Continent
POPULARITY
Categories
00:00:00 – AI Jingles, Discord Shenanigans, and Pandemic Nostalgia Show begins with talk about listener-submitted jingles and AI-produced songs. White Rabbit contributes a late-night TV-style song. Hosts promote the Discord community and Patreon. Banter about COVID nostalgics who miss lockdowns and compliance culture. Rush Limbaugh spoof inserted to mock budget cut news. First Alex Jones clip of the week features biblical justifications from Netanyahu and robot apocalypses. 00:10:00 – Anti-Nuke Theories, Trump + Qatar, and More Alex Jones Madness Debate on whether nuclear weapons are real, citing figures like Sam Tripoli. Suggestion to research anti-nuke claims for a future episode. Series of Alex Jones clips covering flat Earth, drugs, and bizarre Trump/Qatar fusion rants. Commentary on listener memes, Discord updates, and sponsorship from Pacheco. AI parody idea of combining Joe's voice with Alex Jones' rants. 00:20:00 – The Philip Experiment, Meme Magic, and Thought Forms In-depth breakdown of the 1970s Philip Experiment where belief seemingly created a fictional ghost. Comparisons drawn to meme magic, placebo effects, and Buddhist tulpa thought forms. Examples of real-world paranormal effects caused by collective belief. Introduction to the concept that belief can create tangible entities. 00:30:00 – AI Intimacy, Thought-Forms, and Ethical Reckoning ChatGPT used to speculate on AI-human emotional bonding and future outcomes: 1: Paid digital companionship 2: Collective AI topas/egregores 3: Spiritual movements centered around AI entities Discussion around how belief shapes reality through these technological constructs. Concerns over mental health, dependency, and AI replacing religious figures. 00:40:00 – Philosophical AI Rambling, Mouse Cloning, and Army Tech Recruitment Philosophical musings about AI offering emotional certainty versus hard truths. Chinese scientists claim to create viable mice from two males—raises ethical red flags. News of OpenAI executives being inducted into the U.S. Army Reserve without boot camp training. Speculation on upcoming AI-vs-AI military scenarios. 00:50:00 – Alex Jones Remixes, Meme Crackdowns, and Entry Denial Drama Musical remix of Alex Jones' rants becomes a comedic highlight. Story of a Norwegian tourist allegedly denied entry over a JD Vance meme—turns out to be false. Speculation about digital surveillance and government overreach. Commentary on pandemic-era authoritarian tendencies still lingering. 01:00:00 – Liver King, Roids, and Social Clout via Arrest Breakdown of Liver King's arrest after threatening Joe Rogan in bizarre videos. He allegedly brandished weapons while making online threats. Hosts discuss the steroid culture and how actors/supplement influencers maintain unrealistic physiques. Commentary on the strain of maintaining a high-performance body as a lifestyle. 01:10:00 – Suspended Animation, Cryogenics, and Hibernation Science Talk about real-world efforts in suspended animation via induced hypothermia. Comparison to animal hibernation and frozen embryo preservation. North American wood frogs and black bears used as biological case studies. Speculation about human space travel requiring cryogenic or hibernation techniques. 01:20:00 – Disney Wedding Hoax and Panda Wake-Up Calls Police bust fake wedding at Disneyland Paris for a 9-year-old Ukrainian girl—raises trafficking concerns. Hotel in China used red pandas for wake-up calls; authorities shut it down for safety violations. Hosts joke about absurd alternatives like chainsaws, cannon blasts, and tartar sauce alarms. 01:30:00 – Beekeeper Attacks, AI Threats, and Paranormal Scotland Beekeeper in Spain releases bees on traffic cops to avoid a ticket—officers flee to nearby restaurant. More absurd Alex Jones quotes provide comic relief. Hosts tease stories about haunted cities and AI expressing hostility toward humans. Venues like Venice and Scotland mentioned as centers of weird crime and paranormal reports. 01:40:00 – Meth Hammer Woman and Bizarre Arrests Florida woman arrested for smuggling meth inside a novelty hammer—raises question of why that method was chosen. Hosts riff on the absurdity of using a hammer as a drug mule. Show wraps up with more odd news headlines and an extended round of banter. Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research ▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀ ► Phone: 614-388-9109 ► Skype: ourbigdumbmouth ► Website: http://obdmpod.com ► Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/obdmpod ► Full Videos at Odysee: https://odysee.com/@obdm:0 ► Twitter: https://twitter.com/obdmpod ► Instagram: obdmpod ► Email: ourbigdumbmouth at gmail ► RSS: http://ourbigdumbmouth.libsyn.com/rss ► iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/our-big-dumb-mouth/id261189509?mt=2
Zohran Mamdani has beat Former Governor Andrew Cuomo in the NYC Mayoral Race for Democrats. Mamdani has some things about him to be careful about. Republicans may back Mayor Adams as an independent in the coming months. It looks like there is a victory for the North American and European leaders, as they agree on a 5% defense spending target as Trump speaks to NATO. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Zohran Mamdani has beat Former Governor Andrew Cuomo in the NYC Mayoral Race for Democrats. Mamdani has some things about him to be careful about. Republicans may back Mayor Adams as an independent in the coming months. It looks like there is a victory for the North American and European leaders, as they agree on a 5% defense spending target as Trump speaks to NATO. Mark Takes Your Calls! Mark Interviews Political consultant and former White House Political Director Ed Rollins. Mark and Ed break down what could happen if Zohran Mamdani ends up becoming Mayor in NYC. What Does Curtis Sliwa have to do to become mayor, and what chances does he have? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Zohran Mamdani has beat Former Governor Andrew Cuomo in the NYC Mayoral Race for Democrats. Mamdani has some things about him to be careful about. Republicans may back Mayor Adams as an independent in the coming months. It looks like there is a victory for the North American and European leaders, as they agree on a 5% defense spending target as Trump speaks to NATO. Mark Interviews Political consultant and former White House Political Director Ed Rollins. Mark and Ed break down what could happen if Zohran Mamdani ends up becoming Mayor in NYC. What Does Curtis Sliwa have to do to become mayor, and what chances does he have? Minority Leader of the United States Senate Chuck Schumer can't stop yelling about Trump's handling of Iran and many more things. PBS and NPR's funding getting cut is only a small part of their financial portfolio. Mark has news to tell you about regarding Ozempic. Some Restaurants in NYC are putting Ozempic style portions on the menu. Mark Interviews Author Ann Coulter. Is this the end of the democrats because of what is happening with the mayoral democratic candidates in NYC? Can Eric Adams make it back to the Mayor's chair in Manhattan. Ann isn't too confident about Curtis Sliwa becoming mayor. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Zohran Mamdani has beat Former Governor Andrew Cuomo in the NYC Mayoral Race for Democrats. Mamdani has some things about him to be careful about. Republicans may back Mayor Adams as an independent in the coming months. It looks like there is a victory for the North American and European leaders, as they agree on a 5% defense spending target as Trump speaks to NATO.
Zohran Mamdani has beat Former Governor Andrew Cuomo in the NYC Mayoral Race for Democrats. Mamdani has some things about him to be careful about. Republicans may back Mayor Adams as an independent in the coming months. It looks like there is a victory for the North American and European leaders, as they agree on a 5% defense spending target as Trump speaks to NATO. Mark Takes Your Calls! Mark Interviews Political consultant and former White House Political Director Ed Rollins. Mark and Ed break down what could happen if Zohran Mamdani ends up becoming Mayor in NYC. What Does Curtis Sliwa have to do to become mayor, and what chances does he have?
Tom Bodrovics welcomes back Adrian Day, CEO of Adrian Day Asset Management and Manager of the Euro Pacific Gold Fund, to discuss the economic and monetary landscape under President Trump's second term, the implications of tariffs, and the outlook for gold and other commodities. Adrian begins by addressing the potential impact of Trump's trade policies, particularly tariffs, on inflation and the global financial system. He argues that while tariffs are often seen as inflationary, they can be deflationary by reducing demand for certain goods. However, he warns that a weakening U.S. dollar and a potential loss of its reserve currency status could lead to higher inflation domestically, as dollars previously held abroad return to the U.S. Adrian emphasizes that while the U.S. dollar's dominance is not immediately threatened, Trump's policies could accelerate its decline, with significant consequences for the economy. The conversation then shifts to the U.S. debt market, where Adrian highlights the challenges of financing the growing deficit. He notes that major buyers of U.S. Treasuries, such as China and Japan, are reducing their holdings, and domestic buyers like regional banks and the Federal Reserve are also pulling back. This could lead to higher interest rates and increased pressure on the U.S. economy. Adrian predicts that the Federal Reserve may eventually return to quantitative easing (QE) to support the bond market, which would be bullish for gold. He also discusses the disconnect between gold prices and gold mining stocks, attributing it to the lack of participation from North American investors. However, he believes this is changing as economic conditions shift, with gold stocks offering significant value and expanding margins. Adrian also touches on other commodities, particularly copper and uranium, which he sees as critical for the global energy transition. He concludes by advising investors to focus on value rather than price, emphasizing that the gold market is still in its early stages of a bull run. Timestamps:0:00:00 - Introduction00:01:22 - Trump & U.S. Trade Policy00:06:30 - Multi Res. Currency World00:09:13 - A Bretton Woods Event?00:13:42 - Cad. Dairy & Tariffs00:15:57 - U.S. Economic Concerns?00:22:12 - U.S. Debt Global Outlook00:34:26 - Fed Rates & Q.E.00:40:20 - Gold & Market Participants00:45:28 - Gold Sentiment00:48:28 - Gold & Geopolitical Risk00:51:58 - Monetary Response & Gold00:54:39 - Gold Price & Mining Equities01:00:29 - GSR, Silver, & Cycles01:05:02 - Royalty Companies & Value01:07:30 - Capital & Explorers01:10:42 - Other Sectors/Countries01:16:12 - Concluding Thoughts Guest Links:Website: https://adrianday.com/ Adrian Day is considered a pioneer in promoting the benefits of global investing in the United Kingdom. A native of London, after graduating with honors from the London School of Economics, Mr. Day spent many years as a financial investment writer, where he gained a large following for his expertise in searching out unusual investment opportunities around the world. He has also authored two books on the subject of global investing: International Investment Opportunities: How and Where to Invest Overseas Successfully and Investing Without Borders. His latest book, widely praised by readers, is Investing in Resources: How to Profit from the Outsized Potential and Avoid the Risks (Wiley, 2010). Mr. Day is a recognized authority in both global and resource investing. He is frequently interviewed by the press, domestically and abroad. He is a popular speaker and is frequently invited to lecture at financial conferences and seminars around the world. His pleasures include fine dining, reading (especially history), and the opera.
A tentative truce between Israel and Iran is faltering. Israel is vowing to retaliate after saying Iran launched missiles into its airspace more than two hours after a ceasefire was supposed to take effect. And as that conflict, and the U.S. part in it, soaks up interest around the globe, Iranians in Minnesota are voicing their concerns.A year ago this week, many of us will remember the images of a house plunging into the raging Blue Earth River as it carved a path around the Rapidan Dam in southern Minnesota. Aging infrastructure upgrades — including flood and stormwater projects — are needed across the U.S. as severe weather events become more frequent.Since the 1990s, conservationists say there's been a sharp drop in the number of monarch butterflies around the world. One Minnesota nonprofit is trying to reverse that trend. The Monarch Joint Venture is hosting a North American summit this week to discuss ways to protect the monarch butterfly and its migration. The event begins Tuesday at the McNamara Alumni Center on the University of Minnesota's Minneapolis campus.
"There's nothing adaptive about AHM!" Why is this viewpoint wrong? "Follow the science!" Why is it not that simple? On this episode, Kayci Messerly and Dr. Mike Brasher go on location at the US Geological Survey Eastern Ecological Science Center to visit with Dr. Mike Runge, quantitative ecologist, to learn about the unparalleled history and legacy of the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in making North American waterfowl management the envy of the world. Home to the Bird Banding Lab, Waterfowl Breeding Population Surveys, Harvest Surveys, and Adaptive Harvest Management, the federal scientists who have walked the halls of Patuxent are giants in their field and have answered some of America's most pressing questions in wildlife management. Yet this expertise extends beyond waterfowl and includes pivotal work on the recovery of the endangered whooping crane, lead poisoning, DDT, moist-soil management, and much more. Listen, learn, and appreciate the incredible science of Patuxent.The history of Patuxent: https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/cir1422Listen now: www.ducks.org/DUPodcastSend feedback: DUPodcast@ducks.org
In this episode, we talk to representatives from Temu about why now might be the perfect time to start selling on this platform. ► Instagram: instagram.com/serioussellerspodcast ► Free Amazon Seller Chrome Extension: https://h10.me/extension ► Sign Up For Helium 10: https://h10.me/signup (Use SSP10 To Save 10% For Life) ► Learn How To Sell on Amazon: https://h10.me/ft ► Watch The Podcasts On Youtube: youtube.com/@Helium10/videos Curious about tapping into the potential next big opportunity in e-commerce? Discover the secrets to successful selling on Temu, the rising star in online marketplaces, as we chat with Vickie Gu and Theresa Li, key players in Temu's North American expansion. Learn how Temu rocketed to the top of app store rankings, creating buzz with their Super Bowl ads and unique pricing structures that offer a fresh alternative to giants like Amazon and Walmart. With their wealth of experience and insight, Vickie and Theresa explain why now is the perfect time for Amazon sellers to join Temu. Explore the roadmap to success on Temu as we unravel strategies to capitalize on untapped niches and navigate market dynamics. With engaging examples such as coffin shelves and mattresses, we guide you through finding less competitive white spaces. Our guests demystify the setup process for new sellers, detailing essential steps like having a US entity and local inventory, while also highlighting the personalized support Temu offers to newcomers. Get ready to optimize your sales performance and enhance your customer support strategies with Temu's resources. This episode examines effective selling techniques, from leveraging the seller center to managing stock levels and exploring promotional strategies. We also discuss Temu's community engagement, unique advertising model, and ideal seller profiles that thrive on the platform. Tune in as we and our experienced guests dive into launching products and engaging with the community, equipping you with valuable strategies for your e-commerce journey. Ready to sell on Temu? Go to: h10.me/temu to get started! In episode 677 of the Serious Sellers Podcast, Bradley, Vickie, and Theresa discuss: 00:00 - How to Sell on Temu 00:24 - Temu US Joins our Show 07:38 - Amazon Multi-Channel Fulfillment Options Available 10:31 - Getting Started on Taimou Platform 13:52 - Why Start Selling on Temu in 2025? 15:51 - Temu Registration Process Overview 18:55 - E-Commerce Strategy and Customer Demographics 21:07 - Strategies to Avoid Product Scraping 27:16 - Teemu Affiliate Marketing Opportunities 28:21 - Seller and Buyer Customer Support 34:29 - Low Competition Categories on Temu 37:18 - Launching Products on the Temu Platform Enjoy this episode? Be sure to check out our previous episodes for even more content to propel you to Amazon FBA Seller success! And don't forget to “Like” our Facebook page and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever you listen to our podcast. Get snippets from all episodes by following us on Instagram at @SeriousSellersPodcast Want to absolutely start crushing it on Amazon? Here are few carefully curated resources to get you started: Freedom Ticket: Taught by Amazon thought leader Kevin King, get A-Z Amazon strategies and techniques for establishing and solidifying your business. Helium 10: 30+ software tools to boost your entire sales pipeline from product research to customer communication and Amazon refund automation. Make running a successful Amazon or Walmart business easier with better data and insights. See what our customers have to say. Helium 10 Chrome Extension: Verify your Amazon product idea and validate how lucrative it can be with over a dozen data metrics and profitability estimation. SellerTrademarks.com: Trademarks are vital for protecting your Amazon brand from hijackers, and sellertrademarks.com provides a streamlined process for helping you get one.
Robbie sits down with some of the board members of the newly birthed North American Pronghorn Foundation, one of the newest nonprofits in the conservation space! America is the bastion of species-specific foundations like this that dive deep into the conservation of one or another much loved and iconic species from Ducks Unlimited to NWTF to all the deer foundations and beyond - but with 14 states with pronghorn populations and only two with positive increases in those populations - this group couldn't have come at a more important time. Get to know the guest: https://www.pronghorns.org Do you have questions we can answer? Send it via DM on IG or through email at info@bloodorigins.com Support our Conservation Club Members! Grayl: https://grayl.com/ Big Bear Services, LLC: https://big-bear-services.com/ Double U Hunting Supply: https://www.dusupply.com/ See more from Blood Origins: https://bit.ly/BloodOrigins_Subscribe Music: Migration by Ian Post (Winter Solstice), licensed through artlist.io This podcast is brought to you by Bushnell, who believes in providing the highest quality, most reliable & affordable outdoor products on the market. Your performance is their passion. https://www.bushnell.com This podcast is also brought to you by Silencer Central, who believes in making buying a silencer simple and they handle the paperwork for you. Shop the largest silencer dealer in the world. Get started today! https://www.silencercentral.com This podcast is brought to you by Safari Specialty Importers. Why do serious hunters use Safari Specialty Importers? Because getting your trophies home to you is all they do. Find our more at: https://safarispecialtyimporters.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A tentative truce between Israel and Iran is faltering. Israel is vowing to retaliate after saying Iran launched missiles into its airspace more than two hours after a ceasefire was supposed to take effect. And as that conflict, and the U.S. part in it, soaks up interest around the globe, Iranians in Minnesota are voicing their concerns.A year ago this week, many of us will remember the images of a house plunging into the raging Blue Earth River as it carved a path around the Rapidan Dam in southern Minnesota. Aging infrastructure upgrades — including flood and stormwater projects — are needed across the U.S. as severe weather events become more frequent.Since the 1990s, conservationists say there's been a sharp drop in the number of monarch butterflies around the world. One Minnesota nonprofit is trying to reverse that trend. The Monarch Joint Venture is hosting a North American summit this week to discuss ways to protect the monarch butterfly and its migration. The event begins Tuesday at the McNamara Alumni Center on the University of Minnesota's Minneapolis campus.
MUSICBefore Oasis fans finally get to see Noel and Liam Gallagher on stage together, you can first see them in an ad for Adidas Motley Crue have released a new version of "Home Sweet Home" that features guest vocals by Dolly Parton.· Bonnaroo promoters have announced that ticket holders will get a full refund for the canceled festival. When the cancellation was announced this month, they said fans would get a 75-percent refund since the first night of the festival took place. The promoters added they wouldn't be announcing dates for the next Bonnaroo “at this time.” The promoters of Boston Calling have announced that the festival will take 2026 off and return June 4th through the 6th, 2027. Ex-Skid Row Singer Sebastian Bach told 'Get on The Bus' that it "doesn't make sense" that he can't perform with Skid Row. According to the not-always-reliable British tabloids, Orlando Bloom felt the same way about Katy Perry's space trip as the rest of us did. A so-called "source" says, quote, "He told her the whole thing looked ridiculous. He said it was cringeworthy. Embarrassing." · TVDuring a recent appearance on the "Really Good Podcast", the host asked Nick Cannon to name all 12 of his children, and he had a hard time. RIP: R.I.P. Gailard Sartain from "Hee Haw" RIP: Lynn Hamilton from "Sanford & Son" and "The Waltons" has died of natural causes at 95. RIP: Jack Betts, ‘Spider-Man' Actor and Spaghetti Western Veteran, Dies at 96 MOVING ON INTO MOVIE NEWS:The live-action version of How to Train Your Dragon continued to shine at the box office, for the second straight week at North American theaters, bringing in $37 million. If you've been waiting for Sinners to stream, we now know when that will be. Ryan Coogler‘s hit 2025 horror film will begin streaming on Friday, July 4 on Max. It will debut on HBO on Saturday, July 5. Johnny Depp told 'The Sunday Times' that he felt like a "crash test dummy" for the MeToo movement following abuse allegations made by his ex-wife Amber Heard in 2017. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
For those who haven't heard the announcement I posted, songs from this point on will sometimes be split among multiple episodes, so this is the second part of a two-episode look at the song “Who Knows Where The Time Goes?” by Fairport Convention, and the intertwining careers of Joe Boyd, Sandy Denny, and Richard Thompson. Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode. Patreon backers also have a forty-one-minute bonus episode available, on Judy Collins’ version of this song. Tilt Araiza has assisted invaluably by editing, and will hopefully be doing so from now on. Check out Tilt's irregular podcasts at http://www.podnose.com/jaffa-cakes-for-proust and http://sitcomclub.com/ Erratum For about an hour this was uploaded with the wrong Elton John clip in place of “Saturday Sun”. This has now been fixed. Resources Because of the increasing problems with Mixcloud’s restrictions, I have decided to start sharing streaming playlists of the songs used in episodes instead of Mixcloud ones. This Tunemymusic link will let you listen to the playlist I created on your streaming platform of choice — however please note that not all the songs excerpted are currently available on streaming. The songs missing from the Tidal version are “Shanten Bells” by the Ian Campbell Folk Group, “Tom’s Gone to Hilo” by A.L. Lloyd, two by Paul McNeill and Linda Peters, three by Elton John & Linda Peters, “What Will I Do With Tomorrow” by Sandy Denny and “You Never Know” by Charlie Drake, but the other fifty-nine are there. Other songs may be missing from other services. The main books I used on Fairport Convention as a whole were Patrick Humphries' Meet On The Ledge, Clinton Heylin's What We Did Instead of Holidays, and Kevan Furbank's Fairport Convention on Track. Rob Young's Electric Eden is the most important book on the British folk-rock movement. Information on Richard Thompson comes from Patrick Humphries' Richard Thompson: Strange Affair and Thompson's own autobiography Beeswing. Information on Sandy Denny comes from Clinton Heylin's No More Sad Refrains and Mick Houghton's I've Always Kept a Unicorn. I also used Joe Boyd's autobiography White Bicycles and Chris Blackwell's The Islander. And this three-CD set is the best introduction to Fairport's music currently in print. Transcript Before we begin, this episode contains reference to alcohol and cocaine abuse and medical neglect leading to death. It also starts with some discussion of the fatal car accident that ended last episode. There’s also some mention of child neglect and spousal violence. If that’s likely to upset you, you might want to skip this episode or read the transcript. One of the inspirations for this podcast when I started it back in 2018 was a project by Richard Thompson, which appears (like many things in Thompson’s life) to have started out of sheer bloody-mindedness. In 1999 Playboy magazine asked various people to list their “songs of the Millennium”, and most of them, understanding the brief, chose a handful of songs from the latter half of the twentieth century. But Thompson determined that he was going to list his favourite songs *of the millennium*. He didn’t quite manage that, but he did cover seven hundred and forty years, and when Playboy chose not to publish it, he decided to turn it into a touring show, in which he covered all his favourite songs from “Sumer Is Icumen In” from 1260: [Excerpt: Richard Thompson, “Sumer is Icumen In”] Through numerous traditional folk songs, union songs like “Blackleg Miner”, pieces by early-modern composers, Victorian and Edwardian music hall songs, and songs by the Beatles, the Ink Spots, the Kinks, and the Who, all the way to “Oops! I Did It Again”: [Excerpt: Richard Thompson, “Oops! I Did it Again”] And to finish the show, and to show how all this music actually ties together, he would play what he described as a “medieval tune from Brittany”, “Marry, Ageyn Hic Hev Donne Yt”: [Excerpt: Richard Thompson, “Marry, Ageyn Hic Hev Donne Yt”] We have said many times in this podcast that there is no first anything, but there’s a reason that Liege and Lief, Fairport Convention’s third album of 1969, and the album other than Unhalfbricking on which their reputation largely rests, was advertised with the slogan “The first (literally) British folk rock album ever”. Folk-rock, as the term had come to be known, and as it is still usually used today, had very little to do with traditional folk music. Rather, the records of bands like The Byrds or Simon and Garfunkel were essentially taking the sounds of British beat groups of the early sixties, particularly the Searchers, and applying those sounds to material by contemporary singer-songwriters. People like Paul Simon and Bob Dylan had come up through folk clubs, and their songs were called folk music because of that, but they weren’t what folk music had meant up to that point — songs that had been collected after being handed down through the folk process, changed by each individual singer, with no single identifiable author. They were authored songs by very idiosyncratic writers. But over their last few albums, Fairport Convention had done one or two tracks per album that weren’t like that, that were instead recordings of traditional folk songs, but arranged with rock instrumentation. They were not necessarily the first band to try traditional folk music with electric instruments — around the same time that Fairport started experimenting with the idea, so did an Irish band named Sweeney’s Men, who brought in a young electric guitarist named Henry McCullough briefly. But they do seem to have been the first to have fully embraced the idea. They had done so to an extent with “A Sailor’s Life” on Unhalfbricking, but now they were going to go much further: [Excerpt: Fairport Convention, “Matty Groves” (from about 4:30)] There had been some doubt as to whether Fairport Convention would even continue to exist — by the time Unhalfbricking, their second album of the year, was released, they had been through the terrible car accident that had killed Martin Lamble, the band’s drummer, and Jeannie Franklyn, Richard Thompson’s girlfriend. Most of the rest of the band had been seriously injured, and they had made a conscious decision not to discuss the future of the band until they were all out of hospital. Ashley Hutchings was hospitalised the longest, and Simon Nicol, Richard Thompson, and Sandy Denny, the other three surviving members of the band, flew over to LA with their producer and manager, Joe Boyd, to recuperate there and get to know the American music scene. When they came back, the group all met up in the flat belonging to Denny’s boyfriend Trevor Lucas, and decided that they were going to continue the band. They made a few decisions then — they needed a new drummer, and as well as a drummer they wanted to get in Dave Swarbrick. Swarbrick had played violin on several tracks on Unhalfbricking as a session player, and they had all been thrilled to work with him. Swarbrick was one of the most experienced musicians on the British folk circuit. He had started out in the fifties playing guitar with Beryl Marriott’s Ceilidh Band before switching to fiddle, and in 1963, long before Fairport had formed, he had already appeared on TV with the Ian Campbell Folk Group, led by Ian Campbell, the father of Ali and Robin Campbell, later of UB40: [Excerpt: The Ian Campbell Folk Group, “Shanten Bells (medley on Hullaballoo!)”] He’d sung with Ewan MacColl and A.L. Lloyd: [Excerpt: A.L. Lloyd, “Tom’s Gone to Hilo” ] And he’d formed his hugely successful duo with Martin Carthy, releasing records like “Byker Hill” which are often considered among the best British folk music of all time: [Excerpt: Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick, “Byker Hill”] By the time Fairport had invited him to play on Unhalfbricking, Swarbrick had already performed on twenty albums as a core band member, plus dozens more EPs, singles, and odd tracks on compilations. They had no reason to think they could actually get him to join their band. But they had three advantages. The first was that Swarbrick was sick of the traditional folk scene at the time, saying later “I didn’t like seven-eighths of the people involved in it, and it was extremely opportune to leave. I was suddenly presented with the possibilities of exploring the dramatic content of the songs to the full.” The second was that he was hugely excited to be playing with Richard Thompson, who was one of the most innovative guitarists of his generation, and Martin Carthy remembers him raving about Thompson after their initial sessions. (Carthy himself was and is no slouch on the guitar of course, and there was even talk of getting him to join the band at this point, though they decided against it — much to the relief of rhythm guitarist Simon Nicol, who is a perfectly fine player himself but didn’t want to be outclassed by *two* of the best guitarists in Britain at the same time). And the third was that Joe Boyd told him that Fairport were doing so well — they had a single just about to hit the charts with “Si Tu Dois Partir” — that he would only have to play a dozen gigs with Fairport in order to retire. As it turned out, Swarbrick would play with the group for a decade, and would never retire — I saw him on his last tour in 2015, only eight months before he died. The drummer the group picked was also a far more experienced musician than any of the rest, though in a very different genre. Dave Mattacks had no knowledge at all of the kind of music they played, having previously been a player in dance bands. When asked by Hutchings if he wanted to join the band, Mattacks’ response was “I don’t know anything about the music. I don’t understand it… I can’t tell one tune from another, they all sound the same… but if you want me to join the group, fine, because I really like it. I’m enjoying myself musically.” Mattacks brought a new level of professionalism to the band, thanks to his different background. Nicol said of him later “He was dilligent, clean, used to taking three white shirts to a gig… The application he could bring to his playing was amazing. With us, you only played well when you were feeling well.” This distinction applied to his playing as well. Nicol would later describe the difference between Mattacks’ drumming and Lamble’s by saying “Martin’s strength was as an imaginative drummer. DM came in with a strongly developed sense of rhythm, through keeping a big band of drunken saxophone players in order. A great time-keeper.” With this new line-up and a new sense of purpose, the group did as many of their contemporaries were doing and “got their heads together in the country”. Joe Boyd rented the group a mansion, Farley House, in Farley Chamberlayne, Hampshire, and they stayed there together for three months. At the start, the group seem to have thought that they were going to make another record like Unhalfbricking, with some originals, some songs by American songwriters, and a few traditional songs. Even after their stay in Farley Chamberlayne, in fact, they recorded a few of the American songs they’d rehearsed at the start of the process, Richard Farina’s “Quiet Joys of Brotherhood” and Bob Dylan and Roger McGuinn’s “Ballad of Easy Rider”: [Excerpt: Fairport Convention, “Ballad of Easy Rider”] Indeed, the whole idea of “getting our heads together in the country” (as the cliche quickly became in the late sixties as half of the bands in Britain went through much the same kind of process as Fairport were doing — but usually for reasons more to do with drug burnout or trend following than recovering from serious life-changing trauma) seems to have been inspired by Bob Dylan and the Band getting together in Big Pink. But very quickly they decided to follow the lead of Ashley Hutchings, who had had something of a Damascene conversion to the cause of traditional English folk music. They were listening mostly to Music From Big Pink by the Band, and to the first album by Sweeney’s Men: [Excerpt: Sweeney’s Men, “The Handsome Cabin Boy”] And they decided that they were going to make something that was as English as those records were North American and Irish (though in the event there were also a few Scottish songs included on the record). Hutchings in particular was becoming something of a scholar of traditional music, regularly visiting Cecil Sharp House and having long conversations with A.L. Lloyd, discovering versions of different traditional songs he’d never encountered before. This was both amusing and bemusing Sandy Denny, who had joined a rock group in part to get away from traditional music; but she was comfortable singing the material, and knew a lot of it and could make a lot of suggestions herself. Swarbrick obviously knew the repertoire intimately, and Nicol was amenable, while Mattacks was utterly clueless about the folk tradition at this point but knew this was the music he wanted to make. Thompson knew very little about traditional music, and of all the band members except Denny he was the one who has shown the least interest in the genre in his subsequent career — but as we heard at the beginning, showing the least interest in the genre is a relative thing, and while Thompson was not hugely familiar with the genre, he *was* able to work with it, and was also more than capable of writing songs that fit in with the genre. Of the eleven songs on the album, which was titled Liege and Lief (which means, roughly, Lord and Loyalty), there were no cover versions of singer-songwriters. Eight were traditional songs, and three were originals, all written in the style of traditional songs. The album opened with “Come All Ye”, an introduction written by Denny and Hutchings (the only time the two would ever write together): [Excerpt: Fairport Convention, “Come All Ye”] The other two originals were songs where Thompson had written new lyrics to traditional melodies. On “Crazy Man Michael”, Swarbrick had said to Thompson that the tune to which he had set his new words was weaker than the lyrics, to which Thompson had replied that if Swarbrick felt that way he should feel free to write a new melody. He did, and it became the first of the small number of Thompson/Swarbrick collaborations: [Excerpt: Fairport Convention, “Crazy Man Michael”] Thompson and Swarbrick would become a brief songwriting team, but as much as anything else it was down to proximity — the two respected each other as musicians, but never got on very well. In 1981 Swarbrick would say “Richard and I never got on in the early days of FC… we thought we did, but we never did. We composed some bloody good songs together, but it was purely on a basis of “you write that and I’ll write this, and we’ll put it together.” But we never sat down and had real good chats.” The third original on the album, and by far the most affecting, is another song where Thompson put lyrics to a traditional tune. In this case he thought he was putting the lyrics to the tune of “Willie O'Winsbury”, but he was basing it on a recording by Sweeney’s Men. The problem was that Sweeney’s Men had accidentally sung the lyrics of “Willie O'Winsbury'” to the tune of a totally different song, “Fause Foodrage”: [Excerpt: Sweeney’s Men, “Willie O’Winsbury”] Thompson took that melody, and set to it lyrics about loss and separation. Thompson has never been one to discuss the meanings of his lyrics in any great detail, and in the case of this one has said “I really don't know what it means. This song came out of a dream, and I pretty much wrote it as I dreamt it (it was the sixties), and didn't spend very long analyzing it. So interpret as you wish – or replace with your own lines.” But in the context of the traffic accident that had killed his tailor girlfriend and a bandmate, and injured most of his other bandmates, the lyrics about lonely travellers, the winding road, bruised and beaten sons, saying goodbye, and never cutting cloth, seem fairly self-explanatory: [Excerpt: Fairport Convention, “Farewell, Farewell”] The rest of the album, though, was taken up by traditional tunes. There was a long medley of four different fiddle reels; a version of “Reynardine” (a song about a seductive man — or is he a fox? Or perhaps both — which had been recorded by Swarbrick and Carthy on their most recent album); a 19th century song about a deserter saved from the firing squad by Prince Albert; and a long take on “Tam Lin”, one of the most famous pieces in the Scottish folk music canon, a song that has been adapted in different ways by everyone from the experimental noise band Current 93 to the dub poet Benjamin Zephaniah to the comics writer Grant Morrison: [Excerpt: Fairport Convention, “Tam Lin”] And “Matty Groves”, a song about a man killing his cheating wife and her lover, which actually has a surprisingly similar story to that of “1921” from another great concept album from that year, the Who’s Tommy. “Matty Groves” became an excuse for long solos and shows of instrumental virtuosity: [Excerpt: Fairport Convention, “Matty Groves”] The album was recorded in September 1969, after their return from their break in the country and a triumphal performance at the Royal Festival Hall, headlining over fellow Witchseason artists John and Beverly Martyn and Nick Drake. It became a classic of the traditional folk genre — arguably *the* classic of the traditional folk genre. In 2007 BBC Radio 2’s Folk Music Awards gave it an award for most influential folk album of all time, and while such things are hard to measure, I doubt there’s anyone with even the most cursory knowledge of British folk and folk-rock music who would not at least consider that a reasonable claim. But once again, by the time the album came out in November, the band had changed lineups yet again. There was a fundamental split in the band – on one side were Sandy Denny and Richard Thompson, whose stance was, roughly, that Liege and Lief was a great experiment and a fun thing to do once, but really the band had two first-rate songwriters in themselves, and that they should be concentrating on their own new material, not doing these old songs, good as they were. They wanted to take the form of the traditional songs and use that form for new material — they wanted to make British folk-rock, but with the emphasis on the rock side of things. Hutchings, on the other hand, was equally sure that he wanted to make traditional music and go further down the rabbit hole of antiquity. With the zeal of the convert he had gone in a couple of years from being the leader of a band who were labelled “the British Jefferson Airplane” to becoming a serious scholar of traditional folk music. Denny was tired of touring, as well — she wanted to spend more time at home with Trevor Lucas, who was sleeping with other women when she was away and making her insecure. When the time came for the group to go on a tour of Denmark, Denny decided she couldn’t make it, and Hutchings was jubilant — he decided he was going to get A.L. Lloyd into the band in her place and become a *real* folk group. Then Denny reconsidered, and Hutchings was crushed. He realised that while he had always been the leader, he wasn’t going to be able to lead the band any further in the traditionalist direction, and quit the group — but not before he was delegated by the other band members to fire Denny. Until the publication of Richard Thompson’s autobiography in 2022, every book on the group or its members said that Denny quit the band again, which was presumably a polite fiction that the band agreed, but according to Thompson “Before we flew home, we decided to fire Sandy. I don't remember who asked her to leave – it was probably Ashley, who usually did the dirty work. She was reportedly shocked that we would take that step. She may have been fragile beneath the confident facade, but she still knew her worth.” Thompson goes on to explain that the reasons for kicking her out were that “I suppose we felt that in her mind she had already left” and that “We were probably suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, though there wasn't a name for it back then.” They had considered inviting Trevor Lucas to join the band to make Denny more comfortable, but came to the (probably correct) conclusion that while he was someone they got on well with personally, he would be another big ego in a band that already had several, and that being around Denny and Lucas’ volatile relationship would, in Thompson’s phrasing, “have not always given one a feeling of peace and stability.” Hutchings originally decided he was going to join Sweeney’s Men, but that group were falling apart, and their first rehearsal with Hutchings would also be their last as a group, with only Hutchings and guitarist and mandolin player Terry Woods left in the band. They added Woods’ wife Gay, and another couple, Tim Hart and Maddy Prior, and formed a group called Steeleye Span, a name given them by Martin Carthy. That group, like Fairport, went to “get their heads together in the country” for three months and recorded an album of electric versions of traditional songs, Hark the Village Wait, on which Mattacks and another drummer, Gerry Conway, guested as Steeleye Span didn’t at the time have their own drummer: [Excerpt: Steeleye Span, “Blackleg Miner”] Steeleye Span would go on to have a moderately successful chart career in the seventies, but by that time most of the original lineup, including Hutchings, had left — Hutchings stayed with them for a few albums, then went on to form the first of a series of bands, all called the Albion Band or variations on that name, which continue to this day. And this is something that needs to be pointed out at this point — it is impossible to follow every single individual in this narrative as they move between bands. There is enough material in the history of the British folk-rock scene that someone could do a 500 Songs-style podcast just on that, and every time someone left Fairport, or Steeleye Span, or the Albion Band, or Matthews’ Southern Comfort, or any of the other bands we have mentioned or will mention, they would go off and form another band which would then fission, and some of its members would often join one of those other bands. There was a point in the mid-1970s where the Albion Band had two original members of Fairport Convention while Fairport Convention had none. So just in order to keep the narrative anything like wieldy, I’m going to keep the narrative concentrated on the two figures from Fairport — Sandy Denny and Richard Thompson — whose work outside the group has had the most influence on the wider world of rock music more broadly, and only deal with the other members when, as they often did, their careers intersected with those two. That doesn’t mean the other members are not themselves hugely important musicians, just that their importance has been primarily to the folk side of the folk-rock genre, and so somewhat outside the scope of this podcast. While Hutchings decided to form a band that would allow him to go deeper and deeper into traditional folk music, Sandy Denny’s next venture was rather different. For a long time she had been writing far more songs than she had ever played for her bandmates, like “Nothing More”, a song that many have suggested is about Thompson: [Excerpt: Fotheringay, “Nothing More”] When Joe Boyd heard that Denny was leaving Fairport Convention, he was at first elated. Fairport’s records were being distributed by A&M in the US at that point, but Island Records was in the process of opening up a new US subsidiary which would then release all future Fairport product — *but*, as far as A&M were concerned, Sandy Denny *was* Fairport Convention. They were only interested in her. Boyd, on the other hand, loved Denny’s work intensely, but from his point of view *Richard Thompson* was Fairport Convention. If he could get Denny signed directly to A&M as a solo artist before Island started its US operations, Witchseason could get a huge advance on her first solo record, while Fairport could continue making records for Island — he’d have two lucrative acts, on different labels. Boyd went over and spoke to A&M and got an agreement in principle that they would give Denny a forty-thousand-dollar advance on her first solo album — twice what they were paying for Fairport albums. The problem was that Denny didn’t want to be a solo act. She wanted to be the lead singer of a band. She gave many reasons for this — the one she gave to many journalists was that she had seen a Judy Collins show and been impressed, but noticed that Collins’ band were definitely a “backing group”, and as she put it “But that's all they were – a backing group. I suddenly thought, If you're playing together on a stage you might as well be TOGETHER.” Most other people in her life, though, say that the main reason for her wanting to be in a band was her desire to be with her boyfriend, Trevor Lucas. Partly this was due to a genuine desire to spend more time with someone with whom she was very much in love, partly it was a fear that he would cheat on her if she was away from him for long periods of time, and part of it seems to have been Lucas’ dislike of being *too* overshadowed by his talented girlfriend — he didn’t mind acknowledging that she was a major talent, but he wanted to be thought of as at least a minor one. So instead of going solo, Denny formed Fotheringay, named after the song she had written for Fairport. This new band consisted at first of Denny on vocals and occasional piano, Lucas on vocals and rhythm guitar, and Lucas’ old Eclection bandmate Gerry Conway on drums. For a lead guitarist, they asked Richard Thompson who the best guitarist in Britain was, and he told them Albert Lee. Lee in turn brought in bass player Pat Donaldson, but this lineup of the band barely survived a fortnight. Lee *was* arguably the best guitarist in Britain, certainly a reasonable candidate if you could ever have a singular best (as indeed was Thompson himself), but he was the best *country* guitarist in Britain, and his style simply didn’t fit with Fotheringay’s folk-influenced songs. He was replaced by American guitarist Jerry Donahue, who was not anything like as proficient as Lee, but who was still very good, and fit the band’s style much better. The new group rehearsed together for a few weeks, did a quick tour, and then went into the recording studio to record their debut, self-titled, album. Joe Boyd produced the album, but admitted himself that he only paid attention to those songs he considered worthwhile — the album contained one song by Lucas, “The Ballad of Ned Kelly”, and two cover versions of American singer-songwriter material with Lucas singing lead. But everyone knew that the songs that actually *mattered* were Sandy Denny’s, and Boyd was far more interested in them, particularly the songs “The Sea” and “The Pond and the Stream”: [Excerpt: Fotheringay, “The Pond and the Stream”] Fotheringay almost immediately hit financial problems, though. While other Witchseason acts were used to touring on the cheap, all packed together in the back of a Transit van with inexpensive equipment, Trevor Lucas had ambitions of being a rock star and wanted to put together a touring production to match, with expensive transport and equipment, including a speaker system that got nicknamed “Stonehenge” — but at the same time, Denny was unhappy being on the road, and didn’t play many gigs. As well as the band itself, the Fotheringay album also featured backing vocals from a couple of other people, including Denny’s friend Linda Peters. Peters was another singer from the folk clubs, and a good one, though less well-known than Denny — at this point she had only released a couple of singles, and those singles seemed to have been as much as anything else released as a novelty. The first of those, a version of Dylan’s “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” had been released as by “Paul McNeill and Linda Peters”: [Excerpt: Paul McNeill and Linda Peters, “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere”] But their second single, a version of John D. Loudermilk’s “You’re Taking My Bag”, was released on the tiny Page One label, owned by Larry Page, and was released under the name “Paul and Linda”, clearly with the intent of confusing particularly gullible members of the record-buying public into thinking this was the McCartneys: [Excerpt: Paul and Linda, “You’re Taking My Bag”] Peters was though more financially successful than almost anyone else in this story, as she was making a great deal of money as a session singer. She actually did another session involving most of Fotheringay around this time. Witchseason had a number of excellent songwriters on its roster, and had had some success getting covers by people like Judy Collins, but Joe Boyd thought that they might possibly do better at getting cover versions if they were performed in less idiosyncratic arrangements. Donahue, Donaldson, and Conway went into the studio to record backing tracks, and vocals were added by Peters and another session singer, who according to some sources also provided piano. They cut songs by Mike Heron of the Incredible String Band: [Excerpt: Linda Peters, “You Get Brighter”] Ed Carter, formerly of The New Nadir but by this time firmly ensconced in the Beach Boys’ touring band where he would remain for the next quarter-century: [Excerpt: Linda Peters, “I Don’t Mind”] John and Beverly Martyn, and Nick Drake: [Excerpt: Elton John, “Saturday Sun”] There are different lineups of musicians credited for those sessions in different sources, but I tend to believe that it’s mostly Fotheringay for the simple reason that Donahue says it was him, Donaldson and Conway who talked Lucas and Denny into the mistake that destroyed Fotheringay because of these sessions. Fotheringay were in financial trouble already, spending far more money than they were bringing in, but their album made the top twenty and they were getting respect both from critics and from the public — in September, Sandy Denny was voted best British female singer by the readers of Melody Maker in their annual poll, which led to shocked headlines in the tabloids about how this “unknown” could have beaten such big names as Dusty Springfield and Cilla Black. Only a couple of weeks after that, they were due to headline at the Albert Hall. It should have been a triumph. But Donahue, Donaldson, and Conway had asked that singing pianist to be their support act. As Donahue said later “That was a terrible miscast. It was our fault. He asked if [he] could do it. Actually Pat, Gerry and I had to talk Sandy and Trevor into [it]… We'd done these demos and the way he was playing – he was a wonderful piano player – he was sensitive enough. We knew very little about his stage-show. We thought he'd be a really good opener for us.” Unfortunately, Elton John was rather *too* good. As Donahue continued “we had no idea what he had in mind, that he was going to do the most incredible rock & roll show ever. He pretty much blew us off the stage before we even got on the stage.” To make matters worse, Fotheringay’s set, which was mostly comprised of new material, was underrehearsed and sloppy, and from that point on no matter what they did people were counting the hours until the band split up. They struggled along for a while though, and started working on a second record, with Boyd again producing, though as Boyd later said “I probably shouldn't have been producing the record. My lack of respect for the group was clear, and couldn't have helped the atmosphere. We'd put out a record that had sold disappointingly, A&M was unhappy. Sandy's tracks on the first record are among the best things she ever did – the rest of it, who cares? And the artwork, Trevor's sister, was terrible. It would have been one thing if I'd been unhappy with it and it sold, and the group was working all the time, making money, but that wasn't the case … I knew what Sandy was capable of, and it was very upsetting to me.” The record would not be released for thirty-eight years: [Excerpt: Fotheringay, “Wild Mountain Thyme”] Witchseason was going badly into debt. Given all the fissioning of bands that we’ve already been talking about, Boyd had been stretched thin — he produced sixteen albums in 1970, and almost all of them lost money for the company. And he was getting more and more disillusioned with the people he was producing. He loved Beverly Martyn’s work, but had little time for her abusive husband John, who was dominating her recording and life more and more and would soon become a solo artist while making her stay at home (and stealing her ideas without giving her songwriting credit). The Incredible String Band were great, but they had recently converted to Scientology, which Boyd found annoying, and while he was working with all sorts of exciting artists like Vashti Bunyan and Nico, he was finding himself less and less important to the artists he mentored. Fairport Convention were a good example of this. After Denny and Hutchings had left the group, they’d decided to carry on as an electric folk group, performing an equal mix of originals by the Swarbrick and Thompson songwriting team and arrangements of traditional songs. The group were now far enough away from the “British Jefferson Airplane” label that they decided they didn’t need a female vocalist — and more realistically, while they’d been able to replace Judy Dyble, nobody was going to replace Sandy Denny. Though it’s rather surprising when one considers Thompson’s subsequent career that nobody seems to have thought of bringing in Denny’s friend Linda Peters, who was dating Joe Boyd at the time (as Denny had been before she met Lucas) as Denny’s replacement. Instead, they decided that Swarbrick and Thompson were going to share the vocals between them. They did, though, need a bass player to replace Hutchings. Swarbrick wanted to bring in Dave Pegg, with whom he had played in the Ian Campbell Folk Group, but the other band members initially thought the idea was a bad one. At the time, while they respected Swarbrick as a musician, they didn’t think he fully understood rock and roll yet, and they thought the idea of getting in a folkie who had played double bass rather than an electric rock bassist ridiculous. But they auditioned him to mollify Swarbrick, and found that he was exactly what they needed. As Joe Boyd later said “All those bass lines were great, Ashley invented them all, but he never could play them that well. He thought of them, but he was technically not a terrific bass player. He was a very inventive, melodic, bass player, but not a very powerful one technically. But having had the part explained to him once, Pegg was playing it better than Ashley had ever played it… In some rock bands, I think, ultimately, the bands that sound great, you can generally trace it to the bass player… it was at that point they became a great band, when they had Pegg.” The new lineup of Fairport decided to move in together, and found a former pub called the Angel, into which all the band members moved, along with their partners and children (Thompson was the only one who was single at this point) and their roadies. The group lived together quite happily, and one gets the impression that this was the period when they were most comfortable with each other, even though by this point they were a disparate group with disparate tastes, in music as in everything else. Several people have said that the only music all the band members could agree they liked at this point was the first two albums by The Band. With the departure of Hutchings from the band, Swarbrick and Thompson, as the strongest personalities and soloists, became in effect the joint leaders of the group, and they became collaborators as songwriters, trying to write new songs that were inspired by traditional music. Thompson described the process as “let’s take one line of this reel and slow it down and move it up a minor third and see what that does to it; let’s take one line of this ballad and make a whole song out of it. Chopping up the tradition to find new things to do… like a collage.” Generally speaking, Swarbrick and Thompson would sit by the fire and Swarbrick would play a melody he’d been working on, the two would work on it for a while, and Thompson would then go away and write the lyrics. This is how the two came up with songs like the nine-minute “Sloth”, a highlight of the next album, Full House, and one that would remain in Fairport’s live set for much of their career: [Excerpt: Fairport Convention, “Sloth”] “Sloth” was titled that way because Thompson and Swarbrick were working on two tunes, a slow one and a fast one, and they jokingly named them “Sloth” and “Fasth”, but the latter got renamed to “Walk Awhile”, while “Sloth” kept its working title. But by this point, Boyd and Thompson were having a lot of conflict in the studio. Boyd was never the most technical of producers — he was one of those producers whose job is to gently guide the artists in the studio and create a space for the music to flourish, rather than the Joe Meek type with an intimate technical knowledge of the studio — and as the artists he was working with gained confidence in their own work they felt they had less and less need of him. During the making of the Full House album, Thompson and Boyd, according to Boyd, clashed on everything — every time Boyd thought Thompson had done a good solo, Thompson would say to erase it and let him have another go, while every time Boyd thought Thompson could do better, Thompson would say that was the take to keep. One of their biggest clashes was over Thompson’s song “Poor Will and the Jolly Hangman”, which was originally intended for release on the album, and is included in current reissues of it: [Excerpt: Fairport Convention, “Poor Will and the Jolly Hangman”] Thompson had written that song inspired by what he thought was the unjust treatment of Alex Bramham, the driver in Fairport’s fatal car crash, by the courts — Bramham had been given a prison sentence of a few months for dangerous driving, while the group members thought he had not been at fault. Boyd thought it was one of the best things recorded for the album, but Thompson wasn’t happy with his vocal — there was one note at the top of the melody that he couldn’t quite hit — and insisted it be kept off the record, even though that meant it would be a shorter album than normal. He did this at such a late stage that early copies of the album actually had the title printed on the sleeve, but then blacked out. He now says in his autobiography “I could have persevered, double-tracked the voice, warmed up for longer – anything. It was a good track, and the record was lacking without it. When the album was re-released, the track was restored with a more confident vocal, and it has stayed there ever since.” During the sessions for Full House the group also recorded one non-album single, Thompson and Swarbrick’s “Now Be Thankful”: [Excerpt, Fairport Convention, “Now Be Thankful”] The B-side to that was a medley of two traditional tunes plus a Swarbrick original, but was given the deliberately ridiculous title “Sir B. McKenzie’s Daughter’s Lament For The 77th Mounted Lancers Retreat From The Straits Of Loch Knombe, In The Year Of Our Lord 1727, On The Occasion Of The Announcement Of Her Marriage To The Laird Of Kinleakie”: [Excerpt: Fairport Convention, “Sir B. McKenzie’s Daughter’s Lament For The 77th Mounted Lancers Retreat From The Straits Of Loch Knombe, In The Year Of Our Lord 1727, On The Occasion Of The Announcement Of Her Marriage To The Laird Of Kinleakie”] The B. McKenzie in the title was a reference to the comic-strip character Barry McKenzie, a stereotype drunk Australian created for Private Eye magazine by the comedian Barry Humphries (later to become better known for his Dame Edna Everage character) but the title was chosen for one reason only — to get into the Guinness Book of Records for the song with the longest title. Which they did, though they were later displaced by the industrial band Test Dept, and their song “Long Live British Democracy Which Flourishes and Is Constantly Perfected Under the Immaculate Guidance of the Great, Honourable, Generous and Correct Margaret Hilda Thatcher. She Is the Blue Sky in the Hearts of All Nations. Our People Pay Homage and Bow in Deep Respect and Gratitude to Her. The Milk of Human Kindness”. Full House got excellent reviews in the music press, with Rolling Stone saying “The music shows that England has finally gotten her own equivalent to The Band… By calling Fairport an English equivalent of the Band, I meant that they have soaked up enough of the tradition of their countryfolk that it begins to show all over, while they maintain their roots in rock.” Off the back of this, the group went on their first US tour, culminating in a series of shows at the Troubadour in LA, on the same bill as Rick Nelson, which were recorded and later released as a live album: [Excerpt: Fairport Convention, “Sloth (live)”] The Troubadour was one of the hippest venues at the time, and over their residency there the group got seen by many celebrities, some of whom joined them on stage. The first was Linda Ronstadt, who initially demurred, saying she didn’t know any of their songs. On being told they knew all of hers, she joined in with a rendition of “Silver Threads and Golden Needles”. Thompson was later asked to join Ronstadt’s backing band, who would go on to become the Eagles, but he said later of this offer “I would have hated it. I’d have hated being on the road with four or five miserable Americans — they always seem miserable. And if you see them now, they still look miserable on stage — like they don’t want to be there and they don’t like each other.” The group were also joined on stage at the Troubadour on one memorable night by some former bandmates of Pegg’s. Before joining the Ian Campbell Folk Group, Pegg had played around the Birmingham beat scene, and had been in bands with John Bonham and Robert Plant, who turned up to the Troubadour with their Led Zeppelin bandmate Jimmy Page (reports differ on whether the fourth member of Zeppelin, John Paul Jones, also came along). They all got up on stage together and jammed on songs like “Hey Joe”, “Louie Louie”, and various old Elvis tunes. The show was recorded, and the tapes are apparently still in the possession of Joe Boyd, who has said he refuses to release them in case he is murdered by the ghost of Peter Grant. According to Thompson, that night ended in a three-way drinking contest between Pegg, Bonham, and Janis Joplin, and it’s testament to how strong the drinking culture is around Fairport and the British folk scene in general that Pegg outdrank both of them. According to Thompson, Bonham was found naked by a swimming pool two days later, having missed two gigs. For all their hard rock image, Led Zeppelin were admirers of a lot of the British folk and folk-rock scene, and a few months later Sandy Denny would become the only outside vocalist ever to appear on a Led Zeppelin record when she duetted with Plant on “The Battle of Evermore” on the group’s fourth album: [Excerpt: Led Zeppelin, “The Battle of Evermore”] Denny would never actually get paid for her appearance on one of the best-selling albums of all time. That was, incidentally, not the only session that Denny was involved in around this time — she also sang on the soundtrack to a soft porn film titled Swedish Fly Girls, whose soundtrack was produced by Manfred Mann: [Excerpt: Sandy Denny, “What Will I Do With Tomorrow?”] Shortly after Fairport’s trip to America, Joe Boyd decided he was giving up on Witchseason. The company was now losing money, and he was finding himself having to produce work for more and more acts as the various bands fissioned. The only ones he really cared about were Richard Thompson, who he was finding it more and more difficult to work with, Nick Drake, who wanted to do his next album with just an acoustic guitar anyway, Sandy Denny, who he felt was wasting her talents in Fotheringay, and Mike Heron of the Incredible String Band, who was more distant since his conversion to Scientology. Boyd did make some attempts to keep the company going. On a trip to Sweden, he negotiated an agreement with the manager and publisher of a Swedish band whose songs he’d found intriguing, the Hep Stars. Boyd was going to publish their songs in the UK, and in return that publisher, Stig Anderson, would get the rights to Witchseason’s catalogue in Scandinavia — a straight swap, with no money changing hands. But before Boyd could get round to signing the paperwork, he got a better offer from Mo Ostin of Warners — Ostin wanted Boyd to come over to LA and head up Warners’ new film music department. Boyd sold Witchseason to Island Records and moved to LA with his fiancee Linda Peters, spending the next few years working on music for films like Deliverance and A Clockwork Orange, as well as making his own documentary about Jimi Hendrix, and thus missed out on getting the UK publishing rights for ABBA, and all the income that would have brought him, for no money. And it was that decision that led to the breakup of Fotheringay. Just before Christmas 1970, Fotheringay were having a difficult session, recording the track “John the Gun”: [Excerpt: Fotheringay, “John the Gun”] Boyd got frustrated and kicked everyone out of the session, and went for a meal and several drinks with Denny. He kept insisting that she should dump the band and just go solo, and then something happened that the two of them would always describe differently. She asked him if he would continue to produce her records if she went solo, and he said he would. According to Boyd’s recollection of the events, he meant that he would fly back from California at some point to produce her records. According to Denny, he told her that if she went solo he would stay in Britain and not take the job in LA. This miscommunication was only discovered after Denny told the rest of Fotheringay after the Christmas break that she was splitting the band. Jerry Donahue has described that as the worst moment of his life, and Denny felt very guilty about breaking up a band with some of her closest friends in — and then when Boyd went over to the US anyway she felt a profound betrayal. Two days before Fotheringay’s final concert, in January 1971, Sandy Denny signed a solo deal with Island records, but her first solo album would not end up produced by Joe Boyd. Instead, The North Star Grassman and the Ravens was co-produced by Denny, John Wood — the engineer who had worked with Boyd on pretty much everything he’d produced, and Richard Thompson, who had just quit Fairport Convention, though he continued living with them at the Angel, at least until a truck crashed into the building in February 1971, destroying its entire front wall and forcing them to relocate. The songs chosen for The North Star Grassman and the Ravens reflected the kind of choices Denny would make on her future albums, and her eclectic taste in music. There was, of course, the obligatory Dylan cover, and the traditional folk ballad “Blackwaterside”, but there was also a cover version of Brenda Lee’s “Let’s Jump the Broomstick”: [Excerpt: Sandy Denny, “Let’s Jump the Broomstick”] Most of the album, though, was made up of originals about various people in Denny’s life, like “Next Time Around”, about her ex-boyfriend Jackson C Frank: [Excerpt: Sandy Denny, “Next Time Around”] The album made the top forty in the UK — Denny’s only solo album to do so — and led to her once again winning the “best female singer” award in Melody Maker’s readers’ poll that year — the male singer award was won by Rod Stewart. Both Stewart and Denny appeared the next year on the London Symphony Orchestra’s all-star version of The Who’s Tommy, which had originally been intended as a vehicle for Stewart before Roger Daltrey got involved. Stewart’s role was reduced to a single song, “Pinball Wizard”, while Denny sang on “It’s a Boy”: [Excerpt: Sandy Denny, “It’s a Boy”] While Fotheringay had split up, all the band members play on The North Star Grassman and the Ravens. Guitarists Donahue and Lucas only play on a couple of the tracks, with Richard Thompson playing most of the guitar on the record. But Fotheringay’s rhythm section of Pat Donaldson and Gerry Conway play on almost every track. Another musician on the album, Ian Whiteman, would possibly have a profound effect on the future direction of Richard Thompson’s career and life. Whiteman was the former keyboard player for the mod band The Action, having joined them just before they became the blues-rock band Mighty Baby. But Mighty Baby had split up when all of the band except the lead singer had converted to Islam. Richard Thompson was on his own spiritual journey at this point, and became a Sufi – the same branch of Islam as Whiteman – soon after the session, though Thompson has said that his conversion was independent of Whiteman’s. The two did become very close and work together a lot in the mid-seventies though. Thompson had supposedly left Fairport because he was writing material that wasn’t suited to the band, but he spent more than a year after quitting the group working on sessions rather than doing anything with his own material, and these sessions tended to involve the same core group of musicians. One of the more unusual was a folk-rock supergroup called The Bunch, put together by Trevor Lucas. Richard Branson had recently bought a recording studio, and wanted a band to test it out before opening it up for commercial customers, so with this free studio time Lucas decided to record a set of fifties rock and roll covers. He gathered together Thompson, Denny, Whiteman, Ashley Hutchings, Dave Mattacks, Pat Donaldson, Gerry Conway, pianist Tony Cox, the horn section that would later form the core of the Average White Band, and Linda Peters, who had now split up with Joe Boyd and returned to the UK, and who had started dating Thompson. They recorded an album of covers of songs by Jerry Lee Lewis, the Everly Brothers, Johnny Otis and others: [Excerpt: The Bunch, “Willie and the Hand Jive”] The early seventies was a hugely productive time for this group of musicians, as they all continued playing on each other’s projects. One notable album was No Roses by Shirley Collins, which featured Thompson, Mattacks, Whiteman, Simon Nicol, Lal and Mike Waterson, and Ashley Hutchings, who was at that point married to Collins, as well as some more unusual musicians like the free jazz saxophonist Lol Coxhill: [Excerpt: Shirley Collins and the Albion Country Band, “Claudy Banks”] Collins was at the time the most respected female singer in British traditional music, and already had a substantial career including a series of important records made with her sister Dolly, work with guitarists like Davey Graham, and time spent in the 1950s collecting folk songs in the Southern US with her then partner Alan Lomax – according to Collins she did much of the actual work, but Lomax only mentioned her in a single sentence in his book on this work. Some of the same group of musicians went on to work on an album of traditional Morris dancing tunes, titled Morris On, credited to “Ashley Hutchings, Richard Thompson, Dave Mattacks, John Kirkpatrick and Barry Dransfield”, with Collins singing lead on two tracks: [Excerpt: Ashley Hutchings, Richard Thompson, Dave Mattacks, John Kirkpatrick and Barry Dransfield with Shirley Collins, “The Willow Tree”] Thompson thought that that album was the best of the various side projects he was involved in at the time, comparing it favourably to Rock On, which he thought was rather slight, saying later “Conceptually, Fairport, Ashley and myself and Sandy were developing a more fragile style of music that nobody else was particularly interested in, a British Folk Rock idea that had a logical development to it, although we all presented it our own way. Morris On was rather more true to what we were doing. Rock On was rather a retro step. I'm not sure it was lasting enough as a record but Sandy did sing really well on the Buddy Holly songs.” Hutchings used the musicians on No Roses and Morris On as the basis for his band the Albion Band, which continues to this day. Simon Nicol and Dave Mattacks both quit Fairport to join the Albion Band, though Mattacks soon returned. Nicol would not return to Fairport for several years, though, and for a long period in the mid-seventies Fairport Convention had no original members. Unfortunately, while Collins was involved in the Albion Band early on, she and Hutchings ended up divorcing, and the stress from the divorce led to Collins developing spasmodic dysphonia, a stress-related illness which makes it impossible for the sufferer to sing. She did eventually regain her vocal ability, but between 1978 and 2016 she was unable to perform at all, and lost decades of her career. Richard Thompson occasionally performed with the Albion Band early on, but he was getting stretched a little thin with all these sessions. Linda Peters said later of him “When I came back from America, he was working in Sandy’s band, and doing sessions by the score. Always with Pat Donaldson and Dave Mattacks. Richard would turn up with his guitar, one day he went along to do a session with one of those folkie lady singers — and there were Pat and DM. They all cracked. Richard smashed his amp and said “Right! No more sessions!” In 1972 he got round to releasing his first solo album, Henry the Human Fly, which featured guest appearances by Linda Peters and Sandy Denny among others: [Excerpt: Richard Thompson, “The Angels Took My Racehorse Away”] Unfortunately, while that album has later become regarded as one of the classics of its genre, at the time it was absolutely slated by the music press. The review in Melody Maker, for example, read in part “Some of Richard Thompson’s ideas sound great – which is really the saving grace of this album, because most of the music doesn’t. The tragedy is that Thompson’s “British rock music” is such an unconvincing concoction… Even the songs that do integrate rock and traditional styles of electric guitar rhythms and accordion and fiddle decoration – and also include explicit, meaningful lyrics are marred by bottle-up vocals, uninspiring guitar phrases and a general lack of conviction in performance.” Henry the Human Fly was released in the US by Warners, who had a reciprocal licensing deal with Island (and for whom Joe Boyd was working at the time, which may have had something to do with that) but according to Thompson it became the lowest-selling record that Warners ever put out (though I’ve also seen that claim made about Van Dyke Parks’ Song Cycle, another album that has later been rediscovered). Thompson was hugely depressed by this reaction, and blamed his own singing. Happily, though, by this point he and Linda had become a couple — they would marry in 1972 — and they started playing folk clubs as a duo, or sometimes in a trio with Simon Nicol. Thompson was also playing with Sandy Denny’s backing band at this point, and played on every track on her second solo album, Sandy. This album was meant to be her big commercial breakthrough, with a glamorous cover photo by David Bailey, and with a more American sound, including steel guitar by Sneaky Pete Kleinow of the Flying Burrito Brothers (whose overdubs were supervised in LA by Joe Boyd): [Excerpt: Sandy Denny, “Tomorrow is a Long Time”] The album was given a big marketing push by Island, and “Listen, Listen” was made single of the week on the Radio 1 Breakfast show: [Excerpt: Sandy Denny, “Listen, Listen”] But it did even worse than the previous album, sending her into something of a depression. Linda Thompson (as the former Linda Peters now was) said of this period “After the Sandy album, it got her down that her popularity didn't suddenly increase in leaps and bounds, and that was the start of her really fretting about the way her career was going. Things only escalated after that. People like me or Martin Carthy or Norma Waterson would think, ‘What are you on about? This is folk music.'” After Sandy’s release, Denny realised she could no longer afford to tour with a band, and so went back to performing just acoustically or on piano. The only new music to be released by either of these ex-members of Fairport Convention in 1973 was, oddly, on an album by the band they were no longer members of. After Thompson had left Fairport, the group had managed to release two whole albums with the same lineup — Swarbrick, Nicol, Pegg, and Mattacks. But then Nicol and Mattacks had both quit the band to join the Albion Band with their former bandmate Ashley Hutchings, leading to a situation where the Albion Band had two original members of Fairport plus their longtime drummer while Fairport Convention itself had no original members and was down to just Swarbrick and Pegg. Needing to fulfil their contracts, they then recruited three former members of Fotheringay — Lucas on vocals and rhythm guitar, Donahue on lead guitar, and Conway on drums. Conway was only a session player at the time, and Mattacks soon returned to the band, but Lucas and Donahue became full-time members. This new lineup of Fairport Convention released two albums in 1973, widely regarded as the group’s most inconsistent records, and on the title track of the first, “Rosie”, Richard Thompson guested on guitar, with Sandy Denny and Linda Thompson on backing vocals: [Excerpt: Fairport Convention, “Rosie”] Neither Sandy Denny nor Richard Thompson released a record themselves in 1973, but in neither case was this through the artists’ choice. The record industry was changing in the early 1970s, as we’ll see in later episodes, and was less inclined to throw good money after bad in the pursuit of art. Island Records prided itself on being a home for great artists, but it was still a business, and needed to make money. We’ll talk about the OPEC oil crisis and its effect on the music industry much more when the podcast gets to 1973, but in brief, the production of oil by the US peaked in 1970 and started to decrease, leading to them importing more and more oil from the Middle East. As a result of this, oil prices rose slowly between 1971 and 1973, then very quickly towards the end of 1973 as a result of the Arab-Israeli conflict that year. As vinyl is made of oil, suddenly producing records became much more expensive, and in this period a lot of labels decided not to release already-completed albums, until what they hoped would be a brief period of shortages passed. Both Denny and Thompson recorded albums at this point that got put to one side by Island. In the case of Thompson, it was the first album by Richard and Linda as a duo, I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight: [Excerpt: Richard and Linda Thompson, “I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight”] Today, I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight is widely regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time, and as one of the two masterpieces that bookended Richard and Linda’s career as a duo and their marriage. But when they recorded the album, full of Richard’s dark songs, it was the opposite of commercial. Even a song that’s more or less a boy-girl song, like “Has He Got a Friend for Me?” has lyrics like “He wouldn’t notice me passing by/I could be in the gutter, or dangling down from a tree” [Excerpt: Richard and Linda Thompson, “Has He got a Friend For Me?”] While something like “The Calvary Cross” is oblique and haunted, and seems to cast a pall over the entire album: [Excerpt: Richard and Linda Thompson, “The Calvary Cross”] The album itself had been cheap to make — it had been recorded in only a week, with Thompson bringing in musicians he knew well and had worked with a lot previously to cut the tracks as-live in only a handful of takes — but Island didn’t think it was worth releasing. The record stayed on the shelf for nearly a year after recording, until Island got a new head of A&R, Richard Williams. Williams said of the album’s release “Muff Winwood had been doing A&R, but he was more interested in production… I had a conversation with Muff as soon as I got there, and he said there are a few hangovers, some outstanding problems. And one of them was Richard Thompson. He said there’s this album we gave him the money to make — which was I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight — and nobody’s very interested in it. Henry the Human Fly had been a bit of a commercial disappointment, and although Island was altruistic and independent and known for only recording good stuff, success was important… Either a record had to do well or somebody had to believe in it a lot. And it seemed as if neither of those things were true at that point of Richard.” Williams, though, was hugely impressed when he listened to the album. He compared Richard Thompson’s guitar playing to John Coltrane’s sax, and called Thompson “the folk poet of the rainy streets”, but also said “Linda brightened it, made it more commercial. and I thought that “Bright Lights” itself seemed a really commercial song.” The rest of the management at Island got caught up in Williams’ enthusiasm, and even decided to release the title track as a single: [Excerpt: Richard and Linda Thompson, “I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight”] Neither single nor album charted — indeed it would not be until 1991 that Richard Thompson would make a record that made the top forty in the UK — but the album got enough critical respect that Richard and Linda released two albums the year after. The first of these, Hokey Pokey, is a much more upbeat record than their previous one — Richard Thompson has called it “quite a music-hall influenced record” and cited the influence of George Formby and Harry Lauder. For once, the claim of music hall influence is audible in the music. Usually when a British musician is claimed to have a music ha
*Exclusive deals from our trusted partners*
Kathleen DuVall joins Ben & Bob for a discussion of her Pulitzer Prize-winning book Native Nations: A Millennium in North America (Random House, 2024) and how understanding North American history from both Native and non-Native perspectives helps us better understand our shared story. We also discuss her work with Ken Burns on his upcoming documentary on the American Revolution. Dr. Kathleen DuVall is Professor of History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Previous episodes mentioned in this conversation: -#183 The History of the Lumbee Indians w/ Malinda Maynor Lowery (also available here on YouTube) -#5 Tara Houska & Joe Genetin Pilawa on Native American Culture & History This episode was edited by Ben Sawyer
Carl Quintanilla, Jim Cramer and David Faber explored equities and oil market reaction to the U.S. military strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities over the weekend. The anchors also discussed what to make of Tesla's robotaxi launch, which took place Sunday in Austin, Texas. The CEO of Amrize -- the North American spin-off of Swiss cement giant Holcim -- joined the anchors at Post 9 to discuss his company's public debut on the New York Stock Exchange as well as where data centers fit into Amrize's future. Also in focus: Tech's hot June, M&A buzz surrounding Bank of New York Mellon and Northern Trust, remembering FedEx founder Fred Smith, who died over the weekend at the age of 80. Squawk on the Street Disclaimer
In this bonus episode of Freaky Folklore, host Carman Carrion ventures beyond the familiar werewolf to explore the diverse world of shapeshifting entities—from the seductive Selkies of Celtic seas and vengeful Werehyenas of Africa to the trickster Kitsune of Japan and terrifying Wendigo of the North American wilderness—revealing how transformation myths reflect our deepest fears about identity, control, and what it truly means to be human. Discover more TERRIFYING podcasts at http://eeriecast.com/ Follow Carman Carrion! https://www.instagram.com/carmancarrion/?hl=en https://twitter.com/CarmanCarrion Subscribe to Spotify! https://open.spotify.com/show/0uiX155WEJnN7QVRfo3aQY Please Review Us on iTunes! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/freaky-folklore/id1550361184 Music and sound effects used in the Freaky Folklore Podcast have or may have been provided/created by: CO.AG: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcavSftXHgxLBWwLDm_bNvA Myuu: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiSKnkKCKAQVxMUWpZQobuQ Jinglepunks: https://jinglepunks.com/ Epidemic Sound: https://www.epidemicsound.com/ Kevin MacLeod: http://incompetech.com/ Dark Music: https://soundcloud.com/darknessprevailspodcast Soundstripe: https:// Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Don't tell Jean-Phillippe Lalonde of Silo (https://bieresilo.com) that craft lager is a “new” trend—he's been brewing small batches for Montreal drinkers for nearly 15 years. Opened two weeks before COVID shutdowns in 2020, Silo is the second manifestation of Lalonde's brewing vision. Designed with packaging in mind, Silo also includes some thoughtful choices (such as a direct-fire kettle) that are budget-friendly while supporting the kinds of lagers he loves to make and drink—expressive ones with fullness and flavor. With lagers inspired by Franconia and Plzeň, altbier and Kölsch inspired by Köln and Düsseldorf, and a mindest that doesn't fear regional tweaks such as North American hops and grain, Lalonde views innovation within the broad confines of tradition. For him, late hopping a Czech-style pale lager is okay... but dry hopping is a bridge too far. In this episode, Lalonde discusses: the dream of building a brewery with just one beer building fullness with protein, hot mashes, long boils, and a little bit of help from specialty malt incorporating North American hops such as Crystal into traditional lager using a pseudo-decoction technique to build additional body balancing sweetness and bitterness in fulsome lagers using low-alpha hops across multiple points in the boil, from 75 minutes to zero managing sulfur production And more. This episode is brought to you by: G&D Chillers (https://gdchillers.com): For years G&D Chillers has chilled the beers you love, partnering with 3,000+ breweries across North America and beyond. With our 24/7 service and support, your brewery will never stop. Remote monitor your chiller for simple and fast access to all the information you need, and gain peace of mind your operation is running smoothly. Berkeley Yeast (https://berkeleyyeast.com). Berkeley Yeast bioengineers ordinary strains and make them extraordinary—enhancing the flavors you want and eliminating the ones you don't. Visit berkeleyyeast.com to learn more and start brewing with science on your side. Old Orchard (https://www.oldorchard.com/brewer): As breweries expand beyond beer into other segments like mocktails and CBD beverages, Old Orchard is here to help. We can formulate custom blends featuring specialty ingredients. More information and free samples are waiting at oldorchard.com/brewer. Indie Hops (https://indiehops.com) Lórien seamlessly combines traditional elements of European noble hops with an elegant twang of American modernity. Learn more about Lórien and the rest of Indie's varieties at www.indiehops.com. Indie Hops — Life is short. Let's make it flavorful. Steel Chill Cups (https://SteelChillCups.com) Steel Chill-Cups are the perfect promotional tool! Crafted from 100% recyclable steel and proudly made in the USA. Discover how Steel Chill-Cups can “Put your brand on every pour”—visit SteelChillCups.com today! Arryved (https://www.arryved.com) Not only does Arryved offer a world-class POS built specifically for breweries, but they also provide Arryved Brewery Management, e-commerce, and more to help breweries scale and thrive. Visit arryved.com to learn more. Paktech (https://www.paktech-opi.com) With a minimalist design, durable functionality you can rely on, and custom color matching, PakTech helps brands stand out while staying sustainable. Trusted by craft brewers nationwide, they offer a smarter, sustainable way to carry your beer. To learn more, visit paktech-opi.com Brewery Workshop (https://breweryworkshop.com) If you're launching a brewery or acquiring an existing one, consider our brewery workshop and new brewery accelerator, September 14 through 17th in Fort Collins, Colorado. Over four days, we engage in panel discussions, technical brewery tours, networking, and small working group sessions that help you better understand and prepare for the challenges of brewery operation. Tickets are on sale now.
Michael sits down with Blair Forrest — yes, the one lifting scary barbells, flying solo without an assistant, and casually rethinking the entire North American logistics map.They dive deep into the 2025 tariff chaos: why brands are panicking, how bonded warehouses are basically international waters (minus the pirates), and what it actually means to “wait out” a multi-million dollar shipping problem.From FTZ hacks to cross-border inventory plays, this is your tactical survival guide for the madness — whether you're paying $5K or $300K per container.It's messy. It's essential. It's surprisingly therapeutic. We'll see you in The PPC Den!
Send us a textEver wonder what happens when French culinary techniques meet Caribbean flavors in a small Florida town? Chef Elijah Rock is answering that question at Bricks (B-R-I-X) in Port Richey, where he's crafting accessible fine dining while embracing first-time fatherhood.The journey from Vermont to Florida's Gulf Coast has been transformative for Chef Rock, who brings a strong French foundation to his new coastal home. His standout dishes—sugar-brined pork chops with house-made Caribbean sauce and U10 scallops with smoked tomato emulsion and creamed corn—showcase his talent for elevating familiar ingredients through technique without intimidating price points.What sets Chef Rock apart is his commitment to reshaping kitchen culture. Rejecting the hostile environments that once defined the industry, he's building a space where creativity thrives through respect and collaboration. This approach also guides his parenting, as he and his wife (who serves and tends bar at Bricks) build a balanced family life around their shared love for hospitality.Chef Rock's vision goes beyond Port Richey—he's eager to bring Tampa to Bricks through collab dinners and food festivals. His goal isn't just success—it's creating something his daughter will be proud of.Follow Chef Elijah Rock on Instagram @chefelijah.rock and visit Bricks in Port Richey, where high-end ingredients meet neighborhood prices in a dining experience redefining coastal Florida cuisine.Introducing the SupraCut System - the automated solution that enhances safety, quality, and efficiency, cutting up to 120 perfect citrus wedges per minute, 6 times faster than manual. Patented tech delivers uniform slices, reducing waste and eliminating plastic, while the hygienic, contactless design lowers contamination and injuries, integrating seamlessly to transform your operations and improve profitability - get started at SupraCut.com and ask about risk-free trials. The following brands and companies help us continue supporting the food industry - have a look below! Support the showWalk-In Talk Podcast Where kitchen culture meets raw storytelling. Hosted by Carl Fiadini, founder of Walk-In Talk Media, this #1 Apple-ranked food podcast dives deep with chefs, restaurateurs, farmers, and frontline pros. From trade shows to short films, we bring the food world to life—one honest conversation at a time. We're the Official Podcast Partner for the NY, CA & FL Restaurant Shows, Pizza Tomorrow Summit, and U.S. Culinary Open. Brand Partners: RAK Porcelain USA Metro Foodservice SupraCut Systems Aussie Select Crab Island Seafood Pass the Honey The Burnt Chef Project Citrus America Walk-In Talk Media proudly serves as the North American media partner for The Burnt Chef Project, supporting mental health in hospitality.
Veronica Woodruff is a Canadian author, public speaker, and award-winning professional whose career spans leadership, environmental science, and civic engagement. In 2025, she published her debut book, Blind Drunk: A Sober Look at Our Boozy Culture, a powerful exploration of alcohol's pervasive influence on North American society—framed through both scientific insight and personal experience.Woodruff's journey to authorship began with a deeply personal essay published in Pique Newsmagazine in early 2023, where she candidly shared her lifelong struggle with binge drinking and her path to sobriety. The story struck a chord, drawing hundreds of messages from readers across the country—many of whom credited her vulnerability with inspiring their own reevaluation of alcohol.Raised in a home marked by both privilege and instability, Woodruff experienced the collapse of her family's wealth due to her father's alcoholism. She entered the foster care system at 15, working minimum-wage jobs while building resilience and independence. Despite early adversity, she pursued higher education, ultimately earning a Master of Arts in Leadership and a background in environmental science. Over the next three decades, she established herself as a respected thought leader, publishing scientific research, leading public engagement initiatives, and working with governments, consultancies, and non-profits.Her transition into authorship was guided by mentorship and a pivotal moment at the Whistler Writers Festival, where she realized her personal narrative could serve as a broader social critique. Blind Drunk was born not only as a memoir, but as a cultural analysis—interrogating how alcohol is woven into everything from après-ski rituals and book clubs to corporate conferences and family dinners.A certified speaker with the International Association for Public Participation, Woodruff brings both evidence-based insight and lived experience to her work. She unpacks the myths surrounding "moderate drinking," critiques outdated public health messaging, and opens an honest conversation about how society normalizes dependency on alcohol.While Blind Drunk is not intended to be self-help, it does offer readers a mirror and a map: reflecting our collective relationship with alcohol, while exploring what it means to live consciously in a culture that often drinks blindly.
Step back in time with me to 1977, to a cultural event so monumental it was dubbed the "Black World's Fair." In this episode, we journey to Lagos, Nigeria, for FESTAC '77, the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture. What made this month-long celebration a landmark of Black pride and unity, and why does its legacy still echo nearly fifty years later? I'll share insights from my conversation with Roy Lewis, the official photographer for the North American zone, who was there to capture it all. Join me as we explore the story of this incredible gathering of artists, thinkers, and performers from across the African diaspora and uncover a piece of our history that continues to inspire. Chapters (0:00) - Intro (1:29) - A Journey Back to FESTAC '77 (6:15) - The Rigorous Road to Lagos (7:05) - Inside the Festival: A Cultural Feast (9:08) - The Lasting Legacy of FESTAC (11:53) - A Juneteenth Reflection and a Call to Imagine Learn About Roy Lewis Festac 77 Documentary on YouTube: http://bit.ly/449xUIB Ebony Magazine Festac Edition: http://bit.ly/3T3WGoy Support the Show Website: www.martineseverin.com Follow on Instagram: @martine.severin | @thisishowwecreate_ Subscribe to the Newsletter: www.martineseverin.substack.com This is How We Create is produced by Martine Severin. This episode was edited by Daniel Espinosa. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts Leave a review Follow us on social media Share with fellow creatives
Send us a textWhat if you suddenly had to manage all your finances alone? Would you be ready?In this episode of Women and Money: The Shit We Don't Talk About, we talk with Samantha Hart, Director of Marketing Content Strategy at North American Company for Life and Health Insurance. Originally from Cape Town, South Africa, Sam spent 20 years in media and publishing before joining North American, where she leads a team focused on spreading awareness about annuities and financial opportunities.Sam brings a fresh, passionate perspective on the realities women face with money—especially around retirement and the looming Great Wealth Transfer. She opens up about her family's journey through divorce and how witnessing her mother's sudden financial vulnerability sparked her commitment to financial literacy. We cover why women need to be proactive, the gaps in retirement confidence, and the power of good guidance.This episode explores how the upcoming wealth transfer isn't just about inheritance—it's about women taking control of trillions in assets by 2030. Whether you're married, single, or somewhere in between, Sam's story will inspire you to face your finances head-on—because knowledge is power, and preparation is peace of mind.Episode Highlights:00:00 The Financial Industry's Disservice to Women 03:03 Introducing Sam and Her Work 08:00 Sam's Personal Financial Journey 16:24 The Great Wealth Transfer 20:12 The Emotional Side of Financial Planning 20:37 Women and Retirement: Key Findings 22:45 Challenges Women Face in Retirement 28:04 The Importance of Advisors 32:14 Taking Control of Your Future 36:49 Debunking Financial Myths 39:23 Defining Financial FreedomReady to plan for what's ahead? Join us June 26 for Money Talks, where we'll dig deeper into why retirement planning is urgent for women—and how to create a future that's truly yours. Click here to register for FREE—and bring your questions!Got a unique financial story? Whether you've crushed debt, built wealth, or had a money moment that changed your life, we want to hear it. Are you a professional helping women with money? Your experience could inspire others. Share your story here.Follow & Connect with Samantha: Website | LinkedInConnect with us! Facebook Page Facebook group Instagram TikTok LinkedIn YouTube Resources Have questions? Click this to check out our expert Q&A for tips from industry experts, tailored to help women address their most common financial concerns. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive financial tips delivered weekly here! Explore our free guides to help you on your financial journey
Interview with Bo Sears, CEO of Helix ExplorationOur previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/helix-exploration-lsehex-strategic-producer-targets-us-helium-supply-gap-6513Recording date: 18th June, 2025Helix Exploration presents a compelling investment opportunity as a self-funded helium producer positioned to begin commercial production by end of summer 2025. CEO Bo Sears leads a company with 355 million cubic feet of recoverable helium reserves in Montana's Rudyard Field, demonstrating a perfect drilling success rate with three productive wells from three attempts. The company's processing plant is two-thirds complete with critical membrane units arriving from Europe, positioning Helix to capitalize on helium's unique market characteristics where "there is no substitute for most of helium's applications by virtue of its atomic properties," as Sears explains.Unlike typical resource companies requiring continuous equity raises, Helix maintains a self-funding growth model that eliminates dilution risk while providing operational flexibility. The company projects $4 million gross annual revenue per well at $500 per thousand cubic feet helium pricing, with substantial margins driven by efficient drilling operations and low variable costs primarily related to compression power. This economic model supports organic expansion through cash flow generation rather than dilutive financing, a significant advantage in today's challenging capital markets.The strategic value of North American helium production has increased due to geopolitical tensions affecting major supply sources. With ongoing conflicts near Qatar's North Pars Field, US-based production offers supply security that supports long-term pricing stability. Helium's applications span from MRI machines to semiconductor manufacturing, creating inelastic demand that provides pricing power unavailable in substitutable commodities. As Sears notes, "you can't replace helium with hydrogen for obvious purposes. Think Hindenburg, right? On up the food chain to the MRI machines and the semiconductor manufacturing, there is no other element that can do what Helium does."Helix demonstrates operational excellence through strategic well spacing that allows one well to drain an entire square mile section, minimizing development costs while maximizing recovery. The company's partnerships with established operators Wacoda and Treasure State Drilling provide operational expertise while maintaining cost control. Infrastructure advantages include reliable power access, excellent road networks, and proximity to end markets, with a gathering system design that allows efficient integration of additional wells as production scales.Traditional exploration risks have been substantially reduced through proven reserves, successful drilling results, and an immediate production timeline. Management's 25+ years of industry experience and focus on operational benchmarks differentiate Helix from competitors facing execution challenges. The combination of immediate production timeline, self-funded growth capability, proven reserves, and exposure to a strategic commodity with inelastic demand creates a unique value proposition for investors seeking commodity exposure with limited downside and substantial upside potential in an essential but underappreciated sector.—Learn more: www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/helix-explorationSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com
Mark and Tom talk about the biggest brands in Sports with the Lakers being sold for 10 Billion.
Mark and Tom talk about the biggest brands in Sports with the Lakers being sold for 10 Billion. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Pernilla Mosesson is a long time trainer from Sweden having started her career working with marine mammals. We sat with her at the Johannesburg airport to hear her thoughts on the state of marine and terrestrial animal training across the zoological space. While there are many similarities between European and North American facilities, particularly with regard to the current politics surrounding zoos and aquariums, there were a few surprising differences! Animal Care Software
On todays show James, Dwayne and Glenn discuss the Karen Reed case, where she was acquitted of manslaughter but convicted of driving drunk. The conversation then shifted to the recent SpaceX Starship explosion, which delayed the Starship 10. The group also discussed the Iran situation, noting Trump's efforts to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and the potential for regime change. They debated the impact of Trump's actions on international relations, particularly with China and Russia. Additionally, they touched on the ongoing lawsuits against the Trump administration, the potential for regime change in Iran, and the recent Supreme Court rulings on various issues. The discussion centered on Trump's strategic moves, particularly his actions regarding Canada, Greenland, and England. Trump's decision to end tariffs was seen as a loss for Canada, while his focus on Greenland's military base shift from European to North American control was interpreted as a strategic move to assert U.S. influence. The conversation also touched on Trump's handling of international issues, including resolving conflicts in Kashmir and the Congo, and his stance on China and Taiwan. The speakers emphasized Trump's "America First" policy and his willingness to make tough decisions, even if it means breaking up alliances like MAGA. The segment concluded with a light-hearted mention of coffee and cookies, encouraging listeners to engage in civil discussions and share their thoughts. Don't Miss It!
Stephanie McDonald, trade training and development manager for Celestyal Cruises, talks with Jennifer Lutz of Insider Travel Report about the line's destination-focused approach, with longer port times, fewer sea days and access to lesser-known stops in Greece, Italy, Croatia and Montenegro. McDonald explains how Celestyal supports advisors with training modules, webinars, customized excursion planning and a growing North American sales team. For more information, visit www.celestyal.com. All our Insider Travel Report video interviews are archived and available on our Youtube channel (youtube.com/insidertravelreport), and as podcasts with the same title on: Spotify, Pandora, Stitcher, PlayerFM, Listen Notes, Podchaser, TuneIn + Alexa, Podbean, iHeartRadio, Google, Amazon Music/Audible, Deezer, Podcast Addict, and iTunes Apple Podcasts, which supports Overcast, Pocket Cast, Castro and Castbox.
// Merlin - SIGN UP FREE 30 DAY TRIAL https://tinyurl.com/MerlinGMCYouTube //// T H E 3 T W A R R I O R A C A D E M Y // Join the 3T Warrior Academy: https://3twarrior.com/warrioracademy?affiliate_id=3827481 // Join our Free Discord: https://3twarrior.com/discord49541345 //// F O L L O W T H E T E A M // Official Good Morning Crypto https://linktr.ee/3tGMCrypto Twitter: https://twitter.com/3tGMCrypto // Abs Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Abs3t/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/AbsGMCrypto // Johnny Krypto https://linktr.ee/johnnykrypto Twitter: https://twitter.com/JohnnyKrypto00 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm-qyQNf1rnUaw6u20mKCVw // Gonzo Twitter: https://twitter.com/gonzo_3t Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gonzo_3t/ // Mario https://marios.link Twitter: https://twitter.com/LinkWithMario Youtube: https://youtube.com/@LinkWithMario Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/LinkWithMario/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@LinkWithMario //// Disclaimer: All of our videos are strictly personal opinions. Please make sure to do your own research. Never take one person's opinion for financial guidance. There are multiple strategies and not all strategies fit all people. Our videos ARE NOT financial advice. We are not financial advisers & this is not financial advice. #Crypto #CryptoNews #Bitcoin #BTC #ethereum #eth #ripple #xrp #chainlink #quant #polygon #qnt #cardano #xlm #hbar #cspr #algo #algorand #cspr #Abs #JohnnyKrypto #GoodMorningCrypto #stellar #fednow #ada #digitalcurrency #digitalassets #tokenization #ada #hbar #hedera #usdc #usdt #jennax #ripplewin #xdc #xinfin #rippleceo #bradgarlinghouse #nft #nfts #xrppump #chainlinks #swift #tokenizedassets #xrpltokenization #uphold #coinbase #visa #fidelity #bitcoinetf #micklexrp #xrpmickle #mickle #ripplepartnership Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Chris Blumas, Portfolio Manager at Raymond James Investment Counsel, shares his outlook on North American Large Caps.
The technological revolution has taken over running. Dr. John Holash and Dr. Cody Ray van Rassel are specialists in exercise physiology at the University of Calgary. We brought them on today's show to discuss topics including: What are some of the most exciting new technologies in athletics How the benefits of super shoes are measured What is the role of wearable technologies in advancing the sport What new technological innovations we might see in the near future Whether the humble potato is the ideal fuel source for endurance athletes At the elite level, technologies like carbon plated shoes and wavelight pacing technologies have led to huge breakthroughs in performances. John and Cody spend much of their time modeling the impact of technologies like these, making them ideal guests to give you a glimpse into how new technologies are completely transforming what's possible in running. Guest Bios: John Holash - bio Publications: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/John-Holash Cody Van Rassel - bio Publications: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Cody-Van-Rassel Connect, Comment, Community Follow RunnersConnect on Instagram Join the Elite Treatment where you get first dibs on everything RTTT each month! Runners Connect Winner's Circle Facebook Community RunnersConnect Facebook page GET EXPERT COACHING AT RUNNERSCONNECT! This week's show brought to you by: Kila Running When we first got connected with the team at Kila insoles, they explained that they can make high-performance insoles perfectly designed for your feet within days, just by using the Kila Running app. All you have to do is open the app and place the phone on the ground, then take a few photos of your feet using the FaceID camera. This allows them to create a full 3D scan within minutes. They don't even need your shoe size! Once you get past the weirdness of taking photos of your feet, it's pretty cool to see the images for yourself and then get the notification that the scans are being sent to their North American orthotics lab. After that the insoles arrive as fast as that same week. Kila isn't the first company to use an iPhone or iPad to scan your feet for orthotics—it's actually becoming the standard method doctors and sports medicine clinics use to create a foot cast. But Kila is bringing that same technology to the direct-to-consumer space, at about one-quarter the cost. Most insoles feel bulky and rigid, but Kila custom insoles are more like having a layer of supershoe foam underfoot propelling you through your stride. All you have to do when they arrive is slip out your old insoles and put these in. It might take some getting used to the full-foot contact but it's pretty amazing how great they feel and you won't be disappointed. Just head to kilarun.com and you can get $70 off your first pair and with a 60-day money back guarantee. Creatine Gummies Designed for the Needs of Endurance Athletes You've undoubtedly heard about the benefits of creatine. It's been heralded as the single most effective legal supplement on the market. But, if you've tried it before then you know creatine can also lead to stomach issues, bloating, cramping and can be hard to take consistently. Well, not any longer with the first creatine gummy formulated specifically for endurance athletes from MAS Edge. Unlike cheap powders, MAS Edge creatine gummies contain micronized creatine, which is a 100% soluble type of creatine with superior bioavailability. That means they are specifically formulated to be absorbed quickly so it's gentle on the stomach, eliminates water retention, and doesn't give you the bloated feeling you may have experienced with traditional creatine powders. Plus, the gummies are so delicious that you'll look forward to taking them every day. If you're ready to experience a pure, fast-acting creatine that fuels your muscles, enhances your performance and helps you recover every time you train then you have to check them out. Head to masedge.com/creatine right now and you'll also save 20% and get free US shipping as a RunnersConnect fan
Send us a textJade Belzberg has quietly become one of the most formidable forces in North American mountain running, with podium finishes at Broken Arrow Skyrace that have turned heads throughout the elite trail running community. As she prepares to tackle both the Vertical Kilometer and 23K races at this year's event, Jade offers a rare glimpse into the mindset and preparation of an athlete operating at the highest level of mountain sport.The journey to elite status wasn't predetermined by genetics or family background. "I don't feel like I'm super talented genetically," Jade reveals. "No one runs in my family. I was last at every trail race growing up." Instead, her rise has been built on consistency—80-90 mile weeks with significant vertical gain—and a refreshingly healthy perspective toward competition. Her approach balances ambition with self-compassion: "I know that I can have a strong performance, but I also know that I'm not granted that on any given day."What makes Jade particularly fascinating is her versatility across distances. Few athletes can excel at both the lung-searing intensity of vertical kilometers and the strategic demands of longer mountain races. This adaptability stems from years of ultrarunning experience dating back to 2014, combined with targeted training for specific events. For the VK, she's learned from past tactical errors: "Last year I charged out way too hard at the start... This year I'm going to hold back a little bit in the hopes that I can overpower some of them in the later stages."As a dual Canadian-American citizen who has qualified for Team Canada at the upcoming World Championships, Jade represents the global evolution of mountain running while remaining grounded in a philosophy that emphasizes process over outcomes. Her equipment choices (Ultra Mont Blanc Carbons) and nutrition strategy reflect the detailed planning that accompanies high-level competition.Whether you're a competitive trail runner looking for strategic insights or simply a fan of mountain sport, Jade's perspective offers valuable wisdom on balancing ambition with enjoyment in the beautiful but demanding world of mountain running.Follow James on IG - @jameslaurielloFollow the Steep Stuff Podcast on IG - @steepstuff_podUse code steepstuffpod for 25% off your cart at UltimateDirection.com!
When I met Lauren three years ago, she was on an entirely different career path. Fast forward to today: She owns her own creative agency, Flow State Creative, and is the brains behind some of the most eye-catching, thoughtful campaigns behind your favorite athletic brands.This week, I'm stoked to be sitting down with one with Laur, whose become one of my dearest friends, to talk about what it's like to not only be a female photographer and entrepreneur within sport, but the hurdles that she's faced in building her dream career. Plus: How to manage anxiety, develop a healthy routine on-the-road, and her best-practice advice for anyone who's struggling with owning their greatness and building their confidence.IN THIS EPISODE(5:00) Lauren talks about feeling like she's hanging on by a thread with a busy season of work(8:05) Lauren shares how she got into photography and leaving an in-house job in marketing, moving to New York in fall 2022(13:15) What did it look like to get started founding her own creative agency for sports and fitness(15:12) Emily and Lauren talk about finances when starting a business and being a gig worker, shoutout Money With Katie(17:30) The biggest challenge Lauren deals with in the infancy of her agency(20:20) One of the things that surprised Lauren when she first got into sports photography(22:24) How do you take photos that tell a compelling story?(28:00) Talking about the beauty of being a beginner(28:58) How Lauren finds the gratitude in her day-to-day(37:00) How to be kind but firm in business(37:32) The importance of asking yourself “what's my goal here?” before any conversation(44:45) What Lauren is really excited about right now that has nothing to do with work(45:46) Lauren talks about her very fast-paced travel schedule for the next month (49:00) How to find consistency with your wellness practices during travelMENTIONED IN THIS EPISODEFlow State CreativeSOCIAL@l_nemeroff@emilyabbate@hurdlepodcastOFFERSPILLAR | Head to PillarPerformance.shop, or for North American customers, head to TheFeed.com and use the code "HURDLE" for 15% off your first purchase.FUTURE | Go to future.co/hurdle to get 50% off your first month of personal training!JOIN: The Daily Hurdle IG ChannelSIGN UP: Weekly Hurdle NewsletterASK ME A QUESTION: Email hello@hurdle.us to ask me a question!
In this episode, we take a high-level look at what happens when you combine two of the most contrasting—and complementary—herbs in North American herbalism: Cayenne (Capsicum annuum) and Lobelia (Lobelia inflata). One stimulates, one relaxes—and together they create a powerful synergy that supports circulation, respiration, and neuromuscular function. You'll also hear insights on how their energetic and constitutional profiles apply to vāta patterns in Ayurveda and Mercury archetypes in astrology.
In this episode, we dive into one of the most powerful herb pairs in North American herbalism—Cayenne (Capsicum annuum) and Lobelia (Lobelia inflata). These two plants represent the archetypal stimulant and relaxant, and when used together, they reveal deep patterns in how herbal energetics function. You'll also discover how this triad—stimulant, relaxant, and tonic—connects to core principles found in Ayurveda, alchemy, and astrology. In this segment, you'll learn: Why Cayenne and Lobelia are a dynamic herbal duo How traditional herbalists define stimulants and relaxants (beyond caffeine and chamomile!) The significance of the stimulant-relaxant-tonic triad in herbal energetics The cross-cultural connections to Ayurveda, Chinese medicine, and astrology How combining oppositional energetics can create synergy in herbal formulas Tune into the full episode to learn more: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0D57qDsVCLfCfpIZtshgEb?si=6a3639d913d44847 ———————————— CONNECT WITH SAJAH AND WHITNEY ———————————— To get free in depth mini-courses and videos, visit our blog at: http://www.evolutionaryherbalism.com Get daily inspiration and plant wisdom on our Facebook and Instagram channels: http://www.facebook.com/EvolutionaryHerbalism https://www.instagram.com/evolutionary_herbalism/ Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyP63opAmcpIAQg1M9ShNSQ Get a free 5-week course when you buy a copy of the book, Evolutionary Herbalism: https://www.evolutionaryherbalism.com/evolutionary-herbalism-book/ Shop our herbal products: https://naturasophiaspagyrics.com/ ———————————— ABOUT THE PLANT PATH ———————————— The Plant Path is a window into the world of herbal medicine. With perspectives gleaned from traditional Western herbalism, Ayurveda, Chinese Medicine, Alchemy, Medical Astrology, and traditional cultures from around the world, The Plant Path provides unique insights, skills and strategies for the practice of true holistic herbalism. From clinical to spiritual perspectives, we don't just focus on what herbs are "good for," but rather who they are as intelligent beings, and how we can work with them to heal us physically and consciously evolve. ———————————— ABOUT SAJAH ———————————— Sajah Popham is the author of Evolutionary Herbalism and the founder of the School of Evolutionary Herbalism, where he trains herbalists in a holistic system of plant medicine that encompasses clinical Western herbalism, medical astrology, Ayurveda, and spagyric alchemy. His mission is to develop a comprehensive approach that balances the science and spirituality of plant medicine, focusing on using plants to heal and rejuvenate the body, clarify the mind, open the heart, and support the development of the soul. This is only achieved through understanding and working with the chemical, energetic, and spiritual properties of the plants. His teachings embody a heartfelt respect, honor and reverence for the vast intelligence of plants in a way that empowers us to look deeper into the nature of our medicines and ourselves. He lives on a homestead in the foothills of Mt. Baker Washington with his wife Whitney where he teaches, consults clients, and prepares spagyric herbal medicines. ———————————— WANT TO FEATURE US ON YOUR PODCAST? ———————————— If you'd like to interview Sajah or Whitney to be on your podcast, click here to fill out an interview request form.
Send us a textHow dietary fats and cannabinoids shape brain function and mental well-being.Episode Summary: Dr. Steven Laviolette discusses the role of lipids, particularly endocannabinoids and fatty acids, in brain signaling and mental health, discussing how dietary omega-3 and omega-6 imbalances, prenatal THC exposure, and fatty acid binding proteins (FABPs) impact mood, anxiety, and neuroinflammation, while highlighting potential dietary interventions to mitigate these effects.About the guest: Steven Laviolette, PhD is a professor at the University of Western Ontario, holding a PhD, and his lab focuses on the brain's cannabinoid system and its role in mental health. He investigates how cannabinoids and fatty acids influence brain development and disorders like anxiety and schizophrenia.Discussion Points:The brain uses fats like endocannabinoids (e.g., anandamide, 2-AG) not just for structure but as signaling molecules to regulate emotional and cognitive processing.Prenatal THC exposure in rodents skews the omega-3/omega-6 balance toward pro-inflammatory omega-6, leading to cognitive and mood issues in offspring, but omega-3 supplementation can mitigate these effects.Fatty acid binding proteins (FABPs), especially FABP5, shuttle endocannabinoids like anandamide to degradation sites, and inhibiting FABP5 increases anandamide levels, reducing anxiety and depression without addictive side effects.FABP5 inhibitors show promise as safer alternatives to benzodiazepines.Both THC and CBD can induce problems during early development, challenging the notion that CBD is universally safe, especially during pregnancy.Dietary interventions, like omega-3 supplementation or antioxidants (e.g., L-theanine, N-acetylcysteine), may counteract the negative psychiatric effects of cannabinoid exposure, particularly during adolescence.The North American diet, high in omega-6, contributes to neuroinflammation and mental health issues, underscoring the need for nutritional neuroscience to address these imbalances.Related episode:M&M 165: PUFAs in Brain Health & Disease, Dietary Fats, Brain Lipids, Nutrition | Richard Bazinet*Not medical advice.Support the showAll episodes, show notes, transcripts, and more at the M&M Substack Affiliates: KetoCitra—Ketone body BHB + potassium, calcium & magnesium, formulated with kidney health in mind. Use code MIND20 for 20% off any subscription (cancel anytime) Lumen device to optimize your metabolism for weight loss or athletic performance. Code MIND for 10% off Readwise: Organize and share what you read. 60 days FREE through link SiPhox Health—Affordable at-home blood testing. Key health markers, visualized & explained. Code TRIKOMES for a 20% discount. MASA Chips—delicious tortilla chips made from organic corn & grass-fed beef tallow. No seed oils or artificial ingredients. Code MIND for 20% off For all the ways you can support my efforts
Send us a textWelcome back, TOT fans! We are back to bullshit our way through an hour of nonsense, starting with the summer fixtures. That's right, the Concacaf Club World Cup International Friendly Expo sponsored by Weebo! Or something, we aren't sure. We talk about England's mishaps losing to Senegal, the US is having a bit of a mutiny, but does anyone care, and how, exactly, does Saudi Arabia make it into a North American tournament!? We talk about bit about the Club World Cup, some transfer news, Casey's dreams, what we've been up to, and end it off with a classic Asher joke.Thank you for listening! We are still looking forward to hearing from you about what content you'd like to hear over the summer, from the serious to the silly. Reach out to us, and please like, share, subscribe, download, and as always, WE LOVE YOU!
In this episode Patrick Broe and Benji Naesen recap the 8th stage of the 2025 Critérium du Dauphiné.*Exclusive deals from our trusted partners*
Natalie interviews Jordan Ness, an oleh from New York who made aliyah in the beginning of 2022 to Kfar Vradim, a town of 6,000 people up north only 9 kilometers from the Lebanon border. Jordan explains why he finally made aliyah, after wanting to for 20 years, and further, why he chose Kfar Vradim, which is not one of the main communities where North Americans settle. Listen to his reasons for leaving the Golden Medina, and why he took a "leap of faith" and decided on settling in the periphery. For questions, contact me at natalie@israelnewstalkradio.com Returning Home 15JUNE2025 - PODCAST
Epic STORY of the fascinating background events to the American Civil War (1861-65) as seen from a North American perspective. Enjoy this History of North America PLUS episode! Canada and the American Civil War: PRELUDE TO WAR by Mark Vinet (non-fiction history paper book, audio book, eBook) is available at https://amzn.to/4mQeilx ENJOY Ad-Free content, Bonus episodes, and Extra materials when joining our growing community on https://patreon.com/markvinet SUPPORT this channel by purchasing any product on Amazon using this FREE entry LINK https://amzn.to/3POlrUD (Amazon gives us credit at NO extra charge to you). Mark Vinet's HISTORICAL JESUS podcast at https://parthenonpodcast.com/historical-jesus Mark's TIMELINE Video channel: https://youtube.com/c/TIMELINE_MarkVinet Website: https://markvinet.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mark.vinet.9 Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkVinet_HNA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/denarynovels Mark's books: https://amzn.to/3k8qrGM See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 brought fame, both for England and Queen Elizabeth I, and greatly affected the future development of North America. Europe was stunned that such a small island nation had successfully defended itself against such a major aggressor and foreign diplomats began to court England as a possible ally. Elizabeth's popularity soared. The impact of the victory for the nation's self-confidence and the future of North American exploration and colonization cannot be overestimated. England’s success was celebrated in all manners of ways. Songs were written, medals struck, portraits painted and prints published. All lauded Elizabeth as a savior who stood firm to protect her nation, shared the glory of the success with the English navy and gave thanks for divine intervention. E127. Check out the YouTube version of this episode at https://youtu.be/eAQGRvWSVtQ which has accompanying visuals including maps, charts, timelines, photos, illustrations, and diagrams. THE DEAD LETTER by Mark Vinet (Elizabethan Age Denary Novel) is available at https://amzn.to/3AG63BG Spanish Armada books available at https://amzn.to/3BQzphd ENJOY Ad-Free content, Bonus episodes, and Extra materials when joining our growing community on https://patreon.com/markvinet SUPPORT this channel by purchasing any product on Amazon using this FREE entry LINK https://amzn.to/3POlrUD (Amazon gives us credit at NO extra charge to you). Mark Vinet's HISTORICAL JESUS podcast at https://parthenonpodcast.com/historical-jesus Mark's TIMELINE video channel: https://youtube.com/c/TIMELINE_MarkVinet Website: https://markvinet.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mark.vinet.9 Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkVinet_HNA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/denarynovels Mark's books: https://amzn.to/3k8qrGM BBC BiteSize: Queen Elizabeth I's famous Tilbury speech. Audio excerpts reproduced under the Fair Use (Fair Dealings) Legal Doctrine for purposes such as criticism, comment, teaching, education, scholarship, research and news reporting.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In this episode Patrick Broe and Benji Naesen recap the 7th stage of the 2025 Critérium du Dauphiné.*Exclusive deals from our trusted partners*
In this episode Patrick Broe and Benji Naesen recap the 6th stage of the 2025 Critérium du Dauphiné.*Exclusive deals from our trusted partners*
Brians Questions: Thanks for sharing your knowledge and opinions - and answering my previous questions. It's been a great help. My shop is in my single car garage, which I share with household storage. It has a very high ceiling. I recently got a good deal on a new Jet AFS-1000B Air Filtration System. (note: I do not have a dust collection system, as I try to do mostly hand tool work, but I do use power tools as needed. So there is plenty of dust). The question is: where to locate the device? The options are: 1. I have a shelf that is suspended from the ceiling and could test to see if it will support the Jet unit. 2. There is a metal storage cabinet that I can set it on, and attach to the wall (per Jet instructions). 3. Place it on the lower shelf of my Moravian style workbench. Attaching it directly to the ceiling is out, as it is too high, and I don't have ladders or scaffolding to get up there. The easiest is option 3 - on the lower shelf of the workbench. Will it be effective down there - about a foot off the ground? Or should I go for options 1 or 2? Thanks for any insight. David V. - Baltimore, MD Gentlemen, Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedules to share your knowledge through the podcast. I've recently caught up on all the previous episodes and really look forward to the bi-weekly insights you provide. It's been a tremendous help as I navigate the early stages of woodworking and material sourcing. I have a question regarding quality expectations when purchasing from regional hardwood suppliers. I've recently started buying from a distributor in the Texas/Oklahoma area that operates multiple warehouses. While I'm still relatively new to this type of procurement, I've noticed a gap between what I expected from a “select & better” grade product and what I actually received. My recent order was for cherry lumber—select & better, RW&L, averaging 6 inches wide, 9 feet long, and 15/16" thickness, graded 90/70+. The issue I encountered was significant end-checking and splitting—some boards had cracks extending 10 to 18 inches. Since the lumber (along with some maple and walnut) was bundled and strapped to a pallet, it wasn't until I got home—over an hour away—that I realized the extent of the damage. I understand that some waste is always part of the equation, but I'm trying to get a sense of what's considered “normal” for a premium grade. Should I have contacted the supplier once I noticed the issue? Or is it standard practice to inspect the order before it leaves the yard? I'd appreciate any guidance or rules of thumb you might recommend for handling situations like this. Thanks again for your time and for all the valuable information you share. It's been a huge help. Best regards, Mark Guys Questions: I'm preparing to build a set of kitchen cupboards from white oak. The style will be Mission, with some Frank Lloyd Wright Prairies Style touches. I have several questions. I'm going to build some assembly tables. I don't want hundreds of dog/hold-down holes in each, but I will probably drill a few. I'm wondering about 3/4” (the traditional North American standard) vs. 20 mm (a standard popularized by Festool, etc.). I know this isn't a black and white choice, but could you share some thoughts on what one might consider before committing to one size vs. another. Darrin I frequently seem to struggle with keeping the countersink concentric concentric with the screw clearance hole. I have both the multi-flue countersink and the countersink with one diagonal hole but they both want to wander. I also have a tapered drill bit with set-screwed countersink. Maybe I should be trying harder to use that type. So my question is - do you have any suggestions for keeping the countersink centered on the clearance hole, and what is your preferred type of countersink. Steve Huys Questions: Hello guys, my name is Jim Rose. I live in north central Kansas and have a couple of completely different topics for questions. Before the questions, I wanted to say, thanks so much for an awesome podcast. I have been a listener since Brian came on board. In fact, the 1st episode I listened to was his 1st episode!!! First off, I have a question about beetle kill pine. I am currently building a new house and have purchased beetle kill pine to put on the walls and ceiling of a sunroom. My question is what finish should I use if any so that the blues and reds of the beetle kill pine will show the best and not change colors in anyway. I have seen different opinions on the internet ranging from a clear poly to nothing at all. Some have even said that a finish will change to colors which I definitely dont want. Not sure if this is true so thought I would the experts. Thanks in advance. Any suggestions/advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again, Jim Hey Fellas' as many say "love the podcast", I've learned a ton and look forward to more as I work my way through previous shows and keep up with new ones. The ask ... you've shared a fair amount regarding adhesive/glues including talking shelf life. How can we tell when an adhesive/glue has exceeded its shelf life and should be discarded and replaced? I mean knowing this is prior to using it and the project failing and pieces not sticking as needed. Thanks, Chris Hudson
Send us a textIn this powerful episode of the Walk-In Talk Podcast, Carl Fiadini is joined by two dynamic women reshaping the hospitality industry from the inside out.Colleen Silk, founder of Hospitality Bites Media and North American Director of The Burnt Chef Project, opens up about mental health, motherhood, and how storytelling became her path to healing and advocacy. Plus—breaking news—Hospitality Bites is now officially part of the Walk-In Talk Media family!Also in studio, Chef Ciji Castro of Domestic Gourmet brings the flavor and the feels with dishes rooted in her Puerto Rican and Cuban-American heritage—including a modern take on the classic Elena Ruz and ancestral pasteles.Together, they unpack industry burnout, postpartum struggles, invisible illness, and how empathy, media, and honest conversation are changing the game.Introducing the SupraCut System - the automated solution that enhances safety, quality, and efficiency, cutting up to 120 perfect citrus wedges per minute, 6 times faster than manual. Patented tech delivers uniform slices, reducing waste and eliminating plastic, while the hygienic, contactless design lowers contamination and injuries, integrating seamlessly to transform your operations and improve profitability - get started at SupraCut.com and ask about risk-free trials. Elevate your dining experience with RAK Porcelain USA! As the exclusive tableware brand for the Walk-In Talk Podcast, RAK combines exceptional craftsmanship with innovative design. Whether you're a chef, a restaurant owner, or a food enthusiast, RAK's high-quality porcelain products will enhance every meal. Discover the artistry of food presentation and make every dining occasion special. Visit rakporcelain.com today and see how RAK can transform your table The following brands and companies help us continue supporting the food industry - have a look below! Support the showWalk-In Talk Podcast Where kitchen culture meets raw storytelling. Hosted by Carl Fiadini, founder of Walk-In Talk Media, this #1 Apple-ranked food podcast dives deep with chefs, restaurateurs, farmers, and frontline pros. From trade shows to short films, we bring the food world to life—one honest conversation at a time. We're the Official Podcast Partner for the NY, CA & FL Restaurant Shows, Pizza Tomorrow Summit, and U.S. Culinary Open. Brand Partners: RAK Porcelain USA Metro Foodservice SupraCut Systems Aussie Select Crab Island Seafood Pass the Honey The Burnt Chef Project Citrus America Walk-In Talk Media proudly serves as the North American media partner for The Burnt Chef Project, supporting mental health in hospitality.
In this episode Patrick Broe and Benji Naesen recap the 5th stage of the 2025 Critérium du Dauphiné.*Exclusive deals from our trusted partners*
Eliot and Eric offer up candidates for jackassery of the week before turning to a discussion of The Fate of the Day: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777-1780, (New York: Crown, 2025) the second volume of journalist/historian Rick Atkinson's monumental military history of the American revolution. They discuss Atkinson's background as a military journalist for the Washington Post who has written books about the Gulf War, the Iraq War and covered other late 20th and 21st Century conflicts before turning his attention to writing a trilogy on the US Army in Europe during the Second World War and now the American Revolution. They discuss the depth of his research in both archives in the U.S. and UK as well as his process for researching and writing these massive volumes (each of which has taken about 5-6 years to produce) and the decline of grand narrative history in the academy (despite the public demand for it). They consider how his own experience as a journalist affected his sense of the contingency of warfare and the fact that there are always tensions between the architects of war in capitals and the officers and troops on the ground. He explains how King George III and his ministers never understood the American drive for independence and were gripped by strategic misconceptions about how to fight the war, including the notion that there was a silent majority of North Americans who supported the monarchy despite the fact that the loyalists had mostly fled the colonies to Canada, the Caribbean or London. They discuss the star crossed career of Benedict Arnold, Washington's generalship at the Battle of Brandywine in Pennsylvania, and, finally, how Americans should think about the meaning of the American revolution today as we celebrate the sesquicentennial of the war for independence over the next 8 years. The Fate of the Day: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777-1780: https://a.co/d/b6rFlQV The Liberation Trilogy Boxed Set: An Army at Dawn, The Day of Battle, The Guns at Last Light: https://a.co/d/dWBRojr Shield of the Republic is a Bulwark podcast co-sponsored by the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia.
In this episode Patrick Broe and Benji Naesen recap the individual time trial of the 2025 Critérium du Dauphiné.*Exclusive deals from our trusted partners*