Podcasts about Surveying

Big cats used to roam the entire United States. You might know them as mountain lions, pumas, cougars, or catamounts. Though they go by many names, they're actually all the same species.  Their current population is mostly confined to the West, and part of Florida, though in recent years they've been spotted in other areas east of the Mississippi River. Most cougars were gone from the Northeast by the 1800s, with the last verified accounts in the 1930s.  Mountain lion ecologist Mark Elbroch hopes to reintroduce these big cats back into their previous habitats in New England. But, should we? What are the benefits and drawbacks of reintroducing the apex predator into an ecosystem it's been away from for so long?  Guest: Dr. Mark Elbroch is the director of the puma program at Panthera, a big cat conservation organization.  Other episodes you may enjoy: Surveying wildlife along Lewis and Clark's route, 220 years later Are Raccoons On The Road To Domestication? Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Follow our show on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and Bluesky @scifri and sign up for our newsletters. Got a science question that's keeping you up at night? Call us: 877-472-4374 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Last time we spoke about the Hubei-Henan Campaign of 1940-1941. In November 1940, a Central Hubei operation using multiple task forces aimed to exploit Chinese dispersal, achieving only local successes and no lasting territorial gains. The Japanese then tried again in late January 1941 with a major offensive into southern Henan. Despite concentrating a large force, the campaign failed strategically. After the Henan failure, Japan attempted to regain momentum in spring 1941 by attacking western Hubei around Yichang on the Yangtze. Despite an initial barrage and rapid early gains, Japanese forces became exposed in a narrow salient. The Chinese reorganized their river defenses and launched a converging counteroffensive, driving the invaders back and ending the engagement where it began, with the Japanese suffering heavy casualties and their westward push thwarted.   #206 The Battle of Shanggao Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. The year 1940 had brought a particular humiliation. In August of that year, Communist General Peng Dehuai had launched the Hundred Regiments Offensive — a massive, coordinated assault across North China that shattered Japanese rail and supply lines, embarrassed Imperial General Headquarters, and demonstrated that the Chinese were far from finished. Japan's response had been brutal, the infamous "Three Alls" campaign of reprisals across the countryside. But the damage had been done, and the attention of Imperial General Headquarters shifted northward. The autumn of 1940 had also seen the First Battle of Changsha, where the Japanese 11th Army under General Sonobe Yahachirō pushed south into Hunan Province expecting to overwhelm the Chinese defenders and finally deal a decisive blow to Chiang Kai-shek's armies. Instead, General Xue Yue — the "Tiger of Changsha" — had allowed the Japanese to advance deep into his prepared killing ground before counterattacking from multiple directions. The Japanese had been forced to retreat in disorder, and the front in Hunan and Jiangxi settled once again into sullen stalemate. It was in this atmosphere of frustrated ambition and strategic inertia that the seeds of Shanggao were sown. By February 1941, Imperial General Headquarters had decided to redeploy the 33rd Division — then garrisoned in the town of Anyi, in northwestern Jiangxi — to North China. The transfer was scheduled to begin in early April, and it made strategic sense: the north required reinforcement, and the front in Jiangxi had been quiet enough that one division could be spared. The problem was that the 33rd Division's departure would leave a gap in Japanese dispositions, and no significant offensive operation had yet been conducted to weaken the Chinese forces that would be left facing a thinned-out Japanese line. Lieutenant General Ōga Shigeru, the energetic commander of the Japanese 34th Division, saw opportunity in the window that existed before the 33rd departed. His division was concentrated around Xishan and Wanshou Palace, astride the Xiang–Gan Highway — the main road running westward through Jiangxi — and across that highway lay the town of Shanggao and the Chinese forces defending it. Ōga proposed exploiting the presence of both divisions for a coordinated strike: a sharp, limited offensive to crush Chinese field forces around Nanchang and the Jiangxi interior before the 33rd Division's train north. The 11th Army headquarters, now commanded by General Marube, endorsed a cautious concept — a "quick strike" with limited objectives. But the 34th Division's staff, energized by Ōga's ambition, had already run well ahead of this guidance. Large-scale requisitioning of coolies for logistics was underway; training exercises aimed at the specific terrain around Shanggao had been conducted; planning had progressed in far more detail than a "limited" operation warranted. This eagerness would prove to be the Japanese undoing before the first shot was fired. Chinese intelligence networks, always attentive to the movement of porters and the telltale preparations that preceded a Japanese offensive, quickly detected the scale of these preparations and reported them to General Luo Zhuoying, commander of the Chinese 19th Army Group. By the time the Japanese columns were forming up to march, Luo had already hardened his defenses and laid the groundwork for a trap. General Luo Zhuoying was not a passive commander. He served simultaneously as commander of the 19th Army Group and as Deputy Commander of the 9th War Zone — the latter post placing him directly under General Xue Yue, the victor of Changsha. Luo had spent the lull after Changsha doing what Chinese commanders across the theater had learned was essential: reorganizing, retraining, and above all improving the defensive architecture of his sector. The plan Luo devised for meeting the anticipated Japanese offensive was elegant in its simplicity and demanding in its execution. Rather than contesting the Japanese advance at the frontier, he would allow the enemy to push westward, yielding ground through three successive defensive lines while bleeding the attackers at every step. The first and second lines would slow the Japanese, exact casualties, and stretch their logistics. The third line — anchored at Shanggao itself — would be the killing ground. There, the Chinese forces would hold fast while other formations swung around the Japanese flanks and rear to close the encirclement. The Japanese, having marched deep into Chinese-held territory with their supply lines thinning and their flanks exposed, would find themselves surrounded rather than victorious. For this plan to work, each Chinese formation had to perform its role with discipline. The 70th Corps, deployed in the north along the arc from Shitou Street through Fengxin to Jing'an, would have to conduct a controlled fighting retreat — yielding ground but making the Japanese pay for it, never breaking and running. The 49th Corps would hold the southern flank and create conditions for flanking action. And the 74th Corps — General Wang Yaowu's elite formation, comprising the 51st, 57th, and 58th Divisions — would hold the final line at Shanggao and serve as the anvil upon which the Japanese advance would shatter. The 74th Corps was by 1941 one of the most battle-hardened formations in the Nationalist Army. It had fought at Shanghai in 1937, at Wuhan in 1938, and in the hills and valleys of Jiangxi through the years since. Its men knew the terrain around Shanggao. They had prepared positions in depth, studied the approaches, and rehearsed the defensive plan Luo had designed. When the Japanese came, they would be ready. Against the Chinese 70,000 — distributed across eleven divisions in four corps, with additional provincial security forces for local coverage — the Japanese would throw roughly 20,000 men: three major formations advancing in coordinated columns. The disparity in numbers was stark, but the Japanese had the advantages of offensive initiative, air superiority, and the formidable fighting quality that the Imperial Army had demonstrated throughout the war in China. The question was whether those advantages would be enough to overcome a prepared defense wielded by a commander who had invited the attack. The operational plan devised by the Japanese 11th Army called for three columns to converge simultaneously on Shanggao from north, center, and south — a classic encirclement concept that, if executed with precision, would catch the Chinese defenders in a tightening vice. In the north, the main force of the 33rd Division under Lieutenant General Sakurai Shōzō would drive westward from its bases around Anyi and Ganzhoujie, descending the Liao River valley to threaten the Chinese right flank and prevent the 70th Corps from interfering with operations in the center.In the center, Ōga's 34th Division would advance along the Xiang–Gan Highway — the direct route from Nanchang toward Shanggao — capturing the town of Gao'an along the way and pressing relentlessly westward until it reached the main defensive positions. This was the principal striking force, the column designed to crack open the Chinese defenses and seize the objective.In the south, the Independent Mixed 20th Brigade under Major General Ikeda would cross the Jin River and advance along its south bank, eventually swinging north to link up with the 34th Division and complete the encirclement of whatever Chinese forces remained in the Shanggao area. The plan was coherent on paper. But it contained a structural flaw so serious that, in retrospect, it is difficult to understand how the 11th Army's staff allowed it to proceed uncorrected. The success of any converging operation depends on synchronization — on each column hitting its objectives on schedule and maintaining communication with the others so that each can react to developments on the other prongs. Yet the 11th Army headquarters made no recorded effort to coordinate the 33rd and 34th Divisions before the battle began. There was no forward command post established to oversee the operation. General Marube remained at Hankou, hundreds of miles to the north, throughout the battle — as remote from the fighting as a Tokyo bureaucrat. Operational decisions were left entirely to the individual divisions, with no mechanism to coordinate their actions if something went wrong. Something was going to go wrong. Luo Zhuoying had seen to that. On the morning of March 15, 1941, all three Japanese columns stepped off simultaneously, advancing into the misty hills and rice paddies of northwestern Jiangxi. In the north, Sakurai's 33rd Division moved briskly from Anyi toward Fengxin. The town fell by noon, and the division pressed westward in good order. The Japanese infantry moved confidently along the Liao River valley, experienced soldiers who had fought across China and had no particular reason to expect what was coming. The Chinese 70th Corps gave ground — as it had been ordered to — but did so on its own terms, occupying and then abandoning successive pieces of high ground along both banks of the river, making the Japanese advance uncomfortable and costly. Gradually, almost imperceptibly, the 33rd Division was being drawn forward into terrain that favored the defender. By March 18 and 19, the 33rd Division had pushed all the way to Guzhu'ao and Huamenlo — a considerable advance, but one that had taken the division far from its base at Anyi. And it was here, far from support and with flanks increasingly exposed, that the Chinese blocking forces closed in. Chinese infantry, who had been waiting in prepared positions in the high ground overlooking the river valley, launched coordinated counter-attacks that struck the 33rd Division from multiple directions. The fighting was fierce and costly. In two days of close combat, the division suffered more than 2,500 casualties — a grievous toll that represented a significant