kids would use it to write their papers, and it was a horrible thing, and they were trying to figure out ways so that teachers could tell us something was written by AI, as opposed to a student. And I almost immediately developed this opinion, no, let AI write the papers for students, but when the students turn in their paper, then take a day to in your class where you have every student come up and defend their paper, see who really knows it, you know. And what a great teaching opportunity and teaching moment to to get students also to learn to do public speaking and other things a little bit more than they do, but we haven't. That hasn't caught on, but I continue to preach it. Nick Francis 13:08 I think that's really smart, you know, as like aI exists, and I think to to pretend somehow that, you know, we can work without it is, you know, it's, it's, it's, yeah, I mean, it's like, well, saying, you know, we're just going to go back to Word processors or typewriters, which, you know, in which it weirdly, in their own time, people looked at and said, this is, you know, these, these are going to completely rot our minds. In fact, yeah, I think Plato said that was very against writing, because he believed it would mean no one could remember anything after that, you know. So it's, you know, it's just, it's an endless, endless evolution. But I think, you know, we have to work out how we incorporate into it, into our education system, for sure. Michael Hingson 13:57 Well, I remember being in in college and studying physics and so on. And one of the things that we were constantly told is, on tests, you can't bring calculators in, can't use calculators in class. Well, why not? Well, because you could cheat with that. Well, the reality is that the smart physicists realized that it's all about really learning the concepts more than the numbers. And yeah, that's great to to know how to do the math. But the the real issue is, do you know the physics, not just the math completely? Nick Francis 14:34 Yeah. And then how you know? How are the challenges that are being set such that you know, they really test your ability to use the calculator effectively, right? So how you know? How are you lifting the bar? And in a way, I think that's kind of what we have to do, what we have to do now, Michael Hingson 14:50 agreed, agreed. So you were in the news business and so on, and then, as you said, you left to start your own company. Why did you decide to do that? Nick Francis 14:59 Well, a friend of. Ryan and I from University had always talked about doing this rally from London to Mongolia. So, and you do it in an old car that you sort of look at, and you go, well, that's a bit rubbish. It has to have under a one liter engine. So it's tiny, it's cheap. The idea is it breaks down you have an adventure. And it was something we kind of talked about in passing and decided that would be a good thing to do. And then over time, you know, we started sending off. We you know, we applied, and then we started sending off for visas and things. And then before we knew it, we were like, gosh, so it looks like we're actually going to do this thing. But by then, you know, my job at the BBC was really taking off. And so I said, you know, let's do this, but let's make a documentary of it. So long story short, we ended up making a series of diary films for Expedia, which we uploaded onto their website. It was, you know, we were kind of pitching this around about 2005 we kind of did it in 2006 so it was kind of, you know, nobody had really heard of YouTube. The idea of making videos to go online was kind of unheard of because, you know, broadband was just kind of getting sorry. It wasn't unheard of, but it was, it was very, it was a very nascent industry. And so, yeah, we went and drove 9000 miles over five weeks. We spent a week sitting in various different repair yards and kind of break his yards in everywhere from Turkey to Siberia. And when we came back, it became clear that the internet was opening up as this incredible medium for video, and video is such a powerful way to share emotion with a dispersed audience. You know, not that I would have necessarily talked about it in that in those terms back then, but it really seemed like, you know, every every web page, every piece of corporate content, could have a video aspect to it. And so we came back and had a few fits and starts and did some, I mean, we, you know, we made a series of hotel videos where we were paid 50 quid a day to go and film hotels. And it was hot and it was hard work. And anyway, it was rough. But over time, you know, we started to win some more lucrative work. And, you know, really, the company grew from there. We won some awards, which helped us to kind of make a bit of a name for ourselves. And this was, there's been a real explosion in technology, kind of shortly after when we did this. So digital SLRs, so, you know, old kind of SLR cameras, you know, turned into digital cameras, which could then start to shoot video. And so it, there was a real explosion in high quality video produced by very small teams of people using the latest technology creatively. And that just felt like a good kind of kick off point for our business. But we just kind of because we got in in kind of 2006 we just sort of beat a wave that kind of started with digital SLRs, and then was kind of absolutely exploded when video cell phones came on the market, video smartphones. And yeah, you know, because we had these awards and we had some kind of fairly blue chip clients from a relatively early, early stage, we were able to grow the company. We then expanded to the US in kind of 2011 20 between 2011 2014 and then we were working with a lot of the big tech companies in California, so it felt like we should maybe kind of really invest in that. And so I moved out here with some of our team in 2018 at the beginning of 2018 and I've been here ever since, wow. Michael Hingson 18:44 So what is it? What was it like starting a business here, or bringing the business here, as opposed to what it was in England? Nick Francis 18:53 It's really interesting, because the creatively the UK is so strong, you know, like so many, you know, from the Beatles to Led Zeppelin to the Rolling Stones to, you know, and then on through, like all the kind of, you know, film and TV, you know, Brits are very good at kind of Creating, like, high level creative, but not necessarily always the best at kind of monetizing it, you know. I mean, some of those obviously have been fantastic successes, right? And so I think in the UK, we we take a lot longer over getting, getting to, like, the perfect creative output, whereas the US is far more focused on, you know, okay, we need this to to perform a task, and frankly, if we get it 80% done, then we're good, right? And so I think a lot of creative businesses in the UK look at the US and they go, gosh. Firstly, the streets are paved with gold. Like the commercial opportunity seems incredible, but actually creating. Tracking it is incredibly difficult, and I think it's because we sort of see the outputs in the wrong way. I think they're just the energy and the dynamism of the US economy is just, it's kind of awe inspiring. But you know, so many businesses try to expand here and kind of fall over themselves. And I think the number one thing is just, you have to have a founder who's willing to move to the US. Because I think Churchill said that we're two two countries divided by the