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In this episode, Bradley Smith of Capital University Law School and Nicholas Stephanopoulos of Harvard Law School join to discuss the history and future of partisan gerrymandering, including the mid-decade redistricting battles of the Gilded Age and the ongoing mid-decade redistricting efforts in Texas and California. Resources Rucho v. Common Cause (2019)  Reynolds v. Sims (1964)  Nicholas Stephanopoulos, Aligning Election Law (2024)  Nicholas Stephanopoulos & Eric McGhee, “Partisan Gerrymandering and the Efficiency Gap,” Chicago Unbound (2014)  Bradley Smith, Unfree Speech: The Folly of Campaign Finance Reform (2001)   Stay Connected and Learn More Questions or comments about the show? Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠podcast@constitutioncenter.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Continue the conversation by following us on social media @ConstitutionCtr. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign up⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate. Follow, rate, and review wherever you listen. Join us for an upcoming ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠live program⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or watch recordings on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Support our important work. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Donate

You're listening to Burnt Toast! Today, my guest is Ash Brandin of Screen Time Strategies, also know as The Gamer Educator on Instagram. Ash is also the author of a fantastic new book, Power On: Managing Screen Time to Benefit the Whole Family. Ash joined us last year to talk about how our attitudes towards screen time can be…diet-adjacent. I asked them to come back on the podcast this week because a lot of us are heading into back-to-school mode, which in my experience can mean feelingsss about screen routines. There are A LOT of really powerful reframings in this episode that might blow your mind—and make your parenting just a little bit easier. So give this one a listen and share it with anyone in your life who's also struggling with kids and screen time.Today's episode is free but if you value this conversation, please consider supporting our work with a paid subscription. Burnt Toast is 100% reader- and listener-supported. We literally can't do this without you! PS. You can take 10 percent off Power On, or any book we talk about on the podcast, if you order it from the Burnt Toast Bookshop, along with a copy of Fat Talk! (This also applies if you've previously bought Fat Talk from them. Just use the code FATTALK at checkout.)Episode 208 TranscriptVirginiaFor anyone who missed your last episode, can you just quickly tell us who you are and what you do?AshI'm Ash Brandin. I use they/them pronouns.I am a middle school teacher by day, and then with my online presence, I help families and caregivers better understand and manage all things technology—screen time, screens. My goal is to reframe the way that we look at them as caregivers, to find a balance between freaking out about them and allowing total access. To find a way that works for us. VirginiaWe are here today to talk about your brilliant new book, which is called Power On: Managing Screen Time to Benefit the Whole Family. I can't underscore enough how much everybody needs a copy of this book. I have already turned back to it multiple times since reading it a few months ago. It just really helps ground us in so many aspects of this conversation that we don't usually have.AshI'm so glad to hear that it's helpful! If people are new to who I am, I have sort of three central tenets of the work that I do: * Screen time is a social inequity issue. * Screens can be part of our lives without being the center of our lives. * Screens and screen time should benefit whole families.Especially in the last few years, we have seen a trend toward panic around technology and screens and smartphones and social media. I think that there are many reasons to be concerned around technology and its influence, especially with kids. But what's missing in a lot of those conversations is a sense of empowerment about what families can reasonably do. When we focus solely on the fear, it ends up just putting caregivers in a place of feeling bad.VirginiaYou feel like you're getting it wrong all the time.AshShame isn't empowering. No one is like, “Well, I feel terrible about myself, so now I feel equipped to go make a change,” right?Empowerment is what's missing in so many of those conversations and other books and things that have come out, because it's way harder. It's so much harder to talk about what you can really do and reasonably control in a sustainable way. But I'm an educator, and I really firmly believe that if anyone's in this sort of advice type space, be it online or elsewhere, that they need to be trying to empower and help families instead of just capitalizing on fear.VirginiaWhat I found most powerful is that you really give us permission to say: What need is screen time meeting right now? And this includes caregivers' needs. So not just “what need is this meeting for my child,” but what need is this meeting for me? I am here recording with you right now because iPads are meeting the need of children have a day off school on a day when I need to work. We won't be interrupted unless I have to approve a screen time request, which I might in 20 minutes.I got divorced a couple years ago, and my kids get a lot more screen time now. Because they move back and forth between two homes, and each only has one adult in it. Giving myself permission to recognize that I have needs really got me through a lot of adjusting to this new rhythm of our family.AshAbsolutely. And when we're thinking about what the need is, we also need to know that it's going to change. So often in parenting, it feels like we have to come up with one set of rules and they have to work for everything in perpetuity without adjustment. That just sets us up for a sense of failure if we're like, well, I had this magical plan that someone told me was going to work, and it didn't. So I must be the problem, right? It all comes back to that “well, it's my fault” place.VirginiaWhich is screens as diet culture.AshAll over again. We're back at it. It's just not helpful. If instead, we're thinking about what is my need right now? Sometimes it's “I have to work.” And sometimes it's “my kid is sick and they just need to relax.” Sometimes it's, as you were alluding to earlier, it's we've all just had a day, right? We've been run ragged, and we just need a break, and that need is going to dictate very different things. If my kid is laid up on the couch and throwing up, then what screen time is going to be doing for them is very different than If I'm trying to work and I want them to be reasonably engaged in content and trying to maybe learn something. And that's fine. Being able to center “this is what I need right now,” or “this is what we need right now,” puts us in a place of feeling like we're making it work for us. Instead of feeling like we're always coming up against some rule that we're not going to quite live up to.VirginiaI'd love to talk about the inequity piece a little more too. As I said, going from a two parent household to a one parent household, which is still a highly privileged environment—but even just that small shift made me realize, wait a second. I think all the screen time guidance is just for typical American nuclear families. Ideally, with a stay at home parent.So can you talk about why so much of the standard guidance doesn't apply to most of our families?AshIt's not even just a stay at home parent. It's assuming that there is always at least one caregiver who is fully able to be present. Mom, default parent, is making dinner, and Dad is relaxing after work and is monitoring what the kids are doing, right? And it's one of those times where I'm like, have you met a family?VirginiaPeople are seven different places at once. It's just not that simple.AshIt's not that simple, right? It's like, have you spent five minutes in a typical household in the last 10 years? This is not how it's going, right?So the beginning of the book helps people unlearn and relearn what we may have heard around screens, including what research really does or doesn't say around screens, and this social inequity piece. Because especially since the onset of COVID, screens are filling in systemic gaps for the vast majority of families.I'm a family with two caregivers in the home. We both work, but we're both very present caregivers. So we're definitely kind of a rarity, that we're very privileged. We're both around a lot of the time. And we are still using screens to fill some of those gaps.So whether it's we don't really have a backyard, or people are in a neighborhood where they can't send their kids outside, or they don't have a park or a playground. They don't have other kids in the neighborhood, or it's not a safe climate. Or you live in an apartment and you can't have your neighbors complain for the fifth time that your kids are stomping around and being loud. Whatever it is—a lack of daycare, affordable after school care —those are all gaps. They all have to be filled. And we used to have different ways of filling those gaps, and they've slowly become less accessible or less available. So something has to fill them. What ends up often filling them is screens. And I'm not saying that that's necessarily a good thing. I'd rather live in a world in which everyone is having their needs met accessibly and equitably. But that's a much harder conversation, and is one that we don't have very much say in. We participate in that, and we might vote for certain people, but that's about all we can really do reasonably. So, in the meantime, we have to fill that in with something and so screens are often going to fill that in.Especially if you look at caregivers who have less privilege, who are maybe single caregivers, caregivers of color, people living in poverty—all of those aspects of scarcity impacts their bandwidth. Their capacity as a caregiver is less and spread thinner, and all of that takes away from a caregiver's ability to be present. And there were some really interesting studies that were done around just the way that having less capacity affects you as a caregiver.And when I saw that data, I thought, well, of course. Of course people are turning to screens because they have nothing else to give from. And when we think of it that way, it's hard to see that as some sort of personal failure, right? When we see it instead as, oh, this is out of necessity. It reframes the question as “How do I make screens work for me,” as opposed to, “I'm bad for using screens.”VirginiaRight. How do I use screen time to meet these needs and to hopefully build up my capacity so that I can be more present with my kids? I think people think if you're using a lot of screens, you're really never present. It's that stereotype of the parent on the playground staring at their phone, instead of watching the kid play. When maybe the reason we're at the playground is so my kid can play and I can answer some work emails. That doesn't mean I'm not present at other points of the day.AshOf course. You're seeing one moment. I always find that so frustrating. It just really feels like you you cannot win. If I were sitting there staring at my child's every move in the park, someone would be like, “you're being a helicopter,” right? And if I look at my phone because I'm trying to make the grocery pickup order—because I would rather my child have time at the playground than we spend our only free hour in the grocery store and having to manage a kid in the grocery store and not having fun together, right? Instead I'm placing a pickup order and they're getting to run around on the playground. Now also somehow I'm failing because I'm looking at my phone instead of my kid. But also, we want kids to have independent time, and not need constant input. It really feels like you just can't win sometimes. And being able to take a step back and really focus on what need is this meeting? And if it's ours, and if it is helping me be more present and connected, that's a win. When I make dinner in the evening, my kid is often having screen time, and I will put in an AirPod and listen to a podcast, often Burnt Toast, and that's my decompression. Because I come home straight from work and other things. I'm not getting much time to really decompress.VirginiaYou need that airlock time, where you can decompress and then be ready to be present at dinner.I'm sure I've told you this before, but I reported a piece on screen time for Parents Magazine, probably almost 10 years ago at this point, because I think my older child was three or four. And I interviewed this Harvard researcher, this older white man, and I gave him this the dinner time example. I said, I'm cooking dinner. My kid is watching Peppa Pig so that I can cook dinner, and take a breath. And then we eat dinner together. And he said, “Why don't you involve her in cooking dinner? Why don't you give her a bag of flour to play with while you cook dinner?”AshOf all the things!VirginiaAnd I said to him: Because it's 5pm on a Wednesday and who's coming to clean the flour off the ceiling?AshA bag of flour. Of all the things to go to! VirginiaHe was like, “kids love to make a happy mess in the kitchen!” I was like, well I don't love that. And it was just exactly that. My need didn't matter to him at all. He was like, “h, well, if you just want to pacify your children…” I was like, I do, yes, in that moment.AshWell, and I think that's another part of it is that someone says it to us like that, and we're like, “well, I can't say yes,” right? But in the moment, yeah, there are times where it's like, I need you to be quiet. And as hard as this can be to think, sometimes it's like right now, I need you to be quiet and convenient because of the situation we're in. And that doesn't mean we're constantly expecting that of them, and hopefully that's not something we're doing all the time. But if the need is, oh my God, we're all melting down, and if we don't eat in the next 15 minutes, we're going to have a two hour DEFCON1 emergency on our hands, then, yeah, I'm gonna throw Peppa Pig on so that we can all become better regulated humans in the next 15 minutes and not have a hungry meltdown. And that sounds like a much better alternative to me!VirginiaThan flour all over my kitchen on a Wednesday, right? I mean, I'll never not be mad about it. It's truly the worst parenting advice I've ever received. So thank you for giving us all more space as caregivers to be able to articulate our own needs and articulate what we need to be present. It's what we can do in the face of gaps in the care system that leave us holding so much.That said: I think there are some nitty gritty aspects of this that we all struggle wit, so I want to talk about some of the nuts and bolts pieces. One of my biggest struggles is still the question of how much time is too much time? But you argue that time really isn't the measure we should be using. As you're saying, that need is going to vary day to day, and all the guidance that's been telling us, like, 30 minutes at this age, an hour at this age, all of that is not particularly germane to our lives. So can you explain both why time is less what we should fixate on? And then how do I release myself? How do I divest from the screen time diet culture?AshOh man, I wish I had a magic bullet for that one. We'll see what I can do.When I was writing this and thinking about it and making content about it, I kept thinking about you. Because the original time guidelines that everyone speaks back to—they're from the AAP. And they have not actually been used in about 10 years, but people still bring them up all the time. The “no time under two” and “up to an hour up to age five” and “one to two hours, five to 12.” And if you really dig in, I was following footnote after footnote for a while, trying to really find where did this actually come from? It's not based on some study that found that that's the ideal amount of time. It really came from a desire to find this middle ground of time spent being physically idle. These guidelines are about wanting to avoid childhood obesity.VirginiaOf course.AshIt all comes back, right?VirginiaI should have guessed it.AshAnd so in their original recommendations, the AAP note that partially this is to encourage a balance with physical movement. Which, of course, assumes that if you are not sitting watching TV or using an iPad, that you will be playing volleyball or something.VirginiaYou'll automatically be outside running around.AshExactly, of course, those are the only options.VirginiaIt also assumes that screen time is never physical. But a lot of kids are very physical when they're watching screens.AshExactly. And it, of course, immediately also imposes a morality of one of these things is better—moving your body is always better than a screen, which is not always going to be true, right? All these things have nuance in them. But I thought that was so interesting, and it shouldn't have surprised me, and yet somehow it still did. And of course it is good to find movement that is helpful for you and to give your kids an enjoyment of being outside or moving their bodies, or playing a sport. And putting all of that in opposition to something else they may enjoy, like a screen, really quickly goes to that diet culture piece of “well, how many minutes have you been doing that?” Because now we have to offset it with however many minutes you should be running laps or whatever.So those original recommendations are coming from a place of already trying to mitigate the negatives of sitting and doing something sort of passively leisurely. And in the last 10 years, they've moved away from that, and they now recommend what's called making a family media plan. Which actually I think is way better, because it is much more prioritizing what are you using this for? Can you be doing it together? What can you do? It's much more reasonable, I think. But many people still go back to those original recommendations, because like you said, it's a number. It's simple. Just tell me.VirginiaWe love to grab onto a number and grade ourselves.AshJust tell me how much time so that I can tell myself I'm I'm doing a good job, right? But you know, time is just one piece of information. It can be so specific with what am I using that time to do? If I'm sitting on my computer and doing work for an hour and a half, technically, that is screen time, but it is going to affect me a lot differently than if I'm watching Netflix or scrolling my phone for an hour and a half. I will feel very different after those things. And I think it's really important to be aware of that, and to make our kids aware of that from an early age, so that they are thinking about more than just, oh, it's been X amount of minutes. And therefore this is okay or not okay.Because all brains and all screens are different. And so one kid can watch 20 minutes of Paw Patrol, and they're going to be bouncing off the walls, because, for whatever reason, that's just a show that's really stimulating for them. And somebody else can sit and watch an hour and a half of something, and they'll be completely fine. So if you have a kid that is the first kid, and after 20 minutes, you're like, oh my god, it's not even half an hour. This is supposed to be an okay amount. This is how they're acting. We're right back to that “something's wrong. I'm wrong. They're bad,” as opposed to, “What is this telling me? What's something we could do differently? Could we try a different show? Could we try maybe having some physical movement before or after, see if that makes a difference?” It just puts us more in a place of being curious to figure out again, how do I make this work for me? What is my need? How do I make it work for us?And not to rattle on too long, but there was a big study done in the UK, involving over 120,000 kids. And they were trying to find what they called “the Goldilocks amount of time.”VirginiaYes. This is fascinating.AshSo it's the amount of time where benefit starts to wane. Where we are in that “just right”amount. Before that, might still be okay, but after that we're going to start seeing some negative impacts, particularly when it comes to behavior, for example.What they found in general was that the Goldilocks number tended to be around, I think, an hour and 40 minutes a day. Something around an hour and a half a day. But if you looked at certain types of screens, for computers or TV, it was much higher than that. It was closer to three hours a day before you started seeing some negative impacts. And even for things like smartphones, it was over an hour a day. But what I found so so interesting, is that they looked at both statistical significance, but also what they called “minimally important difference,” which was when you would actually notice these negative changes, subjectively, as a caregiver.So this meant how much would a kid have to be on a screen for their adult at home to actually notice “this is having an impact on you,” regularly. And that amount was over four and a half hours a day on screens.VirginiaBefore caregivers were like, “Okay, this is too much!” And the fact that the statistically significant findings for the minutia of what the researchers looking at is so different from what you as a caregiver are going to actually be thrown by. That was really mind blowing to me.AshRight, And that doesn't mean that statistical significance isn't important, necessarily. But we're talking about real minutiae. And that doesn't always mean that you will notice any difference in your actual life.Of course, some people are going to hear this and go, “But I don't want my kid on a screen for four and a half hours.” Sure. That's completely reasonable. And if your kid is having a hard time after an hour, still reasonable, still important. That's why we can think less about how many minutes has it been exactly, and more, what am I noticing? Because if I'm coming back to the need and you're like, okay, I have a meeting and I need an hour, right? If you know, “I cannot have them use their iPad for an hour, because they tend to become a dysregulated mess in 25 minutes,” that's much more useful information than “Well, it says they're allowed to have an hour of screen time per day so this should be fine because it's an hour.”VirginiaRight.AshIt sets you up for more success.VirginiaAnd if you know your kid can handle that hour fine and can, in fact, handle more fine, it doesn't mean, “well you had an hour of screen time while I was in a meeting so now we can't watch a show together later to relax together.” You don't have to take away and be that granular with the math of the screens. You can be like, yeah, we needed an extra hour for this meeting, and we'll still be able to watch our show later. Because that's what I notice with my kids. If I start to try to take away from some other screen time, then it's like, “Oh, god, wait, but that's the routine I'm used to!” You can't change it, and that's fair.AshYes, absolutely. And I would feel that way too, right? If someone were giving me something extra because it was a convenience to them, but then later was like, “oh, well, I have to take that from somewhere.” But they didn't tell me that. I would be like, Excuse me, that's weird. That's not how that works, right? This was a favor to you, right?VirginiaYeah, exactly. I didn't interrupt your meeting. You're welcome, Mom.Where the time anxiety does tend to kick in, though, is that so often it's hard for kids to transition off screens. So then parents think, “Well, it was too much time,” or, “The screen is bad.” This is another very powerful reframing in your work. So walk us through why just because a kid is having a hard time getting off screens doesn't mean it was too much and it doesn't mean that screens are evil? AshSo an example I use many times that you can tweak to be whatever thing would come up for your kid is bath time. I think especially when kids are in that sort of toddler, three, four age. When my kid was that age, we had a phase where transitioning to and from the bathtub was very hard. Getting into it was hard. But then getting out of it was hard.VirginiaThey don't ever want to get in. And then they never want to leave.AshThey never want to get out, right? And in those moments when my kid was really struggling to get out of the bathtub, imagine how it would sound if I was like, “Well, it it's the bathtub's fault.” Like it's the bath's fault that they are having such a hard time, it's because of the bubbles, and it smells too good, and I've made it too appealing and the water's too warm. Like, I mean, I sound unhinged, right?Virginia“We're going to stop bathing you.”AshExactly. We would not say, “Well, we can't have baths anymore.” Or when we go to the fun playground, and it's really hard to leave the fun playground, we don't blame the playground. When we're in the grocery store and they don't want to leave whichever aisle, we don't blame the grocery store. And we also don't stop taking them to the grocery store. We don't stop going to playgrounds. We don't stop having baths. Instead, we make different decisions, right? We try different things. We start a timer. We have a different transition. We talk about it beforehand. We strategize, we try things.VirginiaGive a “Hey, we're leaving in a few minutes!” so they're not caught off guard.AshExactly. We talk about it. Hey, last time it was really hard to leave here, we kind of let them know ahead of time, or we race them to the car. We find some way to make it more fun, to make the transition easier, right? We get creative, because we know that, hey, they're going to have to leave the grocery store. They're going to have to take baths in a reasonable amount of time as they grow up into their lives. We recognize the skill that's happening underneath it.And I think with screens, we don't always see those underlying skills, because we see it as this sort of superfluous thing, right? It's not needed. It's not necessary. Well, neither is going to a playground, technically.A lot of what we do is not technically required, but the skill underneath is still there. So when they are struggling with ending screen time, is it really the screen, or is it that it's hard to stop doing something fun. It's hard to stop in the middle of something. It's hard to stop if you have been playing for 20 minutes and you've lost every single race and you don't want to stop when you've just felt like you've lost over and over again, right? You want one more shot to one more shot, right?People are going to think, “Well, but screens are so much different than those other things.” Yes, a screen is designed differently than a playground or a bath. But we are going to have kids who are navigating a technological and digital world that we are struggle to even imagine, right? We're seeing glimpses of it, but it's going to be different than what we're experiencing now, and we want our kids to be able to navigate that with success. And that comes back to seeing the skills underneath. So when they're struggling with something like that, taking the screen out of it, and asking yourself, how would I handle this if it were anything else. How would I handle this if it were they're struggling to leave a friend's house? I probably wouldn't blame the friend, and I wouldn't blame their house, and I wouldn't blame their boys.VirginiaWe're never seeing that child again! Ash I would validate and I would tell them, it's hard. And I would still tell them “we're ending,” and we would talk about strategies to make it easier next time. And we would get curious and try something, and we would be showing our kids that, “hey, it's it's okay to have a hard time doing that thing. It's okay to have feelings about it. And we're still gonna do it. We're still going to end that thing.”Most of the time, the things that we are struggling with when it comes to screens actually boil down to one of three things, I call them the ABCs. It's either Access, which could be time, or when they're having it, or how much. Behavior, which you're kind of bringing up here. And Content, what's on the screen, what they're playing, what they what they have access to.And so sometimes we might think that the problem we're seeing in front of us is a behavior problem, right? I told them to put the screen away. They're not putting the screen away. That's a behavior problem. But sometimes it actually could be because it's an access issue, right? It's more time than they can really handle at that given moment. Or it could be content, because it's content that makes it harder to start and stop. So a big part of the book is really figuring out, how do I know what problem I'm even really dealing with here? And then what are some potential things that I can do about it? To try to problem solve, try to make changes and see if this helps, and if it helps, great, keep it. And if not, I can get curious and try something else. And so a lot of it is strategies to try and ways to kind of, you know, backwards engineer what might be going on, to figure out how to make it work for you, how to make it better.VirginiaIt's so helpful to feel like, okay, there's always one more thing I can tweak and adjust. Versus “it's all a failure. We have to throw it out.” That kind of all or nothing thinking that really is never productive. The reason I think it's so helpful that you draw that parallel with the bath or the play date is it reminds us that there are some kids for whom transitions are just always very difficult—like across the board. So you're not just seeing a screen time problem. You're being reminded “My kid is really building skills around transitions. We don't have them yet.” We hope we will have them at some point. But this is actually an opportunity to work on that, as opposed to a problem. We can actually practice some of these transition skills.AshAnd I really like coming back to the skill, because if we're thinking of it as a skill, then we're probably more likely to tell our kids that it's a skill, too. Because if we're just thinking of it as like, well, it's a screen. It's the screen's fault, it's the screen's fault. Then we might not say those literal words to our kids, but we might say, like, it's always so hard to turn off the TV. Why is that, right? We're talking about it as if it's this sort of amorphous, like it's only about the television, or it's only about the iPad, and we're missing the part of making it clear to our kids that, hey, this is a skill that you're working on, and we work on this skill in different ways.VirginiaI did some good repair with my kids after reading your book. Because I was definitely falling into the trap of talking about screen addiction. I thought I was saying to them, “It's not your fault. The screens are programmed to be bad for us in this way” So I thought, I was like at least not blaming them, but being like, we need less screens because they're so dangerous.But then I read your book, and I was like, oh, that's not helpful either. And I did have one of my kids saying, “Am I bad because I want to watch screens all the time?” And I was like, oh, that's too concrete and scary.And again, to draw the parallel with diet culture: It's just like telling kids sugar is bad, and then they think they're bad because they like sugar. So I did do some repair. I was like, “I read this book and now I've learned that that was not right.” They were like, oh, okay. We're healing in my house from that, so thank you.AshOh, you're very welcome, and I'm glad to hear that!I think about those parallels with food all the time, because sometimes it just helps me think, like, wait, would I be wanting to send this message about food or exercise or whatever? And if the answer is no, then how can I tweak it so that I'm sending a message I'd be okay with applying to other things. And I like being able to make those parallels with my kid. In my household right now, we're practicing flexibility. Flexibility is a skill that we're working on in so many parts of our lives. And when I say we, I do mean we. Me, everybody is working on this.VirginiaParents can use more flexibility, for sure.AshAbsolutely. And so like, when those moments are coming up, you know, I'm trying to say, like, hey, like, what skill is this right now? Who's having to be flexible right now? Flexible can be a good thing, right? We might be flexible by saying yes to eating dinner on the couch and watching a TV show. That's flexibility. Flexibility isn't just adjust your plans to be more convenient to me, child, so that I can go do something as an adult. And coming back to those skills so they can see, oh, okay, this isn't actually just about screens. This applies to every part of these of my life, or these different parts of my life, and if I'm working on it here, oh, wow, it feels easier over there. And so they can see that this applies throughout their life, and kind of feel more of that buy in of like, oh, I'm getting better at that. Or that was easier. That was harder. We want them to see that across the board.VirginiaOh, my God, absolutely.Let's talk about screens and neurodivergence a little bit. So one of my kiddos is neurodivergent, and I can both see how screens are wonderful for them at the end of a school day, when they come home and they're really depleted. Screen time is the thing they need to rest and regulate. And they love the world building games, which gives them this whole world to control and explore. And there's so much there that's wonderful.And, they definitely struggle more than their sibling with this transition piece, with getting off it. One kid will naturally put down the iPad at some point and go outside for a bit, and this kid will not. And it creates more anxiety for parents. Because neurodivergent kids may both need screens—in ways that maybe we're not totally comfortable with, but need to get comfortable with—and then struggle with the transition piece. So how do you think about this question differently with neurodivergence? Or or is it really the same thing you're just having to drill in differently?AshI think it is ultimately the same thing, but it certainly is going to feel quite more heightened. And I think especially for certain aspects of neurodivergence, especially, I think it feels really heightened because of some of the ways that they might be discussed, particularly online, when it comes to how they relate to technology. I think about ADHD, we'll see that a lot. Where I'll see many things online about, like, “kids with ADHD should never be on a screen. They should never be on a device, because they are so dopamine-seeking.” And I have to just say that I find that to be such an ableist framing. Because with ADHD, we're talking about a dopamine deficient brain. And I don't think that we would be having that same conversation about someone needing insulin, right? Like, we wouldn't be saying, like, oh yeah, nope, they can't take that insulin. VirginiaThey're just craving that insulin they need to stay alive.AshA kid seeking a thing that they're that they are somehow deficient in—that's not some sort of defiant behavior. VirginiaNo, it's a pretty adaptive strategy.AshAbsolutely, it is. And we want kids to know that nobody's brain is good or bad, right? There's not a good brain or a bad brain. There are all brains are going to have things that are easier or harder. And it's about learning the brain that you're in, and what works or doesn't work for the brain that you're in.And all brains are different, right? Neurotypical brains and neurodivergent brains within those categories are obviously going to be vastly different. What works for one won't work for another, and being able to figure out what works for them, instead of just, “because you have this kind of brain, you shouldn't ever do this thing,” that's going to set them up for more success. And I think it's great that you mentioned both how a screen can be so regulating, particularly for neurodivergent brains, and then the double-edged sword of that is that then you have to stop. VirginiaTransition off back into the world.AshSo if the pain point is a transition, what is it really coming from? Is it coming from the executive function piece of “I don't know how to find a place to stop?” A lot of people, particularly kids ADHD, they often like games that are more open-ended. So they might like something like a Minecraft or an Animal Crossing or the Sims where you can hyperfocus and deep dive into something. But what's difficult about that is that, you know, if I play Mario Kart, the level ends, it's a very obvious ending.VirginiaRight? And you can say, “One more level, and we're done.”AshExactly. We've reached the end of the championship. I'm on the podium. I quit now, right?But there's a never ending series of of tasks with a more open-ended game. And especially if I'm in my hyper focus zone, right? I can just be thinking, like, well, then I can do this and this and this and this and this, right?And I'm adding on to my list, and the last thing I want to do in that moment is get pulled out of it when I'm really feeling like I'm in the zone. So if that's the kind of transition that's difficult. And it's much less about games and more about “how do I stop in the middle of a project?” Because that's essentially what that is.And that would apply if I'm at school and I'm in the middle of an essay and we're finishing it up tomorrow. Or I'm trying to decorate a cake, and we're trying to walk out the door and I have to stop what I'm doing and come back later. So one of the tricks that I have found really helpful is to ask the question of, “How will you know when you're done?” Or how will you know you're at a stopping point? What would a stopping point be today? And getting them to sort of even visualize it, or say it out loud, so that they can think about, “Oh, here's how I basically break down a giant task into smaller pieces,” because that's essentially what that is.VirginiaThat's a great tip. Ash“Okay, you have five minutes. What is the last thing you're going to do today?” Because then it's concrete in terms of, like, I'm not asking the last thing, and it will take you half an hour, right? I'm at, we have five minutes. What's the last thing you're wrapping up? What are you going to do?Then, if it's someone who's very focused in this world, and they're very into that world, then that last thing can also be our transition out of it. As they're turning it off, the very first thing we're saying to them is, “So what was that last thing you were doing?”VirginiaOh, that's nice.AshThen they're telling it to us, and then we can get curious. We can ask questions. We can get a little into their world to help them transition out of that world. That doesn't mean that we have to understand what they're telling us, frankly. It doesn't mean we have to know all the nuance. But we can show that interest. I think this is also really, really important, because then we are showing them it's not us versus the screen. We're not opposing the screen, like it's the enemy or something. And we're showing them, “Hey, I can tell you're interested in this, so I'm interested in it because you are.” Like, I care about you, so I want to know more.VirginiaAnd then they can invite you into their world, which what a lot of neurodivergent kids need. We're asking them to be part of the larger world all the time. And how nice we can meet them where they are a little more.AshAbsolutely. The other thing I would say is that something I think people don't always realize, especially if they don't play games as much, or if they are not neurodivergent and playing games, is they might miss that video games actually are extremely well-accommodated worlds, in terms of accommodating neurodivergence.So thinking about something like ADHD, to go back to that example, it's like, okay, some really common classroom accommodations for ADHD, from the educator perspective, the accommodations I see a lot are frequent check ins, having a checklist, breaking down a large task into smaller chunks, objectives, having a visual organizer.Well, I think about a video game, and it's like, okay, if I want to know what I have available to me, I can press the pause menu and see my inventory at any time. If I want to know what I should be doing, because I have forgotten, I can look at a menu and see, like, what's my objective right now? Or I can bring up the map and it will show me where I supposed to be going. If I start to deviate from what I'm supposed to be doing, the game will often be like, “Hey, don't forget, you're supposed to be going over there!” It'll get me back on task. If I'm trying to make a potion that has eight ingredients, the game will list them all out for me, and it will check them off as I go, so I can visually see how I'm how I'm achieving this task. It does a lot of that accommodation for me. And those accommodations are not as common in the real world, or at least not as easily achieved.And so a lot of neurodivergent kids will succeed easily in these game worlds. And we might think “oh because it's addicting, or the algorithm, or it's just because they love it” But there are often these structural design differences that actually make it more accessible to them.And if we notice, oh, wow, they have no problem knowing what to do when they're playing Zelda, because they just keep checking their objective list all the time or whatever—that's great information.VirginiaAnd helps us think, how can we do that in real life? AshExactly. We can go to them and say, hey, I noticed you, you seem to check your inventory a lot when you're playing that game. How do we make it so that when you look in your closet, you can just as easily see what shirts you own. Whatever the thing may be, so that we're showing them, “hey, bring that into the rest of your world that works for you here.” Let's make it work for you elsewhere, instead of thinking of it as a reason they're obsessed with screens, and now we resent the screens for that. Bring that in so that it can benefit the rest of their lives.VirginiaI'm now like, okay, that just reframes something else very important for me. You have such a helpful way of helping us divest from the guilt and the shame and actually look at this in a positive and empowering way for us and our kids. And I'm just so grateful for it. It really is a game changer for me.AshOh, thank you so much. I'm so glad to hear that it was helpful and empowering for you, and I just hope that it can be that for others as well.ButterAshSo my family and I have been lucky enough to spend quite a lot of time in Japan. And one of the wonderful things about Japan is they have a very huge bike culture. I think people think of the Netherlands as Bike cCentral, but Japan kind of rivals them.And they have a particular kind of bike that you cannot get in the United States. It's called a Mamachari, which is like a portmanteau of mom and chariot. And it's sort of like a cargo bike, but they are constructed a little differently and have some features that I love. And so when I've been in Japan, we are on those bikes. I'm always like, I love this kind of bike. I want this kind of bike for me forever. And my recent Butter has been trying to find something like that that I can have in my day to day life. And I found something recently, and got a lovely step through bike on Facebook Marketplace. VirginiaSo cool! That's exciting to find on marketplace, too.AshOh yes, having a bike that like I actually enjoy riding, I had my old bike from being a teenager, and it just was not functional. I was like, “This is not fun.” And now having one that I enjoy, I'm like, oh yes. I feel like a kid again. It's lovely.VirginiaThat's a great Butter. My Butter is something both my kids and my pets and I are all really enjoying. I'm gonna drop a link in the chat for you. It is called a floof, and it is basically a human-sized dog bed that I found on Etsy. It's like, lined with fake fur.AshMy God. I'm looking at it right now.VirginiaIsn't it hilarious?AshWow. I'm so glad you sent a picture, because that is not what I was picturing?Virginia I can't describe it accurately. It's like a cross between a human-sized dog bed and a shopping bag? Sort of? AshYes, yes, wow. It's like a hot tub.VirginiaIt's like a hot tub, but no water. You just sit in it. I think they call it a cuddle cave. I don't understand how to explain it, but it's the floof. And it's in our family room. And it's not inexpensive, but it does basically replace a chair. So if you think of it as a furniture purchase, it's not so bad. There's always at least a cat or a dog sleeping in it. Frequently a child is in it. My boyfriend likes to be in it. Everyone gravitates towards it. And you can put pillows in it or a blanket.Neurodivergent people, in particular, really love it, because I think it provides a lot of sensory feedback? And it's very enclosed and cozy. It's great for the day we're having today, which is a very laid back, low demand, watch as much screen as you want, kind of day. So I've got one kid bundled into the floof right now with a bunch of blankets in her iPad, and she's so happy. AshOh my gosh. Also, it kind of looks like the person is sitting in a giant pita, which I also love.VirginiaThat's what it is! It's like a giant pita, but soft and cozy. It's like being in a pita pocket. And I'm sure there are less expensive versions, this was like, 300 something dollars, so it is an investment. But they're handmade by some delightful person in the Netherlands.Whenever we have play dates, there are always two or three kids, snuggled up in it together. There's something extremely addictive about it. I don't know. I don't really know how to explain why it's great, but it's great.AshOh, that is lovely.VirginiaAll right, well tell obviously, everyone needs to go to their bookstore and get Power On: Managing Screen Time to Benefit the Whole Family. Where else can we find you, Ash? How can we support your work?AshYou can find me on Instagram at the gamer educator, and I also cross post my Instagram posts to Substack, and I'm on Substack as Screen Time Strategies. It's all the same content, just that way you're getting it in your inbox without, without having to go to Instagram. So if that's something that you are trying to maybe move away from, get it via Substack. And my book Power On: Managing Screen Time to Benefit the Whole Family is available starting August 26 is when it fully releases.VirginiaAmazing. Thank you so much. This was really great.AshThank you so much for having me back.The Burnt Toast Podcast is produced and hosted by Virginia Sole-Smith (follow me on Instagram) and Corinne Fay, who runs @SellTradePlus, and Big Undies.The Burnt Toast logo is by Deanna Lowe.Our theme music is by Farideh.Tommy Harron is our audio engineer.Thanks for listening and for supporting anti-diet, body liberation journalism! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit virginiasolesmith.substack.com/subscribe

NOTE: For Ad-Free Episodes, 100+hrs of Bonus Content and More - Visit our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/thewheelweavespodcastFind us on our Instagram, Twitter, YouTube & Website, and join the conversation on Discord!In this episode Dani and Brett finish the Prologue of A Memory of Light!!! Perspectives 9-12 of the Prologue are covered in this episode!!We would like to thank and welcome our newest Executive Producer Patron, Manethraen!! Thank you so much for your support!!We would like to thank and welcome Charles, Vicky, Carl Jackson, and David Mitchell to The Wheel Weaves Patreon Team!! Thank you so much for your support!!We would like to acknowledge and thank our Executive Producers Brandy and Aaron Kirkwood, Sean McGuire, Janes, LightBlindedFool, Deyvis Ferreira, Green Man, Margaret, Big C, Bennett Williamson, Hannah Green, Noralia, Geof Searles, Erik Reed, Greysin Ishara, Ashlee Bradley, Helena Jacobsen, Matthew Mendoza, Cyndi, Sims, Patrick Wallbankk, and Manethraen!The Wheel Weaves is hosted and edited by Dani and Brett, produced by Dani and Brett with Passionsocks, Cody Fouts, Benjamin, Jamie Young, Magen, Jared Berg, Rikky Morrisette, Adam, Mozyme, Michelle Forbes, MKM, Antoine Benoit, Lawrence Bradley, Colby T, Gabby Young, Ricat, Zane Sciacca, Matrix, Matt Truss, The Albatross, Bratimus Prime, Sarah Creech, Saverio Bartolini, Sims, Chris G., and Mag621; with music by Audionautix.Check out our partner - the Spoiler-Free Wiki - Spliki.com - Your main first time reader, Spoiler-Free WoT information source!Don't forget to leave us that 5 star review if you enjoy the show for a chance to win exclusive merchandise!Check out https://www.thewheelweavespodcast.com for everything The Wheel Weaves!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-wheel-weaves-podcast-a-wheel-of-time-podcast--5482260/support.

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In an early vintage episode of The Paracast, the controversial "Alien Hunter," Derrel W. Sims, talks to Gene and David about his research into alleged alien abductions, government secrecy and other controversial topics; In Part Two, you hear from Tracie Austin-Peters, who was then Producer / Host for "Let's Talk...Paranormal."Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-paracast-the-gold-standard-of-paranormal-radio--6203433/support.

In this episode, Pastor Joel Sims continues our Look at Jesus series with this message, Jesus Heals, where he encourages us that healing is God's will for us, as clearly shown in the ministry of Jesus.

Natalie aka OhThatNatalie on socials joins from Canada as we get to talk about a number of her passions. While we start off strong with talk of tiramisu, we dive into one of our main topics - Books! Natalie talks about how she got back into reading, fanfiction, and what books she is drawn to now. She gives several recommendations (see links below), and we talk openly about how she shares her very personal reactions to some of the books she's read on her Instagram page. She talks about how she decides which books sit on shelves, and which books get boxed to be saved for later. Mixed in with that talk, we do delve into a little about hockey and how Natalie is a fan of the Carolina Hurricanes and how that came to be. We then jump over to video games and Twitch streaming. Natalie talks about how she first got into video games, and what kind of video games she is drawn to. Natalie talks about her start as a Twitch streamer, streaming The Sims 4, and eventually transitioning to story based games such as Red Dead Redemption, Mass Effect, and Ghost of Tsushima, to recent Souls like games. You can find Natalie at: https://direct.me/ohthatnatalie/ https://www.twitch.tv/ohthatnatalie https://www.instagram.com/ohthatnatalie/ https://www.youtube.com/c/ohthatnatalietv https://bsky.app/profile/ohthatnatalie.bsky.social Book recommendations include: The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood - https://amzn.to/45BoE2c Playing for Keeps series by Becka Mack - https://amzn.to/45OV0p0 The D.C. Stars series by Chelsea Curto - https://amzn.to/3VnHTGd A Rebel Blue Ranch series by Lyla Sage - https://amzn.to/3VlQPfe Out on a Limb by Hannah Bonam-Young - https://amzn.to/4oRDI32 Not Safe For Work by Nisha J. Tuli - https://amzn.to/41ZnKtP

In this episode of Reimagine Childhood, hosted by Monica Healer and powered by Early Childhood Christian Network, educators are guided on how to create impactful early childhood experiences for both children and their parents. Special guest Nichole Sims, a seasoned children's minister and current children's pastor, lends her insights on equipping educators to flourish. The discussion underscores the significance of meaningful community within early childhood centers. Drawing inspiration from Colossians 2, the conversation delves into the importance of building deep, flourishing roots through worship, scriptural engagement, and community support. Through the analogy of trees and a reflection on the Psalms and Acts 2, the episode illustrates how interconnectedness and unity among educators can lead to a thriving educational environment. The episode closes with practical applications and a heartfelt prayer for early childhood educators as they prepare for a fruitful school year.   00:00 Introduction to Reimagine Childhood 00:43 Meet Nichole Sims: A Passionate Leader 01:46 The Importance of Flourishing and Community 03:02 Biblical Insights and Practical Applications 25:58 Building a Community Beyond Work 26:57 Bearing Fruit in Every Season 32:12 The Power of Vulnerability and Connection 39:11 Strengthening Faith and Flourishing Together

Donna Adelson Trial | First Responder Sgt. David Sims Describes Dan Markel's Final Moments   In this intense courtroom clip, Retired Sergeant David Sims—one of the first law enforcement officers on the scene—recalls discovering Dan Markel moments after he was shot in his garage. Sims's testimony transports us directly to the chilling reality of July 18, 2014, when a neighbor's 911 call brought him rushing to the crime scene. On the stand, Sims describes Markel's physical state with unsettling clarity. He found the wounded professor still alive, making a barely audible “sucking sound,” clutching a cell phone in his left hand and a business card in his right. Sims noted the broken driver's-side window; he carefully approached the vehicle, turned off the engine, and tried to stabilize Markel—but the victim never regained consciousness. These details, delivered in calm, measured tones, immediately underscore the abrupt, brutal nature of the attack. Why does this matter? Sgt. Sims's testimony anchors the case in a human tragedy rather than an abstract conspiracy. His firsthand account provides the jury—and viewers—with a visceral, in‑the‑moment glimpse of the victim's suffering. It confirms that this wasn't just a planned hit in the parking lot—it was a violent intrusion into a family's sacred space. This footage is essential viewing for anyone following this high‑profile case. It underlines the gravity of the crime and ensures that Dan Markel isn't lost amidst legal maneuvers and motive theories. Every investigation needs that human anchor; here, it is Sgt. Sims. #DonnaAdelsonTrial #DavidSimsTestimony #DanMarkelMurder #FirstResponder #CrimeSceneTestimony #TrueCrimeCourtroom #RawCourtVideo #TallahasseePD #MurderInvestigation #CourtroomFootage Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

Donna Adelson Trial | First Responder Sgt. David Sims Describes Dan Markel's Final Moments   In this intense courtroom clip, Retired Sergeant David Sims—one of the first law enforcement officers on the scene—recalls discovering Dan Markel moments after he was shot in his garage. Sims's testimony transports us directly to the chilling reality of July 18, 2014, when a neighbor's 911 call brought him rushing to the crime scene. On the stand, Sims describes Markel's physical state with unsettling clarity. He found the wounded professor still alive, making a barely audible “sucking sound,” clutching a cell phone in his left hand and a business card in his right. Sims noted the broken driver's-side window; he carefully approached the vehicle, turned off the engine, and tried to stabilize Markel—but the victim never regained consciousness. These details, delivered in calm, measured tones, immediately underscore the abrupt, brutal nature of the attack. Why does this matter? Sgt. Sims's testimony anchors the case in a human tragedy rather than an abstract conspiracy. His firsthand account provides the jury—and viewers—with a visceral, in‑the‑moment glimpse of the victim's suffering. It confirms that this wasn't just a planned hit in the parking lot—it was a violent intrusion into a family's sacred space. This footage is essential viewing for anyone following this high‑profile case. It underlines the gravity of the crime and ensures that Dan Markel isn't lost amidst legal maneuvers and motive theories. Every investigation needs that human anchor; here, it is Sgt. Sims.  #DonnaAdelsonTrial #DavidSimsTestimony #DanMarkelMurder #FirstResponder #CrimeSceneTestimony #TrueCrimeCourtroom #RawCourtVideo #TallahasseePD #MurderInvestigation #CourtroomFootage Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

Ben Criddle talks BYU sports every weekday from 2 to 6 pm.Today's Co-Hosts: Ben Criddle (@criddlebenjamin)Subscribe to the Cougar Sports with Ben Criddle podcast:Apple Podcasts: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/cougar-sports-with-ben-criddle/id99676

Another season, another bracket (and another episode with some technical difficulties and WiFi issues). It's called the Boudoir Bracket, but really, there is nothing sexy about this, except for movies. Does the bracket winner also win best picture? Did Devon understand how to do the anonymous voting and ranking to determine the winners? And what media are the Sims about to take over? Tune in this week to find out all this and more, but only on "The Good, The Bad, & The Movies"!P.S. Check out these links to stay connected to TGTBTMDiscord: https://discord.gg/rKuMYcKvYoutube: https://youtu.be/rsBX3QnfgyM

Episode Notes Join us as we discuss and canonize games, one genre at a time. Episode 5 - Platformers This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we continue our series on empathy games, returning to discuss a little more about Papers, Please before digging into Cart Life a bit. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: A bit more of Papers, Please and a little bit of Cart Life Issues covered: thanks for the interview, a bit about Twin Suns Corp, showing earlier versions of the game, a vertical slice with all the game play, getting fired, building up through the systems, was this my run, tactility in games, citations and the space they take, space economy, inventory management by comparison, encumbrance, restriction on space, card games and space, making citations bigger, where's the money coming from, thinking about decisions, the save system, leveraging the save system to have space for warnings, a generous save system, you have to make the whole game, the spread of subversion, not playing through multiple times, an unfortunate bug, GDC and the IGF, festival games on the show floor, a history of game issues, the two storylines we're playing, a dark story of divorce, differences between the cart stories, more adventure game than expected, having a hard time getting a cart and also being too late to pick up your daughter, difficulty and opacity, a film equivalent, Brett's fantasy recs, Papers Please and authenticity, controlling your population in authoritarian regimes, stereotypes in games. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: CalamityNolan, BioStats, Kaeon, KyleAndError, Project Octavia, Harley Baldwin, Republic Commando, Choose Your Own Adventure, Mark Garcia, The Room, SpaceTeam, Gorogoa, The Elder Scrolls, Marvel: Snap, Magic: The Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh, Netrunner, Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, The Last Express, Nier: Automata, Spelunky, The Walking Dead, Richard Hofmeier, howling dogs, Porpentine, itch.io, Ad Hoc, Telltale, The Wolf Among Us, Adventure Game Studio, The Sims, Tow, Rose Byrne, Max, Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Raymond Feist, Riftwar saga, Piers Anthony, The Belgariad, David Eddings, Wheel of Time, Robert Jordan, Song of Ice and Fire, George R.R. Martin, Dave Duncan, Ursula K. LeGuin, Tales of Earthsea, Robert Jackson Bennett, Divine Cities trilogy, Founders trilogy, Terry Pratchett, Discworld, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Shadows of the Apt, Robin Hobb, Farseer trilogy, Martha Wells, Murderbot Diaries, Books of the Raksura, Lois McMaster Bujold, Vorkosigan saga, J. R. R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, John LeCarré, Lee Child, Jack Reacher, Claudiu, Chernobyl, Outer Wilds, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers. Next time: More Cart Life Oops: What I was going to say at the end there is that This War of Mine caught some flak for not accurately representing how people would come together in times of strife (though generally the critical reception was very positive) Links: First look stream of Project Octavia  Twitch: timlongojr and Twin Suns Corp  Discord  DevGameClub@gmail.com 

Send us a textGaming has lost its spark. Remember when a new game announcement would send chills down your spine? When trailers at Gamescom or E3 would have you counting down days until release? That magic seems increasingly rare in today's gaming landscape.We kick off with our usual life updates – a new remote cybersecurity position after seven grueling interviews, a catastrophic house flood that created an indoor waterfall, and the vehicle troubles that seem to follow us everywhere. But these personal challenges led us to a deeper conversation about the state of gaming in 2024.Watching the recent Gamescom presentations revealed a troubling pattern: both presenters and audiences seemed to go through the motions without genuine enthusiasm. Even announcements for major franchises like Monster Hunter, Final Fantasy, and Fallout failed to generate the excitement they once would have. The chat was filled with bored viewers, and the audience reactions were noticeably muted.The culprit? Triple-A studios playing it safe. Bethesda exemplifies this problem perfectly – fans have been begging for Elder Scrolls 6 for years, yet they've prioritized projects like Indiana Jones games and watched Starfield fall flat despite massive marketing. Meanwhile, EA and other major publishers continue churning out annual iterations of sports games with minimal innovation.Perhaps most concerning is the industry's addiction to the DLC model. Games like Destiny 2, World of Warcraft, and The Sims 4 have extended their lifecycles through endless expansions rather than creating true sequels. While financially lucrative, this approach leads to creative stagnation and player fatigue.Ironically, the games generating genuine excitement often come from indie developers or represent simplified experiences that respect players' time. Last year's Game of the Year winners weren't massive open-world epics but focused, polished experiences that offered something genuinely different.Have gaming showcases permanently lost their flair, or can the industry rediscover how to surprise and delight players? We'd love to hear what upcoming games actually have you excited – or if you've found yourself retreating to the comfort of older titles instead. https://www.carolinaotakus.com/

On today's episode of The Candice Malcolm Show guest host Kris Sims dives into Ottawa's gun confiscation plan. The federal Liberals, with Prime Minister Mark Carney now at the helm, are moving ahead with a billion-dollar program to seize lawfully purchased firearms. Sims explains why this isn't a “buyback” but outright confiscation of private property—punishing hunters, farmers, and sport shooters while doing nothing to target gang-related crime. Joining the show is Rod Giltaca, CEO of the Canadian Coalition for Firearms Rights, who details the staggering costs, the devastating impact on firearms retailers, and how Ottawa has rejected even modest compromise proposals like grandfathering. Also on the program, Toronto Police Association president Clayton Campbell breaks down why frontline officers oppose the scheme. Campbell points out that 90% of crime guns in Toronto come from illegal U.S. smuggling—not law-abiding gun owners—and warns that police resources will be wasted on paperwork instead of tackling gangs and keeping violent repeat offenders behind bars. Kris highlights the lessons from the failed Long Gun Registry, which ballooned from $2 million to $2 billion, and asks why taxpayers should foot the bill for another boondoggle. Both guests stress that Canadians should be alarmed: this is a reckless assault on property rights, public safety, and common sense. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode Dani and Brett continue to discuss the Prologue of A Memory of Light with not one, but TWO special guests - IN THE SAME ROOM!!! Perspectives 5-8 of the Prologue are covered in this episode!!We would like to thank and welcome E J Hartman, Jen Tuseth and Dallas Gow to The Wheel Weaves Patreon Team!! Thank you so much for your support!!We would like to acknowledge and thank our Executive Producers Brandy and Aaron Kirkwood, Sean McGuire, Janes, LightBlindedFool, Deyvis Ferreira, Green Man, Margaret, Big C, Bennett Williamson, Hannah Green, Noralia, Geof Searles, Erik Reed, Greysin Ishara, Ashlee Bradley, Helena Jacobsen, Matthew Mendoza, Cyndi, Sims, and Patrick Wallbankk!The Wheel Weaves is hosted and edited by Dani and Brett, produced by Dani and Brett with Passionsocks, Cody Fouts, Benjamin, Jamie Young, Magen, Jared Berg, Rikky Morrisette, Adam, Mozyme, Michelle Forbes, MKM, Antoine Benoit, Lawrence Bradley, Colby T, Gabby Young, Ricat, Zane Sciacca, Matrix, Matt Truss, The Albatross, Bratimus Prime, Sarah Creech, Saverio Bartolini, Sims, Chris G., and Mag621; with music by Audionautix.Check out our partner - the Spoiler-Free Wiki - Spliki.com - Your main first time reader, Spoiler-Free WoT information source!Don't forget to leave us that 5 star review if you enjoy the show for a chance to win exclusive merchandise!Check out https://www.thewheelweavespodcast.com for everything The Wheel Weaves!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-wheel-weaves-podcast-a-wheel-of-time-podcast--5482260/support.

In this episode, Dr. Stacy Sims dives into the latest advancements in women's health research, with a special focus on hormonal health, nutrition, and training strategies for women over 45. She breaks down why tracking menstrual cycles is key to understanding hormonal shifts, how restrictive diets can impact overall health, and why supplements like creatine and vitamin D are essential at this stage of life. Dr. Sims also highlights the importance of adapting training around perimenopause, incorporating strength work safely, and maintaining consistency while listening to your body. Beyond personal health, the conversation explores the growing FemTech movement, the push for more inclusive and women-centered research, and how to evaluate scientific claims with a critical lens. This episode offers practical strategies and fresh perspectives on women's health, performance, and longevity. https://goteamup.com/  https://www.podcastcollective.io/  

Jeff and Christian welcome Jenny Maas from Variety to the show this week to discuss BAFTA adding a North American video game award, Jurassic Park: Survival ending its radio silence, Mafia The Old Country getting an open world mode, Robolox sued, and more! The Playlist: Jenny: Hidden Door, Sims 4: Enchanted by Nature, Donkey Kong Bananaza, Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, Gamescom demos, MTG Christian: Ra Ra BOOM, Battlefield 6 open beta Jeff: 9 Kings, Passant: A Chess Roguelike Parting Gifts!

Do you have something in your life, or the life of a friend or loved one, that you are losing the battle in? Or something that needs to change, that only God could do? In "It Can Change", Pastor Joel Sims directs us to prayer and understanding the roles of power and authority in prayer to the Father, helping us to begin to find success in prayer.

In this episode titled "Jesus Prays," Pastor Joel Sims illustrates that prayer is essential when you need wisdom or guidance, or when you notice something in the life of a loved one that needs to change.

Zoe Dixon takes a break from a ghostly Sims friend to add some songs to our summer playlist.

The gang (minus Greg) has done their time in Horny Jail and have frantically clawed their way back to their mics to discuss a big ol' cornucopia of topics, like playing The Sims for 12 hours straight, making Lyme Disease sexy again, and how Beth still hasn't watched JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. BOO BETH. BOO HER.

Berwyn Choobs is back with us to talk about more mods, this time for The Sims. For Berwyn's streams, go to https://www.twitch.tv/DeviousMink. For the full version of this episode, go to patreon.com/mostcontroversial 

Steve is joined by Eric Freeman Sims from The Unseen Paranormal podcast, Strange Chapters YouTube, and more! Find Eric online: https://linktr.ee/theunseenparanormalpodcastBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/missing-persons-mysteries--5624803/support.

In this Wednesday Prayer teaching, Pastor Joel Sims begins a new teaching on Dealing with the Devil, where we see in scripture that Satan is to be resisted, and he will flee. He's also subtle and crafty; if you think you see him, you probably don't. Learn more in this insightful episode!

This week, Phil Bothun joins the show to craft the DEFINITIVE list of the best Immersive Sim games! Plus, Patrick gives his extended thoughts on the polarizing Mafia: The Old Country.  Timecodes What we're playing - 12:45 What is an Immersive Sim? - 38:27 Ranking Immersive Sims - 51:30   Follow us! www.dropindropoutpod.com Bluesky, YouTube, IG, Threads and TikTok @spotlightgamespod Twitch.tv/spotlightgamespod Join our discord! https://discord.gg/Vxvp2sX64Z Email the show: mail@spotlightgames.net RSS Feed: https://spotlightgames.libsyn.com/rss Spotlight Games Theme by Chike Okaro @bassicfun Thanks for listening! 

I am freshly high & I nerding out on The Sims 4. Planning out this story line that has been going on for a long while. From phone to phone, PC to PC I fill you in on some of the details. Follow me on my socials @highanddoingthings

Huge stuff is happening in this 'season finale' book; Anji and Fitz leave the Doctor, explosive action, time windows in Siberia, lost expeditions, a walking black hole and the arc villain revealing his plan...

NOTE: For Ad-Free Episodes, 100+hrs of Bonus Content and More - Visit our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/thewheelweavespodcastFind us on our Instagram, Twitter, YouTube & Website, and join the conversation on Discord!In this episode Dani and Brett discuss THE BEGINNING OF A MEMORY OF LIGHT!!! The FIRST 4 PERSPECTIVES of the Prologue are covered in this episode!!We would like to thank everyone who renewed their annual pledges on Patreon! Thank you to Rena, Ashley Varga, Matt Truss, Noralia, and Alex Sikora. Thank you so much for your continued support!!We would also like to thank and welcome Alex Stevens, sir_occo, Laura K, Owen Molloy, and Whitney to The Wheel Weaves Patreon Team!! Thank you so much for your support!!We would like to acknowledge and thank our Executive Producers Brandy and Aaron Kirkwood, Sean McGuire, Janes, LightBlindedFool, Deyvis Ferreira, Green Man, Margaret, Big C, Bennett Williamson, Hannah Green, Noralia, Geof Searles, Erik Reed, Greysin Ishara, Ashlee Bradley, Helena Jacobsen, Matthew Mendoza, Cyndi, Sims, and Patrick Wallbankk!The Wheel Weaves is hosted and edited by Dani and Brett, produced by Dani and Brett with Passionsocks, Cody Fouts, Benjamin, Jamie Young, Magen, Jared Berg, Rikky Morrisette, Adam, Mozyme, Michelle Forbes, MKM, Antoine Benoit, Lawrence Bradley, Colby T, Gabby Young, Ricat, Zane Sciacca, Matrix, Matt Truss, The Albatross, Bratimus Prime, Sarah Creech, Saverio Bartolini, Sims, Chris G., and Mag621; with music by Audionautix.Check out our partner - the Spoiler-Free Wiki - Spliki.com - Your main first time reader, Spoiler-Free WoT information source!Don't forget to leave us that 5 star review if you enjoy the show for a chance to win exclusive merchandise!Check out https://www.thewheelweavespodcast.com for everything The Wheel Weaves!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-wheel-weaves-podcast-a-wheel-of-time-podcast--5482260/support.

Foes, Hoes, and Conscious Flows... @stukdesigns

The finest minds in video games discuss The Sims 5, good sewer levels, and playing CD-i games with Eugene Levy. Hosted by Alex Jaffe, with Frank Cifaldi, Ash Parrish, and Brandon Sheffield. Edited by Esper Quinn, original music by Kurt Feldman. Watch episodes with full video on YouTube Discuss this episode in the Insert Credit Forums SHOW NOTES: Computer Entertainer Magazine CES “Doot doodoot doot dootdoot dootdoot doodoooooooo!” Abner Doubleday 1: Liz Ryerson asks, are there any actually good sewer levels? (03:05) Sewer Surfin' Battletoads Turbo Tunnel Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Bullet Witch Bloodborne Super Mario Bros. Chulip Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District Nihilist Arby's Superman (2025) 2: When are you personally motivated to replay a narrative-driven singleplayer game you've already finished? (08:33) Wild Arms Indika Koudelka Final Fantasy VIII Sonic the Hedgehog series A'metafore: ReFantazio Metal Gear Solid series BioWare Edmonton Fallout: New Vegas 3: How do we feel about continuing to update a game, instead of releasing a new one? (13:49) EA President Laura Miele Interview The Sims 4 Minecraft Overwatch Overwatch 2 Story Missions Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Madden series No Man's Sky Final Fantasy XIV Online: A Realm Reborn Final Fantasy XI Online Final Fantasy XV Roblox Fortnite 4: How would you design The Sims 5? (20:03) Grand Theft Auto series SimCity Keita Takahashi to a T Mark Zuckerberg Soylent Tespa 5: What role has playing video games had in your lives for making friends? (26:24) Dragon Age: Inquisition tumblr Vincent Diamante Call of Duty series The Wacky World of Miniature Golf with Eugene Levy Eugene Levy Left 4 Dead series World of WarCraft Final Fantasy XIV Online: Endwalker Rachel Ignotofsky 6: What's the deal with Stop Killing Games? (34:18) Stop Killing Games Elon Musk Ian Miles Cheong 7: What are your F.A.Q.s? (42:21) The Strong National Museum of Play Paul Allen LIGHTNING ROUND: Mad Men or Kingdom Hearts? (50:26) Recommendations and Outro (59:02): Frank: Computer Entertainer, pirate The Naked Gun (2025) and the originals Brandon: the first third of U.S. Marshals (1998), Buy Demonschool on September 3, 2025 (that's pretty soon!), please tell streamers you like about the game Ash: Buy porn, call Visa & Mastercard This week's Insert Credit Show is brought to you by patrons like you. Thank you. This week's horrible buzzer was sent in by Mnemogenic. Thanks! To submit your own horrible buzzer, send an original recording no longer than two seconds in mp3 or wav format to show@insertcredit.com, and maybe we'll use it on the show! Subscribe: RSS, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more!

The finest minds in video games discuss The Sims 5, good sewer levels, and playing CD-i games with Eugene Levy. Hosted by Alex Jaffe, with Frank Cifaldi, Ash Parrish, and Brandon Sheffield. Edited by Esper Quinn, original music by Kurt Feldman. Watch episodes with full video on YouTube Discuss this episode in the Insert Credit Forums SHOW NOTES: Computer Entertainer Magazine CES “Doot doodoot doot dootdoot dootdoot doodoooooooo!” Abner Doubleday 1: Liz Ryerson asks, are there any actually good sewer levels? (03:05) Sewer Surfin' Battletoads Turbo Tunnel Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Bullet Witch Bloodborne Super Mario Bros. Chulip Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District Nihilist Arby's Superman (2025) 2: When are you personally motivated to replay a narrative-driven singleplayer game you've already finished? (08:33) Wild Arms Indika Koudelka Final Fantasy VIII Sonic the Hedgehog series A'metafore: ReFantazio Metal Gear Solid series BioWare Edmonton Fallout: New Vegas 3: How do we feel about continuing to update a game, instead of releasing a new one? (13:49) EA President Laura Miele Interview The Sims 4 Minecraft Overwatch Overwatch 2 Story Missions Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Madden series No Man's Sky Final Fantasy XIV Online: A Realm Reborn Final Fantasy XI Online Final Fantasy XV Roblox Fortnite 4: How would you design The Sims 5? (20:03) Grand Theft Auto series SimCity Keita Takahashi to a T Mark Zuckerberg Soylent Tespa 5: What role has playing video games had in your lives for making friends? (26:24) Dragon Age: Inquisition tumblr Vincent Diamante Call of Duty series The Wacky World of Miniature Golf with Eugene Levy Eugene Levy Left 4 Dead series World of WarCraft Final Fantasy XIV Online: Endwalker Rachel Ignotofsky 6: What's the deal with Stop Killing Games? (34:18) Stop Killing Games Elon Musk Ian Miles Cheong 7: What are your F.A.Q.s? (42:21) The Strong National Museum of Play Paul Allen LIGHTNING ROUND: Mad Men or Kingdom Hearts? (50:26) Recommendations and Outro (59:02): Frank: Computer Entertainer, pirate The Naked Gun (2025) and the originals Brandon: the first third of U.S. Marshals (1998), Buy Demonschool on September 3, 2025 (that's pretty soon!), please tell streamers you like about the game Ash: Buy porn, call Visa & Mastercard This week's Insert Credit Show is brought to you by patrons like you. Thank you. This week's horrible buzzer was sent in by Mnemogenic. Thanks! To submit your own horrible buzzer, send an original recording no longer than two seconds in mp3 or wav format to show@insertcredit.com, and maybe we'll use it on the show! Subscribe: RSS, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more!

Brice is a former AAA developer turned indie. He's currently developing World's Goodest Pup, with past experience at EA on the Sims franchise, Crowdstar's Covet Fashion, Lead GameDesigner on ChefVille at Zynga, WB Games and more. Part 2 of 2. Music by Danny Baranowsky

1K+ Downloads! Unscripted conversation with entrepreneurs by Crystal Lee and Reonda Hunt

We took a week off. We are sorry.This week, we start with the lead, Moses Itauma. He screams of the next generation of British boxing, and facing Dillian Whyte shouldn't be a challenge, right? We talk about what might be at stake. Also, it is on pay-per-view. The undercard will see WBA featherweight titleholder Nick Ball against Sam Goodman, which is the fight of the weekend on paper. Junior lightweight Raymond Ford will face Abraham Nova, and heavyweight Filip Hrgovic will face David Adeleye.We talk about the major action of last week, which includes Ricardo Sandoval upsetting Kenshiro Teraji, Carlos Canizales becoming a 108lbs beltholder, and Oscar Duarte winning a close fight against Kenny Sims Jr. We also touch on Regis Prograis' win over Joseph Diaz Jr.This leads into this week...On Wednesday, the WBC Grand Prix will happen, and it is a lot of fun. Lukie gives some names to follow (spoiler alert: Troy Nash Jr). On Friday, ProBox TV returns with a junior lightweight bout between Mukhammadkhuja Yaqubov and William Foster III, a quality main event. A crossroads fight between junior welterweights Starling Castillo vs Shinard Bunch is a great crossroads bout. The three Valle brothers will be featured on the card. On Friday, 360 Promotions holds a card on UFC Fight Pass, the card is headlined by Omar Trinidad, a contender at featherweight, against Lorenzo Parra. The co-feature is a WBO junior bantamweight titleholder looking to make another title defense against Naomy Cardenas Gomez. Gomez upset Bree Howling in her last fight. Hiruta trains with Manny Robles and Edgar Jasso. Abel Mejia faces former title contender Aston Palicte at 130lbs and Guadalupe Medina vs. Rubi Gutierrez is the type of women's 105lbs fight that could steal the show.0:00 Moses Itauma-Dillian Whyte7:00 Nick Ball-Sam Goodman15:06 undercard 21:00 WBC Grand Prix23:00 Where is U.S. boxing going? 29:00 ProBox TV card37:00 360 Promotion40:55 Oscar Duarte-Kenny Sims Jr46:00 Regis Prograis-Joseph Diaz 52:00 Ricardo Sandoval upset Kenshiro Teraji

On this segment of "Real Talk", the Ring Gang crew recap Oscar Duarte vs Kenneth Sims Jr 

Teddy and Teddy recap all the weekends action from boxing and UFC Tune in to hear all analysis and breakdowns and again another prime example of why Boxing Needs a National Commission.Thanks for being with us. The best way to support is to subscribe, share the episode and check out our sponsor: https://athleticgreens.com/atlas Timestamps:00:00 - Intro07:35 - Prograis vs Diaz22:50 - Duarte vs Sims Jr34:55 - AG135:30 - Taira vs ParkTEDDY'S AUDIOBOOKAmazon/Audible: https://amzn.to/32104DRiTunes/Apple: https://apple.co/32y813rTHE FIGHT T-SHIRTShttps://teddyatlas.comTEDDY'S SOCIAL MEDIATwitter - http://twitter.com/teddyatlasrealInstagram - http://instagram.com/teddy_atlasTikTok - https://twitter.com/Teddy_Atlas_RealTHE FIGHT WITH TEDDY ATLAS SOCIAL MEDIAInstagram - http://instagram.com/thefightWTATwitter - http://twitter.com/thefightwtaFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/TheFightwithTeddyAtlasThanks for tuning in. Please be sure to subscribe! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Check out our Patreon at: http://www.patreon.com/McFixer Is Game Pass Bad for the Industry? Following some online discourse we talked about whether Game Pass is badd for the industry and discussed why we'll probably never know the real answer. Also, one of us went to the Battefield 6 event - you'll bever guess which one! ►Please Subscribe www.youtube.com/myxboxandme ►Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/McFixer ► BRAND NEW MXAM DISCORD - https://discord.gg/aQDSbAy8QH  ► Twitter: @MCFixer @Kreshnikplays @MattPVideo @PaulDespawn  ► Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/McFixer  ► Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/Kreshnik ► Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/PaulDespawn Timecodes: 00:00 Intro 25:13 What's in our box? (Lies of P: Overture, Battlefield, Wuchang, Grounded 2, Rainbow 6 Siege 52:34 Games coming to Xbox  01:00:20 Ravensoft QA team win first Union Contract 01:02:53 EA announces Sims 5 is not in the plans  01:09:27 Guess that Game

IFLTV'S KUGAN CASSIUS SPOKE TO JOEY ESSEX, WHO OPENS UP CONOR BENN, UNCLE TONY SIMS, MISFITS DEBUT & MORE AHEAD OF FIGHT ON AUGUST 30TH IN MANCHESTER. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Well its a radio show, but its not live, and its prerecorded.... The Naked Gun is out, and its the comedy that Hollywood needed. Plus Nintendo, pulls its normal shenanigans, while we all continue to ignore the issues. Somehow EA is now the good guy as well? Also, Spider-Man begins filming, and the scenes from set look amazing, Matt Smith is joining a Galaxy Far Far Away, and Chris Hemsworth clarifies his comments on Thor.

Mario Lopez and Steve Kim recap Oscar Duarte vs Kenneth Sims, Ryan Garcia vs Golden Boy drama, Ask Mario & Much More!

In this episode of the IoT For All Podcast, Alex Kotler, SVP of Sales and Partnerships at POND IoT, joins Ryan Chacon to discuss multi-network SIMs and why they're a game-changer for IoT. The conversation covers multi-network SIM use cases in ATMs, vending machines, retail, and EV charging, the challenges companies face when transitioning from single-network to multi-network SIMs, the importance of reliable connectivity in digital transformation, collaborating with hardware manufacturers, advice for businesses exploring IoT solutions, and the future of multi-network SIM.Alex Kotler is the SVP of Sales and Partnerships at POND IoT. Alex has extensive experience in the mobile industry, having worked in various roles across the major mobile network operators - AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile. Alex has played a pivotal role in increasing net revenue retention and customer satisfaction at POND IoT, while also opening new distribution channels.POND IoT is a dynamic provider of IoT solutions. They offer global multi-IMSI SIM cards with extensive network coverage, internet failover solutions, and IoT & M2M connectivity with flexible data plans. Their major focus is around providing MVNO as a service as well as retail solutions with connectivity-to-POS terminals, vending machines, and ATMs. They also offer custom device manufacturing for all kinds of IoT applications and have added support for Starlink together with Peplink.Discover more about IoT and SIM at https://www.iotforall.comFind IoT solutions: https://marketplace.iotforall.comMore about POND IoT: https://www.pondiot.comConnect with Alex: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexkotler/(00:00) Ad(00:29) Intro(00:38) Alex Kotler and POND IoT(01:03) What is multi-network SIM?(04:02) Challenges of multi-network SIM(04:58) Multi-network SIM use cases(06:54) Vending machines(08:47) EV charging stations(14:13) Future of multi-network SIM(16:02) Advice for companies exploring IoT solutions(17:11) The role of partnerships(18:02) Learn more and follow upSubscribe on YouTube: https://bit.ly/2NlcEwmJoin Our Newsletter: https://newsletter.iotforall.comFollow Us on Social: https://linktr.ee/iot4all

Perla Bloom is a dynamic global marketing strategy leader, passionate about the intersection of tech, creativity, and culture. She builds brands, creates connected experiences for audiences that solve a problem to reach specific objectives and is a sought-after international speaker at industry events and on podcasts. She currently leading comms planning for innovation and entertainment at Expedia Group, and before that was at EA Games writing global marketing strategies for iconic games like Battlefield, The Sims, Need for Speed and many more. She also has expertise spanning various sectors, from FMCG to fintech, to Luxury and writes a newsletter that decodes cultural signals shaping brands and tech called ‘Culture Meets What's Next'. Whatever the project she has worked on, she is always committed to providing fully integrated, truly creative campaigns, that touch the cultural entities significant to her audiences, with a focus on innovative digital multi touchpoint experiences, more recently involving emerging tech such as AI. Connect with her on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/perlabloom/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we welcome multi-instrumentalist Steve Morgan and vocalist Stephen Sims of the electro-rock duo Deadcode. Steve brings along the stories of his two pooches, Lola "The Alpha", a 14 year old Dachshund and Wheezy, a 6year old Yorkie and Stephen introduces us to Basil his 3 year old Briard. Entertaining conversation from these two dog loving cyber-hackers turned rockers.Deadcode's debut album Nothing From Nowhere was released this past May to critical acclaim. Check out two remixes of the song Left You For Dead by Steve Aoki and The KVB. Available on all streaming platforms.We have three shout outs to note this week. Steve gives his props to Humane Society Miami who are a limited admit, adoption guarantee facility dedicated to placing every dog and cat in our care into a loving home, and to promoting responsible pet ownership and spay/neuter programs. To learn more visit humanesocietymiami.orgStephen chose to highlight both the SPCA and Rocket Dog Rescue who are a San Francisco Bay Area dog rescue organization run by a group of dedicated volunteers that save dogs from death at over-crowded shelters and find them loving, happy homes. To adopt, foster, donate or volunteer go to rocketdogrescue.orgFor more pics and clips of all our guests and their dogs follow the show on Instagram at @rockerdogpodcast

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(0:00) - Intro (2:10) - Oscar Duarte outlasts Kenneth Sims Jr. (8:07) - Ringside doctor situation with JoJo Diaz (12:10) - Prograis and Diaz put on a show (16:10) - Is Canelo-Crawford hype real? (18:25) - Crawford over Canelo is the trendy pick (23:46) - Breaking down Canelo-Crawford (31:30) - Prime Roy Jones or Mayweather? (37:57) - Is Jake Paul good or bad for boxing? (47:03) - TKO to ESPN? (49:12) - Teofimo continues to ruin his career (55:30) - Will boxing be more toe-to-toe soon? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

NOTE: For Ad-Free Episodes, 100+hrs of Bonus Content and More - Visit our Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/thewheelweavespodcastFind us on our Instagram, Twitter, YouTube & Website, and join the conversation on Discord!Live on our Discord, here's the July 2025 Q&A!Thanks to everyone who was able to jump in and participate live on Discord and thanks to everyone for sending in their questions this month!!*Spoilers up to the end of Towers of Midnight, New Spring, and Seasons 1-3 of the TV Show.We would like to acknowledge and thank our Executive Producers Brandy and Aaron Kirkwood, Sean McGuire, Janes, LightBlindedFool, Deyvis Ferreira, Green Man, Margaret, Big C, Bennett Williamson, Hannah Green, Noralia, Geof Searles, Erik Reed, Greysin Ishara, Ashlee Bradley, Helena Jacobsen, Matthew Mendoza, Cyndi, Daniel Moore, and Patrick Wallbankk!The Wheel Weaves is hosted and edited by Dani and Brett, produced by Dani and Brett with Passionsocks, Cody Fouts, Benjamin, Jamie Young, Magen, Jared Berg, Rikky Morrisette, Adam, Mozyme, Michelle Forbes, MKM, Antoine Benoit, Lawrence Bradley, Colby T, Gabby Young, Ricat, Zane Sciacca, Matrix, Matt Truss, The Albatross, Bratimus Prime, Sarah Creech, Saverio Bartolini, Sims, Chris G., and Mag621; with music by Audionautix.Check out our partner - the Spoiler-Free Wiki - Spliki.com - Your main first time reader, Spoiler-Free WoT information source!Don't forget to leave us that 5 star review if you enjoy the show for a chance to win exclusive merchandise!Check out https://www.thewheelweavespodcast.com for everything The Wheel Weaves!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-wheel-weaves-podcast-a-wheel-of-time-podcast--5482260/support.

Is Ozempic the miracle weight loss drug everyone claims, or are we creating a generation of "sarcopenic, chalky skeletons"? In this Fitness Fridya episode, Dr. Stacy Sims and I dive into the truth.  We discuss the peptide craze, exploring why BPC-157 might be the only one worth considering, and why WADA banning it actually proves it works. Plus, Dr. Sims settles the sauna debate once and for all - explaining why infrared saunas are basically expensive cold rooms and why Finnish saunas deliver real results for women's hormones and metabolism. Dr. Stacy Sims is an international exercise physiologist and nutrition scientist who specializes in sex differences in training, nutrition, and environmental conditions. She's the author of "Roar" and "Next Level" and has spent decades researching how women's unique physiology requires different approaches to health and fitness. What we discuss: The Truth About Peptides and BPC-157 Ozempic's Hidden Dangers: Muscle and Bone Loss When Ozempic Makes Sense (And When It Doesn't) Microdosing GLP-1s: Health Hack or Dangerous Trend? Combining Ozempic with Strength Training Training in Your 20s and 30s vs. Later Years Dr. Sims' Daily Routine and Non-Negotiables Most Underrated Health Tip: Trusting Your Intuition Saunas vs. Cold Plunges for Women Why Ice Baths Spike Women's Cortisol The Infrared Sauna Myth Finnish Saunas: The Real Deal for Women's Health Thank you to our sponsor: Momentous: Shop this link and use code Jen for 20% off Therasage: Head over to therasage.com and use code Be Bold for 15% off  TruNiagen: Head over to truniagen.com and use code HUSTLE20 to get $20 off any purchase over $100. Magic Mind: Head over to www.magicmind.com/jen and use code Jen at checkout. Bio.me: Link to daily prebiotic fiber here, code Jennifer20 for 20% off.  David: Buy 4, get the 5th free at davidprotein.com/habitsandhustle. Find more from Dr. Stacy Sims: Website: https://www.drstacysims.com/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drstacysims  Find more from Jen: Website: https://www.jennifercohen.com/ Instagram: @therealjencohen Books: https://www.jennifercohen.com/books Speaking: https://www.jennifercohen.com/speaking-engagements