Podcasts about Underbelly

Nina Conti is on board Alan Air and it's as brilliantly bonkers as you'd expect. She reveals the skiing holiday where her dad's booming voice bolted her into action, the holiday romance with an American Marine that ended very badly, losing Monkey on a flight to Austria, why Tokyo didn't live up to expectations, and why she escapes to yurts, road trips and Arthur's Seat whenever she gets the chance. Plus, Alan and Nina reminisce about winning the BBC New Comedy Award, swap Edinburgh Fringe stories, chat about her directorial debut "Sunlight" and Nina's hilarious new C*nti Cabaret, coming to the Underbelly at Bristo Square at this year's Edinburgh Fringe. Book your tickets here: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/nina-s-c-nti-cabaret 00:00 Welcome aboard, Nina Conti! 01:40 The skiing holiday that ended in dad shouting 03:30 Why Nina loves American road trips 04:15 Making Sunlight in a monkey suit 05:50 Returning to the Edinburgh Fringe 08:05 Inside Nina's hilarious C*nti Cabaret 12:15 Arthur's Seat and Nina's Edinburgh recommendations 14:05 Losing Monkey on a flight to Austria 16:05 Why Tokyo disappointed her 17:45 The holiday romance with a Marine 22:10 Growing up with Tom Conti and Shirley Valentine 24:00 Escaping to yurts and embracing nature 26:10 Celebrity holiday encounters, from John Travolta to Andrew Scott 29:45 Costa Rica tops Nina's travel bucket list 30:10 Quick Fire, making our descent #LifesABeach #NinaConti #AlanCarr #EdinburghFringe #Edinburgh #ComedyPodcast #TravelPodcast #Monkey #HolidayRomance #RoadTrips #TravelStories #Podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

He's brought some of Australia's most memorable characters to life across film and television. But away from the cameras, Damian Walshe-Howling has spent years exploring something far more important, the realities of being human.In this episode of the Imperfectly Perfect Podcast, Glenn Marsden sits down with the acclaimed actor and director for an honest conversation about identity, vulnerability, resilience and the lessons that come from embracing life's imperfections.Known for his powerful performances and respected body of work both in Australia and internationally, Damian reflects on the experiences that have shaped him, the pressures that can come with the industry, and why authenticity matters more than image.This is a conversation about growth, perspective and finding strength in the parts of ourselves we often try to hide.Whether you know Damian from his work on screen or are discovering him for the first time, this episode offers a thoughtful and refreshingly honest insight into the person behind the performances.Guest: Damian Walshe-HowlingInstagram: @damianromanellaIMDb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0909935/Host: Glenn MarsdenWebsite: https://glennmarsden.comInstagram: @_glennmarsdenTo learn more about Glenn Marsden's global advocacy movement, the Imperfectly Perfect Campaign, visit imperfectlyperfectcampaign.org or follow @imperfectlyperfectcampaign on Instagram. The campaign exists to challenge the stigma surrounding mental health through authentic storytelling, meaningful conversations, and free educational resources.Please note: Some episodes of the Imperfectly Perfect Podcast explore mental health, trauma and deeply personal life experiences. If these topics are difficult for you, please take care while listening. If you or someone you know needs support, please reach out to a qualified mental health professional or your local crisis support service.Image provided courtesy of guest Damian Walshe-Howling.Big Thank you to our Voice Over Artist: Mike Christensen ( thevoicemonkey.com )

I talk about my climb to Standard Legend before recounting my final boss fight with Underbelly Tripwire Hunter! You can find the deck import code below the following contact links.  You can follow me @blisterguy on Twitch, Bluesky, and Youtube. Join our Discord community here or at discord.me/blisterguy. You can support this podcast and my other Hearthstone work at Patreon here. # 2x (1) Arcane Shot # 2x (1) Earthen Roar # 1x (1) Glacial Shard # 2x (1) Sizzling Cinder # 2x (1) Smuggled Shovel # 2x (1) Tame Pet # 2x (1) Tracking # 2x (1) Wound Prey # 2x (2) Sylvanas's Triumph # 2x (2) Underbelly Network # 2x (3) Arcane Tripwire # 1x (3) Ranger General Sylvanas # 1x (3) Ranger Captain Alleria # 1x (3) Ranger Initiate Vereesa # 2x (4) Beast Tripwire # 2x (4) Confront the Tol'vir # 1x (6) King of the Underbelly #   1x (3) Felrattler #   1x (5) Reanimated Pterrordax #   1x (10) Agamaggan # 1x (10) Briarspawn Drake #  AAECAZKiBwbTngal/AaZpweapwebpweu2AcMqZ8Eqp8Er5IHzpsHg8AHtMAHu8AH3sQHrNgH19oH09sH19sHAAEDg4QHrtgHppIHrtgHupUHrtgHAAA=

My guest is Kurt Johnson Co-author of The Moon Tavern, A Culinary Love Story With Recipes. The Moon Tavern takes the reader on a romantic and culinary journey through the Islands of Croatia, where dark family secrets are revealed, quirky friends and relatives are found, and love is discovered.Vesna, or Ves, is a cookbook writer from Minneapolis who travels to the remote, exotic island of Lastovo off Croatia's Mediterranean coast to reconnect with her biological grandmother. She'd been adopted as a young child after her parents died in the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s. Ves is also fleeing a frayed relationship with her live-in partner, Reed.In Lastovo, she meets Dinko, a single, handsome, and wealthy vineyard owner, and his cute daughter Mia. With his help with the translation, Ves discovers her biological family's history and the dark secrets of what happened during the war. Romance, travel, and cooking ensue. She ultimately learns what matters most to her: simplicity in life, closeness with family, and someone to share love with. And, of course, food!Stephanie [00:00:00]:Hello, everybody, and welcome to Dishing with Stephanie's Dish, the podcast where we talk to people in the food space and other spaces. All the spaces of all the fun things. Kurt is my spouse, Kurt Johnson, and also the co author of the Moon Tavern, a culinary romance with recipes. It is a fiction book that is available on your bookshelf now. Welcome to the podcast, Kurt.Kurt Johnson [00:00:22]:Hi, thanks for having me.Stephanie [00:00:24]:Thanks for having us. The idea that we should work on a book together. I am, as many of you listening know, a cookbook writer and my husband is a fiction writer. And somewhere along the way, we decided that maybe it would be good to collaborate together. Kurt, was it you or me that had the idea first? I think it was you.Kurt Johnson [00:00:42]:Yeah, probably. I was kind of done with my past book writing about Las Vegas and looking for something different. And we'd been traveling a lot, so going to Croatia, going to Italy, going out west, going to Turkey. So I wanted to incorporate travel with a novel, and I also wanted to incorporate food. And so I thought this would be a lot of fun. Since we're traveling together, we have those shared experiences and you have the food experience and the food writing experience. So I thought it'd be a fun collaboration. And I've always liked the idea of love stories.Kurt Johnson [00:01:18]:Even my thriller books in Las Vegas had kind of a love story element. And it adds a dimension to a novel that, I don't know, makes it cohesive, makes it pull together in an emotional arc that's kind of fulfilling in the end.Stephanie [00:01:33]:Do you think you're a romantic at heart, or what is it about romances that are fun to write for you?Kurt Johnson [00:01:39]:Maybe I'm a romance at heart. I may be more stoic than that, though. I just. I like the idea of seeing people get together, seeing people enjoy the same interests and finding people that can fall in love. Of course, that's always the fun part. The hard part is once you get married and move on from there and have to deal with kids and daily life and work and all the other things that go with living life. And that's not that much fun to write.Stephanie [00:02:07]:Yeah, exactly. We as a couple, I think I can speak for me and you maybe on this one. We've always had great experiences traveling. We are good traveling companions. We like the spirit of adventure. Did you know that Croatia would be the spot for the first fiction endeavor?Kurt Johnson [00:02:24]:Yeah, that was a given since we'd been there five times and four times running a sailboat and visiting the islands. And as you know, Stephanie, I'm just enamored with those islands, I think they're so beautiful. And there was one island we discovered out there, Lastovo, which is the furthest island out. So a lot of the sailors and tourists just never get there. They stay closer to shore. So, you know, going out there the first time, this beautiful bay of Zachlopedia, where, you know, it's a, it's a protective cove which is beautiful turquoise water. And then taking the dinghy in, and then you walk up this path, I think it's about a two mile hike. And then you go over this ridge and this 16th, 15th century town opens up.Kurt Johnson [00:03:10]:You know, at one point maybe it had 10,000 residents. And, and it, it, when we first saw it, I don't know, 10, 15 years ago, it was abandoned. So it was a ghost town of 15th century buildings and churches and apartments in this beautiful valley of lush green foliage. So that's very picturesque. We had an incredible meal there of just simple anchovies and blitfa. And for you, for you people out there that don't know, blitfa is ubiquitous in Croatia. And it's, it's just spring potatoes with Swiss chard, but it's served with everything.Stephanie [00:03:52]:It is served with everything. And they sometimes have spinach, sometimes have like another type of green, but it's sort of like the potatoes are cooked till they're pretty soft, and then it's kind of mashed in a little bit. So it's not fully a mashed potato and it's not fully a roasted potato. It's sort of a combination of both. But it is good.Kurt Johnson [00:04:12]:Yeah, so, yeah, that's so, you know, it seemed such an exotic place, the island of Lastovo in Croatia, that it was a natural to place it there.Stephanie [00:04:23]:Can you tell a little bit of just an introduction of the story, like what people will find when they crack open the book?Kurt Johnson [00:04:30]:Sure. It's about Vesna, who is. Has a breakup with her live in boyfriend, and they'd had a restaurant. She was a chef, a cookbook authority, and had a restaurant, not unlike my dear wife Stephanie. And she has a breakup and she leaves Minneapolis to go to Croatia to uncover her. Her heritage. She had been adopted from Croatia, specifically Dubrovnik, when her parents died in the Serb bombing of Dubrovnik in 1991. So she was adopted out of there and raised in Minnesota.Kurt Johnson [00:05:05]:So then she goes to Croatia and rediscovers her dark family secrets and meets Dinko Radek, who is a winery owner, and, you know, romance ensues. But she has a life still back in Minneapolis that she has to go back to and resolve.Stephanie [00:05:24]:When we talked about putting this first concept together, you know, I see the world through food. Like, literally everything in sort of my life is framed by a meal, an experience, just the way that I see the world. It's always around food, celebrations. And so did you know that that would work for this Croatia book? Because I didn't. When you first brought it up, I was like, I can't be a Croatian grandma here. And writing recipes about what at the time I perceived as, like, dumplings.Kurt Johnson [00:05:53]:Yeah, I wasn't sure either, frankly. You know, so each chapter, there's 25 chapters, and each chapter in it has a description of cooking. And it's all Croatia cooking, Croatia recipes. You know, all food we at over the years where we were there. And then the idea of tagging on recipes was just kind of bringing it home. Like, here's the Croatia experience. Now here's how Stephanie would bring that back to the real world, which is here in the United States.Stephanie [00:06:21]:We have talked about doing a series of books. What is it about this genre that you think lends itself to other titles and other characters?Kurt Johnson [00:06:29]:Well, you know, it's an adventure book on one level, and there's always new places to visit. So the next book is based in Panza, Italy, where we've been a couple times. And it's this beautiful island off the coast of Italy in the Mediterranean. And, you know, Italian food. You go to Italy and what you remember is the pizza in Naples or the. The pasta in Rome and. And the busteca up in the hills. So, you know, a way to experience a place is.Kurt Johnson [00:07:04]:Is through food. And I like writing about new settings. You know, it. It's not as interesting writing about Minnesota,Stephanie [00:07:11]:but you've written a lot about Las Vegas. You've had how many books about Las Vegas? Three.Kurt Johnson [00:07:16]:Yeah, three. You know, two of the. Of kind of a thriller in. Two thrillers in a series, and then a book about RVing that ends up in. In Las Vegas. And Las Vegas is a interesting place, and I lived there for five years running nightclubs and restaurants. And so two of the books are Underbelly of Las Vegas, which I was a part of in the nightclub scene back in the late 80s. So that's just flat out fun to write about.Kurt Johnson [00:07:39]:And Las Vegas is such a weirdo place that it's fun to bring that to life.Stephanie [00:07:45]:It's interesting to hear you talk about that. The way you choose your stories is about place, because the first book, the Barrens, that you wrote with our Daughter Ellie, inspired by her experiences as a canoe camper in the tundra. That's also based in Place, too. Place is sort of what starts you on these journeys. It seems like, yeah, you know something,Kurt Johnson [00:08:07]:you threw me a curveball because I never really thought about it. But you're exactly right.Stephanie [00:08:12]:All.Kurt Johnson [00:08:12]:All these books start off with a setting, with a place, and then, you know, the plots revolve around. Around that. And there's just so many. So many different. There's a finite number of, really, plots you can choose from. It's kind of like a piano keyboard has all the. The notes that you want to make up a. A music piece the same way with plot structures.Kurt Johnson [00:08:34]:And so to take it to the next level, you really have to search out characters, and the characters are in a setting, so those two are inexplicably, Inextricably. Inextricably linked. Yeah, exactly. So, you know, the two go hand in hand. So character and place really can set a novel apart.Stephanie [00:08:59]:Can you think of other books that you've written or. Excuse me. No, not that you've written, that you've read. Where Place sort of started you off on this adventure?Kurt Johnson [00:09:07]:Yeah, probably. I really love Beautiful Ruins.Stephanie [00:09:11]:Jess Walters.Kurt Johnson [00:09:13]:Walters, yeah. And that starts off in Italy, kind of near Cinque de Terre. And it's kind of the poor version of Cinque de Terre, where the tourists don't go. And it was such a fascinating story. And then they bring that all back to Hollywood in America, and it just works so well. But what really captures your imagination is the description of this little seaside community. Before the whole plot takes over, IStephanie [00:09:41]:kind of think about that book. The Embarrassment of Mangoes.Kurt Johnson [00:09:44]:Yeah.Stephanie [00:09:44]:When you and I first started sailing and going on these adventures, we read that book. It was about a couple that buys a boat and sails through the Caribbean, and she is discovering spices and fruits and vegetables and things that she's never eaten before. And I just loved that book. It was really what got me into sailing and thinking about how to make that our life and whether or not, you know, we could buy a boat and do that. And that boat really had a huge setting of place. Can you think of, like. I don't know. When I think of other books, there's very few books that I think about character first.Stephanie [00:10:19]:I usually always think about the place. Maybe that's just something.Kurt Johnson [00:10:22]:Or the plot, too. Yeah, they're all just linked together. And you don't think about. Well, you were saying you don't think about character as much.Stephanie [00:10:31]:Not really.Kurt Johnson [00:10:32]:Yeah, it's funny. I think, you know, the best books people say are character driven, but they're inexplicable. What's the word again?Stephanie [00:10:41]:Inextricably.Kurt Johnson [00:10:43]:Inextricably. Trouble with that. Linked. So, you know, you pick a place and you pick a plot and then you build these characters. The characters have to build around that plot and so they kind of naturally flow. And, and I, I think they, if they're well written and honest, you shouldn't think of them. You know, they're interesting characters and you'll say, you know, this is Rabbit and the Rabbit series. And you'll know, but you won't say, oh, that's just a great character.Kurt Johnson [00:11:10]:I, I, I don't know that I certainly, you know, I'm probably deep into it and I look at the craft a lot so I can see where somebody has really spent some time to develop an honest character or where, you know, the narrative voice comes through and, and a character comes to life through this first person narrative voice. So I see that a lot moreStephanie [00:11:30]:people have a real, like they can't believe you can write a book. Like the idea of the literal act of sitting down and writing and how that works. People fantasize about writing it, but then very few people do. What was it that got you over the hump from thinking about writing it to actually sitting down and doing it?Kurt Johnson [00:11:47]:Well, selling our business and all of a sudden being able to free up time. Because for me, novel writing and I think was it Chrisham talked about, you know, writing at 5 in the morning before he goes to work at 7. I just couldn't do that. You know, I just, I'm very focused on one thing and, and so I needed to free up my time from work in order to get going. And then it was, can you put together, you know, a thousand or fifteen hundred words every day so that it links up into a novel and have that, not only that, that discipline, but also have the creative juices to produce scenes almost every day because, you know, like a, a good novel is created from 50 scenes. So I went from, you know, writing a memoir that I probably won't publish just to see if I can get, you know, a thousand words every day and put this together to then writing Las Vegas turnaround. And there I, I, I really just copied a lot of plot structures that I saw that I liked. And so it was easier for me to set up main characters, set up tertiary characters, subplots, because I had a blueprint from somebody else.Kurt Johnson [00:12:56]:And then, and then once, you know, you Keep writing. You get muscle memory for it and it becomes more, more natural and actually more fun because it becomes more organic. You'll follow characters through a town and they'll meet somebody and all of a sudden that person becomes a character in their universe and they say something and all of a sudden that takes off and you have to follow it. Now, you know, the woman's gonna fall in love with a guy at the end. But getting there is the fun part. And now I can do that a lot more organically.Stephanie [00:13:27]:If you are talking to any aspiring novel writers, what kind of advice do you have for them to get started?Kurt Johnson [00:13:34]:Well, you know, you gotta lower your expectations just because publishing is so hard, you know.Stephanie [00:13:39]:Can you elaborate on that?Kurt Johnson [00:13:41]:Well, you know, there's maybe two or three or 400 agents, most of them in New York City and they're all trying to make a buck. And it's hard to make a buck off a debut writer. It helps if you're MFA and you're writing in a genre because, you know, let's say 70% of the books are read by women and 70% of those are romances. And then men, the other 30%, probably 80% of what they read are, you know, thrillers or mysteries. So if you can pick a genre, that always helps. But yeah, it, you have to be more thoughtful about it. And I think, I think so many first time writers, you know, once they get the discipline and put, put the, the words on a page, they write that first personal novel, you know, and I wrote my memoir and it's, it's really 90% of those, they, you know, people have the, they aspire for the great American novel and it's too personal, it's too close to home. They can't break out from the reality of their lives to have fun with the plot and make things happen.Kurt Johnson [00:14:45]:So a lot of times these books, nothing happens. They're deeply emotional books where nothing happens and they're, they're excruciatingly boring. So you gotta get past that phase and then you gotta look at it as a, as a craft. And, you know, a big chunk of it's art, of course, whatever you wanna call that, you know, shedding light on the human experience. But a big chunk is craft. And I don't think you can get to the craft for most people in that first book. So you gotta keep writing, you know, and realize that the first couple books may not get published. So, you know, the barons got published.Kurt Johnson [00:15:21]:That was one, two, that was my third, fourth book, you know, and the, and two, the, the first three, two of them were duds that will never be published.Stephanie [00:15:31]:Yeah. Yeah. All right, well, it's good to chat with you about the book. We are in the marketing process of the book. I feel like books come in three waves. One is the idea that you're thinking about it. The second, the actual writing of it. And then the third is actual the marketing of it.Stephanie [00:15:48]:What do you think's the hardest part?Kurt Johnson [00:15:49]:Well, I mean, it's. The hardest part's finding an agent and finding a publisher. Then if you self publish, the hardest part is marketing. And at least it is for me because writing is so natural and fun for me. But I think for most people, you know, the writing's a hard part. And, and you know, like the Minnesota writer o', Brien, he hates writing, so he forces himself. Tim o'. Brien.Kurt Johnson [00:16:12]:So he forces himself to get those books out there. So probably that's the hardest part for him.Stephanie [00:16:17]:We had, I had a cookbook, two cookbooks out and I had a publisher, but they didn't publish this book because it was a fiction book. I think some people just assume like, oh, well, they've already had books out, but we self published this book. Why did we make that decision from your standpoint?Kurt Johnson [00:16:33]:Well, we couldn't get an A list agent or a New York publisher. There's just not, it comes off as almost a debut book and it's hard for them to make any money. So if you can't get an A lister, then you're, you know, stuck with boutique publishing companies and others and, and they just don't support the marketing of your book. And I've self published books in the past, so I know how to do it. I know how to put a professional product out there. And, and we can, you know, both of us are marketers and, and Stephanie has a large platform, so we can do a lot of our own marketing or, or outsource it, you know, but still we retain most of the profits. So when we do the marketing, we can reinvested or keep those profits.Stephanie [00:17:17]:Yeah, I, when you say profits, it sounds like there's a lot there. I'd like to, I mean, I mean,Kurt Johnson [00:17:22]:maybe, maybe we broke it even at this point, but then now we're looking at a marketing PR firm that's going to set us back another $5,000. But you know, if, if these books succeed and somebody makes a lot of money, it's the, it's the third, you know, book that's going to put them over the top. It's not the first.Stephanie [00:17:40]:I have this idea too that we're going to write these books and then sooner or later someone's going to turn them into a T series because it's going to be like the White Lotus where each season is a different location and a different cast of characters, but sort of the general premise is sort of the same.Kurt Johnson [00:17:56]:I hope so. You know, I hope an A list agent comes along and, and frees us from our servitude or whatever. And, but, and yeah, you know, there's, there's plenty of stories of self published authors that, that get deals or even boutique. Boutique authors that get deals. So you know, we can dream.Stephanie [00:18:16]:One thing that I'd like the listener to hear is what their part is in this because we've. I was leaving the coffee shop today. We're in Ely. That is the vacation backgrounds. But.Kurt Johnson [00:18:25]:Right.Stephanie [00:18:25]:I was leaving the coffee shop today and a woman stopped me and said, Stephanie, I had the opportunity to read the Moon Tavern. It's so good. I loved it so much. And she's telling me about it and telling her friend. And I have that experience a lot where people have really, really enjoyed this book. And I just want the listener to know that leaving reviews on Goodreads or Amazon or Barnes and Noble or wherever you bought the book or if you can' find a book, asking for it at your local bookseller. Cause they can always order it when you're self published. The more buzz you can create about these books, the better chance that someone will hear about it, someone will buy it and eventually a publisher, if they hear about a book and they like it, then they may pick it up.Stephanie [00:19:03]:So I think if you like what you're reading and you want to see more of this type of work in the world and books that you like, that's something that you can do to help us out.Kurt Johnson [00:19:13]:Yes, a 5 on Amazon or top rating on any other Goodreads is good too. Yeah, it's, it's all, it's all good. So yes, those, those help a lot. Just because the more reviews you can get and the more five star reviews you get, the more people will pick up the book, the more buzz you'll get. So yeah, so it helps us immeasurably.Stephanie [00:19:35]:Another thing before we wrap up here, someone asked me about the Cover of the book. Do you want to talk about how you picked the artwork?Kurt Johnson [00:19:41]:Yeah, I was pretty much online Xee Reider, she's in St. Paul and she's a muralist mostly. And I really liked the look that she had. So I reached out to her, and she did the original artwork, and then each chapter ends with a recipe, and there's a pen and ink drawing, and she did those. And I really think that adds another level to the book. And I love a beautiful cover.Stephanie [00:20:10]:Yeah, the cover is really nice. She did a great job. All right, well, that is it for this episode of the podcast. Just want to chat with you and give people a little background. Thanks for being a guest. Stephanie Hansen's @StephaniesDish Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit stephaniehansen.substack.com/subscribe

My guest is Kurt Johnson Co-author of The Moon Tavern, A Culinary Love Story With Recipes. The Moon Tavern takes the reader on a romantic and culinary journey through the Islands of Croatia, where dark family secrets are revealed, quirky friends and relatives are found, and love is discovered.Vesna, or Ves, is a cookbook writer from Minneapolis who travels to the remote, exotic island of Lastovo off Croatia's Mediterranean coast to reconnect with her biological grandmother. She'd been adopted as a young child after her parents died in the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s. Ves is also fleeing a frayed relationship with her live-in partner, Reed.In Lastovo, she meets Dinko, a single, handsome, and wealthy vineyard owner, and his cute daughter Mia. With his help with the translation, Ves discovers her biological family's history and the dark secrets of what happened during the war. Romance, travel, and cooking ensue. She ultimately learns what matters most to her: simplicity in life, closeness with family, and someone to share love with. And, of course, food!Stephanie [00:00:00]:Hello, everybody, and welcome to Dishing with Stephanie's Dish, the podcast where we talk to people in the food space and other spaces. All the spaces of all the fun things. Kurt is my spouse, Kurt Johnson, and also the co author of the Moon Tavern, a culinary romance with recipes. It is a fiction book that is available on your bookshelf now. Welcome to the podcast, Kurt.Kurt Johnson [00:00:22]:Hi, thanks for having me.Stephanie [00:00:24]:Thanks for having us. The idea that we should work on a book together. I am, as many of you listening know, a cookbook writer and my husband is a fiction writer. And somewhere along the way, we decided that maybe it would be good to collaborate together. Kurt, was it you or me that had the idea first? I think it was you.Kurt Johnson [00:00:42]:Yeah, probably. I was kind of done with my past book writing about Las Vegas and looking for something different. And we'd been traveling a lot, so going to Croatia, going to Italy, going out west, going to Turkey. So I wanted to incorporate travel with a novel, and I also wanted to incorporate food. And so I thought this would be a lot of fun. Since we're traveling together, we have those shared experiences and you have the food experience and the food writing experience. So I thought it'd be a fun collaboration. And I've always liked the idea of love stories.Kurt Johnson [00:01:18]:Even my thriller books in Las Vegas had kind of a love story element. And it adds a dimension to a novel that, I don't know, makes it cohesive, makes it pull together in an emotional arc that's kind of fulfilling in the end.Stephanie [00:01:33]:Do you think you're a romantic at heart, or what is it about romances that are fun to write for you?Kurt Johnson [00:01:39]:Maybe I'm a romance at heart. I may be more stoic than that, though. I just. I like the idea of seeing people get together, seeing people enjoy the same interests and finding people that can fall in love. Of course, that's always the fun part. The hard part is once you get married and move on from there and have to deal with kids and daily life and work and all the other things that go with living life. And that's not that much fun to write.Stephanie [00:02:07]:Yeah, exactly. We as a couple, I think I can speak for me and you maybe on this one. We've always had great experiences traveling. We are good traveling companions. We like the spirit of adventure. Did you know that Croatia would be the spot for the first fiction endeavor?Kurt Johnson [00:02:24]:Yeah, that was a given since we'd been there five times and four times running a sailboat and visiting the islands. And as you know, Stephanie, I'm just enamored with those islands, I think they're so beautiful. And there was one island we discovered out there, Lastovo, which is the furthest island out. So a lot of the sailors and tourists just never get there. They stay closer to shore. So, you know, going out there the first time, this beautiful bay of Zachlopedia, where, you know, it's a, it's a protective cove which is beautiful turquoise water. And then taking the dinghy in, and then you walk up this path, I think it's about a two mile hike. And then you go over this ridge and this 16th, 15th century town opens up.Kurt Johnson [00:03:10]:You know, at one point maybe it had 10,000 residents. And, and it, it, when we first saw it, I don't know, 10, 15 years ago, it was abandoned. So it was a ghost town of 15th century buildings and churches and apartments in this beautiful valley of lush green foliage. So that's very picturesque. We had an incredible meal there of just simple anchovies and blitfa. And for you, for you people out there that don't know, blitfa is ubiquitous in Croatia. And it's, it's just spring potatoes with Swiss chard, but it's served with everything.Stephanie [00:03:52]:It is served with everything. And they sometimes have spinach, sometimes have like another type of green, but it's sort of like the potatoes are cooked till they're pretty soft, and then it's kind of mashed in a little bit. So it's not fully a mashed potato and it's not fully a roasted potato. It's sort of a combination of both. But it is good.Kurt Johnson [00:04:12]:Yeah, so, yeah, that's so, you know, it seemed such an exotic place, the island of Lastovo in Croatia, that it was a natural to place it there.Stephanie [00:04:23]:Can you tell a little bit of just an introduction of the story, like what people will find when they crack open the book?Kurt Johnson [00:04:30]:Sure. It's about Vesna, who is. Has a breakup with her live in boyfriend, and they'd had a restaurant. She was a chef, a cookbook authority, and had a restaurant, not unlike my dear wife Stephanie. And she has a breakup and she leaves Minneapolis to go to Croatia to uncover her. Her heritage. She had been adopted from Croatia, specifically Dubrovnik, when her parents died in the Serb bombing of Dubrovnik in 1991. So she was adopted out of there and raised in Minnesota.Kurt Johnson [00:05:05]:So then she goes to Croatia and rediscovers her dark family secrets and meets Dinko Radek, who is a winery owner, and, you know, romance ensues. But she has a life still back in Minneapolis that she has to go back to and resolve.Stephanie [00:05:24]:When we talked about putting this first concept together, you know, I see the world through food. Like, literally everything in sort of my life is framed by a meal, an experience, just the way that I see the world. It's always around food, celebrations. And so did you know that that would work for this Croatia book? Because I didn't. When you first brought it up, I was like, I can't be a Croatian grandma here. And writing recipes about what at the time I perceived as, like, dumplings.Kurt Johnson [00:05:53]:Yeah, I wasn't sure either, frankly. You know, so each chapter, there's 25 chapters, and each chapter in it has a description of cooking. And it's all Croatia cooking, Croatia recipes. You know, all food we at over the years where we were there. And then the idea of tagging on recipes was just kind of bringing it home. Like, here's the Croatia experience. Now here's how Stephanie would bring that back to the real world, which is here in the United States.Stephanie [00:06:21]:We have talked about doing a series of books. What is it about this genre that you think lends itself to other titles and other characters?Kurt Johnson [00:06:29]:Well, you know, it's an adventure book on one level, and there's always new places to visit. So the next book is based in Panza, Italy, where we've been a couple times. And it's this beautiful island off the coast of Italy in the Mediterranean. And, you know, Italian food. You go to Italy and what you remember is the pizza in Naples or the. The pasta in Rome and. And the busteca up in the hills. So, you know, a way to experience a place is.Kurt Johnson [00:07:04]:Is through food. And I like writing about new settings. You know, it. It's not as interesting writing about Minnesota,Stephanie [00:07:11]:but you've written a lot about Las Vegas. You've had how many books about Las Vegas? Three.Kurt Johnson [00:07:16]:Yeah, three. You know, two of the. Of kind of a thriller in. Two thrillers in a series, and then a book about RVing that ends up in. In Las Vegas. And Las Vegas is a interesting place, and I lived there for five years running nightclubs and restaurants. And so two of the books are Underbelly of Las Vegas, which I was a part of in the nightclub scene back in the late 80s. So that's just flat out fun to write about.Kurt Johnson [00:07:39]:And Las Vegas is such a weirdo place that it's fun to bring that to life.Stephanie [00:07:45]:It's interesting to hear you talk about that. The way you choose your stories is about place, because the first book, the Barrens, that you wrote with our Daughter Ellie, inspired by her experiences as a canoe camper in the tundra. That's also based in Place, too. Place is sort of what starts you on these journeys. It seems like, yeah, you know something,Kurt Johnson [00:08:07]:you threw me a curveball because I never really thought about it. But you're exactly right.Stephanie [00:08:12]:All.Kurt Johnson [00:08:12]:All these books start off with a setting, with a place, and then, you know, the plots revolve around. Around that. And there's just so many. So many different. There's a finite number of, really, plots you can choose from. It's kind of like a piano keyboard has all the. The notes that you want to make up a. A music piece the same way with plot structures.Kurt Johnson [00:08:34]:And so to take it to the next level, you really have to search out characters, and the characters are in a setting, so those two are inexplicably, Inextricably. Inextricably linked. Yeah, exactly. So, you know, the two go hand in hand. So character and place really can set a novel apart.Stephanie [00:08:59]:Can you think of other books that you've written or. Excuse me. No, not that you've written, that you've read. Where Place sort of started you off on this adventure?Kurt Johnson [00:09:07]:Yeah, probably. I really love Beautiful Ruins.Stephanie [00:09:11]:Jess Walters.Kurt Johnson [00:09:13]:Walters, yeah. And that starts off in Italy, kind of near Cinque de Terre. And it's kind of the poor version of Cinque de Terre, where the tourists don't go. And it was such a fascinating story. And then they bring that all back to Hollywood in America, and it just works so well. But what really captures your imagination is the description of this little seaside community. Before the whole plot takes over, IStephanie [00:09:41]:kind of think about that book. The Embarrassment of Mangoes.Kurt Johnson [00:09:44]:Yeah.Stephanie [00:09:44]:When you and I first started sailing and going on these adventures, we read that book. It was about a couple that buys a boat and sails through the Caribbean, and she is discovering spices and fruits and vegetables and things that she's never eaten before. And I just loved that book. It was really what got me into sailing and thinking about how to make that our life and whether or not, you know, we could buy a boat and do that. And that boat really had a huge setting of place. Can you think of, like. I don't know. When I think of other books, there's very few books that I think about character first.Stephanie [00:10:19]:I usually always think about the place. Maybe that's just something.Kurt Johnson [00:10:22]:Or the plot, too. Yeah, they're all just linked together. And you don't think about. Well, you were saying you don't think about character as much.Stephanie [00:10:31]:Not really.Kurt Johnson [00:10:32]:Yeah, it's funny. I think, you know, the best books people say are character driven, but they're inexplicable. What's the word again?Stephanie [00:10:41]:Inextricably.Kurt Johnson [00:10:43]:Inextricably. Trouble with that. Linked. So, you know, you pick a place and you pick a plot and then you build these characters. The characters have to build around that plot and so they kind of naturally flow. And, and I, I think they, if they're well written and honest, you shouldn't think of them. You know, they're interesting characters and you'll say, you know, this is Rabbit and the Rabbit series. And you'll know, but you won't say, oh, that's just a great character.Kurt Johnson [00:11:10]:I, I, I don't know that I certainly, you know, I'm probably deep into it and I look at the craft a lot so I can see where somebody has really spent some time to develop an honest character or where, you know, the narrative voice comes through and, and a character comes to life through this first person narrative voice. So I see that a lot moreStephanie [00:11:30]:people have a real, like they can't believe you can write a book. Like the idea of the literal act of sitting down and writing and how that works. People fantasize about writing it, but then very few people do. What was it that got you over the hump from thinking about writing it to actually sitting down and doing it?Kurt Johnson [00:11:47]:Well, selling our business and all of a sudden being able to free up time. Because for me, novel writing and I think was it Chrisham talked about, you know, writing at 5 in the morning before he goes to work at 7. I just couldn't do that. You know, I just, I'm very focused on one thing and, and so I needed to free up my time from work in order to get going. And then it was, can you put together, you know, a thousand or fifteen hundred words every day so that it links up into a novel and have that, not only that, that discipline, but also have the creative juices to produce scenes almost every day because, you know, like a, a good novel is created from 50 scenes. So I went from, you know, writing a memoir that I probably won't publish just to see if I can get, you know, a thousand words every day and put this together to then writing Las Vegas turnaround. And there I, I, I really just copied a lot of plot structures that I saw that I liked. And so it was easier for me to set up main characters, set up tertiary characters, subplots, because I had a blueprint from somebody else.Kurt Johnson [00:12:56]:And then, and then once, you know, you Keep writing. You get muscle memory for it and it becomes more, more natural and actually more fun because it becomes more organic. You'll follow characters through a town and they'll meet somebody and all of a sudden that person becomes a character in their universe and they say something and all of a sudden that takes off and you have to follow it. Now, you know, the woman's gonna fall in love with a guy at the end. But getting there is the fun part. And now I can do that a lot more organically.Stephanie [00:13:27]:If you are talking to any aspiring novel writers, what kind of advice do you have for them to get started?Kurt Johnson [00:13:34]:Well, you know, you gotta lower your expectations just because publishing is so hard, you know.Stephanie [00:13:39]:Can you elaborate on that?Kurt Johnson [00:13:41]:Well, you know, there's maybe two or three or 400 agents, most of them in New York City and they're all trying to make a buck. And it's hard to make a buck off a debut writer. It helps if you're MFA and you're writing in a genre because, you know, let's say 70% of the books are read by women and 70% of those are romances. And then men, the other 30%, probably 80% of what they read are, you know, thrillers or mysteries. So if you can pick a genre, that always helps. But yeah, it, you have to be more thoughtful about it. And I think, I think so many first time writers, you know, once they get the discipline and put, put the, the words on a page, they write that first personal novel, you know, and I wrote my memoir and it's, it's really 90% of those, they, you know, people have the, they aspire for the great American novel and it's too personal, it's too close to home. They can't break out from the reality of their lives to have fun with the plot and make things happen.Kurt Johnson [00:14:45]:So a lot of times these books, nothing happens. They're deeply emotional books where nothing happens and they're, they're excruciatingly boring. So you gotta get past that phase and then you gotta look at it as a, as a craft. And, you know, a big chunk of it's art, of course, whatever you wanna call that, you know, shedding light on the human experience. But a big chunk is craft. And I don't think you can get to the craft for most people in that first book. So you gotta keep writing, you know, and realize that the first couple books may not get published. So, you know, the barons got published.Kurt Johnson [00:15:21]:That was one, two, that was my third, fourth book, you know, and the, and two, the, the first three, two of them were duds that will never be published.Stephanie [00:15:31]:Yeah. Yeah. All right, well, it's good to chat with you about the book. We are in the marketing process of the book. I feel like books come in three waves. One is the idea that you're thinking about it. The second, the actual writing of it. And then the third is actual the marketing of it.Stephanie [00:15:48]:What do you think's the hardest part?Kurt Johnson [00:15:49]:Well, I mean, it's. The hardest part's finding an agent and finding a publisher. Then if you self publish, the hardest part is marketing. And at least it is for me because writing is so natural and fun for me. But I think for most people, you know, the writing's a hard part. And, and you know, like the Minnesota writer o', Brien, he hates writing, so he forces himself. Tim o'. Brien.Kurt Johnson [00:16:12]:So he forces himself to get those books out there. So probably that's the hardest part for him.Stephanie [00:16:17]:We had, I had a cookbook, two cookbooks out and I had a publisher, but they didn't publish this book because it was a fiction book. I think some people just assume like, oh, well, they've already had books out, but we self published this book. Why did we make that decision from your standpoint?Kurt Johnson [00:16:33]:Well, we couldn't get an A list agent or a New York publisher. There's just not, it comes off as almost a debut book and it's hard for them to make any money. So if you can't get an A lister, then you're, you know, stuck with boutique publishing companies and others and, and they just don't support the marketing of your book. And I've self published books in the past, so I know how to do it. I know how to put a professional product out there. And, and we can, you know, both of us are marketers and, and Stephanie has a large platform, so we can do a lot of our own marketing or, or outsource it, you know, but still we retain most of the profits. So when we do the marketing, we can reinvested or keep those profits.Stephanie [00:17:17]:Yeah, I, when you say profits, it sounds like there's a lot there. I'd like to, I mean, I mean,Kurt Johnson [00:17:22]:maybe, maybe we broke it even at this point, but then now we're looking at a marketing PR firm that's going to set us back another $5,000. But you know, if, if these books succeed and somebody makes a lot of money, it's the, it's the third, you know, book that's going to put them over the top. It's not the first.Stephanie [00:17:40]:I have this idea too that we're going to write these books and then sooner or later someone's going to turn them into a T series because it's going to be like the White Lotus where each season is a different location and a different cast of characters, but sort of the general premise is sort of the same.Kurt Johnson [00:17:56]:I hope so. You know, I hope an A list agent comes along and, and frees us from our servitude or whatever. And, but, and yeah, you know, there's, there's plenty of stories of self published authors that, that get deals or even boutique. Boutique authors that get deals. So you know, we can dream.Stephanie [00:18:16]:One thing that I'd like the listener to hear is what their part is in this because we've. I was leaving the coffee shop today. We're in Ely. That is the vacation backgrounds. But.Kurt Johnson [00:18:25]:Right.Stephanie [00:18:25]:I was leaving the coffee shop today and a woman stopped me and said, Stephanie, I had the opportunity to read the Moon Tavern. It's so good. I loved it so much. And she's telling me about it and telling her friend. And I have that experience a lot where people have really, really enjoyed this book. And I just want the listener to know that leaving reviews on Goodreads or Amazon or Barnes and Noble or wherever you bought the book or if you can' find a book, asking for it at your local bookseller. Cause they can always order it when you're self published. The more buzz you can create about these books, the better chance that someone will hear about it, someone will buy it and eventually a publisher, if they hear about a book and they like it, then they may pick it up.Stephanie [00:19:03]:So I think if you like what you're reading and you want to see more of this type of work in the world and books that you like, that's something that you can do to help us out.Kurt Johnson [00:19:13]:Yes, a 5 on Amazon or top rating on any other Goodreads is good too. Yeah, it's, it's all, it's all good. So yes, those, those help a lot. Just because the more reviews you can get and the more five star reviews you get, the more people will pick up the book, the more buzz you'll get. So yeah, so it helps us immeasurably.Stephanie [00:19:35]:Another thing before we wrap up here, someone asked me about the Cover of the book. Do you want to talk about how you picked the artwork?Kurt Johnson [00:19:41]:Yeah, I was pretty much online Xee Reider, she's in St. Paul and she's a muralist mostly. And I really liked the look that she had. So I reached out to her, and she did the original artwork, and then each chapter ends with a recipe, and there's a pen and ink drawing, and she did those. And I really think that adds another level to the book. And I love a beautiful cover.Stephanie [00:20:10]:Yeah, the cover is really nice. She did a great job. All right, well, that is it for this episode of the podcast. Just want to chat with you and give people a little background. Thanks for being a guest. Stephanie Hansen's @StephaniesDish Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit stephaniehansen.substack.com/subscribe

