Podcasts about rebuilding

Dave and Alonso continue to clear the decks of 2025's awards-season movies. Leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts, follow us @linoleumcast on Bluesky, Instagram, and Facebook, this is not enough. Get this show ad-free by joining our Patreon: https://patreon.com/LinoleumKnife Subscribe to Dave's magazine: https://sluggish.ghost.io 

Join Scott Bogman and Pat Fitzmaurice as they tackle YOUR questions LIVE on Discord on the 3rd Tuesday evening of each month at 5 PM ET at fantasypros.com/chat. Timestamps: (May be off due to ads) Intro - 0:00:00 Playoff Injuries - 0:00:15 Lack of Depth in 2026 Class - 0:03:07 The Top Picks in 2026 Rookie Drafts - 0:05:50 Is It Time To Trade Jonathan Taylor? - 0:13:17 Cam Skattebo, Sam LaPorta, and Jonathan Brooks Post-Injury - 0:13:56 FantasyPros Discord - 0:17:50 Zach Charbonnet’s Outlook - 0:18:42 Weighing Impact of Coaching Changes - 0:23:01 Solving League Dilemma- 0:26:38 Dynasty Roster Evaluation - 0:30:22 Top 3 Tips for New Dynasty Players - 0:37:15 1.07 Targets in Rookoe Drafts - 0:41:18 FantasyPros Trade Analyzer - 0:43:44 Derrick Henry - 0:45:05 Deciding Whether Or Not To Re-Build - 0:47:35 Jalen Hurts’ Outlook - 0:52:24 Selling Later Draft Picks - 0:57:13 Potential Roster Improvements - 1:04:30 Outro - 1:07:53 Helpful Links: Hard Rock Bet - All lines provided by Hard Rock Bet. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign up for Hard Rock Bet and make a $5 bet and you'll get $150 in bonus bets if you win. Head over to Hard Rock Bet, sign up and make your first deposit today. Payable in bonus bet(s). Not a cash offer. Offered by the Seminole Tribe of Florida in FL. Offered by Seminole Hard Rock Digital, LLC, in all other states. Must be 21+ and physically present in AZ, CO, FL, IL, IN, MI, NJ, OH, TN or VA to play. Terms and conditions apply. Concerned about gambling? In FL, call 1-833-PLAYWISE. In IN, if you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-9-WITH-IT. GAMBLING PROBLEM? CALL 1-800-GAMBLER (AZ, CO, IL, MI, NJ, OH, TN, VA). Dynasty Rookie Draft Simulator - Our Dynasty Rookie Draft Simulator lets you complete a mock in minutes with no waiting between picks! Customize your league settings to match your league’s exact format. Premium subscribers can test trade scenarios by mocking with their traded draft picks. Prepare for rookie drafts AND dynasty startup drafts in one place! Use the Dynasty Rookie Draft Simulator to dominate your rookie draft today at fantasypros.com/simulator! Trade Analyzer - Evaluate trades with confidence using FantasyPros' Trade Analyzer. Instantly see the impact of trades on your team and get expert recommendations. Whether you're making a 2-for-1 deal or swapping a couple draft picks for that stud who will help you win now, the Trade Analyzer will help you optimize your roster and make smarter decisions. Try the Trade Analyzer today at fantasypros.com/myplaybook or on the Fantasy Football My Playbook app and dominate your league! Join us on Discord - Join our FantasyPros Discord Community! Chat with other fans and get access to exclusive AMAs that wind up on our podcast feed. Come get your questions answered and BE ON THE SHOW at fantasypros.com/chatSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of the Sober Motivation Podcast, Brad sits down with Ashton to talk about sobriety, party culture, and what happens when alcohol becomes tied to identity, confidence, and belonging. Ashton shares how growing up in Johannesburg, South Africa normalized drinking as a “rite of passage,” and how a chaotic childhood shaped his ability to adapt—but also made real attachment and emotional safety difficult. He opens up about using alcohol and cocaine to socialize, manage anxiety, and feel confident—until the consequences caught up. This conversation goes deep into shame, anger, trauma, public backlash, mental health, and the moment Ashton realized alcohol wasn't the real problem—it was the tool he used to avoid what needed healing. He also explains the recovery shift that made sobriety stick: rebuilding discipline, changing environments, and addressing the physiology of recovery (dopamine, nervous system regulation, gut health, blood sugar, genetics, brain fog). If you're sober curious, trying to stop drinking, stuck in “weekend-only” drinking, or rebuilding after regret—this episode is a real blueprint for growth. ---------------- Links: Ashton on IG: https://www.instagram.com/ashtonpienaar/ Support The Podcast: https://buymeacoffee.com/sobermotivation

Confidence ebbs and flows, particularly in the life of a woman building a business. In today's episode, I share a candid reflection on a season where things didn't go as planned and how that moment quietly shook my confidence. These experiences don't just impact our results, they influence how we see ourselves, make decisions, and lead moving forward.  This conversation is for women who have missed a sales goal, faced an unexpected setback, or questioned their direction after a difficult season. Falling short does not define you. When met with honesty and intention, it can become a meaningful point of growth rather than a place of discouragement. Important Links: Lacking the tools to reach your goals in business? Try She's Equipt! 

In this episode, Brody and JB sit down with Denise Morris as she shares her testimony. Denise speaks honestly about her experiences with grooming and assault and how they led her down a path far from the life she was raised in. Her story centers on one pivotal night, leaving her job as a dancer and wrestling with the desire to end her life, when she hears the voice of the Lord in a moment that changes everything. Tune in to hear Denise tell her story  and share how that moment became the start of a new life.Identity Beyond Victimhood | Interview with Katie HaysSend us a textPlease leave a review on Apple or Spotify to help improve No Sanity Required and help others grow in their faith. Click here to get our Colossians Bible study.

What if your biggest setback became the beginning of your greatest comeback? From tragedy to triumph. From paralysis to the Pro stage. From surviving… to truly living again. I'm honored to share my latest Age Is Irrelevant episode featuring the incredible IFBB Wheelchair Pro 54 yr old Sharla Peterson. She calls it God's plan. I call it unstoppable grit. Her journey is one of courage, discipline, and refusing to let life's hardest chapter be the final one. Her journey is a masterclass in mental toughness, faith, and reinvention — proof that strength is measured in mindset first, that adversity can become your advantage, and that it's never too late to reclaim your power and purpose. We talk about: ✨ Her life and fitness journey before the accident ✨ The day everything changed ✨ The emotional and physical battles she faced ✨ Rebuilding her identity ✨ Discovering adaptive bodybuilding ✨ Becoming an IFBB Pro ✨ The mindset required to rise again Sharla is proof that strength isn't about what happens to you— it's about how you rise.

Rebuilding your dynasty fantasy football team for 2026 and beyond? Steve, Joe, and Dustin each breakdown their TOP 2 must buy dynasty trade targets for rebuilding teams!In this episode, we dive into the best dynasty buys for rebuilding squads: young studs, buy-low candidates, and hidden gems you can acquire before their value explodes in the 2026 offseason. Subscribe to our YouTube page to catch all of the latest Front Office Pros videos, including future livestreams: https://www.youtube.com/@frontofficeprosWatch here on YouTube ->https://youtu.be/3Y9igq4KKTUFOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA:- X: https://x.com/FrontOfficePros- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frontofficepros/- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@frontofficeprosMUSIC PROVIDED BY:https://www.beatstars.com/dinerbeats

Steve and Joe dive deep into the dynasty IDP market as we head into the 2026 offseason! If you're rebuilding your fantasy football dynasty team, these are the undervalued IDP gems you NEED to target in trades right now.We reveal our top 4 dynasty IDP trade targets perfect for rebuilders — young breakout candidates, buy-low studs, and high-upside defenders who could anchor your IDP units for years. No matter the IDP format, these picks could transform your roster!Subscribe to our YouTube page to catch all of the latest Front Office Pros videos, including future livestreams: https://www.youtube.com/@frontofficeprosWatch here on YouTube ->https://youtu.be/fuRnSxiLslIFOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA:- X: https://x.com/FrontOfficePros- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frontofficepros/- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@frontofficeprosMUSIC PROVIDED BY:https://www.beatstars.com/dinerbeats

Welcome to another high-energy episode of The AZREIA Show!

SHOW SCHEDULE1-14-251920 SALT RIVER China Urges Canada to Break from US Influence. Guests: CHARLES BURTON and GORDON CHANG. China is pressuring Canada to adopt "strategic autonomy" and distance itself from US influence as PM Mark Carney visits Beijing. Despite myths of economic salvation through Chinese trade, experts argue Canada'sexports to China remain minimal. Concerns persist regarding fentanyl production, Arctic neglect, and Chineseespionage. China's "Hollow Power" in Iran and Venezuela. Guests: GORDON CHANG and CHARLES BURTON. China's influence appears limited as it fails to substantively support struggling allies like Venezuela's Maduro or the Iranian regime. While China remains a major purchaser of discounted Iranian oil, it has proven unable to dictate events against US pressure. Experts describe China as a "hollow power." Trump's Iran Tariff Threat and China Trade Rift. Guest: ALAN TONELSON. President Trump's threat of a 25% tariff on any country trading with Iran significantly impacts China, which values this trade for political and symbolic reasons. China has already failed to meet its previous trade obligations, including soybean purchases and rare earth export licenses. Europe remains economically vulnerable. Electricity Costs, AI Demand, and Venezuela's Oil Reality. Guest: BUD WEINSTEIN. Rising US electricity prices, up 30-35% over five years, are driven by data center and AI growth alongside infrastructure underinvestment. Meanwhile, Venezuelan oil is deemed impractical for US demand due to high extraction costs and political instability. Rebuilding these fields would require massive, high-risk investments. Chinese Sinister Intentions in Cuba and Nicaragua. Guest: STEVE YATES. China maintains a significant presence in Cuba, utilizing the island for intelligence gathering and signals facilities targeted at the United States. As Venezuela's oil subsidies to Cuba potentially end, the island faces economic collapse. The US may utilize travel restrictions and economic pressure as leverage. The Risks of Venezuelan Oil and Soaring Copper Prices. Guest: SIMON CONSTABLE. American oil companies remain reluctant to invest in Venezuela due to the historical risk of nationalization and decayed infrastructure. In commodity markets, copper has reached an "astronomical" price of over $6 per pound, leading to a surge in theft from electronics and bridges globally. Artemis 2 Safety Concerns and SpaceX Dominance. Guest: BOB ZIMMERMAN. The Artemis 2 manned mission faces controversy over unresolved Orion heat shield damage observed during previous tests. Meanwhile, SpaceX has secured a monopoly on recent Space Force contracts, signaling a shift toward prioritizing reliability and cost over redundancy. China has filed for 200,000 new satellites. Scouting Mars for Helicopters and the Search for Alien Life. Guest: BOB ZIMMERMAN. Scientists are scouting landing sites for future Mars helicopters in areas containing near-surface ice, potentially for future Starship missions. Research suggests liquid water may have existed on Mars three billion years ago under protective ice sheets. Recent SETI results analyzed billions of data points without finding definitive alien signals. Venezuela's Power Vacuum and the Path Forward. Guest: MARY KISSEL, Executive Vice President at Stephens Incorporated. Mary Kissel discusses the "unfinished" state of Venezuela following the removal of Maduro, characterizing the remaining leadership as "thugs" and "gangs" focused on drug money. She explores the roles of Cuba, regional neighbors like Colombia and Brazil, and the Vatican's new moral leadership in the region. Iran in Transition: Assessing a Regime on the Brink. Guest: MARY KISSEL, Executive Vice President at Stephens Incorporated. John Batchelor and Mary Kissel analyze reports of Iran's potential collapse, citing internet blackouts and regime brutality. They discuss potential U.S. interventions, such as kinetic strikes or Starlinkaccess, and evaluate whether Reza Pahlavi is a credible transitional leader amidst concerns of the country breaking into ethnic factions. The Intellectual Factions of the "New Right". Guest: PETER BERKOWITZ, Hoover Institution Senior Fellow. Peter Berkowitz outlines the fracturing of the "New Right" into factions like national conservatives and post-liberals. Referencing Laura K. Field's book, Furious Minds, he notes these groups often reject Lockeanprinciples in the Declaration of Independence. However, he distinguishes these intellectuals from typical, non-ideological Trump voters. The New Right's Radical Rejection of Traditional Republicanism. Guest: PETER BERKOWITZ, Hoover Institution Senior Fellow. Berkowitz contrasts the New Right's desire for state-led social reform with the Republican Party's traditional focus on liberty and limited government. He discusses Michael Anton's views on the "right of revolution" and warns that attacking classical liberalism risks eroding essential protections against bigotry and persecution in America. Plunging Russian Oil Prices and the Impact of Global Sanctions. Guest: MICHAEL BERNSTAM. Russian oil prices are dropping significantly, with some major brands selling between $34 and $35 per barrel. Westernsanctions and global supply gluts allow buyers like China and India to extract massive discounts. Future stability in Iran could further increase competition, driving Russian revenues and taxes even lower. Pakistan's $1.5 Billion Arms Deal with Sudan and China's Strategic Influence. Guests: RICK FISHER and GORDON CHANG. Pakistan is nearing a deal to supply jets and drones to Sudan, likely funded by Saudi Arabia. China uses these transactions to establish alternative security structures in the Middle East. Experts suggest China prefers ongoing conflict over peace to maximize profits and regional influence. The Collapse of the Chinese Real Estate Market and Economic Stagnation. Guests: ANNE STEVENSON-YANG and GORDON CHANG. China's property sector faces a permanent downturn, with prices dropping 30–60% and enough vacant apartments to house billions. The government lacks the funds for a rescue. Xi Jinping'sfocus on high-tech is insufficient to replace real estate, which previously accounted for 25% of GDP. The China-Iran Partnership: Oil, Surveillance, and Regional Stability. Guest: JACK BURNHAM. Chinamaintains a pragmatic "partnership" with Iran, focused on extracting discounted oil. Beijing provides surveillance technology to help the Iranian regime suppress internal protests while officially calling for stability. Additionally, Chinese or Russian technology is suspected of disrupting Starlink satellites to hinder military communications.

Electricity Costs, AI Demand, and Venezuela's Oil Reality. Guest: BUD WEINSTEIN. Rising US electricity prices, up 30-35% over five years, are driven by data center and AI growth alongside infrastructure underinvestment. Meanwhile, Venezuelan oil is deemed impractical for US demand due to high extraction costs and political instability. Rebuilding these fields would require massive, high-risk investments.1956

In this episode of FYI – For Your Innovation, ARK's CEO Cathie Wood hosts a wide-ranging conversation with Marco Santori, CEO of Solmate, and Dr. Arthur Laffer, renowned economist and longtime ARK advisor. Together, they explore the evolving crypto landscape, regulatory shifts, and why Solana is emerging as a powerful foundation for next-generation financial infrastructure. Santori, previously Chief Legal Officer at Kraken and General Partner at Pantera, shares why he's now focused on building Solmate atop the Solana blockchain—and why the Middle East is a critical part of that strategy. He explains Solana's technical advantages, from base-layer speed to support for smart contracts, and its potential to become the platform of choice for high-frequency trading, AI-driven transactions, and decentralized financial services. Dr. Laffer brings historical context to the conversation, contrasting private and government-controlled currencies and making the case for innovation in monetary systems. He also reflects on why he joined the board of Solmate and what excites him about its approach to financial infrastructure and economic growth.Key Points From This Episode:●      [0:00] Meet the guests: Marco Santori's legal background and early Solana investment●      [4:45] Regulatory whiplash: How the U.S. landscape shifted under a new administration●      [7:16] Dr. Laffer's crypto “aha” moment and the history of private money●      [13:30] Why Marco chose Solana: performance, smart contracts, and AI readiness●      [18:05] Ethereum vs. Solana: decentralization, speed, and Wall Street applications●      [23:27] Solmate's board and Middle East connections●      [30:14] Why the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is betting on Solana●      [37:09] The evolution of Solmate from digital asset treasury to infrastructure company●      [42:38] Revenue strategy: building cash flow, not just holding tokens●      [46:23] The Middle East as a geographic and latency hub for blockchain innovation●      [51:06] High-frequency transacting: the next frontier in trading●      [52:31] Solana and on-chain prediction markets

On Food Talk with Dani Nierenberg, Dani speaks with Maryland Secretary of Agriculture Kevin Atticks. They discuss an exciting new program that will incentivize conservation practices on farms, why producers should run for office, and what Atticks hopes to see from the federal government. Plus, hear about what new research reveals about rising ocean temperatures, why the U.S. is pulling out of more than 60 international organizations, the hunger crisis becoming increasingly gendered as conflict in Sudan surpasses day 1,000, and more.  While you're listening, subscribe, rate, and review the show; it would mean the world to us to have your feedback. You can listen to "Food Talk with Dani Nierenberg" wherever you consume your podcasts.

Have you ever hit a wall so hard it made you question everything?That was me just a few days ago. I had spent hours—days, really—pouring into a Faith Forward workbook for our upcoming Thrive event. It was beautiful, meaningful… and then, in an instant, gone. The file corrupted. Everything I had worked on was lost.I'll be honest—my first response wasn't holy. I cried. I gave myself a pity party. I even tried to talk myself out of doing the manual at all.But deep down, I knew better.In this episode, I'm sharing the full behind-the-scenes of what that moment taught me. I'll walk you through the resistance I faced, the emotions I had to fight through, and the power of pressing on—when everything in me wanted to quit.I'm here to remind you: resistance is not a stop sign—it's often a signpost that you're on the right track. Whether it's your business, your marriage, your calling, or your next big leap… if the resistance is strong, so is the impact waiting on the other side.I pray this episode gives you the fuel you need to keep going. To rebuild. To trust. And to know this: if you don't quit, you'll stand in awe of what God does through your perseverance.Connect With Us:Website: https://www.youaremore.comFree Download: 5 Steps to Win Through AdversitySocial Media: Follow us on Facebook and InstagramEmail: amy@amywienands.comEpisode Minute By Minute:00:00 – When Resistance Hits Hard01:00 – Losing the Faith Forward Manual02:00 – The Breakdown Moment: “No One Knew I Was Doing It Anyway”03:00 – From Pity Party to Pressing On04:00 – Rebuilding with Megan: 20 Hours of Work05:00 – Why the Enemy Wants You to Quit06:00 – Resistance Is a Sign You're Close07:00 – Real Growth Happens in the Mundane08:00 – Relationships, Risk, and the Real Reward09:00 – What Your Future Self Will Thank You For10:00 – You're Planting Perseverance in Your Children11:00 – Keep Going: Even Small Steps Move MountainsBe intentional, stay focused, and remember you are more!

Today's arms race looks a little different from those of the past. Under the Trump administration, the US Department of War (DoW) is deploying generative AI to millions of employees in order to maintain a strategic edge over our global adversaries. Sarah Guo and Elad Gil sit down with Emil Michael, the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering of the United States, to discuss the radical technological transformation of the US military. Emil outlines the architecture and launch of GenAI.mil, a DoW internal AI platform powered by Gemini and Grok that reached over one million unique users in its first 30 days. He also highlights critical technology priorities for national security, including hypersonics, direct energy, and autonomous drone swarms. Together, they also explore the urgent need to rebuild the American defense industrial base and end dependency on foreign supply chains for critical materials, as well as how Emil is recruiting the next generation of “fixer-builder” workers to serve their country in government.  Sign up for new podcasts every week. Email feedback to show@no-priors.com Follow us on Twitter: @NoPriorsPod | @Saranormous | @EladGil | @USWREMichael | @DoWCTO Chapters: 00:00 – Cold Open 00:00 – Emil Michael Introduction 00:58 – Emil's Role at the Department of War 05:22 – Innovation Priorities for the DoW 08:27 – Shift Toward Autonomous Defense Technologies 10:41 – Identifying Common Needs Across the DoW 12:02 – Architecting GenAI.mil 13:48 – Applied AI Initiatives at the DoW 15:57 – The Future of Warfare 17:55 – Recruiting for DoW 19:33 – Arsenal of Freedom Tour 22:25 – Opportunities for Entrepreneurs at DoW 25:49 – Speeding Up and Scaling DoW Initiatives 28:37 – Innovation in Defense Tech 30:00 – Change Management in Government 32:09 – Rebuilding the Defense Industrial Base 37:27 – Initiatives and Opportunities at the Office of Strategic Capital 41:41 – Lessons from Emil's Government Experience 44:30 – Conclusion

In today's episode, I'm sharing why I'm always refining and rebuilding how I coach — and why that's not about chasing trends, but about how real change actually works. Before I was a health coach, I was a classroom teacher, and even back then I cared less about memorization and more about whether learning truly stuck and could be used in real life. That same philosophy guides how I work with women in midlife health today. We talk about: Why motivation isn't usually the problem How behavior change, psychology, and metabolism are deeply connected Why so much health advice fails to integrate into real, busy lives And why I believe methods matter more than willpower If you've ever felt like you're "doing all the right things" and still not seeing results, this episode will help you understand why — and what actually creates sustainable change in midlife.   When you're ready, here's how I can help you for FREE: (Community + Support) Join my Lori Doddy's Total Wellness community to get research-backed tips, strategies, and free resources to lose weight and manage menopause like  (Lose Fat) Steal my guide with exact 5 Changes I have all clients make in week 1 of working with us, so they lose weight and drop inches even before we put their customized plan in place. Get the guide for free and use it this week!  (Toned Arms) Use these 6 moves to get toned, strong, sexy arms in 15 minutes a day, 2-3 days a week with this guide to Sexy, Strong Arms. (Email List) Sign up to get my tips and strategies plus exclusive content by getting on the LDL Email List!  

Voice for the Voiceless: Over seven decades of struggle with China for my land and my people. His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama

Welcome back to the EUVC Podcast where we go behind the craft of building and backing venture-scale companies in Europe.Today, we're joined by Sean Mullaney, Founder & CEO of Seapoint, and Will Prendergast, as the Founding Partner at Frontline Ventures.Seapoint has just come out of stealth with a $3M pre-seed to rebuild the fragile and fragmented financial stack that European startups (and later: mid-market companies) rely on. With a Stripe-forged team, AI-native development culture, and operators from Revolut, Tines & more on board, Seapoint wants to become the financial home for European startups.This conversation dives deep into founder pain, broken tooling, AI-native product building, engineering culture, the changing shape of startup teams, syndicate-building, and why Frontline backed Sean with high conviction.Here's what's covered:01:07 The Mission: “The financial home for European startups”03:32 Frontline's conviction moment06:24 The founder pain: 5 tools, 5 accounts, zero clarity08:07 The invisible tax: fragmentation, reconciliation hell, no real-time view10:14 Why this problem is structurally important12:19 European vs US lens: why Seapoint is ahead13:18 AI-native engineering: “We rebuild the stack from processes, not accounts”15:19 AI agents allow senior engineers to ship full-stack features alone — compressing timelines that previously required 2–3× more engineers.17:19 Rethinking teams: fewer people, more senior, more generalist19:33 Productivity does NOT reduce funding needs — it increases ambition21:27 Culture: curiosity, experimentation, and founder-led technical push36:11 Syndicate design: Angels as a go-to-market weapon.40:23 From startup financial home → to powering Europe's mid-market backbone: lending, treasury, automation, embedded finance.

The James Beard Award-winning writer talks to Kate and guest co-host Kathleen Finlay about how women are uniquely equipped to tackle and repair our broken food system; why cooperation over competition is so effective; the constant throughline when talking with only female producers; and how you can support efforts—both as a buyer and as an activist.Subscribe to Food with Mark Bittman on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you like to listen, and please help us grow by leaving us a 5 star review on Apple Podcasts.Follow Mark on Twitter at @bittman, and on Facebook and Instagram at @markbittman. Want more food content? Subscribe to The Bittman Project at www.bittmanproject.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode dismantles the myth of “one-size-fits-all retirement,” arguing that retirement isn't a date, an age, or a lifestyle—it's a personal transition that demands both an income plan and a purpose plan. Don and Tom explore the growing trend of “un-retiring,” why fear and economic anxiety are lousy motivators for going back to work, and how a lack of planning fuels unnecessary worry later in life. Listener questions cover smart uses of 529-to-Roth conversions, parking large sums of cash, Roth strategies for young investors, rebuilding emergency funds without sabotaging retirement, and why converting Vanguard mutual funds to ETFs in taxable accounts is often a no-brainer. The through-line is clear: stop predicting the future, stop reacting emotionally, and build flexible plans that let your money support the life you actually want. 0:04 Retirement isn't a script, a date, or a finish line 0:56 The myth of “retire at 65 and stop living” 1:20 The rise of “un-retiring” and why Disney hires retirees 3:22 Fear-based reasons people go back to work 4:28 Why retirees often worry more, not less 5:10 Studies showing how many retirees expect to work again 6:38 Income plans vs. purpose plans in retirement 7:16 The Dalai Lama, retirement, and dark humor 8:16 Using leftover 529 money for a future Roth IRA 10:31 Anton Chekhov's The Bet and money as a moral test 12:08 Parking $3.5M: T-bills vs. high-yield savings 14:30 Why holding massive cash piles is usually a mistake 16:21 Interest-rate predictions and the illusion of certainty 19:17 How (and where) people actually listen to podcasts 21:02 Mortgage rates under 6% and why context matters 23:15 Roth IRAs for young investors and compounding reality 25:12 VT vs. AVGE vs. AVGV for long-term simplicity 27:51 Disney's $60B expansion and what it says about costs 31:07 Rebuilding emergency funds without derailing retirement 33:32 Converting Vanguard mutual funds to ETFs in taxable accounts 35:20 Why small tax efficiencies matter over decades Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Part 2 of this conversation, Michael Grandjean shares the emotional and psychological turning point that allowed him to rebuild his life and career after profound loss. From a raw moment of self-forgiveness in the mountains of Morocco to the daily discipline of “kicking the can,” Michael walks through the mindset shifts, rituals, and relentless patience required to climb out of depression, debt, and despair.Together with Dwayne Kerrigan, this episode explores the role of brotherhood, leverage, honest self-reflection, and creating a compelling new story when the old one no longer serves you. This is a masterclass in resilience, identity rebuilding, and what it truly takes to come back stronger — with wisdom, humility, and purpose.Episode Highlights:00:00 – Michael opens with the realization that self-forgiveness was required to move forward.01:00 – Episode introduction and framing this as Part 2 of Michael's comeback story.02:00 – The Morocco mastermind trip and being forced to confront the truth.05:00 – Emotional breakthrough on the mountain and the decision to rebuild.07:30 – Creating the Three Ps: plan, persistence, and patience.09:00 – “Kick the can” explained and committing to daily forward movement.12:00 – Brotherhood, accountability, and why we're not meant to do life alone.16:00 – Letting go of guilt, disappointment, and the need for self-forgiveness.20:00 – Depression, isolation, and breaking life down to “just get through today.”24:00 – Writing the plan on a whiteboard and becoming resourceful again.30:00 – Changing the internal story to create a compelling future.36:00 – Writing goals again, paying off debt, and getting back to zero.42:00 – Daily mantras, rituals, and retraining the mind.48:00 – Shifting from hourly work to profit-based consulting and rebuilding cash flow.01:01:00 – Final reflections, where to find Michael, and the podcast disclaimer.Key Takeaways:Self-forgiveness is a prerequisite for real forward movement.Progress is built daily through patience, persistence, and simple actions.You cannot rebuild alone - community and accountability matter.Changing your internal story changes your future trajectory.Rituals, mantras, and physiology are tools for rewiring the mind.Resources Mentioned:Checkmate: https://www.facebook.com/reel/1365025640684229 Tony Robbins – Date With DestinyMastermindPersonal goal-setting and written planning practicesDaily mantras and meditation ritualsWhiteboard strategic planningNotable Quotes:“The past is the past. The past doesn't equal the future.” - Michael Grandjean“You have to change your story … If you're living in a shitty story, you're going to stay in a shitty story.” - Michael...

In this solo episode, I share what this current season of life looks like for me and how I'm resetting after a busy and disruptive stretch. Between growing Pregnancy & Postpartum Athleticism and opening the new Battles Jiu Jitsu gym with my family, I've had to rethink how I approach consistency, capacity, and care for my body. This episode is a reminder that progress comes from meeting yourself where you are and taking small, intentional steps that support long-term health, confidence, and athletic identity through every season of life. Learn More and Contact Us: Instagram: @battlesjiujitsu Website: https://www.battlesjiujitsu.com/contact-battles-jiu-jitsu-in-eagle-id  Curious about starting Jiu Jitsu? If you've been thinking about stepping onto the mats but don't know where to begin, I've got you covered. Download my FREE Beginner's Guide to Jiu Jitsu for practical tips, expectations, and everything you need to feel confident walking into your first class.

Leading Into 2026: Executive Pastor Insights Momentum is real. So is the pressure. This free report draws from the largest dedicated survey of Executive Pastors ever, revealing what leaders are actually facing as they prepare for 2026. Why staff health is the #1 pressure point Where churches feel hopeful — and stretched thin What worked in 2025 and is worth repeating Clear decision filters for the year ahead Download the Full Report Free PDF • Built for Executive Pastors • Instant access Welcome back to another episode of the unSeminary podcast. Today we’re sitting down with an executive pastor from a prevailing church to unpack what leaders like you shared in the National Executive Pastor Survey so you can lead forward with clarity. In today’s episode, we’re joined by Kayra Montañez, Executive Pastor at Liquid Church in New Jersey. Liquid is a fast-growing multisite church with six campuses stretching from Princeton to communities just outside New York City. In this conversation, Kayra helps unpack one of the biggest concerns surfaced in the National Executive Pastor Survey: the growing gap between attendance and engagement. While many churches are seeing people return, far fewer leaders feel confident that those people are truly connected, discipled, and serving. Is your church seeing full rooms but thin volunteer pipelines? Are you unsure how engaged people really are beyond weekend services? Kayra offers practical insight into why that gap exists—and what churches can do to close it. Attendance is up, engagement is unclear. // Kayra begins with encouragement. Across the country, churches are seeing renewed spiritual openness. People are coming with expectancy, ready to encounter God. At the same time, many leaders sense a disconnect between attendance and belonging. Kayra identifies several common gaps: people attending without joining “people systems” like groups or teams; online attenders remaining anonymous without a clear bridge to community; seasonal attenders who show up for Christmas and Easter but never return; and potential volunteers who are open to helping but hesitant to commit long-term. These patterns aren't unique to Liquid—they're widespread across the church landscape. From prescribed paths to personalized journeys. // One of Liquid's biggest shifts has been moving away from a rigid, one-size-fits-all connection pathway. Kayra compares the old model to the video game Mario Brothers, where everyone must follow the same prescribed path or “die.” Instead, Liquid now operates more like Zelda: a choose-your-own-adventure approach that honors people's seasons, needs, and interests. Rather than telling people where they must plug in, the church focuses on learning what people actually want and helping them find a meaningful next step. Connect and Conversation. // This shift comes to life through a monthly experience called Connect and Conversation, hosted at every campus after the final service. New and not-yet-connected attendees are invited to a meal where they sit at tables with others like them and facilitators. The event begins with relational icebreakers to help people connect naturally, then moves into guided conversation around what attendees are looking for—community, care, serving, support groups, or spiritual growth. Facilitators take detailed notes, which drive personalized follow-up in the weeks ahead. Kayra describes it as “high-touch, concierge-style ministry,” and the results have been significant movement from attendance into engagement. Measuring what matters. // Liquid tracks what happens after people attend Connect and Conversation—not to claim direct causation, but to see correlation. They monitor whether participants join groups, teams, or discipleship environments in the following months. That data has helped the church refine pathways and remove unnecessary friction. Kayra encourages leaders to examine two key metrics: how many first-time guests take any next step within 30 days, and what percentage move into a people system within 60–90 days. These numbers often reveal where engagement breaks down. Reimagining discipleship. // One surprising insight at Liquid came from surveying the congregation about small groups. While relational connection mattered, the top desire was biblical literacy. In response, Liquid “blew up” its traditional small-group model and launched a new midweek Bible study format called Deep Dive. Rather than prioritizing relationships first, these environments put Scripture front and center, with connection as a natural byproduct. The pilot—an in-depth study of Revelation—drew hundreds of participants and revealed a deep hunger for understanding God's Word. Rebuilding volunteer momentum. // Like many churches, Liquid faced a volunteer crisis as growth outpaced serving capacity—especially in kids' environments. In response, the church launched a short-term campaign called For the One, built around a “try before you buy” serving model. New volunteers could serve a few times with a shortened onboarding process (without compromising safety) and then decide whether to commit long-term, scoring exclusive team swag. More than 400 people stepped in to serve, helping stabilize teams and reignite volunteer culture. Short-term fixes and long-term culture. // Kayra emphasizes that engagement is both a systems problem and a culture challenge. Churches need short-term solutions to address immediate gaps, but long-term health comes from storytelling, celebration, appreciation, and consistently casting vision for why serving and community matter. Engagement doesn't happen accidentally—it's cultivated intentionally over time. To learn more about Liquid Church, visit liquidchurch.com, or connect with Kayra directly via email. Watch the full episode below: Thank You for Tuning In! There are a lot of podcasts you could be tuning into today, but you chose unSeminary, and I'm grateful for that. If you enjoyed today's show, please share it by using the social media buttons you see at the left hand side of this page. Also, kindly consider taking the 60-seconds it takes to leave an honest review and rating for the podcast on iTunes, they're extremely helpful when it comes to the ranking of the show and you can bet that I read every single one of them personally! Lastly, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, to get automatic updates every time a new episode goes live! Episode Transcript Rich Birch — Hey friends, welcome to the unSeminary podcast. We’ve got a special episode on today where we’re diving into some of the results from the National Executive Pastor Survey. And today we’re super excited to have Kayra Montañez with us from Liquid Church in New Jersey. Rich Birch — And today we’re talking all about engagement. One of the things that jumped out, well, one of the top tier results, kind of concerns that came out, 10% of executive pastors in the open questions, expressed fear around discipleship death depth and volunteer sustainability. At the same time, nearly 12% said they lacked really visibility into participation and involvement data. Another 6% pointed specifically to volunteer and team metrics really being an unmet need, not knowing where they are. Rich Birch — So what does that all that mean? Roughly one in five executive pastors are entering 2026 this year, wondering really how engaged their churches are. And Kayra is going to solve all that for us. So Kayra, welcome to the show. Tell us about Liquid. Tell us a little bit about the church. Kayra Montañez — Well I appreciate the vote of confidence but I’m not sure about that. But, Rich, it’s always so great to be with you and to be a guest on your podcast. Thank you so much for having me. So yes, we are in New Jersey. So our church is called Liquid. I get the incredible privilege of serving there as one of two executive pastors. And we are a multisite church. We have six campuses. If you and know anything about New Jersey, one of them is the furthest one is in Princeton, New Jersey – a lot of people know Princeton. Kayra Montañez — And then probably the closest one that we have up north is closest to New York City, about 30 minutes from the city. So that kind of gives you the breadth and width of how we’re trying to saturate the state of New Jersey with the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is our mission. Rich Birch — So good. And Kayra, I really appreciate you jumping in on on today’s conversation, particularly in this area, because I think, man, have so much to offer. You know, so many of our churches, we feel like the volunteer pipelines are thin. How are we getting? It’s like people are underutilized. Maybe are our follow-up process are like overly complex. And you’ve done a great job on on this area. So let’s just jump right in. Rich Birch — Where do you see some of the biggest gaps today in churches, whether it’s Liquid or other churches you interact, between, you know, getting people to attend church attendance and actual engagement. There’s a gap there. what What’s driving that? What do what do you think drives that gap in our churches? Kayra Montañez — Yeah. So I see a couple of things. But before I get to that, you know, I just really wanted to start with something really encouraging because it’s not in my nature to be discouraging. So one of the things that I have noticed, in fact, I was actually spending some time with other pastors from other states in the U.S. And we were talking about like, hey, what is the Lord doing in the in the Big C Church? What are you experiencing in your context? Rich Birch — So good. Kayra Montañez — And one of the things I think that was a theme for all of us is it feels like we don’t have to work as hard to get people to come and be ready for what the Lord has for them. And that feels very exciting. Rich Birch — Yep. Kayra Montañez — And that’s like a theme that I’m seeing repeated across the entire nation with all of my pastor friends from different locations. Having said that, there are still things that we have to do to get people from going to just attending to engaging, like you were saying. I think there’s a couple of things that I saw. Kayra Montañez — One of them is a big one, I would say, is like this idea of, attending versus belonging, right. So like first people actually want to come, but they don’t actually join people systems. So they come in person, they come online, but they don’t actually join any kind of people system. So when I say people system I’m thinking about groups, or dream teams, a support group, a class. That’s actually something that we started seeing a lot post-pandemic, and I would say it’s still here. So that’s one gap that I see. Kayra Montañez — The second gap that I see is digital versus relational. So obviously, we at Liquid have spent a lot of, we’ve invested a lot in our digital ministry, and we really believe online and in-person can both thrive at the same time, and we’re seeing that. Kayra Montañez — However, online services, while they can remove barriers, which is good, it also helps people stay anonymous unless there’s a clear bridge for those people to actually join in-person community. And so churches that haven’t figured out well how to do that will continue to see a gap between people who are attending, whether it’s in person or online, but not actually engaging. Kayra Montañez — There’s also the people who just come for big events, right? Rich Birch — Yep. Kayra Montañez — We’re approaching one of them, even as we film this podcast, next week is Christmas Eve. So we joke at Liquid, we have the CEOs, they come for Christmas, Easter, and other big events, but they don’t actually have a weekly rhythm of attending and engaging. Kayra Montañez — And then there’s people who I would say are curious about serving and for the most part are open to helping, but are not really ready to make a serving commitment and actually take on a very consistent role. So I would say across the breadth and width of churches, that’s probably something that would hit most people, no matter where you are. Rich Birch — Yeah, for sure. Kayra Montañez — Definitely we experience all of them at Liquid. Rich Birch — Yeah, I there was a lot there, in which I appreciate. and i appreciate the way you’ve kind of diagnosed. I think there’s multiple ways to kind of um diagnose or kind of pick apart – Hey, here are different aspects here, or different ways that we’re seeing this kind of attendance versus engagement question. So maybe, you know, pick apart those attending versus belonging. What has Liquid done? What are you doing to try to help move people from just attending, actually getting into those people systems? What does that? What are you learning on that front? Kayra Montañez — Yeah. You know, we’ve had a major shift at Liquid, I would say, in the past two years. The best way that I can explain this is with a gaming analogy, because I have teenagers and they love gaming. Rich Birch — I love it. Kayra Montañez — So if you um go back to when we used to play Mario Brothers, you remember Mario Brothers? Rich Birch — Sure, yeah. Kayra Montañez — Mario Brothers has prescribed path where if you did not follow the path, at some point Mario would die. Like if you stayed behind and the camera kept moving, the character would die. You remember that? Rich Birch — Yes, yes. Kayra Montañez — And that’s the way that a lot of churches, even today, approach helping people connect. There is a prescribed path for you, and we’re going to tell you what you need to do and what you have to do. Then Zelda came into the scene and Zelda is like, hey, choose your own adventure. You can start your adventure anywhere you want. Rich Birch — Right. Kayra Montañez — And so I feel like Liquid, we’ve shifted in that. We used to be Mario Brothers, like, hey, here’s a prescribed path for you. Here’s all the things that you have to do to connect. Whereas now we’ve shifted over the past two years into like, hey, we have a lot of things that we can offer you. And there are many different things depending on your season of life, on your felt needs, on what you’re looking for, on what you’re interested in, on what makes your heart beat. Tell us what you want to do and we’re going to help you. Kayra Montañez — And so in order for us to understand what is it that people want, we created an event that we do every month called Connect and Conversation. And the whole idea and the way that we market it is if you’re new to Liquid, or if you are not new, but you haven’t connected yet, you haven’t found your people, you haven’t found something that you want to be a part of, come to this event. Kayra Montañez — We feed you. We get to know you. And then we follow up personally with you. It’s very high level concierge, kind of a follow up system, where after we connect with you, we ask you, hey, what are you actually interested in? What are you looking for? Because your needs as an empty nester who’s been married for over 25 years, you’re parenting adult children who are already married are very different than mine who have two team have two teenagers. Rich Birch — Yep. Kayra Montañez — One of them is about to go to college, right? Rich Birch — Yep, yep. Kayra Montañez — And so that has actually produced incredible fruit from getting people who are attending. Rich Birch — Yep. Kayra Montañez — Now I’ve actually offered them something they’re interested in, which is making connections with people. And then from there, we follow up to offer, what do you need? Rich Birch — That’s so cool. Kayra Montañez — And everybody has different needs. Some people just wanna join teams because they’re just like, I just wanna serve. Some people, they really just need a lot of care. And so maybe they need a support group and we’re gonna offer that to you. Kayra Montañez — Some people may need marriage mentoring. We’re gonna offer that to you. So it really depends. And what we’ve seen is people taking significant next steps once they go out of that event. And that has really changed the past. In the past, we would only be marketing teams and groups, role and relationship, join, ah you know, get into a role and connect with a relationship. And while that’s still good, I’m not saying that’s not good or not needed. Rich Birch — Right. Kayra Montañez — It’s not the only thing that people are looking for. Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s interesting. Can we, I’d love to dive just a little deeper on on that because I think there’s ah a really key learning there for lots of us. This idea, and you didn’t say it this way, but where my brain went to, you know, I think we have, we have for sure in the past done the thing where it’s like we have these giant funnels that we’re pushing everyone through. Rich Birch — And and the only question we’re really asking is where do you fit in our funnel? Kayra Montañez — Correct. Rich Birch — Like where, You know, and we and we push and literally, and this is no, you know, kind of slam on other systems, but it’s like, this is the, you know, step one, step two, step three, everyone do step one first, then you do step two, then you do step three. Rich Birch — So the the connecting conversation, that feels like highly, like it’s volunteer intensive. You got to get a lot of volunteers in there because it sounds like you’re having one-on-one conversations or something close to one-on-one. Unpack what that looks like. Maybe as a guest, if I arrive at that, what do I actually experience when I show up there? Kayra Montañez — So you you can register up until the time that we have the event. Rich Birch — Yep, that’s great. Kayra Montañez — So we do math you know magical math with the food and and the preparation so that we can just accept people who are going to come on the day of. Because we promote it, obviously, every week. And then the day of, we actually promote it. We get most people to show up the day of the event. Rich Birch — Right, okay. Kayra Montañez — So people will come. There’s going to be a lunch. And then they’re going to sit at a table with about five other people who have a facilitator at that table. Rich Birch — Okay. Kayra Montañez — And that facilitator is actually going to lead them through a series of relational icebreakers because the event is designed for you to first connect. You want to meet other people who are just like you. Maybe they’re new or they’re not new, but they haven’t connected yet with somebody. Rich Birch — That’s good. Kayra Montañez — And so there’s going to be a lot of relational icebreakers you know during the first part of the event. And then after that, we get into like, hey, what are you looking for? What are you hoping to get out of? What do you need? What are you interested in? We make notes. Rich Birch — How can we help? All that kind of stuff. Kayra Montañez — That facilitator takes really good notes based on what people are saying. And then the follow-up begins. Rich Birch — That’s so cool. I love that. That’s what a great learning. You know, I think so many times we’ve seen that step and for sure that echoes what I’ve seen in in a number of churches. There’s really a trend away from the class being the first step. Rich Birch — It’s like the stand that we used to do that thing where it was like, okay, someone stands up at the front and they’re going to talk for 50 minutes about why we’re such a great church. And, ah you know, that really has gone away. I would I would echo that, that we’ve seen that as ah as a best practice for sure. So let’s talk… Kayra Montañez — When we do measure… Rich Birch — Sorry, go ahead. No. Kayra Montañez — …oh sorry, as I was to say, we measure the activity of everyone who goes to Connect in Conversation and what they do. Rich Birch — Oh, that, tell me about that. Kayra Montañez — And so there’s, or ah how we say it at Liquid is it’s correlation, not causation. Like I can’t prove that if you go to this event, your next steps were a direct result of this event… Rich Birch — Yes. Yes. Kayra Montañez — …but we can correlate that because you came to the event you actually took these next steps, if that makes sense. Rich Birch — Yeah. Kayra Montañez — So we’ve seen tremendous, tremendous engagement grow because of that. Rich Birch — And that’s on Sundays. You do it on on campus after the last service, that sort of thing. Kayra Montañez — Every month. Yes, every month at every campus after the last service, we promote it up to the day of the event… Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s good. Kayra Montañez — …and we do it rain or shine. Whether it’s five people or 10 or 50, obviously at our largest location, sometimes we have about 100 people show up every month to these events. Rich Birch — That’s great. I love that. That’s a great. You’re coming in hot, Kayra. Great learnings, even you know, with friends, we’ve got through the first question. Rich Birch — So yeah, and we’re, you know, it’s fantastic. So one of the one of the things I’d love to hear a little bit about, um you know, that when we look in the data, people’s anxiety, there’s there seems to be some anxiety around or concern around discipling people. We offer these discipleship pathways or engagement pathways. And it’s like, we do this stuff, but then people don’t actually take advantage of it. It’s like, we do, we offer small groups, but people don’t do them. Or people we offer classes and people don’t actually engage on them. Rich Birch —What are you doing to try to move to, to ensure people are actually engaging with the various pathways that you’re developing at Liquid to actually get them to use them? Kayra Montañez — So this is a very interesting question in this particular time because at Liquid we’re just about getting ready to or just ready to ah blow up small groups basically. Rich Birch — Oh, nice. Okay. I’d love to hear more. Kayra Montañez — Yeah, so I would say that small groups was the one metric that did not recover for our church post-pandemic. So even though our volunteer pipelines at times felt thin, we were able to have incredible momentum around that. We can talk more about that later. How did we do that? We recovered in attendance and giving, baptism, but we were not able to crack the code on small groups. We were at an all-time low, about 20% our church… Rich Birch — Oh, wow. Yeah. Kayra Montañez — …was engaged in small groups, pretty low. And so we started surveying people. Rich Birch — Yep. We’re like, what is it that people actually want from the small groups? Like, what is it that we’re not offering that they’re looking for? And the one, it was shocking to us that the number one thing, I mean, it shouldn’t be shocking because we are a church. Kayra Montañez — The number one thing that people wanted was to understand the Bible. So for the first time ever, we have uncoupled relational connection from biblical literacy. In the past, our small groups, the thing that was in the driver’s seat, I would say, was the relational connection. We wanted people to connect, to join a group so that they could make friends, do life together. We used to um promote it that way, if you remember. Do life together. Where are the people that you’re doing life together? Rich Birch — Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. Kayra Montañez — For the first time ever, we’re actually putting biblical literacy in the front seat and relational connection on the passenger seat. So you will actually make connections, but that’s not the goal of this process right now. The process is for you to actually understand and read and study the word of God. In fact, our new tagline is to know the word of God so that you can love the God of the word. Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s great. And is that so if you change the the container that that fits in or are you changing the like, like… Kayra Montañez — We did. We changed the container. Rich Birch — So what’s that look like? Kayra Montañez — So right now we’re offering people different levels of biblical literacy. Kayra Montañez — The biggest vehicle that we’re that we just piloted this fall through the book of Revelations, if you can believe it. So we’re like, why not start with the hardest book of the Bible? Rich Birch — Yes. Kayra Montañez — And what we did was we created a Bible study midweek on a Wednesday night where people would go in person and study the word of God in tables with other people. Now, obviously there’s facilitators who have been trained and vetted. And once you join a table, that was kind of like the table that you were going to go on this journey with, but it’s not a small group. It’s a, it’s a short term. It was 10 weeks. We went through the entire book of Revelations, 22 chapters. We would do homework in order to get ready for this midweek study, we would come, we would have a conversation around what did you put in question 10? Rich Birch — Yep. Kayra Montañez — What did I write? This was hard, I don’t understand. And then there was teaching. Kayra Montañez — And we also piloted doing that same thing with our high school students so that parents could actually come with their kids on the same day, drop their high school kiddos in their own cohort, and then they would go to their own biblical midweek you know Bible study. Kayra Montañez — And that was, too, a great success. So we are trying to figure out like what are the appropriate levels of biblical literacy that we can offer a congregation… Rich Birch — That’s so good. Kayra Montañez — …that is increasingly illiterate in biblic in in the Bible. Rich Birch — Yep. Kayra Montañez — And deep dive, make no mistake, is the highest level. So that’s not for everyone. And we understand that. And so the parts that we’re trying to figure out is what’s like the appropriate next level to that for somebody who’s not willing to come in person 10 weeks to do homework and study, you know, the actual Bible. Kayra Montañez — But, it was fascinating to just uncouple those two things for the first time. And I would say it’s in the right frame of, in the right approach. You’re still making friends. Rich Birch — Yes. Kayra Montañez — You’re just not, that’s just not being the driver. Rich Birch — Right. Yeah, I do wonder. So we for sure have seen that. I’ve seen this conversation. I don’t claim to be a small groups expert. I never have. Kayra Montañez — Me neither. Rich Birch — Like for 20, 30 years, it’s always been a mystery to me. I’m like, it’s like hard. It’s a hard system to run and to to build. And, but for sure, post COVID it it is, I would say that’s a universal concern that it’s like, whatever we used to do, I see this all over the place, whatever we used to do to try to get people into groups, we don’t do that anymore. We’re doing something completely different. I happen to be at Liquid this fall. I think you were speaking at a conference when I was there. Bummer… Kayra Montañez — I was, I missed you. Yeah. Rich Birch — And I saw the deep dive. I think that’s what it was called. Kayra Montañez — Yes. Rich Birch — Deep dive that night. And I remember, i remember thinking, I was like, Whoa, this is like, ah this is incredible. Like, you know, I don’t know how many people were there that night. There was a ton of people all lined up and ready to go. I’m like, that’s, That’s cool. I love that. Rich Birch — Well, let’s pivot. You kind of flagged it there, the volunteer piece. Kayra Montañez — Yes. Rich Birch — I’d love to know what you’re learning on this front, you know, to rebuild volunteer culture. We had this kind of, I don’t know when we’ll stop saying post-COVID. I don’t know whether we’ll be like that generation that was like after the like war or like after the depression where like for 40 years we’re going to be talking about it. Rich Birch — But it does still feel like we’re post-COVID. I don’t know when that is. But what have you done to kind of restart? How what’s going well on that front externally? Liquid feels like a incredibly volunteer you know robust culture – help us understand what’s that looking like what are you learning these days? Kayra Montañez — Sure. Yeah. I mean everything you said is still very much a factor. I mean, we are constantly having to work at this. This is never going to be a problem that I feel we’re ever going to solve. It’s really a tension that we’re managing. And sometimes tension feels better and sometimes it doesn’t feel good. Rich Birch — Right. Kayra Montañez — In fact, this year, I would say in March, we probably had like our biggest crisis in the broadcast campus where our church growth so far outpaced the amount of people that were serving that we were finding ourselves having to close rooms for Liquid family… Rich Birch — Ooh. Kayra Montañez — …not because we we hit ratios, but because we didn’t have enough volunteers. And that doesn’t feel great… Rich Birch — No. Kayra Montañez — …especially if you’re a new here family, right? Rich Birch — Yes. Kayra Montañez — And so we were like, all right, we need to do something really aggressive. And the best way that I can explain it is we did like a try before you buy. Rich Birch — Okay. Kayra Montañez — Very low approach… Rich Birch — Yep. Kayra Montañez — …low hanging fruit. We said, hey, we we casted a vision, right? It’s never about we need volunteers, but we actually told a really significant story of where’s all the fruit that the Lord is bringing to this church, all the spiritual fruit that we’re seeing, like people are getting saved, people are getting baptized, they’re coming to get to know Jesus, they’re studying the Bible. Kayra Montañez — It was incredible. Kayra Montañez — But we need people to use their spiritual gifts. And so we came up with a campaign called For the One. And everything was geared for that one person. Like, who’s who are you going to go serve? Who’s the one that you’re going to go serve? Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s good. Kayra Montañez — And the try before you buy was, we’re going to give you a hoodie. We designed a hoodie. It was called, it was, you know, at the tagline For the One. And the key is you only get it after you serve a couple of times. Rich Birch — Okay, that’s cool. Kayra Montañez — So this is the try before you buy. You know, you’re going to try it out. Rich Birch — Yes. You’re not going to go through the whole background, pipeline, covenant process because we need people now and we need them quick. Rich Birch — Yeah. Yeah. Kayra Montañez — So you’re trying before you’re buying. But if you like it and we’re going to make sure that first serve experience is incredible for you, then we want you to buy it. Rich Birch — That’s so good. Kayra Montañez — And we’re going to reward you by giving you swag that’s limited, exclusive. Not everybody’s going to get it. Rich, you would be surprised. Like I’m still to this day, i have been at Liquid, it’ll be 13 years in April. And I am still shocked by how much people, the gamification of playing to people’s particular interests… Rich Birch — Yes. Yes. Kayra Montañez — …whether it’s FOMO, they don’t want to miss out, whether it’s the idea of collecting exclusive apparel. Rich Birch — Yeah. Yeah. Kayra Montañez — There’s something here for everyone that just draws people out. Rich Birch — It’s true. It’s true. Kayra Montañez — We had over 400 people sign up for the one. Rich Birch — Wow. That’s amazing. That’s great. Kayra Montañez — It was incredible. And we were able to tell amazing stories of people who were coming and showing up and serving, whether it was our special needs kiddos or high school whatever you want to call it. We had it. And and I would say the appeal of a try before you buy, how can you shortchange without? So this is key. You don’t want to reduce the quality. But you do want to shorten your pipeline so that you can get people quicker to try it. And then once they actually feel like, hey, I really enjoy this, now we’re going to get you through the whole, you know, rest of the process, right? But you can still serve while we do that. Kayra Montañez — So that was a huge thing. And then obviously, you know, like the free apparel swag, that always is a nice incentive to give to people. So that was huge. Rich Birch — It’s true. Kayra Montañez — It was very successful. And that’s what I would recommend is like, hey, can you run, try before you buy little events with like swag, and like you you get you have people serve for a limited amount of time. Like you don’t give them the swag immediately. You make them work for it. Rich Birch — Right. Yes. Kayra Montañez — They got to serve three, four times before you give it to them. Rich Birch — Yeah, we did a similar thing last summer. Our kids ministry team did a similar thing last summer where we did the summer serve, which we hadn’t done in in actually a number of years. And they they pulled that out and did summer serve. And it was the same thing. If you signed up, you got a t-shirt, a specific t-shirt for that. Rich Birch — And then you, there was, they basically were asking you to serve once in June, once in July, once in August, like once a month, just for the summertime. And if you served, um I forget exactly what the ratio was, but it was, you got entered in a draw for however many times. And basically, so if you served all three, you got like 10 times the number of draw things to win. And it was all this stuff that you, you could win. And it was like really great gifts. Kayra Montañez — Yes. Rich Birch — And you would think that that should not motivate people. Kayra Montañez — But it does. Rich Birch — But it does. Kayra Montañez — It does. Rich Birch — And and you know and it was and, you know, they did it in really fun, you know, hey this is going to be a fun thing to be a part of. Talk to me about the, because there’s a friction thing there to learn around trying to reduce the friction the kind of onboarding friction, I think over time that stuff can become, you know, it’s, it’s the, we actually are like our, we can become just too hard for our people. Kayra Montañez — Yeah. Rich Birch — What did you learn through that process in, in trying to find that balance of like, we want to make it easier to onboard people, but we still want to, is there any kind of lessons from that when you look back on that? Kayra Montañez — To me, the the lesson really is, again, there is a tension between you can’t shortchange, especially when it comes to kids. I can’t emphasize this enough. Rich Birch — No, yeah, absolutely. Yep. Kayra Montañez — Like I oversee all of these ministries and it would be not on my watch will will this happen, right? Rich Birch — No, yeah, yeah. Kayra Montañez — So we have to make be very sure that we’re not shortchanging the safety procedures. Rich Birch — Yeah. Yep. Kayra Montañez — At the same time recognizing these things can take some time, right? Like we ask people to get a background check, they have to be interviewed, they have to sign a covenant, they have to have a reference. I mean, these things this is a lengthy process. Rich Birch — Yes. Kayra Montañez — And I stand by it. We have to do that. Rich Birch — Yep. Kayra Montañez — At the same time, can we actually live in a world where we are marrying our need to have someone in the room while also still doing all of these things simultaneously, not actually waiting for all of this to happen so that then they can come. Kayra Montañez — And that’s kind of how we figured it out. Our Liquid family pastor came up with a process where she’s like, okay, we can shorten it this time. They’re only going to do these three things, not four, not six. But while they’re in the room trying it, we’re going to continue to do the other remaining four. Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s great. Kayra Montañez — It’s messy. It’s not always the best thing to do in an ideal world. You are not doing that. But when you’re faced with crisis, then you need to come up with, you know, resourceful ideas. Kayra Montañez — And so what I would say about the volunteer pipeline is this. There are short-term problems that you have to solve while you’re still working on this very long-term. Like this is a culture that you have to create. Rich Birch — Yeah. Kayra Montañez — And in order for you to create a culture, you have to tell stories. You have to celebrate what you want to be repeated. have to make people feel thanked, encouraged, appreciated, seen. You those are all long-term things that you have to be doing all the time. This is like nonstop. Rich Birch — Yes. Yes. Can’t take the, you can’t take the gas off that pedal for sure. Pedal off that gas. Kayra Montañez — Correct. You cannot take your foot off the the pedal. But at the same time, there are things that are short term that you really do have to also do. And sometimes that will require teaching from the stage where you’re actually envisioning people about why this matters so much. Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s good. Kayra Montañez — And this is what we did in March with the For the One. So I would say it’s it’s both/and; it’s not either/or. And so if that’s helpful, that’s how I would approach it. Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s super good. That’s good. If there was a church that was, if you were sitting across the table from an executive pastor, maybe you’re at a conference or someone drops in your office and they’re, they’re feeling really stuck on this engagement issue. They feel low. Like it’s people were, maybe it’s groups, it’s teams, it’s all of it. Like it’s, we’re not moving people through any kind of pipeline. Rich Birch — What would be some of those first steps or first recommendations, first things you’d have them look at, maybe like a diagnostic or a first couple of things that you’d have them think about in this area? Kayra Montañez — Well, I would say if there’s a way for them to know of the people who are attending and maybe they figure this out with new here, how many of those people take one next step within the first month? Rich Birch — That’s good. Kayra Montañez — That would be one diagnostic that I would first see if I can do with the data that I have and the data that they collect and they actually figured that out. Rich Birch — Yep. Yeah, that’s good. Kayra Montañez — If they’re able to do that, then the next diagnostic would be what percent actually move into a people system… Rich Birch — Yep. Kayra Montañez — …whether it’s a group, a deep dive experience, a dream team within 60 to 90 days, right? Rich Birch — Yep. Kayra Montañez — Because if you do that, you’re going to find the blockage. You’re actually going to discover Maybe our attendance is fine. We don’t have an invest and invite problem, but maybe what we have a problem with is our conversion rate. And so then you can start to identify what is it about our conversion that we need to fix? Kayra Montañez — Is it that we have ah unclear on-ramps? Or is it that our processes are too high friction? It’s too hard people to get involved. If you actually find like, no, actually people are taking next steps. Great. But they’re not sticking to it. Then you have a different problem. Then you can actually diagnose… Rich Birch — Yes, yes. Kayra Montañez — …oh, maybe the first serve experience actually wasn’t sticky enough. It wasn’t welcoming. Maybe there were issues with scheduling. Maybe we didn’t give clear information. So you can kind of figure out what the problem is based on how you’re measuring it and what you’re discovering. That’s how I would start if I didn’t know what the problem was. Does that make sense? Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s so good. That makes total sense. And, you know, it it definitely aligns with one of my bugaboos that I constantly driving with executive pastors. When you look at the actual numbers—I and I have not run into a church yet that this is not the case—most churches actually have a front door problem. They don’t have a back door problem. They their actual problem that we think we feel like, oh, like people aren’t sticking and staying in groups, they’re not staying and volunteering. But statistically, that’s actually not true. When most of the time, if you look at, okay, all the people that end up in a group, what is the kind of churn rate on that? Whatever that number is, I’ve never seen a church where it’s higher than the people we’re missing on the front end with exactly with what you said is how many people are removing from new here to taking the first step in the first month? Rich Birch — Because that you lose a ton of people in that door right there. That is a, you know, by a multiple of 10 or 20, like it’s a lot more that we’re missing out. And, you know, generally in most churches… Kayra Montañez — And can I just [inaudible] to that? Rich Birch — Yeah. Kayra Montañez — Because I just want encourage people, like, figure out a way to target your new here audience. Rich Birch — Yes. Yes. Kayra Montañez — So at Liquid, for example, if you come for the first time, not only do we encourage, highly encourage you to tell us that you’re here for the first time because we give you an awesome gift. Rich Birch — Yes. Kayra Montañez — Lots of churches do this, but then we survey people who came for the first time. Rich Birch — Yeah. Kayra Montañez — And based on what they answer, they receive a custom follow-up process for the first 30 days. Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s great. Yeah. Kayra Montañez — We don’t, so in that regard, like it is worth to look at that. Rich Birch — Yes. Kayra Montañez — Because you’re going to find out a lot of information and a lot of data about what people are choosing to do, where are they going, why they’re not sticking to it or why they’re not even going in the first place. Rich Birch — Yeah. Kayra Montañez — Like I’m shocked that I’ve been to churches sometimes to speak and they don’t actually really do like a new here call out. Like they don’t. Rich Birch — Yeah, I was going to say that. You said, oh, churches do this. Kayra Montañez — Maybe not. Rich Birch — And I’d be like, Kayra, I’ve been to way too many churches where they don’t do any of that. And they’re like, well, we’re not really sure. And I’m like, this is a solvable problem. We can fix this. Kayra Montañez — Yes. Yes. Rich Birch — There’s like real things you can do here. Actually, I worked with a church last year, a fairly large church in 2024, where they were experiencing some of these issues and so and I was like I basically said the same thing I just said, I’m like you’re losing people on the front end. And they’re like they’re like well we do a gift. And I’m like no you don’t. And I said there’s a and there’s a few things to fix around that. In 2025 the year we just ended, they received we made a few changes it’s not about me there’s about them they made a bunch of changes, they ended up receiving 5,000 more first-time guest contacts than they did 2024. Kayra Montañez — Wow. Just like we’ve always told it to do. Rich Birch — Now they did not grow by people but it’s just by focusing on that, right? Kayra Montañez — Amazing. Rich Birch — It’s just by like saying, hey, how are we what are we going to do to ensure that that step goes well with folks? So anyways, there’s huge opportunity there and in lots of churches. Kayra, you’ve been incredibly generous to give us your time at this time of year. As you’re thinking, kind of last question, as we’re thinking about 2026, what are some of those questions that are floating around in your head as you think about Liquid, as you think about the future? What are some things that you’re wrestling with that you’re wondering about that you’re contemplating as we go into this year? Kayra Montañez — Oh my gosh, Rich, so many. After this conversation, you know, I really am interested to see what’s going to happen with our discipleship model since we just blew it up. Rich Birch — Yes, yep. Kayra Montañez — I’m helping all of that and changing the way that we even onboard leaders. Like I’m really invested in seeing this through. Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s great. Kayra Montañez — I also totally unrelated to this, but we just launched, I think in the survey, one of the questions that was asked was what’s the best idea that you had in 2025? Rich Birch — Yeah, yeah, right. Kayra Montañez — And I was like, well, I feel like one of our best ideas was to use AI to launch a Spanish service. And I am really invested in that in seeing like, how do we continue to grow that service? How do we continue to grow that ministry? We’re launching new ministries in 2025, or 2026. So that always feels exciting and daunting. Kayra Montañez — So there’s just the work never ends. And there’s always it is an exciting and fascinating time to be in the church. I’ll say that. Rich Birch — I would agree. I totally would agree. Yeah, it’s the best. I would think, literally, I think this is the best season that I’ve been involved in ministry for sure. Rich Birch — For folks that don’t know what you’re doing with Spanish ministry, give us the 60 second, explain that again. Because I think I keep pointing churches to you saying, have you heard what Liquid’s doing? You go talk to them. So tell us about that. Kayra Montañez — So basically we have a Spanish service. We do have live hosting in Español. We have live worship in Español. But then we take our English message and we pass it through an AI service called Heygen, which actually uses the communicator’s voice and matches the words to their lips and they’re just preaching, they preach it in Spanish. Even if they’re not bilingual, they will preach it in Spanish. And it’s like you, Rich, are speaking in Spanish. Your words match to your voice. Rich Birch — Yes. Yeah, it’s it’s amazing. Kayra Montañez — People get to hear the the gospel and the message in their language. So it’s been fascinating to learn who we’re reaching, who’s coming, who likes that kind of a thing. You know, as a Spanish speaker myself, I’m like, would I go to a service where the message wasn’t actually authentic Spanish and it’s an AI generated? Kayra Montañez — I believe in the quality of our communication so much that I actually have to say, yes, I would. Because like last year, this year, we took our entire church through the book of Revelation. Tim spent 25 weeks teaching us the hardest book of the Bible. Kayra Montañez — The fruit that that endeavor produced is incredible. And so when I think about what we’re doing, I’m like, I believe in that so much that I do think this is a this is a thing that’s actually good to do. Even if people would who would think like, why would they go to that and not like an authentic Spanish speaker? Rich Birch — Yeah, interesting. And that, and you’re, you’ve been a year, that’s been basically almost a year you’ve been doing that now. Kayra Montañez — A year. A year. Rich Birch — And, and you’re be continuing to do it. So obviously something’s working. There’s some sort of version of like, Hey, we’re, we feel. Kayra Montañez — We’re continuing to do it. we’re seeing We’re seeing the fruit. We’re seeing baptisms, people giving their life to Christ, getting baptized, showing up and joining teams, um reaching families. We’re reaching multigenerational families where the parents go to the Spanish service, the kids go to the English service because it’s simultaneous, right? Well, the English is going on, the Spanish is going on. So families get to decide. It’s just really interesting to watch. Obviously, it’s been challenging in the U.S. to grow a Spanish service because of everything that’s been happening. Rich Birch — Yeah, yeah… Kayra Montañez — But it’s just been really fascinating to see like the dynamics of who we’re reaching, who’s is sharing like who’s excited about it, and then using technology to further the gospel. It’s always exciting. Rich Birch — Yeah, it’s fantastic. I know I was goofing around with Heygen a little bit. And the part that actually, this was you know almost a year ago when you guys started doing that that, one of the tests I ran that actually convinced me was, so I was like taking videos of me and I would send them to like a friend who speaks Spanish. And I sent to a friend who speaks, you know, a couple of languages that it was doing, but then I did the reverse. There’s a great church, Nouvelle Vie. It’s a French speaking church, large church, be very similar to Liquid, but they’re French speaking. And so I took one of the, the lead pastors from that. I took a clip of his message and translated into English. And I was blown away. I was like, Oh my word. Like, Kayra Montañez — It is getting better and better every day. Rich Birch — I was I was shocked. I was like, oh, that that is, yeah, could I tell? Yeah, but this guy’s an incredible communicator. And you know similar to you and Tim and the team at at Liquid, I’m like, I could see that work anyway. Rich Birch — So that’s exciting. Kayra, it’s so great to see you. Kayra Montañez — Thank you, Rich. Rich Birch — Thanks so much for having time with us today. If people want to connect with you or with Liquid, where do we want to send them online? Kayra Montañez — Sure. So my name Kayra, K-A-Y-R-A at liquidchurch.com. Happy to connect with anybody have questions. Rich Birch — Thanks so much. Thanks for being here today.

Geoff Faux, Partner at Clearview Capital, shares the principles that shape his approach to private equity investing, from evaluating management teams and industry dynamics to navigating adversity when deals go sideways. He reflects on lessons forged through competitive athletics, a career built inside one firm, and a defining portfolio company crisis that tested every assumption about value creation. Geoff also explains Clearview's first-in institutional playbook and how focus, prioritization, and people decisions drive durable outcomes. This is a grounded, hard-earned perspective on what it really takes to build winning businesses—hit play. Episode Highlights 1:01 – How elite swimming shaped Geoff's discipline, focus, and investing mindset 4:17 – Growing up around lower middle market deals and choosing private equity early 13:02 – The four variables that matter most in private equity investment decisions 19:55 – Why industry stability and baseline management strength are non-negotiables 24:21 – A first deal gone wrong—and the crisis that nearly broke the investment 28:35 – Rebuilding through COVID and turning a near-zero into a top portfolio performer 47:29 – Advice to Geoff's 22-year-old self on teams, people judgment, and resilience For more information on Clearview Capital  go to https://www.clearviewcap.com/ For more information on Geoffrey Faux, go to https://www.linkedin.com/in/geoff-faux-27826518/

The date of the Expulsion in 1492 is infamous. Less known or understood is the historical context that led there. How did a 1,000-year-old community lose its status and power? The answer lies in the ferocious and sudden impact of 1391. With 100,000 conversions to Christianity, Jewish kehillos were left reeling and families were torn apart. Rebuilding became virtually impossible, and a new way of life was created for the Jews in Spain. Jews were still part of society, but rising Church pressure forced many into hiding. And the urgent question arose of how to deal with conversos amid instability, the Tortosa disputation and hostility from ‘Old Christians'. But the writing was still not on the wall.   Timestamps: - 0:00 — Converts' next-generation issue introduced   - 0:42 — Podcast intro and host   - 1:24 — Email about Radzivin/Vatican anecdote   - 2:24 — Recap: Jewish history in Spain; Golden Age → decline   - 4:20 — 14th-century status: wealth, roles, rising anti-Jewish politics   - 7:17 — Civil war in Castile; Henry II's measures; Ferran Martínez's preaching   - 12:45 — Martinez's actions, weak government, lead-up to 1391   - 16:20 — June 1391 pogroms begin (Seville)   - 19:33 — Scale of conversions; conversos' motives and consequences   - 23:00 — Rav Crescas's account and leadership role   - 27:32 — Rebuilding efforts and royal interactions   - 32:21 — Conversos' social ascent; community tensions   - 37:22 — Tortosa disputation lead-up; Vincent Ferrer's influence   - 43:07 — Tortosa debate outcomes and further conversions   - 50:10 — Fragile recovery; papal/royal reversals   - 57:32 — 1449 Toledo unrest; purity-of-blood measures begin   - 1:02:16 — Long-term social exclusion of conversos; legacy and summary

What begins as a life devoted to caregiving can, in midlife, evolve into a profound awakening toward intentional purpose. We are delighted to welcome best-selling author, speaker, and podcast host Debbie R. Weiss, who shares her extraordinary journey from decades as a family caregiver to reclaiming her life after profound loss. Hear how turning 50 was a catalyst for change, leading her to develop the "maybe I can" mindset and her signature "sprinkle effect"—a dynamic approach of taking small, intentional steps to navigate life's toughest transitions and build true resilience. Debbie's inspiring story, chronicled in her books On Second Thought…Maybe I Can and The Sprinkle Effect, is a powerful testament that it is absolutely never too late to redefine your path and create a more vibrant, fulfilling life.IN THIS EPISODE, YOU'LL HEAR ABOUT THINGS LIKE:Childhood insecurities and limiting beliefs often lead to a life of people-pleasing and prioritizing others.Decades of family caregiving, even when purposeful, can result in profound burnout.A “turning point” moment in midlife can be a powerful catalyst to reclaim your life.Shift your mindset from “I can't” to “maybe I can” by starting with one small, intentional step.Finding a personal creative focus is a vital act of self-preservation and a source of healing during intense grief.The “sprinkle effect” is a dynamic strategy to achieve sustainable transformation through small, intentional qualities like joy and discipline.The E + R = O formula shows that taking responsibility for your reaction to an event controls the outcome of your life.Build resilience by creating a “maybe I can list” of all the major adversities you have successfully overcome.Self-care is an imperative act, not a selfish one, necessary to show up as your best self for your family and yourself.Healing from pain is a continuous journey of learning to live with it, preventing it from controlling your life.WATCH ON YOUTUBE: Rebuilding a Life After Decades of Caregiving and Grief: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DX8Uz9krSdg&list=PL7judgDzhkAWmfyB5r5WgFD6ahombBvoh&index=4&t=1803sThe Sprinkle Effect Workbook: Practical Exercises and Thoughtful Prompts to Support Your Journey to a More Colorful and Fulfilling Life: https://bookshop.org/a/93249/9798991084703---✨ Grief & Rebirth: Healing Resources & Tools ✨

Pour yourself a tall glass of Bantha Milk and press play.. On this episode of Bantha Milk Podcast, Rob and James snap together a full rundown of LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy, digging into what works, what surprises, and which bricks hit the hardest for longtime fans and Padawans alike. We also cruise through the latest Star Wars news from across the galaxy, separating hyperspace facts from cantina chatter. And to top it all off, it's time for Jedi of the Week, shining the spotlight on the ever-smiling, dual-wielding master himself: Kit Fisto. Whether you love your Star Wars serious, silly, or somewhere in between, this episode is built to be played, pulled apart, and enjoyed. Grab your Bantha Milk and join the conversation. If you are a visual learner, you can check out the show here on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/live/cMEugN0YLIY?si=eAO0UmDFFOVcV4fj #BanthaMilkPodcast #StarWarsPodcast #PodcastLife #GeekPodcast #PopCulturePodcast #StarWars #StarWarsNews #SWFans #GalacticTalk #TheForce #LegoStarWars #RebuildTheGalaxy #KitFisto #JediOfTheWeek #LegoGalaxy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Divorce doesn't just end a marriage.It dismantles an identity.In this episode of The Crazy Ex-Wives Club, Erica is joined by certified life coach and retired attorney Meagan Norris for an honest conversation about what it really takes to rebuild life after divorce, without repeating old emotional, financial, or relational patterns.Together, they explore why so many women remain stuck in survival mode long after the divorce is finalized, how nervous system dysregulation quietly drives decision-making, and why healing after divorce requires more than insight, it requires embodiment, emotional resilience, and self-trust built through experience.Meagan shares her four foundational pillars for post-divorce rebuilding, emotional resilience, financial sovereignty, lifestyle design, and vision-based decision-making. These pillars help women move out of fear-based choices and into intentional living that aligns with who they are becoming, not who they had to be to survive.This episode dismantles the pressure to “fix everything at once” and offers a grounded, sustainable path forward, one focused decision, one stabilizing choice, and one self-trusting action at a time.You'll learn:Why divorce often requires letting go of an old identity, not just a relationshipHow survival mode shapes post-divorce decisions without you realizing itWhat emotional resilience actually looks like in real lifeHow nervous system regulation supports clarity and self-trustWhy money struggles after divorce are often about identity, not incomeHow comparison fuels scarcity, regardless of how much you earnWhy focusing on one priority accelerates healing and momentumHow lifestyle design helps you embody your future self nowWhat vision-based decision-making really means after divorceWhy self-trust is built through action, not affirmationsHow to stop outsourcing decisions to fear, statistics, or outside voicesWe talk about:00:00 Why divorce is an identity shift, not just a legal process02:30 What it means to divorce the old version of yourself05:00 How past beliefs recreate future emotional patterns06:30 Emotional resilience and nervous system regulation after divorce09:00 Financial sovereignty and scarcity thinking 12:00 Comparison, money, and attachment patterns15:30 Rebuilding trust with yourself through aligned action18:00 Why trying to change everything at once leads to burnout21:00 Choosing one priority and stabilizing the rest24:00 Lifestyle design and reclaiming physical space after divorce28:30 Vision boards, energy, and embodiment31:00 Vision-based decision-making versus fear-based choices36:00 Letting go of statistics, judgments, and “good enough” thinking41:00 Designing a future that feels expansive, not reactive45:00 Why your vision evolves as you evolve48:00 Falling in love with the long-term rebuilding processThe Defining the New You Blueprint is a 90-minuteguided mini-retreat for divorced women ready to move beyond survival and step into their next chapter. Through grounding reflection, vision casting, and self-reconnection rituals, you'll rediscover who you are now, create emotional clarity, and begin consciously designing a life you love. Come home to yourself— one breath, one revelation, one rise at a time.https://www.thecrazyexwivesclub.com/blueprintThe ClubLooking to claim your post-divorce bad ass? Put yourself in the room with other women redefining what it means to be a divorcé.Join the Club - https://www.thecrazyexwivesclub.com/theclub Instagram: https://instagram.com/thecrazyexwivesclub   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thecrazyexwivesclub Website: https://thecrazyexwivesclub.com   Connect with Meagan:Website: https://www.meagannorris.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meagannorriscoaching/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@meaganthedivorcecoach?_t=ZT-8xCoZWQzlOc&_r=1

Is it possible to reconstruct a 4,500-year-old wonder of the world – and let millions of people walk inside it? In this episode, we're joined by Peter Der Manuelian, Harvard Egyptologist and Director of the Giza Project, and Fabien Barati, CEO and co-founder of the immersive technology company Excurio, to explore how rigorous archaeology and cutting-edge virtual reality came together to create Horizon of Khufu: An Immersive Expedition to Ancient Egypt. Drawing on decades of excavation records, architectural data, and historical research, Peter and his team served as the project's primary scientific advisors, ensuring the virtual Great Pyramid of Giza reflects the latest archaeological evidence. Fabien and the Excurio team translated that scholarship into a shared, large-scale VR experience — allowing participants to traverse the Giza Plateau, enter the Great Pyramid, witness daily life in ancient Egypt, and attend the funerary rites of Pharaoh Khufu… In this episode, we explore: How Harvard's Giza Project data was transformed into a walk-through VR pyramid Why historical accuracy matters in immersive archaeology What muon tomography reveals about hidden voids inside the Great Pyramid How VR can balance preservation with global access to cultural heritage What the future holds for immersive expeditions and digital archaeology With over one million visitors worldwide, Horizon of Khufu has become a landmark example of "edutainment," making fragile and inaccessible heritage sites available to global audiences while preserving their integrity for future generations. Ready to learn more about this fascinating project? Tune in now! More on Peter: https://anthropology.fas.harvard.edu/people/peter-der-manuelian More on Fabien: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fabien-barati-5b20205/?originalSubdomain=fr

Diana Pagano is an international keynote speaker, author, and action‑driven mindset coach who helps people break past limiting beliefs and step into who they were truly meant to become. A proud first‑generation Mexican American from San Diego, she went from growing up in a two‑bedroom apartment with a family of six and constant evictions to becoming a record‑breaking real estate producer in multiple markets and scaling a multi‑million‑dollar company as MVP. In this episode, she shares how her “more mindset” transformed fear and survival mode into consistent high performance—and how anyone can apply the same mental shifts to sell more, earn more, and live more fully.​ On this episode we talk about: Diana's childhood in a struggling entrepreneurial household, moving every 18 months in San Diego and inheriting limiting beliefs about money, struggle, and what was “normal.”​ How becoming a single mom in her 20s pushed her into real estate with a survival‑mode mindset—and why fear of her kids repeating her story initially drove her success.​ Going from PetSmart corporate HR to rookie real estate agent, breaking ceilings and 10x‑ing her income to hit six figures in under 12 months (a highly atypical first‑year result in real estate).​ Rebuilding from scratch in Scottsdale and later Connecticut, door‑knocking luxury neighborhoods, cold‑calling for‑sale‑by‑owners, and proving you don't need an existing network to win in a new market.​ How blocking “power hours,” tracking appointments, and focusing on income‑producing activities beat being “busy” at the office all day.​ Why strategy alone isn't enough if you secretly don't believe you're the kind of person who can succeed—and how The More Mindset offers neuroscience‑backed tools to rewire those internal stories.​ Diana's telemarketing origins at 16½, becoming top producer booking copier appointments, leading a team of older reps, and paying her family's electric bill with her first big paycheck.​ Common cold‑calling mistakes—trying to sound “salesy,” apologizing for calling, or believing you're a bother—and how to reframe calls as helping people instead of harassing them.​ Why belief and authenticity in sales matter more than having the “perfect” script, and how confidence plus genuine value consistently outperform low‑confidence reps with great products.​ Top 3 Takeaways Your past doesn't cap your potential. Diana carried inherited beliefs from a childhood of evictions and scarcity, but by obsessively studying why some people succeed while others struggle, she rewired her mindset and built a multiple‑market real estate career.​ Discipline beats busyness. Time‑blocking prospecting, door‑knocking high‑end neighborhoods, and running focused “power hours” of cold calls produced six‑figure results far faster than simply “being at the office” all day.​ Sales starts in your head, not your script. If you believe you're a bother or that success is “for other people,” you'll sabotage proven strategies; when you see yourself as someone who helps others and truly believes in the offer, confidence and results follow.​ Notable Quotes “It wasn't about doing more. It was about becoming more of who you were meant to become—not living stuck in self‑sabotage and limiting beliefs.”​ “You can drop me in Arizona, Connecticut, or Japan—semantics are semantics. It's your brain and how you show up that determine your success.”​ “You shouldn't be okay with being ‘a bother' on the phone. If you truly believe you're helping people, your entire delivery changes.”​ Connect with Diana Pagano: Website – https://dianapagano.com​ ✖️✖️✖️✖️

In this Omni Talk Retail episode, recorded live from NRF 2026 at the Vusion booth, Mary Beth Laughton, President and CEO of REI, joins Anne Mezzenga and Chris Walton to discuss her first year leading the iconic outdoor co-op and the priorities shaping REI's next chapter. Mary Beth reflects on stepping into the role during a pivotal moment for the business, balancing retail fundamentals with innovation while staying deeply rooted in REI's mission and values. She shares how REI is sharpening its customer focus around what the company calls the “Outdoor Evangelist” and why community, trust, and human expertise remain core differentiators in an increasingly digital retail world. Looking ahead to 2026, she outlines REI's focus on reinventing its membership program, strengthening emotional loyalty, expanding partnerships like its new collaboration with Intrepid Travel, and continuing to elevate service and assortment for a rapidly changing outdoor consumer. Key Topics covered: -Mary Beth Laughton's first year as CEO of REI -How REI defines and serves the “Outdoor Evangelist” customer -Why customer-centric decision-making is embedded into REI's culture -Holiday performance, gifting growth, and the rise of experience-led shopping -The role of membership in driving long-term loyalty at REI -Why AI is becoming table stakes, not a retail differentiator -Blending human expertise with technology through REI's green vests -Reinventing loyalty to be emotional, not just transactional -New partnerships and experiences shaping REI's future -What excites REI most about the road ahead in 2026 Stay tuned to Omni Talk Retail for continued coverage from NRF 2026, and stop by the Vusion booth #4921 to say hello. #NRF2026 #REI #RetailLeadership #CustomerExperience #RetailInnovation #Membership #Loyalty #OmnichannelRetail #RetailAI #OmniTalk

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Banking innovation usually gets reduced to apps and features.But the real changes are happening underneath.In this episode of Couchonomics with Arjun, Richard Davies, CEO of Allica Bank, joins the couch to talk about how challenger banks are actually rebuilding SME banking in the UK.Richard breaks down why established SMEs need a very different banking model, why go-to-market is harder than building the technology, and how value, trust, and low cost structures become the real advantage over time.The conversation moves through how digital banking has matured in the UK, what open banking really delivers today, how AI is being used inside regulated banks, and where stablecoins and tokenised money actually make sense and where they do not.An honest discussion on SME credit gaps, the limits of the super-app idea, the role of humans in an AI-led bank, and what the next decade of challenger banking could realistically look like.

From Ruins to Renewal | Rebuilding the Altar and Temple Foundations - Jim Buchan by MCC

In this eye-opening episode of The Health and Wellness Coach Journal Podcast, Dr. Jessica Singh speaks with Dr. William Davis, a cardiologist and New York Times bestselling author of Wheat Belly, Wheat Belly Cookbook, Wheat Belly 30-Minutes (or Less!) Cookbook, and Wheat Belly Total Health, as well as Wheat Belly 10-Day Grain Detox, Undoctored, and Super Gut. His newest book, Super Body: A 3-Week Program to Harness the New Science of Body Composition and Restore Your Youthful Contours, explores emerging science on body composition, the microbiome, and long-term metabolic health. Dr. Davis shares how his work as a cardiologist—and a personal turning point—led him to reexamine conventional approaches to heart disease risk. He discusses why wheat and sugar contribute to metabolic changes that negatively affect whole-body health. The discussion moves beyond diet to explore why removing harmful foods may only be the beginning. Dr. Davis explains how antibiotics, numerous medications, modern food, environmental exposures, chronic stress, and disrupted sleep deplete protective microbes, impacting various aspects of health. This episode also explores microbiome implications for women's and maternal health, infant development, SIBO, and the relationship between stress, sleep, circadian rhythm, and the gut–brain axis. Dr. Davis offers practical guidance for coaches and healthcare providers seeking credible, evidence-informed microbiome resources. Together, Dr. Singh and Dr. Davis discuss the education gap in medicine—particularly around nutrition and the microbiome—and why clinicians often need to expand beyond traditional training to support prevention and long-term healing. This conversation is a call to rethink prevention and recognize that rebuilding the microbiome is a powerful way to reclaim agency and improve health. For detailed show notes, resources, and information to connect with Dr. Davis, visit: https://www.centerforhealthandwellnesscoaches.com/blog/A-Hidden-Cause-Behind-Chronic-Disease-Dr-William-Davis-on-Microbiome-Disruption-&-Rebuilding-Gut-Health To be notified of new episodes, subscribe here: https://www.centerforhealthandwellnesscoaches.com/stay-connected Timestamps 0:00 - Introduction 1:29 - Challenging the Health Narrative: Insights on Wheat and Heart Disease from Dr. William Davis 10:49 - Why Diet Alone Isn't Enough: Microbiome Health and Restoring Key Microbes from Dr. William Davis 17:21 - Super Gut Takeaways: Insights on Lost Microbes and Their Role in Health and Disease by Dr. William Davis 19:48 - The Critical Education Gap in Medicine: Nutrition and the Microbiome—Why Clinicians Must Learn What Training Missed from Dr. William Davis 27:27 - Insights on the Microbiome in Maternal and Women's Health from Dr. William Davis 32:41 - SIBO Is More Common Than You Think: Insights on Hidden Microbial Overgrowth, Health Effects, and Rebalancing the Microbiome from Dr. William Davis 43:09 - The Impact of Stress and Sleep on the Gut: Insights on Circadian Rhythm and Microbiome Health from Dr. William Davis 47:37 - Finding Credible Microbiome Resources: Guidance for Coaches and Healthcare Providers from Dr. William Davis 51:12 - Takeaways

The wired-but-tired feeling is incredibly common, especially for women, and it's one of the most frustrating places to be. You want energy during the day. You want sleep at night. But instead, it feels like your body is doing the exact opposite of what it should. In this episode, I'm breaking down what's actually happening behind the scenes when you feel wired but tired and why pushing harder, drinking more coffee, or just "trying to relax" usually makes things worse. When I see this pattern, it almost always points back to dysfunction in the HPA axis, which controls your adrenal function and cortisol output. A lot of women call this adrenal fatigue or adrenal insufficiency. Here's the key thing most people miss: You can feel exhausted and overstimulated at the same time. This often happens when: Your adrenal output is low, so you don't have sustained energy Your free cortisol is elevated, because life is stressful and you're constantly in reaction mode You're running on adrenaline instead of real energy That's why you may feel okay only when there's a fire to put out, then crash hard afterward. Cortisol can be measured through saliva or urine, but a single snapshot doesn't tell the whole story. This is where DUTCH testing is so powerful: It shows free cortisol across the entire day, not just one moment It shows metabolized cortisol, which saliva testing cannot measure It reveals whether your body is producing cortisol, using it properly, or struggling to keep up What I see over and over again with wired-but-tired women is low adrenal function paired with high free cortisol. You're stressed, busy, and carrying a lot, but your system no longer has the reserves to support it. This pattern doesn't just affect energy. It can disrupt: Sleep cycles and nighttime rest Hormone regulation Muscle recovery and rebuilding Immune function Mood, focus, and motivation This is why advice like "just eat healthier," "go to yoga," or "push through it" doesn't work. Those approaches don't address the root issue. The first step is understanding what your body is actually doing. That's why I rely so heavily on DUTCH testing. It gives us a clear roadmap instead of guessing. From there, we can build the right plan for you, whether that means: Supporting protein and mineral intake Repairing sleep and circadian rhythms Addressing stress physiology in a way your body can actually respond to Rebuilding adrenal resilience instead of draining it further If you're stuck in that Groundhog Day cycle of exhaustion and overstimulation, this is your sign to stop guessing and start testing. Click the link below to learn more about the DUTCH test: https://drbethwestie.com/dutch-hormone-testing/

*Book a free strategy call to discuss your business or second act idea with Shannon here.What do you do when your life shatters on a park bench in Central Park?In this powerful episode of the Second Act Success Podcast, host Shannon Russell sits down with Vanessa Cardenas, a C-suite healthcare executive, relationship reset expert, and founder of Understanding Ear, to talk about how one devastating betrayal became the catalyst for her second act.After her husband of over two decades said the words, “I've met someone,” Vanessa's world collapsed. In this raw and inspiring conversation, she shares how she navigated betrayal trauma, confronted the “nasty chick” inner critic in her head, rebuilt her marriage, and turned her pain into purpose by launching a business helping others heal.If you've ever felt lost in your relationship, stuck in fear, or unsure how to reclaim your power after a life-altering event, this episode will remind you that your story isn't over — you get to write the next chapter.In this episode, you'll learn:How Vanessa went from devastated wife to betrayal recovery specialist and business ownerWhy betrayal can impact generations—and how she chose to break the cycleHow she manages being a C-suite executive and running a purpose-driven business on the sideThe turning point that helped her decide to rebuild her marriage instead of walking awayWhether you're healing from betrayal, navigating a relationship reset, or standing at the crossroads of your own second act, Vanessa's story is a masterclass in resilience, self-trust, and choosing your destiny instead of letting fear choose it for you.*Get the full show notes here!Leave a review for the Second Act Success Podcast here. ******** Book a free Strategy Call with Shannon Watch the free How To Start a Business Training Download the free Career to Business Roadmap Join the Second Act Accelerator Read Shannon's Book - Start Your Second Act: How to Change Careers, Launch a Business, and Create Your Best Life ➡️ Let's Connect: Instagram | LinkedIn | TikTok Home Chef Meal Delivery - (free shipping & $4.99 per serving) Flodesk Email Marketing - (25% off your first year) Stitch Fix Personal Stylist - ($25 off your first order) Buzzsprout Podcast Hosting - ($20 off) Podmatch Guesting (*Some affiliate links in...

Ray Wroten from Bond & Bentley pulls up to the studio to talk touring, local Maryland venues, why the band re-recorded fan-favorite songs instead of “remastering,” and how recording live in the room keeps the human feel intact.We also get into: ridiculous band name ideas, bar-gig requests, “Two Dollar Hot Dog / One Dollar Water,” sobriety + anxiety spirals, meditation that actually works, running a trivia company (M.R. Pub Games), and the most important hypothetical of all time: how many 10-year-olds in bike helmets could you take with a baseball bat?Bond & Bentley “Remnants” is out now.Ray also hosts trivia through M.R. Pub Games.Upcoming: Bond & Bentley live Feb 28 at The Room at Cedar Grove (Lewes, Delaware) dinner + show benefit format.You can find Ray: Website: raywrotenmusic.comFacebook: facebook.com/raywrotenmusicInstagram: instagram.com/raywrotenSpotify: open.spotify.com/artist/5CtSfmKFtZlg8R35flezgUiTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/artist/ray-wroten/412672792You can find Bond & Bentley:Website: https://bondandbentley.net/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bondandbentley/#Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bondandbentleyYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/bondandbentleytube

In this episode of The Tudor Dixon Podcast, Tudor is joined by Jorge Jraissati, Venezuelan native and president of the Economic Inclusion Group, to break down the stunning capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and what it means for the future of the region. They examine Venezuela’s economic collapse, the consequences of socialist government policies, and the devastating decline of the oil industry. The conversation also explores China’s growing influence in Latin America, the geopolitical stakes for the United States, and why strong U.S. foreign policy is critical to regional stability. Jorge shares his vision for rebuilding Venezuela, the obstacles ahead, and why economic freedom is key to restoring prosperity.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of The Cybersecurity Defenders Podcast we're starting the new season off with the hottest topic of 2025: AI. Sitting down with Maxime Lamothe-Brassard, Founder and CEO of LimaCharlie, we discuss the ways AI has rapidly changed how companies are building security tools.Join an in-depth discussion January 20, 2026 and witness LimaCharlie's fundamentally different approach to AI-powered security operations. Your security operations will never be the same: https://www.linkedin.com/events/7401665070889545728/Maxime Lamothe-Brassard began his cybersecurity career at the Canadian Department of National Defense before providing direct assistance to organizations facing cyber defense challenges. His career includes key roles at CrowdStrike and Google, as well as being part of Chronicle Security's founding team, ultimately leading him to establish LimaCharlie to revolutionize security operations infrastructure. Support our show and share your favorite episodes with a friend, subscribe, give us a rating or leave a comment on your podcast platform. This podcast is brought to you by LimaCharlie, maker of the SecOps Cloud Platform, infrastructure for SecOps where everything is built API first. Scale with confidence as your business grows. Start today for free at limacharlie.io.

In this episode, I sit down with Daniel Marin, co‑founder of Nexus.xyz, the next‑generation Layer‑1 blockchain built for financial applications. We dig into why the future of blockchains may not be general purpose, but specialized and verifiable. Daniel breaks down how Nexus uses CK proofs, dual‑core architecture, and native APIs to bring Web‑2 finance experiences on‑chain. We talk about algorithmic trading, prediction markets, sustainable revenue models, ecosystem incentives, and what the market needs to scale in 2026 and beyond. If you're curious about where blockchain infrastructure and financial products are headed, this is a must‑listen.00:01:30 – Daniel's path into crypto and Nexus's origin.00:02:45 – What verifiable finance really means for a Layer‑1.00:04:00 – Why traditional Web3 chains fail at Web‑2‑like financial UX.00:06:30 – The case for specialization over general purpose chains.00:08:00 – Nexus's dual‑core architecture: benefits & trade‑offs.00:11:45 – Best‑suited applications: algorithmic trading & native APIs.00:14:30 – How CK proofs enable scalability & verifiability.00:16:30 – Revenue capture: why Nexus prioritizes business sustainability.00:18:30 – Balancing developer incentives and protocol economics.00:21:45 – Exciting innovations: tokenized prediction markets & composability.00:23:30 – Other projects worth watching (Hyperliquid, Lighter, Tempo, stablecoin builders).00:26:00 – Nexus's 2026 roadmap: mainnet + perpetual exchange launch.00:27:45 – Lessons learned: move fast, stay adaptive.00:30:00 – Community ask: engage with the Nexus ecosystem.Connect with Nexus and Daniel hereDisclaimer:- Nothing mentioned in this podcast is investment advice and please do your own research.It would mean a lot if you can leave a review of this podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and share this podcast with a friend.Be a guest on the podcast or contact us – https://www.web3pod.xyz/

How is advanced genetic engineering, stem cell biology, and AI-driven analytics reshaping the future of brain repair? Dr. Ruslan Rust, an Assistant Professor of Research Physiology and Neuroscience at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, joins the podcast to share his insights… With over 15 years of translational neuroscience research, Dr. Rust is developing next-generation gene-edited, induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived therapies designed to overcome the biggest barriers in cell therapy — crossing the blood-brain barrier, immune rejection, and long-term safety. Dive in now to find out: Why current stem cell therapies struggle in stroke and neurodegenerative disease. Where stem cells are harvested.  How gene-edited iPSC-derived cells are engineered to cross the blood-brain barrier. The role of AI and single-cell omics in optimizing brain repair strategies. With additional training in MBA, bio-entrepreneurship, and scientific leadership, Dr. Rust brings a uniquely pragmatic lens to what it actually takes to turn cutting-edge neuroscience into viable therapies. Listen now for a rare look at how stroke recovery and Alzheimer's treatment may move from experimental promise to real clinical impact. You can keep up with Ruslan on X or by visiting his USC academic website!

SHOW1-8-2026THE SHOW BEGINS IN DOUBTS ABOUT THE SARCASTIC INVENTION, THE DON-ROE DICTRINE..SPHERES OF INFLUENCE AND THE RETURN OF THE MONROE DOCTRINE Colleague Anatol Lieven, Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. Anatol Lieven argues that "spheres of influence" have returned, with the US reasserting the Monroe Doctrine in the Western Hemisphere and threatening to seize Greenland. Unlike traditional alliances, this approach risks alienating fellow democracies. Lieven contrasts this with Russia's territorial ambitions in the former Soviet Union and China's historic regional goals. NUMBER 1COLD WAR TACTICS: THE SEIZURE OF A RUSSIAN TANKER Colleague Anatol Lieven, Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. Lieven discusses the US Navy's detention of a Russian-flagged ship in the North Atlantic, viewing it as a dangerous escalation akin to piracy. This move humiliates Moscow and aims to control oil supplies. Lieven warns that if European nations mimic these seizures, Russia may retaliate violently, risking a direct war. NUMBER 2THE SUPREME COURT AND THE MYTH OF THE UNITARY EXECUTIVE Colleague Richard Epstein, Civitas Institute. Richard Epstein challenges the view that the Roberts Court blindly supports a "unitary executive." He argues the Court is correctly questioning the constitutionality of independent administrative agencies, like the FTC, which insulate officials from presidential removal. Epstein contends that relying on case counts ignores the specific legal merits regarding separation of powers. NUMBER 3TRUMP V. ILLINOIS: LIMITING PRESIDENTIAL POWER OVER THE NATIONAL GUARD Colleague Richard Epstein, Civitas Institute. Discussing a recent unsigned Supreme Court order, Epstein notes the Court upheld a decision preventing the President from deploying the National Guard without a governor's consent. This ruling contradicts claims of judicial bias toward the executive, affirming that the President cannot simply declare an emergency to override state sovereignty. NUMBER 4ONE YEAR LATER: ANGER AND STAGNATION AFTER THE PALISADES FIRE Colleague Jeff Bliss, Pacific Watch. A year after the Palisades fires, Jeff Bliss reports that residents remain angry over government inaction. Rebuilding is stalled by the Coastal Commission's strict regulations, and fuel loads in canyons remain high due to environmental restrictions on brush clearing. The fires, driven by Santa Ana winds, highlight systemic bureaucratic failures in Los Angeles. NUMBER 5#SCALAREPORT: AI AND ROBOTICS DOMINATE CES Colleague Chris Riegel, CEO of Scala.com. Reporting from CES, Chris Riegel highlights the dominance of AI and robotics, from household droids to military applications. While the tech sector booms with massive infrastructure spending, Riegel warns of a "K-shaped" economy where Main Street struggles with softening demand, masking the wealth concentrated in artificial intelligence and data centers. NUMBER 6LANCASTER COUNTY: AMISH SPENDING AND DATA CENTER GROWTH Colleague Jim McTague, Author and Former Barron's Editor. Jim McTague reports that the Lancaster County economy remains robust, evidenced by heavy Amish spending at Costco and thriving local businesses like Kegel's Produce. Despite some local protests, data centers are being built on old industrial sites. McTague sees no need for Fed rate cuts given the stable local economy. NUMBER 7THE NUCLEAR ESCROW: MANAGING PROLIFERATION AMONG ALLIES Colleague Henry Sokolski, Nonproliferation Policy Education Center. Henry Sokolski warns that allies like Poland, Turkey, and South Africaare considering nuclear weapons due to eroding trust in US guarantees. He proposes a "nuclear escrow" account: storing refurbished warheads in the US for allies to deploy only during crises, providing leverage without permanently stationing targets on foreign soil. NUMBER 8THE SIEGE OF 717 AND THE VOLCANO OF THERA Colleague Professor Ed Watts, Author of The Romans. In 717 AD, Arab forces besieged Constantinople but failed due to the city's massive walls and "Greek fire." Professor Watts explains that a subsequent volcanic eruption in Thera was interpreted as divine punishment for the empire's sins, leading to a spiritual crisis and the rise of iconoclasm to appease God. NUMBER 9THE STUPIDITY OF SUCCESSORS: MANUEL AND ANDRONICUS Colleague Professor Ed Watts, Author of The Romans. Manuel Komnenos favored grand gestures over systemic stability, weakening the Roman state. His successor, Andronicus, was a nihilistic sadist whose tyranny and family infighting destabilized the empire. Watts details how the refusal to punish rebellious family members created a culture of impunity that eventually led to a violent overthrow. NUMBER 10THE CRUSADES: FROM COOPERATION TO CONFLICT Colleague Professor Ed Watts, Author of The Romans. Relations between East and West collapsed during the Crusades. While the First Crusade cooperated with Rome, the Second and Third turned hostile, with Crusaders seizing territory rather than returning it. Watts notes that the theological schism of 1054 and cultural distrust entrenched this division, setting the stage for future betrayal. NUMBER 111204: THE SACK OF CONSTANTINOPLE AND THE END OF CONTINUITY Colleague Professor Ed Watts, Author of The Romans. The Fourth Crusade, diverted by Venetian debt, sacked Constantinople in 1204, burning the city to quell resistance. Watts argues this marked the true end of the ancient Roman state. The meritocratic system collapsed, and elites like Nicetas Choniates lost everything, severing the 2,000-year political continuity of the empire. NUMBER 12VENEZUELA: THE REGIME SURVIVES MADURO'S EXIT Colleague Mary Anastasia O'Grady, Wall Street Journal. Despite Maduro's removal, the Venezuelan regime remains intact under hardliners Delcy Rodriguez and Diosdado Cabello. Mary Anastasia O'Grady notes that repression continues, and European oil companies are hesitant to invest. The regime feigns cooperation to avoid US intervention, but genuine recovery is impossible without restoring the rule of law. NUMBER 13RUSSIA'S OIL CRISIS AND REGIONAL DEFICITS Colleague Michael Bernstam, Hoover Institution. Russiafaces a financial crisis as oil prices drop below $60 per barrel. Michael Bernstam explains that increased global supply forces Russia to sell at deep discounts to China and India, often below cost. This revenue loss prevents the Kremlinfrom paying soldiers, sparking severe regional budget deficits. NUMBER 14EUROPEAN FREEZE AND THE MYTH OF BOOTS ON THE GROUND Colleague Simon Constable, Journalist and Author. A deep freeze hits Southern Europe while commodity prices like copper rise. Simon Constable reports on the UK's bleak economic mood and dismisses the feasibility of British or French "boots on the ground" in Ukraine. He notes that depleted military manpower makes such guarantees declarative rather than substantial. NUMBER 15ARTEMIS 2 RISKS AND THE SEARCH FOR LIFE IN SPACE Colleague Bob Zimmerman, BehindtheBlack.com. Bob Zimmerman urges NASA to fly Artemis 2 unmanned due to unresolved Orion heat shield damage, arguing safety should trump beating China. He also dismisses concerns about lunar methane contamination and highlights a new study suggesting ice caps could allow liquid water lakes to exist on Mars. NUMBER 16

It’s been one year since two of the most destructive fires in California’s history – the Eaton Fire in Altadena and the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades – killed 31 people and destroyed more than 16,000 structures. In this episode, we talk with LAist Climate and Environment Reporter Erin Stone on how families in the Palisades and Altadena are rebuilding. We'll also hear from LAist Reporter Libby Rainey on how some Altadena residents are coming together to build back quicker and more affordably. Finally, LAist Science Reporter Jacob Margolis takes us to the San Gabriel and Santa Monica Mountains for a check-in with nature. Grow your business no matter what stage you’re in. Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at SHOPIFY.COM/paradise Support for this podcast is made possible by Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live.

It’s been one year since two of the most destructive fires in California’s history – the Eaton Fire in Altadena and the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades – killed 31 people and destroyed more than 16,000 structures. In this episode, we talk with LAist Climate and Environment Reporter Erin Stone on how families in the Palisades and Altadena are rebuilding. We'll also hear from LAist Reporter Libby Rainey on how some Altadena residents are coming together to build back quicker and more affordably. Finally, LAist Science Reporter Jacob Margolis takes us to the San Gabriel and Santa Monica Mountains for a check-in with nature. Grow your business no matter what stage you’re in. Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at SHOPIFY.COM/paradise Support for this podcast is made possible by Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live.

In this episode of On Brand, Donny discusses various brands shaping the current zeitgeist, including a tragic incident involving ICE, political commentary on immigration, the influence of foreign funding in education, and updates from the entertainment and airline industries. The conversation also touches on retail trends, coaching changes in the NFL, workplace trends, public safety initiatives, health insights, and fitness trends in America. Takeaways Political commentary should transcend partisanship. Foreign funding in education raises concerns about influence. Rebuilding efforts after disasters can be painfully slow. The entertainment industry is seeing a resurgence with new productions. Airlines are changing policies affecting economy travelers. Retail trends show a surprising comeback for bookstores. Coaching changes in the NFL reflect a desire for fresh perspectives. Workplace trends indicate a shift towards employee wellbeing. Public safety initiatives are crucial for community protection. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's been a year since catastrophic fires tore through Los Angeles. For those who lived through them, the impacts are still being felt. Rebuilding in the aftermath of more frequent and severe fossil-fueled disasters is becoming a big business. Enter the disaster economy, powered by a grab bag of dedicated people helping communities rebuild, and by contractors who may overpromise, underdeliver, and profit from tragedy. Caught in the middle are the survivors, often left to navigate red tape, scams, and soaring costs just to rebuild their lives. In this episode, produced in collaboration with Grist, we explore the people and systems behind this booming, often exploitative multi-billion dollar industry, and share strategies to help listeners stay protected. Episode Guests:  Haley Geller, Photo Stylist; Mother Ayurella Horn Muller, Staff Writer, Grist Cricket Logan, Wastewater Management Mechanic, City of St. Petersburg, Florida Naveena Sadasivam, Writer and Editor, Grist For show notes, related links, and episode transcript, visit ClimateOne.org Highlights: 00:00 - Intro 05:06 - Haley Geller on her personal wildfire experience 07:22 - Haley Geller on how life has changed since the fire 11:04 - Haley Geller on navigating the recovery process 16:21 - Ayurella Horn Muller on covering recovery workers 18:39 - Cricket Logan on his disaster recovery work experience 24:16 - Ayurella Horn Muller on the mental health work of disaster recovery 28:25 - Ayurella Horn Muller on working conditions for recovery workers 38:03 - Naveena Sadasivam on talking to people who experienced disaster recovery 40:22 - Naveena Sadasivam on one person's experience with rebuilding after a fire 49:51 - Naveena Sadasivam on what regulations exist to help prevent fraud 53:41 - Naveena Sadasivam on steps people can take to protect themselves ******** Support Climate One by going ad-free! By subscribing to Climate One on Patreon, you'll receive exclusive access to all future episodes free of ads, opportunities to connect with fellow Climate One listeners, and access to the Climate One Discord. Sign up today at patreon.com/ClimateOne.  Ad sales by Multitude. Contact them for ad inquiries at multitude.productions/ads Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

ONE YEAR LATER: ANGER AND STAGNATION AFTER THE PALISADES FIRE Colleague Jeff Bliss, Pacific Watch. A year after the Palisades fires, Jeff Bliss reports that residents remain angry over government inaction. Rebuilding is stalled by the Coastal Commission's strict regulations, and fuel loads in canyons remain high due to environmental restrictions on brush clearing. The fires, driven by Santa Ana winds, highlight systemic bureaucratic failures in Los Angeles. NUMBER 51940 PACIFIC PALISADES

It's been a year since the Eaton and Palisades fires swept through Southern California, taking 31 lives and destroying over 16,000 structures — including the homes of “Marketplace Morning Report” host David Brancaccio and his neighbors in Altadena. On the show today, David joins Kimberly to talk about the road to rebuilding the community and the complicated, costly task of rebuilding with fire resistant materials. Here's everything we talked about today:"How my Altadena neighbors are rebuilding, one year since the Eaton Fire" from Marketplace "L.A. wildfires broke record for costliest in the history of the planet" from the San Francisco Chronicle "These numbers tell the story of the Los Angeles wildfires, one year later" from AP News"Marketplace's David Brancaccio on community, loss and rebuilding in Altadena" from Marketplace"To rebuild homes cheaper, faster and safer, some want new rules" from MarketplaceWe love hearing from you. Leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART or email makemesmart@marketplace.org.