Podcasts about Singapore

India's coastal waters hold immense promise—and growing peril. In this episode of the Think Wildlife Podcast, host Anish Banerjee speaks with Oishinee Chakraborty from the Kuddle Life Foundation, a young organization redefining marine conservation in Pondicherry through science, community collaboration, and artificial reefs.Oishinee introduces listeners to the Foundation's origins—founded in 2020 by Punit Dhandhania and Hans Dhandhania, who transformed a small circle of ocean enthusiasts into a leading grassroots force for marine ecology and biodiversity conservation. With limited institutions working on ocean protection in southern India, Kuddle Life fills a critical gap by creating local, science-driven projects that link marine ecosystems, coastal livelihoods, and sustainable development.At the heart of their work lies the artificial reef program—a groundbreaking effort to restore degraded marine ecosystems and revive marine biodiversity. Oishinee explains that space is the ocean's most limiting factor, and artificial reefs—built using eco-friendly materials like concrete and steel—mimic the natural hard surfaces that corals, sponges, and fish larvae need to attach, grow, and form thriving underwater communities. These structures replicate some functions of natural coral reefs, acting as catalysts for marine biodiversity management and ecosystem recovery.The process of building an artificial reef begins with community engagement. Fisherfolk are invited to share local ecological knowledge and help identify suitable sites for reef deployment. Scientists then assess seabed topography, water quality, and existing biodiversity before designing reef modules—each over 500 kg and a meter tall. Local divers and fishermen help deploy the structures less than five kilometers offshore, making the effort both participatory and empowering.Monitoring continues for years, as reefs mature and attract a diversity of marine wildlife. In Pondicherry, Kuddle Life has recorded remarkable results: a 20% rise in dissolved oxygen, increased chlorophyll levels, and nearly a fourfold growth in fish abundance. For local fishers, incomes have doubled—from ₹5,000 to ₹10,000 per day—while fuel costs have halved because fishing now occurs closer to shore. These outcomes highlight how marine biodiversity conservation can drive both ecological and economic resilience.Globally, artificial reefs have become vital tools for restoring marine ecosystems damaged by climate change, overfishing, and pollution. Yet, as Oishinee reminds us, nothing can replace natural coral reefs. Artificial structures can only supplement lost habitat, not substitute for nature's complexity. Still, by reviving degraded areas and promoting sustainable fishing, these reefs help maintain ocean productivity in a warming world.Beyond reef restoration, the Kuddle Life Foundation runs educational and research programs across India. Through marine litter surveys, bycatch reduction initiatives, dive training, and youth internships, the foundation is building a generation of ocean stewards. Its unique for-profit dive center reinvests earnings into conservation, while volunteers support marine ecology projects both underwater and onshore—from data analysis to biodiversity monitoring.Oishinee also discusses the challenges of sustaining NGO work in India—funding barriers, bureaucratic delays, and the slow pace of conservation impact. Yet, she finds hope in the growing public interest in marine biodiversity, particularly when students and non-biologists approach her asking how they can help. That curiosity, she believes, is the first step toward lasting ocean change.This episode reveals how grassroots innovation, science, and compassion are reshaping marine biodiversity hotspots along India's coast—proving that ocean recovery begins not just beneath the waves, but within communities themselves.#artificialreefs #marineecology #marineecosystems #marinebiodiversity #marineconservation #marinewildlife #marinebiodiversityhotspot #marinebiodiversityconservation #biodiversityconservation #biodiversity #biodiversitymanagementAbout the HostAnish Banerjee is an early career ecologist, with a MSc in Ecology, Evolution and Conservation from Imperial College London. He is the founder of Think Wildlife Foundation and a biodiversity policy analyst at Legal Atlas. He is also the author of the following field guides:Field Guide to the Common Wildlife of India: https://amzn.in/d/2TnNvSEField Guide to the Mammals of Singapore: https://amzn.in/d/gcbq8VG Get full access to The Think Wildlife Podcast at anishbanerjee.substack.com/subscribe

During this holiday season, hear some recent favorites:Jelani Cobb, dean of the Journalism School at Columbia University, a staff writer at The New Yorker and the author of Three or More Is a Riot: Notes on How We Got Here: 2012-2025 (One World, 2025), looks back at recent history and find the threads that connect the era of protests and backlash.Irin Carmon, senior correspondent at New York magazine, co-author of Notorious RBG (Dey Street Books, 2015) and, most recently, author of Unbearable: Five Women and the Perils of Pregnancy in America (Atria/One Signal, 2025), explores what it means to be pregnant today in America through reporting and personal stories.Marina Lopes, author of Please Yell at My Kids (GCP/Balance, 2025), talks about her story in The Atlantic suggesting American parents look at the way childcare works in Singapore where grandparents are frequently primary caregivers and get paid for the work.Julia Ioffe, founding partner and Washington correspondent of Puck and the author of Motherland: A History of Modern Russia, from Revolution to Autocracy (Ecco, 2025), talks about her new book that delves into the feminist history of Russia and why it offers context for the war in Ukraine.Liza Donnelly, writer and cartoonist at The New Yorker and the author of Very Funny Ladies: The New Yorker's Women Cartoonists, 1925-2021 (Prometheus, 2022) and the substack "Seeing Things", discusses the short documentary film she directed, "Women Laughing," about cartoonists at The New Yorker and their artistic processes. These interviews were lightly edited for time and clarity; the original web versions are available here:Defining the Decade (Nov. 13, 2025)The Perils of Pregnancy in America (Nov. 6, 2025)Grandparenting as Paid Labor? (Oct. 10, 2025)Russia and Feminism (Oct. 25, 2025)Funny Women of The New Yorker (Nov. 10, 2025)

What do foot massage parties, otters, and AI robot tutors have in common? To find out, tune into our special end-of-year conversation featuring the hosts from TED Talks Daily, TED Radio Hour, TED Business, and TED Tech!Elise Hu, Manoush Zomorodi, Modupe Akinola and Sherrell Dorsey got together to share the biggest ideas dominating their industry and the lesser-known insights they wished garnered more attention. From pushing back against AI advances to sharing the TED Talks that inspired them, Elise, Manoush, Modupe, and Sherrell reflect on 2025 and look ahead to 2026.Conversations MentionedTED Radio HourRay Kurzweil, "Could AI extend your life indefinitely? Futurist Ray Kurzweil thinks so" LINK Victor Riparbelli, “Will AI avatars eventually teach our kids?” LINKPhilip Johns, “Singapore's otters are butting heads with their human neighbors. Can they coexist?” LINKRestoring trust in government, "Move fast...and fix democracy?" LINKTED TalksSitoyo Lopokoiyit in conversation with Jacqueline Novogratz "A story of moral imagination and bold entrepreneurship" LINKSarah Beery, "How AI is unearthing hidden scientific knowledge" LINKScott Loarie (of iNaturalist), "The surprising power of your nature photos" LINKDaniel Zavala-Araiza, "The best way to lower Earth's temperature — fast" LINKJennifer Pahlka, "Coding a better government" LINKPinky Cole (Slutty Vegan), "How I make vegan food sexy" LINKJason Huang, "The high-wire act of unlocking clean energy" LINKJennifer Doudna, "CRISPR's next advance is bigger than you think" LINKJonny Sun, "You are not alone in your loneliness" LINK Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Following on from Steve's Disney portion, we find out a little bit of his Universal plans in Singapore.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Become a Patreon for $2 a month⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & receive early access to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Dis After Dark⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Universal After Dark⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Disneyland After Dark⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠That Disneyland Paris Podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Plus 2 extra Patreon shows a month⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Join our official Facebook Page⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow us on Threads⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Enjoy our Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠

Eagerly awaiting the upcoming New Year's Day holiday, Wang Xiaohui, 32, has planned a trip to Harbin — a traditional winter tourism destination and the capital of Heilongjiang province — for the three-day break starting on Jan 1. Wang will ring in the New Year amid the city's dreamlike snowy vistas.32岁的王晓慧正满怀期待地迎接即将到来的元旦假期，她计划在1月1日开始的三天假期里前往哈尔滨——这一传统的冬季旅游目的地，也是黑龙江省省会。她将在这座城市如梦似幻的雪景中迎接新年的到来。"I used to spend New Year's Eve in Beijing with my family, eating dumplings, but this year I'll spend it with three friends," she said.她说：“以前我都是和家人在北京一起过除夕、吃饺子，但今年我会和三位朋友一起度过。”She had planned to see in the New Year at Harbin Ice and Snow World, one of China's top snow-themed parks, but was unable to get tickets.她原本计划在中国顶级冰雪主题乐园之一——哈尔滨冰雪大世界迎接新年，但未能买到门票。Travel agencies have forecast significant growth in both domestic and outbound tourism during the three-day holiday. Within the country, colder regions with abundant snow and regions with milder climates are competing for travelers.多家旅行机构预测，在为期三天的假期中，国内游和出境游均将实现显著增长。在国内市场，冰雪资源丰富的寒冷地区与气候相对温和的地区正共同争夺游客。Qi Chunguang, vice-president of travel portal Tuniu, said, "In the past 10 days, searches for 'New Year' tour products on our platform have doubled compared with the previous 10 days, and searches for 'New Year's Eve countdown' have grown by over 50 percent."旅游网站途牛副总裁齐春光表示：“过去10天，我们平台上‘元旦'旅游产品的搜索量较此前10天翻了一番，‘跨年倒计时'相关搜索量增长超过50%。”Qi noted the soaring popularity of snow destinations like Harbin and predicted that a travel peak in the winter tourism market would occur during the New Year's Day holiday. This is supported by data from Tujia, a domestic homestay booking platform, which reported that Harbin currently leads in holiday bookings.齐春光指出，哈尔滨等冰雪旅游目的地热度持续攀升，并预计元旦假期将迎来冬季旅游市场的出行高峰。国内民宿预订平台途家提供的数据也印证了这一判断，目前哈尔滨在假期预订量中位居前列。"Warmer places like Quanzhou in Fujian province and Libo in Guizhou province are also popular, with searches increasing by three to five times in the past 10 days," he said.他说：“福建泉州、贵州荔波等气候较为温暖的地区同样受到欢迎，过去10天相关搜索量增长了三到五倍。”Li Ailing, from Beijing, has booked a three-day trip to Quanzhou with her husband.来自北京的李爱玲已与丈夫预订了一次为期三天的泉州之行。"Beijing is too cold in winter, so we want to go to a warmer place with beautiful sea views," Li said. "My husband visited Quanzhou last year, and highly recommended it for its delicious food and distinct culture."李爱玲表示：“北京冬天太冷了，所以我们想去一个温暖、还能看到海景的地方。我丈夫去年去过泉州，他非常推荐那里，觉得美食丰富、文化特色鲜明。”Li said that they plan to leave on Dec 31, a day before the holiday period starts, to avoid the traffic rush.李爱玲说，他们计划在12月31日、即假期开始前一天出发，以避开交通高峰。The outbound tourism market is also expected to boom over the holiday. Online travel agency Qunar forecasts its first travel peak on Saturday. Popular destinations include South Korea, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam, with South Korea seeing the fastest growth in bookings due to lower flight prices.元旦假期期间，出境游市场也有望迎来增长。在线旅游平台去哪儿网预测，其首个出行高峰将出现在周六。热门目的地包括韩国、泰国、新加坡和越南，其中韩国因机票价格较低，预订量增长最快。Qunar noted that some tourists are extending their trips by taking extra paid vacation days to visit more distant destinations such as Egypt and Spain. "New Zealand is also popular among those extending their breaks because it's midsummer there. We've seen flight bookings to New Zealand increase by 1.1 times on our platform," it added.去哪儿网指出，一些游客通过额外请带薪年假，将行程延长，前往埃及、西班牙等较远的目的地。该平台补充称：“新西兰也受到延长假期游客的青睐，因为当地正值盛夏。我们平台上飞往新西兰的机票预订量增长了1.1倍。”snow-themed park/snəʊ θiːmd pɑːk/冰雪主题乐园homestay booking platform/ˈhəʊmsteɪ ˈbʊkɪŋ ˈplætfɔːm/民宿预订平台traffic rush/ˈtræfɪk rʌʃ/交通高峰flight bookings/flaɪt ˈbʊkɪŋz/机票预订量paid vacation days/peɪd vəˈkeɪʃən deɪz/带薪休假

Tokenised funds are emerging as one of the most exciting developments in asset management, promising new ways to structure, access, and scale investments.Yet adoption has been cautious, with regulatory frameworks still evolving. Singapore’s Project Guardian has just released a playbook for operationalising tokenised funds, covering everything from digital-native fund structures to the use of stablecoins and wholesale CBDCs for settlements. Could tokenised funds be the next major shift in investing? And as blockchain and digital assets increasingly intersect with traditional finance, how can investors distinguish real opportunities from hype? On Wealth Tracker, Hongbin Jeong speaks with Danny Chong, Co-Chairman of the Digital Assets Association Singapore, to break down what this means for the future of investment.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Singapore shares dipped today with investors now back from the Christmas Day holiday. The Straits Times Index was down 0.06% at 4,633.73 points at 2.42pm Singapore time, with a value turnover of S$426.90M seen in the broader market. In terms of counters to watch, we have Sembcorp Industries, after Sembcorp Green Infra, an Indian unit of Sembcorp Industries, today completed the acquisition of a 100 per cent stake in solar power company ReNew Sun Bright for about S$246 million. Elsewhere, from how Singapore’s factory output jumped 14.3 per cent year on year in November, to how Japan’s industry ministry is set to nearly quadruple its budgeted support for cutting-edge semiconductors and artificial intelligence (AI) development to about 1.2 trillion yen (S$9.9 billion) for the fiscal year starting in April, more economic and international headlines remained in focus. On Market View, Money Matters’ finance presenter Chua Tian Tian unpacked the developments with Benjamin Goh, Head of Research and Investor Education, SIAS.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has been found guilty of abuse of power in the biggest trial yet to emerge from the multibillion-dollar 1MDB scandal. He was charged with four counts of corruption and 21 counts of money laundering over the alleged illegal transfer of about RM2.2 billion from the state fund. What does this verdict now mean for Najib’s remaining political influence? And how could it shape Malaysia’s political landscape under Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim? On The Big Story, Hongbin Jeong speaks to Associate Professor Chong Ja Ian from the Department of Political Science at the National University of Singapore, to analyse the ruling and what it means for Malaysia’s political future.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The island-wide special customs operations in Hainan province have ignited a tourism and spending surge, which is transforming the free trade port into a new global consumption landmark.海南省全岛实施的特殊海关运作机制引发了旅游与消费的双重增长，正推动海南自由贸易港向全球消费新地标转型。For example, duty-free sales in Sanya exceeded 100 million yuan ($14.2 million) for five consecutive days, said the Sanya Municipal Bureau of Commerce. Specifically, duty-free sales in the city hit 102 million yuan on Monday, following a strong streak that began on Dec 18.例如，三亚市商务局表示，三亚免税销售额已连续五天突破1亿元人民币（约合1420万美元）。具体而言，继12月18日以来的强劲走势之后，三亚周一的免税销售额达到1.02亿元。Analysts attribute the boom to Hainan's evolving trade policies, which are enhancing its appeal as a winter getaway and shopping destination, especially with the New Year and Spring Festival holidays approaching.分析人士将这一增长归因于海南不断优化的贸易政策，这些政策正显著提升其作为冬季度假和购物目的地的吸引力，尤其是在元旦和春节假期临近之际。Travel bookings reflect the strong momentum. Online travel platform Qunar reported a 51 percent year-on-year increase in flight bookings to Sanya for the upcoming New Year holiday, with bookings to Haikou up 19 percent.旅游预订数据反映出这一强劲势头。在线旅游平台去哪儿网数据显示，即将到来的元旦假期期间，飞往三亚的机票预订量同比增长51%，飞往海口的预订量增长19%。International interest is rising sharply. International flight bookings to Haikou for the New Year period jumped over 40 percent, while Spring Festival bookings more than doubled. Travelers from Russia, Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, South Korea and Thailand are leading the surge, signaling Hainan's growing resonance as a global vacation hot spot.国际市场兴趣迅速升温。元旦期间飞往海口的国际航班预订量同比增长超过40%，春节期间的国际航班预订量更是翻倍增长。来自俄罗斯、新加坡、澳大利亚、马来西亚、韩国和泰国的游客成为主要增长来源，彰显海南作为全球度假热点的吸引力不断增强。Dev Bagchi, an Indian businessman, told China Daily that: "We came for business purposes, but later discovered Hainan is also a tourism destination. It's fantastic. It's a very good place. I will tell everybody in India to visit here, very nice people, very nice place. The weather is very good, just like Mumbai. You know, people from India, prefer to go to Europe for their holidays and I would like to tell them to come to China and especially come to this place, Hainan."印度商人德夫·巴格奇在接受《中国日报》采访时表示：“我们原本是因商务来到这里，后来发现海南也是一个旅游目的地。这里太棒了，是一个非常好的地方。我会告诉印度的每一个人来这里旅游，这里的人非常友好，地方也非常好。天气很好，就像孟买一样。你知道，印度人通常更喜欢去欧洲度假，而我想告诉他们，可以来中国，尤其是来这里——海南。”Behind such a tourism and spending surge is a policy breakthrough. According to China's Ministry of Finance, the special customs operations have expanded Hainan's zero-tariff product coverage from 21 percent to 74 percent, with tariff-free items jumping from about 1,900 tariff lines to approximately 6,600.旅游与消费热潮的背后，是一项政策性突破。根据中国财政部的数据，特殊海关运作机制已将海南零关税商品覆盖率从21%提升至74%，免税商品由约1900个税目大幅增加至约6600个。"These measures, combined with streamlined customs clearance procedures, solidify Hainan's competitive edge as a low-cost, high-efficiency trade hub," said Gao Ruifeng, head of Haikou customs. "It becomes a key gateway for foreign goods entering the Chinese market."海口海关关长高瑞峰表示：“这些举措与通关流程的简化相结合，进一步巩固了海南作为低成本、高效率贸易枢纽的竞争优势，使其成为境外商品进入中国市场的重要门户。”The policy impact translated into remarkable statistics from day one. According to Haikou customs, on Dec 18, Hainan's offshore duty-free sales skyrocketed to 161 million yuan, involving 24,800 shoppers and 118,000 purchased items. These figures represented staggering year-on-year increases of 61 percent, 53 percent and 25.5 percent, respectively.政策效应自实施首日便转化为亮眼数据。海口海关数据显示，12月18日当天，海南离岛免税销售额飙升至1.61亿元，涉及2.48万名消费者和11.8万件商品，同比分别增长61%、53%和25.5%。The epicenter of this commercial explosion was the China Duty Free Group's Sanya International Duty Free Shopping Complex. Anchored in a deep integration of "duty-free shopping plus culture and tourism", the mall launched a grand promotional campaign for the occasion, including giving away shopping vouchers. It also specially curated an exclusive VIP salon for foreign visitors, a strategic move designed to transform abstract policy dividends into tangible, experiential benefits and to craft a diversified, immersive new shopping scenario for foreign tourists.此次消费热潮的核心区域是中国免税集团旗下的三亚国际免税购物城。依托“免税购物＋文化旅游”的深度融合，该商场推出了大型促销活动，包括发放购物代金券，并专门为外籍游客打造了专属VIP沙龙。这一战略举措旨在将抽象的政策红利转化为可感知、可体验的实际收益，为外国游客营造多元化、沉浸式的全新消费场景。The result was a comprehensive eruption of market vitality. Data revealed that on Dec 18, customer traffic at the complex exceeded 36,000, a surge of over 60 percent year-on-year, while sales revenue soared by an impressive 85 percent. These standout figures served as a potent testament to the vigorous kinetic energy unleashed by Hainan FTP's institutional innovation.其结果是市场活力的全面释放。数据显示，12月18日当天，该购物城客流量超过3.6万人次，同比增长逾60%，销售额同比大幅增长85%。这些亮眼数据有力印证了海南自贸港制度创新所释放出的强劲动能。A spokesperson from the sales department of the duty-free complex said, "To welcome this historic moment of island-wide special customs operations, we began planning and preparing three months in advance, increasing our inventory to create a high-quality shopping experience for domestic and foreign travelers."该免税购物城销售部门的一位负责人表示：“为迎接全岛实施特殊海关运作这一历史性时刻，我们提前三个月开始策划和筹备，通过增加库存，为国内外游客打造高品质的购物体验。”special customs operations/ˈspeʃl ˈkʌstəmz ˌɒpəˈreɪʃənz/特殊海关运作机制consumption landmark/kənˈsʌmpʃən ˈlændmɑːk/消费地标winter getaway/ˈwɪntə ˈɡetəweɪ/冬季度假目的地tariff line/ˈtærɪf laɪn/税目customs clearance/ˈkʌstəmz ˈklɪərəns/海关通关offshore duty-free/ˈɒfʃɔː ˈdjuːti friː/离岛免税

Send us your feedback — we're listeningPsalm 62:1 — Calm for the Evening, Rest in God's Presence This Christmas From London to Singapore, from Chicago to Nairobi, from Sydney to Amsterdam — a global 8 P.M. Christmas prayer within the DailyPrayer.uk 24-Hour Cycle. Psalm 62:1 — “Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from Him.” Matthew 11:28 — “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Global Christmas data shows evening searches rising for calm, rest, and relief from emotional overload. Many feel drained after the day's activity. This prayer brings the quiet peace of Christ to hearts needing release, stillness, and unhurried presence. prayer  Father, as evening settles across the world, we come to You for calm. Still every anxious thought, every internal rush, every hidden pressure beneath today's celebrations. Jesus, You call the weary to rest—so we lean into Your presence now. Let Your peace soften tense minds, loosen tight shoulders, and quiet the noise that sits beneath the surface. Lord, slow our breathing, steady our heartbeat, and draw us into Your unhurried grace. For those who feel overstimulated, lonely, or emotionally thin, wrap them in Your gentleness. Let homes become sanctuaries of rest. Let restless spirits be calmed. Let Your presence breathe peace into tonight's final hours. We choose stillness. We choose You. Give us holy quiet and deep soul-rest. prayer points prayer for calm, prayer for rest, prayer for God's presence, prayer for quietness of mind, prayer for emotional release, prayer for gentle peace, prayer for deep restoration life application  Before bed, sit in silence for sixty seconds. Whisper “Lord, I give You my day,” and allow His peace to settle over your thoughts. declaration I declare that the peace of Christ rests on me tonight and brings deep calm to my mind and spirit. call to action Share this prayer and visit DailyPrayer.uk for global devotional resources. 24-hour arc connectorPrevious: 6 P.M. Light in the Darkness — Hope for a Weary WorldThis Episode: 8 P.M. Calm for the Evening — Rest in God's PresenceNext: 10 P.M. Comfort for the Night — God with Us in the Quiet HoursSupport this listener-funded ministry for £3 a monthhttps://buymeacoffee.com/reverendbencooperpsalm 62:1 prayer, matthew 11:28 rest, evening calm prayer, christmas peace prayer, rest in God's presence, reverend ben cooper, dailyprayeSupport the showFor more inspiring content, visit RBChristianRadio.net — your home for daily devotionals, global prayer, and biblical encouragement for every season of life. We invite you to connect with our dedicated prayer hub at DailyPrayer.uk — a place where believers from every nation unite in prayer around the clock. If you need prayer, or would like to leave a request, this is the place to come. Our mission is simple: to pray with you, to stand with you, and to keep the power of prayer at the centre of everyday life. Your support through DailyPrayer.uk helps us continue sharing the gospel and covering the nations in prayer. You can also discover our ministry services and life celebrations at LifeCelebrant.net — serving families with faith, dignity, and hope. If this devotional blesses you, please consider supporting our listener-funded mission by buying us a coffee through RBChristianRadio.net. Every prayer, every gift, and every share helps us keep broadcasting God's Word to the world.

In 2025, AI is reshaping the COO's mandate across Asia, shifting focus from process efficiency to strategic orchestration. According to McKinsey (2024), 68% of APAC operations leaders report AI-driven automation freeing up 20–30% of planning capacity, enabling greater emphasis on resilience and innovation. Accenture highlights that AI-powered predictive operations are now table stakes in manufacturing and logistics hubs like Vietnam and Singapore. However, Gartner cautions that only 35% of Asian firms have mature data governance to support enterprise AI at scale. For COOs, the imperative is clear: integrate AI into core operational workflows while navigating talent gaps and ethical AI frameworks unique to Asia's fragmented regulatory landscape.Questions1.       Define AI as viewed from the perspective of the COO.2.       How is AI redefining the strategic scope of the COO beyond traditional operational efficiency in Asian organisations? 3.       In organisations where CEOs increasingly own AI strategy in Asia Pacific, how can COOs ensure day-to-day operations, processes, and KPIs stay tightly aligned with that strategy, including their role in cross-functional AI governance and enterprise-wide AI scaling? 4.       Which high-value operational domains (e.g. supply chain, customer operations, risk and compliance, manufacturing, warehousing, etc) in Asia offer the greatest near-term returns from generative and agentic AI, and how should COOs prioritise them, including which industries are leading in AI-driven operational transformation? 5.       What new operating models are emerging as AI blurs the lines between planning, execution, and decision-making, and how should the COO mandate evolve when AI and automation become core to the business model in Asian markets? 6.       How can COOs redesign operating models to integrate “digital labour” and AI agents alongside human teams, including how leading Asian firms are reskilling operations talent to work effectively alongside AI systems while addressing employee job-fear and skills gaps? 7.       What new leadership, data, and AI literacy capabilities must operations leaders and middle management in Asia develop to manage AI-augmented teams effectively? 8.       What governance frameworks are needed for responsible and ethical AI use in operations, ensuring alignment with Asia's diverse regulatory and ethical standards on data privacy, security, model risk, transparency, fairness, and brand trust? 9.       What metrics beyond cost savings should COOs adopt to measure AI's impact on resilience, service quality, growth, and overall business value in Asia's volatile markets? 10.   How should COOs structure partnerships with consulting firms and technology providers to accelerate AI-enabled operations without creating long-term vendor lock-in? 11.   Given constrained budgets and competing priorities for 2026, what capital allocation and business case criteria should COOs apply to scale AI in operations while avoiding hype-driven investments, addressing pressing data governance and infrastructure gaps?12.   What is Teceze?13.   What i

In this episode, Adam Torres interviews Caela Tanjangco, Head of Asia at Endeavor Catalyst, live from the Milken Institute Asia Summit in Singapore. They discuss redefining success amid fewer exits, the “Multiplier Effect” in emerging markets, and the trends shaping venture investment across Asia and beyond. Follow Adam on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/askadamtorres/ for up to date information on book releases and tour schedule. Apply to be a guest on our podcast: https://missionmatters.lpages.co/podcastguest/ Visit our website: https://missionmatters.com/ More FREE content from Mission Matters here: https://linktr.ee/missionmattersmedia Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Send us a textWelcome to What's Up in Business Travel for Week 51 of 2025.  This is a weekly podcast where we update you on what's up this week in the world of business travel.  This podcast is great for those who need to know what's happening all in under 15 minutes.On this week's podcast, we covered the following stories:Spirit is in merger talks with FrontierGov't admits role in helicopter-plane collisionFAA accelerates $6B Air Traffic Control upgradeARC: November Air Sales declineNovember airfares fell more than 5%Spain fines AirbnbAir India partners with Singapore's ScootCCRA acquires ABC Global ServicesSouthwest adds Turkish AirlinesAmerican Airlines limits perksPorter launches flights from HamiltonHawaiian Airlines joins oneworldHyatt Centric brand debuts in Puerto RicoUnited launches new AI-powered mobile appYou can subscribe to this podcast by searching 'BusinessTravel360' on your favorite podcast player or visiting BusinessTravel360.comThis podcast was created, edited and distributed by BusinessTravel360.  Be sure to sign up for regular updates at BusinessTravel360.com - Enjoy!Support the show

In this episode, ⁠Adam Torres⁠ interviews ⁠Caela Tanjangco⁠, Head of Asia at Endeavor Catalyst, live from the Milken Institute Asia Summit in Singapore. They discuss redefining success amid fewer exits, the “Multiplier Effect” in emerging markets, and the trends shaping venture investment across Asia and beyond. Follow Adam on Instagram at ⁠https://www.instagram.com/askadamtorres/⁠ for up to date information on book releases and tour schedule. Apply to be a guest on our podcast: ⁠https://missionmatters.lpages.co/podcastguest/⁠ Visit our website: ⁠https://missionmatters.com/⁠ More FREE content from Mission Matters here: ⁠https://linktr.ee/missionmattersmedia⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nothing says "peace" quite like building a technology bloc. Pax Silica is said to be Washington's "flagship effort on AI and security initiative," which was unveiled at its inaugural summit on December 11, bringing together the U.S., Japan, the Republic of Korea, the UK, Australia, Israel, Singapore, the UAE, and the Netherlands, with others also in the room. What does "Pax Silica" mean? Well, "pax" is Latin for peace while "Silica" refers to silicon. Put together, it sounds like a gift to global coordination, a positive-sum partnership, as the U.S. puts it, which is not about isolating others. But is that really the case?

Email: We catch up with some emails this week Main Topic: Rabbit Medicine in Australia: Clinical, Ethical, and Practical Challenges VetGurus Merchandise – VetGurus Etsy Store VetGurus Shop Checkout the VetGurus range of quirky, distinctive branded items. All purchases help support our podcast , helping pay for our production costs. So the bonus for you is that you get some great merchandise and you feel good inside for supporting us – win:win. So click on this link and get shopping. Order now: VetGurus Shop. Say Hi! Send us an email: VetGurus@Gmail.com. We love hearing from our listeners – give us a yell now! Become a Patron Become a Patron of VetGurus: Support us by ‘throwing a bone’ to the VetGurus – a small regular donation to help pay for our production costs. It’s easy; just go to our Patreon site. You can be a rabbit.. or an echidna.. one day we are hoping for a Guru level patron! https://www.patreon.com/VetGurus Support our Sponsors Specialised Animal Nutrition. Specialised Animal Nutrition is the Australian distributor of Oxbow Animal Health products. Used and recommended by top exotic animal veterinarians around the globe, the Oxbow range comprises premium life-staged feeds and supportive care products for small herbivores. Microchips Australia: Microchips Australia is the Australian distributor for: Trovan microchips, readers and reading systems; Lone Star Veterinary Retractor systems and Petrek GPS tracking products. Microchips Australia is run by veterinarians experienced in small and large animal as well as avian and exotic practice, they know exactly what is needed for your practice. Chemical Essentials. Cleaning and disinfection products and solutions for a wide variety of industries throughout Australia, as well as specific markets in New Zealand, Singapore and Papua New Guinea. The sole importer of the internationally acclaimed F10SC Disinfectant and its related range of advanced cleaning, personal hygiene and animal skin care products. About Our Podcast The veterinary podcast about veterinary medicine and surgery, current news items of interest, case reports and anecdotes. Wait: It's not all about veterinary matters! We also discuss other areas we are passionate about, including photography and wildlife. Thanks for joining us – Brendan and Mark. Our podcast is for veterinarians, veterinary students and veterinary nurses/technicians. If you are at pet owner please search elsewhere – there are lots of great podcasts aimed specifically at pet owners. Disclaimer Any discussion of medical or veterinary matters is of a general nature. Consult a veterinarian with experience in the appropriate field for specific information relating to topics mentioned in our podcast or on our website.

Why do intelligent, hard-working people still struggle financially in retirement — and what do they miss along the way? Straits Times Invest Editor, Tan Ooi Boon and author of Retire With More Money discusses the money traps and glimmering opportunities available to us here in Singapore to retire well using foresight. From CPF blind spots and property laws to marriage, legacy planning and investment traps, this conversation tackles the issues people avoid until it’s too late. We unpack real-life cases of devastating financial mistakes - and the quiet habits that protect wealth over decades. This is a discussion for readers, investors, and lifelong learners who believe thinking well is the foundation of living well. Money and Me - hosted by Michelle Martin.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Asia’s markets are mixed this Christmas Eve - but beneath the calm, powerful themes are moving capital fast as investors weigh healthcare breakthroughs, defence spending, and surging commodities. Novo Nordisk jumps as US regulators approve the first-ever GLP-1 weight-loss pill, reshaping the obesity drug market. US defence stocks rally, with Huntington Ingalls riding expectations of higher military spending and domestic shipbuilding. Huawei defies expectations, pushing into ultra-luxury electric vehicles and outselling traditional European carmakers in China. Meanwhile, copper and platinum hit record highs, fuelled by supply constraints, electrification, AI demand and tariff stockpiling. From Singapore stocks to luxury crab replacing caviar, this is Market View - hosted by Michelle Martin solo.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s been another fantastic year for Windsor’s Two Flints… Following on from the recent release of their celebrated collab Double IPA with Ghost Whale’s Ray Hadnett, the brewery has also worked with NZ Hops on their Bract Project initiative. Not only that, they’ve released one of the year’s best dark beers in Heartwood – the barrel aged evolution of their debut Imperial Stout ‘Into the Night’. So with that in mind, we’re revisiting our conversation with founder Alex Kerr from earlier this year. In this episode we speak with Alex to learn about his early influences and how he found a passion for brewing while living in Singapore. We discuss his fascination with hops and the qualities they impart on the beers they brew, the importance of Two Flints' taproom and also reflect on his desire for continuous improvement in everything that they do. “It takes two flints to make a fire” Where did the inspiration for your brewery name come from? For Alex Kerr, founder of Windsor, Berkshire-based Two Flints, he has his own story to tell. And drawing influence from the famous quote from Louisa May Alcott's coming-of-age novel Little Women was just the place to start. Opening at the end of 2022, Two Flints recently has marked its second anniversary brewing in Berkshire.  A town that has been the home of Windsor and Eton Brewery for more than 10 years, Alex Kerr and his team have given beer fans another new spot for excellent beer. And soon after in 2023, they would soon be joined in Windsor by neighbours Indie Rabble, the brewery founded by Naomi and Dave Hayward. Since starting out, Two Flints has made its name with a series of excellent hop-forward, hazy pale ales and IPAs such as Santiago, Never End and Big Bash. But they also make superb lagers and other styles, too.

Singapore reported 314 suicides in 2024, with the sharpest increase among adults aged 30 to 39. Nearly two-thirds were men. What pressures do these groups face? And what are the warning signs? Otelli Edwards and Steven Chia speak with Dr Jared Ng, a psychiatrist and the former chief of emergency and crisis care at the Institute of Mental Health, and Eugene Chong, counselling psychologist at Seeding Minds. WHERE TO SEEK HELP If you or someone you know is struggling and needs support, please consider reaching out to one of the helplines below. Youthline: +65 6436 6612 (call), 8533 9460 (text) and over email at hello [at] youthline.sg (hello[at]youthline[dot]sg). Youthline provides free mental health support to youth via phone, email or a live chat service. It runs from 9am to midnight daily. Calls outside of operating hours are redirected to Samaritans of Singapore or the Singapore Civil Defence Force for emergency medical services. Samaritans of Singapore: 1767 (call), 9151 1767 (WhatsApp text) and over email at pat [at] sos.org.sg (pat[at]sos[dot]org[dot]sg). Samaritans of Singapore provides round-the-clock confidential emotional support for individuals in crisis, thinking about or affected by suicide. The call and text-based services are operational 24 hours a day, every day of the week. National Mindline: 1771 (call), 6669 1771 (WhatsApp) and through online webchat on the http://mindline.sg/fsmh website. This is a round-the-clock confidential national-level helpline. Beyond immediate counselling, those who require more support can be directed to the appropriate care and resources. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week Seth Paridon and Jon Parshall take a look at the fall of Singapore in February 1942. After having swept the battlefields from Singora to Muar of British, Australian, Indian, and Malaysian troops in his masterful campaign down the 500-mile-long Malayan island, Japanese General Yamashita stands poised just across the Strait of Johore from Singapore Island and his final conquest. In the single most humiliating defeat in the long annals of British military history, Yamashita takes his outnumbered and outgunned, exhausted army and crushes the last remnants of British honor. By the middle of February, the so-called Tiger of Malaya is victorious having vanquished British General Percival and all comers. The guys get into the weeds on the planning, the attack, the fighting and of course the surrender. Jon puts a bow on the Malaya campaign and sets up what's next for the Japanese in their 1942 Oceanic Blitzkrieg.   #wwiihistory #ww2 #usnavy #usa #usarmy #medalofhonor #enterprise #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #cv6 #midway #wwii #wwiihistory #ww2 #worldwar2 #usnavy #usnavyseals #usmc #usmarines #saipan #usa #usarmy #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #battleship #battleships #ussenterprise #aircraftcarriers #museum #essex #halsey #taskforce38 #wwii #wwiihistory #ww2 #usnavy #usa #usarmy #medalofhonor #enterprise #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #cv6 #midway #wwii #wwiihistory #ww2 #worldwar2 #usnavy #usnavyseals #usmc #usmarines #saipan #usa #usarmy #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #battleship #battleships #ussenterprise #aircraftcarriers #museum #hollywood #movie #movies #books #mastersoftheair #8thairforce #mightyeighth #100thbombgroup #bloodyhundredth #b17 #boeing #airforce wwii #wwiihistory #ww2 #usnavy #usa #usarmy #medalofhonor #enterprise #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #cv6 #midway #wwii #wwiihistory #ww2 #worldwar2 #usnavy #usnavyseals #usmc #usmarines #saipan #usa #usarmy #aircraft #aircraftcarrier #battleship #battleships #ussenterprise #aircraftcarriers #museum #hollywood #movie #movies #books #oldbreed #1stMarineDivision #thepacific #Peleliu #army #marines #marinecorps #worldwar2 #worldwar #worldwarii #leytegulf #battleofleytegulf #rodserling #twilightzone #liberation #blacksheep #power #prisoner #prisonerofwar #typhoon #hurricane #weather #iwojima#bullhalsey #ace #p47 #p38 #fighter #fighterpilot #b29 #strategicstudying #tokyo #boeing #incendiary #usa #franklin #okinawa #yamato #kamikaze #Q&A #questions #questionsandanswers #history #jaws #atomicbomb #nuclear #nationalarchives #nara #johnford #hollywood #fdr #president #roosevelt #doolittle #doolittleraid #pearlharborattack #salvaged #medalofhonor #tarawa #malayalam

The U.S. government is investigating if Nvidia (NVDA) chips are being smuggled into China through Singapore. Rick Ducat shows how the world's most valuable company has actually underperformed most of its competitors and places an example trade heading into 2026.======== Schwab Network ========Empowering every investor and trader, every market day.Options involve risks and are not suitable for all investors. Before trading, read the Options Disclosure Document. http://bit.ly/2v9tH6DSubscribe to the Market Minute newsletter - https://schwabnetwork.com/subscribeDownload the iOS app - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/schwab-network/id1460719185Download the Amazon Fire Tv App - https://www.amazon.com/TD-Ameritrade-Network/dp/B07KRD76C7Watch on Sling - https://watch.sling.com/1/asset/191928615bd8d47686f94682aefaa007/watchWatch on Vizio - https://www.vizio.com/en/watchfreeplus-exploreWatch on DistroTV - https://www.distro.tv/live/schwab-network/Follow us on X – https://twitter.com/schwabnetworkFollow us on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/schwabnetworkFollow us on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/schwab-network/About Schwab Network - https://schwabnetwork.com/about

Ben got a chance to interview director Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke for his film A Useful Ghost (2025) that played at the 36th Singapore International Film Festival, where it also won the Special Mention Prize for the Asian Feature Film Competition. Learn about Boonbunchachoke's creative process, how he developed the story, and his approach to filmmaking as a whole that tends towards artificiality, deadpan humour and an engagement with history.Special thanks to the SGIFF team for helping us with securing an interview time/location, and to Momo Film Co, the film's Singapore co-production team for helping to coordinate the interview. Suck less at our FREE patreon, discord server, and our socials @ www.deepcutpod.com Timestamps:00:00 Intro02:47 Reception04:00 Queer readings07:39 Developing story and themes12:02 Political / historical references13:24 History, memory, surveillance18:19 Artificiality, worldbuilding, craft25:36 Spoilers: Frame story27:25 Spoilers: Ending31:43 Other appliance candidates33:42 Upcoming work34:35 Outro

It is the second-to-last episode of Player 1 vs The World's StrangeCast podcast for 2025. It's almost 2026 time and Adnan Riaz and Adam Evalt are here to talk all of the latest news and discussions around Life Is Strange, Deck Nine, Square Enix, Don't Nod, Don't Nod Montreal, Lost Records: Bloom & Rage and much more!

Parenting teens can feel overwhelming, especially for dads navigating the shift from childhood to adolescence. In this episode of the ParentEd Podcast, host June speaks with Sebastian Teo, father of two daughters, about staying connected during these transitional years.Sebastian shares his heart-warming journey and practical ways to strengthen bonds—such as intentional one-to-one time and meaningful experiences through the “Date with Dad” event. He also offers thoughtful advice on guiding his daughters through friendships and relationships, emphasising character-building over simply finding “the right one”.Discover why consistency matters more than grand gestures and how creating a safe space at home fosters trust and openness. If you're a parent wondering how to bridge the gap with your teen, this episode is packed with encouragement for navigating this challenging phase.Tune in and learn how to be present, patient, and purposeful in your parenting journey.--Youths today are navigating a world of changing norms. With your help, we can guide them to embrace timeless principles for family as foundational to our nation's well-being. Join us in equipping and empowering children and youth to be family champions to spark social change. Support the mission.--If you have enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and review on Spotify, Apple Podcast or Podchaser. It'll be very helpful for others to find our podcast. You can also help us by copying this link www.family.org.sg/parentedpodcast to share with your friends.You can also support us by giving monthly. We appreciate your generous giving as every dollar helps to sustain our efforts in strengthening families. Please note that if you are based in Singapore, as a donor-supported charity with Institution of a Public Character status, all monthly and one-time donations of $50 and above, will qualify for 250% tax deduction.

CDL's David Ling and STR's Jesper Palmqvist join the podcast for the monthly look across the Asia Pacific region, with Ling discussing how Singapore-based CDL is finding hotel investment opportunities across the globe.

“Part of what I found were cultural norms that view the second half of life as being as important and even more important than the first half of life, in terms of what you can do for yourself and for society,“ said Ken Stern, in conversation with host Jane Trombley.Ken, author of Healthy to 100: How Strong Ties Lead to Long Lives (link in notes, below) explored the “culture of longevity” in Asia — Singapore, Korea, and Japan — as well as communities in Spain and Italy. An expression of those cultural norms, he noted, was found in Singapore, where “they view social connection and social health as being critical parts of public health,” with an emphasis on multigenerational housing predicated on the importance of family ties.  In Korea, he explored the cultural importance of lifelong learning, codified in the national constitution in 1990. In Japan, Ken found the creation of “ essentially a second work culture for older workers that's much less about prestige, and more about finding work that brings you into contact with other people.”Ken is a gifted storyteller, bringing each region to life in the context of what contributes to healthy and engaged aging — social connections built around housing, employment, lifelong learning, and a rich community life.  Links: Ken's most recent book: Healthy to 100: How Strong Social Ties Lead to Long Lives “I'm 62. Stop Telling Me I'm Old” by Ken Stern New York Times, Opinion Nov. 27, 2025The Longevity ProjectKen Stern, Founder and ChairStanford Center on LongevityStanford UniversitySupport the showSupport the show

"Public markets are behaving more like private markets. Private markets want to behave more like public markets. So actually, they're just one market.What's not the same is the level of research, information, data disclosure. Correct. That's the only difference. It's this information gap that, to us, is the single biggest opportunity now.We think over the course of the next five to 10 years, there'll be more trading venues, more liquidity providers, more market makers, more investor types—all of that. And I think what Smartkarma has always done is be the information flow for part of capital markets.In fact, that sort of 74 billion number, I think, is quite conservative. I've seen other estimates that are close to 120 billion. So it depends on what you see as sort of growth and what you see beyond. But regardless, I think it's very large numbers, and the ratio of exit to invested capital is extremely low. A 50 billion hole is a pretty big hole." - Raghav Kapoor, CEO of SmartkarmaRaghav Kapoor, CEO & co-founder of Smartkarma, joined us for a conversation on the launch of PvtIQ and the structural transformation of Asia's private markets. Drawing from his experience building Smartkarma's independent research platform, Raghav explained how client demand for pre-IPO coverage led to creating PvtIQ, an intelligence platform designed to bridge the critical information gap in Southeast Asia's private markets. We discussed the striking imbalance where $74 billion has been invested into the region's tech ecosystem but only $23 billion has been returned through exits, highlighting the urgent need for better data infrastructure and price discovery. Raghav shared unique insights on how families dominate the region's investment landscape, why private and public markets are converging into one, and his vision for PvtIQ to become the intelligence backbone supporting companies, investors, and regulators in bringing more transparency and efficiency to Asia's rapidly evolving private market ecosystem.Episode Highlights:[00:00] Quote of the Day by Raghav Kapoor[00:57]] Smartkarma launches PvtIQ for Asia's private markets[03:11]] Investors requesting coverage three years before IPO[04:08]] Supporting MAS equity market development program[05:24]] Singapore's public markets languished despite private growth[06:13]] Path from fundraising to public listing explained[08:37]] $74 billion invested, only $23 billion exits[09:45]] Companies need support to achieve IPO readiness[11:00]] Capital chasing deals shifted to improving disclosure[11:57]] Southeast Asia's extreme market fragmentation challenges[13:23]] Families dominate and influence Southeast Asian markets[14:38]] Lack of data creates serious structural challenges[19:01]] Private market investors transitioning from momentum investing[20:18]] Digital banks provide disclosure model for research[21:24]] Late stage private rounds resemble public IPOs[23:26]] Liquidity without information is just volatility[24:06]] Private and public markets converging into one[25:30]] Information gap is the single biggest opportunity[27:00]] Private market research TAM already $8 billion[28:57]] What great looks like: intelligence backbone for Asia's private markets[30:57]] ClosingProfile: Raghav Kapoor, CEO and co-founder, SmartkarmaLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ragkap/Podcast Information: Bernard Leong hosts and produces the show. The proper credits for the intro and end music are "Energetic Sports Drive." G. Thomas Craig mixed and edited the episode in both video and audio format. Recorded in Poddster Singapore

Anita Moorjani is a renowned speaker, author, and spiritual teacher whose remarkable near-death experience (NDE) has captivated audiences worldwide. Born in Singapore to Indian parents, Anita grew up in a multicultural environment that shaped her perspective on life and spirituality. However, it was her battle with cancer and subsequent NDE that transformed her life and turned her into a beacon of hope and healing for countless individuals.In 2006, Anita was diagnosed with lymphoma, and her condition rapidly deteriorated. At the brink of death, she experienced a profound NDE, which she described as a journey to the realm of pure consciousness and unconditional love.During this transformative experience, Anita's awareness expanded, and she gained profound insights into the nature of existence, the purpose of life, and the power of love. Miraculously, she emerged from her coma with complete remission of her cancer, astonishing her doctors and sparking a worldwide interest in her story.Anita's NDE not only healed her physically but also ignited a spiritual awakening within her. Since then, she has dedicated her life to sharing her profound insights and the message of love, acceptance, and self-empowerment that she received during her NDE.Through her books, such as the international bestseller "Dying to Be Me," and her captivating talks, Anita has inspired millions to question their beliefs, let go of fear, and embrace their authentic selves.Anita's teachings revolve around the notion that we are all interconnected and that love and compassion are the most potent forces in the universe. She encourages individuals to embrace their unique journeys, celebrates their imperfections, and cultivate self-love as a pathway to healing and transformation. Her message resonates deeply with people from all walks of life, offering them hope, inspiration, and a fresh perspective on life's challenges.Anita Moorjani's impact extends beyond her speaking engagements and writings. She is actively involved in various philanthropic endeavors and collaborates with medical professionals and researchers to explore the intersection of science and spirituality. Her story continues to touch lives globally, reminding us of the profound potential within each of us to heal, grow, and live authentically. Anita's unwavering commitment to spreading love, compassion, and self-acceptance serves as a guiding light, inspiring individuals to embrace their true selves and live a life of purpose and fulfillment.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/next-level-soul-podcast-with-alex-ferrari--4858435/support.Take your spiritual journey to the next level with Next Level Soul TV — our dedicated streaming home for conscious storytelling and soulful transformation.Experience exclusive programs, original series, movies, tv shows, workshops, audiobooks, meditations, and a growing library of inspiring content created to elevate, heal, and awaken. Begin your membership or explore our free titles here: https://www.nextlevelsoul.tv

What if one single breath could calm your anxiety, sharpen your focus, and transform the way you lead and live?

Louise Burke speaks with Damien McLoughlin, CCO of FlyORO, about solving SAF supply chain challenges. FlyORO, a Singapore-based tech firm, offers patented modular blending units deployable from production sites to airports, enabling flexible, distributed SAF delivery. In the podcast they highlight issues downstream of production and the need for localized solutions to avoid “haves and have-nots” among airports. They also address growing demand for SAF certificates and Scope 3 flexibility, stressing robust traceability, and finally book-and-claim as vital for scaling SAF demand, complementing physical deployment with credibility.

Today we acknowledge the silent grief and exhaustion many feel at the year's end. Here is my message of compassion and permission to gently enter the new year! ✨ Join me and other women for my signature program “RETURN TO LOVE”: 28-Day Journey into Self-Love and Soulmate Relating Limited Christmas Offer until 31st December: http://bit.ly/3IAKXfB___________Welcome to Timeless Teachings

Being a trusted adviser to our affluent clients for over two decades, we know what works and what won't work, when it comes to helping our clients meet their non-negotiable life goals.In this episode, we are glad to be joined by one of Providend's clients, Matthew Elton, Founder and Managing Director of Hotlotz, a leading auctioneer in Singapore. Matthew prides Hotlotz on their honesty, integrity and high level of service quality towards their clients.You will be intrigued by the interesting stories he has to share and his passion for upholding trust in both his work and personal life, especially when it comes to precious items bestowed upon his clients from their loved ones. Matthew's belief in doing the right thing and maintaining a healthy culture within Hotlotz aligns closely with Providend's mission to be the light in the financial world.Learn more about Matthew and his company here.Music courtesy of ItsWatR.The host of this episode, Christopher Tan, is Chief Executive Officer of Providend, Singapore's first fee-only wealth advisory firm and author of the book “Money Wisdom: Simple Truths for Financial Wellness”.The full list of Providend's Money Wisdom podcast episodes from Season 4 can be found here.Did you know that our Providend's Money Wisdom podcast is now available in video format on YouTube? Follow us on our YouTube channel for new episode on Thursday at 8pm.

- Khai mạc Hội nghị lần thứ 15 Ban Chấp hành Trung ương Đảng khoá 13. Tổng Bí thư Tô Lâm phát biểu khai mạc Hội nghị.- Thủ tướng Phạm Minh Chính trao quyết định điều động ông Lê Mạnh Hùng, Chủ tịch Hội đồng thành viên Tập đoàn Petrovietnam giữ Quyền Bộ trưởng Bộ Công Thương.- Ngân hàng UOB (của Singapore) dự báo triển vọng kinh tế Việt Nam quý 1/2026 có thể đạt 7%.- Trải qua 81 năm xây dựng, chiến đấu và trưởng thành, Quân đội nhân dân Việt Nam thực sự là quân đội anh hùng của một dân tộc anh hùng; là lực lượng chính trị; lực lượng chiến đấu tuyệt đối trung thành, tin cậy của Đảng, Nhà nước và nhân dân.- Công an tỉnh Đắc Lắc bắt 10 đối tượng điều tra hành vi lừa đảo “tiền ảo” chiếm đoạt 1.300 tỷ đồng.

What shapes the feeling of a place? And how does a life spent moving between cities, countries and creative worlds influence the way you design for others? For interior architect Simone McEwan, co-founder of international design studio Nice Projects, the thread has always been the same — creating spaces that make people feel something. From a childhood spent moving between eight homes before the age of 12, to studying architecture at 17, to an unplanned move to London that opened the door to a global career, Simone’s path is anything but linear. Her work with Anouska Hempel, Richard Horden Soho House, Selfridges, and Studio Ilse has shaped some of the world’s most iconic hospitality and retail experiences. Today, she leads projects across London, Singapore, Japan and Sydney — designing with empathy, intuition and a deep understanding of how people live. Listen in as Vince and Simone explore her nomadic childhood, the craft behind world-class hospitality, and how designing for life — not ego — creates spaces that truly connect. https://niceprojects.work/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the Morning News Express, Bob Miller welcomed Elizabeth Chung, Founder and Executive Director of the Asian American Center of Frederick (AACF), along with Mark Kraham, to preview their Lunar New Year celebration on February 15, 2026 at the Frederick High School Auditorium. They shared why the Lunar New Year — celebrated across cultures including China, Vietnam, Singapore, and South Korea — is one of the most important holidays of the year, and what families can expect at this free community event, featuring cultural performances, artwork, ethnic cuisine, and family-friendly activities. It’s a vibrant celebration of culture, tradition, and community right here in Frederick.

I sit down with Xavier Jean, the man behind Couvent des Jacobins, a discreet Grand Cru Classé nestled in the heart of Saint-Émilion, and his bold Merlot project, Calicem. In this episode, we dive into a family story that spans more than two centuries, from a ruined convent to a benchmark estate.Xavier opens up about growing up in Saint-Émilion, taking over the reins, and shaping a clear wine philosophy without chasing trends. We talk terroir, old vines, and why Calicem had to exist outside the classification. We explore wine tourism, underground cellars, hospitality, and cultural events at the Couvent. From Bordeaux to Hong Kong and Singapore, we unpack how to build markets, work with sommeliers, and stay relevant without shouting.If you're curious about authentic Bordeaux, long-term vision, and wines with identity, this conversation is for you. Expect insights, stories, and practical lessons for wine lovers and professionals alike.▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Asia-Pacific markets kick off the week on a strong footing - and beneath the surface, capital is quietly rotating, power is concentrating, and old franchises are finding new life. In today’s Market View, we unpack Keppel REIT’s move beyond offices into retail, and whether investors are warming to that diversification even as Singapore offices remain core. We look stateside as Wall Street ends the week mixed, with Bank of America flagging Estée Lauder, UBS, and Bruker as 2026 plays - from consumer brands to precision instruments. It’s UP or DOWN time with Oracle stepping deeper into TikTok’s US future, ByteDance eyeing a staggering US$50 billion profit year, and Elon Musk securing a record-breaking Tesla pay package - which gets a DOWN for governance optics. We also touch on Sony’s US$450 million bet on the Peanuts franchise, why Snoopy still matters at 75, and what ValueMax’s legal tussle means for investor sentiment. All that plus a holiday-shortened week ahead, the Straits Times Index check-in, and a cinematic Last Word from Pandora as Avatar: Fire and Ash hits the global box office - hosted by Michelle Martin with Ryan Huang.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What do foot massage parties, otters, and AI robot tutors have in common? To find out, tune into our special end-of-year conversation featuring the hosts from TED Talks Daily, TED Radio Hour, TED Business, and TED Tech! Elise Hu, Manoush Zomorodi, Modupe Akinola and Sherrell Dorsey got together to share the biggest ideas dominating their industry and the lesser-known insights they wished garnered more attention. From pushing back against AI advances to sharing the TED Talks that inspired them, Elise, Manoush, Modupe, and Sherrell reflect on 2025 and look ahead to 2026.Conversations MentionedTED Radio HourRay Kurzweil, "Could AI extend your life indefinitely? Futurist Ray Kurzweil thinks so" Victor Riparbelli, “Will AI avatars eventually teach our kids?” Philip Johns, “Singapore's otters are butting heads with their human neighbors. Can they coexist?” Restoring trust in government, "Move fast...and fix democracy?" TED TalksSitoyo Lopokoiyit in conversation with Jacqueline Novogratz "A story of moral imagination and bold entrepreneurship" Sarah Beery, "How AI is unearthing hidden scientific knowledge" Scott Loarie (of iNaturalist), "The surprising power of your nature photos" Daniel Zavala-Araiza, "The best way to lower Earth's temperature — fast" Jennifer Pahlka, "Coding a better government" Pinky Cole (Slutty Vegan), "How I make vegan food sexy" Jason Huang, "The high-wire act of unlocking clean energy" Jennifer Doudna, "CRISPR's next advance is bigger than you think"Jonny Sun, "You are not alone in your loneliness" Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What do foot massage parties, otters, and AI robot tutors have in common? To find out, tune into our special end-of-year conversation featuring the hosts from TED Talks Daily, TED Radio Hour, TED Business, and TED Tech!Elise Hu of TED Talks Daily hosted a conversation with Manoush Zomorodi, Modupe Akinola and Sherrell Dorsey, where they discussed the biggest ideas dominating their industry and the lesser-known insights they wished garnered more attention. From pushing back against AI advances to sharing the TED Talks that inspired them, Elise, Manoush, Modupe, and Sherrell reflect on 2025 and look ahead to 2026.Conversations MentionedTED Radio HourRay Kurzweil, "Could AI extend your life indefinitely? Futurist Ray Kurzweil thinks so" Victor Riparbelli, “Will AI avatars eventually teach our kids?” Philip Johns, “Singapore's otters are butting heads with their human neighbors. Can they coexist?” Restoring trust in government, "Move fast...and fix democracy?" TED TalksSitoyo Lopokoiyit in conversation with Jacqueline Novogratz "A story of moral imagination and bold entrepreneurship" Sarah Beery, "How AI is unearthing hidden scientific knowledge" Scott Loarie (of iNaturalist), "The surprising power of your nature photos" Daniel Zavala-Araiza, "The best way to lower Earth's temperature — fast" Jennifer Pahlka, "Coding a better government" Pinky Cole (Slutty Vegan), "How I make vegan food sexy" Jason Huang, "The high-wire act of unlocking clean energy" Jennifer Doudna, "CRISPR's next advance is bigger than you think"Jonny Sun, "You are not alone in your loneliness" Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this final episode of 2025, you'll hear about some of the most exciting things happening around the world for pathways through the upper end of high school from the voices of the young people involved in them. The final years of high school is often the 'business-end' of formal schooling, where we often demand that young people just knuckle down and suffer the "rigours" of high stakes standardised exams and college entrance tests. But these conversations really show you that alternatives to this are not only possible, but happening! Too often, we can talk a great game of hyperbole and hubris about our apparently "paradigm-shifting" designs, but the young people actually experiencing them are telling a different story. What better way to get at the truth than by hearing from the young people themselves! So in this mini-series (5 episodes), you'll hear from 19 young people about their experiences of the kinds of competencies they feel they are learning and need to learn, what they find energising and enabling, and how they feel about the adults who are very often giving so much heart and hard work into this work, to support and guide them.You'll hear about five empowering high school pathways and curriculum innovations: the International Big Picture Learning Credential in Australia;the Greenstones at Green School Bali in Indonesia; the African Leadership Academy programme in South Africa;the IB Systems Transformation Pathway pilot programme at UWC South East Asia in Singapore and UWC Atlantic College in Wales;and the Global Impact Diploma, being run at a number of schools around the world including American International Schools in Lima, Peru, Budapest, Hungary and Bucharest, Romania.If you know of other innovations that you'd like to see featured on future mini-series, then please do share them with us at goodimpactlabs.com/contact.

The Kaspa network just got its long-awaited DeFi moment!

What is a call? How does a person know if God is calling them to mission service? Join in a discussion as these and other questions are addressed.

subscribe to catskull: https://pod.link/1843773291 stream/purchase The Tower Finale Complete Score: https://tincanaudio.bandcamp.com/album/the-tower-finale-complete-score It's our final day in the studio here at Tin Can Audio. Thank you for listening to The Tower this year, and for being here for the final part of the series. We have one last release for you before we sign off for 2025. The soundtrack to The Tower Finale is now available to buy on the Tin Can Audio Bandcamp page. It features some of my favourite work on the series, bringing together all the motifs of the past 6 years. The Tower Finale Complete Score is now available to listen and purchase on Bandcamp. But before we fully sign off, we want to tell you about a show we've been really enjoying here at TCHQ. catskull is a new audio drama thriller from Andas Productions, the team behind the incredible Temujin and the DC High Volume Batman series. It is an adaptation of the award winning novel by Myle Yan Tay, catskull is a brilliant atmospheric neo-noir story that explores the violence simmering beneath an unforgiving city, with beautiful, immersive sound design bringing modern day Singapore to life. I really love this series, it's single narrator without really being a single narrator audio drama, and it very slowly and calmly draws you in with it's quiet brutality. It's an incredible example of what audio drama can be, created by one of the best production teams in the world right now. When we were making Land's End earlier this year and were grappling with the intricacies of a kissing scene in an audio drama, Andas Productions' work on Temujin was our high watermark on how to do intimacy in audio form. catskull is available now wherever you get your podcasts, at time of recording there are 8 episodes out, so plenty to get your teeth into. Stick around after this to hear the very first episode. Thank you for listening to The Tower, and for coming with us on this journey.  Happy holidays

In this episode of our Cross-Border Catch-Up podcast series, Goli Rahimi (Chicago) and Kate Thompson (New York, Boston) unpack Singapore's new Workplace Fairness (Dispute Resolution) Bill to explain how the new grievance and dispute resolution process will work, and what procedural safeguards and employee protections will come into effect. The speakers outline timelines toward an anticipated 2027 effective date, highlight employer defenses, and offer practical steps global employers can take now to prepare for a culture of early resolution and legally robust fairness practices.

This special honeymoon edition of Quick Hits comes to you from 40,000 feet in the air, as DeAndre records mid-flight on the world's longest route from JFK to Singapore. With travel in full swing, this episode focuses only on the most critical updates in points and miles, along with a brief look at the honeymoon itinerary.The biggest news of the week is the sudden and unexpected shutdown of the Mesa Homeowners Card. Once considered a breakthrough option for earning transferable points on mortgage payments, Mesa abruptly closed all cardholder accounts, deactivating cards and freezing new earning overnight. While the closure is not related to cardholder behavior, it has triggered a scramble to move or redeem remaining points. A workaround discovered by the community allows some transfers to partners, and DeAndre shares where listeners can find that information.The episode wraps with a quick travel update, including upcoming stops in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Fiji, before settling into the heart of the honeymoon. For the next few weeks, Quick Hits will remain shorter and focus only on significant news.Key takeaways: Mesa card shutdown: Mesa abruptly closed all Homeowners Card accounts without prior notice.Earning halted immediately: Cards were deactivated, and new purchases or point earning are no longer possible.No wrongdoing involved: Mesa confirmed closures were not due to customer behavior or account issues.Transfer workaround: A community-discovered method may allow transfers to Mesa partners.Statement credit fallback: Redeeming at ~0.6¢ per point remains an option, though not ideal.Trust concerns: The shutdown raises questions about Mesa's future and customer confidence.Honeymoon mode: Quick Hits episodes will be shorter and focus on only major updates.Interested in Financial Planning?Truicity Wealth ManagementResources:Mesa Workaround for Missing Points Transfer OptionsBook a Free 30-minute points & miles consultationStart here to learn how to unlock nearly free travelSign up for our newsletter!

What happens when curiosity, resilience, and storytelling collide over a lifetime of building something meaningful? In this episode, I welcome Nick Francis, founder and CEO of Casual Films, for a thoughtful conversation about leadership, presence, and what it takes to keep going when the work gets heavy. Nick's journey began with a stint at BBC News and a bold 9,000-mile rally from London to Mongolia in a Mini Cooper, a spirit of adventure that still fuels how he approaches business and life today. We talk about how that early experience shaped Casual into a global branded storytelling company with studios across five continents, and what it really means to lead a creative organization at scale. Nick shares insights from growing the company internationally, expanding into Southeast Asia, and staying grounded while producing hundreds of projects each year. Along the way, we explore why emotionally resonant storytelling matters, how trust and preparation beat panic, and why presence with family, health, and purpose keeps leaders steady in uncertain times. This conversation is about building an Unstoppable life by focusing on what matters most, using creativity to connect people, and choosing clarity and resilience in a world full of noise. Highlights: 00:01:30 – Learn how early challenges shape resilience and long-term drive. 00:06:20 – Discover why focusing on your role creates calm under pressure. 00:10:50 – Learn how to protect attention in a nonstop world. 00:18:25 – Understand what global growth teaches about leadership. 00:26:00 – Learn why leading with trust changes relationships. 00:45:55 – Discover how movement and presence restore clarity. About the Guest: Nick Francis is the founder and CEO of Casual, a global production group that blends human storytelling, business know-how, and creativity turbo-charged by AI. Named the UK's number one brand video production company for five years, Casual delivers nearly 1,000 projects annually for world-class brands like Adobe, Amazon, BMW, Hilton, HSBC, and P&G. The adventurous spirit behind its first production – a 9,000-mile journey from London to Mongolia in an old Mini – continues to drive Casual's growth across offices in London, New York, LA, San Francisco, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Sydney, Singapore, Hong Kong and Greater China. Nick previously worked for BBC News and is widely recognised for his expertise in video storytelling, brand building, and corporate communications. He is the founding director of the Casual Films Academy, a charity helping young filmmakers develop skills by producing films for charitable organisations. He is also the author of ‘The New Fire: Harness the Power of Video for Your Business' and a passionate advocate for emotionally resonant, behaviorally grounded storytelling. Nick lives in San Francisco, California, with his family. Ways to connect with Nick**:** Website: https://www.casualfilms.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@casual_global  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/casualglobal/  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CasualFilms/  Nick's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickfrancisfilm/  Casual's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/casual-films-international/  Beyond Casual - LinkedIn Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=6924458968031395840 About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset . Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes: Michael Hingson  00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us. Michael Hingson  01:21 Well, hello everyone. I am your host, Mike hingson, that's kind of funny. We'll talk about that in a second, but this is unstoppable mindset. And our guest today is Nick Francis, and what we're going to talk about is the fact that people used to always ask me, well, they would call me Mr. Kingston, and it took me, as I just told Nick a master's degree in physics in 10 years to realize that if I said Mike hingson, that's why they said Mr. Kingston. So was either say Mike hingson or Michael hingson. Well, Michael hingson is a lot easier to say than Mike hingson, but I don't really care Mike or Michael, as long as it's not late for dinner. Whatever works. Yeah. Well, Nick, welcome to unstoppable mindset. We're glad you're Nick Francis  02:04 here. Thanks, Mike. It's great to be here. Michael Hingson  02:08 So Nick is a marketing kind of guy. He's got a company called casual that we'll hear about. Originally from England, I believe, and now lives in San Francisco. We were talking about the weather in San Francisco, as opposed to down here in Victorville. A little bit earlier. We're going to have a heat wave today and and he doesn't have that up there, but you know, well, things, things change over time. But anyway, we're glad you're here. And thanks, Mike. Really looking forward to it. Tell us about the early Nick growing up and all that sort of stuff, just to get us started. Nick Francis  02:43 That's a good question. I grew up in London, in in Richmond, which is southwest London. It's a at the time, it wasn't anything like as kind of, it's become quite kind of shishi, I think back in the day, because it's on the west of London. The pollution from the city used to flow east and so, like all the kind of well to do people, in fact, there used to be a, there used to be a palace in Richmond. It's where Queen Elizabeth died, the first Queen Elizabeth, that is. And, yeah, you know, I grew up it was, you know, there's a lot of rugby played around there. I played rugby for my local rugby club from a very young age, and we went sailing on the south coast. It was, it was great, really. And then, you know, unfortunately, when I was 10 years old, my my dad died. He had had a very powerful job at the BBC, and then he ran the British Council, which is the overseas wing of the Arts Council, so promoting, I guess, British soft power around the world, going and opening art galleries and going to ballet in Moscow and all sorts. So he had an incredible life and worked incredibly hard. And you know, that has brought me all sorts of privileges, I think, when I was a kid. But, you know, unfortunately, age 10 that all ended. And you know, losing a parent at that age is such a sort of fundamental, kind of shaking of your foundations. You know, you when you're a kid, you feel like a, you're going to live forever, and B, the things that are happening around you are going to last forever. And so, you know, you know, my mom was amazing, of course, and, you know, and in time, I got a new stepdad, and all the rest of it. But you know, that kind of shaped a lot of my a lot of my youth, really. And, yeah, I mean, Grief is a funny thing, and it's funny the way it manifests itself as you grow. But yeah. So I grew up there. I went to school in the Midlands, near where my stepdad lived, and then University of Newcastle, which is up in the north of England, where it rains a lot. It's where it's where Newcastle Football Club is based. And you know is that is absolutely at the center of the city. So. So the city really comes alive there. And it was during that time that I discovered photography, and I wanted to be a war photographer, because I believe that was where life was lived at the kind of the real cutting edge. You know, you see the you see humanity in its in its most visceral and vivid color in terrible situations. And I kind of that seemed like an interesting thing to go to go and do. Michael Hingson  05:27 Well, what? So what did you major in in college in Newcastle? So I did Nick Francis  05:31 history and politics, and then I went did a course in television journalism, and ended up working at BBC News as a initially running on the floor. So I used to deliver the papers that you know, when you see people shuffling or not, they do it anymore, actually, because everything, everything's digital now digital, yeah, but when they were worried about the the auto cues going down, they we always had to make sure that they had the up to date script. And so I would be printing in, obviously, the, you know, because it's a three hour news show, the scripts constantly evolving, and so, you know, I was making sure they had the most up to date version in their hands. And it's, I don't know if you have spent any time around live TV Mike, but it's an incredibly humbling experience, like the power of it. You know, there's sort of two or 3 million people watching these two people who are sitting five feet in front of me, and the, you know, the sort of slightly kind of, there was an element of me that just wanted to jump in front of them and kind of go, ah. And, you know, never, ever work in live TV, ever again. But you know, anyway, I did that and ended up working as a producer, writing and developing, developing packets that would go out on the show, producing interviews and things. And, you know, I absolutely loved it. It was, it was a great time. But then I left to go and set up my company. Michael Hingson  06:56 I am amazed, even today, with with watching people on the news, and I've and I've been in a number of studios during live broadcasts and so on. But I'm amazed at how well, mostly, at least, I've been fortunate. Mostly, the people are able to read because they do have to read everything. It isn't like you're doing a lot of bad living in a studio. Obviously, if you are out with a story, out in the field, if you will, there, there may be more where you don't have a printed script to go by, but I'm amazed at the people in the studio, how much they are able to do by by reading it all completely. Nick Francis  07:37 It's, I mean, the whole experience is kind of, it's awe inspiring, really. And you know, when you first go into a Live, a live broadcast studio, and you see the complexity, and you know, they've got feeds coming in from all over the world, and you know, there's upwards of 100 people all working together to make it happen. And I remember talking to one of the directors at the time, and I was like, How on earth does this work? And he said, You know, it's simple. You everyone has a very specific job, and you know that as long as you do your bit of the job when it comes in front of you, then the show will go out. He said, where it falls over is when people start worrying about whether other people are going to are going to deliver on time or, you know, and so if you start worrying about what other people are doing, rather than just focusing on the thing you have to do, that's where it potentially falls over, Michael Hingson  08:29 which is a great object lesson anyway, to worry about and control and don't worry about the rest Nick Francis  08:36 for sure. Yeah, yeah, for sure. You know, it's almost a lesson for life. I mean, sorry, it is a lesson for life, and Michael Hingson  08:43 it's something that I talk a lot about in dealing with the World Trade Center and so on, and because it was a message I received, but I've been really preaching that for a long time. Don't worry about what you can't control, because all you're going to do is create fear and drive yourself Nick Francis  08:58 crazy, completely, completely. You know. You know what is it? Give me the, give me this. Give me the strength to change the things I can. Give me the give me the ability to let the things that I can't change slide but and the wisdom to know the difference. I'm absolutely mangling that, that saying, but, yeah, it's, it's true, you know. And I think, you know, it's so easy for us to in this kind of modern world where everything's so media, and we're constantly served up things that, you know, shock us, sadness, enrage us, you know, just to be able to step back and say, actually, you know what? These are things I can't really change. I'd have to just let them wash over me. Yeah, and just focus on the things that you really can change. Michael Hingson  09:46 It's okay to be aware of things, but you've got to separate the things you can control from the things that you can and we, unfortunately aren't taught that. Our parents don't teach us that because they were never taught it, and it's something. That, just as you say, slides by, and it's so unfortunate, because it helps to create such a level of fear about so many things in our in our psyche and in our world that we really shouldn't have to do Nick Francis  10:13 completely well. I think, you know, obviously, but you know, we've, we've spent hundreds, if not millions of years evolving to become humans, and then, you know, actually being aware of things beyond our own village has only been an evolution of the last, you know what, five, 600 years, yeah. And so we are just absolutely, fundamentally not able to cope with a world of such incredible stimulus that we live in now. Michael Hingson  10:43 Yeah, and it's only getting worse with all the social media, with all the different things that are happening and of course, and we're only working to develop more and more things to inundate us with more and more kinds of inputs. It's really unfortunate we just don't learn to separate ourselves very easily from all of that. Nick Francis  11:04 Yeah, well, you know, it's so interesting when you look at the development of VR headsets, and, you know, are we going to have, like, lenses in our eyes that kind of enable us to see computer screens while we're just walking down the road, you know? And you look at that and you think, well, actually, just a cell phone. I mean, cell phones are going to be gone fairly soon. I would imagine, you know, as a format, it's not something that's going to abide but the idea that we're going to create technology that's going to be more, that's going to take us away from being in the moment more rather than less, is kind of terrifying. Because, I would say already, even with, you know, the most basic technology that we have now, which is, you know, mind bending, compared to where we were even 20 years ago, you know, to think that we're only going to become more immersive is, you know, we really, really as a species, have to work out how we are going to be far better at stepping away from this stuff. And I, you know, I do, I wonder, with AI and technology whether there is, you know, there's a real backlash coming of people who do want to just unplug, yeah, Michael Hingson  12:13 well, it'll be interesting to see, and I hope that people will learn to do it. I know when I started hearing about AI, and one of the first things I heard was how kids would use it to write their papers, and it was a horrible thing, and they were trying to figure out ways so that teachers could tell us something was written by AI, as opposed to a student. And I almost immediately developed this opinion, no, let AI write the papers for students, but when the students turn in their paper, then take a day to in your class where you have every student come up and defend their paper, see who really knows it, you know. And what a great teaching opportunity and teaching moment to to get students also to learn to do public speaking and other things a little bit more than they do, but we haven't. That hasn't caught on, but I continue to preach it. Nick Francis  13:08 I think that's really smart, you know, as like aI exists, and I think to to pretend somehow that, you know, we can work without it is, you know, it's, it's, it's, yeah, I mean, it's like, well, saying, you know, we're just going to go back to Word processors or typewriters, which, you know, in which it weirdly, in their own time, people looked at and said, this is, you know, these, these are going to completely rot our minds. In fact, yeah, I think Plato said that was very against writing, because he believed it would mean no one could remember anything after that, you know. So it's, you know, it's just, it's an endless, endless evolution. But I think, you know, we have to work out how we incorporate into it, into our education system, for sure. Michael Hingson  13:57 Well, I remember being in in college and studying physics and so on. And one of the things that we were constantly told is, on tests, you can't bring calculators in, can't use calculators in class. Well, why not? Well, because you could cheat with that. Well, the reality is that the smart physicists realized that it's all about really learning the concepts more than the numbers. And yeah, that's great to to know how to do the math. But the the real issue is, do you know the physics, not just the math completely? Nick Francis  14:34 Yeah. And then how you know? How are the challenges that are being set such that you know, they really test your ability to use the calculator effectively, right? So how you know? How are you lifting the bar? And in a way, I think that's kind of what we have to do, what we have to do now, Michael Hingson  14:50 agreed, agreed. So you were in the news business and so on, and then, as you said, you left to start your own company. Why did you decide to do that? Nick Francis  14:59 Well, a friend of. Ryan and I from University had always talked about doing this rally from London to Mongolia. So, and you do it in an old car that you sort of look at, and you go, well, that's a bit rubbish. It has to have under a one liter engine. So it's tiny, it's cheap. The idea is it breaks down you have an adventure. And it was something we kind of talked about in passing and decided that would be a good thing to do. And then over time, you know, we started sending off. We you know, we applied, and then we started sending off for visas and things. And then before we knew it, we were like, gosh, so it looks like we're actually going to do this thing. But by then, you know, my job at the BBC was really taking off. And so I said, you know, let's do this, but let's make a documentary of it. So long story short, we ended up making a series of diary films for Expedia, which we uploaded onto their website. It was, you know, we were kind of pitching this around about 2005 we kind of did it in 2006 so it was kind of, you know, nobody had really heard of YouTube. The idea of making videos to go online was kind of unheard of because, you know, broadband was just kind of getting sorry. It wasn't unheard of, but it was, it was very, it was a very nascent industry. And so, yeah, we went and drove 9000 miles over five weeks. We spent a week sitting in various different repair yards and kind of break his yards in everywhere from Turkey to Siberia. And when we came back, it became clear that the internet was opening up as this incredible medium for video, and video is such a powerful way to share emotion with a dispersed audience. You know, not that I would have necessarily talked about it in that in those terms back then, but it really seemed like, you know, every every web page, every piece of corporate content, could have a video aspect to it. And so we came back and had a few fits and starts and did some, I mean, we, you know, we made a series of hotel videos where we were paid 50 quid a day to go and film hotels. And it was hot and it was hard work. And anyway, it was rough. But over time, you know, we started to win some more lucrative work. And, you know, really, the company grew from there. We won some awards, which helped us to kind of make a bit of a name for ourselves. And this was, there's been a real explosion in technology, kind of shortly after when we did this. So digital SLRs, so, you know, old kind of SLR cameras, you know, turned into digital cameras, which could then start to shoot video. And so it, there was a real explosion in high quality video produced by very small teams of people using the latest technology creatively. And that just felt like a good kind of kick off point for our business. But we just kind of because we got in in kind of 2006 we just sort of beat a wave that kind of started with digital SLRs, and then was kind of absolutely exploded when video cell phones came on the market, video smartphones. And yeah, you know, because we had these awards and we had some kind of fairly blue chip clients from a relatively early, early stage, we were able to grow the company. We then expanded to the US in kind of 2011 20 between 2011 2014 and then we were working with a lot of the big tech companies in California, so it felt like we should maybe kind of really invest in that. And so I moved out here with some of our team in 2018 at the beginning of 2018 and I've been here ever since, wow. Michael Hingson  18:44 So what is it? What was it like starting a business here, or bringing the business here, as opposed to what it was in England? Nick Francis  18:53 It's really interesting, because the creatively the UK is so strong, you know, like so many, you know, from the Beatles to Led Zeppelin to the Rolling Stones to, you know, and then on through, like all the kind of, you know, film and TV, you know, Brits are very good at kind of Creating, like, high level creative, but not necessarily always the best at kind of monetizing it, you know. I mean, some of those obviously have been fantastic successes, right? And so I think in the UK, we we take a lot longer over getting, getting to, like, the perfect creative output, whereas the US is far more focused on, you know, okay, we need this to to perform a task, and frankly, if we get it 80% done, then we're good, right? And so I think a lot of creative businesses in the UK look at the US and they go, gosh. Firstly, the streets are paved with gold. Like the commercial opportunity seems incredible, but actually creating. Tracking it is incredibly difficult, and I think it's because we sort of see the outputs in the wrong way. I think they're just the energy and the dynamism of the US economy is just, it's kind of awe inspiring. But you know, so many businesses try to expand here and kind of fall over themselves. And I think the number one thing is just, you have to have a founder who's willing to move to the US. Because I think Churchill said that we're two two countries divided by the same language. And I never fully understood what that meant until I moved here. I think what it what he really means by that is that we're so culturally different in the US versus the UK. And I think lots of Brits look at America and think, Well, you know, it's just the same. It's just a bit kind of bigger and a bit Brasher, you know, and it and actually, I think if people in the US spoke a completely different language, we would approach it as a different culture, which would then help us to understand it better. Yeah. So, yeah. I mean, it's been, it's been the most fabulous adventure to move here and to, you know, it's, it's hard sometimes, and California is a long way from home, but the energy and the optimism and the entrepreneurialism of it, coupled with just the natural beauty is just staggering. So we've made some of our closest friends in California, it's been absolutely fantastic. And across the US, it's been a fantastic adventure for us and our family. Michael Hingson  21:30 Yeah, I've had the opportunity to travel all over the US, and I hear negative comments about one place or another, like West Virginia, people eat nothing but fried food and all that. But the reality is, if you really take an overall look at it, the country has so much to offer, and I have yet to find a place that I didn't enjoy going to, and people I never enjoyed meeting, I really enjoy all of that, and it's great to meet people, and it's great to experience so much of this country. And I've taken that same posture to other places. I finally got to visit England last October, for the first time. You mentioned rugby earlier, the first time I was exposed to rugby was when I traveled to New Zealand in 2003 and found it pretty fascinating. And then also, I was listening to some rugby, rugby, rugby broadcast, and I tuned across the radio and suddenly found a cricket game that was a little bit slow for me. Yeah, cricket to be it's slow. Nick Francis  22:41 Yeah, fair enough. It's funny. Actually, we know what you're saying about travel. Like one of the amazing things about our Well, I kind of learned two sort of quite fundamentally philosophical things, I think, you know, or things about the about humans and the human condition. Firstly, like, you know, traveling across, you know, we left from London. We, like, drove down. We went through Belgium and France and Poland and Slovenia, Slovakia, Slovenia, like, all the way down Bulgaria, across Turkey into Georgia and Azerbaijan and across the Caspian Sea, and through Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, into Russia, and then down into Mongolia. When we finished, we were due north of Jakarta, right? So we drove, we drove a third of the way around the world. And the two things that taught me were, firstly that human people are good. You know, everywhere we went, people would invite us in to have meals, or they'd like fix our car for not unit for free. I mean, people were so kind everywhere we went. Yeah. And the other thing was, just, when we get on a plane and you fly from here to or you fly from London, say to we, frankly, you fly from London to Turkey, it feels unbelievably different. You know, you fly from London to China, and it's, you know, complete different culture. But what our journey towards us, because we drove, was that, you know, while we might not like to admit it, we're actually quite, you know, Brits are quite similar to the French, and the French actually are quite similar to the Belgians, and Belgians quite similar to the Germans. And, you know, and all the way through, actually, like we just saw a sort of slowly changing gradient of all the different cultures. And it really, you know, we are just one people, you know. So as much as we might feel that, you know, we're all we're all different, actually, when you see it, when you when you do a drive like that, you really, you really get to see how slowly the cultures shift and change. Another thing that's quite funny, actually, was just like, everywhere we went, we would be like, you know, we're driving to Turkey. They'd be like, Oh, God, you just drove through Bulgaria, you know, how is like, everything on your car not been stolen, you know, they're so dodgy that you Bulgarians are so dodgy. And then, you know, we'd get drive through the country, and they'd be like, you know, oh, you're going into Georgia, you know, gosh, what you go. Make, make sure everything's tied down on your car. They're so dodgy. And then you get into Georgia, and they're like, Oh my God, you've just very driven through Turkey this, like, everyone sort of had these, like, weird, yeah, kind of perceptions of their neighbors. And it was all nonsense, yeah, you know. Michael Hingson  25:15 And the reality is that, as you pointed out, people are good, you know, I think, I think politicians are the ones who so often mess it up for everyone, just because they've got agendas. And unfortunately, they teach everyone else to be suspicious of of each other, because, oh, this person clearly has a hidden agenda when it normally isn't necessarily true at all. Nick Francis  25:42 No, no, no, certainly not in my experience, anyway, not in my experience. But, you know, well, oh, go ahead. No, no. It's just, you know, it's, it is. It's, it is weird the way that happens, you know, well, they say, you know, if, if politicians fought wars rather than, rather than our young men and women, then there'd be a lot less of them. Yeah, so Well, Michael Hingson  26:06 there would be, well as I tell people, you know, I I've learned a lot from working with eight guy dogs and my wife's service dog, who we had for, oh, gosh, 14 years almost, and one of the things that I tell people is I absolutely do believe what people say, that dogs love unconditionally, unless they're just totally traumatized by something, but they don't trust unconditionally. The difference between dogs and people is that dogs are more open to trust because we've taught ourselves and have been taught by others, that everyone has their own hidden agenda. So we don't trust. We're not open to trust, which is so unfortunate because it affects the psyche of so many people in such a negative way. We get too suspicious of people, so it's a lot harder to earn trust. Nick Francis  27:02 Yeah, I mean, I've, I don't know, you know, like I've been, I've been very fortunate in my life, and I kind of always try to be, you know, open and trusting. And frankly, you know, I think if you're open and trusting with people, in my experience, you kind of, it comes back to you, you know, and maybe kind of looking for the best in everyone. You know, there are times where that's not ideal, but you know, I think you know, in the overwhelming majority of cases, you know, actually, you know, you treat people right? And you know what goes what goes around, comes around, absolutely. Michael Hingson  27:35 And I think that's so very true. There are some people who just are going to be different than that, but I think for the most part, if you show that you're open to trust people will want to trust you, as long as you're also willing to trust Nick Francis  27:51 them completely. Yeah, completely. Michael Hingson  27:54 So I think that that's the big thing we have to deal with. And I don't know, I hope that we, we will learn it. But I think that politicians are really the most guilty about teaching us. Why not to trust but that too, hopefully, will be something we deal with. Nick Francis  28:12 I think, you know, I think we have to, you know, it's, it's one of the tragedies of our age, I think, is that the, you know, we spent the 20th century, thinking that sex was the kind of ultimate sales tool. And then it took algorithms to for us to realize that actually anger and resentment are the most powerful sales tools, which is, you know, it's a it's something which, in time, we will work out, right? And I think the problem is that, at the minute, these tech businesses are in such insane ascendancy, and they're so wealthy that it's very hard to regulate them. And I think in time, what will happen is, you know, they'll start to lose some of that luster and some of that insane scale and that power, and then, you know, then regulation will come in. But you know whether or not, we'll see maybe, hopefully our civilization will still be around to see that. Michael Hingson  29:04 No, there is that, or maybe the Vulcans will show up and show us a better way. But you know, Nick Francis  29:11 oh, you know, I'm, I'm kind of endlessly optimistic. I think, you know, we are. We're building towards a very positive future. I think so. Yeah, it's just, you know, get always bumps along the way, yeah. Michael Hingson  29:24 So you named your company casual. Why did you do that? Or how did that come about? Nick Francis  29:30 It's a slightly weird name for something, you know, we work with, kind of, you know, global blue chip businesses. And, you know, casual is kind of the last thing that you would want to associate with, a, with a, with any kind of services business that works in that sphere. I think, you know, we, the completely honest answer is that the journalism course I did was television, current affairs journalism, so it's called TV cadge, and so we, when we made a film for a local charity as part of that course. Course, we were asked to name our company, and we just said, well, cash, cash casual, casual films. So we called it casual films. And then when my friend and I set the company up, kind of formally, to do the Mongol Rally, we, you know, we had this name, you know, the company, the film that we'd made for the charity, had gone down really well. It had been played at BAFTA in London. And so we thought, well, you know, we should just, you know, hang on to that name. And it didn't, you know, at the time, it didn't really seem too much of an issue. It was only funny. It was coming to the US, where I think people are a bit more literal, and they were a bit like, well, casual. Like, why casual, you know. And I remember being on a shoot once. And, you know, obviously, kind of some filmmakers can be a little casual themselves, not necessarily in the work, but in the way they present themselves, right? And I remember sitting down, we were interviewing this CEO, and he said, who, you know, who are you? Oh, we're casual films. He's like, Oh, is that why that guy's got ripped jeans? Is it? And I just thought, Damn, you know, we really left ourselves open to that. There was also, there was a time one of our early competitors was called Agile films. And so, you know, I remember talking to one of our clients who said, you know, it's casual, you know, when I have to put together a little document to say, you know, which, which supplier we should choose, and when I lay it on my boss's desk, and one says casual films, and one says agile films, it's like those guys are landing the first punch. But anyway, we, you know, we, what we say now is like, you know, we take a complex process and make it casual. You know, filmmaking, particularly for like, large, complex organizations where you've got lots of different stakeholders, can be very complicated. And so, yeah, we sort of say, you know, we'll take a lot of that stress off, off our clients. So that's kind of the rationale, you know, that we've arrived with, arrived at having spoken to lots of our clients about the role that we play for them. So, you know, there's a kind of positive spin on it, I guess, but I don't know. I don't know whether I'd necessarily call it casual again. I don't know if I'm supposed to say that or not, but, oh, Michael Hingson  32:00 it's unique, you know? So, yeah, I think there's a lot of merit to it. It's a unique name, and it interests people. I know, for me, one of the things that I do is I have a way of doing this. I put all of my business cards in Braille, so the printed business cards have Braille on them, right? Same thing. It's unique completely. Nick Francis  32:22 And you listen, you know what look your name is an empty box that you fill with your identity. They say, right? And casual is actually, it's something we've grown into. And you know it's we've been going for nearly 20 years. In fact, funny enough for the end of this year is the 20th anniversary of that first film we made for the for the charity. And then next summer will be our 20th anniversary, which is, you know, it's, it's both been incredibly short and incredibly long, you know, I think, like any kind of experience in life, and it's been some of the hardest kind of times of my entire life, and some of the best as well. So, you know, it's, it is what it is, but you know, casual is who we are, right? I would never check, you know? I'd never change it. Michael Hingson  33:09 Now, no, of course not, yeah. So is the actual name casual films, or just casual? Nick Francis  33:13 So it was casual films, but then everyone calls us casual anyway, and I think, like as an organization, we probably need to be a bit more agnostic about the outcome. Michael Hingson  33:22 Well, the reason I asked, in part was, is there really any filming going on anymore? Nick Francis  33:28 Well, that's a very that's a very good question. But have we actually ever made a celluloid film? And I think the answer is probably no. We used to, back in the day, we used to make, like, super eight films, which were films, I think, you know, video, you know, ultimately, if you're going to be really pedantic about it, it's like, well, video is a digital, digital delivery. And so basically, every film we make is, is a video. But there is a certain cachet to the you know, because our films are loved and crafted, you know, for good or ill, you know, I think to call them, you know, they are films because, because of the, you know, the care that's put into them. But it's not, it's, it's not celluloid. No, that's okay, yeah, well, Michael Hingson  34:16 and I know that, like with vinyl records, there is a lot of work being done to preserve and capture what's on cellular film. And so there's a lot of work that I'm sure that's being done to digitize a lot of the old films. And when you do that, then you can also go back and remaster and hopefully in a positive way, and I'm not sure if that always happens, but in a positive way, enhance them Nick Francis  34:44 completely, completely and, you know, it's, you know, it's interesting talking about, like, you know, people wanting to step back. You know, obviously vinyl is having an absolute as having a moment right now. In fact, I just, I just bought a new stylist for my for my record. Play yesterday. It sounded incredible as a joy. This gave me the sound quality of this new style. It's fantastic. You know, beyond that, you know, running a company, you know, we're in nine offices all over the world. We produce nearly 1000 projects a year. So, you know, it's a company. It's an incredibly complicated company. It's a very fun and exciting company. I love the fact that we make these beautifully creative films. But, you know, it's a bit, I wouldn't say it's like, I don't know, you don't get many MBAs coming out of business school saying, hey, I want to set up a video production company. But, you know, it's been, it's been wonderful, but it's also been stressful. And so, you know, I've, I've always been interested in pottery and ceramics and making stuff with my hands. When I was a kid, I used to make jewelry, and I used to go and sell it in nightclubs, which is kind of weird, but, you know, it paid for my beers. And then whatever works, I say kid. I was 18. I was, I was of age, but of age in the UK anyway. But now, you know, over the last few 18 months or so, I've started make, doing my own ceramics. So, you know, I make vases and and pictures and kind of all sorts of stuff out of clay. And it's just, it's just to be to unplug and just to go and, you know, make things with mud with your hands. It's just the most unbelievably kind of grounding experience. Michael Hingson  36:26 Yeah, I hear you, yeah. One of the things that I like to do is, and I don't get to do it as much as I would like, but I am involved with organizations like the radio enthusiasts of Puget Sound, which, every year, does recreations of old radio shows. And so we get the scripts we we we have several blind people who are involved in we actually go off and recreate some of the old shows, which is really a lot of fun, Nick Francis  36:54 I bet, yeah, yeah, sort of you know that connection to the past is, is, yeah, it's great radio. Radio is amazing. Michael Hingson  37:03 Anyway, what we have to do is to train some of the people who have not had exposure to old radio. We need to train them as to how to really use their voices to convey like the people who performed in radio, whatever they're doing, because too many people don't really necessarily know how to do that well. And it is, it is something that we're going to work on trying to find ways to get people really trained. And one of the ways, of course, is you got to listen to the old show. So one of the things we're getting more and more people to do when we do recreations is to go back and listen to the original show. Well, they say, Well, but, but that's just the way they did it. That's not necessarily the way it should be done. And the response is, no, that's not really true. The way they did it sounded natural, and the way you are doing it doesn't and there's reality that you need to really learn how to to use your voice to convey well, and the only way to do it is to listen to the experts who did it. Nick Francis  38:06 Yeah, well, it's, you know, it's amazing. The, you know, when the BBC was founded, all the news readers and anyone who appeared on on the radio to to present or perform, had to wear like black tie, like a tuxedo, because it was, you know, they're broadcasting to the nation, so they had to, you know, they had to be dressed appropriately, right, which is kind of amazing. And, you know, it's interesting how you know, when you, when you change your dress, when you change the way you're sitting, it does completely change the way that you project yourself, yeah, Michael Hingson  38:43 it makes sense, yeah, well, and I always enjoyed some of the old BBC radio shows, like the Goon Show, and completely some of those are so much fun. Nick Francis  38:54 Oh, great, yeah, I don't think they were wearing tuxedo. It's tuxedos. They would Michael Hingson  38:59 have been embarrassed. Yeah, right, right. Can you imagine Peter Sellers in a in a tux? It just isn't going to happen. Nick Francis  39:06 No, right, right. But yeah, no, it's so powerful. You know, they say radio is better than TV because the pictures are better. Michael Hingson  39:15 I agree. Yeah, sure, yeah. Well, you know, I I don't think this is quite the way he said it, but Fred Allen, the old radio comedian, once said they call television the new medium, because that's as good as it's ever going Nick Francis  39:28 to get. Yeah, right, right, yeah. Michael Hingson  39:32 I think there's truth to it. Whether that's exactly the way he said it or not, there's truth to that, yeah, but there's also a lot of good stuff on TV, so it's okay. Nick Francis  39:41 Well, it's so interesting. Because, you know, when you look at the it's never been more easy to create your own content, yeah, and so, you know, and like, in a way, TV, you know, he's not wrong in that, because it suddenly opened up this, this huge medium for people just to just create. Right? And, you know, and I think, like so many people, create without thinking, and, you know, and certainly in our kind of, in the in the world that we're living in now with AI production, making production so much more accessible, actually taking the time as a human being just to really think about, you know, who are the audience, what are the things that are going to what are going to kind of resonate with them? You know? Actually, I think one of the risks with AI, and not just AI, but just like production being so accessible, is that you can kind of shoot first and kind of think about it afterwards, and, you know, and that's never good. That's always going to be medium. It's medium at best, frankly. Yeah, so yeah, to create really great stuff takes time, you know, yeah, to think about it. Yeah, for sure, yeah. Michael Hingson  40:50 Well, you know, our podcast is called unstoppable mindset. What do you think that unstoppable mindset really means to you as a practical thing and not just a buzzword. Because so many people talk about the kinds of buzzwords I hear all the time are amazing. That's unstoppable, but it's really a lot more than a buzzword. It goes back to what you think, I think. But what do you think? Nick Francis  41:15 I think it's something that is is buried deep inside you. You know, I'd say the simple answer is, is just resilience. You know, it's, it's been rough. I write anyone running a small business or a medium sized business at the minute, you know, there's been some tough times over the last, kind of 1824, months or so. And, you know, I was talking to a friend of mine who she sold out of her business. And she's like, you know, how are things? I was like, you know, it's, it's, it's tough, you know, we're getting through it, you know, we're changing a lot of things, you know, we're like, we're definitely making the business better, but it's hard. And she's like, Listen, you know, when three years before I sold my company, I was at rock bottom. It was, I genuinely thought it was so stressful. I was crushed by it, but I just kept going. And she's just like, just keep going. And the only difference between success and failure is that resilience and just getting up every day and you just keep, keep throwing stuff at the wall, keep trying new things, keep working and trying to be better. I think, you know, it's funny when you look at entrepreneurs, I'm a member of a mentoring group, and I hope I'm not talking out of school here, but you know, there's 15 entrepreneurs, you know, varying sizes of business, doing all sorts, you know, across all sorts of different industries. And if you sat on the wall, if you were fly on the wall, and you sit and look at these people on a kind of week, month to month basis, and they all present on how their businesses are going. You go, this is this being an entrepreneur does not look like a uniformly fun thing, you know, the sort of the stress and just, you know, people crying and stuff, and you're like, gosh, you know, it's so it's, it's, it's hard, and yet, you know, it's people just keep coming back to it. And yet, I think it's because of that struggle that you have to kind of have something in built in you, that you're sort of, you're there to prove something. And I, you know, I've thought a lot about this, and I wonder whether, kind of, the death of my father at such a young age kind of gave me this incredible fire to seek His affirmation, you know. And unfortunately, obviously, the tragedy of that is like, you know, the one person who would never give me affirmation is my dad. And yet, you know, I get up every day, you know, to have early morning calls with the UK or with Singapore or wherever. And you know, you just just keep on, keeping on. And I think that's probably what and knowing I will never quit, you know, like, even from the earliest days of casual, when we were just, like a couple of people, and we were just, you know, kids doing our very best, I always knew the company was going to be a success act. Like, just a core belief that I was like, this is going to work. This is going to be a success. I didn't necessarily know what that success would look like. I just but I did know that, like, whatever it took, we would map, we'd map our way towards that figure it out. We'd figure it out. And I think, you know, there's probably something unstoppable. I don't know, I don't want to sound immodest, but I think there's probably something in that that you're just like, I am just gonna keep keep on, keeping on. Michael Hingson  44:22 Do you think that resilience and unstoppability are things that can be taught, or is it just something that's built into you, and either you have it or you don't? Nick Francis  44:31 I think it's something that probably, it's definitely something that can be learned, for sure, you know. And there are obviously ways that it can there's obviously ways it can be taught. You know, I was, I spent some time in the reserve, like the Army Reserve in the UK, and I just, you know, a lot of that is about teaching you just how much further you can go. I think what it taught me was it was so. So hard. I mean, honestly, some of the stuff we did in our training was, like, you know, it's just raining and raining and raining and, like, because all your kits soaking wet is weighs twice what it did before, and you just, you know, sleeping maybe, you know, an hour or two a night, and, you know, and there wasn't even anyone shooting at us, right? So, you know, like the worst bit wasn't even happening. But like, and like, in a sense, I think, you know, that's what they're trying to do, that, you know, they say, you know, train hard and fight easy. But I remember sort of sitting there, and I was just exhausted, and I just genuinely, I was just thought, you know, what if they tell me to go now, I just, I can't. I literally, I can't, I can't do it. Can't do it. And then they're like, right, lads, put your packs on. Let's go and just put your pack on. Off you go, you know, like, this sort of, the idea of not, like, I was never going to quit, just never, never, ever, you know, and like I'd physically, if I physically, like, literally, my physical being couldn't stand up, you know, I then that was be, that would be, you know, if I was kind of, like literally incapacitated. And I think what that taught me actually, was that, you know, you have what you believe you can do, like you have your sort of, you have your sort of physical envelope, but like that is only a third or a quarter of what you can actually achieve, right, you know. And I think what that, what the that kind of training is about, and you know, you can do it in marathon training. You can do it in all sorts of different, you know, even, frankly, meditate. You know, you train your mind to meditate for, you know, an hour, 90 minutes plus. You know, you're still doing the same. You know, there's a, there's an elasticity within your brain where you can teach yourself that your envelope is so much larger. Yeah. So, yeah, you know, like, is casual going to be a success? Like, I'm good, you know, I'm literally, I won't I won't stop until it is Michael Hingson  46:52 right, and then why stop? Exactly, exactly you continue to progress and move forward. Well, you know, when everything feels uncertain, whether it's the markets or whatever, what do you do or what's your process for finding clarity? Nick Francis  47:10 I think a lot of it is in having structured time away. I say structured. You build it into your calendar, but like, but it's unstructured. So, you know, I take a lot of solace in being physically fit. You know, I think if you're, if you feel physically fit, then you feel mentally far more able to deal with things. I certainly when I'm if I'm unfit and if I've been working too much and I haven't been finding the time to exercise. You know, I feel like the problems we have to face just loom so much larger. So, you know, I, I'll book out. I, you know, I work with a fan. I'm lucky enough to have a fantastic assistant who, you know, we book in my my exercise for each week, and it's almost the first thing that goes in the calendar. I do that because I can't be the business my my I can't be the leader my business requires. And it finally happened. It was a few years ago I kind of, like, the whole thing just got really big on me, and it just, you know, and I'm kind of, like, being crushed by it. And I just thought, you know what? Like, I can't, I can't fit other people's face mask, without my face mask being fit, fitted first. Like, in order to be the business my business, I keep saying that to be the lead in my business requires I have to be physically fit. So I have to look after myself first. And so consequently, like, you know, your exercise shouldn't be something just get squeezed in when you find when you have time, because, you know, if you've got family and you know, other things happening, like, you know, just will be squeezed out. So anyway, that goes in. First, I'll go for a bike ride on a Friday afternoon, you know, I'll often listen to a business book and just kind of process things. And it's amazing how often, you know, I'll just go for a run and, like, these things that have been kind of nagging away in the back of my mind, just suddenly I find clarity in them. So I try to exercise, like, five times a week. I mean, that's obviously more than most people can can manage, but you know that that really helps. And then kind of things, like the ceramics is very useful. And then, you know, I'm lucky. I think it's also just so important just to appreciate the things that you already have. You know, I think one of the most important lessons I learned last year was this idea that, you know, here is the only there. You know, everyone's working towards this kind of, like, big, you know, it's like, oh, you know, when I get to there, then everything's going to be okay, you know. And actually, you know, if you think about like, you know, and what did you want to achieve when you left college? Like, what was the salary band that you want? That you wanted to achieve? Right? A lot of people, you know, by the time you hit 4050, you've blown way through that, right? And yet you're still chasing the receding Summit, yeah, you know. And so actually, like, wherever we're trying to head to, we're already there, because once you get there, there's going to be another there that you're trying to. Head to right? So, so, you know, it's just taking a moment to be like, you know, God, I'm so lucky to have what I have. And, you know, I'm living in, we're living in the good old days, like right now, right? Michael Hingson  50:11 And the reality is that we're doing the same things and having the same discussions, to a large degree, that people did 50, 100 200 years ago. As you pointed out earlier, the fact is that we're, we're just having the same discussions about whether this works, or whether that works, or anything else. But it's all the same, Nick Francis  50:33 right, you know. And you kind of think, oh, you know, if I just, just, like, you know, if we just open up these new offices, or if we can just, you know, I think, like, look, if I, if I'd looked at casual when we started it as it is now, I would have just been like, absolute. My mind would have exploded, right? You know, if you look at what we've achieved, and yet, I kind of, you know, it's quite hard sometimes to look at it and just be like, Oh yeah, but we're only just starting. Like, there's so much more to go. I can see so much further work, that we need so many more things, that we need to do, so many more things that we could do. And actually, you know, they say, you know, I'm lucky enough to have two healthy, wonderful little girls. And you know, I think a lot of bread winners Look at, look at love being provision, and the idea that, you know, you have to be there to provide for them. And actually, the the truest form of love is presence, right? And just being there for them, and like, you know, not being distracted and kind of putting putting things aside, you know, not jumping on your emails or your Slack messages or whatever first thing in the morning, you know. And I, you know, I'm not. I'm guilty, like, I'm not, you know, I'm not one of these people who have this kind of crazy kind of morning routine where, like, you know, I'm incredibly disciplined about that because, you know, and I should be more. But like, you know, this stuff, one of the, one of the things about having a 24 hour business with people working all over the world is there's always things that I need to respond to. There's always kind of interesting things happening. And so just like making sure that I catch myself every so often to be like, I'm just going to be here now and I'm going to be with them, and I'm going to listen to what they're saying, and I'm going to respond appropriately, and, you know, I'm going to play a game with them, or whatever. That's true love. You know? Michael Hingson  52:14 Well, there's a lot of merit to the whole concept of unplugging and taking time and living in the moment. One of the things that we talked about in my book live like a guide dog, that we published last year, and it's all about lessons I've learned about leadership and teamwork and preparedness from eight guide dogs and my wife's service dog. One of the things that I learned along the way is the whole concept of living in the moment when I was in the World Trade Center with my fifth guide dog, Roselle. We got home, and I was going to take her outside to go visit the bathroom, but as soon as I took the harness off, she shot off, grabbed her favorite tug bone and started playing tug of war with my retired guide dog. Asked the veterinarians about him the next day, the people at Guide Dogs for the Blind, and they said, Well, did anything threaten her? And I said, No. And they said, there's your answer. The reality is, dogs live in the moment when it was over. It was over. And yeah, right lesson to learn. Nick Francis  53:15 I mean, amazing, absolutely amazing. You must have taken a lot of strength from that. Michael Hingson  53:20 Oh, I think it was, it was great. It, you know, I can look back at my life and look at so many things that have happened, things that I did. I never thought that I would become a public speaker, but I learned in so many ways the art of speaking and being relaxed at speaking in a in a public setting, that when suddenly I was confronted with the opportunity to do it, it just seemed like the natural thing to do. Nick Francis  53:46 Yeah, it's funny, because I think isn't public speaking the number one fear. It is. It's the most fit. It's the most feared thing for the most people. Michael Hingson  53:57 And the reality is going back to something that we talked about before. The reality is, audiences want you to succeed, unless you're a jerk and you project that, audiences want to hear what you have to say. They want you to be successful. There's really nothing to be afraid of but, but you're right. It is the number one fear, and I've never understood that. I mean, I guess I can intellectually understand it, but internally, I don't. The first time I was asked to speak after the World Trade Center attacks, a pastor called me up and he said, we're going to we're going to have a service outside for all the people who we lost in New Jersey and and that we would like you to come and speak. Take a few minutes. And I said, Sure. And then I asked him, How many people many people were going to be at the service? He said, 6000 that was, that was my first speech. Nick Francis  54:49 Yeah, wow. But it didn't bother me, you know, no, I bet Michael Hingson  54:54 you do the best you can, and you try to improve, and so on. But, but it is true that so many people. Are public speaking, and there's no reason to what Nick Francis  55:03 did that whole experience teach you? Michael Hingson  55:06 Well, one of the things that taught me was, don't worry about the things that you can't control. It also taught me that, in reality, any of us can be confronted with unexpected things at any time, and the question is, how well do we prepare to deal with it? So for me, for example, and it took me years after September 11 to recognize this, but one of the things that that happened when the building was hit, and Neither I, nor anyone on my side of the building really knew what happened. People say all the time, well, you didn't know because you couldn't see it. Well, excuse me, it hit 18 floors above us on the other side of the building. And the last time I checked X ray vision was fictitious, so nobody knew. But did the building shake? Oh, it tipped. Because tall buildings like that are flexible. And if you go to any tall building, in reality, they're made to buffet in wind storms and so on, and in fact, they're made to possibly be struck by an airplane, although no one ever expected that somebody would deliberately take a fully loaded jet aircraft and crash it into a tower, because it wasn't the plane hitting the tower as such that destroyed both of them. It was the exploding jet fuel that destroyed so much more infrastructure caused the buildings to collapse. But in reality, for me, I had done a lot of preparation ahead of time, not even thinking that there would be an emergency, but thinking about I need to really know all I can about the building, because I've got to be the leader of my office, and I should know all of that. I should know what to do in an emergency. I should know how to take people to lunch and where to go and all that. And by learning all of that, as I learned many and discovered many years later, it created a mindset that kicked in when the World Trade Center was struck, and in fact, we didn't know until after both towers had collapsed, and I called my wife. We I talked with her just before we evacuated, and the media hadn't even gotten the story yet, but I never got a chance to talk with her until after both buildings had collapsed, and then I was able to get through and she's the first one that told us how the two buildings had been hit by hijacked aircraft. But the mindset had kicked in that said, You know what to do, do it and that. And again, I didn't really think about that until much later, but that's something that is a lesson we all could learn. We shouldn't rely on just watching signs to know what to do, no to go in an emergency. We should really know it, because the knowledge, rather than just having information, the true intellectual knowledge that we internalize, makes such a big difference. Nick Francis  57:46 Do you think it was the fact that you were blind that made you so much more keen to know the way out that kind of that really helped you to understand that at the time? Michael Hingson  57:56 Well, what I think is being blind and growing up in an environment where so many things could be unexpected, for me, it was important to know so, for example, when I would go somewhere to meet a customer, I would spend time, ahead of time, learning how to get around, learning how to get to where they were and and learning what what the process was, because we didn't have Google Maps and we didn't have all the intellectual and and technological things that we have today. Well intellectual we did with the technology we didn't have. So today it's easier, but still, I want to know what to do. I want to really have the answers, and then I can can more easily and more effectively deal with what I need to deal with and react. So I'm sure that blindness played a part in all of that, because if I hadn't learned how to do the things that I did and know the things that I knew, then it would have been a totally different ball game, and so sure, I'm sure, I'm certain that blindness had something to do with it, but I also know that, that the fact is, what I learned is the same kinds of things that everyone should learn, and we shouldn't rely on just the signs, because what if the building were full of smoke, then what would you do? Right? And I've had examples of that since I was at a safety council meeting once where there was somebody from an electric company in Missouri who said, you know, we've wondered for years, what do we do if there's a fire in the generator room, in the basement, In the generator room, how do people get out? And he and I actually worked on it, and they developed a way where people could have a path that they could follow with their feet to get them out. But the but the reality is that what people first need to learn is eyesight is not the only game in town. Yeah, right. Mean, it's so important to really learn that, but people, people don't, and we take too many things for granted, which is, which is really so unfortunate, because we really should do a li

Today, there's only one topic: Singapore. I spent 12 days there and have opinions (plus, if you're watching the video, photographs).

Value: After Hours is a podcast about value investing, Fintwit, and all things finance and investment by investors Tobias Carlisle, and Jake Taylor. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Soldier of Fortune: Warren Buffett, Sun Tzu and the Ancient Art of Risk-Taking⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Kindle⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠)We are live every Tuesday at 1.30pm E / 10.30am P.See our latest episodes at https://acquirersmultiple.com/podcastAbout Jake Jake's Twitter: https://twitter.com/farnamjake1Jake's book: The Rebel Allocator https://amzn.to/2sgip3lABOUT THE PODCASTHi, I'm Tobias Carlisle. I launched The Acquirers Podcast to discuss the process of finding undervalued stocks, deep value investing, hedge funds, activism, buyouts, and special situations.We uncover the tactics and strategies for finding good investments, managing risk, dealing with bad luck, and maximizing success.SEE LATEST EPISODEShttps://acquirersmultiple.com/podcast/SEE OUR FREE DEEP VALUE STOCK SCREENER https://acquirersmultiple.com/screener/FOLLOW TOBIASWebsite: https://acquirersmultiple.com/Firm: https://acquirersfunds.com/ Twitter: ttps://twitter.com/GreenbackdLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tobycarlisleFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/tobiascarlisleInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/tobias_carlisleABOUT TOBIAS CARLISLETobias Carlisle is the founder of The Acquirer's Multiple®, and Acquirers Funds®. He is best known as the author of the #1 new release in Amazon's Business and Finance The Acquirer's Multiple: How the Billionaire Contrarians of Deep Value Beat the Market, the Amazon best-sellers Deep Value: Why Activists Investors and Other Contrarians Battle for Control of Losing Corporations (2014) (https://amzn.to/2VwvAGF), Quantitative Value: A Practitioner's Guide to Automating Intelligent Investment and Eliminating Behavioral Errors (2012) (https://amzn.to/2SDDxrN), and Concentrated Investing: Strategies of the World's Greatest Concentrated Value Investors (2016) (https://amzn.to/2SEEjVn). He has extensive experience in investment management, business valuation, public company corporate governance, and corporate law.Prior to founding the forerunner to Acquirers Funds in 2010, Tobias was an analyst at an activist hedge fund, general counsel of a company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, and a corporate advisory lawyer. As a lawyer specializing in mergers and acquisitions he has advised on transactions across a variety of industries in the United States, the United Kingdom, China, Australia, Singapore, Bermuda, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, and Guam. He is a graduate of the University of Queensland in Australia with degrees in Law (2001) and Business (Management) (1999).

Conan chats with theme park designer Margaret about the Haw Par Villa in Singapore and what kind of themed ride would best represent Conan, Sona, and Matt. Wanna get a chance to talk to Conan? Submit here: teamcoco.com/apply Get access to all the podcasts you love, music channels and radio shows with the SiriusXM App! Get 3 months free using this show link: https://siriusxm.com/conan. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.