July 5, 2026; 7am: After being delayed by severe weather, President Trump delivers a patriotic and yet partisan speech to mark America's 250th birthday hours after masked white supremacists march in the nation's Capitol. MS NOW's Eddie Glaude Jr. and Michele Norris join “The Weekend” to discuss. For more, follow us on social media: Bluesky: @theweekendmsnow.bsky.social Instagram: @theweekendmsnow TikTok: @theweekendmsnow To listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Extant the UK's leading professional performing arts company of blind and visually impaired artists is continuing to lead the conversation around accessibility in the arts, returning to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this summer in partnership with Underbelly as principal venue partner which will include three enhance shows alongside a new visually impaired-led showcase on 18 August 2026 spanning theatre, dance and comedy .RNIB Connect Radio's Toby Davey was joined by Dr Maria Oshodi, Artistic Director and CEO of Extant, for a look back on access at the Edinburgh Festival fringe from taking the ‘Effing and Blinding' Cabaret too the Fringe in 2007, celebrating Extant's 25 anniversary in 2022 by helping Tom Skelton and Amy Bethan Evans to take their shows to the Festival Fringe and following on from the great success of their 2025 programme a look forward to this year's programme including the three enhance shows, the showcase on 18 August at Underbelly and much more besides. To find out more about Extant and their programme of performances and events for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2026 do visit their website - https://extant.org.uk(Image shows the RNIB Connect Radio logo. On a white background ‘RNIB' written in bold black capital letters and underlined with a bold pink line. Underneath the line: ‘Connect Radio' is written in black in a smaller font)

When Addison Rae headlined Coachella this year and the crowd lost it to “Fame Is a Gun,” the cultural momentum felt instant. But the social infrastructure behind that track was built months in advance, one creator at a time, by Griffin Haddrill and his team at LV8. By moving past the standard 48-hour launch spike and focusing on an always-on creator strategy, they drove over 80 million views and a staggering 9% engagement rate. What You'll Learn in This Episode How to move past the standard 48-hour launch spike and build true cultural momentum What a deep, hyper-specific audience mapping approach looks like compared to standard demographic targeting How to build and organize a massive global framework of editors for real-time clipping strategies Why organic marketing and performance marketing must live in separate, equal buckets to scale effectively The real data behind human-led vs. AI-driven creative performance and how it impacts consumer retention Episode Chapters (00:00) Intro (04:00) Moving Beyond the 48-Hour Launch Spike (05:29) The Power of Depth in Audience Targeting (07:22) Setting a 9% Engagement Rate Standard (08:31) Capturing Lightning in a Bottle with Speed to Market (09:59) The Underbelly of Social Strategy: Clipping and Global Editors (11:39) Splitting the Buckets: Organic Brand Building vs. Performance Marketing (14:12) The Hidden Impact of AI on Consumer Attention and Retention (18:48) Human-Led Creative vs. AI Performance Data (21:48) The Brand That Made Griffin Smile (22:30) Outro About Griffin Haddrill Griffin Haddrill is the founder of LV8, a Gen Z-founded and led digital-first agency based out of Las Vegas. LV8 specializes in creator-led strategies that drive massive digital culture momentum for music labels and global legacy brands alike. Known for pushing past traditional marketing frameworks, Griffin and his team have orchestrated high-profile lifecycle campaigns for artists like Addison Rae and major entertainment partnerships with Columbia Records. What Brand Has Made Griffin Smile Recently? e.l.f. Cosmetics recently put a massive smile on Griffin's face with their unexpected Liquid Death collaboration. He loved how two highly unique, disruptive brands came together to create something incredibly fun, cool, and beautifully chaotic for their shared communities. Resources & Links Connect with Griffin on LinkedIn. Check out the LV8 website. Listen & Support the Show Watch or listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Amazon/Audible, TuneIn, and iHeart. Rate and review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify to help others find the show. Share this episode — email a friend or colleague this episode. Sign up for my free Story Strategies newsletter for branding and storytelling tips. On Brand is a part of the Marketing Podcast Network. Until next week, I'll see you on the Internet! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Anthony Santana survived fentanyl addiction, homelessness, drug dealing, and nearly 100 overdoses — but what he saw inside the rehab industry shocked him almost as much as the streets. In this episode of The Connect, Anthony exposes the dark world of rehab corruption, body brokering, and treatment centers allegedly profiting from fentanyl addicts through insurance payouts. He breaks down how addicts are recruited, paid, recycled through detox programs, and sometimes pushed back into relapse so the money keeps flowing. Anthony also opens up about selling fentanyl and Xanax in California, living homeless in Los Angeles, dealing drugs in MacArthur Park, surviving overdoses, and eventually finding real recovery after years of addiction. This is a raw look at the fentanyl crisis, the California rehab scam, and the hidden business behind addiction treatment. Go Support Anthony! Rehab and Recovery: https://www.instagram.com/losangelesoutreach/ IG: https://www.instagram.com/4nthonys4nt4na/ This Episode Is #Sponsored By The Following: Betterhelp! You don't have to say yes to everything this summer. Find support in therapy. Sign up and get 10% off at https://betterhelp.com/connect Cash App! Download Cash App Today: https://capl.onelink.me #CashAppPod ash App is a financial services platform, not a bank. Banking services provided by Cash App's bank partner(s). Prepaid debit cards issued by Sutton Bank, Member FDIC. Cash App Visa® Debit Flex Cards issued by Sutton Bank, Member FDIC, and The Bancorp Bank, N.A., pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. See terms and conditions for the Sutton prepaid card, Sutton debit flex card, and Bancorp debit flex card. Cash App Green features, Savings, Direct deposit, Round ups, Overdraft coverage and Discounts provided by Cash App, a Block, Inc. brand. Visit cash.app/legal/podcast for full disclosures. Join The Patreon For Bonus Content! https://www.patreon.com/theconnectshow 00:00 Opening & Anthony's Background 03:35 Addiction, Overdose, and Hope 06:20 Growing Up, Family & Early Drug Use 11:00 Dealing, Trauma & Progression to Fentanyl 17:00 Scaling Up Drug Operations 20:33 This Episode Is Sponsored By Betterhelp 221:58 Dangers, Setups & Violence 34:27 Homelessness, Drug Dealing in LA, and the Senior Home 40:22 This Episode Is Sponsored By Cash App 41:45 Body Brokering & Rehab Industry Corruption 46:02 MacArthur Park: LA's Open Air Drug Market 51:41 Drug Availability, Pricing & Street Hustle 53:00 Inside the Fentanyl and Xanax Supply Chains 57:00 Adapting, Staying Out of Jail, and the Online Drug Trade 01:02:56 Bay Area Drug Scene & Violence 01:09:47 Struggles with Treatment & Homelessness 01:16:00 Human Trafficking, Customers, and the Underbelly of LA 01:20:35 Getting Sober & Redemption 01:26:00 Reflections, Family & Final Thoughts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Extant, the UK's leading professional performing arts company of blind and visually impaired artists, will return to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this summer building on the success of its landmark 2025 programme. The company will present three Enhance shows alongside a new showcase, in partnership with Underbelly as principal venue partner on 18th August celebrating a number of the most exciting visually impaired-led performances including stand-up, cabaret, dance, theatre and new writing. Amelia Cavallo who will be presenting ‘An Evening with Tito Bone' as part of the extant showcase gives RNIB Connect Radio's Toby Davey a bit about her background as a visually impaired Artist and more about ‘An Evening with Tito Bone' as well as what people can expect from the Extant showcase at underbelly on 18 August 2026. To find out more about the Extant Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2026 programme including the three enhance shows and the showcase at Underbelly on 18 August 2026 do visit the company's website - https://extant.org.uk(Image shows the RNIB Connect Radio logo. On a white background ‘RNIB' written in bold black capital letters and underlined with a bold pink line. Underneath the line: ‘Connect Radio' is written in black in a smaller font)

