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Play Episode Listen Later Jul 16, 2026 47:53

This episode we are taking a quick break from our overall story of Uno no Sarara (aka Jito Tenno) and we are focusing on Ise Shrine and Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess. There is a lot, for a bit more, check out our podcast blogpost at: https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-153 Rough Transcript Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan. My name is Joshua, and this is Episode 153: Ise and the Sun Goddess. In the newly built hall of the Fujiwara Palace, the nobles of the court were gathered for a grand banquet. Snow-white walls were off-set by bright crimson pillars and trim, highlighted by bright green windows. The nobles themselves were a rainbow of colors, arranged as they were by rank. At the head of it all, on a dais, sat the Queen herself, Uno no Sarara. However, the attention was no longer on her. Instead, it was on another figure, standing in front of the assembled audience. A quiet spread throughout the hall, the court listening as Hieda no Are began to tell the story of the Sun Goddess in the Plain of High Heaven. They listened to the story of her and Susano'o, and of the backward flayed horse. They heard the tale of the Heavenly Rock Cave, and of all that came after, including the sending of the August Grandchild, Ninigi. They listened to the story—the story of Yamato. Last episode, we talked in more detail about Uno No Sarara—starting from her early years as the daughter of Naka no Ohoe, granddaughter of Soga no Kurayamada, and child-bride to her uncle, Ohoama. I'll admit we didn't look too hard at that last bit, and I don't have enough information to confirm what exactly "marriage" entailed in that context, but it is still something that I find tremendously creepy and, unfortunately, anything but unique. So I'm not going to dive too much further into it right now but… ew. We talked about how she gave birth to her son, Kusakabe, in Kyushu, during the war on the continent, and how she eventually left for Yoshino with her husband when he retired from court, presumably to outsmart his court rivals, who were positioning him to be taken out. She also is said to have played a part in the planning and execution of the resulting Jinshin no Ran, later helping her husband govern the realm. And now, she was on the throne, overseeing the completion of many of the projects started in the reign of her husband. This included the completion of the Kiyomihara code, the Fujiwara palace, and the support given to the institution of Ise Grand Shrine. This episode, I want to dive into that last topic: the emphasis in Uno no Sarara's reign on Ise Shrine and its focus, the Great God, Amaterasu no Ohokami. Although the Chronicles talk about Amaterasu as one of the founding deities of the Yamato royal line, there is plenty of evidence that this story was grafted into the tales at a later date, and that worship of Amaterasu, at least as anything more than a minor deity, likely also started relatively late. Some have even suggested that Ise Shrine itself wasn't even built until the late 7th century. So, all of this focus on Ise and Amaterasu appears to be part of the larger effort to structure the physical, cultural, and spiritual landscape of the new Yamato state. Last episode we mentioned how, according to the Nihon Shoki, Ohoama turned to worship towards Ise. Well, specifically, he worshipped Amaterasu Ohokami. So let's take a moment and talk about what we know of the history of this Great God of Heavenly Brightness. Unfortunately, most of that history is based on what we know of the kami from works like the Nihon Shoki, the Kojiki, and the Sendai Kuji Hongi, all of which came out in the 8th century or so. As such, it can be hard to know what things were actually like, earlier on, as opposed to what was added or removed later. Much of what I'm going to be talking about, today, I'm going to be pulling from a book written in 2017 by Mark Teeuvwen [Tayvin?] and John Breen titled "A Social History of the Ise Shrines", as well as Michael Como's work "Weaving and Binding: Immigrant Gods and Female Immortals in Ancient Japan", published in 2009, along with other sources. In their book, Breen and Teeuwen point out that for those who do not take the events of the Nihon Shoki and Kojiki at face value, there are two primary theories for the origin of the worship of Amaterasu: an early theory and a late theory. The early theory places the development of the worship of Amaterasu in the 5th and 6th centuries, during the reigns of such figures as Wakatakeru no Ohokimi, aka Yuuryaku Tennou. The Late Theory places the development in the 7th century, largely at the feet of such figures as Ohoama and Uno no Sarara herself. We'll take a look at the evidence and see what it says. I would note that compared to the official history, both of these would be very late theories. According to Ise Grand Shrine even today, Amaterasu arrived in Ise in the 26th year of Ikume Iribiko, aka Suinin Tennou, as stated in the Nihon Shoki, which corresponds to 4 BCE if you take the dating of the Nihon Shoki to be accurate. Of course, we've already spent plenty of time talking about the problems with the Nihon Shoki prior to the 6th century CE, as well as how the political nature of the text affected what it contained. So to kick things off, let's address the biggest question of all: why don't we believe that Amaterasu no Ohokami was always the primary deity of the pantheon of Yamato, at the very least, if not all of the Wa people of the archipelago? After all, isn't she a sun goddess, and isn't sun worship fairly well documented among the ancient Japanese? Just take a look at words like "Hiko" and "Hime", referring to rulers as sun man and sun woman. Also note that early on, worship seems to have centered around places such as mountaintops, which focused worship towards the sky and the highest point. In fact, as wet rice paddy agriculture became the dominant economic factor driving the engine of the archipelago in the Yayoi and early kofun period, early shrines were very likely about bringing the spirit of the mountain from the mountaintop and giving them a home amongst the rice fields.. And then we have the stories. Don't the ancient stories all tell about Amaterasu as the ruler of Takama no Hara, the Heavenly Plain? And isn't it her grandchild that then descends to the earth to pacify the Land of the Reed Plains—aka the Japanese archipelago? Well let's take a look at those same stories, which we've covered in earlier episodes of the podcast. The first deities mentioned in the Chronicles are deities like Ama no Minaka Nushi, Lord of the August Middle of Heaven; Takami Musubi, High August Growth; and Kami Musubi, Divine August Growth. There are other deities, like Kuni Toko Tachi, but they are barely mentioned again. Later we get Izanagi and Izanami, the masculine and feminine, who create the world and give birth to numerous deities from that point on. Among the children of Izanagi are said to be Amaterasu, Tsukiyomi, and Susano'o. Amaterasu, Heaven's Brightness, represents the sun while Tsukiyomi represents the dark of the moon. Susano'o is then the god of the storms and seas, and was sent to the Nether Land, the Ne no Kuni. Right away we see that there are numerous different stories listed in the Nihon Shoki for just about everything. Only the Kojiki gives everything as a single, coherent narrative, but surely the readers in the 8th century would have known some of these other stories, and thus the Nihon Shoki gives the alternates as well. Now the main narrative of the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki tells us that Ama-terasu no Oho-kami was born to rule over everything. In the Nihon Shoki, Izanagi and Izanami specifically mention that divine destiny in Amaterasu's creation—although actually, in that part of the text, the deity they are creating is named Oho-hiru-me no Muchi; the Great Sun Female Holder. And in the next entry they call Amaterasu: Ama-terasu Oho-hiru-me. Tsukiyomi, the deity of the moon, is made to be her consort, and they are supposedly sent to rule the plain of Heaven, Takama no Hara. The problem is that there are other entries that suggest that Takama no Hara already had a ruler: Taka-mi-Musubi. Reading the sections on Taka-mi-Musubi, we see a deity who is said to have produced 1500 children, himself—no mention of Izanagi and Izanami. Some of his children are mentioned as Omohi-kane: the Thought-Combining deity, and Sukuna-bikona: the Little-Prince-Named deity. Amatsu Hiko Hiko Ho Ninigi no Mikoto, the August Heavenly Prince, Prince Ho-ninigi, is not just a grandson of Amaterasu no Ohokami, but also a grandchild of Taka-mi Musubi. In at least one story, Takami Musubi is the one who wants Ninigi no Mikoto to become the ruler of the Central Land of the Reed Plains. Towards that end, he gathers the various kami and chooses someone to go down and prepare the way—Ama-ho-hi no Mikoto—who was to quote-unquote "expel and subdue" the evil gods of that land. We covered this story in episode 21 and 22. When that doesn't work, he gathers them again, sending others to try and do the same. Eventually he sends Takemikazuchi and Futsunushi down. All of this sounds like Taka-mi Musubi, whose name appears to refer to being the "high" deity, was the one in charge. In addition, we have the court ritual from sources like the Engi Shiki, which illustrates the deities that were invoked for the protection of the palace and the royal family. These were: Kami-musubi, Takami-musubi, Iku-musubi, Taru-musubi, Tamatsume-musubi, Oomiya-no-me, Oomiketsu-no-kami and Kotoshironushi. One might notice a lot of the "musubi" names among the deities, and a distinct lack of appeal to Amaterasu. If Amaterasu were the central deity and ancestral deity of the royal family, why is she not invoked in the rituals of the court itself? The thought, here, is that these rituals are likely much older than the worship of Amaterasu, and while Amaterasu would come to prominence in the stories that the court would tell, it was much more difficult for them to rearrange the traditional rituals to put her front and center. Those rituals were maintained by ritualist families like the Nakatomi, and they weren't likely to change the rituals willy-nilly, even for a sovereign. That was playing with supernatural fire, after all—if you changed the rituals, would they still even be effective? Granted, rituals do change, so it isn't a perfect argument; perhaps it was just not considered to be important enough to make the change since it was not something that anyone except the court ritualists needed to worry themselves over. Either way, it appears that we do have a list of deities that may have been the deities of the ruling elite prior to the rise of Amaterasu and Ise shrine more generally. We have a few other clues of what was going on in the narrative. For instance, we see the story from the reign of Mimaki Iribiko, aka Sujin Tennou, also called the First Sovereign of Yamato, despite the legendary figures inserted prior to his reign. It is in this chapter that we see a note that Ama-terasu no Oho-kami and Yamato no Oho-kuni-dama, which is to say the Spirit of the Country of Yamato, were both worshipped together in the hall—that is in the royal palace itself. And yet apparently Mimaki Iribiko feared these deities residing with him in the palace, and he had their worship moved to locations outside of the palace. Amaterasu's worship was given to Toyosuki-iri-bime, one of Mimaki Iribiko's daughters, and established in the district of Shiki, in Yamato. Yamato no Ohokunidama, on the other hand, was given over to Nunaki-iri-bime no Mikoto, another daughter through a different wife. but we are told that she was lean, and her hair was falling out, and so she couldn't perform the rites. Turning our attention back to Ama-terasu—in the reign of Ikume-Iribiko, aka Suinin Tennou, son and heir of Mimaki Iribiko, the worship of Ama-terasu would pass from Mimaki Iribiko's daughter, Nunaki Iri Bime to Ikume Iribiko's daughter, Yamato Hime. She would move the worship site from Shiki to Uda, in the shadow of Mt. Miwa, and then proceed over to the upper banks, or Kawakami, of Isuzu, in the district of Watarai. Here, in one of the alternate stories about this episode, we get the Great God of Yamato—Ohoyamato no Ohokami—speaking through a medium to warn the sovereign that he had better be careful. Mimaki Iribiko had not been quite thorough enough in his worship, so he had not had a long life, and if Ikume Iribiko didn't do the same, he would suffer a similar fate. And so, in a record eerily similar to what we see in the previous reign, the worship of the "Great God of Yamato", the Oho-Yamato no Oho-kami, is given to Nunaki-waka-hime—as opposed to Nunaki-Iri-bime—who also fails in the task because of her emaciated body. This also introduces Fukayu nushi, an ancestor of the Nakatomi, who was the one who divined what should be done. There is so much to unpack in these stories. For one, the kami bring power, but also danger. One can try to placate the kami, but it isn't like a ritual will always work, and the story is of the sovereign being actively afraid of what they might do, so they were removed from the palace. Then there is the fact that we see two seemingly similar names—Ohoyamato no Ohokami and Yamato no Kunidama both seem like we are talking about the same spirit of Yamato, though some would point out that one is the spirit of the country and one is the great kami of the country, so, clearly different. Both are also being given to someone named "Nunaki—something-something—Hime", and in both cases Nunaki seems to fail in her task because she is apparently not hot enough for the kami. She's described as too thin and emaciated or balding. We aren't given the lineage of Nunaki Waka Hime, but Nunaki Iri Bime is connected with the land of Owari. Nunaki Iri-bime is said to be the daughter of Mimaki Iribiko and Ohoama Hime, ancestor of the Owari no Muraji. Owari was the land that supported Ohoama during the Jinshin no Ran. Finally, in both cases, we see the worship of the spirit of Yamato being given over to someone name "Nagochi", later identified as Nagochi no Sukune, ancestor of the Yamato no Atahe. One more note—closely on the heels of moving these two kami out of the palace, we see that the court brings in the worship of Oho-mono-nushi, the god of Mt. Miwa, under Ohotataneko, the ancestor of the Miwa clan. So the stories here account for Ama-terasu being moved to Watarai and why she isn't worshipped in the palace. It also places Oho-mono-nushi at the center of worship in Yamato. Oho-mono-nushi and Miwa continue to dominate the narrative from here on out, with a few notable exceptions, such as with Okinaga Tarashi Hime, aka Jingu Tennou and her mythical conquest of the Korean peninsula. I'm sure that had no political implications at all given everything that had happened with Baekje, Silla, and the Tang dynasty in the latter half of the 7th century. Other than scenes like that, however, the Miwa clan and worship of the Miwa deity appear frequently in the narrative. It is clear that Mt. Miwa, and its deity, were important, and when Breen and Teeuwen hypothesize that when Naka no Ohoe, which is to say Tenji Tennou, took the drastic step of moving the capital up to Ohotsu, in the land of Afumi, he also brought the Miwa deity with him. Those Afumi court rituals were conducted under the auspices of the Nakatomi, and particularly the auspices of Nakatomi no Kane, who would become one of the chief opponents of Ohoama during the Jinshin no Ran in 672. After that conflict, Ohoama and his wife, Uno no Sarara, were building new traditions using Ise and constructing new legends. Legends that would be under their control and influence and which would further bolster their rule from the city that they had designed to fit inside of this newly constructed cosmological framework. And yet this also brings up what seems like an obvious question. If Ise Shrine and the worship of Amaterasu were so central to Ohoama and Uno's plans, then why would they put it so far away? Proponents of the "early" theory of the development of Amaterasu and Ise Shrine suggest that the answer lies in the text of the Chronicles. That there is some truth to the idea that there was worship in Yamato and that, for various reasons, it moved out to Watarai district early on and developed into Ise Shrine. Those who hold to the "late" theory of development see all of those stories as later inserts meant to explain away why Ise Shrine was so far away—and perhaps why Amaterasu was not included in the cool-kami club of court ritual. Teeuwen and Breen mention a few of the theories, from Naoki Koujiro stressing Ise as a strategic gateway between Yamato and Eastern Japan to Tanaka Takashi proposing that the movement of Amaterasu to Ise is actually a stand-in for one or more military campaigns to that area to bring it under Yamato control. And before we move too much further in the narrative, let's talk about how Ise is physically and geographically situated. Ise is part of modern Mie prefecture, on the eastern edge of the Ki peninsula. It is at the southern end of a series of adjoining alluvial plains that follow the coastline north to the modern prefectures of Aichi and Gifu—the ancient provinces of Owari and Mino. The capital of Ise Province used to be in Suzuka, near the the two Tsubaki shrines which both lay claim to the title of Ise no Ichinomiya, the First shrine of the land of Ise, and the pass that served as one of three major routes from eastern Japan into the Home Provinces and beyond. This puts Ise about as far away as you can get from the capital of the province without going over the mountains, themselves. It also puts it a good deal south of most major travel routes. If you are going to Ise shrine then it is pretty clear you were going to Ise shrine, as there isn't a lot of evidence for anything else in the area. The Shrine itself is actually made up of two primary shrine complexes. There is the Naiku, the inner shrine, and the Geku, or outer shrine. The Naiku, or inner shrine, is probably the area most people think about. It is at the foot of the mountains where the Shimamichi River joins the Isuzu River and both flow out of the mountains. The Naiku contains the shrine to Amaterasu no Ohokami, and is famous for its layout, where there are actually two shrine enclosures, one next to the other. The main shrine is then rebuilt in the empty enclosure every 20 years, at which point the worship is moved to the new shrine, the old shrine is torn down, and the cycle is started once again. The Outer Shrine, or Geku, is further north, and probably not as well known to foreigners. The Geku is said to enshrine the spirit of Toyouke-bime, a kami dedicated to food. According to the traditions of the Geku itself, Toyouke-bime was enshrined in the Geku at the command of Wakatakiru no Ohokimi, aka Yuuryaku Tennou, based on a dream. Regarding the history of why the Shrines—both Inner and Outer—are located here, archaeological evidence doesn't give us a lot to suggest that these might be the case. Despite the presence of the Miya River near Ise Shrine, we haven't found evidence of a large harbor or port, like we might expect if it was the jumping off point for crossing Ise Bay—or even the center of another large polity. Instead, the areas to the north—around Fujikata and Matokata inlets, for instance—show much more evidence of occupation and, presumably, use. Heck, the modern district of Fujikata is in the town of "Tsu", which literally means "port". And the capital area of Suzuaka and the Ichinomiya of Tsubaki Grand Shrine is even farther north, still. So who, if anybody, was living down in the area of Ise Shrine? If we look at the progression of tomb mounds in the area in previous centuries, we see that they start in the Matokata region in the 5th century and work their way down towards the south, with late 5th century tombs found in the district of Taki, the district bordering on Watarai and modern Ise City to the northwest. It is also where you can find the Saikuu, the site of the old purification palace for the Shrine Princesses. Grave goods seem to show close ties with Yamato, in the Nara basin. While the tombs expanded to the south through the 5th century, they appear to have stopped altogether in the 6th century—or at least we haven't found any. This may indicate that the political situation had changed and there was no group in the area that could organize the labor for such an undertaking. Whether that was because Yamato was taking it as corvee labor or just that population had dwindled due to war, famine, or something else, I don't know that we could say. Around the year 600, at the opening of the 7th century, we do see a large grave mound erected in the core area of what would later become Ise Shrine, on the east side of the Miya River, overlooking what would become the Geku, the Outer Shrine of the Ise complex. For those who aren't aware, Ise Grand Shrine is a large complex of shrines, and it is divided into two main areas. The "inner shrine", or Naiku, is where most people go, and it is the site of the famous shrine building that is supposed to be rebuilt every 20 years. The Geku is the "outer shrine" complex, technically dedicated to Toyouke hime, a kami of agriculture. The kofun overlooking the outer shrine is known as the Takakurayama kofun. This is a round kofun, about 35 to 40 meters in diameter, with a horizontal stone chamber. It is the largest in the Ise region. It has been mentioned in records going back to at least the Kamakura era, and even though most of the grave goods are gone, there is evidence that it was richly appointed. Given its shape and location, there were even those in later centuries who connected it with the Heavenly Rock Cave in which Amaterasu hid according to the ancient stories. The fact that there was nothing around this area and suddenly we see a giant tomb mound is pretty puzzling. Why was it built here? Is it connected to the founding of the Outer Shrine in some way, or is that just coincidental? Teeuwen and Breen point out that it is pretty rare for a large tomb mound to be build in the precincts of an active shrine, which suggests that whatever was happening there, that area was not part of the shrine grounds. That said, I have to wonder if the ritual worship at the kofun might not have later been transformed or coopted into something else. There also is no other indication that the Outer Shrine area was used for ritual purposes any earlier than the kofun would have been built. In contrast, around the Inner Shrine area, several kilometers away, there are caches of beads dated to the 5th, 6th, and 7th centuries in a small valley where a brook runs down from Mt. Asama, not too far from the current shrine complex. Teeuwen and Breen suggest that this may relate to the "upper reaches of the Isuzu River", mentioned in the Chronicles, and that it may have had to do with rituals related to water supply—hence being found at the point where the water was coming down from the mountains. And yet, despite these finds, there really aren't any large scale archaeological remains that have been discovered east of the Miya river, though there are modest signs of dwelling and habitation, and some minor burials mounds. Compare this to Tsubaki shrine, the home of Saruta Hiko no Kami, and the main shrine of Ise, situated in the ancient capital of Ise no Kuni. Downstream from there are numerous tomb mounds and indications of habitation. So this was probably the center for early sun worship in the region. Teeuwen and Breen conclude that all of this indicates that the region of Taki and areas east of the Miya river were probably more of an outpost—no major powerful chieftains or large polity had set up in the region. In the late 6th century, some power had to move in to build Takakurayama kofun, but that was an outlier. Maybe this area just largely fell under Yamato hegemony. And perhaps that was the key. Perhaps initially this wasn't a place to center power and authority, but rather it was more like a prison. It was a place far away from the court, where a deity that was more of a threat could be kept away from the palace and the sovereign. Perhaps Amaterasu, or whoever the kami was at the time, was placed out here because of the threat they posed, much as the Chronicle seems to suggest—just not necessarily at the time that is suggested. One of the aspects of the mythmaking that we see in the Chronicles appears to be the stress on the Amatsu kami and Kunitsu Kami—the Heavenly deities and the Earthly deities. The Heavenly deities are those in Takama no Hara, and they are the progenitors of the royal line. On the other hand are the earthly kami, the Kunitsu Kami, those dwelling on the earthly plane. In the stories that were recorded in the Nihon Shoki, before the August Grandchild of Takami Musubi and Ama Terasu descended to take control of the Central Land of the Reed Plain, they sent down heavenly kami as warriors to subdue the earthly kami. On the one hand, this may have been driven by some kind of deep memory of early conquests of the archipelago by various forces. However, these legends also served another purpose, in that they set up the royal family's right to rule, and appear to establish a de facto hierarchy between those families descended from the Heavenly Kami and those descended from the earthly Kami. Another thing that Teeuwen and Breen point out and that is that Amaterasu is not necessarily a female deity, to start with. In fact, Amaterasu was probably easily overlain atop the worship of Oho-mono-nushi of Mt. Miwa, at least early on. To that point, they note stories where Oho-mono-nushi and other deities were commonly depicted as arrows, snakes, or similarly phallic imagery finding or even penetrating women who were thought to have a connection with them. This suggests a context of these priestesses being married to the kami, and even fits in with early descriptions of individuals like the famous Queen Himiko being a spiritual leader as well as a political one. If the original Amaterasu was conceived of as a male deity, then this could also explain the tradition of the Saigu, the consecrated shrine princess. We only see a few royal princesses designated to the position up to this point in the narrative, and, beyond Tokosuki Iri bime and Yamato hime, we don't necessarily learn much more. One wonders if there weren't other royal princesses likewise sent elsewhere to serve other deities. We know about Nunaki Iri Hime, and presumably Nunaki Waka Hime. There was also Yamato Totohi Momoso Hime, who was married to Oho-mono-nushi. Presumably there were others who just never ended up in the stories that were passed down. The idea of a kami taking a "wife" and connecting that to the idea of women holding these priestly positions seems to fall in line with much of what we see, though, as I said, we only hear occasionally about the appointment of royal princesses to the position until the reign of Ohoama. That's when we see specifics about appointments, the purification palace in Hase, and other arrangements. It makes you wonder more than a little bit if Royal Princess Ohoku was, perhaps, the first royal princess to actually be appointed. It would have been easy enough to add in previous "shrine princesses" into the lineage, especially far enough back that nobody could really fact check it. We also see Royal Princess Taki journey to Ise with her companions, Princess Yamashiro no Hime and Lady Ishikawa. It is intriguing that this practice was temporarily interrupted during the reign of Uno no Sarara, as I mentioned last episode. Could this have something to do with a female ruler on the throne and a corresponding lack of urgency about having a female representative at Ise? And in stories about Amaterasu, she is frequently shown with certain masculine qualities. When she confronts her younger brother, Susano'wo, she is concerned that he might try to take her authority from her, so she meets him decked out in armor, her hair tied up in a typical male fashion, with a bow, ready for a fight. It would be just as easy to imagine that Amaterasu and Susano'wo were brothers, contending over rulership. Add to all of that the idea that kami were often personifications of various natural phenomena or ideas, and Japanese is not a naturally gendered language, and there are those that believe that the stories of Amaterasu were not necessarily about a female deity in the beginning, but a male deity, similar to Ohomono Nushi and others, who then took on a feminine persona. On the other hand there are passages in the old stories recounted in the Chronicles that clearly make Amaterasu out to be a woman. To start with the activities she is associated with, such as weaving, are often associated with women as something they do in the home. This is a tradition carried over from the continent, along with silk and the techniques to weave it. In the lands where silk production started, there are silkworm goddesses and the gendered nature of silk production and weaving appears to have come over to Japan as well. There is also the fact that Amaterasu is said to have another name: Oho-hiru-me no muchi. In this case, it would seem to mean something like Great Noontime Female Possessor. And in the weaving hall it is sometimes Amaterasu that is weaving and sometimes Waka Hirume. "Hirume" certainly feels like a feminine name. There is the distinct possibility that the stories of Amaterasu as recorded were actually about two or more different kami, so Amaterasu and Ohohirume could have been separate deities having to do with the sun that were rolled into a single kami. As mentioned before, it is also possible that Amaterasu ended up with some stolen valor taken from the other Ise deity worshiped at Tsubaki, Saruta-hiko no Kami. Teeuwen and Breen also note that the name "Amaterasu" is hardly unique, noting at least ten other shrines with a kami called "Amateru" or "Amaterasu", mostly in Yamato, but some as far away as Kyushu and Tsushima. Nine of those shrines were dedicated to Ame no Hoakari, an ancestor deity of the Owari lineage who was also closely tied to metalworking. It is worth remembering that it was Owari who helped support Ohoama during the Jinshin no Ran, and who may have even fostered Ohoama for a while when he was just a young prince. All that to say there may have been several different traditions that were all contributing different elements to the story. And then there is the connection between Amaterasu and Uno no Sarara. Herman Ooms, in his book: "Imperial Politics and Sybmolics in Ancient Japan", notes the similarities between Amaterasu and Uno no Sarara, talking about the differences between the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki, both of which had events that mirrored Uno no Sarara's own life. According to Ooms, "The Kojiki's Amaterasu is a transparent double of the female tennou Jitou". He points out that Uno no Sarara, besides her posthumous title of Jitou Tennou, also had a title making reference to Takamanohara: Takama no Hara Hirono no Hime—the Princess High-Heaven-Plain. But beyond that, we also see other linkages between the stories. For instance, it isn't Amaterasu's son, Ame no Oshihomimi who is given the realm, but rather her grandchild, Ninigi. This parallels the way that Uno no Sarara's son, Kusakabe, didn't ascend to the throne, but instead Uno no Sarara was holding the seat for his son, her grandson. So one sees how Uno no Sarara could be seen as Amaterasu, and her grandson, Prince Karu, could be seen as Ninigi, the August grandchild. Teeuwen and Breen also note that during this same time, we see the rise of a new institution: the Jingikan. Again, we touched on this last episode, so just a quick recap: The Jingikan was a government organization set up specifically to oversee the shrines, rituals, ceremonies, and other such things pertaining to the kami matters. It does not appear in the initial stand-up of the new, bureaucratic government, wherein is created the bureaus, ministries, or departments, depending on your chosen vernacular, which make up the Dajokan, the Great Council of State. Instead, the Jingikan is a separate organization, specifically organized around kami matters. The term "Jingi" is also a shorthand for "Ama-tsu-kami, Kuni-tsu-kami", or the kami of Heaven and the Kami of the earth. "Ama-tsu-kami", meaning Kami of Heaven, was written with two characters meaning "Heaven" and "Kami", pronounced "Tenjin". "Kuni-tsu-kami", or the Kami of the Earth, was written as "Earth" and "Earth Spirit", which was then pronounced "Chigi". By taking the last character of each compound Tenjin-Chigi becomes just Jingi, for short. Throughout the Chronicles, this term, "Jingi" is thrown around when they want to quickly note all the kami, together, though sometimes it is fully written out as "Tenjin Chigi", as well. Interestingly, "Tenjin" or "Ama tsu Kami", sometimes appears alone, especially in the chapters on the Age of the Gods. However, "Chigi" seems to only be used in the whole phrase. There are a few instances, however, of "Chijin" being used, but they are few. That said, the term "Jingikan", also read as "Kami Tsukasa" or even "Kan Zukasa", doesn't appear until 690, in the reign of Uno no Sarara. This probably means that it was part of the reforms encompassed by the Kiyomihara codes. The head of the Jingikan is known as the Jingihaku or "Kan-zukasa no Kami". This term actually shows up well in advance of the Jingikan itself, initially referring to an unnamed official or officials in charge of kami worship at the court. Nakatomi no Kamatari is said to have been offered the position in the first reign of Takara, aka Kougyoku Tennou, though the first confirmed individual appears to be Nakatomi no Ohoshima, during the reign of Uno no Sarara. This appears to be a distinctly Yamato invention in the bureaucratic system. It leverages the language and structure of the Tang dynasty, but in its own way. There was a Tang department of shrines, but it was described differently, as befits a different spiritual environment focused on ancestor worship and Confucian and Taoist ideas. The Jingikan system seems to have been a deliberate re-organization of the indigenous kami worship, incorporating what was probably traditional roles into the new bureaucratic system. In so doing, however, it also gave the court greater control, and given that this was happening at the same time as the establishment of various stories and myths around Ise and the foundation more generally, it appears to be part of a concerted and deliberate effort to construct a new narrative. All of this points to them architecting much of what was going on, from the stories to the landscape. Ohoama likely built the inner shrine as we know it. If it really was an obscure, out-of-the-way shrine, perhaps that also meant that there weren't any other powerful court factions that were enhanced by it. And then, over time, the Ise shrine and the deity there could be better incorporated into the overall myths and stories that surrounded the formation of Yamato. A new Yamato, one that would soon enough be referring to itself as the origin of the Sun: Nippon, a name often attributed to Ohoama and Uno no Sarara, though not found in the record of their reigns in the Chronicles. Another aspect to all of this, however, is what happened immediately after Uno no Sarara's reign, and into the 8th and early 9th centuries. In the 8th century—the Nara period—Buddhism started to merge with a lot of the local practices. This was not uncommon. Buddhism had been born in a land with myriad deities and styles of worship, and it had the means to incorporate local deities into its cosmological worldview. Kami were just other beings, stuck in the cycle of rebirth, who, as sentient beings, could equally benefit from the Buddha's teachings. They became guardians of Buddhist institutions, and the lines between shrines and temples were often blurred. At the same time, kami worship was also taking on various concepts from continental worship, such that even today we find a lot of what we might consider Taoist practices influencing Shinto worship. Had this continued, worship of the kami may have been completely subsumed into the Buddhist ritual practices, but there were areas where kami worship remained distinct. One of these was at Ise. Early on, there was an attempt to build a temple at Ise, but it didn't last long. The temple was eventually moved out of the shrine complex, and then eventually it was removed altogether. Later writings from the Shrine would include certain Buddhist terms among the things that were taboo within the shrine grounds, considering Buddhism as something of a corrupting or polluting influence. Shrine Princeses, during their tenure, had to devote themselves to the kami, and though they might retire as nuns, later in life, during their appointment they were to be free of any Buddhist influences. In many ways this would make Ise a prime example of what would eventually be termed "Shinto", which gave it, and the worship of Amaterasu, a certain pride of place. Of course, it didn't hurt that it was also intertwined with the State and the founding myths of the nation. As such, Ise Shrine and its worship would become a template for many others to follow, helping to shape what we know as "Shinto" today. There are still a lot of questions. We don't exactly know what Uno no Sarara did on her trip to Ise Shrine, and we don't know how things surrounding the worship at Ise and of Amaterasu herself changed in the intervening years between when these events happened and when, about two to three decades later, the Chronicles were finalized and published. Certainly some of this seems tied to the Fujiwara capital, which was no longer populated at that point, the move to Heijo-kyo, in Nara, occurring between 708 and 710, two years before the Kojiki and a decade before the Nihon Shoki would come out. And yet, the three sacred mountains that were incorporated into the plan of the Fujiwara Capital, Mt. Kagu, Mt. Miminashi, and Mt. Unebi, seem to continue to be important. This is especially true of Mt. Kagu, whose heavenly counterpart, Ame no Kaguyama—literally Heavenly Mt. Kagu— continues to play a major role in the stories surrounding Amaterasu and the Heavenly Rock Cave. In addition,Mt. Unebi is closely tied to the story of Iware-biko, aka Jimmu, conquering and settling the land—perhaps to draw attention away from the stories about Mimaki and Ikume iribiko, aka Sujin and Suinin, who were both associated more with Mt. Mimoro, aka Mt. Miwa. So even though the physical presence was moved, by that point we know that foundation of many of these stories were likely laid down around the time that the Fujiwara capital was in operation. What does seem clear is that, just as there were clear efforts to set up the new State government, including the new capital, the court were also taking control of other levers of power and influence. We previously talked about how they had created National Temples and included government positions to oversee Buddhist affairs more generally. With Ise and the creation of the Jingikan, it appears as though that trend continued with the traditional kami worship. Many of the elite families still had connections to their own shrines, with their own kami. Through the stories collected and written down—with a few editorial additions to help place them in an approved context—they were able to construct a narrative from separate or divergent traditions. These traditions had already accreted to themselves various stories and culture-ways, some of them with clear links to the continent and others with overlapping portfolios. The kami, and the ability to intercede with them for their blessings or to avert their wrath, were a form of power that was being structured for the purpose of supporting the new State. A state now under the control of one Uno no Sarara. And we don't exactly have to wonder about this… the preface of the Kojiki all but says it. They put the words in the mouth of Ohoama, or, as they call him, the Sovereign of the Kiyomihara Palace. But the words are pretty clear: "I hear that the Imperial Records and Ancient Writing handed down by the various houses have come to differ from the truth and that many false hoods have been added to them. If these errors are not remedied at this time, their meaning will be lost before many years have passed. This is the framework of the state, the great foundation of the imperial influence. Therefore, recording the Imperial Records and examining the Old Writings, discarding the mistaken and establishing the true, I desire to hand them on to later generations." With that, 28 year old Hieda no Are was given the command to learn all the stories and presumably to recite them for the court. And several decades later, Oho no Yasumaro was given the task to take Are's stories and write them down. I imagine that Hieda no Are, or perhaps someone else who had learned the stories well enough, would be called into court or banquets to present some of the stories, or would be asked questions if there was any need for precedence. Thus creating a single source for truth, according to the administration. At the same time, the court had a problem. They couldn't control all of the sources of written material, with all of the various contradictions, so we also would eventually get the more comprehensive—but also less narratively direct—Nihon Shoki as well. After all, the game of propaganda was being played at many levels, and while the royal household had their motivations—primarily to support the legitimacy of their claim to power and the system within which that claim was validated— other families wanted to ensure that they were properly recorded as having connections to traditional nexuses of power—be that the ancient kami of Heaven or Earth, or their relationship to the royal family. This is because precedence was important, even as new traditions were being created. Like the way that the Mononobe and the Nakatomi played important roles in Uno no Sarara's ascension ceremony despite the actual individuals using new or different names, like Isonokami or Fujiwara. See Episode 151 for the explanation, there. And new traditions were much easier to justify if you could connect them with older traditions—whether those older traditions were truly ancient or newly made inventions. And all of this suggests that this was not an accident and it wasn't simply being imposed from the top down. One could be charitable and suggest that those involved felt that this got them closest to what the truth actually was, given that they had now been inculcated in a new worldview and they were trying to view the ancient stories through the interpretive lens of that worldview. On the other hand, they were ultimately doing it to structure power and authority that favored them and the government they had created. A government that they hoped would outlast them, and be passed on to their descendants. Next episode, we will continue our discussion of Uno no Sarara's life and reign and the incredible steps she took to ensure that her line would continue to rule Yamato for decades. Until then if you like what we are doing, please tell your friends and feel free to rate us wherever you listen to podcasts. If you feel the need to do more, and want to help us keep this going, we have information about how you can donate on Patreon or through our KoFi site, ko-fi.com/sengokudaimyo, or find the links over at our main website, SengokuDaimyo.com/Podcast, where we will have some more discussion on topics from this episode. Also, feel free to reach out to our Sengoku Daimyo Facebook page. You can also email us at the.sengoku.daimyo@gmail.com. Thank you, also, to Ellen for their work editing the podcast. And that's all for now. Thank you again, and I'll see you next episode on Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.

