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Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:Dallas' annual Pride parade moves from Fair Park to Downtown Dallas tomorrow - marking a needed elevation of visibility for the LGBTQ+ community at a moment of intense targeting by right-wing elements: https://www.dallasobserver.com/arts-culture/dallas-pride-parade-marches-on-for-lgbtq-rights-40681705/As entertaining as it would have been for progressives, it turns out that CBS News is not planning to replace Anderson Cooper with Joe Rogan: https://www.thewrap.com/media-platforms/journalism/cbs-news-denies-joe-rogan-60-minutes-bari-weiss/A new indoctrination center focused on the "Objectivism" philosophy of Ayn Rand, planned for the West Campus neighborhood near UT Austin, is the direct antithesis to the creative collaboration that Austin's culture is built from: https://www.sacurrent.com/news/austin-will-soon-have-a-30-million-ayn-rand-indoctrination-center-near-ut-campus/Unsatisfied with the "Death Star" law that undermines the local governing authority of Texas' large and mostly Democratically-led cities, Republican lawmakers want to give the Texas AG's office the right to fine cities for failing to rewrite their local codes around it: https://www.texastribune.org/2026/06/04/texas-death-star-bill-update/Dallas and Houston are both looking to suffer an economic flop with the FIFA World Cup - expensive tickets and hotel rooms and a chilling atmosphere for foreign travelers have led to a severe underperformance of bookings: https://www.newsweek.com/world-cup-host-cities-hotels-tickets-struggling-unsold-12003833We're excited to see you in Dallas for our 16th anniversary celebration on Tuesday June 16! Make your reservation now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/anniversary2026Progress Texas is expanding into both broadcast radio - including a new partnership with KPFT-FM in Houston! Make a tax-deductible contribution to our radio initiative HERE, and to our Spanish expansion HERE. Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Chris Hall — the Ecom Cowboy, former All-American offensive lineman at UT Austin, and the guy who scaled Bruce Bolt to one of Shopify's fastest-growing stores as a team of one — is as entertaining as he is tactical. But underneath the hat and the accent is a marketer who has been thinking hard about what separates the people who survive this AI moment from the ones who don't. His take: the button-pushers are already gone. The marketers who build and manage agents — and who also make bold analog bets — are the ones who get more valuable every quarter.Inside the episode:Why the "team of one" marketer is actually more viable than ever — and the Claude-powered workflow Chris used to handle ads, email, SMS, reporting, and organic social simultaneously at Bruce BoltHow BattleBox turned Whatnot into their #2 revenue channel (surpassing Amazon) — with net-new customers, not cannibalized .com sales — and why most DTC brands are still completely asleep on itThe AI stack Chris is actually using: Claude for strategy and execution, Wideframe for agentic video editing, Kive for AI product imagery so clean that seven-figure brands are running it as their entire Instagram feedWhy "get sweaty on camera" is one of the highest-leverage moves a marketer can make right now — and the skill it builds that AI literally cannot replicateThe two anti-AI bets Chris thinks every brand and operator needs to make in 2026 — and why they work because of AI, not in spite of it—Sponsored by OMG Commerce - go to https://www.omgcommerce.com/contact and request your FREE strategy session today!—Chapters:[0:00] Welcome & Introducing the Ecom Cowboy[1:53] Origin of the Ecom Cowboy Brand & Name[2:17] Chris Hall's Football Career at UT & Blocking Von Miller[4:43] From the NFL to Nonprofits to E-Commerce[6:45] Inside Bruce Bolt: One of Shopify's Fastest Growing Stores[9:07] The Future of Marketing Jobs in an AI World[14:26] What Marketers Must Do to Stay Relevant in 2026[17:32] Getting Claude-Pilled: Building Your Agentic Workforce[21:44] Running an Entire Marketing Team with AI Agents[27:34] Chris Hall's Full AI Stack (Wideframe, Higgsfield & More)[31:36] AI Productivity Hacks: Daily Reports, WhisperFlow & Skills[36:40] The Anti-AI Bet: Live Streaming & IRL Activations[39:11] Why Every Brand Should Be on Whatnot Right Now[47:29] Wrapping Up & How to Find Chris Hall Daily—Connect With Brett: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thebrettcurry/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQmbMwBW8LYDfFAqNqlgTGw Website: https://www.omgcommerce.com/ Request a Free Strategy Session: https://www.omgcommerce.com/contactRelevant Links: Chris' LinkedIn: /chrislukehallPast guests on eCommerce Evolution include Ezra Firestone, Steve Chou, Drew Sanocki, Jacques Spitzer, Jeremy Horowitz, Ryan Moran, Sean Frank, Andrew Youderian, Ryan McKenzie, Joseph Wilkins, Cody Wittick, Miki Agrawal, Justin Brooke, Nish Samantray, Kurt Elster, John Parkes, Chris Mercer, Rabah Rahil, Bear Handlon, JC Hite, Frederick Vallaeys, Preston Rutherford, Anthony Mink, Bill D'Allessandro, Stephane Colleu, Jeff Oxford, Bryan Porter and more
How can institutions define and measure belonging? What are inspirational examples of programs, spaces, and support services that foster it? How is student belonging changing, and how can folks adapt? In a LinkedIn Live Webinar, Elliot Felix talked through these questions with Suzanne Rivera the President at Macalester College, Jeff Doyle the Executive Director of Student Support at UT Austin, and James Vasquez the Associate Dean of Operations and Strategy at the USC Annenberg School. They share different perspectives along with the programs and places they've used to foster belonging and drive student success – from environments to athletics to communications and more. Episode Highlights include: [5:47] The Book's Big Ideas - Host Elliot Felix defines student belonging using research proving that connected first-year students are 41% more likely to be retained into year two. [8:18] The Power of One Question - Jeff Doyle shares how asking students if they feel like they belong is five times more predictive of retention than 100 other variables. [15:06] Spaces Built for Synergy - James Vasquez explains how USC Annenberg used cross-collaborative stakeholder workshops to design a highly utilized, multi-departmental campus facility. [19:11] Mapping the Student Journey - President Suzanne Rivera details how Macalester College used student heat maps to transform their main administrative building into a student-facing hub. [44:31] Human Connections Over Bots - The panel analyzes why automated AI chatbots are short-term fixes, advocating instead for peer-to-peer leadership and scaling high-touch human relationships.
Most AI systems follow a gradient, a mathematical slope that tells them exactly how to improve, step by step, toward a known goal. Neuroevolution doesn't follow any gradient. Instead, it runs hundreds or thousands of competing solutions simultaneously, spreads them across the space of possibilities as broadly as possible, and lets the best ones recombine, the same logic that drives biological evolution. The result, as Risto Miikkulainen explains to Craig Smith, is creativity: solutions that no human designer would have anticipated, that emerge routinely from the evolutionary process. Miikkulainen is a professor at UT Austin and VP of AI Research at Cognizant AI Labs, and he has been working on this field since the 1980s, which makes him both a historian of it and one of its most active frontiersmen. The conversation covers a remarkable range: a mystery model that outperformed every competitor in a recent stock trading competition with forensic footprints pointing to neuroevolutionary AI; Sakana AI's system that autonomously designed experiments, wrote a paper, and had it accepted at a major machine learning conference; and a pandemic decision system that trained overnight and made country-specific recommendations by morning, with Iceland actually following some of them, all the way to the prime minister. Subscribe to Eye on A.I. for weekly conversations with the people building and deploying the future of AI.
Candace Sharyn and Cuitlahuac are joined by Daniel Dawer, a PhD student at UT-Austin who is researching the Texas Education Agency takeover of Houston ISD. They discuss the news that the 1882 partnership proposed by Austin ISD was rejected by TEA setting up the possibility of a state takeover. What does the TEA takeover look like in Houston ISD and other districts in Texas, and how might a takeover in Austin ISD play out?
What if one person noticing something in you changed the entire trajectory of your life? In this episode, Samyr Laine, Haitian-American Olympian, attorney, and managing partner of Freedom Trail Capital, shares how a high school track coach who noticed a kid with leaping ability in gym class set off a chain of events that led to the Olympic Games, a call from the president of Haiti, boardrooms with Jay-Z and the NFL, and a venture fund investing at the intersection of culture, lifestyle, and influence. Samyr was user number 14 on Facebook, roommates with Mark Zuckerberg at Harvard, and has built one of the most unusual and compelling careers in venture capital. But none of it traces back to a famous name or a prestigious institution. It traces back to Coach Burks, who saw something and said something. [00:06:00] What He Does and Who He Serves Managing partner of Freedom Trail Capital, a consumer-focused venture fund Invests at the intersection of culture, lifestyle, and influence Raising a $50 million first fund with investments across baby care, hair care, pet care, and beverages [00:07:40] What Inspires Him Driven by the pursuit of excellence in whatever role he is in Meets with founders even when he can't invest; every conversation teaches him something Reads nonfiction constantly to learn how others persevere Measures progress in bite-sized steps just like he did as an Olympic athlete [00:13:00] How He Got Here After Harvard, got a master's at UT Austin then attended Georgetown Law Competed professionally in track and field for 10 years including the 2012 London Olympics Represented Haiti at seven world championships and three Pan American Games Started his real career as legal counsel in DC before moving into sports business [00:14:00] From Sports Law to Roc Nation Started his real career as legal counsel for the Washington Wizards, Capitals, and Mystics Was happy in sports law when a recruiter called with an offer he couldn't refuse Jay-Z was looking for someone to handle operations at Roc Nation Left the sports world for a completely new chapter as an operator [00:15:40] From Roc Nation to Westbrook Left Roc Nation after a couple of years and joined Westbrook Inc as SVP of Operations Helped oversee Will and Jada Pinkett Smith's entire media and production enterprise Moved to lead their consumer product division covering brands, licensing, and IP monetization Worked with talent ranging from Pelé and Patrick Mahomes to DJ Jazzy Jeff [00:19:40] The Vision for Freedom Trail Capital Goal is to move from fund one to fund two to fund three Wants to be the tip of the spear for culturally relevant consumer brands Mission is to prove talent-backed businesses work when paired with discipline and rigor Model: find scalable, defensible businesses then add the right person of influence [00:23:40] The First Relationship That Changed Everything: Coach Burks Got cut from his track team in eighth grade; came back junior year to find a new coach Coach Burks noticed his leaping ability in gym class and introduced him to the triple jump Had no idea what the triple jump was; just wanted to be a sprinter That one introduction led him to the 2012 London Olympics and seven world championships [00:25:40] The Second Relationship: Desiree Perez of Roc Nation Working under Desiree shaped the pace, discipline, and operating style he carries today She put him in boardrooms with Facundo Bacardi and Roger Goodell of the NFL Was in the early rooms when Roc Nation partnered with the NFL on Super Bowl halftime entertainment The people he met in her orbit opened doors he could never have reached on his own [00:27:40] What Coach Burks's Introduction Made Possible Chose to represent Haiti at the Olympics; the Haitian team had six athletes, the US had nearly 600 After qualifying for the finals, received a personal call from the president of Haiti Town squares across Haiti filled with thousands watching the Olympic triple jump final He now sits on the board of a school and orphanage in Haiti; it all started with one introduction [00:33:00] The Value of One Right Relationship One right relationship can pay dividends for decades in ways you never expected His introduction to the triple jump led to the Olympics, which still opens doors today Every stop was about gaining skills and being more useful at the next one One introduction can be worth as much as a check KEY QUOTES "Your network and your relationships, man, it cannot be overstated how valuable it is." - Samyr Laine "The value of one right relationship. Sometimes it's gotta be at the right time. But the value of one right relationship is tremendous." - Samyr Laine CONNECT WITH SAMYR LAINE Website: https://www.freedomtrail.capital LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samyrlaine Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/samyrlaine Thanks for tuning in! If you liked my show, please LEAVE A 5-STAR REVIEW, like, and subscribe! Find me on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | iHeart Radio | Stitcher
Professor C. Paul Rogers III has spent more than four decades shaping lawyers, preserving baseball history, mentoring students, navigating college athletics, and collecting stories that somehow sound too good to be true — except they are. In this episode of Counsel Brew, Nicola and Shereen sit down with one of the most beloved and legendary figures from SMU Dedman School of Law just as he prepares to retire at the end of the semester after an extraordinary career.Both Nicola and Shereen recently attended Professor Rogers' final lecture at SMU, making this episode especially meaningful for two former students who were lucky enough to learn from him firsthand.Professor Rogers' formative years stretched from Wyoming and West Texas to the East Coast before he eventually landed at the University of Texas at Austin during the chaos and culture shifts of the late 1960s. He shares the unlikely path that led him into law, academia, and eventually into becoming one of the defining figures in SMU law school history. Along the way, he reflects on lessons learned working the graveyard shift in Vegas, realizing small-town life was not for him, and how a letter to a professor opened the door to a life-changing opportunity at Columbia Law School that launched his academic career and ultimately brought him to Dallas. The conversation is packed with hilarious stories and classic Professor Rogers moments — including the infamous Playboy Bunny classroom interruption, students arriving to class in full costume presentations, bad margaritas at the AAC, and the reality that some of the best career advice boils down to one simple lesson: if you want something, you actually have to do something. But beneath the humor is the story of a professor who genuinely loves teaching, deeply values his students, and never stopped learning. In this episode, Professor Rogers reflects on the evolution of legal education over the decades and the importance of mentorship and relationships in the practice of law. Along the way, the conversation wanders through baseball history, vintage baseball cards, West Texas sports culture, and the continuing importance of a properly made margarita.An accomplished scholar, former dean, NCAA leader, baseball historian, published author, and mentor to generations of lawyers, Professor Rogers leaves behind an extraordinary legacy at SMU Dedman School of Law — though after hearing this episode, “retirement” sounds a lot more like a new chapter than a final inning.Grab your favorite brew and join us for a conversation full of wisdom, humor, and unforgettable stories with the incomparable Professor C. Paul Rogers III.Listen now: Find Professor C. Paul Rogers at https://www.linkedin.com/in/c-paul-rogers-iii-5936ab45/Find Professor Rogers last lecture at https://youtu.be/jM1vt-btYv8?si=e6UL2d88weJUEsNjMessage us at hello@counselbrew.com Visit us at http://www.counselbrew.com And Follow us @counselbrewhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/counsel-brew/Send us Fan Mail Explicit Rating is for the occasional use of colorful language.