same language. And I never fully understood what that meant until I moved here. I think what it what he really means by that is that we're so culturally different in the US versus the UK. And I think lots of Brits look at America and think, Well, you know, it's just the same. It's just a bit kind of bigger and a bit Brasher, you know, and it and actually, I think if people in the US spoke a completely different language, we would approach it as a different culture, which would then help us to understand it better. Yeah. So, yeah. I mean, it's been, it's been the most fabulous adventure to move here and to, you know, it's, it's hard sometimes, and California is a long way from home, but the energy and the optimism and the entrepreneurialism of it, coupled with just the natural beauty is just staggering. So we've made some of our closest friends in California, it's been absolutely fantastic. And across the US, it's been a fantastic adventure for us and our family. Michael Hingson 21:30 Yeah, I've had the opportunity to travel all over the US, and I hear negative comments about one place or another, like West Virginia, people eat nothing but fried food and all that. But the reality is, if you really take an overall look at it, the country has so much to offer, and I have yet to find a place that I didn't enjoy going to, and people I never enjoyed meeting, I really enjoy all of that, and it's great to meet people, and it's great to experience so much of this country. And I've taken that same posture to other places. I finally got to visit England last October, for the first time. You mentioned rugby earlier, the first time I was exposed to rugby was when I traveled to New Zealand in 2003 and found it pretty fascinating. And then also, I was listening to some rugby, rugby, rugby broadcast, and I tuned across the radio and suddenly found a cricket game that was a little bit slow for me. Yeah, cricket to be it's slow. Nick Francis 22:41 Yeah, fair enough. It's funny. Actually, we know what you're saying about travel. Like one of the amazing things about our Well, I kind of learned two sort of quite fundamentally philosophical things, I think, you know, or things about the about humans and the human condition. Firstly, like, you know, traveling across, you know, we left from London. We, like, drove down. We went through Belgium and France and Poland and Slovenia, Slovakia, Slovenia, like, all the way down Bulgaria, across Turkey into Georgia and Azerbaijan and across the Caspian Sea, and through Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, into Russia, and then down into Mongolia. When we finished, we were due north of Jakarta, right? So we drove, we drove a third of the way around the world. And the two things that taught me were, firstly that human people are good. You know, everywhere we went, people would invite us in to have meals, or they'd like fix our car for not unit for free. I mean, people were so kind everywhere we went. Yeah. And the other thing was, just, when we get on a plane and you fly from here to or you fly from London, say to we, frankly, you fly from London to Turkey, it feels unbelievably different. You know, you fly from London to China, and it's, you know, complete different culture. But what our journey towards us, because we drove, was that, you know, while we might not like to admit it, we're actually quite, you know, Brits are quite similar to the French, and the French actually are quite similar to the Belgians, and Belgians quite similar to the Germans. And, you know, and all the way through, actually, like we just saw a sort of slowly changing gradient of all the different cultures. And it really, you know, we are just one people, you know. So as much as we might feel that, you know, we're all we're all different, actually, when you see it, when you when you do a drive like that, you really, you really get to see how slowly the cultures shift and change. Another thing that's quite funny, actually, was just like, everywhere we went, we would be like, you know, we're driving to Turkey. They'd be like, Oh, God, you just drove through Bulgaria, you know, how is like, everything on your car not been stolen, you know, they're so dodgy that you Bulgarians are so dodgy. And then, you know, we'd get drive through the country, and they'd be like, you know, oh, you're going into Georgia, you know, gosh, what you go. Make, make sure everything's tied down on your car. They're so dodgy. And then you get into Georgia, and they're like, Oh my God, you've just very driven through Turkey this, like, everyone sort of had these, like, weird, yeah, kind of perceptions of their neighbors. And it was all nonsense, yeah, you know. Michael Hingson 25:15 And the reality is that, as you pointed out, people are good, you know, I think, I think politicians are the ones who so often mess it up for everyone, just because they've got agendas. And unfortunately, they teach everyone else to be suspicious of of each other, because, oh, this person clearly has a hidden agenda when it normally isn't necessarily true at all. Nick Francis 25:42 No, no, no, certainly not in my experience, anyway, not in my experience. But, you know, well, oh, go ahead. No, no. It's just, you know, it's, it is. It's, it is weird the way that happens, you know, well, they say, you know, if, if politicians fought wars rather than, rather than our young men and women, then there'd be a lot less of them. Yeah, so Well, Michael Hingson 26:06 there would be, well as I tell people, you know, I I've learned a lot from working with eight guy dogs and my wife's service dog, who we had for, oh, gosh, 14 years almost, and one of the things that I tell people is I absolutely do believe what people say, that dogs love unconditionally, unless they're just totally traumatized by something, but they don't trust unconditionally. The difference between dogs and people is that dogs are more open to trust because we've taught ourselves and have been taught by others, that everyone has their own hidden agenda. So we don't trust. We're not open to trust, which is so unfortunate because it affects the psyche of so many people in such a negative way. We get too suspicious of people, so it's a lot harder to earn trust. Nick Francis 27:02 Yeah, I mean, I've, I don't know, you know, like I've been, I've been very fortunate in my life, and I kind of always try to be, you know, open and trusting. And frankly, you know, I think if you're open and trusting with people, in my experience, you kind of, it comes back to you, you know, and maybe kind of looking for the best in everyone. You know, there are times where that's not ideal, but you know, I think you know, in the overwhelming majority of cases, you know, actually, you know, you treat people right? And you know what goes what goes around, comes around, absolutely. Michael Hingson 27:35 And I think that's so very true. There are some people who just are going to be different than that, but I think for the most part, if you show that you're open to trust people will want to trust you, as long as you're also willing to trust Nick Francis 27:51 them completely. Yeah, completely. Michael Hingson 27:54 So I think that that's the big thing we have to deal with. And I don't know, I hope that we, we will learn it. But I think that politicians are really the most guilty about teaching us. Why not to trust but that too, hopefully, will be something we deal with. Nick Francis 28:12 I think, you know, I