Al & Val strap on their glass Doc Martins and go down the rabbit hole for this time travel-y installment of the Descendents-verse.Also, don't miss us IN PERSON with Stu Krieger at iO Theater on June 17th, 2026. Get your Tickets Descendents: Rise of Red (July 12, 2024) IMDB WikipediaDirected by Jennifer Phang (tv credits - Rise of Red TV show)Written by Josann McGibbon & Sara Parriott (Runaway Bride, Descendents 1-5) & Dan Frey (Rise of Red TV show)Starring: Kylie Cantrall as Red (Gabby Duran & The Unsittables, music videos, HSMTMTS, Rise of Red show)Malia Baker as Chloe Charming (Babysitters Club, Rise of Red show)China Anne McClain as Uma (A.N.T. Farm, How to Build a Better Boy, Descendants-verse, Black Lightening, House of Payne)Dara Reneé as Uliana (Freaky Friday, HSMTMTS, Rise of Red show)Rita Ora as the Queen of Hearts of Wonderland (music videos, Fifty Shades of Grey, Southpaw, Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight, Rise of Red show) Ruby Rose Turner as Bridget, the young Queen of Hearts (Coop and Cami Ask the World, Eden, Rise of Red show)Brandy as Cinderella (music videos, Cinderella, Moesha, The Game, Star, Rise of Red show, The Front Room, I Know What You Did Last Summer)Morgan Dudley as Ella, the young Cinderella (The Prom, Rise of Red show)Joshua Colley as the young Hook (Peter Rabbit, Dead Boy Detectives, Rise of Red show, Moonburn)Peder Lindell as Morgie (Rise of Red show, Hidden Falls)Paolo Montalban as King Charming (Cinderella, Mortal Combat: Conquest, Rise of Red show)Tristan Padil as young Prince Charming (Rise of Red show)Melanie Paxson as Fairy Godmother (Happy Family, Notes from the Underbelly, Saving Mr. Banks, Descendants 1-5)Grace Narducci as Fay, the young Fairy Godmother (character actor - Rise of Red show)Levin Valayil as Aladdin (Rise of Red show)Kabir Bery as young Aladdin (Rise of Red show)Shazia Pascal as Jasmine (music videos, Rise of Red show, Get Him Back for Christmas)Aiza Azaar as young Jasmine (Rise of Red show)Jeremy Swift as Merlin (The Smoking Room, Downton Abbey, Ted Lasso, Rise of Red show)Leonardo Nam as Maddox Hatter (Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, FATF: Tokyo Drift, Westworld, Maggie, Rise of Red show)Mars as young Maleficent (Rise of Red show)Anthony Pyatt as young Hades (Rise of Red show)Julee Cerda as Evil Stepmother (character actor, Blindspot, Mighty Ducks: Game Changers, Rise of Red show)Synopsis: After the Queen of Hearts incites a coup on Auradon, her rebellious daughter Red and Cinderella's perfectionist daughter Chloe join forces and travel back in time to try to undo the traumatic event that set Red's mother down her villainous path.Fun Facts: Brandy and Paolo Montalban reprised their roles from 1997's CinderellaNext Movie: Zombies 4: Rise of the VampiresCreators & Guests Allie Ring - Host Val Agnew - Host ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Exactly 500 episodes later one of the UK's most acclaimed comics, Sara Pascoe, returns to the show. Fresh off her latest tour, I Am A Strange Gloop, we discuss:how comedians become addicted to rejectionthe imbalance of what the circuit means for different comedianswhy there should be a workshop for comics to survive panel showsthe impossible balance between truth and funny in stand-upwhether using writers in comedy is “cheating”and we find out if Sara Pascoe is happy…Join the Insiders Club at Patreon.com/ComComPod where you can instantly WATCH the full episode and get access to exclusive extras where discuss the hidden world of corporate gigs including:why corporates can feel impossible from the startthe different standards held between public and private showsand we unpack the survival tactics used by pro comics on the circuit

It's easy to glamorize small town life … but Kevin Hardcastle's new novel, County Road Six, is all about the darkness lurking in rural Canada. When Arthur O'Hare dies, his three daughters return to the family farm to sort through what he left behind. But what they inherit is more than land — it's a shadowy history they never knew existed. County Road Six is a dramatic thriller about economic decline, family secrets and the lengths people will go to survive. It's a compelling and unsettling story that pulls from Kevin's own background growing up as a working class kid in rural Ontario. This week, Kevin tells Mattea Roach about exploring the rural Canadian experience, adding elements of horror to his stories and why towns can be more dangerous than cities. Liked this conversation? Keep listening:The beauty and despair of Appalachia Buffoon or genius? What makes a cult leader? Check us out on Instagram @cbcbooks and TikTok @cbcbooks

Navigating the Shadows: Inside the Underbelly with Eric Robinson Recently retired from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), after 24 years as a special agent, Eric Robinson worked a range of crimes including white collar, counterterrorism, crimes against children, gangs, drugs, and public corruption. He served as a SWAT operator, a firearms instructor, and a tactics instructor.  Eric will soon release his first book, a collection of the humorous, surprising, and intriguing moments from his career. The memoir combines his years in law enforcement with his career prior to the Bureau. Eric joined the FBI after 12 years in Christian ministry, to include pastoring a Baptist church in Western NY.With a background as a pastor and years of experience in HUMINT, recruiting and developing informants, Eric is a gifted and easy speaker. He uses humor to disarm and a quick wit to win people over.Links:http://www.preachertobreacher.com/https://www.instagram.com/_eric_robinson/Tagspodcast for creatives,creative podcast,podcast creator interviews,professional podcast,creative podcasts,podcast host interviews,creative podcast ideas,Books,Communication,Crime,Current Events,FBI Agent,Law Enforcement,Religion,Terrorism,Trauma Recovery,True CrimeSupport PEG by checking out our Sponsors:Download and use Newsly for free now from www.newsly.me or from the link in the description, and use promo code “GHOST” and receive a 1-month free premium subscription.The best tool for getting podcast guests:https://podmatch.com/signup/phantomelectricghostSubscribe to our Instagram for exclusive content:https://www.instagram.com/expansive_sound_experiments/Subscribe to our YouTube https://youtube.com/@phantomelectricghost?si=rEyT56WQvDsAoRprRSShttps://anchor.fm/s/3b31908/podcast/rssSubstackhttps://substack.com/@phantomelectricghost?utm_source=edit-profile-page

Wave upon tasty wave will buoy you along as Scooter tries to fill the empty pail of his mind with thoughts on loofahs, bamboo chimes, and going Full Limbic. Enjoy this collection of intros for the holiday weekend!The show really needs your help right now. Keep Sleep With Me going and get hours of bonus content by joining Sleep With Me Plus! sleepwithmepodcast.com/plusGet your Sleep With Me SleepPhones. Use "sleepwithme" for $5 off!!Are you looking for Story Only versions or two more nights of Sleep With Me a week? Then check out Bedtime Stories from Sleep With MeThis episode is produced by Rusty Biscuit aka Russell Sperberg.Show Artwork by Emily TatGoing through a hard time? You can find support at the Crisis Textline and see more global helplines here.HELIX SLEEP - Take the 2-minute sleep quiz and they'll match you to a customized mattress that'll give you the best sleep of your life. Visit helixsleep.com/sleep and get a special deal exclusive for SWM listeners!ZOCDOC - With Zocdoc, you can search for local doctors who take your insurance, read verified patient reviews and book an appointment, in-person or video chat. Download the Zocdoc app to sign-up for FREE at zocdoc.com/sleepPROGRESSIVE - With the Name Your Price tool, you tell Progressive how much you want to pay for car insurance, and they'll show you coverage options that fit your budget. Get your quote today at progressive.comCOYUCHI - Coyuchi offers luxury bedding, bath, and home products that you can feel good about. Made with natural fibers and certified to be free of toxins, they'll have you feeling great, too. Get 15% off their organic luxury bedding at coyuchi.com/sleep Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Underbelly and Blue Murder were taken down when court proceedings got under way - but Nine won’t budge on its Ben Roberts-Smith documentary Truth On Trial. Plus - how Seven surprised everyone - especially Media diarist Steve Jackson - by winning the ratings in the crucial evening news slot. Read more about this story at theaustralian.com.au and see the video by subscribing to our YouTube channel. Read Steve Jackson’s Media Diary here Complex BRS case will test Defence Seven’s Ray Kuka plots Nine’s demise This episode of The Front is presented and produced by Claire Harvey and edited by Joshua Burton. Our team includes Kristen Amiet, Lia Tsamoglou, Tiffany Dimmack, and Jasper Leak, who also composed our music. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A deep-dive investigation that explores the jagged, unexplained underbelly of rock and roll history. We move beyond the standard biographies and "behind the music" tropes to confront the cold cases, sonic hauntings, and metaphysical puzzles that have defied explanation for decades.From the rain-slicked streets of 1990s Seattle to the high-desert silences of the American Southwest, This episode pulls back the velvet curtain on the stories musicians were too afraid to tell and the secrets the industry tried to bury. We analyze the "4 REAL" evidence of vanishing superstars, the eerie prophecies hidden in cult discographies, and the dark patterns of the legendary 27 Club.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/missing-persons-mysteries--5624803/support.

In the small hours of a November morning in 2019, a security camera at London's MI6 building captured a figure falling five storeys from an apartment building and into the Thames. But there was so much more to the young man's life that could inform what really happened to him.

What happens when a successful business owner makes a bold decision to change, but the community she serves isn't ready to let go?In this raw and deeply cathartic conversation, Laurie Reynoldson welcomes back Annie Tevelin, founder of Skin Owl, Daybreak Colour, and Gem Jolie.Annie recently announced the closure of her brick-and-mortar Skin Owl store in Boise, Idaho—a decision made from a place of vision and growth. However, the public reaction was a shock: ranging from invasive harassment to wild speculations about her health and finances.This episode explores the "underbelly" of being a public-facing entrepreneur and the incredible bravery required to stay sovereign in your choices when others project their fears onto your progress.In this episode, you'll learn:The "Entrepreneur Marathon": Why building a business is less about the product and more about the personal development journey that builds the founder.The "Mean Girl" Underbelly of Success: How a lack of certainty in the public can lead to harmful speculation and why women must allow other women to be malleable in their lives.The Concept of Sovereignty: Annie shares why her new focus is on "complete authority and independence" over her choices, even if those choices aren't understood by the majority.Skin Owl 2.0: A sneak peek into why the next iteration of the brand will be better for both the founder and the community.Living a Fluid Life: From gaining UK citizenship to dreaming of summers in London, Annie and Laurie discuss why staying open to new "chapters" is the ultimate privilege of midlife."It is not my job to live at the length of your ceiling." — Annie Tevelin Episode Resources & LinksSkin Owl: Follow the journey into the new space.Gem Jolie: Salad delivery sourced from Idaho farms.Daybreak Colour: Boise's premiere color analysis experienceSable International: The firm Annie used for her UK citizenship process. The BEST LIFE Mastermind: Join the waitlist for this nine-month personal leadership experience. 

Fast Forward or Frontline? Blue Murder or Bluey? A look at Australia’s top 25 TV shows: the hits, some misses and our persistent cultural cringe. Find out more about The Front podcast here. You can read about this story and more on The Australian's website or on The Australian’s app. The weekend edition of The Front is co-produced by Claire Harvey and Jasper Leak. The host is Claire Harvey. Audio production and editing by Jasper Leak who also composed our theme.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Charlene Kaye is a musician and comedian based in New York who has toured the world, opening for bands like the Arctic Monkeys and Metallica. You may have seen her "Every Taylor Swift Song" skit which now sits at out 100 million views - or in her two cover bands, Guns N' Hoses (all-girl GNR) and Labiahead (all girl Radiohead). She's now back with her new show Diversity Shredder, including dates at London's Underbelly. In this episode we discuss:why Tenacious D and Flight of the Conchords works so wellis the feeling of being a rockstar and a comedian the same thing?does being successful in one creative field help starting in stand-upbuilding her first stand-up show from a notebook about her mumperforming to incompatible fan baseshacking algorithms through retention loops and hook writinghow a Taylor Swift parody changed everythingand we find out if Charlene is happy...Join the Insiders Club at Patreon.com/ComComPod where you can instantly WATCH the full episode and get access to 15 minutes of exclusive extras including:how ego shows up differently in music vs comedywhen your safety net becomes part of the actand turning real-life tension into art

This episode is presented by Create A Video – According to military analyst Robert Pape, the "soft underbelly of America" is political fracturing during war. And Iran knows this. It's why America doesn't seem able to win a war anymore. Subscribe to the podcast at: https://ThePetePod.com/ All the links to Pete's Prep are free: https://patreon.com/petekalinershow Media Bias Check: GroundNews promo code! Advertising and Booking inquiries: Pete@ThePeteKalinerShow.com Get exclusive content here!: https://thepetekalinershow.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jeffrey Epstein's world bled right into the dark corners of the modeling industry — the kind of places where luxury and depravity blur together under the same chandelier light. He used modeling as both a cover and a recruitment pool, pretending to be a gatekeeper to fame and fashion while exploiting the industry's obsession with youth, beauty, and access. Agencies, scouts, and so-called “talent finders” were part of this sleazy ecosystem — some complicit, others willfully blind — funneling vulnerable girls into Epstein's orbit with promises of photoshoots, mentorships, or introductions to elite circles. Behind the high-fashion gloss was a global network of manipulation: fake casting calls, private jets filled with “models,” and connections to legitimate modeling agencies that lent Epstein's operation an air of credibility. It wasn't just sex trafficking — it was the corruption of an entire image-based industry where power could be traded for flesh and silence was the unspoken price of admission.What made it all so insidious was how normalized it became. Epstein's connections to modeling power players like Jean-Luc Brunel, MC2 Model Management, and other agencies gave him a steady supply chain disguised as opportunity. Young women from Eastern Europe, South America, and small-town America were lured in by the same dream — the fantasy of walking Paris runways or being discovered at an upscale resort — only to find themselves trapped in something far darker. Epstein and his associates exploited the same machinery that made supermodels into icons, twisting it into a predatory conveyor belt. The “underbelly” wasn't a hidden world at all — it was the same glitzy one the public adored, just seen from a different angle: the hotel rooms behind the runway, the cash envelopes, the passports held hostage, and the broken promise that fame could ever be worth that kind of nightmare.to contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.com

Jeffrey Epstein's world bled right into the dark corners of the modeling industry — the kind of places where luxury and depravity blur together under the same chandelier light. He used modeling as both a cover and a recruitment pool, pretending to be a gatekeeper to fame and fashion while exploiting the industry's obsession with youth, beauty, and access. Agencies, scouts, and so-called “talent finders” were part of this sleazy ecosystem — some complicit, others willfully blind — funneling vulnerable girls into Epstein's orbit with promises of photoshoots, mentorships, or introductions to elite circles. Behind the high-fashion gloss was a global network of manipulation: fake casting calls, private jets filled with “models,” and connections to legitimate modeling agencies that lent Epstein's operation an air of credibility. It wasn't just sex trafficking — it was the corruption of an entire image-based industry where power could be traded for flesh and silence was the unspoken price of admission.What made it all so insidious was how normalized it became. Epstein's connections to modeling power players like Jean-Luc Brunel, MC2 Model Management, and other agencies gave him a steady supply chain disguised as opportunity. Young women from Eastern Europe, South America, and small-town America were lured in by the same dream — the fantasy of walking Paris runways or being discovered at an upscale resort — only to find themselves trapped in something far darker. Epstein and his associates exploited the same machinery that made supermodels into icons, twisting it into a predatory conveyor belt. The “underbelly” wasn't a hidden world at all — it was the same glitzy one the public adored, just seen from a different angle: the hotel rooms behind the runway, the cash envelopes, the passports held hostage, and the broken promise that fame could ever be worth that kind of nightmare.to contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-moscow-murders-and-more--5852883/support.

Patrick McKenzie (patio11) reads his classic Bits about Money essay explaining why the debt collection industry earns its “river of effluvia” metaphor. From the accounting standards that force banks to "charge off" delinquent accounts to the large CSV files that constitute the only proof of a debt's existence, he explores how the system prioritizes accounting finality over legal and factual accuracy. The conversation reveals why the single most effective way to resolve a debt is often forcing a collector to read and write paper. They can't, operationally, and don't see that as an impediment to making money, especially because the paper will often document their lies and crimes.–Full transcript available here: https://www.complexsystemspodcast.com/debt-collections/ –Presenting Sponsors: Mercury, Granola & FramerIf you have more interesting hobbies than managing your money, Mercury Personal is built for you. It allows you to automate movement between accounts—allocating paychecks and tax prep the moment they hit—with a sensible permissions model for partners or accountants. It works the way tech people expect banking to work. Go to mercury.com/personal to experience banking built by the same folks Patrick trusts for his business.If meetings consistently leave you with hazy action items and lost context, Granola handles the transcription so you can actually participate and gives you searchable notes afterward. Try it free at granola.ai/complexsystems with code COMPLEXSYSTEMSBuilding and maintaining marketing websites shouldn't slow down your engineers. Framer gives design and marketing teams an all-in-one platform to ship landing pages, microsites, or full site redesigns instantly—without engineering bottlenecks. Get 30% off Framer Pro at framer.com/complexsystems.–Links:https://www.bitsaboutmoney.com/archive/the-waste-stream-of-consumer-finance/ –Timestamps:(00:00) Intro(05:20) The lifecycle of a defaulted debt(14:17) The debt collection industry(19:58) Sponsors: Mercury | Granola(23:36) The debt collection industry (cont'd)(25:55) The operations of a debt collection firm(34:02) What does the debt collector hope to get from a call?(36:52) Why does this continue being so broken?(39:34) Suing people with robots(40:26) Sponsor: Framer(41:43) Suing people with robots (cont'd)(44:14) What can be done about this?

Jeffrey Epstein's world bled right into the dark corners of the modeling industry — the kind of places where luxury and depravity blur together under the same chandelier light. He used modeling as both a cover and a recruitment pool, pretending to be a gatekeeper to fame and fashion while exploiting the industry's obsession with youth, beauty, and access. Agencies, scouts, and so-called “talent finders” were part of this sleazy ecosystem — some complicit, others willfully blind — funneling vulnerable girls into Epstein's orbit with promises of photoshoots, mentorships, or introductions to elite circles. Behind the high-fashion gloss was a global network of manipulation: fake casting calls, private jets filled with “models,” and connections to legitimate modeling agencies that lent Epstein's operation an air of credibility. It wasn't just sex trafficking — it was the corruption of an entire image-based industry where power could be traded for flesh and silence was the unspoken price of admission.What made it all so insidious was how normalized it became. Epstein's connections to modeling power players like Jean-Luc Brunel, MC2 Model Management, and other agencies gave him a steady supply chain disguised as opportunity. Young women from Eastern Europe, South America, and small-town America were lured in by the same dream — the fantasy of walking Paris runways or being discovered at an upscale resort — only to find themselves trapped in something far darker. Epstein and his associates exploited the same machinery that made supermodels into icons, twisting it into a predatory conveyor belt. The “underbelly” wasn't a hidden world at all — it was the same glitzy one the public adored, just seen from a different angle: the hotel rooms behind the runway, the cash envelopes, the passports held hostage, and the broken promise that fame could ever be worth that kind of nightmare.to contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-moscow-murders-and-more--5852883/support.

"My dear Duce, it's no longer any good… At this moment you are the most hated man in Italy.”  This is the story of Operations Underworld, Mincemeat, and Husky.  On the heels of the decisive Allied victory in Africa, leaders decide to take the fight north. But Hitler and Mussolini surely know they'll be aiming for Sicily next, right? Actually, pre-Husky Allied intelligence victories have the Germans and Italians barking up the wrong tree (shoring up the wrong island defenses), all thanks to one Major William Martin.  Meanwhile, back in mainland Europe, Germany is wondering if Italy is still 100% committed to the Fascist alliance. After all, Mussolini's popularity is tanking, and it looks like he might get the boot any day. Things are… uncertain, to say the least. How will the combined Allied forces fare in Sicily? Which army will win the race to catch the Axis retreaters at Messina? Will George Patton get promoted again, as he so desperately wants? And perhaps most importantly—where to next?  ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. HTDS is part of Audacy media network. Interested in advertising on the History That Doesn't Suck? Contact Audacyinc.com. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Undercover animal investigator Pete Paxton returns in studio to discuss his latest focus on puppy mills and pet stores (specifically Petland). This interview was also shot for the upcoming documentary Underbelly, which is investigating the mass production system of the $3 BILLION dog breeding industry! Stay tuned for release date.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sometimes the only way to process enormous issues is to get the family together and have a deep conversation. That's just what Jeremy, April, Kelsey, and Elisa did in this episode, tackling divorce and family expectations, the enormous cost of not taking swamp hag symbolism seriously, and the biggest problem in the evangelical movement. This conversation will put you on the path toward answering these societal questions yourself from a grounded, Biblical point of view, and help to shift some cultural assumptions that you may accidentally have taken for granted. On this episode, we talk about: 0:00 Intro 0:20 She almost divorced her husband over this 15:11 The most confusing verse in the New Testament? 43:24 We Stopped Fearing Swamp Hags and Society Collapsed 1:01:53 The Soft Underbelly of Evangelicalism --- Subscribe on Substack ➡️ https://jeremypryor.substack.com Follow Jeremy on: Instagram: https://instagram.com/jeremympryor/ X: https://x.com/jeremympryor --- Resources Mentioned: House For Community: https://www.1kh.org/communitycoaching Story Formed Life: https://www.storyformedlife.org/ --- Welcome to Jeremy Pryor's Podcast, or what I like to call, "Jeremy Pryor Unfiltered." We are excited to bring you seasons of content all the way from Tolkien to Theology, from Business to Family. If you like to contemplate deep philosophical ideas across a wide range of topics, you've come to the right place. Make sure to subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or YouTube so you don't miss out on future episodes!

This week on Widowed AF, Rosie is joined by LA-based comedian Sam Morrison, whose life changed forever when his partner Jonathan died from Covid in 2021.Sam is currently in London performing his critically acclaimed show Sugar Daddy, a wildly funny, deeply personal comedy about love, loss and everything that comes after. What started as grief eventually found its way onto the stage, proving that sometimes you can't make sense of tragedy… but you can make jokes about it.Rosie and Sam talk about meeting their partners, navigating loss at a young age, and the strange club nobody wants to join. They also get into dark humour, grief counselling, dating after loss, audience reactions to comedy about death, and why sometimes laughter is the only way through.Expect conversations about gay bear festivals, cruise ship comedy gigs, grief guilt, autoimmune diagnoses after trauma, and the awkward reality of trying to explain “my partner who died” in everyday conversation.It's a thoughtful, funny and refreshingly honest chat about grief, resilience and carrying the people we love forward with us.Sam's show Sugar Daddy is running at the Underbelly in Soho, London from 5 March to 4 April.Find tickets and tour dates at samuelhmorrison.com @samuelhmorrisonIf you enjoyed this episode, please follow, rate and review the podcast. It really helps other widowed people find us.You can also find Rosie on Instagram @widowedaf or at widowedaf.com.As always… take care of yourselves, and each other.0:02 Meet Sam Morrison + ‘Sugar Daddy' arrives in London3:04 The love story: meeting Jonathan and falling in fast7:17 The rupture: losing Jonathan to COVID (and surviving the pandemic)9:57 Finding language, finding help: support networks + queer widowhood18:22 Building ‘Sugar Daddy': turning grief into a show (and taking the hits)28:03 Grief in the body + love after loss35:37 Living with the long tail: time, milestones, sobriety, success-guilt41:41 Spirituality, signs, and the wish for one more conversation45:50 Final plugs + goodbye: dates, links, community#widowedaf #griefandloss #covidgrief #queergrief #griefhumor #darkhumor #bereavement #griefsupport #sugardaddyshow #standupcomedy

Melbourne's gangland war in the early 2000s captured the country's imagination. People like Carl and Roberta Williams became household names. Eventually, Eddie McGuire – the then Channel Nine CEO – demanded his team commissioned a television series. It became Underbelly, based on a book written by Andrew Rule and John Silvester.The show created controversy from the get-go. A Supreme Court judge banned it from sale in Victoria as it was so close to the truth it could impact on jury trials, while at the same time, the series was criticised for glamourising gangsters. And as for the gangsters themselves, well, they were being taken out by actors researching their roles, some of whom became so well-known as their criminal characters they would be mistaken for them in the street.And then there was the time Roberta Williams turned up on set, demanding to know who was playing her in the series.In today's special episode of Naked City with John Silvester, actor Rodger Corser revisits the hit series with Stuart Bateson, the real-life detective that his character was based on.For all of Sly's columns and stories, visit www.theage.com.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tim Linetsky (Underbelly) is the creator of You Suck at Producing— he shares about Ableton Live 12.4 updates, building an educational music brand, AI tools, royalties, live performance, and making EDM (emotional dance music). Dan and Tim break down their new collab “Home,” discuss stem separation, Splice's new AI features, and what it takes to suck less as a producer.Tim Linetsky produces as Underbelly and is an Ableton Certified Trainer best known for his hilarious and educational YouTube channel You Suck at Producing, which has over 400k subscribers. He's created tutorials for DJ Tech Tools, Earmark, and Pyramind, and has collaborated with artists like Lido, Tchami, Keys N Krates, Giraffage, and San Holo. Tim is also building a new interactive learning platform designed to help producers level up directly inside their DAW.Follow Underbelly:https://www.youtube.com/@yousuckatproducinghttps://www.instagram.com/underbellybeatshttps://yousuckatproducing.comGrab limited-edition Producer Merch & save 10% with the code "podcast":⁠https://abletonpodcast.com/merch⁠Join the newsletter to get free downloads, early episode access, and upcoming events.⁠https://www.abletonpodcast.com/newsletter

PLEASE ALWAYS READ THIS INFO BOX WHEN YOU VISIT TMVP BLOG. ***Especially please do not send any gift to this ministry unless you have read & understood the instructions below.*** DO NOT INTERACT WITH ANYONE ASKING FOR DONATIONS. Thank you. WEBSITE: WWW.THE-MASTERS-VOICE.COM PLEASE READ CAREFULLY: If you'd like to support this work, it is appreciated. Kindly use PayPal or email me for other options at mastersvoice@mail.com, and *please* give me some time to respond. If using PayPal PLEASE DO NOT send any gift with "Purchase Protection". I have an ordinary PayPal account, not a seller marketplace, so please do not damage my account by using "purchase protection" on your donation (as if I were making a sale to you). If you are not sure (especially if you sent in the past), please check the format of your gift on the PayPal receipt before sending. It is a freewill offering, I am not selling goods or services. Please use *only* the "Friends & Family" sending option. If you're outside the USA please DO NOT use PayPal, contact me instead at the email listed here & allow me a good window to respond. Thank you, God bless. PayPal ------- mastersvoice@mail.com.

EPISODE 671 - David Wolfson - The underbelly of Wall Street - The story of a young idealistic college graduate starting out on Wall StreetWhat is the name of your book or books and where can it/they be found or purchased? Financial Syndicate: Some Job Opportunities Go Too Far; Found on AmazonWhat do you want readers to know about your book/s? The reader will see a likable character with whom he or she can identify, along with identifying on how a small-town kid gets caught up in corporate intrigue.What does being an author mean to you?The ability to create my own characters and story, along with sharing it with the whole world.How did your journey as an author begin?Over a long weekend, I had a job interview in Chicago. On the trip home, my flight had a six-hour delay due to inclement weather. With a crowded airport terminal full of unhappy people in a similar situation, I plugged in my laptop and started typing. Through long commutes and long weekends, along with some late nights, the Financial Syndicate was born.Who or what motivated you to write?A college lit teacher, and from the above answer, the idea existed in my mind. However, during the long wait at O'Hare, I decided to put my idea to action.What is your mission and or vision as an author?To entertain, including making my reader chuckle or shed a tear, I also want to highlight an awareness of an issue not in the front pages of a newspaper or top of a newscast.Do you only write in one genre or multiple? Please explain why or why not. As of now, I am currently writing in mystery-suspense. However, in the future, I am looking at other genres such as historical fiction. Also, given that I am a diehard romantic, I would like to test the limits as a male romance fiction writerAre there certain themes or topics that you cover as an author? What are they? Why these? In the Financial Syndicate, I am looking at the issuance of toxic securities and fees earned from them. In my second book, I am covering contract employment. Also, I would like to write a book about the current political environment, specifically a short-sighted and attention-seeking President, hating institutional norms.What do you want readers to know about you? I am accessible, easy-going, and I will sit for hours talking to any reader and answering any question. I am really looking forward to bookstore tours, with readers talking to the person behind the book.Instagram - @wolfsonauthorSupport the show___https://livingthenextchapter.com/podcast produced by: https://truemediasolutions.ca/Coffee Refills are always appreciated, refill Dave's cup here, and thanks!https://buymeacoffee.com/truemediaca

From claims that the U.S. used "Star Wars" lasers to kidnap Venezuela's President Maduro to debating the legal nuances of alienation of affection involving Taylor Swift tickets and MDMA, no topic is too strange. Lionel argues for a fix to societal chaos, critiques Trump's "deer in the headlights" appointees, and debates callers about the imminent threat of a cultural civil war. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stepping into any physical wellness class is intimidating, especially when the rest of the room doesn't look like you. This week we're joined by co-founder of The Underbelly Yoga, Jessamyn Stanley, for a refreshing conversation on re-connecting with yourself- mind, body AND spirit. We dive into shifting the wellness landscape and why we all deserve to show up for ourselves. If you added “Do Yoga Every Day” to your New Year resolutions or have always been curious about what this wellness practice can do for you, then this episode is for you. Check out The Underbelly Yoga (from the comfort of your own home!) here.Connect with Be Well, Sis:Instagram – @bewellsis_podcastSubstack – bewellsis.substack.comFollow, rate, and share this episode!We're supporting St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Head over to www.stjude.org/bewellsis right now and sign up to be a monthly donor. Together, we can make a real impact.Want to get in touch? Maybe you want to hear from a certain guest or have a recommendation for On My Radar? Get in touch at hello@editaud.io with Be Well Sis in the subject line! Have your own Not Well, Sis rant to contribute? Click here to send it into the show!Be Well, Sis is hosted by Dr Cassandre Dunbar. The show is edited, mixed and produced by Megan Hayward. Our Production Manager is Kathleen Speckert. Be Well, Sis is an editaudio collaboration. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

An interview podcast giving the inside scoop of what happens in comedy scenes across the globe and dedicated to speaking to the mavericks in the comedy world. Joining us today is Darren Sanders, a veteran of the Australian comedy circuit with over 30 years of stage and screen experience. Known for his sharp observational wit and relaxed storytelling, Darren has hosted five seasons of his own late-night program, The Darren Sanders Show, and appeared in hits like Underbelly and A Place To Call Home. Here is an overview of what we discussed:[[02:07]] Coming from Adelaide and gigging for 33 years [[05:06]][[05:06]] Australia has been influenced from a wide range of comedy styles , some of my comedy influences, my idea of building a set. [[08:56]][[13:52]] My most memorable bomb [[17:37]][[17:48]] How are audiences in Australia different from each other , my experiences of being on cruises [[22:00]][[22:00]] My experiences of cruises [[29:31]][[29:38]] Why I don't do comedy festivals [[31:20]][[33:21]] How my skin has become like a rhino over the years , since running a comedy club and dodgy business practices [[39:13]][[43:22]] Why I don't bother with the circuit and focus on corporate gigs and function [[47:03]][[51:25]] Is Russell Crowe a Kiwi or is he an Aussie?[[52:13]][[01:03:37]] What you need to prepare for when running a gig [[01:10:00]]If you would like to know more on Darren Sanders you can go on his Linktree at https://linktr.ee/darrensanders. You can follow this podcast on Youtube at https://bit.ly/41LWDAq, Spotify at https://spoti.fi/3oLrmyU,Apple podcasts at https://apple.co/3LEkr3E and you can support the pod on:https://www.patreon.com/thecomediansparadise. #standupcomedypodcast #comedypodcast #interviewingcomedians #standupcomedian #australiancomedy

Join us for a deep-dive into the underbelly of weddings and why sone people seem to lose their minds once they're ve been invited to one.Email us at hello@prettymuchfine.comFollow us on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/prettymuchfinepod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow us on TikTok: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@prettymuchfinepod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to our YouTube channel: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@prettymuchfine2194⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.prettymuchfine.com/

AmFest exposed the dirty underbelly of the so-called conservative influencer movement. Many of your favorite conservative podcasters and talk show hosts aren’t even conservative. We discuss today.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this two-part episode recorded at Ableton's U.S. Headquarters, Dan Giffin sits down with Tony McCall and Alberto Chapa to explore the company's direction, leadership, and vision for the future. In the second half, a panel of producers—Chuck Sutton, Au5, Underbelly, and Louis Futon—answer rapid-fire questions from a live audience. Topics include mixing loudness, creative workflow hacks, project organization, and their thoughts on AI and sound design.Follow the Guests Below:Tony McCall (Managing Director at Ableton)Alberto Chapa (Business Development at Ableton)https://www.instagram.com/musicalguestAu5www.au5music.comChuck Suttonwww.instagram.com/chuck_suttonUnderbelly www.instagram.com/underbellybeatsLouis Futonwww.louisfuton.coGrab limited-edition Producer Merch & save 10% with the code "podcast":https://abletonpodcast.com/merchJoin the newsletter to get free downloads, early episode access, and upcoming events.https://www.abletonpodcast.com/newsletterSchedule a visit at Ableton's Showroom:https://www.ableton.com/pasadena-spaces

The Jedi investigators dig deeper into the secrets of Takari station and find powerful agents at the top as well as in an underbelly of crime and the connections between the victims start to become more clear as threats grow... Theme song for Star Wars Dreamscapes is "Pluto" by Adrian von Ziegler. More from this amazing composer at https://adrianvonziegler.bandcamp.com/  All other scores are by Adrian von Zielger and Antti Martikainen https://anttimartikainen.com/  Huge thanks to Galactic Empire for the Star Wars Theme outro - follow them at https://www.instagram.com/galacticempireofficial/ and website at www.galacticempireband.com and see them live whenever you get the chance!  Also we are immensely grateful  Please consider supporting us on Patreon at www.patreon.com/nastygram - it would mean the world to us! Check us out online at www.nastygramrpg.com  Find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/nastygram  and our group is at https://www.facebook.com/groups/865467380821766; we are @nastygramrpg on both Instagram and Twitter and on Tik Tok at @nastygram.rpg Intro song is "Walkin' with Michael Douglas" by A Wilhelm Scream; more here https://www.awilhelmscream.com/

This episode is presented by Create A Video – A Texas Sheriff and an investigative reporter laid out the hidden organizations promoting the illegal immigration crisis in America - and who is funding the anti-ICE protests. Subscribe to the podcast at: https://ThePetePod.com/ All the links to Pete's Prep are free: https://patreon.com/petekalinershow Media Bias Check: GroundNews promo code! Advertising and Booking inquiries: Pete@ThePeteKalinerShow.comGet exclusive content here!: https://thepetekalinershow.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Meta's Andromeda update has disrupted digital marketing for good. But, we've cracked the code! We're offering you 30 monthly deliverables,10 ad types, media buying, and access to Tier 11's data suite to help you stay ahead.Get our exclusive Creative Diversification Package at: https://www.tiereleven.com/cd AI is not a buzzword. It is not a passing trend. It's the future of marketing. In this episode, we explore why big tech companies are pouring billions into artificial intelligence and how it's already transforming the way we run ads, create content, and optimize our campaigns. We break down some mind-blowing stats, including Google's projected $93 billion investment in AI this year and Meta's massive $81 billion spend. We discuss the changes we've already seen in our own campaigns, from the Meta Andromeda update to creative diversification, which is making ad optimization faster, more efficient, and far more productive. If you're not using AI to enhance your marketing efforts, now's the time to start, or risk falling behind. We challenge you to think about one task in your marketing that you really don't want to do anymore, and then find an AI tool to make that task faster, cheaper, and more efficient. In This Episode:- The massive AI investments from big tech companies- Amazon's investment and earnings from AWS- Applying AI innovation to marketing- Simple steps to start using AI todayMentioned in the Episode:Previous episodes on Andromeda: https://perpetualtraffic.com/?s=andromeda Listen to This Episode on Your Favorite Podcast Channel:Follow and listen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/perpetual-traffic/id1022441491 Follow and listen on Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/59lhtIWHw1XXsRmT5HBAuK Subscribe and watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@perpetual_traffic?sub_confirmation=1We Appreciate Your Support!Visit our website: https://perpetualtraffic.com/ Follow us on X: https://x.com/perpetualtraf Connect with Ralph Burns: LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ralphburns Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ralphhburns/ Hire Tier11 - https://www.tiereleven.com/apply-now Connect with Lauren Petrullo:Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/laurenepetrullo/LinkedIn -

While other advertisers scramble to figure out Meta's Andromeda update, we've cracked the code! Our Creative Diversification Package will increase your ads' reach by 50%+ and save you over $330k on agency fees.Join the winning 0.01% businesses now at: https://www.tiereleven.com/cd Do you feel overwhelmed by the speed of AI advancements? The tech world is evolving at an unprecedented rate, making it challenging to keep up, especially with giants like Meta and Google leading the charge. AI is the future of digital marketing, and if you're not adapting, you're falling behind.In this episode, we discuss the massive shift happening in marketing, fueled by AI. We break down how Silicon Valley's biggest players are investing billions into AI and how that's impacting everything from content creation to data analysis. With new AI tools emerging every day, we talk about the importance of creative diversification and how it can boost your ad performance, all while giving you a competitive edge in the market. Tune in now and let's make sure you're ready for the AI-powered future of marketing.In This Episode:- Why AI's bubble is now and how to keep up- How AI is powering marketing innovation- Big tech and governments' heavy investments in AI - Presentation of big tech's AI investments- Wrap up and key takeawaysMentioned in the Episode:Previous episodes on Andromeda: https://perpetualtraffic.com/?s=andromeda The Acquired Podcast: https://www.acquired.fm/ Investors' Business Daily Analysis on AI: https://www.investors.com/news/technology/ai-stocks-microsoft-apple-google-amazon-meta-capital-spending/ The Evolution of AlexNet: Listen to This Episode on Your Favorite Podcast Channel:Follow and listen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/perpetual-traffic/id1022441491 Follow and listen on Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/59lhtIWHw1XXsRmT5HBAuK Subscribe and watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@perpetual_traffic?sub_confirmation=1We Appreciate Your Support!Visit our website: https://perpetualtraffic.com/ Follow us on X: https://x.com/perpetualtraf Connect with Ralph Burns: LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ralphburns Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ralphhburns/ Hire Tier11 -

While other advertisers scramble to figure out Meta's Andromeda update, we've cracked the code! Our Creative Diversification Package will increase your ads' reach by 50%+ and save you over $330k on agency fees.Join the winning 0.01% businesses now at: https://www.tiereleven.com/cd Do you feel overwhelmed by the speed of AI advancements? The tech world is evolving at an unprecedented rate, making it challenging to keep up, especially with giants like Meta and Google leading the charge. AI is the future of digital marketing, and if you're not adapting, you're falling behind.In this episode, we discuss the massive shift happening in marketing, fueled by AI. We break down how Silicon Valley's biggest players are investing billions into AI and how that's impacting everything from content creation to data analysis. With new AI tools emerging every day, we talk about the importance of creative diversification and how it can boost your ad performance, all while giving you a competitive edge in the market. Tune in now and let's make sure you're ready for the AI-powered future of marketing.In This Episode:- Why AI's bubble is now and how to keep up- How AI is powering marketing innovation- Big tech and governments' heavy investments in AI - Presentation of big tech's AI investments- Wrap up and key takeawaysMentioned in the Episode:Previous episodes on Andromeda: https://perpetualtraffic.com/?s=andromeda The Acquired Podcast: https://www.acquired.fm/ Investors' Business Daily Analysis on AI: https://www.investors.com/news/technology/ai-stocks-microsoft-apple-google-amazon-meta-capital-spending/ The Evolution of AlexNet: Listen to This Episode on Your Favorite Podcast Channel:Follow and listen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/perpetual-traffic/id1022441491 Follow and listen on Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/59lhtIWHw1XXsRmT5HBAuK Subscribe and watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@perpetual_traffic?sub_confirmation=1We Appreciate Your Support!Visit our website: https://perpetualtraffic.com/ Follow us on X: https://x.com/perpetualtraf Connect with Ralph Burns: LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ralphburns Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ralphhburns/ Hire Tier11 -

Mike talks with Caleb Alexander Smith and David Krumholtz about Forelock, a dark, biting satire set on the margins of Hollywood. The film follows Caiden, a drifting ex-athlete pulled into the bizarre world of boulevard impersonators and small-time hustlers by Randy, a disillusioned veteran of the trade. Together they chase a missing payout and sink deeper into the city's surreal underbelly.Smith and Krumholtz discuss the film's blend of desperation, performance, and self-mythology—how Forelock captures a Los Angeles where ambition and delusion often look the same.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.Become a supporter of The Projection Booth at http://www.patreon.com/projectionbooth 

Hannah Selinger is a James Beard-nominated lifestyle writer and journalist based in Massachusetts. Hannah attended the French Culinary Institute and started working in the restaurants around 2002 in NYC. She worked for some very big names, such as David Chang. In addition to promoting her new book, a memoir titled Cellar Rat: My Life in the Restaurant Underbelly, she is also promoting restaurant workers' rights in the modern age.  Hannah asked that you use this link to purchase her book. Come hang with Hannah and me on 10/20/25 at 11 AM EST: https://zoom.us/j/6508205412 Join RULibrary: www.restaurantunstoppable.com/RULibrary Join RULive: www.restaurantunstoppable.com/live Set Up your RUEvolve 1:1: www.restaurantunstoppable.com/evolve Subscribe on YouTube: https://youtube.com/restaurantunstoppable Subscribe to our email newsletter: https://www.restaurantunstoppable.com/ Today's sponsors: US Foods®. Make running your foodservice operation easier and more efficient with solutions from US Foods®. Utilize a suite of digital tools, like the all-in-one foodservice app MOXē®, and enjoy exclusive access to quality Exclusive Brands products. Learn how partnering with US Foods helps you get more out of your business by visiting www.usfoods.com/expectmore   Restaurant Systems Pro - Join the 60-day Restaurant Systems Pro FREE TRAINING. This is something that has never been done before. This 60-day event is at no cost to you, but it is not for everyone. Fred Langley, CEO of Restaurant Systems Pro, will lead a group of restaurateurs through the Restaurant Systems Pro software and set up the systems for your restaurant. During the 60 days, Fred will walk you through the Restaurant Systems Pro Process and help you crush the following goals: Recipe Costing Cards; Guidance in your books for accounting; Cash controls; Sales Forecasting(With Accuracy); Checklists; Budgeting for the entire year; Scheduling for profit; More butts in seats and more… Click Here to learn more.  Let's make 2025 the year your restaurant thrives. Guest contact info:  Website: https://www.hannahselinger.net/ Get her book here! Thanks for listening! Rate the podcast, subscribe, and share! 

In this episode, best-selling author and former police officer Eric Tansey sits down with special guest Erik Johnson to tackle one of the toughest questions facing modern law enforcement: can a peace officer truly stay true to his oath while running for public office? Across America, sheriff elections have become high-stakes political contests. Money, influence, and media attention often collide with the values of integrity, service, and sacrifice that define real policing. In this in-depth conversation, Tansey and Johnson break down how good cops with the best intentions can be drawn into the darker side of politics — and how easy it is for a candidate to compromise himself or the very people he swore to protect. Elections often force officers into impossible moral territory. Can one person serve justice and politics at the same time — or must one always come at the expense of the other? The conversation explores: The hidden costs of campaign financing and how “support” often comes with strings attached. The tension between oath and ambition — when enforcing the law turns into chasing votes. Real-world examples of sheriff elections gone wrong, and stories of those who refused to sell out. The dangerous illusion of “community partnerships” built on backroom deals and endorsements. What true leadership looks like in an age where loyalty can be bought. Throughout the episode, Tansey and Johnson invite listeners to think critically about what it means to lead with integrity in law enforcement. They discuss how the politicization of police work erodes public trust, weakens accountability, and endangers both officers and citizens alike. Whether you're a cop, a voter, or simply someone who cares about the future of justice, this episode sheds light on the moral crossroads where law enforcement and politics collide. It's not just about elections — it's about identity, honor, and the cost of compromise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

James Beard winner Chris Shepherd pulls up to Unglossy with Bun B, Jeffrey Sledge, and Tom Frank to talk real kitchen life—no foam, all flame. He traces the glide path from Tulsa dishwasher to Houston icon, why cooking clicked when school didn't, and how using all five senses beats any recipe card. We dig into Underbelly's whole-animal, write-the-menu-daily chaos; the gloriously unhinged One Fifth experiment (five concepts in five years); and the way Houston's Vietnamese community reshaped Gulf flavors—from crawfish boils to kimchi on a “Chinese-Korean” menu. Bun and Chris revisit the night they wrote wine notes together (“that tastes red” is canon now), we adjudicate the great gravy debate (brown on almost everything; white strictly for chicken-fried), and Chris breaks down how Eat Like a Local can take a chicken-fried steak from 50 orders a week to 400. Most importantly, we go deep on Southern Smoke—emergency aid, mental-health care, real safety nets for hospitality workers—and how you can help. Come hungry, leave useful.