Is this U.S. Sen. John Cornyn's last hurrah? Host Jeremy Wallace and Brad Johnson of the Texas Bullpen break down President Donald Trump's endorsement of Ken Paxton, including why he made it now, just days before the May 26 primary runoff, and how much trouble Cornyn is in. Plus, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz joins Wallace for an exclusive interview on his continued concerns over China, drawing a contrast with what Trump told Chinese Leader Xi Jinping. Finally, John Moritz of the Austin American-Statesman stops in to talk about why President Obama ordering tacos near UT Austin with James Talarico and Gina Hinojosa was such a big deal. And don't worry, Jeremy and John defend the honor of potato, egg and cheese tacos, no matter what the national media says. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A college pre-law advisor asks Ben and Nathan how to best prepare undergraduate students for law school. Ben and Nathan encourage them to keep doing what they're doing and stress the importance of the cost of law school. Also in this episode- A viewer asks what score they should aim for- Whether to enroll at UT Austin or reapply next cycle - A rapid-fire of Pearls v. TurdsStudy with our Free PlanDownload our iOS appWatch Episode 559 on YouTubeCheck out all of our “What's the Deal With” segmentsGet caught up with our Word of the Week library0:00 Advice for a Pre-Law Advisor12:23 Exit Survey Feedback25:06 Enroll Now or Reapply48:56 What Should My Target Score Be?56:17 Pearls v. Turds Rapid Fire1:06:50 Personal Statement Gong Show 1:25:55 Word of the week — armamentarium
Carrie Fabris is the founder of CareerFrame, a Dallas-based leadership development and executive coaching firm dedicated to transforming leaders, teams, and organizational culture. She partners with high-performance organizations, including Axios Media, Mouser Electronics, Appfolio, Boingo Wireless, and Expedia, to elevate senior leaders, strengthen leadership teams, and cultivate accountable, thriving workplace cultures.With over 20 years of corporate experience and 15+ years in leadership roles at Google, Travelocity, Sabre, and Travel Leaders Corporate, Carrie combines real-world business insight with her expertise in CliftonStrengths®, EQ-i 2.0, and Situational Leadership®. Through her signature FRAMEit Method, she delivers high-energy, actionable coaching and workshops that help leaders bridge the gap between achievement and legacy, while maintaining balance, purpose, and impact in their professional and personal lives.Carrie is also the author of ALL IN: The Working Mom's Unapologetic Quest for a Juicy Life, sharing her personal journey of navigating corporate ambition, entrepreneurship, and motherhood without compromise. She holds a degree from UT Austin and resides in Dallas with her husband and two children.Visit Carrie Fabris' LinksInstagram: @cdfabris Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cfabris-reframe-coaching-training/ Website: www.carriefabris.comFreebie: carriefabris.myflodesk.com/theframeitmethodquiz Buy Carrie's Book, ALL IN: https://a.co/d/coENdEP
"Check Out This Podcast," hosted by UT Austin student Gabby Dunn, returns this May. Now in video podcast form, each episode dives into someone's favorite podcast: the stories they love, the moments that stuck with them, and why they can't stop recommending it. From hidden gems to comfort listens, "Check Out This Podcast" is all about discovering what makes podcasts so meaningful to different people.
Podcast guest 1836 is Dr. Paul H. Smith, remote viewing instructor who served in the government's remote viewing program. He has a PhD from UT Austin in philosophy specializing in consciousness, the philosophy of science and the philosophy of mind.Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.Paul's Book: The Essential Guide to Remote Viewing: The Secret Military Remote Perception Skill Anyone Can Learn - https://amzn.to/4d4gq6e #ad Paul's YouTube Channelhttps://www.youtube.com/@DrPaulHSmithPaul's Websitehttps://rviewer.com/paul-h-smith/Contact in the desert 2026https://contactinthedesert.com/CONTACT:Email: jeff@jeffmarapodcast.comAmazon Wish Listhttps://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1ATD4VIQTWYAN?ref_=wl_shareTo donate crypto:Bitcoin - bc1qk30j4n8xuusfcchyut5nef4wj3c263j4nw5wydDigibyte - DMsrBPRJqMaVG8CdKWZtSnqRzCU7t92khEShiba - 0x0ffE1bdA5B6E3e6e5DA6490eaafB7a6E97DF7dEeDoge - D8ZgwmXgCBs9MX9DAxshzNDXPzkUmxEfAVEth. - 0x0ffE1bdA5B6E3e6e5DA6490eaafB7a6E97DF7dEeXRP - rM6dp31r9HuCBDtjR4xB79U5KgnavCuwenWEBSITEwww.jeffmarapodcast.comNewsletterhttps://jeffmara2002.substack.com/?r=19wpqa&utm_campaign=pub-share-checklistSOCIALS:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeffmarapodcast/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jeffmarapodcast/Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/jeffmaraP/The opinions of the guests may or may not reflect the opinions of the host.
A bipartisan bill aims to fix the country's broken immigration system. Does it stand a chance in Congress?We'll look at how adult education can help increase income for families coping with rising costs.Plus, free burgers for college students at UT Austin — how “churgers” are providing relief amid rising grocery prices.And the NBA playoffs now […] The post How ‘churgers’ are providing relief to college students in Austin appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.
UTSA's pitching depth showed up against Wichita State, helping the Roadrunners finally earn a conference sweep and protect their first place position in the American. We take a look at what went right in the weekend series and preview what should be a highly-emotional midweek contest against UT-Austin. Don't forget to check out our new vintage baseball merch line: https://alamoaudible.com/product-category/sandlot/ Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7KqpVdElRE
The Southern Poverty Law Center is indicted on charges of fraud in their attacks on conservative groups. A Gallup poll finds a resurgence of religious interest among young men. Clarence Thomas gives a rousing speech on our Constitution. And Tennessee sets aside June as a month to honor the nuclear family. Recommendations Clarence Thomas Speech at UT-Austin Segment 1 – SPLC Indicted; Young Men's Religious Revival SPLC Free Press article Gallup Poll on Young Men and Religion Clarence Thomas Speech at UT-Austin Segment 2 – Religious Foster Parents Win in Court; TN Declares Nuclear Family Month ADF Case TN Declares Nuclear Family Month as an alternative to Pride Month. Fidelity Month website Where's mama video Segment 3 – Easing Restrictions on Medical Marijuana NY Times article on medical marijuana Hill article on psychedelics
People are having less sex than ever, both inside and outside of marriage. What does this tell us about the state of dating, marriage, and relationships? How can we understand the marriage market after decades of ubiquitous birth control? Today we answer these and more with Mark Regnerus, professor at UT-Austin and President of the Austin Institute. Mark's website: https://www.markregnerus.com/Austin Institute: https://www.austin-institute.org YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@theaustininstituteSacred Spark: https://www.sacredspark.app/NEW: Check out our Merch store! https://shop.lilaroseshow.com/Join our new Patreon community! https://patreon.com/lilaroseshow - We'll have BTS footage, ad-free episodes, and early access to our upcoming guests.A big thanks to our partner, EWTN, the world's leading Catholic network! Discover news, entertainment and more at https://www.ewtn.com/ Check out our Sponsors:-EveryLife Women: https://www.everylife.com/lila Buy diapers and women's health products from an amazing company and use code LILA10 to get 10% off!-Hallow: https://www.hallow.com/lila Enter into prayer more deeply this season with the Hallow App, get 3 months free by using this link to sign up! -Patriot Mobile: Get 1 month of free service at https://patriotmobile.com/lila or call 972-PATRIOT w/ code LILA-We Heart Nutrition: https://www.weheartnutrition.com/ Get high quality vitamin supplements for 20% off using the code LILA.
This week, Zachary and Jeremi speak with UT Austin professor Lorinc Redei about Hungary's recent election, in which longtime prime minister Viktor Orbán was defeated by opposition leader Péter Magyar, and what may come next. Lorinc Redei is the assistant dean for undergraduate education and an associate professor of instruction at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. He is from Hungary and an expert on the politics of that country, policy-making in Europe, democratic backsliding, and international relations.
In this episode of Law Talk Live—recorded at the University of Texas at Austin and hosted by the Civitas Institute—Charles C. W. Cooke, John Yoo, and Richard Epstein debate some of the most contentious constitutional questions of the moment. The panel examines the future of birthright citizenship in light of recent Supreme Court arguments, the tension between free speech and professional regulation in a major First Amendment case, and the legal and moral framework governing modern warfare, including what counts as a war crime. Blending sharp disagreement, historical insight, and a dose of humor, the conversation explores how precedent, originalism, and real-world pressures collide when the Constitution is pushed to its limits.
In this episode of Law Talk Live—recorded at the University of Texas at Austin and hosted by the Civitas Institute—Charles C. W. Cooke, John Yoo, and Richard Epstein debate some of the most contentious constitutional questions of the moment. The panel examines the future of birthright citizenship in light of recent Supreme Court arguments, the […]
In this episode of Law Talk Live—recorded at the University of Texas at Austin and hosted by the Civitas Institute—Charles C. W. Cooke, John Yoo, and Richard Epstein debate some of the most contentious constitutional questions of the moment. The panel examines the future of birthright citizenship in light of recent Supreme Court arguments, the tension between free speech and professional regulation in a major First Amendment case, and the legal and moral framework governing modern warfare, including what counts as a war crime. Blending sharp disagreement, historical insight, and a dose of humor, the conversation explores how precedent, originalism, and real-world pressures collide when the Constitution is pushed to its limits.
Over the weekend, The New York Times revealed shocking new memos between Supreme Court justices showing how Chief Justice Roberts steamrolled his colleagues to use the emergency docket to overturn the Obama climate plan. This comes as the Roberts court has used the emergency docket to give President Trump dozens of victories just during his second term. Plus: Trump tries to push out Alito before Democrats take Senate control Justice Sotomayor issues a rare apology for comments she made towards Justice KavanaughThe Supreme Court has begun issuing $166 billion in tariff refunds (Though Trump is pressuring companies to not even apply for refunds they won in court) And Justice Thomas gets a little loose in remarks at UT Austin.
Carolyn Woodard covers two major AI announcements breaking today — a landmark philanthropic gift building the country's first "AI-native" hospital, and a massive infrastructure deal between Amazon and Anthropic — and zooms out to ask what all this big-money investment means for nonprofits on the ground. The answer: now more than ever, building your own AI literacy is the most strategic investment your organization can make.This episode also features a resources roundup with five options for nonprofit staff and foundation professionals who are ready to learn — whether you have 60 minutes or six months.This episode covers:Michael and Susan Dell's $750 million gift to UT Austin funding the country's first "AI-native" hospital is a signal for nonprofits about where philanthropic capital is heading.What Amazon's expanded investment in Anthropic means for AI infrastructure — and why the unsustainable pace of data center growth may actually push major tech companies toward renewable energy and less resource-intensive locations, a shift that matters for the communities currently bearing the costs of that build-out.Why the most important AI investment your nonprofit can make right now isn't a tool — it's literacy, and why doing it together as an organization matters more than one person figuring it out alone.Five concrete learning opportunities for nonprofit staff at every level.Your city or region may already have free AI literacy programs designed for local nonprofits — it's worth a quick search."Do I need to pick one AI tool and stick with it?" — why the more important question is whether your organization has a policy about what you're sharing and with whom.Resources Mentioned:UT Dell Medical Center announcement — University of Texas at Austin — https://www.kut.org/health/2026-04-21/ut-austin-dell-medical-center-hospital-michael-susan-dell-foundation-donationAmazon/Anthropic expanded partnership — Anthropic — https://www.anthropic.com/news/anthropic-amazon-computeThe Human Stack — Tim Lockie's "AI for Anyone" course — https://thehumanstack.com/academy/aiforanyoneAI for Nonprofits Sprint — Fund for the City of New York — https://www.fcny.org/aisprint/AI for Foundations Professional Certificate — TAG + NTEN — https://www.nten.org/learn/professional-certificates/ai-for-foundationsMicrosoft Changemaker Fellowship — https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/nonprofits/resourcesAI Acceptable Use Policy Template — Community IT Innovators — https://communityit.com/template-acceptable-use-of-ai-tools-in-the-nonprofit-workplace/ _______________________________Start a conversation :)Register to attend a webinar in real time, and find all past transcripts at https://communityit.com/webinars/email Carolyn at cwoodard@communityit.comon LinkedIn on reddit/r/nonprofitITmanagementon the Community IT websiteThanks for listening.
Your College Bound Kid | Scholarships, Admission, & Financial Aid Strategies
In this episode you will hear: o Mark shares on additional important point about who gets in the most competitive colleges Heath Einstein, the chief enrollment officer at TCU-Tips for Submitting a Quality Resume for College o Heath tells us how a college resume is different from a work-based resume o Heath tells us what makes an effective resume o I share with Heath the things I tell students to emphasize in their resumes, and I ask Heath for feedback on whether some of the things I tell students are more important than others o Heath chimes in on the debate between angular student's vs well-rounded students and he doesn't hold back his thoughts on this hot debate o Heath gives his view of students adding a passport size photo on their resume o Heath gives his thoughts on how long is too long for a resume o Heath answers a question from a listener about TCU feels about someone submitting a UT-Austin expanded resume to them o Heath gives a tip for the UT-Austin expanded resume o Heath makes a surprising statement about trends he is seeing with class rank San Diego State interview with two students-Part 1 of 3 o Friends, from time to time in this Spotlight, the students say something that is very profound, so I stop and share with you, our listeners, a teachable moment that I hope you don't miss o You will hear from one recent SDSU grad, who came across the country to go to SDSU, and one current junior at SDSU who came from Northern California, they introduce themselves and they share their college journey and what led them to select San Diego State o Lauren and Sophie share what they feel are the best things about San Diego State university o Sophie and Lauren share what they got involved in while at SDSU o Lauren and Sophie share what they would change if they were in power. Recommended Resources JG Talks: Helping prospective and current college students achieve success Colleges that allow self reporting of test scores Colleges that Allow Self-Reporting of SAT and ACT Scores Great source for questions about finances and college Edvisors: Financial Aid, Student Loans, Scholarships and Money Management FAFSA Walkthroughs Mark recommends Complete FAFSA 2026‑2027 Walkthrough | From Start to Submit 2023-2024 FAFSA Walkthrough Video English CSS PROFILE Walkthroughs CSS Profile Walkthrough MEFA Institute: A Deep Dive into the CSS Profile Speakpipe.com/YCBK is our method if you want to ask a question and we will be prioritizing all questions sent in via Speakpipe. Unfortunately, we will NOT answer questions on the podcast anymore that are emailed in. If you want us to answer a question on the podcast, please use speakpipe.com/YCBK. We feel hearing from our listeners in their own voices adds to the community feel of our podcast. You can also use this for many other purposes: 1) Send us constructive criticism about how we can improve our podcast 2) Share an encouraging word about something you like about an episode or the podcast in general 3) Share a topic or an article you would like us to address 4) Share a speaker you want us to interview 5) Leave positive feedback for one of our interviewees. We will send your verbal feedback directly to them and I can almost assure you, your positive feedback will make their day. To sign up to receive Your College-Bound Kid PLUS, our new monthly admissions newsletter, delivered directly to your email once a month, just go to yourcollegeboundkid.com, and you will see the sign-up popup. We will include many of the hot topics being discussed on college campuses. Check out our new blog. We write timely and insightful articles on college admissions: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/category/blog/ 1. To access our transcripts, click: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/category/transcripts/ 2. Find the specific episode transcripts for the one you want to search and click the link 3. Find the magnifying glass icon in blue (search feature) and click it 4. Enter whatever word you want to search. I.e. Loans 5. Every word in that episode when the words loans are used, will be highlighted in yellow with a timestamps 6. Click the word highlighted in yellow and the player will play the episode from that starting point 7. You can also download the entire podcast as a transcript We would be honored if you will pass this podcast episode on to others who you feel will benefit from the content in YCBK. Please follow our podcast. It really helps us move up in Spotify and Apple's search feature so others can find our podcast. If you enjoy our podcast, would you please do us a favor and share our podcast both verbally and on social media? We would be most grateful! If you want to help more people find Your College-Bound Kid, please make sure you follow our podcast. You will also get instant notifications as soon as each episode goes live. Check out the college admissions books Mark recommends: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/recommended-books/ Check out the college websites Mark recommends: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/recommended-websites/ If you want to have some input about what you like and what you recommend, we change about our podcast, please complete our Podcast survey; here is the link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScCauBgityVXVHRQUjvlIRfYrMWWdHarB9DMQGYL0472bNxrw/viewform If you want a college consultation with Mark just text Mark at 404-664-4340 or email at mark@schoolmatch4u.com. All we ask is that you review their services and pricing on their website before the complimentary session; here is link to their services with transparent pricing: https://schoolmatch4u.com/services/compare-packages/
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:A major fight has developed between Houston Mayor John Whitmire - who wants to preserve $110 million in state funding by obey Governor Greg Abbott's orders to dump a new city ordinance limiting Houston police coordination with ICE - and members of the Houston City Council, who want Whitmire to fight back: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/houston/article/houston-city-council-consider-repealing-new-ice-22205556.php...Council Members including Abbie Kamin, Tiffany Thomas and Tarsha Jackson say the constitutional rights of Houstonians are worth fighting for - while Whitmire says legally, it's a lost cause: https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/houston-city-council-immigration-ordinance/285-311511a3-25cd-4e10-acba-c2576a1b8149Dallas Republican Party Chair Allen West has quit his post ahead of a no-confidence vote provoked by his decision to return to countywide voting in the upcoming runoff, after the party's call to require precinct voting locations in the March primary led to chaos: https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/politics/dallas-county-gop-chair-allen-west-steps-down-amid-voting-controversy/4010885/Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico leads the nation in Q1 fundraising with an eye-popping $27 million haul, mostly from grassroots, individual donations of $100 or less: https://www.statesman.com/news/politics/state/article/talarico-announces-27-million-fundraising-first-22207662.phpA judge has decided that Jim Davis, president of UT Austin, will have to face a retaliation lawsuit from a student his administration suspended over a pro-Palestine on-campus protest: https://news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/ut-austin-president-must-face-pro-palestine-protesters-suitThe Texas Tribune has published a search tool to find out who will be on your primary runoff ballot: https://apps.texastribune.org/features/2026/texas-may-2026-primary-runoff-ballot/We have TWO live events on the calendar! The first is in Houston on Wednesday May 20, when we'll record a live podcast with the newly-elected members of the Cy-Fair ISD board to discuss the undoing of MAGA damage to that district. Space is limited! Please RSVP here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/cypressisdpodcastWe're also excited to see you in Dallas for our 16th anniversary celebration on Tuesday June 16! Make your reservation now: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/anniversary2026Progress Texas is expanding into both broadcast radio - including a new partnership with KPFT-FM in Houston - and into Spanish language media! Make a tax-deductible contribution to our radio initiative HERE, and to our Spanish expansion HERE.Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
"The science is undeniable...every single chronic disease results from a lack of nitric oxide production." -Dr. Nathan Brya Dr. Nathan S. Bryan is a leading biochemist specializing in nitric oxide research with over 25 years of groundbreaking contributions to molecular medicine. He received education and training at esteemed institutions such as UT Austin, LSU School of Medicine, and Boston University, and later joined UT Health's faculty through the recruitment of Nobel laureate Ferid Murad. As the founder and CEO of Bryan Therapeutics, Dr. Bryan has been pivotal in developing nitric oxide-based therapies for conditions such as heart disease, Alzheimer's disease, and chronic wounds. His consumer products have gained international recognition, making him a pioneer in nitric oxide therapy and molecular medicine innovation. Episode Summary: Welcome to another insightful episode of "All My Health, There Is Hope," where host Jana Short welcomes Dr. Nathan S. Bryan, a world-renowned biochemist and nitric oxide expert. In this episode, Dr. Bryan shares his professional journey and how his unwavering hope and faith have propelled his research and innovations forward in the field of nitric oxide therapies. As a pioneer in this area, Dr. Bryan elaborates on the critical role nitric oxide plays in cardiovascular health, energy production, and overall well-being. Delving deeper, Dr. Bryan discusses his mission to disseminate the science of nitric oxide and its implications on health and longevity. As he differentiates nitric oxide products backed by solid research from the questionable ones populating the market, he stresses the importance of informed choices when it comes to health supplements. Through his work, Dr. Bryan aims to change our understanding of chronic disease prevention and management, advocating for a proactive approach to health focused on nitric oxide therapy. Key Takeaways: Nitric Oxide: Discover the importance of nitric oxide as a critical molecule for cardiovascular health, energy production, and inflammation reduction. Foundational Health: Understand how nitric oxide supports overall health, aging, and longevity, and the perils of its deficiency in chronic disease onset. Product Quality: Learn about the need for scientific backing in health products and Dr. Bryan's drive to provide nitric oxide therapies based on sound research. Proactive Health: The benefits of incorporating nitric oxide into daily routines, aiming to prevent health issues before they arise. Future Prospects: Hear about Dr. Bryan's vision for nitric oxide in medicine, including promising developments in therapies for heart disease and Alzheimer's. Resources: www.n1o1.com www.drnathansbryan.com IG: drnathansbryan FB: nathan.bryan.16 LI: drnathansbryan X: drnitric YouTube: @DrNathanSBryanNitricOxide ✨ Enjoying the show? Stay inspired long after the episode ends! Jana is gifting you free subscriptions to Ageless Living Magazine and Best Holistic Life Magazine—two of the fastest-growing publications dedicated to holistic health, personal growth, and living your most vibrant life. Inside, you'll find powerful stories, expert insights, and practical tools to help you thrive—mind, body, and soul.
On this episode, hosts Jen Moon and Katie Dawson sit down with student fellow of the National Disability Center for Student Success Soren Aldaco to examine how accessibility is not just a set of accommodations—but an evolving, shared practice shaped by both students and educators. Together, they unpack what it means to move beyond traditional hierarchies into a model of co-mentorship, where students and faculty learn from one another as equal contributors to research, culture, and change.The conversation highlights how this partnership model reshapes perspectives on teaching, learning, and belonging. From meaningful research projects to real-world impact—like resources, events, and new campus conversations—the episode reveals how student voices are actively shaping the future of accessibility at UT Austin.More than a discussion about disability, this episode is about transformation: how engaging in this work changes not only institutions, but the people within them. As always, thanks for joining us on The Other Side of Campus!
Anamaria Gutiérrez is 23 seasons into running Este Garden, a women-powered, one-third-acre urban farm in East Austin growing vegetables, herbs, edible flowers, and fruit and nut trees for four restaurants: Suerte, Este, Bar Toti, and Nixta Taqueria. Her path to the garden ran through a UT Austin business degree, a farmers market coordinator role, a farm fellowship, her own market food business, and a direct pitch to restaurant owners to let her build edible gardens on their properties. In this episode, Tracy talks with Anamaria about what it means to grow culturally significant food for chefs who care — going to pre-shift to discuss seeds and taste-test new harvests, running a volunteer program that passes farming knowledge forward, and keeping urban green space open and accessible to the whole community. They also get into the harder questions: what it takes for women and young farmers to access land, what cooperative models can do for food system resilience, and what event and hospitality professionals genuinely misunderstand about the people who grow their food. Farmers and event pros have more in common than most people think — long days on their feet, weather upending months of planning, needing a village to make it work. This conversation is a reminder that the best food experiences start with knowing who grew what's on the plate.
The Dad Edge Podcast (formerly The Good Dad Project Podcast)
In this episode, I sit down with Doug Smith — award-winning author of The Path of Rocks and Thorns, policy expert, trauma-informed leadership coach, adjunct professor, and a man who spent six years in a Texas prison cell for four counts of robbery committed in the grip of crack cocaine addiction. This is not a redemption story wrapped in a tidy bow. It's a raw, honest, and deeply human conversation about what happens when a man loses everything — and what he discovers about leadership, recovery, and fatherhood in the process. Doug walks us through what crack addiction actually feels like — the all-encompassing high and the equal and opposite fall — and what it took to rebuild a life after prison, including a bipolar disorder diagnosis, years of therapy, and a spiritual practice pieced together inside a Texas prison cell. He also shares the extraordinary leadership work he did while incarcerated, helping build a sexual assault prevention program that led to a dramatic increase in reporting and prosecution inside Texas prisons — work that continues to have an impact to this day. But the heart of this conversation is fatherhood. Doug's daughter was five when he went in. She was almost eleven when he came home. He shares the terrifying day he was released, the first reunion with his daughter, and how they reconnected through play and letters rather than words. And then he shares the hardest part — what happened when his book came out and his daughter's buried anger finally surfaced, and the hike where he sat in that anger with her without defending himself. Larry meets him there with his own story of a father who left twice — and the dinner conversation twenty years ago where forgiveness finally had room to breathe. Timeline Summary [0:00] Introduction to the Dad Edge mission and the movement to raise leaders of families and communities [1:02] Introducing Doug Smith — author, policy expert, trauma-informed coach, and formerly incarcerated for four counts of robbery [1:23] What prison was actually like — more boring than people imagine, and unexpectedly clarifying [2:31] The decline into crack addiction — what the high feels like and what the low does to your soul [5:14] The black spot on the soul — how crack takes you lower with every use and never lets you climb back up [6:50] What withdrawal from crack cocaine actually does to your brain and body [9:04] How Doug recalibrated inside prison — exercise, meditation, spiritual practice, and learning to feel good without drugs for the first time in his adult life [11:18] His mental health diagnosis — bipolar disorder, personality disorder, and how he eventually moved past treating a label [13:21] Who Doug is today — policy expert, adjunct professor at UT Austin, trauma-informed leadership coach, and author [15:28] What leadership actually means — it's not a business term, it's the relationship between the results you're creating and your contribution to them [16:18] The sexual assault prevention program Doug built inside a Texas prison — and the dramatic results it produced [22:47] How sexual assault in prison is always about power — and why staff are often the perpetrators [23:16] How old his daughter was when he went in — and his daily prayer to get home while she was still a child [24:51] The terrifying day he was released — why his brain wouldn't accept it as real [26:05] Flying down the stairs to hold his daughter — and sitting with her while she wept [26:49] How they reconnected on day one — spreading out her letters and going through them together [27:13] Larry's midroll reflection: you're home, but are you really there? [29:14] How his daughter responded after the initial reunion — the games, the capybara play, and Riley the racing rat [32:07] The years of building trust — and how his daughter's anger didn't surface until the book came out [33:10] His daughter's reaction to the book: everyone's celebrating his story, but nobody asked what she went through [34:48] The hike where everything came out — and how Doug received her anger without defending himself [37:14] How his daughter had organized her life around his incarceration — volunteering with kids of incarcerated parents, camp counseling, and a college essay that got her into UT Austin in three weeks [39:51] The unresolved trauma that was still there beneath the resilience — and what it took for her to finally be angry [40:17] Larry shares his own story — a father who left twice and the dinner conversation that changed everything [43:44] Larry's dad's ownership, humility, and apology — and how seeing a human being allowed forgiveness to begin [45:33] What Doug's relationship with his daughter looks like now — rebuilding on new terms as adults [47:41] His daughter's powerful message: I needed the encouragement before. Don't tie my worth to my grades. [48:13] The richer conversations that come when the old context for a relationship is gone [51:16] Larry's reflection: without the mess there is no message — and what Doug's story means to the men listening [52:18] The Dante's Inferno metaphor from Doug's prison book club — you have to go all the way through to climb back up Five Key Takeaways Losing everything can be unexpectedly clarifying. When the things that were making your life miserable are stripped away, you get to learn who you are without them — and that can be the beginning of something real. Leadership is not a business concept. It's the relationship between the results you're creating in the world and your contribution to those results. Everyone is always leading something. You can be home and still not be present. A lot of men are physically in the house but emotionally absent — and their kids feel it. No prison cell required. Resilience and unresolved trauma can coexist. Doug's daughter organized her whole life around his incarceration before she ever allowed herself to be angry about it. Healing isn't linear and it isn't always visible. You have to go all the way through it. You can't go around pain, grief, or hard emotions. Like Dante — you have to travel through the deepest part before you can climb again. Links & Resources Dad Edge Alliance & Business Boardroom: https://thedadedge.com/mastermind The Men's Forge: https://themensforge.com The Path of Rocks and Thorns by Doug Smith: Available on Amazon Doug Smith's website: https://the-degree.com Email Doug directly: doug@the-degree.com Episode Link & Resources (Episode 1464): https://thedadedge.com/1464 Closing If there's one message from this episode that stands out, it's this: you have to go all the way through it. Doug Smith didn't get to skip the hard parts. He had to travel all the way through addiction, incarceration, and the anger of a daughter he had failed — before he could climb back up. And what he built on the other side of that is extraordinary: a career dedicated to the exact people he used to be, and a relationship with his daughter being rebuilt on honest, adult terms. The mess became the message. It always does. If this episode hit you where it needed to, share it with a man who is in the middle of his own darkest season and needs to know there's a way through. Go out and live legendary.
This week on the show is the seventh iteration of the solo podcast series of The Sunday Shakeout.STAY TUNED FOR UPDATES REGARDING THE SHOW.I talk all about my spring break, visiting Texas colleges, my current training, and the idea of tragedy + time = comedy.I hope you enjoy this episode of The Sunday Shakeout.Please consider leaving a follow and a five-star review.
Progress Texas was proud to join our allies at Environment Texas recently for a terrific discussion on clean energy and its intersection with the beautiful, varied and treasured ecologies of our state, at the wonderful Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in south Austin.In this first of two parts: a welcome statement from Andy Sansom, former Executive Director of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department; an update on the current state of clean energy in Texas from Dr. Michael Webber, Professor and expert in the field at UT Austin; and a panel discussion on the alignment of conservation and energy goals in Texas with Conservation Director of the Sierra Club's Lone Star Chapter Cyrus Reed, Vice President of the Advanced Power Alliance Judd Messer, Executive Director of the Texas Solar and Storage Association Mark Stover, and Audubon Texas Vice President and Executive Director Lisa Gonzalez. Stay tuned for part 2, coming on Wednesday.Learn more about Environment Texas at https://environmentamerica.org/texas/.Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
As conflict in the Persian Gulf threatens global oil supplies and artificial intelligence drives unprecedented demand for electricity, Texas is in a race to unlock the full potential of its diverse and deregulated grid. The path it chooses may arguably shape the U.S. economy and global energy markets. In this third episode of our series on Texas water, energy, and growth, host Duke Reiter is joined by UT Austin professor, author, and global energy consultant, Dr. Michael E. Webber and president of the Texas Nuclear Alliance, Reed Clay to discuss: How the U.S.-Israel-Iran war has sent the world reaching for U.S. oil and natural gas and what this means for TexasHow Texas came to lead the nation in renewable energy generation in the years following Winter Storm Uri, despite the rhetoric What makes Texas a leading contender in the U.S. for a nuclear energy renaissanceWhy surging AI-driven energy demand could accelerate the clean energy transition, not slow it down Relevant Articles and Resources “US LNG exports break record high as Middle East war disrupts global supply” (Reuters, April 2026) “A Texas City Faces Water Crisis as Big Oil and Gas Use Most of It” (Truthout, March 2026) “Is the US headed toward an electricity crisis of its own making?” (Canary Media, January 2026) “Texas' power grid weathered another winter storm. Is it ready for the future?” (Texas Tribune, January 2026) “Trump, atoms, AI and the Texas data center gusher” (Politico, January 2026) “New U.S. nuclear power boom begins with old, still-unresolved problem: What to do with radioactive waste” (CNBC, November 2025) “Texas renewable energy grid defies Trump's claims on solar and wind” (Power Technology, July 2025) The Timeline and Events of the February 2021 Texas Electric Grid Blackouts (University of Texas at Austin) Final Report on February 2021 Freeze Underscores Winterization Recommendations (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) Relevant Ten Across Conversations Podcasts Part One: Can Texas Drought-Proof Its Economic Miracle? Part Two: Does Texas Have the Water to Support an AI Boom? Credits Host: Duke ReiterWriter and producer: Taylor GriffithEditor: Kate CarefootResearch and support provided by: Rae Ulrich, Kelly Saunders, Maya Chari, and Sabine Butler About our guestsReed Clay is president of the Texas Nuclear Alliance. Prior to that, Reed was the Chief Operating Officer of Texas under Governor Greg Abbott and the founder of the government affairs consulting firm Crestline Group. He is also an experienced litigator and founding partner of Clay Scott LLP, with prior experience in the U.S. Department of Justice and Texas Attorney General's Office. Dr. Michael E. Webber is the Sid Richardson Chair in the LBJ School of Public Affairs and the Cockrell Family Chair #16 in the department of mechanical engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to that, Michael served as CTO of Energy Impact Partners and Chief Science and Technology Officer at ENGIE, a global energy company. Michael has authored or co-authored more than 600 publications, including the book “Power Trip: the Story of Energy” and “Thirst for Power: Energy, Water, and Human Survival,” both of which, were developed into award-winning documentaries.
Send us Fan MailA pub a few steps from UT Austin is named “1972,” and that one choice quietly tells a whole story about power, policy, and why women's sports look the way they do today. We start on the Drag at a patio that buzzes with game-day energy, then trace the name back to a real turning point: the signing of Title IX and the massive leap it created for women's athletics in public schools and universities across the United States.From there, we connect the dots to women's college basketball and the Texas Longhorns program, where the ripple effects of Title IX show up in visibility, investment, and the expectation of competing on the biggest stage. With Texas headed toward another Final Four appearance and a shot at a national title, we talk about what fans notice when a season feels different: personalities clicking, work ethic showing up every day, and seniors who want it badly enough to pull everyone together.We also spend time with Deborah Hallam, a fan of UT Women's Basketball for three decades and the person behind the 1972 Pub, where supporters gather to celebrate a team that feels special. The heart of the story is community, connection, and choosing to make women's sports the center of the room instead of an afterthought.If you care about Title IX, women's basketball, Texas Longhorns history, or simply finding places that treat women's sports with real respect, hit play. Subscribe, share this with a friend who loves the game, and leave a review with your favorite Title IX ripple effect.Support the showPlease like and follow each of Stories Inside the Man Cave Podcast social media links on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and Tik Tok.
What if the way we lead young people is the very thing holding them back?In this episode, Dr. David Yeager, psychologist at UT Austin and author of 10 to 25: The Science of Motivating Young People, shares the “mentor mindset,” a practical approach built on high standards and high support. You will hear why wise feedback works, how the stories we tell ourselves shape motivation, and what real support looks like when it removes barriers without taking over. Thrive Global Article: David Yeager on the Mentor MindsetAbout Our Guest:David Yeager, PhD, is a professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin and the cofounder of the Texas Behavioral Science and Policy Institute. He is best known for his research conducted with Carol Dweck, Angela Duckworth, and Greg Walton on short but powerful interventions that influence adolescent behaviors such as motivation, engagement, healthy eating, bullying, stress, mental health, and more. He has consulted for Google, Microsoft, Disney, and the World Bank, as well as for the White House and the governments in California, Texas, and Norway. His research has been featured in The New York Times Magazine, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Scientific American, CNN, Fox News, The Guardian, The Atlantic, and more. Prior to his career as a scientist, he was a middle school teacher and a basketball coach. He earned his PhD and MA at Stanford University and his BA and MEd at the University of Notre Dame. He lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife and their four children.About Lainie:Lainie Rowell is a bestselling author, award-winning educator, and TEDx speaker. She is dedicated to human flourishing, focusing on community building, emotional intelligence, and honoring what makes each of us unique and dynamic through learner-driven design. She earned her degree in psychology and went on to earn both a post-graduate credential and a master's degree in education. An international keynote speaker, Lainie has presented in 41 states as well as in dozens of countries across 4 continents. As a consultant, Lainie's client list ranges from Fortune 100 companies like Apple and Google to school districts and independent schools. Learn more at linktr.ee/lainierowell.Website - LainieRowell.comInstagram - @LainieRowellLinkedIn - @LainieRowellX/Twitter - @LainieRowell Evolving with Gratitude, the book is available here! And now, Bold Gratitude: The Journal Designed for You and by You is available too!Both Evolving with Gratitude & Bold Gratitude have generous bulk pricing for purchasing 10+ copies delivered to the same location.
Welcome to the American Railroading Podcast! In this episode our host Don Walsh is joined by guest John Doggett – Professor at the University of Texas at Austin, McCombs School of Business, Management Department. Together they discuss the current state of the U.S. economy, the military action in Iran and its potential short-term and long-term effects, the partial government shutdown, the upcoming Fed Chair change and likelihood of rate cuts, the rapid growth of AI, areas of market growth to watch, and what it all means for the rail industry. Tune in to this episode to gain valuable insights and broaden your understanding of American Railroading! You can find this episode and more on the American Railroading Podcast's official website at www.AmericanRailroading.net , and watch our YouTube Channel at the link below. Welcome aboard!KEY POINTS: The American Railroading Podcast remains in the Top 10% of all podcasts globally, now downloaded in 68 countries around the world!Having begun his teaching career in 1979, this will be Professor Doggett's final year teaching full time as he will go down to teaching one spring semester a year at the University of Texas in Austin in 2027.Per Professor Doggett, one of the sobering things when you contemplate retiring is, you don't realize how much of who you are is what you do.Regarding the current political climate, John feels that it would be good to recall the words of President Clinton where he said regarding the most important thing to voters, “It's the economy stupid”, which he believes will be reflected in the mid-term elections.With current Fed Chair Powell's term ending soon, and assuming the President's nominee Kevin Warsh is confirmed as his replacement, Professor Doggett gives his opinion on what Kevin Warsh's priorities once taking the position over may be, and whether or not he feels there will be rate cuts in the remainder of 2026.Don and Professor Doggett discuss the military action in Iran, the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz, the short-term and long-term effects on the oil and gas markets, as well as when the military action may end.Professor Doggett explains in great detail why the low birth rate not only here in the U.S. but globally is so important and so concerning.Per Professor Doggett, AI is changing our world at a more rapid pace than anything he's seen in his lifetime.According to Professor Doggett, if he were a betting man, the markets he would focus on would be….(You'll have to listen or watch to find out). If you like what we do, please leave us a 5-Star Review…and please Share the episode!LINKS MENTIONED: https://www.americanrailroading.nethttps://www.therevolutionrailgroup.com https://www.youtube.com/@americanrailroadingpodcast https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dwalshX https://www.enviroserve.com
Our final look into “Who Killed Jesus” examines whether Jesus as God could even be killed, as well as his deeper plan and motivation for it all.The opinions expressed in the videos or source material connected to this podcast are not necessarily those of Monumental Ministries.Clips Used (Opener):The Real Meaning of the Cross - Billy Graham (https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=the+real+meaning+of+the+cross+billy+graham); Bill O'Reilly talks about "Killing Jesus" on 60 Minutes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWEf5gheGwg&t=97s); Jesus was Innocent - important sermon clip (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDGPuwmuemo); Jordan Peterson discusses the story of Christ's crucifixion on Joe Rogan Experience podcast (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gzif0afjN5A&t=77s); Who killed Jesus and why? The politics surrounding his death (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzIbAskEmR8&t=150s); Jesus was Innocent (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6h0Jvl4q8s); Who Killed Jesus? The historical context of Jesus' crucifixion (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLkD4JmTbQk&t=43s)Other Clips:“Dallas Willard - Creation was an act of joy” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_z4PcpqGwPI&t=170s); “Tim Keller on Jesus's death as an act of friendship” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNkFUdo7P8o); “What are the proofs for the resurrection of Jesus?” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je9lI5jPTnQ&t=207s); “John Piper: The Explosive Power of the Resurrection | Sing! Conference Highlight” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBpbOT8EzXc); “The Historical Facts Argument for the Resurrection - Dr. Gary Habermas” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8fKZ9QyHH4&t=167s); “The Resurrection of Jesus: Fact or Ancient Fiction? | N.T. Wright at UT Austin” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cz201Od_Xe4&t=1s); “Trevor Hudson - Experiencing the Presence of Resurrection Love” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKYZ2xDuxJI&t=353s)Ad Music:“Bright and Warm Horizon,” written and performed by Alex KippEpisode Music:“Powering Up” by Salon Dijon; “The Rise of Hope” by Caleb Etheridge; “Inspire” by Shimmer; “Longing for Home” by Gold Coast; “Less Traveled” by Kevin Graham; “Forevermore” by Reveille; “Resurrection” and “Discovering the Ancients” by Cody Martin;
Our guest this week is Arthur Erickson, CEO of Hylio, as he discusses the evolution and strategic direction of Hylio, an American drone company. Erickson shares the company's journey from its inception at UT Austin, where it initially aimed to create a general-purpose industrial drone, to its current focus on agricultural applications. Hylio has carved a niche in the agricultural drone market, competing against major Chinese brands by offering American-made drones that prioritize data security and customer support. The discussion highlights the impact of geopolitical trends, such as the U.S. ban on foreign drones, which has spurred interest in Western-sourced drones. Erickson also discusses the technological advancements in Hylio's drones, including AI integration for route planning and obstacle detection, and the company's expansion into other markets like solar farm maintenance and emergency response. The conversation underscores Hylio's commitment to innovation and adaptability in a rapidly evolving industry. Learn more at: https://www.hyl.io/ ### – SPONSOR – Download the 2026 State of the Robotics Industry Report: https://www.therobotreport.com/state-of-robotics-industry-report-2026/
Join us for another exciting episode of Everything Koshur! Meet Sandhya Tiku, a UT Austin and Johns Hopkins Graduate who is the Co-founder of SinuStim, a revolutionary biotech company that is working on more than just a band-aid solution for people suffering from chronic sinus issues. Learn about how Sandhya founded SinuStim, and how she's been able to use her Kashmiri heritage and network to further advance her company.
You know the boys were excited to come back this week, talking a certain Sweet 16 hoops squad and this healthy offering of Houston Cougar sports topics: Big picture men's hoops opening weekend thoughts & recapping a pair of thoroughly dominant wins over Texas A&M and Idaho Previewing Sweet 16 opponent Illinois and the challenges they present, plus quick looks at possible future opponents Iowa and Nebraska Recapping swim & dive's NCAA performances at the end of a strong season Tennis Corner returns to discuss a historic win and a big opportunity in the coming week Golf Corner looks at the strongest men's team performance of the spring and a familiar problem popping up for the women's team Baseball and softball's pitching woes continue, with bonus live reaction to the late stages of baseball's midweek win over #2 UT-Austin
In this episode of The Other Side of Campus, hosts Stephanie Seidel Holmsten and Jen Moon sit down with Francesca “Chessie” Lockhart, Program Lead of the Cybersecurity Clinic at UT Austin's Strauss Center for International Security and Law. Drawing on her experience in state-level intelligence at the Texas Department of Public Safety, Lockhart shares how her career in counterterrorism, cybersecurity, and critical infrastructure protection led her back to the university — and how she's now helping shape the next generation of public-minded technologists and security strategists.At the heart of the conversation is the Cybersecurity Clinic itself: an innovative, hands-on two-semester program where students apply classroom learning directly in partnerships with nonprofits, small businesses, and local governments to address real cybersecurity challenges. Lockhart explains how this model transforms learning — moving beyond the lecture hall to cultivate technical skills, ethical responsibility, and a deep sense of public purpose.We also hear from Kareem Chavez-Escobedo, now a UT law student and a member of the clinic's inaugural cohort, who reflects on what it was like to work with real clients as an undergraduate. Her experience highlights how applied learning can build not only expertise, but confidence, agency, and a clearer sense of how students can contribute to the public good.Together, the episode explores broader questions about the role of higher education in an age of rapid technological change: What responsibilities do universities have in strengthening cybersecurity at the local and national level? How can experiential learning better prepare students to navigate complex, real-world problems? And what gives educators hope about the next generation stepping into these critical roles? As always, thanks for joining us on The Other Side of Campus.
What are the main candidates for dark matter? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice sit down with theoretical physicist Katherine Freese to tackle fan questions about dark matter, dark energy, and the dark universe at large. NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can listen to this entire episode commercial-free here: https://startalkmedia.com/show/dark-universe-decoded-with-katherine-freese/ Thanks to our Patrons Yasin Hasbay, Joe Hudson, Marcelo Morales, Jeffrey C, Quentin Kelly, Mark Hobden, Shawnie Brisbois, Nathan Williams, Christian Etel, Adam, Andrew Foss, Christopher Lauer, Mike Smith, Gloria Goungo, Dennis Poggenburg, Wild Cat93, Tilly, Alon Gutman, Philip Sun, Dave Mulder, Neil Cameron, CuriousHairlessApe, Not Pensive, Thanh Ho, Aaron, Amy, Brandon Rhodes, Jeffrey Otterman, Space Hendrix, Mango, Yoni, Christopher, Cody Motycka, James Astley, Ryan Dimery-Seek, Alec Scott, Joshua Dobelstein, JP, D.K. Mola, Matt Sumner, Jordan Smith, Case Torres, Tiffany Jones, Josh Middleton, Christopher Crain, Abdul Sudi, Quyen Nguyen, Rahul Varma Sikinam, Nathaniel Gonzalez, Jonathan Negron, Adam Bauman, Sean McAll, Taylor, Lora White, CrunchySciFry, Robby Satterfield, James Simpson, Samantha Kasper, Isahn Mejia, Cameron Smith, Ray Nobleza, Mike Gibbs, Paul Stumbo, Ruben Wilberg, Anish Dube, Manolis Sensi, Arnab Deka, Rich, 4d916, Oon Thian Seng, Temo Chavchanidze, Vikas Rawat, Korin, Gene Hannon, Edward Marwood, Catherine Fiala, Matt F, Elijah Flippin, Bharath Kumar, Tuyaa, Furry Combat Wombat, Lexi Chivers, Vincent Franchino, R Tillery, Matthew Pitts, GAME MASTER, Lawrey, Chris Fro, Adam, Diesel Haphazard, Anthony Calomeni, Mike G., Victor Acevedo, David Wall, Jaime Rivera, Reginald Hill, Devin Jansen, Tushar Vashisht, Lisa Mc Guire, and Ian for supporting us this week. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of StarTalk Radio ad-free and a whole week early.Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Yes, of course college students want scholarships. Who wouldn't want their education funded in part or entirely with funds that don't need to be paid back? But an astonishingly deep well of free money seems inaccessible to most applicants. Amy and Mike invited educator Leia LeMaster Horton to explore how to win scholarships. What are five things you will learn in this episode? When should students start going after scholarships? What are the three types of scholarships? Which major private, merit-based scholarships are most strategic to target? What preparation should a student complete before seriously applying for scholarships? What are the three most common scholarship essay prompts students should prepare for? MEET OUR GUEST Leia LeMaster Horton, M.Ed., is the founder of Horton Test Prep and a nationally recognized Test Prep Professional and Scholarship Expert in the college prep industry. She is a featured speaker at homeschool conferences and college fairs across the country, including events at UC Berkeley, UT Austin, Clemson, Johns Hopkins, and Columbia University, and has been on numerous podcasts and webinars guiding families through the often stressful college preparation process. As a founding member of the National Test Prep Association, a scholarship judge, certified test prep instructor, and creator of the digital course Secrets to Earning Scholarships, Leia is passionate about helping students raise their ACT, CLT, and SAT scores, unlock scholarship opportunities, and make their dream schools a reality. Leia previously appeared on the podcast in episode 248 for a TEST PREP PROFILE. Leia can be reached at info@hortontestprep.com or on Instagram @LeiaLeMasterHorton. LINKS Secrets to Earning Scholarships The Coolidge Scholarship Jeanne Lucas Memorial Scholarship Bold.org Scholarships.com RELATED EPISODES COMMON MISTAKES IN SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATIONS HOW TO WIN LOCAL SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS LESSONS LEARNED BY OFFERING A SCHOLARSHIP ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page. ABOUT YOUR HOSTS Mike Bergin is the president of Chariot Learning and the founder of TestBright, Roots2Words, and College Eagle. Amy Seeley is the president of Seeley Test Pros and LEAP. If you're interested in working with Mike and/or Amy for test preparation, training, or consulting, get in touch through our contact page.
How should musicians actually practice to improve faster? In this conversation with researcher and trumpet professor Micah Killion, we explore what expert musicians do differently in the practice room and what research reveals about effective practice.Micah Killion is Assistant Professor of Trumpet and Brass Coordinator at Montclair State University and former principal trumpet of the United States Air Force Band in Washington, D.C. A Yamaha Performing Artist with degrees from Juilliard, Teachers College–Columbia, and UT Austin, his research on expert practice and music learning has been presented at leading institutions including Juilliard, Eastman, and the Royal Academy of Music.In this episode, Micah shares what he discovered after closely analyzing how elite performers actually practice - and why their approach looks very different from the way most musicians were taught. We explore the decision-making process behind effective practice, the surprising role of mistakes in learning, and a simple strategy that can help musicians practice more efficiently, musically, and consistently.Get all the nerdy details right here:Micah Killion: The One Thing Artist-Level Musicians Do Differently in the Practice RoomMore from The Bulletproof MusicianGet the free weekly newsletter, for more nerdy details and bonus subscriber-only content.Pressure Proof: A free 7-day performance practice crash course that will help you shrink the gap between the practice room and the stage.Learning Lab: A continuing education community where musicians and learners are putting research into practice.Live and self-paced coursesMore from The Bulletproof Musician Get the free weekly newsletter, for more nerdy details and bonus subscriber-only content. Pressure Proof: A free 7-day performance practice crash course that will help you shrink the gap between the practice room and the stage. Learning Lab: A continuing education community where musicians and learners are putting research into practice. Live and self-paced courses
Send a textConversations with Big Rich welcomes fabricator, racer, and shop owner Cameron Chin—an off-road lifer who broke stereotypes to build a career around cars. Born and raised in Houston, Cameron cut his teeth on a rough '67 Mustang, studied studio art at UT Austin, and dove headfirst into off-roading by co-founding the Longhorn Off-Road Club. After early shop experience and the dot-com bust, he launched Crawltex (2006), helping grow Texas' wheeling scene with everything from bolt-ons to axle and engine swaps.Cameron shares first desert race memories supporting a Hooters-backed team at the Baja 500, a white-knuckle Rally America win as a co-driver, and candid thoughts on King of the Hammers. A move to Las Vegas for his wife's NICU career led to Nefarious Customs, where he expanded into high-end restomods and desert builds. Now back in Texas, Cameron juggles shops in Vegas, Austin, and the Houston area, focusing on frame-off Scouts, a tube-chassis LS-swapped Porsche Targa for his dad, classic Chevy and Camaro builds, and more—while nurturing his kids' budding interest in motorsports Support the show
A Poetic Invitation to Face Our S**tMarie Ida Sequence: Writing Prompts to Love Our MothersHello Wonderful Reader,The mother-daughter bond is just about the last thing I wanted to share about this week. I only wanted to give you a taste of Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven because next week we'll be working with another poem by her in a “Fantasy”-themed Intimacy Writing Workshop (which I'm very excited to teach!)I found her poem “Marie Ida Sequence,” and I liked it. But once I sat down to illustrate, I got the message: she's talking about her mother, their resemblance, and her love for her. Her mother, Ida-Marie, who died of uterine cancer when Elsa was only 19 years old. Her mother, who had suffered from mental illness and spent time in a sanatorium in Stettin, Germany (theartstory.org). Her mother, who had been stuck in an abusive, violent relationship with her father, and contracted syphilis because of him (Elsa blamed her father for her mother's death).I'm not going to lie, the complexity of it makes me feel a bit better about myself. I'm going through a difficult time with my own mother. I am trying to accept her for who she is, while she cannot do the same for me. My boundaries are met by her silence. I'm still an afterthought in her web of family gatherings, always wanting everyone to be close while still not really knowing what closeness means. It's f*****g complicated, and not fun to think about.Still, the clear images in the poem captivated me. The slate-green eyes, the copper hair. Maybe that's what writing is about sometimes. Facing the dark s**t. Processing the stuff we'd rather not look at. In fact, in the research from UT Austin that I base my workshops on, they say that there are more mental and physical health benefits from writing about your most traumatic and difficult experiences than from writing about neutral topics.So, here's to facing our s**t.Love,Tash
Melissa Lavasani & Jay Kopelman join our podcast to discuss how psychedelic policy is actually moving in Washington, DC. Lavasani leads Psychedelic Medicine Coalition, a DC-based advocacy organization focused on educating federal officials and advancing legislation around psychedelic medicine. Kopelman is CEO of Mission Within Foundation, which provides scholarships for veterans and first responders seeking psychedelic-assisted therapy retreats, often outside the United States. The conversation centers on veterans, the VA, and why that system may be the first realistic federal pathway for psychedelic care. Early Themes Lavasani describes PMC's work on Capitol Hill, including hosting events that bring lawmakers, staffers, and advocates into the same room. Her focus is steady engagement. In DC, progress often happens through repeated conversations, not headlines. Kopelman shares his background as a Marine and how his own psychedelic-assisted therapy experience led him to Mission Within. The foundation has funded more than 250 scholarships for veterans and first responders seeking treatment for PTSD, mild traumatic brain injury, depression, and addiction. They connect this work to pending veteran-focused legislation and explain why the VA matters. As a closed health system, the VA can pilot programs, gather data, and refine protocols without the pressures of private healthcare markets. Core Insights A recent Capitol Hill gathering, For Veteran Society, brought together members of Congress and leaders from the psychedelic caucus. Lavasani describes candid feedback from lawmakers. The message was clear: coordinate messaging, avoid fragmentation, and move while bipartisan interest remains. Veteran healthcare is not framed as the final goal. It is a starting point. If psychedelic therapies can demonstrate safety and effectiveness within the VA, broader adoption becomes more plausible. Kopelman raises operational realities that must be addressed: Standardized safety protocols across providers Integration support, not medication alone Clear training pathways for clinicians Real-world data beyond tightly screened clinical trials They also address recent negative headlines involving ibogaine treatment abroad. Kopelman emphasizes the need for shared learning across providers, especially when adverse events occur. Lavasani argues that inconsistency within the ecosystem can slow federal confidence. Later Discussion and Takeaways The discussion widens to federal momentum around addiction and mental health. Lavasani notes that new funding initiatives signal growing openness to innovative treatment models, even if psychedelics are not named explicitly in every announcement. Both guests stress that policy moves slowly by design. Meetings, follow-ups, and relationship building often matter more than public statements. For clinicians, researchers, operators, and advocates, the takeaways are direct: Veterans are likely the first federal pathway Public education remains essential Safety standards must be shared and transparent Integration and workforce development need attention now If psychedelic medicine enters federal systems, infrastructure will determine success. Frequently Asked Questions What do Melissa Lavasani & Jay Kopelman say about VA psychedelic policy? They argue that veteran-focused legislation offers a realistic first federal pathway for psychedelic-assisted care. Is ibogaine currently available through the VA? No. They discuss ibogaine in the context of private retreats and future possibilities, not an existing VA program. Why do Melissa Lavasani & Jay Kopelman emphasize coordination? Lawmakers respond more positively when advocates present aligned messaging and clear priorities. What safety issues are discussed by Melissa Lavasani & Jay Kopelman? They highlight the need for standardized screening, monitoring, integration support, and transparent review of adverse events. Closing Melissa Lavasani & Jay Kopelman provide a grounded look at how psychedelic policy develops inside federal systems. Their message is practical: veterans may be the first lane, but long-term success depends on coordination, safety standards, and sustained engagement. Closing This episode captures a real-time view of how federal policy could shape the next phase of the psychedelic resurgence, especially through veteran-facing legislation and VA infrastructure. Melissa Lavasani & Jay Kopelman argue that coordination, public education, and shared safety standards will shape whether access expands with credibility and care. Transcript Joe Moore: [00:00:00] Hello everybody. Welcome back to Psychedelics Today. Today we have two guests, um, got Melissa Sani from Psychedelic Medicine Coalition. We got Jake Pelman from Mission Within Foundation. We're gonna talk about I bga I became policy on a recent, uh, set of meetings in Washington, DC and, uh, all sorts of other things I'm sure. Joe Moore: But thank you both for joining me. Melissa Lavasani: Thanks for having us. Jay Kopelman: Yeah, it's a pleasure. Thanks. Joe Moore: Yeah. Um, Melissa, I wanna have you, uh, jump in. First. Can you tell us a little bit about, uh, your work and what you do at PMC? Melissa Lavasani: Yeah, so Psychedelic Medicine Coalition is, um, the only DC based Washington DC based advocacy organization dedicated to the advancing the issue of psychedelics, um, and making sure the federal government has the education they need, um, and understands the issue inside out so that they can generate good policy around, around psychedelic medicines. Melissa Lavasani: [00:01:00] Uh, we. Host Hill events. We host other convenings. Our big event every year is the Federal Summit on psychedelic medicine. Um, that's going to be May 14th this year. Um, where we talk about kinda the pressing issues that need to be talked about, uh, with government officials in the room, um, so that we can incrementally move this forward. Melissa Lavasani: Um, our presence here in Washington DC is, is really critical for this issue's success because, um, when we're talking about psychedelic medicines, um, from the federal government pers perspective, you know, they are, they are the ones that are going to initiate the policies that create a healthcare system that can properly facilitate these medicines and make sure, um, patient safety is a priority. Melissa Lavasani: And there's guardrails on this. And, um, you know, there, it's, it's really important that we have. A home base for this issue in Washington DC just [00:02:00] because, uh, this is very complicated as a lot of your viewers probably understand, and, you know, this can get lost in the mix of all the other issues that, um, lawmakers in DC are focused on right now. Melissa Lavasani: And we need to keep that consistent presence here so that this continues to be a priority for members of Congress. Joe Moore: Mm. I love this. And Jay, can you tell us a bit about yourself and mission within Foundation? Jay Kopelman: Yeah, sure. Joe, thanks. Uh, I, I am the CEO of Mission within Foundation. Prior to this, most of my adult life was spent in the military as a Marine. Jay Kopelman: And I came to this. Role after having, uh, a psychedelic assisted therapy experience myself at the mission within down in Mexico, which is where pretty much we all go. Um, we are here to help [00:03:00] provide, uh, access for veterans and first responders to be able to attend psychedelic assisted therapy retreats to treat issues like mild TBI, post-traumatic stress disorder, uh, depression, sometimes addiction at, at a very low level. Jay Kopelman: Um, and, and so we've, we've been doing this for a little more than a year now and have provided 250 plus scholarships to veterans and first responders to be able to access. These retreats and these, these lifesaving medicines. Um, we're also partnered, uh, you may or may not know with Melissa at Psychedelic Medicine Coalition to help advance education and policy, specifically the innovative, uh, therapy Centers of Excellence Act [00:04:00] that Melissa has worked for a number of years on now to bring to both Houses of Congress. Joe Moore: Thank you for that. Um, so let's chat a little bit about what this event was that just, uh, went down, uh, what, what was it two weeks ago at this point? Melissa Lavasani: Yeah. Yeah. It's called For Veteran Society and it's all, um, there's a lot of dialogue on Capitol Hill about veterans healthcare and psychedelics, but where I've been frustrated is that, you know, it was just a lot of. Melissa Lavasani: Talk about what the problems are and not a lot of talk about like how we actually propel things forward. Um, so it, at that event, I thought it was really important and we had three members of Congress there, um, Morgan Latrell, who has been a champion from day one and his time in Congress, um, having gone through the experience himself, um, [00:05:00] at Mission within, um, and then the two chairs of the psychedelic caucus, uh, Lou Correa and Jack Bergman. Melissa Lavasani: And we really got down to the nitty gritty of like w like why this has taken so long and you know, what is actually happening right now? What are the possibilities and what the roadblocks are. And it was, I thought it was a great conversation. Um, we had an interesting kind of dynamic with Latres is like a very passionate about this issue in particular. Melissa Lavasani: Um, I think it was, I think it was really. A great event. And, you know, two days later, Jack Bergman introduced his new bill for the va. Um, so it was kind of like the precursor to that bill getting introduced. And we're just excited for more and more conversations about how the government can gently guide this issue to success. Joe Moore: Hmm. Yeah. [00:06:00] That's fantastic. Um, yeah, I was a little bummed I couldn't make it, but next time, I hope. But I've heard a lot of good things and, um, it's, it sounded like there was some really important messages in, in terms of like feedback from legislators. Yeah. Yeah. Could you speak to that? Melissa Lavasani: Yeah, I mean, I think when, uh, representative Latrell was speaking, he really impressed on us a couple things. Melissa Lavasani: Um, first is that, you know, they really kind of need the advocates to. Coordinate, collaborate and come up with like a, a strategic plan, you know, without public education. Um, talking to members of Congress about this issue is, is really difficult. You know, like PMC is just one organization. We're very little mission within, very little, um, you know, we're all like, kind of new in navigating, um, this not so new issue, but new to Washington DC [00:07:00] issue. Melissa Lavasani: Um, without that public education as a baseline, uh, it's, it's, you have to spend a lot of time educating members of Congress. You know, that's like one of our things is, you know, we have to, we don't wanna tell Congress what direction to go to. We wanna provide them the information so they understand it very intimately and know how to navigate through things. Melissa Lavasani: Um, and secondly. Um, he got pretty frank with us and said, you know, we've got one cha one chance at this issue. And it's like, that's, that's kind of been like my talking point since I started. PMC is like, you have a very limited window, um, when these kind of issues pop up and they're new and they're fresh and you have a lot of the veteran community coming out and talking about it. Melissa Lavasani: And there's a lot of energy there. But now is the time to really move forward, um, with some real legislation that can be impactful. Um, but, you know, we've gotta [00:08:00] be careful. We, we forget, I think sometimes those of us who are in the ecosystem forget that our level of knowledge about these medicines and a lot of us have firsthand experience, um, with these drugs and, and our own healing journeys is, um, we forget that there is a public out there that doesn't have the level of knowledge that we all have. Melissa Lavasani: And, um. We gotta make sure that we're sticking to the right elements of, of, of what needs to happen. We need to be sure that our talking points are on track and we're not getting sideways about anything and going down roads that we don't need to talk about. It's why, um, you know, PMC is very focused on, um, moving forward veteran legislation right now. Melissa Lavasani: Not because we're a veteran organization, but because we're, we see this long-term policy track here. Um, we know where we want to get [00:09:00] to, um. Um, and watching other healthcare issues kind of come up and then go through the VA healthcare system, I think it's a really unique opportunity, um, to utilize the VA as this closed system, the biggest healthcare system in the country to evaluate, uh, how psychedelics operate within systems like that. Melissa Lavasani: And, you know, before they get into, um, other healthcare systems. What do we need to fix? What do we need to pay attention to? What's something that we're paying too much attention to that doesn't necessarily need that much attention? So it's, um, it's a real opportunity to look at psychedelic medicines within a healthcare system and obviously continue to gather the data. Melissa Lavasani: Um, Bergman's Bill emerging, uh, expanding veteran access to emerging treatments. Um, not only mandates the research, it gives the VA authority for this, uh, for running trials and, and creating programs around psychedelic medicines. But also, [00:10:00] one of the great things about it, I think, is it provides an on-ramp for veterans that don't necessarily qualify for clinical trials. Melissa Lavasani: You know, I think that's one of the biggest criticisms of clinical trials is like you're cre you're creating a vacuum for people and people don't live in a vacuum. So we don't necessarily know what psychedelics are gonna look like in real life. Um, but with this expanding veteran access bill that Bergman introduced, it provides the VA an opportunity to provide this access under. Melissa Lavasani: Um, in a, in a safe container with medical supervision while collecting data, um, while ensuring that the veteran that is going through this process has the support systems that it needs. So, um, you know, I think that there's a really unique opportunity here, and like Latrell said, like, we've got one shot at this. Melissa Lavasani: We have people's attention in Congress. Um, now's the time to start acting, and let's be really considerate and thoughtful about what we're doing with it. Joe Moore: Thanks for that, Melissa and Jay, how, [00:11:00] anything to add there on kind of your takeaways from the this, uh, last visit in dc? Jay Kopelman: Yeah, I, I think that Melissa highlighted it really well and there, there were a couple other things that I, I think, you know, you could kind of tie it all together with some other issues that we face in this country, uh, and that. Jay Kopelman: Uh, representative Correa brought up as well, but one of the things I wanted to go back and say is that veterans have kind of led this movement already, right? So, so it's a, it's a good jumping off point, right? That it's something people from both sides of the aisle, from any community in America can get behind. Jay Kopelman: You know, if you think about it, uh, in World War ii, you know, we had a million people serving our population was like, not even 200 million, but now [00:12:00] we have a population of 330 million, and at any given time there might be a million people in uniform, including the Reserve and the National Guard. So it's, it, it's an easy thing to get behind this small part of the population that is willing to sign that contract. Jay Kopelman: Where you are saying, yeah, I'm going to defend my country, possibly at the risk of my l my own life. So that's the first thing. The other thing is that the VA being a closed health system, and they don't have shareholders to answer to, they can take some risks, they can be innovative and be forward thinking in the ways that some other healthcare systems can't. Jay Kopelman: And so they have a perfect opportunity to show that they truly care for their veterans, which don't, I'm not saying they don't, but this would be an [00:13:00] opportunity to show that carrot at a whole different level. Uh, it would allow them to innovate and be a leader in something as, uh, as our friend Jim Hancock will say, you know. Jay Kopelman: When he went to the Naval Academy, they had the world's best shipbuilding program. Why doesn't the VA have the world's best care program for things like TBI and PTSD, which affects, you know, 40 something percent of all veterans, right? So, so there's, there's an opportunity here for the VA to lead from the front. Jay Kopelman: Um, the, these medicines provide, you know, reasonably lasting care where it's kind of a one and done. Whereas with the current systems, the, you know, and, and [00:14:00] again, not to denigrate the VA in any way, they're doing the best job they can with the tools in their toolbox, right? But maybe it's time for a trip to Home Depot. Jay Kopelman: Let's get some new tools. And have some new ways of fixing what's broken, which is really the way of doing things. It's not, veterans aren't broken, we are who we are. Um, but it's a, it's a way to fix what isn't working. So I, I think that, you know, given there's tremendous veteran homelessness still, you know, addiction issues, all these things that do translate to the population at large are things that can be worked on in this one system, the va that can then be shown to have efficacy, have good data, have [00:15:00] good outcomes, and, and take it to the population at large. Joe Moore: Mm-hmm. Brilliant. Thanks for that. And so there was another thing I wanted to pivot to, which is some of the recent press. So we've, um, seen a little bit of press around some, um, in one instance, some bad behavior in Mexico that a FI put out Americans thrive again, put out. And then another case there was a, a recent fatality. Joe Moore: And I think, um, both are tragic. Like we shouldn't be having to deal with this at this point. Um, but there's a lot of things that got us here. Um, it's not necessarily the operator's fault entirely, um, or even at all, honestly, like some medical interventions just carry a lot of risk. Like think, think about like, uh, how risky bypass surgery was in the nineties, right? Joe Moore: Like people were dying a lot from medical interventions and um, you know, this is a major intervention, uh, ibogaine [00:16:00] and also a lot of promise. To help people quite a bit. Um, but as of right now, there's, there's risk. And part of that risk, in my opinion, comes from the inability of organizations to necessarily collaborate. Joe Moore: Like there's no kind of convening body, sitting in the middle, allowing, um, for, and facilitating really good data sharing and learnings. Um, and I don't, I don't necessarily see an organization stepping up and being the, um, the convener for that kind of work. I've heard rumors that something's gonna happen there, and I'm, I'm hopeful I'll always wanna share my opinion on that. Joe Moore: But yeah. I don't know. Jay, from your perspective, is there anything you want to kind of speak to about, uh, these two recent incidents that Americans for Iboga kind of publicized recently? Jay Kopelman: Yeah, so I, I'll echo your sentiment, of course, that these are tragic incidents. Um, and I, [00:17:00] I think that at least in the case of the death at Ambio, AMBIO has done a very good job of talking about it, right? Jay Kopelman: They've been very honest with the information that they have. And like you said, there are risks inherent to these medicines, and it's like anything else in medicine, there are going to be risks. You know, when I went through, uh, when I, when I went through chemo, you know, there were, there are risks. You know, you don't feel well, you get sick. Jay Kopelman: Um, and, and it. There are processes in place to counter that when it happens. And there are processes and, and procedures and safety protocols in place when caring for somebody going through an ibogaine [00:18:00] journey. Uh, when I did it, we had EKG echocardiogram. You're on a heart monitor the entire time they push magnesium via iv. Jay Kopelman: You have to provide a urinalysis sample to make sure that there is nothing in your system that is going to potentially harm you. During the ibogaine, they have, uh, a cardiologist who is monitoring the heart monitors throughout the ibogaine experience. So the, the safety protocols are there. I think it's, I think it's just a matter of. Jay Kopelman: Standardizing them across all, all providers, right? Like, that would be a good thing if people would talk to one another. Um, as, as in any system, right? You've gotta have [00:19:00] some collaboration. You've gotta have standardization, you know, so, you know, they're not called standard operating procedures for nothing. Jay Kopelman: That means that in a, you know, in a given environment, everybody does things the same way. It's true in Navy and Marine Corps, air Force, army Aviation, they have standard operating procedures for every single aircraft. So if you fly, let's say the F 35 now, right? Because it's flown by the Navy, the Marine Corps, and the Air Force. Jay Kopelman: The, the emergency procedures in that airplane are standardized across all three services, so you should have the same, or, you know, with within a couple of different words, the same procedures and processes [00:20:00] across all the providers, right? Like maybe in one document you're gonna change, happy to glad and small dog to puppy, but it's still pretty much the, the same thing. Jay Kopelman: And as a service that provides scholarships to people to go access these medicines and go to these retreats, you know, my criteria is that the, this provider has to be safe. Number one, safety's paramount. It's always gotta be very safe. It should, it has to be effective. And you know, once you have those two things in place, then I have a comfort level saying, okay, yeah, we'll work with this provider. Jay Kopelman: But until those standardized processes are in place, you'll probably see these one-off things. I mean, some providers have been doing this longer than others and have [00:21:00] really figured out, you know, they've, they've cracked the code and, you know, sharing that across the spectrum would be good. Um, but just when these things happen, having a clearing house, right, where everybody can come together and talk about it, you know, like once the facts are known because. Jay Kopelman: To my knowledge, we still don't know all the facts. Like as, you know, as horrible as this is, you still have to talk about like an, has an autopsy been performed? What was found in the patient's system? You know, there, there are things there that we don't know. So we need to, we need to know that before we can start saying, okay, well this is how we can fix that, because we just don't know. Jay Kopelman: And, you know, to their credit, you know, Amio has always been safe to, to the, to the best of my knowledge. You know, I, [00:22:00] I haven't been to Ambio myself, but people that I have worked with have been there. They have observed, they have seen the process. They believe it's safe, and I trust their opinion because they've seen it elsewhere as well. Jay Kopelman: So yeah, having, having that one place where we can all come together when this happens, it, it's almost like it should be mandatory. In the military when there's a training accident, we, you know, we would have to have what's called a safety standout. And you don't do that again for a little while until you figure out, okay, how are we going to mitigate that happening again? Jay Kopelman: Believe me, you can go overboard and we don't want to do that. Like, we don't wanna just stop all care, but maybe stop detox for a week and then come back to it. [00:23:00] Joe Moore: Yeah. A dream would be, let's get like the, I don't know, 10, 20 most popular, uh, or well-known operators together somewhere and just do like a three day debrief. Joe Moore: Hey, everybody, like, here's what we see. Let's work on this together. You know how normal medicine works. And this is, it's hard because this is not necessarily, um, something people feel safe about in America talking about 'cause it's illicit here. Um, I don't understand necessarily how the operations, uh, relate to each other in Mexico, but I think that's something to like the public should dig into. Joe Moore: Like, what, what is this? And I, I'll start digging into that. Um, I, I asked a question recently of somebody like, is there some sort of like back channel signal everybody's using and there's no clear Yes. You know? Um, I think it would be good. That's just a [00:24:00] start, you know, that's like, okay, we can actually kind of say hi and watch out for this to each other. Jay Kopelman: It's not like we don't all know one another, right? Joe Moore: Yes. Jay Kopelman: Like at least three operators we're represented. At the Aspen Ibogaine meeting. So like that could be, and I think there was a panel kind of loosely related to this during Aspen Ibogaine meeting, but Joe Moore: mm-hmm. Jay Kopelman: It, you know, have a breakout where the operators can go sit down and kind of compare notes. Joe Moore: Right. Yeah. Melissa, do you have any, uh, comments on this thread here? And I, I put you on mute if you didn't see that. Um, Melissa Lavasani: all right, I'm off mute. Um, yeah, I think that Jay's hits the nail on the head with the collaboration thing. Um, I think that it's just a [00:25:00] problem across the entire ecosystem, and I think that's just a product of us being relatively new and upcoming field. Melissa Lavasani: Um, uh, it's a product of, you know. Our fundraising community is really small, so organizations feel like they are competing for the same dollars, even though their, their goals are all the same, they have different functions. Um, I think with time, I mean, let's be honest, like if we don't start collaborating and, and the federal government's moving forward, the federal government's gonna coordinate for us. Melissa Lavasani: And not, that might not necessarily be a bad thing, but, you know, we understand this issue to a whole other level that the federal government doesn't, and they're not required to understand it deeply. They just need to know how to really move forward with it the proper way. Um, but I think that it. It's really essential [00:26:00] that we all have this come together moment here so we can avoid things. Melissa Lavasani: Uh, I mean, no one's gonna die from bad advocacy. So like I've, I have a bit of an easier job. Um, but it can a, a absolutely stall efforts, um, to move things forward in Washington DC when, um, one group is saying one thing, another group is saying another thing, like, we're not quite at a point yet where we can have multiple lines of conversation and multiple things moving forward. Melissa Lavasani: Um, you know, for PMC, it's like, just let's get the first thing across the finish line. And we think that is, um, veteran healthcare. And, um, I know there's plenty of other groups out there that, that want the same thing. So, you know, I always, the reason why I put on the Federal Summit last year was I kind of hit my breaking point with a lack of collaboration and I wanted to just bring everyone in the same room and say like, all right, here are the things that we need to talk about. Melissa Lavasani: And I think the goal for this year is, um. To bring people in the same room and say, we talked about [00:27:00] we scratched the surface last year and this is where we need to really put our efforts into. And this is where the opportunities are. Um, I think that is going to, that's going to show the federal government if we can organize ourselves, that they need to take this issue really seriously. Melissa Lavasani: Um, I don't think we've done a great job at that thus far, but I think there's still plenty of time for us to get it together. Um, and I'm hoping with these two, uh, VA bills that are in the house right now and Senate is, is putting together their version of these two bills, um, so that they can move in tandem with each other. Melissa Lavasani: I think that, you know, there's an opportunity here for. Us to show the federal government as an ecosystem, Hey, we, we are so much further ahead and you know, this is what we've organized and here's how we can help you, um, that would make them buy into this issue a bit more and potentially move things forward faster. Melissa Lavasani: Uh, at this point in time, it's, I think that, [00:28:00] you know, psychedelics aren't necessarily the taboo thing that they, they used to be, but there's certainly places that need attention. Um, there's certainly conversations that need to be had, and like I said, like PMC is just one organization that can do this. Um, we can certainly organize and drive forward collaboration, but I, like we alone, cannot cover all this ground and we need the subject matter experts to collaborate with us so we can, you know, once we get in the door, we wanna bring the experts in to talk to these officials about it. Melissa Lavasani: So I. I, I really want listeners to really think about us as a convener of sorts when it comes to federal policy. Um, and you know, I think when, like for example, in the early eighties, a lot of people have made comparisons to the issue of psychedelics to the issue of AIDS research and how you have in a subject matter that's like extremely taboo and a patient population that the government [00:29:00] quite honestly didn't really care about in the early eighties. Melissa Lavasani: But what they did as an ecosystem is really organized themselves, get very clear on what they wanted the federal government to do. And within a matter of a couple years, uh, AIDS research funding was a thing that was happening. And what that, what that did was that ripple effect turned that into basically finding new therapies for something that we thought was a death, death sentence before. Melissa Lavasani: So I think. We just need to look at things in the past that have been really successful, um, and, and try to take the lessons from all of these issues and, and move forward with psychedelics. Joe Moore: Love that. And yes, we always need to be figuring out efficient approaches and where it has been successful in the past is often, um, an opportunity to mimic and, and potentially improve on that. Melissa Lavasani: Yeah. Jay Kopelman: One, one thing I think it's important to add to this part of the conversation is that, [00:30:00] you know, Melissa pointed out there are a number of organizations that are essentially doing the same thing. Jay Kopelman: Um, you know, I like to think we do things a little bit differently at Mission within Foundation in that we don't target any one specific type of service member. We, we work with all veterans. We work with first responders, but. What that leads to is that there are, as far as I've seen, nothing but good intentioned people in this space. Jay Kopelman: You know, people who really care about their patient population, they care about healing, they are trying to do a good job, and more importantly, they're trying to do good. Right? It, it, I think they all see the benefit down the road that this has, [00:31:00] pardon me, not just for veterans, but for society as a whole. Jay Kopelman: And, and ultimately that's where I would like to see this go. You know, I, I would love to see the VA take this. Take up this mantle and, and run with it and provide great data, great outcomes. You know, we are doing some data collection ourselves at Mission within foundation, albeit anecdotal based on surveys given before and after retreats. Jay Kopelman: But we're also working with, uh, Greg Fonzo down at UT Austin on a brain study he's doing that will have 40 patients in it when it's all said and done. And I think we have two more guys to put through that. Uh, and then we'll hit the 40. So there, there's a lot of good here that's being done by some really, really good people who've been doing this for a long time [00:32:00] and want to want nothing more than to, to see this. Jay Kopelman: Come to, come full circle so that we can take care of many, many, many people. Um, you know, like I say, I, I wanna work myself out of a job here. I, I just, I would love to see this happen and then I, you know, I don't have to send guys to Mexico to do this. They can go to their local VA and get the care that they need. Jay Kopelman: Um, but one thing that I don't think we've touched on yet, or regarding that is that the VA isn't designed for that. So it's gonna be a pretty big lift to get the right types of providers into the va with the knowledge, right, with the institutional knowledge of how this should be done, what is safe, what is effective, um, and then it, it's not just providing these medicines to [00:33:00] people and sending them home. Jay Kopelman: You don't just do that, you've gotta have the right therapists on the backend who can provide the integration coaching to the folks who are receiving these medicines. And I'm not just talking, I bga, even with MDMA and psilocybin, you should have a proper period of integration. It helps you to understand how this is going to affect you, what it, what the experience really meant, you know, because it's very difficult sometimes to just interpret it on your own. Jay Kopelman: And so what the experience was and what it meant to you. And, and so it will take some time to spin all that up. But once it's, once it's in place, you know, the sky's the limit. I think. Joe Moore: Kinda curious Jay, about what's, what's going on with Ibogaine at the federal level. Is there anything at VA right now? [00:34:00] Jay Kopelman: At the va? No, not with ibogaine. And, you know, uh, we, we send people specifically for IBOGAINE and five MEO, right? And, and so that, that doesn't preclude my interest in seeing this legislation passed, right? Jay Kopelman: Because it, it will start with something like MDMA or psilocybin, but ultimately it could grow to iboga, right? It the think about the cost savings at, at the va, even with psilocybin, right? Where you could potentially treat somebody with a very inexpensive dose of psilocybin or, or iboga one time, and then you, you don't have to treat them again. Jay Kopelman: Now, if I were, uh, you know, a VA therapist who's not trained in psychedelic trauma therapy. I might be worried [00:35:00] about job security, but it's like with anything, right? Like ultimately it will open pathways for new people to get that training or the existing people to get that training and, and stay on and do that work. Jay Kopelman: Um, which only adds another arrow to their quiver as far as I'm concerned, because this is coming and we're gonna need the people. It's just like ai, right? Like ai, yeah. Some people are gonna lose some jobs initially, and that's unfortunate. But productivity ultimately across all industries will increase and new jobs will be created as a result of that. Jay Kopelman: I mean, I was watching Squawk Box one morning. They were talking about the AI revolution and how there's gonna be a need for 500,000 electricians to. Build these systems that are going to work with the AI [00:36:00] supercomputers and, and so, Joe Moore: mm-hmm. Jay Kopelman: Where, where an opportunity may be lost. I think several more can be gained going forward. Melissa Lavasani: And just to add on what Jay just said there, there's nothing specific going on with Ibogaine at, at the va, but I think this administration is, is taking a real look at addiction in particular. Uh, they just launched, uh, a new initiative, uh, that's really centered on addiction treatments called the Great American Recovery. Melissa Lavasani: And, um, they're dedicating a hundred million dollars towards treating addiction as like a chronic treatable disease and not necessarily a law enforcement issue. So, um, in that initiative there will be federal grant programs for prevention and treatment and recovery. And, um, while this isn't just for psychedelic medicines, uh, I think it's a really great opportunity for the discussion of psychedelics to get elevated to the White House. Melissa Lavasani: Um, [00:37:00] there's also, previous to this announcement last week from the White House, there's been a hundred million dollars that was dedicated at, um, at ARPA h, which is. The advanced research projects, uh, agency for healthcare, um, and that is kind of an agency that's really focused on forward looking, um, treatments and technologies, uh, for, um, a, a whole slew of. Melissa Lavasani: Of issues, but this a hundred million dollars is dedicated to mental health and addiction. So there's a lot of opportunity there as well. So we, while I think, you know, some people are talking about, oh, we need a executive order on Iboga, it's like, well, you know, the, the president is thinking, um, about, you know, what issues can land with his, uh, voting block. Melissa Lavasani: And I think it's, I don't think we necessarily need a specific executive order on Iboga to call this a success. It's like, let's look at what, [00:38:00] um, what's just been announced from the White House. They're, they're all in on. Thinking creatively and finding, uh, new solutions for this. And this is kind of, this aligns with, um, HHS secretaries, uh, Robert F. Melissa Lavasani: Kennedy Junior's goals when he took on this, this role of Health Secretary. Um, addiction has been a discussion that, you know, he has personal, um, a personal tie to from his own experience. And, um, I think when this administration started, there was so much like fervor around the, the dialogue of like, everyone's talking about psychedelics. Melissa Lavasani: It was Secretary Kennedy, it was, uh, secretary Collins at the va. It was FDA Commissioner Marty Macari. And I think that there's like a lot of undue frustration within folks 'cause um, you don't necessarily snap your fingers and change happens in Washington dc This is not the city for that. And it's intentionally designed to move slow so that we can avoid really big mistakes. Melissa Lavasani: Um. [00:39:00] I think we're a year into this administration and these two announcements are, are pretty huge considering, um, you know, the, we, there are known people within domestic policy council that don't, aren't necessarily supportive of psychedelic medicine. So there's a really amazing progress here, and frustrating as it might be to, um, just be waiting for this administration to make some major move. Melissa Lavasani: I think they are making major moves like for Washington, DC These, these are major moves and we just gotta figure out how we can, um, take these initiatives and apply them to the issue of psychedelic medicines. Joe Moore: Thanks, Melissa. Um, yeah, it is, it is interesting like the amount of fervor there was at the beginning. You know, we had, uh. Kind of one of my old lawyers, Matt Zorn, jumped in with the administration. Right. And, um, you know, it was, uh, really cool to [00:40:00] see and hopeful how much energy was going on. It's been a little quiet, kind of feels like a black box a little bit, but I, you know, there was, Melissa Lavasani: that's on me. Melissa Lavasani: Maybe I, we need to be more out in public about like, what's actually happening, because I feel like, like day in and day out, it's just been, you gotta just mm-hmm. Like have that constant beat with the government. Mm-hmm. And, um, it's, it's, it's not the photo ops on the hill, it's the conversations that you have. Melissa Lavasani: It's the dinner parties you go to, it's the fundraisers you attend, you know? Mm-hmm. That's why I, I kind of have to like toot my own horn with PCs. Like, we need to be present here at, at not only on the Hill, not only at the White House, but kind of in the ecosystem of Washington DC itself. There's, it's, there are like power players here. Melissa Lavasani: There are people that are connected that can get things done, like. I mean, the other last week we had a big snow storm. I walked over to my friend's house, um, to have like a little fire sesh with them and our kids, and his next door neighbor came over. He was a member of Congress. I talked about the VA bills, like [00:41:00] we're reaching out to his office now, um, to get them, um, up to speed and hopefully get their co-sponsorship for, uh, the two VA bills. Melissa Lavasani: So, I mean, it, the little conversations you have here are just as important as the big ones with the photo ops. So, um, it, it's, it's really like, you know, building up that momentum and, and finding that time where you can really strike and make something happen. Joe Moore: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Jay, anything to add there? Jay Kopelman: Yeah, I was just gonna say that, you know, I, I, I think the fervor is still there, right? Jay Kopelman: But real life happens. Melissa Lavasani: Yes, Jay Kopelman: yes. And gets in the way, right? So, Melissa Lavasani: yeah, Jay Kopelman: I, I can't imagine how many issues. Secretary Kennedy has every day much less the president. Like there's so many things that they are dealing with on a daily basis, right? It, we, we just have to work to be the squeaky wheel in, in the right way, right. Jay Kopelman: [00:42:00] With the, with the right information at the right time. Like just inundating one of these organizations with noise, it's then it be with Informa, it just becomes noise, right? It it, it doesn't help. So when we have things to say that are meaningful and impactful, we do, and Melissa does an amazing job of that. Jay Kopelman: But, you know, it, it takes time. You know, it's, you know, we're not, this is, this is like turning an aircraft carrier, not a ski boat. Melissa Lavasani: Yeah, Joe Moore: yeah, absolutely. Um, and. It's, it's understandably frustrating, I think for the public and the psychedelic public in particular because we see all this hope, you know, we continue to get frustrated at politics. It's nothing new, right? Um, and we, we wanna see more people get well immediately. [00:43:00] And I, I kind of, Jay from the veteran perspective, I do love the kind of loud voices like, you're making me go to Mexico for this. Joe Moore: I did that and you're making me leave the country for the thing that's gonna fix me. Like, no way. And barely a recognition that this is a valid treatment. You know, like, you know, that is complicated given how medicine is structured here domestically. But it's also, let's face the facts, like the drug war kind of prevented us from being able to do this research in the first place. Joe Moore: You know? Thanks Nixon. And like, how do we actually kind of correct course and say like, we need to spend appropriately on science here so we can heal our own people, including veterans and everybody really. It's a, it's a dire situation out there. Jay Kopelman: Yeah. It, it really is. Um, you know, we were talking briefly about addicts, right? Jay Kopelman: And you know, it's not sexy. People think of addicts as people who are weak-minded, [00:44:00] right? They don't have any self-control. Um, but, but look at, look at the opioid crisis, right? That Brian Hubbard was fighting against in Kentucky for all those years. That that was something that was given to the patient by a doctor that they then became dependent on, and a lot of people died from that. Jay Kopelman: And, and so you, you know, it's, I I don't think it's fair to just put all addicts in a box. Just like it's not fair to put all veterans in a box. Just like it's not fair for doctors, put all their patients in a box. We're individuals. We, we have individual needs. Our, our health is very individual. Like, I, I don't think I should be put in the same box as every other 66-year-old that my doctor sees. Jay Kopelman: It's not fair. [00:45:00] You know, if you, if you took my high school classmates and put us all in a photo, we're all gonna have different needs, right? Like, some look like they're 76, not 66. Some look like they're 56. Not like they're, we, we do things differently. We live our lives differently. And the same is true of addicts. Jay Kopelman: They come to addiction from different places. Not everybody decides they want to just try heroin at a party, and all of a sudden they're addicted. It happens in, in different ways, you know, and the whole fentanyl thing has been so daggum nefarious, right? You know, pushing fentanyl into marijuana. Jay Kopelman: Somebody's smoking a joint and all of a sudden they're addicted to fentanyl or they die. Melissa Lavasani: I think we're having a, Jay Kopelman: it's, it's just not fair to, to say everybody in this pot is the same, or everybody in this one is the same. We have [00:46:00] to look at it differently. Joe Moore: Yeah. I like to zoom one level out and kind of talk about, um, just how hurt we are as a country, as a world really, but as a country specifically, and how many people are out of work for so many. Joe Moore: Difficult reasons and away from their families for so many kind of tragic reasons. And if we can get people back to their families and back to work, a lot of these things start to self-correct, but we have to like have those interventions where we can heal folks and, and get them back. Um, yeah. And you know, everything from trauma, uh, in childhood, you know, adulthood, combat, whatever it is. Joe Moore: Like these things can put people on the sidelines. And Jay, to your point, like you get knee surgery and all of a sudden you're, you know, two years later you're on the hunt for Fentanyl daily. You know, that's tough. It's really tough. Carl Hart does a good job talking about this kind of addiction pipeline and [00:47:00] a few others do as well. Joe Moore: But it's just, you know, kind of putting it in a moral failure bucket. It's not great. I was chatting with somebody about, um, veterans, it's like you come back and you're like, what's gonna make me feel okay right now? And it's not always alcohol. Um, like this is the first thing that made me feel okay, because there's not great treatments and there's, there's a lot of improvements in this kind of like bringing people back from the field that needs to happen. Joe Moore: In my opinion. I, it seems to be shared by a lot of people, but yeah, there's, it's, it's, IGA is gonna be great. It's gonna be really important. I really can't wait for it to be at scale appropriately, but there's a lot of other things we need to fix too, um, so that we can just, you know, not have so many people we need to, you know, spend so much money healing. Joe Moore: Mm-hmm. Jay Kopelman: Yeah. You ahead with that. We don't need the president to sign an executive order to automatically legalize Ibogaine. Right. But it would be nice if he would reschedule it so that [00:48:00] then then researchers could do this research on a larger scale. You know, we could, we could now get some real data that would show the efficacy. Jay Kopelman: And it could be done in a safe environment, you know? And, and so that would be, do Joe Moore: you have any kind of figures, like, like, I've been talking about this for a while, Jay. Like, does it drop the cost a lot of doing research when we deschedule things? Jay Kopelman: I, I would imagine so, because it'll drop the cost of accessing the medicines that are being researched. Jay Kopelman: Right? You, you would have buy-in from more organizations. You know, you might even have a pharma company that comes into this, you know, look at j and j with the ketamine, right? They have, they have a nasal spray version of ketamine that's doing very well. I mean, it's probably their, their biggest revenue [00:49:00] provider for them right now. Jay Kopelman: And, and so. You know, you, it would certainly help and I think, I think it would lower costs of research to have something rescheduled rather than being schedule one. You know it, people are afraid to take chances when you're talking about Schedule one Melissa Lavasani: labs or they just don't have the money to research things that are on Schedule one. Melissa Lavasani: 'cause there's so much in an incredible amount of red tape that you have to go through and, and your facility has to be a certain way and how you contain those, uh, medicines. Oh, researching has to be in a specific container and it's just very cumbersome to research schedule one drugs. So absolutely the cost would go down. Melissa Lavasani: Um, but Joe Moore: yeah, absolutely. Less safes. Melissa Lavasani: Yeah. Joe Moore: Yes. Less uh, Melissa Lavasani: right. Joe Moore: Locked. Yeah. Um, it'll be really interesting when that happens. I'm gonna hold out faith. That we can see some [00:50:00] movement here. Um, because yeah, like why make healing more expensive than it needs to be? I think like that's potentially a protectionist move. Joe Moore: Like, I'm not, I'm not here yet, but, um, look at AbbVie's, uh, acquisition of the Gilgamesh ip. Mm-hmm. Like that's a really interesting move. I think it was $1.2 billion. Mm-hmm. So they're gonna wanna protect that investment. Um, and it's likely going to be an approved medication. Like, I don't, I don't see a world in which it's not an approved medication. Joe Moore: Um, you know, I don't know a timeline, I would say Jay Kopelman: yeah. Joe Moore: Less than six years, just given how much cash they've got. But who knows, like, I haven't followed it too closely. So, and that's an I bga derivative to be clear, everybody, um mm-hmm. If you're not, um, in, in the loop on that, which is hopeful, you know? Joe Moore: Mm-hmm. But I don't know what the efficacy is gonna be with that compared to Ibogaine and then we have to talk about the kind of proprietary molecule stuff. Um, there's like a whole bunch of things that are gonna go on here, and this is one of the reasons why I'm excited about. Federal involvement [00:51:00] because we might actually be able to have some sort of centralized manufacturer, um, or at least the VA could license three or four generic manufacturers per for instance, and that way prices aren't gonna be, you know, eight grand a dose or whatever. Joe Moore: You know, it's, Jay Kopelman: well, I think it's a very exciting time in the space. You know, I, I think that there's the opportunity for innovation. There is the opportunity for collaboration. There's the opportunity for, you know, long-term healing at a very low cost. You know, that we, we have the highest healthcare cost per capita in the world right here in the us. Jay Kopelman: And, and yet we are not the number one health system in the world. So to me, that doesn't add up. So we need to figure out a way to start. Bringing costs down for a lot of people and [00:52:00] at the same time increasing, increasing outcomes. Joe Moore: Absolutely. Yeah. There's a lot of possible outcome improvements here and, and you know, everything from relapse rates, like we hear often about people leaving a clinic and they go and overdose when they get home. Tragically, too common. I think there's everything from, you know, I'm Jay, I'm involved in an organization called the Psychedelics and Pain Association. Joe Moore: We look at chronic pain very seriously, and IGA is something we are really interested in. And if. We could have better, you know, research, there better outcome measures there. Um, you know, perhaps we can have less people on opioids to begin with from chronic pain conditions. Um, Jay Kopelman: yeah, I, I might be due for another Ibogaine journey then, because I deal with chronic pain from Jiujitsu, but, Joe Moore: oh gosh, let's Jay Kopelman: talk Joe Moore: later. Jay Kopelman: That's self inflicted. Some people would say take a month off, but Melissa Lavasani: yeah, Jay Kopelman: I'm [00:53:00] not, I'm not that smart. Joe Moore: Yeah. Um, but you know, this, uh, yeah, this whole thing is gonna be really interesting to see how it plays out. I'm endlessly hopeful pull because I'm still here. Right. I, I've been at this for almost 10 years now, very publicly, and I think we are seeing a lot of movement. Joe Moore: It's not always what we actually wanna see, but it is movement nonetheless. You know, how many people are writing on this now than there were before? Right. You know, we, we have people in New York Times writing somewhat regularly about psychedelics and. Even international media is covering it. What do we have legalization in Australia somewhat recently for psilocybin and MDMA, Czech Republic. Joe Moore: I think Germany made some moves recently. Mm-hmm. Um, really interesting to see how this is gonna just keep shifting. Um Jay Kopelman: mm-hmm. Joe Moore: And I think there's no way that we're not gonna have prescription psychedelics in three years in the United States. It pro probably more like a [00:54:00] year and a half. I don't know. Do you, are you all taking odds? Melissa Lavasani: Yeah. I mean, I think Jay Kopelman: I, I gotta check Cal sheet, see what they're saying. Melissa Lavasani: I think it's safe to say, I mean, this could even come potentially the end of this year, I think, but definitely by the end of 2027, there's gonna be at least one psychedelic that's FDA approved. Joe Moore: Yeah. Yeah. Melissa Lavasani: If you're not counting Ketamine. Joe Moore: Right. Jay Kopelman: I, I mean, I mean it mm-hmm. It, it doesn't make sense that it. Shouldn't be or wouldn't be. Right. The, we've seen the benefits. Mm-hmm. We know what they are. It's at a very low cost, but you have to keep in mind that these things, they need to be done with the right set setting and container. Right. And, and gotta be able to provide that environment. Jay Kopelman: So, but I would, I would love, like I said, I'd love to work myself out of a job here and see this happen, not just for our veterans, [00:55:00] but for everybody. Joe Moore: Mm-hmm. Um, so Melissa, is there a way people can get involved or follow PMC or how can they support your work at PMC? Melissa Lavasani: Yeah, I mean, follow us in social media. Melissa Lavasani: Um, our two biggest platforms are LinkedIn and Instagram. Um, I'm bringing my newsletter back because I'm realizing, um, you know, there is a big gap in, in kind of like the knowledge of Washington DC just in general. What's happening here, and I think, you know, part of PC's value is that we're, we are plugged into conversations that are being had, um, here in the city. Melissa Lavasani: And, you know, we do get a little insight. Um, and I think that that would really quiet a lot of, you know, the, a lot of noise that, um, exists in the, our ecosystem. If, if people just had some clarity on like, what's actually happening or happening here and what are the opportunities and, [00:56:00] um, where do we need more reinforcement? Melissa Lavasani: Um, and, and also, you know, as we're putting together public education campaign, you know. My, like, if I could get everything I wanted like that, that campaign would be this like multi-stakeholder collaborative effort, right? Where we're covering all the ground that we need to cover. We're talking to the patient groups, we're talking to traditional mental health organizations, we're talking to the medical community, we're talking to the general population. Melissa Lavasani: I think that's like another area that we, we just seem to be, um, lacking some effort in. And, you know, ultimately the veteran story's always super compelling. It pulls on your heartstrings. These are our heroes, um, of our country. Like that, that is, that is meaningful. But a lot of the veteran population is small and we need the, like a, the just.[00:57:00] Melissa Lavasani: Basic American living in middle America, um, understanding what psychedelics are so that in, in, in presenting to them the stories that they can relate to, um, because that's how you activate the public and you activate the public and you get them to see what's happening in these clinical trials, what the data's been saying, what the opportunities are with psychedelics, and then they start calling their members of Congress and saying, Hey, there is this. Melissa Lavasani: Bill sitting in Congress and why haven't you signed onto it? And that political pressure, uh, when used the right way can be really powerful. So, um, I think, you know, now we're at this really amazing moment where we have a good amount of congressional offices that are familiar enough with psychedelics that they're willing to move on it. Melissa Lavasani: Um, there's another larger group, uh, that is familiar with psychedelics and will assist and co-sponsor legislation, but there's still so many offices that we haven't been able to get to just 'cause like we don't have all the time in the world and all the manpower in the world to [00:58:00] do it. But, you know, that is one avenue is like the advocates can speak to the, the lawmakers, the experts speak to the lawmakers, and we not, we want the public engaged in this, you know, ultimately, like that's. Melissa Lavasani: Like the best form of harm reduction is having an informed public. So we are not, they're not seeing these media headlines of like, oh, this miracle cure that, um, saved my family. It's like, yes, that can happen psychedelics. I mean, person speaking personally, psychedelics did save my family. But what you miss out of that story is the incredible amount of work I put into myself and put into my mental health to this day to maintain, um, like myself, my, my own agency and like be the parent that I wanna be and be the spouse that I wanna be. Melissa Lavasani: So, um, we, we need to continue to share these stories and we need to continue to collaborate to get this message out because we're all, we're all in the same boat right now. We all want the same things. We want patients to have safe and [00:59:00] affordable access to psychedelic assisted care. Um, and, uh. We're just in the beginning here, so, um, sign up for our newsletter and we can sign up on our website and then follow us on social media. Melissa Lavasani: And, um, I anticipate more and more events, um, happening with PMC and hopefully we can scale up some of these events to be much more public facing, um, as this issue grows. So, um, I'm really excited about the future and I'm, I've been enjoying this partnership with Mission Within. Jay is such a professional and, and it really shows up when he needs to show up and, um, I look forward to more of that in the future. Joe Moore: Fantastic. And Jay, how can people follow along and support mission within Foundation? Jay Kopelman: Yeah, again, social media is gonna be a good way to do that. So we, we are also pretty heavily engaged on LinkedIn and on Instagram. Um, I do [01:00:00] share, uh, a bit of my own stuff as well. On social media. So we have social media pages for Mission within Foundation, and we have a LinkedIn page for mission within foundation. Jay Kopelman: I have my own profiles on both of those as well where people can follow along. Um, one of the other things you know that would probably help get more attention for this is if the general public was more aware of the numbers of professional athletes who are also now pursuing. I began specifically to help treat their traumatic brain injuries and the chronic traumatic encephalopathy that they've, uh, suffered as a result of their time in professional sports or even college sports. Jay Kopelman: And, you know. I people worship these athletes, and I [01:01:00] think that if more of them, like Robert Gall, were more outspoken about these treatments and the healing properties that they've provided them, that it would get even more attention. Um, I think though what Melissa said, you know, I don't wanna parrot anything she just said because she said it perfectly Right. Jay Kopelman: And I'd just be speaking to hear myself talk. Um, but being collaborative the way that we are with PMC and with Melissa is I think, the way to move the needle on this overall. And like she said, if she could get more groups involved in, in these discussions, it would, it would do wonders for us. Joe Moore: Well, thank you both so much for your hard work out there. I always appreciate it when people are showing up and doing this important, [01:02:00] sometimes boring and tedious, but nevertheless sometimes, sometimes exciting work. And um, so yeah, just thank you both and thank you both for showing up here to psychedelics today to join us and I hope we can continue to support you all in the future. Jay Kopelman: Thank you, Joe. Thank you, Joe. It's a pleasure being with you today and with Melissa, of course, always Melissa Lavasani: appreciate the time and space. Joe Moore: Thanks.
In this episode of Best in Fest, host Leslie LaPage sits down with Sandhya Hermon — an award-winning screenwriter and former research psychologist — to explore how a second career in storytelling can emerge from lived experience, global identity, and persistence.Sandhya shares her journey from earning a doctorate in psychology to pursuing an MFA in screenwriting at UT Austin, and how her scripts have gone on to place at top competitions including Austin Film Festival, PAGE Awards, BlueCat, Nichols Fellowship, and more.In this episode, we explore:
Major changes at one of the state’s flagship universities, with UT Austin consolidating seven departments focused on ethnic and gender studies into two new ones.Five years since Winter Storm Uri and a massive blackout that led to investigations and a rethink of how the state manages the power grid. What’s changed? A look back.The Standard’s […] The post New exhibit peels back mystique surrounding Daniel Johnston appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.
Your fluoride toothpaste and antiseptic mouthwash may be sabotaging your cardiovascular health and canceling out the benefits of your daily workout. In today's episode, I sit down with Dr. Nathan Bryan to uncover how nitric oxide deficiency drives high blood pressure, erectile dysfunction, insulin resistance, and even Alzheimer's disease. Nathan explains why 50% of men on Viagra don't respond with better erections, how mouthwash kills the bacteria your body needs to produce nitric oxide, and why heavy metals scavenge this critical molecule before it can reach your blood vessels. We explore practical solutions such as using nitric oxide lozenges, reducing exposure to harmful substances, and supporting the oral microbiome to restore your body's natural production. "Without nitric oxide, your body cannot heal. It's not going to get adequate blood flow, you're going to experience runaway inflammation, oxidative stress, and immune dysfunction." ~ Nathan Bryan In This Episode: - Nitric oxide and its importance for our health - Nitric oxide and erectile dysfunction - Exercise and bacteria for nitric oxide production - Oral microbiome and dangers in your mouthwash - Signs and consequences of low nitric oxide - Age-related decline in nitric oxide production - Heavy metals and toxins that scavenge nitric oxide - How to restore nitric oxide - Nitric oxide lozenges and skin care solutions - The beet product myth debunked - High blood pressure medication limitations - Who needs nitric oxide supplementation? Products & Resources Mentioned: N1O1 Nitric Oxide Lozenges: Available at https://n101.com N1O1 Nitric Oxide Skincare Serum: Perfect for youthful skin maintenance at https://n101.com Puori Grass Fed Whey Protein: Use code WENDY at http://Puori.com/wendy for 32% off, plus a free shaker with a subscription. Tru Energy Skincare Serum: Get an exclusive deal at https://trytruenergy.com/wendy Organifi Collagen: Save 20% with code MYERSDETOX at https://organifi.com/myersdetox Chef's Foundry P600 Ceramic Cookware: Take 50% off plus an extra 20% with code WENDY20 at https://chefsfoundry.com Heavy Metals Quiz: Visit https://heavymetalsquiz.com About Nathan Bryan: Dr. Nathan Bryan earned his Bachelor of Science in biochemistry from UT Austin and his doctoral degree from Louisiana State University School of Medicine in Shreveport, where he received the Dean's Award for Excellence in Research. He completed postdoctoral training as a Kirschstein Fellow at Boston University School of Medicine and at the Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute before joining the faculty at UT Health Science Center at Houston, recruited by Nobel Laureate Ferid Murad. Nathan is also the author of The Secret of Nitric Oxide, available on his website. With over 25 years of nitric oxide research, he has made seminal discoveries, founded Bryan Therapeutics for nitric oxide-based drugs in heart disease, Alzheimer's, and wound healing, and created the successful consumer nitric oxide product line available at https://n101.com Disclaimer The Myers Detox Podcast was created and hosted by Dr. Wendy Myers. This podcast is for information purposes only. Statements and views expressed on this podcast are not medical advice. This podcast, including Wendy Myers and the producers, disclaims responsibility for any possible adverse effects from using the information contained herein. The opinions of guests are their own, and this podcast does not endorse or accept responsibility for statements made by guests. This podcast does not make any representations or warranties about guests' qualifications or credibility. Individuals on this podcast may have a direct or indirect financial interest in products or services referred to herein. If you think you have a medical problem, consult a licensed physician.
For the podcast's annual end-of-year episode, Scott sat down with co-host emeritus Benjamin Wittes, Senior Editor Anna Bower, and Managing Editor Tyler McBrien to talk over listener-submitted topics and object lessons, including:Which sphere of influence is Western Europe in today?What should we make of President Trump's lawsuit against BBC?After nearly a year of the Trump Administration, how do you view the record of Attorney General Merrick Garland?What does the military campaign against alleged narcotics traffickers tell us about checks and balances within the U.S. system around the use of military force (or lack thereof)?With the escalating rhetoric in the Caribbean, what lessons should we be keeping in mind from the lead-up to the Iraq War?What can be done to reverse Americans' tolerance for the slide towards illiberal democracy?And importantly, is Ben's martial arts challenge to Putin still on?For object lessons, our listeners really came through! Blake recommends a couple of coffee table books right up Tyler's alley: “Building Stories” by Alastair Philip Wiper and "Closure: The Final Days of the Waterford Bicycle Factory" by Tucker and Anna Schwinn. Keenan points out a good companion listen to this podcast in NPR's Sources and Methods. Liz really embraces the variety show that is “object lessons,” introducing us to Danylo Yavhusishyn—a.k.a., Aonishiki—a Ukrainian-born sumo wrestler, hyping Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 as her Game of the Year, waxing poetic about The Sun Eater book series, and log-rolling her work on the Final Fantasy TCG. Speaking of variety shows, Lisa spotlights the Live from New York: The Lorne Michaels Collection exhibition at UT Austin's Harry Ransom Center. And Riley asks the crew about their top fiction recommendations for 2026. Tune in to find out what they are!And thank goodness, that's it for 2025! But don't worry, Rational Security and the whole Lawfare team will be back with you in the new year to help make sense of what's to come in national security in 2026!To receive ad-free podcasts, become a Lawfare Material Supporter at www.patreon.com/lawfare. You can also support Lawfare by making a one-time donation at https://givebutter.com/lawfare-institute.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/lawfare. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
For the podcast's annual end-of-year episode, Scott sat down with co-host emeritus Benjamin Wittes, Senior Editor Anna Bower, and Managing Editor Tyler McBrien to talk over listener-submitted topics and object lessons, including:Which sphere of influence is Western Europe in today?What should we make of President Trump's lawsuit against BBC?After nearly a year of the Trump Administration, how do you view the record of Attorney General Merrick Garland?What does the military campaign against alleged narcotics traffickers tell us about checks and balances within the U.S. system around the use of military force (or lack thereof)?With the escalating rhetoric in the Caribbean, what lessons should we be keeping in mind from the lead-up to the Iraq War?What can be done to reverse Americans' tolerance for the slide towards illiberal democracy?And importantly, is Ben's martial arts challenge to Putin still on?For object lessons, our listeners really came through! Blake recommends a couple of coffee table books right up Tyler's alley: “Building Stories” by Alastair Philip Wiper and "Closure: The Final Days of the Waterford Bicycle Factory" by Tucker and Anna Schwinn. Keenan points out a good companion listen to this podcast in NPR's Sources and Methods. Liz really embraces the variety show that is “object lessons,” introducing us to Danylo Yavhusishyn—a.k.a., Aonishiki—a Ukrainian-born sumo wrestler, hyping Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 as her Game of the Year, waxing poetic about The Sun Eater book series, and log-rolling her work on the Final Fantasy TCG. Speaking of variety shows, Lisa spotlights the Live from New York: The Lorne Michaels Collection exhibition at UT Austin's Harry Ransom Center. And Riley asks the crew about their top fiction recommendations for 2026. Tune in to find out what they are!And thank goodness, that's it for 2025! But don't worry, Rational Security and the whole Lawfare team will be back with you in the new year to help make sense of what's to come in national security in 2026!To receive ad-free podcasts, become a Lawfare Material Supporter at www.patreon.com/lawfare. You can also support Lawfare by making a one-time donation at https://givebutter.com/lawfare-institute. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.