think we have to, you know, it's, it's one of the tragedies of our age, I think, is that the, you know, we spent the 20th century, thinking that sex was the kind of ultimate sales tool. And then it took algorithms to for us to realize that actually anger and resentment are the most powerful sales tools, which is, you know, it's a it's something which, in time, we will work out, right? And I think the problem is that, at the minute, these tech businesses are in such insane ascendancy, and they're so wealthy that it's very hard to regulate them. And I think in time, what will happen is, you know, they'll start to lose some of that luster and some of that insane scale and that power, and then, you know, then regulation will come in. But you know whether or not, we'll see maybe, hopefully our civilization will still be around to see that. Michael Hingson 29:04 No, there is that, or maybe the Vulcans will show up and show us a better way. But you know, Nick Francis 29:11 oh, you know, I'm, I'm kind of endlessly optimistic. I think, you know, we are. We're building towards a very positive future. I think so. Yeah, it's just, you know, get always bumps along the way, yeah. Michael Hingson 29:24 So you named your company casual. Why did you do that? Or how did that come about? Nick Francis 29:30 It's a slightly weird name for something, you know, we work with, kind of, you know, global blue chip businesses. And, you know, casual is kind of the last thing that you would want to associate with, a, with a, with any kind of services business that works in that sphere. I think, you know, we, the completely honest answer is that the journalism course I did was television, current affairs journalism, so it's called TV cadge, and so we, when we made a film for a local charity as part of that course. Course, we were asked to name our company, and we just said, well, cash, cash casual, casual films. So we called it casual films. And then when my friend and I set the company up, kind of formally, to do the Mongol Rally, we, you know, we had this name, you know, the company, the film that we'd made for the charity, had gone down really well. It had been played at BAFTA in London. And so we thought, well, you know, we should just, you know, hang on to that name. And it didn't, you know, at the time, it didn't really seem too much of an issue. It was only funny. It was coming to the US, where I think people are a bit more literal, and they were a bit like, well, casual. Like, why casual, you know. And I remember being on a shoot once. And, you know, obviously, kind of some filmmakers can be a little casual themselves, not necessarily in the work, but in the way they present themselves, right? And I remember sitting down, we were interviewing this CEO, and he said, who, you know, who are you? Oh, we're casual films. He's like, Oh, is that why that guy's got ripped jeans? Is it? And I just thought, Damn, you know, we really left ourselves open to that. There was also, there was a time one of our early competitors was called Agile films. And so, you know, I remember talking to one of our clients who said, you know, it's casual, you know, when I have to put together a little document to say, you know, which, which supplier we should choose, and when I lay it on my boss's desk, and one says casual films, and one says agile films, it's like those guys are landing the first punch. But anyway, we, you know, we, what we say now is like, you know, we take a complex process and make it casual. You know, filmmaking, particularly for like, large, complex organizations where you've got lots of different stakeholders, can be very complicated. And so, yeah, we sort of say, you know, we'll take a lot of that stress off, off our clients. So that's kind of the rationale, you know, that we've arrived with, arrived at having spoken to lots of our clients about the role that we play for them. So, you know, there's a kind of positive spin on it, I guess, but I don't know. I don't know whether I'd necessarily call it casual again. I don't know if I'm supposed to say that or not, but, oh, Michael Hingson 32:00 it's unique, you know? So, yeah, I think there's a lot of merit to it. It's a unique name, and it interests people. I know, for me, one of the things that I do is I have a way of doing this. I put all of my business cards in Braille, so the printed business cards have Braille on them, right? Same thing. It's unique completely. Nick Francis 32:22 And you listen, you know what look your name is an empty box that you fill with your identity. They say, right? And casual is actually, it's something we've grown into. And you know it's we've been going for nearly 20 years. In fact, funny enough for the end of this year is the 20th anniversary of that first film we made for the for the charity. And then next summer will be our 20th anniversary, which is, you know, it's, it's both been incredibly short and incredibly long, you know, I think, like any kind of experience in life, and it's been some of the hardest kind of times of my entire life, and some of the best as well. So, you know, it's, it is what it is, but you know, casual is who we are, right? I would never check, you know? I'd never change it. Michael Hingson 33:09 Now, no, of course not, yeah. So is the actual name casual films, or just casual? Nick Francis 33:13 So it was casual films, but then everyone calls us casual anyway, and I think, like as an organization, we probably need to be a bit more agnostic about the outcome. Michael Hingson 33:22 Well, the reason I asked, in part was, is there really any filming going on anymore? Nick Francis 33:28 Well, that's a very that's a very good question. But have we actually ever made a celluloid film? And I think the answer is probably no. We used to, back in the day, we used to make, like, super eight films, which were films, I think, you know, video, you know, ultimately, if you're going to be really pedantic about it, it's like, well, video is a digital, digital delivery. And so basically, every film we make is, is a video. But there is a certain cachet to the you know, because our films are loved and crafted, you know, for good or ill, you know, I think to call them, you know, they are films because, because of the, you know, the care that's put into them. But it's not, it's, it's not celluloid. No, that's okay, yeah, well, Michael Hingson 34:16 and I know that, like with vinyl records, there is a lot of work being done to preserve and capture what's on cellular film. And so there's a lot of work that I'm sure that's being done to digitize a lot of the old films. And when you do that, then you can also go back and remaster and hopefully in a positive way, and I'm not sure if that always happens, but in a positive way, enhance them Nick Francis 34:44 completely, completely and, you know, it's, you know, it's interesting talking about, like, you know, people wanting to step back. You know, obviously vinyl is having an absolute as having a moment right now. In fact, I just, I just bought a new stylist for my for my record. Play yesterday. It sounded incredible as a joy. This gave me the sound quality of this new style. It's fantastic. You know, beyond that, you know, running a company, you know, we're in nine offices all over the world. We produce nearly 1000 projects a year. So, you know, it's a company. It's an incredibly complicated company. It's a very fun and exciting company. I love the fact that we make these beautifully creative films. But, you know, it's a bit, I wouldn't say it's like, I don't know, you don't get many MBAs coming out of business school saying, hey, I want to set up a video production company. But, you know, it's been, it's been wonderful, but it's also been stressful. And so, you know, I've, I've always been interested in pottery and ceramics and making stuff with my hands. When I was a kid, I used to make jewelry, and I used to go and sell it in nightclubs, which is kind of weird, but, you know, it paid for my beers. And then whatever works, I say kid. I was 18. I was, I was of age, but of age in the UK anyway. But now, you know, over the last few 18 months or so, I've started make, doing my own ceramics. So, you know, I make vases and and pictures and kind of all sorts of stuff out of clay. And it's just, it's just to be to unplug and just to go and, you know, make things with mud with your hands. It's just the most unbelievably kind of grounding experience. Michael Hingson 36:26 Yeah, I hear you, yeah. One of the things that I like to do is, and I don't get to do it as much as I would like, but I am involved with organizations like the radio enthusiasts of Puget Sound, which, every year, does recreations of old radio shows. And so we get the scripts we we we have several blind people who are involved in we actually go off and recreate some of the old shows, which is really a lot of fun, Nick Francis 36:54 I bet, yeah, yeah, sort of you know that connection to the past is, is, yeah, it's great radio. Radio is amazing. Michael Hingson 37:03 Anyway, what we have to do is to train some of the people who have not had exposure to old radio. We need to train them as to how to really use their voices to convey like the people who performed in radio, whatever they're doing, because too many people don't really necessarily know how to do that well. And it is, it is something that we're going to work on trying to find ways to get people really trained. And one of the ways, of course, is you got to listen to the old show. So one of the things we're getting more and more people to do when we do recreations is to go back and listen to the original show. Well, they say, Well, but, but that's just the way they did it. That's not necessarily the way it should be done. And the response is, no, that's not really true. The way they did it sounded natural, and the way you are doing it doesn't and there's reality that you need to really learn how to to use your voice to convey well, and the only way to do it is to listen to the experts who did it. Nick Francis 38:06 Yeah, well, it's, you know, it's amazing. The, you know, when the BBC was founded, all the news readers and anyone who appeared on on the radio to to present or perform, had to wear like black tie, like a tuxedo, because it was, you know, they're broadcasting to the nation, so they had to, you know, they had to be dressed appropriately, right, which is kind of amazing. And, you know, it's interesting how you know, when you, when you change your dress, when you change the way you're sitting, it does completely change the way that you project yourself, yeah, Michael Hingson 38:43 it makes sense, yeah, well, and I always enjoyed some of the old BBC radio shows, like the Goon Show, and completely some of those are so much fun. Nick Francis 38:54 Oh, great, yeah, I don't think they were wearing tuxedo. It's tuxedos. They would Michael Hingson 38:59 have been embarrassed. Yeah, right, right. Can you imagine Peter Sellers in a in a tux? It just isn't going to happen. Nick Francis 39:06 No, right, right. But yeah, no, it's so powerful. You know, they say radio is better than TV because the pictures are better. Michael Hingson 39:15 I agree. Yeah, sure, yeah. Well, you know, I I don't think this is quite the way he said it, but Fred Allen, the old radio comedian, once said they call television the new medium, because that's as good as it's ever going Nick Francis 39:28 to get. Yeah, right, right, yeah. Michael Hingson 39:32 I think there's truth to it. Whether that's exactly the way he said it or not, there's truth to that, yeah, but there's also a lot of good stuff on TV, so it's okay. Nick Francis 39:41 Well, it's so interesting. Because, you know, when you look at the it's never been more easy to create your own content, yeah, and so, you know, and like, in a way, TV, you know, he's not wrong in that, because it suddenly opened up this, this huge medium for people just to just create. Right? And, you know, and I think, like so many people, create without thinking, and, you know, and certainly in our kind of, in the in the world that we're living in now with AI production, making production so much more accessible, actually taking the time as a human being just to really think about, you know, who are the audience, what are the things that are going to what are going to kind of resonate with them? You know? Actually, I think one of the risks with AI, and not just AI, but just like production being so accessible, is that you can kind of shoot first and kind of think about it afterwards, and, you know, and that's never good. That's always going to be medium. It's medium at best, frankly. Yeah, so yeah, to create really great stuff takes time, you know, yeah, to think about it. Yeah, for sure, yeah. Michael Hingson 40:50 Well, you know, our podcast is called unstoppable mindset. What do you think that unstoppable mindset really means to you as a practical thing and not just a buzzword. Because so many people talk about the kinds of buzzwords I hear all the time are amazing. That's unstoppable, but it's really a lot more than a buzzword. It goes back to what you think, I think. But what do you think? Nick Francis 41:15 I think it's something that is is buried deep inside you. You know, I'd say the simple answer is, is just resilience. You know, it's, it's been rough. I write anyone running a small business or a medium sized business at the minute, you know, there's been some tough times over the last, kind of 1824, months or so. And, you know, I was talking to a friend of mine who she sold out of her business. And she's like, you know, how are things? I was like, you know, it's, it's, it's tough, you know, we're getting through it, you know, we're changing a lot of things, you know, we're like, we're definitely making the business better, but it's hard. And she's like, Listen, you know, when three years before I sold my company, I was at rock bottom. It was, I genuinely thought it was so stressful. I was crushed by it, but I just kept going. And she's just like, just keep going. And the only difference between success and failure is that resilience and just getting up every day and you just keep, keep throwing stuff at the wall, keep trying new things, keep working and trying to be better. I think, you know, it's funny when you look at entrepreneurs, I'm a member of a mentoring group, and I hope I'm not talking out of school here, but you know, there's 15 entrepreneurs, you know, varying sizes of business, doing all sorts, you know, across all sorts of different industries. And if you sat on the wall, if you were fly on the wall, and you sit and look at these people on a kind of week, month to month basis, and they all present on how their businesses are going. You go, this is this being an entrepreneur does not look like a uniformly fun thing, you know, the sort of the stress and just, you know, people crying and stuff, and you're like, gosh, you know, it's so