lord earth spirit japan state land reading turning japanese gods chronicles legends snow mt korean uno grave wa heck buddhist buddhism buddha compare ama sovereign granted plain kami earthly chronicle weaving tang outer kofi tsushima bce hara ran shrine taoist great god breen hase taki taka proponents downstream silla brightness shinto social history suzuka tsu naka mino miya confucian uda kuni ise shrines yamato kyushu soga isuzu kamakura amaterasu hime fujiwara yoshino shiki taru takara miwa aichi nakatomi kawakami gifu oho yayoi sun goddess izanami great council tsubaki izanagi hiko owari ancient japan chigi sukuna earth spirit kojiki iku musubi high heaven tenjin eastern japan imperial records saigu

He's A Main Event BEAST. 2 Final Tables & Deep Runs Galore! Kenny Hallaert Shares His Story.

Table 1 Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 12, 2026 84:02

Kenny Hallaert has lived almost every version of a poker life.Player.Tournament director.Casino marketer.Festival builder.PokerStars live events advisor.WSOP November Niner.Before the $1.4M score…before the Main Event final table…before he was helping shape live poker festivals around the world…Kenny was an electrician in Belgium who found poker through an online banner in 2004.Then a soccer injury forced him indoors.So he played.A lot.Limit Hold'em. Full ring. Online tournaments. Freerolls. Tiny bankroll discipline. The whole old-school grind.But Kenny's story doesn't stop at becoming a player.He helped build live poker in Belgium.Worked around weird legal restrictions.Launched tournament festivals.Ran floors.Designed structures.Learned the game from both sides of the table.Then he went on one of the most ridiculous WSOP stretches ever:Deep in the first Colossus.Deep in the Main Event.Then the next year…November Nine.In this episode of The Table 1 Podcast, Kenny joins Art Parmann and Justin Young to talk about the full ride:♠️ Growing up in Belgium♥️ Finding online poker in 2004♦️ Going from electrician to casino marketer♣️ Building live poker festivals in Belgium♠️ Knocking out Daniel Negreanu at EPT Monaco♥️ His first WSOP trip♦️ The first Colossus final table♣️ The 2016 November Nine run♠️ Preparing with Fedor Holz's team♥️ Why tournament structures are broken♦️ PokerStars, AI, smart glasses, solvers, and the future of live pokerThis one is part poker origin story, part WSOP time capsule, and part masterclass on how live tournaments actually get built.

ai online building deep preparing drop festival table beast player belgium tournament runs designed casino worked launched tables galore knocking main event learned colossus ran 4m world series of poker pokerstars daniel negreanu justin young fedor holz november nine kenny hallaert

[Tour de France cyber #7] Les collectivités territoriales face au risque cyber - La Farlède

Le monde de la cyber

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 7, 2026 28:54

☀️ Épisode enregistré à La Farlède, dans le Var, en marge d'une journée immersive co-organisée avec le CNFPT (Centre National de la Fonction Publique Territoriale) dédiée à la cybersécurité des collectivités.Rançongiciels, fuites de données, usurpation d'identité : les cyberattaques visant les collectivités se multiplient et font régulièrement la une. Derrière chaque incident, ce sont des services publics paralysés, des données d'administrés exposées, et une confiance envers nos institutions qui s'effrite. Et pourtant, un message ressort avec force de cet épisode : la cybersécurité n'est ni l'affaire exclusive des informaticiens, ni le problème des seules grandes métropoles.Pour cette étape du Tour de France de la cyber, je vous emmène dans le sud de la France dans le Var à La Farlède, une petite commune qui a eu à coeur d'organiser une journée dédiée à la cybersécurité des collectivités territoriales du département. J'y ai rencontré 3 acteurs qui portent le sujet :Antoine Parmentier, responsable du CSIRT Urgence Cyber Région Sud, Lionel Pérès, DGS de Vaison-la-Romaine et auteur du livre « Cyberattaque : assurer la continuité des services publics locaux », et Lilian Cardona, DGS de La Farlède.

Guida alla PRONUNCIA Italiana: i 5 Errori che Quasi Tutti gli Studenti Fanno

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 5, 2026 31:39

La pronuncia è spesso l'aspetto più trascurato nello studio dell'italiano — eppure è la prima cosa che un madrelingua nota. Esistono errori legati a caratteristiche dell'italiano che non esistono in molte altre lingue: quasi tutti gli studenti li commettono, ma una volta riconosciuti è possibile correggerli. Non Commettere Questi Errori di Pronuncia in Italiano Errore 1: L'Accento Sbagliato nella Terza Persona Plurale In italiano, l'accento tonico — cioè la sillaba su cui cade il "peso" della parola — cade di norma sulla penultima sillaba. Esiste però una grande eccezione: le terze persone plurali dei verbi, cioè le forme con "loro". Molti studenti, seguendo la regola della penultima sillaba, pronunciano: «loro scrivono» con accento su -vo- → scri-VO-no «loro leggono» con accento su -go- → leg-GO-no La pronuncia corretta è invece: «loro SCRIvono» → accento sulla terzultima sillaba «loro LEGgono» → accento sulla terzultima sillaba La regola: nelle terze persone plurali, l'accento non cade mai sulla penultima sillaba, ma sempre sulla terzultima — o anche prima. Il Trucco: Pensa alla Prima Persona Singolare L'accento nella terza persona plurale cade esattamente nella stessa posizione della prima persona singolare (io): «io SCRIvo» → «loro SCRIvono» «io LEGgo» → «loro LEGgono» «io DORmo» → «loro DORmono» «io PARlo» → «loro PARlano» Esistono anche verbi in cui l'accento alla prima persona singolare cade sulla terzultima sillaba o ancora prima. In questi casi il plurale segue la stessa posizione: «io Àbito» → «loro Àbitano» — non «a-bi-TA-no» «io co-MÙ-ni-co» → «loro co-MÙ-ni-ca-no» — non «co-mu-ni-CA-no» «io DÌ-men-ti-co» → «loro DÌ-men-ti-ca-no» — non «di-men-ti-CA-no» Poiché in italiano non si scrive l'accento grafico su queste parole, non esiste una regola visiva di supporto. L'unico modo per interiorizzare questi accenti è ascoltare tanto italiano e abituare l'orecchio nel tempo. Errore 2: La Lettera Z — Due Suoni in una Sola Lettera La lettera Z è la più imprevedibile dell'alfabeto italiano: può avere due suoni completamente diversi. Z "dura": è la combinazione TS pronunciata in modo fuso, rapidamente — come se T e S diventassero un suono unico. Le corde vocali non vibrano. Z "morbida": è la combinazione DZ pronunciata in modo fuso. Qui le corde vocali vibrano. Per distinguerle, si può appoggiare la mano alla gola: con la Z "morbida" si sente una vibrazione, con la Z "dura" no. È la stessa differenza che esiste tra F (nessuna vibrazione) e V (vibrazione). Esempi con la Z "Dura" (TS fusi) «pizza» → pi-TZa «stazione» → sta-TZIO-ne «grazie» → GRA-tzie «silenzio» → si-LEN-tzio «pazienza» → pa-TZIEN-tza Esempi con la Z "Morbida" (DZ fusi) «zaino» → DZai-no «zero» → DZe-ro «mezzo» → MED-dzo «realizzare» → rea-li-DZZA-re «zona» → DZO-na Regole Utili per Orientarsi Quando la Z è all'inizio di parola, nella maggior parte dei casi è Z "morbida": «zero, zona, zaino, zucchero, zio». Il suffisso -zione vuole sempre la Z "dura": «situazione, conversazione, attenzione, nazione». La sequenza Z + I + vocale vuole la Z "dura": «grazie, pulizia, agenzia, silenzio, anziano». Il suffisso -izzare e tutte le sue forme coniugate vogliono la Z "morbida": «realizzare → io realizzo, lui realizza, loro realizzano» — Z "morbida" in tutte le forme. Eccezione importante: la parola «azienda» sembra seguire la regola della sequenza Z+I+vocale — e quindi dovrebbe avere la Z "dura". Invece no: azienda ha la Z "morbida" → a-DZIEN-da. È un'eccezione da memorizzare a parte. Curiosità: moltissimi stranieri pronunciano «pizza» con la Z "morbida", come «pi-DDZA». La pronuncia corretta è invece «pi-TTZA», con la Z "dura". Anche la parola più famosa d'Italia viene pronunciata male nel mondo intero. Errore 3: Le Lettere che Si Scrivono ma Non Si Pronunciano Uno degli aspetti più insidiosi dell'italiano è la presenza di lettere che si scrivono ma sono completamente mute. Molti studenti le pronunciano perché le vedono scritte — ma si tratta di un errore. I Gruppi CIA/CIO/CIU e GIA/GIO/GIU Nei gruppi CIA, CIO, CIU e GIA, GIO, GIU, la I non si pronuncia. La sua unica funzione è segnalare che la C o la G si pronunciano con suono morbido — come la CH di «cheese» o la J di «jump» in inglese. La I è solo un segnale visivo. «ciao» → si pronuncia CHAO — la I non si sente «cioccolato» → CIOC-co-la-to, con suono morbido CH — I muta «giacca» → JAC-ca — I muta «gioco» → JO-co — I muta «Giovanni» → Jo-VAN-ni — I muta Il Gruppo SCIA/SCIO/SCIU Stesso discorso per SCIA, SCIO, SCIU: la I è muta e serve solo a far pronunciare SC con il suono SH — come «she» o «shower» in inglese. «sciarpa» → SHAR-pa — la I non si pronuncia «sciocco» → SHOC-co — I muta «asciugare» → a-SHU-ga-re — I muta Le I "Storiche" — il Caso Più Insidioso In alcune parole la I si scrive per ragioni storiche: nella parola latina originale si pronunciava, ma in italiano moderno è completamente muta. Non esiste una regola visiva di supporto — bisogna semplicemente saperlo. «scienza» → si pronuncia SHÈN-tza, non SHIÈN-tza — la I non si sente «coscienza» → co-SHÈN-tza — I muta «società» → so-che-TÀ — I muta «igiene» → i-JÈ-ne — I muta «specie» → SPÈ-che — I muta Curiosità: la parola «conoscenza» non ha nessuna I, eppure si pronuncia esattamente come la parte finale di «coscienza». Questo dimostra che quella I in «coscienza» è inutile dal punto di vista della pronuncia — esiste solo per ragioni storiche. Un Caso Speciale: i Plurali in -CIE e -GIE Il plurale di «camicia» è «camicie» — con la I. Quello di «valigia» è «valigie» — ancora con la I. Questa I si pronuncia? No, è muta anche qui. Ma allora perché si scrive? Per una regola ortografica precisa: si scrive la I se la sillaba precedente finisce per vocale. «va-LI-gia» → la sillaba -li- finisce per vocale → plurale: «va-LI-gie» (I scritta, ma muta) «ca-MI-cia» → la sillaba -mi- finisce per vocale → plurale: «ca-MI-cie» (I scritta, ma muta) «a-RAN-cia» → la sillaba -ran- finisce per consonante → plurale: «a-RAN-ce» (senza I) «TOR-cia» → la sillaba -tor- finisce per consonante → plurale: «TOR-ce» (senza I) Questa regola riguarda solo la scrittura, non la pronuncia — ma è utile anche per evitare errori ortografici. Errore 4: I Gruppi GL e GN — Suoni che Non Esistono in Molte Lingue Il Gruppo "GLI" Il gruppo GLI non si pronuncia come G + L + I separatamente: è un unico suono prodotto con la lingua premuta contro il palato. A seconda della propria lingua madre, si può avvicinare a questo suono in modi diversi: Spagnolo castigliano: simile alla LL di «llegar» o «llamar» Portoghese: simile alla LH di «filho» Inglese: il suono centrale di «million» — quel «ly» nel mezzo è molto vicino al GLI italiano Esempi pratici: «figlio» → fi-LYO (lingua sul palato) «famiglia» → fa-MI-lya «aglio» → A-lyo «voglio» → VO-lyo «meglio» → ME-lyo Errore comune: molti pronunciano «figlio» separando le lettere — «fig-lio», con G e L distinte. Il suono deve essere invece unico e fluido. Il Gruppo "GN" Anche GN è un suono unico. Per avvicinarsi a questo suono a partire da diverse lingue: Spagnolo: identico alla Ñ di «mañana» Francese: come la GN di «champagne» Inglese: il suono «ny» nel mezzo di «canyon» Esempi pratici: «gnocchi» → NYOc-chi «bagno» → BA-nyo «signore» → si-NYO-re «cognome» → co-NYO-me «montagna» → mon-TA-nya GN è sempre un suono solo — mai G + N separati. Errore 5: Le Consonanti Doppie In molte lingue, come l'inglese, le lettere doppie si scrivono ma non cambiano il suono. In italiano invece la doppia allunga fisicamente il suono della consonante — e questo non è solo una questione fonetica: la doppia può cambiare completamente il significato della parola. SingolaSignificatoDoppiaSignificatonononumero ordinale 9°nonnopadre del proprio padrepenatristezza, dolorepennastrumento per scriveresetevoglia di beresetteil numero 7caroamato, o costosocarroveicolo trainato da animalicapelloun singolo pelo della testacappellocopricapo La doppia si pronuncia semplicemente allungando il suono della consonante — come se ci fosse una piccola pressione su quella consonante prima di continuare: «pena» → N normale | «penna» → N allungata: pen...na «sete» → T normale | «sette» → T allungata: set...te «caro» → R normale | «carro» → R allungata: car...ro Nota: quando gli italiani parlano velocemente, le doppie si sentono meno. Questo può rendere difficile riconoscerle all'ascolto. Nel parlare, però, è sempre meglio pronunciarle con chiarezza: un madrelingua preferirà sentirle leggermente esagerate piuttosto che non sentirle affatto. Domande Frequenti Come Faccio a Sapere Dove Cade l'Accento nella Terza Persona Plurale? Il modo più efficace è pensare alla prima persona singolare (io): l'accento cade nella stessa posizione. Per esempio, se si sa che si dice «io PARlo», si può dedurre che la forma corretta è «loro PARlano» e non «loro parLAno». Per i verbi meno comuni, l'unica strategia affidabile è ascoltare tanto italiano parlato. Esiste una Regola per Distinguere la Z "Dura" dalla Z "Morbida"? Sì, esistono alcune indicazioni utili: la Z all'inizio di parola è quasi sempre "morbida"; il suffisso -zione vuole sempre la Z "dura"; la sequenza Z+I+vocale vuole la Z "dura"; il suffisso -izzare e tutte le sue forme vogliono la Z "morbida". Fanno eccezione alcune parole come «azienda», che va memorizzata a parte. Perché Alcune I Si Scrivono ma Non Si Pronunciano? Per due motivi diversi. In alcuni casi — come in «ciao» o «gioco» — la I serve come segnale visivo per indicare che la C o la G si pronunciano con suono morbido....

cia italia med li cio sh tor nel questo tutti gli anche gra quasi dura vo ts ran italiana quello gio jac guida chao esiste cie molti l'h gn fanno curiosit esistono errori invece shar shu studenti inglese leggo dz pronuncia francese parlo errore parlano regola esempi poich scrivo ciu scio giu scia il gruppo dzien accento nyo morbida lyo

Pregnant? #536

Don't Bring Up God !

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 5, 2026 50:12

Allelujah, Broken Heart, Ran off Naked, Kabbalah

naked pregnant broken hearts kabbalah ran allelujah

Ep: 592 | Robotics in Nepal: Robot Dog Demo, AI Future & Expert Insights | Sushant Pradhan Podcast

Sushant Pradhan Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 30, 2026 154:27

Suggest Guests For Our Podcast: https://forms.gle/ytt6a9jxe8YwzsGD6 What is the current state of robotics in Nepal, and how far can the country go in the age of Artificial Intelligence? In this episode, Er. Bikash Gurung, President of the Robotics Association of Nepal (RAN), and Omkar Jaiswal, General Secretary of RAN, join us for an in-depth conversation on robotics, AI, innovation, education, and Nepal's technological future. The discussion begins with Nepal's Olympic Robot project and the journey of building world-class robotics solutions from Nepal. The guests explain how robotics education is being taught to students, the types of robotics classes available, and the importance of practical learning in STEM education. We also explore where Nepal currently stands in global robotics development, how Nepal has reached international recognition in robotics competitions, and the opportunities available for young innovators. The conversation covers curriculum changes, student-built robots, advanced robotics projects, and how schools can better prepare students for the future. One of the highlights of this podcast is the Robot Dog demonstration and the story behind bringing advanced robotic technology to Nepal. The discussion then shifts toward the future of robots, emerging technologies, automation, and the growing impact of Artificial Intelligence. The guests also share their concerns about AI, discussing both the opportunities and challenges that come with rapid technological advancement. Finally, they discuss policies and strategies needed to expand robotics in Nepal and create a stronger innovation ecosystem. GET CONNECTED WITH: Er.Bikash Gurung [President of Robotics Association of Nepal (RAN) Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/p/DOFaL_Aih6J/?img_index=1 Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/KromchheBikash Omkar Jaiswal [General Secretary of Robotics Association of Nepal (RAN)] Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/om_kaar/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/zoeyy.yshya

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#199 - Faith Sawyer

the10ninety

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 29, 2026 70:42

It was so great having my niece Faith on to talk about her story. It's weird how the same tragedy in our family hits everyone a little differently. I can't really imagine what it's like to lose my dad and my brother when I was 16, as well as my aunt, and two cousins. As the uncle, I would like to be a good example but I have always been impressed with Faith and Ran's resiliency. I just kind of checked out of life for a while but they had to go back to school and do math homework and get jobs and try to go to the school dance and I just never understood how they could do any of it. ❤️ Love you Faith. You are one of my heroes❤️

love ran

Queen Uno no Sarara, Part I

The Resonance: A Genshin Impact Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 25, 2026 43:00