fraction of its effective strength. The northern column had been stopped dead. On March 19, Sakurai ordered the 33rd Division to reverse course. By March 23, after four days of painful withdrawal under pressure, it had pulled back to Anyi — the same place it had started. The northern prong of the Japanese offensive had accomplished nothing except the loss of thousands of men. In the south, the Independent Mixed 20th Brigade had a rougher start. Its initial attempt to cross the Gan-Jin river junction at noon on March 15 was repulsed by Chinese defenders, and it was only under cover of darkness that the brigade managed to force a crossing. Once across, it moved westward along the south bank of the Jin River, but progress was slow and contested. A detachment — the Gan River Detachment — ran into fierce resistance from the 26th Division of the Chinese 49th Corps on March 19. The brigade's main body meanwhile fought its way through the 51st Division of the 74th Corps, but the 107th Division and elements of the 51st managed to contain the advance at the Laichunling–Zhutoushan line. On the night of March 20, the main body of the 20th Brigade crossed the Jin River at Huifu to link up with the 34th Division — but a portion of its troops, cut off on the south bank, was destroyed by Chinese forces. The southern column was across the Jin River, but it had taken losses and was already engaged in ways its planners had not anticipated. In the center, the 34th Division fared best in the early going. Ōga's division moved westward from Xishan along the Xiang–Gan Highway on March 16, and by the 17th had captured Gao'an — a meaningful early success. The Chinese 74th Corps, executing Luo's plan faithfully, dispatched only screening forces east of the Tangpu River to slow the Japanese advance rather than contesting it decisively. The main body of the 74th Corps fell back to the third-line positions at Sixi, Guanqiao, and Tangpu, preparing the killing ground that Luo had designated. Simultaneously, the 26th Division and most of the 105th Division from the 49th Corps were shifted across the Gan River to operate south of the Jin River on the Japanese left flank, and the 72nd Corps was ordered to maneuver on a wide envelopment around Daxia and south of Ganfang. By March 20–21, the 34th Division had pressed forward to attack the Chinese positions at Sixi and Guanqiao. Ōga's men were confident — they had taken Gao'an, they were moving, and the objective of Shanggao lay within reach. But as the division pushed toward Shangjijia, it ran squarely into the 57th and 58th Divisions of the 74th Corps, fighting with a tenacity that told the Japanese plainly enough: this was where the Chinese intended to stand. The week of March 21–24 brought the battle to its crisis. The 34th Division hammered at the Chinese positions defending Shanggao itself, while on the flanks, the fighting took on a character that neither side had entirely anticipated. On March 21, General Wang Yaowu — commanding the 74th Corps from his headquarters in Shanggao — decided it was time to do more than absorb Japanese blows. He ordered General Li Tianxia to clear Japanese forces from the south bank of the Jin River and advance on Gao'an, with the aim of cutting the 34th Division's supply line and threatening its rear. It was an aggressive move, and if it had worked, it might have produced a decisive result earlier than history would record. It did not work — at least not immediately. That very evening, the Independent Mixed 20th Brigade, which had been reorganizing after the chaos of the river crossing, launched a powerful offensive at dawn on the 22nd. Li Tianxia's lead elements had barely set out from Shitou Street when they collided head-on with the main force of the 20th Brigade, which had crossed back from the north bank of the Jin River. The Japanese thrust was coordinated and aggressive: one column circled wide to attack Lazhu Mountain; another swung south of Hu Family west of Shitou Street to strike Li's division in the flank and rear; and nine aircraft with four artillery pieces bombarded the Chinese positions from north to south. Li's division could not hold against this convergent assault and fell back to the high ground southwest of Shitou Street. Wang Yaowu reacted quickly. He ordered Li's main body to wheel left to face the new threat and simultaneously dispatched the Army's Field Supplementary Regiment — held in reserve near Yintang — on a forced march to Huayang to block the Japanese westward drive. This regiment, racing down roads strafed by nine enemy aircraft, covered 15 li per hour and seized Huayang and the high ground to its northeast by around seven in the morning. By nine, the 20th Brigade arrived in strength and — supported by more than ten aircraft — launched a fierce assault on the regiment's positions. The regiment's officers and men held firm, taking heavy casualties but refusing to break. Frustrated at Huayang, the 20th Brigade shifted its effort to the Kuang Family area, linking up with over a thousand men who had crossed from Baichetou to the south bank and pushing along the river toward Xiongfang in an attempt to outflank the Chinese left wing. The Supplementary Regiment sent its 1st Battalion with a mortar company to meet this threat, and the two forces met in a fierce engagement. When the Japanese reinforced their assault and deployed incendiary bombs and poison gas, Xiongfang fell by early afternoon — but Li Tianxia immediately sent two regiments from his right flank to take it back, and by midnight the position was in Chinese hands again. Shitou Street and Jigong Ridge were simultaneously recaptured. The Independent Mixed 20th Brigade now found itself in an increasingly uncomfortable position, fighting with the Jin River at its back and the initiative slipping away. Meanwhile, the main event was being fought in the rubble and ridgelines around Shanggao itself. From March 22 to 25, the 34th Division and whatever remnants of the 20th Brigade could contribute threw themselves repeatedly at the defensive line anchored on Stone Arch Bridge, Xia Po Bridge, Xu Lou, Pan Family Bridge, Cloud Head Mountain, and Lei Family Mountain. This was not the fluid, mobile warfare that the Japanese had envisioned but brutal, grinding attritional combat for individual strongpoints and ridgelines, with positions changing hands multiple times in a single day. The Japanese air arm was deeply involved. Ōga's division had close air support that could operate even in poor weather, and Group 3 of the Japanese Air Force hammered the Chinese positions with sustained effort. On the morning of March 24, after the 34th Division fed in more than 3,000 additional troops transferred across the Jin River, the Air Force dispatched over seventy aircraft that dropped more than 1,700 bombs, largely destroying the defensive positions of Liao Lingqi's division. The Japanese exploited the resulting chaos and twice broke through gaps in the line — but were driven out each time by Chinese counterattacks. At noon, enemy aircraft bombarded in relays and Japanese infantry broke through at Xia Po Bridge. It was at this moment that Li Hanqing, commanding the Chinese infantry defense in that sector, did what officers throughout history have done when systems fail and only personal example can stem the tide: he personally led his officer cadre in repeated counter-attacks, hand-to-hand fighting in the rubble until the Japanese were finally expelled. By this point, the 34th Division's offensive capacity was nearly spent. At the same time — and this was the critical shift that would determine the battle's outcome — General Luo Zhuoying recognized that the moment to spring the trap had arrived. The northern column had already been broken and sent reeling back toward Anyi. The southern column was pinned against the Jin River with its back to the water. The central column was bled white against the defenses of Shanggao. Luo now ordered all his armies to close in from multiple directions. On the morning of March 22, he had already begun revising his orders; by noon on the 23rd, the forces of Liu Duoquan and Li Jue had occupied Shitou Street, Guanqiao Street, and Yanggong Market, pressing on Huifu and Gaoyao. The encirclement of the 34th Division was not yet complete, but its shape was unmistakably forming. By March 25, the 34th Division knew it was in mortal danger. Surrounded on three sides, its ammunition running low and its casualty lists growing by the hour, the division urgently appealed to the 11th Army for rescue. The message that arrived in Hankou was a shock. General Marube and his staff, who had remained at their distant headquarters throughout the battle without establishing a forward command post, had not properly grasped the scale of the disaster unfolding in Jiangxi. The lack of coordination between the 33rd and 34th Divisions — the structural flaw that had been built into the operation from its conception — had allowed Luo Zhuoying to defeat each column separately, and now the central column faced annihilation. The 11th Army responded in a scramble. Chief of Staff Kinoshita was dispatched by aircraft to Nanchang with Operations Staff Officer Lieutenant Colonel Yamaguchi and Captain Ōne to organize a relief operation. The 33rd Division — barely recovered from its own battering in the north — was ordered to sortie immediately and fight its way to the 34th Division's relief. Sakurai organized his battered 33rd Division into three rescue columns. Infantry Brigade Commander Araki Shōji took the right column, leading Infantry Regiment 215 with one mountain artillery battalion. Infantry Regiment 214 formed the left column. The divisional commander himself led the central column with the main divisional force. On March 24 and 25, all three columns sortied from strongpoints at Niuxing, Fengxin, and other positions, attacking across the Wuqiao River and through Cunqian Street toward Tangpu and Guanqiao. The relief operation brought the battle to its most complicated moment. On the morning of March 25, the 33rd Division launched a fierce assault on the forces that Luo Zhuoying had positioned to tighten the encirclement from the north — striking Zhang Yanchuan's division at Kengkou Leng, Jiezipo, and Nancha Luo. Zhang's division, struck simultaneously from the front and rear, withdrew at dusk to near Tu Di Wang Temple, where it linked up with Tang Boyin's division. What happened next became one of the most controversial decisions of the entire battle. Zhang Yanchuan was serving as deputy army commander in the absence of Li Jue from the front. Surveying the situation — his own division under heavy pressure, the 33rd Division's relief columns pushing aggressively — Zhang concluded that the position was untenable. On his own authority, without authorization from Luo Zhuoying or any superior commander, he withdrew both his own and Tang Boyin's divisions to Fenghuang Market and Zhuangfang. The consequence was immediate and severe. The withdrawal opened a corridor through which the 33rd Division entered Guanqiao and linked up with the encircled 34th Division. An encirclement that had taken days of blood and sacrifice to construct was torn open by a single unauthorized decision. Luo Zhuoying, when he received word of Zhang's withdrawal the following morning, was furious — but he could not change what had already happened. He could only adapt. The breakout itself was an ordeal. A portion of the 34th Division that attempted to escape to the east was intercepted near Huifu by a division of the 49th Corps and lost roughly half its strength before being compelled to turn back. The main body ultimately broke out on March 27, withdrawing in march order that told its own story of disaster: headquarters, baggage, artillery, casualties, field hospital, rear guard — all moving in what the records describe as "a wretched state." On the night of March 27, Japanese troops escorting the 34th Division's field hospital — a field artillery company of the 8th Battery — were completely annihilated in a Chinese night attack. When the division reached Longtuan Xu on March 28, the stretcher-bearer column carrying the wounded stretched some seven to eight