it's, it's, it's hard, and yet, you know, it's people just keep coming back to it. And yet, I think it's because of that struggle that you have to kind of have something in built in you, that you're sort of, you're there to prove something. And I, you know, I've thought a lot about this, and I wonder whether, kind of, the death of my father at such a young age kind of gave me this incredible fire to seek His affirmation, you know. And unfortunately, obviously, the tragedy of that is like, you know, the one person who would never give me affirmation is my dad. And yet, you know, I get up every day, you know, to have early morning calls with the UK or with Singapore or wherever. And you know, you just just keep on, keeping on. And I think that's probably what and knowing I will never quit, you know, like, even from the earliest days of casual, when we were just, like a couple of people, and we were just, you know, kids doing our very best, I always knew the company was going to be a success act. Like, just a core belief that I was like, this is going to work. This is going to be a success. I didn't necessarily know what that success would look like. I just but I did know that, like, whatever it took, we would map, we'd map our way towards that figure it out. We'd figure it out. And I think, you know, there's probably something unstoppable. I don't know, I don't want to sound immodest, but I think there's probably something in that that you're just like, I am just gonna keep keep on, keeping on. Michael Hingson 44:22 Do you think that resilience and unstoppability are things that can be taught, or is it just something that's built into you, and either you have it or you don't? Nick Francis 44:31 I think it's something that probably, it's definitely something that can be learned, for sure, you know. And there are obviously ways that it can there's obviously ways it can be taught. You know, I was, I spent some time in the reserve, like the Army Reserve in the UK, and I just, you know, a lot of that is about teaching you just how much further you can go. I think what it taught me was it was so. So hard. I mean, honestly, some of the stuff we did in our training was, like, you know, it's just raining and raining and raining and, like, because all your kits soaking wet is weighs twice what it did before, and you just, you know, sleeping maybe, you know, an hour or two a night, and, you know, and there wasn't even anyone shooting at us, right? So, you know, like the worst bit wasn't even happening. But like, and like, in a sense, I think, you know, that's what they're trying to do, that, you know, they say, you know, train hard and fight easy. But I remember sort of sitting there, and I was just exhausted, and I just genuinely, I was just thought, you know, what if they tell me to go now, I just, I can't. I literally, I can't, I can't do it. Can't do it. And then they're like, right, lads, put your packs on. Let's go and just put your pack on. Off you go, you know, like, this sort of, the idea of not, like, I was never going to quit, just never, never, ever, you know, and like I'd physically, if I physically, like, literally, my physical being couldn't stand up, you know, I then that was be, that would be, you know, if I was kind of, like literally incapacitated. And I think what that taught me actually, was that, you know, you have what you believe you can do, like you have your sort of, you have your sort of physical envelope, but like that is only a third or a quarter of what you can actually achieve, right, you know. And I think what that, what the that kind of training is about, and you know, you can do it in marathon training. You can do it in all sorts of different, you know, even, frankly, meditate. You know, you train your mind to meditate for, you know, an hour, 90 minutes plus. You know, you're still doing the same. You know, there's a, there's an elasticity within your brain where you can teach yourself that your envelope is so much larger. Yeah. So, yeah, you know, like, is casual going to be a success? Like, I'm good, you know, I'm literally, I won't I won't stop until it is Michael Hingson 46:52 right, and then why stop? Exactly, exactly you continue to progress and move forward. Well, you know, when everything feels uncertain, whether it's the markets or whatever, what do you do or what's your process for finding clarity? Nick Francis 47:10 I think a lot of it is in having structured time away. I say structured. You build it into your calendar, but like, but it's unstructured. So, you know, I take a lot of solace in being physically fit. You know, I think if you're, if you feel physically fit, then you feel mentally far more able to deal with things. I certainly when I'm if I'm unfit and if I've been working too much and I haven't been finding the time to exercise. You know, I feel like the problems we have to face just loom so much larger. So, you know, I, I'll book out. I, you know, I work with a fan. I'm lucky enough to have a fantastic assistant who, you know, we book in my my exercise for each week, and it's almost the first thing that goes in the calendar. I do that because I can't be the business my my I can't be the leader my business requires. And it finally happened. It was a few years ago I kind of, like, the whole thing just got really big on me, and it just, you know, and I'm kind of, like, being crushed by it. And I just thought, you know what? Like, I can't, I can't fit other people's face mask, without my face mask being fit, fitted first. Like, in order to be the business my business, I keep saying that to be the lead in my business requires I have to be physically fit. So I have to look after myself first. And so consequently, like, you know, your exercise shouldn't be something just get squeezed in when you find when you have time, because, you know, if you've got family and you know, other things happening, like, you know, just will be squeezed out. So anyway, that goes in. First, I'll go for a bike ride on a Friday afternoon, you know, I'll often listen to a business book and just kind of process things. And it's amazing how often, you know, I'll just go for a run and, like, these things that have been kind of nagging away in the back of my mind, just suddenly I find clarity in them. So I try to exercise, like, five times a week. I mean, that's obviously more than most people can can manage, but you know that that really helps. And then kind of things, like the ceramics is very useful. And then, you know, I'm lucky. I think it's also just so important just to appreciate the things that you already have. You know, I think one of the most important lessons I learned last year was this idea that, you know, here is the only there. You know, everyone's working towards this kind of, like, big, you know, it's like, oh, you know, when I get to there, then everything's going to be okay, you know. And actually, you know, if you think about like, you know, and what did you want to achieve when you left college? Like, what was the salary band that you want? That you wanted to achieve? Right? A lot of people, you know, by the time you hit 4050, you've blown way through that, right? And yet you're still chasing the receding Summit, yeah, you know. And so actually, like, wherever we're trying to head to, we're already there, because once you get there, there's going to be another there that you're trying to. Head to right? So, so, you know, it's just taking a moment to be like, you know, God, I'm so lucky to have what I have. And, you know, I'm living in, we're living in the good old days, like right now, right? Michael Hingson 50:11 And the reality is that we're doing the same things and having the same discussions, to a large degree, that people did 50, 100 200 years ago. As you pointed out earlier, the fact is that we're, we're just having the same discussions about whether this works, or whether that works, or anything else. But it's all the same, Nick Francis 50:33 right, you know. And you kind of think, oh, you know, if I just, just, like, you know, if we just open up these new offices, or if we can just, you know, I think, like, look, if I, if I'd looked at casual when we started it as it is now, I would have just been like, absolute. My mind would have exploded, right? You know, if you look at what we've achieved, and yet, I kind of, you know, it's quite hard sometimes to look at it and just be like, Oh yeah, but we're only just starting. Like, there's so much more to go. I can see so much further work, that we need so many more things, that we need to do, so many more things that we could do. And actually, you know, they say, you know, I'm lucky enough to have two healthy, wonderful little girls. And you know, I think a lot of bread winners Look at, look at love being provision, and the idea that, you know, you have to be there to provide for them. And actually, the the truest form of love is presence, right? And just being there for them, and like, you know, not being distracted and kind of putting putting things aside, you know, not jumping on your emails or your Slack messages or whatever first thing in the morning, you know. And I, you know, I'm not. I'm guilty, like, I'm not, you know, I'm not one of these people who have this kind of crazy kind of morning routine where, like, you know, I'm incredibly disciplined about that because, you know, and I should be more. But like, you know, this stuff, one of the, one of the things about having a 24 hour business with people working all over the world is there's always things that I need to respond to. There's always kind of interesting things happening. And so just like making sure that I catch myself every so often to be like, I'm just going to be here now and I'm going to be with them, and I'm going to listen to what they're saying, and I'm going to respond appropriately, and, you know, I'm going to play a game with them, or whatever. That's true love. You know? Michael Hingson 52:14 Well, there's a lot of merit to the whole concept of unplugging and taking time and living in the moment. One of the things that we talked about in my book live like a guide dog, that we published last year, and it's all about lessons I've learned about leadership and teamwork and preparedness from eight guide dogs and my wife's service dog. One of the things that I learned along the way is the whole concept of living in the moment when I was in the World Trade Center with my fifth guide dog, Roselle. We got home, and I was going to take her outside to go visit the bathroom, but as soon as I took the harness off, she shot off, grabbed her favorite tug bone and started playing tug of war with my retired guide dog. Asked the veterinarians about him the next day, the people at Guide Dogs for the Blind, and they said, Well, did anything threaten her? And I said, No. And they said, there's your answer. The reality is, dogs live in the moment when it was over. It was over. And yeah, right lesson to learn. Nick Francis 53:15 I mean, amazing, absolutely amazing. You must have taken a lot of strength from that. Michael Hingson 53:20 Oh, I think it was, it was great. It, you know, I can look back at my life and look at so many things that have happened, things that I did. I never thought that I would become a public speaker, but I learned in so many ways the art of speaking and being relaxed at speaking in a in a public setting, that when suddenly I was confronted with the opportunity to do it, it just seemed like the natural thing to do. Nick Francis 53:46 Yeah, it's funny, because I think isn't public speaking the number one fear. It is. It's the most fit. It's the most feared thing for the most people. Michael Hingson 53:57 And the reality is going back to something that we talked about before. The reality is, audiences want you to succeed, unless you're a jerk and you project that, audiences want to hear what you have to say. They want you to be successful. There's really nothing to be afraid of but, but you're right. It is the number one fear, and I've never understood that. I mean, I guess I can intellectually understand it, but internally, I don't. The first time I was asked to speak after the World Trade Center attacks, a pastor called me up and he said, we're going to we're going to have a service outside for all the people who we lost in New Jersey and and that we would like you to come and speak. Take a few minutes. And I said, Sure. And then I asked him, How many people many people were going to be at the service? He said, 6000 that was, that was my first speech. Nick Francis 54:49 Yeah, wow. But it didn't bother me, you know, no, I bet Michael Hingson 54:54 you do the best you can, and you try to improve, and so on. But, but it is true that so many people. Are public speaking, and there's no reason to what Nick Francis 55:03 did that whole experience teach you? Michael Hingson 55:06 Well, one of the things that taught me was, don't worry about the things that you can't control. It also taught me that, in reality, any of us can be confronted with unexpected things at any time, and the question is, how well do we prepare to deal with it? So for me, for example, and it took me years after September 11 to recognize this, but one of the things that that happened when the building was hit, and Neither I, nor anyone on my side of the building really knew what happened. People say all the time, well, you didn't know because you couldn't see it. Well, excuse me, it hit 18 floors above us on the other side of the building. And the last time I checked X ray vision was fictitious, so nobody knew. But did the building shake? Oh, it tipped. Because tall buildings like that are flexible. And if you go to any tall building, in reality, they're made to buffet in wind storms and so on, and in fact, they're made to possibly be struck by an airplane, although no one ever expected that somebody would deliberately take a fully loaded jet aircraft and crash it into a tower, because it wasn't the plane hitting the tower as such that destroyed both of them. It was the exploding jet fuel that destroyed so much more infrastructure caused the buildings to collapse. But in reality, for me, I had done a lot of preparation ahead of time, not even thinking that there would be an emergency, but thinking about I need to really know all I can about the building, because I've got to be the leader of my office, and I should know all of that. I should know what to do in an emergency. I should know how to take people to lunch and where to go and all that. And by learning all of that, as I learned many and discovered many years later, it created a mindset that kicked in when the World Trade Center was struck, and in fact, we didn't know until after both towers had collapsed, and I called my wife. We I talked with her just before we evacuated, and the media hadn't even gotten the story yet, but I never got a chance to talk with her until after both buildings had collapsed, and then I was able to get through and she's the first one that told us how the two buildings had been hit by hijacked aircraft. But the mindset had kicked in that said, You know what to do, do it and that. And again, I didn't really think about that until much later, but that's something that is a lesson we all could learn. We shouldn't rely on just watching signs to know what to do, no to go in an emergency. We should really know it, because the knowledge, rather than just having information, the true intellectual knowledge that we internalize, makes such a big difference. Nick Francis 57:46 Do you think it was the fact that you were blind that made you so much more keen to know the way out that kind of that really helped you to understand that at the time? Michael Hingson 57:56 Well, what I think is being blind and growing up in an environment where so many things could be unexpected, for me, it was important to know so, for example, when I would go somewhere to meet a customer, I would spend time, ahead of time, learning how to get around, learning how to get to where they were and and learning what what the process was, because we didn't have Google Maps and we didn't have all the intellectual and and technological things that we have today. Well intellectual we did with the technology we didn't have. So today it's easier, but still, I want to know what to do. I want to really have the answers, and then I can can more easily and more effectively deal with what I need to deal with and react. So I'm sure that blindness played a part in all of that, because if I hadn't learned how to do the things that I did and know the things that I knew, then it would have been a totally different ball game, and so sure, I'm sure, I'm certain that blindness had something to do with it, but I also know that, that the fact is, what I learned is the same kinds of things that everyone should learn, and we shouldn't rely on just the signs, because what if the building were full of smoke, then what would you do? Right? And I've had examples of that since I was at a safety council meeting once where there was somebody from an electric company in Missouri who said, you know, we've wondered for years, what do we do if there's a fire in the generator room, in the basement, In the generator room, how do people get out? And he and I actually worked on it, and they developed a way where people could have a path that they could follow with their feet to get them out. But the but the reality is that what people first need to learn is eyesight is not the only game in town. Yeah, right. Mean, it's so important to really learn that, but people, people don't, and we take too many things for granted, which is, which is really so unfortunate, because we really should do a li
In this episode of the Around Town podcast, Mayor Daniel Rickenmann sits down with Merritt McNeely, CEO of Flock and Rally, a Columbia-based marketing and communications agency helping clients across the country connect with their communities in meaningful ways.What began as a local mission to support causes and campaigns in the Midlands has grown into a national agency known for creative storytelling, strategic messaging, and purpose-driven results. Merritt shares how her team builds trust, activates audiences, and stays grounded in the values that started it all.Learn more at flockandrally.com
Advent 2, 2025. Isaiah's prophecy of a peaceful mountain should be seen as fulfilled in Christ. That means we need to reevaluate the "wolf lies down with the lamb." Paul White, from The Garden Church of the Midlands in Irmo, South Carolina.
//The Wire//2300Z December 9, 2025////ROUTINE////BLUF: CONFLICT CONTINUES IN ASIA. HIGH-PROFILE MIGRANT CRIMES INCREASE TENSIONS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM. ONE STUDENT KILLED IN STABBING AT NC HIGH SCHOOL. SHOOTING REPORTED AT KENTUCKY STATE UNIVERSITY.// -----BEGIN TEARLINE------International Events-Southeast Asia: The war between Thailand and Cambodia continues as before, with a few escalations of the conflict occurring overnight. Cambodia has continued rocket attacks, and Thailand has continued shelling random locations in the disputed border region. Thailand struck a few cultural sites and temples in Cambodia yesterday afternoon, with Thai forces also deploying some armored units to the Cambodian side of the border.Analyst Comment: At the moment this is a continuation of the same style of warfare that is often common throughout the third world; both sides conducting massive airstrikes and bombing campaigns, but very few casualties being the result. This is basically an international slap fight where the only real casualties are civilians, which have far outweighed the casualties sustained by combatants on either side so far. Despite the very low ratio of combat deaths to munitions dropped, the fighting this time around is more intense than when the conflict flared up a few months ago, so this conflict does have the potential to get more serious as time goes on.United Kingdom: Tensions remain palpably high following over a dozen high-profile migrant crimes coming to light over the past few days. In the Midlands, 2x Afghans were convicted of brutally assaulting a 15-year-old in a public park in an incident which the authorities have openly admitted to covering up due to civil unrest potential (the suspects' own defense attorney stated that if the video of their attack were to be made public, it would spark a riot). Separately, a different Afghan migrant (identified as Sultani Bakatash) assaulted two girls in Manchester a few days ago.Analyst Comment: Over the weekend, it was also discovered that the wife and children of the current leader of ISIS in Somalia lives in taxpayer-funded housing in Slough, which has inflamed tensions further. Abdul Qadir Mumin was known for encouraging terrorism throughout the U.K. before fleeing to Somalia around a decade ago, leaving his wife and children behind while he wages jihad with about a thousand fighters in Somalia. Mumin was (and still is) a highly-sought target, who the United States has conducted kinetic strikes on several times. Back in 2024, there was speculation that he was killed during a strike in Somalia, however this has been proven to be incorrect over time and his official status remains unknown. This is why there is outrage over this case; this guy is not an ordinary street fighter...he's the actual leader of the ISIS branch for Somalia. The family members that remain in taxpayer-funded housing actually knew of his terrorism-encouraging speeches (he was legendary for these talks before he fled the country). He escaped to Somalia, but his family stayed behind in the UK to receive benefits.-HomeFront-Georgia: State Rep. Sharon Henderson was arrested and indicted on charges of fraud pertaining to her activities during the COVID era. Rep. Henderson is accused of falsifying her employment status so as to obtain special benefits that were made available to those who were forced out of a job due to COVID. In order to get these benefits, she allegedly claimed to be a schoolteacher after actually leaving the job to campaign for the seat that she currently occupies.North Carolina: This afternoon a stabbing was reported at North Forsyth High School, which prompted a lockdown of the local area. Concerning casualties, one student was killed in the attack.Analyst Comment: At the time of this report, this is a developing story so the details will change. Right now it looks like thi
This week's show is with Isaac Wortley and Eddy Elsey, both practicing apprentices of a traditional Mongolian lineage holder, who founded Mother Tree Shamanism. Isaac is an English shaman, who experienced a calling from a very young age. This led him to search out an authentic traditional teacher of Mongolian shamanism. Over ten years ago, he was initiated by his teacher, the founder of Mother Tree Shamanism, and has been an apprentice ever since. He has also studied traditional Mongolian/Tibetan medicine for last three years. He currently lives in the Midlands in England providing shamanic and traditional medicine services for people in the West. Eddy has been studying as an apprentice with Mother Tree Shamanism for the last 3 years after transitioning to traditional shamanism from his previous background in neo-shamanism. He lives between the Midlands and London, and works as a traditional massage therapist. He is passionate about helping people discover authentic and traditional forms of spirituality. In this episode, Lian, Isaac and Eddy explore why traditional shamanism matters so deeply for those of us in the West. They touch on Eddy's descent into illness through neo-shamanic practice, the shock of meeting Mongolian shamans who can name events and symptoms with startling clarity, and the gap between learning shamanism in a weekend and a cosmology that allows a traditional shaman guide a herder to lost cattle on the steppe. From there the conversation turns to the forgotten role of the shamanist, the everyday person who knows how to live in balance - a first aider rather than a surgeon, metaphorically speaking, and what spiritual hygiene might look like in British life rather than faraway cultures. Listen if you have ever felt your life unravel around the edges from shamanic work, wondered whether your symbols and visions are actually helping, or wished for community instead of having to do it all on your own. We'd love to know what YOU think about this week's show. Let's carry on the conversation… please leave a comment wherever you are listening or in any of our other spaces to engage. What you'll learn from this episode: How understanding spiritual hygiene and universal law changes the way you move through sacred sites, daily rituals and the hidden consequences of your practice Why becoming a shamanist, with grounded cosmology and everyday balance, may soothe the hunger to be a practitioner more than yet another training ever could What happens when shamanism becomes practical again, from dealing with health and relationships to the tangible, measurable changes that follow real ritual Resources and stuff spoken about: Mother Tree Shamanism on Facebook & Instagram Eddy's Website & Instagram Join UNIO, The Community for Wild Sovereign Souls: This is for the old souls in this new world… Discover your kin & unite with your soul's calling to truly live your myth. Be Mythical Join our mailing list for soul stirring goodness: https://www.bemythical.com/moonly Discover your kin & unite with your soul's calling to truly live your myth: https://www.bemythical.com/unio Go Deeper: https://www.bemythical.com/godeeper Follow us: Facebook Instagram TikTok YouTube Thank you for listening! There's a fresh episode released each week here and on most podcast platforms - and video too on YouTube. If you subscribe then you'll get each new episode delivered to your device every week automagically. (that way you'll never miss a show).
A rising Broadway star. A mysterious SOS alert. And a car left abandoned at a trailhead wrecked by Hurricane Helene. When 28-year-old Zelig Williams vanishes on October 3rd, 2024, there's no sign of a crash, his phone, or him. Is this the result of a mental health emergency, a tragic accident or did someone lure Zelig into the woods, never intending to let him leave?If you have any information on the disappearance of Zelig Williams, you can contact the Richland County Sheriff's Department at 803-576-3000. If you'd like to remain anonymous, you can call the Crime Stoppers of the Midlands at 888-274-6372.If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide or self-harm, call or text 988 or visit 988lifeline.org. Source materials for this episode cannot be listed here due to character limitations. For a full list of sources, please visit: https://crimejunkiepodcast.com/missing-zelig-williams/Did you know you can listen to this episode ad-free? Join the Fan Club! Visit https://crimejunkiepodcast.com/fanclub/ to view the current membership options and policies.Don't miss out on all things Crime Junkie!Instagram: @crimejunkiepodcast | @audiochuckTwitter: @CrimeJunkiePod | @audiochuckTikTok: @crimejunkiepodcastFacebook: /CrimeJunkiePodcast | /audiochuckllcCrime Junkie is hosted by Ashley Flowers and Brit Prawat. Instagram: @ashleyflowers | @britprawatTwitter: @Ash_Flowers | @britprawatTikTok: @ashleyflowerscrimejunkieFacebook: /AshleyFlowers.AF Text Ashley at 317-733-7485 to talk all things true crime, get behind the scenes updates, and more! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Are you excessively tired with your hair falling out, nails always breaking, brain often foggy or sometimes, despite having youth on your side, maybe forgetting how to form a sentence? These are amongst the symptoms of iron deficiency, often underdiagnosed. Nuala McGovern will be speaking to Dr Sue Pavord, Consultant Haematologist and President of the British Society for Haematology, and freelance journalist Rose Stokes.The Royal College of Pathologists say that a shortage of consultants means that "1 in 5 families are now waiting 6 months or more, and some longer than 12 months" for post mortems. The 'paediatric and perinatal pathology workforce' report said there were no paediatric or perinatal pathology consultants in the South West, the Midlands or Northern Ireland. Dr Clair Evans, the chair of the college's advisory committee - a Consultant Paediatric and Perinatal pathologist explains the situation further. At lunchtime on Wednesday the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves, will unveil her much anticipated second budget. How could this budget affect the lives of women in 2026? We're joined by the BBC's Cost of Living correspondent Colletta Smith, to talk us through what we might see in the red briefcase on Wednesday. A self-portrait by Frida Kahlo has just sold for $55 million in New York. It is the highest price ever paid for a work by a female artist. To illustrate the magnitude of the difference, a painting by Klimt was also sold recently for $236m. Professor Renee Adams is a professor of finance at Oxford Saïd business school and researches the role of gender in the art market, where women's works generally achieve much lower values. She explains why and what needs to change. As part of the BBC 2 Civilisations series, tonight's programme looks at the rise and fall of the Aztec Empire and the part that a young woman played in its demise. She was called Malintzin and acted as translator at the momentous first meeting in 1519 between Montezuma, the ruler of the vast Aztec Empire, and the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés. To find out more about Malintzin and her role in Mexican history and culture Nuala is joined by Dr Elizabeth Baquedano, from the Institute of Archaeology at University College London and Dr Jessica Fernández de Lara Harada from the University of Oxford.Presenter: Nuala McGovern Producer: Kirsty Starkey