Podcasts about south koreans

Episode 788: Neal and Ann recap Nvidia's reported earnings that buoy the AI sector by beating expectations. Then, Kalshi reveals a couple cases of insider trading on its prediction markets platform, including one from MrBeast's production team. And, Anthropic's safety measures are under scrutiny as a hacker uses its code to break into the Mexican government to obtain sensitive information. Meanwhile, Neal shares numbers from the week on the gaming industry, South Korean fertility rates, and a possible ube shortage. Finally, could you handle Dunkin's 48oz Iced Coffee Bucket?  Subscribe to Morning Brew Daily for more of the news you need to start your day. Share the show with a friend, and leave us a review on your favorite podcast app. Listen to Morning Brew Daily Here:⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.swap.fm/l/mbd-note⁠⁠⁠  Watch Morning Brew Daily Here:⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@MorningBrewDailyShow⁠​For more of Ann, check out Brew Markets here: swap.fm/l/brewmarketsshow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of the special series Crossing Thresholds, Maurice Bloem speaks with Hinauri Nehua-Jackson, a proud Māori–South Korean woman born in Aotearoa (New Zealand) and now based on Treaty 6 Territory in Canada. Hinauri introduces herself in her Indigenous language and shares the meaning of her spirit name, Kapiska Mahigan Isku Onitsigason — White Wolf Woman. From the beginning, it is clear: she walks consciously between lands, between cultures, between responsibilities. At age 11, she immigrated to Canada without knowing English. What she searched for was not language — but community. Indigenous elders on Turtle Island welcomed her as one of their own, reinforcing her belief that Indigenous solidarity transcends borders. At 16, during ceremony, her path became clear. Serving elders at Sundance, disconnected from technology and urban life, she experienced what she calls the joy of selfless service. That moment “flipped the switch” for her leadership journey. As a young Indigenous leader in oil-driven Alberta, she navigates the tension between economic systems and Indigenous teachings about land stewardship. For Hinauri, climate is not abstract policy — it is spiritual balance, interconnectedness (Wakotouin), and responsibility to seven generations.   This episode connects deeply with the JLI & Christian Aid report on Climate, Migration and Faith, reminding us that climate displacement is not only physical — it is spiritual, cultural, and intergenerational.   Hinauri does not speak for Indigenous peoples. She speaks as someone who carries her ancestors forward — across oceans. We hope that you enjoy this extra long episode with this inspiring young woman.   Learn more about the research behind this series: [link to JLI–Christian Aid report]   Listener Engagement: Learn more about Hinauri via her LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook. Share your feedback on this episode through our Walk Talk Listen Feedback link – your thoughts matter! Follow Us: Support the Walk Talk Listen podcast by following us on Facebook and Instagram. Visit 100mile.org or mauricebloem.com for more episodes and information about our work. Check out the special series "Enough for All" and learn more about the work of the Joint Learning Initiative (JLI).

Today's West Coast Cookbook & Speakeasy Podcast for our especially special Daily Special, Smothered Benedict Wednesday is now available on the Spreaker Player!Starting off in the Bistro Cafe, even more of Trump's dark past surfaces at the worst possible time for the decaying monarch.Then, on the rest of the menu, in a 5 to 4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that Americans cannot sue the US Postal Service, even when employees deliberately refuse to deliver the mail; a judge barred the government from a ‘wholesale' search of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson's seized devices; and, Whiskey Pete Hegseth is appealing a judge's order that blocks him from punishing former Navy fighter pilot, astronaut and now US Senator, Mark Kelly, for reminding the troops to follow the law.After the break, we move to the Chef's Table where the US and South Korean militaries will have joint drills in March as tensions with North Korea escalate; and, Japan demands the swift release of a Japanese national detained in Iran.All that and more, on West Coast Cookbook & Speakeasy with Chef de Cuisine Justice Putnam.Bon Appétit!The Netroots Radio Live Player​Keep Your Resistance Radio Beaming 24/7/365!“It may be safely averred that good cookery is the best and truest economy, turning to full account every wholesome article of food, and converting into palatable meals what the ignorant either render uneatable or throw away in disdain.” - Eliza Acton ‘Modern Cookery for Private Families' (1845)Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/west-coast-cookbook-speakeasy--2802999/support.

South Korean thermal coal prices dipped slightly amid quiet trading, while major utilities issued large tenders and received guidance to limit Russian coal to about 10% of imports. Weather‑related delays tightened inventories. Wood pellet prices weakened on soft demand. Korea advanced its energy transition with major renewable expansion plans, a new clean‑energy pact with Sweden, and a 25‑billion‑won decarbonisation auction. Electricity prices were frozen despite high winter demand. Refiners prepared for significant spring maintenance that may tighten fuel supply. Base‑oil exports were stable year on year.

Russia launches a criminal probe into Telegram's founder, two teenagers arrested for a South Korean bike share hack, Anthropic accuses Chinese AI firms of distillation attacks, and the US Treasury sanctions a Russian exploit broker. Show notes Risky Bulletin: Russia starts criminal probe of Telegram founder Pavel Durov

SWOC Hardship Fund: https://opencollective.com/student-workers-of-columbia We start with headlines this week from Columbia University, Penn, Volkswagen, New York Presbyterian Hospital, Mission Hospital, and the nation of Argentina. For our first major story this week, we discuss recent reporting on South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang, which is mimicking not just Amazon's market share, but its worker abuses as well. Workers have been taking to the streets to fight the billionaire assault, but the AAUP has also been taking the billionaires to court, and they've been winning. Finally, we discuss the next stage of the fightback in Minneapolis, as unions and tenants have come together to organize what could be the largest rent strike in modern US history. Join the discord: discord.gg/tDvmNzX  Follow the pod at instagram.com/workstoppage, @WorkStoppagePod on Twitter,  John @facebookvillain, and Lina @solidaritybee

After four years of war in Ukraine, we take a look at the state of European security and defence. Then: why we were so invested in Winter Olympic coverage. Plus: solo dining surges in South Korean workplaces.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We couldn't wait to dive into Netflix's latest blockbuster The Great Flood, but it didn't take long for our excitement to turn into pure frustration. While the movie starts as a high-stakes survival thriller, the constant screaming from the child character, Ja-in, makes it nearly impossible to stay immersed in the tension. However, the real "disconnect" happens exactly one hour in, when the film ditches its disaster roots for a bizarre, convoluted sci-fi simulation twist that left us wondering if we were even watching the same movie. In this Flix and Giggles breakdown, Basil and Keo deconstruct the "Emotion Engine" mess, the technical failures of the script, and why this South Korean sci-fi experiment ultimately drowned under its own ambition.

Is South Korea the most impersonal country to travel in? Alun's trip in South Korea has been defined by a lack of interactions with both South Koreans and fellow travellers. Why is everyone being replaced by screens and robots? We discuss his findings, as well as the impact technology has had on South Korean society.Alun also recounts his DMZ tour, which was more organised and more funny than he would have liked. Let's just say the jokes are... borderline.Support the show and access the Lost & Found section. In this saucy edition, Adam's been bathing with a very 'impressive', very professional, rugby player.Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tripologypodcastSubmit your travel stories here: https://www.tripologypodcast.com/talesofatripNeed travel insurance? We recommend SafetyWing! Click here to get started: ⁠⁠⁠https://safetywing.com/?referenceID=26035801&utm_source=26035801&utm_medium=AmbassadorRequire an onward flight? Please use this fantastic flight rental service: ⁠⁠⁠https://onwardticket.com/tripologypodcast⁠⁠⁠Discord: https://discord.gg/7vE2UqaaInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/tripologypodcast/Website: https://www.tripologypodcast.comYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tripologypodcastX: https://x.com/tripologypod

GHOST TRAIN MOVIE REVIEW Just when you thought it was safe to use public transportation, here comes Ghost Train, a South Korean horror anthology film about a cursed subway station. Da-kyung (Joo Hyun-young) calls herself the Horror Queen of YouTube, and hosts a once popular channel about ghost sightings and other paranormal events. Desperate to […]

GHOST TRAIN MOVIE REVIEW Just when you thought it was safe to use public transportation, here comes Ghost Train, a South Korean horror anthology film about a cursed subway station. Da-kyung (Joo Hyun-young) calls herself the Horror Queen of YouTube, and hosts a once popular channel about ghost sightings and other paranormal events. Desperate to […]

Recent Munich Security Conference followed up on the 'rupture' speech by Canadian PM Carney, US State Secretary delivered a similar message to last year's US VP Vance's speech but seem to be sugar-coated.  Is Europe ready to take defense in its own hands?  China's has been investing heavily on renewable energy while the US is now lagging behind.  What does this mean for China's green future? Finally, ex-South Korean president was sentenced to life sentence for insurrection and treason for his part in the 3 December 2024 declaration of martial law.  What does it mean for South Korean domestic politics?

Ralph welcomes J.B. Branch (Public Citizen's Big Tech accountability advocate) to discuss some of the sectors that Big Tech is disrupting with artificial intelligence. Then, Steve, David, and Hannah speak to Russell Mokhiber about the latest issue of the Capitol Hill Citizen. Finally, Ralph speaks on the legacy of the late Rev. Jesse Jackson.J.B. Branch is the Big Tech accountability advocate for Public Citizen's Congress Watch division. He leads Public Citizen's advocacy efforts on artificial intelligence accountability, consumer data and privacy rights, tech product safety, platform oversight, and child online safety protections.What's happening is these AI companies are taking a page out of the playbook of the social media days. When social media was brand new, they were trying to say that this technology is going to lead to people being more connected, it's going to lead to efficiencies, it's going to lead to overall positives. And in fact, there were times where you had big tech CEOs who were saying that a lot of this money was going to trickle down. And you look down, and you look up, and I'm not any richer because Facebook stock is soaring or Microsoft's is soaring. What we're really seeing is the same thing that's happened with these large tech companies—which is that they promised the world, they offer back very little, and in fact, what they offer up is a series of harms.JB BranchCongress has been really bought into AI. They're buying into this idea that it's a race for the world between us and China. So you have some congressional folks who believe that this is a race against China and that we need to harness this weapon. And then you have a lot of corporate money from these AI companies…They're dumping a lot of money into congressional races, to ensure that they're propping up candidates who align with this deregulatory scheme.JB BranchRussell Mokhiber is editor of the Corporate Crime Reporter and the Capitol Hill Citizen. He is also founder of singlepayeraction.org, and editor of the website Morgan County USA.I see [the Capitol Hill Citizen] philosophy along a couple lines. One is that it's not left right, it's top down. We consider both political parties corrupt to the core, but there's a rising tide of activism against both parties, against the institutional parties. And so, for example, in the current issue, we bristle against those who are what we call “negativo”. We're very “positivo”. So while we're living in very difficult times, there's a rising tide of activism challenging members of Congress, both current members in Congress as citizen activists and also as candidates…And so what we're seeing is this up-down resurgence from the bottom—populists of all stripes rising up against the technocratic billionaires who've brought us to this state.Russell Mokhiber[Jesse Jackson] was an advocate of non-violence, of self-reliance. And the amazing thing about him is how he appeared everywhere. I mean there was nothing remote about Jesse Jackson. He appeared everywhere. If the farmers were being driven into bankruptcy by agribusiness, he was there. If there need to be prisoners released in foreign countries, he was there… The thing that most people didn't realize is how much personal pressure he was under by his opponents. In those days, challenging certain conditions that we don't even know about now because of Jesse and other civil rights leaders' works, really upset the power structure. And they didn't take it lying down. So all these places he went to, he was very much under great pressure.Ralph NaderNews 2/20/26* Our top stories this week concern the continuing fallout from the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. First, the Columbus Dispatch reports Republican Senator Jon Husted of Ohio accepted more than $100,000 from Epstein associate Les Wexner. Husted's opponent in his reelection campaign, former Ohio Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown, blasted Husted for accepting this money and implied that Wexner's donations pushed Husted to initially vote against releasing the Epstein files. In damage control mode, the Husted campaign announced they would donate Wexner's campaign contributions to charity. Wexner himself appeared in front of the House Oversight committee this week. Wexner denied any wrongdoing, claiming that Epstein “conned” him and called him a “clever, diabolical … master manipulator.” Democrats on the committee were skeptical, with Congressman Robert Garcia stating “There is no single person that was more involved with providing Jeffrey Epstein with the financial support to commit his crimes than Les Wexner,” per the Hill.* In related news, the New York Times reports Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew, has been arrested for misconduct stemming from his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. Specifically, he stands accused of passing along confidential information to Epstein while the disgraced former prince served as a British trade envoy. His brother, King Charles III is quoted saying he supports a “full, fair and proper process” to investigate these claims. The Times notes the striking disparity in the official response from law enforcement in the U.K. versus the U.S., writing, “The British authorities have moved aggressively to investigate the possibility of crimes emerging from the three million pages of correspondence with Mr. Epstein… police in the United States have not.”* Meanwhile in Los Angeles, prominent entertainment executive and sports agent Casey Wasserman has drawn fire from many LA politicians, including City Controller Kenneth Mejia, L.A. County Supervisor Lindsay Horvath, City Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez and fellow Councilmember and mayoral candidate Nithya Raman over his ties to Epstein lieutenant Ghislane Maxwell, as revealed in the latest tranche of files. High-profile clients of Wasserman's agency immediately began to abandon the firm. High profile deserters include pop star Chappell Roan and Olympic gold medalist Abby Wambach. Wasserman announced he would sell the agency shortly thereafter. However, Wasserman still chairs the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics Committee. This week, LA Mayor Karen Bass weighed in to call Wasserman's behavior “abhorrent” and say that while she cannot fire him, it is her opinion that he should step down. Astonishingly, the LA28 board announced after a review of Wasserman's conduct that he should remain on as committee chair. This from LA Magazine.* Speaking of local boards, this week New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced the appointment of six new members of the Rent Guidelines Board, including a new Chair. With these six appointments, comprising two-thirds of the total board, Mamdani is poised to deliver on one of his key campaign promises – a rent freeze for tenants in rent-stabilized apartments. These appointees range from experienced civil servants to academics to union organizers, among others. This is a major victory for Mamdani, and comes at a key moment when other items on his governing agenda are being challenged by budgetary constraints due to long-term mismanagement of the city's finances.* Another rent-related story comes to us from Minnesota. CBS reports the tenants union Twin Cities Tenants, along with five labor unions totaling over 25,000 workers, are calling for a statewide rent strike to pressure lawmakers to enact an eviction moratorium. This comes in the context of Operation Metro Surge, the federal government's sprawling immigration enforcement action which resulted in the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. As this piece notes, many residents of the Twin Cities stayed home from work during the operation, out of fear of being detained, resulting in many tenants being short on rent ahead of March 1st. According to an analysis by the University of Minnesota renters in the state have racked up between $27 and $51 million in rent debt since the onset of Metro Surge. This in addition to the average statewide rent debt of $44.6 million in any two-month period.* Turning to Gaza-related news, this week saw major updates in the legal drama of Palestine Action in Britain. On February 13th, AP reported that the country's High Court ruled the government acted unlawfully by outlawing Palestine Action and deeming it a terrorist organization. The Judges said that Palestine Action's activities did not meet the “level, scale and persistence” that would justify a legal proscription. However, the court allowed the government to keep the ban in place pending the government's appeal. The group was banned last June after breaking into a Royal Air Force base to protest the slaughter in Gaza. Despite this ruling in the group's favor, which came on the heels of a ruling dismissing charges against six Palestine Action activists, the BBC reports those activists will be retried by the government over their alleged role in causing damage to an Elbit Systems facility near Bristol. Charges against 18 other defendants accused of participating in the break-in will be dropped.* Meanwhile, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem and one of the Catholic Church's highest officials, was asked to comment on President Trump's proposed Board of Peace, the international body intended to oversee the governance and reconstruction of Gaza. Pizzaballa replied “What do I think of the Board of Peace? I think it is a colonialist operation: others deciding for the Palestinians.” The Patriarch added “They asked us to enter. I've never had a billion (dollars),” referring to the $1 billion price for a permanent board seat, but “above all, this is not the Church's task: It is the sacraments, the dignity of the person.” This from OSV News. Pizzaballa has long sought self-determination for the Palestinians alongside peace in the region, even putting his own life on the line for that cause. Just after the October 7th Hamas attacks, Pizzaballa offered to exchange himself for the Israeli hostages in Hamas custody.* And in East Asia, NBC reports ousted South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has been found guilty of insurrection over his failed self-coup plot, which involved storming parliament and imposing martial law. The South Korean high court stopped short of accepting the prosecution's request for the death penalty – which they justified using the case law derived from the execution of King Charles Stuart of England in 1649 – and instead sentenced Yoon to life in prison. Decrying the verdict, Yoon's lawyers called the trial “nothing more than a mere formality to reach a predetermined conclusion.” Yoon has the right to appeal the ruling. Given the failure of American institutions to check the creeping authoritarianism in our political system, it is awe-inspiring to see it happen in a country that has struggled with authoritarian rule in its much more recent past.* Turning back to domestic news, Mike Selig, the chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) posted a strange video this week, claiming that “American prediction markets have been hit with an onslaught of state-led litigation,” and announcing that the CFTC will launch a legal campaign to block states from regulating sites like Polymarket and Kalshi by asserting that such regulation is the sole purview of the Commission. In the video, Selig argues that these sites “provide useful functions for society by allowing everyday Americans to hedge commercial risks, like increases in temperature and energy price spikes…[and] serve as an important check on our news media and our information streams.” A number of states have taken action to regulate prediction markets, including Nevada, along with Arizona, Michigan, New York and Illinois, to name just a few. One powerful constituency pushing for state-level regulation of prediction markets is the traditional gambling industry. Adam Greenblatt, CEO of sportsbook BetMGM, thundered in a recent interview “They pay no state taxes, there are no consumer protections, there are no penalties for underage play.” This from Axios.* Finally, we pay tribute to activist, civil rights leader, and political forefather of modern multiracial progressive politics, the Reverend Jesse Jackson. Jackson, who passed away this week at age 84, was a protégé of Martin Luther King and ran groundbreaking presidential campaigns in the 1980s assembling the “Rainbow Coalition,” which sought civil rights for racial and ethnic minorities and the LGBT community alongside a sweeping anti-poverty agenda. In the 1990s, Jackson was elected Shadow Delegate and then Shadow Senator for the District of Columbia. In the 21st century, Jackson took on an elder statesman role in progressive circles, continuing to lead the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition and attending major protest events – including the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests and 2024 pro-Palestine encampments – even after his Parkinson's diagnosis in 2017 and multiple COVID-related hospitalizations. Since his passing, Jackson has been eulogized by a host of prominent political figures, including Donald Trump, Curtis Sliwa, Bernie Sanders, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, the Clintons, Reverends William J. Barber and Al Sharpton, the descendents of Martin Luther King, longtime Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa among many others. Like Ralph Nader, Jackson remained a leading light of the American Left during its lowest ebb in modern history. He followed his own iconic exhortation to “keep hope alive.” The least we can do is to carry on this legacy.This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven't Heard. Get full access to Ralph Nader Radio Hour at www.ralphnaderradiohour.com/subscribe

Friday, February 20th, 2026 Today, the New Mexico attorney general has re-opened a criminal probe into Epstein's Zorro Ranch; Prince Andrew has been arrested on suspicion of misconduct over ties to Epstein; the former South Korean president has been sentenced to life in prison for his coup attempt; a federal judge has thrown out Trump's mass deportation policy as the administration readies to arrest 100K refugees; a Pro-Trump Texas woman who made series of violent threats is missing after failing to report to prison; the Secretary of the VA has walked back his bid to gut veterans benefits; and Allison and Dana deliver your Good News. Thank You, BoxieCat Enjoy 30% off with code DAILYBEANS at boxiecat.com/DAILYBEANS Thank You, IQBAR Text DAILYBEANS to 64000 to get 20% off all IQBAR products, plus FREE shipping. Message and data rates may apply. Thank You, Honeylove Save 20% Off Honeylove by going to honeylove.com/DAILYBEANS #honeylovepod #sponsored Guest: John Fugelsang Tell Me Everything|John Fugelsang, The John Fugelsang Podcast, John Fugelsang|Substack, @johnfugelsang|Bluesky, @JohnFugelsang|Twitter Separation of Church and Hate by John Fugelsang - OUT NOW! Dana is on Patreon! At Dana's Dugout patreon.com/cw/dgcomedy The Latest Allison talks with Phil Williams: Hate Comes to Main Street | Muellershewrote.com Stories Former Prince Andrew arrested and held for hours on suspicion of misconduct over ties to Epstein | AP News New Mexico reopens investigation into alleged illegal activity at Epstein's former Zorro Ranch | WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather Ex-South Korean President Yoon, Who Declared Martial Law, Is Sentenced to Life in Prison: Live Updates | The New York Times White House directing DHS to hunt for voter fraud by naturalized citizens: Sources | MS NOW US judge throws out immigration board's ruling endorsing Trump mass detention policy | Reuters Pro-Trump Texas woman who made series of violent threats is missing after failing to report to prison | CBS News Good Trouble Post by @chrismurphyct.bsky.social The SAVE Act has passed the House and 50 Senators have indicated that they will vote for it if it reaches a vote in the Senate. Reach out to your Senators and tell them not to support this legislation. List of Senate Cosponsors: Cosponsors - S.128 - 119th Congress (2025-2026): SAVE Act Contacting U.S. Senators →Public Comment Period Open: White House Ballroom Proposal →How to Film ICE | WIRED →Standwithminnesota.com →Tell Congress Ice out Now | Indivisible →Defund ICE (UPDATED 1/21) - HOUSE VOTE THURSDAY →Congress: Divest From ICE and CBP | ACLU →All 23 warehouses ICE wants to turn into detention camps →ICE List →iceout.org →Demand the Resignation of Stephen Miller | 5 Calls →2026 Trans Girl Scouts To Order Cookies From! | Erin in the Morning Good News Beans Talk audio -beans-talk.simplecast.com https://www.instagram.com/reel/DT8dMGtD52d The Alt-Right Playbook - YouTube →Share your Good News & Good Trouble - The Daily Beans Subscribe to the MSW YouTube Channel - MSW Media - YouTube Our Donation Links Pathways to Citizenship link to MATCH Allison's Donationhttps://crm.bloomerang.co/HostedDonation?ApiKey=pub_86ff5236-dd26-11ec-b5ee-066e3d38bc77&WidgetId=6388736 Allison is donating $20K to It Gets Better and inviting you to help match her donations. Your support makes this work possible, Daily Beans fam. Donate to It Gets Better / The Daily Beans Fundraiser Join Dana and The Daily Beans with a MATCHED Donation http://onecau.se/_ekes71 More Donation Links National Security Counselors - Donate

In this episode of The President's Daily Brief: The clock is ticking on Iran. President Trump says Tehran has ten days to strike a nuclear deal — or face consequences — as U.S. forces assemble the largest concentration of firepower in the Middle East since the Iraq invasion. The United States begins withdrawing all troops from Syria, ending a decade-long mission against Islamic State and reshaping America's footprint in the region. A South Korean court sentences former President Yoon Suk Yeol to life in prison over his failed martial law declaration, marking a historic ruling in Seoul. And in today's Back of the Brief — the Pentagon enters a new nuclear era, airlifting its first-ever battlefield microreactor. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President's Daily Brief by visiting https://PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief. YouTube: youtube.com/@presidentsdailybrief Stash Financial: Don't Let your money sit around. Go to https://get.stash.com/PDB to see how you can receive $25 towards your first stock purchase and to view important disclosures. Cozy Earth: Visit https://www.CozyEarth.com/PDB & Use code PDB for up to 20% off DeleteMe: Get 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you go to https://joindeleteme.com/PDB and use promo code PDB at checkout. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This time John's monologue discusses the royal formerly known as Prince Andrew - who was arrested bright and early on his birthday on suspicion of misconduct related to his myriad, well documented ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Also, a South Korean court has found ex-president Yoon Suk Yeol guilty of masterminding an insurrection. So other countries are showing us a guide map. Next, he talks with Dr. Kristin Lyerly on these unnerving new additions to the Administration's ever-growing extreme MAHA agenda that will actually hurt Americans by eliminating necessary health care programs, driving up higher out-of-pocket costs, and fundamentally put people's health at higher risk. And winding it up, John welcomes back Natalia Reagan: Anthropologist, primatologist, actor, writer, producer, host, and of course comedian and they chat with listeners about pop culture and Trump's buffoonery.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Spring Festival shopping season has been strong, with strong spending on shopping, dining, and travel across China (01:05). The US president is reportedly considering a limited strike against military and government targets to pressure Iran into a new nuclear deal (13:39). Former President Yoon Suk-yeol has apologized to the South Korean public after his conviction and life sentence on insurrection charges (23:06).

In this week's episode, the team unpacks the landmark court ruling that sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to life in prison for his role in the Dec. 2024 martial law decree. They also examine the broader political implications, reactions from the ruling Democratic Party and the main opposition People Power Party and what risks may lie ahead for South Korea's conservative bloc. The conversation then shifts to trade with South Korea slipping from fourth to ninth place in U.S. import rankings in 2025, largely due to tariffs and weaker performance in sectors such as automobiles and steel, even as soaring semiconductor prices have buoyed overall trade figures.  Jeongmin also shares insights from the Munich Security Conference, where she attended as the only Korean participant. She reflects on South Korea's limited official presence, the growing importance of supply chain and security discussions among global stakeholders and the opportunities Seoul may be missing in high-level diplomatic and industry forums. Looking ahead, the team previews Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's upcoming visit to Seoul, potential areas of cooperation including trade and supply chains, as well as the People Power Party's reported plans to rebrand. About the podcast: The Korea Pro Podcast is a weekly conversation hosted by Korea Risk Group Executive Director Jeongmin Kim, Managing Editor John Lee and correspondent Joon Ha Park, delivering deep, clear analysis of South Korean politics, diplomacy, security, society and technology for professionals who need more than headlines. Uploaded every Friday. This episode was recorded on Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. Audio edited by Alannah Hill

Bongani Bingwa crosses to Adam Gilchrist for a look at the top international stories making headlines. They begin with developments in the UK, where Prince Andrew, younger brother of Charles III, has been released but remains under investigation following his arrest on suspicion of misconduct in public office. Then to Asia, where former South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol has been sentenced to life imprisonment for leading an insurrection, a dramatic fall from power that has gripped the country. Finally, they unpack fresh tensions involving Donald Trump and the disputed Chagos Islands deal, after the UK reportedly blocked access to the strategic Diego Garcia airbase for potential strikes on Iran, linking the agreement to concerns over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. 702 Breakfast with Bongani Bingwa is broadcast on 702, a Johannesburg based talk radio station. Bongani makes sense of the news, interviews the key newsmakers of the day, and holds those in power to account on your behalf. The team bring you all you need to know to start your day Thank you for listening to a podcast from 702 Breakfast with Bongani Bingwa Listen live on Primedia+ weekdays from 06:00 and 09:00 (SA Time) to Breakfast with Bongani Bingwa broadcast on 702: https://buff.ly/gk3y0Kj For more from the show go to https://buff.ly/36edSLV or find all the catch-up podcasts here https://buff.ly/zEcM35T Subscribe to the 702 Daily and Weekly Newsletters https://buff.ly/v5mfetc Follow us on social media: 702 on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TalkRadio702 702 on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@talkradio702 702 on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talkradio702/ 702 on X: https://x.com/Radio702 702 on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@radio7See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode 313 of UnSpun with Jody Vance and George Affleck drops on a news-heavy day — from Olympic heartbreak to Prince Andrew's arrest to Conservatives jumping ship to the Liberals.Here's what's inside:

US and European equity markets fell yesterday following President Trump's announcement that Iran has 10-15 days to reach a deal over its nuclear programme. This pushed oil prices up over USD 72/ barrel this morning. On the bright side, Indian and South Korean equity markets climbed today. US Futures are also higher ahead of key US data due out today, and the possibility of the announcement of the highly anticipated Supreme Court decision on the legality of Trump's tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Fixed Income Research analyst Afonso Borges discusses expectations around the data and the court ruling as well as unpacking this week's Fed minutes.(00:00) - Introduction: Helen Freer, Product & Investment Content (00:31) - Markets wrap-up: Bernadette Anderko, Product & Investment Content (05:58) - Bond market update: Afonso Borges, Fixed Income Research (10:53) - Closing remarks: Helen Freer, Product & Investment Content Would you like to support this show? Please leave us a review and star rating on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

SEASON 4 EPISODE 61: COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN BULLETIN: On his 66th birthday, British police arrest the former Prince Andrew (now Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor) on suspicion of supplying confidential government financial information to Jeffrey Epstein. They have 96 hours to decide whether to formally charge him for that or anything else. And we prosecute no one - least of all our parallel, Trump. HOURS EARLIER a South Korean court did not sentence insurrectionist former President Yoon Suk Yeol to death, as prosecutors had demanded. He tried to impose martial law on his nation in 2024 in a plot to use spurious charges of election fraud to justify ending democracy there. He gets life in prison. And we prosecute no one - least of all our parallel, Trump. AND JUST TO ROUND IT OUT: Overnight, President Zelensky of Ukraine snapped - to some degree, throwing an S-bomb at the Russians after the latest round of Trump-led stalling-tactic phony "peace talks" broke out with no result (or more correctly the result Putin wanted Trump to achieve: delay it all further). And we did nothing.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A court in Seoul sentenced former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to life in prison today for his brief martial law decree in 2024. Also, a look at fishing boat diplomacy in the East China Sea and gunboat diplomacy in the Persian Gulf. And, flag football is set to make its debut at the 2028 Summer Olympic Games. Plus, a look at how glitter makes Carnival sparkle in Rio de Janeiro, but also pollutes the environment. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

In South Korea, a court sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to life in prison after it found him guilty of leading an insurrection. While it's a dark mark for the country, some argue it's a bright spot for its young democracy. Nick Schifrin reports on how a few short, tumultuous hours challenged South Korea. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

Your daily news in under three minutes. At Al Jazeera Podcasts, we want to hear from you, our listeners. So, please head to https://www.aljazeera.com/survey and tell us your thoughts about this show and other Al Jazeera podcasts. It only takes a few minutes! Connect with us: @AJEPodcasts on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube

Monocle’s Andrew Tuck joins to discuss Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest and its significance for the royal family. Then: South Korea’s former president, Yoon Suk Yeol, is sentenced to life in prison. And: Airbus warns that it’s struggling to get engines.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In South Korea, a court sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to life in prison after it found him guilty of leading an insurrection. While it's a dark mark for the country, some argue it's a bright spot for its young democracy. Nick Schifrin reports on how a few short, tumultuous hours challenged South Korea. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

AP correspondent Karen Chammas reports on the sentencing of a former South Korean President.

A South Korean court has sentenced former President Yoon Suk-yeol to life in prison for insurrection over his declaration of emergency martial law.

Today's West Coast Cookbook & Speakeasy Podcast for our especially special Daily Special, Metro Shrimp & Grits Thursdays is now available on the Spreaker Player!Starting off in the Bistro Cafe, Trump's DOJ blows it bad in a blistering loss.Then, on the rest of the menu, a Trump DOJ attorney was held in contempt for refusing to return an ICE detainee's paperwork; Kathy Ruemmler could be called a spy for sharing secret details with Epstein about a probe into a 2012 prostitution scandal that engulfed the Secret Service during her tenure as White House counsel; and, Trump's executive order to boost production of RoundUp weed killer, makes it illegal to warn the public of pesticide and herbicide dangers.After the break, we move to the Chef's Table where the former South Korean president received a life sentence for imposing martial law while leading his failed 2024 insurrection; and, a nationwide union strike in Argentina tests Milei's flagship labor law overhaul.All that and more, on West Coast Cookbook & Speakeasy with Chef de Cuisine Justice Putnam.Bon Appétit!The Netroots Radio Live Player​Keep Your Resistance Radio Beaming 24/7/365!“Everyone in this good city enjoys the full right to pursue their own inclinations in all reasonable and, unreasonable ways.” -- The Daily Picayune, New Orleans, March 5, 1851Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/west-coast-cookbook-speakeasy--2802999/support.

On this week's Security Sprint, Dave and Andy covered the following topics:Opening:• TribalHub 6th Annual Cybersecurity Summit, 17–20 Feb 2026, Jacksonville, Florida• IT-ISAC, Food & Ag ISAC Ransomware Reports!• Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act (CIRCIA) Rulemaking; Town Hall Meetings • What to Know About the Homeland Security Shutdown New York Times 15 Feb 2026Main Topics:South Korea blames Coupang data breach on management failure, not sophisticated attack – Reuters – 10 Feb 2026. “'It's more of a management problem than an advanced attack,' Choi Woo-hyuk, deputy minister for cyber security and network policy, told a press conference, citing lax oversight of authentication systems.” South Korean authorities released findings on a massive Coupang data leak, concluding that a former engineer exploited known authentication weaknesses and a retained signing key to access customer accounts for months, exposing personal data on about 33.7 million users. AI Threats & Mitigation• GTIG AI Threat Tracker: Distillation, Experimentation, and Continued Integration of AI for Adversarial Use — Google Cloud Blog — 12 Feb 2026. Google Threat Intelligence Group describes observed adversary use of AI across multiple phases of the attack lifecycle and highlights rising model extraction and distillation activity. • What CISOs need to know about ClawDBot, I mean MoltBot, I mean OpenClaw CSO Online — 16 Feb 2026. The article outlines enterprise risk considerations around OpenClaw and similar autonomous agent tooling that can execute actions on behalf of users with broad system access. It includes the warning that “The problem with running this is that these tools can do basically anything that a user can do,” says Rich Mogull, chief analyst at Cloud Security Alliance. Awareness of Preoperational Surveillance Tactics Associated With Terrorism Offers Opportunities — Joint Counterterrorism Assessment Team First Responder's Toolbox, ODNI — 13 Feb 2026. CISA's 2025 Year in Review: Driving Security and Resilience Across Critical Infrastructure. Notable highlights include: • Strengthened Collective Defense: Published more than 1,600 products and triaged 30,000+ incidents through CISA's 24/7 Operations Center – keeping critical systems secure. • Blocked Malicious Activity at Scale: Stopped 2.62 billion malicious connections on federal civilian networks and 371 million within critical infrastructure. • Enhanced Preparedness Nationwide: Led 148 cyber and physical security exercises with 10,000+ participants, helping partners refine emergency plans and boost local and national resilience. • Following Executive Order 14305, “Restoring American Airspace Sovereignty,” CISA published the Be Air Aware™ suite of security guides in November to help organization detect, respond to, and safely manage Unmanned Aircraft System Threats. Quick Hits:• Improving your response to vulnerability management — NCSC, 10 Feb 2026• Guidance to Assist Non-Federal Entities to Share Cyber Threat Indicators and Defensive Measures with Federal Entities under the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015 – CISA – 03 Feb 2026• CISA Helps Johnny Secure Operational Technology: New Guidance Addresses Cyber Risks from Legacy Protocols. CISA released the guidance Barriers to Secure OT Communication: Why Johnny Can't Authenticate. • Poland energy sector cyber incident highlights OT and ICS security gaps • CISA Updates BRICKSTORM Backdoor Malware Analysis Report• Blended Threats: Axios Future of Cybersecurity – Axios – 10 Feb 2026• A Defector Explains the Remote-Work Scam Helping North Korea Pay for Nukes Wall Street Journal 16 Feb 2026• Hacktivism today: what three years of research reveal about its transformation • Pakistan mosque attack highlights worsening militant threat

Art and War investigates the EOTECH OGL! Joining B.R and Nathan to discuss the OGL laser controversy is Brandon, Cyber Security analyst, former gun counter employee and the guest behind our Sig P320 investigation episode. Brandon shares his investigation into the recently released EOTECH OGL Civilian laser model, and all is not as it seems. From a wildly inflated price compared to what was originally discussed when first previewed to possible 'white labeling' and a South Korean origin of the OGL, rather than a new American made design. The lads get into why this is an issue, with EOTECH currently providing the 'Country of Origin' as 'Assembled in USA' which fails to tell the whole story, their weak social media responses on the inflated pricing, origin, and capabilities and why people in our space must consciously vote with their wallet instead of blindly consuming. All that, and much more!All information discussed is open source and available to anyone with an internet connection, documents can be found below for reference and independent assessment.Any legal action pursued due to this episode will be met with memes. :)All OGL Intel Docs and links:Chart Link (Lucid - requires free account):https://lucid.app/lucidchart/59ec6f0e-89ff-48be-b581-44f383510017/edit?viewport_loc=-96857%2C-96968%2C7737%2C3772%2C0_0&invitationId=inv_61ba4533-860c-4442-bdea-ae6692129990Chart Link (PDF version):https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VM8FPSj41B5tK4gTP0CbMMpyJmXQzFLz/view?usp=sharingAppendix Document:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1248e6Bz8s3fodhFoWXFC76TjKaLCVmEu3Ng74-Z7aVk/edit?usp=sharingCheck out our Guest:Brandon -⁠⁠ https://www.instagram.com/bsel107/⁠⁠Check out our link tree for all of our stuff:⁠⁠⁠https://brand.page/theartandwarpodcast⁠⁠⁠Follow the lads on IG:     ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Nathan / Main Page: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/cbrnart/?hl=en⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠B.R: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/br.the.anarch⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Lucas: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/heartl1ne/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

BTS is a globally acclaimed seven-member South Korean boy band that debuted on June 13, 2013, under Big Hit Entertainment. Known as the "Bangtan Boys" or "Bulletproof Boy Scouts," their name represents breaking away from societal stereotypes and pressures. The group, comprising RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook, is renowned for co-producing their music, which often addresses mental health, youth, and self-love. This is what I picked up surrounding their energies

A new crew of four astronauts has arrived at the International Space Station for an eight-month science mission. They'll study everything from bacteria to plants, all while helping NASA prepare for future trips to the Moon and Mars. Meanwhile, SpaceX successfully launched 24 new Starlink satellites on Feb. 14 from California. The Falcon 9 rocket's first stage landed safely on a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean.Investigators have found DNA at Nancy Guthrie's property that does not belong to her or anyone close to her, as the search for her enters its third week.President Donald Trump and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to ramp up pressure on Iran, targeting oil exports to China. Meanwhile, the U.S. military is preparing for possible weeks-long operations.U.S. investors are suing the South Korean government over one of its leading e-commerce platforms. This comes as an international controversy escalates.An Italian ice dance couple is enjoying their final Olympic Valentine's Day. Details on their love story that began more than 16 years ago.

Georgina Godwin speaks with author Bora Chung about her life and activism, the rise of South Korean literature and her short-story collection The Midnight Timetable, which explores speculative fiction and political themes.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this week’s China Compass, we start by looking at the current Olympics medal count and how China attempts to “compete”, including their purchasing of Chinese-American Eileen Gu. Then we look a little more at the horrors of the North Korean regime, followed by a longer look and some stories from a few of the Pray for China cities of the week (Xining, Baoshan). Welcome to China Compass on the Fight Laugh Feast network! I'm your China travel guide in exile, Missionary Ben. Follow me on X (@chinaadventures) where I share a new Chinese city or county to pray for every single day. Feel free to write anytime: chinacompass@privacyport.com. All my books, substack, patreon, and everything else can be easily found at PrayGiveGo.us! The Millionaire Missionary (BordenofYale.com) - Available on Kindle/Amazon (free PDF) Unbeaten: My Arrest, Interrogation, and Deportation from China (Unbeaten.vip) Eileen Gu is the Poster Child for the Post-Nationalist Olympics https://thefederalist.com/2026/02/11/eileen-gu-is-the-poster-child-for-the-post-nationalist-olympics/ North Korea Executes Teens for Watching Squid Game, Listening to K-Pop https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/north-korea-executes-teens-for-watching-squid-game-and-listening-to-k-pop/articleshow/128027845.cms Now let's take a look at this coming week's Pray for China (PrayforChina.us) cities… https://chinacall.substack.com/p/pray-for-china-feb-15-21-2026 Thank you for listening! Subscribe and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform! There’s also a Paypal link at PrayforChina.us if you’d like to give to our China ministry. Last but not least, for (almost) everything else we’re doing visit PrayGiveGo.us. Luke 10, vs 2: the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few, therefore ask the Lord for more. Talk again soon!

On this week’s China Compass, we start by looking at the current Olympics medal count and how China attempts to “compete”, including their purchasing of Chinese-American Eileen Gu. Then we look a little more at the horrors of the North Korean regime, followed by a longer look and some stories from a few of the Pray for China cities of the week (Xining, Baoshan). Welcome to China Compass on the Fight Laugh Feast network! I'm your China travel guide in exile, Missionary Ben. Follow me on X (@chinaadventures) where I share a new Chinese city or county to pray for every single day. Feel free to write anytime: chinacompass@privacyport.com. All my books, substack, patreon, and everything else can be easily found at PrayGiveGo.us! The Millionaire Missionary (BordenofYale.com) - Available on Kindle/Amazon (free PDF) Unbeaten: My Arrest, Interrogation, and Deportation from China (Unbeaten.vip) Eileen Gu is the Poster Child for the Post-Nationalist Olympics https://thefederalist.com/2026/02/11/eileen-gu-is-the-poster-child-for-the-post-nationalist-olympics/ North Korea Executes Teens for Watching Squid Game, Listening to K-Pop https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/north-korea-executes-teens-for-watching-squid-game-and-listening-to-k-pop/articleshow/128027845.cms Now let's take a look at this coming week's Pray for China (PrayforChina.us) cities… https://chinacall.substack.com/p/pray-for-china-feb-15-21-2026 Thank you for listening! Subscribe and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform! There’s also a Paypal link at PrayforChina.us if you’d like to give to our China ministry. Last but not least, for (almost) everything else we’re doing visit PrayGiveGo.us. Luke 10, vs 2: the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few, therefore ask the Lord for more. Talk again soon!

Valentine's Day is tomorrow and we hear from the guys on the front lines of the struggle. C-Lo checks in with the latest on Olympic hockey and the popularity of the double luge. The Phillies released Nick Castellanos for bringing a beer into the dugout, and we try to recognize the names on the NBA All-Star celebrity roster. Plus, a South Korean skiing disqualification and a look at the "fake healthy" snacks C-Lo loves.

In this week's episode, NK News' Lead Correspondent Shreyas Reddy joins John Lee. They  discuss Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's Liberal Democratic Party's landslide victory, delivering a two-thirds parliamentary supermajority that could pave the way for long-sought constitutional revisions. They delve into how uncertainty surrounding U.S. foreign policy and alliance commitments is influencing both Seoul and Tokyo as they reassess defense self-sufficiency and trilateral cooperation. The episode also covers South Korea's expanding defense partnership with Saudi Arabia, where a new memorandum of understanding signals a shift from one-off arms sales to longer-term joint research and development. The pair discuss how deeper industrial cooperation aligns with Riyadh's localization goals under Vision 2030 and Seoul's ambition to solidify its position in the Middle East, while also considering potential friction with U.S. defense exporters. Shifting to domestic politics, the episode examines contentious judicial reform proposals in South Korea's National Assembly. Lawmakers from the ruling Democratic Party are advancing plans to expand the Supreme Court and adjust the relationship between the Supreme Court and Constitutional Court.  The episode concludes with a look at the week ahead, including legislative maneuvering before the Lunar New Year holiday, continued developments surrounding U.S. tariff discussions and the unfolding Coupang saga.  About the podcast: The Korea Pro Podcast is a weekly conversation hosted by Korea Risk Group Executive Director Jeongmin Kim, Managing Editor John Lee and correspondent Joon Ha Park, delivering deep, clear analysis of South Korean politics, diplomacy, security, society and technology for professionals who need more than headlines. Uploaded every Friday. This episode was recorded on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. Audio edited by Alannah Hill

Turkish Football Podcast

The 61-year-old is the second member of Yoon's cabinet to be sentenced ‌for their role in the martial law declaration, after former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo received 23 years last month.

Infrastructure was passé…uncool. Difficult to get dollars from Private Equity and Growth funds, and almost impossible to get a VC fund interested. Now?! Now, it's cool. Infrastructure seems to be having a Renaissance, a full on Rebirth, not just fueled by commercial interests (e.g. advent of AI), but also by industrial policy and geopolitical considerations. In this episode of Tech Deciphered, we explore what's cool in the infrastructure spaces, including mega trends in semiconductors, energy, networking & connectivity, manufacturing Navigation: Intro We're back to building things Why now: the 5 forces behind the renaissance Semiconductors: compute is the new oil Networking & connectivity: digital highways get rebuilt Energy: rebuilding the power stack (not just renewables) Manufacturing: the return of “atoms + bits” Wrap: what it means for startups, incumbents, and investors Conclusion Our co-hosts: Bertrand Schmitt, Entrepreneur in Residence at Red River West, co-founder of App Annie / Data.ai, business angel, advisor to startups and VC funds, @bschmitt Nuno Goncalves Pedro, Investor, Managing Partner, Founder at Chamaeleon, @ngpedro Our show: Tech DECIPHERED brings you the Entrepreneur and Investor views on Big Tech, VC and Start-up news, opinion pieces and research. We decipher their meaning, and add inside knowledge and context. Being nerds, we also discuss the latest gadgets and pop culture news Subscribe To Our Podcast Nuno Gonçalves Pedro Introduction Welcome to episode 73 of Tech Deciphered, Infrastructure, the Rebirth or Renaissance. Infrastructure was passé, it wasn’t cool, but all of a sudden now everyone’s talking about network, talking about compute and semiconductors, talking about logistics, talking about energy. What gives? What’s happened? It was impossible in the past to get any funds, venture capital, even, to be honest, some private equity funds or growth funds interested in some of these areas, but now all of a sudden everyone thinks it’s cool. The infrastructure seems to be having a renaissance, a full-on rebirth. In this episode, we will explore in which cool ways the infrastructure spaces are moving and what’s leading to it. We will deep dive into the forces that are leading us to this. We will deep dive into semiconductors, networking and connectivity, energy, manufacturing, and then we’ll wrap up. Bertrand, so infrastructure is cool now. Bertrand Schmitt We're back to building things Yes. I thought software was going to eat the world. I cannot believe it was then, maybe even 15 years ago, from Andreessen, that quote about software eating the world. I guess it’s an eternal balance. Sometimes you go ahead of yourself, you build a lot of software stack, and at some point, you need the hardware to run this software stack, and there is only so much the bits can do in a world of atoms. Nuno Gonçalves Pedro Obviously, we’ve gone through some of this before. I think what we’re going through right now is AI is eating the world, and because AI is eating the world, it’s driving a lot of this infrastructure building that we need. We don’t have enough energy to be consumed by all these big data centers and hyperscalers. We need to be innovative around network as well because of the consumption in terms of network bandwidth that is linked to that consumption as well. In some ways, it’s not software eating the world, AI is eating the world. Because AI is eating the world, we need to rethink everything around infrastructure and infrastructure becoming cool again. Bertrand Schmitt There is something deeper in this. It’s that the past 10, even 15 years were all about SaaS before AI. SaaS, interestingly enough, was very energy-efficient. When I say SaaS, I mean cloud computing at large. What I mean by energy-efficient is that actually cloud computing help make energy use more efficient because instead of companies having their own separate data centers in many locations, sometimes poorly run from an industrial perspective, replace their own privately run data center with data center run by the super scalers, the hyperscalers of the world. These data centers were run much better in terms of how you manage the coolings, the energy efficiency, the rack density, all of this stuff. Actually, the cloud revolution didn’t increase the use of electricity. The cloud revolution was actually a replacement from your private data center to the hyperscaler data center, which was energy efficient. That’s why we didn’t, even if we are always talking about that growth of cloud computing, we were never feeling the pinch in term of electricity. As you say, we say it all changed because with AI, it was not a simple “Replacement” of locally run infrastructure to a hyperscaler run infrastructure. It was truly adding on top of an existing infrastructure, a new computing infrastructure in a way out of nowhere. Not just any computing infrastructure, an energy infrastructure that was really, really voracious in term of energy use. Nuno Gonçalves Pedro There was one other effect. Obviously, we’ve discussed before, we are in a bubble. We won’t go too much into that today. But the previous big bubble in tech, which is in the late ’90s, there was a lot of infrastructure built. We thought the internet was going to take over back then. It didn’t take over immediately, but there was a lot of network connectivity, bandwidth built back in the day. Companies imploded because of that as well, or had to restructure and go in their chapter 11. A lot of the big telco companies had their own issues back then, etc., but a lot of infrastructure was built back then for this advent of the internet, which would then take a long time to come. In some ways, to your point, there was a lot of latent supply that was built that was around that for a while wasn’t used, but then it was. Now it’s been used, and now we need new stuff. That’s why I feel now we’re having the new moment of infrastructure, new moment of moving forward, aligned a little bit with what you just said around cloud computing and the advent of SaaS, but also around the fact that we had a lot of buildup back in the late ’90s, early ’90s, which we’re now still reaping the benefits on in today’s world. Bertrand Schmitt Yeah, that’s actually a great point because what was built in the late ’90s, there was a lot of fibre that was built. Laying out the fibre either across countries, inside countries. This fibre, interestingly enough, you could just change the computing on both sides of the fibre, the routing, the modems, and upgrade the capacity of the fibre. But the fibre was the same in between. The big investment, CapEx investment, was really lying down that fibre, but then you could really upgrade easily. Even if both ends of the fibre were either using very old infrastructure from the ’90s or were actually dark and not being put to use, step by step, it was being put to use, equipment was replaced, and step by step, you could keep using more and more of this fibre. It was a very interesting development, as you say, because it could be expanded over the years, where if we talk about GPUs, use for AI, GPUs, the interesting part is actually it’s totally the opposite. After a few years, it’s useless. Some like Google, will argue that they can depreciate over 5, 6 years, even some GPUs. But at the end of the day, the difference in perf and energy efficiency of the GPUs means that if you are energy constrained, you just want to replace the old one even as young as three-year-old. You have to look at Nvidia increasing spec, generation after generation. It’s pretty insane. It’s usually at least 3X year over year in term of performance. Nuno Gonçalves Pedro At this moment in time, it’s very clear that it’s happening. Why now: the 5 forces behind the renaissance Maybe let’s deep dive into why it’s happening now. What are the key forces around this? We’ve identified, I think, five forces that are particularly vital that lead to the world we’re in right now. One we’ve already talked about, which is AI, the demand shock and everything that’s happened because of AI. Data centers drive power demand, drive grid upgrades, drive innovative ways of getting energy, drive chips, drive networking, drive cooling, drive manufacturing, drive all the things that we’re going to talk in just a bit. One second element that we could probably highlight in terms of the forces that are behind this is obviously where we are in terms of cost curves around technology. Obviously, a lot of things are becoming much cheaper. The simulation of physical behaviours has become a lot more cheap, which in itself, this becomes almost a vicious cycle in of itself, then drives the adoption of more and more AI and stuff. But anyway, the simulation is becoming more and more accessible, so you can do a lot of simulation with digital twins and other things off the real world before you go into the real world. Robotics itself is becoming, obviously, cheaper. Hardware, a lot of the hardware is becoming cheaper. Computer has become cheaper as well. Obviously, there’s a lot of cost curves that have aligned that, and that’s maybe the second force that I would highlight. Obviously, funds are catching up. We’ll leave that a little bit to the end. We’ll do a wrap-up and talk a little bit about the implications to investors. But there’s a lot of capital out there, some capital related to industrial policy, other capital related to private initiative, private equity, growth funds, even venture capital, to be honest, and a few other elements on that. That would be a third force that I would highlight. Bertrand Schmitt Yes. Interestingly enough, in terms of capital use, and we’ll talk more about this, but some firms, if we are talking about energy investment, it was very difficult to invest if you are not investing in green energy. Now I think more and more firms and banks are willing to invest or support different type of energy infrastructure, not just, “Green energy.” That’s an interesting development because at some point it became near impossible to invest more in gas development, in oil development in the US or in most Western countries. At least in the US, this is dramatically changing the framework. Nuno Gonçalves Pedro Maybe to add the two last forces that I think we see behind the renaissance of what’s happening in infrastructure. They go hand in hand. One is the geopolitics of the world right now. Obviously, the world was global flat, and now it’s becoming increasingly siloed, so people are playing it to their own interests. There’s a lot of replication of infrastructure as well because people want to be autonomous, and they want to drive their own ability to serve end consumers, businesses, etc., in terms of data centers and everything else. That ability has led to things like, for example, chips shortage. The fact that there are semiconductors, there are shortages across the board, like memory shortages, where everything is packed up until 2027 of 2028. A lot of the memory that was being produced is already spoken for, which is shocking. There’s obviously generation of supply chain fragilities, obviously, some of it because of policies, for example, in the US with tariffs, etc, security of energy, etc. Then the last force directly linked to the geopolitics is the opposite of it, which is the policy as an accelerant, so to speak, as something that is accelerating development, where because of those silos, individual countries, as part their industrial policy, then want to put capital behind their local ecosystems, their local companies, so that their local companies and their local systems are for sure the winners, or at least, at the very least, serve their own local markets. I think that’s true of a lot of the things we’re seeing, for example, in the US with the Chips Act, for semiconductors, with IGA, IRA, and other elements of what we’ve seen in terms of practices, policies that have been implemented even in Europe, China, and other parts of the world. Bertrand Schmitt Talking about chips shortages, it’s pretty insane what has been happening with memory. Just the past few weeks, I have seen a close to 3X increase in price in memory prices in a matter of weeks. Apparently, it started with a huge order from OpenAI. Apparently, they have tried to corner the memory market. Interestingly enough, it has flat-footed the entire industry, and that includes Google, that includes Microsoft. There are rumours of their teams now having moved to South Korea, so they are closer to the action in terms of memory factories and memory decision-making. There are rumours of execs who got fired because they didn’t prepare for this type of eventuality or didn’t lock in some of the supply chain because that memory was initially for AI, but obviously, it impacts everything because factories making memories, you have to plan years in advance to build memories. You cannot open new lines of manufacturing like this. All factories that are going to open, we know when they are going to open because they’ve been built up for years. There is no extra capacity suddenly. At the very best, you can change a bit your line of production from one type of memory to another type. But that’s probably about it. Nuno Gonçalves Pedro Just to be clear, all these transformations we’re seeing isn’t to say just hardware is back, right? It’s not just hardware. There’s physicality. The buildings are coming back, right? It’s full stack. Software is here. That’s why everything is happening. Policy is here. Finance is here. It’s a little bit like the name of the movie, right? Everything everywhere all at once. Everything’s happening. It was in some ways driven by the upper stacks, by the app layers, by the platform layers. But now we need new infrastructure. We need more infrastructure. We need it very, very quickly. We need it today. We’re already lacking in it. Semiconductors: compute is the new oil Maybe that’s a good segue into the first piece of the whole infrastructure thing that’s driving now the most valuable company in the world, NVIDIA, which is semiconductors. Semiconductors are driving compute. Semis are the foundation of infrastructure as a compute. Everyone needs it for every thing, for every activity, not just for compute, but even for sensors, for actuators, everything else. That’s the beginning of it all. Semiconductor is one of the key pieces around the infrastructure stack that’s being built at scale at this moment in time. Bertrand Schmitt Yes. What’s interesting is that if we look at the market gap of Semis versus software as a service, cloud companies, there has been a widening gap the past year. I forgot the exact numbers, but we were talking about plus 20, 25% for Semis in term of market gap and minus 5, minus 10 for SaaS companies. That’s another trend that’s happening. Why is this happening? One, because semiconductors are core to the AI build-up, you cannot go around without them. But two, it’s also raising a lot of questions about the durability of the SaaS, a software-as-a-service business model. Because if suddenly we have better AI, and that’s all everyone is talking about to justify the investment in AI, that it keeps getting better, and it keeps improving, and it’s going to replace your engineers, your software engineers. Then maybe all of this moat that software companies built up over the years or decades, sometimes, might unravel under the pressure of newly coded, newly built, cheaper alternatives built from the ground up with AI support. It’s not just that, yes, semiconductors are doing great. It’s also as a result of that AI underlying trend that software is doing worse right now. Nuno Gonçalves Pedro At the end of the day, this foundational piece of infrastructure, semiconductor, is obviously getting manifest to many things, fabrication, manufacturing, packaging, materials, equipment. Everything’s being driven, ASML, etc. There are all these different players around the world that are having skyrocket valuations now, it’s because they’re all part of the value chain. Just to be very, very clear, there’s two elements of this that I think are very important for us to remember at this point in time. One, it’s the entire value chains are being shifted. It’s not just the chips that basically lead to computing in the strict sense of it. It’s like chips, for example, that drive, for example, network switching. We’re going to talk about networking a bit, but you need chips to drive better network switching. That’s getting revolutionised as well. For example, we have an investment in that space, a company called the eridu.ai, and they’re revolutionising one of the pieces around that stack. Second part of the puzzle, so obviously, besides the holistic view of the world that’s changing in terms of value change, the second piece of the puzzle is, as we discussed before, there’s industrial policy. We already mentioned the CHIPS Act, which is something, for example, that has been done in the US, which I think is 52 billion in incentives across a variety of things, grants, loans, and other mechanisms to incentivise players to scale capacity quick and to scale capacity locally in the US. One of the effects of that now is obviously we had the TSMC, US expansion with a factory here in the US. We have other levels of expansion going on with Intel, Samsung, and others that are happening as we speak. Again, it’s this two by two. It’s market forces that drive the need for fundamental shifts in the value chain. On the other industrial policy and actual money put forward by states, by governments, by entities that want to revolutionise their own local markets. Bertrand Schmitt Yes. When you talk about networking, it makes me think about what NVIDIA did more than six years ago when they acquired Mellanox. At the time, it was largest acquisition for NVIDIA in 2019, and it was networking for the data center. Not networking across data center, but inside the data center, and basically making sure that your GPUs, the different computers, can talk as fast as possible between each of them. I think that’s one piece of the puzzle that a lot of companies are missing, by the way, about NVIDIA is that they are truly providing full systems. They are not just providing a GPU. Some of their competitors are just providing GPUs. But NVIDIA can provide you the full rack. Now, they move to liquid-cool computing as well. They design their systems with liquid cooling in mind. They have a very different approach in the industry. It’s a systematic system-level approach to how do you optimize your data center. Quite frankly, that’s a bit hard to beat. Nuno Gonçalves Pedro For those listening, you’d be like, this is all very different. Semiconductors, networking, energy, manufacturing, this is all different. Then all of a sudden, as Bertrand is saying, well, there are some players that are acting across the stack. Then you see in the same sentence, you’re talking about nuclear power in Microsoft or nuclear power in Google, and you’re like, what happened? Why are these guys in the same sentence? It’s like they’re tech companies. Why are they talking about energy? It’s the nature of that. These ecosystems need to go hand in hand. The value chains are very deep. For you to actually reap the benefits of more and more, for example, semiconductor availability, you have to have better and better networking connectivity, and you have to have more and more energy at lower and lower costs, and all of that. All these things are intrinsically linked. That’s why you see all these big tech companies working across stack, NVIDIA being a great example of that in trying to create truly a systems approach to the world, as Bertrand was mentioning. Networking & connectivity: digital highways get rebuilt On the networking and connectivity side, as we said, we had a lot of fibre that was put down, etc, but there’s still more build-out needs to be done. 5G in terms of its densification is still happening. We’re now starting to talk, obviously, about 6G. I’m not sure most telcos are very happy about that because they just have been doing all this CapEx and all this deployment into 5G, and now people already started talking about 6G and what’s next. Obviously, data center interconnect is quite important, and all the hubbing that needs to happen around data centers is very, very important. We are seeing a lot movements around connectivity that are particularly important. Network gear and the emergence of players like Broadcom in terms of the semiconductor side of the fence, obviously, Cisco, Juniper, Arista, and others that are very much present in this space. As I said, we made an investment on the semiconductor side of networking as well, realizing that there’s still a lot of bottlenecks happening there. But obviously, the networking and connectivity stack still needs to be built at all levels within the data centers, outside of the data centers in terms of last mile, across the board in terms of fibre. We’re seeing a lot of movements still around the space. It’s what connects everything. At the end of the day, if there’s too much latency in these systems, if the bandwidths are not high enough, then we’re going to have huge bottlenecks that are going to be put at the table by a networking providers. Obviously, that doesn’t help anyone. If there’s a button like anywhere, it doesn’t work. All of this doesn’t work. Bertrand Schmitt Yes. Interestingly enough, I know we said for this episode, we not talk too much about space, but when you talk about 6G, it make me think about, of course, Starlink. That’s really your last mile delivery that’s being built as well. It’s a massive investment. We’re talking about thousands of satellites that are interconnected between each other through laser system. This is changing dramatically how companies can operate, how individuals can operate. For companies, you can have great connectivity from anywhere in the world. For military, it’s the same. For individuals, suddenly, you won’t have dead space, wide zones. This is also a part of changing how we could do things. It’s quite important even in the development of AI because, yes, you can have AI at the edge, but that interconnect to the rest of the system is quite critical. Having that availability of a network link, high-quality network link from anywhere is a great combo. Nuno Gonçalves Pedro Then you start seeing regions of the world that want to differentiate to attract digital nomads by saying, “We have submarine cables that come and hub through us, and therefore, our connectivity is amazing.” I was just in Madeira, and they were talking about that in Portugal. One of the islands of Portugal. We have some Marine cables. You have great connectivity. We’re getting into that discussion where people are like, I don’t care. I mean, I don’t know. I assume I have decent connectivity. People actually care about decent connectivity. This discussion is not just happening at corporate level, at enterprise level? Etc. Even consumers, even people that want to work remotely or be based somewhere else in the world. It’s like, This is important Where is there a great connectivity for me so that I can have access to the services I need? Etc. Everyone becomes aware of everything. We had a cloud flare mishap more recently that the CEO had to jump online and explain deeply, technically and deeply, what happened. Because we’re in their heads. If Cloudflare goes down, there’s a lot of websites that don’t work. All of this, I think, is now becoming du jour rather than just an afterthought. Maybe we’ll think about that in the future. Bertrand Schmitt Totally. I think your life is being changed for network connectivity, so life of individuals, companies. I mean, everything. Look at airlines and ships and cruise ships. Now is the advent of satellite connectivity. It’s dramatically changing our experience. Nuno Gonçalves Pedro Indeed. Energy: rebuilding the power stack (not just renewables) Moving maybe to energy. We’ve talked about energy quite a bit in the past. Maybe we start with the one that we didn’t talk as much, although we did mention it, which was, let’s call it the fossil infrastructure, what’s happening around there. Everyone was saying, it’s all going to be renewables and green. We’ve had a shift of power, geopolitics. Honestly, I the writing was on the wall that we needed a lot more energy creation. It wasn’t either or. We needed other sources to be as efficient as possible. Obviously, we see a lot of work happening around there that many would have thought, Well, all this infrastructure doesn’t matter anymore. Now we’re seeing LNG terminals, pipelines, petrochemical capacity being pushed up, a lot of stuff happening around markets in terms of export, and not only around export, but also around overall distribution and increases and improvements so that there’s less leakage, distribution of energy, etc. In some ways, people say, it’s controversial, but it’s like we don’t have enough energy to spare. We’re already behind, so we need as much as we can. We need to figure out the way to really extract as much as we can from even natural resources, which In many people’s mind, it’s almost like blasphemous to talk about, but it is where we are. Obviously, there’s a lot of renaissance also happening on the fossil infrastructure basis, so to speak. Bertrand Schmitt Personally, I’m ecstatic that there is a renaissance going regarding what is called fossil infrastructure. Oil and gas, it’s critical to humanity well-being. You never had growth of countries without energy growth and nothing else can come close. Nuclear could come close, but it takes decades to deploy. I think it’s great. It’s great for developed economies so that they do better, they can expand faster. It’s great for third-world countries who have no realistic other choice. I really don’t know what happened the past 10, 15 years and why this was suddenly blasphemous. But I’m glad that, strangely, thanks to AI, we are back to a more rational mindset about energy and making sure we get efficient energy where we can. Obviously, nuclear is getting a second act. Nuno Gonçalves Pedro I know you would be. We’ve been talking about for a long time, and you’ve been talking about it in particular for a very long time. Bertrand Schmitt Yes, definitely. It’s been one area of interest of mine for 25 years. I don’t know. I’ve been shocked about what happened in Europe, that willingness destruction of energy infrastructure, especially in Germany. Just a few months ago, they keep destroying on live TV some nuclear station in perfect working condition and replacing them with coal. I’m not sure there is a better definition of insanity at this stage. It looks like it’s only the Germans going that hardcore for some reason, but at least the French have stopped their program of decommissioning. America, it seems to be doing the same, so it’s great. On top of it, there are new generations that could be put to use. The Chinese are building up a very large nuclear reactor program, more than 100 reactors in construction for the next 10 years. I think everybody has to catch up because at some point, this is the most efficient energy solution. Especially if you don’t build crazy constraints around the construction of these nuclear reactors. If we are rational about permits, about energy, about safety, there are great things we could be doing with nuclear. That might be one of the only solution if we want to be competitive, because when energy prices go down like crazy, like in China, they will do once they have reach delivery of their significant build-up of nuclear reactors, we better be ready to have similar options from a cost perspective. Nuno Gonçalves Pedro From the outside, at the very least, nuclear seems to be probably in the energy one of the areas that’s more being innovated at this moment in time. You have startups in the space, you have a lot really money going into it, not just your classic industrial development. That’s very exciting. Moving maybe to the carbonization and what’s happening. The CCUS, and for those who don’t know what it is, carbon capture, utilization, and storage. There’s a lot of stuff happening around that space. That’s the area that deals with the ability to capture CO₂ emissions from industrial sources and/or the atmosphere and preventing their release. There’s a lot of things happening in that space. There’s also a lot of things happening around hydrogen and geothermal and really creating the ability to storage or to store, rather, energy that then can be put back into the grids at the right time. There’s a lot of interesting pieces happening around this. There’s some startup movement in the space. It’s been a long time coming, the reuse of a lot of these industrial sources. Not sure it’s as much on the news as nuclear, and oil and gas, but certainly there’s a lot of exciting things happening there. Bertrand Schmitt I’m a bit more dubious here, but I think geothermal makes sense if it’s available at reasonable price. I don’t think hydrogen technology has proven its value. Concerning carbon capture, I’m not sure how much it’s really going to provide in terms of energy needs, but why not? Nuno Gonçalves Pedro Fuels niche, again, from the outside, we’re not energy experts, but certainly, there are movements in the space. We’ll see what’s happening. One area where there’s definitely a lot of movement is this notion of grid and storage. On the one hand, that transmission needs to be built out. It needs to be better. We’ve had issues of blackouts in the US. We’ve had issues of blackouts all around the world, almost. Portugal as well, for a significant part of the time. The ability to work around transmission lines, transformers, substations, the modernization of some of this infrastructure, and the move forward of it is pretty critical. But at the other end, there’s the edge. Then, on the edge, you have the ability to store. We should have, better mechanisms to store energy that are less leaky in terms of energy storage. Obviously, there’s a lot of movement around that. Some of it driven just by commercial stuff, like Tesla a lot with their storage stuff, etc. Some of it really driven at scale by energy players that have the interest that, for example, some of the storage starts happening closer to the consumption as well. But there’s a lot of exciting things happening in that space, and that is a transformative space. In some ways, the bottleneck of energy is also around transmission and then ultimately the access to energy by homes, by businesses, by industries, etc. Bertrand Schmitt I would say some of the blackout are truly man-made. If I pick on California, for instance. That’s the logical conclusion of the regulatory system in place in California. On one side, you limit price that energy supplier can sell. The utility company can sell, too. On the other side, you force them to decommission the most energy-efficient and least expensive energy source. That means you cap the revenues, you make the cost increase. What is the result? The result is you cannot invest anymore to support a grid and to support transmission. That’s 100% obvious. That’s what happened, at least in many places. The solution is stop crazy regulations that makes no economic sense whatsoever. Then, strangely enough, you can invest again in transmission, in maintenance, and all I love this stuff. Maybe another piece, if we pick in California, if you authorize building construction in areas where fires are easy, that’s also a very costly to support from utility perspective, because then you are creating more risk. You are forced buy the state to connect these new constructions to the grid. You have more maintenance. If it fails, you can create fire. If you create fire, you have to pay billions of fees. I just want to highlight that some of this is not a technological issue, is not per se an investment issue, but it’s simply the result of very bad regulations. I hope that some will learn, and some change will be made so that utilities can do their job better. Nuno Gonçalves Pedro Then last, but not the least, on the energy side, energy is becoming more and more digitally defined in some ways. It’s like the analogy to networks that they’ve become more, and more software defined, where you have, at the edge is things like smart meters. There’s a lot of things you can do around the key elements of the business model, like dynamic pricing and other elements. Demand response, one of the areas that I invested in, I invest in a company called Omconnect that’s now merged with what used to be Google Nest. Where to deploy that ability to do demand response and also pass it to consumers so that consumers can reduce their consumption at times where is the least price effective or the less green or the less good for the energy companies to produce energy. We have other things that are happening, which are interesting. Obviously, we have a lot more electric vehicles in cars, etc. These are also elements of storage. They don’t look like elements of storage, but the car has electricity in it once you charge it. Once it’s charged, what do you do with it? Could you do something else? Like the whole reverse charging piece that we also see now today in mobile devices and other edge devices, so to speak. That also changes the architecture of what we’re seeing around the space. With AI, there’s a lot of elements that change around the value chain. The ability to do forecasting, the ability to have, for example, virtual power plans because of just designated storage out there, etc. Interesting times happening. Not sure all utilities around the world, all energy providers around the world are innovating at the same pace and in the same way. But certainly just looking at the industry and talking to a lot of players that are CEOs of some of these companies. That are leading innovation for some of these companies, there’s definitely a lot more happening now in the last few years than maybe over the last few decades. Very exciting times. Bertrand Schmitt I think there are two interesting points in what you say. Talking about EVs, for instance, a Cybertruck is able to send electricity back to your home if your home is able to receive electricity from that source. Usually, you have some changes to make to the meter system, to your panel. That’s one great way to potentially use your car battery. Another piece of the puzzle is that, strangely enough, most strangely enough, there has been a big push to EV, but at the same time, there has not been a push to provide more electricity. But if you replace cars that use gasoline by electric vehicles that use electricity, you need to deliver more electricity. It doesn’t require a PhD to get that. But, strangely enough, nothing was done. Nuno Gonçalves Pedro Apparently, it does. Bertrand Schmitt I remember that study in France where they say that, if people were all to switch to EV, we will need 10 more nuclear reactors just on the way from Paris to Nice to the Côte d’Azur, the French Rivière, in order to provide electricity to the cars going there during the summer vacation. But I mean, guess what? No nuclear plant is being built along the way. Good luck charging your vehicles. I think that’s another limit that has been happening to the grid is more electric vehicles that require charging when the related infrastructure has not been upgraded to support more. Actually, it has quite the opposite. In many cases, we had situation of nuclear reactors closing down, so other facilities closing down. Obviously, the end result is an increase in price of electricity, at least in some states and countries that have not sold that fully out. Nuno Gonçalves Pedro Manufacturing: the return of “atoms + bits” Moving to manufacturing and what’s happening around manufacturing, manufacturing technology. There’s maybe the case to be made that manufacturing is getting replatformed, right? It’s getting redefined. Some of it is very obvious, and it’s already been ongoing for a couple of decades, which is the advent of and more and more either robotic augmented factories or just fully roboticized factories, where there’s very little presence of human beings. There’s elements of that. There’s the element of software definition on top of it, like simulation. A lot of automation is going on. A lot of AI has been applied to some lines in terms of vision, safety. We have an investment in a company called Sauter Analytics that is very focused on that from the perspective of employees and when they’re still humans in the loop, so to speak, and the ability to really figure out when people are at risk and other elements of what’s happening occurring from that. But there’s more than that. There’s a little bit of a renaissance in and of itself. Factories are, initially, if we go back a couple of decades ago, factories were, and manufacturing was very much defined from the setup. Now it’s difficult to innovate, it’s difficult to shift the line, it’s difficult to change how things are done in the line. With the advent of new factories that have less legacy, that have more flexible systems, not only in terms of software, but also in terms of hardware and robotics, it allows us to, for example, change and shift lines much more easily to different functions, which will hopefully, over time, not only reduce dramatically the cost of production. But also increase dramatically the yield, it increases dramatically the production itself. A lot of cool stuff happening in that space. Bertrand Schmitt It’s exciting to see that. One thing this current administration in the US has been betting on is not just hoping for construction renaissance. Especially on the factory side, up of factories, but their mindset was two things. One, should I force more companies to build locally because it would be cheaper? Two, increase output and supply of energy so that running factories here in the US would be cheaper than anywhere else. Maybe not cheaper than China, but certainly we get is cheaper than Europe. But three, it’s also the belief that thanks to AI, we will be able to have more efficient factories. There is always that question, do Americans to still keep making clothes, for instance, in factories. That used to be the case maybe 50 years ago, but this move to China, this move to Bangladesh, this move to different places. That’s not the goal. But it can make sense that indeed there is ability, thanks to robots and AI, to have more automated factories, and these factories could be run more efficiently, and as a result, it would be priced-competitive, even if run in the US. When you want to think about it, that has been, for instance, the South Korean playbook. More automated factories, robotics, all of this, because that was the only way to compete against China, which has a near infinite or used to have a near infinite supply of cheaper labour. I think that all of this combined can make a lot of sense. In a way, it’s probably creating a perfect storm. Maybe another piece of the puzzle this administration has been working on pretty hard is simplifying all the permitting process. Because a big chunk of the problem is that if your permitting is very complex, very expensive, what take two years to build become four years, five years, 10 years. The investment mass is not the same in that situation. I think that’s a very important part of the puzzle. It’s use this opportunity to reduce regulatory state, make sure that things are more efficient. Also, things are less at risk of bribery and fraud because all these regulations, there might be ways around. I think it’s quite critical to really be careful about this. Maybe last piece of the puzzle is the way accounting works. There are new rules now in 2026 in the US where you can fully depreciate your CapEx much faster than before. That’s a big win for manufacturing in the US. Suddenly, you can depreciate much faster some of your CapEx investment in manufacturing. Nuno Gonçalves Pedro Just going back to a point you made and then moving it forward, even China, with being now probably the country in the world with the highest rate of innovation and take up of industrial robots. Because of demographic issues a little bit what led Japan the first place to be one of the real big innovators around robots in general. The fact that demographics, you’re having an aging population, less and less children. How are you going to replace all these people? Moving that into big winners, who becomes a big winner in a space where manufacturing is fundamentally changing? Obviously, there’s the big four of robots, which is ABB, FANUC, KUKA, and Yaskawa. Epson, I think, is now in there, although it’s not considered one of the big four. Kawasaki, Denso, Universal Robots. There’s a really big robotics, industrial robotic companies in the space from different origins, FANUC and Yaskawa, and Epson from Japan, KUKA from Germany, ABB from Switzerland, Sweden. A lot of now emerging companies from China, and what’s happening in that space is quite interesting. On the other hand, also, other winners will include players that will be integrators that will build some of the rest of the infrastructure that goes into manufacturing, the Siemens of the world, the Schneider’s, the Rockwell’s that will lead to fundamental industrial automation. Some big winners in there that whose names are well known, so probably not a huge amount of surprises there. There’s movements. As I said, we’re still going to see the big Chinese players emerging in the world. There are startups that are innovating around a lot of the edges that are significant in this space. We’ll see if this is a space that will just be continued to be dominated by the big foreign robotics and by a couple of others and by the big integrators or not. Bertrand Schmitt I think you are right to remind about China because China has been moving very fast in robotics. Some Chinese companies are world-class in their use of robotics. You have this strange mix of some older industries where robotics might not be so much put to use and typically state-owned, versus some private companies, typically some tech companies that are reconverting into hardware in some situation. That went all in terms of robotics use and their demonstrations, an example of what’s happening in China. Definitely, the Chinese are not resting. Everyone smart enough is playing that game from the Americans, the Chinese, Japanese, the South Koreans. Nuno Gonçalves Pedro Exciting things are manufacturing, and maybe to bring it all together, what does it mean for all the big players out there? If we talk with startups and talk about startups, we didn’t mention a ton of startups today, right? Maybe incumbent wind across the board. But on a more serious note, we did mention a few. For example, in nuclear energy, there’s a lot of startups that have been, some of them, incredibly well-funded at this moment in time. Wrap: what it means for startups, incumbents, and investors There might be some big disruptions that will come out of startups, for example, in that space. On the chipset side, we talked about the big gorillas, the NVIDIAs, AMDs, Intel, etc., of the world. But we didn’t quite talk about the fact that there’s a lot of innovation, again, happening on the edges with new players going after very large niches, be it in networking and switching. Be it in compute and other areas that will need different, more specialized solutions. Potentially in terms of compute or in terms of semiconductor deployments. I think there’s still some opportunities there, maybe not to be the winner takes all thing, but certainly around a lot of very significant niches that might grow very fast. Manufacturing, we mentioned the same. Some of the incumbents seem to be in the driving seat. We’ll see what happens if some startups will come in and take some of the momentum there, probably less likely. There are spaces where the value chains are very tightly built around the OEMs and then the suppliers overall, classically the tier one suppliers across value chains. Maybe there is some startup investment play. We certainly have played in the couple of the spaces. I mentioned already some of them today, but this is maybe where the incumbents have it all to lose. It’s more for them to lose rather than for the startups to win just because of the scale of what needs to be done and what needs to be deployed. Bertrand Schmitt I know. That’s interesting point. I think some players in energy production, for instance, are moving very fast and behaving not only like startups. Usually, it’s independent energy suppliers who are not kept by too much regulations that get moved faster. Utility companies, as we just discussed, have more constraints. I would like to say that if you take semiconductor space, there has been quite a lot of startup activities way more than usual, and there have been some incredible success. Just a few weeks ago, Rock got more or less acquired. Now, you have to play games. It’s not an outright acquisition, but $20 billion for an IP licensing agreement that’s close to an acquisition. That’s an incredible success for a company. Started maybe 10 years ago. You have another Cerebras, one of the competitor valued, I believe, quite a lot in similar range. I think there is definitely some activity. It’s definitely a different game compared to your software startup in terms of investment. But as we have seen with AI in general, the need for investment might be larger these days. Yes, it might be either traditional players if they can move fast enough, to be frank, because some of them, when you have decades of being run as a slow-moving company, it’s hard to change things. At the same time, it looks like VCs are getting bigger. Wall Street is getting more ready to finance some of these companies. I think there will be opportunities for startups, but definitely different types of startups in terms of profile. Nuno Gonçalves Pedro Exactly. From an investor standpoint, I think on the VC side, at least our core belief is that it’s more niche. It’s more around big niches that need to be fundamentally disrupted or solutions that require fundamental interoperability and integration where the incumbents have no motivation to do it. Things that are a little bit more either packaging on the semiconductor side or other elements of actual interoperability. Even at the software layer side that feeds into infrastructure. If you’re a growth investor, a private equity investor, there’s other plays that are available to you. A lot of these projects need to be funded and need to be scaled. Now we’re seeing projects being funded even for a very large, we mentioned it in one of the previous episodes, for a very large tech companies. When Meta, for example, is going to the market to get funding for data centers, etc. There’s projects to be funded there because just the quantum and scale of some of these projects, either because of financial interest for specifically the tech companies or for other reasons, but they need to be funded by the market. There’s other place right now, certainly if you’re a larger private equity growth investor, and you want to come into the market and do projects. Even public-private financing is now available for a lot of things. Definitely, there’s a lot of things emanating that require a lot of funding, even for large-scale projects. Which means the advent of some of these projects and where realization is hopefully more of a given than in other circumstances, because there’s actual commercial capital behind it and private capital behind it to fuel it as well, not just industrial policy and money from governments. Bertrand Schmitt There was this quite incredible stat. I guess everyone heard about that incredible growth in GDP in Q3 in the US at 4.4%. Apparently, half of that growth, so around 2.2% point, has been coming from AI and related infrastructure investment. That’s pretty massive. Half of your GDP growth coming from something that was not there three years ago or there, but not at this intensity of investment. That’s the numbers we are talking about. I’m hearing that there is a good chance that in 2026, we’re talking about five, even potentially 6% GDP growth. Again, half of it potentially coming from AI and all the related infrastructure growth that’s coming with AI. As a conclusion for this episode on infrastructure, as we just said, it’s not just AI, it’s a whole stack, and it’s manufacturing in general as well. Definitely in the US, in China, there is a lot going on. As we have seen, computing needs connectivity, networks, need power, energy and grid, and all of this needs production capacity and manufacturing. Manufacturing can benefit from AI as well. That way the loop is fully going back on itself. Infrastructure is the next big thing. It’s an opportunity, probably more for incumbents, but certainly, as usual, with such big growth opportunities for startups as well. Thank you, Nuno. Nuno Gonçalves Pedro Thank you, Bertrand.

In this episode of Creative Guts, co-hosts Laura Harper Lake and Becky Barsi chat with Jihye Han, a South Korean ceramic artist and educator, as well as the recipient of the 2025 Piscataqua Region Artist Advancement Grant by the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation. Jihye's work centers on cultural memory, identity, and human connection. Our conversation includes the inspiration behind her current moon jar series, the technical process of her ceramics, and how her multicultural background, teaching, and being a parent all inform her creative practice. We also cover what it was like applying to the Piscataqua Region Artist Advancement Grant, and her reaction to learning the news she was the recipient!View Jihye's art at https://www.jihyehanart.com/work. Follow her on Instagram at www.instagram.com/hjhalice.Learn about the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation Artist Advancement Grant Exhibit featuring Jihye's work at 3S Artspace at https://www.3sarts.org/aag-2026.Explore the 2026 Piscataqua Region Artist Advancement Grant at https://www.nhcf.org/how-can-we-help-you/apply-for-a-grant/artist-advancement-grant-program/.Listen to this episode wherever you listen to podcasts or on our website www.CreativeGutsPodcast.com. Connect with us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Discord. Subscribe to our Substack newsletter at creativegutspod.substack.com. If you love listening, consider making a donation to Creative Guts! Our budget is tiny, so donations of any size make a big difference. Learn more about us and make a tax-deductible donation at www.CreativeGutsPodcast.com. Thank you to our friends at Art Up Front Street Studios and Gallery in Exeter, NH and the Rochester Museum of Fine Arts in Rochester, NH for their support of the show! Any views or opinions expressed by our hosts or guests do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Creative Guts.

In today's episode, we explore how Canadian startup Taiv is revolutionizing sports bar advertising with targeted commercials that replace live TV ads, raising $13 million USD at a nearly $100 million valuation. Then, we dive into a massive crypto mishap where South Korean exchange Bithumb accidentally gave away $42 billion worth of bitcoin in a promotion gone wrong. Plus, we cover PM Carney's discussions with President Trump about the Gordie Howe bridge dispute, Canada's continued F-35 purchases despite review, Paramount's sweetened Warner Bros. Discovery bid, and more Canadian business headlines.

South Korean official expelled from party for remark on 'importing foreign women', UK violinist given suspended sentence for sending hundreds of unsolicited nude images of his bow to random women, Paramedic faces charges after allegedly urinating on supervisor's desk, pot of chili and well, everything at work...

On this episode of The Best Thing We Watched This Week, Ruben and Chris discuss the new Peacock series The 'Burbs, the South Korean action film Holy Night: Demon Hunters, the anime Scarlet, plus Whistle, Dracula, Send Help, The Housemaid, and more! What's the best thing you watched this week?

South Korean governor suggests importing foreign women for marriage and to make babies. Japanese city cancels Cherry Blossom Festival because tourists are pooping in the locals' yards. Man arrested again for seeking non-consensual diaper changes. // Weird AF News is the only daily weird news podcast in the world. Weird news 5 days/week and on Friday it's only Floridaman. SUPPORT by joining the Weird AF News Patreon http://patreon.com/weirdafnews - OR buy Jonesy a coffee at http://buymeacoffee.com/funnyjones Buy MERCH: https://weirdafnews.merchmake.com/ - Check out the official website https://WeirdAFnews.com and FOLLOW host Jonesy at http://instagram.com/funnyjones - wants Jonesy to come perform standup comedy in your city? Fill out the form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfvYbm8Wgz3Oc2KSDg0-C6EtSlx369bvi7xdUpx_7UNGA_fIw/viewform

There were some truly awesome clues in today's crossword. We definitely hit the highlights in the podcast, but we'd be remiss if we didn't mention 44D, Stage name of South Korean rapper Park Jae-sang, PSY (Mike's favorite artist!); 47D, Tie one on at dinner, BIB (ha!); and an oldie but goodie, 21D, Parliament constituent, OWL. What a hoot! Show note imagery: One of Disney's greatest creations, ITSASMALLWORLDWe love feedback! Send us a text...Contact Info:We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crosswordpodcast@icloud.com.Also, we're on FaceBook, so feel free to drop by there and strike up a conversation!

Lee Sang-sin of the Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU) returns to the podcast to discuss the results of the think tank's annual survey, which found for the first time ever that less than half of South Korean adults think that unification with North Korea is necessary. The expert discusses how Seoul's broad unification framework has remained largely consistent across administrations and explains KINU's role as a think tank under the prime minister's office, which allows it to support the Ministry of Unification while maintaining independence. The conversation then turns to North Korea's rejection of unification and dialogue and KINU's expanded global surveys, which show stark differences in how foreign publics view the two Koreas. Dr. Lee Sang-sin is a senior research fellow and polling expert at the Korea Institute for National Unification. He last appeared on episode 74 of the NK News podcast in June 2019.  About the podcast: The North Korea News Podcast is a weekly podcast hosted by Jacco Zwetsloot exclusively for NK News, covering all things DPRK — from news to extended interviews with leading experts and analysts in the field, along with insights from our very own journalists.

A top Russian archaeologist is currently under arrest in Poland. Alexander Butyagin is waiting for courts to decide on a request from Ukraine for him to be extradited. He is a scholar at the Hermitage, Russia's largest art museum in St Petersburg, and has been digging in an ancient site in Crimea since 1999. Ukrainian authorities claim that he is criminally damaging and looting the site, making the most of Russian occupation, Butyagin himself denies all charges. It is a story that Grigor Atenesian of BBC Russian has been looking into.The Kalbeliya community is a nomadic tribe from Rajasthan in India, known for its distinctive folk music and the Kalbeliya dance form. Traditionally, Kalbeliya families have led a nomadic life, though some have settled permanently over the years. They follow a type of Hinduism in which burial, rather than cremation, is a religious requirement after death. Community members say that even those who are settled often do not have legal access to land for burial, leaving families struggling to perform last rites. Ashay Yegde, who reports for the BBC in India, recently travelled to meet the Kalbeliya to hear their story. AI-generated caricatures of middle-aged men decked out in street wear, clutching an iPhone have gone viral on social media in South Korea. They are being called 'Young 40s' by younger generations. Teasing of an older person is very unusual in South Korea, where age difference, even by a year, forms the basis of social hierarchy. But the Young 40 memes also represent Korean youth's growing scepticism of this reverence for elders. Hyojung Kim of BBC Korean has been looking into the internet phenomenon, and shares what it tells us about South Korean society today. This episode of The Documentary comes to you from The Fifth Floor, the show at the heart of global storytelling, with BBC journalists from all around the world. Presented by Faranak AmidiProduced by Laura Thomas and Caroline Ferguson (Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)