kilometers along the road. That same day, the 33rd Division's Infantry Regiment 214 finally made contact with the 34th Division's headquarters, completing what amounted to a rescue of men who had already endured their defeat. The 33rd Division's mountain artillery batteries exhausted their entire ammunition supply covering the retreat and required emergency aerial resupply drops to continue. The 34th Division limped back to its original garrison on April 2. Despite the setback caused by Zhang Yanchuan's unauthorized withdrawal, Luo Zhuoying did not abandon his design. Assessing his situation on the morning of March 26, he found reason for cautious optimism: Wang Yaowu's army was still making progress at Shanggao; the Japanese south of the Jin River had largely been cleared; and Sichuan Army and Northeastern Army units that had been moving to reinforce the battle had now reached the field, meaning Chinese forces retained significant numerical superiority. He resolved to execute a second encirclement. At nine in the morning of March 26, Luo issued strict orders: Zhang Yanchuan's and Tang Boyin's divisions were to immediately comply with their original orders and block the enemy near Guanqiao; Yu Chengwan's division was to attack northward via Pan Family Bridge; Liao Lingqi's and Song Yingzhong's divisions were to press toward Guanqiao with full force; Wang Kejun's division was to strike the enemy's flank and rear east of Guanqiao; Fu Yi's division was to advance south of Jiang Family Isle; and Chen Liangji's division was to swing southeast via Changpu to complete the enemy's destruction. The second ring was being drawn. On March 28, as the 34th Division's battered column trudged eastward toward survival, Wang Kejun's division advancing from Yanggong Market moved to intercept it. The Chinese occupied high ground north and south of Yanggong Market and along Mozi Ridge, and what followed was a grinding all-day battle that fixed the Japanese column at the Xiama Bei–Huxing Ridge line. Part of the 20th Brigade, moving up from Gao'an to assist the withdrawing 34th Division, was blocked near Long Tu Market. Liao Lingqi's division pursued the enemy rear guard to the Changling–Manmei high ground, where the fighting erupted with renewed intensity. At noon, part of Li Tianxia's division arrived and deployed along the Shangluoxiang–Shanyuan–Fangtounao line to harass the Japanese right flank; part of Yu Chengwan's division reached Longxing Mountain and outflanked Guanqiao Street from the south. The surviving Japanese defenders in Guanqiao withdrew into the town for a last stand, and after Liao's division pressed the assault, street fighting raged until five in the afternoon, when over 600 defenders were annihilated. Over 2,000 troops of the Independent Mixed 20th Brigade conducted a fighting withdrawal from Long Tu Market and Yanggong Market, covered by Japanese aircraft bombing to shield the 34th Division's retreat. By noon on March 30, the Japanese had abandoned both strongpoints and scattered northeastward. One group of over 600 men fled directly into the main positions of Zhang Yanchuan's division — an ironic fate, given Zhang's earlier withdrawal — and were largely annihilated. The encircling forces had been essentially dispersed, and the two pursuit columns now pressed forward under the overall direction of General Xue Yue, who had assumed personal coordination of the chase. On March 27, Luo Zhuoying — confident that victory was secured — issued a general order for a final offensive and announced substantial cash rewards to his troops: prizes offered for the capture of Japanese officers, artillery pieces, regimental colors, and other materiel. The rewards were both a practical incentive and a mark of how far the battle had tipped. By midnight on March 31, Chen Hongshi's advance column had recovered Gao'an; Wang Tiehan's division had recovered Xiangfu Guan. On April 2, the divisions of Zhang Yanchuan and Song Yingzhong recovered Fengxin; that afternoon Wang Tiehan's division took back Xishan and Wanshou Palace — the very base from which the 34th Division had launched its offensive. By April 3, the pursuing armies had reached the vicinity of Dacheng and Ganzhoujie. On April 8 and 9, the 70th Corps recovered the outpost strongpoints around Anyi before halting operations. The Japanese had retreated into their original positions and were defending from prepared terrain. The pursuit was over. The Battle of Shanggao had lasted nineteen days and nights. No battle of the Second Sino-Japanese War was ever free of the fog of competing claims, and Shanggao was no exception. On March 29, before the pursuit had even concluded, Luo Zhuoying telegraphed Chiang Kai-shek with his accounting of the victory. His numbers were dramatic: Major General Iwanaga, the Japanese infantry commander, killed; regimental commander Colonel Hamada, killed; over 15,000 Japanese killed or wounded in total. Chinese losses, Luo reported, exceeded 20,000. Ten guns, over a thousand rifles, and numerous machine guns had been captured. His superior, General Xue Yue, was skeptical. In a telegram to Chiang Kai-shek on April 5, Xue reduced Luo's numbers by twenty percent, reporting 12,520 Japanese killed or wounded and 14 prisoners captured. The discrepancy between two Chinese commanders reporting on the same battle speaks to the difficulty of battlefield accounting in any era, and suggests something of the competitive pressures that shaped how Chinese commanders reported their victories to Chongqing. The official Chinese histories, compiled after the war in the History of the War of Resistance, reported approximately 15,000 Japanese killed or wounded, 17 prisoners taken, and significant quantities of captured materiel: 6 mountain guns, 1 mortar, 24 light machine guns, 408 rifles, 24 grenade launchers, and over 111,717 rounds of various ammunition. Chinese casualties, by the same records, were 17,119 killed or wounded and 2,814 missing. Japanese records for the battle do not survive — a consequence of the wholesale destruction of Imperial Army documentation at the war's end. Contemporary scholars, working from other sources, estimate actual Japanese combat losses at approximately 5,500 killed and wounded. This is substantially lower than the Chinese claims, as was nearly always the case in the war, but represents a significant defeat by any measure: roughly a quarter of the force committed, many of them veterans impossible to replace. Chiang Kai-shek subsequently awarded the victorious Chinese units a commendation prize of 150,000 yuan — a substantial sum that marked the battle's significance in Nationalist eyes. The outcome at Shanggao was not accidental. Several interlocking factors combined to produce a Chinese victory, and each deserves consideration. The most fundamental was Luo Zhuoying's defensive plan. The decision to trade space for time — to absorb the Japanese advance through three successive defensive lines rather than contest the frontier — required both tactical confidence and a willingness to accept initial setbacks that could easily be misread as defeat. Chinese forces had to give ground, and they did. They had to suffer through the early days of Japanese advance without breaking and running, drawing the enemy forward and allowing the encirclement to take shape. That they largely succeeded in executing this plan reflects the improving quality of the Nationalist Army by 1941: better trained, better led at the operational level, and — critically — equipped with a strategic design that matched the actual balance of forces. The defeat in detail of the Japanese columns was equally important. By neutralizing the 33rd Division in the north before it could contribute to the central effort, and by pinning the 20th Brigade against the Jin River with its back to the water, Luo's forces ensured that the 34th Division faced the third-line defenses essentially alone — outnumbered, overextended, and unsupported. The Japanese operational concept had been a three-pronged convergence; what actually materialized was a single exhausted division hammering at a prepared defense while two other columns were rendered ineffective. The absence of coordination within the Japanese 11th Army was a gift that kept giving throughout the battle. No forward command post. No mechanism for the divisions to adjust their operations in response to each other's situations. No ability to recognize, in real time, that the northern column was being destroyed and redirect resources accordingly. General Marube's decision to remain at Hankou while his men died in Jiangxi was not merely an administrative failure; it was an operational catastrophe. Japanese commanders acknowledged this failing explicitly after the battle, but the acknowledgment changed nothing for the dead. Zhang Yanchuan's unauthorized withdrawal — the single most consequential individual decision of the battle — ultimately prevented a complete annihilation of the 34th Division rather than affecting the battle's outcome. The 34th Division escaped; but it did so in a "wretched state," having lost enormous numbers of men and equipment. It broke out, not triumphed. The encirclement Luo had constructed was torn open, but the Japanese paid dearly for the breach. The consequences of Shanggao rippled outward in ways that shaped the subsequent course of the war in central China. The transfer of the 33rd Division to North China — the original logistical rationale for the entire operation — was delayed by the division's involvement and subsequent losses at Shanggao. When it finally arrived at the Battle of Central Plains  the following month, it did so on the eve of battle with no time for preparation or orientation, entering combat under severely disadvantaged conditions. The operation that was supposed to facilitate a smooth redeployment had instead damaged one of the two units involved and delayed the other. For the Chinese 74th Corps, Shanggao had an ironic consequence. The Japanese 11th Army, following the battle, formally designated the 74th Corps as a priority target — a "standing enemy" and directed its forces to seek out and destroy it in future operations. At the First Battle of Changsha that September, the 11th Army specifically oriented its forces against the 74th Corps, a testament to the lasting impression that corps's fierce resistance at Shanggao had made on its adversaries. The compliment of being specifically targeted by the enemy was one the 74th Corps had earned in blood at Shanggao's ridgelines and shattered bridges. More broadly, the battle was widely regarded at the time, and has been regarded since, as one of the most significant Chinese tactical victories of the first four years of the War of Resistance. Its significance lay not only in the casualties inflicted — those were contested and probably inflated in the Chinese records — but in what it demonstrated. The improving tactical and operational competence of the Nationalist Army was on display. The deliberate defense, the layered withdrawal, the coordinated encirclement — these were not the operations of an army that had been fighting desperately for survival since 1937 and had learned nothing. They were the operations of an army that had studied its defeats and adapted. Shanggao did not change the strategic situation in China. The front in Jiangxi remained where it had been; the Japanese still occupied Nanchang and the major cities; Chiang Kai-shek was still in Chongqing and the war was still far from over. But it demonstrated something important: that the Chinese Army, given capable commanders, a sound plan, and the discipline to execute it, could do more than survive Japanese offensives. It could reverse them, encircle them, and pursue them back to where they came from. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. In March–April 1940, Japanese forces attacked Shanggao with a limited, multi-pronged plan. Chinese troops used elastic defense and coordinated counter-moves, turning initial advantages into a trap. After intense fighting and air strikes, a coordinated encirclement and timely breakout routed the Japanese, forcing retreat despite their numbers in a costly battle.

Construction delays often start long before building begins. Learn the seven most common land surveying mistakes that can create costly setbacks, from boundary disputes and utility conflicts to outdated site data and missed planning opportunities. More info at https://www.lowrysurveysinc.com Lowry Surveys Inc City: Madera Address: 10878 California 41 Website: https://www.lowrysurveysinc.com Phone: +1 559 645 4849 Email: sales@lowrysurveyinc.com

The sermon centers on the call to spiritual and personal renewal, drawing from Nehemiah's determination to rebuild Jerusalem's broken walls as a metaphor for restoring one's life, family, and faith. It emphasizes that true rebuilding begins with honest self-survey—acknowledging the reproach of disobedience, idolatry, and spiritual complacency that have led to brokenness in homes, churches, and hearts. Pastor Friesen underscores that God's plan, revealed through Daniel's 70-week prophecy, is unfolding despite past failures, and that revival requires repentance, humility, and a return to biblical principles rather than worldly compromise. By examining the historical reasons for Israel's exile—disregard for Sabbath, failure to release servants, idolatry, and rejection of prophets—the message calls believers to confront their own hidden sins and cultural compromises. Ultimately, the call is not merely to construct physical buildings, but to rebuild lives rooted in obedience, unity, and dependence on God, so that the church may once again become a light to the world.

In this episode of Building Texas Business, Chris Hanslik sits down with Bonnie Moss, President and CEO of MBCO, a civil engineering, surveying, and subsurface utility engineering firm she founded nearly 11 years ago. Drawing on close to three decades of industry experience across Texas, Bonnie shares what ultimately pushed her from regional manager to business owner, and how sometimes the best entrepreneurial decisions are the ones you make before you have time to overthink them.Bonnie walks through the real lessons of transitioning from engineer to business owner, including learning the hard way about accounts receivable, reading profit and loss statements, and the critical difference between being able to do a project and actually making money on it. She also reflects on the growth pains that come with scaling too quickly, what happens when business development takes a back seat to delivering work, and why hiring slowly and controlling costs are two disciplines she wishes she had internalized sooner.The conversation covers how MBCO built its culture around core values, autonomy, and a willingness to embrace failure without shame. Bonnie talks about adapting the organizational chart to fit the people on the team, surrounding herself with those who are stronger in areas she is not, and learning to lead by listening more than speaking. She also addresses the emerging pressures facing the engineering industry, from artificial intelligence automating design alternatives to autonomous grading equipment changing jobsite operations, as well as the importance of client diversification when government agency budgets slow down.Bonnie also touches on leadership fatigue as a real and underappreciated risk for founders, the value of programs like Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses for early stage entrepreneurs, and why growing fast is not the same as growing well. Her advice to anyone thinking about starting their own company is grounded and direct: control your cash, seek counsel from people who have been through it, and trust your gut.If you are a business owner, entrepreneur, or aspiring founder in the engineering or professional services space, this episode offers a candid and practical look at what it actually takes to build a firm from the ground up, sustain it through setbacks, and position it for long term growth in the Texas market.LINKSShow NotesPrevious EpisodesAbout BoyarMillerAbout MBCO Engineering

This is a free preview of a subscribers-only episode. Click here to listen to the whole thing with a free 7 day trial. Since the Iran war began many weeks ago, it feels like we're living in some kind of surreal rhetorical purgatory. Surveying the wider news landscape, though, a wider pattern emerges, and a "Charlie Brown" analogy reveals something a bit darker hidden in our collective basement.  

When Lewis and Clark crossed the United States in the early 1800s, they recorded their wildlife observations along the way. Now, more than 200 years later, an expedition is following the same route and partnering with scientists across the U.S. to catalog animals and track the changes. Expedition leader Roland Kays joins Host Flora Lichtman to share some highlights. Plus, using cell phone data and GPS collars, ecologists were able to see how animals moved (or not) when people were around. Ecologist Ruth Oliver tells us about her findings. Guests: Dr. Roland Kays is research professor at NC State University and director of the Biodiversity & Earth Observation Lab at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. Dr. Ruth Oliver is an ecologist and assistant professor at UC Santa Barbara. Other episodes you may enjoy: Are Raccoons On The Road To Domestication? Teamwork Between Species Is The Key To Life Itself Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Follow our show on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and Bluesky @scifri and sign up for our newsletters. Got a science question that's keeping you up at night? Call us: 877-472-4374 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In tonight's dead letter, we head into Grafton, West Virginia — a small railroad town built on a B&O junction, Civil War supply lines, and two national cemeteries. The house at the center of this story sat right in the middle of all that history. When a listener named Jonathan moved in with his family as a kid, it was, as he puts it, just off — and the footsteps upstairs were the easy part. Small things kept stacking up, the kind you could maybe almost explain away one at a time but never all together. Decades later he's still working through what happened in that house, and what stayed there.REFERENCE LINKSGrafton, West Virginia — e-WV EncyclopediaB&O Railroad Historical Marker in GraftonGrafton Civil War Supply Depot Historical MarkerGrafton National Cemetery — National Cemetery AdministrationThornsbury Bailey Brown — First Union Soldier Killed in the Civil WarInternational Mother's Day ShrineAnna Jarvis, Founder of Mother's DayThe Grafton Monster — e-WV EncyclopediaThe Grafton Monster FestivalThe Grafton Monster in Fallout 76George Washington's Surveying of Grafton — City of GraftonRuth Ann Musick, West Virginia FolkloristThe Telltale Lilac Bush and Other West Virginia Ghost TalesAstonishing Legends Ep 85: The Bell Witch Part 1Astonishing Legends Archived Episodes — The Bell Witch SeriesThe Enfield Poltergeist (1977)The Smurl Haunting (West Pittston, PA)Skinwalkers at the Pentagon — Lacatski, Kelleher, KnappHypnopompic Hallucinations — Sleep FoundationThe Old Hag Phenomenon and Sleep ParalysisThe Blemmyes — Headless Men with Faces in Their ChestsWest Virginia Paranormal InvestigationsPaper Moon (1973)We're looking for more stories! Send your Dead Letter to deadletteroffice@astonishinglegends.com!

Got a question about the show? Click here & Send us a text!Welcome back to The Building Talks Podcast. This one gets right into one of the biggest pressure points in construction right now, cost certainty.In this episode, I sit down with Mark O'Mahony, quantity surveyor and Co-founder of Cohaven, and all-round top bloke! We first recorded this chat around Mark's career journey, his move from Ireland to Melbourne, and what it takes to build a QS consultancy in the local market. But with construction costs shifting so quickly, we jumped back on to record an updated section on what's happening in the market right now.We get into rising construction costs, global supply chain pressure, procurement shifts, and what's actually increasing versus what the market is absorbing. Mark also shares his take on how quantity surveying has evolved, what good cost advice looks like, and why managing risk, value and certainty has never been more important.Takeaways:✅ What's really driving construction cost movement✅ How global events are flowing into local projects✅ The evolving role of quantity surveyors✅ Why procurement models have shifted over time✅ Managing cost, risk and value in a changing market✅ What good QS advice actually looks like       Chapters:04:24  The Pathway of Quantity Surveying in Ireland10:41  Transitioning to Australia: Mark's Journey16:26  Shifts in Procurement Models in Construction23:17  Founding A2M Consulting: The Journey Begins29:06  The Importance of Personal Branding in Business35:17  Project Aspirations and Business Growth Strategies41:42  Key Functions and Responsibilities of a Quantity Surveyor47:45  The Importance of Early Involvement in Design52:46  The Ripple Effect of COVID on Construction Costs1:06:17  Keeping Up with Market Changes and Cost Data1:11:14  Rebranding as 'Cohaven' for Future GrowthTune in for a timely, practical chat on construction costs, market pressure, and how to make better project decisions in uncertain conditions.Hope you enjoy the podcast!#QuantitySurveying #ConstructionCosts #BuildingTalksPodcast #CostManagement #CommercialConstruction #Procurement #Cohaven #BuiltEnvironment #ConstructionLeadership #ProjectDelivery #ConstructionMarket #RiskManagementThe Building Talks Podcast is brought to you by Building Environs Recruitment - providing recruitment solutions to the property, construction, and related industries, here in Melbourne and Southeast Queensland.  For an overview of our service, visit:www.buildingenvirons.com.auProud to partner with Housing All Australians (HAA) and The Building and Construction Foundation. Check out their websites and join the movement!www.housingallaustralians.org.auhttps://www.buildingandconstructionfoundation.org.au/ The views and information shared in this podcast are for general purposes only and do not constitute legal or professional advice. Neither the host nor guests are providing specific guidance. Please seek professional advice before taking any action based on the content of this podcast.Contact The Building Talks PodcastFollow us on Linkedin, Facebook, and InstagramVisit us on our websiteEmail us at info@buildingenvirons.com.au

Access to helicopter emergency services is improving in the UK, a recent study shows. But what impact is that access having? There's a paper for that too, with this episode declaring: "Helicopters for the win!" There's also research on the effect of epinephrine administration for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in children - does the sequence of treatment affect the outcomes? And finally, how to fight back against spoofed survey responses when gathering data online.   Read the highlights: Primary survey Sequence of advanced airway management and epinephrine administration for paediatric patients with non-shockable out-of-hospital cardiac arrest Helicopter Emergency Medical Services attendance is associated with favourable survival outcomes in major trauma: derivation and internal validation of prediction models in a regional trauma system Access to physician-based Helicopter Emergency Medical Services in the UK: a service analysis in 2024 Imposter participants and artificial intelligence: growing concerns in online surveys   The EMJ podcast is hosted by: Prof. Richard Body, EMJ Deputy Editor, University of Manchester, UK (@richardbody) Dr. Sarah Edwards, EMJ Senior Associate Editor and Social Media Editor, Royal Derby Hospital, UK (@drsarahedwards) You can subscribe to the EMJ podcast on all podcast platforms to get the latest podcast every month. If you enjoy our podcast, please consider leaving us a review or a comment on the EMJ Podcast Apple (https://apple.co/4bfcMU0) or Spotify (https://spoti.fi/3ufutSL) page.

Are you interested in market-oriented urban development? What do you think about cities as friends? How can we create projections without making them regulations? Trailer for episode 430 - interview with Alain Bertaud, urbanist and Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. We will talk about his vision for the future of cities, urban economics and labour markets, planned cities, changing demographics, urban attraction, and many more.Find out more in the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠episode⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.Episode generated with ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Descript⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ assistance (⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠affiliate link⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠).Music by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Lesfm ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Pixabay⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Calling all professional surveying entrepreneurs! Do you often wonder what it takes to run a small surveying business? Do you start from scratch or seek out an existing business for sale? What does it take to make it grow? Do you have what it takes to be a successful business owner?  This week's episode of "Surveyor Says! The NSPS Podcast" finds us at the "Boise Meridian Initial Point Celebration" where we happen to run into our former NSPS Director for Idaho, Stewart Ward, PLS, and owner of Dioptra, a small surveying firm in Chubbuck, ID. Our host, Tim Burch, sat down with Stewart to discuss his path to surveying, licensure, and company ownership. They talked about what it takes to run a successful business, being an effective manager AND leader, and staying humble through it all. Stewart offers a few suggestions to think about when considering ownership while keeping your personal skills sharp. While this conversation went a little longer than most, give it a listen and you will agree it is worth the time. Lots of knowledge nuggets here, so takes some notes and be inspired!

The latest edition of "Surveyor Says! The NSPS Podcast" gives us an opportunity catch up on the latest news and happenings within our profession. Your host, Tim Burch, provides an update on the recent NSPS Spring Meeting, the 25th Annual National Student Competition, our annual "Day on the Hill" visit to our federal legislators, and stories you might not know about happening within our ranks. Lots happening in the world of surveying, so buckle up for a bit of news and knowledge coming your way!

Pastor Seth Wilkerson

For episode 59 of the Starfield Lorecast, Jessica-Star welcomes the Irresolute Cartographer, a noted Starfield and Fallout creator known for his in-depth location videos and extensive mapping projects. The Cartographer focused his first year on a deep planetary survey, compiling system and biome data into incredibly detailed and comprehensive charts (some linked below) We have a couple main topics this episode–the politics and control of the Settled Systems and a deep look at data from the Cartographer's expansive survey project. We talk about his methods of content creation along with some of our favourite quests and stories from Starfield's cities. 0:00 Welcome9:00 Politics & Areas of Control21:00 Surveying the Settled Systems44:30 Covering Bethesda Games51:45 Stories from the Starfield1:02:15 Mapping the Fallout 3 Metro1:04:50 Settled Systems News1:11:30 Wrap-up Support the show and suggest topics!https://www.patreon.com/starfieldlorecast -- Links –This week's guest: Irresolute Cartographer - YouTube & Social(Read Only) Settled Systems SurveyThe Fallout 3 Metro MapListen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all major podcast services.Twitter/X: @SleepisforT Bluesky: @Sleepisfort.bsky.social Robots Discord: https://discord.gg/tVnB9ce Everything Else: https://linktr.ee/JessicaStar Subscribe for more Starfield lore, news, and updates https://robotsradio.net Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Grounded, we sit down with Carey Johnson, owner and president of Northpoint Surveying, to explore what land surveying really involves—and why it matters more than most landowners realize.Carey shares his 20+ years of experience as a registered professional land surveyor in Texas, walking us through what happens from the moment a survey is requested to the final delivery. We dive into boundary determination, metes and bounds descriptions, old family land tracts, and why acreage and property lines almost always change when a modern survey is done. Along the way, Carey explains common misconceptions, the critical research that happens behind the scenes, and how surveys can uncover historical surprises, lost acreage, and even long-forgotten deeds.We also discuss:Why appraisal district maps often don't match realityHow old deeds, moved creeks, and historic monuments affect boundariesThe balance between fieldwork and office research in surveyingHow modern technology (GPS, CAD, AI) fits into today's surveying worldWhy landowners should get surveys even if they aren't sellingThe future of surveying and why the industry needs more professionalsCarey also shares how he found surveying through what he calls “divine intervention,” his passion for land history, and why customer service and empathy matter just as much as technical expertise.Whether you're a landowner, buyer, seller, agent, or simply curious about how land boundaries are established, this episode offers valuable insight into the profession that quite literally defines property.Hosted By:Mikayla Burris & Angela Smith - Homeland Properties AgentsOffice: 936-295-2500www.homelandprop.comGuest: Carey Johnson - Northpoint Survey | OwnerOffice: 936-900-9972www.npsurveying.com

The award-winning Compliance into the Weeds is the only weekly podcast that takes a deep dive into a compliance-related topic, literally going into the weeds to explore it more fully. Looking for some hard-hitting insights on compliance? Look no further than Compliance into the Weeds! In this episode of Compliance into the Weeds, Tom Fox and Matt Kelly discuss a new anonymous Radical Compliance survey, launched with Case IQ and Compliance Week, to quantify retaliation against compliance officers who raise compliance concerns to senior management. The survey asks what misconduct was reported, who retaliated, what forms of retaliation took place, such as firing, demotion, harassment, budget cuts, blacklisting, and what actions followed. Matt also encourages responses even from those who have not experienced retaliation. Tom and Matt have previously discussed anecdotally but have not systematically studied, and plan to publish their findings and host a webinar later in the spring, likely in June. They also discuss potential structural protections informed by data, such as disclosure expectations around CCO departures (e.g., 8-K concepts) and contract/regulatory-approval models like those in India's banking sector, and suggest that the findings could inform DOJ views on compliance autonomy and effective compliance programs. Key highlights: Survey Launch Explained Retaliation Questions Why This Study Matters Defining Prevalence Using Findings for Change Final Call to Participate Resources: Matt on Radical Compliance Survey on Retaliation Against Compliance Professionals Tom Instagram Facebook YouTube Twitter LinkedIn A multi-award-winning podcast, Compliance into the Weeds was most recently honored as one of the Top 25 Regulatory Compliance Podcasts, a Top 10 Business Law Podcast, and a Top 12 Risk Management Podcast. Compliance into the Weeds has been conferred a Davey, a Communicator Award, and a W3 Award, all for podcast excellence. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mitch Patel, CEO and founder of Vision Hospitality Group, joined CoStar News Hotels' Trevor Simpson for an interview at the 2026 Hunter Conference in Atlanta.

Karen & Janet kick-off this podcast with Larry Reyes talking rates... from FHA, to businesses plus programs for doctors and First Responders.  The housing market is very competitive, you need an expert like Larry from Smart Home Mortgage!  Next Seth Doherty joins the podcast, his company Latitude Surveying is essential for anyone adding an ADU, selling a property, putting up a fence along with any other addition to the property that needs a surveyor.  This is a very important conversation for homeowners and buyers.  Rhonda Holden is next talking about the importance of an escrow agent. Rhonda works for Fidelity Escrow, her job is to protect the buyer and seller and emphasizes the importance of a real estate agent and the risks of homes "sold by owner".  Their final guest is Bob Davis who invites everyone to The First Wednesday of April at The Jaguar Moon in Downtown Ventura, an awesome fundraiser that makes for an excellent get together and a really fun fundraiser! Details on this podcast!

Today my guest is Dr. V Anantha Nageswaran, who is currently serving as the Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India. He is also the co-author of the books Economics of Derivatives and The Rise of Finance: Causes, Consequences and Cures.  We talked about import substitution and strategic resilience, futures and options market, gross fixed capital formation, crypto markets, India's growth trajectory, and much more. Recorded March 12th, 2026. Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links. Connect with Ideas of India Follow us on X Follow Shruti on X Click here for the latest Ideas of India episodes sent straight to your inbox. Timestamps (00:00:00) - Intro   (00:02:38) - Import Substitution as a Policy   (00:11:19) - Indian States' Spending Problem   (00:18:16) - Capital Formation   (00:25:47) - Increasing Financialization   (00:30:21) - Options and Futures Markets in India   (00:34:15) - Securities Transactions Tax (STT)   (00:40:27) - Curbing Crypto   (00:46:01) - How Should We Approach Policy Regulation?   (00:51:04) - Deregulation   (00:53:41) - Digital Public Infrastructure   (00:56:28) - India's Growth Trajectory  

The U.S. is the only country in a 25-nation study where more than half of citizens view their fellow citizens as morally bad. Jonathan Evans of Pew Research Center joins us to unpack what the data actually says. Jonathan Evans is a senior researcher at Pew Research Center specializing in international polling on religion and national identity. The most recent report he led surveyed adults in 25 countries on how they rate the morality of their fellow citizens, and the findings about the U.S. sparked immediate conversation. But as Jonathan explains, the headline number is only the beginning. When you look at specific behaviors, partisan breakdowns, and how the same religious identity plays out differently across borders, the picture gets far more interesting and far more nuanced. Calls to Action ✅ If this conversation resonates, consider sharing it with someone who believes connection across difference still matters. ✅ Subscribe to Corey's Substack: coreysnathan.substack.com ✅ Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen: ratethispodcast.com/goodfaithpolitics ✅ Subscribe to Talkin' Politics & Religion Without Killin' Each Other on your favorite podcast platform. ✅ Watch the full conversation and subscribe on YouTube: youtube.com/@politicsandreligion Key Takeaways The U.S. stands alone on the big question. Across all 25 countries surveyed, the U.S. is the only one where a majority of citizens rate their fellow citizens as morally bad. Canada, by contrast, ranks among the most optimistic. But the headline doesn't tell the whole story. On individual behaviors like gambling and marijuana use, Americans are among the least likely in the world to call them morally wrong. On extramarital affairs, they rank among the most likely. The U.S. isn't simply more moralistic across the board. It's a global pattern, not just an American one. In many countries, supporters of the party out of power are more likely to rate their fellow citizens' morality negatively. In the U.S., 60% of Democrats vs. 46% of Republicans gave their fellow Americans a negative rating, a 14-point gap that aligns with a broader worldwide trend. Same religion, different conclusions. Christians in France and Christians in Brazil look almost nothing alike on issues like abortion. Regional and cultural context shapes moral views at least as much as religious identity does. Views on divorce have softened globally. Comparing this study to Pew's 2013 survey of similar questions, one of the clearest trends is a decline in the share of people across many countries calling divorce morally wrong, with notable exceptions including India, where the number moved in the opposite direction. Rigorous methodology is the foundation. Surveying roughly 1,000 people per country isn't arbitrary. That threshold enables reliable cross-demographic comparisons within each country. Pew's international work uses face-to-face interviews, phone surveys, or both depending on what's standard and safe in each country. About Our Guest Jonathan Evans is a senior researcher at Pew Research Center, where he focuses on international polling related to religion and national identity. He has authored studies on religion in India, religious tolerance and segregation, Christianity in Western Europe, and religious belief and national belonging in Central and Eastern Europe. He holds a graduate degree from Georgetown University's Department of Government, where he studied democracy and governance. Before his career in research, he was an organ performance major whose undergraduate thesis involved analyzing original manuscripts of a Charles Hubert Hastings Parry composition at Oxford. Yes, really. Links and Resources Pew Research Center - pewresearch.org Fantasia and Fugue in G Op. 188 - Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry - www.youtube.com/watch?v=1O0lBYic6DY Connect on Social Media Corey is @coreysnathan on all the socials… Substack LinkedIn Facebook Instagram Twitter Threads Bluesky TikTok Thanks to our Sponsors and Partners Thanks to Pew Research Center for making today's conversation possible. Links and additional resources: The Village Square: villagesquare.us Meza Wealth Management: mezawealth.com Proud members of The Democracy Group Now go talk some politics and religion but with gentleness and respect.

Program notes:0:35 New cholesterol lowering guidelines1:35 Risk scores new2:35 Mainstay is behavioral change3:35 For those with a longer view4:00 AI based glaucoma screening in primary care settings5:00 Either AI or pressure6:00 Fundus photograph and intraocular pressure7:00 Sensitivity and specificity7:50 Diet and brain structure8:50 Brain imaging over ten or fifteen years9:50 Diet that's been advocated for a long time10:55 Surveying wastewater for colorectal cancer markers11:55 CDH1 marker measurement12:55 Shows promise for intervention13:57 End

At WGI, every associate brings a unique story to the table, but few start on a remote fishing island in Alaska and end up leading cutting-edge geospatial solutions across the country. In this episode of the WGI Unleashed Podcast, Dan and Katie sit down with Scott Jones, Technical Solutions Manager on our Geospatial + Land Surveying team, to talk about a career path shaped by adventure, curiosity, and a willingness to solve problems in some of the most challenging environments imaginable. A Childhood Built for Adventure Scott's story begins in Petersburg, Alaska, a small fishing community where getting anywhere requires a boat or a plane and where imagination fills the gaps between long winters and remote living. His introduction to surveying came through a high school class that quickly turned into something much bigger. One of his first projects involved surveying a glacier by helicopter, an experience that sparked a lifelong interest in the field and set the tone for everything that followed. From Screenwriting Dreams to Surveying Reality Surveying wasn't always the plan. Scott originally pursued creative writing in college with the goal of becoming a screenwriter. That changed after landing an internship with the Alaska Department of Transportation, where he spent his summers traveling across the state collecting geospatial data. What started as a job quickly became a turning point. The combination of travel, technical work, and real-world impact pulled him away from writing and into a career in geomatics. Surveying at the Edge of the World Before joining WGI, Scott built his experience in environments that most people would never encounter on the job. Working in Alaska meant navigating extreme terrain, unpredictable conditions, and projects that required constant adaptation. One of the most memorable was a remote "Road to Nowhere" survey effort that pushed crews deep into the wilderness for months at a time. From coordinating helicopter access to dealing with wildlife and harsh conditions, the work demanded resilience, creativity, and a strong understanding of the field. Bringing That Experience to WGI Today, Scott applies that same mindset at WGI, where no two days look the same. As a Technical Solutions Manager, he moves between projects, helping teams identify challenges, develop workflows, and find practical solutions that keep work moving forward. His role spans aerial operations, Lidar processing, GIS support, and everything in between. What sets his approach apart is a focus on execution. Big ideas matter, but for Scott, success comes from turning those ideas into real, actionable results. Projects That Push Boundaries Scott has been involved in several standout projects during his time with WGI, including a highly coordinated Grand Canyon mapping effort that required extensive planning across multiple agencies and airspace approvals. Another favorite took him to White Sands National Park, where Lidar technology was used to help identify prehistoric sloth footprints. It's a perfect example of how WGI's work blends advanced technology with unique, real-world applications. Why WGI? For Scott, it comes down to the people. He highlighted the value of working with teams that take pride in what they do and hold themselves to a high standard. That shared mindset creates an environment where collaboration is strong and the work is meaningful. It also opens the door for growth. At WGI, associates aren't limited to one role or skill set. There are constant opportunities to expand, learn, and contribute in new ways. Life Outside the Office While his days of fishing in Alaska may be behind him, Scott hasn't lost his sense of adventure. In Huntsville, he's traded ocean waters for kayaking, discovered a passion for caving, and continues to explore the outdoors in new ways. It's a different landscape, but the same mindset that has guided his career from the beginning. Final Thoughts Scott's journey is a reminder that there's no single path to success. From creative writing aspirations to leading technical solutions at WGI, his story is built on adaptability, curiosity, and a willingness to take on new challenges. And like many of the stories featured on WGI Unleashed, it reinforces what makes WGI unique—the people, the experiences, and the opportunity to be part of something bigger. Tune In If you are looking for a story that blends adventure, innovation, and real-world impact, this episode is one you will not want to miss. Listen to this episode of WGI Unleashed on your favorite podcast platform and stay tuned for more conversations highlighting the people, projects, and culture that define WGI. Visit your favorite podcast app now and subscribe to WGI Unleashed to receive alerts every time a new episode drops. You can find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart Radio, or wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

The 2026 legislative session has wrapped up in the Virginia, but not before Democrats sent more than a dozen gun control bills to Gov. Abigail Spanberger for her approval. NRA ILA Executive Director John Commerford joins Cam to discuss the damage done and what gun owners need to do now.

The 2026 legislative session has wrapped up in the Virginia, but not before Democrats sent more than a dozen gun control bills to Gov. Abigail Spanberger for her approval. NRA ILA Executive Director John Commerford joins Cam to discuss the damage done and what gun owners need to do now.

Sign up to Revolut Business at https://www.revolut.com/rb/james/ before 30th June 2026 and add money to your account to receive a £200 welcome bonus. Fees, Promotion terms and Business T&Cs apply.This week, James sits down with a surveying business owner generating £50,000 per month - but despite the strong revenue, lead generation remains the biggest challenge.Find out more from Luke here: https://www.survey-network.co.uk/Take the Business Model Analyser Quiz here:https://modelanalyser.scoreapp.com/Try Entrepreneurs University 14 Day FREE Trial Here ►https://jamessinclair.net/entrepreneurs-university-free-trial/Sign up to my weekly newsletter 'The James Sinclair Letter' here:https://www.jamessinclair.net/the-letterFind out your Entreprenurial DNA, take the '8 Traits of the Greats' quiz here ► https://jamessinclair.scoreapp.comGet your tickets to our next event here ► https://www.jamessinclair.net/eventsApply to be on my podcast here ►https://jamessinclair.net/podcasts/

Dr. Jim Jacobi has spent the past 50 years in Hawaiʻi as a biologist specializing in mapping Hawai'i's unique ecosystems and studying the plants and animals contained within them. Like so many of his cohort, he is a skilled naturalist, having worked on introduced rats, native insects first for the Bishop Museum and then mapping vegetation and management research projects for the Pacific Island Ecosystems Research Center of the US Geological Survey in Volcano. We talk to Jim about the evolution of tracking changes in vegetation by hand from aerial photos to the use of computer mapping and modelling. He shares with us the unique experiences heʻs had across the rugged U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service transects that traverse mountainous summits to sea, as well as the profound sorrow in witnessing the last Hawaiian honeycreeper in the wild, the Kauaʻi oʻo.

Steve Weidenkopf, an Adjunct Professor at the Christendom College Graduate School of Theology, shares part four of his five-part series chronicling Church history. It was recorded in our Lyceum Auditorium on March 10, 2026.  This series presents a narrative summary of the major persons and events of Church history from Pentecost to the modern day. The story of the Catholic Church is presented in all its glory, success, and failure, along with fascinating vignettes about the men and women, saints, sinners, heroes, and villains who most shaped Catholic history over the last 2,000 years.

Steve Weidenkopf, an Adjunct Professor at the Christendom College Graduate School of Theology, shares part four of his five-part series chronicling Church history. It was recorded in our Lyceum Auditorium on March 3, 2026.  This series presents a narrative summary of the major persons and events of Church history from Pentecost to the modern day. The story of the Catholic Church is presented in all its glory, success, and failure, along with fascinating vignettes about the men and women, saints, sinners, heroes, and villains who most shaped Catholic history over the last 2,000 years.

Steve Weidenkopf, an Adjunct Professor at the Christendom College Graduate School of Theology, shares part three of his five-part series chronicling Church history. It was recorded in our Lyceum Auditorium on Feb. 24, 2026.  This series presents a narrative summary of the major persons and events of Church history from Pentecost to the modern day. The story of the Catholic Church is presented in all its glory, success, and failure, along with fascinating vignettes about the men and women, saints, sinners, heroes, and villains who most shaped Catholic history over the last 2,000 years. Click here for more information. 

Steve Weidenkopf, an Adjunct Professor at the Christendom College Graduate School of Theology, shares part two of his five-part series chronicling Church history. It was recorded in our Lyceum Auditorium on Feb. 10, 2026.  This series presents a narrative summary of the major persons and events of Church history from Pentecost to the modern day. The story of the Catholic Church is presented in all its glory, success, and failure, along with fascinating vignettes about the men and women, saints, sinners, heroes, and villains who most shaped Catholic history over the last 2,000 years. Click here for more information. 

Award-winning columnist Dejan Kovacevic, a lifelong veteran of the Pittsburgh sports scene, delivers 'Daily Shot' show each weekday morning, covering the Steelers, Penguins and Pirates! It's available bright and early, and timed to match your commute, never longer than 20 minutes! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Award-winning columnist Dejan Kovacevic, a lifelong veteran of the Pittsburgh sports scene, delivers 'Daily Shot' show each weekday morning, covering the Steelers, Penguins and Pirates! It's available bright and early, and timed to match your commute, never longer than 20 minutes! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Career paths aren't always straight lines — and sometimes the best opportunities come from pivoting.In Episode 268 of It's My Time Podcast, Asher sits down with Patricia Yin, a licensed land surveyor, engineer, entrepreneur, and mom, to talk about navigating career transitions, building businesses, and redefining success.Patricia shares her journey from structural engineering and transportation to land surveying, why she fell in love with the profession, and the growing shortage of surveyors shaping the future of construction and infrastructure.The conversation dives deeper into career expectations, workplace culture, entrepreneurship, financial decision-making, and designing a lifestyle centered around priorities — not pressure. Patricia also shares her experience building a successful landscaping company, turning down a high-paying job to protect her family time, and using AI and automation to scale business efficiently.This episode explores what it really means to create a career and life that aligns with your values.

Steve Weidenkopf, an Adjunct Professor at the Christendom College Graduate School of Theology, shares part one of his five-part series chronicling Church history. It was recorded in our Lyceum Auditorium on Feb. 3, 2026.  This series presents a narrative summary of the major persons and events of Church history from Pentecost to the modern day. The story of the Catholic Church is presented in all its glory, success, and failure, along with fascinating vignettes about the men and women, saints, sinners, heroes, and villains who most shaped Catholic history over the last 2,000 years. Click here for more information. 

Welcome to another week in Trump's America. The President is “renovating” the Kennedy Center a la the East Wing of the White House, the Washington Post continues it's descent into darkness, and MAGA cronies are looking for any way to undermine democratic elections this November. What is going on in America? David Rothkopf and Norm Ornstein discuss all this and more. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to another week in Trump's America. The President is “renovating” the Kennedy Center a la the East Wing of the White House, the Washington Post continues it's descent into darkness, and MAGA cronies are looking for any way to undermine democratic elections this November. What is going on in America? David Rothkopf and Norm Ornstein discuss all this and more. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to another week in Trump's America. The President is “renovating” the Kennedy Center a la the East Wing of the White House, the Washington Post continues it's descent into darkness, and MAGA cronies are looking for any way to undermine democratic elections this November. What is going on in America? David Rothkopf and Norm Ornstein discuss all this and more. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Surveying fundamentals can quietly make or break a drone mapping project—and grid vs. ground coordinates are one of those topics that trip people up more often than they expect. In this episode of Your Drone Questions. Answered the conversation zooms in on the essentials every drone pilot working with mapping, surveying, or lidar data needs to understand.The discussion is joined by Mark White from Duncan-Parnell, a licensed land surveyor with decades of experience in geospatial training and support. Together, they break down what grid and ground coordinates actually mean, why GPS measurements don't live on the same “surface” we work on in the real world, and how scale factors quietly affect distances, areas, and deliverables.You'll hear clear explanations of state plane systems, ellipsoids, and why mapping on a flat grid is convenient—but not always representative of true ground distances. The episode also tackles site calibration (sometimes called localization), how it works behind the scenes, and why it's often the key to making drone data line up correctly with survey control.Useful links:-TBC Power Hour Defining and Working with Grid and Ground Coordinates (16:09 mark is where the graphic referenced in the podcast is discussed): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3SzLtNWa7E -GNSS Site Calibrations in Trimble Access – Everything You Need to Know | Survey Matters (first 2.5 minutes in particular): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5fwa2tGgVAhttps://www.youtube.com/@duncanparnellgeospatialhttps://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhkUv995xbiWXc9Vz2oGD7jdBD2O1wunKhttps://www.duncan-parnell.com/

The European Union has officially and metaphorically switched on the IRIS2 secure satellite communications network, the homegrown 10.6 billion Euro European alternative to Starlink. ESA and EUMETSAT have finalized their agreement on the EPS-Sterna constellation. Planet Labs has signed a new agreement with the Surveying and Mapping Authority of Slovenia, and more. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Be sure to follow T-Minus on LinkedIn and Instagram. T-Minus Guest Our guest today is  Les Lake,  Vice President of Business Development at All Points Logistics.  You can connect with Les on LinkedIn, and learn more about All Points Logistics on their website. Selected Reading EU Deploys First Satellite Service in Bid to Limit US Dependence (Bloomberg) EU space agency signs contract to launch Galileo satellites with Ariane 6  (Reuters) EUMETSAT and ESA set to start the implementation of EPS-Sterna (EUMETSAT) Planet Signs Enterprise Agreement with Slovenian Government to Support Agriculture, Urban Planning and Disaster Management (Business Wire) NASA lines up WDR for SLS ahead of Artemis II (NSF)  NASA Launches Its Most Powerful, Efficient Supercomputer (NASA) ESA's Biomass goes live with data now open to all (ESA)  Share your feedback. What do you think about T-Minus Space Daily? Please take a few minutes to share your thoughts with us by completing our brief listener survey. Thank you for helping us continue to improve our show.  Want to hear your company in the show? You too can reach the most influential leaders and operators in the industry. Here's our media kit. Contact us at space@n2k.com to request more info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Discovery Park joins the rest of the nation in kicking off the America 250 commemoration—the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence—Tommy Young, Vice President of Surveying at L.I. Smith & Associates, joins us for a fascinating conversation about the world of land surveying—past, present and future. With deep Tennessee roots and over 25 years in the field, Young offers a behind-the-scenes look at how surveyors shape the landscapes we live in, from cutting-edge GPS tools to centuries-old compasses and Gunter's chains. Listeners will discover how early surveyors like James Winchester helped define state boundaries—and why understanding history remains essential to the profession today. Young also shares insights into Tennessee's unique land systems, modern property disputes, and how AI might one day help decode long-lost records and handwritten deeds. Whether you're a history buff, tech enthusiast, or simply curious about the ground beneath your feet, this episode delivers a compelling journey across time and terrain.

In this episode of The Geoholics Podcast, the crew dives deep—both literally and figuratively—into the world of archaeology, GIS, and cultural resource management with special guest Jenna Kent, Archaeologist at Jacobs Engineering Group. From growing up across Texas, Mississippi, Utah, and Hawaii as part of a military family, to excavating 7th-century monasteries and 12th-century abbeys in Ireland, Jenna's journey has been anything but ordinary. That geographic diversity helped shape her appreciation for landscapes, cultures, and the human stories hidden beneath them. The conversation explores what archaeology really looks like beyond the movies—balancing rugged fieldwork with complex office analysis—and why cultural resource compliance is far more technical, analytical, and geospatially driven than most people realize. Listeners get an inside look at: >Prehistoric ceramic replication and how recreating ancient pottery reveals insights no textbook ever could >Surveying 15 miles of wilderness at Bandelier National Monument, one of Jenna's career-defining projects >How archaeologists decode fragmented evidence like a massive puzzle with missing pieces >The growing role of GIS in archaeology, including site density modeling, probability mapping, and interactive story maps >Where surveyors, mappers, LiDAR professionals, and archaeologists can collaborate more effectively >The powerful human moments that remind us archaeology is ultimately about people—not artifacts Jenna closes the episode with thoughtful advice for young professionals looking to enter archaeology, cultural resources, or GIS—encouraging curiosity, patience, and a willingness to embrace both science and storytelling. This episode is a reminder that whether you're mapping terrain, scanning infrastructure, or excavating history—context matters, layers matter, and collaboration across disciplines makes us all better. Song of the Week: “New Orleans Is Sinking” by The Tragically Hip  

Episode Description: What happens when half of an entire profession retires within a few years? Dustin Gardner, a fourth-generation surveyor, is facing that reality head-on. The average licensed land surveyor is now in their early 60s, and the industry is racing against time to train the next generation before decades of expertise walks out the door. In this conversation, Dustin pulls back the curtain on a profession that touches every construction project, property transaction, and development—yet remains deeply misunderstood. From the hidden work that happens before anyone steps foot on a site, to lifetime liability that follows every stamp, to why vampire folklore matters to modern surveying, this episode reveals why attracting new talent means changing how we tell the story. Whether you’re in civil engineering, construction, or leadership, you’ll walk away with fresh perspective on workforce development, cross-generational knowledge transfer, and how family businesses can be a retention advantage rather than a limitation. Key Takeaways: The surveying profession is losing half its licensed professionals to retirement in the next few years, with the average license holder now in their early 60s—creating an urgent need to train the next generation while mentorship is still available. Surveyors carry lifetime liability for every job they stamp—meaning they can be sued for their very first project at their retirement party—yet the profession hasn’t kept pace with inflation on pricing since 2000. The biggest misconception about surveying is that the fieldwork is the work, when in reality, days of courthouse research, calculations, and post-field analysis happen before and after the visible hour on site. Family businesses offer a competitive advantage in retention because people who feel like family at work are more likely to stay, creating natural pathways for the next generation to enter the profession. Reframing surveying from “working in the dirt” to “solving complex problems outdoors with history, math, and law” can attract a new generation who wants intellectual challenge without being desk-bound. Timestamps: [00:24] Introduction – The talent shortage across engineering industries[01:16] The aging crisis in surveying – Half the profession retiring soon[02:17] What surveyors actually do (beyond boundary lines)[06:10] Misconceptions about surveying work and pricing[11:30] Strategies for attracting the next generation[16:45] Why family businesses can be a retention advantage[25:23] Surveying folklore – The boundary pusher vampire[28:07] Leadership advice for introverts in technical professions[29:57] Coach in Your Corner – You are bound by what you define Guest Information: Name: Dustin Gardner, Fourth-Generation Land Surveyor Connect: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dustin-gardner-rls-292781220/ Instagram: @the_superstitious_surveyor About the Host: Dr. James Bryant is an engineering leadership coach and host of the Engineer Your Success podcast. He works with engineering and technical leaders who want to win at work and win at home. James helps leaders make intentional decisions about how they lead, work, and live, so success in one domain strengthens the other over time. His approach emphasizes clarity, responsibility, and long-term integrity—acknowledging the effort and trade-offs leadership requires while rejecting the assumption that success must come at the expense of family, health, or presence. Connect with James on LinkedIn or visit www.eysnow.com

In this episode, Steve Weidenkopf, an Adjunct Professor at the Christendom College Graduate School of Theology, shares a preview of his five-part series chronicling Church history, which begins Feb. 3, 2026, in our Lyceum Auditorium (313 Duke Street). This series presents a narrative summary of the major persons and events of Church history from Pentecost to the modern day. The story of the Catholic Church is presented in all its glory, success, and failure, along with fascinating vignettes about the men and women, saints, sinners, heroes, and villains who most shaped Catholic history over the last 2,000 years. Click here for more information. 

Since the dawn of the twenty-first century, the West has been in crisis. Social unrest, political polarization, and the rise of other great powers—especially China—threaten to unravel today's Western-led world order. Many fear this would lead to global chaos. But the West has never had a monopoly on order.Surveying five thousand years of global history, political scientist Amitav Acharya reveals that world order—the political architecture enabling cooperation and peace among nations—existed long before the rise of the West. Moving from ancient Sumer, India, Greece, and Mesoamerica, through medieval caliphates and Eurasian empires into the present, Acharya shows that humanitarian values, economic interdependence, and rules of inter-state conduct emerged across the globe over millennia. History suggests order will endure even as the West retreats. In fact, the end of Western dominance offers us the opportunity to build a better world, where non-Western nations find more voice, power, and prosperity. Instead of fearing the future, the West should learn from history and cooperate with the Rest to forge a more equitable order. Amitav Acharya is the UNESCO Chair in Transnational Challenges and Governance and Distinguished Professor at the School of International Service, American University, Washington, DC. Lucas Tse is Examination Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford. 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

Civil engineering careers require technical competency and ethical responsibility while adapting to innovation and multidisciplinary demands. This episode explores how combining surveying skills enhances project delivery and client engagement in civil engineering professions. The post Combining Civil Engineering and Surveying for Success – Ep 304 appeared first on Engineering Management Institute.

Truth Be Told with Booker Scott – I examine escalating U.S. military pressure on Venezuela as President Trump orders an oil blockade and deploys naval and air power across the region. Joined by Ret. Lt. Col. Darin Gaub, I analyze global flashpoints, legal authority, and the strategic risks facing America as tensions rise from Caracas to China and beyond...

We dive into one of the most stressful and expensive parts of American life: healthcare.• Why are families paying $48,000 a year just to stay insured?• Why does the system feel so broken?• Is there another way?To help us figure it out, we sat down with Moishe Katz, the CEO of United Refuah Healthshare.It's one of those episodes that makes you say, “Wait… how did I not know about this sooner?”