Podcasts about taylors

What do you dip in milk? After our Teddy Graham debate- Anna, Raven, Producer Justin and Producer Sophia discuss what they dip in milk... and no.. not a cookie. Pick em news: Hear one story: Women cleaning garage, opens freezer, find 30 sticks of dynamite. Dan Sullivan accuses Dan Sullivan of rigging senate race. $5k of bourbon stolen from warehouse! Raven picks! Anna is convinced she discovered a cult on the road. She saw a “NO FUN” bumper sticker. But it got weirder; she saw another one shortly after. Now she wants in. What's your bumper sticker? Am I Close with Producer Justin! Anna and Raven have 30 seconds to explain all their knowledge, on a topic chosen by the smartest in the room, Producer Justin! Today... A Vuvuzela. This week, Raven goes head-to-head against the top of the class! It's Cant Beat Raven: Valedictorian version! Congrats Roy! The biggest world cup kicks off today! Anna brought the World Cups biggest fan. Ever. Her dad! The most accurate description and predictions you'll find! The celebrity row was a packed lineup last night at the Knicks game. Taylor Swift and her friends had all “Knicks” themed shirts. Anna did the same thing for Taylors concert! Maybe that's where she got the idea. Anna made a wardrobe mistake. A big one. She bought a flower dress to fit in with the other moms who wear floral dresses. Annas dress did not have flowers on it, but something that looks a lot more vulgar. Sara and Tyler's neighbors have been having loud parties for the last three weekends. And it's weird, loud polka-like music, but all the windows are drawn shut, and it's always the same five cars in the driveway. She says everything about it is strange, especially because she's been trying to figure out what is going on there. She thinks it's something illegal, so she wants him to go over and confront the husband and ask otherwise she's going to complain to the police about the noise. He says can't they just deal with it and not do anything? She says music blaring until 1am is unacceptable especially because it seems sketchy. What would you do? Kaitlin has a chance to win $2,400! All he has to do is answer more pop culture questions than Raven in Can't Beat Raven! 

Mareike berichtet in dieser HundeRunde von Taylors erstem Urlaub in Dänemark - inklusive langer Autofahrt, Meer, Seetang, neuen Gerüchen und ganz vielen Momenten, in denen Taylor gezeigt hat, wie gut sie sich mittlerweile im Alltag zurechtfindet. Natürlich lief aber nicht alles perfekt: Eine Gittertreppe wird für Taylor zur echten Herausforderung. Liza erklärt, was in solchen Momenten im Hund passiert und wie man nach so einer unangenehmen Erfahrung sinnvoll weitertrainiert. Denn auch große Hunde dürfen Ängste haben - und brauchen dann Unterstützung statt Druck! Außerdem geht es um eine wichtige Erinnerung aus Lizas Hundeschul-Alltag: Hunde sind nie „fertig“ mit Lernen! Training hört nicht einfach irgendwann auf - es verändert sich nur. Eine Folge über Urlaub mit Hund, kleine Rückschläge, große Fortschritte und warum wir von unseren Hunden nicht mehr Perfektion erwarten sollten als von uns selbst.

Josh Taylor of TLC's "Rattled," a hometown friend of the Robertsons, joins Jase, Al, and Uncle Si just weeks after the passing of his wife, Aly, to honor her tremendous faith, her long battle with cancer, and the legacy she left for their four daughters. Josh reflects on the miracles woven through their marriage, from infertility and adoption to surprise pregnancies, and shares how he's fighting to protect his girls' faith in God while carrying Aly's story forward. Si and Jase get emotional as they consider the closeness of eternity, the hope of resurrection, and the power of a life that keeps pointing people to Jesus even after death. In this episode: John 5, verse 39; Psalm 128, verses 3–4; 2 Corinthians 5, verse 8; Luke 20, verse 38; John 8, verse 32; Romans 5, verse 17; Hebrews 2, verses 14–15; 1 John 4, verses 17–18; 1 John 5, verse 18; John 11, verse 35 “Unashamed” Episode 1338 is sponsored by: https://www.covesmart.com/unashamed/ — Use code UNASHAMED at checkout for up to 70% off your first order! https://chministries.org/unashamed — See why Christians are ditching health insurance for good. Get a simpler alternative at half the cost! https://vanman.shop/unashamed — Get 15% off your first order with code UNASHAMED http://unashamedforhillsdale.com/ — Sign up now for free, and join the Unashamed hosts every Friday for Unashamed Academy Powered by Hillsdale College Check out At Home with Phil Robertson, nearly 800 episodes of Phil's unfiltered wisdom, humor, and biblical truth, available for free for the first time! Get it on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, and anywhere you listen to podcasts! https://open.spotify.com/show/3LY8eJ4ZBZHmsImGoDNK2l Listen to Not Yet Now with Zach Dasher on Apple, Spotify, iHeart, or anywhere you get podcasts. Chapters 00:00 The Big Scheduling Mix-Up 07:32 Josh Taylor Honors Aly's Faith, Beauty & Legacy 12:08 Infertility & the Moment Josh Had to Trust God 20:46 The Family Miracle No One Saw Coming 29:55 The Taylors' TLC Show  36:42 Aly's Final Days 44:18 Jase Remembers His Own Loss 50:24 Protecting Daughters While Grieving Their Mom 55:35 Jase Prays for Josh, His Girls & Aly's Legacy — Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The girls dig into why Taylor Swift keeps showing up with a different bang situation every week — and whether it's all a setup for a jaw-dropping no-bang wedding reveal. Then Keltie breaks down why Alex Cooper's pregnancy announcement was a PR masterclass, Harry Styles is facing serious backlash over his expensive and underwhelming new tour, and the conversation gets real when the ladies open up about the impossible body standards creeping back into Hollywood. John Travolta's beret also makes an appearance!Check out our amazing sponsors deals!!Fodzyme: Enjoy your favorite foods without the pain! Get 30% off your first order at ICanEatAgain.com/ladygangDirecTV: Get over 60 channels, Disney+, Hulu, and HBO Max ALL IN ONE PACK for $34.99 a month at DirecTV.com/genrepacksClean Simple Eats: Shop the best tasting protein powders at CleanSimpleEats.comProgressive: Looking to save on car insurance? Cruise on over to Progressive.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Peter and Bill chat about some news items. Chelsea is sold out and opened to the general public Tuesday 19th May. Our friends at Malvern Garden Buildings have a stand and are exhibiting again. It may be a controversial year as one of the designers is getting criticised for using an AI app to design gardens. Peter has found a new range of pencils from Sprout World that have seeds in the end so you can grow things from your old pencil. Bill suggests writing labels from the top down and put a date on it so you know when you started them. It is also very important to protect your young seedlings from late frosts. Young plants still need protection.If you fancy visiting a Garden, Aspley Guise has many houses with open gardens on 24th May. Ramsden near Witney Oxfordshire also has 15 gardens open on the 24th. On the 30th gardens are open in Moggerhanger Bedfordshire and Carterton in Oxfordshire. If these aren't local to you have a look at the NGS website, Pumpkins Beth's website or the Open Gardens website.Sir David Attenborough has had his 100th birthday.Taylors bulbs have won a Gold medal at the RHS Malvern show, next for them is the Chelsea Show, could it be another Gold Medal?Peter learns the fact that his Tomatoes are too cold as the undersides of the leaves are going purple and the fact that he might be overwatering his Courgettes. If you have lost seedlings in the recent cold spells, you still have time to replant seeds or pop in to your local Garden Centre and buy some young seedlings.Our thanks to Chiltern Music Therapy for providing the music. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In dieser HundeRunde geben euch Liza und Mareike ein ehrliches Update aus dem Alltag mit Fred und Taylor: Von OP-Sorgen und Wundheilung über Läufigkeit und Hühnertraining bis hin zu wählerischem Fressverhalten und Schoko-Ei-Chaos. Außerdem lesen die beiden eine liebe Nachricht aus der Community vor und blicken noch einmal auf die wichtigsten Erkenntnisse aus 5 Jahren HundeRunde zurück. Es geht um Ruhe als unterschätzte Grundlage, darum, Situationen immer anhand der aktuellen Körpersprache des Hundes zu bewerten, und um die wichtige Erinnerung: Hunde dürfen reifen. Nicht alles muss sofort funktionieren - und oft sieht man erst mit etwas Abstand, welche Fortschritte schon passiert sind.

De vier Taylors worden verscheurd tussen school en nieuwe relaties. Plotseling lijkt het alsof alles anders is dan voorheen. De tijd zal leren of hun vriendschap dat overleeft… Uitgegeven door Van Holkema & Warendorf Spreker: Lotte Horlings

super soldier 10th - China said they are not going to arm Iran; Floating armory 11th - Alex Murdaugh could face the death penalty; David Pascoe 12th - Mountain Lion sightings in the Taylors area --Hour 3 of the Monday, May 18, 2026, broadcast of The Tara Show delivers a compelling mix of national political hypocrisy, high-seas global deception, and urgent local updates. The hour begins by calling out the Democratic establishment's ideological double standards, highlighting their continued support for Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner—a self-described "Antifa super soldier" who previously sported a Nazi SS-Totenkopf tattoo. Shifting to international security, the second segment exposes a massive geopolitical double game: despite Beijing's public promises not to arm Iran, a Chinese-operated "floating armory" ship was seized near the Strait of Hormuz, proving China is still actively funneling weapons to the Iranian regime. Turning to South Carolina's legal landscape, the third segment features an intense breakdown by prosecutor David Pascoe regarding new state maneuvers that could see convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh facing the death penalty. Finally, the show hits close to home for Upstate residents, closing the hour with an urgent warning and safety overview following multiple credible mountain lion sightings in the Taylors area.

The Monday, May 18, 2026, broadcast of The Tara Show delivers an intense four-hour blend of national security crises, domestic political battles, and cultural commentary. The program dominates the airwaves with explosive exposes on China, revealing the intense wartime security protocols surrounding President Trump's recent trip to Beijing, a harrowing physical standoff with Chinese officials, and damning intelligence leaks showing that China funded Democratic agendas, used a "floating armory" to bypass agreements not to arm Iran, and even provided the real-time satellite data Iran used to strike U.S. military bases. On the domestic front, host Tara Servatius repeatedly takes aim at the political left, dismantling Democratic outcries over conservative redistricting maps as hypocritical "Jim Crow 2.0" and "cheating" lies, slamming the party for backing a Maine Senate candidate with a Nazi tattoo, and demanding that the DOJ immediately dismiss all remaining cases against Trump. Woven throughout the heavy political coverage are lighter and local updates, including a deep dive into dating standards and a study on whether people marry someone smarter than themselves, a cautionary look at automated AI technology destroying industries in the UK while gaining self-writing capabilities, the high-profile appointment of Dr. Brennan Traxler as South Carolina's new Health Director, a legal update on why Alex Murdaugh could face the death penalty, and an urgent public safety warning regarding credible mountain lion sightings in Taylors.

May 10, 2026 | Josh Powell by Taylors FBC

May 17, 2026 | Josh Powell by Taylors FBC

Jeff Taylor, executive director of global partner ecosystem and operations for Lenovo There are not many conversations where you get both the global architect of a vendor’s partner program and the Canadian channel chief in the same room. In this episode of In The Channel, recorded the week after Lenovo 360 Acceleratewrapped up in Austin, we had both: Jeff Taylor, executive director of global partner ecosystem and programs at Lenovo, and Craig Taylor, senior director and Canada channel chief. The headlining number from the conversation is the dramatic simplification of Lenovo’s incentive structure. Jeff confirmed that Lenovo has reduced its active global incentives from 2,300 down to approximately 200 – a 92 per cent reduction – while maintaining the same total investment pool. The analogy he reached for: the same pizza, fewer slices, each one bigger. The earning power stays; the complexity goes. For Canadian partners, Craig noted that over 90 per cent either maintained or improved their tier status in the move to the new Lenovo 360 Authorized, Gold, and Platinum structure. Craig Taylor, senior director and Canada channel chief at Lenovo The conversation moved quickly into services. Lenovo is targeting a 15 to 20 per cent partner revenue mix from services and solutions within the next one to two years. Craig pointed to TruScale as the on-ramp, noting Canadian partner feedback has consistently positioned it as more flexible than competing offerings in market. On AI, Jeff described a “reimagination of enablement” – moving partner portals from static, backward-looking data tools into agentic AI-driven platforms that are intuitive and forward-looking. Craig pointed to Lenovo’s CIO Playbook as the practical tool helping Canadian partners move customers from proof of concept to proof of execution on their AI investments. Read Full Transcript Robert Dutt: Hello and welcome to In The Channel from ChannelBuzz.ca, bringing news and information to the Canadian IT channel community for the last sixteen years. I’m Robert Dutt, editor at ChannelBuzz.ca and your host for the show. You want to understand how a global technology vendor thinks about its partner program, not the press release version, but the actual mechanics of how design decisions get made and how they land in markets like Canada. Today’s conversation is a fairly rare opportunity. We have at the same time the global architect of the Lenovo partner ecosystem and the Canadian channel chief. Jeff Taylor is executive director of global partner ecosystem and operations for Lenovo, responsible for the Lenovo 360 framework that governs how the company works with partners worldwide and for the new consolidated partner ecosystems and program structure for the international markets that Lenovo unveiled earlier this year. Craig Taylor is senior director and Canada channel chief at Lenovo, a 2026 CRN channel chief and the person responsible for translating all that global framework into real outcomes for Canadian partners on the ground. We recorded this conversation just after Lenovo 360 Accelerate, the company’s annual North American partner event wrapped up in Austin, Texas. So this is about as fresh a read on the state of the Lenovo partner ecosystems you’re gonna get. We covered the dramatic simplification of Lenovo’s incentive structure, the push towards services-led selling and recurring revenue, how AI is reshaping both the partner conversation with customers and Lenovo’s own approach to enablement, and how Canadian partners should be thinking about a volatile period in hardware pricing. And yes, they’re both named Taylor. We had asked some questions. Let’s get right into it. My chat with Jeff Taylor and Craig Taylor. [Music] Gentlemen, thank you for taking the time. Jeff Taylor: Hey Robert, how are you? Robert Dutt: Very well, thank you. Craig Taylor: Excellent. Good afternoon, Robert. Robert Dutt: Interesting situation, one of those channel journalist dream situations, chatting with both the global architect of the partner program and the Canadian channel chief at the same time. And as fate would have it, you’re both just coming back from Austin. Jeff, for people who weren’t there in the room for Accelerate this year, the event was themed “unified as one” — pretty deliberate choice of words, I dare say. What were you trying to signal with that framing? Jeff Taylor: Yeah, well, I mean, obviously one with our partners is probably the first and foremost thing, but also to represent Lenovo holistically. From Motorola all the way through our devices, tablets, PCs, etc. and then into the data center. So we are one company and as an extension of that, one company includes our partners and the whole intent of the event was to bring everybody together and unify. Feedback has been really, really positive and it’s, you know, it’s only been a week, but lots of really good discourse and wonderful event. Robert Dutt: Craig, from a Canadian perspective, what did the Canadian attendance look like and what did Austin feel like compared to previous Accelerate events from a Canadian partner point of view? Craig Taylor: Yeah, our Canadian partners had very positive feedback to Jeff’s point. We’re always very well represented in these types of North American based events. We always punch above our weight class, I’d like to say. So all of the key strategic partners across our ecosystem were there in present and actively participating in our discussions as to how we’re going to strategize for our next fiscal year. Robert Dutt: Jeff, one thing that stood out for me from Austin was the choice of putting Jay McBain, Steve Brazier and Tiffany Bova on stage together, three analysts who ostensibly compete against each other in the market. Curious what the goal was in putting them together and what came out of that conversation that you think partners should take away. Jeff Taylor: Yeah, I think a couple of things. First of all, the moderator of that panel was with Alex Smith. So we had four great analysts all on the stage at the same time. I think if you take a step back and just look at the theme overall, what we’re trying to accomplish at Accelerate, it was really about industry topics. So we had representatives from the US Department of Energy as an example, talking about power and what’s happening at a governmental level. And part of that was to get these four analysts together who, as you say, they mix in a lot of the same circles, but they’d never been on the stage at the same time. And the idea was to propagate a little bit. And in some cases, they were aligned in a lot of their messages to the channel. In some cases, they differed. And it was a really lively and engaging conversation. And folks at Lenovo, we engage with these folks all the time, but having them all together, kind of representing their unique perspectives on the market right now was super valuable and engaging. Robert Dutt: So to dig into what you guys have been doing on the partner side of things, back in March, you announced the new consolidated partner ecosystem and programs, International Markets Organization. Now that Accelerate’s happened, partners have had a chance to hear it explained in person. What’s the clearest way to explain what operationally changed and what didn’t? Because from the outside, centralize where it makes sense can go a lot of different directions. Jeff Taylor: Yeah, look, I think the easiest way to explain it is we now have a single common framework across the globe. That framework is a guidepost, very intentionally set up as a framework, because execution has to remain local. And the input, the guidance, the feedback that we receive from our Canadian partners, from Craig, representing the viewpoints of those Canadian partners is absolutely critical to what we’re doing. And so by, you know, over time, as we had a lot of different markets and a lot of different geographies kind of expand over time as the company grew, there was similar objectives happening in multiple markets. And maybe the execution model was slightly different. And we thought by kind of bringing some of that together, we could simplify and we could gain efficiencies for our partners. But it’s really important to understand that the execution happens locally, sales happens locally, channel partners happen locally. And so it’s one really about standardizing the framework and not centralizing execution. Robert Dutt: How has that landed here in Canada, both with Canadian partners and in terms of how things operate for you, Craig? Craig Taylor: Yeah, the feedback has been really positive, Rob. You know, from a Canadian perspective, it’s all about leveraging our local teams and our local relationships, which haven’t changed. And feedback from our partner community is we are often best in class when it comes to how we represent our organization in front of the partner ecosystem. What I think is what more exciting for me now is we’re elevating those relationships to be consistent as to how we’re going to market with our partners. Consistency in the programs, consistency in the incentives, and also how quickly we can execute. What that means is our partner facing team can spend more time in market with our partners trying to win opportunities together with our mutual customers. Jeff Taylor: And if I could add, Rob, real quick, I mean, this was a very thoughtful process. This wasn’t something that happened kind of quick and without a lot of forethought. We have been working on this for years through the introduction of Lenovo 360 as that kind of framework itself. And then over time, as we’ve built some meat on the skeleton, the timing was just really right for us to go do this. But again, that premise of local execution is probably the most important thing. Robert Dutt: Well, I know that internally you guys have kind of had the mantra of “global might, local fight” internally for a while now, kind of being applied to the partner org, it seems here. I guess I’m still a little curious where there is a certain tension between global consistency and local relevance. You’ve kind of unpacked it, but where does that actually land in terms of which side takes the lead? Jeff Taylor: Yeah. So let me give you some real tangible numbers and examples. Three years ago in market across the globe, we had 2,300 active incentives in the market. I’m going to repeat that. We had 2,300 active incentives in the market. So if you think of your investment pool as a pizza, right, and you divide that 2,300 ways, the relative impact of those individual slices can be quite small. Now, what we found in talking to markets was that there was absolutely a consistency and intent. And maybe that intent was new customer acquisition, or maybe it was growth targets, or maybe it was something else. There was consistency in intent, but the execution was different, and that created operational complexity. It created our ability to report seamlessly and consistently over time more of a challenge than simplification. So in just the last two years, we’ve gone from that 2,300 partner incentives to about 200. So almost a 92% reduction without any change in investments, any negative change in investments, because the intent was still there, right? The intent was consistent across the globe. So that’s one where we centrally can look at the forest through the trees. We can see an opportunity for simplification. Then we can bring that to the markets while still driving that strategic intent that we want to accomplish with our partners. So that’s just one example. Craig Taylor: Yeah, well said. Just to add to that, Rob, one of the things that was very important was to make sure we had local input to the global framework that was being created at Jeff’s level. So we had many conversations as to what our market needs and demands were, and make sure that we shaped it to be properly represented within the framework. That worked out very, very well. We also are allowed to have some nuances in this organization as well. And so what we’re allowed to do is perhaps if a certain pathway doesn’t make sense to the Canadian market, for example, being more of an SMB-based market, we’re going to pivot and we’re going to make those changes to make sure that we service our partners the best that we should. And kind of beef up that SMB-facing side of things. Robert Dutt: Yeah, that makes sense. Jeff Taylor: It’s really interesting. It’s interesting, Robert. From day one, we called Lenovo 360 a framework and not a program from day one. And the whole idea was that we wanted to ask three basic questions like, how do you best engage with your partners? How do you best connect with your partners and how do you best grow with your partners? But depending on the conversation, the answers to those three questions might be different. So as an example, if you’re talking to a traditional hardware solution provider, you have answers for those three questions. If you’re talking to a GSI or an MSP or an MSSP, same questions may be very different answers. And so the whole idea with this framework was to be able to flex accordingly. And that went down all the way to the market level. So Craig mentioned that Canadian being more oriented towards an SMB type of approach, the framework has to flex to be able to support that. Whereas in other markets, it may flex a slightly different way, but it’s still all about engaging, connecting and growing. Robert Dutt: OK, back to your pizza point, Jeff, and one of my favorite, probably apocryphal Yogi Berra quotes, “cut my pizza in four slices, please, I can’t eat eight.” Curious, though, for a partner who looks at it and says, “all right, well, I used to have three incentives applied to my business and now there’s only really the one. The math doesn’t work for me.” What’s sort of the answer for them? Because the earning power says we didn’t take away the earning power. Jeff Taylor: So again, it’s the intent stays the same. The earning power stayed the same. The whole idea now is operationally, it should be easier for… the intent was that it would be easier for the partners to have a path towards that earning power. So instead of Jenga or a very complicated jigsaw puzzle, the intent here was to simplify that. So it’s a clear path to that earning potential with the same intent around growth, acquisition, those types of things. Craig Taylor: Yeah. And Robert, one of the things our partners have been asking us for is to provide more direction, focus as to where they want us to go win together in the market. And I think by simplifying these programs, it’s also allowed us to provide more focus to our partner community in the ecosystem to make sure that we’re winning together in the areas that we want to win. Jeff Taylor: And Robert, it goes beyond just traditional incentives programs, too. So we’ve simplified things like our certification programs. I’m going to get this number slightly wrong, but in the ballpark, in the last two years, we’ve driven 80,000 new certifications globally through some of the simplified changes that we’ve made. So all of these things, it’s look at the globe and then apply it locally. And again, with the full intent of making it as easy as possible for the partner. Robert Dutt: As with most partner programs slash framework changes, updates, you’ve acknowledged that some partners will land at a different tier under the new structure. How are you managing the transition and what should a partner do if they feel the new placement doesn’t reflect where they’re actually at in the relationship with Lenovo? Jeff Taylor: We’re very conscious about that. And I think, Robert, you know, any time there’s even a small change in some type of construct within the program, there’s some unfortunate circumstances associated with that. But we really tried to minimize it. And I’ll just give another example to hit a tier level. We have a volume requirement. OK, that’s the framework. But what that volume requirement is, it’s going to differ by market. So, you know, it might be very different in the U.S. than it is in France, than it is in Canada, than it is in Indonesia, as an example. And the whole intent there was through our analysis was to kind of minimize those impacts as much as possible while still creating the right type of incentive and the right value associated with each of those tier levels. Craig Taylor: And to that point, Robert, it was very thoughtful in Canada as to what the thresholds should be in order to properly reflect our market. And what’s happened as a result of that is over 90 percent of the partners have either maintained or actually improved their tier status as a result of the simplification and restructuring. What we’re doing with that remaining 10 or less than 10 percent is getting out in front of our foot, making sure that we have those discussions, working together through joint business plans to determine how we’re going to get them not only to the next threshold, but have a future plan to get us to the one after that and up-tier them as we continue our relationships with them. Robert Dutt: The services shift. Jeff, you put out a specific target there in recent interviews. 15 to 20 percent of partner revenue mix coming from services and solutions over the next year or two. The services business, as I understand it, has grown in the channel for the last five years or so with channel growth outpacing overall growth. That’s certainly real numbers and real growth. What’s driving customers towards the as-a-service and TruScale model specifically right now? Jeff Taylor: Yeah, I think it’s one word. It’s complementary. Our strategic approach is to have complementary services to those of our partners. We want to be able to ensure that our mutual end users are getting the best possible experience that they can get. In many cases, those services are provided 100 percent by the partner themselves. But in other cases where they don’t have those capabilities, our job is to complement those with the service capabilities that we have. The idea is that, first of all, I think you know Robert, the services space, like the TAM, is massive. There’s so much opportunity really for everybody to play in a meaningful way. You just have to be smart about it. I think that’s the first thing. The second thing is communicate. If there is an instance in which maybe there’s a perception of competing for services revenue, we’re going to communicate. We’re going to talk. We’re going to figure out what the best solution is for that end user and then move forward that way. Craig Taylor: Yeah, the other thing I would add and maybe another word for thought is flexibility as well. Feedback from our Canadian partners is that the Lenovo TruScale offering is much more flexible than other competitive offerings in market. Because we understand that not all customers look and feel the same. So this allows our partners to scale with us during their journey as they create more of a services-led go-to-market motion for their customers. Jeff Taylor: One of the conversations, Robert, that came out, you mentioned the Accelerate event last week in Austin. Obviously, a lot of discussions around AI and a lot of discussions around how do we best build an AI practice to go serve customers, whether they’re small businesses or large enterprises. And that’s a really scary thing for a lot of solution providers right now because they see that market exploding and they want to get it right. And this is a great example of where Lenovo can come in and partner with our partners on developing an AI practice that includes not just hardware and software, but also services. Robert Dutt: Craig, for a Canadian partner to whom Lenovo still means primarily ThinkPads and infrastructure hardware, what’s the first move usually looked like for a partner who wants to shift towards services with you guys and where are most partners sitting today against that 15-20% target? Craig Taylor: Yeah, great question. I think Jeff mentioned it earlier. It’s about communication. Often, it’s a miss when we don’t understand the partner services capabilities. We are a channel-led organization. We’ll continue to be with our services engagement in order to scale and address the Canadian customers. We need the channel and we will continue to work with the channel in order to win in services, but we have to understand what it is they can offer. So our team is working very closely with our partner community through this joint business partner plan in order to understand and make sure that we’re aligning their services capabilities with the needs of those customers. That’s first. Second of all is internally, we’re making sure that we have a motto of sell with, sell for, and sell through the channel. And so our Lenovo customer-facing sales teams understand the importance and the value that our partners are bringing to our mutual customers. And together, we’re winning more than we ever have before. Jeff Taylor: Hey Robert, there’s almost like a macroeconomic driver here as well. So partners are, and we’re seeing this globally, that there’s a realization that to maximize the value, to increase the multiple on their valuation, a move towards MRR or ARR models is extremely important, right? And those are services-led models. And so we are seeing a lot of these traditional partners who are very accustomed as us being a PC or an infrastructure provider, really needing our help in moving towards this recurring revenue model that’s going to increase their valuation and their multiples. So we’re seeing that trend everywhere right now, probably more so in North America than anywhere else, but it’s definitely happening globally. Robert Dutt: To that point where I wanted to go next was the MSP pathway. 3,000 partners signed up globally, 150 million or so last year for you guys, real proof point. You’re expanding to new geographies. What can you tell me about where that pathway is at in Canada? And as you’ve expanded geographically, are there any new developments on the Canadian front, either announced at Accelerate or along the way? Jeff Taylor: Why don’t I take kind of the big picture and then Craig can go deeper into Canada? Again, this move towards recurring revenue models is happening everywhere. And so not only has Lenovo’s growth in that space been even better than expected, dare I say, we’re seeing it, the growth of MSPs just in pure numbers globally is growing very, very rapidly. And again, I think it’s this financial macroeconomic driver that’s making that happen. To go back to our framework around engaging, connecting and growing, those answers are so different with an MSP than they are with maybe a traditional Lenovo partner. And so we spent the first year developing this program by listening, literally going to conferences, setting up a booth. We had MSPs coming up to us saying, “What are you doing here?” And we would be like, “We’re just listening. We just want to hear what motivates you and what is your business driver.” And so that was the genesis of creating this program because we wanted it to be bespoke specifically for those MSPs that are just operating in a kind of a different way than traditional VARs or traditional service providers. And now I’ll hand it over to Craig. Craig Taylor: Yeah, no well said. And you’ll see that the way that we’ve set up the Lenovo 360 for MSP pathway is the solutions hub within our online support and the way that we work with those partners looks different. The incentive stack is aligned to the needs, as per Jeff’s saying, and we have dedicated campaigns and road shows and community engagements in order to make sure that we’re addressing the needs of those MSP partners. What’s most exciting in Canada is it’s actually opened up a new route to market for us and new partner relationships where we haven’t had them before. You know, I would say that until this pathway was created, we were probably under penetrated from a Lenovo Canada perspective within the MSP community. Now the opportunity is vast. The partners, those MSP related partners are interested in working with Lenovo more than ever. And I think together we’re going to go win in the market. Robert Dutt: Are we still in the early innings of operationalizing that and realizing that or is that something that’s sort of matured with the program being out there? Craig Taylor: I think we already had a head start. And so, you know, some of the relationships with the key MSP partners in the Canadian ecosystem, those relationships already existed. I think this is now an opportunity just to extend our reach and better support the masses of MSP partners that are in the Canadian marketplace. So we’re well down the path, but no pun intended. But I think this framework actually allows us to go even deeper and have more intimate relationships with this set of partners. Jeff Taylor: I think globally, if I could interject here, we’re probably in the second inning of a nine inning game. There’s so much more we can and we’ll be doing with this MSP community. And at the same time, there’s tens of thousands of MSPs out there. So the opportunity is huge and our interest and our investment kind of matches that opportunity. But we still have many innings to play here. So we’re excited about it. Robert Dutt: I don’t know if you guys have noticed over the last few months, but memory costs have been a little bit volatile. You guys, you know, Ryan McCurdy was out in front of that publicly and the Top Choice Express model guidance for pricing some of the ISG deals. Real things that partners are navigating. How do you counsel a partner who’s trying to manage customer conversations when prices can shift before product ships? And what specific tools or protections do partners have inside Lenovo right now that they need to know about? Jeff Taylor: Yeah, again, I’ll just kind of take the big picture here. Lenovo culturally within our partner community has always been one based on trust and communication always. And we’ve navigated tough waters before, whether that was the pandemic or this situation that’s affecting the entire industry. And our approach is complete candor, open communication. We don’t hide behind any potential downside or any risk. We’re very communicative up front as we get information, we share that information. That can at times be frustrating for partners, but at the same time, if they, you know, at the end of the day, when they take a step back, they really appreciate Lenovo just being super transparent. It is a tricky deal right now. It is complicated and things are moving very quickly. I do not envy our sales folks and I don’t envy our partner sellers out there right now because there’s a lot of tricky, tough conversations that have to happen. You had mentioned Top Choice and Top Choice Express. We have invested in a model for Top Choice Express where we do have a supply. We can commit to an order to ship SLA that other vendors can’t right now. And again, I think that’s very well received by the partner community. It may be that the exact configuration is slightly different, but at a time like this, it’s a great way for us to service those customers collectively with our partners and with a high quality solution from Lenovo. Craig Taylor: Yeah, just to add to that as well, I would say resiliency and agility have always been built into our supply chain. We currently manufacture in over 30 locations in 10 different markets worldwide. That global footprint allows us to be more agile as we go to market during these challenging times. Recently, Gartner has rated us as the number eight most robust supply chain in the world. I think that’s going to work to our advantage as we go and continue through these challenging times. Robert Dutt: Switching to AI, you guys have posted 72% year-over-year growth in AI-related revenue. I want to unpack that a little bit. Jeff, where’s that coming from? Is that AI PC, infrastructure services, mix of all three through the hybrid AI advantage program and the Nvidia work? What does the enablement for a partner who wants to build an AI practice actually look like? Jeff Taylor: Lots of questions in there, so let me make sure I can get them all back. In terms of our mix, it really is cross portfolio. We are leading the way in AI PC, which is fantastic. I think we’ve just scratched the surface on that device side. I still think some consumers and users are wondering, what is the real AI value here? Those use cases will continue to come and we’ll continue to see that market expand. In terms of our infrastructure business, everywhere from being able to service the big hyperscalers all the way into the enterprise and the SMB space is a testament to the strength of our portfolio. That growth is represented from everywhere from the hyperscalers to enterprise to mid-market to SMB. Again, on the services side, we talked about that a little bit ago. It’s really about partnering to make that happen. We are very fortunate to have partners. You had mentioned Nvidia, also Intel, also AMD, all the silicon guys are very much working with us on making sure that, A, the solutions are there, and that, B, the way we’re enabling those solutions, which is also a little bit different, Robert. We have to be enabling around outcomes and not around feeds and speeds. You have to be talking to customers about what are they trying to accomplish. It’s not feeds and speeds anymore. How we’re enabling our partners, Craig had mentioned our Lenovo 360 Solution Hub as an example. It is an outcome-based platform where our partners can come in and learn what’s available from an outcome’s perspective. The solutions, the hardware and the software is really incidental to the conversation around the outcome itself. I think all of those things play together. Robert Dutt: Craig, where do you find Canadian partners are with AI at this point? There’s a spectrum with some building real AI practices, many still figuring out what the first customer conversation looks like. So I guess both acknowledging there’s a range of answers, where do you find partners are at? What’s the realistic, most common entry point for a mid-market focused Canadian partner? Craig Taylor: Yeah, to answer the first part of the question, it is a vast spectrum as to where each partner is on their AI journey. But rest assured, because of the Lenovo services portfolio, we can actually support each of those partners independently and complement their offerings as they scale their AI journey. I would suggest that many of them probably are moving from proof of concept with their customers to now proof of execution with their customers. More and more, there’s a demand on measuring an ROI on the AI investments that have been made. And I think that’s where partners and customers are looking for Lenovo for some direction. We recently created a CIO playbook, which actually helps our customers and partners be able to capture what that ROI is and what the financial returns are getting as a result of their AI investments. And feedback from that from our partner community has been very good. The other thing I would suggest is that because these AI workloads are now going from modeling into the cloud, now into being actually practically used within the customer sets, it creates a massive opportunity for our infrastructure solutions group business. And you heard Jeff mention that several times. One of the things we’re doing with our partner community is making sure that we’re over-investing with their technical architects and solution architects within the partner community to drive even more familiarity with the Lenovo solutions around AI playbook to make sure that we’re being suggested, recommended, and considered when customers are coming to them for advice. Robert Dutt: Jeff, Austin’s in the rearview mirror. You got the program changes out. New org is in place. What have you done for me lately? What does the rest of 2026 look like? And what would tell you by year end that this consolidation worked the way you wanted it to? Jeff Taylor: Yeah, first, I’m going to take a nap. I’m tired. There’s a lot that has to happen. I mean, the first thing is we have a commitment to our partners and to our partners like Craig, our internal partners, that everything continues to move from a local perspective, that we want to make sure that whatever changes we’re making, services our geographies, services our markets, and most importantly, services our partners. So that’s kind of the first priority in my mind to go do that. The second thing, and we briefly mentioned this before, is I think the world of enablement is changing quite a bit. And I think AI is driving that. And we throw around the word transformation quite a bit and things still aren’t really transformative. They’re more evolutionary. I actually think at this point, we’re at a transformative part in terms of channel management. So we are investing heavily in our digital platforms to move from just kind of basic LLM models into AI agents and eventually into agentic AI that’s going to completely change the way that we enable all of our partners, big and small. It’ll be more efficient. It’ll be more intuitive. It’ll be more timely. It’ll be more forward-looking than backwards-looking. I think, Robert, you know most portals are somewhat static and kind of represents yesterday and not tomorrow. I think all of that is going to change. And so a big focus for myself and working very closely with our IT and digital transformations organizations is this reimagination of enablement in this world of AI. And you’ll see more and more from Lenovo in that regard. Robert Dutt: I think that is going to be one of the most interesting things from a partner program structure point of view over the next couple of years is how you and your peers address those challenges and really potentially change the shape of what programs and enablement look like. It’s exciting. Jeff Taylor: It really is an exciting time for us channel nerds that have been around for forever. This is like, “Yes, we’re going to be able to rock the world. It’s going to be great.” Robert Dutt: Craig, for a Canadian partner listening to this, what’s the one thing that you want them to do differently or think differently in their relationship with Lenovo over the next little while? Craig Taylor: Yeah, I think we’ve talked about some of them already. We need to continue to protect and grow the core, which is our client computing and PC business. We have to grow at a premium to market. And I think we’re well positioned for that. I need the channel community to help us to continue to accelerate our ISG, our infrastructure solutions group business, around the data center to make sure we continue to drive relevance, focus on those technical relationships and leverage Top Choice Express, which will better service all of our customers by getting the right products in their hands quicker. We talked about helping our customers and our partners on this services-led selling journey. So we’re going to spend more time on that. But the last two, I think, are probably where a majority of my focus will be for the second half of the year. The one is continuing to make sure that we demonstrate ourselves as the easiest partner to do business with. So whether it be through our portfolio like Top Seller and Top Choice, whether it be the program optimization that Jeff and his team are doing fabulous work on, or whether it be the alignment of our portfolio coming together to represent one Lenovo, that’s going to be the key to our success and where our partners should continue to challenge us. Internally, I’m challenging my team to operate and act like an owner of your own business. And so we’re empowering our people to make decisions in market in front of their partners in order to have a more agile relationship with those customers. We’re enabling them with the right tools. And then finally, we’re educating them properly to make sure they represent this more complex portfolio of offerings that continues to be positioned in the marketplace and satisfy our customers’ business outcomes. So a lot for the second half of the year, but I’m very bullish that we’re positioned properly for success. Jeff Taylor: Robert, if you don’t mind, I would add just one quick thing there. And you had mentioned, like, we are in difficult times right now with memory and price increases and things like that. Partners are smart. They are going to lean on the partners that they trust, and they’re going to lean on the partners that have been there with them, or their partners that have been with them through these difficult times previously. And while nobody wants this situation, I think Lenovo is actually in a really good spot right now because we are that trusted advisor and have been for years. It’s not just words, right? It’s years and years and years of building relationships, the work that Craig and his team have done in Canada. You know, we have these relationships that allow us to navigate these waters maybe better than others. Robert Dutt: And my last super serious question to end this is, I’m basing this on an inference off a small sample size of two. But do you guys have any problems finding Taylors to run the channel orgs in all of the countries you operate in worldwide? Jeff Taylor: Go ahead, Craig. Say what you always say. Craig Taylor: Listen, I like to tease Jeff that he’s my dad, but our age delta is probably much more closer than makes that physically possible. But hey, listen, we’re going to take the best of the best. We happen to get two Taylors on this call with you, Robert. That’s what you’re getting today. And we’ll look for more next time we meet. Jeff Taylor: He’s definitely the better of the two. So it’s a funny thing. We were actually talking in Austin about how we might be able to mess with you a little bit, but we just don’t have to. Robert Dutt: Good to know. And Craig, I’ll send you the audio clip of him saying you’re the better one for your performance review. Craig Taylor: As long as that is your final edit, Rob, I’m happy. Robert Dutt: Gentlemen, thank you for taking the time. It’s been a fun conversation and we covered a lot of ground very well. Thank you. Jeff Taylor: Yeah, thank you, Robert. Craig Taylor: Yeah, look forward to seeing you soon, Robert. Thank you. Robert Dutt: There you have it. Jeff Taylor and Craig Taylor, both from Lenovo. I’d like to thank both Jeff and Craig for the time. It’s genuinely not that often you get the global and local perspective on the same conversation at the same time. And I thought the dynamic made for a richer discussion than either could have delivered on their own. A few things were taken away from this one. The incentive consolidation is real and it’s significant. Going from 2,300 active global incentives down to about 200, a 92% reduction, while keeping the total investment pool intact. Meaningful simplification. Jeff’s pizza framing is a good one. Same amount of pizza, fewer slices, each one bigger and more impactful. Earning power stays, operational complexity goes. If your business has been navigating a patchwork of overlapping incentives, the cleaner path to earning should be welcome. On the tier transition, Craig was direct that over 90% of Canadian partners either maintained or improved their status in the move to the new authorized gold and platinum structure. If you’re in the 10% that didn’t, the message was clear. Get in front of your Lenovo rep, build a joint business plan. There’s a path forward, but you have to start the conversation. The services shift didn’t seem like a someday conversation. Lenovo’s targeting 15 to 20% of its partner revenues from services and solutions over the next one to two years. TruScale is available and more flexible than a lot of partners probably realize. The partners who are going to win here are the ones who can articulate their own services capabilities clearly, so Lenovo can align around them rather than compete with them. On AI, I found Jeff’s forward-looking comments on agentic AI and the reimagination of enablement genuinely fascinating. Most partner portals are, as he said, static. They show you yesterday, not tomorrow. That is going to change. And how it changes will shape how partner programs actually function. Worth paying attention to across the industry. And for the hardware volatility piece, Top Choice Express is the practical answer right now for partners trying to manage customer conversations when prices are moving before product ships. If you’re not comfortable with it already, your first call tomorrow should be with your Lenovo rep. Oh, and yes, we did keep the clip of Jeff saying that Craig is the better Taylor. It’s in the edit. You’re welcome, Craig. If you enjoyed this episode, please follow or subscribe to the podcast wherever you get your podcasts. We’re on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, most of the major directories. Ratings and reviews are always appreciated and genuinely do help the show find a wider audience in the Canadian channel community. Until next time, I’m Robert Dutt for ChannelBuzz.ca and I’ll see you in the channel.

Peter Van Doodewaard has served as the Pastor of Covenant Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Taylors, South Carolina for 18 years. Check out his excellent sermons here.  Also, be sure to register for Greenville Seminary's GA lunch on Wednesday June 24th here. Special thanks to Nathan Clark George for our opening and closing instrumental. Nathan serves as the Pastor of Worship alongside Kevin DeYoung at Christ Covenant Church in Matthews, NC. You can access Nathan's fantastic catalog here.

Radio personality and foster care advocate Poet Taylor joins us on The Good Word! Poet is a popular radio personality in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. She also is a vocal foster care advocate, speaking from personal experience as a foster child in the DC foster care system. In an emotional interview, Poet gets candid about the challenges foster children face, sharing her own personal journey in the foster care system. She also shares the victories and success stories often ignored. This powerful conversation is taking place in May, National Foster Care Awareness month. A reported 360,000 children are in foster care in the United States and the National Council for Adoption says each year approximately 18,500 to 20,000 youth "age out" emancipate of the system without a permanent legal family. Poet highlights her success story including being adopted at 15 years old by her foster family, the Taylors, who she credits for her success. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dom Dwight joins Embracing Marketing Mistakes to share the reality of building a challenger brand that people genuinely care about.Across 18 years at Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate, Dom helped turn Yorkshire Tea into one of the UK's most loved brands by backing creative risk, trusting people and stripping out layers of sign-off. In this episode, he talks candidly about the resistance that comes with brave marketing decisions, the value of long-term agency relationships and why safe ideas often create the biggest risk.The conversation also goes deep on social media mistakes, political pile-ons and the moment a single tweet spiralled into days of backlash, memes and headlines. This is an honest look at autonomy, humour and accountability when a brand finds itself in the spotlight.Dom Dwight spent nearly two decades shaping Yorkshire Tea's brand voice and advertising, starting as a creative copywriter and later leading its early move into social media. He played a central role in the brand's long-running, award-winning work with Lucky Generals and is now working independently, helping ambitious brands build culture-led marketing that resonates with real people. Is your strategy still right in 2026? Book a free 15-min no obligation discovery call with our host:

First up, a massive celebrity engagement has taken a bizarrely fated turn after fans discovered a hidden connection between Harry Styles, Zoe Kravitz and a beloved book franchise. Plus, we're dissecting the first grainy on-set photos from a highly anticipated movie sequel - including a certain "upgraded" diamond ring that has the internet comparing old flames .Plus, we have a very serious theory about a sky-blue dress and a horseshoe necklace. We’re unpacking why a certain countdown appeared and vanished on a major artist's website, and whether she is about to pivot into the world of animated sequels to finally secure her "EGOT" status.And finally, the real-life inspiration behind one of cinema's most iconic "assistant" roles has finally stepped out of the shadows after twenty years. We get into her "savage" rebuttal to the woman who wrote the book and her mortifying encounter at a mutual friend’s house with the A-list actress who played her on screen. Read the Vogue interview with the real life Emily from Devil Wears Prada here. Love binge-watching TV? The Spill has launched a new podcast called Watch Party where we deep dive into the shows everyone’s talking about. Follow the feed on Apple or Spotify now. Plus remember The Spill drops the tea twice a day in this feed so follow us for all the latest entertainment news… OR you can WATCH our show in full length video on the Apple Podcast app - make sure your phone is up to date and enjoy the watch! Link here. THE END BITS Find and follow us on socials: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thespillpodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thespillpod Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thespillpodcast/ Read all the latest entertainment news on Mamamia: https://mamamia.com.au/entertainment/ Support Independent Women’s Media: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribe/ Your subscription helps us continue to tell the stories that matter to women. Want to join the conversation? Have feedback or a topic you want us to discuss? Send us a voice message or email us at thespill@mamamia.com.au and we’ll get back to you ASAP! Executive Producer: Monisha Iswaran Audio & Video Producer: Michael Kean Mamamia acknowledges the traditional owners of the land on which we have recorded this podcast. From Mum and Me Out.00:02Speaker 2 Welcome to the Spill your daily pop culture fix. I'm Laura Brednick and I'm Tina Burke and coming up on the show today, Look, Taylor slipped us up to some antics. There's secret coded messages in her outfits, there's potential secret songs, there's a countdown.00:15Speaker 1 I'm gonna be so honest.00:16Speaker 2 I'm gonna let you, Tina Burke, explain that because that is wait, you're crazy, Taylor, so fandom that's your business. Plus something I have been obsessed with for the last few days. I know we both have, but we need to talk about it. The real life Emily from The Devil Wears Prada has come forward after all these years, and she's given some really interesting insights about the author of the book, Anna wind Tour Emily Blunt. We're getting get into the biggest takeaways from that, but first you have some other things to discuss.00:43Speaker 3 I have some things that have come across my desk this morning. One of them is very short and I just need to touch on it really quickly, Will And it is that. Obviously, last week we discussed Zoe Kravitz and Harry Styles engaged. According to people magazine. Do you know what their middle names are? Her middle name is Isabelle, Isabella Isabelle.01:00Speaker 1 Last, what his is? No, it's Edward. Oh they are Edward and Bella. Oh my god, this has blown up.01:08Speaker 2 You might be the only person who. Oh no, it has blown up on socials this morning.01:12Speaker 3 It's come across the internet because they are Bella and Edward from Twilight, which means they are now faded to be together forever. I was skeptical before. I was like, they're not gonna last. It's not gonna happen. And now I'm like, no, they're Bella and Edward, so like it's gonna happen. By Stephanie Wheer, Oh my god, I love some little nerd put that together. I love nerds.01:28Speaker 1 And they together.01:29Speaker 2 For nine months, we've had this information for nine months and only now have people picked it up.01:32Speaker 3 Someone sat on it until now, And maybe they'll have a little renett me of their own, just something to think about, something a bit.01:37Speaker 1 More serious, do you think of it?01:39Speaker 2 Well, I'm sure they'll be thrilled that people have figured out they're supposed to be together because they're middle names.01:43Speaker 1 Yes, no other reason.01:46Speaker 2 Yeah, something more serious that isn't more serious, No, but with just my lurkings on social media is the Summer I Turn Pretty has officially.01:55Speaker 3 Been done filming the movie, which is very exciting. It's been really like under wrapped of what exactly the plot was going to be. I mean, we pretty much assume and everyone has reported that it's going to be about like Belly and Conrad finally getting married, but we didn't finally.02:10Speaker 2 Everyone's like, well, when will those crazy kids get married?02:13Speaker 3 Honestly like sitting on the shelf at this point. But I do think they're going to be about twenty five. But the first onset photos came out over the weekend. They've gotten back to set and while they were incredibly grainy and blurry and they were kind of like pat photos or fan photos taken on phones, they're all out on a boat on the lake.02:29Speaker 1 It's very the summer return pretty.02:31Speaker 3 Yes, what you can see is that Belly has a big diamond ring on her left ring finger.02:37Speaker 2 Okay, people have not handled these photos well in a mature way. Everyone has been pretty nasty, pretty crazy because the ring, as we all remember, if you can even call her that, that was given to Belly by Jeremiah in the show was so small that you literally couldn't see it. Even when she held it up in front of your face, you could not see it. We put it on socials and we had to.02:58Speaker 3 Draw a circle around it, the tiny little diamond.03:01Speaker 2 From that point, poor Jenny Hahn, the writer of the books and creator of the TV series and showrunner and all these things, This talented, creative, brilliant woman then gave up her precious time to go on oppressed tour to do interviews so that fans could ask her questions about the show. And all that woman got asked was what was that tiny ring? Was that meant to be a joke? And that poor woman had to answer over and over again. No, it wasn't meant to be a joke. We just thought, like, he doesn't have any money, so of course you'd have a small ring. It's just the way that belly held it up so defiantly to show the family and then you couldn't see it, and you couldn't see it at all. Became such a running joke.03:36Speaker 3 Yes, and so even from a great distance on a boat in the middle of the high seas, you can see the ring that we can assume Conrad has given to her. So it's a Peconkin diamond, and I'm very excited about that because she does deserve it. And this is why you date the handsome doctor and not like the weird other brother. There were lots of reasons, but I do think this is one of them. The other big thing that has come out based on these photos is that Jeremiah our like sad single other.04:01Speaker 1 Hey.04:01Speaker 2 Hey, some of us were kind of quietly team Joremiah nick word team Jeremiah, and I don't understand why, but that's your business. He has his arm wrapped around a mystery blonde woman, so that, oh god, it's not that woman from who was that girl?04:13Speaker 1 I kind of friend.04:14Speaker 3 Yeah, So the whole season three subplot of him falling for the roommate and the roommate being a weird hater of Conrad that never.04:21Speaker 1 Sat well, Yeah, that just felt right. That was for nothing.04:23Speaker 3 It felt rushed, and it was for nothing because now he's on a boat with a woman who looks a little bit too much like his mother and he's got his arm around her and they look to be a couple. So wow, something to think about there, But we don't really know too much about what the film is about, but we do know that Jenny Hahn is directing. So she directed one of the episodes of the season three, which was episode five. Laura, I don't know how much you remember the summer I Turned pretty, but episode five was the one from Conrad's pov Oh the Apple.04:48Speaker 1 We hate the Apple, and he is in the white T shirt. Yeah, that song played wild Horses beautiful.04:52Speaker 3 VI.04:52Speaker 2 Wow, I just like, I feel like I just lost you for a second, just went off and I just got into.04:55Speaker 3 My Conrad's little like mind bubble. But she's going to direct the film, so she said, taking inspiration from Nora Efron. Oh great, so great person to take your inspiration from. You do have to wonder what like the traditional third actension is going to because I think the whole show was third actension and we don't need to see a mini breakup again. But I don't know, maybe Steven and the other one can have some drama.05:17Speaker 1 Yeah, I mean that's the thing. Isn't it to be able to make a movie like that.05:20Speaker 2 Yes, yes, you've got the wedding as the plot, but there's going to have to be some moment where you think they're not going to get married some sort of drama.05:26Speaker 1 You can't just have a wedding.05:27Speaker 3 No, But like at this point, it's been drama non stop for years.05:30Speaker 1 You go tired to Paris.05:31Speaker 3 She's like, actually, I'm going back to Paris, thank you so much. I'm leaving you again. That would be so boring. We can't do that.05:36Speaker 1 Do we know when this is coming out? Like, at least not until next.05:39Speaker 2 Year twenty twenty seven, twenty twenty seven to be coming out. Yeah, I mean, I guess people will still be interesting, Like I know people still be interested, But I was worried when the show ended and they announced the movie was happening, and the momentum was so huge, and in my head, I was like, oh, I wonder if they've started shooting so that this can come out at least a year after the last episode has aired, and now it's going to.05:59Speaker 1 Be well over year.06:01Speaker 3 Yues.06:01Speaker 2 People still care because there was such a fandom around that show.06:04Speaker 1 But do we think it all? Do we think the momentums lost a little bit?06:07Speaker 3 I think so, And as well, there were reports like the other week about the fact that maybe the cast had only signed on to do the movie in order to get pay bumps for season three when they were renegotiating, and Deadline kind of reported saw stuff the cast themselves didn't come out and say this, but that the cast might have felt like they were a little bit taken hostage in having to agree to the movie so that they could get a pay.06:28Speaker 1 Rise for three.06:29Speaker 3 So there's also like that little underlying tension as well that I think some fans aren't happy with. And yeah, it's a long wait for a movie that realistically like I don't know what's like, how much could possibly happen.06:39Speaker 2 Yeah, we love Jenny harm but yeah, we love Jenny Harm. Well, hopefully there's a big plot twist in there. But that's the thing about having these continuing stories is like you do have to kind of break something or change something in order to make it worth the stakes.06:51Speaker 1 Yeah, but I'm sure to be fine.06:52Speaker 2 And also at least that they were all out of like high school and through college, they have to worry about it. They don't have to worry about them aging out of their roles. Yeah, we've got a good fifteen year years before that happens. So no, I think it'd be fun.07:02Speaker 1 Yeah, So, as.07:04Speaker 3 Discussed my favorite topic in the world. Taylor Ellison Swift has come up twice, actually more than even twice, several times in the past week, but on two very significant occasions. We have been talking about Taylor Swift and I have been talking your ear off, and I'm sure you loved every second of it.07:18Speaker 1 Right, No, I always.07:19Speaker 2 Find that you have an interesting angle on Taylor Swift because you're like really in the weeds with not just the fan theories, but kind of like the industry chat as well.07:27Speaker 1 So I find that very interesting. I thank you for play kating a lot of people who care about stuff I can't really relate.07:32Speaker 3 Yeah, and I care about everything weigh too much. But one of the things that came up last week, which some of the spillers may have seen, I know a lot of people were texting me going, what the hell is happening right now?07:44Speaker 2 People text you if something happens to tell you Swift, They're like, what's going on? Why is this a thing?07:48Speaker 1 And to be fair, you know the answer, and I do know the answer.07:50Speaker 3 So Taylor Swift. On Friday last week, a mysterious countdown appeared on her website for the briefest of moments and obviously, if you know anything about Taylor Swift, she loves like an Easter egg, she loves a big reveal, and she often does these countdowns on her website. So before the Life of a Showgirl album came out, whole website changed colors, big countdown pops up. This time, her website briefly changed to a sky blue background with like white cartoon clouds, and a countdown appeared in like this also cartoonish kind of font and then disappeared, and the Swifties very quickly put together that it looked like Toy Story Wow, okay, and Toy Story five is coming out soon.08:31Speaker 1 No, I'm aware, Oh good, I'm aware. I'm up on the plots, I'm up on everything.08:35Speaker 3 No, everything, and Toy Story five is coming out soon. But the thing is, people suddenly realized, holy shit, has a Taylor Swift been dropping Toy Story five clues?08:45Speaker 1 And again, yes, yes, okay, it looks like yes.08:49Speaker 3 So one of the things that I love about Taylor Swift is so and it's bold of me to say this, I'm sitting here in a T shirt, but her street style is not necessarily beloved by the fashion girls. A lot of people think she dresses a bit basic or like. The common theme is people think there's always like one thing wrong with her outfits, so she often gets roasted for her She.09:08Speaker 2 Gets roasted, And it's so interesting how there's this huge fandom of people that are just like, oh, she looks she just looks terrible. She dresses frumpy. If you listen to any kind of fashion podcast, fashion adjacent, any kind of industry chat, they're just like, she's known as being like one of the worst dress celebrities. Can I just say, I can't see it. I like her outfits.09:28Speaker 1 I like them too. I guess I'm just not a fashion girl.09:31Speaker 2 But I thought, like recently in the dress with the little yellow bag and the heels, maybe it's because I too am a little basic. Like when people just like, oh, it's so boring when she just wears a glittery gown, I was like, you know what, wear a glittery gown. I'm so sick of everyone wearing a beige column dress or a black dress. They're like, it's chival blah blah blah. I don't know, they all look the same. Well, at least she has a look.09:50Speaker 1 Yes, she has a look.09:51Speaker 3 She knows what her style is, and she has worked for years and years and years with the same style as Stress of Castles. You have to wonder how he feels about it all. But he also does like her, like streaming and stuff for like the Era's tool.10:01Speaker 2 If he does love that, it's so wild because I don't see a huge jump between her costumes from the RAS tour and her street style and her red carpet style. To me, it all looks very like concise and that it fits together, Like she doesn't look like she's in a costume when she's on stage to me, and she doesn't look like she's been dressed by someone else when she's like she always looks like her. Yeah, and there's very few celebs that look like that, Like some of them, there's such a clear line between their street style and their event dressing.10:26Speaker 1 Yeah. So I don't know what people want. I don't know what people want.10:29Speaker 3 But what they did was dig back, and they didn't have to dig very far because last week she did wear the outfit you're talking about, which is like a sky blue dress.10:36Speaker 1 She had a yellow bag.10:36Speaker 3 She was wearing lue batons, which obviously have a red bottom on them, and she was wearing a horse shoe necklace, and so people ripped into this outfit last week. Yeah, and then suddenly on Friday, when.10:46Speaker 1 I was like, wa, where can I buy that?10:47Speaker 3 And I can't afford it? But I thought she I thought it was a great dress. She was out for dinner with her family and friends. And though she has previously said she does an Easter Egg when she's like Easter Egg her personal life, she does Easter Egg through fashion all of the time. And people as soon as this Toy Story theory started kicking around, well like, wait a minute, was that hideous outfit we hated on Monday a.11:05Speaker 1 Toy Story five clue? Maybe?11:08Speaker 3 And then outside of that, there is also there's clouds in the background of her opal Aite music video, Greta Lee, obviously because of the Graham Norton show was in that music video. Guess what She's also doing voicing a character in Toy Story five exactly, and June five is the really.11:23Speaker 1 State of Toy Story five.11:24Speaker 3 It was also the really state of Tailswift's debut album, Whoa. So everyone's kind of gathered these clues together to decide that she is making his song for Toy Story five and that the countdown accidentally got set live early.11:36Speaker 1 Oh but does she do anything by accident that I'm not sure of.11:39Speaker 2 So if the countdown had been like real, it would have counted down to like Sunday five am ish our time, and then nothing happened.11:45Speaker 1 And nothing, but it did disappear.11:47Speaker 3 So I do have to wonder if it was like a phase test gone wrong. If it is gonna happen, I mean we'll find out. It doesn't seem out of the realm of possibility to me for like Taylor to be like, you know what, now it's time for a kid's music soundtrack.11:59Speaker 2 Yeah, I mean, look, she's exactly the right age to have a very nostalgic yeah, because like all elder Malone, like she's an elder millennial just like us.12:07Speaker 1 Maybe or not, but yeah, we're all in that same.12:09Speaker 2 Bracket where we'd like grown up with Toy Story and then that we had like the later Toy Story movies that hit us as adults, and now this next one that we know is coming up is really kind of hitting everyone. It's more for adults and kids, it's hitting us at the stage of our life where we're in wood.12:22Speaker 1 He's got a bald spots triggering for everyone.12:26Speaker 2 It's yeah, so May there's a world in which she's a secret Toy Story fan and she has a real affinity with this franchise she's growing up with, and like it's all the cool kids like Greta Lee's getting in on Toy Story and then you have like Tom Hanks coming back and all the voice cast, and yeah, it's the one thing that everyone wants a piece of at the moment in Hollywood, which is so crazy.12:44Speaker 1 It's a Toy Story franchise.12:45Speaker 3 And one thing we know about Taylor Swift is that she does love an award. And if she could win a songwriting award and get a little bit closer to being an Eagle winner, you just know she would love that.12:55Speaker 2 She's just had a rough run as that poor girl. When will anything go right for Taylor?13:00Speaker 1 When will she again?13:01Speaker 2 I know she was meant to be a shoeing for the Oscars for Cats, Yeah, because she When you write a song, you co write a song with Andrew Lloyd Webber for one of the like most enduring musicals of all time, yea, you should at least get a nomination and probably a win, And that song was lovely, and I'm sure she pictured herself up on stage the Oscar singing it. And then Cats were so reviled and so universally hated the fact that Andrew Lloyd Webber went and bought a dog. Man hated dogs.13:29Speaker 1 He's like it turned me. He literally said that the other day a dog person.13:33Speaker 2 Yeah, He's like, I hated the adaptation of my work Cats so much that I went and bought a dog.13:38Speaker 1 Like, that's how much that man is angry at And.13:40Speaker 2 So Taylor's missu and that, and then everyone thought she was going to get a short film for the nomination for All Too Well. And there's been a few other times her music has been in the mix for a possible nomination, but it just hasn't. It's the one thing that's eluding her.13:51Speaker 3 It is, and I do think like she's got her thinking cap on and she's like a sad song about Jesse the Doll. That's a Cowboys song that could do well.13:59Speaker 2 I mean, the thing is, it's it's a good plan. If that woman writes a banger for toy story for the next movie, then yeah she's in. Then that's a real hook for a Best Song nomination at least.14:10Speaker 3 Yes, and so that was sort of the like unseerious side, but I do believe in it.14:14Speaker 1 That was a serious side.14:15Speaker 3 Yes, no surprising thing. So something else that Taylors which is making headlines for at the moment is her name in relation to a billion dollar sale to do with Spotify. But it's kind of due to something that she did back in twenty eighteen. And the reason I want to talk about it is because I love her so much, but also she's going to get so many other artists and so many other like songwriters and people involved in production paid out as a result of something she did back in twenty eighteen. But basically Universal Music Group are looking at selling half of their three percent stake in Spotify. And that might sound small, but that deal could be worth as much as like one point four billion dollars.14:51Speaker 1 It's a lot of money.14:52Speaker 3 So basically a bid from Pershing Square came to Universal which was to like buy out part of Universal or to become an investor, and in order to do that, they wanted them to liquidate part of their Spotify shares. But then for some reason everyone's reporting that it's like independently Universal Music has decided to sell off part of their Spotify shares and that was announced in April, but at the moment, they're obviously looking to sell off the stake. And what that would mean, like why Taylor Swift is involved is that she negotiated a deal back when she signed in twenty eighteen and other labels were selling off their Spotify shares, she negotiated that the funds would be non recoupable.15:33Speaker 1 Hard work to say.15:34Speaker 3 Got to tell you what that means is, obviously record labels, like every other label that would exist in the world, when an artist makes money, part of that money goes back to their record label. But obviously in this case the record label would be selling something, they would be giving that money to artists, and Taylor Swift is blocking that money from ending up going back to the record label. Oh and so the reason that she did that was because, as we know, Masters were a really big deal to her. She universal in twenty eighteen, and the reason she left Big Machine Records is she wanted to own her masters, like to own her own work, and the only way that Big Machine were willing to do that was if she gave them all one for one deal. So every time she gave them a new album, they would give her back ownership.16:14Speaker 1 Of one of her older albums.16:15Speaker 3 Oh, and she was like no, and didn't really trust Scott Bourschetta. And I think as well. She'd signed on when she was so young, she was a teenager. Her family were really involved. She was one of the very first artists that they had at Big Machine Records. She's certainly their most successful and I think they tried to make her feel as though like she owed them this deal even though it wasn't beneficial or good for her, and so she walked away went to another music group. As we know, the Masters thing kind of carried on for years and at that time wasn't as well known. But in twenty eighteen it did become a big deal. Oh my god, Taylor Swift wants more money from Universal. And what she was actually doing was making sure that this deal would impact smaller artists and musicians. And she said it at the time, she was like, I see it as a sign that we're heading towards positive change, a goal I'm not going to stop trying to help achieve in whatever ways I can. But she was very honest at the time that she was on her sixth seventh album, and she was like, I can speak up and be a voice for change, but younger artists can't. And she was like, what is the point of me, essentially, if I'm not going to stand my ground and have these arguments with record labels and Universal agreed. So they were one of the first to do it, and it does mean now when they're doing this sale, all of these other artists are gain and benefit massively, and I do think it's a testament today Swift. And I know a lot of people talk about her being a billionaire or like money grabbing, and at the time this deal was viewed very much as like, oh.17:35Speaker 1 She's just out for herself.17:36Speaker 3 But I do think she's one of those rare people in the music industry who isn't even though yes, she's going to benefit too, she does want other people to not go through what she went through.17:46Speaker 2 That's interesting thing because and I've said this before public on the podcast, So whether it's wrong or right, is that sometimes I feel like when she takes in the past, she has taken these big stands, it often kind of comes across like people really rally around her and celebrate her for some of the things she's done or when she said, but a lot of them. It sometimes feels like she just weighs on an issue when it's going to benefit her, and she tries to make it a universal thing. She's like, this man said this, you know, inappropriate thing to me, which also fair enough to be upset, and she's like, I'm going to take a stand, and everyone kind of rallies around her, and yeah, it's like, you know, oh, women's rights are that sort of thing. But at the same time, when you actually look at it from like a like a higher lens and kind of float above it, you're like, that was that was.18:26Speaker 1 Just for you.18:27Speaker 2 And saying the master's thing where I think for a long time there where she was like everyone felt like they were swept up in this big movement of like Taylor Swift getting her music back and it was this huge thing and it felt like a communal win every time she did it. But if you actually again looked at that, it was like, oh, no, it's just it's her, Like obviously.18:43Speaker 1 People are not. Everyone's going to own their masters. Yeah, and also like that's nice.18:47Speaker 2 It's like, you know, to feel good about what your favorite artist does and to feel involved in that, and I know that was a real sense of community around the Swifties. But then at the same time, yes, it always kind of felt like, oh, she'll speak on it, but only if it kind of comes back to her. But then I guess over the years she has kind of tried to, like when she spoke about politics and you know, tried to endorse like a different candidate, and she was like very aware that was like a bigger thing than her then. And I you know, obviously I know how much money she gives away and all that sorts of things, but you know, if you want to get on the weeds in it, it's kind of always felt like and that's what I hear a lot of you know, fans talk about the fact they love her music, but they wish she really stood for something.19:23Speaker 1 Outside of herself.19:25Speaker 2 But then also because of her branding and the way she kind of puts herself as this kind of like very inclusionary person, we all obviously expect more of her than other artists, particularly male artists. So it's a very weedy path. So you're kind of telling me that this was on because when I first heard of this, I only heard of it really top line, and I thought it was once again a thing of Taylor's lived coming out and like making sure that she has a win, making sure that she has her money, making sure that she's protected, and that being her first kind of priority, and then as a default, she's pulled other people in with her and she's being like overly celebrated. That's what I thought, But you're that that's not correct.20:01Speaker 3 Yeah, Look, my perspective on it is as you kind of said, there's been times like the Master's thing when she was releasing the Taylor's versions of albums. I liked it because I got new songs. Oh yeah, yeah, which I know, so fair enough selfish.20:12Speaker 1 And like fun as as fifty it was like.20:14Speaker 2 Transactional, like an artist you like is putting out content that you're willing to, like essentially buy the streaming and stuff.20:20Speaker 1 That's fair, that's just how business works.20:21Speaker 3 Yeah, But I very much saw that as like she did that because she it was personal to her.20:26Speaker 1 She wanted to own her own art.20:27Speaker 3 That's great, but it wasn't necessarily, like you said, the big moment that a lot of people built it up to be where everyone was going to benefit or everyone was going to succeed out of this. I do think though, when she did make this decision, there was a lot She actually received a lot of backlash at the time because she'd also previously like she took her music off of Apple Music in twenty fifteen. Yes, I remember that, and it was a whole big deal because Apple started doing like free trials essentially, and Taylor was like, well, how are people going to get paid if you're doing free trials? So then she took her music off temporarily, and then Apple agreed to still pay the artist despite the free trial periods, and she.21:02Speaker 1 Went back on.21:02Speaker 3 And I'd always taken her music off Spotify in twenty seventeen, like, so she'd done it a couple times in.21:07Speaker 2 Order, and I know those were framed if she was like, this doesn't make a difference to me, I'm doing this for other artists. Yeah, But was some part of it also because she's a business woman, and you don't become a billionaire without being very conscious of like keeping your money and making sure you're getting like squeezing money out of every little area that you can, like that's how you become rich. So was they also a part of her that was like I need to protect my own money, even though I don't need to at this stage, it's still money I'm losing. And then by default I will pull like I will help other artists out, which I'm sure the artists getting the money they don't care that she did it for herself and they're a byproduct.21:40Speaker 1 You'd be happy to take it.21:41Speaker 2 But it's just so interesting we always have to like she's a billionaire, and everyone still has to be like we have to protect the downtrodden kind of, you.21:49Speaker 3 Know, like yeah, yeah, And I do think at the time, like, for sure, those decisions like with Apple and Spotify in twenty fifteen, twenty seventeen, definitely we're about protecting her assets and all of that. I do think the decision in twenty eighteen to sort of negotiate all of these terms with Universal because that wasn't the only agreement that they came to. But I do think that had a lot to do with the way she was feeling taken advantage of with big machine records. Yes, and yes, that is a lot to do with herself. But I do think she looked then at that point in time, this is like after she's been canceled. This is when people are hating her guts, and I do think she started to look more. It's also when she's getting to like reputation. That world tour was at the time the highest grossing tour of all time, Like it was a big deal in North America. So I do think she was at a very successful point, but also at a point where she recognized that she had a bit more power than she'd ever had before and finally got to negotiate something and look back at how she'd been treated by this independent record label and just wanted to do something that protected people. She's also had the same band her whole career. She's worked with a lot of the same production team, same songwriters, same people in her camp the entire time. And while they're really well taken care of, I think she also sees that like not a lot of people are, and she's about like when she was a songwriter back in Nashville, she would be in these like communities and people would be talking about how they got money from people buying like a Faith Hill song that they had worked on one time, and so she was like, that doesn't happen anymore. So I want songwriters to be better paid. It basically all came down to the whole songwriting element of how she sees herself rather than like the big pop stars and stuff. Did she benefit absolutely, and do people often yeah, compliment her when she does something just for herself and it ends up benefiting others.23:28Speaker 1 Absolutely.23:28Speaker 3 But I do think in this instance, like it is going to help a lot of people put food on the table and also remain in the industry a bit longer when you have deals that actually support the lower down people in music.23:40Speaker 1 And like I guess in terms of musical.23:42Speaker 3 Billionaires, I'm glad at least one of them is doing something better than other people.23:45Speaker 1 Yeah, exactly.23:46Speaker 2 And that's the thing I don't like when people like, look at Taylor Sitch and has to do these extremes of like she's a superhero, she's a super villain. Like, yeah, it's a bit in the middle. It's a bit in the middle. Like do I think anyone should be a billionaire?23:56Speaker 1 No? I don't.23:57Speaker 3 But also I do think she donates a lot of mine. You see it all the time. She doesn't come out and go look I did this, Like random charities will be like, hey, she just gave us a million bucks and you're like, oh sick.24:07Speaker 1 Yeah. Yeah, Well, and you know the good news. I guess out of this might takeaway. She might have some sweet toy story.24:11Speaker 2 Money coming in. She might look she'll never be shy I of a dollar, Taylor Swift. But hey, maybe she'll help some people along the way. Well, we're still very much in the devil Weares prior to two weeks. The movie came out last week. We've got a special episode coming up this Friday about it. The movie, So it released this weekend. We're like number one at the box office across the world, as we thought it would be. Apparently it's going to go even further than projected with like the money it's making here the box office, because people are going to see it multiple times. And I love that and hopefully I don't know what it's going to take for studios to take notice, because it's like we have Barbie Breaks all the box office records, Wuthering Heights, love it or hate it, Women just wanted to get dressed up and go with their friends.24:48Speaker 1 Yeah, did amazingly crush the box office.24:52Speaker 2 And now the same thing, women are getting dressed up going to the movies.24:54Speaker 1 Like guys, are we seeing a pattern here? People like the movies.24:57Speaker 2 It's almost like women want to go and see women's stories at the movies.25:01Speaker 1 They can get dressed up and have a goddamn cocktail.25:04Speaker 2 Anyway, So, as we move through Devil Wears Prider Week, and I'm having a great time with everyone who's coming out and would work to share their thoughts and feelings and everything, something very interesting has happened, something historic. I would even go as far to say the real inspiration behind Emily Charlton, a character in the Devil West Prata who has been in three of the books and also now the two movies, the real woman behind her has come forward for the first time in decades. People have tried to work out who she was for years, and I'm sure people in the fashion and magazine industry knew, but she herself has never come out and said anything until now, until the movie has come out and so well received it to be said, there's a straight line there. So Leslie Freemar, who is a celebrity stylist and has been in the fashion industry for many decades, went on the Vogue podcast and talked to editorial director Chloe Mao because when Anna Wintle vacated, she wouldn't let anyone else be the editor of Vogue, said, she's the editorial director, but she is running the day to day operations at Vogue now as Anna win talk kind of move has moved into a more like overseeing role. And so she interviewed Leslie, and I know you've listened to this multiple times, right, this interview. Yeah, I couldn't get enough of it. I listened to it twice as well. It's been the thing all my group chats are talking about. And it's interesting because it wasn't supposed to be cutting in any way, but if you read between the lines.26:26Speaker 1 Oh yeah, there's some cutting lines.26:28Speaker 2 It's a bit of a savage story about Lauren Weisberger. So if anyone doesn't know, Lauren Weisberger is the author of The Devil Wears Prata and the sequel, The Devil Returns.26:37Speaker 1 And everyone keeps saying that this is the second book, but actually the.26:39Speaker 2 Third, When Life gives You Lu a Little, When Life gives You Lulu Levin's Crazy, which is Emily's story of her leaving Miranda and like getting pregnant and moving to the suburbs and like breaking up with her husband. It's nothing like the movies. Yeah you've said that. Yeah, I've not read this book. And then so here's the Lauren Weisberger that she was Anna Wintour's assistant well over many decades ago now, and she lasted about eight months in the second assistant chair, and we now know that Leslie was the first assistant at the time. So when she came on to do the podcast with Chloe, Chloe sort of says to her, like, why do you think you're the real Emily? And she's like, I don't think I know. And as she tells her story, it's interesting because Vogue was going to have a panel with past Vogue staffers that all could have been the Emily and they were going to sort of like have a discussion. And then Leslie, who doesn't really do anything like she works with celebs, and like, yes, she's Charlie's.27:33Speaker 1 There on style, Yeah, and she's style a lot of.27:35Speaker 2 Red carpet looks and things like that, but she's on a public face. And she had to sort of call Chloe and say, hey, I'm happy to come and talk and help.27:42Speaker 1 But it's going to be.27:43Speaker 2 Really clear if we all get on stage straight away that it's me.27:46Speaker 1 Yeah, that it's definitively me.27:48Speaker 2 I sat across from her, I said lines that are in the book, I know it's me, And so that idea is going to fall apart pretty quickly. And Soe said that she came on the podcast, Ye did you have a favorite reveal from Leslie? Although there was way too many, but I do think the clearest one, or like the best one to me is how she found out about the book. And also that's the clearest one that obviously, yes, the book was written about her, because even Anna Wintor knew the book was about to tell her. So can I tell the story please people who haven't listened. So obviously wide ranging podcast really really good. But in this part, she says she had moved on to be an assistant in a fashion department and then she gets a call from then Anna's new assistant to be like Anna needs to speak with you, and she was like, Anna never needs to speak with you, and also never needs to speak to an assistant. So she hustles on over there and Anna Wintour asks her who is this woman?28:38Speaker 1 Like who is this lady?28:39Speaker 3 And she's like, that was your assistant, and Anna Winter was like, I don't even know.28:43Speaker 2 Her, has no idea, Well, she has a lot of different assistants, and that she was only there for eight months, and I'm sure maybe she'd seen her.28:50Speaker 1 She would have, yeah, but she.28:51Speaker 2 Called her and she was just like, who is Lauren Weisberger? And it was so funny because Grace Cottington, who's a really famous Vogue editor who worked really closely if Anna and that team, wrote in her own book that no one could remember Lauren when brutal so focused so funny about it. She's like, none of us could picture this, and she's like, I guess Anna's assistants were always, you know, just these bobbing, faceless heads outside her office that you would talk to. But like, Leslie is really the only one who has any memory of her.29:20Speaker 1 Yeah.29:21Speaker 3 And so it's obvious enough when Anna has read this, you know, the initial draft of the book to her that the Emily character is Leslie, because she calls Leslie into her office asks her who Lauren is, and then Anna Wintour says, oh, she's written a book about us, and you come off far worse than me.29:36Speaker 2 That is the interesting thing that Leslie says in this interview, is that they received the galley, which is the very very early stages of a book where things are subject are changed, and she said, she it's so funny, Chloe. He's like, did you run outside straight away and read it. She's like, no, I had to back and do and finish my work. And I was like, life, Emily, I mean maybe because she's like, we probably had a big shoot that day.29:58Speaker 1 That was me.29:59Speaker 2 I would have run straight to some hidden corner and I would have read that book under my desk all day. She said, she waited till she got home at night. Okay, if you've got more will power than me, and she said the first iteration of the book was so mean and much more true to life, because what she's saying has happened is that Lauren took a writing class and they said write what you know, and apparently she wrote it as a memoir, and then they wanted to fictionalize it, and then the fictionalized version was really really mean to everyone who worked at Vogue Tour, to the Leslie character who became Emily, and then the editors who worked with her toned it right down to the book that went on the shelves. The Devil Wears Prada, which is interesting because that book does skew very not mean, but it's like the Miranda Priestley character.30:43Speaker 1 Have you read the book?30:44Speaker 3 No?30:44Speaker 1 Oh, okay, I wouldn't. Sorry, no, I wouldn't invite.30:48Speaker 2 If you're going to read a Lauren Weisberger book, I've got I've got a better recommendation. She read, She wrote some good books. She writes a fun book to have by the pool on holiday. I've read, Yeah, like Last Night at Chateau my Mond chasing Harry Winston. Yeah, The Devil is proud of Like the idea is good obviously because it went on to spawn this incredible thing. But the plot's a bit thin. There's no memorable one liners, Like, it's not a witty book. And also the character of Miranda Priestley is like a caricature. Yeah, all the layers that she has in the movie don't exist in the book.31:21Speaker 1 She's just a nasty woman.31:22Speaker 3 Well. I found that interesting because Leslie said she was able to watch the movie and she found the movie really enjoyable. She was like, it's really glamorous, but there's more like empathy and the people are more well rounded than we saw in that initial galley and then even in the book that got published, Like, that's crazy to me that you can know that this is about you and you see it is really mean, but then you see the on screen portrayal and like, yeah, you like Emily and you like Miranda. I don't have way more nuance than I'm guessing they have in the book.31:47Speaker 2 No, in the book, they just kind of mean girls. Like, yeah, I mean Emily and Andrea hang out a little bit more in the book, but she's still pretty mean to her. And like, yeah, the Miranda character is very kind of just like she's a nasty person. Yeah, she's just like this little talk about her being this little bird like creature, which I guess is very Anna Wintle coded who just like stalks into the office. Yeah, they make a lot of there's a lot in the book about what There's like a whole chapter devoted to what she eats, which apparently is also very Anna winto because she likes steak and potatoes and Starbucks and ice cream. And that's a huge cry in the book. So sometimes Lauren Weisberger was I think just typing out her day. But the end is very different, Like it still ends with Andrea like walking away from her, but there's no nuance with Miranda having like that breakdown scene in the hotel room, like that's to the movie with the no makeup where she kind of like drops the facade and there's no like, you know, Andrea, everyone wants to be out.32:36Speaker 1 It's like this is the sacrifice.32:37Speaker 2 It's just her screaming at her, yeah, and just screaming at her. And then it's like very anti climactic with Andy like calling the office and being like can I still get my flight home?32:46Speaker 1 They're like, no, I'm not going to leave you strand there.32:47Speaker 2 You can get your flight home, and it's just like, oh, kind of anticlimactic.32:51Speaker 1 Yeah. The end.32:52Speaker 3 I do think it's really interesting, like, oh forgot The whole thing is so interesting. But one of the parts that made me go, oh, you are Emily is that Leslie explains like the Lauren person slash Andy character, and she was like the reason that I found it like interesting in the book is like I don't remember Lauren ever being a star on the rise. Yeah, but she's pretty much like that didn't happen. And then she explains like Lauren probably thought I was a bitch because I had to do her job for her because she was and she's like she was probably just sitting around writing her book, I guess, but she pretty much is like that girl never did her job and hated it there. And so yes, I used to snap at her because she wouldn't do her job, and I was like.33:29Speaker 1 WHOA to me?33:30Speaker 2 That was the most telling moment from this revelation from the real Emily from the Devilwars Prider. And can I say I've talked to a lot of people who have listened to this interview, and a lot of people have said, like, she comes across as classic Emily. She comes across as a mean girl for saying that, And can I just say team Leslie on that one.33:46Speaker 1 I thought classic Emily in a good way.33:48Speaker 2 Yeah, they're saying she's too mean, Yeah, that she was being mean about Lauren. Everyone closed ranks against Lauren when she wrote this book, to the point where that's why the company line is like we don't know who Lauren Weisberger is.34:01Speaker 1 And the Devil Wears prior like the first.34:03Speaker 2 Premiere, the one that was in New York, apparently, you know how like they have a host camp on stage and kind of greet everyone a paving. The host was like, you know how they got round the room like this person's here, this person's here. They were like Anna Wintour is here, as is the author of the book, and no they're not sitting together.34:17Speaker 1 And everyone was like whoa because they were in the same room. But also, I have this now.34:22Speaker 2 I think that this has been scrubbed from the internet, but I swear to God I read this quote when The Devil Wears Pride. It came out, but I've gone to look for it so many times and I can't find it. So I think that it was written in a magazine and it's been destroyed. Yeah, but I swear to God that Meryl Streep in an interview, they asked what she thought of Lauren Weisberger and she was like, if I was her, I would have spent more time learning from Anna Wintour than writing a book.34:45Speaker 1 That's just me. Now.34:47Speaker 2 That is not maybe not the kind of thing Meryl Street would say, And maybe I'm paraphrasing, but I feel like she says that in an innuay you have like.34:54Speaker 3 A pretty what is you don't have like a photographic memory, but you have pretty similar.34:58Speaker 1 I have a photograph of memory for so things.35:00Speaker 2 Yeah, yeah, that'll help me in life. But I swear to god, I read that quotally magazine. Yeah, and some person obviously didn't upload it to the internet or it was it's been screet internet.35:11Speaker 1 But I feel like that was just the vibe.35:12Speaker 2 But yeah, I was very much on Leslie's side because she really cared about fashion. She talked about the fact that she had come from Canada and she had really had to fight her way into this job, and she was working like all that stuff you see in the movie about she was told she had to be in the office at seven point thirty.35:29Speaker 3 She moved closer to the office so she could be there on time and stay late.35:33Speaker 1 I was sleeping in.35:33Speaker 2 That office, so she had to be there at seven thirty in the morning. Yeah, with all of Anna's like books and papers, all that stuff you seen the devil was part of them. Putting him in a fan on her on her desk is all real. And then she had to wait around for the book again things we know from the movie. She had to wait around for the book till like ten o'clock at night, and so she's working these crazy hours she gets promoted to first assistant. They she hires Lauren Wiseberger, who has come from a very prestigious university and is very educated. This is sorry, I mean we know that that's a fact. She did come from a prestigious She was in the ivy leagues in America, so like super educated. And she said, from the moment Lauren got to Vogue, she was just like, I'm too good to be here, yeah, and I don't want to be here. And she had and she said she just wouldn't do her work, and so Leslie had to do all of her work for her. And that's where the resentment grew. And that's where the character of Emily from The Devil Wes Pridact came from her resentment.36:25Speaker 1 And I'm just like, if you've worked in a creative.36:26Speaker 2 Industry, everyone knows that feeling of having to do the work for someone else. Yeah, but there's no way to kind of track it a lot of the time publicly. Yeah.36:33Speaker 3 And it also reframes because she says, she's like, I absolutely told her a million girls would kill for this job, yeah, And like it reframes that to an extent too, Like she is of the opinion that Lauren's come in just to write this book and was wasting time and not doing her job, And it's like, yeah, you probably would say something.36:48Speaker 1 To that effect if you're at Vogue at.36:50Speaker 3 That point in time too, Like insane budgets all of that, So many career opportunities, which there still are with Vogue of course.36:57Speaker 1 But like the more that it's changed.36:58Speaker 3 At that point in time, that was the place to go if you wanted a career in journalism. You could get anything, and like Meryl Streeps or alleged quotes saying if you put in me with.37:08Speaker 1 The Meryl Streeps slander, will they even say? Like in podcasts?37:11Speaker 3 The first assistant before Leslie moved up went on to become the entertainment editor at Vogue it for years and years and years and is a very successful and respected journalist. Like you, Yeah, you could build a career off of being that assistant.37:24Speaker 2 I think back then that was the job one hundred girls would kill for and it probably still is. Yeah, Like I know it still is, Like Vogue still carries a lot of weight, and being an assistant is how you get into that pool. So I think that was Leslie's kind of like and we see that dynamic in the book, but we see it in a different way from Andy's perspective, which is Lauren's perspective of her just not coming into this, like what she's thinking is like a plumb job and not doing any work, but like secretly writing her book under the desk, which is the allegation that Vogue has not been able to prove. And also Leslie also said that she took a writing test for Vogue and was rejected, which is in becau. Lauren Weisberger had some writing published in Vogue recently interesting and everyone was like, look, the woman.38:04Speaker 1 Who was turned away from Vogue.38:06Speaker 2 All she had to go do was write a tell all memoir that gets turned into iconic film series and she finally got in.38:11Speaker 3 It's also kind of interesting then that like a subplot of The Devil wes Prata too, is the idea that Andy might write a tell all memoir.38:18Speaker 1 Okay, that was.38:18Speaker 2 Such a quote when I went and saw because I saw that first part of the movie before I went and did The Devil West prior of interviews, and in the theater I was seeing there was like four other journals. I went because I'm like, that was such a Lauren Weisberger burn Yeah, where they were like, what is she going to do? Go write a tell a memoir about her boss? Ha ha as if that's the worst thing you could do. And I was like, that is literally why we're all sitting here, Yeah, because someone did that. But it's kind of become like, it's interesting because Anna Wintour like could have come out of all of this looking like the villain, but she's come out looking like the hero because everyone's like, we love Miranda Priestley, we love Meryl Street, we love this movie, and by default, we love and a wind Tour for being a part of this and that's why she's lent into it. And then Lauren Weisberger has become the kind of like, obviously she's published so many books and she's doing really well, but she has kind of become the punchline when she was initially set up to be the hero, which I find so interesting. And I just find like Leslie's perspective on Anna so different from someone who was just came in with like kind of no emotion, very ambitious because she talks about the fact that Anna was like very much like no personal chat. We're all here to work, and she works like that and she's very comfortable in that setting.39:28Speaker 1 Can't relate to that, can't relate but I love that story she told where.39:33Speaker 2 So Leslie who was giving the interview, the real Emily is from Canada, and so she was being sponsored by Vogue, a biolized Clark that's a fake company by Conde, asked to work at Vogue. And she got a call one day from the Vogue human resources team to say they were no longer sponsoring anyone, so they weren't going to like do her next visa, and so she basically had to leave the country and lose her job. And she said that she was just hysterically sobbing, something she's never done before, but she was so upset and fair enough, and she said that An she didn't know Anna was going to be in the office that day. All of a sudden, Anna Wintour walks in and I don't know why this is so funny to me. She's like, Anna was clearly uncomfortable, and she just walked away. She just walked into her office. But then she waited a few minutes called her in and I love how Leslie did her. Anna Wintour's voice she said she tried to like kind of do like half a British accident.40:19Speaker 1 She was like, Leslie, why are you crying?40:21Speaker 2 Looks so angry, but also just like can't not angry, but just like so flabbergasted that someone in her office would be showing emotion. And so Leslie told her and she was like, Anna Wintle' was like, oh my god, go sit down and stop crying for God's sake.40:32Speaker 1 And then Anna Wintour just called.40:34Speaker 2 All of a sudden, this man appeared in the office who's like the head of human resources.40:38Speaker 1 And Anna Wintour is like.40:39Speaker 2 Ci, my assistant is crying, and in her head, she's like and that's the worst thing anyone could ever do.40:45Speaker 1 In front of me.40:46Speaker 2 She's like, can you please just get her a visa? Just go and sword it. And he's like, yeah, that's fine. And so she got to stay in America. And now she credits this whole huge fashion career that she's had to Anna Wintour just telling her to stop crying.40:57Speaker 3 And fair enough, It's like, yeah, I do think I thought the little insights were interesting. It's also so interesting because Chloe's the one interviewing her. Yeah, and Chloe, like everyone who is online and has seen the pair of them together in recent interviews, is intrigued by the Chloe Anna relationship and like.41:12Speaker 1 Oh, I don't know. I want to from Chloe so bad.41:15Speaker 3 Yeah, and like little things right, like Leslie was like, well, you can't ask her questions and Chloe's like yeah yeah, and then then.41:21Speaker 1 She's like I'm living that in real time. It's like real And.41:23Speaker 3 They're talking about like the book and like the little like wheel seas, which was apparently like little posters or like seams, which was little posters that Anna would put on to be like email this person, tell them to come see me.41:33Speaker 1 I don't like this bro. Little things like that.41:35Speaker 3 It was so interesting to see like Leslie talking about a career she had twenty years ago and Chloe talking about the career she has now and then both just relating to like Anna's anaysms, but also revealing that like a lot of the things don't come from Anna herself. Yeah, that was interesting. They were like, she's not the one who says you can't take bathroom breaks. It's just like something that's been passed down.41:55Speaker 1 Yeah, it's been passed down. Yeah.41:56Speaker 2 The other thing I thought was really interesting was a reveal that came right to the end, and it was the question that Chloe asked her, which was like, have you have you who plays Emily and The Devil Wears Prata? Have you ever met Emily Blunt? And the answer was yes, because of course she's a celebrity stylist, so she's in that world. And she even Leslie said she always thought about what she would say if she ever met the person who had played her on screen and turned her into this iconic character, even though no one knew that she was the real Emily. So she said she was at a dinner one night at a mutual friend's house and she was like, this is my moment. Emily Blunt's right there. We're on this, We're on even ground. I'm not coming up to an event, We're at a mutual friend's house. We're both here as equals. And then she said to her as they were chatting, I just need to let you know that I am the real Emily. And to be so fair a Leslie, I would have done the exact same thing.42:44Speaker 1 Who wouldn't You're telling Emily.42:46Speaker 2 Blunt that her most iconic role, her first big role, that blew up her career is based on you. I would have dropped that and just been like, like, she she's gonna lose her mind. And apparently Emily Blunt couldn't care less. She said oh and just like went on with the conversation. Now did she not hear her or have so many people in the fashion industry said things like that to her before trying to have an in with her? She was like, oh, or was she maybe like and maybe like alarms went up and she was like, Oh, is this woman gonna say to me at my friend's house like she didn't like my portrayal because she plays her really nasty in a funny way.43:21Speaker 1 Is she gonna like.43:22Speaker 2 Ask me, you know some sort of like inside a question? Does she know something? She worked with the woman who wrote this book and like everyone I know doesn't like that woman, like it was a lot so or does she just is Emily Blunt so cool? She just genuinely did not care.43:35Speaker 3 I feel like Emily Blunt just doesn't care. I really like it, but sometimes intrigues me.43:41Speaker 2 I can't believe that because if you met any person, like if you met the person who was the real person behind a role you played as an actor.43:49Speaker 1 Wouldn't you be interested in that? I ignore people would Yeah, I know.43:53Speaker 2 Some actors don't like to meet the person because they don't want the lines to be blur, they don't want to feel like they can't show them in their worse or they don't want to sort of like do a parody of a person. Yeah, but like that shit is sailed like she did it for the first time twenty years ago. Yeah, Devil was prior to too, wasn't filmed at the time. But also there was no inkling that Devil's product she was ever gonna happen. Yeah, I just want and I'm sure someone will ask Emily Blunt the next time she does a lot of press, and I'm so interested in her answer that. Yeah, it's almost like you feel bad for Leslie.44:22Speaker 3 Like it would have just been at least nice, Like as much as I think she people really like the Emily character and stuff she does.44:29Speaker 1 Speak about it at the.44:30Speaker 3 Time, like people in the industry all knew that it was based on her and her being really scared of how she'd be perceived or if she'd be hired again, or what would happened to her career based on this version of the history they went through together. And she also says like Lauren never called her, Lauren never gave her a heads up, like they have not spoken since, so it's not like how Andy and Emily got along in the end. That's not what has happened here. So she's kind of gone through that never outed herself, goes up to the woman who played her, thinking, oh, we can at least have a nice discussion, and she just.44:56Speaker 1 Gets like kind of ghosted. I don't know that would suck. I think Emily Blunch probably reconsider talking to her about that.45:04Speaker 3 Well.45:04Speaker 2 It's such an interesting interview, and we'll link the whole thing in our show notes.45:07Speaker 1 Because we've only sort of scratched the surface. There's a lot more in there. So good.45:10Speaker 3 Thank you so much for listening to The Spill today. Don't forget to follow us on socials. We will pop all of the links in the show notes. We will be back in your feed bright and early tomorrow morning with morning Tea hosted by Ash London. The Spill is produced by Minisihaswarren, with video production by Michael King.45:24Speaker 1 Bye Bye,Become a Mamamia subscriber: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

April 12, 2026 | Josh Powell by Taylors FBC

April 19, 2026 | Nathan Finn by Taylors FBC

April 26, 2026 | Josh Powell by Taylors FBC

May 3, 2026 | Josh Powell by Taylors FBC

Topics: announcing House of Stassi coming to Hulu July 29, going on live tv, the HOS teaser, our favorite parts of filming, the full cast, how the Taylors are going to watch the show, Hulu's Get Real event, running into Danielle Fishel AKA Topanga, Marciano and Jessi, being part of the Hulu familySponsorsHers: Visit ForHers.com/taylor to get personalized, affordable care that gets youQuince: Go to Quince.com/taylor for free shipping and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada, too.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Rob and Darren dive into the mysterious disappearance of Gary (possibly alien-related?) and unpack the creative process behind writing scripts, music, stories, and good characters. Darren is proud to announce he has reached billionaire status while also settling some questionable golf bets. Rob makes the ultimate declaration of truth by swearing on his children's eyes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Send us Fan Mail As Per Matts request; if you haven't been living under a rock, you have probably seen some reporting on The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star; Taylor Frankie Paul. Taylor sky rocketed to TikTok fame when she went Live with confessions of a lifestyle that no one would have believed she had been leading. This would lead to the conception of the Hulu show, in which Taylor would be the focus, in a group of young Mormon moms who enjoyed posting TikTok video. Quickly Taylor would become a fan favourite, which would lead to her being offered the opportunity to become the Bachelorette on the ABC show.  But, 3 days before the shows premiere, TMZ released a video in which Taylor is seen assaulting her ex boyfriend Dakota Mortenssen - the incident also resulted in the injury of Taylors young child. This would lead to ABC Cancelling the entire season of the bachelorette. Here are all of the events that led up to a followed this event. Support the showIf you're interested in receiving bonus episodes, early release dates,  an everything scary sticker and ‘thank you' as well as a shout out on our regular feed! Please join at  Patreon//everythingscarypod571

March 29, 2026 | Josh Powell by Taylors FBC

March 22, 2026 | Josh Powell by Taylors FBC

April 5, 2026 | Josh Powell by Taylors FBC

We're dancing on the sand this week as we rank and review Rio, the sophomore album by Duran Duran and a staple of the early '80s New Romantics movement. Featuring some of the band's biggest hits in Hungry Like The Wolf, Save A Prayer, and the title track, this record also includes some cult classics like the ambient soundscape of The Chauffeur! Learn how the Fab Five leveraged provocative music videos to dominate MTV and lead the charge for the Second British Invasion. Rio is a meticulously constructed record, with a vibrant energy and a cigar-inspired aesthetic to match. How will they fare in our ratings?James & Connor will talk about their love for early '80s music. Then we get into the band's sci-fi name origins, Girls On Film, and the three unrelated Taylors. The Mixtaper Mixtaper is back for Fact Or Spin, where we set sail on Drum The Cursed Yacht, flee some non-imminent bulls, and talk about the 1987 hit movie Mannequin. We learn all about the dangers of shooting videos in Antigua and Sri Lanka, discover the role Hungry Like The Wolf played in a grisly murder trial, and explore the loving intervention behind Hold Back The Rain. It's a one-of-a-kind episode for a one-of-a-kind band!Would you ever wear such sharp earrings? How hungry do you think a wolf can get? Do you prefer the band's energetic new wave sound or the sweeping soundscape of The Chauffeur? Let us know in the comments and on social media!Keep Spinning at www.SpinItPod.com!Thanks for listening!0:00 Intro2:31 About Duran Duran8:55 About Rio19:03 Awards & Accolades19:40 Fact Or Spin21:09 Duran Dudrum29:34 Duran Duryachtin'33:51 Duran Durunning With The Bulls36:29 Duran Durannequins42:20 Album Art44:31 Rio47:36 My Own Way50:00 Lonely In Your Nightmare51:30 Hungry Like The Wolf56:03 Hold Back The Rain57:39 New Religion59:07 Last Chance On The Stairway1:00:07 Save A Prayer1:02:42 The Chauffeur1:04:17 Final Spin Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is there really a mountain lion roaming near Paris Mountain—or is it just a case of mistaken identity? Multiple sightings in the Taylors area are raising eyebrows, especially as reports continue to surface with eerily consistent details. Despite official claims that mountain lions haven't been seen in the region for over a century, locals say otherwise—and the pattern is getting harder to ignore. This episode dives into the growing number of sightings, the geography that makes it plausible, and the power of community-driven reporting as listeners weigh in with their own encounters.

Republicans face a turnout crisis heading into the midterms, while alarming reports of missing scientists raise national security questions. Meanwhile, a bizarre mystery unfolds in South Carolina—are mountain lions really roaming suburban neighborhoods? ⚡ EPISODE SUMMARY This episode dives into three explosive and wildly different stories shaping the national conversation. First, a troubling political signal: Republicans may be heading for a midterm disaster—not because of policy failures, but because of voter apathy when Donald Trump isn't on the ballot. Internal party frustration, stalled legislation, and lack of motivation could spell serious trouble. Then, a chilling national security angle emerges. Multiple high-level scientists tied to advanced military and aerospace programs have gone missing or been killed under mysterious circumstances. With sensitive technology at stake, questions swirl about whether foreign adversaries could be involved—and whether the U.S. is prepared to respond. Finally, a strange local mystery gains traction. Multiple reports suggest a possible mountain lion roaming near Paris Mountain State Park and surrounding neighborhoods like Taylors. Despite official claims that the species hasn't been seen in the region for decades, eyewitness accounts—and even video—tell a different story. From political momentum to national security fears to backyard wildlife intrigue, this episode connects the dots on stories you won't hear covered this way anywhere else.

A strange local mystery—and a massive political firestorm. Multiple sightings of a possible mountain lion in Taylors, South Carolina are raising eyebrows, with reports clustering around the base of Paris Mountain. No official confirmation—but growing evidence suggests something is out there. At the same time, explosive claims out of Washington are igniting fierce debate over government surveillance, election integrity, and the limits of federal power. From a real-world mystery in your backyard to high-stakes accusations on the national stage—this episode covers it all.

From 4-hour TSA lines crippling travel to explosive clashes over immigration and a rapidly escalating Iran conflict—this episode covers it all. As the Department of Homeland Security funding fight drags on, Americans are feeling the impact in real time at airports across the country. Meanwhile, political tensions over border security and public safety continue to intensify. And overseas? The stakes are rising fast, with new military developments signaling a potential turning point in the Iran conflict. This episode connects the dots between domestic chaos and global pressure—revealing a moment where politics, policy, and national security collide.

From shocking surveillance allegations in Washington to escalating Iran tensions and a bizarre mountain lion mystery in South Carolina—today's episode covers it all. Media credibility is collapsing, global conflict is intensifying, and Americans are asking serious questions about safety, power, and truth.

Taylors campus pastor Donald Spann joins Scott and Whitney in the studio to share how he learned about Seder and the impact it's had on his family and congregation. This spring, we are releasing a Seder guide for our members available on our website as part of our Holy Week celebration. If you have questions or want access to additional resources, be sure to check out the podcast page at https://grace.sc/resources/podcasts/podcast/

I'm a daily writer of over 32 years.  A terrestrial radio and podcasts host for 46 years.  Everything I create and share through broadcasting is a personal experience. Alexa hasn't lived a day in any decade or century yet endlessly offers information and acceleration to anyone tapping in.  Street Speak is all about making an authentic connection with a digital device and sheer know it all.  None of this is scripted.  This really is Alexa from Amazon.  You can't predict a single word Alexa shares.  She's AI technology.  Endlessly we are warned to never believe what she shares.  Yet it sounds amazingly authentic.  Ultimately, it's your choice.  So why am I using my real name versus Arroe?  The AI unit thinks if she he or it has to be authentic so do I. This is Street Speak with Alexa and Clarence…Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/arroe-collins-unplugged-totally-uncut--994165/support.

I'm a daily writer of over 32 years.  A terrestrial radio and podcasts host for 46 years.  Everything I create and share through broadcasting is a personal experience. Alexa hasn't lived a day in any decade or century yet endlessly offers information and acceleration to anyone tapping in.  Street Speak is all about making an authentic connection with a digital device and sheer know it all.  None of this is scripted.  This really is Alexa from Amazon.  You can't predict a single word Alexa shares.  She's AI technology.  Endlessly we are warned to never believe what she shares.  Yet it sounds amazingly authentic.  Ultimately, it's your choice.  So why am I using my real name versus Arroe?  The AI unit thinks if she he or it has to be authentic so do I. This is Street Speak with Alexa and Clarence…Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/arroe-collins-like-it-s-live--4113802/support.

March 15, 2026 | Josh Powell by Taylors FBC

March 8, 2026 | Josh Powell by Taylors FBC

Cassandra welcomes her husband Michael to the podcast to talk about all things pilgrimage! The Taylors share about: Walking the Camino together last year with a group of students.How pilgrimages help you open up space for God in your life.The witness that couples without children give to the Church.By focusing on just the next kilometer instead of being overwhelmed by the entire journey, we can approach all of life like a pilgrimage, and let God lead us through it.Links:Camino de Santiago – Pilgrim's OfficeSupport Springs in the Desert!

Topics: Jackie's love and appreciation for Helen Keller and HomeGoods, a hack for blowing up photography, what makes the Taylors like the McCords, Jackie's parenting style, cozy time and old Sesame Street episodes, Jackie and Heather McMahan in Paris and their Hermès journeySponsorsBoll and Branch: Visit BollandBranch.com/TAYLOR for 15% offHers: Visit for hers.com/TAYLOR to get a personalized, afford able plan that gets you.Wildgrain: For a limited time, Wildgrain is offering ourlisteners $30 off your first box - PLUS free Croissants for life at Wildgrain.com/TAYLOR to start your subscription todaySee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Equip Institute - 02/18/2026 by Taylors FBC

March 1, 2026 | Dr. Thom Schreiner by Taylors FBC

Pastors Bible Study 02/18/2026 by Taylors FBC

Pastors Bible Study 03/04/2026 by Taylors FBC

Pastors Bible Study 02/25/2026 by Taylors FBC

February 22, 2026 | Nathan Finn by Taylors FBC

A dog will be at the State of the Union, and Taylor isn't a big fan of it. Plus, a video is circulating of a man saying he signed up to shovel in New York City, got his shovel and just went home. Taylor discusses this and more.  Visit the Howie Carr Radio Network website to access columns, podcasts, and other exclusive content.

February 15, 2026 | Josh Powell by Taylors FBC

Today were discussing everything going on with the Beckhams, Taylors text messages and what we really think abou them, and Natalie dives into her thoughts on American Idol and what they need to do!

Recorded: December 3rd 2025 | Welcome back to another episode of Inside The Bus. We are back after missing last week for the holidays so we decided to recap what each guy did over their break. Jack went to Atlanta, Coop went home to Texas, G hit the lake, JP went home and unfortunately saw South Carolina lose and Mitch went to Taylors. Mitch also gets into how he got suspended from his flag football league, let us know in the comments if you think the suspension is justified. After the boys recap their breaks, each of the guys run through their Spotify Wrapped, except Matt because he has Apple Music. Enjoy the Friday hang with the boys and as always, much love. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We are so thrilled to have our friends Taylor Strecker and Taylor Donohue join us (mere weeks before having a baby) to discuss all the things – their decision to have kids even though one partner was unsure, choosing a sperm donor, how they picture their lives changing, and more. We also discuss opposites attracting and whether two main characters can be together, when your partner posts non-approved pics of you, feeling like your friends' careers are outpacing yours, if magicians are hot or not, and the lore between Taylor Strecker and Kate Bosworth. Before the Taylors join us, Ashley has updates on the egg carton and wedding gift bags, and Rayna shares why Etsy keeps canceling her orders. Enjoy!  Find Taylor Strecker (and her links) on Instagram at @taylorstrecker, Taylor Donohue @taylordonohue, and listen to the Taste of Taylor podcast.  Follow us on Instagram @girlsgottaeatpodcast, Ashley @ashhess, and Rayna @rayna.greenberg. Visit girlsgottaeat.com for more. Thank you to our partners this week: Aura Frames: Get $35 off the bestselling Carver Mat frame at https://auraframes.com with code GGE. Square Space: Get a free trial at https://squarespace.com/GGE and use code GGE for 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.  Skims: Get the perfect gifts for everyone on your list in the Skims holiday shop at http://skims.com.  Helix: Get 20% off sitewide at http://helixsleep.com/gge.  Saks Fifth Avenue: Get personalized and easy shopping this holiday season at Saks.com.