Podcasts about Spain

Episode No. 737 features curators Beverly Adams and Jamillah James. With Christophe Cherix, Adams is the co-curator of "Wilfredo Lam: When I Don't Sleep, I Dream" at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. The exhibition includes more than 130 works made between the 1920s and 1970s, making it the most extensive Lam retrospective presented in the United States. "When I Don't Sleep, I Dream" argues that Lam, a Cuban-born artist who spent much of his life in Spain, France, and Italy, was a prototypical transnational artist. It is on view in New York through April 11, 2026. The exhibition catalogue was published by MoMA; Amazon and Bookshop offer it for $60-70. Jamillah James has organized the presentation of "Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind" at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. The exhibition is one of the most comprehensive presentations to date of the pioneering Fluxus artist, musician, and world peace activist. "Music of the Mind" includes over 200 works across a vast array of media, including performance footage, music and sound recording, film, photography, installation, and more. It is on view at the MCA through February 22, 2026. An exhibition catalogue was published in North America by Yale University Press. Amazon and Bookshop offer it for $38-47. Air date: December 18, 2025.

The Family Brand New Year's Kickoff: A Tradition That Builds Culture Every year, right after Christmas — during those quiet, in-between days when no one quite knows what day it is — our family slows down and does something that has become one of our most meaningful traditions. We reflect. We celebrate. And we intentionally step into the new year together. In this solo episode, Melissa walks you through the Family Brand New Year's Kickoff, a simple, free activity that hundreds of families download every year — and come back to again and again. This year's version has been fully updated, and families continue to share how impactful it's been, from sparking meaningful conversations to even becoming the moment they announced a new baby to their kids. Melissa explains why reflection matters just as much as goal-setting, and how looking back before looking forward helps families build clarity, gratitude, and momentum. She shares how to use the reflection questions with kids of all ages (even toddlers), how to keep the process light and pressure-free, and why there's no "right" way to do this — just a way that works for your family. She also breaks down two of the most loved parts of the kickoff: Choosing a family word (or phrase) for the year — a shared language that shapes how your family shows up The annual Family Award Ceremony — a powerful moment where each child (and spouse!) is recognized not for achievements, but for who they are and how they showed up Melissa shares a deeply touching story about a family friend whose son, now leaving on a two-year mission, named this New Year's award ceremony as one of his favorite family memories — a reminder that these small traditions often leave the biggest impact. Finally, she walks through how they create vision boards as a family, why perfection isn't the goal, and shares a beautiful personal story about a vision board image that unexpectedly showed up for her on a bridge in Spain — a moment that felt like a quiet wink from God. This episode is an invitation to slow down, reflect, and start the year with intention — not pressure. You don't need a perfect plan. You just need a moment to pause and ask: Who do we want to be this year, together? LINKS: All Links Family Brand!  stan.store/familybrand familybrand.com/quiz familybrand.com/retreats.  Links For This Episode: https://familybrand.com/kickoff Episode Minute By Minute: 01:20 – Introducing the Family Brand New Year's Kickoff 02:30 – Why reflection is often skipped (and why it matters) 03:30 – How the reflection questions work 04:30 – Keeping it light and pressure-free for kids 05:30 – Adapting the activity for younger children 06:30 – Using everyday moments (car rides, walks) for reflection 07:30 – Choosing a family word or phrase for the year 08:45 – Shared language and building family culture 10:00 – The Family Award Ceremony explained 11:15 – Why awards are about who they are, not what they did 12:15 – A powerful story about a son leaving on a mission 13:30 – Vision boards: why they matter 14:45 – How to make vision boards simple and fun 16:00 – Encouraging kids without forcing perfection 17:00 – Melissa's vision board story from Spain 19:30 – Feeling seen, aligned, and intentional 20:45 – Don't forget to honor your spouse 21:45 – Where to download the kickoff + how to share 22:45 – Final encouragement for the new year

If you're looking for a new Christmas tradition to try, there's a custom out of Spain called "Tió de Nadal", See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Before Anne Bonny. Before Grace O'Malley. There was Sayyida al-Hurra — the Pirate Queen of the Mediterranean. In this episode of For the Love of History, we uncover the extraordinary true story of Sayyida al-Hurra, a Muslim woman who rose to power in the late 1400s and became one of the most feared pirates in history. Born in Granada during the violence of the Reconquista, Sayyida was forced to flee Spain as Catholic rulers Ferdinand and Isabella expelled, enslaved, and murdered thousands of Muslims. That injustice would shape her destiny. After becoming governor of Tetouan (Tétouan), Morocco, Sayyida didn't just rule — she fought back. Partnering with the legendary Ottoman pirate Hayreddin Barbarossa (Redbeard), she launched relentless naval attacks against Spanish and Portuguese ships, dominating the Mediterranean and earning her title as the unrivaled pirate queen. Her piracy wasn't just about wealth; it was about defense, revenge, and protecting displaced Muslim communities. This episode explores: The Reconquista and the forced expulsion of Muslims from Spain How Sayyida al-Hurra became a female political leader and naval commander Her alliance with Barbarossa, one of history's most famous pirates Pirate warfare, ransom, and Mediterranean power politics How piracy rebuilt Tetouan into a thriving city Why European powers feared her — and her people adored her Her unprecedented marriage to the Sultan of Morocco on her own terms Sayyida al-Hurra's legacy lives on in the walls of Tetouan, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and in the history of women who refused to be erased. If you love pirate history, women in power, Islamic history, and stories of resistance against empire, this episode is for you. Grab your sword, your most dramatic blouse, and let's set sail. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ready for another mini Coffee Break Spanish lesson? This time, Anabel dives into one of Spain's most fascinating festive traditions: El Gordo de Navidad, the famous Christmas lottery!

PREVIEW Guest: Mary Anastasia O'Grady. O'Grady discusses Jose Zapatero, Spain's former prime minister, acting as a lobbyist for Venezuelan dictator Maduro. Zapatero mediates talks that buy Maduro time, while Spain opposes Venezuela's elected leadership. This highlights Spain's troubling role as Maduro's "main international agent" within the international community. 1930 BOLIVER IN CARACAS

SPAIN'S GOVERNMENT MAINTAINS TIES WITH VENEZUELA DESPITE OPPOSITION Colleague Mary Anastasia O'Grady. The Spanish government under Pedro Sanchez maintains ideological and economic alliances with the Maduro regime, prioritizing political agendas over democratic ideals. Opposition figure Cayetana Alvarez de Toledo accuses former Prime Minister Zapatero of acting as an international agent for Maduro, facilitating the dictatorship's survival despite mass migration. NUMBER 4 1900

This week, it's raw, real, and straight from the crowd. I'm sharing live recordings from IrishFest Atlanta, plus a couple gems listeners sent in. You'll hear chatter, claps, and the kind of energy you only get in the moment. Hit play and come hang out at the festival with me. Sundials, Heather Dale, Celtic Brew, Olivia Bradley, Kira Doppel, Sarah Ling, Kathleen O'Donohoe, May Will Bloom, Irish Brothers, The Muckers, Fialla This week on the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast #738  -  -  Subscribe now! GET CELTIC MUSIC NEWS IN YOUR INBOX The Celtic Music Magazine is a quick and easy way to plug yourself into more great Celtic culture. Enjoy seven weekly news items with what's happening with Celtic music and culture online. Subscribe now and get 34 Celtic MP3s for Free. VOTE IN THE CELTIC TOP 20 FOR 2025 This is our way of finding the best songs and artists each year. You can vote for as many songs and tunes that inspire you in each episode. Your vote helps me create this year's Best Celtic music of 2025 episode. You have until December 4 to vote for this episode. Vote Now! You can follow our playlist on YouTube to listen to those top voted tracks as they are added every 2 - 3 weeks. THIS WEEK IN CELTIC MUSIC 0:12 - Sundials "Star of the County Down" from Live Recording 3:52 - Heather Dale STORY OF LISTENING 6:09 - WELCOME 8:39 - Celtic Brew "Dominic's Farewell to Cashel / Contentment is Wealth" from live recording at IrishFest Atlanta 10:25 - Olivia Bradley "My Match It Is Made" from live recording at IrishFest Atlanta 14:19 - Kira Doppel and Sarah Ling "Broken Pledge Set" from live recording at IrishFest Atlanta 18:43 - Kathleen O'Donohoe "Castle Dromore" from live recording at IrishFest Atlanta 21:39 - FEEDBACK 21:57 - HEATHER DALE ON FEEDBACK That was part of an interview that I did with Heather Dale a while back. Suffice it to say… I want your feedback for the new year. If you have questions or comments. If you have your own story to share, I'd love to hear it and share it with our listeners. Feel free to send an audio file, if you like. Or just email me follow@bestcelticmusic 27:19 - May Will Bloom "Gypsy Rover" from live recording at IrishFest Atlanta 30:25 - Irish Brothers "Brennan on the Moor" from live recording at IrishFest Atlanta 33:03 - The Muckers "The Crash" from live recording at IrishFest Atlanta 36:40 - THANKS 38:26 - STORY OF HEROES OF OUR TIME and ONE OF US One of my family's favorite songs by Heather Dale is the song "One of Us". She talks about it. 45:12 - Heather Dale "One of Us" from Imagineer 48:32 - STORY OF LEAF 53:02 - Heather Dale "Leaf" from Sphere 56:54 - CLOSING 57:48 - Fialla "Not a Doctor" from live recording 1:02:42 - CREDITS Support for this program comes from Cascadia Cross Border Law Group, Creating Transparent Borders for more than twenty five years, serving Alaska and the world. Find out more at   www.CascadiaLawAlaska.com Support for this program comes from Hank Woodward. Support for this program comes from Dr. Annie Lorkowski of Centennial Animal Hospital in Corona, California. Support for this program comes from International speaker, Joseph Dumond, teaching the ancient roots of the Gaelic people. Learn more about their origins at Sightedmoon.com The Irish & Celtic Music Podcast was produced by Marc Gunn, The Celtfather and our Patrons on Patreon. The show was edited by Mitchell Petersen with Graphics by Miranda Nelson Designs. Visit our website to follow the show. You'll find links to all of the artists played in this episode. Todd Wiley is the editor of the Celtic Music Magazine. Subscribe to get 34 Celtic MP3s for Free. Plus, you'll get 7 weekly news items about what's happening with Celtic music and culture online. Best of all, you will connect with your Celtic heritage. Please tell one friend about this podcast. Word of mouth is the absolute best way to support any creative endeavor. Finally, remember. Clean energy isn't just good for the planet, it's good for your wallet. Solar and wind are now the cheapest power sources in history. But too many politicians would rather protect billionaires than help working families save on their bills. Real change starts when we stop allowing the ultra - rich to write our energy policy and run our government. Let's choose affordable, renewable power. Clean energy means lower costs, more freedom, and a planet that can actually breathe. Promote Celtic culture through music at http://celticmusicpodcast.com/. WELCOME THE IRISH & CELTIC MUSIC PODCAST * Helping you celebrate Celtic culture through music. I am Marc Gunn. I'm a Celtic musician and also host of Pub Songs & Stories. Every song has a story, every episode is a toast to Celtic and folk songwriters. Discover the stories behind the songs from the heart of the Celtic pub scene. This podcast is for fans of all kinds of Celtic music. We are here to build a diverse Celtic community and help the incredible artists who so generously share their music with you. If you hear music you love, please email artists to let them know you heard them on the Irish and Celtic Music Podcast. Musicians depend on your generosity to release new music. So please find a way to support them. Buy a CD, Album Pin, Shirt, Digital Download, or join their community on Patreon. You can find a link to all of the artists in the shownotes, along with show times, when you visit our website at celticmusicpodcast.com. Email follow@bestcelticmusic to learn how to subscribe to the podcast and you will get a free music - only episode. You'll also learn how to get your band played on the podcast. Bands don't need to send in music, and you will get a free eBook called Celtic Musicians Guide to Digital Music. It's 100% free. Again email follow@bestcelticmusic I have an interesting show for you today as we wait for the results of the Celtic Top 20 and we finish our annual Celtic Christmas episode. First, I reached out to Celtic musicians on the show and asked for them to email audio recordings of live performances they did. I had only a couple responses. In fact, the first artist you heard today was… But I also recorded a bunch of performances at IrishFest Atlanta this year. I got permission to use many of those recordings for this special episode. These are live, raw recordings that I made in the audience. So you'll hear people chatting and weird sounds throughout. But we did our best to get you some of the best recordings from this show. If you have a live recording you made, send it to me. Because I would like to do this again next year. Finally, I found pieces of an interview I did with Heather Dale a couple years back. I'm slipping those recordings, along with some of her music and the stories behind the songs. THANK YOU PATRONS OF THE PODCAST! Because of generous patrons like you, the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast releases new episodes nearly every single week. Your support doesn't just fund the show—it fuels a movement. It helps us share the magic of Celtic music with thousands of new listeners and grow a global community of music lovers. Your contributions pay for everything behind the scenes: audio engineering, stunning graphics, weekly issues of the Celtic Music Magazine, show promotion, and—most importantly—buying the music we feature from indie Celtic artists. And if you're not yet a patron? You're missing out! Patrons get: Early access to episodes Music - only editions Free MP3 downloads Exclusive stories and artist interviews A vote in the Celtic Top 20 Join us today and help keep the music alive, vibrant, and independent.

Timestamp to skip the intro: (11:00) Welcome back to another episode of the True Crime Society Podcast. In this episode we discuss two separate cases of missing celebrities: Joseph Pichler was a child star, best known for his roles in films such as Varsity Blues, Beethoven's 3rd and Beethoven's 4th.  In 2006,  Joseph's vehicle was found abandoned in Washington State with a note indicating that his belongings should go to his brother.  Now, 19 years later, Joseph remains missing. Musician Richey Edwards was part of the British band ‘Manic Street Preachers.'  Richey had a documented history of mental health and addiction struggles.  Once when he was questioned about being serious about his music,  he carved the words ‘4 Real' into his arm with a razor blade.  The injury required 18 stitches. In February 2005, Richey was due to leave London to fly to the United States to begin a press tour.  Instead, he left behind some of his belongings in his hotel and drove back to his apartment in Cardiff, Wales.  Over the next few weeks, there were reported sightings of Richey in that country.  His car would later be found abandoned near a bridge.  Reported sightings of Richey have come from India and Spain.  Richey has now been missing for over 20 years. Read our blog for these cases - https://truecrimesocietyblog.com/2025/12/15/missing-celebrities-joe-pichler-and-richey-edwards/ We will be taking next week off from the podcast to spend the holiday with our families.  Be sure to join us on Patreon for over 100 exclusive episodes if you need your TCS fix!  - Patreon.com/truecrimesociety Happy Holidays! Follow us on Instagram for the latest crime news - Instagram.com/truecrimesociety

Robert Hunter is a Scottish ceramicist based in Glasgow, soon to be relocating to Yorkshire in 2026. Robert's work is inspired by themes of time and place, using natural materials such as wild clay and his own developed ash glazes. Each piece reflects both his stage in life and the landscape around him. Having studied in Aberdeen, worked and learned in Mallorca, Spain, and completed a recent two-month residency at Starworks in North Carolina, Robert has travelled widely and gained insight from many great potters. https://ThePottersCast.com/1188

Today we're revisiting the episode that exploded in downloads this year. Because AI is already deciding who gets seen, who gets recommended, and who gets ignored. And this one hit a nerve for a reason. Here's your holiday replay: AI's first pick. Listen again. Update your strategy. Walk into 2026 making sure you're the one the machine chooses. You'll learn the real truth most business owners still don't understand: AI isn't looking at your website first. It's not scanning your Instagram grid. It's not reading your blog. It's pulling from open, high-authority platforms that mimic real human conversation — and if you're not present there, you don't exist in the machine's world. I break down: The three places AI scrapes before touching your website. Why Reddit, Wikipedia, and YouTube hold disproportionate power in AI recommendations. How transcripts, comments, Q&A threads, and conversational content become "credibility signals." Why small service businesses get skipped — not because they aren't good, but because AI has nothing to latch onto. How to place your name and expertise inside the platforms AI trusts the most. Why collaboration (podcasts, blogs, interviews) is now discoverability currency. How a single talking-head video can make AI finally recognize your name. Practical steps to make sure your words live where the machine is listening. This isn't about going viral. This is about being visible where discovery actually happens in 2026.

After many requests, Dr. Carlos Eire shares a reading list with our listeners.Great classic introductions:Evelyn Underhill, Mysticism: A foundational, comprehensive survey of the mystical path. The Cambridge Companion to Christian Mysticism, edited by Amy Hollywood & Patricia Beckman): An excellent collection of essays Understanding Mysticism, ed. Richard Woods: Excellent essays of all the foundational scholarly interpreters of mysticism. Including the following: David Knowles, “What Is Mysticism?”Louis Bouyer, “Mysticism: An Essay on the History of the Word”Margaret Smith, “The Nature and Meaning of Mysticism"Evelyn Underhill, “The Essentials of Mysticism”Edward Howells: "Mysticism and the Mystical: The Current Debate" R. C. Zaehner, Mysticism Sacred and Profane: an Inquiry Into Some Varieties of Praeternatural Experience: A classicMore recent introductionsStephen Clarke, From Athens to Jerusalem: The Love of Wisdom and the Love of GodOlivier Clément, The Roots of Christian Mysticism John Macquarrie, Two Worlds Are Ours: An Introduction to Christian MysticismCarl McColman, The New Big Book of Christian Mysticism: An Essential Guide to Contemplative Spirituality Great historical - analytical surveys:Louis Bouyer, et. al., A History of Christian Spirituality, 3 volumes: an older classic surveyVol. 1 The Spirituality of the New Testament and the FathersVol. 2 The Spirituality of the Middle AgesVol. 3 Orthodox Spirituality and Protestant and Anglican Spirituality Bernard McGinn, The Presence of God: A History of Western Christian Mysticism:A monumental multi-volume series that explores the development of mysticism across different historical periods and theological contexts. Vol. 1 The Foundations of Mysticism: Origins to the Fifth CenturyVol. 2 The Growth of Mysticism: Gregory the Great Through the 12 CenturyVol. 3 The Flowering of Mysticism: Men and Women in the New Mysticism: 1200-1350Vol. 4 The Harvest of Mysticism in Medieval Germany: 1300-1500Vol. 5 The Varieties of Vernacular Mysticism: 1350–1550Vol. 6.1 Mysticism in the Reformation: 1500-1650Vol. 6.2 Mysticism in the Golden Age of Spain: 1500-1650Vol. 6.3 The Persistence of Mysticism in Catholic Europe 1500-1675Vol. 7 The Crisis of Mysticism: Quietism in Seventeenth-Century Spain, Italy, and France Bernard McGinn, Modern Mystics: An Introduction (not part of the Presence of God series, but a an essential complement to all of its volumes)Short surveys Harvey Egan, Introduction to Christian MysticismSteven Fanning, Mystics of the Christian TraditionWilliam Harmless, MysticsRichard Rohr, The Naked Now: Learning to See as the Mystics SeeFocus on the corporeal dimension of mysticism:Montague Summers, The Physical Phenomena of MysticismHerbert Thurston, The Physical Phenomena of MysticismFocus on Practice:The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence of the ResurrectionThomas Keating, Open Mind, Open HeartMartin Laird, Into the Silent Land: A Guide to the Practice of Contemplation An Ocean of Light: Contemplation, Transformation, and Liberation A Sunlit Absence: Silence, Awareness, and ContemplationThomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation Contemplative Prayer Anthologies of Christian mystical texts:The Essential Writings of Christian Mysticism, edited by Bernard McGinnChristian Spirituality: The Classics, edited by Arthur HolderLight from Light: An Anthology of Christian Mysticism, edited by Louis DupréSuggestions for approaching the subject graduallyFirst step: Read a brief modern guide like that of Harmless or Fanning to get context before diving into the mystical texts. Second step: Dive into short excerpts from mystical texts in an anthology such as those listed above Third step: Pair theoretical texts (like Underhill) with devotional texts (like Brother Lawrence or Merton) and entire mystical texts (like the Cloud of Unknowing or The Interior Castle). Fourth step: Dive into the great surveys (like McGinn), and explore mystical texts from different eras and traditions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Admissions Straight Talk, host Dr. Valerie Wherley sits down with Dr. Reynold Jaglal, program director of the Sacred Heart University Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies (MSPAS) program, for an in-depth look at Sacred Heart's values-focused approach to physician assistant (PA) education. Dr. Jaglal breaks down the program's 27-month curriculum, including its team-taught didactic model, hands-on clinical rotations, and distinctive international clinical opportunities in Ireland and Spain.He also shares what makes Sacred Heart's primary care–focused training unique, such as its required orthopedics rotation, and provides clear, practical advice for PA school applicants on demonstrating their fit with the school's mission, communicating their personal values, and explaining their academic challenges. Whether you're preparing to apply, exploring clinical programs, or curious about global PA education, this episode offers a thoughtful, insider perspective.00:00 Welcome to the Admissions Straight Talk podcast00:35 Welcome our guest, Dr. Reynold Jaglal00:55 The PA program at Sacred Heart University02:07 PA program curriculum and faculty06:01 International training opportunities09:15 Clinical phase12:41 Dual degree: Bachelor's-MS in Physician Assistant Studies (BS-MSPAS)15:42 Growing interest in the PA degree17:35 How to create a competitive PA applicationRelated Resources:Dr. Reynold Jaglal contact informationSacred Heart University Master of Science in Physician Assistant StudiesSacred Heart University Bachelor's–MS in Physician Assistant StudiesThe Ultimate Guide to Becoming a Physician Assistant, a free Accepted guide Related Admissions Straight Talk EpisodesHow to Get Accepted to Duke's Physician Assistant Program [Episode 591]How to Get into Physician Assistant Programs [Episode 515]Inside the Emory PA Program: Admissions, Curriculum, and Keys to Success [Episode 603] Follow UsYouTubeFacebookLinkedInContact Uswww.accepted.comsupport@accepted.com+1 (310) 815-9553

After being named to lead the Canadian marathon team at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Malindi Elmore had some injury struggles through the spring and summer and was forced to withdraw. She  decided to focus on returning to full health in hopes of finding a later starting line where she could arrive in top shape. She built steadily through the fall, and her decision to delay returning to the marathon paid off in Valencia, Spain, last week, where Malindi crossed the finish line in 2:24:53, breaking the Canadian 45-49 age group record by a staggering 14 minutes. Malindi now owns five of the six fastest times in Canadian history. The time also eclipsed the men's Canadian 45-49 record, making Malindi the fastest Canadian of all time, male or female, in the age group.Today on The Shakeout Podcast, Malindi joins the show to discuss how she built back from injury to make it to the starting line in Valencia healthy and fit–and how in this, the 10th marathon of her career, she continues to grow and evolve in pursuit of her best performances.Follow Malindi on Social Media @MalindielmoreSubscribe to The Shakeout Podcast feed on Apple, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you find your podcasts.

