POPULARITY
Categories
This episode uncovers the beginnings of our Spongebob is Percy Jackson lore. Percy meets Hermes, gets his quest, and discovers Luke's new evil lair. We miss how dramatic Luke was as a villain, and theorize about how that will play out in the show. We still are not fans of cruise ships. Some things never change... Timestamps: Old episode begins: 3:45Chapter 7 Commentary: 16:08, 28:00, 36:52Chapter 8 Commentary: 44:40, 49:03, 55:09Chapter 9 Commentary: 108:10Lightning Bolt Questions: 1:14:05Links:SUPPORT US ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/camphalfpod?fan_landing=trueSUPPORT US ON KO-FI: https://ko-fi.com/camphalfpodSEND US AN AUDIO MESSAGE: https://www.speakpipe.com/CamphalfpodJOIN OUR DISCORD: https://discord.gg/gzHYsUbdgrMERCH: https://www.zazzle.com/store/camphalfpod
Bishop Tony Percy says the reason people don't become saints is because they refuse to be themselves. But how? Think of the love that the Father has lavished on us, by letting us be called God's children, and that is what we are. Be Christ. Be ourselves
Carol talks to the film director and cast of Nine PBS's "Percy Green: Man of ACTION" in a post-screening Q&A about the creation of the film, activism, and more questions about their most memorable demonstrations portrayed in the film. Nine PBS's "Percy Green: Man of ACTION" takes an in-depth look at St. Louis civil rights leader Percy Green, whose activism, from scaling the Gateway Arch to leading modern-day protests, has defined a lifetime of resistance. Download the PBS app to watch the film or visit www.ninepbs.org/percy-green-man-of-action. - What were your thoughts on this discussion? Let us know at ninepbs.org/listenstlouis.
What does it take to keep your voice—and your purpose—strong through every season of life? In this episode of Unstoppable Mindset, I sit down with my friend Bill Ratner, one of Hollywood's most recognized voice actors, best known as Flint from GI Joe. Bill's voice has carried him through radio, animation, and narration, but what stands out most is how he's used that same voice to serve others through storytelling, teaching, and grief counseling. Together, we explore the heart behind his work—from bringing animated heroes to life to standing on The Moth stage and helping people find healing through poetry. Bill shares lessons from his own journey, including losing both parents early, finding family in unexpected places, and discovering how creative expression can rebuild what life breaks down. We also reflect on 9/11, preparedness, and the quiet confidence that comes from trusting your training—whether you're a first responder, a performer, or just navigating the unknown. This conversation isn't just about performance; it's about presence. It's about using your story, your craft, and your compassion to keep moving forward—unstoppable, one voice at a time. Highlights: 00:31 – Hear the Flint voice and what it takes to bring animated characters to life. 06:57 – Learn why an uneven college path still led to a lifelong acting career. 11:50 – Understand how GI Joe became a team and a toy phenomenon that shaped culture. 15:58 – See how comics and cartoons boosted classroom literacy when used well. 17:06 – Pick up simple ways parents can spark reading through shared stories. 19:29 – Discover how early, honest conversations about death can model resilience. 24:09 – Learn to critique ads and media like a pro to sharpen your own performance. 36:19 – Follow the pivot from radio to voiceover and why specialization pays. 47:48 – Hear practical editing approaches and accessible tools that keep shows tight. 49:38 – Learn how The Moth builds storytelling chops through timed, judged practice. 55:21 – See how poetry—and poetry therapy—support grief work with students. 59:39 – Take notes on memoir writing, emotional management, and one-person shows. About the Guest: Bill Ratner is one of America's best known voice actors and author of poetry collections Lamenting While Doing Laps in the Lake (Slow Lightning Lit 2024,) Fear of Fish (Alien Buddha Press 2021,) To Decorate a Casket (Finishing Line Press 2021,) and the non-fiction book Parenting For The Digital Age: The Truth Behind Media's Effect On Children and What To Do About It (Familius Books 2014.) He is a 9-time winner of the Moth StorySLAM, 2-time winner of Best of The Hollywood Fringe Extension Award for Solo Performance, Best of the Net Poetry Nominee 2023 (Lascaux Review,) and New Millennium "America One Year From Now" Writing Award Finalist. His writing appears in Best Small Fictions 2021 (Sonder Press,) Missouri Review (audio,) Baltimore Review, Chiron Review, Feminine Collective, and other journals. He is the voice of "Flint" in the TV cartoon G.I. Joe, "Donnell Udina" in the computer game Mass Effect, the voice of Air Disasters on Smithsonian Channel, NewsNation, and network TV affiliates across the country. He is a committee chair for his union, SAG-AFTRA, teaches Voiceovers for SAG-AFTRA Foundation, Media Awareness for Los Angeles Unified School District, and is a trained grief counsellor. Member: Actors Equity Association, Screen Actors Guild-AFTRA, National Storytelling Network • https://billratner.com • @billratner Ways to connect with Bill: https://soundcloud.com/bill-ratner https://www.instagram.com/billratner/ https://twitter.com/billratner https://www.threads.net/@billratner https://billratner.tumblr.com https://www.youtube.com/@billratner/videos https://www.facebook.com/billratner.voiceover.author https://bsky.app/profile/bilorat.bsky.social About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset . Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes: Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us. Michael Hingson ** 01:21 Well on a gracious hello to you, wherever you may be, I am your host. Mike hingson, and you are listening to unstoppable mindset. Today, we get to have a voice actor, person, Bill Ratner, who you want to know who Bill Radnor is, go back and watch the old GI Joe cartoons and listen to the voice of Flint. Bill Ratner ** 01:42 All right. Lady Jay, you better get your battle gear on, because Cobra is on their way. And I can't bring up the Lacher threat weapon system. We got to get out of here. Yo, Joe, Michael Hingson ** 01:52 there you go. I rest my case Well, Bill, welcome to unstoppable mindset. Bill Ratner ** 02:00 We can't rest now. Michael, we've just begun. No, we've just begun. Michael Hingson ** 02:04 We got to keep going here. Well, I'm really glad that you're here. Bill is another person who we inveigled to get on unstoppable mindset with the help of Walden Hughes. And so that means we can talk about Walden all we want today. Bill just saying, oh goodness. And I got a lot to say. Let me tell you perfect, perfect. Bring it on. So we are really grateful to Walden, although I hope he's not listening. We don't want to give him a big head. But no, seriously, we're really grateful. Ah, good point. Bill Ratner ** 02:38 But his posture, oddly enough, is perfect. Michael Hingson ** 02:40 Well, there you go. What do you do? He practiced. Well, anyway, we're glad you're here. Tell us about the early bill, growing up and all that stuff. It's always fun to start a good beginning. Bill Ratner ** 02:54 Well, I was a very lucky little boy. I was born in Des Moines, Iowa in 1947 to two lovely people, professionals, both with master's degree out at University of Chicago. My mother was a social worker. My father had an MBA in business. He was managing editor of Better Homes and Gardens magazine. So I had the joy of living in a better home and living in a garden. Michael Hingson ** 03:21 My mother. How long were you in Des Moines? Bill Ratner ** 03:24 Five and a half years left before my sixth birthday. My dad got a fancy job at an ad agency in Minneapolis, and had a big brother named Pete and big handsome, curly haired boy with green eyes. And moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and was was brought up there. Michael Hingson ** 03:45 Wow. So you went to school there and and chased the girls and all that stuff. Bill Ratner ** 03:54 I went to school there at Blake School for Boys in Hopkins, Minnesota. Couldn't chase the girls day school, but the girls we are allowed to dance with certainly not chase. Michael was at woodhue dancing school, the Northrop girls from Northrop girls school and the Blake boys were put together in eighth grade and taught the Cha Cha Cha, the waltz, the Charleston, and we danced together, and the girls wore white gloves, and we sniffed their perfume, and we all learned how to be lovers when we were 45 Michael Hingson ** 04:37 There you are. Well, as long as you learned at some point, that's a good start. Bill Ratner ** 04:44 It's a weird generation. Michael, Michael Hingson ** 04:46 I've been to Des Moines before. I was born in Chicago, but moved out to California when I was five, but I did some work with the National Federation of the Blind in the mid 19. 1970s 1976 into 1978 so spent time at the Iowa Commission for the Blind in Des Moines, which became a top agency for the Blind in well, the late 50s into the to the 60s and so on. So Bill Ratner ** 05:15 both my parents are from Chicago. My father from the south side of Chicago, 44th and Kenzie, which was a Irish, Polish, Italian, Jewish, Ukrainian neighborhood. And my mother from Glencoe, which was a middle class suburb above Northwestern University in Evanston. Michael Hingson ** 05:34 I Where were you born? 57th and union, north, south side, no, South Bill Ratner ** 05:42 57th union is that? Is that west of Kenzie? Michael Hingson ** 05:46 You know, I don't remember the geography well enough to know, but I know that it was, I think, Mount Sinai Hospital where I was born. But it was, it's, it's, it's a pretty tough neighborhood today. So I understand, Bill Ratner ** 06:00 yeah, yeah, my it was tough, then it's tough now, Michael Hingson ** 06:03 yeah, I think it's tougher, supposedly, than it was. But we lived there for five years, and then we we moved to California, and I remember some things about Chicago. I remember walking down to the local candy store most days, and had no problem doing that. My parents were told they should shut me away at a home somewhere, because no blind child could ever grow up to amount to anything. And my parents said, You guys are you're totally wrong. And they brought me up with that attitude. So, you Bill Ratner ** 06:32 know who said that the school says school so that Michael Hingson ** 06:35 doctors doctors when they discovered I was blind with the Bill Ratner ** 06:38 kid, goodness gracious, horrified. Michael Hingson ** 06:44 Well, my parents said absolutely not, and they brought me up, and they actually worked with other parents of premature kids who became blind, and when kindergarten started in for us in in the age of four, they actually had a special kindergarten class for blind kids at the Perry School, which is where I went. And so I did that for a year, learn braille and some other things. Then we moved to California, but yeah, and I go back to Chicago every so often. And when I do nowadays, they I one of my favorite places to migrate in Chicago is Garrett Popcorn. Bill Ratner ** 07:21 Ah, yes, with caramel corn, regular corn, the Michael Hingson ** 07:25 Chicago blend, which is a mixture, yeah, the Chicago blend is cheese corn, well, as it is with caramel corn, and they put much other mozzarella on it as well. It's really good. Bill Ratner ** 07:39 Yeah, so we're on the air. Michael, what do you call your what do you call your program? Here I am your new friend, and I can't even announce your program because I don't know Michael Hingson ** 07:48 the name, unstoppable mindset. This Bill Ratner ** 07:51 is unstoppable mindset. Michael Hingson ** 07:56 We're back. Well, we're back already. We're fast. So you, you, you moved off elsewhere, out of Des Moines and all that. And where did you go to college? Bill Ratner ** 08:09 Well, this is like, why did you this is, this is a bit like talking about the Vietnam War. Looking back on my college career is like looking back on the Vietnam War series, a series of delusions and defeats. By the time I the time i for college, by the time I was applying for college, I was an orphan, orphan, having been born to fabulous parents who died too young of natural causes. So my grades in high school were my mediocre. I couldn't get into the Ivy Leagues. I got into the big 10 schools. My stepmother said, you're going to Michigan State in East Lansing because your cousin Eddie became a successful realtor. And Michigan State was known as mu u it was the most successful, largest agriculture college and university in the country. Kids from South Asia, China, Northern Europe, Southern Europe, South America all over the world came to Michigan State to study agricultural sciences, children of rich farmers all over the world and middle class farmers all over the world, and a huge police science department. Part of the campus was fenced off, and the young cadets, 1819, 20 years old, would practice on the rest of the student body, uniformed with hats and all right, excuse me, young man, we're just going to get some pizza at eight o'clock on Friday night. Stand against your car. Hands in your car. I said, Are you guys practicing again? Shut up and spread your legs. So that was that was Michigan State, and even though both my parents had master's degrees, I just found all the diversions available in the 1960s to be too interesting, and was not invited. Return after my sophomore year, and in order to flunk out of a big 10 University, and they're fine universities, all of them, you have to be either really determined or not so smart, not really capable of doing that level of study in undergraduate school. And I'd like to think that I was determined. I used to show up for my exams with a little blue book, and the only thing I would write is due to lack of knowledge, I am unable to complete this exam, sign Bill ranter and get up early and hand it in and go off. And so what was, what was left for a young man like that was the theater I'd seen the great Zero Mostel when I was 14 years old and on stage live, he looked just like my