Podcasts about Siberia

He was a Phrygian by birth, a slave of Philemon, to whom the Apostle Paul addressed his epistle. Onesimos escaped from Philemon and fled to Rome, where he was converted to the Faith by St Paul. St Paul sent him back to his master, who at St Paul's urging gave him his freedom. He served the Church for many years before dying a martyr, beaten to death with clubs.   Saint Onesimos is also commemorated on November 22, with Sts Philemon, Archippus and Aphia; and on January 4 at the Synaxis of the Seventy Disciples. Our Venerable Father Dalmatius of Siberia (1697) Saint Dalmatius is venerated as a pioneer of the movement that took many ascetics to dwell in the wilderness of Siberia, establishing a new company of Desert Fathers and causing the Russian Far North to be called the 'Northern Thebaid.' He was born in Tobolsk and reared in piety by his family, recently-converted Tatars. When grown, he entered the imperial army as a Cossack and served with such distinction that the Tsar awarded him a noble title. He married and lived in Tobolsk in comfort and prosperity. One day — after the destruction of Tobolsk in a great fire in 1643 — struck by a realization of the vanity of worldly things, he left family, wealth and property and went to a monastery in the Ural Mountains, taking with him only an icon of the Dormition of the Theotokos.   He was tonsured a monk with the name of Dalmatius, and devoted himself to prayer and ascesis with such fervor that, a short time later, the brethren elected him Abbot. Fearing pride and fleeing honor, Dalmatius fled with his icon of the Theotokos to a remote cave, where he lived a life of silence and continual prayer. His presence did not long remain secret in that sparsely-settled region, and soon Christians were coming from far and wide to ask his prayer and counsel; many pagans came to him for holy Baptism. Soon his habitation became too small for those who had chosen to stay as his disciples, and the Saint received a blessing from the Bishop of Tobolsk to build a wooden chapel and some cells. This was the beginning of the great Monastery of the Dormition (also called the Monastery of St Dalmatius).   Over the years the brethren endured many tribulations. Once the Tatar Prince of the region, provoked by false rumors, planned to destroy the monastery and kill all the monks. The night before the attack, the holy Mother of God appeared to the prince in resplendent clothes, holding a flaming sword in one hand and a scourge in the other. She forbade the Prince to harm the monastery or the brethren, and commanded him to give them a permanent concession over the region. Convinced by this vision, the Prince made peace with the monks and became the Monastery's protector, though he was a Muslim.   In the succeeding years the Monastery was repeatedly burned down by the fierce pagan tribes which inhabited the area; once all the monks except St Dalmatius himself were butchered, but always the monastery was rebuilt. The Saint reposed in peace in 1697, and was succeeded as abbot by his own son Isaac, who built a stone shrine at the Monastery to house the relics of the Saint and the icon of the Mother of God which he had kept with him throughout his monastic life.

The odyssey reaches new heights as Brian Patterson shares some of the strangest and most profound encounters ever documented on the show. From a North Carolina camper who experienced unexplainable visions of an ancient forest to an Oregon mother whose lost daughter was safely returned by a gentle, hair-covered giant, these accounts push beyond simple sightings into territory that challenges everything we think we know about these creatures. The podcast also faces its greatest crisis when a retired biology professor's elaborate hoax nearly destroys everything Brian has built.The fallout is devastating, but with Daniel's unwavering support, Brian rebuilds stronger than ever with rigorous new verification procedures that earn the community's trust back.The story goes global as witnesses from Tibet, the Congo Basin, Papua New Guinea, and Siberia share encounters that mirror North American reports in stunning detail. A Lakota elder speaks of the Big Man as ancient guardians of the wild places. A Stanford primatologist risks her career to validate the evidence.And the Sasquatch Odyssey community grows into a worldwide network of researchers, witnesses, and believers united by shared experience.As the show hits its five hundredth episode, Brian finally tells his own story in full for the first time. But there's no time to rest. New thermal evidence and a late-night expedition deep into the backcountry deliver the most compelling footage yet captured. The men in black are watching again, the truth is spreading faster than anyone can contain it, and the odyssey is far from over.

Soviet UFO Secrets: Inside Russia's Top-Secret SETKA Program | Exclusive InterviewIn this groundbreaking conversation, I sit down with researcher Paul Stonehill to explore one of the most secretive UFO investigation programs in history, the Soviet Union's classified SETKA initiative (later renamed Galactica).What We Cover:The 1977 Petrozavodsk incident that forced the Soviet government to create a formal UFO research programHow SETKA operated from 1978-1991, requiring Soviet military personnel to report sightings using special formsThe shocking 1987 Monchegorsk case—a recovered shuttle-like object containing non-human remainsWhy Soviet pilots were ordered to STOP engaging UFOs after multiple aircraft losses and casualtiesMultinational cooperation on anomalous phenomena, including failed missions to Mars's moon PhobosUSOs (Unidentified Submersible Objects) and Soviet naval encounters with underwater craftThe mysterious 1982 Lake Baikal incident involving nine-foot humanoids and Soviet military casualtiesGeographic hotspots: Kamchatka, the Kurils, Mariana Trench, and the Russian Far EastCosmonaut reports of telepathic contact and the phenomenon known as "the Whisper"Medieval Russian chronicles documenting unexplained aerial phenomenaGRU operations to isolate and guard paranormal zones in Siberia and the ArcticThe Tunguska event as the origin point of 20th-century Russian ufologyStalin's purges of esoteric researchers and the underground tradition that survivedPaul Stonehill is a leading expert on Soviet and Russian UFO phenomena, with published research documenting cases that remained classified for decades. His work with co-author Philip Mantle has been translated and published in Russia, preserving vital documentation of naval encounters and military investigations.This interview reveals information that challenges everything we thought we knew about Cold War secrecy and the global UFO phenomenon.Paul Stonehill @RussianUFOlogyhttps://t.co/Q5eCoyjQLchttps://www.patreon.com/user?u=6849546 http://www.youtube.com/@paranormalres...Jon Majerowski ALL LINKS - https://linktr.ee/ufosonthelevel YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/c/UFOsOnTheLevelTWITTER: https://twitter.com/jonmajerowski​PODCASTS: https://anchor.fm/ufosonthelevel​CONTACT: jonmajerowski@protonmail.com FAIR USE NOTICE: This video MAY contain copyrighted material, the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. UFOs On The Level distributes this material for the purpose of news reporting, educational research, comment, and criticism, constituting Fair Use under 17 U.S.C § 107.

A 220,000-pound meteorite screams into Siberia, a teenage queen still walks the Tower of London, the U.S. military shoots down something it can't identify, and a Swedish king eats fourteen desserts and never gets up from the table. | IT HAPPENED ON FEBRUARY 12 | The Morning Weird Darkness #MWDWeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.EPISODE PAGE: https://WeirdDarkness.com/MWD20260212NOTE: Some of this content may have been created with assistance from AI tools, but it has been reviewed, edited, narrated, produced, and approved by Darren Marlar, creator and host of Weird Darkness — who, despite popular conspiracy theories, is NOT an AI voice.#WeirdDarkness #MorningWD #DarrenMarlar #MarlarInTheMorning #MWD #ThisDayInHistory #TrueCrime #Paranormal #HauntedTowerOfLondon #LadyJaneGrey #JamesBulger #UAPShootdown #TheScreamTheft #LastEmperorChina #SikhoteAlinMeteorite #CorvetteMuseumSinkhole #DarkHistory #WarOfTheWorlds #NEARShoemaker #HistoryPodcast

Jordan Jonas (@hobojordo) grew up on a farm in Idaho, rode freight trains across the US, spent time in remote Russian villages, fur trapped and travelled for several years with nomads in Siberia, and won Alone Season 6, after being the first contestant to truly thrive in the wilderness and harvest big game. You can learn more about Jordan's axes at JordanJonas.com/Axe.This episode is brought to you by:Momentous high-quality creatine for cognitive and muscular support: LiveMomentous.com/TimMonarch track, budget, plan, and do more with your money: Monarch.com/TimEight Sleep Pod Cover 5 sleeping solution for dynamic cooling and heating: EightSleep.com/TimCresset family office services for CEOs, founders, and entrepreneurs: CressetCapital.com/Tim*TIMESTAMPS:[00:00:00] Who is Jordan Jonas?[00:02:20] The Siberian axe gospel: Single bevel, wide eye, and why your Lowe's hatchet is basically a butter knife.[00:07:16] A Montana downpour baptism.[00:08:04] Feather sticks and ferro rods.[00:12:36] A gnarly axe-ident, a quest for an abandoned boot, and frontier convalescense in a tipi.[00:19:59] First Russian word learned, courtesy of a Moscow airport officer with zero chill.[00:21:18] Jordan's youthful faith crisis and a Trans-Siberian prayer.[00:29:16] From building an orphanage to living with the Evenki.[00:31:29] Experiencing tug-of-war hospitality between ex-con Siberian families.[00:39:34] Reindeer vs caribou.[00:45:42] The Gulag Archipelago at 17.[00:49:36] The homeschooling advantage: Finishing academics by noon, then deep-diving history for fun.[00:53:50] Campfire psychology for gentlemen.[00:56:00] Why llamas are more practical than reindeer on Jordan's expeditions in the northern United States.[01:01:37] How Jordan's grandparents found purpose and built a joyful family after surviving Assyrian genocide.[01:11:18] Dad's 12-year health collapse and facing death with radical joy.[01:18:49] Freight train philosophy and evolutionary dopamine alignment.[01:30:03] Grandma moose rodeo.[01:33:07] Alone Season 6: The "Super Bowl of survival" just south of the Arctic Circle.[01:40:38] How Jordan survived 77 days in the woods barely breaking a sweat.[01:48:21] Harvesting a moose at day 20 via Russian fence-funneling tactics.[01:56:21] Wolverine vs. man with axe, a tin can alarm, and a wife who likes rustic jewelry.[02:03:05] The crappy fate of less-than-lucky rabbit feet.[02:04:59] Fat as a survival bottleneck, and how to experience the wild with Jordan.[02:09:31] Jordan hopes his upcoming book will help readers build reservoirs of resilience before they're needed.[02:12:27] The most overlooked part of the Serenity Prayer: "Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace."[02:14:48] The wilderness as political neutral ground and other parting thoughts.For show notes and past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast.For deals from sponsors of The Tim Ferriss Show, please visit tim.blog/podcast-sponsorsSign up for Tim's email newsletter (5-Bullet Friday) at tim.blog/friday.For transcripts of episodes, go to tim.blog/transcripts.Discover Tim's books: tim.blog/books.Follow Tim:Twitter: twitter.com/tferriss Instagram: instagram.com/timferrissYouTube: youtube.com/timferrissFacebook: facebook.com/timferriss LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/timferrissSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This episode was originally released on December 13, 2022Stop the presses! New research shows that viruses locked in the Arctic permafrost for thousands of years have the potential to infect present-day organisms. Accompanied with a warming planet, this issue is really starting to thaw out. So what can brave scientists and institutions on the frontlines of tracking diseases do about it? And how can understanding our genomic history with diseases over thousands of years better prepare us in the fight to overcome them?Dr. Kaylee Byers starts our journey by slinking into a disease-tracking genomics lab at Simon Fraser University to meet Dr. Michael Trimble and Dr. Will Hsiao to understand the challenge of outpacing the rapid evolution of viruses. Then she pops across the ocean to speak with Dr. Birgitta Evengård and Dr. Jean-Michel Claverie about whether the Pandora's box of ancient diseases frozen in the arctic have the potential to become the next global outbreak as temperatures warm. Plus, we unearth ancient burial sites in Vietnam with Dr. Melandri Vlok, to investigate how climate change exacerbates the tension between human health and pathogens.Special thanks to Dr. Will Hsiao and Dr. Michael Trimble for allowing us to record with them at Simon Fraser University.Resources:1. Infection control in the new age of genomic epidemiology | British Columbia Centre for Disease Control Public Health Laboratory2. The permafrost pandemic: could the melting Arctic release a deadly disease | Unearthed3. Viral spillover risk increases with climate change in High Arctic lake sediments | The Royal Society4. Healthy ecosystems for human and animal health: Science diplomacy for responsible development in the Arctic | The Nordic Centre of Excellence5. Understanding and Responding to Global Health Security Risks from Microbial Threats in the Arctic: Proceedings of a Workshop | National Academies of Science, Engineering, Medicine6. Next pandemic may come from melting glaciers, new data shows | The Guardian7. Scientists Revived Ancient 'Zombie Viruses' Frozen For Eons in Siberia | Science Alert8. A 48,500-year-old virus has been revived from Siberian permafrost | NewScientist9. Anthrax outbreak in Siberia | euro news10. CBC News: The National | Russia invades Ukraine | Canadian Broadcast Corporation (CBC)11. National Geographic: Explorer Directory, Melandri Vlok | National Geographic12. Paleoepidemiological Considerations of Mobility and Population Interaction in the Spread of Infectious Diseases in the Prehistoric Past | Bioarchaeology International13. The Epidemiological Transition: A Theory of the Epidemiology of Population Change | Milbank Memorial Fund14. Forager and farmer evolutionary adaptations to malaria evidenced by 7000 years of thalassemia in Southeast Asia | nature portfolio15. CARD 2020: antibiotic resistome surveillance with the comprehensive antibiotic resistance database | Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Simon Fraser University

Her Story. Her Impact show by Womenlines welcomes Oksana Kolesnikova,entrepreneur, educator, pianist/composer from California in the latest episode.This show was created with one powerful intention:to spotlight extraordinary women across the globe whose journeys are shaping lives, communities, and futures—often quietly, always meaningfully.This show is not about titles or headlines.It is about turning points, values, courage, and impact.From entrepreneurs and educators to leaders and creators, Her Story. Her Impact. brings forward women whose work deserves to be seen, heard, and remembered—because when one woman's story is shared, countless others find permission to believe in their own.It is in this spirit that Womenlines is honoured to invite Oksana Kolesnikova to Her Story. Her Impact.Oksana's journey is not just inspiring—it is quietly transformational.She didn't set out to build a large-scale education ecosystem.She set out to teach piano.As a classically trained pianist and composer, Oksana spent years immersed in discipline, performance, and the intimate process of guiding young students through music—one note, one lesson, one breakthrough at a time. But somewhere between those moments, she saw something many overlook: the power of arts education to shape how children see themselves.That insight changed everything.In 2010, she co-founded Oksana Management Group in California, growing a focused enrichment vision into a comprehensive after-school education platform serving multiple school districts. What began with music expanded into performing arts, STEAM education, athletics, and staffing solutions—yet the heart of the mission remained unchanged.Build creative confidence in children.Some transformations begin on a grand stage.Others begin quietly — with a piano, a child, and a belief in what creativity can unlock.Oksana Kolesnikova belongs to the second kind.A classically trained pianist and composer, Oksana spent years immersed in discipline, performance, and the intimate process of teaching — guiding young students through music one note, one lesson, one breakthrough at a time. Somewhere between those moments, she recognised something many overlook: arts education doesn't just teach skills; it shapes identity.That insight changed everything.Born in Siberia and raised in a family of educators, Oksana fell in love with the piano at the age of five. By nine, she was winning music competitions. After emigrating to the United States following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, her journey unfolded through rigorous training, scholarships, and performances — all grounded in discipline and persistence.Yet even as her career as an internationally acclaimed pianist flourished, Oksana remained deeply connected to teaching. In her classrooms, creativity was never an “extra.” It was foundational.A missed note wasn't failure.It was information.This philosophy — shaped by years on stage and in studios — became the backbone of her work.

If you think the Bermuda Triangle is spooky, wait until you hear about these wild places! Around the world, there are spots even more mysterious, like the Twelve Devil Cemeteries in Siberia. These eerie locations are said to make animals act strange, compasses go haywire, and travelers mysteriously vanish. Then there's Point Nemo, the ocean's most remote spot, where you're closer to astronauts in space than to any human on land. And don't forget about Hoia Baciu Forest in Romania, nicknamed the "world's most haunted forest," with its creepy trees and strange lights. These places make the Bermuda Triangle look like a walk in the park—ready to explore? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elizabeth Baird Hardy, Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts Professor, the genius behind AppalachianInkling.com, Hunger Games expert, and author of Milton, Spenser and the Chronicles of Narnia: Literary Sources for the C.S. Lewis Novels, joined Nick and John to discuss the Charm Bracelet that J. K. Rowling posted on her Twixter home page as a Christmas gift to her readers. She said that that the thirteen charms on nine links were a set of clues about the next Strike novel, the ninth in a ten book series.In the first Part of Elizabeth, Nick, and John's conversation, they discussed Rowling's charm bracelet history, speculated about why she posted this picture when she did, decided to look at each charm on the bracelet for its stand-alone meaning and its place in the nine link set, and to read the whole series as if it were a ring composition, one reflecting a nine Part structure in Strike 9. They then made deep dives into the details of each charm: the heart shaped box containing a ‘You and Me' engagement ring, a golden diamond-laden egg, a foul anchor, two angels, and a Trojan horse.In this second Part of that conversation, the trio of Serious Strikers continue with the remaining charms on the bracelet, namely, a Jack-in-the-box, an Hourglass, a White Rose and Crocodile, a Corvid head, and a Psalter paired on the last link with the Head of Persephone. They share their thoughts, too, about the bracelet as a symbolic integer and its ring meaning.The notes below are in support of references they make mid-flight and to other resources of interest to Magic Charm Decoders! Enjoy.Thank you to all our subscribers with special gratitude and appreciations for our paid subscribers; you are the wind in our sails, the heat from our vents… Serious Strikers are reading Browning's The Ring and the Book, charting Hallmarked Man Part Six, and reviewing the Myth of Cupid and Psyche to look for parallels in the Strike-Ellacott series. See you soon!Jack-in-the-Box Charm* Rowling claims this as her favorite charm (Nick and John in the conversation mistakenly attribute this preference to the Psalter charm):* Badly Wired Lamp ID'd it* Is it a devil — or a Racoon?* The jack in the box toy, the 'Jack' being a devil, was invented in Germany in the 16th century as a mockery of the Roman Catholic doctrine of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. * The shape of this charm, the golden circular center in the inside of the open box top, represents the transcendent spiritual realm and the square bottom with its four directions, the fallen world. The ‘jack' devil lives in the latter but is from the former.* The charm is the third latched object in the chain, the heart box and Trojan horse preceding it and the psalter at chain's end following it — which means the ring latch and center are latched objects with surprises inside. The two interior objects at center have deadly surprises and the beginning and end eternal life interiors. The symbolism here is of the human being and its capacity via choice for either spiritual perfection in sacrificial love (anteros) or consumption by individual desires (eros). The thing hidden inside, man's spiritual capacity or heart, is either light or darkness, the inside bigger than the outside. (John)* What is the Strike 9 connection, the analogue to the demonic Jack in the box? Is it RFM? Uncle Ted? Ilsa's husband Nick? Polworth?* The Jack's position is at the center of the bracelet and between the hourglass and the Trojan horse. So it's placed between cleverness and craftiness and things that we can control and bad surprises, but also time, because we can't control time. (Elizabeth)Hourglass Charm* tempus fugit ‘like sand in an hourglass'* memento mori* infinite symbol* The Strike series may be a collection of mystery-story genres, each one illustrating a unique type of story, different from all the others while keeping the same core of characters and overarching narrative (cf., Rowling's note in The Running Grave acknowledgements that that book was her “cult” book). The hourglass, then, may be Rowling's pointer to Strike9 being a suspense drama in which the good guys not only have a challenging mission (find and rescue the missing Robin, Strike, Lucy, Pat, whomever) but have to do it before a literal deadline arrives. The Ticking Clock plot device.* If the Jack at link five is the center of the bracelet ring of nine links, how does the hourglass mirror the Trojan horse? It's two parts? The deadline aspect? “Reveal the crazies inside before the hourglass empties”?White Rose Charm* White Rose of Yorkshire* The interior of the flower charm is a literal Turtleback or ring composition diagram.* White Rose of Dante: Paradiso Cantos XXXI and XXXIIThe true home of all the blessed is with God in the Empyrean, a heaven of pure light beyond time and space. Dante sees the blessed systematically arranged in an immense white rose: like a hologram, a three-dimensional image, the rose is formed from a ray of light reflected off the outer surface of the Primum Mobile (30.106-17). The queen of this white rose is the Virgin Mary, traditionally represented as a rose herself (see Par. 23.73-4). This celestial rose recalls large rose windows of Gothic cathedrals, many of which are dedicated to Mary. The image of the rose, often red, is also used to represent Christ or, in other contexts, earthly love. The white rose is symmetrically structured according to various criteria, including belief, age, and gender. One half of the rose, already full, holds those who, according to Christian tradition, believed in Christ to come (the blessed of the Hebrew Bible); the other half, with only a few seats still unoccupied, contains those who believed in Christ already come (saved Christians). Two gendered rows mark this division of the rose in two halves. In the row below Mary appear women of the Hebrew Bible (Eve, Rachel, Sarah, Rebecca, Judith, Ruth, and unnamed others); Beatrice is seated next to Rachel, on the third row from the top. Opposite Mary, John the Baptist heads a row of men containing Francis, Benedict, Augustine, and other Christian fathers. Mary is flanked by Adam (first man) and Moses on one side, and Peter (first pope) and John the Evangelist on the other. John the Baptist is flanked by Lucy on one side and Anna, the mother of Mary, on the other. While only adults are seated in the upper section of the rose, below a certain line the rose contains souls of blessed children, their precise location based not on their own merits (since they lacked the power of free will) but on predestination. As physical laws do not apply in the Empyrean, Dante's ability to see these figures is not diminished by distance (30.118-23; 31.76-8).* White Rose of Mockingjay (Hunger Games finale)The prevailing symbol of Catching Fire and the most meaningful token the Christ figure of the series gives Katniss is a pearl, the solid-light symbolism of which we've discussed before. I think Commander Paylor's name may be our last Madge-Pearl-Mags name reference in being a “pale orb.” That gold and pearls have a similar translucency and metaphysical correspondence with the ‘Light of the World' make the twin possibilities that much more rich — and Commander Paylor's ascending to Panem's Presidency that much more meaningful and appropriate.Katniss steps into the Garden with the Pearl's blessing (“on my authority”) and discovers roses of every possible color. There are red, of course, and “lush pink, sunset orange, and even pale blue.” She knows what she wants, though; the rose colored like light, the white rose, Dante's symbolic prelude to the beatific vision and transcendence. Just as she cuts the “magnificent white bud just about to open” “from the top of a slender bush” (ibid, p. 355), the manacled, “pale, sickly green” President Snow, our snake in the Garden, speaks.“The colors, are lovely, of course, but nothing says perfection like white.”Our story Satan, you recall, left her a white rose in District 12 in chapter 1 and dropped roses with the bunker buster bombs in Part 1 to terrify Katniss. Now we know why. He was taunting her with her end, that as a seeker's soul he knew her goal was perfection in Christ and taunted her with it, especially when he held Peeta-Christ and understood the cartharsis and chrysalis she would have to pass through to claim it herself. Now that she is in the inner sanctuary, the High Place, he tells her the truth she could not hear anywhere else, the final, ugly truth about the cause for which Katniss had sacrificed everything. Snow reveals, just as Peeta had told her at the story's start, that she was deceived by those she trusted. President Coin killed Primrose with a weapon designed by Gale.Having been to the Absolute center, the world navel, and taken away the beatific vision as a white rose, Katniss is no longer a seeker but the resolution of contraries, an androgyn of justice and mercy. She is above right and wrong now as the phoenix-mockingjay and hears the voice of the “murderer” on the Hanging Tree at last. She deceives President Coin at the Victors Meeting as something of an avenging angel; she becomes a murderer herself by assassinating President Coin. Peeta-Christ comes down from the tree as her savior once again and prevents her suicide via Nightlock by his out-of-nowhere intervention.* Why does the White Rose share the seventh bracelet link with a crocodile? Faerie Queene!Crocodile Charm* The Crocodile in Shed, crocodile skin handbags (Hallmarked Man) “Maybe the4 crocodile or whatever they're keeping in the shed's chewed its way out,” said Strike. “ (Chapter 22, p 176; center chapter of Part 2)* Crocodile entry, Cirlot's Dictionary of SymbolismCrocodile Two basically different aspects of the crocodile are blended in its symbolic meaning, representing the influence upon the animal of two of the four Elements. In the first place, because of it viciousness and destructive power, the crocodile came to signify fury and evil in Egyptian hieroglyphics (19); in the second place, since it inhabits a realm intermediate between earth and water, and is associated with mud and vegetation, it came to be thought of as an emblem of fecundity and power (50). In the opinion of Mertens Stienon there is a third aspct, deriving from its resemblance to the dragon and the serpent, as a symbol of knowledge. In Egypt, the dead used to be portrayed transformed into crocodiles of knowledge, an idea which is linked with that of the zodiacal sign of Capricorn. Blavatsky compares the crocodile with the Kumara of India (40). Then, finally, come the symbols of Inversion proper and of rebirth. (67)* Lyndy Abraham's Dictionary of Alchemical Imagery entry for ‘Crocodile:'Crocodile The mercurial *serpent or transforming arcanum in its initial chthonic aspect during the dark, destructive opening of the opus alchymicum. Like the *bee, the crocodile was classified as a serpent in te bestiaries of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The amphibious nature of the crocodile made it an apt symbol for the dual-natured *Mercurius. When Lepidus in Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra says, ‘Your serpent of Egypt is bred of your mud by the operation of your sun; so is your crocodile' (2.7.26-7), he is referring to the generation of gold in the earth, and the generation of the mercurial serpent through the heat of the secret *fire or ‘sun'. With the phrase ‘operation of your sun' Lepidus also alludes to the final law of the alchemical Emerald Table: ‘That which I had to say about the operation of the Sun is completed' (48)* Sandy Hope on Crocodile symbolismIsis Church crocodile in Faerie Queene: Book 5, Canto VIIBook V Canto vii. The speaker praises the virtue of justice and cites Osyris as an example of the just man. His wife, Isis, represented equity and to the Temple of Isis Britomart and Talus come to spend the night. Talus, however, is not allowed into the temple. Britomart enters and sees a statue of Isis with her foot on a crocodile. The temple is also full of the priests of Isis who are not allowed to drink wine as it leads to rebellion. Britomart sleeps under the statue of Isis and dreams that the crocodile comes alive and threatens the Goddess. The Goddess subdues the crocodile and it becomes meek and then impregnates the Goddess. She gives birth to a lion which conquers all other beats. Britomart awakes and tells her troubling dream to a priest. He tells her that the crocodile represents Arthegall, Isis represents Britomart, and the lion their son whom they will conceive. Grateful for the interpretation, Britomart leaves and comes to Radigund's castle. Radigund and Britomart battle, Britomart is wounded in the shoulder, and finally Britomart beheads Radigund. Talus enters the castle and wreaks carnage on the Amazon women inside. Britomart finds Arthegall dressed, like other, in women's clothing. she is shamed by the sight, and it is not quite clear whether her suspicions that Arthegall has been unfaithful are confirmed or refuted. She finds Arthegall some armour, arms him, and the rest in the castle. during this time Britomart rules as a princess and reforms the Amazon society so that women are restored to proper subjection to men. Finally, Arthegall leaves to complete his quest against Grantorto. Britomart lets him leave because she knows that his success in this quest is important to restore his ego. After residing further at the Amazon castle she finally leaves to help keep her mind off the absent Arthegall.* The Spenser Encyclopedia entry for ‘Church of Isis:' (408) Clifford DavidsonWhen Britomart spends the night in the temple, she sees a ‘wondrous vision' in which she participates first as a votary of Isis and then as the goddess herself. Her devotion to the statue causes her to become Isis in her dream: she is serving at the altar when she sees herself transformed into Isis but wearing the royal robe. The crocodile awakens, devours the flames which threaten to destroy the temple, and threatens to eat Isis/Britomart until it is driven back by her rod. Then it seeks her ‘grace and love,' she yields, it impregnates her, and from their union she gives birth to a lion. As the Priest explains, the crocodile is Osiris (the Egyptian god of Justice) who sleeps under the feet of Isis ‘To shew that clemence oft in things amis,/ Restraines those sterne behests, and cruell doomes of his' (22), and who shows thereby the proper relation of justice and judgment to equity. The Priest also explains to Britomart that the crocodile is Artegall, ‘The righteous Knight,' who will settle the storms and ‘raging flames, that many foes shall reare' and restore to her the heritage of her throne, and who will give her a ‘Lion like' son (23), the new British monarchy of the Tudors.The crocodile is a symbol both of guile and of a regeneration that will affect future history. As guile, its relation to Isis is reminiscent of Vice figures under the feet of triumphing Virtues in medieval art. An iconographic association between the crocodile in its demonic aspect and medieval saints' legends derives ultimately – significantly for Spenser – from the classical figure of Britomartis (Miskimin 1978). In Plutarch's Isis and Osiris 50, it is linked to Typhon, the enemy of justice and order, while in Renaissance iconographic tradition it is often symbolic of the need for prudence (for one must be prudent to avoid the wily crocodile). Cesare Ripa's Iconologia (sv Lussuria) shows the nude Luxury (or Lechery) seated upon a crocodile, an interesting analogy to its phallic sexuality in Britomart's dream. Yet along with these primarily negative associations, there are also positive ones in the crocodile's identification with Osiris/Artegall/Justice and in the implication that Isis/Britomart/Equity is incomplete without her partner. The image contains its own contradiction, unresolved by the Priest.* Troubled Blood and Faerie Queene: Where Britobart and Artegall are used as stand-ins for Robin and Cormoran:Troubled Blood features several embedded texts, the most important of which is never mentioned in the book: Edmund Spenser's Faerie Queen. Serious Strikers enjoyed the luxury of not one but two scholars of Edmund Spenser who checked in on the relevance and meaning of Rowling's choice of the greatest English epic poem for her epigraphs, not to mention the host of correspondences between Strike 5 and Queen. Elizabeth Baird-Hardy did a part by part exegesis of the Troubled Blood-Faerie Queen conjunctions and Beatrice Groves shared her first thoughts on the connections as well. Just as Lethal White's meaning and artistry is relatively unappreciated without a close reading of Ibsen's Rosmersholm, so with Strike 5 and Faerie Queen.Elizabeth Baird-Hardy* Day One, Part One: The Spenserian Epigraphs of the Pre-Released Troubled Blood Chapters* Day Two, Part Two: The Spenserian Epigraphs of Troubled Blood Chapters Eight to Fourteen* Day Three, Part Three: The Spenserian Epigraphs of Troubled Blood Chapters Fifteen to Thirty* Day Four, Part Four: The Spenserian Epigraphs of Troubled Blood Chapters Thirty One to Forty Eight* Day Five, Part Five: The Spenserian Epigraphs of Troubled Blood Chapters Forty Nine to Fifty Nine* Part Six: The Spenserian Epigraphs of Troubled Blood Chapters Sixty to Seventy One* Spenser and Strike Part Seven: Changes for the BetterBeatrice Groves* Trouble in Faerie Land (Part 1): Spenserian Clues in Troubled Blood Epigraphs* Trouble in Faerie Land (Part 2): Shipping Robin and Strike in the Epigraphs of Troubled Blood* Trouble in Faerie Land (Part 3): Searching for Duessa in Troubled BloodJohn Granger:* How Spenser Uses Cupid in Faerie Queen and Its Relevance for Understanding Troubled Blood* Reading Troubled Blood as a Medieval Morality PlayCorvid Charm* Rowling Twixter headers: 12 January 2016, 9 April 2017 (Nick)* Fantastic Beasts reference? The Lestrange Family Motto features a crow and the ‘Lost Child' of that series is named ‘Corvus'* Crow Symbolism per Cirlot, Dictionary of Symbols:Crow Because of its black colour, the crow is associated with the idea of beginning (as expressed in such symbols as the maternal night, primigenial darkness, the fertilizing earth). Because it is also associated with the atmosphere, it is a symbol for creative, demiurgic power and for spiritual strength. Because of its flight, it is considered a messenger. And, in sum, the crow has been invested by many primitive peoples with far-reaching cosmic significance. Indeed, for the Red Indians of North America it is the great civilizer and the creator of the visible world. It has a similar meaning for the Celts and the Germanic tribes, as well as in Siberia (35). In the classical cultures it no longer possesses such wide implications, but it does still retain certain mystic powers and in particular the ability to foresee the future; hence its claw played a special part in rites of divination (8). In Christian symbolism it is an allegory of solitude. Amongst the alchemists it recovers some of the original characteristics ascribed to it by the primitives, standing in particular for nigredo, or the initial state which is both the inherent characteristic of prime matter and the condition produced by separating out the Elements (putrefactio) … In Beaumont's view, the crow in itself signifies the isolation of him who lives on a superior plane (5), this being the symbolism in general of all solitary birds. (71-72)* Lyndy Abraham's Dictionary of Alchemical Imagery entry for ‘Crow:' (49)Crow, crow's head, crow's bill A symbol of the *putrefaction and *black nigredo which is the first stge of the opus alchymicum. The old body of the metal or matter for the Stone is dissolved and putrefied into the first matter of *creation, the *prima materia, so that it may be regenerated and cast into a new form. The Hermetis Trismegisti Tractatus Aureus said of this initial stage of death and dissolution in the work: ‘The First is the Corvus, the Crow or Raven, which from its blackness is said to be the beginning of the Art' (bk. 2, 235). In his Aurora, Paracelsus wrote that when the matter has been placed in the gentle heat of the secret fire it passes through corruption and grows black: ‘This operation they call putrefaction, and the blackness they name the head of the Crow' (55). Thomas Charnock likewise wrote of the putrefaction: ‘The Crowes head began to appere as black as Jett' (TCB, 296). In Zoroaster's Cave the matter produced during this stage is identified with the name of the process: ‘When the matter has stood for the space of forty dayes in a moderate heat, there will begin to appear above, a blacknesse like to pitch, which is the Caput Corvi of the Philosophers, and the wise men's Mercury' (80). According to Ripley the terms ‘crows head' and ‘crows bill' are synonymous: ‘The hede of the Crow that tokeyn call we,/And sum men call hyt the Crows byll' (TCB, 134) (see ashes). In A Fig for Momus Thomas Lodge listed the crow's head amongst other alchemical enigmas: ‘Then of the crowes-head, tell they weighty things' (Works, 3:69). When Face in Jonson's The Alchemist says that the matter of the Stone has become ‘ground black', Mammon enquires of him, ‘That's your crowes-head? And Subtle replies, ‘No, ‘tis not perfect, would it were the crow' (2.3.67-8).Psalter Charm* In ‘Charms, Psalms & Golden Clues: A brace(let) of clues for Strike 9,' Prof Groves discusses the psalm as charm:Charm first meant the incantation itself, and then the amulet that carried that incantation to protect the wearer and then – from the 19th century – the small ornamental trinkets, fastened to girdles, watch-chains and bracelets, that resembled those original, talismanic charms. This means that Rowling's clue-charm of a Psalm book (which can actually carry a sacred text) circles back beautifully to the original meaning of the word – in which a charm was an amulet carrying a holy text. These charms do not always hold texts but Rowling has confirmed that this one does: ‘The book is a psalm book and holds real, miniature psalms' I think this protective hinterland of charms make it likely that the specific psalm that such a psalm-book charm would carry would be the most comforting and talismanic of psalms – Psalm 23. This psalm famously describes the Lord's love as protective, even unto the valley of the shadow of death* John argues that, in addition to the 23rd Psalm, Psalm 90 (91 in Masoretic or KJV reckoning), the so-called ‘Soldier's Psalm' is at least as likely as an insert for this charm, which is to say, as a talisman a soldier might give a woman about to enter Hades to beg a gift from Persephone…The Head of Persephone Charm* Rowling's clarifying picture* Psyche's Last Task from Venus:One final task is then given to Psyche, one in which Psyche is commanded to bring back a bit of Persephone's beauty from the Underworld. In Greek mythology no living soul is meant to be able to enter the Underworld, let alone leave it, and so Aphrodite felt that she would be rid of Psyche once and for all. Indeed, it seemed that Aphrodite would be proved right, for Psyche's only idea about entering the Underworld was to kill herself. Before Psyche can commit suicide a voice whispers to her instructions about how to complete the task. Thus Psyche finds an entrance to the Underworld and is soon crossing the Acheron upon the skiff of Charon, and the princess even manages to gain an audience with Persephone. Persephone on the surface appears to be sympathetic to the quest of Psyche, but Psyche has been warned about accepting food or a seat in the palace of Hades, for both would bind her to the Underworld for all time. But eventually, Persephone gives Psyche a golden box, said to contain some of the goddess' beauty.* The Head of Persephone charm is paired with the Psalter on the ninth and last link; again, if the Psalm is 22 (23) or 90 (91), then the connection is an invocational prayer for help traveling through the “valley of death,” for protection from the “asp and basilisk,” the “lion and dragon.”* As above, note that the beginning, middle, and end of the bracelet feature clasped objects, with the Psalter being a codex that opens and Psyche's journey to Persephone is in pursuit of a “golden box” containing the means to otherworldly beauty. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hogwartsprofessor.substack.com/subscribe

“The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe; Being the Second and Last Part of his life, And of the Strange Surprizing Accounts of his Travels Round three Parts of the Globe.” After the death of his wife, Robinson Crusoe is overcome by the old wanderlust, and sets out with his faithful companion Friday to see his island once again. Thus begins a journey which will last ten years and nine months, in which Crusoe travels over the world, along the way facing dangers and discoveries in Madagascar, China, and Siberia.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

“The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe; Being the Second and Last Part of his life, And of the Strange Surprizing Accounts of his Travels Round three Parts of the Globe.” After the death of his wife, Robinson Crusoe is overcome by the old wanderlust, and sets out with his faithful companion Friday to see his island once again. Thus begins a journey which will last ten years and nine months, in which Crusoe travels over the world, along the way facing dangers and discoveries in Madagascar, China, and Siberia.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

“The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe; Being the Second and Last Part of his life, And of the Strange Surprizing Accounts of his Travels Round three Parts of the Globe.” After the death of his wife, Robinson Crusoe is overcome by the old wanderlust, and sets out with his faithful companion Friday to see his island once again. Thus begins a journey which will last ten years and nine months, in which Crusoe travels over the world, along the way facing dangers and discoveries in Madagascar, China, and Siberia.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

“The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe; Being the Second and Last Part of his life, And of the Strange Surprizing Accounts of his Travels Round three Parts of the Globe.” After the death of his wife, Robinson Crusoe is overcome by the old wanderlust, and sets out with his faithful companion Friday to see his island once again. Thus begins a journey which will last ten years and nine months, in which Crusoe travels over the world, along the way facing dangers and discoveries in Madagascar, China, and Siberia.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

“The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe; Being the Second and Last Part of his life, And of the Strange Surprizing Accounts of his Travels Round three Parts of the Globe.” After the death of his wife, Robinson Crusoe is overcome by the old wanderlust, and sets out with his faithful companion Friday to see his island once again. Thus begins a journey which will last ten years and nine months, in which Crusoe travels over the world, along the way facing dangers and discoveries in Madagascar, China, and Siberia.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

“The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe; Being the Second and Last Part of his life, And of the Strange Surprizing Accounts of his Travels Round three Parts of the Globe.” After the death of his wife, Robinson Crusoe is overcome by the old wanderlust, and sets out with his faithful companion Friday to see his island once again. Thus begins a journey which will last ten years and nine months, in which Crusoe travels over the world, along the way facing dangers and discoveries in Madagascar, China, and Siberia.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

“The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe; Being the Second and Last Part of his life, And of the Strange Surprizing Accounts of his Travels Round three Parts of the Globe.” After the death of his wife, Robinson Crusoe is overcome by the old wanderlust, and sets out with his faithful companion Friday to see his island once again. Thus begins a journey which will last ten years and nine months, in which Crusoe travels over the world, along the way facing dangers and discoveries in Madagascar, China, and Siberia.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Russia, inizio del XX secolo. Un contadino sporco e puzzolente dalla Siberia sta per cambiare il corso della storia mondiale. Con i suoi occhi ipnotici, il suo enorme appetito per l'alcol e le donne, e un misterioso potere di guarigione, quest'uomo riuscirà a infiltrarsi nel cuore della famiglia imperiale russa proprio mentre l'impero sta per crollare. Tra omicidi falliti, orge religiose, e profezie inquietanti, questa è la vera storia dell'uomo che ha contribuito a scatenare la Rivoluzione Russa. Vieni a vederci dal vivo: nonapritequellapodcast.com/live Iscriviti al Patreon per ascoltare UN EPISODIO IN PIÙ a settimana: patreon.com/NAQP Seguici su Instagram per video esclusivi e molto altro: @nonapritequellapodcast Compra il nostro merch: merch.nonapritequellapodcast.com Per sponsor, collaborazioni o semplici mail: nonapritequellapodcast@gmail.com Segui Matteo su Instagram: @matteo.lenardon Segui Pedar su Instagram: @iosonopedar Segui J-Ax su Instagram: @j.axofficial Grazie ai nostri flex producer: Acqua De Chess ( O De Tualet), Andrea Salvadori, Angela, Baiocchi In Brodo, Chiara Bortolotti, Dario Pultrone, Eleonora, Fran, La Ele, Mattia Visigalli, Mauro Zaccone, Mimmo, Nira, Paolo Persechino, Quell Uomo, Ric, Rocco Ferretti, Salvo Greg, Shedly The Mad Hatter, Svizzerotto, Valentina Pontoni Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Wife Left Me For A Professional Athlete- I Started Dating The Team Owner & Got Him Traded To SiberiaBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-cheating-wives-and-girlfriends-stories-2026-true-cheating-stories-podcast--5689182/support.

Thanks to Conner, Tim, Stella, Cillian, Eilee, PJ, and Morris for their suggestions this week! Further reading: Extinct Hippo-Like Creature Discovered Hidden in Museum: ‘Sheer Chance' The golden lion tamarin has very thin fingers and sometimes it’s rude: The golden lion tamarin also has a very long tail: The cotton-top tamarin [picture by Chensiyuan – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=153317160]: The pangolin is scaly: The pangolin can also be round: The East Siberia lemming [photo by Ansgar Walk – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=52651170]: An early painting of a mammoth: Show transcript: Welcome to Strange Animals Podcast. I'm your host, Kate Shaw. This week we're going to look at some mammals suggested by Conner, Tim, Stella, Cillian, Eilee, PJ, and Morris. Let's jump right in, because we have a lot of fascinating animals to learn about! We'll start with suggestions by Cillian and Eilee, who both suggested a monkey called the tamarin. Tamarins live in Central and South America and there are around 20 species, all of them quite small. Cillian specifically suggested the golden lion tamarin, an endangered species that lives in a single small part of Brazil. It has beautiful golden or orange fur that's longer around the face, like a lion's mane but extremely stylish. Its face is bare of fur and is gray or grayish-pink in color, with dark eyes and a serious expression like it's not sure where it left its wallet. It grows about 10 inches long, or 26 cm, not counting its extremely long tail. The golden lion tamarin spends most of its time in trees, where it eats fruit, flowers, and other plant material, along with eggs, tree frogs, insects, and other small animals. It has narrow hands and long fingers to help it reach into little tree hollows and crevices where insects are hiding, but if it can't reach an insect that way, it will use a twig or other tool to help. The golden lion tamarin lives in small family groups, usually a mated pair and their young children. A mother golden lion tamarin often has twins, sometimes triplets, and the other members of her family help take care of the babies. Because the golden lion tamarin is endangered, mainly due to habitat loss, zoos throughout the world have helped increase the number of babies born in captivity. When it's safe to release them into the wild, instead of only releasing the young tamarins, the entire family group is released together. Eilee suggested the cotton-top tamarin, which lives in one small part of Colombia. It's about the same size as the golden lion tamarin, but is more lightly built and has a somewhat shorter tail. It's mostly various shades of brown and tan with a dark gray face, but it also has long white hair on its head. Its hair sticks up and makes it look a little bit like those pictures of Einstein, if Einstein was a tiny little monkey. Like the golden lion tamarin, the cotton-top tamarin lives in small groups and eats both plant material and insects. It's also critically endangered due to habitat loss, and it's strictly protected these days. Next, both Tim and Stella suggested we learn about the pangolin. There are eight species known, which live in parts of Africa and Asia. The pangolin is a mammal, but it's covered in scales except for its belly and face. The scales are made of keratin, the same protein that makes up fingernails, hair, hooves, and other hard parts in mammals. When it's threatened, it rolls up into a ball with its tail over its face, and the sharp-edged, overlapping scales protect it from being bitten or clawed. It has a long, thick tail, short, strong legs with claws, a small head, and very small ears. Its muzzle is long with a nose pad at the end, it has a long sticky tongue, and it has no teeth. It's nocturnal and uses its big front claws to dig into termite mounds and ant colonies. It has poor vision but a good sense of smell. Some species of pangolin live in trees and spend the daytime sleeping in a hollow tree. Other species live on the ground and dig deep burrows to sleep in during the day. It's a solitary animal and just about the only time adult pangolins spend time together is when a pair comes together to mate. Sometimes two males fight over a female, and they do so by slapping each other with their big tails. Unfortunately for the pangolin, its scales make it sought after by humans for decoration. People also eat pangolins. Habitat loss is also making it tough for the pangolin. All species of pangolin in Asia are endangered or critically endangered, while all species of pangolins in Africa are vulnerable. Pangolins also don't do well in captivity so it's hard for zoos to help them. Next, Conner wants to learn about the lemming, a rodent that's related to muskrats and voles. Lots of people think they know one thing about the lemming, but that thing isn't true. We'll talk about it in a minute. The lemming grows up to 7 inches long, or 18 cm, and is a little round rodent with small ears, a short tail, short legs, and long fur that's brown and black in color. It eats plant material, and while it lives in really cold parts of the northern hemisphere, including Siberia, Alaska, northern Canada, and Greenland, it doesn't hibernate. It just digs tunnels with cozy nesting burrows to warm up in, and finds food by digging tunnels in the snow. Lemmings reproduce quickly, which is a trait common among rodents, and if the population of lemmings gets too large in one area, some of the lemmings may migrate to find a new place to live. In the olden days people didn't understand lemming migration. Some people believed that lemmings traveled through the air in stormy weather and that's why a bunch of lemmings would suddenly appear out of nowhere sometimes. They'd just drop out of the sky. Other people were convinced that if there were too many lemmings, they'd all jump off a cliff and die on purpose, and that's why sometimes there'd be a lot of lemmings, and then suddenly one day not nearly as many lemmings. Many people still think that lemmings jump off cliffs, but this isn't actually true. They're cute little animals, but they're not dumb. Next, let's learn about two extinct animals, starting with PJ's suggestion, the woolly mammoth. We actually know a lot about the various species of mammoth because we have so many remains. Our own distant ancestors left cave paintings and carvings of mammoths, we have lots of fossilized remains, and we have lots of subfossil remains too. Because the mammoth lived so recently and sometimes in places where the climate hasn't changed all that much in the last 10,000 years, namely very cold parts of the world with deep layers of permafrost beneath the surface, sometimes mammoth remains are found that look extremely fresh. The woolly mammoth was closely related to the modern Asian elephant, but it was much bigger and covered with long fur. A big male woolly mammoth could stand well over 11 feet tall at the shoulder, or 3.5 meters, while females were a little smaller on average. It was well adapted to cold weather and had small ears, a short tail, a thick layer of fat under the skin, and an undercoat of soft, warm hair that was protected by longer guard hairs. It lived in the steppes of northern Europe, Asia, and North America, and like modern elephants it ate plants. It had long, curved tusks that could be over 13 feet long, or 4 meters, in a big male, and one of the things it used it tusks for was to sweep snow away from plants. The woolly mammoth went extinct at the end of the last ice age, around 11,000 years ago, although a small population remained on a remote island until only 4,000 years ago. Our last animal this week is Morris's suggestion, and it's actually not a single type of animal but a whole order. Desmostylians were big aquatic mammals, and the only known order of aquatic mammals that are completely extinct. When you think of aquatic mammals, you might think of whales, seals, and sea cows, or even hippos. Desmostylians didn't look like any of those animals, and they had features not found in any other animal. Desmostylians lived in shallow water off the Pacific coast, and fossils have been found in North America, southern Japan, parts of Russia, and other places. They first appear in the fossil record around 30 million years ago and disappear from the fossil record about 7 million years ago. They were fully aquatic animals that probably mostly ate kelp or sea grass, similar to modern sirenians, which include dugongs and manatees. Let's talk about Paleoparadoxia to find out roughly what Desmostylians looked and acted like. Paleoparadoxia grew about 7 feet long, or 2.15 meters, and had a robust skeleton. It had short legs, although the front legs were longer and its four toes were probably webbed to help it swim. It probably acted a lot like a sirenian, walking along the sea floor to find plants to eat. Its nostrils were on the top of its nose so it could take breaths at the surface more easily, and it had short tusks in its mouth, something like modern hippos. It may have looked a little like a hippo, but also a little like a dugong, and possibly a little like a walrus. One really strange thing about Desmostylians in general are their teeth. No other animals known have teeth like theirs. Their molars and premolars are incredibly tough and are made up of little enamel cylinders. The order's name actually means “bundle of columns,” referring to the teeth, and the bundles point upward so that the tops of the columns make up the tooth's chewing surface. Actually, chewing surface isn't the right term because Desmostylians probably didn't chew their food. Scientists think they pulled plants up by the roots using their teeth and tusks, then used suction to slurp up the plants and swallow them whole. We still don't know very much about Desmostylians. Scientists think they were outcompeted by sirenians, but we don't really know why they went extinct. We don't even know what they were most closely related to. They share some similarities with manatees and elephants, but those similarities may be due to convergent evolution. Then again, they might be related. Until we find more fossils, the mysteries will remain. You can find Strange Animals Podcast at strangeanimalspodcast.blubrry.net. That's blueberry without any E's. If you have questions, comments, corrections, or suggestions, email us at strangeanimalspodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening!

A version of this essay has been published by firstpost.com at https://www.firstpost.com/opinion/shadow-warrior-donald-trump-and-global-disorder-the-unravelling-of-the-old-world-order-has-begun-13970884.htmlThere is a general air of uncertainty in international relations right now, and there is the distinct feeling that the old order changeth. The upheaval is likely to bring difficult times to all of us. The long-predicted end of the “liberal, rules-based international order” seems to be upon us, with a definite fin-de-siecle feeling. The certainties that we have long held on to are no longer reliable.Foremost, of course, is the role of the United States, which bestrode the world like a colossus in the aftermath of the Second World War, and again after the end of the Cold War. Those of us born in the post-war years looked up to America, the “City on the Hill”, the beacon, celebrated in song and film, a cultural anchor in addition to a military and economic superpower.I remember the day my dad walked into the dining room with his newspaper and told us, “Marilyn Monroe is dead”. I was a small boy, and I had no idea who Marilyn Monroe was, but I remember that moment. I vaguely remember the Kennedy assassination. And every month, SPAN magazine brought images of the good life. My father did his PhD on John Steinbeck.Thus, for me and for those of my generation, it was only natural to look up to the US as an exemplar. In college, we used to refer to it, only half-jokingly, as ‘God's own country'. (This was before Amitabh Kant applied this moniker to Kerala, and it stuck). I remember us reading Time and Newsweek in the IIT Madras hostel common room. We read them cover to cover.So it was but natural for us to write the GRE and apply to US universities; and many of us got in, with good scores and good grades. It was relatively easy in the late 1970s. And it was a revelation for us to go to a country that pretty much worked well; the standard of living was quite a bit higher than back at home, where you had to wait 6 years for a phone or a scooter.But fifty years later, things are not the same. The gap in the standard of living between India and the US had narrowed considerably, although the rule of law, clean air and public spaces, and the lack of petty corruption, plus the tendency to stick to the letter of agreements (ok, I grant that Trump may be an exception) are all still much more prevalent in the US.What has happened, though, is the relative decline of the US in almost every way. Take research. Or manufacturing. Or popular culture. Others are narrowing the gap steadily. Or take the streets of, say, San Francisco. The pristine, well kept streets I encountered when I first moved there are now in shambles, sometimes covered in human feces, with homeless people and needles all over the place.The US, and it hurts me to say this, as I am an unabashed Americophile (if that's a word), over-extended itself through unnecessary wars and unwise crusades which the Deep State promoted for self-preservation, but which in fact turned out to be counterproductive.As I wrote recently in relation the Venezuela gamble, the US may well be following in the footsteps of other countries that once held the reserve currency, but fell into a trifecta of excessive debt, reduced core competence, complacency and overextension.The resulting retreat into “Fortress America” as outlined in the National Security Strategy, as well as the unabashed pursuit of American interests at the expense of allies and friends, is causing everything to fall apart, as in W B Yeats' warning.The reaction of the US's closest allies to various Trump diktats has been instructive. Europeans and the British applauded when Trump chose to peremptorily remove President Maduro from Venezuela and make a play for that nation's massive oil reserves. But when he began in earnest to pursue Greenland, there were loud protests from some parts of NATO.That alliance appears to be crumbling as Trump, not unreasonably, suggests that Europeans need to pay for their own security, instead of expecting the US to finance it forever. Also, despite the appearance of a land-grab, Greenland has a trade and security rationale: as the Arctic Sea becomes more ice-free due to climate change, the fabled Northwest Passage and other trade routes open up, China is already ready for its own land-grab with its “Polar Silk Road”.Here's a tweet from Ken Noriyasu of the Nikkei, highlighting future trade routes:But the threat to Denmark's territorial integrity, in case Greenland opts to join the US, has rattled NATO members. Threats of escalating tariffs (10–25%) on Denmark and other NATO allies have sparked outrage. Joint Nordic/European statements reaffirm sovereignty; U.S. rhetoric treats it as a strategic necessity (Arctic resources, China/Russia competition). This treats allies as transactional subordinates, eroding NATO cohesion.The end of NATO would be a seismic shift, but I have long argued that Western Europe should bury its hatchet with Russia, because their real long-term foe is China, which has its eye on Siberia on the one hand, and Europe's entire industrial might on the other.There is more: Ongoing wars (Ukraine, Middle East), tariff wars, alliance strains, and rising “spheres of influence” logic. Davos 2026 panels describe it as the “last-chance saloon” for the old order. UN Secretary-General Guterres warns leaders are “running roughshod over international law.” Think tanks (Brookings, Stimson) call it an interregnum: the liberal order is dying, no coherent replacement has emerged, and “monsters” fill the vacuum. Is “some rough beast” slouching towards Bethlehem to be born, as in the apocalyptic prophecy?What will rise from the ruins of the old world order? We can only wonder, as there are several possible answers:* Transactionalist multipolarity. Great powers (U.S., China, India, EU/Russia bloc) negotiate deals based on leverage, not universal rules. Might means right, backed by economic coercion or force.* Fragmented regional orders. Spheres where dominant powers set norms (U.S. in Americas/Arctic, China in Indo-Pacific, Russia near its borders, if there is a rapprochement with the EU). I have long predicted spheres of influence in the wake of what I see as a G2 condominium between the US and China.* No-rules world (worst case). Rising impunity, more unilateral interventions, eroded deterrence, potential for cascading crises. We are already beginning to see this with China's unilateral land- and sea-grabs (e.g. the “nine-dash” line).2025 was an annus horribilis. 2026 is shaping up to be worse. None of the above scenarios is good for India, especially as it is beginning to get its manufacturing in order, at what appears to be exactly the wrong time, as tariff wars abound.By the looks of it, 2026 will be worse for all concerned. Centrifugal forces are going to tear up globalism, and a narrow nationalism may not bode well for anybody.The AI-generated podcast from notebookLM.google.com is at:1650 words, 19th Jan 2026 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rajeevsrinivasan.substack.com/subscribe

En esta Noche Paranormal, Gerardo Amaro nos revela los secretos militares y tecnológicos ocultos en los polos. Analizamos el Proyecto Iceworm, la red de túneles bajo el hielo de Groenlandia, y la Operación Highjump en la Antártida. Exploramos la posibilidad de una Tierra Hueca y la presencia de bases subterráneas donde se resguarda tecnología no humana. Gerardo detalla el impacto de la Bomba del Zar en Siberia, el uso de armas de energía dirigida y los avistamientos de objetos luminosos que desafían la física. Acompáñanos en un viaje por archivos desclasificados, portales magnéticos y los experimentos más extremos de la Guerra Fría que siguen vigentes hoy bajo el control de gobiernos ocultos.

Imagina a un campesino analfabeto, nacido en la remota y gélida Siberia, que sin saber leer ni escribir logra colocarse junto al zar de Rusia en San Petersburgo (y, especialmente junto a la zarina) e influir sobre ellos hasta el punto de despierta la admiración de media Corte y el odio de la otra media. Ese campesino existió. Su nombre era Grigori Rasputín, para unos era un santo enviado por Dios, mientras que para otros era un demonio que arrastraría al imperio al abismo. En el el último ContraCorte trato de desmontar la 'leyenda negra' de Rasputín para encontrar al hombre real. ¿Cómo es posible que un místico con fama de borracho y mujeriego terminara decidiendo quiénes eran los ministros del Imperio Ruso? La respuesta no está en la magia, sino en un secreto biológico: la hemofilia del pequeño zarevich Alexei. Rasputín era el único capaz de detener las hemorragias del heredero al trono cuando la ciencia médica fallaba. O eso al menos pensaba la zarina Alejandra. Para ella no era un hombre, sino un milagro viviente. Pero el poder trae enemigos. Mientras Rusia se desangraba en la Gran Guerra, los rumores de traición y orgías en el palacio real de San Petersburgo incendiaban las calles. Se decía que Rasputín era un espía alemán, un amante de la reina, un miembro de una secta prohibida. La tensión llegó a tal punto que la aristocracia decidió que, para salvar la corona y a la propia Rusia, este monje místico debía morir. La noche de su asesinato supera cualquier ficción: una dosis letal de cianuro que no le hizo efecto, disparos a quemarropa de los que se levantó para atacar a sus verdugos y una conspiración que podría involucrar incluso al servicio secreto británico. ¿Fue un ser prácticamente indestructible o simplemente la víctima de una leyenda creada por sus asesinos y magnificada luego por los bolcheviques? En El ContraCorte lo cuento todo con pelos y señales. Recuerda que es sólo para patronos de La Contra, esos contraescuchas que hacen posible esta y todas las Contras. Si eres miembro del canal de YouTube, fan en Ivoox o patrono en Patreon no tienes más que seguir escuchando aquí: https://youtu.be/_wjGaxw_Z3M https://go.ivoox.com/rf/166873710 https://go.ivoox.com/rf/166873710 https://www.patreon.com/posts/rasputin-santo-y-148383300?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link Escucha el episodio completo en la app de iVoox, o descubre todo el catálogo de iVoox Originals

Agradece a este podcast tantas horas de entretenimiento y disfruta de episodios exclusivos como éste. ¡Apóyale en iVoox! Imagina a un campesino analfabeto, nacido en la remota y gélida Siberia, que sin saber leer ni escribir logra colocarse junto al zar de Rusia en San Petersburgo (y, especialmente junto a la zarina) e influir sobre ellos hasta el punto de despierta la admiración de media Corte y el odio de la otra media. Ese campesino existió. Su nombre era Grigori Rasputín, para unos era un santo enviado por Dios, mientras que para otros era un demonio que arrastraría al imperio al abismo. En el el último ContraCorte trato de desmontar la 'leyenda negra' de Rasputín para encontrar al hombre real. ¿Cómo es posible que un místico con fama de borracho y mujeriego terminara decidiendo quiénes eran los ministros del Imperio Ruso? La respuesta no está en la magia, sino en un secreto biológico: la hemofilia del pequeño zarevich Alexei. Rasputín era el único capaz de detener las hemorragias del heredero al trono cuando la ciencia médica fallaba. O eso al menos pensaba la zarina Alejandra. Para ella no era un hombre, sino un milagro viviente. Pero el poder trae enemigos. Mientras Rusia se desangraba en la Gran Guerra, los rumores de traición y orgías en el palacio real de San Petersburgo incendiaban las calles. Se decía que Rasputín era un espía alemán, un amante de la reina, un miembro de una secta prohibida. La tensión llegó a tal punto que la aristocracia decidió que, para salvar la corona y a la propia Rusia, este monje místico debía morir. La noche de su asesinato supera cualquier ficción: una dosis letal de cianuro que no le hizo efecto, disparos a quemarropa de los que se levantó para atacar a sus verdugos y una conspiración que podría involucrar incluso al servicio secreto británico. ¿Fue un ser prácticamente indestructible o simplemente la víctima de una leyenda creada por sus asesinos y magnificada luego por los bolcheviques? · Canal de Telegram: https://t.me/lacontracronica · “Contra el pesimismo”… https://amzn.to/4m1RX2R · “Hispanos. Breve historia de los pueblos de habla hispana”… https://amzn.to/428js1G · “La ContraHistoria del comunismo”… https://amzn.to/39QP2KE · “La ContraHistoria de España. Auge, caída y vuelta a empezar de un país en 28 episodios”… https://amzn.to/3kXcZ6i · “Contra la Revolución Francesa”… https://amzn.to/4aF0LpZ · “Lutero, Calvino y Trento, la Reforma que no fue”… https://amzn.to/3shKOlK Apoya La Contra en: · Patreon... https://www.patreon.com/diazvillanueva · iVoox... https://www.ivoox.com/podcast-contracronica_sq_f1267769_1.html · Paypal... https://www.paypal.me/diazvillanueva Sígueme en: · Web... https://diazvillanueva.com · Twitter... https://twitter.com/diazvillanueva · Facebook... https://www.facebook.com/fernandodiazvillanueva1/ · Instagram... https://www.instagram.com/diazvillanueva · Linkedin… https://www.linkedin.com/in/fernando-d%C3%ADaz-villanueva-7303865/ · Flickr... https://www.flickr.com/photos/147276463@N05/?/ · Pinterest... https://www.pinterest.com/fernandodiazvillanueva Encuentra mis libros en: · Amazon... https://www.amazon.es/Fernando-Diaz-Villanueva/e/B00J2ASBXM #FernandoDiazVillanueva #rasputin #imperioruso Escucha el episodio completo en la app de iVoox, o descubre todo el catálogo de iVoox Originals

Con un seco y sonoro ¡clic! se cerró la trampa. Era una trampa de acero, silenciosa y traicionera, oculta en la nieve por hojas de pino. Serge Cherblinko, cazador de osos en los bosques de Siberia, andaba de cacería. Sin darse cuenta, pisó donde no debió haberlo hecho, y la trampa clavó en él sus dientes de acero. Serge sabía que por sí solo le sería imposible librarse de la trampa. El dolor era intenso, y la noche se aproximaba, con sus fríos, sus lobos y sus osos. Ahí mismo, solo y en medio del bosque, tomó una decisión drástica. Con su cuchillo de monte, se amputó el pie y, renqueando y arrastrándose como pudo, regando sangre por el camino, cubrió los dos kilómetros hasta llegar al refugio. Perdió un pie, pero se salvó la vida. Esa noticia en la prensa internacional, aunque muy triste, nos deja una tremenda y clara lección. Es mucho mejor perder un miembro del cuerpo que perder toda la vida. Si la opción es perder un pie, o un ojo, o un miembro cualquiera del cuerpo, o perder la vida, cualquiera cedería uno de sus miembros antes que entregarse a la muerte. ¡Cuántas no han sido las veces que el cirujano se acerca a la cama del paciente y le dice: «Para salvarle la vida tenemos que amputarle la pierna»! Y como más vale la vida que una pierna, el paciente se somete. La vida misma siempre vale más que cualquier miembro del cuerpo. Así mismo sucede con la vida espiritual, la vida eterna. Jesucristo conocía el incalculable valor de la vida eterna, así que un día, al predicarles a las multitudes, dijo: «...si tu ojo derecho te hace pecar, sácatelo y tíralo. Más te vale perder una sola parte de tu cuerpo, y no que todo él sea arrojado al infierno. Y si tu mano derecha te hace pecar, córtatela y arrójala. Más te vale perder una sola parte de tu cuerpo, y no que todo él vaya al infierno. Y si tu mano derecha te es ocasión de caer, córtala, y échala de ti; pues mejor te es que se pierda uno de tus miembros, y no que todo tu cuerpo sea echado al infierno» (Mateo 5:29‑30). Si la vida física vale más que cualquier miembro de nuestro cuerpo, con mayor razón la vida espiritual, que es eterna, vale más que cualquier cosa en esta vida. Y sin embargo, ¡qué fácil nos es apegarnos a nuestros antojos injustos e inmorales aunque así perdamos la vida eterna! Jesús lo expresó con una claridad diáfana al decir que si ganamos el mundo entero, pero perdemos nuestra alma, lo hemos perdido todo. No cedamos lo eterno por lo efímero. Ni cedamos la gloria celestial por la vanagloria de este mundo. Al contrario, pidámosle a Cristo que sea el Señor y Dueño de nuestra vida. Hermano PabloUn Mensaje a la Concienciawww.conciencia.net

Imagina a un campesino analfabeto, nacido en la remota y gélida Siberia, que sin saber leer ni escribir logra colocarse junto al zar de Rusia en San Petersburgo (y, especialmente junto a la zarina) e influir sobre ellos hasta el punto de despierta la admiración de media Corte y el odio de la otra media. Ese campesino existió. Su nombre era Grigori Rasputín, para unos era un santo enviado por Dios, mientras que para otros era un demonio que arrastraría al imperio al abismo. En el el último ContraCorte trato de desmontar la 'leyenda negra' de Rasputín para encontrar al hombre real. ¿Cómo es posible que un místico con fama de borracho y mujeriego terminara decidiendo quiénes eran los ministros del Imperio Ruso? La respuesta no está en la magia, sino en un secreto biológico: la hemofilia del pequeño zarevich Alexei. Rasputín era el único capaz de detener las hemorragias del heredero al trono cuando la ciencia médica fallaba. O eso al menos pensaba la zarina Alejandra. Para ella no era un hombre, sino un milagro viviente. Pero el poder trae enemigos. Mientras Rusia se desangraba en la Gran Guerra, los rumores de traición y orgías en el palacio real de San Petersburgo incendiaban las calles. Se decía que Rasputín era un espía alemán, un amante de la reina, un miembro de una secta prohibida. La tensión llegó a tal punto que la aristocracia decidió que, para salvar la corona y a la propia Rusia, este monje místico debía morir. La noche de su asesinato supera cualquier ficción: una dosis letal de cianuro que no le hizo efecto, disparos a quemarropa de los que se levantó para atacar a sus verdugos y una conspiración que podría involucrar incluso al servicio secreto británico. ¿Fue un ser prácticamente indestructible o simplemente la víctima de una leyenda creada por sus asesinos y magnificada luego por los bolcheviques? En El ContraCorte lo cuento todo con pelos y señales. Recuerda que es sólo para patronos de La Contra, esos contraescuchas que hacen posible esta y todas las Contras. Si eres miembro del canal de YouTube, fan en Ivoox o patrono en Patreon no tienes más que seguir escuchando aquí: https://youtu.be/_wjGaxw_Z3M https://go.ivoox.com/rf/166873710 https://go.ivoox.com/rf/166873710 https://www.patreon.com/posts/rasputin-santo-y-148383300?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link Escucha el episodio completo en la app de iVoox, o descubre todo el catálogo de iVoox Originals

Agradece a este podcast tantas horas de entretenimiento y disfruta de episodios exclusivos como éste. ¡Apóyale en iVoox! Imagina a un campesino analfabeto, nacido en la remota y gélida Siberia, que sin saber leer ni escribir logra colocarse junto al zar de Rusia en San Petersburgo (y, especialmente junto a la zarina) e influir sobre ellos hasta el punto de despierta la admiración de media Corte y el odio de la otra media. Ese campesino existió. Su nombre era Grigori Rasputín, para unos era un santo enviado por Dios, mientras que para otros era un demonio que arrastraría al imperio al abismo. En el el último ContraCorte trato de desmontar la 'leyenda negra' de Rasputín para encontrar al hombre real. ¿Cómo es posible que un místico con fama de borracho y mujeriego terminara decidiendo quiénes eran los ministros del Imperio Ruso? La respuesta no está en la magia, sino en un secreto biológico: la hemofilia del pequeño zarevich Alexei. Rasputín era el único capaz de detener las hemorragias del heredero al trono cuando la ciencia médica fallaba. O eso al menos pensaba la zarina Alejandra. Para ella no era un hombre, sino un milagro viviente. PeroImagina a un campesino analfabeto, nacido en la remota y gélida Siberia, que sin saber leer ni escribir logra colocarse junto al zar de Rusia en San Petersburgo (y, especialmente junto a la zarina) e influir sobre ellos hasta el punto de despierta la admiración de media Corte y el odio de la otra media. Ese campesino existió. Su nombre era Grigori Rasputín, para unos era un santo enviado por Dios, mientras que para otros era un demonio que arrastraría al imperio al abismo. En el el último ContraCorte trato de desmontar la 'leyenda negra' de Rasputín para encontrar al hombre real. ¿Cómo es posible que un místico con fama de borracho y mujeriego terminara decidiendo quiénes eran los ministros del Imperio Ruso? La respuesta no está en la magia, sino en un secreto biológico: la hemofilia del pequeño zarevich Alexei. Rasputín era el único capaz de detener las hemorragias del heredero al trono cuando la ciencia médica fallaba. O eso al menos pensaba la zarina Alejandra. Para ella no era un hombre, sino un milagro viviente. Pero el poder trae enemigos. Mientras Rusia se desangraba en la Gran Guerra, los rumores de traición y orgías en el palacio real de San Petersburgo incendiaban las calles. Se decía que Rasputín era un espía alemán, un amante de la reina, un miembro de una secta prohibida. La tensión llegó a tal punto que la aristocracia decidió que, para salvar la corona y a la propia Rusia, este monje místico debía morir. La noche de su asesinato supera cualquier ficción: una dosis letal de cianuro que no le hizo efecto, disparos a quemarropa de los que se levantó para atacar a sus verdugos y una conspiración que podría involucrar incluso al servicio secreto británico. ¿Fue un ser prácticamente indestructible o simplemente la víctima de una leyenda creada por sus asesinos y magnificada luego por los bolcheviques? · Canal de Telegram: https://t.me/lacontracronica · “Contra el pesimismo”… https://amzn.to/4m1RX2R · “Hispanos. Breve historia de los pueblos de habla hispana”… https://amzn.to/428js1G · “La ContraHistoria del comunismo”… https://amzn.to/39QP2KE · “La ContraHistoria de España. Auge, caída y vuelta a empezar de un país en 28 episodios”… https://amzn.to/3kXcZ6i · “Contra la Revolución Francesa”… https://amzn.to/4aF0LpZ · “Lutero, Calvino y Trento, la Reforma que no fue”… https://amzn.to/3shKOlK Apoya La Contra en: · Patreon... https://www.patreon.com/diazvillanueva · iVoox... https://www.ivoox.com/podcast-contracronica_sq_f1267769_1.html · Paypal... https://www.paypal.me/diazvillanueva Sígueme en: · Web... https://diazvillanueva.com · Twitter... https://twitter.com/diazvillanueva · Facebook... https://www.facebook.com/fernandodiazvillanueva1/ · Instagram... https://www.instagram.com/diazvillanueva · Linkedin… https://www.linkedin.com/in/fernando-d%C3%ADaz-villanueva-7303865/ · Flickr... https://www.flickr.com/photos/147276463@N05/?/ · Pinterest... https://www.pinterest.com/fernandodiazvillanueva Encuentra mis libros en: · Amazon... https://www.amazon.es/Fernando-Diaz-Villanueva/e/B00J2ASBXM #FernandoDiazVillanueva #rasputin #imperioruso Escucha el episodio completo en la app de iVoox, o descubre todo el catálogo de iVoox Originals

Krakow .  Welcome back to the  Dr. Mary Travelbest Guide podcast. A few weeks ago, I returned from a 90-day journey around the world, and I'm excited to connect with fellow travelers and share experiences.   Today, we will discuss Krakow, Poland, and when to admit you are not ready for a trip. We will discuss passports and then my travel mistakes. Get ready now, as we are starting.   The FAQ is:  Marcia, who recently returned from a solo trip to Antarctica, asked: "At what point does a destination become a bad match for my solo senior travel — and how do I admit that early?"    Answer: I emphasize empowerment. I permit you to change course, leave early, or say "this isn't for me" without framing it as failure. A destination isn't "wrong" because it challenges you — but it is wrong if it consistently drains your energy, confidence, or sense of safety. If you find yourself constantly anxious, overly fatigued, or forcing yourself to "push through," just listen to your mind or body. Changing plans, leaving early, or choosing a different destination next time is not failure — it's wisdom. The goal of solo travel isn't endurance; it's fulfillment. And knowing when to pivot is one of the strongest travel skills you can develop. In Amsterdam, I had to change my destination frequently, which was challenging, but I managed to do so. One day, when I had some flexibility in my schedule, I scheduled a massage. I searched for "massage near me" and was delighted with the results. Sometimes that's all it takes for a new perspective.   60-second confidence challenge Your challenge today is to check your passport. That's right, take it out and open it up.   Do you have at least six months left on your passport? If not, you need to renew it.   If you like today's Confidence Challenge, my book series delves deeper into passport documents and solo travel for women. You can find the series at the link in the description.    See Book A for addressing this concern..  Find it on the website​​ at https://www.5stepstosolotravel.com/ or on Amazon. It's a multiple-part series. Today's special destination is Krakow, Poland   First, I'll talk about the things to see as a tourist, and then I'll share some 'off the regular' tourist ideas for you. It's interesting to learn that Poland is roughly the size of Texas. Historical tensions persist among Polish communities in neighboring Kazakhstan, Russia, and Germany. I've also heard about soldiers being sent from Siberia to Ukraine. The country underwent a significant change in 1989 when the Solidarity movement overthrew the socialist government. I reflected on the historical gravity of Auschwitz, where many lives were lost. Kraków, Poland, is one of Europe's most enchanting cities, renowned for its history, charm, and culture. Kraków offers a welcoming mix of walkable streets, accessible attractions, and heartfelt hospitality. Let's Explore the Old Town and Wawel Hill https://krakow.travel/en/55-krakow-main-market-square Start your morning in Rynek Główny, the Main Market Square — one of the largest medieval squares in Europe. It's mostly flat with smooth pathways, though some cobblestones can be tricky; use a slower pace or roll along the outer edges, which are more level, for those with mobility issues. In the center stands the Cloth Hall, filled with stalls selling amber jewelry, handmade crafts, and souvenirs. Elevators are available to reach the upper gallery, which houses the 19th-century Polish Art Museum. Nearby, the St. Mary's Basilica is famous for its hourly trumpet call from the tower. Inside, ramps and wide aisles make it accessible for most visitors. https://mariacki.com/en/   https://visitkrakow.com/kazimierz/   https://visitkrakow.com/guide-to-oskar-schindlers-enamel-factory-museum/     https://www.catholicapostolatecenter.org/blog/st-faustina-and-the-catholic-heritage-of-poland?   Travel Mistake to Avoid in Kraków included Eurail reservations.     Connect with Dr. Travelbest 5 Steps to Solo Travel website Dr. Mary Travelbest X Dr. Mary Travelbest Facebook Page Dr. Mary Travelbest Facebook Group Dr. Mary Travelbest Instagram Dr. Mary Travelbest Podcast Dr. Travelbest on TikTok Dr.Travelbest on YouTube In the news  

La mañana del 30 de junio de 1908, cuando el siglo XX apenas estaba dando sus primeros pasos y el mundo todavía confiaba en que la ciencia acabaría explicándolo todo, algo absolutamente extraordinario ocurrió en el corazón de Siberia. En una región remota, casi inaccesible, atravesada por el río Tunguska Podkamennaya y habitada por comunidades nómadas, el cielo se iluminó de repente como si hubiera amanecido dos veces. Un estruendo ensordecedor sacudió la tierra, el aire ardió y una fuerza invisible arrasó el bosque en cientos de kilómetros a la redonda. No hubo cráter, no hubo testigos directos en el epicentro, no hubo una explicación inmediata. Solo quedó el silencio posterior a la catástrofe y una pregunta que todavía hoy sigue resonando: ¿qué fue exactamente lo que explotó sobre Tunguska?

Deep in Siberia, there's a place locals call the gateway to the underworld — and it's getting bigger every year. The Batagay megaslump, a massive crater in the permafrost, is expanding by more than 35 million cubic feet annually as the frozen ground melts away. Scientists say its walls are retreating 40 feet each year, exposing ice and soil that have been frozen for over 650,000 years — the oldest permafrost in Siberia. This isn't just a hole in the Earth; it's a time machine revealing our planet's ancient past — and a chilling sign of its future. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are wild changes in the oil and gas markets right now. Michael Tanner and Stu Turley cover the Iranian Revolution, key points about Venezuela, and the shift in markets following the US decision to allow the sale of Venezuelan oil on the open market. This has a second-order effect on the U.S. Dollar: the control of the oil markets and the question of whether China will buy oil from the US at market prices rather than the old Dark Fleet-reduced prices.Don't forget that Energy Security starts at home, but Energy Dominance comes from Exports. And now, Energy Dominance can come from controlling export markets. We have to wonder how OPEC and OPEC+ will respond as we are facing some of the most significant changes in the oil and gas markets we have seen in decades.1. The potential impact of the ongoing revolution in Iran on global oil markets and prices. The hosts discuss how a disruption in Iran's oil exports could lead to a spike in oil prices, potentially up to $80 per barrel in the short term.2. The executive order signed by President Trump to safeguard Venezuela's oil revenues for the benefit of the U.S. and Venezuela. The hosts discuss the key provisions of the order and the reactions from oil executives.3. China's evolving oil and gas production and import trends, and how this could impact global energy markets, particularly with the upcoming Siberia 2 pipeline that will supply more Russian gas to China.4. The potential political implications of high energy prices in the U.S. and how this could impact the upcoming midterm elections, with the hosts discussing a report on how Republican policies could be more favorable for energy affordability.1.How Will a Revolution in Iran Impact the Global Oil Markets? Could Iraq potentially also be an influence?2.President Trump Signs Executive Order on Venezuelan Oil: Safeguarding Revenues for American and Venezuelan Benefit3.Don't Count the U.S. Dollar Out Yet: Venezuela Was the Key4.China's Oil and Gas Drilling Program Improvements Are Now Capable of Impacting Markets5.DAVID BLACKMON: New Study Shows How GOP Can Win On Affordability Issue6: 2026 Rig Count Starts Out on a Down NoteCheck out The Energy News Beat Substack: https://theenergynewsbeat.substack.com/Time Stamps:00:19 Iran's revolution02:33 Michael disagrees with the impact on oil04:15 Venezuela and the impact on the oil markets11:46 Key Market insights with the US Dollar being traded14:56 China's internal oil and gas production18:12 Energy Security starts at home

The Matts pick apart the extraordinary events of this week and make sense* of what they mean for life on planet Earth in the second quarter of the 21st century. What is Trump up to? How can Europe react to a threat from a NATO member state? What is the future of Greenland? How is it connected to a future territorial dispute in Siberia? And what straight line can be drawn from the horrific murder of a 37-year-old woman on the streets of Minnesota and the abduction of the Venezuelan president? 2026 has started off in remarkable fashion … and it looks like continuing this way for the foreseeable. Enjoy. *Sense isn't really the right word. It's more like making a (possibly futile) effort to divine some sort of logic in a wild pattern of behaviour from the most powerful man on the planet. You'll just have to bear with us.Produced by Matt WithersOFFER: Get The New World for just £1 for the first month. Head to https://www.thenewworld.co.uk/2matts/Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Manvir Singh joins Psychedelics Today to unpack what shamanism means and why the term matters now. Singh is an anthropologist and author of Shamanism: The Timeless Religion. He argues that shamanism is not limited to "remote" societies or the past. Instead, it reliably reappears because it helps humans manage uncertainty, illness, and the unknown. This episode is relevant for the psychedelic community because "shaman" often gets used loosely, or avoided entirely. Singh offers a clear framework for talking about shamanic practice without leaning on romantic myths, drug-centered assumptions, or rigid definitions that do not fit the cross-cultural record. Early Themes With Manvir Singh Early in the conversation, Manvir Singh explains why many classic definitions of shamanism break down when tested across cultures, including in Siberia where the term originated. He discusses how popular images of shamanism often center "soul flight" and fixed cosmologies. However, ethnography shows more variation, including possession, spirit proximity, and different ways practitioners describe altered experience. Singh also traces his path into anthropology, including long-term fieldwork with the Mentawai people off the west coast of Sumatra. There, he studied ritual specialists known as kerei and saw how central they are to healing, ceremony, and community life. Core Insights From Manvir Singh At the center of the episode, Manvir Singh offers a practical three-part definition. He emphasizes these shared traits as the "beating heart" of shamanism across many settings: A non-ordinary state (trance, ecstasy, or another altered mode) Engagement with unseen beings or realities (spirits, gods, ancestors, witches, ghosts) Services such as healing and divination Singh also explores taboo, restriction, and "otherness." He explains how shamans often cultivate social and psychological distance through initiations, deprivation, and visible markers. This helps communities experience the practitioner as different in kind, which increases credibility when the practitioner claims access to hidden forces. Later Discussion and Takeaways With Manvir Singh Later, Manvir Singh challenges common psychedelic narratives that treat psychedelics as the universal engine of religion or shamanism. He notes that many shamanic traditions do not rely on psychedelics at all, and that rhythmic music, drumming, dance, and social ritual can reliably produce trance states. He also clarifies a key mismatch in many contemporary "ayahuasca tourism" settings: in many traditional contexts, the specialist takes the substance to work on behalf of the patient, rather than turning the participant into the primary visionary practitioner. Practical takeaways for the psychedelic field include: Use definitions that fit cross-cultural evidence, not marketing language. Avoid assuming psychedelics are required for mystical experience. Notice how authority gets built through ritual, training, and otherness, not only through pharmacology.

A true crime / survival mystery from the Siberian wilds: in August 1993, seven hikers entered the Hamar-Daban Mountains of Buryatia (near Lake Baikal)—and only one walked back out. What happened on that windswept ridge has been called the “Buryat Dyatlov Pass”: a sudden storm, a frantic descent, and then a cascade of bizarre symptoms—foaming at the mouth, blood, panic, and collapse—leaving six bodies scattered on an exposed ledge while a terrified teen survivor staggered to a river and found help.  Officials ruled hypothermia and closed the case. But the details refused to stay buried: claims of missing eyes later attributed to scavengers, questions about food and exhaustion, and theories ranging from toxic exposure to military testing to the possibility of cold/altitude-related pulmonary edema.  Inside this episode:The trek: Lyudmila Korovina leads six young hikers into the Hamar-Daban rangeThe turn: August 4–5 — a brutal storm hits at roughly 2,300 metersThe collapse: eyewitness survivor account of sudden convulsions and rapid deathsThe recovery: why the scene looked “impossible,” and what time + wildlife can doThe official file: why authorities said hypothermia—and what they dismissedTheories vs. evidence: separating folklore from what the record can actually supportThis is a case where nature, fear, and unanswered questions collide—and the only person who knows the final minutes had to live with them forever. We're telling that story tonight.

Paul Metsa is a legendary musician and songwriter from Minnesota. Born on the Iron Range, he has been based in Minneapolis since 1978. He has received seven Minnesota Music Awards and has played more than five thousand gigs, including forays to Iceland and Siberia. He lives in Northeast Minneapolis with his faithful dog, Blackie; a…

The Grand Duke's life is in danger, and the telegraph wire has been cut. Who can carry a dispatch from the Czar across revolutionary Siberia in time to warn him?  Jules Verne, today on The Classic Tales Podcast.   Welcome to The Classic Tales Podcast. Thank you for listening.   Let's talk about ads. Now, most podcasts offer a subscription where you can pay $10 or so a month, and you get to listen to their show with no ads, and get a few bonus episodes. Here's the thing – this largely goes to benefit the podcast platforms. The actual creators don't get much.   So, I created a better plan. For $9.99 per month, you get unlimited downloadable and streamable access to the entire Classic Tales Library. I've been building this for 18 years. This gives you access to longer books that wouldn't work in the podcast format. Books like Nicholas Nickleby, Moby Dick, or Plutarch's Lives. Only about a quarter of the books in the library were released through the podcast. So you can instantly download and listen to whatever you want, all the time. This is the Audiobook Library Card.   Go to audiobooklibrarycard.com or follow the link in the show notes, and download and listen all you want.   Today's story is the first in an episodic release of the novel Michael Strogoff, by Jules Verne. I don't know about you, but my favorite Jules Verne novel might be Around the World in 80 Days. Michael Strogoff is similarly commissioned with a race against time, but the story is placed in Czarist Russia, and is essentially a spy novel. This first episode is kind of a lot to set up, but once we get going – hold on tight!     And now, Michael Strogoff, Part 1 of 9, by Jules Verne     Follow this link to get The Audiobook Library Card for a special price of $6.99/month       Follow this link to subscribe to our YouTube Channel:       Follow this link to subscribe to the Arsène Lupin Podcast:     Follow this link to follow us on Instagram:     Follow this link to follow us on Facebook:

"I don't want to make a zoo. I don't to take care of those animals for eternity, I want them to live on their own and in order to have a sustainable ecosystem it's extremely important to have all niches filled in this ecosystem." In the place of the vast Siberian tundras were once great grasslands teeming with wildlife, until early humans hunted them out. In the latest episode of Rewilding the World Nikita Zimov explains how his Pleistocene rewilding project in remotest Siberia is using wild horses, muskox, yaks and even camels to restore these grasslands, which - he suggests - can go a long way towards solving the climate crisis.Ben Goldsmith is a British financier and rewilding enthusiast. Join him as he speaks to people from all over the world who champion nature and are helping to restore habitats and wildlife to some of the most nature depleted parts of our planet.This podcast is produced by The Podcast Coach.Text Rewilding the World here. Let us know what you think of the podcast and if there are any rewilding projects you would love Ben to feature in future episodes. Rewilding the World is brought to you by UNI, the world's first coral reef and river safe line of bodycare. These exceptional products are made with sustainably sourced natural ingredients. UNI are leading the way in guilt-free sustainable Body Care, from hand wash to shampoo, body serum and natural deodorants. Learn more at WeareUNI.com. Available in the UK at Space NK.

Step into 2026 inspired, empowered, and ready to dream bigger with this special holiday edition of Women Road Warriors. Hosts Shelley Johnson and Kathy Tuccaro bring together three extraordinary female icons whose stories prove that resilience, reinvention, and purpose have no expiration date.Country music trailblazers Chapel Hart share how they broke barriers as independent African American artists—turning rejection into rocket fuel while building success on their own terms and setting their sights on global impact.Hollywood icon Ruta Lee, whose career spans more than seven decades, reflects on a life shaped by courage and grace—from starring alongside legends like Frank Sinatra to orchestrating a real-life Cold War rescue to save her grandmother from Siberia.Rounding out the episode, Jean Peelen, author of Feisty, proves it's never too late to reinvent yourself. Now in her 80s, Jean shares wisdom from a remarkable life that includes seven careers—federal civil rights attorney, broadcasting executive, politician, model, Survivor finalist, and author.This uplifting New Year special delivers powerful perspective, fearless energy, and real-world inspiration to help listeners step confidently into 2026—no matter their age, stage, or dream.www.chapelhart.comwww.rutalee.comwww.oldwomenwhowrite.comwww.womenroadwarriors.com#DreamBigger #2026Goals #Trailblazers #Icons #CelebrityInterviews #RutaLee #ChapelHart #JeanPeelen #NewYearInspiration #WomenRoadWarriors

Today we have the pleasure of sharing an episode from one of our favorite podcasts, the Lit Ladies Podcast. Here is more about their show: We are three writers and moms exploring how to live out our faith in our literary lives. We span the country—from the coasts to the Midwest—and with different stages of life, careers, and favorite genres, we are sure to cover the literary landscape. In every episode, we'll discuss books we love, reading life, and writing craft, using the Bible as our guide for beauty, goodness, and truth. New episodes drop every other Friday! Historical Fiction, War Stories, and What We Sip While We Read This Lit Ladies Podcast crossover with the Historical Bookworm team covers why historical fiction matters, how war settings shape stories, and what everyone is reading right now. Key takeaways Historical fiction makes history personal, which helps you see how everyday people lived. Accuracy matters most when it grounds the characters and the social pressures of the era. War settings work best when the focus stays on human cost, resilience, and the ripple effects on families. Reading older books can mean meeting older blind spots, which calls for discernment instead of reflexive dismissal. Lesser-known conflicts can add fresh perspective, especially when anchored in solid research. Welcome to the crossover Karissa: Hello and welcome to the Lit Ladies Podcast. Today we’re doing a special crossover episode with our friends KyLee Woodley and Darcy Fornier and their historical fiction podcast. We’re so excited to have you here today. Darcy: So excited to be here. We have so much fun hanging out with you guys. KyLee: Thanks for the invite. Glad to be here. Karissa: KyLee Woodley is a podcaster and author of the Outlaw Hearts series, adventure romances set in the American Wild West. Darcy Fornier is a podcaster and author of The Crown and the Axe, and they are both the hosts of the Historical Bookworm podcast, which is in its fifth season. It’s for lovers of inspirational historical fiction, and the show features author interviews, bookish and historical segments, and a wide variety of guests, from Christy Award-winners to high-quality indie authors. Favorite reading beverages Karissa: Before we jump in today, I want to know what is everyone’s favorite reading beverage of choice? Christie: I usually drink water, or else I don’t really drink anything because I’m too busy speed reading. But today for the podcast, since we’re doing it in the morning, I get to drink coffee. Darcy: Usually coffee. If I said anything else, my sisters would say I was lying. But I also enjoy hot chocolate or tea. Anything hot. I’m not going to be drinking lemonade even in the summer. KyLee: The nice thing about being in the South is that the AC is always blasting. So it’s hot cocoa, coffee, soup, any time of the day. My current favorite beverage to go with my reading, which I seldom read, but audiobooks, big on audiobooks these days, is the Iced Pecan Crunch Oat Milk Latte. I don’t usually go to Starbucks. I find their coffee very bitter, but this is a blonde espresso. I get it without the foam. It’s too sweet and it takes up too much in my cup. Karissa: I like to drink herbal tea. That’s my main comfort drink. Why historical fiction Karissa: What draws you to historical fiction? KyLee: For me, I like the nostalgia. I grew up very sheltered. We didn’t have a TV until I was 12. My mom would just drop us off at the library, then go shopping, then pick us up whenever. We always had audiobooks or books on tape. When we did get a TV, it was black and white. We watched a lot of black and white shows. For me, I remember those good times with old classic films and literature. There’s also this idea of, “What was.” Historical and fantasy are best friends because there’s that sense of wonder. But historical is like, this really did happen. This was really true. I like to dig into history and see who someone was, and go back to where they were if that’s possible. I love to research the way people lived and thought, the things they invented, and how resourceful they were. Darcy: Mine is similar. It’s about the people that came before, and how their stories influenced our lives today. You can go to historical sites and almost touch the lives that they had there. We tend to study history as the big overview. This person was king, these wars happened, all this stuff. Historical fiction lets you dive into what it was like for the day-to-day person. Even if you’re writing about a king, you’re asking what motivated him and what it felt like. People are people as long as they’ve lived. Karissa: That’s my favorite part too. How did people actually live, what challenges did they face, and what did they wear? KyLee: I also like when an author challenges what we accept as historical norms. Bring out something different that we wouldn’t expect. Like a female rancher who ran a ranch with hundreds of cowboys. I heard on a podcast that there was an African-American college in Waco in the 1860s. I had never heard of that. I want to learn the things that go against what people believe as a whole. I want to see the people who were counterculture in their time. Christie: Whoever wins writes the history book. There’s so much that was lived and done that you don’t know about because it was shut down, or the history books made it seem nice and clean. Favorite eras and the appeal of time travel Karissa: Christie, do you have a favorite era to read or write about? Christie: I haven’t read much historical in a while. I used to read a lot of Jen Turano because her voice is funny, witty, and sharp. For an era, late 1800s to 1940s. If there’s too much work to live, it pulls me out. I’m modern. I don’t want to learn about churning butter. Darcy: A few modern conveniences is okay. Christie: I would do a castle, like medieval, every now and then. KyLee: That’s what’s fun about time travel or slip time. You get the comparison. Especially time travel, when someone modern comes into the past and you see how they react to everything. Karissa: I just discovered Gabrielle Meyer. It’s sort of time travel. KyLee: In those books, the women exist in two timelines until a certain age. Then they have to choose which timeline they’ll live in. What’s fun is that she explores different eras. You get contrast between two past timelines, like the Civil War and the 1920s. Christie: I’d choose the ’20s, not the war. Karissa: I love the Victorian era and the Regency era. I also love reading classics written in the period. You get the perspective of someone who lived in that era and took so much for granted. Darcy: If you read Jane Austen, she doesn’t explain everything because her readers would understand it. Then you read a Regency novel by a modern author, and they explain everything. It’s cool to do both. Karissa: Darcy and KyLee, do you have favorite time periods? Darcy: Medieval is my favorite to read in and write in. Then the Regency era, then the American West. I probably read mostly Westerns. Some people say cowboys are the truest heirs to medieval knights. There are similarities in how unlawful it could feel. There was law in both places, but it only extended so far. Christie: I watch black and white westerns with my mom. The body count is wild. They’re just shooting people in the street and it’s cool. I would never want to live back then. KyLee: I overanalyze it too. It’s set in the 1800s, but it was made in the ’40s or ’50s. So I’m thinking about their worldview and ideologies, and how that shaped what they presented. Christie: They’re pretty racist. Sometimes I’m like, how is this still on TV? Darcy: Everything we write is a product of our time. It’s just more glaring the further back you go. KyLee: I started Gone with the Wind. It’s too long for my taste. Some language made me pause. Karissa: We never see the sins of our own era. Our descendants will look back and see the sins of today. Darcy: Grace Livingstone Hill wrote in the late 1800s and early 1900s. You see elements of racism and classism, and ideas like bloodline influencing character. Looking through modern eyes, it’s horrible. She’s still one of my favorites because her stories are sweet and encouraging in faith, but you see how even a good person is a product of their time. KyLee: That’s why it’s important to be kind. I’m not going to stop reading her because I can see flaws. Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. Karissa: That comes up in English teaching too. How do you teach classics responsibly without canceling them completely? War settings in historical fiction Karissa: I wanted to talk about books set during wars. We see a lot set with the backdrop of World War II. Do you have a favorite war setting to read about, and any favorite books? KyLee: I’ve always been drawn to the Civil War. When I was growing up, there were quite a few Civil War movies and books in the Christian genre. The brother against brother aspect pulls me in. As an adult, I look at the events that led up to it and grimace, hoping history doesn’t repeat itself. More recently, the Franco-Prussian War, partly because some of my ancestors' sisters came over during that time. It only lasted about a year. France declared it, and France lost. Their people suffered. Germany demanded huge remunerations in gold. By today’s standards, I did the math before we started, it was about 84 to 95 billion dollars. (FACT CHECK – In today’s purchasing power, estimates for that 5 billion francs generally range between $80 billion and $100 billion USD.) France had promised not to tax people during the war, but afterward they charged back taxes. There was a civil uprising in Paris, and a week-long massacre called the Bloody Week. That history comes into book one of the Outlaw Heart series. It’s lesser known French history. My people were German, and my characters are French, but I was fascinated by it. You don’t hear about that war as much. Darcy: That’s obscure for Americans because it didn’t affect us directly, so it doesn’t make it into our history books. But it made a huge difference in Europe. KyLee: My dad’s side always wrote Prussia on census records, not Germany. That led me to dig into where Prussia was and how that history unfolded. Writing trauma and war without being gratuitous Karissa: What challenges did you find writing about something so difficult in a way that worked for your story? KyLee: The main character in book one, Lorraine, lived through the Bloody Week. She’s in America now. I looked at where she is as an immigrant and how she tries to settle when there is nothing left for her in France. People were rounded up, imprisoned, and shipped off to New Caledonia, a penal colony near Australia, I believe. No trial. Later, there were pardons, but many people were still imprisoned because they were never tried, and their names were never even taken down. Lorraine is haunted by the past and has post-traumatic stress disorder. She refuses to speak English even though she understands it. She holds tightly to French roots, clothing, and food, and stays close to other French people. Jesse challenges her to put down roots in a country where she feels like an alien. That Bible phrase kept coming up to me, be kind to the immigrant, the alien, the foreigner. Remember when you were in Egypt and you were a stranger in a strange land. For research, I relied on as many documents as I could find, plus academic papers written about the Bloody Week and why it happened. I want to respect history and the people who lived it. Karissa: I love how you included the war because we feel the weight she carries without putting everything on the page in an overly graphic way. Christie: The Bandit’s Redemption is the first in the series. It has such a pretty cover too. Darcy: It’s such a good one. Darcy's pick: World War II Karissa: Darcy, do you have a favorite war setting? Darcy: Probably World War II, because it’s so vast. You have the European theater and the Pacific theater, plus the home front in America and Britain. Every time I pick up a World War II book, it’s like, “I did not know that.” The Civil War is hard for me. I grew up in Georgia, and in some places it feels like it happened this century. It was my country. World War II lets me detach a bit more. I did read one Civil War book by Rosanna M. White that was fabulous, Dreams of Savannah. It handled the loyalty conflict very gracefully. Karissa: What makes a good war book? Christie: Accuracy doesn’t matter much to me because I’m not going to catch mistakes. I want characters and their journeys, battles and close calls, romance, and a happy ending. Darcy: I appreciate historical facts because I want to be grounded in the setting. But if I’m reading fiction, I’m there for story and characters. I want to see what the war is doing to them, to their society, to their family, and how it changes their lives. KyLee: I want it at the character level too. I also like seeing people on both sides. I want everyday heroes, and small choices that mattered. I also love surprising historical technology I didn’t know about. Karissa: Accuracy matters to me, but not at the expense of story. I just want what happens to feel believable for the era. In Regency romances, for example, two people being alone in a room can be a big deal. A kiss behind a barn could ruin lives. Darcy: Historical characters in books sometimes have a modern disregard for societal pressure, which is inaccurate. We all feel societal pressure today too. It’s just different pressures. When classics meet modern retellings Christie: Karissa, you like reading the Brontës because they wrote in that time. Do they have stolen kisses, or is it different because they were writing then? Karissa: If it’s Emily and Wuthering Heights, it’s more dramatic and Gothic. With Jane Eyre, I think it’s more bound by the era. Darcy: If someone did a modern retelling, I think they’d put stolen kisses in. KyLee: It depends on the character and how they were raised. There were orphanages and homes for widows who were pregnant, and women who had gotten pregnant outside marriage. There are records showing pregnancies starting before marriage dates in some places in the 1700s. On the whole, the societal expectation mattered. So you need to look at your character. If she’s proper and ladylike, she probably won’t have modern levels of physical intimacy. Karissa has proofread my stuff and told me, this would never happen. She was right. It pushes you to be creative. Make the little things special too. Karissa: What might seem small to us might be very steamy to someone in the Regency era. Like touching a hand without a glove. Darcy: He’ll be proposing within the week. War book recommendations and lesser-known conflicts Christie: I read The Ice Swan by J'nell Ciesielski. That was during the Russian Revolution in 1917. I remember really liking that one. Darcy: Rosemary Sutcliff does this well in her books about Britain after Rome officially withdrew. It spans generations. The first is The Eagle of the Ninth. It’s technically YA and she wrote in the 1950s or ’60s. Sword at Sunset is an adult book with some adult content. She personalizes the conflict and shows conflicting loyalties, and friendships across cultures. It’s history, not fantasy. Karissa: Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys. Not to be confused with anything else. It’s YA historical set during World War II, but it focuses on Stalin’s reign and deportations to Siberia. It takes place in Lithuania and the Baltic states, where there were multiple occupations. It’s about a girl whose family is sent to a prison camp. I studied abroad in Lithuania, so that history sticks with me. Ruta Sepetys researches a lot and her books are well done. Kelly mentioned The Women by Kristin Hannah, set during the Vietnam War. Darcy: I had someone tell me she read The Women three times because it was so good. It's on my list. My sister highly recommends Kristin Hannah. She read The Nightingale and said it was worth the pain. Christie: I need happy ones. I can only do one super tearjerker a year. What everyone is currently reading KyLee: I borrowed The Dark of the Moon by Fiona Valpy. I’ve read The Dressmaker’s Gift and The Beekeeper’s Promise by her. They're World War II, like French resistance. Melanie Dobson does this well too, like The Curator’s Daughter, a time slip about a woman married to a Nazi soldier. I like books that feel sobering, like they changed my life. I also borrowed Angel from the East by Barbara A. Curtis. I borrowed The Winter Rose by Melanie Dobson, a World War II story about a lady who helps rescue Jewish children. Darcy: I just finished The Bounty Hunter’s Surrender by KyLee Woodley. I had never read it cover to cover. I helped brainstorm, and apparently the villain is my fault. I enjoyed it so much. I’m also reading a contemporary by Becky Wade, Turn to Me, in her Misty River romance series set in Northeast Georgia. I know exactly what she’s describing. Christie: I’m reading The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena. Karissa: I'm listening to the audiobook of Long Bright River by Liz Moore. It’s about a police officer in Philadelphia. Her sister struggles with addiction, then goes missing. There are flashbacks and a modern timeline, plus mysterious murders. I can't stop listening. Where to find Historical Bookworm and Lit Ladies KyLee: You can connect with us at HistoricalBookworm.com. You can find me at KyLeeWoodley.com and Darcy at DarcyFornier.com Darcy: I’m most active on Instagram, DarcyFornierWriter Karissa: Thank you for joining us today on our literary journey. If you love the podcast, share it with a friend and rate and review. And don’t forget to follow us on social media at Lit Ladies Pod. Our quote today is from Barbara Tuchman: “Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled. Thought and speculation are at a standstill.”

From Sneaky Rebel to National Geographic Trailblazer! This is the start of a special two-part series with the amazing Sarah Leen, a woman whose name is synonymous with the iconic yellow border of National Geographic. In this first part, we trace Sarah's historic journey: from being a "rebellious" student to becoming the first female College Photographer of the Year and, eventually, the first female Director of Photography in the magazine's 125-year history.  We dive into the reality of the freelance life, shooting 16 stories across the globe from Siberia to Mali, and the "tough lessons" learned on her first assignments. Sarah shares her philosophy on being a "problem solver" rather than a "problem maker," her love for the physical page, and why she eventually decided to step down from the top office to return to the creative "jigsaw puzzle" of editing.  Coming next week: Stay tuned for Part 2, where we follow Sarah into her life after the magazine, focusing on the art of photo books editing, her mission with being a mentor at amazing workshops and some good laughs of course too! *****

Send Bidemi a Text Message!In this episode, host Bidemi Ologunde spoke with Ivan Gekht, CEO of Gehtsoft, a family-run software company with over 20 years of Agile R&D experience. They explored Ivan's journey from Siberia to building a team that tackles “impossible” business challenges with science, adaptability, and integrity. How can Agile methods truly reduce project risk instead of becoming just another buzzword? What does it take to build healthier, more productive relationships with technology—both for teams and end users? And how can tech companies meaningfully support minority-, women-, and veteran-owned businesses while still innovating and scaling?Support for The Bid Picture Podcast comes from Skylight Calendar—the family-friendly digital calendar that helps everyone stay on the same page. With a quick setup and an easy-to-read display in a shared space, Skylight makes it simple to keep track of school events, practices, appointments, and family plans—so mornings run smoother and everyone knows what's next. Make your home the place where schedules finally make sense. Skylight Calendar—because family life works better when it's shared. Learn more at myskylight.com.Support for The Bid Picture Podcast comes from Black Rifle Coffee Company, a veteran-founded coffee brand roasting premium beans for people who love a strong start to the day. From bold blends to convenient ready-to-drink cans, Black Rifle Coffee keeps you fueled for whatever's ahead. Check them out at blackriflecoffee.com.Support the show

Over three nights in December 1980, during the Christmas weekend, dozens of military personnel at a British air base witnessed something in the woods that remains officially unexplained.IN THIS EPISODE: Imagine celebrating the holidays around your Christmas tree – and it begins shaking for no reason! (The Swaying Christmas Tree) *** What dark secret made Charlie Lawson slaughter his family on Christmas Day? (The Murder of the Lawson Family) *** A Weirdo family member tells of an odd yet heartwarming experience at Christmas. (Visits For The Holidays) *** A woman still mourning her husband's passing is visited on Christmas by beautiful balls of light. (The Christmas Orbs) *** The holidays; a time for warmth, joy… sorcery, superstition, and darkness and… at least it is in Russia. (Christmas in Siberia) *** Did dozens of military personnel at RAF Bentwaters encounter an alien spacecraft over Christmas 1980? (The Christmas Invasion) *** (Originally aired December 12, 2018)SOURCES AND ESSENTIAL WEB LINKS…“The Christmas Invasion” posted at The Unredacted: https://tinyurl.com/y6jolswm“Visits For The Holidays” by Weirdo family member, Ashley Ingraham“The Swaying Christmas Tree” from YourHauntedLifeToo.com: https://tinyurl.com/yyscz2xr“The Murder of the Lawson Family” by Orrin Grey for The Line Up: http://ow.ly/KeA130mXqwi“Christmas Orbs” by Jenine Fitterer for YourHauntedLifeToo.com: https://tinyurl.com/yyfg8bt8“Christmas in Siberia” by Dreyk for Your Ghost Stories: https://tinyurl.com/y4j3mp5a= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =Weird Darkness theme by Alibi Music Library. Background music provided by Alibi Music Library, EpidemicSound and/or StoryBlocks with paid license. Music from Shadows Symphony (https://tinyurl.com/yyrv987t), Midnight Syndicate (http://amzn.to/2BYCoXZ) Kevin MacLeod (https://tinyurl.com/y2v7fgbu), Tony Longworth (https://tinyurl.com/y2nhnbt7), and Nicolas Gasparini (https://tinyurl.com/lnqpfs8) is used with permission of the artists.= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =(Over time links seen above may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = ="I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." — John 12:46= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2024, Weird Darkness.= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =https://weirddarkness.com/ufochristmas#WeirdDarkness #RendleshamForest #UFO #BritainsRoswell #UFOSighting #MilitaryUFO #Unexplained #UFOEvidence #AlienEncounter #ChristmasUFO

Rob and Dan discuss the Transfer Portal, recap the semifinal round of the College Football Playoff, wonder if some national media personalities don't maybe belong on work farms in Siberia, and then preview the Quarterfinal Bowl Games.

At the cusp of the 20th century, it seemed like contact with another world was just a matter of time. In fact, the French Academy of Sciences announced a prize for such a feat 125 years ago today. The winner would receive 100,000 francs. There was only one catch: Mars didn’t count. The prize was established by Clara Guzman in honor of her son. He was a follower of astronomer Camille Flammarion, who wrote extensively – and fancifully – about the Red Planet. Guzman excluded Mars from the competition because it seemed just too easy. Percival Lowell had popularized the idea that Mars was crisscrossed by canals – built by Martians to bring water from the poles to the planet’s deserts. Inventor Nicola Tesla had reported hearing possible radio signals from Mars. And many others thought that vast dark areas on Mars were covered with vegetation. Many schemes were proposed to contact the Martians. One suggested creating giant geometric shapes in Siberia. Another suggested digging the shapes into the Sahara Desert, filling them with kerosene, and setting them on fire. None of the schemes ever materialized. And no one ever claimed the prize for contacting another world. So the French academy decided to award the prize for making physical contact. In 1969, it awarded the Guzman Prize to Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins – the first men to set foot on another world. Script by Damond Benningfield

Click here for the DRB Daily Sign Up form! TODAY'S SCRIPTURE:Hebrews chapters 12 and 13, and the letter of Jude Click HERE to give! Get Free App Here! One Year Bible Podcast: Join Hunter and Heather Barnes on 'The Daily Radio Bible' for a daily 20-minute spiritual journey. Engage with scripture readings, heartfelt devotionals, and collective prayers that draw you into the heart of God's love. Embark on this year-long voyage through the Bible, and let each day's passage uplift and inspire you. TODAY'S EPISODE: Welcome to the Daily Radio Bible podcast! In today's episode, Hunter guides us through a reflective journey on this 14th day of December, drawing insights from Hebrews chapters 12 and 13, and the letter of Jude. Together, we explore themes of faith, endurance, and transformation—reminding ourselves that our true home is still ahead, beyond the hardships and changing seasons of life. Hunter shares the powerful encouragement found in scripture: pressing on in faith, setting our sights on Jesus, and supporting one another in love, peace, and holiness. This episode also features moments of prayer and meditation, inviting you to rest in God's steadfast goodness and to seek His will amid daily challenges. Whether it's the migration of cranes or the journey of our souls, the message is clear—we are drawn home by a love greater than ourselves. Settle in for inspiring scripture readings, thoughtful reflections, and uplifting prayers as you walk together with Hunter and the Daily Radio Bible community. TODAY'S DEVOTION: We're making our migration home through all the seasons of life. We used to live in a place where we had sandhill cranes that we could watch out our back window. Those cranes sometimes migrate all the way across the Bering Strait to Siberia to their mating grounds, where it all began. When the winter begins, they'll make their journey back. These days in December are some of the longest nights and coldest days of the year. But starting December 21, the days will slowly grow longer and the nights shorter. These amazing cranes will begin to make their way home, drawn by an inexplicable call, some kind of life within them, drawing them back. And so it is with us. You may be in a winter season where the nights are long and the days are too short, but don't forget that you are on a journey too. And that journey will lead all of us home. The writer of Hebrews wants to remind us all that the world is not our permanent home. He says this in Hebrews 13:15: "So let us go out to him outside the camp and bear the disgrace he bore. For this world is not our permanent home. We are looking forward to a home yet to come. Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name." So let's keep going forward, setting our focus and our heart on our permanent home. That's the prayer that I have for my own soul. That's the prayer that I have for my family, for my wife and my daughters and my son. And that's the prayer that I have for you. May it be so. TODAY'S PRAYERS: Lord God Almighty and everlasting father you have brought us in safety to this new day preserve us with your Mighty power that we might not fall into sin or be overcome by adversity. And in all we do, direct us to the fulfilling of your purpose  through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen.   Oh God you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth and sent your blessed son to preach peace to those who are far and those who are near. Grant that people everywhere may seek after you, and find you. Bring the nations into your fold, pour out your Spirit on all flesh, and hasten the coming of your kingdom through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.   And now Lord,  make me an instrument of your peace.  Where there is hatred let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon.  Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is despair, hope.  Where there is darkness, light.  And where there is sadness,  Joy.  Oh Lord grant that I might not seek to be consoled as to console. To be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love.  For it is in the giving that we receive, in the pardoning that we are pardoned, it is in the dying that we are born unto eternal life.  Amen And now as our Lord has taught us we are bold to pray... Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our tresspasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not unto temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Loving God, we give you thanks for restoring us in your image. And nourishing us with spiritual food, now send us forth as forgiven people, healed and renewed, that we may proclaim your love to the world, and continue in the risen life of Christ.  Amen.  OUR WEBSITE: www.dailyradiobible.com We are reading through the New Living Translation.   Leave us a voicemail HERE: https://www.speakpipe.com/dailyradiobible Subscribe to us at YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Dailyradiobible/featured OTHER PODCASTS: Listen with Apple Podcast DAILY BIBLE FOR KIDS DAILY PSALMS DAILY PROVERBS DAILY LECTIONARY DAILY CHRONOLOGICAL  

In each Random Bird Thursday (RBT) episode, the goal is to highlight a bird species that probably isn't going to get featured in a full-length podcast episode. These are birds we might overlook, even though they certainly deserve some appreciation and attention. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~⚠️ SPOILER ALERT!The featured species in this episode is the Asian Dowitcher (Limnodromus semipalmatus)Asian Dowitcher sounds (Xeno Canto recordings XC349045 and XC806613)Support the show

After months of fighting, the Kremlin says Russian forces have seized the frontline city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine. It links several other key cities in the Donetsk region. Last month, Ukraine sent reinforcements to try to fend off the Russian attack. Kyiv has not acknowledged the loss of the city. Also: the White House defends Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth over US military action off the coast of Venezuela; the presidential election result in Honduras is too close to call; the World Health Organization calls for weight loss jabs to be more widely available; what Australian teenagers make of an up-coming social media ban; the eighty-five-kilometre long traffic jam in Siberia; and an interview with the Taiwanese director who shot a critically-acclaimed film on iPhones.The Global News Podcast brings you the breaking news you need to hear, as it happens. Listen for the latest headlines and current affairs from around the world. Politics, economics, climate, business, technology, health – we cover it all with expert analysis and insight. Get the news that matters, delivered twice a day on weekdays and daily at weekends, plus special bonus episodes reacting to urgent breaking stories. Follow or subscribe now and never miss a moment. Get in touch: globalpodcast@bbc.co.uk

Have a spirulina shake, it's Noah Hawley. Siberia with family restaurants, pitching the segue, and the Mayor of Childhood. “Family programming… that ship has sailed.” It's an all-new SmartLess. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of SmartLess ad-free and a whole week early. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.