Possibly the longest shownotes in history thanks to Gemini 3 Pro. Bless the swamp from which this AI slop emerged and enjoy the episode. Or just read this, I suppose. The title sucks terribly. Do better, Gemmo! Show Notes with Time‑Shifted Timestamps(All timestamps below have been shifted forward by 25 seconds to allow for theme music, as requested.)00:00 – Welcome, Cricket and the Pink Ball at the Gabba00:00:25 – Jack the Insider (Joel Hill) opens episode 137 of The Two Jacks and notes they're recording just after midday on 4 December.00:00:36 – Quick chat about the looming day–night Test at the Gabba and the prospect it could finish very quickly.00:00:44 – Hong Kong Jack explains why dusk session timings in Hong Kong line up perfectly with “Asahi o'clock”.00:01:07 – The Jacks wonder which pink ball is in use – Duke or Kookaburra – and what that means for Mitchell Starc and the batters.00:01:30 – They flag that full cricket chat will come later in the episode.Tai Po Fire, Mourning and Accountability in Hong Kong00:01:53 – Jack the Insider pivots from sport to tragedy: an update on the Tai Po (Typo) fire in Hong Kong, now with 159 dead, from ages 1 to 97.00:02:07 – Hong Kong Jack describes the government‑ordered three‑day citywide mourning period, mass flower layings, official ceremonies and a three‑minute silence.00:02:35 – Discussion of schools cancelling Christmas parties and staff functions in solidarity; a sense the tragedy is being taken seriously across society.00:02:55 – Hong Kong Jack outlines the judge‑led inquiry: not only into the Tai Po fire's causes, but also systemic issues in building management and renovation contracts on large estates, with hints of corruption.00:03:30 – Evidence emerging that the green construction cloth lacked proper fire retardant and that flammable materials were used to seal lift wells, helping the fire move inside.00:04:23 – Bodies, including one man, found in stairwells and lobbies; Hong Kong Jack cautions against jumping to conclusions before investigators reconstruct the fire.00:04:53 – Arrest tally climbs to around 12, mostly consultants/contractors involved in management and renovations rather than labourers.00:05:35 – Hong Kong Jack notes large numbers of displaced residents in hotels and temporary accommodation and outlines generous government payments to families of foreign domestic workers killed (about HKD 800,000 per family).00:06:05 – A harrowing vignette: a Javanese truck driver receives a final phone call from his wife, trapped with her employers' baby, seeking forgiveness because there is no escape.00:06:35 – The Jacks reflect on the horror of the story and promise to revisit the inquiry as more facts emerge.Australia's Under‑16 Social Media Restrictions & VPNs00:06:50 – Jack the Insider turns to domestic Australian politics: the under‑16 social media restrictions about to kick in.00:07:05 – He notes overwhelming parental support (around 80%) but says the government is now “hosing down expectations” and reframing the policy as a long‑term “cultural change” effort.00:07:30 – Platforms not yet on the restricted list – Roblox and Discord – are flagged as problematic globally for child sexual exploitation, illustrating rollout gaps.00:08:05 – They discuss technical enforcement: existing account age data, length of time on a platform and the likelihood that some adults will be wrongly flagged but quickly reinstated.00:08:35 – Jack the Insider explains the government's theory of cultural change: a generation that grows up never having had TikTok or Instagram under 16 “won't know what they're missing”.00:09:00 – Hong Kong Jack compares Australia to mainland China's efforts to control the internet and points out China still can't stamp out VPN usage, predicting similar Australian difficulties.00:09:25 – Jack the Insider clarifies that VPNs are not illegal in Australia; about 27% of connected Australians already use one, probably now closer to a third.00:09:55 – He strongly recommends everyone use a VPN for privacy and location masking, and warns that good VPNs now explicitly advise not to choose Australia as an exit node because of the new regime.00:11:00 – They note that Malaysia and several European countries (Denmark, Spain, France and EU initiatives) are eyeing similar under‑age social media restrictions, with large fines (Australia's up to about AUD 50 million or 1% of turnover).00:12:20 – Meta is already scanning and booting under‑age users, but teenagers are sharing tips on evading age checks. Jack the Insider describes various age‑verification methods: selfie‑based AI checks, account age, and Roblox's move to ban under‑15s.00:13:45 – Anecdote about Macau security doing ID checks: Hong Kong Jack's son is checked for being over 21, while Jack's own age makes ID unnecessary—an amusing generational moment.00:14:55 – The Jacks agree the policy is unlikely to stop kids having TikTok accounts but might “nudge” behaviour toward less screen time.00:16:00 – Jack the Insider stresses the real dangers of the internet—particularly organised child sexual exploitation rings like the notorious “764” network—and questions whether blunt prohibition can solve these issues.Bruce Lehrmann, Appeals and Costs00:18:22 – They move to the Bruce Lehrmann defamation saga: his appeal has failed and he's likely millions of dollars in debt.00:18:45 – Discussion of the prospect of a High Court appeal, the low likelihood of leave being granted, and the sense that further appeals are “good money after bad”.00:19:22 – Jack the Insider notes outstanding criminal charges against Lehrmann in Toowoomba relating to an alleged statutory rape, and outlines the allegation about removing a condom after earlier consensual sex.00:20:07 – They discuss the probable difficulty of prosecuting that case, and then pivot to the practical question: who is funding Lehrmann's ongoing legal adventures?00:20:35 – Hong Kong Jack explains why some lawyers or firms may take on such cases for profile, despite poor prospects of payment, and they canvass talk of crowdfunding efforts.00:21:07 – The Jacks agree Lehrmann should have left the public stage after the criminal trial was discontinued; now, bankruptcy in 2026 looks likely.00:21:58 – Limited sympathy for Channel 10 or Lisa Wilkinson; more sympathy reserved for Brittany Higgins and Fiona Brown, who are seen as exceptions in an otherwise “pretty ordinary” cast.NACC, Commissioner Brereton and Conflicts of Interest00:23:24 – The Jacks turn to the National Anti‑Corruption Commission (NACC) and Commissioner Paul Brereton's side work for Defence.00:24:03 – Hong Kong Jack recounts Senate Estimates footage where officials first claimed Brereton's Defence consulting work occurred outside NACC hours, then later admitted more than ten instances (possibly close to 20) during NACC office time.00:25:25 – Discussion of conflict‑of‑interest: the Commissioner maintaining a paid Defence relationship while heading the body that may need to investigate Defence.00:25:57 – The Jacks question the tenability of his position, especially given the NACC's opaque nature, its minimal public reporting obligations and a salary around AUD 800k–900k plus expenses.The Struggling Australian and Global Economy, Productivity and ANZ00:26:20 – Jack the Insider outlines Australia's sluggish economy: inflation remains sticky, GDP growth is flat, and government spending is driving much of the growth.00:27:00 – They discuss a small, tentative rise in productivity (around 0.2% for the quarter) and the Treasurer's caution that productivity figures are volatile.00:27:57 – Hong Kong Jack stresses that historically, economies escape malaise through productivity‑driven growth; there is no easy alternative, in Australia or globally.00:28:23 – Broader global picture: the US isn't in outright recession but is crawling; Europe is sluggish; Poland is a rare bright spot but rapid growth brings its own risks.ANZ and Post‑Royal Commission Failures00:28:54 – Focus shifts to ANZ's continuing governance and compliance failures after the Banking Royal Commission.00:29:30 – Jack the Insider shares a personal story about dealing with ANZ's deceased estates department following his mother and stepfather's deaths and the difficulty in releasing funds to pay for funerals.00:30:20 – Justice Jonathan Beach's scathing remarks: ANZ is still mishandling deceased estates, charging fees and interest to dead customers, despite years of warnings.00:31:34 – They recall Royal Commission revelations about “fees for no service” and charging the dead, plus ANZ's recent exclusion from certain Commonwealth bond business due to rorting.00:32:12 – The Jacks see this as a clear culture problem: five years on, the basics still aren't fixed, suggesting inadequate investment in compliance and little genuine reform.UK Justice Backlog and Curtailing Jury Trials00:33:05 – The conversation moves to the UK's proposal to restrict jury trials for offences likely to attract less than a two‑year sentence.00:33:35 – Hong Kong Jack notes the English historical attachment to jury trials dating back to Magna Carta, and that defendants have long had the right to opt for a jury if imprisonment is possible.00:34:38 – Justice Minister David Lammy, once a fierce critic of similar Tory proposals, is now advancing the idea himself, creating a political shambles.00:35:02 – They weigh up pros and cons of judge‑only trials for complex financial crimes, where juries may struggle to follow long, technical evidence.00:36:10 – Jack the Insider points out that even judges can find such cases difficult, but there is at least some expertise advantage.00:36:22 – They revisit the Southport riots and harsh sentences for people inciting attacks on hotels housing asylum seekers, arguing that common‑sense community judgment via juries may be better in such politically charged cases.00:37:26 – Ultimately, they doubt the reforms will meaningfully reduce the UK's huge court backlog and see it as another noisy but ineffective response.Ethics in Politics, Misleading Voters and the “Ethics Czar” Problem00:39:21 – Discussion moves to the UK budget, alleged “black holes” and whether the Chancellor misled voters about a AUD 22 billion‑equivalent gap.00:40:14 – They examine calls for the Prime Minister's ethics adviser, Sir Laurie Magnus, to rule on ministerial truthfulness, and Hong Kong Jack's discomfort with handing moral judgment to “anointed officials”.00:40:51 – The Jacks argue accountability should rest with Parliament and ultimately voters, not appointed ethics czars, whether in the Johnson era or now.00:41:36 – In Australia, Tony Burke's handling of “ISIS brides” returning to Australia is cited: he asked officials to leave a meeting so he could talk politically with constituents. The Jacks see this as legitimate hard‑headed politics in a very complex area rather than an ethical scandal.00:43:03 – Jack the Insider defends the principle that Australian citizenship must mean something, especially for children of ISIS‑linked families; stripping citizenship or abandoning citizens overseas can be a dangerous precedent.00:44:08 – Anecdotes segue into a broader reflection: politicians have always misled voters to some extent. They quote stories about Huey Long and Graham Richardson's defence of political lying.00:45:24 – They swap observations about “tells” when leaders like Malcolm Turnbull or Julia Gillard were lying; Scott Morrison, they say, had no visible tell at all.00:46:22 – Cabinet solidarity is framed as institutionally sanctioned lying: ministers must publicly back decisions they privately opposed, and yet the system requires that to function.Ukraine War, Peace Efforts and Putin's Rhetoric00:46:42 – The Jacks discuss reports of draft peace deals between Ukraine, the US and Russia that Moscow rejected over wording and guarantees.00:47:17 – Jack the Insider describes a gaunt Foreign Ministry spokesman, not Sergey Lavrov, delivering Russia's objections, sparking rumours about Lavrov's status.00:47:56 – Putin goes on TV to reassure Russians they're winning, threatens destruction of Europe if conflict escalates and claims territorial gains Russia doesn't actually hold.00:48:17 – Hong Kong Jack argues European fantasies of imposing a “strategic defeat” on Russia are unrealistic; retaking all occupied regions and Crimea would exact unbearable costs in lives and money.00:49:33 – The Jacks infer that Putin will eventually need to “sell” a negotiated deal as a victory to his own public; his current bluster is partly domestic theatre.00:49:50 – They note some odd, Trump‑like US talk of structuring peace as a “business deal” with economic incentives for Russia, which they find an odd fit for a brutal territorial war.Trump's Polling Collapse, Economic Credibility and 202600:50:13 – Attention turns to Donald Trump's polling in his second term: his net approval is negative across all major polls, in some cases approaching minus 20.00:51:04 – Jack the Insider highlights Trump's recent promises of USD 2,000 cheques to every American plus no income tax—claims they see as fantastical and electorally risky when voters inevitably ask “where's my money?”.00:51:39 – They compare Trump's denial of inflation and cost‑of‑living pressures to Biden's earlier mistakes in minimising pain; telling people “everything's cheaper now” when their lived experience contradicts that is politically fatal.00:52:34 – Hong Kong Jack notes history shows that insisting things are fine when voters know they aren't only accelerates your polling collapse.00:53:02 – They briefly touch on a special election in Tennessee: a safe Trump district where the Republican margin has shrunk. They caution against over‑reading the result but note softening support.00:54:14 – CNN's Harry Enten is quoted: this has been Trump's worst ten‑day polling run of the second term, with net approval among independents plunging to about minus 43 and a negative 34 on inflation.00:55:15 – They speculate about what this means for the 2026 midterms: Trump won't be on the ballot but will loom large. A future Republican president, they note, might still face governing without a Congressional majority.Disability, Elite Colleges and the Accommodation Arms Race00:56:07 – The Jacks discuss Derek Thompson's forthcoming Atlantic piece on surging disability registrations at elite US colleges: more than 20% at Brown and Harvard, 34% at Amherst and 38% at Stanford.00:57:10 – Hong Kong Jack explains how disability status yields exam and assessment advantages: extra time, flexible deadlines, better housing, etc., and why wealthy students are more likely to secure diagnoses.00:57:48 – They cite intake breakdowns at one college: small numbers for visual/hearing disabilities, larger numbers for autism, neurological conditions and especially psychological or emotional disabilities—suggesting a big shift in what counts as disabling.00:58:45 – Jack the Insider counters that many of these conditions were under‑diagnosed or ignored in the 1970s and 80s; growing recognition doesn't automatically mean fraud.00:59:40 – He brings in chronic conditions like ME/CFS: historically treated as malingering or “all in the head”, now increasingly accepted as serious and often disabling.01:00:02 – Hong Kong Jack quotes a Stanford professor asking, “At what point can we say no? 50%? 60%?”—underlining institutional concern that the system can't cope if a majority claim accommodations.01:01:05 – They wrestle with the employer's problem: how to interpret grades achieved with significant accommodations, and whether workplaces must also provide similar allowances.01:02:21 – Jack the Insider's answer is essentially yes: good employers should accommodate genuine disability, and it's on applicants to be upfront. He stresses diversity of ability and that many high‑achieving disabled people are valuable hires.01:03:40 – Hong Kong Jack remains more sceptical, shaped by long legal experience of people gaming systems, but agrees lawyers shouldn't be the priestly class defining morality.Cricket: India–South Africa, NZ–West Indies, BBL and the Gabba01:04:25 – They pivot back to sport: a successful South African tour of India, including a series win in Tests and a 1–1 one‑day series with big hundreds from Virat Kohli, Gaikwad and Aiden Markram.01:05:31 – Quick update on New Zealand's Test against the West Indies in Christchurch, with New Zealand rebuilding in their second innings through Ravindra and Latham.Women's Cricket and Phoebe Litchfield01:06:19 – Jack the Insider raves about the Sydney Thunder v Brisbane Heat game and singles out Phoebe Litchfield as the best women's batter in the world: technically sound, not a slogger, scoring “runs for fun” and hailing from Orange.Gabba Day–Night Test: Australia v England01:06:50 – With Usman Khawaja out, they discuss the unchanged 12 and whether Bo Webster plays, potentially pushing Travis Head up to open.01:07:39 – For England, Mark Wood hasn't recovered; they bring in Will Jacks, a batting all‑rounder and part‑time spinner, to bolster the order but lose their fastest bowler.01:08:11 – If you win the toss? Bat first, they say—if the conditions allow—and look to control the game with the bat for four hours or more.01:08:44 – They caution that with recent heavy Queensland rain, the pitch could be juicy whether you bat first or second; the key is getting cricket on Saturday.01:08:48 – Hong Kong Jack rates this as the best England attack to tour Australia in a long time, especially with Wood and Archer firing in Perth, although Archer's pace dropped markedly in the second innings.01:09:36 – They dissect England's first‑Test collapse: at one stage it was an “unlosable” match according to Ponting and the stats, but reckless strokes from set batters (Duckett, Pope, Root, Brook) handed it back to Australia.01:09:55 – Mitchell Starc's extraordinary home day–night record—averaging around 17 with the pink ball—looms as a big factor.Franchise Cricket, Empty Stadiums and Saving the Red‑Ball Game01:12:11 – Jack the Insider describes watching the ILT20 in the UAE: near‑empty stands, disengaged fielders and an overall “soulless” spectacle aimed solely at TV viewers in South Asia and the Gulf.01:13:49 – Despite his love of cricket, he worries this is a glimpse of the future if the longer formats aren't protected and nurtured. He pleads, in effect, for saving Test and other red‑ball cricket from being cannibalised by anonymous franchise leagues.Class and Cricket: Private Schools, Clubs and Stuart Broad01:14:11 – The Jacks explore the class divide in English cricket: all but one of England's Perth XI finished school at private schools; the sole exception is captain Ben Stokes, who grew up partly in New Zealand.01:15:05 – In contrast, Australia's pathway still runs largely through club cricket, though private schools with professional coaching (like Cranbrook) give some players a head start.01:15:47 – Jack the Insider notes Sam Conscientious (Sam Constance / Cummins reference is implied) spending two years at Cranbrook, reflecting how elite schools build academies with ex‑first‑class coaches that state systems can't match.01:16:20 – They agree state‑school kids like the Waugh twins still come through club cricket, but in England, some top private schools effectively operate as de facto county academies.01:17:31 – Anecdotes about Stuart Broad: a likeable “nepo baby” of former England player Chris Broad, who was toughened up by a formative season at Hoppers Crossing in Melbourne sub‑district cricket. Local players loved him.01:18:20 – Hong Kong Jack recommends Broad's appearance on The Front Bar as essential viewing for understanding his character and the cultural contrasts between English and Australian cricket.01:18:40 – More class culture: Chris Cowdrey, briefly England captain, shows up in full whites and blazer to toss with Viv Richards in surf shorts and thongs. When Cowdrey starts reading out England's XI, Viv cuts him off: “Mate, I don't care who you play, it's not going to make any difference.”F1, Oscar Piastri's Bad Luck and AFLW Glory01:21:11 – Brief detour to Formula 1: Oscar Piastri's season with McLaren seems dogged by terrible luck and questionable team decisions that have cost him a near‑certain championship.01:21:57 – Jack the Insider reflects on how F1 drivers like Piastri have effectively been in vehicles since toddlerhood, climbing the ladder from go‑karts to supercars.01:22:50 – They express hope he can clinch the title in the final race, but wryly note that F1 rarely grants fairytale endings.AFLW01:22:23 – AFLW: North Melbourne complete an undefeated season to win the premiership, comfortably beating Brisbane in the grand final.01:23:07 – Hong Kong Jack praises it as the best AFLW season yet, with marked improvement in depth and skill across the competition. North remain the benchmark everyone else must chase.Wrap‑Up, Tom Stoppard Anecdote and Season Timing01:23:49 – The Jacks look ahead to watching the Gabba Test, beers on ice for Jack the Insider and the late Hong Kong dusk session for Hong Kong Jack.01:24:01 – They note the death of playwright Tom Stoppard at 88 and share a favourite story: Spielberg offers him the Jaws screenplay; Stoppard declines because he's writing a play—“actually for BBC Radio”.01:25:11 – Final reflections on how Stoppard would have improved Jaws, then a note that the podcast will soon reach its final episodes for the year, with plans to feature listener feedback before a short summer break.01:25:56 – Jack the Insider signs off, thanking listeners and Hong Kong Jack, and promises they'll be back next week.

A whole mess of AI generated shownotes. Enjoy! 00:25 – Christmas in Hong Kong, KFC in JapanJoel (Jack the Insider) opens Episode 138 and checks in with Jack (Hong Kong Jack) about Hong Kong's love of Christmas shopping, surreal mall installations and the absence of nativity scenes, before detouring to Japan's KFC-at-Christmas tradition.​01:50 – Australia's world‑first social media ban for under‑16sThe Jacks unpack the new national ban on social media for under‑16s, the generational politics of Gen Alpha kids and millennial parents, and the “pick up a book, go for a bike ride” messaging from Anthony Albanese and Julie Inman Grant.​They read out Vox pops about kids discovering life without apps, YouTube‑driven body image issues, and the early scramble to alternative chat and file‑sharing apps like LemonAid.​05:35 – Social engineering, High Court challenge and mental health concernsThey describe the policy as a conscious piece of social engineering aimed at reshaping youth culture over a decade, and note the High Court challenge led by the Digital Freedom Movement and Libertarian MLC John Ruddick.​Beyond Blue, Headspace, ReachOut and the Black Dog Institute warn about cutting off access to online mental‑health support, as the Jacks weigh the internet's harms against the value of peer support communities for young people.​09:35 – Enforcement gaps, workarounds and parental resistanceThe Jacks discuss uneven implementation, with some under‑16s apparently still able to access Facebook and Instagram while other apps are wiped, and a rush into less‑regulated platforms.​They note reports that up to a third of parents will quietly help kids stay online and float the idea of a nationwide “kitchen‑table” style forum to help parents understand the risks and responsibilities around kids' social media use.​12:00 – A social experiment the world is watchingThey canvas overseas interest, with Denmark, Spain and others eyeing bans at 15 rather than 16, and Sarah Ferguson's description of Australia's move as a live “social experiment” whose results are very much unknown.​13:05 – Richo's state funeral and the dark arts of NSW Labor RightThe conversation turns to Graham “Richo” Richardson's state funeral, his reputation as Labor's master organiser and electoral numbers man, and his long life “on the public purse”.​Joel recounts Richo's link to Balmain Welding and Stan “Standover” Smith, arguing that New South Wales Labor Right's success always had a darker underbelly.​15:10 – Paul Brereton, the NACC and conflicts of interestThey examine National Anti‑Corruption Commission boss Paul Brereton's updated disclosures about his ongoing work with the Inspector‑General of the ADF and Afghanistan war‑crimes inquiries, revealed via FOI.​The Jacks question whether someone so intertwined with Defence can credibly oversee corruption matters touching Defence acquisitions, and whether carving out whole domains from his remit makes his appointment untenable.​18:25 – A quiet NACC, no perp walks and media theatreThe Jacks note how quietly the NACC has operated in Canberra—“blink and you'd miss them”—with none of the televised “perp walks” beloved of New South Wales ICAC coverage.​Jack welcomes the absence of media spectacle; Joel admits to missing the grimace‑through‑the‑cameras moment as accused figures run the gauntlet.​19:50 – Victorian youth vote turns on LaborNew polling of 18–34‑year‑olds in Victoria shows Labor's vote down 11 points to 28 per cent and the Coalition's up 17 points to 37 per cent, with the Greens steady at 20 per cent.​The Jacks argue the Victorian Labor government looks to be in terminal decline, discuss leadership options for Jacinta Allan, and canvass how quickly preference “cascades” can flip a long‑term government once momentum turns.​22:15 – Green exports vs coal, Treasury modelling under fireThey dissect Treasury modelling which suggests “green exports” (critical minerals, rare earths, battery inputs) will surpass coal and gas within a decade, and note scepticism from former Treasury official and now CBA chief economist Stephen Yeaman.​The Jacks highlight International Energy Agency updates showing coal demand in key markets staying high, and the reality that renewables growth is largely meeting new demand rather than cutting deeply into existing coal and gas use.​25:05 – Coal to 2049 and the reality of the gridJack points to Australian market operator projections that coal will remain in the domestic mix until at least 2049, while Joel questions which ageing coal plants will physically survive that long without new builds.​They agree modelling must continually be revised against actual demand profiles in China, India, Indonesia and elsewhere, where coal still supplies half or more of electricity.​27:20 – 30‑year suppression orders and transparencyThe Jacks shift to a 30‑year suppression order over evidence behind Tanya Plibersek's decision to block a $1 billion coal mine until 2055, and more broadly the proliferation of long‑term suppression orders in Australia.​They criticise the over‑use of secrecy in both environmental and criminal matters, arguing it breeds suspicion that justice and accountability can be bought by the wealthy.​28:25 – The “prominent family” sexual assault case in VictoriaWithout naming the individual, they discuss a Victorian case involving the convicted son of a prominent family whose identity remains suppressed even after guilty findings for serious sexual offences.​They worry that blanket suppression encourages rumour, misidentification and a sense that powerful people get special treatment, even when protection of victims is a legitimate concern.​30:05 – From undercover cop to gangland wars: how secrecy backfiresJoel revisits an NSW example where an undercover police officer's drink‑driving conviction was suppressed for 55 years, and Melbourne gangland cases where key cooperating witnesses remained pseudonymous for decades.​The Jacks argue that when authorities create information vacuums, gossip and conspiracy inevitably rush in to fill the space.​33:50 – MP expenses, family reunion travel and Annika Wells' bad day outThey turn to MPs' entitlements and “family reunion” travel: Annika Wells' ski‑trip optics and poor press conference performance, Don Farrell's extensive family travel, and Sarah Hanson‑Young's $50,000 in family travel for her lobbyist husband.​While acknowledging how hard federal life is—especially for WA MPs—they question where legitimate family support ends and taxpayer‑funded lifestyle begins.​37:05 – Why family reunion perks exist (and how they're abused)The Jacks recall the tragic case of Labor MP Greg Wilton as a driver for more generous family travel rules, given the emotional cost of long separations.​They conclude the system is necessary but ripe for exploitation, and note the Coalition's relatively muted response given its own exposure to the same rules.​39:15 – Diplomatic drinks trolleys: London, New York and the UNJoel notes Stephen Smith's stint as High Commissioner in London—the “ultimate drinks trolley” of Australian diplomacy—and his replacement by former SA Premier Jay Weatherill.​Jack mentions Smith's reputation for being stingy with hospitality at Australia House, in contrast to the traditionally lavish networking role of London and New York postings.​40:40 – Barnaby Joyce joins One NationThe big domestic political move: Barnaby Joyce's shift from the Nationals to One Nation, including his steak‑on‑a‑sandwich‑press dinner with Pauline Hanson.​The Jacks canvass whether Joyce runs again in New England or heads for the Senate, and the anger among New England voters who may feel abandoned.​42:25 – One Nation's growth, branch‑building and Pauline's futureThey dig into polling from Cos Samaras suggesting 39 per cent of Coalition voters say they'd be more likely to vote One Nation if Joyce led the party, and the risk of the Coalition following the UK Tories into long‑term decline.​The Jacks note One Nation's organisational maturation—building actual branches and volunteer networks in NSW and Queensland—and wonder whether Pauline Hanson herself now caps the party's potential.​45:20 – Kemi Badenoch, a revived UK Conservative Party and Reform's ceilingAttention swings to the UK, with fresh polling showing Labour slumping to the high teens, the Conservatives recovering into the high teens/low 20s, and Reform polling in the mid‑20s to low‑30s depending on the firm.​They credit new Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch for lifting morale by dominating Keir Starmer at the despatch box, but caution that Reform's rise may still be more protest than durable realignment.​49:45 – Fragmenting party systems in Europe and the UKDrawing on Michael Gove's comments, the Jacks sketch the new “four‑party” pattern across Europe—radical left/Green, social democratic, Christian Democrat centre‑right, and populist right—and argue the UK is slowly following suit.​They suggest both Labour and the Conservatives can no longer comfortably absorb all votes on their respective sides of politics, with Reform and Greens carving out durable niches.​53:05 – US seizes a Venezuelan tanker, Trump calls it the “biggest ever”The Jacks look at the US Coast Guard's seizure of a sanctioned Venezuelan oil tanker accused of moving Venezuelan and Iranian oil in support of foreign terrorist groups.​Joel notes Trump's boast that it's “the largest tanker ever seized”, while quoting Pam Bondi's more sober explanation of the sanctions basis.​54:45 – Five years of social media to enter the US?They examine a Trump‑era proposal to require even visa‑waiver travellers to provide five years of social media history before entering the United States.​The Jacks question the logistical feasibility, highlight the trend of travellers using “burner phones” for US trips, and argue measures like this would severely damage American tourism.​57:10 – SCOTUS, independent agencies and presidential powerThe Jacks discuss a pending US Supreme Court case about whether presidents can hire and fire the heads of independent agencies at will, with even liberal justices expressing sympathy for expansive executive authority.​They link this to a broader global question: how much power should be handed from elected ministers to expert regulators, and how hard it is to claw that power back once delegated.​01:00:25 – Trump's national security strategy and an abandoned EuropeThey turn to the Trump administration's new national security strategy framing Europe as both security dependent and economic competitor, and signalling an end to automatic US security guarantees.​The Jacks describe openly hostile rhetoric from Trump figures like J.D. Vance and Marco Rubio towards Europe, and portray it as part of a broader American drift into isolationism as China and Russia advance.​01:02:20 – Europe rearms: Germany, Poland and conscription talkThe conversation moves to European responses: big defence spending increases in Poland and Germany, and German plans to assess 18‑year‑olds for potential limited conscription.​Joel argues Europe may need to build its own strategic table rather than rely on a fickle US ally, while Jack stresses serious military capability is the price of a genuine seat at any table.​01:03:50 – Biden, the border and a blown political callThe Jacks examine a New York Times reconstruction of how the Biden administration mishandled southern border migration, from 75,000 encounters in January 2021 to 169,000 by March.​They say Biden officials badly underestimated both the scale of migration and the law‑and‑order backlash, including resentment from migrants who followed legal pathways.​01:07:05 – Migration then and now: Ellis Island vs the Rio GrandeJack recounts Ellis Island's history: the small but real share of arrivals turned back at ship‑owners' expense, and how many migrants later returned home despite being admitted.​They contrast a heavily regulated, ship‑based 19th‑century system with today's chaotic mix of asylum flows, cartels and porous borders, and argue that simple “open borders” rhetoric ignores complex trade‑offs.​01:09:55 – Americans know their ancestry, and that shapes the debateJoel notes how many Americans can precisely trace family arrival via Ellis Island, unlike many Australians who have fuzzier family histories.​He suggests this deep personal connection to immigration history partly explains the emotional intensity around contemporary migration and ICE enforcement.​01:10:30 – Ashes 2–0: Neeser's five‑for and Lyon's omissionSport time: Australia go 2–0 up in the Ashes with an eight‑wicket win at the Gabba.​The big call is leaving Nathan Lyon out for Michael Neser; the Jacks weigh Nesser's match‑turning 5/42 and clever use of Alex Carey standing up to the stumps against the loss of a front‑line spinner over key periods.​01:11:55 – Basball meets Australian conditionsThey discuss the limits of “Bazball” in Australia, praising Stokes and Will Jacks' rearguard while noting most English batters failed to adapt tempo to match situation.​Jack cites past blueprints for winning in Australia—long, draining innings from Alastair Cook, Cheteshwar Pujara and Rahul Dravid—that hinge on time at the crease rather than constant aggression.​01:15:05 – Keepers compared: Alex Carey vs England's glovesJoel hails Carey's performance as possibly the best keeping he's seen from an Australian in a single Test, including brilliant work standing up to the seamers and a running catch over Marnus Labuschagne.​They contrast this with England's struggling keeper, question whether Ben Foakes should have been summoned, and note Carey's age probably rules him out as a future Test captain despite his leadership qualities.​01:17:05 – England's bowling woes and Jofra Archer's limitsThe English attack looks potent in short bursts, especially Jofra Archer and Mark Wood, but lacks the endurance to bowl long, hostile spells over a five‑day Test in Australian conditions.​Archer hasn't bowled more than 10 overs in an international match for over two years, and the Jacks argue that's showing late in games as speeds drop and discipline wanes.​01:25:45 – World Cup 2026: Trump's “peace medal”, Craig Foster's critiqueSwitching codes to football, they note FIFA awarding Donald Trump a “peace” medal ahead of the 2026 World Cup and his delight in placing it on himself.​Craig Foster attacks world football for embracing a US president he accuses of human‑rights abuses, prompting the Jacks to point out FIFA's recent World Cups in Russia and Qatar hardly make it a moral authority.​01:27:20 – Seattle's Pride match… Iran vs EgyptJack tells the story of Seattle's local government declaring its allocated World Cup game a Pride match, only to discover the fixture will be Iran vs Egypt—two teams whose governments are unlikely to embrace that framing.​01:27:55 – Stadiums in the desert and the cost of spectacleJoel reflects on vast, underused stadiums in the Gulf built for the World Cup and now often almost empty, using a low‑attendance cricket game in Abu Dhabi as an example of mega‑event over‑build.​01:29:05 – Wrapping up and previewing the final show of 2025The Jacks close Episode 138 by flagging one more episode before Christmas, thanking listeners for feedback—especially stories around the social media ban—and promising to return with more politics, law and sport next week.​a

Everyone knows Catholics and Eastern Orthodox both recite the Nicene Creed – except we don't recite the exact same Creed. A thousand years ago the Latin West quietly slipped three little words – “and the Son” (filioque) – into the line about the Holy Spirit, and the East has never gotten over it. In this episode Greg and Cory explain where those words came from (Spain fighting Arian barbarians), why Rome eventually made them universal, why the Orthodox still call it heresy, and whether the upside-down Trinity triangle actually changes anything about God. With Pope Leo XIV just back from Constantinople talking reunion again, we ask the question everybody's asking online: can 966 years of bad blood really be fixed by just… dropping three words? Spoiler: it's way more complicated than that – and way more interesting. SUPPORT THIS SHOW Considering Catholicism is 100% listener-supported. If this podcast has helped you on your journey, please become a patron today! For as little as $5/month you get: • Every regular episode ad-free and organized into topical playlists • Exclusive bonus content (extra Q&As, Deep-Dive courses, live streams, and more) • My deepest gratitude and a growing community of like-minded listeners ➡️ Join now: https://patreon.com/consideringcatholicism (or tap the Patreon link in your podcast app) One-time gift: Donate with PayPal! CONNECT WITH US • Website & contact form: https://consideringcatholicism.com • Email: consideringcatholicism@gmail.com • Leave a comment on Patreon (I read every one!) RATE & REVIEW If you enjoy the show, please leave a rating (and even better, a review) on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen — it really helps new listeners find us. SHARE THE SHOW Know someone who's curious about Catholicism? Send them a link or share an episode on social media. Thank you! Christus vincit, Christus regnat, Christus imperat.

This interview is with Manuel Recio of Abbott Claim. In this interview, Manuel talks about the different decades of his life and the 3 main paths he has taken so far.Manuel talks about spending his 20s working in advertising and marketing, working for companies in Florida and later Oregon after moving there with his wife Leslie. They met while studying abroad in Spain, and Leslie was attending Linfield at the time.Next, in his 30s, Manuel and Leslie lived in Grand Island and owned Veridian Farms. Manuel shared about taking boxes of produce and marketing materials to restaurants in Portland to encourage chefs to buy ingredients directly from their farm.Manuel also discusses focusing on specialty foods and wine in his 40s. He started by becoming one of the few master carvers of Jamón Ibérico in the United States, and continued on to receive his Level 3 WSET certification and study winemaking at UC Davis. He worked at several different wineries during that time, including Domaine Drouhin, Cristom, Domaine Serene, and Abbott Claim.This interview was conducted by Rich Schmidt at Linfield University's Nicholson Library on November 20, 2025.

