Podcasts about Uncle Bobby

It’s spooky season, and the Pour Family is cutting up! In this hilarious Halloween episode, Drea steps into her Trudy Proud era, Lex channels Uncle Bobby, and Ty shows out as Suga Mama. With a few sips of Taylor Port in the mix, you already know it’s about to get wild. Featuring topics like “The Haterator vs. The Seductress,” the new way Lex cries, and whether The Joker can actually get it… this Halloween special proves one thing: the Pour Minds crew doesn’t need a superhero, just each other.

What does it take to keep your voice—and your purpose—strong through every season of life? In this episode of Unstoppable Mindset, I sit down with my friend Bill Ratner, one of Hollywood's most recognized voice actors, best known as Flint from GI Joe. Bill's voice has carried him through radio, animation, and narration, but what stands out most is how he's used that same voice to serve others through storytelling, teaching, and grief counseling. Together, we explore the heart behind his work—from bringing animated heroes to life to standing on The Moth stage and helping people find healing through poetry. Bill shares lessons from his own journey, including losing both parents early, finding family in unexpected places, and discovering how creative expression can rebuild what life breaks down. We also reflect on 9/11, preparedness, and the quiet confidence that comes from trusting your training—whether you're a first responder, a performer, or just navigating the unknown. This conversation isn't just about performance; it's about presence. It's about using your story, your craft, and your compassion to keep moving forward—unstoppable, one voice at a time. Highlights: 00:31 – Hear the Flint voice and what it takes to bring animated characters to life. 06:57 – Learn why an uneven college path still led to a lifelong acting career. 11:50 – Understand how GI Joe became a team and a toy phenomenon that shaped culture. 15:58 – See how comics and cartoons boosted classroom literacy when used well. 17:06 – Pick up simple ways parents can spark reading through shared stories. 19:29 – Discover how early, honest conversations about death can model resilience. 24:09 – Learn to critique ads and media like a pro to sharpen your own performance. 36:19 – Follow the pivot from radio to voiceover and why specialization pays. 47:48 – Hear practical editing approaches and accessible tools that keep shows tight. 49:38 – Learn how The Moth builds storytelling chops through timed, judged practice. 55:21 – See how poetry—and poetry therapy—support grief work with students. 59:39 – Take notes on memoir writing, emotional management, and one-person shows. About the Guest: Bill Ratner is one of America's best known voice actors and author of poetry collections Lamenting While Doing Laps in the Lake (Slow Lightning Lit 2024,) Fear of Fish (Alien Buddha Press 2021,) To Decorate a Casket (Finishing Line Press 2021,) and the non-fiction book Parenting For The Digital Age: The Truth Behind Media's Effect On Children and What To Do About It (Familius Books 2014.) He is a 9-time winner of the Moth StorySLAM, 2-time winner of Best of The Hollywood Fringe Extension Award for Solo Performance, Best of the Net Poetry Nominee 2023 (Lascaux Review,) and New Millennium "America One Year From Now" Writing Award Finalist. His writing appears in Best Small Fictions 2021 (Sonder Press,) Missouri Review (audio,) Baltimore Review, Chiron Review, Feminine Collective, and other journals. He is the voice of "Flint" in the TV cartoon G.I. Joe, "Donnell Udina" in the computer game Mass Effect, the voice of Air Disasters on Smithsonian Channel, NewsNation, and network TV affiliates across the country. He is a committee chair for his union, SAG-AFTRA, teaches Voiceovers for SAG-AFTRA Foundation, Media Awareness for Los Angeles Unified School District, and is a trained grief counsellor. Member: Actors Equity Association, Screen Actors Guild-AFTRA, National Storytelling Network • https://billratner.com • @billratner Ways to connect with Bill: https://soundcloud.com/bill-ratner https://www.instagram.com/billratner/ https://twitter.com/billratner https://www.threads.net/@billratner https://billratner.tumblr.com https://www.youtube.com/@billratner/videos https://www.facebook.com/billratner.voiceover.author https://bsky.app/profile/bilorat.bsky.social About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset . Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes: Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson ** 01:21 Well on a gracious hello to you, wherever you may be, I am your host. Mike hingson, and you are listening to unstoppable mindset. Today, we get to have a voice actor, person, Bill Ratner, who you want to know who Bill Radnor is, go back and watch the old GI Joe cartoons and listen to the voice of Flint.   Bill Ratner ** 01:42 All right. Lady Jay, you better get your battle gear on, because Cobra is on their way. And I can't bring up the Lacher threat weapon system. We got to get out of here. Yo, Joe,   Michael Hingson ** 01:52 there you go. I rest my case Well, Bill, welcome to unstoppable mindset.   Bill Ratner ** 02:00 We can't rest now. Michael, we've just begun. No, we've just begun.   Michael Hingson ** 02:04 We got to keep going here. Well, I'm really glad that you're here. Bill is another person who we inveigled to get on unstoppable mindset with the help of Walden Hughes. And so that means we can talk about Walden all we want today. Bill just saying, oh goodness. And I got a lot to say. Let me tell you perfect, perfect. Bring it on. So we are really grateful to Walden, although I hope he's not listening. We don't want to give him a big head. But no, seriously, we're really grateful. Ah, good point.   Bill Ratner ** 02:38 But his posture, oddly enough, is perfect.   Michael Hingson ** 02:40 Well, there you go. What do you do? He practiced. Well, anyway, we're glad you're here. Tell us about the early bill, growing up and all that stuff. It's always fun to start a good beginning.   Bill Ratner ** 02:54 Well, I was a very lucky little boy. I was born in Des Moines, Iowa in 1947 to two lovely people, professionals, both with master's degree out at University of Chicago. My mother was a social worker. My father had an MBA in business. He was managing editor of Better Homes and Gardens magazine. So I had the joy of living in a better home and living in a garden.   Michael Hingson ** 03:21 My mother. How long were you in Des Moines?   Bill Ratner ** 03:24 Five and a half years left before my sixth birthday. My dad got a fancy job at an ad agency in Minneapolis, and had a big brother named Pete and big handsome, curly haired boy with green eyes. And moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and was was brought up there.   Michael Hingson ** 03:45 Wow. So you went to school there and and chased the girls and all that stuff.   Bill Ratner ** 03:54 I went to school there at Blake School for Boys in Hopkins, Minnesota. Couldn't chase the girls day school, but the girls we are allowed to dance with certainly not chase. Michael was at woodhue dancing school, the Northrop girls from Northrop girls school and the Blake boys were put together in eighth grade and taught the Cha Cha Cha, the waltz, the Charleston, and we danced together, and the girls wore white gloves, and we sniffed their perfume, and we all learned how to be lovers when we were 45   Michael Hingson ** 04:37 There you are. Well, as long as you learned at some point, that's a good start.   Bill Ratner ** 04:44 It's a weird generation. Michael,   Michael Hingson ** 04:46 I've been to Des Moines before. I was born in Chicago, but moved out to California when I was five, but I did some work with the National Federation of the Blind in the mid 19. 1970s 1976 into 1978 so spent time at the Iowa Commission for the Blind in Des Moines, which became a top agency for the Blind in well, the late 50s into the to the 60s and so on. So   Bill Ratner ** 05:15 both my parents are from Chicago. My father from the south side of Chicago, 44th and Kenzie, which was a Irish, Polish, Italian, Jewish, Ukrainian neighborhood. And my mother from Glencoe, which was a middle class suburb above Northwestern University in Evanston.   Michael Hingson ** 05:34 I Where were you born? 57th and union, north, south side, no, South   Bill Ratner ** 05:42 57th union is that? Is that west of Kenzie?   Michael Hingson ** 05:46 You know, I don't remember the geography well enough to know, but I know that it was, I think, Mount Sinai Hospital where I was born. But it was, it's, it's, it's a pretty tough neighborhood today. So I understand,   Bill Ratner ** 06:00 yeah, yeah, my it was tough, then it's tough now,   Michael Hingson ** 06:03 yeah, I think it's tougher, supposedly, than it was. But we lived there for five years, and then we we moved to California, and I remember some things about Chicago. I remember walking down to the local candy store most days, and had no problem doing that. My parents were told they should shut me away at a home somewhere, because no blind child could ever grow up to amount to anything. And my parents said, You guys are you're totally wrong. And they brought me up with that attitude. So, you   Bill Ratner ** 06:32 know who said that the school says school so that   Michael Hingson ** 06:35 doctors doctors when they discovered I was blind with the   Bill Ratner ** 06:38 kid, goodness gracious, horrified.   Michael Hingson ** 06:44 Well, my parents said absolutely not, and they brought me up, and they actually worked with other parents of premature kids who became blind, and when kindergarten started in for us in in the age of four, they actually had a special kindergarten class for blind kids at the Perry School, which is where I went. And so I did that for a year, learn braille and some other things. Then we moved to California, but yeah, and I go back to Chicago every so often. And when I do nowadays, they I one of my favorite places to migrate in Chicago is Garrett Popcorn.   Bill Ratner ** 07:21 Ah, yes, with caramel corn, regular corn, the   Michael Hingson ** 07:25 Chicago blend, which is a mixture, yeah, the Chicago blend is cheese corn, well, as it is with caramel corn, and they put much other mozzarella on it as well. It's really good.   Bill Ratner ** 07:39 Yeah, so we're on the air. Michael, what do you call your what do you call your program? Here I am your new friend, and I can't even announce your program because I don't know   Michael Hingson ** 07:48 the name, unstoppable mindset. This   Bill Ratner ** 07:51 is unstoppable mindset.   Michael Hingson ** 07:56 We're back. Well, we're back already. We're fast. So you, you, you moved off elsewhere, out of Des Moines and all that. And where did you go to college?   Bill Ratner ** 08:09 Well, this is like, why did you this is, this is a bit like talking about the Vietnam War. Looking back on my college career is like looking back on the Vietnam War series, a series of delusions and defeats. By the time I the time i for college, by the time I was applying for college, I was an orphan, orphan, having been born to fabulous parents who died too young of natural causes. So my grades in high school were my mediocre. I couldn't get into the Ivy Leagues. I got into the big 10 schools. My stepmother said, you're going to Michigan State in East Lansing because your cousin Eddie became a successful realtor. And Michigan State was known as mu u it was the most successful, largest agriculture college and university in the country. Kids from South Asia, China, Northern Europe, Southern Europe, South America all over the world came to Michigan State to study agricultural sciences, children of rich farmers all over the world and middle class farmers all over the world, and a huge police science department. Part of the campus was fenced off, and the young cadets, 1819, 20 years old, would practice on the rest of the student body, uniformed with hats and all right, excuse me, young man, we're just going to get some pizza at eight o'clock on Friday night. Stand against your car. Hands in your car. I said, Are you guys practicing again? Shut up and spread your legs. So that was that was Michigan State, and even though both my parents had master's degrees, I just found all the diversions available in the 1960s to be too interesting, and was not invited. Return after my sophomore year, and in order to flunk out of a big 10 University, and they're fine universities, all of them, you have to be either really determined or not so smart, not really capable of doing that level of study in undergraduate school. And I'd like to think that I was determined. I used to show up for my exams with a little blue book, and the only thing I would write is due to lack of knowledge, I am unable to complete this exam, sign Bill ranter and get up early and hand it in and go off. And so what was, what was left for a young man like that was the theater I'd seen the great Zero Mostel when I was 14 years old and on stage live, he looked just like my father, and he was funny, and if I Were a rich man, and that's the grade zero must tell. Yeah, and it took about five, no, it took about six, seven years to percolate inside my bread and my brain. In high school, I didn't want to do theater. The cheerleaders and guys who I had didn't happen to be friends with or doing theater. I took my girlfriends to see plays, but when I was 21 I started acting, and I've been an actor ever since. I'm a committee chair on the screen actors guild in Hollywood and Screen Actors Guild AFTRA, and work as a voice actor and collect my pensions and God bless the union.   Michael Hingson ** 11:44 Well, hey, as long as it works and you're making progress, you know you're still with it, right?   Bill Ratner ** 11:53 That's the that's the point. There's no accounting for taste in my business. Michael, you work for a few different broadcast entities at my age. And it's, you know, it's younger people. It's 18 to 3418 years to 34 years old is the ideal demographic for advertisers, Ford, Motor Company, Dove soap, Betty, Crocker, cake mixes and cereals, every conceivable product that sold online or sold on television and radio. This is my this is my meat, and I don't work for religion. However, if a religious organization calls, I call and say, I I'm not, not qualified or not have my divinity degree in order to sell your church to the public?   Michael Hingson ** 12:46 Yeah, yeah. Well, I, I can understand that. But you, you obviously do a lot, and as we talked about, you were Flint and GI Joe, which is kind of cool.   Bill Ratner ** 13:01 Flynn GI Joe was very cool. Hasbro Corporation, which was based in Providence, Rhode Island, had a huge success with GI Joe, the figure. The figure was about 11 and a half inches tall, like a Barbie, and was at first, was introduced to the public after the Korean War. There is a comic book that was that was also published about GI Joe. He was an individual figure. He was a figure, a sort of mythic cartoon figure during World War Two, GI Joe, generic American soldier, fighting man and but the Vietnam war dragged on for a long time, and the American buying public or buying kids toys got tired of GI Joe, got tired of a military figure in their household and stopped buying. And when Nixon ended the Vietnam War, or allotted to finish in 1974 Hasbro was in the tank. It's got its stock was cheap, and executives are getting nervous. And then came the Great George Lucas in Star Wars, who shrank all these action figures down from 11 and a half inches to three and a half inches, and went to China and had Chinese game and toy makers make Star Wars toys, and began to earn billions and billions dollars. And so Hasbro said, let's turn GI Joe into into a team. And the team began with flint and Lady J and Scarlett and Duke and Destro and cover commander, and grew to 85 different characters, because Hasbro and the toy maker partners could create 85 different sets of toys and action figures. So I was actor in this show and had a good time, and also a purveyor of a billion dollar industry of American toys. And the good news about these toys is I was at a conference where we signed autographs the voice actors, and we have supper with fans and so on. And I was sitting next to a 30 year old kid and his parents. And this kid was so knowledgeable about pop culture and every conceivable children's show and animated show that had ever been on the screen or on television. I turned to his mother and sort of being a wise acre, said, So ma'am, how do you feel about your 30 year old still playing with GI Joe action figures? And she said, Well, he and I both teach English in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania school system, and last year, the literacy level of my ninth graders was 50% 50% of those kids could not read in ninth grade. So I asked the principal if I could borrow my son's GI Joe, action figures, comic books and VHS tapes, recordings of the shows from TV. And he said, Sure, whatever you want to try. And so she did, and she played the video tapes, and these kids were thrilled. They'd never seen a GI Joe cartoon in class before. Passed out the comic books, let him read comics. And then she said, Okay, you guys. And passed out notebooks and pens and pencils, and said, I want you guys to make up some some shows, some GI Joe shows. And so they said, Yeah, we're ready. All right, Cobra, you better get into the barber shop, because the barber bill is no longer there and the fire engines are in the way. And wait a minute, there's a dog in the street. And so they're making this up, using their imagination, doing their schoolwork, by coming up with scenarios, imaginary fam fan fiction for GI Joe and she raised the literacy level in her classroom by 50% that year, by the end of that year, so, so that was the only story that I've ever heard about the sort of the efficacy of GI Joe, other than, you know, kids play with them. Do they? Are they shooting each other all the time? I certainly hope not. I hope not. Are they using the action figures? Do they strip their guns off and put them in a little, you know, stub over by the side and and have them do physical battle with each other, or have them hump the woods, or have them climb the stairs, or have them search the trees. Who knows what kids do? Same with same with girls and and Barbies. Barbie has been a source of fun and creativity for lots of girls, and the source of of worry and bother to a lot of parents as   Michael Hingson ** 17:54 well. Well, at the same time, though, when kids start to react and relate to some of these things. It's, it's pretty cool. I mean, look what's happened with the whole Harry Potter movement and craze. Harry Potter has probably done more in the last 20 or 25 years to promote reading for kids than most anything else, and   Bill Ratner ** 18:17 that's because it's such a good series of books. I read them to my daughters, yeah. And the quality of writing. She was a brilliant writer, not only just the stories and the storytelling, which is fun to watch in the movies, and you know, it's great for a parent to read. If there are any parents listening, I don't care how old your kids are. I don't care if they're 15. Offer to read to them. The 15 year old might, of course, say mom, but anybody younger than that might say either, all right, fine, which is, which means you better do it or read, read a book. To me, sure, it's fun for the parent, fun for the kid, and it makes the child a completely different kind of thinker and worker and earner.   Michael Hingson ** 19:05 Well, also the people who they got to read the books for the recordings Stephen Fry and in the US here, Jim Dale did such an incredible job as well. I've, I've read the whole Harry Potter series more than once, because I just enjoy them, and I enjoy listening to the the voices. They do such a good job. Yeah. And of course, for me, one of the interesting stories that I know about Jim Dale reading Harry Potter was since it was published by Scholastic he was actually scheduled to do a reading from one of the Harry from the new Harry Potter book that was coming out in 2001 on September 11, he was going to be at Scholastic reading. And of course, that didn't happen because of of everything that did occur. So I don't know whether I'm. I'm assuming at some point a little bit later, he did, but still he was scheduled to be there and read. But it they are there. They've done so much to help promote reading, and a lot of those kinds of cartoons and so on. Have done some of that, which is, which is pretty good. So it's good to, you know, to see that continue to happen. Well, so you've written several books on poetry and so on, and I know that you you've mentioned more than once grief and loss. How come those words keep coming up?   Bill Ratner ** 20:40 Well, I had an unusual childhood. Again. I mentioned earlier how, what a lucky kid I was. My parents were happy, educated, good people, not abusers. You know, I don't have a I don't have horror stories to tell about my mother or my father, until my mother grew sick with breast cancer and and it took about a year and a half or two years to die when I was seven years old. The good news is, because she was a sensitive, educated social worker, as she was actually dying, she arranged a death counseling session with me and my older brother and the Unitarian minister who was also a death counselor, and whom she was seeing to talk about, you know, what it was like to be dying of breast cancer with two young kids. And at this session, which was sort of surprised me, I was second grade, came home from school. In the living room was my mother and my brother looking a little nervous, and Dr Carl storm from the Unitarian Church, and she said, you know, Dr storm from church, but he's also my therapist. And we talk about my illness and how I feel, and we talk about how much I love you boys, and talk about how I worry about Daddy. And this is what one does when one is in crisis. That was a moment that was not traumatic for me. It's a moment I recalled hundreds of times, and one that has been a guiding light through my life. My mother's death was very difficult for my older brother, who was 13 who grew up in World War Two without without my father, it was just him and my mother when he was off in the Pacific fighting in World War Two. And then I was born after the war. And the loss of a mother in a family is like the bottom dropping out of a family. But luckily, my dad met a woman he worked with a highly placed advertising executive, which was unusual for a female in the 1950s and she became our stepmother a year later, and we had some very lovely, warm family years with her extended family and our extended family and all of us together until my brother got sick, came down with kidney disease a couple of years before kidney dialysis was invented, and a couple of years before kidney transplants were done, died at 19. Had been the captain of the swimming team at our high school, but did a year in college out in California and died on Halloween of 1960 my father was 51 years old. His eldest son had died. He had lost his wife six years earlier. He was working too hard in the advertising industry, successful man and dropped out of a heart attack 14th birthday. Gosh, I found him unconscious on the floor of our master bathroom in our house. So my life changed. I My life has taught me many, many things. It's taught me how the defense system works in trauma. It's taught me the resilience of a child. It's taught me the kindness of strangers. It's taught me the sadness of loss.   Michael Hingson ** 24:09 Well, you, you seem to come through all of it pretty well. Well, thank you. A question behind that, just an observation, but, but you do seem to, you know, obviously, cope with all of it and do pretty well. So you, you've always liked to be involved in acting and so on. How did you actually end up deciding to be a voice actor?   Bill Ratner ** 24:39 Well, my dad, after he was managing editor of Better Homes and Gardens magazine in Des Moines for Meredith publishing, got offered a fancy job as executive vice president of the flower and mix division for Campbell within advertising and later at General Mills Corporation. From Betty Crocker brand, and would bring me to work all the time, and would sit with me, and we'd watch the wonderful old westerns that were on prime time television, rawhide and Gunsmoke and the Virginian and sure   Michael Hingson ** 25:15 and all those. Yeah, during   Bill Ratner ** 25:17 the commercials, my father would make fun of the commercials. Oh, look at that guy. And number one, son, that's lousy acting. Number two, listen to that copy. It's the dumbest ad copy I've ever seen. The jingles and and then he would say, No, that's a good commercial, right there. And he wasn't always negative. He would he was just a good critic of advertising. So at a very young age, starting, you know, when we watch television, I think the first television ever, he bought us when I was five years old, I was around one of the most educated, active, funny, animated television critics I could hope to have in my life as a 56789, 1011, 12 year old. And so when I was 12, I became one of the founding members of the Brotherhood of radio stations with my friends John Waterhouse and John Barstow and Steve gray and Bill Connors in South Minneapolis. I named my five watt night kit am transmitter after my sixth grade teacher, Bob close this is wclo stereo radio. And when I was in sixth grade, I built myself a switch box, and I had a turntable and I had an intercom, and I wired my house for sound, as did all the other boys in the in the B, O, R, S, and that's brotherhood of radio stations. And we were guests on each other's shows, and we were obsessed, and we would go to the shopping malls whenever a local DJ was making an appearance and torture him and ask him dumb questions and listen obsessively to American am radio. And at the time for am radio, not FM like today, or internet on your little radio tuner, all the big old grandma and grandpa radios, the wooden ones, were AM, for amplitude modulated. You could get stations at night, once the sun went down and the later it got, the ionosphere would lift and the am radio signals would bounce higher and farther. And in Minneapolis, at age six and seven, I was able to to listen to stations out of Mexico and Texas and Chicago, and was absolutely fascinated with with what was being put out. And I would, I would switch my brother when I was about eight years old, gave me a transistor radio, which I hid under my bed covers. And at night, would turn on and listen for, who knows, hours at a time, and just tuning the dial and tuning the dial from country to rock and roll to hit parade to news to commercials to to agric agriculture reports to cow crossings in Kansas and grain harvesting and cheese making in Wisconsin, and on and on and on that made up the great medium of radio that was handing its power and its business over to television, just as I was growing As a child. Fast, fascinating transition   Michael Hingson ** 28:18 and well, but as it was transitioning, how did that affect you?   Bill Ratner ** 28:26 It made television the romantic, exciting, dynamic medium. It made radio seem a little limited and antiquated, and although I listened for environment and wasn't able to drag a television set under my covers. Yeah, and television became memorable with with everything from actual world war two battle footage being shown because there wasn't enough programming to 1930s Warner Brothers gangster movies with James Cagney, Edward G   Michael Hingson ** 29:01 Robinson and yeah   Bill Ratner ** 29:02 to all the sitcoms, Leave It to Beaver and television cartoons and on and on and on. And the most memorable elements to me were the personalities, and some of whom were invisible. Five years old, I was watching a Kids program after school, after kindergarten. We'll be back with more funny puppets, marionettes after this message and the first words that came on from an invisible voice of this D baritone voice, this commercial message will be 60 seconds long, Chrysler Dodge for 1954 blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I watched hypnotized, hypnotized as a 1953 dodge drove across the screen with a happy family of four waving out the window. And at the end of the commercial, I ran into the kitchen said, Mom, mom, I know what a minute. Is, and it was said, it had suddenly come into my brain in one of those very rare and memorable moments in a person's life where your brain actually speaks to you in its own private language and says, Here is something very new and very true, that 60 seconds is in fact a minute. When someone says, See you in five minutes, they mean five times that, five times as long as that. Chrysler commercial, five times 60. That's 300 seconds. And she said, Did you learn it that that on T in kindergarten? And I said, No, I learned it from kangaroo Bob on TV, his announcer, oh, kangaroo Bob, no, but this guy was invisible. And so at five years of age, I was aware of the existence of the practice of the sound, of the magic of the seemingly unlimited access to facts, figures, products, brand names that these voices had and would say on the air in This sort of majestic, patriarchal way,   Michael Hingson ** 31:21 and just think 20 years later, then you had James Earl Jones,   Bill Ratner ** 31:26 the great dame. James Earl Jones, father was a star on stage at that time the 1950s James Earl Jones came of age in the 60s and became Broadway and off Broadway star.   Michael Hingson ** 31:38 I got to see him in Othello. He was playing Othello. What a powerful performance. It was   Bill Ratner ** 31:43 wonderful performer. Yeah, yeah. I got to see him as Big Daddy in Canada, Hot Tin Roof, ah, live and in person, he got front row seats for me and my family.   