Podcasts about pretend

'Tis the season for true crime chaos! Hosts Kristen Seavey from Murder, She Told, Javier Leiva from PRETEND, and Shaun from Sins & Survivors join forces to explore Christmas crimes gone horribly wrong. From a bath salts-fueled home decorator in suburban Ohio to a serial burglar stealing Robert De Niro's wrapped presents right from under his tree, these real-life Grinches prove that the holidays bring out the worst in some people. The hosts also dive into the disturbing case of postal workers who intercepted letters to Santa meant for underprivileged children...stealing laptops, iPads, and gift cards intended for kids in need. But the main event is a fresh-off-the-press case from Bangor, Maine. When a couple woke up to find a stranger sleeping on their couch surrounded by their unwrapped Christmas presents. Police body cam footage reveals just how terrifying this "funny" story really was.  Want to see the footage?  https://youtube.com/shorts/XOBl40Ky6Dc Murder, She Told:  https://www.murdershetold.com/episodes/bertha-cote-1 PRETEND: https://open.spotify.com/show/2vaCjR7UvlN9aTIzW6kNCo?si=6c96588b93d04eb3 Sins & Survivors: https://open.spotify.com/show/1W2swCx9LP38sFY06294pB?si=4b64a4ba692a4025 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tis the season for true crime chaos! Hosts Kristen Seavey from Murder, She Told, Javier Leiva from PRETEND, and Shaun from Sins & Survivors join forces to explore Christmas crimes gone horribly wrong. From a bath salts-fueled home decorator in suburban Ohio to a serial burglar stealing Robert De Niro's wrapped presents right from under his tree, these real-life Grinches prove that the holidays bring out the worst in some people. The hosts also dive into the disturbing case of postal workers who intercepted letters to Santa meant for underprivileged children...stealing laptops, iPads, and gift cards intended for kids in need. But the main event is a fresh-off-the-press case from Bangor, Maine. When a couple woke up to find a stranger sleeping on their couch surrounded by their unwrapped Christmas presents. Police body cam footage reveals just how terrifying this "funny" story really was. Follow Pretend and Sins and Survivors wherever you're listening now. Support the show: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.murdershetold.com/support⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@murdershetoldpodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ TikTok: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@murdershetold⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠/mstpodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠murdershetold.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ---- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's another unhinged episode of the Spitballers Podcast. From copyright caroling to a great round of What's the Difference. The laughs are sure to flow all the way through one of our best drafts ever… Things People Pretend to Like. This is an episode you don't want to miss! Re-brand Mondays with some comedy! Subscribe and tell your friends about another funny episode of The Spitballers Comedy Podcast!Connect with the Spitballers Comedy Podcast:Become an Official Spitwad: SpitballersPod.comFollow us on X: x.com/SpitballersPodFollow us on IG: Instagram.com/SpitballersPodSubscribe on YouTube: YouTube.com/Spitballers Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This bonus episode features Kim, a Patreon supporter who connected with the Matthew Fenner story...but not for the reasons you might expect. Kim's been through the criminal justice system herself. She was prosecuted, sentenced, and spent two years in jail. The conversation goes to some unexpected places. Kim discusses how small-town politics can impact a case in ways that seem backward. We talk about what jail was really like, why she now advocates for criminal justice reform, how the FBI got involved with her ex-husband's January 6th case, and how Word of Faith Fellowship's political connections might reach all the way to the White House. --- This is part of a new series of listener conversations about recent episodes. Want to be part of it? Support PRETEND on Patreon or PRETEND+ on Apple Podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For Patricia, the question isn't “Are UFOs real?” It's “What are they really doing?” Reverse Engineering The UFO Mindset - Class description: This isn't just another UFO course. It's a mental detonation device — designed to rewire how you see the skies, the world, and your place in it. Patricia Avant is a long-term civilian experiencer who began documenting UAPs in 2016 after witnessing four reddish-orange orbs hovering motionless in the sky. Over seven years, she has recorded more than 10,000 hours of footage through systematic skywatching. Patricia's images are extraordinary, and the videos are outstanding. Her work challenges popular assumptions shaped by media portrayals of UFOs as solid, metallic craft. Instead, many UAPs appear as transient lights, color-shifting forms, or objects that emerge briefly from camouflage-like states before disappearing. Avant's approach emphasizes method over belief, training attention to recognize recurring indicators such as color signatures, movement patterns, visibility transitions, and timing. After observing so many shapshifting stars, Patricia now questions what is really going on in the sky? And what exactly are UFOs / UAPs? After you see her images and videos you might ask more questions too. Class information: https://reverseengineeringtheufomindset.com/ *Image credit: Patricia Avant

Hi Everyone! I hope you're having a wonderful Holiday Season! Trial Lawyer and Author Steven Eichenblatt shares his powerful story of childhood abandonment, abuse, and resilience. His father vanished after being told to "Pretend They Are Dead" by a psychiatrist. This conversation is essential listening for anyone affected by childhood trauma. Listen to how Steven turned his pain into advocacy for children. To Contact Steven: www.stevenscotteichenblatt.comTo reach your host: www.lifecoachmaureen.com#childhoodtrauma #adandonmenttrauma #childabuse #memoirabouttrauma #emotionalhealing #trauma-informedpodcast #childadvocacy #guardianadlitem #steveneichenblatt #pretendtheyaredead #lifecoachmaureenBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/i-never-knew-ink-but-my-dog-did-by-lifecoach-maureen--5602763/support.

Join hosts Javier from Pretend, Kristen Seavey from Murder She Told, and Shaun from Sins and Survivors for a special holiday crossover episode where three true crime podcasters let their guard down and talk shop. Featured Guests: Kristen Seavey, host of Murder She Told https://open.spotify.com/show/0n9q2IMjGQyrHMMByvnA2H?si=5975eb73d4714d07 Shaun, host of Sins and Survivors https://open.spotify.com/show/1W2swCx9LP38sFY06294pB?si=05c3269c69b94a73 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Special bonus episode! Kristen is joined by fellow true crime podcasters Javier Leva from Pretend, and Shaun from Sins and Survivors for special "Podcasters on Podcasters" style crossover conversation where we let our guard down and talk shop. Follow Pretend and Sins and Survivors wherever you're listening now. Support the show: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.murdershetold.com/support⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@murdershetoldpodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ TikTok: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@murdershetold⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠/mstpodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠murdershetold.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ---- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Poet and educator Dorian Hairston encourages all writers—from his high school students to adults—to make their writing fresh and new.Dorian believes "if we can just find ways as artists to be interesting... we give ourselves a fighting chance at allowing love to blossom in our lives and surviving whatever we must."Keep your writing interesting with help from Dorian's favorite writing prompts. He uses these exercises in his own work as well as with students.About Dorian HairstonDorian Hairston is a poet, educator, and former college athlete from Lexington, KY. His first collection of poetry, Pretend the Ball is Named Jim Crow, explores the life and legacy of Josh Gibson, the greatest catcher to play the game of baseball. He is an Affrilachian Poet, and his work has appeared in Anthology of Appalachian Writers and Black Bone: 25 Years of the Affrilachian Poets. While he enjoys reading and writing poetry, what he loves most is cooking for his family, playing some good music, and dancing often.

The bizarre story of a Scottish man who, while walking home from a pub last year at night, encountered strange lights and an apparent non-human intelligent being on a golf course, is discussed. While the man was attempting to get a better look at the being and source of the lights, he received a cellphone call from his mother - or so he thought!Links/Sources:Me and My Family's experiences with Aliens. Scotland. : Alien_TheorySupport Extraterrestrial Reality/Quirk Zone on Patreon:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/c/Extraterrestrial_Reality⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Check out my YouTube channel:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Quirk Zone - YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Extraterrestrial Reality Book Recommendations:Link to ROSWELL: THE ULTIMATE COLD CASE: CLOSED: https://amzn.to/3O2loSILink to COMMUNION by Whitley Strieber: https://amzn.to/3xuPGqiLink to THE THREAT by David M. Jacobs: https://amzn.to/3Lk52njLink to TOP SECRET/MAJIC by Stanton Friedman: https://amzn.to/3xvidfvLink to NEED TO KNOW by Timothy Good:  https://amzn.to/3BNftfTLink to UFOS AND THE NATIONAL SECURITY STATE, VOLUME 1:  https://amzn.to/3xxJvlvLink to UFOS AND THE NATIONAL SECURITY STATE, VOLUME 2: https://amzn.to/3UhdQ1lLink to THE ALLAGASH ABDUCTIONS: https://amzn.to/3qNkLSgUFO CRASH RETRIEVALS by Leonard Stringfield: https://amzn.to/3RGEZKsFLYING SAUCERS FROM OUTER SPACE by Major Donald Keyhoe: https://amzn.to/3S7WkxvCAPTURED: THE BETTY AND BARNEY HILL UFO EXPERIENCE by Stanton Friedman and Kathleen Marden: https://amzn.to/3tKNVXn#ufos #aliens #vegas aliens #ufo podcast

The bizarre story of a Scottish man who, while walking home from a pub last year at night, encountered strange lights and an apparent non-human intelligent being on a golf course, is discussed. While the man was attempting to get a better look at the being and source of the lights, he received a cellphone call from his mother - or so he thought!Links/Sources:Me and My Family's experiences with Aliens. Scotland. : Alien_TheorySupport Extraterrestrial Reality/Quirk Zone on Patreon:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/c/Extraterrestrial_Reality⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Check out my YouTube channel:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Quirk Zone - YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Extraterrestrial Reality Book Recommendations:Link to ROSWELL: THE ULTIMATE COLD CASE: CLOSED: https://amzn.to/3O2loSILink to COMMUNION by Whitley Strieber: https://amzn.to/3xuPGqiLink to THE THREAT by David M. Jacobs: https://amzn.to/3Lk52njLink to TOP SECRET/MAJIC by Stanton Friedman: https://amzn.to/3xvidfvLink to NEED TO KNOW by Timothy Good:  https://amzn.to/3BNftfTLink to UFOS AND THE NATIONAL SECURITY STATE, VOLUME 1:  https://amzn.to/3xxJvlvLink to UFOS AND THE NATIONAL SECURITY STATE, VOLUME 2: https://amzn.to/3UhdQ1lLink to THE ALLAGASH ABDUCTIONS: https://amzn.to/3qNkLSgUFO CRASH RETRIEVALS by Leonard Stringfield: https://amzn.to/3RGEZKsFLYING SAUCERS FROM OUTER SPACE by Major Donald Keyhoe: https://amzn.to/3S7WkxvCAPTURED: THE BETTY AND BARNEY HILL UFO EXPERIENCE by Stanton Friedman and Kathleen Marden: https://amzn.to/3tKNVXn#ufos #aliens #vegas aliens #ufo podcast

Paul says in the last days people are going to be so evil and not care. It seems as if he is describing the world in 2025! He gives a long description of people and how empty their hearts are. Paul calls out deceitful men who prey on vulnerable women, gaining their confidence, only to take advantage of them in the end. He mentions two men by name that aren't found in scripture, Jannes and Jambres. These two men, according to the Talmud and tradition, are the two magicians that stood against Moses before pharaoh. They were able to recreate some of the plagues but not all of them and their sins were exposed in the end. You can pretend to play church and deceive many people, but your sin will find you out! And you aren't fooling God...He knows everything about you, including what is in your heart!

This week, Chad talks about shooting his newest comedy special over the weekend in Salt Lake City, Kelsey pays off her student loans, and they talk about a girl whose plastic surgery took a scary turn. Plus great listener emails, including someone who went through EMDR therapy and had a really positive experience from it. Write into pretendproblemspodcast@gmail.com with your dating and relationship advice questions and we'll answer them on the show! Subscribe to the podcast, and give it a 5-star rating and review to help the show move up the charts. Video for the episodes is on Kelsey’s YouTube channel! Join our Patreon: https://patreon.com/PretendProblems Watch the episodes and subscribe here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9UBPfi4B_j1Ua7xDOcyBnA See Kelsey on tour: https://punchup.live/kelseycook/tickets See Chad on tour: https://punchup.live/chaddaniels/tickets Watch Kelsey's special “Mark Your Territory” on YouTube: https://youtu.be/uYqWsDhWkkA?si=J9hgt5nKtMLxB1sj Watch Chad's special "Mixed Reviews" on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1kVr3zkz7E&t=663s Follow Kelsey on social media: @KelseyCookComedy Follow Chad on social media: @thatchaddaniels Theme Song cowritten by Matthew Facca and Alex Bent This episode is brought to you by Hims! To get simple, online access to personalized, affordable care for ED, Hair Loss, Weight Loss, and more, visit Hims.com/PRETEND. This episode is brought to you by EveryPlate! New customers can enjoy this special offer of only $1.99 a meal. Go to everyplate.com/podcast and use code PRETEND199 to get started.

Many weird holidays are observed on December 8, including National Pretend To Be A Time Traveler Day.

Wait up!—today's episode of God's Great Earth is bursting with adventure! Rich zooms off to FRANCE, where he got to see something pretty amazing, then fires up the Pretend-o-Matic for another mind-blowing chat with Samuel. OH! We also have a brand new segment today: SHOUTOUTS! And yup—your favorites are back: the WhatzIT, the Silly Minute, the Random Nature Fact, and loads of surprises.It's nonstop fun, faith, and imagination from start to finish!

装B（zhuāng bī）是一种人类行为，有两种意思：一种是以卖弄、做作获取虚荣心的自我满足甚至欺骗性质的行为，向别人表现出自己所缺少不具备的气质。另一种意思是指向别人假意掩饰自己的才能，却实际上给别人暗示，别人真上门求助，却毫不留情、不给予别人帮助（只是为了表现自己才能）。也有人为了避讳语言粗俗，用装13或装波伊来代替装B。那么你知道”装B“用英语怎么说？今天一起来学习一下吧。●01. Poser ['pəʊzə]Poser ['pəʊzə]这个单词有“装B的人”的意思，要是说某人“装B”我们可以这样表达：You are such a poser！你真装！●02. Show off这个词组的意思是“炫耀”、“卖弄”，譬如我们举个例子：There's no need to show off. Be nice!别装逼了，真诚点！●03. Camp矫揉造作的这个单词有“露营”，“野营”的意思，但是作为俚语使用的时候表示“矫揉造作的”，“忸怩作态的”意思！例子：You're so camp.你真的很装逼。●04. Pretend to be ...装成什么样子……（用来形容装具体的，譬如有钱，有才华，有颜……）…… 可以是Rich，clever，or anything！例子：Don't pretend to know what you don't know.不要不懂装懂。Don't pretend to be serious, I won't fall for it again!不要装正经，我不会再上当了！

When people debate terrorism, cartel violence, insurgency, or the so-called war on drugs, they usually argue morality — who is good, who is evil, who is defending civilization, who is poisoning it. But morality, for all its emotional voltage, explains almost nothing. What explains far more is power — who has it, who wants it, and who steps in when the official architecture of governance collapses or simply stops caring. The line between freedom fighter and terrorist, protector and predator, patriot and criminal, isn't drawn by ethics. It's drawn by legitimacy — and legitimacy is an asset backed not by universal truth but by narrative control.In this episode, we explore the three-layer structure that exists in every conflict zone, every “failed state,” and, increasingly, every major American city. There is the official government, the one on paper, the one with flags, seals, and press briefings. There is the shadow authority, the unofficial power that feeds the hungry, settles disputes, provides jobs and revenge and punishment. Then there is the outside force — the state that flies drones overhead, signs extradition orders, raids safe houses, or sends special operators to kick down doors at 3 AM and drag someone out as the neighbors silently watch through blinds.Overseas this looks like Marines patrolling Helmand, tribes negotiating in back rooms, and politicians promising order they cannot enforce. At home it looks like city councils, street crews, and federal task forces — each claiming jurisdiction, none fully in control. The actors change — militants, cartels, militias, gangs, extremist networks — but the logic doesn't. Wherever the state fails, someone else shows up with cash or guns. Often with both. And once people become reliant on the parallel system that pays them, protects them, or threatens them, the question of “who is the terrorist” depends entirely on who is holding the microphone that day.We also dismantle one of the most stubborn myths: that non-state actors are monsters operating outside the logic of community. They are not. They are community solutions — brutal, corrupt, violent solutions — but solutions to real needs that governments ignored or failed to address. The drug boss who funds funerals and buys school supplies is not benevolent. But he is present, and presence is power. The insurgent who promises justice through the barrel of a rifle may be wrong — but he is visible when the courthouse is closed and the state has barricaded itself behind armored glass.Meanwhile the state — whether American, British, Colombian, Nigerian, or otherwise — justifies its own violence by insisting its enemies are less legitimate, less human, less deserving of due process. A Hellfire missile operates with extraordinary precision; the story wrapped around it is far less precise. A speedboat blown up in international waters can be framed as a surgical strike — or the execution of civilians who chose the wrong employer. The semantics hide what the debris cannot.The question isn't whether these parallel power systems are good or bad — they are almost always both. The question is simpler and far more uncomfortable: If the state was delivering what people needed, would those systems exist at all? Or do they persist because the official promise of order, safety, and opportunity became a slogan instead of a contract?In this episode, we don't excuse the violence. We don't romanticize the outlaws. We don't exonerate the state. We simply acknowledge the ecosystem as it exists — not as we'd like to pretend it does.Because one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. One neighborhood's gang is another neighborhood's protection service. One nation's war on terror is another nation's foreign invasion. And when systems fail, the labels become weapons, the violence becomes currency, and the people caught in between learn quickly that survival is rarely ideological — it's transactional.

Welcome back to another episode of the unSeminary podcast. We're talking with Aaron Stanski, founder and CEO of Risepointe, a firm that partners with churches across the country to design and build facilities that amplify ministry impact. With more than 15 years of experience in church architecture, project management, and ministry leadership, Aaron and his team help churches navigate complex building challenges while staying focused on mission. Is your church facing growing pains—crowded lobbies, full parking lots, or overwhelmed kids' spaces—but unsure how to move forward? Aaron shares practical insights on how to approach facility planning strategically, align vision with budget, and avoid the costly mistakes that can slow down momentum. Overcoming the overwhelm. // When churches consider expansion or renovation, leaders often feel paralyzed by the process. Questions about cost, zoning, design, and disruption quickly pile up. Too often, churches jump straight to hiring an architect before defining their real needs. Instead, churches should first clarify what's working, what's broken, and what's next before anyone draws plans. Start with scope and budget. // The two guardrails of every successful project are scope (what you're building) and budget (what you can spend). Aaron warns that skipping this step often leads to beautiful drawings that churches can't afford. Risepointe begins with a Needs Analysis, an on-site deep dive into the church's DNA, culture, and challenges. The team listens to staff, studies how people use the building, and identifies bottlenecks—whether it's the children's hallway, lobby congestion, or limited parking. Only then do they define the right-size project and realistic cost range. The power of early engagement. // Most churches wait too long to start planning. Zoning approvals, fundraising, and construction all take longer than expected, especially in urban areas. Waiting too long forces rushed design work, unclear budgets, and lost ministry opportunities. You don't have to build everything at once. Start with a plan that captures the next few wins—like improving your lobby or kids' check-in—while preparing for long-term growth. Knowing when it's time. // Aaron says early warning signs include maxing out your primary service, overflowing kids' spaces, and parking lots at capacity. Many pastors misjudge space needs because they see the auditorium every Sunday but rarely experience the parking or early childhood chaos firsthand. Evaluating your entire Sunday experience—entry to exit—reveals where capacity problems really begin. Aligning buildings with ministry models. // Every church facility reflects a ministry philosophy—but those philosophies evolve. Where there used to be 40-year ministry cycles, now they are closer to 10 to 20. Churches shaped by the seeker-sensitive movement, for example, are now adapting to relational, community-driven models. Spaces that once emphasized rows and stages now need more environments for conversations, mentoring, and connection. A free resource for leaders. // To help churches begin the conversation, Aaron's team created a free guide called “10 Things to Get Right Before You Build.” The resource walks through key questions every church should answer before launching a building project—from clarifying vision and budget to preparing for change. You can download it and schedule a free consultation at risepointe.com/unseminary. To learn more about Risepointe's work helping churches align facilities with mission, visit risepointe.com/unseminary or follow Risepointe on Instagram for inspiration and project stories. Thank You for Tuning In! There are a lot of podcasts you could be tuning into today, but you chose unSeminary, and I'm grateful for that. If you enjoyed today's show, please share it by using the social media buttons you see at the left hand side of this page. Also, kindly consider taking the 60-seconds it takes to leave an honest review and rating for the podcast on iTunes, they're extremely helpful when it comes to the ranking of the show and you can bet that I read every single one of them personally! Lastly, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, to get automatic updates every time a new episode goes live! Thank You to This Episode’s Sponsor: Portable Church Your church is doing really well right now, and your leadership team is looking for solutions to keep momentum going! It could be time to start a new location. Maybe you have hesitated in the past few years, but you know it's time to step out in faith again and launch that next location. Portable Church has assembled a bundle of resources to help you leverage your growing momentum into a new location by sending a part of your congregation back to their neighborhood on Mission. This bundle of resources will give you a step-by-step plan to launch that new or next location, and a 5 minute readiness tool that will help you know your church is ready to do it! Click here to watch the free webinar “Launch a New Location in 150 Days or Less” and grab the bundle of resources for your church! Episode Transcript Rich Birch — Hey friends, welcome to the unSeminary podcast. I am so glad that you have decided to tune in. You know, across the country, we keep hearing about churches that are growing and we’re seeing swelling attendance and that’s good. Some of that is like a platinum problem though. It generates other issues that we have to think about. And so what what I did was pull on a friend of mine, Aaron Stanski, he’s the founder and CEO of Risepointe. He’s got 15 plus years of church design, leadership and project management and experience. Rich Birch — If you don’t know Risepointe, where have you been? You’re living under a rock. They’re church architects and designers. They have years of experience working with churches like yours, schools and nonprofits, and they offer a wide range wide variety of services, including architecture, interior design, graphic design, branding, and so much more. Aaron is, I like Aaron not just because he actually has got incredible skills. His team’s got incredible skills, but he really actually wants to help churches like you. And so Aaron, welcome to the show. So glad you’re here. Aaron Stanski — Yeah, I’m glad to be here, Rich. Rich Birch — It’s going to be good. Give give people, you’ve been on a couple of times… Aaron Stanski — Yeah. Rich Birch — …and but give us again, for folks that haven’t heard, the Aaron Stanski, you know, a couple bullet points. Aaron Stanski — Sure. Rich Birch — What did I miss? What do you want to fill in the picture? Aaron Stanski — Yeah. I mean, ah you know the quick story is grew up in ministry. My dad was a pastor growing up, planted a we planted a church in Boston when I was a kid. Went to school for engineering, worked for Harley Davidson Motorcycles, did big projects, project management and stuff for them for a while. And then felt called to ministry. Aaron Stanski — So left Harley Davidson, was on staff with Cru for a couple years doing college ministry before I jumped on staff at a fast growing multi-site church here in Chicago. So loved that, loved being part of that ministry team. And then, of course, we went through a big building project. So got to roll up my sleeves on the on the church staff side of things and hire architects and engineers and AV consultants and really kind of combine my my engineering mind and my ministry heart. And so absolutely love that process. And so, yeah, I’ve been helping churches now for the last 15, 16 years. It’s been an absolute blast. Rich Birch — So good. Well, the the kind of person I want to have in mind today, and so friends, if if you’re listening in, if this sounds a little bit like you, you’re going to want to pay close attention. So I’m thinking about that church, you know, the leader that looks around, they maybe have got, maybe they got two services. Rich Birch — They’re looking around and they’re seeing, ooh, they feel like maybe their growth ah is starting to create some pinch points. Maybe it’s in kids. Maybe it’s in adults. Maybe it’s their lobby. It’s they look around and they’re like, man, I just I feel like our facility might be holding us back a little bit. um And because I do bump into this in churches all the time. Aaron Stanski — Sure. Rich Birch — And there’s like, there can be like a certain amount of anxiety and fear around, gosh, when do I, what do I do? So when you talk to pastors, what do you know notice as one of the kind of most common point of confusion when it comes to starting or pulling the trigger, moving on with a building project, expansion project, try to improve things. Where are we getting this wrong? Aaron Stanski — Yeah. I mean, I think ah like one, the whole process itself can just be completely overwhelming. Rich Birch — Right. Aaron Stanski — Like immediately you’re confronted with, ah oh my goodness, like what’s the right solution? What is the, ah what is the town or the, you know, the jurisdiction going to allow us to do? What is this all going to cost? Where are we going to do church in the meantime if we’re having to fix this building or add on to it? Rich Birch — Yes, yes. Aaron Stanski — I mean, immediately all of these questions start to kind of well up and it can become ah really overwhelming for a lot of churches. Rich Birch — So good. So when when we step back, is there any one of those that you think in particular is like a piece of the puzzle that is the most kind of mysterious or is the most um confusing as as you that you bump into regularly with leaders? Aaron Stanski — I mean, I think the most confusing is probably like, what’s the right solution? Rich Birch — Okay. Yep. Aaron Stanski — A lot of times it’s a combination of like, you know, we feel like we’re out of space, so we have to add on. But if we do that, we’re going to have to modify what we already have. And what we have is old, or there’s some maintenance on it that we haven’t gotten around to. And like, what can we do in this space? And so actually the the right solution is is probably one of the most difficult things to kind of imagine for a lot of pastors. Rich Birch — Right. Aaron Stanski — And, you know, then right behind that is like. What’s it going to cost? Right. Rich Birch — Right. Aaron Stanski — I mean, you know, for the last four or five years, we’ve seen a lot of inflation. We’ve seen a lot of different things happening, like with pricing and stuff. And so what used to be a pretty easy calculation for us as churches now, it feels like it’s a lot foggier as far as like what what things are just going to cost. Rich Birch — Yeah. So I’ve heard church leaders at this this juncture, they start thinking like, okay, like we got to get an architect. Get me the architect, the the person that designed this building 25 years ago. Where are they? Are they still in business? And, you know, we start going down that road. I’m not even really sure what an architect does. Like, I obviously, you you draw things. But, like, help us understand what what is the piece of the puzzle that, like, an architect brings to the table. Aaron Stanski — Right. Rich Birch — And I know that’s, like, a subset of what you guys do. Pretend that I’m, like, super dumb because it’s probably not actually worry about pretending too much there. Explain what that is. What is that service? And is that actually what we need at this juncture? Is that the first question? Like, get the architect. Come in here. Explain that whole thing. Aaron Stanski — Yeah. I mean, well, I think we have to be careful. Sometimes hiring an architect is like picking up a hammer, right? And for a lot of architects who were, you know, traditionally trained and might have like one sort of, you know, viewpoint of the world. Like their job is to come in and draw something new um that’s going to sort of solve your problem. The challenge with that is a lot of times that architect is just looking for ah one type of solution, ah which is build you something new, add something on. Rich Birch — Right. Aaron Stanski — And they’re looking at it very narrowly through the lens of what the solution is going to be. Rich Birch — Oh, that’s good. Aaron Stanski — And a lot of times they’re not, you know, kind of able to kind of step back and take a look at strategically and say, okay, before we start drawing plans and blueprints and some of those sorts of things, let’s really talk about like what’s going really well at your church and how are we going to amplify what you’re already doing well? How are we going to add some, you know, some pieces around it? And then of course, how are we going to fix some of the big, you know, some of the bigger problems? Aaron Stanski — So an architect technically, right? I mean, it’s a licensed professional. Their job is to lead your organization through the process from the very beginning all the way through the stages of design. Their job is to make sure that the solution is aligned with your with who you are as an organization and your budget. And they’re supposed to help all the way through construction, making sure that it gets built the way that it was designed and and that it gets you know all the questions get answered and that it’s ultimately safe. Aaron Stanski — So that’s what an architect does. I think the I think the thing that we miss a little bit on the front end is in order for the architect to start, we really need kind of need to know what the scope of the work is and the budget first. Rich Birch — So good. Okay. Okay. Good. Aaron Stanski — If we don’t put those two guardrails on the left and the right-hand side, we’re really missing out. The left-hand side should be scope. The right-hand side should be budget. And we should nail those down before we get going into designing. Rich Birch — Okay. I want to unpack that because I know, I actually texted you recently. Friends, getting you behind the scenes a little bit. I had a friend of mine, they had done exactly what we talked about here. They were like, we went and hired an architect to help with this thing. And they came back with a ginormous number um that was like, I would say a factor, you know, three or four times what I thought. And what do I know? I don’t know anything. Rich Birch — And I actually think it was these guardrails where they went off off on it. They didn’t start with scope and budget. They started with, hey, here’s a problem, architect – solve it for us. And they came back with this, you know, very incredible initial drawing and all that. Rich Birch — Talk us through how do we nail down scope and budget from the beginning? Talk us through what does that look like? Aaron Stanski — Yeah, so I would say, ah you know, you want to find a ministry partner who’s going to come in and really kind of help ah flesh out some of those pieces, really understand what’s working well, what’s not working well, what’s missing, where do we have to clarify what it is that we’re doing in order so to sort of establish that. And and there’s ah there’s a lot of great partners out there who can help you do that. But you’re really looking for someone in the building/design/construction space who has experience who has a lot of experience, honestly, with churches and understands what it means to, you know, serve people who’ve been part of your church for 20, 30 years and keep them on mission and disciple them up, as well as welcoming people who are walking into your doors for the very first time. Aaron Stanski — So at Risepointe, we walk through a process called The Needs Analysis, where we get on site with, you know, a church for an entire day and understand their DNA and really understand what’s working and not working and stuff. And we start with that so that we can sketch out some ideas and some concepts and stuff around what is the what is the scope of work that’s going to solve the problem or fix the lid or add the seats that we need? And what’s the budget that we feel like God’s calling us to spend as a church in order to go do that? And we want to start with that before we jump into full architecture. Rich Birch — Okay, so sidebar question. Is it possible for someone to help us at this early kind of scoping phase without doing some sort of on-site? Like, can I just call an architect and say, hey, here’s the problem. I need to add a thousand seats. How much is that going to cost? And then they go away and come back with a number. Or, or you know, are is there, yeah, can they do that? Talk us through that. Aaron Stanski — Yeah. I mean, you can. I mean, you can call up Risepointe and I’ll get on the phone with you. The, and, but there’s going to be a range, right? Rich Birch — Okay. Aaron Stanski — And I can say like, Hey, here’s the last 10 churches that we’ve done a thousand seat auditoriums at… Rich Birch — Right. Aaron Stanski — …and here’s kind of the range and stuff. The problem with shortcutting to that is you miss a lot of things, right? Each jurisdiction is different, like how the civil engineering works, the parking requirements and stuff. Rich Birch — Right. Good. Yep. Aaron Stanski — And those really affect the budget. And so we want to understand those first. And the second thing is, I mean, every church that we work with is and incredibly unique in the people that they’re reaching, and the values that those people have and whether they’re de-churched or unchurched and and who they’re running into and and stuff. And so really kind of understanding that context is so important um before we jump into, you know, sort of solution. Aaron Stanski — But yeah, I mean, since we work with churches all over the country, I mean, if someone called me up, I could probably, I could probably put my thumb in the air and give them a ah swag on what that might cost. Rich Birch — Yeah. And I would, you know, it’s funny because I’ve, I’ve recommended people have asked me those kinds of questions and I always actually say exactly what, you know, where you led, which is like, you should call my friend Aaron and, but, but what you should do, get on the, do the like free call or whatever, get on the book a time. But I said, you really should do this Needs Analysis thing. Cause the project that you’re facing is always much larger than you think. Rich Birch — And I would rather people take time, invest the resources upfront and time, frankly, to slow down and say let’s actually understand the question we’re asking before we jump to answers, right? Like what because because we could get this thing wrong and actually that gets to this whole idea of how early is too early. My experience has been people wait too long before they engage with someone like you. They they get into like their third service, fourth service. They’re like, oh gosh, people aren’t going to the fifth service. Maybe we have to figure out how to get more space. Talk us about, you know, what mistakes do we make when we wait too long without engaging with someone like you? Aaron Stanski — Yeah. I mean, I’d say, you know, the thing to keep in mind is that you’re, if you’re the average church that reaches out to Risepointe, you’re somewhere between two and a half and three years away from having any sort of new space. Rich Birch — Wow. Wow. Okay. Aaron Stanski — And that’s on the short end. We have churches who are bringing new space online five years after they’ve reached out to us because they’re, they live in downtown areas… Rich Birch — Wow. Aaron Stanski — …very challenging jurisdictions and some things like that. Rich Birch — Yep. Aaron Stanski — And so when we’re thinking about when is the right time, I think, yeah, earlier is definitely better. But we have to be careful ah that we’re strategically spending dollars even on the front end, you know, so that we, you know, we’re getting out of it what we need. Aaron Stanski — As leaders, what questions are we asking that we need answers for in order to determine is it the right time to move forward with a building project? Is it a right time to launch a campus or go multi-site or some things like that? Aaron Stanski — If you wait too long, typically what happens is either we’re we’re rushing through the design process to kind of hit the capital campaign stuff and there’s budget misalignment. All of a sudden we thought it might be this, but now this is the actual budget for what it’s going to work. Aaron Stanski — And I think when that happens, there starts to be some vision confusion. You know, we’re looking at solutions that we kind of rushed through and it doesn’t feel like we really thought all of those things through. And so I think that’s another one. Aaron Stanski — And then I just think, you know, there’s there’s some missed ministry opportunities if if we kind of wait too long. I think a lot of times when we’re planning out, here’s the multiple phases of how we develop this campus and expand it. You know, we miss out on opportunities to go get some smaller things done sooner… Rich Birch — That’s good. Aaron Stanski — …capture momentum, you you know, fix the welcome center, like invest some dollars in something we know we’re not going to tear down, make it better for guests in a couple months. And we miss out on those things if we don’t have a bigger, more strategic plan. Rich Birch — Oh, that’s good. Yeah, kind of a step back and say, hey, how does this fit into where everything that’s going on? Rich Birch — What would be kind of double clicking on that? What would be some indicators internally that would say, hey, um you know, these things are happening. I should really reach out to Risepointe. What would be some of the things that you would see as telltale signs that it’s now a time to to kind of take this step? Aaron Stanski — Yeah. I mean, I think if we’re, you know, if we’re really pushing towards our, those max numbers at our primary service, I think that’s a, that’s definitely an early indicator. Aaron Stanski — A lot of churches just kind of reach out and say, Hey, okay, here’s, here’s kind of where we’re at. Here’s where the math is at. Like, can you look at this like from a, like how much kids area should we have? How much lobby space should we have? And we can run some quick math for them and say, Hey, you don’t have any other lids. You’re looking good. You, you probably have a few more years of growth in you. Aaron Stanski — So that would be one. You know i think if ah you know we’re starting to talk about ah adding a third or fourth service, it’s probably a little bit too late, but we should probably get on it sooner than later. Aaron Stanski — And then, you know, one of the, one of the other things too, is just kind of paying attention. It’s easy for us on Sundays to stand on the stage and look out and get a pretty good sense of, are there enough seats? Is there space for me here? And like, we look out and we see some empty chairs. Aaron Stanski — Keep in mind that when you’re coming in from the back of the auditorium, it’s a lot harder to see some of those empty chairs. Rich Birch — That’s good. Aaron Stanski — And so what is the percentage? But the other thing is the things that we’re not seeing when more when we’re on stage on Sunday is we’re not seeing the parking lot. We’re not seeing the early childhood wing that’s basically a it’s a it’s a disaster back there. There’s kids running around like crazy. Rich Birch — Yes. Yes. Aaron Stanski — And so even if we’re ah even if we have enough seats, like or we’re not at the 80 or 90 percent capacity to our primary service. We need to be looking out at some of these other areas and making sure that there’s not a lid somewhere else. Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s good. Yeah. In fact, I literally just last weekend said that to a church. I was, you know, I was doing a weekend visit where I was on site and all that stuff. And, and it, to me, it felt like the building, the parking, and the kids, and the main auditorium, they, or the adult auditorium, they just didn’t match. It was like they, the three were out of alignment. And I think they had enough kids, but you know, I don’t know. There was, it’s interesting how that can happen. And you know the lead pastor typically is seeing um only the adult room and not you know not anything else. Rich Birch — Early on, you know there’s my experience has been and projects that have been a part of that I would rather spend money as personally as a leader. I’m not saying, friends, if you’re listening in, that you need to necessarily do this. Rich Birch — I would rather spend money on the front end with a designer like you. Because because the joke I’ve made is it’s a lot cheaper to move walls on drawings than it is in in the real world. And I’ve that comes from pain of building stuff… Aaron Stanski — It’s true. Yeah. Rich Birch — …of building stuff, and then being literally I opened up a new facility and then stood there with a kids ministry person. And the kids ministry person was like, oh, I didn’t think it was going to look like this. I was like, oh my goodness, what what are you talking about? Aaron Stanski — Shoot. Rich Birch — Like, we just opened this new facility. Talk us through, like, what’s an investment on the front end to reach out to someone like you? Aaron Stanski — Sure. Rich Birch — How do you help churches see that hiring someone like you can actually save us resources in the long haul? Talk us through that. Aaron Stanski — Yeah. I mean, starting out at the beginning and getting really clear about where we’re going and how we’re going to get there, it really helps us, you know, cart and like make sure we don’t overbuild or underbuild. Rich Birch — That’s good. Aaron Stanski — It makes sure that like compared to all the other churches that we’re working with all over the country, that we’re in alignment with where the square footage is at and it’s aligned with how you do ministry locally, how you use these spaces seven days a week. Aaron Stanski — And so it’s it’s really making sure that we’re not overbuilding or underbuilding anywhere because that’s ah you know that’s a huge that’s a huge miss if we do that. And that’s probably one of the biggest cost savings. Aaron Stanski — The other thing is you know during you know during sort of that season of vision and master planning and when we’re talking to our folks about what God’s doing at the church and we’re telling stories of life change, like we’re really kind of laying out a vision for what God is calling us to do as a ministry. And people just naturally have questions around like, like, how is this going to help? And and how is this actually going to help us reach my lost coworker, my lost neighbor? Rich Birch — That’s good. Aaron Stanski — And, and so I think, you know, spending the time to do that, really translating sort of the mission and vision into physical space needs and producing some of those renderings that accompany that story. I mean, that’s just a really critical part. Rich Birch — Okay, so let’s double click on that. That’s that I feel like I have been caught in this situation where I get I get like, it’s the hammer and nail thing you you say. Like, I’m I’m pretty sure I know what the solution is. Aaron Stanski — Yeah. Rich Birch — Like, let’s go do this. And I like that what you’re saying is like, hey, we need to take a step back and like actually think through how does this fit in our vision and how’s that all? How do you actually do that? How do you help a leadership team discern what the problem is that they’re really needing to solve, or should be solving, rather than just let’s build a bigger box. Or, I know! We just need 25 new parking spots. Like how do we not jump too quickly to that? What’s that look like? Aaron Stanski — Yeah. I mean, it looks like, you know, spending time. Rich Birch — Good. And and, really getting to know them and what makes them unique. Like we have a fantastic set of tools that we use at Risepointe to like really talk about, you know, let’s talk about, uh, outside the walls, right? Like who, who are we called to reach? And, and what does it mean to do ministry in this place that God has uniquely put your church in the geographic area? Rich Birch — That’s good. Aaron Stanski — And let’s talk about the tension between this side of town and that side of town. And let’s, you know, let’s wrestle with, you know, some of those issues. And then let’s, and then let’s talk about like, like, man, who are we as a church on our best day? And what does it feel like when we’re like living up to our full potential? Aaron Stanski — And then we even get into some of the things around like, man, what are what are some of the strategic drivers? What’s driving more people hearing about Jesus? What’s working really well? What do you see as opportunities or things that where if you had the right leader or finances that you’d be able to you know, accomplish even more of your mission. Aaron Stanski — And so by starting there and then starting to work down towards, okay, where is your facility aligned with that with that exercise and where is it misaligned? Okay, let’s unpack that a little bit. And then without getting into ah the solution yet, I want to meet like individually with each you know ministry leader… Rich Birch — That’s good. Aaron Stanski — …talk about what how check-in works and all of those things. Rich Birch — That’s good. Aaron Stanski — And so it’s really sort of this almost like a 360 review of what’s happening between the mission and vision God’s given us, and how are our facilities helping or hindering that mission and vision. Aaron Stanski — And then it just comes down to budget. And so, okay, here are the possible solutions. Here’s what roughly what some of those things are going to cost. And then it’s going to the, going to God in prayer and saying, okay, what are you calling us to do? What are based on these options and trying to figure it out? Rich Birch — I want I want to come back to the budget question in a second. But I’ve I think I probably have stole this off you. I have said to multiple church leaders that like our buildings were built, there was like a philosophical underpinning of the the buildings that we were built with. There was a ministry model that they were built on. Aaron Stanski — Sure. Yeah. Rich Birch — And then there’s been a lag between when we made those decisions, we’ve we built them. Now we’ve been using them for X number of years. And our ministry model may no longer be the same as the building, or probably isn’t actually the same as when the building was built. Rich Birch — What’s your sense on how long that lag time is kind of between the, they they you know, we built something. If we built something more than 10 years ago, you know we probably want to readdress or look at our facilities afresh and say does this actually meet the needs of… Aaron Stanski — Sure. Rich Birch — Because I feel like so many of us are in like the the cramped shoes that just don’t quite fit they work but they don’t quite fitWhat do you think that lag time is? Aaron Stanski — Yeah. I mean, the lag time is getting shorter and shorter. Rich Birch — Okay. Aaron Stanski — It used to be, you know, it probably used to be 40 or 50 years… Rich Birch — Right. Aaron Stanski — …you know, without major ministry model shifts and stuff. Obviously, you know, Willow Creek, North Point, you know, coming onto of the scene in the in the late 90s and stuff really shifted. We have churches all the way up into the 2000s, even into the 2010s that sort of copied the model of the Willow Creeks and some of those things. And I think we’re seeing, you know, we’re seeing the model shifting a lot faster now. Rich Birch — Interesting. Aaron Stanski — I’d say, you know, you know, we’re probably in a faster 10 to 20 year cycle, something like that. But I think we’re coming out of the, you know, the, you know, that model of Willow Creek and North Point and stuff. And we’re, we’re moving into a new season. And it’s kind of exciting for us. Rich Birch — Yeah. Aaron Stanski — I mean, we get to, we get to sit on the front edge of all of that. Churches like in fantastic places, being creative, reaching, you know, people for Christ. And so it’s just interesting to kind of observe some of those things and, um and observe what’s working really well and, and where it we can improve, you know? Rich Birch — Yeah. You’re baiting me. What are those things that you’ve seen that have shifted? There’s got to be, or is that the magic? We got to call Aaron to find out. Aaron Stanski — No, you don’t have to call Aaron. No, I mean, the thing, I mean, like, you know, I heard someone share this with me recently, right? I mean, every Netflix account homepage is different for every person, all billion subscribers or whatever that they have. Rich Birch — Right. Aaron Stanski — They’re individually tailored to to those individuals. And I know that because when I had a bunch of seventh grade boys spend the night at my house, like my algorithm got so messed up on my Netflix account last weekend. Rich Birch — Love it. Love it. Aaron Stanski — But I think there is a shift away from you know some of the bigger, more institutional types of look and feel and trying to get down to, okay, how are we engaging one-on-one with people who are walking in and where they’re at. Rich Birch — That’s good. Aaron Stanski — How do we, you know, instead of preach a sermon at them, how do we hear their story? And what does it look like for us to hear their story in in various places, whether that’s a welcome center, whether that’s, ah you know, side by side in the pew, whether that’s in sort of a first steps class. And so there’s a shift on that side of things… Rich Birch — Yep. Yeah, that’s interesting. Aaron Stanski — …just like as we look at the next generation and how we engage and reach the next generation. Rich Birch — Okay, I want to loop back on the money question. So for folks that don’t know, a part of what I do is actually help churches with that. And don’t really talk about it publicly, but I do. And, you know, there is this interesting tension that churches often come to this. It’s like we think we’re different than our ourselves. Rich Birch — And that if I was going to go build a new house, I would have to start with, well, how much income do I have? And like, what can the, you know, what can the, you know, what what would the what would the bank give me from a mortgage point of view? Like I start with reality around my finances. But so many churches start with, let’s build this giant thing. And it’s totally disconnected from the from what we could actually afford to either raise or carry long-term. Rich Birch — How much variance can a church bring to a design? Like if they upfront are defining, Hey, like we can afford probably 5 million. I know I’ve got $35 million dollars in dreams or maybe not. That’s, that’s too crazy. I got $15 million dollars in dreams. Is it possible for me to, to actually get that into a tighter box? Help us understand how do we do that? How do we on the front end be realistic with our finances as we’re doing this design thing? Aaron Stanski — Yeah, I mean, I think we have to with open hands, we have to hold out the, you know, the dreams, the vision, you know, the stuff that God’s given us. And we have to prayerfully sort of go through that exercise and say, okay, ah but how much risk do I want to introduce into the organization, like via debt? Rich Birch — Right. Aaron Stanski — What what is God actually calling us to do with those things? And we have to be creative in how we and and how we get across the finish line. I think when I when I hear sometimes a senior pastor sharing with me his $35 million dollars vision, Rich… Rich Birch — Yes, yes, yes. Aaron Stanski — …what I immediately try to do is say, okay, talk to me about what it is about that $35 million dollar thing that’s resonating with you. Rich Birch — Oh, that’s good. That’s good. Aaron Stanski — And so even though he’s describing something that’s $35 million, dollars and as an architect, I might get really excited about drawing $35 million dollars worth of stuff. Rich Birch — Yes. Aaron Stanski — If he actually can’t afford it and can’t raise it, he’s actually not going to go do it. Rich Birch — Right. Aaron Stanski — So I need to go back to that vision and say, okay, what are the pieces in there that are from God, that are ah that are aligned with the mission that his church has and stuff? And I need to contextualize that. And then as an architect, as a designer, I have to turn around and say, okay, with my guardrails in place of budget and scope, how do I express those things… Rich Birch — That’s good. Aaron Stanski — …in the $5 million dollars that God has entrusted our church with? And so there’s going to be a lot of difficult decisions along the way. We’re going to have to prioritize some things. And some other things might have to go on the back burner. But that’s the process that we want to help churches walk through um to to get them to that point where they’re walking into a space for the first time and going, oh, man, this feels like us. Like this is this is who God wants us to be in our community. And I’m so excited about doing ministry in this new space. Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s good. So it’s it’s not, from what I hear you saying, it’s not unreasonable on the front end to be like, hey, we should actually bring, like, be clear on this is this is what we think we can actually raise. This is that what we think we can carry. We think we could do a project of X, whatever. And that needs to be early on in the discussion rather than we’re disappointed on the back end. Oh my goodness, we got this this big number and we don’t know what to do with it. Aaron Stanski — Yeah, I like to be doing it simultaneously. I like to be doing the Needs Analysis and working through, okay, here’s the eight different project options. You can relocate and spend $35 million. You can add on. You can you can do this. All right, here’s your here’s your four options, $10, $8, $6, $4 million dollars And at the same time, I like to encourage churches to like, okay, go talk to someone like yourself… Rich Birch — Yep. Aaron Stanski — …and say, okay, what do we think we could raise if we did a capital campaign? How much debt do we currently have? How do our elders feel about us you know borrowing some money if it if it makes a bigger impact on the project? Because if we can bring those two things together and pray through it and get clarity from God about what he’s asking us to do, then I can go ah help draw buildings and blueprints and things like that. Rich, you can help them raise some money and they and we can you know we can go through that process. Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s so good. Yeah, it’s great. And you know, my experience has been every one of those steps, friends, is, it’s a lot of work. It’s, it’s like a, it’s a faith ah stretching experience. There are late, late nights staring at the ceiling, but every one of those I’ve been a part of, literally 100% of them have been transformative in the life of the church. You know, when they, when you look back, you’re like, wow, that was an inflection point. I am so glad we went through that. It wasn’t this like we did that and I was like, man, that wasn’t such so good in the end. It was really was amazing. Rich Birch — Well, there’s a resource that you’ve provided. It’s called 10 Things to Get ah Right Before You Build. Talk to us about this resource and then and then where can where can we want to make sure people get this. Tell us tell us a little bit about this. Aaron Stanski — Yeah, I mean, like with, you know, church, hundreds of churches calling us, you know, every year, asking a lot of the questions that we’ve talked about today. Like we tried to distill down what are the most common things the churches are like, okay, pause real quick. I got to go do something real fast before we decide that we can sort of move forward. And so some of these things are what happens like while you’re talking to Risepointe and some of these things might be before. But I think it’s just kind of a helpful reminder and ah a thoughtful list to kind of work through. Aaron Stanski — And so if that’s helpful at all, or if that’s interesting at all, um you can just go to risepointe.com/unseminary. And a little ah little landing page will pop up there. There’s two things you can do on that page. The first one is to just give us your name and your email there and sign up and get that 10 things to download. Aaron Stanski — I also threw another button on there this morning in case you’re like, hey, that sounds great, but I’ve got I’ve got a specific question I have about our building. Or like, I actually really need to talk to you guys about what our options are. And so I put another button down there at the bottom. If you want to schedule a call with myself or one of our architects, we’d love to hop on the phone with you. No charge for that. 30 minutes. Just kind of talk through where you’re at, what some of your questions are and see if we might be able to help. So ah once again, that’s risepointe.com/unseminary. And you can get all that, all that stuff right there. Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s fantastic. That’s risepointe.com/unseminary. And friends, I’ve had multiple friends in ministry who have engaged with with Aaron across the entire spectrum. The like free 30 minute thing all the way up through, you know, the kind of full deal, help get a whole project out the door. And and just so happy with the work that Risepointe does. And just has been transformative for their churches. So you get a hearty endorsement from me. You really should do that. Again, that’s just risepointe.com/unseminary. You can pick this up. It is a helpful little PDF, and the schedule call is a great thing. Rich Birch — Well, Aaron, I appreciate you being here today. Aaron Stanski — Yeah. Rich Birch — If people want to track with you guys or if they’re anywhere else online, obviously risepointe.com. We want to send them to anywhere else online. We want to we want to send them to. Aaron Stanski — Yeah. I mean, you can always, uh, you know, follow us on the Insta or whatever you want to do there. Rich Birch — Nice. Love it. Aaron Stanski — If you’re into like, you know, cool pictures of like steel being erected, ah or, uh, kids ministry stuff or pictures and stuff, we’re trying to share a little bit more info there. But yeah, I mean, or just our website and, uh, yeah, stay connected. Rich Birch — That’s so good. Thanks for being here and have a good day, buddy. Aaron Stanski — All right, you too. Bye.

Thanksgiving came and went, and somehow all three of us survived… though some of us survived more deviled eggs than others. Let's jump in. Real Life  Steven kicked things off with the tale of a very boring Thanksgiving that was only made notable by the sheer volume of deviled eggs involved. When you commit to making 36 eggs—times two—you're basically catering your own side quest. After recovering, he cleansed his palate by watching Jurassic Park with his kid, which is exactly the kind of comfort cinema the holiday demands. Ben had a more people-filled holiday: his mom visited (hi Martha!) and there were Thanksgiving dinners with Matt (hi Matt!). Somewhere in between all the leftovers he squeezed in a rewatch of The Fifth Element, because sometimes the only thing better than turkey is multi-pass nostalgia. Devon reported the chillest Thanksgiving of the group—Friday, low-key, nothing dramatic. Except for a family friend making chicken parm the hard way, which is an important detail because Devon would absolutely like everyone to know there is an easier way. Also: the LEGO Enterprise-D has been purchased… and may or may not have arrived. We're waiting for the inaugural "swoosh test." Steven also tossed in that Devon watched Zootopia 2, which, according to Steven, is "about WW2." Take that claim as seriously as you should. Future or Now  Ben brought a blast from the productivity past with the return of Freeter—a tool for organizing workflows, command line scripts, projects, and basically your entire work brain. It's cross-platform and designed to gather everything you need into one tidy dashboard. He's excited; we're cautiously optimistic this isn't the start of another "Ben reorganizes his life using eight apps" arc. https://freeter.io/ Devon had nothing this week, which somehow felt on-brand after his aggressively uneventful Thanksgiving. Steven highlighted A Doggone Shame, a study looking at CBD use in over 47,000 dogs. The data shows it's mostly used on older pups with chronic conditions, and while long-term use seems linked to reduced aggression, it doesn't do much for other anxiety-related behaviors. Also interesting: owners in cannabis-friendly states were the most likely to try CBD with their dogs. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/11/251128050506.htm "Book Club" Next Week We'll be reading "Dark Air" by Lincoln Michel — a speculative piece published in Granta. https://granta.com/dark-air/ This Week We dove into "Welcome to the Medical Clinic at the Interplanetary Relay Station" by Caroline M. Yoachim, a choose-your-own-adventure-style story where your choices matter… except they don't. The story reminds you that in the clinic—just like real life—your decisions, your path, your careful strategizing… often end up being meaningless in the grand scheme of things. But weirdly, it's fun! We all really enjoyed it. https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/welcome-to-the-medical-clinic-at-the-interplanetary-relay-station/ Stranger Things 5 bonus chat We wrapped with a quick chat about Stranger Things Season 5. Steven and Devon have watched a few episodes, and the question came up: Can a modern streaming show realistically handle actors aging when production takes years between seasons? Do you lean into it? Write around it? Pretend nothing happened? Pretend it's Zootopia 2: The WW2 Years? Hard to say.

In four powerful reminders from Orchos Tzaddikim, Rabbi Wolbe teaches us how to live every single day with awe, humility, and unstoppable growth:Stay in your lane of wonder Remember you are lower than the angels yet infinitely higher than animals. Hashem made you master of the entire physical world — fruit, fish, birds, beasts — and then revealed His deepest secrets to you in the Torah. The only proper response is to walk through life like a humbled servant who has just been crowned king: “How grateful one must be for all of this!”Grow so slowly the Yetzer Hara doesn't even notice The secret to permanent change is tiny, tiny habits. Rabbi Wolbe shares his grandfather's Yom Kippur War story: the IDF flew the plane just inches above the sand to stay under Egyptian radar. “That's how we grow,” he says. If you announce “I'll never speak lashon hara again!” the yetzer hara shoots you down instantly. But if you quietly commit to never switching on one unnecessary light on Shabbos — a tiny blip — the yetzer hara thinks it's just a bird. Once that tiny mitzvah becomes part of your DNA, the ground beneath you rises, the radar rises with it, and suddenly you're flying high without ever having triggered the alarm. “Small step → habit → new you → higher radar → next small step.” Quotable gem: “The yetzer hara has perfect radar for big declarations… but it completely misses the guy crawling under the fence with one tiny improvement.”Invest in real friends (without an agenda) Always do good for others exactly the way you wish they would do good for you — but do it because it's right, not because you'll have a side benefit that they love you back. Rabbi Wolbe contrasts this with a famous self-help book on “how to win friends” that left him disgusted: “That book teaches how to kiss up so people will kiss up to you. That's networking, not friendship.” True brotherhood is loving them for their sake, not yours. “Reveal your deepest secrets only to one in a thousand… but give your kindness to everyone.”Fall in love with the world every single morning Because we see sunrises, rain, flowers, and stars every day, we stop being amazed — and that is the greatest tragedy. Orchos Tzaddikim demands we live as if we were blind from birth and today, for the first time, our eyes opened. “Pretend you just landed from Mars and you've never seen a tulip, a thunderstorm, or a Texas sunset — then look!” Rabbi Wolbe confesses he was “a little selfish” this Shabbos and bought his wife tulips because he personally finds them breathtaking. His plea: “Pull over on the side of the road when you see that sunset. It's Hashem's personal love note to you right now. Don't get used to miracles.”Recorded at TORCH Centre in the Levin Family Studios (B) to a live audience on April 28, 2025, in Houston, Texas.Released as Podcast on December 2, 2025_____________This series on Orchos Tzadikim/Ways of the Righteous is produced in partnership with Hachzek.Join the revolution of daily Mussar study at hachzek.com.We are using the Treasure of Life edition of the Orchos Tzadikkim (Published by Feldheim)_____________Listen, Subscribe & Share: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jewish-inspiration-podcast-rabbi-aryeh-wolbe/id1476610783Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4r0KfjMzmCNQbiNaZBCSU7) to stay inspired! Share your questions at aw@torchweb.org or visit torchweb.org for more Torah content.  _____________About the Host:Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe, Director of TORCH in Houston, brings decades of Torah scholarship to guide listeners in applying Jewish wisdom to daily life.  To directly send your questions, comments, and feedback, please email: awolbe@torchweb.org_____________Support Our Mission:Our Mission is Connecting Jews & Judaism. Help us spread Judaism globally by sponsoring an episode at torchweb.org.Your support makes a HUGE difference!_____________Listen MoreOther podcasts by Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe: NEW!! Prayer Podcast: https://prayerpodcast.transistor.fm/episodesJewish Inspiration Podcast: https://inspiration.transistor.fm/episodesParsha Review Podcast: https://parsha.transistor.fm/episodesLiving Jewishly Podcast: https://jewishly.transistor.fm/episodesThinking Talmudist Podcast: https://talmud.transistor.fm/episodesUnboxing Judaism Podcast: https://unboxing.transistor.fm/episodesRabbi Aryeh Wolbe Podcast Collection: https://collection.transistor.fm/episodesFor a full listing of podcasts available by TORCH at http://podcast.torchweb.org_____________Keywords:#JewishInspiration, #Mussar, #MasterClass, #Remembrance, #Spiritual, #Journey, #Hashem, #Humility, #Gratitude, #Creation, #Genuine, #Friendships, #Brotherhood, #Awe, #DivineArtistry, #SmallSteps, #PersonalGrowth, #Mitzvahs, #Yetzirah, #EvilInclination, #DailyRoutine, #EverydayMiracles, #Familiarity, #DivineLove, #Magnificence, #Gratitude, #KingDavid, #Psalms, #Wonder ★ Support this podcast ★

In four powerful reminders from Orchos Tzaddikim, Rabbi Wolbe teaches us how to live every single day with awe, humility, and unstoppable growth:Stay in your lane of wonder Remember you are lower than the angels yet infinitely higher than animals. Hashem made you master of the entire physical world — fruit, fish, birds, beasts — and then revealed His deepest secrets to you in the Torah. The only proper response is to walk through life like a humbled servant who has just been crowned king: “How grateful one must be for all of this!”Grow so slowly the Yetzer Hara doesn't even notice The secret to permanent change is tiny, tiny habits. Rabbi Wolbe shares his grandfather's Yom Kippur War story: the IDF flew the plane just inches above the sand to stay under Egyptian radar. “That's how we grow,” he says. If you announce “I'll never speak lashon hara again!” the yetzer hara shoots you down instantly. But if you quietly commit to never switching on one unnecessary light on Shabbos — a tiny blip — the yetzer hara thinks it's just a bird. Once that tiny mitzvah becomes part of your DNA, the ground beneath you rises, the radar rises with it, and suddenly you're flying high without ever having triggered the alarm. “Small step → habit → new you → higher radar → next small step.” Quotable gem: “The yetzer hara has perfect radar for big declarations… but it completely misses the guy crawling under the fence with one tiny improvement.”Invest in real friends (without an agenda) Always do good for others exactly the way you wish they would do good for you — but do it because it's right, not because you'll have a side benefit that they love you back. Rabbi Wolbe contrasts this with a famous self-help book on “how to win friends” that left him disgusted: “That book teaches how to kiss up so people will kiss up to you. That's networking, not friendship.” True brotherhood is loving them for their sake, not yours. “Reveal your deepest secrets only to one in a thousand… but give your kindness to everyone.”Fall in love with the world every single morning Because we see sunrises, rain, flowers, and stars every day, we stop being amazed — and that is the greatest tragedy. Orchos Tzaddikim demands we live as if we were blind from birth and today, for the first time, our eyes opened. “Pretend you just landed from Mars and you've never seen a tulip, a thunderstorm, or a Texas sunset — then look!” Rabbi Wolbe confesses he was “a little selfish” this Shabbos and bought his wife tulips because he personally finds them breathtaking. His plea: “Pull over on the side of the road when you see that sunset. It's Hashem's personal love note to you right now. Don't get used to miracles.”Recorded at TORCH Centre in the Levin Family Studios (B) to a live audience on April 28, 2025, in Houston, Texas.Released as Podcast on December 2, 2025_____________This series on Orchos Tzadikim/Ways of the Righteous is produced in partnership with Hachzek.Join the revolution of daily Mussar study at hachzek.com.We are using the Treasure of Life edition of the Orchos Tzadikkim (Published by Feldheim)_____________Listen, Subscribe & Share: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jewish-inspiration-podcast-rabbi-aryeh-wolbe/id1476610783Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4r0KfjMzmCNQbiNaZBCSU7) to stay inspired! Share your questions at aw@torchweb.org or visit torchweb.org for more Torah content.  _____________About the Host:Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe, Director of TORCH in Houston, brings decades of Torah scholarship to guide listeners in applying Jewish wisdom to daily life.  To directly send your questions, comments, and feedback, please email: awolbe@torchweb.org_____________Support Our Mission:Our Mission is Connecting Jews & Judaism. Help us spread Judaism globally by sponsoring an episode at torchweb.org.Your support makes a HUGE difference!_____________Listen MoreOther podcasts by Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe: NEW!! Prayer Podcast: https://prayerpodcast.transistor.fm/episodesJewish Inspiration Podcast: https://inspiration.transistor.fm/episodesParsha Review Podcast: https://parsha.transistor.fm/episodesLiving Jewishly Podcast: https://jewishly.transistor.fm/episodesThinking Talmudist Podcast: https://talmud.transistor.fm/episodesUnboxing Judaism Podcast: https://unboxing.transistor.fm/episodesRabbi Aryeh Wolbe Podcast Collection: https://collection.transistor.fm/episodesFor a full listing of podcasts available by TORCH at http://podcast.torchweb.org_____________Keywords:#JewishInspiration, #Mussar, #MasterClass, #Remembrance, #Spiritual, #Journey, #Hashem, #Humility, #Gratitude, #Creation, #Genuine, #Friendships, #Brotherhood, #Awe, #DivineArtistry, #SmallSteps, #PersonalGrowth, #Mitzvahs, #Yetzirah, #EvilInclination, #DailyRoutine, #EverydayMiracles, #Familiarity, #DivineLove, #Magnificence, #Gratitude, #KingDavid, #Psalms, #Wonder ★ Support this podcast ★

Let us be good Stoics today and prove that we don't just talk about this philosophy—we live it.Feeding America | We donated the first $30,000 and would love your help in getting to our goal of $300,000—which would provide over 3 million meals for families across the country! Just head over to dailystoic.com/feeding—every dollar provides 10 meals, even a small donation makes a big difference.Resources Mentioned:- Action Against Hunger: https://www.actionagainsthunger.org/

America just slapped us with tariffs, cut aid and offered ‘evacuation plans' to a few Afrikaner white farmers, basically telling us we messed up. You might be asking yourself, what's up with this beef again between the US and SA? Last week, Trump posted on social media (Truth Social) that the US would bar South Africa from the next G20 Summit, hosted in Miami in 2026, a direct reaction to what he called Pretoria's mistreatment of white farmers, alleging “killing white people” and “human-rights abuses”. He followed that up with a suspension of US subsidies and financial aid to South Africa. The official statement from the South African government described Trump's post as “regrettable” and “not substantiated by fact,” rejecting claims that any group in SA is facing systemic “genocide.” In response, last night President Ramaphosa addressed the nation, calling the US move “punitive,” stressing SA's sovereignty and affirming SA's right to sit at the G20 “in its own name and right.” Relations that were already tense have now escalated into a near-full breakdown of diplomatic goodwill. Stacey and J Sbu were joined by renowned comedian Carvin H Goldstone to discuss this topic. If you missed it live, listen in!

Get a text about a purchase you made? Make sure it's legit, the bad guys are working double for their lumps of coal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hold on tight—today's episode of God's Great Earth is bursting with adventure!Rich zooms off to Vienna, Austria, where he witnesses something super cool, then fires up the Pretend-o-Matic for another mind-blowing chat with Samuel.And yup—your favorites are back: the WhatzIT, the Silly Minute, the Random Nature Fact, and loads of surprises.It's nonstop fun, faith, and imagination from start to finish!

Oh we had some drama out here, that's for sure, but I never want to PRETEND to be more enlightened than I am. This was a small excerpt from our weekly support call. You could be next to get my eyes on your problems ! Go to mamionami.com/safehouselive

Concentration is an important thing to maintain even in our modern world. Could you imagine taking cane strike after mace blow, while keeping a fundamental spell up for your entire parties survival?!? Pretend not, for it happens within. We decide to forego a long rest or any rest whatsoever in episode 84.   Thank you all for your hard work, previewing, and understanding. We cant D untill the IY works out. Because, to be honest, who else understands Y and I without D'ing. DIY   Have a magical adventure!

The Daily Shower Thoughts podcast is produced by Klassic Studios. [Promo] Check out the Daily Dad Jokes podcast here: https://dailydadjokespodcast.com/ [Promo] Like the soothing background music and Amalia's smooth calming voice? Then check out "Terra Vitae: A Daily Guided Meditation Podcast" here at our show page [Promo] The Daily Facts Podcast. Get smarter in less than 10 minutes a day. Pod links here Daily Facts website. [Promo] The Daily Life Pro Tips Podcast. Improve your life in less than 10 minutes a day. Pod links here Daily Life Pro Tips website. [Promo] Check out the Get Happy Headlines podcast by my friends, Stella and Mickey. It's a podcast dedicated to bringing you family friendly uplifting stories from around the world. Give it a listen, I know you will like it. Pod links here Get Happy Headlines website. Shower thoughts are sourced from reddit.com/r/showerthoughts Shower Thought credits: It_Is_Blue, lelorang, UwUmother, Damogran6, TargetOfPerpetuity, [deleted], Safe_Bullfrog870, WingedLuna, newherel, ende124, earth-ninja3, BigBlueTimeMachine, PacmanTheHitman, anonspace24, Dmdnje, kiwi_connoisseur, 4183937645294, shadow_black1809, CharlieMike111, , entrendre_entendre, weltallic, drrkorby, Javyev, bfjt4yt877rjrh4yry, Elluminated, Icantspll, NegativeSea5349, jovial_cynic_, jadeeyedcalico Podcast links: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3ZNciemLzVXc60uwnTRx2e Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/daily-shower-thoughts/id1634359309 Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/daily-dad-jokes/daily-shower-thoughts iHeart: https://iheart.com/podcast/99340139/ Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/a5a434e9-da18-46a7-a434-0437ec49e1d2/daily-shower-thoughts Website: https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/dailyshowerthoughts Social media links Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DailyShowerThoughtsPodcast/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/DailyShowerPod Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/DailyShowerThoughtsPodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dailyshowerthoughtspod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Anna's feature film work includes: Better Watch Out, The Pretend One, Christmas Ransom, Talk To Me, and Bring Her Back. Anna's television work includes: A Place To Call Home, Random and Whacky, Drop Dead Weird, and Street Smart.

This week, Chad and Kelsey head to NYC for a fancy event, Kelsey gets to go to an SNL taping, and they both go to a Vikings game. Plus, trivia and great listener questions! Write into pretendproblemspodcast@gmail.com with your dating and relationship advice questions and we'll answer them on the show! Subscribe to the podcast, and give it a 5-star rating and review to help the show move up the charts. Video for the episodes is on Kelsey’s YouTube channel! Join our Patreon: https://patreon.com/PretendProblems Watch the episodes and subscribe here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9UBPfi4B_j1Ua7xDOcyBnA See Kelsey on tour: https://punchup.live/kelseycook/tickets See Chad on tour: https://punchup.live/chaddaniels/tickets Watch Kelsey's special “Mark Your Territory” on YouTube: https://youtu.be/uYqWsDhWkkA?si=J9hgt5nKtMLxB1sj Watch Chad's special "Mixed Reviews" on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1kVr3zkz7E&t=663s Follow Kelsey on social media: @KelseyCookComedy Follow Chad on social media: @thatchaddaniels Theme Song cowritten by Matthew Facca and Alex Bent To get simple, online access to personalized, affordable care for ED, Hair Loss, Weight Loss, and more, visit Hims.com/PRETEND for your free online visit.

On PRETEND, we tell stories about people who build false identities and hide the truth in plain sight. This week, we are featuring a case that fits right into that world. It is the newest season of Dakota Spotlight, titled “Meanwhile in Mankato.” In 1965, an 18-year-old gas station attendant named Ray Dahm was murdered during an overnight shift at a rural Minnesota truck stop. The person who killed him was a clean-cut 17-year-old who looked harmless, the kind of kid no one would ever suspect. On the surface, it seemed simple. A robbery. A terrible act of violence. Case closed. But that was only the beginning. Reporter James Wolner later uncovered that the killer did not stay locked away for long. Within a few years, he was quietly back in the community, working around teenage girls who had no idea they were interacting with a convicted murderer. His past had been buried, ignored, or conveniently forgotten. “Meanwhile in Mankato” is a story about manipulation, vanished accountability, and the people who were left to carry the fallout of one man's lies. It is exactly the kind of story we look at on PRETEND, because it shows how someone can reinvent themselves while everyone else looks the other way. If you follow PRETEND, you will want to hear this one. It is sharp reporting, unsettling truth, and a reminder that the most dangerous story is often the one no one bothered to check. Subscribe to Dakota Spotlight on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3ZqpK6FfXIvS35TUYjckd6?si=fe79cf9a61264247 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're so fckn back

Get ready to travel to storyland on an old-fashioned hayride. A king called his three sons together, and gave the command that it's time they each marry. None are too…

In today's episode we draft things that we pretend to have an understanding of but don't, we talk about how Pops would be a great worker at Trader Joes, Danny tells the story of when he was fired from Orangetheory, we give our review on the movie Bugonia, answer lots of questions from the breadsticks, and more!! Be sure to tune in every Monday and Thursday for new episodes!

Are you ever going to text me?This episode is number 299.  That's a lot of episodes.Jason, Jim, and Joseph work their way through the best movies that take place in the woods.Get these MF'n snakes out of my MF'n bathroom!Sshhh! Pretend like you're asleep.Crime is the disease, and he's the cure.Joseph still has a neck injury from watching Hunger Games from the first row.Bear rape!Jim has a special set of skills.  He will impersonate anyone mentioned on the show.Jason and Joseph estimate their duration of living in the 1830s Canadian wilderness is less than fifteen minutes.Joseph refuses to dance like a monkey for Jason.Jason almost makes it to his 100th episode before getting his first pity vote.Will there ever be a "classic" podcast series?Which character used his sweat like Gillette?

Grab your Lip Smackers and your flat iron, because this week on RAM Pop Culture, we're cracking open our Teen Vogue archives and heading straight back to 2007. It's a full on glossy magazine sleepover as we rediscover the quizzes, cover girls, and chaos that defined an era. We take you through the “What Kind of Best Friend Are You?” quiz (are you a Selena, Blake, Zendaya, or Lindsay?), and of course play “Would You Rather: Teen Edition” We talk about the power of teen magazines in shaping our identities, political stances, and the performative perfection of the “It Girl,” and how every friendship in your teens felt like a cover story. From Juicy Couture tracksuits to the “Young Hollywood” issue, from Zac Efron prom fantasies to finding yourself in the MySpace age , it's our love letter to that formative, lip-gloss-sticky chapter of growing up. This magazine shaped us and Claire was even in it! Because at the end of the day… history is just gossip, especially when it's written in pink gel pen. RIP to a LEGENDARY magazine! Created and produced by Claire Donald and Tess Bellomo For more RAM, go ⁠here.⁠ Join our premium channel for 3 bonus eps a month ⁠here⁠ and save 15% when you buy annually! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Our Top 10 for today: #TheWaysWePretend

We all do it. Well, except for Annie, who doesn't care. And Brad, who cares about everything. Okay, Ryan does it. So what are we supposed to pretend to care about?

Lords: * John * Kevin * https://www.youtube.com/@kevin_hainline Topics: * Asking for help / Dealing with the slightest criticism/suggestions/etc * Roger Rabbit and Marvel vs. Capcom were big deals. How long until multiverse & crossover shit is exciting again? * Update on media that makes me feel things vs. media that doesn't * "Bell's Theorem"", a poem that I wrote, and then, at a poetry reading someone suggested the next poem and it demonstrated how good poets are pretty amazing and I am not a good poet * https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CkNH-KlDCAMRNsI6hDZjlyvOpAgM2TsP8x-lIp5TeqQ/edit?usp=sharing * We're in a golden age of new official localizations and rereleases of old games (and why am I not playing them?!) Microtopics: * Some guy on the internet. * Transparent aluminum ukuleles. * Hurting your fingers because your ukulele action is too high. * Do you still call them cowboy chords when you play them on a ukulele? * An astronomer making a series of Youtube videos about Jurassic Park. * The history of Mr. DNA. * How much kids in the early 90s loved Jamaicans. * Solving a 30 year old Internet mystery. * Suing Michael Crichton to make him put you in the Jurassic Park acknowledgements section. * The Ancient DNA Study Group. * Ian Malcolm just saying a bunch of lines from James Gleick's "Chaos." * Going into slow motion to show all the Victorian era pickpocketing. * Asking an august astronomer to critique your work and squirming as he critiques your work. * Therapy-style processing via Topic Lords. * People who like being asked for help because it gives them an opportunity to help. * The German word for being a person. * Being so overly polite that people feel obligated to reassure you that you don't need to be so polite, which is a big pain. * After someone helps you, asking for clarification on whether they wanted to help or if they felt obligated. * How to save Jim a lot of time and effort. * Two people coming from the same gross Internet soup. (Not 4chan) * The friends you made on the Pokey the Penguin mailing list. * Swearing to kids these days that the internet was good once. * Finding the exact right gif for your animated profile picture. * Pretend socialization: it's still socialization. * Knowing a guy by his Internet handle for decades and suddenly having to call him his birth name. * When crossovers started being a thing. * The Supreme Court ruling that corporations are people, saying the stage for the world depicted in Bio Freaks for the N64. * Daffy and Donald playing rival pianos. * Detective Munch's cameo in Fortnite. * Konami Wai Wai World. * Vib Ribbon n Astro Bot. * Why am I on this show when I could be playing Vib Ribbon? * Burning episodes of Topic Lords to CD-R so you can play them in Vib Ribbon. * Extremely pixelated vector art. * The save the cat moment on Topic Lords. * Mind-blowing crossover media events where the mind-blowing part is how much they paid all the lawyers to negotiate the deal. * Why the indie game scene hadn't produced a League of Extraordinary Gentlemen with public domain characters like Robin Hood, Santa Claus, Mickey Mouse and Abraham Lincoln. * Reagan-Gorbachev. * Which president was kidnapped by ninjas. * Choosing to let the ninjas keep Ronald Reagan. * Ape Out: Get Back In There! * Pushing the left stick to lean and pushing the triggers to lift either foot. * Trying to play a video game in which you dislike the protagonist. * A guy whose defining trait is that he tries to get out of every conversation as quickly as possible. * Playing with the mismatch between what the player wants and what the player character wants. * Upsetting the apple cart of how video games work. * A minimap that takes up the top fifth of the screen but is nonfunctional until you unlock it halfway through the game. * Which Jurassic Park video game is most interesting and which is most fun. * Looking down at your cleavage to see your health meter. * Saying the secret word and screaming real loud. * A poem based on a physics thing. * Forgetting your ex girlfriend's face, along with all the state capitals. * Time pointing an arrow at your back, and you walk. * The New Physicality of Long-Distance Love. * Sending a poet up on the spaceship to drain buckets from downtown. * A poem written sometime between 1936 and 1992. * Off-Topic Lords, a place for people who shout answers at podcasts in grocery stores. * A collection of Double Dragon and Kunio-kun games. * Kid Dracula. * Mother 3's copyright nightmare. * Mario Paint on the Switch 2. * Who was the Terry that Chris Houlihan replaced in Nintendo World Cup? * Satellaview games ported to the Switch. * Batman Loves Him a Parallelogram. * Joining the discord for the best PicoSteveMo experience. * KevinHainlineOnYoutube.com * Naming a distant galaxy after yourself and other astronomers mocking you mercilessly.

Alien abductions.Hundreds of people say it's happened to them.They're not looking for fame or attention.Some keep it a secret...haunted by memories they can't explain. In Day 3 of PRETEND's Halloween Marathon, we meet Dr. John Mack, a Pulitzer Prize–winning Harvard psychiatrist who risked his reputation to study these so-called abductees. Using hypnosis and relaxation techniques, Mack tried to uncover whether these encounters were dreams, delusions, or something far stranger. Why would a man of science devote his life to stories most people laugh off? And what if the people he studied weren't crazy at all? This episode is part of a larger series I produced on hypnosis. Check out the rest of the series. Season 8 of PRETEND: https://open.spotify.com/episode/05forE4OuW9zgsI9OZ7XHy?si=71eca84e0f5843ba Listen ad-free on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/collection/1813212 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it's Javier. Quick update: Meghan Walsh, the subject of my Cracks in the Fandom series, has filed copyright complaints on every major platform. As a result, Spotify and Patreon have temporarily taken down the series. My attorneys are already on it, and we expect everything to be restored soon. In the meantime, it's Halloween weekend — so let's have some fun. I'm bringing back some of my favorite spooky episodes from the PRETEND archives. Today's story? Real Vampires. Yeah, real ones. It's one of my all-time favorites, and honestly, there's no better time of year to revisit it. Stick around... I'll be dropping more eerie episodes all weekend long. For now, let's press play on The Real Vampires. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, Chad and Kelsey's Sleep Number bed arrives, Kelsey gets her ears pierced, and she visits the Field Museum in Chicago to see dinosaur fossils while reading Jurassic Park at the same time. Plus, trivia and some great listener emails including someone with Feng Shui questions, a psychic follow up, and someone looking for advice on grief. Write into pretendproblemspodcast@gmail.com with your dating and relationship advice questions and we'll answer them on the show! Subscribe to the podcast, and give it a 5-star rating and review to help the show move up the charts. Video for the episodes is on Kelsey’s YouTube channel! Join our Patreon: https://patreon.com/PretendProblems Watch the episodes and subscribe here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9UBPfi4B_j1Ua7xDOcyBnA See Kelsey on tour: https://punchup.live/kelseycook/tickets See Chad on tour: https://punchup.live/chaddaniels/tickets Watch Kelsey's special “Mark Your Territory” on YouTube: https://youtu.be/uYqWsDhWkkA?si=J9hgt5nKtMLxB1sj Watch Chad's special "Mixed Reviews" on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1kVr3zkz7E&t=663s Follow Kelsey on social media: @KelseyCookComedy Follow Chad on social media: @thatchaddaniels Theme Song cowritten by Matthew Facca and Alex Bent This episode is brought to you by Hims! To get simple, online access to personalized, affordable care for ED, Hair Loss, Weight Loss, and more, visit Hims.com/PRETEND. That’s Hims.com/PRETEND for your free online visit.

On this episode of The Pretend GM, I was joined by Tera Roberts to discuss her unique perspective on fantasy football and how she went from fan to analyst with such great success. #fantasyfootball #fantasyfootballpodcast Subscribe to the Podcast: - Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/footballguys-fantasy-football-show/id1615143637 - Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Vx0kjA5n4d4wdMspVmoKo?si=c7e15989ff8d4f48 Follow Alfredo Brown on Socials: - Twitter: https://x.com/AlfredoABrown - Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/alfredoabrown.bsky.social - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alfredoabrown/ #fantasy football #dynastyfootball

Cracks in the Fandom — Part 3 (Edited Copyright Cut)PRETEND: Stories about real people pretending to be someone they're not Michelle Ivey has been painted as the villain. Meghan Walsh calls her a stalker, a criminal, a threat to her life. She's warned not to contact her. But in this episode, I do just that. I talk to Michelle. And what I find is something very different from the unhinged boogeyman Meghan has described for years. What if Michelle isn't stalking anyone at all? What if she's just a fan? In Part 3, the story begins to fracture. Meghan's claims get louder. But her evidence starts to slip. And the people she says are targeting her… start to speak up. This is the extended version of the episode. If you're listening now on Patreon or Pretend+, I'd love to know what you think. Is this story about stalking, delusion, or something else entirely? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

0:00 Intro 0:07 Saved a life 3:15 Collection 4:45 Cat 6:21 Buried treasure 7:55 Pretend fired 9:34 Liar 11:43 LOL Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Michael Hamflett and Michael Sidgwick review NXT and discuss...New Number One Contender Crowned!Trick Williams Attacks Ricky Saints!More Zaruca Drama!The Hardyz Pretend To Help Young Guys But Really Are They Just Scooping Up Heat Yet Again (of course they are)?!@MSidgwick @MichaelHamflett Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Meghan Walsh says she is being stalked by three people. One of them is Law & Order: SVU star Mariska Hargitay. Sounds impossible, right? But she's not the only one saying it. In this episode, we meet Lauren. She claims to be the biological mother of Mariska's adopted daughter. Her story begins with a supposed secret adoption, and spirals into accusations of betrayal and abandonment. Lauren says the actress is not just stalking her, but working behind the scenes to silence anyone who challenges her. Meghan believes her. To her, Lauren is the missing piece that proves her own story is real. But the more we dig, the harder it becomes to separate truth from delusion. Is this the beginning of a deeper conspiracy? Or just another internet rabbit hole? This extended version includes additional narration and soundbites not available in the public edit. Let me know what you think of the series so far. Your feedback will help shape the final episodes before they go live in the main feed. All 4 Episodes Available now on Pretend+ and Patreon PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/pretendradio PRETEND+ on Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/channel/pretend/id6443456985 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nicole Kidman divorcing Keith Urban, Detroit Tigers down to their last game, Thomas Markle hoax, Chicago Bears coach Ben Johnson hates women, Corey Feldman on Jamie Kennedy's podcast, gross Tyreek Hill injury, and Aaron Imholte to jail. A brutal 8th inning destroyed the Detroit Tigers today and they'll face the Cleveland Guardians in a deciding Game 3 tomorrow. We were live on YouTube and you can still check it out. Videos: This dog is trained to respond to voices of The Beatles. FAMU has an ‘Ozempic' dance team. Cincinnati Bengals QB Joe Burrow's girlfriend got lost in a Paris airport and cried to the world about it. Pretend morning show host and Dabbleverse member Aaron Imholte is going to jail! Father of 7 by 5 women, Diddy is to be sentenced this Friday. He's facing up to 20 years in prison. Tyreek Hill jacked his knee and leg up on MNF. He's cooked. Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban split after 19 years together. There is a cocaine clause in the pre-nup that'll bring some serious dough to Urban. Megyn Kelly wants nothing to do with CBS. Shaq is NOT nailing Sophie Rain… according to Shaq. Some Kansas City Chief Karen stole a Patrick Mahomes headband from a child. Chicago Bears Ben Johnson was mean to Aditi Kinkhabwala according to the internet. The Cosby Show's Geoffrey Owens has ditched the cashier gig for a NYC restaurant host. We check in with the joint to chat with Owens. Thomas Markle was almost trapped in a Philippines earthquake. Wait… no he wasn't. Prince Harry can't make Meghan Markle happy. RIP Jane Goodall. Corey Feldman popped up on Jamie Kennedy's podcast. Lionel Richie used to call Michael Jackson “smelly”. If you'd like to help support the show… consider subscribing to our YouTube Channel, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter (Drew Lane, Marc Fellhauer, Trudi Daniels, Jim Bentley and BranDon).

[video available on spotify] it's 9pm right now, i'm in my pajamas and i'm getting tired. so let's pretend that we're having a sleepover. at tonight's sleepover, we're going to play truth or dare. eBay is the place for pre-loved and vintage fashion.  Shop SKIMS bras and underwear at skims.com/anything Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices