Podcasts about Scholastic

Matt Doherty and Matt Langone discuss the conclusion of the 2025 scholastic soccer season, including key highlights from the NEPSAC boys and girls championships. The discussion covers the dominant performances of the Taft boys team and Mount St. Charles in Class B, key players and significant moments from the season. They also touch upon standout teams and upcoming predictions for the 2026 season. The episode concludes with a challenging soccer trivia segment, reflecting on various soccer-themed movies. Topics 00:49 Recap of Scholastic and Prep Seasons 01:09 NEPSAC Boys Finals Highlights 02:05 Taft's Dominance in Class A 08:23 Nobles' Impressive Season 09:33 Surprises and Consistencies in Class A 12:22 Mount St. Charles' Remarkable Journey 15:30 NEPSAC Girls Champions 19:23 Challenges of NEPSAC Tournaments 22:24 2026 Preseason Predictions 23:25 Teams to Watch in Class B 24:10 ISL Teams on the Rise 24:47 Brewster's Soccer Journey 25:38 Season Recap and Future Coverage 26:18 Extra Time: Soccer Trivia 34:16 Wrapping Up and Final Thoughts

OpenAI started the AI race in a full sprint while its competitors were still lacing up their shoes. Scholastic is making big changes to ensure that its book fairs aren't just a relic of Zillenial memories.

What if the real secret to long term leadership is not endurance at all, but learning how not to lose yourself along the way? In this standout episode of Aspire to Lead, Principal Evan Robb returns with a candid and deeply human look at what it truly means to lead for the long game. From becoming a principal at thirty two and opening a school of more than one thousand three hundred students to spending over two decades in the role, Evan shares the honest lessons that titles never teach such as overconfidence, exhaustion, rediscovering balance, and the joy that only comes when you learn to lead yourself first. Joshua and Evan explore what sustainable leadership requires in real, everyday practice. They discuss choosing presence over busyness, building a school where leadership is shared rather than stacked on a single person, and protecting your life outside the building so you can show up grounded and focused inside it. Evan speaks openly about the boundaries that preserved his wellness, the relationships that restored his joy, and the personal belief system that guides every decision he makes. The conversation also highlights how passion projects including writing, speaking, and podcasting can strengthen a leader's growth when they are rooted in service and designed to create real Monday morning impact. Whether you are stepping into leadership for the first time or seeking renewed purpose after many years in the seat, this episode offers clarity, encouragement, and actionable guidance to help you build a leadership life that lasts. About Evan Robb: Evan Robb is presently Principal of Johnson-Williams Middle School in Berryville, Virginia. He has over twenty years of experience serving as a building level principal. Prior to being a school principal, he was an English teacher, department chair, and Assistant Principal. Evan is a recipient of the Horace Mann Educator of the Year Award. In addition, the NCTE Commission on Reading selected him to serve on its national board. A TEDx Speaker, Evan offers inspirational keynotes, workshops, and on-going professional learning opportunities across the country on leadership, mindset, culture, impactful change and how to improve literacy in schools. Evan has shared his ideas with thousands of educators at dozens of workshops across the country. His first book titled, The Principal's Leadership Sourcebook: Practices, Tools, and Strategies for Building a Thriving School Community was published by Scholastic in the fall of 2007. His next book, The Ten- Minute Principal was published by Corwin in May 2019. Evan and Laura Robb collaborated with Dave Burgess Publishing to write Team Makers, which was published in August of 2019. In addition, Evan is partnering with Laura Robb to write, A School Full of Readers, with Benchmark Education, Fall 2019. Follow Evan Robb:  Twitter:https://twitter.com/ERobbPrincipalWebsite:https://evan-robb.com/TEDX:https://youtu.be/oS4WMsdLIM4Blog:

In this week's episode, we discuss the advantages of digital content ownership for both readers and writers. This coupon code will get you 50% off the audiobook of Cloak of Ashes, Book #3 in the Cloak Mage series, (as excellently narrated by Hollis McCarthy) at my Payhip store: CLOAK2025 The coupon code is valid through November 24, 2025. So if you need a new audiobook this fall, we've got you covered! TRANSCRIPT 00:00:00 Introduction and Writing Updates Hello, everyone. Welcome to Episode 277 of The Pulp Writer Show. My name is Jonathan Moeller. Today is November 14th, 2025, and today we are discussing the benefits of owning your own content for both readers and writers. Before we get to our main topic, we will start off with Coupon of the Week and then a progress update on my current writing, publishing, and audiobook projects. First up is Coupon of the Week. This week's coupon code will get you 50% off the audiobook of Cloak of Ashes, Book #3 in the Cloak Mage series (as excellently narrated by Hollis McCarthy), at my Payhip store. That coupon code is CLOAK2025. And as always, the coupon code and the links to my Payhip store will be available in the show notes. This coupon code is valid through November 24th, 2025, so if you need a new audiobook for your Thanksgiving travels this month, we have got you covered. Now for an update on my current writing, publishing, and audiobook projects. I'm pleased to report the rough draft of Blade of Shadows is done. This will be the second book in my Blades of Ruin epic fantasy series. Right now, it is just about exactly as long as Blade of Flames. It may be a little longer or a little shorter depending on how editing goes since there's some stuff I'm going to cut out, but there's also some scenes I'm going to add. I also wrote a short story called Elven Arrow. Newsletter subscribers will get a free ebook copy of Elven Arrow when Blade of Shadows comes out, which will hopefully be before American Thanksgiving at the end of the month. I'm about 23% of the way through the first editing pass, so making good progress there and hope to keep up with the good progress. I am 11,000 words into Wizard-Assassin. That will be my next main project once the Blade of Shadows is published and probably the final book I publish in 2025, because I think the first book I do in 2026 will be Blades of Ruin #3, if all goes well. In audiobook news, the recording for Blade of Flames is done and it's gradually making its way out into the world (as excellently narrated by Brad Wills). I think as of the time of this recording, the only place where it's actually live is Google Play, but hopefully more stores will come online soon, and it would be cool if the Blade of Flames audiobook was available everywhere before Blade of Shadows came out. Hollis McCarthy is still working on Cloak of Embers and we hope to have that to you before the end of the year, if all goes well. So that's where I'm at with current writing, publishing and audiobook projects. 00:02:25 Main Topic: Digital Content Ownership as a Reader and Writer Now let's move on to our own topic, the ownership of digital content as both a reader and a writer. As the digital revolution has gone on and on and put more decades behind it, people are increasingly building very large digital content libraries and it's an increasingly tangled point of law what happens to those digital libraries when for example, their account gets suspended, or for example, someone else dies and wants to leave their Steam library of games to their heirs. We're today going to be focusing on digital content ownership for readers and writers, and we'll start with readers. Although the price of an ebook and print book of many traditionally published books are roughly the same at this point (and sometimes bafflingly, the ebook versions cost more), the rights you have as the owner of the ebook copy are substantially less powerful. In fact, technically speaking, you aren't actually the owner of an ebook purchased from Amazon or other retailers. It's more accurate to say that you purchased a long-term conditional lease. As a side note, I'm talking about this from the perspective of United States Copyright law and ebook/audiobook stores there. The laws and standards in your own country may be different. Also, I am not a lawyer and nothing in this episode should be taken as legal advice. You obtain legal advice by hiring a lawyer licensed to practice in your jurisdiction. But now back to the main argument. In America, there is something known as the First Sale Doctrine. This section of the US Copyright Act allows physical media to be lent out and resold, among other things. For example, someone who purchases a physical book is considered its owner and the publisher can't take it back from them. The physical version of books can be used in libraries or as classroom materials until they literally fall apart, unlike their electronic equivalents, which face complicated licensing agreements that generally offer far less favorable terms of use for a much larger cost (especially for libraries and academic institutions). In the US, electronic content ownership is covered by contract law instead of the First Sale Doctrine. Although each seller has their own licenses and standards, a few things tend to remain consistent across those licenses: the inability to lend or resell the content, the inability to remove DRM from the content, and the right of the seller to alter or even remove the content. Ownership is not a right guaranteed for digital content. There is an American lawsuit currently challenging Amazon Prime Video and its use of words like "purchase" and "buy" for its video content. The lawsuit accuses Amazon of misrepresenting a heavily conditional license as a purchase, giving the average customer the impression that they own the content in perpetuity. Amazon lawyers argue that the average customer understands the difference, but frequent outrages over content being removed from users' libraries suggests otherwise. Here are four reasons owning your ebook content is important. #1: Keeping access to the content if the company closes or gets bought out. One of the early leaders in the US ebook store market way back at the start of the indie revolution was Sony. When their Sony Reader store closed, they gave readers the option to migrate their libraries to Kobo. Books that were not available through Kobo were not able to be transferred, so some purchased content was lost for readers. A more egregious example comes from, as you might expect, Microsoft with the closing of the Microsoft ebook store in 2019. When the store closed, they offered refunds instead of giving readers an opportunity to self-archive or transfer their purchases. Any margin notes taken by readers were lost, and they were given a $25 credit for the inconvenience. Although refunding customers was a good gesture, it's not a guarantee that readers are able to repurchase the ebooks elsewhere or even that the price would be the same when they did. As an aside, I spent a good chunk of time in 2018 trying to figure out how to get into the Microsoft ebook store and then finally gave up because it was too complicated, which in hindsight turned out to be a good decision. Owning your ebooks outright gives them independence from the store that you bought them from. #2: Keeping content from being altered. Ebooks can be altered anytime. Most of the time these changes are harmless, such as updating a cover, fixing a typo, or adding a preview chapter. I do that myself all the time. Every time I get typo corrections, I upload a new version. Yet there is a potential for books to be edited or censored from the original copy that you purchased. Chapters could be removed, scenes altered, or in extreme cases, the entire book could be removed. Owning a hard copy means that you have a version that cannot be changed without your knowledge. #3: The ability to self-archive. Most ebook stores use a form of digital rights management (DRM) that makes it difficult to transfer or permanently store your collection outside of their collection or library. Trying to do so is a violation of the license you purchased from the store, so I won't discuss how to do that. Amazon recently made self-archiving more difficult by discontinuing the feature to download and transfer Kindle books via USB. Finding DRM-free ebook stores is important if you want to organize and store your ebook collection as you see fit. Two examples of stores with DRM-free ebooks are Smashwords and direct [sales] sites like My Payhip store. Other stores like Kobo have a dedicated section devoted to DRM-free ebooks. #4: Keeping your reading habits private. Companies like Amazon track reading data, mostly out of a desire to sell you similar books or ad space. They track what you're reading, the amount of time you spend reading, your reading speed, and the highlights that you make in a book. Now, most of the time this is generally pretty harmless. It's mostly used for…you look on Amazon, you see that the section "customers who enjoyed this book also enjoyed this". Then if you use the Kindle app on your phone a lot, it has a lot of badges and achievements and it tends to be used for that kind of thing. However, there could be sinister undertones to this, especially if you're reading things you would prefer other people not know about. So if this concerns you, if there are some settings that you can adjust, but if you want complete privacy, outright ownership of your ebooks is the way to go. So what is the easiest way to own your own ebooks as a reader? The easiest way and perhaps the safest way to own your content outright is to buy print copies of books. That said, buying direct from authors or finding ebooks that have more favorable license terms is easiest way to own your ebook purchases. One of the reasons that opening a Payhip store was important to me was I gave my readers a chance to outright own purchased copies of my work and self-archive them in the way that they saw fit, if that was important to them. The price is the same on my Payhip store as other ebook or audiobook stores (and sometimes even cheaper if you're using Coupon of the Week). The ebooks and audiobooks there are DRM-free and untethered from specific stores and companies. You have the option to download files in a variety of file formats and store them in a way that makes the most sense to you. Buying direct also gives a greater share of the sale price to the authors, especially in the case of audiobooks. In conclusion, ebooks lag behind print books in terms of ownership rights for purchasers here in the United States (at the time of this recording). That said, you can be an informed consumer by reading terms of use carefully and educating yourself to make sure that you have the most possible access to your purchased content. Now, we've covered that from the reader side, and let's look at it from the side of the content creators, specifically writers. This can also apply to other content creators such as musicians, and we're going to use a very famous example for that, Taylor Swift. The general public learned about the importance of fully owning your content as a creator during the long and very public battle between musician Taylor Swift and the record company that sold her work to a private equity firm associated with someone she personally disliked. She owned the copyrights to the works (along with her various collaborators), but not the masters, the specific recordings of each song. As long as she didn't own her masters, she didn't have control over song choices for her public performances, the label releasing older content against her wishes, or how her music would be licensed out for commercial use. Swift reasserted control by rerecording old albums (a strategy previously used by the musician Prince), which gave her ownership of these new masters and devalued the original masters to the point where she could later afford to buy them outright. Many artists, including Olivia Rodrigo, credit Swift for helping them to negotiate adding the ownership of their masters into their contracts. As predatory as the publishing industry can be, the music industry tends to make them look like rank amateurs in terms of sheer evil. So it is a testament to her popularity and business success that she was able to convince them to do this. The world's most famous pop star taught millions of fans that owning your work is the ultimate goal of a creative. Why is ownership of your work important for writers specifically and not just American pop stars? We'll discuss six reasons why it's important for content creators and specifically writers in this episode. And as a reminder yet again, I'm talking about this from the perspective of United States law. Laws and standards in your own country may be different. Also, I am not a lawyer and nothing in this episode should be taken as legal advice. You obtain proper legal advice by contacting a lawyer licensed to practice in your jurisdiction. So with that in mind, let's get into the topic. What is ownership as a writer? Writers generally keep the copyrights to works they sell to publishers. Writers are essentially selling the right or a license to produce and distribute their book in a certain format, language, and geographic area. Most of the time, geographic area rights are sold separately. For example, rights for the Harry Potter books are owned by Scholastic in the United States and Bloomsbury in the United Kingdom. Sometimes writers will keep the rights in a specific format, like when I signed with Tantor to give them the audio rights to the first five Frostborn books while keeping the rights to my print and ebook formats. What writers lose in the process of selling to publishers is the ability to control how their work is marketed, packaged, and sold. They do not have the freedom to make major decisions such as when a book is released or where it is marketed. Today I am going to share six reasons that retaining ownership is important for writers and what things you generally sacrifice when you sign with a traditional publisher instead of self-publishing or indie publishing. #1: Creative control. It is not standard to have complete control over your book's cover design. Often an artist is able to submit suggestions to the designer, but the publisher has ultimate authority over the book's cover. Sometimes covers end up being wildly inappropriate for the book, but the author has no recourse. The same is usually true with the ability to pick an audiobook narrator or change anything about the narration. At times, writers (especially new ones) are pressured into changes they do not want by editors. The surest way to completely lose all creative control is signed with a book packager like Alloy Entertainment. If you want to hear the story of how L.J. Smith was fired from her own series due to a plot dispute with that publisher, YouTuber Jenny Nicholson covers it in her epic length summary of The Vampire Diaries show. Although a certain paycheck from a book packager is tempting, you'd be wisest not to create any fictional characters or worlds for this type of publisher for that reason. #2: Dead Series Syndrome. If the first book in a series does not sell well, the publisher tends to abandon the series. The next book in the series might be ready for publication, but they're not obligated to publish it if they suspect it will not be profitable. Unfinished series are extremely common in traditional publishing, unfortunately. Writers who are locked into a contract for a series are generally out of luck putting out the books on their own. Even if they put out later books on their own, not having the rights to the first book in the series makes it difficult for a writer to sell and market subsequent books. I had a series (Demonsouled) that I wanted to continue even though the first book was released by my publisher. I was able to get the rights back for it and then was able to self-publish this rest of the series. This was much easier to do 14 years ago than it is now. Modern contracts, especially from larger publishers, are not so generous in letting authors do this. It would be much easier to start as a self-published author and have full control over the trajectory of your series and make sure readers are able to finish it instead of waiting for a contract to elapse or fighting a difficult, hard to win battle to get the rights back. #3: The ability to change. One of the perks of owning your book is the ability to make quick changes that react to data. For example, I was able to retitle the Stealth and Spells series fairly quickly when it became immediately clear upon release that some found the original title confusing. A traditional publisher would likely not have bothered to make the effort unless there was a legal reason for doing so. The ability to change covers, repackaging books in different ways (like omnibus editions), and to make quick changes to the book on the fly (such as fixing typos or continuity errors), is the unique privilege that comes with owning your own work. Publishers are slow to make these types of changes, if they do it at all. #4: Profit. Writers typically only receive an advance (an initial lump sum) when working with a traditional publisher. The complexities of publisher accounting usually ensure that only great successes receive royalties, and often even those that do can take a while to reach that benchmark. Royalties are typically doled out quarterly or semi-annually, for those who make enough to receive them. The earning statements are fairly byzantine. It's hard for the average person to understand them fully to make sure they're being paid exactly what is owed to them. Owning your own work and publishing yourself means that you keep all of the profit after the cut taken by the ebook store and whatever you pay cover designers, editors, and so on. You can see all of the sales as they come in and don't have to wait for those two to four royalty checks each year in order to get paid. It's much easier to make a living as a writer and to feel confident that you can pay others when you have more accurate data on the money coming in. Indie publishing sacrifices the certainty of an advance for a far, far greater share of the profits in the long run. Additionally, agents typically take a 15 to 20% commission on author earnings, and they are an essential part of the process in traditional publishing. It's just about impossible to get foot in the door with traditional publishing without one. Most self-published writers don't bother with an agent, which means they're able to keep that cut of the money and don't have to shape their work around the preferences and whims of an agent. They also spared the stress and hassle of working with an unethical or bad agent (of which they're unfortunately far too many). #5: Professional freedom. The publisher decides when the books are released or if they're released at all. Are you ready to publish a book two months after the first one is released? Too bad. A publisher is not going to put out the next one that quickly. The traditional wisdom of publishing schedules seems wildly out of date in the content-heavy modern world, where algorithms reward recent titles and frequent publishing. Publishing more often also helps fans stay connected to your work, and frankly, it's much easier to make a living as a writer putting out several books a year instead of just one. Additionally, traditionally published writers do not control how a book is marketed. Are you upset that your book is being marketed as a romance when you think it's complex literary fiction? Too bad. It's not your call. In fact, writers may be contractually obligated to post content to their social media pages written or approved in advance by the marketing department at the publisher. You might have to put your name publicly to marketing copy you dislike or disagree with in order to not violate your contract. In a related vein, you might find that if you post heavily on your social media pages about political or controversial topics, you may be reprimanded by the publisher or in some cases, have your contract canceled entirely. Although indie authors aren't immune from social consequences of what they post, no publisher is holding them back from posting what they want just because they're writers and the publisher is scared of what the shareholders might think. #6: The publisher being sold. One of the biggest problems for traditionally published writers is when their publisher is sold to another one. This may mean restructuring that takes away staff they worked with a long time (like a favorite editor being replaced by an inexperienced one). As smaller publishers are eaten up by the larger ones, you might find that your books become an afterthought and you don't have any power to fix that. You might even have to fight to get paid what you're owed in your own contracts, which writers of Star Wars books found out when Disney acquired Lucasfilm. Apparently when Disney bought Lucasfilm, it decided it no longer owed royalties to several writers of Star Wars tie-in novels that Lucasfilm had published and weren't going to pay them until it went public and caused a bit of controversy. Finally, a settlement was reached. This is sort of the shifty behavior that Disney is well known for in certain circles, and it is something you have to watch out for with large publishers and media conglomerates. The easiest way to keep this from happening is, once again, to publish yourself and keep ownership of your work. In conclusion, when traditional publishing was the only way to become a writer, their restrictions and control were something you had to live with because you had no other option. Now that self-publishing is extremely accessible and traditional publishing is shrinking, it's no longer worth making the trade-offs that authors once had to in order to gain readers of their work. Although I never actually listened to a Taylor Swift song all the way through, her career and business ventures are proof that owning your work as a creative is the best way forward. Ownership should be the starting point, not the end goal of anyone who values creative control and fair, transparent payment for their creative work. So that is it for this week. I hope that illuminated the importance of owning your own work, especially if you are a writer or other creative. Thanks for listening to The Pulp Writer Show. I hope you found the show useful. A reminder that you can listen to all the back episodes at https://thepulpwritershow.com. If you enjoyed the podcast, please leave your review on your podcasting platform of choice. Stay safe and stay healthy and see you all next week.

On today's show, we have a guest who is promoting his new Kickstarter project called The Return of Cyrus Perkins. He is a co-founder of Action Lab Comics and has worked for Dark Horse, Scholastic and Titan. Here he is, Dave Dwonch. Plus, the usual news from Fun Ideas Productions. 

Novelist and creative entrepreneur Kern Carter breaks down a practical creative blueprint for turning ideas into finished books and sustainable income—without chasing virality. We cover the path from self‑publishing to indie (Cormorant) and major houses (Scholastic, Penguin), how community-first marketing outperforms algorithms (Cry Magazine, a 5K+ Substack), and why emotion-led storytelling plus industry awareness wins. Kern explains how a middle‑grade novel aimed at young boys sparked word‑of‑mouth among teachers and helped move 15,000+ copies in a single year, and he shares direct advice: study your craft and study the industry.   About the Guest: Kern Carter is a novelist, essayist, and filmmaker. He's written for Penguin and Scholastic, sold 15,000+ books in a year, founded Cry Magazine, and writes the Substack Writers Are Superstars. A creative entrepreneur who became a father at 18, Kern builds platforms that elevate new voices.   Key Takeaways: At eight, Kern declared he'd be a novelist; publishing later felt “like magic” realized. He self‑published two novels, then vowed not to self‑publish again until traditionally published. Landing an agent took years; 2020 brought an indie deal (Cormorant), then offers from Scholastic and Penguin. He wrote two books in parallel; both released the same year, expanding reach and credibility. Sales crossed 15,000 largely via a Scholastic middle‑grade novel intentionally speaking to young boys. Teachers embraced the layered story and shared it; Scholastic's school distribution amplified exposure. Growth came from community, not algorithms: Cry Magazine, a Substack newsletter (5K+), direct emails. His process starts with emotion; characters' journeys ground even elements of magical realism. Writing is a necessary release, not a burden; burnout comes from life, not books. He builds platforms to open doors for other creators; storytelling deserves access, not gatekeeping. Core advice: study your craft deeply and study the industry with equal intensity. Creatives must make informed business choices—distribution, trends, costs—every creative decision is commercial. Community‑first marketing beat follower counts; real relationships outperformed vanity metrics. He invites writers to claim authority—every creative choice is both art and strategy.   Connect with the Guest  : Website : https://www.kerncarter.com/ Substack: Writers Are Superstars  Discover his books: search “Kern Carter” on your favorite bookstore platform   Want to be a guest on Healthy Mind, Healthy Life? DM on PM - Send me a message on PodMatch DM Me Here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/avik   Disclaimer: This video is for educational and informational purposes only. The views expressed are the personal opinions of the guest and do not reflect the views of the host or Healthy Mind By Avik™️. We do not intend to harm, defame, or discredit any person, organization, brand, product, country, or profession mentioned. All third-party media used remain the property of their respective owners and are used under fair use for informational purposes. By watching, you acknowledge and accept this disclaimer.   Healthy Mind By Avik™️ is a global platform redefining mental health as a necessity, not a luxury. Born during the pandemic, it's become a sanctuary for healing, growth, and mindful living. 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Listeners beware, you're in for a scare! Halloween has sadly ended, but it's a state of mind so keep your haunted masks on! This is Part 2 of a Goosebumps celebration, now focusing on the Fox TV series that premiered 30 years ago with the iconic two-part episode The Haunted Mask. Mark welcomes Jesse Krempel from the Cult Cinema Circle podcast back on the show to nerd out about the perfectly creepy mask, the cast of Canadian child actors, and the very strong two-part sequel Haunted Mask II. Plus, young horror queer Mark was inspired to go by Marky Joe for a few months because of the character Carly Beth in these episodes, that's how obsessed he was. Follow Jesse @cultcinemacircle and listen to his podcast here: https://linktr.ee/cultcinemacircleIf you haven't already, listen to Part 1 of this Goosebumps celebration with famed book cover illustrator Tim Jacobus! 

Welcome to the Shonen Shojo ShoShow! In this new episode after a long hiatus, PinoMack and Pauly discuss their return to the podcast and their renewed enthusiasm for sharing their passion for anime and Japanese culture. During this episode, PinoMack recounts her experience at New York Comic Con, including fun encounters with artists and content creators, and memorable appearances at various events. Interviews with prominent artists like Attack Peter and Acky Bright are also featured, along with explorations of the event's themed spaces.Highlights

In this special episode of The Autism Little Learners Podcast, I'm celebrating 10 years of Sesame Workshop's Autism Initiative and the creation of the beloved character, Julia! I had the absolute joy of sitting down with Kama Einhorn and Dr. Abigail Bucuvalas from Sesame Workshop to talk about the incredible impact of authentic representation, inclusion, and collaboration with the autism community. We dive into how Julia was created to truly reflect the experiences of autistic children and families, the thoughtful research that goes into every Sesame Workshop project, and the global reach of their work. You'll also hear about puppeteer Stacey Gordon—whose personal connection to autism brings such authenticity to Julia's voice—and some exciting new projects on the horizon that continue to celebrate acceptance, understanding, and belonging for all children. Key Takeaways: Sesame Workshop's Autism Initiative has been making an impact for a decade. Julia was created to reflect the experiences of autistic children and promote understanding. Collaboration with autistic individuals, families, and experts is central to Sesame Workshop's process. Representation in media helps normalize conversations about autism and inclusion. Puppeteer Stacey Gordon brings personal insight and authenticity to Julia's character. Every piece of content is research-based and tested before release. The team continually evolves to ensure portrayals of autism are authentic and neurodiversity-affirming. Julia's story continues to grow — showing her friendships, family life, and even her communication with an AAC device. Free, bilingual resources are available for families at SesameWorkshop.org/Autism. The Autism Initiative has had a global impact, expanding to shows like Sisimpur in Bangladesh. Guest Bios: Before we jump in, I'd love to tell you a bit more about today's guests, Kama and Abby. Kama Einhorn As Senior Director of Content Design for Sesame Workshop's Global Education group, Kama Einhorn develops multimedia resources for children, parents, and providers. Before joining the Workshop in 2004, she wrote and edited early childhood teaching resources for Scholastic. Kama holds a master's degree in education from the University of California at Berkeley. Dr. Abigail Bucuvalas Dr. Abigail Bucuvalas is the Senior Director of Curriculum and Programs in the Global Education Department at Sesame Workshop. In this role, she leads the processes for curriculum development and program design, collaborates on monitoring and evaluation, and develops new project concepts within the areas of nature, health, and social norms and inclusion. Previously, she led education activities for LEGO Foundation-funded work in development and crisis-affected settings, managed educational content and partnerships for the Nigerian co-production of Sesame Street, and directed a professional development project for teachers in Ghana. Before joining Sesame Workshop, Abigail collaborated on health research in the U.S. and abroad, funded by the American Cancer Society and the National Institutes of Health. She holds an Ed.D. in Health Education and an Ed.M. in International Educational Development from Teachers College, Columbia University, and an A.B. in Psychology from Harvard University. Learn More: Explore all of Sesame Workshop's autism resources and celebrate Julia's 10th anniversary at www.sesameworkshop.org/autism.

Send us a textMore Halloween fun coming your way!A spooktacularly funny novelty board book featuring a silly little witch's feet and brimming with howl-arious jokes from bestselling creator Sandra Magsamen!Did you know that witches like to tell a silly joke or two? That's what makes them so witchy... who knew?Get ready for a silly Halloween treat with this tall novelty board book that includes hilarious jokes on every page -- perfect for the youngest fans eager to tickle their funny bones! Featuring a silly witch and her silly feet, toddlers and little ones will love holding, touching, and giggling along. With Sandra Magsamen's signature message of love, this spellbinding board book is perfect for the Halloween season!______________________________________________________________________Then Later, We welcome back to the show our DEAR friend, Dominican Friar, Brother Todd van Alstyne! Each year, Brother Todd visits us to tell us the TRUE story of Saint Nicholas, and the same will be true this year! But Tonight, He is here to tell us the origins of Dia De Los Muertos! My kids got to gather round' for this one and I encourage you to invite yours along too! The Day of the Dead is a holiday traditionally celebrated on November 1 and 2, though other days, such as October 31 or November 6, may be included depending on the locality. The multi-day holiday involves family and friends gathering to pay respects and remember friends and family members who have died.We hope each of you enjoy the fun and meaningful messages behind this time of year. Thank you to our family of amazing sponsors! STATE FARM® INSURANCE AGENT Leigh Ann Arcuri https://ridewithla.com/ Ochsner Children's HospitalWww.ochsner.orgRouses MarkersWww.rousesmarkets.comSandpiper VacationsWww..sandpipervacations.comCafe Du Monde www.shop.cafedumonde.com The Law Firm of Forrest Cressy & James Www.forrestcressyjames.comComfort Cases Www.comfortcases.orgNew Orleans Ice Cream CompanyWww.neworleansicecream.comERA TOP REALTY: Pamela Breaux plbreaux@gmail.com Audubon Institute www.auduboninstitute.orgUrban South Brewery www.urbansouthbrewery.com

All Hallows Eve is upon us! Don your best costumes, grab that plastic jack o'lantern bucket and come paint the ntown red with us as we indulge in 2007's Trick 'r Treat. A tight 82-minutes of delicious anthological horror goodness, we unwrap the treats of Michael Doughterty's immediately established rules, intersecting stories, and how this is one movie that truly encapsulates the spirit of Halloween. So! Happy listening! Just be sure to check your candy, keep that costume on, don't touch those decorations and do NOT blow out that jack o'lantern before midnight!!!!TimestampsNegronomicon - 4:17Crit - 23:50Final Curls - 1:04:30Gems from Ep. 113Power Rangers Beast Morphers (2019, television series)Frankenstein (2025)Frankenstein (Mary Shelley, (Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor & Jones, 1818, Print)Crimson Peak (2015)Pan's Labyrinth (2006)Paranorman (2012)The Thrifting (2025, short)The Shining (1980)Wildwood (2026)The Rescuers Down Under (1990)The Night Gardener (upcoming film)Kubo and the Two Strings (2016)Coraline (2009)Shrek 2 (2004)Trick'r Treat (2007)Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)Krampus (2015)True Blood (2008, television series)Succession (2018, television series)Kyle XY (2006, television series)White Chicks (2004)Goosebumps (1995, television series)Are You Afraid of the Dark (1990, television series)Scary stories to Tell in the Dark (Alvin Schwartz, Scholastic, 1981, Print)Tales from the Darkside (1983, television series)The Twilight Zone (1959, television series)Creepshow (1982)Tales from the Crypt (1989, television series)XX (2017)The Thursday  Murder Club (2025)Channel Zero (2016, television series)The Mortuary Collection (2019)V/H/S/ (2012)Laura Hasn't Slept (2020)Smile (2022)Lights Out (2013, short)Lights Out (2016)Midsommar (2019)Halloweentown (1998)Leprechaun (1993)Leprechaun 2 (1994)Leprechaun 3 (1995)Leprechaun 4: In Space (1996)Leprechaun in the Hood (2000)Leprechaun Back 2 Tha Hood (2003)Leprechaun: Origins (2014)Leprechaun Returns (2018)The Blackening (2022)Drag Me to Hell (2009)James Bond (1962, film series)The Thing (1981)Luigi's Mansion (2001, video game)Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon (2013, video game)Luigi's Mansion 3 (2019, video game)Super Mario Sunshine (2002, video game)Little Nightmares III (2025, video game)The Sounds of Nightmares (2025, podcast)Reanimal (2026, video game)Support the show

What does it take to keep your voice—and your purpose—strong through every season of life? In this episode of Unstoppable Mindset, I sit down with my friend Bill Ratner, one of Hollywood's most recognized voice actors, best known as Flint from GI Joe. Bill's voice has carried him through radio, animation, and narration, but what stands out most is how he's used that same voice to serve others through storytelling, teaching, and grief counseling. Together, we explore the heart behind his work—from bringing animated heroes to life to standing on The Moth stage and helping people find healing through poetry. Bill shares lessons from his own journey, including losing both parents early, finding family in unexpected places, and discovering how creative expression can rebuild what life breaks down. We also reflect on 9/11, preparedness, and the quiet confidence that comes from trusting your training—whether you're a first responder, a performer, or just navigating the unknown. This conversation isn't just about performance; it's about presence. It's about using your story, your craft, and your compassion to keep moving forward—unstoppable, one voice at a time. Highlights: 00:31 – Hear the Flint voice and what it takes to bring animated characters to life. 06:57 – Learn why an uneven college path still led to a lifelong acting career. 11:50 – Understand how GI Joe became a team and a toy phenomenon that shaped culture. 15:58 – See how comics and cartoons boosted classroom literacy when used well. 17:06 – Pick up simple ways parents can spark reading through shared stories. 19:29 – Discover how early, honest conversations about death can model resilience. 24:09 – Learn to critique ads and media like a pro to sharpen your own performance. 36:19 – Follow the pivot from radio to voiceover and why specialization pays. 47:48 – Hear practical editing approaches and accessible tools that keep shows tight. 49:38 – Learn how The Moth builds storytelling chops through timed, judged practice. 55:21 – See how poetry—and poetry therapy—support grief work with students. 59:39 – Take notes on memoir writing, emotional management, and one-person shows. About the Guest: Bill Ratner is one of America's best known voice actors and author of poetry collections Lamenting While Doing Laps in the Lake (Slow Lightning Lit 2024,) Fear of Fish (Alien Buddha Press 2021,) To Decorate a Casket (Finishing Line Press 2021,) and the non-fiction book Parenting For The Digital Age: The Truth Behind Media's Effect On Children and What To Do About It (Familius Books 2014.) He is a 9-time winner of the Moth StorySLAM, 2-time winner of Best of The Hollywood Fringe Extension Award for Solo Performance, Best of the Net Poetry Nominee 2023 (Lascaux Review,) and New Millennium "America One Year From Now" Writing Award Finalist. His writing appears in Best Small Fictions 2021 (Sonder Press,) Missouri Review (audio,) Baltimore Review, Chiron Review, Feminine Collective, and other journals. He is the voice of "Flint" in the TV cartoon G.I. Joe, "Donnell Udina" in the computer game Mass Effect, the voice of Air Disasters on Smithsonian Channel, NewsNation, and network TV affiliates across the country. He is a committee chair for his union, SAG-AFTRA, teaches Voiceovers for SAG-AFTRA Foundation, Media Awareness for Los Angeles Unified School District, and is a trained grief counsellor. Member: Actors Equity Association, Screen Actors Guild-AFTRA, National Storytelling Network • https://billratner.com • @billratner Ways to connect with Bill: https://soundcloud.com/bill-ratner https://www.instagram.com/billratner/ https://twitter.com/billratner https://www.threads.net/@billratner https://billratner.tumblr.com https://www.youtube.com/@billratner/videos https://www.facebook.com/billratner.voiceover.author https://bsky.app/profile/bilorat.bsky.social About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset . Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes: Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson ** 01:21 Well on a gracious hello to you, wherever you may be, I am your host. Mike hingson, and you are listening to unstoppable mindset. Today, we get to have a voice actor, person, Bill Ratner, who you want to know who Bill Radnor is, go back and watch the old GI Joe cartoons and listen to the voice of Flint.   Bill Ratner ** 01:42 All right. Lady Jay, you better get your battle gear on, because Cobra is on their way. And I can't bring up the Lacher threat weapon system. We got to get out of here. Yo, Joe,   Michael Hingson ** 01:52 there you go. I rest my case Well, Bill, welcome to unstoppable mindset.   Bill Ratner ** 02:00 We can't rest now. Michael, we've just begun. No, we've just begun.   Michael Hingson ** 02:04 We got to keep going here. Well, I'm really glad that you're here. Bill is another person who we inveigled to get on unstoppable mindset with the help of Walden Hughes. And so that means we can talk about Walden all we want today. Bill just saying, oh goodness. And I got a lot to say. Let me tell you perfect, perfect. Bring it on. So we are really grateful to Walden, although I hope he's not listening. We don't want to give him a big head. But no, seriously, we're really grateful. Ah, good point.   Bill Ratner ** 02:38 But his posture, oddly enough, is perfect.   Michael Hingson ** 02:40 Well, there you go. What do you do? He practiced. Well, anyway, we're glad you're here. Tell us about the early bill, growing up and all that stuff. It's always fun to start a good beginning.   Bill Ratner ** 02:54 Well, I was a very lucky little boy. I was born in Des Moines, Iowa in 1947 to two lovely people, professionals, both with master's degree out at University of Chicago. My mother was a social worker. My father had an MBA in business. He was managing editor of Better Homes and Gardens magazine. So I had the joy of living in a better home and living in a garden.   Michael Hingson ** 03:21 My mother. How long were you in Des Moines?   Bill Ratner ** 03:24 Five and a half years left before my sixth birthday. My dad got a fancy job at an ad agency in Minneapolis, and had a big brother named Pete and big handsome, curly haired boy with green eyes. And moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and was was brought up there.   Michael Hingson ** 03:45 Wow. So you went to school there and and chased the girls and all that stuff.   Bill Ratner ** 03:54 I went to school there at Blake School for Boys in Hopkins, Minnesota. Couldn't chase the girls day school, but the girls we are allowed to dance with certainly not chase. Michael was at woodhue dancing school, the Northrop girls from Northrop girls school and the Blake boys were put together in eighth grade and taught the Cha Cha Cha, the waltz, the Charleston, and we danced together, and the girls wore white gloves, and we sniffed their perfume, and we all learned how to be lovers when we were 45   Michael Hingson ** 04:37 There you are. Well, as long as you learned at some point, that's a good start.   Bill Ratner ** 04:44 It's a weird generation. Michael,   Michael Hingson ** 04:46 I've been to Des Moines before. I was born in Chicago, but moved out to California when I was five, but I did some work with the National Federation of the Blind in the mid 19. 1970s 1976 into 1978 so spent time at the Iowa Commission for the Blind in Des Moines, which became a top agency for the Blind in well, the late 50s into the to the 60s and so on. So   Bill Ratner ** 05:15 both my parents are from Chicago. My father from the south side of Chicago, 44th and Kenzie, which was a Irish, Polish, Italian, Jewish, Ukrainian neighborhood. And my mother from Glencoe, which was a middle class suburb above Northwestern University in Evanston.   Michael Hingson ** 05:34 I Where were you born? 57th and union, north, south side, no, South   Bill Ratner ** 05:42 57th union is that? Is that west of Kenzie?   Michael Hingson ** 05:46 You know, I don't remember the geography well enough to know, but I know that it was, I think, Mount Sinai Hospital where I was born. But it was, it's, it's, it's a pretty tough neighborhood today. So I understand,   Bill Ratner ** 06:00 yeah, yeah, my it was tough, then it's tough now,   Michael Hingson ** 06:03 yeah, I think it's tougher, supposedly, than it was. But we lived there for five years, and then we we moved to California, and I remember some things about Chicago. I remember walking down to the local candy store most days, and had no problem doing that. My parents were told they should shut me away at a home somewhere, because no blind child could ever grow up to amount to anything. And my parents said, You guys are you're totally wrong. And they brought me up with that attitude. So, you   Bill Ratner ** 06:32 know who said that the school says school so that   Michael Hingson ** 06:35 doctors doctors when they discovered I was blind with the   Bill Ratner ** 06:38 kid, goodness gracious, horrified.   Michael Hingson ** 06:44 Well, my parents said absolutely not, and they brought me up, and they actually worked with other parents of premature kids who became blind, and when kindergarten started in for us in in the age of four, they actually had a special kindergarten class for blind kids at the Perry School, which is where I went. And so I did that for a year, learn braille and some other things. Then we moved to California, but yeah, and I go back to Chicago every so often. And when I do nowadays, they I one of my favorite places to migrate in Chicago is Garrett Popcorn.   Bill Ratner ** 07:21 Ah, yes, with caramel corn, regular corn, the   Michael Hingson ** 07:25 Chicago blend, which is a mixture, yeah, the Chicago blend is cheese corn, well, as it is with caramel corn, and they put much other mozzarella on it as well. It's really good.   Bill Ratner ** 07:39 Yeah, so we're on the air. Michael, what do you call your what do you call your program? Here I am your new friend, and I can't even announce your program because I don't know   Michael Hingson ** 07:48 the name, unstoppable mindset. This   Bill Ratner ** 07:51 is unstoppable mindset.   Michael Hingson ** 07:56 We're back. Well, we're back already. We're fast. So you, you, you moved off elsewhere, out of Des Moines and all that. And where did you go to college?   Bill Ratner ** 08:09 Well, this is like, why did you this is, this is a bit like talking about the Vietnam War. Looking back on my college career is like looking back on the Vietnam War series, a series of delusions and defeats. By the time I the time i for college, by the time I was applying for college, I was an orphan, orphan, having been born to fabulous parents who died too young of natural causes. So my grades in high school were my mediocre. I couldn't get into the Ivy Leagues. I got into the big 10 schools. My stepmother said, you're going to Michigan State in East Lansing because your cousin Eddie became a successful realtor. And Michigan State was known as mu u it was the most successful, largest agriculture college and university in the country. Kids from South Asia, China, Northern Europe, Southern Europe, South America all over the world came to Michigan State to study agricultural sciences, children of rich farmers all over the world and middle class farmers all over the world, and a huge police science department. Part of the campus was fenced off, and the young cadets, 1819, 20 years old, would practice on the rest of the student body, uniformed with hats and all right, excuse me, young man, we're just going to get some pizza at eight o'clock on Friday night. Stand against your car. Hands in your car. I said, Are you guys practicing again? Shut up and spread your legs. So that was that was Michigan State, and even though both my parents had master's degrees, I just found all the diversions available in the 1960s to be too interesting, and was not invited. Return after my sophomore year, and in order to flunk out of a big 10 University, and they're fine universities, all of them, you have to be either really determined or not so smart, not really capable of doing that level of study in undergraduate school. And I'd like to think that I was determined. I used to show up for my exams with a little blue book, and the only thing I would write is due to lack of knowledge, I am unable to complete this exam, sign Bill ranter and get up early and hand it in and go off. And so what was, what was left for a young man like that was the theater I'd seen the great Zero Mostel when I was 14 years old and on stage live, he looked just like my father, and he was funny, and if I Were a rich man, and that's the grade zero must tell. Yeah, and it took about five, no, it took about six, seven years to percolate inside my bread and my brain. In high school, I didn't want to do theater. The cheerleaders and guys who I had didn't happen to be friends with or doing theater. I took my girlfriends to see plays, but when I was 21 I started acting, and I've been an actor ever since. I'm a committee chair on the screen actors guild in Hollywood and Screen Actors Guild AFTRA, and work as a voice actor and collect my pensions and God bless the union.   Michael Hingson ** 11:44 Well, hey, as long as it works and you're making progress, you know you're still with it, right?   Bill Ratner ** 11:53 That's the that's the point. There's no accounting for taste in my business. Michael, you work for a few different broadcast entities at my age. And it's, you know, it's younger people. It's 18 to 3418 years to 34 years old is the ideal demographic for advertisers, Ford, Motor Company, Dove soap, Betty, Crocker, cake mixes and cereals, every conceivable product that sold online or sold on television and radio. This is my this is my meat, and I don't work for religion. However, if a religious organization calls, I call and say, I I'm not, not qualified or not have my divinity degree in order to sell your church to the public?   Michael Hingson ** 12:46 Yeah, yeah. Well, I, I can understand that. But you, you obviously do a lot, and as we talked about, you were Flint and GI Joe, which is kind of cool.   Bill Ratner ** 13:01 Flynn GI Joe was very cool. Hasbro Corporation, which was based in Providence, Rhode Island, had a huge success with GI Joe, the figure. The figure was about 11 and a half inches tall, like a Barbie, and was at first, was introduced to the public after the Korean War. There is a comic book that was that was also published about GI Joe. He was an individual figure. He was a figure, a sort of mythic cartoon figure during World War Two, GI Joe, generic American soldier, fighting man and but the Vietnam war dragged on for a long time, and the American buying public or buying kids toys got tired of GI Joe, got tired of a military figure in their household and stopped buying. And when Nixon ended the Vietnam War, or allotted to finish in 1974 Hasbro was in the tank. It's got its stock was cheap, and executives are getting nervous. And then came the Great George Lucas in Star Wars, who shrank all these action figures down from 11 and a half inches to three and a half inches, and went to China and had Chinese game and toy makers make Star Wars toys, and began to earn billions and billions dollars. And so Hasbro said, let's turn GI Joe into into a team. And the team began with flint and Lady J and Scarlett and Duke and Destro and cover commander, and grew to 85 different characters, because Hasbro and the toy maker partners could create 85 different sets of toys and action figures. So I was actor in this show and had a good time, and also a purveyor of a billion dollar industry of American toys. And the good news about these toys is I was at a conference where we signed autographs the voice actors, and we have supper with fans and so on. And I was sitting next to a 30 year old kid and his parents. And this kid was so knowledgeable about pop culture and every conceivable children's show and animated show that had ever been on the screen or on television. I turned to his mother and sort of being a wise acre, said, So ma'am, how do you feel about your 30 year old still playing with GI Joe action figures? And she said, Well, he and I both teach English in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania school system, and last year, the literacy level of my ninth graders was 50% 50% of those kids could not read in ninth grade. So I asked the principal if I could borrow my son's GI Joe, action figures, comic books and VHS tapes, recordings of the shows from TV. And he said, Sure, whatever you want to try. And so she did, and she played the video tapes, and these kids were thrilled. They'd never seen a GI Joe cartoon in class before. Passed out the comic books, let him read comics. And then she said, Okay, you guys. And passed out notebooks and pens and pencils, and said, I want you guys to make up some some shows, some GI Joe shows. And so they said, Yeah, we're ready. All right, Cobra, you better get into the barber shop, because the barber bill is no longer there and the fire engines are in the way. And wait a minute, there's a dog in the street. And so they're making this up, using their imagination, doing their schoolwork, by coming up with scenarios, imaginary fam fan fiction for GI Joe and she raised the literacy level in her classroom by 50% that year, by the end of that year, so, so that was the only story that I've ever heard about the sort of the efficacy of GI Joe, other than, you know, kids play with them. Do they? Are they shooting each other all the time? I certainly hope not. I hope not. Are they using the action figures? Do they strip their guns off and put them in a little, you know, stub over by the side and and have them do physical battle with each other, or have them hump the woods, or have them climb the stairs, or have them search the trees. Who knows what kids do? Same with same with girls and and Barbies. Barbie has been a source of fun and creativity for lots of girls, and the source of of worry and bother to a lot of parents as   Michael Hingson ** 17:54 well. Well, at the same time, though, when kids start to react and relate to some of these things. It's, it's pretty cool. I mean, look what's happened with the whole Harry Potter movement and craze. Harry Potter has probably done more in the last 20 or 25 years to promote reading for kids than most anything else, and   Bill Ratner ** 18:17 that's because it's such a good series of books. I read them to my daughters, yeah. And the quality of writing. She was a brilliant writer, not only just the stories and the storytelling, which is fun to watch in the movies, and you know, it's great for a parent to read. If there are any parents listening, I don't care how old your kids are. I don't care if they're 15. Offer to read to them. The 15 year old might, of course, say mom, but anybody younger than that might say either, all right, fine, which is, which means you better do it or read, read a book. To me, sure, it's fun for the parent, fun for the kid, and it makes the child a completely different kind of thinker and worker and earner.   Michael Hingson ** 19:05 Well, also the people who they got to read the books for the recordings Stephen Fry and in the US here, Jim Dale did such an incredible job as well. I've, I've read the whole Harry Potter series more than once, because I just enjoy them, and I enjoy listening to the the voices. They do such a good job. Yeah. And of course, for me, one of the interesting stories that I know about Jim Dale reading Harry Potter was since it was published by Scholastic he was actually scheduled to do a reading from one of the Harry from the new Harry Potter book that was coming out in 2001 on September 11, he was going to be at Scholastic reading. And of course, that didn't happen because of of everything that did occur. So I don't know whether I'm. I'm assuming at some point a little bit later, he did, but still he was scheduled to be there and read. But it they are there. They've done so much to help promote reading, and a lot of those kinds of cartoons and so on. Have done some of that, which is, which is pretty good. So it's good to, you know, to see that continue to happen. Well, so you've written several books on poetry and so on, and I know that you you've mentioned more than once grief and loss. How come those words keep coming up?   Bill Ratner ** 20:40 Well, I had an unusual childhood. Again. I mentioned earlier how, what a lucky kid I was. My parents were happy, educated, good people, not abusers. You know, I don't have a I don't have horror stories to tell about my mother or my father, until my mother grew sick with breast cancer and and it took about a year and a half or two years to die when I was seven years old. The good news is, because she was a sensitive, educated social worker, as she was actually dying, she arranged a death counseling session with me and my older brother and the Unitarian minister who was also a death counselor, and whom she was seeing to talk about, you know, what it was like to be dying of breast cancer with two young kids. And at this session, which was sort of surprised me, I was second grade, came home from school. In the living room was my mother and my brother looking a little nervous, and Dr Carl storm from the Unitarian Church, and she said, you know, Dr storm from church, but he's also my therapist. And we talk about my illness and how I feel, and we talk about how much I love you boys, and talk about how I worry about Daddy. And this is what one does when one is in crisis. That was a moment that was not traumatic for me. It's a moment I recalled hundreds of times, and one that has been a guiding light through my life. My mother's death was very difficult for my older brother, who was 13 who grew up in World War Two without without my father, it was just him and my mother when he was off in the Pacific fighting in World War Two. And then I was born after the war. And the loss of a mother in a family is like the bottom dropping out of a family. But luckily, my dad met a woman he worked with a highly placed advertising executive, which was unusual for a female in the 1950s and she became our stepmother a year later, and we had some very lovely, warm family years with her extended family and our extended family and all of us together until my brother got sick, came down with kidney disease a couple of years before kidney dialysis was invented, and a couple of years before kidney transplants were done, died at 19. Had been the captain of the swimming team at our high school, but did a year in college out in California and died on Halloween of 1960 my father was 51 years old. His eldest son had died. He had lost his wife six years earlier. He was working too hard in the advertising industry, successful man and dropped out of a heart attack 14th birthday. Gosh, I found him unconscious on the floor of our master bathroom in our house. So my life changed. I My life has taught me many, many things. It's taught me how the defense system works in trauma. It's taught me the resilience of a child. It's taught me the kindness of strangers. It's taught me the sadness of loss.   Michael Hingson ** 24:09 Well, you, you seem to come through all of it pretty well. Well, thank you. A question behind that, just an observation, but, but you do seem to, you know, obviously, cope with all of it and do pretty well. So you, you've always liked to be involved in acting and so on. How did you actually end up deciding to be a voice actor?   Bill Ratner ** 24:39 Well, my dad, after he was managing editor of Better Homes and Gardens magazine in Des Moines for Meredith publishing, got offered a fancy job as executive vice president of the flower and mix division for Campbell within advertising and later at General Mills Corporation. From Betty Crocker brand, and would bring me to work all the time, and would sit with me, and we'd watch the wonderful old westerns that were on prime time television, rawhide and Gunsmoke and the Virginian and sure   Michael Hingson ** 25:15 and all those. Yeah, during   Bill Ratner ** 25:17 the commercials, my father would make fun of the commercials. Oh, look at that guy. And number one, son, that's lousy acting. Number two, listen to that copy. It's the dumbest ad copy I've ever seen. The jingles and and then he would say, No, that's a good commercial, right there. And he wasn't always negative. He would he was just a good critic of advertising. So at a very young age, starting, you know, when we watch television, I think the first television ever, he bought us when I was five years old, I was around one of the most educated, active, funny, animated television critics I could hope to have in my life as a 56789, 1011, 12 year old. And so when I was 12, I became one of the founding members of the Brotherhood of radio stations with my friends John Waterhouse and John Barstow and Steve gray and Bill Connors in South Minneapolis. I named my five watt night kit am transmitter after my sixth grade teacher, Bob close this is wclo stereo radio. And when I was in sixth grade, I built myself a switch box, and I had a turntable and I had an intercom, and I wired my house for sound, as did all the other boys in the in the B, O, R, S, and that's brotherhood of radio stations. And we were guests on each other's shows, and we were obsessed, and we would go to the shopping malls whenever a local DJ was making an appearance and torture him and ask him dumb questions and listen obsessively to American am radio. And at the time for am radio, not FM like today, or internet on your little radio tuner, all the big old grandma and grandpa radios, the wooden ones, were AM, for amplitude modulated. You could get stations at night, once the sun went down and the later it got, the ionosphere would lift and the am radio signals would bounce higher and farther. And in Minneapolis, at age six and seven, I was able to to listen to stations out of Mexico and Texas and Chicago, and was absolutely fascinated with with what was being put out. And I would, I would switch my brother when I was about eight years old, gave me a transistor radio, which I hid under my bed covers. And at night, would turn on and listen for, who knows, hours at a time, and just tuning the dial and tuning the dial from country to rock and roll to hit parade to news to commercials to to agric agriculture reports to cow crossings in Kansas and grain harvesting and cheese making in Wisconsin, and on and on and on that made up the great medium of radio that was handing its power and its business over to television, just as I was growing As a child. Fast, fascinating transition   Michael Hingson ** 28:18 and well, but as it was transitioning, how did that affect you?   Bill Ratner ** 28:26 It made television the romantic, exciting, dynamic medium. It made radio seem a little limited and antiquated, and although I listened for environment and wasn't able to drag a television set under my covers. Yeah, and television became memorable with with everything from actual world war two battle footage being shown because there wasn't enough programming to 1930s Warner Brothers gangster movies with James Cagney, Edward G   Michael Hingson ** 29:01 Robinson and yeah   Bill Ratner ** 29:02 to all the sitcoms, Leave It to Beaver and television cartoons and on and on and on. And the most memorable elements to me were the personalities, and some of whom were invisible. Five years old, I was watching a Kids program after school, after kindergarten. We'll be back with more funny puppets, marionettes after this message and the first words that came on from an invisible voice of this D baritone voice, this commercial message will be 60 seconds long, Chrysler Dodge for 1954 blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I watched hypnotized, hypnotized as a 1953 dodge drove across the screen with a happy family of four waving out the window. And at the end of the commercial, I ran into the kitchen said, Mom, mom, I know what a minute. Is, and it was said, it had suddenly come into my brain in one of those very rare and memorable moments in a person's life where your brain actually speaks to you in its own private language and says, Here is something very new and very true, that 60 seconds is in fact a minute. When someone says, See you in five minutes, they mean five times that, five times as long as that. Chrysler commercial, five times 60. That's 300 seconds. And she said, Did you learn it that that on T in kindergarten? And I said, No, I learned it from kangaroo Bob on TV, his announcer, oh, kangaroo Bob, no, but this guy was invisible. And so at five years of age, I was aware of the existence of the practice of the sound, of the magic of the seemingly unlimited access to facts, figures, products, brand names that these voices had and would say on the air in This sort of majestic, patriarchal way,   Michael Hingson ** 31:21 and just think 20 years later, then you had James Earl Jones,   Bill Ratner ** 31:26 the great dame. James Earl Jones, father was a star on stage at that time the 1950s James Earl Jones came of age in the 60s and became Broadway and off Broadway star.   Michael Hingson ** 31:38 I got to see him in Othello. He was playing Othello. What a powerful performance. It was   Bill Ratner ** 31:43 wonderful performer. Yeah, yeah. I got to see him as Big Daddy in Canada, Hot Tin Roof, ah, live and in person, he got front row seats for me and my family.   Michael Hingson ** 31:53 Yeah, we weren't in the front row, but we saw it. We saw it on on Broadway,   Bill Ratner ** 31:58 the closest I ever got to James Earl Jones. He and I had the same voice over agent, woman named Rita vinari of southern Barth and benare company. And I came into the agency to audition for Doritos, and I hear this magnificent voice coming from behind a closed voiceover booth, saying, with a with a Spanish accent, Doritos. I thought that's James Earl Jones. Why is he saying burritos? And he came out, and he bowed to me, nodded and smiled, and I said, hello and and the agent probably in the booth and shut the door. And she said, I said, that was James Earl Jones. What a voice. What she said, Oh, he's such a nice man. And she said, but I couldn't. I was too embarrassed. I was too afraid to stop him from saying, Doritos. And it turns out he didn't get the gig. So it is some other voice actor got it because he didn't say, had he said Doritos with the agent froze it froze up. That was as close as I ever got to did you get the gig? Oh goodness no,   Michael Hingson ** 33:01 no, you didn't, huh? Oh, well, well, yeah. I mean, it was a very, it was, it was wonderful. It was James Earl Jones and Christopher Plummer played Iago. Oh, goodness, oh, I know. What a what a combination. Well, so you, you did a lot of voiceover stuff. What did you do regarding radio moving forward? Or did you just go completely out of that and you were in TV? Or did you have any opportunity   Bill Ratner ** 33:33 for me to go back at age 15, my brother and father, who were big supporters of my radio. My dad would read my W, C, l, o, newsletter and need an initial, an excellent journalism son and my brother would bring his teenage friends up. He'd play the elderly brothers, man, you got an Elvis record, and I did. And you know, they were, they were big supporters for me as a 13 year old, but when I turned 14, and had lost my brother and my father, I lost my enthusiasm and put all of my radio equipment in a box intended to play with it later. Never, ever, ever did again. And when I was about 30 years old and I'd done years of acting in the theater, having a great time doing fun plays and small theaters in Minneapolis and South Dakota and and Oakland, California and San Francisco. I needed money, so I looked in the want ads and saw a job for telephone sales, and I thought, Well, I used to love the telephone. I used to make phony phone calls to people all the time. Used to call funeral homes. Hi Carson, funeral I help you. Yes, I'm calling to tell you that you have a you have a dark green slate tile. Roof, isn't that correct? Yes. Well, there's, there's a corpse on your roof. Lady for goodness sake, bring it down and we laugh and we record it and and so I thought, Well, gee, I used to have a lot of fun with the phone. And so I called the number of telephone sales and got hired to sell magazine subscriptions and dinner tickets to Union dinners and all kinds of things. And then I saw a new job at a radio station, suburban radio station out in Walnut Creek, California, a lovely Metro BART train ride. And so I got on the BART train, rode out there and walked in for the interview, and was told I was going to be selling small advertising packages on radio for the station on the phone. And so I called barber shops and beauty shops and gas stations in the area, and one guy picked up the phone and said, Wait a minute, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Are you on the radio right now? And I said, No, I'm just I'm in the sales room. Well, maybe you should be. And he slams the phone on me. He didn't want to talk to me anymore. It wasn't interested in buying advertising. I thought, gee. And I told somebody at the station, and they said, Well, you want to be in the radio? And he went, Yeah, I was on the radio when I was 13. And it just so happened that an older fellow was retiring from the 10am to 2pm slot. K I S King, kiss 99 and KD FM, Pittsburgh, California. And it was a beautiful music station. It was a music station. Remember, old enough will remember music that used to play in elevators that was like violin music, the Percy faith orchestra playing a Rolling Stone song here in the elevator. Yes, well, that's exactly what we played. And it would have been harder to get a job at the local rock stations because, you know, they were popular places. And so I applied for the job, and   Michael Hingson ** 37:06 could have lost your voice a lot sooner, and it would have been a lot harder if you had had to do Wolfman Jack. But that's another story.   Bill Ratner ** 37:13 Yeah, I used to listen to Wolf Man Jack. I worked in a studio in Hollywood. He became a studio. Yeah, big time.   Michael Hingson ** 37:22 Anyway, so you you got to work at the muzack station, got   Bill Ratner ** 37:27 to work at the muzack station, and I was moving to Los Angeles to go to a bigger market, to attempt to penetrate a bigger broadcast market. And one of the sales guys, a very nice guy named Ralph pizzella said, Well, when you get to La you should study with a friend of mine down to pie Troy, he teaches voiceovers. I said, What are voice overs? He said, You know that CVS Pharmacy commercial just carted up and did 75 tags, available in San Fernando, available in San Clemente, available in Los Angeles, available in Pasadena. And I said, Yeah. He said, Well, you didn't get paid any extra. You got paid your $165 a week. The guy who did that commercial for the ad agency got paid probably 300 bucks, plus extra for the tags, that's voiceovers. And I thought, why? There's an idea, what a concept. So he gave me the name and number of old friend acquaintance of his who he'd known in radio, named Don DiPietro, alias Johnny rabbit, who worked for the Dick Clark organization, had a big rock and roll station there. He'd come to LA was doing voiceovers and teaching voiceover classes in a little second story storefront out of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles. So I signed up for his class, and he was an experienced guy, and he liked me, and we all had fun, and I realized I was beginning to study like an actor at 1818, who goes to New York or goes to Los Angeles or Chicago or Atlanta or St Louis to act in the big theaters, and starts acting classes and realizes, oh my goodness, these people are truly professionals. I don't know how to do what they do. And so for six years, I took voice over classes, probably 4050, nights a year, and from disc jockeys, from ex show hosts, from actors, from animated cartoon voices, and put enough time in to get a degree in neurology in medical school. And worked my way up in radio in Los Angeles and had a morning show, a lovely show with a wonderful news man named Phil Reed, and we talked about things and reviewed movies and and played a lot of music. And then I realized, wait a minute, I'm earning three times the money in voiceovers as I am on the radio, and I have to get up at 430 in the morning to be on the radio. Uh, and a wonderful guy who was Johnny Carson's staff announcer named Jack angel said, You're not still on radio, are you? And I said, Well, yeah, I'm working in the morning. And Ka big, get out of there. Man, quit. Quit. And I thought, well, how can I quit? I've always wanted to be a radio announcer. And then there was another wonderful guy on the old am station, kmpc, sweet Dick Whittington. Whittington, right? And he said at a seminar that I went to at a union voice over training class, when you wake up at four in the morning and you swing your legs over the bed and your shoes hit the floor, and you put your head in your hands, and you say to yourself, I don't want to do this anymore. That's when you quit radio. Well, that hadn't happened to me. I was just getting up early to write some comedy segments and on and on and on, and then I was driving around town all day doing auditions and rented an ex girlfriend's second bedroom so that I could nap by myself during the day, when I had an hour in and I would as I would fall asleep, I'd picture myself every single day I'm in a dark voiceover studio, a microphone Is before me, a music stand is before the microphone, and on it is a piece of paper with advertising copy on it. On the other side of the large piece of glass of the recording booth are three individuals, my employers, I begin to read, and somehow the text leaps off the page, streams into my eyes, letter for letter, word for word, into a part of my back brain that I don't understand and can't describe. It is processed in my semi conscious mind with the help of voice over training and hope and faith, and comes out my mouth, goes into the microphone, is recorded in the digital recorder, and those three men, like little monkeys, lean forward and say, Wow, how do you do that? That was my daily creative visualization. Michael, that was my daily fantasy. And I had learned that from from Dale Carnegie, and I had learned that from Olympic athletes on NBC TV in the 60s and 70s, when the announcer would say, this young man you're seeing practicing his high jump is actually standing there. He's standing stationary, and the bouncing of the head is he's actually rehearsing in his mind running and running and leaping over the seven feet two inch bar and falling into the sawdust. And now he's doing it again, and you could just barely see the man nodding his head on camera at the exact rhythm that he would be running the 25 yards toward the high bar and leaping, and he raised his head up during the imaginary lead that he was visualizing, and then he actually jumped the seven foot two inches. That's how I learned about creative visualization from NBC sports on TV.   Michael Hingson ** 43:23 Channel Four in Los Angeles. There you go. Well, so you you broke into voice over, and that's what you did.   Bill Ratner ** 43:38 That's what I did, darn it, I ain't stopping now, there's a wonderful old actor named Bill Irwin. There two Bill Irwin's one is a younger actor in his 50s or 60s, a brilliant actor from Broadway to film and TV. There's an older William Irwin. They also named Bill Irwin, who's probably in his 90s now. And I went to a premiere of a film, and he was always showing up in these films as The senile stock broker who answers the phone upside down, or the senile board member who always asks inappropriate questions. And I went up to him and I said, you know, I see you in everything, man. I'm 85 years old. Some friends and associates of mine tell me I should slow down. I only got cast in movies and TV when I was 65 I ain't slowing down. If I tried to slow down at 85 I'd have to stop That's my philosophy. My hero is the great Don Pardo, the late great   Michael Hingson ** 44:42 for Saturday Night Live and Jeopardy   Bill Ratner ** 44:45 lives starring Bill Murray, Gilder Radner, and   Michael Hingson ** 44:49 he died for Jeopardy before that,   Bill Ratner ** 44:52 yeah, died at 92 with I picture him, whether it probably not, with a microphone and. His hand in his in his soundproof booth, in his in his garage, and I believe he lived in Arizona, although the show was aired and taped in New York, New York, right where he worked for for decades as a successful announcer. So that's the story.   Michael Hingson ** 45:16 Michael. Well, you know, I miss, very frankly, some of the the the days of radio back in the 60s and 70s and so on. We had, in LA what you mentioned, Dick Whittington, Dick whittinghill on kmpc, Gary Owens, you know, so many people who were such wonderful announcers and doing some wonderful things, and radio just isn't the same anymore. It's gone. It's   Bill Ratner ** 45:47 gone to Tiktok and YouTube. And the truth is, I'm not gonna whine about Tiktok or YouTube, because some of the most creative moments on camera are being done on Tiktok and YouTube by young quote influencers who hire themselves out to advertisers, everything from lipstick. You know,   Speaker 1 ** 46:09 when I went to a party last night was just wild and but this makeup look, watch me apply this lip remover and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, no, I have no lip.   Bill Ratner ** 46:20 You know, these are the people with the voices. These are the new voices. And then, of course, the faces. And so I would really advise before, before people who, in fact, use the internet. If you use the internet, you can't complain if you use the internet, if you go to Facebook or Instagram, or you get collect your email or Google, this or that, which most of us do, it's handy. You can't complain about tick tock, tick tock, tick tock. You can't complain about tick tock or YouTube, because it's what the younger generation is using, and it's what the younger generation advertisers and advertising executives and creators and musicians and actors are using to parade before us, as Gary Owens did, as Marlon Brando did, as Sarah Bernhardt did in the 19 so as all as you do, Michael, you're a parader. You're the head of the parade. You've been in on your own float for years. I read your your bio. I don't even know why you want to waste a minute talking to me for goodness sakes.   Michael Hingson ** 47:26 You know, the one thing about podcasts that I like over radio, and I did radio at kuci for seven years when I was in school, what I really like about podcasts is they're not and this is also would be true for Tiktok and YouTube. Primarily Tiktok, I would would say it isn't as structured. So if we don't finish in 60 minutes, and we finish in 61 minutes, no one's gonna shoot us.   Bill Ratner ** 47:53 Well, I beg to differ with you. Now. I'm gonna start a fight with you. Michael, yeah, we need conflict in this script. Is that it The Tick Tock is very structured. Six. No,   Michael Hingson ** 48:03 no, I understand that. I'm talking about podcasts,   Bill Ratner ** 48:07 though, but there's a problem. We gotta Tone It Up. We gotta pick it up. We gotta there's a lot of and I listen to what are otherwise really bright, wonderful personalities on screen, celebrities who have podcasts and the car sucks, and then I had meatballs for dinner, haha. And you know what my wife said? Why? You know? And there's just too much of that. And,   Michael Hingson ** 48:32 oh, I understand, yeah. I mean, it's like, like anything, but I'm just saying that's one of the reasons I love podcasting. So it's my way of continuing what I used to do in radio and having a lot of fun doing it   Bill Ratner ** 48:43 all right, let me ask you. Let me ask you a technical and editorial question. Let me ask you an artistic question. An artist, can you edit this podcast? Yeah. Are you? Do you plan to Nope.   Michael Hingson ** 48:56 I think conversations are conversations, but there is a but, I mean,   Bill Ratner ** 49:01 there have been starts and stops and I answer a question, and there's a long pause, and then, yeah, we can do you edit that stuff   Michael Hingson ** 49:08 out. We do, we do, edit some of that out. And I have somebody that that that does a lot of it, because I'm doing more podcasts, and also I travel and speak, but I can edit. There's a program called Reaper, which is really a very sophisticated   Bill Ratner ** 49:26 close up spaces. You   Michael Hingson ** 49:28 can close up spaces with it, yes, but the neat thing about Reaper is that somebody has written scripts to make it incredibly accessible for blind people using screen readers.   Bill Ratner ** 49:40 What does it do? What does it do? Give me the elevator pitch.   Michael Hingson ** 49:46 You've seen some of the the programs that people use, like computer vision and other things to do editing of videos and so on. Yeah.   Bill Ratner ** 49:55 Yeah. Even Apple. Apple edit. What is it called? Apple? Garage Band. No, that's audio. What's that   Michael Hingson ** 50:03 audio? Oh,   Bill Ratner ** 50:06 quick time is quick   Michael Hingson ** 50:07 time. But whether it's video or audio, the point is that Reaper allows me to do all of that. I can edit audio. I can insert, I can remove pauses. I can do anything with Reaper that anyone else can do editing audio, because it's been made completely accessible.   Bill Ratner ** 50:27 That's great. That's good. That's nice. Oh, it is. It's cool.   Michael Hingson ** 50:31 So so if I want, I can edit this and just have my questions and then silence when you're talking.   Bill Ratner ** 50:38 That might be best. Ladies and gentlemen, here's Bill Ratner,   Michael Hingson ** 50:46 yep, exactly, exactly. Now you have won the moth stories. Slam, what? Tell me about my story. Slam, you've won it nine times.   Bill Ratner ** 51:00 The Moth was started by a writer, a novelist who had lived in the South and moved to New York City, successful novelist named George Dawes green. And the inception of the moth, which many people listening are familiar with from the Moth Radio Hour. It was, I believe, either late 90s or early 2000s when he'd been in New York for a while and was was publishing as a fiction writer, and threw a party, and decided, instead of going to one of these dumb, boring parties or the same drinks being served and same cigarettes being smoked out in the veranda and the same orders. I'm going to ask people to bring a five minute story, a personal story, nature, a true story. You don't have to have one to get into the party, but I encourage you to. And so you know, the 3040, 50 people showed up, many of whom had stories, and they had a few drinks, and they had hors d'oeuvres. And then he said, Okay, ladies and gentlemen, take your seats. It's time for and then I picked names out of a hat, and person after person after person stood up in a very unusual setting, which was almost never done at parties. You How often do you see that happen? Suddenly, the room falls silent, and someone with permission being having been asked by the host to tell a personal story, some funny, some tragic, some complex, some embarrassing, some racy, some wild, some action filled. And afterward, the feedback he got from his friends was, this is the most amazing experience I've ever had in my life. And someone said, you need to do this. And he said, Well, you people left a lot of cigarette butts and beer cans around my apartment. And they said, well, let's do it at a coffee shop. Let's do it at a church basement. So slowly but surely, the moth storytelling, story slams, which were designed after the old poetry slams in the 50s and 60s, where they were judged contests like, like a dance contest. Everybody's familiar with dance contests? Well, there were, then came poetry contests with people singing and, you know, and singing and really energetically, really reading. There then came storytelling contests with people standing on a stage before a silent audience, telling a hopefully interesting, riveting story, beginning middle, end in five minutes. And so a coffee house was found. A monthly calendar was set up. Then came the internet. Then it was so popular standing room only that they had to open yet another and another, and today, some 20 years later, 20 some years later, from Austin, Texas to San Francisco, California to Minneapolis, Minnesota to New York City to Los Angeles. There are moth story slams available on online for you to schedule yourself to go live and in person at the moth.org as in the moth with wings. Friend of mine, I was in New York. He said, You can't believe it. This writer guy, a writer friend of mine who I had read, kind of an avant garde, strange, funny writer was was hosting something called the moth in New York, and we were texting each other. He said, Well, I want to go. The theme was show business. I was going to talk to my Uncle Bobby, who was the bell boy. And I Love Lucy. I'll tell a story. And I texted him that day. He said, Oh man, I'm so sorry. I had the day wrong. It's next week. Next week, I'm going to be back home. And so he said, Well, I think there's a moth in Los Angeles. So about 15 years ago, I searched it down and what? Went to a small Korean barbecue that had a tiny little stage that originally was for Korean musicians, and it was now being used for everything from stand up comedy to evenings of rock and roll to now moth storytelling once a month. And I think the theme was first time. And so I got up and told a silly story and didn't win first prize. They have judges that volunteer judges a table of three judges scoring, you like, at a swim meet or a track beat or, you know, and our gymnastics meet. So this is all sort of familiar territory for everybody, except it's storytelling and not high jumping or pull ups. And I kept going back. I was addicted to it. I would write a story and I'd memorize it, and I'd show up and try to make it four minutes and 50 seconds and try to make it sound like I was really telling a story and not reading from a script. And wish I wasn't, because I would throw the script away, and I knew the stories well enough. And then they created a radio show. And then I began to win slams and compete in the grand slams. And then I started submitting these 750 word, you know, two and a half page stories. Literary magazines got a few published and found a whole new way to spend my time and not make much   Michael Hingson ** 56:25 money. Then you went into poetry.   Bill Ratner ** 56:29 Then I got so bored with my prose writing that I took a poetry course from a wonderful guy in LA called Jack grapes, who had been an actor and a football player and come to Hollywood and did some TV, episodics and and some some episodic TV, and taught poetry. It was a poet in the schools, and I took his class of adults and got a poem published. And thought, wait a minute, these aren't even 750 words. They're like 75 words. I mean, you could write a 10,000 word poem if you want, but some people have, yeah, and it was complex, and there was so much to read and so much to learn and so much that was interesting and odd. And a daughter of a friend of mine is a poet, said, Mommy, are you going to read me one of those little word movies before I go to sleep?   Michael Hingson ** 57:23 A little word movie, word movie out of the   Bill Ratner ** 57:27 mouths of babes. Yeah, and so, so and I perform. You know, last night, I was in Orange County at a organization called ugly mug Cafe, and a bunch of us poets read from an anthology that was published, and we sold our books, and heard other young poets who were absolutely marvelous and and it's, you know, it's not for everybody, but it's one of the things I do.   Michael Hingson ** 57:54 Well, you sent me pictures of book covers, so they're going to be in the show notes. And I hope people will will go out and get them   Bill Ratner ** 58:01 cool. One of the one of the things that I did with poetry, in addition to wanting to get published and wanting to read before people, is wanting to see if there is a way. Because poetry was, was very satisfying, emotionally to me, intellectually very challenging and satisfying at times. And emotionally challenging and very satisfying at times, writing about things personal, writing about nature, writing about friends, writing about stories that I received some training from the National Association for poetry therapy. Poetry therapy is being used like art therapy, right? And have conducted some sessions and and participated in many and ended up working with eighth graders of kids who had lost someone to death in the past year of their lives. This is before covid in the public schools in Los Angeles. And so there's a lot of that kind of work that is being done by constable people, by writers, by poets, by playwrights,   Michael Hingson ** 59:09 and you became a grief counselor,   Bill Ratner ** 59:13 yes, and don't do that full time, because I do voiceovers full time, right? Write poetry and a grand. Am an active grandparent, but I do the occasional poetry session around around grief poetry.   Michael Hingson ** 59:31 So you're a grandparent, so you've had kids and all that. Yes, sir, well, that's is your wife still with us? Yes?   Bill Ratner ** 59:40 Oh, great, yeah, she's an artist and an art educator. Well, that   Michael Hingson ** 59:46 so the two of you can criticize each other's works, then, just   Bill Ratner ** 59:52 saying, we're actually pretty kind to each other. I Yeah, we have a lot of we have a lot of outside criticism. Them. So, yeah, you don't need to do it internally. We don't rely on it. What do you think of this although, although, more than occasionally, each of us will say, What do you think of this poem, honey? Or what do you think of this painting, honey? And my the favorite, favorite thing that my wife says that always thrills me and makes me very happy to be with her is, I'll come down and she's beginning a new work of a new piece of art for an exhibition somewhere. I'll say, what? Tell me about what's, what's going on with that, and she'll go, you know, I have no idea, but it'll tell me what to do.   Michael Hingson ** 1:00:33 Yeah, it's, it's like a lot of authors talk about the fact that their characters write the stories right, which, which makes a lot of sense. So with all that you've done, are you writing a memoir? By any chance, I   Bill Ratner ** 1:00:46 am writing a memoir, and writing has been interesting. I've been doing it for many years. I got it was my graduate thesis from University of California Riverside Palm Desert.   Michael Hingson ** 1:00:57 My wife was a UC Riverside graduate. Oh, hi. Well, they   Bill Ratner ** 1:01:01 have a low residency program where you go for 10 days in January, 10 days in June. The rest of it's online, which a lot of universities are doing, low residency programs for people who work and I got an MFA in creative writing nonfiction, had a book called parenting for the digital age, the truth about media's effect on children. And was halfway through it, the publisher liked it, but they said you got to double the length. So I went back to school to try to figure out how to double the length. And was was able to do it, and decided to move on to personal memoir and personal storytelling, such as goes on at the moth but a little more personal than that. Some of the material that I was reading in the memoir section of a bookstore was very, very personal and was very helpful to read about people who've gone through particular issues in their childhood. Mine not being physical abuse or sexual abuse, mine being death and loss, which is different. And so that became a focus of my graduate thesis, and many people were urging me to write a memoir. Someone said, you need to do a one man show. So I entered the Hollywood fringe and did a one man show and got good reviews and had a good time and did another one man show the next year and and so on. So But writing memoir as anybody knows, and they're probably listeners who are either taking memoir courses online or who may be actively writing memoirs or short memoir pieces, as everybody knows it, can put you through moods from absolutely ecstatic, oh my gosh, I got this done. I got this story told, and someone liked it, to oh my gosh, I'm so depressed I don't understand why. Oh, wait a minute, I was writing about such and such today. Yeah. So that's the challenge for the memoir is for the personal storyteller, it's also, you know, and it's more of a challenge than it is for the reader, unless it's bad writing and the reader can't stand that. For me as a reader, I'm fascinated by people's difficult stories, if they're well   Michael Hingson ** 1:03:24 told well, I know that when in 2002 I was advised to write a book about the World Trade Center experiences and all, and it took eight years to kind of pull it all together. And then I met a woman who actually I collaborated with, Susie Florey, and we wrote thunder dog. And her agent became my agent, who loved the proposal that we sent and actually got a contract within a week. So thunder dog came out in 2011 was a New York Times bestseller, and very blessed by that, and we're working toward the day that it will become a movie still, but it'll happen. And then I wrote a children's version of it, well, not a children's version of the book, but a children's book about me growing up in Roselle, growing up the guide dog who was with me in the World Trade Center, and that's been on Amazon. We self published it. Then last year, we published a new book called Live like a guide dog, which is all about controlling fear and teaching people lessons that I learned prior to September 11. That helped me focus and remain calm.   Bill Ratner ** 1:04:23 What happened to you on September 11,   Michael Hingson ** 1:04:27 I was in the World Trade Center. I worked on the 78th floor of Tower One.   Bill Ratner ** 1:04:32 And what happened? I mean, what happened to you?   Michael Hingson ** 1:04:36 Um, nothing that day. I mean, well, I got out. How did you get out? Down the stairs? That was the only way to go. So, so the real story is not doing it, but why it worked. And the real issue is that I spent a lot of time when I first went into the World Trade Center, learning all I could about what to do in an emergency, talking to police, port authorities. Security people, emergency preparedness people, and also just walking around the world trade center and learning the whole place, because I ran an office for a company, and I wasn't going to rely on someone else to, like, lead me around if we're going to go to lunch somewhere and take people out before we negotiated contracts. So I needed to know all of that, and I learned all I could, also realizing that if there ever was an emergency, I might be the only one in the office, or we might be in an area where people couldn't read the signs to know what to do anyway. And so I had to take the responsibility of learning all that, which I did. And then when the planes hit 18 floors above us on the other side of the building, we get we had some guests in the office. Got them out, and then another colleague, who was in from our corporate office, and I and my guide dog, Roselle, went to the stairs, and we started down. And   Bill Ratner ** 1:05:54 so, so what floor did the plane strike?   Michael Hingson ** 1:05:58 It struck and the NOR and the North Tower, between floors 93 and 99 so I just say 96 okay, and you were 20 floors down, 78 floors 78 so we were 18 floors below, and   Bill Ratner ** 1:06:09 at the moment of impact, what did you think?   Michael Hingson ** 1:06:13 Had no idea we heard a muffled kind of explosion, because the plane hit on the other side of the building, 18 floors above us. There was no way to know what was going on. Did you feel? Did you feel? Oh, the building literally tipped, probably about 20 feet. It kept tipping. And then we actually said goodbye to each other, and then the building came back upright. And then we went,   Bill Ratner ** 1:06:34 really you so you thought you were going to die?   Michael Hingson ** 1:06:38 David, my colleague who was with me, as I said, he was from our California office, and he was there to help with some seminars we were going to be doing. We actually were saying goodbye to each other because we thought we were about to take a 78 floor plunge to the street, when the building stopped tipping and it came back. Designed to do that by the architect. It was designed to do that, which is the point, the point.   Bill Ratner ** 1:07:02 Goodness, gracious. And then did you know how to get to the stairway?   Michael Hingson ** 1:07:04 Oh, absolutely. And did you do it with your friend? Yeah, the first thing we did, the first thing we did is I got him to get we had some guests, and I said, get him to the stairs. Don't let him take the elevators, because I knew he had seen fire above us, but that's all we knew. And but I said, don't take the elevators. Don't let them take elevators. Get them to the stairs and then come back and we'll leave. So he did all that, and then he came back, and we went to the stairs and started down.   Bill Ratner ** 1:07:33 Wow. Could you smell anything?   Michael Hingson ** 1:07:36 We smelled burning jet fuel fumes on the way down. And that's how we figured out an airplane must have hit the building, but we had no idea what happened. We didn't know what happened until the until both towers had collapsed, and I actually talked to my wife, and she's the one who told us how to aircraft have been crashed into the towers, one into the Pentagon, and a fourth, at that time, was still missing over Pennsylvania. Wow. So you'll have to go pick up a copy of thunder dog. Goodness. Good. Thunder dog. The name of the book is Thunder dog, and the book I wrote last year is called Live like a guide dog. It's le

Twelve year-old Serenity Noah has never told anyone about her recurring nightmares -- the haunting images of silver butterflies whose flapping wings drive away all sound, leaving only suffocating silence in their wake. Her parents already favor her "perfect" younger brother, Peace, and she doesn't want to be seen as the "problem" child. Instead, Serenity's found a productive way to channel her fears: creating a horror movie as scary as her nightmares.When Peace suddenly becomes afraid of the dark and refuses to sleep alone, their parents take him away for "treatment" on Duppy Island. Serenity has a very bad feeling about the mysterious island and the facility's creepy leader, Dr. Whisper. And when she sees a silver butterfly from her nightmares in the forbidden forest she realizes that something is seriously, dangerously awry.But nothing could've prepared Serenity for the truth: the island is home to douens -- faceless children with backward feet who are trapped in limbo between the world of the living and the land of the dead. And unless Serenity acts soon, her brother is going to join their ranks... Shakirah Bourne is a Bajan author and filmmaker. She once shot a movie scene in a cave with bats during an earthquake, but is too scared to watch horror movies. She is a recipient of the Governor General Award for Excellence in Literary Fiction for her short fiction collection, IN TIME OF NEED. Her first children's book, JOSEPHINE AGAINST THE SEA, received starred reviews in Kirkus and Booklist, was a SLJ Best Book of 2021, A Black Caucus of the ALA Best Book of 2021 and an Ignyte Award Finalist for Best Middle Grade Novel.She was also the co-editor of YA non-fiction anthology, ALLIES: Real Talk About Growing Up, Screwing Up and Trying Again (DK/PRH, 2021), which was a World Book Day Selection in the UK. Her upcoming middle grade horror, NIGHTMARE ISLAND, a tale based on Caribbean folklore, will be published by Scholastic in June 2023.

Evan, Canty, & Michelle debate the Top 5 potato-based foods. How embarrassing was last night's Steelers loss? Evan is very upset that some people on the show are wondering if this season could be a sophomore slump for Jayden Daniels. Mark Schlabach joins the show to talk about Curt Cignetti's new contract and Georgia / Ole Miss. Jessica Mendoza stops by to discuss a potential Dodgers dynasty and if the Mariners can stop their freefall. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Evan, Canty, & Michelle debate the Top 5 potato-based foods. How embarrassing was last night's Steelers loss? Evan is very upset that some people on the show are wondering if this season could be a sophomore slump for Jayden Daniels. Mark Schlabach joins the show to talk about Curt Cignetti's new contract and Georgia / Ole Miss. Jessica Mendoza stops by to discuss a potential Dodgers dynasty and if the Mariners can stop their freefall. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Evan, Canty, & Michelle debate the Top 5 potato-based foods. How embarrassing was last night's Steelers loss? Evan is very upset that some people on the show are wondering if this season could be a sophomore slump for Jayden Daniels. Mark Schlabach joins the show to talk about Curt Cignetti's new contract and Georgia / Ole Miss. Jessica Mendoza stops by to discuss a potential Dodgers dynasty and if the Mariners can stop their freefall. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Evan, Canty, & Michelle debate the Top 5 potato-based foods. How embarrassing was last night's Steelers loss? Evan is very upset that some people on the show are wondering if this season could be a sophomore slump for Jayden Daniels. Mark Schlabach joins the show to talk about Curt Cignetti's new contract and Georgia / Ole Miss. Jessica Mendoza stops by to discuss a potential Dodgers dynasty and if the Mariners can stop their freefall. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Evan, Canty, & Michelle debate the Top 5 potato-based foods. How embarrassing was last night's Steelers loss? Evan is very upset that some people on the show are wondering if this season could be a sophomore slump for Jayden Daniels. Mark Schlabach joins the show to talk about Curt Cignetti's new contract and Georgia / Ole Miss. Jessica Mendoza stops by to discuss a potential Dodgers dynasty and if the Mariners can stop their freefall. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Want to listen to this episode ad-free? Visit our Patreon! Welcome true believers to X-Men Horoscopes where each week our host Lodro Rinzler is in conversation with a special guest to discuss the X-Men issue that aligns with a significant month and year from their life and what that issue reveals about their future. With us this week is comic writer/artist Karen Czap aka Karen Charm who was born during the celebration of the 100th issue of the All-New All-Different team and isht. is. wild. We discuss Karen's outstanding comics Fütchi Perf and Four Years before diving into Professor X's very nasty no good day which begins with him waking up in studded bondage gear and ends with nerve gas and trying to get a homicidal teenager to not murder him. Also in this episode: Banshee gets kicked in the face and then tea bagged by his past Firestar's first appearance is not a great look for anyone Professor X gets mugged, saved, dressed in bondage gear The Morlocks have a healer, but they should consider getting a therapist That kid murderer is Psylocke's boyfriend and I guess we're all okay with it now Empath just wants Professor X to like him Warpath will MURDER YOU (actually he won't he'll just take care of your boo boos and get you a warm blanket) Sexbots Emma Frost is the nicest person Firestar knows...maybe she only knows like 3 people? What does any of this mean for Karen's future? Tune in to find out!   Karen Czap is a cartoonist, colorist, and self-decorated “X-Men Fan” living in Providence, RI. They are the author of the heavily vibes-based graphic novels Fütchi Perf and Four Years in addition to several smaller comics in print and online. Their coloring work graces comics published by Scholastic, First Second, Little Brown, and more. They currently serve on the board of the Binch Press / Queer.Archive.Work co-op art studio. Karen is a Taurus sun, Sag moon, Leo rising, and can be found @charmgardens on the social media dot com More of Lodro Rinzler's work can be found here and here and you can follow the podcast on Instagram at xmenpanelsdaily where we post X-Men comic panels...daily. Have a question or comment for a future episode? Reach out at xmenhoroscopes.com.   Want to listen to these episodes early/ad-free and get your own X-Men Horoscope read/an awesome t-shirt? Check out our brand-new patreon! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Scary? Crit? Exactly! On today's episode, get out your broomsticks because we're off to Coventry to discuss everybody's favorite twin witches with Twitches (2005)! Arguably one of Disney Channel's best original movies (especially for Halloween), we give Tia and Tamera Mowry their flowers while talking about the enduring legacy of Twitches, the layered significance of Camryn and Alex's upbringings, standout characters, and our curioisity on the film's production among other topics. We love this movie as well as Tia and Tamera are so happy to celebrate the film's 20th anniversary among all the other Twitches fans with the release of this episode! And let's keep the good times rolling with another reminder about the Fayetteville Fan Fest. We hope to see some of you on the 18th!Timestamps4:04 - Negronomicon18:45 - Crit1:05:52 - Final CurlsGems from Ep. 112Moesha (1996, television series)M3GAN (2022)MEGAN 2.0 (2025)Halloween (1978)Halloween II (1981)Friday the 13th (1980)Jason X (2001)Sinners (2025)Kiss of the Spider Woman (2025)Black Phone 2 (2025)Twitches (2005)The Cosby Show (1984)That's So Raven (2003, television series)Sister, Sister (1994, television series)Seventeen Again (2000)Better Call Saul (2015, television series)Breaking Bad (2008, television series)Saved by the Bell (1989, television series)Schitts Creek (2015, television series)Ginny & Georgia (2021, television series)Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000)Mr. Nice Guy (1997)Dr. Doolittle (1998)Twitches Too (2007)Ice Princess (2005)Herbie: Fully Loaded (2005)Now You See It (2005)Buffalo Dreams (2005)Go Figure (2005)Life Is Ruff (2005)The Proud Family Movie (2005)High School Musical (2006)Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)TheChronicles of Narnia The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (2005)Double Teamed (2002)Twitches: Building a Mystery (H.B. Gilmour and Randi Reisfeld, Scholastic, 2001, Print)Twitches: Seeing is Deceiving (H.B. Gilmour and Randi Reisfeld, Scholastic, 2001, Print)Animorphs (series) (K.A. Applegate, Scholastic, 1996, Print) Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century (1999)The Monkey (2025)Game of Thrones (2011, television series)50 Shades of Grey (E.L. James, Vintage Books, 2011, Print)The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008)Nancy Drew (1997, video game series)Little Nightmares III (2025, video game)Renaimal (2026, video game)The Quarry (2022, video game)Welcome to Derry (2025, television series)It (2017)It: Chapter 2 (2019)Degrassi: The Next Generation (2001, television series)Support the show

In der heutigen Folge sprechen die Finanzjournalisten Lea Oetjen und Holger Zschäpitz über einen Crash bei Ferrari, ein Rekordhoch bei Silber und den bitteren Börsen-Abschied von About You. Außerdem geht es um Heidelberg Materials, Zalando, Gerresheimer, Hellofresh, Ottobock, MP Materials, Niocorp, Critical Metals, Tilray, Nvidia, UIPath, Rigetti, D-Wave, Quantum Computing, VW, Infineon, Siltronic, Aixtron, Elmos, Bilfinger, Hochtief, Porsche, Mercedes, BMW, Scholastic, RCS MediaGroup, Orell Füssli, Amazon, Spotify, Bastei Lübbe, Amundi SDAX ETF (WKN: ETF195), Invesco European Media ETF (WKN: A0RPSA), iShares STOXX Europe 600 Media (WKN: A0H08L). Wir freuen uns über Feedback an aaa@welt.de. Noch mehr "Alles auf Aktien" findet Ihr bei WELTplus und Apple Podcasts – inklusive aller Artikel der Hosts und AAA-Newsletter. Hier bei WELT: https://www.welt.de/podcasts/alles-auf-aktien/plus247399208/Boersen-Podcast-AAA-Bonus-Folgen-Jede-Woche-noch-mehr-Antworten-auf-Eure-Boersen-Fragen.html. Der Börsen-Podcast Disclaimer: Die im Podcast besprochenen Aktien und Fonds stellen keine spezifischen Kauf- oder Anlage-Empfehlungen dar. Die Moderatoren und der Verlag haften nicht für etwaige Verluste, die aufgrund der Umsetzung der Gedanken oder Ideen entstehen. Hörtipps: Für alle, die noch mehr wissen wollen: Holger Zschäpitz können Sie jede Woche im Finanz- und Wirtschaftspodcast "Deffner&Zschäpitz" hören. +++ Werbung +++ Du möchtest mehr über unsere Werbepartner erfahren? Hier findest du alle Infos & Rabatte! https://linktr.ee/alles_auf_aktien Impressum: https://www.welt.de/services/article104636888/Impressum.html Datenschutz: https://www.welt.de/services/article157550705/Datenschutzerklaerung-WELT-DIGITAL.html

The work begins. We're proud to be giving away the Asteroid Blues dice set from our friends over at Dispel Dice! Use this link to enter: https://gleam.io/Cshyb/will-save-x-dispel-dice If you liked this episode, please consider supporting us on our Ko-fi! https://ko-fi.com/willsavethepodcast Or check out our sweet sci-fi fantasy swag on our merch store. https://shop.willsavethepodcast.com/ We'd love if you rate us on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you listen, follow us on social media, and check out our website WillSaveThePodcast.com for more! No Save for the Wicked is David G. - Kevin Decker Taylor B. - Dain Miller (No Quest for the Wicked) Gavin H. - Niall Spain (No Quest for the Wicked) Marvin J. - Jon Swan Game Master - Vinnie Rodriguez Special gratitude for our partner Syrinscape! They're responsible for how great our music is. Get 50% off your first month with code "willsave" and check out the sound sets we use at https://rebrand.ly/syrinscapeattributionsforwillsave And thanks as always to Cypher System, Epidemic Sounds, Syrinscape, and Dispel Dice!

I've got more and more respect, these days, for the humble webquest. Slash hyperdoc. Slash game board. Slash immersive digital multimedia experience. Slash clickable infographic. Slash playlist. Slash choice board. When it comes to sharing information and contemporary texts with your students, there is SO MUCH available online right now. Students can see actors practicing behind the scenes at the Royal Shakespeare Company. Read John Green's thoughts on drafting. Hear Jason Reynolds' read his children's book, There was a Party for Langston, while the illustrations wash across the screen. Students can learn MLA with Purdue, watch Joy Harjo read her own poetry, listen to our country's top researchers and academics and start-up founders on podcasts and Ted stages. So cool, right? With so many immersive, multimodal resources waiting for our students, building their roadmaps to what's available becomes an important (and fun) job. We want to present them with great options, and help them feel positive and excited about the experience of exploring. We want to give them possibilities across modes and from many perspectives, so students can use their agency to learn in ways that feel good to them, and connect to at least some aspects of what they discover. We want to provide options in terms of how they synthesize the information they take in so they can use it later. As I see it, here are some of the benefits to building quality webquests for students: students have choice in what to explore, starting with what seems most interesting to them and continuing to make choices until they're out of time plugging in to the kinds of contemporary connections available online (like listening to author interviews, visiting settings, seeing adaptations, and viewing connected social media) can often make learning feel more relevant for students you can build in resources across genres and modes, letting students listen, watch, read, explore, view, and zoom in according to their preferences it's easier to provide more viewpoints, voices, and perspectives, helping you to diversify your curriculum sharing a webquest is less stressful than giving a lecture, and more likely to keep students engaged you'll save a tree, since photocopying a packet of information won't be necessary you can take advantage of the incredible wealth of informational resources available online Today on the pod, let's talk through some examples. Be sure to grab the free templates that complement the episode! These are meant to make this whole process quick and easy for you as you get started, and then you can go on to develop your own.  Get the Free Templates Here: https://sparkcreativity.kartra.com/page/webquesttemplates Sources Considered and Cited: Beers, Kylene and Robert Probst. Disrupting Thinking: Why How We Read Matters. Scholastic, 2017. This book features a helpful look at why relevance is key to engagement. Read more in this blog post. Chavez, Felicia Rose. The Anti-Racist Writing Workshop. Haymarket Books, 2021. Felicia Rose Chavez talks about letting students have a voice in the texts that form the curriculum, and "completing the canon" (97) to go well beyond the white Eurocentric voices so often enshrined there. Clapp, Edward. "5+3 = 8: The Eight Barriers to Access and Equity in the Creative Classroom." Participatory Creativity: Introducing Access and Equity to the Creative Classroom. MSU Article Retrieval Service. Accessed October 2025. The chapter from Edward Clapp discusses sharing models of creativity that don't just reflect individual creatives working in isolation, but also collective and collaborative creativity. Rodriguez-Mojica, Claudia and Allison Briceño. Conscious Classrooms. PD Essentials, 2022. (+ Related Podcast Interview). Claudia and Rodriguez-Mojica and Allison Briceño showcase the increase in student performance when they can see themselves in the texts they read. Muhammad, Gholdy. Cultivating Genius. Scholastic Teaching Resources, 2020. Gholdy Muhammad's Cultivating Genius calls for us to layer contemporary multimodal texts into our curriculum, something that reinforced my own long-term interest in this possibility. Ivcevic, Zorana. The Creativity Choice. Public Affairs, 2025. "Research-Based Practices to Ignite Creativity, with Dr. Zorana Ivcevic Pringle." The Spark Creativity Teacher Podcast. Episode 393. September, 2025. Ivcevic suggests that teachers use models and mentors of creative thought that allow students to see themselves, both in terms of their identity and in terms of the level of creativity. Stockman, Angela. Creating Inclusive Writing Environments in the K-12 Classroom. Eye on Education, 2020. Angela's work on multimodal texts, makerspace freedom, and creating more inclusive curriculum is helpful in this conversation.  

Welcome back, tributes! This episode we would like to start out by thanking Scholastic for the amazing gift! We are so excited to unbox and explore the Catching Fire Illustrated Edition written by Suzanne Collins, and illustrated by Nico DeLort.What are some of your favorite illustrations from the book? Share your thoughts with us on our social media @Intothearenapodcast!You can pick up your copy at your local bookstore!

Our host Jacob's novel THE LAST SUMMER, a tale of the Glawackus aka the "Northern Devil Cat," is now availabe from ESpec Books as part of their Systema Paradoxa series of cryptid tales. To celebrate, we're reviewing a movie similarly based on beastie's prowling the woodlands, albeit more extraterrestrial than terrestrial in this case. And Baltimore instead of Stanford. We're excited to review our first Don Dohler movie on the pod: his debut feature THE ALIEN FACTOR (1978)! And we're even more excited to welcome special guest TREVOR HENDERSON back to the show! It's always such a delight to chat with Trevor, but doubly-appropriate since his first appearance on our pod was another Baltimore-centric feature (BUTTERFLY KISSES). THE ALIEN FACTOR is currently streaming on Tubi as of this episode's release, and we absolutely encourage everyone to support Trevor by picking up one of the installments in his SCAREWAVES series from Scholastic, or visiting his InPrnt shop: https://www.inprnt.com/gallery/slimyswampghost/ If you'd like to follow us on social media, you can visit our Linktree page (linked below) but we've also listed some of our social media handles: Linktree: linktr.ee/scarystuff Official site: scarystuffpodcast.com Twitter: @scarystuffpod Instagram: @scarystuffpodcast Letterboxd: @scarystuffpod Incredibly Niche Merch: teepublic.com/user/scary-stuff-podcast You can find a list of all the previous movies we've reviewed and their corresponding episodes (via the "Read Notes" option) here: http://www.letterboxd.com/scarystuffpod/list/all-reviews-scary-stuff-podcast/ And as always, thanks so much for listening!

Pablo Leon is an author and artist from Guatemala, currently living in LA, California, and jumping between TV animation and comics. He's an Eisner Award Nominee for his original comic “The Journey,” an account of an unaccompanied child coming from Central America to the U.S., and he was the illustrator for the exciting middle grade graphic novel series “Miles Morales” at Scholastic. He's worked with Disney, Warner Bros, and Nickelodeon.  His passion for capturing historical memory in his art and stories has led him to his writer/artist debut “Silenced Voices” at Harper Alley, and his first animated short film “Remember Us”, which won Best Short Film at the 40th Imagen Awards and was an Oscar-qualifying winner for Best Short Animated Film at Animayo. When he's not working, he enjoys cooking alongside his helper cats, Agave, Moth and Midna.Check out the Silenced Voices official trailerhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLUkmpBcJrkPick up your copy of Silenced Voices Todayhttps://www.harpercollins.com/products/silenced-voices-pablo-leon?variant=43406928281634See more of Pablo's work at his websitehttps://artsypabster.com/Don't forget to check out the Remember Us official trailerhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPbOL71kXPo&t=1sSeptember Breathwork Challenge!Every day of September, we will do this 10 minute morning routine (asynchronously)Breathe with Sandy - 10 Minute Morning Breathwork Routinehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gb9YxCC5WBwLight the NightLLS is on a mission to cure blood cancers and improve quality of life for the nearly 1.7 million people in the U.S. living with or in remission from blood cancer.Help Team Zavadowski reach our fundraising goal! Thank you for your generous donations:https://pages.lls.org/ltn/fdk/Montcomd25/rsmith--Get in touch: robinsmithshow@gmail.comCall the hotline: +1 (301) 458-0883Follow Robin on Insight Timer: https://insighttimer.com/robinsmithBecome a supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/therobinsmithshowGot a question? We'd love to hear from you!

President Trump has yet to release details of the deal he said was reached with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Plus: Book publisher Scholastic reports a quarterly loss. And Apple's new iPhone is released globally. Katherine Sullivan hosts. Sign up for the WSJ's free What's News newsletter. An artificial-intelligence tool assisted in the making of this episode by creating summaries that were based on Wall Street Journal reporting and reviewed and adapted by an editor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joining us for this episode of Diverse Thinking Different Learning is Leslie Forde! ​​Leslie is the CEO and Founder of Mom's Hierarchy of Needs® and soon-to-be published Author of Repair with Self-Care: Your Guide to the Mom's Hierarchy of Needs. Her business provides evidence-based tools to help moms reclaim their time and well-being from the never-done-list while also helping employers retain working parents and caregivers. Since March of 2020, over 3,700 parents have participated in her research study (the longest-running of its kind) on the pandemic's ongoing impact on work, care, and wellness. With more than twenty years in senior leadership and a decade focused on media and technology in childcare, eldercare, mental health, and education, Leslie is a sought-after speaker and consultant. She advises organizations such as HubSpot, Merck, Scholastic, and the Barr Foundation on how to retain and support parents, caregivers, and people of color. Our conversation explores the growing crisis of parental stress and maternal mental health, which has been made so much worse by a perfect storm of factors such as the lasting impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, rising costs, shortages in healthcare and childcare resources, and the unique challenges faced by parents of neurodivergent children. Leslie shares some insights from her extensive research on the topic, explaining how parents, especially mothers, are struggling to balance the demands of caregiving, household management, and careers, often at the expense of their own well-being. The guilt, shame, and lack of flexibility in the workplace make it especially difficult for many parents to ask for the support that they desperately need. Leslie highlights the critical importance of parents, especially mothers, prioritizing self-care even in small ways to build resilience and model healthy behaviors for their children. She provides practical tips such as identifying a daily "anchor" activity and being mindful of decision fatigue to help parents carve out time for their own mental, physical, and emotional needs. Our conversation also goes into the direct connection between parents' mental health and their children's wellbeing, and how, by supporting parents, we can have a profound impact on the whole family. This conversation offers a powerful and timely exploration of the parental mental health crisis, with practical insights and solutions that can make a real difference for families! Want a deeper dive into today's topic? Join Karen and Leslie for a ChildNEXUS & Mom's Hierarchy of Needs Joint Discussion; register here! Show Notes: [2:41] - Leslie argues that rising costs, long wait times, and poor support leave families emotionally and financially strained. [4:15] - Leslie points out how coordinating specialists, schools, and daily routines creates an overwhelming, often invisible burden. [6:13] - Mothers face worsening burnout as post-pandemic losses strip away time, resources, and support systems. [9:58] - Social conditioning and low workplace safety pressure women into overcommitment despite exhaustion and caregiving needs. [12:55] - Leslie asserts that many workplaces equate commitment with overwork, leaving parents afraid to ask for flexibility and support. [15:03] - Leslie points out how parents often feel isolated and ashamed when children struggle academically or socially. [17:39] - Many mothers feel trapped without partner support or financial means. [20:51] - Leslie asserts that ignoring self-care leads to burnout that harms health, family, and career stability. [23:46] - Exhausted parents struggle to engage with energetic children, straining relationships and shared activities. [25:47] - Leslie argues that parenting requires constant exhausting micro-adjustments, like juggling trains on endlessly shifting tracks. [28:36] - Dr. Wilson recommends Leslie's book for guidance. [29:11] - Leslie advises parents to establish a daily anchor habit and reduce fatigue around making decisions. [32:57] - Dr. Wilson points out that it's important to support parents of neurodivergent children while also encouraging their own self-care practices. [33:28] - Leslie agrees and reports that post-pandemic self-care has declined as responsibilities have increased and systems have become more strained. [36:48] - Leslie praises Karen's guidance for parents while emphasizing time management and self-care as very important. [38:10] - What is the best way to reach Leslie? Links and Related Resources: Episode 151: Parenting with ADHD: Insights and Inspiration with Holly Blanc Moses Episode 167: From Surviving to Thriving: A Mom's Hierarchy of Needs and Well-Being with Leslie Forde Episode 202: How Low Demand Parenting Can Reduce Stress and Support Neurodivergent Youth with Dr. Roseann Capanna-Hodge Leslie Forde - Repair with Self-Care: Your Guide to the Mom's Hierarchy of Needs®   Connect with Us: Get on our Email List Book a Consultation Get Support and Connect with a ChildNEXUS Provider Register for Our “When Struggles Overlap” Live Webinar Email Dr. Wilson: drkiwilson@childnexus.com    Connect with Leslie Forde: Email: leslie@momshierarchyofneeds.com  Mom's Hierarchy of Needs® Website Mom's Hierarchy of Needs® on Instagram Mom's Hierarchy of Needs® on Facebook Mom's Hierarchy of Needs® on Twitter Mom's Hierarchy of Needs® on Pinterest Mom's Hierarchy of Needs® on LinkedIn  

Alan Cohen is a Professional Certified Executive and Team Coach, speaker, and author with over 30 years of experience at the intersection of communication, leadership, and human connection.   Spending decades as both a marketing expert and Human Resource consultant, he presided over the successful launch of the Harry Potter series as Scholastic's Director of Marketing, as well as serving as the Director of Communications for the Broadway League, representing the Tony Awards.    He has coached and consulted with major organizations like Bloomberg, NBC, Tiffany & Co., American Express, and MetLife, as well as hundreds of small businesses and solopreneurs.    Alan emphasizes that the foundation of his coaching is built on emotional intelligence, helping teams cultivate trust, empathy, and resilience without relying on superficial activities like trust falls.    He introduces the concept of “Connection Alchemy,” which is the alignment of three vital connections: to self, to team, and to a shared purpose.   With a focus on purposeful leadership, Alan supports executives in navigating the complexities of modern business while staying aligned with their values and vision.   Website: Alan Samuel Cohen  LinkedIn: Alan Samuel Cohen   Previous Episode: iam353-executive-and-team-coach-focuses-on-the-power-of-connection   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!

The first Oklahoma Comics Arts Festival is this Saturday at the Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center in downtown OKC.Festival Director and comic book creator Robert Wilson IV has been working in comics and exhibiting at some of the world's biggest comic book conventions like New York Comic Con for years.For the Oklahoma Comics Art Festival, he's hoping to take what he loves from his favorite conventions and bring in artists who have worked at DC, Marvel, and Scholastic alongside local talent.Mentioned in this episode:RDDND - Bruncheons & Dragons (Sept 25)

Dr. Cameron MacKenzie of Concordia Theological Seminary-Ft. Wayne, IN The Reformation The post Martin Luther's “Disputation Against Scholastic Theology” – Dr. Cameron MacKenzie, 9/5/25 (2481) first appeared on Issues, Etc..

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Wherein we leap, “Into the Land of the Unicorns.”  Hide within our inbox: gwritersanon@gmail.com  Commune on our Facebook page (Ghost Writers, Anonymous).  

In this episode of the Mississippi Outdoors Podcast, Matt Wyatt is joined by Gary Holcomb, coordinator of the Mississippi Scholastic Shooting Program (MSSP). Gary shares his personal journey from a 10-year-old 4-H champion in Pontotoc to a 15-time state champion and coach at Mississippi State. He explains how MSSP has grown to include nearly 100 public, private, and club-based shooting teams across the state, teaching youth the fundamentals of shotgun sports. Gary also discusses the philosophy behind good shooting—how consistency, discipline, and process matter more than just pulling the trigger. Whether you're a parent, coach, or student, this episode offers a clear and compelling look at the impact of youth shooting sports in Mississippi. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

An in depth and irreverent look at 90's TV classic Dawson's Creek hosted by Kathryn and Katie. After over a year off (sorry about that!) we're back with'Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell'. We have another boring argument between Joey and Eddie, Audrey is getting trashed and trashing Blondie and Pacey is improbably in NOLA. Also, we have another teacher behaving like a massive predator (that the writers are treating like a lost love story) and we're furious. We're chatting misplaced sperm, sex worker storylines and get to enjoy just a huge amount of really terrible men. Also, Audrey might be singing (badly) again and so are we! So grab your overnight bag for an unnecessary trip to NOLA, start a fight over literally nothing and be sure to patch it up again by the end of the day. HOOT, HOOT. If you're enjoying this podcast, please like, subscribe, follow, rate, review or whatever other variety of verbs your podcast platform might use.Email dawsonsweaklypod@gmail.com Instagram @dawsonsweaklypodTwitter @dawsonsweaklyFacebook @dawsonsweakly Support the show

Send me a Text Message!Former Scholastic editor Shelly Romero just made the leap to literary agent. And she's spilling the industry secrets most writers never hear. After eight years of editorial experience and now with an agent's perspective, Shelly reveals…What really happens when agents read your opening pagesWhy manuscripts need to be more polished than everThe submission mistakes that trigger instant rejections. What You'll Learn:Why voice trumps plot in manuscript submissionsExact polish level needed for today's publishing marketQuery red flags that guarantee instant rejectionsClick here to learn more about Shelly RomeroConnect with Shelly on InstagramGuest Bio: Shelly Romero began her publishing career in 2017 at Scholastic, where she rose up the ranks from editorial assistant to associate editor, where she acquired her own titles and assisted on series publishing for The Bad Guys and Goosebumps. She later joined Cake Creative as Lead Editor, and she was most recently a freelance editor. She graduated from Stephens College with a bachelor's degree in English and attended the 2017 NYU Summer Publishing Institute. Shelly was selected as a 2020 Publishers Weekly Star Watch Honoree and is a member of Latinx in Publishing & People of Color in Publishing. Born and raised in Miami by Honduran parents, she now resides in New York City, where she might be found at a movie theatre viewing the latest release from her Letterboxd watchlist.Episodes I think you'll love…3 Keys to Nailing the Opening of Your NovelLiterary Agent and Author Jenna Satterthwaite on Making it in the Publishing IndustryTurn Your Manuscript into a Page-Turner Using The Central Question Framework with Julie Tyler RuizLiterary Agent Jessica Berg Shares How to Catch an Agent's Eye Get the list of 125+ Literary Agents who rep Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, and Crime Fiction Study the Opening Paragraphs of the Top Authors Writing Thrillers Right Now

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This week, the Three Stooges are at the helm as Bob, Joey, and Steve discuss the real-world implications of One World Under Doom, the lasting appeal of Rainbow Rowell's Runaways, Shakespeare, and the majesty of early 2000s disaster movies!Books: Lost Fantasy #2, New Avengers #1, Trinity: Daughter of Wonder Woman #1, Giant-Size Dark Phoenix Saga #1, Phoenix #12, One World Under Doom #5, The New Girl OGN, Runaways #1, The Exorcism at 1600 Penn #1-4Other Stuff: It's pretty much a guaranteeThe Comic Book Podcast is brought to you by Talking Comics (www.talkingcomicbooks.com). The podcast is hosted by Steve Seigh, Bob Reyer, Joey Braccino, Aaron Amos, Chris Ceary, and John Burkle, who weekly dissect everything comics-related, from breaking news to new releases. Our Instagram handle is @TalkingComicsPodcas, and you can email us at podcast@talkingcomicbooks.com.

Wherein boundaries are crossed.  Bark into our inbox: gwritersanon@gmail.com  Watch our Facebook page (Ghost Writers, Anonymous).  

Wherein we delve into the Animorphs' den.  Spray a foul odor into our inbox: gwritersanon@gmail.com Wander the woods to our Facebook page (Ghost Writers, Anonymous).  

This week, Sarah unpacks all kinds of content to help you and your clients survive Summer 2025!   Field Notes: Malik, Aisha. “Adobe Launches Beta Version of Its Photoshop App on Android.” Techcrunch.Com, TechCrunch, 3 June 2025, techcrunch.com/2025/06/03/adobe-launches-beta-version-of-its-photoshop-app-on-android/. “AHIP Medicare + Fraud, Waste, and Abuse Online Course.” Ahipmedicaretraining.Com, AHIP, www.ahipmedicaretraining.com/page/login. Accessed 3 June 2025. “NABIP Medicare Advantage Certification.” NABIP.Org, NABIP, www.nabiptraining.org/nabip/medicare. Accessed 3 June 2025. Register for Ritter Insurance Marketing Summits: https://summits.ritterim.com/   Summer Podcast Listening for Kids: Kids Summer Podcast Sampler Playlist: https://www.podchaser.com/lists/summer-kids-podcast-sampler-11SKLQjpO2 Shippen, Lauren. “Maxine Miles and the Loose Ends - An Interactive Mystery!” Atypicalartists.Co, ATYPICAL ARTISTS, www.atypicalartists.co/loose-ends. Accessed 4 June 2025. Shippen, Lauren. “Maxine Miles - A YA Mystery Fiction Podcast.” Atypicalartists.Co, Atypical Artists, www.atypicalartists.co/maxine. Accessed 4 June 2025. “Summer Listening Challenge: Listen to a Summer of Stories!” Jonincharacter.Com, Jonathan Cormur, 20 May 2025, jonincharacter.com/summer-listening/.   Summer Reading Challenges & Recommendations: “Barnes & Noble Summer Reading Program.” Barnesandnobleinc.Com, Barnes & Noble Inc, www.barnesandnobleinc.com/our-stores-communities/summer-reading-program/. Accessed 4 June 2025. “Beanstack Mobile App.” Landing.Beanstack.Com, Beanstack, landing.beanstack.com/mobile-app. Accessed 4 June 2025. “Fun Summer Reading Challenges for Kids.” Scholastic.Com, Scholastic, 29 May 2025, www.scholastic.com/parents/books-and-reading/raise-a-reader-blog/reading-challenges-kids.html. “Hot Ones: Readers' 80 Most Anticipated New Summer Books.” Goodreads.Com, Goodreads, www.goodreads.com/blog/show/2922. Accessed 4 June 2025. “Pizza Hut Book It!® Program.” Bookitprogram.Com, Pizza Hut, www.bookitprogram.com/. Accessed 4 June 2025. Maxine Miles: https://lnk.to/maxinemilespod “Pizza Hut Debuts First-Ever BOOK IT!® App.” Blog.Pizzahut.Com, Pizza Hut, 27 May 2025, blog.pizzahut.com/pizza-hut-debuts-first-ever-book-it-app/. “Scholastic Summer Reading.” Scholastic.Com, Scholastic, www.scholastic.com/site/summer-reading.html. Accessed 4 June 2025. Vance, Usha. “Summer Reading Challenge.” Whitehouse.Gov, The White House, 2 June 2025, www.whitehouse.gov/read/. Diamond, Anna. “Summer Reading Challenges Aren't Just for Kids.” Nytimes.Com, New York Times, 30 May 2025, www.nytimes.com/2025/05/30/books/summer-reading-adults.html. NYT Staff. “The New York Times's Summer Reading Bucket List.” Nytimes.Com, New York Times, 30 May 2025, www.nytimes.com/2025/05/30/books/summer-reading-bucket-list.html. “The Ultimate Middle School Summer Reading List.” Scholastic.Com, Scholastic, www.scholastic.com/parents/books-and-reading/book-lists-and-recommendations/summer-reading-list-for-middle-school.html. Accessed 4 June 2025.   Staying Hydrated During Summer: “6 Refreshing Summer Drinks You Can Make at Home​.” Economictimes.Indiatimes.Com, The Economic Times, economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/india/6-refreshing-summer-drinks-you-can-make-at-home/classic-lemonade/slideshow/121248292.cms. Accessed 4 June 2025. DeAngelis, Danielle. “9 Drinks to Keep You Healthy & Hydrated This Summer.” Eatingwell.Com, EatingWell, 11 June 2024, www.eatingwell.com/drinks-to-keep-healthy-hydrated-this-summer-8661651. Walsh, Karla. “10 Ways Your Body Changes When You're Drinking Enough Water.” Allrecipes.Com, Allrecipes, www.allrecipes.com/article/drinking-enough-water/. Accessed 4 June 2025. Joshi, Priyankaa. “13 Best Electrolyte Drinks to Keep You Hydrated This Summer, Approved by Nutritionists.” Goodhousekeeping.Com, Good Housekeeping. www.goodhousekeeping.com/uk/product-reviews/health-leisure/g60319999/best-electrolyte-powders-drinks/. Accessed 4 June 2025. Wimberly, Camryn Alexa. “23 Drinks to Keep You Healthy & Hydrated This Summer.” Eatingwell.Com, EatingWell, 1 June 2025, www.eatingwell.com/drink-recipes-to-keep-you-hydrated-this-summer-2025-11745692. Biggs, Suzanne. “How to Make Electrolyte Water (Plus Easy Recipes to Try at Home).” Lifemd.Com, LifeMD, 19 Nov. 2024, lifemd.com/learn/how-to-make-electrolyte-water. Killeen, Breana Lai. “Spinach-Apple Juice Recipe.” Eatingwell.Com, Eating Well, 18 Apr. 2024, www.eatingwell.com/recipe/250846/spinach-apple-juice/. Capritto, Amanda, and Nasha Addarich Martinez. “Summer Hydration: Your Daily Water Requirements Guide.” Cnet.Com, CNET, 31 May 2025, www.cnet.com/health/medical/summer-hydration-daily-water-requirements/. Kumer, Emma B. “The Best and Worst Drinks to Keep You Hydrated.” Tasteofhome.Com, Taste of Home, 11 Jan. 2025, www.tasteofhome.com/article/best-and-worst-hydrating-drinks-ranked/. “There's More To Staying Hydrated Than Just Drinking Water.” Delish.Com, Delish, www.delish.com/food-news/a61624242/how-to-stay-hydrated-in-heat/. Accessed 4 June 2025. Schneider, Jamie. “This Green Smoothie Recipe Is As Hydrating As 3 Cups Of Water, Says An MD.” Mindbodygreen.Com, mindbodygreen, 10 Apr. 2025, www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/functional-mds-green-smoothie-recipe-for-max-hydration. Kanya, Laura. “Watermelon-Basil Agua Fresca.” Eatingwell.Com, EatingWell, www.eatingwell.com/recipe/7967577/watermelon-basil-agua-fresca/. Accessed 4 June 2025.   On-The-Go Summer Eating: Bjarnadottir, Adda. “9 Fast-Food Restaurants That Serve Healthy Foods.” Edited by Alissa Palladino, Healthline.Com, Healthline Media, 14 May 2025, www.healthline.com/nutrition/healthy-fast-food-restaurants. Rajput, Priyanka. “10 Items You Can Eat at Fast-Food Chains If You're on the Mediterranean Diet.” Businessinsider.Com, Business Insider, 4 Feb. 2025, www.businessinsider.com/fast-food-chain-items-mediterranean-diet-2025-2#little-hamburger-at-five-guys-10. Madormo, Carrie. “25 Healthy Fast-Food Orders That You Can Grab and Go.” Tasteofhome.Com, Taste of Home, 2 Jan. 2025, www.tasteofhome.com/collection/healthy-fast-food/. Jung, Alyssa. “45 Healthiest Fast-Food Orders, According to Experts.” Edited by Valerie Agyeman, Goodhousekeeping.Com, Good Housekeeping, 6 Jan. 2025, www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/diet-nutrition/g4622/healthiest-fast-food/. Groth, Leah. “Dunkin' Just Introduced Wild New Summer Menu.” Eatthis.Com, Eat This, Not That!, 3 June 2025, www.eatthis.com/dunkin-summer-menu-2025-new-items/. Boesch, Samantha. “I Tried the 7 Healthiest Fast-Food Meals—Here's What I'll Actually Order Again.” Eatthis.Com, Eat This, Not That! , 10 Aug. 2024, www.eatthis.com/healthy-fast-food-taste-test/. Losciale, Marisa. “McDonald's Snack Wrap Officially Gets Release Date.” Parade.Com, Parade, 3 June 2025, parade.com/food/mcdonalds-snack-wrap-release-date-confirmed-returning-july-2025.   Resources: Adding Spokes to Your Wheel ft. Robert Rothschild: https://lnk.to/rothschild2025 How to Avoid Elderspeak: https://lnk.to/asgf20250530   Location Sharing Apps: https://lnk.to/ASGA84   Making Your Own Luck ft. Michael Krantz: https://lnk.to/krantz2025 Takeaways on Social Media Marketing in 2025: https://lnk.to/asgf20250523   Follow Us on Social! Ritter on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/RitterIM Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/ritter.insurance.marketing/ LinkedIn, https://www.linkedin.com/company/ritter-insurance-marketing TikTok, https://www.tiktok.com/@ritterim X, https://x.com/RitterIM and YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/user/RitterInsurance     Sarah on LinkedIn, https://www.linkedin.com/in/sjrueppel/ Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/thesarahjrueppel/ and Threads, https://www.threads.net/@thesarahjrueppel  Tina on LinkedIn, https://www.linkedin.com/in/tina-lamoreux-6384b7199/   Not affiliated with or endorsed by Medicare or any government agency. Contact the Agent Survival Guide Podcast! Email us ASGPodcast@Ritterim.com or call 1-717-562-7211 and leave a voicemail.

Are you ready for the next YA book series to completely obsess over!? That's what's in store for you when you pick up Lauren Magaziner's latest book, The Incorruptibles! Lauren stopped by the show this week to share her background as an author, working on this (among many other) projects, and some of her favorite memories writing this book. Check it out!   About Lauren Magaziner Lauren is the internationally bestselling author of the Case Closed series, The Mythics series, the upcoming series The Incorruptibles (June 10, 2025), and three other stand-alone books for middle grade readers. Her books are available in 12 languages, have been Junior Library Guild selections, have been on the Indie Next List, been an Amazon bestseller, earned starred reviews, been on state lists, and have been optioned for a TV movie with Nickelodeon. She has also contributed short stories to Storyworks magazine and a middle grade mystery anthology called Super Puzzletastic Mysteries. Lauren grew up in New Hope, Pennsylvania. After receiving a B.A. in Creative Writing and Philosophy at Hamilton College, Lauren Magaziner worked on two delightful Scholastic magazines, where many of her coworkers didn't believe her last name was real. She currently lives in Philadelphia, where she writes full time. About 'The Incorruptibles' Fiora Barrowling lives in a world where sorcerers rule over humans. After surviving an encounter with The Radiance—the very worst of the sorcerers—she's whisked away to the incredible Incorruptibles (“Inc”) Academy, a school for resistance fighters in training. But most of the other students think Fiora hasn't earned her place there, and when things start to go wrong and it seems the sorcerers have a spy in the academy, all eyes are on Fiora. With all odds stacked against her, can Fiora prove that she belongs?   Make sure to check out the Dtalkspodcast.com website! Thanks to Empire Toys for this episode of the podcast! Nostalgia is something everyone loves and Empire Toys in Keller Texas is on nostalgia overload.   With toys and action figures from the 70's, 80's, 90's, and today, Empire Toys is a one-stop-shop for a trip down memory lane and a chance to reclaim what was once yours (but likely sold at a garage sale)   Check out Empire Toys on Facebook, Instagram, or at TheEmpireToys.com AND Thanks to Self Unbound for this episode of the podcast: Your quality of life: physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually, is a direct reflection of the level of abundant energy, ease, and connection your nervous system has to experience your life!    At Self Unbound, your nervous system takes center stage as we help unbind your limited healing potential through NetworkSpinal Care.    Access the first steps to your Unbound journey by following us on Facebook, Instagram, or at www.selfunbound.com  

ABOUT THIS EPISODE Learning and loving to read is a journey for every child. Today, we're focusing on that particular moment when a child is building their reading confidence to make a leap from picture books to chapter books. It's an exciting time, but it's also high stakes: it presents a small window that can either launch a child into a love of reading on their own or intimidate them if they find it overwhelming. That's where Scholastic comes in. In today's episode, former elementary school teacher and current Editorial Director of Scholastic's Acorn early readers and Branches early chapter books lines, Katie Carella, is back in the studio with guest-host Billy DiMichele to talk about this magical moment in a child's literacy journey. And joining the podcast for the first time is Bernard Mensah, author of beloved Branches series Kwame's Magic Quest. Over the years, Branches has helped grow so many readers through highly illustrated, early chapter books that kids devour. Currently with 58 million books in print and 34 published series, the line has experienced a “meteoric” rise since we last spoke about this important line in 2019 when it had about 17 million books and about 25 series in print. Listen on to find out what's behind this meteoric rise, to get a glimpse of Kwame's magical world, and to learn about Bernard's passion for writing for the Branches age group and representing Ghanaian culture in children's books. And stay to the end for a read aloud sneak peek! →Resources About Branches: https://www.scholastic.com/site/branches.html About Kwame's Magic Quest: https://www.scholastic.com/site/branches/kwame-s-magic-quest.html Fuse #8 Blog Review from Betsy Bird: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2025/02/04/the-fast-paced-page-turning-adventure-series-thats-a-celebration-of-african-cultures-bernard-mensah-discusses-kwames-magic-quest/ More listening: Scholastic Reads! EVA-DORABLE: Rebecca Elliott Talks a Decade of the Owl Diaries, Eva the Owlet, and more! More listening: Scholastic Reads! Growing Readers with Branches and Acorn from 2019! →Highlights _Katie Carella: Editorial Director, Acorn & Branches, Scholastic _ “Having been a 1st-3rd grade teachers myself, I'm always excited to talk about that very exciting point in a child's reading journey where they begin to read books independently. You get to see that light go off and it's just the best feeling ever.” “All of the Branches books have a second grade reading level. But the books all feature really rich, layered plots so they do appeal to children across many grade levels. From Kindergarten, I'd say up through fourth and even fifth grade, especially now with reading levels behind where they should be. So it's more important than ever to have these “high-low” books. These books are high-interest, layered plots and yet written at a lower reading level.” “If a child chooses a book that's too easy for them the child can speed through it and they gain fluency and stamina. If they choose a book that's slightly too hard for them, the child might struggle, but if they want to read they will do the work. And they'll learn decoding skills along the way. So both experiences ultimately grow a child's vocabulary and their reading skill set.” “The accolades [for Kwame's Magic Quest] keep coming in…it was highlighted on Betsy Bird's Fuse #8 blog…I just wanted to say a quote she had in her blog, ‘it's amazing how much story Mensah and Nayo [the illustrator] are able to pack into this thing.' You are getting this really rich and magical world that Bernard has created but in this really digestible format.” _Bernard Mensah, Author, Kwame's Magic Quest _ “[Kwame's Magic Quest] has got that mix of authenticity, friendship, lots and lots of magic, some peril and danger, there's evil magicians and spells. I think it brings together a lot of things that you would typically find exciting if you wanted to read a book about magic or an epic adventure.” “[on working with the illustrator Natasha Nayo] Having an illustrator who came from the same background who understands the cultural context of some of things that I was trying to put across, I could rely on the art to do some of the talking for me. She brought her own unique flare.” “My son, when he was about five years old, I remember looking at his bookshelf and thinking to myself, well, I've managed to find stories for him or write something that speaks to his culture at every age. Where is the book that speaks to him from five to eight years old? And I couldn't find it so foolishly I thought to myself, well, I'll write it. And that's where the idea for Kwame's Magic Quest came from.” On what the characters would do over summer break, “By the end of the summer they would probably save the world again because that's what they do in every book. They come close to not doing it but they find a way to rally together and make magic safe again for everybody.” →Special Thanks Producers: Anne Sparkman, Allyson Barkan, and Maxine Osa Sound engineer: S. Shin Music composer: Lucas Elliot Eberl →Coming Soon The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards 2025

Animorphs was a young adult phenomenon in the late 90s, so naturally Scholastic was ready to cash in with heaps of merchandise. In addition to the board games and video games we already discussed, they produced t-shirts, action figures, calendars, and more! We discuss virtually every Animorphs item ever sold or included with a fast food kids meal.Check out all the merch on Seerowpedia: https://animorphs.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_Animorphs_MerchandiseSupport our Patreon to receive "The Yeerky Boys Chronicles" weekly bonus episodes: http://patreon.com/theyeerkyboysE-mail us: TheYeerkyBoys@gmail.comFollow us: @Dogtimes on Bluesky, @Quence on Bluesky, www.JonathanEstis.com

In this episode, we dive deep into the creative mind of Eisner Award-winning artist Gideon Kendall, whose diverse career has spanned books, illustrations, comics, and animation for a few outfits you might have heard of: MAD Magazine, Penguin/Putnam, Disney, Comixology/Kitchen Sink, IDW, Dark Horse, Cartoon Network, Scholastic, and The New York Times. Gideon has made significant contributions to both children's and adult comics, earning critical acclaim as the artist of Harvey Kurtzman's Marley's Ghost (which won the 2018 Eisner Award for Best Digital Comic), and as the writer and artist of the sci-fi series WHATZIT published by Heavy Metal. His more recent projects include Eric Powell's Lester of the Lesser Gods, Megaghost with Gabe Soria, the autobiographical anthology series WAIT...It Gets Worse, and his recently released music memoir I Am The Audience. You can follow Gideon (and order his stuff) on gideonkendall.com, or check him out on Instagram @gidonkendall. Support the show

A CODEFIED STRUCTURE•Paper vs PDF •Using physical catalogs when ordering. •Receiving stock from Scholastic. •Comics talked about in this episode:      GHOST PEPPER #1      SIXTH GUN ROAD TO THE SIXTH #0      OUT OF ALCATRAZ #3      ROBIN & BATMAN JASON TODD #1      JL VS GODZILLA VS KONG II #1      GODDAMN TRAGEDY #1      MOMMY BLOG  This episode is dedicated to Dal's mom's 80th birthday!---------- This episode was digitally edited by Cleanvoice. How'd it sound? Contest of Challengers #737 Theme: Adam WarRock (with Mikal kHill) Intro/Outro: James VanOsdol “Patrick” Voices: Richie Kotzen, Christopher Daniels, James Acaster, Sue (Trent's Mom), RJ City, Sebastian Bach, Arune Singh, James VanOsdol “Dal” Voices: James VanOsdol, RJ City, Dalton Castle, Sue (Trent's Mom), Kevin Conroy, Kris Statlander, Skye Blue, Arune Singh Dal and Patrick Artwork: Daimon Hampton ----------Challengers Comics + Conversation 1845 N Western Ave • Chicago, IL 60647 773.278.0155 • ChallengersComics.com

Welcome back to another episode of School Counseling Simplified. Throughout April, we're featuring guest sessions with experts in the field, and today's episode is especially exciting. I'm joined by Laura Filtness, M.Ed., a seasoned school counselor with over 15 years of experience and a passion for using picture books to support young minds in elementary settings. Laura's belief in the power of storytelling shines through her work, and she's also the author of the upcoming book My Brain Is Like a Puppy, inspired by her beloved therapy dog, Boss. In addition to counseling, Laura teaches yoga and Pilates, assists clients in home organization through Help You Dwell, and enjoys tackling renovation projects at home. She currently lives in Knoxville, Tennessee, with her two dogs, Brooklyn and Bindu. In this episode, Laura shares why picture books are such an effective tool in school counseling, both for proactive lesson planning and reactive student support. She talks about how a sticky note with a book title and a few theme ideas often serves as her simple yet flexible lesson plan. Having two or three potential discussion directions in mind allows her to pivot based on how students respond. This approach gives students space to take ownership of the conversation while making lessons feel natural and engaging. Laura also opens up about the organization system in her counseling office. For years, she used topic-based book bins and included printed companion resources stored in large Ziploc bags. After relocating to a smaller portable office, she adapted by placing hardcover books on a bookshelf and keeping thinner paperbacks in bins. Her adaptable system ensures that everything is accessible and categorized by topic for ease of use during lessons. We also dive into the logistics and philosophy behind running book clubs. While Laura prefers not to hold small groups during lunch, she makes exceptions depending on the group's purpose. For example, a community-building group might work well during a “lunch bunch,” but more skills-based work is best saved for a designated small group time. Laura uses both chapter books and picture books and recommends series like those by Jory John, Todd Parr, Brenda Miles, Michael Ian Black, and the Way Past series. She shares that Scholastic is a great source for ordering multiple copies of books and encourages creativity, like using different titles in a picture book series. Laura also supports teachers through book clubs at the grade level. She often gifts teachers with books, especially ones she finds at thrift stores, and partners with the school librarian to display themed books during staff meetings. Her collaborative approach promotes a school-wide culture of literacy and social-emotional learning. When it comes to building your book collection, Laura suggests tapping into your librarian's expertise by submitting a wishlist at the beginning of the year. She encourages the use of public libraries, which often allow you to request specific books. Other great sources include thrift stores, your counselor network, and the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, which offers families one free book per month for a year. While YouTube read-alouds are a decent backup, she stresses that nothing beats reading a book aloud in person. To keep track of her extensive book collection, Laura uses a cataloging system in Airtable. Inspired by Laura Driscoll, she created a searchable database of over 700 books organized by grade, topic, and type. This makes lesson planning more efficient and ensures she's covering a wide range of student needs. You can find links to her Airtable in the show notes! For new counselors who are just beginning to integrate books into their lessons, Laura offers encouraging advice: don't overthink it—just bring a book into your lesson and start asking questions. Prompt students with things like, “Have you ever felt this way?” or “What do you think the character learned?” Let students guide the discussion and make personal connections. If you've inherited a library, take inventory so you can assess which topics are covered and where you may need to grow your collection. Toward the end of the episode, Laura shares her journey of becoming a published author. She discusses the publishing process and the inspiration behind her new book My Brain Is Like a Puppy, a heartfelt project born from her experiences with her late therapy dog. She offers insight into what it's like to submit to literary agencies and the steps it takes to bring a story to life. Picture books, she notes, are typically around 600 words and should be thoughtful, concise, and meaningful. This episode is full of practical takeaways and encouragement for counselors looking to bring more creativity and connection into their lessons through books. Laura's insights make it clear that picture books aren't just for young children—they're powerful tools for every age. Connect with Rachel: TpT Store Blog Instagram Facebook Page Facebook Group Pinterest Youtube Connect with Laura: pawsitiveschoolcounselor.com  Big Book Database - Airtable Instagram  More About School Counseling Simplified: School Counseling Simplified is a podcast offering easy to implement strategies for busy school counselors. The host, Rachel Davis from Bright Futures Counseling, shares tips and tricks she has learned from her years of experience as a school counselor both in the US and at an international school in Costa Rica. You can listen to School Counseling Simplified on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and more!    

Cassandra Nelson, author of "A Theology of Fiction," joins me to discuss the importance of pursuing Godly truths in a secular culture, as well as the need to provide wisdom through literature. - - -  Today's Sponsor: ExpressVPN - Get 4 months FREE of ExpressVPN: https://expressvpn.com/klavan

The time has come...to become...Animorphs! We had a blast diving into this 90s sci-fi hit for Scholastic. The kids: they become animals. The stakes: they become apocalyptic!Complete our listener survey at gum.fm/overdue.Our theme music was composed by Nick Lerangis.Follow @overduepod on Instagram and BlueskyAdvertise on OverdueSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.