father, and he was funny, and if I Were a rich man, and that's the grade zero must tell. Yeah, and it took about five, no, it took about six, seven years to percolate inside my bread and my brain. In high school, I didn't want to do theater. The cheerleaders and guys who I had didn't happen to be friends with or doing theater. I took my girlfriends to see plays, but when I was 21 I started acting, and I've been an actor ever since. I'm a committee chair on the screen actors guild in Hollywood and Screen Actors Guild AFTRA, and work as a voice actor and collect my pensions and God bless the union. Michael Hingson ** 11:44 Well, hey, as long as it works and you're making progress, you know you're still with it, right? Bill Ratner ** 11:53 That's the that's the point. There's no accounting for taste in my business. Michael, you work for a few different broadcast entities at my age. And it's, you know, it's younger people. It's 18 to 3418 years to 34 years old is the ideal demographic for advertisers, Ford, Motor Company, Dove soap, Betty, Crocker, cake mixes and cereals, every conceivable product that sold online or sold on television and radio. This is my this is my meat, and I don't work for religion. However, if a religious organization calls, I call and say, I I'm not, not qualified or not have my divinity degree in order to sell your church to the public? Michael Hingson ** 12:46 Yeah, yeah. Well, I, I can understand that. But you, you obviously do a lot, and as we talked about, you were Flint and GI Joe, which is kind of cool. Bill Ratner ** 13:01 Flynn GI Joe was very cool. Hasbro Corporation, which was based in Providence, Rhode Island, had a huge success with GI Joe, the figure. The figure was about 11 and a half inches tall, like a Barbie, and was at first, was introduced to the public after the Korean War. There is a comic book that was that was also published about GI Joe. He was an individual figure. He was a figure, a sort of mythic cartoon figure during World War Two, GI Joe, generic American soldier, fighting man and but the Vietnam war dragged on for a long time, and the American buying public or buying kids toys got tired of GI Joe, got tired of a military figure in their household and stopped buying. And when Nixon ended the Vietnam War, or allotted to finish in 1974 Hasbro was in the tank. It's got its stock was cheap, and executives are getting nervous. And then came the Great George Lucas in Star Wars, who shrank all these action figures down from 11 and a half inches to three and a half inches, and went to China and had Chinese game and toy makers make Star Wars toys, and began to earn billions and billions dollars. And so Hasbro said, let's turn GI Joe into into a team. And the team began with flint and Lady J and Scarlett and Duke and Destro and cover commander, and grew to 85 different characters, because Hasbro and the toy maker partners could create 85 different sets of toys and action figures. So I was actor in this show and had a good time, and also a purveyor of a billion dollar industry of American toys. And the good news about these toys is I was at a conference where we signed autographs the voice actors, and we have supper with fans and so on. And I was sitting next to a 30 year old kid and his parents. And this kid was so knowledgeable about pop culture and every conceivable children's show and animated show that had ever been on the screen or on television. I turned to his mother and sort of being a wise acre, said, So ma'am, how do you feel about your 30 year old still playing with GI Joe action figures? And she said, Well, he and I both teach English in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania school system, and last year, the literacy level of my ninth graders was 50% 50% of those kids could not read in ninth grade. So I asked the principal if I could borrow my son's GI Joe, action figures, comic books and VHS tapes, recordings of the shows from TV. And he said, Sure, whatever you want to try. And so she did, and she played the video tapes, and these kids were thrilled. They'd never seen a GI Joe cartoon in class before. Passed out the comic books, let him read comics. And then she said, Okay, you guys. And passed out notebooks and pens and pencils, and said, I want you guys to make up some some shows, some GI Joe shows. And so they said, Yeah, we're ready. All right, Cobra, you better get into the barber shop, because the barber bill is no longer there and the fire engines are in the way. And wait a minute, there's a dog in the street. And so they're making this up, using their imagination, doing their schoolwork, by coming up with scenarios, imaginary fam fan fiction for GI Joe and she raised the literacy level in her classroom by 50% that year, by the end of that year, so, so that was the only story that I've ever heard about the sort of the efficacy of GI Joe, other than, you know, kids play with them. Do they? Are they shooting each other all the time? I certainly hope not. I hope not. Are they using the action figures? Do they strip their guns off and put them in a little, you know, stub over by the side and and have them do physical battle with each other, or have them hump the woods, or have them climb the stairs, or have them search the trees. Who knows what kids do? Same with same with girls and and Barbies. Barbie has been a source of fun and creativity for lots of girls, and the source of of worry and bother to a lot of parents as Michael Hingson ** 17:54 well. Well, at the same time, though, when kids start to react and relate to some of these things. It's, it's pretty cool. I mean, look what's happened with the whole Harry Potter movement and craze. Harry Potter has probably done more in the last 20 or 25 years to promote reading for kids than most anything else, and Bill Ratner ** 18:17 that's because it's such a good series of books. I read them to my daughters, yeah. And the quality of writing. She was a brilliant writer, not only just the stories and the storytelling, which is fun to watch in the movies, and you know, it's great for a parent to read. If there are any parents listening, I don't care how old your kids are. I don't care if they're 15. Offer to read to them. The 15 year old might, of course, say mom, but anybody younger than that might say either, all right, fine, which is, which means you better do it or read, read a book. To me, sure, it's fun for the parent, fun for the kid, and it makes the child a completely different kind of thinker and worker and earner. Michael Hingson ** 19:05 Well, also the people who they got to read the books for the recordings Stephen Fry and in the US here, Jim Dale did such an incredible job as well. I've, I've read the whole Harry Potter series more than once, because I just enjoy them, and I enjoy listening to the the voices. They do such a good job. Yeah. And of course, for me, one of the interesting stories that I know about Jim Dale reading Harry Potter was since it was published by Scholastic he was actually scheduled to do a reading from one of the Harry from the new Harry Potter book that was coming out in 2001 on September 11, he was going to be at Scholastic reading. And of course, that didn't happen because of of everything that did occur. So I don't know whether I'm. I'm assuming at some point a little bit later, he did, but still he was scheduled to be there and read. But it they are there. They've done so much to help promote reading, and a lot of those kinds of cartoons and so on. Have done some of that, which is, which is pretty good. So it's good to, you know, to see that continue to happen. Well, so you've written several books on poetry and so on, and I know that you you've mentioned more than once grief and loss. How come those words keep coming up? Bill Ratner ** 20:40 Well, I had an unusual childhood. Again. I mentioned earlier how, what a lucky kid I was. My parents were happy, educated, good people, not abusers. You know, I don't have a I don't have horror stories to tell about my mother or my father, until my mother grew sick with breast cancer and and it took about a year and a half or two years to die when I was seven years old. The good news is, because she was a sensitive, educated social worker, as she was actually dying, she arranged a death counseling session with me and my older brother and the Unitarian minister who was also a death counselor, and whom she was seeing to talk about, you know, what it was like to be dying of breast cancer with two young kids. And at this session, which was sort of surprised me, I was second grade, came home from school. In the living room was my mother and my brother looking a little nervous, and Dr Carl storm from the Unitarian Church, and she said, you know, Dr storm from church, but he's also my therapist. And we talk about my illness and how I feel, and we talk about how much I love you boys, and talk about how I worry about Daddy. And this is what one does when one is in crisis. That was a moment that was not traumatic for me. It's a moment I recalled hundreds of times, and one that has been a guiding light through my life. My mother's death was very difficult for my older brother, who was 13 who grew up in World War Two without without my father, it was just him and my mother when he was off in the Pacific fighting in World War Two. And then I was born after the war. And the loss of a mother in a family is like the bottom dropping out of a family. But luckily, my dad met a woman he worked with a highly placed advertising executive, which was unusual for a female in the 1950s and she became our stepmother a year later, and we had some very lovely, warm family years with her extended family and our extended family and all of us together until my brother got sick, came down with kidney disease a couple of years before kidney dialysis was invented, and a couple of years before kidney transplants were done, died at 19. Had been the captain of the swimming team at our high school, but did a year in college out in California and died on Halloween of 1960 my father was 51 years old. His eldest son had died. He had lost his wife six years earlier. He was working too hard in the advertising industry, successful man and dropped out of a heart attack 14th birthday. Gosh, I found him unconscious on the floor of our master bathroom in our house. So my life changed. I My life has taught me many, many things. It's taught me how the defense system works in trauma. It's taught me the resilience of a child. It's taught me the kindness of strangers. It's taught me the sadness of loss. Michael Hingson ** 24:09 Well, you, you seem to come through all of it pretty well. Well, thank you. A question behind that, just an observation, but, but you do seem to, you know, obviously, cope with all of it and do pretty well. So you, you've always liked to be involved in acting and so on. How did you actually end up deciding to be a voice actor? Bill Ratner ** 24:39 Well, my dad, after he was managing editor of Better Homes and Gardens magazine in Des Moines for Meredith publishing, got offered a fancy job as executive vice president of the flower and mix division for Campbell within advertising and later at General Mills Corporation. From Betty Crocker brand, and would bring me to work all the time, and would sit with me, and we'd watch the wonderful old westerns that were on prime time television, rawhide and Gunsmoke and the Virginian and sure Michael Hingson ** 25:15 and all those. Yeah, during Bill Ratner ** 25:17 the commercials, my father would make fun of the commercials. Oh, look at that guy. And number one, son, that's lousy acting. Number two, listen to that copy. It's the dumbest ad copy I've ever seen. The jingles and and then he would say, No, that's a good commercial, right there. And he wasn't always negative. He would he was just a good critic of advertising. So at a very young age, starting, you know, when we watch television, I think the first television ever, he bought us when I was five years old, I was around one of the most educated, active, funny, animated television critics I could hope to have in my life as a 56789, 1011, 12 year old. And so when I was 12, I became one of the founding members of the Brotherhood of radio stations with my friends John Waterhouse and John Barstow and Steve gray and Bill Connors in South Minneapolis. I named my five watt night kit am transmitter after my sixth grade teacher, Bob close this is wclo stereo radio. And when I was in sixth grade, I built myself a switch box, and I had a turntable and I had an intercom, and I wired my house for sound, as did all the other boys in the in the B, O, R, S, and that's brotherhood of radio stations. And we were guests on each other's shows, and we were obsessed, and we would go to the shopping malls whenever a local DJ was making an appearance and torture him and ask him dumb questions and listen obsessively to American am radio. And at the time for am radio, not FM like today, or internet on your little radio tuner, all the big old grandma and grandpa radios, the wooden ones, were AM, for amplitude modulated. You could get stations at night, once the sun went down and the later it got, the ionosphere would lift and the am radio signals would bounce higher and farther. And in Minneapolis, at age six and seven, I was able to to listen to stations out of Mexico and Texas and Chicago, and was absolutely fascinated with with what was being put out. And I would, I would switch my brother when I was about eight years old, gave me a transistor radio, which I hid under my bed covers. And at night, would turn on and listen for, who knows, hours at a time, and just tuning the dial and tuning the dial from country to rock and roll to hit parade to news to commercials to to agric agriculture reports to cow crossings in Kansas and grain harvesting and cheese making in Wisconsin, and on and on and on that made up the great medium of radio that was handing its power and its business over to television, just as I was growing As a child. Fast, fascinating transition Michael Hingson ** 28:18 and well, but as it was transitioning, how did that affect you? Bill Ratner ** 28:26 It made television the