We've looked at several different members of the court during the reign of Uno no Sarara, aka Jitou Tennou. Today we start to look at her life, who she was, and what she did. In this first part we'll touch on some of her big accomplishments, including building the Fujiwara capital, patronage of Ise Shrine, and even the publication of the Kiyomihara law code. For more, check out the podcast blogpost: https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-152 Rough Transcript: Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan. My name is Joshua, and this is episode 152: Queen Uno no Sarara, Part 1 It was rare that something would pull people from the fields at the height of the season, but it wasn't every day that people of Iga had the opportunity to watch a true royal procession. They gathered on either side of the street as the parade passed through town. There were horses and carts, but also just numerous men carrying various bags and provisions. There were also military guards, decked out in their finest—just in case anyone got any ideas. There were also various nobles and government officials, riding with her. The outfits and color would have been striking, particular to those who had little business with the court. And at the height of it all was a covered palanquin. Nobody could see the royal presence inside through the screens, though later they would talk about getting a peek of her hair or her robes. It didn't matter, the procession itself was enough of a spectacle for all to see. Not everyone was pleased. A few of the more dour elders complained about how much of a disruption and a distraction it was. They would at least be somewhat mollified by the news that, for enduring the disruption, they would at least get a break on their taxes that year. The procession was headed east, to the land of Ise. Apparently they were going to pay their respects at the shrine there. Did you know that it was dedicated to the ancestor of the royal family itself? The actual sun goddess herself, Amaterasu. Some of the elders shook their heads. They remembered when everyone had been focused on Mt. Miwa, to the west. And what about this Buddha that had shown up from overseas? There were temples to him popping up all over the place. They weren't so sure about all of this, but they knew their local kami and their local priests, who helped with the local harvests, and that was enough for them. The court and their fancy learning could figure out what the country needed, but they were going to stay focused on the day to day, instead. Here we are, in the reign of Uno no Sarara, widow of Ohoama and mother to the late Prince Kusakabe, known to history as Jitou Tennou. We've actually been in Uno's reign for several episodes now, but while we've talked about how that reign began and the roles a lot of other people played in that beginning, this episode I would finally like to start focusing on her—who she was, where she came from, and what she did. Since that covers a lot of ground, we are going to cover some of her history up to this reign, and we'll be mostly focusing on two major updates—the creation of the new capital of Fujiwara, aka Fujiwara-kyou, and the increased royal patronage of Ise, which is thought to have been responsible for the ascendancy of Amaterasu as the paramount kami of the pantheon of Shinto kami. So let's start at the very beginning. It is traditionally held that Uno no Sarara was born around 645 to Naka no Oe and Soga no Ochi no Iratsume. Ochi was the daughter of Soga no Kurayamada no Ishikawa no Maro, cousin to the powerful Soga no Iruka. Naka no Oe's marriage to Ochi no Iratsume and her sister, Mehi no Iratsume, had been part of a strategic alliance with Ishikawa no Maro, who helped him overthrow his cousins and institute the Taika Reforms. We talked about all of that back in Episode 106, as well as subsequent podcasts after that covering the next several reigns. So 645 is about the earliest Uno no Sarara may have been born, the very start of the Taika era, when her father began instituting a lot of changes based on continental practices. She would have grown up in the inner buildings of the Asuka court during this time of immense change. She was probably a bit young when the Toyosaki palace was first built, though she may have remembered when the court abandoned it and moved back to Asuka. Unfortunately, when she was only five years old, tragedy struck. Ishikawa no Maro, who had been made the Udaijin, or Minister of the Right, was slandered by his own brother, Soga no Himuka, and in return, Naka no Oe sent a force to have him punished. When he saw he could not get away, Uno no Sarara's grandfather, Ishikawa no Maro, took his own life. The Nihon Shoki—written, I should note, at least partly under the direction of Maro's granddaughter—claims that evidence came to light demonstrating his innocence, and he was posthumously exonerated. Maro's daughter, Miyatsuko no Iratsume, was so saddened by all of this that we are told she died of a broken heart. Miyatsuko no Iratsume appears to be another name for Ochi no Iratsume, and if so, it would mean that Uno no Sarara lost both her mother and grandfather when she was only five years old due to the actions of her own father. This sounds to me like it should be some kind of villain origin story. From there, she was likely taken care of by her aunts and other women in the palace, at least until 657. It was about that time, at the age of 13, that she was married off to her uncle, Prince Ohoama. We don't have a precise age for Ohoama, but he was likely no more than 5 years younger than Uno's father, Naka no Oe, and some estimates suggest he was in his late 20s or early 30s, taking to wife his 13 year old niece. I can't help but think, here, of the Heian period novel, the Tale of Genji, where the titular character, Genji, finds Lady Murasaki and marries her at the age of 10. Uno no Sarara would have grown up in her uncle-husband's home, and she was still young when the entire realm was placed on a war footing.When the court moved to Kyushu in 661 for the prosecution of the war on the continent, Uno no Sarara went with her husband, and a year later gave birth to their son, Prince Kusakabe. She was probably about 18 years old at the time. I suspect that means She probably knew about her grandmother, Takara Hime, passing away, something that the inner circle of the royal family had attempted to keep relatively quiet for fear of disrupting the war effort. Soon after her own son was born, news came back that the forces on the continent had lost. Baekje had fallen, and Yamato could be next. She would have traveled with her husband and the rest of the court back to Asuka and, eventually, up to Ohotsu, where her father now ruled with his brother as his right-hand man and heir to the throne. At this time, Uno no Sarara was no stranger to politics. While her husband was in line for the throne, she knew that her brothers were also potential claimants, once they came of age. The Nihon Shoki disqualifies them through their parentage, but we see that didn't stop the Afumi court from rallying behind Prince Ohotomo. There was also the royal princes Kawashima and Shiki. Prince Takeru would have technically been a potential threat as well, had he not died, tragically, at only eight years of age. Now, technically, some may have been more in line than others, but Uno no Sarara knew how her own father had jumped the line, displacing her late uncle, Furubito no Oe, and it was clear something similar might happen this time around. There were also likely a few indications that not everything was great between her father and her husband, although you would hardly know it from the number of her siblings that were also residing in the north chambers of his residence. Things came to a head in 671. At this point, Uno no Sarara was in her late 20s with a 10 year old son, and it was looking, for a moment, like her father, despite his illness, might have Ohoama killed to pave the way for Naka no Oe's own son, Uno's brother, Ohotomo. When Ohoama surprised everyone and stepped down, taking the tonsure, she was the only one to follow him. We don't know if this is because she was that loyal to her husband, or because she had no other options. If her mother had taken her own life after her grandfather's death, she may have had nobody but her father, Naka no Oe, to turn to, and he was clearly doing poorly. If she stayed, then she would be relying on the goodwill of Prince Ohotomo and others while looking after the nine year old son and heir of Ohoama, who was clearly persona non grata at court. In contrast, one of Ohoama's other consorts, Munakata no Amago no Iratsume would have had the Munakata family to fall back on, should she need it, and her son, Prince Takechi, was a bit older. In addition, Uno's sister, Ohota no Himemiko had passed away earlier, in 667, and it is unclear who cared for her son, Prince Ohotsu, who was only a year younger than Uno's son, Kusakabe. However, he, too, appears to have remained at the Afumi court with his caretakers. So Uno no Sarara went to Yoshino with her husband. From this point on, Yoshino would become an important place for her, and during her own reign she would frequently make visits to the palace there, sometimes just for a couple of days at a time. After Naka no Oe's death, and the entire conflict of the Jinshin no Ran that kicked off in 672, Uno stayed by her husband's side. She and Kusakabe made the incredible overnight journey from Yoshino to the other side of the Kii Peninsula, eventually setting up in Mie. Ohoama would continue on towards Fuwa pass, where his son Takechi was already stationed with loyal soldiers. Before that, however, he is mentioned as turning towards Ise—towards Amaterasu. The implication seems to be that he was praying for victory. It is also notable that a large part of his support was coming from the East and from areas around Ise. Little is mentioned of Uno's role in the record of the Jinshin no Ran, but in the opening to her reign there is a mention that she addressed the troops and mingled with the throng, until at last they formed a plan. This seems to indicate that she was involved in the planning, at least, for the prosecution of the war. On the one hand she was placed well behind the front lines. On the other hand, she was well positioned to assist with logistics. Troops and supplies from the north could come down and be redirected to the south depending on what was needed, and communications would likely be more secure through that area fully controlled by Ohoama's troops. It is easy enough to imagine Uno no Sarara taking a role, even if it isn't explicitly mentioned. The fact that she is mentioned as much as she is suggests to me that she had plenty to contribute to the war effort. As the war of 672 came to a close, Ohoama had to move from a war footing to one of peacetime governance. As he ascended to the throne in 673, Uno no Sarara was made his queen. And in light of the recent issues, Ohoama appears to have leaned heavily on her and other members of the royal family for support. And so Uno no Sarara was not just a delicate flower sitting in the hinter palace, waiting on her husband. She was an active participant in the government. When Ohoama called the various princes down to Yoshino and had them swear to uphold and support each other, she was included in their number. And the Chronicles explicitly mention that when the princes swore to uphold each other, Ohoama swore he would also support them, and then Uno no Sarara made her oath like his. That is interesting in that she isn't included in the five princes, but rather with the sovereign, her husband. It appears she approached this from the point of view of a ruler already. Or perhaps she was not considered to be in the line of succession, and the focus was on upholding the various princes. Either way, we see how that eventually turned out. Later, when starting the project for what is believed to be the Kiyomihara codes, she was seated on the dais with her husband, indicating that she certainly was involved in various matters of state. She also gave and received presents from the various nobles, including suits of clothing, gold, and more. When Ohoama grew ill, and could not carry out the functions of the government alone, he deferred matters to her and to the Crown Prince, presumably meaning her son, Prince Kusakabe. Now Kusakabe is recorded as being made Crown Prince, and thus heir to the throne, however, it has also been suggested that this might not have been the case. Some have suggested that Prince Ohotsu may have been the actual Crown Prince, and that he wasn't plotting against Kusakabe and his mother, but rather it was the other way around, with Uno no Sarara clearing him off the field to make room for her son. Ohotsu, remember, was the son of Ohoama by way of Ohota-hime, who was a full sister to Uno no Sarara. That meant that, from a strict bloodline perspective, Ohotsu had just as much of a claim to the throne as did Kusakabe, but Kusakabe was a year older—or so the Nihon Shoki, compiled under the reign of Uno and her successors, would have us believe. We are also told that Uno was formally designated as Ohoama's queen—but again we have that from the Nihon Shoki, which is more than a little bit biased. Personally, I feel this theory that Uno no Sarara plotted to have Ohotsu removed without anything else stretches some of what we know, but it does illustrate that Uno no Sarara had a vested interest in ensuring that the crown went to her own progeny. I'd be more inclined to believe that there was some movement a foot, even if it was perhaps not quite as treasonous as the response to it would warrant. And this catches us up with much of what we know. Ohotsu was executed, but then Kusakabe passed away, and so Queen Uno no Sarara became Tennou in her own right. Things hadn't gone exactly to plan, but she still had her grandson, Prince Karu, the late Kusakabe's son, whose mother, Princess Abe, was a younger-half sister to Uno no Sarara. Abe was the daughter of Naka no Oe and Mehi no Iratsume, making Abe another grand-daughter of Soga no Kuramayada no Ishikawa no Maro. She was also 17 years Sarara's junior and only a year older than the late Kusakabe. By all accounts, it seems that Abe and Sarara got on well together, though she is not as prominent in the narrative that we have in the Nihon Shoki. Still, she had an important role, not in terms of governance, but in terms of ensuring that the line continued. She was in charge or protecting and raising young Prince Karu until he was ready to take the throne. In so doing, she would no doubt have had a front row seat to Queen Uno's own efforts. Since Uno no Sarara had already been so involved with the government, it should come as no surprise that she continued many of the efforts attributed to her husband. In fact, you'll often find references to Temmu and Jitou side-by-side to describe what happened because very few things can be attributed to just one of the two, especially given how long some of these projects seem to have taken. That said, there were some differences. While Ohoama, aka Temmu Tennou, had relied primarily on members of the royal family following the Jinshin no Ran, Uno was much more likely to rely on trusted nobles, whose position at court was largely held thanks to the patronage of the royal family. Having nobles running things again, rather than handing over power to those of the Princely class, may have provided opportunities for those noble houses to once again flex and grow their political muscle, but it was either that or hand that same power over to other princes with claims to royal descent—princes who might encourage the court that it would better if they, themselves, were to succeed the Queen, rather than the young prince, her own actual bloodline. Even the loyal Prince Takechi, who seems to have supported her and Prince Karu as best he could, could easily have become a threat. This could be one of the reasons she held on to power as long she did. It was, after all, a deliberate choice on her part. She could have had someone else step in as regent, but she chose not to. We've talked about Uno's dealings with Silla and the continent at this time. That was back in Episode 148, when we talked about how Ohoama was mourned and how Yamato dealt with the early missions. We discussed, thenhow she berated the Silla envoys for not adhering to protocol and turning them away. She also met with Emishi and Hayato embassies, which only helped to cement Yamato's place as the central hegemony over the archipelago and all those living on the islands. At first, this was just an extension of what she and Kusakabe had been doing since Ohoama had first grown ill and handed over the reins of government. But then Kusakabe died—and life went on. Later, Kusakabe would be remembered as Okanomiya Tennou and the Nagaoka Tennou. While not counted in the formal lineage, he was still granted the title "Tennou" posthumously, likely to help legitimize his son and that lineage. And yet, despite this, there is no report of a eulogy or anything similar upon his death. Even Royal Prince Ohotsu, when he was killed for threatening Kusakabe's own ascendance, is given a fairly wordy entry full of praise for his virtues and how he was remember. For Kusakabe we get silence. Things just move on. Indeed, just two weeks after the Crown Prince's death, we get orders talking about given people four holidays each month. It seems a rather banal announcement coming the same week that the Crown Prince passed away. And banal it may be, but I do want to pick at it a bit. I think it helps us understand even more the life at that time. In most of the world, today, we have become accustomed to the western concept of a week with seven days, including two holidays every week—though we just refer to it as the weekend. Saturday and Sunday began as holy days—the Sabbath in Jewish and then Christian tradition. Even Judaism only had a single day of rest every seven days. Many cultures did not have the concept of a weekend. After all, there wasn't anything particularly special about one day or the other. A lunar month is just under 30 days—alternating between 29 and 30 days depending on various factors. Five would fit into that much better than four seven day weeks and two more days. Or divide it into two 15 day periods, more or less. Or three weeks of ten days each. In fact, that is what was popular in the Tang dynasty at the time—though a seven day week had crept in through Buddhism, which had been picked up on the Indian subcontinent thanks to Hellenic influences. This seven day week, which is now used in modern times, was originally used more by astronomers. The days corresponded to the Sun, the Moon, and the visible planets. The point is, there's no such thing as a natural weekend. At some point, the Tang court introduced a rest period every five days for court officials. In Yamato, it seems that they introduced four holidays. Specifically, the local governors were to give laborers—those conscripted as corvee labor—four days every month. It doesn't mention if they are spaced out, or at what intervals, and it was specifically for laborers. I should probably also mention that, at this time, there wasn't a concept of a "9-to-5" job. Sure, the court operated on a schedule that may have fit fairly well in our modern life, other than its extremely early start due to the lack of cheap, safe artificial light sources. Most people, however, especially in the agricultural sectors, were likely working from sunrise to sunset, when necessary. There was no concept of overtime or a forty hour work week. You worked when you needed to work, and that was it. No time cards, just life, punctuated by holidays, festivals, market days, and whatever else needed to happen. Oddly, in our modern, more regular work schedule we work both more and less, in some ways, than our ancestors did. Our labor often goes into things beyond our job—everything from taking care of our home to various hobbies that we enjoy. Giving laborers time off from their endeavors was no doubt something they appreciated, but I don't know how much of an impact it had on things long term. A more interesting endeavor comes a few months later. That is when Uno had a royal commission come together as commissioners of "good words". We mentioned this before, especially when talking about Kose no Tayasu, who had been part of this commission, though he was the lowest ranked of the bunch. At the top it was headed by Prince Shiki, a half-brother to Uno, and one of those who had pledged his loyalty with other members of the royal family down in Yoshino, though at the time Shiki was only about 11 years old. He was the son of Koshi no Michi no Kimi no Iratsume, and a brother to Prince Osakabe. In 689, when he took charge of this commission from his half-sister, he would have been in his 22nd year, so this was probably one of his first major assignments. We don't have a finished product that we can point to from this project, so there isn't a clear idea of exactly what the commission did. Aston believed that they were attempting to determine auspicious words to be used by the court. By this one could infer that they were looking into the way to draw up formal language for edicts, or how to formally address the sovereign and members of the court. However, others have suggested that this was more about finding stories and other such things and writing them down. If that is the case, this may have been a continuation of—or perhaps an addendum to—the history project started during the reign of Ohoama. The words, or stories, that the commission wrote down were likely used by later Chroniclers, though there is no specific work that is clearly attributed to their efforts. So in the end we can't exactly know for sure. What we can see is that Uno no Sarara was continuing to make tweaks and changes to things—and in particular in how things were stated, remembered, and passed down to posterity, one way or another. This is also part of what we see later that same month, when the 22 books of what we now call the Kiyomihara Law Codes were also published. Like the history project, this was also begun during the reign of Ohoama, and Uno had continued to see it through. It appears to have been just the law itself, not necessarily the punishments which made up the other half of the Ritsuryou, but it is still significant. Unfortunately, we don't know exactly what was in it—the earliest law code that we have good evidence for is the Taihou code, which would come over a decade later—but we have seen some of the edicts and orders and we can make some assumptions based on later law codes as well as the language used to even define the court and how things ran. Much of what was written had likely been promulgated, previously, and a lot of this may have been more documenting the changes they had already put in place. There is also the Afumi law code, but there are even more questions about that one. This is possibly the first one written down to this level of detail. Though it would be superseded, later, it was still an impressive work. As in past reigns, we see things both monumental and mundane. A month after the law codes were finished, we see about orders to the Mayors of the Left and Right to set up places for Archery—literally glossed as "Ikusa", or "war", but likely because the two had a common root and archery and war were closely intertwined. As for the Mayors of the Left and Right, this is the first time we are seeing those terms, and I suspect they are also part of the reforms that Uno no Sarara and her late husband had been implementing. The Mayors of the Left and Right of the Capital are known as Kyoushiki or, alternatively, as Misato-zukasa. They were like kokushi, or governors, except they oversaw the capital city. Now remember, the quote-unquote "capital city" in use at this point is Asuka—it is the Kiyomihara palace and environs. There were other streets, buildings, and such around, but nothing terribly organized. Most family estates were off in their own lands or strongholds. At the same time, the court was building out a new, permanent capital. It was taking time—and likely had been put on hold during the three year mourning period for the late Ohoama Ohokimi. It required that they survey and transform an immense and populated area into a new and impressive capital in the area known today as Kashihara. This work took years—they likely had to divert labor to build the late sovereign's mausoleum, or misasagi, and there were droughts and other reasons why they may have had to pause work. And yet, it continued, nonetheless. The main ideal for a capital city was based off of continental models. While Luoyang may have been the more active capital, the western capital of the Tang dynasty, at Chang'an—modern Xi'an—appears to have been a more quintessential capital city layout, and may have been what the Yamato capital was attempting to mimic—though they may have also been relying on the theoretical Confucian model, as well. In fact, I tend to think that the Confucian model was closer to this first attempt at a permanent capital. Early on, excavations assumed that the palace structures were towards the northern end of the city, but further investigations have suggested that the scale of Fujiwara-kyo was much more ambitious, and some maps of the area place the palace towards the center of the city. Either way, there were several key things about the capital and how it mimicked the continental models. One of the primary things that Yamato had appropriated from across the strait was the north-south orientation of the palace, with the main audience hall facing south, so as to get the sun. This meant that, from the point of view of the sovereign in that hall, the left side would be the east and the right side would be to the west. And so the capital city was divided into a left and right, east and west, and each half had its own administrator responsible for taxation, public safety, and general law and order. They were, as I said, similar to the governors of the various provinces in the scope of their powers, except that they oversaw the capital city. The building of the Fujiwara capital is perhaps one of the most obvious changes that Uno no Sarara was overseeing. As I've mentioned before, it was a physical manifestation of court. The three sacred mountains which were included within the boundaries of the capital were woven into the myths and legends that would find their way into the Nihon Shoki and the Kojiki. The size and scale of the earthworks and the stones laid as foundation demonstrate that this was clearly meant to be a permanent capital, overturning the idea that there would be a huge change every time a sovereign passed away. Instead, there would be consistency. The order of the state would go on. Later we'll talk about reasons why the Fujiwara capital was abandoned. For now, though, let's look at what we see about its construction. In 690, the same year that Uno ascended to the throne, Royal Prince Takechi, Ohoama's oldest son, inspected the site where the new Fujiwara palace was to be placed. Two months later, Uno no Sarara came out to see it for herself. I imagine this as being the point where the land had been cleared, and they could see the mountains and the placement and get an idea of the overall size of what they were looking for. With royal approval, the project continued. A year later, in 691, officials were sent to perform the Chin-sai, the pacification ceremony, for the new capital. Today, this is a common ceremony, known as a Jichin-sai, or Earth Pacification Ceremony, done before undertaking a construction project. Theoretically it is before breaking ground on the project, though there is often some amount of preparation that has to be done in preparation. The idea for the Jichin-sai is to effectively negotiate with the spirits of the land before disturbing the area, a recognition that the process of construction is going to alter the natural landscape. As such, one wants to propitiate the spirits and the kami that are on the land to ensure that the construction is successful. This was likely a much older ritual, but this is the first mention we have of it in the record. This ceremony was also apparently directed at the new capital as a whole, while a year later another ceremony was held specifically for the new palace complex. In the intervening time we see the court laying out the roads and giving land for the various mansions of court nobles, like Tajihi no Shima's four chou of land—roughly ten acres. Those of Jikikwoni rank and above were given two chou, and those from Jikidaisan down were given one chou. Those of Gon rank on down would get land dependant on the number of inhabitants in their fiefs. First class fiefs would get one chou, while second class would warrant a half chou and at the bottom they would get one quarter chou. This was apparently the land that they were being given in the capital to build their personal residences. Other land was given out for markets, temples, and other necessary facilities, but this whole city really was being built from scratch. Shortly after the pacification ceremony for the palace, officials were sent out to the major shrines of the time. This included the great gods, the Ohokami, of Ise, Yamato, Sumiyoshi, and Kii. So not just the local kami, but also the larger kami who were seen as the kami of the archipelago more generally. It would still take another year to build the palace. Uno visited the site a few times during the construction, with her last visit just a quick outing on the 8th month of 693. At that point it was likely ready, though she wouldn't formally move into the new palace until the first month of 694. Before that, though, there was one other thing that had to happen. In the 2nd month of 693 they had to rebury the bodies. That's right. The Fujiwara capital occupied a huge swath of the plain of what is now known as Kashihara. And that plain had been settled for centuries—all through the kofun period. And those kofun, and possibly even older funkyubo, the older mixed-use burial mounds—would have been destroyed in the making of the new capital. There also may have been plain pit burials that were dug up while laying out roads and foundations. I don't know that there was anything approaching the size of the larger, keyhole shaped mounds, but we have no way to know for certain how many were there that had to be destroyed or moved. I also have not seen any indications of any mass reburial site—whether they opened an existing tomb or simply dug a pit in the ground somewhere. I imagine that such a find would be incredible, but unless archaeologists stumble upon it, I guess we'll never know. Still, it is interesting, and almost poetic as we move further and further from the kofun period, this feels like the final nail in the proverbial coffin, if you'll forgive the pun. Indeed, when Uno no Sarara finally passes away, she will become one of the first sovereigns to be cremated, with her ashes and burnt remains then deposited in the existing tomb with her husband, Ohoama, rather than having a new mounded tomb built. Buddhist style cremation would eventually become commonplace throughout the archipelago, though sovereigns would still have special mausoleums built for their memory, it really was a change from the ancient practices. From 694 onward, the court would meet at the new Fujiwara Palace. Compared to previous palaces, I can only imagine how impressive this one must have seemed. Based on what we can tell, it was likely built much more in the continental style. Previous palaces had largely been in the style of the archipelago, with what we believe was plain wood and a thatched roof. The Fujiwara palace was likely a mix, but with more of the continental style than the previous Kiyomihara place. It also dwarfed its predecessor, at over twice the size. It was actually much closer in size and shape to the Toyosaki palace, in Naniwa. At the southern end of the palace was the Suzaku mon, the Suzaku gate, followed by the choshu-den'in, a courtyard with two buildings, one in the east and one in the west, where officials could wait and prepare for the day. From there they would be let into the Chodoin, a large court yard with four buildings on the east and west, and four more at the southernmost point. These would be where the various departments, or bureaus, would operate. There were also gates in the east and west of the Chodoin for easier access. To the north was another gate, leading to the Daigokuden, the main audience hall. This would have been quite the impressive and imposing structure—the main focus of the palace. It was in its own walled enclosure, and would have been the seat of the sumera Mikoto, or Tennou. It was both inside and apart from the Dairi, the inner palace. This was the actual residence of the sovereign and the royal family. The dairi itself occupied more land than the entire Kiyomihara palace. None of the buildings exist, but we can see their footprint from the large foundation stones and there are numerous rooftiles and other architectural features that fell off or were removed and then buried, purposefully or not, allowing us to get some idea of the size and scale of the project. And yet, it appears that this palace may not have been completed when they moved in. The entire city was likely still under construction, in fact. The main pieces were in place, but to build an entire city from scratch took a lot of work. Most of the buildings would have been built with more traditional—and less labor intensive—practices. You didn't need a false second story gallery some thirty feet off the ground, even if you were the Minister of the Right. It was enough to have a relatively simple mansion with gardens, servants quarters, and everything else needed to keep you comfortable. That in and of itself was going to put a strain on labor and other resources. And so it looks like some parts of the galleries and other features may not have been finished even while Uno no Sarara was there. In fact, it may not have been fully finished by the time they moved again. The Fujiwara capital, the first permanent capital city, was only occupied from 694 until about 710—less than two decades. This massive project, taking multiple years and how many people to create, would be abandoned several years later. The buildings would be torn down and moved to the new site—Heijou-kyou, in modern Nara city. And yet, the impact of Fujiwara kyou would remain. Besides making changes to the physical landscape, Uno no Sarara was also focused on the spiritual landscape as well. Both Ohoama and Uno not only supported the Buddhist temples, building new temples and leveraging the ceremonies, but they also supported the traditional kami. During the Jinshin no Ran, Ohoama turned and addressed the kami of Ise before heading to the Fuwa barrier. Later we see a greater focus on Ise Shrine, with Saigu, the royal princesses sent to Ise Shrine as the Shrine priestess, being heavily reported. In fact, the position seems to have not been commented on much until this reign, and there is some thought that Ohoama and Uno actually instituted the practice—or at least made it a formal part of the court and the royal household. This is combined with their support of the Jingikan, the state governmental body responsible for dealing with kami matters. At this time it appears to have been even more powerful, in many ways, than the other bureaus or departments of the Great Council of State, the Dajokan. There are plenty who argue that the preeminence of Ise was born in this period. Early Yamato worship focused more on the deity of Mt. Miwa: Ohomononushi. Sun worship seems to have also been baked into the rituals of the ethnic Wa people, but that wasn't necessarily focused on Amaterasu—and Amaterasu was not necessarily seen as a feminine goddess. Early worship appears to focus on the deities such as Takabi Musubi, and similarly named deities. These are deities that show up in court ritual, and presumably date back to well before this period. Thanks to the fact that we get alternate stories in the Nihon Shoki, we occasionally see them take a more central role in events, such as the descent of the Heavenly Grandson, but at the same time we also see that the main throughline of the Nihon Shoki and the Kojiki has placed Amaterasu more front and center in the narrative. Ama Terasu effectively translates to something like "The Shining of Heaven". In neither the Japanese nor Sinitic language is she particularly gendered most of the time, and this may have been a more generic name for the concept of a sun deity. I believe it is also somewhat telling that the Ichi-no-miya, the First Shrine, or primary shrine, of Ise is not Ise Shrine, but rather Tsubaki Grand Shrine, which is the home of Sarutahiko Ohokami. Even in the Nihon Shoki, there is a narrative regarding the yata no kagami, the great mirror, that it was moved from its original location in the Nara Basin over to Ise and the shrine was then established there, marking the shrine as a relative late-comer to the region rather than marking a particularly ancient spot. The Great Kami of Ise then appears to have taken on some of the shine, pun intended, of Sarutahiko, who is no longer seen as a sun-deity, and is even placed in the way of the Heavenly Grandchild's descent—perhaps a subtle nod to some of the tensions between the worship of one over the other. Besides sending the Shrine Princess, the Saigu, to Ise, the sovereigns themselves made plans to go, in person. Ohoama made preparations, including purifying himself, but his trip was cancelled due to a sudden death in the palace. He is never recorded as making the trip, after that. Uno no Sarara, however, did make the trip, in 692. This was clearly quite the production, and requires several entries in the Nihon Shoki. The first entry is in the 2nd month of the year, when she makes her intentions clear. The Court officials were set to task to prepare all the necessary clothing for the trip, which was about 3 weeks out. This likely also meant preparing the road, ensuring that there would be food, and a place for Uno no Sarara and her entourage to stay when they reached Ise. The preparations clearly had an impact, as Miwa no Ason no Takechimaro, a Chunagon, or Middle Counselor, presented a memorial to remonstrate with her majesty on the trip. He noted that they were in the middle of the agricultural season—roughly April or May by modern standards—and a royal trip would have an outsized impact on the areas where she would be traveling through. His remonstration was heard, and overruled. Uno no Sarara was determined to go. As she delegated the Prince Hirose, Tahema no Mabito no Chitoko, and Ki no Ason no Yumibari to all look after the palace while she was away, Miwa no Takechimaro reiterated his remonstration and then took a drastic step: He offered to her his cap—basically he offered to resign his rank. This was quite the step, and not from nobody. Miwa no Takechimaro was from a prominent family. As their name suggests, they were connected to Mt. Miwa, and the worship, there. Based on what evidence we have, he was probably born around 657 CE, and when he was about 16 years old he was fighting on the side of Ohoama in the Jinshin no Ran. In particular, he was involved in the fighting near Hashihaka kofun, and then moved over to attack the Afumi forces on the Middle Road. There is evidence after that of him making his way up through the ranks, and was even one of those who offered a eulogy for Ohoama. As Chunagon, he was in a fairly powerful position in court, and giving up his court rank would mean not just a loss in status, but also giving up the income associated with that rank. And this remonstration may be why we are told that the court commuted taxes, including forced labor, for the lands that she passed through, and she recognized the local Kuni no Miyatsuko with cap-rank. She also remitted taxes for those who had been conscripted to help from elsewhere, such as her baggage handlers, the people who built the temporary palace for her to stay in, in Ise, etc. So even if the procession to Ise had an impact, she seems to have done her best to lessen the blow. As for Takechimaro, we don't see him again in the Nihon Shoki, but he does show up later. He would become the governor of Nagato, and then later he is given positions such as the Mayor of the Sakyou, or Left Capital. So it would seem that either his resignation wasn't accepted, or that he was re-hired at some later point. He would pass away in 706 CE. By the way, there is one other notable feature about him, and you may have caught it as I went over all of this. That was the name of his uji, or clan: Miwa, or Ohomiwa. This means he had a connection to—and possibly a vested interest in—promoting the worship at Mt. Miwa, the traditional Yamato cultic center. Nothing is outright stated, but it makes sense that someone from Miwa might be a little bit concerned with the extra attention being given to the shrine at Ise around this time—so there is that, as well. Regardless of his intentions, it certainly seems that from that point on Ise Shrine and the deity worshipped there, Amaterasu Ohokami, would be tied to the imperial line from the late 7th century onward. Clearly the royal patronage of the shrine stepped up, and for the most part we do see a fairly regular stream of Saigu, with one slight exception: There doesn't appear to have been one during Uno no Sarara's reign. Ohoku no Himemiko had been sent down during the reign of Ohoama, but she was the sister to Prince Ohotsu, and appears to have returned after his death. The position appears to have remained vacant until after Uno no Sarara's reign. It makes me wonder if she wasn't "filling in" for the Saigu, in a way. That could, in part, explain her travels there. There also may not have been a good candidate at the time, but I find that less believable—perhaps there was no candidate that Uno trusted given the precarious position her own bloodline was in at the moment. Still, after her reign, the position of Saigu would be regularly filled by a member of the royal family through the end of the Heian period. It was interrupted by the Genpei wars, and then the practice fell into decline during the period of the Kamakura bakufu. Late Edo period pro-imperialists tried to restore the practice, but it didn't catch back on. Despite the apparent importance of the shrine to the royal family, it would also remain somewhat aloof. The priests of the shrine would provide the sacred mirror for ascension ceremonies, but it would be very rare for any sitting sovereign to actually pay a visit to the shrine, and, as I mentioned before, Amaterasu was not one of the deities reflected in the inner court rituals. Still, she would come to be seen as the dominant kami of the Shinto pantheon, and even today, many shrines will hold space for her as well as the primary deity; home shrines, or kamidana, will often include ofuda for Amaterasu as a central point of worship, with kami associated with one's local shrines as well. So there you have just a little taste of what Uno no Sarara was up to. Whether she had intended to be in this position or had it thrust onto her, she was no shrinking violet. She took control of the ship of state and set a course that would continue to influence the archipelago down to the modern day. The reforms that started with her father and husband she continued and made manifest in the physical and spiritual world. And this is only the beginning. There is more to talk about regarding Uno no Sarara's reign, and her eventual abdication, but for that, we will have to wait until Part 2. Until then if you like what we are doing, please tell your friends and feel free to rate us wherever you listen to podcasts. If you feel the need to do more, and want to help us keep this going, we have information about how you can donate on Patreon or through our KoFi site, ko-fi.com/sengokudaimyo, or find the links over at our main website, SengokuDaimyo.com/Podcast, where we will have some more discussion on topics from this episode. Also, feel free to reach out to our Sengoku Daimyo Facebook page. You can also email us at the.sengoku.daimyo@gmail.com. Thank you, also, to Ellen for their work editing the podcast. And that's all for now. Thank you again, and I'll see you next episode on Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.

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Episode 193: The Harby Boys

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 18, 2026 145:29

This week, Ran & Melty cover everything they know about the ever-imposing Fatui Harbingers! Come hear about what we know so far, what we expect to see in the future, and how we feel about some of our favorite antagonists and anti-heroes! Thanks for listening!Discord: discord.gg/theresonanceWebsite: https://shows.acast.com/theresonanceSupport Us on Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/theresonanceRedBubble Shop: https://www.redbubble.com/people/TheResonance/shop?asc=uMusic Used:A Sweet Smile Groove [Instrumental] by MilohHeizou Theme Epic Version Cover/Remix by brittle bearOriginal Music by HOYO-MiX Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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BEST FITS For Brendan Sorsby In NFL Supplemental Draft + 2027 NFL Draft QBs Ranked 6-10 RIGHT NOW

With the First Pick: An NFL Draft Podcast from CBS Sports

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 17, 2026 43:54

CBS Sports Lead Draft Analyst Ryan Wilson and Former NFL GM Ran Carthon break down the latest surrounding Brendan Sorsby. They discuss his decision to apply for the NFL Supplemental Draft, compare him to other 2027 NFL Draft QB prospects, and much more! Ryan and Ran also begin their Summer Scouting series looking at the QBs they rank 6-10 right now for the 2027 NFL Draft.-(00:00) Intro(2:13) Brendan Sorsby Supplemental Draft Outlook(16:00) Nico Iamaleava | UCLA(20:30) Drew Mestemaker | Oklahoma State(25:00) Trinidad Chambliss | Ole Miss (33:00) Sam Leavitt | LSU(40:30) Jayden Maiava | USC-Watch With the First Pick on the CBS Sports YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@CBSSports'With the First Pick' is available for free on the Audacy app as well as on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Castbox and wherever else you listen to podcasts.You can listen to With the First Pick on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the With the First Pick podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the With the First Pick podcast."Follow the With the First Pick team on X: @nfldraftcbs, @ryanwilsonCBS, @E_DeBerardinis, @ryan__strykerFollow With the First Pick on TikTok & Instagram: @nfldraftcbsProduced by: Ryan StrykerFor more NFL Draft coverage from CBS Sports, visit https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcast

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Když se dcera narodila, zjistila jsem, že potřebuju dovychovat sebe, říká Tereza Dočkalová

Houpačky

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 17, 2026 22:36

„Pochopila jsem, že budu takovou mámou, jakým jsem člověkem. Rané rodičovství není dobrá doba se nějak od základů měnit. Já už dávno o sobě nemám žádné iluze a vím, kde jsou moje limity a v čem jsem skvělý člověk,“ říká máma pětileté Berty.Všechny díly podcastu Houpačky můžete pohodlně poslouchat v mobilní aplikaci mujRozhlas pro Android a iOS nebo na webu mujRozhlas.cz.

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Houpačky: Když se dcera narodila, zjistila jsem, že potřebuju dovychovat sebe, říká Tereza Dočkalová

Radio Wave

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 17, 2026 22:21

ran tereza jsem sebe narodila dcera

Dazai no Sochi of the Late 7th Century

With the First Pick: An NFL Draft Podcast from CBS Sports

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 16, 2026 43:14

The Dazai no Sochi--the head of the Yamato government in Kyushu--was a powerful position, with a lot of autonomy with lucrative opportunities. The people in this position were often powerful members of the court capable of representing the sovereign. They would often go on to become quite powerful in their own right. So who were the movers and shakers that held this prestigious position during Uno no Sarara's reign? This episode, we take a look at those who held the position and those who supported them. For more, check out our blogpost: https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-151 PS: Hang around to the end (or check the end of the transcript) for information on some possible updates coming to the show. Rough Transcript Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan. My name is Joshua and this is Episode 151: The Dazai no Sochi of the late 7th century Tsukushi no Masaru was busy. A new boss was coming in, and he wanted to make sure everything was prepared. The Dazai may have been about as far as one could get from the capital and still be in Yamato, but it was also the first—and sometimes only—encounter some would have with the archipelago, so there was no excuse to be slacking off. Of course, this was hardly his first new boss, though for as long as he'd been on the job, each one could well be his last. He was getting a bit long in the tooth, after all. Twenty-nine years was a long time to be working in the same position. As Masaru paused, he thought back on some of the people he'd served. There was Soga no Akae—he was ambitious. Apparently he'd been in some rather compromising positions before coming out, but he'd done well enough when he went back. Shame that he backed the wrong horse. That did bring a chuckle to old Masaru's throat, though. He remembered when Prince Kurikuma had come out there, to the the Dazai, , and there were still people around who told stories of him. When those Afumi court stooges had showed up to try and conscript the barrier guards, Prince Kurikuma and his sons just stared them down. Everyone had been afraid that it would end in bloodshed, or at least that there would be consequences for defying the court, but Kurikuma was adamant, and the messenger had left with his tail firmly between his legs. Then there was Shima. By the time he came, Masaru already knew how everything was supposed to work. He may not have been in charge, but that wasn't his ambition. It was enough for him to be good at what he did. He didn't need to go all the way to the Palace and deal with the politics there—there were enough politics out here already. Shima, though, he was clearly suited for that Palace life. He was a capable administrator, but Masaru could tell he was ambitious. When he left, everyone knew that he would be going on to bigger and better things. And now there was another Prince coming out. So they would get the government offices prepared and greet him with proper fanfare. They'd bring him in and hold the ceremonies, and then they would get down to work. A stream of officers would present him with what they were working on and what had to happen. Masaru would be there to help make sure that everything was running smoothly and nothing got too out of hand. And that was the way things worked out on the edge of the realm. Welcome back to Sengoku Daimyo. We are still covering the reign of Uno no Sarara, and, similar to last episode, we are going to continue to talk about the people who made up Yamato at this time. This episode, more specifically, we are going to be turning away from the capital, in Asuka, and looking all the way over to Tsukushi—modern Kyushu—and at the people who served as Dazai no Sochi, or head of the local government out there, as well as the bureaucrats and staff that worked for them—at least as far we know. Many of them went on to have considerable careers that took them well beyond Kyushu. At the same time, we'll take a look at some of the things that happened under their rule as what Aston translates as the "Viceroy of Tsukushi". After that, I have a special announcement about the podcast at the end of the episode, so if you are interested in learning more about what we plan on doing, please listen all the way to the end to hear about some plans for the future. And with that out of the way, let's begin. So we are talking about the position of Dazai no Sochi or the Viceroy of Tsukushi. Often these people are referred to only as being of the "Tsukushi no Dazai" or the "Tsukushi no Ohomochi". The term "Sochi" appears later, and we first see this term applied to Prince Kawachi, in 689. It seems to show up with two different characters, which might be a term from the later Taihou code that was retroactively applied or may refer to an evolution of the position over time. I'm honestly not sure. There is still plenty of confusion over what was meant in some of the references. We've discussed this position before on the podcast: This was the sovereign's representative to the world outside of the archipelago. Not only did the Dazai no Sochi oversee all of Tsukushi—all of Kyushu— and extensive defensive forces stationed there and in the outlying islands, but they oversaw all diplomatic and trade missions to and from the archipelago. Envoy missions would come to Tsushima, where they would get a local pilot and send word ahead. They would then be received at the government center, the Dazai, near modern Fukuoka and Hakata bay. For most envoys, this was as close as they would ever get to Yamato proper. They would offload their goods there and be put up at the government supplied quarters in Wogohori. They would be wined and dined there, entertained as appropriate to their status, while word was sent on to the capital. In rare cases, envoys would be sent on another journey through the inland sea to Naniwa, and then on to Asuka, but otherwise their journey would end at the Dazaifu. Any return gifts would come back with the correspondence from the capital, and thus be handed out to the envoys and their escorts before the mission was sent back home to Silla, Tamna, or wherever they had come from. Being the middle man in this operation offered a lot of power and authority, but it also would have been quite lucrative. While diplomatic missions brought gifts for the court, they also brought trade goods, of which the Dazai no Sochi could have first pick. This is on top of the fact that this position often came with a stipend equaling the labor of hundreds of individuals. Many of the Dazai no Sochi would serve limited terms, eventually returning to Asuka, where we see them take on powerful positions. Take, for example, our first Dazai no Sochi, Tajihi no Mabito no Shima. Tajihi no Shima was born, we are told, in or around 624 to Tajihi no Maro and a daughter of Ohotomo no Hirafu. Tajihi no Maro, Shima's father was a powerful noble in the court of Ohoama, aka Temmu Tennou, and he had enough standing that he was one of the named individuals who provided eulogies for Ohoama on the occasion of his passing. The Tajihi family were quite well placed: they were descendants of Hinokuma no Takata no Miko, aka Senka Tennou, Shima's great-grandfather. This earned them the kabane of "Mabito", or "True Person" because of their royal lineage. Tajihi no Shima was placed in charge of the Dazai from at least 682. His predecessor that we know about is Prince Yagaki, who was dismissed around 676, and we don't know who filled the gap between him and Shima. Shima had quite the run. We don't know exactly when he returned to the court in Asuka, but it cannot have been later than 689, when we see Awada no Mahito in the position. A year later, in 690, Shima was made Udaijin, or minister of the right. That's a huge deal and we will talk about that in a bit, but what did Shima actually oversee during his tenure as Dazai no Sochi? We have quite a few events attributed to him, this reign. In 686, we see the Tsukushi no Dazai sending tribute in the form of human beings: Common men and women of Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla, along with 62 priests and nuns. We aren't told where these men and women came from, but I suspect that they were refugees or captives from all the fighting on the peninsula. That they were given as tribute suggests to me that they were enslaved—or at the very least they were not free. If they were uneducated, they were likely put to work as labor, perhaps building out the new capital or opening new farmlands. Later we see the various missions from Silla around the death of Ohoama, and the back and forth that went on, there, and in 688 the Tsukushi no Dazai entertained Kara, a Minister of Tamna, aka modern Jeju island, who had been sent by the king of that small country. You may recall that Tamna, while late to the game, may have been one of the last holdouts of an early Japonic speaking people outside of the archipelago. Being the Tsukushi no Dazai, Shima would not have only been concerned with foreign envoys, but also with two other groups of Hayato—specifically the Ohosumi no Hayato and the Ata no Hayato. Little is known about them, other than that Yamato considered them to be distinct ethnic and cultural groups living in the far south of Kyushu. We've talked before about how southern Kyushu maintained a significantly different material culture through Kofun period until more recent times. We also have indication that they had a distinctive shield and even art style—the famous "Hayato shields" appear to have been appropriated by the court, along with a contingent of Hayato men that were expected to act as an exotic guard for the sovereign and the court. The earliest reliable evidence we have for them is a record from 682. There are some questions as to whether or not they were related to the groups previously called Kumaso or even the Tsuchigumo, but there is no clear historical or archaeological evidence linking them other than the common cultural finds in Kyushu more generally. The Ata and Ohosumi Hayato may have been distinct clans or lineage groups living in Ohosumi and the area of modern Satsuma. We have a record in 687 of the Ata no Hayato attending Ohoama's funeral and presenting a eulogy. The chiefs who came brought 337 others—a sizeable contingent—and they were all given presents by the court. Later, we would see presents given out to 174 Hayato by Shima's successor in the Dazai, Awada no Mahito, and then in 692 we know that the court sent priests to preach Buddhism to Ata and Ohosumi. In 695, Hayato of Ohosumi were entertained in the capital, and they even held a wrestling match for the Queen and her attendants in the area west of Asukadera, by the site of the famous Tsuki tree. So the Hayato would have been another group that Shima no doubt dealt with on a somewhat regular basis in his capacity as Dazi no Sochi—and then later on when he returned to Asuka and took up his new role as Udaijin. And as I mentioned, that appointment was a Big Deal. The position of Udaijin had been vacant since Nakatomi no Kane, one of the infamous leaders of the Afumi court, was non-consensually removed from the position—and this plane of existence—when he was executed in 672, at the closure of the Jinshin no Ran. After that, Ohoama appears to have been gun-shy about sharing power with anyone outside the royal family. The position had been left vacant for about 18 years. So what made Uno no Sarara take up Shima as Minister of the Right? And what about the Minister of the Left, or the Sadaijin? Well, we don't have a Sadaijin, but we do have a Dajodaijin in the form of Prince Takechi, Ohoama's first-born son. The Dajodaijin was the Prime Minister in charge of the entire Dajokan, the Council of State, made up of the ministers of the left and right and the 8 bureaus of the government. The Sadaijin and Udaijin served under the Dajodaijin, in that hierarchical order, with the Sadaijin generally being considered higher in precedence. So it looks like, in this case, they had the Dajodaijin, Prince Takechi to run the Council and Shima, as Udaijin would have been responsible for ensuring the administration of the eight bureaus was properly carried out. That Shima was appointed just under Prince Takechi again shows the power and influence he likely had and the trust he must have had from Uno no Sarara. Remember, the Crown Prince, Kusakabe, had died before he could take the throne. Uno was enthroned as Queen, while the Crown Prince, Karu, was still a minor. Whereas Ohoama had his wife and many sons to help him run things, Uno no Sarara was running thin. As had been seen with Prince Ohotsu, there was always the threat that one of Ohoama's other sons could be propped up on the throne. Uno had to look after Karu's birthright, but there was no guarantee that he would make it to adulthood in times before modern medicine. It appears that Prince Takechi was actually considered the next in line, just in case something happened to Karu before he could ascend the throne, which makes sense that Prince Takechi was also trusted as Dajo Daijin. Shima's place as Udaijin must have been indicative of similar trust that he would look after the royal family's interests. This was no doubt helped by the role he played as Dazai no Sochi. As Udajin, Tajihi no Shima went on to have a rather incredible career. He was given 4 cho of land for his residence. This appears to be around 10 acres or so—a not inconsiderable amount of land, and it probably refers to the amount of land he was granted in the new Fujiwara capital city. Later, in the Nara capital of Heijo-kyo, Prince Nagaya's residence was about that size and Fujiwara no Nakamaro's residence is thought to have been about twice that. This would have given Shima space for multiple buildings, sprawling gardens, servants quarters, quarters for his wives and children, and much more. Tajihi no Shima would continue in his role as Udaijin, and would eventually, be promoted to the position of Sadaijin, a post he held only briefly, as he passed away almost a year later. He was not forgotten, however. It is thought that he was the model for one of the suitors of Kaguya Hime in the famous story of Taketori Monogatari—the tale of the Bamboo Cutter. Taketori Monogatari, also known as Kaguya Hime Monogatari, is considered the oldest known story in the Monogatari form. It was probably written in the late 9th or early 10th century, with references to it appearing in works as early as 909 CE. This suggests that Tajihi no Shima and others were still remembered, at least in part, over a century later. Shima is also thought to have been the patron of the famous poet, Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, one of the famous 36 immortal poets. We'll have to include Hitomaro in a later episode, though we might come back to him after this reign, as he isn't mentioned in the Chronicles, but we do have some fragmentary biographical information thanks to his inclusion in the Man'yoshu. In fact, he's probably one of the most famous poets in the Man'yoshu who is not otherwise mentioned. We are told that he was the court poet during the reign of Uno no Sarara, so it makes sense that Shima may have very well been his patron and helped him get his start. Now while Shima was back in Asuka, making it big in the court, the position of Tsukushi no Dazai had to be filled, and we are told that the mantle was taken up by Awada no Mahito no Ason. This name is a bit tricky, as it seems to have two kabane: Mahito and Ason. Since his father is said to have been Kasuga no Awada no Omi no Kudara, the assumption seems to be that "Mahito" was his name, rather than his kabane. Although it was likely pronounced "Mabito" at the time, I'm going to go with the modern pronunciation of "Mahito" in part to distinguish it from the kabane. A quick side note: When reading names from this period, we usually see the kabane coming right after the family name, as the kabane is basically a rank for the family and not the individual. But we do occasionally see the kabane tacked on at the end of a name, as in Awada no Mahito's case. I would also like to quickly draw your attention to his father's name: Kudara. That can also be read as Baekje. Was this an indication that his father or an ancestor came from the continent, perhaps from Baekje? Or just that he had close ties to that kingdom? I couldn't find anything specific, but it seems interesting that he was put in place at the Dazai, where dealing with the continent would have been an important part of his duties. Awada no Mahito was not just a noble of the court, and even if his father was of Baekje descent, that may not have been the main thing that gained him the position. It may have also had to do with an earlier incident. We are told that in 653 Mahito was one of those who traveled with the 2nd envoy to the Tang court as a scholar monk. He would later return to secular life, but that experience must have been a big feather in his cap, helping him land a good position at court. In fact, in 685, we are told that he was Jikikwoushi rank—a fairly respectable position for anyone at the time—and he apparently tried to get his father raised to the same rank as he was. Aston translates the record as saying he was willing to give his rank to his father, but it is unclear to me if this means he was offering to give up his rank altogether. At the very least it seems that he felt awkward outranking his father—a good, filial attitude, it would seem. However, Ohoama didn't care. In the past, rank may have been given to entire families, but now the court was giving rank to individuals, and the rank Mahito had earned was his, not his father's. And so his request was denied. Four years later, Ohoama was gone and Awada no Mahito was sent to the Tsukushi no Dazai. We are told that he was in that position as of 689. If that was the position of Dazai no Sochi, however, he didn't hold it for long, as Prince Kawachi was raised up to that position that same year, and here we have a bit of a conundrum. Mahito is only mentioned as "Tsukushi no Dazai" while Prince Kawachi is specifically mentioned, at least twice, as Tsukushi no Dazai no Sochi. There are some who suggest that Mahito may have been the Dazai Daini, an assistant to the Dazai no Sochi—effectively the second-in-command it would appear. This makes some sense, when you consider it, and he may even have been acting Dazai no Sochi until Prince Kawachi was appointed. Of course, because our records are quite lackluster, and we are never actually told when Tajihi no Shima left the position, it is possible that Awada no Mahito was actually the Dazai Sochi for many years leading up to 689, and that Shima had returned to Asuka some time ago. This is the problem with the way things are written—sometimes they mention a name and sometimes just a position, and rarely do they mention when someone stepped down. Still, Mahito oversaw a few things that we can be somewhat sure about as they happened after he is first mentioned in the position, though it was all in the same year. For one thing, he is the one who presented gifts to the 174 Hayato in the first month of 689. This included cloth, ox hides, and deerskins. He was also there when the Queen sent relief to the Barrier Wardens whose terms were up. These were the Sakimori, a position set up to defend the archipelago and repel any potential invasions. I would assume they were regularly rotated out, especially if they were expected to man the fortifications out on some of the islands. It is interesting that we don't often see them referenced, so it isn't clear to me why the reference was made here—it may have just been a note in one of the sources the Chroniclers were using. Later that same year, we also see garments being given out—likely meaning official court clothing—to the Tsukushi Dazai and others. This was probably to bring them all in line with the latest formal wear being used in the court in Asuka. We also know that in the 6th month of that year they entertained the Silla envoys, who were given various presents. And then, two months later, Mahito is out and Prince Kawachi comes in. At the same time that Prince Kawachi is being made the Dazai no Sochi, our previous Dazai no Sochi, Tajihi no Shima, had his rank and fief increased. I doubt this was a coincidence, and it is one of the things that, for me, lends credence to the idea that Shima had just then returned to Asuka and Prince Kawachi was his replacement, suggesting that Mahito had really just been in an acting capacity while the change over was taking place. Unfortunately, if we were looking for more information about Prince Kawachi's background, we would be disappointed. Although he is a prince, probably descended from Nunakura, aka Bidatsu Tennou, we don't have a lot about him. He—or someone with the same name, since we do see these Princely titles get reused, it seems—is found in the reign of Ohoama traveling with Ohotomo no Yasumaro and Fujiwara no Ohoshima to go entertain Gim Jisyang of Silla. Later we see a Prince Kawachi delivering eulogies during Ohoama's funeral. That suggests he held an important position, and that he was somewhat familiar with the continent, but we don't get a whole lot more. Our next evidence is when he was appointed to the post of Dazai no Sochi in 689, a position he would hold until his death in 694—which may also explain why we just don't see too much of him in the record. A promising career may have been cut short, as happened all too often back in that day and age. Still, as Dazai no Sochi, he had plenty to keep him busy. Not a month after he arrived, Isonokami no Maro and Ishikawa no Mishina arrived at the head of a delegation. They were there to deliver patents of rank to members of the Tsukushi government and to inspect the fortifications at the edge of the archipelago. These were the same fortifications being manned by the newly arrived Sakimori. Speaking of the members of the Tsukushi government, it took a lot of people to make the Dazaifu work, not just the Sochi giving people orders about what they should do. There were numerous assistants helping to keep everything running. Some of them would have just been dealing with the Sochi's own residence, while others were clerks, guards, and more. It really was a miniature version of the court in Asuka, and would have required a lot of people to tend to it. And we know of at least one of them: Tsukushi no Fubito no Masaru, whose imagined thoughts we heard at the top of the episode. In 691, Masaru was recognized for 29 years of service as a secretary to the Tsuksuhi no Dazai. Twenty-nine years in place suggests to me that he would have likely been one of the longest serving members of the Tsukushi government center. He would have known where all the bodies were buried—perhaps quite literally. While the Dazai no Sochi was often a temporary appointment, sometimes just for a few years, they would have likely leaned on Masaru for his expertise. This is just like how modern government appointees like ambassadors may come and go, including for political reasons, but they rely on permanent staff, including a lot of locals, to provide the institutional knowledge they need to do their jobs. One can assume that if Masaru had been successful for 29 years he knew how things were supposed to work. And so I hope that his superiors made sure to remember that when Secretary's day rolled around. Prince Kawachi didn't make it 29 years, but he made it five. He might have gone even longer, but he died in office in 694 and was posthumously raised in rank for his service. History is full of stories, but in real life, the stories don't always follow the expected narratives. As much as we'd like to think otherwise, good, moral people do not always triumph and sometimes those who do awful things are never punished. And some times stories come to abrupt ends. Of course, looking back, it just is what it is. Prince Kawachi's life becomes little more than a footnote. And yet, what if he had gone on? Would he have followed Tajihi no Shima to help become one of the grand ministers of the court? Unfortunately, we will never know. He could have been a rising star, but we just know about his passing. Five months after Prince Kawachi's untimely death, he was followed in the post by Prince Mino. Prince Mino would continue in the position, it seems, through the end of the reign in 697—or at least nobody else was appointed until 700, when Isonokami no Maro—apparently the same one who had previously come out to inspect the fortifications during Prince Kawachi's tenure—was appointed. Although he came into the position in the next reign, we'll still touch on him, as he was another notable figure at this time. Looking back at Prince Mino, however, we seem to run into a problem—there are too many Princes Mino in the record. If you just use the English translations, you'll find several references to Prince Mino, but if you look at the original text, you'll see that there are at least three different spellings. For one it means "Beautiful Field" and another is just "Three Fields". A third "Mino" is spelled with characters that don't necessarily create obvious meaning, and may just be a phonetic spelling. It is possible that all of these Princes Mino are the same. Spelling wasn't standard, and different characters could be used for the same name. On the other hand, we have one set of characters being used to describe a Prince Mino who supported Ohoama during the Jinshin no Ran, while another, the "Three Fields" Prince Mino, describes one of the sons of Prince Kurikuma, who was with his father in Tsukushi when the Afumi court came calling. Since travel wasn't necessarily an overnight endeavor—unless you were Ohoama, rushing through the mountains to the east—it would seem that the Prince Mino in Tsukushi is unlikely to be the same one as the Prince Mino who joined Ohoama's forces back in the Home Provinces. So let's make the assumption that Prince Mino—Prince "Three Fields" Mino—is one person and the others are separate. What do we know about him? Well, he appears to have had experience with Tsukushi and the government out there, since he would be the son of Prince Kurikuma, a former Tsukushi Dazai no Sochi. We talked about Prince Kurikuma before, back in numerous episodes, but particularly in episodes 128 and Episode 144, as well as references in betweend. Prince Kurikuma was not only a significant factor in the outcome of the Jinshin no Ran, denying the Afumi court the resources of all of the defenders at the Tsukushi fortifications, he shows up in local legends in Tsukushi still today. So he definitely seems to have had an impact on the region. It also suggests that Prince Mino had connections in the area through his father. After his father's posting as Dazai no Sochi ended, Prince Mino appears to have returned with him to Asuka. He is described as a key member in Ohoama's court. He was one of the Princes mentioned in the audience at the Daigokuden in 681, when Ohoama instituted the commission to bring together the various court sources that we presume would eventually lead to the creation of the Chronicles—the Nihon Shoki and the Kojiki. Later, he become a daibu, a high official, of the Household Bureau, responsible for the household of the sovereign, the sumera no mikoto. This meant the upkeep of the palace, the kitchens, and the various servants waiting on the sovereign and his family. This also means that he was likely close to the movers and shakers of the court. One of the projects under his purview appears to have been the laying out of a new palace and a new capital city. In 682 he headed up the investigations at the place called Nihiki, determining that it would be a good location for what would eventually become Fujiwara-kyo—a project still underway in Queen Uno's reign. He was also sent out to Shinano two years later to look for a site for a second capital. It ended up not happening, but he spent a couple months and eventually came back with a map of the region. It may be that the Fujiwara-kyo project took up a lot of Mino's time and effort, because we then don't hear from him for another decade, during which Ohama passed away and so much more happened. Assuming he was still involved with the Fujiwara capital project, however, we see that in 691 there was a ceremony held for the tranquility of the new capital—a Chin-sai or, what we would today call a "Ji-chin-sai". This is a "land pacification ceremony" done when breaking ground on a new building or other project. So it looks like planning and land clearing had taken some 10 years, but it was finally ready to get started. Later that same year we hear of them laying out the residences of high ranking nobles, like the Udaijin, Tajihi no Shima, and we also see the Queen inspecting the roads. Then, a year later in 692, they were holding the land pacification ceremony for the new palace. The queen would move into the new palace in the very last months of 694. But by that time, Prince Mino was on to his next assignment. He had been appointed Tsukushi Dazai no Sochi earlier that year following the death of Prince Kawachi. Not much more is said of Tsukushi for the next three years of the reign, but we do see the Hayato visiting Asuka, presumably with Prince Mino's assistance. We don't have a clear idea of when Prince Mino retired—it's certainly not in the Nihon Shoki—but we know that he did because he was succeeded in the role by none other than Isonokami no Maro, who would take up the position in 700. Prince Mino, on the other hand, returned to the court, where he would eventually pass away in the year 708. And that was the last Dazai no Sochi who held the position during this reign, but I do want to talk about the one who came after Prince Mino just a bit—though more because this was an up-and-coming court noble whom we should be watching. Isonokami no Maro was born, by all accounts, in the year 640. Despite his name he was actually born to a family that we know somewhat well from much earlier on: The Mononobe. In fact, his father is apparently Mononobe no Muraji no Umaro, and he appears to be descended from the main line of the Mononobe family, which had declined ever since Mononobe no Moriya had been defeated and killed by Soga no Umako and others. And it seems that the Mononobe curse of being on the losing side in a contest for power hit Maro during the Jinshin no Ran, because we see him, at that time referenced as Mononobe no Muraji no Maro, along with two servants, or Toneri, serving Prince Ohotomo—aka Koubun Tennou—up to the very end. In fact, when Ohotomo fled and the Afumi court deserted him, only Mononobe no Maro and the servants stayed with him when he eventually strangled himself. And one would think that would be it. You were with the rival for the throne in the most contentious fight in recent memory. You couldn't protect him and you were on the wrong side. Sure, Ohoama was going to pardon you because he couldn't just rid himself of half of the court and hope things would still run smoothly—that would be a surefire recipe for disaster, and nobody wanted the government crippled like that. However, you can't imagine that those on the losing side would be given any position of trust or authority. And yet, in 676, we see that Mononobe no Maro was sent to Silla. And he wasn't just helping out: he was sent as the chief envoy of Ohoama's court. That is quite the turnaround in four years, and we don't really know why, but it has been speculated that Ohoama was actually impressed. While other members of the Afumi court fled and abandoned Ohotomo to his enemies, Maro and the two toneri with him did not, staying with Ohotomo until the bitter end, and likely conveying what had happened to the other side once it was all over. That kind of loyalty was impressive, especially back then. It is also thought that Maro may have benefited from the fact that Enoi no Okimi, who was also descended from the Mononobe family, fought on the side of Ohoama. This is a common scenario we see throughout Japanese history, where different members of the same family fight on different sides of a conflict, often meaning that no matter who wins the family can still claim to have been on the winning side. When Okimi passed away in 676 he was posthumously recognized as the ujigami, or clan head, of the Mononobe, leading some to suspect that a bit of his shine may have rubbed off on Maro as well. In 684, when the various kabane were being rectified by Ohoama's court, the Mononobe no Muraji were included as Ason, or Asaomi. There is some thought that around this time is when Maro changed his name to Isonokami, which is a name that was previously used by members of the Mononobe, including one of the brothers to Mononobe no Moriya. We see him mentioned as Isonokami no Maro in 686, as one of those giving a eulogy for Ohoama: specifically he gives the eulogy on behalf of the Houkan, or Nori no Tsukasa, the Judicial officers. He is mentioned right after Fuse no Miushi, whom we talked about last episode, who would go on to become a Dainagon and, later, Udaijin, or Minister of the Right. The first connection between Isonokami no Maro and Tsukushi was in 689, and we noted it earlier—he came out to inspect the fortifications as well as to hand out patents of rank to the court officials working out there on the edge of the realm. He would return to Asuka in time to be a part of Uno no Sarara's official enthronement ceremonies. There he is named Mononobe no Maro, and is in charge of the shields. Given what we know of the role of the Mononobe as the early soldiers of the court, it makes sense that he would play this role, and that they would use the name Mononobe rather than Isonokami. In the same way, the ritual was conducted by Fujiwara no Ohoshima, but he is recorded as Nakatomi no Ohoshima, probably because these were roles specifically for the Mononobe and Nakatomi, rather than for the Isonokami and the Fujiwara. This is another thing that can be quite frustrating when researching Japanese history—names can change at the drop of a hat, and people often had various ancestral names and titles that could be pulled out for various political or ceremonial reasons. If you don't have the history or understand the nuance it can be easy to just think that it is a different person altogether. And when you don't have much information, sometimes you have to ask yourself which is it? Maro would stay close to Queen Uno, even accompanying her to Ise shrine, and then, in the following reign, he would succeed Prince Mino as Dazai no Sochi in the year 700. It isn't clear, however, if he left for the Dazaifu immediately, since in 701 he is noted as having been promoted from the office of Chunagon to Dainagon, and in that same year he went with Royal Prince Osakabe to pay respects at the house of the late Udaijin, Tajihi no Shima, who had just passed away. He then left for Tsukushi in 702—or possibly headed back. But in 703, he was once again back in Asuka, paying condolences on the death of the next Udaijin, Abe no Miushi—aka Fuse no Miushi, the same one whom Maro had pronounced a Eulogy with during the funeral ceremonies for Ohoama. Isonokami no Maro would go on to take the mantle of Udaijin, and then eventually Sadaijin as well. He would be raised up to the second rank, along with the famous Fujiwara no Fubito, who took the vacated position of Udaijin. This meant that technically Maro was the senior of the two, though many people think that Fujiwara no Fubito held most of the actual power. Regardless of that, Isonokami no Maro nonetheless would go on to become the highest ranking court noble before his eventual death in 717. At that point he was 78 years old, by the reckoning of the day, and he had seen multiple sovereigns, several bloody conflicts, and the creation of two permanent capitals—Fujiwara kyo and Heijo kyo, in modern Nara. He went from being a supporter in the Afumi court, on the wrong side of the Jinshin no Ran to become the highest ranking court noble in the land. He would be granted the head of the Mononobe family and would continue to prosper as Isonokami. It was truly a remarkable career over an incredible span of time. And there you have it. A look at some of those that were sent out to the Dazaifu in Tsukushi. In later years, the post of Dazai no Sochi would be seen more as a burden than a blessing, but at this point it was still a lucrative and powerful position. Several of those involved in the Dazaifu or who held the position as Dazai no Sochi would go on to even more powerful positions back in Asuka. Whilst this posting did move you further away from the politics—perhaps not always a bad thing—it also put you atop a structure where one had considerable power, authority, and autonomy, at least at this point. Next episode we'll get back to the court in Asuka and take a look at a little more of what is going on. Before I end this, however, a quick administrative note about the podcast. This creation is a labor of love. It was started largely as a way to get myself to regularly dive into the Chronicles and really see what was going on. In particular, I was excited about the Asuka period, because I don't think we really have enough of a sense of what life was like and what was going on back then. It was clearly a very dynamic time, and yet we tend to see it through the lens of later Nara and Heian court culture, which was still very much evolving. The stories that I *didn't* know about were what drew me to this project, and I hope that we've all learned a bit more as the project has continued. And we are reaching the end of the area that is covered by the main Chronicles, the Kojiki, the Nihon Shoki, and the Sendai Kuji Hongi, which have been our main guides through this period. But that doesn't mean we are bringing things to a close. Next we have the Shoku Nihongi and many other grecords, and I am going to keep up with the project and the schedule as best I can. In fact, it looks like I may be able to devote even more time to it in the near future as some drastic life changes are coming for me, such that I will no longer be working a 9-to-5 job while also trying to get this podcast out like clockwork twice a month—not to mention my other passion, teaching traditional Japanese martial arts here in the DC region at a local not-for-profit dojo. This is happening as we are also in the process of building a house, traveling, and more. But it does mean that we are going to be looking into alternative sources of funding beyond just donations. We are eternally grateful to everyone who has donated, but I may end up doing something that I've been putting off for a while: allowing advertisements. I want to do this so that we can continue to offer this for podcast for free, but hosting, staying up to date on sources, etc. does cost money. I'm not looking to make a huge profit, but if we can at least get the podcast paying for itself, that would be a good start. Before I do that I'll look to find a way that we can get subscribers on Patreon and elsewhere ad-free copy. I just need to figure that out, but once I do, I'll let you all know. So there you have it. We aren't going to stop the podcast, but we may be adding a bit more to it in the future. I hope, though, that we can do more beyond the historical chronicles. For instance, did you know that we have an English translation of a 17th century cookbook up on our website, SengokuDaimyo.com? I would love to redact those recipes and maybe provide some cooking videos for anyone who would want to try them. A shoutout to Max Miller of Tasting History, who reached out to us about using a couple of our translations for his episodes on historical Japanese cooking – Max is a great guy and his series and cookbook are well worth following. But there's a lot more to explore: one of my favorites so far that we've tried is "keiran", or "eggs": doughy balls filled with brown sugar and cooked in a miso based soup. I don't know if there is anything like that still being served in Japan, but it's a strange and pleasant recipe and I would love to do that again and record it for everyone to try. All of this is in the works, and nothing will change immediately, but I wanted to keep you all in the loop. Thank you so much for listening, I can't tell you how much it means. And of course, as always, if you like what we are doing, please tell your friends and feel free to rate us wherever you listen to podcasts. If you feel the need to do more, and want to help us keep this going, we have information about how you can donate on Patreon or through our KoFi site, ko-fi.com/sengokudaimyo, or find the links over at our main website, SengokuDaimyo.com/Podcast, where we will have some more discussion on topics from this episode. Also, feel free to reach out to our Sengoku Daimyo Facebook page. You can also email us at the.sengoku.daimyo@gmail.com. Thank you, also, to Ellen for their work editing the podcast. And that's all for now. Thank you again, and I'll see you next episode on Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.

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SC EP: Reloaded 998 Get In The F****** Truck

Sasquatch Chronicles

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 14, 2026 65:06

Health Update: Still fighting this stomach bug. Starting to feel better. I will return next week. I wanted to play a reloaded episode of one of my favorite intros. Ben writes "Well I finally got up the nerves to send this, back in 2015 I was a Jr in high school. My buddy had called me to see if I wanted to hangout and see his new toy. The toy was a Jeep Wrangler YJ that was abandoned. Even more interesting it was abandoned by a gentlemen that later that same year went to his friends house and shot him. He had some issues I guess. So whilst we went out there we swapped from my brothers truck to mine and proceeded to meet them in the woods. So this is Sweden Maine where he found this. Kinda middle of nowhere. So we get to the Jeep and my friend and my brothers friend go out in the Jeep, leaving my brother and I with my pickup in this clearing. We noticed it was very quiet where we were. Right about then is when a gum ball sized rock landed between us. We looked at each other and played it off. Both kinda bothered we agreed to go towards the entry of the trail to get out of there. (Guess it felt safer) well when we got a little further down the trailer my brother pulled over. (He always drove) it was getting dark probably like 6:30-7pm in May. When I jumped out I looked at this tree too admiring the sky. I saw an entire flock of birds fly out of this tree. I proceeded to slowly drop my head looking down the tree the whole time. When I got to the middle of the tree is when I saw something. I saw a figure in the woods. Left arm and leg obscured by the tree looked as if it's left palm was against the tree. It was rocking slightly, it had a long arm that I could see on its right side and a big build. I couldn't see the feet but the head, shoulder, torso, and leg all on the left was clearly visible (as a silhouette). It was rocking slightly left to right and could see it breather. I looked at my brother and he was frozen looking at it. I asked him "what is that?" He only responded with "get in the truck" I looked back and it was still standing there swaying. I looked back at my brother and said again "what the f— is that?" To which my brother responded with "get in the f—— truck." My door was still open so I kinda dove backwards into it. My brother quickly had it started and the clutch already out and fishtailing away. I couldn't bring myself to look backwards. But we were spooked. There was an interesting situation with a set of lights behind us upon our escape but I'm not sure what to make of it. We called the friends that we were leaving so they either had to ditch the Jeep or drive it back to his house. Oddly they too sounded distressed. But they agreed to meet on the trail. We flew back down the trail driving way faster than anyone should. We came up to them and they stuffed the Jeep in the woods. What caught my attention next was they ran and I mean RAN to my truck, keeping a hand on my hood the whole time. I slid up against my brother so to make room for them. It was a regular cab. We drove out of there and my brother and I not wanting to get played asked them why they were so worked up. They stated to us the they had gotten stuck for a moment and whilst working it out of the mud something slapped the side of the Jeep and rocked it side to side. It was too dark for them to see anything under the heavy tree canopy and the night setting in more. It certainly was a wild time. Only other thing was some vocalizations the year prior that sounded exactly like the other howl captured in Maine. That's my story Wes thanks for doing what you do."