Allen and Joel are joined by Gregory Kocsis, lifting technology expert, to discuss the gap between European and US crane operations. They cover multi-brand blade handling tools, up-tower cranes, and why the aftermarket service sector is driving innovation in major component replacements. Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly email update on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard’s StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary Barnes’ YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us! Welcome to Uptime Spotlight, shining light on wind. Energy’s brightest innovators. This is the Progress Powering tomorrow. Allen Hall: Greg, welcome to the program. Joel Saxum: Thank you guys. Nice to meet you. Allen Hall: we have a lot to talk about today. there’s so many heavy lifts. Complex lifts on ships, lifts on, and mountaintops lifts in really odd places. it’s getting more complicated as we go along, and obviously Joel and I talked to a lot of operators and one of the things they complain about more recently is, Hey, we’re having trouble with lifts and we’re having damage that we didn’t have in the past. And it’s complicated, and the access to cranes is more complicated. Everything’s become more complicated. What are some of the issues that you see on the other end of the spectrum, being in that [00:01:00] business? Gregory Kocsis: Yeah. Basically what I see that, so I, I work both, in the last decade in both US and Europe. and I can see that there’s no lack of technologies. there’s a lot of tech that’s, solving a lot of issues. but mostly what you can see that there’s a slight gap. I would say that, There’s two, two prong. the US it seems, some of the farm are really big, and that’s good for scale. but the, technologies are a little bit behind, I would say 10, 15 years sometimes. so that also means that the. The solutions that they use to, to change a blade or change a gearbox or how to lower a full, rotor, it’s always, lower tech and based on practicalities. Joel Saxum: Greg, why do you think that is? Do you think it’s just simply because, yeah, like the eu, so you’ve done a lot of work in the eu, of course, onshore, offshore, and globally. But in the EU it [00:02:00] seems like tighter quarters maybe, harder to get around some of the wind farms. Is, does that drive some of the difference in innovation? Because like you said, you there’s the innovation is there, the tooling is there. The EU has been doing it for a while. It’s just that in the states it seems like we’re more, for lack of a better term, like agricultural about things. It’s kinda Hey, this has worked for 40 years, so this is what’s how we’re gonna do it. Gregory Kocsis: Yeah, it’s always some, nature driven forces are there. So in the, in, for example, if you look at Germany, there’s, a lot of owners and the size of sites are three turbines, four turbines. And if you look at the platform that’s available around turbine is very limited. I was also on a site last year in, North Germany where basically, the truck could park right next to the turbine, but they had to clear some trees, in order to, make sure that they can put the full rotor down. Because since, since they installed it, forest grew, [00:03:00] much, much more. That was another case in, Rotterdam when we were right next to the channel and they had to, close the road. that was, docking. To the ships, back and forth every, half an hour when they had to lift the blade and it was going across the road. So when you’re in situations like this and there’s not a lot of space around the turbines, you have to start thinking that, how can we do this quicker? How can we do this safer? Because you can see that there’s a lot of planning that goes, with this as well. And then you need to make sure that, it’s more predictable, what you’re doing. So I think that. That’s one of the main driver for these technologies. if I put it simple terms that the more single crane operation for MCRs, and technologies that allow a single crane exchange, is, more pushed because of this rather than in the US where you can get maybe two smaller, cranes and then you just sling it, [00:04:00] and then take it down with two cranes. Joel Saxum: Yeah, you’ve got all kinds of space, right? Half of our wind farms are in pasture or farm fields. I wouldn’t say half. We say the majority of our wind farms are in pa pasture, and you’ve got space. The only thing limiting you is, how big the pad is really Right. And bring some cribbing in. You can basically get done with the same technology you’ve been using for cranes for years and years and with that as well, I think that, one of the things we talked about in our kind of, chat off air was. the workforce over here is a little bit different as well. So the workforce over here is sometimes a, a slinger or someone who’s holding a tagline. They got a green hard hat on, and they’re a warm body because they need people, they need help. because we’re doing things at such scale. Whereas in the eu, that’s just not the case. you’re not gonna be allowed to be around operations like that unless you’ve been thoroughly trained for a couple years. And, so, that situation with the workforce is a little bit different. So it’s almost easier to not be [00:05:00]consistently and continuously innovating and training people on new things. But with that, we’re, leaving ourselves behind in the game, right? There’s cost savings to be had, there’s time savings to be had that we’re just not harvesting. Gregory Kocsis: Yeah, absolutely. And as you mentioned that the, benefits in, Europe at these, lower scale, that also allows that, some of these smaller ISPs, they can excel what they’re doing. So they can have a crew of 10, 15 people and they focus on, some turbines, but they. When they do a campaign, that doesn’t mean that they have to go through a hundred turbines. They, do one disassembly or two disassembly or three, and it just stays at that scale. So they can actually manage to get by with the smaller crew and then really, get really experienced, on this. While I think in the US there’s quite a lot of push on. We cannot just do one. Because if you look at the size of sites, there’s [00:06:00] also one site consists between 80 and 120 turbines. And if you draw an an area that, let’s say a two hour driving range that can summarize 2000 turbines. And that also means that when something happens there, you also wanna do it at scale. So you cannot get away with 10, 15 people you need. 30, or you need five, five different crews. And then where can you get these people? How quickly can you train them? And I think that’s actually the good thing is that if we could manage to, to, pull the experience that we have in Europe, that would be good to scale it up because that’s the drawback of Europe, that when you, once you have something great. You cannot scale it up and then put a specialized tool cost above or across, 2000 turbine exchanges. Allen Hall: Is there a movement to bring more technology over from the eu, particularly because, the tools are a little more specialized, [00:07:00] but you’re reducing risk. Is it just that, the larger wind farms, be it in the United States, be it in Australia or there’s a lot of places on the planet where the wind farms are big Brazil. Another case in point, are there cases where it needs to have more technology transfer? They’re doing it a certain way. In Germany, it’s cleaner, more efficient. It takes those people to do it. It’s safer, it’s repeatable. Have we just not broached that yet? Because it doesn’t seem like there’s a lot of technology transfer in terms of lifts from the EU to many other places. Gregory Kocsis: I think the main, if you look at it that what is the driver on this is who’s responsible for an MCR operation. And if you look at the turbine’s lifetime, it’s all about. Who’s, responsible for the service. And in us, typically the turbine, especially next era, likes to buy new turbines with zero, zero involvement from the OEMs they want to [00:08:00] take over from the get go. and then typically in, in Europe we have, 10, 15 or whole, lifetime service contracts. if you look at a pie that who, takes care of the turbine? I would say that. 40% is, in the hands of, the asset owners or ISPs. and that’s also growing. So I think it was, would make that estimated that 40% will, will shift towards, 60. So that, that is the drive that I can see that more of this chunk is getting, getting bigger. And you can see players that are already globally existing, like Deutsche intech, that. That’s quite big in the US and Europe that they started to do that transition, and then take that technology that they could experience in different sites and then put this to the service side. But that’s, the difficult part, that even though that slice is [00:09:00] fairly big, it’s spread across small companies. And as a small company, if you pick one in Denmark or you pick one in the Netherlands, for them to collaborate on a project or assist on a project in US or Australia or Brazil, it’s quite costly. So then the question comes at who’s. Who’s footing the bill? is it the service company? Is it the asset owner? Is the crane company chipping in? Or how is the collaboration working? And there’s no rule of thumb that applies everywhere for these. So it’s case by case that how, big is it? How many turbines are we talking about? What kind of turbines, how far are we out in the service contract? Joel Saxum: It brings in a couple of questions, right? Why are we having this block of, lifting and crane operation innovations? Is it when the OEMs are responsible? They have, they know their say blade types, they know their hub types. They know their MCE, they know their drivetrain components, so they know and they have the designs [00:10:00] and the drawings of what their existing tooling needs would be or how to connect to them. So they’re able to build out these tools that work for them Now. Going from that to being a, say a crane company or an EPC building turbines. You are building multi-brand turbines, multi-brand sites. Not only multi-brand, but multi-unit, different technologies, different blade types. So all of your fixtures need to be different and there’s not very many universal tools out there. how do we get to the point where we can build more universal tools or more tooling that can work for everybody? Gregory Kocsis: Yeah, definitely. I think it’s. The OEMs are holding all the cards, on this one. So that, that also means that when you’re under a service contract, then that means that the OEM as you said, they have the tooling, they have the work procedure, and, in this case, if you try to imagine the MCR, it starts with. What parts do you have to shut down in the turbine? What do you have to disconnect? What do you have to plan on the ground? So [00:11:00] we could isolate it and talk just about the tools. and that was actually part of my work in the previous company that I worked at. We, tried to figure out that what kind of universal tools, can we make for these, purposes, but we also face the fact that many of the ISPs that are coming, they have the demand for, can you give me a Swiss knife that solves everything? And I have nothing from the OEM. So where should we get that? How heavy is that hub? where are the lifting points on the blade? Where is the COG? and then these lack of informations that are difficult together on the market. and the OEM is not really keen to share it either, Allen Hall: but why wouldn’t they want to share that information? Greg? I’m trying to understand where they’re coming from. It would make everybody’s life easier. And lower the cost of operation. If they had standardized lifting points, particularly like generators and gear boxes, that would make a lot of [00:12:00] sense to me. It’s like any other industry where there’s hoists and lifts that are standardized, but in wind, endeavor seems to come across that way. Everybody’s got their own specialized design, don’t they? See the revenue. They could generate from that, that, or the lower the cost that their, customers would have to, put out for lifts and repairs by making it standardized. And, where’s the IEC committees in all this and dvs of the world? Gregory Kocsis: they can definitely see the money, and I think that’s, the big issue, because they, like to earn money as well. So if you look at. What is an OEM earning on selling turbines? Its OTs. What is the OEM Earning on service contracts. That’s where the dough is. So they like these as well, and this is monetizing the market that. They like that they control these kind of information because that drives the, let’s say, the desperate customers to fall back on the [00:13:00] safety net of an OEM service contract. so it would be actually the disadvantage, in the short term, with the current business model. for the OEM if they would open up a little bit more. On the other hand, I think right now we have a lot of, asset owners that grew quite big, like EDP, next era that have, a lot of, turbines. it’s for, many years now. So some of the fleet, if you look at the old vest, V 40 sevens, I think. But NextEra has couple thousands of them. that also means that they have a lot of knowledge on these legacy turbines as well. The knowledge is there, the OEMs, but there’s no clear drive on why should they open up. and there’s a knowledge, bulk of knowledge at the service providers like Deutsche Technique. There’s a bulk of knowledge, with big, asset owners. But this is not shared across and there’s no consensus of, [00:14:00]let’s look at it, how we can, make tools that are better. Because I think the, business model is missing that. How can we make sure that everyone will benefit from this? Joel Saxum: Yeah. It was like we, we talked about off air as well. the, when we talk lifting, what also goes hand in hand with lifting is transportation fixtures. and I’ve heard stories of heavy lift vessels having to completely cut off and reel on new fixtures to ship new blades. And that just seems like what a waste of money, time and effort. of course people are making money doing that, but at the end of the day, that hurts LCOE for wind in energy, right? Because there’s just more cost put into the supply chain that doesn’t. Really need to be there or shouldn’t need to be there. so I, I would like to see us get to the stage where we’re doing, where we have some multi-brand tools or some universal tools in the lifting world. and so that’s a question I wanna ask you then, Greg. we’ve been [00:15:00] talking in generalities around some things. Can you share with us some of these tools that we may not know in the states that exist in the EU that you guys are using? Gregory Kocsis: Yeah, for sure. Yeah. The way I look at it. And then you said it’s also, connected with cranes, is that if you look at some numbers, there’s 35,000 crane call outs globally. Every year where the crane has to go on site and then some of these big things have to be lifted. Now, this is not including the offshore vessels. and that, if you look at these and break down the numbers, you have to lift something that’s big. out of these 35,000, 15,000 would be. Blades or blade bearings. So that means that you have to do something with the blade. You have to take off the blade for the blade’s sake, or you have to take off the blade for the, bearing’s sake. And then the other, tent and, thousand is for the, transformer. so the [00:16:00] generator, and the gearbox, that these are the big things. I think, as you said, blade damage is the most. Particular thing that you shouldn’t break and it’s easy to break is the blades. So that was the primary focus also, with, some of the company that has worked before. So the one of these universal blade handling tools, that we have, different, solutions from, Germany, a couple of them from Denmark, that the premise is that you can have a single crane and then, the blade tool itself. can either adapt, to the blade itself or there’s some slight modifications that you have to do and then it can handle multi-brand. So that would mean that you have one tool and it can handle a range of blades. Allen Hall: That, that seems like an obvious win for an operator or groups of operators in a certain location like Texas where there’s are variety of turbines.[00:17:00] If I had a multi-brand blade lifting tool, why? Why hasn’t that seen wider adoption by a number of operators? Just basically saying, Hey, everybody, throw in 20% of the cost and we’ll just park this tool in the middle of Texas when we need it, we’ll just pull it out. Seems, that seems obvious, but it hasn’t happened. Gregory Kocsis: If, you look at the tech level of such a tool comparing to the tech level that they used to on a daily basis, it’s, that’s where the gap is because if, they have a tool that’s, you start including it, there’s self-balancing system in it, there’s hydraulics in it, and they. Then they know that then someone needs to know about this. Who’s gonna be that? Is it their own guy? Or is someone coming with the tool every time that they use this? On the good side, we can see that, for example, Vestas made their tools for Vestas blades. and then they, instead of, a universal seating, they use [00:18:00] proprietary seating for each blade. you know what you’re. You wanna lift, you prep the tool accordingly, and then it’ll fit so that works for Vestas. And I think more and more crews are, are using these, Vestas technologies, but I think that. The cool thing would be that to have these tools and start using the tools that are not just, for one OEM, but try to utilize these, multi, multi-brand sites and, make sure that, couple of these tools available. So you also have, resilience that if something breaks down that the whole project is not dying. Yeah, I would say the gap based on the tech availability and the learning curve itself, how to do it is, that’s the most thing that holds it back. Joel Saxum: Let me get, your opinion on a couple other technologies here as we’re talking lifting technologies. up tower cranes have been, I wouldn’t say it, it’s not a resurgence, it’s a, it just [00:19:00] splashed under the scene here in the last few years. You got a couple companies doing it and some doing it offshore, some doing onshore. we’ve spoken to a few of ’em on the podcast. What’s your opinion on the usage of these things and where they’re good, where what, what pros, cons they have? What are your thoughts? Gregory Kocsis: I think it’s great. I, back in the day when I was at the Danish Trade Council in 2019, I think it was, back then when RA started to have this project with Aon back then, now RWE, where they bought one, and they said that, We’ll start testing this. We are gonna be the pioneers in this because on paper, it works really nice that you have less containers moving around, less, setup, less footprint of the crane itself. I think with these, if we’re talking about theile cranes, it has its place where it makes. Most sense. So for example, one, one case that I’ve heard that, the [00:20:00] northern, part of the country and also in Canada, there, there could be some times of the year when the roads are shut down and then you cannot carry these heavy loads. and then moving around one of these up tower cranes, it’s easier. so it’s not gonna be delayed by weather. So definitely for these that you would have a case that. For the next six to seven months, your crane is not available because we cannot transport it. Then you can swoop in with this and definitely solve it. it does need some setup time, so when, the site is fairly close, and the pads are close to each other, moving a conventional crane from site to site is actually easier, than p this down and move it to the next. So it also depends on how many, how many turbines do you want to take care of in the region? Joel Saxum: Yeah. I think large campaigns, it’s tougher to justify them for, they don’t work as well. but one-offs, access [00:21:00] issues. smaller, quicker things. they’re definitely a use case for ’em. Gregory Kocsis: Another thing I’ve seen it, I think a year ago it was not in, in Spain, that they also looked at a technology that how you can, for example, lower the blade, utilizing a fixture in the hub, that you just bring this small thing up and use the turbine itself as its own fixture to lower this. And that would mean that you have. a hoist, on the top. And then you just need a smaller mobile crane, on the bottom to tip the blade when it comes down. I think these are also very cool things because that means that you don’t need the whole, big multi, multi container big cranes to, to set up for, the smaller thing. And if you need to take care of one blade, when there’s no unbalanced road or no crazy thing, you just need to do a blade bang exchange. Then this could also save, a lot. But, that [00:22:00] also comes to the same book that this is fairly new and this is even newer than the up tower cranes. So we’re talking about, this is, let’s say in still in the prototype phase when they testing the first editions, in the past two years. Allen Hall: So will we see more, new technology coming outta Europe, or is the demand going to. Drive the technology where there’s turbines going in. I’m thinking of Australia. We’ve talked to some operators there, they’re gonna use some innovative techniques to assemble towers that have been around several years, and no one in Europe really has taken advantage of it in the states, not even thinking about it, but the rapid expansion in large farms in Australia, is that where the hot center’s gonna be for lifting in new technology over the next couple of years? Gregory Kocsis: I would say so, Allen Hall: yeah. Gregory Kocsis: Australia is also an upcoming market for these. but as we talked about what drives this, [00:23:00] it, it will be driven by where is the most independent service provider or where is the most contracts that are run out of the OEM and the asset owner took the liberty that we are gonna take the decision and we are gonna, we are gonna test this. Allen Hall: So that’s just very interesting, look into the industry because I do think. Where Australia is a little bit different is that they have been in mining and big, heavy iron projects forever and they’re not afraid to get involved in heavy lifts. That’s just something that they do all the time versus the middle of Kansas where that doesn’t tend to happen so much. So is the technology moving towards Australia and towards Asia? In general because offshore’s gonna be there, onshore, ISS gonna be there. And what should we expect over the next, couple of years then, in terms of crane and lifting technology, will we [00:24:00] see, just bigger, more massive cranes doing heavier lifts or is it gonna be more innovation? there’s, I Gregory Kocsis: think it’s two sides of this. So there’s always one side where you look at what’s happening with the new installations. And the new installations are driven by bigger. Things, larger things that are more fragile, especially with the blades. so that, that’s the technology that goes there, that how can we, we are really at the transport limit, on, both macel and blades when we’re talking about these new things. So I think the, the. Innovation in that sense will go on that direction. And the new installation that, how can we make these even bigger things to be possible to transport and put together in terms of the, the aftermarket and the old turbines. It’s a very different perspective. and the, you can also see a lot of [00:25:00] innovations there, but the, but the stakeholders are very different, so I, don’t think still that the OEM will be heavily involved in this. and do platform close cross collaborative options. but we are entering a stage where some of these bigger players are also, global. So E-D-P-E-D-F, they, in energy, I think they’re one of the innovative ones. They, they exist across the pond as well. So they’re starting to do this knowledge transfer within, their organizations and that, that. That, that are kick starting some small things. And then you can see the, it’s the neighbor effect when you can see that, oh, it works there, why can’t we get there? so it will slowly, organically grow that way. Allen Hall: I think it’s gonna be an interesting next couple of years because as turbines have gradually gotten larger, the two megawatt turbine, which exists primarily in the United States, [00:26:00] is a dying breed. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 megawatt turbines are gonna become the standard, and lifts are gonna get more complicated, obviously, and the challenges will be there, but it, seems like we’re. at the time where the lifting technology and the financial aspects are gonna come together, we’re gonna close some of these loops and it will be a better situation for a lot of people. It’s time. And I, think if you’re out, if you’re listening to this podcast and you haven’t looked at some of the lifting technologies, you need to call Greg or get ahold of Greg. And how do they do that? Do they, can they find you on LinkedIn? Gregory Kocsis: Yeah, absolutely. I think the easiest way is to find me on LinkedIn. My contacts are also there, so you can find my emails there or just ping me with a message and then we, and we take it from there. Allen Hall: And it’s Greg Coxs, K-O-C-S-I-S. Make sure you put that in LinkedIn correctly. K-O-C-S-I-S or you’re never gonna find Greg. Greg, thank you so much for being on the podcast because there’s so much happening in [00:27:00] the lifting world. It’s hard to keep track, and it is a global industry, so it’s nice to talk to somebody who’s in touch with all of it. Absolutely. Gregory Kocsis: My pleasure.

Wow, how time flies! Justin has officially been retired for two full years. Today, we’ll dig into how year 2 was different, get life and financial updates, and also look forward to year 3. You’ll notice a big fitness theme, and Justin will discuss an upcoming fitness retreat he’s organizing in Spain. We’ll briefly skim over Justin’s 6-month international trip, but if you want a deeper dive into how traveling the world technically saved him money, check out these episodes: Asia Recap & Full Trip Recap Justin also gives us a transparent view of his financial updates. We hope this inspires listeners to see how truly powerful compounding interest is. His High-Level Financial Stats: Net Worth at retirement: $1.7M Net Worth after 1 year retired: $2.1M Net Worth after 2 years retired: $2.7M We also ended this episode in a similar way that we ended his year 1 review of retirement, with a quick blast overview of how he spent his time, which includes: December 2024 Spent the month in Mississippi visiting family January 2025 Going-away party Departed for the Philippines Island-hopping boat tour Feb Indonesia Ubud, Uluwatu, Gili Air, Nusa Lembogan, Nusa Penida Mar Vietnam Birthday on Ha Giang loop Apr Thailand / Amsterdam / Switzerland Koh Lanta Chiang Mai Temple Tours Elephant Sanctuary Tulip gardens Insane train routes Hang gliding off mountains May Italy Lake Como Cinque Terre Parma Florence Elba Naples Ischia Lipari Sicily June Italy Lipari round 2 Sardinia Rome First half-marathon 1hr 40min 19 sec Rufus Du Sol show Jul Back to America Stops in NYC and Dallas to visit friends Maintained fitness on the trip Body fat 10.4 -> 11.3 Lean Tissue 155.4 -> 156.3 Audien & Telykast concert Started Wedding prep Started doing track workouts Run clubs & boat days Started dialling in Biscuit & Cinnamon roll recipes for the wedding Aug House sitting for friends Visited family in Mississippi Concert dome experience Sept Spent over a week in Colorado visiting friends/bachelor trip getaway Got some solid workouts in (at time my longest run of 16 miles and PR on deadlift of 405) Finalized recipe for biscuits and cinnamon rolls for the wedding Fincon Knocked out a 14-mile progressive run with Cody Friends wedding weekend in Austin Rooftop yoga event Really ramped up the dessert factory for the wedding Finalized other wedding things Charley Crockett concert Oct Got married House sat Went to a movie screening debut “Sober” Lots of brand activation events around ACL/F1 timeline (Patron, Bush’s beans, Google) Attended a marketing conference Completed longest run ever of 34 miles Nov First time hired to make a custom birthday cake Redid the backyard, adding pavers and gravel landscaping around firepit and pergola Wild 1-4 am show with Elderbrook and Lane 8 Friendsgiving Hyrox with Leslie (1:10 finish time) Thanksgiving on the Texas Coast Dec 5k PR: 20 min 53 sec 3 Big EDM Concerts Mississippi for Christmas Visit a good friend in Little Rock Began planning first group retreat (Spain Fitness/Hyrox related) We hope you enjoy a look behind the curtain and Justin’s willingness to be open and honest about the retired life. If you found value in the episode, please share it with a friend! Links from the Episode Spain Fitness Retreat Justin's Retirement Announcement Episode Justin’s 1 Year Since Retirement Episode Asia Recap Episode Full 6-month International Trip Episode YouTube Interview https://youtu.be/Kzdm3St3UkE Join the Community We'd love to hear your comments and questions about this week's episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in The FI Show community! Grab the Ultimate FI Spreadsheet Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] TheFIshow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a rating/review! >> You can do that by clicking here 

Steve Smith and Dave Anderson welcome Coach Jaime Pulgar Garcia, new to the Brookhaven staff and already making a major cultural impact. Jaime shares his tennis origin story from Madrid, Spain, his late start at age 10, and the twin-track journey he and his brother took through college tennis (NC State and San Diego State), pro tennis, and high-performance coaching. The conversation explores how Spanish tennis culture shaped his development and why his family pushed the U.S. college route.Episode 279 expands into the “Spanish method” versus the U.S. landscape—coaching pathways, credentialing, junior development, and the role of other sports like soccer in building movement and competitiveness. Jaime and Dave discuss “high floor vs. high ceiling” player development, plus how modern scouting and analytics reinforce match-film insights without overwhelming players. Jaime also reflects on coaching Mackenzie McDonald through his major ranking climb.

We dug into Spain's "Tio de Nadal" aka The Poop Log and other strange Christmas traditions. Plus, Maggie Faris gives us a behind the scenes look at driving a snow plow (left-winger flex and all) and the holiday movies we just keep watching over and over and over again. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome, my dark souls! In this haunting chapter of Unholy December, we uncover the chilling possession outbreaks that swept through convents in France, Spain, and Italy during the 17th century. From violent public exorcisms to quiet nocturnal terrors, these cases reveal how fear, faith, and control shaped the lives of cloistered women across Europe. Drawing from diaries, trial records, and centuries of historical analysis, this episode exposes the obscure boundary between mysticism, trauma, and the supernatural. A deep, unsettling journey into the archives where some of history's darkest whispers have been waiting. *Listener Discretion is Advised*****************Sources & References:Aldous Huxley, The Devils of Loudun (1952).Michel de Certeau, The Possession at Loudun (1970).Nancy Caciola, Discerning Spirits: Divine and Demonic Possession in the Middle Ages (2003).Edward Peters, The Magician, the Witch, and the Law (1978).John D. Lyons, The Phantom of Chance: From Fortune to Randomness in Seventeenth-Century French Literature (2019).Moshe Sluhovsky, Believe Not Every Spirit: Possession, Mysticism, and Discernment in Early Modern Catholicism (2007).Marina Warner, Alone of All Her Sex: The Myth and the Cult of the Virgin Mary (1976).Moshe Sluhovsky, “The Devil in the Convent,” American Historical Review 107, no. 5 (2002).Francine Masiello (ed. and trans.), The Diary of Santa Veronica Giuliani (selections).Michel Carmona, Urbain Grandier (2000).H. C. Lea, Materials Toward a History of Witchcraft (1939).Brian P. Levack, The Devil Within: Possession and Exorcism in the Christian West (2013).Stuart Clark, Thinking with Demons: The Idea of Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe (1997).Jodi Bilinkoff, Related Lives: Confessors and Their Female Penitents, 1450–1750 (2005).Various 17th-century exorcism transcripts and ecclesiastical reports referenced in secondary scholarship above.****************Leave Us a 5* Rating, it really helps the show!Apple Podcast:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beauty-unlocked-the-podcast/id1522636282Spotify Podcast:https://open.spotify.com/show/37MLxC8eRob1D0ZcgcCorA****************Follow Us on Social Media & Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!YouTube:@beautyunlockedspodcasthourTikTok:tiktok.com/@beautyunlockedthepod****************Music & SFX Attribution:Epidemic SoundFind the perfect track on Epidemic Sound for your content and take it to the next level! See what the hype is all about!

Paris Saint-Germain and Flamengo meet in Doha with a trophy and a FIFA badge on the line, and it's the centerpiece of today's Morning Espresso on the SDH Network, brought to you by Oglethorpe University.We also dig into the latest World Cup ticketing update after FIFA introduced a new $60 “Supporter Entry Tier” for fans of qualified teams, plus what the supporters' groups are still demanding ahead of the first ticket draw on January 13.And in qualifying drama, Nigeria are fighting to revive their 2026 hopes by taking a complaint to FIFA over player eligibility in their playoff loss to DR Congo — a case that could reshape the intercontinental playoff picture in March.Around the world, we hit quick updates from Spain and England's domestic cups, a massive night in Colombia with the Medellín derby deciding the Copa BetPlay, and a rapid-fire run through the other headlines you need before you get on with your day.

Aran Goyoaga is a fourth-generation baker, cookbook author, food stylist, and photographer. She grew up in the Basque Country in her grandparents' pastry shop, which was a gathering place for priests, radicals, and anyone looking for community. Aran moved to the U.S. at age 24, attended culinary school, and then worked in professional kitchens for years. After suffering from debilitating autoimmune disorders, she and her son were diagnosed with gluten intolerance. The very thing that defined her life and work was what had been making her sick all along. It was then that she made it her mission to elevate the world of alternative baking—to take the knowledge she was given and honor her family, while transforming recipes through her own experience with gluten intolerance. Her latest cookbook, The Art of Gluten-Free Bread, is now available. Her cookbook Cannelle et Vanille Bakes Simple was published in 2021, and was named best of 2021 by The Washington Post, Food 52, Vanity Fair, and more. Her book Cannelle et Vanille was nominated for a James Beard Award, and her work has been recognized by The New York Times, Food 52, Food & Wine, Bon Appetit, The Washington Post, NBC News, and more. www.arangoyoaga.com In this episode, we discuss: How Aran grew up in the Basque region of Spain, living across from her grandparents' bakeshop Moving to the U.S. and learning pastry and baking at culinary school in Florida Why she decided to photograph and share recipes on a blog How she landed her first book contract and launched a career as a cookbook author Discovering she was gluten intolerant and embarking on a new way of baking The release of her latest book, The Art of Gluten-Free Bread, and what's in it Tips on making the most flavorful (and beautiful) gluten-free bread And much more!    

Jay Pelosky is the founder of TPW Advisory. He has over 35 years of buy-side and sell-side financial market experience. Before going independent, Jay was at Morgan Stanley, where he was ranked #1 by Institutional Investor in Global Equity Strategy and Global Asset Allocation Strategy. In this podcast, we discuss:  Tripolar World (TPW) - regional integration in Asia, Europe, and Americas. Global growth long cycle driven by spending on AI, defense, and climate across regions. China-US AI competition The shift from chip quality to power costs as the key AI competitive advantage. Brazil and Spain's clean energy plays Why 2025 is not like the 2000 dotcom bubble Private credit opportunities Attractive China tech valuations China's five-year plan Europe's potential Countries pressuring institutions to invest domestically rather than in US markets. 

  Are you allowed to speak to your Children's friends? Anna's daughter completely cut Anna's husband off from communication with her group. Anna gets a few sentences max. What are your children's rules?   Santa Baby is today's Unwrapped with Anna & Raven! There may just be a thing or two you didn't know about this Holiday Classic!  3 surprising story headlines and only one gets explained. It's Pick Em' News! Raven chose to talk about a door dasher who drenched her customers' order in pepper spray at drop-off. Maybe it's time to adjust the tip?   It's back! Anna and Raven Santa Tipline! Santa needs to know who's naughty, and who's nice. Call and leave a message 24/7 and you may hear yourself on the air. Call 888-702-9646 to leave a message for the Big Guy!     Dr. Kerri Stasiak joins Anna and Raven to discuss all things naturopathy! From gut health to holistic wellness to healing teas- those belly bugs will be gone before you know it!  Holiday Headlines today brings you USPS quick arriving gift deadlines and this interesting Christmas tradition that occurs in Spain.  Jen's brother is having a New Years Eve wedding, and both their children are in the wedding. Their daughter is five, and their son is three. Her brother, along with his fiancé, have hired a nanny to take the kids up to the hotel rooms at the venue to put the kids to sleep. Jen's husband, Peter, is very uncomfortable with a stranger taking the kids to bed, especially a woman that they hired from Craigslist. He says he'll ditch out and go with the kids up to the room around 9pm, or when they can't stay up any longer. She says he's being a party pooper; the kids will be in the same building! Just stay up and party, kiss at midnight, then they'll go up to the kid's room.  What would you do?  Meghan has a chance to win $1400! All she has to do is answer more pop culture questions than Raven in Can't Beat Raven!  

Amid political repression and a deepening affordability crisis, Budget Justice: On Building Grassroots Politics and Solidarities (Princeton UP, 2025) challenges everything you thought you knew about “dull” and daunting government budgets. It shows how the latter confuse and mislead the public by design, not accident. Arguing that they are moral documents that demand grassroots participation to truly work for everyone, the book reveals how everyday citizens can shape policy to tackle everything from rising housing and food costs to unabated police violence, underfunded schools, and climate change–driven floods and wildfires.Drawing on her years of engagement with democratic governance in New York City and around the globe, Celina Su proposes a new kind of democracy—in which city residents make collective decisions about public needs through processes like participatory budgeting, and in which they work across racial divides and segregated spaces as neighbors rather than as consumers or members of voting blocs. Su presents a series of “interludes” that vividly illustrate how budget justice plays out on the ground, including in-depth interviews with activists from Porto Alegre, Brazil, Barcelona, Spain, and Jackson, Mississippi, and shares her own personal reflections on how changing social identities inform one's activism.Essential reading to empower citizens, Budget Justice explains why public budgets reflect a crisis not so much in accounting as in democracy, and enables everyone, especially those from historically marginalized communities, to imagine and enact people's budgets and policies—from universal preschool to affordable housing—that will enable their communities to thrive. Celina Su is the inaugural Marilyn J. Gittell Chair in Urban Studies (with an appointment in Critical Social & Environmental Psychology) at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, as well as Associate Professor of Political Science at Brooklyn College. Her interests lie in civil society and the cultural politics of education and health policy. She is especially interested in how everyday citizens engage in policy-making—via deliberative democracy when inclusive institutions exist, and via protest and social movements when they do not. Celina received a Ph.D. in Urban Studies from MIT and a B.A. Honors from Wesleyan University. Jen Hoyer is Technical Services and Electronic Resources Librarian at CUNY New York City College of Technology. She is co-author of What Primary Sources Teach: Lessons for Every Classroom (2022) and The Social Movement Archive (2021), and co-editor of Armed By Design: Posters and Publications of Cuba's Organization of Solidarity of the Peoples of Africa, Asia, and Latin America (2025). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Escape with us to the eucalyptus and redwood grove of Sigmund Stern Recreation Grove in San Francisco — home of the iconic Stern Grove Festival — as we sit down with the festival's Marketing Director, Molly Fremgen. We learn about the magic behind this beloved concert series, now entering its 89th season in 2026, and the legacy of Stern Grove Festival as the nation's longest-running nonprofit music festival — bringing free live music to the Bay Area since 1938. We dive into the nuts and bolts of producing a large-scale nonprofit concert series, from the challenges of live events to the creative solutions that keep the festival thriving. Molly talks about the pride the team takes in stewarding Stern Grove's legacy, and how the organization uses its platform to support the broader live music and local business community in San Francisco. Molly also traces her path into live events — from producing a music festival while studying at the University of Illinois, to roles at MTV, AEG, Goldenvoice, and on the PR team at Coachella. We learn about Molly's 500 mile hike of the infamous Camino de Santiago in Spain which happened at a crossroads in her career and helped guide her to her current dream role, and how her goalkeeping and manifesting has steered her to achieve career and personal goals. This episode is full of fascinating info, great career advice, and lots of laughs.Molly Fremgen: LinkedIn | EmailStern Grove Festival: Facebook | Instagram | X/Twitter ––––––ADVENTURES IN VENUELANDFollow on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, or X/TwitterLearn more about Event & Venue Marketing ConferenceMeet our team:Paul Hooper | Co-host, Booking, Branding & MarketingDave Redelberger | Co-host & Guest ResearchMegan Ebeck | Marketing, Design & Digital AdvertisingSamantha Marker | Marketing, Copywriting & PublicityCamille Faulkner | Audio Editing & MixingHave a suggestion for a guest or bonus episode? We'd love to hear it! Send us an email.

With Jessica den Outer.  For centuries, our legal systems have treated nature as something to be owned and exploited, for human gain. In recent decades, the tenor of conversation may have shifted towards conservation and protection, but nature remains an object. The environmental laws, treaties and international agreements we enact have little impact; ecosystems continue to collapse, global temperatures continue to rise. But a bold new movement is challenging this paradigm, calling time on inadequate, anthropocentric lawmaking, and ushering in an exciting new ecocentric approach based around the rights of nature. Jessica den Outer joins us on the show to talk about the history of this new legal movement, and dive into some of the challenges it is facing, and opportunities it is creating, around the world. We discuss the legal personality of the Whanganui River in Aotearoa / New Zealand, the enshrining of the rights of nature in the National Constitution of Ecuador, and the strength of grassroots movements for the Mar Menor in Spain and the River Ouse in Sussex, England. The Forest Fights Back: A Global Movement for the Rights of Nature is 40% off for podcast listeners on plutobooks.com. Use the coupon PODCAST at the checkout.

Amid political repression and a deepening affordability crisis, Budget Justice: On Building Grassroots Politics and Solidarities (Princeton UP, 2025) challenges everything you thought you knew about “dull” and daunting government budgets. It shows how the latter confuse and mislead the public by design, not accident. Arguing that they are moral documents that demand grassroots participation to truly work for everyone, the book reveals how everyday citizens can shape policy to tackle everything from rising housing and food costs to unabated police violence, underfunded schools, and climate change–driven floods and wildfires.Drawing on her years of engagement with democratic governance in New York City and around the globe, Celina Su proposes a new kind of democracy—in which city residents make collective decisions about public needs through processes like participatory budgeting, and in which they work across racial divides and segregated spaces as neighbors rather than as consumers or members of voting blocs. Su presents a series of “interludes” that vividly illustrate how budget justice plays out on the ground, including in-depth interviews with activists from Porto Alegre, Brazil, Barcelona, Spain, and Jackson, Mississippi, and shares her own personal reflections on how changing social identities inform one's activism.Essential reading to empower citizens, Budget Justice explains why public budgets reflect a crisis not so much in accounting as in democracy, and enables everyone, especially those from historically marginalized communities, to imagine and enact people's budgets and policies—from universal preschool to affordable housing—that will enable their communities to thrive. Celina Su is the inaugural Marilyn J. Gittell Chair in Urban Studies (with an appointment in Critical Social & Environmental Psychology) at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, as well as Associate Professor of Political Science at Brooklyn College. Her interests lie in civil society and the cultural politics of education and health policy. She is especially interested in how everyday citizens engage in policy-making—via deliberative democracy when inclusive institutions exist, and via protest and social movements when they do not. Celina received a Ph.D. in Urban Studies from MIT and a B.A. Honors from Wesleyan University. Jen Hoyer is Technical Services and Electronic Resources Librarian at CUNY New York City College of Technology. She is co-author of What Primary Sources Teach: Lessons for Every Classroom (2022) and The Social Movement Archive (2021), and co-editor of Armed By Design: Posters and Publications of Cuba's Organization of Solidarity of the Peoples of Africa, Asia, and Latin America (2025). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science

Feminist Question Time LIVE - a women only event - 13 December 2025, Host: Amparo DomingoPatricia Sornosa, Spain, Comedian Censored due to her radical feminist views on genderLara Forsberg, USA, Gender Ideology in SchoolsAmie Ichikawa, USA, Why I signed the Declaration on Women's Sex-Based RightsJocelyn Crawley, USA, Sexual Assault as Core to Patriarchy

On the final GMH Hotels episode of 2025, Sarah Dandashy is joined by Katie Cline to break down the forces closing out the year in hospitality and travel. They explore the “ugly new math” pressuring hotel margins, a wave of airline CEO changes signaling deeper industry shifts, and how luxury travel is being redefined beyond passports and borders. The episode also looks at New York City's newly approved casino and Spain's crackdown on unlicensed Airbnb listings. A fitting year-end wrap as Good Morning Hospitality, A Skift Podcast returns January 5th, 2026. This episode is brought to you by ⁠⁠⁠⁠Amazon!⁠⁠⁠⁠ To learn more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠advertising.amazon.com⁠⁠⁠ Connect with Skift: LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/skift/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ WhatsApp: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaAL375LikgIXmNPYQ0L/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://facebook.com/skiftnews⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/skiftnews/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Threads: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.threads.net/@skiftnews⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Bluesky: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bsky.app/profile/skiftnews.bsky.social⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ X: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/skift⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to ⁠@SkiftNews⁠ and never miss an update from the travel industry.

Get ready for an unforgettable journey as The Essence of Southern Spain tour arrives in Cádiz, a timeless coastal jewel with roots that stretch back over 3,000 years. I'm Jorge, and alongside my co-host Fran, we scratch this ancient city's rich history, vibrant traditions, and mouth watering gastronomy. From its legendary Phoenician beginnings to the stories hidden in its sun washed alleys, Cádiz is a place where every corner seems to whisper tales of the sea, of sailors, and of culture that helped shape Spain itself.Join us as we stroll through the historic heart of Cádiz, with me and Fran sharing local insights, architectural gems, and the pulse of everyday life. We'll explore the old plazas, hidden corners, coastline, hop between seaside cafés, and uncover why this city's spirit feels both ancient and alive. You'll hear about Carnival traditions, local festivals, and the incredible seafood culture that defines Cádiz, from fresh tapas to iconic dishes like pescaito frito and Tuna fish. (Their second religion).Consider this episode your passport to the soul of Southern Spain. So plug in your headphones, follow along with us, and let Cádiz's seaside charm and enduring history captivate your imagination.

Макс рассказывает, как они с семьёй ищут и почти покупают дом в Испании: поездка в Галисию, цены на недвижимость, залог и переговоры с агентом. Мы говорим о сомнениях, ремонте и жизни в деревне — живая практика аудирования уровня B1–B2.Max shares how his family is trying to buy a house in Spain: a trip to Galicia, property prices, the deposit, and talks with the agent. We discuss doubts, renovation, and rural life — perfect B1–B2 listening practice.

We break down what la sobremesa really is, why almost everyone in Mexico practices it (even if they don't name it), and how it contrasts with the fast-paced dining culture many of us grew up with. We also explore its historical roots in Spain, how it blended with Latin American and Indigenous traditions, and why meals often last hours without anyone feeling rushed. Finally, we explain how la sobremesa becomes a powerful, low-pressure space for practicing Spanish, building confidence, and truly connecting with people beyond the classroom.Key Takeaways:Why meals in Mexico don't end when the plate is emptyHow la sobremesa reflects deeper cultural values around time and connectionHow you can use la sobremesa to practice Spanish naturally and confidentlyRelevant Links And Additional Resources:Level up your Spanish with our Podcast MembershipGet the full transcript of each episode so you don't miss a wordListen to an extended breakdown section in English going over the most important words and phrasesTest your comprehension with a multiple choice quizSupport the show

"(B)efore we're even thinking about AI, it's actually thinking about how are we using our technology effectively and is it part of our processes? Does it complicate things or does it simplify things? And the advice that I always give them is like, before you start bringing in new technology and new processes and having to train people and doing their job in a different way and adding complication first, look at what you're doing and…pair back the stuff that doesn't need to be there anymore. And then think about technology." Nikki Greenberg on Electric Ladies Podcast   Cities are in transformation mode – between affordability and housing challenges, the need to be resilient to climate's impacts, and yet maintain the vibrancy that draws billions of people to cities. How can they do that? What role does technology play – and does AI change everything? Listen to architect and urban designer, Nikki Greenberg, CEO of Real Estate of the Future and an advisor on urban innovation, in this fascinating conversation Electric Ladies Podcast host Joan Michelson had with her at the 2025 Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.   You'll hear about: ●        How cities can be hubs of "soft diplomacy" as city leaders across the globe share best practices, tips and strategies to make their cities better, more affordable and more climate-resilient. ●        First things first: The first things she counsels city leaders to do before thinking about technology, including A.I. ●        How climate change has affected city building codes: From the type of energy systems to have to where to locate them, to designing flexibility into building structures. ●        Plus, insightful career advice:   "You can't stop learning and you can't be complacent. And yes, you might have time constraints. Yes, you might have disadvantages. Yes, you may have been in your career and been very good at it for a very long time, but it doesn't mean that you can sit still and stop learning.…The advantage that you have is that you have experience, you have professional networks, you know how to hold down a job….But you have to get behind the new technology and learn how to use it because that's the tools that we're using moving forward." Nikki Greenberg on Electric Ladies Podcast   Read Joan's Forbes articles here.   You'll also like: ·       Urban Climate Actions at the 2025 Smart City Expo World Congress: Listen to Joan's panel with three extraordinary urban women leaders from across the globe who are using creative strategies to address climate issues. ·       Using Climate Modelling – with Maria Caffrey, Ph.D., UK National Physical Laboratory, on how climate modelling works and how best to use it most effectively   ·       How Cities Can Thrive Through Polycrises – With Lauren Sorkin, Resilient Cities Network, on the range of crises cities are facing all at once today and how to manage them, at Smart City Expo World Congress 2024. ·       How to Rebuild After Disaster – With Majora Carter, Urban Revitalization Expert and CEO of the Majora Carter Group ·       Predicting Climate Impacts In Neighborhoods – with Jessica Filante Farrington, AT&T's Director of Global Sustainability   Subscribe to our newsletter to receive our podcasts, blog, events and special coaching offers.   Thanks for subscribing on Apple Podcasts or iHeartRadio and leaving us a review! Follow us on Twitter @joanmichelson

423: Zatopek:10 2025 | Australian World XC Team announced | European XC Championships  This episode is powered by Shokz, the world leading open ear headphones pioneer. Big news——Shokz Christmas Sale is here, with up to 32% off sitewide! Visit: https://shokz.cc/irp15xmas  and use code IRP15 for your exclusive listener discount! Brad starts off looking good then has to hold it back. Julian adjusts to life with the twins. Brady begins to pick up the pace and a thing or two about trail running. RP Partner Offer: Saily have teamed up with Inside Running Podcast to offer an exclusive 15% discount on Saily data plans! It's an eSIM service app that lets you choose from a huge range of affordable data plans in over 190 countries and 8 regions Visit: https://saily.com/insiderunning This week's running news is presented by Axil Coffee. Lauren Ryan went back to back, winning Zatopek:10 in 32:06.66, kicking home ahead of Georgie Grgec and Leanne Pompeani who had led much of the race. Seth O'Donnell dominated the field to win Zatopek:10 in 27:59.65, with only Stewy McSweyn going with Seth for much of it. Ed Marks placed second ahead of the defending Jack Rayner. Scarlett Robb kicked down to take the win in the Ondieki U20 3000m from Imogen Baker right at the line, with Eliza Lawton in third. Alexander Cameron-Smith won the de Castella U20 3000m in 8:04.77 ahead of Lucas Chis and Kieran Shepherd. Abbey Caldwell was dominant in the Open 3000m, winning in 9:14.47 ahead of Zoe Melhuish and Jaylah Hancock-Cameron. Aths Vic Results Hub Australian team announced for the World Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee, Florida on the 10th January. Womens Leanne Pompeani Holly Campbell Caitlin Adams Bronte Oates Lauren Ryan Maudie Skyring Mens Seth O'Donnell Morgan McDonald Haftu Strintzos Ky Robinson Isaac Heyne Ed Marks Mixed 4x2km Relay Oli Hoare Cameron Myers Jess Hull Linden Hall Australian Athletics Press Release   Sinclaire Johnson takes out the Kalakaua Merri Elite Mile in Hawaii in 4:21, while Josh Hoey continues his hot form to win in 3:55. Results Nadia Battocletti of Italy won the European Cross Country Championship held over a 7.5km course in Lagoa, Portugal ahead of Megan Keith and Yasmine Can. Belgium were the winning team ahead of the UK and France. Thierry Ndikumwenayo of Spain held off Jimmy Gressier to take the title in a sprint finish with Dominic Lobalu in third. Spain were the winning team ahead of Ireland and France. Official Results Grand Slam Track files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, unable to pay millions of dollars owed to competing athletes, such as Jess Hull. Nine Wide World of Sports Article   Hillary Kipchirchir Chepkwony of the NN Running Team in Kenya has been sanctioned by the Athletics Integrity Unit for biological passport violations. Athletics Illustrated   Enjoy 20% off your first Axil Coffee order! Use code IRP20 at checkout. Shop now at axilcoffee.com.au   Whispers allude to a high profile withdrawal from Zatopek, while Brady gives a training tip for the Christmas break.   This episode's Listener Q's/Training Talk segment is proudly brought to you by Precision Fuel & Hydration.   What running watches do you use/recommend? Visit precisionhydration.com for more info on hydration and fuelling products and research, and use the discount code given in the episode.  Patreon Link: https://www.patreon.com/insiderunningpodcast Opening and Closing Music is Undercover of my Skin by Benny Walker. www.bennywalkermusic.com Join the conversation at: https://www.facebook.com/insiderunningpodcast/

Chef Jose Garces' Culinary Journey*Growing up, Chef Garces learned traditional dishes like ceviche, empanadas, and pan de bono from his mother and grandmother, while his father enjoyed grilling steaks. He emphasized the importance of sofrito, a foundational cooking technique using onions, garlic, and peppers, which he still prepares in large batches. Exploring Latin Culinary TraditionsJose and Amaris discussed the importance of sofrito in Latin cooking and its variations across families. Jose shared his journey from French classical training to embracing Latin cuisine, highlighting the foundational role of sofrito and other base ingredients in different culinary traditions. They also talked about Jose's experience with paella, which he has been perfecting for 20 years, emphasizing the complexity and precision required to make a great dish. Amaris praised Jose's interpretation of paella, which she found to be authentic and reminiscent of her experiences in Spain.Brand Expansion PlansJose discussed plans to expand the tapas-based concept Amada to Chicago in the spring and Dallas in the fall. He emphasized the importance of perfecting the paella recipe and mentioned that his team would be filming and annotating the process to ensure consistency. Jose also shared his experience with opening various restaurants, including Village Whiskey, and explained the decision-making process behind each venture.Brand Expansion and Partnership UpdatesJose discussed his brand's expansion to Nashville, planned for late 2026, and highlighted its southern-inspired menu and recent improvements. He mentioned a partnership with SPB Hospitality to enhance the beverage program and emphasized the brand's collaboration with Aramark at the Xfinity Mobile Center. Jose also shared his experience with Cook Unity, a home meal service, where he has been a chef partner since 2021, offering fresh, ready-to-eat meals in six markets. Amaris expressed her positive experience with the service and noted the quality and convenience of the meals.Community Initiatives and Future InvolvementsJose highlighted the importance of supporting restaurant workers through initiatives like English language classes and health screenings, and how his recently renamed foundation, Communidad Garces, reflects his service-oriented mission. Jose also expressed his excitement for the successful future of his newly-opened Japanese restaurant Okatshe, located in Allentown, PA. And he was very enthusiastic while expressing the value of not only supporting local purveyors, but ensuring the healthiest meals by utilizing local, sustainably sourced ingredients.*The following description was aided by an AI summarization, with original material included.

After the US declared war on Spain in 1898, Secretary of War Russell Alger organized three volunteer cavalry regiments “to be composed exclusively of frontiersmen possessing special qualifications of horsemen and marksmen...” The First US Volunteer Cavalry regiment came to be known as the Rough Riders. Led by Colonel Leonard Wood and Lieutenant Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, the Rough Riders played an important role in the American victories against the Spanish in Cuba. Residents of Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory volunteered in droves and, through their actions in battle, earned the respect of a future US president. In this latest episode of A Very OK Podcast, Trait Thompson and Dr. Bob Blackburn delve into the stories of the Spanish-American War and the men who fought in it. Their guest is Dr. Denise Neil, executive director of the Oklahoma National Guard Museum. 

December 16th, 2025:  Peace on Earth to Men of Goodwill; Stir Up Thy Might, O Lord - The Beginning of the Reconquista of Spain; Mary Is the Icon of Advent

Eat It, Virginia hit the road to Scott’s Addition in Richmond for a trip to Pinky’s, a Mediterranean‑inspired tapas spot with big personality, unforgettable flavors, and a whole lotta heart.

With the passage of the EBU's new Eurovision rules, Israel will be in Vienna while the Netherlands, Spain, Slovenia, Ireland, and Iceland have withdrawn from the Contest. We'll be discussing the fallout from the decision and figuring out how we'll be navigating 2026... Kerflooey Summary What happened at the EBU General Assembly Meeting (1:11) What is happening after the Eurovision vote? (19:16) What will be happening? (26:59) Subscribe The EuroWhat? Podcast is available wherever you get your podcasts. Find your podcast app to subscribe here (https://www.eurowhat.com/subscribe). Comments, questions, and episode topic suggestions are always welcome. You can shoot us an email (mailto:eurowhatpodcast@gmail.com) or reach out on Bluesky @eurowhat.bsky.social (https://bsky.app/profile/eurowhat.bsky.social). Join the EuroWhat AV Club! If you would like to help financially support the show, we are hosting the EuroWhat AV Club over on Patreon! We have a slew of bonus episodes with deep dives on Eurovision-adjacent topics.

We're diving into some heavy stuff today, folks! This episode is all about survival and community, wrapped in a personal story that hits hard. Mark Goldstein shares his experience surviving an aviation disaster 43 years ago, and how that day shaped his journey. We talk about the importance of choosing safe, queer-friendly places and how community can be your lifeline. Plus, we throw in some tips on what to look for when scouting your next retirement spot. So, grab a cozy drink, settle in, and let's explore how navigating life—and where to live—is all about connection and choice!Strap in, folks! We're taking a detour from the usual retirement chit-chat to tackle a wild and emotional ride. Mark Goldstein shares a gripping personal story about surviving a plane crash in Malaga, Spain, 43 years ago, and how that experience shaped his outlook on life and community. He reflects on the chaos of that day and the choices he made that still resonate with him. It's all about survival, connection, and the power of returning to a place that holds so much history. This isn't just about retirement; it's about the life we lead and the people we surround ourselves with. Mark's journey reminds us that choosing a retirement destination is about more than just geography; it's about choosing a community that feels like home.Takeaways: This episode dives deep into the journey of finding safe and affordable retirement options for the LGBTQ community. Mark Goldstein shares a gripping personal story about surviving an airplane crash in Spain back in 1982. The discussion highlights the importance of community and connection when choosing a place to retire happily. Listeners are encouraged to consider key factors like walkability and safety in their retirement planning. Mark reflects on how past experiences shape our choices in life and retirement, emphasizing the value of chosen family. The episode wraps up with a reminder that choosing joy and community is a powerful act of survival. Companies mentioned in this episode: Drexel Burnham Lambert Iberia Links referenced in this episode:wheredogaysretire.comlgbtqseniors.com

Rev. Dana Takagi reflects on the significance of Abbot Yuko Yamada being the first woman teacher at the founding temple of Soto Zen, Eiheiji. Dana also highlights Yamada's teaching of the Denkōroku, a text written by the ancestor Keizan who emphasized making Buddhism accessible to the masses and not just monastic residential practitioners. Dana emphasizes Abbot Yamada's ongoing contributions to moving Buddhism forward into a more inclusive and accessible future, both in Japan and globally. This is a supplementary episode to the full interview with Abbot Yamada. Listen first if you haven't already!GUESTYUKO WAKAYAMA YAMADA is the abbot of Shogakuji in Tokyo. She currently teaches at the International department of Eiheiji. She is the first nun to teach at Eiheiji, the head monastery of Soto Zen founded by Dogen Zenji. She trained at Aichi Senmon Niso-do, a training temple for female Soto Zen priests, where she also currently teaches. She was ordained in 1999 by the highly respected Rev. Shundo Aoyama-roshi. She was sent to Mt. Equity Zendo in United States for 2.5 years and has also practiced in Germany, Switzerland, France, Spain and Italy. After returning from Europe and finishing 2 more years at the Niso-do she studied at the graduate school of Komazawa University specializing in Chinese Zen History. Prior to becoming a Zen Buddhist nun, Yuko Yamada was a catholic nun in a convent for 3 years.HOSTREVEREND DANA TAKAGI (she/her) is a retired professor of Sociology and zen priest, practicing zen since 1998. She spent 33 years teaching sociology and Asian American history at UC Santa Cruz, and she is a past president of the Association for Asian American Studies. 

Celebrate Epiphany with your family through hands-on activities that bring the story of the Wise Men to life. In this episode, we'll explore creative crafts, thought-provoking questions, and global traditions to help your children understand the meaning of this special day.Learn how to incorporate the gifts of the Wise Men and act out the Nativity story together. Make Epiphany unforgettable with these fun and meaningful activities:✅ Questions to ponder during the 12 days of Christmas until Epiphany✅ 8 activities for families to celebrate Epiphany✅ Feast of Epiphany ideas✅ Create crafts like crown and star ornaments, stained glass windows, and glittery gifts✅ Explore the symbolism of frankincense, myrrh, and gold with sensory activities✅ Act out the Nativity story and discuss its significance with thought-provoking questions✅ Discover global Epiphany traditions and bring them into your own celebrationUse coupon code to save 40% on Christmas Celebrations & Star of Bethlehem. Expires Friday, Dec 19.Mentioned Links:Christmas Celebrations Ebook - SAVE 40% with code: DEC19Star of Bethlehem Family Bible Study Ebook - SAVE 40% with code: DEC19Posts to Help with Epiphany:Epiphany Traditions from our FamilyItalian Feast of EpiphanyShow Notes:What Is Epiphany and Why It MattersHey everyone, Kerry back here with Homeschool Coffee Break where we help you stop that overwhelm so you can actually have a coffee break. I actually have coffee with me today!Today what we are going to be talking about is how you can celebrate Epiphany and some of y'all are going, I don't even know what you're talking about. What in the world is Epiphany? We're gonna talk about Epiphany, but what I want to do is give you some hands-on activities. I think I have eight or nine activities that you can use.Because really, when this is published, we are smack dab in the middle of Christmas and New Year's. But there is something much more important than New Year's and that is the Feast of Epiphany on January 6th. That is almost a week away from when this is going to be published.Let's talk about what Epiphany is, how it can affect your family, how you can raise your kids to understand it. Because let me tell you, I had no idea till my kids were almost in high school what Epiphany was, what that feast was, what that holiday was.Understanding the 12 Days of ChristmasEpiphany is 12 days after Christmas. Ah, 12 Days of Christmas! It is not 12 days before Christmas—they are after Christmas. The Catholic church has a great handle on this and I am a Protestant and raise my kids in a Protestant church. And we don't, and I would like to help make a change with that because we need to give our kids the best Christian heritage.They need to know their church history. They need to know their Christian heritage. And if we are only letting certain denominations do that, then we are doing a disservice to our children.One of the things I have been thinking about just this past week, because I went to visit my middle daughter and her two grandkids, was what could I send to both the grandkid families to celebrate Epiphany. In the past, I've actually made 12 paper bags, like little brown paper bags, nothing big, to celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas.Because if you don't know this, the 12 Days of Christmas have symbolism. You see, when it was written, people could not talk in public about Christ. So they wrote this song and they could sing the song because of the symbolism. Partridge in a pear tree—that's Jesus in the manger. The three French hens—that is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. All 12 of them have significance. If you don't know what that is, then go and look. We've got a whole ebook about that and it'll be in the show notes.Celebrating the Wise Men's JourneyBut that is something I think is really important. What we want to focus on today is that 12th day, the day of Epiphany, the day we celebrate that the Wise Men followed the star and found Jesus. That was not in the manger. It was probably maybe a year or two later. And so we are going to celebrate that on January 6th.What are some things that you could do to celebrate that?Activity #1: Read and Study Matthew 2First of all, you could read Matthew 2:1-12. There are nine clues about what is that star. If you need help, you can get our Star of Bethlehem study guide—it is in the show notes as well.You could have your children copy all 12 verses. If they're young, one verse a day for 12 days. You could have them retell the story in their own words, narrate it back, or rewrite it in their own words. All of that based in Matthew 2:1-12.Activity #2: Crown and Star CraftsAnother thing is you could do some crafts. You can make a crown craft. Let me tell you, my grandkids love all of that! You could cut out a crown and let them decorate it with jewels and stickers and whatever, put it on their head. And they can be, if you have three of them, they can be the three wise men. Even one of them—we don't know that there were just three, there were just three gifts, so we assume there were three wise men.Another thing you could do is make a star ornament. And I will put a link in the show notes to some different star ornament things. It could be a black construction paper star and then put tissue paper inside of it with, what do you call that stuff, just a clear paper, and it will turn into a star stained glass. You can make a star out of foam and decorate it with glitter and jewels, whatever you want to do. There are lots of ways that you can make a star craft.Activity #3: Explore the Wise Men's GiftsNow let's move on. We've got: read the Bible first of all, number two: crafts. How about the Wise Men gifts? One of those gifts is frankincense. This is a bottle of frankincense oil. You could have your kids open it up, let them smell this. This is a healing oil, believe it. You may not believe in all the essential oils—this is a healing oil.Myrrh—I didn't grab my myrrh, I have a myrrh oil—but let them smell that. Talk about the difference in the smells. What is it used for? Do some research on how do you use frankincense, how do you use myrrh.Then the last gift is gold. Maybe do some research on the value of gold. How much does gold cost per ounce? What is the value of maybe a gold nugget? And start to bring it to real life today.Activity #4: Act Out the StorySo we've got: read the Bible, crafts, we've got the three wise men gifts. You could have them act out the story. Maybe the adults read Matthew 2 and the kids act it out. Or maybe they get their own figurines. All my kids have all the Fisher Price people and we've got stuffed ones out there, we got plastic ones, we got all sorts of figurines for our nativity sets. Let them use that and let them retell the story, act it out.Activity #5: Thought-Provoking QuestionsAnother thing might be just some thought-provoking questions. Here are three thought-provoking questions you could use:What do you think it was like to travel so far to see Jesus? You couldn't get in a plane, you couldn't get in a car or a train. You had to go by camel. What was that like? And let them talk about that.Why do you think the wise men brought gifts?How can we worship Jesus today?Those are just three quick questions. I'm sure there are plenty more, but those are some ones that you could use as you talk about this day of Epiphany.Activity #6: Explore Traditions Around the WorldMaybe look at what the traditions are around the world. In France, they have a king's cake and there's a ring inside that cake. Have a king's cake bake-off! Maybe let your kids all make cupcake king's cupcakes and have a bake-off and have a little judge who chooses first, second, third place.In Spain, they have parades. Do some research and see what are the other traditions for Epiphany around the world.Activity #7: Make Crown Cookies or SnacksAnother one of my favorite things, because it is food as we're talking about food, is to make some sugar cookies and cut them in the shape of a crown. I just bought this on Amazon years ago when I was having to do a lot of vacation Bible schools in the summertime and so I bought this.Another thing you could do besides, you could do it in sugar cookies and then use sprinkles to decorate it. I actually this past fall, we cut cheese in the shape of a crown and used grapes to decorate it. We cut the grapes up, or blueberries, I don't know what it was, some kind of fruit. That was the healthy version of a crown snack.Activity #8: Chalk the Door House BlessingAnother thing I just learned today is to have a house blessing. It is called Chalk the Door. Let's say there is a door here. You would write: 20+C+M+B+25. The 20 and the 25 are for 2025, that's the year we're in right now.What is CMB? Christus mansionem benedicat. That means "May Christ bless this dwelling." You could actually take chalk and put that above your front door. That is something they've been doing for years. And that would be something—maybe even look at what these words mean in Latin: Christus, mansionem, benedicat. And look those up and find out how it all relates to "May Christ bless this dwelling."Activity #9: The Feast of Epiphany with OrangesAnd then the last one, one of my favorites—I don't really have anything here to help you—but the Feast of Epiphany: use those little oranges, what are those little, uh, clementines, whatever, the little ones. My kids get them in their stocking all the time. Oranges represent light. Who is the light of the world? Jesus!And I have a whole blog post—I'm not going to go into it, you can go look at it—how you can create a Feast of Epiphany with a main dish, with an appetizer, with a fun dessert, yummy yummy, and then with the oranges as well. Because the oranges, open them up, they represent light.Start Simple and Build Your TraditionsSo those are just a few ways that you can celebrate Epiphany this year. None of them are extravagant. They are very simple, hands-on activities. You have almost a week—pick and choose one or two that you might want to do this year. And then next year you can do something different.Now for some of you, you're like, "I need a little more help." We have some resources! One is our Christmas Celebrations ebook. It tells what all 12 days are symbolized for and gives you some ideas about the Feast of Epiphany. We have our Star of Bethlehem Bible study for families, and so you can go through that. That Bible study is really more for Epiphany than it is for Christmas because it was the star the Wise Men followed to find Jesus.Also have a couple blog posts on Three Epiphany Traditions That We Did and our Italian Feast of Epiphany. So you can just look in the show notes to get all of those.If you have other ideas, leave a comment wherever you are! And if they don't let you leave comments, please leave a five-star review for us—that would mean the world to me. Hey, I'm Kerry Beck with Homeschool Coffee Break. We'll talk to you next time!

In this episode, I'm walking you through one of my favorite exercises from my recent retreat in Thailand — a guided visualization where you go meet the 2026 version of you who's already living abroad, running a grounded and spacious business, and actually feeling the life you've been planning.We're stepping out of strategy mode and into identity. Because you can have all the plans in the world, but if you don't believe you can hold the life you want… you'll sabotage it without even realizing it.Here's what we do together in the episode:• You'll take a 5-minute guided visit to your future self — their home, their energy, their lifestyle, and the message they have for you right now. • We'll unpack what came up (even if it felt random or surprising) and what it reveals about who you're becoming. • And finally, we'll get clear on one simple, brave action you can take today to close the gap between you and the 2026 version of you who's already living this life abroad.This is the perfect end-of-year moment to meet your future self — and start becoming them now, not someday.Subscribe and ReviewIf you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps us reach more visionaries who need these insights.

Historian Amanda Wunder joins us in a two-part episode that illuminates the remarkable life and work of Mateo Aguado, royal court tailor to the Queens of Spain from 1630 to 1672. Aguado is the subject at the heart of Wunder's award-winning book Spanish Fashion in the Age of Velázquez: A Tailor at the Court of Philip IV.   Want more Dressed: The History of Fashion?  Our ⁠⁠⁠website⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠classes⁠⁠⁠ Our ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠ Our ⁠⁠⁠bookshelf⁠⁠⁠ with over 150 of our favorite fashion history titles Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1188, a historic gathering took place in the city of Leon in the Kingdom of Castile.  It was a kingdom-wide assembly convened by King Alfonso IX that brought together nobles, clergy, and town representatives to advise the crown. It is significant because it is the earliest documented European assembly to include urban representatives and to formally limit royal power in writing. Learn about the Cortes of Leon and how it helped establish parliamentary government and representative decision-making on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors Plan your next trip at Spain.info Subscribe to the podcast!  https://everything-everywhere.com/everything-everywhere-daily-podcast/ -------------------------------- Executive Producer: Charles Daniel Associate Producers: Austin Oetken & Cameron Kieffer   Become a supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/everythingeverywhere Discord Server: https://discord.gg/UkRUJFh Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everythingeverywhere/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/everythingeverywheredaily Twitter: https://twitter.com/everywheretrip Website: https://everything-everywhere.com/  Disce aliquid novi cotidie Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join Phil Kitromilides & Sid Lowe in Spain for this week's TSFP, discussing Matchday 16 in LALIGA including Alavés 1-2 Real Madrid, Barça 2-0 Osasuna and Sevilla 4-0 Oviedo. For lots more, join us at patreon.com/tsfp. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices