Podcasts about Norse

ASSIMILATION AND THE SALME SHIP MYSTERY Colleague Eleanor Barraclough. Barraclough highlights how the Norse assimilated into Eastern cultures, adopting Slavic names and gods within generations. The focus then turns to a major mystery: the Salme ship burials in Estonia, discovered in 2013. These burials, dated to around 750 AD, predate the Lindisfarne raid and contain warriors buried with high honors, including gaming pieces and falcons, despite having died violently. Barraclough suggests this might have been a diplomatic mission gone wrong. A key artifact mentioned is a King piece from the board game hnefatafl found in a leader's mouth, adding to the mystery of who buried them. NUMBER 3

ELIQUARIES, MARRIAGE, AND AMULETS Colleague Eleanor Barraclough. Barraclough explains how religious reliquaries looted from monasteries were often repurposed as jewelry for women in Norway. She discusses the theory that female infanticide may have caused a shortage of women, motivating young men to raid for wealth to secure marriage. The conversation then examines a human skull fragment from Ribe, Denmark, carved with runes. Barraclough interprets this object as a protective amulet against dwarves or elves, which the Norse believed caused sickness, illustrating their concept of an unseen world influencing physical reality. NUMBER 4

MYTHOLOGY AND THE MURDER OF SNORRI Colleague Eleanor Barraclough. Barraclough discusses the difficulty of accessing Norse beliefs, as most sources, like Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, were written post-conversion. She outlines dramatic myths, including the creation of the world from the giant Ymir and its destruction at Ragnarok, featuring a ship made from the fingernails of the dead. The segment covers Snorri's life as a politician in 13th-century Iceland during a bloody civil war. Barraclough recounts his assassination in his own basement on the orders of the Norwegian king, noting his final words were "don't strike." NUMBER 5

THE LONELY END OF NORSE GREENLAND Colleague Eleanor Barraclough. The final segment explores the disappearance of the Norse settlement in Greenland, focusing on the Herjolfsnes graveyard. Preserved clothing from the 15th century reveals garments that were patched repeatedly, symbolizing the colony's isolation and poverty. Barracloughdescribes a poignant detail: a woman's dress that ripped as she was buried, marking the end of the settlement. Factors discussed include a cooling climate and interactions with the Inuit, evidenced by carved wooden figures. The history closes with a report of a witch burning in 1407, near the colony's end. NUMBER 8

 VIKING AS ACTIVITY: THE NORSE EXPANSION WESTWARD Colleague Martyn Whittock. Whittock defines "Viking" as an activity of enterprise and raiding, not just an ethnicity. He explains that disruptions in the Islamic silver trade and population growth drove Norse expansion westward. This movement eventually reached the British Isles, Iceland, and Greenland, setting the stage for voyages to North America. NUMBER 1

LEIF ERIKSON AND THE DISCOVERY OF VINLAND Colleague Martyn Whittock. Whittock details how Norseexplorers like Leif Erikson moved west from Greenland, discovering Helluland, Markland, and Vinland around 1000 AD. Citing sagas, he argues that while physical evidence stops at Newfoundland, descriptions of wild grapes suggest they reached further south, potentially to New Brunswick or Maine. NUMBER 2

Clive Anderson is joined in Glasgow by broadcaster and author Sally Magnusson, whose latest novel breathes new life into stories told to her as a child by her Icelandic father. She brings together modern day Orkney and the Norse myth of Hel in The Shapeshifter's Daughter.In 2017 Ray Bradshaw became the first comedian to perform simultaneously in English and in sign language. In his upcoming tour CODA, he returns to tales of his parents and the experience of growing up as A Child of Deaf Adults. Grado has many a feather in his cap - wrestler, Two Doors Down star, presenter - and he is currently brightening up panto season in Jock and the Beanstalk (oh no he isn't!).Plus music from Nathan Evans x SAINT PHNX, and Mairi Campbell.Presenter: Clive Anderson Producer: Caitlin Sneddon

Gwyn and Ode (+ Jax!) talk about effigies. Special Guest: Jax.

Today's sermon, by Rev. David Norse, was offered on Sunday, December 28, 2025. The scripture passages this morning were Hebrews 2:10-18 and Matthew 1:18-25. To listen to the full Lord's Day service, search for "Swarthmore Presbyterian Church."

Join Odin's quietest son on a sleepy winter journey through frozen forests and mountain villages. This reimagined Norse myth explores stillness, presence, and what it means to be enough. Your support is the cornerstone that allows me to continue crafting tranquil stories and meditations for you. For less than the price of a cup of coffee, you'll unlock an oasis of over 500 ad-free Listen To Sleep episodes, including 8 subscriber-only full length sleepy audiobook classics like Winnie the Pooh and Alice in Wonderland. To pledge your support, visit⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://listentosleep.com/support⁠⁠ or subscribe right in Apple Podcasts and get a 7 day free trial. Want to change your story? Take the free Path Assessment at https://jointhecabin.org. In two minutes, you'll see your personalized journey and know exactly where to start. To join my email group and get a bunch of goodies, go to ⁠⁠https://erikireland.com Sleep well, friends.

Fluent Fiction - Norwegian: Nordic Thrills: Mystery and Magic at the Ice Hotel Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/no/episode/2025-12-26-08-38-20-no Story Transcript:No: Nordlyset danset over himmelen, kastet et magisk skjær over Ice Hotel i Norge.En: The nordlyset danced across the sky, casting a magical glow over the Ice Hotel in Norge.No: Hotellet var et mesterverk av is og snø, perfekt til vinterens festligheter.En: The hotel was a masterpiece of ice and snow, perfect for winter festivities.No: Denne julen var spesiell, med gjester fra hele verden.En: This Christmas was special, with guests from all over the world.No: Men et mystisk tyveri truet med å kaste skygger over den glitrende glede.En: But a mysterious theft threatened to cast shadows over the sparkling joy.No: Åsmund, en lidenskapelig amatørdetektiv, kom til Ice Hotel i håp om å nyte et uforglemmelig vintereventyr.En: Åsmund, a passionate amateur detective, arrived at the Ice Hotel hoping to enjoy an unforgettable winter adventure.No: Men istedenfor snøskulpturer og varm gløgg, fant han seg plutselig midt i et mysterium.En: But instead of snow sculptures and warm mulled wine, he suddenly found himself in the middle of a mystery.No: Kjersti, hotellets stressede sjef, henvendte seg til ham en kald desembermorgen.En: Kjersti, the hotel's stressed manager, approached him on a cold December morning.No: "Åsmund, et uvurderlig artefakt er forsvunnet fra utstillingen!En: "Åsmund, an invaluable artifact has disappeared from the exhibition!"No: " sa hun, stemmen full av fortvilelse.En: she said, her voice full of despair.No: En gammel vikingøks, en del av hotellets historiske samling, var borte.En: An old Viking axe, part of the hotel's historical collection, was gone.No: "Vi må finne øksen," fortsatte Kjersti.En: "We have to find the axe," Kjersti continued.No: "Skandalen kunne ødelegge hotellets rykte.En: "The scandal could ruin the hotel's reputation."No: "Åsmund elsker en utfordring.En: Åsmund loves a challenge.No: Med et glimt i øyet, svarte han: "La meg hjelpe.En: With a twinkle in his eye, he replied, "Let me help."No: "De startet etterforskningen med å avhøre gjester og ansatte.En: They began the investigation by questioning guests and staff.No: En av gjestene, Leif, en historieprofessor med brennende interesse for norrøne gjenstander, vakte Åsmunds nysgjerrighet.En: One of the guests, Leif, a history professor with a burning interest in Norse artifacts, piqued Åsmund's curiosity.No: "Leif, hva vet du om øksen?En: "Leif, what do you know about the axe?"No: " spurte Åsmund under et intervju i hotellets varme peisestue.En: Åsmund asked during an interview in the hotel's warm fireplace lounge.No: "Oh, den øksen er fascinerende," svarte Leif, øynene glitrende av entusiasme.En: "Oh, the axe is fascinating," Leif replied, his eyes gleaming with enthusiasm.No: "Jeg skulle gjerne studert den nærmere.En: "I would love to study it more closely."No: "Mistanken vokste hos Åsmund.En: Suspicion grew in Åsmund.No: Kunne Leif ha tatt artefaktet?En: Could Leif have taken the artifact?No: Hvorfor?En: Why?No: For å studere det eller av andre grunner?En: To study it or for other reasons?No: Åsmund samlet de involverte i hotellets hovedsal, dekorert med krystaller av is som reflekterte lyset i alle regnbuens farger.En: Åsmund gathered everyone involved in the hotel's main hall, decorated with ice crystals that reflected light in all the colors of the rainbow.No: Det var et dramatisk øyeblikk da han førte sine funn.En: It was a dramatic moment as he presented his findings.No: "Jeg tror jeg vet hvor øksen er," begynte Åsmund, og en nervøs stillhet fulgte.En: "I think I know where the axe is," Åsmund began, and a nervous silence followed.No: "Den er gjemt i en isblokk, en del av en ny is skulptur.En: "It's hidden in an ice block, part of a new ice sculpture."No: "En av iskulpturene, en majestetisk drage med oppsiktsvekkende detaljer, hadde aldri blitt ferdig.En: One of the ice sculptures, a majestic dragon with striking details, had never been finished.No: Ved nærmere ettersyn avslørte den vridde isen en vakker gammel øks fanget i hjertet.En: Upon closer inspection, the twisted ice revealed a beautiful old axe trapped in its heart.No: Leif så skyldig ut, men det var ingen ondskap i hans handling.En: Leif looked guilty, but there was no malice in his actions.No: Han hadde lånt øksen, ikke for å holde, men for å avdekke mer av dens historie – uheldigvis raskt skjult i is før den kunne bli tilbakelevert.En: He had borrowed the axe, not to keep, but to uncover more of its history—unfortunately quickly hidden in ice before it could be returned.No: Kjersti pustet lettet ut da øksen kom til rette.En: Kjersti breathed a sigh of relief when the axe was found.No: "Du gjorde det, Åsmund!En: "You did it, Åsmund!"No: " utbrøt hun.En: she exclaimed.No: Reputasjonen til hotellet var trygg.En: The hotel's reputation was safe.No: Leif fikk en reprimande, men også en takksigelse for ny innsikt om øksen.En: Leif received a reprimand but also a thank you for new insights about the axe.No: Historien var ikke bare en om et mistet artefakt, men om samarbeidet og de sammenbundne lidenskapene.En: The story was not only about a lost artifact but about cooperation and shared passions.No: Med saken løst, skjønte Åsmund at han ikke bare hadde funnet en stjålet øks, men også sin egen tillit og nye venner.En: With the case solved, Åsmund realized that he had not only found a stolen axe but also his own confidence and new friends.No: Under det dansende nordlyset var han ikke lengre en enkel turist, men en pålitelig detektiv, klar for sitt neste eventyr.En: Under the dancing nordlyset, he was no longer just a simple tourist, but a reliable detective ready for his next adventure. Vocabulary Words:danced: dansetcasting: kastetglow: skjærmasterpiece: mesterverkcrafted: skaptfestivities: festlighetertheft: tyverimysterious: mystiskshadows: skyggerpassionate: lidenskapeligamateur: amatørunforgettable: uforglemmeligartifacts: gjenstandersuspicion: mistankenquestioning: avhøreexhibition: utstillingcuriosity: nysgjerrighetinterview: intervjugleaming: glitrendeenthusiasm: entusiasmerevealed: avslørtestriking: oppsiktsvekkendeinspection: ettersyntwisted: vriddeguilty: skyldigmalice: ondskapreprimand: reprimandeinvestigation: etterforskningenshared: sammenbundneconfidence: tillit

Welcome to the 2025 Christmas clip show! We have a number of great moments from throughout the year, including mailbag questions, funny Patreon bonus clips, and the best moments of annoying Arif. We could not produce this show without your support, so thank you once again for listening! Also, I may have to change the naming convention for next year, as we're almost at the character limit. You live by the bit — you die by the bit. You can become a sustaining member of the show and access exclusive content at http://www.patreon.com/norsecode Arif - @Arifhasannfl James - @bigmono Please send any questions or feedback to norsecodepodcast@gmail.com or tweet to @norsecodeDN. If you like our show please donate to http://www.paypal.me/norsecode We have merch! You can visit our shop at: https://norsecode.threadless.com/collections/norse-code/ Also a special thank you to DrawPlayDave for our new logo and merchandise design! You can follow him on bluesky @thedrawplay.com‬ and visit his main comic page here: www.thedrawplay.com

Jessikah chats with Rachel Van Dyken about FALLEN GODS, a new adult fantasy romance about sleeping Norse gods awakening in modern bodies filled with forbidden romance, witty banter, and high stakes.

In this episode I discuss working with Norse gods in ritual and daily life.

In this episode of Spirit Talk, we take a step back, (way back), to explore where our modern Christmas traditions really come from. After a brief personal catch-up, I felt called to pause the heavier storytelling and instead lean into the season itself. What is it about this time of year that feels so powerful, so emotional, and so universal? Together, we explore the ancient roots of Christmas traditions that long predate Christianity, including:

Imagine Scotland locked in winter's grip: snow whispering across cobbled streets, hearth fires glowing against the dark, families drawn close for warmth. While much of the world fixes its gaze on Christmas Day, Scotland's true winter soul once beat loudest on another night entirely — Hogmanay, New Year's Eve. Ancient, fierce, and alive with ritual, Hogmanay was not simply a celebration. It was survival, identity, and hope rolled into one blazing night. No one knows exactly where the word Hogmanay comes from — perhaps Old French, perhaps Norse, echoes of Yule carried on northern winds. Its origins hardly mattered. The Scots claimed it and it has flourished ever since. In 1560, the Scottish Reformation reshaped the nation. The newly formed Presbyterian Kirk condemned Christmas as a "Popish" feast, and by 1640 Parliament had banned it outright. December 25th became an ordinary working day. For generations, there were no Christmas trees, no carols, no gifts — only cold labour and dark skies. But celebration did not disappear. It moved - to the New Year. Hogmanay became Scotland's great release — a night of fire, song, and superstition when the year itself could be cleansed and reborn. Homes were "redded": floors swept, ashes cleared, debts settled. Only a clean house could welcome a clean future. As midnight approached, the world seemed to hold its breath. Then came first-footing. The first person to cross a threshold after midnight would shape a household's fortune for the year ahead. It had to be a tall, dark-haired visitor — a lingering memory of blond hair Viking terror — carrying gifts heavy with meaning: coal for warmth, bread or black bun for food, salt for flavour, a coin for prosperity, and whisky for cheer. Doors opened. Glasses filled. Neighbours moved from house to house, laughter growing louder as night blurred into morning. Across the Highlands and islands, fire took centre stage. Ancient pagan echoes flared to life as flaming rituals lit the darkness, burning away evil and calling back the sun. Nowhere is this more vivid than Stonehaven, where huge blazing fireballs are swung through the streets by locals - a spectacle of raw power and communal joy that has endured for centuries. Today, Hogmanay has burst onto the world stage. Edinburgh ignites with torchlight processions, roaring street parties, and fireworks crowning the castle sky. Visitors from every corner of the globe feel it — the pulse of something older than the city itself. And yet, beneath the spectacle, the heart remains unchanged. At midnight, hands link. Voices rise. Auld Lang Syne carries across streets, hills, and glens, a song of memory, friendship, and shared humanity. The old year is released. The new one welcomed with thunderous cheers. In Scotland, Hogmanay is more than celebration. It is defiance — a promise that even in the deepest winter, fire will burn, songs will be sung, whisky will warm the blood, and hope will return. It is the past roaring into the present, daring the darkness to linger. So if you ever stand on Scottish soil as the year turns, wrap up against the cold, learn the words of Auld Lang Syn, raise a glass — and step into a night where history, community, and joy collide in one unforgettable moment.

The Arctic is often associated with snow, ice, and tales of Santa Claus and his elves. But what if stories of Arctic elves aren't just Christmas folklore? From ancient Norse sagas to modern-day encounters, the Arctic has a surprising history of little people—beings described as small, elusive, and mysterious. In our Elf Sightings in the Arctic Christmas special, we explore historical accounts, scientific discoveries, and eyewitness testimonies that blur the line between legend and reality.Our journey begins with the Viking sagas of the 13th century, recounting events from around the year 1000. According to these sagas, Leif Erikson and his crew, after being blown off course, landed in Vinland—believed by some to be present-day Baffin Island. The Norse explorers documented encounters with people they called Skraelings, describing them as short, with tangled hair and broad faces. While historians have long assumed these were the ancestors of the Inuit, a 2008 study suggested the term Skraeling might be derived from an old Norse word for pygmy. If true, the Vikings may have believed they'd found the legendary dwarves described in ancient Greek myths—an association made even more compelling by a 1569 map labeling the North Pole as the home of pygmies, just four feet tall.The Arctic mystery deepens with the 1631 expedition of Captain Luke Foxe. While navigating the Northwest Passage, Foxe and his crew came ashore on Southampton Island. There, they discovered a strange above-ground cemetery filled with tiny coffins. The bodies inside were adult-sized but no more than four feet long, with miniature bows, arrows, and bone lances placed alongside them. Foxe, unnerved by the discovery, wrote in his journal, "God send me better adventures than these." To this day, the identity of those tiny people remains unknown.Fast forward to 1911, when Russian explorer Captain Yvolnoff led a scientific expedition into the Arctic. According to a newspaper article published in 1930, the team discovered small human footprints in the snow. Following the tracks, they found a burrow from which a tiny man emerged. He stood roughly three and a half feet tall, with an angular head and large ears. Soon, two dozen others followed, all dressed in fine animal-skin clothing. The group communicated in an unfamiliar language and lived by catching fish with their bare hands—eating only the backs and discarding the rest.Inuit oral tradition has long spoken of these tiny beings. The Inuit call them Inuaguliks or Inuarutligak—legendary dwarves who live in underground burrows, wear two sets of clothes for different tasks, and have the ability to shapeshift into animals like seals or hares. Inuit elders say these little people are playful tricksters, known to tease hunters and travel incredible distances in impossibly short amounts of time.Perhaps the most recent encounter occurred in 2017, when Anthony Roche visited his girlfriend's family cabin near Cambridge Bay, Nunavut. While napping, Roche and his girlfriend woke to the sound of footsteps on the deck. The door opened, and standing in the doorway was a tiny human figure, no taller than three feet, dressed in a ragged orange coat and caribou-skin pants. The being quickly vanished, leaving the couple bewildered. When they shared the story with their family, they were told they'd been visited by an Inuagulik.So, are these Arctic elves simply the product of myths passed down through generations? Or are these sightings evidence of something more extraordinary? From ancient Viking records to modern-day encounters, the mystery of Arctic elves endures.Join us for our festive Christmas special as we unwrap the mystery of Elf Sightings in the Arctic in our latest episode of Unsolved Canadian Mysteries, available now on Spotify and YouTube.

For this year's Christmas episode, I welcome back jolly ol' saint Garret Grev to discuss the crossover story full of the holiday spirit, in "Batman/Santa Claus - Silent Knight". Hear us talk: -Norse mythology -This version of Santa -How Batman welcomes other members of the DC Universe Plus, I sprinkle in Christmas questions throughout. Rate and Review the Show: Apple | Spotify | iHeartradio | Amazon Follow The Batman Book Club on X: @thebatmanbc. Follow The Batman Book Club on Instagram: @thebatmanbc. Follow Garret on X: @GarretWATO. Subscribe to The Batman Book Club YouTube Channel. Support the Show Through Patreon: patreon.com/thebatmanbc. Support the Show with Merchandise from TeePublic. Transition Music: "The Season's Upon Us", by Dropkick Murphys. Outro Music: "Overdrive", by Matrika. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Up where the northern lights dance like living flames, antlered shadows rise into the starlit sky…Join Gary and GoldieAnn on a breathtaking journey into the frozen heart of Sápmi, where ancient Sámi legends whisper of the luminous Gaivaldu—a sacred white reindeer that soars through the aurora, pulling the reborn sun and guiding lost souls through endless polar night.We'll follow Old Nils through a blinding blizzard as a glowing spirit doe appears to lead him home, explore how these ethereal guardians of the solstice merged with Norse myths of Odin's eight-legged sky-steed Sleipnir, and trace the magical thread all the way to Clement Clarke Moore's 1823 poem that gave us Dasher, Dancer… and, later, a certain red-nosed misfit who lights the way.From sacred rituals under shimmering guovssahasat to the jingling team we know today, discover the true paranormal origins of Santa's flying reindeer.Buckle up as this trip Within the Mist is a special solstice edition equal parts survival, wonder, and pure holiday enchantment.Available now wherever you listen to Within the Mists. Don't miss it… you might just hear hooves on your rooftop this Christmas Eve.Facebook Fan Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/544933724571696Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/withinthemistpodcast/Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@withinthemistpodcast1977 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Here's an episode of the And My Trowel Podcast on the APN.PROMO: In this episode, Tilly and Ash have been tasked with covering holiday leave for the Norns, the weavers of fate, life and destiny from Norse mythology. However, there's a problem they don't have the first clue about weaving! Luckily the know someone who does, prehistoric archaeologist and textile specialist, Ronja Lau! With Ronja's help, will the trio be able to weave the fates of Gods and humans? And will they ever find out how Game of Thrones ended?Books mentioned:A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. MartinInkheart - Cornelia FunkeThe Book of Life (All Souls Trilogy) - Deborah HarknessThe Magic in the Weaving - Tamora PierceDaughter of the Forest - Juliet MarillierThe Weaver and the Witch Queen - Genevieve GornichecLinksAnd My Trowel Podcasthttps://www.instagram.com/ronja_lau/Hallstatt Salt MinesContact Info:Email: andmytrowel@gmail.comInstagram: @and .my.trowelArchPodNetAPN Website: https://www.archpodnet.comAPN Discord: https://discord.com/invite/CWBhb2T2edAPN on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/archpodnetAPN on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/archpodnetAPN on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/archpodnetAPN ShopAffiliatesMotion Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Up where the northern lights dance like living flames, antlered shadows rise into the starlit sky…Join Gary and GoldieAnn on a breathtaking journey into the frozen heart of Sápmi, where ancient Sámi legends whisper of the luminous Gaivaldu—a sacred white reindeer that soars through the aurora, pulling the reborn sun and guiding lost souls through endless polar night.We'll follow Old Nils through a blinding blizzard as a glowing spirit doe appears to lead him home, explore how these ethereal guardians of the solstice merged with Norse myths of Odin's eight-legged sky-steed Sleipnir, and trace the magical thread all the way to Clement Clarke Moore's 1823 poem that gave us Dasher, Dancer… and, later, a certain red-nosed misfit who lights the way.From sacred rituals under shimmering guovssahasat to the jingling team we know today, discover the true paranormal origins of Santa's flying reindeer.Buckle up as this trip Within the Mist is a special solstice edition equal parts survival, wonder, and pure holiday enchantment.Available now wherever you listen to Within the Mists. Don't miss it… you might just hear hooves on your rooftop this Christmas Eve.Facebook Fan Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/544933724571696Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/withinthemistpodcast/Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@withinthemistpodcast1977 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Drift into the world of Ragnarök and Norse mythology. Journey beneath the branches of Yggdrasil - The World Tree, follow the paths of Odin, Thor, Loki and other gods; encounter mythical creatures like Fenrir, Jörmungandr and Surtr and experience the calm unfolding of fate, the long winter, the final battle between gods and giants, the end of the world and the quiet aftermath of epic events and new beginning. Let this sleep story lull you into restful sleep. 

Dive deep into the fascinating true history of Christmas in this engaging podcast. Uncover how ancient pagan festivals like Saturnalia and Yule influenced today's celebrations, explore the Christian adoption of December 25th, and trace the evolution of beloved traditions such as Christmas trees, Santa Claus, gift-giving, and more. Separating myth from fact, we reveal the surprising origins behind the holiday we know today.▶️ *[WORK WITH ME]* https://RobbJarrett.net▶️ *FREE* Personal Brand Starter Kit :: https://www.medialabb.net/brandkit*[SUBSCRIPTIONS I RECOMMEND]*ABOBE CREATIVE SOFTWARE - VIDIQ (AI Creation and SEO) - https://vidiq.com/robbjarrett Motion Array (Assets) - Envato (Assets) - OPENART (AI Creation Tools)BEACONS: https://beacons.ai/signup?c=robbjarrett*[PRODUCTS I RECOMMEND]*SM7B Microphone - https://amzn.to/47AuKREMV7+ Microphone - https://amzn.to/3V7LRmABLUE YETI Microphone - https://amzn.to/3V7LRmAOBSBOT Webcam - https://amzn.to/4mcWhMFDJI Action Cam - https://amzn.to/3V44gk7DJI OSMO Gimbal - https://amzn.to/3V44gk7NEEWER Lights - https://amzn.to/4pfvMJe

Richard Allen's appeal just dropped — and it's not a narrow legal technicality. It's 113 pages alleging the entire Delphi case was built on lies, omissions, and constitutional violations. The defense claims Detective Liggett's warrant affidavit changed witness descriptions to fit Allen. Betsy Blair described Bridge Guy as young, early twenties, with poofy brown hair — and rated her sketch 10 out of 10 for accuracy. Allen was 44 with short hair. The jury never saw that sketch. Sarah Carbaugh originally said the man wore a tan jacket and was muddy. Liggett wrote "blue jacket" and "muddy and bloody." Blair told investigators directly that she and Carbaugh saw different people. The ISP agreed publicly in 2019. Then Allen got arrested and the story changed. The confessions came after thirteen months of maximum-security solitary confinement — in violation of IDOC's own 30-day policy for mentally ill inmates. Allen lost 45 pounds, ate feces, drank toilet water, banged his head until he had black eyes, and was declared "gravely disabled." He confessed while psychotic — and got basic facts wrong. Said he shot the girls. They weren't shot. Said a van scared him off at a time that doesn't match when the van actually arrived. The state had security footage and FBI data proving their own witness's timeline was false. The jury never heard about the ritual killing investigation that law enforcement pursued for years. Never heard expert testimony on the Norse pagan symbolism at the scene. Never heard about Brad Holder and Patrick Westfall — suspects connected to Odinism whose interviews were lost or destroyed, whose alibis were never properly verified, and whose social media showed disturbing parallels to the crime scene. This episode breaks down every major claim in the appeal and what it means for this case. #DelphiMurders #RichardAllen #AbbyAndLibby #DelphiAppeal #TrueCrime #RichardAllenAppeal #DelphiCase #BridgeGuy #Delphi #JusticeForAbbyAndLibby Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

Richard Allen's appeal just dropped — and it's not a narrow legal technicality. It's 113 pages alleging the entire Delphi case was built on lies, omissions, and constitutional violations. The defense claims Detective Liggett's warrant affidavit changed witness descriptions to fit Allen. Betsy Blair described Bridge Guy as young, early twenties, with poofy brown hair — and rated her sketch 10 out of 10 for accuracy. Allen was 44 with short hair. The jury never saw that sketch. Sarah Carbaugh originally said the man wore a tan jacket and was muddy. Liggett wrote "blue jacket" and "muddy and bloody." Blair told investigators directly that she and Carbaugh saw different people. The ISP agreed publicly in 2019. Then Allen got arrested and the story changed. The confessions came after thirteen months of maximum-security solitary confinement — in violation of IDOC's own 30-day policy for mentally ill inmates. Allen lost 45 pounds, ate feces, drank toilet water, banged his head until he had black eyes, and was declared "gravely disabled." He confessed while psychotic — and got basic facts wrong. Said he shot the girls. They weren't shot. Said a van scared him off at a time that doesn't match when the van actually arrived. The state had security footage and FBI data proving their own witness's timeline was false. The jury never heard about the ritual killing investigation that law enforcement pursued for years. Never heard expert testimony on the Norse pagan symbolism at the scene. Never heard about Brad Holder and Patrick Westfall — suspects connected to Odinism whose interviews were lost or destroyed, whose alibis were never properly verified, and whose social media showed disturbing parallels to the crime scene. This episode breaks down every major claim in the appeal and what it means for this case. #DelphiMurders #RichardAllen #AbbyAndLibby #DelphiAppeal #TrueCrime #RichardAllenAppeal #DelphiCase #BridgeGuy #Delphi #JusticeForAbbyAndLibby Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

Richard Allen's appeal just dropped — and it's not a narrow legal technicality. It's 113 pages alleging the entire Delphi case was built on lies, omissions, and constitutional violations. The defense claims Detective Liggett's warrant affidavit changed witness descriptions to fit Allen. Betsy Blair described Bridge Guy as young, early twenties, with poofy brown hair — and rated her sketch 10 out of 10 for accuracy. Allen was 44 with short hair. The jury never saw that sketch. Sarah Carbaugh originally said the man wore a tan jacket and was muddy. Liggett wrote "blue jacket" and "muddy and bloody." Blair told investigators directly that she and Carbaugh saw different people. The ISP agreed publicly in 2019. Then Allen got arrested and the story changed. The confessions came after thirteen months of maximum-security solitary confinement — in violation of IDOC's own 30-day policy for mentally ill inmates. Allen lost 45 pounds, ate feces, drank toilet water, banged his head until he had black eyes, and was declared "gravely disabled." He confessed while psychotic — and got basic facts wrong. Said he shot the girls. They weren't shot. Said a van scared him off at a time that doesn't match when the van actually arrived. The state had security footage and FBI data proving their own witness's timeline was false. The jury never heard about the ritual killing investigation that law enforcement pursued for years. Never heard expert testimony on the Norse pagan symbolism at the scene. Never heard about Brad Holder and Patrick Westfall — suspects connected to Odinism whose interviews were lost or destroyed, whose alibis were never properly verified, and whose social media showed disturbing parallels to the crime scene. This episode breaks down every major claim in the appeal and what it means for this case. #DelphiMurders #RichardAllen #AbbyAndLibby #DelphiAppeal #TrueCrime #RichardAllenAppeal #DelphiCase #BridgeGuy #Delphi #JusticeForAbbyAndLibby Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

Rick Broering of Musketeer Report and NKU radio broadcasts joined us to discuss the Musketeers and the Norse. This was before both teams lost on Wednesday so the tone was more positive on Wednesday afternoon than it might have been had the conversation taken place late on Wednesday night. But listen anyway. Podcasts of The Mo Egger Radio Show are a service of Longnecks Sports Grill.Listen to the show live weekday afternoons 3:00 - 6:00 on ESPN1530. Listen Live: ESPN1530.com/listenGet more: https://linktr.ee/MoEggerFollow on X: @MoEggerInstagram too: @MoEggerSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, we explore the ancient roots of the Winter Solstice, Yule, and Christmas, tracing how humans across time have honored the longest night of the year and the return of the light.We look at Yule traditions in Norse and Germanic cultures, including the symbolism of the Yule log, evergreens, fire, and winter mythologies like the Wild Hunt. We also explore how early Christianity layered the celebration of Christ's birth onto existing Solstice festivals, weaving older solar traditions into new spiritual stories.This episode reflects on darkness as a sacred teacher, winter as a threshold, and the universal human instinct to mark time with ritual, story, and hope. Whether you celebrate Yule, Christmas, the Solstice, or simply the turning of the season, this is an invitation to slow down and honor the quiet miracle of return.

In this seasonal episode, hosts Allison and Mandy explore the deeper meaning of the Winter Solstice, Yule, and the ancient roots beneath modern Christmas. Together, they reflect on this sacred turning point in the Wheel of the Year—a time long honoured as the return of the light after the darkest night.They begin with the Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year, symbolizing stillness, death and rebirth, and the quiet trust that light always returns—even when growth isn't yet visible.The conversation then moves into Yule, an ancient Pagan celebration rooted in Norse, Germanic, and Celtic traditions. Through symbols like evergreens, fire, the hearth, sacred animals, and communal feasting, Yule represents humanity's ritual response to the turning of the sun.Allison and Mandy also explore how Christmas came to sit at this time of year, explaining how early Christianity layered itself over existing Solstice festivals—preserving many pre-Christian symbols that still live on today.The episode gently reframes our relationship with darkness, reminding listeners that it was once seen as fertile, womb-like, and sacred—not something to fear.Listeners are offered simple, modern ways to honour the season, including candle rituals, ancestral remembrance, time in nature, storytelling, and allowing rest and stillness.The episode closes with a powerful reminder: you don't have to choose between traditions. Solstice, Yule, and Christmas can coexist—and the season belongs to everyone.“The light was never lost. It was only waiting to be remembered.”⸻Contact & OfferingsFor intuitive readings, mentorship, and spiritual support with Allison at The Luminant Soul, reach out at:

Rick Broering of Musketeer Report and NKU radio broadcasts joined us to discuss the Musketeers and the Norse. This was before both teams lost on Wednesday so the tone was more positive on Wednesday afternoon than it might have been had the conversation taken place late on Wednesday night. But listen anyway. Podcasts of The Mo Egger Radio Show are a service of Longnecks Sports Grill.Listen to the show live weekday afternoons 3:00 - 6:00 on ESPN1530. Listen Live: ESPN1530.com/listenGet more: https://linktr.ee/MoEggerFollow on X: @MoEggerInstagram too: @MoEggerSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gwyn and Ode talk the Victorian era and Victorian Christmas traditions.

JCO PO author Dr. Shilpa Gupta at Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital shares insights into her article, "Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor 3 (FGFR3) Alteration Status and Outcomes on Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors (ICPI) in Patients with Metastatic Urothelial Carcinoma". Host Dr. Rafeh Naqash and Dr. Gupta discuss how FGFR3 combined with TMB emerged as a biomarker that may be predictive for response to ICPI in mUC. TRANSCRIPT Dr. Rafeh Naqash: Hello and welcome to JCO Precision Oncology Conversations, where we bring you engaging conversations with authors of clinically relevant and highly significant JCO PO articles. I'm your host, Dr. Rafeh Naqash, podcast editor for JCO Precision Oncology and Associate Professor at the OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center. Today I am excited to be joined by Dr. Shilpa Gupta, Director of Genitourinary Medical Oncology at the Cancer Institute and co-leader of the GU Oncology Program at the Cleveland Clinic, and also lead author of the JCO PO article titled "Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor 3 Alteration Status and Outcomes on Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors in Patients With Metastatic Urothelial Carcinoma." At the time of this recording, our guest's disclosures will be linked in the transcript. Shilpa, welcome again to the podcast. Thank you for joining us today. Dr. Shilpa Gupta: Thank you, Rafeh. Honor to be here with you again. Dr. Rafeh Naqash: It is nice to connect with you again after two years, approximately. I think we were in our infancy of our JCO PO podcast when we had you first time, and it has been an interesting journey since then. Dr. Shilpa Gupta: Absolutely. Dr. Rafeh Naqash: Well, excited to talk to you about this article that you published. Wanted to first understand what is the genomic landscape of urothelial cancer in general, and why should we be interested in FGFR3 alterations specifically? Dr. Shilpa Gupta: Bladder cancer or urothelial cancer is a very heterogeneous cancer. And while we find there is a lot of mutations can be there, you know, like BRCA1, 2, in HER2, in FGFR, we never really understood what is driving the cancer. Like a lot of old studies with targeted therapies did not really work. For example, we think VEGF can be upregulated, but VEGF inhibitors have not really shown definite promise so far. Now, FGFR3 receptor is the only therapeutic target so far that has an FDA approved therapy for treating metastatic urothelial cancer patients, and erdafitinib was approved in 2019 for patients whose tumors overexpressed FGFR3 mutations, alterations, or fusions. And in the landscape of bladder cancer, it is important because in patients with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer, about 70 to 80% patients can have this FGFR3. But as patients become metastatic, the alterations are seen in, you know, only about 10% of patients. So the clinical trials that got the erdafitinib approved actually used archival tumor from local cancer. So when in the real world, we don't see a lot of patients if we are trying to do metastatic lesion biopsies. And why it is important to know this is because that is the only targeted therapy available for our patients right now. Dr. Rafeh Naqash: Thank you for giving us that overview. Now, on the clinical side, there is obviously some interesting data for FGFR3 on the mutation side and the fusion side. In your clinical practice, do you tend to approach these patients differently when you have a mutation versus when you have a fusion? Dr. Shilpa Gupta: We can use the treatment regardless of that. Dr. Rafeh Naqash: I recently remember I had a patient with lung cancer, squamous lung cancer, who also had a synchronous bladder mass. And the first thought from multiple colleagues was that this is metastatic lung. And interestingly, the liquid biopsy ended up showing an FGFR3-TACC fusion, which we generally don't see in squamous lung cancers. And then eventually, I was able to convince our GU colleagues, urologists, to get a biopsy. They did a transurethral resection of this tumor, ended up being primary urothelial and synchronous lung, which again, going back to the FGFR3 story, I saw in your paper there is a mention of FGFR3-TACC fusions. Anything interesting that you find with these fusions as far as biology or tumor behavior is concerned? Dr. Shilpa Gupta: We found in our paper of all the patients that were sequenced that 20% had the pathognomonic FGFR3 alteration, and the most common were the S249C, and the FGFR3-TACC3 fusion was in 45 patients. And basically I will say that we didn't want to generate too much as to fusion or the differences in that. The key aspect of this paper was that historically there were these anecdotal reports saying that patients who have FGFR alterations or mutations, they may not respond well to checkpoint inhibitors because they have the luminal subtype. And these were backed by some preclinical data and small anecdotal reports. But since then, we have seen that, and that's why a lot of people would say that if somebody's tumor has FGFR3, don't give them immunotherapy, give them erdafitinib first, right? So then we had this Phase 3 trial called the THOR trial, which actually showed that giving erdafitinib before pembrolizumab was not better. That debunked that myth, and we are actually reiterating that because in our work we found that patients who had FGFR3 alterations or fusions, and if they also have TMB-high, they actually respond very well to single agent immunotherapy. And that is, I think, very important because it tells us that we are not really seeing that so-called potential of resistance to immunotherapy in these patients. So to answer your question, yeah, we did see those differences, but I wouldn't say that any one marker is more prominent. Dr. Rafeh Naqash: The analogy is kind of similar to what we see in lung cancer with these mutations called STK11/KEAP1, which are also present in some other tumors. And one of the questions that I don't think has been answered is when you have in lung cancer, if you extrapolate this, where doublet or single agent immunotherapy doesn't do as well in tumors that are STK11 mutated. But then if you have a high TMB, question is does that TMB supersede or trump the actual mutation? Could that be one reason why you see the TMB-high but FGFR3 altered tumors in your dataset responding or having better outcomes to immunotherapy where potentially there is just more neoantigens and that results in a more durable or perhaps better response to checkpoint therapy? Dr. Shilpa Gupta: It could be. But you know, the patients who have FGFR alterations are not that many, right? So we have already seen that just patients with TMB-high respond very well to immunotherapy. Our last podcast was actually on that, regardless of PD-L1 that was a better predictor of response to immunotherapy. So I think it's not clear if this is adding more chances of response or not, because either way they would respond. But what we didn't see, which was good, that if they had FGFR3, it's not really downplaying the fact that they have TMB-high and that patients are not responding to immunotherapy. So we saw that regardless, and that was very reassuring. Dr. Rafeh Naqash: So if tomorrow in your clinic you had an individual with an FGFR3 alteration but TMB-high, I guess one could be comfortable just going ahead with immunotherapy, which is what the THOR trial as you mentioned. Dr. Shilpa Gupta: Yes, absolutely. And you know, when you look at the toxicity profiles of pembrolizumab and erdafitinib, really patients really struggle with using the FGFR3 inhibitors. And of course, if they have to use it, we have to, and we reserve it for patients. But it's not an easy drug to tolerate. Currently the landscape is such that, you know, frontline therapy has now evolved with an ADC and immunotherapy combinations. So really if patients progress and have FGFR3 alterations, we are using erdafitinib. But let's say if there were a situation where a patient has had chemotherapy, no immunotherapy, and they have FGFR3 upregulation and TMB-high, yes, I would be comfortable with using only pembrolizumab. And that really ties well together what we saw in the THOR trial as well. Dr. Rafeh Naqash: Going to the clinical applications, you mentioned a little bit of this in the manuscript, is combination therapies. You alluded to it a second back. Everything tends to get combined with checkpoint therapy these days, as you've seen with the frontline urothelial, pembrolizumab with an ADC. What is the landscape like as far as some of these FGFR alterations are concerned? Is it reasonable to combine some of those drugs with immune checkpoint therapy? And what are some of the toxicity patterns that you've potentially seen in your experience? Dr. Shilpa Gupta: So there was indeed a trial called the NORSE trial. It was a randomized trial but not a comparative cohort, where they looked at FGFR altered patients. And when they combined erdafitinib plus cetrelimab, that did numerically the response rates were much higher than those who got just erdafitinib. So yeah, the combination is definitely doable. There is no overlapping toxicities. But unfortunately that combination has not really moved forward to a Phase 3 trial because it's so challenging to enroll patients with such kind of rare mutations on large trials, especially to do registration trials. And since then the frontline therapy has evolved to enfortumab vedotin and pembrolizumab. I know there is an early phase trial looking at a next generation FGFR inhibitor. There is a triplet combination looking in Phase 1 setting with a next generation FGFR inhibitor with EV-pembro. However, it's not a randomized trial. So you know, I worry about such kinds of combinations where we don't have a path for registration. And in the four patients that have been treated, four or five patients in the early phase as a part of basket trial, the toxicities were a lot, you know, when you combine the EV-pembro and an FGFR3 inhibitor, we see more and more toxicity. So the big question is do we really need the "kitchen sink" approach when we have a very good doublet, or unless the bar is so high with the doublet, like what are we trying to add at the expense of patient toxicity and quality of life is the big question in my mind. Dr. Rafeh Naqash: Going back to your manuscript specifically, there could be a composite biomarker. You point out like FGFR in addition to FGFR TMB ends up being predictive prognostic there. So that could potentially be used as an approach to stratify patients as far as treatment, whether it's a single agent versus combination. Maybe the TMB-low/FGFR3 mutated require a combination, but the TMB-high/FGFR mutated don't require a combination, right? Dr. Shilpa Gupta: No, that's a great point, yeah. Dr. Rafeh Naqash: But again, very interesting, intriguing concepts that you've alluded to and described in this manuscript. Now, a quick take on how things have changed in the bladder cancer space in the last two years. We did a podcast with you regarding some biomarkers as you mentioned two years back. So I really would like to spend the next minute to two to understand how have things changed in the bladder cancer space? What are some of the exciting things that were not there two years back that are in practice now? And how do you anticipate the next two years to be like? Maybe we'll have another podcast with you in another two years when the space will have changed even more. Dr. Shilpa Gupta: Certainly a lot has happened in the two years, you know. EV-pembro became the universal frontline standard, right? We have really moved away from cisplatin eligibility in metastatic setting because anybody would benefit from EV-pembro regardless of whether they are candidates for cisplatin or not, which historically was relevant. And just two days ago, we saw that EV-pembro has now been approved for localized bladder cancer for patients who are cisplatin ineligible or refusing. So, you know, this very effective regimen moving into earlier setting, we now have to really think of good treatment options in the metastatic setting, right? So I think that's where a lot of these novel combinations may come up. And what else we've seen is in a tumor agnostic trial called the DESTINY-PanTumor trial, patients who had HER2 3+ on immunohistochemistry, we saw the drug approval for T-DXd, and I think that has kind of reinvigorated the interest in HER2 in bladder cancer, because in the past targeting HER2 really didn't work. And we still don't know if HER2 is a driver or not. And at ESMO this year, we saw an excellent study coming out of China with DV which is targeting HER2, and toripalimab, which is a Chinese checkpoint inhibitor, showing pretty much similar results to what we saw with EV-pembro. Now, you know, not to do cross-trial comparisons, but that was really an amazing, amazing study. It was in the presidential session. And I think the big question is: does that really tell us that HER2-low patients will not benefit? Because that included 1+, 2+, 3+. So that part we really don't know, and I think we want to study from the EV-302 how the HER2 positive patients did with EV and pembro. So that's an additional option, at least in China, and hopefully if it gets approved here, there is a trial going on with DV and pembro. And lastly, we've seen a very promising biomarker, like ctDNA, for the first time in bladder cancer in the adjuvant setting guiding treatment with adjuvant atezolizumab. So patients who were ctDNA positive derived overall survival and recurrence-free survival benefit. So that could help us select moving forward with more studies. We can spare unnecessary checkpoint inhibitors in patients who are not going to benefit. So I think there is a lot happening in our field, and this will help do more studies because we already have the next generation FGFR inhibitors which don't have the toxicities that erdafitinib comes with. And combining those with these novel ADCs and checkpoint inhibitors, you know, using maybe TMB as a biomarker, because we really need to move away from PD-L1 in bladder cancer. It's shown no utility whatsoever, but TMB has. Dr. Rafeh Naqash: Well, thank you so much, Shilpa, for that tour de force of how things have changed in bladder cancer. There used to be a time when lung and melanoma used to lead this space in terms of the number of approvals, the biomarker development. It looks like bladder cancer is shifting the trend at this stage. So definitely exciting to see all the new changes that are coming up. I'd like to spend another minute and a half on your career. You've obviously been a leader and example for many people in the GU space and beyond. Could you, for the sake of our early career especially, the trainees and other listeners, describe how you focused on things that you're currently leading as a leader, and how you shaped your career trajectory over the last 10 years? Dr. Shilpa Gupta: That's a really important question, Rafeh, and you and I have had these discussions before, you know, being an IMG on visas like you, and being in different places. I think I try to make the most of it, you know, instead of focusing on the setbacks or the negative things. Like tried to grab the opportunities that came along. When I was at Moffitt, got to get involved with the Phase 1 trial of pembrolizumab in different tumor types. And just keeping my options open, you know, getting into the bladder cancer at that time when I wanted to really do only prostate, but it was a good idea for me to keep my options open and got all these opportunities that I made use of. I think an important thing is to, like you said, you know, have a focus. So I am trying to focus more on biomarkers that, you know, we know that 70% patients will respond to EV-pembro, right? But what about the remaining 30%? Like, so I'm really trying to understand what determines hyperprogressors with such effective regimens who we really struggle with in the clinic. They really don't do well with anything we give them after that. So we are doing some work with that and also trying to focus on PROs and kind of patient-reported outcomes. And a special interest that I've now developed and working on it is young-onset bladder cancer. You know, the colorectal cancer world has made a lot of progress and we are really far behind. And bladder cancer has historically been a disease of the elderly, which is not the case anymore. We are seeing patients in their 30s and 40s. So we launched this young-onset bladder cancer initiative at a Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network meeting and now looking at more deep dive and creating a working group around that. But yeah, you know, I would say that my philosophy has been to just take the best out of the situation I'm in, no matter where I am. And it has just helped shape my career where I am, despite everything. Dr. Rafeh Naqash: Well, thank you again. It is always a pleasure to learn from your experiences and things that you have helped lead. Appreciate all your insights, and thank you for publishing with JCO PO. Hopefully we will see more of your biomarker work being published and perhaps bring you for another podcast in a couple of years. Dr. Shilpa Gupta: Yeah, thank you, Rafeh, for the opportunity. And thanks to JCO PO for making these podcasts for our readers. So thanks a lot. Dr. Rafeh Naqash: Thank you for listening to JCO Precision Oncology Conversations. Don't forget to give us a rating or review and be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode. You can find all ASCO shows at asco.org/podcast. The purpose of this podcast is to educate and to inform. This is not a substitute for professional medical care and is not intended for use in the diagnosis or treatment of individual conditions. Guests on this podcast express their own opinions, experience, and conclusions. Guest statements on the podcast do not express the opinions of ASCO. The mention of any product, service, organization, activity, or therapy should not be construed as an ASCO endorsement. DISCLOSURES Dr. Shilpa Gupta Stock and Other Ownership Interests: Company: BioNTech SE,  Nektar Consulting or Advisory Role: Company: Gilead Sciences, Pfizer, Merck, Foundation Medicine, Bristol-Myers Squibb/Medarex, Natera, Astellas Pharma, AstraZeneca, Novartis, Johnson & Johnson/Janssen Research Funding: Recipient: Your Institution Company: Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation, Merck, Roche/Genentech, EMD Serono, Exelixis, Novartis, Tyra Biosciences, Pfizer, Convergent Therapeutics, Acrivon Therapeutics, Flare Therapeutics, Amgen Travel, Accommodations, Expenses: Company: Pfizer, Astellas Pharma, Merck    

Matt and Eric slide down the rainbow bridge and dive into THOR, the story of an a-hole alien hunk who becomes a better dude after meeting Natalie Portman while his scheming emo brother tries to trauma dump. It's a hoot! 

Send us a textBuy Jill's book, Sacred Sound Formulas to Awaken the Modern Mind:  https://jilljardine.com/Book your Astrology Reading for 2026: www.jilljardineastrology.com/shopDarkness isn't the enemy of winter; it's the doorway. We gather with astrologer and intuitive Sarah Adams to trace the winter solstice from its Yule roots to today's lights, trees, and songs, and to learn how to turn the season's longest night into a personal reset. As the sun moves into Capricorn, we dig into Saturn's grounded wisdom: inventory the year, rebuild what matters, and create structures that actually support joy. Along the way, we uncover how Norse and Roman festivals shaped modern holiday traditions, why wassailing started as a rowdy invitation, and how a soft‑edged Santa became an advertising icon.Together we reconnect ritual with meaning. Sarah shares clear, do‑able practices to bring Yule into a modern home: a mindful cleanout where you name what you release; smudging to clear and bless; a simmer pot of orange, clove, and cinnamon; evergreens that honor endurance; and a final candle with a written intention for what you'll grow as the light returns. We revisit the Holly King and Oak King myth to feel the deep pattern of death and rebirth, and we widen the lens to global “festivals of light,” from Hanukkah to Kwanzaa, that keep hope burning when the air is sharp and the ground is hard.If you've felt the season tip toward pressure and purchases, this conversation offers a gentler center. We pair the science of the solstice with the soul of tradition, and we talk about why darkness restores us, how synchronicity can show up in small winter miracles, and what it means to choose a higher vibration when the calendar turns. Light is coming back, minute by minute. Let's meet it with intention, craft, and a little old magic.If this resonated, subscribe, share with a friend who loves the season's deeper side, and leave a review telling us your favorite solstice ritual.Support the show

In this episode of Truth and Shadow, host BT delves into the depths of Norse mythology, exploring the concept of Naglfar, the ship of the dead, and the spiritual implications of necromancy. He discusses the fear of the dead returning, the role of seeresses, and the consequences of disturbing burial practices. The conversation draws parallels between Norse beliefs and biblical themes, ultimately leading to a reflection on the choices between fear and redemption in the face of spiritual darkness.

Miracle On Route 34: Part 3 Being naughty can be a very good thing, if he needs help getting jolly. Based on a post by BiscuitHammer, in 3 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories. "Just when I thought it couldn't get better;" Ginny sighed, lost in bliss. "You certainly know what a woman wants." "I aim to please." Santa said cheerfully, putting one arm around her waist and holding her close while he guided the sleigh. "Think we might've sated you for a while?" "Hmm, maybe for a bit, right?" she purred, stretching like a cat before sitting forward and looking down over the earth, lit by clusters of lights that punctuated the darkness of Christmas Eve. It wasn't long before she began to giggle. "Schilling for your thoughts." Santa said, giving her tit a squeeze. "Well, you probably don't remember, but we've met before," she mentioned lightly, turning her head to wink at him. "I sure remember it." "Oh? Do tell." "Well," she said casually, her thoughts drifting back. "I was sixteen and my girlfriends and I were at the mall. We saw you and decided to sit on your lap. So Cari and I were sitting on you at the same time, squirming our asses on you and kept whispering naughty things in your ears, things we wanted to do to you, you know?" Santa didn't respond for several moments. "See?" Ginny said, smirking. "Told you that you didn't remember." "What; was the date of that, Virginia?" he asked warily. "December fifteenth, eight years ago, about seven-thirty pm," she said. "I still have a photo. Why?" "Because I wasn't in your city on December fifteenth eight years ago," he said with reluctance. "I was in Lahina on Maui, judging a naked limbo contest at a luau." She was silent for some time. "You're; you're sure?" Santa nodded. "Oh, God;" Ginny whispered, her eyes distant. "That means that Cari and I were grinding on some creepy mall Santa; oh, shit, I could feel him getting hard and everything!" Ginny scrunched her face up in revulsion and was flapping her arms in horror. "Oh, God. Blah! Blah! Blah!" Santa's roaring laughter echoed through the darkness as his date for the evening struggled to not puke off the side of the sleigh and onto the unsuspecting town below. Silent Runnings. She always kind of assumed that the sleigh made little or no noise when it touched down on a roof. After all, what kept some survivalist gun nut from trying to blow Santa away with his collection of automatic rifles when he heard some noise he couldn't account for? The sleigh glided silently onto the roof, the blades letting out little more than a hiss and the patter of the reindeer's hooves barely audible. Santa leapt out lightly and assisted her in exiting the sleigh before grinning at her. "Now, I won't be long, just hang tight and stay near the sleigh, if you're within the Gellar Field, you'll keep warm, alright?" Ginny raised an eyebrow in his direction, nonplussed. "Um, 'excuse me? I'm here with Santa Fucking Claus on Christmas Motherfucking Eve. How many times can a girl say that? If you think for one second I'm not delivering presents with you, then you're even more stupid that Krampus. I'm coming." Santa seemed hesitant. "Virginia, I've been at this since Proto-Hittite times, one way or another. I'm kind of an expert and I don't want you to hurt;" "Oh, get real," she snorted, pushing past him toward the chimney. She was glad to note that the 'Gellar Field', whatever the hell that was, seemed to be keeping her warm at this distance. "If your fat ass can fit down a chimney with that huge bag, so can mine." She clambered over the lip of the chimney and eased herself down inside it. Santa watched silently as she wriggled out of sight. There was no noise for several seconds. Finally Ginny spoke, her voice coming up the flue. "Okay, kinda stuck here, with my nose pressed into my own asshole. Little help?" Santa chuckled lightly and reached for a can of grease. Piloting a Ginny. "You're getting better at this, I must say," Santa remarked as he rummaged through his bag of presents while Ginny guided the sleigh. "Last person who drove the sleigh for me, the reindeer resisted a lot. They like you." "Oh?" Ginny replied, twisting the reins slightly and veering the sleigh team southwest. "Who was she?" Santa cleared his throat. "Actually, it was Krampus. Well, he was Pete back then, and it was over six hundred years ago." It took Ginny a moment to recover from her shock and concentrate on guiding the sleigh. Fortunately, the reindeer seemed to know where they were going. "Six hundred;" "Yup," Santa confirmed. "The Belgian monks were still getting the recipe for Stella Artois right the last time one of my kids helped me out." "But what about all your wives you were telling me about?" she asked. "They must've been in the sleigh before." Santa shrugged. "Yeah, people have been in it, I've taken them places, but you and Pete are the only two who have ever helped me on Christmas Eve." She felt herself grow warm, and for once it wasn't because she was wet and horny. "I'm really helping you?" He nodded. "It may be that I'm late because of the donnybrook back at your place, Virginia, but that wasn't your fault, it's just what was meant to be. I was meant to be put behind and now you're meant to be driving this sleigh while I get organized. No matter how many me's there are out there, it won't make a difference unless you're here tonight. It's fated to be that way." Ginny didn't know what to say. She just calmly guided the sleigh, feeling a contentment she'd never quite known before. She was dimly aware of some other shadowy iteration of Santa's sleigh streaking by some miles to the north and waved absently. She couldn't explain why any of this made sense, but it did. She really was different after all. A house below them shone with a golden light in the dark and she turned the reigns easily to guide the reindeer in its direction. There were over a dense residential area, the streets lined with endless numbers of small homes and semis. They glided onto a roof and clambered out. She followed Santa and his present sack down the chimney. In spite of his bulk, he slid down the tight shaft in a way that made her cunt inexplicably wet. "Now that I think of it," she whispered as she wriggled down with him. "How do we get into houses where there's no chimney?" "It was a lot easier before central heating," he answered, almost upside down as he worked his way toward the ground. "For lack of a better term, it's just B & E, I guess. I've got the keys and security codes for every residence on earth." "Wow," she grunted as she twisted and wiggled, her tits squashed to her mouth. If they'd had more time she would have sucked on them for a bit as a reward to herself. "Even Kim Jong-Un?" "Yeah, but he's not getting anything you want to know about for Christmas," Santa muttered. "He's a very bad boy." "So, what, like a leaky bag of flaming panda shit?" she mused, occupying herself as she strained to keep up. "Because that's what he kinda deserves." "Christmas is the one night of the year we don't discuss politics, Virginia." Santa mentioned as he finally freed himself of the confines of the flue and dusted himself off. He helped Ginny out as well, smiling and kissing her nose as she held her off the ground. She blushed and let him put her down, moving to a corner of the living room and watching intently. The house they were in was not big, a modest home for a small family. Santa was rummaging around in his bag, absently noshing on the cookies left on a table near the tree. The tree itself was rather sparse on gifts, something Santa seemed to be rectifying. Ginny didn't notice the other person in the room until it was too late. "So there you are, big man;" Ginny started at the voice but Santa merely stood and turned around, smiling warmly. At the entrance to the room was a woman in a robe. She was older than Ginny, but not more than in her late twenties or early thirties. She had the look of a tired mom. "Been waiting a long, long time to prove to myself that you were real and the presents I couldn't account for just came out thin air," she sighed, nodding. She had sandy-brown hair, done in a long bob. Her face was pretty enough, but you could see in her eyes that sleep was more of an afterthought than anything. "But here you are." "It's good to see you, Linda." Santa said warmly, moving toward her and hugging her. She sighed as he embraced her and Ginny smiled, knowing exactly how content and relieved Linda felt at the moment, whoever the hell she was. "Whoa, did I just get jealous of some girl hugging Santa?" "I can't believe you're here in all your chubby glory," Linda remarked, smiling up at him. "It's a dream come true." Santa nodded. "Little Karen's been very good this year, Linda. She's a real blessing. I brought her the puppy she wanted." Ginny frowned and looked down at a small object that was obviously a puppy, wrapped prettily in Christmas paper and sporting a golden bow on its snout. The puppy panted happily, curled up and went to sleep beneath the tree. "She'll love it," Linda said quietly, her eyes shining. "She'll be so thrilled." "I know she will." Santa said, smiling and placing a hand on Linda's cheek. "Sorry things didn't work out with Bob. He doesn't know what he's missing." "Thanks, I keep telling myself that too," Linda said, dabbing at her eye. "Have you got an STD for his stocking, maybe?" "No," Santa chuckled. "But you need to know that everything's going to be fine, Linda. You've made it this far, you're raising an amazing girl and you own this place now. If I could give you Mother of the Year, I would. But I can't, not my department, so that leaves me to ask; what do you want for Christmas, Linda?" Linda looked into his eyes before her hands reached down and began fumbling with his wide, black belt. Ginny shook her head and sighed, knowing exactly why Linda's reaction was so instinctual. The mother turned her head and seemed to notice the girl in the abbreviated elf costume for the first time. "Oh," she said, her hands still undoing the belt. "Is she your chaperone, to make sure we behave?" "No, she's not my chaperone," Santa said, smiling and shaking his head. "She's my indispensable helper, without whom Christmas wouldn't come this year." Ginny blushed at his description of her. "Oh, okay," Linda said, kneeling and shimmying his red pants down and freeing his monstrous cock. "As long as she doesn't interrupt me enjoying my present." Ginny blushed again, but this time the hair on the back of her neck went up and her eyes narrowed. She folded her arms across her chest, leaned against the wall and watched silently. Very silently. "Wow," Linda mused, taking his cock in both hands and staring at it. "Just when I thought nothing could get longer than that white beard of yours." Ginny blinked and frowned for a moment. White beard? It suddenly occurred to her that Linda was seeing the Santa she had always expected to see, a fat, jolly old man with a long white beard, rosy cheeks and the rest of the Dickensian nonsense. To Ginny, he still looked like the towering, red-bearded lumbersexual she knew him to actually be. Whatever sort of glamour he radiated, it worked even in sexual situations. Without a pause, Linda took Santa's thick cock into her mouth with a sigh and began bobbing back and forth along its length. Her wet lips formed a tight seal around the shaft, her hands holding on to Santa's thighs for balance. "She's doing that all wrong," Ginny sniffed to herself. "He likes it when one hand is pumping along the shaft behind your mouth and the other one is teasing his balls. I should know." Santa turned his head, smiled at her and nodded. Ginny blushed and shut up. He took Linda's head gently in his hands, caressing her hair while she sucked his cock, letting her take all the time she liked. She undid her robe with one hand, letting it fall to a puddle at her knees, now naked. She had a mom bod, Ginny noted, not bad, she was trying to keep herself fit, probably with Tae Bo and jogging or spinning, if she could find the time. Her tits were somewhat pointy, but she wasn't repulsive by any means. Ginny felt herself getting warm as she watched, one of her hands coming up to caress her tits while the other snaked down inside the short green skirt she was wearing and beneath her thong, teasing her understandably gooey cunt. She watched intently as Linda pushed farther and farther down Santa's seemingly endless shaft, breathing through her nose as she tried to reach the root. The hand she kept on his thigh for balance squeeze his pale flesh while the other was massaging her tits, pinching the nipples. She moaned around his cock as he grew harder in her mouth. Ginny leaned her head against the wall, trying to not make noise as she pleasured herself, fingers teasing through her slippery folds or circling her throbbing clit. The hand she had on her tits mimicked Linda's squeezing and pinching her nipples, causing little needles of stinging delight to shoot through her. Linda's hand moved down between her legs and her fingers began churning inside her cunt. She moaned loudly as she pleasured herself. Normally Ginny would have thought she'd wake her kid, but Santa probably had some weird sound-dampening field just to keep things like this from happening. Typical. Ginny bit her lip as she watched, her skin blushing pink as she worked herself into a silent frenzy, her wet core beginning to blossom as Linda sucked and bobbed on Santa's cock faster and faster; Both women let out a loud moan as they came, pleasure bubbling up through Ginny's body while her fingers worked madly inside her clenching, slippery tunnel. Her knees buckled and she went to the floor, still fucking herself. Linda grunted and began swallowing as Santa came, finally pulling her mouth off and panting heavily, jerking his throbbing cock frantically and splattering his pearly cum across her tits with great eagerness. Ginny slowly lifted her head, gazing at Santa and Linda through heavily-lidded eyes. She'd cum so hard just from fingering herself. Was it her proximity to Santa that caused all her sensations to be so heightened? Santa knelt as well, hugging Linda to himself and whispering in her ear. She slowly pulled her arms up and embraced him, smiling against his shoulder and nodding gently, her eyes still closed. After holding her for some time, her took her by the chin and lifted her gaze to meet his. "Okay, back to bed with you," he said gently. "You'll sleep very well tonight and Karen will come to wake you." Linda smiled dreamily and rubbed her nose against Santa's before giving it a kiss. She stood, slipped her robe back on, winked at him and left without another word. Santa watched her leave and nodded in satisfaction. "Just what she needed," he said to himself. "Okay, Virginia, I'm going to finish these last few presents and then we're; Virginia?" But Ginny was still kneeling, slumped to one side against the wall and snoring. Santa chuckled and finished the presents before picking her up and holding her limp body under one arm and his giant sack over the other shoulder before disappearing up the flue in the blink of an eye. Carnal Knowledge. "Taip! Taip! Mano Dievas!" Kuni moaned loudly as she sat on her sister's face, grinding her cunt eagerly down onto Minna's mouth. Her blonde twin clamped her arms around her sister's thighs tightly as she lapped hungrily at the slick lips above. Santa was kneeling between Minna's legs, holding them wide and thrusting back and forth, his cock plunging in and out of her. Ginny was leaning against the wall once again, trying to not look exasperated. The Lithuanian girls were writhing and grinding in a frenzy, clearly enjoying their early Christmas present. It wasn't like they'd crept down and surprised Ginny and Santa, as Linda had, they had actually written to Santa, saying that their parents were away for the holiday and they wanted him to come and fuck them for Christmas. They'd been waiting patiently in the living room when Santa and Ginny appeared out of the chimney, the twins wearing nothing but their little cheerleader uniforms. Minna groaned shamelessly while she lashed her Kuni's twat with her tongue, shuddering as Santa's iron-hard rod nearly split her in half. Ginny had to admit, the blonde twins had rocking bodies, trim and tight from whatever activities they were involved in. She'd have to get into P90-X or Crossfit if she was ever going to compete with these two. "Senelis!" Minna gasped, sliding a finger up inside her sister, which Kuni ground on shamelessly. She gyrated her hips, fucking back against Santa, her fingernails digging into her sister's ass cheeks as she endured the battering waves of pleasure. "Ah, Duok man sunku!" "Pasakykite pra¨ome;" Santa replied, smiling slyly. "Pra¨om!" Minna wailed, her body almost thrashing. "Pra¨om pra¨om pra¨om! Nekankink manęs!" Santa nodded and leaned forward, pressing Minna's legs almost back against her body, his weight over her now as he sank his cock down inside her. The blonde girl almost screamed in pleasure. Kuni grappled onto Santa's neck and kissed him greedily, churning her cunt down onto Minna's glistening face. "Unreal," Ginny muttered. "And I thought I was a relentless horny machine. But you, sir, take the cake." "I would expect you of all people to understand by now," Santa said cheerfully. "Minna and Kuni have been very good this year. They're both at the top of their class, they've been socially active regarding building homeless shelters, they're both” "Over the age of eighteen?" Ginny bit out. "It's Lithuania, that wouldn't matter," Santa pointed out. "They've been very good girls and I'm duty-bound to give them what they want for Christmas." "So no point deductions for incest?" Ginny asked somewhat testily. "There weren't for you and your brother, were there?" he replied while Kuni nipped at his skin. Ginny blushed again and stopped talking. She watched while Kuni pulled herself off her sister's mouth and hastily clambered around to lie on top of her, kissing her sister while squirming her wet cunt down on Minna's. She groaned loudly when Santa pulled out of the girl below and pushed deep inside her. "Dear diary," Ginny muttered. "Having a great time in Vilnius, watching Santa skewer Lithuanian sisters;" Santa grunted and pushed in hard, his hips trembling as he started to cum. Kuni and Minna screamed into one another's mouths, hips bucking furiously. He pulled out of Kuni and slammed back into Minna, filling her with cum as well before both sisters scrambled to their knees while he stood. They swallowed his cock greedily, taking turns pumping the shaft while the other sucked on it. They kissed around the throbbing cock, licking the pearly cum off one another's faces. "Esate labai geros mergaitės," Santa breathed, holding them both gently by the back of their heads while they sucked hungrily. "Keep up the good work and Santa will see you again next year;" "If we're not still here with these two whores next Christmas;" Ginny thought darkly. Santa’s copilot. Ginny was guiding the sleigh, but she kept looking back at Santa, trying not to smirk. He was sitting beside her, a rather blank stare on his face, his eyes a little red around the edges. "I'm still sorta hungry;" he said somewhat absently. "So you actually thought 'Colorado Gold' was a brand of flour used to make baked goods?" "Note to self," he murmured. "Do not eat the brownies left out for you in Denver;" Basement Bound. Ginny followed Santa as they crept down the stairs toward the basement apartment, a prismatic glow on the wall ahead of them indicating a tree was nearby. They rounded a corner and paused. A young man dressed in X-Men boxers and a white t-shirt almost walked into them as he rubbed his eyes. He stared at them for a moment, saying absolutely nothing. After a long, awkward pause, Santa reached back into his sack and pulled out a wrapped gift which he slowly handed to the kid. The kid took it equally slowly and unwrapped it, his eyes widening as several deluxe editions of the newest PC games were revealed. The kid smiled sheepishly and sighed. "Thanks, now that I know you're real." "You don't seem happy, Kevin," Santa said, obviously concerned. "You've been great all year and these are what you wanted, right?" "I; yeah, they are," sighed the kid. "At least, that's what I told everyone I wanted. My friends and I, we're all gamers, and this is amazing, but;" "But;" Santa pressed. "Well, Christmas is also my birthday," Kevin said. "Here I am, eighteen finally, and I still haven't had sex with a girl yet." Santa smiled. "Well, I normally deal exclusively in Christmas wishes rather than birthdays, but perhaps this year I can help you out there, Kevin." Kevin raised an eyebrow. "Virginia," Santa stated, looking at her. "I give you Kevin the Boy. Return unto me Kevin the Man." Ginny couldn't believe what she said next. "Thought you'd never ask, Big Red;" She walked forward and took the games out of Kevin's hands, tossing them over her shoulder. Santa grabbed them hastily out of the air as Ginny poked a finger into Kevin's chest and pressed him up against the wall. His eyes were wide, not at all sure what was happening. "Santa's already given you your Christmas presents," Ginny said as she knelt in front of him and tugged at his boxers. "Which means it's up to me to give you a happy birthday;" She pulled the boxers down and tossed them aside. His cock was limp but she could already tell it was swelling with excitement. Rather than teasing the poor virgin, Ginny stroked his shaft and slid her mouth all the way down, deep-throating him. Kevin shuddered and groaned loudly. "Make all the noise you want, you won't wake your parents upstairs," Ginny mentioned, pulling her mouth off his cock for a moment and pumping the shaft with her hand while she looked up at him. "The big man here has some sort of sound-dampening field or some shit so that he doesn't get caught busting into people's houses." Kevin's hands flattened against the wall and his fingers flexed as she slid her mouth down his length again before bobbing back and forth in a slow rhythm. She felt his fingers take her by the hair and begin kneading, lost in this clearly new delight. She hummed gently, vibrating her mouth around his sensitive skin. "Well, look at you," she remarked, smiling as she pulled back and gazed at his now hard and throbbing cock, glistening with the wetness of her mouth. "That's a nice dick you've got there, Kevin. You're a grower, I'm impressed." Kevin took a deep breath. "Maybe, but it doesn't look like much when it's limp. The one time I let a girl at school see it, I was nervous and it shrunk, so she was laughing at me." "Then I'll give you a tip before I fuck you, Kevin," Ginny said, stroking the shaft and spitting on it, to keep it moist while she instructed him. "Girls can be hideous cunts about that sort of thing sometimes, but they have their own insecurities. So never bring your insecurity to the ballgame. You need to be turned on and your Johnson here on the rise by the time you get naked for her." "Uh-huh?" he said somewhat uncertainly, shivering as she bent her thumb so that the pad pressed against the top of his mushroom head every time she stroked down. He couldn't believe this was happening. Some hot Elf-chick who looked like a Warcraft mod was blowing him! "So from now on, you dominate, you got it?" Ginny said. "Make her get naked or make her turn you on so that she can see how big your cock is before you ever get out of your boxers. No girl is gonna say no to this thing when it's fully inflated, I promise." "R-really?" Kevin asked. Ginny kept her eyes locked with his but reached down under her panties for several moment before bringing her fingers up for display. They glistened wetly in the dim light. "It's made me horny, champ. And because of that cock, I need to fuck you. You with me?" Kevin just thunked his head back against the wall, closed his eyes and nodded. "Oh, and don't worry about trying to last," Ginny added. "Being around the Red Machine makes you want to fuck and cum all night. You'll be fine." She swallowed his cock with a will, determined to give this kid the best first time anyone had ever had. Her hand followed her mouth along the shaft and she hummed, swirling her tongue along its length. The kid wasn't Santa, but this would be a perfectly good ride for any girl worth fucking once he had his confidence. Her free hand worked its way back inside her panties and began fingering, teasing her wet folds and slipping inside, getting her ready for the main event. "Umm, do you want to fuck me, Kevin?" she asked, smiling up at him. "Do you want to fuck my cunt good and hard?" "Uh; yes;" he whimpered. "Say it like you mean it, Thor," she insisted, pressing her thumb along the throbbing vein on the bottom of his thick shaft. "The girl wants confidence. This cock is worth your best effort." He took several deep breaths before looking down at her and nodding. "I want to fuck you." "You do?" she asked before sliding him back down her throat. "No," he said finally, taking her under the arms and pulling her up. Ginny exhaled suddenly as his cock popped out of her mouth unexpectedly and he spun her around to press up against the wall. "I don't want to fuck you; I will fuck you." "That's my boy," Ginny breathed, her eyes flashing with sudden lust and delight. She spread her legs and tilted her hips forward, eager to feel him inside her. "Fuck me good and hard, Kevin!" "K-zon," the boy almost growled, pressing his throbbing cockhead against her entrance. "My gaming tag is K-zon and that's what the girls will call me when I fuck them!" Ginny nodded eagerly. "Good. Give it to me, K-zon;" She moaned loudly as he pushed inside her, heedless of any sense of timing or technique, but eager to be deep in a woman. He squeezed her sides as he trembled, overcome by the wet, tight sensation of her cunt gripping him. Her arms wrapped around his shoulders and one leg slung over his hip as she looked into his eyes. Ginny began a pumping motion with her hips, sliding back and forth on his cock while K-zon was paralyzed by the flood of pleasure. "Alright, slugger," she whispered in a husky voice as she fucked herself on him. "Let's bust this first nut of yours quick, so you know what to expect. Don't hold back, just pound my cunt until you blow, got it?" He nodded as he buried his face in her shoulder and started pumping awkwardly with his hips, his whole body trembling. Ginny felt an unreal flush of heat coursing through her already, an intense orgasm building up inside. Holy shit, was she turned on and about to get off because she was mentoring a virgin? She pulled Kevin tight against herself and shivered, letting out a gasp while he moaned and jammed his hips up tight against hers, she could feel his cock twitching inside her as he spunked, Her own orgasm flooded over her, molten bubbles of ecstasy popping by the millions throughout her sweating, slick frame. He almost buckled at the knees, collapsing against her, panting like he'd run a marathon. Ginny smiled and caressed his hair, feeling his still-hard cock throbbing inside her. She ran her fingers over his cheek and looked into his eyes. "Ready to keep going?" she asked. "Second one's usually even better." He nodded and she pulled him down to his knees while she got on all fours, wiggling her invitingly. She winked back at him. "You know what to do, K-zon," she purred. "Show me what you're gonna do to the girls this coming year;" Without another thought, he took Ginny by the hips and slid his cock deep inside her again. Ginny moaned loudly, lowering her head to the floor and pushed back against him. She felt him begin to push back and forth and matched his rhythm by squeezing her cunt muscles around him as he slid in. His fingers dug into her hips and ass cheeks delightfully. She could tell he might last a little longer this time, but not by much. Then again, she wasn't here to teach him to be a sex god, she was here to pop his cherry and give him a birthday to remember. "Umm, right there, big man;" she panted, surprised that she meant what she was saying. She wasn't just stroking his fragile ego, she was quite serious, because he was hitting a spot in her cunt that she really liked. He had a long enough cock that it touched her pleasure spot and he was just wide enough to pleasantly stretch her so that she knew she was being fucked properly. With confidence, this kid would be a good lay. Kevin slapped his thighs against her ass cheeks and she squeaked and yelped in response. Her gooey cunt clenched him tightly, utilizing those vaginal contractions she seemed to be so damned expert at tonight. "Fuck;" Kevin grunted as he pumped his hips, his chest now glistening with sweat. "This is so much better than my hand or a fleshlight!" "Uh, and you feel a lot fucking better than a vibe," Ginny panted, still face-down and ass-up. "You're gonna make them scream, K-zon;" He seemed encouraged by her words and pumped harder, determined to make Ginny and himself cum again. He seemed to have found his rhythm and fucked her steadily, his eyes closed as he lost himself in the unreal sensation of sex with a live girl. Ginny bit at the knuckle of her middle finger, aware of how flushed and warm her body was. She could feel her wetness trickling down over her stomach from her cunt, since her ass was perched in the air. The slick, sucking noises of her sex were unmistakable. "Oh, you're doing really good, K-zon," she said breathily. "You're gonna have me cumming again before long!" Kevin seemed to be beyond words as he merely nodded hastily and kept fucking her, eyes closed and back arched. The slapping noise of his thighs against her ass was a wet one now, since they were both sweating profusely. She could feel the damp perspiration in her hairline, her mouth open and she wiped at it when she realized she was almost drooling. "Yes, K-zon!" she gasped, using the name he wanted again, pushing back against him but still letting him control the action. "Fucking make me cum! Don't hold back! Uh, fuck!" Kevin jammed his hips against her suddenly and cried out, a sound that Ginny echoed half a second later. Rapture splintered through her as she came, feeling him slamming against her as he climaxed, his pearly offering now deep inside her. Through glassy eyes, she looked around for Santa, to see if he was watching, but he was nowhere in sight. Kevin seemed ready to fall over, exhausted, but she gently pushed backward until he sat on his behind with her in his lap, facing away. Slowly she turned around and laid him on the floor, his cock still deep inside her. She put her hands on his shoulders and smiled down at him, her nipples tracing little patterns over his chest as she did so. "That was amazing, K-zon," she said quietly. "A really great addition to my night." He was still breathing heavily but nodded at her. "Thanks. It was more than I could have hoped for. I;I guess it's been a busy evening for you this way?" "Well, you're my only virgin to this point, if that's what you're asking," Ginny sighed. "The big red machine has fucked me more times tonight that I care to remember and I was nearly raped to death by Krampus, so this was exactly the sort of change of pace I needed, you know?" She sat up, still straddling him and impaled on his cock, a thought occurring to her. "Hey, Big Red," she called out. "I just let him bust in me twice, do you have any fixes dated from yesterday?" A tiny white pill flew out of the other room. She caught it deftly in her hand and popped it in her mouth. "I'm getting good at this 'time-is-fluid' shit," she giggled to herself. "Maybe I'll teach quantum physics." "You don't need a glass of water or anything?" Kevin asked, looking up at her. "Trust me, Kevin, if there's one thing I'm good at, it's swallowing." Ginny replied, smiling down at him somewhat haughtily before carefully pulling herself off his cock, causing them both to shudder and moan quietly. She knelt over his waist and sucked on his cock, cleaning their mingled cum off him and then helping him to his feet. She slipped her thong back on while Kevin retrieved his boxers. They were just straightening themselves out when Santa appeared from the other room. "Did you enjoy your birthday present, Kevin?" he asked cheerfully. "Yessir," the newly-minted young man said. "Best birthday present anyone ever received." "Glad to hear it," Santa said, nodding. "And I know it doesn't compare to what Virginia just gave you, but I think you'll be pleased with your new rig I just set up. Five terrabytes of hard drive space, thirty-two gigs of DDR4 RAM, an overclocked quad-core CPU that'll put the i7 to shame, eight fans, a nickle and copper piping coolant system and L E D to make sure everyone knows you're in the house. Oh, and I've upgraded your server to be multi-line, WAN and load-balancing. You and your guild will never lag again as long as you host." Kevin's eyes went wide. "I've got fat pipes?" Santa nodded while Ginny shook her head, understanding none of this geek talk. It only figured that Santa was a giant nerd. Kevin looked like he might faint. "Well, I've just done what you deserved," Santa mentioned. "It's Virginia who should get the credit for your night being so spectacular." "Yeah," Kevin said, blushing and smiling at her. "Thanks." "My pleasure, trust me," she said easily. "Somebody have a pen I can use?" Santa handed her one and she looked at Kevin. "Your number, dude." Kevin managed to stutter out his number, which she wrote down on her wrist before nodding in satisfaction and giving the pen back to Santa. "Alright, if I ever happen to be in Ohio for some godforsaken reason, I can look you up and give you a booty call. Sound good?" Kevin nodded dumbly. "Just remember this," she said, poking him in the chest, her voice serious. "You've got a lot to learn still. You've got a nice cock between your legs, don't treat it like a Louisville Slugger and just beat the hell out of her with it, you're better than that." He nodded. "And if a girl wants you to fuck her, she'll give you signals, so watch." Ginny added, poking his chest with her nail. "Don't assume you can just force yourself on anyone or next year it's dead spiders in your stocking, you got it?" Kevin nodded again. "Excellent," she said sweetly. "Now go to sleep, champ. Merry Christmas and happy birthday. C'mon, Santa, we have a holiday to save!" "Yes, my lady!" Santa laughed, following her out of the basement. They were back on the roof when Santa smirked at her as they climbed into the sleigh. "Dead spiders in the stocking?" She shrugged. "Isn't that what you'd give a guy if he forced himself on a girl?" "Well, no," he replied as he snapped the reins and they took off into the cold night air. "That's more of a legal issue. If he was considering it, I wouldn't have mentioned dead spiders, I'd' have been more inclined to point out that he'd spend the next few years in a cell as some fat, greasy tattooed bastard's buttery cornhole." The sleigh lurched to one side as Ginny burst out laughing. A Pretty Man. Santa stared awkwardly, making a wry face while Ginny stood off to the side, smirking. Standing in front of Santa was a very pretty young man in pale pink pajamas, his hands behind his back, one knee turned in, twisting his toe into the rug and blushing expectantly. Ginny wiped a tear away from her eye, she was trying so hard not to laugh. "Yeah, that ain't happening." Santa said finally. "But I've been so good;" the young man cooed, smiling coyly and winking. "C'mon, Santa," Ginny urged, clearly enjoying his discomfiture. "He's been so good, and you always reward your good children, don't you?" "Nice try, lady," Santa said, pressing behind his ear, apparently activating a communicator. "Get Agent 641 to me, I need a pinch hitter, stat." Santa threw a small disk on the floor while Ginny and the young boy in pink watched curiously. The device oscillated and expanded, becoming a larger disk. Seconds later it began to glow and hum. A column of rainbow light radiated up from it and a kneeling shape appeared. Seconds later, the rainbow light faded away and a lithe, comely figure stood. He had the same slender, beautiful features as the warrior-elves who had fought earlier that night, his eyes a piercing violet color, his impossibly long raven hair held in gold rings. His pale body was naked except for a tiny thong. "Holy shit snacks;" Ginny breathed as she gazed stupidly at the new arrival, feeling her thong get wet. "Ylmarin, young Trevor here has been an extra-good boy, perhaps you'd care to reward him?" Santa suggested as the inhumanly graceful being stepped off the platform. The tall being looked down at the young man named Trevor, assessing him and then nodded. "Yes, sire, I can absolutely do this." Trevor blushed furiously and giggled, covering his face. Ylmarin reached over and took the boy's hand before leading him back to the bedroom. Santa nodded and began rummaging around in his toy sack, putting items under the tree. "Okay, we got that out of the way," he said, squatting and putting items under the decidedly pink-lit tree. "Virginia, if you could hand me the, Virginia? Ginny?" He frowned and turned to look for his helper, finally sighting her. She was standing in the doorway to the bedroom and looking in. One of her hands squeezing her tits while the other had snaked down inside her panties. "Alright, go on, you little voyeur." Santa chuckled, shaking his head. "Yum yum!" she squeaked and skipped into the room, from which moans were now emanating. Seeking to be naughty. "You weren't worried about being on the Naughty List if you waited up for me?" Santa asked the dark-haired girl as she sat on her floor, watching him intently. She pushed her glasses up her nose and shook her head, pretty curly locks spilling over her shoulders as she did so. "Not worried, hmm?" he mused, observing her. "So you think you're already on the Naughty List?" The girl nodded. Ginny blinked and pursed her lips. "Why isn't she talking? Is she mute or doesn't she speak English?" Santa shook his head. "No, Ellie's just shy. She doesn't speak much at first, but once she gets going;" He knelt down in front of the girl and smiled. "Well, here I am. What is it you wanted to ask me, Ellie?" The tan girl turned her head and looked down at the floor sheepishly for several seconds before working up the nerve to speak. "I; I want my daddy, Santa." Ginny blinked. "She what, wants him back from deployment for Christmas, she wants her father to move back home;" "No, Virginia," Santa said cheerfully. "She doesn't want her father, she wants her daddy." "Oh," Ginny said, suddenly understanding. "So, now what?" "That's all she wanted for Christmas, so we give her, her daddy." Santa said simply. The girl's eyes lit up in delight and she sat up straight, looking very excited. Santa pointed behind Ellie and she turned to look behind herself; Her daddy stood in the doorway, his green-hazel eyes mirroring her excitement and a big grin on her face. His long, sandy-blond hair fell down to his shoulder blades. "Daddy!" Ginny squealed as she scrambled to her feet and threw herself against her daddy, kissing him feverishly. He held her tight, returning the kiss while she began pulling his clothes off him. "I missed you so much!" "Missed you too, baby;" he murmured through the kiss as he pulled her top off, exposing her lush tits. "I never had a daddy." Ginny sighed as she watched the couple get increasingly naked and feeling the now-familiar tingle building. "I should take care of that at some point." "I've got some other deliveries in the immediate area," Santa mentioned. "How about I go take care of them while you have a little fun with these two?" "Well, I'm not attracted to girls." Ginny said in a non-committal tone. "You just didn't know you were until tonight." Santa replied, smiling. "Just trust me on this, Virginia." "Well, like you said earlier, I've had you inside all my orifices, so what's the harm in trusting you now, right?" she admitted, shrugging. Would being bisexual be such a bad thing? It certainly widened her options for dating. Santa nodded and walked out of the room. Ginny turned to look at the couple she was left with, who were already splayed out on the rug, naked and pleasuring one another. Ellie was lying on top of her daddy, facing down his body and sucking on his cock hungrily while he was pulling her slippery cunt lips apart and sliding his tongue up and down her twat, making her shiver and moan. "Fuck it," Ginny said finally, stripping out of her skimpy outfit and walking up to the two of them. She laid down beside Ellie's daddy and smiled at her, both their heads over hips. "Feel like tag-teaming, babe?" Ellie looked up for a moment and nodded readily. Ginny smiled and leaned in, flicking her tongue against the tip of his cock. The curly-haired girl giggled and joined Ginny in teasing the throbbing cock, taking turns sliding their tongue up and down the shaft while the other swirled her tongue around the head and took it into her mouth, starting to bob up and down. Ginny felt herself getting really wet and pressed her lips to Ellie's around the head of her daddy's cock, kissing her. They both moaned as their tongues tangled around the glistening head. Ginny's hand slipped into the girl's hair, wrapping in it to hold her in place. Ellie smelled like strawberries and Ginny felt herself getting wetter as she took in the scent. "Daddy," whimpered the girl. "Fuck me;" Ginny knelt up while the other girl straddled her daddy's hips, facing down his body. Her sticky cunt was positioned over his throbbing cock and Ginny took hold of it and guided it home. Ellie sighed almost in relief as she sank down, his cock filling her. Smiling wickedly, Ginny made Ellie lie back along her daddy's body and the girl gasped as her put his hands on her tits and held her. As Ellie and her daddy began to squirm and writhe, her glistening cunt swallowing his cock greedily, Ginny bent down and tongued at the shaft as it slid back and forth through her lips. She pressed her thumb gently on Ellie's clit, causing her to shudder and moan loudly. Then her tongue traced a slow route around the engorged cunt lips, teasing her new girl lover. Ellie whimpered and panted, begging her daddy to fuck her harder. Ginny sucked Ellie's clit into her mouth and was rewarded with a strangled cry from above. She fondled the sac in front of her gently and pressed on the throbbing vein. Her cunt was getting wetter with each passing moment and she needed to know if Ellie would share; Without another word, she crawled over Ellie and settled down on top of her, her tits squashing into the succulent set below. She moved around until she felt her cunt pressed to Ellie's and the magical, rhythmic motion of the cock still pumping in and out of her. She shuddered as their lips and clits met and they wrapped their arms around one another, kissing shamelessly. Tongues snaked and writhed as they moaned into one another's mouths. "Daddy," panted the younger girl. "Fuck Santa's elf-girl; fuck her please;" Ginny felt her own ferocious desire rising as the cock slurped out of Ellie and pressed against her. She groaned gutturally as she felt the head penetrate and then she pressed down eagerly, taking it deep inside her. Still sandwiched between them, Ellie took one of Ginny's tits and sucked the nipple into her mouth, swirling her tongue around it. Ginny arched her back and hissed through clenched teeth, squeezing hard on the invading cock. She ground down on Ellie's daddy, gyrating her hips and her fingers digging into the other girl's skin. Ellie sucked and bit her nipples, the delicious sting heightening her ecstasy. She body was streaming with sweat while he fucked her, Ellie's soft flesh undulating against hers. She could hear him panting and feel him stiffening and knew what happened next. With great haste and even greater reluctance, she pulled herself off the cock and knelt, pulling Ellie up into a kneeling position. She helped her daddy stand quickly while Ellie took his cock and pumped it eagerly with her hand. Once he was standing, they both attacked his cock with their mouths and hands, pleasuring him beyond endurance. He put his hand on the back of their heads and groaned loudly, his hips shuddering as he came. Both girls pressed their faces in, letting him spurt on their mouths and cheeks, hands still working the shaft quickly. The warm, sticky cum brought with it a warm flush of memories, how it always felt on her skin, the tingling, scintillating pleasure she always felt in the ardor of others. Ellie's soft tits pressed to hers, their cheeks meeting as they accepted the pearly offering, on their chins and now glazing their tits; she loved it all. She was never happier than when she was in the throes of passion with others. Was this what she was truly meant to do? Was this a Christmas epiphany? Ellie and Ginny began kissing hungrily, licking the cum off one another's faces with a fervor, then off each other's neck and tits. They returned their attention to the still twitching cock, kissing and sucking it dry. Once Ellie's daddy was spent, she laid him down and Ginny helped her snuggle into his warm, loving embrace. The girl smiled at her and giggled before blowing a kiss. Ginny gathered up her outfit and exited the apartment quietly. Not surprisingly at this point, the sleigh was just pulling back onto the roof as she arrived. Santa smiled at her. "So did you know I was bi all these years?" she asked as she clambered into the seat and beside him and snuggled into his side as they took off. He nodded. "Not my place to rob you of your journey of self-discovery, though." "Maybe," she sighed. "But think about all the fun I've missed out on, not playing with girls too. Doubling the size of my dating pool might have made a difference." "You've always been who you're meant to be, Virginia," he said cheerfully. "And your little epiphany tonight is going to have big implications in the year to come. Trust me." Her eyes widened. "For real?" "Would I lie?" Santa laughed. Ginny in the sleigh. Ginny was lying back in the plush red seat of the sleigh, her chest heaving as she stared at the pre-dawn sky. Her little elf-outfit was almost in shreds and she was missing one of her shoes. Even Santa looked a little worn. "So that's what sex with an entire sorority house feels like;" she said distantly. "Kinda gives me a new respect for those college quarterbacks. Those girls are animals." Santa nodded. "I have to admit, that wore me out a little too, which is saying something. And before you ask, yes, they have all been good this past year and they sent me one letter asking for Santa to fuck them as a sorority, so that really was their Christmas present." Ginny nodded. "That and the four metric tons of vibrators, dildos, eggs, anal beads, ben-wa balls and lingerie I saw you drop off; and about thirty Sybians." "They're a really good sorority house." Santa admitted. Ginny just stared at the sky. "Hard to believe that you're brought up a certain way, being told that good kids act a certain way, only to find out that being a total mega-slut is not grounds for being added to the Naughty List but sneaking cookies when mom told you not to is." "I didn't make the rules," Santa said, shrugging, but then he paused. "Oh, wait; ya know, I probably did, a long, long time ago." Ginny giggled tiredly. "This has been the longest and most oversexed night of my life, and that's saying something for me. Where are we headed, Big Man?" "Well, it's almost dawn." Santa said, looking east. "I'm going to have to drop you off before long now that my rounds are done." "Yeah," Ginny said somewhat reluctantly. "Since I don't have a house, I guess you should drop me off at my parents' place. I can't exactly tell 'em that my house was destroyed in a massive battle between Santa's elves and Krampus, but maybe they'll believe a gas main exploded." "You can't lie, Virginia, we've been over this." Santa said firmly. "Well I can't really tell them the truth either, can I?" Ginny pointed out, hoping she didn't sound too quarrelsome. "I know;" he said quietly, still guiding the sleigh. The soared through the dark sky for some time, saying nothing. Eventually, Ginny began to make out shapes in the night, sleek silhouettes that looked almost like slender, jet-powered Skidoos, being ridden by beings in strange armor with glowing runes and wild mans of hair. "Just my guardians," Santa said in an assuring tone. "Making sure there are no last-minute attempts to thwart us." The earth far below them took on a white cast and Ginny knew that they were above a region covered in snow. She couldn't feel it, but she could sense the cold air around them as the sleigh angled down, heading to the ground. The landing was predictably smooth and they finally came to a stop, flanked by the jet bikes and their unsettling warriors. Santa jumped out and helped Ginny down, smiling at her and wrapping her in a warm, furry red blanket from head to toe. When he pulled it off her, she was no dressed in a stylish red velvet dress, trimmed in white and ending on her upper thighs to show lots of leg. Her calf-high boots were red and edged with white, with adorable little poms dangling from the side. She even had a white poof to keep her hands warm and the Santa hat she now wore kept her ears toasty. "You look beautiful," he said as he waved in front of himself to conjure an ice mirror that reflected her image perfectly. "And without you, Virginia, there wouldn't have been a Christmas this year. You need to understand that." Ginny blushed prettily and walked alongside him, petting the reindeers as she walked by. She even gave Donner a kiss on the nose and the beast snorted and blushed, pawing the ground. They walked casually through the snow, holding hands until they were approached by several people. Ginny's eyes went wide, these were all women, clad in black armor with baroque chest plates reminiscent of bustiers. They all wore their hair bobbed, universally black or platinum in color and they carried savage-looking rifles or flamethrowers. They all knelt reverently as Santa approached. "Do I want to know?" Ginny breathed. "My personal guard," Santa said, nodding to the women as he passed through them. "Orphan girls I've saved from a cruel world. They're fanatically devoted to me, even beyond my elves." Her mouth was somewhat dry when she asked the next question. "Do you; you know;" "Yes, Virginia," he said, saving her the difficulty of asking. "They're also my lovers. When they're not fighting for me or standing guard, they live in the bliss I seem uniquely capable of giving women." "That doesn't sound like such a bad life," Ginny said, a hopeful tone in her voice. "I mean, I'm no orphan, but I'd say we pretty compatible sexually. Aren't we?" He turned and took her gently by the arms, smiling warmly down into her eyes in that way that made her knees go weak. Other people may have seen the fat old jolly man, but she could see only the copper-haired and bearded giant with eyes deeper than a galaxy and a boyish smile that she knew she'd always love. "You're right, Virginia, you're not an orphan," he said quietly. "These girls had no future. I have no right to rob you of yours. And believe me, you don't want to miss it." He took her hand and kept walking, snow gently falling as they walked through the stands of tall trees. When they emerged on the far side, he grinned and gestured grandly in front of them. Ginny's eyes went wide. Across the clearing was her lovely home, looking as good as new. Squads of warrior-elves stood guard menacingly around the perimeter while other, smaller beings she more associated with the Christmas story elves scampered around, making final adjustments to the domicile. "Like the whole thing never happened," Santa declared. "And there are even some improvements, I might add." "Ya don't say," Ginny said somewhat absently, still staring in disbelief. All sign of the titan battle fought on her property less than twelve hours ago were gone. "Uh; improvements?" Santa nodded. "We added solar panels and some subtle wind turbines, so you can officially live off the grid. Water's hooked up to a local artesian well. Improved your internet connection, you get about two hundred megabits per second, not to mention the fact that we connected you to our servers, so the Tor Network and the Deep Web have nothing on you for security and anonymity." "Wow;" was all she seemed to be able to say. "Let's see, we reinforced the frame and the roof, you could probably get hit by a meteor and barely notice," Santa continued. "Windows are made of transparent aluminum, they're durable, to say the least." "No bugs crashing through my bay windows?" she asked. "Actually got a nifty physics trick for you

A fun chat with Rachel Van Dyken all about her new book Fallen Gods, her Norse heritage, the mafia, and sweater wearing cats. Plus – Dave once again embarrasses himself in class (several times), Laura is at Brassfest to support Dave and Sylvia, and Andrew’s students are complaining to the dean. We also recommend: What … Continue reading Ep. 312 Mythology & The Mafia With Rachel Van Dyken

In this episode, Katrina and Geoff journey into Norse mythology. The tale of The Mead of Poetry has many twists and turns with a wide cast of characters from dwarves, giants, and gods. How does a vat of godly spittle turn into a much sought after beverage? Its a winding road that Katrina is happy to travel in search of the gift of storytelling.   Check out: Not My Fantasy Podcast and our latest episode with them where we talk about Robin Hood: Men in Tights.

Hello and welcome back to, Real, the best of OTR from 2024 as promised. In 2024 the show had a lot of good mental health advice and stories of recoveries to help aid in achieving mental health for real through conventional and holistic methods. Enjoy each episode at the Captivate player by clicking the title link or search the title at your favorite host player (I.e. Apple podcast , Spotify).America in Therapy We start off with the episode America in therapy where we speak with Phyllis E. Leavitt a psychotherapist with over 30 years of working extensively with individual and family dysfunction and abuse. We talk about what's in her latest book “America in Therapy: A New Approach to Hope and Healing For A Nation In Crisis”, in which she talks about the urgency needed to bring our whole country to therapy in a way never written about before. Which is critically important if we want to make this world a better place for real. Especially In the times we live in. If we have any hope, then it has to start at home. Here are some clips from the episode America in Therapy.Treating “PTSD/CPTSD Naturally' A conversation with Kathern Berg, a classical homeopath with over two decades of experience. Kathern shares stories of recovery, her advocacy for health freedom, and her dedication to helping those living with PTSD, CPTSD, c. Let's step into her testimony and hear how natural approaches can open the door to healing…" Spirituality – A Tool for Mental Health (PTSD, ADHD) In this conversation, Dr. Mark Weisman—known as the Alaska Ulfhednar—shares how spirituality and Norse shamanic traditions can illuminate paths through PTSD, ADHD, and the challenges of modern life. With kindness, intelligence, and deep cultural roots, he shows how faith and heritage can restore hope. Let's step into that dialogue now…" his Surviving to Thriving – Holistic Approach to Mental Health In this conversation, Laura Giles—a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, shadow worker, and host of Modern Animism Radio—shares how holistic methods and shadow work help us reconnect with nature, release old wounds, and uncover our authentic selves. Living with Tourette Syndrome – One Man's Story Here we meet Kristof Morrow, a Navy veteran, award‑winning journalist, and author of The Second Sun. From surviving abuse to navigating life with a rare form of Tourette Syndrome, Kristof's courage shines through his writing, his service, and his resilience. This is a testimony of intelligence, struggle, and perseverance. New

Rick Broering of Musketeer Report and NKU radio broadcasts joined us to discuss what Tre Carroll's statue at the Cintas Center will look like, the vastly-improved Musketeers, and a Norse collapse in Fort Wayne. Podcasts of The Mo Egger Radio Show are a service of Longnecks Sports Grill.Listen to the show live weekday afternoons 3:00 - 6:00 on ESPN1530. Listen Live: ESPN1530.com/listenGet more: https://linktr.ee/MoEggerFollow on X: @MoEggerInstagram too: @MoEggerSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rick Broering of Musketeer Report and NKU radio broadcasts joined us to discuss what Tre Carroll's statue at the Cintas Center will look like, the vastly-improved Musketeers, and a Norse collapse in Fort Wayne. Podcasts of The Mo Egger Radio Show are a service of Longnecks Sports Grill.Listen to the show live weekday afternoons 3:00 - 6:00 on ESPN1530. Listen Live: ESPN1530.com/listenGet more: https://linktr.ee/MoEggerFollow on X: @MoEggerInstagram too: @MoEggerSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Runecasting is one of the best known forms of Heathen, Nordic, and Germanic divination. Join your host for a short walk through the whys and hows of runic divination.Explainer - DivinationWant to support this podcast and my other work?  Sign up for my Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/c/wayw... or contribute to my KoFi here: https://ko-fi.com/ryansmithwfiI am teaching classes on Inclusive Nordic Spirituality!  You can find out more and sign up at this link: http://www.onblackwings.com/classes

Forget fairy lights and tinsel, Tudor Christmas decorations were deeply symbolic, richly traditional, and filled with myth and meaning. Hello, I'm historian and author Claire Ridgway, and welcome to Day 7 of my Tudor Christmas Advent series! Today, we're stepping inside the Tudor home to discover how people really decorated for Christmas. In Tudor England, there were no Christmas trees, no early December decorating… In fact, a Tudor walking into your home right now would think you'd gone completely mad, because they only decorated on Christmas Eve. Instead of baubles and glitter, their homes were filled with: - Holly – symbol of Christ's sacrifice & protection - Ivy – representing fidelity and strength - Laurel & rosemary – symbols of eternal life - Evergreens everywhere, believed to bring luck and keep away evil You'll also discover: - The origin of the kissing bough - How mistletoe gained its romantic reputation — from Druids to Norse myth - Why decorations stayed up until Candlemas Eve… but NEVER beyond (unless you wanted goblins!) - And how London transformed into a city draped entirely in greenery Plus, we'll explore the medieval and Tudor tradition of the Christmas crib, from Pope Sixtus III to St Francis of Assisi, and how it lives on beautifully in Spain today. Tudor Christmas décor wasn't about sparkle… It was about symbolism, faith, magic, and midwinter hope. If you're enjoying this Advent journey through Tudor traditions, don't forget to like, subscribe, and ring the bell — many more festive videos are on the way!   #TudorChristmas #TudorTok #TudorHistory #ClaireRidgway #ChristmasHistory #HistoryYouTube #MedievalChristmas #HollyAndIvy #MistletoeTraditions #HistoryChannel #AdventSeries #BritishHistory #TwelveDaysOfChristmas #ChristmasDecor #HistoricalTraditions

KRAMPUS & YULEIn central European folklore, Krampus is a Christmas devil who visits on the eve of St Nicholas Day, to punish naughty children. He's also known to drag an unfortunate few back to hell with him in a basket carried upon his back. Some children are merely whipped with birch tree branches known as switches whilst others serve as supper to St Nicholas' rather unconventional companion. The name Krampus may have evolved from the German word Krampen which means claw and this half goat, half human, demon monster is thought to have been part of the Pagan rituals performed around the Winter Solstice, with legend saying that Krampus is the son of Hel, the Norse god of the underworld. Yule is one of the oldest winter celebrations and with Norseman being hunters, who spent much of their time outdoors, they worshipped the Sun and saw it as a wheel that changed the seasons. The word for this wheel was Houl and it is from this word that Yule is thought to have derived from. At midwinter, the Norsemen would sacrifice cattle, gather around bonfires, drink sweet ale and tell stories as the long nights would again, begin to shorten.Resources:IntroductionYuleStory 1 Story 2Minehead HobbyhorseThe Devil's FootprintsThanks so much for listening and we'll catch up with you again next week for some more true, scary stories.Sarah and Tobie xxJoin us on InstagramJoin us on TwitterJoin us on FacebookVisit our WebsiteSURVEY Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This time u/Steelcan909 is joined by u/Liljendal for a discussion on the literature of the Norse people, sagas, histories, and more.  We look at these texts to see what they can tell us in the modern day about Norse culture and attitudes towards masculinity.  65min.

On February 13, 2017, a man named Richard Allen murdered two girls, 14-year-old Liberty German and 13-year-old Abigail Williams in Delphi, in Carroll County. Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland and his team, Stacey Diener and James Luttrull, prosecuted him. Allen's defense team consisted of lead counsel Brad Rozzi, Jennifer Auger, and Andrew Baldwin.That defense team established a consistent pattern of engaging in baseless personal attacks on prosecutors and detectives throughout their representation, and also put forward a flimsy theory of the case centering an alleged Norse pagan cult. Allen was convicted on November 11, 2024 by a jury of his peers.The Murder Sheet can now exclusively report that Baldwin filed a ridiculous complaint against McLeland this past summer with Indiana's Disciplinary Commission, a body tasked with disciplinary complaints against lawyers. We will continue talking about Baldwin's frivolous complaint here, and get into the similarly ridiculous complaints we received. Find discounts for Murder Sheet listeners here: https://murdersheetpodcast.com/discountsCheck out our upcoming book events and get links to buy tickets here: https://murdersheetpodcast.com/eventsOrder our book on Delphi here: https://bookshop.org/p/books/shadow-of-the-bridge-the-delphi-murders-and-the-dark-side-of-the-american-heartland-aine-cain/21866881?ean=9781639369232Or here: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Shadow-of-the-Bridge/Aine-Cain/9781639369232Or here: https://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Bridge-Murders-American-Heartland/dp/1639369236Join our Patreon here! https://www.patreon.com/c/murdersheetSupport The Murder Sheet by buying a t-shirt here: https://www.murdersheetshop.com/Check out more inclusive sizing and t-shirt and merchandising options here: https://themurdersheet.dashery.com/Send tips to murdersheet@gmail.com.The Murder Sheet is a production of Mystery Sheet LLC.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On February 13, 2017, a man named Richard Allen murdered two girls, 14-year-old Liberty German and 13-year-old Abigail Williams in Delphi, in Carroll County. Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland and his team, Stacey Diener and James Luttrull, prosecuted him. Allen's defense team consisted of lead counsel Brad Rozzi, Jennifer Auger, and Andrew Baldwin.That defense team established a consistent pattern of engaging in baseless personal attacks on prosecutors and detectives throughout their representation, and also put forward a flimsy theory of the case centering an alleged Norse pagan cult. Allen was convicted on November 11, 2024 by a jury of his peers.The Murder Sheet can now exclusively report that Baldwin filed a ridiculous complaint against McLeland this past summer with Indiana's Disciplinary Commission, a body tasked with disciplinary complaints against lawyers. Baldwin's complaint was dismissed on its face. Now McLeland will weigh in on the whole situation. Find discounts for Murder Sheet listeners here: https://murdersheetpodcast.com/discountsCheck out our upcoming book events and get links to buy tickets here: https://murdersheetpodcast.com/eventsOrder our book on Delphi here: https://bookshop.org/p/books/shadow-of-the-bridge-the-delphi-murders-and-the-dark-side-of-the-american-heartland-aine-cain/21866881?ean=9781639369232Or here: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Shadow-of-the-Bridge/Aine-Cain/9781639369232Or here: https://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Bridge-Murders-American-Heartland/dp/1639369236Join our Patreon here! https://www.patreon.com/c/murdersheetSupport The Murder Sheet by buying a t-shirt here: https://www.murdersheetshop.com/Check out more inclusive sizing and t-shirt and merchandising options here: https://themurdersheet.dashery.com/Send tips to murdersheet@gmail.com.The Murder Sheet is a production of Mystery Sheet LLC.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On February 13, 2017, a man named Richard Allen murdered two girls, 14-year-old Liberty German and 13-year-old Abigail Williams in Delphi, in Carroll County. Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland and his team, Stacey Diener and James Luttrull, prosecuted him. Allen's defense team consisted of lead counsel Brad Rozzi, Jennifer Auger, and Andrew Baldwin. That defense team established a consistent pattern of engaging in baseless personal attacks on prosecutors and detectives throughout their representation, and also put forward a flimsy theory of the case centering an alleged Norse pagan cult. Allen was convicted on November 11, 2024 by a jury of his peers. The Murder Sheet can now exclusively report that Baldwin filed a ridiculous complaint against McLeland this past summer with Indiana's Disciplinary Commission, a body tasked with disciplinary complaints against lawyers. Baldwin's complaint was dismissed on its face. But we can now share that this was not the only frivolous complaint filed regarding the Delphi murders — we got one too.Find discounts for Murder Sheet listeners here: https://murdersheetpodcast.com/discountsCheck out our upcoming book events and get links to buy tickets here: https://murdersheetpodcast.com/eventsOrder our book on Delphi here: https://bookshop.org/p/books/shadow-of-the-bridge-the-delphi-murders-and-the-dark-side-of-the-american-heartland-aine-cain/21866881?ean=9781639369232Or here: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Shadow-of-the-Bridge/Aine-Cain/9781639369232Or here: https://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Bridge-Murders-American-Heartland/dp/1639369236Join our Patreon here! https://www.patreon.com/c/murdersheetSupport The Murder Sheet by buying a t-shirt here: https://www.murdersheetshop.com/Check out more inclusive sizing and t-shirt and merchandising options here: https://themurdersheet.dashery.com/Send tips to murdersheet@gmail.com.The Murder Sheet is a production of Mystery Sheet LLC.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Journey east with Matt Lewis and Martyn Whittock to uncover how the Vikings came face to face with the Slavs. Using clues like the Ingvar Rune Stones, Matt and Martyn discover how the Vikings reshaped Northeastern Europe, with Norse trade, warfare, and cultural exchange, as well as their role in the Byzantine Empire and Islamic Caliphates, and how these adventurers helped forge the Kievan Rus and influence Russian and Ukrainian identities.MOREViking TravelsListen on AppleListen on SpotifyRunesListen on AppleGone Medieval is presented by Matt Lewis. Audio editor is Amy Haddow, the senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.All music used is courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe. You can take part in our listener survey here: https://insights.historyhit.com/history-hit-podcast-always-on Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.