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NFL Breakout Candidates For This Season + Picking A Coach & GM To Start A Franchise

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 10, 2026 43:54

CBS Sports Lead Draft Analyst Ryan Wilson and Former NFL GM Ran Carthon are going through breakout candidates for the 2026 season. From rookies to vets, the guys will give players they think could be poised for a big year! Ryan and Ran will also discuss which Coach & GM they would pick to start an NFL franchise right now.-(00:00) Intro(4:42) Commanders WR Antonio Williams(8:08) Steelers WR Germie Bernard(10:30) Chargers RB Omarion Hampton(15:10) Packers WR Matthew Golden(19:45) Browns QB Deshaun Watson(25:42) Vikings QB Kyler Murray(30:40) Picking A Coach To Start A Franchise(37:26) Picking A GM To Start A Franchise(41:41) Inside Front NFL Offices During Offseason-Watch With the First Pick on the CBS Sports YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@CBSSports'With the First Pick' is available for free on the Audacy app as well as on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Castbox and wherever else you listen to podcasts.You can listen to With the First Pick on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the With the First Pick podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the With the First Pick podcast."Follow the With the First Pick team on X: @nfldraftcbs, @ryanwilsonCBS, @E_DeBerardinis, @ryan__strykerFollow With the First Pick on TikTok & Instagram: @nfldraftcbsProduced by: Ryan StrykerFor more NFL Draft coverage from CBS Sports, visit https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcast

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Rainforest Radicals: The History of Rainforest Action Network w/ Prof. David Benac (G&R 501)

Green & Red: Podcasts for Scrappy Radicals

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 9, 2026 63:53

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Comentando os Comentários #69 – Ep. 90 Ranço de Gente

Papo Delas Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 8, 2026 48:27

Comentando os Comentários #69 – Ep. 90 Ranço de Gente Olá Amigos e Inimigos do Papo Delas! Conforme combinado, graças aos nossos apoiadores, temos o Comentando os Comentários #69 – Ep. 90 Ranço de Gente. Neste episódio, Cafeína e Patsy exercitando a arte do bullying e da gratidão com vocês #OuvintesIncríveis !! Não deixem de ouvir nossos recadinhos no final do episódio. Afinal, agradecemos a todos vocês ouvintes! #papodelaspodcast #podcast #mulherespodcasters #ouvintesincríveis #2026 Porque Quem ama ouve, quem ouve comenta! Edição Cafeína Conheça a Lojinha do Papo Delas Podcast e garanta seu presente. #ouvintesincríveis https://podcaststore.com.br Comente! Envie um bilhete para contato@papodelas.com ou comente no post. Siga na Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/papodelaspodcast Grupo #OuvintesIncríveis no Telegram: https://t.me/papodelas Curta no Facebook: www.facebook.com/podcastPapoDelas

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Newsletter und E-Mail-Marketing für Autorinnen und Autoren

Mission Bestseller - Self-Publishing Strategien & Tipps

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 5, 2026 25:05

Warum dein Newsletter auch 2026 noch dein wichtigstes Buchmarketing-Tool ist In dieser Episode spreche ich über das Thema Newsletter und E-Mail-Marketing für Autorinnen und Autoren. Ich führe aus, warum ein eigener Newsletter auch im Jahr 2026 ein unverzichtbares Werkzeug für alle Schreibenden bleibt, wie du Abonnent:innen gewinnst und welche technischen Tools sinnvoll sind. Auf dich warten praxisnahe Tipps, ein Überblick über verschiedene Wege, mit Leserinnen und Lesern in Kontakt zu bleiben und Vorschläge wie du deinen Newsletter spannend und gewinnbringend gestaltest. Egal, ob du gerade erst mit dem Thema startest oder schon Erfahrungen gesammelt hast – in dieser Folge findest du wertvolle Anregungen, wie du mit deinem eigenen Newsletter als Autor oder Autorin langfristig erfolgreich sein kannst. Hier die wichtigsten Aspekte, die ich in dieser Folge anspreche: 1. Einführung in das Thema Newsletter-Marketing für Autor:innen Vorstellung des Themas und Verweis auf einen vertiefenden Artikel https://mission-bestseller.com/newsletter-marketing-fuer-autoren-und-autorinnen-aufbau-nutzen-fallstricke/ Überblick über Inhalte und Zielsetzung der Folge 2. Bedeutung von E-Mail-Marketing für Autor:innen Relevanz des Newsletters 2026 und darüber hinaus Ziele: Leser:innen erreichen und Buchverkäufe unterstützen Vergleich der Kommunikationswege: Offline, Social Media, Newsletter 3. Vor- und Nachteile von Offline- und Social-Media-Kontakten Möglichkeiten über Buchmessen, Lesungen und lokale Netzwerke Social Media: Vorprogrammieren, Unverbindlichkeit, besonders für Introvertierte vorteilhaft Nachteile von Social Media: Eigentum der Kontakte bei den Plattformen ([Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, etc.]) Gefahr von Kontosperrungen Organische Reichweite sinkt ständig 4. Vorteile des eigenen Newsletters Kontrolle und Eigentum über die eigenen Kontakte Direktkontakt zu Interessierten Wichtigkeit von Double Opt-in auch bei Offline-Kontakten Datenminimierung (nur Vorname und E-Mail) 5. Aufbau und Nutzen von E-Mail-Listen Möglichkeiten zur Sammlung von Adressen Nutzen der Liste bei Buchveröffentlichungen Beispielhafte Quoten (10% Kaufquote als realistisch) Motivation, einfach zu starten, egal wie viele Adressen vorhanden sind 6. Newsletter als Produkt: Nutzen und Anreize für Abonnent:innen Newsletter als zu bewerbendes Produkt verstehen Emotionale und praktische Argumente für den Mehrwert Spezielle Anreize: Bonuskapitel, Zusatzgeschichten, Materialien (Lesezeichen, Karten, Übungsblätter, Bilder) Notwendigkeit zur DSGVO-konformen Anmeldung Abgrenzung zu alten „Tauschgeschäften" ohne echte Einwilligung 7. Technische Grundlagen: Die eigene Autor:innen-Webseite Zweck der eigenen Webseite: Integration von Anmeldeformularen und Bereitstellung von Materialien Baukastensysteme oder WordPress als Grundlage Aspekte von Investition und Amortisation 8. Optimale Struktur einer Autor:innen-Webseite Wichtige Seiten: Startseite, Über-mich, Bücher, Datenschutzerklärung Empfehlung: Eigene Verkaufs-/Infoseite nur für den Newsletter Angebotsgestaltung: Darstellung der Newsletter-Inhalte und Werbegeschenke 9. Inhaltliche Gestaltung des Newsletters Inhalte: Alltagsschilderungen, Recherchereisen, Buchempfehlungen, Fortschrittsberichte Ziel: Beziehung zu Leser:innen halten, auch wenn zwischen Veröffentlichungen längere Pausen liegen Nutzen für regelmäßige Sichtbarkeit 10. Versandfrequenz und Umgang mit Feedback Kein starres Dogma zur Versandfrequenz (zwischen 2 und 4 Wochen empfohlen) Achten auf Feedback der Leser:innen und Anpassung der Häufigkeit Erwartungen an Rückmeldungen realistisch halten (meist Konsum, weniger direkte Reaktionen) 11. Technische Umsetzung: Auswahl der Newsletter-Software Notwendigkeit professioneller Tools (bei mehr als ca. 30 Kontakten) Empfohlene Anbieter: GetResponse (EU-Server, Datenschutz), Erwähnung von Active Campaign & ConvertKit (USA, zu komplex), Clicktip (deutschsprachig, teuer, zu umfangreich) Relevante Features: Adressorganisation, automatisierter Versand, Segmentierung 12. Anwendungsmöglichkeiten und Zielsetzung des Newsletters Direktvertrieb der Bücher über abgestufte Versandaktionen Langfristige Beziehungspflege als gleichwertiges Ziel neben dem Verkauf Aufbau eines „fernfreundschaftlichen" Kontaktnetzwerks 13. Abschluss und Handlungsaufruf Einladung, mit dem Newsletter zu beginnen oder die eigene Strategie zu optimieren Hinweis auf ein 7-Tage-Programm im Blogartikel für Einsteiger und Fortgeschrittene https://mission-bestseller.com/newsletter-marketing-fuer-autoren-und-autorinnen-aufbau-nutzen-fallstricke/ Aufforderung zu Rückmeldungen und Austausch per E-Mail oder Kommentar # Newsletter und E-Mail-Marketing für Autor:innen: Deine Community, deine Regeln Newsletter und E-Mail-Marketing sind für dich als Autor:in wichtiger denn je. Vielleicht schiebst du das Thema schon länger vor dir her, vielleicht hast du schon einen Newsletter, nutzt ihn aber noch nicht voll aus – oder du bist ganz neu dabei und möchtest wissen, wie du starten sollst. In dieser Podcastfolge erfährst du von mir, warum gerade jetzt ein eigener Newsletter das beste Mittel ist, um mit deinen Leser:innen in Kontakt zu treten und zu bleiben. ## Warum solltest du als Autor:in einen Newsletter haben? Zuerst einmal: Deine Leser:innen wollen von dir hören! Sie wollen wissen, wann dein nächstes Buch erscheint, ob es gerade eine coole Aktion gibt oder einfach ein bisserln mehr über dich und deine Buchwelt erfahren. Aber warum reicht nicht einfach Social Media? 1. Du hast die Kontrolle über deine Kontakte: Bei Facebook, Instagram & Co. gehören die Daten alle der Plattform. Accounts können ohne Vorwarnung gesperrt werden, die Reichweite deiner Beiträge ist begrenzt und abhängig vom Algorithmus. Selbst in Gruppen sehen viele die Beiträge nicht, wenn sie nicht täglich aktiv sind. 2. Nachhaltige Beziehungen aufbauen: Bei einem eigenen Newsletter entscheidest du, wann und was du verschickst – und erreichst die Lesenden direkt. Die E-Mail-Adressen gehören dir, und niemand kann dir den Zugang dazu wegnehmen. Offline-Events, Lesungen und Buchmessen sind wichtig, aber sie bieten keine langfristige Möglichkeit, den Kontakt zu halten. Deshalb ist der Newsletter das wertvollste Werkzeug für dich als Autor:in. ## Wie gewinnst du Newsletter-Abonnent:innen? Die wenigsten Menschen tragen sich »einfach so« für deinen Newsletter ein. Ich empfehle deshalb, deinen Newsletter wie ein Produkt zu behandeln, das du »verkaufst« – und das bedeutet, du musst überzeugende Argumente liefern, warum sich jemand eintragen soll. Am besten funktioniert das mit einem Gratis-Mehrwert: - Bonuskapitel - Exklusive Kurzgeschichte (z. B. zu einer beliebten Nebenfigur) - Leseproben, Lesezeichen, Kartenmaterial oder Illustrationen als Download - Im Sachbuchbereich: Checklisten, Arbeitsblätter oder ergänzende Materialien Wichtig: Frag möglichst wenige Daten ab – Vorname und E-Mail-Adresse reichen. Je niedriger die Hürde, desto eher werden sich Menschen eintragen. Technischer Hinweis: Aufgrund der Datenschutzgrundverordnung (DSGVO) brauchst du Double Opt-in: Die Leute müssen ihre Anmeldung aktiv bestätigen. ## Die richtige Basis: Deine Autor:innen-Webseite Neben dem Newsletter brauchst du eine eigene Website. Hier kannst du das Anmeldeformular einbinden und z. B. auch deine Gratis-Extras zum Download bereitstellen. Ob du dafür WordPress, Jimdo oder ein anderes Baukastensystem nutzt, bleibt dir überlassen. Mein Tipp: Lege zusätzlich zu Startseite, Über-mich, Bücherseite und Datenschutzerklärung eine eigene Newsletter-Verkaufsseite an. Dort erklärst du genau, was deine Abonnent:innen erwartet, was sie bekommen und wie oft du schreibst. Das steigert die Eintragungen deutlich, weil Interessierte hier gezielt angesprochen werden. ## Was gehört in deinen Newsletter? Natürlich ist der wichtigste Anlass der nächste Buchlaunch oder eine Preisaktion. Doch echte Beziehungen entstehen darüber hinaus. Einige Ideen für den Inhalt: - Einblicke in deinen Schreibprozess oder Alltag - Berichte von Recherchereisen oder aus deiner Umgebung - Empfehlungen von befreundeten Autor:innen - »Making-of« zum nächsten Buch, Updates zum Fortschritt - Geschichten hinter den Kulissen und Inspirationen Du musst nicht befürchten, dass du zu viel von dir preisgibst: Die meisten Leser:innen finden es spannend, ein bisschen mehr über den Menschen hinter den Büchern zu erfahren. ## Wie oft solltest du schreiben? Ein zu häufiger Versand schreckt ab – aber zu selten ist auch nicht optimal, sonst vergessen deine Abonnent:innen dich. Ich empfehle einen Rhythmus von alle zwei bis vier Wochen. Das ist genug, um präsent zu bleiben, aber nicht aufdringlich. Natürlich kannst du auch nach Feedback fragen und die Rückmeldungen berücksichtigen. ## Welche Tools eignen sich? Für kleinere Newsletter-Listen reicht es am Anfang, wenn du bei etwa 20–30 Leuten noch manuell mailst – aber sobald deine E-Mail-Liste wächst und du DSGVO-konform arbeiten willst, ist eine Newsletter-Software nötig. Meine Empfehlungen: - GetResponse: datenschutzkonform, preislich fair, einfacher Einstieg - Brevo ebenfalls beliebt im deutschsprachigen Raum - Finger weg von zu teuren oder komplizierten US-Anbietern (datenschutzrechtlich schwierig, unnötig komplex für unsere Zwecke) Wichtig sind: automatische Anmeldebestätigungen (Double Opt-In), einfaches Versand- und Listentool und die Möglichkeit, Willkommensmails bzw. kleine »Freebies« zu verschicken. ##Nutze den direkten Draht zu deinen Fans! Mit einem eigenen Newsletter baust du dir eine treue Leserschaft auf, die wirklich an dir und deinen Büchern interessiert ist. Nutze die Chance, Beziehungen zu pflegen, tolle Inhalte zu teilen und vor allem deine Veröffentlichungen erfolgreich zu begleiten. Trends kommen und gehen – aber deine eigene Community bleibt dir erhalten. Wenn du noch keinen Newsletter hast, fang heute an. Und wenn du schon einen hast, prüfe, wo du ihn noch besser gestalten kannst, um mehr Freude – und mehr Verkäufe – herauszuholen. Ran an die Tasten! Hier die Links, die ich im Podcast anspreche, und weiterführende Informationen, Tipps und Erfahrungsberichte rund um Bücher, eBooks und deinen Erfolg: Hier kannst du meinen ausführlichen Blogartikel zu diesem Thema nachlesen: https://mission-bestseller.com/newsletter-marketing-fuer-autoren-und-autorinnen-aufbau-nutzen-fallstricke/ Und wenn du trotz alledem wie ich weiterhin über Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) veröffentlichst, dann brauchst du diesen Kurs, um deinem Buch mehr Sichtbarkeit zu verschaffen: https://mission-bestseller.com/keywords Hier kommst du zum Mission Bestseller Schreib-Bootcamp: https://mission-bestseller.com/bootcamp Hier findest du alles rund ums Selfpublishing: https://mission-bestseller.com Einige der Links auf dieser Seite sind Affiliate-Links und ich erhalte eine Provision, wenn du über sie kaufst, die sich nicht auf deinen Kaufpreis auswirkt.

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EP. 887: RAINFOREST RADICALS ft. DAVID BENAC

THIS IS REVOLUTION >podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 4, 2026 239:16

Get David's book here: https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/.../rainforest-radicals/ Rainforest Radicals presents the first history of one of the most innovative and successful environmental organizations of the late twentieth century. Rainforest Action Network emerged in 1985, when it took over a fledgling effort to protect rainforests from transnational corporations funding the expansion of tropical cattle ranching. It excelled at using nonviolent, civil disobedience in dramatic campaigns that captured the attention of the public, media, and RAN's corporate adversaries. As a result, two decades later rainforest conservation went from a niche academic topic to a fixture in American popular culture, the rights of Indigenous people had gone from ignored or romanticized to at least considered in discussions of the management of their ancestral homelands, and RAN had scored a series of victories over some of the planet's largest corporations. In Rainforest Radicals David Benac traces the evolution of RAN and radical, transnational grassroots environmentalism through the four campaigns identified at the group's founding: rainforest beef, Hawai‘ian rainforests, tropical timber, and multinational development banks. Forty years after RAN's inception, there is much to learn from how it organized people in small towns and large cities across the United States, created alliances that spanned oceans, and inspired a new movement that integrated human rights, Indigenous sovereignty, and environmental protection to challenge multinational corporations, national governments, and neocolonial corporate-led globalism. Through more than thirty oral histories, including those of key players from different eras of RAN's history as well as leaders from other environmental and Indigenous rights organizations, Rainforest Radicals provides unparalleled insight into the network. Check out our new bi-weekly series, "The Crisis Papers" here: https://www.patreon.com/bitterlakepresents/shop READ THE WEEKLY TIR NEWSLETTER HERE: https://www.patreon.com/collection/1853497 Thank you guys again for taking the time to check this out. We appreciate each and everyone of you. If you have the means, and you feel so inclined, BECOME A PATRON! We're creating patron only programing, you'll get bonus content from many of the episodes, and you get MERCH! Become a patron now https://www.patreon.com/join/BitterLakePresents? Please also like, subscribe, and follow us on these platforms as well, (specially YouTube!) THANKS Y'ALL YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCG9WtLyoP9QU8sxuIfxk3eg Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Thisisrevolutionpodcast/ Twitter: @TIRShowOakland Instagram: @thisisrevolutionoakland Substack: https://jmylesoftir.substack.com/.../the-money-will-roll... Read Jason Myles in Current Affairs Magazine here: https://www.currentaffairs.org/.../donald-trump-is-a-pro... Read Jason Myles in Damage Magazine https://damagemag.com/2023/11/07/the-man-who-sold-the-world/ Read Jason in Black Agenda Report: https://www.blackagendareport.com/rainbow-and-machine S

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We Like Shooting 665 – Bang Rank

Firearms Radio Network (All Shows)

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 2, 2026

We Like Shooting - Ep 665 This episode of We Like Shooting is brought to you by: Foxtrot Mike (Code: WLSISLIFE) C&G Holsters (Code: WLSISLIFE) Midwest Industries (Code: WLSISLIFE) Blue Alpha Bowers Group (Code: WLS) Otis Technology (Code: WELIKESHOOTING15) Second Call Defense Text Dear WLS or Reviews +1 743 500 2171 Public Show Titles GOA GOALS Aug 1-2 in Iowa. https://goals.goa.org/ GunCon.net Tickets on sale now. Use code AGENCY171 GEAR CHAT (Nick) Nick's Dumb 6.5 Creedmoor Nick's Dumb 6.5 Creedmoor DERYA RELEASES THE RAN AND RAN Derya RAN and RAN-X Series Lever-Action Rifles Derya announced the official launch of its RAN and RAN-X lever-action series, featuring modernized designs with factory-integrated aftermarket upgrades including threaded barrels, M-LOK forends, and adjustable stocks. Available in .357 Magnum, .44 Magnum, and .45 Long Colt, the series will be showcased at GunCon 2026. Derya has launched the RAN full-size and RAN-X compact pistol lever-action series in .357 Magnum, .44 Magnum, and .45 Long Colt. The rifles feature a mono-block steel receiver, threaded suppressor-ready barrel, M-LOK compatible forend with Picatinny rail, fixed front and adjustable rear sights with optics rail, and rebounding hammer. The RAN offers wood or patented adjustable aluminum Ironwolf stock options while the RAN-X uses a 12″ barrel with Steelfang PSB Ironwolf grip system at 22.95″ overall length. BULLET POINTS SOLDIERSYSTEMS Roni Nano Roni Pistol-to-Carbine Conversion Kit Houston, TX – Roni Corporaton, the leading designer and manufacturer of the renown Micro-Roni, PDW-style pistol-to-carbine conversion kits and other fi … The Nano Roni is Roni's most compact pistol-to-carbine conversion kit that installs a handgun into a chassis in seconds without tools, transforming it into a pistol-braced PDW. It includes a complete system with chassis plus accessories such as magazine holders, light mounts, Picatinny rails, charging handles, optics mounts, slings, and a belt holster. Initial compatibility covers multiple Glock models with additional Glock, SIG Sauer, Taurus, and Canik models planned; available in black, OD Green, and Flat Dark Earth. THE TRUTH ABOUT GUNS Can You Shoot 5.56 Through a .22 Suppressor? – The Truth About Guns Can you shoot 5.56 through a .22 suppressor? Usually no. Here's why pressure, heat, and gas volume matter so much. The article addresses whether .556/.223 ammunition can be safely fired through a standard .22LR (rimfire) suppressor. In the general case, it is not safe or recommended. Most dedicated rimfire suppressors are engineered only for the much lower pressures, smaller gas volumes, and reduced heat produced by .22LR, .22WMR, or similar rimfire cartridges. NSSF NSSF Releases Most Recent Firearm Production Figures (ATF AFMER 2023) Over 32 million Modern Sporting Rifles in Circulation WASHINGTON, D.C. — NSSF®, The Firearm Industry Trade Association, released the Firearm Production in the United States including the Firearm Import and Export Data 2025 Edition (reporting 2023 data) to its members. The report compiles the most up-to-date information based on data sourced from the Bureau of Alcohol, […] According to the NSSF article dated January 15, 2026, ATF AFMER data shows 2023 U.S. domestic firearm production at 8,466,729 units, a 15.4% decrease from 2022. Total firearms made available for the U.S. market in 2023 were 13,574,653 (handguns 8,176,535; rifles 3,899,907; shotguns 1,498,211). Cumulative civilian firearms in possession 1990–2023 reached 506.1 million, with modern sporting rifles (MSRs) in circulation estimated at over 32 million. GUN FIGHTS Play the best Price Is Right-style GunBroker game on the internet. BANGRANK A live cast ranking segment for anything and everything in the gun world, powered by questionable certainty, strong opinions, and audience voting. THE AGENCY BRIEF Agency Update 1. AGENCY BRIEF: RUBY RIDGEWhat Ruby Ridge really was: a federal pressure campaign over a minor, technical gun charge that turned into a botched siege, unconstitutional rules of engagement, and the killing of a mother and her child. The setup started in 1989. The ATF wanted an informant inside Aryan Nations circles in northern Idaho. They targeted Randy Weaver, an Army veteran living off-grid with his family. Weaver had racist beliefs and associations, but constitutional limits matter most when the person in the government's sights is unpopular. The ATF used an informant to cultivate Weaver and buy two shotguns. The agency claimed the barrels were cut a fraction of an inch below the 18-inch legal minimum. Whether Weaver cut them at the informant's request or sold them as-is is heavily disputed. What is confirmed is what happened next: the ATF did not arrest him to protect the public. They used the federal firearms charge as leverage to pressure Weaver into becoming a paid snitch. Weaver refused. Because he refused, the ATF pushed the case to prosecutors, and Weaver was indicted in late 1990. Then came the bureaucratic failure. Weaver's court-appointed attorney was sent a notice with the wrong appearance date, and Weaver missed his hearing. Instead of resolving a government paperwork error cleanly, the system escalated. The U.S. Marshals launched an 18-month surveillance operation on his remote cabin. In August 1992, an armed reconnaissance team of Marshals encountered Weaver's 14-year-old son Sammy and family friend Kevin Harris in the woods. A firefight erupted. Exactly who fired first remains disputed, but the results are not: the family dog was killed, Sammy Weaver was shot and killed while running back toward the cabin, and Deputy U.S. Marshal William Degan was killed. The FBI's Hostage Rescue Team was called in to take over. Instead of containment, the FBI adopted modified, unconstitutional rules of engagement. In plain English, agents were told they “could and should” shoot any armed adult male seen outside the cabin. FBI sniper Lon Horiuchi fired two shots. The first wounded Randy Weaver. The second shot, fired as Weaver and Harris retreated, passed through the cabin door and hit Vicki Weaver in the head while she stood in the doorway holding her 10-month-old infant. She died instantly. The legal aftermath demolished the government's narrative: A federal jury acquitted Kevin Harris of murder on self-defense grounds. Randy Weaver was acquitted of all original firearms and murder charges, convicted only of failure to appear and a bail condition violation. A 1995 Department of Justice review found the FBI's modified rules of engagement unconstitutional. The federal government paid over $3 million in civil settlements to the surviving family. Despite Senate hearings and state-level indictments, no federal agent ever served a day in prison for the killings. 2. WHY IT MATTERS Ruby Ridge is the ultimate case study in how federal agencies use technical firearms violations to manufacture leverage, and what happens when their targets refuse to bend. This operation was never about public safety. It was about coercion. When Weaver wouldn't play ball, the agency's objective shifted from investigation to punishment, kicking off a predictable escalation ladder: Use a regulatory charge as a trap. Demand intelligence cooperation, and turn refusal into a target on the citizen's back. Treat a procedural court-date mistake as a fugitive manhunt. Deploy paramilitary recon teams for a paperwork warrant. Rewrite deadly force rules on the fly to authorize a shoot-on-sight posture. Once federal agencies invest that much time, manpower, and ego, the institutional pressure to justify the operation takes over. They stop seeing citizens with rights, and start treating them as enemy combatants on American soil. 3. THE 2A ANGLE For gun owners, Ruby Ridge is the blood-soaked warning label on every “it's just a paperwork violation” argument. The underlying charge was a National Firearms Act measurement. That is the exact kind of regulatory trap Washington loves to describe as narrow, reasonable, and harmless. But in practice, technical gun laws give agencies the legal cover to ruin lives. That is the modern lesson for FFLs navigating zero-tolerance revocations, home builders facing shifting administrative definitions, and ordinary owners one bad pistol-brace ruling away from becoming a federal case file. Apply the Supreme Court's Bruen standard to the government's actions. There is zero text, history, or tradition from the founding era of a permanent federal bureaucracy measuring the barrels of defensive weapons to coerce citizens into acting as informants, and then militarizing a warrant service when the citizen refuses. The Founders would not recognize a system that turns a man into a felon over a quarter-inch of steel. Heller proved that the Second Amendment protects an individual right. But rights on paper mean nothing if the enforcement state can use a minor regulatory allegation to justify surveillance, coercion, and deadly force. The strongest takeaway from Ruby Ridge is that when the federal government wields broad, discretionary power over firearms, abuse is not a glitch. It is the natural result. When agencies can turn a fractional barrel measurement into a capital siege, the process itself becomes the punishment. Being technically compliant doesn't protect you; it just makes you useful until you aren't anymore. GOING BALLISTIC AMMOLAND SHOOTING SPORTS NEWS(Savage) NRA, FPC, SAF v. Maryland (SB 334 Glock-Style Handgun Ban) NRA, FPC, and SAF filed a federal lawsuit challenging Maryland's SB 334, arguing the state's Glock-style handgun ban violates the Second Amendment. The National Rifle Association, Firearms Policy Coalition,...

