Podcasts about Ruled

Charity Beallis and her six-year-old twins were found shot to death in Bonanza, Arkansas on December 3rd. Her father says he viewed her body at the morgue—shot twice, chest and between the eyes. Two months have passed. No one has been arrested.The timeline: Divorce from Randall Beallis finalized December 2nd. Joint custody awarded. Children scheduled to return to him December 5th. Bodies found December 3rd.Defense attorney Eric Faddis joins True Crime Today to break down what the investigative silence means, how two-shot suicides are analyzed legally and medically, and what the defense playbook looks like when documented history this extensive exists.Randall Beallis was arrested in February 2025 for allegedly strangling Charity in front of their children. Felony charges were reduced. Child maltreatment was substantiated for both twins months later. His attorney says he's cooperating and is not responsible for the deaths.There's prior history. Randall's second wife Shawna was found dead in 2012 with a gunshot wound to the forehead. Ruled suicide. The case was reopened in 2021 and closed again—evidence had been destroyed pursuant to court order.Three days after Charity and the twins were found, family photos and a necklace with the children's names were discovered in a dumpster at an address connected to Randall through court records.Investigators have said almost nothing since December 9th. The sheriff's office told media in January they have "no new information to share."A mother shot twice. Two children dead. A custody deadline one day away. A prior wife's death ruled suicide under similar circumstances. Items discarded at a connected address.Eric Faddis explains what legal threshold hasn't been met—and what whoever did this should be thinking two months into silence.#CharityBeallis #BeallisTwins #RandallBeallis #BonanzaArkansas #TrueCrimeToday #EricFaddis #TrueCrime #DomesticViolence #TripleHomicide #ColdCaseJoin Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspodInstagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/tonybpodListen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.

Monique Tepe allegedly knew for eight years that her ex-husband had threatened to kill her. She divorced Michael McKee in 2017 after just seven months of marriage. Witnesses told investigators he strangled her, forced unwanted sex, told her he could end her life. She never filed a public report. She rebuilt everything — new husband, two kids, a life. On December 30th, she and Spencer were found dead in their Columbus home. McKee pleaded not guilty despite surveillance footage, a ballistics match, and documented threats.Mica Miller made fourteen police reports in her final months. Reported GPS trackers, harassment, fear for her life. Told her family if she ended up with a bullet in her head, it wasn't her. Two days after serving Pastor JP Miller divorce papers, she was dead. Ruled suicide. JP just pleaded not guilty to federal cyberstalking while the indictment alleges tracking devices, a nude photo posted without consent, fifty-plus contacts in one day, and lies to investigators.Psychotherapist Shavaun Scott — author of "The Minds of Mass Killers" and a DV survivor herself — connects these cases. She explains the psychological burden of living under threat, why victims don't report, how coercive controllers weaponize systems against their targets, and the forensic profile of defendants who treat prosecution as competition. Two women. Two failures. One pattern.#MoniqueTepe #MicaMiller #TrueCrimeToday #ShavaunScott #MichaelMcKee #JPMiller #CoerciveControl #DomesticViolence #SystemFailure #ForensicPsychologyJoin Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspodInstagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/tonybpodListen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.

Charity Beallis and her six-year-old twins were found shot to death December 3rd in Bonanza, Arkansas. Two months later, no arrest. Charity's father says he viewed her body and she was shot twice—chest and forehead. If accurate, that eliminates suicide. So what's taking so long?The timeline speaks for itself. Divorce finalized December 2nd. Joint custody awarded. Twins scheduled to return to Randall Beallis December 5th. One day before that transfer, Charity and the children were dead.Defense attorney Eric Faddis analyzes what's likely happening behind the scenes and what legal thresholds investigators might be trying to meet.The documented history is extensive. Randall was arrested February 2025 for allegedly choking Charity in front of their children. Charges were reduced to a misdemeanor. Child maltreatment was substantiated for both twins in July. His attorney says he's cooperating and was not responsible for the deaths.Then there's 2012. Randall's second wife Shawna was found dead with a gunshot wound to the forehead. Ruled suicide. The case was reopened in 2021 after statements to police, then closed because evidence had been destroyed by court order. Faddis explains what happens when a defendant has a prior death in their history that mirrors the current case.Three days after the bodies were found, investigators discovered family photos, children's artwork, and a necklace with the twins' names in a dumpster at an address connected to Randall through court records. No comment from law enforcement.Two months of silence. A mother reportedly shot twice. Two children dead. A custody battle that ended the day before the murders. A prior wife dead under strikingly similar circumstances.Eric Faddis breaks down what investigators need to make an arrest—and what defense attorneys are likely preparing.#CharityBeallis #BeallisTwins #RandallBeallis #BonanzaArkansas #TrueCrime #HiddenKillers #EricFaddis #DomesticViolence #TripleHomicide #ArkansasCrimeJoin Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspodInstagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/tonybpodListen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.

 It's been two months since Charity Beallis and her twins were found dead in Bonanza, Arkansas. No arrest. No charges. Charity's father told Hidden Killers he saw her body—shot twice, chest and forehead. If his account is accurate, suicide isn't a plausible explanation.The timing is impossible to ignore. Divorce finalized December 2nd. Joint custody granted. Children to return to Randall Beallis December 5th. Bodies discovered December 3rd.Defense attorney Eric Faddis joins Hidden Killers Live to examine what this silence from investigators typically means, what evidence they might still be gathering, and what legal strategy emerges when a defendant has the documented history Randall Beallis has.That history includes a February 2025 arrest for allegedly choking Charity in front of their children. Felony charges reduced to misdemeanor. Child maltreatment substantiated for both twins in July. His attorney maintains he's cooperating and was not responsible.The history goes back further. In 2012, Randall's second wife Shawna was found dead with a gunshot wound to the forehead. Ruled suicide. Reopened in 2021 after police received statements. Closed again—evidence destroyed by court order in 2014.Physical evidence surfaced quickly. Three days after the bodies were found, family photos and a necklace bearing the twins' names were discovered in a dumpster at an apartment complex tied to Randall through court documents. Investigators have declined to comment.Two shots. Two months. No arrest. A prior wife's death under similar circumstances. A custody timeline that reads like a countdown.Faddis walks through what prosecutors need to bring charges, what defense attorneys prepare when their client has this kind of documented past, and what the person responsible for these deaths should be thinking right now.#CharityBeallis #BeallisTwins #RandallBeallis #ArkansasCrime #EricFaddis #HiddenKillersLive #TrueCrime #DomesticViolence #TripleHomicide #ColdCaseJoin Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspodInstagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/tonybpodListen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.

Monique Tepe allegedly knew for eight years that Michael McKee had threatened to kill her. According to the unsealed affidavit, witnesses said he strangled her during their seven-month marriage, forced unwanted sex, and told her he could end her life whenever he wanted. She divorced him. She never filed a public police report. She rebuilt — married Spencer, had two children — while carrying that weight. On December 30th, she and Spencer were found dead in their Columbus home. McKee has pleaded not guilty despite surveillance footage, a ballistics match, and years of documented threats.Mica Miller called police fourteen times in her final months. She reported tracking devices. Harassment. Fear for her life. She told her family if she ended up with a bullet in her head, it wasn't by her — it was JP. Two days after serving Pastor JP Miller divorce papers, she was dead. Ruled a suicide. JP just pleaded not guilty to federal cyberstalking while the indictment alleges tracking, non-consensual nude photo distribution, fifty-plus contacts in a single day, and lies to investigators.Psychotherapist Shavaun Scott — author of "The Minds of Mass Killers" and a DV survivor whose ex-husband died by revenge suicide — connects these cases. She explains the psychological burden of living under direct threat, why victims don't report, the forensic profile of defendants who treat prosecution as competition, and how coercive controllers weaponize every system designed to help their targets. Two women. Two systems that failed. Two men who allegedly believed consequences were for other people.#MoniqueTepe #MicaMiller #MichaelMcKee #JPMiller #HiddenKillersLive #ShavaunScott #CoerciveControl #DomesticViolence #SystemFailure #MindsOfMassKillersJoin Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspodInstagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/tonybpodListen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.

Mica Miller tried to leave. She filed for divorce. She called police fourteen times. She reported GPS trackers on her car. Slashed tires. Harassment. She told officers she was afraid for her life. Two days after serving JP Miller divorce papers, she was dead. Ruled a suicide.The federal indictment against Pastor JP Miller alleges a pattern that psychotherapist Shavaun Scott calls textbook coercive control: tracking devices, a nude photo posted online without consent, over fifty contacts in a single day, financial interference, and lies to federal investigators. People always ask why victims don't just leave. Mica did try to leave. Scott explains why the most dangerous time for a victim is often the escape attempt itself — and why every system designed to protect Mica failed her.Mica said JP "groomed" her starting at age ten. In February 2024, she was involuntarily committed for forty-eight hours. When she was released, her car was gone, accounts locked, and according to family, JP had removed evidence she'd been collecting. JP publicly called her mentally ill, said she needed lithium, told his congregation that sick people "don't know they're sick" and need to "trust people around them." Scott breaks down how abusers weaponize mental health narratives to make sure no one believes their victims. South Carolina still has no standalone coercive control law. This case shows why that matters.#MicaMiller #JPMiller #HiddenKillers #CoerciveControl #FederalIndictment #ShavaunScott #DomesticViolence #PastorAbuse #Grooming #SystemFailureJoin Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspodInstagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/tonybpodListen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.

The federal indictment against Pastor JP Miller is a roadmap of coercive control: tracking devices planted on her car, a nude photo posted online without consent, over fifty contacts in a single day, financial interference, and lies to federal investigators. Mica Miller called police fourteen times in her final months. She reported GPS trackers. Slashed tires. Harassment. She told officers she was afraid for her life. She told her family if she ended up with a bullet in her head, it wasn't by her — it was JP. Two days after serving him divorce papers, she was dead. Ruled a suicide.Psychotherapist Shavaun Scott has spent thirty years treating survivors of coercive control. She explains exactly what the Miller indictment reveals about how these patterns work — and why every system designed to protect Mica failed. Mica told police JP "groomed" her starting when she was ten years old. In February 2024, she was involuntarily hospitalized for forty-eight hours. When she got out, according to family affidavits, her car was gone, her accounts were locked, and JP had allegedly removed documents she'd been collecting about his abuse.JP told media Mica had "mental health struggles." In a sermon, he told his congregation that mentally ill people "don't know they're sick" and need to "trust people around them." Scott breaks down how abusers weaponize mental health narratives to discredit victims and ensure no one believes them when they finally try to escape. South Carolina still has no standalone coercive control law. Senate Bill 702 has been reintroduced — and keeps stalling.#MicaMiller #JPMiller #HiddenKillersLive #CoerciveControl #FederalIndictment #ShavaunScott #Grooming #PastorAbuse #Cyberstalking #SystemFailureJoin Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspodInstagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/tonybpodListen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.

Does former CNN host turned independent journalist Don Lemon have a First Amendment right to interfere with the First Amendment rights of the worshipers and pastor at that church? “I think the question answers itself, and the answer is no,” argues Scott Johnson, a Minneapolis-based attorney, Claremont Institute fellow, founding member of Power Line and one of the great minds behind 2004's “Rather Gate”, on today's edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words,” with Jack Fowler.

A pair of promising young Ohio State running backs are going to miss the 2026 spring football season after each undergoing surgery. Tony Gerdeman of BuckeyeHuddle.com joins host Tom Orr to discuss what this news means for talented RBs Bo Jackson and Isaiah West for the 2026 Ohio State football season, the opportunities it will open up for new RBs Ja'Kobi Jackson, Turbo Rogers, Legend Bey, and Favour Akih, and more.

Amy DuBois Barnett on Media Bias, Lil’ Kim, Hulu Series & Her New Book 'If I Ruled the World' + More See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome back to the RPGBOT.Podcast, where today we're talking about Plane of Elysium—the one afterlife that sounds so good the Dungeon Master has to invent mechanics to stop you from moving there permanently. It's paradise. Your needs are met. You're at peace. You're happy. Too happy. In fact, if you stay too long, you might fail a Wisdom save and decide adventuring, heroism, and saving the multiverse are overrated compared to eternal riverfront property and a Mai Tai. And if that sounds suspiciously like quitting D&D to live in a gated community called "Ecstasy," don't worry—we'll explain why enforced happiness, dragon shift-work, and a giant bone spine gate mean Elysium is still absolutely unhinged. Show Notes What Is Elysium? Elysium is the Neutral Good Outer Plane, positioned between the Beastlands and Arborea. It represents true contentment, rest, and fulfillment, rather than law, chaos, or moral absolutism. Souls here aren't punished, tested, or judged—they're finally allowed to relax. The Core Vibe No labor, no scarcity, no stress. Everything you need is provided. Happiness is genuine—unless you're in the gate town, where it absolutely is not. The Four Layers of Elysium Amoria Gentle meadows, forests, and idyllic towns along the River Oceanus. Every settlement somehow has riverfront property. Biomes get weirder the farther you travel from the river (plains, badlands, deserts… for reasons). Eronia Craggy mountains, harsh winters, rugged terrain. Heaven for dwarves, mountain folk, and anyone who thinks Colorado weather is "nice actually." Belierin (Bellerin) The prison layer of heaven, which is a sentence that should worry you. Holds legendary threats that couldn't be killed: hydras, ancient evils, fallen dukes of Hell. Access is restricted—mostly via the River Oceanus. Perfect setup for a level 20 "heaven jailbreak" campaign. Thalassia Endless ocean dotted with heroic islands. Where the best souls go—or where deities personally abduct you before you die because you're just that good. Eternal tropical vacation, sailing, fishing, and zero capitalism. The River Oceanus A holy river that flows through Elysium and beyond. Functions as a major planar highway connecting multiple Upper Planes. Also conveniently Hydra-proof. Who Lives Here? Guardinals (celestial animal-folk with extreme "Narnia energy") Moon Dogs (the best boys; CR 12; hunt evil; deserve all the treats) Phoenixes, because nobody here is trying to harvest them for profit Numerous deities, including Pelor, Lathander, and Shantaea Pathfinder vs. D&D Pathfinder does have an Elysium—but it's functionally closer to D&D's Arborea. Same name, wildly different vibes. The Gate Town: Ecstasy Located in the Outlands, connected to Elysium. Appears joyful, welcoming, and celebratory… because happiness is magically enforced. Suppressed emotions inevitably explode into violence. Ruled by twin dragons: The Lightcaller (gold dragon, daytime ruler) The Night Whisperer (silver dragon, nighttime ruler) Never seen together. Definitely suspicious. Key Locations in Ecstasy Philosopher's Court – a "safe" place to vent grievances that now regularly turns into Fight Club. Revelhome Inn – run by a Lawful Neutral medusa who turns problem guests into garden statues. The Bone Plinth – a giant spine you climb to reach the gate to Elysium, because nothing says "upper plane" like skeletal horror décor. Planar Mechanics Overwhelming Joy (Optional Rule): Fail repeated Wisdom saves and you refuse to leave Elysium. If forcibly removed, you'll do everything possible to return. Fear effects are weakened. Violence is rare—unless you're in Ecstasy, where it's scheduled. Key Takeaways Elysium is D&D's most tempting afterlife—and the one most likely to derail your campaign. It offers true happiness, not moral judgment or endless labor. The layered structure lets every character imagine their perfect heaven. Belierin quietly turns heaven into an endgame boss rush. Ecstasy proves that enforced happiness is way scarier than honest suffering. Overwhelming Joy is a brilliant narrative mechanic for testing player priorities. If your party reaches Elysium and leaves voluntarily, they are either heroes… or liars. Welcome to the RPGBOT Podcast. If you love Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, and tabletop RPGs, this is the podcast for you. Support the show for free: Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any podcast app. It helps new listeners find the best RPG podcast for D&D and Pathfinder players. Level up your experience: Join us on Patreon to unlock ad-free access to RPGBOT.net and the RPGBOT Podcast, chat with us and the community on the RPGBOT Discord, and jump into live-streamed RPG podcast recordings. Support while you shop: Use our Amazon affiliate link at https://amzn.to/3NwElxQ and help us keep building tools and guides for the RPG community. Meet the Hosts Tyler Kamstra – Master of mechanics, seeing the Pathfinder action economy like Neo in the Matrix. Randall James – Lore buff and technologist, always ready to debate which Lord of the Rings edition reigns supreme. Ash Ely – Resident cynic, chaos agent, and AI's worst nightmare, bringing pure table-flipping RPG podcast energy. Join the RPGBOT team where fantasy roleplaying meets real strategy, sarcasm, and community chaos. How to Find Us: In-depth articles, guides, handbooks, reviews, news on Tabletop Role Playing at RPGBOT.net Tyler Kamstra BlueSky: @rpgbot.net TikTok: @RPGBOTDOTNET Ash Ely Professional Game Master on StartPlaying.Games BlueSky: @GravenAshes YouTube: @ashravenmedia Randall James BlueSky: @GrimoireRPG Amateurjack.com Read Melancon: A Grimoire Tale (affiliate link) Producer Dan @Lzr_illuminati

Criminal Defense Attorney Michael Leonard of Leonard Trial Lawyers joins Jon Hansen to discuss the ruling in the murder-for-hire case involving a Chicago man and ICE Commander Gregory Bovino. Joining them is Employment Lawyer Patrick Dolan of Conti and Dolan to talk about the latest employment news. The trio answer listener questions about retirement payouts, […]

A former NFL player dies at a homeless encampment in Los Angeles, and investigators say his death was a homicide. A former Olympic snowboarder accused of running a massive international drug operation is taken into custody after months on the FBI’s most-wanted list. Drew Nelson reports.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

start set the show00:05:00 Snow Storm preparation00:10:00 Grizzlies game day00:24:00 Lang Whitaker00:50:00 Hudson Williams and Connor Story to be torch bearers00:59:00 NFL Conference Championship preview01:12:00 Music Friday- Ella Mai album executive produced by Ella Mai- What we are listening to- Grammys live performances announced

-There has been a string of G-League players getting ruled eligible by the NCAA to play in college basketball games and join teams in the middle of the season-Alabama's Charles Bediako was a part of the 31-win Alabama season back in 2023 team-He declared for the draft, went undrafted, and then signed a professional contract. Nate Oats plans to play him on Saturday for the Crimson TideOur Sponsors:* Check out Aura.com: https://aura.com/remove* Check out BetterHelp: https://www.betterhelp.com* Check out Progressive: https://www.progressive.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Guest: Brenda Wineapple. The defense suffered a major setback when the judge ruled that their scientific experts could not testify before the jury, forcing them to read affidavits into the record instead. H.L. Mencken, the acerbic journalist who dubbed the event the "Monkey Trial," covered the proceedings. Sympathetic to Darrow and critical of Bryan's"fanatic" views, Mencken influenced public perception, though the jury remained shielded from the scientific evidence the defense hoped to present.1960 FREDERIC MARCH AS WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN "INHERIT THE WIND"

The podcast that none of us wanted to do...

This week, the parents of 27-year-old Elle Greenberg are hopeful, after fighting for nearly 15 years to have their daughter’s death ruled a homicide. Greenberg was found dead by her fiancé in January of 2011 with more than 20 stab wounds, some in the back of her neck, and a 10 inch knife in her chest. 2 weeks later, investigators ruled it a suicide, but now the medical examiner who performed Greenberg’s original autopsy is saying her death should NOT be designated as a suicide.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, the parents of 27-year-old Elle Greenberg are hopeful, after fighting for nearly 15 years to have their daughter’s death ruled a homicide. Greenberg was found dead by her fiancé in January of 2011 with more than 20 stab wounds, some in the back of her neck, and a 10 inch knife in her chest. 2 weeks later, investigators ruled it a suicide, but now the medical examiner who performed Greenberg’s original autopsy is saying her death should NOT be designated as a suicide.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, the parents of 27-year-old Elle Greenberg are hopeful, after fighting for nearly 15 years to have their daughter’s death ruled a homicide. Greenberg was found dead by her fiancé in January of 2011 with more than 20 stab wounds, some in the back of her neck, and a 10 inch knife in her chest. 2 weeks later, investigators ruled it a suicide, but now the medical examiner who performed Greenberg’s original autopsy is saying her death should NOT be designated as a suicide.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, the parents of 27-year-old Elle Greenberg are hopeful, after fighting for nearly 15 years to have their daughter’s death ruled a homicide. Greenberg was found dead by her fiancé in January of 2011 with more than 20 stab wounds, some in the back of her neck, and a 10 inch knife in her chest. 2 weeks later, investigators ruled it a suicide, but now the medical examiner who performed Greenberg’s original autopsy is saying her death should NOT be designated as a suicide.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Brianna Aguilera was a 19-year-old Texas A&M student who fell 17 stories from a West Campus apartment in Austin on November 29, 2025. Austin Police ruled her death a suicide just five days later — before the autopsy was completed, before toxicology came back, and before a rape kit was even processed. But the family isn't buying it. And neither is the neighbor who heard everything through the walls that night.Dannah Rodriguez lived directly across the hall from the apartment Brianna was visiting. At attorney Tony Buzbee's January 2026 press conference, she described hearing loud arguing, a girl's voice fighting with multiple people, and screaming — the kind of scream you make when something goes wrong. Her father thought the arguing was coming from the balcony. Minutes later, Brianna was dead.According to the neighbor, the resident of that apartment vacated almost immediately after Brianna's death. And she claims police never entered the unit during their investigation. So what were they actually investigating?Brianna's parents have now filed a $1 million wrongful death lawsuit against the Austin Blacks Rugby Club and the UT Latin Economics and Business Association, alleging their daughter was illegally overserved alcohol at a tailgate earlier that evening. But attorney Tony Buzbee says the lawsuit is really about one thing: subpoena power. If police won't investigate, the family will do it themselves.The autopsy still isn't complete. The toxicology still isn't back. The witnesses in the apartment have allegedly been told not to talk. And a mother is demanding the Texas Rangers take over the case.This is the story of Brianna Aguilera — and the questions nobody in Austin seems willing to answer.#BriannaAguilera #TonyBuzbee #AustinTexas #TexasAM #WrongfulDeath #TrueCrime #ColdCase #JusticeForBrianna #HiddenKillers #CrimeJoin Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISDOES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspodInstagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/tonybpodListen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

In this episode of Chakras & Cusswords, we dive deep into Sagittarius, the zodiac's ultimate adventurer and truth-seeker. Ruled by Jupiter, the planet of expansion, Sagittarians are fearless explorers of life, love, philosophy, and freedom.We'll break down Sagittarius energy — their optimism, humor, and insatiable curiosity — as well as their challenges, from restlessness to blunt honesty. Learn how Sagittarians love, work, and thrive, and discover why their adventurous spirit inspires the zodiac to dream bigger, take risks, and always aim higher.Whether you're a Sagittarius sun, moon, rising, or just obsessed with astrology, this episode explores every arrow, every adventure, and every lesson of this fire sign.✨ Get ready to laugh, reflect, and embrace the wild, free energy of Sagittarius.About the Host: Katherine  is an esteemed practitioner of Chakra, Astrology, and Tarot Alchemy, harnessing the cosmic forces and energies to manifest magic and success.As the visionary behind the acclaimed Chakras & Cusswords Podcast, she curates an oasis for the contemporary mystic, guiding seekers on a transformative journey of self-discovery. Her illustrious presence has graced prestigious platforms such as Good Day Sacramento, The Astrology Magazine, TMZ and the revered Aura app.Elevating her craft to the forefront, the Chakras & Cusswords Podcast has earned distinction as one of the Top 5 Chakra-inspired Podcasts.Furthermore, Katherine is a certified life, chakra, and meditation coach, specializing in the holistic healing of mind and soul through the profound resonance of sound energy. Her expertise serves as a beacon of hope and renewal for those embarking on the path of personal growth and spiritual enlightenment.Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chakras_cusswords/Lifestyle, Nurse Love 101: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtWgA6zxwaZd-CpNUi3CO5wTik Tok:https://www.tiktok.com/@chakras.cusswordsWebsite: https://chakrascusswords.com#manifestation #lawofattraction #chakrascusswords #fullmoon #newmoon #astrology #zodiac #sagittarius

Ste is here with today's Redmen Bitesize podcast, discussing Conor Bradley's awful injury news, and more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After all those months of babbling about fentanyl and "narcoterrorism" and freedom and democracy, the Trump administration has come right out and admitted that its regime change interventionism in Venezuela has always been a good old-fashioned oil grab. Reading by Tim Foley.

In this episode: Developing: The Rock ruled out of having a match at WWE WrestleMania 42, Which absent WWE stars are expected to be in Saudi Arabia for this year's Royal Rumble, and News regarding WWE's plans for the El Grande Americano gimmick when Chad Gable returnsKerr County Flood Relief Fund: https://cftexashillcountry.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=4201Support Katie: https://gofund.me/cb2cdcb5Support Eastern Kentucky: https://secure.kentucky.gov/formservices/Finance/emergencyrelief/American Red Cross: https://www.redcross.org/donate/cm/wlky32-pub.html/The Dream Center: https://www.ekdc.info/donateKCTCS Disaster Relief: https://kctcs.edu/disasterrelief.aspxUniversity of Kentucky Flood Relief: https://philanthropy.uky.edu/kentuckyfloodreliefIf you like what you hear on the podcast, consider helping me out a little bit financially at: https://www.patreon.com/jamminjon

Will Lou goes live to break down the Toronto Raptors' 106-103 loss to the Denver Nuggets on New Year's Eve. He details the Raptors' issues in crunch time, the struggles of the bench unit against zone coverages, and wishes everyone a happy 2026.Three stars: Scottie Barnes, Brandon Ingram, RJ BarrettGerald Henderson award: Peyton Watson#nba #raptors #nuggets Reach out to the show by leaving a voicemail at hellowelcome.show or email the guys info@hellowelcome.showCheck out our merch! Visit hellowelcome.show and click on the merch link.Original Music by DIVISION 88.Reach out to sales@thenationnetwork.com to connect with our Sales Team and discuss opportunities to partner with us! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

An Oxford biologist believes that after humans inevitably go extinct, octopuses may rise to become the next great civilization builders — and they've already started constructing underwater cities.READ or SHARE: https://weirddarkness.com/octopus-takeoverWeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2025, Weird Darkness.#WeirdDarkness, #Octopus, #AnimalIntelligence, #Science, #Evolution, #MarineBiology, #OceanCreatures, #SmartAnimals, #HumanExtinction, #Documentary

Plan your year in sync with astrology at MindfulNewYear.comIn this episode of the Quietmind Astrology Podcast, we explore the unique energy of the final week of December 2025 - that awkward in-between time where one year ends and the next begins. With a powerful Stellium in Sagittarius (Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars), the cosmos is inviting us to explore, learn, and expand our horizons before the practical energy of Capricorn sets in mid-January.We also dive into the upcoming Full Moon in Ardra Nakshatra on January 3rd, a time ripe for emotional catharsis, "stormy" transformative energy, and intellectual breakthroughs. Learn why New Year's resolutions often fail, how to use the "GPS Method" for spiritual manifestation, and how to navigate information overload in the modern age.Key Takeaways & Timestamps00:00 – The "In-Between" Week & The 2026 FrequencyWe start by acknowledging the awkward limbo between Christmas and New Year's, a time often marked by confusion on where to focus. However, energetically, we are already shifting from the 2025 frequency of endings and completion into the 2026 frequency of possibility, expansion, and new creation (a 1 year in vedic numerology). 01:08 – Sagittarius Stellium: A Time for ExplorationA major Stellium is occurring in Sagittarius involving Mercury, Venus, the Sun, and Mars. This alignment emphasizes exploration, learning, and growth, making it an excellent week for working with mentors, studying philosophy, or traveling to new places, even if just exploring a new part of your local town. 02:04 – Reviewing the Year with MercuryWith Mercury (the intellect) in Sagittarius, now is the ideal time to review the past year: what went well, what didn't, and what lessons were learned. Depending on your rising sign, this energy highlights different areas of life, such as relationships (7th House) or creativity and children (5th House). 04:34 – Why New Year's Resolutions FailResolutions often fade by February because we set them during the fun, expansive energy of Sagittarius, but fail to maintain them when the sun moves into the practical, work-oriented energy of Capricorn in mid-January. To make goals stick, we must be prepared to transition from "dreaming big" to "doing the work." 06:54 – The GPS Method for ManifestationRather than viewing goals as a linear struggle, think of them like a GPS: identify Point A (current reality) and Point B (desired outcome). Spiritually, the shortest distance isn't a line but a single point; by embodying the frequency of your goal now (happiness, excitement), you attract that reality faster and with less resistance. 13:51 – Full Moon in Ardra (January 3rd)We transition into the New Year with a Full Moon in Ardra Nakshatra (Gemini). Ruled by Rudra, the storm god, this energy brings emotional storms and tears that cleanse and purify, much like rain after a drought. Expect opportunities for deep emotional catharsis, truth-telling, and intellectual breakthroughs. 16:12 – Managing Nervous Energy & Information OverloadThe combination of Gemini and Mercury can lead to nervous system agitation and information overload - a common challenge in the AI age. If you feel triggered or overwhelmed, prioritize nervous system regulation (yoga, meditation) and focus only on information relevant to your current life stage or Dasha (e.g., service during a Saturn period). Free Weekly Horoscopes & Exclusive offers: https://www.quietmindastrology.com/freehoroscopesFree Vedic Birth Chart & Training:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.quietmindastrology.com/freebirthchartInstagram:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.instagram.com/quietmindastrologyDecode Your Birth Chart: https://www.quietmindastrology.com/1011:1 Reading: https://www.quietmindastrology.com/readingMentorship: https://www.quietmindastrology.com/mentorshipQuietmind Yoga: https://www.quietmind.yoga

“We are ruled by psychopaths.” CJ did not coin that phrase, but he repeats it often, and he means it both literally & emphatically. This may sound crazy to many, but that perception is often based on a very mistaken understanding of what the term ‘psychopath’ really means. Join CJ on a deep dive into the true nature of psychopaths, how to spot them, how they operate, & why it’s a very reasonable hypothesis to suspect that psychopaths are very disproportionately represented among corporate oligarchs, politicians, & government officials. Reminder: Now through the end of 2025, you can save 25% off an annual membership to CJ’s Patreon, or 25% off the first month of a monthly membership, with the offer code 1225 ! Like this episode? You can throw CJ a $ tip via Paypal here: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=D6VUYSYQ4EU6L Throw CJ a $ tip via Venmo here: https://www.venmo.com/u/dangerousmedia Or throw CJ a BTC tip here: bc1qfrz9erz7dqazh9rhz3j7nv696nl52ux8unw79z Other ways to support the show (including CJ’s PO Box address) CJ’s Picks (Amazon Affiliate links to books referenced in this episode) Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us by Robert Hare Snakes in Suits: When Psychopaths Go to Work by Paul Babiak & Robert Hare

Happy New Year from Old Time Radio of the 1930s! Featuring: The History of New Year's Day Jack Benny Mary Livingston Don Wilson Georgie Jessel Norma Talmadge Edward Arnold Dennis Day Phil Harris Eddie “Rochester” Anderson Click Here For Old Time Radio New Year Eve!!

A bird known as Titanis walleri made its home in Florida just a few million years ago. Titanis, as its name suggests, was titanic indeed — a flightless predator, 5 feet tall, with a massive hooked bill. Titanis and other birds related to it belong to a group some paleontologists call the "terror birds." They were dominant land predators in South America for tens of millions of years. Paleontologists still aren't clear about why Titanis and its kin went extinct. But whatever factors ended the era of the terror birds also made it a lot less risky to go out and fill your bird feeder.More info and transcript at BirdNote.org.Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks. BirdNote is a nonprofit. Your tax-deductible gift makes these shows possible.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Before insomnia entered Abbie's life, sleep was effortless. She'd never had to think about it. She fell asleep quickly, stayed asleep, and moved through her days without giving sleep much attention at all. It was simply there — reliable and unremarkable. That changed in the fall of 2021 after a short illness. One sleepless night turned into another, and before long, sleep became the center of everything. What started as confusion quickly grew into anxiety and pressure. Each night felt like a test. Each morning felt heavier. As the nights passed, fear took over — fear of being awake, fear of not functioning, fear that something was permanently wrong. Like many people facing insomnia, Abbie did what made sense. She tried to fix it. She went to bed earlier and earlier. She canceled plans. She followed strict routines. She tried supplements. She searched for answers. And each attempt came with hope — followed by disappointment when sleep didn't show up. Over time, life began to shrink around sleep, and the struggle only intensified. Days became just as difficult as nights. Her mind stayed locked on one question: Am I going to sleep tonight? Anxiety filled the hours. Dread set in as evening approached. Even when she was exhausted, her heart raced and her thoughts refused to slow down. What began to shift things wasn't a new fix — it was a change in how she responded. Abbie started noticing that withdrawing from life wasn't helping. Staying in bed wasn't restoring her energy. And fighting her thoughts wasn't bringing relief. Slowly, she began doing something different: showing up to her life even when sleep felt uncertain. She experimented with staying up later instead of trying to force sleep. She returned to the gym. She made plans. She studied. She lived — without waiting for sleep to cooperate. And over time, something important changed. Sleep became less of a battleground. Her thoughts lost their grip. And trust — in herself and in her body — started to rebuild. In this conversation, Abbie shares what it was like to move through insomnia, how her relationship with sleep changed, and why easing the struggle — not fixing sleep — made all the difference. Click here for a full transcript of this episode. Transcript Martin: Welcome to the Insomnia Coach Podcast. My name is Martin Reed. I believe that by changing how we respond to insomnia and all the difficult thoughts and feelings that come with it, we can move away from struggling with insomnia and toward living the life we want to live. Martin: The content of this podcast is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. The statements and opinions expressed by guests are their own and are not necessarily endorsed by Insomnia Coach LLC. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied. Martin: Okay. Abbie, thank you so much for taking the time out for your day to come onto the podcast. Abbie: Yeah, thanks for having me. Great to be here. Martin: Let’s start right at the very beginning. When did your issues with sleep first begin and what do you feel caused those issues with sleep? Abbie: Yeah. It was fall 2021, so like almost four years ago, which is crazy because it feels so vivid in my memories. Abbie: But I had gotten sick, I think it was like the cold or a flu or something, just like a normal sick, and I wasn’t able to sleep which was really jarring for me at the time because prior to this sort of period of insomnia, I had been a really great sleeper. Like I, had my whole life I had basically like. Abbie: I never really thought much about sleep. I fell asleep immediately. I stayed asleep. Yeah I had gotten sick, I wasn’t able to sleep. And then I remember the next night I was like, okay, tonight’s the night like, I have to sleep. So I was already, like putting that pressure on sleep it has to be tonight. Abbie: And so that kind of started, I would say like the feedback loop of okay, I am stressed about sleep. The more I stress about sleep, the less I’m gonna sleep. Yeah, I think I was also dealing with just like a period of more heightened anxiety in my life at the time too. I was applying to graduate school and taking, the admissions tests for that and so maybe it was just like, kinda like the perfect storm. Abbie: I was like, okay, if I’m gonna get better, I need to sleep. I think it was also like, this was the first time in my life I had experienced a sleepless night. And so it was just like, that was really uncomfortable, like laying there awake all night. The longer you’re awake, the more stressed you’re getting, your heart’s kind of beating fast. Abbie: Like the whole thing was just uncomfortable and new for me. So I was like I don’t want that to happen again. I better sleep tonight. Abbie: I feel like each night I wasn’t sleeping, I was just getting more and more anxious about sleeping. I think I was like a week in at that point and I had probably slept two hours each night and I was like, what is going on? Abbie: Am I ever gonna sleep again? And yeah, I mean it was, I would fall asleep around four or 5:00 AM and then be back up again at 6:00 AM for work. And yeah it was just super uncomfortable and yeah, anyone who’s. Insomnia knows how stressful it is. Abbie: It was like, every hour that passes, I’m like, okay, I gotta get up in what, in three hours, two hours, one hour. And then, just this intense desire to stay in bed in the mornings. I think to see if you’re tired and you haven’t slept, and you’re like, all I wanna do is stay in bed. Abbie: I do think, like looking back, I think having my work routine and schedule was like really hard at the time, but really beneficial in some ways because I couldn’t just sit in bed and all day and try to go back to bed and I had to get up and get out and go to work. And that was also ended up being, I think, a good distraction. Abbie: At least for like the eight hours a day I was working. I wasn’t thinking about sleep. I think that was positive. Martin: What about that day, those days when you didn’t have any work obligations? Were things different then? Abbie: Yeah, I would definitely I think early on I would definitely, stay in bed all morning, like trying to quote unquote rest or see if maybe I could eventually fall asleep. Abbie: And just like really dreading the day because I had slept it all and I was like, Ugh, another day I’m gonna be really tired all day. It’s gonna be so bad. Like kind of those typical anxious, catastrophic thoughts of I just, I don’t wanna do the day. Like I didn’t get any sleep. So if there was, if I didn’t have work and nothing was like forcing me outta bed, I think it was, it would’ve been hard. Martin: So at this point. Things are really difficult as you’ve just described. And when we face difficulties in life or problems in life, we look to solve them. Martin: So what was your next step? What other things were you trying to do to get your sleep back on track and get yourself back to where you used to be? Abbie: Yeah, I think I was trying everything. One of the things I started doing early on was like, canceling all my plans and I would get off work and, as soon as I was done with work like the dread and the anxiety about sleeping that night would kick in. Abbie: And so I would be like, okay, I gotta go home. I gotta make dinner and I gotta get in bed. So I was like, my bedtime was becoming earlier and earlier even though I just, I wasn’t tired. And I think I was also pretty much trying every sleep supplement out there that there is like about a month in, I think I’d seen my doctor and she had prescribed me I think it was like Ambien or something, and I never ended up taking it, but I did try every over the counter supplement, magnesium, melatonin, all the things. Abbie: And I would get like really excited like, okay, this is gonna be the thing, like this is gonna work for me. And then every time it didn’t, it was like a letdown of okay, it was like more evidence in my mind that, my sleep is broken and there’s nothing out there that’s gonna fix it. Martin: I think a lot of people are gonna identify with that. Martin: And all the things you shared are completely logical to try, right? If we want more sleep to happen it’s almost ground into us that we go to bed earlier, that it’s important to go to bed early get more sleep, give sleep that opportunity to show up. And there can be, it can be, it’s almost like we can become really enthusiastic or we can just try so hard that it backfires on us to the point where we do less with our lives and sleep then grows in importance. Martin: It becomes more of a focus. So it’s almost like we’re up in the stakes. It becomes even more important for us to perform sleep and then when it doesn’t happen as we want it to. You did a great job of just describing what that’s like yourself. We can just, it feels, it can feel like a personal failure and it can reinforce perhaps this belief that there is something uniquely wrong, that maybe our sleep system is somehow broken. Martin: But the truth of the matter is, it’s. Perhaps it’s all the ongoing efforts and the trying, which now exists when it never existed before, when we slept fine, that might be the true source of the problem. Abbie: Yeah, definitely. And I think yeah, along the lines of just like trying everything to control sleep, I was like doing all the sleep hygiene, things like that were recommended. Abbie: Like I was no screens before bed. Like I just, I had this whole routine of I got a no caffeine, no alcohol, blah, blah, blah. That was just like adding more and more things when, like you just said in the past I had no sleep routine. Like I was, I would pass out on the couch watching TV and go to bed. Abbie: So yeah, I think that’s exactly right. Martin: Often as we’re engaged in this pursuit of sleep, we end up removing things from our lives that, either give us meaning or are enjoyable. And that could be something like we, we might give up coffee altogether, for example, even though that’s something we really enjoy. Martin: We remove that from our lives. We remove TV from our lives. We remove going out with friends late at night from our lives. And so our sleep generally stays the same because sleep doesn’t really care about any of that stuff. But at the same time, our situation has gotten worse because we’re taking all of that stuff away in order to serve sleep. Martin: And it just makes us, it can make us just feel trapped in this just endless spiral of more difficulty and a less joy from life. More withdrawal and more struggle. Abbie: Yeah. Yeah. I definitely think that was my experience. The more I. I stopped my usual routine. The worse, I think the worse that it got, for sure. Abbie: Which is counterintuitive at the time I was like, I can’t be out until 10 o’clock, like I gotta be in bed. And that ended up being one of the things that I, that down the road really helped me was actually staying out late and doing things late at night and doing all these things despite not being able to sleep. Martin: I’m curious, you mentioned earlier that you went to the doctor and they gave you a prescription for the Ambien, but you didn’t end up taking end. Curious to know why that was? Abbie: Yeah. I was really nervous about taking it, but I think what I was really nervous about is that I, that it would work and that I wouldn’t rely on it to sleep and. Abbie: That was like my worst nightmare. It was like, okay, I can suffer and try to sleep and all these things, and if I took this medication and it worked is that gonna be the rest of my life? Am I never gonna be able to sleep again without this medication? So I definitely was like, I think I was really tempted and really close to probably taking it after a month of not sleeping, but I was like yeah, I just wa I didn’t wanna rip the bandaid off, I guess you could say and go down this like spiral of that I felt like I, I couldn’t get back from. Martin: And I think that’s a good illustration of how any effort or anything that we do to try and make sleep happen can so easily backfire. Because if we try something and it feels like it works. We can feel that reinforces this belief or this idea that we need something to generate sleep, that we’re incapable of generating it by ourselves. Martin: And on the other hand, if we try something and it doesn’t work, then we reinforce this belief that we need. We still need to keep looking, that we can’t generate sleep by ourselves, that we failed at that thing or that we failed at sleep. So we’ve got this potential that regardless of the outcome, every time we try, we might be reinforcing this idea or this belief that there’s something wrong with our sleep system, that there’s something wrong with our situation, that something is broken when that’s never the case, as we’ll explore a little bit later in our conversation. Abbie: Yeah, definitely. I think the reliance, like you said on these external things was really big for me early on and that didn’t end up being the solution. Martin: You also made a good point too, that if we do feel like we’re reliant on something, there might be a point in the future where we don’t wanna be reliant on that thing anymore. Martin: So if we haven’t addressed what the real root cause of this issue might be then we are gonna be having to revisit that at some point in the future. So it never really goes away. It’s always gonna be with us. Abbie: Yeah. Yeah. It definitely felt like a short term solution and I was like, I gotta try, I gotta try something else. Martin: People that aren’t too familiar with insomnia will usually only think of insomnia as like a nighttime problem, but when we’ve been struggling with it or we’ve got that experience of struggling with it, we know that it really is a 24 hour problem, right? It affects our nights and it affects our days. Martin: Maybe it affects our days even more than it affects our nights. I’m curious to hear from you. How was this affecting your days? Not only in terms of like you touched upon your, those kind of withdrawal from the activities and doing things that are important to you, but the way your mind was responding. What was that experience like for you? Abbie: Yeah, I would say it was like really intense anxiety. Pretty much from the moment I got outta bed of just these thoughts of am I gonna sleep tonight? And like I had said going to work was a good distraction, but of course I was like exhausted at work and I was like, I don’t know how many more days and nights of this like I can do. Abbie: And you’re just spiraling. Is this permanent? Is this forever? And I think I also developed a lot of health anxiety around it, like I had all these concerns is this gonna have long-term sort of negative consequences on my health? I think, rightfully there’s so much out there about the number one thing you could do for your health and your longevity is sleep. Abbie: And you Google sleep and there’s 15 articles about the negative consequences of not sleeping. And not to say that the science isn’t true. I just think that was like really unhelpful for me at the time of okay, not only is the consequence, like I’m tired and anxious and I, I physically feel bad, but there’s, if this keeps going this is gonna be bad for my health in the long term. Abbie: So I don’t know. All these thoughts were like spiraling all day long. And then as soon as it. I got dark out, like as soon as the sun started to go down I would get this like intense feeling of dread. And yeah. So it was definitely, like you said, an all day thing, not just like a nighttime thing. Abbie: I think at night it was definitely more I’m sitting in bed and my heart is racing and my thoughts are racing and the more you’re trying to sleep, the more your heart is racing. And so it’s like a lot of physical symptoms. And then during the day it was just like a lot of my mind is consumed with, am I gonna sleep tonight? Martin: The messaging around sleep out there is very focused on sleep is very important and I would agree with that. Sleep is very important, just like breathing is very important and we’re still waiting for a study to come out that shows that insomnia causes any health problem or increases risk of mortality. But boy, when you read some of that stuff that’s online, it really does sound like a life or death situation. And when you are already putting so much importance on sleep, it can just make things so much more difficult. Martin: Because it, again, it ups the stakes, right? And you’re gonna put more pressure on yourself to perform sleep. So yeah, I just wanted to emphasize that yes, sleep is important, but the body can generate it by itself just like it generates breathing by itself. And I think a lot of people here listening to this will really identify with how you described what your mind was doing at the time, it was problem solving for you. It was trying to fix this problem. It was brainstorming, and as it was doing that, it was generating lots of difficult feelings, difficult thoughts. It was generating anxiety to ensure that you were giving it attention. Martin: And there’s also that fatigue, right? That sense of exhaustion. And it can just be when you combine that with your mind is just being focused on sleep and generating all these predictions or these stories it can be really hard to focus and to concentrate on doing stuff that matters. Abbie: Yeah. Yeah. Abbie: That, that was definitely my experience. I think, the anxiety is like enough to deal with and then you’re exhausted, and so that’s only feeding it. And you, I just remember feeling okay, if I don’t like. Die from lack of sleep I’m gonna lose my mind. Yeah, it was just a big spiral. Martin: How did you respond to what your mind was doing at the time? Abbie: At the time I had family and friends and a partner who were really supportive and I could confide in and that was great. But I also think unless you’ve experienced insomnia, I still just felt like very alone, in the experience. Abbie: And finding Insomnia Coach was like huge in realizing that I wasn’t alone and that these aren’t unique thoughts and experiences in, in a good way. So yeah, I was trying to cope I think, as best as I could. I was distracting myself. Trying to distract myself at work and yeah, as soon as I realized that the withdrawing from day-to-day activities was making it worse I think that was a really good kind of switch for me in okay, if I can’t sleep, I can’t control the sleep, but I can control my response and I can control what I’m doing. Abbie: So instead of going to bed at 8:00 PM like I’m gonna go and go to the gym. And I, with no expectation that the gym was gonna make me tired, just like I like to go to the gym and I’m gonna, if I’m up anyway, like I’m gonna study for the GRE and do my grad school application. Abbie: So I think, yeah, as soon as I had that mindset shift from withdrawing to. Going back to my normal routine. If anything it, it was a good distraction. Martin: It sounds like you noticed this conflict between some of the thoughts or the stories that your mind was your problem solving brain was telling you as it was trying to fix this problem for you, like you need to withdraw, you can’t do those things. Martin: You need to do less. You need to say, no, you need to go home. All of these things. And compared to your experience, your experience was telling you well, actually withdrawing isn’t making things any better. It’s not making me feel less fatigued or more rested. It’s certainly not making my life any better. Martin: And once you notice that conflict, maybe there was this kinda light bulb moment there that I can hear all these thoughts. I can listen to all these thoughts and stories. I don’t necessarily need to fight them. I just need to respond in a way that’s of my choosing. I get to decide how to respond to these thoughts. Martin: I don’t have to battle with them, struggle with them. I don’t have to let them control me ultimately. I still have the power here. Abbie: Yeah. I do think that was like the first sort of light bulb going off of okay, all of my thoughts and beliefs about anything but about sleep are not necessarily reality. Abbie: I don’t have to believe that, I have this thought, I’m never gonna sleep again. That doesn’t make it true. Or you have this thought like, I need to go home and cancel all my plans and otherwise we’re gonna be exhausted. I was exhausted anyway yeah I do think the realization that I didn’t have to, I guess believe my. Abbie: My thoughts was also like a really big switch for me. Martin: What did it feel like to realize that what your brain might be telling you or what your brain might be saying might not actually be true? Abbie: Yeah, honestly, it felt like a big relief. I and I also think I realize the worse I feel and the more negative the thoughts, the less true my thinking is and the less serious I need to take my thinking. Abbie: So yeah, I think this big relief of there’s a whole reality that exists out in the world and I can always come back to that and whatever my thoughts, my brain are telling me, it doesn’t always match up with what the reality is. And so as soon as I gave myself like, permission to not believe my thoughts, and I still practice this today. Abbie: Like it’s not easy, but you have an anxious thought or something and you’re like, okay, or here’s the alternative and this isn’t true. So yeah, as soon as I gave myself that permission to, to not one take my thinking so seriously and to two not trust it, especially like when I’m feeling down or bad I think yeah, that, that was a huge sort of flip for me and in my kind of journey with insomnia, but also just like my overall mental health journey. Martin: I think it might be human nature to resist what’s difficult or uncomfortable. So for many of us. We will resist anxiety, for example, or try really hard to fight it when it shows up or avoid it from showing up in the first place. As you develop this insight or this light bulb moment that maybe the thoughts aren’t always true, did that change how you were able to respond to them? Abbie: I think the big thing was just like not taking it so seriously like not taking every thought so seriously. And that in turn helped me take some of the pressure off of sleep because if, if I am, my brain is telling me that, if I don’t sleep tonight there’s gonna be all these consequences and blah, blah, blah, then, but if I don’t have to believe that, then it’s not so much pressure that I sleep tonight or the next night or whenever. Abbie: I do think like getting some distance from my own thoughts was also good. Like I, you’re just, I was so in my own head and every thought that came up, I had to follow that train of thought and act on it. When I realized that I didn’t I think I had a lot more freedom to, to actually do the things that felt Right. Martin: So when you found Insomnia Coach, at this point, you’d already been trying lots of different things. What made you think there might be something here rather than it just being yet another one of these things that you’ll probably try and not get much from? What made it feel different? Abbie: Yeah, I think the main thing was there, this sort of like notion that there’s actually nothing to do, I think a lot of other content, like I had mentioned was like, do this, and this before better or don’t do this and this. And when I found Insomnia Coach, I just really, it was the first time I had seen the messaging like, the more we try, the less sleep will come. Abbie: And so I think when I first found it, I was like, it’s like when some, when you’re stressed and someone tells you to calm down, you’re like, yeah, okay. Stop trying. Sure. That I think at the time seemed like pretty much impossible. But yeah, I think the, there was a lot of content in the emails that you sent that was like one, like I mentioned, making me feel like I’m not alone in this and this isn’t unique to me. Abbie: And two. Maybe I can just let go a little bit, like maybe I can stop trying so hard. And there were some other like specific sort of techniques and things that, that you had mentioned that ended up being really helpful for me, which I am happy to talk about. But yeah, I think it was just the permission to stop trying so hard. Martin: If we are able to remember a time when sleep wasn’t an issue or a concern, what were we doing to make sleep happen so well back then? And maybe our own experience can reveal the most valuable insight, which is that sleep was effortless. It required no effort, there were no rules, there were no rituals. It just happened by itself, and that’s really where we want to get back to. Abbie: Yeah. Yeah. I think that sort of idea you’re mentioning about some of the most valuable information being like my own experience. I think that came up again and again it later in my journey with insomnia. Like when I would have like bumps along the road, I would go back to okay, I’ve had insomnia before. Abbie: I pretty much didn’t sleep for like months on end. And I survived, and I. I went to work and I functioned and all these things like that is evidence for me in my mind that I can do it again. And I think what made this like first like intense bout so hard was that I, this was the first time it had happened. Abbie: Like I didn’t have evidence that I could go back to my baseline, but as soon as I had that, like first night of like normal sleep, I think that was really powerful for me to be like, okay here’s your own experience and evidence that it’s possible to sleep. Again. Martin: It really is a learning experience, I think. Martin: And there’s that classic phrase that we don’t know what we don’t know but if we can approach things with some kindness that we aren’t these all encompassing, all seeing individual geniuses, that there are gonna be things that we don’t know. And we can be kind to it to ourselves about that and be curious and be willing to learn or experiment. Martin: There is so much value there because I think that really is what gives us the opportunity to make change happen. Abbie: Yeah, I definitely wish I had been easier on myself when things were at their peak. I think I, yeah, just like the self-talk and like the things you’re telling yourself why can’t I do this? Abbie: My sleep must be broken. It’s all just negative reinforcement instead of positive sort of affirmations for yourself. I think that can be really hard in the moment. But yeah, looking back, I, I think that would’ve been really useful. Martin: It’s amazing how hard we can be on ourselves when things, when we’re experiencing difficulty and struggle, because I like to believe that there’s good in all of us, and I think that most of us, if we were sitting down with a loved one and they were describing exactly what we were going through themselves, we would talk to them in a completely different way to how we talk to ourselves when we are experiencing that exact same thing. Abbie: Yeah. That is so true. I think that’s something I, I’m still working on, like in every situation what would I tell my loved one, or my friend or my family like I would, if the roles were reversed and a friend had come to me with this insomnia problem, like I would’ve been really like concerned and worried for them. Abbie: But of course I wouldn’t have been like. And I would be like, you’re gonna sleep again. Of course you’re gonna sleep again. And I couldn’t tell myself that at the time. Martin: And if nothing else, again, if we pull on our own experience, we can ask ourselves, how does talking to myself in this way? Or how does acting toward myself in this way help? Martin: Is it improving the situation? Is it making me feel better? Is it helping me emerge from the struggle? Or is it making things more difficult? And I’m a big, I’m a huge proponent of us using our own experience as our best guide, because every person is the expert on themselves. I’m not the expert of anyone other than myself. Martin: But what I can do is encourage people to look within themselves and reflect on their own experience. When it comes to so many struggles in life maybe all of them, the answers that we need are already within us. It’s just a case of. Looking for them. And sometimes we need some kind of external influence or source to tease them out, but all the answers are already within us. Abbie: Yeah. Yeah, that’s a great point. Martin: Let’s get into the changes that you made, that you found most helpful. What ones would you like to share with us? Abbie: Yeah, the most like tangible thing I did was give myself this sort of like wake window in which I couldn’t go to bed. I think I started with three or 4:00 AM or something, and I was like, I’m not even gonna attempt to sleep. Abbie: I have to stay up until 3:00 AM and then I can get in bed and whatever happens, but like until 3:00 AM I am watching tv, I’m doing something, whatever. And I think this like definitely tricked my brain from I have to sleep, I have to sleep, I have to sleep to, I can’t sleep until this time. Abbie: I think that was like really powerful for me. And, it wasn’t like a cure all, like all of a sudden I was sleeping, but it took probably a month when I was like slowly pushing back this sleep sort of window earlier and eventually I would, it would be like 2:00 AM and I would be like passing out to sleep on the couch. Abbie: And I was like, okay, we’ll push it back to 1:00 AM and midnight. And that was really helpful for me. And something that I used, even once my sleep improved, if I had, a bad night or a bad week, I’d be like, okay we’re going back to this like wake window and tonight I’m up until three and we’ll see what happens. Abbie: So yeah it was totally just a mental thing of telling yourself you need to sleep versus telling yourself you have to stay awake. Which is such a simple thing when you, when I look back, but that was like really transformative. Yeah. And the other thing, like I talked about, I think was just like really returning to my routine. Abbie: So like I, I would hang out with friends after work. I would go to the gym, take, my roommate at the time was like a night shift nurse, so she was up anyway, so I’d be like, let’s go do something. And, I’d be out, it’d be like midnight and I’d be like, okay. That was all time in which I was distracted and not thinking about sleep. Abbie: And then I come home and I found sleek to just be a lot easier as soon as I, yeah, sleep to be a lot easier. When I wasn’t laying in bed at 8:00 PM every night waiting for it to happen. Martin: I think what you’ve shared is a great example of there’s no unique way of doing this that is gonna work or be appropriate for everyone. Martin: It’s about finding what’s helpful for you with the intent, as long as the intention is workable, as long as you’re not trying to control what can’t be controlled. So for you, your intent was to move away from trying to make sleep happen. And as a way of helping you reach that goal, you decided I’m gonna make myself stay awake till 3:00 AM instead of trying to fall asleep, I’m gonna try to stay awake. Martin: And that could be such a powerful mindset shift, right? Because then when we’re trying to stay awake. What might happen differently? What was your experience? How did things change when you went from trying to sleep to trying to stay awake? Abbie: Yeah, I just felt like the, I had a new goal, like my brain had a new problem to solve, and the problem was like, we gotta stay up till 3:00 AM and I gotta find stuff to do until 3:00 AM. Abbie: So that was helpful. And just yeah, taking the pressure off from and getting outta my own thoughts of okay, it’s another hour and I’m outta sleep. It’s another hour and I’m not asleep. And into just a more calm and peaceful state of mind. And then of course once that happens, like I would just, I would fall asleep. Abbie: And even on those nights, like when I. I was trying to make to 3:00 AM and I would like doze off at two or something. I would, the next day I would be like, okay, like what did I do? Like how did I do it? And every night it was like I didn’t do anything, like my body just fell asleep and there was enough sleep drive to, to put me to sleep. Abbie: And then, yeah, as soon as I had, like even I, like I mentioned I was really sleeping like very little. So even when I had three or four hours of sleep a night, that was again, more evidence in my mind that my sleep is not broken and it is possible. So it was that positive feedback cycle, whereas before it had been this negative feedback cycle. Martin: When you weren’t trying to make sleep happen, you were now all of a sudden trying to stay awake. That urge to sleep just became stronger because you’re no longer putting that pressure on or putting the effort in. And that came too with the bonus of, it’s a powerful reminder that your sleep system is still there, it’s still intact, it’s not broken. Martin: You are feeling that sense of sleepiness and a sense of sleepiness isn’t always required for sleep to happen, but it can be a nice reassuring reminder when you feel that sleepiness and the difficulty staying awake. And even if someone is listening to this and they don’t really wanna stay awake until 3:00 AM again, that’s not a requirement. Martin: A lot of people just look to stay awake later than they have been. If they feel like they go into bed earlier and it’s not really doing much for them, then how about we just move it a little bit later? Martin: It’s just a tool that’s there for you to practice if and when you as the expert on yourself, feel is gonna be useful. Abbie: Yeah, definitely. We’re trying to get away from here’s the one thing that’s gonna fix everything and that’s not the case. But I do think anything that can flipped the script in your brain from sleep whether it’s distraction or whether it’s staying up later or whatever, I think can be really useful. Martin: Yeah. And sometimes staying up later can be more appealing than going to bed earlier. If we find that when we go to bed earlier is a lot of tossing and turning and struggling and battling, it can be somewhat of a relief to give ourselves permission to stay out of bed and not go to bed until later. Martin: Whereas on the other hand, someone else listening to this might find that time in bed quite pleasant. In which case, why not go to bed at the time you’ve been going? It really does, again, come down to the individual, but there is that potential opportunity, bonus opportunity there of being able to do something else earlier in the night rather than struggling. Martin: The other helpful change that you’ve said that you made was reengaging in life and doing stuff for example, going to the gym which maybe you were doing less of in response to the difficulties with sleep. And I think maybe a lot of people listening to this can recognize that. Yeah I would love to do all these things that matter to me. Martin: But it just feels so difficult to do that. It maybe, it even feels impossible to do that. I’m curious to know if you had those kind of thoughts, and if so, how did you stay committed or how were you willing to experiment with this idea of still doing some of this stuff, re-engaging in this stuff that matters? Abbie: Yeah, I, I think early on, like fighting the urge to just go home and do nothing was so hard. Like the last thing it did, it felt impossible to think I’m gonna go do something with friends after work, or I’m gonna go to the gym or whatever. And I did kind of shy away from everything for a long time because it was so hard. But I think even like that first time that I made plans after work or went to the gym and realized like, okay, nothing bad happened I’m still just as tired as I was before. It wasn’t, I think also at this point, like my body was in such like fight or flight mode that like nothing, like I just was exhausted and nothing was making it better or worse honestly. Abbie: And so when I realized okay, I can either. Go home and toss and turn in bed all night and feel horrible. Or I can go to the movies after work and then come home and feel horrible. I’m gonna pick the thing that at least gives me a little bit of joy for the time that I’m doing it. And yeah not to say doing any of that, like somehow cured my sleep or anything. Abbie: But I started slowly to like care a little bit less and less that I wasn’t sleeping because it, one of the things I had been telling myself is okay, why is it so bad that I can’t sleep? It’s so bad because I’m not gonna be able to live my life. Abbie: I’m not gonna be able to go to work. I’m gonna get fired. All these things. And when you realize that, okay, these things are not conditional on sleep, like I can still do these things. Despite whether or not I sleep, I think there was a lot of freedom in that. Martin: What did progress for you look like? How did you measure progress? Abbie: I definitely think early on it was still all about sleep and the quality of my sleep. And every night was like either a success or a failure. Like I either slept or I didn’t, and things were very black and white. And I think slowly over time I was able to realize, okay, maybe there’s a little bit less anxiety and a little bit less dread before bedtime because I’m excited to go out with my roommate or to go to yoga or whatever. Abbie: Like eventually I got to the point where success, I think I, I always was gonna like care about sleep, but I definitely got to the point where success was a lot more like. What is my mental state about sleep? Am I wrapped up in this like anxious bald spiral or am I thinking and doing other things with my day? Abbie: So yeah, I think measuring progress definitely changed. Does as time went on. And I do think measuring progress in did I sleep or did I not sleep is, was not useful for me personally. Martin: It makes sense why we would want to measure progress based on how we’re sleeping from night to night because that’s the main problem that we are looking to solve. Martin: And yet it can set us up for struggle ’cause our own experience probably tells us that sleep is out of our control. So I think it can be useful to dig a little bit deeper and ask ourselves. What makes sleep important to me? Why do I want to get rid of insomnia? Martin: And on the surface it can sound obvious, but if you do a little bit of digging, we can often find that it reveals bigger insights that are often more related to, we see this as an obstacle to us living the kind of life we want to live. We don’t have freedom over our lives or power over our lives anymore, and we want that back. Martin: And so when you uncover something along those lines, if that’s something that you do uncover. It can help you redirect your attention towards action. And maybe then your markers of progress become more related to action. And that can be so helpful because action is within your control. So if insomnia is an obstacle to you doing things that matter, or if you’ve started to do some things that matter, maybe then that’s the true progress. Martin: ’cause it’s actually moving you closer to where you want to be, rather than trying to eliminate something which you might not be able to direct your control. Abbie: Definitely true for me that one of the worries with insomnia was like, like I said I’m not gonna be able to go to work, I’m not gonna be able to be successful in a career or maintain my relationships, giving myself evidence that’s not true in the form of well, I’m gonna do these things anyway, was so powerful. Martin: It’s connected to that power and influence all these thoughts and these feelings that show up alongside insomnia have over your life. So you are able to reflect on the fact that they were almost certainly still showing up maybe less over time as you’re less tangled up in them. Martin: But I’m sure they would still show up because they’re natural, normal human feelings and thoughts, but they’re not consuming all of your energy and all of your attention. They’re more like water off of a duck’s back rather than some, rather than this huge pair of stadium speakers right in front of your face just blaring heavy metal music. Martin: They’re just starting to lose some of that power and influence. Abbie: Yeah, definitely. And it’s so interesting to reflect now when I have a period of sleeplessness or something like. Just how now it’s like an annoyance. I’m like that was annoying. I might be tired today. When before it was like, the world is ending, so I think the seriousness at which I view not sleeping has, is definitely definitely lessened, which is good Martin: When it shows up it’s more like a mosquito rather than a huge black bear frothing at the mouth. Abbie: Yeah. Martin: As you were making these changes, was it just a case that things just got progressively better? Martin: Or did you find there were periods when things went well and then there were like these road bumps or setbacks? Was there any kind of patterns you were noticing, or was it all over the place? What did that look like for you? What did that journey look like for you? Abbie: Yeah, definitely was not linear. Abbie: I think about maybe after about six months, I felt like I was sleeping okay, maybe six hours a night in my own bed. But I think sleeping elsewhere or having my partner stay over, traveling, all that stuff was like still really hard for me. And like on one pattern I noticed was like on Sunday nights I really had trouble sleeping because I was like, again, putting pressure, like this is my last night before I have an entire work week to get through. If I don’t sleep tonight, I’m gonna be tired all week. And then by the time like Thursday came, I think sleep was like a lot easier ’cause it just was like, okay, I’m at the end of the week. I’m tired. Abbie: But yeah, I would say it was probably about like a year until I felt like I could really sleep elsewhere, like travel or stay at my parents’ house or anything, and sleep. Abbie: There were definitely bumps along the road and about a year in I ended up going to grad school and that was just like a big change in my life and a period of kind of stress and some of the sleep issues came back and I just went right back to the things that I had worked last time. Abbie: Like I went back to my wake windows and I think it was just so much easier when it did come back because instead of thinking like I, I mean there were some thoughts of oh no, like it’s happening again. But more so there were thoughts of I did this before, I can do it again. And I have better tools now. Abbie: So I think looking back, it was like each bump along the road made things better in a way. ’cause it was like, again, more evidence that these things are gonna ebb and flow, but I’m always gonna return to baseline. Martin: You can’t have those bumps in the road unless you’re moving forward on your journey. Martin: And that’s something we can easily lose sight of. We focus on what hasn’t gone right or we focus on the setback but that wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t within that context of some kind of progress. Abbie: Yeah, I definitely had a lot more gratitude, like going from sleeping one or two hours a night, like every next hour that I was able to sleep. Abbie: Like I was just grateful for. And even now if I consistently will get eight hours of sleep and every once in a while I’ll be like, I need to remember to be thankful for that because there was a period in which like four hours of sleep was like the ultimate goal. So yeah, definitely a good exercise in practicing gratitude too. Martin: I think when the difficult nights show up or when the nights when we get less sleep than usual or what we were hoping for, it’s a reminder that as human beings there are gonna be nights when we have less sleep than we want. Just there will be thoughts that show up and some of those thoughts will feel good, some won’t, some will be helpful, some won’t. Martin: And it really is just a case, like you said, of the ongoing practice. You’ve got that experience at that point of what has helped you. It’s just a case of going back to them or refocusing on them. Because every time you practice, you also get better at them. You gain more skill In all these things that we talked about, you develop more resiliency, you become better at it. Martin: But that doesn’t mean you can reach this ultimate peak of enlightenment when none of this stuff affects you and never shows up ever again. Life doesn’t work that way. There’s like this magnet force trying to draw us back into a struggle. But it’s a case of you’ve got that awareness now of when that’s happening, you know an alternative way to respond. Martin: And you can focus on those action based responses to continue moving forward. As you reflect on the journey that you’ve been on, how has it changed your life? What have you learned from this whole experience? Abbie: When it was happening I remember, like I said, just having these really negative thoughts of this is gonna change my life for the worst. Abbie: I’m gonna have long-term, health or otherwise consequences from this. And not only has that not been the case but also I feel like it, it really has had a positive impact in that. I just feel like a lot more equipped to handle. The ebbs and the flows. There was a point in my life where, you know, thinking about having kids and traveling and all these things that were gonna disrupt my sleep, like really stressed me out. Abbie: And those things are a little bit quieter now that I have this like trust that, that I can handle these things. And I think that extends not just to like insomnia, but other areas in my life like these thought patterns and this mentality like can be applied to any sort of like area of anxiety or just any sort of thoughts that I’m having. Abbie: Yeah, I’ve definitely found it just like mentality shift to be useful in other areas of my life as well. Martin: You’re not the first person to say that, and I completely agree with you. A lot of this stuff that we talk about can really powerfully impact our lives in a positive way. It’s not just a way to respond to insomnia. Martin: The experience can be a real growth opportunity, which sounds crazy when you’re still in the struggle with it, but once you’re able to reflect back on it, what you learn from the experience can be a huge asset. Abbie: Yeah, definitely. I think it, like you said, at the time I would’ve just like totally rolled my eyes that this is gonna be a positive thing in the long run. Okay, sure. But yeah it really has been. Given me a lot of coping skills I think that I can take into the future and into other areas of my life. Martin: Abbie, I’m really grateful for the time you’ve taken out your day to come on. If someone with chronic insomnia is listening they feel as though they’ve tried everything. They’re beyond help. They’ll never be able to stop struggling with insomnia. What would you say to them? Abbie: I think first I would say you are not alone. And in the nicest way possible, like your anxiety and your insomnia is not special. I remember feeling like that’s great that all these people have found these solutions, but somehow my insomnia is worse and mine is different. Abbie: And these things like peace and returning to this baseline is not possible for me. And the funny thing is that’s what we’re all thinking. That our insomnia, our anxiety is somehow different and special. And yeah, just to say that, me overcoming this also isn’t special. Abbie: That is possible for everybody. And yeah the path might not be linear, but I think it’s possible for everybody and we can’t control sleep, like we’ve been saying. But you can control how you respond and I think that’s the best way forward. Martin: Thanks again for taking the time to come onto the podcast and to share your journey, your experience, all the insights you’ve picked up on the way. Abbie: Yeah. Thanks so much. It was great to talk. Martin: Thanks for listening to the Insomnia Coach Podcast. If you're ready to get your life back from insomnia, I would love to help. You can learn more about the sleep coaching programs I offer at Insomnia Coach — and, if you have any questions, you can email me. Martin: I hope you enjoyed this episode of the Insomnia Coach Podcast. I'm Martin Reed, and as always, I'd like to leave you with this important reminder — you are not alone and you can sleep. I want you to be the next insomnia success story I share! If you're ready to stop struggling with sleep and get your life back from insomnia, you can start my insomnia coaching course at insomniacoach.com. Please share this episode!

Mistletoe and Wine became the UK's Christmas Number One on 18th December, 1988; the first of three singles Cliff Richard would take to the top of the festive charts. What makes its triumph so curious is that the song began life as a sardonic showtune written in 1976 for a small musical based on The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen. Originally, it underscored a scene in which the impoverished heroine is literally kicked into the snow by the heartless middle classes. Its journey to yuletide staple began with Twiggy's 1987 performance in an ITV adaptation of the musical. By then the number had morphed into a lively pub singalong, catching the ear of Terry Britten, long-time Cliff collaborator, who passed the tune along.  In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly discover why Leslie Stewart, one of the songwriters, disliked Cliff's canonical version; explain why British ears appreciate the song with simultaneous earnestness and irony; and reveal what links this festive classic to the iconic theme tune for ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?'... Further Reading: • ‘I Wrote That: Cliff Richard's ‘Mistletoe and Wine'' (PRS, 2024):  https://www.prsformusic.com/m-magazine/features/mistletoe-and-wine-cliff-richard-leslie-stewart-keith-strachan-christmas-i-wrote-that • ‘Mistletoe and Wine's political beginnings' (BBC News, 2013): https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-25333691 • ‘Cliff Richard - Mistletoe and Wine' (Official Video, 1988): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZCEBibnRM8 #Music #Christmas #Christian #80s #Theatre Love the show? Support us!  Join 

Women who rule as heads of state are badasses, and Elizabeth Norton joins Alex Churchill and Matt Bone to convince you to buy her book, Women Who Ruled the World: 5000 Years of Female Monarchy, and introduce you to some of the most incredible women to have ever ruled. She has 15 minutes to do it.Patreon members get extra time: 15 more minutes, in which you get to see behind the scenes and find out how the book was written. You can subscribe here: https://www.patreon.com/cw/15MinuteBookClubBuy the book (UK) https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/15MinuteBookClubBuy the book (US) https://bookshop.org/shop/15MinuteBookClubPatreon members get extra time: 15 more minutes in which you get to see behind the scenes and find out how the book was written. You can subscribe here: https://www.patreon.com/cw/15MinuteBookClubWatch the video version: https://www.youtube.com/@15MinuteBook_ClubBuy the book (UK) https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/15MinuteBookClubBuy the book (US) https://bookshop.org/shop/15MinuteBookClub Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

History doesn't usually begin with two sisters on war elephants — but this one does. In 40 AD, the Trưng Sisters ignited a violent break from Han Dynasty rule, led armies commanded by women, seized more than sixty citadels, and ruled Vietnam as queens for three hard-fought years. In today's episode Ben is joined by Dr. Pat Larish to chart the rise, rule, and last stand of the women who turned occupation into identity — and became the blueprint for two thousand years of Vietnamese resistance.

In this short podcast episode, Bryan takes us on a history journey back to when ammonia ruled the world. In the mid-1800s, before R-12, many inventors and scientists experimented with vapor-compression refrigeration systems to make ice. They used a variety of refrigerants in their patents, including ether, ethyl ether, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, methyl chloride, and ammonia. Each one had tradeoffs, but ammonia was the favorite because it was inexpensive, very good at moving heat, and useful because its odor made leaks obvious (although it was toxic and irritated the lungs and mucus membranes). Toxic refrigerants, particularly sulfur dioxide and methyl chloride, were common refrigerants but had plenty of negative press due to the many deaths they caused. In response to the public's reservations about toxic refrigerants, Thomas Midgley from General Motors (who developed leaded gasoline) teamed up with Charles Kettering and DuPont to find a refrigerant that was non-toxic, non-flammable, and non-corrosive. In 1930, they announced dichlorodifluoromethane, also known as R-12 (a CFC) and trademarked as Freon. This refrigerant was non-toxic, non-flammable, and had no odor, and it effectively replaced the methyl chloride, sulfur dioxide, and ammonia. However, many decades later, scientists discovered that chlorine-bearing compounds were destroying the ozone layer. To combat the environmental damage, many nations signed the Montreal Protocol in the 1980s, which would effectively phase out R-12, R-11, and other CFC refrigerants. Over time, the regulations have tightened on HCFCs and high-GWP HFCs, leading us to where we are now with lower-GWP A2L HFCs and HFO blends. As with the old refrigerants, each refrigerant had a tradeoff. Meanwhile, this whole time, ammonia never became truly obsolete and quietly remained the lifeblood of industrial refrigeration, and it also had no global warming potential OR ozone-depletion potential. Ammonia systems run with relatively little charge, especially when paired with CO2, and ammonia is still a powerhouse today because of its chemical formula (NH3), good compression ratio, and excellent latent heat of vaporization. Have a question that you want us to answer on the podcast? Submit your questions at https://www.speakpipe.com/hvacschool. Purchase your tickets or learn more about the 7th Annual HVACR Training Symposium at https://hvacrschool.com/symposium. Subscribe to our podcast on your iPhone or Android. Subscribe to our YouTube channel. Check out our handy calculators here or on the HVAC School Mobile App for Apple and Android.

Post-Gazette Steelers insiders Gerry Dulac and Ray Fittipaldo report on coach Mike Tomlin's weekly news conference that included numerous injury updates ahead of an NFL Week 16 matchup with the Detroit Lions. Could T.J. Watt return from his partially collapsed lung sooner than expected? Are Isaac Seumalo and Derrick Harmon good bets to bounce back as well? And what's the latest on James Pierre after he was replaced by Asante Samuel Jr. on Monday night against the Dolphins? Our duo tackles those questions, then looks ahead to the Lions game; takes stock of the AFC North race with the Ravens; and ponders what comes next for Aaron Rodgers, DK Metcalf, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and the passing game after a successful night against the Dolphins. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On this bonus episode, we round up the latest Arsenal news. We start with an update on the injury suffered by Ben White during the 2-1 win over Wolves in the Premier League and we react to Sam Dean's report on the reaction to what was a disappointing performance inside the dressing room. Sign up to support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/thechroniclesofagooner?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink

JP Finlay and Mitch Tischler join you to discuss the Jayden Daniels situation after the Commanders ruled him out for Sunday game against the Giants. The guys start off discussing how we got here, what it means for the future and the big question, should he play the rest of the season. After a thorough JD5 discussion the discussion turns to how warm Dan Quinn's seat isSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today's episode of BMitch & Finlay features the guys reacting to Jayden Daniels being ruled out for yet another week.

The greatest battle of our age is spiritual. Long before Silicon Valley and algorithms, Jesus warned us that our way of seeing determines our way of being. But today, our "lamp is our screen," and the algorithms behind it are engineered to disciple us, shaping our reactions, emotions, and identity.In this profound conversation, Russ Ewell and Zach Leighton (Reliant Media Group) dive deep into the spiritual crisis of the digital age. They discuss the difference between conforming to the world's patterns and being transformed by the renewing of our minds.Zachary Leighton → Reliant Creative: https://reliantcreative.org/Zach Leighton, founder of Reliant Media Group, empowers churches and nonprofits with story-driven, digital media strategies that deepen connection and build community. With expertise in brand development he helps ministries share their unique stories in a way that resonates and drives lasting impact.Scriptures:Luke 11:34-36 VoiceRomans 12:2 NIVHebrews 11:1 NLTRomans 5:3-4 NIVRevelation 12:11 NIV► SUBSCRIBE: https://youtube.com/deepspirituality/?sub_confirmation=1Chapters:00:00 Coming up01:29 Algorithm of faith introduction06:13 What is Reliant Creative?08:01 Why churches are slow to change13:13 Why we run to social media19:28 [Ad] Deep Spirituality Newsletter20:51 What do churches have to invest in to tell their story30:01 What story does the average Christian need to tell?39:14 [Ad] Deep Spirituality Newsletter40:22 Why does the story speak to our soul?54:03 Reliant Creative + Outro

What's REALLY Happening in the Luigi Mangione Case New Evidence Revealed  Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to Police Off the Cuff, Real Crime Stories! Retired NYPD Sergeant Bill Cannon dives into the latest updates on the Luigi Mangione case, offering a sharp legal analysis of recent court hearings and the evidence under review. This compelling true crime story highlights the complexities of law as a judge determines what information will be admitted under the federal rules of evidence, crucial for the ongoing law and crime proceedings. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

After a time travel mishap, the Cryptid Kids find themselves in the pirate city of Scumhive, only each of them arrive at a different time! Plus, they all seem to think Cthunkle is their ruler… Lessons include: We should use our power to help others; slowing down can help you avoid mistakes. This story is part of a Guilds & Goblins campaign, where What If World characters (and guests) play an original tabletop RPG for kids and families. Real-life dice rolls, usually with a 20-sided die, help us tell the story, along with your questions. Listen to episodes 327-328, 330-331, 341-342, 344-345, 354-355, & 365-367, Cryptid Kids #1 to #13, to start from the beginning!  Subscribe, Support the show, and get our new Yoto Cards! Want more kids podcasts for the whole family? Grown-ups, subscribe to Starglow+ here. Learn more about Starglow Media here. Follow Starglow on Instagram and YouTube Share questions with a grownup's help via email: hello@whatifworldpodcast.com or voicemail: 205-605-WHAT (9428) Eric and Karen O'Keeffe make What If World. Our producer is Miss Lynn. Character art by Ana Stretcu, episode art by Lynn Hickernell, podcast art by Jason O'Keefe, and theme song by Craig Martinson.

On this episode of Cults, Culture & Coercion, I sat down with one of my most trusted colleagues and best friends, Jon Atack—author, artist, poet, musician, and the recognized world expert on Scientology. Jon's latest book, If Scientology Ruled the World: Nazi Occultists, Sex Magick, Space Aliens, and the Second Coming, begins with a chilling thought experiment: what if Scientology actually took power? To be clear: Jon does not believe that Scientology — which is facing serious challenges in maintaining current members and recruiting new ones — could ever gain enough popularity to control any government, let alone all the world's governments. Still, with its extreme beliefs and ruthless disregard for human rights, Scientology could serve as a stand-in for any authoritarian movement. And there are many active Scientology offshoots. As I argue in my book The Cult of Trump, authoritarianism exists worldwide, and harmful groups influence politics through lobbyists, cash, and manufactured populism. Maybe a Scientology group won't take over, but the idea that a destructive movement could dominate a nation, or even the world, isn't far-fetched. In this book, Jon connects the dots with Nazi occultism and Hubbard, destroys eugenics, Nazi Aryan race theory, and so much more. With Nazism on the rise worldwide, this is a really important book—easy to read yet fastidious in its research. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of True Crime News The Sidebar Podcast: Matt Tympanick joins host Joshua Ritter to break down the biggest cases making headlines across the nation. They discuss police naming D4vd an official suspect in the death of missing teen Celeste Rivas Hernandez, “Slender Man” assailant Morgan Geyser's arrest after she allegedly cut off her ankle monitor and fled, and authorities ruling Anna Kepner's cruise ship death a homicide as investigators eye the victim's teenage stepbrother as a suspect.  Tweet your questions for future episodes to Joshua Ritter using the hashtag #TCNSidebar To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices