Podcasts about Portuguese

In this episode of the Feel Free Again podcast, grief recovery specialist Joe Dubowski shares his transformative journey from tech professional to marriage and family therapist. After experiencing the unimaginable loss of his daughter in a shooting, Joe turned to grief recovery methods, which not only helped him process his emotions but also led him to dedicate his life to helping others navigate grief. With over 15 years of experience, Joe offers valuable insights into the often overlooked stages of grief and how we can find healing through focused emotional work. During the conversation, Joe reveals how retirement can be a powerful grief event that often goes unaddressed, leaving people with unresolved emotions. He shares his own personal experience in approaching this life transition with the tools of grief recovery, showing how completing emotional work allowed him to retire on his terms, with peace and clarity. This episode is an eye-opening discussion for anyone facing a major life change, whether it be retirement, loss, or other significant life shifts. Tune in as Joe emphasizes the importance of recognizing grief in all aspects of life, even in places where society doesn't typically acknowledge it. From career changes to personal losses, Joe's story highlights how grief recovery tools can help individuals complete unfinished emotional business and embrace new chapters in life. If you're ready to dive deeper into your own grief and learn how to process it effectively, this episode is a must-listen. ⏱️ Chapters: 00:04 - Introduction to Joe Dowski and His Background 02:52 - Joe Reflects on the Loss of His Daughter 06:37 - Transition from Tech to Grief Recovery and Therapy 09:03 - The Impact of Losing a Child and Joe's Grief Journey 12:11 - How Joe Discovered the Grief Recovery Handbook 15:09 - Joe's First Experience with the Grief Recovery Method 18:22 - Joe's Transition into Grief Recovery Work as a Profession 21:48 - Recognizing Grief Beyond the Obvious Losses 25:31 - Joe Talks About Retirement as a Grief Event 28:44 - The Role of Grief in Retirement and Life Transitions 32:15 - How Grief Recovery Tools Helped Joe Complete His Career 36:01 - The Importance of Getting Complete with Past Grief 49:21 - Final Thoughts on Grief, Transition, and the Power of Emotional Healing About the Host: Cole James, President of the Grief Recovery Institute, shares about the Power of Grief Recovery! Cole is dedicating his life to help people with grief. Now, grief is much more than just losing someone. Did you know that? You've probably heard of the Five Stages of Grief, right? Well, this goes much deeper than you think. Let me explain. Everyone has some type of grief in their lives, some haven't yet, but it's part of life. We can't escape it, BUT we can work through it. And you don't have to do it alone. Let's talk about it. We have trained Grief Recovery Method Specialists, who help heartbroken people, in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, the Middle East, Central America, South America, and North America. The Grief Recovery Method Certification Program is taught and available in multiple languages including: English, Spanish, Swedish, Hungarian, Ukrainian, and Russian. Our home office is in the United States and serves English-speaking nations and populations around the world, such as the United Kingdom, Canada, and the Commonwealth Nations. In addition, we have international affiliate offices in Sweden, Australia, Mexico, and Hungary. Our goal is to help as many people as possible, which is why our books have been translated into over 30 languages including: Spanish, French, Dutch, Portuguese, Japanese, Ukrainian, Russian, and many more. For more information visit: https://www.griefrecoverymethod.com/ 

NHK WORLD RADIO JAPAN - Portuguese News at 18:00 (JST), March 09

Num 11:24-13:33, Mark 14:22-52, Ps 52:1-9, Pr 11:1-3

Send us your feedback — we're listeningPsalm 91:1 — Jesus, Draw My Heart Into the Shelter Where the Night Loses Its Power Over Me - Welcome to Daily Prayer with Reverend Ben Cooper, live from London, England — reaching Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Spain, and Cuba tonight. Psalm 91:1 (NIV): “Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.” Salmo 91:1 — “Aquele que habita no abrigo do Altíssimo descansará à sombra do Todo-Poderoso.” “The Lord is my Shepherd; I lack nothing.” / “O Senhor é o meu Pastor; nada me faltará.” Luke 10:19 (NIV): “I have given you authority… to overcome all the power of the enemy.” Lucas 10:19 — “Eu lhes dei autoridade… para vencer todo o poder do inimigo.” midnight steadiness • spiritual safety • night authority overturned firmeza à meia-noite • segurança espiritual • autoridade sobre a noite When Jesus — Jesus, Jesús, Jesus Cristo — meets you in the midnight hour, He meets you with a strength that rests deeper than fear and steadier than the shadows around you. These moments, when the world grows quiet and your thoughts grow loud, are where Psalm 91 breathes its greatest authority. “Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High…” — this is not distance, this is nearness. This is the kind of nearness that turns darkness into a place of covering rather than intimidation. Tonight, you are not standing in the night alone. The shadow of the Almighty is not the shadow of fear — it is the shadow of protection, the shadow that breaks the lie that the night has power over you. Jesus speaks into your spirit in every language of the searching heart: Jesus is here. Jesús está aquí. Jesus Cristo está presente. His authority covers what tries to rise against you. His peace moves into the rooms of your mind where rest has been thin. His presence quiets the old battles that try to climb back into your thoughts. So breathe now. Let the Shepherd — “O Senhor é o meu Pastor” — steady your heart. Let His rod and His staff speak security where your mind has been unsettled. The enemy's voice loses power when His authority is spoken aloud. You are not abandoned. You are not undefended. You are not unseen in this hour. May Jesus draw you under His shelter tonight. May rest return. May fear leave. May the night bow to His authority over your life. Jesus, midnight prayer, Psalm 91, fear at night, protection, spiritual safety, overcoming anxiety, Portuguese devotional, Spanish devotional, Latin America prayer, night peace midnight prayer • Psalm 91 shelter • Jesus protection • night fears quieted • Latin America devotional • Portuguese Spanish prayer reachSupport the showDaily Prayer with Reverend Ben Cooper now reaches 184 countries and 2,968 cities worldwide through the Global Blend Radio network. This is a listener-funded global ministry. If these daily prayers strengthen your faith or help you through difficult seasons, would you consider becoming a monthly prayer partner for just £3 per month? Your support enables us to continue recording, hosting, and broadcasting daily biblical encouragement across the nations — keeping this ministry free and accessible to everyone who needs it. You can support today at GlobalBlendRadio.com. Together, we can keep prayer moving across the world. To submit a prayer request or connect with our global prayer community, visit DailyPrayer.uk. Buy me a Coffee

Send us your feedback — we're listeningPsalm 91:2 — Jesus, Let Your Word Stand Guard Over Me When These Hours Feel Heavy and My Strength Feels Thin Welcome to Daily Prayer with Reverend Ben Cooper, live from London, England — reaching Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Mexico, and Chile. Psalm 91:2 (NIV): “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust.” Salmo 91:2 — “Ele é o meu refúgio e a minha fortaleza, o meu Deus em quem confio.” “He restores my soul.” / “Refrigera a minha alma.” Romans 8:26 (NIV): “The Spirit helps us in our weakness.” Romanos 8:26 — “O Espírito nos ajuda em nossa fraqueza.” soul restoration • divine nearness • strength in weakness restauração da alma • proximidade divina • força na fraqueza There is something about the deep hours of the night — the hours when even your thoughts feel heavier than your body. This is where Jesus, Jesús, Jesus Cristo meets you without rushing you, without hurrying your heart, without expecting strength you do not have. When you whisper trust in these hours, even with trembling, you are stepping into Psalm 91's promise: “He is my refuge and my fortress.” You are not expected to hold yourself up. You are invited to lean. There is a softness in the way the Spirit comes close when weakness rises — “O Espírito nos ajuda…” — and this is not weakness to be ashamed of. This is weakness that heaven rushes toward. When your strength feels thin, His nearness grows thick around you. When your thoughts begin to fray, His peace gathers them back into His hands. When fear tries to settle, His Word stands like a guard at your door, refusing to let the night speak louder than His truth. Let Jesus hold the part of you that is tired. Let Jesús speak into the places where courage slipped away. Let Jesus Cristo breathe steadiness back into the centre of your being. These hours do not define you — His presence does. These shadows do not control you — His refuge covers you. These feelings of not-enough do not speak the final word — His strength does. May your soul be restored tonight. May trust rise slowly but surely. And may you feel the fortress of God surrounding every fragile part of your heart. Jesus, weakness, Psalm 91 refuge, 3am prayer, spiritual heaviness, divine nearness, night comfort, Portuguese devotional, Spanish devotional, Latin America prayer, soul restoration Psalm 91 refuge • Jesus nearness • weakness comfort • night prayer • Latin America devotional • strength in GodSupport the showDaily Prayer with Reverend Ben Cooper now reaches 184 countries and 2,968 cities worldwide through the Global Blend Radio network. This is a listener-funded global ministry. If these daily prayers strengthen your faith or help you through difficult seasons, would you consider becoming a monthly prayer partner for just £3 per month? Your support enables us to continue recording, hosting, and broadcasting daily biblical encouragement across the nations — keeping this ministry free and accessible to everyone who needs it. You can support today at GlobalBlendRadio.com. Together, we can keep prayer moving across the world. To submit a prayer request or connect with our global prayer community, visit DailyPrayer.uk. Buy me a Coffee

Send us your feedback — we're listeningPsalm 91:11 — Jesus, Order Your Angels Around My Steps Today and Clear the Path My Mind Cannot See Yet Welcome to Daily Prayer with Reverend Ben Cooper, live from London, England — reaching Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Argentina, and Spain. Psalm 91:11 (NIV): “He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.” Salmo 91:11 — “Ele dará ordens aos Seus anjos para o guardarem em todos os seus caminhos.” “He makes me lie down in green pastures.” / “Ele me faz repousar em pastos verdes.” Isaiah 26:3 (NIV): “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast.” Isaías 26:3 — “Tu guardarás em perfeita paz aquele cuja mente está firme em Ti.” mental clarity • ordered steps • guarded mind clareza mental • passos ordenados • mente guardada Morning brings movement — decisions, tasks, conversations, challenges, places to be and pressures waiting before you even begin. But before you step into any of it, Jesus, Jesús, Jesus Cristo speaks something far greater over your day: “He will command His angels concerning you.” This is not metaphor. This is protection woven into the architecture of your day by the God who sees every step before you take it. There are paths your mind does not yet understand, situations forming that you cannot yet see, moments that will require strength you have not yet felt. But Jesus — the One who walks ahead of you and beside you — places peace where your thoughts want to scatter. “Tu guardarás em perfeita paz…” Perfect peace, not partial. Peace that holds your inner world steady when your outer world shifts. Today, as you move, you move under covering. Today, as you think, you think from stillness, not chaos. Today, as you walk, you walk with unseen help assigned to your steps. And Jesús brings calm to the questions that try to rise before their time. His presence quiets the noise, slows the rush, and teaches your heart to trust what it cannot yet see. He steadies the places where anxiety tries to take the lead, reminding you that the Shepherd — “O Senhor é o meu Pastor” — clears the ground in front of you even when you feel unsure beneath your feet. So commit this day into His hands. Ask for clarity. Ask for guidance. Ask for protection that goes ahead, surrounds you, and follows behind. May Jesus Cristo order your steps today. May the angels assigned to you stand guard in every unseen moment. And may peace — deep, perfect, unshakable peace — settle your mind and carry you through your day. Jesus, Psalm 91 angels, morning clarity, guidance for the day, protection prayer, spiritual covering, Portuguese devotional, Spanish devotional, Latin America prayer, perfect peace angelic protection • morning peace • Jesus guidance • Psalm 91 covering • Latin America devotional • guarded stepsSupport the showDaily Prayer with Reverend Ben Cooper now reaches 184 countries and 2,968 cities worldwide through the Global Blend Radio network. This is a listener-funded global ministry. If these daily prayers strengthen your faith or help you through difficult seasons, would you consider becoming a monthly prayer partner for just £3 per month? Your support enables us to continue recording, hosting, and broadcasting daily biblical encouragement across the nations — keeping this ministry free and accessible to everyone who needs it. You can support today at GlobalBlendRadio.com. Together, we can keep prayer moving across the world. To submit a prayer request or connect with our global prayer community, visit DailyPrayer.uk. Buy me a Coffee

Have you ever picked up a Portuguese wine, stared at the label, and thought... I have absolutely no idea what this means? Same! And here's the thing: Douro Branco might be Portugal's best white wine value that no one is talking about. So this week, we are fixing that! In this episode, we break down what Douro Branco actually means, why the Douro Valley's brutal climate and ancient vines produce some of the most interesting white wines in Europe, and what the heck "field blends" are and why they make this wine so different from almost anything else you'll find on the shelf. We also give you a quick Portuguese wine vocabulary lesson so you can stop being scared of the words on the label. Then we taste and review two Douro Branco wines, both under $15, to find out if either one earns a spot on your dinner table. Spoiler: one of them made the cut! Wines tasted and reviewed: 2023 Quinta Das Carvalhas Douro White Blend, 2024 Symington Family Estates Rio Belo Douro BrancoSend us a Text Message and we'll respond in our next episode!Contact The Wine Pair Podcast - we'd love to hear from you!Visit our website, leave a review, and reach out to us: https://thewinepairpodcast.com/Follow and DM us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewinepairpodcast/Send us an email: joe@thewinepairpodcast.com

Num 10:1-11:23, Mark 14:1-21, Ps 51:1-19, Pr 10:31-32

Num 8:1-9:23, Mark 13:14-37, Ps 50:1-23, Pr 10:29-30

Send a textMost of us assume that building a creative business takes years of groundwork before the work can speak for itself — but what happens when the work takes off before you've had time to figure out the business? Aaron Raymond of Redacted Ceramics went from renting a wheel for a week to running a full-time pottery business in under two years, and his story raises a quiet but important question: does the conventional wisdom about "paying your dues" actually hold up? As Aaron shares, a clear creative vision — one rooted in the Portuguese tile work he encountered while living abroad — combined with a willingness to use technology as a tool rather than a shortcut, allowed him to develop a style so distinctive that it found its audience almost before he was ready for it. The real lesson here may be that sustainability isn't about how long you've been at it, but about knowing your limits, protecting your hands, and resisting the pressure to scale past what the work can actually bear.Check out Aaron's work here: https://redactedceramics.com/Love this podcast? Support an episode! Click here to learn more. Follow The Maker's Playbook on Instagram @themakersplaybookHave questions about the show or want to say Hi? Email us at: podcast (at) makers-playbook (dot) com

Num 6:1-7:89, Mark 12:38-13:13, Ps 49:1-20, Pr 10:27-28

Learn the expert-level English expression "turn the tables"Get the full story and learning resources: https://plainenglish.com/expressions/turn-the-tables--Plain English helps you improve your English:Learn about the world and improve your EnglishClear, natural English at a speed you can understandNew stories every weekLearn even more at PlainEnglish.comMentioned in this episode:Hard words? No problemNever be confused by difficult words in Plain English again! See translations of the hardest words and phrases from English to your language. Each episode transcript includes built-in translations into Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, German, French, Italian, Japanese, Polish, and Turkish. Sign up for a free 14-day trial at PlainEnglish.com

Who dares to make predictions in the current landscape? We do!  Our Predictions are back. Will our track-record continue on a high or will we be fundamentally wrong? Listen in to our Predictions for 2026 Navigation: Intro What will 2026 be all about? AI, AI and … more AI The big Hardware movements Of Start-ups and VCs Regulatory & Geopolitical Headwinds… and the Wars Fintech, Crypto and Frontier Tech Conclusion Our co-hosts: Bertrand Schmitt, Entrepreneur in Residence at Red River West, co-founder of App Annie / Data.ai, business angel, advisor to startups and VC funds, @bschmitt Nuno Goncalves Pedro, Investor, Managing Partner, Founder at Chamaeleon, @ngpedro Our show:   Tech DECIPHERED brings you the Entrepreneur and Investor views on Big Tech, VC and Start-up news, opinion pieces and research. We decipher their meaning, and add inside knowledge and context. Being nerds, we also discuss the latest gadgets and pop culture news Subscribe To Our Podcast Bertrand Schmitt Introduction Welcome to Tech Deciphered Episode 74. That would be an episode about some predictions about 2026. What will be 2026 all about? I guess this year is probably starting with a bang. We saw the acquisition of xAI by SpaceX. We saw an acquisition from Grok by NVIDIA. What’s your take about what would be the big themes in 2026? I guess it would be for sure about AI and space. Nuno Goncalves Pedro What will 2026 be all about? Yeah. I predict a year that will be a little bit more of a year of reckoning in some way. There will be a lot of things that I think we’ll start seeing through. The fact that we are in the midst of an amazing transformational era for technology, the use of AI, but at the same time, obviously, a ridiculous bubble that is going alongside it as we’ve discussed in previous episodes. I think that we’ll start seeing some early reckonings of that, companies that might start failing, floundering, maybe a couple of frauds along the way, etc. I’ll tell you what I will not make many predictions about today, which is geopolitics. Geopolitics, I will not make predictions at all. Who the hell knows what’s going to happen to the world this year in 2026? I don’t dare making any predictions on that. Back to things where I would make predictions. I think on AI, we’ll have a little bit of reckoning. We’ll talk about it a little bit more in detail during this episode. Interesting elements around the hardware and physical space. Physical space, we just dedicated a full episode to it. We won’t go into a lot of details on that, but definitely on the hardware side, we’ll talk a little bit more about it. The VC landscape is going through an incredible transformation. We’ll talk about it today as well and some of our predictions for this year. What will happen to the asset class? It seems to be transforming itself dramatically. Obviously, that has a very direct impact on startups, so we’ll talk about that as well. And then to close a little bit the chapter on this, we will address some regulatory and geopolitical, let’s call it, headwinds without making maybe too many complex predictions. We shall see. Maybe by that time of the episode, we will be making some predictions. You guys should stay and listen to us, and maybe we will actually make some predictions about the geopolitical transformations that we will see this year in the world. Then last but not the least, we’ll talk about fintech, crypto, frontier tech, and a couple of other areas before concluding the episode. A classic predictions’ episode. We normally have a pretty good track record on some of these, but right now, the world is going a bit interesting, not to say insane. Bertrand Schmitt Yes, and going back to some news, Groq technically was not acquired, but, practically, it’s as if it got acquired. I’m talking about Groq, G-R-O-Q. The AI semiconductor company focused on inference AI, and it was late December. It was a way to end the year. This year, we started again with an acquisition of xAI by its sister company, SpaceX. I guess that’s where we are starting. AI, AI and … more AI We are going to start on AI. That’s definitely the big stuff. Everything these days, I guess, is about AI or has to have some connection with AI, or it doesn’t matter. I think every company in the world has seen that. You have to have the absolute minimum on AI strategy. You better execute on this strategy and show results, I would say. For the companies that were not AI native, you truly have to have a way to transform yourself. I guess at some point, the stretch might be too much, and it’s not really reasonable. Then you maybe better stay on what you are doing, especially if you’re in tech, you better be moving faster to AI. Nuno Goncalves Pedro Just to highlight, and I think throughout the episode, you’ll see that there’re obviously a lot of implications that would manifest themselves into capital markets. I mean, we’ll specifically talk about VCs and startups later on. But the fact that everything needs to be AI, the fact that there’s so much innovation happening right now, in my opinion, and this is maybe the first pre-topic to AI, is we’ll see a tremendous increase in M&A activity this year across the board. I mean, we’ve seen already some big acquihires we mentioned in some of our previous episodes, but we’ll see a lot more activity on M&A this year. Normally, that’s a precursor to the opening of capital markets. I predict also that there will be a reopening of the IPO market that never really reopened last year, to be honest. M&A, a lot more, reopening of the IPO market. Normally, it happens in the second or third quarter of the year. That’s what my M&A friends tell me. First quarter of year, everyone’s figuring out stuff. Then last quarter of the year, things should be more or less closed. Maybe the third quarter is the big quarter. We shall see. But definitely, as a precursor to our conversation today, I think we’ll see a lot of M&A, and we’ll see reopening of the IPO mark. Bertrand Schmitt I guess last year was not as big as you could expect on M&A given the tariff situation announced in April and May. I mean, it became quite tough to do IPO in such market conditions. Definitely, we can hope for something dramatically different in 2026. I guess talking about public markets and IPO, I guess the big one everyone is waiting for is SpaceX. SpaceX getting even more interesting with its xAI acquisition. Nuno Goncalves Pedro Do you think that because of the acquisition, it’s more likely that it will happen this year, or because of the acquisition, it’s less likely that it will happen this year? Bertrand Schmitt That’s a good question. My guess is the acquisition of xAI is all about xAI needing more financing and cheaper financing. This acquisition is a pathway to that. SpaceX being a much bigger company, a company that is also making much more revenues. I could bet that there is higher probability that, actually, SpaceX will go public in order to finance itself. At the same time, will it have enough time to prepare itself for the IPO given this acquisition just happened? Can they do that in 6 months? I mean, if anyone can do it, I guess it’s Elon Musk. It’s a strategy to present an even more attractive company with an even more interesting story, a story of vertical integration from AI to space. I guess the story as it’s presented itself right now, it’s one about having your AI data centers in space. Because in space, you have much better solar energy production with solar panels. You have a perfect cooling situation because you are in space. Thanks to Starlink, you have the mean to communicate between the satellites and with Earth itself. I think if someone can pull up a story like AI data center in space, I guess Elon Musk can. There is, of course, a lot of questions about is it practical? Is it economical? Yes. I certainly agree. I’m not clear on the mass, and can you make it work? Again, I mean, Elon Musk single-handedly, with SpaceX, managed to transform the space market on its head. I mean, they are the biggest satellite launching company in the world. They have the most satellites in the world. I mean, I’m not sure I would bet against him, and I guess I would probably believe that he could pull up something. Time frames, different story. The 2-3 years data center in space for AI as cheap as on Earth, I have more trouble with that one. I mean, it’s a usual suspect with Elon Musk. You promise something unachievable in a few years, but, ultimately, you still manage to reach it in 5 or 10. Again, I would not bet against the strategy. Nuno Goncalves Pedro Yeah. I’ve talked to a couple of space experts, people that have launched rockets, and have worked JPL, NASA, and a couple of other places, etc. For what it’s worth, their feedback is, “No way in hell, and we’re decades away.” We’ll see. I mean, to your point, Elon has pulled very dramatic stuff. Not as fast as he normally says he’s going to pull it, but within a time span that we all see it. Difficult to bet against him. In terms of actually the prediction, maybe to respond to the prediction as well, will SpaceX IPO? I’m going to make a prediction that has a very high likelihood of missing the mark, but I think Tesla’s going to buy and merge them both into it. It’s going to become a public company through Tesla. That’s my hypothesis. Bertrand Schmitt No. That’s supposed to be it. That’s how you solve that. Nuno Goncalves Pedro And Elon controls the whole universe. X, xAI, Tesla, SpaceX, all under one umbrella beautifully run. And SolarCity is well in there, of course, so wonderful. Bertrand Schmitt That’s possible. Certainly, you are not the only one thinking Tesla will acquire or merge with SpaceX. To remind everyone, Tesla is around 1.3, 1.5 trillion market cap. Depending on the day, SpaceX seems to be valued at similar range, 1.2, 1.3 trillion. It looks like it’s the most valued private company at this stage. These are companies of similar size, so that’s one piece of the puzzle. When you think about the combined company, we could be talking about a 3 trillion entity. Playing right here with the biggest companies in the marketplace today. Nuno Goncalves Pedro With a couple of tweets from Elon, it will rapidly get to 4 to 5 trillion. Bertrand Schmitt That’s so tricky. Nuno Goncalves Pedro Yes. On AI and back to AI, one thing I think that we’re about to see is this will probably be the year of agentic AI. Obviously, we predict a lot of growth on that side of the fence, in particular on the enterprise B2B side. We see a lot of opportunities coming through. From our perspective, at least at Chamaeleon, we generally believe that there’s going to be a lot of movements on agentic AI. It’s also going to be probably the year of the first big fails of agentic AI that will be newsworthy. There will be some elements about that loop and how it gets closed that will happen. I think we might see some scandals already. We’re already seeing the social network of bots talking to bots. We will see other scandals going on this year even in the consumer space and in the bot to bot space, which we now can talk about or in the AI agent to AI agent space. My prediction is we will see some move forwards. There’ll be some dramatic funding rounds along the way. We’ll see a couple of really cool things out of the gates coming out that are really impressive, but we’ll also see the first big misses of the technology stack. I don’t think we’ll go fully mainstream yet this year, so it’s probably maybe something more for 2027 along the way. That would be my prediction again. I think enterprise will lead the way. We’ll definitely see a lot of stuff on consumer as well that is cool. Then we’ll all have our own personal assistance in our hands, basically, literally in our phones. Bertrand Schmitt Going back to agentic AI, we also started the year with some pretty dramatic move. I mean, the launch of Clawdbot, renamed OpenClaw. I mean, this stuff took fire in like a week or 2. It was coded by just one person who actually didn’t even code the product but used AI to build the product, 100% used AI, proposing some new ways also to leverage AI to do coding. He has a pretty unique approach. It’s not vibe coding. I would say it’s a better way to do that. Then the surprising evolution with the launch of a social network for AI agents, Moltbook. I mean, this stuff, probably there is some fake in it. But at the same time, I think it’s quite impressive because it’s the first time we see truly 100,000 plus agents communicating directly to each other. Yeah. I mean, that’s the first time we see surfacing the possibility of some sort of hive mind on the Internet. It’s pretty surprising. Right now, all of this is a hack done in a few days. By end of year, by 2 years, 3 years, we might discover that, actually, the best approach to AI might not be the AI assistant like we are doing today, but a combination of hundreds of thousands of AI working closely together. We might be witnessing the first sign of new intelligence in a way. Nuno Goncalves Pedro Things like this social network might either be Skynet, the beginning of Skynet. They might be the beginning of Her, or they might just be a fad and nothing really happens. It’s just interesting to see what these agents are doing. Bertrand Schmitt Totally. Nuno Goncalves Pedro Obviously, there are real and clear and present dangers of some of the integrations of AI we’re seeing in the market. Interesting enough, and I’ll ask you for your prediction a bit, Bertrand. I think we’ll probably see the first big mishap of AI being used in some infrastructural decision in the age of AI. I mean, we’ve seen AI issues in the past and software issues in the past. We talked in previous episodes about that as well. Mishaps of software that have led to people dying. But I think probably the first big mishap will happen this year as well. Very public mishap of the use of AI and serve its interactions with infrastructure or something that’s very platform related, etc, that will have big impact that everyone will notice. That’s my prediction for the year as well. We’ll have the first big oops moment, as I would call it, for AI in this new age of full on AI. Bertrand Schmitt I would say first some perspective. I think today, people are not using AI directly for life and death decision, at least not that I’m aware. We’re not going to let AI fly a plane, for instance, tomorrow so you can be, reassured. At the same time, given there is such a race to AI, there definitely might be some mistakes. We were talking about the social network for AI agents, Moltbook. Apparently, all the keys used to secure the AI were shared by mistake because it was not properly locked down. We can see that indirectly, mistakes will be made for sure. Two, it’s highly probable that some people will trust AI too much to do some stuff, and this stuff might not work and might have some grave consequence. Hopefully, there is not so much of this. Hopefully, it’s mostly AI used for the good. But you’re right. I mean, at some point, the more we use the technology, the more there would be issue. I mean, it’s highly probable. Nuno Goncalves Pedro That will lead me to another prediction, which is, and we’ll talk about more of it later, but it probably will lead to the first significant movement in terms of regulatory environment certainly in the US at some point if it happens in the US in particular, where there will be some movement that will be like, “Hey, you guys can’t do this anymore.” Because this will probably emerge from mismanaged interfaces. From systems having access to stuff that they shouldn’t have access to in the first place. Talking a little bit more about what’s happening in AI. You’ve already mentioned some of the issues that relate actually to security and cybersecurity. We keep talking about AI. We keep talking about all these infrastructure pieces and platforms that are being built. I think we’ll have a lot more incidents like the one you just mentioned where things will be shared that shouldn’t have been shared, where people will break systems and get into it, etc. Let’s see where that takes us, which is a little bit ironic because, obviously, with AI, the promise is that cybersecurity becomes more robust as well because there’re agents working on our behalf on the cybersecurity side. There’s also agents working on the other side. Bertrand Schmitt It’s a constant race. It’s the attackers, defenders. Each time you have new technology, you have a new race to who is going to attack or defend the best. Each new wave of technology, it’s an opportunity to challenge the status quo. Nuno Goncalves Pedro The attackers have been winning, and I feel they’ll continue winning in 2026. I think it’s going to still be a year of attack. We’ll see more and more breaches, more and more stuff that will happen. Bertrand Schmitt I don’t know if they will win. I mean, it’s normal that they win once in a while. For sure, some infrastructure is not updated as it should. Some stuff are not managed as it should, so there will always be breaches. I don’t know if things are dramatically going to change because, again, everyone who cares who is going to update his infrastructure with AI for defense. There is no question that you have no choice. We will see. That I don’t know. For sure, AI will be used to attack directly with AI. Maybe you’re able to do bigger, larger scale attack. Or thanks to AI, you are simply able to create new type of attacks more easily. AI can be used behind the scene as a way to prepare and organise new type of attacks, even if it’s not used directly live in the battle. Nuno Goncalves Pedro One topic that we’ll come back to later is the geopolitics of everything, but maybe more broadly. On the geopolitics of AI, it’s very clear that we have an arms race going on. Obviously, the US on the one hand, China on the other hand is the two extremes, putting tremendous amount of capital into data centers just at the base of that infrastructure. Chipset development, chipset access, a huge theme in terms of the export restrictions, etc, that are being forced by the US. I think it will continue. From a European standpoint, obviously, they’re stuck between a rock and a hard place, to be very honest. Let’s see what happens on that side of the fence. My view of the world is that certainly from a US and China perspective, we’re going to see a lot more movements in 2026, like big movements. The Chinese movements we always see in delay.  It takes us a couple of months, sometimes even more than that to understand exactly what’s going on. I think we’re going to see some huge moves this year in terms of the States, the United States of America, and China really pouring capital into the creation of the next big winners around AI. I think the US is obviously more visible. We see a lot of these companies. We’ve just discussed xAI and its acquisition by SpaceX or merger. I don’t know what they’re calling it exactly. Effectively, on the China side, the movements I think are already very big. As I said, it will take a while to figure out exactly what those moves are. One thing that I propose is that at some point, China will have very little dependency on chipsets from the US. I’m not sure it’s going to happen this year, but I think the writing is on the wall. Irrespective of any other geopolitical issues that is coming to the fore at this moment in time. That’s one of the key areas or in arenas of fight. Bertrand Schmitt It makes sense. If you are China, you will look at what happened. You would think that you cannot just depend on the largest of one country. It makes rational sense, the same way it makes rational sense for the US to limit exports to China because there is value to delay some peer pressure that could use these technologies for good but also for bad. If you were an ally of the US, that would be one thing. But when you are not an ally of the US, that certainly should be a different perspective. Maybe one last point concerning agents, I think there will be a lot that will revolve around coding. We can see OpenAI with Codex. We can see Cloud with code. There was, of course, [inaudible 00:18:28] that was trying to be big on agentic coding. I think agentic coding was one of the big transformation in 2025 and is going to get bigger in 2026. I think for a lot of people who do coding, there was a radical transformation in terms of what you can achieve, what you can do, how much you can trust AI to help you code. I start to think we might see this year, the replacement of not just one AI replace one coder, but one AI replace a full team because of the new ability to manage that at scale. Coding might be a common activity where you are going to think about outcomes, think about objective, think about how you organise, but not really coding by itself anymore. A big change, like you used to code, directly your hand on the stuff, but step by step, everyone is going to become a manager of agent. I think in one year, we saw enough transformation to think that in the coming year, the transformation can be even more dramatic. Nuno Goncalves Pedro The big Hardware movements Now switching gears to hardware. Obviously, a lot of movements in 2025 and over the last few years. One piece of thesis that we’ve had long-standing at Chamaeleon is that we will see the emergence of AI devices. Some of them have been tremendous failures as we discussed in the past. I predict that we’ll have a couple of really interesting full stack AI devices in the market this year. Why does that matter? Because, as many of you know, obviously, there’s compute that can happen in data centers and cloud infrastructure all over the world, but also there’s compute that can happen at the edges. The more you can move to the edges and the more you can create devices that actually allow you to have user experiences that are very distinctive at the edge, the more powerful some of these devices might become. I predict Apple will not be the first to launch anything on this. I predict probably OpenAI, after the acquisition of IO, will maybe not launch something this year, but will announce something this year. I’ll step back on that prediction. They’ll announce something this year, but maybe not launch. But we’ll start seeing some devices that have some interesting value in the market, probably devices that are AI devices, but they are very focused on very specific user flows, and so very much adequate to specific activities. I won’t make a prediction on that, but I think areas that would make sense for that to happen would be obviously around fitness, health, et cetera, et cetera, where we already have the ascendancy of products like Oura Ring and others out there. Definitely, that’s one area that might have quite a lot of developments. I think AI-first devices, devices that are very focused on compute at the edges, providing user flows that are AI-enabled to end users, we’ll see a lot more of that and a lot more activity this year. Again, I don’t think Apple will be necessarily ahead of the game. Again, maybe OpenAI will give us something to at least think about and look forward to. Bertrand Schmitt First, I’m not sure it will be that transformational because if it’s not in your phone, in your pocket, there is only so much you can do with it, and there is only so much computing power you will have. I’m doubtful it would be really impactful this year. Nuno Goncalves Pedro I feel we’ve been discussing this shift of paradigm in input and output. For me, some of these devices could lead to that shift. Because, again, a mobile phone is not a great long-term paradigm for the usage that we have because it’s really constrained by the screen. The screen is really what takes most of the battery life away. If we didn’t have that screen, what could we do? If we have the block that is as big as a mobile phone, and it didn’t have a screen, it was just compute, that’s a mini computer, a microcomputer. Bertrand Schmitt That’s a fair point, but I don’t see that transformation this year. That’s really more my point. I can see that you can have AI-enabled smart glasses, and it’s clear there is a race to AI-enabled smart glasses. My point is more to go beyond the gadget, it would take quite a while. It would need to have cameras. It would need to analyse what you see. It would need to hear what you hear. Again, it might come, but then at some point, it would be okay, what do you do with it? We have the example of the movie Her. That’s showing Her what it could be. There are definitely possibilities. It’s clear that if you take the big VR headset like the Apple Vision Pro, there is a failure from that perspective in the sense that I think it’s a great, amazing device. The big problem is that it’s doing way more that makes sense. I think there will be a clearer separation between your smart AR glasses that has to be light, that has to be always unconnected, and that’s primarily there to help you make sense of the world around you. The true VR headset that doesn’t really require much in terms of AI, and it’s just there to immerse you in a different world. For this, we know, unfortunately, in some ways, that there is not a lot of demand for it. Maybe there is little demand because you are too hidden in your own world. The technology is not working well enough yet. There are a lot of reasons. But I think Apple trying to do both at the same time, AR and VR, with the Vision Pro, was a pretty grave structural mistake. I think we would see a clearer line of separation between the two. There is bigger market opportunity for AR glasses. That, I certainly agree. There is opportunity to connect that to a computing device. As you talk about, your glasses are your screen, your phone becomes something in your pocket connected to your glasses. Nuno Goncalves Pedro For me, Apple has their way of doing things. From the perspective of what you said, they normally really plan their devices. Even if it’s a big shift in terms of a new area, like they tried with the Vision Pro, and we criticised them for launching it as a device that should have been more of a dev device that they really launched as a full-on device, but that’s their playbook, classically. I think Apple needs to change how they put products out and how they experiment with those products, et cetera. I think they have enough money to be doing everything all the time and figuring it out. If they don’t want to put it out, then they need to do a lot more hell of testing internally with their silos, but they should be playing across all these arenas, VR, AR, everything. They just should put devices out that are either ready for prime time, or they should call it something else. They should call it like this is a dev device or whatever it is. Bertrand Schmitt I agree with you. My complaint is more that it was marketed as a consumer device when it was not. It was a true developer device. Two, they tried to mix the two at once, and it made no sense. No one is going to walk in their home or in the street with their Vision Pro on their head. You have to be deranged, quite frankly, to have use cases like this. I think that for me is a crazy mistake from a company like Apple that prides itself in pure UI, pure user interface, very well-designed device for one specific use case, not mixing the two use cases. We still don’t have Macs with a touchscreen, you know?  We still don’t have an iPad with a good OS that makes use of this great hardware. For some strange reason, they decided to mix everything in the Vision Pro with a device that weighs a ton on your head and is so uncomfortable. That’s why, for me, I’m like, “Guys, what is wrong? Why did you let this team run crazy?” I hope at some point, Apple will go back to the drawing board. My understanding is that that’s what they are doing. They are going to have two devices, one smart glasses, an evolution of the Vision Pro, just focus on VR. They might actually abandon the concept of the pure VR-oriented headset. Because, from a market size perspective, it might not be big enough for Apple, quite frankly. Nuno Goncalves Pedro I read on all of the above, and people at this point was like, “Why are then players like Samsung and others not doing it. LG, et cetera?” Because those players historically have not invented new categories. They’re amazing at catching up once the category is invented, and then they scale the hell out of it, and that’s what these companies have been exceptional at. I wouldn’t see a dramatic innovation, I think, in terms of devices coming from any of the big ones on that side of the fence. Not to disrespect them in any way, but I think that’s not been their playbook ever. Again, if the origination doesn’t come from a start-up or from an Apple, I don’t see those guys going after it. My bet is that we’ll see some start-up activity and, again, hopefully, some announcement from IO now within the OpenAI world. Bertrand Schmitt I would slightly disagree with you. I see where you are coming from. But take the Samsung Galaxy Note, that sudden much bigger headphone that no one was doing that was launched by Samsung, at some point, it forced Apple to launch an iPhone Max. Let’s look at the Z Fold that Samsung launched 7 years ago, copied by everyone. Now Samsung launching a trifold. Apple has still not launched their foldable phone. I think there is a mix, actually, of sometimes- Nuno Goncalves Pedro For me, that’s not a proper new category. It’s still a mobile phone. It just happens to have a screen that folds in half. Bertrand Schmitt The iPhone was still a mobile phone, you could argue.  Nuno Goncalves Pedro No. I think the iPhone was…  I could actually agree with you on that point. Maybe Apple is not as innovative in that case. I think what Steve Jobs was exceptionally good at in terms of his ability as this master product manager was to be an exceptional curator of user flows and user experiences, and creating incredible experiences from devices based on that. That was his secret sauce. Could you say, “Wasn’t all of this stuff already around?” It was. You just put it all together very neatly and very nicely. But if you’re talking about significant shifts in how a category is done, the iPhone was a significant shift in how the category was done. The Fold is still an interesting device. I actually have a Fold right now in front of me. The 7 that you highly recommended to me that we both got, the Z Fold 7. I think they do amazing devices. I don’t think they normally are the most innovative players. Then, when they come to innovation, it comes from technology edges. Obviously, they have Samsung Display, there’s a bunch of other things. They had the ability to do foldable screens in-house themselves. Bertrand Schmitt I don’t disagree with you. I think there is an interesting situation where some companies have some strengths, another one has some strengths. My worry with Apple is that this was not demonstrated with the Vision Pro. The Vision Pro was a hot pot of technologies barely integrated together, with use cases absolutely not well-defined and certainly not something that makes sense for most of us. There is a question of has Apple lost it? While Samsung actually keeps doing their own stuff, that, yes, might be more minor improvements, but at least they are doing it. Because it looks like Apple is missing the train on even the minor improvements. By the way, you might not be aware, but Samsung launched its Vision Pro competitor. Interestingly enough, it might be a better product in some ways, being much lighter and much more comfortable. Nuno Goncalves Pedro We should play around with that and report back to our listeners. Of Start-ups and VCs Moving to venture capital and the startup ecosystem and what’s happening there, I think it is very much a bifurcated environment, and it’s bifurcated for both VCs and for startups. If you’re a startup in the AI space, and you have the hottest team since sliced bread, and you can create FOMO at the speed of light, you can raise ridiculous rounds. Five hundred million at the $3 billion, or $4 billion, or $5 billion valuation, and you still haven’t really even started. First round, you can raise 500 million. That’s back to the whole discussion on Bubble and where are we, et cetera. Some of these companies might actually become huge, some of them might not. But definitely, we are seeing really the haves and have-nots on the startup ecosystem with incredible teams raising a lot of money very, very early on or mid-stage if they’ve already existed for a while, and then the rest not being able to raise. We see a lot of non-necessarily AI sectors, some of the areas of SaaS that don’t necessarily have AI in it, or fintech, or the consumer space that are really, really struggling. If you don’t have an AI story for your startup right now, it’s extremely difficult to raise money unless your numbers are just the best numbers ever. That’s, I think, the first part of the element of bifurcation that we’re seeing today. The second element of bifurcation that we’re seeing today in terms of fundraising is for VCs themselves, and really propelled by the large VC firms raising more and more capital in recent orbits, announcing 15 billion across funds raised. Lightspeed, I think, had made an announcement a couple of weeks ago as well. They’ve raised a bunch of money as well. The big guys are all raising a lot of money. At some point in time, the question some of you might ask is, “These VCs are redeploying more and more money if they have a couple of billion for a VC fund. How does that look like? Is that still VC?” My perspective, I’ve shared before in some of our previous episodes, is that that’s no longer venture capital. At that point in time, we’re talking about something else. Private equity hedge funds, if you want to call them, maybe funds that are really driven by growth investment or late-stage investment. If you have a couple of billion under management, you’re not going to make your returns by writing a $3 million check in a series seed and leading that round.  That has implications for everyone in the ecosystem. It has implications for smaller funds that obviously have a lot more difficulty in raising capital. It’s difficult to differentiate. Last but not least, also for startups that really continue searching for that capital that is out there. Andreessen Horowitz, for example, runs Speedrun, which is a great program for companies around consumer in particular. Initially, it was a lot for gaming. But at some point in time, Andreessen Horowitz could decide that they don’t want to invest more in you. They just put money from Speedrun, which is obviously a very small check compared to the very large checks they could write mid to late stage and that will have an effect on you as a startup. What happens at that point in time if Andreessen Horowitz is not backing you up in later stages? More than that, what happens if I can’t get these big funds interested in me? Are the small funds still valuable to me? Punchline, my view is yes. Obviously, we’re a smaller fund, so there’s parochial interest in what I’m saying. Small funds can still create a ton of value for you, also in terms of credibility, ability to accompany you in those first stages of investment, and the ability to bring other larger investors later down the road as well. There’s definitely a big movement happening in terms of the fundraising for VC funds, which we shouldn’t neglect, which is the big guys are raising a lot more capital and are therefore emptying the market to smaller funds that are having more and more difficult raising at this point in time. We had discussed that there would be a need for concentration in the industry, that micro funds would need to concentrate, and we didn’t have the space for so many micro funds as we had around. But the way it’s happening is extremely dramatic at this moment in time. I think it will continue through 2026. Bertrand Schmitt Remember a few years ago, with the rise of AI, there was more and more of the question about, “What’s the point of SaaS at this stage?” Because SaaS was around for 15 years. Basically, how do you come up with something new that was not already tested, validated by the market? How do you bring something new? We say this was reinforced to the power of 10. If your product is not clearly built from the ground up for a new use case enabled by AI, anyone could then might have built your product 5, 10 years ago, and therefore, why now has no clear answer, and it’s a big problem. I’m still surprised myself to still see some entrepreneurs where you talk to them about AI because you don’t see them in the deck, and they explain to you, “It’s not yet there,” and you’re like, “What’s wrong with you guys?” Fine. Do whatever you want. Do a small business and whatever, but don’t think you can come up pitch and raise without an AI story. The second category is people who come with an AI story, but you can feel very quickly, I guess you saw that many times, Nuno, where just a story layered on top with little credibility. It’s not better. It’s not enough to just have a story. Your business needs to be radically built differently or radically proposing some brand-new use cases that were impossible to solve 5 years ago. Nuno Goncalves Pedro To stack up on that, absolutely in agreement. If you’re just adding to the story, and it’s an afterthought, and you’re just trying to make the story somehow gel, once you go into one or two layers of due diligence, your investors will very quickly realise that you’re not really AI-first or dramatically AI-enabled or whatever. It’s just you’re sort of stacking something on top of another thesis. It needs to make sense from the product onwards. It’s not just, let’s just put it together with chewing gum, and magically, people will give you money. It was true also if we remember the good old crypto blockchain days, where everyone’s investing in crypto. A lot of stories that didn’t make much sense. In that sense, it’s not very different. I would go one step further. I think in the world of the VC winter that we’re a little bit in, where it’s more and more difficult if you’re a smaller fund to raise your fund at this moment in time, there’s a lot of sources of distinctiveness still talked about, like proprietary networks, access to deal flow, fast track record, all that stuff that really, really matters. But our bet continues at Chamaeleon continues being that you need to be AI-first as a VC fund yourself. You need to have core advantages in using not only readily-available AI tools or third-party available AI tools, data sources, technology stacks, but actually building your own stack over time, which is what we did with Mantis at Chamaeleon. Again, just to reinforce that, I think we’re at the beginning of that stage. We, Chamaeleon, are ahead of the game, but we think that the rest of the market will have to move towards that as well. Still, to be honest, very surprising to me to see that many significant large players are doing very little still around some of these spaces. They have data scientists. They’re running some tools. They’re running some analysis and all that stuff, but it’s still, again, back to the point I was making for startups, all glued up with chewing gum. It doesn’t all come together nicely, which it does need to from a platform standpoint. Bertrand Schmitt It’s quite surprising. I agree with you that some VC funds might think that they can do business as usual in that brand-new world. It’s difficult to believe. Nuno Goncalves Pedro Maybe moving a little bit toward the capital formation piece. We already discussed the M&A space really accelerating. We’ve also discussed the IPO market and some predictions on that. Secondaries, there’s obviously a lot of liquidity coming from secondaries from mid to late stage. I think it will continue throughout the rest of 2026. A lot of activity in buying, selling in secondaries as some asset managers are becoming more distressed, as some very high net worth individuals and family offices are becoming more distressed as well, at the same time, where there’s a lot of opportunities to potentially arbitrage around some investments. I believe a lot of money will be made and lost this year by decisions made this year, just to be very, very clear in terms of equity, purchases, et cetera. Exciting year ahead of us. Definitely a very, very interesting market ahead of us. Secondaries, M&A, growth, and late-stage investing, also, early-stage investing will continue just for those that were wondering. Last but not least, the public markets, the IPO market as well. Bertrand Schmitt One of the big questions for the IPO market would be, will SpaceX go public? Would it be good for the startup ecosystem? Because suddenly that they go public, it would be to raise money. If they raise money, will there be any money left for anybody else? That would be an interesting test of the market. For sure, it would be proof that market are risk on financing a new IPO like this one. Or as you said, maybe there is no IPO, and it’s a merger with Tesla. Time will tell. Nuno Goncalves Pedro Regulatory & Geopolitical Headwinds… and the Wars Moving maybe to our topic of regulation and geopolitical headwinds, as we’re seeing … definitely not tailwinds. The Google antitrust verdict and, obviously, the remedies are expected to come forward now, and a lot of people are saying, “There are some risks of structural separation.” What do you think? Is it cool, but nothing will happen in the end dramatically? Alphabet or Google? I’m not sure, actually. It’s Google LLC. I think that’s the case. It’s The United States versus Google LLC. Bertrand Schmitt I’m not sure. Personally, I’m not a big fan. I think there needs to be a better way to manage some anticompetitive behavior. I’m not a big fan. There was this temptation to do that for Microsoft 25 years ago. Look at what happened. No one needed to buy Microsoft to leave space for others. I see the same with Google, and I guess they are happy to not be the number 1 in AI today, but to have an open AI in front of them. Even if they are doing a great job, by the way, to move forward and go faster and faster. Personally, quite impressed now with some of what they have released. Gemini 3 is doing great from my perspective. I’m not a big fan of this. I think to be clear, it’s important that bigger companies don’t behave anticompetitively, but at the same time, we need to find the right approach where it’s not about breaking these companies, and it’s also not about forbidding them to do acquisitions. Because then you end up with what NVIDIA just did with a $20 billion acquihire IP licensing type of acquisition, because they didn’t want to have the uncertainties. They didn’t want to wait 1–2 years in order to acquire the people and the technology, so they organised it in a different way. But I don’t like that. I think they should be able to acquire companies without facing so much uncertainty. To be clear, it’s not new. Uncertainty when you are Google, NVIDIA, or others, it happens. It has happened for a decade plus, 2 decades. I think there needs to be, for sure, some safety valves. At the same time, we want an efficient capital market. An efficient capital market need companies that can acquire other companies. If you don’t do that efficiently, it will be worse for the entrepreneurs, it will be worse for the investors, it will be worse for everybody. I think we have not reached a good equilibrium from my perspective. We need more efficient acquisition process. And at the same time, we need to also enforce faster anticompetitive behavior. Because what you talk about concerning Google, this is a case that was what? That is 10 years old. You see what I mean? This is way too long. If you’re a startup, you are dead by then. It’s like the story of Netscape facing Microsoft. They were dead long after the fact. I think we need a different approach. I’m not sure the best answer. I’m not sure we’ll get a better approach. There are probably too many vested interest. My hope is that it will get better with this current administration because, certainly, the past administration was very anti acquisition and efficient markets. Nuno Goncalves Pedro We’ve talked about the European Union AI Act a bunch of times, so I don’t want to spend too many cycles on that. The only effect that I would say is we are seeing in very slow motion the splitting of the Internet. I once had Tim Berners-Lee, by the way, shouting at me that we were going to break the Internet when we were applying for the .mobi top-level domain. I was part of that consortium that eventually did get the .mobi top-level domain, and I had him shouting at us. But, apparently, this is going to split the Internet, Tim. So in case you’re listening. Because it will create all these different rules. If your data is relating to consumers there, then it’s treated in a different way, and The US is… Well, obviously, we have the case of California with its own rules and laws. I don’t know. I feel we’re having a moment of siloing that goes beyond economic and geopolitical siloing. It will also apply to the digital world, and we’ll start having different landscapes around it. We’ll see how this affects global expansion of services, for example, around AI, particularly for consumer, but I don’t foresee anything dramatically positive. Recently, we had the whole deal around TikTok finally having a solution for their US problem where there’s now a US conglomerate magically that owns it. The conglomerate doesn’t magically own it, they just straight up own it for the US. But it was driven by many of these concerns around data ownership. Where’s the data? Where is it based? I think a lot of other concerns that have to do with the geopolitics of China, obviously, being the basis of ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, that still is a significant owner, by the way, in TikTok in US. Then also the interest in the economics of making money out of something as powerful as TikTok, to be honest, in The US. Just to be clear, I don’t think this was all about the best interests of consumers. It was also about money. Just follow the money. Bertrand Schmitt There are for sure, some powerful interest at play. But let’s be clear. I think one is data, as you rightfully said, but the other one is algorithm. It’s not as if China is authorising any competitor on its territory. They have blocked access to most of the Internet platforms from the US, either finding new rules or just trade blocking them. So I don’t think it’s fair competition. You don’t want some of that data in China about the US or European consumer. Three, it’s about the algorithm. If suddenly, you are a foreign power, and you can as we know in China, you better follow what’s required of you from the Chinese Communist Party. You cannot take a chance with influencing other stuff like elections in other countries. It’s fair from the US perspective. One could even argue it’s fair from a Chinese perspective to want that. I think the only one in the middle who doesn’t really know what they want is Europe because on one side, they want to benefit from American platforms, on the other end, they want to have some controls. On the other end, they don’t create the environment for startups to flourish. So in that weird situation where they have to accept some control by the big US providers and either provider of underlying infrastructure or provider of consumer business facing services. Then they try to regulate them. But I think they are misunderstanding the power relationship, and I think some of this regulation would get some blowback, at least by the current administration. Just, I believe, this morning, there was some news around X being under a criminal investigation in France. This is not going to end well for the French startup and VC ecosystem. This is not going to end well for France and Europe when you depend so much from your American friends. Nuno Goncalves Pedro Regulation will be weaponised. Regulation constraints around exports, all of this will be weaponised geopolitically, and the bigger guys will normally win. I think that’s normally what we’ve seen. Just on TikTok just to… And you guys, if you’re listening to us, just see if you see a pattern here, but obviously, 19.9% still owned by ByteDance of the TikTok entity in the US. It was initially said that 80% of the TikTok entity is owned by non-Chinese investors. Initially, people were saying US investors, and then they changed it to non-Chinese because MGX, I think, has 15% of it. MGX is based in the UAE, connected obviously to Mubadala, the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund. Silver Lake is in there, I think, with 15% as well. Oracle as well with 15%. Those three are the big bucket owners together, 45%. Silver Lake having collaborated with MGX before, and I’m sure a lot of connectivity there. Then you still see a pattern in this in terms of shareholders. If you don’t, then just Google it. Dell Family Office, Vastmir Strategic Investments, which is owned by billionaire Jeff Yass, Alpha Wave Partners, obviously involved with a bunch of things like SpaceX and Klarna, Virgoli, Revolution, which is Steve Case’s, a former founder of AOL, is also in there. Meritway, which is managed by partners, I think, of Dragonair. Vinova from General Atlantic, an affiliate of General Atlantic. Also, NJJ Capital, which I believe is Xavier Nil, the French billionaire that founded Iliad. Mostly American, I think, if the math is correct. 80% non-Chinese, which was what mattered, I think, in many cases. But do see if you saw a pattern in most of those investors. I won’t say anything more than that. Maybe moving to other topics, maybe just to finalise on regulation and geopolitics. In geopolitics, we should talk about wars if we predict anything. Not that we are nasty and one want to be negative, but what the hell is going on? Will we have ending to the wars we already have ongoing or not? But before that, the struggles on the App Stores, I think, will continue both for Apple and for Google Play Store. The writing’s on the wall, the EU keeps pushing it dramatically and Apple keeps just doing stuff. I’m on the board of an App Store company. Apple just creates all these things that basically make you not really… It doesn’t work. You can’t provision then an App Store on Apple devices. On iPhones, et cetera. We’ll see how that will continue going, but I feel the writing’s on the wall. Both Apple and Google will have to open up a bit more of their platforms. I’m not sure it will have a huge impact in the medium to long term, but definitely we need to see more openness in access to apps as given by the two big platform owners, Apple and Google, out there. Bertrand Schmitt Let’s be clear. Google is way more open than Apple. We both have Android devices. You can install alternative app stores. It’s a different ballgame by very far. Nuno Goncalves Pedro Google does other nasty stuff. It’s public. You can check which board I’m a part of. You can see what that company has done towards Google over time. But to your point, yes. It is true that Google has been more open than Apple, but Google has done their own things. Just to be very clear, so I’ll just leave that caveat bracketed there for people to think about it and maybe read a little bit about it as well. Bertrand Schmitt I can say that, me, from my perspective, that path of total control that Apple has been going through on all their devices, that includes macOS, pushed me to, over the past 2, 3 years, to completely live and abandon the Apple ecosystem. I just couldn’t accept that level of control, that golden handcuff approach of the Apple ecosystem, each their own obviously, they are golden, their handcuffs, but they are still handcuffs. Personally, that pushed me way more to Linux, Android, Windows, back to Windows after all these years. I just couldn’t stand it anymore. I want to pick my devices. I want to pick what I install on them, and I don’t want to be controlled like this by just one entity for all my tech devices. For me, at some point, it was just not acceptable anymore. It’s still very warm, very golden handcuffs, but for me, they were just handcuffs at this stage. Yes, what they are doing with the App Store is very typical of that mindset. I think it’s quite sad because I think it started with good intention in some ways. “We need a new computing paradigm, we need to make things smoother and safer,” but it has really become a way to control your clients. For me, it has reached a point where it’s just way too much. Nuno Goncalves Pedro There’s obviously the great power comes great responsibility that uncle Ben told Spider-Man or Peter Parker. But there’s also with great power comes shitload of money, and control. So it’s like, “Yeah. Should we open the server? Do we want to delay opening it up?” “Yeah.” Anyway, it is what it is. Maybe let’s end on the more difficult note of the episode, which is going to be around wars. What’s our prediction? Will we have an end to the Gaza situation with Israel? Will we have an end to Ukraine and, obviously, Russia? What will happen in Iran? Those are the three big, big conflicts right now. Then, obviously, if we want to add just bonus points, what’s going to happen to Greenland, and what’s going to happen to Taiwan, and what’s going to happen to Venezuela? Let’s throw the whole basket in there. We’ve never had like… Let’s talk about all these territories and all these countries. At some point in time, I’m saying this in a light manner, but it’s obviously more tragic than it should be light, and people are dying, and there’s a lot of implications of all of that that is happening right now. Do you have any predictions, Bertrand, for this year? Bertrand Schmitt No. It’s tough to predict on an individual basis. I think on a more bigger picture basis is on one side, obviously, the rise of China on one side. You have also the rise of other countries like India, while very indirectly connected to some of these conflicts are still part of the game, buying oil from Russia, for instance. At the same time, I think overall, the US is more clear about with the sheriff in town. I think it’s good because in some ways, you cannot pay for the goods, you cannot have such a massive advantage versus nearly every other country on earth and just not be clear about who is the boss in some ways. As a result, what are the rules of the game and how it should be played? The US is not alone, obviously, you have China, you have Russia, you have India, you have Europe. You have different other countries. But at some point, it’s not good when countries are not rational and are not clear. I think I prefer the current situation where things are more clear and where you have to assume responsibilities about what you are doing. It’s time to be rational again about how the world behave. Yes, the concept of power and balance of power. I think there has been that dream, maybe mostly coming from Europe, about the end of history. I think that’s simply not the case. It’s not the end of history. It’s still about the balance of power. It has always been about the balance of power. If you are dumb enough to think it was not about that anymore, I just have a bridge to nowhere to sell you. I don’t have specific prediction, but I think it’s clear there is a new sheriff in town. There is a new doctrine about the Western Hemisphere that has been in some ways resurrected on the [inaudible 00:51:35] train, and I think we’ll see more of it. I think at this point, the biggest question is for the Europeans. What do they want to do? Because right now, their position of being a dwarf militarily while being a pretty big giant economically, I don’t think it works. Nuno Goncalves Pedro I agreed on everything that you said. I do have predictions. I’ll stick a flag on the ground just with my predictions. Bertrand Schmitt Good luck. Nuno Goncalves Pedro They are mostly positive. I do think we’ll see an end or, for the most, end to the two big conflicts, the one in Gaza and the one in Ukraine. I think Ukraine will end up in readjustment of territory and splitting between Russia and the Ukraine, but the end of hostilities, I think that we will see an end to the conflict in Gaza also with a readjustment on what that will mean for the Palestinian territories and the Palestinians in general. That I’m not sure, but I feel that there will be an end to those two big conflicts. Iran, I have no clue. I will not put a stick on the ground that I have no clue. There are so many things that could go wrong there. I’ve been reading some really interesting thoughts about even some aggressive thoughts that this might be the time to really change regimes in Iran and for the US to have a bit more of an aggressive stance. I really don’t have a perspective. Obviously, there’s a lot at stake there. Then, if we talk about the other parts, Greenland, I will not opine too much on. Maybe we’re done for now. Maybe there’ll be some other concessions to the US that weren’t already there in the ’50s. Taiwan, I won’t bet either. I’m sad to say I think it might happen at some point in time, but I’m not sure when and what would drive it. Last but not the least, Venezuela is my only really negative prediction. I feel it will continue to be a significant dictatorship as it was before managed enough by other people with the difference now that it has a tax to be paid to the US in the form of oil of some sort, etcetera, and maybe gas, maybe other things as well that it didn’t have before. That’s probably my most negative prediction for the coming year on the geopolitical side. Bertrand Schmitt Without going into detail, I would mostly agree with what you shared. At least that makes sense. But as we know, it’s not always what makes sense, but what might happen. I can tell you 100% I would not have guessed this operation against Maduro. This was so well done, well executed, and shocking at the same time that it’s… I think it shows that it’s hard to guess some of this stuff because there are certainly some new ways to wage limited war, for instance. So it’s certainly interesting, and we certainly need to get used to pretty bombastic statements. But for Venezuela, I don’t think it can be worse than what it was before. I’m probably more optimistic that gradually it can get better. Nuno Goncalves Pedro Just to put perspective on why we’re not making predictions on some of these elements, I think this is a funny story, but I was in Madeira. Actually, first time I was in Madeira, although I’m originally from Portugal. I’ve never been to the islands. Obviously, as you guys know, or some of you might know, there’s a lot of connection between Madeira and Venezuela. There’s a lot of immigration from Madeira Islands to Venezuela. One of my Uber or Bolt drivers there in Madeira was Venezuelan. Was born in Venezuela, but Portuguese descent, et cetera. He was telling me this was still last year. Late last year. Because I told him I lived in US, et cetera, and he was like, “Oh, hopefully, Trump will get Maduro out of there.” In my mind, I was like, “Dude.” No disrespect to the gentleman, but it’s like, “Okay. Mike, your perspective on geopolitics is maybe a little bit exaggerated.” And a couple of days later, we know what happened. When geopolitical decisions are better predicted by some probably very astute Uber drivers, you’re like, “Maybe I shouldn’t make a bet. I have no clue what’s going to happen, no clue what’s going to happen in Greenland, et cetera.” Anyway, a couple of predictions on that element. Bertrand Schmitt That’s why it’s so right. You have to be careful with the prediction, but it doesn’t remove the fact that I think nations and companies that have to play a global game have to understand in some ways what is the game, what are the powers in place, what could happen potentially, but also be realistic. Not be about wish and dreams, but more about, what’s the power relationship? Who has the money? Who has the means? Who has the capacity to do this or that? Because if you start that way, at least the scope of what’s possible, what’s reasonable is more and more clear more quickly. Some stuff like happened with Maduro, I would never have predicted, but for sure, if there’s one country that can do this sort of stuff, it’s the US. I’m not sure anyone has a technology and the means in terms of support infrastructure to do something like this. It’s tough to predict what will happen a year from now for any specific country, but I think that even trying to get a better understanding about the forces in play and their capacity and understanding and accepting that at some point, it’s all about real politic and relationship of power, the more your eyes would be wide open about what’s possible versus simple, wishful thinking. Nuno Goncalves Pedro Fintech, Crypto and Frontier Tech Moving maybe to our last section around fintech, crypto, and frontier tech. For me, just two very quick predictions, views of the world. I think on the frontier tech side, I won’t make a prediction. I will just tell you all to go and listen to our episodes, the one on infrastructure, which is immediately prior to this one, and the episodes that we’ve had around a couple of other topics including AI, what’s the future of your children, because I think they illustrate a lot of the points that we’re seeing and manifesting themselves over the next year and over the next 2 or 3 years as well beyond that. I feel those tomes are complete in and out of themselves, so you can just go and listen to them. Then my second comment is on crypto. I feel crypto has become of the essence, particularly under the current administration in the US, very favored. Obviously, we are now in a world where crypto is just part of the economic system, and I think we’ll see more and more of that emerging, and in some ways, crypto is becoming mainstream. Question is what blockchains will be the blockchains of the future? Obviously, there’s a bunch of bets put out there. We, ourselves, as Chamaeleon, have one investment in one of the significant bets in the space. But besides that, who’s going to win or not, we feel that we’re past the crypto winter. It’s now mainstream days, and we’ll see a lot more activity in there. Bertrand Schmitt I must say with crypto, I’m a bit confused. As you say, we are past the crypto winter. There is much less uncertainty in regul

Send me a Text Message!I just received my Portugal D7 residence permit card — and I'm already thinking ahead to renewal.In this episode of Life Abroad in Portugal, I share the four things I'm focusing on over the next two years to help ensure my residency renewal goes as smoothly as the process of getting the card did.Renewal isn't something you scramble for at the last minute. It's really about how you live during your residency period.I talk about the four principles guiding me moving forward:• Meeting Portugal's physical presence requirements (6 consecutive or 8 non-consecutive months each year) • Using my NIF number and participating actively in the Portuguese economy • Paying my fair share of Portuguese taxes • Being a responsible, law-abiding residentIf you're living in Portugal on a D7 visa or any residence permit, this mindset can make the renewal process much less stressful.Getting the card isn't the end of the journey — it's the beginning of building a life here responsibly.

Num 4:1-5:31, Mark 12:18-37, Ps 48:1-14, Pr 10:26

This episode of Prison Breaking with Sarah and Paul is sponsored by Hulu. Subscribe to Hulu (U.S.) and Disney+ (Internationally), the only places to stream all episodes of Prison Break. Sarah and Paul discuss Prison Break Episode 302 and welcome back Creator and EP Paul Scheuring. Paul wrote Episode 301 and left the show right after. Last week, Dawn Olmstead shared the full history of Prison Break and the development of Season 3. This week, Paul shares his version of the story and his understanding of how Season 3 went down, giving two perspectives to the same story. For the full scope of this conversation, we recommend listeners go back and listen to Paul's first appearance on the podcast at the end of Season 1. For the full experience of enjoying Prison Breaking With Sarah & Paul, we recommend subscribing to our Patreon channel where you can re-watch this and previous episodes on Hulu or your home DVD collection while listening to Sarah and Paul's real time commentary. You can also connect and discuss with fans on our fan-led Discord server. Subscribe here:  ⁠⁠⁠https://patreon.com/user?u=116411884⁠⁠⁠ Get access to all of our Watch Parties and FanFiction (all captioned in six languages - English, French, Spanish, German, Portuguese, and Turkish), exclusive Ask Me Anything's with Sarah & Paul, and unannounced Discord drop-ins on our always rollicking server with fans and friends who come together from around the world. Follow us on Instagram - ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/prisonbreakpodcast/⁠⁠ Follow us on TikTok -  ⁠⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@prisonbreakpodcast⁠⁠ Merch!!! - ⁠⁠https://pbmerch.printify.me/products⁠⁠Email us at prisonbreaking@caliber-studio.comAnd leave us a message with all your burning questions at (401) 3-PBREAKLogo 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. Enjoy and we'll see you there!    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mike @mikeagostinho is joined by Derek @derekgomes12 and Mauricio @reese8169 as the panel keeps the recaps going—continuing the fan-driven, league-wide discussion of Portuguese football.#FCPSCP #LigaPortugal #Tugao #Benfica #SportingCP #FCPorto #SCBraga #VitoriaSC #Mourinho #Alverca #GilVicente #CasaPia

NHK WORLD RADIO JAPAN - Portuguese News at 18:00 (JST), March 04

Como se vive quando a guerra nos surpreende e acaba por entra na rotina? Como se explicam os estrondos a crianças pequenas? Conversa com João Pedro Fabião, um português que vive com a família no Dubai desde 2017.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Metódico, hiperactivo, hipocondríaco, culto, católico. Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa preferiu a rua ao gabinete do palácio, esteve sempre com as pessoas e dessacralizou a função de Presidente da República como mais alto magistrado da nação.

Num 2:1-3:51, Mark 11:27-12:17, Ps 47:1-9, Pr 10:24-25

First day of an advanced university-level sex ed class.Based on a post by smalltitslovr, in 4 parts. Listen to the ► Podcast at Steamy Stories.Hi! My name is Samantha. I’m a 25 year old college graduate. I am about 5’ 3", and I’m a very petite girl. I have black hair and blue eyes. My tits are small-ish, but they look larger because of my small figure (a 32 b chest looks more voluptuous than a 38 b does.) My ass is average. But nice and tight, because I work out quite a bit.Today, I’d like to tell you about a class I took in second semester of my sophomore year of college: Advanced Sexual Education. Here’s the description from the course catalog: I attended a private research university, in southern California.Human Sexuality 3O1.“Everyone takes a sex-ed class in high school that goes over the basics. That class should have covered the basics of each gender’s biological systems, and the reproduction system as a whole. This class goes beyond that basic overview, and provides an in-depth study of the sexuality of human beings. The course will include discussions, demos, and lab projects. Students must be 18+ years of age.”I really felt I needed to take this class. You see, at my high school, we had a one-week version of the sex-ed class, and I had been sick for the last 3 days that week. Although I had picked up many things since then, I was never quite sure what I missed, and felt that I might be missing something important. I thought this might be a good opportunity to fill in those pieces I had missed.I’d read the description of this class many times, and wondered what exactly it would entail. “Demos and lab projects” and “18+”. Those two pieces of the description made me both scared and excited. Of course 18 years was the required age for consensual sex, in our state. Did that mean that we were going to be having sex in the class? Surely we couldn’t be required to have sex. That would be illegal. Wouldn’t it? Our university did have a few prodigy kids on campus, who were still under-age. They were banned from signing up, or even auditing the sessions. There was no online option, either.After thinking on it for about 3 weeks straight, I decided I would sign up.First Day.The first day of the class finally arrived. I’d been anticipating it since the moment I’d signed up. I’d thought about backing out several times, but reconsidered each time.I’d dressed in a tight, white t-shirt with a decal, blue jean shorts with a white belt, and flip-flops.I arrived at my classroom at 7:55; 5 minutes early. It was a very early class. I didn’t see many people on campus on the way there. The class was in the basement of the psychology building. I’d never been down there before. I’d heard that’s where some psych studies were held, and a few classes. It was tucked away in a corner of the building where nobody would stumble into it by accident.As I walked in, I noticed several people sitting in seats around the room. There was roughly an even mix of males to females. I found a seat in the second row, and pulled out my phone and checked social media, as I waited nervously for class to start. As I waited, I noticed most of the people in the room seemed a little nervous. Many were looking around, and a few seemed like they wanted to get up and leave.Finally, the teacher arrived; 1 minute late.She was somewhat tall for a woman (maybe 5'10"), in her early 30s. She had blonde hair, put up in a bun. She had black rimmed glasses. On top, she wore a white blouse, which was unbuttoned down to just above her bra, revealing a lot of cleavage as well as quite a bit of her mid-sized sized breasts. Over that, she wore a bright red cardigan. She was also wearing a black skirt that came to about mid-thigh, showing off very long, tan legs. On her feet, she wore 1-inch, red heels, matching her cardigan.She walked to the table at the front of the classroom, and set her bag down on it. She pulled off her cardigan, draping it over the back of the chair, which revealed her slim figure. She reached into her bag, and took out some papers; presumably, her notes.“Hello class.” she said, once she was ready. “This is Advanced Sexual Education. If you are not here for Advanced Sexual Education, please leave. You’re in the wrong place.”I looked around. Nobody left. There were 12 guys, and 8 girls, including me. The seats were arranged in 4 rows of 5, with 10 seats wrapped around the outside of the room. Some of the chairs were emptyThe teacher looked around to make sure nobody was slow to stand, then continued. “Ok. I’ll introduce myself and go over some guidelines, then take roll. My name is Sharon Gladwell. You can call me Sharon. I’ve worked here at the university for about 5 years. This is my first year teaching. Normally, I do research for the psych department. My specialty is human sexuality and arousal. I’ve lead several studies on various topics including stimulation, bondage and exhibitionism.”Everyone in the class seemed stunned at how openly she talked about these “behind-doors” topics.“Now, some guidelines.” She pulled some papers out of her bag, and passed them out. “Here’s the syllabus. In there, you will find details on everything I am about to say. If, at any time, any of you feel you are not suited for this class, feel free to get up and leave. No harm, no foul."This class is designed with two goals in mind. Firstly, to educate you all on the details of human sexuality. We will study the specific of how the human body works; specifically, the similarities and differences between males and females. We will also examine how certain stimuli cause certain reactions. We will cover intercourse in detail, both traditional and non-traditional methods. We will cover fetishes of many varieties, pornography, body modification (as it relates to sexuality), and coercion."The second goal is to push your boundaries. Throughout the semester, we will have numerous demonstrations, as well as solo and group projects on the topics and concepts we are covering. By the end of this class, you should all be more open sexually, and you will have experience far beyond many of your peers, measured by both depth and breadth."There will be times during the semester when I ask you do to do things you may not be comfortable doing. You may, of course, opt out, but it will negatively affect your participation grade, which is 50% of this course. The other 50% is broken up into 35% out-of-class projects and homework, and 15% for the final multi-format exam."Any questions so far?” she asked. A few hands went up. “Yes?” she said, pointing to a girl in the third row.“You mentioned demonstrations,” replied the girl. “Are those going to involve guests? And how involved will they be?”Sharon smiled, and replied, “No, we will normally not have guests this semester, unless we are covering a special topic. The demos will be performed by each of you, as well as by myself. They will be very in-depth, and will usually involve grouping up to get a chance to observe the topic, and get hands-on experience. Hopefully that clarifies it. If not, it should become clear in a little bit, as we’ll be doing our first demo today.”“Oh; thanks; ” replied the girl, quite stunned, and a little confused.“Anyone else?” asked Sharon. A boy on the left side of the room held his hand up. She nodded to him.“So, when we group up, will we be grouping boy-boy or boy-girl?”, the boy asked.“Good question. For the start of the semester, we will form groups that include both genders. As each of you have the most experience with your own gender, you will need to study the other gender more thoroughly.” Then she counted out how many of each there were in the room. “I was planning on pairs; however, it looks like the numbers don’t quite work out for that. If we start with coed pairs, that’ll leave four extra boys. So we’ll have two groups of 3, with an extra boy in each, and two boys with me.”The boy grinned, “Thanks. That’s what I was hoping.”“I’m sure it was,” replied Sharon, with a bigger grin. “Any other questions?” There weren’t any. “Alright then. We’ll move on to roll-call. Some days, including today, I’ll give you a question for the day. When I call your name, you will stand, answer the given question, and strip off your clothes. Normally, you will remove all of your clothing, but since it’s the first day, you’ll only be required to remove two articles of clothing. Shoes, socks, and jackets do not count.”That got everyone’s attention. There was no mention before that anyone would be stripping. It was implied, due to the fact that hands-on demos would probably require nudity, but this confirmed it.“Today’s question is an introduction,” Sharon said. “You’ll state your name, age, where you’re from, and whether or not you are a virgin. We’ll start with me. As I said before, my name is Sharon. I’m 32, and I’m from San Francisco. As I’m sure you have all guessed, I am not a virgin.”With that said, she unbuttoned her blouse and removed it, placing it on the desk. Underneath, she had a sexy white bra, with black lace accents. Next, she unzipped the side of her skirt, and slipped it down her long legs, revealing a matching g-string.Now that her clothing was removed, I got my first good look at her body. She was slim, in a fit kind of way; she definitely worked out regularly. Her legs seemed to be miles long. She had one noticeable tattoo: some sort of tribal pattern, wrapping around the bottom of her tits. She was very tan; she must sun bathe quite a bit.“Now your turn. First up, Tony Baker”A boy on the right side of the room stood up and introduced himself. “Hi I’m Tony Baker. I’m 19, and I’m from Texas. I am not a virgin.” He pulled his shirt over his head. He had a tan body, with six-pack abs. Next, he pulled off his shoes and socks, then pulled his pants off, revealing a pair of red boxer briefs, which were tented slightly. Apparently I wasn’t the only one who found Ms. Gladwell attractive.“Nice to meet you Tony. You may take your seat. Next up, Mindy Hayes”She proceeded to call out each student’s name. About half-way through, she called “Christina McCoy”Christina stood, and said, “I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can do this.” She grabbed her bag and quickly walked out of the classroom.“No worries” said Ms. Sharon. “Would anyone else like to leave?” At that, a terrified white boy also left.She continued down the list, and nobody else left. Each student stood, said their name, age, and virginity status, and stripped off their shirts and their bottoms.Here’s a summary:·         Mindy Hayes - 19 year old white girl from Boston. Virgin. Wearing pale blue matching bra and panties.·         Alex Myers - 18 year old white boy from Ohio. Not a virgin. Wearing black boxer shorts.·         Dave Evans - 24 year old white boy from Georgia. Virgin. Red boxer briefs.·         Darrell Wade - 23 year old white boy from Louisiana. Not a virgin. Grey boxer briefs.·         Latoya Gilbert - 21 year old black girl from Chicago. Not a virgin. Red bra and panties.·         Filipe Allen - 24 year old Portuguese boy from San Francisco. Not a virgin. Red boxers.·         Eric Ramirez - 22 year old Hispanic boy from San Diego. Virgin. Blue boxer briefs·         Ken Sharp - 21 year old white boy from Kansas. Virgin. Tighty whities·         Billy Daniels - 19 year old white boy from New York. Not a virgin. Black boxers·         Barbara Foster - 20 year old white girl from South Carolina. Not a virgin. Pink and black boy shorts, and a pink push-up bra·         Roberto Walters - 18 year old Hispanic boy from New York. Not a virgin. Black and white boxers.·         Irene Hunter - 21 year old white girl from Wisconsin. Not a virgin. Dark blue sports bra and matching panties.·         John Gibson - 19 year old white boy from Connecticut. Virgin. Black boxer briefs·         Amy Powell - 18 year old white girl from Maine. Virgin. Purple g-string and a white shelf bra·         Sofia Mendez - 18 year old Hispanic girl from Ohio. Not a Virgin. Green g-string and matching lacy bra·         Kent Doyle - 23 year old white boy from Colorado. Virgin. Bronco’s boxers (orange and blue)·         "And, last but not least, Samantha Rivera.“I stood up. I was shaking a little. I was quite nervous. I’d been somewhat of an exhibitionist before, and I’d been naked in front of people before, but not in this kind of setting. But the biggest thing that was getting to me was the anticipation. The whole time I watched people strip, I knew my turn was coming. I was also nervous because I had slightly less clothing than all the other girls."I’m Samantha. I’m 19, and I’m from Colorado. I am not a virgin.” I paused. “Um. Ms. Sharon; ”“Yes, Samantha, is there a problem?” she replied.“Er; .well; .I’m not wearing any undergarments. I usually don’t. They make me uncomfortable.”“Ah. An exhibitionist. I see. Well, it doesn’t make much difference. Everyone will be stripping completely, starting tomorrow. You’ll just have to do it a day early. If you’re uncomfortable with that, this class probably isn’t for you. Feel free to leave, if you’d like.”“Um. No, I’m okay.” I had a feeling she’d say something to that effect, but part of me was hoping she’d cut me some slack. Maybe let me keep my shorts? But, at the same time, I was also hoping that she wouldn’t. :)So, I proceeded to strip. First, I kicked off my flip-flops. Then I grabbed the bottom of my shirt, and slowly pulled it over my head. Everyone got a good look at my B-cup breasts, with my arms over my head. I dropped my shirt onto my bag, then continued. I undid my belt, then the button on my jean shorts, then the zipper. I hesitated for a moment, took a deep breath, then peeled my tight jean shorts off my naked body. As I did, I bent over, giving everyone behind me a good look at my ass and a small bit of my cunt. I picked my shorts up, and placed them on my bag. I smiled, and sat down, crossing my legs and my arms, which covered all the important bits.“Excellent, class. Now that introductions are out of the way, we’ll move on to our first topic: the human body. Today, we’ll be going over the non-genitals. You may ask: ‘what does that have to do with Sexual Education?’"Well, as we’ll find out several times throughout the semester, sexuality doesn’t require genitalia, or even nudity. An orgasm can be a achieved in other ways. For example, you can make someone cum just by massaging them in non-sexual places, although I doubt we’ll see that today."Now, let’s pair up for our first demo. First I’ll call out pairs, then we’ll see who is left."When I call your name, the girl should get up and move to the guy. First pair. Samantha, you’re with Tony.”I stood up, and walked to the right side of the classroom. Everyone watched me as I went and I felt like I had 100 eyes glued to various parts of my naked body, although it was really only 34. But that’s still a lot! I took an empty seat next to Tony.Sharon continued pairing every girl with a guy. When she was done, she said, “We have four guys left. Two will join me: John and Eric. The other two will join a pair of their choice.”The remaining two guys stood and approached Tony and I.Sharon laughed. “I see you are both attracted to the lovely Samantha and Tony here. Unfortunately, we won’t get to foursomes until later in the semester, so, since Alex got up quicker, he can join Samantha and Tony, and Filipe can join another group.”Filipe looked disappointed, but he walked away and joined another pair. Alex sat down in an empty chair on the other side of me.“Now, we’ll be covering back massages first. Each male stand behind your female, and rub her shoulders, neck, and back. Remember: no genitals today. For those groups with two guys, each can get one shoulder.”She then sat down in a chair, and Eric and John got behind her and started massaging her shoulders.I scooted my seat forward, while Alex and Tony stood and got behind me. They then gave me one of the best massages I’ve had in my life.After what seemed like an eternity of bliss, but was still much too short, we switched. I first massaged Alex, and then Tony.“Ok, class. That’s it for today.” said Sharon. “Class dismissed. Remember, be prepared to really get in deep with the material, starting tomorrow.”Everyone returned to their original seats, and started to dress. I quickly walked back over to my bag, put on my shorts and shirt, grabbed my bag, and left.The second day. Topic: exhibitionism.The next day, I arrived about 5 minutes early again. I was wearing a light-green t-shirt and tight blue jeans. I walked in, took a seat in the same spot, pulled out my phone, and looked at social media.A few minutes later, Ms. Sharon walked in.“Hello class.” she said, after placing her bag down on the table in the front of the room.“Today, we will be covering exhibitionism. I felt like it was an appropriate topic, given that many of you will have some strong feelings about stripping in front of your fellow students, most of which, are still strangers to you."But, before we start, I want to mention an opportunity for extra credit. As I said last class, I do a lot of work on sexuality research. A problem with this type of research is a lack of willing test subjects. If you’re interested, you may participate in any number of these throughout the semester, and I will bump your grade up by half a letter grade. For example a B would become a B+. In addition to the extra credit, most studies have a monetary incentive ranging from $50-$1000+ depending on the focus and intensity of the study. If you’re interested, let me know, and I’ll get you signed up for a study."Now, just like last class, I’ll call roll, and you will each stand, and strip completely. Every day from here on out, class will be conducted entirely without clothes, with very few exceptions. Also, I do not want to spend a ton of time on roll call every day, so, starting tomorrow, I will ask that each and every one of you is naked by the time class starts."Just like last class, you will also answer a question. However, today you’ll do that after stripping. The question is: how do you feel, given your indecency? Are you uncomfortable? Are you embarrassed?

First day of an advanced university-level sex ed class.Based on a post by smalltitslovr, in 4 parts. Listen to the ► Podcast at Steamy Stories.Hi! My name is Samantha. I’m a 25 year old college graduate. I am about 5’ 3", and I’m a very petite girl. I have black hair and blue eyes. My tits are small-ish, but they look larger because of my small figure (a 32 b chest looks more voluptuous than a 38 b does.) My ass is average. But nice and tight, because I work out quite a bit.Today, I’d like to tell you about a class I took in second semester of my sophomore year of college: Advanced Sexual Education. Here’s the description from the course catalog: I attended a private research university, in southern California.Human Sexuality 3O1.“Everyone takes a sex-ed class in high school that goes over the basics. That class should have covered the basics of each gender’s biological systems, and the reproduction system as a whole. This class goes beyond that basic overview, and provides an in-depth study of the sexuality of human beings. The course will include discussions, demos, and lab projects. Students must be 18+ years of age.”I really felt I needed to take this class. You see, at my high school, we had a one-week version of the sex-ed class, and I had been sick for the last 3 days that week. Although I had picked up many things since then, I was never quite sure what I missed, and felt that I might be missing something important. I thought this might be a good opportunity to fill in those pieces I had missed.I’d read the description of this class many times, and wondered what exactly it would entail. “Demos and lab projects” and “18+”. Those two pieces of the description made me both scared and excited. Of course 18 years was the required age for consensual sex, in our state. Did that mean that we were going to be having sex in the class? Surely we couldn’t be required to have sex. That would be illegal. Wouldn’t it? Our university did have a few prodigy kids on campus, who were still under-age. They were banned from signing up, or even auditing the sessions. There was no online option, either.After thinking on it for about 3 weeks straight, I decided I would sign up.First Day.The first day of the class finally arrived. I’d been anticipating it since the moment I’d signed up. I’d thought about backing out several times, but reconsidered each time.I’d dressed in a tight, white t-shirt with a decal, blue jean shorts with a white belt, and flip-flops.I arrived at my classroom at 7:55; 5 minutes early. It was a very early class. I didn’t see many people on campus on the way there. The class was in the basement of the psychology building. I’d never been down there before. I’d heard that’s where some psych studies were held, and a few classes. It was tucked away in a corner of the building where nobody would stumble into it by accident.As I walked in, I noticed several people sitting in seats around the room. There was roughly an even mix of males to females. I found a seat in the second row, and pulled out my phone and checked social media, as I waited nervously for class to start. As I waited, I noticed most of the people in the room seemed a little nervous. Many were looking around, and a few seemed like they wanted to get up and leave.Finally, the teacher arrived; 1 minute late.She was somewhat tall for a woman (maybe 5'10"), in her early 30s. She had blonde hair, put up in a bun. She had black rimmed glasses. On top, she wore a white blouse, which was unbuttoned down to just above her bra, revealing a lot of cleavage as well as quite a bit of her mid-sized sized breasts. Over that, she wore a bright red cardigan. She was also wearing a black skirt that came to about mid-thigh, showing off very long, tan legs. On her feet, she wore 1-inch, red heels, matching her cardigan.She walked to the table at the front of the classroom, and set her bag down on it. She pulled off her cardigan, draping it over the back of the chair, which revealed her slim figure. She reached into her bag, and took out some papers; presumably, her notes.“Hello class.” she said, once she was ready. “This is Advanced Sexual Education. If you are not here for Advanced Sexual Education, please leave. You’re in the wrong place.”I looked around. Nobody left. There were 12 guys, and 8 girls, including me. The seats were arranged in 4 rows of 5, with 10 seats wrapped around the outside of the room. Some of the chairs were emptyThe teacher looked around to make sure nobody was slow to stand, then continued. “Ok. I’ll introduce myself and go over some guidelines, then take roll. My name is Sharon Gladwell. You can call me Sharon. I’ve worked here at the university for about 5 years. This is my first year teaching. Normally, I do research for the psych department. My specialty is human sexuality and arousal. I’ve lead several studies on various topics including stimulation, bondage and exhibitionism.”Everyone in the class seemed stunned at how openly she talked about these “behind-doors” topics.“Now, some guidelines.” She pulled some papers out of her bag, and passed them out. “Here’s the syllabus. In there, you will find details on everything I am about to say. If, at any time, any of you feel you are not suited for this class, feel free to get up and leave. No harm, no foul."This class is designed with two goals in mind. Firstly, to educate you all on the details of human sexuality. We will study the specific of how the human body works; specifically, the similarities and differences between males and females. We will also examine how certain stimuli cause certain reactions. We will cover intercourse in detail, both traditional and non-traditional methods. We will cover fetishes of many varieties, pornography, body modification (as it relates to sexuality), and coercion."The second goal is to push your boundaries. Throughout the semester, we will have numerous demonstrations, as well as solo and group projects on the topics and concepts we are covering. By the end of this class, you should all be more open sexually, and you will have experience far beyond many of your peers, measured by both depth and breadth."There will be times during the semester when I ask you do to do things you may not be comfortable doing. You may, of course, opt out, but it will negatively affect your participation grade, which is 50% of this course. The other 50% is broken up into 35% out-of-class projects and homework, and 15% for the final multi-format exam."Any questions so far?” she asked. A few hands went up. “Yes?” she said, pointing to a girl in the third row.“You mentioned demonstrations,” replied the girl. “Are those going to involve guests? And how involved will they be?”Sharon smiled, and replied, “No, we will normally not have guests this semester, unless we are covering a special topic. The demos will be performed by each of you, as well as by myself. They will be very in-depth, and will usually involve grouping up to get a chance to observe the topic, and get hands-on experience. Hopefully that clarifies it. If not, it should become clear in a little bit, as we’ll be doing our first demo today.”“Oh; thanks; ” replied the girl, quite stunned, and a little confused.“Anyone else?” asked Sharon. A boy on the left side of the room held his hand up. She nodded to him.“So, when we group up, will we be grouping boy-boy or boy-girl?”, the boy asked.“Good question. For the start of the semester, we will form groups that include both genders. As each of you have the most experience with your own gender, you will need to study the other gender more thoroughly.” Then she counted out how many of each there were in the room. “I was planning on pairs; however, it looks like the numbers don’t quite work out for that. If we start with coed pairs, that’ll leave four extra boys. So we’ll have two groups of 3, with an extra boy in each, and two boys with me.”The boy grinned, “Thanks. That’s what I was hoping.”“I’m sure it was,” replied Sharon, with a bigger grin. “Any other questions?” There weren’t any. “Alright then. We’ll move on to roll-call. Some days, including today, I’ll give you a question for the day. When I call your name, you will stand, answer the given question, and strip off your clothes. Normally, you will remove all of your clothing, but since it’s the first day, you’ll only be required to remove two articles of clothing. Shoes, socks, and jackets do not count.”That got everyone’s attention. There was no mention before that anyone would be stripping. It was implied, due to the fact that hands-on demos would probably require nudity, but this confirmed it.“Today’s question is an introduction,” Sharon said. “You’ll state your name, age, where you’re from, and whether or not you are a virgin. We’ll start with me. As I said before, my name is Sharon. I’m 32, and I’m from San Francisco. As I’m sure you have all guessed, I am not a virgin.”With that said, she unbuttoned her blouse and removed it, placing it on the desk. Underneath, she had a sexy white bra, with black lace accents. Next, she unzipped the side of her skirt, and slipped it down her long legs, revealing a matching g-string.Now that her clothing was removed, I got my first good look at her body. She was slim, in a fit kind of way; she definitely worked out regularly. Her legs seemed to be miles long. She had one noticeable tattoo: some sort of tribal pattern, wrapping around the bottom of her tits. She was very tan; she must sun bathe quite a bit.“Now your turn. First up, Tony Baker”A boy on the right side of the room stood up and introduced himself. “Hi I’m Tony Baker. I’m 19, and I’m from Texas. I am not a virgin.” He pulled his shirt over his head. He had a tan body, with six-pack abs. Next, he pulled off his shoes and socks, then pulled his pants off, revealing a pair of red boxer briefs, which were tented slightly. Apparently I wasn’t the only one who found Ms. Gladwell attractive.“Nice to meet you Tony. You may take your seat. Next up, Mindy Hayes”She proceeded to call out each student’s name. About half-way through, she called “Christina McCoy”Christina stood, and said, “I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can do this.” She grabbed her bag and quickly walked out of the classroom.“No worries” said Ms. Sharon. “Would anyone else like to leave?” At that, a terrified white boy also left.She continued down the list, and nobody else left. Each student stood, said their name, age, and virginity status, and stripped off their shirts and their bottoms.Here’s a summary:·         Mindy Hayes - 19 year old white girl from Boston. Virgin. Wearing pale blue matching bra and panties.·         Alex Myers - 18 year old white boy from Ohio. Not a virgin. Wearing black boxer shorts.·         Dave Evans - 24 year old white boy from Georgia. Virgin. Red boxer briefs.·         Darrell Wade - 23 year old white boy from Louisiana. Not a virgin. Grey boxer briefs.·         Latoya Gilbert - 21 year old black girl from Chicago. Not a virgin. Red bra and panties.·         Filipe Allen - 24 year old Portuguese boy from San Francisco. Not a virgin. Red boxers.·         Eric Ramirez - 22 year old Hispanic boy from San Diego. Virgin. Blue boxer briefs·         Ken Sharp - 21 year old white boy from Kansas. Virgin. Tighty whities·         Billy Daniels - 19 year old white boy from New York. Not a virgin. Black boxers·         Barbara Foster - 20 year old white girl from South Carolina. Not a virgin. Pink and black boy shorts, and a pink push-up bra·         Roberto Walters - 18 year old Hispanic boy from New York. Not a virgin. Black and white boxers.·         Irene Hunter - 21 year old white girl from Wisconsin. Not a virgin. Dark blue sports bra and matching panties.·         John Gibson - 19 year old white boy from Connecticut. Virgin. Black boxer briefs·         Amy Powell - 18 year old white girl from Maine. Virgin. Purple g-string and a white shelf bra·         Sofia Mendez - 18 year old Hispanic girl from Ohio. Not a Virgin. Green g-string and matching lacy bra·         Kent Doyle - 23 year old white boy from Colorado. Virgin. Bronco’s boxers (orange and blue)·         "And, last but not least, Samantha Rivera.“I stood up. I was shaking a little. I was quite nervous. I’d been somewhat of an exhibitionist before, and I’d been naked in front of people before, but not in this kind of setting. But the biggest thing that was getting to me was the anticipation. The whole time I watched people strip, I knew my turn was coming. I was also nervous because I had slightly less clothing than all the other girls."I’m Samantha. I’m 19, and I’m from Colorado. I am not a virgin.” I paused. “Um. Ms. Sharon; ”“Yes, Samantha, is there a problem?” she replied.“Er; .well; .I’m not wearing any undergarments. I usually don’t. They make me uncomfortable.”“Ah. An exhibitionist. I see. Well, it doesn’t make much difference. Everyone will be stripping completely, starting tomorrow. You’ll just have to do it a day early. If you’re uncomfortable with that, this class probably isn’t for you. Feel free to leave, if you’d like.”“Um. No, I’m okay.” I had a feeling she’d say something to that effect, but part of me was hoping she’d cut me some slack. Maybe let me keep my shorts? But, at the same time, I was also hoping that she wouldn’t. :)So, I proceeded to strip. First, I kicked off my flip-flops. Then I grabbed the bottom of my shirt, and slowly pulled it over my head. Everyone got a good look at my B-cup breasts, with my arms over my head. I dropped my shirt onto my bag, then continued. I undid my belt, then the button on my jean shorts, then the zipper. I hesitated for a moment, took a deep breath, then peeled my tight jean shorts off my naked body. As I did, I bent over, giving everyone behind me a good look at my ass and a small bit of my cunt. I picked my shorts up, and placed them on my bag. I smiled, and sat down, crossing my legs and my arms, which covered all the important bits.“Excellent, class. Now that introductions are out of the way, we’ll move on to our first topic: the human body. Today, we’ll be going over the non-genitals. You may ask: ‘what does that have to do with Sexual Education?’"Well, as we’ll find out several times throughout the semester, sexuality doesn’t require genitalia, or even nudity. An orgasm can be a achieved in other ways. For example, you can make someone cum just by massaging them in non-sexual places, although I doubt we’ll see that today."Now, let’s pair up for our first demo. First I’ll call out pairs, then we’ll see who is left."When I call your name, the girl should get up and move to the guy. First pair. Samantha, you’re with Tony.”I stood up, and walked to the right side of the classroom. Everyone watched me as I went and I felt like I had 100 eyes glued to various parts of my naked body, although it was really only 34. But that’s still a lot! I took an empty seat next to Tony.Sharon continued pairing every girl with a guy. When she was done, she said, “We have four guys left. Two will join me: John and Eric. The other two will join a pair of their choice.”The remaining two guys stood and approached Tony and I.Sharon laughed. “I see you are both attracted to the lovely Samantha and Tony here. Unfortunately, we won’t get to foursomes until later in the semester, so, since Alex got up quicker, he can join Samantha and Tony, and Filipe can join another group.”Filipe looked disappointed, but he walked away and joined another pair. Alex sat down in an empty chair on the other side of me.“Now, we’ll be covering back massages first. Each male stand behind your female, and rub her shoulders, neck, and back. Remember: no genitals today. For those groups with two guys, each can get one shoulder.”She then sat down in a chair, and Eric and John got behind her and started massaging her shoulders.I scooted my seat forward, while Alex and Tony stood and got behind me. They then gave me one of the best massages I’ve had in my life.After what seemed like an eternity of bliss, but was still much too short, we switched. I first massaged Alex, and then Tony.“Ok, class. That’s it for today.” said Sharon. “Class dismissed. Remember, be prepared to really get in deep with the material, starting tomorrow.”Everyone returned to their original seats, and started to dress. I quickly walked back over to my bag, put on my shorts and shirt, grabbed my bag, and left.The second day. Topic: exhibitionism.The next day, I arrived about 5 minutes early again. I was wearing a light-green t-shirt and tight blue jeans. I walked in, took a seat in the same spot, pulled out my phone, and looked at social media.A few minutes later, Ms. Sharon walked in.“Hello class.” she said, after placing her bag down on the table in the front of the room.“Today, we will be covering exhibitionism. I felt like it was an appropriate topic, given that many of you will have some strong feelings about stripping in front of your fellow students, most of which, are still strangers to you."But, before we start, I want to mention an opportunity for extra credit. As I said last class, I do a lot of work on sexuality research. A problem with this type of research is a lack of willing test subjects. If you’re interested, you may participate in any number of these throughout the semester, and I will bump your grade up by half a letter grade. For example a B would become a B+. In addition to the extra credit, most studies have a monetary incentive ranging from $50-$1000+ depending on the focus and intensity of the study. If you’re interested, let me know, and I’ll get you signed up for a study."Now, just like last class, I’ll call roll, and you will each stand, and strip completely. Every day from here on out, class will be conducted entirely without clothes, with very few exceptions. Also, I do not want to spend a ton of time on roll call every day, so, starting tomorrow, I will ask that each and every one of you is naked by the time class starts."Just like last class, you will also answer a question. However, today you’ll do that after stripping. The question is: how do you feel, given your indecency? Are you uncomfortable? Are you embarrassed?

Como se vive quando a guerra nos surpreende e acaba por entra na rotina? Como se explicam os estrondos a crianças pequenas? Conversa com João Pedro Fabião, um português que vive com a família no Dubai desde 2017.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today's episode is with two guests whom I met online, but who didn't know each other before we got together to record our episode.Both are involved in interesting projects that help others to learn. Both are bringing people together to learn more about their language and culture.Carla runs a weekly Italian reading group online, where she brings people together to discover Italian literature. At the same time, they have the opportunity to refine their language skills, give opinions, and understand more about the language through reading the books.Margarida runs a fortnightly Portuguese conversation group, primarily in Lisbon. Participants can develop their speaking skills, ask questions about the Portuguese language and culture, receive feedback on their writing, and make new friends.We discussed how each of the groups works, who would most benefit from each one, the value that comes from learning as part of a guided group, and at the end there's some advice for people who might feel anxious about signing up to new language practice groups.Here's the show notes page: https://www.englishwithkirsty.com/podcast/episode303

First day of an advanced university-level sex ed class.Based on a post by smalltitslovr, in 4 parts. Listen to the ► Podcast at Steamy Stories.Hi! My name is Samantha. I’m a 25 year old college graduate. I am about 5’ 3", and I’m a very petite girl. I have black hair and blue eyes. My tits are small-ish, but they look larger because of my small figure (a 32 b chest looks more voluptuous than a 38 b does.) My ass is average. But nice and tight, because I work out quite a bit.Today, I’d like to tell you about a class I took in second semester of my sophomore year of college: Advanced Sexual Education. Here’s the description from the course catalog: I attended a private research university, in southern California.Human Sexuality 3O1.“Everyone takes a sex-ed class in high school that goes over the basics. That class should have covered the basics of each gender’s biological systems, and the reproduction system as a whole. This class goes beyond that basic overview, and provides an in-depth study of the sexuality of human beings. The course will include discussions, demos, and lab projects. Students must be 18+ years of age.”I really felt I needed to take this class. You see, at my high school, we had a one-week version of the sex-ed class, and I had been sick for the last 3 days that week. Although I had picked up many things since then, I was never quite sure what I missed, and felt that I might be missing something important. I thought this might be a good opportunity to fill in those pieces I had missed.I’d read the description of this class many times, and wondered what exactly it would entail. “Demos and lab projects” and “18+”. Those two pieces of the description made me both scared and excited. Of course 18 years was the required age for consensual sex, in our state. Did that mean that we were going to be having sex in the class? Surely we couldn’t be required to have sex. That would be illegal. Wouldn’t it? Our university did have a few prodigy kids on campus, who were still under-age. They were banned from signing up, or even auditing the sessions. There was no online option, either.After thinking on it for about 3 weeks straight, I decided I would sign up.First Day.The first day of the class finally arrived. I’d been anticipating it since the moment I’d signed up. I’d thought about backing out several times, but reconsidered each time.I’d dressed in a tight, white t-shirt with a decal, blue jean shorts with a white belt, and flip-flops.I arrived at my classroom at 7:55; 5 minutes early. It was a very early class. I didn’t see many people on campus on the way there. The class was in the basement of the psychology building. I’d never been down there before. I’d heard that’s where some psych studies were held, and a few classes. It was tucked away in a corner of the building where nobody would stumble into it by accident.As I walked in, I noticed several people sitting in seats around the room. There was roughly an even mix of males to females. I found a seat in the second row, and pulled out my phone and checked social media, as I waited nervously for class to start. As I waited, I noticed most of the people in the room seemed a little nervous. Many were looking around, and a few seemed like they wanted to get up and leave.Finally, the teacher arrived; 1 minute late.She was somewhat tall for a woman (maybe 5'10"), in her early 30s. She had blonde hair, put up in a bun. She had black rimmed glasses. On top, she wore a white blouse, which was unbuttoned down to just above her bra, revealing a lot of cleavage as well as quite a bit of her mid-sized sized breasts. Over that, she wore a bright red cardigan. She was also wearing a black skirt that came to about mid-thigh, showing off very long, tan legs. On her feet, she wore 1-inch, red heels, matching her cardigan.She walked to the table at the front of the classroom, and set her bag down on it. She pulled off her cardigan, draping it over the back of the chair, which revealed her slim figure. She reached into her bag, and took out some papers; presumably, her notes.“Hello class.” she said, once she was ready. “This is Advanced Sexual Education. If you are not here for Advanced Sexual Education, please leave. You’re in the wrong place.”I looked around. Nobody left. There were 12 guys, and 8 girls, including me. The seats were arranged in 4 rows of 5, with 10 seats wrapped around the outside of the room. Some of the chairs were emptyThe teacher looked around to make sure nobody was slow to stand, then continued. “Ok. I’ll introduce myself and go over some guidelines, then take roll. My name is Sharon Gladwell. You can call me Sharon. I’ve worked here at the university for about 5 years. This is my first year teaching. Normally, I do research for the psych department. My specialty is human sexuality and arousal. I’ve lead several studies on various topics including stimulation, bondage and exhibitionism.”Everyone in the class seemed stunned at how openly she talked about these “behind-doors” topics.“Now, some guidelines.” She pulled some papers out of her bag, and passed them out. “Here’s the syllabus. In there, you will find details on everything I am about to say. If, at any time, any of you feel you are not suited for this class, feel free to get up and leave. No harm, no foul."This class is designed with two goals in mind. Firstly, to educate you all on the details of human sexuality. We will study the specific of how the human body works; specifically, the similarities and differences between males and females. We will also examine how certain stimuli cause certain reactions. We will cover intercourse in detail, both traditional and non-traditional methods. We will cover fetishes of many varieties, pornography, body modification (as it relates to sexuality), and coercion."The second goal is to push your boundaries. Throughout the semester, we will have numerous demonstrations, as well as solo and group projects on the topics and concepts we are covering. By the end of this class, you should all be more open sexually, and you will have experience far beyond many of your peers, measured by both depth and breadth."There will be times during the semester when I ask you do to do things you may not be comfortable doing. You may, of course, opt out, but it will negatively affect your participation grade, which is 50% of this course. The other 50% is broken up into 35% out-of-class projects and homework, and 15% for the final multi-format exam."Any questions so far?” she asked. A few hands went up. “Yes?” she said, pointing to a girl in the third row.“You mentioned demonstrations,” replied the girl. “Are those going to involve guests? And how involved will they be?”Sharon smiled, and replied, “No, we will normally not have guests this semester, unless we are covering a special topic. The demos will be performed by each of you, as well as by myself. They will be very in-depth, and will usually involve grouping up to get a chance to observe the topic, and get hands-on experience. Hopefully that clarifies it. If not, it should become clear in a little bit, as we’ll be doing our first demo today.”“Oh; thanks; ” replied the girl, quite stunned, and a little confused.“Anyone else?” asked Sharon. A boy on the left side of the room held his hand up. She nodded to him.“So, when we group up, will we be grouping boy-boy or boy-girl?”, the boy asked.“Good question. For the start of the semester, we will form groups that include both genders. As each of you have the most experience with your own gender, you will need to study the other gender more thoroughly.” Then she counted out how many of each there were in the room. “I was planning on pairs; however, it looks like the numbers don’t quite work out for that. If we start with coed pairs, that’ll leave four extra boys. So we’ll have two groups of 3, with an extra boy in each, and two boys with me.”The boy grinned, “Thanks. That’s what I was hoping.”“I’m sure it was,” replied Sharon, with a bigger grin. “Any other questions?” There weren’t any. “Alright then. We’ll move on to roll-call. Some days, including today, I’ll give you a question for the day. When I call your name, you will stand, answer the given question, and strip off your clothes. Normally, you will remove all of your clothing, but since it’s the first day, you’ll only be required to remove two articles of clothing. Shoes, socks, and jackets do not count.”That got everyone’s attention. There was no mention before that anyone would be stripping. It was implied, due to the fact that hands-on demos would probably require nudity, but this confirmed it.“Today’s question is an introduction,” Sharon said. “You’ll state your name, age, where you’re from, and whether or not you are a virgin. We’ll start with me. As I said before, my name is Sharon. I’m 32, and I’m from San Francisco. As I’m sure you have all guessed, I am not a virgin.”With that said, she unbuttoned her blouse and removed it, placing it on the desk. Underneath, she had a sexy white bra, with black lace accents. Next, she unzipped the side of her skirt, and slipped it down her long legs, revealing a matching g-string.Now that her clothing was removed, I got my first good look at her body. She was slim, in a fit kind of way; she definitely worked out regularly. Her legs seemed to be miles long. She had one noticeable tattoo: some sort of tribal pattern, wrapping around the bottom of her tits. She was very tan; she must sun bathe quite a bit.“Now your turn. First up, Tony Baker”A boy on the right side of the room stood up and introduced himself. “Hi I’m Tony Baker. I’m 19, and I’m from Texas. I am not a virgin.” He pulled his shirt over his head. He had a tan body, with six-pack abs. Next, he pulled off his shoes and socks, then pulled his pants off, revealing a pair of red boxer briefs, which were tented slightly. Apparently I wasn’t the only one who found Ms. Gladwell attractive.“Nice to meet you Tony. You may take your seat. Next up, Mindy Hayes”She proceeded to call out each student’s name. About half-way through, she called “Christina McCoy”Christina stood, and said, “I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can do this.” She grabbed her bag and quickly walked out of the classroom.“No worries” said Ms. Sharon. “Would anyone else like to leave?” At that, a terrified white boy also left.She continued down the list, and nobody else left. Each student stood, said their name, age, and virginity status, and stripped off their shirts and their bottoms.Here’s a summary:·         Mindy Hayes - 19 year old white girl from Boston. Virgin. Wearing pale blue matching bra and panties.·         Alex Myers - 18 year old white boy from Ohio. Not a virgin. Wearing black boxer shorts.·         Dave Evans - 24 year old white boy from Georgia. Virgin. Red boxer briefs.·         Darrell Wade - 23 year old white boy from Louisiana. Not a virgin. Grey boxer briefs.·         Latoya Gilbert - 21 year old black girl from Chicago. Not a virgin. Red bra and panties.·         Filipe Allen - 24 year old Portuguese boy from San Francisco. Not a virgin. Red boxers.·         Eric Ramirez - 22 year old Hispanic boy from San Diego. Virgin. Blue boxer briefs·         Ken Sharp - 21 year old white boy from Kansas. Virgin. Tighty whities·         Billy Daniels - 19 year old white boy from New York. Not a virgin. Black boxers·         Barbara Foster - 20 year old white girl from South Carolina. Not a virgin. Pink and black boy shorts, and a pink push-up bra·         Roberto Walters - 18 year old Hispanic boy from New York. Not a virgin. Black and white boxers.·         Irene Hunter - 21 year old white girl from Wisconsin. Not a virgin. Dark blue sports bra and matching panties.·         John Gibson - 19 year old white boy from Connecticut. Virgin. Black boxer briefs·         Amy Powell - 18 year old white girl from Maine. Virgin. Purple g-string and a white shelf bra·         Sofia Mendez - 18 year old Hispanic girl from Ohio. Not a Virgin. Green g-string and matching lacy bra·         Kent Doyle - 23 year old white boy from Colorado. Virgin. Bronco’s boxers (orange and blue)·         "And, last but not least, Samantha Rivera.“I stood up. I was shaking a little. I was quite nervous. I’d been somewhat of an exhibitionist before, and I’d been naked in front of people before, but not in this kind of setting. But the biggest thing that was getting to me was the anticipation. The whole time I watched people strip, I knew my turn was coming. I was also nervous because I had slightly less clothing than all the other girls."I’m Samantha. I’m 19, and I’m from Colorado. I am not a virgin.” I paused. “Um. Ms. Sharon; ”“Yes, Samantha, is there a problem?” she replied.“Er; .well; .I’m not wearing any undergarments. I usually don’t. They make me uncomfortable.”“Ah. An exhibitionist. I see. Well, it doesn’t make much difference. Everyone will be stripping completely, starting tomorrow. You’ll just have to do it a day early. If you’re uncomfortable with that, this class probably isn’t for you. Feel free to leave, if you’d like.”“Um. No, I’m okay.” I had a feeling she’d say something to that effect, but part of me was hoping she’d cut me some slack. Maybe let me keep my shorts? But, at the same time, I was also hoping that she wouldn’t. :)So, I proceeded to strip. First, I kicked off my flip-flops. Then I grabbed the bottom of my shirt, and slowly pulled it over my head. Everyone got a good look at my B-cup breasts, with my arms over my head. I dropped my shirt onto my bag, then continued. I undid my belt, then the button on my jean shorts, then the zipper. I hesitated for a moment, took a deep breath, then peeled my tight jean shorts off my naked body. As I did, I bent over, giving everyone behind me a good look at my ass and a small bit of my cunt. I picked my shorts up, and placed them on my bag. I smiled, and sat down, crossing my legs and my arms, which covered all the important bits.“Excellent, class. Now that introductions are out of the way, we’ll move on to our first topic: the human body. Today, we’ll be going over the non-genitals. You may ask: ‘what does that have to do with Sexual Education?’"Well, as we’ll find out several times throughout the semester, sexuality doesn’t require genitalia, or even nudity. An orgasm can be a achieved in other ways. For example, you can make someone cum just by massaging them in non-sexual places, although I doubt we’ll see that today."Now, let’s pair up for our first demo. First I’ll call out pairs, then we’ll see who is left."When I call your name, the girl should get up and move to the guy. First pair. Samantha, you’re with Tony.”I stood up, and walked to the right side of the classroom. Everyone watched me as I went and I felt like I had 100 eyes glued to various parts of my naked body, although it was really only 34. But that’s still a lot! I took an empty seat next to Tony.Sharon continued pairing every girl with a guy. When she was done, she said, “We have four guys left. Two will join me: John and Eric. The other two will join a pair of their choice.”The remaining two guys stood and approached Tony and I.Sharon laughed. “I see you are both attracted to the lovely Samantha and Tony here. Unfortunately, we won’t get to foursomes until later in the semester, so, since Alex got up quicker, he can join Samantha and Tony, and Filipe can join another group.”Filipe looked disappointed, but he walked away and joined another pair. Alex sat down in an empty chair on the other side of me.“Now, we’ll be covering back massages first. Each male stand behind your female, and rub her shoulders, neck, and back. Remember: no genitals today. For those groups with two guys, each can get one shoulder.”She then sat down in a chair, and Eric and John got behind her and started massaging her shoulders.I scooted my seat forward, while Alex and Tony stood and got behind me. They then gave me one of the best massages I’ve had in my life.After what seemed like an eternity of bliss, but was still much too short, we switched. I first massaged Alex, and then Tony.“Ok, class. That’s it for today.” said Sharon. “Class dismissed. Remember, be prepared to really get in deep with the material, starting tomorrow.”Everyone returned to their original seats, and started to dress. I quickly walked back over to my bag, put on my shorts and shirt, grabbed my bag, and left.The second day. Topic: exhibitionism.The next day, I arrived about 5 minutes early again. I was wearing a light-green t-shirt and tight blue jeans. I walked in, took a seat in the same spot, pulled out my phone, and looked at social media.A few minutes later, Ms. Sharon walked in.“Hello class.” she said, after placing her bag down on the table in the front of the room.“Today, we will be covering exhibitionism. I felt like it was an appropriate topic, given that many of you will have some strong feelings about stripping in front of your fellow students, most of which, are still strangers to you."But, before we start, I want to mention an opportunity for extra credit. As I said last class, I do a lot of work on sexuality research. A problem with this type of research is a lack of willing test subjects. If you’re interested, you may participate in any number of these throughout the semester, and I will bump your grade up by half a letter grade. For example a B would become a B+. In addition to the extra credit, most studies have a monetary incentive ranging from $50-$1000+ depending on the focus and intensity of the study. If you’re interested, let me know, and I’ll get you signed up for a study."Now, just like last class, I’ll call roll, and you will each stand, and strip completely. Every day from here on out, class will be conducted entirely without clothes, with very few exceptions. Also, I do not want to spend a ton of time on roll call every day, so, starting tomorrow, I will ask that each and every one of you is naked by the time class starts."Just like last class, you will also answer a question. However, today you’ll do that after stripping. The question is: how do you feel, given your indecency? Are you uncomfortable? Are you embarrassed?

Start Artist Song Time Album Year 0:02:02 Høly River Horizon 4:19 Day is Born 2025 0:06:40 Mediæval Bæbes 11 November 4:49 The Spinning Wheel 2025 0:11:56 Tenk Van Dool and Paul Sears Katie and Natalie[featuring Clara Belle Hembree] 5:33 Basal Ardor 2026 0:17:58 Ye Vagabonds The Flood 3:17 All Tied Together 2026 0:21:35 Songleikr Elden Melder 3:40 Fuglefolk 2026 0:25:53 Kwoon Swan 3:25 Unplugged from the Moon 2025 0:29:37 L’Antidote Desert Plant 6:12 L’Antidote 2025 0:36:13 Ão Me Condena 4:01 Malandra 2026 0:40:43 Karda Estra Andraiad 8:22 Eve 2001 0:49:18 Olivia Chaney Dark Eyed Sailor 5:06 Single 2026 Day is Born by Høly River favorite track Horizon From Richmond, VA, I was introduced to this exceptional duo via ProgArchives, in a “Best of 2025” members poll. This is folk with a bit of a spiritual twist, there is a feeling of ritualistic celebration of nature throughout. They toss in some banjo, trumpet, violin, and I think that is didgeridoo as well. Hypnotic. The Spinning Wheel by Mediæval Bæbes favorite track November Mediæval Bæbes have released these 12 tracks in honour of the twelve months of the year. As usual, they bring lush and gorgeous intertwining vocals and plenty of exotic instrumentation (just far too many to list, so you'll have to trust me). Every track is a masterwork, but choosing November as being representative of the release. Basal Ardor by Tenk Van Dool / Paul Sears favorite track Katie and Natalie The second outing from this duo, with Paul Sears on drums and percussion, and Tenk Van Dool on guitars, bass, mandolin, keyboard, and various synths. There are some guest vocals, as well as guests on guitars, bass, flute, and woodwinds. Experimental progressive heavily laced with jazz, and they've spiked it with a bit of psych as well. All Tied Together by Ye Vagabonds favorite track The Flood Led by the Mac Gloinn brothers, they bring lovely acoustic folk, blending their original lyrics with a traditional Irish folk sound (imagine smoky pubs and busking on street corners). The harmonies are simply gorgeous, and always at center. But the stories and their presentation are what is so captivating about this release. Instruments include what you might expect (guitars, fiddle, accordions), plus a few surprises along the way, like some synthesizer here and there. Fuglefolk by Songleikr favorite track Elden Melder This Nordic folk act has waited 10 years since their first release to bring us this second one. They lean heavily into traditional sound with their original material. Recorded live in studio, with their captivating vocal harmonies, the core band, plus a few guest musicians, makes this feel like a pagan village celebration. Unplugged From The Moon by Kwoon favorite track Swan Kwoon is French post-rock band led by Sandy Lavallart, here presenting material in a stripped down, acoustic setting. The material is hauntingly melancholic and contemplative. There is some electric guitar, keyboards, strings, and a female harmony on one of the tunes. Stark and lovely. L'Antidote “L'Antidote” 2025 From France, this world class trio combines cello, piano, and percussion, which sounds simple, but it's decidedly complex. Their music is a rich tapestry of world, folk, jazz, and classical. Prepare to be mesmerized. Favourite Track: Desert Plant (6:31) Malandra by Ão favorite track Me Condena Belgian artists Ão combine electronica, art pop, saudade, and alt Latin music into a tantalizing mélange. Honey-voiced lead singer Brenda Corijn sings in Portuguese and English, with the band providing guitars, electronics, and percussion. Altogether, it's an irresistably heady mix. Eve (2026 remaster) by Karda Estra favorite track Andraiad Multi-instrumentalist and composer Richard Wileman has issued this remastered release, and it is well worth revisiting, or perhaps, discovering for the first time. Inspired by the 1886 gothic novel “The Future Eve,” Richard blends chamber and progressive music expertly, using both electric and acoustic instrumentation. He has a signature delicacy to all of his works, they differ greatly, yet you hear his ear and his hand in each of them. Dark Eyed Sailor by Olivia Chaney Olivia Chaney has released this single, due to it's inclusion in the new Wuthering Heights film. Production is spare, featuring her lovely voice accompanied by harmonium. Superb.

Lev 27:14- Num 1:54, Mark 11:1-26, Ps 46:1-11, Pr 10:23

Today's story: When a Canadian producer pitched a TV adaptation of a gay hockey romance novel, major U.S. streamers hesitated. It was about a niche sport, featured explicit same-sex scenes, and was based on a romance novel. But a smaller Canadian platform took a chance on the story, and the series became a massive hit in Canada and around the world. Its success surprised everyone. But the clues to its success were there all along. Transcript & Exercises: https://plainenglish.com/843Get the full story and learning resources: https://plainenglish.com/843--Plain English helps you improve your English:Learn about the world and improve your EnglishClear, natural English at a speed you can understandNew stories every weekLearn even more at PlainEnglish.comMentioned in this episode:Hard words? No problemNever be confused by difficult words in Plain English again! See translations of the hardest words and phrases from English to your language. Each episode transcript includes built-in translations into Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, German, French, Italian, Japanese, Polish, and Turkish. Sign up for a free 14-day trial at PlainEnglish.com

On this week's episode of “Da” Podcast, Steve celebrates the 9 year anniversary of “Da” Podcast with his fellow Flying PorkChops Braden Herrington & Ben Fate. The Portugeek Alex Duarte also sits down with the guys as they talk about if WCW won the war, wrestling games, Elimination Chamber, favourite wrestlers, celebrities in social media & changing gimmicks. Then the guys are joined quickly by stand up comedian Joe Botelho for a few laughs. Brian Martins from the Portuguese Kids also makes an appearance as they all talk about slapstick comedy, Wrestlemania, injuries, and Portuguese themed wrestling. Finally Momma Braga makes an appearance as well as we continue to talk about Elimination Chamber and so much more! If you're looking for “Da” Podcast merchandise, and want to support the show directly, please visit http://tee.pub/lic/KrIMP441400 We have tees, hoodies, onesies, phone cases, pillows, mugs and more! If you're into wrestling collectables, autographs, comic books, action figures, sports cards and more, make sure to visit www.firstrow.ca and use promo code: DAPODCAST20 to receive 20% off! Looking for something new to read and also into video games? Please visit www.bossfightbooks.com for great books on classic video games! You can follow Steve on all the socials, @fingastylz Send your questions and comments to dapodcastdap@gmail.com

Lev 25:47-27:13, Mark 10:32-52, Ps 45:1-17, Pr 10:22

In the second episode of the year, our co-hosts Gabriel Hedengren (@ghedengren) and Javid Ibad (@javidibad) discuss instability in the Starmer Cabinet, the latest developments in Dutch government formation, and a snap election in Aragonia. They then recap the results of the Portuguese presidential election before previewing a competitive contest in Slovenia. Produced by Europe Elects. You can support this podcast and Europe Elects on our GoFundMe or by joining our Patreon. All proceeds go to improving our services. https://www.patreon.com/EuropeElects https://www.gofundme.com/f/europe-elects-empowering-european-citizens

Lev 24:1-25:46, Mark 10:13-31, Ps 44:9-26, Pr 10:20-21

Portuguese pilot Emi Carvalho got into hang gliding over a decade ago. Now living in Switzerland Emi is fully bi-wingual, and has instructed both hang gliding and paragliding. His passion these days is bivvy flying and depending on the weather will pick the kit that fits the mission, but more often than not the kit that fits the bill to have more fun is a short-pack hang glider. It's a bit heavier (similar to a light-weight paragliding tandem set up) and a bit more bulky, but you get to fly prone! In this fun talk Emi shares his expertise with short pack hang gliders, their development, and their application in adventure flying and bivvy trips.

Today on AirTalk: Netflix out of Warner Bros. bidding war — is Paramount taking over a done deal? (0:30) Does legal sports betting cost us all? (19:06) Food Friday: Natas Pastries is Sherman Oaks’ airport into Portuguese egg tarts, other baked goods (36:40) FilmWeek: ‘Scream 7,’ ‘Paul McCartney: Man on the Run,’ ‘Billy Preston: That’s the Way God Planned It,” and more! (51:47) Feature: A new documentary celebrates the legacy of musician Billy Preston (1:21:46) Visit www.preppi.com/LAist to receive a FREE Preppi Emergency Kit (with any purchase over $100) and be prepared for the next wildfire, earthquake or emergency

Episode 167: Homo-Hetero-Homo-Hetero is not what you think. We discuss a poem by Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa and discuss his heteronyms, which then led us into a discussion of homonyms, homographs, and other homos. Then, we were joined by one of the winners of the Rhyming & ROMPing on Route 66 poetry contest, Linda Rosenthal, who came in with her husband as they were traveling from Texas to their home in Michigan. It's a potpourri of poetic juice. You are welcome.

Pokemon Day 2026 is here! Celebrate the 30th anniversary of Pokemon with the Krewe by reliving the 25th anniversary of Pokemon! lol Digging deep in the vault to pull out a special Pokemon Day throwback to Season 1, Episode 3 of the podcast... where we have the WHOLE OG Krewe freshly hatched out of our podcast Pokemon egg!  ++++++ In this episode, the Krewe gathers to discuss the iconic Japanese media franchise, Pokémon! Celebrating its 25th anniversary this February, Pokémon is the highest grossing media franchise in the world! From its anime and games, to trading cards and mobile apps, Pokémon truly unites people from across the world. Tune in to this episode to hear the krewe discuss the history, major moments, and each krewe member's favorite Pokémon! ------ About the Krewe ------ The Krewe of Japan Podcast is a weekly episodic podcast sponsored by the Japan Society of New Orleans. Check them out every Friday afternoon around noon CST on Apple, Google, Spotify, Amazon, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.  Want to share your experiences with the Krewe? Or perhaps you have ideas for episodes, feedback, comments, or questions? Let the Krewe know by e-mail at kreweofjapanpodcast@gmail.com or on social media (Twitter: @kreweofjapan, Instagram: @kreweofjapanpodcast, Facebook: Krewe of Japan Podcast Page, TikTok: @kreweofjapanpodcast, LinkedIn: Krewe of Japan LinkedIn Page, Blue Sky Social: @kreweofjapan.bsky.social, & the Krewe of Japan Youtube Channel). Until next time, enjoy! ------ Support the Krewe! Offer Links for Affiliates ------ Use the referral links below & our promo code from the episode! Support your favorite NFL Team AND podcast! Shop NFLShop to gear up for football season! Zencastr Offer Link - Use my special link to save 30% off your 1st month of any Zencastr paid plan!  ------ Past KOJ Pokemon/Nintendo Episodes ------ The History of Nintendo ft. Matt Alt (S4E18) The Evolution of PokéMania ft Daniel Dockery [Part 2] (S4E3) The Evolution of PokéMania ft Daniel Dockery [Part 1] (S4E2) We Love Pokemon: Celebrating 25 Years (S1E3) Why Japan? ft. Matt Alt (S1E1) ------ JSNO Upcoming Events ------ JSNO Event Calendar Join JSNO Today!

NHK WORLD RADIO JAPAN - Portuguese News at 18:00 (JST), February 27

Wandering Works for Us PodcastDate: 28 February 2026Title: Portuguese with Anita da Silva: Overcoming Fear, Cultural Mistakes & Speaking with ConfidenceSummary of EpisodeIn this episode, we welcome Anita da Silva, an experienced online Portuguese teacher, to discuss the challenges of learning Portuguese as immigrants. We explore Anita's unique teaching methods that emphasize a relaxed and fun approach, the importance of building conversational skills from day one, and the cultural nuances that affect language learning. Our conversation also touches on the differences between European and Brazilian Portuguese, the role of grammar, and the use of language learning apps. In this engaging conversation, Anita shares her insights on language learning, particularly focusing on Portuguese. We cover cultural nuances, essential phrases for visitors, overcoming the fear of speaking, and inspiring stories from her teaching experiences. Anita also provides effective strategies for language learning, details her various courses, and explains the significance of the CIPL exam for residency in Portugal. We also talk about favorite Portuguese expressions, emphasizing the importance of consistency in language learning.Key Topics[00:25] Intro to Anita da Silva[03:50] What makes Anita's classes different for learnersChallenges of learning Portuguese as immigrants[06:30] Anita's unique teaching approach[07:50] Building confidence through small victories[08:45] The importance of conversational skills[09:45] Integrating culture with language learning[[12:50] Balancing grammar and speaking[15:20] Understanding variants of Portuguese[19:00] Cultural nuances[26:00] Building confidence in speaking[27:45] Journey to fluency–a success story[33:00] Anita's language courses[35:50]Where to find Anita: Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and her website: Portuguese with Anita[36:50] Preparing for CIPL[37:15] Favorite Portuguese expressionsImportant Links To follow all of our antics and adventures, please visit our social media pages and our website at wwforus.com! You can send us a message at any of these places, and feel free to email us at wandering@wwforus.comLike what we are doing? Buy us a gin and tonic and help us keep going!InstagramFacebookTiktokYouTubeLooking for a tour guide in Portugal? I have a whole list!Blog post for this episode: Thanks to Everyone who has been so supportive!Special thanks to all of you who have listened, subscribed, followed us on social media and just took the time to say hello and tell us how much you enjoy our podcast and blog. YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST!!RESOURCES & LINKSLooking to plan your next trip to Portugal? We can help! Check out our guides and Itineraries at wwforus.comFree Lisbon ItineraryPacking ListEssentials for every tripRenting a car in PortugalLooking for a tour guide in Portugal? I have a whole list!Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/wandering-works-for-us/donations

Learn the English expression "run out" (and listen until the end to hear what Jeff's first boss said he can *never* run out of...)Explore the full lesson & practice using today's expression: https://plainenglish.com/expressions/run-out--Plain English helps you improve your English:Learn about the world and improve your EnglishClear, natural English at a speed you can understandNew stories every weekLearn even more at PlainEnglish.comMentioned in this episode:Hard words? No problemNever be confused by difficult words in Plain English again! See translations of the hardest words and phrases from English to your language. Each episode transcript includes built-in translations into Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, German, French, Italian, Japanese, Polish, and Turkish. Sign up for a free 14-day trial at PlainEnglish.com

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This episode I am reading from Admir Serrano's book 'Nights on the Other Side: How I Discovered My Immortality' Nights on the Other Side” is a book that invites us to look at life from a different perspective: more lucid, more open, and less fearful. Admir describes out-of-body experiences with clarity, combining his personal testimony with scientific references. But above all, he conveys the sense that we are not alone and that we are something more than we believe. Bio I am a Brazilian-American researcher, writer and lecturer on paranormal phenomena such as out-of-body experiences (OBEs), near-death experiences (NDEs), deathbed visions (DBVs), after- death communication (ADC), reincarnation, mediumship and the afterlife. And an unabashed believer in our survival of physical death and the immortality of the spirit. My interest in these subjects was triggered after I began having spontaneous OBEs, back in the year 2000, and I wanted to understand the phenomenon. Since then, I have had hundreds of lucid and amazing experiences which have proven to me beyond a shadow of a doubt that we are immortal beings. Aware of the sadness that death of a loved one can cause – and I have experienced it myself – I have made it my life's mission to spread the notion that there is no death, that only the body dies, and since we are not our body, we survive death – unscathed. For my own edification regarding the dynamics of physical death, I have worked as a hospice volunteer providing spiritual support to terminally ill patients as they waited for their time to cross over to the other side of life. And this is what death is, a change of worlds, the end of one mode of living, the physical, to the beginning of a spiritual existence. I have bachelor's degrees in psychology and liberal studies, and a master's in theology. I am an avid reader with a broad interest in world and religious history, anthropology, geography, world affairs, and the humanities. I have written five books in my native Portuguese language on death, dying and the afterlife, and two in English on related topics. I write and lecture in both languages, as well as Spanish, the third language I speak. I live in Homestead, Florida, with my wife, two daughters and my lovely grandson. https://www.admirserrano.com/ https://www.pastliveshypnosis.co.uk/https://www.patreon.com/ourparanormalafterlifeMy book 'Verified Near Death Experiences' https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DXKRGDFP Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week I'm talking to Admir Serrano about his book 'Nights on the Other Side: How I Discovered My Immortality' Nights on the Other Side” is a book that invites us to look at life from a different perspective: more lucid, more open, and less fearful. Admir describes out-of-body experiences with clarity, combining his personal testimony with scientific references. But above all, he conveys the sense that we are not alone and that we are something more than we believe. Bio I am a Brazilian-American researcher, writer and lecturer on paranormal phenomena such as out-of-body experiences (OBEs), near-death experiences (NDEs), deathbed visions (DBVs), after- death communication (ADC), reincarnation, mediumship and the afterlife. And an unabashed believer in our survival of physical death and the immortality of the spirit. My interest in these subjects was triggered after I began having spontaneous OBEs, back in the year 2000, and I wanted to understand the phenomenon. Since then, I have had hundreds of lucid and amazing experiences which have proven to me beyond a shadow of a doubt that we are immortal beings. Aware of the sadness that death of a loved one can cause – and I have experienced it myself – I have made it my life's mission to spread the notion that there is no death, that only the body dies, and since we are not our body, we survive death – unscathed. For my own edification regarding the dynamics of physical death, I have worked as a hospice volunteer providing spiritual support to terminally ill patients as they waited for their time to cross over to the other side of life. And this is what death is, a change of worlds, the end of one mode of living, the physical, to the beginning of a spiritual existence. I have bachelor's degrees in psychology and liberal studies, and a master's in theology. I am an avid reader with a broad interest in world and religious history, anthropology, geography, world affairs, and the humanities. I have written five books in my native Portuguese language on death, dying and the afterlife, and two in English on related topics. I write and lecture in both languages, as well as Spanish, the third language I speak. I live in Homestead, Florida, with my wife, two daughters and my lovely grandson. https://www.admirserrano.com/ https://www.pastliveshypnosis.co.uk/https://www.patreon.com/ourparanormalafterlifeMy book 'Verified Near Death Experiences' https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DXKRGDFP Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.