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Nobles of Jitou Tennou's Court

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 1, 2026 39:47

A big part of the court are the actual court nobles, so this episode we are taking a look at some of the ones mentioned in the Chronicles for this reign. For more, check out https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-150 Rough Transcript Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan. My name is Joshua and this is episode 150: Nobles of Jitou Tennou's Court Maro donned his light blue robes and made his way to the court. As he arrived, the sun was just peaking over the horizon, and as it bathed the court in the golden morning light the dark shadows were dispelled, leaving in their wake a colorful scene, as various court officials headed this way and that, gathering in their offices to pick up on the work that they had left unfinished the day before. As an ohotoneri, Maro was often sent to and fro between the offices of the different departments. As such, he was able to see how they worked, and he wondered to himself which department would have the best opportunity for advancement. His family had connections over at the Department of Prisons, and it was definitely a place he could make a name for himself, especially if he attached himself to one of the newly minted magistrates. On the other hand, the Jingikan, the Ministry for Kami Matters, had some of the most important and sought after positions. After all, no matter what the secular administration did, when there was no rain for the fields, it was the kami to whom the court turned. And the members of the Jingikan who helped make those ceremonies happen were known to be well rewarded for their troubles. Perhaps he would be better off taking a more modest position, such as with the Jibu-sho, the Department of Civil Administration. It was mostly focused on the maintenance and execution of the bureaucracy, and wasn't necessarily a place to seek the limelight, but perhaps that also offered some opportunity. Do well in one position, and who knows what that could open up to you in the long run? Maybe one day Maro could make it up to become a Nagon, a Counsellor, or even one of the Daijin, the great ministers at the very head of the council of state.Maro almost laughed at the thought, but he didn't put it aside entirely. After all, as impossible as it might seem now, the world was still changing, and who knew what opportunities might be waiting just around the corner? This episode continues our look at the reign of Uno no Sarara, aka Jitou Tennou. I would note that we have now reached the last chapter of the Nihon Shoki, which ends with the end of Uno no Sarara's reign in 697. In this chapter, we have not quite 11 years to cover, and we've already talked about the first three of those years, which featured succession issues and a long mourning time for Uno's husband Ohoama, aka Temmu Tennou, culminating in the sudden death of her only son, the Crown Prince and heir apparent, Prince Kusakabe, in 689. We also went over what was happening on the continent, with powerful women like Uno no Sarara either on or behind the throne in Silla and the Tang dynasty. To quickly recap the succession issues: When Kusakabe died, tthat left the throne in a somewhat tenuous position. There were two other male heirs that would seem to have a claim on the throne as well. The first was Prince Takechi, who was technically Ohoama's eldest son, but the Chroniclers claim that his late mother was not sufficiently royal for him to have a serious claim. Then there was Prince Karu, the only known son of the late Crown Prince Kusakabe, and had been born 6 years earlier, in 683, to the Crown Prince and his wife, Princess Abe. Princess Abe was a daughter of Naka no Oe, and a half-sister to Uno no Sarara. She was actually a year older than Kusakabe, and would continue to look after the young Prince Karu. So, Prince Karu was only about 7 years old when his father passed away: much too young to be taking the throne, let alone a firm hand in the politics of the time. And given the mortality statistics of the time, there is so much that could happen to him before he reached the age of majority. And remember, there were already some questions about legitimacy, and we already discussed the fact that about 30 nobles had gathered in support of Prince Ohotsu right after Ohoama's death. Uno no Sarara had that whole issue quashed and Prince Ohotsu had died, but it was nonetheless a stark reminder that things could change quickly. So at this point in Uno no Sarara's reign, there is a great deal of uncertainty afoot, and there are quite a few individuals named in the Chronicles who stand to benefit from sticking their fingers into politics in one way or another. This episode, we're going to look at some of those individuals, their roles in the court, and the effect they had on Yamato. Some of those people named are particularly interesting in that they were involved in the conspiracy with Prince Ohotsu, and would continue to be highly influential in the government. For example, Iki no Hakatoko, Nakatomi no Omimaro, and Kose no Tayasu, and Yakuchi no Wotokashi are all name-dropped, which we'll get into more later. It feels significant, however, that there were some 30 nobles all told, and beyond these four and the apparent ringleaders, we don't learn anyone else's names. The importance of prominent individuals in the court has been a constant theme in the Chronicles and in this podcast, so getting to know the court is definitely important. Moreover, during this time period as we get more and more written sources from which to work from we will see more and more information on individuals. Some of that will come from the Nihon Shoki and the records that come after—the Shoku Nihongi. Others, however, are from sources like the Man'yoshu, where bits of biographical data are found about the authors that they mention. There are also family diaries and later genealogies. Some of these sources are a bit more trusted than others, especially when they were compiled centuries later and we don't exactly know what sources they, themselves, were working on. Still, even if it isn't 100% accurate, it does give us a picture of what was going on beyond just the royal family. I think it is also helpful to understand some of the overall court dynamics. If you are familiar with the Heian period, especially around the time of things like the Tale of Genji, you are probably well acquainted with the Fujiwara family—I'll probably need to do an entire episode just on them at some point. Essentially, there would come a time where almost the entire court was made up either of royals or of members of the Fujiwara clan, or uji. In fact, even that distinction wasn't really accurate as the Fujiwara family had so intermarried with the Royal family that every sovereign—every Tennou and even most of their consorts—were directly related to members of the Fujiwara. Not only that, but members of the Fujiwara family held the position of regent—whether the sovereign was of age or not—and effectively ruled the country, with the Tennou being largely relegated to a mouthpiece with ceremonial duties. It would get so bad that we would see the splitting of the Fujiwara uji into smaller households, and the political fights were often between members of the different households of the same family. There is a reason that a good portion of the Heian period is sometimes called the Fujiwara period. However, now during the late Asuka period, we see something a little different. The marriage politics of the Soga had been violently suppressed about a half century earlier, and a lot of different names flourished in the Yamato court, as youmay have noticed any time I've rattled off a bunch of names and your eyes started crossing because of it. But that's the reality we see: there were a lot of different families, and individuals, all jockeying for influence. And they were in a period of disruption, where lots of change was happening. That change meant there was also a lot of potential. And I hope you don't mind if I take a quick time-out here, but so often we read history and we forget to learn lessons from it, and one overarching lesson is: if you are a part of an organization—a company, a club, government, school, or anything like that—one thing you are going to have to deal with is change. It comes in many forms and happens whether or not you personally agree with it. It can be destructive and it can be frightening, because we often don't know what is on the other side of it, but it also presents opportunities. After all, if you don't know what comes next it probably means other people don't, either. And if you can be the one to provide direction you can have a huge influence on what comes next. And change has been a constant theme in this period of Yamato history, in so many ways. Take the reorganization of the government as one example: they had introduced these 8 departments, which had names and were set up in various ways, but it wasn't like you had experienced people to run them as they had been on the continent. So you had names and the forms of things, but there were a lot of people figuring out just how to actually put this new structure into practice, and leverage them to do what they were supposed to do. In the process, there were a lot of opportunities to innovate and figure out how to do it within the cultural milieu of the archipelago. So all of these individuals, from these various families, all had opportunities staring them in the face. They just had to figure out how to make the best of it. Now, don't get me wrong: Those with the money, the connections, and the influence still had a leg up, and this was still a hierarchical society, where your family dictated, to some extent, your position in society. The introduction of individual court rank, as opposed to just the kabane that ranked uji, was pushing against that, and had already caused a reformation that flattened a lot of the previous kabane into just eight distinctions, but those distinctions still existed. Even had they not, simple matters of inherited wealth and the value of goods produced in a family's home territory would still have provided tremendous advantages. But there isn't an indication of the kind of large-scale consolidation of resources that we will see in later periods, such as the Fujiwara example that we were just discussing. Oh, sure, we aren't going to see a farmer suddenly make it big at court in some kind of rags-to-riches story, but at the upper end of society we still have a lot of apparent diversity. And so, let's get to know some of these individuals that the Chronicles tell us about. Before we do that, though, let's recap a little bit about how the court worked. Every member of the court was effectively employed by the State. They had an official job with duties they were supposed to oversee. In the case of lower level functionaries, they were likely expected to actually do most of the work, while at the top of the hierarchy you had nobles who were more likely decision-makers, who would approve or disapprove of the work and direct strategic resources. Those working in the court had official uniforms—the round-necked garments of the continent. What would be called a "caftan" farther west. These were based on the foreign garments popular in the Tang court and elsewhere. The color and pattern of official clothing appears to be something that goes back to early in this new continental style government, and we see suggestions of color schemes from a relatively early age. However, in 690 we see the clearest such outline of just what everyone was wearing. As a reminder, the court rank system of the day was made up of a Princely and a Commoner system. Princely ranks originally included two ranks of the Myo class, and four of the Jou class, each rank divided into either "Great" or "Broad", for twelve Princely ranks, though honestly we only ever really see the four Jou class of ranks in use. Below that were the ranks for the common nobles—those with family names who did not have any kind of royal claim. For them there were six classes of rank—Shou, Jiki, Gon, Mu, Tsui, and Shin, in that order. Each class was made up of four ranks, which were further divided into upper and broad categories, creating 48 total ranks. Your rank determined your precedence at court—where you were sat, what jobs you were allowed to take on and, most importantly, the amount of money that you could expect to receive as part of a stipend. Naka no Oe had previously consolidated the land-holdings and asserted claim over all of it. The taxes from the households on the land went to the government to pay the stipends of the nobles in the court, who were, ostensibly, employees of that same government. Your rank determined what you were owed, though this could also be augmented by various edicts. So there you go: rank in the court was tied to many of the things that the elites wanted, from wealth to status and access to various opportunities. The color of official clothing followed the rank system. So Princes of the first two ranks of the Jou class were given robes of dark purple, and the third and four ranks were given robes of bright purple, which they shared with highest class of rank of the common nobles, the Shou rank class. Below that, nobles of the Jiki class would wear robes of dark red, and those of Gon would wear dark green. The Mu rank class, the next down, was Light Green, and then Tsui was Deep Blue and Shin was Light blue. So in order you would see robes of Dark Purple, Bright Purple, Dark Red, Dark Green, Light Green, Deep Blue, and Light Blue. The color gave you a certain indication of where the person sat in the overall hierarchy of the court, and provided you clues as to how you should address them, who would give deference, etc. In later centuries, we are even told that deference was given in meetings, which is to say that once a person of higher rank provided input on a topic, nobody of lower rank was able to contradict them for fear of the consequences. So it also told you who got the last word. This then was the world that the nobles of the court inhabited. As we've seen in previous episodes it wasn't just bureaucratic work, but also banquets, archery contests, and Buddhist congregations and sutra readings. There were rituals, dances, and diplomatic embassies—not to mention all of the ceremonies around the death or ascension of the sovereign. In this world, one's reputation was everything. You wanted to be seen as good at your job, but also, just like today, people were more likely to promote and support those they knew, and so it helped to have friends. However, there were also a limited number of top spots, and so every promotion would have likewise meant plenty of disappointed nobles who didn't get the job. But that is enough background. Let's take a look at some of the nobles themselves, starting with the four from the Prince Ohotsu conspiracy. The first name in the list is perhaps the least interesting. His name is Yakuchi no Wotokashi. Although he was the highest ranking of the four, he is also the least mentioned in the Chronicles and elsewhere, and we know very little about him. So we'll talk about him later on, for completeness, but for now it may be best to skip him until we have a better handle on others in the court. In contrast, we know a bit more about his co-conspirators. In fact, we've already talked about one of them at length: Iki no Hakatoko. We first heard about Iki no Hakatoko when talking about the Tang dynasty, and discussed him at length in Episode 123. He was one of the members of the embassy to the Tang dynasty back in the early 660s that got delayed on account of Tang Gaozong initiating the war against Yamato's ally Baekje. The fact that the Nihon Shoki directly pulls from Hakatoko's work, known to us, today, as the Iki no Hakatoko Sho, makes it one of the few early named written works that we know about. Unfortunately, it is no longer extant except for what is preserved in the Chronicles, but it is still incredible that we have essentially an eyewitness account of what happened. He would later be one of the escort envoys for one of the Tang embassies during the reign of Naka no Oe. That he was then embroiled in the conspiracy with Prince Ohotsu would seem to be at odds with his standing, and yet after his pardon he eventually got back into the court's good graces. In 695, about 9 years after the incident, he was assigned as an assistant envoy to Silla. By that point he was of Mudaini rank, which was only about 35th in the overall scheme of things. Later on we know he would work on the famous Taiho code, which was published in 701, and enacted a couple of years later. It was here that he worked with the famous Fujiwara no Fubito—about whom we will discuss more, later—and although he would pass away in 703, this may be how his own writings came to find their way into the Chronicles, since Fubito is said to have had a large influence on them—as he had on many of the court's projects. Overall, Iki no Hakatoko may not have been the one in charge, but we see in his life an incredible career, much of it spent on multiple voyages across the ocean, whether on an embassy or as an escort. He likely was highly proficient in the language of the Tang court—what we typically refer to, broadly, as Middle Chinese. He also had direct experience with the Tang court and system, and so it makes sense that he was one of those helping to build an administrative state based on that system. If we were to imagine Hakatoko in the court of the day, at least in 695, he would have likely had light green colored robes, indicating that he was of the "Mu" class of ranks. He would have worn the black gauze cap of the court and worn white hakama, or trousers, underneath. His long, continental style, round-necked robes—likely relatively slim, with overly long, but narrow, sleeves—would have been tied closed in the front with a braided silk cord. He likely worn black leather boots, covered in a light lacquer to protect them from the elements, with cloth insoles and perhaps a hint of brocade along the top. He likely kept with him a ruler, and perhaps a few slips of paper or even just wood on which to take occasional notes. A mid-level functionary of the court. We can compare and contrast Hakatoko to two other co-conspirators: Nakatomi no Omimaro and Kose no Tayasu. We are given neither Omimaro's rank nor Tayasu's at this time. It is interesting that they listed after Hakatoko, who is actually listed as having "Lower Shousen" rank—an older rank that was no longer in use at this point in time. Also, both Nakatomi and Kose were Ason level families while Iki no Hakatoko is listed as being merely "Muraji". So it seems that the Chroniclers were probably pulling from what they could find elsewhere, although where they found that Wotokashi had Jikikwoshi rank I have no idea, as we don't have any other record for him. And it is possible that deference to Wotokashi and Hakatoko are as much a nod to their age as anything else, though probably not by much. Of four co-conspirators mentioned here—and I'm leaving out the two who were exiled or banished, as they were clearly not hanging around the court later—Nakatomi no Omimaro and Kose no Tayasu were probably from the most established families. Indeed, we see both of their names show up multiple times in the record, giving us a better idea of who they might have been. Of the two, the name Nakatomi probably is more likely to ring a bell, as that as the surname of the famous Nakatomi no Kamatari—as well as the later Nakatomi no Kane. Nakatomi no Kamatari was the head of court ritual when he and Naka no Oe kicked things off with the Isshi Incident and the Taika reforms, at which point he became the "Inner Prime Minister", or Naidaijin. Much of what we know of Omimaro comes from outside of the Chronicles themselves. For instance, we are told that he was the son of Nakatomi no Kunitari, a cousin to the famous Kamatari, at least according to the 10th century Engi Shiki. However, we have no other records of Kunitari, and so there is more than a little doubt cast as to whether or not that was actually the case. Similarly, we are told that Omimaro married one of Kamatari's daughters, and was eventually adopted by Kamatari. Once again, the evidence for this is pretty thin, and it is unclear to me just how adoption worked at this point. Certainly in later periods, adoption was often a way to ensure that a family had a male heir to ensure the family's continuity, and marrying someone's daughter and being adopted into the family is an age old tradition in the archipelago and Japan more generally. At the same time, give some thought to what we know about this period: male primogeniture was not exactly the norm, although Confucian values had definitely made inroads into court. The family headship often went to the eldest—or most prominent—family member. This wasn't necessarily a son and often was a brother, a nephew, or even a cousin. We have a few famous Nakatomi at this point in time, and all I can say for certain is that they were part of the same family. Later traditions would make things a bit more clear. Whatever his parentage, our first encounter with Omimaro appears to be in the Ohotsu conspiracy, when he was arrested and then pardoned. He shows up again in the record just three years later, along with Kose no Tayasu, as both were made judges, along with Fujiwara no Fubito—Nakatomi no Kamatari's biological son and eventual heir. In fact, there were nine judges, or magistrates, made that year, and they are listed in rank order. The first is Prince Takeda, said to be a great-grandson of Nunakura, aka Bidatsu Tennou. He was Joukwoshi rank, meaning he wore bright purple court robes, sitting in the lower half of the princely ranks. He had been quite prolific ever since 681, when he was one of the Princes called to help bring together the Chronicles. After being made a judge, he would continue in that position, it seems, and by 708 he would become the head of the Ministry of Prisons. After him we have Haji no Nemaro, in the dark red robes of the Jiki rank class. Though someone of rank, less is known about Nemaro. His father is said to be Haji no Mi, who was part of the forces that set out to Yamada-dera to capture—and likely kill—Soga no Kurayamadera. Haji no Nemaro's son is Haji no Oi, who was sent to the Tang court but returned in 684, along with several repatriated soldiers. Oi would assist with the Taihou code, but little more is said about him or his father. Other judges were Ohoyake no Maro, Fujiwara no Fubito—also of the Jiki class rank. Maro would go on to take a job as a jusenshi, responsible for minting coins, and Fubito would go on to reach the highest levels of government. Then there was Tahema no Sakurawi, Hodzumi no Yamamori, Nakatomi no Omimaro, Kose no Tayasu, and Ohomiwa no Yasumaro. They were all Mudaishi rank at this point, wearing dark green. Sakurai would go on to become the governor of Ise in 705, and then the governor of Musashi in 708. Hodzumi no Yamamori we don't have as much information on, other than that he kept climbing the ranks, by 704 he had made Junior 5th rank, lower grade in the system that replaced the cap-ranks, and by 712 he made it to the senior fifth rank, lower grade. Ohomiwa no Yasumaro, on the other hand, would make it to the Senior 5th rank, lower grade by 707, and the upper grade by 708, when he was made the Dayu—the high minister in charge—of Settsu. He would eventually make it into the Junior Fourth rank, upper grade, as the Minister of the Military Department, or Hyobu-sho. So this gives you an idea of the people with whom Nakatomi no Omimaro and Kose no Tayasu were rubbing elbows. That they were made judges, responsible for justice, seems to say something as that would seem to be a powerful position. At the same time, they are both lower ranked than the much younger Fujiwara no Fubito—but once again, he was the direct son of Nakatomi no Kamatari. He also seems to have avoided any unpleasantness from the Jinshin no Ran as he was only 14 at the time, and though it does seem that the Nakatomi were generally knocked down a peg or two in court—thanks in large part to the fact that Nakatomi no Kane had been one of the leaders of the Afumi court. That and the whole thing with Prince Ohotsu may be why Omimaro was not exactly in the top ranks, but his appointments weren't nothing, either. By 693, Omimaro would be granted the rank of Jikikwoshi, the lower fourth rank of the Jiki class. In that entry he is recorded as Fujiwara no Omimaro. I believe we discussed this a few episodes back, but the Fujiwara name was still new. It had been granted to Nakatomi no Kamatari on his deathbed—or possibly even posthumously—by Naka no Oe, and to his family. So technically that would seem to extend to the entire Nakatomi family. And with Nakatomi no Kane having been one of the main figures on the losing side of the Jinshin no Ran, it was no doubt a savvy political move for Nakatomi courtiers to lean into the Fujiwara name, and they seem to have done just that. It wouldn't be until later, in the reign just following this, that a new decree would straighten everything out, such that only the actual descendants of Fujiwara no Kamatari, such as Fujiwara no Fubito, would be allowed to use the Fujiwara name. Throughout this, I have focused mostly on Omimaro, but Kose no Tayasu was in the mix as well. He, too, was made a judge and in 693 he would also be awarded the same Jikikwoshi rank. In addition, in 689, he was made a "commissioner of good words", along with the Royal Prince Shiki and others. This seems to be a singular position, and Aston suggests that it was their job to figure out the kind of auspicious language that should be used in the court. What kind of language should be used by the sovereign and the courtiers in drawing up official edicts. I imagine that they were figuring out the form to give to formal court documents as well as the kinds of titles and honorifics to use for the sovereign and the state more generally. Of course, that is just an assumption based on Aston's understanding of what is, ultimately, a single line. Still, it is clear that Tayasu was helping to make things happen. Tayasu would eventually go on to become the Minister of the Department of Ceremonies, the Shikibu-sho, and would later serve as a secretary to the Viceroy in Tsukushi—the Dazai Daini. He would pass away in 710, one year before Omimaro. Before leaving Tayasu behind completely, I would like to point out his family name: Kose. The Kose family were one of the families granted the kabane of Ason, or Asaomi. They had previously been known as the Kose no Omi, and had a long history in the court, claiming descent from the famous Takeuchi no Sukune, legendarily known as the first Oho-omi of Yamato. Kose no Tokuda had been a supporter of Soga no Iruka, but after the Isshi Incident he supported Naka no Oe and eventually replace Abe no Uchimaro as Sadaijin—Minister of the Left. Another Kose, Kose no Hito, would also rise in the government, becoming one of two Goshi-daibu made when Prince Ohotomo was appointed Dajodaijin. The other was Ki no Ushi. They were both in attendance and counted among the six who swore to protect and support Ohotomo, along with Nakatomi no Kane and others. So they, too, found themselves on the wrong side of the Jinshin no Ran. In this case, however, it is unclear how much Tayasu was impacted by that. He may have been the son of Kose no Shitano, brother to Kose no Hito, but the Kose were prolific in the court, with many people of the name. The family would continue going through the Heian period. Their fortunes ebbed and flowed, as did so many families, but they would eventually find themselves as Hatamoto to the Tokugawa shogun, so they never actually disappeared. Finally, let's talk about Yakuchi no Wotokashi. As I mentioned earlier, he is actually one of the first names mentioned in the list of co-conspirators with Prince Ohotsu, suggesting that he outranked others in the group. Indeed, he is noted as being of Jikikwoshi rank—fourth lower Jiki rank. The bottom of the Jiki class, but that was still the third class from the top. However, despite this, very little is actually said about him. In fact, this is the only instance I could find of the name Yakuchi in the Nihon Shoki, at least in that spelling—there is also a Yakuchi no Uneme, but it is spelled differently and is probably not related. It is also the only evidence of the name Wotokashi. That means we don't even see him in the list of names being granted Ason in the first place. It is quite possible that Yakuchi was a name he took later and that he was from another family. Indeed, there are a couple of traditions around Wotokashi that suggest he was the founder of the Yakuchi family in Shinano. Indeed, there is a Yakuchi family that comes out of Shinano, near Adzumino. And Shinano was one of the places that Ohoama had sent people to examine as another site for an alternative capital, and Prince Mino and others had gone to check it out. So maybe Wotokashi headed out there—or his descendants, anyway—and decided to try and make a go of it. Proponents of this theory also connect Wotokashi to a line descended from the Soga family, which would certainly explain his prominence. There are others, however, who claim that the Yakuchi family out of Shinano is actually descended from the Otomo, suggesting that the similarities in the name are just coincidental, which is also possible. Ultimately, our sources fail us here, and so we just have speculation. It is possible that even with the pardon, Wotokashi was just never able to regain the trust of the sovereign or his position in court, and so whether he took a hike for the hinterlands or just faded from the picture it is hard to say. With that, let's take a look at just two more courtiers, and what kinds of lives and careers they had at court, at least from what we can see. These two we've also mentioned in passing: Fuse no Miushi—whom Aston transliterates as Miaruji—and Ohotomo no Miyuki. Fuse no Miushi and Ohotomo no Miyuki were both mentioned as performing eulogies for Ohoama, though there is more to them than just that. We'll start with Fuse no Miushi, who is said to have been the son of none other than the Taika era Sadaijin, or Minister of the Left, Abe no Uchimaro. You may recall that Abe no Uchimaro was the Sadaijin under Karu no Ohokimi, aka Koutoku Tennou, along with the Udaijin, Soga no Kurayamadera. They were both supporters of Naka no Oe, though much of the Chronicles focus appeared to be more on Kurayamadera than on Uchimaro. We don't know when Miushi was born, nor when he received the name "Fuse", the name by which he is known when we first meet him in the Chronicles. That family name only shows up two other times in the Chronicles. Based on other sources, it seems that the Abe family was divided at some point into the Fuse and the Hikida, likely because it became too large and they needed to distinguish the different parts of the family. It is said that Fuse no Miushi served as a retainer to Ohoama during the Jinshin no Ran. That, along with his family connections, helped secure him a good place in the government. By 686, we see him pronouncing the eulogy for Ohoama's funeral on behalf of the Dajokan, the Counil of State. He was already Jikidaishi, one rank above the standard Jikikwoshi, but still clothed in the same dark red robes. In 687, he is again pronouncing the eulogy, but this time we are told that his a Nagon, or councilor, a rather prestigious posting that would later get broken up into three different levels: Dainagon, Chunagon, and Shonagon. For my Heian fans out there, that last is the same Shonagon as in the name of the famous poet, author, diary-keeper, and all around queen of snark, Sei Shonagon. By 688, pronouncing the Eulogy seems to have become an annual event for Miushi, only this time he teamed up with Ohotomo no Miyuki. The two of them seem to have had similar careers, and would, for a time, come up together through the ranks. Ohotomo no Miyuki is said to have been born in 646, though that isn't recorded in the Nihon Shoki and comes from other sources. The Ohotomo family goes back quite a ways, and we are told that his father was Ohotomo no Nagatoko, who served as Minister of the Right under Naka no Oe. However, in 672, the Ohotomo, including Miyuki, sided with Ohoama in the Jinshin no ran. In 675 he was made Tayu while Prince Kurikuma was made Director of Military Affairs. He then drops out of the narrative until 688, when he is pronouncing the eulogy with Fuse no Miushi. Miushi would go on, two years later, to present the formal congratulations from the court to the Queen upon her ascencion to the throne, and then the following year, 691, both Miushi and Miyuki were granted the rank of Jikidaiichi, the highest rank in the Jiki class, along with 80 households to support them and their families. This brought both of their stipends up to roughly 300 households each. Then, in 694, they were both raised in rank again, this time to Shoukwoushi. Only one rank up, yet they went from the top of the Jiki class to the bottom of the Shou class. They would have gotten new robes of Bright Purple to indicate their new status, and they each had their stipends increased by the taxes of 200 households each. At the same time, they were also acknowledged as senior members of their houses. That means that Miushi was considered the head of the Fuse branch of the Abe family and Miyuki was now acknowledged as the head of the entire Ohotomo family. Two years after that, in 696, they were each given 80 retainers to support them. Fuse no Miushi is actually mentioned at that time as Abe no Miushi. That same year, we again see Fujiwara no Fubito show up, but with only 50 retainers. Fubito would eventually rise to the top of the court food chain, but at this point, it was still in the hands of courtiers like Fuse no Abe no Miushi and Ohotomo no Miyuki. Fuse no Miushi would go on to have an incredible career. He would become Dainagon and eventually he would become the Udaijin, the Minister of the Right, one of the highest positions anyone could hope to achieve at court. Ohotomo no Miyuki would not make it quite so far. Like Miushi, he made it to Dainagon, but he died in the first month of 701, just 55 years old. He had made it to the third rank, and he was posthumously granted the title of Udaijin—the position was vacant at the time—and granted second rank. His colleague, Abe no Miushi, would go on to take the position only four months later and serve for a couple of years before passing away himself. These two would have worked closely together throughout their careers, and the fact that they were raised in rank and position on similar timelines suggests to me that they ran together in very close circles. They would have been working in similar positions, at the same levels of the government. They would have been going to the same parties and partaking in the same banquets and entertainments. They were no doubt rivals, in a sense, but also equals. Both families would go on, even as the Fujiwara clan came to dominate the politics of the era, the Ohotomo and Abe would continue to hold power in the court during the Nara period, though eventually it would decline. The Ohotomo would eventually become just the Tomo, to avoid conflicting with the name of a slater sovereign, and the main house would eventually decline, though branch families would continue to claim descent from the Ohotomo into to the Edo period. The Abe would continue, similarly pushing against the Fujiwara. The most famous Abe was probably Abe no Seimei, who became known for his skills as an Onmyouji, or master of Yin-yang divination and magic. The Tsuchimikado branch of the Abe family would continue that tradition, and it would come to largely define the main branch of the family. I hope that gives a bit of an idea of what was going on in the court and the kinds of careers that people were looking at and what was happening. We cannot get into every single person, but I'm going to try and note some of the more prominent courtiers and what they were doing. It isn't always clear from the Chronicles what was going on between the various houses, but one can largely assume that the court was highly political. Different factions were vying for power and position. Sitting atop all of it, Uno no Sarara would have to perform her own kind of balancing act, doling out rewards and punishments as necessary, and ensuring to place the right people in positions of power and authority. On the one hand, that ambition was a motivating factor, keeping the people of the court focused on the tasks at hand and ensuring that the court was running smoothly. On the other hand, too much power in the hands of any one individual could cause them to get ideas that they should have even more. The main bulwark against this was everyone else in the system—the checks and balances were literally the other court nobles, who weren't going to just let someone take power unless there was something in it for them as well. More on that as we watch this reign unfold. But for now, thank you so much for listening and downloading the podcast. If you like what we are doing, please tell your friends and feel free to rate us wherever you listen to podcasts. If you feel the need to do more, and want to help us keep this going, we have information about how you can donate on Patreon or through our KoFi site, ko-fi.com/sengokudaimyo, or find the links over at our main website, SengokuDaimyo.com/Podcast, where we will have some more discussion on topics from this episode. Also, feel free to reach out to our Sengoku Daimyo Facebook page. You can also email us at the.sengoku.daimyo@gmail.com. Thank you, also, to Ellen for their work editing the podcast. And that's all for now. Thank you again, and I'll see you next episode on Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.

director man japan state left ministry tale prison court chronicles senior sitting minister uno buddhist mu broad tang abe kofi yin shin princes eulogies ran ceremonies oi maro fuse counsellor tomo gon edo aston asuka proponents nobles deep blue crown prince silla omi haji oe taika yamada naka confucian ise yamato hito sakurai musashi viceroy tsui jou genji karu iki tokugawa military affairs soga fujiwara miyuki princely shou myo heian kose nakatomi otomo takeuchi oho light blue dark red iruka chroniclers seimei sei shonagon

Interview Only w/ Mayor Yemi Mobolade - The Independent Mayor Making The Case For Post-Partisan Politics

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 1, 2026 48:27 Transcription Available

Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade — the independent who won a culturally conservative city by running as a true centrist who refuses to be boxed into either party — joins the Chuck Toddcast to make the case that quality-of-life governance still beats partisanship when voters are actually given the chance to choose it. Mobolade, who adapted his governing principles from Abraham Lincoln, argues that there's a genuine and growing appetite for leadership that isn't red or blue — but warns that working for unity is incredibly hard and tiring work that few politicians want to do anymore. He walks through Colorado Springs' fight to retain Space Command after Trump and Biden moved the headquarters back and forth between Colorado Springs and Huntsville, Alabama, and explains why he ultimately chose not to sue over the relocation (the decision was within the president's purview, and burning that bridge would have cost the city more than it gained). Mobolade describes hiring his own mayoral opponent Wayne Williams after the campaign — a move he calls part of his "radical collaboration" approach — and argues that mayors don't have the luxury of partisan posturing because their job is fundamentally about producing deliverables for actual residents who want safer streets, better services, and a higher quality of life. The conversation moves into the practical challenges facing every American mayor in 2026, with data centers emerging as the political pain point in nearly every community across the country. Mobolade describes calling an emergency meeting to develop a data center strategy for Colorado Springs, walks through the balanced-but-responsible-growth framework his team has settled on, and explains the tradeoffs honestly: residents are worried about quality-of-life impacts, but the tax revenue from data centers is exactly what cities need to fund essential services. Larger data centers in his city are now forced to pay impact fees to offset their costs, some are being placed on military bases for security purposes, and Mobolade is candid with residents that they cannot have the services they demand without the revenue base to pay for them. The conversation turns to Colorado Springs' housing shortage — the city has been named one of the best places for young people, but only if young people can actually afford to live there — and Mobolade discusses his work with HUD to expand supply, his belief that the country needs genuine innovation in finding cheaper ways to build, and his frustration with a Colorado political landscape that he says no longer has room for center-left and center-right voices the way it used to. His closing argument is the one that ties the whole episode together: the country needs more independent leadership, not because partisanship is bad in theory, but because the current version of it is incapable of delivering the basics that voters actually care about. Link in bio or go to https://getsoul.com & enter code TODDCAST for 30% off your first order. Thank you Wildgrain for sponsoring. Visit http://wildgrain.com/TODDCAST and use the code "TODDCAST" at checkout to receive $30 off your first box PLUS free Croissants for life! Timeline: (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements) 00:00 Mayor Yemi Mobolade joins the Chuck ToddCast 01:30 The people care more about quality of life than partisanship 02:45 Adapted governing principles from Abraham Lincoln 03:45 Colorado Springs is culturally conservative, yet elected an independent 05:30 Ran as a true centrist, hard to box in his politics 06:45 There’s an appetite for leadership that isn’t red or blue 7:30 Trump & Biden moved space command back and forth from Co. Springs 08:45 The city fought hard to keep space command 09:30 Worked with the mayor of Huntsville to ensure smooth transition 10:30 Why did you decide not to sue over relocation of space command? 11:15 The decision was within the president’s purview 12:30 The city is safer now than when he took office 13:45 A mayor’s job is to produce deliverables for the people 15:45 There’s a lack of competition of ideas in Colorado politics 16:45 Have a good relationship with the governor and statehouse 17:30 People get too stuck in their partisan lanes 18:00 Working for unity is incredibly hard and tiring 20:15 There used to be room for center-left and center-right in Colorado 21:15 Hired his mayoral opponent Wayne Williams 21:45 Wayne ran a more traditional campaign, Yemi ran on different leadership 23:00 The goal was radical collaboration and the community embraced it 23:45 Data centers are a political pain point of every local community 24:30 Called an emergency meeting to discuss data center strategy 25:15 The sweet spot of data center policy is balanced but responsible growth 26:00 Residents are worried data centers will lower their quality of life 27:30 Data centers being placed on military bases for security 29:30 Larger data centers are forced to pay a fee to offset impact 33:00 Data centers bring in much needed tax dollars 34:00 The city budget needs the revenue to provide essential services 34:30 Residents want services but no data centers… can’t have it both ways 36:30 Colorado Springs also struggling with a housing shortage 38:30 Working with HUD to try to increase housing supply 39:15 Colorado Springs named one of the best cities for young people 40:45 Need innovation in housing construction, find cheaper ways to build 42:30 The country needs more independent leadershipSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Full Episode - Character Is Destiny In Politics + The Independent Mayor Making The Case For Post-Partisan Politics

Free Range Preacher on Prayer

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 1, 2026 154:49 Transcription Available

Chuck Todd opens with the latest from the Iran war's increasingly costly stalemate, arguing Trump doesn't actually want a deal — he wants the ability to declare an accomplishment without ever looking like he capitulated, the same trick he ran with NAFTA and the JCPOA where he ripped up agreements only to sign nearly identical ones under new names. June, Chuck warns, is when the energy shock will start showing up in domestic prices, every day Hormuz stays closed exponentially increases the damage, consumers may begin behaving irrationally and hoarding, and a single bad natural disaster on top of all this could trigger a genuine crisis. But the heart of the episode is Chuck’s meditation on a single phrase: character is destiny in politics. It's not whether character flaws exist — everyone has them — but when those flaws become public and start affecting the people you were elected to serve. Trump's character problems were on display long before he ever became president, but his defenders now include the exact same Rubios and Grahams who used to blast him as morally unfit. And the most uncomfortable part of Chuck argument for the Democratic base: the same progressives who mocked Trump supporters for excusing his behavior are now using essentially identical defenses for Maine's Graham Platner — who has been accused of sexting in 2023, behavior that isn't youthful indiscretion and isn't going away. Chuck argues political parties used to function as imperfect but real vetting organizations, that once voters become emotionally invested in a candidate they will defend literally anything, that running for office sometimes becomes a substitute for therapy rather than a vehicle for service, and that democracy itself depends on elected officials being able to separate their personal motivations from their public obligations — something Biden failed at when his family obligations led to those preemptive pardons. He notes the Bidens were genuinely beloved before the election but Biden's ambition did real harm to his party, his family, and his own legacy. Todd points to Pope Leo as a potential moral leader Americans seem desperate for at exactly the moment when neither party seems remotely interested in finding the best possible actors. He observes that Platner vs. Collins is starting to feel like a rerun of Trump vs. Clinton in 2016 — two candidates voters genuinely don't want to choose between — and closes with quick hits on Jill Biden's forthcoming memoir, the California gubernatorial primary (where Xavier Becerra and Tom Steyer could finish in the top two), and the increasingly strange Los Angeles mayoral race in which Karen Bass appears to be deliberately ignoring Spencer Pratt because she would much rather face him in a general election than the genuinely formidable Nithya Raman. Then, Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade — the independent who won a culturally conservative city by running as a true centrist who refuses to be boxed into either party — joins the Chuck Toddcast to make the case that quality-of-life governance still beats partisanship when voters are actually given the chance to choose it. Mobolade, who adapted his governing principles from Abraham Lincoln, argues that there's a genuine and growing appetite for leadership that isn't red or blue — but warns that working for unity is incredibly hard and tiring work that few politicians want to do anymore. He walks through Colorado Springs' fight to retain Space Command after Trump and Biden moved the headquarters back and forth between Colorado Springs and Huntsville, Alabama, and explains why he ultimately chose not to sue over the relocation (the decision was within the president's purview, and burning that bridge would have cost the city more than it gained). Mobolade describes hiring his own mayoral opponent Wayne Williams after the campaign — a move he calls part of his "radical collaboration" approach — and argues that mayors don't have the luxury of partisan posturing because their job is fundamentally about producing deliverables for actual residents who want safer streets, better services, and a higher quality of life. The conversation moves into the practical challenges facing every American mayor in 2026, with data centers emerging as the political pain point in nearly every community across the country. Mobolade describes calling an emergency meeting to develop a data center strategy for Colorado Springs, walks through the balanced-but-responsible-growth framework his team has settled on, and explains the tradeoffs honestly: residents are worried about quality-of-life impacts, but the tax revenue from data centers is exactly what cities need to fund essential services. Larger data centers in his city are now forced to pay impact fees to offset their costs, some are being placed on military bases for security purposes, and Mobolade is candid with residents that they cannot have the services they demand without the revenue base to pay for them. The conversation turns to Colorado Springs' housing shortage — the city has been named one of the best places for young people, but only if young people can actually afford to live there — and Mobolade discusses his work with HUD to expand supply, his belief that the country needs genuine innovation in finding cheaper ways to build, and his frustration with a Colorado political landscape that he says no longer has room for center-left and center-right voices the way it used to. His closing argument is the one that ties the whole episode together: the country needs more independent leadership, not because partisanship is bad in theory, but because the current version of it is incapable of delivering the basics that voters actually care about. Finally, Chuck hops into the ToddCast Time Machine to revisit two stories that occurred on the same day… the Tiananmen square massacre, and Poland’s first post-soviet elections. He also answers listeners’ questions in the “Ask Chuck” segment. Predict the action all the way through the finals. Sign up now for your twenty-five dollar bonus on https://fanduel.com/predicts Link in bio or go to https://getsoul.com & enter code TODDCAST for 30% off your first order. Thank you Wildgrain for sponsoring. Visit http://wildgrain.com/TODDCAST and use the code "TODDCAST" at checkout to receive $30 off your first box PLUS free Croissants for life! Timeline: (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements) 00:00 Chuck Todd’s introduction 05:30 Iran war/ceasefire has settled into a costly stalemate 06:45 Trump doesn’t want a deal, just ability to declare an accomplishment 07:30 Trump doesn’t want to look like he capitulated 08:00 Trump ripped up other deals, then got same deals with new names 09:15 June will be when the impacts of energy shock show up domestically 10:30 Every day Hormuz remains closed exponentially increases the damage 11:30 Consumers may begin to behave irrationally, start hoarding 12:30 If a natural disaster hits during energy shock, it could be major crisis 13:45 Pulling out of WHO has exacerbated Ebola outbreak 15:00 We can’t foresee all negative impacts, we just know they’re coming 16:15 Character is always destiny in politics, it’s a matter of when people see it 18:00 Everybody has their own motivation for voting, character isn’t always important 18:45 People defending character flaws are a huge part of the problem 20:00 Rubio & Graham used to blast Trump’s character, now defend it 20:30 People criticizing Trump’s behavior are now defending Graham Platner’s 22:00 People run for office for a variety of reasons, and sometimes not good ones 23:15 Sometimes entering politics become a substitute for therapy 24:30 Character matters because it’s predictive 25:30 Trump’s character flaws did not stay private, they became public 26:30 Biden ran for office when his kids were in crisis 27:30 Biden’s family obligations competed with public ones, gave preemptive pardons 28:15 Democracy depends on elected officials separating personal & public 29:15 Political parties used to be vetting organizations, even if imperfect 30:00 Once people become emotionally invested in a candidate, they defend them 30:45 Character flaws don’t just disappear, they show up… and affect us all 33:00 Democrats in a difficult spot having to defend Graham Platner 33:45 Plater accused of sexting in 2023, these aren’t youthful indiscretions 34:45 Eric Swalwell’s indiscretions were ignored until they became too much to ignore 37:15 Platner can still win, Susan Collins has worn out her welcome 38:00 Progressives may have put blinders on for Platner 38:45 People who mocked support for Trump using same defenses for Platner 40:00 At some point credibility will matter to a majority of voters 42:30 Trump’s bad behavior has alienated 1/3rd of Republican voters 44:30 Trump is politicizing celebrating America 250…making it hard to celebrate 45:45 Trump’s character flaws were on display well before he became president 46:30 The Pope may become the moral leader Americans are desperate for 48:30 Parties don’t seem to be worried about finding the best possible actors 49:30 Platner vs. Collins feels like a rerun of Trump vs. Clinton in 2016 51:15 Jill Biden to release new memoir - Bidens seem insulated from public opinion 52:15 Before election, the Biden family was fairly beloved by most 52:45 Biden’s ambition did real harm to the party, family and their legacy 53:30 The Bidens are good people and people were willing to overlook their flaws 54:30 Xavier Becerra & Tom Steyer could finish in Top 2 spots in CA gov primary 56:30 Karen Bass has mostly ignored Spencer Pratt in LA mayoral race 57:00 Bass wants to face Pratt rather than Nithya Raman 1:07:00 Mayor Yemi Mobolade joins the Chuck ToddCast 1:08:30 The people care more about quality of life than partisanship 1:09:45 Adapted governing principles from Abraham Lincoln 1:10:45 Colorado Springs is culturally conservative, yet elected an independent 1:12:30 Ran as a true centrist, hard to box in his politics 1:13:45 There’s an appetite for leadership that isn’t red or blue 1:14:30 Trump & Biden moved space command back and forth from Co. Springs 1:15:45 The city fought hard to keep space command 1:16:30 Worked with the mayor of Huntsville to ensure smooth transition 1:17:30 Why did you decide not to sue over relocation of space command? 1:18:15 The decision was within the president’s purview 1:19:30 The city is safer now than when he took office 1:20:45 A mayor’s job is to produce deliverables for the people 1:22:45 There’s a lack of competition of ideas in Colorado politics 1:23:45 Have a good relationship with the governor and statehouse 1:24:30 People get too stuck in their partisan lanes 1:25:00 Working for unity is incredibly hard and tiring 1:27:15 There used to be room for center-left and center-right in Colorado 1:28:15 Hired his mayoral opponent Wayne Williams 1:28:45 Wayne ran a more traditional campaign, Yemi ran on different leadership 1:30:00 The goal was radical collaboration and the community embraced it 1:30:45 Data centers are a political pain point of every local community 1:31:30 Called an emergency meeting to discuss data center strategy 1:32:15 The sweet spot of data center policy is balanced but responsible growth 1:33:00 Residents are worried data centers will lower their quality of life 1:34:30 Data centers being placed on military bases for security 1:36:30 Larger data centers are forced to pay a fee to offset impact 1:40:00 Data centers bring in much needed tax dollars 1:41:00 The city budget needs the revenue to provide essential services 1:41:30 Residents want services but no data centers… can’t have it both ways 1:43:30 Colorado Springs also struggling with a housing shortage 1:45:30 Working with HUD to try to increase housing supply 1:46:15 Colorado Springs named one of the best cities for young people 1:47:45 Need innovation in housing construction, find cheaper ways to build 1:49:30 The country needs more independent leadership 1:50:30 ToddCast Time Machine - June 4th, 1989 - Tiananmen Square massacre 1:51:00 The image of a man standing in front of a tank is iconic 1:52:00 On the same day, Polish citizens were casting ballots in a post soviet election 1:52:30 One communist system responded with elections, another responded with force 1:53:30 The Chinese students protesting were easy to empathize with 1:54:15 At the time it felt like freedom was advancing and communism was retreating 1:55:15 The elections in Poland humiliated the communist government 1:56:00 Chinese leaders closely watched events in Europe 1:56:45 Protest movement in China was one of the largest in their history 1:58:15 Chinese government cracked down on reformers and protest movement 1:59:00 Martial law was declared and troops moved into Beijing 1:59:45 We don’t have an accounting of the total death toll of protestors 2:00:15 The image we all remember is “tank man” 2:00:45 The incorrect assumption was that China’s middle class would demand rights 2:02:00 China proved that their model could survive and remain durable 2:04:00 Tiananmen ultimately was the birth of the current bipolar world 2:05:00 Poland chose the ballot box, China chose the tank 2:05:30 Ask Chuck 2:05:45 Would you ever consider running for president? Colbert as a running mate? 2:09:00 Do you think Paxton heads into the general overconfident? 2:15:45 Could the “Wyoming Rule” be a more realistic step than expanding house? 2:18:45 Any lesser known founding fathers that deserve more credit? 2:23:45 Thoughts on the Catholic church as a source of moral authority? 2:27:45 Any advice for people needing to step back from news while staying informed?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Devotional 139 They Ran; We Pray

Play Episode Listen Later May 31, 2026 10:29

I like stories; true stories are the best and can inspire us in our Christian walk.Today, we take a high-level overview of the Battle of Marathon. From this battle, the Athenian hoplites used a two-word flex, “I ran.”As children of God, we don't flex, but we do greatly rejoice at every instance of redemption. We also note that once we suit up in the full armor of God, we pray:“Therefore, take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, 15 and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE; 16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one. 17 And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,” Ephesians 6:13-18We highlight Charles Haddon Spurgeon:Charles Haddon Spurgeon:“No young mother ever rejoiced so much over her first-born child - no warrior was so exultant over a hard won victory. Oh the joy of knowing tat a sinner once at enmity has been reconciled to God by the Holy Spirit, through the words spoken by our feeble lips.”Our So What?Together, let's commit not to “I. Ran.” But “I Prayed” “No young mother ever rejoiced so much over her first-born child - no warrior was so exultant over a hard won victory. Oh the joy of knowing that a sinner once at enmity has been reconciled to God by the Holy Spirit, through the words spoken by our feeble prayers.” (Modified) Donation link:https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=G9JGGR5W97D64Or go to www.freerangepreacheronprayer.com and use the Donations tab."What a man is on his knees before God, that he is and nothing more."Robert Murray M'CheyneAssistant Editor: Seven Jefferson Gossardwww.freerangepreacheronprayer.comfreerangeprayer@gmail.comFacebook - Free Range Preacher MinistriesInstagram: freerangeministriesAll our Scripture quotes are drawn from the NASB 1977 edition.For access to the voice-over services of Richard Durrington, please visit RichardDurrington.com or email him at Durringtonr@gmail.comOur podcast art was designed by @sammmmmmmmm23 on InstagramSeason 008 Episode 029

god spirit battle stand holy spirit pray scripture ephesians marathon donations devotional ran helmet of salvation nasb athenian comour 18we

Episode 33: A Live Watchalong of the Season 2 Trailer

X-Pod 97

Play Episode Listen Later May 29, 2026 24:55

The Boys are BACK! Well one anyway, as Ran watches the new trailer and reacts. The X-Pod you know and love will return with new episodes leading up to the July 1 series premiere and beyond. Back to you, your X-Pod! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

boys ran watchalong

ICEMAN is Billionaire Propaganda | Drake's ICEMAN Discussion + Analysis

I've Been Meaning to Listen To That

Play Episode Listen Later May 28, 2026 129:24

This week on "I've Been Meaning To Listen To That", we review ICEMAN by Drake with special guest Dakota West Foss! Plus, we discuss whether the rollout strategy of dropping 3 albums was an effective one, how there are a lot of parallels between ICEMAN and the Michael movie, how this album caters to his core audience, Drake's relationship to vulnerability and how it perpetrates a billionaire mindset, whether this album is better or worse than J Cole's THE FALL OFF, whether or not Drake is beating the allegations, and more!0:00 cold open0:17 theme song0:55 introduction1:46 preconceived notions on Drake4:10 not like us vs. story of Addison13:08 what's Drakes strategy?46:41 ICEMAN is MICHAEL (2026)51:15 Does Hip Hop need Drake?58:22 Make them cry1:05:12 Make them know1:07:25 2 Hard for the Radio1:11:59 National Treasures1:17:38 Is Drake the Culture?1:27:10 dust1:29:38 make them pay1:30:29 firm friends1:35:25 plot twist1:38:40 What did I miss1:42:18 Don't Worry1:45:17 Bs on the Table1:48:14 Little Birdy1:50:49 Make them Remember1:55:19 Ran to Atlanta2:01:21 Final Thoughts and RatingsPATREON SUPPORTERSSamuel LeeCarissa ZaﬃroStenley PhilippeJon ButtsTanner Richard CraftSean WilkinsonSpencer RoystonSubscribe to our "I've Been Meaning To Watch That" Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/IBMTLTTFollow Jon Butts on Instagram (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@jonbuttsishere⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)Follow Dakota West Foss on Instagram (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@down_with_fun⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)Follow Andrew Ambrose Lee on Instagram (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@andrewambroselee⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)Follow Stenley Philippe on Instagram (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@snapasten⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)Follow Stefanie Senior on Instagram (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@stefmsenior⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)Cover Art by Megan Rika Young (Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@meganrika⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)Theme Song by OTNES (Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@mxotnes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)Follow us at (@ibmtltt) on⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Tiktok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ &⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ivebeenmeaningtolistentothat@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Have a good daaay!

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Runners of NYC Returns | New Format, New Host – Meet Patryk Odedina

Runners of NYC

Play Episode Listen Later May 26, 2026 82:12

Runners of NYC is relaunching. We're changing up the format — fewer studio sit-downs, more conversations out in the wild across the five boroughs — and we're thrilled to welcome Patryk Odedina as our new co-host. Same mission of surfacing the untold stories behind NYC's running culture, with a fresh approach to how we tell them. More soon.First...Meet Patryk.------"I was at the gym one day, doing the typical dude thing — asking my neighbor Kenny what he was working on. Chest? Back? Arms? He just looked at me, straight-faced, and said: 'Five or six miles on the treadmill.' I swear, I had never heard someone say something like that in my life. And Kenny's not some lean guy — he's a husky dude. So I'm standing there like, what is he talking about? Then he tells me he's training for the New York City Marathon. That's all I needed. I thought, if Kenny can do it, I can do it."Patryk Odedina is a Bronx-based runner who picked up the sport at 29 after a gym conversation with his neighbor Kenny, and has since completed all six World Marathon Majors while chipping nearly 90 minutes off his debut time.Background:– Born in Poland, raised in the Bronx from age 3. Polish mother, Nigerian father.– Played basketball at Lincoln High School (the one in Yonkers) and Lehman College. No running background.– Spent six-plus years in tech salesThe origin story: Late 2018, lifting weights in a Harlem gym, his neighbor Kenny mentioned he was training for the NYC Marathon. Patryk had never heard anyone say something like that out loud. He signed up for the 2020 race through Team for Kids before knowing what a 5K was.Marathon résumé:– 2020 NYC (virtual): 4:40. Ran the actual route solo in the rain; mom as support crew.– 2021 NYC: ~4:57. The 50th anniversary edition.– 2023 London: 3:58. Finally cracked sub-4 on his fourth attempt.– Six Stars: NYC → London → Berlin → Tokyo → Boston → Chicago. Wore a Yankees singlet in Boston.– 2026 Jersey City: 3:09. Now chasing sub-3.Beyond the race: Associate board member of the Bronx Burners, a 501(c)3 that has distributed $100K+ in college scholarships to Bronx youth. Creator of the Run Clubs of NYC video series — 49 NYC clubs and counting.This is Runners of NYC. A podcast from CITIUS MAG. You can catch the latest episode of the podcast on iTunes so subscribe and leave a five-star review. We are also on Spotify. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter | @RunnersOfNYCEmail any comments, feedback or possible sponsorship ideas to runnersofnyc@gmail.com

Full Episode - Trump's Iran Deal Is Worse Than The Deal He Tore Up + A Marine Sniper's Message on Service, Sacrifice, and Country

Play Episode Listen Later May 25, 2026 178:54 Transcription Available

Chuck Todd opens with a brutal verdict on the emerging Iran "deal": it's just a worse version of the Obama agreement Trump once tore up, Iran has effectively avoided every stated goal Trump and Israel set out to achieve, and Tehran retains control of the Strait of Hormuz — meaning this is unambiguously a loss for the United States, no matter how the administration tries to spin it. He argues Trump bit off far more than he could chew, that Bibi Netanyahu put his faith into Donald Trump (which never ends well), and that America's standing has been diminished in ways that will reverberate for years. Iran's regime won't be able to repress its own people forever, He notes, but the window to actually topple it during the protests was missed — and Gulf state allies will now be dealing with the Iranians for much longer than they bargained for, having quietly hoped the U.S. and Israel would do their dirty work for them. The political damage at home is just as severe. He cites the Wall Street Journal christening the past seven days as "the week that broke Trump's hold on Congress," with the president now underwater on every single issue, consumer confidence unlikely to recover before the midterms, the Senate unable to fund DHS through reconciliation because Trump makes bipartisan solutions impossible, and his January 6th slush fund producing a backlash that won't go away — with Republican senators visibly wavering. Chuck's verdict on the lame duck arriving early: this is a failed first two years of the Trump presidency, and the stronger his grip on the party, the weaker that party becomes in general elections. He blasts Todd Blanche for turning the DOJ into Trump's personal legal team (Blanche should be impeached, Todd argues, and nothing coming out of this DOJ can be trusted), tears into the long-awaited DNC autopsy of the 2024 loss as paralyzed, tone-deaf, and poorly thought-out — naming Ken Martin as the wrong person to lead the DNC and noting that the simple truth Democrats can't bring themselves to face is that the party is perceived as too liberal in a country with more conservatives than progressives. He flags Mike Duggan dropping out of the Michigan governor's race after his hoped-for contentious Democratic primary never materialized, and Tulsi Gabbard's resignation as DNI proving that the position itself was never really necessary Then, former Marine sniper AJ Pasciuti — author of the new book Dark Horse and host of the Combat Story podcast — joins the Chuck Toddcast for one of the most riveting and clear-eyed conversations about military service, leadership, and the realities of modern war. Pasciuti was 16 years old on September 11th, enlisted at 17, and eventually became the Marine who led the team that killed "Juba" — the notorious Iraqi sniper who uploaded videos of his American kills to the internet to taunt the U.S. military. He walks listeners through the entire hunt: how Marines studied Juba's uploaded footage to identify his patterns, how the team set a trap, how Pasciuti spotted Juba in his hide by catching the glint off the lens of a Sony Handycam, and how he knew within minutes that they'd gotten him — while emphasizing that he may have pulled the trigger but it was an entire team that brought Juba down. Pasciuti reflects on the strange experience of fighting enemies who saw themselves as freedom fighters rather than terrorists, why attention to detail is the trait that weeds out most sniper candidates, and how snipers are ultimately meant to combat the enemy emotionally as much as physically. The conversation broadens into a sweeping meditation on what military service teaches you about America — and where Pasciuti worries the country is heading. He calls the military one of the last bastions of the American dream, where opportunity is real but has to be earned, and argues that a culture promoting service to the greater good over the accumulation of wealth would make America measurably healthier.. Pasciuti is openly worried about political leadership infecting the values of the military, makes the case that empathy must be viewed as a strength rather than a weakness in military leadership, and insists his book is political but not partisan — it's about values. He offers a vital warning that the Taliban proved asymmetrical warfare can defeat a stronger foe, that drone warfare is dangerously dehumanizing combat by reducing casualties to dollars and cents, and that the most important thing any soldier carries home is their soul intact — something he says becomes harder every year as the social contract between America and its veterans erodes. Pasciuti describes seeing fear rather than hatred in the eyes of a dying enemy combatant, a moment that has stayed with him, and explains why he can't support any politician who describes a political opponent as an enemy. He shares his experience running for city council and personally knocking on thousands of doors, his frustration with the financial barriers to entry in modern politics, and his belief that current discourse simply doesn't allow for real dialogue. He closes with the most powerful observation of the episode, made for Memorial Day: the holiday isn't about those who came home — it's about those who didn't — and anyone calling for war should be required to first sit down and have a conversation with a Gold Star family. Finally, Chuck hops into the ToddCast Time Machine for a thoughtful Memorial Day reflection on how countries honor their war dead — and how the rituals they choose reveal who they understand themselves to be. He traces Memorial Day back to its actual origins in the Civil War and its 600,000 American dead, including the powerful and often-forgotten story of formerly enslaved people who reburied Union soldiers from a mass grave to give them the dignified resting place their country had failed to provide. He explains that the date was chosen not because of a specific battle but because of when flowers bloom, that Southern states kept parallel remembrance traditions for the Confederacy, and that Memorial Day's secondary role as the unofficial start of summer has always made it a uniquely American hybrid of grief and gathering — which, Chuck argues, is actually one of its virtues, because coming together is how communities find common ground. He surveys how other nations approach the same task: WWI created a uniquely Canadian identity around remembrance, Russia centers its V-Day celebrations on WWII triumph as the foundation of national identity, Germany approaches its war dead cautiously and somberly with a deep awareness of historical responsibility, and Japan frames remembrance through loss, peace, and explicit anti-war reflection. His larger argument is that the story and tone of a country's remembrance day reveals exactly how it understands itself — what it celebrates, what it confronts, and what it would rather not look at. He closes with the smallest but most important reminder of the day: you don't say "Happy Memorial Day." He also answers listeners’ questions in the “Ask Chuck” segment. Predict the action all the way through the finals. Sign up now for your twenty-five dollar bonus on https://fanduel.com/predicts Link in bio or go to https://getsoul.com & enter code TODDCAST for 30% off your first order. Refresh your wardrobe with Quince. Go to https://Quince.com/chuck for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Thank you Wildgrain for sponsoring. Visit http://wildgrain.com/TODDCAST and use the code "TODDCAST" at checkout to receive $30 off your first box PLUS free Croissants for life! Timeline: (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements) 00:00 Chuck Todd’s introduction 04:00 Pending Iran deal looks like a worse version of Obama’s deal 04:45 Iran looks to have avoided all of Trump + Israel’s stated goals 05:15 Iran retains control of Strait, that means this is a loss for Trump 06:15 Trump is capitulating, and this diminishes America’s standing 07:15 Administration hoping to sweep Iran under the rug in time for the midterms 08:00 Normally, America would be leading Ebola response. Trump destroyed USAID 08:45 Helping with disease outbreaks was about protecting us at home 10:00 Unlikely the Iranian regime will be able to repress their people forever 11:00 Trump bit off more than he could chew and needs an offramp 11:45 Bibi put his faith into Donald Trump, which never goes well 13:00 Trump hires flawed people that could only work for him. Makes them loyal 14:15 Politics infects every decision Trump makes 15:45 Gulf state allies will have to deal with Iran for much longer now 16:30 Missed the window to topple the regime during the protests 18:00 Gulf states were hoping U.S. and Israel would do their dirty work 18:30 Trump was worst possible commander in chief for this moment 19:30 It’s a big loss for Trump, but he had no choice but to end the war 22:00 New polling shows Trump approval tanking, huge generic Dem advantage 23:45 WSJ dubs the past week, “The week the broke Trump’s hold on Congress” 25:00 Trump is underwater on every issue 26:00 It’s highly unlikely consumer confidence will rise before the midterms 27:00 Trump is directly responsible for higher inflation and cost of living 28:00 Senate cannot find way to fund DHS through reconciliation 29:30 Trump makes any bipartisan solution impossible 30:15 Todd Banche is making DOJ Trump’s personal attorneys 31:45 Can’t trust anything this DOJ says. Blanche should be impeached* 33:15 Trump’s J6 slush fund is likely illegal and has GOP senators wavering 34:15 Backlash to slush fund isn’t going away 35:45 The stronger Trump grips the party, the weaker it is in general elections 36:30 The lame duck is here. This a failed first two years of Trump’s presidency 37:15 DNC finally releases autopsy of 2024 election loss 37:45 Ken Martin is the wrong person for the DNC chair. In over his head 38:15 The simple fact of the matter is the party is perceived as too liberal 40:45 There are more conservatives than progressives, need to win the moderates 42:00 Autopsy offering gubernatorial wins as a counterpoint is tone deaf 43:45 Trump’s electoral strength doesn’t translate when he isn’t on ballot 44:30 DNC was in a no-win situation with the autopsy 45:15 Seems like the autopsy was just going through motions, poorly thought out 46:30 DNC is paralyzed, in need of new leadership 48:30 Mike Duggan drops out as independent in MI governor’s race 50:00 Duggan counted on contentious primary & that didn’t happen 52:00 Duggan didn’t want a Republican elected and dropped out 52:30 Tulsi Gabbard resigns. DNI post shown to not be necessary 53:00 The CIA has won the “turf battle” amongst intel agencies 54:30 Gabbard isn’t the first DNI that’s been marginalized. 55:15 It’s easy to eye roll Don Jr & Hunter Biden… Their fathers screwed them up 1:03:30 AJ Pasciuti (Dark Horse) joins the Chuck ToddCast 1:05:30 If you wrote the book 10 years ago, how would it have been different? 1:07:00 You gain extra perspective about “why” when more time has passed 1:07:45 Leadership is currently in very short supply 1:09:45 The book is a love letter and thank you to people who shaped AJ’s life 1:11:45 The military is one of the last bastions of the American dream 1:12:45 Was 16 years old on 9/11 and the attack inspired AJ to enlist at 17 1:13:45 How did you identify that you had the skills to be a sniper? 1:15:15 Gunnery Sgt. Jackson helped set AJ on his trajectory 1:16:00 What is training for a sniper like? 1:17:00 Attention to details is the trait that weeds out most sniper candidates 1:17:45 Snipers have to be self-dependent, must rely on yourself for survival 1:19:00 Snipers are meant to combat the enemy emotionally, scare them 1:19:45 “Juba” may not have been just one enemy sniper & hunted Americans 1:20:15 Juba uploaded videos of sniper kills of Americans to the internet 1:21:00 Watching the videos allowed marines to understand Juba’s patterns 1:21:30 Set up a trap for Juba and Juba fell into it 1:22:30 AJ knew they had killed Juba within minutes 1:23:30 Caught a glint of the lens of a Sony handycam to spot Juba 1:24:45 AJ may have pulled the trigger, but it was an entire team that got him 1:26:15 Marines were shocked that people would fight for a tyrant like Saddam 1:27:00 We viewed the enemies as terrorists, they viewed themselves as freedom fighters 1:28:45 Does the message to the troops today seem different than when you served? 1:29:45 When we send Americans into conflict, it must be for a just cause 1:30:15 There’s a responsibility that comes with having the greatest military in history 1:31:15 Are you worried political leadership is infecting the values of the military? 1:32:15 Leadership needs to project values people are inspired to defend 1:34:00 Military leadership needs to view empathy as a strength, not a weakness 1:35:00 The book is political but not partisan. It’s about values 1:36:45 A culture that promotes services to the greater good is healthier 1:38:30 If the culture promotes service over wealth, we’d be better off 1:39:00 Mandatory service in Israel has helped to bond their society 1:41:30 Service strips away the illusion that we succeed alone 1:42:45 Veterans aren’t easily categorized in their politics 1:43:30 Military provides an opportunity, but you have to earn it 1:45:30 Competitive advantage for the military is to think, adapt & react quicker 1:46:45 Marine culture should create soldiers that are problem solvers 1:47:45 Taliban found that asymmetrical warfare could defeat a stronger foe 1:50:00 We have to better prepare for asymmetrical warfare 1:50:45 The American Revolution was fought with asymmetrical warfare 1:51:30 Drone warfare dehumanizes war. Casualties counted in dollars and cents 1:52:45 War is a chess game, and modern tech has leveled the playing field 1:54:45 Have to avoid being dehumanized by war 1:55:30 Saw an enemy combatant dying, saw fear in his eyes, not hatred 1:56:15 Wrote the book not to glorify war, but to tell the realities of it 1:57:45 The hardest part of coming home was doing so with your soul intact 1:59:00 The social contract with our soldiers must be protected 2:00:15 How are you able to publicly express your experience when many can’t? 2:02:30 Can’t support someone that says a political opponent is an enemy 2:03:30 Tell us about your podcast “Combat Story” 2:05:00 Ran for city council, personally knocked on thousands of doors 2:06:30 Our current politics doesn’t allow for dialogue 2:08:45 There’s a financial barrier to entry into politics 2:11:30 Memorial Day is tough, it’s about those who didn’t come home 2:12:00 Anyone calling for war should have a conversation with a gold star family 2:15:15 Chuck’s thoughts on interview with AJ Pasciuti 2:16:00 ToddCast Time Machine 2:16:30 Every country honors war dead, but don’t do it the same way 2:17:15 Memorial Day was borne out of the civil war and 600k Americans dead 2:18:00 Formally enslaved people reburied union soldiers from mass grave 2:18:45 Holiday is also about who gets remembered in our national story 2:19:15 Date was chosen due to flowers blooming & not a specific battle 2:20:30 Southern states kept remembrance traditions for the confederacy 2:21:15 Memorial Day also marks the unofficial start of summer 2:21:45 Gathering together is an important way to find common ground 2:22:45 Different memorial traditions & rituals in other countries 2:23:30 WW1 created a unique identity in Canada 2:24:00 Russia celebrates V-Day, triumph in WW2 central to identity 2:24:45 Germany remembers war cautiously and somberly 2:25:30 Japan remembers war through loss, peace and anti-war reflection 2:26:15 Other memorial rituals around the world 2:27:45 Story and tone of remembrance days are how countries view themselves 2:28:45 You don’t say “Happy Memorial Day” 2:30:00 Ask Chuck 2:30:15 Isn’t it odd that we know so little about attempted Trump assassins? 2:37:00 Why didn’t Dems lean into “Trump Lie Trackers” more in campaigns? 2:41:00 Does the “Epstein Class” framing feel stronger than the “1%”? 2:45:00 Did “No Child Left Behind” do real damage to civics education? 2:51:15 Does the 2.5 swing in presidential elections show most voters are locked in?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Interview Only w/ AJ Pasciuti - A Marine Sniper's Message on Service, Sacrifice, and Country

Christopher Dufey Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later May 25, 2026 76:39 Transcription Available

Former Marine sniper AJ Pasciuti — author of the new book Dark Horse and host of the Combat Story podcast — joins the Chuck Toddcast for one of the most riveting and clear-eyed conversations about military service, leadership, and the realities of modern war. Pasciuti was 16 years old on September 11th, enlisted at 17, and eventually became the Marine who led the team that killed "Juba" — the notorious Iraqi sniper who uploaded videos of his American kills to the internet to taunt the U.S. military. He walks listeners through the entire hunt: how Marines studied Juba's uploaded footage to identify his patterns, how the team set a trap, how Pasciuti spotted Juba in his hide by catching the glint off the lens of a Sony Handycam, and how he knew within minutes that they'd gotten him — while emphasizing that he may have pulled the trigger but it was an entire team that brought Juba down. Pasciuti reflects on the strange experience of fighting enemies who saw themselves as freedom fighters rather than terrorists, why attention to detail is the trait that weeds out most sniper candidates, and how snipers are ultimately meant to combat the enemy emotionally as much as physically. The conversation broadens into a sweeping meditation on what military service teaches you about America — and where Pasciuti worries the country is heading. He calls the military one of the last bastions of the American dream, where opportunity is real but has to be earned, and argues that a culture promoting service to the greater good over the accumulation of wealth would make America measurably healthier.. Pasciuti is openly worried about political leadership infecting the values of the military, makes the case that empathy must be viewed as a strength rather than a weakness in military leadership, and insists his book is political but not partisan — it's about values. He offers a vital warning that the Taliban proved asymmetrical warfare can defeat a stronger foe, that drone warfare is dangerously dehumanizing combat by reducing casualties to dollars and cents, and that the most important thing any soldier carries home is their soul intact — something he says becomes harder every year as the social contract between America and its veterans erodes. Pasciuti describes seeing fear rather than hatred in the eyes of a dying enemy combatant, a moment that has stayed with him, and explains why he can't support any politician who describes a political opponent as an enemy. He shares his experience running for city council and personally knocking on thousands of doors, his frustration with the financial barriers to entry in modern politics, and his belief that current discourse simply doesn't allow for real dialogue. He closes with the most powerful observation of the episode, made for Memorial Day: the holiday isn't about those who came home — it's about those who didn't — and anyone calling for war should be required to first sit down and have a conversation with a Gold Star family. Link in bio or go to https://getsoul.com & enter code TODDCAST for 30% off your first order. Refresh your wardrobe with Quince. Go to https://Quince.com/chuck for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Thank you Wildgrain for sponsoring. Visit http://wildgrain.com/TODDCAST and use the code "TODDCAST" at checkout to receive $30 off your first box PLUS free Croissants for life! Timeline: (Timestamps may vary based on advertisements) 00:00 AJ Pasciuti (Dark Horse) joins the Chuck ToddCast 02:00 If you wrote the book 10 years ago, how would it have been different? 03:30 You gain extra perspective about “why” when more time has passed 04:15 Leadership is currently in very short supply 06:15 The book is a love letter and thank you to people who shaped AJ’s life 08:15 The military is one of the last bastions of the American dream 09:15 Was 16 years old on 9/11 and the attack inspired AJ to enlist at 17 10:15 How did you identify that you had the skills to be a sniper? 11:45 Gunnery Sgt. Jackson helped set AJ on his trajectory 12:30 What is training for a sniper like? 13:30 Attention to details is the trait that weeds out most sniper candidates 14:15 Snipers have to be self-dependent, must rely on yourself for survival 15:30 Snipers are meant to combat the enemy emotionally, scare them 16:15 “Juba” may not have been just one enemy sniper & hunted Americans 16:45 Juba uploaded videos of sniper kills of Americans to the internet 17:30 Watching the videos allowed marines to understand Juba’s patterns 18:00 Set up a trap for Juba and Juba fell into it 19:00 AJ knew they had killed Juba within minutes 20:00 Caught a glint of the lens of a Sony handycam to spot Juba 21:15 AJ may have pulled the trigger, but it was an entire team that got him 22:45 Marines were shocked that people would fight for a tyrant like Saddam 23:30 We viewed the enemies as terrorists, they viewed themselves as freedom fighters 25:15 Does the message to the troops today seem different than when you served? 26:15 When we send Americans into conflict, it must be for a just cause 26:45 There’s a responsibility that comes with having the greatest military in history 27:45 Are you worried political leadership is infecting the values of the military? 28:45 Leadership needs to project values people are inspired to defend 30:30 Military leadership needs to view empathy as a strength, not a weakness 31:30 The book is political but not partisan. It’s about values 33:15 A culture that promotes services to the greater good is healthier 35:00 If the culture promotes service over wealth, we’d be better off 35:30 Mandatory service in Israel has helped to bond their society 38:00 Service strips away the illusion that we succeed alone 39:15 Veterans aren’t easily categorized in their politics 40:00 Military provides an opportunity, but you have to earn it 42:00 Competitive advantage for the military is to think, adapt & react quicker 43:15 Marine culture should create soldiers that are problem solvers 44:15 Taliban found that asymmetrical warfare could defeat a stronger foe 46:30 We have to better prepare for asymmetrical warfare 47:15 The American Revolution was fought with asymmetrical warfare 48:00 Drone warfare dehumanizes war. Casualties counted in dollars and cents 49:15 War is a chess game, and modern tech has leveled the playing field 51:15 Have to avoid being dehumanized by war 52:00 Saw an enemy combatant dying, saw fear in his eyes, not hatred 52:45 Wrote the book not to glorify war, but to tell the realities of it 54:15 The hardest part of coming home was doing so with your soul intact 55:30 The social contract with our soldiers must be protected 56:45 How are you able to publicly express your experience when many can’t? 59:00 Can’t support someone that says a political opponent is an enemy 1:00:00 Tell us about your podcast “Combat Story” 1:01:30 Ran for city council, personally knocked on thousands of doors 1:03:00 Our current politics doesn’t allow for dialogue 1:05:15 There’s a financial barrier to entry into politics 1:08:00 Memorial Day is tough, it’s about those who didn’t come home 1:08:30 Anyone calling for war should have a conversation with a gold star familySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"Z": Films of 1969

The Love of Cinema

Play Episode Listen Later May 22, 2026 89:00

This week, the boys have a blast getting political, discussing 1969's “Z”. This French-language movie was filmed in Algeria about a true story in Greece, and it feels like it could be 2026. The themes of the film are deep, and the tension is high, but we drink whiskey and beer, so we had fun discussing! Grab a beer and listen along, unless you're a child. linktr.ee/theloveofcinema - Check out our YouTube page! Our phone number is 646-484-9298. It accepts texts or voice messages. 0:00 Intro; 9:27 1969 Year in Review; 37:18 “Z”: Films of 1969; 01:17:04 What You Been Watching?; 1:28:04 Next Week's Episode Teaser. Additional Cast/Crew: Costa-Gavras, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Jacques Perrin, Yves Montand. Hosts: Dave Green, Jeff Ostermueller, John Say Edited & Produced by Dave Green. Beer Sponsor: Carlos Barrozo Music Sponsor: Dasein Dasein on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/77H3GPgYigeKNlZKGx11KZ  Dasein on Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/dasein/1637517407 Recommendations: Kurosawa's Ran, Throne of Blood, Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu, Taxi Driver 50th Anniversary, Shrinking. Additional Tags: Robert Duvall, Sports Documentary, Bowling, Bette Davis, SZA, Keke Palmer, Amazon Studios, Warner Discovery, Paramount Skydance, Conan O'Brien, Weapons, Sinners, One Battle After Another, Frankenstein, Annapurna Films, Old Man Marley, Home Alone, Shawshenk Redemption, Gordon Ramsay, Thelma Schoonmaker, Stephen King's It, The Tenant, Rosemary's Baby, The Pianist, Cul-de-Sac, AI, The New York City Marathon, Apartments, Tenants, Rent Prices, Zohran Mamdani, Andrew Cuomo, Curtis Sliwa, Amazon, Robotics, AMC, IMAX Issues, Tron, The Dallas Cowboys, Short-term memory loss, Warner Brothers, Paramount, Netflix, AMC Times Square, Tom Cruise, George Clooney, MGM, Amazon Prime, Marvel, Sony, Conclave, Here, Venom: The Last Dance, Casablanca, The Wizard of Oz, Oscars 2026, Academy Awards, BFI, BAFTA, BAFTAS, British Cinema. England, Vienna, Leopoldstadt, The Golden Globes, Past Lives, Apple Podcasts, West Side Story, Adelaide, Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Melbourne, The British, England, The SEC, Ronald Reagan, Stock Buybacks, Marvel, MCU, DCEU, Film, Movies, Southeast Asia, plague, HBO Max, Amazon Prime, casket maker, Seven Samurai, Roshomon, Sergio Leone, Clint Eastwood, Stellan Skarsgard, the matt and mark movie show.The Southern District's Waratah Championship, Night of a Thousand Stars, The Pan Pacific Grand Prix (The Pan Pacifics), Jeff Bezos, Rupert Murdoch, Larry Ellison, David Ellison, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg.

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THE most valuable funnel training you'll ever watch (He Spends $78 to Make $695)

Play Episode Listen Later May 22, 2026 26:00

My team builds you a $167K/month client machine in 8 weeks. You just approve it. Interested? → https://wearetherainmakers.com/demowatch In this video, I'm taking you inside a private consulting session with one of our clients, breaking down his exact funnel, his real numbers, and the three highest-leverage moves that will take him from consistent to completely dialed in. -- Ok, quick intro if we haven't met. I'm Chris Dufey. I run The Rainmakers. We help coaches and consultants do $1M/yr working 2-4 hours a day. Couple years ago I was sleeping on a couch. Wife pregnant. Daughter on the way. She showed up on time. I did not. Fast forward — 4 kids, two houses (Bali + Australia), sold my last company. Now I get to be the guy behind the scenes of some of the best online businesses on the internet. And still do school pickup. Still surf on Tuesdays. Nothing glamorous about it. That's kinda the whole point. The speedrun of how I got here: 18 — Got into personal training. I was the fat kid. Wanted abs. Wanted girls to notice. Whatever, it worked. 21 — Ran a PT agency across Sydney gyms. 25 — Moved to Dubai. First kid. Discovered that new dads can survive on vibes and espresso alone. 27 — Moved to Bali to "start an online business." Translation: I had no idea what I was doing. 28 — Launched a supplement company. Blew it up. (Not proud. Not hiding it.) 29 — Accidentally became a business coach because PTs kept asking how I was living abroad. 31 — Founded Coaches Cartel — coaching + software + virtual teams for fitness pros. 34 — Became a dad of four. 10/10 do not recommend doing this and running a business simultaneously unless you like chaos. 35 — Sold the coaching business. Multi-7-figures. 36 — Started consulting 6/7/8-figure CEOs. $25K/month retainers. Weird flex but ok. 38 — Started The Rainmakers. Today — my team and I build the machines behind some of the best operators online. P.S. — talking to a camera all day gets old. Drop a comment. Ask me something. Disagree with me. Whatever. I actually read them. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrisdufey Substack: https://chrisdufey.substack.com/ Website: https://chrisdufey.com Website: https://wearetherainmakers.com

Drake's "Iceman" is not so nice, man | REVIEW

Album Mode

Play Episode Listen Later May 22, 2026 117:17

Démar and Adriel discuss Drake's latest three albums, but primarily 'Iceman", whether current Drake is Lakers Lebron and if this is a true comeback for The Boy. Timecodes:2:14 The Biggest Comeback in Music History7:15 Comparisons to Taylor Swift12:32 Jordan/LeBron comparisons24:22 Past Drake Reviews32:49 What does lyrical growth look like for Drake?41:00 Ran to Atlanta43:44 Brat vs Iceman51:25 Are there too many similes?54:44 Too Hard for the Radio57:19 Adriel's favourites1:06:44 Government-mandated 21 Savage feature1:10:15 Make Them Series1:22:41 Maid of Honour & Habibti1:33:31 The Nokia test1:37:39 The Covers1:47:47 The ScoreFollow us: TikTok:Album Mode: https://www.tiktok.com/@albummodepodAdriel: https://www.tiktok.com/@adrielsmileydotcomDémar: https://www.tiktok.com/@godkingdemiInstagram:Album Mode: https://www.instagram.com/albummodepod/Adriel: https://www.instagram.com/adrielsmileydotcom/Démar: https://www.instagram.com/demarjgrant/Twitter:Album Mode: https://twitter.com/AlbumModepodAdriel: https://twitter.com/AdrielSmiley_Démar: https://twitter.com/DemarJGrant===================================Démar's rating: 4.5 / 10 Adriel's rating: 6.5 / 10The Love List: Shabang, Make Them Remember, Little Birdie

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Mishlei 25:26 - When a Rasha Contaminates a Tzadik (Part 2)

The Mishlei Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later May 21, 2026 51:37 Transcription Available

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text!Mishlei 25:26 - When a Rasha Contaminates a Tzadik (Part 2)מַעְיָן נִרְפָּשׂ וּמָקוֹר מׇשְׁחָת צַדִּיק מָט לִפְנֵי רָשָׁע:Length: 51 minutesSynopsis: This morning (5/21/26), in our Morning Mishlei shiur, we reviewed yesterday's interpretations then focused on two meforshim: Rabbeinu Yonah (excerpted from Shaarei Teshuvah, presumably) and the Meiri, who offered several interpretations. Not only were all the ideas we learned good and practical, but this also provided excellent support for my approach to the Meiri's nigleh/nistar style. We had a nice foray into the Derashos ha'Ran!---מקורות:משלי כה:כורבינו יונהמאירידרשות הר"ן - הדרוש העשיריאבן עזרא - תהלים א:א-----The Torah content for this month has been sponsored by Meir Areman, l'zeicher nishmas Zelda bas Ziesel, his grandmother, whose yahrzeit is on the 21st of Sivan.-----If you've gained from what you've learned here, please consider supporting my work via Patreon, Venmo, Zelle, or PayPal — links below. Even a small contribution helps cover production costs and gives me the freedom to create more Torah content. To sponsor a day's or week's worth of content, or to inquire about tutoring or teaching, reach me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail. Thank you for listening, reading, and supporting my efforts to make Torah ideas available and accessible to everyone.Patreon | [Venmo: @Matt-Schneeweiss] | [Zelle/PayPal: mattschneeweiss at gmail]Substack | YouTube | YUTorah | InstagramPodcasts: The Stoic Jew | Machshavah Lab | The Mishlei Podcast | Rambam Bekius | The Tefilah PodcastWhatsApp Content Hub | Old Blog | Amazon Wishlist

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“The Ai Baseball Baddies” Ep 389

Bulture Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later May 19, 2026 207:25

‘Nemesis' Creator Courtney A. Kemp on Making Her Explosive Netflix Debut and Crafting a Finale That Ushers in a Season 2M.I.A. is a Peacock crime drama series created by Bill Dubuque. The 9-episode revenge thriller, which dropped on the platform on May 7, 2026Washington, D.C., announces they will start going after the parents of teens who attend street takeovers and could face up to 6 months in jailStefon Diggs' former chef is going viral as she shows herself cooking Mila Adams, Stefon Diggs' personal chef, is alleging that Stefon abused Cardi B while she was pregnant. Boston Richey shows he had 100 women come to his yacht party after the club.Philadelphia Eagles Fred Johnson accused of kicking out his 8-month-pregnant girlfriend influencer Alyssa Okada and then cheating with women on HingWoman berated at Kroger after customer gets upset over her gym clothes: “I wish I had a dk!… You look like you want to be fked. This is not LA Fitness.”Meek Mill says his song “Dreams and Nightmares” is one of the best rap songs to ever come outStefon Diggs and Caylea Benji celebrate their daughter's 1st birthday! Cardi B Fan Waited For Her Argument With Stefon Diggs To End Before Asking For A Pic Cardi B Breaks Her Silence After Viral Stefon Diggs Argument Video: ‘Y'all Ain't Never Cuss Your Babydad Out?'The District Attorney reportedly plans to block ChudTheBuilder from using his fundraiser money toward his bond.Dalton Eatherly, known as "Chud the Builder" online, had his bond set at $1.25 million in court on Friday morning.Ex-Warden Argues 20-Year-Old Sean Gathright, Convicted In Rapper Julio Foolio K!lling, Should Get Life Sentence Instead Of De@th Penalty For Prison Labor Value. We Need That Sweat EquitySean Gathright speaks out for the first time since avoiding the death penalty for Foolio's deathDJ Akademiks says getting an OVO chain from Drake after meeting him for the first time felt like a dream:LaMelo Ball and Kaliah/KBallout reportedly reached a private agreement outside the courtroom. She's said to be receiving $25K–$30K a month under a strict NDA-style arrangement that prevents her from mentioning him publicly, speaking negatively about him, or acknowledging him as the father.Keith Lee and his family were PISSED after finding out they missed a HUGE collab with Marlon Wayans & the Wayans brothers for Scary Movie 6 because someone on his team asked for a SIX-FIGURE appearance feeDrake's three new albums are on pace to move a combined 705-785K units in their first week‘ICEMAN' — 480-520K,‘MAID OF HONOUR' — 115-135K‘HABIBTI'— 110-130KDrake really made whole albums for different parts of his fan base.ICEMAN - Rapping DrakeHABIBTI - Lover Boy DRAKEMADE OF HONOR - Honestly Nevermind Pt.2That 3 song run on ICE Man was ridiculous, “Ran to Atlanta” Ft Future and Molly Santana. Then have Quavo/ Migos to do theAD-LIBSon “Shabang” was genius. Then “Make Them Pay” was probably one best Drake song ever because you got everything you like from Drake dissing everybody and to singing with the sample vibes playing in the background!!Drake has just released 3 new albums. If all 3 albums occupy the Top 3 spots on the Billboard 200 charts, he will become the first artist in history to do it since Michael Jackson Timbaland says Drake's "Janice STFU" will be a timeless track. Drake had words for EVERYONE on his 3 new albums. DJ Khaled, Rick Ross, Kendrick, Pusha T, Pharrell and even Jay-Z received shots from the Toronto superstar Lizzo Responds To Backlash After Claiming The Algorithm Is ‘Destroying Music Marketing & Making It Hard For Fans To Keep Up With The Favs Lizzo shares her frustration on social media platforms because of lack of visibility that is hurting her marketing towards her music.A gas station worker refused to give a man gas after he talked crazily to her: “Go frat in your tank.”

LOCAL SPORTS May 19th 26

Radio Cayman News

Play Episode Listen Later May 19, 2026 5:17

- It's do‑or‑die tonight in Cayman basketball—two semi‑finals, two teams on the brink. Who's punching their ticket to the Finals under the ARC lights? - Cayman rugby sends a message in their RAN opener—52 points on the road and a statement win over Bermuda. The Caymancycling classic delivered a test of speed and power with the Individual Time Trial.

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Ran Silberman: Jew-Hatred in the Church - A View From The Bunker

Fringe Radio Network

Play Episode Listen Later May 18, 2026 91:01 Transcription Available

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"DRAKE - MAID OF HONOUR"

Play Episode Listen Later May 16, 2026 41:16

Linktree: ⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/Analytic⁠⁠Join The Normandy For Ad-Free NME, Additional Bonus Audio And Visual Content For All Things Nme+! Join Here:⁠⁠ ⁠⁠https://ow.ly/msoH50WCu0K⁠⁠ Analytic Dreamz delivers a full breakdown of Drake's Iceman Episode 4 livestream and the surprise triple album drop on May 15, 2026. In this segment, we dissect the 75-minute cinematic visual album that peaked at over 458,000 concurrent viewers, featuring Toronto-shot music videos, thermal surveillance aesthetics, Pinocchio callbacks, red/white motifs, Michael Jackson glove symbolism, and a fiery bot farm climax. We cover the complete Iceman tracklist including “Make Them Cry” (revealing Drake's father's cancer battle), “Ran to Atlanta” with Future and Molly Santana, “Make Them Pay” with direct disses at Rick Ross, DJ Khaled, J. Cole, and the “big three,” plus “Burning Bridges,” “National Treasures,” “What Did I Miss?,” and more. Analytic Dreamz also examines the companion projects Habibti (11 tracks, moody R&B with “WNBA,” “Slap The City” feat. Qendresa) and Maid of Honour (14 tracks, dancehall/house energy with “Cheetah Print” feat. Sexyy Red, “Amazing Shape” feat. Popcaan, family cover art of Sandi Graham). Key cameos include Shane Gillis, DJ Akademiks (gifted OVO chain), Adonis, Stunna Sandy, and Future. Full analysis of symbolism, feud references to Kendrick Lamar, LeBron James, A$AP Rocky, Rihanna, Jay-Z, and the record-breaking streaming dominance across all 43 tracks. Essential listening for Drake fans unpacking the lore, visuals, and post-beef narrative.Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

"DRAKE - HABIBTI"

Play Episode Listen Later May 16, 2026 26:17

Linktree: ⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/Analytic⁠⁠Join The Normandy For Ad-Free NME, Additional Bonus Audio And Visual Content For All Things Nme+! Join Here:⁠⁠ ⁠⁠https://ow.ly/msoH50WCu0K⁠⁠Analytic Dreamz delivers a full breakdown of Drake's Iceman Episode 4 livestream and the surprise triple album drop on May 15, 2026. In this segment, we dissect the 75-minute cinematic visual album that peaked at over 458,000 concurrent viewers, featuring Toronto-shot music videos, thermal surveillance aesthetics, Pinocchio callbacks, red/white motifs, Michael Jackson glove symbolism, and a fiery bot farm climax. We cover the complete Iceman tracklist including “Make Them Cry” (revealing Drake's father's cancer battle), “Ran to Atlanta” with Future and Molly Santana, “Make Them Pay” with direct disses at Rick Ross, DJ Khaled, J. Cole, and the “big three,” plus “Burning Bridges,” “National Treasures,” “What Did I Miss?,” and more. Analytic Dreamz also examines the companion projects Habibti (11 tracks, moody R&B with “WNBA,” “Slap The City” feat. Qendresa) and Maid of Honour (14 tracks, dancehall/house energy with “Cheetah Print” feat. Sexyy Red, “Amazing Shape” feat. Popcaan, family cover art of Sandi Graham). Key cameos include Shane Gillis, DJ Akademiks (gifted OVO chain), Adonis, Stunna Sandy, and Future. Full analysis of symbolism, feud references to Kendrick Lamar, LeBron James, A$AP Rocky, Rihanna, Jay-Z, and the record-breaking streaming dominance across all 43 tracks. Essential listening for Drake fans unpacking the lore, visuals, and post-beef narrative.Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

"DRAKE - ICEMAN"

Play Episode Listen Later May 16, 2026 44:50

Linktree: ⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/Analytic⁠⁠⁠Join The Normandy For Ad-Free NME, Additional Bonus Audio And Visual Content For All Things Nme+! Join Here:⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠https://ow.ly/msoH50WCu0K⁠⁠⁠Analytic Dreamz delivers a full breakdown of Drake's Iceman Episode 4 livestream and the surprise triple album drop on May 15, 2026. In this segment, we dissect the 75-minute cinematic visual album that peaked at over 458,000 concurrent viewers, featuring Toronto-shot music videos, thermal surveillance aesthetics, Pinocchio callbacks, red/white motifs, Michael Jackson glove symbolism, and a fiery bot farm climax. We cover the complete Iceman tracklist including “Make Them Cry” (revealing Drake's father's cancer battle), “Ran to Atlanta” with Future and Molly Santana, “Make Them Pay” with direct disses at Rick Ross, DJ Khaled, J. Cole, and the “big three,” plus “Burning Bridges,” “National Treasures,” “What Did I Miss?,” and more. Analytic Dreamz also examines the companion projects Habibti (11 tracks, moody R&B with “WNBA,” “Slap The City” feat. Qendresa) and Maid of Honour (14 tracks, dancehall/house energy with “Cheetah Print” feat. Sexyy Red, “Amazing Shape” feat. Popcaan, family cover art of Sandi Graham). Key cameos include Shane Gillis, DJ Akademiks (gifted OVO chain), Adonis, Stunna Sandy, and Future. Full analysis of symbolism, feud references to Kendrick Lamar, LeBron James, A$AP Rocky, Rihanna, Jay-Z, and the record-breaking streaming dominance across all 43 tracks. Essential listening for Drake fans unpacking the lore, visuals, and post-beef narrative.Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

"DRAKE - ICEMAN EPISODE 4"

Silicon Valley Tech And AI With Gary Fowler

Play Episode Listen Later May 16, 2026 38:23

Linktree: ⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/Analytic⁠⁠Join The Normandy For Ad-Free NME, Additional Bonus Audio And Visual Content For All Things Nme+! Join Here:⁠⁠ ⁠⁠https://ow.ly/msoH50WCu0K⁠⁠Analytic Dreamz delivers a full breakdown of Drake's Iceman Episode 4 livestream and the surprise triple album drop on May 15, 2026. In this segment, we dissect the 75-minute cinematic visual album that peaked at over 458,000 concurrent viewers, featuring Toronto-shot music videos, thermal surveillance aesthetics, Pinocchio callbacks, red/white motifs, Michael Jackson glove symbolism, and a fiery bot farm climax. We cover the complete Iceman tracklist including “Make Them Cry” (revealing Drake's father's cancer battle), “Ran to Atlanta” with Future and Molly Santana, “Make Them Pay” with direct disses at Rick Ross, DJ Khaled, J. Cole, and the “big three,” plus “Burning Bridges,” “National Treasures,” “What Did I Miss?,” and more. Analytic Dreamz also examines the companion projects Habibti (11 tracks, moody R&B with “WNBA,” “Slap The City” feat. Qendresa) and Maid of Honour (14 tracks, dancehall/house energy with “Cheetah Print” feat. Sexyy Red, “Amazing Shape” feat. Popcaan, family cover art of Sandi Graham). Key cameos include Shane Gillis, DJ Akademiks (gifted OVO chain), Adonis, Stunna Sandy, and Future. Full analysis of symbolism, feud references to Kendrick Lamar, LeBron James, A$AP Rocky, Rihanna, Jay-Z, and the record-breaking streaming dominance across all 43 tracks. Essential listening for Drake fans unpacking the lore, visuals, and post-beef narrative.Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Growing a Climate Tech Startup in 2026 with Kethees Ketheesan

Play Episode Listen Later May 13, 2026 36:06

Join Kethees Ketheesan, Co-founder and CEO of Puloli (SkopeOne.io), for a masterclass on scaling deep-tech solutions for the planet's most urgent challenges. With over 20 years of experience in wireless infrastructure and R&D—spanning the evolution of 3G at Motorola to leading flagship RAN products at Netscout—Kethees is now applying his technical pedigree to the climate crisis. In this episode, we explore how SkopeOne.io is revolutionizing methane emissions monitoring through a data-subscription model and what it takes to build a resilient climate tech startup in the 2026 economic landscape.

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Jew-hatred in the Church

A View from the Bunker

Play Episode Listen Later May 11, 2026 89:30

The church needs to figure out what to do about Israel. Since the second century, a wedge has been driven between Christians and Jews. Sadly, Christians have often been guilty of pouring gasoline on this long–smoldering fire. It happened again after the massacre committed by Hamas on October 7, 2023. Our guest, Ran Silberman, is a messianic Jew and a professional tour guide in Israel. He can speak to the subject of Jew hatred in the church from a unique perspective—not only is he a Christian living in Israel, but he is also a Jew. He explains that the church has a long, shameful history of demonizing Jews, one that must be confronted in this hour. Ran will be in the United States during the month of June to speak to groups and churches about this topic. If you are in the Mid South, the Ozarks, Oklahoma, or North Texas, you can contact us by email at info@gilberthouse.org or by reaching out to Ran through at facebook.com/ran.silberman. Follow us! X: @viewfrombunker | @sharonkgilbert | @derekgilbertTelegram: t.me/gilberthouseSubstack: gilberthouse.substack.com | sharonkgibert.substack.comYouTube: @GilbertHouse | @UnravelingRevelationFacebook.com/viewfromthebunker Thank you for making our Build Barn Better project a reality! The building has HVAC, a new floor, windows, insulation, ceiling fans, and an upgraded electrical system! We truly appreciate your support. If you are so led, you can help out at www.GilbertHouse.org/donate. —— Download our free app! This brings all of our content directly to your smartphone or tablet. Best of all, we'll never get canceled from our own app! Links to the app stores for iOS, iPadOS, Android, and Amazon Kindle Fire devices are at www.GilbertHouse.org/app. Please join us each Sunday for the Gilbert House Fellowship, our weekly Bible study podcast. Log on to www.GilbertHouse.org for more details. JOIN US IN ISRAEL! We will tour the Holy Land October 11–23, 2026 with an optional three-day extension to Jordan. For more information, log on to GilbertHouse.org/travel. —— Special offers on our books and DVDs: www.gilberthouse.org/store. Discuss these topics at the VFTB Facebook page (facebook.com/viewfromthebunker) and check out the great podcasters at the Fringe Radio Network (Spreaker.com/show/fringe-radio-network)!

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Jew-hatred in the Church

A View from the Bunker

Play Episode Listen Later May 10, 2026 89:30

united states church israel christians oklahoma jews hamas north texas ran ozarks mid south jew hatred

Violent People Radio #98: Previous "Friendships"

Violent People Radio

Play Episode Listen Later May 8, 2026 104:32

This is a special episode but not one I was hoping I would have to record anytime soon. This is Sam and I'm back this week because my dear close personal "friend", Ran Dice has passed away. He meant a lot to all of us at Violent People and we are so sad he has left us. Miss you and RSP brother. Love live VPRPS couldn't find the theme Ran made so used whatever I had on my computer. Sorry.

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A Nation Mourns