Podcasts about Ryn

In this edition of the Flavors of Northwest Arkansas podcast, we talk with Chef Miles James- he of Ella's at Inn at Carnal Hall, Inn at the Mill, James at the Mill, 28 Springs, and currently? MJ's Pizzeria. We'll hear from him shortly, but first?!?! FOOD NEWS! Not the night that we wanted here locally at the James Beard Awards. Chef Matthew Cooper's new restaurant Ryn will officially open tomorrow! Archie's Sandwichery opens soon. We'll hear from the owner! Bloom Cheese Collective has started their soft opening week. We'll hear when they open for good! Sicaru Coffee Roasters opened last week. We now have a Peruvian restaurant in Rogers. Queen Donuts should open soon in Fayetteville. Taqueria Guanajuato just opened in a new location. A new tea shop is opening soon in Fayetteville. Miles James grew up in Northwest Arkansas and went to the U of A. He got his first job in a legendary Fayetteville restaurant when he was 14, and from there, he was hooked. After college, he decided on culinary school and then learned from some of the top chefs in the northeast and around the world. Chef James has some great stories about that. Why did he come back to NWA? Opportunity, both professionally and personally. At the tender age of 26, he came home to open James at the Mill and Inn at the Mill in Johnson. His trajectory and life changed immensely because of 3 guests just having lunch one day. That's when things truly took off. What a great story that is, and you'll hear it from him. And finally, his current baby, MJ's Pizzeria. He'll tell the story about how it started, and how they survived Covid. Also, I couldn't believe it when he said it, but next month will be a decade for MJ's- 10 years! And something's on the horizon for the place. Chef James will tell us that and much more, and that's next here on the Flavors of Northwest Arkansas!    

Cyan Banister is an angel investor and entrepreneur renowned for her early investments in transformative tech companies such as Uber, SpaceX, DeepMind, and Postmates. Banister's path to success was unconventional, she experienced homelessness as a teenager and dropped out of high school.Through self-education and determination, she became a self-taught engineer, holding key roles at a cybersecurity startup acquired by Cisco for $850 million.Cyan emphasises themes of empathy, love, and personal growth, and the healing power of philosophy in overcoming adversity and trauma.Learn more about CyanKeep up to date with Peter on SubstackKeep up to date with Kasia!If you would like to support the podcast please consider our PatreonExecutive Producer: Rachel BarrettThanks to our volunteer researchers Hendrik Dahlmeier and Mihika Chechi, and Chris van Ryn!And special thanks to Suzi Jamil! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Slavoj Žižek is a Slovenian philosopher and cultural theorist known for his provocative blend of Marxism, Hegelian philosophy, and Lacanian psychoanalysis, he remains one of the most influential and polarising intellectuals in contemporary thought.Slajov gets into several complex and thought-provoking topics including but not limited to; the catastrophe of love, political philosophy, critiques of both historical and contemporary interpretations of communism, and ultimately whether the pursuit of happiness should be the goal in life.Keep up to date with Peter on SubstackKeep up to date with Kasia!If you would like to support the podcast please consider our PatreonExecutive Producer: Rachel BarrettThanks to our volunteer researchers Hendrik Dahlmeier and Mihika Chechi, and Chris van Ryn!And special thanks to Suzi Jamil! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cass Sunstein is a prominent American legal scholar, behavioural economist, and professor at Harvard Law School. Cass explores the concept of nudging and libertarian paternalism, addressing ethical concerns around manipulation and autonomy. He reflects on climate justice, the moral duties of high-emission countries, and global accountability in climate policy.Learn more about Cass and read his books! Keep up to date with Peter on SubstackKeep up to date with Kasia!If you would like to support the podcast please consider our PatreonExecutive Producer: Rachel BarrettThanks to our volunteer researchers Hendrik Dahlmeier and Mihika Chechi, and Chris van Ryn!And special thanks to Suzi Jamil! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Previously on Saga of the Jewels…The life of seventeen-year-old RYN, bookish son of a wealthy landowner, changes forever when his hometown is destroyed by the EMPIRE and everyone he has ever known is killed. Ryn discovers that the Empire are seeking TWELVE PRIMEVAL JEWELS which grant the power to manipulate different elements, and that his father had been hiding the FIRE RUBY. He sets out to take revenge on the Imperial General who killed his family and retrieve the Fire Ruby, and along the way meets NUTHEA the lightning-slinging princess, SAGAR the swaggering skypirate, ELRANN the tomboy engineer, CID the wizened old healer, and VISH the poppy-seed-addicted bounty hunter. Together the companions decide to find all of the Jewels in order to stop the EMPEROR from finding them first and taking over the world. They have thus far succeeded in retrieving the Fire Ruby, borne by Ryn, and the Lightning Crystal, borne by Nuthea. They have now come to the land of FARR where they intend to compete in a hand-to-hand fighting tournament in order to attempt to win its grand prize, the EARTH EMERALD…EPISODE THIRTY-FOUR: THE NIGHT I MAKE IT WITH A WOMANOne night before the tournament.Sagar shoved the door of the public drinking house open and let Elrann go in first.“What a gentleman,” she quipped as she walked past him.“I'm a pirate second, gentleman first,” Sagar lied, grinning. Need to be on my best behaviour tonight, he thought as he followed her in. Tonight is going to be the first night that I make it with a woman. No rudeness. No brawling. No showing myself up. I need to impress her.It was dim and cosy inside the pub, the only light coming from the orange flickers of a log-fire in the hearth. At this evening hour it was almost full, mostly of Farrians, but also some travellers from other lands–a big burly Aibarian, a smattering of Rikalian traders in colourful ponchos, and even a Morekemian, from the looks of her long braid, though thankfully not an Imperial–she must be an exile or a runaway. In one corner a lute player sat shrouded in shadows underneath a hooded cloak, picking the strings of his instrument with his fingers and softly singing the words to some sky-shanty. Perfect. Just the right mood. I chose well. Well done me.They found a table with two seats, not too far from the bar, and took them.In spite of himself, Sagar's mouth was dry. This was going to be the night that he first made it with a woman, but he wasn't quite sure where to start–or at least he had forgotten where he was meant to start. If he had ever known.Elrann regarded him cooly with her purple eyes.“Aren't you going to offer to buy me a drink?”“What? Yes! Of course! I mean, of course I am. I was just waiting for you to tell me what you wanted. What do you want, woman?”“What I want is for you to stop calling me that.” She likes it really. “But in the meantime, since you're offering, pirate-man, I'll take a rice-wine.”“Rice-wine?” Sagar said. “What in the hells is that? Don't you want a good ale?”“You won't get one here,” said Elrann. “Farrian ale tastes like chocobo-piss. It's famous for it. They're very good at their rice-wine, though. Try one. You'll see.”Sagar grunted, then went and ordered their first two rice-wines from the bar. While the Farrian bartender fetched them for him, he reviewed his plan of attack.Alright. I know she's interested in me 'cause she agreed to come to the pub with me in the first place. And we've made it here–it wasn't some sort oftrick. Trouble is, I don't know what I'm supposed to say to make things progress. So instead, I'll just get really, really, really drunk. That'll do it. Agenius plan. It was a good thing he had swiped lots of coin from Cid for thisevening.He took their drinks back to the table and clinked glasses with Elrann.The rice-wine tasted like…liquid fermented rice. It was strong.Elrann sighed contentedly and wiped her mouth.Sagar's face stretched in astonishment. Where he had only taken a sip, the woman had downed the whole of her glass in one gulp.He became aware that he should probably be saying something. What?Complement her on her drinking ability. That was the sort of thing he had talked about with his crew, when they had still been alive.He opened his mouth to do so.“Shut up,” said the woman, holding up a hand. “Whatever you're about to say, pirate-man, shut up. I've got something I need to talk to ya about. I've been putting it off for a while, trying to find the courage, 'specially cause if I've misjudged things then this is going to be mighty embarrassing for me, but I can't wait any longer, and this seems to be my opportunity.” She looked around for a moment, as if checking that nobody else they knew was in this pub. They weren't.Wow, that was easy, thought Sagar. I must just be that irresistible. He was aware that he was being uncharacteristically un-talkative. But that seemed to be working for him at the moment. Maybe he had been playing this all wrong. Maybe the best tactic was just to sit back, keep hit mouth shut and let her come to him.The woman was looking at him. Apparently he needed to say something.“Yeah?” he said in as nonchalant a manner as he could muster. “What is it, then?”“Pirate-man…” said Elrann. She looked him in the eyes again. “Sagar… As you know, I've been fascinated by airships for a long time. And as you've probably worked out by now, I have a bit of a fascination with airship pirates and captains as well.”Hope was truly stirring in Sagar's chest now, and in his loins, but he kept his cool and kept up his relaxed skypirate-captain exterior. He wore it easily, as easily as he wore his awesome leather Captain's Coat that he had inherited from his father. He was a professional at this, the best around.“Yeah?” he said nonchalantly.“Yeah, I do…” said Elrann. She sighed, looked over at the bar, caught the barman's eye, held up two fingers and pointed at their table, then gave him a thumb-up when he had acknowledged what she wanted. How does she do that? She turned back to Sagar. “And…well, what I'm trying to say is that there's a reason I do.”“I'm sure there is,” said Sagar, grinning. He leaned back a little in his chair, getting comfortable, and folded his arms. Play it cool. Don't overcommit. You're doing everything right, you dark cochobo.Elrann frowned slightly at him. “Yeah, there is. And the reason is…the reason is that my Mum… my Mum once told me about who my father was. Ya see, my mother was a rice-farmer from Zerlan who lived with her parents until I came along, and apparently my Dad…my Dad was a famous pirate skycaptain who slept with her once when he put into port in Zerlan.”Sagar frowned a little at that. He hadn't been expecting this. It threw him a little. Okay, so she likes me 'cause of her Daddy issues. That's a bit weird, but I can get on board with it. Whatever launches her airship. I've got my own Daddy issues too, most people do, though they don't affect me in quite the same way… She was looking at him. He needed to say something again.“Yeah?” he said, a touch less nonchalantly than before.The barman arrived with two more drinks and set them down on the table before shuffling off again.“Pirate-man…” said Elrann, grasping her second drink, “what I'm trying to tell you is…don't you see what I'm trying to tell you?”A vision of taking her back to her room at their lodgings flashed through Sagar's mind. He grinned. “I think I might be starting to catch on…” He lifted his first glass of rice-wine to his mouth for another sip.“Sagar…what I'm trying to tell you is that I think I might be your half-sister.”The rice-wine sprayed out of Sagar's mouth in a shower. Most of it went on his trousers. Some went on the table. Some went on Elrann.A pause.“What?!” he said.A pause.“WHAT?!!” he exclaimed.A pause.“WHAT?!!!” he shouted.The background chatter of the pub stopped, and the other drinkers all turned in their seats to look at him. Even the lutist stopped his playing and singing for a moment.“Nothing to see here folks!” Elrann said to the room. “Just a little revelation about a potential long-lost sibling!”The drinkers went back to their drinks, the lutist to his lute, in apparent acceptance of this.Sagar, meanwhile, had frozen.His mind had gone slow.Fascination.Airships.Pirate-skycaptain.Half-sister.“Whaaaaaaaat?” he said one more time, much more quietly but very high-pitched, to the woman.“Think about it,” Elrann said to him, leaning in and keeping her voice low. “My father was a famous pirate skycaptain. My Mum never told me his name, and I'm not even sure that she ever knew his name, but she did tell me that he was the captain of a pirate airship, and that he wore a ponytail and a long leather coat, among other things. That's why I've always had a fascination with airships and skypirates–because of hearing about my Dad. When I put two and two together was when pops said that your father was a pirate skycaptain. Ya never mentioned that yaself. I reckon that your Dad, the one who travelled around with pops for a while, must be the same as my Dad.”Sagar stared at nothing at all. He was struggling to process this. Fragments of words and images danced around in his mind. Memories of his father, in his long coat and ponytail, boasting about his amorous conquests to the men. The times he had flown into or over Zerlan as part of his Dad's crew. Had he even been on the voyage when this had happened, too young to remember it, or to naïve to be aware of it? Had Elrann really been conceived by the same person, under similar circumstances that he had? But then…urgh! Why had he been attracted to this woman if he was partly related to her? He couldn't have been!“No,” he said eventually. “This is crazy. You're crazy. There's no way that we could be related!”Elrann cocked her head. “Did your father have a long ponytail, like you?“Well, yeah, but–”“And did he own a long brown leather coat?”“Well, yeah. This one, actually. He gave it to me when he handed the Wanderlust over to me. But that doesn't mean anything! There must be plenty of pirate skycaptains that have ponytails and long leather coats!”Elrann raised a single purple eyebrow at him.Sagar took another drink from his glass, and this time downed what was left of it. The wine stung the back of his throat, but he didn't care.“I don't believe it…” he said. “I won't believe it…”“Yeah,” said Elrann, “I'm not exactly thrilled about it either…” She looked him up and down. “But there's just too many coincidences. I suppose we don't know for sure, but until we find out for certain there's a chance that we are related. There's only one way to do that, though…”“What do you mean?” said Sagar, genuinely puzzled. The wine was starting to settle him into a fuzzy haze, but now he only felt depressed in it.Elrann hesitated. “What I mean is…if we could find your father, we could find out for sure if he's…if he's my father too. You said you inherited your coat from him, and you've hinted before that you flew with him…if you know where he is, we could go and find him and ask him ourselves?”“Ah,” said Sagar. “That's what you mean. Well, sorry, woman, but I don't know where he is.”Elrann's face fell. “How come?”“You're right, I did fly with him for a long time. I was raised on his ship, in fact–on board the Wanderlust, by his crew. I never knew my Mum. Apparently whoever he fathered me on didn't want me, so she just dumped me on him instead. I didn't even know that he was my father till I came of age. I thought I was just some orphan they'd picked up somewhere to work as a cabin boy. Then one day he told me he was my father, that he was retiring from piracy, along with most of his crew, and that he was giving me his ship to inherit, along with some coin to recruit a new crew with and make a start in piracy myself. Then we set down in Imfis, he bought a light craft, and buggered off into the horizon. That was the last I ever saw of him.”“Oh,” said Elrann, now staring off at nothing, just like Sagar had been while he had been telling his story. “Well…” she said after a moment, “that's a shame… I'd hoped that you would help me be able to find him…”The two of them fell silent, looking into their drinks, and the chatter of the other drinkers and the playing of the lutist in the corner swept over them.Sagar took another drink. Well, some evening this has turned out to be. I'm hoping to bed the woman, and it turns out we might be related! Course, it's only a ‘might' but….urgh! I can't sleep with someone who even might be my half-sister! Can I?His train of thought paused for a moment.No!He took another drink to drive him further into his rice-wine haze and away from his misery.The musician in the corner picked up the volume a bit, picking the strings more loudly and starting to sing a sad, lilting song. The wistful tones reflected his mood pretty well.What do I do now? I guess it's back to the drawing board. I'll have to try with the princess again. But that seems like a closed door right now. Rrrr… He looked around at the other drinkers in the pub. I wonder if there's anyone in here who would—All of a sudden Elrann sat up straight, raising her head, and twitched, like a wolf that had been alerted to something.“Hey!” she said.“What is it?” Sagar said, putting a hand to one of his cutlasses.“Did you hear that?”Sagar strained his ears. All he could hear was the other customers chatting, and the lutist singing his song.“The singer!” Elrann said. “He's singing about those magical Jewel-thingamys that we're trying to find on our quest!”“He is?” said Sagar.“Yeah! Listen!”They listened as the lutist came back round to the chorus of his song, singing in a clear, lilting voice:Ruby is Fire,Lost, not foreverSapphire is Water,Umbar's true treasureCrystal is LightningManolia's joyDiamond is LightThe Maker's great ployOnyx is DarknessIn depths of a pitShell seals the windIf you can catch itEm'rald is EarthenYou'll find it in FarrMoon is a pearlIn the light from a starMeteor is MetalFound in fixed fortressCarnelian is SpiritA summoning sorceressStone is the NatureThat silently growsAnd Void is a secretNobody knowsTwelve Peoples of MidAnd Twelve Jewels there areTo rescue herIn her most desp'rate hourWhen gathered togetherThe Twelve Jewels from afarThe Maker will make knownThe truth of his powerAs the lutist finished the long chorus, leaving only the notes of the strings he continued to pluck, Sagar and Elrann looked at each other.“By all the gods I don't believe in, you're right!” Sagar said.He stood up.Elrann grabbed his arm immediately. “What are you doing?!” she said.Sagar frowned at her. His vision had taken a short moment to catch up with him when he had stood up. “What do you think I'm doing? We need to go and talk to him about how he knows about the Jewels!”“Sit down,” Elrann hissed at him through gritted teeth, and yanked him back into his chair. Damn, but she was strong.“Hey, what gives, woman?” Sagar said. His vision had taken a moment to catch up with him when he sat down as well.Elrann looked over each of her shoulders. “Don't you see?” she said to him quietly. “Nobody else has noticed that he's singing about the Primeval-Jewel-Thingamies, or at least nobody else cares. Only we recognised it. And princess-girl's mission…our mission…is top secret and super important and stuff, isn't it? We don't want to attract attention to it or to ourselves by making a big fuss out of it and going right up to that guy straight away, do we?”Slowly this clicked into place in Sagar's mind. “Oh. Right. Yeah, well, I wasn't going to talk to him straight away, was I? I was…I was getting up to go to the privy.”Elrann snorted. “Yeah, right. You've barely had two drinks. I can see that you can't hold your liquor, but your bladder can't be as weak as that.”“Hey, look here, woman–”“Shut up,” said the woman with a wave of her hand. “Listen. You're right, we need to talk to that guy.” She glanced over at the hooded lutist, who had finished his Jewel song and was starting a new one, singing more quietly than he had before. “But we need to wait until he's finished playing. Then we go over to him all casual like, alright, and say that we really enjoyed his music, we chat with him a bit, and then we ask him about where he learned that song about the Jewel-thingamies. Got it?”Sagar's head swam. He didn't like how this evening had unfolded so far. But somewhere he knew that what the woman was suggesting was sensible.“I s'pose,” he said. “But what do we do in the meantime?”“What else?” said Elrann. “We stay here and keep drinking.”She gestured to the barman. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sagaofthejewels.substack.com

Lawrence Krauss is a theoretical physicist and cosmologist renowned for his work in particle physics, cosmology, and science communication. Krauss explores the idea of cosmic insignificance and the absence of inherent meaning in the universe, emphasising the importance of appreciating the rarity of life, whilst exploring fundamental questions about the universe and human existence.Learn more about Lawrence and listen to The Origins PodcastKeep up to date with Peter on SubstackKeep up to date with Kasia!If you would like to support the podcast please consider our PatreonExecutive Producer: Rachel BarrettThanks to our volunteer researchers Hendrik Dahlmeier and Mihika Chechi, and Chris van Ryn!And special thanks to Suzi Jamil! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Previously on Saga of the Jewels…The life of seventeen-year-old RYN, bookish son of a wealthy landowner, changes forever when his hometown is destroyed by the EMPIRE and everyone he has ever known is killed. Ryn discovers that the Empire are seeking TWELVE PRIMEVAL JEWELS which grant the power to manipulate different elements, and that his father had been hiding the FIRE RUBY. He sets out to take revenge on the Imperial General who killed his family and retrieve the Fire Ruby, and along the way meets NUTHEA the lightning-slinging princess, SAGAR the swaggering skypirate, ELRANN the tomboy engineer, CID the wizened old healer, and VISH the poppy-seed-addicted bounty hunter. Together the companions decide to find all of the Jewels in order to stop the evil EMPEROR from finding them first and taking over the world. They have thus far succeeded in retrieving the Fire Ruby, borne by Ryn, and the Lightning Crystal, borne by Nuthea. They have now come to the land of FARR where they intend to compete in a hand-to-hand fighting tournament in order to attempt to win its prize, the EARTH EMERALD…EPISODE THIRTY-THREE: THE PRINCESS AND THE DRAGONOne night before the Tournament.Ryn sat down next to Nuthea on one of the simple wooden chairs.Around them, about a hundred or so people were sitting on their own chairs too. The hubbub of the chattering crowd enveloped them like a warm blanket.The wooden seat was hard and uncomfortable, but Ryn barely noticed it. His pulse was quick inside his head and his heart fluttered about inside his chest. It was all he had been able to afford from the common purse, anyway. The balconies had been far too expensive.I'm out on a date with a princess, he thought. No, a Queen. We may not be ‘exploring the possibility of a romantic relationship', but that's still what this is. We're spending time with each other just to spend time with each other.He was terrified.Don't mess this up.He was keenly aware of her presence at her side, like a fire burning in his peripheral vision. Should he say something? Was he meant to say something? He didn't know what to say.He didn't even know if he should be looking at her. Were there even any ‘shoulds' in this situation? Instead, he stared straight ahead.Over the many heads of the people sat in front of them–mainly short, stocky, tanned Farrians, but also people from other countries–he could see the raised wooden stage at the front of the room. At the moment it was bare and unoccupied, though on the wall at the back of it had been depicted a forest of tall trees with thick trunks and curved, finger-like branches reaching up to the ceiling of the play-house, bedecked with myriad painted-green leaves.“Tell me what this play is about again, Ryn?” said Nuthea next to him.A bolt of shock spasmed through Ryn and he nearly fell off his seat. He coughed on purpose and tried to make it look like it was the cough that had unsettled him, but he wasn't sure how successfully he managed it.He glanced at her. She was still expecting an answer from him, her eyebrows raised quizzically.“Er,” he said. “I'm not entirely sure. It's called ‘The Princess and the Dragon'. It looked pretty good from the poster–it had a very detailed picture of a fire-breathing dragon and an armoured knight fighting it.” Ryn had liked that. That had been what persuaded him to change plans from taking Nuthea to a tavern to taking her to a play. That and the fact that Sagar was going with Elrann to a tavern and he didn't want to accidentally end up in the same one. “All I know is that it's being put on by a traveling theatre troupe that just got into Shun Pei. They're meant to be very good. They're called the ‘Manniro' or something.”“Oh, the Manyiro!” Nuthea corrected him. Of course she knew the proper pronunciation. Of course she had heard of them before. “I've seen them perform many times in the palace when they were passing through Orma!”Poodoo. Ryn had dared to hope that he had found something special that Nuthea had never experienced before.Perhaps sensing his disappointment, Nuthea said “They are excellent. The Manyiro are a traveling people group who make their living by performing plays. They're the best at what they do in the whole of Mid. Have you never seen a Manyiro performance?”“Er…” Ryn decided he might as well tell the truth. “...no. I don't think they ever came to Cleasor…” He had seen plays, of course, and been in silly little ones put on in his schoolhouse or the village hall. But no, he had never seen a Mid-famous traveling play-acting people-group perform before. Of course Nuthea had.“Well you are in for a treat,” said Nuthea. “I love watching the Manyiro perform. They are masters of their craft. This will be a great way to relax and take our minds off things before the Tournament. Good choice, Ryn.”Ryn brightened a little at that. He wanted so much for Nuthea to enjoy this. He also wanted so much to tell her how he felt about her…but one thing at a time.“Have you seen this particular play?” he asked her, wary.“No, I don't think I've ever seen ‘The Princess and the Dragon.'”Phew. That was something, at least. “Well, the poster for it looked really good.” Idiot. You said that already. Or something like that, anyway…Their conversation lulled. Ryn looked at the empty stage again. When was this play going to start?He cast around in his mind for something else to talk to her about. He couldn't risk Nuthea growing bored. She had to enjoy this evening. This evening with him. Especially if she ever ended up going to a tavern with Sagar as well…But his mind had gone blank. What should he say to her?He remembered something. Something that he had been wondering about for a while. Yes, he could try that.“Nuthea?”“Yes?”“When you project lightning, why do you shout the word ‘bolt'?”“Ah, yes.” She appeared to take this as a signal to switch into lecture mode, but Ryn didn't mind–at least she would be talking, which would buy him time to come up with more interesting things to say. “That's called a ‘focus-word'. They're not essential to use to project your element, but those who train in the use of Jewel-gifts usually end up employing them. You will find that when your mind is more focused, concentrated, or engaged, you will ‘spell' (if you call it that—everyone has different names for it) more effectively and powerfully. So one technique that was developed very early on was to utter a word around which to focus the mind when you are ‘spelling', or projecting, or manipulating your element, or whatever you want to call it. Naturally, the best word to use is the word most closely associated with whatever it is that you are projecting. So, when I am projecting a lightning bolt, I shout ‘bolt'. I would have taught you about focus-words before, but you seemed to be using them anyway.”“That's right…” Ryn said, thinking back to the first time he had manifested fire, in his hometown, Cleasor, the day the Empire had attacked. “When I projected for the first time, I shouted ‘fire!' when I did it, as far as I can remember. I just did it, without having to be told to do it. And I've been doing it instinctively, ever since then.”“There you go,” said Nuthea, nodding approvingly at him like a pleasing pupil. “See? That is your focus-word for projecting your element, naturally.”“But sometimes I've noticed you say the word but you don't finish it properly—it changes into a sort of shout.”Nuthea's nod became knowing rather than merely approving. “Yes, that does happen too. When you are casting a large spell—channelling large amounts of mana—the focus word is even more helpful and necessary to keep the element under your control, but it can be hard to get all of it out because the toll on the body from the projection is so great. So sometimes when I cast a particularly large lightning bolt, or series of lightning bolts, I lose control and the word loses its shape… I'm working on it, but at the use of certain levels of magic it becomes virtually possible not to let out a shout or even a scream at the end of the word. So sometimes it sounds a bit like ‘boltah' or ‘boltaragh' or even ‘boltagah'.”Ryn pondered this. “Thanks, that actually makes a lot of sense. I guess I should carry on using focus words to help me focus my ‘fire'.”“Absolutely. Captain Sagar and Grandfather Cid use them too—I'm sure you've heard them. I don't know if Sagar was ever taught to use them–he probably just uses them on instinct too–but I'm sure Cid has specifically trained in using them. And as you practice and train and get stronger and more proficient in your gift and your mana capacity grows, you may find yourself developing different projection techniques as well, for which you may want to use different focus words. I haven't developed any myself yet but I know Grandfather has several, for different techniques in manipulation of the element of light which gives energy to all living things: ‘cure', ‘heal, ‘syphon, even just ‘raise'. He has been practicing for a long time and has a very large mana pool. He is very proficient in his gift.”“I think I may have actually starting doing that already…” Ryn realised out loud. “Once when I fought Vorr on the train in Imfis I suddenly found myself shouting ‘fireburst' and I projected this really big and hot flame attack... It was more flame than I had ever projected before, and possibly ever have since. In fact, I don't think I've ever managed to project fire with the same intensity and ferocity since then… I can't quite explain it; it's still fire, but it's like it comes from a different part of me, a deeper, more desperate part of me…”“Aha,” said Nuthea, her eyes lighting up like a teacher unlocking a revelation in a star pupil. “That was certainly a different focus word and technique, but it may also have been what we call a ‘limit break'.”Ryn's brow crinkled. “A limit break? You mentioned that once before. What's a limit break?”Lecturing just came so naturally to Nuthea. “‘Limit break' is the name that people have given to another kind of elemental projection, when you are absolutely exhausted, or hurt, or wounded, or depleted of mana, but you need to project for whatever reason, usually because you are fighting for your life, and you intuitively draw on your soul's deepest, hiddenmost reservoirs of mana to unleash a massive, unprecedentedly powerful attack. It's a known phenomenon. It's actually a sign that you are progressing in your projection, because in the long term it increases your mana capacity and proficiency in your gift. But in the short term, after the attack is spent, it leaves you completely exhausted. It's like destroying a muscle only for it to grow back stronger—the best way to train and get stronger. That's why it's been called a ‘limit break'—because when it happens you go past your mana capacity limit and ‘break it', but then once you have recovered it means your mana limit is permanently bigger afterwards.”Ryn nodded. “That makes sense too… After the time I used my fireburst on Vorr, I was definitely exhausted, until Cid healed me. But once I was healed, I somehow felt stronger, and my fire has come even more easily since then. Thanks Nuthea, you've explained a lot to me.”“No problem at all.” The princess's blue eyes glittered. “I'm quite jealous of you, actually. I've never actually performed a ‘limit break' myself yet, even when I've been in life-threatening situations. Even when…even when my mother died.” She paused for a moment and Ryn worried she was about to start crying, but then she swallowed and carried on talking. “I've had to rely on increasing in skill solely through the regular kind of practice, which still works more slowly, but doesn't provide the big leaps forward that limit breaks can give. And I can't even do that lately, because… Well, never mind. You really are doing very well in your training with your gift, Ryn.”Ryn was about to ask her why she couldn't train in the regular way with her gift at the moment but then she smiled at him brightly, and his heart nearly broke its limit.A hush fell upon the playhouse all of a sudden and the chattering of the rest of the audience died away.In his reverie, Ryn's first thought was that somehow the whole world had gone quiet before Nuthea's smiling beauty, but then he heard someone behind them whisper “Shhh! It's starting!” to their neighbour, who had still been talking quietly, and he realised that the play was finally beginning.A man walked onto the stage and stood front and centre, facing the audience. He was very tall–well over seven feet, Ryn reckoned–and well muscled, with tanned skin, a strong chin and blue curls that came down to his shoulders.A flash of insecurity twinged in Ryn's chest. What had he been thinking? Surely this was the sort of man that Nuthea would be attracted to, that she was destined to end up marrying. Not a naive pussywillow greenhorn farmboy.The man was even dressed in the part of a princely suitor. In a royal blue tabard thrown over shining chainmail visible on his arms, and with a spiked golden crown to top it all off, he looked like one of the Kings of Old Efstan.Ryn fidgeted in his seat.The actor-king held his hands up–a gesture with which he brought the audience to total silence, commanding the room, capturing the attention of everyone in it. He launched into his opening soliloquy.“Ladies and gentlemen!” spoke the man in an affected and well-educated voice, so loudly that it resounded clearly through the whole playhouse. “My, but thou art in for a treat tonight! Travel with me, if thou wilt, to the ancient island kingdom of Efstan, where our tale takes place tonight. In this tale, I, Zigfrid Alanthreonusson, First Among The Manyiro, shall play Prince Pendafigion of Efstan, famed Dragon Slayer of old. In the course of the action I shall rescue the fair maiden Princess Frionessa, played by Riss Aronwy, from the clutches of the foul and fell drake Kandraug. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give thee: The Princess and the Dragon!”He bowed, then made a subservient, flowing gesture with his hand as he walked backwards to the right off the stage.A moment later a couple of different male actors strode onstage dressed in peasants' clothing, beginning some kind of banterous dialogue in the same poor imitation of an Old Middish dialect that ‘Zigfrid Alanthreonusson' had used.At this point Ryn stopped paying attention to what they were saying. He had too much else on his mind to think about.He risked a sidelong look to his left at Nuthea. She was completely transfixed by the play, that huge smile still spread on her face but now directed toward the stage, utterly oblivious to Ryn sneaking a look at her to check how she was finding it. He was glad she was enjoying it at least.Could I ever make it with Nuthea? he thought to himself again. She's not just a pretend play-princess, she's a real-life princess. Or am I just deluding myself here? Was she attracted to that actor who was on before? What am I doing here? I should be training for the tournament, practicing my flames, getting better at swords with Cid, not wasting my time here trying to court a princess I won't ever have a chance with…The play rambled on with the two peasant-men continuing their dialogue, setting the scene and warming the audience up, Ryn supposed. They got a few chuckles and chortles from some of their more obvious jokes. Ryn didn't see what all the fuss was about, really. So these were meant to be the greatest players in the whole of Mid? They weren't that different from the amateur players he had seen at home, really… Sure, their costumes were very well-done and detailed, and their script had probably been honed for hours on end, and they had probably learned all their lines perfectly off by heart, and they were quite convincing in their performances, and these two were now getting quite a few laughs from the audience but…so what?Maybe Ryn was just being bitter…The lead actress walked on.He knew she was the lead because she was dressed like a princess. She wore a long flowing pale-green gown with sleeves that came down to her hands, a sparkling necklace made of diamonds–fake or real, Ryn couldn't tell–and a crown of her own, a yellow-gold tiara much like the circlet that Nuthea wore, only more ornate with a raised front inlaid with coloured gemstones.In the case of this actress, however, that was where her princesslyness ended. She actually looked a bit too young to be the counterpart of the male lead, barely a teenager, and certainly too young to be playing his romantic interest.There was also something distinctly…off about her. As she walked stiffly to the centre of the stage, an awkward grimace barely concealed from her face underneath her bob of shocking green hair, it didn't take Ryn very long to work out that she was feeling uncomfortable and that she didn't want to be there. Either that or the character she was playing was supposed to be feeling awkward and uncomfortable, but somehow Ryn doubted that. It would help for figuring it out either way if she had had any lines yet, but she hadn't.What's the deal with this actress?She had stopped in the middle of the stage, but facing to the right, the same pained, slightly scared expression still on her face.The audience was silent, but not because of her charisma. She didn't have any. Maybe everyone else was also curious as to what this young girl who apparently couldn't act very well was doing on the stage in a Manyiro play.The actress's eyes fluttered very slightly, Ryn noticed.From the right of the stage, on walked a dragon.Ryn gasped along with the rest of the audience, everyone sucking the air out of the room all at once.The dragon didn't look like it was made out of any kind of material or like there were any people inside it. It was covered all over in glistening green scales that glittered brilliantly in the light from the candles in the chandelier that hung from the ceiling of the playhouse. About the height of two men and the length of two chocobos, it had four legs that ended in vicious black claws which gripped the wood of the stage, two wide wings tucked into its flanks, and a long snout filled with interlocking, knife-sharp teeth, from which a wicked forked red tongue flashed out moment by moment. Set in its head, underneath a pair of curved, dark horns, were two massive, golden-pupiled eyes that had personality behind them.It looked utterly real. In fact, Ryn was pretty sure that it was real.How had the Manyiro players managed this? How had they caught and tamed a dragon to perform for them?In response to the dragon's appearance, the princess-actress fell back to the ground in ‘shock'. She still did it in a wooden way though, like it was a pre-rehearsed fall, and her mouth hung artificially open in an expression of pretend surprise.The audience didn't seem to care. Instead, they sat enrapt, in full silence, just like Ryn was.Nuthea looked as enrapt as everyone else.Ryn's curiosity got the better of him. He leaned over towards her a little and whispered, as quietly as he could manage while still being heard by her, “That's amazing. How do you think they're doing that?”To Ryn's surprise Nuthea turned to look at him, wrenched away from her fascination at the spectacle. The colour had drained from her face; her eyes were stuck wide.“Not ‘they'; ‘she',” the princess said. “Ryn, I think that girl is Jewel-touched.” This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sagaofthejewels.substack.com

Rutger Bregman is a Dutch historian, author, and public intellectual renowned for his progressive ideas on social and economic reform.Rutger emphasises that living well means taking meaningful, practical action to address global issues—not just raising awareness. Drawing from his books Humankind and his initiative The School for Moral Ambition, he advocates for channeling ambition into social impact, encouraging career shifts toward solving major problems. He promotes ideas like universal basic income, effective altruism, and combating factory farming, while exploring how power dynamics influence moral choices. Watch the Profit For Good conference live stream from Amsterdam on June 11Learn more about Rutger and read his books!Keep up to date with Peter on SubstackKeep up to date with Kasia!If you would like to support the podcast please consider our PatreonExecutive Producer: Rachel BarrettThanks to our volunteer researchers Hendrik Dahlmeier and Mihika Chechi, and Chris van Ryn!And special thanks to Suzi Jamil! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Previously on Saga of the Jewels…The life of seventeen-year-old RYN, bookish son of a wealthy landowner, changes forever when his hometown is destroyed by the EMPIRE and everyone he has ever known is killed. Ryn discovers that the Empire are seeking TWELVE PRIMEVAL JEWELS which grant the power to manipulate different elements, and that his father had been hiding the FIRE RUBY. He sets out to take revenge on the Imperial General who killed his family and retrieve the Fire Ruby, and along the way meets NUTHEA the lightning-slinging princess, SAGAR the swaggering skypirate, ELRANN the tomboy engineer, CID the wizened old healer, and VISH the poppy-seed-addicted assassin. Together the adventurers decide to find all of the Jewels in order to stop the evil EMPEROR from finding them first and taking over the world. They have thus far succeeded in retrieving the Fire Ruby, borne by Ryn, and the Lightning Crystal, borne by Nuthea. They have now come to the land of FARR where they intend to compete in a hand-to-hand fighting tournament in order to attempt to win its grand prize, the EARTH EMERALD…EPISODE THIRTY-TWO: TRAININGSix days until the Tournament.Nuthea surveyed the garden area of the little manse they had been given to lodge in.A wooden boundary-fence marked off an area about twenty metres wide and long. A patio floor of cream-coloured stone reflected the heat of the Farrian Summer morning sunshine. Aside from that it was bare except for a little ornamental pond and some potted plants off in the far corner.This will have to do, she thought.She regarded her troops, as she was coming to think of them: Ryn, Sagar, Elrann, Vish and Cid all stood shoulder-to-shoulder in a line facing her.She hadn't even asked them to do that; they had just done it naturally when she had called them outside. She would make a fighting squad of them yet.“Okay, team,” she said. “The Governor has said that we can enter four people into the tournament, without us even having to go through the qualifying heats. So the first thing we need to do is choose which four of us will enter.”“Well obviously I'm the first choice,” said Sagar, putting his hands on his hips and sticking out his chest a little.Nuthea saw Ryn open his mouth but she jumped in first. “May I just remind you, Captain Sagar, that the Governor has told us that this will be a tournament of unarmed combat?”The pirate deflated ever so slightly, then frowned. “So what? I'm still the best fighter among us. Well, maybe joint best. I suppose the scumsucker is alright at fighting too…”“I have a question,” said Ryn, ignoring Sagar and putting up his hand like a school pupil. “Will we be allowed to use our elemental projection powers?”“I…” Nuthea hesitated. “I'm not sure. I didn't ask about that.”“Of course we will,” said Sagar. “Now that they've got the Emerald, you can bet your arse that the Farrians will be using theirs. Hells, I wouldn't be surprised if they enter Baldy into the tournament. Didn't the Governor guy say that he was their strongest monk? And now he's got earth powers, there's no doubt he'll use them…”Sagar's voice trailed off. He was seeming less and less confident by the moment.“Well if that's the case,” spoke up Elrann, “then I think it's pretty obvious who we're going to enter, isn't it, princess-girl? I mean, I can handle myself in a fight, sure, but I much prefer to have my pistols and whip with me. I'm not so sure that I could take on a trained fighter as strong as monk-man, especially when he's got earth powers now. The logical choice for who we enter is: you, farmboy and pirate-man, because of all your Jewel-thingamy-powers, and the bountyhunter because of his badass fighting skills.”Yes, thought Nuthea, that is the logical choice, except what you don't know is that I'm blocked.“How does everyone feel about that?” she said out loud.Sagar folded his arms and nodded, clearly still trying to communicate an air of nonchalance.“I'll fight,” said Ryn, rubbing his hand.“Shadowfinger Vish?” Nuthea said.Vish shrugged. “You know what I want. As long as you give it to me, I will fight for you. I have fought in ‘tournaments' before, and won them.”“You have?!”“Yes. Both before I became a slave to the Empire, and since.”“Well,” said Elrann, “that settles it then, doesn't it?”“Hold on,” said Nuthea, “let us give everyone a chance to speak. Grandfather, do you wish to fight?”Cid's bushy eyebrows rose. He looked surprised to even be asked. “Oh goodness, no, Granddaughter, I'm getting too old for this sort of thing. I am happy to sit this one out.”“Even though you are more experienced than the rest of us and might not have to face the same obstacles in preparing for the tournament?” Nuthea tried to convey extra meaning through emphasis of the word and a tip of her head to one side.Cid's eyes glittered, and she knew he had understood her. “Ah. Yes; even so. Do not worry. We have a week–I'm sure that is plenty of time for you to improve and to overcome any obstacles you might be facing in the way of your peak performance.”Nuthea nodded, taking his meaning in turn. “Then it is settled. Unless a better idea presents itself for whatever reason, myself, Ryn, Captain Sagar and Shadowfinger Vish will enter the tournament to compete for, and win, the Earth Emerald.” She turned to Vish. “Shadowfinger Vish, you are clearly the b…'' She paused, not wanting to set Sagar off again. “You are clearly highly proficient at hand-to-hand combat, especially when elemental projection is taken out of the calculations. Will you train us in what you know of unarmed combat?”Vish's eyes were blank and unreadable above his face scarf as the rest of them awaited his response.“Will you give me poppy?” he said to Cid in return.“You know that you are meant to be coming off of it,” said Cid, “which is what you really want, remember? But yes, as part of withdrawing slowly, you can have some poppy in a week and a half. After the tournament.”The Shadowfinger was silent again, his eyes still blank.“I will train you,” he said at last.“Thank you,” said Nuthea.“Poodoo to that!” said Sagar, throwing up his hands. “I don't need any fighting lessons, especially from an ex-Imperial scumsucker like him. I'm off to go and find myself a drink.” He began to stalk towards the manse, then stopped. “You coming, woman?”Elrann's brows knotted. “Why would I be?”“Cause you agreed to go for a drink with me the other night?”Elrann scratched her chin. “Oh, right. Yeah, but not now. We said we would go in five days, on our day off from training before the tournament starts. I want to train with the others and see what the bountyhunter has to teach us.”“Whatever,” said Sagar, “suit yourself.”The door slammed behind him as he left the garden-courtyard. He was beginning to irk Nuthea somewhat.She refocused on the task at hand. “Here we go then,” she said, “Vish, you swap with me.”She traded places with the Shadowfinger to join the end of the lineup next to Cid, and Vish took the place in front of them all, facing them.The rest of them awaited Vish's first instruction.Vish sighed deeply, a sound like the last breath going out of a corpse.“Alright, listen,” he said in his slightly exotic-accented, guttural tones. “I am good at fighting, but not for the reasons you think. When the…untrained think about schooling in the fighting arts, they imagine it is all about learning special routines and practicing certain steps, like learning to dance. And there is some of that. But a fight, a real fight, is not like a dance. In a real fight, any routines you might have learned, any special techniques with grand names like the monk performed, any semblance of control or poise you might have, go out the window, and you just become another animal trying to kill all the other animals to stay alive. And the fastest, most brutal, most vicious animal is the one that kills first, and so the one who gets to stay alive a little longer. Do you understand?”Nuthea blinked at the Shadowfinger. It was the most words she had ever heard him say all at once. He clearly knew, and thought, a lot about this subject.None of the others said anything either. They must be as surprised as she was.“I will assume that you do understand,” said Vish, giving them all a withering look. “All that said, there is some advantage to be had by rehearsing certain routines and steps, not because in an actual fight it will be possible to replicate them exactly, but because by rehearsing them strength is built, and because your unconscious memory might mean that small elements of the routines are reproduced in combat by reflex in potentially effective ways. All of you, stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and bend your knees slightly.”They did so.“Now bend your arms at the elbow and make fists with your hands, with your thumbnails pointing up, like this.”They did so.“Good. This will be your first rudimentary practice exercise: punching. Now, with me, twist your fist round and punch the air in front of you, alternating right and left hands. Right! Left! Right! Left!”Nuthea punched the air along with the others, falling into the rhythm of following Vish's commands easily enough. She had done something similar to this with Evisca, her swordmistress at the palace, when she had been taught weaponry as a teenager, before she had been allowed to handle a blade. It seemed like a fairly basic exercise, but presumably Vish would work up to the more advanced techniques.Just then a bright blazing ball of fire shot past Vish and crashed into the fence several feet behind him, burning a hole in it and setting it on fire.“Oops,” said Ryn.“What in all the hells of all the gods are you doing?” Vish snapped at him, shouting through his face covering. He hadn't moved an inch in response to the fireball, but he was furious nonetheless.“Sorry…” stammered Ryn. “I just suddenly thought ‘Hey, what if I combined this punch with a fire projection?', and then I accidentally did it…”Nuthea put a hand over her face.It seems this is going to be even more difficult than I had anticipated…*Four days before the Tournament.Huld worked his way carefully through the forms of The Circumference Of The Earth, as he had done thousands of times before, only this time whenever he came to a transfer of energy, he combined it with some variety of manipulation of the training room's earthen floor below him.He stamped down hard with his right foot, completing ‘Replanting The Tree', and as vibration rippled through his foot he willed a square block of earth to rise up out of the floor in front of him.Improvising, he stepped forwards with his other foot and delivered ‘Rooted Strike' to the earthen block with his left fist. As he connected with the block, he willed it forwards and it shot pleasingly along the training room floor before exploding against its stone wall in a shower of dirt.Huld remained still in his battle pose, breathing heavily. Sweat clung to him. It was quite an exertion adding earth manipulation to his normal battle forms, he had discovered. Though it was worth it. And he had discovered he was very good at it. Who else was there better suited to incorporating the powers granted by the Farrian Emerald into his fighting manoeuvres? He had always been first in his class growing up at the monastery, even if that was because he had something to prove which the other novices did not. He had made it into the elite tier of monks privileged with watching over the Emperor, the Greenrobes. And he had been selected to be the Emperor's personal bodyguard, not anyone else. It was entirely appropriate that he be the first in Farr in two generations to be granted earth manipulation abilities and to train with them, and that he should be highly skilled at doing so.He should be happy.And yet, he couldn't quite relax into it.Something was bothering him, throwing off his focus.What?The foreigners.He came out of his stance from Rooted Strike and sat on the floor for a moment to catch his breath, wiping the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand.The thought of the foreigners had been throwing off his focus slightly, lingering at the back of his mind like a fly buzzing just on the edge of his hearing.It wasn't that he was afraid of losing to them in this tournament the Governor had organised, he thought as he looked at the scuff marks his earth-block had left on the far wall and the pile of brown dirt and dust it had disintegrated into from the force of its impact. He wasn't.He knew he could beat every one of them in single hand to hand combat, even the ‘ex'-Imperial Vish. Even the fireboy with his flame projection abilities, which were apparently super effective against creatures of earth and so probably also against people who were ‘earth-aligned' as Huld now was.He had watched each of them carefully during their time in the Shrine, and studied their fighting styles closely. The Imperial was highly trained, ruthless and dangerous, to be sure, but he was still no match for Huld. And the boy was almost completely untrained. He appeared to have very little hand-to-hand fighting prowess at all, if any. If Huld stayed out of the way of his fire attacks, which he was confident he would be able to do more than easily, then defeating the boy would be a walk in a peace garden.No, it wasn't that which was bothering him. It was something else about the foreigners…What, then?He blinked with surprise at the realisation.It was that, after spending the better part of two days with them, after being stuck inside the Shrine to Eto with them and having to work together with them to make their way to the top of it, solve its puzzles, escape from its traps and defeat the Earth Elemental, he had found that in the end they were actually not that bad after all.Blessed Eto, he thought, I even almost liked them by the end…It was a difficult revelation to stomach. Raised in a monastery in the second-but uppermost level of Shun Pei, Huld had always been kept safely away from the filthy foreigners who travelled and traded in the lower levels, whom he viewed as a barely necessary evil that the Governor only allowed into the city for economic reasons. His ambition, insofar as he had been allowed to nurture one, had always been to move up, not down, in Shun Pei, and until recently he had been entirely successful in it.But now that he had actually spent some time with some filthy foreigners, they didn't seem that bad after all. They were still ‘filthy', to be sure, with their vulgar expressions and their crude attempts at fighting and their strange customs and gods.But, he had found, they had also turned out also to be people just like him. Of course they were. They talked and laughed and joked and had good ideas and bad ideas, strengths and weaknesses. How could he have not seen that before?And if they were people just like him, maybe what they were proposing to do wasn't so stupid and wrong after all? Maybe it would be the most sensible course of action to just give them the Emerald so that they could hide it from Morekemia and join it together with the others in order to stop the Emperor?“Impressive,” said a voice from the entry doorway to the training room.Huld started, recognising the voice, then immediately shifted himself into a kneeling bow, touching his forehead to the floor.“My Lord Governor!” he said, cheeks heating with the secret knowledge that his master had taken him unawares while he had been entertaining such ridiculous thoughts. How long had he been watching?“Up,” the Governor commanded.Huld got to his feet and stood straight as the Governor walked onto the floor of the training room, hands held behind his back. He wasn't wearing his hat, and his shaved head shone slightly in the light from the candles that stood in their sconces at the four corners of the room.The Governor stood a few feet away from him. “So, you have started combining your forms with your new earth-manipulation gift.”He's been watching me for a while, then. “Yes, Lord Governor. Did…did I do wrongly?”“No,” the Governor said calmly. “Show me.”Huld masked his surprise. “Yes, Lord Governor.” He spread his feet and dropped into chocobo stance, took a deep breath, then began the first movement of The Circumference Of The Earth, bringing his left hand up and into a descending arc–“Not like that!” the Governor barked impatiently. “Show me properly! Try and hit me, you fool!”Unable to hide his surprise this time, Huld's serene mask broke into a puzzled frown. “Lord Governor?”“Am I speaking some language other than common?” the Governor said, frowning above his formidable jowls. “Try. And. Hit. Me.”Huld gulped. He had heard rumours that the Governor had trained in the fighting arts, but his master had never commanded him to do anything like this before. Still, he could do nothing but obey.Better to make it a reasonably gentle strike. Nothing too impactful. Huld had been first in his class, after all, he reminded himself again, and was Farr's best soldier-monk, by the Governor's own boast.Hoping to get this embarrassing ordeal over with quickly, Huld crossed the floor that lay between him and the Governor in four quick steps and aimed a simple close-fisted punch with his right hand at the Governor's chest.The Governor's left hand whipped out to block the punch, palming Huld's forearm away, then before Huld knew what was happening the Governor had brought his hand around and back to himself in a circle, then thrust it out again at Huld's chest.The floor hit Huld hard in the back.He coughed a couple of times, chest smarting where the Governor had struck him.He floored me, Huld thought as he inspected the muddy brown of the training room ceiling, which he had never seen from this angle before. He actually floored me. With one punch!“I meant that I wanted you to try and hit me with an earth manipulation attack,” the Governor said.Huld got up and brushed himself down. The rumours were true, then! More than true. Huld hadn't ever been floored like that before, not even in his early years of training at the monastery. The Governor was an incredibly skilled and strong fighter. He had humiliated Huld with a single blow while barely batting an eyelid. Huld had better do what he was being asked.No longer pulling his punch, he performed the same move as he had improvised at the end of The Circumference Of The Earth, stamping the ground to raise up a large square block of earth from it, then punching it.The earthen block shot towards where the Governor stood a few paces away……then stopped dead still in place in front of him.“That is more like it,” said the Governor from behind the block.What?Huld had expected the Governor to leap out of the way, or to hit the block and explode it with a blow. Not stop it.The block shot back along the ground towards Huld.“Catch it!” yelled the Governor.Huld almost didn't react in time, but just before the block of earth made impact with him he got his hand up and reached out with his mind, willing for the earthen block to stop. It came to rest about an inch from his face.“Good,” said the Governor from somewhere behind it. “Dear me, Huld, one little surprise and all your training almost goes out of the window. Return the block to the ground.”Huld wasn't sure what the Governor meant, but when he thought about it he realised what he was being ordered to do. He willed the block downwards, back into the floor, and it moved at his mental command, rejoining the earth that they stood on, sinking down to become a part of it again.Across the floor, the green-robed, stocky form of the Governor stood still, hands behind his back. His master favoured him with a half-smile from one side of his mouth.“That's it,” he said. “Don't be so surprised that I have earth manipulation abilities too. I've had them since long before you retrieved the Emerald.”I'm more than capable of defending myself, Huld suddenly remembered the Governor saying back in his chambers when the foreigners had been there last. He had wondered then what that comment had meant, but he had never imagined the full extent of its implications.“But how, Lord Governor?” he asked.“Who do you think it was that placed the Emerald in the Shrine to Eto in the first place?” the Governor snapped irritably. He began to pace slowly back and forth across the training room floor as he spoke. “I did, as a young man, when ordered to do so by Governor Restra. I was a monk like you once, Huld. I swore the vows of service. But one's service to Farr can take a Farrian to many different places. After I hid the Emerald in the old Shrine, I was ordered to change my name and begin a political career. By the time Governor Restra's term of office finished, he had so manoeuvred me that I was his obvious successor, so the High Council voted to put me in charge.”“If I may be so bold, Lord Governor…” Huld said, “...why?”“Because the knowledge of the Emerald's whereabouts and how to obtain it was too important to entrust to anyone but the Governor of Farr. I grew too old to be able to retrieve it myself, though I do still retain, ahem, some fighting skill.”Huld's back twinged. The Governor certainly did retain some fighting skill.“However,” the Governor continued, “I knew I could count on you to retrieve it for me.”Huld thought of telling him how much the foreigners had helped, but he decided to hold his tongue. He continued to listen like an obedient soldier, though he wasn't sure where this was going.“Governor Restra thought to hide the Emerald away,” said the Governor, “because he thought that would keep Farr safe from those from elsewhere who would seek to steal it, and because he thought its power was too dangerous to be used. Do you understand?”Huld nodded. “Yes, Lord Governor.”“But he was wrong,” said the Governor.Huld held his jaw shut tight to hide his puzzlement.“Restra thought that it would benefit us to hide the Jewel away, where nobody could get to it, not even us! I too once thought as he did, and as you clearly do too now.”Huld opened his mouth to protest.“Do not deny it!” the Governor barked, cutting him off. “As I say, I once thought as you do too, but I see now that Governor Restra was foolish and misguided. We hid the Emerald away, and filthy foreigners came asking for it anyway. And not just any regular old filthy foreigners, but foreigners with their own elemental manipulation abilities!” The Governor spat loudly onto the floor in front of him, as if it had made a foul taste in his mouth just to speak of them. His spit landed in a little puddle and began to seep into the earthen floor. “And they tell us that the Emperor of Morekemia has learned of the Jewels too, and is looking for them! What is the correct response to this, I ask you?”Silence held the training room. Huld thought that the Governor's question had been rhetorical, but then he realised a response was expected.“Ah,” he said. He weighed his options carefully. “To fight, Lord Governor?”“To fight!” said the Governor. He had stopped pacing and stood looking at Huld now, his green eyes verdant and wild as he raised his chin. “Thank you, Huld! There is hope for you yet! Yes, ‘to fight'! Why should we sit by with our nation's Primeval Jewel hidden away in a temple while the rest of the world runs around after the others, squabbling with themselves over who gets the most territory? If we had continued to do that, it would only have been a matter of time before some filthy foreigners came looking and retrieved it for themselves, or grew strong enough to conquer us with their own Jewel-powers! The Jewels are not to be hidden, Huld, they are to be used! If we make use of the Emerald, there will be no nation that can overthrow us!”Huld's jaw was starting to ache from how hard he was holding it tight. Discomfort churned in his stomach. The Governor had grown increasingly animated as he had been speaking, working himself up into a most un-Farrian passion. He knew that the Governor was a hot-tempered and impatient man, but he had never seen him like this.He had to do it. He had to voice his objection.“But Lord Governor…” Huld said carefully, “it seems to me from my experience with the foreigners that certain Jewel-elements are vulnerable to attack from others–”“Nonsense!” erupted the Governor, almost shouting now. Huld should not have questioned him. “You only think that because you are young in your earth-gift. Properly trained, a Farrian earth-wielder is unbeatable. How could we not be? We are the greatest fighters in the whole of Mid! Fighting is our very way of life! It is arrogant of any other nation to even think to hope that they could challenge us, let alone Morekemia! This is what you must demonstrate at the tournament in four days' time. When you defeat all of those foreigners in combat, you will show not only our citizens but the whole of Mid that Farr is supreme and that we will not be bested in combat. News of your victory and your abilities will spread to the other nations, and nobody, not even Morekemia, will think to challenge us militarily! And even if they do, we will be waiting for them, and we will crush them with our earth manipulation. Our army will be more than ready to do so once they have all been touched with the Emerald and trained by you as their Military Commander!”Huld bowed his head. “Yes, Lord Governor,” he said. Huld could see no other appropriate response. He knew of no other. Military Commander, he thought. That was a step-up even from ‘Personal Bodyguard to the Governor'.“Good,” said the Governor. “Now come. You have clearly taken to earth-manipulation quickly, just as I did. You have the basics well enough, but I have the advantage of many more years of training in fighting with earth. There are a number of advanced techniques I have to show you. And you will no doubt invent your own. That manipulation you performed on the foreigners in my chamber, for example–hardening the earth around their feet–was clever, but I have long since moved far beyond things like that. Let me show you. Take Dragon stance.”Huld did so, positioning himself side-on to the Governor, pulling one fist back low with a bent elbow for the ‘tail', and holding the other one up with his arm at a right-angle, with two bent fingers jutting up out of his fist, the ‘horns' of the dragon.“Good,” said the Governor. “Now, watch.”The Governor began to demonstrate his advanced techniques, training him, and Huld followed obediently, making the movements that his master prescribed and holding back from showing his astonishment at the techniques, participating wholeheartedly.Well, almost wholeheartedly.In the soil of his heart, a tiny seed of doubt had been planted. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sagaofthejewels.substack.com

Elizabeth Barnes is an author and Professor of philosophy at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, she reflects on her unconventional journey into philosophy, and her experience living with disabilities. Elizabeth questions conventional views on disability, advocating for a more nuanced understanding of wellbeing, and shares how philosophy helps her find comfort and meaning in life's challenges.Learn more about Elizabeth and read her books!Donate to The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's ResearchDonate to The Davis Phinney Foundation for Parkinson'sKeep up to date with Peter on SubstackKeep up to date with Kasia!If you would like to support the podcast please consider our PatreonExecutive Producer: Rachel BarrettThanks to our volunteer researchers Hendrik Dahlmeier and Mihika Chechi, and Chris van Ryn!And special thanks to Suzi Jamil! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's edition of the Flavors of Northwest Arkansas Podcast, we're in Fayetteville at Calle Latin Cuisine interviewing chef Fernando Castillo. But before we hear from him?!?! FOOD NEWS!! Onyx will open a shared space in the Fayetteville Square, and they'll be serving much more than drinks. Brightwater officially opens its artisanal butchery program and butcher shop. We'll hear from Butchery Instructor Travis McConnell. Mermaids has locked in a new spot in Rogers. We'll tell you where that is. Roll and Fold in Rogers has closed, but is open under a new concept. Ryn in Bentonville will do a documentary, and you can get involved. The Fat Chef MAY not be closing after all, but several things have to go right. They're popping bottles at Tusker's Tavern in Fayetteville Calle Latin Cuisine in Fayetteville will be a year old in April. Owner and Executive Chef Fernando Castillo is originally from Puebla, Mexico, and at the age of 20, decided to move with a friend to New York- he'll tell you why. Also, why did he end up coming to Fayetteville from New York? It wasn't as popular a destination in the early 2000's.     On the food side of things, he'll talk about his influences, including stealing a recipe from his Ecuadorian wife. Kind of. That's in this edition of the Flavors of Northwest Arkansas.

March Book Box (Historical Fiction) –

Talk of herbal detox comes up every spring – some years, earlier than others. We field a lot of questions from people asking our opinions on detox protocols, bowel cleanses, liver flushes, you name it. So, in this episode, we're giving you our fundamental thoughts on the topic.Ryn wrote you a poem that sums up our perspective. Here it is:The Don't Oxif you think you need a detox,hear & heed the Don't Ox –listen well when he talks,when he says:Don't.don't you doubt your liver!,and the action it deliversin concert with your kidneysto clean your blood.if you feed your body rightlyif you sleep you well a-nightlyif you walk when sun shines brightlyyou'll keep inner waters clear.you don't need to haunt the potty –you just need to trust your body:give it nicely more than naughtywithout force and without fear.if you taste a bit of bittereat some greens at every dinnerthen you'll run that inner riverin a flow, but not a flood!now every day's a detoxand our good old friend the Don't Oxis sure when we hear “purge” talkwe'll remember:Don't.Listen to the episode for the elucidation and explanation of everything that's contained in this poem!Perhaps you will adopt the Don't Ox as a personal mascot, too.

On this episode of the CritRPG Podcast I talk with Dungeon Core Online Author Ryn, AKA Jonathan Smidt to talk about streaming, drinking and the Wild West. -------------------------------------------We have our own website now! It has all the info you need, a merch store, and more!https://critrpgpodcast.com/If you want to listen to the entire podcast without ads, PLUS at least ONE HOUR of additional content for EVERY EPISODE, consider subscribing to our Patreon!https://www.patreon.com/critrpgpodcastFind my own books and other links herehttps://linktr.ee/madix3I am active in these Discords and Groups! Check them out if you want to discuss LitRPG and progression Fantasy novels! https://linktr.ee/critrpglinksFor business inquiries: critrpgpodcast.social@gmail.com-------------------------------------------Ryn's SeriesElemental DungeonDungeon Core OnlineElemental GunslingerResonance: D.E.D. ExorcistAcedBooks MentionedHe Who Fights With MonstersDungeon Crawler CarlHeretical FishingBeware of ChickenFirth ChroniclesElf EmpireMimic & MeEverybody Loves Large ChestsSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/critrpg-a-podcast-about-litrpg-progression-fantasy-and-their/donations

Previously on Saga of the Jewels…The life of seventeen-year-old RYN, bookish son of a wealthy landowner, changes forever when his hometown is destroyed by the EMPIRE and everyone he has ever known is killed. Ryn discovers that the Empire are seeking TWELVE PRIMEVAL JEWELS which grant the power to manipulate different elements, and that his father had been hiding the FIRE RUBY. He sets out to take revenge on the Imperial General who killed his family and retrieve the Fire Ruby, and along the way meets NUTHEA the lightning-slinging princess, SAGAR the swaggering skypirate, ELRANN the tomboy engineer, CID the wizened old healer, and VISH the poppy-seed-addicted bounty hunter. Together the companions decide to find all of the Jewels in order to stop the evil EMPEROR from finding them first and taking over the world. They have thus far succeeded in retrieving the Fire Ruby, borne by Ryn, and the Lightning Crystal, borne by Nuthea. They have now come to the land of FARR where they intend to compete in a hand-to-hand fighting tournament in order to attempt to win its prize, the EARTH EMERALD…EPISODE THIRTY-ONE: DELIBERATIONS AND SOLICITATIONSOne week until the tournament.Ryn paced his room.It was a nice room, to be fair. Spacious, with a rug on the floor, a low, many-cushioned bed and a desk adorned with a vase of rainbow-coloured flowers. The nicest he had stayed in for…well, maybe ever. It was nicer than his bedroom had been at home. But that had been different, more special, because that had been where he had lived with his…Mother. Father. Hometown.But he wasn't really interested in the niceness of his room right now. What he was interested in was the next part of the sequence of words that were forever running through his head, that had changed recently, though the last bit had remained the same:Find the Jewels. Save the world. Bring them back. Stay with Nuthea.“Stay with Nuthea,” he repeated out loud to himself. But what was the point of staying with Nuthea if all he was to her was just a travelling companion, or a fellow-Jewel-hunting-party-member, or even a friend?Of course, being her friend was a big deal in itself, to be fair–she was a lightning-wielding crown-princess from a faraway land, after all. But, Ryn had realised again, especially after he had forgiven her for her accidental part in what had happened to his hometown, that he didn't just want to be her friend.He wanted to be more than her friend.Was he deluding himself in wondering if he ever could be more than her friend? He had been seventeen when he had met her, but he was fairly sure that his birthday had passed since he had been traveling with her, even if he had lost track of the months a while ago. That meant he was now eighteen–the age at which boys traditionally came of age in Efstan and became men.Nuthea was a bit older than him, he reckoned, but probably not much older. She was probably in her early twenties, Ryn reckoned–unless Manolians had some strange ability to look much younger than they actually were, which for all he knew could be a thing, though he hoped to the One that it wasn't.If she was in her early twenties, she wasn't too much older than him.Was she?It was an acceptable age-gap for a romantic involvement.Wasn't it?He felt about her the same way he had felt about Carlotia, his most recent crush in Cleasor. Mother. Father. Hometown. Only not exactly the same way. She had been beautiful too, though nowhere near as beautiful as Nuthea. But she had been someone he viewed from far off, glimpsed across the classroom, and occasionally exchanged pleasantries with, which had lent fuel for the fire of his boyish, immature fantasies.This was different. He knew Nuthea; he had lived and travelled and fought alongside her for the past however many months, and grown with her too, and although some things about her irritated part of him no end–like the way she always loved to lecture people–somehow at the same time he found them bizarrely endearing.And now he found that not only could he not imagine never being with Nuthea, he was finding it very hard not to imagine being with her in a romantic way. It wasn't even that he was hopelessly attracted to her–he didn't even think about her in that way (much…). He just wanted to know her and be close to her. Perhaps even to…marry her?The problem was that she was a lightning-wielding crown-princess from a faraway land. And he was a…a what? What had Sagar called him that time? A ‘naive greenhorn pussywillow farmboy'. What did ‘pussywillow' even mean in that context? It didn't even make sense; it just sounded vaguely insulting. Stupid Sagar.Ryn was just the bookish son of a reasonably wealthy farm-owner in Cleasor, a backwater country town that didn't even exist anymore, in Efstan, a northern Dokanese island that nobody cared about all that much, who hadn't particularly made anything of himself.“No,” he said to himself, turning to take yet another lap of his well-paced room. I'm more than that. I'm Ruby-touched. I have the Gift of Fire. I'm capable of great things. In fact, I've done some great things already: I escaped from an Imperial skyship. I rescued Nuthea when Vish poisoned her. I defeated General Vorr, for goodness' sake.The more troublesome problem was that even though he had done all those things, he felt like a scared, traumatised orphan boy who still often woke up from nightmares of his parents being murdered and his hometown being destroyed and who was still plagued by intrusive images of those things at all hours of the day.Which is also what I am.And when he thought about what he was presently trying to summon up the courage to go and do, butterflies collided in his stomach, his mouth went dry, and a strong pressure in his groin told him he needed to pee even though he hadn't drunk anything in a while.He stopped his pacing.There was only one thing for it.He was going to pray.Correction. He was going to try to pray.“One God,” he said very quietly, staring at the grey stone of the room's wall and feeling very foolish, hoping and trying to believe there was some ‘One' out there listening to him, “please help me. Please give me the courage to speak to Nuthea and invite her to go to a tavern with me.”He fell silent, still staring at the wall.Was something meant to happen now?He didn't feel any different.He didn't feel anything at all.No voice from the sky. No emotional impression. No sense of direction. Nothing.The only difference was that now he left the room and went to go and talk to Nuthea.Perhaps the One helps those who help themselves, Ryn thought as he walked down the corridor to the stairs.His booted feet felt heavy as he took the steps one at a time, as if his body was trying to hold him back and prevent him from doing what he was doing. But he took the steps all the same.When he got to the upper floor, someone was already standing outside the first door, facing it as if waiting for a reply from within.“Sagar?!” Ryn said. “What are you doing here?”“What does it look like, pup?” Sagar said with a sneer. “I'm here to talk to the princess.”“No you're not; I'm here to talk to the princess!”“Well I was here first. I beat you to it. Bad luck, pup. Now run along.”Heat rose in Ryn's chest. He weighed his chances. He liked them. He had bested Sagar in a fight before, after all, as apparently Sagar's air-alignment was slightly weak to his fire. The pirate had got here first, to be fair, but why should that matter?“Sagar? Ryn? What are you doing here?”Ryn whirled on his heel.Nuthea.*Ten minutes earlier.Sagar was frustrated.He felt strongly as though he was not making enough progress in bedding either the princess and/or the engineer-woman.Never mind that he had never actually bedded anyone before. He was convinced that all he needed was a little wine, a little moonlight, a little Captain Sagar charm and then they would be putty in his hands—he would be able to get one or both of them into his quarters.Except he had lost those. Somehow, inexplicably, he had lost his quarters when the princess had demanded that she and the engineer woman sleep in them instead, for ‘reasons of modesty', as she had put it.Such were his thoughts as he sat on the bed in his room in this weird lodging place the Governor of Farr had put them in.The princess. This was all her fault.The princess had promised him ‘gold, gemstones, and beautiful women'. Fair enough, she had delivered on two of those, giving him an enormous chest of Manolian-minted gold pieces and precious non-magical gems as a reward for his safe delivery of her to Manolia and as a deposit to guarantee her further monthly payments while on this ‘quest'. He kept the chest under lock and key and slept above it in his hammock in the cabin.But the ‘beautiful woman' part she had just outright tricked him about. True, there had been many beautiful women in Manolia, just like the princess had said, many beautiful warrior women, and Sagar had not failed to notice their excellent breeding, their strong and toned physiques, and their generally tremendous proportions. But how many of them had been assigned to him in polygamous marriage, or given to him as bedslaves for his new harem as a reward for his safe delivery of the princess to Manolia?Exactly none, that's how kufeing many!Instead, he had been offered the choice to stay in Manolia with the many beautiful warrior women, but with no guarantee of bedding with any of them, or to enlist his services and his ship for the cause of this quest, where he could be around just two beautiful women–Nuthea and Elrann.And they were beautiful, to be sure, each in their own particular way. The princess in a very obvious, proud way that she wore like he wore his Captain's Coat, and the engineer-woman in a more unconventional, less direct, way that made him feel a bit uncomfortable but, if he was completely honest, was no less appealing.The problem was, there was no particular guarantee of bedding with either of them either. Maybe he should have been more specific in his original clarification of the terms of his reward. The princess had placed him around ‘beautiful women', the term they had used in their original bargain; he just hadn't specified what he wanted to be able to do with them.And now he was beginning to question whether he had made the right choice or not. Maybe there would have been more of a chance of a successful bedding if he had stayed in Manolia. The initial monetary reward had been sizable enough, after all…Rrrrr, he growled inside his own head. Well, I'm not going to stand for this! he thought, standing up. Wait. I mean, I'm not going to sit for this! I'm going to stand up and go and get what I want!He left his room to go to find the princess.As he walked through the hall and up the steps to the floor above, imaginations of what he was going to do when he got to her room filled his mind.He would bang on her door, demand that she open up, announce what he had come for, then sweep her up into his arms, take her to the bed, or the floor, whichever was more convenient, and then ravish her. She, being herself absolutely desperate to be bedded by him, just too modest to have mentioned it yet, would be relieved and thankful that he had come and only too happy to oblige him.Wait.He didn't want to disturb the others and announce what he was doing, as they might interrupt, and while he was reasonably sure that the princess had the hots for him (come on, who didn't?), if he was even more honest with himself he wasn't entirely sure, and she had been giving the pup some oddly long glances lately…Alright. Instead, he would knock on the door, ask that she open up, request that they have intimate relations, then, when she probably agreed, he would make sure that the door was shut, discretely make his way with her to the bed and start kissing her.Wait.As he got to the top of the steps, he remembered that although he had played out these sorts of scenarios in his head thousands of times before, he had never actually succeeded in putting any of them into practice… And if he was completely honest with himself, he was no longer sure that the princess was into him in that way at all…Sure, they had shared some banterous and flirtatious conversations in which her body language had been encouraging and she had done things like place her hand on his arm while she laughed along with one of his jokes, and he was dashingly handsome, he knew that much, but he didn't have any solid evidence that she actually fancied him…Who knew, the princess could just as well have been laughing at him as much as with him. And she had all that Oneist religion nonsense going on, which probably made her a prude and uptight. And er, well, there was still the small matter that he had never actually been with a woman in that way before... (There had been that one time with the serving wench in Marisel, but she had turned out to be a boy dressed up as a girl, so he had run away. He didn't like to think about that too much.)Alright. Instead, he would tap on her door, suggest that she open up, then as politely but confidently as possible invite her to go to a tavern with him so that they could become better acquainted, while personally harbouring the intention that this be with a view to his becoming romantically involved with her and perhaps, one day, eventually, bedding her.He was in front of her door. How long had he been here? Its oak wood stared at him like a monster from the Earth Temple he could not defeat with his wind powers. The knots in it seemed to contort into mocking faces before his eyes.Sagar shook his head to clear it.What's wrong with me? I'm the great Captain Sagar Edbini, Scourge of the Imfisi Skies!He raised his finger to tap on her door, then lost his bottle and found that he could not do so. His throat was parched and his palms were clammy. He could not even move his index finger to tap on the door.Kufe! he thought. His crew, when he had been alive, had all thought he had been a serial womaniser, or at least he had hoped that they had based on the reputation he had cultivated. Why can't I live up to my reputation, or at least the reputation that I want to have? I bet Dad never had these problems…“Sagar?!” someone said behind him. “What are you doing here?”The skypirate started, then turned. The pup. This just got worse.“What does it look like, pup?” Sagar said with a sneer. “I'm here to talk to the princess.”“No you're not. I'm here to talk to the princess!”“Well, I was here first. I beat you to it. Bad luck. Now run along.”The boy bristled, and for a moment he looked like he was considering fighting. In spite of himself, Sagar's stomach gave a little lurch. He had been licked by the boy's flames before, and didn't want to be again.The princess came up the stairs behind the pup.“Sagar?” she said first. “Ryn? What are you doing here?”“I came up here to talk to you,” Sagar announced, getting there first again. Be confident. Be the skycaptain you are. “I don't know why the pup's here,” he lied.“I wanted to talk to you too, Nuthea,” the pup said, like the wet little schoolboy blanket he was, using her proper first name like some sort of manipulative sap.The princess frowned, appearing genuinely puzzled. Is she so unaware of her own glory? “Oh?” she said. “What about?”This was it. This was the moment. Neither of them said anything for a heartbeat; they just looked at the princess.Then both he and the pup spoke at the same time so that neither of them were audible. Sagar didn't even hear what he said himself, he just spoke automatically. Their sentences fizzled out simultaneously like the dying fumes of an airship crash.“Pardon me?” said Nuthea, her frown deepening.“Iwaswonderingifyouwouldliketogotoatavernwithmesometime!” said Sagar extremely fast. Yes! Got there first again! Death and glory!“S-so was I!” stammered Ryn. “I was wondering if you like to go to a tavern with me sometime too!”Stupid pup. Now you're just copying me. Get lost, you wretched little scamp.Nuthea looked from Sagar to Ryn, then back again. Her frown deepened still further.“Why?” she said.Now Ryn and Sagar looked at each other.Don't make me spell it out, princess. Damnit, I guess they don't do things like this in her country…This time Ryn beat him to it, while he was still thinking. “We each wanted to ask you to go to a tavern with us to explore whether you would consider starting a romantic relationship with us! I mean, independently! Not like a romantic relationship with both of us at the same time, but with one of us!” The pup had used meaningful words, but he had also sort of shouted them. It had been quite weird. That must be a point in my favour.“Oh,” said Nuthea when he had finished, and took half a step backwards. She looked from Ryn to Sagar and back again. Then her frown broke and her golden eyebrows raised high, her blue eyes going wide. “Oh!” For once, she seemed to have no idea at all what to say. “Boys…wow… well, that's… that's very flattering of you both… but… but I'm afraid with the urgency and seriousness of our Quest I'm afraid there's just no way I can… no way I could even consider the possibility of…a ‘romantic relationship' at this time. There is just too much… too much else to focus on and too much going on at the moment… and I only lost my mother very recently… I am very flattered, honestly, but it is not something I would even consider at present.” She said that last sentence with an air of conclusion, as if it had taken her whole answer to get over her surprise and work out what she actually thought.The wind went out of Sagar's sails. Ah. Well, I tried. We tried.The pup though, for some suicidal reason, kept going.“Well what if it wasn't with a view to a romantic relationship?!” he said. “What if we just went to a tavern to get a drink together (the two of us, I mean), without any other agenda?!”Clever b*****d, thought Sagar. He's luring her into thinking it would just be a friendly meet-up in the hope that bedding will happen spontaneously. Why hadn't he thought of that?“Hey!” he said aloud. “That's what I want to do too!”“You both still want to go to a tavern for a drink with me?” said the princess, just one eyebrow raising this time. “Without it being with a view to exploring any kind of romantic relationship?”“Yes,” said the pup.“Yes,” said Sagar, not wanting to be left out.“Independently,” the pup clarified. “Not at the same time.”Nuthea ran her tongue over her bottom lip, then bit it, her eyes going off to the side for a moment. “Well… alright then. I suppose that would be okay. We do have seven whole days until the tournament for the Earth Emerald begins. Just so long as you both definitely understand that these are drinks in a tavern without any view to exploring any kind of romantic relationship...”“Got it,” said Ryn.“Totally clear,” Sagar lied.“Which one of us should go with you first?” said Ryn.What a stupid thing to say. “I should go first!” said Sagar, raising his voice. “I was here first, after all!”“I should go first!” the pup protested, and the air around them grew a fraction warmer. “It was my idea! The whole it-not-being-with-a-view-to-a-romantic relationship-thing, I mean! In fact, Nuthea, forget the whole tavern-thing–I was exploring the city earlier and I found a poster advertising a play by a performing troupe that you might enjoy! Perhaps we could go and see that together instead?!”“Hey!” said Sagar, air rising around him. “You never mentioned that before! Now you're changing the terms! I want to take her to a play, and I want to do it first!”The princess put her face in her hand.“What's all the noise out here about?”Sagar looked round. The engineer woman had appeared in the doorway to her room.“Nothing important,” he said. A thought occurred to him. “Hey, woman, would you like to go for a drink in a tavern with me sometime?”Elrann looked him up and down. “Sure. So long as you finally stop calling me ‘woman'. Yntrik knows I could use a drink.”She slammed her door shut again.Yes! thought Sagar, inwardly celebrating. Still got it! Not that I've ever had ‘it' before, but she doesn't need to know that!Nuthea and Ryn were looking at him, their mouths hanging slightly open, like he had done something odd.“What?” Sagar said.“Do you still want to take me to the play that Ryn found?”Oh poodoo. “Er. Yes?”The princess turned to the pup. “I look forward to attending the play with you, Ryn,” she said, then went into her room and shut the door behind her.Ryn stared open-mouthed at him.“What?” said Sagar. “Piss off, pup!”“You really are a piece of work,” the pup said, and walked off, leaving Sagar on the landing to bask in his success at finally asking out a woman. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit sagaofthejewels.substack.com

Ryn is tookiethings on Instagram. Tookie things are small special things. Ryn learnt to sew from her mother but you'll need to listen or watch how her mother went that extra mile at night to help Ryn and her sister learn to sew. Her makes are so eye catching and she's a great SewOver50 follower to get inspired by. You'll enjoy how Ryn meticulously plans her makes. And yes she does sew for your children. Make sure you follow Ryn on Instagram. Thanks Ryn for letting us know how helpful Sandy's LIVE about using Instagram was so helpful to you. Make sure you head over to SewOver50 highlights to learn more about Instagram.

We've started a Patreon! Dashers who join our patreon will get access to our discord, behind the scenes content, exclusive mini arcs and one shots (including the Hammershold Arc!) and much more! Join the adventure now to guarantee a second season! go to patreon.com/dashaction With Tarun down and the Ryn approaching, the team still faces the threat of their attackers, but will they all make it out of this one? Tune in to find out!

Happy New Year!!! Welcome to 2025, and thanks for listening to our first podcast of the year, we appreciate you being here! I know that there are folks out there that are kicking off the year with a dry January, and we wish you all the success... However, here at the Flavors of Northwest Arkansas, we toast to the New Year with Sassafras Springs Vineyard and Winery... we'll talk with them in a minute. But first- Food News! Wanted to start with the Yankabilly Smokehouse- the former food truck at the Boardwalk in Springdale is now open inside Mothership on Emma. They've been up and going for 3 weeks and co-owner Aaron Kemper told me that they have some big plans for the spring, and it might involve their outdoor stage. 2025 will also be bringing some new restaurants and concepts to our area, and there are plenty that we're excited about: We kick it off with the Handshake coming to South College in Fayetteville. It's one of the 2 concepts coming from the Conifer team this year.. Former Conifer GM Hope Ray is a Fayetteville native and will be at the helm for this one. Just like Conifer, the menu will be gluten-free and have a heavy emphasis on being locally sourced. It will also have a market with locally sourced meat, veggies and more. The building is taking on a significant remodel, so it will take some time. The other concept from Conifer was announced a month ago, RYN. It'll be in Bentonville, and will be a farm-to-table tasting menu restaurant in a renovated farmhouse right next to their farm. They also plan to have events on their surrounding land. Yeyo's Executive Chef and Owner Rafael Rios got busier in 2024 as he became part-owner in downtown Springdale's Bauhaus Biergarten... He'll get even busier this year, as he'll be opening Casa Magnolia directly across Allen Street from Bauhaus. According to their website, outside of the café, they'll have a Two Friends Community Book kiosk, art, coffee, clubs, ice cream and more... We'll let you know when we hear about a grand opening date. Bentonville Chinese Restaurant Wu Zhao is projected to open later this month. It'll be owned by Blu Fresh Fish Marketplace's Barry Furuseth, Vincent Yao Lim, who's executive chef and known as the Wolf of WOK Street in Australia with millions of social media followers, and former champion of Netflix's Zumbo's Just Desserts, Catherine Zhang. We talked with them on November 13th, if you want to hear that episode. They'll be opening next door to Mezzaluna in downtown Bentonville. Sadly, yesterday was the final day of service for Mermaids in their current location in Fayetteville. I did receive confirmation yesterday that they're still targeting April for their opening date at their new location... still no confirmation yet on the location but will let you know once it's set. Sassafras Springs Vineyard and Winery is many things... a winery, a wedding venue, a retail space, a restaurant, a place to stay and more, but it certainly didn't start out that way. Co-owner Cheryl Long and GM Drew Gorton detail for us the journey to what it is today. They're mother and son of a family-run business, and that cast continues to grow. They have some wines that have won impressive awards in some of the biggest competitions in the US. How did they learn to make wine? You'll hear that story. Equally as important, how do they bottle it? They started off bottling by hand. It's been an evolution for sure, and they recently made a huge investment in it. Finally, we ask all of our guests what their last 24 hours was like- they had a great, albeit frazzling story! Listen wherever you listen to podcasts!

On this week's edition of the Flavors of Northwest Arkansas podcast, we're in Springdale where we interviewed the 3 owners of Rein Sushi & Hibachi. We'll talk to Raynor, Bari and Avery shortly, but first... Food News!! Some big food news came down yesterday. James Beard nominated Chef Matthew Cooper and the folks at Conifer announced a new endeavor on Monday night- It's called RYN! It will be a farm-to-table tasting menu restaurant, and like Conifer, it'll be gluten-free. Also like Conifer, they'll support local farmers and purveyors, providing fresh, and sustainable ingredients. If you listened to Conifer's podcast with us in March, you heard Chef Cooper break the news that they'd have their own farm soon. Well, that farm will be right outside the back door, and they'll be growing much of their own food right on the farm. They also hope to provide community events and much more. It's set to open next year. We'll have more info as it becomes available and catch up with Chef Cooper next year. The Ozark Beer Company's release of its heralded Bourbon Double Cream Stout, or BDCS, went live Monday, and as of last night, they were still selling it on their website. It's a smaller run this year, so it won't last long. You can pick up your orders in their taproom starting December 28th. There are few things I like more than fun food & Bev promotions, and one smacked me RIGHT across the face the other day on Instagram. Black Apple Hard Cider is having a Short Girl Appreciation night, where they'll short your tab 10% if you're a female under 5-foot-2... it runs from 5-10pm on Tuesday December 21st... don't forget, they have a full cocktail program now to go along with some of the country's best cider. Speaking of cocktails, if you're in the Siloam area, Park House Kitchen & Bar has come out with their holiday cocktail menu! That Peppermint Mocha White Russian and Smores Old Fashioned have my attention. Check it out on their social media... Now to Rein Sushi & Hibachi... to be so young, what a past these folks have. There are 3 owners, Reiner Wibowo, Averie Mattix and Bari Abe, and they're super-tight. Reiner and Bari are both originally from Indonesia but met in Harrison, Arkansas, where they both met Averie and started a popular business there that they'll talk about. Later, they got the itch to open in an area where they liked to go on their off days, Northwest Arkansas. This is their 2nd business here, but the first one was purposefully short-lived, while they were looking for a place to set up their dream business... By the way, there are some unique menu items that we get to the bottom of! Check out Reiner, Averie and Bari on this edition of the Flavors of Northwest Arkansas!

Ryn Gargulinski is an award-winning author, artist, and speaker dedicated to helping others live freely and joyfully.   She founded the Sanctuary of the Wild Souls which aimed at guiding individuals to rise above mediocrity and reach higher states of consciousness.   Ryn has written over ten books, including her memoir How to Get Through Hell on Earth Without Drinking a Keg or Kicking a Garden Gnome.   Ryn emphasizes helping people reconnect with their true selves and break free from self-imposed limitations.   She explains that her work is driven by personal experiences, and she channels insights from her spirit self when writing.   Ryn also stresses the importance of establishing a sanctuary for the soul daily to set a positive tone.   In addition, Ryn highlights the need to remain open to possibilities rather than being fixated on specific desires. LinkedIn: Ryn Gargulinski  Website: Sanctuary of the Wild Souls   Check out our CEO Hack Buzz Newsletter–our premium newsletter with hacks and nuggets to level up your organization. Sign up HERE.  I AM CEO Handbook Volume 3 is HERE and it's FREE. Get your copy here: http://cbnation.co/iamceo3. Get the 100+ things that you can learn from 1600 business podcasts we recorded. Hear Gresh's story, learn the 16 business pillars from the podcast, find out about CBNation Architects and why you might be one and so much more. Did we mention it was FREE? Download it today!

Whitney Cerak and Laura van Ryn were involved in a tragic accident in April of 2006. They were both students at Taylor University in Indiana, when a van they were riding in collided with a semi truck a top speed and several people were killed instantly. In the aftermath, a mistake was discovered, leading to a heartbreaking revelation for both the Cerak and Van Ryn families. Whitney and Laura's story gained significant media attention and raised discussions about identity and loss. Their experiences were later chronicled in books and a documentary, exploring themes of forgiveness and resilience. Find the book here: https://a.co/d/bl5Zuri Click here to join our Patreon.  Connect with us on Instagram and join our Facebook group.  To submit listener stories or case suggestions, and to see all sources for this episode: https://www.inhumanpodcast.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Howdy, friends! Today, Ryn finds that she is conflicted in her feelings to reunite with Cutter and Maverick. Mom and Dad says they're dangerous, but her counterpart's memories and feelings say otherwise. Also, the boys reunite in Dulltown (with Ryn eventually) to have their first conversation with Vanta Black. Ultimately, they will encountered actors who are roleplaying important moments of their lives to discover that Vanta knows more about them they ever realized. Support the Show! Check out our site!

Today, we find out what Ryn was up to while the boys were navigating the scenery of Vanta Black's "sets." Ryn goes on a "Trip" of sorts after helping out in the medical center. During her "ride" she meets Stephano the giant skeleton (or skelektion because Adrian had a typo) and Rim Dundrig, an "Aussie" Dwarf land pirate from Sinner's Canyon mine. We jump back and forth between the eyes of Ryn and her hallucinations (to escape reality) and what Rim sees. It was also honestly just fun to have a really out-of-the-box episode of Phony Express. Enjoy!Say hi to us! Review us

Today, Cutter experiences a strange Haunted House with Sam and Dean, while Maverick slays some entertainers in Freedom Hallow. Finn becomes and Ryn and now wants Bowls Bowls Bowls and a vacation. Some weird stuff is going down and the boys are suspicious of the people in town. Also, how you doing everybody? You taking care of yourself? You better be!Say hi

Varför har Donald Trump blivit så populär? Den konservative statsvetaren Claes G. Ryn som är bosatt i USA ger här sin syn på saken. Inläsare: Staffan Dopping

IF YOU'RE SEEING THIS IN JULY 2024, USE CODE "LAVENDER" AT CHECKOUT TO GET 20% OFF ANY OF OUR COURSES OR PROGRAMS!This originally aired as Episode 139 of the Holistic Herbalism Podcast. We're replaying it in June 2024 because of the increase in interest in cognitive troubles associated with COVID. Don't despair - you can take steps to protect your mind!Here' s the study mentioned in the intro: Quan et al. Post-COVID cognitive dysfunction: current status and research recommendations for high risk population. Lancet. 2023;38.Maintaining a sharp & healthy mind has always been one of the things people ask us about most often. Whether it's a nagging difficulty recalling words, or a tendency to forget why you walked into a room – or more seriously, a relative showing early signs of dementia – lots of folks are wondering if there are herbs for cognitive decline prevention. And here's the good news: there are!When we're trying to diminish the risk of dementia, herbs can help in a few different ways. For one, they can improve circulation to the brain, bringing in fresh oxygen and nutrients to keep the nerve cells well-fed. They can also protect those nerves and thus stave off senility, by reducing inflammation and improving nerve communications (both chemical and electrical).But keeping your mind agile and avoiding Alzheimer's isn't something you can accomplish just by taking some supplements or drinking some tea – even with the best herbs in the world. You've got to feed your brain – get those omega-3s! And perhaps most importantly, you need good restful sleep, and plenty of it. Lack of sleep is probably the single biggest contributor to diminishing mental acuity; good quality sleep is the best guarantee of a healthy brain & mind. Herbs can help here, too – to ease the transition into sleep, to deepen sleep, and even to help you dream.Herbs discussed in this episode include: rosemary, sage, tulsi, ginkgo, gotu kola, & lion's mane.Our Neurological & Emotional Health course includes more material about preventing cognitive decline, as well as a whole host of herbal and holistic strategies to support healthy nerves, brain, mind, and emotions. This self-paced online video course includes access to twice-weekly live Q&A sessions so you can connect with Katja & Ryn directly. It includes a lengthy discussion of herbal pain management strategies, too!As always, please subscribe, rate, & review our podcast wherever you listen, so others can find it more easily. Thank you!!Our theme music is “Wings” by Nicolai Heidlas.Support the Show.You can find all of our online herbalism courses at online.commonwealthherbs.com!

When it comes to the A Quiet Place franchise we kept coming back to one big question: What are the biological factors that would allow these terrifying aliens who terrorize Earth to hunt via sound alone? The aliens, often referred to as “dark angels” in the films, have a number of distinct characteristics which will inform our questions. For starters, they're blind but incredibly sensitive to sound, which gives them an instinct to kill everything that emits the slightest noise. They are also incredibly strong and fast and they possess armored skin which protects them from most kinds of weapons, including bombs and fire. The only ways to kill them (so far) are to drop them into deep water (since they can't swim) or by emitting high-frequency sound which causes the armor on their heads to open and expose their only vulnerable part: their ears. In this episode we will dive into how this alien echolocation differs from what we see in animals native to our planet, and the environmental factors that might have contributed to how and why these creatures evolved as they did.  And then there are all the story elements to consider, from the sound design (and lack thereof) of the films themselves, the question of childbirth in a world where uttering a sound can get you killed, and much more. Oh yeah, and then you might want to find out who from the film thought this movie should have been called Don't Fart. It's all fair game in Does it Fly? episode 12!SUGGESTED VIEWINGThis episode is FULL OF SPOILERS, don't say we didn't warn you! So, we'd recommend you watch both A Quiet Place and A Quiet Place Part II. Keep in mind, we recorded this episode without having seen A Quiet Place Day One (in theaters now), so there's no spoilers for that film. And if you've seen the entire franchise and still need this creepy itch scratched, when watching A Quiet Place, Hakeem also thought about the 2018 film Bird Box (you can find it on Netflix) starring Sandra Bullock, where the threat is sight instead of sound—if you see the force extinguishing humans, you die. It's kind of creepy, but definitely a good horror watch before going to bed!FURTHER READING Do you want to delve a little deeper into the facts, concepts, and stories Hakeem and Tamara referenced in today's episode? Here are a few recommendations!Echolocation“Let's talk about the anatomy of these aliens... They are big and strong. Their limbs are incredibly long and at the end they have these claw-like hands... Their heads are made of these plates that open to reveal the fleshy parts underneath. But their exoskeleton and the plates on their head, those things are virtually impenetrable. So, in order to kill it, what they've discovered is, is that with the right high frequency pitch... The monster just freaks out all the plates, opens on his head, making it vulnerable, and then they can take it out.” See also: Engaging Silence: Behind the Daring Sound of A Quiet PlaceHearing in Cockroaches, Spiders, Elephants and Other AnimalsHow Cockroaches Experience the World“There are some animals that use air movements [to listen]. One of my favorites is one of my least favorites… I was a kid in New Orleans. And if you live in New Orleans, especially in the 1970s, you have to deal with a monster even scarier than the one in this movie… They're called roaches.” See also: Do Cockroaches have ears?The Earth's terminator Line“There's that ring that separates the light side from the dark side, what we call the terminator in astronomy. And at the terminator [on planets that do not rotate] there will always be incredibly strong winds. So you will need something like those big claw hands to just sit there against those winds.” See also: The Moon's Terminator LineProject Hail Mary“Andy Weir, who wrote The Martian which then became a movie with Matt Damon, also wrote Project Hail Mary, which I don't want to give too much of it away, but… a big part of the book is trying to figure out and understand the aliens' background [and] the kind of world that they come from.” How A Quiet Place Sound Designers Made Audiences Afraid of Their Own Noise“Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl, who were actually nominated for an Oscar for sound editing for the first film… said:  ”By working on scary films as sound designers, we can become the puppet masters of the audience's emotions in an invisible way as opposed to the image. A great picture editor, Walter Marsh, had this wonderful saying along the lines of ‘images come in through the front door, but sound comes in through the back door'.” WANT MORE FROM DOES IT FLY? Can't get enough of The Boys, now in its fourth season on Prime Video? Well then you certainly won't want to miss our episode detailing how Starlight's powers might work!FOLLOW US!Stay in the loop! Follow DoesItFly? on YouTube and TikTok and let us know what you think! And don't forget to follow Roddenberry Entertainment:Instagram: @RoddenberryOfficial Facebook: RoddenberryTwitter: @Roddenberry  *Roddenberry Entertainment participates in affiliate programs and may receive a small commission for links on this page*For Advertising Inquiries: doesitfly@roddenberry.com

Join Finn and Ryn on a tranquil journey through magical floating islands, where ancient riddles and enchanting landscapes await. This soothing bedtime adventure is perfect for winding down and drifting into peaceful slumber, filled with serene moments and gentle discoveries. Your support is the cornerstone that allows me to continue crafting tranquil stories and meditations for you. For just $4.99 a month, you'll unlock an oasis of over 400 ad-free Listen To Sleep episodes, including 8 subscriber-only full length sleepy audiobooks like Winnie the Pooh and Alice in Wonderland. Ready for a more serene, uninterrupted listening experience? To subscribe, visit⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://listentosleep.com/support⁠⁠ To join my email group and get a bunch of goodies, go to ⁠⁠https://listentosleep.com⁠⁠. Sleep well, friends.

THIS IS SHOWING US WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN! CAN MVCI BE REVIVED?!? An amazing collaborative effort is underway to completely revamp Marvel Vs. Capcom Infinite's graphics. And it's being funded by none other than Maximillian Dood! Developer "Ryn" aka twitter.com/WistfulHopes began an effort to improve MvCI's graphics and, once Max got word of it, the project has gone into full gear. Check out the super beautiful beginnings of one of the most amazing glowups we've ever seen! == TIME STAMPS == 0:00:00 Intro 0:01:26 Ryn's Initial Phases 0:05:28 Maximillian Dood Steps In! 0:09:43 Progress Since Max's Funding 0:14:57 CLEARLY Graphics Matter! 0:16:48 Realism Is Overrated!! 0:19:44 The Video Game Industry Is In Trouble 0:21:40 Closing Thoughts Find the YouTube version of this episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8--yd4qQGc Get the audio version of this episode here: https://soundcloud.com/ultrachentv/mvciglowup Soundcloud - https://soundcloud.com/ultrachentv Itunes - http://UltraChenTV.com/iTunes Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/4nOFXvdcuJng3Y14qK3CVF Join the UltraChen Discord! https://discord.gg/VAmkUdp Please consider supporting our Patreon! http://patreon.com/ultrachentv Twitch - http://twitch.tv/ultrachentv Twitter - http://twitter.com/ultrachentv James Chen http://twitter.com/jchensor https://www.twitch.tv/jchensor #FGC #Esports #Podcast

Recorded April 9, 2024 It's been nearly two years (August 2022) since Ryn has been on the podcast, so Meredith and Abe thought it would be a good idea to catch up with this beautiful person of Echelon and see what's new. We talk a bit about Eche-hubby, cheese straws and Big Parma (yes, you read that right), and instant Correction Corner for Abe, and we even talk about possible ways to redeem all your Ryn points! In addition to all the laughter throughout the episode, the lesson learned here is "Don't yuck someone's yum"!

Tiffany La'Ryn and King Gotit join the show and share how they built their YouTube Empire!Podcast is powered by @BlankitMedia and is available on all listening platforms (Apple, Spotify, Google podcast...)https://linktr.ee/everydayisfridayshowConnect with Everyday is FridayFollow Us On All Socialshttp://Instagram.com/everydayisfridayshowhttp://facebook.com/everydayisfridayshowhttp://tiktok.com/everydayisfridayshowhttps://twitch.tv/everydayisfridayshowhttp://twitter.com/edifshowFollow Your Favorite Hosts:Robiiiworld @robiiiworldTeddy2Stupid @teddy2stupid

Oh boy...are we ever in a bit of a pickle with this episode (hehehehe). The shenanigans continue with talk of pickles, bubble tea, sleep meditation and Echelon news. We also have the usual shoutouts and fun LB names, a bit of a different take on an experts segment with Reed, and a proper Did You Know! Buckle up for another fun episode! [00:00] Quick catch-up, and Meredith's anxiety [04:37] Abe's "trip" [05:29] Watcha watchin'? [09:20] Spring has sprung, and why Meredith hates summer [12:32] Meredith's birthday - and Abe's gift to her (and you) [23:30] Stop the presses! Abe tried something new! [25:51] Don't ask Meredith to store anything in a safe place! [29:05] Echelon News [46:08] Abe tries sleep meditation with Ryn [53:36] Fun LB names [55:51] Shout outs [1:01:54] Ask the Experts [1:11:30] Did you Know?

**Recorded live at the 2024 SMPS Pacific Regional Conference in Portland, Oregon** Ryn (Kathryn) Bennett, MPH, is a non-binary 40 under 40 award winner, world-record-holding strongman competitor, celebrated TEDx and Ignite speaker, and advocate for developing mental toughness. They are the author of Productive Pain, a personal memoir and inspirational guide. With a background in social and behavioral health and process improvement, Ryn's professional career spans industries including tech, healthcare, and engineering/construction. Ryn used the mental fortitude and tenacity they learned in the gym to advance their career and overcome burnout, working from an entry-level process improvement role into a director position. Ryn is a Certified Professional Services Marketer and is nationally ranked as a strongman competitor. They are passionate about helping others develop the mental tenacity and internal strength they need to succeed, no matter the adversity they're facing. The podcast picks up after Ryn's keynote. A few excerpts from the keynote have been included for context, but the podcast discussion does not depend on having heard the address. https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathrynbennettwrites/  Productive Pain, by Ryn Bennett (available on Amazon) https://www.proposalindustryexperts.com/  Music by RomanSenykMusic on Pixabay. www.pixabay.com 

In this 3-part series Costi Hinn interviews pastor and author, Tim Challies, about the loss of his son, Nick, in 2020. Nick was a young man on the pathway to ministry and deeply loved by his family. He was engaged to Ryn, enjoying life, and going to school at Boyce College (Southern Seminary) when the Lord called him home suddenly. Tim has always been known for his faithful teaching and writing ministry (www.challies.com), but the Lord has seen fit to add a "ministry of sorrow" to Tim's life. This series will take a deep dive into the Challies family story, the aftermath of losing Nick, big questions about God's goodness, sovereignty, grief, and suffering as a Christian. 

The Creator is the recent film by Director Gareth Edwards, that features a sound design philosophy of Retro Futurism. The world is going to war over Artificial Intelligence and the robots, or simulants, powered by AI. Oscar Nominees for their sound work on The Creator, Erik Aadahl & Ethan Van der Ryn, give sonic life to multiple generations of futuristic robots, weapons and vehicles. Show Notes: https://tonebenderspodcast.com/249---the-creator-with-erik-aadahl--ethan-van-der-ryn/ Podcast Homepage: https://tonebenderspodcast.com Tonebenders Host This Episode: Timothy Muirhead

In his review of Claes G. Ryn's The Failure of American Conservatism, David Gordon points out that Austrian economic methodology is not a value-laden Jacobin experiment, but rather a workable explanation of how a successful economy works. Original Article: Jacobin Capitalism?

In his review of Claes G. Ryn's The Failure of American Conservatism, David Gordon points out that Austrian economic methodology is not a value-laden Jacobin experiment, but rather a workable explanation of how a successful economy works. Original Article: Jacobin Capitalism?

Today we reach the end of our apothecary shelves! This series started way back with episode 170 on Achillea & Acorus, and today in episode 227 we've finally come to Zingiber.Today's entire episode is all about ginger. (Yes, it deserves its own entire episode. If you don't already believe it, we will convince you!)We discuss Katja's evolving preference for fresh vs dried ginger in our tea blends at home, and some of the variations in activity between fresh vs dried ginger. We talk about quick topical applications of this wildly accessible herb, to relieve muscle aches, joint pains, and other musculoskeletal discomforts. Ryn takes time for an ode to candied ginger – yes, it's sugar, but there are plenty of reasons why it's excellent to have! You can easily make your own, too.Maybe you could put some chopped candied ginger into some ginger-chamomile cookies, eh?You can even grow your own ginger, if you're up for it!Finally, we mention some relatives of ginger, members of the Zingiberaceae: turmeric (Curcuma longa), galangal (Alpinia galanga), cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum), grains of paradise (Aframomum melegueta), korarima (Aframomum corrorima), “shampoo ginger lily / bitter ginger” (Zingiber zerumbet). These are all worth experimenting with and comparing to ginger – they have a lot in common, with some individual nuances. Watch out for “wild gingers” of the Asarum genus, though – those have risks of liver toxicity.Ginger's an herb we love so much, we probably mention it in every course we teach… but especially in the Digestive Health course! Learning to care for digestion is a critical skill for herbalists, and a place herbs can do so much good.Like all our offerings, this is a self-paced online video course, which comes with free access to twice-weekly live Q&A sessions, lifetime access to current & future course material, twice-weekly live Q&A sessions with us, open discussion threads integrated in each lesson, an active student community, study guides, quizzes & capstone assignments, and more!If you enjoyed the episode, it helps us a lot if you subscribe, rate, & review our podcast wherever you listen. This helps others find us more easily. Thank you!Our theme music is “Wings” by Nicolai Heidlas.Support the showYou can find all of our online herbalism courses at online.commonwealthherbs.com!

As we continue our week of looking at Joy, we're going to take time today to receive a fresh revelation of how God rejoices over us.   God not only loves you, but he likes you. He rejoices over you, just as you are. I hope and pray that you get a real, tangible sense of God's joy over you today as we create space in his presence together. Our Scripture for today comes from Zephaniah 3:17, and today's worship is This Is The Sound by Steffany Gretzinger. -- Thanks for listening to today's First15 Podcast. My name is Ryn, and I'm a part of the First15 Team. If you haven't downloaded our brand new First15 app, make sure to click the link in today's show notes to check it out! One of the new features that you can enjoy when you download the app is our Guided Prayers. We are adding new prayers to our library every month, so if you need a moment of peace with God, let these prayers be your guide!

Did you know you have the ability to stir and satisfy the heart of God, here and now? God has given us the ability to choose him here on earth, and nothing blesses the heart of God like his beloved people intentionally turning their hearts toward him. As we examine how to live an abundant life here on earth, today we'll search out what it means to choose to worship God in our daily lives.   Our Scripture for today comes from Matthew 4:4, and today's worship is Heal Our Land. by Kari Jobe. -- Thanks for listening to today's First15 Podcast. My name is Ryn, and I'm a part of the First15 Team. If you haven't downloaded our brand new First15 app, make sure to click the link in today's show notes to check it out! One of the new features that you can enjoy when you download the app is our Guided Prayers. We are adding new prayers to our library every month, so if you need a moment of peace with God, let these prayers be your guide! In today's First15 Podcast we wanted to give you a preview of a new Guided Prayer that our friend Hannah Smith wrote titled, “Renew me with your rest.” Oftentimes when I think about rest and peace I view them as one and the same. But as I read through Hannah's prayer, I began thinking about how often she refers to action that leads to rest and prays for the grace of God to help her find rest. The first time rest is mentioned in the scriptures is after the work of building the whole world and filling it with life was complete. Hebrews 4:11-12 says, “Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” I love that this set of verses makes achieving rest an actionable thing. What I really love about understanding peace and rest rightly is that we can clearly see that peace is a gift from God that helps us endure as we strive towards entering into God's rest, and rest is the reward He gives us for having held fast to His calling. I pray today that this prayer reminds you that the work to which he has called us is holy and worthy, and that the promise of the reward of rest gives you the courage to keep going.   

Did you know you have the ability to stir and satisfy the heart of God, here and now? God has given us the ability to choose him here on earth, and nothing blesses the heart of God like his beloved people intentionally turning their hearts toward him. As we examine how to live an abundant life here on earth, today we'll search out what it means to choose to worship God in our daily lives.   Our Scripture for today comes from John 4:23, and today's worship is Where You'll Find Me by First15 Worship feat. Mark Alan Schoolmeesters. -- Thanks for listening to today's First15 Podcast. My name is Ryn, and I'm a part of the First15 Team. If you haven't downloaded our brand new First15 app, make sure to click the link in today's show notes to check it out! One of the new features that you can enjoy when you download the app is our Guided Prayers. We are adding new prayers to our library every month, so if you need a moment of peace with God, let these prayers be your guide! The prayer and worship of King David throughout the Psalms have stood the test of time since over 1000 years prior to Jesus' birth and remain some of the most beautifully powerful prayers in all of scripture. King David was careful to take time to delight in the Lord particularly when his heart was downcast. 1 Samuel 30:6-8 says, “And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.” And in several of the Psalms he begins his prayers with praise, recognition of his heart's truest desire, and rounds them out with self reflection. “Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” David's practice of acknowledging the beauty, majesty, love, power, and good intentions of the Lord toward him is what gave him the stability of mind to be able to be honest with God about reality while not losing hope. It is our prayer that this new Guided Prayer from our friend Laura Woodworth would serve to you as the first part of one of David's psalms when you have a difficult time finding the words for yourself, and that they would give you the foundation of faith that your heart needs to share with the Lord your concerns so that you can do so with confidence that he hears you, knows you, and is working in all things for your good and his glory.  

If our second devotional focusing on transformation, today we're exploring the ways in which God transforms us into new creations. Every day God longs to make us new, to forgive our sins and mold and fashion us into his likeness. May God do a mighty work today as we make room for him to move, and may we leave this focused time in his presence with a true feeling of being made new.   Our Scripture for today comes from 2 Corinthians 5:17, and today's worship is Never Be The Same by First15 feat. Ashley McCleery & Bryan McCleery. -- Thanks for listening to today's First15 Podcast. My name is Ryn, and I'm a part of the First15 Team. If you haven't downloaded our brand new First15 app, make sure to click the link in today's show notes to check it out! One of the new features that you can enjoy when you download the app is our Guided Prayers. We are adding new prayers to our library every month, so if you need a moment of peace with God, let these prayers be your guide!   The prayer and worship of King David throughout the Psalms have stood the test of time since over 1000 years prior to Jesus' birth and remain some of the most beautifully powerful prayers in all of scripture. King David was careful to take time to delight in the Lord particularly when his heart was downcast. 1 Samuel 30:6-8 says, “And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.” And in several of the Psalms he begins his prayers with praise, recognition of his heart's truest desire, and rounds them out with self reflection. “Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.” David's practice of acknowledging the beauty, majesty, love, power, and good intentions of the Lord toward him is what gave him the stability of mind to be able to be honest with God about reality while not losing hope. It is our prayer that this new Guided Prayer from our friend Laura Woodworth would serve to you as the first part of one of David's psalms when you have a difficult time finding the words for yourself, and that they would give you the foundation of faith that your heart needs to share with the Lord your concerns so that you can do so with confidence that he hears you, knows you, and is working in all things for your good and his glory.

In the second day of our series on renewal, today we're going to invite God to renew our minds. Our minds are the gateway to our emotions, decisions, and perspectives. How we see the world around us, the assumptions we live with, the lies we believe, and where we choose to focus our attention, make all the difference in our daily experience. May God guide each of us down the path to renewing our minds in his presence, and through his word today, that we might experience a greater measure of abundant life in him.   Our Scripture for today comes from Romans 12:2, and today's worship is Sound Mind by Melissa Helser. -- Thanks for listening to today's First15 Podcast. My name is Ryn, and I'm a part of the First15 Team. If you haven't downloaded our brand new First15 app, make sure to click the link in today's show notes to check it out! One of the new features that you can enjoy when you download the app is our Guided Prayers. We are adding new prayers to our library every month, so if you need a moment of peace with God, let these prayers be your guide!   For the nights when you find yourself anxious, overly excited, or struggling for whatever reason and sleep seems to you like an unconquerable feat, know that you are not alone. Sleepless nights aren't always due to negative issues. Maybe you have something really exciting that you are looking forward to and the anticipation of it all becomes a canvas in your mind of endless possibilities. Whatever the reason, we pray that this new Guided Prayer by our friend Peyton Garland will help you invite God into the space that he already dwells, and open your heart both to release to him all that is on your mind and to dream with him about the possibilities. As you do, remember this invitation from scripture: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28  

As we continue our week on living in and pursuing the light, today we'll explore how we as God's people are called out of darkness and to the light. Our new inheritance as God's saints is to step out of hiding, and walk in full vulnerable honesty before God and man. May you be strengthened in grace and integrity today as you're re-envisioned toward your calling to the light.   Our Scripture for today comes from Ephesians 5:8, and today's worship is Let There Be Light by Hillsong. -- Thanks for listening to today's First15 Podcast. My name is Ryn, and I'm a part of the First15 Team. If you haven't downloaded our brand new First15 app, make sure to click the link in today's show notes to check it out! One of the new features that you can enjoy when you download the app is our Guided Prayers. We are adding new prayers to our library every month, so if you need a moment of peace with God, let these prayers be your guide!   Several times throughout scripture, we read stories about people who go through various struggles and bear witness to the story that God has woven through their determination, faith, willingness to yield to the Lord in prayer and to be courageous in all the ways that He calls them to be. The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus is the most compelling of them all as it tells the story of the God who loved his people and his creation so much that he chose to live among them, to sacrifice on their behalf, to redeem their lives, and to be and example of how to live in a way that honors the Lord, welcomes the kingdom of heaven in their lives, and anticipates the glory of the Lord in every beautiful way. It is our prayer that you would be encouraged today to seek the Holy Spirit and all his benefits as you journey with the Lord along the path on which he is leading you.  

In our second day of looking at how to live an unveiled lifestyle, we're going to apply the example of Moses to our own lives. Specifically, we're going to look at the closeness he had with God, the depth of experience and encounter he had with the God who loves you and I just as much as he loves Moses. May God draw us closer to him, and give us eyes to see his face today.   Our Scripture for today comes from Exodus 34:29, and today's worship is Song of Moses by Aaron Keyes. -- Thanks for listening to today's First15 Podcast. My name is Ryn, and I'm a part of the First15 Team. If you haven't downloaded our brand new First15 app, make sure to click the link in today's show notes to check it out! One of the new features that you can enjoy when you download the app is our Guided Prayers. We are adding new prayers to our library every month, so if you need a moment of peace with God, let these prayers be your guide! Several times throughout scripture, we read stories about people who go through various struggles and bear witness to the story that God has woven through their determination, faith, willingness to yield to the Lord in prayer and to be courageous in all the ways that He calls them to be. The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus is the most compelling of them all as it tells the story of the God who loved his people and his creation so much that he chose to live among them, to sacrifice on their behalf, to redeem their lives, and to be and example of how to live in a way that honors the Lord, welcomes the kingdom of heaven in their lives, and anticipates the glory of the Lord in every beautiful way. It is our prayer that you would be encouraged today to seek the Holy Spirit and all his benefits as you journey with the Lord along the path on which he is leading you.  

As we continue our week on becoming poor in spirit, today we'll explore the concept of living a lifestyle of grace. Many of us struggle with pride and self-sufficiency. But those things are in stark opposition to what it means to live poor in spirit. When we choose the road of humility, we open ourselves up to a life dependent on God's grace to sustain us, a life fueled by God's power rather than our own. It is my hope today that we can learn to embrace our weakness, that God may be made strong in us.   Our Scripture for today comes from 2 Corinthians 12:9, and today's worship is Grace to Grace by Hillsong Worship. -- Thanks for listening to today's First15 Podcast. My name is Ryn, and I'm a part of the First15 Team. If you haven't downloaded our brand new First15 app, make sure to click the link in today's show notes to check it out! One of the new features that you can enjoy when you download the app is our Guided Prayers. We are adding new prayers to our library every month, so if you need a moment of peace with God, let these prayers be your guide! Have you ever been in the midst of a challenging season that seems to taunt both your heart and mind as though it has more strength than the God who created you and promises to see you through everything? A world filled with distractions has a tendency to throw even our faith off center, making it difficult to believe that the God to whom nothing is impossible can and desires to give you strength to endure as He works in ways that only He can to work both for your good and His glory as He teaches you what it looks like to “sleep in the stern” as Jesus did in Mark 4:38, fully at peace in the midst of trial. We pray that this verse will serve to you as a reminder of what ensued in the following verses as the frightened (and somewhat perturbed) disciples called out to Jesus for help, and watched in amazement as the very storm that threatened their lives bowed to his command.   --     We are so excited to announce our very first First15 Kid's Devotional book, My Time With God.    Get your copy of First15's first ever devotional book for kids today!   My Time with God is a 20 day devotional written for young readers, ages 6-12, to help encourage and equip them to establish a lifetime of learning and walking with God through daily scripture reading and reflection. Each day of this 20 day devotional includes scriptures, activities, and prayers to help growing believers learn how to connect more deeply with God and about how spending time with God helps us live the life he's called us to.    This resource is foundational, answering questions such as,    What is a devotional? What is prayer?  Why spend time with God?  What does it mean to enjoy God's presence?  “When we choose to love God and let ourselves experience his love, he also teaches us how to love others. Living for love means living like Jesus did. He was always thinking of others.”   Request your copy of First15's new kids devotional, My Time With God, today by clicking here, and help your kids explore spending time with God each and every day! 

Today we're going to look at how incredibly patient God is with us, as we begin our second day in a week long focus on the story of the prodigal son.   So often we judge ourselves, we can be our own worst critic. But today, if we'll open our hearts and minds to listen and receive, we'll find a patient God whose never surprised by our mistakes, and who never casts us out in the midst of our failures and shortcomings.   May the patience and love of God transform your heart today, as we spend time in his presence, engaging with his word.   Our Scripture for today comes from Psalm 86:15, and today's worship is Sound Mind by Bethel Worship. -- Thanks for listening to today's First15 Podcast. My name is Ryn, and I'm a part of the First15 Team. If you haven't downloaded our brand new First15 app, make sure to click the link in today's show notes to check it out! One of the new features that you can enjoy when you download the app is our Guided Prayers. We are adding new prayers to our library every month, so if you need a moment of peace with God, let these prayers be your guide!   In today's world, life moves at such tremendous speed that sometimes it seems the only way one might gain any sort of grasp on all that is going on around them is to focus solely on what's going on in their own life. The temptation, then, isn't just to turn a blind eye to the suffering of others, but to actually be willfully blind to the struggles of others entirely. But the way of Jesus beckons us to follow him down a much more intentional path wherein even in his own suffering, he chose to care not only for those suffering in a similar way as he, but the very ones doing him harm. In today's prayer, our friend Peyton Garland helps us explore the topic of empathy through the lens of scripture and by way of her own honesty. I pray it blesses you today and helps you to lift your eyes above and beyond all that stand in front of you today so that you might see the riches of the way of Christ.  

  Today we continue our weeklong focus on forgiveness, by looking at the incredible gift of forgiveness we've been offered in Jesus. Every command God has given us, he has already supplied the grace to live in obedience to. Forgiveness is no different. May we find the grace to forgive as we rest in the forgiveness we've already been offered through our Savior. Our Scripture for today comes from Ephesians 4:32, and today's worship is Forgive Me by Tenth Avenue North. -- Thanks for listening to today's First15 Podcast. My name is Ryn, and I'm a part of the First15 Team. If you haven't downloaded our brand new First15 app, make sure to click the link in today's show notes to check it out! One of the new features that you can enjoy when you download the app is our Guided Prayers. We are adding new prayers to our library every month, so if you need a moment of peace with God, let these prayers be your guide! Do you ever struggle with forgiveness? Sometimes it's difficult to understand how to translate God's forgiveness of us so that we can learn to forgive ourselves. In today's prayer, our friend Hannah Smith points us to scripture as she helps us engage with the Lord about what that really looks like. She reminds us that it is God's forgiveness of us that helps us know how to extend the same to others, and helps us see that our confession is what truly opens the door of our hearts to receive both the mercy and forgiveness of God in a profound and life changing way.  

God's grace is the foundation of our freedom, a sure gift made available to us again every morning. Every mistake we make is covered. Every sin is forgiven. And my hope is that as we center our hearts and minds around God's grace, that his forgiveness and mercy open a pathway to true freedom for us today.       Our Scripture for today comes from 1 Corinthians 15:56-57, and today's worship is Freedom by Jesus Culture. -- Thanks for listening to today's First15 Podcast. My name is Ryn, and I'm a part of the First15 Team. If you haven't downloaded our brand new First15 app, make sure to click the link in today's show notes to check it out! One of the new features that you can enjoy when you download the app is our Guided Prayers. We are adding new prayers to our library every month, so if you need a moment of peace with God, let these prayers be your guide! In today's prayer, our friend Hannah Smith helps us remember that trusting God when our situation doesn't look like we think it should gives us an opportunity to reveal his faithfulness toward us in every area of need. As she points us to scriptures that help us to remember the encouraging invitation of our Lord to all who are weak and heavy laden, she also leads us in a prayer of repentance as she helps us to see through our own frustration so that we can truly see goodness of God toward us in every situation.  

In our second day looking at what it means to be the child of God, we're going to take time today to look at a new bloodline of freedom we've inherited as God's children.   May we live unchained to the terrible effects of sin today as we learn to walk out our new identity in Christ.       Our Scripture for today comes from 1 John 3:2-3, and today's worship is Freedom Song by Christy Nockles. -- Thanks for listening to today's First15 Podcast. My name is Ryn, and I'm a part of the First15 Team. If you haven't downloaded our brand new First15 app, make sure to click the link in today's show notes to check it out! One of the new features that you can enjoy when you download the app is our Guided Prayers. We are adding new prayers to our library every month, so if you need a moment of peace with God, let these prayers be your guide! In a world where confusion has the potential to be as pervasive as it is contagious, centering ourselves around God's truth is essential if we are to maintain clarity of thought in any regard. In this prayer, Dr. Jerome Van Kuiken helps us not only seek a lack of confusion, but a deep and abiding relationship with God through acknowledgement and confession of our need for him and adoration for who he is. He is the God who offers peace and direction freely to all who ask for it. May this prayer be a guide to you as you learn to trust in the God who has made a way for us.