Michael Hingson ** 31:53 Yeah, we weren't in the front row, but we saw it. We saw it on on Broadway,   Bill Ratner ** 31:58 the closest I ever got to James Earl Jones. He and I had the same voice over agent, woman named Rita vinari of southern Barth and benare company. And I came into the agency to audition for Doritos, and I hear this magnificent voice coming from behind a closed voiceover booth, saying, with a with a Spanish accent, Doritos. I thought that's James Earl Jones. Why is he saying burritos? And he came out, and he bowed to me, nodded and smiled, and I said, hello and and the agent probably in the booth and shut the door. And she said, I said, that was James Earl Jones. What a voice. What she said, Oh, he's such a nice man. And she said, but I couldn't. I was too embarrassed. I was too afraid to stop him from saying, Doritos. And it turns out he didn't get the gig. So it is some other voice actor got it because he didn't say, had he said Doritos with the agent froze it froze up. That was as close as I ever got to did you get the gig? Oh goodness no,   Michael Hingson ** 33:01 no, you didn't, huh? Oh, well, well, yeah. I mean, it was a very, it was, it was wonderful. It was James Earl Jones and Christopher Plummer played Iago. Oh, goodness, oh, I know. What a what a combination. Well, so you, you did a lot of voiceover stuff. What did you do regarding radio moving forward? Or did you just go completely out of that and you were in TV? Or did you have any opportunity   Bill Ratner ** 33:33 for me to go back at age 15, my brother and father, who were big supporters of my radio. My dad would read my W, C, l, o, newsletter and need an initial, an excellent journalism son and my brother would bring his teenage friends up. He'd play the elderly brothers, man, you got an Elvis record, and I did. And you know, they were, they were big supporters for me as a 13 year old, but when I turned 14, and had lost my brother and my father, I lost my enthusiasm and put all of my radio equipment in a box intended to play with it later. Never, ever, ever did again. And when I was about 30 years old and I'd done years of acting in the theater, having a great time doing fun plays and small theaters in Minneapolis and South Dakota and and Oakland, California and San Francisco. I needed money, so I looked in the want ads and saw a job for telephone sales, and I thought, Well, I used to love the telephone. I used to make phony phone calls to people all the time. Used to call funeral homes. Hi Carson, funeral I help you. Yes, I'm calling to tell you that you have a you have a dark green slate tile. Roof, isn't that correct? Yes. Well, there's, there's a corpse on your roof. Lady for goodness sake, bring it down and we laugh and we record it and and so I thought, Well, gee, I used to have a lot of fun with the phone. And so I called the number of telephone sales and got hired to sell magazine subscriptions and dinner tickets to Union dinners and all kinds of things. And then I saw a new job at a radio station, suburban radio station out in Walnut Creek, California, a lovely Metro BART train ride. And so I got on the BART train, rode out there and walked in for the interview, and was told I was going to be selling small advertising packages on radio for the station on the phone. And so I called barber shops and beauty shops and gas stations in the area, and one guy picked up the phone and said, Wait a minute, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Are you on the radio right now? And I said, No, I'm just I'm in the sales room. Well, maybe you should be. And he slams the phone on me. He didn't want to talk to me anymore. It wasn't interested in buying advertising. I thought, gee. And I told somebody at the station, and they said, Well, you want to be in the radio? And he went, Yeah, I was on the radio when I was 13. And it just so happened that an older fellow was retiring from the 10am to 2pm slot. K I S King, kiss 99 and KD FM, Pittsburgh, California. And it was a beautiful music station. It was a music station. Remember, old enough will remember music that used to play in elevators that was like violin music, the Percy faith orchestra playing a Rolling Stone song here in the elevator. Yes, well, that's exactly what we played. And it would have been harder to get a job at the local rock stations because, you know, they were popular places. And so I applied for the job, and   Michael Hingson ** 37:06 could have lost your voice a lot sooner, and it would have been a lot harder if you had had to do Wolfman Jack. But that's another story.   Bill Ratner ** 37:13 Yeah, I used to listen to Wolf Man Jack. I worked in a studio in Hollywood. He became a studio. Yeah, big time.   Michael Hingson ** 37:22 Anyway, so you you got to work at the muzack station, got   Bill Ratner ** 37:27 to work at the muzack station, and I was moving to Los Angeles to go to a bigger market, to attempt to penetrate a bigger broadcast market. And one of the sales guys, a very nice guy named Ralph pizzella said, Well, when you get to La you should study with a friend of mine down to pie Troy, he teaches voiceovers. I said, What are voice overs? He said, You know that CVS Pharmacy commercial just carted up and did 75 tags, available in San Fernando, available in San Clemente, available in Los Angeles, available in Pasadena. And I said, Yeah. He said, Well, you didn't get paid any extra. You got paid your $165 a week. The guy who did that commercial for the ad agency got paid probably 300 bucks, plus extra for the tags, that's voiceovers. And I thought, why? There's an idea, what a concept. So he gave me the name and number of old friend acquaintance of his who he'd known in radio, named Don DiPietro, alias Johnny rabbit, who worked for the Dick Clark organization, had a big rock and roll station there. He'd come to LA was doing voiceovers and teaching voiceover classes in a little second story storefront out of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles. So I signed up for his class, and he was an experienced guy, and he liked me, and we all had fun, and I realized I was beginning to study like an actor at 1818, who goes to New York or goes to Los Angeles or Chicago or Atlanta or St Louis to act in the big theaters, and starts acting classes and realizes, oh my goodness, these people are truly professionals. I don't know how to do what they do. And so for six years, I took voice over classes, probably 4050, nights a year, and from disc jockeys, from ex show hosts, from actors, from animated cartoon voices, and put enough time in to get a degree in neurology in medical school. And worked my way up in radio in Los Angeles and had a morning show, a lovely show with a wonderful news man named Phil Reed, and we talked about things and reviewed movies and and played a lot of music. And then I realized, wait a minute, I'm earning three times the money in voiceovers as I am on the radio, and I have to get up at 430 in the morning to be on the radio. Uh, and a wonderful guy who was Johnny Carson's staff announcer named Jack angel said, You're not still on radio, are you? And I said, Well, yeah, I'm working in the morning. And Ka big, get out of there. Man, quit. Quit. And I thought, well, how can I quit? I've always wanted to be a radio announcer. And then there was another wonderful guy on the old am station, kmpc, sweet Dick Whittington. Whittington, right? And he said at a seminar that I went to at a union voice over training class, when you wake up at four in the morning and you swing your legs over the bed and your shoes hit the floor, and you put your head in your hands, and you say to yourself, I don't want to do this anymore. That's when you quit radio. Well, that hadn't happened to me. I was just getting up early to write some comedy segments and on and on and on, and then I was driving around town all day doing auditions and rented an ex girlfriend's second bedroom so that I could nap by myself during the day, when I had an hour in and I would as I would fall asleep, I'd picture myself every single day I'm in a dark voiceover studio, a microphone Is before me, a music stand is before the microphone, and on it is a piece of paper with advertising copy on it. On the other side of the large piece of glass of the recording booth are three individuals, my employers, I begin to read, and somehow the text leaps off the page, streams into my eyes, letter for letter, word for word, into a part of my back brain that I don't understand and can't describe. It is processed in my semi conscious mind with the help of voice over training and hope and faith, and comes out my mouth, goes into the microphone, is recorded in the digital recorder, and those three men, like little monkeys, lean forward and say, Wow, how do you do that? That was my daily creative visualization. Michael, that was my daily fantasy. And I had learned that from from Dale Carnegie, and I had learned that from Olympic athletes on NBC TV in the 60s and 70s, when the announcer would say, this young man you're seeing practicing his high jump is actually standing there. He's standing stationary, and the bouncing of the head is he's actually rehearsing in his mind running and running and leaping over the seven feet two inch bar and falling into the sawdust. And now he's doing it again, and you could just barely see the man nodding his head on camera at the exact rhythm that he would be running the 25 yards toward the high bar and leaping, and he raised his head up during the imaginary lead that he was visualizing, and then he actually jumped the seven foot two inches. That's how I learned about creative visualization from NBC sports on TV.   Michael Hingson ** 43:23 Channel Four in Los Angeles. There you go. Well, so you you broke into voice over, and that's what you did.   Bill Ratner ** 43:38 That's what I did, darn it, I ain't stopping now, there's a wonderful old actor named Bill Irwin. There two Bill Irwin's one is a younger actor in his 50s or 60s, a brilliant actor from Broadway to film and TV. There's an older William Irwin. They also named Bill Irwin, who's probably in his 90s now. And I went to a premiere of a film, and he was always showing up in these films as The senile stock broker who answers the phone upside down, or the senile board member who always asks inappropriate questions. And I went up to him and I said, you know, I see you in everything, man. I'm 85 years old. Some friends and associates of mine tell me I should slow down. I only got cast in movies and TV when I was 65 I ain't slowing down. If I tried to slow down at 85 I'd have to stop That's my philosophy. My hero is the great Don Pardo, the late great   Michael Hingson ** 44:42 for Saturday Night Live and Jeopardy   Bill Ratner ** 44:45 lives starring Bill Murray, Gilder Radner, and   Michael Hingson ** 44:49 he died for Jeopardy before that,   Bill Ratner ** 44:52 yeah, died at 92 with I picture him, whether it probably not, with a microphone and. His hand in his in his soundproof booth, in his in his garage, and I believe he lived in Arizona, although the show was aired and taped in New York, New York, right where he worked for for decades as a successful announcer. So that's the story.   Michael Hingson ** 45:16 Michael. Well, you know, I miss, very frankly, some of the the the days of radio back in the 60s and 70s and so on. We had, in LA what you mentioned, Dick Whittington, Dick whittinghill on kmpc, Gary Owens, you know, so many people who were such wonderful announcers and doing some wonderful things, and radio just isn't the same anymore. It's gone. It's   Bill Ratner ** 45:47 gone to Tiktok and YouTube. And the truth is, I'm not gonna whine about Tiktok or YouTube, because some of the most creative moments on camera are being done on Tiktok and YouTube by young quote influencers who hire themselves out to advertisers, everything from lipstick. You know,   Speaker 1 ** 46:09 when I went to a party last night was just wild and but this makeup look, watch me apply this lip remover and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, no, I have no lip.   Bill Ratner ** 46:20 You know, these are the people with the voices. These are the new voices. And then, of course, the faces. And so I would really advise before, before people who, in fact, use the internet. If you use the internet, you can't complain if you use the internet, if you go to Facebook or Instagram, or you get collect your email or Google, this or that, which most of us do, it's handy. You can't complain about tick tock, tick tock, tick tock. You can't complain about tick tock or YouTube, because it's what the younger generation is using, and it's what the younger generation advertisers and advertising executives and creators and musicians and actors are using to parade before us, as Gary Owens did, as Marlon Brando did, as Sarah Bernhardt did in the 19 so as all as you do, Michael, you're a parader. You're the head of the parade. You've been in on your own float for years. I read your your bio. I don't even know why you want to waste a minute talking to me for goodness sakes.   Michael Hingson ** 47:26 You know, the one thing about podcasts that I like over radio, and I did radio at kuci for seven years when I was in school, what I really like about podcasts is they're not and this is also would be true for Tiktok and YouTube. Primarily Tiktok, I would would say it isn't as structured. So if we don't finish in 60 minutes, and we finish in 61 minutes, no one's gonna shoot us.   Bill Ratner ** 47:53 Well, I beg to differ with you. Now. I'm gonna start a fight with you. Michael, yeah, we need conflict in this script. Is that it The Tick Tock is very structured. Six. No,   Michael Hingson ** 48:03 no, I understand that. I'm talking about podcasts,   Bill Ratner ** 48:07 though, but there's a problem. We gotta Tone It Up. We gotta pick it up. We gotta there's a lot of and I listen to what are otherwise really bright, wonderful personalities on screen, celebrities who have podcasts and the car sucks, and then I had meatballs for dinner, haha. And you know what my wife said? Why? You know? And there's just too much of that. And,   Michael Hingson ** 48:32 oh, I understand, yeah. I mean, it's like, like anything, but I'm just saying that's one of the reasons I love podcasting. So it's my way of continuing what I used to do in radio and having a lot of fun doing it   Bill Ratner ** 48:43 all right, let me ask you. Let me ask you a technical and editorial question. Let me ask you an artistic question. An artist, can you edit this podcast? Yeah. Are you? Do you plan to Nope.   Michael Hingson ** 48:56 I think conversations are conversations, but there is a but, I mean,   Bill Ratner ** 49:01 there have been starts and stops and I answer a question, and there's a long pause, and then, yeah, we can do you edit that stuff   Michael Hingson ** 49:08 out. We do, we do, edit some of that out. And I have somebody that that that does a lot of it, because I'm doing more podcasts, and also I travel and speak, but I can edit. There's a program called Reaper, which is really a very sophisticated   Bill Ratner ** 49:26 close up spaces. You   Michael Hingson ** 49:28 can close up spaces with it, yes, but the neat thing about Reaper is that somebody has written scripts to make it incredibly accessible for blind people using screen readers.   Bill Ratner ** 49:40 What does it do? What does it do? Give me the elevator pitch.   Michael Hingson ** 49:46 You've seen some of the the programs that people use, like computer vision and other things to do editing of videos and so on. Yeah.   Bill Ratner ** 49:55 Yeah. Even Apple. Apple edit. What is it called? Apple? Garage Band. No, that's audio. What's that   Michael Hingson ** 50:03 audio? Oh,   Bill Ratner ** 50:06 quick time is quick   Michael Hingson ** 50:07 time. But whether it's video or audio, the point is that Reaper allows me to do all of that. I can edit audio. I can insert, I can remove pauses. I can do anything with Reaper that anyone else can do editing audio, because it's been made completely accessible.   Bill Ratner ** 50:27 That's great. That's good. That's nice. Oh, it is. It's cool.   Michael Hingson ** 50:31 So so if I want, I can edit this and just have my questions and then silence when you're talking.   Bill Ratner ** 50:38 That might be best. Ladies and gentlemen, here's Bill Ratner,   Michael Hingson ** 50:46 yep, exactly, exactly. Now you have won the moth stories. Slam, what? Tell me about my story. Slam, you've won it nine times.   Bill Ratner ** 51:00 The Moth was started by a writer, a novelist who had lived in the South and moved to New York City, successful novelist named George Dawes green. And the inception of the moth, which many people listening are familiar with from the Moth Radio Hour. It was, I believe, either late 90s or early 2000s when he'd been in New York for a while and was was publishing as a fiction writer, and threw a party, and decided, instead of going to one of these dumb, boring parties or the same drinks being served and same cigarettes being smoked out in the veranda and the same orders. I'm going to ask people to bring a five minute story, a personal story, nature, a true story. You don't have to have one to get into the party, but I encourage you to. And so you know, the 3040, 50 people showed up, many of whom had stories, and they had a few drinks, and they had hors d'oeuvres. And then he said, Okay, ladies and gentlemen, take your seats. It's time for and then I picked names out of a hat, and person after person after person stood up in a very unusual setting, which was almost never done at parties. You How often do you see that happen? Suddenly, the room falls silent, and someone with permission being having been asked by the host to tell a personal story, some funny, some tragic, some complex, some embarrassing, some racy, some wild, some action filled. And afterward, the feedback he got from his friends was, this is the most amazing experience I've ever had in my life. And someone said, you need to do this. And he said, Well, you people left a lot of cigarette butts and beer cans around my apartment. And they said, well, let's do it at a coffee shop. Let's do it at a church basement. So slowly but surely, the moth storytelling, story slams, which were designed after the old poetry slams in the 50s and 60s, where they were judged contests like, like a dance contest. Everybody's familiar with dance contests? Well, there were, then came poetry contests with people singing and, you know, and singing and really energetically, really reading. There then came storytelling contests with people standing on a stage before a silent audience, telling a hopefully interesting, riveting story, beginning middle, end in five minutes. And so a coffee house was found. A monthly calendar was set up. Then came the internet. Then it was so popular standing room only that they had to open yet another and another, and today, some 20 years later, 20 some years later, from Austin, Texas to San Francisco, California to Minneapolis, Minnesota to New York City to Los Angeles. There are moth story slams available on online for you to schedule yourself to go live and in person at the moth.org as in the moth with wings. Friend of mine, I was in New York. He said, You can't believe it. This writer guy, a writer friend of mine who I had read, kind of an avant garde, strange, funny writer was was hosting something called the moth in New York, and we were texting each other. He said, Well, I want to go. The theme was show business. I was going to talk to my Uncle Bobby, who was the bell boy. And I Love Lucy. I'll tell a story. And I texted him that day. He said, Oh man, I'm so sorry. I had the day wrong. It's next week. Next week, I'm going to be back home. And so he said, Well, I think there's a moth in Los Angeles. So about 15 years ago, I searched it down and what? Went to a small Korean barbecue that had a tiny little stage that originally was for Korean musicians, and it was now being used for everything from stand up comedy to evenings of rock and roll to now moth storytelling once a month. And I think the theme was first time. And so I got up and told a silly story and didn't win first prize. They have judges that volunteer judges a table of three judges scoring, you like, at a swim meet or a track beat or, you know, and our gymnastics meet. So this is all sort of familiar territory for everybody, except it's storytelling and not high jumping or pull ups. And I kept going back. I was addicted to it. I would write a story and I'd memorize it, and I'd show up and try to make it four minutes and 50 seconds and try to make it sound like I was really telling a story and not reading from a script. And wish I wasn't, because I would throw the script away, and I knew the stories well enough. And then they created a radio show. And then I began to win slams and compete in the grand slams. And then I started submitting these 750 word, you know, two and a half page stories. Literary magazines got a few published and found a whole new way to spend my time and not make much   Michael Hingson ** 56:25 money. Then you went into poetry.   Bill Ratner ** 56:29 Then I got so bored with my prose writing that I took a poetry course from a wonderful guy in LA called Jack grapes, who had been an actor and a football player and come to Hollywood and did some TV, episodics and and some some episodic TV, and taught poetry. It was a poet in the schools, and I took his class of adults and got a poem published. And thought, wait a minute, these aren't even 750 words. They're like 75 words. I mean, you could write a 10,000 word poem if you want, but some people have, yeah, and it was complex, and there was so much to read and so much to learn and so much that was interesting and odd. And a daughter of a friend of mine is a poet, said, Mommy, are you going to read me one of those little word movies before I go to sleep?   Michael Hingson ** 57:23 A little word movie, word movie out of the   Bill Ratner ** 57:27 mouths of babes. Yeah, and so, so and I perform. You know, last night, I was in Orange County at a organization called ugly mug Cafe, and a bunch of us poets read from an anthology that was published, and we sold our books, and heard other young poets who were absolutely marvelous and and it's, you know, it's not for everybody, but it's one of the things I do.   Michael Hingson ** 57:54 Well, you sent me pictures of book covers, so they're going to be in the show notes. And I hope people will will go out and get them   Bill Ratner ** 58:01 cool. One of the one of the things that I did with poetry, in addition to wanting to get published and wanting to read before people, is wanting to see if there is a way. Because poetry was, was very satisfying, emotionally to me, intellectually very challenging and satisfying at times. And emotionally challenging and very satisfying at times, writing about things personal, writing about nature, writing about friends, writing about stories that I received some training from the National Association for poetry therapy. Poetry therapy is being used like art therapy, right? And have conducted some sessions and and participated in many and ended up working with eighth graders of kids who had lost someone to death in the past year of their lives. This is before covid in the public schools in Los Angeles. And so there's a lot of that kind of work that is being done by constable people, by writers, by poets, by playwrights,   Michael Hingson ** 59:09 and you became a grief counselor,   Bill Ratner ** 59:13 yes, and don't do that full time, because I do voiceovers full time, right? Write poetry and a grand. Am an active grandparent, but I do the occasional poetry session around around grief poetry.   Michael Hingson ** 59:31 So you're a grandparent, so you've had kids and all that. Yes, sir, well, that's is your wife still with us? Yes?   Bill Ratner ** 59:40 Oh, great, yeah, she's an artist and an art educator. Well, that   Michael Hingson ** 59:46 so the two of you can criticize each other's works, then, just   Bill Ratner ** 59:52 saying, we're actually pretty kind to each other. I Yeah, we have a lot of we have a lot of outside criticism. Them. So, yeah, you don't need to do it internally. We don't rely on it. What do you think of this although, although, more than occasionally, each of us will say, What do you think of this poem, honey? Or what do you think of this painting, honey? And my the favorite, favorite thing that my wife says that always thrills me and makes me very happy to be with her is, I'll come down and she's beginning a new work of a new piece of art for an exhibition somewhere. I'll say, what? Tell me about what's, what's going on with that, and she'll go, you know, I have no idea, but it'll tell me what to do.   Michael Hingson ** 1:00:33 Yeah, it's, it's like a lot of authors talk about the fact that their characters write the stories right, which, which makes a lot of sense. So with all that you've done, are you writing a memoir? By any chance, I   Bill Ratner ** 1:00:46 am writing a memoir, and writing has been interesting. I've been doing it for many years. I got it was my graduate thesis from University of California Riverside Palm Desert.   Michael Hingson ** 1:00:57 My wife was a UC Riverside graduate. Oh, hi. Well, they   Bill Ratner ** 1:01:01 have a low residency program where you go for 10 days in January, 10 days in June. The rest of it's online, which a lot of universities are doing, low residency programs for people who work and I got an MFA in creative writing nonfiction, had a book called parenting for the digital age, the truth about media's effect on children. And was halfway through it, the publisher liked it, but they said you got to double the length. So I went back to school to try to figure out how to double the length. And was was able to do it, and decided to move on to personal memoir and personal storytelling, such as goes on at the moth but a little more personal than that. Some of the material that I was reading in the memoir section of a bookstore was very, very personal and was very helpful to read about people who've gone through particular issues in their childhood. Mine not being physical abuse or sexual abuse, mine being death and loss, which is different. And so that became a focus of my graduate thesis, and many people were urging me to write a memoir. Someone said, you need to do a one man show. So I entered the Hollywood fringe and did a one man show and got good reviews and had a good time and did another one man show the next year and and so on. So But writing memoir as anybody knows, and they're probably listeners who are either taking memoir courses online or who may be actively writing memoirs or short memoir pieces, as everybody knows it, can put you through moods from absolutely ecstatic, oh my gosh, I got this done. I got this story told, and someone liked it, to oh my gosh, I'm so depressed I don't understand why. Oh, wait a minute, I was writing about such and such today. Yeah. So that's the challenge for the memoir is for the personal storyteller, it's also, you know, and it's more of a challenge than it is for the reader, unless it's bad writing and the reader can't stand that. For me as a reader, I'm fascinated by people's difficult stories, if they're well   Michael Hingson ** 1:03:24 told well, I know that when in 2002 I was advised to write a book about the World Trade Center experiences and all, and it took eight years to kind of pull it all together. And then I met a woman who actually I collaborated with, Susie Florey, and we wrote thunder dog. And her agent became my agent, who loved the proposal that we sent and actually got a contract within a week. So thunder dog came out in 2011 was a New York Times bestseller, and very blessed by that, and we're working toward the day that it will become a movie still, but it'll happen. And then I wrote a children's version of it, well, not a children's version of the book, but a children's book about me growing up in Roselle, growing up the guide dog who was with me in the World Trade Center, and that's been on Amazon. We self published it. Then last year, we published a new book called Live like a guide dog, which is all about controlling fear and teaching people lessons that I learned prior to September 11. That helped me focus and remain calm.   Bill Ratner ** 1:04:23 What happened to you on September 11,   Michael Hingson ** 1:04:27 I was in the World Trade Center. I worked on the 78th floor of Tower One.   Bill Ratner ** 1:04:32 And what happened? I mean, what happened to you?   Michael Hingson ** 1:04:36 Um, nothing that day. I mean, well, I got out. How did you get out? Down the stairs? That was the only way to go. So, so the real story is not doing it, but why it worked. And the real issue is that I spent a lot of time when I first went into the World Trade Center, learning all I could about what to do in an emergency, talking to police, port authorities. Security people, emergency preparedness people, and also just walking around the world trade center and learning the whole place, because I ran an office for a company, and I wasn't going to rely on someone else to, like, lead me around if we're going to go to lunch somewhere and take people out before we negotiated contracts. So I needed to know all of that, and I learned all I could, also realizing that if there ever was an emergency, I might be the only one in the office, or we might be in an area where people couldn't read the signs to know what to do anyway. And so I had to take the responsibility of learning all that, which I did. And then when the planes hit 18 floors above us on the other side of the building, we get we had some guests in the office. Got them out, and then another colleague, who was in from our corporate office, and I and my guide dog, Roselle, went to the stairs, and we started down. And   Bill Ratner ** 1:05:54 so, so what floor did the plane strike?   Michael Hingson ** 1:05:58 It struck and the NOR and the North Tower, between floors 93 and 99 so I just say 96 okay, and you were 20 floors down, 78 floors 78 so we were 18 floors below, and   Bill Ratner ** 1:06:09 at the moment of impact, what did you think?   Michael Hingson ** 1:06:13 Had no idea we heard a muffled kind of explosion, because the plane hit on the other side of the building, 18 floors above us. There was no way to know what was going on. Did you feel? Did you feel? Oh, the building literally tipped, probably about 20 feet. It kept tipping. And then we actually said goodbye to each other, and then the building came back upright. And then we went,   Bill Ratner ** 1:06:34 really you so you thought you were going to die?   Michael Hingson ** 1:06:38 David, my colleague who was with me, as I said, he was from our California office, and he was there to help with some seminars we were going to be doing. We actually were saying goodbye to each other because we thought we were about to take a 78 floor plunge to the street, when the building stopped tipping and it came back. Designed to do that by the architect. It was designed to do that, which is the point, the point.   Bill Ratner ** 1:07:02 Goodness, gracious. And then did you know how to get to the stairway?   Michael Hingson ** 1:07:04 Oh, absolutely. And did you do it with your friend? Yeah, the first thing we did, the first thing we did is I got him to get we had some guests, and I said, get him to the stairs. Don't let him take the elevators, because I knew he had seen fire above us, but that's all we knew. And but I said, don't take the elevators. Don't let them take elevators. Get them to the stairs and then come back and we'll leave. So he did all that, and then he came back, and we went to the stairs and started down.   Bill Ratner ** 1:07:33 Wow. Could you smell anything?   Michael Hingson ** 1:07:36 We smelled burning jet fuel fumes on the way down. And that's how we figured out an airplane must have hit the building, but we had no idea what happened. We didn't know what happened until the until both towers had collapsed, and I actually talked to my wife, and she's the one who told us how to aircraft have been crashed into the towers, one into the Pentagon, and a fourth, at that time, was still missing over Pennsylvania. Wow. So you'll have to go pick up a copy of thunder dog. Goodness. Good. Thunder dog. The name of the book is Thunder dog, and the book I wrote last year is called Live like a guide dog. It's le

Leah and guest co-host Mark Joseph Stern of Slate and the Amicus podcast run through what's been happening in the courts this week, including disturbing attacks on judges, the confirmation of the extremely unsavory Emile Bove, and Amy Coney Barrett's upcoming appearance with Bari Weiss. Then, Kate and Melissa speak with Jessica Calarco, sociologist and professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, about her book, Holding It Together: How Women Became America's Safety Net.Hosts' favorite things:Mark: The Subway, Chappell Roan; Uncle Bobby's Wedding, Sarah S. Brannen & Lucia SotoLeah: Life Is a Lazy Susan of Sh*t Sandwiches, Jennifer Welch and Angie Sullivan; The Chrysalis Option, Eric Coulson; DOJ's (Ridiculous) Misconduct Complaint Against Chief Judge Boasberg, Steve Vladeck (One First); Dept. Q (Netflix); NY Times Pitchbot on SCOTUS Get tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE – The Bad Decisions Tour 2025! 10/4 – ChicagoLearn more: http://crooked.com/eventsOrder your copy of Leah's book, Lawless: How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad VibesGet tickets to CROOKED CON November 6-7 in Washington, D.C at http://crookedcon.comFollow us on Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky

From Yogi, Smoky, Paddington and Winnie the Pooh to Baloo, Fozzi, the Berenstain Bears not to mention the Magic Kingdom's own Country Bear Jamboree, pop culture is littered with examples of talking bears. But, fanciful though these characters they may be, there are genuine reports of humans interacting with an uncanny array of these hyper-intelligent carnivores… who, beneath their teeth, claws and fur, may be hiding an incredible secret The Cryptonaut Podcast Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/cryptonautpodcast  The Cryptonaut Podcast Merch Stores:Hellorspace.com - Cryptonautmerch.com  Stay Connected with the Cryptonaut Podcast: Website - Instagram - TikTok - YouTube- Twitter - Facebook 

The book that showed you what a positive queer future could be. And then literally came true.Today we meet Brendan Gillett and we're talking about the queer book that saved his life: Uncle Bobby's Wedding by Sarah S. Brannen. And Sarah joins us for the conversation!Brendan is a high school English teacher in Brooklyn, New York. He works with English language learners to create poetry, picture books, cooking blogs, and literary analysis essays in every language they know. When he's not teaching, he's writing his own queer stories, poetry, and research essays about queer history. He lives with his illustrator husband and their cat, Pigeon.Sarah S. Brannen is the illustrator of the Robert F. Sibert Honor book Summertime Sleepers and the author of Uncle Bobby's Wedding, named one of the 100 best children's books of the last 100 years by Booktrust. Sarah has written and illustrated A Perfect Day, Madame Martine, and Madame Martine Breaks the Rules. Miles Comes Home, a companion book to Uncle Bobby's Wedding, came out last November. And her forthcoming book Lolly on the Ice is now available to pre-order.In Uncle Bobby's Wedding, when Uncle Bobby announces that he and "his friend" Jamie are getting married everyone is happy -- except Chloe. After a magical day with Uncle Bobby and his boyfriend, Jamie, Chloe realizes she's not losing an uncle, but gaining one.Connect with Brendan and Sarahinstagram: @mrbrendangillettwebsite: brendangillett.comwebsite: sarahbrannen.cominstagram: @sarahsbrannenbluesky: @sarahsbrannen.bsky.socialOur BookshopVisit our Bookshop for new releases, current bestsellers, banned books, critically acclaimed LGBTQ books, or peruse the books featured on our podcasts: bookshop.org/shop/thisqueerbookBuy Uncle Bobby's Wedding: https://bookshop.org/a/82376/9781499810080Buy Miles Comes Home: https://bookshop.org/a/82376/9781499814736Pre-order Lolly on the Ice: https://bookshop.org/a/82376/9780593711828Become an Associate Producer!Become an Associate Producer of our podcast through a $20/month sponsorship on Patreon! A professionally recognized credit, you can gain access to Associate Producer meetings to help guide our podcast into the future! Get started today: patreon.com/thisqueerbookCreditsHost/Founder: John ParkerExecutive Producer: Jim PoundsAssociate Producers: Archie Arnold, K Jason Bryan and David Rephan, Bob Bush, Natalie Cruz, Jonathan Fried, Paul Kaefer, Joe Perazzo, Bill Shay, and Sean SmithPatreon Subscribers: Stephen D., Terry D., Stephen Flamm, Ida Göteburg, Thomas Michna, Sofia Nerman, and Gary Nygaard.Creative and Accounting support provided by: Gordy EricksonQuatrefoil LibraryQuatrefoil has created a curated lending library made up of the books featured on our podcast! If you can't buy these books, then borrow them! Link: Join us in helping Lambda Literary raise $20k for The Writers Retreat for Emerging LGBTQ Voices to ensure all writers can attend. Donate here: http://bit.ly/3RjW51aSupport the show

Wyatt Flores is a 23-year-old singer-songwriter from Stillwater, Oklahoma, who's making a name for himself in the Red Dirt music scene, building on the musical legacy of his home state. He grew up on a ranch in a working-class family where he was surrounded by musicians, often hearing them play cowboy songs around a campfire. His father, a drummer, built him a stage in the backyard when he recognized his talent, and his Uncle Bobby taught him how to play guitar. Now Wyatt is playing in front of thousands of fans, singing at the Grand Ole Opry, and writing songs that are winning audiences with their honesty, heart, and vulnerability. His debut album, Welcome to the Plains, explores the rough—and sometimes violent—side of growing up in rural Oklahoma, but it also shows a talent for storytelling and a wry sense of humor. Sid talks to Wyatt about why he's so happy to be back in Stillwater after a couple of years in Nashville, the mental health struggles he's openly shared with his fans, the family member he wants to have on his podcast, and why his favorite food is a breakfast burrito. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today’s Best of Features: (00:00-12:00) – Tony East from Locked On Pacers and Forbes Sports joins the program to discuss who the next week off benefits the most, assesses if the Celtics can beat the Knicks three consecutive games, evaluates which team the Pacers would rather face, and attempts to pinpoint how much money Myles Turner could get paid this offseason. (12:00-19:55) – Chief announcer of the IndyCar Radio Network, Mark Jaynes, stops by and visits Jake at the media center to assist Jakr in recapping what has happened so far in the practice sessions. They also discuss how close the teams with the same engine manufactures work together at oval courses and the fortune they have at broadcasting the race every year. (19:55-45:34) – Two-time Indy 500 winner, Al Unser Jr., joins Jake Query at IMS to preview an upcoming event he has with Willy T Ribbs at the IMS Museum. Additionally, he goes back in time to winning his first Indy 500 in 1992, his relationship with his dad (Al) and uncle (Bobby) growing up, reacts to a story that Jake tells him about his Uncle Bobby, and touches on some of the struggles he had in his life. Support the show: https://1075thefan.com/query-and-company/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

(00:00-27:25) – Query & Company opens on a Thursday with Greg Rakestraw temporarily filling in for Jake Query while he is at a sponsorship event. Rake and producer Eddie Garrison touch on the schedule release last night for the Indianapolis Colts. Tony East from Locked On Pacers and Forbes Sports joins the program to discuss who the next week off benefits the most, assesses if the Celtics can beat the Knicks three consecutive games, evaluates which team the Pacers would rather face, and attempts to pinpoint how much money Myles Turner could get paid this offseason. (27:25-34:35) – As Greg awaits Jake Query’s arrival to the show, he discusses the start to the IndyCar series for Alex Palou and ties it to our guest later in the show. Greg also realizes how successful the Pacers have been in the last 30 years when you factor in how many times they have made the conference finals. (34:35-43:09) – The first hour of today’s show concludes with Jake sharing his opinion on schedule release videos with the Colts having to remove theirs after an hour. (43:09-1:06:09) – Jake and Eddie continue the schedule release conversation for the Colts by sharing some things that stick out about it. They transitioned to the Celtics/Knicks series with Boston extending it to a game six with a win last night. Jake weighs the pros and cons of facing each team. (1:06:09-1:17:31) – Chief announcer of the IndyCar Radio Network, Mark Jaynes, stops by and visits Jake at the media center to assist Jakr in recapping what has happened so far in the practice sessions. They also discuss how close the teams with the same engine manufactures work together at oval courses and the fortune they have at broadcasting the race every year. (1:17:31-1:24:18) – Hour number two concludes with Pacers emcee and DJ on HOT 100.9, B Swift, joining Jake at IMS to discuss how he became a fan of racing and his experience waving the green flag today. (1:24:18-1:50:10) – Two-time Indy 500 winner, Al Unser Jr., joins Jake Query at IMS to preview an upcoming event he has with Willy T Ribbs at the IMS Museum. Additionally, he goes back in time to winning his first Indy 500 in 1992, his relationship with his dad (Al) and uncle (Bobby) growing up, reacts to a story that Jake tells him about his Uncle Bobby, and touches on some of the struggles he had in his life. (1:47:04-1:56:46) – Jake admits that he was a little surprised that the Celtics were able to win commandingly last night against the Knicks without Jayson Tatum. He hopes that the Pacers face the Knicks for a couple of reasons and lays out how he thinks the Pacers will attack them, if they face off in the Eastern Conference Finals. (1:56:46-2:05:12) – Jake closes out today’s show by rehashing some thoughts on the Colts schedule release video that was taken down and answering a question from a listener about how teams manage gas throughout the race. Support the show: https://1075thefan.com/query-and-company/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

US Supreme Court justices spent a lot of time last week discussing the meaning of LGBTQ-themed books that parents in a Maryland public school district say interfere with the religious rearing of their children. One book, “Uncle Bobby's Wedding,” was a focal point of the April 22 arguments in Mahmoud v. Taylor. The justices questioned whether mere exposure to things a parent disagrees with burdens their religious rights. Cases and Controversies hosts Kimberly Robinson and Lydia Wheeler take listeners through the proceedings and why they signal the parents are likely to win this case against books Montgomery County Public Schools say are meant to foster mutual respect for others in a pluralistic educational community. Do you have feedback on this episode of Cases and Controversies? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court heard a case that could hand parents with religious objections a lot more control over what their kids learn in the classroom.Adam Liptak, who covers the Supreme Court, explains how a case about children's picture books with titles like “Pride Puppy” and “Uncle Bobby's Wedding” has broad implications for schools across the country.Guest: Adam Liptak, who covers the Supreme Court and writes Sidebar, a column on legal developments, for The New York Times.Background reading: In a lively and sometimes heated argument, the Supreme Court's conservative majority appeared set to allow opt-outs from L.G.B.T.Q. stories in schools.For more information on today's episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

The Supreme Court heard arguments on Tuesday, April 21st, in the case of Mahmoud v Taylor, a case in which a group of Maryland parents are using religious justifications to advocate that their children not be exposed to books that portray LGBTQ families in schools. We'll speak with Sarah S. Brannen, the author and/or illustrator of two dozen children's books, including “Uncle Bobby's Wedding”, which is one of the books listed in the Supreme Court case Mahmoud v. Taylor. We also speak with Sarah & Ian Hoffman, authors of a series of childrens books about a character named Jacob. Their book “Jacob's Room to Choose” is one of the books listed in the Supreme Court case Mahmoud v. Taylor. Read Sarah S. Brannen's op-ed in the Boston Globe: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/04/16/opinion/childrens-book-lgbtq-supreme-court/ Read Sarah & Ian Hoffman's op-ed in TIME: https://time.com/7266486/lgbtq-books-scotus-case-jacobs-room-choose-essay/ — Subscribe to this podcast: https://plinkhq.com/i/1637968343?to=page Get in touch: lawanddisorder@kpfa.org Follow us on socials @LawAndDis: https://twitter.com/LawAndDis; https://www.instagram.com/lawanddis/ The post SCOTUS Poised to Rule Against LGBTQ Books in Elementary Schools w/ Sarah Brannen & Sarah & Ian Hoffman appeared first on KPFA.

Send us a textAnn McCallum exposes the root of nonfiction in this episode. Ann has tons of tips for you including how to find a nonfiction structure that highlights your passions, how to craft enticing sidebars, and how to write a nonfiction book proposal.Our next episode will feature Cindy Jensen Elliott. Her newest nonfiction book, The Doomsday Detectives, How Walter and Luis Alvarez Solved the Mystery of Dinosaur Extinctions, just released on March 11th. We'll also be talking about Weeds Find a Way, which is one of my all-time favorite books and her picture book biography Antsy Ansel.I want to take this moment to thank Sarah Brannen, the creator of Chalk + Ink's artwork. Her picture book, Uncle Bobby's Wedding, is one of nine books that some parents are trying to ban in the Mahmoud vs. Taylor Supreme Court Case. Join me in supporting Sarah and the other authors in this case by clicking on the court case link above to sign a petition through Pen America to fight against book banning.Support the show

Send us a textAnn McCallum exposes the root of nonfiction in this episode. Ann has tons of tips for you including how to find a nonfiction structure that highlights your passions, how to craft enticing sidebars, and how to write a nonfiction book proposal.Our next episode will feature Cindy Jensen Elliott. Her newest nonfiction book, The Doomsday Detectives, How Walter and Luis Alvarez Solved the Mystery of Dinosaur Extinctions, just released on March 11th. We'll also be talking about Weeds Find a Way, which is one of my all-time favorite books and her picture book biography Antsy Ansel.I want to take this moment to thank Sarah Brannen, the creator of Chalk + Ink's artwork. Her picture book, Uncle Bobby's Wedding, is one of nine books that some parents are trying to ban in the Mahmoud vs. Taylor Supreme Court Case. Join me in supporting Sarah and the other authors in this case by clicking on the court case link above to sign a petition through Pen America to fight against book banning.Support the show

A tradition that is now a quarter-century old continued Friday when the WGN Radio Morning Show crew paid tribute to the former host: the late Bob Collins. Orion Samuelson, Spike O’Dell, John Williams, and Dave Eanet joined Bob Sirott in wishing Happy Birthday to “Uncle Bobby” on what would have been his 83rd birthday.

JW discusses parenting triggers and patterns of anger and resentment in his family, Papaw answers questions with his usual questionable advice. Wendell Wiggins receives a big promotion, and a fight with a Mazda ignition system yields some sound advice from Uncle Bobby. JW's Links https://linktr.ee/JerryWayneLongmireJr

Acknowledgement of Country// Hamid Khan and Matyos Kidane - Stop LAPD Spying CoalitionPriya caught up with Stop LAPD Spying Coalition's Hamid Khan and Matyos Kidane in July 2024 to talk about organising with unhoused community in downtown Los Angeles' Skid Row and beyond against militarised policing and surveillance by the Los Angeles Police Department. In this wide-ranging conversation about the group's work, broadcast in three parts across August 2024, Hamid and Matyos also discuss Stop LAPD Spying Coalition's abolitionist ethos, the importance of a structural analysis of police violence, and emphasise why it is crucial to resist liberal reformism and academic and non-profit complicity in state violence.// Tamar Hopkins and Ilo Diaz - Centre Against Racial ProfilingWe replay a conversation from October 2024 with Tamar Hopkins and Ilo Diaz of the Centre Against Racial Profiling, who joined us to speak about the launch of the Racial Profiling Data Monitoring Project. The project's website, racialprofilingresearch.org, hosts important data showing the extent of racial profiling in Victoria Police during street searches obtained via Freedom of Information requests covering four years worth of police search records. Tamar has been working in the area of police accountability and racism since 2005. She was the founding lawyer of the Police Accountability Project at Flemington & Kensington Community Legal Centre in Melbourne Australia in 2009. She has a PhD from UNSW on racial profiling, and has appeared as an expert witness at inquests and commissions investigating police accountability and racial profiling. Ilo has worked directly with communities experiencing human rights abuses in Melbourne, South America and Palestine. His background is in Human Rights observing in areas of conflict. Ilo also volunteers with Melbourne Activist Legal Support, providing his expertise to Legal Observer teams that observe police actions in protests.// Justice for Sonya Massey Oakland RallyThe Anti Police Terror Project joined organisations around the United States to coordinate a rally calling for Justice for Sonya Massey on the 29th of July 2024 in Oakland, California. Sonya Massey was a 36-year-old Black mother who was shot and killed by Deputy Sean Grayson of the Illinois Police Department on 6 July, 2024, after she called the police with concerns about an intruder entering her home. The rally was MC'd by APTP's Cat Brooks, and the recording we played in today's show (originally broadcast in August 2024) features poetry by Oakland's first Poet Laureate Dr Ayodele 'WordSlanger' Nzinga, as well as reflections from Uncle Bobby and Big Oscar, the uncle and father of Oscar Grant, who was killed on New Year's Day 2009 by Bay Area Rapid Transit Police Officer Johannes Mehserle in Oakland.//

Hop in an ailing Nissan 720 for Uncle Bobby and Poohbear's last big adventure. ZZTop is coming to Bossier City and they're on a mission.

“You jerk,” they'll shout, “that show title isn't relatable! Only the die-hards will understand! For pete's sake, man, think of the traffic analytics!” Who cares? I am Sam and I write these ep descriptions, and that title makes me happy. If you don't like it, hey, you probably aren't the kind of person to listen to a show about a “flap,” anyway. And: This is a show about a flap! It's also about two of the greatest American racers to have ever lived. The moment where two men of experience and wisdom grew frustrated. And how they stumbled onto an invention that changed aerodynamics forever. This show's format rotates weekly, because squirrel. This episode is our monthly deep dive into an epic moment from racing history. In this case, the time when Dan Gurney and Bobby Unser used an Indy car to discover something that would later be used to help helicopters fly. Related Trivia: Ross can fly a helicopter. Sam once rode in a Robinson R22. Jeff is a private pilot and about 1000 times cooler than Sam and Ross combined, so he probably taught his sons to autorotate in the womb or something. (I don't know, I've never asked, but you do the math, the guy is basically our Fonzie, right?) This episode was produced by Mike Perlman. ** Who We Are + Spicy Merch: www.ItsNotTheCar.com Support It's Not the Car: Contribute on Patreon ⁠⁠www.patreon.com/notthecar⁠⁠ ** Topic suggestions, feedback, questions? Let us know what you think! ⁠⁠INTCPod@gmail.com⁠⁠ ** Check out Sam's new book! ⁠⁠⁠Smithology: Thoughts, Travels, and Semi-Plausible Car Writing, 2003–2023⁠⁠⁠ ** Where to find us: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/intcpod⁠⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/j.v.braun/⁠⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/rossbentley/⁠⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/thatsamsmith/⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/INTCpod⁠⁠ ⁠⁠https://rossbentley.substack.com/⁠⁠ ⁠⁠https://speedsecrets.com/⁠⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/Drivercoach⁠⁠ ** ABOUT THE SHOW: It's Not the Car is a podcast about people and speed. We tell racing stories and leave out the boring parts. Ross Bentley is a former IndyCar driver, a bestselling author, and a world-renowned performance coach. Jeff Braun is a champion race engineer. Sam Smith is an award-winning journalist and a former executive editor of Road & Track magazine. We don't love racing for the nuts and bolts—we love it for what it asks of the meatbag at the wheel. New episodes every Tuesday.

The 2 Old Farts breakdown the Tx State vs Arizona State football game. Plus other talk about college football. Plus an update on Uncle Bobby. He spent most of the week in the hospital. No real diagnosis but he's feeling better and at home today. Yay!

We want to wish everyone in America a Happy 4th of July - or as they call it in England, Treason Day. J/K. Sorry this episode isn't that great - we really didn't have a lot to talk about and Uncle Bobby isn't quite ready for his next guest appearance. We hope you like it and if you didn't, please let us hear about it.

Childhood Meals and Culinary Memories In this episode of the Okayest Cook Podcast, host Chris Whonsetler and his co-hosts Colton Heiniger, Corey Cole & Andy Heiser discuss cherished childhood meals and food experiences. They talk about cooking with family, favorite childhood meals like beanies and weenies, potatoes and onions and fluffer nutters. They also reflect on the significance of food in shaping memories and how those experiences influence their current cooking practices. The episode delves into themes of food security, economic constraints, and how childhood eating habits shape future culinary endeavors. AI Generated ‘Chapters' 00:00 Introduction and Banter 00:44 Time Travel Debate 03:04 Childhood Staples Discussion 03:32 Venison Pinwheel Experiment 05:28 Family and Food Memories 08:36 School Lunch Stories 19:01 Food Deserts and Economic Realities 27:39 Throwback to the Eighties 28:23 Sunday Nachos and Family Traditions 28:45 Uncle Bobby's Legendary Cookouts 29:53 The Mystery of the Food Source 31:15 Neighborhood and Community Feasts 32:05 Childhood Food Memories and Staples 36:47 Passing Down Food Traditions 38:19 Introducing Kids to New Foods 41:53 Cooking with Family 47:21 The Importance of Knowing Your Food Source 48:45 Recipe: Potatoes and Onions 53:36 Childhood Meals and Their Impact More at OkayestCook.com Connect with us on Instagram @Okayest_Cook And facebook.com/AnOkayestCook Video feed on YouTube.com/@OkayestCook Crew:  Chris Whonsetler Email: Chris@OkayestCook.com Web: ChrisWhonsetler.com Instagram: @FromFieldToTable & @WhonPhoto Andy Heiser Email: Andy@OkayestCook.com Web: RakeDevelopment.com Instagram: @andheiser Corey Cole Email: Corey@OkayestCook.com Web: CoreyRCole.com Instagram: @ruggedhunter Colton Heiniger Email: Colton@OkayestCook.com Web: ElevateAccountingServices.com

Happy belated Father's Day everyone! Today we have a VERY long episode with our VERY FIRST EVER Interview! Today we talk to my Uncle Bobby. He's had an interesting and extraordinary life. We hope you like it, so sit back, listen up and enjoy!

Happy belated Father's Day everyone! Today we have a VERY long episode with our VERY FIRST EVER Interview! Today we talk to my Uncle Bobby. He's had an interesting and extraordinary life. We hope you like it, so sit back, listen up and enjoy!

Happy belated Father's Day everyone! Today we have a VERY long episode with our VERY FIRST EVER Interview! Today we talk to my Uncle Bobby. He's had an interesting and extraordinary life. We hope you like it, so sit back, listen up and enjoy!

Beach bears, a creative new name for our favorite brewery, Phathead's mother and parking cone tricks, Killdozer, Waco, Timmy brewing and a man named Uncle Bobby. Don't miss it! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theitlistpodcast/support

MLW FUSION The World Titan Federation (“Filthy” Tom Lawlor, Josh Bishop & Hammerstone) vs. The Bomaye Fight Club Thumbtack Pit of Death match: Jimmy Lloyd vs. Cannonball Wasted Youth vs. The Mane Event vs. Lucky 13 and Austin Luke Zayda vs. Gia Scott Days before One Shot on FITE+, World Titan Federation Superstars® collide with the Bomaye Fight Club in the main event of Fusion. Can the Bomaye Fight Club bring the ruckus to the World Titan Federation or will “Filthy” Tom Lawlor, Josh Bishop and Hammerstone send a message days before Matt Cardona challenges Alex Kane for the World Heavyweight Championship? WTF Hammerstone? Literally. Get the real story on wrestling's most scandalous story this fall as MLW does a deep dive on Hammerstone's MLW release and subsequent signing by The World Titan Federation. What does Salina de la Renta think of Máscara Dorada calling out and challenging Rocky Romero for both the MLW & CMLL titles at One Shot on FITE+? La Empresaria of Lucha doesn't hold back. 25,000 thumbtacks + 1 pit = Total devastation. For the first time ever witness a Thumbtacks Pit of Death Match as Jimmy Lloyd battles The Calling's Cannonball. “Filthy” Tom Lawlor readies for war against Satoshi Kojima as two of MLW's greatest World Heavyweight Champions prepare to throw down at One Shot live on Thursday, December 7. Wasted Youth enter MLW to throw down with fellow newcomers Lucky 13 and Austin Luke and “The Greatest Show in MLW” The Mane Event in trios tag team action. Zayda looks to prove she's no diva as she throws down with fellow featherweight contender Gia Scott. With suspension seemingly in his rearview mirror, Tony Deppen turns up the heat in his smear campaign against Kevin Blackwood. Check the LINK TREE BELOW for more content and Merch https://linktr.ee/StraightTalkWrestli

Welcome to #Millennial, the home of pretend adulting and real Thanksgiving drama talk! RIP Andrew's Black Friday joy. Don't forget to check out the #Millennial and MuggleCast Overstock Store for the podcast fan in your life this holiday season! This week's episode is a Confessional-palooza serving up some piping hot tea from our listeners' most dramatic Thanksgiving encounters. Estranged sibling say something shitty? Dad ruined the pie by putting raw Turkey in the fridge with it? Uncle Bobby ruin Thanksgiving by describing his erection in gory detail? We've got it all chronicled here! How do you even when Grandma's friend Irish goodbyes after having explosive shits in your guest bathroom? "Why aren't you married yet?" "Idk Ethel why aren't you dead yet?" Is it Thanksgiving if the menu doesn't involve mashed potatoes? How to handle Dad being a little too giving to an employee? This week's recommendations will give you a reprieve from stressful interactions this holiday season: Hero Cosmetics Mighty Patches (Andrew), ‘Doctor Who: Special 1 - The Star Beast' (Pam), and 'Spider-Man 2' on PS5 (Laura).  And in this week's installment of After Dark: Our own Thanksgiving tea! There's always that one person who insists on driving a joke into the ground. A significant other who can't even fake it at family functions... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

MLW Rewind November 9th Rewind    We honour and Remember Ontario Indy wrestler Rob Rage then we get into the Rewind.    Alex Kane and Jacob Fatu put pen to paper and make their World Heavyweight Championship showdown at Fightland on FITE+ official this week on Fusion with a contract signing. The first state of The Fed takes place as legitimate promoter Saint Laurent promises big plans for Fightland… and reprisals for Alex Kane and Jacob Fatu after last week's Samoan Grand Theft Auto in WTF Superstar® Matt Cardona's newly gifted set of wheels.  The legendary Don King has a FIGHTLAND proclamation. What's the iconic promoter of the Bomaye Fight Club have to say to the fight world? Tune in and find out! A MAJOR announcement with big implications for Fightland drops in the wake of the carnage that ended last week's throwdown between The Calling and The Second Gear Crew. MMA Fighter turned WTF sports entertainment Superstar® “Filthy” Tom Lawlor has a chicken bone to pick and it involves Fusion on Thanksgiving?! World Featherweight Champion Janai Kai competes for the first time since dethroning Delmi Exo at Slaughterhouse to win the gold. Can anyone withstand the violent onslaught of Promociones Dorado's “Kick Demon”? Is there tension between AKIRA and Rickey Shane Page? The Calling has a message for the weak as the wicked ready for war at Fightland. Double champion Rocky Romero has a message for top ranked middleweight Ichiban and his new amigo Máscara Dorada. “Hot Sauce'” Tracy Williams grapples with newcomer Griffin McCoy. Coming off of an impressive showing in the 2023 Opera Cup, which saw the Brooklyn native go to the finals, Williams now looks to get a big win. A win, which could propel him into the mix for the National Openweight Championship.  Standing in his way is the debuting 23-year-old Griffin McCoy. Despite his young age, McCoy is a 7-year veteran, debuting in 2016. Impressing league scouts, the 6'2” San Franciscan has a vicious arsenal of suplexes and strikes.  The Bomaye Fight Club's dual powerhouses Mr Thomas and O'Shay Edwards go head to head with The Mane Event in tag team action! Check the LINK TREE BELOW for more content and Merch https://linktr.ee/StraightTalkWrestling

MLW Rewind November 9th Rewind    We honour and Remember Ontario Indy wrestler Rob Rage then we get into the Rewind.    Alex Kane and Jacob Fatu put pen to paper and make their World Heavyweight Championship showdown at Fightland on FITE+ official this week on Fusion with a contract signing. The first state of The Fed takes place as legitimate promoter Saint Laurent promises big plans for Fightland… and reprisals for Alex Kane and Jacob Fatu after last week's Samoan Grand Theft Auto in WTF Superstar® Matt Cardona's newly gifted set of wheels.  The legendary Don King has a FIGHTLAND proclamation. What's the iconic promoter of the Bomaye Fight Club have to say to the fight world? Tune in and find out! A MAJOR announcement with big implications for Fightland drops in the wake of the carnage that ended last week's throwdown between The Calling and The Second Gear Crew. MMA Fighter turned WTF sports entertainment Superstar® “Filthy” Tom Lawlor has a chicken bone to pick and it involves Fusion on Thanksgiving?! World Featherweight Champion Janai Kai competes for the first time since dethroning Delmi Exo at Slaughterhouse to win the gold. Can anyone withstand the violent onslaught of Promociones Dorado's “Kick Demon”? Is there tension between AKIRA and Rickey Shane Page? The Calling has a message for the weak as the wicked ready for war at Fightland. Double champion Rocky Romero has a message for top ranked middleweight Ichiban and his new amigo Máscara Dorada. “Hot Sauce'” Tracy Williams grapples with newcomer Griffin McCoy. Coming off of an impressive showing in the 2023 Opera Cup, which saw the Brooklyn native go to the finals, Williams now looks to get a big win. A win, which could propel him into the mix for the National Openweight Championship.  Standing in his way is the debuting 23-year-old Griffin McCoy. Despite his young age, McCoy is a 7-year veteran, debuting in 2016. Impressing league scouts, the 6'2” San Franciscan has a vicious arsenal of suplexes and strikes.  The Bomaye Fight Club's dual powerhouses Mr Thomas and O'Shay Edwards go head to head with The Mane Event in tag team action! ​ Check the LINK TREE BELOW for more content and Merch https://linktr.ee/StraightTalkWrestling​  

Tables match for World Tag Team Championship: The Calling vs. Second Gear Crew •Jacob Fatu vs. Mr. Thomas •Mance Warner vs. Talon •Brett Ryan Gosselin vs J Boujii FIGHTLAND may be in 3 weeks but tonight Jacob Fatu will square off with Alex Kane's cornerman and confidant Mr Thomas. Will Mr. Thomas power wrestling pulverize Fatu and soften him up for FIGHTLAND? Will Fatu's fury be too much for the Philly powerhouse? And what happens when the World Heavyweight Champion is in the corner of his fellow Bomaye Fight Team member? Could Fatu and Kane come to blows before their November 18 showdown live and exclusively on FITE+? The “Crown Jewel” of the World Titan Federation, Matt Cardona, will have a live mic. What's he got to say? Find out on Fusion! Promoter Saint Laurent presents Matt Cardona with a luxury car and celebrates the World Titan Federation's Superstar®'s mysterious big plans. The hustling huckster promoter promises big moves will be made this week on Fusion. What could the scheming Saint Laurent's dirty carny tricks be? Following a suspicious exchange of classified files for favors with Saint Laurent, what is Salina de la Renta up to? Gold and tables headline this week's Fusion as the Calling and the Second Gear Crew battle it out! Can SGC win gold in MLW and finish off their feud with the Calling? Or will the calling card finally drop on the highwaymen? Plus, Mance Warner looks to crack open the light beers early as The Bucksnort Brawler throws down with The Calling's Talon! In the wake of his physical assault on Kevin Blackwood, the league doubles down on Tony Deppen's suspension. Something new: Brett Ryan Gosslin makes his MLW debut against The Bomaye Fight Club's J Boujii! Will BRG be victorious in his debut. Check the LINK TREE BELOW for more content and Merch https://linktr.ee/StraightTalkWrestling --

Madilynn Dale describes herself as “an author, blogger, freelancer, podcaster, producer, reader, mother, outdoors enthusiast” and so much more. I met Madilynn when I was invited to be a guest on her podcast, “The Chapter Goddess”. Of course, I also had to have her as a guest here. She consented and here we are.   She always wanted to write, but never did anything seriously about it until after her son was born. She will tell us the story and describe why writing has become so important to her.   To date, Madilynn has written and self-published 19 books with at least two more on the way to come out this year. Prolific by any standard since she has only been publishing books for three years.   Her story and insights are not only inspiring, but Madilynn offers some good advice using her life experiences. She offers us all some good ideas of how to live and function better.     About the Guest:   Madilynn Dale is an author, blogger, freelancer, podcaster, producer, reader, mother, outdoors enthusiast, and overall creative. She's a host for several shows featured under Go Indie Now's wide umbrella, hosts a podcast channel of her own, and loves to travel. Madilynn enjoys chatting with creatives from all areas of the field and letting her viewers see the authentic side of each one of them.     Madilynn is an Oklahoma author and holds several different degrees. She has a bachelor's degree in Kinesiology and an associate degree in Physical Therapy Assistant Sciences. Her creativity stems from something deep within, and through her bond with the creative flow, brings her stories to life. She never envisioned herself as a writer but took a leap of faith while pregnant and began a new journey. She enjoyed writing short stories as a kid and has been an avid reader since grade school.       Madilynn's hobbies, when not writing, include reading, baking, crafting, hiking, playing with her son, caring for her rescue pets, gardening, teaching, and horseback riding. She loves to travel and explore. One day she hopes to expand her travels and see the world, but in the meantime, you'll find her working on her next novel.     Ways to connect with Madilynn:   https://www.thechaptergoddess.com/   Facebook https://m.facebook.com/MadilynnDaleAuthor https://m.facebook.com/groups/2693867800852468/ TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@mdwriter?lang=en Instagram  https://www.instagram.com/madilynndalewrites/   M.D. The Chapter Goddess Www.thechaptergoddess.com     About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.   Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards.   https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/   accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/       Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!   Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app.   Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.     Transcription Notes   Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i  capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson ** 01:20 Well, Hi, and welcome once again to unstoppable mindset. And today we get to chat with Madilynn Dale, I have to tell you the story. Because Madilynn  has a podcast called The chapter goddess podcast, right? Yep. And I was interviewed for that a little while ago. And of course, as I am prone to do, I told her it'll cost her she'll now have to come on unstoppable mindset. That's the price, you know. Anyway. So she agreed to do that. And so here we are. Madilynn  is an author. She's a freelancer, she is a podcaster and a whole heck of a lot of other kinds of stuff. And I'm not going to give it all away. Because then she wouldn't have anything to talk about. And where would we be if we let that happen. So Madilynn , welcome to unstoppable mindset. We're really glad you're here.   Madilynn Dale ** 02:16 Thank you for having me. I am really excited to be on and very thankful for this opportunity.   Michael Hingson ** 02:22 So Madilynn  lives in Oklahoma City. My father was from Dewey, Oklahoma. And, and so he is no longer with us unless he is hovering around Dewey somewhere. But I'm not sure that that's happening. But anyway, I've never been to Dewey, Oklahoma. I've been to Oklahoma and various places, but never to where he was born. But one of these days I hope to get there. Meantime, let's start with you. Why don't you tell us a little bit about kind of the early matalin and, and adventures and what it was like growing up and all that kind of stuff.   Madilynn Dale ** 02:56 Oh, well, definitely life was definitely full of adventures. So they kind of backtrack a little bit. I've always been an avid reader and dreamed of being an author. But I never actually thought I could go for it. But growing up, I loved reading and pretending using my imagination to free up creative stories and act them out, get my siblings involved. I have a little brother, a little sister. And we would always have these fun adventures going to the creek looking for worms playing in the mud climbing trees, just stuff like that. And it kind of gave me different experiences that I have used now that I'm actually pursuing my dream of writing. It's given me lots of story inspiration and real life experiences to plug into my characters. So yeah, that's kind of like growing up life in a nutshell for me. Wow.   Michael Hingson ** 03:57 So were you born in Oklahoma?   Madilynn Dale ** 03:59 I was not. I was actually born in Dallas. So my mom's family is from Oklahoma. My dad is from Texas. And they can't remember exactly how they met. I want to say it was through my Uncle Bobby. But we lived in the Dallas Fort Worth area until I was about five before we moved back to Oklahoma to be closer to my mom's family.   Michael Hingson ** 04:24 Okay, and so you. You did most of your schooling then in Oklahoma?   Madilynn Dale ** 04:31 Yep. Pretty much.   Michael Hingson ** 04:33 There you go. Did you go to college after high school?   Madilynn Dale ** 04:37 I did. So I graduated in oh nine and went to undergrad at Southern Nazarene University in Bethany Oklahoma, which is right outside Oklahoma City. then continued on and after getting my bachelor's of Kinesiology went to physical therapy assistant school through Oklahoma City Community College and curiam I have the degree have the licensing since stuff but I don't practice part as much. I do it on occasion. And I'm focusing on my author career and all the moms stuff that goes with it because I am also a parent to an amazing little five year old, who kind of drives me insane sometimes, but you know, what's parenthood without? Going crazy?   Michael Hingson ** 05:22 Going Crazy, right? Is there a husband involved?   Madilynn Dale ** 05:25 Oh, yeah, he the hubby is awesome. He is the whole reason I get to pursue my dream of writing. He's been very, very supportive. We've kind of butted heads on a few things. Because as a creative, you don't bring in a lot of income right away. But somehow we've managed to find a way and just keep moving forward slowly. So very huge shout out to my hubby for being amazing and supporting me. What does he do? He works in the restaurant business. So right now he's kind of like the GM or general manager for the restaurants he works for. And I'm not going to plug the name in because I will be scolded if I do. They're really particular about me sharing like that, because it's some of the stuff I write. Um, but oh, we'll do that offline. Yeah. hands full with a bunch of different restaurants. He basically travels all over Oklahoma. He goes in installs new technology sees what he can help with them improves, make their business become more efficient, run better workout better for customers, and just, he's got his fingers in so many things in the company. I don't know how he keeps up with it.   Michael Hingson ** 06:42 It is like herding cats, sometimes very much so. And then you are at home and you're writing and you're momming and everything else. And I can imagine that that can drive a body crazy after a while. But also, I bet you would say it's well worth it.   Madilynn Dale ** 06:59 Oh, yeah, definitely. Absolutely.   Michael Hingson ** 07:01 So what is kinesiology? So Kinesiology is   Madilynn Dale ** 07:05 basically like exercise science studying how the body works with exercise. And I got a funny, fancy crazy name, because it's just kind of studying how the body works. Another term they called it was like sports medicine. But can you kinesiology sounds fancier party   Michael Hingson ** 07:27 does? It sounds a whole lot more sophisticated than sports medicine. Yeah. Well, that's cool, though. So you graduated. And then what did you do?   Madilynn Dale ** 07:41 Um, so I worked as a physical therapy assistant for a while until my hubby and I decided we were ready to have kids. And this was kind of where life took a huge turn. We were ready. We planned it like, as close to possible when I got pregnant and stuff, but it also kind of fell on the same year, my sister was getting married. So there was all that craziness. And then after having my son, I had a lot of postpartum depression, anxiety and stuff, and kind of came to a point where I'm like, Okay, I have to do something different with my life. This is not the path I need to go because I was working, trying to work part time trying to do all of the things with motherhood, and it was just too much trying to do that and find the postpartum I did finally get help and get on medication, which made a huge difference. But it was also I needed to make life changes, like what I wouldn't do pursue in life. And I gave my writing an opportunity after some encouragement from some friends. And it just kind of kicked off and I fell in love with it. And my mental health and everything improved from there who's writing kind of made a huge impact on that I was able to write out my thoughts through characters, and it helped a lot. So   Michael Hingson ** 09:15 you know, I've said before for me after September 11, if there's one thing that helped me, deal with everything that happened, it would be that I allowed myself to be interviewed by the media so much after September 11, literally hundreds of interviews, and they asked every kind of question that you can imagine, even some intelligent ones. But the point is that it forced me although I didn't think about it at the time to talk about September 11 and all the things that happened. And I think that it was invaluable to do and it became essentially my therapy And then also people started reaching out and saying, We want to hire you to come and talk about September 11. And I chose to do that. So again, talking about it, in even those arenas was helpful because it made me think about what happened and my personality is such that I tend to want to analyze, and fix. And as far as September 11, I can't fix what happened directly. But I realized that whether it's September 11, or anything that occurs in our lives, there may very well be lots of things that we don't have any control over happening. September 11, I am still not convinced that we could have predicted it, I don't think we would have had enough information to be able to predict it. And I got that from reading reports, like the 911 report from the government, so on. But anyway, the bottom line is, what we do have control over is how we choose to deal with whatever happens to us. And it's the same thing with you. And so you had the opportunity to sit down and begin to write and really think about your life and your world. And that has to have helped a lot.   Madilynn Dale ** 11:14 It did, it definitely did. And like talking with my husband a lot too. Because he and I both neither one of us realized until at least like three months in what was going on with the postpartum and everything sweet. We didn't know what it was, we hadn't ever known anybody that had dealt with it. And I mean, now that I have, I feel like more people are coming forward about having struggled with it, because maybe people are more educated about it. But I didn't know what was going on. I was like, Okay, I'm supposed to be a mom, like, I was supposed to give all of myself to my child, which I was. But I also like, mothers need to realize that they can't give all of themselves because if they don't take care of themselves first, they can't provide for those they care about. And that was a hard lesson for me to learn and it just didn't want to stick until after I started taking anxiety medication and stuff.   Michael Hingson ** 12:11 It's postpartum, more of a physiological thing or neurological or, or mental thing, or is it a combination?   Madilynn Dale ** 12:20 I'd say it's more of a combination. Cuz, man, so many things in loons, that is part of it. i The hormones that came with breastfeeding made mine a little bit more, kind of, I wouldn't say worse, that may not be the best fitting word for it. But I got a little bit more most a stable after I quit breastfeeding, and all the stuff that came with that the fear that I wasn't producing enough the stress and everything just kind of I didn't have that. But I still had a whole bunch of other stuff going on. And it's just it. It's so many different things wrapped into one.   Michael Hingson ** 13:02 Yeah, I understand what you're saying it can make life a challenge. I have heard of it. And I've known people who have said that they had it and work through it. But it is kind of one of those things that does come up often. And I'm glad that you found ways to deal with it, especially since she started writing. When you hadn't written up until that point, although you you would wanted to be a writer growing up you say   Madilynn Dale ** 13:31 I did and I I was always told that because it wasn't the best money making career that I should put all of my work and my education and stuff behind something else, which is why I ended up going pretty much into the medical field and becoming burnt out and pregnancy everything just kind of like snowballed into this crazy mental health circus. I was at that point.   Michael Hingson ** 14:02 So how long after you began writing? Was your first book published?   Madilynn Dale ** 14:10 Oh, man. So I started writing before I quit working part time. So at least a year and a half. Yeah, you're gonna have to two I think is roughly about the time period because I finished the story and tried to do the whole traditional publishing route. But it didn't quite work for me because I couldn't afford to have an agent. And then I decided to give indie publishing a go and it kicked off and I've just been trucking along and writing and it's been a lot of work keeps me extremely busy. But it's I love it. I love getting to share my thoughts through characters and my experience through characters and stories that pile up in my head.   Michael Hingson ** 14:58 So you To publish your own books?   Madilynn Dale ** 15:01 I do. Yes, they're professionally edited, because I do go through that whole editing process. I edit like crazy before I send it to an editor. And I have two really good editors that I work with with different manuscripts. And they kind of they provide a lot of good feedback and criticism, and helps me improve. And I'm slowly eking my way into the proofreading, editing kind of field. But I've still got a ways to go, because I'm still learning there. But I don't think I will ever, like edit my own work, because it's good to have another set of eyes.   Michael Hingson ** 15:41 Yeah, I absolutely agree. I have collaborated on the books that I've written so far. And we're working on our third one now, which is called tentatively a guide dogs Guide to Being brave. And it's about learning to control fear. But I find that editors can be extremely invaluable. When we did thunder dog, it was extremely helpful. Because the editor was a person who said, My job isn't to change this book. And to tell you what you should I shouldn't say, but my job is to help you make this book the best it can be. And, and he did, he made some really good suggestions that we took to heart and took back to finally finishing thunder dog. And it became a number one New York Times bestseller. So I can't complain about his suggestions. But he didn't try to change the book. He just said, here are weak parts of the book, or here's what needs to be improved to make it a stronger read. And he was absolutely right.   Madilynn Dale ** 16:48 Yeah. And they always it fascinates me how much extra stuff they can give you like ideas and whatnot. And a lot of times I'm one of those people that goes up with manuscripts so many times, if a word is missing, like a simple like a or have or the or something my brain plugs it in. But it's not actually there. It's not   Michael Hingson ** 17:11 actually there. Yeah. And that's what the editor can, in part bring in to point out those things, which is what therefore, yeah. So what was the first book that you published?   Madilynn Dale ** 17:23 Oh, so my first book was releasing her power with him. It is book one of the phase shifter series. And this one, it's kind of based off the main character, she's a lot of who I was at the time. She's a physical therapy assistant, she's burned out. And she's struggling to deal with her mother's passing. So she moves back to the country, which is based off of the area I grew up round Idaho, Oklahoma, a lot of people if you've heard of Broken Bow or hold your town, like the state park there, it's very much based off of that scenery, because I grew up working in the park for five years as a trail guide and stuff. And she's diving into this cabin with all her mother stuff, her grandmother's stuff. And she discovers a huge family secret. And things just kind of explode around her. She finds out magic exists. She also finds out that she's not human that she can change into an animal. And as the story continues, she finds out more and more about her heritage. And her bloodline actually connects to someone from the beginning of people in general, and it's something that's been hidden and it's also dangerous, because it's tied to a whole other world of problems.   Michael Hingson ** 18:57 So it's kind of a fantasy book.   Madilynn Dale ** 18:59 Yeah. I dabble a lot in fantasy and romance stuff. And her she loves to kind of get a crazy chaotic family has a half sister that tries to kill her several times and fails.   Michael Hingson ** 19:13 mean old half sister? Yes, yes. Well, so from a standpoint of publishing and selling books, I understand the whole concept of there's not necessarily a lot of money to be made, but how successful was the first book?   Madilynn Dale ** 19:33 It did, okay. Um, I learned a lot of lessons along the way. Starting out, I didn't have a lot to put into funding so one of the things I ended up changing was like the cover I think it went through three different covers before I finally found something that stuck and was good for the rest of the series because there's four books with some spin offs and work yeah, had the You had a hard lesson of why you need to go with a good professional looking cover instead of doing it on your own when you don't have the skills to do that.   Michael Hingson ** 20:09 So, yeah, I know that. For me, personally, I don't do pictures and art very well. So I am very glad to help others do that. Yeah, that's because it isn't going to be the thing that that works well. So you have five books in that series all together,   Madilynn Dale ** 20:26 um, for that with a spin off in the works. And then the spin off stuff is going to be more of a short on the shorter stories. They're kind of I'm trying to finish the trilogy, that's going to be done this year, before I go back to do the spin off so   Michael Hingson ** 20:45 well, so how is all your training and your upbringing and other things like that? How does all that feed into making your books and what you do better, like you had postpartum depression, and so on. So you've obviously dealt a lot with health care, or health care is certainly something you focus on, how does that enter into what you do as a writer.   Madilynn Dale ** 21:11 So as I write my stories, all my characters, there is a couple of scenes and stuff where they have to kind of question their own personal mental health and their sanity, like, how they can work through something I want to use live as an example, in the phase shifter series, she does not know how to do any self care, she doesn't know how to get herself out of a burned out state to get back where she can function and go back to working and enjoying life. And then in the inverse series, she has so much emotional trauma dumped on her from where the story starts to where book three picks up, that she has to figure out how to work through it, how to deal with all the grief or the loss, and all of the weight of so many important decisions, crushing her to keep moving forward. Because if she becomes stagnant and doesn't move, the world's gonna fall apart, literally.   Michael Hingson ** 22:18 So you're using these books, also to convey life lessons that you've learned along the way?   Madilynn Dale ** 22:27 Yes, and they totally didn't start out like them. But that's how they've kind of come along the way.   Michael Hingson ** 22:35 But doesn't that make them stronger? Because you make it personal in a way even though it doesn't necessarily look like it to people who don't know?   Madilynn Dale ** 22:43 I think so because it kind of gives the reader more to identify with as they read. They're like, Oh, hey, I get that I've felt the same way. Or I've struggled with the same kind of issue. And it gives them a way to relate to that character to keep them interested in this person in the problems that are going on and move them through the action.   Michael Hingson ** 23:07 Well, you mentioned Ember, and in any of your series, how do the characters change over time? So how does Ember change and evolve over time?   Madilynn Dale ** 23:17 So Ember is one of my favorites for this kind of question. She at the start of the series believes she's a latent bull. She's stuck in this contract her parents made with their packs alpha because she's grown up at a wolf pack. She thinks she's a wolf, they're shifters there's magic. But on one of her days training, she's with her lover, who she's had this secret relationship going on because she is not as viro feelings for the guy she's in contract to marry. And he doesn't really have feelings for her. Neither one of them want to be in the contract, but they can't break the contract because the Alpha found it with magic. And the only way to unbind it is to convince him to let them go until the one she's bound to becomes the Alpha. But that day in training, they come across a house buyer, her childhood best friend's home is in flames. And she rushed into the thinking she can help them because somebody's stuck under a pile of wood of debris that's fallen down, and it's on fire, but the flames are black, which is different because normally fires not black, and she helps the person out. It's supposed to be her friend's mother, but it's not. It's a demon and him impersonating the person and she touches the flames but instead of burning her, her body absorbs it. And this kicks into gear, the release of her hellhound because her mother has a secret she had a one night stand with the devil and Amber's was the result. But none of no one knows the secret except for her mother and her father that's raised her. And as the story progresses, she has to figure out how to control her magic, how she can unlock it, and she gets taken, kidnap the hell has to escape. And it's just like left and right, she's thrown. All of these changes all of these secrets that have been hidden. And in the process, she gets thrown in the middle of a war that's been happening slowly, that increases in speed with her with rebel Vation, that Lucifer has an heir to the throne. And one of the fallen, the seven deadly sins, you know, one of them is finally makes their move on Lucifer to try to take him down and immerse thrown into this and a wars coming and she's got to be able to lead all of those who are on loose first side against the other side.   Michael Hingson ** 26:07 Wow, you are going in a whole lot of different directions with this, aren't you?   Madilynn Dale ** 26:12 Yeah, she has to grow from being the small town teenager to the air of hail and being able to lead all of these people, all of these armies, and it's all resting on her shoulders with the loss of different people that are close to her that I'm going to not say, Yeah, it's hard not to because a lot of the grief she has to work through and grow is because several those who are close to her, something happens to them. They don't all necessarily die, but some of them do. And that's a lot on any person. Sure.   Michael Hingson ** 26:53 And, obviously, I am presuming that, in the long run that helps her girl.   Madilynn Dale ** 27:01 Oh, yeah, she by the end of Book Three, she's going to have more power than any other angel or demon or anyone except her father in hell. Because she's also got other abilities that a lot of the other hellhounds do not have. Because she's got such powerful blood running through her veins because she is Lucifers daughter, it gives her stronger abilities and magical connections that no one else has.   Michael Hingson ** 27:38 But I'm presuming that Ember overall is supposed to be a good person   Madilynn Dale ** 27:42 she is so and I guess a little backtrack. Lucifer and Hal are not quite the same thing as what you would find like in the Bible. It's not all brimstone and fire, it's actually kind of like another version of Earth. But instead of people going there to be enslaved and be put in chains in step three, go there to heal and be given a second chance to make up for the things they've done in life. Now there are those that are beyond that, that are put somewhere else in hell. But ultimately, the whole point of them in our point of hell in the story is a second chance.   Michael Hingson ** 28:23 Now, is there a happen that gets associated with this somewhere along the line? Or is that happening lately?   Madilynn Dale ** 28:28 Oh, so in Book Three, on top of the war and everything that embers having to face she's also got to stop this person that's Trump tried to take Lucifer down. She's got to stop them from breaking down the gate that leads to heaven because he wants to do it go through the gate to bring the attack on heaven and bring everybody back up. And with Lucifer, down, injured dead, I'm not gonna say what happens to him, it weakens the power of the gate and makes it worse, somebody else can access it.   Michael Hingson ** 29:05 So book three is what you're working on now. Or it's it's not out yet. Yeah. Okay. Will it be the end of the series? Or will there be more.   Madilynn Dale ** 29:13 So that's the game plan, there are some spin off series that are going to kind of start to come after with focus on different characters. I have an idea for kind of like a prequel of how Lucifer and her mother Kyra meet and how that kind of leads into things. And then there's a couple of characters in the story that are really close to ember. One being her sister, who I'm not going to say what happens, but she has some stuff happen that transforms her into a creature that has not existed before or one that they've never had record of. And I kind of want to give my readers That story too, because she's going to come back, she's gonna make an appearance in books three as this new creature. And she's only mentioned of becoming this in book two. So   Michael Hingson ** 30:16 pretty vivid imagination all the way around. How did you create all this? How did this come up?   Madilynn Dale ** 30:21 I honestly, a lot of different things played into this, the idea kind of came from a dream I had. And then it just kind of slowly build, I built from there, I've always really liked urban fantasy and fantasy, in general. And this kind of mashes that all together. So it's just, yeah, I just took it away and let the characters kind of leave me a little bit where they wanted it to go, because I put a rough outline down to follow, and it's just kind of exploded from there.   Michael Hingson ** 30:55 I think there is something to be said for letting characters drive the story. Because what it really means is your creativity is coming out. And if the characters really tell the story, and you are the scribe that puts that down, then you're really sticking more to a story that I think   Madilynn Dale ** 31:17 needs to be told. Yeah, it would make sense. And my books I predominantly write in first person, so it's actually easy to kind of put out there, what their what their what's actually going on with their thoughts with their mental feelings and everything. Yeah.   Michael Hingson ** 31:35 Which makes, which makes for interesting stories all the way around. What kind of challenges do you face as an author, I mean, there are obviously struggles and things that occur. So tell us about that a little bit.   Madilynn Dale ** 31:49 So something I feel like is my biggest struggle is time management. No matter how many lists and whatnot, I plan out things, I can never get things done as fast as I want. And I've kind of learned to be a little more forgiving with myself when I don't meet those things. Because as an independent author, I get to make my own deadlines, or when my books come out, when I'm gonna have something done. And that's something I've had to really make myself learn and still have struggled with a little bit on this adventure. And it's just and then, as my son interrupts parenting, while finding all the balance, do this stuff as well, trying to space that out, and to make sure he gets plenty of stuff has been. I see it now. Hey, go. Let me finish. Oh, yeah, that makes more play figures. Okay, go. Go. I'll come back. Okay, I'll come back to when I'm done. Balancing that.   Michael Hingson ** 32:56 Part of Yes, yes.   Madilynn Dale ** 32:57 Um, and just also finding time to take care of myself with self care and giving my brain like a mental break. Something I've picked up probably in the last year is, which was recommended by another author, friend of mine is just doing nothing like set time aside, like 1520 minutes just to do nothing. Don't look at anything, don't do your phone or book or anything. Just relax, you can meditate or just stare at the ceiling. Like it's kind of a form of meditation in and of itself.   Michael Hingson ** 33:31 It is absolutely. And there's a lot of value in that. Because thinking is as much a process and as much an process it can you can use up your energy as anything else. And we often don't slow down and just take time to think if we do we find out how much better our lives really are. Although we, we we may not realize it at the time. But if we start taking time every day to think and analyze, and how, how'd it go? Or what did I miss here? How do I not let that happen again? Or how do I improve what I'm doing? Or why did this go so well. And just think about them without really forcing yourself to and just letting things come as they as they come is always a valuable thing   Madilynn Dale ** 34:23 to do. Yeah, and it's definitely given me a different perspective on things. I've kind of started organizing things a little bit better. Like my thoughts are a little more organized as well. Yeah.   Michael Hingson ** 34:39 So works out for you though.   Madilynn Dale ** 34:41 Oh, yeah, definitely. And it's made things a little, definitely a lot smoother.   Michael Hingson ** 34:47 How many books do you publish a year? Or do you have enough of an average to really know that?   Madilynn Dale ** 34:53 Well, so the book that's what the editor right now is, book number is going to be I go I story because it's such a like, I don't know, it's quite a controversy about how thick an actual novel is or whatnot. But I have, this is the book 19. That's what the editor, so a year I true, my plan is to do at least three per year, with a couple of short stories here and there if that like, something comes up, and I'm like, oh, you know, I'm just gonna play with this idea and put it out. Because I've submitted a couple of short stories to different anthologies, and those they've been published to so well, that's   Michael Hingson ** 35:37 cool. Well, I have so have you been in addition to those stories? Have you have submitted anything else anywhere that's been published in any kind of a mainstream way or part of any other organ that was published.   Madilynn Dale ** 35:55 A couple of short stories have been do some blood was with a Warren publishing that just dropped this last winter, beginning of this month, not last month. I'm sorry. It's like Wait still June. And I think when I've got another story with her, I think it's supposed to drop around Christmas it was supposed to do last Christmas. But we ended she ended up bumping it because not everybody got their stuff done. Have a retelling of Red Riding Hood that was with red penguin publishing. I think that might be it. For like, I'm forgetting something. But those are the top like ones I can remember.   Michael Hingson ** 36:41 Bear and have had the if any of your books been published in any kind of audio format, or they just all in print, or   Madilynn Dale ** 36:50 right now they're in print and electronic only, I'm slowly trying to get into the audiobooks because I listen to a lot of audiobooks myself. But having the right person and having the money to do it, at the same time has not all worked out yet. But I think I finally found the person to do it, I just gotta get the money saved up. So   Michael Hingson ** 37:15 there is that. There is there's always that that that gets in the way sometimes of things but it's still part of what has to happen. So tell us some of the other things I know you have a lot of other stuff going on besides writing. Tell us about some of the other things.   Madilynn Dale ** 37:33 So as you mentioned earlier, I podcast I bring different creatives on my podcast channel, which goes to YouTube as well. So there's video recording and audio over version of the conversations. And I do that pretty much weekly. I've slowly transitioned to doing them live instead of recording like I was before kind of cuts back on some of the editing time and I've had less interruptions from my son that's kind of the reason I was doing edits before. I also blog freelance I host for go indie now I'm on several different shows. This past spring I have done this week in indies character driven and talking indie mayhem, which is part of the game show go indie now have called indie mayhem, where indie creatives get together and kind of answer funny crazy questions. And in the fall, I'm going to be doing as of right now only character driven in this weekend Indies.   Michael Hingson ** 38:46 What is go indie now.   Madilynn Dale ** 38:48 So going out is a wide kind of like company, encompassing different independent art artists in general. So this could be indie video, or indie movie makers, indie authors, indie musicians, like anybody in the independent creative field. And Joe Compton is someone who is the head of it all. He puts together a ton of different shows, a lot of informational, shows a lot of fun shows, gets indies out there, gets their books kind of out there for people to check out lets you meet their authentic personality and whatnot on the shows. And it's just it's been a great way to connect with others in the indie community as well. I have fallen into a group of authors that I bounce ideas and step off of because of the things I've helped with on the show. So   Michael Hingson ** 39:54 as an author, who clearly has some visibility, so have you been invited to go speak anywhere like libraries or schools or anything like that,   Madilynn Dale ** 40:03 I, so I haven't been asked to speak. But I was asked to mentor other students in college, which I did that for two or three years during undergrad, I can't remember how long I did it. But it was a it was really eye opening because it gave me a different perspective. Some of the other things others struggle with. So for those of you guys listening, I have a TBI, traumatic brain injury. And it's kind of caused issues with my executive functioning because I left scar tissue on my frontal lobe. And I've also had, unfortunately, multiple concussions since then, one second severe head injury in the midst of that, I don't remember exactly the details on it. Because I lost vision and consciousness for a little bit. I was by myself when it happened. And thankfully, it was before touchscreen phone, that before I had a touchscreen phone because I have the buttons memorized and was able to call for help. But I could not see anything for like two or three hours on that one. But it's just kind of like, it makes things really difficult for me to organize. And I'm also ADHD on top of that. So I bounce around move a lot, as you guys have probably noticed, during this interview, I wiggle in my chair a lot. But yeah, just pushing through. Not really so much pushing through as learning how to find the path that works best for me with that has also helped me help others because I'm able to give them hey, this worked for me, maybe it'll help you kind of stuff. Sorry, I went on a tangent, but   Michael Hingson ** 41:54 no, no, no, no, that that's what this is all about is having a conversation and conversations do go off on tangents. And that's what makes them fun. So it's okay. Not a not a problem at all. But I do want to go back to something we touched on briefly, but I'd like to explore it a little more. When your characters are literally writing the story through you. And you're in the middle of something. What happens when suddenly they change or something changes, and they go off on a tangent or in a different direction? How does that affect you? And how do you deal with that?   Madilynn Dale ** 42:33 Well, if I'm writing, I kind of zone out and sit there for a minute because I'm like, Wait, where's this going? How does this go into the story? And sometimes I have to go back and like rewrite scenes or just review things completely. A lot of times those kind of thoughts and ideas hit me while I'm like doing the dishes or something. And I'm like, seriously, right now I cannot go write this down. Like you're just gonna have to wait. And then it's just, it's crazy. So, but a lot of times, I will try to put it on my phone, like I'll jot it down on a note. Or I have so many notebooks like little bitty notebooks. Where's my other one like this little one right here. stuff gets written down and half the time if you were to look at it, you'd be like, What is this? It'd be like a word or an acronym or something. But it makes sense to me. So   Michael Hingson ** 43:23 Well, that's the important part, at least then you can translate it and deal with it. But what if you say, wait a minute, and the character says no, this has got to come out right now?   Madilynn Dale ** 43:33 Yeah, then a lot of times easier. I figured out how to make it work. Or it gets lost, which has happened a lot.   Michael Hingson ** 43:42 Does it get lost? Or do you put it somewhere and then maybe come back to it? Or that it gets lost?   Madilynn Dale ** 43:48 Yeah. And a lot of times I've gotten better about dictating things to a note on my phone. That's kind of going to work Work in Progress still kind of is because sometimes it doesn't like to pick up the words and it puts something crazy weird in there. And I'm like, I don't even know what I was trying to say here.   Michael Hingson ** 44:05 Oh, yeah. Voice recognition is not perfect yet. Well, just be careful. You don't want Ember to take over completely.   Madilynn Dale ** 44:16 You my life could probably get a little bit chaotic if she did so. No, I don't have magic and I can't turn into this awesome hellhound   Michael Hingson ** 44:26 Well, that's okay. You're a different than she. So you you need to be her representative here which is which is still okay. Another thing you mentioned urban fantasy, as opposed to I got well guess what other kinds of fantasy? What is what is urban fantasy and why do you like it? Or are what made you choose it?   Madilynn Dale ** 44:49 So urban fantasy for me. And a lot of people may have a different kind of descriptor for this, but it's where you pull in the real world in with the fantasy kind of stuff So with mine, a lot of it, I'm pulling ideas and places and scenery from my hometown that I grew up in. And there's a lot of forest, a lot of trees, different places. In the phase shifters, there's a lot of different places that I name that are actually places but they're not in the spot they are in the real world. Pulling things like that, in our everyday life into this fantasy world, is what I would say is more urban fantasy versus like high fantasy you get to make up everything you get to make up the scenery the world, the religion that believes the magic system, everything.   Michael Hingson ** 45:42 It would seem then that something like Harry Potter is kind of a combination of the two.   Madilynn Dale ** 45:47 Yeah, I definitely would say so. Because he's got his real world and then the magical world there.   Michael Hingson ** 45:57 Yeah, you, you see a little bit of both in there. But fantasy is fun. Fantasy and Science Fiction are fun, because I find that a lot of the times when I read it, the author is really talking about themselves. And they allow that to happen. They just do it in a different kind of, well disguised as the wrong word. But they, they do it inside of another picture.   Madilynn Dale ** 46:23 Yeah, I agree. Because as I mentioned earlier, like, a lot of the things in life that I've experienced and stuff working through them, I've been able to process them better by them coming that like the stuff happening to me, coming out through the character and the characters world and the characters live and how I see them processing through a kind of makes me stop and like, okay, like, I can do that same kind of thing minus like the magic, so well   Michael Hingson ** 46:51 as as a writer, and not just your characters. But in general. How do you see character development? We'll say because it's where your expertise is female characters? How are they evolving overall, and the whole genre of writing, as opposed to the way they used to be? What's what's changing and what's changed?   Madilynn Dale ** 47:14 So that is a fantastic question. Because when I was young, picking up a book on the bookshelf, library and stuff, a lot of times the main character, the protagonist was always male is the, the males and the men, they all got to go on the adventures, women were typically written as a damsel in distress, needed rescuing. But nowadays, you see more and more of the woman coming in and being the strong person being the hero being the one that saves everybody being the one that rescues the world from falling into chaos. And I feel that's been a huge growth and speaks volumes to, hopefully what's been growth in our culture, with the female position in the world. Especially moving towards more equality. But it's just so much, it's so wonderful to see and write a strong female character. Because putting myself in that strong female characters shoes, I get to be the hero, like I get to be the one that saves everyone. And that's also an outlet for those women who are scared to step out and be themselves and show the world who they really are.   Michael Hingson ** 48:30 Why do you think men are reacting to that?   Madilynn Dale ** 48:33 I mean, I've had a lot of male readers like the female characters, and I've actually seen a lot of male authors create strong female characters too. And I don't know if that's just kind of like a change that's happened because women are stepping out and stepping up more to do more to claim their strength. But it also creates the raw variety. I mean, there's still books out there with male protagonists that are strong, but there's more variety in the field now than there were before. So hopefully, not all men are of those. Yeah.   Michael Hingson ** 49:08 Yeah. Well, I think there's definitely room for strong men, but strong women as well. And it makes sense to, to see that evolution taking place and I go back to Harry Potter again. Hermione Granger, and Harry Potter is certainly as strong as anyone in that series. And she brings a lot to it, and, and others in that series as well. Professor McGonigal is another one. You can tell I've read the series actually more than once. And there are things about that kind of writing that I enjoy because it really helps. I think, especially with kids and maybe shy kids who have don't think they can do things. And then yet they see the characters in those books evolve, and do so many things that gee, maybe I could do more than I thought I could. And I assume that that's kind of somewhat what happens with your writing as well.   Madilynn Dale ** 50:16 I think so I feel so now that you've said it, it definitely does follow along those lines, because like, Liz, for example, she discovers there's more to her and she has way more responsibilities put on her than she ever thought she would have had, because she was trying to find an easier lifestyle when where she could like de stress, relax. But it turns out, she's a princess. And a higher person in her clan, both have like different worlds. And it's kind of she has to figure out how to still find what she wants and fulfill those shoes. And she just wants to be the quiet left alone person doesn't think she can do certain things. And here she is, she accomplishes so much.   Michael Hingson ** 51:03 And so when our lives and Amber's gonna meet or have   Madilynn Dale ** 51:07 oh, man I so I've toyed with the idea of a crossover, because at the end of book four of the phase shifters, I kind of leave it open for things to happen. And I did this before I even wrote the inverse theories, because in the phase shifter series, the portals to all the different worlds all the different kind of like a multiverse theory. Like Dr. Strange and everybody in the MC, there's different worlds different timelines and everything. And in the phase shifters, all of that stuff is they start opening those things again. So Amber's off here in her own little world, and Liz is still often hers right now. But there's an opportunity that they could crossover, the idea has been kind of in the back of my mind, because of the portals opening.   Michael Hingson ** 52:02 But the two haven't crossed over and met yet and then come to tell you time to do something different.   Madilynn Dale ** 52:08 They've talked about it, I'm not gonna lie, they've talked about it. Okay, do this yet, guys. I'm not there. So my ideas come faster than I'm able to get them down. Well,   Michael Hingson ** 52:20 okay, that gives you security of things to work toward. Mm hmm. So how do you evolve as a writer? How are you improving? And what do you do to improve your skills and become a better writer? You've been doing this now? What five years? You said 3x? Well, three. Okay. So since your son was born three years, okay. Well, I   Madilynn Dale ** 52:44 guess technically, I started writing before that, but I didn't start publishing journey until three years ago,   Michael Hingson ** 52:49 right? So how do you work to improve and become a better writer as you go.   Madilynn Dale ** 52:59 So for me, I still read a lot, not nearly as much as I did before I became an author. And obviously, before I became a mom, because that takes more time away from getting to read. But I try my best to include books about the structure of a novel or grammar or stuff like that. And then just talking with other authors being on chat, like this one that we're having now, getting to talk with other authors, there's so much you can take away from the conversation, tidbits of information and knowledge regarding writing, marketing, social media, etc. Like just from having those conversations. also reaching out and getting in groups, or binding workshops, online workshops, going to conventions, which is something I've added in the past year to try to do more of mostly because it's a little bit more pricey on the financial end, yes, going to things like that, and just taking in as much as I can when I can. But more than anything, continuing to read continuing to read other authors like in the genre I write, keeping up with how things change and then doing my best to stick with the changes that come also with social media. Yeah.   Michael Hingson ** 54:28 Yeah, cuz it's, it is. Well, it is a process where ongoing improvement ongoing growth is as important for you as it is for your characters, and they can help but there are also parts of it that they don't know how to do, and that's the actual writing part of it. So obviously, it's good that you can grow and improve and that you found ways to do that. Yeah. Which is cool. What do you do when You're not writing and I know you're always going to be a mom. But what other kinds of external activities do you like to do?   Madilynn Dale ** 55:09 So outside of writing and doing anything other stuff, I am now homeschooling my son. So I do a lot of research on different topics to help him learn and grow. We've been doing a lot more unit studies as of late, just to kind of learn about different topics, like what holiday is going on right now how it's important when we started doing it, things like that. I also like to hike and travel and get outdoors. whenever I can. We spend right now since it's the warmer months, we're kind of outside in the morning. I have a garden, and it's grown a lot over the years kind of took over the backyard. There's like this play area and then garden stuff kind of everywhere else. So it keeps me busy. And then yeah, just traveling and visiting friends and family.   Michael Hingson ** 56:03 We're all have you traveled? Um,   Madilynn Dale ** 56:05 I have been to see we've been several places in Texas. We went to New Mexico about a year ago. Colorado, Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana.   Michael Hingson ** 56:22 Someday you'll have to get out here to California.   Madilynn Dale ** 56:24 Yes, that's that's on my bucket list. Missouri. We spent. We've been in Missouri, Texas, Arkansas multiple times over the like, every year. That's like a common thing. I'm just slowly getting further and further out there to visit and explore things.   Michael Hingson ** 56:42 So do you get a lot of snow in the winter?   Madilynn Dale ** 56:46 No, I Well, okay. Sometimes we do. But more often than not, it's ice. Ice storms, and we do snow storms. No fun. are apparently our specialty though. So Oh, isn't   Michael Hingson ** 57:02 that special and lovely? Yeah. We had a tornado out here in the Los Angeles area earlier this year. It's the first one in like 40 years. So it isn't like it hasn't ever happened. But still. Yeah, they're no fun. And   Madilynn Dale ** 57:19 the weather is all good them in January this year. And I was like, okay, like, what does that mean for spring? And of course, it's kind of been crazy. I mean, they haven't been as bad as the ones we've had in I want to say 2013 are the really, really bad ones. We actually made national news with mourn, and the El Reno tornadoes that had so much damage. But this year, we've had quite a few move through.   Michael Hingson ** 57:50 Well, if you were to have one thing that you'd like to advise would be authors or others who might be interested in authoring. If you had one thing you would tell them or advice you give them what would it be?   Madilynn Dale ** 58:02 Hmm. Don't be afraid to reach out to authors you look up to you would be surprised because they're just people too. You can always ask them for tips and advice. A lot of times, they'll give it to you, they'll give you thoughts or ideas. Don't ask them to look over your manuscript, because that's a little too much. But you can be like, send them a question like, Hey, if you could? I don't know. Yeah, life, whatever question but don't ask them to look over your manuscript. Do that. BETA readers or an editor?   Michael Hingson ** 58:38 Have you reached out to any authors who are famous that we might have heard of?   Madilynn Dale ** 58:42 Um, yes. Mary Pope Osborne was the first one I actually like hand wrote a letter to you because I love the magic Treehouse books as a kid, and she actually did write back to me and I was blown away. And now since I'm older and whatnot, reaching out to some of the authors I've read, I've actually got to like, meet in person, or chat with like, we are over zoom or something. And it's been it kind of makes you step back and be like, holy cow. I'm actually living this world. It's no longer just like a fantasy idea. I'm actually getting to meet this person and trying to not have that. Like, star struck fan rambling thing happen. It's kind of funny sometimes.   Michael Hingson ** 59:31 Yeah, I hear you. Well, and I would say everyone has a story to tell and more people should be unafraid or not afraid to tell their stories. And even if you feel you aren't a great writer, write it down. You can always find others who would be willing to help but that's why we do unstoppable mindset because I believe everyone has a story to tell that's relevant to bring to our PA I'd cast and that stories will inspire others. And we never know who will be inspired or take something solid from what we did here today or what we ever do on unstoppable mindset. So it's a lot of fun to do. And I enjoy the learning experience myself, so I can't complain a bit about it. Yes. Well, I want to thank you for being here with us. This is great. I enjoyed being on the chapter goddess. And I'm hoping that you enjoyed being on unstoppable mindset and that we we had a good time, if you ever want to come back on and tell us more about what's happening with books. I definitely want to hear when Amber and Liz get together. That's important that I bet it's going to happen at some point. And I think it will be fun, but we really appreciate you being here. And if you know of other people who we ought to have as guests on unstoppable mindset, please let us know. And for all of you out there if you know anyone who wants to be on unstoppable mindset, we'd love to hear from you. You can contact me well let me before I do that, how do people contact you?   Madilynn Dale ** 1:01:07 So you guys can check me out on my websites the best place to find me. And I have connections to all of my social media there. It's www dot the chapter goddess.com. I'm on Facebook, Instagram and Tik Tok. You can email me there, reach out, check out my YouTube channels. My podcast. I'm on Apple, Google, Amazon with a podcast books are wide and I am very thankful for getting to be on the show today.   Michael Hingson ** 1:01:42 Well, again, thank you for doing it. And we do want to stay in touch. And as I said earlier, if you'd like to reach out to us whenever you are listening, please feel free to reach out to me Michaelhi at Accessibbe A C C E S S I B E.com. Or go to our podcast page which is www dot Michael hangsen.com/podcast. Michael Hinkson is m i c h a e l h i n g s o n.com/podcast. And we would appreciate a five star rating wherever you're listening to this. We love getting ratings and especially those five star ones. We hope that podcasts are always interesting enough to to get that from you. We value your input we value your comments and your thoughts. So please don't hesitate to give us a rating and a review. We value it greatly. But again, Madilynn  I want to tell you that we're really grateful that you came on today and we really appreciate your time.   Madilynn Dale ** 1:02:37 Yes, thank you for having me.   Michael Hingson ** 1:02:45 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com. accessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.

We get our  @mlw  #SLAUGHTERHOUSE review up as we run trough the entire card. Chamber Of Horrors Match The Second Gear Crew (Mance Warner & Matthew Justice) vs The Calling (Cannonball & Talon) MLW World Middleweight Title / World Historic Welterweight Title Match Rocky Romero (w/Salina de la Renta) (c) vs AKIRA (c) MLW Women's World Featherweight Title Match Janai Kai (w/Salina de la Renta) VS Delmi Exo (c) Minoru Suzuki VS Jacob Fatu MLW National Openweight Title Falls Count Anywhere Match Rickey Shane Page (c) VS 1 Called Manders MLW World Heavyweight Title Match Alex Kane (w/Mr. Thomas) (c) VS Tom Lawlor And we give our thoughts on an epic match card Check the LINK TREE BELOW for more content and Merch https://linktr.ee/StraightTalkWrestling

World Titan Federation Superstar® Matt Cardona takes over MLW's YouTube account for the night as The WTF Superstar plays “guest influencer”. Will his millions of followers show up to troll or support The Agent? Salina de la Renta ups the ante, and it sends shockwaves through Slaughterhouse on FITE+. Plus, who is Salina's first luchador in the new era of Promociones Dorado? You're about to find out. Alex Kane bosses up as he readies for his World Heavyweight Championship clash with Davey Boy Smith Jr. at Slaughterhouse on October 14… and Saint Laurent has a special offer for the “Suplex Assassin”. After Jimmy Lloyd crashed onto the scene to help the Second Gear Crew, can the aspiring SUPER middleweight Jimmy Lloyd serve up a beat down to the Death Fighter AKIRA? A different boy goes to war in a South Philly street fight! Saint Laurent's power throughout the world of wrestling continues to grow but what is the World Titan Federation? MLW looks at the Canadian huckster's ousting as Senior Vice President of league operations and the rapid growth of The World Titan Federation. The Calling indoctrinate their newest member. Kevin Blackwood debuts against “Silver Sniper” TJ Crawford and Alec Price in a triple threat bout! Emerging middleweight threat Ichiban gives his first interview. What does he have to say to the world? Tune in to find out! In featherweight division action, Tiara James goes head to head with the debuting Zayda Steel. PLUS: new matches drop for Slaughterhouse on FITE+! Check the LINK TREE BELOW for more content and Merch https://linktr.ee/StraightTalkWrestling

In Montgomery County, Maryland Public Schools the school board approved “LGBTQ-Inclusive Texts Approved for Instructional Use.” Books with titles like “Pride Puppy”, “Uncle Bobby's Wedding” and “Born Ready: The True Story of a Boy Named Penelope” are just a few of the approved books. Many parents with religious backgrounds have come together to challenge the school board in court to restore their right to opt their children out of instruction that is inconsistent with their faith. Newt's guest is Eric Baxter. He is the Vice President and Senior Counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and the attorney representing the plaintiffs in the case.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Salina de la Renta is en la casa! What's on the Empresaria of Lucha''s agenda this week as she continues to make quick moves and reconsolidate her power? The World Heavyweight Champion Alex Kane invites the media out for a filter-free press conference. What's next for the captain of the BOMAYE Fight Club? Breaking news on MLW's next FITE+ premium event drops this week on FUSION. Slaughterhouse will feature a DOUBLE main event. The first match is revealed tonight! Whispers of The Calling's ominous presence abound. Could Rickey Shane Page, AKIRA and the devout masked followers be in the house tonight? When the moonsault hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's amore… or Love, Doug when he wrestles Little Guido for the first-time ever! “International Popstar” B3CCA is in the house and in action against Tiara James. James, who makes her debut, faces an emerging contender to the World Featherweight Championship in B3CCA. Will B3CCA inch closer to a title shot? Will Tiara take a win in a triumphant debut? Microman goes one on one with Sam Adonis! Can MLW's 3 feet of fighting fury finally teach Adonis a lesson in respect after last week's deplorable punting incident? Plus an MLW newcomer joins forces with The Second Gear Crew in their ongoing war with The Calling. In middleweight action, Ichiban battles TJ Crawford. Crawford, who has proven to be a heavy hitting technician, doesn't think much of the hype for Ichiban. Wasting no time, Crawford demanded (and reportedly threatened) league officials for a match with the masked fighter and now it is official. What happens when The Number One Dojo's Kokujin Katana” rumbles “The Silver Sniper.   Check the LINK TREE BELOW for more content and Merch https://linktr.ee/StraightTalkWrestling

Why does local governance constitute an alphabet soup of overlapping organizations? Sunil Dasgupta talks with Tracy Hadden Loh, Brookings Institution scholar and one of the authors of the book, Hyperlocal: Place Governance in a Fragmented World, about local democracy practice going beyond formal government. Local news re office building to home conversions, a first-ever pedestrian master plan and its discontents, and ongoing culture wars. Student book review of LGBTQ book, Uncle Bobby's Wedding, written by Sarah S. Brannen, and illustrated by Lucia Soto: https://a.co/d/gVaGW4l. Music from Washington DC post-punk band, Grey Swift: https://t.ly/cu_jx. Hyperlocal book: https://t.ly/Y2LmF. Discount Code: 4LOCAL23. Pedestrian Master Plan: https://t.ly/cQqJf

MLW FUSION featuring fallout from Fury Road We break down this week's Episode Following a contentious Fury Road World Heavyweight Championship clash, Alex Kane is in the house. What's next for the captain of the Bomaye Fight Club? Salina de la Renta is BACK in MLW. The empresaria of lucha libre shocked the world of wrestling at Fury Road. Get the scoop on Salina! A huge New Japan x MLW crossover update has a major player entering MLW… and Fatu has strong words about it.   Promoter Saint Laurent promises reprisals for The Second Gear Crew after Ol' Mancer took a giant bite out of The World Titan Federation huckster's appendage at Fury Road. Plus an international championship hoss fight takes center stage as Germany's WXW Unified World Wrestling Champion Shigehiro Irie defends his gold against Calvin Tankman. In other competition, Microman and The Mane Event thrill the masses and take to the skies against The FBI and Jesus Rodriguez. It's not his fault if Snisky debuts in singles competition and puts a man in the hospital… or is it?   Check the LINK TREE BELOW for more content and Merch https://linktr.ee/StraightTalkWrestling --

As the final countdown to Alex Kane and Willie Mack's World Heavyweight Championship mega-bout this Sunday at Fury Road on FITE+ draws near, MLW goes all access with an inside look at the lives of both men as they prepare for their date with destiny. Living the high life as Don King's newest fighter (and champion), Alex Kane mixes business and pleasure in the lead-up to his September 3 title defense at Fury Road on FITE+ by training at the world famous Big Bear gym in California and dining at his favorite spots in private. Willie Mack meanwhile, channels his past struggles in and outside the ring as motivation to knock off Bomaye's captain and become a champion truly for the people. Go in depth as Alex Kane and Willie Mack spotlight their contrasting personalities and prepare to put everything on the line to walk away with the World Heavyweight Championship this Sunday at Fury Road on FITE+! Plus, witness the key matches and moments that lead to Alex Kane and Willie Mack's showdown at Fury Road as Kane dethrones Hammerstone end his record setting reign as World Heavyweight Champion and Chocolate Thunder throws down with top contenders John Hennigan and Lio Rush in an championship eliminator. We also give our Predictions on all the fury road matches this Sunday on #fite+   Check the LINK TREE BELOW for more content and Merch https://linktr.ee/StraightTalkWrestling

Good afternoon and welcome to 50Talk. This is Episode 82 and Victor and Cathy have a great show lined up for you all. This episode is filled with passion. You can tell by me (Victor) getting all hyped and sweaty.  We do want to say we love having the difficult conversations and that also would like to continue those difficult conversations. If you want to continue please send me an email at victor50talk@gmail.com . I would love to hear from you all. This week we start the show talking about our family reunion we just had over the past weekend. The McKinney, Craig & Austin Annual Reunion was a success. Cathy and I joined with six or seven other family members over the last few months and planned this whole thing out. We are all very happy with the outcome. We hope you enjoy that conversation and also al the statistics Cathy laid out for family reunions. She is definitely the brains of this organization.We work our way into the next conversation straight off of Family Reunion talk because we got a book from our Uncle Bobby. "The 1619 Project Born On The Water", it's a children's book and man, let me tell you. This sparked some serious conversation between Cathy and I even before we hit record. So brace yourself and get ready for this.That transitions right into our next topic with that being the Republican Presidential Debate that took place lasts Tuesday on Fox News. My opinion about the debate is up front and I also give my well wishes to the person whom I think helped their Presidential Campaign the most. Also in this part of the conversation we have to talk about "The Monster" that is Vivek Ramaswamy. This guy is a clear and present danger to America and he has to be put out of the race. I knew the 1st time I seen him on CNN with Don Lemon that he was nutts. That conversation transitions to the 18 Mugshots an 18 indictments including Former President Donald J. Trump with his "Legendary" mugshot. This dude thought about the tough guy face he was gonna put on so he could Con his followers into giving him money and make himself out to be the victim (like he always does). We also talk about "White Christian Nationalists" and what they are all about and also a Netflix five part series I watched called "The Family" about this religious group that infiltrates our politics starting way, way back in the days. They are the people who started the Presidential Prayer Breakfast.  We hope you guys enjoy this episode as much as we did recording for you. My passion is on Full display this entire episode. Also thanks to coffee for getting me all hyped up this morning. Enjoy the show and we hope to see you all next week. 

A BIG announcement drops in a must-see episode of MLW FUSION! Jacob Fatu's war with The Calling continues as the National Openweight Champion steps into the ring with “The Death Fighter” AKIRA. After his fight with Rickey Shane Page descended into chaos, Fatu has his sights set on the man who nearly kicked Fatu's head off and sent him for a month-long stay on the injured list. Will Fatu bulldoze through the current double champion or will AKIRA serve up Fatu to his Calling brethren and complete their decimation of The Samoan SWAT Team? 5 wrestlers! 2 debuts! One fall to a finish! MLW will present its first-ever scramble match! Willie Mack must contend with the Bomaye Fight Club's O'Shay Edwards plus Love, Doug, Ken Broadway and Nolo Kitano. What Mack keep the momentum cranked to the max going into Fury Road on FITE+? Or will O'Shay cripple the challenger before his dance with destiny? The Second Gear Crew steps into the ring with The Samoan SWAT Team and The Calling! Get an update on Delmi Exo after she had her head bashed with B3CCA's guitar. PLUS: Get the dirt on new Fury Road matches just signed. Check the LINK TREE BELOW for more content and Merch https://linktr.ee/StraightTalkWrestling  

Randy and Uncle Bobby B sit down and talk all things RAW from 08'07/23 from The Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This is the Summer Slam Fall-out episode Raw and ALOT of Things happened!  _ Understanding " Kub Kars" - What they think of the first hour of "commercial free" programming - Ricochet vs. Chad Gable vs. Matt Riddle vs. Tommaso Ciampa Number 1 Contender?? - Chad Gable is Gold - Shinsuke for Brunson The Beast their thoughts! - Bazler got cleared and Raquel Didnt?   And Much More! Only on SNME Radio! Join our Patreon at www.patreon.com/SNMEradio

Today's guests: - Michael Kelly, Professor of Law at Creighton University in Omaha - Markos Moulitsas, Founder of Daily Kos - Cephus "Uncle Bobby" Johnson, Founder of Love Not Blood - Comptroller Susana Medoza

In this 1272nd episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike records live from Myseum of Toronto with Ed "Retrontario" Conroy and PJ Fresh Phil. They talk Friendly Giant, Uncle Bobby, Polka Dot Door, Today's Special, Degrassi, and so much more. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, the Yes We Are Open podcast from Moneris, The Moment Lab, Ridley Funeral Home and Electronic Products Recycling Association.

My Brother didn't listen to his wife! Drama --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lorenzo-davis4/message

Join Steve Swift and Uncle Bobby B as They go through this weeks WWE Raw from Jacksonville Florida (05/08/23)  * How does Steve Drink his tea? * What did Steve and Bobby think of The WWE Heavyweight Semi Finals? * Talk THIER prospective on Imperium * What do they really think of Brocks Promo Skills? * Did they enjoy the Main Event? Please follow Steve Swifts Entertaining Reviews on Spotify! Spotify Link: https://open.spotify.com/show/4jJtBcjuh89wJAlOwLlDEd?si=7cfc467e8b7a4fcb                

Welcome to Chalk + Ink's 50th episode! Without Andy J. Pizza, Chalk + Ink wouldn't exist. Want to know why? Give a listen.In this episode, we discuss the definition of creativity, what it means when we say art works, and how to produce a successful podcast. After you listen to this episode, if you want to hear more of what Andy has to say, be sure to check out his podcast Creative Pep Talk.  He's about to drop his 400th episode.Listeners, here's your homework. Before our next episode, be sure to read Emily Francis's If You Only Knew: Letters From an Immigrant Teacher. For me, my homework is to read The Energy Clock by Molly Fletcher, which is the book Andy talks about at the end of the episode. The book's arriving at my house tomorrow. Maybe, I'll even be able to start it this weekend.I also plan on listening to one new writing or educational podcast each month in 2023, and then, if it seems like a good fit, following up with the creator, to see if they're interested in a swap, as Andy suggested. If you have podcast recommendations for me, please fill out my contact form on my website at www.katenarita.com or find me on Twitter or Instagram.Feeling generous? Please review the show wherever you listen to your podcasts. This will help more listeners find Chalk + Ink.Finally, I want to give a shout out to Sarah Brannen for Chalk + Ink's podcast art. If you haven't read Sarah's book, Uncle Bobby's Wedding, check it out. It's on the ALA 2021 Rainbow List and Bank Street's Best Children's Books 2021.Happy listening!Support the show

On today's show, with we talk about getting outside, the importance of cultivating a gratitude mindset, Susan Edwards Richmond, and how it takes community collaboration to create a powerful picture book.Stay tuned to the end of the episode to find out how to win one of Susan's signed picture books or one of Susan's picture book critiques.I'm hoping you'll help me spread Chalk + Ink cheer throughout the new year. Boost the podcast on your favorite social media platform, tell a friend, family member, or write a review on your favorite podcast platform, or go to buymeacoffee/chalkandink and support the show with a simple click.Many thanks to to Sarah Brannen for Chalk + Ink's podcast art. If you haven't read Sarah's book, Uncle Bobby's Wedding, check it out. It's on the ALA 2021 Rainbow List and Bank Street's Best Children's Books 2021. Support the show

Thank you for tuning in to this installment of True Encounters on this episode you have heard:Home Alone by IronMundane2302How I met Uncle Bobby by docmlzGhost Runner by Open-strategy-2558283 East Broadway by blckwdw21The intercom in my room talks to me…but it's disconnected by httpkycr8I hope you all have a safe and happy holiday season and I'll see you in January 2023!--If you have a scary story you want to share or a haunt you want me to cover send it to southernhauntspodcast@gmail.com--Want ad free episodes? Listen HERE--IG: @SouthernhauntpodcastTwitter: @s_hauntspodcast--Subscribe to Oh! That's A Scary Movie--Music in this episode:https://uppbeat.io/t/kisnou/name-of-the-nighthttps://uppbeat.io/t/ak/midnight-stroll License code: WNT8HKI1FBYUZJMGhttps://uppbeat.io/t/danijel-zambo/friendly-ghost License code: HXQWQMBPM7FB232F"The Haunting Of Lake" originally composed and produced by "VivekMusic from Uppbeat (free for Creators!):https://uppbeat.io/t/danijel-zambo/haunted-houseLicense code: JLHEABEB1EOUB2QDMusic from Uppbeat (free for Creators!):https://uppbeat.io/t/danijel-zambo/broken-dollLicense code: C0LENE86PQQLKPCUStarfleet Leadership Academy - Leadership Through Star TrekLeadership development told through the lens of Star TrekListen on: Apple Podcasts SpotifySupport the show

Today, Tracey Baptiste lets listeners in on the organizational tricks that have scaffolded her breakthroughs as an author and as a teacher. In addition to talking about organizational tools, we talk about the subconscious and debunking inaccurate historical “facts.”Before our next episode, please read one of Susan Edwards Richmond's fantastic picture books, Bioblitz! and Bird Count.Feeling generous? Please review the show wherever you listen to your podcasts. This will help more listeners find Chalk + Ink.Many thanks to Sarah Brannen for Chalk + Ink's podcast art. If you haven't read Sarah's book, Uncle Bobby's Wedding, check it out. It's on the ALA 2021 Rainbow List and Bank Street's Best Children's Books 2021. We'll talk again in 2023.Support the show

On the Season 1 finale, Rob sits with his good friend/broadcaster partner and mentor, "The Fabulous Playboy" Bob Keller. They discuss everything from the first show they called together, road stories, advice to young wrestlers, and the origin of the "Sweet Sexy Rob" nickname. Main Event Heat will return with Season 2 in March 2022! Join Host Rob Weathers as he talks about all things wrestling! Including his own personal experiences as a color commentator and ring announcer, top ten lists, interviews and current events in the pro wrestling industry. Thanks for hanging out! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/maineventheat/support