romantic, exciting, dynamic medium. It made radio seem a little limited and antiquated, and although I listened for environment and wasn't able to drag a television set under my covers. Yeah, and television became memorable with with everything from actual world war two battle footage being shown because there wasn't enough programming to 1930s Warner Brothers gangster movies with James Cagney, Edward G Michael Hingson ** 29:01 Robinson and yeah Bill Ratner ** 29:02 to all the sitcoms, Leave It to Beaver and television cartoons and on and on and on. And the most memorable elements to me were the personalities, and some of whom were invisible. Five years old, I was watching a Kids program after school, after kindergarten. We'll be back with more funny puppets, marionettes after this message and the first words that came on from an invisible voice of this D baritone voice, this commercial message will be 60 seconds long, Chrysler Dodge for 1954 blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I watched hypnotized, hypnotized as a 1953 dodge drove across the screen with a happy family of four waving out the window. And at the end of the commercial, I ran into the kitchen said, Mom, mom, I know what a minute. Is, and it was said, it had suddenly come into my brain in one of those very rare and memorable moments in a person's life where your brain actually speaks to you in its own private language and says, Here is something very new and very true, that 60 seconds is in fact a minute. When someone says, See you in five minutes, they mean five times that, five times as long as that. Chrysler commercial, five times 60. That's 300 seconds. And she said, Did you learn it that that on T in kindergarten? And I said, No, I learned it from kangaroo Bob on TV, his announcer, oh, kangaroo Bob, no, but this guy was invisible. And so at five years of age, I was aware of the existence of the practice of the sound, of the magic of the seemingly unlimited access to facts, figures, products, brand names that these voices had and would say on the air in This sort of majestic, patriarchal way, Michael Hingson ** 31:21 and just think 20 years later, then you had James Earl Jones, Bill Ratner ** 31:26 the great dame. James Earl Jones, father was a star on stage at that time the 1950s James Earl Jones came of age in the 60s and became Broadway and off Broadway star. Michael Hingson ** 31:38 I got to see him in Othello. He was playing Othello. What a powerful performance. It was Bill Ratner ** 31:43 wonderful performer. Yeah, yeah. I got to see him as Big Daddy in Canada, Hot Tin Roof, ah, live and in person, he got front row seats for me and my family. Michael Hingson ** 31:53 Yeah, we weren't in the front row, but we saw it. We saw it on on Broadway, Bill Ratner ** 31:58 the closest I ever got to James Earl Jones. He and I had the same voice over agent, woman named Rita vinari of southern Barth and benare company. And I came into the agency to audition for Doritos, and I hear this magnificent voice coming from behind a closed voiceover booth, saying, with a with a Spanish accent, Doritos. I thought that's James Earl Jones. Why is he saying burritos? And he came out, and he bowed to me, nodded and smiled, and I said, hello and and the agent probably in the booth and shut the door. And she said, I said, that was James Earl Jones. What a voice. What she said, Oh, he's such a nice man. And she said, but I couldn't. I was too embarrassed. I was too afraid to stop him from saying, Doritos. And it turns out he didn't get the gig. So it is some other voice actor got it because he didn't say, had he said Doritos with the agent froze it froze up. That was as close as I ever got to did you get the gig? Oh goodness no, Michael Hingson ** 33:01 no, you didn't, huh? Oh, well, well, yeah. I mean, it was a very, it was, it was wonderful. It was James Earl Jones and Christopher Plummer played Iago. Oh, goodness, oh, I know. What a what a combination. Well, so you, you did a lot of voiceover stuff. What did you do regarding radio moving forward? Or did you just go completely out of that and you were in TV? Or did you have any opportunity Bill Ratner ** 33:33 for me to go back at age 15, my brother and father, who were big supporters of my radio. My dad would read my W, C, l, o, newsletter and need an initial, an excellent journalism son and my brother would bring his teenage friends up. He'd play the elderly brothers, man, you got an Elvis record, and I did. And you know, they were, they were big supporters for me as a 13 year old, but when I turned 14, and had lost my brother and my father, I lost my enthusiasm and put all of my radio equipment in a box intended to play with it later. Never, ever, ever did again. And when I was about 30 years old and I'd done years of acting in the theater, having a great time doing fun plays and small theaters in Minneapolis and South Dakota and and Oakland, California and San Francisco. I needed money, so I looked in the want ads and saw a job for telephone sales, and I thought, Well, I used to love the telephone. I used to make phony phone calls to people all the time. Used to call funeral homes. Hi Carson, funeral I help you. Yes, I'm calling to tell you that you have a you have a dark green slate tile. Roof, isn't that correct? Yes. Well, there's, there's a corpse on your roof. Lady for goodness sake, bring it down and we laugh and we record it and and so I thought, Well, gee, I used to have a lot of fun with the phone. And so I called the number of telephone sales and got hired to sell magazine subscriptions and dinner tickets to Union dinners and all kinds of things. And then I saw a new job at a radio station, suburban radio station out in Walnut Creek, California, a lovely Metro BART train ride. And so I got on the BART train, rode out there and walked in for the interview, and was told I was going to be selling small advertising packages on radio for the station on the phone. And so I called barber shops and beauty shops and gas stations in the area, and one guy picked up the phone and said, Wait a minute, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Are you on the radio right now? And I said, No, I'm just I'm in the sales room. Well, maybe you should be. And he slams the phone on me. He didn't want to talk to me anymore. It wasn't interested in buying advertising. I thought, gee. And I told somebody at the station, and they said, Well, you want to be in the radio? And he went, Yeah, I was on the radio when I was 13. And it just so happened that an older fellow was retiring from the 10am to 2pm slot. K I S King, kiss 99 and KD FM, Pittsburgh, California. And it was a beautiful music station. It was a music station. Remember, old enough will remember music that used to play in elevators that was like violin music, the Percy faith orchestra playing a Rolling Stone song here in the elevator. Yes, well, that's exactly what we played. And it would have been harder to get a job at the local rock stations because, you know, they were popular places. And so I applied for the job, and Michael Hingson ** 37:06 could have lost your voice a lot sooner, and it would have been a lot harder if you had had to do Wolfman Jack. But that's another story. Bill Ratner ** 37:13 Yeah, I used to listen to Wolf Man Jack. I worked in a studio in Hollywood. He became a studio. Yeah, big time. Michael Hingson ** 37:22 Anyway, so you you got to work at the muzack station, got Bill Ratner ** 37:27 to work at the muzack station, and I was moving to Los Angeles to go to a bigger market, to attempt to penetrate a bigger broadcast market. And one of the sales guys, a very nice guy named Ralph pizzella said, Well, when you get to La you should study with a friend of mine down to pie Troy, he teaches voiceovers. I said, What are voice overs? He said, You know that CVS Pharmacy commercial just carted up and did 75 tags, available in San Fernando, available in San Clemente, available in Los Angeles, available in Pasadena. And I said, Yeah. He said, Well, you didn't get paid any extra. You got paid your $165 a week. The guy who did that commercial for the ad agency got paid probably 300 bucks, plus extra for the tags, that's voiceovers. And I thought, why? There's an idea, what a concept. So he gave me the name and number of old friend acquaintance of his who he'd known in radio, named Don DiPietro, alias Johnny rabbit, who worked for the Dick Clark organization, had a big rock and roll station there. He'd come to LA was doing voiceovers and teaching voiceover classes in a little second story storefront out of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles. So I signed up for his class, and he was an experienced guy, and he liked me, and we all had fun, and I realized I was beginning to study like an actor at 1818, who goes to New York or goes to Los Angeles or Chicago or Atlanta or St Louis to act in the big theaters, and starts acting classes and realizes, oh my goodness, these people are truly professionals. I don't know how to do what they do. And so for six years, I took voice over classes, probably 4050, nights a year, and from disc jockeys, from ex show hosts, from actors, from animated cartoon voices, and put enough time in to get a degree in neurology in medical school. And worked my way up in radio in Los Angeles and had a morning show, a lovely show with a wonderful news man named Phil Reed, and we talked about things and reviewed movies and and played a lot of music. And then I realized, wait a minute, I'm earning three times the money in voiceovers as I am on the radio, and I have to get up at 430 in the morning to be on the radio. Uh, and a wonderful guy who was Johnny Carson's staff announcer named Jack angel said, You're not still on radio, are you? And I said, Well, yeah, I'm working in the morning. And Ka big, get out of there. Man, quit. Quit. And I thought, well, how can I quit? I've always wanted to be a radio announcer. And then there was another wonderful guy on the old am station, kmpc, sweet Dick Whittington. Whittington, right? And he said at a seminar that I went to at a union voice over training class, when you wake up at four in the morning and you swing your legs over the bed and your shoes hit the floor, and you put your head in your hands, and you say to yourself, I don't want to do this anymore. That's when you quit radio. Well, that hadn't happened to me. I was just getting up early to write some comedy segments and on and on and on, and then I was driving around town all day doing auditions and rented an ex girlfriend's second bedroom so that I could nap by myself during the day, when I had an hour in and I would as I would fall asleep, I'd picture myself every single day I'm in a dark voiceover studio, a microphone Is before me, a music stand is before the microphone, and on it is a piece of paper with advertising copy on it. On the other side of the large piece of glass of the recording booth are three individuals, my employers, I begin to read, and somehow the text leaps off the page, streams into my eyes, letter for letter, word for word, into a part of my back brain that I don't understand and can't describe. It is processed in my semi conscious mind with the help of voice over training and hope and faith, and comes out my mouth, goes into the microphone, is recorded in the digital recorder, and those three men, like little monkeys, lean forward and say, Wow, how do you do that? That was my daily creative visualization. Michael, that was my daily fantasy. And I had learned that from from Dale Carnegie, and I had learned that from Olympic athletes on NBC TV in the 60s and 70s, when the announcer would say, this young man you're seeing practicing his high jump is actually standing there. He's standing stationary, and the bouncing of the head is he's actually rehearsing in his mind running and running and leaping over the seven feet two inch bar and falling into the sawdust. And now he's doing it again, and you could just barely see the man nodding his head on camera at the exact rhythm that he would be running the 25 yards toward the high bar and leaping, and he raised his head up during the imaginary lead that he was visualizing, and then he actually jumped the seven foot two inches. That's how I learned about creative visualization from NBC sports on TV. Michael Hingson ** 43:23 Channel Four in Los Angeles. There you go. Well, so you you broke into voice over, and that's what you did. Bill Ratner ** 43:38 That's what I did, darn it, I ain't stopping now, there's a wonderful old actor named Bill Irwin. There two Bill Irwin's one is a younger actor in his 50s or 60s, a brilliant actor from Broadway to film and TV. There's an older William Irwin. They also named Bill Irwin, who's probably in his 90s now. And I went to a premiere of a film, and he was always showing up in these films as The senile stock broker who answers the phone upside down, or the senile board member who always asks inappropriate questions. And I went up to him and I said, you know, I see you in everything, man. I'm 85 years old. Some friends and associates of mine tell me I should slow down. I only got cast in movies and TV when I was 65 I ain't slowing down. If I tried to slow down at 85 I'd have to stop That's my philosophy. My hero is the great Don Pardo, the late great Michael Hingson ** 44:42 for Saturday Night Live and Jeopardy Bill Ratner ** 44:45 lives starring Bill Murray, Gilder Radner, and Michael Hingson ** 44:49 he died for Jeopardy before that, Bill Ratner ** 44:52 yeah, died at 92 with I picture him, whether it probably not, with a microphone and. His hand in his in his soundproof booth, in his in his garage, and I believe he lived in Arizona, although the show was aired and taped in New York, New York, right where he worked for for decades as a successful announcer. So that's the story. Michael Hingson ** 45:16 Michael. Well, you know, I miss, very frankly, some of the the the days of radio back in the 60s and 70s and so on. We had, in LA what you mentioned, Dick Whittington, Dick whittinghill on kmpc, Gary Owens, you know, so many people who were such wonderful announcers and doing some wonderful things, and radio just isn't the same anymore. It's gone. It's Bill Ratner ** 45:47 gone to Tiktok and YouTube. And the truth is, I'm not gonna whine about Tiktok or YouTube, because some of the most creative moments on camera are being done on Tiktok and YouTube by young quote influencers who hire themselves out to advertisers, everything from lipstick. You know, Speaker 1 ** 46:09 when I went to a party last night was just wild and but this makeup look, watch me apply this lip remover and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, no, I have no lip. Bill Ratner ** 46:20 You know, these are the people with the voices. These are the new voices. And then, of course, the faces. And so I would really advise before, before people who, in fact, use the internet. If you use the internet, you can't complain if you use the internet, if you go to Facebook or Instagram, or you get collect your email or Google, this or that, which most of us do, it's handy. You can't complain about tick tock, tick tock, tick tock. You can't complain about tick tock or YouTube, because it's what the younger generation is using, and it's what the younger generation advertisers and advertising executives and creators and musicians and actors are using to parade before us, as Gary Owens did, as Marlon Brando did, as Sarah Bernhardt did in the 19 so as all as you do, Michael, you're a parader. You're the head of the parade. You've been in on your own float for years. I read your your bio. I don't even know why you want to waste a minute talking to me for goodness sakes. Michael Hingson ** 47:26 You know, the one thing about podcasts that I like over radio, and I did radio at kuci for seven years when I was in school, what I really like about podcasts is they're not and this is also would be true for Tiktok and YouTube. Primarily Tiktok, I would would say it isn't as structured. So if we don't finish in 60 minutes, and we finish in 61 minutes, no one's gonna shoot us. Bill Ratner ** 47:53 Well, I beg to differ with you. Now. I'm gonna start a fight with you. Michael, yeah, we need conflict in this script. Is that it The Tick Tock is very structured. Six. No, Michael Hingson ** 48:03 no, I understand that. I'm talking about podcasts, Bill Ratner ** 48:07 though, but there's a problem. We gotta Tone It Up. We gotta pick it up. We gotta there's a lot of and I listen to what are otherwise really bright, wonderful personalities on screen, celebrities who have podcasts and the car sucks, and then I had meatballs for dinner, haha. And you know what my wife said? Why? You know? And there's just too much of that. And, Michael Hingson ** 48:32 oh, I understand, yeah. I mean, it's like, like anything, but I'm just saying that's one of the reasons I love podcasting. So it's my way of continuing what I used to do in radio and having a lot of fun doing it Bill Ratner ** 48:43 all right, let me ask you. Let me ask you a technical and editorial question. Let me ask you an artistic question. An artist, can you edit this podcast? Yeah. Are you? Do you plan to Nope. Michael Hingson ** 48:56 I think conversations are conversations, but there is a but, I mean, Bill Ratner ** 49:01 there have been starts and stops and I answer a question, and there's a long pause, and then, yeah, we can do you edit that stuff Michael Hingson ** 49:08 out. We do, we do, edit some of that out. And I have somebody that that that does a lot of it, because I'm doing more podcasts, and also I travel and speak, but I can edit. There's a program called Reaper, which is really a very sophisticated Bill Ratner ** 49:26 close up spaces. You Michael Hingson ** 49:28 can close up spaces with it, yes, but the neat thing about Reaper is that somebody has written scripts to make it incredibly accessible for blind people using screen readers. Bill Ratner ** 49:40 What does it do? What does it do? Give me the elevator pitch. Michael Hingson ** 49:46 You've seen some of the the programs that people use, like computer vision and other things to do editing of videos and so on. Yeah. Bill Ratner ** 49:55 Yeah. Even Apple. Apple edit. What is it called? Apple? Garage Band. No, that's audio. What's that Michael Hingson ** 50:03 audio? Oh, Bill Ratner ** 50:06 quick time is quick Michael Hingson ** 50:07 time. But whether it's video or audio, the point is that Reaper allows me to do all of that. I can edit audio. I can insert, I can remove pauses. I can do anything with Reaper that anyone else can do editing audio, because it's been made completely accessible. Bill Ratner ** 50:27 That's great. That's good. That's nice. Oh, it is. It's cool. Michael Hingson ** 50:31 So so if I want, I can edit this and just have my questions and then silence when you're talking. Bill Ratner ** 50:38 That might be best. Ladies and gentlemen, here's Bill Ratner, Michael Hingson ** 50:46 yep, exactly, exactly. Now you have won the moth stories. Slam, what? Tell me about my story. Slam, you've won it nine times. Bill Ratner ** 51:00 The Moth was started by a writer, a novelist who had lived in the South and moved to New York City, successful novelist named George Dawes green. And the inception of the moth, which many people listening are familiar with from the Moth Radio Hour. It was, I believe, either late 90s or early 2000s when he'd been in New York for a while and was was publishing as a fiction writer, and threw a party, and decided, instead of going to one of these dumb, boring parties or the same drinks being served and same cigarettes being smoked out in the veranda and the same orders. I'm going to ask people to bring a five minute story, a personal story, nature, a true story. You don't have to have one to get into the party, but I encourage you to. And so you know, the 3040, 50 people showed up, many of whom had stories, and they had a few drinks, and they had hors d'oeuvres. And then he said, Okay, ladies and gentlemen, take your seats. It's time for and then I picked names out of a hat, and person after person after person stood up in a very unusual setting, which was almost never done at parties. You How often do you see that happen? Suddenly, the room falls silent, and someone with permission being having been asked by the host to tell a personal story, some funny, some tragic, some complex, some embarrassing, some racy, some wild, some action filled. And afterward, the feedback he got from his friends was, this is the most amazing experience I've ever had in my life. And someone said, you need to do this. And he said, Well, you people left a lot of cigarette butts and beer cans around my apartment. And they said, well, let's do it at a coffee shop. Let's do it at a church basement. So slowly but surely, the moth storytelling, story slams, which were designed after the old poetry slams in the 50s and 60s, where they were judged contests like, like a dance contest. Everybody's familiar with dance contests? Well, there were, then came poetry contests with people singing and, you know, and singing and really energetically, really reading. There then came storytelling contests with people standing on a stage before a silent audience, telling a hopefully interesting, riveting story, beginning middle, end in five minutes. And so a coffee house was found. A monthly calendar was set up. Then came the internet. Then it was so popular standing room only that they had to open yet another and another, and today, some 20 years later, 20 some years later, from Austin, Texas to San Francisco, California to Minneapolis, Minnesota to New York City to Los Angeles. There are moth story slams available on online for you to schedule yourself to go live and in person at the moth.org as in the moth with wings. Friend of mine, I was in New York. He said, You can't believe it. This writer guy, a writer friend of mine who I had read, kind of an avant garde, strange, funny writer was was hosting something called the moth in New York, and we were texting each other. He said, Well, I want to go. The theme was show business. I was going to talk to my Uncle Bobby, who was the bell boy. And I Love Lucy. I'll tell a story. And I texted him that day. He said, Oh man, I'm so sorry. I had the day wrong. It's next week. Next week, I'm going to be back home. And so he said, Well, I think there's a moth in Los Angeles. So about 15 years ago, I searched it down and what? Went to a small Korean barbecue that had a tiny little stage that originally was for Korean musicians, and it was now being used for everything from stand up comedy to evenings of rock and roll to now moth storytelling once a month. And I think the theme was first time. And so I got up and told a silly story and didn't win first prize. They have judges that volunteer judges a table of three judges scoring, you like, at a swim meet or a track beat or, you know, and our gymnastics meet. So this is all sort of familiar territory for everybody, except it's storytelling and not high jumping or pull ups. And I kept going back. I was addicted to it. I would write a story and I'd memorize it, and I'd show up and try to make it four minutes and 50 seconds and try to make it sound like I was really telling a story and not reading from a script. And wish I wasn't, because I would throw the script away, and I knew the stories well enough. And then they created a radio show. And then I began to win slams and compete in the grand slams. And then I started submitting these 750 word, you know, two and a half page stories. Literary magazines got a few published and found a whole new way to spend my time and not make much Michael Hingson ** 56:25 money. Then you went into poetry. Bill Ratner ** 56:29 Then I got so bored with my prose writing that I took a poetry course from a wonderful guy in LA called Jack grapes, who had been an actor and a football player and come to Hollywood and did some TV, episodics and and some some episodic TV, and taught poetry. It was a poet in the schools, and I took his class of adults and got a poem published. And thought, wait a minute, these aren't even 750 words. They're like 75 words. I mean, you could write a 10,000 word poem if you want, but some people have, yeah, and it was complex, and there was so much to read and so much to learn and so much that was interesting and odd. And a daughter of a friend of mine is a poet, said, Mommy, are you going to read me one of those little word movies before I go to sleep? Michael Hingson ** 57:23 A little word movie, word movie out of the Bill Ratner ** 57:27 mouths of babes. Yeah, and so, so and I perform. You know, last night, I was in Orange County at a organization called ugly mug Cafe, and a bunch of us poets read from an anthology that was published, and we sold our books, and heard other young poets who were absolutely marvelous and and it's, you know, it's not for everybody, but it's one of the things I do. Michael Hingson ** 57:54 Well, you sent me pictures of book covers, so they're going to be in the show notes. And I hope people will will go out and get them Bill Ratner ** 58:01 cool. One of the one of the things that I did with poetry, in addition to wanting to get published and wanting to read before people, is wanting to see if there is a way. Because poetry was, was very satisfying, emotionally to me, intellectually very challenging and satisfying at times. And emotionally challenging and very satisfying at times, writing about things personal, writing about nature, writing about friends, writing about stories that I received some training from the National Association for poetry therapy. Poetry therapy is being used like art therapy, right? And have conducted some sessions and and participated in many and ended up working with eighth graders of kids who had lost someone to death in the past year of their lives. This is before covid in the public schools in Los Angeles. And so there's a lot of that kind of work that is being done by constable people, by writers, by poets, by playwrights, Michael Hingson ** 59:09 and you became a grief counselor, Bill Ratner ** 59:13 yes, and don't do that full time, because I do voiceovers full time, right? Write poetry and a grand. Am an active grandparent, but I do the occasional poetry session around around grief poetry. Michael Hingson ** 59:31 So you're a grandparent, so you've had kids and all that. Yes, sir, well, that's is your wife still with us? Yes? Bill Ratner ** 59:40 Oh, great, yeah, she's an artist and an art educator. Well, that Michael Hingson ** 59:46 so the two of you can criticize each other's works, then, just Bill Ratner ** 59:52 saying, we're actually pretty kind to each other. I Yeah, we have a lot of we have a lot of outside criticism. Them. So, yeah, you don't need to do it internally. We don't rely on it. What do you think of this although, although, more than occasionally, each of us will say, What do you think of this poem, honey? Or what do you think of this painting, honey? And my the favorite, favorite thing that my wife says that always thrills me and makes me very happy to be with her is, I'll come down and she's beginning a new work of a new piece of art for an exhibition somewhere. I'll say, what? Tell me about what's, what's going on with that, and she'll go, you know, I have no idea, but it'll tell me what to do. Michael Hingson ** 1:00:33 Yeah, it's, it's like a lot of authors talk about the fact that their characters write the stories right, which, which makes a lot of sense. So with all that you've done, are you writing a memoir? By any chance, I Bill Ratner ** 1:00:46 am writing a memoir, and writing has been interesting. I've been doing it for many years. I got it was my graduate thesis from University of California Riverside Palm Desert. Michael Hingson ** 1:00:57 My wife was a UC Riverside graduate. Oh, hi. Well, they Bill Ratner ** 1:01:01 have a low residency program where you go for 10 days in January, 10 days in June. The rest of it's online, which a lot of universities are doing, low residency programs for people who work and I got an MFA in creative writing nonfiction, had a book called parenting for the digital age, the truth about media's effect on children. And was halfway through it, the publisher liked it, but they said you got to double the length. So I went back to school to try to figure out how to double the length. And was was able to do it, and decided to move on to personal memoir and personal storytelling, such as goes on at the moth but a little more personal than that. Some of the material that I was reading in the memoir section of a bookstore was very, very personal and was very helpful to read about people who've gone through particular issues in their childhood. Mine not being physical abuse or sexual abuse, mine being death and loss, which is different. And so that became a focus of my graduate thesis, and many people were urging me to write a memoir. Someone said, you need to do a one man show. So I entered the Hollywood fringe and did a one man show and got good reviews and had a good time and did another one man show the next year and and so on. So But writing memoir as anybody knows, and they're probably listeners who are either taking memoir courses online or who may be actively writing memoirs or short memoir pieces, as everybody knows it, can put you through moods from absolutely ecstatic, oh my gosh, I got this done. I got this story told, and someone liked it, to oh my gosh, I'm so depressed I don't understand why. Oh, wait a minute, I was writing about such and such today. Yeah. So that's the challenge for the memoir is for the personal storyteller, it's also, you know, and it's more of a challenge than it is for the reader, unless it's bad writing and the reader can't stand that. For me as a reader, I'm fascinated by people's difficult stories, if they're well Michael Hingson ** 1:03:24 told well, I know that when in 2002 I was advised to write a book about the World Trade Center experiences and all, and it took eight years to kind of pull it all together. And then I met a woman who actually I collaborated with, Susie Florey, and we wrote thunder dog. And her agent became my agent, who loved the proposal that we sent and actually got a contract within a week. So thunder dog came out in 2011 was a New York Times bestseller, and very blessed by that, and we're working toward the day that it will become a movie still, but it'll happen. And then I wrote a children's version of it, well, not a children's version of the book, but a children's book about me growing up in Roselle, growing up the guide dog who was with me in the World Trade Center, and that's been on Amazon. We self published it. Then last year, we published a new book called Live like a guide dog, which is all about controlling fear and teaching people lessons that I learned prior to September 11. That helped me focus and remain calm. Bill Ratner ** 1:04:23 What happened to you on September 11, Michael Hingson ** 1:04:27 I was in the World Trade Center. I worked on the 78th floor of Tower One. Bill Ratner ** 1:04:32 And what happened? I mean, what happened to you? Michael Hingson ** 1:04:36 Um, nothing that day. I mean, well, I got out. How did you get out? Down the stairs? That was the only way to go. So, so the real story is not doing it, but why it worked. And the real issue is that I spent a lot of time when I first went into the World Trade Center, learning all I could about what to do in an emergency, talking to police, port authorities. Security people, emergency preparedness people, and also just walking around the world trade center and learning the whole place, because I ran an office for a company, and I wasn't going to rely on someone else to, like, lead me around if we're going to go to lunch somewhere and take people out before we negotiated contracts. So I needed to know all of that, and I learned all I could, also realizing that if there ever was an emergency, I might be the only one in the office, or we might be in an area where people couldn't read the signs to know what to do anyway. And so I had to take the responsibility of learning all that, which I did. And then when the planes hit 18 floors above us on the other side of the building, we get we had some guests in the office. Got them out, and then another colleague, who was in from our corporate office, and I and my guide dog, Roselle, went to the stairs, and we started down. And Bill Ratner ** 1:05:54 so, so what floor did the plane strike? Michael Hingson ** 1:05:58 It struck and the NOR and the North Tower, between floors 93 and 99 so I just say 96 okay, and you were 20 floors down, 78 floors 78 so we were 18 floors below, and Bill Ratner ** 1:06:09 at the moment of impact, what did you think? Michael Hingson ** 1:06:13 Had no idea we heard a muffled kind of explosion, because the plane hit on the other side of the building, 18 floors above us. There was no way to know what was going on. Did you feel? Did you feel? Oh, the building literally tipped, probably about 20 feet. It kept tipping. And then we actually said goodbye to each other, and then the building came back upright. And then we went, Bill Ratner ** 1:06:34 really you so you thought you were going to die? Michael Hingson ** 1:06:38 David, my colleague who was with me, as I said, he was from our California office, and he was there to help with some seminars we were going to be doing. We actually were saying goodbye to each other because we thought we were about to take a 78 floor plunge to the street, when the building stopped tipping and it came back. Designed to do that by the architect. It was designed to do that, which is the point, the point. Bill Ratner ** 1:07:02 Goodness, gracious. And then did you know how to get to the stairway? Michael Hingson ** 1:07:04 Oh, absolutely. And did you do it with your friend? Yeah, the first thing we did, the first thing we did is I got him to get we had some guests, and I said, get him to the stairs. Don't let him take the elevators, because I knew he had seen fire above us, but that's all we knew. And but I said, don't take the elevators. Don't let them take elevators. Get them to the stairs and then come back and we'll leave. So he did all that, and then he came back, and we went to the stairs and started down. Bill Ratner ** 1:07:33 Wow. Could you smell anything? Michael Hingson ** 1:07:36 We smelled burning jet fuel fumes on the way down. And that's how we figured out an airplane must have hit the building, but we had no idea what happened. We didn't know what happened until the until both towers had collapsed, and I actually talked to my wife, and she's the one who told us how to aircraft have been crashed into the towers, one into the Pentagon, and a fourth, at that time, was still missing over Pennsylvania. Wow. So you'll have to go pick up a copy of thunder dog. Goodness. Good. Thunder dog. The name of the book is Thunder dog, and the book I wrote last year is called Live like a guide dog. It's le
En 1925, l'explorateur britannique Percy Fawcett s'enfonce dans la jungle amazonienne à la recherche d'une cité perdue qu'il appelle Z. On ne le reverra jamais. Un siècle plus tard, le mystère demeure : mythe romantique d'un aventurier disparu, ou intuition visionnaire d'un monde oublié sous la forêt ?Mention légales : Vos données de connexion, dont votre adresse IP, sont traités par Radio Classique, responsable de traitement, sur la base de son intérêt légitime, par l'intermédiaire de son sous-traitant Ausha, à des fins de réalisation de statistiques agréées et de lutte contre la fraude. Ces données sont supprimées en temps réel pour la finalité statistique et sous cinq mois à compter de la collecte à des fins de lutte contre la fraude. Pour plus d'informations sur les traitements réalisés par Radio Classique et exercer vos droits, consultez notre Politique de confidentialité.Hébergé par Ausha. Visitez ausha.co/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.
En 1925, l'explorateur britannique Percy Fawcett s'enfonce dans la jungle amazonienne à la recherche d'une cité perdue qu'il appelle Z. On ne le reverra jamais. Un siècle plus tard, le mystère demeure : mythe romantique d'un aventurier disparu, ou intuition visionnaire d'un monde oublié sous la forêt ? Mention légales : Vos données de connexion, dont votre adresse IP, sont traités par Radio Classique, responsable de traitement, sur la base de son intérêt légitime, par l'intermédiaire de son sous-traitant Ausha, à des fins de réalisation de statistiques agréées et de lutte contre la fraude. Ces données sont supprimées en temps réel pour la finalité statistique et sous cinq mois à compter de la collecte à des fins de lutte contre la fraude. Pour plus d'informations sur les traitements réalisés par Radio Classique et exercer vos droits, consultez notre Politique de confidentialité.Hébergé par Ausha. Visitez ausha.co/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.
Bishop Tony Percy says this week's Gospel begs two questions: am I humble and what is humility? The pharisee deceives himself, being self-enclosed, living in his own echo chamber. While the tax-collector knows his limits: God, be merciful to me, a sinner
Nick and Percy sit down with ensemble member Christopher Diercksen to talk about different methods of creating characters in TTRPGs and how those methods affect the kinds of storytelling each game affords. Dungeons and Drama Nerds is produced by Percival Hornak and Nicholas Orvis, and this episode was mixed and edited by Percival Hornak. Our core ensemble are Todd Brian Backus, Jovane Caamano, Anthony Sertel Dean, Christopher Diercksen, Ben Ferber, Kory Flores, Mieko Gavia, Tess Huth, Romana Isabella, Jon Jon Johnson, CJ Linton, C. “Meaks” Meaker, Leo Mock, Dex Phan, and Tristan B. Willis. Our game of Wythe Marschall's Stillfleet features Christopher Diercksen as Geshra Veedle, Kory Flores as Peanut, Mieko Gavia as Kyrannis, Jon Jon Johnson as Private Taps, special guest Wythe Marschall as Cherric Shaddams, and Ben Ferber as the GM. If you'd like to help us continue exploring the intersections of theatre and tabletop roleplaying games, consider leaving us a review on your podcast app of choice or supporting us - and getting access to our patron-only bonus content - at patreon.com/dungeonsanddramanerds. You can find our social media and website links, including our cast bios, at the linktree in our show notes. And be sure to tune in soon for another episode of Dungeons and Drama Nerds!
O Lala! (In RVA) gets spooky with a special Halloween edition featuring author and journalist Catherine Baab — whose book Poe for Your Problems turned Edgar Allan Poe into an unlikely self-help icon. Now she's back at it with her upcoming project, Gothic Glow-Up: Mary Shelley's Guide to Stitching Yourself Back Together.We talk Frankenstein, free love, grief, genius, and the surprisingly messy (and sexy?) lives of 19th-century writers. It's brains, bangers, and a whole lot of gothic gossip — perfect for a cozy October listen.Then, Big Voodoo Daddy drops his “Big Daddy Topic” — the eerie origins of trick-or-treating and the world's weirdest Halloween traditions (yes, some countries hide their knives
Jeffrey Eisenberg and I were looking though a pair of antique doors at Austin Auction Gallery when I saw a remarkable oil painting on the wall behind them and whispered in wonder, “Ozymandias.”The auction catalog described the painting as, “Arabian horse and handler with Egyptian sphinx, signed lower right Maksymilian Novak-Zemplinski (Polish, b.1974), dated 2000.”But I knew that painting for what it was. I've loved “Ozymandias” since the 9th grade.You remember it, don't you? Bryan Cranston read that famous poem in the final episode of “Breaking Bad.” The title of the episode was “Ozymandias,” and TV Guide picked it as “the best television episode of the 21st century.” It was also the only episode of a TV show ever to achieve a perfect 10-out-of-10 rating on IMDb with over 200,000 votes, putting it at the number one spot for the most highly rated television episode ever:I met a traveller from an antique land,Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stoneStand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,Tell that its sculptor well those passions readWhich yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;And on the pedestal, these words appear:“My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!”Nothing beside remains. Round the decayOf that colossal Wreck, boundless and bareThe lone and level sands stretch far away.When I returned home from the auction, I spent a delightful 90 minutes tracking down all the bits and pieces of how that poem came to exist.It was in 1817 that Percy Bysshe Shelley and his poet friend, Horace Smith read the news that the carved head of Egyptian Pharaoh Ramesses II had been removed from its tomb at Thebes by an Italian adventurer and that it would soon be traveling to Britain.Shelly suggested to Smith that each of them should write a poem about it and title each of their poems “Ozymandias,” the Greek name for Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II.Look at the poem as it appeared in newspaper on that day in 1818, and you will see that Percy Bysshe Shelley signed it, “Glirastes.” He did it as an inside joke intended only for his wife, Mary Shelley, who, incidentally, published her famous novel “Frankenstein” that same year.Mary often signed her letters to Percy as “your affectionate dormouse.” So Percy combined “Gliridae” (Latin for dormouse) with “Erastes” (Greek for lover) to create “Glirastes,” (meaning “lover of dormice.”)So now you know how Google's second-most-often-searched poem came to be published without anyone in London suspecting that it had been written on a bet with a friend by one of the most famous poets on earth who chose to sign it with a pseudonym as an inside joke to his wife.Did you know that I became an ad writer only because it was impossible to support myself as a poet?Now that you know that, you will not be surprised that Indy Beagle has collected Google's Top 20 Poems for you to read in the rabbit hole. Indy also found the Horace Smith version of Ozymandias, and added it at the end of the Google's Top 20 list.To enter the rabbit hole, all you have to do is click the image that appears at the top of today's Monday Morning Memo. You'll find this memo archived as “Looking Though Antique Doors,” the Monday Morning Memo for October 20th, 2025.This is the Google Top 20 List:“The Road Not...
Not even Halloween can stop us from talking about Thomas the Tank Engine.Halloween stream: https://www.twitch.tv/bleepinplayEmail questions and comments to: Bleepyouplaying@gmail.comSupport us: Patreon.com/whatthebleepWatch us play games https://www.youtube.com/@Bleepyouplaying
PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS is a live action fantasy series on Disney Plus, based on a book series for teenagers. In Episodes Three to Eight, Percy and his two friends embark on a dangerous quest from New York to California. A thief has stolen Zeus' Master Bolt and framed the crime on the god Poseidon, Percy's father. Percy must retrieve the stolen magical weapon and clear his father's name. Eventually, Percy and his heroic demigod friends discover that an ancient menace is plotting his revenge against the Olympian gods. Can the heroes prevent a war between Zeus and Poseidon?
Bishop Tony Percy reflects on all three readings. Firstly, the importance of petitionary prayer, bringing our needs and the needs of others before God with faith and secondly, all scripture is God breathing, a powerful image of divine life being breathed into us
Girls Play Dead by Jen Percy by Poets & Writers
The party return with their nets of loot as well as some golden bones in desperate need of some "Percy-ing" Can't wait for Part 2 of each episode? Join our Patreon to get early access EVERY week (+ a few other bonuses)! www.patreon.com/HighRollers _______________ Boost your Charisma with some HR merch! https://highrollersdnd.teemill.com/ Add official High Rollers Minis to your TTRPG collection here: https://only-games.co/collections/high-rollers Bless your table with the Clever Toad Dice Set: https://dispeldice.com/collections/high-rollers Enhance your bath time experience with the official Altheya themed DiceBombs at https://geekyclean.com/! Check out https://www.highrollersdnd.com/ for all the latest HR News! Love the podcast? Give us a glittering 5 star review! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/high-rollers-dnd/id1401508198?see-all=reviews Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound, TCT Adventures (Solasta: Crown of the Magisters), Monument Studios and Jolene Khor! Check out Jolene Khor and all her wonderful work on High Rollers on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1WX3ICiTmf4GpHwImnQMs6 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
A governess shows up at Craigdarroch, telling stories of a devil that is haunting her employer's child on a remote lot of land.Dick finds his ball, Emery tries to figure out what it is this organization actually does, Percy gets into a wrestling match with a senior citizen, Elofe makes a friend.
CELEB - Session 1 - PS PERCY HUNTER - 08 Oct 2025 by Dr Theo And Beverley Wolmarans Ministries
Bishop Tony Percy reflects on early Christian history when Christians were wrongly seen as usurpers and insurrectionists. The earliest external evidence we have of Christian practice comes from a letter from Pliny, a governor in what is now modern-day Turkey, to the Emperor Trajan (AD 110) which tells us about ourselves
CELEB - Session 1 - PS PERCY HUNTER - 08 Oct 2025 by Dr Theo And Beverley Wolmarans Ministries
For centuries, tales have been told about a mysterious creature, hiding beneath the dark water of Loch Ness. The question is: are the stories true? Is the giant creature real? Join Anna, Leo, and Percy the mouse as they travel to Scotland to explore one of history's most popular legends. From ancient sightings to famous hoaxes, we'll uncover the true story of the Loch Ness Monster, also known as “Nessie.” About Honest History Honest History creates award-winning books, magazines, and this show for young historians across the world. Our mission is to inspire kids to create a positive impact on history themselves. Learn more at honesthistory.co and @honesthistory. Credits This episode was narrated by Nikki Bon and JoAnn Schinderle, written by Heidi Coburn, and produced by Robot Pirate Media. Original theme music was written and recorded by Michael Dayvid. More Enjoy this episode? Share with your friends and don't forget to rate and review. See you next time!
Mary's husband died tragically. She kept a literal piece of him for the rest of her life.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-stories-with-seth-andrews--5621867/support.
Bishop Tony Percy reflects on Paul's letter to Timothy; a naturally hesitant young bishop it seems
Today we're doing something a little different, we sit down with long-time forum member Toploader! He's been part of Percy's Grow Room for nearly five years, and recently told us that he never used cannabis at all until he was 60 years old! Now, not only does he use cannabis, but he also grows plenty of his own. Join us to hear more about Toploader's story. Why he decided to grow his own cannabis, and what it was like trying cannabis for the very first time. Spoiler alert: it was a very heavy edibles dose, so it wasn't quite what he expected! It's a great interview, and we'd love to do more like it. If you've got a good story to tell, feel free to get in touch and we might be able to get you on the show too! Contact me through any of the links below:
1816 : The Year Without A SummerTrapped indoors by torrential rain, legendary writers Byron, Percy and Mary Shelley and their friends, Polidori and Claire, search for inspiration by the gloomy Lake Geneva. But things fall apart the longer they are stuck together... Polidori's diary is brought to life in the 1816: The Year Without a Summer musical.Nat Riches + Natasha Atkinson; Co-writers
Prepare for the rollercoaster of emotions as Aureo, Ev, Sierra, and a returning special guest, Taavi, dive into the discussion of the Chapter 15 of the Order of the Phoenix, "The High Inquisitor". Join the discussion: https://threebroomstickspod.com/episode-70-ootp-chapter-15-a-very-bad-book-club/ In this episode: Fudge doesn't think ahead Percy can't flex the troublemaking muscle Bribe the Sorting Hat with what? Tell us what T really stands for We all have flashbacks to reading out loud in school Fudge is writing under the pen name Slinkhard Lucius Malfoy, 41 And we're sad again… Stick around for Sierra's rendition of the Three Broomsticks family tree Contact: Website: https://threebroomstickspod.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/threebroomstickspod/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/threebroomstickspodcast/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/threebroompod Email: 3broomstickspod@gmail.com Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/3broomsticks
Bishop Tony Percy says both the 1st Reading from the Prophet Amos and the Gospel of Luke challenge the comfort-zone around wealth creation and just distribution. How far can Jesus push me? One thing is sure; it is always one step further than my comfort-zone. Just one step further
Percy and Nick sit down to chat with Wythe Marschall, designer of Stillfleet and founder of Stillfleet Studio, about politics, science fiction, and, of course, games. Dungeons and Drama Nerds is produced by Percival Hornak and Nicholas Orvis, and this episode was mixed and edited by Percival Hornak. Our core ensemble are Todd Brian Backus, Jovane Caamano, Anthony Sertel Dean, Christopher Diercksen, Ben Ferber, Kory Flores, Mieko Gavia, Tess Huth, Romana Isabella, Jon Jon Johnson, CJ Linton, C. “Meaks” Meaker, Leo Mock, Dex Phan, and Tristan B. Willis. Our game of Wythe Marschall's Stillfleet features Christopher Diercksen as Geshra Veedle, Kory Flores as Peanut, Mieko Gavia as Kyrannis, Jon Jon Johnson as Private Taps, special guest Wythe Marschall as Cherric Shaddams, and Ben Ferber as the GM. If you'd like to help us continue exploring the intersections of theatre and tabletop roleplaying games, consider leaving us a review on your podcast app of choice or supporting us - and getting access to our patron-only bonus content - at patreon.com/dungeonsanddramanerds. You can find our social media and website links, including our cast bios, at the linktree in our show notes. And be sure to tune in soon for another episode of Dungeons and Drama Nerds!
This week, we've got Rick Riordan and Mark Oshiro here to discuss their upcoming novel, The Court of the Dead! Discussion topics may include: finding the right story for Nico & Hazel, writing Percy from Nico's perspective, crafting Will Solace, justice, choice, and choosing Westport for Luke's hometown.You can find more info on Rick and Mark's Court of the Dead tour here!: https://rickriordan.com/2025/06/the-court-of-the-dead-tour/Get your The Court of the Dead bingo board here!: https://mfbc.us/m/rrjahg8Check us out on Patreon to submit questions for future interviews, and to get early episodes, cut material, art previews, and more! https://www.patreon.com/MonsterDonutPodcastHave a question? Want to contribute your own analysis? Feel like arguing? Email monsterdonutpodcast@gmail.com.Come say hi and check out the sketches Phoebe made this episode on Twitter, Instagram, or TikTok! @PJOPod on all platforms.Find our new Monster Donut merch here!: https://www.redbubble.com/people/monsterdonut/explore.More information on the show can be found at https://monsterdonut.wixsite.com/podcast.THEME SONG:"The Mask of Sorokin," music and arrangement by Dan CordeGuitars - Dan CordeBass - Quinten MetkeDrums - Todd CummingsRecorded, mixed, & mastered by Todd CummingsOUTRO MUSIC:"Shadow Run," music and arrangement by Dan CordeGuitars - Dan CordeBass - Quinten MetkeDrums - Todd CummingsRecorded, mixed, & mastered by Todd Cummings Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Percy faces off with his old man, Valerie takes to the streets, and Riot interrupts a meal. The theme of tonight's episode is Vassals.(To avoid spoilers, content warnings are listed at the end of this episode description).The bonus story that goes with this episode is ‘Local Guide', and is available for Hallowoods patrons on the show's Patreon, along with behind-the-scenes, exclusive merchandise, and more! Because the show runs without ads or sponsors, we rely on support from fans to guarantee the survival of this LGBTQ+ horror podcast.Hello From The Hallowoods is written and produced by William A. Wellman, a queer horror author. You can visit their website for more information! The transcript for this episode is available on the Hello From The Hallowoods Website. Click here to read!You can also find Hello From The Hallowoods on social media! The show is on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at @thehallowoods. If you'd like to connect with other fans of the show, there's even a fan-run Discord Server!Music for this episode was used under license from Artlist.com. The soundtracks featured were: ‘Rhea', by Yehezkel Raz,‘Morning Sunbeams', by Yehezkel Raz,‘The Last Road Trip', by Tommy H. Brandon,‘Lost', by Lars Bork Anderson,‘Quantum', by ANBR, ‘From the Depths', by Jeremy Chontow,‘Cello Concerto No. 1', by Nick Keller,‘Five Sense Prison', by Roie Shpigler, ‘Candle in the Dark', by Tommy H. Brandon,‘A Touch of Dream', by Max H, ‘Waiting', by Laurel Violet,‘A Moon Walk', by Yehezkel Raz,‘The Sacred Union', by Shahead Mostafafar, ‘Infernos Laissez Vibrer', by Yehezkel Raz,‘Dawn', by Eva Tiedemann, ‘Hrim Hjarta', by Blackbard,‘Prophecy,' by Matthias Forster,‘The Creation of All Things', by Doug Kaufman,‘For the Broken Hearted', by Yehezkel Raz,‘Don't Look Back', by Dani Dahani,‘Uncharted Lands', by Romeo,‘Titan', by Yehezkel Raz,‘Space Sauce', by Buynker Buster,‘Effoliation', by SEA,‘Shimmering Light', by Sparrow Tree,‘Peace', by Roie Shpigler,‘Rhea', by Yehezkel Raz,And ‘Farewell', by Maya Belsitzman and Matan EphratContent warnings for this episode include: Abuse (Percy's childhood), Violence, Kidnapping and abduction, Death + Injury, Blood, Transphobia, Homophobia, Gun Mention, Strangulation/suffocation, Misgendering, Static (including sfx), Emotional Manipulation, Stabbing, Drowning, Body horror, Bugs, Consumption of Inedible Materials (Oswald Biggs Botulus), Religious Violence, Child Sacrifice, Sounds of Chewing, Character Death Walter Pensive Groundskeeping shirts and hoodies are available now at DFTBA:https://www.hellofromthehallowoods.com/shop
When she started her first job reporting on farming, trying to work out how to move into interior design, Sally Percy had no idea she'd forge such an extraordinarily successful careeer as a business journalist and author. But the lessons she learned in her earliest days - how to write so a five-year-old child could understand, how to write to word count, the sanctity of deadlines, and perhaps most importantly how to ask questions without embarrassment - have stood her in good stead. That kind of unashamed questioning is a trait also shared by many of the leaders she interviewed for her latest book 'The Disruptors', shortlisted for the Business Book Awards. In this conversation she shares her hard-won lessons for writers, and also reflects on how business and business writing has changed over recent years and where the opportunities for those writing in the space can be found.
Visit our Patreon page to see the various tiers you can sign up for today to get in on the ground floor of AIPT Patreon. We hope to see you chatting with us on our Discord soon!NEWSDC cancels all future issues of new 'Red Hood' series after issue #1 dropsWonder Woman, Batman, and Superman get official U.S. Mint coins — see the designs and prices hereSELL OUT of Batman and X-MenX-Men Monday news!'X-Men of Apocalypse' #2 covers reveal classic X-Men vs. war-torn survivorsDoctor Doom falls, but Marvel's next villain could be even worse in 'The Will of Doom' #1'Gargoyles / Fantastic Four' crossover unites two legends November 2025'The Lion King' roars into comics with Mufasa & young Simba's untold adventuresOni Press teases, and then announces, 'The End' for 'Rick and Morty' coming December 2025Hellboy creator Mike Mignola brings a supernatural western to life in ‘Carmen Red Claw'Medieval Spawn collides with the Massive-Verse in 'Rogue Sun' #30Image reveals four more 'Youngblood' #1 covers including 'Absolute Batman' homageOur Top Books of the WeekDave:Punisher #1 (Benjamin Percy, Julius Ohta)Absolute Batman #12 (Scott Snyder, Nick Dragotta)Alex:Absolute Batman #12 (Scott Snyder, Nick Dragotta)Imperial War: Nova – Centurion #1 (Hickman, MacKay, Matteo Della Fonte)Standout KAPOW moment of the week:Alex: Ultimate Wolverine #9 (Chris Condon, Allesandro Capuccio) Dave: X-Men of Apocalypse Alpha #1 (Jeph Loeb, Simone Di Meo) TOP BOOKS FOR NEXT WEEKAlex: Predator Kills the Marvel Universe #2 (Percy, Marcelo Ferreira)Dave: Deadpool/Batman #1 (Various)JUDGING BY THE COVER JR.Dave: Deadpool/Batman #1 (Ryan Stegman Cover)Alex: Exquisite Corpses #5 (Alex Eckman-Lawn) YOU MEANT TO PICK THISInterview: Kelly Knievel and Rylend Grant - The Last Gladiator Kickstarter1. Kelly, as Evel Knievel's son and brand manager, what does it mean to you to see your father's legacy brought to life in his first-ever full-length comic series?2. Rylend, what drew you to Evel Knievel as a character for a comic, and how did you approach blending historical fact with fictional storytelling?3. The series is set during the lead-up to the Caesars Palace fountain jump. How did you decide which real-life events to keep and which moments to fictionalize?4. For readers who may not be familiar with Evel beyond the stunts, what do you hope The Last Gladiator will teach them about who he was as a person?5. The comic promises high-octane action and a modern-day Western feel. Can you walk us through the visual and narrative choices that give the series that unique tone?6. Evel Knievel has inspired movies, documentaries, and countless imitators. What makes comics the right medium to tell this particular story?7. (Fun) If Evel Knievel were still at it today, what stunt do you think he'd attempt just to outdo himself — and how would you put it in the comic?
It's Story Time, our walk through cricket history via your listener quiz challenges. This week, we start with a heavy-hitting pledge looking at one of cricket's heaviest stories, and whether it's worth at least recasting some naming conventions. Also this week, the day that Percy Fender went nuts, the rivals that still don't count, the Swiss Army Knife Man takes his couple of years in the sun, and a notion of early promise that stayed that way. Come for a stroll with us. Your Nerd Pledge numbers for this week: 158.00 - Richard Jansz-Moore 3.50 - Stephen Colvin 6.35 - Mike Kilner 5.62 - Harry Woolley Support the show with a Nerd Pledge at patreon.com/thefinalword Maurice Blackburn Lawyers - fighting for the rights of workers since 1919: mauriceblackburn.com.au Get your big NordVPN discount: nordvpn.com/tfw Get discounts on Noobru, the think drink: noobru.com/finalword Get 10% off Glenn Maxwell's sunnies: t20vision.com/FINALWORD Find previous episodes at finalwordcricket.com Title track by Urthboy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Welcome to The Three Broomsticks' most NSFW episode to date, where Irvin, Sierra, Sophia, and a returning special guest, Leah, have the best time combing the Harry Potter series for the best pick up lines and innuendo. What else did you think they would do for episode 69? Our youngest listeners might need to skip this one. Join the Discussion: https://threebroomstickspod.com/episode-69-innuendo-in-the-harry-potter-series-the-climax-you-say/ In this episode: Does Hermione make deliberate innuendos or unintentional ones? Sierra teaches us some new slang Would serious Quidditch players use the school brooms? “Sir Cadogan is a d***-swinger if I ever saw one” Percy's love life is the reason Ginny gets possessed Myrtle/mermaid/Cedric throuple - our new OTP! Where are the twins' boils? Harry is a boobs guy Why did Ron want to see Uranus? The safe word is “peacock” Contact: Website: https://threebroomstickspod.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/threebroomstickspod/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/threebroomstickspodcast/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/threebroompod Email: 3broomstickspod@gmail.com Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/3broomsticks
In this episode, we hear a call from Newbridge Ratmen Centerfielder, Percy Hobart! (Originally Aired June 24th, 2015)New to the Best Show? Check out Best Show Bests, the greatest hits of The Best Show, every Friday in your podcast app!The Best Show is celebrating 25 years with a live show extravaganza for the ages. Coming to NYC, Philly, LA, and Chicago this Fall!Tickets go on General Sale Friday July 18th at 10am local timeSat 10/11 - Brooklyn - Bell House https://www.ticketmaster.com/event/300062ED179148ECMon 10/13 - Philly - Union Transferhttps://www.axs.com/events/1052919/the-best-show-tickets?skin=uniontransfer Wed 10/15 - LA - Lodge Roomhttps://www.lodgeroomhlp.com/shows/best-show-25th-anniversary-at-lodge-roomTues 10/21 - Chicago - Thalia Hallhttps://www.ticketweb.com/event/best-show-25th-anniversary-at-thalia-hall-tickets/13876034?pl=thalia3SUPPORT THE BEST SHOW ON PATREON! WEEKLY BONUS EPISODES & VIDEO EPISODES!https://www.patreon.com/TheBestShowWATCH THE BEST SHOW LIVE EVERY TUESDAY NIGHT 6PM PT ON TWITCHhttps://www.twitch.tv/bestshow4lifeFOLLOW THE BEST SHOW:https://twitter.com/bestshow4lifehttps://instagram.com/bestshow4lifehttps://tiktok.com/@bestshow4lifehttps://www.youtube.com/bestshow4lifeTHE BEST SHOW IS A FOREVER DOG PODCASThttps://thebestshow.nethttps://foreverdogpodcasts.com/podcasts/the-best-showSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This week, we're finally wrapping up everything we've covered so far in the Greco-Roman Riordanverse. Discussion topics may include: a final consensus on Percy's fatal flaw, the Curse of Achilles, the storytellers of the Riordanverse, a ranking of the adaptations, Steve Rogers, and a long detour into Wicked.Listen to Phoebe's PJO/HOO/TOA playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6qcVBa8Wb386vHoQOJ5EHG?si=60416bf23cc74a65Listen to Phoebe's Luke playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4P2YEs2NhaRnWobFo8osrX?si=9661f6470cbe40cbCheck us out on Patreon to submit questions for future interviews, and to get early episodes, cut material, art previews, and more! https://www.patreon.com/MonsterDonutPodcastHave a question? Want to contribute your own analysis? Feel like arguing? Email monsterdonutpodcast@gmail.com.Come say hi and check out the sketches Phoebe made this episode on Twitter, Instagram, or TikTok! @PJOPod on all platforms.Find our new Monster Donut merch here!: https://www.redbubble.com/people/monsterdonut/explore.More information on the show can be found at https://monsterdonut.wixsite.com/podcast.THEME SONG:"The Mask of Sorokin," music and arrangement by Dan CordeGuitars - Dan CordeBass - Quinten MetkeDrums - Todd CummingsRecorded, mixed, & mastered by Todd CummingsOUTRO MUSIC:"Shadow Run," music and arrangement by Dan CordeGuitars - Dan CordeBass - Quinten MetkeDrums - Todd CummingsRecorded, mixed, & mastered by Todd Cummings Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this episode of Eye on the Triangle, we sit down with Dr. Adrian Percy, Executive Director of NC State's Plant Science Initiative. Dr. Percy shares insights on Seed2Grow, an innovative program that bridges research, industry, and entrepreneurship to tackle today's agricultural challenges. From supporting student innovation to strengthening global food security, Seed2Grow is helping turn groundbreaking plant science into real-world solutions. ★ Support this podcast ★
Feeling nostalgic for the music of the aughts? You're not the only one. Holly Brickley's debut novel, Deep Cuts, follows a music-obsessed writer named Percy coming of age in the early 2000s. When Percy befriends a young musician in college, they start to collaborate and their connection deepens. Holly and Mattea talk about their shared love of music, the magic of the pre-smartphone era and why music and human connection often go hand-in-hand. Liked this conversation? Keep listening:Music, sex and finding the soundtrack to queer joyEmma Knight: 'Bad' mothers make good stories — and are more true-to-life
Welcome back, drama nerds! In this episode, Percy and Nick sit down to introduce and discuss our next actual play campaign: Stillfleet, a far-future science fiction game by Wythe Marschall, published by Stillfleet Studio. Dungeons and Drama Nerds is produced by Percival Hornak and Nicholas Orvis, and this episode was mixed and edited by Percival Hornak. Our core ensemble are Todd Brian Backus, Jovane Caamaño, Anthony Sertel Dean, Christopher Diercksen, Ben Ferber, Kory Flores, Mieko Gavia, Tess Huth, Romana Isabella, Jon Jon Johnson, CJ Linton, C. “Meaks” Meaker, Leo Mock, Dex Phan, and Tristan B. Willis. Our game of Wythe Marschall's Stillfleet features Christopher Diercksen as Geshra Veedle, Kory Flores as Peanut, Mieko Gavia as Kyrannis, Jon Jon Johnson as Private Taps, special guest Wythe Marschall as Cherric Shaddams, and Ben Ferber as the GM. If you'd like to help us continue exploring the intersections of theatre and tabletop roleplaying games, consider leaving us a review on your podcast app of choice or supporting us - and getting access to our patron-only bonus content - at patreon.com/dungeonsanddramanerds. You can find our social media and website links on our linktree. And be sure to tune in soon for another episode of Dungeons and Drama Nerds!
Nous explorons le chapitre 14 d'Harry Potter et l'Ordre du Phénix : «Percy et Patmol»...Invité de cet épisode : Olivarius, auditeur de l'émission et membre de la Gazette du Sorcier.Site de la Gazette : https://www.gazette-du-sorcier.com/0:00 Introduction11:58 Chapitre1:26:09 Meilleur personnage & renommage1:32:21 La volièrePour prolonger l'aventure Harry Potter avec nous :Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/frequence934Twitter : https://twitter.com/frequence934Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/frequence934Discord : https://discord.com/invite/ps7FgM2bfGTwitch : https://www.twitch.tv/stream9troisquartsNotre volière : frequence934@gmail.comou à : Fréquence 9 3/4, Espace Conquérant, 3 Place Jean Nouzille 14000 Caen FRANCEAccédez à des contenus exclusifs sur Patreon : https://www.patreon.com/frequence934Soutenez-nous sur Tipeee : https://fr.tipeee.com/frequence934Thème musical :Moonlight Hall, de Kevin MacLeod (Licence CC BY 3.0)Jérémy & Marina ⚡Hébergé par Ausha. Visitez ausha.co/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.
To the surprise of most, Percy Jackson 2010 actually got a sequel in 2013's in Sea of Monsters. Sure the originally director didn't come back or a bunch of the original actors including horse Pierce Brosnan but the core trio of Percy, Percy's friend and Percy's another friend. This time they're on a quest for the Golden Fleece which they're going to use to heal a tree that makes a forcefield that used to be a girl. And Luke's back if you remember him! Thanks for watching our Caravan Of Garbage reviewSUBSCRIBE HERE ►► http://goo.gl/pQ39jNHelp support the show and get early episodes ► https://bigsandwich.co/Patreon ► https://patreon.com/mrsundaymoviesJames' Twitter ► http://twitter.com/mrsundaymoviesMaso's Twitter ► http://twitter.com/wikipediabrownPatreon ► https://patreon.com/mrsundaymoviesT-Shirts/Merch ► https://www.teepublic.com/stores/mr-sunday-movies The Weekly Planet iTunes ► https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-weekly-planet/id718158767?mt=2&ign-mpt=uo%3D4 The Weekly Planet Direct Download ► https://play.acast.com/s/theweeklyplanetAmazon Affiliate Link ► https://amzn.to/2nc12P4 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Sarah & Paul talk about how the PRISON BREAK's breakneck speed plotting was ahead of its time (as indicated by this episode), working with the great Stacy Keach, and how Sarah studied jewelry-making at Dartmouth. Leave us your comments, shoot us an email, or leave us a voicemail - we love hearing from all of you! For the FULL Prison Breaking With Sarah & Paul experience, join our very active Patreon community where you can watch our WATCH PARTY episodes, released a day before the podcast episode, where you can re-watch every episode of Prison Break alongside Sarah & Paul's real time commentary (kind of like the DVD director commentary tracks of yore). You also get access to all of our Fan Fiction episodes and our Discord Server where you can join our active Prison Breaking community, interact with Sarah & Paul's "Ask Me Anything" and join group WATCH PARTIES where you can experience the release of every Watch Party and along with a group chat. Join our Patreon here: https://patreon.com/user?u=116411884 If you love all the behind-the-scenes Prison Break convo that Sarah & Paul are bringing weekly, then please give us a review and a follow us on all your podcast, social media, and YouTube accounts! Watch the episode on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@PrisonBreakPodcast Follow us on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/prisonbreakpodcast/ Follow us on TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@prisonbreakpodcast Merch!!! - https://pbmerch.printify.me/products Email us at prisonbreaking@caliber-studio.com And leave us a message with all your burning questions at (401) 3-PBREAK Logo design by John Nunziatto @ Little Big Brands. If you want one yourself, reach out at https://www.littlebigbrands.com/ and tell him we sent you. PRISON BREAKING WITH SARAH & PAUL is a Caliber Studio production.
In this episode of the Property Profits Podcast, Dave Dubeau sits down with Percy Nikora, co-founder of Penn Capital Group, to dive into strategies for uncovering opportunities in overlooked multifamily markets. Percy shares how Penn Capital has successfully built a portfolio across emerging markets like Huntsville, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Northwest Texas—all while staying disciplined during recent market turbulence. He discusses: How secondary and overlooked markets can offer strong job growth and population trends Why buying newer construction can sometimes beat the traditional “value-add” approach Smart ways to increase NOI without raising rents—like valet trash, internet partnerships, and washer/dryer leasing The power of creating local “hubs” for property management across multiple states How Penn Capital uses a fund structure to diversify investors and win better deals - Get Interviewed on the Show! - ================================== Are you a real estate investor with some 'tales from the trenches' you'd like to share with our audience? Want to get great exposure and be seen as a bonafide real estate pro by your friends? Would you like to inspire other people to take action with real estate investing? Then we'd love to interview you! Find out more and pick the date here: http://daveinterviewsyou.com/
While we do love chatting about how gorgeous certain creatures are -- check out our crossover episode with the gang from Reading Smut if that sounds like a bit of you -- today we mean hot as in temperate. Toasty. Real life phoenixes, if you will. Alexis teaches us about bugs in balmy climes and Ella explains that when people say "camels store water in their humps" they don't mean they attach straws to their humps and have a drink like hikers. Who knew? Plus a Ready Pet Go from Shannon, Vesper and Percy (a great name). Don't forget, September will be our Read-A-Long month! We'll be reading House of the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune! Get your hands on the book now, and we'll loop you in with our schedule soon!
On this episode, Bryce Rossler and Jaguars beat writer John Shipley (Jags on SI) preview the AFC South, with SIS senior operations analyst Jeremy Percy joining to weigh in on the Indianapolis Colts.Topics covered include- Regime change and the Jaguars' evolving strategic approach- The impact of Derek Stingley Jr. and Will Anderson- Concerns about new Titans coach Brian Callahan- The decision to start Daniel Jones over Anthony RichardsonOff The Charts features a blend of statistical insights, tactical analysis, and personal opinions, aimed at providing listeners with a comprehensive understanding of the week's key matchups and the intricacies of the sport. You can follow our content on Twitter at @Football_SIS, on Bluesky at @sportsinfosis.bsky.social and at sportsinfosolutions.com.
Visit our Patreon page to see the various tiers you can sign up for today to get in on the ground floor of AIPT Patreon. We hope to see you chatting with us on our Discord soon!NEWSDC Comics Solicitations November 2025New 'Batman/Deadpool' #1 details reveal wild DC/Marvel team-ups & creative teamsDC's Batman Beyond meets Static in explosive new elseworlds SeriesInfernal Hulk coming later this yearTwo Spider-Men, deadly new villains: Amazing Spider-Man's road to #1000 heats upStrange new realms: Doctor Strange Becomes Asgard's Sorcerer Supreme in DecemberMarvel revives ‘90s X-Men chaos with 'X-Men: Tales from the Age of Apocalypse' #1New Avengers #6 newsDisney & Marvel Comics are coming to WEBTOON with 100+ titles and all-new storiesExclusive interview: Rodney Barnes on the real-life horrors behind Oni Press' ‘Crownsville''Dracula: Book III — The Count' reveals the vampire's dark London hideawayTMNT, Godzilla, Star Trek & more: IDW brings massive exclusives and surprises to NYCC 2025New urban fantasy 'Under York' coming November 2025Our Top Books of the WeekDave:Predator Kills the Marvel Universe #1 (Percy, Marcelo Ferreira & Daniel Picciotto)Batman: Dark Patterns #9 (Dan Watters, Hayden Sherman)Alex:Predator Kills the Marvel Universe #1 (Percy, Marcelo Ferreira & Daniel Picciotto)Superman: The Kryptonite SpectrumStandout KAPOW moment of the week:Alex: The Ultimates #15 (Camp, VON RANDAL)Dave: X-Men #20 (Netho Diaz, Jed MacKay)TOP BOOKS FOR NEXT WEEKAlex: Absolute Flash #6 (Lemire, Robles) & Exquisite Corpses #4 (Tynion, Walsh, Che Grayson, Adam Gorham)Dave: Absolute Batman #11 (Scott Snyder, Clay Mann)JUDGING BY THE COVER JR.Dave: Event Horizon: Dark Descent #1 (Christian Ward)Alex: Nightwing #129 (Serg Acuña Variant)Interview: Chris Condon - Ultimate Wolverine, Green Arrow, and News From The Fallout**Regarding News From The Fallout, you mentioned wanting to highlight Jeffrey Alan Love's distinctive, iconographic style and push the boundaries of readability and emotional impact in black-and-white—how did you balance that visual ambition with your scriptwriting?****Humor in horror was a conscious choice—especially Otis's repeated animal-shooing gag—in order to keep the tone varied and impactful. How do you view the role of levity in darker narratives, and was that hard to weave into the story?****Green Arrow has taken on a grounded, street‑level tone, focusing on character interactions and big‑pharma themes. How did you adapt Ollie's voice and moral compass to fit that setting while keeping iconic elements intact?**Between writing for Green Arrow, scripting Ultimate Wolverine, and launching News From The Fallout, you're balancing very different tones and genres. How do you switch creative gears between mainstream superhero work and experimental creator-owned stories?Ultimate Wolverine launched early this year—what fresh angles or emotional truths are you exploring compared to past Wolverine iterations?Your work this year traverses themes of isolation (Fallout), social justice (Green Arrow), and visceral heroism (Wolverine). How are you threading your personal storytelling voice through these varied genres and publishers?Looking back at your 2025 slate so far—what's been the biggest creative challenge, and which project pushed you most as a writer?Between Otis shooing raccoons in News From The Fallout and Green Arrow's trick arrows, it seems like you have a knack for writing characters who could survive in the weirdest camping trip imaginable. So: if you had to survive a weekend in the desert with Wolverine, Green Arrow, and Otis—who's cooking, who's in charge of the firewood, and who's most likely to accidentally summon a threat to the camp?
Finally, Webb's analysis of TRAPPIST-1d, new Hubble images comet 3I/ATLAS, the most massive black hole ever discovered, why Mars sand is so dangerous. And in Space Bites+, staring right down the jet of an actively feeding supermassive black hole.
Today's episode of Dog Days, Chapter 13, sees Kit progressing to Syon House - home of the enigmatic Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland - the 'Wizard Earl.'Kit has questions he wants answered, but so does Percy - and Percy's guests, one of whom is Sir Walter Raleigh, who ought to be at sea.Yet the object of Kit's interests ought to be Percy's servant, the alleged thief who stole The Rainbow in the first place...Three Ravens is an English Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on one of England's 39 historic counties, exploring the history, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.With a range of exclusive content on Patreon, too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?Learn more at www.threeravenspodcast.com, join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/threeravenspodcast, and find links to our social media channels here: https://linktr.ee/threeravenspodcastThree Ravens is a myth and folklore podcast hosted by Eleanor Conlon and Martin Vaux.In each Monday episode we explore a historic county, digging into heritage, folklore and traditions, then we tell a new version of a legend from that county. Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays and Saturdays.Visit our website Join our Patreon Social media channels and sponsors Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.