Podcasts about Sort

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    Best podcasts about Sort

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    Latest podcast episodes about Sort

    rSlash
    r/Maliciouscompliance I Got Revenge Against a Cruel Bully

    rSlash

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 9, 2025 17:44


    0:00 Intro 0:07 Sort it out 9:02 To do 13:16 Doctor note Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    The Morning Stream
    TMS 2900: Neon Nubs

    The Morning Stream

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 8, 2025 69:08


    Pantomiming Pants. I Dream of Labubu. Scott Showed His Own Fibre. Release the Thickened Files! Giving BioCow the Beef. Fiberly!!! Your Internet is So Fly. Fully Sick Cameos Dude! Yoda Lady who? What happens in The Meadows stays in The Meadows. Furbies Are so Damn Scary. A Little Pervy, As Opposed to a Lot Pervy. Bathroom Rice. Sort of Steve Jobsish looking guy meets Geezus. Doing Shit in the Bathroom with Tom and more on this episode of The Morning Stream. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    The FrogPants Studios Ultra Feed!
    TMS 2900: Neon Nubs

    The FrogPants Studios Ultra Feed!

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 8, 2025 69:08


    Pantomiming Pants. I Dream of Labubu. Scott Showed His Own Fibre. Release the Thickened Files! Giving BioCow the Beef. Fiberly!!! Your Internet is So Fly. Fully Sick Cameos Dude! Yoda Lady who? What happens in The Meadows stays in The Meadows. Furbies Are so Damn Scary. A Little Pervy, As Opposed to a Lot Pervy. Bathroom Rice. Sort of Steve Jobsish looking guy meets Geezus. Doing Shit in the Bathroom with Tom and more on this episode of The Morning Stream. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Mid Flight Brawl
    EPISODE 291 - GAPCO

    Mid Flight Brawl

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 7, 2025 49:34


    This week, our protagonist takes high in the sky way too literally...---------Hey legends, we're back on the road again with the Jetstar Handcuffs Tour.Tassie! After two years away causing a ruckus on the mainland, the boys are headed back to the home of the Black Buffalo Hotel, Pauly4008 & Heggie's favourite mass shooter, for two shows only.Brisbane - October 18 - 12 NOON - Lefty's Music Hall - Caxton St Comedy Festival - SOLD OUT!Extra Show! Land Larrikins Live - Brisbane - October 18 - 9:30 PM Caxton St Comedy FestivalOrange - November 29 - 4PM - Factory EspressoAs Patreon members, you get a head start on the filth. So get in quick before the floodgates open and the scummies get in. We'll see ya there!(and before you ask, Adelaide, Tassie and more getting sorted asap)-----------------------------------Right. YOUR STUPID has arrived. It's a book. It's a similar vibe to last year's one, but better. If you want a copy, head over to lukeheggie.com and stump up, and it will arrive via Australia Post. Any First Class Patrons, yours will be in the mail momentarily, (including the seppos - at great personal expense) but excluding the three bastards who have not provided an address, and seem to refuse to reply to emails. Sort it out. I'll bring some to live shows too. That is all.Heggie's 2025 show Yuck now on sale! Get in quick for last shows of 2025.-----------------------------------Heggie is now a comedian (ding), father (ding), ABC panel show guest (ding), boot salesman (ding) AND NOW AN AUTHOR (MORRREEEEE CHILLI)Get his book, IF YOU MUST KNOW, by clicking here-----------------------------------Heggie dropped a THIRD YouTube special, LOWBREED, but still left the comments closed like a coward. Watch it here.Cody's new stand-up special "LIVE AT THE CORNER HOTEL" is OUT NOW on YouTubeHave a squizz and leave comments before he takes Heggie's cowardly route and turns off the comments.HEGGIE JUST RELEASED ANOTHER STAND-UP SPECIAL "TIPRAT" ON YOUTUBE FOR FREE! WATCH IT HERE.Heggie has a stand-up special out on YouTube "HAVE THAT" and his stand-up special, "LUKE HEGGIE - I ALREADY TOLD YOU" is out now on Paramount+ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Axe of the Blood God: USG's Official RPG Podcast
    Digimon Story: Time Stranger w/ Kenneth Shepard, Jesse Vitelli

    Axe of the Blood God: USG's Official RPG Podcast

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 6, 2025 93:33


    Digi-see? Digi-hear? Digi-know it was coming?Your digi-destiny starts today and Eric, Nadia, and special guests, Kenneth Shepard, and Jesse Vitelli are your digi-guides through it all. Time Stranger, the latest in the Digimon Story sub-series of RPGs is finally here and it might just be a perfect entry point into the digital world. Learn al about it on this prodigious episode of Axe of the Blood God!And you better not suggest that Digimon don't have feelings or you're getting banned from bluesky. Tune in to live recordings of the show every Saturday morning at https://www.twitch.tv/bloodgodpod, subscribe for bonus episodes and discord access at https://www.patreon.com/bloodgodpod and celebrate our 10th Anniversary with new merch at https://shop.bloodgodpod.com Also in this episode: Why doesn't Nadia care about Digimon? Protomen Act III Bad News For EA Timestamps: 8:00 Main Topic - Digimon Story: Time Stranger 43:12 - Random Encounters 46:00 - The Tavern - The Protomen, EA Has Gone Private 1:04:16 - Ken Plays Fortnite for KPop Demon Hunters 1:20:40 - Nadia's Nostalgia Nook, Sort of... Music Used in this Episode: Do Your Best - [Breath of Fire III] Pub - [Lunar Knights] A Curious Tale - [Secret of Mana] Central Park - [Digimon World 3] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    Ingles Total: Cursos y clases gratis de Ingles
    “Sort” vs “Sort of”: Learn the Real Difference in English

    Ingles Total: Cursos y clases gratis de Ingles

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 6, 2025 13:26


    CURSO DE INGLES EN LINEA GRATIS LECCION 94 – VOCABULARIO – El verbo GO to/for/on/ing Hoy continuamos con la lección #94. Respondemos una pregunta ... The post “Sort” vs “Sort of”: Learn the Real Difference in English appeared first on Cursos de ingles gratis Aprender ingles con audio. Clases de ingles gratuito.

    The Anfield Index Podcast
    Newsround Special: Plenty For Slot To Sort!

    The Anfield Index Podcast

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 6, 2025 23:19


    Dave Davis breaks down Liverpool's latest defeat, the mood around Anfield and what Arne Slot must fix fast ahead of the international break. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    Gilbert House Fellowship
    Sort-of Good King Joash

    Gilbert House Fellowship

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 5, 2025 85:58


    THE TEMPLE in Jerusalem fell into disrepair within a century of the death of Solomon. The king who repaired it was a good man—mostly. Joash (or Jehoash), son of Ahaziah, reigned in Judah 835–796 BC. He was made king at age seven by the high priest Jehoiada and is credited with restoring the Temple—even pushing the priests, who seemed rather slow to make repairs even after they were ordered to do so. However, the account in 2 Chronicles 24 records that after the death of Jehoiada, Joash fell away and returned to the pagan gods of the Canaanites. Worse, he had the son of Jehoiada, Zechariah, murdered for calling him out! As a consequence, God allowed Judah to be defeated by a relatively small army from the neighboring Aramean kingdom of Damascus, and Joash was assassinated in his bed by two of his servants. We also discuss the death of Elisha in the northern kingdom of Israel, and why King Joash (same name, different king) failed to completely defeat the Arameans.

    Happy English Podcast
    896 - Saturday Short - Kind of Sort of A bit

    Happy English Podcast

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 4, 2025 1:48 Transcription Available


    Hey there! It's Michael here — and welcome back to another Happy English Saturday Short, your quick tip for speaking English better.Today, let's look at three really natural phrases: kind of, sort of, and a bit. We use these to soften what we're saying. They make a statement sound less strong, less direct — and that makes your English sound more natural in everyday conversation.For example, let's say you're tired after work. Instead of just saying, “I'm tired,” you can soften it by saying: “I'm kind of tired today.”  Or: “I'm a bit tired after work.” Here's another one. Imagine you saw a movie, but you didn't really love a it, but you don't want to sound too negative. You could say:  “That movie was sort of boring.”  It's not as harsh as, “That movie was boring.”So remember — kind of, sort of, and a bit are like little cushions for your sentences. They soften your opinion and make it sound friendlier and more natural. So, are you kind of ready to try these out in your own conversations? I bet you are! Oh, and don't forget to follow or subscribe so you don't miss the next Happy English Podcast and next week's Saturday Short. Thanks for listening — and until next time, keep learning and keep it cool.Join my Podcast Learner's Study Group here: https://learn.myhappyenglish.com/plsgVisit my website for over 3,000 free English lessons: https://www.myhappyenglish.com/My AI English Tutor is HERE 

    Summon Sign: A Gaming Conversation
    Ghost of Yōtei Is Here!

    Summon Sign: A Gaming Conversation

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 3, 2025 213:04


    This week Gene and Radec join Brad to discuss Ghost of Yōtei, Silent Hill F, Pac-Man World 2 Re-PAC, and answer your questions! Please keep in mind that our timestamps are approximate, and will often be slightly off due to dynamic ad placement. 0:00:00 - Intro0:17:09 - Ghost of Yōtei1:03:54 - Silent Hill F1:38:30 - Pac-Man World 2 Re-PAC1:47:29 - Sort it Out/Keep it Up2:45:56 - Game Recommendation2:49:45 - Closing Comments2:00:48 - Closing questions To watch the podcast on YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/LastStandMediaYouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast for free wherever you're listening or by using this link: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/SummonSign⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ If you like the show, telling a friend about it would be amazing! You can text, email, Tweet, or send this link to a friend: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/SummonSign Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    (Sort of) The Story
    29. (Sort of) Off Topic: The Assassination of Kim Jong Nam

    (Sort of) The Story

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 3, 2025 46:02


    Send us a textBuckle up, babes! Janey's going to tell us about the most insane assassination you may have never heard of! Let us know if you followed this story when it happened, because Janey's never stopped thinking about it. Sources:“Kim Jong-nam Says N. Korean Regime Won't Last Long”, by The Chosun Daily in 2012. “Kim Jong-il's son reappears in Singapore one year after feeling Macau” from The Shanghaiist.   “Was Kim Jong Nam in Sights of His Paranoid Half-Brother?” by Yoshihiro Makino for Asahi Shimbun. Murder at the Airport: The Brazen Attack on Kim Jong-Nam, by Reuters “Assassins review— unravelling the bizarre death of Kim Jong-nam” by Adam Sweeting for The Arts Desk. “How North Korea got away with the assassination of Kim Jong-nam” by Hannah Ellis-Peterson and Benjamin Haas for The Guardian. Dr. Harini Bhat, PharmD (@tilscience) explaining VX2 Support the showCheck out our books (and support local bookstores!) on our Bookshop.org affiliate account!Starting your own podcast with your very cool best friend? Try hosting on Buzzsprout (and get a $20 Amazon gift card!)Want more??Visit our website!Join our Patreon!Shop the merch at TeePublic!If you liked these stories, let us know on our various socials!InstagramTiktokGoodreadsAnd email us at sortofthestory@gmail.com

    Oratio from KFUO Radio
    What Sort of Man Is This?

    Oratio from KFUO Radio

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 3, 2025 1:50


    Rev. Kenneth Bomberger gives today's prayerful thought based on the day's Scripture readings. Begin your morning in word and prayer with Rev. Kenneth Bomberger, who shares scripture, hymns, prayers, and texts for the day, and also gives a short meditation on the day's scripture lessons. Submit comments or questions to: listener@kfuo.org

    Early Break
    A Division 1 interim defensive coordinator says being a high school head coach is more difficult than any sort of interim role…would you agree?

    Early Break

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 2, 2025 10:10


    Oklahoma State named Clint Bowen as their interim DC after Todd Grantham was fired—and he's served in an interim role before also when he took over for Charlie Weis at Kansas, going 1-7 following the firing as interim head coachBowen had served as the head coach of Lawrence (KS) High School the last few years before joining Mike Gundy's staff last year, and he told media that being a high school head coach is tougher than any interim job at any level---saying it's a 24/7 job, you're raising money to buy shoes, raising money to buy food, trying to get equipment money raised, and taking kids home/meeting with parents. Have we ever stopped to think about this for a second? Show Sponsored by NEBCOOur Sponsors:* Check out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com* Check out Hims: https://hims.com/EARLYBREAK* Check out Washington Red Raspberries: https://redrazz.orgAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    Finding Brave
    315: FAWNING: Why the Need to Please Makes Us Lose Ourselves

    Finding Brave

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 2, 2025 41:22


    On the surface, you may look like the model employee, partner, or friend: always dependable, always agreeable. But beneath the surface, you may be carrying a lifetime of survival strategies that keep you invisible in your own life. This is the story Dr. Ingrid Clayton knows both personally and professionally, and it's the story she helps so many of us begin to rewrite. Dr. Ingrid Clayton is a licensed clinical psychologist with advanced degrees in transpersonal and clinical psychology. She has maintained a thriving private practice for more than fifteen years and writes the popular Psychology Today blog, Emotional Sobriety, which has been read by over a million people. Her latest book, FAWNING: Why the Need to Please Makes Us Lose Ourselves—and How to Find Our Way Back, unpacks the subtle but profound ways we abandon ourselves by prioritizing others' approval. In our conversation, Ingrid reflects on her own experience as a childhood trauma survivor and how it revealed the fawning response: the instinct to please and appease in order to stay safe. Unlike fight, flight, or freeze, fawning resembles caretaking, compliance, and endless yeses, but it often leaves us feeling resentful and disconnected from our own needs. She explains how this adaptation becomes ingrained in the nervous system, how it shapes our relationships and careers, and why breaking the cycle can feel like stepping into the firing line. Yet within that discomfort lies the path to healing. Ingrid offers tangible practices for reclaiming your agency: pausing before you agree, noticing where resentment signals self-abandonment, and daring to let your voice be heard even when it shakes. Listen in to discover how to stop surviving on others' terms and begin living on your own!   Key Highlights From This Episode: An introduction to Dr. Ingrid Clayton and her new book on fawning. [02:17] Ingrid's personal story of childhood trauma and survival. [04:40] Defining the fawning response and how it differs from fight, flight, or freeze. [06:19] The spectrum of trauma responses and how conditioning reinforces fawning. [12:16] Signs of an ongoing fawning trauma response and why conflict feels unsafe. [15:02] How fawning embeds in the nervous system and what it takes to heal. [19:59] What happens in the body during the fawning trauma response. [22:22] Fawning behaviors and skills, where they originate, and why they're so common. [26:43] Practical grounding tools to restore safety through your body, senses, and curiosity. [32:05] How to get in touch with a psychologist in your area and find Dr. Clayton online. [37:50] For More Information: Dr. Ingrid Clayton Dr. Ingrid Clayton on Instagram Dr. Ingrid Clayton on Facebook Dr. Ingrid Clayton on YouTube Dr. Ingrid Clayton on TikTok   Links Mentioned in Today's Episode: Check out Dr. Ingrid Clayton's new book FAWNING: Why the Need to Please Makes Us Lose Ourselves—and How to Find Our Way Back, and her Emotional Sobriety blog. Explore Dr. Clayton's other titles, Believing Me: Healing from Narcissistic Abuse and Complex Trauma, and Recovering Spirituality: Achieving Emotional Sobriety in Your Spiritual Practice. Listen to Kathy's interview with Andre Sólo, Being Highly Sensitive Is a Superpower — Embrace and Leverage it. Read more about trauma and the nervous system in The Body Keeps the Score. Find a psychologist in your area with Psychology Today's nationwide directory   ——————— Join Kathy starting October 15, 2025, in her brand new monthly “The Most Powerful You” Group Coaching Program! Over the years, many graduates of my courses and readers of my books and articles, and other professionals have told me: “I wish there were a way to keep my momentum going — with supportive guidance, community, and accountability all year long.”   This program is the answer to that wish. Beginning October 15th, 2025, you'll meet monthly online in a small, global group for 12 months of live 60-minute coaching calls where you'll: Celebrate wins and breakthroughs Bring real-life challenges for direct support and guidance Revisit and apply core success and growth principles from my courses, articles, and 500+ interviews with top experts Learn from peers, insights, and encouragement Sort through key decisions in front of you Leave with clear, actionable steps to move you forward fast in your life and career You'll also get: A private Facebook group for ongoing support Call recordings if you miss a session Exclusive perks (with upfront payment), including additional curated resources, free access to Kathy Caprino AI, LinkedIn support, and two private coaching calls with me This is a space for professionals who are ready to grow their confidence, impact, and fulfillment — with consistent and uplifting support all year long.

    Explore the Circular Economy
    HolyGrail: see it, sort it, scale it

    Explore the Circular Economy

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 30, 2025 22:09


    Scaling the circular economy requires more companies to launch circular products and services, but many competitors transitioning towards the circular economy face similar barriers to scale.One way to address this is commercial collaboration, where businesses work together on issues that are not tied to their competitive advantage.In this episode, we'll hear from Sarah Dodge and Mark Buckley from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation about how this can help to scale a circular economy.We'll also explore how one initiative has helped address a bottleneck in post-consumer recycling. Hear how companies from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's Plastics Mission worked together to develop a unified vision and enable high-quality plastic waste sorting at scale with HolyGrail 1.0. This evolved into HolyGrail 2.0, where joint investment in R&D was crucial in helping it get from concept to market in just a few years.To discuss the project, Sander Defruyt, Lead of Strategy & Thought Leadership for the Plastics Mission, is joined by Gian De Belder, Technical Director of Packaging and Sustainability at Procter & Gamble, and Margherita Trombetti, Project Manager at the European Brands Association (AIM).Watch or listen to the full episode to learn how:Cross-value chain collaboration was essential to align on the technology and achieve scaleGrowing interest allowed participation to grow from 31 companies in HolyGrail 1.0 to 176 in 2.0 The European Brands Association (AIM) facilitated the governance, confidentiality, and communications of 2.0Learn more about this business-led partnership, which was funded through member contributions and philanthropic funding from the Alliance to End Plastic Waste and the City of Copenhagen.Explore the full commercial collaboration collectionIf you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review or a comment on Spotify or YouTube. Your support helps us to spread the word about the circular economy.

    NewsByte
    Erika Kirk Forgives, Jimmy Kimmel Apologizes...sort of, and President Trump Gets Trapped by the U.N. Escalator

    NewsByte

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 29, 2025 33:08 Transcription Available


    Erika Kirk rises above, Jimmy Kimmel avoids the Ax, and President Trump gets stuck on the U.N. escalator. You can get whiplash from this week's "Did they really just say that" newsbytes.

    Dawgman Radio
    DawgmanRadio: A lot to sort out after No. 1 Ohio State's 24-6 benchmark win over Washington

    Dawgman Radio

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 28, 2025 42:44


    The guys from Dawgman.com - Kim Grinolds, Chris Fetters, and Scott Eklund - sorted out all the different talking points that took place as Ohio State systematically wore down and took out a game Washington team 24-6 Saturday afternoon at Husky Stadium.  In this edition of DawgmanRadio, the guys provide a post-mortem of what they saw take place on the field in a game that the No. 1 Buckeyes did their best to take the air out of the ball and take what they were given by a banged-up Washington defense.  Among the main talking points of the game... - The atmosphere leading up to the game, including the celebrities seen on the sidelines and the fact that the students were back for the first time this season. - The ability of Ohio State to take UW QB Demond Williams out of the game, especially his ability to create with his legs, as well as what he should learn from this game as he continues to mature as a top quarterback at this level.  - The Huskies going 1-11 on third down, leading to their worst efficiency all season long and zero touchdowns.  - The Buckeyes taking everything UW was hoping they would, including making Ohio State QB Julian Sayin throw the ball in his first-ever road start.  - The impact the game and atmosphere should have on recruiting moving forward. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    (Sort of) The Story
    28. (Sort of) Off Topic: Mary Shelley and the Creation of Frankenstein

    (Sort of) The Story

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 26, 2025 74:52


    Send us a textIt's alive! IT'S ALIVE! ("It" being another Off Topic episode!) Welcome back, gals and ghouls! This week, Max is telling us all about the teenaged mother of science fiction herself, and the lengths she went to to avoid hanging out with Lord Byron. Enjoy!Support the showCheck out our books (and support local bookstores!) on our Bookshop.org affiliate account!Starting your own podcast with your very cool best friend? Try hosting on Buzzsprout (and get a $20 Amazon gift card!)Want more??Visit our website!Join our Patreon!Shop the merch at TeePublic!If you liked these stories, let us know on our various socials!InstagramTiktokGoodreadsAnd email us at sortofthestory@gmail.com

    Freedom Scientific Training Podcast
    Ten Tips for Increasing Productivity with Google Sheets and JAWS

    Freedom Scientific Training Podcast

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 26, 2025 40:37


    Do you use Google Sheets with JAWS? Want to learn how to navigate, format, and organize data more efficiently? Then “Ten Tips for Increasing Productivity with Google Sheets and JAWS” is the episode for you. Objectives: In this session we provide an overview of Google Sheets, plus show you how to: Turn on accessibility settings Create/rename a new spreadsheet, plus navigate an existing spreadsheet Apply formatting to cell data Insert a function Sort and filter data Verbalize column and row titles Navigate among multiple spreadsheets Access a list of Google-specific keyboard commands Enable compatible keyboard shortcuts from other spreadsheet applications Search the menus for a command

    Skip the Queue
    Magic in the Sky - Jérôme Giacomoni

    Skip the Queue

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 25, 2025 40:30


    In this episode of Skip the Queue, Andy Povey sits down with Jérôme Giacomoni, co-founder and Chairman of AEROPHILE, the world leader in tethered gas balloons and immersive aerial experiences. Jérôme shares the story of how AEROPHILE began with a simple idea, to “make everybody fly” and grew into a global company operating in multiple countries, including France and the U.S.Tune in to hear about the company's signature attractions, including tethered balloon flights, the innovative Aerobar concept, and high-profile projects such as how you can experience flying the Olympic cauldron in Paris. Jérôme also shares how AEROPHILE has leveraged its unique platform to explore scientific initiatives like air-quality and climate-change monitoring and how he Integrates unique revenue streams from sponsorship and advertising.Skip the Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. Your host is Paul Marden, with co host Andy Povey and roving reporter Claire Furnival.If you like what you hear, you can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and all the usual channels by searching Skip the Queue or visit our website SkiptheQueue.fm.If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review, it really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on LinkedIn. Show references:  https://www.aerophile.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/jerome-giacomoni-3074b7/Jérôme Giacomoni is co-founder of Groupe AEROPHILE and Chairman of AEROPHILE SAS. Since 1993, he has led the company to become the world leader in tethered gas balloons and balloon flights, operating iconic sites in France, the U.S., and Cambodia, and flying over 500,000 passengers annually. He also pioneered “flying food-tainment” with the Aerophare and Aerobar. Jérôme is a member of IAAPA, serves on the board of SNELAC, and is a Team France Export ambassador, earning multiple awards for entrepreneurship and innovation. Plus, live from the Day 2 of the IAAPA Expo Europe show floor, we catch up with:Rheanna Sorby –Marketing & Creative Director,  The Seasonal Grouphttps://theseasonalgroup.co.uk/https://www.linkedin.com/in/rheanna-sorby-seasonal/Sohret Pakis – Polin Waterparkshttps://www.polin.com.tr/https://www.linkedin.com/in/sohretpakis/Thomas Collin – Sales Manager, VEX Solutionshttps://www.vex-solutions.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-collin-18a476110/Peter Cliff – CEO // Founder, Conductr.https://conductr.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-cliff/Laura Baxter – Founder, Your CMOhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-baxter-4a756466/Josh Haywood – Resort Director, Crealy Theme Park & Resorthttps://www.crealy.co.uk/https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-haywood-68463630/ Transcriptions:  Paul Marden: Welcome to Skip the Queue, the podcast about the world's best attractions and the people that work in them. I'm your host Paul Marden, and with my co-host Andy Povey and roving reporter Claire Furnival, we're here at IAAPA Expo Europe. In today's episode, I go on a trip on Santa's Enchanted Elevator with the Seasonal Group, and Claire meets Peter Cliff from Conductr. But before all that, let's head over to Andy.Andy Povey: Good morning, everybody. I'm joined today by Jerome Giacomoni from AEROPHILE for our French listeners. I hope I've got that right. Jerome is the chief exec of AEROPHILE and has been the co-founder and president of AEROPHILE. And AEROPHILE supply helium-based balloon observation opportunities. I probably got the marketing on that completely wrong, Jerome. So please, can you share with our listeners what AEROPHILE is all about?Jerome Giacomoni: So AEROPHILE is a company I created with Mathieu Gobbi, my partner, 32 years ago, with a very simple idea, make everybody fly, you know, and we use a balloon to fly. So we have a tethered balloon. We have a huge, big balloon inflated with helium, a gas lighter than air. And we go up to more or less 150 meters high. up to 30 passengers. So we are linked to the ground with a cable, and the cable is linked to a winch. So you have to imagine that you have a winch that— when we go up—pulls when we go down. This is the exact opposite of an elevator because the balloon wants to go higher and higher. We have a lifting force of four tons.Andy Povey:Wow.Jerome Giacomoni:Yes, it's a big one. And so we need a cable to keep it. And thanks to this lifting force, we can fight against the wind.Jerome Giacomoni: And so the balloon can swing when you have some wind because the balloon is just pulled by the cable itself.Andy Povey: And trust me, listeners, they look absolutely spectacular. Just before we started recording, I was admitting to Jerome that I'm scared of heights. So I've stood and watched. The dining balloon, Futuroscope, never managed to pluck up the courage to try it myself.Jerome Giacomoni: This is another concept, Andy. So we have built two concepts. One is a tethered balloon, a real one with helium, with a cable, with a winch, and we fly by ourselves. The balloon flies by itself, okay? We did another concept 20 years after we created our company, so 10 years before now, in 2013, which is what we call the aero bar. It's a flying bar, and you have an inflatable balloon. to cover the gondola, but it's a fake. This is a real elevator, and you have a gondola with some winches and a metallic structure, and you go up and down. So what you saw in Futuroscope is not a balloon. It's a real elevator.Jerome Giacomoni: And the one you can see in Disneyland Paris, Disney World, Orlando or San Diego Zoo are a real balloon named a tethered balloon. So I'm glad you fell down into the trick. You caught me. Yes, I'm glad about that. But we have really two different concepts.Andy Povey: But the concept, the thing that the guest is experiencing, isn't really related to whether it's a balloon or a lift.Jerome Giacomoni: No. i think it's very different okay i think the aerobar is fun and you have the feet in the sky you feel the thrill of height and everything but you stop at 35 meters it's it's quite high for a ride but it's not a real flight And I think the balloon is a real flight. We have a balloon in Paris. We have a balloon in Budapest, Berlin. And you see the city from the sky at 150 meters high, which is very high. So you really experience a flight. With the aerobar, you have a ride, okay? So both of them are related to the sky, are related to the view, but one is really a flight, the other one is really a ride.Andy Povey: That makes absolute sense.Andy Povey: It doesn't reassure me on my fear of heights anymore, that I would like to go up three times, four times taller, higher than the one I saw first. Very interesting. So, listeners, we're often talking about technology and attractions. There's a huge amount of talk about augmented reality, about AI, about motion simulators. The reason, Jerome, we asked you to come and talk to us is because you don't do any of that. No—your experience is fantastic and it's new and it's unique, but there's no technology or very little obvious technology.Jerome Giacomoni: Yes, quite little. You know, it's amazing because we do this for now 32 years, as I told you. The first balloon was inflated in 1994. We have sold 120 balloons in more than 40 countries. And each time with the balloon, you have a magical effect, you know, because the balloon itself is very nice— because the balloon itself is a show from people looking at it from the ground. And because... The flight experience is amazing because you are really in the sky. You are really looking at the ground, at the landscape. You have no noise, you know, when you take a helicopter or plane. You have a lot of noise. You are in an enclosed airplane or helicopter. Here you are outside. You are on a balcony flying at 150 meters. And wherever we are, always we have like a magical effect of the flight. And with the flying bar, we decided to do something different— where we say, 'Why drink on ground where you can drink in the sky?'Jerome Giacomoni: So we add the drink to the ride, you know. So you are on a table and you have what we say in French conviviality. So we share a drink. We go at 35 meters and you have the thrill of the view of the height and also the conviviality of drinking. So this is another concept, but both of them are universal. And wherever we do it, we have sold 20 aero bars worldwide.Jerome Giacomoni: Everybody is very happy to have this kind of ride. I would say we are on the side of the main market. You know, we have two niche products. The balloon is a niche product. And the AeroBar is a niche product where we have another experience than a normal ride, like a roller coaster or a flume or a spinning coaster.Andy Povey: You say you're a nice product, but the balloon in Paris for the Olympics, where you lifted the cauldron, had phenomenal numbers of visitors watching. That wasn't something you could go on.Jerome Giacomoni: Yes, it was an amazing opportunity. You know, sometimes life gives you some presents.Jerome Giacomoni: And imagine that we were contacted by the Olympic Organisation Committee one day, and we believed it was a joke. And they said, 'We need to talk to you.' And then we discovered that instead of flying humans, they asked us to fly a cauldron. So the Olympic cauldron. And we have like one year and a half of design and manufacturing.Jerome Giacomoni: And then, at 11 pm, 25, the balloon has to fly in front of everybody. I can tell you it was a very stressful time. But so nice and so amazing to have experiences. So, yes, the balloon suddenly was visible by everybody. And that's back now in Paris, isn't it? Yes. First of all, the balloon has to stay only twice— 15 days. You know, you have the Olympics and the Paralympics. So we were open only 30 days in total. And the success was so huge that every night, you have dozens of thousands of people coming to look at it. That's why the mayor of Paris and the French president decided to keep it.Jerome Giacomoni: And just after the deflation of the balloon, they call us back and say, 'Jerome and Mathieu, we would like to have the balloon back.' So we work again with the city of Paris and the French presidency, and we agreed to put the balloon.Jerome Giacomoni: Three times, three months. So from June 21st, in France, this is a music event, you know, the Day of Music. To September 14th, which is a day of sport. So every year until the Olympic game of LA, we will operate the balloon for three months in the summertime. Fantastic.Andy Povey: So, Jerome, you operate in lots and lots of different countries all over the world. I think it's 14 countries that you've been.Jerome Giacomoni: No, we sold, but we operate only in the US and in France.Andy Povey: Ah, okay. Interesting.Jerome Giacomoni: We own ourselves, we operate ourselves, six balloons in the 120 we have sold. So we operate three in Paris region. One, the Parc André Citroën, where we have the Generali balloon since 1999. One in Disneyland Paris since 2005. So we are in Disneyland Paris for now 20 years. Time is flying. And the last one, the Cold Run, which is a very specific event that we operate now for one year and for the next two years. And in the US, we operate Disney World Orlando in Disney Spring since 2009, and San Diego Zoo Safari Park since 2005, and Irvine. South of LA since 2007. So we operate now six balloons for a long, long time, except the cold run. And we keep selling balloons.Jerome Giacomoni: We sell more or less five to six balloons every year.Andy Povey: And how do you find the differences between the French culture and you're on either side of America, so the differences between the different coasts of America and France?Jerome Giacomoni: Yes, we... We are in the US, but we are also in Mexico, in a lot of countries in Asia. In the Middle East, we have a beautiful balloon in Dubai. We have a beautiful balloon in Seoul. So we work a lot with very different cultures. You know, it's very interesting to sell the same product to different cultures. So I would say... The main difference probably lies in the contract. It's very funny when you make the contract. I would say a 'yes' is not the same 'yes' depending on the culture. But everybody is, you know, you... You love people when you work worldwide. You learn a lot, you discover a lot. You have to learn with different cultures. And I have the chance in my professional life to experience that and to meet people from all over the world. And, you know, my job is to go on site, and discuss with someone, and see if it's possible or not to have a balloon at this place.Jerome Giacomoni: So it's always a beautiful job because I travel in a lot of countries in beautiful spots.Jerome Giacomoni: We don't succeed a lot because, if not, I would have sold thousands of balloons. We have always constraints with local authority, with food traffic, etc. But always, it's a pleasure to meet people. And once... The balloon is accepted by the local authority when the customer has a finance for it. Then start more or less a one-year work together between installation, work on site, inflation, and training of the team. And after... They fly with their own wings, even if we have no wings with our balloons.Andy Povey: Very good. And I imagine that you don't put balloons into ugly places.Jerome Giacomoni: We did, sometimes for specific contracts. Ugly, I won't use this name, but not very obvious, logical site. But it has happened. Sometimes we do for small events or for specific needs.Jerome Giacomoni: But yes, most of the time, the sites are very interesting.Andy Povey: So there are other things you're doing with the balloons. So the air quality messaging that you have above Paris. Tell us more about your opportunities to influence in other areas.Jerome Giacomoni: Yes, you know, the balloon is not only a ride, a passenger ride, but it's also an amazing opportunity for communication and for advertisement. So in the city center, like Paris, Berlin, or Seoul, the balloon is used also as a giant advertising billboard. So you have two revenues. You have the revenue of the passenger, but you have also the sponsor revenue.Jerome Giacomoni: When we started the balloon in Paris, it was extremely difficult to get the authorisation to have a balloon in Paris centre. We are two kilometres south of the Eiffel Tower. But you remember, we had the famous Millennium, the Y2K. uh and and so the mayor faris was looking for a new idea and we propose a balloon And they gave us only a one year and a half contract. And the investment was quite huge. And we told him, OK, we can do it, but we cannot do it for only one year and a half. Except if you accept that we have a name on the balloon, a naming and a sponsor on the balloon. And the mayor say yes. And we start another business where we put sponsor on the balloon. And this is a very good business because it makes a... activity immediately profitable so we did that in Paris in 1999 and in 2008 the balloon was like 10 years old because when you fly you have your the balloon is huge we talk about a 32 meters high balloon we talk about like a 12-story building.Jerome Giacomoni: So everybody knows the balloon in Paris. Everybody can see it. And so, when we fly, we have 400,000 people who immediately see us. So we decided to give citizen aspect. And we start— pour changer le couleur de la balle selon la qualité de l'air. C'était en 2008. Et parce que nous l'avons fait, nous avons des scientifiques... coming to us and say, 'Hey, this balloon is a wonderful platform to measure air quality because you make like a carrot of the air from zero to 150 meters. Jerome Giacomoni:  Can we bring some scientist instrument on the gondola? And we say yes. And then we start to make science. And then we start to make scientific publications, scientific publications. And then we start a new business where the balloon is not only a tethered gas balloon for passenger, it's only... advertising billboard and now it's only a scientific platform and so this is very interesting and the last things we have done in 2024 no this year in 2025 is to use the balloon for global climate change. As you know, we have two main gas pollutants for the climate change, CO2 and CH4. And the balloon is a perfect platform to measure evolution on CO2 and CH4. So we are working with a European group named ICOS. gathering all the best laboratories in Europe, who are making a huge study on how CO2 and CH4 how they are in each city.Jerome Giacomoni: And Paris has been chosen as a pilot city. So we are very glad to work with them. And so now the Balloon is also working on climate change. And we will have big, big, big LED screen. So we make some technology sometime, as you said, to inform people on the temperature elevation in Europe and in the world. And the news are very bad, as everybody knows.Andy Povey: But that's fascinating. I love the integration you've been able to take from this unique proposition and apply it to different markets, different problems.Jerome Giacomoni: You know, Andy, I think we have to exit from the box. My message to... all people who are listening to us.Jerome Giacomoni: Okay, passenger rides is very important. It's a key market for many of us. But sometimes we can use... another way to find new flow of revenue, like advertising, and we can be also helpful to our other citizens, like working freely for scientists to make measurements on pollutants of the air. This helps with both air quality and also climate change.Andy Povey: It's a beautiful concept, Jerome. I love it. Love it.Andy Povey: So, final question. Your experiences are obviously very unique. What advice would you have for a venue and possibly a smaller venue that doesn't have the resources to be able to build something 150 metres high or put something 150 metres into the air? What advice would you give them on how to make a compelling experience for visitors?Jerome Giacomoni: I really believe that you have to stick on your roots, okay? I mean that people want authenticity.Jerome Giacomoni: And as you know, we are very keen on balloons, as you can imagine. So we make in our, you know, Paris, it's in Paris where you have the first flight. Yeah. In 1783. Montgolfier, brothers. Yes, with the Montgolfier brothers, with Charles, the scientist. So we really stick on our roots. And I think where you are in Brittany, where you are in Japan, you have to follow your own road and your own path. By feeling what could be the good idea, but also what is your feeling inside you. You need to have something different that you feel very confident with.Andy Povey: Beautiful final thought, Jerome, I like it a lot. So listeners, stay authentic and be passionate.Jerome Giacomoni: Exactly, the right word is passionate.Paul Marden: Next up, let's get some soundbites from the show floor.Rheanna  Sorby: My name's Rheanna. I'm Marketing and Creative Director for the Seasonal Group. We are curators of Christmas magic all year round. Wow, wow.Paul Marden: So you make Christmas special?Rheanna  Sorby: We're the Christmas elves.Paul Marden: Awesome, awesome. I can see you've got such a great set of stands. What have you got here that you're exhibiting for the first time?Rheanna  Sorby: We have Santa's Enchanted Express, which is a three-minute experience that transports customers and guests from a very festive train station to the North Pole in just under three minutes. So it's quite a Christmas miracle. And it also transports on nine pallets. So it's a great return on investment for customers there if it's 24 people on. We also have our elevator experience, which went viral last year. And then we have VR, animatronics, and a lot of our famous items, like the snowman here, just dressed as a little, it's some sort of operator.Paul Marden: Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. So we don't have a lot of luck with lifts at the moment because the team got stuck in a lift yesterday for about 45 minutes. Stop it. We got rescued by the... Well, I didn't get in the lift. I walked because there wasn't enough room. But two of them had to be rescued by the fire brigadeRheanna  Sorby: Okay, so this might be triggering. Well, you know.Paul Marden: Oh, no, I found it hilarious.Paul Marden: I was hugely supportive on the outside, yelling into them.Paul Marden: But Santa won't let me get stuck in a lift today, will he? Absolutely not.Rheanna  Sorby: No, there's an emergency exit. Excellent.Paul Marden: So what's new and innovative then about the Santa Express? What are you bringing to market?Rheanna  Sorby: So a lot of our clients, we sell business to business. They're struggling to get people into shopping centres and we're finding that we need to create retail theatre. So that is something I see as a massive trend moving forward. People want nostalgia. They want an experience, something memorable. But also our customers need a way to return investment as well. So they hopefully will spend something with us and then ticket the experience. So that's something that we're pivoting our business towards. Trying to create a brand new experience every year. A lot of people are struggling nowadays, cost of living.Paul Marden: Yeah, absolutely.Rheanna  Sorby: It's difficult, so we're trying to find a way that brings the Christmas magic to people's doors.Paul Marden: We are, where are we at the moment? We're in September, so we've still got a couple of months left before Christmas 2025, but that must be over for you.Rheanna  Sorby: No, the quality of the street is on the shelves. It's already happening. The install season starts literally on Monday for us. Really? Yes. When we get back, we land and then we start installing.Paul Marden: And so this is the busy time. So let's talk about Christmas 2026. What are the trends that you see coming along at that point?Rheanna  Sorby: Whimsical, whimsical. So we've got Wicked number two coming out. And we've also had all like the Whoville, that sort of style, the Grinch. So imagine pastels, furry trees, things that don't quite make sense, a lot of whimsical wonderland, I would say, trend-wise. But equally immersive experiences and how we can bring magic to you.Paul Marden: Wonderful, wonderful. Thank you ever so much. Rheanna, it's been lovely to meet you. Thank you for coming on the podcast. And let's go and visit Santa in his lift, shall we? Yeah, excellent.Paul Marden: And here it is. So we are surrounded by suites in an old-fashioned lift. And there's our doors closed.Paul Marden: Oh, how amazing is this? We're going up.Paul Marden: Ice like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The Great Glass Elevator. This is amazing. We're up over the clouds. Just stunning. There's a train there. I think we're going to follow into the tunnel after the train. Yes.Paul Marden: Got cold, now we're underground. Now we're in the tunnel.Paul Marden: And I think this might be Santa's factory.Paul Marden: Let's get ready.Paul Marden: Merry Christmas. The big man's chair as well. Can I take a seat in the big man's chair? Ho, ho, ho.Sohret Pakis: Hi, Paul. My name is Shorhet Pakis. I'm the brand ambassador for Polin Waterparks.Paul Marden: What are you launching this year at IAAPA? What's new for you?Sohret Pakis:Last year, we have won two big awards for a themed water slide, which is... Stingray it was in Nantes in France and it was something big because you know it was like Europeans best water slide number one and I have a brass ring award winner about two million number one but last night in Porta Ventura Stingray has won the second time best water slide of Europe award. But we have something new about it. Last year when I was telling about Stingray, it was an eight-person slide. This year we have something new. Now the capacity went up to 10, especially when we're talking about all these queue management issues. So that's something wonderful. And also, you ask, what is new? This year, we have something very exciting. A parrot-themed stingray. It's the same slide, but it's parrot-themed.Sohret Pakis: It's coming to Dubai by January. It's going to be open.Paul Marden: So can I ask you, what makes that innovative? What's new about that?Sohret Pakis: Actually, it's a very specifically themed waterslide. You know that POLIN has been pioneer in RTM manufacturing and U-texture. It's kind of a composite material technology which we can make waterslides look.  Look like a character, actually. We are the company who did this first because we said that storytelling is very important. Yes, but you know, slides are just slides. So we just wanted the slides look like the characters in that story. Of course, behind that, there is huge material technology, composites technology, design technologies. Actually, that's the time when we introduced King Cobra years ago. And now with Stingray, we took it much further. So actually, the team looks perfectly like a Stingray, but at the same time, it's a water slide with so many features. It has two big towers and between the towers, there's a bridge. From each tower, two slides start with a very special mist roofing and very special bridge where you can just see what's happening all over the slide.Paul Marden: So the queuing experience is enriched so it doesn't feel quite so long and boring because you can watch what everyone is doing.Sohret Pakis: It is, yes.Paul Marden: Super impressive. So we have been asking everybody to think about what are their predictions for 2026?Sohret Pakis: Everybody is talking about AI. Everybody is talking about immersive. So AI, of course, will make a huge difference in operation, especially.Paul Marden: In what way?Sohret Pakis: Actually, in guest satisfaction, because personalisation is very important in our industry. Whoever comes to the park, they are the heroes at the park. And so actually, if the park can make them feel that they are the heroes, truly— if that's their birthday, if that's their wedding anniversary, so whatever. If the park can make you feel that you're special, and thanks to technology, now it's possible.Paul Marden: Absolutely. That's so interesting. Thank you so much for your insights and for joining us on Skip the Queue. Thank you.Thomas Collin: I'm Thomas, I'm from VEX Solutions, so we are a VR company at the start, and now we're going to the arcade with mixed reality as well. Okay, so that's a nice link. What are you launching here at IAFA? So here for the first time we are introducing VEX Party Dash. The Party Dash is a mixed reality arcade machine. So automated, people can go on it, play on it. You have two huge screens that are really highly interactive. You can walk on the screen, you can touch the screen. The goal is really to make you moving. So that's what we want to do with the Dash.Paul Marden: That's amazing, isn't it? So we're watching people at the moment. You can see lights up on the floor that they're stepping on and on the wall.Thomas Collin: What is really the key aspect of this product is that it's highly attractive. People, they just go around, they stop by it, they want to try it. Actually, we can say, 'Hey, come and try it,' because we watch you, we see you. So we can say, 'Hey, come and try it.' And people stop by, they play it. It's highly immersive, but also highly active. Yes. You're just not standing on an arcade, sitting down. No, you're really moving around. So, this is really good for kids and families. Absolutely. That's what we see.Paul Marden: So, where do you see this being used? What sort of attractions will take this?Thomas Collin: Actually, with this product, it can go either in the attraction side or either at the arcade side. So, you can play it as one game, and you can play a three-minute game like an arcade, or you can actually book for 15 minutes. Since there is not a single game, but multiple games, you can play different games, you can play different levels inside the main gate. So you have a high replayability. Because we want you to come back, we want to attract the gamers, and then make them come back.Paul Marden: 15 minutes with this much activity sounds like quite a tall order. It's a workout.Thomas Collin: It's a workout. It's a workout. Yeah, yeah, yeah.Peter Cliff: Hi, my name is Pete Cliff. I'm from Conductr. We're here in Barcelona and it's so exciting to be back at IAAPA. Now, what we're super excited about this year is talking about our collaboration with Norwegian Cruise Lines on Great Stirrup Cay. It's their new water park. It's a great project. We're excited to talk to people about it. It's also lovely to be back in Barcelona. It's been, I think, about six years since we were last back here, and it's always one of my favourite European cities for IAPA. It's great to meet with people from the industry, reconnect with old colleagues and friends, and really see what's happening. There's a huge amount of innovation and special projects that are launching all over the show floor. So yeah, great to be back, and can't wait to see what the future of the themed entertainment industry has to offer.Laura Baxter: My name is Laura Baxter. You may know me as the girl with the purple jumpsuit on LinkedIn. I am the head of marketing for Black Gang Shine, but have most recently just announced that I've gone into freelancing and I've launched your CMO.Paul Marden: And I have to say, the jumpsuits work because I was about 50 metres behind you earlier on and I spotted the Your CMO logo on the back of the jumpsuit, so well done for that. We've talked to a lot of suppliers with stands that are exhibiting. From your perspective, this is your first time stepping over to the dark side and coming to an IAPA. What's the experience like for you? What are you here to get out of the show?Laura Baxter: I'd say it's twofold. Mainly it is for networking. Obviously anybody who's anyone in the industry is here. But also, it's inspiration because I want to be able to talk about new and exciting stuff with... Potential clients that I may have and ideas still for Black Gang as well. So, when you walk around show floor, which is just so vibrant and there's so much going on everywhere—you turn, you can draw inspiration from so many of the suppliers here.Paul Marden: What have you seen that's innovative?Laura Baxter: There's a huge amount of stuff being done with tech and it's very interesting because I think that's where a lot of people are going to think that they need to go, because that's the way of the world now, and the next generation don't know life off of a screen and they're expecting to have these incredible digital experiences.Laura Baxter: I'm not convinced that is the way to go. But yes, it's still impressive tech. So for me, there are things that I stand back out and look at and I'm like, 'Whoa, that's really, really cool.'Laura Baxter: I'm not so sure it's potentially what consumers want, though, controversially.Paul Marden: It's really hard, isn't it? Because as a parent of young kids, you want them off the tech as much as you possibly can. But you need a hook. To be able to attract them, don't you? So there's been some amazing stuff here that bridges that gap between the real world and the tech world. So, summer season 2025 is over. What are your predictions about summer 26 and what operators should be thinking about right now?Laura Baxter: It's a really tough market, we all know that. Budgets are tight for households, so there is an awful lot more thought going into their spending and what they're doing and where they're choosing to take that little bit of disposable money that they do have. Therefore actually I don't think next year operators should be thinking about huge innovations or new attractions. I think they need to strip back to basics and nail their customer service. I think guest expectations now are so high. because they're parting with money that is a little bit more precious to them than perhaps if they don't leave at the end of that day having had a good experience they feel ripped off they're going to go straight to review platforms they're going to let it all out and actually you need to be focusing on making sure that every single touch point with that customer is bang on and we're talking pre-visit as well from the your website journey to buying it to the follow-up emails to the pre-visit emails to that first person they meet on front of house to the ride operators to the events team if you have that kind of entertainment on park if you are not nailing your experienceLaura Baxter: You are going to lose out well.Paul Marden: I think we should end it right there. That there is a nugget of gold.Paul Marden: So I am here with co-host Andy Povey and our good friend Josh Haywood from Crealy down in Devon.Josh Haywood: Hello.Paul Marden: It's the end of day two. What have you seen, Josh? What's blown your socks off?Josh Haywood: Good couple of days so far. We're probably into 40,000 steps, which is great. I think technology is the thing that struck me this week so far. Just the small changes that some of the operators and some of the manufacturers are putting into their existing kits. So, for example, I attended a seminar this morning about bowling. and normally temping bowling is temping bowling. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But now there's augmented reality, and they've got features on the lanes, and it's not about just taking all the pins down, it's taking pin one and six out, and all those things they're trying to do to reinvent older, more traditional attractions, which I think I find really interesting. Yeah. I think some of the seasonality stuff, the Christmas and Halloween stuff has been really good. We sat on a train and went on a journey and the seats rumbled and the sound and the visual effects, they were great.Paul Marden: I saw that. There was no room for me to go and sit on that train. It was amazing.Josh Haywood: I thought that was really good. And, you know, I've been really impressed with generally the show. I think you can get around it all as well. It feels really friendly. I think the sun shining always helps as well. It's not too tough, is it?Paul Marden: I mean, the last time we were in Barcelona, we were all wearing face masks. Absolutely, yes. So it's really refreshing to be back here. And not have that.Josh Haywood: Absolutely. And not have to queue to get in as well. I think that was interesting on the first day.Paul Marden: Oh, did they see you and then just wave you through?Josh Haywood: Red carpet was up for, of course, award-winning theme park and resort. Paul Marden: Mr. Hayward. Did you say award? Winnie and obviously you're on the back of your two awards in the theme park awards last week. How was that? And then we've got some really exciting news from Creeley.Josh Haywood: I saw it at the press this morning. Yes, so a couple of things happened last week. So first of all, we had our anniversary 25 years of Maximus the Coaster. The Vekoma Coaster, 25 years. The first coaster in Devon. It was Devon's first coaster, over half a million riders later. It's done 2 million miles around the track. It's great. So we did a sort of event for that, and we used it to sort of make some announcements about future attractions, which I'll tell you about in a minute. But then we went to the Theme Park Awards last week at Wickste Park, where... We've been the recipients of a few bronze and silvers, and we go being little old us and hope for the best. And then the award I really wanted to win was one of two: the best for families and the best for value. And when the family award came up, they said, 'In bronze is such and such, in silver.' And I was like, 'Well, there you go.' That's all that's left for another year. And then when they said the win at gold was cruelly for best for families, we were delighted. I got a bit emotional about it. I think we would just work so hard over the years to be the best in the Southwest, certainly. And certainly since we put Sootyland in as well. We won the award for Toddlers.Josh Haywood: So it was a double wham. And within 10 minutes as well. It wasn't separated. Within 10 minutes, I just got my breath back from the first one. And then we were up on stage again taking that second award. Oh, it's tough, isn't it? Which was great, yeah. Multi-award winning. Multi-award winning theme parking resort. Devon's finest. Most right in Devon. We're just going to... absolutely bleep the hell out of this for the next 12 months because who knows we may not win it again so we'll just shout from the treetops about this and then we also won thanks to martin rose and rose events uh silver for best entertainment event for the city show It's still very popular, the legacy brand. People love the Sooty show. And as I said at the awards, we sell loads of those puppets. People love a Sooty and a Sweep. So it's been a really good collaboration for us.Paul Marden: We were at our first away day for our Merak team back a few months ago down at Creeley, and I found a little sooty puppet underneath the lectern. I was absolutely chuffed to bits. And there he was, just sitting at the front of the away day, watching everything going on with Sue next to him.Josh Haywood: He's still popular. We understood when we put Cityland in, it wasn't going to be Peppa Pig. world and we didn't think for a minute we'd even sort of get to those heights of Thomas Land at Drayton Manor but it certainly hit a chord with the older market certainly the nannies and the granddads who remember such from when they were kids and you know it's a legacy brand and it works but what we have done really well is sort of corner that market for younger children and toddlers and we Sort of took some comments over the last 12 to 18 months that we may be missing the mark when it comes to the 8 to 12-year-olds, which we were pretty good at five or six years ago. So we've decided this year that we're going to invest in some thrill attractions. So we've just launched news that we've got two new rides going in next year. One, I can't tell you exactly because we're still going under. Got some planning issues, but we're going to have the Southwest tallest ride and the Southwest first inverted ride. So a multi-million pound investment going in and hopefully that will give us another boost that we need to kick on again. We've still got new accommodation going in. We'll still be doing new events and shows for next year.Josh Haywood: So it's going to be a bumper year for Crealy. Absolutely.  I really look forward to that.Paul Marden: I look forward to you being on the launch ride.Paul Marden: Me down on the ground watching and videoing.Josh Haywood: What they have said, which is really interesting, we spoke to an operator, there's only one other ride like it in the UK, and that operator said, whatever you do, make sure when you put the ride in, you fit a hose pipe and a tap right in. Because you may be washing the seats down more than you would usually on your current ride. So, yeah, it certainly will add that next level of ride experience to our family market.Paul Marden: Yeah, I think that's super important, isn't it? Mr. Povey, what have you seen today that has blown your socks off?Andy Povey: I'm really looking for the place to go and get some more soft, comfortable socks. I've walked so much. I've stood around and listened to so many fantastic talks, had so many brilliant conversations. I'm done. My feet hurt. I need to sit down and have a beer.Paul Marden: Well, I hate to break it to you, but there's another day left. And there's still more interviews to do. Still more opportunities for us to get some interesting stories on Skip the Queue.Andy Povey: Look forward to that.Paul Marden: Gentlemen, I think we're about done. So thank you ever so much. It has been a joy. And Mr. Povey, see you back here tomorrow. Josh, wonderful as always.Josh Haywood: Maybe see you at OrlandoPaul Marden: Oh. Absolutely, yeah.Josh Haywood: We'll do it againPaul Marden: Thanks for listening to today's episode. If you liked it, leave a comment in Spotify or Apple Podcasts. If you didn't, let us know on hello@skipthequeue.fm. Today's episode was a team effort for Sami and Emily from Plaster, Steve from Folland Co., as well as Claire and Wenalyn from Skip the Queue HQ. We're back again tomorrow for more fun from IAAPA, including Andreas Andersen from Liseberg, one of Scandinavia's most visited parks. See you all tomorrow. The 2025 Visitor Attraction Website Survey is now LIVE! Dive into groundbreaking benchmarks for the industryGain a better understanding of how to achieve the highest conversion ratesExplore the "why" behind visitor attraction site performanceLearn the impact of website optimisation and visitor engagement on conversion ratesUncover key steps to enhance user experience for greater conversionsTake the Rubber Cheese Visitor Attraction Website Survey Report

    Trumpcast
    Culture Gabfest: Jimmy Kimmel Is Back—Sort Of— Edition

    Trumpcast

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 24, 2025 61:42


    On this week's episode, Julia and Dana are joined by Slate writer (and Philadelphia native) Nadira Goffe for a conversation rooted in Delaware County about Task, HBO's new gritty crime drama from the creators of Mare of Easttown.  Next, the hosts give longtime listeners what they've been chirping for: a discussion of birding. Specifically, it's a discussion about the dirtbag, gonzo, totally self-produced and independently released documentary Listers: A Glimpse Into Extreme Birdwatching. Finally, they get into the Jimmy Kimmel situation. Why was his show cancelled, then uncancelled, then blacked out from several media markets? What does it mean for the state of free speech and democracy itself? In an exclusive Slate Plus bonus episode, the panel is joined by Dan Kois to delight in Slate's package on The 25 Best Picture Books of the Past 25 Years. Email us your thoughts at culturefest@slate.com.  Podcast production by Benjamin Frisch. Production assistance by Daniel Hirsch. Endorsements Nadira: In addition to the Explore.org's Fat Bear Week, the work of singer-songwriter KeiyaA who recently released the tracks "stupid prizes" and "take it" from her forthcoming album hooke's law. Dana: Seeing Stanley Kubrick's epic Barry Lyndon in its 4K re-release on the best screen you possibly can. Julia: Meghan O'Rourke's New York Times essay "I Teach Creative Writing. This Is What A.I. Is Doing to Students." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    Slate Culture
    Culture Gabfest: Jimmy Kimmel Is Back—Sort Of— Edition

    Slate Culture

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 24, 2025 61:42


    On this week's episode, Julia and Dana are joined by Slate writer (and Philadelphia native) Nadira Goffe for a conversation rooted in Delaware County about Task, HBO's new gritty crime drama from the creators of Mare of Easttown.  Next, the hosts give longtime listeners what they've been chirping for: a discussion of birding. Specifically, it's a discussion about the dirtbag, gonzo, totally self-produced and independently released documentary Listers: A Glimpse Into Extreme Birdwatching. Finally, they get into the Jimmy Kimmel situation. Why was his show cancelled, then uncancelled, then blacked out from several media markets? What does it mean for the state of free speech and democracy itself? In an exclusive Slate Plus bonus episode, the panel is joined by Dan Kois to delight in Slate's package on The 25 Best Picture Books of the Past 25 Years. Email us your thoughts at culturefest@slate.com.  Podcast production by Benjamin Frisch. Production assistance by Daniel Hirsch. Endorsements Nadira: In addition to the Explore.org's Fat Bear Week, the work of singer-songwriter KeiyaA who recently released the tracks "stupid prizes" and "take it" from her forthcoming album hooke's law. Dana: Seeing Stanley Kubrick's epic Barry Lyndon in its 4K re-release on the best screen you possibly can. Julia: Meghan O'Rourke's New York Times essay "I Teach Creative Writing. This Is What A.I. Is Doing to Students." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    Slate Daily Feed
    Culture Gabfest: Jimmy Kimmel Is Back—Sort Of— Edition

    Slate Daily Feed

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 24, 2025 61:42


    On this week's episode, Julia and Dana are joined by Slate writer (and Philadelphia native) Nadira Goffe for a conversation rooted in Delaware County about Task, HBO's new gritty crime drama from the creators of Mare of Easttown.  Next, the hosts give longtime listeners what they've been chirping for: a discussion of birding. Specifically, it's a discussion about the dirtbag, gonzo, totally self-produced and independently released documentary Listers: A Glimpse Into Extreme Birdwatching. Finally, they get into the Jimmy Kimmel situation. Why was his show cancelled, then uncancelled, then blacked out from several media markets? What does it mean for the state of free speech and democracy itself? In an exclusive Slate Plus bonus episode, the panel is joined by Dan Kois to delight in Slate's package on The 25 Best Picture Books of the Past 25 Years. Email us your thoughts at culturefest@slate.com.  Podcast production by Benjamin Frisch. Production assistance by Daniel Hirsch. Endorsements Nadira: In addition to the Explore.org's Fat Bear Week, the work of singer-songwriter KeiyaA who recently released the tracks "stupid prizes" and "take it" from her forthcoming album hooke's law. Dana: Seeing Stanley Kubrick's epic Barry Lyndon in its 4K re-release on the best screen you possibly can. Julia: Meghan O'Rourke's New York Times essay "I Teach Creative Writing. This Is What A.I. Is Doing to Students." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    The Robert Scott Bell Show
    Trump Autism Announcment, NYC Fluoride Ban, EMF Concerns, Kimmel Returns (Sort of), Plastics & Childhood Disease - The RSB Show 9-23-25

    The Robert Scott Bell Show

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 24, 2025 140:12


    TODAY ON THE ROBERT SCOTT BELL SHOW: Trump Ties Autism to Tylenol, HHS Investigates Vax Link, Gestational Diabetes Risk, NYC Moves to Ban Fluoride, EMF QOTD, Kimmel Show Controversy, Plastics & Childhood Disease, Bean-Based Weight Loss, Toilet Phone Warnings and MORE! https://robertscottbell.com/trump-ties-autism-to-tylenol-hhs-investigates-vax-link-gestational-diabetes-risk-nyc-moves-to-ban-fluoride-emf-qotd-kimmel-show-controversy-plastics-childhood-disease-bean-based-weight-loss/https://boxcast.tv/view/trump-autism-announcment-nyc-fluoride-ban-emf-concerns-kimmel-returns-sort-of-plastics--childhood-disease---the-rsb-show-9-23-25-zb1vz3pq1wukkdhgehms Please read this disclaimer carefully before you (“you”, “your”) use our [Your Website URL] website (“website”, “service”) operated by the [Your Business Name] (“operator”, “us”, “we”, “our”). Purpose and Character The use of copyrighted material on the website is for non-commercial, educational purposes, and is intended to provide benefit to the public through information, critique, teaching, scholarship, or research. Nature of Copyrighted Material Weensure that the copyrighted material used is for supplementary and illustrative purposes and that it contributes significantly to the user's understanding of the content in a non-detrimental way to the commercial value of the original content. Amount and Substantiality Our website uses only the necessary amount of copyrighted material to achieve the intended purpose and does not substitute for the original market of the copyrighted works. Effect on Market Value The use of copyrighted material on our website does not in any way diminish or affect the market value of the original work. We believe that our use constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you believe that any content on the website violates your copyright, please contact us providing the necessary information, and we will take appropriate action to address your concern.

    Talking with Bunjie, the Death by Bunjie Podcast
    Broken Limbs, Big Bears, and Maryland Bucks (Sort of...)

    Talking with Bunjie, the Death by Bunjie Podcast

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 24, 2025


    A fun discussion about recent events on the way to Maryland for the Early Crossbow Season.

    The Leading Voices in Food
    E283: Taylor Hanson's Food On The Move

    The Leading Voices in Food

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 24, 2025 32:58


    Interview Summary You know I really like the innovative nature of Food On The Move, and I'm eager for you to tell us more about what it involves. But before we do that, how does a young, highly successful musician turn to battling food insecurity? What led you to create Food On The Move? It took me years to say I even created it. I didn't even use the term founder because I really had this sense of partnership that was a part of how it came to be. But I did found or 'start' Food On The Move because I have just a deep sense of gratitude in my life experience and also maybe a calling? I call it the tap on the shoulder that said there's more for you to do. There's more for me to do. And I didn't really know what that meant. I wanted to invest in Oklahoma and where we're from because as a musician, first you travel, you leave, you go out, you connect with people all over the world. But there's something about building and doing well for your community from the town you're from. And I was inspired by a former US ambassador. A man named Edward Perkins, who was an incredible representative of our country. He worked in some of the most difficult parts of the world representing the US and working with other nations. And his story struck me so deeply because he found ways to partner and transform communities as an ambassador. And I got to know him after his time as an ambassador because he was teaching as a professor at OU (Oklahoma University), in Oklahoma. And I asked him, I said - I want to honor your life. I want to learn from you. If I was to begin to really impact my community, Oklahoma where I'm from and maybe beyond, where would you begin? And he said, I would start with food. That's so interesting. You know, your concept of partnership is so interesting. I'd like to dive into that a little bit deeper in a little bit. But first, tell us about your organization and what it does, how it works, what it tries to accomplish. Yes. So, inspired by Ambassador Perkins' example, we set out to ask the right questions more than have the answers. And in 2014, I just basically cold called everyone in the community that worked in food - from the food bank to the food pantries and said ‘help me understand the gaps.' Help me understand where it's hard to accomplish change. And the term food desert began coming up more and more. And food deserts are communities without grocery stores. So, think of it as the canary in the mine. Sort of when a grocery store goes, the neighborhood is declining. Because they're small margin organizations they have a hard time staying afloat and when they go it's hard to bring them back because you need either a company like a big chain or a small business that doesn't have a lot of resources. And oftentimes that decline continues, and it impacts the community. So, with Food On The Move I basically brought together partners to create an access point in food deserts where it's was all in kind. From food trucks that could bring great, tasty food and give people dignity and excitement and energy, to partners that are doing food safety training and teaching people to cook. And places like Oklahoma State University extension where they train people about how to prepare food because they may not know. And so, all these partners came together, and we basically spent five years just learning and serving people in those communities. And focusing on an environment that was not about raising a bunch of money; it was really about who is already in this space that we can garner relationships with and get to know the communities. And now those events continue to be flagships. We call them food and resource festivals. They are a pay-as-you-can. You show up, you get access to fresh produce, you have food trucks, you have wraparound services. You have people that are in the community, in different nonprofits, for-profits, and government organizations that we all collaborate with. And we reach people where they are while serving and getting to know them and learning from them. And through those relationships, through those events - which we still do - what it's brought us to is the innovation and education side, and ultimately transformation. We realized in order to change food deserts, end food deserts, bring grocery stores back, that we had to get to the heart of the food system. Which is we had to be teaching people to grow things again, rebuild the local foundation of farmers being trained, use new, innovative systems like indoor growing and aquaponics, hydroponics. And basically, we had to kind of build the foundation back that's been lost since post World War II in our community, like many places. And that means a food hub to bridge farmers to distributors. That means training those farmers for the future. And it ultimately means building a new model for a grocery store. So, we are at the heart of that now with a project we call Food Home, where we are building a campus that is like a microcosm of the food system. Hopefully could be the end of this year, we'll see. Construction is always tricky. But, for sure by the start of first quarter next year, we'll be opening a 10,000 square foot urban farm, which is a training facility, and producing hundreds of thousands of pounds of food every year, and this is really the launchpad for future farmers. My God, I mean, and one of those things you mentioned would be wonderful to dive into and talk about a lot. Because I mean, each is impressive in its own right. But you bring them together, you're probably doing some of the most extensive, impressive things I know of around the country. Let me ask how you address the fundamental issue that we've actually faced ourselves. So communities often feel set upon by outsiders coming in to help. You know, it could be a philanthropy, it could be universities, it could be somebody, you know, who's just coming in well-meaning, wanting to help. But nonetheless may not know the communities or understand the realities of day-to-day life and things like that. And people from communities have often told us that 'we're in the best position to come up with solutions that will work for the members of our own community.' How did you work through those things? Well, this is always why my story elevator pitch tends to be too long. Because I want to actually talk about that element. It's not super elevator pitchy because what it involves is building relationships and trust and what I first learned from Ambassador Perkins. I'll tell you a small story of his example and it really rocked me. I asked him where would you start if you wanted to change community? Because I'd learned from his story that he had actually done it. He was sent to South Africa at the heart of the Apartheid Movement to with a mission from at the time President Ronald Reagan, to free Nelson Mandela from prison and help dismantle the Apartheid system. This is about as high a mark as anybody could have. And he had no policy. They said you're going to make policy. And what he did was so extraordinary, and I think is the mark of his success. And that's, to answer your question, he said, I recognized that every ambassador had held court. You are one step away from the president of the United States, which means you're always the most powerful person in the room. And other ambassadors, he'd ask them to come to him. But you had this deep divide between Black and white, deep divide between economics. And so, what he did was he told his team when he went to South Africa, he said, put the American flags on the front of the car, roll the windows down and take me to the townships. Take me to the neighborhoods. They need to know I'm here. And he took the time to build real relationships and build trust with communities. Black, white, rich, and poor, you know, old and young. He really did the time. And so that model, though obviously South Africa is a deeply entrenched community that, you know, especially that time. And this is kind of world politics, but I listened to that. And I thought, wow, we have a divide in our own community. And it's true of so many American cities. And where people, they see an area and they say that's not my community. They're going to come to me. And so, Food On The Move is built on we will build a partnership-based foundation which is like a block party where you walk up, and I'm a musician, I'm a DJ. So, we have a DJ playing music, we have food trucks. It smells great. You have smiling faces. You have a feeling that when you go there, you're not there, like, I need help and I'm in a soup kitchen. It's like there's a community party and you get invited and everyone's available to go there because if you want to give, you can go. If you don't have a dollar in your pocket, you go. And everybody leaves with the same treatment. And that foundation, the way we go about building those relationships, that is the heart and soul of how we are getting to the question and then trying to answer: we need more grocery stores, and we need more farmers. Because we heard it from the neighborhood. And I'll wrap up the answer a little bit which is to say we have multiple community farms as well as our own training farms. And we've worked in middle schools to teach young people to grow things with high-end aquaponics. You know, statistically the worse school in the city. But we've seen it just rocket people to engagement and better education and being fired up to come to school. But the community grow beds are the real test because you can't just drop a community grow bed and say, ‘Hey, isn't this awesome? Here's your grow bed.' You have to stay engaged with community, but you also have to invite them to be participants. And so, we work with our neighbors. We treat one another as neighbors, and you are right, it is wrought with pick your cliche. You know, the complex of the outsider coming in with money. The contrast between racial issues and economic issues. It's so wrought with problems potentially. But I believe that real solutions are possible when you build relationships. It sounds like one of the, you didn't say this directly, but one of the most important things you did was listen. Tell me about that a little more. Well, yes. I mean, I said it. I kind of coined this phrase now because I realize it's so true. We really started with I think good questions, not good answers. And so, the listening... first of all, the listening started with people that were doing work. So, if you went to the food bank, the question wasn't, ‘hey, we're here to help.' This is what we want to do. It was what's going on? You're the food bank, you guys have been here since the '80s. And hey, you're the health department. Hey, you're a food truck, like, what do you see? And I determined early that we needed to always have three pillars. We need to always have representation of for-profit, non-profit, and government agencies at some level. And so, a food truck is a business, right? They understand how hard it is to get people to show up and make a living, right? And you know, a nonprofit or an agency they know about service, they know about the stats. And frankly, however you are on the political spectrum, the government agencies, whatever they happen to be, they have a role to play. They have, whether big or small. Again, people of different walks of life have different views on that. But they should be a part of the conversation no matter what. And so, that was the first step. And then I like to say, an example Kelly, of kind of the dynamic shift is - if you walk up to somebody you barely know, you're not going to tell them like, ‘hey man, I'm not sure about that shirt. Or you got something in your tooth,' you know? Or, ‘have you really considered redecorating your house? Like, it's kind of dated.' Those are things you get to say to friends. You know, you tell a friend, ‘hey man, you know, suck it in. You're taking a picture.' You know? And so at the foundation, the questions we were asking were also why do you think this has happened? Why is a neighborhood that was a thriving new neighborhood in 1965 now dangerous and in decline. And talking with elders. And they became and have become some of our greatest advocates. And you know what? It's not flashy. You show up and you just keep showing up. And you show up when it's rainy and you show up when it's cold. And at some point people go. Wow. Like they're actually going to do this. So, you know, we're still doing it. We're not there. There's no finish line on this. So consistent with what we found in our own work about the importance of showing up. I'm happy that you raised that particular term. Speaking of terms, when I introduced you there, I used this term that I pulled right from your website about the legacy issues created by food insecurity. What do you mean by that? Yes. So legacy issues. You know, people develop heart disease, diabetes, frankly anxiety, ADHD/ADD things. A lot of stuff that's diet and a lot of things that's habit. So, if you grow up in a house that nobody ever cooked really. Because the neighborhood lost its store. Mom and dad were busy. Maybe a single parent home. You know, look, my wife and I have blessed, we have seven children. Wow. And we have a full house. And even with, you know, plenty of resources and plenty of support, it's still hard to do right. It's still hard to eat well. You know, you're running and you're gunning. And so legacy issues are habits. Eating habits. Consumption habits. By the way, poverty does not discriminate on race. Poverty hits whoever it hits, right? And so, Black and white, different backgrounds you'd be speaking with somebody that, 'like I've never seen a red bell pepper. I didn't know that existed. I've never seen What is That's a kiwi. What's a kiwi? I don't want to eat that.' You know? And so, the legacy issues are health, habits, education. Also, if you've never had access to resources, if you've never had an uncle that became an attorney or somebody that knew how to manage money because your neighborhood was a history of decline. You just don't know anybody. Or even worse, you have communities because of poverty that everybody in your family knows somebody that was in jail or was headed to jail because of their climate, their environment. And things that occur because of limited, you know, resources. And things that happen among, you know, communities with less available to them. And you have to take judgment and just throw it across the room. Just completely eject any sense of judgment. And recognize that somebody that's grown up with those different parameters, they're carrying those around. So, you're trying to restart. You're trying to begin again. And say, you know, let's get us back to having as little baggage behind us. Let's get diabetes out of the way. Let's get heart disease (out of the way) and we're going to do it by eating good food. Or getting educated. And it's not going to happen quick. It's going to happen through probably an entire generation if we're lucky. Now, let me ask a related question about dignity because this comes up in the way you've spoken about this. And in the way our country has addressed hunger. I mean, going back to when the War on Hunger began really in the 1960s, it was a nation's compassionate response to a very real issue that so many people faced. But the solution wasn't to try to give people more financial means so they could buy their own food and not have to face this. It was to give them food. But to do so in ways that really did destroy dignity in many ways. How are you addressing that and how does that term figure into the work you're doing? Well, I love the way you couch that. And unfortunately, among these discussions, people glom onto certain aspects if they have their own sort of paradigm that's ingrained. And one, you have to throw out ideology and focus on, I think, common sense. And the short answer is we believe in teach a man to fish as the philosophy. There is no way to ultimately change things if your goal is not aligned with creating opportunity, creating, transitioning folks that have not been able to support their families, to finding ways to transform that. And that comes by getting to know one another. That comes with creating education. And that comes with looking at the whole system. And so, when I brought sort of to my team this answer or this proposal of why we need to build Food Home. The Food Home campus. It wasn't just that I had some epiphany that I walked into the desert and came back with an idea. It was built around the work we were doing. And we already had somebody that wanted to build a grocery store. We already had somebody that was farm focused, thinking about food hub to bridge the gap with farmers. We had a study that was done by a local foundation that said we don't have enough farmers right now to get all the local food. And we need local because it's more affordable. We shouldn't be paying for our lettuce to travel from California to Oklahoma. We don't need to do that. And so, dignity and building the transition, the future, is about looking at the whole and being willing to do, I think, the hard work. Which is to realize our food, our food economy has to change. And recognizing that opportunity is not a bad word, you know? Economic investment in communities. These are good things. And at the same time, you meet people where they are. You meet them right where they are. And when COVID happened, our pitch about building Food Home and building the food systems and training people to grow things, it pivoted a little bit. Because people saw for the first time in a generation what it's like when the food's not there. Like you're in Oklahoma and we were the distribution partner for the USDA doing Farm to Family boxes. Food On The Move was. We had trucks that were designated for us from farmers that had been supported by government purchasing to bring food to food banks, and to resources, to communities. And we had a truck that was a state away and we were supposed to go get that truck and give it to people that needed it in our neighborhood in Oklahoma. And we were going guys, if we had a food home, a food hub, a bridge between local farmers, every community would know where their food is coming from. And so there is a food security side of this discussion as well which is that we need to have sovereignty. We need to have structure that gives us access and that builds long-term economic sustainability. And Oklahoma is a great example of this. We used to have a very thriving local farm community system. All my grandparents, my parents, they went to farmer's markets. They bought great food. And many of those folks working in that land because there's not a food hub that bridges this medium farmer to the distributors - they've lost economic ability to scale. And they do better to sell their land to a developer and grow sod or put a bunch of houses on it. And that has got to change. You know, you reinforce the idea that there's a lot of ingenuity in communities. And lots of good ideas about how to solve the problems. And many times, the people that are wanting to help communities can be helped best by just supporting the ideas that are already there. Because, as I said, we've encountered so much ingenuity from people in the communities who've been thinking about these issues for a long time. Let me ask something. You kind of began this by talking about food deserts and grocery stores leaving areas. And you've come up with a lot of creative ways of compensating for the loss of grocery stores. But what about correcting that problem. What about getting more grocery stores back into these areas? Is that something that you guys deal with? That's ultimately our mission. I mean, I say the mission is the solution so that I don't want to put it into one square box called a store. But the store departing is at the heart of the key question we're asking. Why? And so, the Food Home campus is a four phased vision. And the first two phases are underway, or about to be open with the food hub and the urban farm. The second two are a community hub, which is teaching and training people to prepare and cook food better, getting urban and rural together. And the last phase, which started as the first, by the way. It began as the first thinking we're just going to get a store. We realized you had to get the food chain right before you could build a better store. And so the model for a store, we believe, is going to be probably a hybrid between a fresh delivery and a physical place that is there living right at the heart of a neighborhood. Let's do an update on this here as we get to opening that door, because I believe what we've seen is the umbrella that allows the small store is still needed. That's, kind of, we're stepping in with a food hub. We're stepping in with a bigger footprint, buying power, larger volume, purchasing local. But really entrepreneurs where single operators are invested in owning and operating that store. They're also committed more to that store. It's not just a corporate line item. I'm interested in studying, frankly, some of the really smart food franchisees that have understood the power of creating economic models that are sustainable. But you have to connect them to a bigger umbrella to help support that medium grocer. It's going to be a combination of those things. But yeah, we have to get stores where you can actually buy your food and it is affordable and it is quality. Quality becomes an interesting issue here. And I haven't looked at the research literature on this for a little while. When I did, there was some research looking at what happened to the quality of nutrition in neighborhoods where grocery stores had left or had come back in. And it didn't seem to make a lot of difference in terms of overall nutrition profile of the people there. It provided some real benefits. Access. People didn't have to go a long way to get their groceries. Costs tended to come down, so there were some real benefits aside from nutrition. But just focusing on nutrition, of course a big supermarket brings more fresh fruits and vegetables. But it also brings aisle after aisle of highly processed, highly calorie dense foods that aren't necessarily helpful. So, the fact that you're working on the healthy food part of the equation and finding ways to get foods from farms to people, not necessarily from a big food processing plant. From farms to people, is really an important part of the overall picture, isn't it? Fresh produce is the sort of heart and soul of the food dilemma. And so yes, it is very, very tricky. You know, a little bit like how do you raise a child to have good habits? We're all trying to have good habits and we still eat hamburgers and fries because they're delicious. So, going back to dignity, I do not believe, and this is my perspective mixed with the data and the experience. I don't believe, the opinion side, in deciding whether or not people deserve certain things. And early on when we started the food pop-up events, I suggested, 'hey, call the food trucks. Have the pizza truck come have because they're awesome and they're mobile and they can show up.' And we had some folks that were partners that kind of went well, but that's greasy food and that's, you know, it's X, Y, and Z. And this is what I said to that: it's like, look, our job is first to meet people and treat them like we would want to be treated. And then we work on the produce. And so, with a grocery store, you're absolutely right. You can't just drop good food somewhere and think everybody's going to get healthy. Most people are going to eat what they like. But mostly the barrier to entry on healthy food is economics. People do not have the dollars to buy the kale or to buy the fresh tomatoes. Most people actually do, find that they will, you know, consume that food. But you have to get the generational conversation happening where families have grown up seeing fresh produce. Cooking with fresh produce. And they can actually buy it. And that's not going to happen unless we get food closer. Because the closer food allows us to cut down the margin that's going to transportation and make quality food more affordable. Makes good sense. So you've been at this a while. What have you learned? How do you look at things differently now than when you started? I learned that creating change is not for the faint of heart. First of all, you better really sort of revel in a challenge. And also, we've touched on several of the elements of what I've learned. You have to build trust. You can't expect people to just change just because you say so. You also have to be really interested in learning. Like, not just learning because you have to, but you have to be interested in understanding. And I think that's at the heart of getting to solutions. It's not even just asking the right question. It's actually being interested in the answer to that question. Like it's wanting to genuinely know. And so, these are all things I put in and I'll say the last, which is not the sexy one. It's difficult to build a good organization that's sustainable. And we've spent the second half of the Food On The Move journey building a strong team, hiring the right CEO, building a great board, having governance, having sustainability in your culture. I mean, these are business things and you know, I'm the founder. I'm a board member. I'm at the heart of who we are, but we've had to build a team. And so, anybody that wants to make things sustainable or create sustainable change, and this would be my last takeaway to your question, is you have to grow past yourself. You have to be anticipating giving that away. Growing much, much further than the bottleneck of the big idea person. But you also have to stay in stewardship mode. So, that's kind of where I am now is how do we make this continue to grow towards the solutions we're hoping for? And how do I stay engaged, fired up, focused, inspired to get the team involved, but also trust people on the team to do what they have been asked to do. I'd like to pick up on something that you mentioned along the way, which is work that you're doing on urban farming, and you mentioned things like hydroponics and aquaponics. Tell us a little bit more about that. Wo we came across hydroponics and aquaponics because when you look at growing methodologies, one of the challenges we have is our eating habits have changed. People don't just eat seasonally. We've become accustomed to getting strawberries year-round and getting all these different flavors. And you can't expect that that's just going to happen. We're not just going to change that and make everybody eat the harvest of Ohio or the harvest of Tulsa. Like we all expect good food when we do go to the store. The economics of food means people are ready to buy certain things. And for a sustainable grocery store, you need to have the things that people will buy. So, aquaponics and hydroponics are new technologies that were pioneered to create high production and high volume in areas that might have different climates. You can grow year round. The things that grow best are leafy greens, but you can grow all kinds of things. Tomatoes, you know, vining plants. Cucumbers. You can grow incredible amounts of food. A large portion of your food can be grown through these indoor systems, and they cost more to start than a traditional dirt farm. But once established they produce year round, they are more resilient with obviously pests and weather and things like that. With aquaponics and hydroponics you have systems that naturally are organic. They need to be organic because that's how they function, you know? Fish tanks, you know, that are naturally fertilizing. The fish are giving the plants what they need. This is cool stuff. So, we were led to those systems because sustainability and better food and more of it for small communities in a place like Oklahoma where you have hot and cold, and if you can grow year round, then you could have a cash crop that somebody could build a business with and provide better for that store. And not be buying it from Mexico or California. I mean, God bless Mexico and California, but we're putting too much food on a truck. And it's older than it should be, and it's sprayed with stuff because it needs to look good when it shows up, and that's hurting everybody. So, we need new methodologies. Well, and not only are you producing food, but it's a community driven solution because it's right there. People in the community can own it, can run it, can work at it, and things like that. And just it's mere presence probably signals something very positive that is good economically good nutritionally, but also good psychologically, I think. So, let me ask one parting question. Hunger has been an issue in the United States for a long, long time. And it continues to be. And now there have been even more cutbacks than before and the SNAP program and things like that. Are you optimistic that we can address this problem and do you think a local very creative and innovative local solution that you're talking about in Oklahoma, can that be exported and replicated and are you optimistic? Let me just ask you that. Are you optimistic is an interesting question because I don't think we can afford not to be optimistic. If you ask a parent, are you optimistic your child will eat, there's no choice there. Your child will eat. Or you will die trying to feed them. And I've spoken to, you know, leadership groups and rotary clubs and nonprofits about different aspects of my journey. And I think the heart of this issue is to not make it an option that we don't solve this. We cannot talk about feeding our community. And by the way, I don't mean feeding them just like I said, through nonprofit, but changing the culture and eliminating hunger in this country. And really, it's facing hunger. We can't make it an option that we don't. My perspective is, I think it's going to take, solutions like what Food On the Move is doing, which is at the heart of understanding our food systems. And we are definitely building. Everything we're doing is to try and have a model hoping that what we're doing in Oklahoma, which has a lot of parallels to, you know, whether you're talking about North Carolina or Ohio or Missouri, or Houston. All these communities have a lot of similarities. We believe that if we can show that you build trust, you then develop models, you then train future farmers. You build an infrastructure to launch and bridge the gap between small and medium farmers. And then here's a model for a better store that's sustainable. We believe that we're going to be able to show that that is a long road, but the road that is maybe less traveled but needed. And that could be the difference that's needed. So, it's fingers are crossed. BIO Tulsa native Taylor Hanson grew up in a home where artistic expression was encouraged and celebrated. At the age of nine he, along with brothers Isaac and Zac, formed the band HANSON. Just five years later their debut album was released and the lead single, “MMMBop”, hit number one in 27 countries, and earned the group 3 GRAMMY nominations. At the age of 20, he co-founded 3CG Records, allowing the band to produce music on their own terms, and is recognized as a longtime advocate for independent music globally. The group continues to produce meaningful music for its ever-growing fanbase. Hanson possesses a deep commitment to social change. In 2007 he inspired others to make an impact through simple actions, co-founding non-profit Take The Walk, combating extreme poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2014, he founded Food On The Move, which provides access, education, and innovative solutions, to transform food deserts and the legacy issues created by food insecurity. Since its founding, Food On The Move has distributed millions of pounds of fresh produce to members of the Oklahoma community, and is a leader in the movement to reshape sustainable local food systems. He has been instrumental in a number of community-oriented music initiatives, including contributing to “The Sounds of Black Wall Street”, to commemorate the centennial of the Tulsa Race Massacre, spearheading “For Women Life Freedom” highlighting the human-rights atrocities taking place in Iran, and currently serves as is a National Trustee of the Recording Academy. Hanson, his wife Natalie, and their seven children, make their home in Tulsa, where he was recently named Tulsan of the Year. 

    two & a half gamers
    Coin Sort Review: The Hybrid Puzzler smarter than HexaSort

    two & a half gamers

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 24, 2025 35:31


    We dive into Coin Sort, a surprising hybrid-casual puzzler that blends merge + sorting mechanics with clever ad monetization.Flow-state puzzler: players merge and sort coins, driving a satisfying loop.Unique twist: players call in new coins themselves, creating agency.Difficulty ramps as more coins = higher-value merges = more chaos.Shallow progression today (daily rewards, calendar, boosters).Likely to expand into menu + cosmetic/meta systems if scale continues.Early launch style: prove core loop, meta comes later.Revenue ~$120K/day; ~65% IAP, ~35% ads.Banner ads: ever-present, likely a decoy to push “Remove Ads” IAP.Interstitials: after level 3, ~9.7 per DAU. Pop-up after 3rd = strong “remove ads” conversion.Rewarded ads: clever mechanic where frozen stacks of coins drop mid-level for 5s → high-pressure CTA. Also includes 2x post-level and daily reward.Explosive scaling since June 2025, 360K DAU → $40K/day ads + $80K/day IAP.Strong Tier 1 focus: US, UK, Canada, Australia, Japan.Scaling with playables, though creative variety still thin (3–4 pages).Coin Sort is IAP-heavy (~65% IAP vs HexaSort's 88% ads).Takeaway: Coin Sort proves that hybrid puzzlers don't need to be ad-first — if you build clever ad funnels that push players into IAPs, you can scale fast in Tier 1 markets.Get our MERCH NOW: 25gamers.com/shop--------------------------------------PVX Partners offers non-dilutive funding for game developers.Go to: https://pvxpartners.com/They can help you access the most effective form of growth capital once you have the metrics to back it.- Scale fast- Keep your shares- Drawdown only as needed- Have PvX take downside risk alongside you+ Work with a team entirely made up of ex-gaming operators and investors---------------------------------------For an ever-growing number of game developers, this means that now is the perfect time to invest in monetizing direct-to-consumer at scale.Our sponsor FastSpring:Has delivered D2C at scale for over 20 yearsThey power top mobile publishers around the worldLaunch a new webstore, replace an existing D2C vendor, or add a redundant D2C vendor at fastspring.gg.---------------------------------------This is no BS gaming podcast 2.5 gamers session. Sharing actionable insights, dropping knowledge from our day-to-day User Acquisition, Game Design, and Ad monetization jobs. We are definitely not discussing the latest industry news, but having so much fun! Let's not forget this is a 4 a.m. conference discussion vibe, so let's not take it too seriously.Panelists: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jakub Remia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠r,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Felix Braberg, Matej Lancaric⁠Podcast: Join our slack channel here: https://join.slack.com/t/two-and-half-gamers/shared_invite/zt-2um8eguhf-c~H9idcxM271mnPzdWbipgChapters00:00 Introduction and Vibe Check03:47 Game Discussion: Coin Sort06:47 Gameplay Mechanics and User Experience09:57 Monetization Strategies and Ad Revenue18:48 Game Launch and Initial Reception21:47 Creative Strategies and User Engagement24:47 Scaling Challenges and Market Dynamics27:55 Comparative Analysis of Game Performance30:47 Future Trends and Market Predictions---------------------------------------Matej LancaricUser Acquisition & Creatives Consultant⁠https://lancaric.meFelix BrabergAd monetization consultant⁠https://www.felixbraberg.comJakub RemiarGame design consultant⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakubremiar---------------------------------------Please share the podcast with your industry friends, dogs & cats. Especially cats! They love it!Hit the Subscribe button on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple!Please share feedback and comments - matej@lancaric.me

    What A Day
    Dr. Trump's Bad Medicine

    What A Day

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 23, 2025 20:40


    Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., noted anti-vaxxer and, apparently, part-time detective, announced back in April that he was on the hunt for the real cause of autism. A hunt that would take no prisoners, ask big questions, and find the one true answer to a medical question that's been researched for decades... by September. Well, on Monday, the Trump administration announced that the hunt was over. Sort of. In an upcoming report that already has raised way, way, way more questions than it could possibly answer, the government announced that it was looking to link rising autism rates to the use of acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, by pregnant women. And blaming autism on Tylenol, with no evidence, is part and parcel of what the "Make America Healthy Again" movement actually looks like. To help us understand all of this, we spoke to Brandy Zadrozny, a journalist covering misinformation and extremism for MSNBC.And in other news, the Supreme Court signals it will probably, maybe, overturn a nearly century-old law for President Donald Trump, the White House denies claims that Border Czar, Tom Homan, allegedly accepted a $50,000 bribe, and Disney announces "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" will return to late night.Show Notes:Check out Brandy's story – https://tinyurl.com/6b54p9ctCall Congress – 202-224-3121Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcastFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    Inside Sources with Boyd Matheson
    Jimmy Kimmel Live! Reinstated, sort of…

    Inside Sources with Boyd Matheson

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 23, 2025 9:34


    ABC ended Jimmy Kimmel's suspension of his popular late night talk show after commenting on Charlie Kirk's accused killer. ABC said they pulled Kimmel to "avoid inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country". While he may be back on ABC, Sinclair is refusing to air the show on their airwaves and now Local ABC affiliate Nexstar will keep Jimmy Kimmel Live! off air. That means it will not be shown here in Utah. Greg and Holly discuss the latest developments.

    Stoner Dad
    Episode 37- We're Back ( Sort of )

    Stoner Dad

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 23, 2025 20:17


    After a week off the boys are back to discuss the why's and what changes are coming to the podcast, and the new direction moving forward

    Best of Ourselves Podcast
    BOO490 – One Day At A Time, Sort Of

    Best of Ourselves Podcast

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 23, 2025 5:00


    I used to think “living one day at a time” meant glowing serenity. But lately it looks more like noticing my cranky, overtired self and walking her home before she has a meltdown. This show explores the messy, human side of being present in the moment. Resources Living With Uncertainty Resilience or What The post BOO490 – One Day At A Time, Sort Of appeared first on Marcia Hyatt.

    Les Grandes Gueules
    "On s'en fout, on s'en fout pas" : Bruno Le Maire sort de son silence - 23/09

    Les Grandes Gueules

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 23, 2025 7:46


    Plusieurs débats au cœur de l'actualité, les Grandes gueules ont le choix, en débattre ou non : Bruno Le Maire sort de son silence Gabriel Attal soutient la candidature de Jean-Michel Aulas Succès du paiement par mobile

    OverSaturated: The Podcast
    Episode 287 - Let God Sort Out The Grammys

    OverSaturated: The Podcast

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 22, 2025 69:07


    Episode 287 - Let God Sort Out The Grammy's First lookout for #OFFTHEDOME . What guest feature verse makes you forget it's somebody else's song? Which album from the 2000's aged better Country Grammar, Stankonia, Late Registration or Marshall Mathers LP?Topcis Discussed - [ ] Cardi B's Rollout    - [ ] Am I The Drama Album Review?- [ ] 3 Rap Albums Could Be Nominated for Grammy Album of the Year    - [ ] GNX    - [ ] Chromakcopkia     - [ ] Let God Sort Em Out- [ ] Complex list Top 30 HipHop Movie Soundtracks- [ ] She Hulk Actress encourages Disney + BoycottOS Song of The WeekJohnnie's Pick - Jermaine Dupri feat. Rich Home Quan - This or ThatRalph's Pick -  Mario - Nobody But UsPlease Enjoy on All Major Platforms and OverSatThePod.Com. Please Comment, Rate , and Subscribe.

    Mogul Squared Media Network
    Episode 287 - Let God Sort Out The Grammys

    Mogul Squared Media Network

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 22, 2025 69:07


    Episode 287 - Let God Sort Out The Grammy's First lookout for #OFFTHEDOME . What guest feature verse makes you forget it's somebody else's song? Which album from the 2000's aged better Country Grammar, Stankonia, Late Registration or Marshall Mathers LP?Topcis Discussed - [ ] Cardi B's Rollout    - [ ] Am I The Drama Album Review?- [ ] 3 Rap Albums Could Be Nominated for Grammy Album of the Year    - [ ] GNX    - [ ] Chromakcopkia     - [ ] Let God Sort Em Out- [ ] Complex list Top 30 HipHop Movie Soundtracks- [ ] She Hulk Actress encourages Disney + BoycottOS Song of The WeekJohnnie's Pick - Jermaine Dupri feat. Rich Home Quan - This or ThatRalph's Pick -  Mario - Nobody But UsPlease Enjoy on All Major Platforms and OverSatThePod.Com. Please Comment, Rate , and Subscribe.

    This Week in the Ancient Near East
    Does a Tiny Find Sort of Illuminate a Biblical Figure and Judean Bureacracy? or, Yedayahu, We Hardly Knew You

    This Week in the Ancient Near East

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 22, 2025 39:08


    An itsy bitsy seal impression with the name of a Biblical figure raises the perennial question, was Judah robust and bureaucratic, or was it tiny and only occasionally literate? How robust do little tiny statelets get anyway? More importantly, was king Josiah really the Brian Cashman of Levantine kings?

    Cuke Audio Podcast
    DC Reading the Preface to Tassajara Stories

    Cuke Audio Podcast

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 22, 2025 13:54


    Just what it says in the title - DC reads the Preface to Tassajara Stories. Full title - Tassajara Stories: a Sort of Memoire/Oral History of the first Zen Buddhist Monastery in the West--the First Year--1967. Publishing date for the book/audio book/ebook is S3ptember 23, 2025.  Go to cuke.com to read reviews and so forth.

    Tim M London's AA + Al-Anon Talks
    Tim M London AA at CA Ireland Convention, on the Fourth Dimension ... sort of

    Tim M London's AA + Al-Anon Talks

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2025 57:39


    A sundry talk from 2025. More information can be found here: https://first164.blogspot.com/

    Reformed Brotherhood | Sound Doctrine, Systematic Theology, and Brotherly Love
    Categories Matter: How Divine Council Theology Undermines Christian Orthodoxy

    Reformed Brotherhood | Sound Doctrine, Systematic Theology, and Brotherly Love

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 19, 2025 35:57


    In this solo episode of The Reformed Brotherhood, Tony Arsenal tackles the concerning theological trend of "Divine Council Theology" and its recent resurgence within Reformed circles. He offers a critical analysis of Michael Heiser's influential work and its problematic popularization by Reformed figures like Doug Van Dorn and John Moffitt. Tony demonstrates how redefining the biblical term "Elohim" to include both God and created spiritual beings in the same ontological category fundamentally undermines the creator-creature distinction essential to Christian orthodoxy. Through careful examination of systematic theological categories, communicable and incommunicable attributes, and implications for Christology, he reveals why this seemingly academic redefinition poses serious threats to biblical monotheism and classical Reformed theology. Key Takeaways Divine Council Theology, popularized by Michael Heiser and now being promoted within Reformed circles, attempts to redefine "Elohim" as a functional category that includes both God and created spiritual beings. This theological trend commits an etymological fallacy by redefining the predominant usage of "Elohim" (which refers to the God of Israel in ~2,300 of 2,600 occurrences) based on minority usages. The approach dangerously blurs the fundamental creator-creature distinction that is essential to Christian monotheism and orthodox theology. Proponents incorrectly classify divine power as a communicable attribute rather than recognizing omnipotence as an incommunicable attribute that cannot be shared with creatures. The theological system makes problematic analogies to the incarnation, showing a confused understanding of the hypostatic union and potentially opening the door to Arian implications. This theology represents a concerning return to concepts the early church fathers fought against when confronting pagan Greek thought, rather than a retrieval of biblical teaching. Departing from the "pattern of sound words" handed down through church history in favor of novel interpretations should raise significant warning flags. Key Concepts The Creator-Creature Distinction The most fundamental division in Christian theology is not between spiritual and material beings, but between the uncreated Creator and everything else that exists. Divine Council Theology dangerously undermines this distinction by placing God and created spiritual beings in the same category of "Elohim." While proponents acknowledge God as the uncreated Creator, they nevertheless insist on categorizing Him alongside angels, demons, and other spiritual entities based on shared attributes of power or function. This categorization system parallels pagan worldviews more than biblical theology, where God exists in a class of one. By defining "Elohim" as a functional category related to spiritual power rather than an ontological one, this approach inadvertently returns to a hierarchical view of spiritual beings with God merely at the "top of the totem pole" rather than in an entirely separate and unique category of existence. This framework subtly but significantly undermines biblical monotheism by suggesting God shares a fundamental nature with His creatures. Communicable vs. Incommunicable Attributes Divine Council Theology mishandles the traditional theological distinction between God's communicable and incommunicable attributes. In classical Reformed theology, communicable attributes (like love or wisdom) can be shared with creatures in a limited, analogical way, while incommunicable attributes (like omnipotence, eternality, or divine simplicity) belong exclusively to God and cannot be shared without making the creature into God. Proponents of Divine Council Theology erroneously suggest that the power denoted by "Elohim" is a communicable attribute that God shares with spiritual beings, rather than recognizing omnipotence as properly incommunicable. This misclassification creates theological incoherence: if God could truly share His omnipotence with creatures, those creatures would effectively become equal to God in power, creating the logical impossibility of multiple omnipotent beings. This confusion of categories demonstrates how this theological system fails to maintain proper distinctions that are essential for preserving the uniqueness and transcendence of God in Christian theology. Memorable Quotes "Christianity and biblical Judaism—the primary distinction is not between spiritual and matter... The primary distinction when we're talking about the most absolute line is the distinction between the uncreated creator and his creation." "Rather than rely on the safe time-tested words and concepts that have been proven and validated, and attacked and defended and have been victorious for hundreds and thousands of years... Moffitt and Van Dorn think it is smarter and safer to depart from the pattern of sound words rather than to keep the pattern of sound words because they think that they are able to look at the Bible the way basically no one ever has in the 2000 years of the church and find something they haven't." "These teachings are pagan. This is talking about returning to a world populated by spiritual beings, and God is kind of just on the highest part of the totem pole... We're just returning to something that the early church fought hard to get rid of when they came out of their pagan culture." Resources Mentioned Reformed Arsenal article series on Divine Council Theology Full Transcript [00:00:24] Introduction and Episode Setup Tony Arsenal: Welcome to episode 461 of the Reformed Brotherhood. I am Tony, and today it's just me. Hey, brothers and sisters. We had a little bit of a scheduling conflict this week, so Jesse is taking the week off and uh, it gives me an opportunity to talk about something that I've been doing a little bit of research on. [00:00:47] Affirmations and Denials Tony Arsenal: Hopefully the listener has noticed that Jesse and I have been trying to keep our affirmations and denials a little bit tighter so we can get into the meat of the episode a little bit quicker. But occasionally we do run into a denial, usually a denial, but we run into a denial that, uh, we often say this could be an episode of its own. And so today is one of those episodes. So I'm not gonna give you my normal affirmation or denial. I'm just gonna jump into it. Now this is gonna be a little bit off the cuff. I've been doing some research, so I may not have as much of the receipts as the kids say, um, as I normally would. But I am writing a series of articles on this issue over@reformedarsenal.com. I'll make sure to put the link to the first article in the show notes. All of the receipts are there, all of the timestamps for the podcast episodes that I'll be. Discussing your critiquing. Are there citations for research work that I'm doing? All that stuff is there. So if you're interested in digging into the meet and you're the kind of guy who, or girl who likes to nerd out in the footnotes, then head over to uh reformed arsenal.com. You'll find the series pretty quick. [00:01:56] Introduction to Divine Counsel Theology Tony Arsenal: What I wanted to talk about today, and I'm glad we have kind of a whole episode, uh, to talk about it, is a movement, uh, that has some foothold in reformed theology. Uh, it's not new, uh, it didn't start in reformed theology, but for some reason, uh, those who are within our orbits tend to be a little bit enamored by this kind of theology. I'm not exactly sure why. [00:02:19] Michael Heiser's Influence Tony Arsenal: This theology is often called Divine Counsel Theology, and it was really, um, you know, it's not entirely new even with, with this figure, but it was really made popular and sort of, um, spread about and made accessible by the late Michael Heiser. Um, part of this is because he was just a very winsome, uh, guy. He took. Sort of highfalutin academic concepts and was able to bring them down to, uh, to an understandable level, including things like ancient near Eastern context, biblical, you know, ex of Jesus Hebrew language, other ancient near Eastern languages, which of course, that's that kind of stuff is what this podcast is all about, taking difficult, sometimes technical concepts. Talking about them, translating them into kind of the language that everybody else speaks. So that project was fine. The issue is the direction that he goes with a lot of the theology. So Michael Heiser writes a book called Unseen Realms, which is seen as kind of a retrieval of the supernatural mindset and worldview of the Bible. Uh, there's a lot to be commended about that, uh, enterprise, about that intention. I do agree with part of what he has to say when he says that we've lost a lot of the supernatural context of the Bible. Um, but I think where he goes with it is a direction that we really ought not go and we'll dig into it. [00:03:43] Critique of Reformed Fringe Podcast Tony Arsenal: The reason this is coming up now is because recently there's been a series of articles and podcasts put out by a show called The Reformed Fringe. Uh, some if you're in the Telegram chat, which you can join at, uh, t Me slash Reformed Brotherhood. You've already seen some of this stuff. We've already talked about it a little bit. But the Reformed Fringe is a podcast that sort of tries to fill a space that's something like Haunted Cosmos, which we've talked about before. Um, fills sort of looking at the weird fringe kind of things in the world. Ghosts, paranormal activity, trying to explain it through a biblical, uh, lens or worldview. Again, that's a commendable. Effort. There are strange things that happen in our world that are not easily explainable or at all explainable by natural, uh, naturalistic means. And so coming to those things with the Bible as our, uh, rubric to instruct us on how the world works is a commendable thing. But again, this project, which is by and large, um, and we'll get into maybe, but by and large is just an extension of, um, Heiser's project really goes in directions that cause all sorts of problems down the road. So the podcast is, uh, run by a guy named Doug Van Dorn, who most of the audience probably hasn't heard of. I have had run-ins with Doug over the years. Um, the last time I ran into him actually was revolving around similar kinds of issues that I'm gonna be calling out today. Um, and it, it ended up with him kind of having to depart from the reform pub, uh, maybe to put it a little bit politely and, um. You know, he has, he has taken, he's theology, which was not explicitly reformed. Heiser was not a reformed guy. He had no claims to be a Calvinist in many ways. Uh, he was sort of anticon confessional in, in that he opposed not the idea of a faith statement, but he sort of purported to come to the Bible with no biases, with no tradition. He wanted to approach what he called the Naked Bible. That was actually the name of his podcast before he died a few years ago. And so what Doug Van Dorn is, has done who, uh, Doug is a claims to be a 1689 Reformed Baptist. He's a pastor in Colorado, I believe. Um, he has tried to take this divine counsel theology and bring it into the reformed world. So he comes at it with a, a slightly different angle, but for the most part, his conclusions are the same. And in many cases he just straight up steals ER's work and doesn't cite it, doesn't do much to, uh, articulate that this is not his original research. Um, so he's taken that and he's trying to bring it into the reformed world. And Heiser himself was actually quite influential when I was a, an admin in the reform pub. We would run into lots of, lots of young reformed guys. Who were really enamored with this and they really saw, he's project as sort of a return to a pure form of exo Jesus that really got at what the Hebrew was saying. And it tickled, I think, kind of an intellectual, uh, an intellectual itch that a lot of those guys had combined with sort of this desire for the new and novel, um, which is in itself can be pretty dangerous. To sort of make things a little bit more pressing, Heiser has teamed up with John Moffitt, who many of our listeners may know. Uh, he's one of the co-hosts and founders of the podcast, Theo Cast, uh, which otherwise is a perfectly fine podcast. Um, he's also a 1680 or claims to be a 1689 Reform Baptist. He's a pastor. Um, their podcast is sort of what you would get if you had, uh, and I don't mean this to be pejorative, although maybe it is a little pejorative. Theo cast is what you would get if you took r Scott Clark. Uh, you made it much less intellectual and careful, and then made it Baptist. And what I mean by that is Scott's whole project. In large part is to recover and to emphasize the law gospel distinction. Theo cast has taken that and sort of cranked it up to 11. Uh, and they have um, they have sort of moved away from a lot of the classical reform distinctions of the law itself, so they don't full on deny the third use of the law. But in practice they would say that, um, good works is no kind of evidence whatsoever for your, um, for your faith. It's no kind of evidence of your, your salvation, which of course are confessions themselves. Um, say that there is a kind of evidential value to assessing our good works within certain reason and con. So the show is otherwise orthodox. You know, I I, I recall hearing episodes where they were refuting things like EFS, um, but because of that, Moffitt brings with him sort of an air of credibility and an error in orthodoxy that, um, the show itself probably hasn't merited. If Doug just recorded, pushed, play and put it on the. I don't think there would've been too much, uh, too much of a following. He would've probably, you know, grabbed a couple people who heard it and thought it was interesting. But because Moffitt has such a following on Theo cast, he brings with him a large audience, and that makes it particularly dangerous because his name attached to it makes it more widespread. It makes it feel like it's safer. And so I think a lot of people, uh, assume that what he's saying is orthodox and good. And I think what we'll find out is, is that it's not. So I think that's enough ProGo. [00:09:10] Elohim and Its Implications Tony Arsenal: I'm gonna go ahead and, and jump into explaining kind of what the theology that we're talking about is and, and what the problems are. So this all started kicked off, uh, with a series of podcast episodes and the first episode, and again, I don't have the specific titles here. I'll put a bibliography in the show notes on this one just so you have links to all the relevant episodes. Um, this all kind of kicked off with a podcast episode called something like The History of the Word God, or something like that. And, um, basically what Moffitt and Van Dorn want to do is they wanna look at the word Elohim in the Bible, which of course is a plural noun. Uh, in Hebrew, the, the suffix, just like in English, we might add an S or an ES, um, to a word to make it plural. Or in Greek, it's usually, if it's a masculine, uh, noun, it's, it's an oi or an omicron iota that sort of always sound at the end. Um, or when we, we talk about Latin, you have, you have like, um, you add the I at the end, so we say octopi instead of octopuses or something like that. Cacti instead of cactus. Although both of those are kind of pig Latins, um, in, in Hebrew for, uh, for masculine nouns. The suffix that you add to make it plural, is that eam sound. It's a, it's an Im if you transliterate in English. So the word Elohim is a plural of the original noun El which is a proper name for a eury deity. But it came to just be the singular word for, for God. Um, and, and in non-biblical language, we would say in a God. Um, and we do see in English, there are in, in Hebrew, in the Bible, there are places where we see the singular of this. It's kind of an older form, so it doesn't show up as much. Um, but by and large when we see the word Elohim in the Bible. Something like, uh, outta 2,600 references or more than 2,600 references in the Bible. Um, the word Elohim is associated with a single, a singular noun, and it only refers to the God of Israel. What Moffitt and Van Dorn want to do is they want to take this word and they wanna define it based on the abnormal. Uh, use of it. So the vast minority, minority of cases in the Old Testament, the word Elohim refers to the gods or to a non, like what we might say is lower G God, either like the God, Baal, or some sort of collective reference to the gods, the gods of the nation, or something like that. They wanna take the fact that there is this variation in the way the word is used and sort of radically redefine how the Bible uses it. And this, this is what I call and what a lot of people would call an etymological fallacy. So what they're doing is, instead of, uh, looking at the word and defining it based on how it's used in an, in an overwhelming fashion, they're looking at sort of the etymology of the word. And then they're using the fact that there are, uh, some pretty Dr. Dramatically minority cases where the word is used in a different way and they wanna redefine it and say, in, in all or most cases in the Bible actually. This is what the word means. So they look at the word L, which from its root has something to do probably with the, with the word for power or something like that. Um, they wanna look at it. And, you know, if you read someone like Vos in Reformed dogmatics in his volume one, he talks about how when we see the name Elohim for God, it denotes or, or refers to his sort of power, his omnipotence, which is all good and fine, just like we would say Yahweh. Uh, as a proper name refers to God sort of in his covenant role. It's his covenant name, his, his intimate, familial name that he shares, uh, with his people or he reveals to his people. Elohim is a more abstract name and it refers to God's power. Usually we see it in relation to his cre creation. So in Genesis one, um, when it's God created, it's Elohim created, which is also important and relevant for, for later. So what they wanna do is they want to say that Elohim actually. What Act Elohim actually means is it's a reference to a class of beings, spiritual beings, and that that it means sort of any spiritual being that has some type of supernatural power or enhanced power, some sort of spiritual power. They do this by saying that the noun is not an ontological noun, it's actually like a noun of function. Um, so like we would say a, a good example in English would be a painter that's a noun of function. It's a title of function. It any person could be called a painter if they engage in the verbal action of painting. And so what they're saying is that any being that engages in the action of having power. Is, uh, is an Elohim. And so that would include, in narrating at least, it would include angels, demons. Uh, I, you know, I don't know that they've said this explicitly, but I, I think Heiser would've included things like ghosts, disembodied spirits, um, humans in sort of the intermediary state might be considered Elohim humans in the, in the, um, this. Life are called Elohim, uh, in some instances. So, so this is where the Divine Council theology comes from, and that comes from Psalm 82, I think, where there's this council of Elohim that, that Yahweh seems to be speaking to and deliberating with. Or you look at Joe, where the sons of God come and they sort of pulled court in God's heavenly presence. So he would say those are examples where the, the collected Elohim. God being one of the Elohim are somehow gathered in this heavenly divine counsel. Now what this does is just devastating to Christian theology is it takes God who exists in a class of one. The, the, the God of the universe is, is the only uncreated entity in all of of the world. And so when we start to talk, and this is ironic, when we start to talk about the ways to divide up the world, the ancient world, the, the pagan world tended to divide the world between, um. Between spiritual and material. So think of g Gnostics where matter was bad and spirit was good. Or even think of something like, um, the Greek pantheons, the Greek, um, Greek religion, like ancient Greek mythology. You have sort of the spirits and the spiritual world and the gods inhabit a spiritual, have a spiritual existence for the most part. And then you have the physical world where kind of people live, uh, at least while they're alive. Christianity and, and Judaism, at least Biblical Judaism. On the other hand, the, the primary distinction is not between spiritual and matter. There is of course that distinction. There are humans, which are spiritual and material. There are animals which are entirely material, and then there are angels which are entirely spiritual. And so we would say that God is spiritual. So that is a distinction in the world. But the primary distinction when we're talking about the most absolute line is the distinction between the, the uncreated creator and his creation. So what Moffitt, Moffitt and Van Dorn do is instead of observing that biblical distinction, which really all of Christian theology and Christian monotheism rests on, they wanna say that instead, the distinction is between the. Um, is between the Elohim as the sort of spiritual beings and then sort of everything else of the created world, and so they wouldn't deny that God, that Yahweh is. The uncreated creator of all things, but they would say he's an uncreated Elohim and that there is a class of created Elohim. So I don't, I don't think you have to go too far down this road to see what this does. It puts God on the same level as his creatures in at least one way. Um, and I think we'll find out later, uh, as we talk through this, actually it does it in a couple ways that are really, uh, really can be problematic as we go. And so, uh, just let me be clear if all that, if all that Moffitt and Van Dorn were saying, if, if all they said was, um, we can use the word Elohim to describe any creature. Or God that doesn't have a body. Elohim is a synonym for the word spirit. Um, that wouldn't be the wisest way to speak, I don't think. It wouldn't be the, the most, um, felicitous or safe way to talk about the distinction. But it wouldn't be controversial. There'd be nothing wrong with that. It'd just be using a different word. It'd be like if I said, well, instead of the word spirit, I'm gonna use the word bibly bop, you know? So we have. We have God who is bibly bop, and we have the angels who is bibly bop, and humans are biblio bop. And also material, again, not the safest way to talk. There's no reason to use that alternative language when the Bible gives us perfectly legitimate language. Um, but it wouldn't be a problem. But Moffit and Van Dorn go. Way past this and maybe they don't realize it. I've asked them on Twitter, I asked them to clarify. I didn't get a response. So if they are hearing this, which maybe they will, maybe they won't. If they're hearing this, I would really love to get some clarification on some of these questions because I would love nothing more than to be able to say that this was all a big misunderstanding and that actually all they're saying is that there is this spiritual existence. That, um, we can put all things that are spirit without a body or spirit with a body. We can put all those in the same category and call that category Elohim. Again, I don't think that's safe, but if that's all they were doing, that would be fine. But we see in their episodes, and I'm gonna try to grab some quotes, um, from, from some of the articles I've written. But again, go read the articles because this goes way more in depth. It's got timestamps of it. It's got links to their episodes. Don't take my word for it. Go listen to their. Words and, and check, you know, check my math on this. But what they do is they actually start to, in, in an attempt to justify why it's okay to put God in the same category as his creatures. Um, and in at least one way, they start to make some weird statements that have a lot of systematic theology, um, implications that are, are just really, really risky. So, for example, one of the ways that they try to kind of explain this, I'm gonna pull, pull the article that I wrote up here. So, great podcasting. [00:19:34] Communicable vs. Incommunicable Attributes Tony Arsenal: Um, one of the ways they start to try to do this is again, they, they wanna say they use this distinction between incommunicable and communicable attributes, right? So in, in Christian theology, classically speaking, a communicable attribute of God is an attribute that he shares or could share with. A creature and primarily we're talking, you know, we're talking about attributes that he shares with his image bearers. So something like, um, love. Love is a communicable attribute. Our love is different than God's love, but when we say love, we're talking about the same basic category of things God loves differently than we do. But love and in a human sense, and love in a, in a divine sense, are still talking about the same thing. There's a point of contact there. Um, an incommunicable attribute would be something like, um, something like eternity. Right. Eternity is not just an extended infinite sequence of time. If it was, he could share that with us. Um, but eternity or infinity is an entirely different way of existing than a creature could ever, could ever exist in divine Simplicity is another example. Um, God could not make humans simple because simplicity entails all sorts of things like infinity. Um, eternality. Um, you know, omnipresence, omni, potent, all of these things are entailed by simplicity. So God could not make a creature infinite because in order for it to be infinite, it would have to be God. Uh, God could not make a creature simple, uh, in the, in the sense of no composition of parts. Uh, because that would mean that that creature is actually God and has no composer. So, so those would be the classic, uh, incommunicable attributes and omnipotence. Is considered, although it's a little bit weird, it sort of crosses the line in some ways. But omnipotence is considered. An incommunicable attribute. God cannot share his omnipotence with a creature because you can't have two omnipotence. Um, if you have two omnipotence, then those two omnipotence cancel each other out in some sense. If God, and, and, and he has a will, God wills one thing, and then I as a creature, if he shared his omnipotence with me, somehow willed a different thing, then we would no longer be, neither of us would be omnipotent. Where this goes sideways with Moffitt and Vandorn is rather than respect omnipotence as a an incommunicable attribute, they say that the attribute or the word Elohim denotes power or might, and that is a communicable attribute. So God does give us a certain level of power. He allows us a certain level of agency. He grants that to us. Again, I'm not even sure that we would call that an an. A communicable attribute. Um, but in a sense, I guess it is. And so they say here, um, Elohim does not mean omnipotent. It means power. It's not an incommunicable attribute. It's a communicable attribute that all kinds of entities could possess. So they're saying that the word, um, the word Elohim, uh, in the Bible denotes that a. A, an entity possesses a certain kind of power or acts in a certain role of executing a certain kind of power. And that doesn't mean omnipotence. It means it means potence. It means some sort of power. And so that that wielding power attribute that. Uh, being a, being that wields power, that attribute, whatever we want to call it, however we want to phrase it, that is a communicable attribute that God shares. He communicates that attribute to all other beings in the class of Elohim. Now, let's just back that up for a second. Um, this still would mean that God has to be the creator and they don't deny that, but it would still mean that God, prior to creation. Was an Elohim in a category of one, and then somehow he created a class and because he's extended. This attribute of wielding power, say power wielder, to try to make it actually more of an attribute. He's extended this attribute of power wielder to uncreate or to created angels, demons, human spirits, whatever other spiritual entities there might be. They would bring in things like principalities, powers, they have a whole, in other, other contexts, they'll talk about this whole different bifurcation of types of spiritual beings that I think is a little speculative, but not a big deal. He extends this power wielder attribute to these created categories. And instead of this now creating a separate category of power wields who are not God, it now is uh, he expands this category of one to now include all sorts of other things, which again, as you can, you can imagine, just runs into problems. And so the, again, this, this word Elohim appears over 2,600 times, and of these instances, 230 of them refer to the God of Israel. So the idea that that. This word is not used specifically as a reference to the God of Israel, or should not be thought of as uniquely titling or almost exclusively titling God. The God of Israel just doesn't really match the data, but it's also just really poor Exogenic method. So rather than take the predominant usage and look at the context. Understanding that the predominant usage is the predominant usage. Instead, we're gonna go back and say, well, these, these minority, these 300 or so cases outside, and not even all 300 of them are used the same way, but these 300 or so cases of them not referring to the God of Israel, we're gonna use that to redefine the word. Its entirety. It's just poor. It's just poor scholarship. It's overly speculative. Um, I haven't read much of. He's work on this in the primary sources. Um, I, I would venture a guess that Heiser makes a much more robust argument than this. And this is part of the problem. When you take an already speculative, already dangerous theology and you try to pop popularize it when you just don't have the same chops that he did, uh, you end up really making some crass, simplistic arguments that just make you look a little silly. To think we can take 200 or 2,600 instances and redefine 2 20, 300 of them. By the way, it's used 300 of the times Just doesn't make any sense. So it again, if, if all we are saying is that God is spiritual and angels are spiritual and so there is some point of affinity between the two, then that would be okay. That wouldn't be a problem. Again, there's some risk in using the word Elohim in that. Sort of placeholder, but, um, that would be a semantic discussion. What they're doing is far, far deeper and far more problematic than that. [00:26:30] Systematic Theology Concerns Tony Arsenal: And so the, the other thing they do, um, that I think is really dangerous, and I don't have all of the, I haven't finished this article yet, so I don't have all of the timestamps in front of me to, to, to get there, is in attempting to justify this Moffitt, uh, in, in one of the other episodes, he turns to the incarnation as a sort of model. And so he'll say that, you know, the son of God is divine, but he's also human. And the fact that he's human, uh, doesn't therefore mean he's not also uniquely the uncreated creator. I would assume everyone hearing this who listens to this show, uh, which has done many, many episodes on Christology, it's one of our pet projects, is just throwing their listening device across the room because what Moffitt seems to miss entirely is that Christ is not, the sun is not in the category of human. Uh, sort of in a simple sense, Christ is in the category of human because he assumes to himself a second created nature. So what, what the, the analogy he's trying to draw is if the sun can be human without ceasing to be the unique one, uncreated God, then so also can, the whole trinity, I guess, can also be Elohim without ceasing to be the one uncreated God. He even goes so far as to say that there is Uncreated Elohim, and then there is created Elohim, and they're all in the category of Elohim, but because there's this commonality, we should still consider that class. And he draws that distinction or he draws the implication that. Um, there's somehow uncreated humanity in Christ, which is a whole different ball of worms that we won't get into. But in, in drawing this analogy, he sort of shows that he really doesn't understand the hypostatic union. He doesn't understand the incarnation, or if he does, he's really making a poor comparison because in the hypostatic union it's not as though the son, uh, as divinity, the son, as the one uncreated. God simply adds to himself in a raw sense and merges. Uh, he doesn't become part of the category of human without taking on a second nature. And then now we are even getting into some inconsistencies. Is human an ontological category or is that a category of function? Are there other categories of function, uh, other creatures in existence that the category of function human might fit? So I think you can see that this just is not a self consistent. Um, a self-consistent system and it leads to all these weird implications. Um, you know, and then they'll even go on to talk about how the Son is the angel of the Lord. I'm not gonna get into a lot of it here, and I agree with that thesis that the, when we see the angel of the Lord in the Old Testament, in the vast majority of cases, we're probably seeing a pre-incarnate appearance of, um, of the second person of the Trinity. They go so far as to say that this is actually a sort of. Incarnation or a sort of hypostatic union of the Elohim nature. So they, they, they draw this distinction, or they draw this parallel between created Elohim and Uncreated Elohim, and they, they argue again, I think implicitly, but in some instances it's almost, it's almost explicit that the son in, in being the angel of the Lord, takes on the uncreated or takes on the created Elohim nature. It's, it's really, um, it's really problematic. So now we have the son who is, uh, sort of hypostatic united to the unc, to the created Elohim nature, and then also is hypostatic united to the human nature. Um, it, it really just gets messy and it confuses categories in a way that is not helpful. And if I'm just being frank, a lot of the younger reformed guys. And when I say younger, I'm talking, maybe I'm projecting back to when I was a younger reform guy, um, I'm talking about people in their mid twenties to maybe early thirties, right? The, the people who were maybe the second or third generation of the young restless reform guys, they didn't necessarily learn, uh, ref young restless reform theology directly from RC Sproul. You know, they weren't the first generation. Um, and, and maybe their pastors weren't the first generation, but, but maybe their pastors were the second generation and now they're learning it from their pastors. So you might think of 'em as like the third generation, to be frank, they don't usually have a great grasp on some of these systematic theology categories as part of why. Jesse and I do this podcast, and part of why we cover the same topic over and over again, part of why we're gonna go through this parable series. But when we're done, we're probably gonna go back and start over with systematic theology. We're gonna go back, we're gonna go through another confession. That's why we spent, we spent like six years going through systematic theology. And almost immediately went back to the Scott's confession and did most of it all over again because these truths need to be taught again and again and again. This is part of what Jude is talking about when he says, we have to contend for the faith. It's not just fighting with people online. It's not just polemics or apologetics. It is reteaching and handing down the faith that was once delivered to the saints. Again, and this is perhaps, and this is the last point I'll make. This is perhaps the most. Telling a reason we should be weary and suspicious of this theology. Paul, in, uh, one of the letters to Timothy, second Timothy, maybe he says, follow the pattern of the sound words that you heard from me. He's not talking about the scriptures. He doesn't say follow the sound words that I'm writing to you. He's referring to a body of doctrine sometimes. The Bible calls it the faith, right? Jude says to contend for the faith. There's this body of doctrine that is the teaching of the apostles, and it is encapsulated in this sort of set pattern of words. Erin A is called it the rule of faith or the regular fide, right? This is where we get things like the Nicean Creed or the Hanian Creed. Why we have creeds and confessions is because we don't need to reinvent the wheel and rather than rely on the safe time-tested words and concepts that have been proven and validated, and attacked and defended and, and um, have been victorious for hundreds and thousands of years, rather than rely on those. Moffitt and Van Doran think it is smarter and safer to depart from the pattern of sound words rather than to keep the pattern of sound words because they think that they are able to look at the Bible the way basically no one ever has in the 2000 years of the church and find something they haven't. I don't wanna be too bombastic. Um, I don't, I don't know either of them. Well, um, from what I can tell, what I've heard of their professions of faith, uh, they're, they're Christian believers. They love the Lord and are very confused. But these teachings are pagan. This is, we're talking about returning to a world of, of populated by spiritual beings. And God is kind of just on the highest part of the totem pole, and maybe there's a firm line between his place on the totem pole and the, the next level down. Maybe there is, um, gets a little bit less firm of a line when we're talking about Jesus, right? So there's some potential Arian implications there that the son, uh, is not the highest deity he is. He's like the father in some ways, but he, you know, in his sort of original form is like creatures in other ways. Um, we're just returning to something that the early church fought hard to get rid of when they came out of their pagan culture. When we started to see Greeks convert to Christianity, they had to figure out how do we come out of our polytheistic culture, and this is where we get the best defenses of monotheism. Jewish Christians didn't have to argue for monotheism because all the Jewish Christians already were monotheists in a biblical sense. The Greek Christians had to fight this stuff. Justin Martyr had to fight this stuff. Athanasius and the Cappadocian fathers had to fight this stuff constantly pushing back against the background Greek culture. And Moffitt and Van Dorn wanna point to that and say, see, really, they're just Greeks in disguise and in the reality is Athanasius and the cap oceans, were fighting against the theology that is making a resurgence in this divine council theory. [00:34:55] Conclusion and Call to Action Tony Arsenal: So I think that's enough for now. Please. Again, I'm writing a long series on this. I don't know how long it's gonna take. I think it's gonna be probably 10 or 13, 10 to 13 articles. It's, it's gonna be a pretty extensive project. But go read them. Go look at them, listen to their episodes, read their articles, and then you compare that to the word of God, has what I said made more sense or does what they make more sense. So I'll leave you with that. The dog is losing her mind. And uh, with that honor, everyone love the brotherhood.

    (Sort of) The Story
    27. (Sort of) Off Topic: Scientology (The Trouble with Ghouls)

    (Sort of) The Story

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 19, 2025 134:56


    Send us a textHello and welcome! This week, Janey is going waayyyyy off topic to talk about something that freaked her out so bad, she felt the need to make a legal disclaimer at the top!  DISCLAIMER: This podcast is for entertainment purposes only. Please check out the sources below for more information. SOURCES: “Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief”, directed by Alex Gibney Jenna Miscavige, former Scientologist (on Tiktok)How much Scientology costs, according to members (For Business Insider) "What allegedly happens inside Scientology's notorious 'prison camp' called 'The Hole'” By Jethro Nededog for Business Insider  Headley vs. The Church of Scientology  "Scientology's Vanished Queen” by Ned Zeman for Vanity Fair “Bridge to Total Freedom” chart  “Understanding Scientology” by Margery Wakefield— Chapter 1: From Dianetics to Scientology   and Chapter 5: Dianetics L. Ron Hubbard's Wikipedia  Support the showCheck out our books (and support local bookstores!) on our Bookshop.org affiliate account!Starting your own podcast with your very cool best friend? Try hosting on Buzzsprout (and get a $20 Amazon gift card!)Want more??Visit our website!Join our Patreon!Shop the merch at TeePublic!If you liked these stories, let us know on our various socials!InstagramTiktokGoodreadsAnd email us at sortofthestory@gmail.com

    The Lizard Review
    A Ranking of The Lizard's Favorite Pop Records (sort of)

    The Lizard Review

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 19, 2025 73:30


    In honor of there being a very huge pop record coming out in the next couple of weeks (I wonder to what I refer...) I decided to reflect on some of my favorite pop records of all time and also attempted to "rank" them, even though ranking is an evil word here on The Lizard Review. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thelizardreview.substack.com/subscribe

    The Morning Show w/ John and Hugh
    It's a 'dark horse' sort of weekend in college football

    The Morning Show w/ John and Hugh

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 19, 2025 14:54


    The Morning Shift changed gears to talk college football ahead of a 'dark horse weekend' in week four. We then flipped to an Ali's Mac Drop with a 'name that Falcon!' 

    Pastors' Wives Tell All
    Spill the Tea: Our Favorite Products... Sort of

    Pastors' Wives Tell All

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 18, 2025 13:04


    In this episode of Pastors' Wives Tell All, we're diving into all the things you didn't know you needed to know about us: our go-to beauty products, makeup hacks that (mostly) work, guilty pleasures like true crime podcasts, and what's on our nightstands right now. From oil blotting sheets that have been around since Jenna was in high school, to Stephanie's slightly embarrassing obsession with YA fiction from the library, we're keeping it real and relatable. You'll laugh with us through personal stories, beauty mishaps (yes, someone cut her eyelash in half…), and the random hobbies we pick up along the way.This one's full of laughter, real-life confessions, and a reminder that even pastors' wives love a good hack, a good book, and a good mystery. Join the conversation—we'd love to hear your favorite beauty tip, product, or podcast obsession too! What you'll hear in this episode:Our must-have beauty products + hacks you'll actually useA confession about oil blotting sheets that stood the test of timeWhy Stephanie can't quit YA fiction (and doesn't plan to)Our true crime obsession and what it says about usPersonal stories you'll 100% relate to (or laugh at!)Get all the info about our next pastors' wives retreat and apply here:https://www.pastorswivestellall.com/attendaretreatTo purchase the BOOK, head here: ⁠https://pastorswivestellall.com/book⁠⁠To shop our MERCH, head here: ⁠https://pastorswivestellall.com/shop⁠⁠Want to support the Pastors' Wives Tell All podcast ministry? Become a patron: ⁠https://www.patreon.com/pastorswivestellall ⁠⁠SUBSCRIBE: ⁠Sign up⁠ for our email list and receive updates on new episodes, free gifts, and all the fun! Email sign up ⁠⁠HERE⁠⁠!CONTACT US: ⁠hello@pastorswivestellall.com⁠⁠FOLLOW US:Website: ⁠⁠pastorswivestellall.com⁠⁠Instagram: ⁠⁠@pastorswivestellall⁠⁠Facebook: ⁠⁠@pastorswivestellall⁠⁠JESSICA:Instagram: ⁠⁠@jessica_taylor_83⁠⁠, ⁠⁠@come_away_missions⁠⁠, ⁠⁠@do_good_project__⁠⁠⁠Facebook: ⁠⁠Come Away Missions⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Do Good Project⁠⁠Websites: ⁠⁠Do Good Project⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Come Away Missions⁠⁠JENNA:Instagram: ⁠⁠@jennaallen⁠⁠, ⁠⁠@jennaallendesign⁠⁠Facebook: ⁠⁠@JennaAllenDesign⁠⁠Website: ⁠⁠Jenna Allen Design⁠⁠STEPHANIE:Instagram: ⁠⁠@msstephaniegilbert⁠⁠Facebook: ⁠⁠I Literally LOL⁠⁠Website: ⁠⁠Stephanie Gilbert⁠

    The Sacred Donut
    S7E10: It Is All Your Fault. Sort Of.

    The Sacred Donut

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 18, 2025 81:33


    Send us a Text Message! Don't forgot to tell us who you are.Season 7Episode 10It Is All Your Fault. Sort Of. On this episode of The Sacred Donut Podcast, we look at all the reasons you are stuck -- a kite held down with a rock, a heavy heart teathered to a boulder. Everything is energy. Everything has a resonance. Everything is a reflection of you. As within, so without. You are a

    Finding Brave
    314: You Are Not Your Trauma: How You Can Heal Your Life Experience

    Finding Brave

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 18, 2025 38:35


    What if the parenting behaviors you dislike most in yourself aren't really “you”? What if they're trauma responses your brain learned long ago to survive, and what if you could change them? In this episode of Finding Brave, Dr. Robyn Koslowitz explores how trauma shapes our parenting and what we can do to change the cycle. Dr. Koslowitz is a trauma expert, child psychologist, and author of the new book Post-Traumatic Parenting: Break the Cycle and Become the Parent You Always Wanted to Be. She treats children, adolescents, and families at the Center for Psychological Growth of New Jersey, and hosts the Post-Traumatic Parenting YouTube channel and podcast. In this conversation, she explains how trauma responses can surface in family life through yelling, dissociating, or people-pleasing, and why social media often deepens parents' shame instead of easing it. She introduces the concept of the “trauma app,” which rewires the brain, and shows how children, unlike bosses or spouses, can reveal these hidden patterns. This episode is a powerful reminder that healing is possible and that parenting can become a path to breaking cycles and reclaiming emotional presence. Tune in to learn how Dr. Koslowitz's insights and practices can help you move beyond trauma and become the parent you always wanted to be!   Key Points From This Episode: Introduction to Dr. Robyn Koslowitz and her book Post-Traumatic Parenting. [02:19] Why parents often judge themselves harshly for yelling, dissociating, or people-pleasing. [05:01] How social media can amplify shame and harm post-traumatic parents. [07:41] Dr. Koslowitz's definition of trauma: something that is too big to metabolize, shakes your sense of self or safety, and is faced alone. [10:29] The “trauma app” metaphor and how our brains create default responses to feel safe. [15:34] Why trauma strategies may work at work or in marriage but fail with children. [21:00] Recognizing both the costs and hidden “superpowers” of trauma responses. [23:24] Parenting as a path to healing and breaking cycles for the next generation. [27:43] Three practices for parents: undoing shame, journaling new narratives, and learning parenting skills. [30:34] How to access post-traumatic parenting resources. [35:04] For More Information: Dr. Robyn Koslowitz Dr. Robyn Koslowitz on LinkedIn Dr. Robyn Koslowitz on Instagram Dr. Robyn Koslowitz on Threads Dr. Robyn Koslowitz on X Post-Traumatic Parenting Podcast Post-Traumatic Parenting on YouTube Center for Psychological Growth of New Jersey   Links Mentioned in Today's Episode: Check out Dr. Robyn Koslowitz's new book Post-Traumatic Parenting: Break the Cycle and Become the Parent You Always Wanted to Be   ——————— Join Kathy starting October 15, 2025 in her brand new monthly “The Most Powerful You” Group Coaching Program! Over the years, many graduates of my courses and readers of my books and articles, and other professionals have told me: “I wish there were a way to keep my momentum going — with supportive guidance, community, and accountability all year long.” This program is the answer to that wish. Beginning October 15th, 2025, you'll meet monthly online in a small, global group for 12 months of live 60-minute coaching calls where you'll: Celebrate wins and breakthroughs Bring real-life challenges for direct support and guidance Revisit and apply core success and growth principles from my courses, articles, and 500+ interviews with top experts Learn from peers, insights, and encouragement Sort through key decisions in front of you Leave with clear, actionable steps to move you forward fast in your life and career You'll also get: A private Facebook group for ongoing support Call recordings if you miss a session Exclusive perks (with upfront payment), including additional curated resources, free access to Kathy Caprino AI, LinkedIn support, and two private coaching calls with me This is a space for professionals who are ready to grow their confidence, impact, and fulfillment — with consistent and uplifting support all year long.  

    The Midday Show
    What sort of Flag Football QB will Tom Brady make?

    The Midday Show

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 16, 2025 13:17


    Andy and Randy visit the Backpage with Beau Johnson.

    The Mini-Break
    My Sort of Weekend

    The Mini-Break

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 15, 2025 55:45


    Cracked Racquets Editor-in-Chief Alex Gruskin breaks down a fascinating Championship Weekend across the Pro Tennis World. He offers his thoughts on a STUNNING weekend of Davis Cup results, breaks down maiden WTA title runs in Guadalajara and Sao Paolo, plus SO much more!! Don't forget to give a 5 star review on your favorite podcast app! In addition, add your twitter/instagram handle to the review for a chance to win some FREE CR gear!! Episode Bookmarks: Many Davis Cup Thoughts - 8:29   WTA Guadalajara - 32:04   WTA Sao Paolo - 40:47   ATP Challengers - 44:24   WTA 125Ks + Women's ITF - 49:32 _____ Laurel Springs Ranked among the best online private schools in the United States, Laurel Springs stands out when it comes to support, personalization, community, and college prep. They give their K-12 students the resources, guidance, and learning opportunities they need at each grade level to reach their full potential. Find Cracked Racquets Website: https://www.crackedracquets.com Instagram: https://instagram.com/crackedracquets Twitter: https://twitter.com/crackedracquets Facebook: https://Facebook.com/crackedracquets YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/crackedracquets Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    Retirement Talk for Boomers, Seniors, and Retirees

    Two weeks ago the wife of a good friend of mine died. She was 66: three years younger than myself. Cancer. Two months elapsed between diagnosis and death. Two months. Sort of puts an edge on things.

    Summon Sign: A Gaming Conversation
    Hollow Knight: Silksong Is Here!

    Summon Sign: A Gaming Conversation

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 12, 2025 185:25


    This week Gene and Hoeg join Brad and discuss Hollow Knight: Silksong, Hell is Us, Cronos: The New Dawn, and more! Please keep in mind that our timestamps are approximate, and will often be slightly off due to dynamic ad placement. 0:00:00 - Intro0:16:33 - Hollow Knight: Silksong0:55:50 - Hell is Us1:12:26 - Monster Train 21:21:13 - Sort it Out/Keep it Up2:00:19 - Game Recommendation2:02:44 - Cronos: The New Dawn2:22:14 - Horizon Chase Turbo2:28:59 - Closing Questions To watch the podcast on YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/LastStandMediaYouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast for free wherever you're listening or by using this link: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/SummonSign⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ If you like the show, telling a friend about it would be amazing! You can text, email, Tweet, or send this link to a friend: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/SummonSign Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    De-Influenced with Dani Austin
    Solo Dani: Controversial Opinions & The Really Important Stuff

    De-Influenced with Dani Austin

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 11, 2025 71:20


    Dani's flying solo this week - and she's got some thoughts. From getting fired up over a Tylenol reel, to the chaos of Red 40 discourse, RichTok influencers, and The Summer I Turned Pretty feelings, nothing (and no one) is safe. It's giving controversial. It's giving important. Sort of. We scored some great deals with a few of our favorite brands for our listeners: Ready to help your kids grow money skills that will last a lifetime? Just head to acornsearly.com/dani or download the Acorns Early app to get started. Huggies Little Snugglers, now with blowout protection in every direction* *sizes 1-2. Huggies, We got you, baby. Huggies.com Visit LiveConscious.com today and make the switch to a smarter sip with Beyond Brew. Use code DANI to receive 15% off. Head to BranchBasics.com to shop the Premium Starter Kit and save 15% off with code DANI at BranchBasics.com Head to Shopify.com/Dani to start your journey today. Work smarter, not harder. Build your brand. Shopify makes it possible. Cotton is The Fabric of Our Lives and make sure you're checking tags to ensure it's the fabric of your life too. Learn more at TheFabricOfOurLives.com Make sure you're subscribed to our official channel on YouTube, @deinfluencedpodcast, and follow us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your De-Influenced fix! Stay connected with us on Instagram and TikTok @deinfluencedpodcast, and as always thank you for being a part of this journey. we love y'all!! D + J Produced by Dear Media

    Decoder with Nilay Patel
    Sierra CEO Bret Taylor on why the AI bubble feels like the dotcom boom

    Decoder with Nilay Patel

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 11, 2025 51:14


    This is Alex Heath. For my final episode as your Thursday episode guest host, I recently sat down with Bret Taylor, the CEO of AI startup Sierra and the chairman of OpenAI, for a live event in San Francisco hosted by Alix Partners.  Bret has worked at Google, Facebook, and Salesforce in high-level, executive roles, and he led Twitter's board during Elon Musk's takeover, so very few people have seen the tech industry up close like Bret has. Now, he's all in on AI. We covered a lot of ground in this conversation, and I hope you find Bret's perspective as fascinating as I did. Links: Ex-Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor's Sierra is the latest $10 billion AI startup | CNBC I talked to Sam Altman about the GPT-5 launch fiasco | Verge Sam Altman says ‘yes,' AI is in a bubble | Verge MIT study on AI profits rattles tech investors | Axios GPT-5 Pro can prove new, interesting mathematics | Sebastien Bubeck AI chatbots are ready to talk to customers. Sort of. | WSJ How is AI different than other technology waves? | Acquired Podcast Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Ursa Wright.  The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices