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Tarkin's Top Shelf welcomes Star Wars book author and Managing Editor for Nerdist Amy Ratcliffe back to the show! In this episode, your hosts and Amy sit down to recap season 1 of Star Wars: The Bad Batch and discuss their overall thoughts on the first season and hopes for season 2. So, before you click play, fix yourself a big bowl of Mantell Mix and enjoy the conversation. Help us spread the word about the show Click here to subscribe via iTunes Click here to subscribe via RSS Click here to subscribe via Stitcher Click here to subscribe via Google Play Music Feedback and Promotion Follow us on Twitter@TarkinsTopShelf Like us on Facebook: Tarkin's Top Shelf Follow us on Instagram @TarkinsTopShelf Save 35% On Us via Insight Editions!

In this episode of Tarkin's Top Shelf, your hosts review Secrets of the Force: The Complete, Uncensored, Unauthorized Oral History of STAR WARS. For the past four decades, no film saga has touched the world in the way that Star Wars has, capturing the imaginations of filmgoers and filmmakers alike. Now, for the first time (ever), Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman, the bestselling authors of The Fifty-Year Mission, are telling the entire story of this blockbuster franchise from the very beginning in a single exhaustive volume. Help us spread the word about the show Click here to subscribe via iTunes Click here to subscribe via RSS Click here to subscribe via Stitcher Click here to subscribe via Google Play Music Feedback and Promotion Follow us on Twitter@TarkinsTopShelf Like us on Facebook: Tarkin's Top Shelf Follow us on Instagram @TarkinsTopShelf Save 35% On Us via Insight Editions!

Ay, mane - check ya patnas and 'nem. Some of 'em are problematic as f--- and aren't being called out. Recent gruesome murders against women got Atlanta shook. Also: the return of the Brick and Swish segments, with Rachel Nichols shooting a brick so hard, her employer took away all her hoops-related jobs. Oh, well. *Jordan shrug* Subscribe and share! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/amber-north/support

In this episode of Tarkin's Top Shelf, your hosts welcome Chris Ryons and Dan Miller from Broaxium to the show! It's a "beyond the panel" discussion as they go over the latest Star Wars announcements and news: the official trailer for Star Wars: VISIONS, Weyland, and the upcoming comic series, Crimson Reign. Help us spread the word about the show Click here to subscribe via iTunes Click here to subscribe via RSS Click here to subscribe via Stitcher Click here to subscribe via Google Play Music Feedback and Promotion Follow us on Twitter@TarkinsTopShelf Like us on Facebook: Tarkin's Top Shelf Follow us on Instagram @TarkinsTopShelf Save 35% On Us via Insight Editions!

In this episode of Tarkin's Top Shelf, your hosts welcome Kelly Knox, the author of Marvel Monsters and Star Wars: Vader Immortal Digital Art Book, to the show! Kelly is well-known for her punny Star Wars jokes on Twitter and her knack for crafts from a galaxy far, far away. All that aside, Kelly has a lot more to share about her love and passions for Star Wars, Marvel, Anime, and her number one guy, Darth Vader! Help us spread the word about the show Click here to subscribe via iTunes Click here to subscribe via RSS Click here to subscribe via Stitcher Click here to subscribe via Google Play Music Feedback and Promotion Follow us on Twitter@TarkinsTopShelf Like us on Facebook: Tarkin's Top Shelf Follow us on Instagram @TarkinsTopShelf Save 35% On Us via Insight Editions!  

In this episode of Tarkin's Top Shelf, Mark and Becca welcome Justin Bolger to the show! Justin, formerly known as "Apex Fan" to the Star Wars community on Twitter while he worked as the official Star Wars media specialist, sits down with your hosts for a bookish chat about some of his favorite Star Wars books. The conversation takes some wild and uncomfortable turns as they share their perspectives on Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire by Steve Perry and Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith Visual Dictionary by James Luceno.  Help us spread the word about the show Click here to subscribe via iTunes Click here to subscribe via RSS Click here to subscribe via Stitcher Click here to subscribe via Google Play Music Feedback and Promotion Follow us on Twitter@TarkinsTopShelf Like us on Facebook: Tarkin's Top Shelf Follow us on Instagram @TarkinsTopShelf Save 35% On Us via Insight Editions!  

It seems more so now than ever that letting Cody Ceci go came down to the disappointment the Penguins had with some younger players. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to Kanata's Castle! In this episode, your hosts talk about The Bad Batch, Hera's return to Star Wars, Anakin's heroism and his return to the light, and the latest in Star Wars news. sounding voice artist, Liam Howie @LunaticGrung Intro by the talented Vanessa Marshall - the voice of Hera in Star Wars Rebels. Give a hospitalized child a Starlight Brave Gown — and a huge smile — TODAY Tip Jar is on the Bar! https://www.ko-fi.com/tipmaz Kanata's Castle Podcast LOGO T-shirts are Here!  Huge shoutout to Neil Lowery for our bumper announcements Save 35% On Us via Insight Editions! A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

Nobody is "more worthy" of receiving the Gospel; we're called to treat every person as equally deserving of the Good News.

In this episode of Tarkin's Top Shelf, your hosts go over the latest Star Wars news regarding The High Republic and its next wave of stories. They recap the recent "High Republic Show" and the announcement of Star Wars: The High Republic: Tempest Runner, original audiobook by Cavan Scott and Penguin Random House Audio, and the Full Voice Cast! And lastly, but certainly not least, Mark and Becca answer some listener feedback on Star Wars: The Rising Storm and Out of the Shadows. Help us spread the word about the show Click here to subscribe via iTunes Click here to subscribe via RSS Click here to subscribe via Stitcher Click here to subscribe via Google Play Music Feedback and Promotion Follow us on Twitter@TarkinsTopShelf Like us on Facebook: Tarkin's Top Shelf Follow us on Instagram @TarkinsTopShelf Save 35% On Us via Insight Editions!  

Tarkin's Top Shelf reviews Star Wars: The High Republic: Out of the Shadows by Justina Ireland and Disney Books. Your hosts discuss the characters and their arcs, the plot points, the timeline, and continuity payoffs. It's an in-depth, no-holds-barred review that Mark and Becca strongly recommend reading the book first before listening to the show. Thank you, Disney Books and Lucasfilm Press, for supplying Tarkin's Top Shelf with advanced copies of Star Wars: The High Republic: Out of the Shadows for review purposes. Help us spread the word about the show Click here to subscribe via iTunes Click here to subscribe via RSS Click here to subscribe via Stitcher Click here to subscribe via Google Play Music Feedback and Promotion Follow us on Twitter@TarkinsTopShelf Like us on Facebook: Tarkin's Top Shelf Follow us on Instagram @TarkinsTopShelf Save 35% On Us via Insight Editions!  

In this episode of Tarkin's Top Shelf, your hosts discuss "Deep Reading" with Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. As Matthew W. Stover says, "there are no "deep writers," just "deep readers." And with that, Tarkin's Top Shelf gives you one helluva in-depth discussion that talks you through some Star Wars mazes on a literary journey in a galaxy far, far away. It's [Star Wars] like poetry. They rhyme.  Help us spread the word about the show Click here to subscribe via iTunes Click here to subscribe via RSS Click here to subscribe via Stitcher Click here to subscribe via Google Play Music Feedback and Promotion Follow us on Twitter@TarkinsTopShelf Like us on Facebook: Tarkin's Top Shelf Follow us on Instagram @TarkinsTopShelf Save 35% On Us via Insight Editions!  

It all started on a dreary Friday afternoon. It had been over a month since my last case, and twice as long since I'd heard from Magnus. They say idle hands are the devil's workshop; if that's true, my devil was either on vacation or one lazy son of a bitch. I must have looked a sorry sight–a lone, courageous dribble of saliva fought its way through five days worth of stubble on its way down my chin as I leaned back in my chair, feet up on the desk, with a fat stogie in one hand and a bottle of Johnnie Walker in the other. The rain crashed in hypnotic waves against the rickety window at my back. I'd been drifting in and out of sleep all afternoon–dreaming that I was on the deck of some ancient wooden barge, swaying back and forth on its creaky deck, staring out at an endless dark ocean. The clock on the wall was broken, but the dimness of the sun fighting its way through the rain clouds told me it was about time to quit drinking at the office and pick it back up at my apartment. I deposited my long-since expired cigar into my ash tray and placed the bottle of scotch next to it. The scattered envelopes, unpaid bills, and old case files that littered my desk were marred by stains. Magnus used to joke that my desk aged like a tree–you could tell how long it'd been since our last case by counting the overlapping rings of spilt booze and coffee. I glanced sidelong at his abandoned desk next to mine, glistening and pristine as always. The only thing on it was the plastic tray at its corner where he kept active case files–it was empty except for the handful of envelopes that had arrived for him in the weeks since his disappearance. I'd wrestled with the idea of opening them, curious if any bore some clue to his whereabouts, but thought better of it. His last words to me, spoken in hushed tones over the phone, were that he needed to lay low for a while and I should make no attempt to find or contact him. I had reluctantly agreed, and though I may not be much else, I am at least a man of my word. As I stood, bracing myself against the desk while grasping at booze-hazy memories of how my legs worked, I heard the front door in the lobby burst open. The wild hissing sound of the rainstorm flooded my office for a moment before the door slammed shut, drowning it out again. I collapsed back in my chair, leaning forward with my eyes fixed on the frosted glass window that looked out on the hallway from the lobby. Magnus always boasted that he could predict everything he needed to know about a case from the client's silhouette as they passed by that window. He made a game of it–whispering his prognosis for each new client as they walked past. “Bad luck,” he'd say; “Memory loss;” Or, one of his favorites, “unwanted impure thoughts.” He was wrong more often than right, but every now and then he'd get lucky–the client would finish explaining and Magnus would catch my eye and give a self-satisfied nod. It usually irritated me, but now that he was gone it surprised me how much I missed that little ritual. In Magnus's absence I was left to formulate my own preconceptions about this new potential client. From the shape of the silhouette and the sound of the heeled footsteps clicking across the hallway, the best I could come up with was “probably female.” As to the nature of her visit, I didn't venture a guess. Nothing I could have imagined, naive as I was at the time, could have landed even remotely near the mark. The silhouette rounded the corner, confirming my initial impressions. The woman stood tall in the office doorway, wearing a dark blue trench coat with the collar pulled up and a matching wide-brimmed hat. Remnants of the storm dripped steadily onto the hardwood floor at her feet. The woman's face was pale and gaunt, looking almost skeletal in the dim light. She glanced around the room and spotted the coat rack in the corner, then walked to it and hung her hat, revealing her shoulder-length black hair. After she hung her coat, I could tell her body was as lean as her face. The white buttoned shirt and blue jeans she wore should have been form-fitting on a woman as tall as she was, but on her they hung loose, like a deflated parachute. She turned toward me, continuing to look around the room as she approached. The woman paused when she saw the bottle on my desk. She looked at me with an expression of distaste. “Are you Magnus Vitale?” she asked. I shook my head. “Magnus is… indisposed, presently. I'm his partner, Sylvester Bullet.” I gestured toward one of the uncomfortable wooden chairs pushed up against my desk. “How can I help you, Mrs…” The woman remained silent for a moment. She looked down at the battered chair I had offered, then back at me. She let out a resigned sigh as she pulled the chair out and sat down delicately, placing a small black purse on her lap. “Miss Tanaka,” the woman said. “Chinami Tanaka. I need help tracking someone down.” “This someone, you suspect they hexed you?” I asked. Miss Tanaka nodded. “I assure you it's more than a suspicion, Mr. Bullet.” My brain kicked into autopilot and I launched into the spiel that I regurgitated every time someone new walked in off the street. “These things aren't always clear cut,” I explained. “You'd be surprised at how often people come to us, swearing up and down that they've been hexed, only to discover…” “May I?” Miss. Tanaka interrupted. She pointed at the bottle of Johnnie Walker between us. Her interjection startled me, despite the politeness with which she delivered it. I shrugged and slid the bottle toward her, wondering why she suddenly desired the thing that had clearly repulsed her when she first noticed it. She tossed her head back and, without touching her lips to the bottle, poured its contents into her mouth. She shook out the last few drops before delicately placing the empty bottle back on the desk. A scowl crossed her face, and her eyes met mine as she forcefully swallowed. We stared at each other in silence for a moment, then Miss Tanaka slid the bottle back toward me. I looked down at it. It wasn't empty. In fact it still contained the exact amount of scotch it had before Miss Tanaka drank it. I furrowed my brow in confusion and glanced back up at her. Was she playing a joke on me? Some kind of illusion, or parlor trick? “I didn't always look like this,” said Miss Tanaka. “Less than a year ago you might even have considered me overweight–an unkind observation, perhaps, but not an inaccurate one.” It was hard to picture the slender woman across from me as anything but severely underweight, but I didn't comment. My eyes wandered back down to the perplexing bottle. I concentrated, trying to determine exactly how drunk I was. I had a nice buzz going on, sure, but not near enough that I had any doubts about what I'd just seen. She had emptied the bottle–I watched her choke it down. And yet somehow she hadn't. “I am not completely starved,” Miss Tanaka continued. “The hex seems to prevent excess. If I eat more than the bare minimum required to keep my body alive, I find it returned to my plate as though I had never eaten it at all. Foods I once derived great pleasure from now have no taste, or, worse, present an altogether offensive palate. I am losing weight rapidly, Mr. Bullet. If it keeps pace, I fear that my life may be in grave danger very soon.” At that point in my life, I had believed myself to be something of an expert on magic. Magnus and I had been in the business of tracking down totems and dispelling hexes for over twenty years. In all that time I thought I had seen everything magic was capable of, and I had never seen anything to indicate that it could do what Miss Tanaka had just demonstrated. Hexes simply didn't work like that–they acted subtly, influencing the victim's life and thoughts in almost imperceptible ways. Sure, they could be life-threatening, but they killed you through the manipulation of circumstance. Maybe you get distracted and miss a stop sign; maybe you get the surgeon who, having just found out his wife is cheating on him, distractedly botches your operation; maybe you absentmindedly store the leaky box of rat poison above your open box of cereal in the pantry. The idea that magic could “un-eat” a person's food–could actually manipulate physical objects in any way–was preposterous. I became convinced that I was being deceived. That Miss Tanaka's demonstration was the lead-in to some kind of scam or practical joke. But I was intrigued–enough to continue playing along despite my suspicions. I nodded at Miss Tanaka gravely, trying my best to hide my incredulity. “You know who the caster is?” I asked. “Yes,” replied Miss Tanaka. “Harold and I were… We were…” She hesitated, averting her eyes from mine. “Lovers?” She shook her head. “No. Friends. At least I thought we were friends. Harold, he wanted more.” “I see,” I said. This part of the story, at least, was credible. I'd seen it shake out a thousand times. “So Harold professed his love, you turned him down, and shortly thereafter your food stops being so cooperative about being eaten.” Miss Tanaka nodded. “After I rejected him, Harold told me that I would soon know what it was to be deprived of something so essential to me as I was to him. After I realized what was happening to me, I attempted my own means of locating him. Finding people is a task for which I normally have a…” she paused, apparently searching for the right word. “A penchant. My attempts have been in vain. I suspect my inability to find Harold may be somehow related to the hex, but that is pure conjecture on my part. It is why I am here, Mr. Bullet. I was told that when it came to hexes, Mr. Vitale was the man to seek for help. But seeing as how he is not here and you are, and I am nearing my wit's end, I shall ask you instead. Can you help me?” I studied Miss Tanaka where she sat across from me. She stared back at me with an intensity and fire in her eyes that belied her frail countenance. But her expression betrayed a quiet desperation. She looked so thin and vulnerable and pathetic in the dim light. The office was quiet except for the rain and the gentle squeaking of the ceiling fan rocking back and forth as it spun above our heads. My eyes wandered to Magnus's vacant desk. I'd bet he would have jumped all over that case, unfazed by its apparent absurdity. I could picture him, sitting on the edge of his desk, holding Miss Tanaka's hands in his and reassuring her that everything would be okay. He was a sucker for the romantic cases. Scorned lovers, jealous exes, cheating spouses–he drank them up like I drank Johnnie Walker. But Magnus wasn't there, and I had no idea when he was coming back. My emotional state at the time ranged somewhere between fascinated and horrified. Maybe it was the booze, or maybe it was Miss Tanaka's gently pleading eyes, but I found myself considering the notion that the starvation hex could be real. The implications chilled me to my bones. If all my preconceptions about magic were wrong and a hex like this was possible, what kind of monster would actually cast it? And what else was that person capable of? Taking this case on, especially without Magnus, seemed unthinkably dangerous. “Miss Tanaka,” I started. My mind raced, trying to formulate a diplomatic way to make her understand. “My last case,” I said, “was a girl who thought her father put a hex on her love life–a boy she liked, who had previously been hot to trot, suddenly lost interest.” Miss Tanaka looked at me, unblinking. “Turned out it wasn't the father, but another girl. Did it out of jealousy. She used a few of my client's hairs to construct the totem. It was the first time she had ever cast a hex.” Miss Tanaka opened her mouth to speak, but I raised my hand to stop her. “Bear with me,” I said. “I'm going somewhere with this, I promise. The case prior to that was a shop owner who found his clientele suddenly lacking compared to that of a rival shop in a less desirable location. The other shop's owner used a coffee cup from my client's trash for his totem. It was also his first hex.” “Mr. Bullet I've already said I want to hire you,” Miss Tanaka interjected. “You needn't continue this ill-conceived attempt to impress me with your work history.” “Prior to that,” I continued, ignoring the interruption, “there was a man hexed by a scorned lover to lose all sexual desire for any woman but her. Before that was a competitive swimmer hexed with a fear of water. A mother hexed by her son to stop preparing vegetables for dinner. A farmer whose cows…” “Your point, please, Mr. Bullet!” Miss Tanaka said, more forcefully this time. “The point is, I've only ever dealt with normal, run-of-the-mill magic. The casters are inexperienced and the hexes are inconvenient and annoying to their victims at worst–like tiny buzzing gnats that you know are there but can't see. Your hex isn't a gnat, Miss Tanaka. It's an army of fucking steamrollers. It's so far above anything I've ever heard of or even knew was possible that I can't begin to fathom what kind of power your Harold wields, or how dangerous he might be.” Miss Tanaka nodded. I could tell she wasn't grasping my intention to turn her away. She reached into the purse on her lap and pulled out a rolled up wad of cash. It was thicker around than my arm. She placed it on my desk, next to an old coffee-stained bill with the words “Final Notice” stamped across it in red. I could sense she had looked up at me, but I couldn't tear my eyes from the money. “I am perfectly capable and willing to compensate you to a level commensurate with the challenge I may present,” said Miss Tanaka. “As I said, I am nearing my wit's end. I was told Mr. Vitale was the best. I would hope that–despite appearances to the contrary–his partner would be competent at least, if not one of the best himself. I am desperate, and afraid for my life. I need to find Harold so that I may entreat him to undo what he has done.” Leaning back, but not taking my eyes off the money, I considered how nice it might be to buy groceries and restock the liquor cabinet without having to count nickels for once. With that much cash I could probably pay off all my bills, maybe even buy new chairs for the office to boot. How surprised would Magnus be if he got back to discover I'd redecorated the place? “You understand that there are no refunds,” I explained slowly to Miss Tanaka. “The totem he used must be incredibly powerful–if I'm unable to destroy it, and if he doesn't revoke the hex willingly, there's not much else I can do. The only other way to break the hex would be to…” “Don't worry, Mr. Bullet. I did not come here to enlist a hired assassin,” Miss Tanaka reassured me. “If you can locate Howard I have no doubt that, if the feelings he confessed to me were true, he will see what his hex has done to me and perform the revocation. He has his share of negative qualities, but being overly vindictive and cold-hearted is not among them. I suspect he cast the hex in anger and frustration, then secluded himself somewhere away from me, unaware of just how powerful his spell had been or how much it has cost me.” I took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly as I glared at the comically large roll of green paper shining like beacon among the trash on my desk. I looked up at Miss Tanaka. The fire in her eyes still shone brightly. She exuded the energy of an impassioned, headstrong young woman; but her body was that of a frail, old lady. Her face and hands looked like bones with thin tissue paper wrapped around them for skin, and her mouth quivered at the edges, probably from the exertion it required to mask her weariness. If I were a less honest man, I'd probably say some part of me recognized at that moment what a remarkable woman she was, and that realization is what made up my mind. In reality, it was the money. I sighed heavily and shook my head. Miss Tanaka sucked in a short breath. “Miss Tanaka, I accept your case,” I said. Though she did her best to hide it, I saw the relief flood over her. Her shoulders loosened and the grimace on her face relaxed into what almost looked like a smile… Almost. She nodded curtly at me. “Very well, Mr. Bullet. Now if you'll excuse me, I've had a tiring day. I must rest and take what sustenance the hex will allow. I shall return early tomorrow to discuss the particulars.” I nodded slowly and watched Miss Tanaka rise. At that point, if Magnus were there he would have leapt to her aid–helping her on with her coat, taking her elbow, walking her through the lobby. That wasn't my style, and I think if I had tried anything like that–lumbering toward her on my drunk legs, smelling of booze, cigars, and sweat and groping at her clothes on the coat rack–she probably would have decked me with her purse and called the cops. Instead, I watched her gather her belongings and leave the way she had come without another word. After she'd gone, leaving me alone with my conflicted thoughts, I felt my resolve begin to crumble. What had I just gotten myself into? I tentatively reached out, intending to touch the roll of bills Miss Tanaka left on my desk, but at the last second my hand swerved to the Johnnie Walker instead. I grasped the bottle and held it up, close to my eyes. The amber liquid sloshed hypnotically from side to side, much like the surface of the dark ocean I had been dreaming of all day. I put the bottle to my lips and drained it, then tossed it in the trash behind me. The empty bottle clinked against its likewise discarded brethren and remained there, empty, as I gathered my things and stepped out into the cold, wet streets that would take me home.

Tarkin's Top Shelf welcomes Matthew W. Stover, the author of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, to the show! In this episode, Mark and Becca sit down with Mr. Stover and discuss the creative process, character motivations, metaphorical fears, and the narrative of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. It's a trip down Star Wars memory lane, sixteen years, to be exact! And, there are even some George Lucas stories as well. So, you might want to buckle up, baby. This one's coming in Sith hot! Help us spread the word about the show Click here to subscribe via iTunes Click here to subscribe via RSS Click here to subscribe via Stitcher Click here to subscribe via Google Play Music Feedback and Promotion Follow us on Twitter@TarkinsTopShelf Like us on Facebook: Tarkin's Top Shelf Follow us on Instagram @TarkinsTopShelf Save 35% On Us via Insight Editions!  

Tarkin's Top Shelf welcomes Star Wars: The High Republic story architect Daniel José Older back to the show! In this episode, your hosts chew the fat or, if you're a Drengir, chew the meat with Daniel José Older about his recent book for the 2nd wave of The High Republic, "Race to Crashpoint Tower." They talk about the creative process behind The High Republic, character arcs, dinosaurs, Drengir, MEATS, and yes, they even ask about sweet seafood, too. Help us spread the word about the show Click here to subscribe via iTunes Click here to subscribe via RSS Click here to subscribe via Stitcher Click here to subscribe via Google Play Music Feedback and Promotion Follow us on Twitter@TarkinsTopShelf Like us on Facebook: Tarkin's Top Shelf Follow us on Instagram @TarkinsTopShelf Save 35% On Us via Insight Editions!

After Third Police Shooting In A Month, Broome Sheriff Puts Onus On Lawmakers by WSKG News

The Cast & Crew begin their descent down the mountain, leaving Elvarath in the clouds. What lays in wait for them at the bottom is a mystery, and where to go next is even more shrouded.Sponsors:Liquid Death Mountain Water - Use code "CASTPARTY" when you buy a 12 pack and get a Koozie set ON US! :)Crit Academy: Capes & Crooks Kickstarter is LIVE! Critacademy.com/capesandcrooksGet your FREE Month of Audible!Snag your very own Cast Party Merch HERE!Follow us on Twitter and Instagram!Business Email: castpartydnd@gmail.comColin (Director) - @DirectorColinRyan (Sebastian) - @Ry.McManusAnna (Blueberry) - @BrizzyVoicesNigel (Xander) - @NigelSuckslolVince (Jett) - @JettAndPebbles

In this episode of Tarkin's Top Shelf, your hosts review Star Wars: The High Republic: Race to Crashpoint Tower by Daniel Jose Older, Disney Books, and Lucasfilm Press. Race to Crashpoint Tower is the second middle-grade novel within The High Republic publishing campaign, the first being A Test of Courage. Race to Crashpoint Tower follows two young Padawans who have to learn "what being a Jedi is all about" as they fight dangerous threats against the Republic. Again, this is a No-Holds-Barred kind of show, so please, be sure to read "Race to Crashpoint Tower" first if you do not wish to be spoiled.  Help us spread the word about the show Click here to subscribe via iTunes Click here to subscribe via RSS Click here to subscribe via Stitcher Click here to subscribe via Google Play Music Feedback and Promotion Follow us on Twitter@TarkinsTopShelf Like us on Facebook: Tarkin's Top Shelf Follow us on Instagram @TarkinsTopShelf Save 35% On Us via Insight Editions!  

In this episode of Tarkin's Top Shelf, your hosts review Star Wars: The High Republic: The Rising Storm by Cavan Scott and Del Rey Publishing. Mark and Becca discuss the Republic Fair, Valo, The Nihil, character arcs, plot points, Dinosaurs, and the narrative throughout the novel. It's a No-Holds-Barred kind of show, so please, be sure to read "The Rising Storm" first if you do not wish to be spoiled. Help us spread the word about the show Click here to subscribe via iTunes Click here to subscribe via RSS Click here to subscribe via Stitcher Click here to subscribe via Google Play Music Feedback and Promotion Follow us on Twitter@TarkinsTopShelf Like us on Facebook: Tarkin's Top Shelf Follow us on Instagram @TarkinsTopShelf Save 35% On Us via Insight Editions!  

In this episode of Tarkin's Top Shelf, Mark and Becca discuss the recent interview with Leslye Headland regarding Star Wars: The Acolyte and her writing room via cinemablend.com. Your hosts also touch on the current articles regarding Emilia Clarke reprising her role as Qi'ra in a future Star Wars project. Help us spread the word about the show Click here to subscribe via iTunes Click here to subscribe via RSS Click here to subscribe via Stitcher Click here to subscribe via Google Play Music Feedback and Promotion Follow us on Twitter@TarkinsTopShelf Like us on Facebook: Tarkin's Top Shelf Follow us on Instagram @TarkinsTopShelf Save 35% On Us via Insight Editions!  

Intro.(1:42) - Start of interview.(3:11) - Joe's take on the rise of IPOs and SPACs since 2020. "There is a level where it is all entirely rational."(4:16) - Staying private vs going public in this environment. "In today's world, companies have three alternatives: do another VC round, a SPAC or an IPO."(6:43) -  On the fundraising environment: "This is historically unprecedented... due to fiscal and monetary stimulus throughout the U.S. and global economies." "But you have to combine that with the observation that we really do have some fundamental technological and economic changes going on."(8:47) - Are you bullish or bearish on the economy and markets? "I'm confused-ish"(10:46) - On Bitcoin, and the new Bitcoin Law from El Salvador (making it legal tender in that country): It has serious repercussions for US law (currency vs security, money transmission, tax implications, etc).(12:56) - On US public corporations adding Bitcoin to the corporate treasuries. On bitcoin mining ("dirty, dirty, dirty") and the distinctions between "proof of work" and "proof of stake" cryptos. On Elon's decision to not accept Bitcoin to purchase Teslas.(16:12) - On DeFi: "Once regulators figure out what's going on here, they are going to try to crush it." "You know, the SEC has no idea what to do with crypto. The SEC is asking for legislation, they're actually begging for legislation, because if you get legislation, then it's not their job. Unless (the SEC's nightmare) Congress gives the SEC all the authority it needs to regulate crypto and says to the SEC: here you go, do it."(19:30) - On DAOs: "They can lead to chaos. I mean, what is the governance structure? Each one of these has a very different governance structure. And one of the things that we know is that there's no perfect governance structure, right? If you want to over intellectualize this, go back to Ken Arrow's Impossibility Theorem where he demonstrated that there are lots of criteria we would like to see in a society and you can't simultaneously have them all. Well, you know, that's a super brainiac way of saying that governments are always going to fail to one degree or another. Putting the problem of social organization on the blockchain does not solve the problem of social organization. It simply replicates the problem on the blockchain, right? So why do people think that putting an insoluble problem on the blockchain solves the insoluble problem is an insoluble problem to me."(21:13) - On the different approach to blockchain by computer scientists and lawyers. The Stanford Center for Blockchain Research. "What can I say? The computer science people don't get sued 25 times... you know, in computer science, your equations are generally fairly well behaved. And if you write a system, you know how it's going to operate. We're lawyers, we deal with people. Not only deal with people, we deal with plaintiffs. It's a very different problem. I mean look, in engineering you're often dealing with fairly well behaved systems. If systems were well-behaved, you wouldn't need lawyers. So what can I say? I only go where there's chaos and mayhem."(22:57) - On SB-826 (gender) board diversity quota in CA: "the data suggests pretty strongly, almost conclusively, that SB-826 has worked. The number of women on corporate boards in California has increased significantly. The majority of corporations in CA are now in compliance with SB-826."(24:23) - On AB-979 (minorities) board diversity quota in CA: "figuring out the effect of the AB 979 is more difficult. It's very hard to separate that out from what I call the George Floyd effect."(25:21) - On the constitutionality of these laws: "there's a deeper mystery here. And something that I think is really more profound. If you look objectively at both pieces of legislation, and if you ask yourself, what's the probability that the U.S. Supreme court as currently composed (a 6-3 conservative majority) would find either one of these pieces of legislation is constitutional? The answer would be a resounding no." "The fascinating thing is typically when legislation is potentially unconstitutional, everybody's jumping up and down and they're suing to get it invalidated. Here, not only is that not happening, but the vast majority of corporations are complying with legislation."(27:33) - "These bills are what I would call The Miracle of Unconstitutional Legislation": "These are the most effective unconstitutional pieces of legislation that I've ever seen in American history. And I think the answer for why they've been so successful is that at least when it comes to legislating the composition of corporate boards, the majority of America is out of tune with Supreme court doctrine regarding the existence of quotas." "Diversity on corporate boards is being treated very differently to diversity in other areas of society and the parties most directly affected aren't complaining about it. It's a remarkable situation."(31:08) - On stakeholder capitalism and the BRT restatement of 2019: "This is nothing new. You always had to consider all of the constituencies, otherwise you're out of business."(34:45) - On Engine No. 1 proxy fight with Exxon Mobil:  "This is huge. I think going forward, every proxy contest is going to be measured as either before Exxon or after Exxon. What it demonstrates is that in today's world, you don't need a large equity position. What you really need to understand is the story that is going to resonate with the large institutional investors. Engine No. 1  had a terrific story that resonated extraordinarily well. They had the perfect target because Exxon had built up a reputation over decades as being the most arrogant corporation in the United States. They'd basically refused to listen to institutional investors. You combine that with the big push towards ESG investing, and the fact that many institutions now feel they can't afford to be on the wrong side of ESG momentum. You know, it created a situation where if you were economically and politically smart, and these guys I think are, you would be able to leverage your position by a factor of 2,500 and grab three seats on the Exxon board of directors. They did something that people thought would have been impossible. And I think it's highly innovative and you're going to see many forums of what I would call corporate electoral innovation over the next year or two. And a lot of it will wind up pushing the ESG direction."(38:04) - "Look, my joke line about ESG is that given the current state of the art, it stands for Extremely Subjective Guessing"!Joseph A. Grundfest is an expert on capital markets, corporate governance, and securities litigation. His scholarship has been published in the Harvard, Yale, and Stanford law reviews, and he has been recognized as one of the most influential attorneys in the United States. Professor Grundfest founded the Stanford Securities Class Action Clearinghouse, which provides detailed, online information about the prosecution, defense, and settlement of federal class action securities fraud litigation. He launched Stanford Law School's executive education programs and continues to co-direct Directors' College, the nation's leading venue for the continuing professional education of directors of publicly traded corporations. He is also a senior faculty member with the Arthur and Toni Rembe Rock Center for Corporate Governance. Additionally, he is co-founder and director of Financial Engines and a director of Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co. Before joining the Stanford Law School faculty in 1990, Professor Grundfest was a commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission, served on the staff of the President's Council of Economic Advisors as counsel and senior economist for legal and regulatory matters, and was an associate at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering. Early in his career he was a research associate at the Brookings Institution and an economist and consultant with the RAND Corporation.If you like this show, please consider subscribing, leaving a review or sharing this podcast on social media. __You can follow Evan on social media at:Twitter @evanepsteinSubstack https://evanepstein.substack.com/Music/Soundtrack (found via Free Music Archive): Seeing The Future by Dexter Britain is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License

In this episode of Tarkin's Top Shelf, your hosts take a closer look at Leia Organa, the Jedi Padawan of her brother, Master Luke Skywalker. Mark and Becca question why Leia decided to put down the saber and hop back on the political bandwagon again? They discuss foreboding dreams of losing Ben, history repeating itself, and possibly, knowledge obtained from the "restricted section" of the old Jedi Archives now known as "the Sacred Jedi Texts." References include Leia: Princess of Alderaan, Aftermath: Life Debt, and Star Wars: Bloodline. Help us spread the word about the show Click here to subscribe via iTunes Click here to subscribe via RSS Click here to subscribe via Stitcher Click here to subscribe via Google Play Music Feedback and Promotion Follow us on Twitter@TarkinsTopShelf Like us on Facebook: Tarkin's Top Shelf Follow us on Instagram @TarkinsTopShelf Save 35% On Us via Insight Editions!  

Tarkin's Top Shelf takes a break from the books in episode 142. Your hosts explore possible continuity connections between The Bad Batch animated series and the upcoming live-action series, The Book of Boba Fett. Ok, so taking a break from Star Wars books is true, but not in the figurative sense. You see, Mark and Becca take a closer look at Omega and try to discern if her character may or may not play a pivotal role in the Disney Plus series, The Book of Boba Fett. Help us spread the word about the show Click here to subscribe via iTunes Click here to subscribe via RSS Click here to subscribe via Stitcher Click here to subscribe via Google Play Music Feedback and Promotion Follow us on Twitter@TarkinsTopShelf Like us on Facebook: Tarkin's Top Shelf Follow us on Instagram @TarkinsTopShelf Save 35% On Us via Insight Editions!

In this episode your host, Alix Cohler interviews Deputy Secretary for Higher Education, Dr. Tanya Garcia, and Policy Director, Ms. Julie Kane, from the PA Department of Education about their amazing work with the "It's On Us" grant.

"The Jazz Hole with Linus features music from several new albums today: This Time The Dream's On Us by the Basel-based trio Yuri Storione/Jorge Rossy/Dominik Schürmann, Continuous by the Ottawa-based Miguel de Armas Quartet and Fearless by the Chicago-based saxophonist and composer Sharel Cassity. Plus several albums by NYC-based bands: I Love Being Here With You by Cait and the Critters (lead by vocalist Cait Jones), Three Part Invention by the Gabe Terracciano Trio and From Where We Came by bassist and composer Michael Feinberg. ------- Yuri Storione, Jorge Rossy, Dominik Schürmann - “Happy Hour” & “Father and Son” Album: This Time The Dream's On Us Yuri Storione (p, composer “Father and Son”, co-composer “Happy Hour”), Jorge Rossy (d) and Dominik Schürmann (b, co-composer “Happy Hour”) Cait and the Critters - Queer Album: I Love Being Here With You Cait Jones (voc, arr), Mariel Bildsten (tb, dir, arr), Michael Hashim (sax), Danny Jonokuchi (tp), Jocelyn Gould (g), Miki Yamanaka (p), Daniel Duke (b) and Rob Garcia (d) - written by George Gershwin & Ira Gershwin Gabe Terracciano Trio - “Gymnopédie No. 3” & “Dance for Jimmy” Album: Three Part Invention Gabe Terracciano (violin, viola), Josh Dunn (g) and Ian Hutchison (b) - Gymnopédie No. 3 written by Erik Satie ------- Michael Feinberg - “Cairo” & “Tryon” Album: From Where We Came Michael Feinberg (b), Dave Liebman (ss), Noah Preminger (ts), Gary Versace (p) and Ian Froman (d) Miguel de Armas - Continuous Album: Continuous Miguel de Armas (p, kbds), Marc Decho, Roberto Riverón (b), Michel Medrano Brindis (d), Diomer González, Joel Cuesta (congas), Samuel Formell (d, timbales), José Alberto Alvarez Batista (güiro) and Yasmina Proveyer (voc) Miguel de Armas - Gone Too Soon Album: Continuous Miguel de Armas (p, kbds), Marc Decho (b), Michel Medrano Brindis (d) and Diomer González (congas) ------- Sharel Cassity - Surrender Album: Fearless Sharel Cassity (as, ss, ts), Richard Johnson (p), Alex Claffy (b) and Mark Whitfield Jr. (d) 00:00 - The Jazz Hole with Linus 02:25 - Happy Hour - Yuri Storione, Jorge Rossy, Dominik Schürmann 08:50 - Queer - Cait and the Critters 11:37 - Gymnopédie No. 3 - Gabe Terracciano Trio 14:27 - Dance for Jimmy - Gabe Terracciano Trio 19:03 - The Jazz Hole with Linus 23:20 - Cairo - Michael Feinberg 28:43 - Tryon - Michael Feinberg 32:18 - Continuous - Miguel de Armas Quartet 38:27 - The Jazz Hole with Linus 40:01 - Gone Too Soon - Miguel de Armas Quartet 45:37 - Surrender - Sharel Cassity 51:12 - The Jazz Hole with Linus 52:44 - Father and Son - Yuri Storione, Jorge Rossy, Dominik Schürmann 59:37 - Finish "

Tarkin's Top Shelf welcomes Amy Ratcliffe, the author of Star Wars: Women of the Galaxy and The Jedi Mind, back to the show to talk about her latest book, Star Wars: The Art of Galaxy's Edge. Your hosts sit down with Amy and go over the creative process, both behind the scenes and with hands-on, on-site research. It's quite the conversation that hits all the personal notes and tones for every Star Wars fan. So grab a frothy mug of Hondo's "Smuggler's Rum" and enjoy the discussion! Help us spread the word about the show Click here to subscribe via iTunes Click here to subscribe via RSS Click here to subscribe via Stitcher Click here to subscribe via Google Play Music Feedback and Promotion Follow us on Twitter@TarkinsTopShelf Like us on Facebook: Tarkin's Top Shelf Follow us on Instagram @TarkinsTopShelf Save 35% On Us via Insight Editions!  

Tarkin's Top Shelf welcomes, Kristin Baver the Associate Editor of StarWars.com and Author of Skywalker: A Family At War, to the show! In this episode, Mark and Becca sit down with Kristin to talk about the Skywalker family and their legacy in a galaxy far, far away. Come to find out. We don't know everything there is to know about this fictional family. So buckle up, baby. There's a lot of Skywalker drama ahead. Help us spread the word about the show Click here to subscribe via iTunes Click here to subscribe via RSS Click here to subscribe via Stitcher Click here to subscribe via Google Play Music Feedback and Promotion Follow us on Twitter@TarkinsTopShelf Like us on Facebook: Tarkin's Top Shelf Follow us on Instagram @TarkinsTopShelf Save 35% On Us via Insight Editions!

This week Sophie and podcast regular Nic Aubury discuss the subject of The Onus. What is the Onus, where did it come from, and most improtantly, can it ever be grudgeworth to have the Onus placed on you? for more information about Sophie and her books please visit www.sophiehannah.com. If you're enjoying the podcast please leave a rating or review, and tell a friend!

In this episode of Tarkin's Top Shelf, Mark and Becca take another look at tie-ins between on-screen and literature mediums. Your hosts revisit Star Wars: Alphabet Squadron's, Victory's Price, and how it connects to The Bad Batch in "Cut and Run." As they continue their "Tie-In" discussion, they find other similarities between Thrawn's Greater Good and certain characters and their characteristics within the animated series of The Bad Batch. So, strap in for some Top Shelf tie-ins and get ready to be charmed, to the last. Help us spread the word about the show Click here to subscribe via iTunes Click here to subscribe via RSS Click here to subscribe via Stitcher Click here to subscribe via Google Play Music Feedback and Promotion Follow us on Twitter@TarkinsTopShelf Like us on Facebook: Tarkin's Top Shelf Follow us on Instagram @TarkinsTopShelf Save 35% On Us via Insight Editions!  

Tarkin's Top Shelf celebrates Star Wars Day with Clayton Sandell! In this episode, Mark and Becca welcome Clayton Sandell to the show to talk about May the Fourth, The Bad Batch, Star Wars memories, and a brief look at one of Clayton's favorite canon novels, Star Wars: Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel. Thank you so much for listening and for supporting the show over the years. May the Fourth be with you. Always. Help us spread the word about the show Click here to subscribe via iTunes Click here to subscribe via RSS Click here to subscribe via Stitcher Click here to subscribe via Google Play Music Feedback and Promotion Follow us on Twitter@TarkinsTopShelf Like us on Facebook: Tarkin's Top Shelf Follow us on Instagram @TarkinsTopShelf Save 35% On Us via Insight Editions!

Tarkin's Top Shelf reviews the second novel of the Thrawn Ascendancy Trilogy, Star Wars: THRAWN Ascendancy: Greater Good. In this episode, Mark and Becca take a closer look inside the Nine Ruling Families of the Chiss, their political background, and where exactly Thrawn stands within both. But first, your hosts discuss the latest in Star Wars news. Help us spread the word about the show Click here to subscribe via iTunes Click here to subscribe via RSS Click here to subscribe via Stitcher Click here to subscribe via Google Play Music Feedback and Promotion Follow us on Twitter@TarkinsTopShelf Like us on Facebook: Tarkin's Top Shelf Follow us on Instagram @TarkinsTopShelf Save 35% On Us via Insight Editions!  

Ben West was a key organizer and architect of Nightscout and OpenAPS software. Even after all of the DIY and commercial development of the last ten years, he says we've barely scratched the surface of removing the mental and physical burdens from people with diabetes. Among those burdens, he says, is what he calls the onus to bolus - the responsibilities of diabetes that even the most advanced current software can't totally relieve. Ben is now the CEO at Medical Data Networks which has launched its first venture: T1 Pal.  Read the Nightscout email Stacey mentioned (click here)  Check out Stacey's book: The World's Worst Diabetes Mom! Join the Diabetes Connections Facebook Group! Sign up for our newsletter here ----- Use this link to get one free download and one free month of Audible, available to Diabetes Connections listeners! ----- Get the App and listen to Diabetes Connections wherever you go! Episode Transcription (rough draft) below Click here for iPhone      Click here for Android     Stacey Simms  0:00 Diabetes Connections is brought to you by Dario health manage your blood glucose levels increase your possibilities Gvoke Hypopen the first premixed auto injector for very low blood sugar, and by Dexcom take control of your diabetes and live life to the fullest with Dexcom.   Announcer  0:21 This is Diabetes Connections with Stacey Simms   Stacey Simms  0:26 this week talking to someone who is deeply technical, but also deeply thoughtful, who has been an incredible part of the Do It Yourself movement over the last 10 or more years. But who says we've barely scratched the surface of removing the burdens mental and physical from people with diabetes. So welcome to another week of the show. We aim to educate and inspire about diabetes with a focus on people who use insulin. I am Stacey Simms. And yes, this show is already a little different sounding here at the top no big intro or tease. And that's because my interview with Ben West is massive. It is very long. It is the longest one I have done so far on this show. But it is well worth your time. I am so excited to bring you this interview with Ben Ben West was a key organizer and architect of the Nightscout and open APS software. He is now the CEO at medical data networks which has launched its first venture T1Pal, I think Ben influenced or work with or sometimes both just about every person I've talked to under the we are not waiting umbrella. And if you're not familiar with that, if this is your first episode, welcome, but we are not waiting is kind of the rallying cry that became a hashtag back in 2013. And if you are new, I use it as a keyword you can search for it all one word, we are not waiting over at Diabetes connections.com and see every episode that has featured those incredible do it yourself, people the community that really rallied together and push the technology side of diabetes forward, I believe many many years ahead where it would have been otherwise, as I said, it is a very long interview. But you know, it's a podcast, listen in chunks. Stop, start, you know, however you want to do it. But please, I really hope you'll listen to Ben because he has so much story to tell and a lot of thoughts on how diabetes care really needs to improve. In the short time since I spoke to Ben, there has been a bit of a discussion within the Nightscout group about his business. It is part of an ongoing debate about the future of Nightscout and the future of open source in type one, Ben has the full support of the night scout foundation. In fact, they sent out an email on that and some other issues. And I will link to that in the show notes. I think it's a very good read. In addition to touching on this issue, it is a great way to catch up on what's going on in that space. So we'll get to Ben West in just a moment. But first Diabetes Connections is brought to you buy Gvoke Hypopen . And you know when you have diabetes and use insulin, low blood sugar can happen when you don't expect it. That's why most of us carry fast acting sugar and in the case of very low blood sugar, why we carry emergency glucagon, there's a new option called Gvoke Hypopen, the first auto injector to treat very low blood sugar. Gvoke Hypopen is pre mixed and ready to go with no visible needle in usability studies. 99% of people were able to give Gvoke correctly find out more go to Diabetes connections.com and click on the Gvoke logo Gvoke shouldn't be used in patients with pheochromocytoma or insulinoma visit Gvoke glucagon.com slash risk. And this is a good time to remind you that this podcast is not intended as medical advice. If you have those kinds of questions, please contact your health care provider. Ben, it's great to talk to you. Thanks so much for jumping on and sharing some time with me and my listeners.   Ben West  3:55 Oh, thank you, Stacey. I'm happy to be here. Thanks for inviting me.   Stacey Simms  3:59 I'm not even sure where to start. I have so many questions I want to ask you and there's so much history here. So maybe we just start if you don't mind. Back in college when you were diagnosed. You were student right? You were young adult.   Ben West  4:12 Yeah, I was a college student when I was diagnosed and I had all the classic symptoms where I you know, I was going to the bathroom a lot and just didn't know what was happening. My diagnosis story is I went through this for probably a week and one night I realized I had gone to the bathroom like seven times in the one night and I realized that means if that's once an hour like what sleep did I get last night. I'm nowhere near eight hours of sleep. This seems like a serious problem. So I went to a health clinic in my college town. And they said well, you're a skinny young adult, so we don't know what's going on with you. Maybe you did eat something and you didn't tell us I wasn't eating anything either. And they sent me home with some pills and said call us in two weeks. Someone through the grapevine heard that that didn't sound quite right actually came and interrupted one of my music lessons and said, you know, you need to go to the hospital there. Oh, wow, they're expecting you there. So I went to the hospital, and they checked me in over the weekend and diagnosed diagnosed me with type one. Wow,   Stacey Simms  5:13 you were lucky, right? Lucky that they interrupted your lesson there.   Ben West  5:16 Yeah, you know, I mean, I've heard a lot of stories during the work that I do. And yes, as diagnosis stories go that I you know, that's pretty mild. Yeah,   Stacey Simms  5:26 I guess I should ask you some technical questions from the very beginning. What were you using? I assume that in 2003, you didn't immediately start tinkering with an insulin pump. Right? You You went on a more traditional routine at the start?   Ben West  5:38 Well, I actually had to drive 45 minutes to clinic and Little Rock house in a different part of Arkansas going to college. And I had to drive 45 minutes to get to an endocrinologist and the endocrinologist at that time that I thought I was lucky to be getting into the specialist where they actually deal with, they actually specialize in diabetes here. And I met with the nurse, the PA, and the representative from Medtronic was actually in the room. They actually said, You seem like a smart young lad, we'd like to get you out a pump as soon as possible. And it turned out as soon as possible was like nine, you know, nine months later. So I went through the whole syringes and shots and meters and got on the on the pump. But at that time, they actually told me Yeah, the benefit of going on the pump is dispenses insulin automatically. And in the future, we're going to have CGM. There's some CGM already in the works. Those will be here sometime. And then when you get the CGM and the pump combined, it does like all these things together, right, like so I understood right away what they're talking about in that office very early on. Okay, you got you can measure glucose, and you got this pump. And in theory, it should be doing all of these things together. At that time, they even said, You know what, they even have a patient in California right now, it's got a fully implanted version. So sometime in the next five years, we're gonna have a fully implanted CGM insulin pump combo, it'll do all the work for you. This is all just temporary. That's what they told me.   Stacey Simms  7:01 2003 Yeah, just to be clear, though, Ben, the Medtronic rep was in the room with you at your doctor's appointment?   Ben West  7:09 Yeah. Wow. You had some introduction? I was actually I was glad they were honestly, that certainly seemed to be the, you know, take these pills and call us in two weeks approach.   Stacey Simms  7:20 Sure. Yeah. It also beats a bunch of other people who had their doctor say five years to a cure. I mean, yeah, you know, there's a lot of really bad ways to be diagnosed and to have those first conversations, but man, that's fascinating. Who was the person in California who had an implanted pump and CGM? What was this like, fantasy made up? No,   Ben West  7:39 I think I know, I believe him. I, I've toured the Medtronic facilities, again, during the work that I do, and they've invited me over, and they have a hallway of all kinds of awesome stuff that, you know, never made it to market or, you know, there's a lot of cool things that go on behind the doors. I'm still using a 515. I think that was in 2008. So certainly, I I'm a big believer in what they do. There is a lot of potential that I think is clearly been untapped behind this technology.   Stacey Simms  8:12 So fast forward nine months, you jump on to your insulin pump. It's not hooked up with a CGM. At the time I would assume.   Ben West  8:19 No, it the CGM didn't exist yet. Yeah, it wasn't on the market. Yeah.   Stacey Simms  8:23 What was your experience? Like with the pump?   Ben West  8:25 Oh, it's okay. It's fine. I preferred it to the shots. But everything's got trade offs. Right. I had at the time I, you know, was going in or wasn't music major. And I so I had performances that are assessed as part of my official grade. And, you know, I'd go in for these performances, and some one of the teachers would tell me hide that thing. You know, they had wires hanging out, right? And I told him, you know, I'm not trying to hide anything, I shouldn't have to hide it. And he told me, You shouldn't show it off. I thought, wow, here I am going for a performance. And that's, that's the last thing I want to be thinking about right now. Sheesh,   Stacey Simms  9:00 did you win that fight? Or did they make you hide it?   Ben West  9:03 If you're a college student working for a grade? Yeah, you're gonna, you're gonna put it away real fast, right? I mean, that's terrible.   Stacey Simms  9:11 What made you start thinking about tinkering with stuff? Because you started doing that on your own is my understanding, right? This was before you met a lot of people in the community that you started, I don't want to say taken apart, I'll let you tell the story. But you started doing this stuff in 2008 2009,   Ben West  9:28 the winter of 2009 into 2010. I remember that's when I started with a different focus. Actually, I don't know if you've talked to Scott hanselman at all, but he's, he's known. He's known for saying that every person with diabetes ever, right? The first thing they do is they start working on on something less less than the burdens here. And actually, that was true, right? As I was diagnosed, I had some experience as a computer science minor with some programming, and often my side projects, and I remember I built a dashboard. Actually, in 2003, right after I was diagnosed, that allowed me to enter in all the information into a database, right? Because I was walking around with, you know, three by five index cards, trying to write down all these carbohydrates and insulin injections. And it was getting really tedious. But I did that for years with pen and paper and pencil. And I thought, surely, why are the doctors giving me a hand drawn curves on napkins? Like, what is that about? Why are they sketching on these pieces of paper and the way that they were explaining this to me in the hospital, I thought they were going to show me a full on simulation that showed how my body was working. I've been watching too much Star Trek.   Stacey Simms  10:44 Well, you know, I'm with you. We expected things like that, too. When you said you made the dashboard. What did you use for the interface? Was it computer was it?   Ben West  10:53 Yeah, it was this was before web 2.0. This was all PHP and HTML. And I realized I was horrified. At the result, I realized I was never going to use it. It was a wall of inputs, where it's just like tons of inputs. And I wrote for times, and dates and readings. And I realized there's no way I'm going to use that. Look at it. Why would anyone use that. That's why I'm going to use pen and papers, because they're the software for this is very difficult. Then web 2.0 happened, there's a bunch of things in the 2000s, as we approached into 2010, that I, you know, I graduated school, I got into industry moved to San Francisco, the hardest Silicon Valley doing, you know, web dashboards for companies, professionally, where we're really solving people's problems where if you have this complicated problem, you can share the link with a view of that problem, and the tools for solving that problem with someone else. And that ability to share that link made the possibility for solving problems collaboratively possible in new ways, transformative ways that really fundamentally change the workflow for solving problems. So that idea really got into my head professionally, as we kind of approached 2009 in 2010. I had tried my first CGM about five years later, right, so around 2008. And the experience with that CGM was was not great. I had to go through insurance, right, they said, I had to get a new insulin pump to get to the integrated system that would read onto the insulin pump. The insurance said, we're not going to pay for that for this new one. And not only that, but according to our policy, you should never have gotten one. So that seems like an issue. Yeah. So it took us It took another nine months, right. And, you know, it goes to the appeals board. And the appeals board comes back and says no insurance, you should, you know, that's medically necessary, she should pay for it. So I finally got the pump in the CGM. And like a lot of people that I see on social media that are excited by the promise of the benefits of this new technology, I tried to really make it work for me, right, I got all the glue out. Skin all louder than the adhesive and I got the I got it covered, right with all the contact stuff. And then I'm going out for yoga, right and it's hot, and I'm doing you know, bendy stuff. And you know, you take off your shirt is a lot of people do. And then you're in a shirt, you realize you're the only one with like all this stuff. And it's like, it's not just one thing, it's the air, you got your pump over there. And he got your CGM patch over here. And it's like, it's not working out like at night. It's itchy. You know, it tickles. Except it's not tickle, it's you realize it's, it's itchy. And then you realize to your heart that that's actually the chemical burn that's happening with adhesive in your skin. And then the things alarming and I'm getting sick of the readings, I get data, what they call data overload, right where it says 240. And I feel like you know, I don't feel very good. And I take a bunch of insulin. And then, you know, an hour later says, well, you're 230 or whatever. So I don't like that. I still don't like that. So I'm going to take even more insulin. And then yeah, three hours later, you know, your doubt at 60. And the things reading 110. Right. And, you know, you're really not feeling good. This thing, made my life a mess. And I decided I'm gonna have to quit. And I was horrified that I was not going to use this thing that I had gone through so much effort to get to this point to be able to use it and that I wasn't going to get any benefits out of it. And the slap in the face for me as someone that was working on these on these systems of systems that were connected through the internet, and seeing the innovation take off and seeing the technology transform, collaborative decision making. The slap in the face for me was that this data was stuck on this little two inch display in my pocket. And there was like there was no way to get that data where other people could see it or like my doctor could see it where like app developers could put it into the simulator and make a simulator if one was missing, and 2009 and 2010 that really didn't sit with me anymore. So I thought apparently I have some skills here. And, you know, maybe I should try applying them just to see if I can get a time series. You know, wouldn't that be neat? If I can just get a little time series, you know, off the device that I use? Wouldn't that be kind of neat?   Stacey Simms  15:11 All right, I'm gonna stop you there. But as the time series,   Ben West  15:14 just the normal chart that we see where we've got data points along some time. So you've got three hours of time on the chart, just like we see with any other glucose traces data, you've got one dot every five minutes. And that happens, because you get every dot that you see is one of those data points. If you can get a bunch of data points over time, you can generate that time series.   Stacey Simms  15:37 Now I know a lot happened, you know, in those years between 2008 or 2009. And then 2013, when you started a tight pool, can you take us a little bit through that time, how you met people how you got connected with the diabetes community?   Right back to Ben answering that question. But first Diabetes Connections is brought to you by Dario. Health. And you know, one of the things that makes diabetes management difficult for us that really annoys me and Benny isn't actually the big picture stuff. It's all the little tasks adding up. Are you sick of running out of strips, do you need some direction or encouragement going forward with your diabetes management with visibility into your trends help you on your wellness journey? The Daario diabetes success plan offers all of that and more No more waiting in line at the pharmacy no more searching online for answers. No more wondering about how you're doing with your blood sugar levels. Find out more go to my Dario comm forward slash diabetes dash connections. Now back to Ben answering my question about how we found and got connected with the diabetes community.   Ben West  16:48 I need to get more serious about my problem solving. And that means if I want to help, as soon as it seems to get a lot of ground to cover, so if I need help, I need to ask a well formed questions in a targeted way. And I thought, you know, if I need help, the people that can help me are probably other people with diabetes. And so I started looking around on all kinds of social media, I was on to diabetes, for the really early platforms, and several others, there's diabetes has that and there was there are a couple of organizations before Twitter was even really becoming popular. So I kind of reached out on some of those and found some people disagreed with the things that I was expressing they, some people thought that I should just feel grateful for the devices that I had.   Stacey Simms  17:28 I remember this, there was a lot of movement at that time, because I was on some of those boards to where it was, Hey, you know, it's it's okay for now. Like it's better than it was we're not testing with urine. We're not doing right. We're things are changing. Why do you want so much data? He was an interesting time. I didn't mean to interrupt you. But I remember that.   Ben West  17:47 Yeah. It's interesting that for you to say that, thank you for remembering that that really puzzled me. It emphasized for me How important was to frame the right questions. Partly because of that those disputes, I started really focusing on the advocacy of data access. And that became my touchstone issue. Well, up until very recently, I would say, well, I've shifted recently towards embracing language matters a bit more. One of the things I've learned over the last 10 years, I think, is that language matters. And in this data access issue, are actually the same issues with the same solutions. And we will get into that. But   Stacey Simms  18:23 yeah, we'll definitely talk about that. And just trying to, you know, to kind of get the timeline here, but yeah, so you, you've got this really interesting movement within the community, but it's a small part of the community. As I said, I was there. I don't think I grasped it at all. I mean, I had a little kid, my son was a toddler at the time, you know, he was diagnosed in 2006. So I was getting into all of this, but I was definitely more of the rah rah cheerleader, kind of let's do the Big Blue test. If you remember to diabetes, you probably remember that rather than how can I free the data because we didn't have a Dexcom or a CGM for many years.   Ben West  18:53 So at that time, right at the time, I was already familiar with things that have happened in the tech world, the things that, you know, the worldwide web, the web technology that we use, has gone through this where there's lots of companies involved, some of them compete. And in fact, I remember on one of my job interviews, I was shocked to hear the interviewer say, Oh, yeah, we're partners with the, you know, these other people. I said, Wait a minute, are they competitors for this other product? And they said, Yeah, you know, we compete and we cooperate. We do both, you know, it's not, it wasn't an issue in other industries. And somehow innovation that that's unlocked. Now, we have finance, we have healthcare, we have every sector of life we do online now. And if you're not doing it online, it's because you're doing it on your mobile. And actually, it turns out that's done online also. Right, yeah. Behind the scenes. And so that's the same transformation that I saw happening everywhere, regardless of the problem space of even for the most complicated problem spaces. And so I knew that what we need the thing that made that possible on the web, and on the internet on the web, it was Use source. So any web browser that you have, there's a function where you can go in and edit. And you can say view source. And it shows you all of the source code that's used to present that web page for you. It turns out that that's a critical part of that innovation to market pipeline, because more people are able to access the data that makes the thing go, that DIY access, if you will, for the web, that view source that allows anyone to get access to it, that does a couple things. One is that it gives more people access to making things and that network connectivity is what allowed a lot of innovation that we see, in 2008. Nine, that's when I started talking about data 2010. And yeah, through 2013, I started to code switch, which means that I talked about data in the most austere terms possible, in order to attract those other folks that already understood how important that was. So that together with them, I could look to build this ecosystem so that people would start to get it, I knew that if we could deliver a couple of applications that utilize this open architecture, this open ecosystem, the feature set would grow, the popularity would grow. And that would start to shift the things that people were talking about that people would start to talk about, we want access to the data so that we can get things like this, we want access to the data so that we can have bring your own device, we want access to the data so that we can get these innovative systems on the market more quickly.   Stacey Simms  21:37 So put it in perspective for me if you could, one of the touchstones that I come back to again and again, is that D data meeting in 2013? That diabetes mind and Amy tendril put together where we are not waiting was written on the whiteboard. Where were you during that time?   Ben West  21:54 Yeah, I was in the room. There are about a dozen folks in the room. Sarah creepin. Was there a Jana Beck was there, Joyce Lee? Was there, Amy tedric was there? You know, Howard look was there late despereaux. Was there john kostik. And, you know, a bunch of Brandon arbeiter, a bunch of those core typu folks were there. The takeaway, as it's been said many times before, was, you know, john kostik, was there talking about how he had utilized this technology to get some benefits for his son, that was his big story was I really care about my son is my job to deliver these benefits, I'm going to do it somehow, whatever it takes, that's what I'm going to do. And Layne came along and said, You know, we've got this experience with operator fatigue, in control rooms with complex processes that never shut down. And here's the things that I've learned. And here's the display that I put together, and I call it nightscout. And this was before, what we now think of as nightscout didn't really exist. This was before that this was like when there were separate pieces, and like different projects, everyone was just blown away by nightscout. In particular, this idea of what john was doing, getting the data and what Lane was doing, having a really smart interface for it, that and having it operate in real time gave us a really crisp, clear vision of what are the kinds of benefits that we should be talking about that we should be expecting that we should be seeing in the next 12 to 18 months? What is it feasible to make technically. And it turns out some really cool things were technically feasible.   Stacey Simms  23:26 When I speak to people from the DIY movement, or you know, whatever you want to call it. When I talk to you folks, over time, I have learned never to really ask well, what do you do? Right? I know, it's very, very collaborative. And so I stopped asking that question. But I would like to know, if you don't mind, could you share kind of what you were working on? Well, that's   Ben West  23:47 first t data, I was tide pool had just gotten started. So I was actually employee, I was one of the very early employees tide pool. So I was working with tide pool as an engineer trying to launch the MVP, our very first shipping product, we were trying to get that up off the ground from prototype and into production. So I was spending a lot of time on that. On my own time, I was spending a lot of time you know, the reverse engineering stuff, I was spending a lot of time really focusing on on Medtronic pumps, I realized that there were a bunch of devices. And I thought about the network of each kind of device needing some code to work with it. And I had a piece of code for every type of device. And so I was focused kind of on that making sure that I was framing Well, well formed questions, putting them out there saying here's a project just to talk to the Omnipod. Here's a project just to talk to the Dexcom. Here's a project just to talk to the pump. And then here's the thing that can kind of use them all. here's here's some of the title stuff. And so I didn't actually have access to CGM myself, I didn't actually have access to a lot of working stuff. What I had access to was my own research on my pump stuff, which was my main focus and then I had already started networking out and contacting Layne and these other folks, you know, Scott Lybrand and Dana Lewis, meeting all these other folks, and not just in diabetes, you know, for example, Dave bronkart and Hugo compost, I met them going around doing things, advocacy work on data access and privacy and sharing, I would meet those folks and connect them also to the diabetes folks saying, not only is this a unique problem in diabetes, getting your access to your data in healthcare is a problem in other disease states as well. And now what I've come to learn is not only does it affect healthcare, it affects other industries as well. It affects the agriculture industry. Right now, there's a huge issue in the agriculture industry, with farmers not being able to digital tractors and farmers not being able to get their data off of their digital tractor and where it used to be just like the syringe and it used to be a mechanical pump. It used to be a simple mechanical device that anyone could learn about and do it themselves right in front of them, it was obvious how it worked. And that is one of the risks with the adoption of digital technologies. without some support. Without enough documentation, it may not be obvious how it works. So after that D data in the winter, spring started to come around the next year, and I wound up leaving tide pool around April. Now Brandon arbeiter from typo was my roommate at the time. And I remember that about a week after I left tide pool he actually came home with with a bag full of goodies, he came home with a new SIM card, a new cell phone, and he showed me his laptop. And he had all these emails with like source code attached and instructions and websites. And actually, it was kind of a big mess. But I was very excited because this was for the first time all of the pieces in one place. This was the legendary nightscout rig finally in my hands, so I knew exactly what to do. I helped him set up nightscout. I didn't have a working CGM at the time and setting him up with nightscout was actually what convinced me to start using a CGM again, because when I quit, I decided I'm never going to use a CGM. Again, it's not worth it for the discomfort and the quality of life until I can control the data until I can get the data off with nightscout. that possibility came true. And so Brandon came home with that rig. And I helped him set it up. And then I helped set up a bunch of other families. And I converted those emails and those attachments, I converted those into a set of webpages for the very first time, and organized all of the source code. Again, on GitHub, which is the social coding site, I organized all of those projects into well framed projects, the way that programmers would work with these things very, very natively. Very idiomatically. And so I put those up on the web on GitHub, and started calling people over to them. And I showed James wedding and Kate Farnsworth, and Christine dealtrack. Some of these folks, I showed them the new web instructions, and actually walked them through for the first time, once people were able to go on the web, and do a Google search and find it and get all of the instructions in one place. That's when the installs really, really really started taking off. That's when the Facebook group went from 100 to 1000s. And the rest is history right?   Stacey Simms  28:35 down. And this is probably a good time to just say that. I've spoken to several people from the the we're not waiting community, and one of them is Jason Adams, who tells the whole story of the Facebook group, and you know, that community and how that came to be. So we'll link that up for sure. and a bunch of other information. But I remember that too. And it just seemed like he was unbelievable to some as in like, wow, we can finally see this and can you believe we can do it, you know, ordinary people. And you know, you do need to, you know, get some help, but you can do it, you can do it. And then there were other people in the community saying, I can't believe we haven't been able to do this until now. Like I knew we could do this. Like, it was very funny to see the people who really understood kind of the back end of things, at least from my perspective. And once that ball started rolling, it seems like it was just moving really quickly. It was a very exciting time. Do you remember it as one?   Ben West  29:24 Oh, yeah, I mean, tide pool had a one of their global, they pull everyone from across the globe in the area everyone saw about once a year. And so I got to see a bunch of those folks again, and they were all hanging out. And I remember we were on Facebook just watching Facebook blow up. I mean, they're the posts were coming in, he and your grandson was watching this thing. We mocked up little videos of like, here's the next step that we're going to make an automated system with, you know, this is just the beginning and we didn't post it but we were just in awe of the energy that was coming. In behind the post describing nightscout. I mean, here we have what's essentially a webpage. And there's so much momentum behind this project that people were saying things like we're paying it forward, they were saying things like, we are nightscout. And I've never been part of a technology project where people start identifying as the project, I expected the conversation to change, I laid a lot of a lot of stepping stones in place, to enable the conversation to change that we can speak clearly, as people with needs that are unmet, here's what our needs are. But I did not expect people to identify that I am this products that really blew us away.   Stacey Simms  30:42 I'm gonna come back to that, because I think diabetes is very personal. And it was one of the few times where people felt like they not only had a stake in it, but they were also being heard. But I do want to ask you, we've done lots of episodes on nightscout and openaps. And please feel free to jump in if there are things that you would like to share. But you mentioned when we were prepping for this interview testifying for I don't even know how to say this testifying for the 1201 federal DMCA exemption hearing.   Ben West  31:08 Yeah, that's right, is that? Well, like I said, one of the things I started to learn, when I started talking to people, what I would code switch into the data governance language, I started to find that there's other people working on this. There's academics, there's people in other industries, and there's legal scholars. And it turns out, FDA has a role in a lot of what we do in diabetes. But it turns out, there's other regulators that deal with other parts of life, the Library of Congress regulates certain things. And one of the things that they do is they manage these 1201 hearings, our carve outs are ways for the public to say, here's this regulation that exists. But I want to testify to get relief from the regulation that does exist, and the regulation in question, this concept of DMCA, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and in part of that regulation, has to do with the technical protections, the technical protective measures that manufacturers place inside of their devices, and the consequences for attempting to manipulate that device, potentially to overcome such a protection. Now, the issue here is that this is a technical means that some firms use to make it difficult to get the data on a very practical level, the one of the things that they can do is they can say, well, we're putting a technical measure in place so that only authorized users can get access to the data. who's an authorized user? Well, the manufacturers, of course, is the patient an authorized user? Well, maybe maybe not. Right? That's kind of the debate that's still playing out to this day. One of the exemptions that I went to testify for was that for medical devices, if what you're seeking to do is to get a copy of your own data, there should be no penalty for doing that. And that exemption was granted. Pardon my ignorance,   Stacey Simms  33:03 is that exemption granted for you? Or was that something that was more blanket for   Ben West  33:07 the Americans, all US citizens,   Stacey Simms  33:09 you think that would be front page news? That's amazing. Very, very cool.   A lot more ahead with them. But first Diabetes Connections is brought to you by Dexcom. If you are a veteran, the Dexcom gs six continuous glucose monitoring system is now available at Veterans Affairs, pharmacies in the United States, qualified veterans with type one and type two diabetes may be covered. picking your Dexcom supplies up at the VA pharmacy may save you a lot of time to connect with your doctor for more information. Dexcom even has a discussion guide you can bring with you to your doctor, get the guide, find out more about your eligibility go to dexcom.com slash veterans. Now back to my conversation with Ben West.   What is nightscout? Right now? No, the commercial offerings have changed a lot. He was title submitting loop to FDA. What is nightscout as a service offering right now or is that even the right word offering?   Ben West  34:20 So do you want to know about nightscout as a service, or just nightscout? What is nightscout as a whole?   Stacey Simms  34:25 What is it right now? What is it? Like? How do you define it right now? Because it's not the rig? Is it still right? It's not like you're plugging into this into that. I mean, what how it's kind of changed in the last few years. So I guess I'm not sure what I'm asking. I pardon my ignorance there. But   Ben West  34:39 when you bring up the rig, you say what is your asking what is nightscout? right now and you mentioned, you know, for example, it used to be the rig.   Stacey Simms  34:46 That's what I think it was nightscout is I think of people printing a case for this for that and then and then you got to be careful because the wire might break at some point.   Ben West  34:55 Sure. So I think of nightscout as kind of two things. There's the philosophic Typical version of nightscout. And then there's like a piece of software that also exists, right? So and what I mean by that is there's the nightscout ecosystem, right. And this includes the people that are using nightscout. It includes the coaches, the school nurses, the teachers, the clinicians, the parents, the guardians, the caretakers, and the patient's themselves, right. And so there's this thing, that is the network of nightscout. And then there's a piece of software. And in fact, there's a whole bunch of pieces of software and devices, right. So there's the cgms, whether it comes from Abbott, or from Lee Ray are from Medtronic, right? There are the insulin pumps, whether they come from Medtronic or maybe Tandem or maybe Insulet, in the United States. And then there's other kinds of devices, too. There's like cloud devices, right? So some of your Dexcom data goes to Dexcom Cloud, some of your Medtronic data goes to carelink, Medtronic cloud. And so nightscout, there's a lot of ways for data to exist in the world of devices, connected devices that data can come from. And then there's this central hub in the cloud. And that's the piece that usually I think of as nightscout. When people say, Oh, I'm going to go file a bug report on nightscout, or developer says, I'm going to go fix a bug on nightscout. Really, they're talking about this cloud native piece of software that draws the graphs that provides you with a web page, the API that all of the other devices then connect to, right. So that forms when all when you have multiple devices that are talking to nightscout, all of a sudden, you have this nightscout network. And the thing that we think of as nightscout is what I like to think of is that cloud piece of software right in the center of it all.   Stacey Simms  36:44 So this might sound silly for someone who hasn't used it, or doesn't really understand what is nightscout. in that setting, as you mentioned, what is it used for? How does it help somebody with diabetes,   Ben West  36:58 one thing a lot of people talk about is data governance, being able to control your data. And that's certainly true, I have found that the most profound thing I have found is that it's really this, this concept of sharing, when you invoke the buddy system in your life, you know, as you travel through life, is it during the transitionary events, when you start a new therapy, when you have a special day, and you want some help, and that these are the kinds of things that people are sharing, it used to be when we first started nightscout, almost 10 years ago, seven, seven years ago, it was all about let's at least share what we know about the past. You know, let's share the alerts and alarms. Those are retrospective, right, you have to have past data to generate an alerting alarm. And that's kind of like current and past data. And people would use that the classic use case there that that made the news was when parents go to the office, and the children are going through the school day, and maybe going through mixed authorities and different just different realms of concerns across as they travel through life. What we have found since then, is that it's not just the retrospective data in terms of keeping current that people want to share. It's actually every aspect of diabetes. Surely, if you had the technology and the power, to share your alerts and alarms with me, surely you can share the tools to help me prevent those alerts and alarms. That's where the future is going is we're gonna see services that allow sharing, not just alerts and alarms, but managing every aspect of diabetes as we transition through every phase in our lives. So this is a really exciting time to be in because nightscout is years ahead of some of the big vendors here, providing feature sets for all of those things.   Stacey Simms  38:47 It seems like that's a good segue into medical data networks. Can you talk about what that is and what the goal is? Sure.   Ben West  38:54 So I've always been interested in this concept of the power of networks. That's one of the things that really got us interested as we started building out the nightscout ecosystem, making sure that we could talk to connected insulin pumps, making sure that we could talk to connected CGM, and talking to people about the data governance and the technology required to do that. In the past, I worked for a company called muraki. They made software defined networking. And that means if you've ever used Wi Fi in a public space, like Pete's coffee, or an airport or something like that, my software has protect your privacy, govern your use of the network govern the speeds at which you can use the network even govern which sites you can visit. And this is very complex techie stuff, but we made a simple dashboard that allowed people to share the process of managing that experience. This is old hat for us. So we created this company medical data networks. What we want to do is wrap up and respect all these years of innovation that have happened in the DIY space and we want to make Set the norm. We don't think that any of this is controversial at this point, the idea that you'd have remote monitoring, the idea that open source would be a fertile ground for the innovative wetlands, right? Some people like to call it. And so that's part of what we're doing. And so now we're offering nightscout as a service. And we make nightscout. press button easy. And we're working with the FDA to make sure that we can operate it fully compliant.   Stacey Simms  40:28 That sounds to me like you're trying to offer kind of a DIY the nightscout for people like me who, when many others who were you know, reluctant to do DIY stuff? Is that what the service is? It's a Is it a paid service that I can kind of this is an awkward way to say, like commercialize or make simpler what nightscout has been?   Ben West  40:48 That's right. So we want to offer Nightscout as a service and reduce the barrier to entry, make the entire experience much more reliable, predictable and consistent. And we want to increase the benefits of remote monitoring for everyone, whether that's caretakers and parents or temporary guardians, or whether it's just people that just want to find their diet buddy on social media and share it with them.   Stacey Simms  41:10 Thank you. So tell me a little bit about what T1Pal   Ben West  41:13 is? Sure, I'd love to. So T1Pal is our first product from medical data networks. And it leverages all the experience that we had building nightscout. So T one path is Nightscout as a service. So you can think of it as the easy way, it's a new way to get started with nightscout. And it eliminates all of the server and database administration and DIY craft. So it makes it as easy as any other platform where you simply sign up, you pay for your subscription, and you have access to all of the benefits that Nightscout brings.   Stacey Simms  41:46 Is it on the app store? Is it something that people buy? How do they get   Ben West  41:50 Dutch the website to one call.com, you   Stacey Simms  41:52 can go on your browser. Either commercial products have kind of caught up I mean, I can remote monitor my son with a Dexcom. And you know, t slim or Tandem has an app that is on my son's phone. And I guess eventually I'll be able to see that Omni pod is sharing more, what makes this one better?   Ben West  42:11 Well, there's a lot of things. One is the if we go to the connectivity piece, right, this idea of interoperability, and the idea of bring your own device, when we talk about sharing, there's a the base level that I start with is bring your own device I want to share with myself, I want to share I have this Samsung or Apple or whoever created a brand new thing, you know, last week, it's a shiny new thing, I want to go get that and bring that into my therapy, that's going to be part of my system. Now, that's really tough for a lot of these vendors I've been just I've been it's ago, I was looking at a brand new error that someone posted that I've never seen before on, you know, a Dexcom app. And it says it's incompatible in some brand new way. So this idea is really tough for the classic manufacturers who developed these really austere quality systems, right, and those quality systems control for change in the system. And the idea is you want to control your own destiny, and eliminate any possibility of variation. And so in a lot of these systems, what that means is we're going to test on exactly these versions. And anything that we add to that means increased workload that we have to go test. And so we create these haves and have nots. In a world that moves as fast as the one that we're living in where bring your own device, bring your own connectivity, this is the norm. Now, I think the industry, we just need more help, we need more players that are experts in this kind of connectivity in this kind of interoperability to make to satisfy the customer's demands. That's really the area that we specialize in is this idea of Bring Your Own Device connectivity. So that's one and then the other is this idea of sharing a lot of these systems, they're built for that initial use case that we discussed, where it's really oriented around the concept of the nuclear family. And you we know you have exactly these many family members and exactly these roles, and that's the way it's gonna work. Or if you want something else that starts to not work very well. You know, if you want the school nurse to have access during school hours, that doesn't really work very well. The idea of sharing, does it really require installing patient? Or is there a web app that works on any device? Those kinds of things, I think Nightscout still has a really compelling advantage. In addition to all the features, she talked about all the watches, there's more than 20 watch faces just for Garmin for Nightscout.   Stacey Simms  44:44 Right and that's just the one brand Garmin there's the all the other ones the Apple Watches smart, the Google wears, etc. fitbits when you see their watch faces, you still need your phone, right? Has anybody gone direct from Dexcom transmitter to phone yet is that maybe some You're working on?   Ben West  45:01 Oh, no, I, I can't say much about that.   Stacey Simms  45:03 Can you confirm it's really hard because that's what I hear from my friends in the DIY space that I've been bugging for five years about this.   Ben West  45:10 What I will say is that this idea of interoperability and connectivity, the idea that you're actually operating a network networks and decentralized systems operate on fundamentally different rules than closed systems that are composed of one unit. And device manufacturers specialize in kind of making these one units or boxes of units at a time. And they fill the shelves with those units, this mode where you start operating in a network with multiple devices that are connected, and you have decentralized emergent behaviors, this is a difficult area. So a lots of technologists that I've worked with agree that nothing's impossible, it's all software, we can make it do anything. But it does require willing participants that are collaborating.   Stacey Simms  45:54 One thing that I have found of talking to you over this time is you're very generous towards the commercial systems, you know, there is no, and I think this is very genuine, there's no bashing, you're not trying to put anybody down, it seems to me and you can correct me if I'm wrong here, this is how I feel. So maybe I'm projecting that there is a really important place for these commercial systems with their very, you know, big, you know, simplicity, they have to be able to be used by a vast majority of people with diabetes, they have to be understood by clinicians. But there is this also really, really important DIY focus that we've seen over the last almost 10 years now. And I do think that I wish there was more cooperation, but they are almost complimentary. And when they're both needed, am I off the mark there? Or am I kind of reading between the lines that you may feel a similar way?   Ben West  46:42 I agree completely. Stacy, what we have is a market full of people with this inhumane disease, right. And this inhumane disease demands all kinds of things on our time and our resources. And because it's inhumane, there's a lot of needs. Now, these companies solve problems in consistent and reliable ways for people. And that's what we need, we need to all as a market, we need a functional market that's working efficiently. That's providing high fidelity health care that provides a reasonable return on investment in terms of the fidelity of care, the more resources that we spend health care and wellness, we should be seeking a return that yields the kind of fidelity commensurate with the spend, right. So in diabetes for a long time it was you could go try and try and try. And you could try as harder and harder and harder as you'd like, a day to day may not be the same, you may not get the same results. And so trying harder is perceived as not worthwhile. Because there's no feedback loop that provides the yield that's required. I think that what we have is a world that's changing with technology really, really fast. And we have an ethical imperative to use that technology in humane and equitable ways. I open sourced all of this software when we got started, because for me, that was part of this, the scientific methodology of it all is someone else should be able to take this software and debug it audited, etc. That was a really important working principle. For me. That's exactly what we need is we need a working process and all of these domains, we need innovation happening. And we need a pipeline that can deliver the benefits of those innovations in an efficient way to the most number of people possible, as quickly as possible. And why? because as we know, this condition, this intensive insulin therapy is just an inhumane condition, it demands too much. And so I'm imagining a world where we can work together, we can have a bolus free up lane free therapy, we can have Bring Your Own Device connectivity, and have full remote control, we can have the supercomputers and the the networks and the people that are connected to our devices and our data work in a collaborative way to prevent repeated hype hyperglycemia repeated insulin reactions, and we can use that data equitably and humanely to deliver high fidelity healthcare. And   Stacey Simms  49:08 that's the vision. You've talked about diabetes 2.0. Is that what you're referring to?   Ben West  49:14 Well, that's an idea. I've been workshopping. I'm hesitant to use the numbers for all kinds of reasons. I have talked to people, not just children and parents, I have now talked to people that have had type 1 diabetes for 40, for 50 years. And they are telling me that this network effect that we have created is one of the most powerful things that's that's happened in their lives. I don't know how to respond other than to try to do more. We've got feedback now from parents and children from people in their middle age and from people that are now experienced 4050 years with diabetes, telling us that this has had such an impact that everyone This should be the standard of care for everyone. And I think When we look at what we're doing today, we're still in the early days, we still haven't really optimized for the next gen system where people are really living their lives really free of the blame and stigma. You don't have the blame for getting a bolus wrong, or for carb counting wrong. Because either because you can share it with someone, you can share this complex dosing decision as it transpires right, you can share it with your buddy, you can share it with an expert you choose, you can share it with someone you trust on demand, or someone could do it for you. That's what we're seeing it for a lot of these parents in school, now it's run day, or it's Testing Day, and the parent can manage all of that stress remotely. That's where we're going even with automated systems. That's what we're seeing. Because the demands as you travel through life, the demands change, and sometimes it's fine to coast and let the machine handle it. Sometimes it's necessary to find, invoke the buddy system and find a friend. Yeah, you know, you've   Stacey Simms  50:57 mentioned a couple times now bolus free blame free. Can I ask you just to kind of dig in on that a little bit more, because I love that concept of if you aren't deciding to give yourself insulin for a meal or for a high, if you can't mess it up? How can you feel bad about it? And I think when you're an adult with type one, or if you're a parent making decisions for your children about this, this guilt, this mental health part of it is so overlooked.   Ben West  51:22 You're so right, Stacy, I call this the onus to bolus Yeah, the onus to bolus so what we've done is we've made out of necessity, we have a system of intensive insulin therapy that requires multiple daily injections. That's been the standard since the introduction of insulin. And then more recently, continuous subcutaneous insulin injection, right? See a society that's classic pump therapy for a brief while we saw the introduction of what's called sensor augmented therapy, sensor augmented pumps, which is where you pair the glucose readings with the insulin pump. And then more recently, we have the introduction of these automated insulin dosing systems, hybrid, full, etc. What all of these systems do is they help address the symptom of diabetes, which is high, uncontrolled glucose. And insulin is the mechanism that we have to bring that glucose back down and under control. It's amazing that this works at all, I sometimes just marvel at how incredible it is that we can manually take this missing hormone insulin, and just dump it in the body almost anywhere, it seems. And it works in the sense that it does provide this temporary relief of controlling that glucose, as we know that balance is extraordinarily difficult, because it is our responsibility to get that right. What happens is, if you get it wrong, it's kind of your fault, especially if you've been given a calculator where your job is you just have to put in the right number. And you know, the calculator will spit out the right number for you. And now it's your job to carb count, or count the number of fat and then deduct the fat and link out the number of fiber and the deductor fiber. And then by the way, for the delay, you know, due to other effects due to the fat, or any alcohol on board, anything like that, or because of sickness or you know what, maybe not feeling well. And actually, you lose your carbs, right? after you eat and you lose the carbs, it just becomes so tricky. One to even know when it is you're going to eat to know how much it is you're going to eat. Three know how that's going to digest. And we could go on and on and on all day about the trouble with this thing. But the problem is, when the language comes up for how we talk about this, we talk about Did you get it correct? You know, we use the words like correction factor, we use the words like correction bolus. I've heard parents actually talk to their children and say go correct yourself. And I've never had that experience, because I was diagnosed in my 20s. But the experience I have had, and this was in my 30s, I was doing exercise in a class and I had an insulin reaction. And you know, I had to take a break out of the class, I really wasn't feeling well, right. And it's really, it's never pleasant when that happens for so many reasons. But one of the biggest is always you're just you're othered you're not part of the group doing the activity anymore. You're often in this weird thing. And often it's involving bloodletting in front of everyone, right? I mean, this is not good. And then so I'm having this conversation afterwards about, you know, here's my CGM. Here's my pump. And, you know, this instructor goes well, Oh, isn't that great? That is doing all that for you. Great. So the reasonable person when they see all of these devices, they're expecting it to do all of this already. Right? That's that's the reasonable person's expectation. I had to have a 15 to 20 minute conversation explaining, well, no, it doesn't really work like that. I have to take the CGM number, I have to guess if it's right. I have to get some blood to make sure. And then I have to do this thing. And then you know, I have to take the right I'm out. And the response right away, this still affects me was. So does that mean you just did up? When I explained how the mechanics works, the onus is on me the onus to pull this is on me to get it right. And the entire system around this is designed to make sure that it's not anyone else's fault. As it should be, it should not be anyone else's fault. If it's going to be someone's fault, it should be mine. But the entire system is designed to dock the way that you interact with the doctors, the therapy that they start you on is designed so that they're not going to kill you. They don't want to kill you. Yeah. And it's designed to just keep you alive, and they'll try to figure things out. You know, after that, let's keep you alive. First, the way that design happens in manufacturing with these vendors, I call it defensible design. It is designed so that they will not be held responsible for something going wrong. That's the way that it's designed.   Stacey Simms  55:53 It's interesting, because so many thoughts flashed through my head when you were talking about those things in terms of blame a lot of parents and I speak on this to try to get them to stop, but a lot of parents call the a one c visit to the endocrinologist their report card, you know, it's mom's report card. And that's a really tough way to look at this. But I understand why. And another thought I had was when we started with control IQ, about a year and a half ago now, I was just gobsmacked on how many decisions it makes it can make something like 300 decisions a day and how we were and I say we because you know, I mean, Ben, he was diagnosed at two. So I'm still going through the process of saying his diabetes, not our diabetes, so forgive me. But you know, he's a once he went down, his time and range went up. But it really showed me how there was no way for me as a parent of a toddler and a little kid and a middle schooler. And there was no way for him as an individual to keep up with that machine. And that machine couldn't even be perfect. And I got to tell you, well, it was frustrating to say okay, the machine can be perfect. It was so freeing to be able to say I had no chance, if that makes sense.   Ben West  56:58 That's why I chose the word inhumane stage, is when you see what it takes for success, you realize you didn't stand a chance. And we have to find ways other than blaming each other. We have to use technology and in this in this way to make this possible.   Stacey Simms  57:15 Thinking that way, then, let's talk a little pie in the sky here. Obviously, Dream stuff with technology isn't gonna happen next year, or maybe even the next five years. I don't know what the timeline is. But what do you want to see? I mean, can you give me some, and I'm going to put you on the spot, but maybe some concrete examples of how that bonus to bolus could be lifted?   Ben West  57:35 Well, there's, there's a number of ways to address this. You mentioned other technologies, other therapies, there's certainly so many capabilities, we're adding to our tool belt, whether that's new therapeutics, I've heard of people taking other hormones, other injections, supplementary injections, that that seems to really work. Well. For some folks, we've got faster insolence coming relatively soon, some folks are working on, you know, micro dosing, glucagon. And then there's there's other types of therapeutics as well. So there's all kinds of things it's really difficult to know, a lot of that is out of my wheelhouse. I'm a software person, I know how to manage cloud, we know how to do transformational services, digital transformation, right, we know how to manage really complex stuff, using technology to provide a collaborative decision making process, it's in the power of the web, or society as a whole. That's why I wanted to become a technologist and work on the web as a whole was this idea of the collaborative power of sharing. That's my big bet. That's the thing that I get really excited about, I see automated dosing systems are coming faster insulins are coming. And those are all great, they're going to be so profound and helping people. But at the end of the day, with these therapies, you're still facing exactly that you're facing a lifelong journey with other people with this experience. And my big bet is that this need for sharing is so fundamental that that's why sharing is being adopted in every part of software that we look at every piece of technology that we get first. It's like a solo experience. And then eventually, it becomes like a collaborative social experience. that's been true of a lot of different kinds of software. And I think that we're going to see the same thing in diabetes care that we'll see clinics that will embrace the digital technology, so that instead of having appointments once every 90 days, or once every six months or once a year, whatever it is that you're going to get connected to the people you trust in the experts you need just in time and on demand. So if you're someone if you're using one of these fancy pumps that's connected to supercomputer and connected to a network, there should be an agreement for how this is going to work. If you're going low. lifetimes per night. What is the pathway for someone to intervene for us to deliver the help that you need? Because I'm pretty sure no one wants to go for an insulin reaction for a sixth and seventh night. Yeah, I'm pretty sure there's some consent that can be arranged. There's got to be some design there. Right, where we're going to eliminate this. When I think about the remote overrides, and the overrides features that are happening right now we're, you know, we're playing around with things like sleep mode, things like exercise mode, those are dosing decisions. When you decide to invoke sleep mode, or invoke exercise mode, the algorithm is changing its dosing slightly, it turns out that all dosing decisions are just really, really hard. You can't turn on dosing. On exercise mode, when you start exercising, you have to turn it on hours ahead of time, right? Like those kinds of things. Maybe we could share access to those things. One of the examples that I've been learning about recently is, is this remote overrides where the teenager is doing testing, and it's stressful on test day, and your attention is supposed to be on taking the test. It's not supposed to be on managing diabetes, and in fact, playing around with diabetes devices, which is how it's gonna look like to the proctor to the school that you're just playing around with devices, that becomes an issue. Can you trust the proctor to handle these devices, etc? Well, guess what, with remote overrides this idea of remote controls and sharing your dosing decisions, that becomes a non issue. I've heard of parents and teenagers coming up with a plan for the day, okay, it's testing, here's what's going to happen. Here's the schedule we're going to go thro

In this episode of Tarkin's Top Shelf, your hosts go a bit off the rails with Skywalker rants and Kenobi tangents. Mark and Becca go over the recent Twitter discourse about Chris Terrio's comments regarding the "A New Home" sequence from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and then they follow up their discussion by revisiting the Lords of the Sith novel by Paul S. Kemp and how it may or may not correlate with the upcoming Kenobi series on Disney Plus. Help us spread the word about the show Click here to subscribe via iTunes Click here to subscribe via RSS Click here to subscribe via Stitcher Click here to subscribe via Google Play Music Feedback and Promotion Follow us on Twitter@TarkinsTopShelf Like us on Facebook: Tarkin's Top Shelf Follow us on Instagram @TarkinsTopShelf Save 35% On Us via Insight Editions!  

The Onus of Preaching and Hearing “People don't have to be taught how to listen to the sermon. Preachers have to be taught how to preach sermons that people want to listen to. The onus is on the Shepherd, not the sheep.” — RECENT COMMENTER ON GOTTESBLOG In terms of the sermon, the author of the above quote places the “onus,” that is, the burden, on the preacher of the Word, and on not the hearer. He posits that the sermon should be one “that people want to listen to.” He paints a picture of the hearer of the Word as a passive vessel waiting to be wowed. This assessment is a helpful and accurate snapshot of our culture, in which the consumer of entertainment waits for the performer to do or say something worth the listener's time and attention. And in our cultural milieu, the very worst thing a preacher can be is “boring.” Pastors must compete with 24-hour high-octane entertainment on demand, in which his hearers are accustomed to thumbing the remote and looking for better options if the current channel is not stimulating enough. Our culture is awash with special effects, naked girls, car crashes, rock music, and hi-def visual and audio. By contrast, preaching is a rather lackluster affair in the eyes of the world: just a guy talking. This is why many pastors and congregations have gone to great lengths to make the sermon, and the entire service, something “that people want to listen to.” They ditch the liturgy for drum kits and guitars. The sermon incorporates video clips of Hollywood movies, the pastor makes emotional faces and uses his voice for effect, with dynamic and dramatic gestures, perhaps ambulating around or speaking casually along the lines of a TED talk. Dancing girls and skits are also sometimes used to hold people's jaded attention. Certainly, there is an onus on the preacher: not necessarily to preach sermons that “people want to listen to,” but rather to faithfully preach the Word of God, in season and out of season, both Law and Gospel, delivering from the Good Shepherd that Word with which the sheep need to be fed, and to do so with fidelity to Biblical doctrine and the order of salvation. And yes, pastors are to be “able to teach.” They are to know their theology. They are to be able to proclaim the Word of God with alacrity and precision. They are to understand the texts upon which they preach. They are also to know their hearers, knowing what is going on in their lives as well as in the community and the culture at large. This is indeed a great onus upon the pastor, which is why the Holy Spirit has called your pastor to serve you. The typical LCMS pastor has been rigorously trained and has been certified for service. And every man has his own strengths and weaknesses. One person's favorite preacher may not be someone else's cup of tea. Some people may have very short attention spans and/or know very little about the Scriptures. Such people might need more milk and catechesis. Others may wish the sermons were longer, more theological, and meatier, as such people are themselves apt theologians. The onus is on the preacher to navigate this diversity among his hearers and to find a way to preach to all - with the Spirit's guidance - in a way as to deliver the Word effectively. This is no mean task, and the pastor is himself a human being, subject to unseen stresses, illnesses, burdens, mental lapses, physical pain, etc., and so he may be better one Sunday than another. But the commenter above was responding to a pastor who was himself responding to the specific question of how to be a better hearer of the Word, specifically, “What could the people in the pew, the hearers, do help the pastor in the pulpit and study get some traction on how to become a better preacher?” And in that sense, there is also an onus on the hearer, just as there is an onus on the preacher. And even as our table of duties does not place the onus entirely on one party or the other, but all people: parents and children, employers and employees, preachers and hearers, holders of each and every vocation, have their own corresponding onuses. The pastor projects the Word using his own mind and voice, delivering the explication of the Word of God (the Word is itself supernatural and beyond his control). Once it leaves his mouth, he can no longer control it. The reception of the Word is indeed the onus not of the shepherd, but of the sheep. The hearer of the Word is to, well, hear the Word. It enters his ear and mind and penetrates to the heart and soul. It is up to the hearer to receive it, to welcome it, not to push it to the margins in favor of a daydream or something more interesting going on in the church or outside the window. Indeed, we followers of Jesus are “disciples.” It means that we are “students.” And the vocation of student is difficult. I have been a teacher now for 17 years. I always tell my students that their job is harder than mine. I know, because I have been a student much longer than I have been a teacher. Being a student is not like being a vacuum cleaner bag that passively waits to be filled by a mechanical suction action from the outside. Being a student is hard work: mentally and even physically. Learning is an active endeavor. If you are a student, you have the onus to listen and learn from those who teach. It may involve taking notes. It may involve asking questions of the professor in the hallway or during office hours. It may involve going to the library or doing online research. It certainly means showing up at lectures and paying attention. And every prof is different. Some are funny and have a schtick. Some are dry and monotone. Some have speech impediments or accents. Some may have a tough time translating the ideas into layman's terms. But it is still the student's job, his onus, to figure out a way to learn the material. It is not his job to sit passively and wait to be spoon fed or entertained. And it goes without saying that students, like teachers, have bad days and good days. They may be under stress, in pain, lacking sleep, tending to their children, or just not mentally there that day. They may have difficulty hearing or concentrating. That too is the onus of the person struggling to be a better hearer of the Word, just as the preachers deal with the real world invading the Holy Nave. Finally, though there is an onus, an obligation, placed on both preachers and hearers, maybe a better way to frame the situation is to speak of the privilege and the blessing that both have. Preachers have the greatest job in the world: to be Christ's instruments to deliver forgiveness, life, and salvation to people who need Good News. We get to lead worship and deliver the Gospel to people as part of our day-to-day work. We get to study the Scriptures and pray as part of our vocation. There is nothing that could be a greater joy - though indeed, the work has its unpleasant and even brutal aspects to it as well. But let us focus on the joy of the calling we have been given. And the same goes for hearers of the Word as well. What a privilege and a blessing to gather around altar, font, and pulpit, where the Lord comes to you supernaturally, out of love, to deliver to you forgiveness, life, and salvation. What a joy to sit and hear the Word of God proclaimed from the pulpit and taught in the classroom. And what a blessing it is that the Holy Spirit sent you a preacher and a teacher! No, he is not perfect. He may have mannerisms that you don't like. Maybe his voice is raspy or could be louder. But what a privilege that the Lord has sent him to your parish to deliver eternal life to you! Perhaps this is one meaning of what our Lord said: “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden (onus) is light.” At any rate, that is a better frame of mind to hear God's Word than crossing one's arms, sitting passively, and hearing - instead of the Word of God - rather the voice of Kurt Cobain singing, “Here we are now. Entertain us.”

In this episode of Tarkin's Top Shelf, your hosts' review Skywalker: A Family At War by Kristin Baver and DK Publishing. Skywalker: A Family At War is a historical biography of the fictional Skywalker family and the turbulent story surrounding their family dynasty. But first, Mark and Becca go over the latest in Star Wars news. Help us spread the word about the show Click here to subscribe via iTunes Click here to subscribe via RSS Click here to subscribe via Stitcher Click here to subscribe via Google Play Music Feedback and Promotion Follow us on Twitter@TarkinsTopShelf Like us on Facebook: Tarkin's Top Shelf Follow us on Instagram @TarkinsTopShelf Save 35% On Us via Insight Editions!  

Two powerful artists by themselves , the married couple love to mix it up including collaborating on paintings and sharing ideas about art and artmaking. Established contemporary artists, they are both published writers and love to play music together. The interview reveals an expansive studio practice between their two homes, New York City and a country house in rural Pennsylvania.  The COVID outbreak impacted them immediately when Jennifer came down with the virus and was bed ridden for a month back in March. She talks of how she drew her way out of it with drawings from bed which later led to a whole series of large paintings.  David produced an astounding body of work for his show at Fredericks and Freiser in the fall with a Title surprisingly appropriate "Arms of the Law." He also completed an extensive monograph of his long career, "David Humphrey" edited by Davy Lauterbach. You can learn more about them on their websites davidhumphreynyc.com and jenniferlcoates.com

(4:00) Ira raps on practice bright spots, QB battle and more (25:00) Thoughts on young WRs (28:00) Who's coming and going on the basketball roster? (33:00) Does Jordan Travis have to work on anything to win the job or is the onus on Milton? (42:00) Judging practice too harshly or telltale signs of the future showing out in the spring? (53:00) Best examples of Bowden, Jimbo doing halftime adjustments (56:00) Hoops talk (1:10:00) Do we have a Cam Akers, Dalvin Cook on the roster? Music: AC/DC - Moneytalks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tarkin's Top Shelf takes a closer look at Qui-Gon Jinn and Palpatine (the top two influencers of the Skywalker family) in preparation for the upcoming Star Wars family biography by Kristin Baver, Skywalker: A Family At War. Your hosts discuss the recent excerpt for Skywalker: A Family At War and revisit the Aftermath Trilogy by Chuck Wendig. But first, Mark and Becca talk about the latest in Star Wars News. Help us spread the word about the show Click here to subscribe via iTunes Click here to subscribe via RSS Click here to subscribe via Stitcher Click here to subscribe via Google Play Music Feedback and Promotion Follow us on Twitter@TarkinsTopShelf Like us on Facebook: Tarkin's Top Shelf Follow us on Instagram @TarkinsTopShelf Save 35% On Us via Insight Editions!  

Last week Tuesday, Del Rey Publishing and DK Publishing took to their Twitter accounts. Both announced that Due to the ever-expanding world of The Mandalorian, they are no longer publishing The Mandalorian Ultimate Visual Guide or the Original Novel at this time, as the story continues to unfold on-screen. In this episode of Tarkin's Top Shelf, Mark and Becca discuss those announcements and do their best to look beyond the obvious and the so-called rosy goggles that tend to blind us from being rational. But first, your hosts go over the latest Star Wars news, The Tartakovsky Clone Wars and Ewok movies coming to Disney + April 2nd, and The Bad Batch debut on May 4th! Help us spread the word about the show Click here to subscribe via iTunes Click here to subscribe via RSS Click here to subscribe via Stitcher Click here to subscribe via Google Play Music Feedback and Promotion Follow us on Twitter@TarkinsTopShelf Like us on Facebook: Tarkin's Top Shelf Follow us on Instagram @TarkinsTopShelf Save 35% On Us via Insight Editions!

In this episode of Tarkin's Top Shelf, Mark and Becca review the finale to the Alphabet Squadron trilogy, Star Wars: Victory's Price by Alexander Freed. Your hosts kick-off the show by chatting about the latest in Star Wars news, then they deep-dive into the meat and potatoes of Victory's Price. Ok, it's more like an emotional meat grinder than a meal, but it's still one helluva hero's journey! A special thank you to the kind folks over at Del Rey Publishing for providing Tarkin's Top Shelf with advanced copies for review purposes.  Help us spread the word about the show Click here to subscribe via iTunes Click here to subscribe via RSS Click here to subscribe via Stitcher Click here to subscribe via Google Play Music Feedback and Promotion Follow us on Twitter@TarkinsTopShelf Like us on Facebook: Tarkin's Top Shelf Follow us on Instagram @TarkinsTopShelf Save 35% On Us via Insight Editions!  

Tarkin's Top Shelf welcomes author Alexander Freed to the show to talk about Star Wars: Victory's Price. Alexander Freed is the author of the Star Wars: Alphabet Squadron trilogy, Star Wars: Battlefront: Twilight Company, and Star Wars: Rogue One and has written many short stories, comic books, and videogames. In this episode, Mark and Becca sit down with Alexander Freed to talk about a Star War and space jams that inspire and lead Alphabet Squadron against the last remnants of the evil Empire.  Help us spread the word about the show Click here to subscribe via iTunes Click here to subscribe via RSS Click here to subscribe via Stitcher Click here to subscribe via Google Play Music Feedback and Promotion Follow us on Twitter@TarkinsTopShelf Like us on Facebook: Tarkin's Top Shelf Follow us on Instagram @TarkinsTopShelf Save 35% On Us via Insight Editions!  

Episode 155: Going Half On A Soulmate How do you end the month of "love"? You end it putting it in the air about love, relationships, and the things that twists it up and the things that make it sweet. From ex's to money and relationships and the ones we choose versus your soulmate and best match, check out Episode 155. Subscribe + Listen Today!! Episode Topics:: What You Watching (#WYW) + "First World" Blinders (00:04:19) Follow The Ex (00:13:34) 75/35 and 50/50 On Us (00:32:06) Choosing Wrong (01:19:33) Soulmate + Best Match (01:36:38) Hosts: @itsgeorged + @btb_ses & @afield1823 Connect with Put It In the Air Podcast: Hashtag: #PINTAP Instagram + Twitter: @pintap_podcast Links: Linktr.ee/Pintap Website: Putitintheairpodcast.com

Padme' and Geode, and Sith, Oh My! In this episode of Tarkin's Top Shelf, Mark and Becca take a moment to discuss what's coming to our Star Wars bookshelves in a galaxy not so far, far away. That's right! Your hosts talk about the upcoming Padme' book, "Queen's Hope" by E.K. Johnston, and "The Secrets of Sith" by Marc Sumerak. Then, your hosts wrap things up with some sedimentary nonfiction talk. Yes, it's all about Geode and the path that rocks. Help us spread the word about the show Click here to subscribe via iTunes Click here to subscribe via RSS Click here to subscribe via Stitcher Click here to subscribe via Google Play Music Feedback and Promotion Follow us on Twitter@TarkinsTopShelf Like us on Facebook: Tarkin's Top Shelf Follow us on Instagram @TarkinsTopShelf Save 35% On Us via Insight Editions!

(2:00) What is the ceiling for FSU hoops? (8:00) What segment meeting would you want to attend? (14:00) Evaluating and what one needs to see from the staff in 2021 (19:00) Balsa: NBA prospect? (25:00) How did Clemson widen the gap so vast and so fast? (33:00) What's gotten into the hot start in recruiting? (38:00) New HS relations aide, thoughts? (47:00) Possible football ops building update coming? (53:00) A 4-2-5 defense using 2009-19 talent (1:00:00) 2022 scheduling gets a much welcomed tweak (1:06:00) A Marine in Hawai'i Music: Rhodz - Boogie Pls Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

(2:00) What is the ceiling for FSU hoops? (8:00) What segment meeting would you want to attend? (14:00) Evaluating and what one needs to see from the staff in 2021 (19:00) Balsa: NBA prospect? (25:00) How did Clemson widen the gap so vast and so fast? (33:00) What's gotten into the hot start in recruiting? (38:00) New HS relations aide, thoughts? (47:00) Possible football ops building update coming? (53:00) A 4-2-5 defense using 2009-19 talent (1:00:00) 2022 scheduling gets a much welcomed tweak (1:06:00) A Marine in Hawai'i Music: Rhodz - Boogie Pls Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tarkin's Top Shelf takes a break from book reviews and spends an entire episode going over some listener feedback. That's right, Mark and Becca take the time to respond to their listeners' emails and dive deep into those ideas and questions. And yes, Mark does take the conversation down some longwinded tangents, so you've been warned. Help us spread the word about the show Click here to subscribe via iTunes Click here to subscribe via RSS Click here to subscribe via Stitcher Click here to subscribe via Google Play Music Feedback and Promotion Follow us on Twitter@TarkinsTopShelf Like us on Facebook: Tarkin's Top Shelf Follow us on Instagram @TarkinsTopShelf Save 35% On Us via Insight Editions!

Check out or YouTube on:  The $175,000 One Cent Franklin Stamp #594, 596.  We read the comments.

Alex and Shane sip a bottle of Cortonesi Lèonus Toscana 2019, and chat about who is funnier, their parents, shaving, and quarantine date night ideas. ******************* This episode is proudly supported by:   E.D. Wine Company - visit www.edwine.ca, and use promo code THISFAMILYTREE10 for 10% off of an entire wine subscription or single order! The wines come with tasting notes, and are delivered right to your door, anywhere in Toronto, Hamilton, Guelph, Kitchener & the GTA!

This week on the podcast is KOLBY ELLER! Kolby works as the Data Director for the Dems on projects like redistricting, election analysis and progressive measures. He has a long list of career accomplishments like working on President-elect Joe Biden’s It’s On Us campaign, the Trevor Project and his work with the Missouri Democratic Party. He also worked his first Presidential campaign, for Senator Elizabeth Warren and the Democratic Party and worked on the Kansas City Mayoral campaign for Mayor Quinton Lucas. We talk about Kolby's history in politics & how to work your way up in campaigns. We also talk about his experiences on Election Day and glance over top-issues that are often seen on the ballot. Kolby takes us through where each side stands and what's he's excited for as a new administration takes on the White House. I love Kolby like he loves vodka waters---and that's a whole lot. Can't wait for you to listen! CATCH UP ON ALL THINGS THE HOW TO PODCAST: Spotify- https://spoti.fi/34vs8TK Apple Podcasts- https://apple.co/38oGJBI Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/thehowtopod/