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We're constantly looking for ways to spot early signs of problems such as depression or bipolar disorder, based on the idea that the earlier we can spot signs the earlier we can intervene. Traditionally in psychology this has relied on asking people to monitor themselves and report back. Lots of problems inherent in this e.g., lack of motivation, lack of awareness, not knowing what to look for, self-fulfilling prophecies, etc. Psychology research is often hampered by lack of more objective ways of collecting information that don't rely so much on self-report of individuals. New methods are emerging which look at how someone's pattern of typing on a smartphone keyboard might predict early onset of depression. Firstly – rest assured this isn't some new and frightening emergence of big-brother watching your keystrokes! For this research people had to download a specific keyboard to use with their phone that feeds back results to researchers about their typing patterns, it didn't capture the content of what they were writing. This is referred to as passive-sensing as doesn't require any extra effort from people, just for them to keep using their phone as usual. A number of interesting findings about depression: When depressed, people have lower accuracy in spelling and more variability in typing speed – possibly reflects slow-down in their thinking. They also tend to have more times using their phone than when not depressed – might indicate loneliness and social withdrawal. When people are depressed, they have much higher rates of using the backspace key than when not depressed – suggests they're making more errors which could be due to slowing down of thinking or lots of ruminating about life and going round and round in their heads. For people with bipolar disorder, they're more likely to have high rates of backspace use when also having increased levels of activity and decreased levels of sleep – both of which are warning signs of a possible manic episode. Other interesting research using technology: Smartphone apps monitoring daily patterns of behaviour reduced reoccurrence of periods of depression. This was done by tracking when people slowed down in their levels of daily activity and had less periods of being outside in daylight. The app would alert them to this change, and suggesting that if the pattern continued, they could get depressed again – this led people to get more outside activity. Some interesting possible implications: Could be really helpful in noticing early warning signs of things like depression in a really unobtrusive way. Imagine linking this data in with AI who could send you info about early warning signs and what to do about them, plus link you in with a psychologist if needed. Potentially gives people the ability to monitor themselves and make small changes in their behaviour to prevent getting depressed and without having to see a psychologist. Nice to have some good news about potential benefits of technology and given we usually focus on how these things can suck us down into the dark underbelly of the internet! LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Traditionally, parenthood has been seen as a career disruption-especially for mothers. But what if becoming a parent could be one of the greatest leadership incubators of all? The Parenthood Advantage: Building Corporate Cultures That Value Working Parents (Dg Press, 2025) challenges the outdated narrative that working parents are a burden to manage and instead shows how they're an untapped asset that forward-thinking companies can't afford to overlook. Drawing on compelling research, candid interviews, and real-world examples, authors Mason Donovan and Mark Kaplan reveal how the skills honed through parenthood-resilience, crisis management, empathy, prioritization, and negotiation-are the very qualities that modern workplaces need. The book offers practical strategies for leaders and organizations to transform parental leave, return-to-work support, and everyday culture into true competitive advantages. Whether you're an HR leader seeking to attract and retain top talent, a manager aiming to better support your team, or a working parent ready to reframe your value at work, The Parenthood Advantage will inspire you to see what's possible when we stop sidelining parents and start recognizing them as a powerful source of growth, innovation, and leadership. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network
Traditionally, parenthood has been seen as a career disruption-especially for mothers. But what if becoming a parent could be one of the greatest leadership incubators of all? The Parenthood Advantage: Building Corporate Cultures That Value Working Parents (Dg Press, 2025) challenges the outdated narrative that working parents are a burden to manage and instead shows how they're an untapped asset that forward-thinking companies can't afford to overlook. Drawing on compelling research, candid interviews, and real-world examples, authors Mason Donovan and Mark Kaplan reveal how the skills honed through parenthood-resilience, crisis management, empathy, prioritization, and negotiation-are the very qualities that modern workplaces need. The book offers practical strategies for leaders and organizations to transform parental leave, return-to-work support, and everyday culture into true competitive advantages. Whether you're an HR leader seeking to attract and retain top talent, a manager aiming to better support your team, or a working parent ready to reframe your value at work, The Parenthood Advantage will inspire you to see what's possible when we stop sidelining parents and start recognizing them as a powerful source of growth, innovation, and leadership. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Fertility Docs Uncensored is hosted by Dr. Carrie Bedient from the Fertility Center of Las Vegas, Dr. Susan Hudson from Texas Fertility Center, and Dr. Abby Eblen from Nashville Fertility Center. Today, they had a special Guest: Phillip Romanski, Associate Research Director of US Fertility. He is also an Assistant Professor and Associate Program Director of the reproductive endocrinology fellowship at Mount Sinai. In this episode, the docs explore how research shapes the future of fertility care. As Associate Research Director for US Fertility, Dr. Romanski shares how the organization leverages its extensive national data to support studies that directly influence patient outcomes. With eight to nine active clinical studies, patients can visit the US Fertility website to learn about current opportunities to participate, helping advance science, even if the immediate benefits are for future patients. Dr. Romanski highlights a recent study examining development in embryos that initially appeared to have abnormal fertilization. Surprisingly, many of these embryos progressed to the blastocyst stage, and a significant number were genetically normal. This information may help increase the number of viable embryos for future transfer. He also discusses a recent study with unexpected results: a comparison of fertilization outcomes between ICSI and conventional insemination with frozen sperm. Traditionally, eggs are fertilized with ICSI when using frozen sperm. By dividing eggs from individual patients and comparing ICSI with conventional insemination, the team found no difference in fertilization outcomes. This finding could reduce unnecessary embryo manipulation, minimize risk, and decrease costs for patients. This episode takes a fascinating look at how research today is improving the fertility treatments of tomorrow. This podcast was sponsored by US Fertility.
Traditionally, CRE decisions have relied on fragmented data from multiple sources—lease management, occupancy analytics, HR, and financial reports.
In this podcast, Delilah S. Dawson talks about House of Idyll, writing comics, how to get traditionally published, and much more. About Delilah S. Dawson Delilah S. Dawson is the New York Times bestselling writer of Star Wars: Phasma, Galaxy's Edge: Black Spire, Inquisitor: Rise of the Red Blade, The Secrets of Long Snoot, The … Continue reading
Not the sequel to the game from 1H1D #83.Traditionally game selection is left to the Xbox Game Pass "Surprise Me" button, but this First Person Action RPG developed by Obsidian Entertainment was actually chosen by Matt aka Stormaggedon, who was previously a guest on the show for episode 225! There was a possibility that Matt would be our first repeat guest, but alas, it was not our stars. Tom and Chris were left to tackle this review solo, or at least as solo as a duo can be. Chris has played a bit of the original but Tom is going in completely blind, so what will each of their final thoughts be on this sequel? Will it be worth the hour they each invested? More important to you, is it worthy of your precious time? Those answers won't be found here in this blurb, but you can certainly discover them by exploring this stellar review. Let's hope the humor in the game lands better than these terrible puns.What do you think? Let us know!Hit us up on Twitter at https://twitter.com/tc1h1dOr on Threads at https://www.threads.net/@tc1h1dDrop us an email at tc.1h1d(at)outlook[dot]comFollow us on Goodpods @1h1dCheck out our fancy site: https://quitthebuild.com/1h1dWatch the video: https://bit.ly/1H1DYTThanks for taking this ride with us :-)
For Episode #188 of the PricePlow Podcast, we welcome Edwin Gonzalez, Functional Health Sales Manager at Health Tech Bio Actives (HTBA), alongside Michael Alfaro from Master Foods Lab. This episode marks a milestone collaboration: putting cutting-edge vitamin B12 science into functional foods that consumers can actually feel working. Edwin introduces MecobalActive, HTBA's ultra-pure, optimized methylcobalamin ingredient that's redefining what B12 supplementation can do. Traditionally, the industry positioned B12 as a deficiency vitamin for tired, anemic, or sluggish individuals. HTBA is changing that narrative completely. New clinical research demonstrates that just three days of MecobalActive supplementation significantly improved both physical power output and cognitive reaction time in healthy, well-trained athletes without B12 deficiency. This isn't about correcting what's broken, it's about optimizing what already works. The conversation explores HTBA's nearly 50-year European heritage, their unique position as the only EU manufacturer of all active B12 forms, and the proprietary green chemistry process that yields MecobalActive's exceptional purity and stability. Michael walks through the technical challenges of incorporating functional ingredients into Skinny Bite cakes (showcased at SupplySide Global 2025), revealing the complex interplay between formulation science, manufacturing constraints, and innovative problem-solving. From raspberry-colored B12 filling to protected cake layers to the partnership model driving functional food innovation, this episode delivers both scientific depth and practical application insights. https://blog.priceplow.com/podcast/vitamin-b12-htba-mecobalactive-188 Video: Redefining B12 with HTBA's Edwin Gonzalez and Master Foods Lab's Michael Alfaro https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGqZm9Q5bkw Detailed Show Notes: MecobalActive B12 Takeover (0:00) – Welcome Back: A Dive Into Functional Foods (2:00) – Redefining B12: From Deficiency to Performance Enhancement (4:45) – Creating Functional Foods: The Clear Can Problem (7:15) – The Formulation Challenge: Making Actives Work in Real Food (11:00) – HTBA's European Heritage and Manufacturing Excellence (14:30) – Green Chemistry: Manufacturing B12 Without Toxic Reagents (16:45) – Light Sensitivity and Creative Product Applications (19:00) – Redefining B12 Like Creatine Was Redefined (22:00) – The Clinical Study: Triple-Blind Crossover in Healthy Athletes (26:45) – The Results: 4% Power, 6% Fatigue Resistance, 5% Cognition (31:00) – Structure/Function Claims and Market Applications (35:45) – Color-Driven Innovation and Future Applications (37:00) – The Chocolate Coating: Formulation Within Constraints (39:00) – Manufacturing Mastery: Solving the Protein Cake Challenge (41:00) – The Partnership Model: When Ingredient Suppliers Become Collaborators (42:00) – The Pressure Cooker: Building Brands in Real Time (44:00) – Closing and Where to Find Edwin, HTBA, and Michael Where to Find HTBA, MecobalActive, and Master Foods Lab HTBA and MecobalActive: MecobalActive: Healt... Read more on the PricePlow Blog
Lift a glass to the story of sake—from Japanese homebrew to global phenomenon. Sake, Japan's iconic rice-based alcoholic drink, has been central to Japanese culture for over 1,300 years. Traditionally made with rice, water, and koji mold, it was consumed in early brewpubs and was vital to samurai rituals and festivals. Sake's story includes homebrewers like clan matriarchs, ancient princes, and modern political activists who defied laws to keep homebrewing alive. Temples refined sake-making techniques, laying the foundation for a thriving industry that became a major economic force for shoguns and the modern state. Kanpai is the first history of sake in English, exploring its evolution from homebrew to flavored varieties, and its cultural significance and global rise—including its growing popularity and production in North America and Europe. The book also shows how sake has shaped Japanese food, society, and traditions.Eric C. Rath is professor of premodern Japanese history at the University of Kansas. He is the author of Food and Fantasy in Early Modern Japan.Buy the book from Wellington Square Bookshop - https://wellingtonsquarebooks.com/book/9781836391159
Traditionally, a college degree has been seen as a ticket to a secure future.But not today. Thanks to soaring tuition costs and weighty student loans, many people are questioning the value of college. A 2025 Pew Research poll found that only one in four U.S. adults says it's “extremely or very important to have a four-year college degree” to get a well-paying job. And many young Americans — including Black, Latino and Indigenous students — contend they can build solid careers without seeking further education. In a 2025 survey by New America, a majority of young Americans agreed “there are lots of well-paying, stable jobs that people can find with only a high school diploma or GED.”So is college still worth it — especially when it comes to low-income or first-generation students? Is college still worth it? MPR News' North Star Journey Live project teamed up with Sahan Journal Community Conversations in October to host a panel discussing the pros and cons of higher education. They also discussed other burgeoning post-secondary options, like trade schools, apprenticeships and becoming an entrepreneur. Guests: Frida Torres Macal is the founder of That Social Invite, an independent social media marketer focused on helping women-owned businesses and professionals grow.Marquan Harper is a sophomore at the University of St. Thomas, where he is double majoring in Digital Media Arts and Marketing Management. He's also the founder of Ador Hospitality, a Midwest-based hospitality group dedicated to enhancing the nightlife experience for young adults aged 18-24. Jalayah Johnson is enrolled at the Finishing Trades Institute of the Upper Midwest as a second-year glazer apprentice for the Empire House.Ali Osman is a high school counselor at South High School in Minneapolis. Jessica Yang is the senior implementation manager at the Get Ready GEAR UP Minnesota program administered through the Minnesota Office of Higher Education.Subscribe to the MPR News with Angela Davis podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify or RSS.
Traditionally, a college degree has been seen as a ticket to a secure future.But not today. Thanks to soaring tuition costs and weighty student loans, many people are questioning the value of college. A 2025 Pew Research poll found that only one in four U.S. adults says it's “extremely or very important to have a four-year college degree” to get a well-paying job. And many young Americans — including Black, Latino and Indigenous students — contend they can build solid careers without seeking further education. In a 2025 survey by New America, a majority of young Americans agreed “there are lots of well-paying, stable jobs that people can find with only a high school diploma or GED.”So is college still worth it — especially when it comes to low-income or first-generation students? Is college still worth it? MPR News' North Star Journey Live project teamed up with Sahan Journal Community Conversations in October to host a panel discussing the pros and cons of higher education. They also discussed other burgeoning post-secondary options, like trade schools, apprenticeships and becoming an entrepreneur. Guests: Frida Torres Macal is the founder of That Social Invite, an independent social media marketer focused on helping women-owned businesses and professionals grow.Marquan Harper is a sophomore at the University of St. Thomas, where he is double majoring in Digital Media Arts and Marketing Management. He's also the founder of Ador Hospitality, a Midwest-based hospitality group dedicated to enhancing the nightlife experience for young adults aged 18-24. Jalayah Johnson is enrolled at the Finishing Trades Institute of the Upper Midwest as a second-year glazer apprentice for the Empire House.Ali Osman is a high school counselor at South High School in Minneapolis. Jessica Yang is the senior implementation manager at the Get Ready GEAR UP Minnesota program administered through the Minnesota Office of Higher Education.Subscribe to the MPR News with Angela Davis podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify or RSS.
Janis Flint-Ferguson's message is about how the Apostle Paul begins his letters Traditionally
So, who's really making all the money at RTÉ? Traditionally, it's been the on-air talent leading the earnings table. This year, however, there's been a shake-up: the executives/suits are now outpacing the stars on the payscale. But with Newstalk snapping up big-name presenters, could RTÉ's pay cuts signal the start of a slide? And as fresh revelations emerge about unorthodox payments, is another storm brewing over the national broadcaster's headquarters? This podcast has been amended on 31 October 2025 to remove the incorrect statement that the 725m three-year Government funding plan for RTE is in addition to TV license fee revenueSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Today's sponsor is Piedmont Master Gardeners: Now accepting applications for their 2026 training class. Apply by December 1, 2025No study of American history or macroeconomics would leave out the impact played by the Great Crash of the New York Stock Exchange of 1929 which culminated on Black Tuesday, 96 years ago today. Stock prices had continued to increase throughout the Roaring Twenties but would generally decline until 1932, marking the era of the Great Depression. This edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement does not have the time or resources to delve into the causes of a financial panic that transformed the United States. I'm Sean Tubbs, and I think people should look back on their own time.In this edition:* Earlier this year, President Trump asked officials in Texas to redraw the Congressional maps to give the Republican Party an advantage in the 2026 midterms* Other states with Democratic majorities such as California have countered with redistricting proposals of their own* This week, the Virginia General Assembly is meeting in a special session to take a first step to amend the state's constitution to allow for a mid-Census redistricting* The podcast version features an audio version of yesterday's story on 530 East Main Street (read the story)Charlottesville Community Engagement is the work of one person and that one person sometimes neglects the marketing. You can help fill the gap by sharing with friends!First-shout: The new WTJU mobile app is here!WTJU is pleased to announce our brand new mobile app! You can download a version from either the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. Here are the links to both:* iPhone version* Android versionThe WTJU app is the place to tune in and listen live to WTJU, WXTJ, and Charlottesville Classical. Aside from the live stream, listen to archived shows, view recent songs, playlists, and program schedules, check out videos of live performances, stay up-to-date on WTJU's most recent news and articles, and more!Live chat with your favorite hosts, share stories with your friends, and tune into your community all in the palm of your hand.Virginia General Assembly takes up redistricting amendment during special sessionThe second presidency of Donald Trump has introduced many novel approaches to governance in the United States, including pressure on legislators in Texas to break from precedent to redraw Congressional districts in advance of the 2026 mid-term elections.Traditionally redistricting happens every ten years as mandated in Article 1, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution. States can determine the method of how they draw districts but for many years Southern states were required to submit boundaries for review to ensure compliance with civil rights legislation such as the Voting Rights Act of 1965.The Republican Party currently holds a narrow majority in the U.S. House of Representatives with 219 members to 213 Democrats with three vacancies. One of those vacancies has been filled in a special election in Arizona won on September 23 by Democrat Adelita Grijalva but Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has so far refused to swear her in until he calls the full House of Representatives back into session.According to the Texas Tribune, redistricting in Texas is expected to create five additional safe seats for Republicans. The state's delegation of 38 Representatives consists of 25 Republicans, 12 Democrats, and one vacancy. Governor Greg Abbott signed the new Congressional map on August 29 with no need for voters to approve the measure.In response, California Governor Gavin Newsome, a Democrat, suggested legislation called the “Election Rigging Response Act” in direct response to the new maps in Texas, and a voter initiative to redraw maps in the nation's largest state mentions efforts underway by Republicans to redistrict in Florida, Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, New Hampshire, Nebraska, and South Carolina. Proposition 50 is on the ballot on November 4.Last week, the Virginia Political Newsletter reported that Democrats who control a narrow majority in the General Assembly are seeking to follow California's lead. On Monday, the House of Delegates agreed to take up House Joint Resolution 6007 which would amend the Virginia Constitution to allow the General Assembly to make a one-time adjustment.The General Assembly is able to meet because a special session from 2024 was never technically adjourned. To allow consideration of the Constitutional amendment, the joint resolution that sets the rules for the special session had to be changed and agreed to by both the House of Delegates and the Virginia Senate.One adopted on February 22 of this year lists six items of acceptable business including memorials and resolutions commending people or businesses. A seventh was added to House Joint Resolution 6006 which was introduced by Delegate Charniele Herring (D-4) on October 24. This would allow a “joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution of Virginia related to reapportionment or redistricting.”Both the House of Delegates and the Virginia Senate convened on Monday, October 27.As the debate in the House of Delegates began, Delegate Bobby Orrock (R-66) made a parliamentary inquiry.“My first inquiry would be given that special sessions have by their very nature only occurred for specific reasons. Ergo, we have resolutions controlling what can be considered during them. And subsequently, to my knowledge and experience here, they've never extended for more than a one year period.”Orrock said the 2024 Special Session was continued to allow progress toward adopting a budget that year. He said that had taken place and the stated reason for the special session was moot.The amendment itself was not made available until Tuesday afternoon. More on that later.Delegate Jay Leftwich (R-90) read from §30-13 of the Virginia Code which lays out what steps the Clerk of the House of Delegates has to take when publishing proposed amendments to the Constitution.“It goes on to say, Mr. Speaker, the Clerk of the House of Delegates shall have published all proposed amendments to the constitution for the distribution from his office and to the clerk of the circuit court of each county and the city two copies of the proposed amendments, one of which shall be posted at the front door of the courthouse and the other shall be made available for public inspection,” Leftwich said.Delegate Herring countered that that section of code predates the Virginia Constitution of 1971 which does not have those requirements. Leftwich continued to press on this note but Speaker of the House Don Scott ruled that his questions were not germane to the procedural issue.Delegate Lee Ware (R-72) said the move across the United States to redraw districts mid-Census to gain partisan advantage was a bad idea no matter what party was proposing it.“Just because a bad idea was proposed and even taken up by a few of our sister states such as North Carolina or California, is not a reason for Virginia to follow suit,” Ware said. “ For nearly two and a half centuries, the states have redistricted following the decennial census, responding to the population shifts both in our country and in the states.”A motion to amend HJ6006 passed 50 to 42.The House of Delegates currently only has 99 members due to the resignation of Todd Gilbert. Gilbert had been named as the U.S. Attorney for Western Virginia but lasted for less than a month. Former Albemarle Commonwealth's Attorney Robert Tracci was appointed to the position on an interim basis.Charlottesville Community Engagement is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Second-shout out: Cville Village seeks volunteersCan you drive a neighbor to a doctor's appointment? Change an overhead lightbulb, plant a flower, walk a dog for someone who is sick, visit someone who is lonely? If so, Cville Village needs you!Cville Village is a local 501c3 nonprofit organization loosely affiliated with a national network of Villages whose goals are to help seniors stay in their own homes as long as possible, and to build connections among them that diminish social isolation. Volunteers do small chores for, and have gatherings of, professors and schoolteachers, nurses and lawyers, aides and housekeepers. Time and chance come to all – a fall, an order not to drive, failing eyesight, a sudden stroke. They assist folks continue living at home, with a little help from their friends.Cville Village volunteers consult software that shows them who has requested a service and where they are located. Volunteers accept only the requests that fit their schedule and their skills.Volunteering for Cville Village can expand your circle of friends and shower you with thanks.To learn more, visit cvillevillage.org or attend one of their monthly Village “meet-ups” and see for yourself. To find out where and when the next meetup is, or to get more information and a volunteer application, email us at info@cvillevillage.org, or call them at (434) 218-3727.Virginia Senators pre-debate the amendment on TuesdayThe Virginia Senate took up the matter on Monday as well. Democrats have a 21 to 19 majority and were unable that day to suspend the rules to immediately consider an amendment to HJ6006. They had a second reading on Tuesday.The initial discussion of the Constitutional amendment took place during a portion of the meeting where Senators got to speak on matters of personal privilege. As with the House of Delegates, many inquiries from Republican legislators happened because the document itself was not yet available for review.Senator Bill Stanley (R–20) rose to remind his colleagues that the General Assembly passed a bipartisan Constitutional amendment to require that redistricting be conducted by a nonpartisan committee.“We listened to Virginians who were tired of the gerrymandering,” Stanley said. “In 2019, polls showed 70 percent of Virginians supported redistricting reform. Not 51 percent, not 55 percent, [but] 70 percent. The Mason Dixon poll showed 72% support. And crucially, over 60 percent of Republicans and Democrats alike supported this amendment. Equally when it came to a vote in the Commonwealth. This was not partisan.”Senator Mamie Locke (D-2) served on the bipartisan redistricting committee and reminded her colleagues that the process broke down in October 2021, as I reported at the time. The Virginia Supreme Court ended up appointing two special masters to draw the current boundaries.“There was constant gridlock and partisan roadblocks,” Locke said. “[Those] Were the reasons why the Supreme Court ended up drawing the lines because the commission ended up discussing things as tedious as which university could be trusted to provide unbiased data.”Locke said the proposal in Virginia would still have a bipartisan commission draw new maps after the 2030 Census and that voters in Virginia would still have to approve the amendment.Senator Scott Surovell (D-34) said the amendment is intended to step in when other branches of government are not exercising their Constitutional authority to provide checks and balances. He echoed Locke's comment that the redistricting commission would continue to exist.“There's no maps that have been drawn,” Surovell said. “There's no repeal of the constitutional amendment. The only thing that's on the table or will be on the table later this week is giving the General assembly the option to take further action in January to then give Virginia voters the option of protecting our country.”Senator Richard Stuart (R-25) said he thinks President Trump is doing a job of bringing manufacturing back to the country and dismissed Surovell's notion that democracy is at threat.“I'm not seeing any threat to democracy,” Stuart said. “I heard the word king, and I would remind the Senator that if he was a king, he would be beheaded for what he just said. But in this country, we enjoy free speech. We get to say what we want to say, and that is a valued right and privilege.”Senator Barbara Favola (D-40) said many of her constituents are concerned about cuts to federal programs due to the recent passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill including threats to Medicaid. She explained why she supports her Democratic colleagues in Congress in the current state of things.“We are in a shutdown situation because the Democrats are standing up and saying we must extend the tax credits that are available on the health marketplace so individuals can afford their insurance,” Favola said. “Health insurance. This is not going unnoticed by the Virginians we represent.”Senator Mark Peake (R-22) said Republicans were entitled to govern how they want because they are in control of the federal government.“The current president won an overwhelming majority in the Electoral College and he won the popular vote by over 4 million or 5 million votes,” Peake said. “That is called democracy. That is what we have. And the Republicans won the Senate and they won the House of Congress. We will have another election next year and it will be time for the citizens to vote. But we are going under a democracy right now, and that's where we stand.”The points of personal privilege continued. Senator Schuyler VanValkenburg (D-72) said elections are a chance for citizens to weigh in on a presidency that started the process of mid-Census redistricting.“The key point is this,” VanValkenburg said. “The president's ideas are unpopular. He knows it. He's going to his ideological friends, he's asking them to carve up maps, and now the other side is upset because they're going to get called on it in elections.”The Senate adjourned soon afterward and will take up a third reading of HJ6006 today.Democrats file Constitutional Amendment for first referenceEarly discussions about a potential constitutional amendment in the House of Delegates and the Virginia Senate this week did not include a lot of details about how a mid-Census Congressional redistricting would take place.House Joint Resolution 6007 was filed with the Virginia Legislative Information System on Tuesday, October 28. As of this publication it is in the House Privileges and Elections Committee because the Senate has not yet given itself permission to take up the matter.The amendment would amend Article II, Section 6, of the Virginia Constitution to insert language into the second paragraph.Here is the full text, with italicized words indicating new language.The Commonwealth shall be reapportioned into electoral districts in accordance with this section and Section 6-A in the year 2021 and every ten years thereafter, except that the General Assembly shall be authorized to modify one or more congressional districts at any point following the adoption of a decennial reapportionment law, but prior to the next decennial census, in the event that any State of the United States of America conducts a redistricting of such state's congressional districts at any point following that state's adoption of a decennial reapportionment law for any purpose other than (i) the completion of the state's decennial redistricting in response to a federal census and reapportionment mandated by the Constitution of the United States and established in federal law or (ii) as ordered by any state or federal court to remedy an unlawful or unconstitutional district map.Take a look at the whole text here. I'll continue to provide updates. Stories you might also read for October 29, 2025* Charlottesville Ale Trail brings people to craft beverage makers, Jackson Shock, October 27, 2025* U.Va. leaders defend Justice Department deal in letter to Charlottesville legislators, Cecilia Mould and Ford McCracken, Cavalier Daily, October 28, 2025* Council agrees to purchase $6.2 million office building for low-barrier shelter, Sean Tubbs, C-Ville Weekly, October 29, 2025* Republican legislators slam Virginia redistricting proposal, Colby Johnson, WDBJ-7, October 27, 2025* Democrat Abigail Spanberger backs Virginia legislature's redistricting push, Steve People and Olivia Diaz, Associated Press, October 27, 2025* Va. Democrats roll out redistricting amendment to counter GOP map changes in other states, Markus Schmidt, October 28, 2025* Virginia Republicans Sue to Block Democratic Redistricting Push, Jen Rice, Democracy Docket, October 28, 2025* Redistricting session to resume Wednesday, WWBT, October 29, 2025Back to local again shortly after #947This is a unique version based on me wanting to go through the General Assembly recordings myself. I have a lot of local stories to get back to in the near future and I'm working extra this week to make sure I get back to them.They include:* Coverage of the discussion of 204 7th Street at the October 21, 2025 Charlottesville Board of Architectural Review* Coverage of last night's Albemarle Planning Commission public hearing on Attain on Fifth Street* Coverage of two discussions at last night's Greene County Board of SupervisorsAs expected, I work longer hours when I'm out of town on family business because I don't have the usual places to go. This is okay. Summer is over and it's time to hunker down and get to work. Today's end video is The Streets: This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe
Our latest episode explores the moment AI stops being a tool and starts becoming an organizational model. Agentic systems are already redefining how work, design, and decision‑making happen, forcing leaders to abandon deterministic logic for probabilistic, adaptive systems.“Agentic systems force a mindshift—from scripts and taxonomies to semantics, intent, and action.”
New York City is on the cusp of an election in which what once looked impossible has begun to seem inevitable. Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist member of the New York state Assembly, is heavily favored to beat Andrew Cuomo, New York's onetime Democratic governor and a former icon of the party establishment, in a race for mayor that has become among the most-watched in the nation.Cuomo and Mamdani articulate two vastly different visions for New York City — and where the Democratic Party is going overall. This week on The Intercept Briefing, Akela Lacy speaks to people hoping to see each of those two visions fulfilled.“Traditionally, we've thought about politics as left, right, and center,” says Alyssa Cass, a Democratic strategist who has worked on local and national campaigns. “Zohran offered a message that was less about ideology and more about disrupting a failed status quo that is working for almost no one.”Cass, who worked on Andrew Yang's mayoral campaign in 2021, isn't working for Mamdani but says his candidacy indicates “that Democrats can win when we have ideas.”In the view of Jim Walden, a former mayoral candidate who is now backing Cuomo, those ideas are “dangerous and radical policies.” He says Mamdani's popularity is an indication that “there's going to be a flirtation with socialism and maybe some populist push” among Democrats. But “ultimately,” Walden says, “the party will come back closer to the center.”Chi Ossé, a City Council member who endorsed Mamdani, sees Mamdani's success as evidence of the opposite. “We could have gone back to or continued this trend of electing centrist, moderate Democrats,” Ossé says. Instead, he thinks that New Yorkers want “someone who ran as a loud and proud democratic socialist who has always fought on the left.”While New York City is preparing for a general election, Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa is unlikely to win — turning the race almost into a second Democratic primary. “The party is now confronted with a choice,” said Lacy, “between a nominee who has become the new face of generational change in politics and a former governor fighting for his political comeback. The results could reveal where the party's headed in next year's midterms and beyond.”Listen to the full conversation of The Intercept Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.You can support our work at theintercept.com/join. Your donation, no matter the amount, makes a real difference. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Modern Primary Care Diagnostic Sequences; Why the Future of Care Hinges on Faster, Smarter Diagnostics. Traditionally, and still in many practices today, some of the most important parts of a primary care visit happen after the patient leaves the exam room. Diagnosis is often delayed, follow-up decisions are disconnected from the visit itself, and early opportunities for intervention can be missed. The diagnostic sequence may be the least celebrated yet the most essential part of a primary care visit. Whether it's a healthy 25 year old seeking reassurance or a 45 year old at risk for diabetes, the pattern is the same: see the doctor, get the labs, wait for results, then discuss what it all means. This four step routine isn't just tradition, it's the structure payers recognize, the basis on which health system workflows are built, and the process clinicians rely on to deliver care.
Traditionally seen as one of the most frustrating and time-consuming parts of any UCaaS or CCaaS migration, number porting can slow down even the best-planned IT projects. In this insightful discussion, Kieran and Rich explore how Gamma UCX is streamlining the process with a flexible, self-serve model that empowers enterprise IT teams across Europe.Number porting has long been a pain point for IT leaders managing complex UC migrations — but Gamma UCX is changing that. In this engaging conversation, Kieran and Rich unpack how automation, control, and visibility are transforming enterprise communications.
The Holy Spirit and the ChurchEphesians 4:1-6Message SlidesI believe in the Holy Spirit - Who applies the work of Christ - Who makes us holy - Who unifies usI believe in the holy catholic Church, the communion of saintsBook recommendation:Keep in Step with the Spirit by JI PackerHOME CHURCH QUESTIONS1. When you think about the Holy Spirit, what images or ideas come to your mind? What Bible passages are most informative for how you think about the Holy Spirit? 2. Do you think there is more mystery surrounding the Holy Spirit than there is with the Father and the Son? Explain why.3. Ephesians 1:3-14, 2:4-6, and 3:16-17 reveal a close relationship between the Spirit and the Son. Look at these passages (and/or John 16:14) and talk about the nature of this relationship. Based on these passages, how can we know if the Spirit is at work in our lives?4. The 3rd Person of the Trinity is called “Holy” because one of His roles is to make us holy. Ephesians 5:18 refers to this as being “filled with the Spirit.” Explain what this means and how we can know if we are being filled with the Spirit. In what areas of your life can you become more controlled by the Spirit? 5. Ephesians 4:4 says, “there is one body and one Spirit.” Explain the relationship among the Spirit, the church, and unity. What does it look like for us to work for unity in the church? Why is this essential? 6. What is the universal, invisible church? What is the local, visible church? Which of these do you tend to emphasize? Why are both important?Mission Highlight - The Java Pesisir Lor in Indonesia The Java Pesisir Lor are a coastal Javanese sub-ethnic group living along northern Java. Traditionally farmers and fishers, many now seek skills for urban and rural jobs. Most follow Sunni Islam, though many practice mystical Sufi traditions and local rituals. They need better access to water, jobs, and economic development, as well as exposure to the gospel. Pray for workers to share Christ, plant churches, and for a Disciple Making Movement to multiply among the Pesisir Lor.FinancesWeekly Budget 34,615Giving For 10/05 33,185Giving For 10/12 24,028YTD Budget 519,231Giving 447,046 OVER/(UNDER) (72,185) The 2025 OCC Season Begins!Operation Christmas Child is a global project of Samaritan's Purse that shares God's love with children in need through gift-filled shoeboxes. Each box is packed with toys, school supplies, and hygiene items — and every child who receives a box also hears the life-changing message of Jesus. For step by step instructions on how to pack a shoebox and guidelines on what you can and cannot include, go to www.fellowshipconway.org/occ. Here's how you can join the mission right here at Fellowship:• Shop Smart, Pack More - Visit The GO Store in Downtown Conway for approved shoebox items at a fraction of retail cost — you may be able to pack 2 or 3 boxes for the price of 1! Be sure to bring your boxes back to Fellowship during collection week! • Build a Shoebox Online - Share God's love without leaving home! In just a few clicks, you can choose toys, hygiene items, and school supplies, add a note and photo, and send joy to a child in need. To learn more go to: fellowshipconway.org/occ • Serve During Collection Week - We need MANY volunteers for National Collection Week, November 17–24. Sign up today through the Fellowship app (tap the OCC icon) or at fellowshipconway.org/occNew to Fellowship?We are so glad that you chose to worship with our Fellowship Family this morning. If you are joining us for the first time or have been checking us out for a few weeks, we are excited you are here and would love to meet you. Please fill out the “Connect Card” and bring it to the Connection Center in the Atrium, we would love to say “hi” and give you a gift. Join a Home ChurchHome Church small groups are about building a deep community where we are transformed into the image of Christ and serve a broken world for the sake of the gospel. If you are not in a Home Church, we encourage you go to fellowshipconway.org/homechurch or stop by the Connection table in the Atrium. How to study your bible - Led by Chris MooreGo deeper in God's Word - Learn how to study Scripture for yourself! Join us for Part 3 of “How to Study Your Bible” beginning November 16 - November 30, 9:00 a.m., and gain tools to understand, engage with, and live out God's Word. Sign up at fellowshipconway.org/equipping. Fall Widow's LuncheonWe hope you can join us on Thursday, November 6, 12:00 p.m. for the Fall Luncheon. Our special guests will be Dr Tom and Joanie Roberts. Dr Roberts will be sharing about orthopedics and having a time of Q&A. Chef Tara will be developing a five-course menu along with a dessert from Joanie. Please RSVP by Monday, October 27, to Judy Roach, 501-329-3535, or Ambra Austin, 501-730-6795. Let's Make a Difference Together!Fellowship is deepening our connection with Theodore Jones Elementary—where one of our Home Churches has already been building meaningful relationships with students and families. This fall, we have two amazing ways to serve and show the love of Christ right here in our community: • Join the fun by serving at the school's Fall Festival event • Help provide, pack, and deliver Thanksgiving boxes to families in need. Let's come together to invest in these students and their families with time, care, and encouragement. You can be part of making a real local impact—get all the details and sign up at fellowshipconway.org/register.
Cabin Cousins: Part 4 Costumes and characters. Based on a post by NewMountain80, in 6 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Connections. We sat on the couch, as she didn't have a table we could both sit at and ate hungrily. We had both worked up quite an appetite. When we had finished eating, Melissa leaned over the back of the couch, and set our empty plates on the island counter, then cuddled up against me. "That hit the spot." She said with a sigh. "There's been a lot of that recently." Melissa giggled. "Yeah, there has, hasn't there?" We sat in silence for quite a while, just enjoying being near each other. Finally, Melissa sat up and said. "Come on, I'll show you our costumes." I followed her back to her bedroom, and she started pulling things out of a big paper bag next to her dresser. "This is yours." She said, handing me a blue police shirt and hat. "And the final touches, handcuffs, and a mustache." She handed me a pair of fuzzy pink novelty handcuffs and a fake mustache that looked like it was straight out of a seventies porn video. I laughed. "That's awesome. So I'm the cop, are you my prisoner?" "As much fun as that could be, no." Then she took her costume out of the bag. It consisted of a small light brown halter top with all kinds of colorful beads sewn onto it, a matching skirt that looked very short, and a feathered headdress. "We're the Village People?" I asked. Melissa nodded with a slightly uncertain smile. "Do you like it?" "I love it. What are Ashley and James going as?" "Ashley is the cowboy, and James is the soldier." She held up the halter top for me to see. "Ashley made this." The beadwork was pretty amazing. As I looked it over, I couldn't help but notice that Melissa still had an uncertain look on her face. "Do you... not like it?" I asked. "It's beautiful! It's just, Well, I should put it on and show you." She put a hand over my eyes. "Close your eyes, and when I tell you to open them, pretend that you aren't my lover, and I just showed up to the party. Okay?" I nodded and closed my eyes. Naturally, thoughts of what Melissa was going to look like in the outfit began to bubble in my imagination. Then the truth of it dawned on me. When I arrived at the cabin two weeks ago; and she greeted me in a dress, which I was now certain that she had worn for the sole purpose of enticing me and me alone. I have never seen her wear anything in public that wasn't baggy or loose-fitting, and not anything nearly as revealing as I imagined this costume was going to be. I knew that I had to be very careful in how I reacted. "Remember, you don't know me." Melissa reminded me. Her voice sounded like she was at the other end of the room. "Okay. Open your eyes." I did and said the first thing that came to my mind. "Wow." I looked her up and down. The halter top was cut fairly low, giving a glimpse of the inner curves of her tits. It covered her chest down to just above her navel, leaving a lot of skin on her belly, sides, and back, bare. The skirt was very short, barely covering more of her legs than my boxer briefs covered mine. The waistline sat low, leaving more skin exposed. Her long muscular legs and her toned arms were also completely bare. As much as I was struck by how stunningly sexy she looked, I could see how anxious she was about the prospect of revealing so much skin. While keeping my eyes on her, I turned my head like I was talking to someone next to me. "Who is that?" Turning my head to the other side I answered my question. "That's Melissa." Back to the other side. "Wow, she is gorgeous." My antics made Melissa giggle. "Who is she here with?" "I don't know him. Must be from out of town." "Lucky bastard." Melissa laughed, and I stepped across the small room to her, happy to have at least temporarily eased her tension. When she spoke, her smile was still strained. "It's not too much, I mean, not enough, is it?" She asked, tugging down slightly on the hem of the skirt. "It's more than a bikini." "I don't own a bikini." She said, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "It's not; I mean; I;" She was struggling to get the right words out for what she wanted to say. I sat on the bed next to her. "It's not too... slutty, is it?" She asked, staring at the floor. Gently, I put a hand on her cheek and turned her head towards me. "No. The costume isn't what makes some girls seem slutty, it's how they act while wearing the costume, and that's just not who you are." "I don't know how other girls can do it. They all seem so comfortable in their skin. I've never been, except with you." "Melissa, you are beautiful. There's no shame in letting people see that." I said, keeping my hand on her cheek, and maintaining eye contact. She stretched her legs out in front of her, her flexed muscles clearly defined. "I look like I could have been Brigitte Nielsen's stunt double in Red Sonja." I laughed. "You say that like it's a bad thing. She was a goddess." This got a smile from her. "I think you're biased." "Yes, I am. But that doesn't mean I'm wrong." She still didn't seem convinced. "You should be proud of your body. It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. Do you like wearing it?" "Yes." She said softly, then added. "It feels really good." "You look amazing." "Everybody is going to be staring at me all night. I don't know if I can take that." She was probably right about everybody staring at her. Every guy there is going to want her and be jealous of me. Every girl is going to know that she is more beautiful than they are and be jealous of her. "It's Halloween, so pretend to be someone else. Be a girl who doesn't give a fuck about what other people think about her because she's confident in who she is. Be a girl that loves the attention, because she knows that every look is a compliment about her stunning beauty." I wasn't sure if I was saying the right things or not. She still didn't look very confident, but I could tell that she understood my intent. "I'll try." She gave me a quick kiss. "Maybe you'll find out that you like the attention, and won't have to pretend anymore." "Maybe." She smiled shyly. "I think I have to wear different panties though. I wanted to wear the red one for you but..." She stood and faced away from me, and I looked with admiration at the backs of her long, sexy legs. Then she bent over at the waist, and the short length of the skirt was pulled up, leaving nearly her entire bare ass exposed. I could see the thin satin strap of her thong running between her ass cheeks. I stood and put my hands on her ass, squeezing it. She stood upright, but I kept her from turning around. I pressed myself against her, arms around her waist, pulling her ass against the bulge in my pants. "Keep the red one on," I whispered into her ear. "It's not too much? I feel like I'm going to be showing my bare ass to everybody." "Maybe... just don't bend over like that when anyone other than me can see it." Melissa giggled cautiously. "Okay. But if I'm wearing this, then you can't stand behind me to hide that bulge the whole time. If people are going to see me, they're going to see you too." I laughed. "Deal. I can guarantee that I'm going to be hard as a rock all night." Then having an idea, I pulled away, undid my pants, and reached down inside. Melissa watched me with an amused smile. I rearranged myself so that, instead of being tucked down under between my legs, my very erect cock sat pointing down along my left leg. I fastened my pants, and with how tight they fit, the outline of my cock was clearly visible. "That's fair." Then she said mischievously. "Maybe next year you can be the cowboy, and I'll have you wear ass-less chaps. That's it, just ass-less chaps." We both laughed, and I pulled her into my arms, hugging her warmly. "I love you." "I love you." She replied. "If it gets too uncomfortable, we'll leave," I said softly. "It doesn't matter what we do, as long as we are together." I felt her nod in agreement. After a pause, she said. "Speaking of what to do, the party doesn't start for, like, six hours." "How about renting a movie, and just relaxing?" "Okay." She said, chuckling. "But I am not wearing this to the video store." We wondered the isles of the Blockbuster down the street from Melissa's apartment, indecisive on what we wanted to watch. We had both changed into comfortable jeans, but Melissa still wore the beaded halter top, albeit underneath a long padded wool coat. None of the new releases had sparked much interest, and we eventually found our way to the 'sci-fi and fantasy' section. After a few minutes, a title caught my eye. I grabbed the box off the shelf and handed it to Melissa. "Nice." She said, grinning. Ten minutes later, the opening credits began, and as Arnold Schwarzenegger rode across a mountain valley to an Ennio Morricone score, we cuddled together on Melissa's couch to watch Red Sonja. We barely spoke during the movie, both content with being close to each other and enjoying the show. At one point, as I watched her rapt attention to a sword fight, I felt a familiar feeling of awe. Melissa was my perfect woman. There wasn't a single thing about her that I would change. Well, her insecurities and self-confidence aside, but I'm working on those. The final scene played out, and the end credits rolled to more of Morricone's beautiful score. Melissa turned in my arms, facing me. "I love that movie." She gave me a sweet kiss on the lips. "And you're right, Brigitte Nielsen is a goddess." "So, what do you want to do now?" I asked suggestively. Melissa's eyes blazed with fiery passion. "What do you think I want to do?" Recalling the dialog from the final scene of the movie, I said in my best Arnold voice. "I make it a rule, never to take a woman unless she can beat me in a fair fight." Melissa grinned and continued with Brigitte Nielsen's line. "That's a challenge I might think about someday." "What about right now?" "Why not?" When Melissa said the last line of the movie, I grabbed her by the shoulders and wrestled her onto her back. In response, she twisted around and, surprising me with her strength, flipped our positions. She straddled me, pinning me face up on the couch. I have to say, after watching that particular movie, this roughhousing was hot. I could tell that Melissa thought so too. She leaned down and we kissed deeply. I looked into her blazing blue eyes. "My warrior queen will have what she demands." "Get naked. Now." She said gently, but in a tone that made it sound like a command. She inched forward, straddling higher up my chest, and giving me room to get my pants off. As I struggled to accomplish that as quickly as I could, I watched as she seductively removed her halter top. Pants and underwear off, I reached up and grasped her tits, rubbing her nipples with my thumbs. She closed her eyes and moaned quietly. Melissa slid back to straddling my hips, and tugged at my shirt, helping me get it off without having to fully sit up. Then she leaned way back between my legs, lifting her legs into the air and towards her chest as she laid her back on the couch. I got a marvelous view as she pulled her pants off, taking the red thong with them. She came back forward to straddle me again, and I began to sit up to meet her, but she put her hands on my chest, gently pushing me back down. She leaned over me, kissing me briefly on the lips, then sensually made a trail of kisses down my neck, chest, and belly. She knelt between my legs, spreading them apart. I sighed as she moved her hands up my inner thighs and caressed the freshly shaved skin around my balls. She brought her face close to my cock, and looked up at me, meeting my eyes. She pursed her lips, blew softly on my bare genitals, and smiled as I shivered. Maintaining eye contact, she grasped my cock, and lowered her mouth upon it. I gasped in pleasure as she took me in. I could see in her eyes that my reaction fueled her desire to pleasure me. I couldn't have looked away if I wanted to. There was a fierceness in her eyes that I found to be absolutely captivating. She sucked hungrily and worked her tongue on me, seemingly intent on making me cum as fast as she could. My body complied, and I was very near to cumming much quicker than I wanted. Melissa redoubled her efforts, massaging my balls as she sucked harder. Her eyes seemed to scream "Cum for me! Cum for your warrior queen!" My hips bucked as I came suddenly, and I felt her hum in satisfaction as I filled her mouth with my seed. Melissa milked my cock for the last few drops of my cum, still holding my eyes with hers. She took me out of her mouth, and I saw her swallow. She leaned down over me with a satisfied smile. "That one was all mine." She purred, before kissing me. I was still amazed at how quickly she had made me cum, and held her tight as we kissed. She still had this new fierceness in her eyes when she pulled away slightly. "Now it's my turn." She moved up, straddling my face. As she lowered herself onto my awaiting mouth, she rested her chest over the couch's armrest. Melissa moaned loudly as I closed my mouth over her and my tongue began to explore. I loved the taste of her and loved how her body responded to my attention. She pressed herself down onto me, and I had to push up against her with my hands to keep her from smothering me. My hands pushed against her where the backs of her thighs met her ass, just on either side of her pussy. Her moans got louder when I pushed my hands to the sides, spreading her pussy open. My tongue attacked her with renewed vigor, and her body complied with my urgent desire to make her cum as quickly as she had made me. Her juices gushed into my mouth, and I swallowed greedily. "Yes!" She exclaimed as she tensed, right on the edge of climax. I pressed my tongue broadly over her clit, and with quick circular motions, pushed her over the edge. As she tensed and spasmed uncontrollably, I left her overly sensitive clit alone and eased down the intensity with which I ate her. She pulled herself off of me, and moved back down into my arms, straddling my waist once again. Our mouths met, and we kissed deeply, with Melissa still twitching occasionally. We stopped to catch our breath and Melissa said. "Tasting myself on you is hot." I nodded in agreement and licked a bit of saliva off of her lips. She smiled and licked my chin, which was still soaking wet from eating her. "Did I satisfy my warrior queen to her liking?" I asked, deciding to continue our Red Sonja-inspired role play. "Oh yes," She replied with a feral grin. "You did very well. But you should know by now, that I always need more." Our eyes locked, and she reached down, finding my cock. She raised her hips slightly and lowered herself down onto me. I groaned in pleasure as I felt her silky warmth envelop me. She kissed me briefly, then sat up. She smiled down at me and wiggled her hips. When I tried to sit up, she gently, but firmly pushed me back down flat. Sensing that she wanted to be in total control, I put my hands behind my head. She gyrated her hips slowly, and I stared up at her, marveling at how unbelievably sexy she looked. She arched her back towards me, drawing me out of her, then sank onto me again as she transitioned to arching her back away from me. Like the rhythmic crashing of waves, her body undulated in a fluid motion that started with her shoulders and ended with her hips. Each sensual motion pulled me out of her, then brought me deeply back inside. I watched in awe, as she writhed on top of me. "You are a goddess!" I managed to say between gasped breaths. When she arched her back towards me, her flawless skin pulled tight, and I could see her abdominal muscles and the outline of her ribs. Her pale pink nipples were erect on her perfect tits. She brought her hands to her tits and squeezed them sensually as she continued to fuck me. I could see by the gleam in her eyes that she was enjoying giving me this show, maybe as much as I was enjoying watching her. Even though I had cum, really just a few minutes before, I could feel that I wasn't going to last much longer. Melissa stopped her forward and back motion and leaned way back, supporting herself with her hands on the couch next to my knees. She began thrusting her hips forward and back, burying me deep inside her every time. She quickly increased her pace, bouncing her firm ass against my hips. Seeing my cock slide in and out of her, and watching the muscles of her thighs and belly flex as she drove herself onto me was too much to withstand, and I was seconds away from cumming. Without the close full-body contact that we usually had, I wasn't sure how close to cumming she was, so I broke the unspoken rule of the session and brought my hands to her. I pressed my hands against her inner thighs, alongside her pussy. I rubbed her clit between my fingertips. She must have been close because, with an exclamation of primal ecstasy, she came almost immediately from my touch. Her vagina clamped tightly around my cock, and I grunted loudly as I emptied my balls into her. We both held still for a moment, breathing hard. She grabbed my hand, and I pulled her forward, sitting up to meet her. We wrapped our arms around each other and kissed hungrily. Melissa made needy moans as she ground her mouth against mine. We kissed for a long time, our need for each other seemingly inexhaustible. Finally, we broke apart, gasping for breath. We caressed each other's faces as we stared into each other's eyes. The fierceness she had shown in our passion was still there, but it was tempered now after our mutual release. Watching that particular movie had awakened something inside her, something that I found unbelievably attractive. Once again, I found myself in a state of utter awe of this woman. "You are amazing," I said, knowing that the words were inadequate to express my feelings. Melissa smiled, then looked a little self-conscious. "I didn't go too far with being in control did I?" I kissed her. "Not at all. I thought it was really hot." She looked relieved and kissed me back. "It felt really good." I could tell that it had felt really good for her to be in control. It must be liberating for her to have the desire to be in control, and be called amazing when she acted it out. Traditionally, men were in control, particularly in the bedroom. Society traditionally expected women to just follow the lead of their partner. It was one of those things that just was. Well, fuck tradition, we would do whatever felt right. This isn't the nineteen-fifties. Besides, we were already breaking one societal norm, being second cousins madly in love, what's one more? It felt good for her to take control, and honestly, she could have taken it much farther, and I would have still loved it. "It did." I agreed. "I like this side of you." "What side?" She asked, turning one direction, then the other playfully. She asked the question playfully, yes, but I could see that she was anxious about what I was going to say. There was a part of her that was exceedingly fragile to criticism right now, having opened up and let go of an inhibition. "The warrior queen," I responded in a gentle, but serious tone. "She's fierce and confident, and isn't afraid to take what she wants." Melissa didn't say anything, so I continued. "The world needs to see more of this part of you." Then hastily added. "Not in a sexual way, of course." Melissa giggled and then kissed me. "You are all that I want." She flexed her pelvic floor muscles, and I felt her pussy squeeze my cock tightly. I flexed my own, causing my cock to twitch inside of her. We smiled at each other. "I am yours," I said, kissing her. I laid back down, pulling her down on top of me. She sighed in contentment and rested her weight on my chest, nuzzling my neck. We stayed like that for a while, and I could tell that she was beginning to fall asleep. I shifted and urged her to sit up. I stood, and she took my offered hand, following me to her bedroom. We cuddled up under the covers, and both quickly fell asleep. Chapter Fourteen. We woke refreshed from our nap and got dressed in our costumes. Soon we were in my pickup heading to the house where the party was being held. I glanced at Melissa as I drove, and she seemed to be unaware that I wasn't taking the most direct route. We were only a few minutes away from Melissa's apartment, when I turned into the parking lot of the Duluth location of the big box home improvement store I worked for. Butterflies filled my stomach as I prepared myself to set into motion the plan I had devised in the shower earlier that day. "I've got to go in here for a few minutes," I said, parking my truck, but leaving it running. "Ok, I'll be here," Melissa replied with a smile. I smiled back at her, leaned over to give her a quick kiss, and got out of the truck. I walked into the store with purpose. I got back twenty minutes later. Sitting behind the wheel, I looked over at Melissa with a huge grin on my face. She gave me a slightly confused look. "What did you need to get here?" "I have a surprise for you," I said, still unable to stop from smiling. "What is it?" Melissa asked. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. What I had just done, marked a turning point, one of those moments in your life where your life will never be the same again. "I just spoke with the yard manager, then with the store manager, and... as of two weeks from right now, I'll be working out of this store." It took a moment for Melissa to process what I said, her mouth fell open and her eyes began to glisten with the promise of tears. I nodded in silent confirmation, and she threw herself across the bench seat into my arms. We hugged tightly and kissed. I felt her joyful tears against my face. "Of course, this all depends on if you're okay with having a roommate..." Melissa laughed, her happiness nearly overwhelming her. "Am I okay? Charles, this is a dream come true!" We kissed again, then rested our foreheads together as we gazed into each other's eyes. Nothing on earth could have taken the smiles off our faces. We glanced over as an old grey-haired couple walked past my truck. They watched us as they passed, smiling at our display of joy and affection. The man put his arm around the woman, pulling her close as they walked and they smiled lovingly at each other. Melissa and I returned our gazes to each other, and we knew that we were both thinking the same thing. That was going to be us someday. A lifetime of love and experiences awaited us, and neither of us could imagine any other way we would want to spend our lives than with each other. On the drive to the party, Melissa sat in the middle of my truck's bench seat, and in between gear shifts, I rested my hand on her inner thigh. I would glance in her direction now and then as I drove, but Melissa never took her eyes off of me. The way she was looking at me made my heart glow. I loved her so much, and knowing that my love was returned, every bit of it and more, was almost enough to make a guy weep with joy. I parked on the street up the block from the party. I shut the truck off and turned to face Melissa. She wrapped her arms around me and we kissed deeply. "I love you." She whispered. "I love you," I whispered back. I put a hand to her face and she leaned into my palm as I caressed her cheek. "Are you ready?" She nodded. "As much as I need to be making love to you in our bed right now, I want to do this." Our bed, she had said. I liked that. Melissa smiled at me, knowing that I had picked up on her deliberate word usage. I helped her out of the truck, making sure nobody saw more of her than was appropriate, even though she was still wearing her long coat that covered her down past her knees. We walked up to the house and rang the bell. As we waited, side by side, hand in hand, I said. "I'll be right here next to you the whole time, my warrior queen." She smiled lovingly at me, and I saw any faint trace of self-doubt leave her. She took a deep breath and stood a little straighter, chin raised. The door opened and we were greeted by Ashley's older sister, Debbie, who was hosting the party. "Melissa! I'm glad you could make it. I haven't seen you in forever." Debbie was five years older than Ashley and had moved out of their parent's house four years ago. Her husband's name was Chris, and apparently, he was some kind of Dot Com hotshot. I believed it, as their house was huge, and they both had expensive German sports cars parked in their driveway. Debbie took our coats, and we began to mingle, soon finding Ashley and James. Ashley rushed over and gave Melissa a quick hug. "Wow, you look Amazing!" I resisted the urge to laugh when I saw James give Melissa a good head-to-toe look, and then notice me watching him. Now, I can see how guys might get pissed off by other guys checking out their girlfriends, but I saw it differently. I took it as a compliment to Melissa's stunning beauty, an opinion I wholeheartedly agreed with. Melissa made formal introductions, and I shook hands with Ashley and James in turn. When I shook James' hand, he met my eyes in what seemed like an apology for his wandering eyes. I did my best to subtly show that there was no harm done. We mingled and ate from the lavish catered buffet that Debbie and Chris had provided. I was introduced to more people than I could ever remember. Everywhere we went, eyes followed. There were lustful eyes, admiring eyes, jealous eyes, and yes, when people noticed the obvious outline of my perpetually hard cock barely restrained by my pants, laughing eyes. I didn't care at all about any of our observers, or what they thought about us. My eyes, and my thoughts, were for Melissa alone. I kept true to my word, never left her side all evening, and maintained nearly constant physical contact, be it an arm around her waist, a held hand, or a covert squeeze of an ass cheek. For her part, she seemed to particularly enjoy rubbing her ass against my groin right before we talked to somebody new, or were going to walk anywhere, and when my arm was around her, she had a hand in my back pocket. Again, I didn't care that everyone there saw my arousal. I honestly believed that it would be more out of place to have such a gorgeous woman at my arm all night, and not be constantly turned on. Through it all, Melissa was amazing. She never showed the least bit of self-consciousness or anxiety. I knew she saw how everyone watched her, and as the night went on, I began to believe that she was genuinely enjoying the attention. Our costumes were a hit, not just Melissa's, but the four of us as a group. Everyone cheered as Melissa and I, and Ashley and James, got up and danced when YMCA was played. We each had a glass of the strongly spiked punch, but neither of us had the desire to get drunk. We seemed to be the exception though. As the party began to wind down, intoxicated couples could be found making out on couches and comfy chairs, with one pair doing a little more than make out under the billiards table. Ashley was one of those who had way too much to drink, and we said our goodbyes as James helped her up the stairs to a guest room that Debbie and Chris had reserved for them. Melissa's eyes met mine, and I saw her fierce need for me shining bright. As much as we both wanted to strip down and fuck like rabbits right then and there, we both agreed silently that we had reached the extent of our exhibitionism. We said goodbye, thanked Debbie and Chris, who were quite intoxicated themselves, and left. The night air was heavy in a way that hinted at impending snowfall, and the wind blew cold and humid off of Lake Superior. Melissa held her coat tightly around herself as we rushed to my truck. Once in the truck and moving, I revved the engine more than I usually did to get the engine up to temp a little faster. The air from the vents soon turned warm, and Melissa opened her coat. She was sitting next to me again, with one leg on either side of the shifter. She had let her skirt ride up, and between gear shifts, I rested my hand between her legs, gently rubbing her with my fingertips through her satin thong. She had a hand on my crotch, and slowly stroked me through my pants. The trip back was fairly short, only about ten miles. Halfway there I asked her. "Why does it seem like it's taking forever to get back to your apartment?" "Our apartment." Melissa reminded me with a smile. I glanced at her with a grin. I did like the sound of that. "It's because neither of us can wait until this beautiful cock of yours is inside me." She gave my cock a squeeze to accentuate her words. When we neared her, our apartment, she said in a casual tone that was betrayed by the lustful intensity with which she was looking at me. "When that door closes, you'll have about ten seconds to get naked before I start tearing these clothes off of you." Turns out, she didn't even give me that long. As I bumped my back against the door to push it all the way closed, Melissa attacked my belt, getting it unbuckled with amazing quickness. Before I knew it, my pants were around my ankles and Melissa was on her knees taking me into her mouth. I could do nothing but moan and lean against the door as she implemented every trick she had learned so far. My legs felt wobbly as she expertly brought all of the evening's pent-up sexual energy to the fore. I looked down and met the fierce eyes of my warrior queen. In mere moments, she had brought me to the verge of orgasm. I was just seconds away from cumming, when she stopped, taking me out of her mouth. The sudden absence of sensation took my breath away. Melissa looked up at me with a wicked grin. "Not yet." She said, giving the underside of my glans the slightest of licks. I shivered at the contact. I was so close. She watched me intently, giving me another tiny lick now and then, keeping me right at the brink. I couldn't speak, couldn't breathe. Almost involuntarily, I grasped the back of her head, pulling her mouth over me. She didn't resist and sucked with renewed vigor. Her eyes seemed to suggest that she had been waiting for me to make her continue, that she had wanted me to take what I wanted. Melissa massaged my balls as I came. My legs nearly gave out, as I filled her mouth with my seed. Four, five, six strong spurts. It felt like the entire content of my balls was shooting into her. Her eyes showed her joy at what she was able to do to me. She took me out of her mouth and ran her hands up my chest as she stood slowly. I reached out and grabbed her, quickly pulled her up the last bit, and locked my mouth with hers. She hadn't swallowed this time, and I could tell that I had indeed cum much more than usual. We moaned softly as we kissed, sharing my hot cum back and forth. When finally it was gone, we broke to catch our breath. Melissa looked at me with a sly smile. "If I am your warrior queen, then you are my king. A king is fierce and confident, and isn't afraid to take what he wants." "I want you. All of you." I squeezed her ass, pulling her hips tightly against me. She sighed with pleasure as my still-hard cock pressed against the satin of her thong. I whispered into her ear. "I'm going to make you cum with my tongue. Then I'm going to make you cum on my fingers. I'm going to make you cum again, and again, and again, until you're a sweaty, sticky, twitching mess." As I spoke, her breathing became heavier. She was practically panting in anticipation. "After that, I'm going to bury my cock deep inside you, and make love to you, and not stop until I physically can't do it anymore. That is what I desire." When our eyes met again, the look of love and passion I saw was so raw, so pure and powerful, that it burned itself into my memory. From that moment, whenever I thought about the way Melissa looked at me, I remembered that one look first and foremost. "My king will have what he demands." She whispered. I led her to our bed and carried through on my promise. How many times did I make her cum while eating her? Honestly, I lost track after the first few. One orgasm rolled into the next, and into the next, until she was indeed a sweaty, sticky, quivering mess. When I finally entered her, I paced myself, pumping hard into her at times, and slowing or even stopping inside her at others. I wanted to make it last as long as I could while making her cum as many times as possible. We switched positions many times. When I would start to get tired, she would roll me onto my back and ride me until she came again, then we would switch positions, all without my cock ever leaving her hot and silky wetness. I ended up cumming inside her twice, and though we had continued to make love, I was not able to cum a third time. We lay together on sweat-damp sheets, facing each other, limbs intertwined, and both utterly exhausted. My lips were numb from kissing, and it seemed like every muscle in my entire body was sore from exertion. Melissa giggled tiredly. "What?" I asked, finding her adorable giggle as infectious as always. "So that's what it takes to completely satisfy my sexual desire." We both laughed, and she kissed me sweetly on the lips. "I need to work on my cardio." Melissa giggled again. "It'll get easier, you just need to keep at it." Giggling with her, I quipped. "Keep at it? I thought you were completely satisfied." "For today, yes," Melissa responded, and we both laughed again. We hugged each other tightly. Melissa sighed and caressed my cheek. "Thank you." She said softly. "For?" I asked. "For giving me courage tonight. I really did enjoy wearing that costume. Not just for you, but for me. I don't think I could have done it without you." I gave her a sweet kiss. "Even though you're more brave and amazing than you give yourself credit for, I will always be right here. Whatever we face, we'll face it together." Her eyes glowed with her love. "I'll be here for you too. Forever." "Forever," I repeated, and we kissed sweetly. We both knew without a doubt that ours was a love that would last until the end of time. When we said "forever", we meant it. Neither of us had ever known anything so surely as we knew this. As thoughts of spending the rest of my life with this glorious woman passed through my mind, I drifted off to sleep in her loving arms. Chapter Fifteen. We awoke in our bed, still in each other's arms. We stretched and embraced tightly. "Good morning, my love," Melissa whispered. "Good morning, wonderful," I responded with a kiss. I knew that I wasn't alone in thinking that I could easily spend the whole day in bed, even if we did nothing but hold each other and rest, but nature was calling. We got out of bed, not bothering to put any clothes on, and headed to the bathroom. As she sat to pee, I turned on the shower, making sure it was set to Melissa's preferred temperature of just below scalding. She stood, and it was my turn to relieve myself. It occurred to me that it was likely neither of us had ever seen anyone of the opposite sex use the toilet before. We watched each other, but it wasn't weird, gross, or embarrassing. I mean, after all of our intimate contact thus far, this was nothing. But it did remind me of how thoroughly and completely we were bonded to each other. There were no secrets between us, no need for shyness or reservations. In every aspect, we were one entity. When I finished, Melissa pulled me into the shower. We washed each other, toweled off, and returned to our bedroom. Melissa went towards her dresser, obviously thinking that it was time to get dressed. I had other plans. I held her hand and stopped her near the bed. "Lay face down," I said pointing to the bed. She gave me her little smile, the one she kept just for me, and complied. I knelt over her feet and began massaging them. I massaged her legs thoroughly, enjoying her relaxed sighs. When I massaged her firm ass, I could see the moisture of her arousal seeping out of her. I bent over and kissed one of her perfect ass cheeks. Melissa giggled. "Kiss my ass." I chuckled and kissed the other cheek. I ran my fingers along the tops of her thighs, and she gasped quietly when I made contact with her wetness. While one hand rubbed her back at the base of her spine, I eased the thumb of the other into her. I slowly worked it in and out, brushing her clit with my index finger with every stroke. Before she came, I eased off and stopped. I wiped my wet fingers on my cock, and shifted forward. She arched her back in eager anticipation. I entered her slowly until I was buried as deep as I could go. Melissa moaned with satisfaction. I leaned down and planted a kiss between her shoulder blades. Whispering, I said. "I hope you don't mind if I just stay right there for a while. I'm not done with my massage yet." She made only a happy moan in response. As I began to slowly slide my cock in and out, I gripped her shoulders and began to knead her muscles. She made continuous sighs of relaxation as I worked my way down her back, all the while, keeping a steady, slow rhythm with my cock. When I reached the bottom of her spine, I pulled her waist towards me, getting that extra bit deeper with one slow thrust. Melissa moaned softly, her face buried in the pillow. My massaging hands worked their way back up to her shoulders, and I grasped them firmly, pulling myself deep into her once again. Melissa responded with another moan, slightly louder than the previous one. Again and again, my hands moved up and down her back, with each particularly deep thrust garnering an ever louder moan. I loved how much Melissa was enjoying what I was doing, her pleasure and relaxation having reached a zen-like state, but eventually, I had to face the sad reality that my arms were getting tired! I slid my hands around her waist, and down to the top of her hips, pulling myself deep inside her again, but this time I kept my hands there. I increased the speed of my thrusts, and with each one, I pulled her hips towards me. Faster and faster I pumped into her, and my balls were soon slapping wetly on the backs of her thighs. Melissa's moans became one continuous guttural exhalation, punctuated with every impact. I came hard, and breathing heavily, collapsed onto her back. I nuzzled into the back of her neck, feeling her silky hair on my face and breathing in her scent. Melissa's scent, and make no mistake, everyone has a unique scent, was something that I knew I could never find the words to describe. It was delicate, sweet without being sickly, earthy without being dirty. It was her, it was her essence, that intangible quality that makes something what it is, and I loved it. I breathed her in and sighed, planting a soft kiss on the base of her neck. To be continued in part 5. Based on a post by NewMountain80, in 6 parts, for Literotica.
In episode #171 of
Catch up with ALLISON INTERVIEWS Host, Allison Kugel: Follow Me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theallisonkugel/ My Allison Interviews Blog: allisoninterviews.com Buy My Book: Journaling Fame: A memoir of a life unhinged and on the record Support My Interviews @ Buy Me a Coffee: buymeacoffee.com/allisoninterviews In the latest installment of the Allison Interviews Podcast, journalist and host Allison Kugel talks with New York Times bestselling author Jeff Pearlman, about writing Only God Can Judge Me: The Many Lives of Tupac Shakur (on sale 10/21, Mariner Books), the most complete Tupac Shakur biography ever penned, featuring 650+ interviews. The book features in-depth interviews with Tupac's sister Set Shakur, late Outlawz member Yaki Kadafi's mother Yaasmyn Fula, Digital Underground's Money B, Tupac's aunt Gloria and her son Kenny Lesane, former Tupac managers Leila Steinberg and Atron Gregory, Juice director Ernest Dickerson, former classmates, love interests and close friends from the Baltimore School for the Arts, former roommates from the projects and former classmates in Marin City, the surprising woman who gave Tupac his first and middle name, actress Lela Rochon, Gang Related director Jim Kouf and hundreds of others. The book also features never before heard quotes from Tupac's former fiancée Kidada Jones. Traditionally a sports figure biographer, Pearlman's previous book include: Showtime (adopted for the screen with HBO's Winning Time series), The Last Folk Hero, Three-Ring Circus, Football for a Buck, Gunslinger, Sweetness, The Rocket That Fell to Earth, Boys Will Be Boys, Love Me Hate Me and The Bad Guys Won. Jeff Pearlman's Links https://jeffpearlman.com/ https://www.instagram.com/jeff_pearlman/ https://www.harpercollins.com/products/only-god-can-judge-me-jeff-pearlman?variant=43756802310178 _____________________________________________________________________________ Subscribe to the audio podcast of Allison Interviews on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and subscribe to the video podcast on YouTube. :-) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Traditionally most of us think of NZ as having a strong screen production industry. And that was certainly the case 4 or 5 years ago with seemingly jobs aplenty and heaps of international productions being shot here. But that no longer appears to be the case, so far this financial year only seven international productions have registered with the film commission. So what's going on, and how can we get the sector moving again? South Pacific Pictures is the production company behind films like Whale Rider and TV shows Shortland Street & The Traitors. CEO Kelly Martin talks to Jesse.
What is a good life? Traditionally, philosophers have seen it as an equation: The Good Life = Happiness + Meaning. But, if it's really that simple, why don't more of us achieve that truly "good" life? In The Art of the Interesting: What We Miss in Our Pursuit of the Good Life and How to Cultivate It (Balance, 2024), Lorraine Besser, Professor of Philosophy at Middlebury College, offers insights drawn from both psychological research and philosophical analysis that provides new insights into a third aspect of happiness, psychological richness. According to Besser it is exposure to "the interesting" that leads to psychologically rich experiences. Put simply, "The Interesting" is an experience that captivates you, engages you, helps you let go of whatever is holding you back from fully engaging in the world around you. It's different for everyone, and everyone can obtain and strengthen the skills necessary to access it. In this interview, Besser relates key insights from her book, while discussing linkages to other areas of research including the notion of human capabilities developed by Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum, approaches to measuring societal well being such as Bhutan's Gross National Happiness Index, the influence of technology on our ability to achieve psychologically rich lives, and potential normative implications of her research for policy. Professor Besser is interviewed by Thomas McInerney (Loyola University Chicago School of Law; Stockholm Environment Institute). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network
What is a good life? Traditionally, philosophers have seen it as an equation: The Good Life = Happiness + Meaning. But, if it's really that simple, why don't more of us achieve that truly "good" life? In The Art of the Interesting: What We Miss in Our Pursuit of the Good Life and How to Cultivate It (Balance, 2024), Lorraine Besser, Professor of Philosophy at Middlebury College, offers insights drawn from both psychological research and philosophical analysis that provides new insights into a third aspect of happiness, psychological richness. According to Besser it is exposure to "the interesting" that leads to psychologically rich experiences. Put simply, "The Interesting" is an experience that captivates you, engages you, helps you let go of whatever is holding you back from fully engaging in the world around you. It's different for everyone, and everyone can obtain and strengthen the skills necessary to access it. In this interview, Besser relates key insights from her book, while discussing linkages to other areas of research including the notion of human capabilities developed by Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum, approaches to measuring societal well being such as Bhutan's Gross National Happiness Index, the influence of technology on our ability to achieve psychologically rich lives, and potential normative implications of her research for policy. Professor Besser is interviewed by Thomas McInerney (Loyola University Chicago School of Law; Stockholm Environment Institute). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/psychology
What is a good life? Traditionally, philosophers have seen it as an equation: The Good Life = Happiness + Meaning. But, if it's really that simple, why don't more of us achieve that truly "good" life? In The Art of the Interesting: What We Miss in Our Pursuit of the Good Life and How to Cultivate It (Balance, 2024), Lorraine Besser, Professor of Philosophy at Middlebury College, offers insights drawn from both psychological research and philosophical analysis that provides new insights into a third aspect of happiness, psychological richness. According to Besser it is exposure to "the interesting" that leads to psychologically rich experiences. Put simply, "The Interesting" is an experience that captivates you, engages you, helps you let go of whatever is holding you back from fully engaging in the world around you. It's different for everyone, and everyone can obtain and strengthen the skills necessary to access it. In this interview, Besser relates key insights from her book, while discussing linkages to other areas of research including the notion of human capabilities developed by Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum, approaches to measuring societal well being such as Bhutan's Gross National Happiness Index, the influence of technology on our ability to achieve psychologically rich lives, and potential normative implications of her research for policy. Professor Besser is interviewed by Thomas McInerney (Loyola University Chicago School of Law; Stockholm Environment Institute). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/popular-culture
The boys drink and review Pigweed's homebrewed Black IPA, then discuss cancel culture in the light of the Charlie Kirk story. Defenders of so-called cancel culture object to the term. They say it's just "consequence culture." Traditionally, conservatives have been against cancel culture -- because it's usually a weapon deployed by liberals against conservatives. But now, when liberals like Jimmy Kimmel are canceled for lying about Charlie Kirk, conservatives seem to have changed their tune. But have they? Not quite. There's a huge difference between what liberals have been doing -- trying to get someone fired for having a different political opinion -- and what conservatives are celebrating, which is when people promote or celebrate political violence. The boys work through the issues and make the necessary distinctions.
Traditionally the most “high-profile” session of the weekend, the Sunday Morning Session gets Radio Free Mormon's full treatment. From prophetic posturing to carefully crafted soundbites, RFM highlights what's said on the big stage—and what's quietly avoided. If you want the conference decoded, this is the session to watch.
Traditionally the most “high-profile” session of the weekend, the Sunday Morning Session gets Radio Free Mormon's full treatment. From prophetic posturing to carefully crafted soundbites, RFM highlights what's said on the big stage—and what's quietly avoided. If you want the conference decoded, this is the session to watch. The post GenCon Post Mortem: Sunday Morning: RFM: 421 appeared first on Mormon Discussions Podcasts - Full Lineup.
This week on The Tarot Diagnosis, we're getting delightfully nerdy. Inspired by a conversation with a dear friend, I explore tarot through the lens of developmental psychology, focusing specifically on Donald Winnicott's concept of transitional objects, transitional space, and transitional phenomena.Traditionally, transitional objects are things like blankets, stuffed animals, or toys that help children move from total dependence to early independence by offering emotional regulation and symbolic comfort. But what happens when we grow up? We don't stop needing comfort. It turns out our transitional objects just evolve…Enter tarot.In this episode, we explore how tarot functions as an transitional object, or what psychologist Mark Brenner refers to as a “sacred keepsake” that helps us self-soothe, regulate, and bridge our inner world with our external world. Drawing from both developmental theory and therapeutic principles, I unpack the psychological richness of the cards as mirrors, containers, and transitional phenomena.I also guide you through an experiential three-card “Container Spread” designed to help you hold and process what feels too heavy using the archetypes as emotional containers. For the collective, I pull… Card One – What feels too heavy right now? → Eight of Swords Card Two – What archetype can hold that heaviness? → Queen of Swords Card Three – What can I do while this is being held? → Nine of WandsDeck Used: Pagan Otherworlds
Our topic today is about “gender”, the way in which persons recognize and identify themselves. Traditionally you could only identify as a man or as a woman. Today, however, we will focus on transgender people. A transgender person is a “transitioning person”, someone who does not feel comfortable with the gender they have been assigned … Continue reading "Between Support and Struggle +++ Transgender People +++ Gender Identity +++ Misunderstandings +++ Absolutely Intercultural 311"
Kathleen talks about the risks of kidney damage from high blood pressure. Peter talks about the health benefits of apples , guests and our featured author. Kathleen's Deep Dive High blood pressure can have a serious effect on our kidneys. Traditionally, doctors have been more concerned with the potential damage to the heart which means many cases of high blood pressure are not screened for kidney disease. Cutting out salt as a precaution to reduce high blood pressure can increase the harm to our kidneys by upsetting the sodium:potassium balance in our bodies Health Declassified is brought to you by Peter Wright & Kathleen Beauvais contact us to be a guest on our show. https://HealthDeclassified.com peter@healthdeclassified.com kathleen@healthdeclassified.com Get our weekly newsletter for links to articles mentioned on the show, holistic health tips and news of future guests. Subscribe here Our Affiliate Suppliers Science Driven Supplements - Circuguard & OxyBoost https://bit.ly/3VPzsV8 MyWayCBD https://bit.ly/4jFzmd0 BAM Metrics Exercise Equipment https://bit.ly/3SMnZom B3 Sciences BFR bands https://yakking.b3bands.me/ Touchstone Essentials https://healthdeclassified.thegoodinside.com/ Follow us on social media Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/1N3yM4lUuBYGMByhwuUDVy Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/480434235068451 FaceBook Page https://www.facebook.com/HealthDeclassified Twitter X https://x.com/HealthDeclass Instagram https://www.instagram.com/healthdeclassified/ Telegram https://t.me/healthdeclassifed Here are some of the tools we use to produce this podcast. Kit for sending emails and caring for subscribers Hostgator for website hosting. Podbean for podcast hosting Airtable for organizing our guest bookings and automations. Clicking on some links on this site will let you buy products and services which may result in us receiving a commission, however, it will not affect the price you pay.
Traditionally, we read the Book of Jonah on Yom Kippur because it forces us to face a hard question: do we want God's mercy only for ourselves—or also for our enemies?Jonah wanted wrath for Nineveh. God wanted mercy. And if we're honest, most of us live with the same tension: mercy for me, wrath for them.But here's the truth: if God's mercy isn't wide enough for our enemies, it isn't really mercy at all. Join us for Part 3 of The High Holidays & Jonah: Mercy & Wrath on Yom Kippur! Link: #thehappyrabbi #restorationseattle #JewishinSeattle #RoshHashana #YomKippur #Sukkot
Traditionally, we read the Book of Jonah on Yom Kippur because it forces us to face a hard question: do we want God's mercy only for ourselves—or also for our enemies?Jonah wanted wrath for Nineveh. God wanted mercy. And if we're honest, most of us live with the same tension: mercy for me, wrath for them.But here's the truth: if God's mercy isn't wide enough for our enemies, it isn't really mercy at all. Join us for Part 3 of The High Holidays & Jonah: Mercy & Wrath on Yom Kippur! Link: #thehappyrabbi #restorationseattle #JewishinSeattle #RoshHashana #YomKippur #Sukkot
Perilla, also known as Shiso (Perilla frutescens), yields an essential oil with a unique, sharp, green aroma that carries hints of spice and earthiness. Traditionally used in East Asian cultures, this oil is rich in antioxidants and supports respiratory and digestive health. Emotionally and spiritually, Perilla essential oil fosters mental clarity, reduces nervous tension, and creates a protective energetic shield, helping you stay grounded and centred amid chaos or overstimulation.ABOUT ADAM BARRALET Adam Barralet has been observing and living in tune with nature since childhood. Growing up amongst the bushland and wildlife of the hills in Western Australia and residing in various locations around the world has presented Adam with diverse opportunities to access extensive and eclectic teachings about the secrets of Mother Earth. He has used essential oils for over 30 years and teams his experiences with his background in human biology, chemistry, psychology, health sciences and massage.He has now established himself as an international author, presenter, educator and Wellness Advocate, adept at working with essential oils, along with crystals, animal guides, tarot, astrology and mythology. CONNECT WITH ADAM HERE: https://linktr.ee/adambarralet ABOUT ELIZABETH ASHLEYElizabeth Ashley has over 20 books on sale on Amazon under her pen name The Secret Healer. The UK Director of the National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy and an overseas speaker for The International Federation of Aromatherapists, Elizabeth's work focuses on understanding the very earliest energetic relationships between certain plants and the human world, right up the modern-day scientific evidence of healing botanicals.A practicing Melissa priestess, a plant and bee shamaness as well as a bee guardian, she has the unique perspective of having one foot in our three-dimensional scientific reality with the other dancing in the spiritual realms.CONNECT WITH LIZ HERE: https://linktr.ee/thesecrethealer
One of the most essential parts of ACL rehabilitation is regaining strength in the leg. Traditionally, rehab specialists have been guilty of underloading people during the rehabilitation of these injuries.Ah, the old “3 sets of 10.”In this episode, we review a recent journal article that compares the outcomes of two different set and rep schemes during ACL rehabilitation.To see full show notes and more, head to: https://mikereinold.com/periodization-of-strength-training-after-acl-reconstruction/ Click Here to View My Online CoursesWant to learn more from me? I have a variety of online courses on my website!Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the show_____Want to learn more? Check out my blog, podcasts, and online coursesFollow me: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Youtube
Paroxysmal movement disorders refer to a group of highly heterogeneous disorders that present with attacks of involuntary movements without loss of consciousness. These disorders demonstrate considerable and ever-expanding genetic and clinical heterogeneity, so an accurate clinical diagnosis has key therapeutic implications. In this episode, Kait Nevel, MD, speaks with Abhimanyu Mahajan, MD, MHS, FAAN, author of the article “Paroxysmal Movement Disorders” in the Continuum® August 2025 Movement Disorders issue. Dr. Nevel is a Continuum® Audio interviewer and a neurologist and neuro-oncologist at Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, Indiana. Dr. Mahajan is an assistant professor of neurology and rehabilitation medicine at the James J. and Joan A. Gardner Family Center for Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders at the University of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, Ohio. Additional Resources Read the article: Paroxysmal Movement Disorders Subscribe to Continuum®: shop.lww.com/Continuum Earn CME (available only to AAN members): continpub.com/AudioCME Continuum® Aloud (verbatim audio-book style recordings of articles available only to Continuum® subscribers): continpub.com/Aloud More about the American Academy of Neurology: aan.com Social Media facebook.com/continuumcme @ContinuumAAN Host: @IUneurodocmom Guest: @MahajanMD Full episode transcript available here Dr Jones: This is Doctor Lyell Jones, editor in chief of Continuum. Thank you for listening to Continuum Audio. Be sure to visit the links in the episode notes for information about earning CME, subscribing to the journal, and exclusive access to interviews not featured on the podcast. Dr Nevel: Hello, this is Dr Kait Nevel. Today I'm interviewing doctor Abhi Mahajan about his article on diagnosis and management of paroxysmal movement disorders, which appears in the August 2025 Continuum issue on movement disorders. Abhi, welcome to the podcast and please introduce yourself to the audience. Dr Mahajan: Thank you, Kait. Thank you for inviting me. My name is Abhi Mahajan. I'm an assistant professor of neurology and rehabilitation medicine at the University of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, Ohio. I'm happy to be here. Dr Nevel: Wonderful. Well, I'm really excited to talk to you about your article today on this very interesting and unique set of movement disorders. So, before we get into your article a little bit more, I think just kind of the set the stage for the discussion so that we're all on the same page. Could you start us off with some definitions? What are paroxysmal movement disorders? And generally, how do we start to kind of categorize these in our minds? Dr Mahajan: So, the term paroxysmal movement disorders refers to a group of highly heterogeneous disorders. These may present with attacks of involuntary movements, commonly a combination of dystonia and chorea, or ataxia, or both. These movements are typically without loss of consciousness and may follow, may follow, so with or without known triggers. In terms of the classification, these have been classified in a number of ways. Classically, these have been classified based on the trigger. So, if the paroxysmal movement disorder follows activity, these are called kinesigenic, paroxysmal, kinesigenic dyskinesia. If they are not followed by activity, they're called non kinesigenic dyskinesia and then if they've followed prolonged activity or exercise they're called paroxysmal exercise induced dyskinesia. There's a separate but related group of protogynous movement disorders called episodic attacks here that can have their own triggers. Initially this was the classification that was said. Subsequent classifications have placed their focus on the ideology of these attacks that could be familiar or acquired and of course understanding of familiar or genetic causes of paroxysmal movement disorders keeps on expanding and so on and so forth. And more recently, response to pharmacotherapy and specific clinical features have also been introduced into the classification. Dr Nevel: Great, thank you for that. Can you share with us what you think is the most important takeaway from your article for the practicing neurologist? Dr Mahajan: Absolutely. I think it's important to recognize that everything that looks and sounds bizarre should not be dismissed as malingering. Such hyperkinetic and again in quotations, “bizarre movements”. They may appear functional to the untrained eye or the lazy eye. These movements can be diagnosed. Paroxysmal movement disorders can be diagnosed with a good clinical history and exam and may be treated with a lot of success with medications that are readily available and cheap. So, you can actually make a huge amount of difference to your patients' lives by practicing old-school neurology. Dr Nevel: That's great, thank you so much for that. I can imagine that scenario does come up where somebody is thought to have a functional neurological disorder but really has a proximal movement disorder. You mentioned that in your article, how it's important to distinguish between these two, how there can be similarities at times. Do you mind giving us a little bit more in terms of how do we differentiate between functional neurologic disorder and paroxysmal movement disorder? Dr Mahajan: So clinical differentiation of functional neurological disorder from paroxysmal movement disorders, of course it's really important as a management is completely different, but it can be quite challenging. There's certainly an overlap. So, there can be an overlap with presentation, with phenomenology. Paroxysmal nature is common to both of them. In addition, FND and PMD's may commonly share triggers, whether they are movement, physical exercise. Other triggers include emotional stimuli, even touch or auditory stimuli. What makes it even more challenging is that FND's may coexist with other neurological disorders, including paroxysmal movement disorders. However, there are certain specific phenom phenotypic differences that have been reported. So specific presentations, for example the paroxysms may look different. Each paroxysm may look different in functional neurological disorders, specific phenotypes like paroxysmal akinesia. So, these are long duration episodes with eyes closed. Certain kinds of paroxysmal hyperkinesia with ataxia and dystonia have been reported. Of course. More commonly we see PNES of paroxysmal nonepileptic spells or seizures that may be considered paroxysmal movement disorders but represent completely different etiology which is FND. Within the world of movement disorders, functional jerks may resemble propiospinal myoclonus which is a completely different entity. Overall, there are certain things that help separate functional movement disorders from paroxysmal movement disorders, such as an acute onset variable and inconsistent phenomenology. They can be suggestibility, distractibility, entrainment, the use of an EMG may show a B-potential (Bereitschaftspotential) preceding the movement in patients with FND. So, all of these cues are really helpful. Dr Nevel: Great, thanks. When you're seeing a patient who's reporting to these paroxysmal uncontrollable movements, what kind of features of their story really tips you off that this might be a proximal movement disorder? Dr Mahajan: Often these patients have been diagnosed with functional neurological disorders and they come to us. But for me, whenever the patient and or the family talk about episodic movements, I think about these. Honestly, we must be aware that there is a possibility that the movements that the patients are reporting that you may not see in clinic. Maybe there are obvious movement disorders. Specifically, there's certain clues that you should always ask for in the history, for example, ask for the age of onset, a description of movements. Patients typically have videos or families have videos. You may not be able to see them in clinic. The regularity of frequency of these movements, how long the attacks are, is there any family history of or not? On the basis of triggers, whether, as I mentioned before, do these follow exercise? Prolonged exercise? Or neither of the above? What is the presentation in between attacks, which I think is a very important clinical clue. Your examination may be limited to videos, but it's important not just to examine the video which represents the patient during an attack, but in between attacks. That is important. And of course, I suspect we'll get to the treatment, but the treatment can follow just this part, the history and physical exam. It may be refined with further testing, including genetic testing. Dr Nevel: Great. On the note of genetic testing, when you do suspect a diagnosis of paroxysmal movement disorder, what are some key points for the provider to be aware of about genetic testing? How do we go about that? I know that there are lots of different options for genetic testing and it gets complicated. What do you suggest? Dr Mahajan: Traditionally, things were a little bit easier, right, because we had a couple of genes that have been associated with the robust movement disorders. So, genetic testing included single gene testing, testing for PRRT2 followed by SLC2A. And if these were negative, you said, well, this is not a genetic ideology for paroxysmal movement disorders. Of course, with time that has changed. There's an increase in known genes and variants. There is increased genetic entropy. So, the same genetic mutation may present with many phenotypes and different genetic mutations may present with the similar phenotype. Single gene testing is not a high yield approach. Overall genetic investigations for paroxysmal movement disorders use next generation sequencing or whole exome sequence panels which allow for sequencing of multiple genes simultaneously. The reported diagnostic yield with let's say next generation sequencing is around 35 to 50 percent. Specific labs at centers have developed their own panels which may improve the yield of course. In children, microarray may be considered, especially the presentation includes epilepsy or intellectual disability because copy number variations may not be detected by a whole exome sequencing or next generation sequencing. Overall, I will tell you that I'm certainly not an expert in genetics, so whenever you're considering genetic testing, if possible, please utilize the expertise of a genetic counsellor. Families want to know, especially as an understanding of the molecular underpinnings and knowledge about associated mutations or variations keeps on expanding. We need to incorporate their expertise. A variant of unknown significance, which is quite a common result with genetic testing, may not be a variant of unknown significance next year may be reclassified as pathogenic. So, this is extremely important. Dr Nevel: Yeah. That's such a good point. Thank you. And you just mentioned that there are some genetic mutations that can lead to multiple different phenotypes. Seemingly similar phenotypes can be associated with various genetic mutations. What's our understanding of that? Do we have an understanding of that? Why there is this seeming disconnect at times between the specific genetic mutation and the phenotype? Dr Mahajan: That is a tough question to answer for all paroxysmal movement disorders because the answer may be specific to a specific mutation. I think a great example is the CACNA1A mutation. It is a common cause of episodic ataxia type 2. Depending on when the patient presents, you can have a whole gamut of clinical presentations. So, if the patient is 1 year old, the patient can present with epileptic encephalopathy. Two to 5 years, it can be benign paroxysmal torticollis of infancy. Five to 10 years, can present with learning difficulties with absence epilepsy and then of course later, greater than 10 years, with episodic ataxia (type) 2 hemiplegic migraine and then a presentation with progressive ataxia and hemiplegic migraines has also been reported. So not just episodic progressive form of ataxia has also been reported. I think overall these disorders are very rare. They are even more infrequently diagnosed than their prevalence. As such, the point that different genetic mutations present with different phenotypes, or the same genetic mutation I may present with different phenotypes could also represent this part. Understanding of the clinical presentation is really incomplete and forever growing. There's a new case report or case series every other month, which makes this a little bit challenging, but that's all the more reason for learning about them and for constant vigilance for patients who show up to our clinic. Dr Nevel: Yeah, absolutely. What is our current understanding of the associated pathophysiology of these conditions and the pathophysiology relating to the genetics? And then how does that relate to the treatment of these conditions? Dr Mahajan: So, a number of different disease mechanisms have been proposed. Traditionally, these were all thought to be ion channelopathies, but a number of different processes have been proposed now. So, depending on the genetic mutation that you talk about. So certain mutations can involve ion channels such as CACMA1A, ATP1A3. It can involve solute carriers, synaptic vesicle fusion, energy metabolism such as ECHS1, synthesis of neurotransmitters such as GCH1. So, there are multiple processes that may be involved. I think overall for the practicing clinician such as me, I think there is a greater need for us to understand the underlying genetics and associated phenotypes and the molecular mechanisms specifically because these can actually influence treatment decisions, right? So, you mentioned that specific genetic testing understanding of the underlying molecular mechanism can influence specific treatments. As an example, a patient presenting with proximal nocturnal dyskinesia with mutation in the ADCY5 gene may respond beautifully to caffeine. Other examples if you have SLC2A1, so gluc-1 (glucose transporter type 1) mutation, a ketogenic diet may work really well. If you have PDHA1 mutation that may respond to thiamine and so on and so forth. There are certain patients where paroxysmal movement disorders are highly disabling and you may consider deep brain stimulation. That's another reason why it may be important to understand genetic mutations because there is literature on response to DBS with certain mutations versus others. Helps like counselling for patients and families, and of course introduces time, effort, and money spent in additional testing. Dr Nevel: Other than genetic testing, what other diagnostic work up do you consider when you're evaluating patients with a suspected paroxysmal movement disorder? Are there specific things in the history or on exam that would prompt you to do certain testing to look for perhaps other things in your differential when you're first evaluating a patient? Dr Mahajan: In this article, I provide a flow chart that helps me assess these patients as well. I think overall the history taking and neurological exam outside of these paroxysms is really important. So, the clinical exam in between these episodic events, for example, for history, specific examples include, well, when do these paroxysms happen? Do they happen or are they precipitated with meals that might indicate that there's something to do with glucose metabolism? Do they follow exercise? So, a specific example is in Moyamoya disease, they can be limb shaking that follows exercise. So, which gives you a clue to what the etiology could be. Of course, family history is important, but again, talking about the exam in between episodes, you know, this is actually a great point because out– we've talked about genetics, we've talked about idiopathic paroxysmal movement disorders, –but a number of these disorders are because of acquired causes. Well, of course it's important because acquired causes such as autoimmune causes, so multiple sclerosis, ADEM, lupus, LGI1, all of these NMDAR, I mentioned Moyamoya disease and metabolic causes. Of course, you can consider FND as under-acquired as well. But all of these causes have very different treatments and they have very different prognosis. So, I think it's extremely important for us to look into the history with a fine comb and then examine these patients in between these episodes and keep our mind open about acquired causes as well. Dr Nevel: When you evaluate these patients, are you routinely ordering vascular imaging and autoimmune kind of serologies and things like that to evaluate for these other acquired causes or it does it really just depend on the clinical presentation of the patient? Dr Mahajan: It mostly depends on the clinical presentation. I mean, if the exam is let's say completely normal, there are no other risk factors in a thirty year old, then you know, with a normal exam, normal history, no other risk factors. I may not order an MRI of the brain. But if the patient is 55 or 60 (years) with vascular risk factors, then you have to be mindful that this could be a TIA. If the patient has let's say in the 30s and in between these episodes too has basically has a sequel of these paroxysms, then you may want to consider autoimmune. I think the understanding of paraneoplastic, even autoimmune disorders, is expanding as well. So, you know the pattern matters. So, if all of this is subacute started a few months ago, then I have a low threshold for ordering testing for autoimmune and paraneoplastic ideology is simply because it makes such a huge difference in terms of how you approach the treatment and the long-term prognosis. Dr Nevel: Yeah, absolutely. What do you find most challenging about the management of patients with paroxysmal movement disorders? And then also what is most rewarding? Dr Mahajan: I think the answer to both those questions is, is the same. The first thing is there's so much advancement in what we know and how we understand these disorders so regularly that it's really hard to keep on track. Even for this article, it took me a few months to write this article, and between the time and I started and when I ended, there were new papers to include new case reports, case series, right? So, these are rare disorders. So most of our understanding for these disorders comes from case reports and case series, and it's in a constant state of advancement. I think that is the most challenging part, but it's also the most interesting part as well. I think the challenging and interesting part is the heterogeneity of presentation as well. These can involve just one part of your body, your entire body can present with paroxysmal events, with multiple different phenomenologies and they might change over time. So overall, it's highly rewarding to diagnose such patients in clinic. As I said before, you can make a sizeable difference with the medication which is usually inexpensive, which is obviously a great point to mention these days in our health system. But with anti-seizure drugs, you can put the right diagnosis, you can make a huge difference. I just wanted to make a point that this is not minimizing in any way the validity or the importance of diagnosing patients with functional neurological disorders correctly. Both of them are as organic. The importance is the treatment is completely different. So, if you're diagnosing somebody with FND and they do have FND and they get cognitive behavioral therapy and they get better, that's fantastic. But if somebody has paroxysmal movement disorders and they undergo cognitive behavioral therapy and they're not doing well, that doesn't help anybody. Dr Nevel: One hundred percent. As providers, obviously we all want to help our patients and having the correct diagnosis, you know, is the first step. What is most interesting to you about paroxysmal movement disorders? Dr Mahajan: So outside of the above, there are some unanswered questions that I find very interesting. Specifically, the overlap with epilepsy is very interesting, including shared genes, the episodic nature, presence of triggers, therapeutic response to anti-seizure drugs. All of this I think deserves further study. In the clinic, you may find that epilepsy and prognosis for movement disorders may occur in the same individual or in a family. Episodic ataxia has been associated with seizures. Traditionally this dichotomy of an ictal focus. If it's cortical then it's epilepsy, if it's subcortical then it's prognosis for movement disorders. This is thought to be overly simplistic. There can be co-occurrence of seizures and paroxysmal movement disorders in the same patient and that has led to this continuum between these two that has been proposed. This is something that needs to be looked into in more detail. Our colleagues in Epilepsy may scoff this, but there's concept of basal ganglia epilepsy manifesting as paroxysmal movement disorders was proposed in the past. And there was this case report that was published out of Italy where there was ictal discharge from the supplementary sensory motor cortex with a concomitant discharge from the ipsilateral coordinate nucleus in a patient with paroxysmal kinesigenic cardioarthidosis. So again, you know, basal ganglia epilepsy, no matter what you call it, the idea is that there is a clear overlap between these two conditions. And I think that is fascinating. Dr Nevel: Really interesting stuff. Well, thank you so much for chatting with me today. Dr Mahajan: Thank you, Kait. And thank you to the Continuum for inviting me to write this article and for this chance to speak about it. I'm excited about how it turned out, and I hope readers enjoy it as well. Dr Nevel: Today again, I've been interviewing doctor Abhi Mahajan about his article on diagnosis and management of paroxysmal movement disorders, which appears in the August 2025 Continuum issue on movement disorders. I encourage all of our listeners to be sure to check out the Continuum Audio episodes from this and other issues. As always, please read the Continuum articles where you can find a lot more information than what we were able to cover in our discussion today. And thank you for our listeners for joining today. And thank you, Abhi, so much for sharing your knowledge with us today. Dr Monteith: This is Dr Teshamae Monteith, associate editor of Continuum Audio. If you've enjoyed this episode, you'll love the journal, which is full of in depth and clinically relevant information important for neurology practitioners. Use the link in the episode notes to learn more and subscribe. AAN members, you can get CME for listening to this interview by completing the evaluation at continpub.com/audioCME. Thank you for listening to Continuum Audio.
Welcome to the 270s of the WR? Podcast Universe, and welcome back to the show! This week's opening covers some pro wrestling talk. It's a "Double Feature" of previews of upcoming wrestling PPVs. We took a look at the cards for "AEW All Out: Toronto" and "WWE Wrestlepalooza". Next on the slate is the huge weekly NFL segment! Traditionally, it's Steelers talk, weekly results/predictions, and the "WR? Power Rankings". It's a fresh movie review this week! We watched the A24 release, "Friendship". As we do, we head on down to our crazy lagoon and waterfall to end the show. Please enjoy responsibly!PRESENTED by CHURCHILL PICTURESTimestamps:00:00:00 - Intro: Wrestling: AEW All Out: Toronto and WWE Wrestlepalooza00:51:28 - NFL Segment: Steelers talk, Weekly Results/Predictions, and the "WR? Power Rankings"01:19:32 - Movie Review: Friendship (2025)01:28:16 - Goofs R GoofsThanks for Listening!
Title: Inside the Secret Network That Billionaires Use to Pay Zero In Taxes with Alex Sonkin Summary: In this episode of Raise the Bar Radio, Seth Bradley welcomes Alex, founder of the Due Diligence Project, to discuss the massive blind spot in tax strategy among CPAs and how his peer-reviewed CPA community solves that. Alex shares how traditional CPA firms, despite servicing ultra-high net worth clients, are often unaware of the vast number of advanced tax mitigation strategies available. His platform introduces vetted tax strategies reviewed by hundreds of independent CPA firms, much like an Amazon or Netflix model for financial services. Rather than relying on static, siloed in-house teams with mediocre solutions, Alex's vision is to empower CPAs and family offices through a Virtual Family Office model. This allows affluent individuals (not just billionaires) to access world-class, peer-reviewed tax and financial planning strategies while maintaining their trusted CPA relationship. The conversation emphasizes humility, proactive due diligence, and massive action as critical principles for success in tax planning and entrepreneurship alike. Links to Watch and Subscribe: https://youtu.be/v8RSrMRslHU Bullet Point Highlights: Most CPAs, even in top firms, are not deeply versed in advanced tax mitigation due to limited time and exposure. The Due Diligence Project functions as an independent, peer-reviewed network, allowing CPAs to tap into the collective knowledge of hundreds of top professionals. Traditional large CPA firms and Wall Street structures are siloed and don't provide open-source best-in-class strategies. The future CPA firm is a Virtual Family Office — proactive, advisory-driven, and built with world-class independent specialists instead of static in-house teams. The Virtual Family Office model brings elite wealth management strategies to affluent individuals (e.g., $10M-$50M net worth), not just billionaires. Humility, curiosity, and willingness to collaborate are essential for CPAs and advisors to truly serve clients at the highest level. Success requires massive action and consistent pursuit of better solutions — complacency kills innovation and wealth creation. Transcript: (Seth Bradley) (00:02.094) What's up, Builders? This is Raise the Bar Radio, where we talk about building wealth, raising capital, and all in all, raising the bar in your business and your life. This is the No BS podcast for capital raisers, investors, and entrepreneurs who are serious about scaling their business and living life on their own terms. I'm Seth Bradley, securities attorney, real estate investor, and entrepreneur, bringing you world-class strategies from the best in the game. If you're ready to raise more capital, close bigger deals, build a better you, and create true financial freedom, you're in the right place. Let's go. Alex, what's going on, brother? Welcome to the show. Seth, thank you so much for having me. It's a pleasure. man. Fellow San Diegan. So, appreciate that and appreciate that you you love the weather like I do. best weather in the world, All of San Diego County, even if it gets like 10 degrees hotter, it's as good or as better anything else on the planet. (Seth Bradley) (01:05.698) Yep, yep. Sometimes you gotta go outside of San Diego for a little bit to appreciate it because you forget that every single day is fantastic. We're not going to get into the June gloom and the May gray because people outside of San Diego, don't want to hear that. uh, know, we get to complain between each other. everyone outside of San Diego, were like, we don't want to know about any of your problems. Right, Exactly, exactly. All right, man. Well, let's just jump right in, Tell everybody a little bit about your background, about your story, and take it back as far as you like. Sure, graduated University of Michigan Business School undergrad and became an options trader in Chicago as a member of the Chicago Board of Trade, the Mercantile Exchange, Chicago Board of Options Exchange was a market maker down there for many years and came up with a couple ideas and moved to California. What we do now is we have the largest independent peer review community of CPA firms in the country. We support hundreds of CPA firms who basically introduced their favorite resources, favorite tax attorneys, favorite strategies. And then as a community and independently, everyone independently vets out every strategy, every resource. And we rank and rate all of the strategies, all of the resources. Very similar to what you'd experience in Amazon or Netflix or the streaming services when you watch a movie or you buy a product on Amazon. (Alex Sonkin) (02:35.534) you're going to go look for the 4.9 out of five stars and do a quick price comparison. So what we did is we've created essentially an independent peer-of-view ranking and rating system for sophisticated tax strategies and then cost mitigation strategies because the tax code is just way too big. No one knows how many pages there are in the tax code. It's constantly changing. we basically, we didn't even know we were doing this at the time because all we were doing was putting together advanced tax planning institutes, filling them up with CPA firms, bringing speakers, specialists on to present their ideas. But the magic was happening in the hallway conversations between these tax attorneys and the CPAs in these Q &A sessions. And what we realized was that traditional CPA firms really have no clue how many pages are in the tax code, have no idea how many strategies there are that are available to them that have been fully vetted. And they don't have the time and the resources to fully vet those strategies out. So we just realized we were onto something and we kept building and building and building. And we just had an event. Our last couple summits, diligence project summits had close to 700 CPA firms on one, close to 847 was our largest summit. The more eyeballs, the more tax-focused CPAs are looking at the strategies and vetting out the strategies, the more refined the due diligence is and the more new resources they're able to introduce to our network. So we're able to go deeper, wider, and more refined in our due diligence when it comes to tax planning. Yeah, that's awesome. So you you analyze and put a score on the actual strategy itself as well as the firm. (Alex Sonkin) (04:25.76) Yeah, everything, right? Because you and I both know there's so many moving parts in our business. And when a CPA firm is dealing with their most, their highest net worth clients, billionaires, centi-millionaires, multi-millionaires, and they have, they're selling an appreciated asset, whether it's real estate or their company or shares in another company they've invested in, they want that sale to be tax efficient. Then they might want that money to be invested in other parts of their portfolio. want that transition to be efficient. They want all the estate planning to be efficient asset to all these different moving parts. But the area where most CPAs and attorneys are the weakest is in the income tax mitigation part. There's a lot of decent estate planning out there, asset protection, other planning. It's really the income tax mitigation part where very few people are excellent at this. Financial advisors, attorneys have very little experience with tax court, with audit. They should really not be involved in income tax planning. The CPA firms are the ones who are signing the tax returns. They have the experience with audit. They have the experience with tax court. But they're spread so thin just trying to produce tax returns and financial statements and meet all of the deadlines that they have to meet throughout the year. There's actually very little time for them to do proactive tax planning. and to complete due diligence and even start the due diligence on a tax strategy. Where do we start? Who do we call? How do we find out if the client's going to go to jail? If there's issues with this? They really need to get their confidence level up at a very high level before they call their clients that you really need to look at the strategy and do this. So that's where we really live is we really there to support the tax focused CPA or the family office that's supporting that. that ultra high net worth family that's led by a tax focused advisor, hopefully a CPA with at least 10,000, 50,000 hours of experience in auditing tax court, where they could look at the notes, look at, part of, join the due diligence project community, look at the notes, look at the strategies, meet the specialists, communicate with other CPAs in our network to really understand the risk reward of. (Alex Sonkin) (06:48.088) the strategy when it as how it compares to other possible strategies or combination of strategies to bring to their client. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I love the overall idea of kind of this Amazon marketplace for CPAs and tax firms and tax strategies. It's like, you know, I know when I'm looking for a new accountant or a new CPA with a different group, with a different real estate group or something, you know, I might have done some good business with one CPA and then some that I did not. And I don't have a consistent person to go to at this point. And it also depends on what we're talking about, right? This, the, the speciality of it. it's a if we're talking W-2 tax mitigation or we're talking about real estate investment or we're talking about some sort of high cash flow entrepreneurial venture, it really depends. One CPA can't necessarily do all that. Maybe a large CPA firm that has all that stuff in house for sure. But when we're talking about your one CPA that you know that's been filing your tax return for the last 20 years, they're not very specialized in these sorts of things. Here's what's interesting, Seth. You made some interesting points here. Here's what's interesting. Traditionally, people say, I need a CPA. My current CPA firm is not doing the job. That's kind of par for the course. They don't know what's wrong. They know something's wrong because they know that a lot of billionaires aren't paying any taxes. They're paying this 30, 40 % of their income in taxes. They feel something's wrong. So, I need a new CPA firm. So, what do they do? Hey, can you find me a great CPA firm that's local to me? Why is that important? Why do you need someone that literally that is that's local to you right away? The business owner is already messing up. That is not the most important thing. Okay, then they'll want someone Okay, forget distance. I'm okay with just meeting them virtually. They need to be a specialist in real estate. That's fine Okay, you've got a real estate portfolio there, especially in real estate, but really That's that's a that's another that's a good question, but it's not the best question. It's not gonna get you to the promised land (Alex Sonkin) (08:52.366) How fluent is that CPA firm in tax strategies? Are they plugged into a network like ours where they have hundreds and hundreds of independent CPA firms, former partners of KPMG, Deloitte, PWC, Ernst & Young, all proactively vetting strategies and introducing, unless you're part of a due diligence network like ours, you might be part of a very, very large CPA firm. that also is part of other groups, other associations and none of them know, you know, three, four, five different strategies that would be perfect for mitigating taxes in a specific situation. So going to a large firm that has lots of in-house resources, are those resources the best? Do they have access to the best tax attorneys in the country? If those attorneys are in-house working for a CPA firm, Or let's just say they're working for Jeff Bezos and Jeff Bezos' family office. Seth, do you think the best tax attorney in the country wants to be W-2 working for a CPA firm or working for a family Right, right. No, no. So right away, you've already discounted. You are not going to work with the best tax attorneys in the country. You're going to work with a static, the best attorney that's willing to be W-2, working for a CPA firm, working for a family office. If you look at the top 1000 tax attorneys in the country, you might now be working with number 945. Is that what you want to be like? No, no, no, we're fine. Our tax (Alex Sonkin) (10:29.484) Our tax planning is done by my CPA and they've got this tax attorney that's the 945th best tax attorney in the country in their space. It's like saying, I'm building this orchestra and my trumpet player, instead of getting the very best trumpet player in the world, I have the 945th best trumpet player playing trumpet. You want to put that on your website? You want to market that? think your client's going to be like, this is going to be awesome. I'm going to have the 945th best. You (Alex Sonkin) (10:59.138) Resource in that space giving me planning ideas. Whereas I'm a business owner I've had to get to this point to have a tax problem here to overcome all these challenges and now you're gonna bring me a tax planning solution. That's like D minus That's what's going that's puts par for the course. This is what's going on. What we know is 18 % of Fortune 500 companies are zeroing out their tax returns Okay, just listen to this 18 % of most profitable companies in the world have a team of attorneys and CPAs that zero out their tax return. That means 82 % have no idea what they're doing on a relative basis. those 82%, we're talking about 82 % of the most profitable 500 companies in the world. What we're saying is their tax planning from our vantage point, it's not that it's not good. It's like average to below average, whereas their revenue and income is off the charts. That's like a big problem. It's like saying, you know what? We have a basketball team where our point guard, our forwards, and our two guard are really good, but our center is like garbage. You know, we've got like a high school level center, and then we have all-stars at all the other positions. That's not gonna work. Yeah, yeah. mean, why is that? I mean, it's like, you know, they should have access to the best resources. They should be getting advised by the, you know, the top experts in the industry. But, you know, they're just not. Are they not putting the effort? Do they not have access? Do they not know, like, what's the... Because the difference is when you look at Amazon and you look at Netflix and all the other streaming services that are providing an independent peer-review because back before Amazon and Netflix we had Blockbuster video and we had Barnes and Noble right and we did do diligence very differently going to all the different Blockbuster videos going into Blockbusters and Noble trying to find a book to buy right it's very different experience now we live in this very different world now with (Alex Sonkin) (13:09.196) independent peer review and all these things. However, the financial services world was created by who? It was created by people like Bernie Madoff. It was created by Wall Street, right? So everything in the financial services world is really created by Wall Street, people like Bernie Madoff. And so Goldman Sachs doesn't want you to know what Morgan Stanley is doing. Morgan Stanley doesn't want you to know what JP Morgan's doing. And so really the financial services realm is is kind of built in silos. No, come into the Goldman Sachs silo. Come into Ernst & Young. You don't need to worry about what our competitors are doing, what these other CPA firms are doing. We're Ernst & Young, we're Goldman Sachs, we're JP Morgan. You can have the products and services that we have in our back room. So essentially, when you look at JP Morgan, Ernst & Young, Pricewaterhouse, all these huge shops, they're just stores with back rooms. And it's like shopping at a store. It's like going to Toys R Us. What do we have in Toys R Us? Well, what do we have in our back room? Whereas when you walk into Amazon, what do you have? When you walk into Netflix, you have the full scale universe, open source. So what we've done is we've basically taken the financial services industry and we've created this open source peer-reviewed model. And we started with sophisticated tax planning because that's where most people are really, really bad at it. And then we've added cost mitigation and other resources. You know, we're not trying to compete with asset management and money managers and all those other, know, certainly we vet those people out. But, you know, there's millions of people that manage money and our financial advisors. And certainly we do our vetting and due diligence on those people. Where we really differentiate ourselves is the income tax planning resources and solutions. Because what we found is the top biggest most profitable, most famous CPA firms and law firms, that's their blind spot. That's where they're really, really bad because they don't know how many are in the tax code. They don't have the time and the resources and they don't know who to call to actually start and complete a successful due diligence process for sophisticated tax structure. (Seth Bradley) (15:29.708) Yeah, yeah. So when you say independent peer review, what exactly does that look like? mean, walk me kind of through that and how that works. I'll show you like this is what you and any let's say if you're a real estate investor right and you're about to sell let's just say a 10 million dollar asset that has nine million dollars of gain in it you're gonna do the same thing that we've done if you're smart what are you gonna do you're gonna go out there and be like what are all the tax strategies that are possible to help me mitigate this huge tax liquidity event right then you're gonna get a bunch of ideas and then what are you gonna do You're going to show those ideas to your most trusted financial people who are probably your CPA, your lawyer, your advisors, all these other people that you think are financial gurus and really most of them are not even qualified to comment on the tax structure except your tax-focused CPA who has at least 10,000 hours of experience in audit and tax courts. So really you should only bring this to your CPA. But now you brought it to your attorneys and your advisors. So they're all going to comment on it because they're financial experts even though they have almost zero experience in auditing the tax court. So what do these people do with this idea? Some of them will like, oh, I don't know, just pay your tax. So you're going to get all sorts of answers. Now, you're the business owner. You have no idea how to quantify these answers. So you're really the tax expert trying to manage all this information and trying to be like, what do I do? And what are you going to do? you're gonna basically go with what your CPA kind of tells you that they're comfortable with. Now your CPA doesn't know all the strategies, so they might know 10 % of the possible strategies. So you're gonna go with the most comfortable strategy that your CPA is comfortable with, that they've completed their due diligence on, which may be strategy number 443 out of the possible thousand strategies that are out there. And now you have the 443rd best idea. (Alex Sonkin) (17:35.522) that you're implementing and your ROI on that is going to look just like that. Meanwhile, it's taking you all this effort to create $10 million of asset and it's going to take you just like this to completely give away the tax on that because your CPA is not plugged into an independent peer review environment where they can work with other CPAs who have experience with other resources, be able to ask your questions, get your questions answered, maybe ask another round of questions. But really at that point, you really need to be dealing with the thought leaders in that space, not some local attorney or other CP that also has no clue what's going on. It has no idea how many pages there are. Got it. So when somebody comes to, you know, they have that issue, right? And they're trying to find the right CPA that can help them with that specific situation and find that number one best tax strategy. You know, what do they do? Do they come to your website to try to find someone in the network? Because anybody in your network can tap into everybody else in your network and find that optimum strategy. There's really two ways of doing it. They either find a CPA in our network, which is one of the easiest things to do, or they have their trusted CPA plug into our network and complete their due diligence. That's probably the best way because they are this way. This gives them another warm and fuzzy. Hey, I've had this relationship with my CPA for 20, 30 years. I really like them. I understand the challenges that they're under just because they haven't plugged into the network doesn't mean they're a bad CPA or bad person. It's like having a, you know, I just bought a gold plated cell phone. It's the greatest cell phone iPhones ever produced. But if I don't plug it into Verizon, if I plug it into Bob's telephone network that only works in four locations in America, I'm gonna have this $5,000 cell phone that's basically just a brick that I could just use as a paper holder. But if I have a normal cell phone, I plug it into Verizon and I can make a phone call from anywhere. (Alex Sonkin) (19:43.298) That's a much better experience. it's not the quality of it. It's partially the quality of the CPA, but it's more so the quality of the network. and certainly these, the CPAs that really are attracted to us are the ones who have these huge hearts that want to do the very, very best for their clients. And they know that they need to pick up every rock and flip over because they know their clients don't want tax returns and financial statements. They need those. They don't want any of that. What they really want is proactive tax planning ideas. And what the CPAs don't have time for is that. So they have to create time. And we show CPAs how to create that time. We eliminate all, 95 % of the time. It takes them to complete the due diligence because we just show them the notes. We get them 90, 95 % there. Then they take the notes. They take the resources. They jump into the tax code and then they complete the last 5-10 % of the due diligence process on their own because they're going to have to actually do a little bit of work to get this done. But we've reduced their time and increased their confidence level in completing this project by a factor of 10x, which is a huge value to them because they don't have the time and they don't have the resource to get this work done, but they want to get it (Seth Bradley) (21:07.616) the interruption, but we don't do ads. Instead, know that if you're raising capital for real estate, my law firm, RaiseLaw, is here to give you the expert legal guidance you need to raise capital compliantly and structure and close your deal. And if you're looking for a done-for-you fund-to-fund solution, Tribest is the industry's only all-in-one setup and fund administration solution. Visit Raise.Law and Tribest.com to learn more. Right. Yeah. And I can imagine it takes a certain degree of humility, right, from those CPAs to say, I don't know everything. I'm not just going to make up something. I'm not going to make it up. But I'm not going to do kind of half-assed research for a few minutes and tell you I know everything about the subject. Right? Like, I can admit that I don't know everything. I'm not an expert in every single tax strategy. You nailed it. mean look we do a whole program about the ten pillars of extraordinary due diligence Curiosity is one of them independence is independence versus group think and you nailed one of those pillars. It's it's it's it's humility and You know being curious being humble when you're the tax expert as you know CPA that's been around for 30 years you like I've seen everything right? That's kind of how you feel But if you have that idea, I've already seen everything. I already know everything. How many people, by the way, how many pages are there in the tax code? I have no idea. Well, that is that's not congruent. What's congruent is I've been in the industry 30, 35 years. Do I know the tax code? I don't know the tax code. It's constantly changing. I'm humble, but I'm working hard. Yeah, there are sections of tax codes that I know, but it would be awesome to be part of independent peer community of hundreds and hundreds of other tax geeks like me. where we're chewing, know, we're eating this elephant one bite at a time and working together as a community. That's hard working humility. And if you think about it, those are the kind of people that are winning in every, in your profession, in my profession. Think about a basketball player. It's like the best basketball players, they are working to improve their game every day, every month, every year. As soon as you think, oh, I'm the best. Nobody does that. Kobe, Michael. (Alex Sonkin) (23:25.034) Everyone was constantly improving their game every offseason even though they were achieving they were the grace of the world So when you see a CPA going, I already know everything. I'm not humble run for the hills You're in big trouble Right, right. So I mean, I can see where this is. This could actually just change everything, right? I mean, it can change. Like if you get enough CPAs on this network and it's kind of the authority, the accepted way that things are done, it could really just change, you know, set the bar, right? So like, you know, where do you see the CPA firm or the future going? What does it look Yeah, you know, we started out as the virtual family office hub. We're still the virtual family office hub. What we do is the due diligence project. So we've had a vision, you know, more than 15 years ago where the CPA firm of future, the CPA firm of today is no longer just a CPA firm, right? They're not just an accounting firm looking backwards. What does a CPA firm mean now? They're a proactive looking firm. So they're really providing advisory services. They're bringing ideas to the table. That is not what accountants traditionally do. So right away, the CPA firm of the future in our world is a virtual family office led not by a money manager or an attorney or a financial advisor. It's led by a tax advisor who really has a tremendous amount of experience with audits, with tax court, with income tax planning. that's plugged into this community. really let's build Wall Street underneath an elite tax advisor and let's give them vetted best in class peer reviewed resources for estate planning, money management, all the different resources underneath them. And let's make sure all these resources are trained to be part of a team that's led by the captain, which is the head of their family office. But in this case, it's a virtual family office because in our opinion, (Alex Sonkin) (25:30.732) Like we said, the best people in the world don't necessarily want to be W-2 static living next to the family office or living next to the CPA firm that they support. These resources could be anywhere and everywhere. And it's like Lego pieces. Let's build out a custom build, a virtual family office with your favorite advisors, with your favorite CPA, plug them into due diligence project, and then maybe replace some of the resources with best in class peer reviewed. I'm going to keep my estate planning attorney. I'm going to keep my CPA, but then let's build out the rest of my virtual family office with resources, specialists, specialized attorneys that my two estate planning attorney and my CPA need to help me do what I need to do and get from point A to point B. Yeah, yeah, I love that. Let's let's unwind that a little bit. What what exactly is a family office? We have a lot of listeners that are, you know, high net worth individuals, wealthy, probably a high paying job of some sort. And, we still don't know what a family office is. Like, what is a family office? We hear about it all the time. People talk about it. You know, what is it? Is it just, you know, the Trumps and the Bidens that have them or what? Well, look, when we first started doing this, we had to educate everyone. What is a family office? And there's still people that don't know what a family office is, and that's okay. So traditionally, what a family office is, is when a family or a business owner sells their business, and now they have a big pile of money instead of running their business where they don't need CFOs and C-level executives and marketing people. Now they have a big pile of money. Maybe they're building a real estate portfolio, private equity, various investments. They, instead of having to make 17 phone calls, hey, I'm gonna call my CPA, I'm gonna call my attorney, I'm gonna call my advisors, they make one phone call to the head of their family office and their family office is gonna house their entire financial team. So their CPAs, their attorneys, their advisors are all part of a family office and there's usually a CEO of that family office. (Alex Sonkin) (27:36.814) So that structure traditionally can cost anywhere from $250,000 a year up to $2,000, $3,000, $4,000,000 a year if you're dealing with very high net worth billionaires. our idea was to rebuild that structure and make it a virtual family office instead of a single family office or a multi-family office with everyone working W2 in a static place, was let's create a virtual family office environment where we can have a world-class tax attorney support multiple virtual family offices led by CPAs around the country. And based on what their clients want and need, they may not need a full $250,000 or a million dollar yearly cost. Maybe they can have a family office with $50,000 worth of yearly expenses and they just need, you know, two, three advisors, six meetings a year, get their hands around what you're doing. And they don't need check writing. They don't need a lot of these other services that maybe a ultra high net worth family needs where they just want to make one phone call instead of 17 phone calls and say, take care of this for me. In the virtual family office model, it's the same one phone call, except now the team underneath that person that's getting the call are vetted best in class peer reviewed resources who might be all around the world who will all get together on a virtual meeting. to support the client when the client has, hey, I have a liquidity event or I have a tax event or I want to update my plan. Hey, let's bring the team together and let's look at all the moving parts and let's rebuild your plan. But now we're going to take advice and ideas from the smartest people in the world. We're all working together as part of a team. Got it. Yeah. the virtual family office, makes it seem like that it offers wealth management, the best wealth management, more, it makes it more accessible to more people, right? Like not just billionaires, but maybe lower than that, right? Like maybe we've got $10 million or something like that and we can still get the best of the best. (Alex Sonkin) (29:42.068) Exactly. And so our idea was, you know, you have these people who are worth $50 million and they can't afford a family office, but they want to, you know, the $50 million, they want to live life too. They want to be able to go play tennis. They want to give time to their synagogue, their churches. They want to do something else besides actually running their own, you know, basically overseeing their $50 million portfolio, which is a full-time job. the problem is they're not qualified to be doing that work. Yet can they identify investments that they like? Sure. Can they identify the best planning around those investments? They're not schooled in that. So they really should not be involved in their family office. should identify a tax-focused CPA, have them build out a virtual family office for them. And then now they have the benefit of making one phone call instead of 17, which saves them lot of time. And they can now trust the fact that they have best-in-class peer-reviewed resources to give them the very, very best ideas. So now what happens? Their confidence level goes up. So their time and planning goes down, confidence level goes up, the quality of the solutions goes up, and they're all of a sudden out, they can create a lot more wealth by doing world-class planning because we're seeing a lot of wealth just go away to state and federal governments and unnecessary taxes simply because the team does not know and has not completed their due diligence on all the possibilities. That's we want. Yeah, that's incredible, Alex. You know, I want to have you back on the show to maybe get into some of the more of nitty gritty stuff, right? Like what are some of these tax strategies that we might not know about or we might not hear about every single day because we tend to hear about the same ones over and over. And you've probably seen some pretty exotic ones, some very specific ones that people have never even heard of. But, you know, we're running out of time today. But, man, I would love to have a whole episode just kind of based on that. (Seth Bradley) (31:40.91) But before we jump into the freedom four, you have one last gold nugget for our listeners. Yeah, you know, just work hard, write your goals down, read your goals and update your goals. You know, there's a magic formula of being able to just writing down your goals, looking at your goals and just updating your goals. Be grateful. I know you get a probably get a lot of people just with gratitude and hard work and all that stuff. writing down your goals is something that very few people do. And of the people that write their goals down, a very high percentage of those people actually achieve those goals. So simple way of getting successful and I do it and I recommend that little idea to every one of my friends and family. Yeah, absolutely. you know, I think people sometimes they get caught up in, you know, the the mental stuff, they don't want to jump into that. But goal setting is more of a tangible thing. And all those things you hear about, like whether that's a vision board or affirmations or visualizations or setting goals, like it's all kind of the same, right? It's just even if it's like, I want to update my tax planning. I want to have a better tax planning team. know, write that down. And every day you look down at all your goals and make them balanced. You know, some of it is they'd give back to the community, have strong relationships with my family members or have no relationships with certain families. I don't know, you know, what the goals are. But balanced goals where you're constantly reviewing those goals and then you're updating those goals. And every day you do something to take a step. (Alex Sonkin) (33:15.278) towards achieving those goals. Those are little things. It's not a huge deal, but when you do that over time, there's a compound effect to it that is incredible that people just can't appreciate. It's been said, we think we can do a lot more than we do in a year, but we don't realize how much we can do in a five or 10 year period. It's incredible. much we can do in a five or ten year period if we're just consistent every day for that period of Absolutely, you get some momentum going over time. All right, let's jump into the Freedom 4. What's the best thing you do to keep your mind and body healthy? I do strength training six days a week and I actually prefer using a rubber band training. This X3 bar program that's out there. There's a bunch of different competitors now, but it's like a 20, 30 minute training. Nice, nice. With all your success, what is one limiting belief that you've crushed along the way and how did you get past it? (Alex Sonkin) (34:18.968) Great question. You know, I think everyone experiences fears, fear of failure in different areas. And I think you have to attack your fear of failure. Whatever you're scared of, whatever's on your radar that's popping up as a fear, you have to literally identify it and attack it and just prove to yourself that you're really not scared of it. Love that. What's one actual step our listeners can do right now to start creating more freedom? They can take action. Action is the key. The real problem is people just sit around, they get in front of themselves. They're too much thinking, too much analysis. What I've seen is people who have achieved incredible, let's just say business success, those people weren't smart enough to know. that how hard that business was actually going to be to build. They were actually not, if they were smarter, they would have never done the business because they were like, the odds of me actually achieving this business and creating it are so small. I'm just better off not doing it. They weren't that smart. So they just went ahead and jumped into it. And so what I found is just taking massive, massive action. Even if it's a failure, that massive action creates a pattern because it's going to Success is going to require massive action. And when you have a pattern and know this is going to take massive action and it's okay if it doesn't work out, I'm going to go for it anyway. I'm just going to assume it does work out. So being positive, massive action. If it fails, boom, you learn something and you go do something else and you just keep taking massive action. (Seth Bradley) (36:10.402) Perfect. Last but not least, how's passive income or entrepreneurship made your life better? You know, I've been very blessed. 20 years ago, I came up with an idea based on a diet that cured cancer for my aunt, my mother-in-law. And I suggested to my wife and my mother-in-law that they start selling my mother-in-law's cookies that were based on a diet that cured cancer for my mother-in-law. And so now today, we have a company called Go Macro, MacroMars, that my wife and my mother-in-law built based on an entrepreneurial idea that you know, that I had over 20 years ago. And as soon as we had a little bit of success in the beginning, I knew this was bigger and better than we had even thought of. And I just continually supported my wife and really just in every way I could to watch this opportunity grow. So to me, that's been my my passive, even though, you know, I'm married to this business owner, you know, supporting her and watching this idea grow and flourish into a really Successful health food company called comacro where we sell these macro bars. They're super delicious Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah, it's passive for you, maybe not quite as passive for her. I have the same issue with the gyms. You know, they make really good money and it's passive for me, but my wife is running those things, so no. (Alex Sonkin) (37:31.174) Exactly, well you know she's had to be there to support you so yeah so for her it's passive and it's a great story for her and it's a great successful story for you as well. know how hard it is to build. Yeah, awesome Alex. The list has been incredible, man. We're gonna let you find out more about you. DoDiligenceProject.com or info at DoDiligenceProject.com. You can introduce your CPA to us or you can reach out to us if you hate your CPA and want us to recommend a great CPA for you that's already plugged into our... Easy enough, man, easy enough. All right, brother, thanks for coming on the show. Seth, it's been my pleasure. Thanks so much for having me. (Seth Bradley) (38:09.986) Absolutely. (Seth Bradley) (38:13.944) Thanks for tuning in to Raise the Bar Radio. If you enjoyed today's episode, make sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who needs to hear it. Keep pushing, keep building, and keep raising the bar. Until next time, enjoy the journey. Links from the Show and Guest Info and Links: Seth Bradley's Links: https://x.com/sethbradleyesq https://www.youtube.com/@sethbradleyesq www.facebook.com/sethbradleyesq https://www.threads.com/@sethbradleyesq https://www.instagram.com/sethbradleyesq/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/sethbradleyesq/ https://passiveincomeattorney.com/seth-bradley/ https://www.biggerpockets.com/users/sethbradleyesq https://medium.com/@sethbradleyesq https://www.tiktok.com/@sethbradleyesq?lang=en Alex Sonkin's Links: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexsonkin/ https://encoursa.com/presenters/alex-sonkin https://www.facebook.com/asonkin/
Send me a text message and get your questions answered on the podcast! I'd love to hear from you! Have you ever wondered what your expertise is truly worth? The answer might surprise you.This episode explores seven eye-opening insights into why now is the perfect time to turn your knowledge into a thriving consulting business—whether as a side hustle earning an additional $50,000 or as a path to financial independence.Traditionally, the industry operated on unwritten rules that excluded diverse voices. But the digital revolution has transformed everything, opening up unprecedented opportunities for women of color to build wealth on their own terms without waiting for gatekeepers' permission.Whether you're dealing with student debt from degrees you haven't fully leveraged or tired of building someone else's business, this episode offers a fresh perspective on consulting as a way to build wealth. Ready to recognize the gold mine you're sitting on? Click the link to download the free guide How to Sell What You Know, and join the community that's rewriting the rules of success in consulting. ***********Connect with me at Dr. Angelina Davis on Instagram or LinkedIn, and visit excelconsulting.com for resources to support your journey. Don't forget to subscribe and leave a review. I would love for you to join our community of ambitious consultants breaking glass ceilings!
Michael Palladino, VP of Sales and Clinical Solutions at OptimizeRx, is utilizing AI to educate patients and providers, promoting shared decision-making about which medications are most likely to yield the best health outcomes. The goal is to combat information overload by precisely targeting education to specific patients and delivering that information on the patient's preferred media delivery platform. Technology-driven nudges deliver timely information, reminders about upcoming appointments, and address medication adherence issues. Michael explains, "So OptimizeRx is a health technology company. We partner with the life sciences industry, and we help patients get on the right drug at the right time, educating both patient and provider. And we do that through some traditional methods of point-of-care. We also use our AI technology, which we will talk a little bit about today." "We've evolved as a company to be as individualized as possible, and that really has been using the technological advances of AI and machine learning over the past three years to predict in a patient journey when they may qualify for a procedure or drug, and educating both the patient and the HCP. So, it's really the use of data and technology that has evolved, and it's how we're leveraging our expertise in the space." "Traditionally, the way that a pharmaceutical industry may work or a life science manufacturer may work is they're often quite siloed. The patient gets some type of education on TV, the HCP somewhere in the country gets a similar type of education, and there's not a lot of synergy. What we have done in the marketplace is combine the patient's finding with the HCP's finding, and we educate them at the right time." #OptimizeRx #PrecisionMedicine #HealthTech #AI #HealthAI #DrugInformation optimizerx.com Download the transcript here
Michael Palladino, VP of Sales and Clinical Solutions at OptimizeRx, is utilizing AI to educate patients and providers, promoting shared decision-making about which medications are most likely to yield the best health outcomes. The goal is to combat information overload by precisely targeting education to specific patients and delivering that information on the patient's preferred media delivery platform. Technology-driven nudges deliver timely information, reminders about upcoming appointments, and address medication adherence issues. Michael explains, "So OptimizeRx is a health technology company. We partner with the life sciences industry, and we help patients get on the right drug at the right time, educating both patient and provider. And we do that through some traditional methods of point-of-care. We also use our AI technology, which we will talk a little bit about today." "We've evolved as a company to be as individualized as possible, and that really has been using the technological advances of AI and machine learning over the past three years to predict in a patient journey when they may qualify for a procedure or drug, and educating both the patient and the HCP. So, it's really the use of data and technology that has evolved, and it's how we're leveraging our expertise in the space." "Traditionally, the way that a pharmaceutical industry may work or a life science manufacturer may work is they're often quite siloed. The patient gets some type of education on TV, the HCP somewhere in the country gets a similar type of education, and there's not a lot of synergy. What we have done in the marketplace is combine the patient's finding with the HCP's finding, and we educate them at the right time." #OptimizeRx #PrecisionMedicine #HealthTech #AI #HealthAI #DrugInformation optimizerx.com Listen to the podcast here
Ōama, aka Temmu Tennō, ascended the throne in the Kiyomihara Palace--a rennovated version of his mother's Later Okamoto Palace. Here he ruled with a tremendous amount of authority, continuing the leverage the Ritsuryo system to centralize power in the throne. We'll look at the layout of the palace, and also talk a little bit about what life was like for the members of the court who were serving Oama, and the state at large. For photos, diagrams, and more, see our blog at: https://sengokudaimyo.com/episode-134 Rough Transcript Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan. My name is Joshua and this is episode 134: An Image of the Court at Kiyomihara Maro sat under the eaves of the hall to which he was assigned. The journey from Mino hadn't been so hard, but he was still far from his family, back home. He knew as much as they did that serving at the court of the Great Lord was a tremendous opportunity. He would be at the heart of the court, in the presence of those running the country, and he could learn a lot from them. After passing his internship, he would have a chance to prove himself. If he worked hard, he could look forward to continued promotion, with the greater stipend and influence that came with it. Maro had no illusions that he would someday be at the top of the court hierarchy, but perhaps he could make some modest improvements in his station. His elder brother was expected to inherit their father's position back in Mino, but the court provided a different opportunity. Maro had always been a quick learner, and had learned to read and write at an early age, devouring whatever knowledge he could get his hands on – and that had helped make him that much more desirable to the court. Now he was learning the ins and outs of how it worked, mostly by doing odd jobs while observing the various interactions, the politics, and the rhythm of it all. Life at the Court really was something. And yet he still felt homesick. And so here Maro sat, looking out at the full moon in the sky, its light so bright that he barely needed any other illumination. Maro wondered at the idea that his family might be looking up at the same moon at the very same time. As that image took hold, he could feel in the experience a poetic verse. He took out one of the wooden slips used for labels and notes, scraped off the previous writing, and began jotting down his composition. He only got through a couple of lines before he heard his name being called, and since he was on night duty he put down the brush and the wooden slip. Poetry would have to wait. With everything put back away, he rushed off to find out what new task awaited him. So here we are, the year is 673 and we are at the start of a new era. Ohoama, aka Temmu Tennou, had defeated his enemies and was now in the process of taking the reins of power and officially ascending the throne. In so doing he was moving the capital from Ohotsu, on the shores of Lake Biwa, back to Asuka. Arriving back, he took up residence in what is called the Shima palace for a few days, presumably as they prepared the Okamoto Palace for him. At the same time, we are told that a “palace” was erected for Ohoama south of the Okamoto Palace, and this was called the Kiyomihara Palace. I'd like to spend this episode talking about this Kiyomihara Palace, and what life was like there, not just for Ohoama but for his new court. While we talked about some of the other palaces, this is perhaps one of the better known from the archaeological record, and it is the backdrop for so much that happens. Ohoama is even known as the Sovereign from Kiyomihara. So let's talk about what the palace consisted of, and what it was, and a little bit about what life was like there. In addition to that, we've discussed in previous episodes how Ohoama's ascension to the throne kicked off a whole new era in the evolution of the Yamato state, with numerous innovations and new paradigms in the idea of the ruler and the court and their relationship – so it's worth taking a closer look at the setting where all of that was happening, so we can try and put ourselves in the shoes of those doing the work, and understand their daily grind, as it were. There is unfortunately plenty about the Kiyomihara Palace that we don't know - it isn't like there is a detailed account of the palace in the records - but its ruins are probably the most complete of all those found in Asuka. This makes sense, given that it would have been built over the earlier palace sites. In fact, for the most part, the Kiyomihara Palace is just the Later Okamoto Palace, in other words where Takara Hime, aka Saimei Tennou, ruled, but updated and expanded to fit Ohoama's and his court's needs. Archeological work in Asuka has done some tremendous work to help us understand the Asuka Palace Site. By studying the various post holes, ditches, and other evidence, along with occasionally discarded items, we have a general idea of the palace's shape, and when we combine this with what we know from other sites—the Naniwa Palace ruins in Ohosaka, the Fujiwara palace ruins in Kashihara, and the Heijo-kyo ruins in Nara, among others—along with an understanding of how palaces were being built on the continent, we are able to piece together what we think was going on. Of course these interpretations aren't unanimous, and there are parts that scholars will no doubt quibble over—such as the use of the Ebinoko compound, which I'll talk about in a bit—but in general we have a picture of what things probably looked like, at least from a layout perspective, and how the site may have been used. To start, let's go back for a moment to the Toyosaki Palace in Naniwa, the first palace purpose built for the new governmental system being brought over from the continent. This was the palace of Karu Ohokimi, aka Koutoku Tennou, uncle to Naka no Ohoye. It was built in the aftermath of the Isshin Incident of 645, an architectural centerpiece of the Taika reforms. As you may recall, this was a massive undertaking. This palace was largely rectangular, and consisted of three compounds from south to north, ranging from most to least public. Most people would enter from the south gate, later known as the Suzaku-mon, the gate of the crimson bird of the south, a pattern that would generally hold true for other palaces. Entering the compound, you would find yourself in the Choshuden, a space holding two pavilions with several rooms where officials could change into or out of their official robes. The gates to the Choshuden would open at sunrise for the clerks and functionaries would enter. At the northern end of the Choshuden was the Southern gate of the Chodoin, the main working area of the court. There were 14 halls, or Chodo, each one dedicated to a different ministry. The size of these halls varied, likely based on importance or at least the size of their government portfolio. Most of the middle area of the Chodoin was open, but at the northern end was the gate to the Dairi, the inner palace. This gate was flanked by two octagonal buildings, and it led to an area between the Chodoin and the Dairi where there sat the building that would become the Daigokuden. This was the main audience chamber for meetings with the sovereign, who would preside and make pronouncements in the early morning hours, at the start of the day. To the north of the Daigokuden was the rest of the Dairi, where the sovereign's personal quarters lay, including the quarters for his consorts and children, maintained by his personal servants.And there were other gates into and out of the Dairi—after all, the palace was so large you didn't want to have to go through the Choushuden and Choudouin just to get to the sovereign's quarters. Those who lived in the Dairi and those who worked there would be able to have their own entrances and exits. Let's contrast all of this with the Okamoto Palace in Asuka. More precisely the Later Okamoto Palace. This was the successor palace to the Itabuki palace, both of which were built for Takara Hime, aka Kougyouku—and by this point Saimei—Tennou. In fact, Itabuki palace burned down at the end of 654, just as Takara Hime came to the throne a second time. This palace was, in total, maybe the size of the Chodoin of the Toyosaki Palace, if that. For one thing, there wasn't as much flat land easily available in the valley, but for another, the builders maybe didn't think they needed quite that much space and that many buildings. You see, while the Toyosaki palace in Naniwa was likely meant to model the kind of infrastructure necessary for the Tang court, in Chang'an, Yamato was still building up its fledgling bureaucracy. It wasn't like there were a flood of reports and correspondences coming in from all over the archipelago that had to be handled by an army of clerks. At least not yet. The Okamoto palace, from what we can tell, was also a rectangle, once again facing south , on the east side of the Asuka river. This palace did not necessarily have the same kinds of dedicated spaces as the Toyosaki Palace. The main gate that we know of was in the south, leading to a courtyard with another building—possibly the Ohoandono, alternatively the Ohoyasumidono or the Daianden. This may have been an audience hall for meeting with public officials. The ground here was covered in gravel, a fairly common thing for palace compounds. Though we don't know exactly what the buildings looked like, we have some idea based on the size and number of post-holes. We also haven't found any ceramic tiles in or around the ruins so far, which suggests that Okamoto Palace did not have ceramic tile roofs as were common on temple architecture, but instead were likely covered with wooden shingles, like the Itabuki Palace that used to be in relatively the same spot. From an archeological perspective, any tiled building of this size leaves a lot of indications behind: over the years tiles fall off, break, get buried, etc. Even if, as was common, the court meticulously dismantled the buildings down and reused as much as they could, we would still expect to see some tiles or tile fragments in the ground where the pillars are found, and yet we find nothing of the sort. To the east and west of the Ohoandono were long, narrow structures, oriented north to south rather than east to west. These are thought to have been the offices where government officials could do their work. Moving into the northern section of the palace, the ground was paved with river stones. There were two large buildings with small wings, running east to west, lengthwise, and situated on the same line as the Ohoandono. These may have been what have been called the To no Andono, or outer Hall, and the Uchi no Andono, the inner hall, and they would have been used for ceremonies for those of the appropriate rank. The middle hall it seems was modified from its original form. While it was similar in size and footprint to the hall north of it, the western wing of the southern hall at some point was destroyed—whether on purpose or accidentally—and it was replaced with what appears to have been a pond. On each side of this central area we see more space for buildings, but only some of the post holes have so far been uncovered. There were other buildings further in the northernmost third of the compound that were likely for the sovereign's private usage, as well as a well, and what may have been a building for some kind of semi-private religious ceremony. This palace, the Okamoto Palace, was essentially what Ohoama started from when he relocated the capital back to Asuka – but when he ascended to the throne, he did make a few changes. Most notable was the creation of something called the ebinoko-kuruwa, the Ebinoko enclosure. This was to the southeast of the main palace, and had a rectangular wall surrounding one large building and two smaller ones. Interestingly, the buildings would appear to be oriented in a symmetrical shape that would suggest a southern entrance, like the other palace compounds we've been discussing, and yet the gate was to the west, opening to the area between the Ebinoko enclosure and the main palace. And based on postholes and other evidence, there appear to have been at least four other rectangular buildings stretching out to the south, outside of the walls. Some have theorized that the large building in the Ebinoko was an early form of the Daigokuden, a ceremonial hall where Ohoama held court, rather than reusing the facilities of the old Okamoto palace. Alternately, perhaps it was actually more like the buildings of the Chodoin in Naniwa, where the different departments of the court actually did business, but here with all of the officials working in one, single building. A third idea that others have suggested that this was actually Ohoama's private residence—again, somewhat odd given the size and shape and the fact that there were the seemingly larger facilities of the Okamoto palace already right there for the taking. So which is it? We do have a clue in the record of the 15th day of the 9th month of 672, and the lines following it. According to the Aston translation of the Nihon shoki: He removed his residence from the Palace of Shima to the Palace of Okamoto. In this year a Palace was erected south of the Palace of Okamoto, and the Emperor removed his residence thither that same winter. This was called the Palace of Kiyomibara in Asuka. So it does seem like something was built south of Okamoto and that is where Ohoama resided. It is somewhat uncommon for a sovereign to reuse an old palace like this. Traditionally, sovereigns had regularly moved to new palaces, seemingly because of the attempts to avoid ritual pollution associated with death. Of course, it had been a while since Takara hime had passed away, and Naka no Ohoye had moved everything to Ohotsu, but nonetheless, is it possible that the Ebinoko kuruwa was built to, in some way, give Ohoama new quarters? We may never know for sure. There are plenty of inconsistencies. For one, if it was meant as a residence, I would expect more buildings for his consorts and others. There are also some things to note about the account in the Nihon Shoki. For one thing, although the initial account calls this the Kiyomihara Palace, the Chronicles also suggest that it wouldn't actually get that name until the 20th day of the 7th month of 686, about 14 years later. That record describes how a new era name was also announced: the Akamitori, or red bird, era. I don't want to get too much into it right now, but suffice it to say that a red, three legged crow is often depicted as the symbol of the sun; and the important south gate of the palace, the Suzaku-mon, is named for the vermillion bird of the south, one of the four guardian animals. When this era name—more commonly read as “Shucho”, today, since era names are commonly red in on'yomi reading rather than kun'yomi—well, when it was declared, we are told that the palace was titled the Palace of Kiyomihara of Asuka. What are we to make of this? Well, today, it is assumed that the Kiyomihara palace refers to the Okamoto Palace starting from the creation of the Ebinoko-kuruwa and its occupation during what is assumed to be Ohoama's rule. Earlier in the Nihon Shoki we are told that Ohoama was known as the Kiyomihara sovereign, and so even though that name technically wasn't applied to the palace until later, it makes some sense just to assume it applied from the start of Ohoama's renovations. One more thing that I would point out. While we talked about the original Okamoto Palace and the newly built Ebinoko enclosure, they were arranged as though around a large open area, like a courtyard. The original palace stood at the north, where one could enter the south gate of the palace, and then the Ebinoko enclosure sat on the east side of the courtyard, with its western gate between the two. The southern and western sides of the courtyard, on the other hand, followed the snaking flow of the Asuka River. From about 675 to 681, on or about the 17th day of the first month of the year, it's recorded that the court held an annual archery shoot in the court of either the West or South Gate—which would seem to refer to this large area. This makes sense, as the space is large enough to accommodate plenty of room for the range and for others to watch The archery exhibition was held here, in the space between the two compounds, like clockwork until 681, when we are just told that it was held in the “Courtyard”, which feels like it is referring to an area inside the main compound of Kiyomihara. There are no more mentions of the tradition after 681, though there is an archery shoot in front of the South Gate on the 5th day of the 5th month of 685, but that was probably done as part of the regular 5/5 celebrations—a holiday today known as Kodomo no Hi, or Children's Day, but more traditionally known as Tango no Sekku, the Iris festival. Some form of celebration on this date seems to have occurred throughout East Asia up until the modern day. Whether the archery stopped or just became such a standard thing that it was no longer noteworthy in the record, I can't really say. However, one can possibly imagine what it was like, with all of the courtiers out there watching as the arrows shot down the field. The occasional twang of bows and the faint whistle as it sped towards its target, hitting the target with a sharp thwack. Murmurs from the crowd regarding how well—or how poorly—any given person was doing. Beyond the courtyard and what we know of the two compounds—the Kiyomihara palace and the Ebinoko Enclosure—there is plenty still to discover. There were likely other compounds around the palace, possibly as an extension of the palace. And then there were the temples: west, across the river, was Kawaradera, and north of the palace and surrounding compounds was Houkouji, or Asukadera. There is even some evidence on the northwest edge of the compounds, southwest from Asukadera, of an ancient garden surrounding several manmade ponds. And so, the entire valley appears to have been filled with buildings and official spaces , running up against and being constrained by the natural features of the valley itself. As I mentioned above, there just isn't that much buildable space in the Asuka valley, compared to other places like Naniwa. And this contributed to one of the other problems that the court would have experienced: according to tradition, the front of the palace and other buildings were all oriented south, but for this location, this meant that they didn't face the expansive fields of the Nara basin, but instead they faced the mountains themselves. All in all, there was not much room here to grow, and yet the government and the court had grown, at least by all accounts. Though, how much had the court grown? Maybe not as much as we might expect, despite Ohoama's ambitions. First of all there had been the purge of the powerful ministers at the head of the Afumi court, but there are some startling omissions in the records from the beginning of Ohoama's reign. There is no mention of the Daijin, or Great Minister. There is no Minister of the Right or Minister of the Left. There is no Inner Minister, and there is no Great Minister of State. There are mentions of the “kugyou”, or “Ministers of State”, which traditionally includes the Daijin, but there is no mention of the Daijin, suggesting that the “kugyou” of this time may have only referenced the heads of the 8 ministries of the Dajokan, the Council of State. What does this mean? Many scholars interpret this period as a time of extremely centralized power. Coming off of his military victory, Ohoama seems to have ridden a wave of support and control. Combine that with the continued absorption of Tang dynasty propaganda-slash-government theory that saw the sovereign—the emperor—as the central authority, and one can see how Ohoama may have been able to do something that few sovereigns in Japanese history were able to actually do, which is to wield real power. This may seem odd for a position translated into English most commonly as “Emperor,” but as we've seen, in glimpses through the way they are depicted in the Chronicles, or through the archaeological record, which shows different loci of power and authority across the archipelago in ancient times, the Ohokimi, later dubbed the Tennou or Sumera no Mikoto, was not necessarily all powerful. Not only did they have to contend with rivals to the throne, but even various court nobles who made their way into the centers of power. From figures like Takeuchi no Sukune, to the Ohotomo, the Mononobe, and more recently the Soga—in all of these cases various nobles often held considerable power, though often in tension with one another. Sources of authority also varied. There were the individual religious centers through which families exercised some ritual authority, while there was also more secular authority in the various court positions. The Ohokimi certainly were respected, from what we can tell, and had a powerful source of authority going back to at least the holy kami of Mt. Miwa. They even spread that authority through their kannushi, their priests, which they sent out as an extension of the state. But they weren't entirely independent, either. But Ohoama seems to have reached a point where he did hold a tremendous amount of authority. Because there is another telling omission from the chronciles: we don't see any more Soga members. With the death of Soga no Akaye, the Soga family's influence seems to have disappeared this reign. We also don't see that much about other prominent families compared to earlier: we see the Mononobe as ambassadors, and we see the Nakatomi are still conducting rituals. But we don't see any of them rising to the same positions as their forebears. Instead, we see a lot of focus on the Princely class—those members who claim some descent from a previous sovereign, or even the current sovereign, and how they, themselves, are divided up with their own system of ranks that are outside the civil service ranking system. Speaking of civil service, it does always strike me that the ranking systems of various east Asian courts very much resemble the way that, even today, many modern bureaucracies create wage scales for their civil servants. In the US the most common such scale is the GS or “General Schedule” pay system. In that system, positions are associated with a particular grade, between 1 and 15, and federal employees are also referred to in terms of those grades. Grade typically reflects some level of seniority and pay. It isn't a one-for-one analogy, of course: the court ranks in Yamato were handed out by the sovereign, or at least through their authority, as were the various court positions, though I doubt that Ohoama was spending much personal time approving promotions for a low level clerk writing down inventories and suchlike—but who knows. But it does emphasize that this system is built to be a centralized bureaucratic monarchy, based on the continental model, and it now seems to have come into its own. The court seems to have bought into the idea, and now, intentionally or not, much of their own position in society was directly tied to the autocratic whims of the monarch, or Ohoama himself. Indeed, some of the first records from the year 673 are focused on the court and court system. The very first thing this entailed: a banquet on the 7th day of the first month of the new year. We are told that it was a “drinking party” or “shuen”, and boy does that draw some parallels with modern Japanese companies. We aren't exactly given the form of this party, but we do have later examples. There was likely a formal start, with various nobles set out at assigned seats based on their rank. It was an official event, so officials would have been expected to wear the appropriate clothing, including their caps of rank, letting everyone know exactly who's who, and reinforcing the social hierarchy imposed by the rank system in the first place. I suspect that it started with ritual and formality. Later, you would have the after party, where people might more freely mingle and drink and recite poetry. This was both an official and social occasion, because there really wasn't much of a line drawn between the two. As a ritual, it displayed Ohoama's power over the state through his ability to host them all. As a social function it was an important time in the political life of the court, where everyone was together, and you could find your cliques and supporters. Drinking alcohol, while being something that many enjoy for its own sake, was also a kind of religious observance. Sake was made to be offered to the kami, as well as to be used at parties. It was made from rice, the staple on which the agricultural success of the archipelago was based, and which held a particularly sacred place in other rituals and ceremonies. And then there was the poetry. As would be true for much of Japanese history, poetry infused all aspects of life at the court, and being able to compose good poetry was just as important to one's social standing as reading, writing, and other such skills. There were generally two kinds of poetry practiced at the court. There was the traditional Japanese poetry, or waka, with alternating verses of 5 or 7 syllables—more properly morae, but no need to get into that. Then there was poetry composed in the Sinitic style. Known as “Kanshi”, which translates directly as “Han Poetry”, this mimics the poetic forms brought over in literature from the continent. It required a certain amount of education to be able to compose and was based on the characters, or kanji, used. Kanshi can generally be divided into at least two categories. There is the Kotaishi, or the Old Style Poetry, which consists of poetic form used prior to the Tang dynasty. Then there is Kintaishi, or Modern Style Poetry, which is based on the forms from the Tang dynasty and later. Kintaishi is usually recognized for adhering to more rules of structure and composition, usually using lines of 5 or 7 characters, while Kotaishi is more fluid and less concerned with specific rules and rhythms. Poetry was also not necessarily a solo activity. It was common in later eras to arrange poetry competition, where the court would divide itself, much like the bureaucracy, between the Left and the Right. Each group would compose poetry, often on a set theme, and then put up the poems they felt were the best against those of the other side and then the entire court would listen and judge. The only tangible reward, assuming the sovereign was not so moved as to do something extraordinary, was bragging rights. And yet, that social capital was important among the nobles of the court. Image was extremely important to individuals, and embarrassment could be a political death sentence. And so many would work hard at these poems to make sure that they were the best they could be. At this point, though, we are still in the early years of many of these traditions. The poetry that we have appears to be less formulaic than we see in later eras, when there were so many precedents to which one was expected to adhere. Poems could be about feeling and were not required to hearken back to previous poems and poetic allusions. By the way, official events like this are also one of the ways that we get compilations of poems, later on. These events would get transcribed and then later those poems would be referenced, particularly if they were noteworthy or by noteworthy individuals. This kind of event may have been where a lot of the poems from works like the Man'yoshu and the Kaifusou, the earliest compilations of Waka and Kanshi, respectively. At some point I”d love to dig into the poetry more in depth, but for the moment, I think it is best to leave it there. Now besides one's skills at poetry there were other skills that the court was interested in. The court system that they had lifted from the continent was based, at least theoretically, on the idea of a meritocracy. The monarch, of course, was judged to be worthy to rule through the mandate of Heaven, which often demonstrated itself early in the regime through the Emperor's forces defeating their enemies, much as Ohoama had defeated his rivals in the Afumi court. However, for the rest of the government, the sovereign needed to make sure that he had qualified individuals. From an early point in history, people recognized that not everyone born into power and wealth was necessarily the best person to help run things. If you could only find those of the greatest intellect, discernment, and moral compass, then those are the ones you would want to have running things, right? And this is fine in theory. However, determining who has those qualifications can be a bit tricky. We talked about this back in episodes 71 and 72 when we talked about the Han dynasty more generally. In that case, while the civil service exam was open to any person, the reality was that only those with enough wealth and leisure time could afford to study to take the test. And so while it did open up opportunities for some, it did not truly apply equally across all classes of people. And this was likely fine with most of the ruling class at the time, since there were also still theories that there were different classes of people, and it simply reinforced their ideas that those in the lower classes just didn't have the same capabilities that they had. In the Yamato court early in Ohoama's reign it isn't clear to me exactly how individuals were being chosen for service. We know that rank was handed out as a reward for service, varying with the individual. Ohoama handed out rank at the end of 672 to those who had helped him to come to power, and then, on the 29th day of the 2nd month of 673, just two days after he formally ascended the throne, we are told that he conferred cap-rank on those who had performed good service, each according to their situation. Of course, that is about how promotions were rewarded. But what about how people entered into service in the first place? How did you get introduced to a job in the bureaucracy in the first place? Well for that we have Ohoama's pronouncement on the first day of the fifth month. He addressed the court and set it up as follows: First, anyone who would take a government position would begin their career as an “ohotoneri”. These were low level functionaries who supported the various bureaus as guards, messengers, and whatever else was needed. Previously, this all would have fallen under the general term of “toneri”, who were those members of the nobility who had been sent to serve in the royal palace. Aston translates this as a “chamberlain”, and thus equates oho-toneri—literally “great toneri”—as “high chamberlain”, though I'm not sure if that was actually the distinction or not. It looks like the term “toneri” itself may pre-date the Ritsuryo system, but now was being more standardized, with expanded categories of “toneri” within the system itself. Interestingly, there is only one other example I could find of Ohotoneri before the reign of Ohoama and that was in the account of Waketakeru no Ohokimi, aka Yuryaku Tennou, which makes me think that might be an anachronism. We definitely see “toneri” used since just before that reign and continuously onward, and we see them in regards to not just the royal house, but as the functionaries and servants in various places and for other aristocratic families, but the “ohotoneri” seem to have been specifically connected to the royal family… and thus the state. Ohotoneri, despite being quote-unquote “great” toneri, were at the relative bottom of the hierarchy. They were the night shift, the guards, the messengers, and the general go-fers. They were essentially paid interns. As they did their tasks, they were learning about how the various offices and ministries worked, and they were demonstrating their own aptitude. Based on how they did, they would then be assigned to various offices as seemed most suitable. There were also offices that were staffed by women. Though separate and distinct, women also had a role in the palace and thus the maintenance of the court and the state. They were to be selected for service regardless of their age or even whether they were married or not, but they fell under a separate set of rules from the men, because, well, patriarchy. So that's what happened when people were selected to serve, but who was selected? The chronicles don't say explicitly until a decree about three years later in the 4th month of 676, when it was decreed that all those from provinces outside of the Home Provinces could enter the service of the sovereign, no matter their family's rank, whether Omi, Muraji, Tomo no Miyatsuko, or Kuni no Miyatsuko. They would also allow men of quote-unquote “distinguished ability” enter service, even though they were commoners. From that we can surmise that when they are talking about “all” people really they are talking about “all” the nobility—the only people for whom the Nihon Shoki was really intended, if you think about it. Thus, logically it would seem that prior to this only members of the nobility were allowed to enter government service—but there is even more. Because before this pronouncement in 676, only people in the Home Provinces were theoretically allowed to enter government service. The Home Provinces, or Kinai, are traditionally the five provinces of Yamato, Kawachi, Izumi, Yamashiro, and Settsu. At this point, though, Izumi was still a part of Kawachi, so it would have just been the four. These provinces were likely the first lands to really come under Yamato's direct control, and as such they all held a certain pride of place. This is also where we assume that the powerful families of Yamato had their strongholds. Certainly the Soga, the Mononobe, and the Ohotomo all had claim to traditional land in and around this region. When the court had moved to Ohotsu it would have been the first time in many years that the capital was moved out of the Home Provinces, which was probably a large part of the dissent expressed at the time. How would you like it if your job up and moved two states away and forced you to relocate with them, likely at your own expense? In 676, though, the court decreed that it would no longer restrict itself to noble families of the Home Provinces, but instead would open up service, and the lucrative stipends that came with it, to members of the nobility in the rest of the archipelago. This seems particularly intriguing given the two swords we have from the time of Waketakeru no Ohokimi, aka Yuryua Tennou, in the 5th century, where elites had served—or at least claimed to serve—at his court. It is possible that during his day the influence of Yamato was more expansive, and that influence contracted after him. Or it could be that it was a different type of service that they had provided. And then there is the comment in Ohoama's decree that the court would also allow men of “distinguished ability” to also enter service, even if they were commoners. How very progressive. This seems clearly designed to suggest the meritocratic system that was the ideal, even if it was only truly observed in the breach. I can't help but think about how this symbolizes the court's expanded control across the archipelago, and the idea that all of the archipelago was truly under their control. It also meant that they had opened up the candidate pool to a wider audience. Does that mean that they were growing the size of the government, too? I also can't help but wonder how the old guard took this—the traditional families from the Home Provinces who suddenly found themselves competing with people from the periphery. Did they see them as equals, or the equivalent of upstart country bumpkins? And let's not even get started on anyone who joined government service as a Commoner. On the other hand, I suspect these new functionaries would have owed their position even more directly to the sovereign and the court, and they might not have strong familial ties to the local area. This is all just theory, but seems to follow with Ohoama's general efforts at centralization and accretion of power and authority to himself whilst further building out the structure that his brother, Naka no Ohoye, had set up. Along those lines, at the same time that the sovereign opened up membership in the court to those outside of the Kinai region, he also meddled with the incomes of the various Princes and Ministers. He insisted that those Princes and Ministers who were receiving taxes from fiefs in the West—by which I assume is meant western Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu—they should instead get their income from fiefs in the East. So he was taking away the western fiefs and instead swapping them with eastern fiefs. Those western taxes could then, presumably, come straight into the government coffers, and the princes and ministers would be connected with land in the east, which I suspect meant they would be expected to invest in those fiefs and encourage them to produce. This feels like it goes along with something from two years earlier, in 675, the third year of Ohoama's reign. In the second month of that year he abolished the serfs granted to the various Uji back in 664, and he abolished any claims by Princes—Royal or otherwise—as well as Ministers and Temples to any mountains, marshes, islands, bays, woods, plains, and artificial ponds. It seems clear that he claimed the right of eminent domain to himself and the state. By extension, all land effectively belonged to Ohoama, and everyone else became, de facto, his tenants. They paid taxes up to him, and he had the right to grant or take away the land as he saw fit. I can't imagine that went over well with those who had lost their rights to those lands, but either he compensated in them in some other way or his power had grown such that they didn't dare to oppose him. Certainly not everyone was happy. In 677, Saita no Fubito no Nagura was banished to the island of Izu for apparently scoffing—or otherwise disrespecting—Ohoama. Well, it says his vehicle, but Aston notes that this is probably just a polite euphemism for the sovereign himself. But that rebuke seems to have been pretty light compared to two years earlier when a man—we aren't even given his name, assuming it was known, hiked up the hill east of the palace, cursed Ohoama, and then cut his own throat. How it was known that he had been cursing anyone isn't explained—though perhaps he had written it down or otherwise communicated his intentions. Either way, it was certainly a rebuke. But if it phased Ohoama, we can't tell. He did give those on duty that night a step in rank, presumably for the trauma they had experienced in dealing with everything. Possibly related—we are told that same month there was a great earthquake. So was that thought to be the curse being fulfilled? There is nothing to connect them except that the one immediately follows the other. And yet, Ohoama would continue to rule as he saw fit. In fact, he would rule roughly 14 years, in total, right up to his death in 686. A rather substantial reign compared to so many other sovereigns. And he would continue to make his mark. Next episode we will continue our journey through the reign of Ohoama, aka Temmu Tenno. Until then, if you like what we are doing, please tell your friends and feel free to rate us wherever you listen to podcasts. If you feel the need to do more, and want to help us keep this going, we have information about how you can donate on Patreon or through our KoFi site, ko-fi.com/sengokudaimyo, or find the links over at our main website, SengokuDaimyo.com/Podcast, where we will have some more discussion on topics from this episode. Also, feel free to reach out to our Sengoku Daimyo Facebook page. You can also email us at the.sengoku.daimyo@gmail.com. Thank you, also, to Ellen for their work editing the podcast. And that's all for now. Thank you again, and I'll see you next episode on Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.
As Ireland looks ahead to the next presidential election, we face an important question: what role should the President play in public life?Traditionally, the office was seen as largely ceremonial, but in recent years, Irish Presidents have taken a more outspoken role on both national and international issues.Some praise this as a fundamental approach, while others argue it risks blurring the boundaries between politics and the Presidency.Joining Seán to discuss is Laura Cahillane, who is a Professor at the School of Law at the University of Limerick…
Traditionally, roses bloom in June and July, but certain types can make a comeback for a late summer second act.
Matt Miles is a Political Science professor at Brigham Young University–Idaho and a co-host of This Week in Mormons and the Latter-day Lens podcasts. Links Watch the video and share your thoughts in the Zion Lab community Religious Identity in US Politics The Latter-day Lens podcast This Week in Mormons Transcript available with the video in the Zion Lab community Highlights This discussion centers on a research-backed framework for measuring religiosity, moving beyond traditional metrics to focus on the transformative effects of faith on an individual's life. Beyond the Three B's: Traditionally, religiosity has been measured by "the three B's": Behavior (what a person does), Belonging (their social connections), and Belief (their convictions). Matt Miles argues that these are insufficient measures of genuine faith. The Fourth B: Becoming: A more accurate measure is "religious becoming"—the extent to which a person has been transformed by their faith. This concept suggests that true religiosity is not just about actions but about internal change. Four Aspects of Transformation: Based on his research, Miles identified four universal traits that indicate "religious becoming": Transcendence (a connection to the divine), Humanity (love for others), Justice (a belief in fairness), and Temperance (humility). Faith and Political Tolerance: The research shows that individuals with higher scores in "religious becoming" are more politically tolerant. They are less likely to view those with opposing political views as a threat, in contrast to those whose faith is measured only by the "three B's." Challenges of Genuine Change: The episode highlights the difficulty for leaders and parents in discerning whether someone has truly been transformed by the gospel or is simply going through the motions. Leadership Applications Leaders should focus on teaching a "holistic gospel" that emphasizes the principles of "becoming," rather than just providing a checklist of behaviors. This encourages genuine internal change over external compliance. The discussion suggests that the Church is effective at teaching "transcendence" (connection to God) but could improve at teaching "humanity" (love for others) and "temperance" (humility). Leaders can apply this insight by creating more opportunities for members to serve others and develop empathy. The research on political tolerance can help leaders foster more charitable and understanding discussions within their wards and stakes, particularly on sensitive topics. The award-winning Leading Saints Podcast is one of the top independent Latter-day Saints podcasts as part of nonprofit Leading Saints' mission to help Latter-day Saints be better prepared to lead. Find Leadership Tools, Courses, and Community for Latter-day Saint leaders in the Zion Lab community. Learn more and listen to any of the past episodes for free at LeadingSaints.org. Past guests include Emily Belle Freeman, David Butler, Hank Smith, John Bytheway, Reyna and Elena Aburto, Liz Wiseman, Stephen M. R. Covey, Benjamin Hardy, Elder Alvin F. Meredith III, Julie Beck, Brad Wilcox, Jody Moore, Tony Overbay, John H. Groberg, Elaine Dalton, Tad R. Callister, Lynn G. Robbins, J. Devn Cornish, Bonnie Oscarson, Dennis B. Neuenschwander, Kirby Heyborne, Taysom Hill, Coaches Jennifer Rockwood and Brandon Doman, Anthony Sweat, John Hilton III, Barbara Morgan Gardner, Blair Hodges, Whitney Johnson, Ryan Gottfredson, Greg McKeown, Ganel-Lyn Condie, Michael Goodman, Wendy Ulrich, Richard Ostler, and many more in over 800 episodes. Discover podcasts, articles, virtual conferences, and live events related to callings such as the bishopric, Relief Society, elders quorum, Primary, youth leadership, stake leadership, ward mission, ward council, young adults, ministering, and teaching.
Traditionally, we have learned that any imbalance in the estrogen: progesterone relationship can trigger irregular uterine bleeding. That makes sense, right? During anovulation, prolonged unopposed estrogen can result in HMB. In such a case, we give progesterone as both a therapeutic as well as diagnostic intervention. On the contrary, with progestin only contraception, we consider estrogen predominant products when progesterone breakthrough bleeding (BTB) occurs to restore endometrial stabilization. But a new RCT (AJOG) adds credence to adding MORE progesterone in cases of progesterone associated BTB. Listen in for details.1. Zigler RE, Madden T, Ashby C, Wan L, McNicholas C. Ulipristal Acetate for Unscheduled Bleeding in Etonogestrel Implant Users: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Obstet Gynecol. 2018 Oct;132(4):888-894. doi: 10.1097/AOG.0000000000002810. PMID: 30130351; PMCID: PMC6153077.2.ANDRADE MCR, et al. Norethisterone for Prolonged Uterine Bleeding Associated with Etonogestrel Implant (IMPLANET): A Randomized Controlled Trial, American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology (2025), doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajog.2025.08.029.
In “We Sure Eat Good When Someone Dies,” Gravy producer Caleb Johnson takes listeners back to August 2024, when his extended family gathered inside a Baptist church in Arley, Alabama, to mourn the loss of their matriarch—his grandmother, Celia Sampley. Before the funeral service, the church served lunch for the family, including chicken and dumplings, green-bean casserole, and plenty of desserts. A particular cake caught Caleb's eye that day, called a pea picking cake. In this episode, Caleb steps into the kitchen of the woman who baked that memorable cake and explores how eating something sweet helps us process grief. The cook's name is Sandra Stewart, and she was a good friend of Caleb's grandmother. They attended Bethel Baptist Church together for many years. When it came time to bake something for the funeral wake, Sandra looked through her large recipe book. She chose a pea picking cake because all the ingredients she needed were already in her pantry. Her choice was mainly for convenience. Traditionally, recipes for pea picking cake call for using a box cake mix. The first box cake mix was created in the 1930s, but it didn't become popular until after World War II. Caleb talks with food historian KC Hysmith about the mysterious origins of the pea picking cake and how it fits into a tradition of fancy box cakes that grew popular in the second half of the twentieth century, a time when home cooks started using more store-bought, convenience ingredients. Caleb also speaks with Dr. Candi K. Cann, a professor of religion at Baylor University and a self-described death scholar, about funeral traditions involving food around the world. She explains that these traditions help mourners revisit meaningful relationships. However, despite the close link between funerals and foodways, Dr. Cann says Americans aren't taught how to navigate grief, partly because individualism is a key part of the Protestant faith. She believes this has led to less emphasis on communal meals like the one served at Caleb's grandmother's wake. *** This episode was reported by Caleb Johnson. Johnson is the author of the novel Treeborne, and a frequent contributor to the Gravy podcast and magazine. He teaches creative writing at Appalachian State University. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
1. Episode OverviewMatty A. brings clarity to the big investment debate of our time: Crypto, Artificial Intelligence (AI), or Real Estate. In this episode, he breaks down the strengths and risks of each investment avenue—and reveals how they can complement one another in a well-rounded portfolio.2. Big Ideas CoveredCryptoCrypto continues to gain traction with institutional interest and regulatory progress paving the way for innovation like stablecoins, asset tokenization, and enhanced DeFi interfaces.These developments could make digital assets more accessible and practical—but volatility and regulatory uncertainty remain ongoing concerns.AI InvestmentsAI investment remains a bright spot thanks to surging demand for infrastructure like data centers, as well as gains from specialized “stealth” technology providers.Still, analysts caution that such growth may be part of a larger tech bubble. Success depends on strategic execution, staying ahead of technological disruption, and navigating market cycles.Real Estate (Tech-Enhanced)REITs and tech-integrated real estate (via AI, smart homes, and tokenization) are showing resilience—especially in diversified global markets and evolving offline-to-online platforms.While real estate offers stability and generational value, it's slower to scale and less liquid—though tokenization may change the game in the future.3. Investment SnapshotCryptoOffers high growth potential and rapid innovation.Easily accessible—can invest with small amounts.Highly volatile and exposed to regulatory uncertainties.Often speculative, requiring strong conviction and risk tolerance.AIDriven by significant enterprise demand and infrastructure expansion.Supports a broader range of industries—beyond crypto hype.Risks include overinvestment and rapid obsolescence.Offers structured growth, especially through AI applications and platforms.Real Estate (Tech-Enhanced)Backed by tangible assets with income-generating potential.Becoming more efficient and liquid thanks to PropTech, AI tools, and tokenization.Traditionally less liquid with slower cycles—though technology is bridging the gap.Offers long-term stability and passive income.4. Episode TakeawaysDiversification is still your friend. Each asset class has distinct risk-return profiles—crypto offers high volatility upside, AI brings innovation and industry momentum, while real estate delivers stability and passive yield.Hybrid opportunities are emerging. AI-powered real estate platforms and tokenized CRE blends the best of multiple worlds—liquidity with structure, innovation with asset backing.Know your investor profile. Aggressive builders might lean more into crypto and AI, while income-focused or conservative investors could find real estate—or tech-enhanced real estate—more suitable.5. Suggested Next StepsAssess your risk appetite and time horizon to guide how you allocate across these sectors.Start small and explore hybrid investment channels, like tokenized real estate or AI-backed platforms.Track convergence trends—where blockchain intersects with real estate or AI tools power DeFi—as they often reveal outsized opportunities.Bottom Line: There's no single winner crowned in this episode. Instead, success may lie in combining these tools within a strategic, diversified portfolio—and leaning into the tech bridge between them.Episode Sponsored By:Discover Financial Millionaire Mindcast Shop: Buy the Rich Life Planner and Get the Wealth-Building Bundle for FREE! Visit: https://shop.millionairemindcast.com/CRE MASTERMIND: Visit myfirst50k.com and submit your application to join!FREE CRE Crash Course: Text “FREE” to 844-447-1555FREE Financial X-Ray: Text "XRAY" to 844-447-1555
In episode 503 of The Astrology Podcast astrologer Rod Chang joins me to discuss the long and fascinating history of comets in astrology, how astrologers viewed them as omens in ancient times, and creating a new foundation for interpreting them today. While comets are a notable astronomical phenomenon and are famous in legends from ancient times as powerful omens, there has been very little discussion about their meaning or use in modern astrology. Part of the reason for this is that they appear so infrequently, are difficult to calculate, and are not included in most astrology software, which has led to them being largely overlooked by contemporary astrologers. We begin the discussion by exploring the long history of comets in astrology, noting the contrast between the Western tradition and the Chinese tradition. In the West, research into comets was set back for centuries by Aristotle's mistaken belief that they were merely atmospheric phenomena. In the Chinese tradition, however, comets were meticulously documented for thousands of years, where they were often referred to as "broom stars" that could sweep away the old government or indicate the need for reform. This eventually led to a rich history of astrological interpretation, which we are only now beginning to recover and understand. During the course of the episode we talk about what comets are from an astronomical perspective, as well as how their erratic and unpredictable nature became a key part of their astrological interpretation. Traditionally comets were interpreted as omens that signified major disruptions, the death of prominent people, and important turning points in history. Their meaning was often derived from their visual appearance, such as their color or the shape of their tail. While often viewed as negative omens that coincided with natural disasters or the death of rulers, there are also instances where they were interpreted positively. Towards the end of the episode we discuss how contemporary astrologers are now in a much better position to study comets, with new tools that allow us to calculate their positions and go back and research what was happening in the world when major comets appeared in the past. This is a large part of the focus of Rod's new book titled Comets in Astrology, where he identifies some of the most important "Great Comets" in history and documents the events that coincided with their appearance. We hope that this discussion provides a good foundation for a subject that will become an exciting new area of research in astrology in the years to come. Rod's book was just released August 13, and you can get it now: Comets in Astrology on Amazon You can find out more information about Rod on his website: RodChang.com This episode is available in both audio and video versions below. Timestamps 00:00:00 Introduction 00:01:05 Rod's journey into studying comets 00:02:40 Why comets are overlooked in modern astrology 00:07:09 What is a comet? 00:10:04 Short-period vs. long-period comets 00:16:55 Erratic and unpredictable quality of comets 00:19:18 Aristotle's error vs. Chinese documentation 00:24:30 Edmond Halley, Brahe, and Kepler 00:28:58 Recent comets: Pons-Brooks 00:33:52 Decline of astrology hindered comet research 00:36:39 Researching historical comets and mundane events 00:39:01 What defines a “Great Comet” 00:51:04 Chinese “broom stars” and political significance 01:01:06 Comets as omens 01:11:47 Death of prominent people 01:15:02 Mark Twain and Halley's Comet 01:25:52 Observational astronomy 01:36:18 Comet's tail and directionality 01:40:03 Positive interpretations of comets 01:43:27 Setting a foundation for comet research 01:48:11 Rod's upcoming work, website, and classes 01:51:29 Concluding remarks Watch the Video Version of This Episode https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-UtgNIRCnY –
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