Podcasts about MWD

A fire-breathing creature that terrorized London for decades and was never identified, a child who died in the White House in 1862 and by credible report has been seen in the hallways ever since, and a sold-out concert in Rhode Island that turned into one of the deadliest nightclub fires in American history — plus an opera composer who hid under his blankets for a day and woke up a legend. | The Morning Weird Darkness #MWD*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.EPISODE PAGE: https://WeirdDarkness.com/MWD20260220NOTE: Some of this content may have been created with assistance from AI tools, but it has been reviewed, edited, narrated, produced, and approved by Darren Marlar, creator and host of Weird Darkness — who, despite popular conspiracy theories, is NOT an AI voice.#WeirdDarkness #MorningWD #DarrenMarlar #MarlarInTheMorning #MWD #SpringHeeledJack #WillieLincoln #WhiteHouseGhost #StationNightclubFire #ParicutinVolcano #JohnGlenn #Unabomber #EBSFalseAlarm #HoodieHooDay #Megalosaurus #WeirdHistory #DarkHistory #ParanormalPodcast #HorrorPodcast #UnsolvedMysteries

A missing day on the calendar, a future Tarzan in the pool, a superhero who fought Nazis, a philosopher burned alive for imagining other worlds, and a stolen helicopter the Secret Service couldn't stop. | IT HAPPENED ON FEBRUARY 17 | The Morning Weird Darkness #MWDWeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.EPISODE PAGE: https://WeirdDarkness.com/MWD20260217NOTE: Some of this content may have been created with assistance from AI tools, but it has been reviewed, edited, narrated, produced, and approved by Darren Marlar, creator and host of Weird Darkness — who, despite popular conspiracy theories, is NOT an AI voice.#WeirdDarkness #MorningWD #DarrenMarlar #MarlarInTheMorning #MWD #ThisDayInHistory #TrueCrime #Paranormal #MardiGras #GiordanoBruno #JeffreyDahmer #JeffreyMacDonald #SEALAB #MorristownUFO #WhiteHouseHelicopter #JohnnyWeissmuller #Tarzan #ThePhantom #Geronimo #StrangeHistory

A woman famous for being covered head-to-toe in hair, a ghost ship that drifted the Atlantic for eighteen months with no one aboard, an unsolved triple murder on a frozen lakeshore, and a world leader whose staff had to use scissors to separate him from his mistress. | IT HAPPENED ON FEBRUARY 16 | The Morning Weird Darkness #MWDWeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.EPISODE PAGE: https://WeirdDarkness.com/MWD20260216NOTE: Some of this content may have been created with assistance from AI tools, but it has been reviewed, edited, narrated, produced, and approved by Darren Marlar, creator and host of Weird Darkness — who, despite popular conspiracy theories, is NOT an AI voice.#WeirdDarkness #MorningWD #DarrenMarlar #MarlarInTheMorning #MWD #KingTutCurse #GhostShip #TrueHistory #FloydCollins #TravisTheChimp #GreystoneMansion #IroquoisTheatreFire #AbrahamLincolnBeard #GhostShipIreland #WerewolfSyndrome #UnsolvedMurders #StrangeHistory #ThisDayInHistory #DarkWeirdness #ChinCurtainDay

Today we've got a date so loaded with bad luck that some people literally refuse to leave the house. There are arrests that may have cursed an entire day of the week forever, a ghost that hasn't stopped screaming in almost five hundred years, a spark plug that shouldn't exist, and a diamond so big it makes the Hope Diamond look like something you'd find in a gumball machine. Oh — and an entire city blew up. Happy Friday the 13th! | IT HAPPENED ON FEBRUARY 13 | The Morning Weird Darkness #MWDWeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.EPISODE PAGE: https://WeirdDarkness.com/MWD20260213NOTE: Some of this content may have been created with assistance from AI tools, but it has been reviewed, edited, narrated, produced, and approved by Darren Marlar, creator and host of Weird Darkness — who, despite popular conspiracy theories, is NOT an AI voice.#WeirdDarkness #MorningWD #DarrenMarlar #MarlarInTheMorning #MWD #FridayThe13th #KnightsTemplar #CatherineHoward #HamptonCourtHaunting #LindberghKidnapping #ElisaLam #CecilHotel #KimJongNam #CosoArtifact #ThirteenClub #GlencoeMassacre #CharlesSchulz #Paranormal #TrueCrime #ThisDayInHistory

A 220,000-pound meteorite screams into Siberia, a teenage queen still walks the Tower of London, the U.S. military shoots down something it can't identify, and a Swedish king eats fourteen desserts and never gets up from the table. | IT HAPPENED ON FEBRUARY 12 | The Morning Weird Darkness #MWDWeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.EPISODE PAGE: https://WeirdDarkness.com/MWD20260212NOTE: Some of this content may have been created with assistance from AI tools, but it has been reviewed, edited, narrated, produced, and approved by Darren Marlar, creator and host of Weird Darkness — who, despite popular conspiracy theories, is NOT an AI voice.#WeirdDarkness #MorningWD #DarrenMarlar #MarlarInTheMorning #MWD #ThisDayInHistory #TrueCrime #Paranormal #HauntedTowerOfLondon #LadyJaneGrey #JamesBulger #UAPShootdown #TheScreamTheft #LastEmperorChina #SikhoteAlinMeteorite #CorvetteMuseumSinkhole #DarkHistory #WarOfTheWorlds #NEARShoemaker #HistoryPodcast

A French grotto with 70 scientifically inexplicable healings, banana-shaped UFOs over a tiny Alabama town, the world's first science fiction TV show that no one can ever watch again, and the day a Vice President went hunting and shot his friend in the face. | IT HAPPENED ON FEBRUARY 11 | The Morning Weird Darkness #MWDWeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.EPISODE PAGE: https://WeirdDarkness.com/MWD20260211NOTE: Some of this content may have been created with assistance from AI tools, but it has been reviewed, edited, narrated, produced, and approved by Darren Marlar, creator and host of Weird Darkness — who, despite popular conspiracy theories, is NOT an AI voice.#WeirdDarkness #MorningWD #DarrenMarlar #MarlarInTheMorning #MWD #ThisDayInHistory #NelsonMandela #MandelaEffect #BusterDouglasTyson #AnnaKournikovaVirus #LourdesApparitions #FyffeAlabamaUFO #UriGeller #PayolaScandal #DickCheney #GravitationalWaves #Sacagawea #PeppermintPattyDay #TrueCrime #ParanormalPodcast

A complaint about bad wine turned into a medieval bloodbath — and the punishment didn't end until 1825. | IT HAPPENED ON FEBRUARY 10th | The Morning Weird Darkness #MWDWeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.EPISODE PAGE: https://WeirdDarkness.com/MWD20260210NOTE: Some of this content may have been created with assistance from AI tools, but it has been reviewed, edited, narrated, produced, and approved by Darren Marlar, creator and host of Weird Darkness — who, despite popular conspiracy theories, is NOT an AI voice.#WeirdDarkness #MorningWD #DarrenMarlar #MarlarInTheMorning #MWD #DarkHistory #WeirdHistory #TodayInHistory #ThisDayInHistory #TrueCrime #DuctTapeOrigin #BannedSesameStreet #MedievalRiot #DeepBlueChess #CatherineHoward #MafiaTrials #UnsoldMurders #HistoryPodcast #CreepyHistory #FebruaryHistory

The devil went for a walk in 1855 and left his footprints across an entire county, a copilot screamed the most chilling words in aviation history, sixty fireballs flew in formation across the sky, a serial killer only struck on one date, and the world's largest ship was sunk by the people trying to save it. | IT HAPPENED ON FEBRUARY 9TH | The Morning Weird Darkness #MWDWeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.EPISODE PAGE: https://WeirdDarkness.com/MWD20260209NOTE: Some of this content may have been created with assistance from AI tools, but it has been reviewed, edited, narrated, produced, and approved by Darren Marlar, creator and host of Weird Darkness — who, despite popular conspiracy theories, is NOT an AI voice.#WeirdDarkness #MorningWD #DarrenMarlar #MarlarInTheMorning #MWD #DevilsFootprints #DarkHistory #TrueCrime #Paranormal #UnexplainedMysteries #ThisDayInHistory #February9 #JALFlight350 #TedBundy #SSNormandie #GreatMeteorProcession #CreepyHistory #StrangeButtTrue #HorrorPodcast #MorningPodcast

On this date, a Persian king lost his throne and his eyesight courtesy of his in-laws, a secret alliance changed the course of a revolution, a famous impostor fooled the world for decades, and a princess found out she was queen while sitting in a tree. | IT HAPPENED ON FEBRUARY 6TH | The Morning Weird Darkness #MWDWeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.EPISODE PAGE: https://WeirdDarkness.com/MWD20260226NOTE: Some of this content may have been created with assistance from AI tools, but it has been reviewed, edited, narrated, produced, and approved by Darren Marlar, creator and host of Weird Darkness — who, despite popular conspiracy theories, is NOT an AI voice.#WeirdDarkness, #MorningWD, #DarrenMarlar, #MarlarInTheMorning, #MWD, #ThisDayInHistory, #TodayInHistory, #DarkHistory, #StrangeHistory, #TrueStories, #HorrorPodcast, #TrueCrimePodcast, #MorningPodcast, #MunichAirDisaster, #TurkeySyriaEarthquake, #DaltonGang, #QueenElizabethII, #MonopolyHistory, #SpaceXFalconHeavy, #February6

A hilltop crucifixion of children, the biggest gold nugget ever yanked out of the ground, unexpected and deadly tornadoes in February, and a round of golf for space cases. | IT HAPPENED ON FEBRUARY 5TH | The Morning Weird Darkness #MWDEPISODE PAGE: https://WeirdDarkness.com/MWD20260205 (includes video of ABC's “Turn On” from 1969)WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.NOTE: Some of this content may have been created with assistance from AI tools, but it has been reviewed, edited, narrated, produced, and approved by Darren Marlar, creator and host of Weird Darkness — who, despite popular conspiracy theories, is NOT an AI voice.#WeirdDarkness #MorningWD #DarrenMarlar #MarlarInTheMorning #MWD #ThisDayInHistory #TrueCrime #Paranormal #WeirdHistory #ApolloMission #AlanShepard #BelleStarr #AlienAbduction #UFOSighting #MartyrsOfJapan #GoldNugget #TornadoOutbreak #UnsolvedMysteries #ColdCase #HistoryPodcast

From mass ritual suicide to mass hysteria, unanimous elections to ancient manuscripts that proved the Bible's accuracy, February 4th has a body count — and a weirdness count — that spans centuries and continents. | The Morning Weird Darkness #MWDWeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.NOTE: Some of this content may have been created with assistance from AI tools, but it has been reviewed, edited, narrated, produced, and approved by Darren Marlar, creator and host of Weird Darkness — who, despite popular conspiracy theories, is NOT an AI voice.EPISODE PAGE: https://WeirdDarkness.com/MWD20260204#WeirdDarkness #MorningWD #DarrenMarlar #MarlarInTheMorning #MWD #ThisDayInHistory #February4th #FortySevenRonin #SamuraiHistory #PattyHearst #EiffelTower #FranzReichelt #EmperorNorton #GeorgeRomero #DarkHistory #TrueStories #HistoryPodcast #StrangeHistory #DeadSeaScrolls #BloodyMary

Craniotomy Stroke Recovery: How a Massive Medical Event Reshaped One Man's Identity and Way of Living When Brandon Barre woke up after his stroke, half of his skull was missing. Doctors had performed an emergency craniotomy to save his life after a severe brain bleed. His left side barely worked. His memory felt fragmented. Time itself seemed unreliable; days, weeks, even months blurred together into what he later described as a kind of perpetual Groundhog Day. And yet, amid one of the most extreme medical experiences a person can survive, Brandon remained unexpectedly calm. This is a story about craniotomy stroke recovery, but it's not just about surgery, rehab, or timelines. It's about identity, mindset, and what happens when your old life disappears overnight, and you're forced to rebuild from the inside out. Life Before the Stroke: Movement, Freedom, and Identity Before his stroke, Brandon lived a life defined by movement and autonomy. He worked in the oil fields as an MWD specialist, spending weeks at a time on drilling rigs. Later, he left what he called “traditional life” behind and spent years traveling the United States in an RV. He found work wherever he went, producing music festivals, building large-scale art installations, and immersing himself in creative communities. Stability, for Brandon, never meant stillness. It meant freedom. Stroke wasn't on his radar. At 46, he was active, independent, and deeply connected to his sense of self. The Stroke and Emergency Craniotomy The stroke happened in Northern California after a long day of rock climbing with friends. Brandon didn't notice the warning signs himself; it was others who saw that his arm wasn't working properly. Later that night, he became profoundly disoriented. He was found the next morning, still sitting upright in his truck, barely conscious. Within hours, Brandon was airlifted to UC Davis Medical Center, where doctors removed a blood clot and performed a large craniotomy due to dangerous swelling. Part of his skull was removed and stored while his brain recovered. He spent 10 days in intensive care, followed by weeks in inpatient rehabilitation. Remarkably, he reports no physical pain throughout the entire process, a detail that underscores how differently each brain injury unfolds. Early Craniotomy Stroke Recovery: Regaining Movement, Losing Certainty Physically, Brandon's recovery followed a familiar but still daunting path. Initially, he couldn't walk. His left arm hung uselessly by his side. Foot drop made even short distances difficult. But what challenged him most wasn't just movement; it was orientation. He struggled to track days, months, and time itself. Short-term memory lapses made planning almost impossible. Writing, once a core part of his identity, became inaccessible. He could form letters, but not their meaning. This is a common but under-discussed aspect of craniotomy stroke recovery: the loss isn't only physical. It's cognitive, emotional, and deeply personal. “It's kind of like I'm in this perpetual day ever since the stroke… like Groundhog Day.” Technology as Independence, Not Convenience One of the quiet heroes of Brandon's recovery has been voice-to-text technology. Because writing and spelling no longer function reliably, Brandon relies on dictation to communicate. Tools like Whisper Flow and built-in phone dictation restored his ability to express ideas, stay connected, and remain independent. This matters. For stroke survivors, technology isn't about productivity. It's about dignity. Identity Reset: Slower, Calmer, More Intentional Perhaps the most striking part of Brandon's story is how little resentment he carries. He doesn't deny frustration. He doesn't pretend recovery is easy. But he refuses to live in constant rumination. Instead, he adopted a simple principle: one problem at a time. That mindset reshaped his lifestyle. He stopped drinking, smoking, and using marijuana. He slowed his pace. He became more deliberate with relationships, finances, and health decisions. He grew closer to his adult daughter than ever before. The stroke didn't erase his identity, it refined it. Taking Ownership of Craniotomy Stroke Recovery A turning point came when Brandon realized he couldn't rely solely on the medical system. Insurance changes, rotating doctors, and long waits forced him to educate himself. He turned to what he jokingly calls “YouTube University,” learning from other survivors and clinicians online. That self-directed approach extended to major medical decisions, including choosing monitoring over immediate invasive heart procedures and calmly approaching a newly discovered brain aneurysm with information rather than fear. His conclusion is clear: Recovery belongs to the survivor. Doctors guide. Therapists assist. But ownership sits with the person doing the living. A Message for Others on the Journey Toward the end of the conversation, Brandon offered advice that cuts through fear-based recovery narratives: Don't let timelines define you. Don't rush because someone says you should. Don't stop because someone says you're “done.” Every stroke is different. Every brain heals differently. And recovery, especially after a craniotomy, continues far longer than most people are told. Moving Forward, One Intentional Step at a Time Craniotomy stroke recovery isn't just about regaining movement. It's about rebuilding trust with your body, reshaping identity, and learning how to live with uncertainty without letting it dominate your life. Brandon's story reminds us that even after the most extreme medical events, calm is possible. Growth is possible. And a meaningful life, though different, can still unfold. Continue Your Recovery Journey Learn more: https://recoveryafterstroke.com/book Support the podcast: https://patreon.com/recoveryafterstroke Disclaimer: This blog is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Please consult your doctor before making any changes to your health or recovery plan. Brandon's Story: Surviving a Craniotomy, Redefining Identity, and Recovering on His Own Terms He survived a stroke and craniotomy, then calmly rebuilt his identity, habits, and life one deliberate step at a time. Research shortcut I use (Turnto.ai) I used Turnto.ai to find relevant papers and sources in minutes instead of hours. If you want to try it, here’s my affiliate LINK You'll get 10% off, it's about $2/week, and it supports the podcast. Highlights: 00:00 Introduction and Background01:52 Life Before the Stroke03:32 The Stroke Experience11:03 Craniotomy Stroke Recovery Journey17:09 Adjusting to Life Post-Stroke28:46 Living Independently After Stroke35:09 Facing New Challenges: Aneurysms and Uncertainty42:13 Support Systems: Finding Community After Stroke47:06 Identity Shift: Life Changes Post-Stroke58:39 Lessons Learned: Insights from the Journey Transcript: Introduction and Background Brandon (00:00)next morning was still in the driver’s seat with my head on the steering wheel. and I couldn’t make either of my arms work I had been bleeding into my brain for 12 hours overnight they had to go ahead and do a, craniotomy. And so they took this whole side. It was a big craniotomy. They took that whole section of my skull out, put it in the freezer Bill Gasiamis (00:27)Before we begin today’s episode, want to take a moment to speak to you directly. If you’ve had a stroke, you already know this part. The hospital phase ends, but the questions don’t. You’re sent home expecting to get on with it. And suddenly you’re left trying to work out recovery, mindset, fatigue, emotions, sleep and motivation all on your own. You shouldn’t have to. That’s why I wrote my book, The Unexpected Way That a Stroke Became the Best Thing That Happened. Not to tell you what to do, but to walk beside you and show you the tools real stroke survivors use to rebuild their lives when the system stopped helping. and now with this book, you won’t have to figure it out alone. You can find that at recoveryafterstroke.com/book. All right, let’s get into today’s episode. Today, you’re going to hear from Brandon Barre. Brandon was 46 years old, active, independent and living an unconventional life when he had a stroke that led to a craniotomy. where part of his skull was removed to save his life. What stood out to me immediately about Brandon wasn’t just the severity of what he went through. It was the calm grounded way he approached recovery, identity and rebuilding his life. This is a conversation about stroke recovery. Yes, but it is also about mindset, ownership and what happens when you decide to take recovery into your own hands. Life Before the Stroke (01:52)Brendan Barre, welcome to the podcast. Brandon (01:54)Thank you, man. (01:56)You struggled a little bit getting here. There’s a couple of little things that caused a bit of a challenge for you. What are those things? Brandon (02:05)Well, I mean, first of all, I’m, I’m, I’m, even before my stroke, I was never very computer-y. Um, so using my phone for more than just making phone calls is kind of new to me. Um, so yeah, a new microphone, that was fun. And then I had made a bunch of notes, not realizing that I probably wasn’t gonna be able to see those notes. Um, you know, so that was also a little bit of a issue, but uh, but yeah, other than that, man. Not much, you know, I mean I’m here. (02:37)Yeah. I remember receiving your emails about, I’m not sure what day we’re on. I need to reschedule all that kind of stuff. Stuff that I used to do heaps. I remember in the early days of my kind of stroke recovery, I used to make appointments, put them in my calendar, get reminders about my appointments and still be confused about the day, the time and the location of the appointment. Brandon (03:04)Yes, absolutely. That’s a big thing for me too. know, and I mean even just, you know, remembering from minute to minute where of what day, what month and everything I’m in right now is a little bit tricky still. It’s getting better, but ⁓ but yeah, I still have a lot of trouble. I can always think of every month except for the month that we’re currently in. (03:24)Okay, so you have like a short term memory thing, is it? Or… The Stroke Experience Brandon (03:28)Yes, yes, have short-term memory issues. ⁓ A lot of times ⁓ I struggle to find, like I said, the date and everything else. ⁓ But I don’t know, man. It’s kind of like I’m in this perpetual day ever since the stroke, and I have trouble keeping track of exactly what that is on everybody else’s time frame. (03:53)Like a, like a groundhog day. Brandon (03:55)Yes. Yeah. You know, I mean, if I really work hard and think about it, I can figure out what day it is, but it takes a while generally to get the month. The day of the month isn’t quite as difficult anymore, but at the beginning I had trouble with the whole thing. (04:11)I hear you man, I totally hear you. I reckon there’s been a ton of people that relate to what you’re saying. ⁓ Tell me, day like before stroke? What’d you get up to? What type of things did you involve yourself with? Brandon (04:23)Well, ⁓ you know, I was, I was really involved in, ⁓ production of music festivals and, ⁓ doing that kind of work. ⁓ I’ve always kind of freelanced. Well, you know, I actually, ⁓ left traditional life in 2000 and ⁓ January 1st of 2012 and started traveling and, you know, living out of an RV and whatnot. Before that, I was in the oil field. I’ve worked as an MWD specialist on a drilling rig, which means that I used to ⁓ take down all the information about where the actual drill bit was underground and send that off to all the geologists and everybody else so they can make sure that the well was going in the right direction. And, ⁓ you know, I just really didn’t feel happy in life, man. So I decided to take off and see the states out of my RV. And that started about 10 years of travel. And then In 2019 I bought some property and started to kind of slowly come off the road and started to be on my property more often but you know it just yeah I don’t know man my life has been a lot of different transitions one thing to another I move around a lot in life. (05:25)you Yeah, so the RV was kind of just exploring seeing the country Doing that type of thing or was it going somewhere with a purpose say to get work or to? Hang out there for a little while. What was that all about? Brandon (05:57)A little bit of all of it. A little bit of all of it. I’ve always been able to find work where I go, you know, doing different things. But I kind of fell into music festival work, like setting up and tearing down for music festivals and building art installations, doing like mandalas out of trash and stuff like that. And just kind of always did kind of the artist thing, I guess you could say. Even before, while I was still in the oil field doing the traditional life thing, I was always very art motivated. (06:30)Yeah, when you talk about traditional life, you’re talking about nine to five kind of routine and working for the man type of thing. Is that what you mean by traditional life? Brandon (06:43)Yes, except mine was a little bit different. My work in the oil field involved me being on site on the drilling rig for up to six weeks sometimes. So it wasn’t really nine to five. I would stay gone for a lot more than that. But then when I would go home, I’d be off for three weeks, a month. So yeah, just ⁓ doing that. (07:07)Where were these oil rigs? Were they in the middle of a desert? Were they in the ocean? Brandon (07:13)No, they were all onshore and I worked a lot in like Pennsylvania, but also a lot in Texas ⁓ Just you know anywhere where they were doing natural gas drilling (07:27)And is that a remote kind of existence in that if you’re on the rig for six weeks, are you getting off it? Are you going into town? Are you doing any of that stuff? Brandon (07:38)Usually the rigs are within an hour of some type of small town usually a Walmart that type of thing So I would go and get groceries a couple of times a week You know me and the other guys would go out and get you know dinner times and whatnot but ⁓ but yeah, basically just sitting in a little trailer a directional trailer is what they called it because it was me and ⁓ Two two other three other guys two more ⁓ directional drillers and then one other MWD hand which is what I was and so there was a night shift and a day shift of two guys each. (08:16)12 hour shifts. Brandon (08:17)Yes. (08:18)Dude, hard work. Brandon (08:21)Yeah, I mean on paper it was hard work. In real life, I mean there were those really problematic jobs where you know everything went wrong but in most cases it was just you know taking a bunch of measurements on the computer whenever they would add another link of pipe to the drilling string and drill down further so every time they would add another length of pipe I would have to take more measurements. (08:47)I hear you. So not physical, but still mental. And you’ve to be on the go for a long amount of time. Brandon (08:56)Right, but yeah, I mean it did when I would have to go up on the rig floor to like change the tool out or to put something You know together or what not so there was a little bit of that but still not as physical as like a traditional drilling rig roughneck (09:04)Uh-huh. I hear you. Yeah. Everyone’s seen those videos on YouTube with those guys getting covered in that sludge and working at breakneck speeds so that they can make sure that they put the next piece on. Brandon (09:24)Yeah, yeah, no, I, you know, and I mean, I wore my share of that mud, but not near as much as a floor hand would. (09:34)I hear, I feel like you’re, ⁓ you’re toning it down and you’re making it sound a lot more ⁓ pleasant than what it might be. But I appreciate that, man. like the way you talk about things. I couldn’t imagine myself doing that, that level of physical labor. Maybe I’m just a bit too soft myself. Brandon (09:54)Yeah, no, I don’t know, man. I consider myself soft in a lot of ways, too, man. You know, it’s just, we’re all different in our softness. (10:02)yeah. ⁓ tell me a little bit about, ⁓ your stroke, man. Like what was that particular week? Like the day? Like how did the lead up happen? Bill Gasiamis (10:12)Let’s pause for a moment. If you’re listening to this and thinking, I wish someone had explained this part to me earlier. You’re not alone. One of the hardest parts of stroke recovery isn’t the hospital. It’s what comes after when the appointments slow down, the support fades and you’re left trying to make sense of what your life looks like now. That’s exactly why I wrote the unexpected way that a stroke became the best thing that happened. It’s not a medical book. It’s a recovery companion built from real experiences. real mistakes and real breakthroughs that stroke survivors discovered along the way. If you want something that helps you think differently about recovery and reminds you that you’re not broken, you can find the book at recoveryafterstroke.com/book. Let’s get back to the conversation with Brandon. Craniotomy Stroke Recovery Journey Brandon (10:59)Okay, so I was helping a friend in Northern California to clean a property that was owned by an artist who had died and we went on to his 10 acre property and we’re just cleaning up for his family. But he had like all kinds of art stuff everywhere and so it was kind of right up my alley and ⁓ We were just trying to get the property clean for these people and we decided to take off and go and do a little bit of rock climbing. so we took off early one morning and drove to a town called Willets, California where there’s good rock climbing and we spent the day doing rock climbing which was a fairly new thing to me but the guys that I was with were very experienced lifelong climbers. And so I was kind of the new guy and they were showing me the ropes and we climbed all day. I did really well, I thought, and didn’t really notice anything. No problems. ⁓ Got back in the car. We’re headed back to the house about an hour away, a friend’s house where we were all going to stay the night. And on the way there, I noticed that I was really thirsty and I stopped and I got two 40 ounce bottles of Gatorade and I drank them both immediately and like just downed them and still didn’t notice anything was a problem was in the truck by myself with my two dogs and eventually I guess about an hour later we got to the house And I went inside to hang out with everybody. And one of my friends said that my arm wasn’t working well. I didn’t notice it at all, but he said that my arm wasn’t working very well. ⁓ so ⁓ I just kind of went on with my life. a couple of, I guess about an hour later, I decided that I was really tired. and I could not quench my thirst so I just grabbed a whole bunch of water and went out to my truck and I was gonna go and lay down and sleep in the back of my truck for the night and ⁓ when I got out to my truck ⁓ by this time my friend had said that my arm was working fine again and he noticed that I he felt like I had gotten over whatever it was and so I went out to my truck got into the driver’s seat of the truck And that’s about the last of my recollection that night. next morning when I wasn’t up making breakfast before everyone else, they realized there was a problem because I was usually the first one up making breakfast and doing all that stuff and I wasn’t there. So my friend came out to my truck to check on me and I was still in the driver’s seat with my head on the steering wheel. I never even fell over. (14:05)Hmm. Brandon (14:17)And so this is 12 hours later. And so ⁓ he tried to wake me up and I was only halfway coherent and I couldn’t make either of my arms work and only one of my legs could I get any response from. So he realized there was a problem immediately, pushed me over into the passenger side of the truck got in and drove me an hour to the closest hospital, just a small little regional hospital. And they were pretty quick about realizing that I was having a stroke. And they didn’t even, I don’t even remember them putting me in a room. They brought me straight up to the roof and put me in a helicopter and helicopter and helicoptered me to UC Davis hospital in Sacramento. (14:59)Wow Wow Brandon (15:15)And I got into the hospital and within, I think about an hour and a half, they had called my mom and my brothers who were all in Louisiana at the time. And they had gotten permission to start treatment and they brought me into the surgery. at first they just (15:25)The The following is a video of the first year of Brandon (15:45)removed a three millimeter blood clot from my main artery on the right side. But then the swelling was so bad because I had been bleeding into my brain for 12 hours overnight that they had to go ahead and do ⁓ a, what do you call it? The craniotomy. Yeah, craniotomy. And so they took this whole side. It was a big craniotomy. (16:05)Craniotomy Brandon (16:12)They took this whole side, everything to the center of my forehead, above my eye, down to just above my ear, front to back. ⁓ They took that whole section of my skull out, put it in the freezer so that my brain had room. then I spent 10 days in intensive care recovering from that. And then they moved me to a rehab hospital where I spent four weeks. And yeah, so in that rehab hospital, yeah, immediately after the surgery, I couldn’t walk and I had pretty much no function on my left side, know, arm or leg. But by the time I got to the rehab hospital, I had gotten some control back, but I still couldn’t walk. ⁓ (16:44)Wow, man. Adjusting to Life Post-Stroke Brandon (17:10)And that about a week after I was in the rehab hospital is when I started to walk again without assistance. So that came back fairly quickly, but I still had really bad foot drop and my left arm wasn’t working. It was hanging, you know? And then, so they kept me in there, ⁓ you know, going through, I guess, regular rehab. (17:24)Thank Yep. Brandon (17:36)They the series of lights on the ground in front of me and I’d have to like run around and touch the different lights as they would activate and you know, I don’t know I mean, I guess it’s the same type of rehab stuff that most people go through and ⁓ (17:51)Yeah, it’s probably similar. Mate, ⁓ this is what I really want to know is what’s it like to experience having half of your skull removed? Can you somehow paint a picture of what it’s like to go through that process and how aware were you of it? Because you just had a stroke, right? So you’re in a bit of a challenged sort of healthy health state. Brandon (18:14)Right. No. Yes. ⁓ well, I think that that deliriousness was actually kind of helpful. First of all, I have not experienced any pain through the entire process. From the stroke, no pain from the craniotomy, no pain through rehab. I have not experienced any pain through this entire experience. None whatsoever. Now the doctors say that I might have lost some of that ability to sense it But you know, I mean whatever it took I Really, you know, I didn’t you know, whatever the reason was The effect of it was that I had a pretty fame pain free experience, you know (19:07)and you’re like looking in the mirror and seeing yourself and you know, like experiencing your head and how do you kind of deal with all of that? Brandon (19:21)Well, ⁓ I couldn’t feel a whole lot. I still have a lot of, or not so very much sensation on my scalp on that side. So, you know, but as far as looking in the mirror, that was kind of interesting. You know, it took a little while to get used to it, you know, and, it, ⁓ was definitely not something that I would recommend. Anybody else going through if they don’t have to you know, but ⁓ But I don’t know man. I mean, I’ve always tried to stay pretty positive about things and so, you know, I just Kept going, you know, I mean they shaved my head. I had dreadlocks for a very long time I had dreadlocks and And so this is all the hair that I’ve gotten since they put my skull back together, which was January or it’s actually It’ll be one year tomorrow since they put my skull back together. So, ⁓ my hair is coming back, which I’m really grateful for. About this time next year, I’m gonna start trying to put my dreadlocks back in. you know, but yeah, it’s, I don’t know, man. It’s really been an interesting ride. ⁓ You know, ⁓ learned a lot more about stroke than I ever thought I would need to. You know, I mean, I’m 48 right now. I was 46 when the stroke happened. So it wasn’t even on my radar, man. I wasn’t paying any attention at all. I didn’t know the anagrams or whatever. I didn’t know the symptoms of stroke. So I just kind of rolled with the punches as they came. I took it one step at a time. And that’s kind of the way it’s been with my recovery too. is I try to address one problem at a time so I don’t overwhelm myself. So after I started to get my leg back, I started to shift my influence to my shoulder and my arm. And at this point, I’ve got almost full range of motion back to the left side. I still can’t write. ⁓ Well, actually, technically, I can make my whole alphabet and all of my numbers with (21:16)Yep. Brandon (21:37)both hands at this point. trained myself to use the other hand and then about the time I was able to get that back the other hand started to come back online. So now I can do all that with both hands but words I’m word blind and numbers and letters don’t make a lot of sense to me. So even though I can make the shapes I have a lot of trouble associating the sounds of certain letters and the functions. of different numbers and letters, you know? That’s where a lot of my trouble is now, and that’s where most of my work is at the moment. (22:14)I hear you. So you sound like you’re very cool, and collected. How do you remain positive when you wake up from a stroke? You’re missing half of your skull. Your body doesn’t work on half the side. Is it your default? Do you have to work on that? Have you been working on being positive over? the decades that you’ve been on the planet, give us a bit of an insight into that part of you. Brandon (22:47)Okay, so yeah, I think I’ve always maintained a pretty positive demeanor, you know, I mean I’ve gone through some rough stuff in life, but I’ve just kind of kept going, you know, rolling with the punches. So I really don’t think that I have had much difficulty remaining positive through it. You know, there’s ⁓ definitely, you know, ⁓ days that I don’t feel as good as other days, you know, and you know, I definitely have… ⁓ things that I have to work through. have to, you know, I have to make an effort to remain positive, you know, at times. But my default has always been to be a pretty positive and happy person. So I think that that was really the majority of it is that I’ve always even in the light of extreme adversity, I’ve always been able to remain positive. You know, ⁓ so that that’s always been, you know, key even before the stroke. But (23:39)Yeah. Brandon (23:46)Yeah, I mean definitely waking up and realizing that half of my body didn’t work anymore was not fun, but it’s what I was given. I couldn’t change it, you know, only time and work was gonna change it. So I just kinda accepted it, you know, I mean, ⁓ one of the biggest things that helped me out was by the time I got out of surgery and started to get coherent, My mom and my brother had already flown from Louisiana to be with me in California at the hospital. And that was huge just to know that my family was there. And they stayed with me for the whole time that I was ⁓ in the hospital for the 10 days. And then when I went to the rehab hospital, they went home. ⁓ But yeah, so that was ⁓ just really, that was a big part of it too, you know, I mean. My mom and my brothers are pretty much the most important people in my life. Of course, my daughter as well. yeah, so, you know, to have them all there and just to have that support and have them there to help me because when I first came out, from the time I came out of surgery, I could still speak very clearly. So I did not know what I was saying. (24:56)Mm-hmm. Brandon (25:15)Nobody could tell like I wasn’t making a lot of sense, but I never lost my voice They think that that’s because of my left-handedness Because I’m left-handed I store things like that differently in my brain So because of that I was able to keep my speech even though I cannot write I can’t do you know I mean I can write my letters, but if I try to (25:32)Okay. Brandon (25:44)make a word this was yesterday (25:48)Aha! Lux- Brandon (25:50)But I can, yeah, it’s just scribble. It’s just scribble. Yeah, but, you know, if I try to like draw a letter or a number, I can do it, but I have trouble assigning it to its value. (25:53)Yeah. Understood. So before that, were quite capable of stringing sentences together, writing things down, doing all that kind of stuff. So that’s a very big contrast. Brandon (26:14)I have always been known. Huge contrast. (26:22)Is it frustrating that you can’t write in the way that you did before? it matter? Brandon (26:27)Yes, yes, I used to write all the time, know, poetry, things like that. I’ve always been considered, you know, a good writer, a good orator, public speaker, you know, that kind of thing was a big part of my life, for my whole life. And so to go from that to not being able to write a sentence on a piece of paper or even a word is really a big change for me. You know, and I mean I do use my phone for voice to text. If I wouldn’t have had voice to text, I really don’t know where I would be right now. (27:06)Is that how you communicate most things? Brandon (27:09)Yes, absolutely. it’s- if I can’t say it, like speak it, I have to use voice to text. I can’t spell- I can’t- I can’t spell my own name half the time. (27:17)Dude, I love that. Yeah, I hear you. I love voice to text. So I was told by a friend of mine about a product called Whisper Flow. I’m gonna have links in the show notes and in the description on the YouTube video, right? And it’s spelled W-I-S-P-R-F-L-O-W, Whisper Flow. And what you do is you program one key on your keyboard. And then what you do is you press that key and it activates Brandon (27:36)Yes. (27:52)the app and then you speak and it types beautifully. It types at all. And I’m a terrible like typist. I could never be one of those really quick secretary kind of people and take notes because I’m not fast enough, but it can type for me by speaking like beyond 99 words per minute, which I think is crazy fast. Living Independently After Stroke And I do it because it just saves a heck of a lot of time, me looking down at the keyboard and all that kind of stuff. My left hand does work, but I can type with it, but often my left hand, you know, we’ll miss the key and I’ve got to go back and do corrections and all that kind of stuff. So voice to text, this comes such a long way and everyone needs to know, especially if they’ve had a stroke and one of their limbs is affected, especially if it’s their… they’re riding limb or if they have a challenge like you, everyone needs to know about the fact that technology can really solve that problem. I’m pretty sure, I know this sounds like an ad for Whisper Flow, it probably is, but I’m not getting paid for it. I think they cost, it costs about hundred bucks a year to have this ⁓ service. So it’s so affordable and it does everything for you just at the touch of one button on your computer. And for some people you can also use it on your phone. But I think phones are pretty awesome at doing voice to text already. So you don’t really need ⁓ it for the phone, but you definitely need to check it out for the computer. Brandon (29:27)Okay, yeah, well, you know, I pretty much have my phone. I don’t have a computer, so… But, ⁓ it does sound like an amazing product, and I am looking to get myself a computer because I really, ⁓ like, I haven’t touched a keyboard since my stroke. So, it would be nice to get myself a laptop with a keyboard so that I could start working on trying to see how that interface works for me. (29:33)Yeah. Yeah. How was the transition out of hospital and rehab back to your place? and how long after the initial strike did you end up back at home? Brandon (30:04)Okay, so, when I, I left the hospital after, or I’m sorry, after 10 days in intensive care, they put me in the rehab hospital and I was there for four weeks. After that, they still didn’t think that I was ready to live by myself yet. So I had to, ⁓ rent a house in Joshua tree from a friend of mine who lived on the property in another house. And so I had a whole house to myself still which allowed me to keep my independence. But I still had somebody close enough to holler if I needed anything. And so I kind of, you know, baby stepped by renting a house, you know, for a while. And, And I have property in Northern Arizona where I normally would take my off time when I wasn’t traveling. But, ⁓ But, ⁓ because of the stroke, I wasn’t able to go back to that property for quite a while. And only about Christmas of last year did I start to be able to spend some more time on my property, you know. But at this point, I’m still renting the house in Joshua Tree and starting ⁓ to branch out a little bit more, do a little bit more traveling, things like that. Now with that said… I have been ever since the stroke happened about two months after the stroke I went back to my first music festival. So I didn’t have half of my skull. I had to wear a helmet for six months. And so here I am at a music festival with all of my friends and I’m in a helmet with half of my skull missing. But I still was able to be there and then ⁓ you know, be a part of the festival. So I got back to the activity that I enjoyed pretty fast. (32:07)What genre of music? Brandon (32:09)Well, it’s actually the Joshua Tree Music Festival in particular, which is the only music festival that I’m really involved with anymore. ⁓ They do world music. We get artists from all over the world in. And that’s kind of one of the reasons I’ve continued to be a part of this music festival and really haven’t been that big of a part of the other ones is because I’m always learning about new music when I go there. And that’s a big important part of it to me. (32:40)Understood. So your transition back to living alone took a little bit of time. You’re renting a place. Are you alone there? Are you living with anyone else? How is the home set up? Brandon (32:55)I have a home all to myself but there is a shared home on the other or on the property that a friend of mine lives in and he’s actually the one that I’m renting from so yeah (33:09)So you have access to support to help to people around you if necessary. Brandon (33:15)if I need it. also another big part of one of the symptoms of my stroke is that I don’t recognize my own disabilities. I have a lot of trouble with that. So I generally do not ask for help with things, which in a lot of cases has made me a lot stronger and I think been a big part of a speedy recovery. But at the same time, I can put myself in some kind of sketchy situations at times. (33:43)It’s not, are you sure it’s not just your male ego going, I can do this, I don’t need help. Brandon (33:49)I mean, I’m sure that that does tie into it, I’m certain. But yeah, that’s one of the things that I’ve struggled with from the beginning. And I didn’t recognize the left side of my body as my own. I thought it was somebody else’s. That wasn’t very long, just for maybe the first couple of weeks. But that was a very interesting sensation, that I felt like there was somebody else there. (34:06)Wow. Yeah, it just feels like it’s my, I kind of describe my left side as if it’s because my star sign is Gemini, right? So now I describe it as being the other twin, like the other part of me, which is me, but not me. And it’s so strange to experience 50 % of my body feeling one way and then 50 % of my body feeling a completely different way, which is Brandon (34:25)Yeah. Facing New Challenges: Aneurysms and Uncertainty (34:44)the only way I remember and then tying them together, like bringing them together has been a bit of a wild ride, like just getting them to operate together. When they have different needs, my left side has different needs than my right side. And sometimes one side is getting all the love and the other side is missing out. And I’m always conflicted between where do I allocate resources? Who gets… how much of my time and effort and who I listen to when one of them’s going, my left side’s going, I’m tired, I’m tired. My right side’s going, the party’s just started. Let’s keep going. Don’t worry about it. Brandon (35:25)I have to deal with that. Of course, my left gets a lot tighter than my right side, but I don’t know. think I’ve done a pretty good job of giving it that care. And a big part of where I measured my success was getting my shoulder back online and being able to pronate and go above my head. It took months to get my hand over my head. But But at this point, you know, I’m pretty much back to physically normal except for the fine motor skills on my right, on my left side. You know. (35:59)Sounds like things are going really well in really small increments. And if you’re only, what, two years post stroke, sounds like recovery is gonna continue. You’re gonna get smaller, more and more small wins and they’re gonna kinda accumulate and make it pretty significant in some time ahead. Brandon (36:17)Right. It’s a year and a half. So my stroke was on the 4th of November of 2024. (36:32)Yeah. Do you know in this whole time, did you ever have the… like, this is too hard, I don’t want to do this. Why is this happening to me kind of moment? Did you ever have any of that type of negative self talk or thoughts? Brandon (36:50)no, I mean, I suppose there probably were moments, but I don’t pay a lot of attention to those kinds of moments. You know what I mean? I do kind of even without the stroke, maintain a pretty positive mental attitude, you know, and I think that that’s been one of my biggest blessings through this. ⁓ yeah. So yeah, that’s never really been a good emotion. (37:12)I get a sense that you have those moments, but you don’t spend a lot of time there. Is that right? Is that what you just sort of alluded to that you have those moments, you just don’t give them a lot of time. Therefore they don’t really have the opportunity ⁓ to sort of take up residence. And then you just move on to whatever it is that you’re getting results with or makes you feel better or… ⁓ supports your project which is ⁓ recovery or overcoming or… Brandon (37:48)Yes. No, I completely agree. ⁓ You know, I mean, speaking of which, four days ago, I got ⁓ a phone call from the doctors. ⁓ They found an aneurysm in my brain. So I have to go and meet with a neurosurgeon on Tuesday to discuss what we’re going to do about a brain aneurysm. So I thought, you know, I was just about back to normal. And here I go into another situation. But again, until I know what’s going on, there’s no point in worrying about it, you know? So I’ll know more about it on Tuesday, but until then, I’m not spending a whole lot of time wondering, you know, am I just going to have an aneurysm and collapse tonight? You know? (38:36)that tends to be my default as well. I was really good as a kid. ⁓ When I was being cheeky and not doing my homework for school, I would go to bed and I would remember, I haven’t done my homework. And then I’d be like, yeah, but you can’t solve that problem now. Now you got to sleep, right? So you got to worry about that in the morning after you’ve had a good night’s sleep and you wake up and then deal with it. And that was a strategy to help me forget about that. minor problem, which back then, if you haven’t done your homework as a teenager, that was a big problem. If your teachers found out, if your parents found out, but the idea was that, don’t I just pause all of the overthinking? Why don’t I just pause all of the rumination and all the problems and all that stuff that it could cause for now. And I’ll worry about it when there’s a opportunity to have the resources to do something about it. And the classic example was in the morning, I would have an hour before school where I could reach out to one of my friends, take their homework, copy their homework, and then hand in my homework. Brandon (39:46)Absolutely. Yep, that was very much like me in school. (39:51)Yeah, not much point worrying about things you can’t change or control in the moment. Just pause it, deal with it later. I had a similar situation with my bleed in my brain, because I had a number of different bleeds and it was kind of in the back of my mind a little bit. What if it happens again? But it actually never stopped me from going about life from bleed one through to bleed two. was only six weeks, but like through blade two to blade three, it was about a year and a half. But I got so much done. I was, we were just going about life. was struggling with memory and all different types of deficits because of the blood clot that was in my head. But I never once kind of thought about what if something goes wrong, unless I was traveling. to another country, because we did go to the United States when I was about almost a year after the first and second bleed, we went to the United States. And then I did worry about it from a practical sense. It’s like, if I have a bleed in Australia, I’m near my hospital and then they can take over from where they left off previously and healthcare is paid for here. So there was no issue. But if I’m overseas and something goes wrong, I’m far away from home, we got to have the expensive insurance policy. Cause if something goes, I want to be totally covered when I’m in the United States, we don’t know the system. don’t know all these things. So that was a practical worry that I had, but I didn’t worry about my health and wellbeing. Do you know? I worried about the practicality of having another blade in the airplane because then I’m in the middle of the ocean. over halfway between Australia and the United States. And that’s eight hours one way or another or something. And I thought about that, but I didn’t think about how I would be personally ⁓ negatively impacted by the medical issue. I just thought about the, do we get help as quickly as possible if something were to happen? So I know a lot of people have a stroke and they, Brandon (41:55)Right. Support Systems: Finding Community After Stroke (42:18)⁓ They overthink about what if it happens again and they’re constantly kind of got that on their mind, but I was dealing with just the moments that made me feel like perhaps I should do something about this headache that I’m getting. I dealt with things as they appeared, as they turned up, I didn’t try to plan ahead and solve every problem before it happened. Brandon (42:24)Yeah. Yes, I agree. I’m very much the same way. You see, before my stroke, I didn’t have medical insurance. I hadn’t seen a doctor since my early 20s. just, I was, I was, I had always been extremely healthy. You know, I’ve always been very physically active, you know, and, so it just, I never really, I never really ⁓ went out and looked for medical. I just didn’t need it, you know? And so, When the stroke happened, I was very lucky to get put on California’s healthcare plan. And they’ve taken care of all of my medical bills. ⁓ You know, I’ve never pulled a single dollar out of my pocket for all the rehab, all the doctors since. And I mean, I have doctors still once every week, two weeks at the most, doctor visits, you know? And so I’m extremely fortunate. that it happened to me where I was, you know, because not all states here are like that, but California is extremely good. So, you know, I’m really grateful that it worked out the way it has because it could have been a whole different situation, man. (44:00)I have heard some horror stories about medical insurance for people who are not covered, have a stroke and then they leave hospital with like a $150,000 bill or something. Is that a thing? Brandon (44:13)Yes, it really is. I mean, I was extremely fortunate. By the time I got out of that first 10 days with the helicopter ride and everything else, I was close to $2 million in bills. (44:25)Dude, that’s mental. Brandon (44:26)Yeah. And, ⁓ yeah, I mean, it just doesn’t really, I mean, you know, I mean, I’m not a big fan of, the way that the medical system works money wise. think it’s all just paper or fake money, just fake numbers, you know, but yeah, I don’t know. I just, ⁓ I was extremely fortunate that it all happened the way that it did and that California is so good and they really do take care of their citizens, you know, so. (44:54)Yeah, I love that. Brandon (44:55)Yeah, very fortunate. (44:57)You know, in your recovery, did you have somebody that you kind of leaned on for support that was a confident, ⁓ that was like a mentor or did you have somebody like that in your life that was really helpful in your recovery? Brandon (45:15)Actually in about the year before my stroke I lost the three gentlemen that I had always considered my mentors, older guys that I’ve known for years. They all three passed away the year before my stroke. So I really kind of felt on my own. You know, I have a lot of friends, you know, but ⁓ but after my stroke I really don’t have the brain space for like Facebook or anything like that. So I really, closed down my very active Facebook account and when I did that, I lost so many people that would have been my support because I just, they weren’t there, you know, in real life. They’re only there on the computer, you know? And so, but luckily, you know, I’m a part of the community in Joshua Tree. So I had a lot of support from people there and… ⁓ Then I have probably four or five other friends that are scattered around the United States that I keep in touch with pretty closely. But I went down from talking to hundreds of people a month and all of that on the internet to really a very small closed social circle, you know? And then in addition to that, surprisingly, people that I’ve known for years just are not very good at accepting the differences in who I am as a person since the stroke, you know? And so, you know, I hate to say it, but a lot of friendships have kind of gotten a lot more distant since the stroke. you know, it’s just, I mean, it is what it is. You know, people have to do what they feel is right for themselves, you know? But yeah, I really… ⁓ Identity Shift: Life Changes Post-Stroke (47:06)Yeah. Brandon (47:07)I don’t have a very large support network. You know, I just basically kind of take care of a lot of it myself. You know, I mean, I did two and a half months of outpatient rehab with a occupational therapist. And what’s the other one? Occupational and physical therapy. (47:33)Mm-hmm. Brandon (47:33)So I did occupational and physical therapy for about two and a half months after I got out of the hospital. And that was all really good and helpful. And ⁓ I’m really grateful for those therapists that worked with me. And they helped me get ⁓ basically back to a normal cadence because I was having trouble putting one foot in front of the other. And they really helped me work on my cadence and getting my walk back to fairly normal. ⁓ My arm. has been mostly me. It has never been able to be rushed. It takes its own time. So even with the physical therapy, my hand coming back, it works at its own pace. That was never really influenced that much by physical therapy. And then my actual use of my hand, I was balled up. I was curled up and balled up to the wrist. after the stroke and eventually I got to where I could hold it out flat and I still tremor a lot there but it’s a lot better than it was and but yeah all of that had to come back at its own pace the physical therapy and stuff was helpful for a lot of other aspects of my recovery but that was all just taking its own time and coming back as I guess as it did my brain learn to re-communicate (48:58)Yeah, it sounds, it sounds like you’re kind of really well made up somehow, like you picked up the skills early on in your life to be able to deal with this situation. The way that you do is just amazing. Like it’s seems like it’s second nature, the way that you go about approaching the problems, the challenges, the difficulties, know, the missing half your skull, all that thing. It just seems really innate that you have that within you. you, people are listening and going, you know, that’s not me or I didn’t experience that or I’m overthinking things. Do you think that’s the way that you’re approaching things is teachable, learnable? Can people change the way that they’re going about ⁓ relating to their stroke or dealing with their stroke or managing it. Brandon (49:53)⁓ you know, I think that that you’re going to find that a lot of people, can be taught and a lot of people, can’t be taught. You know, some people’s nature just is not going to be able to handle that. But other people, you know, I think that you can go through very real processes to gain, ⁓ knowledge base, you know, to be able to start working with it. You see another big aspect of my recovery. is that I immediately after my stroke and getting out of the hospital moved eight hours away from UC Davis Hospital where my original care providers were. So I had to go through a whole new medical plan, a whole new set of doctors and everything else. And that changed on me like three times over the first six months. So I really couldn’t rely on the doctors for support either. because they were changing so often I would just meet one and the next thing I would know I would have a new doctor coming in or a new healthcare plan and so it took about six months for me to start seeing the same healthcare providers routinely so I went to YouTube University man I found you I found several other people that had these just these huge amounts of information you know, on how to handle my own recovery. So I took a lot of my own recovery into my own hands. And actually, ⁓ a week ago, I was talking to my neurologist, who is a really amazing lady, and, you know, and had to tell her pretty much that same story that, you know, I couldn’t leave it up to the doctors to fix me. I had to take care of myself. because of my situation and switching insurance and everything else that I went through, there was just not that much option. ⁓ so, you know, and she was like, I wish that all of my patients had that kind of an outlook. You cannot rely on the medical system to fix you. You know, we were talking about what can help people. I think that’s a really big thing that could help a lot of people is to realize that you have to take care of your health care decisions. You know, they found a PFO in my heart, a ⁓ Framon Parabot. (52:24)A patent for Ramen Ovali. Hole in your heart. Brandon (52:28)Yes, yeah, they found that and they wanted to fix it and I was like, you know, I’m 47 years old. This is a one-time thing. So I opted to have a loop recorder installed, a loop recorder to measure my heart rhythm and everything and send messages to the doctors at nights about my heart. So that because I thought that was a little bit less invasive. For my age, the last thing I want is for later in life, my body to start having problems with an implant that’s in my heart. So I decided not to go with that and to go with the less invasive loop recorder, which is still implanted under the skin in my chest, but it doesn’t affect my heart. (53:08)Thank you. Brandon (53:21)It just sends the information about my heart rhythm to the doctors so that they can keep track. (53:26)and it can be easily accessed and removed. Brandon (53:30)Exactly, exactly. So, you know, I mean, if I have another stroke or if I find through the little device that I’m having trouble with that PFO, you know, then I’ll get the PFO closure done. But until then, I didn’t want to just jump straight to that, you know, three months out of my out of my stroke. You know, I want to make sure that that’s the problem. because they did pull a 3mm blood clot out of my brain. So there’s a good chance that that went through the PFO and into my brain. But I was also way outside of my normal activity range trying to rock climb the day before. So there’s just, there are too many variables about the experience for me to just want to go and have something installed in my heart permanently, you know? (54:28)I hear you. What about the aneurysm? Where is that? What’s the long-term kind of approach to that? Brandon (54:35)Don’t know yet. I do not know anything about it. I’ll find out more information on Tuesday They said it’s not it’s not in the same part of my brain that my stroke was So that’s a good thing and there’s a good chance that it may have been there for a long time before the stroke So we just don’t know I don’t know anything about it So that I’m gonna go and meet with this neurosurgeon and decide what we’re gonna do about it (54:42)that’s right. Brandon (55:03)I think the most likely option, as long as it’s not big, is that they just wait and they monitor it. But there’s also a process where they coil it. They put a coil of platinum into it and pack it off so that it can’t become a problem later. And then the third scenario is that they take another piece of my skull off and go in and actually put a clip on it. to stop the blood from going into it. So I may actually have to have my skull open back up again. But, again, there’s no point in thinking about it now. I’ll think about it after Tuesday when I figure out where this thing is, what size it is, and all the details of it, you know? (55:46)Yeah. I love it. I love it. I love that man. That’s a great way to approach it. Also, ⁓ I love your comment about YouTube University. I love the fact that people find my podcast sometimes when they’re in hospital because clearly they realize I need to ⁓ learn more about this, understand it and ⁓ straight away they’ve got answers because of YouTube. it’s such a great service. It’s free. If you don’t want to pay for a paid service and all you got to do is put up with ads that you can skip through most of the time. So I think that’s brilliant. ⁓ What about your identity, man? People have a lot of kind of ⁓ examples of how they have a shift in their identity, how they perceive themselves, how they fit into the world. Did you feel like you have a shift in your identity or the way that you fit into the world? What’s that like for you? Brandon (56:46)Well, I mean, I definitely do feel like there was a big shift. Now at the core, I feel like the same person. know, mentally, I still feel like I know who I am, but it definitely has shifted my priorities in life a lot. ⁓ I did not raise my daughter and I developed a much closer relationship to her since the stroke. and we’ve been spending more time together and just really working on our relationship together. She’s 28 years old. So, you know, that has really been an amazing aspect of my stroke recovery is that I’m closer with my daughter than I ever was. But yeah, I mean, you know, I do things a lot differently. I was a heavy smoker, a heavy drinker, and a heavy marijuana user. I don’t smoke marijuana, don’t smoke cigarettes, and I don’t drink alcohol anymore. So huge change in my lifestyle as well. ⁓ But you know, I just I’m not as much of a hurry as I used to. I was always accused of my mind working on too many levels at one time, you know, and had too much on my plate, too much going on in my brain all the time. Now. My brain doesn’t keep up as well. So I struggle to stay on one subject, much less juggle multiple things in my brain. So it’s really kind of slowed down my whole mental process. But I think that again, that’s in a good way. I think that ⁓ I needed to slow down a little bit in a lot of ways. Lessons Learned: Insights from the Journey (58:31)I hear you. With the alcohol, marijuana and the smoking. So you might’ve been doing that for decades, I imagine, smoking, drinking. Brandon (58:43)Yes. (58:44)how do you experience your body differently now that it doesn’t have those substances in it anymore? Like, cause that’s a mass, that’s probably one of the biggest shifts your consumption of, we’ll call them, I don’t know, like harmful ⁓ things, you know, like how, so how do you relate to yourself differently now that those things are not necessary? Brandon (59:12)You know, I never really had like an addictive aspect. So I really don’t, I don’t feel like, ⁓ I mean, I don’t feel like it’s changed me a whole lot. I just had to take the daily habits out. But after spending a month in the hospital, all of the physical wants, all of the physical aspects of it were already taken care of, you know? So I just had to kind of maintain and not go back to old habits. So really, I mean, I don’t feel like it was that big of a difference. But now physically, I’ve always been an extremely skinny person. You know, I’m six foot one and I’ve always weighed 135 to 145. Now I weigh 165. So I did put on some weight after stopping all that. But other than that, really don’t notice a lot of ⁓ physical differences. Now, I have not coughed since my stroke. I used to wake myself up at night coughing, but for some reason, like literally when I had the stroke, I have not coughed since. Now I clear my throat a lot more and I have a lot of, we’re trying to figure out why, but I have a lot of problems with my sinuses. and stuff like that all on the side that I my injury was on this side but on the side the mental side like where it’s all mental stuff that changed the you know all of that I have problems with my sinuses and drainage and things like that so right now I’m seeing an ear nose and throat specialist and we just did a cat scan of my sinuses so I’ll see on the 13th of this next month I’ll get more information on about what’s going on there. ⁓ really, if that’s all I have to deal with is a one-sided sinus infection, I’m okay with that, you know? (1:01:23)Brandon, you’re all over it, man. I love your approach. It’s ⁓ refreshing to hear somebody who’s just so all over getting to the bottom of things rather than kind of just letting them kind of fester, which kind of leads me to my next question is you seem to have gained a lot of learning and growth from all of this. So what… ⁓ What are some of the insights that you gained from this experience that you didn’t expect? Brandon (1:01:54)⁓ No, I’m really not sure, man. I’m really not sure. I mean, again, I feel like pretty much going back to the same person. I mean, I have, I think, a little bit more respect for the human lifespan. You know, I was one of those people that always felt like, since I’ve never died, I can’t tell you that I’m going to die. Even though everybody else on the planet has to die, I never necessarily felt like that. I definitely feel mortal now, you know? I used to tell everybody that I still felt 25, but as soon as I had my stroke, felt 48. I felt every bit of my age. So it kind of cured me of that. You know, I pay a lot more attention to like, you know, things like, setting up my daughter for the future, you know, and like, Purchasing property for her and things like that to make sure that she’s gonna be taken care of when I’m not here anymore Things that I never paid attention to beforehand, you know, I always just lived in the moment Really didn’t care about the rest But now I’m more prone to put the work into my vehicle before it breaks down Instead of just waiting for it to be on the side of the road to fix it You know, I just I I think that I handle my life responsibilities more like a grown up than I used to, you know, but ⁓ but really, I don’t know, I’d say overall though, it’s still really difficult question to answer, man. I don’t I don’t feel like I live a lot differently. I feel like I’m still the same person, you know. (1:03:35)You nailed it, man. You answered it beautifully, especially the part about mortality. That’s a hap that happened to me. I realized at 37 that, ⁓ I actually might not be around in 12 months, six months, three months. So who knows like tomorrow. And that made me pay attention to my relationships and make sure that they were mostly mended healed. Reach. I reached out to people who I needed to reach out to. cut off people who I didn’t need to continue connecting with. Brandon (1:03:51)Right? (1:04:05)You know, like I realized that this, I’ve got to attend, attend to certain things that I hadn’t been attending to because if, ⁓ if the shit hit the fan, if things go really ugly, then I wouldn’t be able to attend to those things. And I, now that I had the ability to do it, was my responsibility to do that. Brandon (1:04:28)Absolutely, absolutely. I completely agree. I did the same thing. I cleared out a lot of the people that really weren’t being, you know, or that weren’t adding benefit to my life and causing problems in my life. I cleared all of that out. I started to focus more on the core group of people that were a big part of my life and, you know, my recovery and just, you know, who I am as a person. And just, you know, it really made me take a better look at the life that I had created for myself and and ⁓ and Just take care of the things that I should be taking care of and don’t pay as much attention to the things that weren’t serving me (1:05:12)Yeah, it’s a great way to continue moving forward. Your daughter, does she live nearby or does she live in another state? Brandon (1:05:21)She lives in another state. She lives in Alabama right now, but we’re starting to consider her coming out here to Arizona. Her and her boyfriend have lived there for several years, but the only reason she was living there is because her grandparents lived there on her maternal side, and she was very close to them for her whole life. But they passed, both of them, over the last several years. And, you know, she enjoys her work. She enjoys her friend group. But she also feels like she might need to go and explore a little bit more and move out of her comfort zone. So she might be a little bit closer sooner. Her and her boyfriend might actually move out here. we’ll just, know, only time will tell, but it’s just, it’s a fun thought, you know? (1:06:08)Yeah, I hear you. So we’ve shared a whole bunch of amazing things on this episode right now. The last question I want to ask you is there are people watching and listening that had either been listening for a little bit of time. They’ve just started their stroke recovery or they’r

From a vengeful saint's ghost striking down a Viking conqueror to an occult-obsessed music producer who foresaw death at a séance and then walked straight into his own dark prophecy, February 3rd is one of history's most unsettling dates. | IT HAPPENED ON THIS DATE, FEBRUARY 03 | The Morning Weird Darkness #MWDWeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.NOTE: Some of this content may have been created with assistance from AI tools, but it has been reviewed, edited, narrated, produced, and approved by Darren Marlar, creator and host of Weird Darkness — who, despite popular conspiracy theories, is NOT an AI voice.EPISODE PAGE: https://WeirdDarkness.com/MWD20260203#WeirdDarkness, #MorningWD, #DarrenMarlar, #MarlarInTheMorning, #MWD, #ThisDayInHistory, #TrueCrime, #GhostStories, #Paranormal, #DarkHistory, #CreepyHistory, #BuddyHolly, #DayTheMusicDied, #HistoricalMysteries, #Occult, #Seance, #TrueCrimePodcast, #ParanormalPodcast, #HistoryPodcast, #CreepyPodcast

Some dates in history collect oddities the way a junk drawer collects batteries and old keys — you open it up and wonder how all of this ended up in the same place. FEBRUARY 2ND is one of those. We've got soldiers looking up at an impossible sky, archaeologists crawling into a forgotten tomb full of mummies, a castaway whose stubbornness saved his life, a secret society that terrorized an island for decades, and a beloved rodent whose job performance would get anyone else fired. As usual, this is going to be a WEIRD and DARK morning.WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.NOTE: Some of this content may have been created with assistance from AI tools, but it has been reviewed, edited, narrated, produced, and approved by Darren Marlar, creator and host of Weird Darkness — who, despite popular conspiracy theories, is NOT an AI voice.EPISODE PAGE: https://WeirdDarkness.com/MWD20260202#WeirdDarkness #MorningWD #DarrenMarlar #MarlarInTheMorning #MWD #ThisDayInHistory #February2 #GroundhogDay #PunxsutawneyPhil #DarkHistory #TrueHistory #WarsOfTheRoses #RobinsonCrusoe #EgyptianMummies #BorisKarloff #ChiloeWarlocks #Invunche #GhostShip #Paranormal #HistoryPodcast

An unsinkable ship disappears into the Arctic void, a serial killer blames his neighbor's possessed Labrador, laughter becomes a contagion, and England decides that being dead isn't a good enough excuse to avoid punishment. IT HAPPENED ON THIS DATE, JANUARY 30TH | The Morning Weird DarknessWeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.NOTE: Some of this content may have been created with assistance from AI tools, but it has been reviewed, edited, narrated, produced, and approved by Darren Marlar, creator and host of Weird Darkness — who, despite popular conspiracy theories, is NOT an AI voice.EPISODE PAGE: https://WeirdDarkness.com/MWD20260130#WeirdDarkness, #MorningWD, #DarrenMarlar, #MarlarInTheMorning, #MWD, #ThisDayInHistory, #TrueCrime, #Paranormal, #SonOfSam, #BeatlesRooftopConcert, #UnsolvedMysteries, #GhostShip, #BermudaTriangle, #UFOSightings, #HistoryFacts, #CreepyHistory, #TrueStories, #DarkHistory, #MorningPodcast, #WeirdHistory

RETRACTION/ERROR: I am wrong about the fireball sighting taking place last night/this morning... it actually took place January 24, but somehow I missed that and thought it only just happened. Sorry about that!On this day, a pope proved that "What Would Jesus Do?" apparently includes physical assault, Edgar Allan Poe earned nine dollars for immortality, and Karl Benz invented both the automobile and the fender-bender. The Morning Weird DarknessWeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.NOTE: Some of this content may have been created with assistance from AI tools, but it has been reviewed, edited, narrated, produced, and approved by Darren Marlar, creator and host of Weird Darkness — who, despite popular conspiracy theories, is NOT an AI voice.EPISODE PAGE: https://WeirdDarkness.com/MWD20260129#WeirdDarkness, #MorningWD, #DarrenMarlar, #MarlarInTheMorning, #MWD, #ThisDayInHistory, #EdgarAllanPoe, #TheRaven, #UFOSightings, #Paranormal, #TrueStories, #StrangeHistory, #WeirdHistory, #UFO, #CreepyHistory, #DarkHistory, #Podcast, #MorningPodcast, #TrueCrime, #Unexplained

From a royal dance floor that turned into a fire trap to a man fined for driving 8 miles an hour, history really woke up confused on this day. | IT HAPPENED ON THIS DATE, JANUARY 28 | The Morning Weird DarknessWeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.NOTE: Some of this content may have been created with assistance from AI tools, but it has been reviewed, edited, narrated, produced, and approved by Darren Marlar, creator and host of Weird Darkness — who, despite popular conspiracy theories, is NOT an AI voice.EPISODE PAGE: https://WeirdDarkness.com/MWD20260128#WeirdDarkness, #MorningWD, #DarrenMarlar, #MarlarInTheMorning, #MWD, #TrueHorror, #UnsolvedMysteries, #DarkHistory, #ThisDayInHistory, #GhostShip, #WitchTrials, #DyatlovPass, #ParanormalPodcast, #CreepyHistory, #HistoricalMysteries, #StrangeButTrue, #HorrorStories, #MysteryPodcast, #TrueCrime, #Paranormal

When a plumber's death gives us bathroom slang and a pop star's pomade turns him into a human torch, you know it's going to be a weird morning. | IT HAPPENED ON THIS DATE, JANUARY 26 | The Morning Weird DarknessWeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.NOTE: Some of this content may have been created with assistance from AI tools, but it has been reviewed, edited, narrated, produced, and approved by Darren Marlar, creator and host of Weird Darkness — who, despite popular conspiracy theories, is NOT an AI voice.EPISODE PAGE: https://WeirdDarkness.com/MWD20260127#WeirdDarkness #MorningWD #DarrenMarlar #MarlarInTheMorning #MWD #TrueCrime #DraculaKiller #VampireOfSacramento #RichardChase #CharlesStarkweather #MichaelJackson #GuyFawkes #GunpowderPlot #ThisDayInHistory #StrangeHistory #DarkHistory #SerialKiller #HistoricalDisasters #ParanormalPodcast #TrueCrimePodcast

IT HAPPENED ON THIS DATE, JANUARY 26: This morning: television's first star had a wooden face, Cleveland's most famous lawman met his match in a phantom with a scalpel, and Winston Churchill found a very creative loophole during Prohibition. | The Morning Weird DarknessWeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.NOTE: Some of this content may have been created with assistance from AI tools, but it has been reviewed, edited, narrated, produced, and approved by Darren Marlar, creator and host of Weird Darkness — who, despite popular conspiracy theories, is NOT an AI voice.EPISODE PAGE: https://WeirdDarkness.com/MWD20260126#WeirdDarkness #MorningWD #DarrenMarlar #MarlarInTheMorning #MWD #TrueCrime #UnsolvedMysteries #EliotNess #ClevelandTorsoMurderer #MadButcher #WinstonChurchill #Prohibition #HistoryOfTelevision #CullinanDiamond #DukesOfHazzard #ThisDayInHistory #StrangeHistory #TrueCrimePodcast #ParanormalPodcast #DarkHistory

IT HAPPENED ON THIS DATE, January 23 | A nuclear bomb armed itself over North Carolina, something impossible swam at the bottom of the ocean, and French cavalry captured a navy — on horseback. | The Morning Weird DarknessCHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS…00:00:00.000 = The First Sip00:01:15.265 = The Bombs That Almost Ended North Carolina00:08:53.845 = The Country That Was Never Supposed To Exist00:10:31.040 = From Beggar to Emperor00:12:37.366 = The Thing at the Bottom of the World00:19:15.577 = The House That Refused to Burn00:22:05.967 = Today Is…00:23:46.404 = The Cavalry Charge That Captured a Navy00:28:06.274 = The Toy Named After Pie00:30:56.761 = The Medical Degree Received Thanks To A Prank00:32:21.099 = The Final SipWeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.NOTE: Some of this content may have been created with assistance from AI tools, but it has been reviewed, edited, narrated, produced, and approved by Darren Marlar, creator and host of Weird Darkness — who, despite popular conspiracy theories, is NOT an AI voice.EPISODE PAGE: https://WeirdDarkness.com/MWD20260123#WeirdDarkness #MorningWD #DarrenMarlar #MarlarInTheMorning #MWD #GoldsboroNuclearAccident #BrokenArrow #NuclearNearMiss #MarianaTrench #ChallengerDeep #TriesteDive #DeepSeaMystery #FrenchCavalry #DutchFleet #FrisbeeHistory #ElizabethBlackwell #StrangeHistory #DarkHistory #ThisDayInHistory #TrueStories

IT HAPPENED ON THIS DATE, JANUARY 22: A ghost solves her own murder, a 17-ton cheese can't fit through a door, and a man's eyeglasses fog over so fast he walks into a lamppost.EPISODE PAGE: https://WeirdDarkness.com/MWD20260122CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS…00:00:00.000 = Coming Up…00:00:30.003 = The Fastest Temperature Change Ever Recorded00:03:21.616 = Wisconsin Builds a 17-Ton Block of Cheese00:05:42.770 = The Greenbrier Ghost: A Murder Victim Testifies From Beyond The Grave00:12:45.454 = The Press Conference That Ended In Tragedy00:15:32.859 = Queen Victoria's Final Visitor00:16:43.929 = John Donne And The Apparition of His Wife00:18:12.348 = Today Is…00:19:36.912 = A Few Final Funnies00:22:41.380 = That's a WrapNOTE: Some of this content may have been created with assistance from AI tools, but it has been reviewed, edited, narrated, produced, and approved by Darren Marlar, creator and host of Weird Darkness — who, despite popular conspiracy theories, is NOT an AI voice.WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.#WeirdDarkness, #MorningWD, #DarrenMarlar, #MarlarInTheMorning, #MWD, #GreenbrierGhost, #GhostSolvesMurder, #TrueParanormal, #TrueGhostStories, #ParanormalPodcast, #HorrorPodcast, #StrangeHistory, #ThisDayInHistory, #January22, #Haunted, #GhostStory, #UnexplainedMysteries, #CreepyHistory, #TrueCrime, #DarkHistory

Tunnelboring i berg kan være risikofylt. Bergmassene foran borekronen er i stor grad ukjente og kan skjule svakheter som koster tid, penger og i verste fall setter liv i fare. Samtidig samler moderne boremaskiner inn enorme mengder data om berget. Disse dataene, MWD-data «Measure While Drilling», er blitt lagret, men er sjelden blitt brukt aktivt til å ta beslutninger. Hva om vi kunne bruke disse dataene til å forstå hva som venter foran tunnelveggen? Og hva om maskinlæring og kunstig intelligens kan hjelpe oss å gjøre nettopp det? I denne episoden møter vi Tom Frode Hansen, seniorspesialist ved NGI. I sitt doktorgradsarbeid har han utviklet maskinlæringsmodeller som kan «se gjennom berget» – før vi treffer det. Hvordan kan KI gjøre tunnelbygging tryggere, mer presis og mer bærekraftig? Og hvordan endrer det måten vi tar beslutninger under bakken?   Gjest: Tom F. Hansen, seniorspesialist ved Avdeling for ingeniørgeologi og bergteknikk, NGI Programleder: Liv Røhnebæk Bjergene

We all knew Spartacus and his followers would meet a tragic end, but damn if they didn't make it look sexy as hell! Joining us for one final Girls' Night at MWD are the hosts of Ancient History Fangirl podcast, Jenny Williamson and Genn McMenemy. Listen as we laugh and discuss the terrible outfit choices, surfer-boy Julius Caesar's dubious alias , and the apparent apotheosis of Gannicus . While we had our doubts at the beginning of this series, War of the Damned brings the story to a satisfying conclusion and successfully makes us view Rome in a whole new (admittedly dim) light. If you want to learn more about Genn and Jenny's podcast, check out their website: https://www.ancienthistoryfangirl.com/ You can also check out Jenny's personal website https://www.jennywilliamsonauthor.com/ to get details and updates about her upcoming historical romantasy novel, Enemy of My Dreams.

We all knew Spartacus and his followers would meet a tragic end, but damn if they didn't make it look sexy as hell! Joining us for one final Girls' Night at MWD are the hosts of Ancient History Fangirl podcast, Jenny Williamson and Genn McMenemy. Listen as we laugh and discuss the terrible outfit choices, surfer-boy Julius Caesar's dubious alias , and the apparent apotheosis of Gannicus . While we had our doubts at the beginning of this series, War of the Damned brings the story to a satisfying conclusion and successfully makes us view Rome in a whole new (admittedly dim) light.If you want to learn more about Genn and Jenny's podcast, check out their website: https://www.ancienthistoryfangirl.com/You can also check out Jenny's personal website https://www.jennywilliamsonauthor.com/ to get details and updates about her upcoming historical romantasy novel, Enemy of My Dreams. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What happens when a bunch of gladiators break out of a ludus? They loot villas, burn down an arena, and party with some Germans, that's what! And all in the name of lov... I mean "VENGEANCE!" The ladies of MWD are joined by special return guest, Christina Hotalen, to discuss the second season of Starz's Spartacus. This season might be the most fun of them all! Now if certain characters would just stay dead... If you want to check out Christina's work, both academic and otherwise, use this link: https://linktr.ee/infestissima

What happens when a bunch of gladiators break out of a ludus? They loot villas, burn down an arena, and party with some Germans, that's what! And all in the name of lov... I mean "VENGEANCE!" The ladies of MWD are joined by special return guest, Christina Hotalen, to discuss the second season of Starz's Spartacus. This season might be the most fun of them all! Now if certain characters would just stay dead...If you want to check out Christina's work, both academic and otherwise, use this link: https://linktr.ee/infestissima Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There will always be the doubters who say that something is impossible and will never be achieved or realized. To people like Steve and John of Hephae Energy, it is music to their ears, a challenge accepted to go beyond where anyone has before. That is what they are doing for the geothermal industry in developing rotary steerable and MWD tools that can operate precisely downhole at temperatures well above 175 degrees C.  Hephae Energy https://www.hephaeet.com/Steve Krasehttps://www.linkedin.com/in/stevekrase/CORE Knowledgehttps://www.linkedin.com/company/core-geothermal/?viewAsMember=trueNick Cestari https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-cestari-48059268/

After completion of the Disney+ Percy Jackson series, the MWD crew thought it would be a good(?) idea to revisit the original film with new perspectives and participants. Has time improved our overall view of the film? Maybe the better question to ask is which of the hosts end up hating this film the most. Grab your magical pens with the same level of skepticism as Lerman's aged-up Percy as we delve into this quintessentially 2010s young adult film. And be sure to avert your eyes when Medusa shows up! Or when Grover decides to go pantsless.And a special thanks to Hannah Bazinaw for her participation and assistance in covering the Percy Jackson series! You made for an excellent psychopomp:) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After completion of the Disney+ Percy Jackson series, the MWD crew thought it would be a good(?) idea to revisit the original film with new perspectives and participants. Has time improved our overall view of the film? Maybe the better question to ask is which of the hosts end up hating this film the most. Grab your magical pens with the same level of skepticism as Lerman's aged-up Percy as we delve into this quintessentially 2010s young adult film. And be sure to avert your eyes when Medusa shows up! Or when Grover decides to go pantsless. And a special thanks to Hannah Bazinaw for her participation and assistance in covering the Percy Jackson series! You made for an excellent psychopomp:)

Co-founder of Mission K9 Rescue, Bob Bryant returns to discuss the organization's recent success and ongoing mission to return military and contract working dogs from their deployments around the world as the animal's tour of duty ends due to illness, age, or loss of work drive. In many instances MWD are reunited with their longtime human handlers but without any financial support from the US military. The situation with CWD isn't as simple as these animals typically have no dedicated handler, which is why rehabilitation and adoption funding by groups like MK9R is critical for this group of service dogs. With the recent drawn down in Afghanistan, MK9R worked with the Taliban through a third party rescue on the ground to evacuate several of nearly 50 Canadian dogs under US military control that remained after the US departure. The circumstances around the laws and absent funding over the long term transport and post service care of these animals is complex and demands public intervention to ensure these canine service members receive the medical and behavioral care and best possible lives during their years of service and throughout their post service lives. While things have improved somewhat for those dogs classified as MWD, leaving any behind with no care or in the hands of our enemies (historically in Vietnam, MWD were euthanized or set to roam the jungles rather than returned to the US) as is the usual case with CWD is unacceptable. Animal Care Software

Join us again as we get to know more about Dusty Butler, Midwestern District President, and hear about her experiences within the Fraternity.

Celebrating Memorial Day week with Chris Willingham, president of U.S. War Dogs Association. This amazing non-profit sends care packages to currently working military dogs (MWD) but there's a special focus on retired MWD, who ultimately do require veterinary care which they support. Also discussed is a history of MWD, and what the canine soldiers do, and […]

This edition features stories on Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force (CMSAF), James Roy and his wife visiting Ramstein Air Base July 7th to check on family resiliency there, 52nd Fighter Wing leadership meeting with the local communities twice a year for a town hall meeting to help bolster good communications, and a military working dog retiring after six years of service protecting Aviano Airman. Hosted by Senior Airman Brad Sisson.

It takes a special breed of warriors to secure our nation's military bases at home and detect explosives wherever servicemembers are deployed. Airman Andrew Buchanan shares a story of the bond between a military working dog and her handler. Soundbites from Staff Sgt. Julie Gibbs. Produced by Airman 1st Class Andrew Buchanan. Also available in high definition.

The Top Local Stories Of The Day also include: There's a new permanent member of the LA City Council and a man struck and the NAACP is accusing MWD of using customer money to investigate them. 

This week, Chris meets up with high school friend William "Billy" Clark. After Billy graduated high school, he joined the Marine Corps Reserves and walked on to a NCAA Division I football team. After 9-11, Billy decided to go active duty, and crossed over to the US Navy.  Billy became a Master-at-Arms and cross trained as a military working dog (MWD) handler.  As the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan continued, Naval Special Warfare units found value in MWD's.  This led to Billy being assigned to a SEAL team and deploying 11 times, seeking out high value targets in theatre.  A combination of Billy's traumatic childhood and his combat tours led to post-traumatic stress injuries.  Listen in as Billy shares how he copes with stress and his current projects to help military veterans and first responders.Billy's Organizations / Social MediaHunterseven Foundation I Sheepdog Coalition I O2X I LinkedInOrganization SpotlightService Peace WarriorDeliverFundConnect with GravityLinkedIn I Facebook I Instagram I YouTube I Website I MERCHANDISEContact Chris or Jaimie at:  chris@gravityct.comMusic credit:  https://pixabay.com/music/corporate-news-corporate-8307/  

This week Keegan, Cassi and Christina talk about the Selena versus Hailey drama and the upcoming coronation of King Charles. The FMK is Ed Sheeran, Robbie Williams and Adele. Going into the bad dates, Cassi shares a date with a surprise racist, Keegan shares a date that goes downhill fast and Christina shares a date with a magician. Cassi wraps it up in the true crime segment, Tainted Love with the story of Mark & Lori Hacking. For more information go to ForThePeople.com/MWD.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week Keegan, Cassi and Christina discuss 2023 dating trends and play FMK with Woody Harrelson characters from Hunger Games, True Detective and Indecent Proposal. Going into the bad date stories, Christina shares a story of Parisian Ryan Gosling who can't handle rejection, Cassi shares a date with a food influencer and Keegan shares a date with special panties. Christina wraps it up in the true crime segment, Tainted Love, with the story of Judith Mawson. RECOMMENDATIONS: Check out "Will There Be Wine?" by Whitney Cubbison at https://booksirens.com/book/TT1B8US/XONZYE6. It's about an American expat divorcee in Paris, re-entering the dating scene playing by a new set of rules in a different language, culture, and lingerie standards.  Want really, really cool art? We love @city_bones on Instagram or at https://www.etsy.com/shop/citybonescrafts Go to www.amorus.net/mwd and use code MWD for 20% off and kick start some fun and flirty convos with your partner! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week Keegan, Cassi and Christina talk about bad hygiene and Spotify Wrapped. The FMK is Taylor Swift, Cardi B and Wayne Coyne. Going into the bad dates, Cassi shares a date that likes to go outside, Christina shares a date also not housetrained, and Keegan shares a story with an awkward teen. In the true crime segment, Tainted Love, Cassi shares the story of Marguerite Steinheil, "the Red Widow". Got a bad story to share? Go to http://www.myworstdatepodcast.com! Follow us on Insta, TikTok and YouTube @myworstdatepodcast Sign up today at butcherbox.com/MWD and use code MWD to get 10% off your first box and ground beef for the life of your membership. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Novel: Hunted (Kink Camp #1)The Author: A. AndersThe Guests: Cassi, Keegan, & Christina, co-hosts of My Worst DateThe Synopsis: My desires…I'm afraid. I want things – to escape, to run, to be caught, held down and… I've come here to find the thing to quench my most sensual fantasies.When I see him - I know. He's brutal and made of stone. An artist with his hands who keeps everyone at arm's length. He's the one I want – I need.May be my downfall.I'm not a man you play with. I gave up on finding a partner years ago.But now I see her. Innocent. Beautiful. Temptation. I want to possess her as much as I want to protect her from myself.I am the king here, but once she's gone? I'll be a man alone once again.Now that I have her. I have to find a way to keep her – forever. Show Notes:- I might be biased, but Aries is the almighty- Meet my pod-sisters, My Worst Date- Is she your roommate... or are you in a relationship?- Cum in a jar? Hear more in the "Major Cringe" episode of My Worst Date- Revisiting previous MWD and Boobies & Noobies episodes: Poison or Protect by Gail Carriger and Stocking Stuffers by Erin McLellan (00:12:45)- A brief synopsis for today's read: Hunted (00:15:58)- Kinky, but not as kinky as expected?- Realism does NOT mean less sexy- Yes, it's sexy... but it's also sooooo well written!- Who's paying for your loft apartment and therapy sessions?!- A quick word on the POV and consistency (00:38:05)- A small preview of the next book in the series...- But would you do it in the woods? - A few steamy sexcerpts... plus SEVERAL questions! (00:43:55)- Heart, Humor, & Heat Ratings (00:53:16)- Get kinky with me... don't FIX me.Books & Other Media Mention- Poison or Protect by Gail Carriger (aka "button porn")- Stocking Stuffers by Erin McLellan (Hallmark Christmas... but with sex toys)- The Salacious Players Club series by Sara Cate- "New Girl"- The Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by Anne RiceOther News:- The 12 Days of Boobsmas begins December 1st. Get ready to stock those TBR lists with all the holiday romances!- Purchase my DEBUT holiday novella, Meet Me in Los Feliz now!! Links:Follow Boobies & Noobies on Twitter, Instagram, & Facebook @boobiespodcast, on TikTok @b00biespodcast, and check out our blog, merch, and more on our brand new Boobies & Noobies website. 

This week Keegan, Cassi and Christina discuss low energy dates and the collapse of Twitter. The FMK is between Jason Mantzoukas, Jason Sudeikis, and Pete Holmes.  Going into the bad date stories, Cassi shares a date that went to an awkward play, Keegan shares a date coincidence and Christina shares a date with pole dancing consequences. In the true crime segment, Tainted Love, Cassi shares the story of Sheila Graham Trott.  Share your bad date at myworstdatepodast.com! Follow us @myworstdatepodcast on TikTok and Instagram. Athletic Greens is going to give you a FREE 1 year supply of immune-supporting Vitamin D AND 5 FREE travel packs with your first purchase. All you have to do is visit athleticgreens.com/worstdate to take ownership over your health and pick up the ultimate daily nutritional insurance! Sign up today at butcherbox.com/MWD and use code MWD to get Free Ribeyes for a Year plus $10 off. That's butcherbox.com/MWD and use code MWD to get this special Black Friday deal. Give Crescent Canna THC gummies a try or enjoy any of their potent, effective, and legal cannabis products at crescentcanna.com and get 30% OFF with my special discount code: WORSTDATE. You must be 21 or older to purchase or consume THC products. Age verification at checkout. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week Keegan, Cassi and Christina talk about a wild Reddit thread involving a secret jar and pancakes and play FMK with men of fantasy: Matt Smith, Charlie Vickers and Timothee Chalomet. Getting into the bad dates, Christina shares a date with a roommate surprise, Keegan shares a date that has a special request from the hubby and Cassi shares a date with a wolf man. Christina wraps it up in our true crime segment, Tainted Love with the story of Eric Copple. Got a story to share? Go to our website: http://www.myworstdatepodcast.com! Sign up today at butcherbox.com/MWD and use code MWD to get one 10-14 lb Turkey FREE in your first box. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bureau of Reclamation steps in·        Largest cut to Arizona·        Not enough cuts to trim deficits in Mead and PowellCalifornia is the largest user·        Most goes to Imperial Valley Irrigation District·        Some of Metropolitan Water District·        With 19 million customers, MWD will need moreSupport the show

Suresh Radhakrishnan is an HR strategic partner with Metropolitan Water District in Los Angeles. He has been with MWD for nearly 25 years in various capacities in its Organizational and Training departments along with being a senior adjunct faculty member with the University of Laverne in the College of Business. Learn more about how leaders leverage IMS: https://ims-online.com/ Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 01:11 Suresh's career journey 02:57 Key challenges in L&D industry 05:55 Strategies to build a leadership pipeline 12:51 How Metropolitan Water has worked with IMS 16:45 Impact of IMS sessions 19:20 Conclusion

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California was founded in 1928 under an act of the California Legislature to build and operate the Colorado River Aqueduct. Today Metropolitan  delivers water from the Colorado River and Northern California to its 26 member water agencies that serve 19 million people in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura counties. Metropolitan has also taken significant steps over the past three decades to reduce the region's reliance on imported water – investing more than $1.5 billion in conservation and local resources. But climate change and the state's ongoing record drought are reminders that more needs to be done. The individuals heading up three of Metropolitan's big initiatives to further the One Water concept while improving the agency's culture are here with us today to discuss what they see on the horizon. Guests on this episode are: Water Resources Manager Brad Coffey, who is the lead on Metropolitan's Pure Water Initiative; Liz Crosson, who is MWD's Chief Sustainability, Resiliency and Innovation Officer, and Liji Thomas, who is MWD Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer.

Welcome to this episode! Join editor & host, Ryan Smith, as he interviews Lauren Regnell, Midwest District President, about her journey in Kappa Kappa Psi and goals for her District. Transcription coming soon. Questions, Comments, Suggestions: smity@kkpsi.org

In the second part of our mini-series focused on California's water crisis, we spoke with Deven Upadhyay, the Chief Operating Officer and Assistant General Manager at the Metropolitan Water District. Host Marci Stanage talks with Mr. Upadhyay about water reuse, the many benefits of recycled water, and conservation efforts. To learn more about MWD's Pure Water Southern California click here. Note: This episode was recorded on June 15th, 2022. For any questions or inquiries please reach out to podcasts@rebuildsocal.org

Contact:dbahnsen@thebahnsengroup.comwill@calpolicycenter.orgFollow Us:@DavidBahnsen@WillSwaim@TheRadioFreeCAShow Notes:May 8, 1945: Norman Corwin's “On a Note of Triumph”Mike Tyson was reading Thomas Sowell's “Basic Economics”Dave Chappelle: Comedian's attacker had replica gun and knife, police sayHarris warns the ‘rights of all Americans are at risk' if Roe overturnedCalifornia governor labels draft abortion ruling an ‘appalling attack'Newsom, lawmakers want California Constitution to explicitly protect abortion rightsMcCarthy receives standing ovation from House Republicans after addressing leaked audioUnprecedented water restrictions ordered as MWD declares water shortage emergencyPatrols, fines, altered landscapes: How severe SoCal water restrictions will roll outDrought boon or boondoggle? Critics blast Poseidon desalination plan as crucial vote loomsMegadrought threatens California power blackouts this summerCalifornia promised to close its last nuclear plant. Now Newsom is reconsidering

As CivitasLA marks “Earth Day” 2022, we note the extraordinary importance of water to the very formation and growth of our region and the impact its scarcity will have on future growth. Join us in conversation with Adel Hagekhalil, General Manager of The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) as he discusses their history, central role in shaping the communities of Southern California and how our communities will be impacted as the state navigates an historic drought and climate change. Created by state law in 1928, MWD has imported water from the Colorado River since 1941 and from Northern California since the early 1970s and is responsible for providing water directly or indirectly to 19 million residents. MWD has been a major supporter of Southern California water conservation and water recycling programs, along with other local water management activities. To learn more, please visit: www.mwdh2o.com. And to learn more about CivitasLA, we invite you to visit www.CivitasLA.com. And we hope you'll rate and review our show; and connect with us on Facebook (@CivitasLA), Instagram (@Civitas_LA) and Twitter (@Civitas_LA).

Your Working Dog Radio hosts, Eric @vanessk9 & Ted @ted_summers, sit down with former adjunct professor, former ATF K9 Trainer & Instructor, former DHS Field Canine Coordinator, the CEO of Project K9 Hero, the CEO of Paradigm Defense Concepts, the CEO of K-9 Solutions International, published author, and Johnny A. Masengale Memorial Award recipient; Jason Johnson @projectk9hero ⁣ It's fair to say, Johnson's resume speaks for itself; as a nationally recognized subject matter expert in scent detection and K9 procurement, the man is a bit of a legend in the Explosives field. (Be sure to check out the projects he's currently working on at the end of the post!) Johnson started as a police K9 handler and trainer, a member of SWAT, a Defensive Tactics Instructor, a Field Training Officer and the Officer in Charge of the Honor Guard. Johnson honorably served in the US Army as a Military Police Officer, and served as an Explosive Detection K9 Handler, Trainer, Kennel Master and Protective Security Specialist for the U.S. Department of State in support of the Worldwide Personal Protection Services contract with U.S. Diplomatic Security throughout Iraq and Afghanistan. Johnson was then a K9 Trainer/Instructor and Course Developer for ATF. He planned, developed and was the Lead Instructor for Explosive Detection Courses to a variety of domestic and International Federal Agents, LE and US Military. He trained, instructed and certified students in multiple federal agencies such as ATF, US Marshals, FBI, CIA, National Geospatial Intelligence, DHS/Federal Emergency Management Agency and many others working specifically in explosives detection. He worked with the MWD program, training over 1,000 MWDs. He was also involved in developing and instructing the agency's first off leash detection program, SEEK (Search Enhanced Evidence K-9), and the agency's first SRT dual purpose patrol/explosives detection canine. He instructed explosive detection canine courses for the US Department of State's Anti-Terrorism Assistance Program. Johnson then served as a Field Canine Coordinator for DHS, and is actively working with Congress to see that his vision of the K9 Hero Act, HR #5081, gets passed as a law to bring a positive change to the K9 Community for generations to follow. Be sure to check out his current projects: