Podcasts about South America

Today on series two of Tales of a Nuffield Scholar supported by NFU Mutual we continue looking ahead to the 2026 Nuffield Farming Scholarships Conference in Leeds

An online church service from Miami playing in South America. A chance meeting at the YMCA. A connection that defied the odds and completed a family. It all fits together in a story you have to hear to believe. In this incredible episode, you'll be introduced to the final son-in-law in the Alessi family, Daniel Burgos. His journey to meeting and eventually marrying Steve and Mary Alessi's daughter, Lauren, is as surprising and miraculous as you can imagine - a winding road that started in his native Columbia and ended at the altar in Miami with the love of his life. Daniel sits down with his father-in-law Steve, and brother in law Chris Alessi, to share how God led him to make the decisions that would result in marriage and a new home. You'll hear how the entire family had to make adjustments and open their hearts to a new relationships in the midst of several other major events in the family. And you'll be inspired and motivated to see how having faith and being open to change can bring beautiful blessings into your life. Support the showJOIN THE FAMILY BUSINESS WITH OUR NEWSLETTERSign Up for Our Family Business Newsletter and get more inside news from the Alessis + tips and strategies for a happier family! Get free access to the newsletterTEXT THE FAMILY BUSINESS DIRECTLYYou can connect with us via text to ask family questions and get updates on The Family Business! Text FAMILY to 302-524-0800CONNECT WITH THE FAMILY BUSINESSFollow Us on Instagram and FacebookSubscribe on YouTubeLeave a reviewMORE PODCASTS YOU'LL ENJOYListen to the Alessi sisters' daily devotional podcast My Morning DevotionalFollow Our New Podcast with Mary Alessi and her twin sister Martha MunizziWatch The Mary and Martha Show

Learn about the Healing Power of Prolonged Fasting: HEREWhat if one of the most studied alternative cancer therapies in the world was used across Europe and South America, yet still out of reach in the United States? Dr. Katie Deming sits down with Dr. Nasha Winters, a globally recognized authority in integrative oncology and co-author of Mistletoe and the Emerging Future of Integrative Oncology. Dr. Winters has trained hundreds of physicians in mistletoe therapy and has also used it herself.Together, they unpack a plant most people only know from the holidays and explore why injectable mistletoe has been used in cancer care since 1917. You'll hear how mistletoe may work on multiple levels: supporting the immune system, affecting the tumor environment, and helping the body's terrain during and after treatment.If you've ever felt rushed into decisions based on a scan, this episode is especially important. Dr. Winters explains pseudoprogression, a phenomenon where things may appear worse on imaging before they improve, and why timing scans too soon can lead to fear-driven decisions based on misleading information.Chapters:00:06:39 - The Most Studied Alternative Cancer Therapy00:08:18 - Why the U.S. Still Requires New Trials00:09:34 - The Patient Who Changed Dr. Winters' Path00:12:43 - How Mistletoe Works in the Body00:14:02 - Waking Up the Immune System00:16:28 - Quality of Life During Cancer Treatment00:18:42 - Mistletoe, Fasting, and Metabolic Support00:21:37 - Why Terrain Matters More Than Tumor Kill00:27:42 - Why Practitioner Training Matters00:30:01 - The Scan Mistake That Can Change Everything00:34:17 - When to Image During Mistletoe Therapy00:37:06 - When Healing Looks Worse Before Better00:41:00 - Who Should Be Careful With Mistletoe00:42:54 - Why Fasting and Mistletoe Work TogetherMost relevant support from the transcript: the episode moves from mistletoe's history and use since 1917, into mechanism and terrain, then closes with pseudoprogression, scan timing, and who should use caution. Stay until the end, because Dr. Winters shares how one patient first pushed her to explore mistletoe therapy, and how that moment opened the door to decades of clinical experience with a treatment most Americans still never hear about.Press play to learn why your body may be far more capable of healing than you've been told.Connect with Dr. Nasha: https://drnasha.com/Pick up a copy: Mistletoe and the Emerging Future of Integrative OncologyJoin Dr. Katie's 3-Day Guided Fast, for expert support, daily live calls, and a community to fast alongside: Sign-Up Follow Dr. Katie Deming on InstagramWatch on YoutubeDISCLAIMER: The Born to Heal Podcast  is intended for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for seeking professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Individual medical histories are unique; therefore, this episode should not be used to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease without consulting your healthcare provider.A thought-provoking podcast explores cancer through the lens of holistic medicine and functional medicine, discussing causes of cancer, metabolic health, and unconventional approaches like water fasting, fasting and autophagy, and detox, while weighing fasting benefits against chemo side effects and radiation side effects, sharing stories of a cancer survivor navigating chemotherapy, natural medicine, holistic healing, and even spiritual healing on the path toward cancer remission and holistic health. 

Eric Brown leads Developer Relations at BASE, Coinbase's L2. So when he says the chain sees over $4 trillion in monthly stablecoin payments and 25+ local stablecoins now circulate worldwide, it's worth interrogating closely.Jamie Crypto sits down with Eric at Consensus 2026 for a full read on what's actually shipping on BASE in 2026 — X402 as the default agent-payment rail, sub-cent fees and 5,000 TPS bursts, the Azul upgrade, the AI red team / blue team security flip, and why seven-plus local stablecoins are getting real point-of-sale adoption in South America while the U.S. lags.We cover:- The $4T monthly stablecoin payments figure (Eric's claim)- X402 and ~2M agent transactions in 30 days on BASE- 400M gas per block, sub-tenth-of-a-cent fees, 5,000 TPS bursts- DeFi security after a brutal month of hacks — AI's role on both sides- Why the agentic cohort is "completely unbanked already"- Morpho, 4% USDC yields, and what makes an onchain app stickyFilmed at Consensus 2026.Host: Jamie Redman

American Oystercatchers are crow-sized shorebirds that can be found foraging in intertidal zones along the U.S. Atlantic shoreline and both coasts of Central and South America. Their bodies are mostly black and white, except for bright yellow eyes and a long, orange bill. Sadly, researchers estimate that between 1970 and 2023, American Oystercatchers lost roughly half their population to habitat degradation, human disturbance, and predation by mammals. We can protect shorebirds by giving them space on shared beaches, keeping domestic pets indoors or on leash, and cutting fossil fuel emissions that drive climate change. This episode is dedicated to Bob Goodale whose lifelong love for birds and nature continues to inspire. More info and transcript at BirdNote.org. Want more BirdNote? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sign up for BirdNote+ to get ad-free listening and other perks.  BirdNote is a nonprofit. Your tax-deductible gift makes these shows possible. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week on Birds of a Feather Talk Together, we're revisiting one of the most extraordinary birds we've ever covered—and the official winner of our 2026 Bird of the Year tournament: the Club-winged Manakin.While we're getting ready to return with brand-new episodes next week, we couldn't resist taking another look at the bird that captured the hearts of our listeners and earned the title of 2026 Bird of the Year. Native to the cloud forests of South America, the Club-winged Manakin is famous for producing one of the strangest sounds in the bird world—not with its voice, but with its wings.Through an incredible evolutionary adaptation, male Club-winged Manakins create a high-pitched mechanical sound during courtship displays by rubbing specialized wing feathers together at astonishing speeds. The result sounds more like an insect, a machine, or a science-fiction sound effect than a bird, making it one of the most unique bird behaviors ever discovered.In this episode, Field Museum ornithologists and curators of birds John Bates and Shannon Hackett join RJ and Amanda Pole to discuss Club-winged Manakin behavior, bird evolution, courtship displays, bird sounds, animal communication, and the remarkable adaptations that helped this species earn the title of Bird of the Year.The journey to the championship was a fun one. Students from LSU joined in voting throughout our Bird of the Year tournament, with results revealed across multiple episodes. In the end, the Club-winged Manakin emerged as the champion, defeating a field of incredible birds to claim the crown.If you love birding, birdwatching, weird birds, bird behavior, bird evolution, tropical birds, ornithology, wildlife science, and fascinating bird facts, this is an episode you won't want to miss!Here are links to our social and YouTube pages, give us a follow:YouTube InstagramTikTokBlueSky

Why Travel Changes Everything - A Deep Dive with James Hammond on the Island Vacation Travel PodcastHello guys!Another guest appearance on another travel podcast today, and this time it is the Island Vacation Travel Podcast with Al Philogene, as we take a deep dive into the impact of travel on our daily lives, as a lifestyle choice and the impact on me personally too.You can watch this episode on YouTube here (please subscribe to Winging It) - https://youtu.be/XWfXoSQ5r7cI loved speaking with Al on his podcast, so please check it out below, too. Enjoy!Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6IKCiUg5sZstUia5vOpK62?si=d9c56d650b754e28Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/island-vacation-travel-podcast/id1579773196Website - https://islandvacationpodcast.com/#Island Vacation's Shownotes below.James Hammond shares his unforgettable travel experiences in Bhutan, Japan, and Bolivia, highlighting the importance of practical budgeting and lifestyle centered around exploration. He emphasizes the significance of people, culture, and food in each destination, and provides valuable insights on planning a six-month backpack trip to South America, including budgeting, route planning, and avoiding common travel mistakes.The conversation covers topics related to visa rules and immigration, the difference between hidden gems and tourist-heavy spots, the choice between travel and a traditional career path, financial trade-offs and the balance between freedom and stability, and the impact of COVID-19 on travel. The conversation covers the impact of COVID on travel, the rise in travel costs, the experience of over-tourism, and the financial considerations of long-term travel. It also delves into the importance of cultural familiarity when starting to travel and the need to adapt to changing travel costs and conditions.Takeaways• Unforgettable travel experiences in Bhutan, Japan, and Bolivia• Practical budgeting and lifestyle centered around exploration Visa rules and immigration are important considerations for travelers, and it's essential to research and understand the rules of each country.• Choosing hidden gems over tourist-heavy spots can lead to a more unique and less crowded travel experience.• The decision to prioritize travel over a traditional career path involves a trade-off between stability and freedom, and the pursuit of experiences over material possessions.• The impact of COVID-19 on travel has led to increased costs and a surge in travel to popular destinations, highlighting the importance of exploring hidden gems and off-peak travel periods. COVID has impacted travel costs and led to a rise in expenses.• Cultural familiarity is important when starting to travel, and it's advisable to start small and gradually explore different cultures.• Adapting to changing travel costs and conditions is crucial for long-term travel.Support Winging It Travel PodcastIf you enjoyed this episode:⭐ Leave a 5-star rating or review on your podcast app☕ Support the show at buymeacoffee.com/wingingit

What do you do when life's script just isn't working anymore? You scrap it and write your own. That's exactly what Marta Ballus did when she walked away from career setbacks and expectations to chase ultimate freedom: a solo bike tour across South America.From freezing nights in Iceland and battling Patagonia's brutal gale-force winds to finding peace on endless salt flats, Marta's story is all about what happens when you trade comfort for a bicycle and a map. We're chatting about:Turning a career setback into the adventure of a lifetime.Surviving Iceland's snow and Patagonia's legendary winds.How solo bike touring builds ultimate self-confidence.Finding joy in the unexpected and the kindness of strangers. Tune in to hear how pushing through the fear can completely reshape your priorities, build unbreakable resilience, and introduce you to the kindest strangers on the planet. Catch up with Marta on Instagram at @martasway.Join our community at Warmshowers.org, follow us on Instagram @Warmshowers_org, and visit us on Facebook. Watch this and all episodes of the Bike Life Podcast on YouTube.Special thanks to our sponsor, Bikeflights – the best in bicycle shipping service and boxes, guaranteed.Theme Music by Les Konley | Produced by Les KonleyHappy riding and hosting!

South America cruises can be spectacular — penguins in the Falklands, Cape Horn, Glacier Alley Chile, fascinating cities in Peru and Chile, end of the world in Ushuaia, Buenos Aires, Lima, Montevideo and more. But after cruising South America several times, including a recent 31-night voyage, I saw experienced cruisers making mistakes that could ruin the trip. In this, I reveal the biggest South America cruise mistakes I saw passengers make, from visa and entry rule surprises to choosing the wrong itinerary, underestimating sea days, misjudging the ports, getting excursions wrong, packing missteps, and getting caught out with money in ports. South America is not like cruising the Caribbean, Alaska or Europe. The distances are vast, the ports can be challenging, the weather can swing wildly, and the rules can change quickly. But get it right, and it can be one of the most memorable cruise regions in the world. This should help ensure any South America cruise does not unravel before it even begins Become a Tips For Travellers Patron: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers and get exclusive Patron-only content, downloads and livestreams Visit my Tips For Travellers YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/tipsfortravellers   Offers: Get 10% any order of The Cruise Maps who you visit the site using this link: https://www.TheCruiseMaps.com/TFT Get up to 30% off collectible tokens of place you've visited using the link: https://www.TheWanderClub.com/TFT  

Paul Hawksbee and Andy Jacobs are back to look over all the fallout and action from the latest round of World Cup fixtures. The brilliant Shebahn Aherne joins the show live from Charlotte to give us the inside track on an incredible performance as Scotland secures a massive win over Haiti.Plus, the wonderful Alex Brooker stops by in fantastic spirits to help us build up the hype ahead of the big England game. For a view from South America, football expert Tim Vickery drops in to explain exactly why Brazil are firing on all cylinders and what we can expect from them moving forward. Finally, we hand the microphones over to you for another brilliant edition of our 'Creatures of the Night' feature, Enjoy!Instagram: @tSHandJTwitter: @tSHandJWebsite: Live Radio, Breaking Sports News, Opinion - talkSPORT Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What happens when you run the numbers on the Airbnb you're staying in and realize it beats every turnkey rental you toured that day? For Tim Hubbard, it meant walking away from the long term rental deal he flew to Tennessee to find, buying a historic eight-unit apartment building instead, and converting it to short term rentals. That single property went on to earn roughly eight times what it produced as a long term rental, and it set him free.In this episode, host David Richter sits down with Tim to trace the whole journey: discovering Rich Dad Poor Dad nearly 20 years ago, fighting through loan denials as a 1099 contractor to buy a foreclosure fourplex in downtown Sacramento in 2010, house hacking one unit while the other three covered the bills, and 1031 exchanging his way into bigger buildings and better markets.Today Tim runs roughly 65 units, 45 of them short term rentals, from South America, where he's lived for nearly a decade, first in Colombia and now in Brazil. He's also weeks away from opening the first phase of a boutique resort in Colombia and leads Corzly, a core operating center that handles revenue management, 24/7 guest communication, and marketing for short term rental owners and property managers in more than 40 cities.Tim doesn't sugarcoat the 2026 short term rental market: it's more competitive, guest expectations are higher, and owners still pricing like it's two years ago aren't getting booked. This conversation is a masterclass in reading supply and demand, finding the luxury edge, and building operations that let the profit actually reach you.Episode Highlights[1:01] – David welcomes Tim Hubbard, short term rental investor and host of Short Term Rental Riches[1:50] – Discovering Rich Dad Poor Dad young and buying a first property within about two years[3:50] – The 2010 foreclosure fourplex in downtown Sacramento: FHA loan, 1099 income, and repeated denials[5:16] – House hacking one unit, renting out three, and cash flowing from day one[6:25] – 1031 exchanging four units into nine in a better appreciating out-of-state market[6:59] – The Tennessee light bulb: the Airbnb he rented penciled far better than the turnkey rentals he toured[7:43] – Buying a historic eight-unit building and spending a year converting it to short term rentals[9:12] – The eight unit that earned eight times more and funded a move to South America[10:19] – Tim's 2026 portfolio: 65 units, 45 short term rentals, and a boutique resort under construction in Colombia[11:58] – How managing properties virtually from abroad grew into Corzly, now operating in over 40 cities[13:21] – Why centralized revenue management and 24/7 guest teams beat hiring locally for small portfolios[17:13] – The seasonal hybrid play: nightly rates in high season, monthly rentals in the off season[18:14] – Tim's biggest lessons: leave for better returns, and think twice before long-timeline projects[20:43] – Advice for new investors: verify supply and demand with a tool like AirDNA before buying anything[22:25] – Why unique luxury properties now have more upside and more recession resistance than commodity rentals[24:31] – Reviews, visibility, and dynamic pricing: the operational levers that can double revenue5 Key TakeawaysThe same property can earn dramatically more under a different strategy; Tim's eight-unit building produced roughly eight times more as short term rentals than it did with long term tenants.Invest where the numbers make sense, not where you happen to live; leaving California for out-of-state returns is the decision Tim credits with setting him free.Before buying a short term rental in 2026, study supply and demand with a tool like AirDNA, and avoid markets where average revenue is falling while purchase prices stay high.The market is inefficient enough that two identical properties next door to each other can have double the revenue gap; strong reviews drive visibility, and dynamic pricing tools like PriceLabs or Wheelhouse are now mandatory to compete.Core operations like revenue management and around-the-clock guest communication don't belong in-house for small portfolios; centralizing them is the same logic as hiring a fractional CFO instead of a full-time one.Links & ResourcesShort Term Rental Riches podcast — https://strriches.comCorzly, Tim's short term rental operations company — https://www.facebook.com/corzlyRich Dad Poor Dad by Robert KiyosakiAirDNA market research tool — https://www.airdna.coPriceLabs and Wheelhouse dynamic pricing toolsBook your free discovery call with Simple CFO — https://simplecfo.comClosing RemarkTim Hubbard built the kind of business most investors say they want: a portfolio that runs without him in the room, from another continent, with profit that funds the life he actually chose. But as David points out, Tim didn't just make that money, he knew how to keep it, and he knew what every property was earning. If you're closing deals but still feeling broke, that's the gap Simple CFO exists to close. Subscribe, review, and share this episode, and if you're serious about financial systems and keeping more of your profit, visit https://simplecfo.com to take your free discovery call today.

In this episode of Eat Sleep Wine Repeat, Janina is joined by nomadic winemaker Darren Smith, founder of The Finest Wines Available to Humanity. Having worked harvests across Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Portugal, Spain and the Canary Islands, Darren shares stories from some of the world's most overlooked wine regions and explains why old vines, heritage wine grapes and local traditions continue to inspire his winemaking philosophy. Together, they explore País, Negra Criolla, Quebranta and Palomino, discovering how these historic wine grapes travelled across continents and evolved into unique regional identities. Along the way, they discuss minimal intervention winemaking, tree-trained vineyards, volcanic terroir and flor-aged wines, while uncovering extraordinary wine travel destinations that rarely make the spotlight. Whether you want to learn about wine, deepen your wine education, discover lesser-known wine regions, understand heritage grape varieties or plan your next wine travel adventure, this wine podcast episode is packed with fascinating stories, expert insight and remarkable wines.   Shownotes 02:45 – Darren Smith's journey into wine — from journalism and wine writing to becoming a nomadic winemaker. 04:13 – Working with Dirk Niepoort — lessons learned from one of the world's most influential winemakers. 06:35 – How Dirk Niepoort's philosophy of infusion over extraction helped shape Darren's own approach to winemaking. 07:34 – The story behind The Finest Wines Available to Humanity and the inspiration for Darren's unconventional wine brand. 08:44 – Why Chile became a defining chapter in Darren's nomadic winemaking journey. 10:59 – The biggest challenge of constantly moving between wine regions, grape varieties and winemaking cultures. 12:46 – País explained — working with Chile's historic heritage grape and why it's perfect for modern chillable red wine styles. 17:21 – Life in Bío Bío, Chile — old vines, traditional farming and one of South America's most exciting wine regions. 19:21 – Minimal intervention wines in southern Chile — preserving purity, freshness and vineyard character. 21:07 – Tasting a País from Ignacio Pino in Itata — 150-year-old vines, granite soils and remarkable precision. 21:51 – Janina's tasting notes — lavender, herbs, freshness and the delicate character of old-vine País. 24:21 – Darren Smith and Ignacio Pino Roman's 2022 Itata País £32 TFWATH.COM  25:08 – Negra Criolla explained — the Bolivian expression of Listán Prieto and its fascinating history across the Americas. 29:14 – Bolivia's tree-trained vineyards — why the Cinti Valley looks more like a jungle than a vineyard. 31:13 – País / Negra Criolla — how the same grape variety is nuanced in different regions and how terroir shapes this grapee. 32:07 – Jardín Oculto and the rise of Bolivia's most talked-about winery. 33:59 – Bolivia's extreme vineyards — some of the highest wine-growing sites in South America. 35:11 – Viñas Viejas Negra Criolla 2024  from Bolivia's Cinti Valley (Not currently available in UK) 35:35 – Ica, Peru — discovering one of South America's oldest and most important wine regions. 37:24 – Quebranta explained — Peru's signature grape variety and its connection to Listán Prieto. 38:39 – Peru's desert vineyards — Pacific influence, sandy soils and the geography that shapes these wines. 39:59 – Working with Raúl Moreno — Palomino, Jerez and the revival of unfortified expressions of the grape. 42.58 - Darren Smith and Raul Moreno's Palomino 2022 £36 TFWATH.COM 43:31 – Jerez and albariza soils — flor ageing, terroir and Darren's experience making Palomino in southern Spain. 47:30 – Further Palomino recommendations — producers to explore including Luis Pérez, Ramiro Ibáñez and Raúl Moreno. 49:04 – What Darren learned from Victoria Torres Pecis and why La Palma remains one of the most inspiring wine travel destinations in the world. 53:08 – Trás-os-Montes explained — one of Portugal's least-known wine regions and its historic field blends. 53.42 - Darren Smith and Arribas Wine Company Palhete 2024 £32 TFWATH.COM 54:51 – Tinta Gorda (Juan García) — a little-known grape variety helping define the wines of Trás-os-Montes. 57:52 – The most misunderstood wine region Darren has worked in — and why Jerez deserves far more attention than just Sherry.

In today's episode, we explore a tradition that is much more than a drink. Discover the customs, rituals, and social rules that surround mate in South America, and learn why it continues to bring people together every day. Grab a cup of coffee or a mate, and join us! Transcript here!ANNOUNCEMENT: There will be a break of several weeks due to family travel. Our next episode will be at the end of Summer or early Fall! Our next virtual classes will begin also in the Fall. If you are interested, complete this form!If you enjoy ¡Cuéntame!, please consider supporting the podcast by leaving a 5-star rating and review on your favorite podcast platform. Your support helps more Spanish learners find us! You can also support the show through Buy Me a Coffee⁠ , join our Facebook Group⁠ , or follow us on Instagram⁠and TikTok Have a question or comment? Send us a voice message in Spanish or English at 1-920-361-3329. ¡Gracias por escuchar!Email us!        

Irvin Rodriguez is a visual artist whose work offers a synthesis of painting and drawing, inspired by the European masters and 19th-century painters, paired with the narrative influence and aesthetics of illustration and contemporary art. Rodriguez's artistic practice spans multiple disciplines, from analog to digital media, resulting in figurative compositions and portraits that communicate individual and collective experiences. Born in the Bronx, New York, in 1988, Rodriguez graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology with a BFA in Illustration (2010), while simultaneously studying at the Grand Central Atelier (2008–2010), and later at the Art Students League of NY (2013–2016). Since then, Rodriguez has exhibited in numerous group and solo exhibitions in Europe, South America, and the United States, and was also the recipient of the 2016 Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant, the 2019 John F. and Anna Lee Stacey Scholarship, and the 2019 Donald Jurney Travel Fellowship. Over the years, he has developed into a compelling and versatile artist, with works in the film, comic book, publishing, and video game industries for clients like Naughty Dog, Lucasfilm, DC Comics, and Magic: The Gathering. He currently lives and works out of his studio in Los Angeles, California. Irvin was the 2011 recipient of the L. Ron Hubbard Golden Brush Award. He has been an Illustrators of the Future judge since 2023. In this episode, Irvin discusses his journey in a successful artistic career. Learn more at irvinrodriguez.com.

Welcome to the Art Life Faith Podcast, and I’m your host, Roger Lowther. We are recording live from the JCAMM conference in downtown Tokyo with the theme of “The Beauty of Japan・The Beauty of Heaven.” It’s a week-long conference from Friday, May 22 to Wednesday, May 27, 2026, where we are talking about the arts of Japan, the beauty of Japan, and how that helps us worship God. We’ve had so many amazing guests this week, and now I have the privilege of sitting down with one of our key presenters, a band like no other I’ve ever seen in the world called IziBongo. They sing not only in the various languages of the world, but they use the various instruments of the world and the various styles and genres of the world so people can see what it looks like for the nations to praise God and how that can lead us all in praise of God. So I wanted to sit down with them and have a conversation. I’ve also asked Akira Mori to sit down with us. He is our MC for the conference, and he’s a longtime friend and partner. We got to know each other very well through the 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster. He’s the pastor of Global Mission Chapel in Iwaki, Japan, not too far south of the nuclear power plants in Fukushima. And his amazing church was one of the key centers for relief work for all of Tohoku. Through the years, we’ve gotten to know each other better, and I’ve so appreciated not just his encouragement and the way he leads especially movements of prayer in Japan but the way he’s encouraged me personally and for his friendship. And so I invited him to be the MC for this conference and also to be with us for this podcast episode. So thank you, all of you, for being here. Why don’t we start with a quick introduction? Please tell me who are you and where this name IziBongo came from. It’s kind of an interesting name. Cory Sure, Izibongo is a Zulu word which means praises intoned in honor of a person. It’s a kind of praise poetry. This is a second generation of the group itself, originally called the Wycliffe World Music Band, which came from Wycliffe Bible Translators. Roger Not as catchy… Cory Yeah…, which came from Wycliffe Bible Translators. Roger Okay, so what do you do? Why did you form IziBongo? Cory Originally, the Wycliffe World Music Band was meant to be an illustrative form of the music of the world and to promote Bible translation. That was one of the hopes for the people who organized it. We would go to Christian music festivals and perform there to show how the nations would worship or do their songs. Paul I might add that originally it was an ad hoc group of students in a particular class learning about some of these principles of music and worship around the world. The leader of that class was our mentor, Tom Avery. He would gather the students and throw instruments at them and say, “Sing this and let’s play this.” And so it was just to appreciate the worship around the world. This developed out of that educational starting point to more of a worship focus and whatever it is today. Cathy Another point that Tom would make when teaching us these songs was that music is not a universal language, it’s a universal phenomenon. But different peoples have different ways of singing. We think we might understand what they’re singing about. We might make a judgment if we hear another culture’s music and say, “That’s demonic,” or, “You could not praise God with that music.” But he was teaching us that we need to understand when we go into cultures their music systems. We can’t just go in and say, “No, you have to sing it this way.” Mary And to follow up on that is the focus of outsider-insider, an outsider trying to understand from the insiders, “What does this mean to you? What is the content?” because as outsiders, we can really miss it and not understand what’s actually being expressed. So we have terms. We say etic and emic, outsider/insider perspectives, that we talk about in our courses and our learning. Roger Help us to see what this looks like a little bit more concretely. What countries, what groups are you representing, and what kinds of instruments are you playing? Paul Well, I’m playing about 3 or 4 instruments here. One is a charango from Bolivia, which I bought on the River Walk in San Antonio from a real live player. I’m also playing a Moroccan oud, which we use for other instruments as well. We don’t carry 50 instruments, we carry about 10. And I’m playing a Greek bouzouki, but I’m using that to represent music from other parts of the world as well if the instrument sounds similar to the sounds. So again, we’re approximating all these. We’re never being exactly authentic. We are just Americans. We’re not trying to pretend that we’re something else. But we love the sounds of the world and the praises that they lift up. So we want to approximate those sounds so that you will learn to appreciate their music. As for the countries that we actually sing songs from, we could give a list if you’d like. Cory We do some from South America, so there’s Brazil, Venezuela, Bolivia…Ghana, Democratic Republic of Congo… Cathy Nigeria… Cory Egypt… Paul Tunisia, Papua New Guinea, Bhutan, South Korea…We don’t have a Japanese song yet. Roger Okay, well, we’ll have to fix that. Paul Exactly! We’re working on it. Roger So tell me more about why you do this. What is your purpose in singing these different styles—using different instruments, different languages, representing different countries? Paul Well, for myself, and I think for my wife as well, we were worship leaders in a local church and trying to find the most relevant ways to help people worship in our culture. It was mostly not a mixed culture. It was mostly just a normal American church in Texas, but still we had to wrestle with contemporary versus older styles and who was there and what kind of music they liked. In the South it’s a little more Baptist hymnal kind of songs, which I wasn’t that familiar with. So you always have to learn and find out from the congregation that you’re worshiping with, what helps them express their heart, because that’s really what a worship leader is trying to do, just help the people worship from their heart. So that was where we started, and when we ran into Tom and he was doing that in the jungles of Brazil, it sounded radically different, of course. So we learned from him how to approximate that sound so that we could present it. Cathy So the first time we performed this kind of music, we thought we were just going to give people an educational experience and say, this is what your brothers and sisters sound like over in Africa, or this is what they say to God in their songs. The people that heard us in Memphis, Tennessee, on that very first trip were crying. They said, “This is a kind of worship that we’ve never experienced before.” It wasn’t necessarily something they could participate in, but it was like when you look up at the stars and go, “Wow, God, that’s amazing.” And you get a glimpse of the worship that God is preparing for himself across the world. And it does increase your love for your brothers and sisters. So we wanted to give more people that kind of understanding and that kind of love for brothers and sisters that they’ve never met, maybe an experience that would have them want to pray for those brothers and sisters. And so when we go to a mission conference, we hope, too, that it opens people’s eyes to understand that we want to encourage authentic ethnic worship and not just press our Western songs onto others. Mary I was just going to say one word, beauty. Well, I’ll say a few more words than just that. We have a colleague who decades ago said, why would God have created birds that only sing one song? And so we think about the diversity of artistic communication and think about the beauty of how we can all be different and have different artistic expression, but that it can be unified in the worship of our Creator, and to learn to appreciate that, but also know that it’s perfectly great to have those styles and songs and ways that you can sing and worship that come really from a deep place in your heart. So, we want to get into what that is in each culture to lead people to that place of beauty. Paul It makes me think also the necessity that we feel of presenting things with authentic instrumentation as much as possible and with some costuming. It’s not like we’re not trying to appropriate someone else’s culture. We’re trying to represent so that you will have a deeper appreciation of those—the beauty, not just the sound, but the beauty of those cultures in their expression of worship. Roger I’m glad you all are talking about this because that was one of my next questions is like, why is this important? You know, when I first came to Japan, the first thing that people wanted me and my wife to do is, as musicians, help with worship. And there’s basically two choices you can do. Contemporary or you can do traditional. One or the other. If you play organ and piano, well that’s traditional. If you use the guitar, well then that’s going to be contemporary. Those are the only two choices, so choose. If you go back and forth between the two, then that’s blended, a little of both. So to hear what you all do is so far outside people’s expectations of what worship can be. And that message, I feel, is especially needed in Japan. I would love Mori-Sensei to comment on that. Have you heard anything like this in Japan, this group? Mori No. That’s it. Roger And is it important then for Japan? Mori Absolutely. Japanese people like to feel safe, I guess, and don’t want to be criticized. Therefore, they try to conform to whatever is the mainstream, whether it’s a small group of 3, 4, 5 or a bigger group of 50–100. But that’s what I sense, and that’s what I find in myself from the past. So, especially when you think about the Christian church. The gospel was brought by typically Caucasian Western missionaries, and I don’t think they had any other way than to just do what they were used to. And without being intentional, I believe a kind of very clear line between Christians and non-Christian Japanese was drawn. When I was a teenager and a church member, the pastor said secular songs shouldn’t be sung, not even for yourself when you’re alone. So there was a very clear line, and I think in every church it was the same. And if you dare to play jazz or, rock was not so much in Japan in those days, then you were looked at as unspiritual, not a good Christian. So naturally, for those reasons, the Japanese ethnic or original music was separated from the church. It is still very much the same, I think. Therefore, it’s very difficult to take different styles of music and even ethnic music into the church. We don’t have any group like IziBongo. I don’t know if any other countries do either, but it is great riches brought to the church. Roger You know, when I first came to Japan, I was in language school that first year. We made friends with a clarinetist, and she was feeling turmoil about being in the church because the church told her she couldn’t play. She was a professional clarinet player, but they would not allow her to play clarinet in church because that was not appropriate for Christian worship. But, they said, you can play the piano because we need someone to play the piano. She was like, but I’m not a keyboardist and don’t play the piano very well, and it was hard for her to worship while playing the piano. When we came in, they asked us as missionaries to come give a concert, and we invited her to join us. There were tears in her eyes because that was the first time anyone in the church had ever heard her play the clarinet, which was her heart language. And I was like, wow, well, maybe it’s just this church. Well, then we went and were helping to plant another church out in Chiba, where we met a pastor whose son played the saxophone. And it was the same story. He invited his son to play saxophone once in worship, and the church members got so upset. Saxophone is not appropriate for worship, they said. It sounds worldly. It sounds like jazz, you know. And we’ve come across stories like that over and over again. And I want to tell you one more. Sorry I’m talking so much! But there’s this other story when we met this koto player. She was featured in one of our videos during the conference. I think I’ve shared this in a past podcast episode, but we invited her to come and play koto in worship. That’s a traditional Japanese harp, and it was so beautiful. We loved it, but there were so many people upset afterwards. And there were so many meetings afterwards, not the kind of meetings that you really want to have happen, you know, like with the pastor and the elders. Okay, this person’s upset, and they felt like it was connecting to the non-Christian culture in Japan. They said, “You can’t use the koto in worship. You were distracting me from worship. I was not able to worship God because you had the koto there.” And, you know, the way—I’ve shared this with some of you before—the way that we were able to bring healing to that situation is when they realized how she was able to worship God through her heart language, through the koto, it drew them in and they were able to worship God by seeing how she was worshiping God. It wasn’t a gimmick, you know, it wasn’t like we’re trying to force something on the church, but that this is how she worshiped, and they were able to worship through her. It was that relational key that made all the difference. Mori Um, can I ask you a question? Roger Sure. Mori That was your experience in the beginning. Is that still very much the same in the Japanese churches? Roger I do sometimes continue to hear stories, yeah… Mori This is my subjective, biased opinion, but around 20 years ago, God raised a young man and gave him song after song. An authentic Japanese young man, producing Japanese praise songs, worship songs, and they did some gatherings using yukatas and guitars on the stage, dancing and singing. And those worship songs created by those people, they have quite rapidly spread all across Japan. Roger Oh, wow. I’d like to hear them. Mori Yes. Oh, you know him. Taka. His songs, I believe, have changed the atmosphere of Japanese churches. Nagasawa Takafumi wrote that famous song, “Sono Hi Zen Sekai Ga” (“On That Day”). He started out as a worship leader in his father’s church. Now, he’s the senior pastor. But he was invited as a worship leader to a church in a different place, totally different place, and the pastor, as the congregation sang that song, proudly said to Taka, “Don’t you think this is an awesome song?” He didn’t know that Taka wrote that song, and Taka did not tell him. But today, more instruments are naturally taken into church services. Different styles are tolerated. Not every church, but, by and large, so many churches are resembling Western American churches, worship band in front and leading songs with guitars and drums and bass guitars and keyboard. And it’s spreading. And I just think that change has been happening. But still though, not Japanese authentic instruments or styles. Roger Yeah, that's still pretty rare. Mori Yeah, because of the schism that happened, right in the beginning, the Christians somehow feel that those instruments are not theirs. And to me, that’s okay if Christians don’t play any koto or shakuhachi. Of course, they’re greatly considered by Christians to be a special genre of instrument. Roger Generally. Yeah, Cathy? Cathy That’s one thing that seems to happen when we play. We had an experience in Singapore. A Japanese gal came up and talked to me afterwards and said, “This makes me want to go home and find what is unique from my culture that I can offer to God. It makes me want to go home and find or make something unique from my culture. And so, I think that IziBongo sometimes has that effect when we show what other cultures are doing. Roger Yeah, I also wanted to ask you all, I know that like sometimes I hear this word “appropriation” in the States, because you are not from those cultures, because you are Americans doing that music. If someone was to come at you and say, “Hey, that’s not appropriate for you to be doing that,” how would you respond to them? Paul Well, it depends who it’s coming from, I think, is where we start. We have never had anyone come to us from those nations with a problem with us. In fact, all we’ve ever heard is appreciation that we at least attempted to sing in their language. And again, we don’t do it perfectly. We had one experience up at Prairie Bible College where we played a First Nations song, a Native American song, and there was one young gentleman there who was a young man from the First Nations, and he was so excited. He wanted to sing the song. It was very simple, so he wanted to lead it. It was so amazing to him that he could do that. And almost immediately, we got strong pushback from a missionary couple who’d been there for 30 years working with First Nations peoples who felt like that was very inappropriate for the church. So let me say it this way: What we do is not try to impose on the church what you should do. What we’re doing is saying praise is happening all over the world, not always on Sunday morning. In fact, most of this wouldn’t be in Sunday morning worship, but it’s worship. Some of it’s on the streets of Brazil, a samba. And it was a Christian song sung on the streets of Carnaval. I mean, that’s not Sunday morning. So again, what we’re presenting is just the various expressions of praise. Whether they fit on Sunday morning in the church, your pastor and your worship leaders need to work that out. And we shouldn’t be judging them. They’re the ones who are to guide and guard the flock. So pray for your pastors that they might have vision even when they have reservations. Cathy I would say it’s also not only praise, but Scripture memory songs, storytelling, telling of Bible stories, and historical things. So there are other ways to use the music. Cory And the use of the music that we do when we perform are based on relationships that we have with the communities themselves, either through a Bible translation project or actual one-on-one. So, we have gotten permission to do these songs according to the communities that we’ve come in contact with. Mary And I’ll say that coming back to the U.S. from West Africa and starting to hear this word appropriation, I was a little bit shocked because I was like, oh, what does that mean? You know, I had to say, what does that actually mean? Because to be in West Africa or in that particular culture, you dress with the cloth and you learn their songs and they are thrilled that you are learning their language and wearing their clothes. So appropriation is not about using these things for our own benefit, but it’s about lifting up and respecting that culture. Roger We are almost out of time, but I want to give Mori Sensei the last word. So, think about what you’re going to say. Let me just say that I’ve been moved by talking with all of you, you know, outside this interview, the stories you’ve told me about how people respond saying, wow, I had no idea I could worship God in that way through my culture, through my art, and how it’s encouraging them, empowering them really. You are empowering the nations to say, God has given you these gifts to worship him, and it’s just such an important message. Thank you so much for the time and money you’ve spent to come all the way to Japan to share this with us. We really appreciate it. Mori Sensei, do you have any final comments? Mori Well, thank you very much. I’m so honored. Change is happening in the Japanese churches. It’s not only negative. In one church, 45 minutes away from Tokyo, they started using enka. Enka is very secular, many love songs. They were the songs church members' husbands especially loved. So they invited the husbands and did a couples' night. They served beer and they sang enka. And the people loved it. Actually, the wives loved it too. So, some changes are happening. Also, Japanese instruments—koto, shakuhachi, shamisen—are not widely used in the churches. I think that’s because nowadays Japanese people have grown up without those instruments nearby. But those who have, they should be invited to the churches to perform and make them feel at home. Still, the Japanese churches are very much under the control of pastors. So these gatherings would be excellent for the Japanese pastors to know and come attend, listen to, hear the stories. That’s probably the challenge for the near future. Roger Thank you. Thank you so much, all of you. I really appreciate it. God bless you. You've been listening to the Art Life Faith Podcast. To watch the video of this podcast or many other videos from the conference, please go to our website: www.communityarts.jp. As we say in Japan, “Ja, mata ne.” We'll see you next time.

From Nairobi's Zero Project Tech Forum: Steven Scott and Shaun Preece meet innovators using AI robots to teach deaf students STEM, digital avatars to interpret sign language at scale, and 3D printing to put custom prosthetics within reach across Africa. Day two of Double Tap's coverage from the Zero Project Tech Forum in Nairobi centres on communication and care. Steven Scott and Shaun Preece speak with three innovators whose work shares a common thread: using off-the-shelf technology and African-built data sets to solve problems that mainstream assistive tech has repeatedly overlooked. Maxwell Kamau, Partnerships Lead at ZeroBionic, introduces a Kenyan startup building AI-powered humanoid robots as learning aids for blind, visually impaired, deaf, and hard of hearing students. Their first product is a 3D-printed prosthetic arm, made from recycled plastic, that translates documents and video into sign language, trained on African sign language data sets that automatically adapt to the student's country. Their second product is a Braille-tagged STEM robotics kit designed for blind learners. Every component, from motors to microcontrollers, carries a Braille label so students can identify and assemble the parts by touch. The kit supports coding by voice, sign language, text, or drag-and-drop, and is aimed at learners from age five upwards. ZeroBionic is now presenting its new Braille education hardware, and is seeking manufacturing and distribution partners to reach schools that cannot afford commercial robotics kits. Winnie Ongiri, Operations Manager at Signvrse, explains how her Nairobi-based company has built an AI-powered digital sign language interpreter that converts speech and text into signing via lifelike customisable avatars. Rather than a standalone app, Signvrse is designed as an API, a foundational accessibility layer that other platforms can plug into. Currently operating at a two to three second response time, the team is working toward 500 milliseconds for genuinely real-time interpretation. Motion capture data is collected directly from deaf community members, and quality assurance is built around ongoing community involvement at every stage. Winnie addresses the displacement question directly: the technology is designed for places human interpreters cannot reach, such as websites and online video, rather than to replace them. Dr Nick Were, co-founder of Prothea in Kenya, describes how his company is using iPhone LiDAR scanning, proprietary 3D modelling software, and desktop 3D printing to produce custom-fitted prosthetic sockets in under 24 hours. Traditional methods take a week or more, and public facilities can take a month. The sub-millimetre accuracy of the digital workflow produces a more comfortable fit than a plaster cast, and the hub-and-spoke model means prosthetists can travel to remote patients with just an iPhone, send the scan file back to base, and have a printed socket shipped out. Prothea has served more than 700 patients and holds close to 600 scan files that could be used to train AI modelling, a partnership the team is actively seeking. Prothea operates as an implementing partner of Ugani Prosthetics, whose workflow and software were developed through university research in Belgium and are now being deployed across Africa, Asia, South America, and Europe. The episode closes with news that the Zero Project Tech Forum will continue to Mumbai in September, Tokyo on October 9th, Singapore in November, and Santiago de Chile also in November. Relevant Links
Zero Project: https://www.zeroproject.org
ZeroBionic: https://zerobionicafrica.com
Signvrse: https://signvrse.com
Prothea / Ugani Prosthetics: https://ugani.org/en/ ----Follow on:YouTube: https://www.doubletaponair.com/youtubeX (formerly Twitter): https://www.doubletaponair.com/xInstagram: https://www.doubletaponair.com/instagramTikTok: https://www.doubletaponair.com/tiktokThreads: https://www.doubletaponair.com/threadsFacebook: https://www.doubletaponair.com/facebookLinkedIn: https://www.doubletaponair.com/linkedinSubscribe to the Podcast:Apple: https://www.doubletaponair.com/appleSpotify: https://www.doubletaponair.com/spotifyRSS: https://www.doubletaponair.com/podcastiHeadRadio: https://www.doubletaponair.com/iheartAbout Double TapHosted by the insightful duo, Steven Scott and Shaun Preece, Double Tap is a treasure trove of information for anyone who's blind or partially sighted and has a passion for tech. Steven and Shaun not only demystify tech, but they also regularly feature interviews and welcome guests from the community, fostering an interactive and engaging environment. Tune in every day of the week, and you'll discover how technology can seamlessly integrate into your life, enhancing daily tasks and experiences, even if your sight is limited."Double Tap" is a registered trademark of Double Tap Productions Inc. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Dr. Mike Simpson is a former U.S. Army Ranger, Special Forces Green Beret, emergency medicine physician, and combat veteran. After serving with the 1st Battalion, 75th Infantry (Ranger), he went on to become a Special Forces Engineer and Medical Sergeant with the 7th Special Forces Group, deploying throughout Central and South America. Following his military service, he earned his medical degree and later served as an Army physician assigned to the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), deploying in support of the Global War on Terror. Dr. Simpson was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with "V" device for valor and the Combat Medical Badge. Today, he is a board-certified emergency medicine physician, a recognized expert in tactical trauma and combat sports medicine, an MMA fight physician, podcast host, and speaker. He is also known for his work as a member of the investigative team on two seasons of the History Channel series Hunting Hitler.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome, Friends and Patriots!I'm excited about today's show because we're taking a little stroll down Primrose Lane. But this is not the kind of stroll where birds sing and butterflies land on your shoulder. No, we are looking at the destruction of Leftism We are people-watching at the graveyard where we see those Democrat voters rising from the grave and WAKING UP! Democrats are hemorrhaging their old reliable voting blocs faster than Tucker Carlson is losing relevance. Women are waking up. Black folks are waking up. Even those purple-haired, pronoun-wielding, avocado-toast revolutionaries in Gen Z are starting to peek behind the curtain and realize the wizard is just a grumpy old socialist with a trust fund. Everywhere you look, the people who were supposedly locked into one political tribe for life are starting to ask questions. So what's driving it?Two things.First, the sheer exhaustion that comes from trying to live inside a Leftist fantasy novel. Democrats are outing themselves.Second, Donald Pugnacious Trump.Love him. Hate him. Whether you collect Trump bobbleheads or throw darts at his picture, whatever your preference, you cannot deny that the man changed politics…FOR THE BETTER.Forget the media or other professional naysayers who gaslight about Trump. The Trump Effect is a real thing. And it's not just a domestic fling; it's a global phenomenon. From Europe to South America, leaders are copying the Trump playbook because common sense is making a comeback. More on that another day. For today, we're staying stateside. We're talking about the long game Trump played after what we all know was a coup in 2020. And recall everything the man went through back then. The humiliation of having to accept defeat to JOE BIDEN.That's enough to put many people in a mental institution.He never stopped swinging. Every time they tried to bury him, he popped up like a Whac-A-Mole with better lawyers and sharper one-liners. And those punches about the stolen election? They landed then and are landing harder now. Jillian Michaels is a reality star from a show called The Biggest Loser.She became somewhat political over the years, and I'm willing to bet that she was a card-carrying Leftist for many years. Not that it matters but she is a Lesbian, so part of the Skittles community. And she's been red-pilled.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The name "Dr. Jonas Salk" is synonymous with one of the greatest public health achievements of all time: The Polio Vaccine. The arrival of Salk's vaccine in 1955 was a beacon of hope and reinforced the role science can play to serve the public good. When asked who owned the patent for the vaccine, Salk famously replied, "There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?" In 1994, and just one year before Dr. Salk passed, polio was considered eliminated in North and South America. Today, vaccine hesitancy - driven by a host of reasons - has eroded childhood immunization rates in some parts of the country, and reignited a debate over vaccines as a stress test for public trust in science.rnrnContinuing the work of Dr. Jonas Salk is his son, Dr. Peter L. Salk. A graduate from Harvard University and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, he would go on to work in his father's laboratory at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies from 1972 to 1984, and again from 1991 to 1995. Together, they would research the biology and immunotherapy of cancer and autoimmune diseases, and develop an inactivated vaccine for HIV infection. Nowadays, Dr. Salk spends his time educating the public regarding his father's life and work and exploring approaches to reducing the severity of various public health problems. Since 2009, Dr. Salk has served as president of the Jonas Salk Legacy Foundation in La Jolla, California. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of Pittsburgh's School of Public Health, Department of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology.rnrnIn partnership with the Mt. Sinai Health Foundation, join us as Dr. Peter L. Salk sits down in conversation with Dr. Arthur Lavin, retired pediatrician and Co-Founder of Grandparents for Vaccines. Together, they will discuss the Salk legacy, the state of public trust in science, and the future of public health.

Several Brazilian women have come forward describing how a modeling recruiter connected to Jeffrey Epstein allegedly attempted to recruit them while they were teenagers pursuing careers in the fashion industry. According to accounts gathered by journalists, French modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel, a longtime associate of Epstein, approached young women in Brazil and other parts of South America with offers of modeling opportunities abroad. One Brazilian woman said Brunel visited her family home when she was 16 to persuade her mother to allow her to travel for a modeling contest in Ecuador. At the time, the family believed the opportunity was legitimate, unaware of Brunel's connections to Epstein. Investigators later found evidence that modeling agencies tied to Brunel were used to identify and recruit young women from South America and help arrange visas for them to travel to the United States.The accounts form part of a broader picture of how Epstein's network allegedly used the international modeling industry as a recruitment channel. Several women said they were approached with promises of fashion work, travel, or contests that could launch their careers, only later realizing they had been targeted by people linked to Epstein's circle. Brunel, who worked closely with Epstein and received financial backing from him for the agency MC2 Model Management, was later arrested in France on accusations including rape of a minor and trafficking-related offenses. He denied wrongdoing but died in a Paris prison in 2022 before standing trial, leaving many of the allegations about his role in recruiting young women for Epstein unresolved in court.to contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-epstein-chronicles--5003294/support.

NYU IHIF 2026 was full of insights and thought leadership from some of the best and brightest hospitality professionals in the industry.  In this episode of the Suite Spot, you will get to hear from some of the most influential and biggest names in hospitality in the exclusive interviews we were able to cover at the event.  NYU IHIF is the epicentre of hospitality brands, capital, and fast-paced dealmaking – opportunity moves fast, and so should you. This is where the rebound takes shape, where leaders uncover what's next, and where relationships turn into real transactions. Ryan Embree: Welcome to Suite Spot, where hoteliers check in, and we check out what’s trending in hotel marketing. I’m your host, Ryan Embree. Hello everyone. Welcome to another episode of the Suite Spot. This is your host, Ryan Embree and VP of Marketing here at Travel Media Group. Cassady Quintana: And I’m Cassady Quintana, Brand Ambassador here at TMG. Ryan Embree: And today we are fresh back from NYU IHIF 2026. My second time in attending this incredible event. Cassady, your first, what were your thoughts? Cassady Quintana: Yeah, I thought overall was a great event. A lot of optimism, especially as we’re heading into the summer season. So I thought, you know, the conversations that we heard on the panels and the ones that we were having with people were awesome, and a lot of you know, good things coming out of that. I feel like the biggest topics that I heard, there were three major takeaways I took from a lot of the panels and people we were talking to, but one being that K-shape economy that we’ve heard a lot about, right? We know that luxury is still outperforming while economy segments are feeling a little bit more of that pressure especially as we head into this summer season and looking at some of those trends. And then I think one of the biggest topics we have been talking about since the beginning of this year is the World Cup and how international travel we thought was gonna be booming. We were expecting a lot of busy hotels, but it’s kind of been on the softer side, and we’ve actually seen international travel dip a bit. So I think right now we’re kind of in that wait and see period of maybe you know people are waiting to see if their teams make it out of the group stages and then they’ll plan on booking a hotel. So keeping an eye on kind of that last minute travel. But the biggest topic that we were talking about a little bit last year, but the biggest one this year is AI and how hotels are using that within their systems. You know, there’s a lot of trends around using that for more personalization and being able to use it to look at your, you know, revenue optimization and how you’re performing online. So finding ways that we can use AI that doesn’t take the hospitality out of hospitality and doesn’t replace that human element. But that kind of went with that overarching theme of the entire event, which was sharpening the edge. So the thing I took from that is that the hotels that are really gonna win are the ones that are understanding their guests and using AI to further that, to further get to know their guests, to make that experience a little bit better. Ryan Embree: You know, and we had some incredible conversations and interviews with some professionals that we’re gonna share here in a second. But just to kind of jump on what Cassidy’s saying, we’re at a really cool inflection point in our industry right now as we go gear towards the busy travel season. So it’ll be interesting to see, you know, we had the opportunity to meet with development person from Minor hotels who’s looking to bring their brand into US and Canada, which will be very interesting. We know how they have a huge global footprint, a lot of interest early on in getting into the Americas. Uh, we then visited with AHLA and Kevin Carey and his team doing such wonderful work over there advocacy for our industry and some really cool initiatives that we were able to sit down with Kevin for a few minutes and chat about, uh, Jan Freitag from STR our hotel Data North Star and compass. They just released a revised forecast for the hospitality industry. So we went over some major points of that revised forecast and finally we got the opportunity to sit down with president and CEO Best Western Larry Cuculic. What a wonderful conversation about the best Western brand and how they are implementing, um, some of that AI and technology into their brand, and capitalizing on not only the World Cup, but also America 250. So wonderful insights that you’re only gonna find here on the sweet spot. Thank you for joining us. We hope you enjoy these exclusive interviews from NYU IHIF 2026. Hello everyone. Welcome to another episode of The Sweet Spot. We are live on location at NYU IHIF 2026 here with Genna, the VP of US and Canada Development for Minor Hotels. Genna, thank you so much for taking the time to stop and the busy big apple and talk with us today. Genna Panagopoulos: Thanks for having me. Ryan Embree: Excited about, this show. A lot of energy, a lot of buzz. You know, when you come to an NYU talking to ownerships, a lot of capital here, what are the conversation kind of stem around, and what does a successful NYU show look like as you head back to your home base? Sure. Genna Panagopoulos: Successful NYU would really be finding some deals, perpetuating some deals. So hopefully advancing some opportunities and it’s really all about for right now because we’re relatively new into the region. Educating our owners and the, the broader development community. So, you know, some of, some of the players do already know us, but in the luxury space, but there’s a lot of people we gotta get out in front of and introduce Minor hotels to. Ryan Embree: And this is a great place and, obviously a great city to do that in. What has been kind of the feedback? I mean, you’ve been tasked with this enormous job. We have such a great brand, worldwide, you’re bringing it here to us, Canada, and North America. What have been some of those initial conversations and hearing that and initial interest and feedback from owners? Genna Panagopoulos: Yeah, we’ve had a lot of feedback and interest on Anantara. So some of our, you know, established luxury brands that are pretty well known when you know the luxury hotel space in a global environment. Sure. So those owners have actually come to us saying, we’re really excited about the opportunities here. So that’s one piece. Of course we have NH Hotels, NH collection, and NH, which are very well known brands, especially in Mediterranean, Europe. Yeah. And, Central and South America. So there’s excitement around that too. Ryan Embree: Does it help, I mean, having such an international brand, we got the World Cup here, right? In a couple months. You kind of using that as maybe some momentum as you kind of come into, and introduce this brand into the Americas. Genna Panagopoulos: Absolutely. There’s a lot of, you know, I’m also educating Minor of the markets we wanna be in and so that’s definitely helping as well and putting some places on the map. Ryan Embree: And let’s talk about that because there’s been some announced projects already right here actually in New York. Talk about that project a little bit. Genna Panagopoulos: Yes. Thanks for asking too. We have a Worsely Hotel that’s opening, here next year. It’s gonna be super exciting because Worsely is a restaurant brand that we are taking into the hotel space. So it’s the first of its kind and nowhere better than to start in New York comes from London. So there’s a lot of correlation between the two markets. Ryan Embree: One of a kind hospitality venue and a one of a kind city, so. Exactly. But another project we’re really excited about just ’cause we’re home based, obviously in Orlando right down the road, a bright line away in Miami. Talk to us a little bit about that project and how that’s different. Yeah, Genna Panagopoulos: It’s a high rise building built in Miami. Hasn’t started construction yet, but it’ll open in 2030. It’ll be an Anantara hotel with branded residences, both private branded residences and, um, ones that will be able to be rented to hotel guests as well. Super wellness oriented. There’s gonna be a really extensive spa. Right. Very experiential. Wonderful for the residents that are gonna be buying, the residence. Ryan Embree: It’s incredible. It sounds like you guys are really taking care of all of the kind of popular travel trends right now. Right. FMB has really had this resurgence in hospitality with the project here. Wellness, obviously a huge piece of what hospitality is leaning into and what travelers are looking forward to. So having that flexibility between the brands too, I’m sure is a definitely a fun place to be when having these conversations with owners. But you talked about another project in Turks and Caicos. Genna Panagopoulos: Turks and Caicos. So we have an Anantara in Turks and Caicos that I believe will open in 2029. So in order we’ll have one in New York next year, and then 29 on Ontario trips and Caicos 2030, Miami. Ryan Embree: So no shortage of news on the Minor Hotel side. Congratulations to you and your team. Thank you. As you wrap up, I mean, what’s your vision? What’s your goal? As you bring Minor Hotels into the North American region? Genna Panagopoulos: Yeah. Well, if I think about next year at NYU, I hope people, more people are coming towards us. Excited about us being a different brand a different mindset. So we offer, we think of ourselves a little bit differently from the parent brands that are already established here because we have, you know, ownership still of most of our portfolio or we lease most of our portfolio. Um, so I hope there’s more inbound traffic coming towards my way. I hope people generally just walking down the street know us a little bit more. Certainly. You know, white Lotus helped us with Anantara, so there’s a lot of people who Oh, yes, are are diehard Anantara fans because of that. But that’s what I’m hoping for. And eventually we’d love to have an office here. So as long as we do our, our, our work, right, we, we get a strong pipeline, we’ll be able to have an office, a regional office in, in North America. Ryan Embree: Incredible. Well, super exciting. Can’t wait to catch up on all the exciting projects that you have at Minor Hotels. This is the first of a couple collaborations we’ll be doing with Minor hotels, so make sure you stay tuned. Congratulations again, Genna. And thank you for taking the time to speak with us today. Genna Panagopoulos: Thanks for having me. Ryan Embree: Hello everyone. Welcome to another episode of The Suite Spot. We are live on location, New York City at NYU IHIF. I’m here with Kevin Carey, President and CEO of the AHLA Foundation and COO of AHLA. Kevin, not your first time on the Suite Spot. Appreciate you taking some time and joining me here today. Kevin Carey: It’s lways a pleasure to spend time with you. Ryan Embree: Yeah, it’s fun.Incredible event so far. NYU obviously AHLA, AHLA Foundation Forward has a huge presence here. What does, you know, when you come to the event like this, we always talk in hospitality, these events are always going to exist no matter what. Technology comes down the pike because hospitality, we’re people, right. We like connecting. What is a successful NYU IHIF look like for you and your team? Kevin Carey: Well, It’s always an important period of time in the year at, as we approach midyear to check in with our members, to have that conversation about the advocacy issues we’re leading on behalf of the industry to hear how the business performance is tracking as well. And just to build enthusiasm and engagement for the events and the initiatives that we’re leading, not only in the association, but with the foundation as well. Ryan Embree: And none more important than the No Room for Trafficking initiative that you and your team have done some fabulous work on. I mean, we have all sorts of brands up on stage, sometimes with differing opinions here and there, but one cause that everyone in our industry has really gotten behind, and it’s the work of you and your team, is this No Room for Rrafficking? We always like to spread awareness of this. Talk to us a little about, about on that front and the progress you’re seeing and making. Kevin Carey: Well, this is a longstanding commitment that the industry has to human trafficking prevention and awareness. It started in 2019 with the development of the No Room For Trafficking Initiative and its focus on training and expanded in 2022 to include the Survivor Fund. So this is an area where AHLA and the foundation specifically serves as a convening entity to bring the industry together to rally around this important issue to work, to build awareness that’ll drive prevention of human trafficking, and also to gather funds to help support survivors. So this is a commitment not only on a longstanding basis, but also on a going forward basis as well. Ryan Embree: And such inspiring stories that you’ve told over the years. And people, you know, hoteliers and other people listening to this can really get behind and encourage people to kinda look at that initiative. Another kind of initiative that you’ve done in these events that, when we’re talking about these events is forward. We had a record breaking attendance a couple months ago in the spring. Talk to us about how that is. And you actually have some of those the forward initiatives here at NYU. Kevin Carey: We do within the foundation, our mission is to advance the workforce of the industry. And we do that through a focus not only on the current workforce, those over 2 million associates and colleagues who deliver hospitality day to day, but also how do we attract the future workforce to the industry. I talked about being a convening entity. The foundation brings together the industry across all segments. And there’s two areas where we believe we can make a difference. One is around human trafficking that we just spoke about, but also around the forward initiative which is geared towards, and its purposes to advance women in the hospitality industry and in leadership roles in the hospitality industry. So we were delighted to host our most recent forward conference in Atlanta, back in April. And the results were outstanding but really the momentum and the impact that that forward is having is really, which has us so enthusiastic and committed to this initiative moving forward. Ryan Embree: Yeah, that’s gotta be so cool to see industry leaders in hospitality raise their hands and want to be a part of this movement and really see the results from that. Kevin Carey: Well, it’s grown from just being a conference, that started in 2018 and had about 150 people at the first event to now over 1100 attendees. But as it as it has expanded from a conference to a leadership development curriculum. And you mentioned the forward exchange, which took place, here in New York earlier today, where it brought together over a hundred early and mid stage career and professionals of women and some men who are participating along with their peers to focus on networking and building those relationships so they can be well suited and take on roles, over time in the industry. Ryan Embree: Really cool to see. And again, probably some incredible stories coming from that over the years as the as the initiative matures. One thing that, that hospitality in general, really looking forward to, we got big summer, right? We’re usually really excited about summer is just ’cause of the travel season, kids being outta school. But this summer in particular, we’ve been looking forward to for a couple years. We got World Cup on the horizon, finally. We played just a couple miles from here and in America 250. What are you kind of hearing from hoteliers and how are AHLA really, gearing up for these big events, showcasing our industry? Kevin Carey: Well, these are really defining opportunities, for the industry to support those guests to welcome that demand, to drive the hospitality infrastructure over time. So there’s a lot of enthusiasm around the potential that that represents and as we’ve seen on stage already today the results in the first part of the year for the industry have been positive. a number of the outlooks are increasing the Revpar and ADR and other industry metrics, here with the these large events we are still waiting to see some of the demand materialize and we’re in a critical period of time right now, about 10 days out before the games to see that hopefully what’ll be a late surge in bookings, then translate into further business success for the industry. Ryan Embree: Yeah. Hopefully, and hopefully see that international travel continue to come back to North America, you know, a lot of hoteliers, hoping for that. Zooming in a little bit on a AHLA summertime, also time for interns, right. Come in and we’ve talked about this before. I mean, internships, mentorship in hospitality. So critical. I mean, throughout the years we’ve had these staffing shortages and we’ve talked about getting creative, our industry, getting creative on ways to fill those roles, internships being one of them. Talk about a little bit about the AHLA internship program and what these interns are are ready for this summer. Kevin Carey: Well, it’s not new. We’ve had a well established program from a number of years now. And, and we’re excited annually to bring a number of interns into our team across each function. we’ll have an interns in the government affairs team, in marketing, in the foundation. it’s so refreshing to engage them in our work to see their enthusiasm about their future to see them pick up valuable skills and experience of being in an office environment, learning more. And you know what? They, they have a real impact. They have some fun along the way as well and we have a wonderful session at the end where they get to present the results of some of the work in the initiatives that they’ve been working on. So it’s an annual opportunity that we look very forward to. And they’ll be starting just in about a week’s time. so it’ll be a great another repeatevent for us. Ryan Embree: Yeah. Love to see it. You know, again, any way that we can have more exposure to all sides of hospitality. Beause as we know, it’s not just, you know, the front desk. There’s so many elements to it and there’s none more demonstrated by how big our hospitality industry is than by the hospitality show that you put on. And this year is gonna be right in our backyard. In Miami, Florida. Get us a little bit excited about what we can expect at this year’s fourth annual. This is our fourth Hospitality Show, correct? Kevin Carey: So we started in Vegas, went to San Antonio, we’re in Denver last year. A lot of enthusiasm coming out of Denver for the content. And then what’s unique about the hospitality show is it’s really the only conference in the industry with a focus on operations and how operations is driving profitability. So there’s a terrific enthusiasm and people are looking forward to being in Miami, coming together in Q4, all segments of the industry represented. So we’ll have the brands we’ll have management companies, owners, service providers, suppliers, independent hotels also play an important role in the industry. So we’re about to open registration and that’ll really kickstart, the focus on November 2-4 in Miami. Ryan Embree: Well we’re looking forward to it. We’re hoping to go 4/4 on covering the hospitality show. Especially with it being right there in our backyard. Kevin, we know you’re busy. Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us today on some of these important initiatives. And hopefully we’ll see you in Miami in just a few months. Kevin Carey: Hopefully I have something else on. Ryan Embree: Alright. Appreciate it. Thanks. Kevin Carey: Thank you so much. Ryan Embree: Hello everyone. Ryan Embree. here live at NYU IHIF 2026 here with Jan the National Director of Hospitality Analytics at CoStar. Jan, you were just on a panel. Thanks for taking the time to jump off and speak with us. Jan Freitag: Absolutely. Ryan Embree: State of the state, love the name obviously you’re the north star of hospitality data out there. Jan, revised forecasts just came out. Talk to us a little bit about those points that you were sharing with the audience today. Jan Freitag: So we’re suggesting that RevPAR this year is gonna grow 2.8%, which is very different from the way we looked at the world at the ALIS Hotel Investment Conference. First quarter performance was much more stronger than we had expected than the public traded companies had expected the brands or the …. And a lot of them have revised their year end forecast up. So, you know, we followed suit. Now they, most of them just revised their forecast by the outperformance of Q1. But we’re suggesting No, no, there’s momentum. So we actually took our forecast up by a lot more to 2.8%, 2% driven by ADR and 0.8 by occupancy, which is really good to see. ’cause it implies that demand is outpacing supply. You know, so we get occupancy gains and then some pricing power. Ryan Embree: Love to see that. I mean we were here a year ago with Amanda who is talking about trying to decipher through the noise, a lot of noise right now. But great to see the momentum with those revisions and so important to have those revisions because the landscape can change ever so rapidly as you know. But talking about the supply, talk to us a little bit, go into a little bit more in depth and then obviously every market is different. What markets right now are running a little bit hot on supply? Jan Freitag: Yeah, so fational forecast for Supply goes to 0.4%, not a whole lot. Right. The long run average is 1.6, so we’re well below that. The number of rooms in construction used to be between, we know, 150,000 – 160,000. It’s now 140,000. So it’s sort of staying there. It’s just so expensive to get anything done. And interest rates are still high and could go higher. Who knows, we’re not making interest rate forecast. But you know, there’s definitely no longer this idea of how we should cut, you know, interest rates twice this year or so. I think those days are gone, you know, and so now the question is, okay, so where are people getting things done? And you can look at it by markets. So a couple of them are usual suspects. So Nashville, very strong, Dallas, Houston, Denver, Phoenix. So those are markets sort of in the smile states, sort of in the Sunbelt that still get a lot of people moving there. And you know, migration determines the economic performance. And so we’re seeing a lot more room supply growth there, but there’re just a lot of markets where it’s very, very hard to get anything done because of that higher cost of construction and of the higher interest rate. So I would single out those markets, but overall the picture is rather muted. On the supply side. So what that means then, for existing owners is the time to renovate is right now percent. Because you want to be the new kid on the block with the new hotel, there’s not a lot of new competition coming. This is time to renovate and really put your best foot forward. Ryan Embree: A hundred percent. And you know, one of the other topics we talked about, or you talked about rather on stage was segments right now luxury, doing very, very well leading the way. Obviously a lot of bifurcation, that K-shaped economy. What are you seeing across the segments right now? Jan Freitag: Yeah, I mean there are no wrong answers in luxury, right? I mean, luxury last year was the winner. This year is the winner. We’re projecting, very healthy RevPAR growth double of what we’re saying for the nation. We think the luxury class can materialize. And then what’s really nice to see is that for upscale upper midscale midscale, there’s also RevPAR growth there, which we hadn’t seen last year. And to me that speaks to the strength really of the American economy. But it sort of permeates toward all income classes. Now the exception is was and unfortunately will be likely the economy sector now even there we’re suggesting RevPAR’s growing, but it’s just, you know, 0.8% call that flat for all intent and purposes. Ryan Embree: International travel too, obviously World Cup on the heels of this. What are you see any interesting data points there you wanna share just right ahead of the America 250 and World Cup? Jan Freitag: There are two very different vibes coming from the panel that I was on. Adam Sacks prior to US presenting was talking about, oh wow, international inbound is really still quite a bit lower than it was in 2019. But the gentleman from the NTTO, the National Travel Tourism Organization was like, no, we’re projecting rock and roll, really strong growth of international inbound. The truth is probably gonna somewhere in the tween this year. World Cup is gonna drive a lot of international travelers. What I’m wondering about though is are some of those travelers basically stealing from 2025 and from 2027 and now they’re saying, oh, let’s not go in 25, let’s go in 26. And then when next year comes around, they’re like, we just went to the us you know, and not go in 27 either. So I just hope that the more positive spin from the government comes true and this and, and not that we’re just sort of packing everything into this year and then international inbound is gonna deteriorate. Ryan Embree: So many interesting data points. Anyone in particular you have your eyes on where, you know, obviously we love a nice rosy outlook and try to look for opportunities through all of the data that’s out there, but anyone’s that are like unexpected data points or something that you’re at least keeping an eye on right now? Jan Freitag: Yeah, so there are a couple, but the one that I’m really focused on is consumer price index. Everything is getting more expensive and so that means that hotels will see their cost increase. And the big question then is how much of that cost increase can they pass on to the customer? And I just told you that our ADR forecast for this year is 2% and inflation is gonna be what, 3.5 or something? I mean, it’s gonna be much more than that outpacing that. So that’s really the crux and I think that’s what we here at NYU, to talk to owners and investors and management companies have figure out, okay, so how can we keep our margins expanding even maybe how do you do that in this environment where top line growth may be not keeping pace with with inflation. So the CPI number is really something I’m keeping an eye on. Ryan Embree: Yeah, pretty challenging time right now. when it comes to margins and hospitality that we, again, trying to suss out and figure out here, what are those maybe opportunistic data points that you’re seeing that you’re saying this, this is really good, maybe unexpected on the other end of the spectrum? Jan Freitag: Yeah, I think the Americans are wealthier than they ever have been. And Adam Sachs has this fascinating data point where he shows at the emerge that the middle class in America is shrinking, but part of it is because a lot more people are rich. So people are moving up the income chain and that allows ’em then to spend more money on experiences, very clear that people favor experiences over goods. And we are right in that Suite Spot. Ryan Embree: That continues to be the experience over stuff. We love to see that. And then you’re kind of here celebrating an anniversary/birthday of your podcast, is it? You know you’re, you’re usually, typically used to be in the host, not so much the guests, so thank you. Tell us a little bit more and maybe where our hotel audience can find the insights that you provide. Jan Freitag: Yeah, and thank you for having me. So we have our own podcast. My colleague Isaac Collazo from STR and myself get together once a month. It’s called Tell Me More, A Hospitality Data podcast. And three years ago at juniors across the street over cheesecake, we sort of hatched the idea. And so now we’re, I don’t know, like, you know, almost 30 episodes into it. And we get together once a month and we just sort of riff on the data and hopefully you can join us. Ryan Embree: I love it. That’s awesome. Well, Jan, thank you so much. Very busy time. Appreciate you stopping by and talking to us. Jan Freitag: My pleasure. Thank you so much. Ryan Embree: Alright. Hello everyone. Ryan Embree here with the Suite Spot. We are live at NYU IHIF 2026 here with Larry Cuculic, President and CEO of BWH Hotels. Larry, thank you so much for taking time outta your busy schedule to join us here on the Suite Spot. Larry Cuculic: It’s my absolute pleasure. Thank you for the invitation and for allowing me to share some thoughts with regard to the success and BWH hotels. Ryan Embree: Yeah. We’ve got a lot to cover cause you’ve got a lot going on right now. But let’s start with this event, right? NYU IHIF, lot of major brands here what does a successful NYU look like for you and your team? Larry Cuculic: To us, a successful NYU is interacting with developers and investors such that they’re aware of what BWH has become. We’re now 18 brands, over 4,000 hotels in over a hundred countries and territories from premium economy up to luxury hotels. We acquired world hotels about six years ago. And so it really is continuing to educate about the possibilities of their associating with BWH hotels because we would be singularly focused on their success if they partner with us. And you’re also in a powerhouse panel tomorrow, the Executive Exchange Hospitality Performance Strategies for Success give our audience a little bit a sneak peek of what you’re gonna be talking about on stage. Larry Cuculic: Well, we’re gonna be talking about of course, the economy near term as well as long term projections for what that looks like. we’ll be talking about the importance of loyalty programs. We’ll be talking about the impact of really the economy and things like labor insurance and how we as brands need to focus on the success of our hotels by offering them programs to really offset that impact on net RevPAR. Ryan Embree: And I’m sure one of the subjects and topics that we brought up on your panel, certainly something we talk about these hospitality events is, AI and technology. And we had the privilege of having SVP and your CTO Bill Ryan on at the Hospitality Show a couple months in October, gave us a little bit of lay of the land when it came to AI and technology. How do you feel personally that this technology is really changing the way that travelers choose hotels, but also how they have their hotel experience, their guest experience? Larry Cuculic: Sure. So the first thing we’re doing is we’re reinvesting in our .com as well as our app. And we want them to be easy to use intuitive, but we also wanna make sure they have content that convinces guests when they’re shopping that our hotels will provide them kind of that customization and personalization. ’cause it’s not about a commodity, a hotel room, it’s about all those things that we can offer. By way of example we’re partnering with an AI agency to kind of harvest content with regard to where our hotels are located in those communities. At the same time, we’ll take that harvested content and we’ll filter it through our hoteliers who live in those communities and create the content that will be the AI answer when somebody’s looking for a place to stay. And they’ll know that we want them to have the best possible time while we’re in that community, not just staying with us as a hotel, that we recognize that people don’t want just to stay, they want really a journey. Ryan Embree: Yeah. Something that we aspire in hospitality to provide that not just a hotel stay, but an experience. And we talked to Joelle Park about the power of storytelling and how that can play a component in one of the best stories, obviously that you just had a really exciting announcement with is America 250 and the story of this great nation. So talk to us a little bit about that partnership and what BWH Hotels is doing with America 250. Larry Cuculic: Well, we are a sponsor of America 250, and we’re encouraging our hoteliers to embrace the 250th anniversary of the birth of our nation. And part of that is not just USA 250, we also have the 100th anniversary of Route 66. We have hotels that have been with us, believe it or not, we have a hotel that’s been with us 75 years. And it speaks to the heritage of our brand. So we’ll be leaning into the history of this great country. At the same time we’ll be leaning into the history of our great brand and encouraging people to travel and see the United States and all that it has to offer no matter where you go. And the beauty of our hotels we have 2200 of them in North America and wherever they’re going to go, we want them to know that we have a hotel that will meet their travel leads such that they can experience really the 250th anniversary of USA. Ryan Embree: Yeah. It’s a really exciting partnership right in at an inflection point with the World Cup as well. So introducing maybe some international travel also to the brand and the nation. You know, you’re a great following on LinkedIn. I encourage our audience, if you haven’t, make sure you follow Larry, but one of the things you’re reflecting on your North American regional conferences that you’ve done up to this point in 2026 and you quoted to say that you want BWH hotels to become the most welcoming brand in the world. What does that mean to you and how is your team working to achieve that? Larry Cuculic: Well, welcoming means that we’re gracious hosts, but it also means that we’re, I’ll call it easy to do business with understanding, being flexible and recognizing that we are somebody you’d want to be partners with. Whenever anyone walks into a hotel we should tell them, you know, welcome, we’re glad you’re here by way of example. But I used to think of it that way in terms of being gracious host and everything that happens at the hotel, but when I think of welcoming, I also want to think about our new.com and app. Again, it’s that ease of use and personalization so that when you go there, we know it’s you and we want to help you make good decisions with regard to travel. So welcoming is about ease of.com, the app we’re redoing our loyalty program. I think Joel probably talked to you about that. And we want the loyalty program to be welcoming as well. Well, what does that mean? Well, that means that when you interact with us, you’ll know how many points you have. You’ll know they never expire. You’ll know that you can use them to buy down the price of a room at any point. That you don’t have to, to have as many points for a full stay to leverage those points. It’s a value of the program. And of course welcoming. I always lean into the importance of being not just a gracious host, but somebody that appreciates our guests. To me, that’s welcoming because you have to recognize that people, they’re traveling with their families, it’s something that you wanna leave a terrific impression on them and their family. And you also want them to know that we appreciate that they’ve spent their hard-earned money staying with us. To me, that’s being appreciative gracious hosts. And that’s part of the welcoming. It’s not, the welcoming doesn’t just happen when they enter. Welcoming has to be entire stay. Ryan Embree: So key. And the brands that kind of make that connection with their travelers, especially in a time where, I mean, we just talked about in this interview AI technology, there’s way more places become disconnected, to find that connection, that human to human connection. Very important right now. So as we wrap up the interview, obviously at these events we’re always, whether it’s the hospitality data we’re looking into, whether it’s a conversation, we’re always trying to take a glimpse into the future, trying to predict that future. Larry what do you see, what’s your vision for the future of BWH Hotels. Larry Cuculic: People will always wanna travel. And for us, if we can become that welcoming brand that appreciates our guests, we will build that loyalty. When we build that loyalty, that program will grow. Our revenue delivery brand direct will grow which is the lowest cost for us in terms of that reservation for our hoteliers but what I think I would also offer to you is we’re also very focused on thoughtful growth. And what that means is if you grow your loyalty program, you also wanna make sure you have hotels that are in locations where guests want to go. Be it London, be it Rome, be it Frankfurt, be it Bangkok, no matter where it is around the world. And so, you know, we have a, a focus goal of 5,000 hotels, which means we will grow thoughtfully, but with our guests in mind. And because when we have a hotel join us, our sole focus is the success of that hotel as well as having a quality hotel where guests want to go. Ryan Embree: That’s awesome. Well, we wish you nothing but success. Hopefully maybe can join the Suite Spot when that 5,000 hotel opens and we can celebrate that together. But in the meantime, thank you, Larry, for taking the time out of your day to join us here on the Suite spot. Larry Cuculic: Well, thank you. Thank you for the opportunity. Very much appreciate it. Speaker 2: To join our loyalty program, be sure to subscribe and give us a five star reading on iTunes. Suite Spot is produced by Travel Media Group. Our editor is Brandon Bell with Cover Art by Bary Gordon. I’m your host Ryan Embree, and we hope you enjoyed your stay.

What if you never made a cold call, never sent a cold email, and still built a global agency with 140 clients across four continents? In this episode, Joel Strauss, founder of Strauss Communications, shares how being fired at the start of Covid with zero clients led to building a boutique PR agency that has now worked with over 140 companies across four continents. Almost every single one came through a relationship. Joel's story has three chapters: starting the business, scaling it, and saving it. Each one hinged on a personal relationship at exactly the right moment. Including the meeting in Madrid that pulled his agency back from the brink after October 7th changed everything overnight.   [00:03:30] What He Does and Who He Serves Runs Strauss Communications, a boutique PR agency for tech startups Services cover organic media coverage, content, and social media 95% of clients are tech companies; most are referred through relationships [00:04:30] How He Got Into PR Idealized politics; left after nearly two years deeply unhappy Quit, traveled South America, then went on a boys' trip to Montreal Met his brother's former roommate who connected him to a PR firm in Tel Aviv He packed up everything in New York and moved within two weeks [00:06:00] The Introduction That Started Everything His brother's former roommate saw a fit between his background and the agency The firm had political and tech clients; Joel had just enough experience to be relevant That one connection opened the door to a new industry and a new country Every step of his career since traces back to that trip to Montreal [00:07:00] What Inspires Him Gets a bird's eye view of tech across fintechs, AI, semiconductors, and more Works directly with founders, CMOs, and CEOs of innovative companies Has helped companies go from unknown to dominant positions in their markets [00:08:30] Client Impact A niche plywood replacement client started getting people knocking on their door from PR alone Several clients successfully raised investment rounds after investors cited media coverage All contracts are month to month; some clients have stayed for over three years Retaining clients through results rather than contracts is the proof of delivery [00:11:30] Starting the Business: The Boss Who Fired Him Was called into a hearing to be fired at the start of Covid Kept his cool and told his boss he understood and didn't take it personally That same boss became a mentor and referred several of his first clients Joel's wife co-founded the business with him; their relationship has been foundational [00:13:00] Scaling the Business: A Former Colleague A former colleague he stayed close with over the years eventually joined his team That person brought in key client relationships that led to major results The companies he helped raise in the US all came through this one relationship Maintaining cordial connections over time is what made it possible [00:13:30] Saving the Business: The Madrid Meeting After October 7th, Israeli tech clients sent staff into reserve duty overnight Lost half the client base almost overnight A founder from South America emailed out of nowhere; they met in Madrid by chance That relationship became a client and turned the company around [00:17:00] Vision Going Forward Wants to scale without sacrificing service quality Growing through relationships rather than cold outreach remains the core model Using AI to handle busy work so the team has more time with clients Boutique, high-quality, and relationship-driven is the identity they will not trade away [00:19:30] What Makes Them Different Most agencies charge $15,000 to $25,000 a month and put junior staff on accounts At Strauss Communications, senior people handle everything Contracts are month to month; they have to earn it every single time That pressure is what keeps the work sharp and the results consistent [00:20:00] Why He Started His Own Agency Was hired in-house at a tech company and told to bring in expensive PR firms It was him landing TechCrunch and Reuters; the firms were getting paid for his work Saw the gap and built an agency that actually delivered at the senior level [00:23:30] Thinking Broader Than Coverage Most agencies just pitch placements; Strauss Communications thinks strategically Also offers white papers and content with both PR and marketing value Measurable deliverables make it easier for marketing teams to justify the spend A webinar built from one piece of content recently generated 150 sign-ups [00:25:00] Final Word: Relationships Are a Cultural Advantage Noticed that relationship building is more open in Israel and Spain than in the US In the US, getting to the CEO requires going through several gatekeepers first Being of service and being known for it builds a reputation that compounds over time   KEY QUOTES "Every step of my story is intimately intertwined with personal relationships." - Joel Strauss "A lot of good and innovation can happen when people are more open to giving of themselves and giving their time." - Joel Strauss CONNECT WITH JOEL STRAUSS Website: https://www.strausscomms.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joelstrauss1   Thanks for tuning in! If you liked my show, please LEAVE A 5-STAR REVIEW, like, and subscribe! Find me on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | iHeart Radio | Stitcher

Where in the world am I? In San Diego, talking about Sao Paolo, Brazil Welcome back to the  Dr. Mary Travelbest Guide podcast. The FAQ is: Leslie asked, "After my injury/ operation, I'm concerned about travel. Can you tell me how hard it is to resume my former Step (1-5) for Travel? How should I set my expectations for future travel after I am healed? Answer:  The step for your next travel may be different than your last trip. For example, you may have been on an African safari, and that was a Step 5. Now you have had a broken bone, or you have had surgery, and you are wondering how to get back out there on your next adventure. You may need to re-group, drop down a step or two, and figure out your confidence again. You can always go on an overnight trip to a nearby city and start with Step 1 travel once again. There may be some things you missed or never saw that you've been meaning to visit, and now would be a good time to do so. I am not a medical doctor, so follow your doctor's advice on travel.   60-second confidence challenge Your challenge today, Confidence Challenge in Sao Paulo If you like today's Confidence Challenge, my book series delves deeper into health and wellness, while moving through the 5 steps to solo travel, from easy to more challenging, with foreign language communication tips and ways to improve your fun while solo, including areas like Sao Paolo, Brazil. You can find the series at the link in the description.    See Book A for addressing this concern. Look for Part C, which is coming soon. Find it on the website​​ at https://www.5stepstosolotravel.com/ or on Amazon. It's a several-part series. Today's destination is São Paulo, Brazil.   São Paulo is the capital of Brazil and home to 22M people, a Step 5 destination.   São Paulo is worth seeing for women who like culture, neighborhoods, museums, and food, but it is not the easiest first-choice city in South America for a solo woman over 50. It can feel gray, crowded, and tiring. The traffic is real. The scale is real. The safety concerns are real. But if you stay in the right area, move with intention, and do not try to conquer the whole city, you can have a rich two-day visit that feels strong, smart, and independent.   I booked a cheap place on a travel website in São Paolo near the airport. Please listen to my mistakes at the end to understand why not to do that.   If you just arrived, you may want to take the metro into town. Get a 24-hour pass for about $.-5 Or just buy individual tickets. Metro here is free for people over 60, so just show your passport upon arrival at the station. I have a story at the end about that also.   If you are planning to go, here is a 2-day itinerary, along with a few of my comments. Day 1: Start with the easier parts of the city Morning: Avenida Paulista and MASP area Begin on Avenida Paulista because it is one of the city's best-known and most practical starting points for a solo visitor. It is central, busy, and lined with museums, cafes, shops, and hotels. MASP is one of the city's landmark museums and a strong anchor stop, rather than just wandering without a plan. São Paulo's official visitor materials also highlight Paulista as one of the city's defining areas. Midday: Long lunch instead of overpacking the day Do not try to "do São Paulo" in one sweep. Build in a proper lunch near Paulista or Jardins. This city can wear you out. Traffic, sidewalks, noise, and decision fatigue are real. Afternoon: Parque Ibirapuera Head to Ibirapuera Park for a calmer second half of the day. Official city materials list it among the major attractions, and it is a better late-afternoon choice than pushing deeper into more chaotic areas when your energy is lower. Evening: Dinner close to your hotel This is where I would be critical. São Paulo is not the city where I would tell a solo woman to "go out and see what happens" at night. Have dinner in a well-reviewed area near where you are staying, and use a car service back if needed.  Day 2:  Morning: Liberdade Liberdade is one of São Paulo's signature neighborhoods and gives you a different side of the city. Go in the morning, when you are fresh, and the area feels more manageable. It is photogenic and culturally distinct. It felt like an asian-like atmosphere for me. I felt the Japanese and other asian cultural influences, which made it different than other parts of the city. What to watch out for: Do not confuse "interesting" with "relaxing." Some parts can feel crowded, messy, and overstimulating. Keep valuables out of sight and do not stand around consulting your phone at the curb. Lunch: Stay put, then move intentionally Have lunch there or in a nearby planned stop. Avoid zigzagging across the city without a clear reason. In São Paulo, too much transit can waste time and cause more hassle. Afternoon option A: Municipal Market, if you like food stops The Mercado Municipal is iconic and worth considering for a focused visit, not an all-day outing. Go, sample, look around, then leave. Afternoon option B: Easier finish in Jardins or back to Paulista If you want a smoother second day, return to a more polished area such as Jardins or the Paulista zone. This is the better choice if you are tired, jet-lagged, or feeling cautious. Evening: End early I would lean toward Paulista/Jardins rather than picking a cheaper stay in a less convenient area. That is not because those neighborhoods are risk-free. They are not. It is because being in a more established, service-rich area usually makes solo travel simpler and lowers friction. São Paulo can be rewarding, but it is not a city to treat casually. Official advisories warn about crime, including street crime, and São Paulo's own Metro provides a dedicated safety reporting channel, which tells you something important: security is an active issue, not an afterthought. "São Paulo is not the city to improvise, but it is a city that rewards a solo woman who travels with judgment." This is not the kind of destination I would describe as easy. It is not relaxed. It is not as charming as some other cities in Brazil. And it is definitely not a place where I would suggest that a solo woman just show up and wander around without a plan. But here is the honest part. Interesting does not always mean comfortable. Some areas can feel crowded and overstimulating. So go early, stay alert, and do not stand on a sidewalk corner looking down at your phone like a lost tourist. São Paulo can be rewarding, but it is not casual travel. You need to pay attention. I would not wear flashy jewelry. I would not hold my phone out while walking. I would not arrive in a brand-new neighborhood after dark. And I would not assume that a place is fine just because it looks busy. Busy does not always mean safe. Another point for women over 50: choose your hotel area carefully. I would spend a bit more to stay in a better-located neighborhood rather than save money and make every outing harder. In a city like São Paulo, convenience is not a luxury. It is part of your safety strategy. São Paulo is better for the traveler who can say, "I do not need this city to entertain me every minute. I just want to experience it intelligently." If you go, keep your schedule realistic, stay alert, and let the city come to you in pieces. You do not need to conquer São Paulo. You just need to experience the right parts of it with confidence. I was able to store my luggage at the airport for the day for about $10. Worth it, so I did not have to carry it all day. The storage is in Terminal 2: Arrivals. Turn left. Luggage storage- "Guarda-Volumes", near parking garage entrance at far end of terminal.    There is an express train from Luz to the city every 2 hours. It's called. "GRU Airport train " Or CPTM. Take the free GRU SHUTTLE BUS. See show notes for many details. Espresso aeroporto, 60 mins long was the ride. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A3o_Paulo_Museum_of_Art https://artsandculture.google.com/story/RAURhHm2wnzb1g   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jardim_da_Luz   https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g303631-d311969-Reviews-Pinacoteca_do_Estado_de_Sao_Paulo-Sao_Paulo_State_of_Sao_Paulo.html When I first arrived in Luz, I got off at Luz station. Beautiful building. Ornate. The Portuguese Language Center was located there, too, in the Parque de Luz. The police were guarding, but felt safe. Beautiful trees and a fresh smell after the rain. Walked to the Pina Art Museum. Lots of school groups. Modern. Plus some traditional: films, sculptures, paintings, 3d designs. Walked over a bridge to a long street still close to Luz. Walked about a mile. Stores and parking garages mostly. Optical, toys, and industrial products. Found Church of San Bento. Praying for them and others in this beautiful building. No video allowed. —————— My three Sao Paolo  missteps:    Spilling yogurt all over me early in the morning. Table, clothes, floor, everywhere. What a mess. Be more careful around yogurt containers.   In the San Bento metro station, the  Woman at the counter would not give me free subway access. She sent me to the ticket booth to buy a ticket. I showed my passport there, and she said,  Go back there. So I did. I told her my age. Finally, she smiled and let me pass. Maybe I looked too young for the free transport.   Booking a room near the airport that was not in a good neighborhood. Lots of reasons not to walk at night. Bars on the doors and windows here.   Thanks for listening, and I'll see you on the next journey. AI was used to select some of the suggestions for this episode.   Connect with Dr. Travelbest 5 Steps to Solo Travel website Dr. Mary Travelbest X Dr. Mary Travelbest Facebook Page Dr. Mary Travelbest Facebook Group Dr. Mary Travelbest Instagram Dr. Mary Travelbest Podcast Dr. Travelbest on TikTok Dr.Travelbest on YouTube In the news  

Fluent Fiction - Spanish: Courage Under City Lights: Mateo's Bold Leap to Success Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/es/episode/2026-06-12-22-34-01-es Story Transcript:Es: Mateo se encontraba en el vestíbulo del edificio más alto de Sudamérica, la Gran Torre Santiago, donde las luces de la ciudad parpadeaban a lo lejos, como estrellas en la noche.En: Mateo was in the lobby of the tallest building in South America, the Gran Torre Santiago, where the city lights flickered in the distance like stars in the night.Es: El evento de networking corporativo estaba en pleno apogeo.En: The corporate networking event was at its peak.Es: Los cristales ofrecían un espectáculo impresionante del paisaje urbano, mientras dentro, el sonido del murmullo de voces y el tintineo de copas llenaban el aire.En: The glass walls offered an impressive spectacle of the urban landscape, while inside, the sound of murmuring voices and clinking glasses filled the air.Es: Mateo, un joven profesional lleno de aspiraciones, miraba a su alrededor nervioso.En: Mateo, a young professional full of aspirations, looked around nervously.Es: Su objetivo de la noche era claro: impresionar a Lucía, una ejecutiva respetada en la industria.En: His goal for the evening was clear: to impress Lucía, a respected executive in the industry.Es: Sin embargo, la presencia de Carlos, su colega más experimentado, le hacía dudar de sus habilidades.En: However, the presence of Carlos, his more experienced colleague, made him doubt his abilities.Es: Carlos, con su carisma natural, parecía atraer la atención sin esfuerzo.En: Carlos, with his natural charisma, seemed to attract attention effortlessly.Es: Mateo sentía que se desvanecía en comparación.En: Mateo felt he faded in comparison.Es: Inspirado por las luces titilantes de Santiago, Mateo tomó una decisión.En: Inspired by the twinkling lights of Santiago, Mateo made a decision.Es: Dudaba sobre cómo acercarse a Lucía: podría esperar a que alguien lo introdujera o arriesgarse a hablar directamente con ella.En: He hesitated about how to approach Lucía: he could wait for someone to introduce him or take the risk of speaking directly to her.Es: Optó por el riesgo.En: He opted for the risk.Es: Sabía que el éxito requería valentía.En: He knew that success required courage.Es: Respiró hondo, enderezó su corbata negra y se dirigió con paso firme hacia Lucía, que conversaba animadamente cerca de la ventana.En: He took a deep breath, straightened his black tie, and walked confidently towards Lucía, who was chatting animatedly near the window.Es: "Buenas noches, Lucía," comenzó Mateo, con una confianza que no sentía por dentro.En: "Good evening, Lucía," Mateo began, with a confidence he didn't feel inside.Es: "Tengo unas ideas innovadoras para la empresa que creo que podríamos explorar."En: "I have some innovative ideas for the company that I think we could explore."Es: Lucía, sorprendida por el repentino enfoque directo de Mateo, sonrió con curiosidad.En: Lucía, surprised by Mateo's sudden direct approach, smiled with curiosity.Es: "Cuéntame más," le dijo, interesada en lo que el joven pudiera ofrecer.En: "Tell me more," she said, interested in what the young man might have to offer.Es: Mateo habló con entusiasmo, sus palabras alineadas con la pasión que sentía.En: Mateo spoke with enthusiasm, his words aligned with the passion he felt.Es: Explicó sus ideas, sus planes, y la visión que tenía para la compañía.En: He explained his ideas, his plans, and the vision he had for the company.Es: A medida que la conversación avanzaba, Lucía parecía más y más intrigada.En: As the conversation progressed, Lucía seemed more and more intrigued.Es: Sus ojos brillaban con atención, y Mateo se sentía más seguro a cada segundo.En: Her eyes shone with attention, and Mateo felt more confident every second.Es: Concluyó su presentación improvisada con una pregunta que había preparado de antemano.En: He concluded his impromptu presentation with a question he had prepared in advance.Es: "¿Qué opinas de organizar una reunión para discutir esto más a fondo?"En: "What do you think about arranging a meeting to discuss this further?"Es: Lucía asintió.En: Lucía nodded.Es: "Creo que tienes algo muy prometedor, Mateo.En: "I think you have something very promising, Mateo.Es: Me encantaría hablar más sobre tus ideas.En: I'd love to talk more about your ideas.Es: Organicemos una reunión para la próxima semana."En: Let's schedule a meeting for next week."Es: Una ola de alivio y satisfacción inundó a Mateo.En: A wave of relief and satisfaction flooded Mateo.Es: Había dado el paso.En: He had taken the step.Es: Había tomado el riesgo, y había valido cada instante de nerviosismo.En: He had taken the risk, and it had been worth every moment of nervousness.Es: Al final, comprendió que, a veces, un solo acto de valentía puede abrir puertas que antes parecían inalcanzables.En: In the end, he understood that sometimes, a single act of courage can open doors that once seemed unreachable.Es: Mientras Mateo se alejaba, pudo ver a Carlos observándolo con una sonrisa de aprobación.En: As Mateo walked away, he could see Carlos watching him with an approving smile.Es: Había superado sus inseguridades y comenzado su propio camino hacia el éxito.En: He had overcome his insecurities and started his own path toward success.Es: Y así, la fría noche de invierno en Santiago terminó llena de nuevas esperanzas y oportunidades para Mateo.En: And so, the cold winter night in Santiago ended filled with new hopes and opportunities for Mateo. Vocabulary Words:the lobby: el vestíbulothe tower: la torreto flicker: parpadearthe distance: la distanciathe peak: el apogeothe spectacle: el espectáculothe landscape: el paisajethe murmur: el murmullothe glasses: las copasthe aspiration: la aspiraciónto impress: impresionarthe executive: la ejecutivathe ability: la habilidadthe charisma: el carismato hesitate: dudarto straighten: enderezaranimatedly: animadamentethe idea: la ideainnovative: innovadorsudden: repentinothe passion: la pasiónto align: alinearto progress: avanzarthe relief: el aliviothe satisfaction: la satisfacciónthe courage: la valentíato flood: inundarto overcome: superarthe insecurity: la inseguridadthe opportunity: la oportunidad

Solo Motorcycle Travel Through South America with Lala BarlowLala Barlow was working in musical theatre in Melbourne, Australia, when the pandemic brought the industry to a halt. Drawn to motorcycles, mountains, and Patagonia, she spent years preparing for a solo motorcycle journey through South America, including a four-month shakedown ride across Australia. Lala shares what it takes to plan a major adventure, travel alone in unfamiliar countries, manage fear and uncertainty, and ride through Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile, and Patagonia. A conversation about preparation, perseverance, and turning a dream into reality.Links & ResourcesPhotos, links, and resources for this episodeMore episodes: Adventure Rider Radio and RAWSupport the show: Support ARRFollow Adventure Rider RadioInstagramFacebookAbout the PodcastSince 2014, Adventure Rider Radio has shared adventure motorcycle travel stories, Rider Skills, Deep Trouble episodes, tech and gear features, and conversations with riders from around the world. New episodes of ARR are released every Thursday, with new episodes of RAW released monthly on the 21st. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Singer/songwriter Emerson Magaña's childhood was filled with the rhythms of Central and South America. Born in Colima, Mexico, he first picked up guitar from his father. Eventually, nature, women, and tequila inspired him to write new original music. On this episode, Magana talks about his musical journey and how those songs became his debut album “Tequila Time” – an ode to his home in Mexico and his time playing at tourist resorts in the beautiful Barra de Navidad.

It's a busy Thursday Thoughts to get you ready for the world to chase a cupThere are coaching changes overseas to monitorKarn Saxena from FanPath comes by to talk about possibly helping your travel plans over the next 7 weeksHour 2 is the Power Hour with FuboTV's Nino Torres on South America and Sounder at Heart/PulsoSports Niko Moreno on the host countries heading in

Our preview and prediction ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. How will the host nations of Canada, the USA, and Mexico fare? And will England, Portugal, Spain, and France live up to expectations? We could be on course for a last Ronaldo versus Messi match-up, but can Brazil and Argentina bring further success to South America? Plus, Omar Artan was denied entry to the United States, meaning that he won't be able to referee at this World Cup. And Eddie asks what Gianni Infantino was doing sucking up to Donald Trump if it can't even guarantee entry for key officials. 

Save the date for the 2027 Ag View Solutions Executive Business Conference, happening January 20-22, 2027, at Margaritaville Resort in Hollywood/Fort Lauderdale, Florida.Shay Foulk and Chris Barron preview this year's conference, including high-value networking, leadership, AI, financial management, communication, negotiation, global agriculture, and grain market outlooks.Registration opens September 8th at agviewsolutions.com under the conference tab.Add the 2027 Ag View Executive Business Conference to your calendar.Tentative agenda highlights:Wednesday, Jan. 20: Registration and welcome receptionThursday, Jan. 21: Leadership, networking, financial management, AI, cocktail hour, and Ag View Nation dinnerFriday, Jan. 22: Chris Barron, Jim Iuorio, South America update, communication/negotiation, and marketsLearn more at agviewsolutions.com.

In this episode, we chat with Jorge Ganoza, President, CEO, and Director of Fortuna Mining, a Canadian mid-tier precious metals producer with three operating mines and exploration activities located in Argentina, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Guyana, Peru, and Senegal. Now in its 21st year, Fortuna has undergone a significant evolution, building a reputation for disciplined execution, operational excellence, and strategic growth. Under Jorge's leadership, the company has successfully expanded its geographic footprint, strengthened its portfolio through acquisitions and divestments, and positioned itself for its next phase of growth. In this conversation, we discuss the leadership qualities required to succeed in the modern mining industry and how Jorge's own leadership approach has evolved throughout his career. We'll look back at Fortuna's journey over the past two decades, explore the company's strategy to achieve annual gold production of approximately 500,000 ounces by the second half of 2028, and examine how recent portfolio optimisation has strengthened the business. We also dive into some of Fortuna's most important growth initiatives and the company's growing exploration pipeline across West Africa and South America. Finally, we'll discuss Jorge's long-term vision for Fortuna and what investors, communities, and stakeholders can expect from the company as it moves toward the end of the decade This episode is brought to you by Mining International, a global executive search partner to the mining industry. For bespoke search and advisory services, please visit ⁠www.mining-international.org If you want to know more about precious metals, then check out The Gold Advisor, a free way to stay on top of the biggest moves in gold, silver, and mining stocks. You can sign up here for free: https://thegoldadvisor.com/?refpartner=109 KEY TAKEAWAYS The company evaluates long-term potential based on the cash margins and asset resilience an operation can maintain throughout a commodity price cycle, rather than pursuing production scale for its own sake. Managing localised political and security volatility requires strict asset evaluation alongside deeply communicative relationship-building with host governments to ensure smooth path-to-development timelines. With both the Seguela plant expansion in Côte d'Ivoire and the Diamba Sud project in Senegal heavily underway, Fortuna controls an organic 60% production growth path that does not depend on further acquisition or unproven exploration. BEST MOMENTS "Our strategy for the business is to have a business that can perform throughout the precious metals price cycle. In low prices, in medium prices, in high prices, Fortuna should be able to thrive." "More than getting bigger for bigger's sake, it's about putting together a portfolio of assets that can have those qualities... an asset base with competitive costs and exploration potential." "This business is built on operational discipline, but that will only take you as far as the asset allows you to at the end of the day." GUEST RESOURCES https://fortunamining.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/fortunamining/ https://www.instagram.com/fortunamining/ VALUABLE RESOURCES Mail:        ⁠rob@mining-international.org⁠ LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-tyson-3a26a68/⁠ X:              ⁠https://twitter.com/MiningRobTyson⁠  YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/c/DigDeepTheMiningPodcast⁠  Web:        ⁠http://www.mining-international.org⁠ CONTACT METHOD ⁠rob@mining-international.org⁠ ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-tyson-3a26a68/⁠ Podcast Description Rob Tyson is an established recruiter in the mining and quarrying sector and decided to produce the “Dig Deep” The Mining Podcast to provide valuable and informative content around the mining industry. He has a passion and desire to promote the industry and the podcast aims to offer the mining community an insight into people's experiences and careers covering any mining discipline, giving the listeners helpful advice and guidance on industry topics.  This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/

Choro Borealis is a Twin-Cities based Brazilian ensemble that performs a variety of musical styles from South America's largest country, including choro, samba, forro, and original compositions that incorporate jazz influences. The term choro references a type of instrumental music that evolved in the late nineteenth century from the fusion of European dances like polkas, schottisches, and walzes, combined with the rhythms brought to Brazil by enslaved African-descended people. The musicians include Pat O'Keefe on clarinet, Tom O'Keefe on percussion, Robert Everest on 7-string guitar and vocals, John Croakian on flute, and David Burk aka “Dusty” on cavaquinho. Some of the band members have played together in Brazilian groups for forty years. They are all knowledgeable and passionate and have a lot to say about the African and European roots of the music they perform, and the ways they are incorporating new influences. The musical selections are “Noiches Carioca,” “Coisa Feita,” “Okoco,” Ta Ligado,” “Sarau Para Radames,” and “Brilhante.” Choro Borealis is performing at 5:00 PM on Saturday, June 20th on the 6th Steet stage at the Twin Cities Jazz Festival.

Emma Hayes and the U.S. Women's National Team are in South America for a massive double-header against 2027 World Cup hosts, Brazil. Coming off a tough 2-1 defeat in São Paulo a few days ago—where an early Sophia Wilson goal wasn't quite enough to hold off a Brazilian attack—the USWNT is looking for immediate answers. Darian Jenkins, Jen Beattie and Lori Linsdey dive deep into tonight's lineup selections, analyze how our favorite NWSL stars are handling the hostile Brazilian environment, and discuss what these crucial friendlies mean for the team's development ahead of competitive tournament cycles. 00:00 - Brazil vs USWNT postgame - initial reactions 04:53 - USWNT starting lineup 09:08 - Reactions from the match 13:26 - 8 red cards in the match 18:00 - Thoughts on Brazil after the two friendly matches 24:44 - Which USWNT players impressed in the match 35:34 - Biggest takeaway from these two matchesWatch USWNT and NWSL games on P+" with a link to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.paramountplus.com/home/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Attacking Third is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and wherever else you listen to podcasts.Follow the Attacking Third team on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@AttackingThird⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@LisaCarlin32⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@SandHerrera_⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@Darian_Jenks⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@CCupo⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Visit the Attacking Third YouTube channel: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@wgolazo You can listen to Attacking Third on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Attacking Third podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Attacking Third podcast."For more soccer coverage from CBS Sports, visit https://www.cbssports.com/soccer/To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/

Welcome Back! Enrique Mendoza and Ren Olivieri came to record this podcast together in person… we just had to wait for Ren to visit Los Angeles from Toronto.                                                                                                                                                                                                       But this All-American trio you're about to hear – Ren from Canada, Enrique from Guatemala, and yours truly from the USA – represent pretty much every region North of South America! These two came by to discus their award winning film “Rob Roy,” an Official Selection at Sherman Oaks Film Festival 2025 that tookhome three awards; the Grand Jury Award for Best Short Film – Action-Thriller, the Filmmakers Award for Outstanding Director – Short Film – Action/Thriller to Enrique A. Mendoza, and the Filmmakers Award for Outstanding Screenplay – Short Film – Action/Thriller to Ren Olivieri.                                                                                                                                                                                                                    No wonder they like me! Each had been on the podcast before solo, Enrique on Episode 527. Enrique A. Mendoza “Fervor” and Ren on Episode 559. Ren Olivieri “The Trade” . Besides talking about how these two met at SOFF 2024, hit it off, watched each other's screenings and collaborated in time to submit “Rob Roy” for the next year's festival, they also wanted to talk about their new project, Fifty. Enjoy! Follow Ren on Instagram at @reno91 Follow Enrique on Instagram at @djurban01 Learn more about Enrique at themendozaproject.com _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Discover Indie Film Links DIF Podcast Website – DIF Instagram – DIF BlueSky Discover Indie Film Foundation (nonprofit for the arts) Website Sherman Oaks Film Festival Film Invasion Los Angeles

What does it take for a small country to compete for high-value global investment in today's economy? In this episode of Develop This!, Dennis Fraise speaks with Pilar Madrigal of the Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency to explore how Costa Rica is evolving into a strategic hub for advanced industries and foreign direct investment. From its geographic position connecting North and South America to its growing reputation in high-tech sectors, Costa Rica is positioning itself as more than a nearshoring destination—it's becoming a knowledge-driven economy focused on long-term value creation. Pilar explains how the country has successfully diversified beyond tourism into industries such as life sciences, digital health, medical technology, AI, and advanced manufacturing. This transformation is powered by a strong emphasis on talent development and education, which she describes as the foundation of Costa Rica's competitiveness. A key theme throughout the conversation is that investment decisions are shifting. Companies are no longer just prioritizing cost or proximity—they are evaluating talent availability, risk mitigation, ecosystem stability, and total operating value. The discussion also highlights the importance of trust and strategic advisory relationships in attracting and retaining global investors, as well as Costa Rica's intentional focus on building long-term partnerships rather than transactional wins. A central takeaway? Costa Rica's competitive edge lies not in scale, but in stability, talent, and a deliberate strategy to move up the value chain. Key Takeaways Costa Rica serves as a strategic bridge between North and South America The economy is shifting from tourism to high-value knowledge industries Talent development is the core driver of long-term competitiveness Nearshoring now prioritizes resilience and value over proximity alone Trust and long-term partnerships are key to investor attraction Stability and ecosystem maturity offset size limitations Investment decisions increasingly focus on total operating value Key Topics Covered Costa Rica's geographic and strategic advantages Economic diversification into high-tech and life sciences Workforce development and talent pipeline strategies Challenges of scale and cost competitiveness Role of investment promotion and advisory strategy Nearshoring and global investment trends Trust-building with international investors Sound Bites "The main hurdle is the size of the talent pool." "The future of FDI is about transformation." "A common mistake is competing only on cost."

George travels to South America to investigate a sure-fire gambling system at a casino called "Caesar's." Unfortunately, the man who invented the system has been murdered and his formula is missing! - Originally aired September 29, 1952

A2thaMo is joined by Southern Com4rt about Video Games,Storms, Music, AI, DVDs, 3 Ninjas, Politics, Graduation, Laundry, Job Changes, Scream 7, Kevin Heart Roast, Kill Tony, Story Warz, Young Roddo, Karmelo Anthony Case, OJ, Racial Diversity, South America, Art Process, God's Gender, Backing into Parking Spot, and more while listening to new music!I Told Her - Sir NastyI Dont Give a Hoot ft Bradster X and ItsYaBoiH2 - Southern Com4rtFuck It - Rockey61630 Somethin - A2thaMo

David explores these three interesting ideas. In reality, we all find ourselves somewhere on the scale of all three. How we understand them, however, is often what determines whether we live an average life or an abundant life.Resource Highlights- This Lingering Darkness- An EMP Thriller- Book TwoLinchpin: Are You Indispensable? Seth GodinDavid and Annie are serving the Lord in the US, Africa, India, Nepal, and South America. Would you consider joining their team? Just click here to get involved. Thanks so much!Show credits:Opening music- Beach Bum Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/Transition music- Highlight Reel Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/Closing music- Slow Burn Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

Hear Argus' essential analysis fertilizer demand destruction, as the impact the Middle East conflict continues to shake global markets. This episode focuses on what demand destruction is, why it'shappening and how the ripple effects could hit North America, South America and Europe. We also explore whether farmers are delaying application, if crop margins are collapsing, food inflation – and how governments are responding. Join Mike Nash, Senior Editor – Fertilizers, Claudia Wlk, Editor – Argus European Fertilizer, Taylor Zavala, Deputy Editor – Argus North American Fertilizer and Renata Carderelli Gabrielli, Editor – Argus Brazil Grains and Fertilizer as they discuss these topics in the latest episode of Argus' Fertilizer Matters podcast series.

Why do expensive corporate recognition programs, automated anniversary emails, and branded company swag so frequently fail to keep employees from walking out the door? In this episode, host Dave Bookbinder sits down with renowned psychologist, leadership expert, and bestselling author Dr. Paul White. Together, they pull back the curtain on the global phenomenon he co-authored with Dr. Gary Chapman: The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace (over 800,000 copies sold at the time of recording). Dave and Dr. White dive deep into the data-backed science of human motivation, drawing a sharp line between performance-based recognition and person-based appreciation. Whether you are managing a Fortune 500 team, navigating a complex family business, or leading a fully remote workforce, this episode provides the ultimate roadmap to drastically reducing turnover and boosting discretionary effort.

We welcome poet and activist Vanessa Torres-Mayorga to talk about Colombian elections, Indigenous rights in South America, Maduro and more.  Check out AlcolirykoZ new song La funa innercityleft.com Support us at patreon.com/innercityleft Follow us on IG @InnerCityLeft

EWOT for Stroke Recovery: The Affordable Alternative to Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Brad Pitzele did not set out to become an oxygen therapy equipment maker. He set out to survive. After years of battling significant health challenges, conventional medicine had given him answers that kept failing him. He tried around 200 treatments. Some helped. Many did not. Then he found EWOT Exercise With Oxygen Therapy, and something finally shifted. Brad’s journey is not the same as a stroke. But what he discovered about oxygen, inflammation, and cellular energy maps directly onto one of the most stubborn obstacles stroke survivors face: the feeling that the brain has gone offline, that the body is running on empty, and that the path back is either impossibly expensive or simply does not exist. In Episode 407 of the Recovery After Stroke podcast, Brad shares what EWOT is, why it works, and why he now makes affordable EWOT systems through his company, One Thousand Roads, specifically so survivors do not have to remortgage their homes to access oxygen-driven recovery. What Is EWOT? EWOT stands for Exercise With Oxygen Therapy. The concept is straightforward: you breathe high-concentration oxygen through a mask while exercising even lightly, and that combination pushes oxygen into parts of the body that normal breathing cannot reliably reach. Most people assume oxygen therapy means a hyperbaric chamber: a pressurized tube, a clinic, a course of treatments costing tens of thousands of dollars. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is effective. Brad describes it as “a heroic treatment.” But it is also inaccessible for most survivors, financially and logistically. EWOT operates on a related principle without the chamber. The key mechanism is not about oxygenating red blood cells; they are already carrying close to their maximum load under normal breathing. The target is the blood plasma. Plasma does not carry oxygen efficiently under resting conditions, but during exercise, even light exercise, blood pressure and circulation increase enough to force dissolved oxygen into the plasma. That plasma can then reach the micro-capillaries, the tiny vessels that feed tissues deep in the body, including areas of the brain that become inflamed and oxygen-starved after a stroke. The Post-Stroke Energy Problem One of the most commonly reported and least-explained symptoms after stroke is fatigue that does not go away, no matter how much a survivor rests. Most survivors are told that is just part of it. Brad’s framework centres on mitochondrial dysfunction. Mitochondria are the energy-producing structures inside cells. After stroke, the cells in and around the affected area are often not dead; they are in a kind of low-power state. Brad describes it as a “brownout”: the lights are on, but dimly. The mitochondria are not producing energy at full capacity, and one significant reason for that is insufficient oxygen supply to the tissue. “The cells that are offline after a stroke are not all dead. Some of them are just starving. Oxygen is part of what feeds them back.” — Brad Pitzele, Episode 407 When EWOT increases plasma oxygen during exercise, it can reach those inflamed, under-oxygenated micro-capillaries that larger vessels cannot access. The result, for some survivors, is a gradual improvement in energy, cognition, and physical capacity, not because the therapy is miraculous, but because it addresses a specific physiological deficit that conventional post-stroke care often does not target. EWOT vs. Hyperbaric: What’s the Real Difference? The honest answer is that EWOT and hyperbaric oxygen therapy are not equivalent. HBOT delivers oxygen under pressure, which drives it into tissue more forcefully. For certain conditions, particularly in acute or severe cases, hyperbaric oxygen has a stronger evidence base.  But for many stroke survivors in the subacute or chronic phase of recovery, access is the defining variable, not theoretical ceiling. A home-based hyperbaric unit costs $50,000 to $75,000. A clinical course can run to $60,000 or more. EWOT systems are available for under $2,000.  The question Brad puts to survivors is not “which is better in a lab?” It is: “Which one can you actually do, consistently, at home, over the months and years that brain recovery requires?” Consistency matters more than peak intensity in long-term neurological recovery.  Starting EWOT With Deficits EWOT does not require running on a treadmill. The exercise component can be a stationary bike, a recumbent bike, or simple seated leg movements with one limb strapped in. The goal is to raise circulation enough to push oxygen into the plasma, not to hit a cardiovascular fitness target. For survivors exploring this option, Brad’s team has built a specific resource at onethousandroads.com/stroke-recovery with a listener discount of $100 to $500, depending on the package. There is also a broader introduction to EWOT at onethousandroads.com/pages/exercise-with-oxygen-therapy. Recovery Is Possible — And It Does Not Have to Be Expensive If this episode resonated with you or if you want to explore more conversations about recovery options that do not require a second mortgage, Bill’s book, The Unexpected Way That A Stroke Became The Best Thing That Happened, is available at recoveryafterstroke.com/book. And if the Recovery After Stroke podcast has been useful to you, you can support it financially at patreon.com/recoveryafterstroke. Every contribution helps keep the show going and these conversations accessible to survivors around the world. This blog is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Please consult your doctor before making any changes to your health or recovery plan. EWOT for Stroke Recovery: The Affordable Alternative to Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Why pay $60,000 for hyperbaric oxygen? EWOT brings oxygen therapy into your living room — and could help the brain cells that are only offline. One Thousands Roads Exercise With Oxygen Therapy (EWOT) YouTube Channel Highlights: 00:00 Introduction and Background 05:37 Challenges in Stroke Recovery and Treatment Options 13:45 Understanding Oxygen Therapy and Its Mechanism 15:51 Oxygen Toxicity Explained 19:24 The Importance of Oxygenating Blood Plasma 24:53 Oxygen and Mitochondrial Function 31:16 Adapting Exercise for Stroke Survivors 38:27 Cost and Accessibility of Oxygen Therapy Devices Transcript: Introduction – EWOT for Stroke Recovery Brad Pitzele (00:00) like many of your listeners, when you have a medical issue that isn’t treated by traditional medicine and you’re desperate to get your life back, you’ll try just about anything. You, the lens it goes through is like, Well, how bad can this hurt me? BIll Gasiamis (00:15) Welcome back to Recovery After Stroke. I’m your host, Bill Gassiamas. Today’s guest is Brad Pitzele, founder of 1000 Roads, who overcame significant health challenges of his own and along the way discovered the science behind exercise with oxygen therapy. In this conversation, we get into how increasing oxygen saturation in the blood, specifically in the blood plasma, can help reach the inflamed microcapillaries. That are blocking oxygen delivery to cells in the recovering brain. We talk about mitochondrial dysfunction, post-stroke fatigue, and why Ewatt is worth understanding as an accessible alternative to hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Before we get into it, if you’ve found value in this podcast and want to support it financially, you can do that at patreon.com/slash recovery after stroke. And if you haven’t yet read my book, The Unexpected Way That a Stroke Became the Best Thing That Happened, it is available at recovery after stroke dot com slash book. Here’s my conversation with Brad. BIll Gasiamis (01:19) Brad Pitsley, welcome to the podcast. Brad Pitzele (01:22) Thank you so much. BIll Gasiamis (01:24) Thanks for reaching out and ⁓ connecting with me to educate me on another thing that I can bring to stroke survivors that could potentially help them in the rehabilitation side of their brain. The the thumbnail that people found on YouTube is probably gonna have E W O T on it somewhere. E what. And it sounds something like something out of that ⁓ space war out of out of what is it? Brad Pitzele (01:53) Star Wars. Star Wars. BIll Gasiamis (01:54) Star Wars. Like the Ewok, right? And it doesn’t really mean anything to me. But before we descri tell people what Ewok is, ⁓ tell me a little bit about your background, the work that you do and how it is you came to be on the podcast today is for s for for the specific discussion that we’re gonna have. Brad Pitzele (01:58) Yep. Sure. ⁓ yeah, so I ⁓ I I’m an e recovering engineer. I like to joke. I spent my first decade of my life engineering. later on in life, I left engineering and went into different pursuits and I became chronically ill, had a variety of medical issues, ⁓ cancer, autoimmunity, and eventually Lyme disease. And I was in really bad shape. And a doctor recommended I look into either hyperbaric oxygen or this exercise with oxygen therapy, EWAT, that almost no one had heard of, and I’d never heard of it. ⁓ I I I had tried like everything to get better at this point. I was many years in special diets, ⁓ all sorts of supplements and ⁓ all sorts of modalities and things. And nothing really worked. There was nothing in a matter of fact, some of the medications I took actually gave me cancer. So it kind of forced me on this road to try something different. ⁓ and eventually I found my way back to health through exercise with oxygen when so many things weren’t working. ⁓ and actually later paired that with ⁓ red light therapy. ⁓ and along the way I started because I’m an engineer and I’m inquisitive, I like It was Lyme disease is kind of a do-it-yourself disease. ⁓ so I started digging in and pouring into research, not just on Lyme disease, but autoimmunity, ⁓ chronic illness, ⁓ trying to figure out what the heck was going on with me. And so ⁓ what I found about exercise oxygen therapy along the way was really fascinating to me. and about a year into using it, I went back to that same doctor and he was kind of shocked. At my turnaround, and he was like, What did you use? Did you do oxygen? And I said, I did. And he was like, Who’d you buy it from? I want to tell my patients about it. And I said, I didn’t buy it, Doc. I actually ended up making my own. And he was kind of surprised by that for obvious reasons. And then he said, Well, gosh, would you consider making it for my patient? And so, my patients, and so that’s how we got into this business back in two thousand eighteen. We launched one thousand roads to kinda make exercise with oxygen therapy accessible to people who are dealing with chronic health conditions. BIll Gasiamis (04:39) Okay. And it stems from science, right? There’s scientific data that backs up this exercise with oxygen therapy. Before you go into that a little bit, we don’t have to go deep into it, but we can just ⁓ chat about it. ⁓ when I talk to stroke survivors, they get stuck always with what should I do? What should I do? What should I do? They want the The blue pill, take that one, everything gets fixed. I mean, stroke is not like that, right? And it’s and it’s stroke is also a you’re on your own kind of thing. Because once you get out of the acute phase, once you get sent home, the ⁓ follow up and the medical fraternity doesn’t have a system to kind of say to you, we can’t help you. Speak to that guy. ⁓ that guy might not be able to help you, but but there’s a guy over there. Brad Pitzele (05:09) Yeah. Challenges in Stroke Recovery and Treatment Options BIll Gasiamis (05:33) Like there’s none of that. And stroke survivors need podcasts. They need ⁓ people selling all sorts of crazy stuff that they will almost try almost all the time. They’ll try everything. And then they’ll pick and finally stumble into one that helps and gets them a result. But before we talk about all of that, what I want to do is also go back to what you said about ⁓ a year later, you went to your doctor, he was stunned at the result. We can’t put that down just to eat what? We can’t put that down just to exercise with oxygen therapy. Give me the brief steps on the other things that you also attended to because people miss that. Brad Pitzele (06:15) Yes. Yeah. I well, here’s what I’ll tell you. I started I started to get arthritis in my hands in like 2010 or eleven. and then I started taking traditional drugs for it. And one of the side effects of the drugs is higher risk of cancer and specifically melanoma, which I developed in two thousand thirteen, I wanna say, maybe two thousand fourteen. And that kicked me off the traditional medical path. ⁓ to your point, you don’t you don’t in the stroke recovery, there’s not a traditional path. There it was a traditional path, but it was clear that it was a you know it was a choice between cancer and autoimmunity, and neither one seemed great to me. ⁓ from there I tried so many things, Bill. I did s I actually made a list recently and looked at it because I had it like just off the top of my head, I came up with 200 different things I did try. We’re talking special diets. Eating all sorts of weird, strange things, all sorts of supplements, antibiotics, because it’s Lyme disease, herbal protocols, ⁓ ozone treatments, sa various different types of saunas, ozone sauna, infrared sauna, ⁓ heat steam saunas, ⁓ colonics, coffee enemas, ⁓ weird stuff, you know, you’d never think you’d do. I mean BIll Gasiamis (07:39) You are committed Brad Pitzele (07:42) ‘Cause like many of your listeners, when you have a medical issue that isn’t treated by traditional medicine and you’re desperate to get your life back, you will you’ll try just about anything. You the the lens it goes through is like, Well, how bad can this hurt me? Like like ’cause I know where I’m going right now. For me at least it was a I was just like this gradual step down. It was like I knew like I I couldn’t do this. I had a young family. so, you know, that doctor, I remember him saying, like, look, Brad, we’re trying all these things, we’re gonna get you on thyroid medications and get that right, and we’re gonna do this. ⁓ there on that list of 200, there were about eight things that gave me any kind of benefit that I could identify. ⁓ But I remember he’s like, Brad, we’re gonna take out the big dog. We’re gonna do this ozone treatment. And it’s a special kind where we remove the blood from your body, we inject ozone, put it through UV light, and put it back into your blood. And this helps everyone. Like if nothing else works, this helps, but it’s really expensive. So we’re saving it, kind of. So he he did it. He’s like, do a course of three of them. And he’s like, You might feel bad after it the next day because it kills a bunch of stuff and might you might feel toxic. Or you might feel better. We’re not sure. And give it a few days. And like I did all three of them, I never noticed a difference. And it was ⁓ the most depressing, scary part was like going through that. So when he said go do oxygen, I was like, Okay, like I’ve done everything else. I’m just gonna check the box so the doctor knows that’s not gonna work, so we can go try to find something else. ⁓ And I didn’t believe it was gonna work. I I you know, I didn’t jump on the the bandwagon gung-ho. I was, you know, kind of kicking and screaming. And that was part of the reason I built my own, is because at the time they were so expensive and the they were five to twenty-five thousand dollars. And I was like, I just can’t spend, you know, ten thousand dollars on an experiment. I just can’t do that. ⁓ And he also suggested maybe hyperbaric and that was like fifty or seventy-five thousand dollars. And I was like, geez, if I knew this was the the blue pill, as you said it, if I knew this was the blue pill, I’d go mortgage the house and I’d go do it because like then I could work full and I could do all the things, I could be present for the family, but ⁓ I couldn’t. BIll Gasiamis (10:05) And and and you know what? And it’s not, and and the reason it’s not for a lot of people is because you need to have penumbras the brain from a stroke survivor perspective that are recoverable and that you can bring back to life that are offline, not dead by ⁓ cell death because of the stroke. And there’s no diagnostic process in the majority of the people I’ve spoken to, you can’t diagnose somebody and then work out whether they’re a candidate, and that really Brad Pitzele (10:20) Yeah. Right. BIll Gasiamis (10:33) Pisses me off to somebody gonna have to spend 50 grand to find out if they’re gonna get a result, right? The s the guys that who I’ve interviewed about hyperbaric oxygen therapy, ⁓ Viv clinics, ⁓ those guys will do a thorough diagnostic beforehand to determine whether somebody is a candidate. And whatever that costs, even if it’s five grand, I don’t know what it does cost, but even if it’s five grand, at least you can go, you’re not a candidate, don’t spend any more money. Brad Pitzele (10:38) Yeah. Right. higher yes, you have a higher level of certainty before you spend the money. BIll Gasiamis (11:04) Yeah. And if you do do it, you’re doing it for the other ⁓ non-brain related benefits that you’re gonna get from hyperbaric oxygen therapy. And that’s totally up to you. But it’s not the thing to supposedly fix the arm or the leg that doesn’t work, or to ⁓ repair the damaged cells in your brain. So that part really frustrates me. And if I’m gonna spend that much money, then there’s the opportunity cost as well. It’s like Brad Pitzele (11:33) Yes. BIll Gasiamis (11:34) Now I can’t spend that somewhere else. Brad Pitzele (11:36) Exactly. That was me too. It was like you you knew you had and I was like, man, if I spend this kind of money on it and it doesn’t work, like nothing’s worked for the last, I don’t know, almost ten years at this point. Like how many of these shots do I have in the cannon, right? Like you you know, now I’m I’m depleted and I’m still sick. And that’s even i and you know this, when you’ve got a chronic health condition, sometimes the psych psychology of it all is just as hard as the condition. And If you’re like, wow, now I don’t have money. I feel trapped. There’s nothing I can try. Then hope starts to dwindle. And I say like hope is is like the most potent weapon in recovering from a chronic health condition. It’s a double-edged sword because like you’re s afraid to get hope up because you’ve been let down. But it’s also the thing you need. You ha like when when you start losing hope, and I and I’ve been at that point, it just gets incredibly dark. ⁓ and incredibly scary. so I I think that was part of it. I just wouldn’t allow it. It was the financial part. I you’re right. You only have so many shots out of the bow. But it was also like if it doesn’t work and I am depleted financially you know, I don’t like that that brings me to a a level of hopelessness I I’m not sure I can confront. BIll Gasiamis (12:53) Yeah. And then in order to get back up, you’re getting back up, you’re financially depleted, you’re energetically depleted, your health is depleted. And it’s like, my God, that is a that is like the lowest place that you can find yourself and to get back up is a lot harder. And yet people have still done that, but I know the task is harder. I’ve been in a similar sort of situation. Brad Pitzele (13:12) Yeah. We all love we all love reading that inspirational story. No one wants to live it if they can avoid it, I’ll tell you. Understanding Oxygen Therapy and Its Mechanism BIll Gasiamis (13:23) Avoid it. Yeah, a hundred percent. ⁓ so so you’ve tried all this stuff, you’re unwell, and then somebody says to you, try oxygen. Now, what I imagine when I hear oxygen is get a can from the local gas supplier, ⁓ pop pot in a tube, put it on the back of your chair, wheelchair. You know, I’ve seen a lot of older guys who have got it, and then they’ve got oxygen attached to their face and they’re breathing in oxygen. What specifically did your doctor tell you to get and if you didn’t get what he suggested, like w what did it look like for you? Brad Pitzele (14:00) Yeah, so the challenge with bottled oxygen is number one, it’s almost impossible to get. number two is when you exercise, you can take in a massive amount of oxygen, and that’s part of what makes the the therapy really cool. So y you and I sitting here, maybe we’re taking in three liters of oxygen a minute, okay? ⁓ three liters of air a minute, maybe something like that. ⁓ When you’re exercising, you can easily take in 50 or 60 liters. So it’s a massive multiplier. So you need something that’s going to give you a large amount of oxygen. Now, there’s two ways you can get oxygen in your home. One is that bottle you mentioned, and then you’re always refilling it, and you can imagine lugging one of those things around. ⁓ the other way is there’s a device called an oxygen concentrator, and all you do is you plug it into the wall. And it turns the it purifies the oxygen in the room. So, you know, at sea level, the oxygen in the room has 21% oxygen and it can purify it to 93%. Now, the challenge with these devices is they put out either five or ten liters of oxygen in a minute. So not enough to exercise with. If you were to try to exercise with it, you would also be sucking in this air at 21% and diluting it. ⁓ and so what you do is you take this device and you fill a large reservoir, it’s about a thousand liters, ⁓ and you fill it up. using this device and then you hook up a hose with a mask on it and then you breathe through the mask while you do a fifteen minute exercise session. BIll Gasiamis (15:41) Okay. A reservoir, ⁓ water tank. Oxygen Toxicity Explained Brad Pitzele (15:45) It well it it’s like it looks like a big pillow. So it’s like six you know, two meters by two meters, sort of ⁓ big pillow, six feet by six feet for us still on Imperial. And you fill it up so a thousand liters and it’s you know it’s it’s thin film and so it’s not a a rigid body of something, and then yeah, it’s a bag. BIll Gasiamis (16:06) It’s a bag. Like a bagpipe, a massive bagpipe. Brad Pitzele (16:10) There you go. BIll Gasiamis (16:12) Okay. Okay. W I’m sure there’s an image of that, right? We’ll put it on the screen. People can see it while we’re talking about it, trying to work out what it is. Okay. So this thing is something that you accessed and you used specifically for yourself, how many years ago? Brad Pitzele (16:16) Yeah. Yeah. I’ve s I’ve been using it for a decade straight now. BIll Gasiamis (16:33) Okay. This stuff’s been around for about a decade. This Brad Pitzele (16:37) It’s well, the the research on it goes back to the nineteen sixties and seventies. This it’s really fascinating. actually some of the early research goes back to the turn of the ⁓ twentieth century, the nineteen hundreds. So in the early nineteen hundreds, a gentleman named Otto Warburg won a Nobel Prize for proving that he could turn any cancer or any regular cell into a cancerous cell by depriving it of oxygen. ⁓ and so there’s this really well-established linkage between oxygen and cancer. Even today, a ton of research on that. So in the 1960s and 70s, there was a a German physicist and prolific inventor named Manfred von Arden. Now, and he started to want to do research on Otto’s work, and he he actually started doing research on exercising with oxygen as an anti-cancer protocol. And some of the research he found was really fascinating. what without getting overly technical, basically it our circulatory system, obviously, this is really relevant to stroke, ⁓ people deal in strokes, is as you get down into the the end runs of your circulatory system, there’s capillaries and they’re like thinner than a human hair. And this is where your nutrients and your oxygen are actually exchanged with the cell. And what he found is as we age naturally this inflammation builds up on the lining of our capillaries. And it actually causes the capillaries to swell shut so that now none of your red blood cells can get by. Now, I mean, this is how exquisite our body is designed. ⁓ our capillaries are actually thinner than a red blood cell. So under the most healthy of conditions. A red blood cell actually needs to fold up like a taco to get into our capillaries and deliver that oxygen in the last mile of our circulatory system. So any swelling in that capillary can cause a blockage. And now all the cells downstream are not getting oxygen and in a sufficient quantity. And so they kind of go into what they what he kind of referred to as like a brownout, right? Like it’s a low energy state. They’re doing anaerobic respiration to get some energy. Maybe some of the smaller red blood cells might squeak by here and there and give a little bit, but they’re not getting the full oxygen they need. And what he found is by doing this procedure, just a few times he had very elderly people with very inflamed ⁓ capillaries. He was able to re-establish normal blood flow. And the reason is is oxygen is incredibly anti-inflammatory. ⁓ and a lot of research on that we can go into a little bit later. The Importance of Oxygenating Blood Plasma So, number one, it causes this anti-inflammatory reaction inside these inflamed capillaries to reopen them. But it also does something really amazing that he discovered is when you’re doing this procedure, ⁓ it causes the oxygen to not just attach to our red blood cells like it always does, but it also saturates our blood plasma, which is this clearish liquid that our red blood cells ride on. And Our blood plasma is a thousand times thinner than a red blood cell. So if you imagine these blockages, red blood cells are not getting through, but obviously the blood plasma can get through as long as it’s like as thin as water. So as long as there’s any opening there, and it can immediately deliver oxygen downstream, both to cause an anti-inflammatory impact in the capillaries, but also to all those cells that are starving. And so you can obviously, as we’re talking through this, you can kind of see how this fits folks who are dealing with various different strokes ⁓ and how that can help them as well. BIll Gasiamis (20:32) Yeah. Okay. I d before we spoke I did a little bit of research and found ⁓ as well that there’s some there’s a lot of relevant data with regards to oxygen and ⁓ increasing the oxygenation in the blood. you so tell me a little bit about oxygen. I I don’t understand exactly what that is. I’ve heard of people becoming ill. Because of too much oxygen, ⁓ ill because of not enough oxygen. So what is what what is becoming ill of too much oxygen and why is ninety nine percent saturation not that? Brad Pitzele (21:18) Yeah, yeah. ⁓ good question. So oxygen toxicity can occur if you get too much oxygen under certain circumstances. So if you’re in a hyperbaric chamber too long, it can cause oxygen toxicity. And basically that’s when oxygen gets trapped in your bloodstream and it can’t get out. and You can actually get it without hyperbaric. So hyperbaric is oxygen under pressure. You can get it at normal barracks. So if you were just sitting on the couch breathing oxygen, you could eventually get oxygen toxicity. Now, it would take over twenty-four hours. So if you were breathing just pure oxygen, no exercise, sitting on your couch for 24 plus hours, it starts to get into the risky zone. When you’re doing exercise with oxygen, that’s actually one of the cool things about it that because of the synergies of exercise and oxygen, it’s impossible to get oxygen toxicity for two reasons. one is that reservoir is only a thousand liters. it’s not a high enough dose that you could get a oxygen toxicity. It is a massive dose, it’s about the same amount of oxygen you take in in a day, and you can take it in in 15 minutes, but it’s not more than. And the second reason, even if we could make our reservoir 10x, 100x, and you could exercise nonstop, you still couldn’t get oxygen toxicity because when you’re exercising, your body produces a massive amount of carbon dioxide gas. And that goes into our bloodstream and it increases pressure in our circulatory system. And that actually forces the oxygen out of the circulatory system and into the cells. So it works as a protectant as well from oxygen toxicity. So that’s oxygen toxicity. It’s a real risk. ⁓ Most of the time it’s a very controllable risk. You know, if you’re doing hyperbaric, they’re gonna keep you in there for so long so that you’re not gonna be at risk generally. ⁓ if you’re assigned to do oxygen while you’re stationary at home, they have protocols to make sure you’re not doing it, you know, twenty-eight hours nonstop sort of thing. ⁓ or they have you wear a cannula where where you’re also taking in air and it’s diluting it. ⁓ and in exercised oxygen therapy, it’s not really possible because of the massive amount of carbon dioxide. ⁓ now, not enough oxygen. So if you if you want to measure your oxygen in your blood, the way they normally do it is a device called the pulse oximeter. You can get one for 20 bucks off Amazon. What it does is it looks at how much how many of your red blood cells are saturated with oxygen. And what you’re gonna find in most folks. Is it’s close to a hundred percent. It’s ninety-eight percent, it’s ninety-six percent, ninety-seven percent. ⁓ there’s not a lot of room in our blood for more oxygen. So that’s why it’s important that ewak can actually oxygenate our blood plasma. The same with hyperbaric does the exact same thing, it oxygenates our blood plasma. So BIll Gasiamis (24:26) Okay. I think before you go on, that’s the key ingredient. It’s oxygenating the plasma as well. Where where previously you’ve got let’s say ninety seven, ninety eight percent saturation of your red blood cells. What we’re doing is adding that little bit of extra oxygen into the space where the plasma is. That’s kind of the key difference. Brad Pitzele (24:36) Yes. And there’s two reasons why it’s important. so normally, just for comparison, you and I sitting here, maybe 2% of all the oxygen in our blood is in our plasma, so it’s not very much. ⁓ but under these conditions of IWAT and hyperbaric, we can saturate that blood plasma. And it’s important for two reasons. One, obviously, it increases the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood, but that’s the more minor one. The more major one is that the blood plasma can get into let’s just say the nooks and crannies, smaller spaces in our body where inflammation is blocking off access of red blood cells to downstream cells. And so it can deliver a dose of oxygen where it normally is not able to get. BIll Gasiamis (25:40) You you’ve spent a lot of time on this topic by the sound of things. ⁓ and that’s really awesome. So before we talk about how to actually use a device, how to get a device, how to how to behave while you’re using a device, I wanna understand like how Oxygen and Mitochondrial Function Brad Pitzele (25:52) Yeah. BIll Gasiamis (26:02) How you notice the difference in yourself? Because a lot of people ask me what I did in my own stroke recovery. And Brad’s experience is going to be different from the stroke survivor’s experience. My experience was ⁓ I’ve got nothing from the doctors other than let’s monitor your bleed, let’s give you brain surgery. I mean, that’s not nothing. That’s amazing. Like I’m very Brad Pitzele (26:05) Yeah. Yes. BIll Gasiamis (26:31) Grateful for all of that. That removed the the blood vessel that was leaking that was going to potentially kill me. ⁓ so the immediate risk was gone. And then what what I mean I I got nothing is the specialists did their specialty and then I got nothing because they don’t do nutrition, they don’t do exercise, they don’t do meditation, they do brain surgery. And it’s really important for stroke survivors to understand that when you go to a doctor, a neurologist, whoever. Brad Pitzele (26:55) Yeah. BIll Gasiamis (27:00) They do a specific thing, and once they’ve done it, they can’t do anything else. And you need to get over the fact that you ⁓ might feel disappointment at the at that I don’t know where to go next, and they don’t know where to send you. Okay, they’re not trained and they cannot legally send you elsewhere. That’s why you’re kind of on your own. So I did meditation, I did nutrition, I did all this kind of stuff and Brad Pitzele (27:16) Yeah. BIll Gasiamis (27:27) Somebody who’s interviewed you is Dave Asprey. I would I’ve been following Dave Asprey and a whole bunch of other guys ⁓ probably since around 2012, 2013. And what I learned was how do I reduce the inflammation in my brain? And I had that one area of inquiry, the one area of inquiry that I could personally impact positively by taking out inflammatory foods from my diet. And before that it was, you know, ⁓ processed white bread, it was alcohol, it was cigarettes, ⁓ it was all the stuff that you get in a packet that doesn’t really help to nourish the body, right? So I went back to basics. We’ll call it just for the simplicity of the explanation, we’ll call it protein, ⁓ vegetables and basic carbohydrates like rice or potato. And then what I found was that inflammation decreased, and that was a game changer in how I experienced my brain. And it was a game changer in how quickly I improved neurologically. But just so that people know, it wasn’t the be all end all, it didn’t remove the damaged cells that still are in my head that mean I experienced my the left side of my body in a completely different way than my right side. I’ve got numbness, proprioception issues. I’ve got ⁓ tingling, I’ve got burning, I’ve got ⁓ spasticity, you know, the muscles are tight. So all that stuff is still there. But I have a better experience of the rest of my body and brain because of the things that I took out. But what I didn’t have was the link between exercise, which I do, light exercise, because I’m a stroke survivor. I can’t. use the left side of my body like I used to. so I would do exercise ⁓ like riding an electric bike because it’s easier to pedal, like walking and like doing very light weights at the gym. ⁓ but I didn’t have that oxygen part of the the therapy. And that’s kind of why I interviewed the guys about hyperbaric to understand how oxygen supports how mimicking i a hypoxic brain in the chamber supports ⁓ so how how does like what’s the next part like how does that support the brain to heal let’s give stroke survivors an understanding so that they can kind of grasp that I know we spoke about how oxygen gets into the ⁓ into the red blood cell we spoke about how it gets into the plasma but like Brad Pitzele (30:15) Yeah. BIll Gasiamis (30:20) Why is that the next step? Brad Pitzele (30:21) What’s it too? Yeah. It’s a good question. I think you’re right. I you know, we don’t I will say we don’t try to go out and pitch like exercise with oxygen therapy is a panacea or it’s everything for everyone. Even the name of our company, ⁓ one thousand roads, is about paying homage to everyone’s own healing journey and recognizing everyone’s unique journey. So I’ll say that, but So I’ll say that, but what I found about oxygen was in IWA in particular. What was fascinating to me was for me when I was dealing with Lyme disease, which similar to folks who are dealing with the stroke, there’s a variety of different symptoms and s from different causes. And I was trying to treat all these things with different protocols, different supplements that and I found that when I started digging into oxygen, I was shocked at how many of them came back to it. So when you have A stroke, often there’s a lot of ⁓ emerging research about mitochondrial dysfunction. And this is interestingly, mitochondrial dysfunction. Now ten years ago when I was researching it, no one heard of it or cared about it. And it’s really burst onto the scene because you’re gonna find it ⁓ At the heart of so many chronic health conditions, right? ⁓ you’re gonna it’s actually they’re looking at it in cancers, ⁓ chronic illnesses of all sorts, Alzheimer’s, all sorts of cognitive and ⁓ autoimmune conditions, etc., etc. So ⁓ you have this disrupted mitochondria, right? So there was a period of time when your cells were not getting enough energy, whether it was a hemorrhagic stroke and Blood wasn’t being delivered to those cells, so no nutrients, no oxygen, or an ischemic stroke where they were just cut off ⁓ because of a clot or whatnot. And so they were not getting nutrients. In each of these cases, what happens immediately when the cell runs out of oxygen, like I was talking about that brownout, it goes from aerobic respiration to anaerobic respiration. And anaerobic respiration, ⁓ it’s It only can produce 5% of the energy as aerobic. So the cell is in a low energy state, which is the first problem, which means it doesn’t have energy to repair, it doesn’t have energy to take out the trash, detoxify. so it’s kind of stuck. But also ⁓ it creates a lot of metabolic waste. So it creates lactic acid, it creates free radicals, all these things produce more inflammation, like you were talking about. So Now we’ve got these mitochondria, which are dysfunctional. They don’t have the energy to repair. They don’t have the energy to take out all these dead cells or ⁓ you know, all these other byproducts of the immune system and the natural kind of response to this damage, which then leaves more of it hanging around to produce more damage, and they’re producing more damage themselves. So it’s kind of like this swirl, and it’s ⁓ you know, it’s a downward swirl, if you will. ⁓ so When you can re-oxygenate the mitochondria, the first thing you’re doing is you’re giving them the energy to do whatever it is they need to do. ⁓ and that can be the immediate like feeling sharper, like, ⁓ I feel like I can get my thoughts together quicker. ⁓ it can be, ⁓ I feel like I’m more in control of my emotions. And I I don’t feel like sometimes I have a disproportionate emotional response to something. It can be I I don’t have that brain fog. ⁓ you know, that sort of thing. Or I literally have energy. So our brain actually consumes like 20% of all the oxygen in our body. And it’s only like two percent of the mass. So it’s like punching 10x its weight, right? So when your body starts running low on oxygen, it starts conserving. And the one of the things it tells you to do is like cool it, like stop using your muscles. You’re tired. You need to just sit there and veg out. BIll Gasiamis (34:06) Mm-hmm. Brad Pitzele (34:27) while our mitochondria try to catch up. And so that’s often that chronic fatigue that folks with a variety of health conditions, including stroke, feel, which is their bodies like, stop using energy, we don’t have enough. We need to redeploy it for something else more pressing. And so When you can reestablish normal oxygenation, it improves energy. ⁓ it improves sleep, it improves memory. and the the cells have energy to start repairing and detoxifying. ⁓ and then obviously I always think it’s cool because we’re pairing it with oc with exercise. And there’s so much research on the benefits of exercise. You mentioned it was so important, Bill, in in your healing journey. And you know, we know how important exercise is for a stroke survivor. Well, now we’re pairing it with oxygen and we’re using that exercise to catapult more of that oxygen around the body through the circulatory system while your blood vessels are dilated and opening up. So if you’re still dealing with blockages in your microcirculation, which most stroke survivors are. You’re opening them as wide as they they naturally can at that moment, and that’s when we’re feeding more oxygen to them. So it works it kind of hand in hand in that respect. BIll Gasiamis (35:48) All right. Now one glitch. Stroke survivors often are struggling to get into the physical recovery, right? Because the body goes offline, one of the legs doesn’t work, one of the arms doesn’t work. It’s a real challenge, right? So how how can we benefit from that even though we are at just after the acute phase where there is not a lot of capability for Brad Pitzele (36:00) Yes. It’s perfect. Yeah. BIll Gasiamis (36:17) physicality and I I say that so that the stroke survivors listening know that what I’m leading to is that early on it’s probably harder to do ⁓ physical therapy, exercise, et cetera. But again, with time and hope, all of those things can improve. Right. So I I wanna put that out there for stroke survivors, but also like it’s a can it’s a it’s a constraint. Brad Pitzele (36:48) Yeah. And you know, because a lot of our customers are dealing with chronic illness, this is a question that’s not uncommon is like, yeah, but I can’t I’m not out here to run a mile, Brad. I’m like eighty years old and I’m sick or whatever it is. The really ⁓ the really cool thing about ⁓ Ewatt is that it will meet you where you are at. So there is something all of us can do. The goal is to increase your heart rate and your circulation. Cost and Accessibility of Oxygen Therapy Devices and breathe the oxygen. So there’s a few ways you can do it. you know, it doesn’t have to be banging it out on a treadmill trying to get your seven minute mile. ⁓ you don’t need to do that. We have folks, you know, depending on where they are, you can start with slow walking on a treadmill. You can start with calisthenics. You can start with stretching. ⁓ gentle aerobics in your living room. You can start by, you know, lifting weights. You could be sitting and lifting weights with the the hand that’s not. We have folks, and this is probably not so much for ⁓ stroke survivors, but maybe jumping on a ⁓ a rebounder, like a little trampoline if you’ve got the balance one with the handle. ⁓ we have people using under-the-desk pedal bikes, the ones you can get for $49 on Amazon while you’re sitting. BIll Gasiamis (38:03) Beautiful. Brad Pitzele (38:04) while you’re sitting in a chair. And then for the folks who can’t do any of that, we have we even have them doing what I call passive Ewatt, which is they will breathe the oxygen while they get in like a an infrared ⁓ sauna blanket. So infrared sauna will increase your heart rate. And so you will get some benefit out of it. And what normally happens, the the really cool thing about exercising with oxygen is The first thing folks notice, the very first benefit most folks notice when they start doing is the exercise is easier. So I always describe this like if you were ⁓ jogging on a treadmill at, I don’t know, pick a number, you know, four miles an hour and you put the mask on, you wouldn’t feel like you were getting the same exercise at four miles an hour. You you crank it up to four and a half, and then later you crank it up more. And Your endurance actually improves much more quickly than if you were just doing exercise alone. ⁓ and there’s a ton of actually research on you know Olympic athletes using it for performance enhancement, which is not what we’re using for in this, but it’s kind of a nice little side effect. So we have folks who come to us who who are out of condition. We’re not talking about the physical disabilities, but out of condition, we’re like, I couldn’t do. And they’re shocked at what they’re doing and they come back and tell us in three months, look what I’m doing, sort of thing. ⁓ But it will meet you where you’re at. So if you want to do passive Ewatt, you can do that for a while as you’re working and as you start to feel better. Then maybe you’re using the under desk pedal bike. And as you’re getting your balance back and feeling better, maybe it’s a a real stationary bike later or walking on a treadmill and so on and so forth. ⁓ the goal isn’t to bust hump and like try to, you know, get a new record. As a matter of fact, I find that for most folks that sets you back. You wanna kind of you wanna do within an envelope that you’re comfortable with because If we work out too hard, also we set ourselves back because in most chronic health conditions and in stroke, additionally, we talked about this fatigue that’s due to an energy deficit. So if you go out there and overwork, you’re just putting your body in more of a deficit and potentially putting it in more of an inflammatory environment. And we’re trying to do this at a level that’s in you know anti-inflammatory and helping you recover. BIll Gasiamis (40:30) I love that. I love your whole explanation. So in my what I was hoping was you were gonna say that I could just sit there and almost do nothing ⁓ as a stroke survivor, where I’m completely in in just, you know, like week three of the acute after the acute phase, and fatigue is a massive issue and energy is a massive issue, and I’m barely able to stay awake, ⁓ and all of that stuff. And then ⁓ you could do just I hope you I was hoping you were gonna say, But you said the equivalent of ⁓ chair yoga, you know, where all I had to do was just move an arm or move a leg and do something just to get me physically going and then it would benefit. That’s what I love about it. The under-the-leg pedal bike, ⁓ under-the-desk pedal bike is one of the best things because you can strap in your leg with the deficits if you have a leg that has deficits, and you can do all the or the majority of the pedaling with the other leg, which is strapped in. Brad Pitzele (41:07) Mm. BIll Gasiamis (41:29) And you don’t you’re not gonna fall over ’cause you sit in in a chair. ⁓ probably you’re doing it inside your house so the the temperature, the weather is always perfect and ⁓ and you don’t have to door for long, right? You only have to door for a few minutes to start with. Brad Pitzele (41:45) And you’re pulling that other leg around and it’s starting to fire inside here and rebuild those connections. And and as you know, exercise increases ⁓ brain drive neurotrophic factor, which is a growth factor in our brain for BIll Gasiamis (41:51) Mm. Brad Pitzele (42:00) neuroplasticity. So you’re getting you’re getting all of these benefits. So you to your point, for someone who’s if it’s my right leg’s not working and I’m strapped in and my left leg’s doing it, my right leg is firing and it’s firing those neurons at the exact time you have that B D N F as it’s called. So BIll Gasiamis (42:17) BDNF’s amazing. And I also interviewed ⁓ recently a gentleman who ⁓ had spoken about ⁓ Jack Clifford on episode 402 who spoke about kind of ⁓ a protocol that enables you to regenerate blood vessels around the area that’s injured ⁓ to increase the oxygenation and the blood flow ⁓ to potentially those areas where ⁓ brain is offline, not dead. ⁓ so all of these things, ⁓ the previous episode that I recorded with Jack, your episode right now, like all are things that you can do that support brain health, brain recovery, ⁓ overcoming all the some of the challenges that stroke causes. And what I love about this specifically is that you can do it from your house. and you don’t have to go anywhere, but there is a cost. So let’s talk about the cost a little bit because I I want to mention it because of the massive difference to hyperbaric, which can cost up to sixty grand if you go on the right protocol. And ⁓ that’s unattainable for most people, let alone a stroke survivor who just lost their ability to earn ⁓ and may not have sixty grand to splash. Brad Pitzele (43:48) Yeah. BIll Gasiamis (43:48) ⁓ so what is the cost of getting a machine, setting it up and putting it in your house? Brad Pitzele (43:54) Yeah. So we sell two different machines. ⁓ we have one machine that’s eighteen hundred and ninety-nine dollars and the other one that’s twenty-four ninety-nine. ⁓ that’s everything you need to get going other than the exercise equipment. and the machines last a long, long time. I think I You know, I think we actually we’ve been in business since 2018 and we had our first customer come back and tell us they wore out their machine like this year. So I have to stop saying we’ve never had one wore wear out yet. So we’ve had one. ⁓ so it it’s one of I think that’s one of the things that’s great about it is it’s something you can do in your house. It’s something that doesn’t take a lot of time. When I was dealing with my chronic health issue, I was joke around about the ceremonies of counting pills and doing this modality and doing that. And they all in stroke survivors, I think, recognize the same thing. It starts to crowd out your life. And then eventually you kind of throw your hands up. You’re like, I it might be helping, but I just don’t have four hours a day for all this stuff. Like I just I need to go on and and live my life too. So it’s something that ⁓ it’s 15 minutes. You do it three to five times a week in your home. ⁓ it’s a one time expense and then it’s you know, it’s something you’ll have for many, many years. BIll Gasiamis (45:12) I love it. Where are you located? Brad Pitzele (45:15) We’re in a Dallas, Texas area. BIll Gasiamis (45:17) Okay. And are these things easy to get and distribute throughout the United States and other places in the world? I don’t know I’ve never heard of it before. So are there other people around who who sell a product that’s similar or can you access them easily? Brad Pitzele (45:35) Well, we do ship worldwide. ⁓ we ship with US power, so people get a power converter we’ve sold to the UK, to Australia, to all over Europe, Asia, ⁓ South America, ⁓ and of course across North America as well. So ⁓ they’re readily accessible. Kind of our mission was You know, when the doctor asked me if I’d make him first patients, I I I I thought about what you were saying about how like spending sixty grand to find out if something’s gonna work. And I felt like I was taking advantage a lot when I was very ill. So we wanted to make something that was accessible to people who are chronically ill. They might not have the ability to earn money. They’re on a fixed in like I have a I guess a deep personal experience and empathy there sort of thing. So ⁓ that’s yeah. So we ship worldwide. BIll Gasiamis (46:27) Yeah. If somebody wanted to reach out to you just to get more information, to have a chat with you, to look at your website, where would they go? Brad Pitzele (46:35) They would go to 1000roads.com slash stroke recovery. We do. And you can find it at the bottom of that webpage, but it’s 1000 Roads HQ. BIll Gasiamis (46:42) And you have a YouTube channel. Okay. What kind of ⁓ things can people find on the YouTube channel? Brad Pitzele (46:56) you can find everything about protocols, benefits, ⁓ how to use it. ⁓ we hit have some customer testimonials and parts of that. ⁓ just talking about the science of it, people’s experience with it, et cetera, et cetera, different use reasons people use it. BIll Gasiamis (47:17) I think it’s very important to bring information like this to stroke survivors so that they can access things in their own home that’s going to make their life better. I wrote a book, The Unexpected Way That a Stroke Became the Best Thing That Happened, for the explicit reason to give people like a path forward, a journey forward as to how to ⁓ s how to kind of obtain the silver lining in stroke recovery. And when I wrote it ⁓ in 2018, when I started writing it, something like that, 2018, 2019, I was lacking a lot of the extra pieces that I could put into ⁓ the mindset chapter, for example, or the exercise chapter, or, you know, the nutrition chapter. And In the last five or six years, I’ve been picking up those pieces to sort of attach to those chapters because they’re really relevant. And with the exercise chapter, I think this protocol was the one thing that was missing because I made the point of how important exercise was. I didn’t make the point of how you can exercise and get more bang for your buck during that exercise by Increasing the amount of oxygen that you were getting into your ⁓ bloodstream. How would I have known that if I hadn’t come across the science, which I hadn’t? Plus, there’s only so much you can put in each chapter, but this is the perfect addition. Like, and I love it. So I can go on and on about how much I think this is amazing. Brad, I really ⁓ want to thank you for reaching out and joining me on the podcast. Thanks for the work that you do. I’m glad that you’ve been able to get your health back and now you’re helping other people. Brad Pitzele (49:06) Thank you so much, Bill. I appreciate you having me on. BIll Gasiamis (49:08) Well, that’s it for another episode of the Recovery After Stroke podcast. I hope you enjoyed this episode. Might be worth listening to it again. The science here is worth sitting with, oxygenating the blood plasma, reopening inflamed microcapillaries, giving mitochondria what they need to shift out of that low energy state. And the fact that it can be done at home at a fraction of the cost of hyperbaric oxygen therapy makes it worth knowing about. If you want to learn more, or explore the equipment, head to 1000Roads.com Stroke Recovery. Brad has arranged a discount for listeners of this show of between one and 500 dollars, depending on the package you choose. This episode pairs well with the episode 402 with Jack Clifford, which covers a protocol for regenerating blood vessels around the injured area of the brain. The two conversations complement each other. Worth going back to if you haven’t heard it yet. Now, if this episode was useful, please share it with someone who could benefit. And my book, The Unexpected Way That a Stroke Became, the Best Thing That Happened, is available at recoveryafterstroke dot com slash book. And if you’d like to support the show financially, I would love it if you could. You can go and do that via patreon.com/slash recovery after stroke. I’m Bill Garciamas. Thanks for listening. See you on the next episode. The post Brad Pitzele – How Exercise With Oxygen Therapy Brings Hyperbaric-Style Benefits Home appeared first on Recovery After Stroke.

Short-term rentals are supposed to be the most hands-on asset class in real estate. Tim Hubbard runs hundreds of them across the U.S. and multiple countries—without ever being on the ground. Tim is the CEO and co-founder of Corzly, the virtual management company he built after 16 years of operating his own short-term rental portfolio from outside California, then outside the U.S. entirely. His team handles pricing, listings, guest communication, and back-end operations across Eastern Europe, South Africa, the Philippines, and South America—while the owner still controls the housekeepers and maintenance on the ground. In this episode, Tim and Ed get into why “a B-class property with A-class management beats an A-class property with B-class management,” why the urban short-term rental market is more durable than the vacation-rental crowd realizes, and what the data is actually telling operators about which markets to enter and which to avoid. What you'll hear: Why the “can't be hands-on AND remote” constraint is the forcing function that built Corzly—and what it means for any operator stuck in their own business The buy box: how Tim underwrites a short-term rental like an apartment building, what data sources actually matter, and the regulatory gotchas that kill deals Why urban short-term rentals quietly outperform vacation markets—more reasons to stay, less seasonal volatility, and the medical-professional and conference angles most investors miss The lightning round: under-budgeting renovations, Dennis Waitley's “two choices” framing, and why education became Tim's purpose once the portfolio could run itself Books Tim recommended: Who Not How by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy—the framework for finding the right people to delegate to The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson—Tim's most-recommended book; the case for compounding small daily disciplines About Tim Hubbard: CEO and co-founder of Corzly. 16-year real estate operator. Host of Short Term Rental Riches, a six-year-old podcast covering virtual STR management, market selection, and the operational discipline behind scaled portfolios. Find Tim: corsley.com | Short Term Rental Riches podcast (all platforms + YouTube) Subscribe to Real Estate Underground for weekly conversations with operators who've been through the cycle and lived to talk about it. Elevista - Speed as a Service™Elevista Connect is the first AI-powered lead conversion system built for real estate investors.

Linda Montgomery is Vice-President of Corporate Development, and Phil Franklin is Vice-President of Business Development for North and South America both at Zenatech. Zenatech is rapidly expanding its footprint across the drone industry through manufacturing, software development, drone as a service, operations, and strategic acquisitions. The company develops autonomous drone platforms for surveying, inspections, logistics, inventory management, and emerging defense applications while integrating AI software and data analytics into a unified ecosystem. At Zantec, Linda leads global strategy across investor relations, partnerships, marketing, and growth initiatives. Linda has over 20 years of experience, including senior marketing and business development roles with KPMG, IBM, and Telesat, as well as leadership in scaling more than 100 new ventures, product lines, and international market entries. She has also guided investor relations strategies for six IPOs and multiple public and venture-funded companies, advancing best practices in transparency, valuation growth, and market visibility. Phil spearheads the company's strategic expansion across North and South America, with a primary focus on driving sales growth and establishing ZenaTech's operational and manufacturing hub in Arizona. With over 25 years of experience in sales leadership and business operations, Phil plays a pivotal role in executing ZenaTech's "Drone as a Service" (DaaS) strategy. He is instrumental in building the company's pipeline for the ZenaDrone 1000 and IQ series drones, overseeing relationships with commercial, industrial, and government partners. His recent work includes leading initiatives to acquire flight training facilities to create a centralized pilot deployment hub and expanding the company's footprint in key sectors, such as logistics. In this episode of the Drone Radio show, Linda and Phil discuss Zenatech's approach to vertical integration, the company's growing drone as a service business, the role of autonomy and data in next generation drone operations, and its expansion into defense and counter UAS technologies.

Volker continues his South American trek through the Southern Cone of South America.

Show Summary:    Mudita Khurana — Tech Lead at Airbnb and the person who always says, “I got this” No Password Required Season 7: Episode 6 - Mudita Khurana   Mudita Khurana is a Tech Lead for Automated Tooling and Vulnerability Management at Airbnb, where she focuses on building modular, scalable security systems in an era of rapidly evolving AI threats. Before Airbnb, she spent nearly a decade in security roles across Accenture, Meta, and PwC, making bold career pivots along the way, including turning down a PwC return offer to join Facebook's product security team. In this episode, Mudita shares her journey from a family of doctors in India to Carnegie Mellon and into the heart of Big Tech security. She discusses what it means to thrive as a non-traditional engineer in a deeply technical field, why she stepped back from management to get closer to the work, and how she thinks about building security tooling that won't be obsolete in three months. Jack Clabby and co-host Kayley Melton, recording live from Tampa B-Sides at the University of South Florida, talk with Mudita about imposter syndrome, AI's curveballs for security teams, leadership without a leadership title, and the importance of community in staying on top of a field that never stops moving. She also reflects on what great mentorship looks like early in a career and why clarity, ownership, and consistency are the leadership qualities she keeps coming back to. In the Lifestyle Polygraph, Mudita firmly plants her flag in the Harry Potter universe as Hermione, explains why Deadpool doesn't qualify as a superhero, debates gym vs. nature as a reset strategy, and reveals her dream remote work base: a high-altitude Buddhist mountain town in the Himalayas.   Follow Mudita on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/muditakhurana/     In this episode: Mudita shares her unconventional path into cybersecurity, highlighting the importance of mentorship and curiosity (0:25 - 1:37) The significance of mentorship, especially Vandana Verma, in her career development (2:26 - 4:00) Transition from management to technical IC roles and why staying close to technical work matters (9:29 - 10:23) The influence of her education at Carnegie Mellon and how it broadened her problem-solving skills (6:23 - 7:41) Navigating imposter syndrome and embracing challenges as growth opportunities (3:26 - 5:29) How AI is changing cybersecurity strategies—building modular, layered systems for agility (15:31 - 16:26) The importance of community, trust, and consensus in cybersecurity decision-making (17:06 - 17:47) Mudita's favorite places for remote work and balancing planning with spontaneity in travel (23:01 - 24:13) Her personal approach to wellness, exercise, and resets during busy days (21:32 - 22:36) Her unique perspective on superhero characters, favorite places, and cultural roots (18:54 - 19:36, 25:19 - 26:21) Timestamp Highlights: (00:25) Mudita's 10-year journey into cybersecurity starting from India (02:26) Mentorship's critical role in her growth and her admiration for Vandana Verma (09:29) Transition from management back to technical roles and why staying close to the work matters (15:31) How AI fosters layered, modular security systems for faster adaptation (17:06) The importance of community and trusted information sources in security (21:32) Reset routines—gym versus nature hikes—and staying grounded during busy days (25:19) Leh, Ladakh: Mudita's ideal remote work location nestled in Himalayan beauty Resources & Links: Vandana Verma - Influential mentor in cybersecurity ThreatLocker - Supporter of this podcast Cyber Florida – The Mother Ship

Argentina is without Lionel Messi but is in the groove, while Brazil remains a tactical enigma. We're breaking down the contrasting friendly performances against Mohamed Salah and his Egypt side, and Honduras, to see who is truly World Cup-ready.Tim Vickery goes into the strategic divide between South America's two giants. While Lionel Scaloni has established a well-defined identity over eight years, Carlo Ancelotti is still searching for the right blend, experimenting with high-press and fluid formations. Tim analyses the standout performers like Lo Celso and Bruno Guimarães, the injury concerns facing both squads, and the pressure on Brazil's new generation of stars.Join the Brazilian Shirt Name Whatsapp Channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbBNgO58PgsAgQXRP32TBuy Tim's Book. Mundiales:https://www.pitchpublishing.co.uk/shop/mundiales

Several Brazilian women have come forward describing how a modeling recruiter connected to Jeffrey Epstein allegedly attempted to recruit them while they were teenagers pursuing careers in the fashion industry. According to accounts gathered by journalists, French modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel, a longtime associate of Epstein, approached young women in Brazil and other parts of South America with offers of modeling opportunities abroad. One Brazilian woman said Brunel visited her family home when she was 16 to persuade her mother to allow her to travel for a modeling contest in Ecuador. At the time, the family believed the opportunity was legitimate, unaware of Brunel's connections to Epstein. Investigators later found evidence that modeling agencies tied to Brunel were used to identify and recruit young women from South America and help arrange visas for them to travel to the United States.The accounts form part of a broader picture of how Epstein's network allegedly used the international modeling industry as a recruitment channel. Several women said they were approached with promises of fashion work, travel, or contests that could launch their careers, only later realizing they had been targeted by people linked to Epstein's circle. Brunel, who worked closely with Epstein and received financial backing from him for the agency MC2 Model Management, was later arrested in France on accusations including rape of a minor and trafficking-related offenses. He denied wrongdoing but died in a Paris prison in 2022 before standing trial, leaving many of the allegations about his role in recruiting young women for Epstein unresolved in court.to contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-epstein-chronicles--5003294/support.

Is Peru as reached as we think? In this episode of The Missions Show, Alex and Scott talk with veteran ABWE missionary Stephen Douglas to explore more than four decades of gospel ministry in Peru. Stephen shares how God led him and his wife Debbie to the city of Arequipa—a historic Roman Catholic stronghold known as the “Little Rome of Peru”—and how a small church-planting team, where no evangelical churches existed before, grew into a network of dozens of churches throughout the region. Stephen also recounts powerful stories of lives changed through discipleship, leadership development, and church planting, including Peruvian believers who have become pastors and missionaries serving around the world. While Peru and South America still have significant gospel needs, Stephen casts a compelling vision for the future: strengthening local churches, training national leaders, and equipping Latin American believers to become a launching force for global missions. Key Topics Stephen Douglas's call to missions and journey to Peru Church planting in Arequipa, Peru's historic Catholic stronghold The growth from a pioneering work to a regional church-planting movement Stories of Peruvian pastors and missionaries impacting the nations Challenges and opportunities in reaching modern Peruvian culture A vision for Peru and Latin America as a launching pad for global missions Support the work of Steve and Debbie Douglas as they continue to plant churches, train leaders, and send out Peruvian missionaries to the world - https://give.abwe.org/worker/stephen-and-debi-douglas Are you feeling called to the mission field, but don't know where to start? ABWE's 24-Hour DEMO is for those that are seeking opportunities and direction on how they can help fulfill the Great Commission. Find your role in global missions at demo.abwe.org. Do you love The Missions Show? Have you been blessed by the show? Then become a Premium Subscriber! Premium Subscribers get access to: Exclusive bonus content A community Signal thread with other listeners and the hosts Invite-only webinars A free gift! Support The Missions Show and sign up to be a Premium Subscriber at missionsshow.com/premium The Missions Show is powered by ABWE. Learn more and take your next step in the Great Commission at abwe.org. Want to ask a question or suggest a topic? Email alex@missionsshow.com.

In part 2 we examine the greater conspiracy surrounding the Vanishing of Melanie Flynn.  Lexington Police Officer Bill Canan, who claimed to be using Melanie as a confidential informant for his undercover work in the drug scene is fired from his job for a multitude of reasons related to insubordination.  Canan denies any involvement in Melanie's disappearance or in any illegal activities.  However, his partner, Drew Thornton, dies while flying a plane carrying two hundred pounds of cocaine into the United States from Columbia.In the early 1990's, former reporter Sally Denton releases a book entitled “The Bluegrass Conspiracy.” The book goes on to expose a massive drug and arm trafficking operation being carried out between South America and the US with local police as well as several federal agents working hand-in-hand with Pablo Escobar's Medellin cartel.  In addition to trafficking, there are cases of witness intimidation, theft, assault and even murder.  Canan is eventually arrested, charged and convicted of cocaine trafficking.  During his trial, several witnesses claim he was directly responsible for Melanie's disappearance and murder.FollowTEPod.comFollow Trace Evidence on Social MediaTwitter --- Instagram --- TikTok --- YouTube --- Like Facebook Page --- Join Facebook Group --- Threads --- Like MeWe Page --- Join MeWe Group --- BlueskySuppport Trace EvidencePatreon --- Paypal --- Cash App --- Buy Me A CoffeeTrace Evidence Merch ShopsTeePublic --- ShopTEPod --- SpreadshopAll Other LinksOfficial Trace Evidence Website --- LinkTreeMusic Courtesy of:"Lost Time"  Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/"Chasing Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/"Galactic Rap" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/#truecrimepodcast #unsolvedmysteries #coldcase #coldcaseinvestigation #murder #murdermystery #missingperson #missingpersons #truecrimecommunity #mysterypodcast #truecrime #coldcasefiles #truecrimestories #crimelovers #truecrimeaddict #truecrimejunkie #crimescene #justiceforall #missing #crimesquad #podcastcommunity #sleuthsunite #darkhistories #criminalmindset #detective #detectivediaries #forensics #forensicfiles #crimestories #crimepodcast #traceevidence #traceevidencepodcast #criminalinvestigation #justiceforvictims #detectivework #truecrimediscussion #podcastfamily #listenandsolve #crimefans #listentotraceevidence #uncoverthetruth #podcastrecommendations #podcastlove #podcastlife #truecrimeobsessed #followtheclues #cluefinders #podcastaddict #unsolvedmurders #unsolveddisappearances #detectiveatheart #jointheinvestigation #disappearance #vanishing #abduction #gonemissing #upandvanished #pacheco #stevenpacheco #podcasting #crimetalk #crimeanalysis #theories #melanieflynn #bobbyflynn #dougflynn #billcanan #henryvance #drewthornton #cocainebear #cocaine #trafficking #escobar #medellin #lexington #kentucky #kentuckyunsolvedBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/trace-evidence--3207798/support.