Podcasts about visually

The lessons I carried away from September 11 did not begin that day, and they certainly did not end there. In this solo episode, I reflect on how my parents taught me not to accept the limits others placed on blindness, how my guide dogs taught me about trust and teamwork, and how September 11 confirmed so much of what I already believed about fear, leadership, change, and possibility. I share why I work hard not to worry about things I cannot control, why I believe we can never truly go back to “normal,” and why strong teams are built through trust rather than control. I also challenge some of the ways we think about blindness and disability, because different does not mean less capable. I hope these lessons help you think differently about fear, change, leadership, and what it really means to live with an unstoppable mindset. Highlights: 00:46 – Why the lessons of September 11 began long before that day. 08:56 – How Michael learned that blindness is not the real barrier. 17:13 – Why focusing on what you can control can reduce fear. 24:28 – Why getting back to “normal” is not always the answer. 32:30 – What guide dogs taught Michael about trust and teamwork. 1:01:37 – Why disability does not mean a lack of ability. About the Host: Michael Hingson, blind since birth, was born in Chicago to sighted parents who believed in raising their son with a can-do attitude. Treated like all other children in his family, Michael rode a bike did advanced math in his head and learn to read and write – Braille that is! Michael's family relocated to the warm Palmdale area of California when he was five years old. It is here that Hingson had his first adventure with Guide Dogs for the Blind and received his first guide dog. He later went to college receiving a bachelor's and master's degree in Physics along with a secondary teaching credential from the University of California at Irvine. Michael then enjoyed a nearly-30-year career working for high tech companies spending most of his time in management roles. Michael Hingson's life changed dramatically on September 11, 2001 when he and his guide dog, Roselle, escaped from the 78th floor of Tower One in the World Trade Center moments before it collapsed. Soon after, Michael and Roselle were thrust into the international limelight where Michael began to share his unique survival story and 9-11 lessons of trust, courage, heroism, and teamwork. Mike has served as The National Public Affairs Director for one of the largest Nonprofit organizations in the nation: Guide Dogs for the Blind; He has served as the vice president of the National Association of Guide Dog Users; Michael has held a seat on the Fort Worth Lighthouse for the Blind. He is the chair of the board of directors of the Earle Baum Center for the Blind  and is the vice chair of the Colorado Center for the Blind; Michael is The National Ambassador for the Braille Literacy Campaign of the National Federation of the Blind. Until October 2019 he worked as the CEO of the Do More Foundation, the non-profit arm of Aira Tech Corp, a manufacturer of assistive technology which makes a revolutionary visual interpreter for blind people. In January 2021 Mike joined accessiBe as its Chief Vision Officer to help advance the company goal of making the entire internet fully inclusive. He held this position through June of 2026. He is the author of the #1 New York Times Best Seller: “Thunder dog –The True Story of a Blind Man, a Guide Dog & the Triumph of Trust” – selling over 2.5 million copies Worldwide. In 2013 Mr. Hingson published his 2 book “Running with Roselle”- which Is the first of its kind- A story for our youth shedding light on one of Americas Darkest Days. Mr. Hingson's third book, “Live Like A Guide Dog”, was released on August 20, 2024. This book shows readers how they can learn to control fear and not, as Mike would say, “become blinded by fear in the face of crisis”. Aside from his talents and advocacies, Mr. Hingson has traveled the Globe from Japan to New Zealand, the Netherlands to his hometown, Chicago. Speaking to some of the world's most elite: from former President, George W. Bush to Larry King, to Fortune 500 companies and colleges and Universities Nationwide. After sharing his story of survival on hundreds of TV and Radio programs, Michael is now an Expert hired by many of today's major corporations and organizations. Speaking and consulting on the importance of Teamwork and Trust, Moving from Diversity to Inclusion, as well as offering Adaptive Technology Training – spearheading innovation for ALL! - Thus, bringing organizations to the forefront of the ever-changing competitive modern world. In June, 2024 Mike was inducted as an alumni member into the honors Fraternity Phi Beta Kappa. Currently Michael lives in Victorville, California with Alamo, Michael's eighth guide dog and his rescue feline, Stitch. More information on Mr. Hingson is available on his website. Here also is a link to Mr. Hingson's press kit: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/q8uxu9u7pap4puj5de7rg/h?rlkey=22bziy0wmghf8111kad73685y&dl=0 http://www.michaelhingson.com/live-like-a-guide-dog www.michaelhingson.com www.michaelhingson.com/podcast Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/mhingson https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://www.facebook.com/Roselle911GuideDog/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/1568642850718948 https://www.facebook.com/?paipv=0&eav=AfZNi2VDR2R4nC6SveyCvZIyKtyi9VOLOzOKcG-v0Hk1glaVssEHwdR920w1_u-8B-k&_rdr https://www.facebook.com/?paipv=0&eav=AfZNi2VDR2R4nC6SveyCvZIyKtyi9VOLOzOKcG-v0Hk1glaVssEHwdR920w1_u-8B-k&_rdr Twitter, https://twitter.com/mhingson LinkedIn, https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson Youtube channel, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfCx2L9OVN38Dv4mX6udP8g Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! 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Transcription Notes: Michael Hingson  00:04 What if the biggest thing holding you back isn't what's in front of you, but rather what you believe? Welcome to Unstoppable Mindset, where inclusion, diversity, and the unexpected meet. I'm your host, Michael Hingson, speaker, author, and advocate for inclusion and possibilities. This podcast explores how the beliefs we carry shape the way we live, lead, and connect with others. Each week, I talk with people who challenge assumptions, face adversity head-on, and show what's possible when we choose curiosity over fear. Together, we focus on mindset, resilience, and the small shifts that lead to meaningful change. Let's get started. Well, hello, everyone. I am Michael Hingson. I am your host on Unstoppable Mindset, and this happens to be episode 475. Yeah, we've done a lot of these, and most all of them have been conversations with people who said that they wanted to come on the podcast and talk about one thing or another. And I was really pleased to have them. This episode is going to be a little bit different, as the last few have been. Episode 472, which we published on September 4, was a talk I gave in April of 2024, which told my story of being in the World Trade Center on september 11, on episode 473 on the eighth of September, Michelle Abraham interviewed me, and we talked about a number of things around september 11 and so on. Episode 474, which was published on the 11th of September, 2026. was a conversation with Bob Ellis, who was in the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, an escape, and we hear his story, and we got to chat and kind of talked about notes from both of us. Now it's episode 475, and it was suggested that I ought to talk about things that I learned from September 11th and how my life has changed, and I'm going to do the best I can to talk about all that. So you're just going to be hearing me today. I hope you won't go away. I hope that you'll enjoy it. I just returned from speaking all week from September 9th through September 11th in Kilgore, Texas, at Kilgore College, they did an incredible job of doing some things to help people become aware of September 11th. They actually had in the library and around the library at Kilgore College a monument to September 11th. They had some columns or portions of columns from the World Trade Center. They had a list of all of the names. They had flags in a in a in several rows with the names of all of the people who were lost on September 11th. They had a timeline from my book Thunderdog: The Story of a Blind man, his guide dog, and the triumph of trust at Ground Zero-a timeline of what I experienced, and they also had, I think, a timeline of just the World Trade Center events in in general. Well, okay, so all of that happened. I got back last night, and now here it is, Sunday. It is the 13th of September, and I'm recording this so that we can publish it on Tuesday, september 15. So that's a little bit of a long way to get to where we are. But as I said, people asked me to talk about what I learned that day, and how I proceeded and progressed from that day, but I have to go back to long before September 11th to really do everything justice and to put it all in context. So let me start this way. I believe that I have said a few times on this podcast, and certainly in some of the speeches that I've given, that I was born two months premature, and I was given a pure oxygen environment when I was born, because I was born early. Medical science had started to hear that even too much oxygen might not necessarily be a good thing, but the doctors in Chicago where I was born didn't buy into that concept yet, and so the result was I was given a pre-oxygen environment, and my retinas didn't develop as they should, and I became blind. So was I born blind? If you're very technical, no. But for all intents and purposes, yes. The doctors told my parents to send me to a home, to send me away, because no blind child could ever. Michael Hingson  04:59 Grow up to amount to anything, and all I would be would would end up being a drain on my family, sucking up all the love that my parents might have had for their older son, two years older than I, my brother Ellery. But the reality is, my parents said you're wrong. He can grow up to do whatever he chooses, and we're going to give him that opportunity. And I grew up with that idea. I grew up with that concept. My parents told me at some point when I was still fairly young about what the doctors had said, and they said, "You know, we think that you can do whatever you want. We want you to have that opportunity. Well, they did a number of things to help the process along. For example, we lived in Chicago until I was five, but at the age of four, typically children in in Illinois start or in Chicago start kindergarten, and I did as well. My parents worked with other parents and the school district to start a kindergarten class for children who were blind, and there were a number of preemies in the Chicago area. In that class, Miss Lapree, my teacher, taught me Braille. See, I remember her name. Taught me Braille. Taught me other skills. Taught the other blind kids because it was a kindergarten class for blind children. Taught us all a variety of different things that we could use, and then unfortunately, in a sense, I guess after kindergarten at the age of four, and it was over, my father had gotten an offer and took a job out in California, and we moved to California. Well, in California, kindergarten starts at five, and even though I had had a course in kindergarten already, I had to go through a second year of it, but we didn't have any kind of facilities to teach us or teach me about Braille going forward, getting me Braille books and so on. So kindergarten, first, second, and third grade, I didn't have access directly to textbook material. My parents helped me though. My father taught me math. He was an electronics and electrical engineer. I was doing algebra in my head by the time I was six. My mother read other assignments to me, taught me the spelling words because in first, second, and third grade you learned to spell, and in theory beyond third grade as well, of course. But what happened for me was that I learned about spelling by my mother teaching me how to spell the words, and then she would say the words, and then I would spell them. Well, that ended up going even further because typically in classrooms, what happened was that when it came time to take the actual spelling test, which happened on Fridays, the teacher would say the words. All of us or all the children in the class would write down the answers. Then we would exchange papers, and the teacher would then write the correct spellings on the board. Not in my class. I had to. Well, I got to get up. I. I don't want to say I had to. That's a lesson that I want to get to. wasn't that I had to get up. I got to get up, and actually spell the words out loud. I remember once missing a word, at least starting to miss a word, and somebody made a noise, and I realized, oh, that must be wrong, and I corrected it. But I learned how to spell words, and I learned to spell them out loud for the whole class, and not be afraid of them, and that way students could grade each other's papers. And so, in a sense, I could say that's where I started to learn how to be involved in doing public speaking, and I learned not to be afraid of standing up and and saying things as long as they were the right kinds of things. Well, between third and fourth grade, I got access to Braille books. Cora Hershberger was hired by the school district to come in. She was a resource teacher with training in dealing with blindness and blind kids and so on. Michael Hingson  08:56 And there were a number of us, and she she was able to get us books, she was able to work with each of us and prove our Braille skills and my Braille skills especially, and so on. So I tell you all of that because I want to put things in perspective, and I think that the most important thing is the doctors told my parents that I couldn't do anything. My parents said, "Of course he can, and they brought me up believing that I could. So I rode a bicycle to school. Everybody still thinks that's amazing. One of the important things that I have learned over the years, and I've learned to articulate it even more effectively. I hope, certainly, I believe better since the World Trade Center, and I became a full-time keynote public speaker, which I've been doing for 25 years, I have learned to discuss this whole concept of blindness and accept the fact that there are going to be a lot of people who have eyesight who get it wrong. They think that, like the doctor said, blind people really can't do anything. You can't absorb the same material, or at least you don't get the same. As sighted people do, so you really aren't going to be able to do the things that we can do. And I have learned that I can't be angry at that. I've learned that in reality, I need to articulate the fact that blindness isn't the problem. The problem happens to be the misconceptions and poor attitudes that people have about blindness. It would be so easy just to be upset every time I hear some comment that talks about what I can do and what I can't do. You can't really ride a bicycle. That's amazing that you could do that. I can't imagine anybody else doing it. I know lots of blind kids who rode bikes, and I'm sure that they still do. Blindness isn't the problem. The reality is the problem consists of the misconceptions and poor attitudes that sighted people have about blindness. Whether you like it or not, that's the way it is. Blindness isn't the problem. We can learn to do the same things pretty much that you can do, and we can learn to do things that you can't do, and we learn all of that and use that knowledge to help us move forward and be more effective. What can I do that you can't do? Try walking around in the dark. You can't do it. You don't know how to do it. You don't have the techniques to do it. One of the things that has cropped up over the past significant number of years is restaurants do something called dining in the dark. Dining in the dark, and there are organizations that promote that, and they say, "Oh, you get to learn how blind people eat and how much of a challenge it is. That is so disgusting that people do that because dying in the dark isn't going to teach you anything about blindness. You don't get the training that you need in order to function as a blind person. Just like I don't get the training to learn how to function as a sighted person. Although I've spent a lot of time observing sighted people, and I understand a lot about eyesight, and I understand what you can do, and I accept that. But I expect, and I think it is reasonable for you to understand and accept that I can do lots of things. That it's not about eyesight. I wrote a book in 20, and it was published by Thomas Nelson Publishing in 2011. I and Susie Florey wrote the book. It's called Thunderdog: The True Story of a Blind Man, His Guide Dogs, and the Triumph of Trust at Ground Zero. And there is a section near the end of the book called Guide Dog Wisdom. And number two in Guide Dog Wisdom includes a sentence that says, "Don't let your sight get in the way of your vision. You all strictly deal with eyesight, and if it's not something that you can see with your eyes, or you don't really separate eyesight from vision, you tend to really misunderstand so many things. But the reality is, don't let your sight get in the way of your vision. Recognize there's a whole lot more to life than eyesight. Michael Hingson  13:01 SEAL Team Six, other military teams, so many other people learn how to use those other senses, and that's the same thing that we as blind people do. We learn to use our other senses. They're not magically enhanced simply because we go blind, but rather we learn how to use those senses? I hope, or we try to, and by doing so, we improve them and we develop them. And those of us who truly do that are a lot more better off, and we're able to do so many things that people think are amazing, but they're not. They're not really amazing. They're certainly not amazing to me. Anyway, I grew up believing all of that, and of course, I was also very fortunate to have a number of jobs throughout my career. And the final result of all of that was I ended up getting the opportunity to open an office in the World Trade Center for Quantum ATL, the company that hired me to open an office in New York, and there we were on September 11th when everything happened. The night, as September 11th ended, was spent by me and my wife Karen. By the way, Karen was in a wheelchair her whole life. We got married in November of 1982, and we were married through into November of 2022. We were married 40 years. Karen was in a wheelchair her whole life. It was a great marriage, as I love to tell people. She read, I pushed, worked out well. How do I push a person in a wheelchair? Well, she used a manual chair, and when we got to curbs and so on, she would stop, and she would hold the wheels, and and I knew that she had stopped. And I would tip the chair back. She might say, "There's a curb. I would tip the chair back onto its back wheels. We'd roll down off the curb, put the chair down. We'd cross the street, tip the chair up. Front wheels go up on the curb on the other side, unless there was a ramp to go up. And we continued on our way. It's not that magical. It is just what I learned to do, and I enjoyed it. and And I enjoyed Karen's company and so on for 40 years. We were locked down during the pandemic and so on. We'll get to some of that in a bit. But I learned overall that in reality, what my parents taught me was true. Blindness wasn't going to be the problem; eyesight was going to be the problem. And that night after September 11th, we kind of tried to make sense of it. It was me and Karen and a friend of Karen's who I also got to know, and who became a friend of mine. Tom Painter had come down. Tom and Karen went to the same high school, but we all ended up in New Jersey. And Tom came to visit us, actually visit Karen after September 11th started. When he heard about the terrorist attacks, he just came down, not knowing whether I was in the office or not. But I was, and Karen and Tom, well, Tom stayed with Karen and and drove her to pick me up at the Westfield, New Jersey train station at about 7p.m. on september 11. We went home with my guide dog Roselle. When we got home, I took Roselle's harness off because I was going to take her outside. She would have none of it. She ran off. She grabbed her favorite tug bone and started playing tug of war with my retired guide dog Linnie. Well, that was kind of fun, and I didn't think a lot about it. But I went. That was interesting. The next day, I contacted Guide Dogs for the Blind because several people from there had visited us in the World Trade Center, and among others, I spoke to the head of the veterinary department, and I said, "So, tell me, how is all this going to affect Roselle? Because everybody's talking about how it's going to affect everyone and all that, and and he asked me, "Did anything threaten directly Roselle? Did anything really threaten her? And I said, No, not really. Nothing directly affected her. And he said, Well, there you go. Dogs don't do what if. They live in the moment. Michael Hingson  17:13 And when you took the harness off, it was over for her, and she was ready to go play. She wanted to relax. She wanted to play, and she did. Oh, and yes, we did eventually get her outside. But the bottom line is, I think that's one of the most important things that I learned coming out of September 11th, and I, I kind of knew it beforehand, but I really got to understand it afterward. We what if everything to death? We what if anything that comes into our lives, well, we're we're in a war with Iran. Well, what if Iran bombs us? What if Iran does this? What if the Hooties do that? What are we going to do? What if our government takes us to war in the first place? Well, they have. The bottom line is, though, we don't have control over all of that. We do have control over some things in our lives, and those are the things that we should worry about. We should stop worrying about everything else. And people say, "Well, it's natural to worry. No, it's not. Not any more natural to worry than it is not to worry. We learn to worry because we're taught that. But the bottom line is, if we learn only to focus on the things over which we truly have control, and be aware of the other things, but don't let them worry us. Don't let them cause fear in our lives. We will live much less fearful and much more stress-free lives than in any other way. If you want another example of why I believe this, on September 11th, David Frank, my colleague who had come in to be involved with the seminars, David had come in the night before, and he came to our office about 8o'clock in the morning on the 11th of September. When we were escaping from the towers, we ended up downstairs and outside. David saw fire in Tower Two, and the way we happened to walk took us very close to Tower Two. We were at Broadway and Vessi Street, maybe 100 yards away from Tower Two. And when David stopped, he said, "You know, there's fire in Tower Two. I want to take pictures of it. And and I also wanted to try to call my wife Karen to let her know that we had gotten out of the towers, I couldn't get through. The circuits were busy because, as we later learned, people were calling and talking to loved ones. But anyway, David had just started putting his camera away. I had put my phone away, and a police officer yelled, "Get out of here! It's coming down right now! And we heard this sound I describe as kind of a combination of a freight train and a waterfall. I could hear glass breaking, metal clattering, and then just the building collapsing straight down. We didn't necessarily know that it was going to do that, but it did. It did exactly what it was designed to do. Anyway, everyone turned and ran. David ran. I turned 180 degrees. With Roselle, and started running back the other way. And as soon as I started to run, I thought to myself, "God, I can't believe that you got us out of a building just to have it fall on us. And I heard in my head a voice as clearly as you hear me right now-a voice that said, "Don't worry about what you can't control, focus on running with Roselle, and the rest will take care of itself. And I had this absolute sense of conviction that if we worked together, we would be fine. Well, we were. Where'd that voice come from? It was God talking to me. I grew up with my father very seriously believing in the concept of God. If you don't, that's fine. That is your choice. I've had people on my podcast who don't necessarily have strong beliefs and convictions about God. I do, but it's not my job to force people or compel people to believe in God. I will tell my story, and people can accept it or reject it as they choose. But that's what happened to me, and I've realized from that time on: don't worry about what you can't control. And I really, truly work very hard to focus on not worrying about the things that I don't have any influence over. Michael Hingson  21:16 I like to be aware of them. I hear from people all the time today about don't watch the news. I don't like to watch the news because it just makes me so angry and so fearful. And my response is, I'm going to watch the news because I want to know what's going on. And sometimes I'll yell at politicians through the TV, but I won't really overall get angry at them. I will hear it. I will either accept it or decide I don't have any influence over it, so I'm not going to worry about it, and I don't because it isn't going to help me to worry about it. It isn't going to help anyone else to worry about any of those kinds of things. Don't worry about what you can't control. Focus on what you can and leave the rest alone, and that's one of the basic premises of the third book that I wrote, which was published in 2024, entitled "Live Like a Guide Dog: True Stories from a Blind Man and His Dogs About Being Brave, Overcoming Adversity, and Moving Forward in Faith. And that book was written by me and Carrie Wyatt Kent. The book was published by Tyndale House, and is out there for people to to read. The first book was published by Thomas Nelson Publishing, which is now part of Harper Collins, and a lady, Jeanette Hanscom, and I wrote the second book, which is called Running with Roselle, which is really a book more for children, teaching them about me growing up, Roselle growing up, and how we met. A little bit about the World Trade Center. That one was self-published, but all three books are available wherever you can find books, so you can get them always from Amazon, of course. And so I hope that that you'll get them and read them. They will help. Live Like a Guide Dog probably is the best book for me to talk about in terms of things that I learned over the years, but if I really summarize mostly what happened for me after September 11th, it is that what happened on that day validated everything that I've believed about me. Certainly, what I believe about God, but it validates everything that I've ever thought about blindness, blind people, what we can do, the challenges we face, some of the issues that other people have, and the validation is certainly something that helped what I learned. But I learned other things along the way, and you know I want to talk about some of those things. The first, as I said, is don't worry about what you can't control. Focus on what you can, and let the rest take care of itself. Speaker 1  23:56 If you enjoy Unstoppable Mindset and would like to help us continue bringing these conversations to you each week, we've created a way for you to support the show. Your contribution helps us cover production costs and continue sharing stories, insights, and ideas that inspire people to live with purpose and possibility. If supporting the podcast feels right for you, you'll find the link in the show notes, thank you for being part of the Unstoppable Mindset Community. One Michael Hingson  24:28 of the things that happened to me almost immediately after September 11th is I started hearing people say, "We got to get back to normal. If we don't get back to normal, that's a problem. We got to get back to normal. And I always reacted internally, at least pretty negatively to that. And I finally realized why I reacted to that statement about we got to get back to normal. The reason I reacted to that statement, and I still react to to myself to that statement, is normal will never be the same again. We can't get back to normal. If we get back to normal the way it was prior to September 11th, the same thing will happen again. We can't do that. We have to get back to a different normal, and and in fact, normal is probably going to be an ongoing, constant process of change. We ought to learn not to fear that either. Change is all around us. We always say that, but then we don't like change. It's kind of a paradox. But the reality is, change is all around us. And what we really need to do is to learn how to focus in change. And we need to learn that in reality, we can deal with change. And if we have any influence over it, then we should do something about that too. But the bottom line is, getting back to normal prior to September 11th isn't going to help any of us, and and it isn't going to happen. So that is an one thing that I will say definitely. I learned from September 11th: normal will never be the same again. As I said a lot earlier, I think I probably learned about public speaking at least the beginning of it by doing the spelling tests and so on. But after September 11th, the media got my story, and that happened because Joanne Ritter, the public and information services person at the time at Guide Dogs wanted to write a story, and I kind of agreed. And I said, "That's fine. And then she said, "I'll bet you'll be on TV. What television show do you want to be on first? So I kind of just sort of flippantly said, "Larry King Live. That was on the 12th of September when I talked with her. On the 13th, she called back and she said, "Larry King wants you on his show on september 14, which was a Friday, and they sent a car to pick me up, and and I recall Karen and and Tom one as well, and anyway, we went into the World Trade Center, not to the World Trade Center, but we went into New York, and I appeared on CNN, which was the first of five interviews with Larry. Larry also, by the way, at my request, wrote the foreword for Thunderdog. So when you read Thunderdog, you'll get to read Larry's words as well. But after being on Larry King, the media really got my story, and a lot of things happened after that. I started getting literally calls every day for interviews. People wanted to talk to me about September 11th and ask questions and so on. And one of the things that I learned was that talking to reporters could be a great therapy because they would ask virtually any kind of question you can imagine. And of course, a lot of people said things like, "Well, did you know what happened on September 11th when it was happening? And I said no. And they said, well, of course you didn't. You're blind, you know. And my response is, anybody who says that really needs to not let their sight get in their way or their vision to be polite about it. The fact of the matter is, as we were going down the stairs, no one knew anything about what was going on. When I got into the stairwell, I began smelling an odor, and it took me four floors to realize I was smelling the fumes from burning jet fuel. I did a lot of travel for my company, and so I was in airports a lot. So I recognized that smell. People were speculating about what they were smelling. People were speculating about what was going on. Nobody had a clue. Michael Hingson  28:20 When I realized I was smelling jet fuel, I observed it to everyone around me, and they said, "You're right. That's what we're smelling. It's burning jet fuel. We must have been hit by an airplane. You see, no one knew. We had no clue. Superman and X-ray vision just aren't real. And the bottom line is, nobody knew what was actually happening on September 11th. Blindness have nothing to do with it. People want to feel more comfortable by saying, "Well, most people probably did know, but you're blind. You didn't know. We've got to get away from these habits of thinking that just because somebody is different than we are, that they're less than we are. That's just not true. In any case, the bottom line is that we we really deal with those kinds of things, and that helped me as as time went by recognize and realize that normal would never be the same again, and it validated more my belief that blindness isn't the problem; it's the misconceptions and poor attitudes that people have about blindness that tends to truly be the problem that we face. So, as I began to talk with reporters, I didn't think about what was actually happening. But later, I realized when people started saying, "Well, did you ever get counseling or therapy, and I said no. And then it just popped into my head to say I probably had the best therapy around. I got interviewed by hundreds of reporters that asked basically any question that you can imagine, and I learned to answer those questions without being upset, especially when they were asking pretty derogatory questions or making derogatory comments. Your dog led you down the stairs. No, my dog did not lead me down the stairs. Guide dogs do not lead; they guide. And I understand the definition of lead, but it's a little bit different than what people were truly saying. What they were saying is you didn't know anything, and the dog took you all the way down the stairs because the dog could see. No, in fact, Roselle didn't lead me. Roselle's job wasn't, and no guide dog's job is to lead a person or to take charge. The dog's job is to make sure that we walk safely. I also have a job on the team. My job is to make sure that I know where we're going and how to get there. A lot easier now than it was 25 years ago, but the bottom line is that I'm the one that has to direct the dog and give the dog commands, and the dog needs to make sure that we carry out those commands safely. We are a team; we work together. I've always kind of known that guide dog schools didn't necessarily early in my guide dog career, express it that way, but it's it's a much stronger statement now. They recognize that truly we're a team. We each have a job to do on the team, and we have to work together to make the team work, which is true of any team. I've mentioned Seal Team Six earlier. They're a team. They work together. The firefighters in the World Trade Center and the other people who who were around there worked as a team, and they had to work as a team in order to develop a level of trust and a relationship where essentially each person knew what the others on their team were going to do, and it gave them more of a confidence to be able to function. Teamwork is so crucial in our world, and I learned, and and again on September 11th, it was totally validated how teamwork is so important. Roselle and I worked together well. The firefighters worked together well. Yes, we lost people, but the team really is so important, and we need to recognize that anyone listening to this ought to work in any of the things that they do to develop teams. Being alone makes no sense; it isn't going to work. You're going to have to and should learn to work with other people to make teams work better. I've seen companies where when they have award ceremonies, the leader of a team or the boss of a team gets an award, but the rest of the team doesn't really get the same recognition. Michael Hingson  32:30 If a leader is truly doing a good job at creating a team and being a part of a team, then that leader is really enhancing everyone else on the team, and that leader is the person who should help to make sure that when awards are given, that everyone on a team is recognized. We need to to learn and realize that a team is a bunch of people. It's not just one people, but they learn to work together, and that is also so important. And as I learned more and more about the events of the World Trade Center, I learned and realized more about the whole understanding of teamwork and trust and the value of it. I knew about it with me and Roselle, and I recognized the concept of teamwork. But certainly, September 11th again validated that a whole lot more effectively than anything else that I could think of, but I worked with eight dogs over the years, and working with eight dogs from my first guide dog Squire, who was a golden retriever, up through my current guide dog Alamo, I've learned probably I think more than I ever learned from experts and teamwork and sales and so on and motivation. I learned more from those dogs than I ever learned from the human experts because of the fact that one, I had to build a team with a creature who didn't think the same way I did, who didn't talk the same language that I did, and that expected things from me, and and as one of the things that I've learned is that dogs who are guide dogs really want the human to be the pack leader because it is the pack leader, it is the human who's supposed to tell the dog what they want the dog to do, and dogs take that so incredibly seriously. I mentioned Linny. Well, I didn't mention her, I think, by name. But Lenny was my fourth guide dog, and we were out in in San Diego at a company meeting one Friday in May of 1999, and we came home. It was a Saturday morning that we got home. I flew a red eye home, fed Lenny, and then rested and and all that. But Saturday night, when it came time to feed Linny, I called her. She wouldn't come. Karen even called her. She wouldn't come. We went. Upstairs and found her lying on her bed, kind of really not very responsive. We got her to a veterinarian, and it took a few days for the veterinarian to diagnose what she had as something called glomerular nephritis, which is a disease where the kidneys, the glomeria of the kidneys, which would normally pass out bad stuff from the kidneys but not the good stuff. They were passing out the good stuff as well, and Lenny was was not doing well. We were able to reverse that, but she had to retire from being a guide dog. In fact, we thought in late June of 1999 that we were going to lose her. We went off to a a meeting, not a meeting, but we went off to a hotel to say goodbye to Linny, if you will, on like the second of July. But Linny didn't pass away then, and she did get better. And then Roselle came into our lives, and Roselle and Linny became really good friends, but I mention all of it because I had no clue what was happening to Linny. Guide dogs love their jobs; they take them very seriously. And the fact of the matter is, as I learned, and especially after September 11th, I learned that these dogs will work till they drop. They will. They will do everything they can to please us, because they love what we do. They love us, and we need to bestow the same kind of love on them, which is all part of what teamwork is all about. Well, the bottom line was with Linny. She was with us for three more years, and she got to play with Roselle a lot, and so on. Michael Hingson  36:41 Of course, as I also mentioned after September 11th, but I again, especially because of what happened to Linny, but then afterward on September 11th, I realized how much it was important for me to do all I could to keep the team relationship a positive, strong one, to recognize that in reality these dogs work so hard on their own part to make the team's relationships work. They they deal with what they have to deal with. They get very stressed if we're upset. They take it very personally if we get upset, even if we're not necessarily upset at them; they still take it very personally. The more stress that a guide dog faces in their lives, the harder it's going to be for them, and frankly, the shorter their lives are going to be. So I learned, even before September 11th, but especially after September 11th, to do all I could to keep the stress away from the dog. As we were going down the stairs on September 11th, I constantly encouraged and praised Roselle. What a good dog! Keep going. What a good job! Good girl, Roselle. Even if I wasn't able to hold the harness because the stairs were so crowded that Roselle couldn't walk next to me and had to walk behind me at heel, and I would just hold the leash. I kept praising her because I wanted her to know for her I was okay, and I had to focus on not being afraid and letting that fear come out. Well, I was fearful like anyone was, and in fact, I love to tell people. Being a great fan of science fiction, I have a great imagination, and I was listening for the building to make creaks and groans, and you never knew what was going to happen. Fortunately, it didn't all the way down. But the bottom line for me was that doing so kept me focused. And I and I learned later that while I might have been afraid on September 11th, partly because I was encouraging Roselle and working to sound very calm and confident, I was able to also help other people, but help Roselle and keep Roselle from being afraid and and being stressed. And I work very hard to do that with my guide dogs that I've had since even more than prior to September 11th. My current guide dog Alamo and I travel the world speaking all over the place, if you will. We've been to Israel. We've been well, actually, Alamo didn't get to go to London, but we've been to Israel with my seventh guide dog, Africa. We went to the Netherlands, Alamo and I have been to Wisconsin. I've been to a variety of places, and of course, all around the the world, all around the United States, to Canada, everywhere. And again, I don't necessarily know a lot about where we're going in advance, but I ask a lot of questions so that I can learn where we're going to go, so that I can give the dogs the appropriate commands. I mentioned Wisconsin's. I've been all over the United States. It's been an honor, and I'm going to continue to do that. If anybody wants a public speaker to come and talk to their organization, please reach out to me. I'd love to hear from you. My email address is really simple. It's speaker@michaelhinkson.com. We'll put that in the show notes, and love to hear from you. So anyway, I learned a lot about teamwork from working with eight guide dogs, and I continue to learn every day. I think it's very important for me to learn and to focus all that I can to make sure that I do what it is that's necessary to make a team work, and I believe it is all about the team. I've mentioned that I've written three books, and each one was a collaboration with someone else: Susie Florey with Thunderdog, Jeanette Hanscom with Running with Roselle and Carrie Wyatt Kent with Live Like a Guide Dog, and and the fact of the matter is those collaborations I think were very important. Michael Hingson  40:49 They made the books come out a lot different than I might have imagined them coming out by themselves and the way I would have written them without having collaboration, and probably Live Like a guide dog more than more than the other two, just because of the way it all went. But with live like a guide dog, we focused on each of my my guide dogs and the lessons that we learned. So I mentioned Squire, who I worked with in high school and then went to college with Squire, and Squire was was all around where wherever I was. One night in a dorm, I was with a roommate. Well, actually, a person who lived in a room next door to mine, and I was in his room. We were dealing with a physics problem. By the way, my master's degree is in physics. I have a secondary teaching credential, but I was in with Richard dealing with a physics problem. When I went back into my room, there was no Squire. I didn't realize that a couple of the students decided to play a trick and kidnap him. I went looking around the dorm. I even went into the bathroom and opened the shower door and called Squire, and nothing was totally quiet, and finally, I was getting a little bit concerned. And one of the people said, "Oh well, look, we took the dog. We'll show you. They went into the bathroom, opened the shower door, and out comes Squire. He was in on it. He didn't do a thing when I opened the door, but when the other people did, then then he came out. I wasn't mad at him. Sneaky dog that he is, he had a great sense of humor. But I got vengeance because that that person didn't tell the other people that they showed him where showed me where Squire was. I went and hit Squire somewhere, and then I went back out into the main part of the dorm and I started going, "Who took my dog? What's going on? Where is he? And all the other people said, "Oh, come on, he's in the bathroom. And they went in and opened the door to the shower. No Squire, and they were starting to worry about what happened to him. And Squire, of course, was again not making noise. But eventually, I brought him out and I said, "Okay, I found him. I knew where he was. We're playing a trick on you just like you played a trick on me. That'll teach you. I learned that dogs have a sense of humor that day, but I also learned how much I valued having Squire around, and so Squire worked with me up until and through my first graduate year in physics at UC Irvine, and then Squire retired and went to live with my parents. And in 1973, I got my second guide dog, Holland. Holland was with me through 1986. He worked for almost 13 years, and in fact, was two weeks from retiring when he collapsed in our backyard one day, and we took him to the vet. And the vet said, "I could probably bring him out of whatever he's got, maybe a stroke or a heart attack or both, but he won't have a good quality of life. And so we said goodbye to to Holland. Holland and Squire were both golden retrievers, but again, Holland so strongly reinforced all the things that that I had felt about teamwork, and I learned so much more from him about what I needed to do in order to to function well, not just with a dog, but in my whole life. Then I got Klondike, who was my third guide dog, who was also a golden retriever. Soon after I got Klondike, well, about a year after I got Klondike, suddenly one day he had a very strong grand mal epileptic seizure, and we took him to the vet, and they put him on some medication that wasn't really helping that. And we then kept trying to to deal with it, and finally, and during that same time, I was looking for a job. I had owned my own company for four years, but decided I wanted to go back into the workforce, and and I finally got a job with a company. Michael Hingson  44:52 And on one of the first days that I worked there, Klondike had four grand mal seizures in the. Period of time, and we thought we were going to have to say goodbye to Klondike. But I talked to our veterinarian, and he said, "You know, before we do that, I want to send him to a neurologist who did an electroencephalograph. And he said, "I didn't see much, but he said one thing he did was to take some blood tests, and he said I noticed that his Klondike's thyroid level is low, and low thyroid levels in dogs like Klondike can make them more susceptible to have seizures, just like it can for children. Well, we put Klondike on synthroid, synthetic thyroid, as well as on phenobarbital to control the seizures. The synthroid had much more of an effect than the phenobarb did, Klondike actually became a much more active and playful and interactive dog, and did not have from that time on for the next seven years that he worked for me as a guide dog never had a single seizure. So the thyroid theory was a good one. Again, with with Klondike, it was about developing a team and recognizing that we had to work together. Well, then I got Linny, and again I mentioned Linny only worked for three years. Linny had glomerular nephritis that was really probably from a tick bite where the tick had Lyme's disease, and we didn't know any of that was happening until that night that Linny didn't wake up at all or didn't get up from her bed, and we finally got it diagnosed. And then I got Roselle. Now Roselle was a a wonderful dog. One of the things that I've always said is that when I get a new guide dog and I tell the trainers I want a dog with an on-off switch. That is, I want a dog that knows when the harness is on, it's time to work, and when the harness is off, then they can play. Clearly, Roselle had that when she was in harness. She was very focused. She did develop a phobia of thunderstorms, but there were a few times that we had thunderstorms, and she was able to continue to guide, even though she would shake and she would shiver a little bit. But she continued to guide. She focused. In fact, there was a thunderstorm the morning of September 11th, about 12:30 in the morning. But there was no thunder when we were going through what we did in the World Trade Center, so none of that caused her to be fearful. But again, Roselle was a dog that that taught me a lot about observation, learning what the dogs do, what what they fear, and how to help keep them focused and calm. And so I did that. My sixth guide dog was Meryl. Meryl only worked for about a year. Roselle retired in 2007. Merrill worked from 2007 to 2008, but Merrill became very fearful of guiding, and so ended up not being a guide dog very long. And I I'd never experienced that, although I had heard other people who had issues where dogs didn't work very long. Lenny only worked for three years, but a dog that didn't work for more than a year-that was unusual for me. However, poor Meryl wasn't able to do well as a guide, and so she retired. And then we got Africa. Now Africa was my seventh guide dog. Africa's mother was Fantasia. In January of 2006, we were working. I was working at Guide Dogs for the Blind, and we applied to be what were called breeder keepers. That is, they were the the people who would keep a breeder dog in their home because the guide dogs for the blind bred their own guide dogs and so on. And breeder keepers would keep dogs in their homes so that the dogs weren't just cooped up in kennels all day, and we volunteered to do that. And the director of breeding, Marina Hall, called us and said, "I've got four dogs for you to look at. I think one's better than the others for you, but I want you to come and meet these dogs. So we went down, and and she made the comment again. I think one dog is going to be better than the others. Michael Hingson  49:02 And and I said, well, if you think so strongly, but which one is it? Well, she finally sort of told us. She said, I didn't want to tell you, but I'll tell you. So she did. But anyway, the first dog who came in was a dog named Fantasia, and it works sort of the same way that when people get guide dogs, you're in a room. The dog is allowed to come in, and you see how the dog reacts to you. When I met Squire for the first time, I was sitting in a chair. They let Squire in. He came over and started sniffing me all over. Didn't leave me. He just started sniffing. And Bruce Benzler, who was the apprentice instructor at the time, later became director of Guide Dogs for the Blind, CEO anyway, anyway. Bruce then said, "Looks like you found a friend already, and we became friends. But anyway, when when Fantasia came into the room, she took one look at Karen and leaped into Karen's lap. She had no fear of the power wheelchair that Karen was using by that time. The other three dogs, we still looked at them, and they all expressed one level of fear or concern about being around this wheelchair. But Marina said Fantasia was the one that we thought you'd like best and would like you best, and she was. So anyway, in 2006, we got Fantasia in January, and later that year, she had a litter of puppies, and then in early or mid 2007, she Fantasia had her second litter. I guess it was late in 2006 she had the second litter, but anyway, by the middle of 2008, when we had to retire Meryl because she wasn't working out very well, we were notified that they found a dog that they thought would be a really good replacement for Meryl, and that's a dog named Africa. And Karen and I realized Africa was a name that we suggested as as breeder keepers that they could name one of their puppies if they had puppies who came from an A litter. And the way it works, by the way, is when a litter is born, they're assigned a letter of the alphabet, and they got a big book, and they go into that book and they get the next names that are available. They don't use names of current guide dogs, so when a dog retires, then they can start using that name again. But anyway, Africa was a name that we suggested, and as soon as we saw the email that said Africa, we knew Fantasia was Africa's mother. Well, Africa came and joined us, and mom and daughter did really well, and Roselle was still with us. So the three of them have a lot of fun together, but again with Africa, I learned about teamwork and doing the things that I needed to do. Every dog is different, and one of the things that I developed over the years was an understanding that to truly develop a relationship with a dog takes probably close to a year by the time we really are totally comfortable with each other, but I worked with Africa. We became good friends. Africa became good friends with Roselle. Of course, Africa liked her mom, and all worked out really well. Developing those teeming relationships is so important, and you can learn a lot more about them if you get live like a guide dog. I think you'll find them all very interesting to to read about. So in 2017, I noticed that Africa was starting to slow down and not do as well. She wasn't able to see as well at night. Sort of typical signs of a dog getting older, even though I work to to keep stress out as much as possible, but I applied and in 2018 on the 9th of February, Africa's puppy raisers, Bill and Peggy Sproul from San Francisco or San Diego rather, came to visit us in Victorville, and we had offered them the opportunity to take Africa because we had Fantasia, and we had Africa. And if we kept Africa and Fantasia, and I got a new guide dog, Karen would have a hard time taking care of two dogs when I traveled, because I was doing a great deal of travel by then as a keynote speaker, and so the Sprouls came and got Africa. Michael Hingson  53:26 Left our house, Africa didn't even look back. She was gone. We had visited her several times since then, and and in in the Sprouls home, Africa died in 2020. But we we got to visit Africa several times and it was a lot of fun and and she she loved us and all that and remembered us anyway on the 11th of February two days later I went to Guide Dogs for the Blind and I met Alamo who was my first black Labrador and I met him we we met in the room and he kind of sniffed me a little bit and walked around the room. But then came back and sniffed me, and then I took him on leash back to our our dorm room at Guide Dogs for the Blind, and I decided I'd sit on the floor to to visit with him. And the next thing I know, this big, huge, 60 pound Labrador is in my lap. Alamo was and is a lapdog, but he doesn't know a stranger, which is great. I mentioned earlier that I always said that when I get a guide dog, I want a guide dog that has an on and off switch. Another thing that I require is that guide dogs that I get be raised by cats. I have known of animals who of guide dogs who don't like cats, and I would not want that because we always have had cats. And by that time, when we got Alamo, we had Stitch, who we rescued in January of 2015. So now here it is, February of 2018. So I knew that we needed to have a dog that wasn't going to be. Be afraid of cats. Well, so Stitch and Alamo kind of walked around each other a little bit when we first went home, but they got to like each other pretty well pretty quickly, and they have been together ever since. Alamo has been on a number of aircraft, as I've mentioned over the years, he went to Israel with me. He didn't go to England when I spoke in 2024, but he's been to other places and will continue to travel with me. I work really hard to keep the stress out of his life. I don't want him to become any more stressed than he ever has to be, and he feeds off of how I behave, as as I've learned guide dogs do. So that's one of the most important things that I've learned is to keep that stress out of his life. I would point out that is just as much true for human teams. Don't stress out your team. If you are a leader, your job is to enhance what those leaders, what the team does. Your job isn't to boss them around. If you're doing that, you're only causing more stress, and you're going to find you're going to have a big job turnover, much more than you really should. I've always felt that my job isn't to boss people around when I hire them, my job is to enhance their abilities by using the skills that I have and learning to work with them to give them the benefit of what I know and to use the benefits of what they know to learn myself as well, so that we become more effective. And the people who really get that do very well. The people who didn't get that tend not to last very long at the company because they don't perform very well. Because I know that in reality, I add value to the team by working to add value, not bossing the team around. I think there's a big difference between leaders and bosses, and I've learned that over the years. That leaders are people who can enhance what other people do, who work to make the whole team effective and not just try to boss people around. In late 2020, I discovered a company called Accessibe, A C C E S S I capital B E. Website is accessibee.com. Was a company that made products to help make internet websites more inclusive, and at first, they had some challenges because they were using a lot of AI stuff to make their products work, and they sort of did. But there were there were challenges. But one day in January of 2021, the founder of the company, Sheer Eckerling. Michael Hingson  57:41 contacted me and said we're interested in you joining the company. I had been looking at possibly selling their products because the pandemic had hit, and I thought I could sell them from home because we were locked down. And and he said, well, you know, we we'd like you to not sell as a partner, just on your own, we'd like you to join the company. Well, he asked what I was doing, and by that time I had started to learn about podcasting because I couldn't travel and speak all over the world. So what I decided to do was to look at using podcast as a revenue source. And Shear said, "Well, you know, we we're really interested in having somebody do a podcast for us. And I said, "What do you want? And he said, "I want to just get somebody who will do a podcast to show that we're part of the world. And you join the company; you could do that in part. I joined the company, and he didn't have any specific agenda for the podcast. So, in August of 2021, I began Unstoppable Mindset, and soon it became unstoppable mindset where inclusion, diversity, and the unexpected meet. And I'll explain all of that in a moment. But the point is that we started the podcast. I created the title. I recreated the description, and I wanted the podcast to be conversations. And as anyone who has been on the podcast knows, we don't do interviews as such. We do conversations, and I ask people to send me materials to help me prepare to be able to do the conversation. And so a number of times we've had diversity experts on people from the DEI world, and when I ask them what they do, they say, you know, we focus a lot on diversity, and I say, what does that mean? And they say, well, we deal with race, gender, sexual orientation, and so on. And we chat for a little while, and then I say, but you haven't talked about disabilities. And they say, oh, disability is not a minority. And I say, what do you mean? He said, well, disability is a social justice thing. It's not like race, gender, or sexual orientation. And my response to that is balderdash. I like to use balderdash. I could go back and use what Colonel Sherman Potter did on Mash and say monkey muffins. But anyway, balderdash because diversity should include disability because it is a minority. Even the Center for Disease Control says that. Adversity, or that that people with disabilities are a minority of about 25% of people in the United States. Well, so the bottom line for me is that I would say to them, "What do you mean you're you're not including it? And they say, "Well, it's a it's a disability, but it's social justice. It's always about being a lack of ability, and as I have learned, especially since September 11th and and beyond, disability does not mean a lack of ability. You might want to think it does. You might want to try to make that fit, but it doesn't. And I learned that most effectively in March of 2023 when I went to something, by that time Karen had passed, and I was working with a person who had been Karen's caregiver, who decided to work for me. Very grateful for Josie doing that. Josie entered my name in the contest to be a guest at the Kelly and Ryan Oscar after party, which was going to be held the Monday after the Oscars at the Dolby Theater, well, I didn't even know she entered me, but I got a call the Tuesday before the Oscar after party and the Oscars, and I was and I picked up the phone and they said congratulations, and I said for what? Oh, you won an invitation to come to the Kelly and Ryan Oscar after party, and I went really well. Anyway, I went down with my niece and nephew, Tracy and Charlie Green. The there wasn't room for taking Josie, her husband, and her mother and her five kids. So it was just me, Tracy, and Charlie. Michael Hingson  1:01:37 We got up to our room about 3o'clock in the afternoon on the Saturday before the Oscars, the day before the Oscars, we put our luggage in our room and we were coming back down the main stairwell staircase actually from the third to the first floor in the Hollywood Roosevelt. It's a very open staircase, and all of a sudden I heard people screaming, and it took me a while to to try to understand what's going on, and finally I couldn't figure it out. I said, Tracy, what's going on? And she said, Oh, we just lost power and lighting on the stairs, and and power and lighting in and around the entire hotel. Now it didn't bother Tracy. Tracy had known me for a long time, but people were panicky because they weren't getting all the light they expected, even though the windows were open, the the shades were up on the first floor in the lobby, and so on. Lots of light, but it wasn't all that people expected. And I thought about that, and what I learned from that was, it proves that disability isn't a lack of ability; it proves that disability is a characteristic that we all have. Thomas Edison and others worked on the light bulb, and Thomas Edison is credited with developing the electric light bulb back in 1878. But in the 148 years since the light bulb was developed, all society has done in that regard is worked very hard on coming up with better ways of providing light on demand, so that you sighted people could have all the light you want when you want it. Nowadays, we have smartphones, we have flashlights, we have other ways of getting light on demand. But as the Americans with Disabilities Act would describe it. The light bulb is simply, or any piece of technology that produces light on demand, is simply a piece of technology that provides light on demand to light-dependent people who otherwise don't function well without it. The bottom line is, disability is not a lack of ability. We got words like discrete, discern, disciple. What is discern? Is it a lack of discern? What is it? What is disciple? A lack of viple? No. Disability is not a lack of ability. Disability is a character

Visually impaired woman Lucy has opened up on the traumatic incident that unfolded at Flinders Street Station on Tuesday, involving her guide dog Dottie.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

https://www.youtube.com/c/FacebookfortheBlindFB4tB► COME to a LIVE recording every Tuesday at 9:30p CST (♫@8:00p)Follow the link below - RSVP by email, then we send a Zoom link about an hour before the show!https://linktr.ee/fb4tb #FB4tB► Like & Subscribe! FB4tB YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/FacebookfortheBlindFB4tB► Subscribe to the FB4tB podcast HERE: https://bit.ly/3mINXct► Like FB4tB on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FB4TB► Follow FB4tB on Twitter: https://twitter.com/FB4tB_WasTaken► Check out another nifty visualizered FB4tB podcast episode here: https://youtu.be/9O9KVHScswUThank you for listening!#Listenable, #FB4tB, #Comedy, #memes, #TuesdayNight, #LIVE, #podcast, filmed before a Live audience #Zoom

https://www.youtube.com/c/FacebookfortheBlindFB4tB► COME to a LIVE recording every Tuesday at 7:30p CST (♫@7:00p)Follow the link below - RSVP by email, then we send a Zoom link about an hour before the show!https://linktr.ee/fb4tb #FB4tB► Like & Subscribe! FB4tB YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/FacebookfortheBlindFB4tB► Subscribe to the FB4tB podcast HERE: https://bit.ly/3mINXct► Like FB4tB on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FB4TB► Follow FB4tB on Twitter: https://twitter.com/FB4tB_WasTaken► Check out another nifty visualizered FB4tB podcast episode here: https://youtu.be/9O9KVHScswUThank you for listening!#Listenable, #FB4tB, #Comedy, #memes, #TuesdayNight, #LIVE, #podcast, filmed before a Live audience

8-11 Mitch Please Ep (#270) wkly memecast for the visually & Facebook impaired00:00:00 - 0.1 Welcome00:00:10 Intros00:02:26 Depressing NEWSMitch, Hong, SOCIALISM!, TN Justin J Pearson! TN Burchett bill bans Feds from sending $ to Flock dadgum it, many AIs escape containment, Urbana UFO, SC base named after Graham; Turkey stuffed, roasted, catering truck ruse 00:07:32 ANIMAL — booted racket tail hummingbird - closer00:08:31 NEWS End00:08:42 Quiet Michael (QM) Round 117:35 Brane Damage (BD) Round 122:53 end28:14 ES round 134:30 end34:34 QM Round 239:10 end39:00 BD Round 244:00 end51:10 ES round 257:54 end58:00 QM 3 1:02:00 end1:02:10 bD round 31:10:12 end1:10:30 ES round 31:16:20 endqm pOST WITH THE MOST 1:16:30 bD post with the MOST1:17:20 ES post with the MOSThttps://www.youtube.com/c/FacebookfortheBlindFB4tB► COME to a LIVE recording every Tuesday at 7:30p CST (♫@7:00p)Follow the link below - RSVP by email, then we send a Zoom link about an hour before the show!https://linktr.ee/fb4tb #FB4tB► Like & Subscribe! FB4tB YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/FacebookfortheBlindFB4tB► Subscribe to the FB4tB podcast HERE: https://bit.ly/3mINXct► Like FB4tB on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FB4TB► Follow FB4tB on Twitter: https://twitter.com/FB4tB_WasTaken► Check out another nifty visualizered FB4tB podcast episode here: https://youtu.be/9O9KVHScswUThank you for listening!#Listenable, #FB4tB, #Comedy, #memes, #TuesdayNight, #LIVE, #podcast, filmed before a Live audience

Explore how blind tech enthusiasts Steven Scott and Shaun Preece are harnessing AI tools like Claude, co-work, and code agents to improve accessibility, automate daily tasks, and enhance life for visually impaired users. In this lively episode of Double Tap, Steven and Shaun dive deep into the evolving world of AI-powered accessibility. From humorous morning mishaps without coffee to serious discussions on open-source AI tools, they explore how anthropic's Claude, co-work, and Claude Code can manage files, automate tasks, and even control multiple devices to simplify life for blind users. Listener emails and voice messages highlight real-world applications, including filling inaccessible PDFs, managing spreadsheets with Claude for Excel, and using AI agents to handle complaints or schedule posts without relying on traditional apps. The hosts also discuss the growing importance of aesthetic design in assistive technology, sharing experiences with modern Braille displays and smart glasses that balance function and style. Relevant Links Hymnary: https://www.hymnary.org No Sight Required by Tony Gebhard: https://www.nosightrequired.com ----Follow on:YouTube: https://www.doubletaponair.com/youtubeX (formerly Twitter): https://www.doubletaponair.com/xInstagram: https://www.doubletaponair.com/instagramTikTok: https://www.doubletaponair.com/tiktokThreads: https://www.doubletaponair.com/threadsFacebook: https://www.doubletaponair.com/facebookLinkedIn: https://www.doubletaponair.com/linkedinSubscribe to the Podcast:Apple: https://www.doubletaponair.com/appleSpotify: https://www.doubletaponair.com/spotifyRSS: https://www.doubletaponair.com/podcastiHeadRadio: https://www.doubletaponair.com/iheartAbout Double TapHosted by the insightful duo, Steven Scott and Shaun Preece, Double Tap is a treasure trove of information for anyone who's blind or partially sighted and has a passion for tech. Steven and Shaun not only demystify tech, but they also regularly feature interviews and welcome guests from the community, fostering an interactive and engaging environment. Tune in every day of the week, and you'll discover how technology can seamlessly integrate into your life, enhancing daily tasks and experiences, even if your sight is limited."Double Tap" is a registered trademark of Double Tap Productions Inc. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Yay we're back!In this episode:Quick hits: another steakhouse, a fun summer drink menu, and becoming a WisconsonianNews: Venetian Rewards app and a new AmericaDegen Lounge: slots that have to goAnd our usual nonsense!Follow us on Instagram @ItsVegasYall and join our Facebook group at facebook.com/ItsVegasYall. Support the podcast for just $5 a month and get bonus content at patreon.com/ItsVegasYall.

Artspeak Radio, Wednesday, August 12, 2026, 9am -10am CST, 90.1fm KKFI Kansas City Community Radio, streaming live audio www.kkfi.org Producer/host Maria Vasquez Boyd welcomes authors Jennifer Case and Marcy Smalley. JENNIFER CASE- Part memoir and part cultural reflection, The Carework Project combines intimate storytelling with research, interviews, and visual art to explore what care means in a time of climate crisis. “Care work is climate work.” Jennifer Case first encountered this message during the pandemic, while monitoring her daughter's attempts at virtual learning and trying to keep her toddler from running naked into faculty Zoom meetings. The phrase appeared online beside photos of backyard gardens and essential workers in masks, offering an unexpected validation: caring for others—whether children, the ill, or the earth—is vital work. Intrigued, Case began exploring the connections between personal, domestic, and ecological care. What started as research through the lenses of feminism and economics grew into a larger investigation that touched on environmental thought, Indigenous teachings, disability studies, and the psychology of empathy. Along the way, Case developed a broader spiritual and ecological awareness that changed how she viewed the act of caring itself. Part memoir and part cultural reflection, The Carework Project combines intimate storytelling with research, interviews, and visual art to explore what care means in a time of climate crisis. Case shows how caregiving, often invisible, gendered, or undervalued, is central to our survival. She examines how trauma and burnout affect our ability to connect, and how healing can start with the smallest gestures of attention. The book invites readers to envision a world where care is not a burden but a source of mutual renewal and belonging. Visually striking collage postcards enhance the text. The result is a hybrid work that feels both timely and timeless, honoring the messy, creative, and transformative act of caring for one another and the living world. Why This Story Matters Now ● The Carework Project is the rare book that tackles all types of caregiving (not just one, such as childcare or eldercare) and does so through the lens of climate change and environmental justice. The connection between carework and climate change is underexplored and sets this book apart from other works about caregiving. ● The book is also incredibly timely, directly engaging conversations surrounding climate change, caretaking, and mental health in a manner that will appeal to literary readers, environmental activists, mothers, and careworkers of all types. Target Audiences The Carework Project appeals to multiple audiences: general and literary readers, environmental activists, all kinds of caregivers, and anyone interested in topics relating to environmental humanities, women and gender studies, healthcare and mental health studies, human consciousness and spirituality, and literary nonfiction about social justice. Interview Opportunities Jennifer Case offers compelling perspectives on: ● Feminism and gender studies, especially relating to the act of caregiving and motherhood ● Environmental humanities, climate anxiety, and a broader ecological awareness ● Mental health and healthcare, especially relating to the effects of trauma and burnout on connection and the importance of small gestures of attention to healing ● A vision of a world in which care is a source of mutual renewal and belonging Author Bio Jennifer Case teaches creative writing at the University of Central Arkansas. She also serves as an assistant nonfiction editor at Terrain.org and is the supervising editor of Arkana. She is the author of The Carework Project: Reckoning with Love, Labor, and the Living World, We Are Animals: On the Nature and Politics of Motherhood, and Sawbill: A Search for Place, and her work has appeared in Orion, the Sycamore Review, and Fourth River. She lives in central Arkansas. www.jenniferlcase.com MARCY SMALLEY, author, Piloting the Currents: Growing Up In Turbulent Times 1962-1973 Born into the uneasy normality of postwar Kansas City, a girl comes of age in the fast changing world of the 1960's. With a government in crisis and social traditions failing, she navigates the counter-cultural rapids and family upheavals. Buoyant with curiosity, she creates an adulthood beyond the one expected of her. A look back then begins to reveal parallels with today's world. Marcy A. Smalley, a retired urban planner, is a writer, and musician.  Her writing has appeared in The Sun and other publications.  She edited Threshold – A Life's Journey to Prairie, by Elaine Jones, Blurb Press, 2024.  Her musical scores have been performed locally.  As an urban planner she assisted in the development of the Kansas City regional transit plan. She and her husband Barrie (a Habitat for Humanity volunteer) live in the Kansas City area near their children and grandchildren. This is her first book. www.marcysmalley.com

Reflecting pool fiasco continues, Mitch is dead, then FUNNY, FUNNY MEMES! 0:10 Intros0:50 Depressing NEWS12:00 ANIMAL closer12:30 NEWS End13:00 Quiet Michael (QM) Round 1https://www.youtube.com/c/FacebookfortheBlindFB4tB► COME to a LIVE recording every Tuesday at 9p CST (♫@8:00p)Follow the link below - RSVP by email, then we send a Zoom link about an hour before the show!https://linktr.ee/fb4tb #FB4tB► Like & Subscribe! FB4tB YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/FacebookfortheBlindFB4tB► Subscribe to the FB4tB podcast HERE: https://bit.ly/3mINXct► Like FB4tB on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FB4TB► Follow FB4tB on Twitter: https://twitter.com/FB4tB_WasTaken► Check out another nifty visualizered FB4tB podcast episode here: https://youtu.be/9O9KVHScswUThank you for listening!#Listenable, #FB4tB, #Comedy, #memes, #TuesdayNight, #LIVE, #podcast, filmed before a Live audience

Daf Yomi Chullin 96Episode 2404Babble on Talmud with Sruli RappsSlides: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1A4Tr10OgPrrU8nXqzjXbvrjGAmbihubLmBA7Vqose3s/edit?usp=sharingJoin the chat: https://chat.whatsapp.com/LMbsU3a5f4Y3b61DxFRsqfMERCH: https://www.etsy.com/shop/BabbleOnTalmudSefaria: https://www.sefaria.org.il/Chullin.96a?lang=heEmail: sruli@babbleontalmud.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/babble_on_talmudFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Babble-on-Talmud-100080258961218/#dafyomi #talmud00:00 Intro 02:46 Visually recognizing meat14:24 Defining the gid hanasheh30:14 Amount to eat from the gid hanasheh42:13 Conclusion

Our Pulse Special episodes feature the hottest content from the 2026 event, including panel discussions with leading brands and technology vendors.Exclusive to Inside Commerce, these discussions share interesting insights from respected industry practitioners.In this panel, Shamoli Miah from Vervaunt hosts a discussion with the leadership teams of some of the most innovative and dynamic ecommerce technology vendors in the market. The panel includes Jessika Odling from DEMA, Sarah Young from Harper, Marc Adelman from Visually & Vidar Trojenborg from Emfas.View all Pulse panels.About PulsePulse is an ecommerce conference designed for ambitious high-growth retailers and brands looking for inspiration and innovation from some of the top speakers in ecommerce and digital marketing.FOLLOW US:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/inside-commerce/ 

7-28 New fake proof of life! &FUNNY MEMES! FB4tB Ep. (#268)Mitch is dead, AND alive... Schrödinger's tortise, Tates in jail :) ...0:10 Intros1:25 Depressing NEWS8:45 ANIMAL closer starring Jimothy! 10:43 NEWS end11:11 QM RD11:07:00 QM PWtM 1:08:12 BD PWtM1:09:00 ES PWtMhttps://www.youtube.com/c/FacebookfortheBlindFB4tB► COME to a LIVE recording every Tuesday at 7:30p CST (♫@7:00p)Follow the link below - RSVP by email, then we send a Zoom link about an hour before the show!https://linktr.ee/fb4tb #FB4tB► Like & Subscribe! FB4tB YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/FacebookfortheBlindFB4tB► Subscribe to the FB4tB podcast HERE: https://bit.ly/3mINXct► Like FB4tB on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FB4TB► Follow FB4tB on Twitter: https://twitter.com/FB4tB_WasTaken► Check out another nifty visualizered FB4tB podcast episode here: https://youtu.be/9O9KVHScswUThank you for listening!#Listenable, #FB4tB, #Comedy, #memes, #TuesdayNight, #LIVE, #podcast, filmed before a Live audience

Visually impaired sprinter took 1st place in the 100m heats at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2026 – Amelia spoke to him right after the race.Image shows the RNIB Connect Radio logo. On a white and black background ‘RNIB' written in bold black capital letters and underline with a bold pink line. Underneath the line: ‘Connect Radio' is written in black in a smaller font. 

Shakira Biography Flash a weekly Biography. Shakira has spent the past few days doing exactly what has defined her career for three decades now: turning global turbulence, digital chaos, and stadium‑level spectacle into raw material for her own legend. The biggest immediate headline, reported by outlets like NPR and Baomoi, is her starring role in the first‑ever FIFA World Cup final halftime show, an 11‑minute global broadcast where she will share the stage with Justin Bieber, Madonna, BTS, Burna Boy, Coldplay, the Muppets, and more, cementing her status once again as the undisputed queen of World Cup performances and adding another historic milestone to her biography. At almost the same time, Shakira is deep into her Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran world tour; concert trackers such as Hypebot and Shazam list her most recent arena date in Newark and her next U.S. stop at Brooklyn's Barclays Center, confirming that she is actively touring, not just making cameo appearances. That touring story has a geopolitical twist. According to the Egyptian outlet Ahram Online, Shakira has postponed her high‑profile Pyramids of Giza concert and other Middle East dates to late November due to regional war and travel disruption, a reminder that her career has grown large enough to be directly affected by global events and that her tour logistics are now part of the international news cycle. In Europe, entertainment sites including Imprintent and K Rock in Australia have highlighted her record‑breaking streaming run: she recently became the only artist ever to hit No. 1 on Spotify in both English and Spanish, while her Burna Boy collaboration Dai Dai sits at No. 1 worldwide and its video dominates YouTube with hundreds of millions of views. Those numbers, tied to Forbes' long‑running estimates of her roughly 300 million dollar net worth, underline the long‑term business arc of Shakira as not just a star but a durable multinational brand. Visually, fans have spotted her in New York's Times Square with her sons Milan and Sasha and the Ugandan dance crew Ghetto Kids, as reported by El Colombiano, a public walkabout that doubles as organic promotion for both her World Cup performance and her ongoing embrace of pan‑global collaborators. On the more personal and defensive side of her biography, Spanish music site Los40 reports that Shakira has issued a formal statement warning fans about AI‑generated fake images placing her in situations that never happened, and says her team is actively working to debunk and remove them. That is confirmed fact; any rumors about specific fake scenarios or secret projects tied to those images remain unverified and should be treated as speculation until addressed by her or reputable outlets. Taken together, the past few days show Shakira juggling tour dates, historic sports‑entertainment appearances, streaming records, family‑centered public outings, and a very modern battle to protect her likeness in the age of artificial intelligence. Thank you for listening, and make sure you subscribe so you never miss an update on Shakira, and search the term Biography Flash for more great biographies. Thanks for listening. This has been a Quiet Please production. Get the best deals https://amzn.to/3ODvOta

Nobody's watchin the State of the Union...0:10 Intros1:25 Depressing NEWS17:30 ANIMAL closer18:45 NEWS End19:00 Quiet Michael (QM) Round 120:20 (QM) Round 1, for real this timexx.xx Brane Damage (BD) Round 1...https://www.youtube.com/c/FacebookfortheBlindFB4tB► COME to a LIVE recording every Tuesday at 7:30p CST (♫@7:00p)Follow the link below - RSVP by email, then we send a Zoom link about an hour before the show!https://linktr.ee/fb4tb #FB4tB► Like & Subscribe! FB4tB YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/FacebookfortheBlindFB4tB► Subscribe to the FB4tB podcast HERE: https://bit.ly/3mINXct► Like FB4tB on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FB4TB► Follow FB4tB on Twitter: https://twitter.com/FB4tB_WasTaken► Check out another nifty visualizered FB4tB podcast episode here: https://youtu.be/9O9KVHScswUThank you for listening!#Listenable, #FB4tB, #Comedy, #memes, #TuesdayNight, #LIVE, #podcast, filmed before a Live audience

2-17 fire horses of falsehoods Ep. (#245)https://www.youtube.com/c/FacebookfortheBlindFB4tB► COME to a LIVE recording every Tuesday at 7:30p CST (♫@7:00p)Follow the link below - RSVP by email, then we send a Zoom link about an hour before the show!https://linktr.ee/fb4tb #FB4tB► Like & Subscribe! FB4tB YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/FacebookfortheBlindFB4tB► Subscribe to the FB4tB podcast HERE: https://bit.ly/3mINXct► Like FB4tB on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FB4TB► Follow FB4tB on Twitter: https://twitter.com/FB4tB_WasTaken► Check out another nifty visualizered FB4tB podcast episode here: https://youtu.be/9O9KVHScswUThank you for listening!#Listenable, #FB4tB, #Comedy, #memes, #TuesdayNight, #LIVE, #podcast, filmed before a Live audience

Send us Fan MailS6 138 - 10 Travel Sleep Tips: Beat the First-Night Effect Without MedicationCan't sleep in hotels, vacation rentals, or unfamiliar bedrooms? These 10 medication-free travel sleep tips can help you overcome the “first-night effect” and sleep better away from home.The first-night effect happens when part of your brain remains more alert in an unfamiliar environment—almost like a built-in nighttime security system. In this episode of **Sleep Takeout**, psychologist Dr. Daniel Baughn and sleep specialist Dr. Michelle Zetoony explain why this happens and share practical strategies for making an unfamiliar room feel safer, quieter, darker, cooler, and more sleep-friendly.You'll learn how to:• Bring familiar sleep cues from home• Set the ideal bedroom temperature before bedtime• block hotel curtain gaps and unwanted light• Cover bright television, thermostat, and alarm-clock LEDs• Reduce unfamiliar sounds with white noise, brown noise, earplugs, or a fan• Re-create your normal nighttime routine while traveling• Time meals and alcohol to reduce sleep disruption• Visually declutter an unfamiliar bedroom• Inspect and adjust hotel bedding before you are exhausted• Use morning sunlight to support your internal body clock• Reduce sleep anxiety with a more flexible mindset• Practice 4-7-8 breathing when your mind and body feel activatedThese strategies may be helpful whether you are sleeping in a hotel, staying with family, traveling for work, taking a vacation, or adjusting to a new environment.Remember: one imperfect night does not mean the rest of your trip will be sleepless. Your brain often needs a little time to recognize that a new environment is safe.

7-7 Ep. #264 FIGHT! I am Spartacus! & then — Funny, funny memes!0:10 Intros1:25 Depressing NEWS11:00 ANIMAL closer12:45 NEWS End13:00 Quiet Michael (QM) Round 116:53 end17:00 Tiede (TD) round 1grrrrrr....18:30 we walked Tiede!20:00 We are All Tiede Round 1, ES, QM, TCBam Bam Bigelow flaming shirt and sax25:30 end25:38 ES round 131:15 end31:31 QM Round 236:42 end37:00 We've ALWAYS All been Tiede Round 2Nana refuses to read meme (NOT!)Logan Paul, enemy of the show, in 2021Tiede, friend of the show, and all of us tonight44:00 TD's RD2 end46:03 Social Media Post of the Year candidate48:18 end ES round 248:25 QM Rd352:12 QM Rd3 end52:17 Us, Tiede Round 3, even the peanut gallery, Spartacus53:57 Tyler for the WIN!Pot roast—ain't nothing wrong with that!Italian slur!?59:50 END of Tiede's Round 3 (Ende der Runde 3)1:00:00 ES round 31:04:45 ES round 31:05:08 QM Most1:06:11 Tyler doin TD's Most, ES and NAN echoing for some reason...1:07:00 ES post with the MOSThttps://www.youtube.com/c/FacebookfortheBlindFB4tB► COME to a LIVE recording every Tuesday at 7:30p CST (♫@7:00p)Follow the link below - RSVP by email, then we send a Zoom link about an hour before the show!https://linktr.ee/fb4tb #FB4tB► Like & Subscribe! FB4tB YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/FacebookfortheBlindFB4tB► Subscribe to the FB4tB podcast HERE: https://bit.ly/3mINXct► Like FB4tB on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FB4TB► Follow FB4tB on Twitter: https://twitter.com/FB4tB_WasTaken► Check out another nifty visualizered FB4tB podcast episode here: https://youtu.be/9O9KVHScswUThank you for listening!#Listenable, #FB4tB, #Comedy, #memes, #TuesdayNight, #LIVE, #podcast, filmed before a Live audience

Today, we're talking about a food that doesn't just belong to a place—it is the place. It's a culinary tradition so fiercely local, so stubbornly secret, that if you haven't grown up with it, the name won't just confuse you; it will actively mislead you.We're talking about the Rhode Island pizza strip.Depending on who you ask, it goes by different names. Pizza strip. Red strip. Bakery pizza. Party pizza. The name changes based on your age or which corner of Providence you call home. But the food itself? That never changes. And neither does the fierce, almost possessive pride Rhode Islanders have for it.Now, if you're from outside the state, you might be picturing a slice of pepperoni. You'd be wrong. And this secrecy? It's not an accident.Think about the New York slice or the Chicago deep dish—both got packaged up, franchised, and shipped to every mall in America. The pizza strip never did that. It lived—and still lives—in small, family-run Italian bakeries. It was born there, and it has never left. It stayed close to the people who made it, never falling prey to the commercial ambition that turns regional food into a national brand. In Rhode Island, that's considered a feature, not a flaw.As one local baker, Eric Palmieri, put it: "Pizza strips give us all a sense of place, rooting us in ways we probably don't even fully understand."So, what exactly is a pizza strip?First, let's clear up the confusion. If you walk in expecting a conventional slice, you'll be pleasantly surprised—though initially confused. A pizza strip is a rectangular piece of thick, focaccia-style bread. On top is a bold, herb-seasoned tomato sauce. That's it. No mozzarella. No toppings. No cheese pull. The sauce is what Rhode Islanders call "spicy," which here doesn't mean heat, but complexity: dried oregano, generous basil, cracked black pepper, and maybe a whisper of red pepper flakes. It's intensely savory, aggressively herbed, and completely satisfying without cheese.Now, here's a critical rule: They are served at room temperature. Not hot from the oven. Not cold from the fridge. Room temperature. If you challenge this, expect a firm and affectionate defense from anyone who grew up eating them. There are historical and practical reasons for this, and they go back over a century.Visually, the strip sits somewhere between Roman pizza al taglio and Sicilian sfincione. But it's neither. It's something Rhode Island made its own—an adaptation shaped by the constraints and ingenuity of working-class immigrant life.Read the full content More Podcasts by SimVal Media, USA

Peso Pluma Biography Flash a weekly Biography. In the last few days, Peso Pluma has been in that volatile space where global stardom meets intense public scrutiny, and the biographical stakes are starting to feel long term. According to MundoNow, the most structurally important development is still the recently confirmed end of his relationship with Kenia Os, made official in a joint Instagram statement where both emphasized that the breakup was mutual, respectful, and without public drama. That declaration, coming after weeks of rumors, marks a clear personal turning point that will define this phase of his narrative. MundoNow reports they were together for more than a year, making this a meaningful chapter close rather than a brief fling. Yet even post breakup, the story refuses to settle. A recent Instagram reel highlighted that Peso Pluma and Kenia Os have quietly started following each other again on social media, and a clip reshared by Quinientos 55 News mentions this rekindled online connection. That has fueled fan speculation of a possible reconciliation or at least a softening of tensions, but there is no official confirmation of any romantic reunion, so for now it remains firmly in the realm of gossip and fan theory rather than verified fact. On the career front, his artistic positioning continues to be reinforced by major outlets. Pitchfork recently framed Peso Pluma among the key artists updating the sentimental sounds of traditional Mexican music while staying true to its history, a description that speaks to his longer term cultural impact rather than just chart success. Billboard, in a Facebook feature on the 26 best Latin albums of 2026 so far, includes him among the top-tier names shaping the year, solidifying his status as a core figure in the current Latin landscape rather than a passing trend. Visually and virally, one of the most talked about recent items has been a widely shared photo of Peso Pluma with legendary producer Rick Rubin. An Instagram post questioning whether the image was AI generated or real notes that it circulated shortly after his breakup statement. The photo itself, regardless of its authenticity, has amplified a narrative that Peso Pluma is orbiting the upper echelons of global music creativity. Another reel, posted within the last several hours, teases “more of Peso Pluma with Rick Rubin,” fueling curiosity about whether a deeper collaboration is coming. At this point, there is no confirmed project announcement, so talk of a formal Rubin produced album or session is speculative, but the mere association adds a potentially pivotal biographical thread: the possibility of crossing fully into a global, cross-genre creative sphere. Not all headlines have been flattering. A recent Instagram commentary reports that independent rapper Dan Sur has publicly claimed on his social media that Peso Pluma allegedly owes him a significant amount of money. These are accusations from a third party, not corroborated by legal filings or statements from Peso Pluma's team, so they remain unverified allegations rather than established fact, but they introduce a note of possible business controversy into the narrative. Meanwhile, social media continues to recycle and expand his image: fan edits of Peso Pluma and Tito Double P emphasize their chemistry onstage, and retrospective posts highlight his breakthrough moments from Coachella with Becky G and his appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, reinforcing how quickly he vaulted from regional corridos to mainstream American late night. Chartmetric data shows no major recent spikes beyond his already massive following, suggesting his audience has entered a stable, superstar plateau rather than boom-and-bust volatility. Taken together, these past days sketch a biography in motion: a major romantic chapter closing in public view, a possible new tier of creative alliances, and the first rumblings of money-related controversy, all while his broader cultural influence continues to be validated by serious music press. For fans and future biographers, this is a period likely to be remembered as a hinge moment, where personal upheaval and career consolidation happened almost simultaneously. Thank you for listening, and be sure to subscribe so you never miss an update on Peso Pluma, and search the term Biography Flash for more great Biographies. Thanks for listening. This has been a Quiet Please production. Get the best deals https://amzn.to/3ODvOta

I went to Manaus, Brazil recently and I visited a lot of different places that tried to capture the sense of Manaus and the surrounding area. This included going to Museu Do Indio (Indigenous Museum) and the Palácio Rio Negro (Governors Palace). I also paid a visit to Teatro Amazonas, which is an insanely beautiful opera house that was built in 1897. One thing I did while I was in Manaus that was very special, was I got to see a ceremony performed by the Tuyuka Tribe. The tribe is known as the "children of the stone snake" and they did some beautiful dances wearing traditional handmade garments. I was privileged enough to meet and interact with these amazing people and further my understanding of the indigenous people of the region. If you have the opportunity to arrange something like this this, I highly recommend it doing it because it was a truly enlightening experience.The last thing I got to do in this video was see the meeting of the waters where the Rio Negro and the Rio Solimoes come together to actually form the Amazon River. It's one of the most unique places in the world. In fact, the two rivers don't combine for over 30 miles because of their difference in temperature and sedimentary makeup. Visually, it's an insane looking conglomeration of water. The only way to really understand what I'm talking about is to see it for yourself, which you can do through the video component on my YouTube channel.Hopefully just watching the videos and hearing me, you might get a sense of what this region is like. So if you want to know what the Amazon feels like and Brazil feels like, you might want to watch / listen to this podcast.

Diana and Sam break down the explosive Season 3 premiere of House of the Dragon. From the chaos of the Battle of the Gullet to devastating losses and shifting alliances, they explore how choices, sacrifice, and consequence shape the start of this war. They discuss massive dragon warfare, emotional turning points, Rhaenyra and Jace's leadership conflict, and the cost of power across every faction. They also dig into Alicent and Aemond's tense dynamic, including her secret maneuvering behind his back and the shocking, uncomfortable kiss that raises deeper questions about trauma and emotional damage. Plus, rapid-fire reactions, standout moments, predictions, and TV & Movie recommendations.  00:00 — Intro and setup 00:41 — Opening reactions to the premiere 02:56 — Battle of the Gullet begins 03:43 — Corlys, Alyn, and family tension 05:17 — Lohar's betrayal and battlefield chaos 06:12 — Dragon warfare escalates 07:07 — Vermax is struck down 08:22 — Visually stunning aftermath 10:19 — Comparing the battle to Vikings 11:17 — Tactical choices and the narrow passage 13:07 — Jace's death and the cost of leadership 15:25 — The tragedy of Vermax's death 16:30 — Dragons are wild, not controllable 18:29 — Rhaenyra vs Jace: duty and protection 22:07 — Jace's impact on the war 24:28 — Rhaena and Sheepstealer 28:54 — Alicent and Aemond's dynamic and the shocking kiss 34:33 — Themes: choices, honor, sacrifice 37:19 — Magic, Gods Eye, and ancient power 38:26 — Winter Wolves and sacrifice 39:21 — Inheritance and grudges 41:27 — Choice and consequence 43:49 — Rapid fire reactions 47:47 — Dragons they would least want to face 48:44 — Is Corlys alive? 49:15 — Question of the day revisited 51:38 — TV recommendations 53:58 — More TV and movie recommendations 58:35 — Wrap-up and farewell   Website: www.screensinfocus.comEmail: screensinfocus@gmail.com Instagram: @screensinfocusFacebook: Screens in FocusTikTok: Screens in FocusYouTube: Screens in Focus Feedback and TV/Movie Recommendations: Google Voice: (669) 223-8542 Free background music from JewelBeat.com: www.jewelbeat.com  

We're celebrating the great Nintendo 64 as it marks 30 years on the market following its Japan release on June 13rd, 1996!We take a fun quiz, talk favourite games and guess what topped the console's sales charts.Plus, we're playing and chatting about a Japan-only release that has gotten lots of acclaim over the years: Sin & Punishment⁠Send a text or voicemail to the show completely free at: ⁠voicecast.app/remember64(0:00) Intro & new stuff on the show(6:25) Celebrating the N64's 30th birthday!(9:05) The N64 quiz and a look at game sales(34:40) Sin & Punishment(39:00) Visually and technically impressive(46:44) Gameplay thoughts and controller preferences

The people you meet on vacation (are the worst people you know) Approachability: 4/10 (Visually twisted thriller about The Worst People) Content Warnings: Blood/gore; Jump scares Next Week's Film RandomHorror9 T-Shirts Hosts: Jeffrey Cranor & Cecil Baldwin (Find more of our work on Welcome to Night Vale) Logo: David Baldwin Random Horror 9 Patreon YouTube, Bluesky, Letterboxd, & Instagram: @RandomHorror9 We are part of Night Vale Presents Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Forgotten Cinema: Now Showing, the Mikes head to a galaxy far, far away with "The Mandalorian and Grogu".Butler comes away enjoying the film more than Field, though both agree it suffers from a bloated runtime and repetitive structure. At nearly 30 to 40 minutes longer than it needs to be, the movie revisits certain emotional and action beats too often without evolving the central dynamic between Mando and Grogu.Butler also brings up a major plot point and action sequence that feels lifted almost directly from the first season of the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" spinoff "Angel", which he couldn't ignore once noticed.Even with that, it's still a fun watch. Butler praises the action sequences and especially the IMAX presentation, with the film delivering strong visuals and impressive sound design throughout. Field also finds enjoyment in some of the action and even appreciates one of the film's callbacks, despite normally disliking that kind of fan service.Ultimately, both Mikes wonder whether Mando and Grogu may now work better as characters appearing in smaller Indiana Jones-style adventures or as supporting players within larger stories, unless future films are willing to significantly evolve their relationship and formula.Visually impressive and often entertaining, "The Mandalorian and Grogu" continues the story fans love, even if the franchise may still be searching for its next direction.

On this week's AIPT Comics Podcast, we're joined by writer Kenny Porter and artist Tyrell Cannon to talk all things Operation: Iron Coffin, the wild new IDW Dark series that drops Dracula onto a Nazi war train in one of the year's coolest high-concept comics. During the interview, the duo digs into balancing horror and action, Dracula's internal struggle, the grindhouse inspirations behind the violence, and how the book evolved into a monster-filled gauntlet packed with occult science, anime influences, and brutal fight choreography. Visit our Patreon page to see the various tiers you can sign up for today to get in on the ground floor of AIPT Patreon. We hope to see you chatting with us on our Discord soon! NEWS Marvel shakes up leadership as Brad Winderbaum takes over comics and franchise direction Marvel Comics August 2026 solicitations Marvel reveals ‘Amazing Spider-Man' #1000 as biggest issue in series history Marvel resurrects Indiana Jones' wildest comic adventures in deluxe hardcover reprints Marvel launches ‘Marvel Tōkon: First Strike' #1 comic and variants for new fighting game 'Batman: Bad Seeds' turns Gotham into a nightmare in DC's next major crossover DC Solicitations August 2026 DC announces ‘Batman & Robin: Dynamic Duos' as Waid and Samnee return for new maxiseries Static joins the Titans as DC sets up a massive new Amazon storyline EC Comics returns with 'Shellshock' #1, a new war anthology from Oni Press launching August 2026 ‘Star Trek' celebrates 60 years with massive all-star anthology special this September Iman Vellani makes creator-owned comics debut with bold noir-inspired ‘Chachu' at Image Mike Mignola and Michael Avon Oeming launch new Hellboy Universe series ‘Ghost of a Ghost' Dark Horse shuts down TFAW stores as major company shake-up expands into games and entertainment New Dark Horse noir 'The Big Shakedown' set in earthquake-decimated Los Angeles Tom King and Gabriel Hernández Walta reteam for 'Six of Us' Our Top Books of the Week: Dave: Absolute Green Arrow #1 (Pornsak Pitcheshot, Raphael Albuquerque) Alias: Red Band #3 (Sam Humphries, Geraldo Borges) Alex:​​ Odin #1 (James Tynion IV, Marguerite Bennett, Letizia Cadonici) Of the Earth #1 (Chris Condon, Andrew Edrich, Charlie Adlard) Standout KAPOW moment of the week: Alex: Sorcerer Supreme #6 (Bernard Chang) Dave: Sai: Dimensional Rivals #5 (Peach Momoko and more) TOP BOOKS FOR NEXT WEEK Alex: Exquisite Corpses #13 (Tynion, Walsh), Fireborn #2 (Curt Pires, Timmy Heague, Franklin Jonas, Patrick Mulholland) Dave: Doomquest #1 (Ryan North, Francesco Mobili) and Red Roots #2 (Lorenzo De Felici) JUDGING BY THE COVER JR. Dave: Absolute Martian Manhunter #12 (Werther Dell'Edera Card Stock Cover) Alex: Wiccan & Hulkling: Raid of Ultron #1 Interview - Kenny Porter, Tyrell Cannon - Operation: Iron Coffin - July 8th - FOC June 1 Asking for an elevator pitch usually feels a bit cliche as an interviewer, but then Operation: Iron Coffin feels like it deserves it since it kind of has the perfect tight setup, care to share one? Earlier this year you mentioned to Chris Coplan Dracula isn't really a hero here, even if he's the protagonist. How important was it to frame this as a redemption story without ever sanding off the uglier truths about who Dracula is and what he's done?  Tyrell, you talked before about Dracula wrestling with the cost of his immortality and violence. Visually, how do you show that internal conflict in a character who often presents himself as cold, confident, and almost unstoppable? The first issue moves at a breakneck pace, but there are key flashbacks and supernatural moments that hint at something deeper under the grindhouse chaos. Kenny, how did you approach layering emotional depth into something that's also designed to feel like an adrenaline-fueled action movie? The Nazi train setup creates this perfect “one nightmare after another” structure where every car can introduce a new horror. Was the book always designed like a deadly gauntlet, or did the train concept evolve as you built the story? There's a fascinating tension between nature and science in the issue, especially with Dracula as this ancient evil crashing into engineered horrors and wartime experimentation. Was that thematic contrast something you wanted front and center from the beginning? Tyrell, one thing I loved was how physically dominant Dracula feels. He's ripping people apart, shrugging off attacks, and moving through scenes like a slasher villain unleashed. What were the biggest influences behind the choreography and sheer brutality of the action sequences? Hazel and Ivy immediately make a strong impression, especially because they seem to understand Dracula in ways others don't. What can you tease about their dynamic with him and why they're such dangerous opponents specifically for this version of Dracula? Kenny, the issue somehow makes Dracula sympathetic without asking readers to forget he's a monster. Were there any versions of Dracula in film, literature, or comics that influenced your take, or did you intentionally try to move away from previous interpretations? Fun/silly question: if your Dracula had a playlist blasting while he fought his way through the Nazi train, what songs or bands would absolutely be on it? Fun/silly question to cap things off: Dracula has now fought through a Nazi train like the star of the wildest action movie never made. If you could drop your version of Dracula into any other movie genre or setting next, where would you send him?

This episode dives into the visual evolution of Godforge, from early art direction and animation polish to environments, character expressiveness, and the push toward higher-quality presentation. Content creator, Emma joins the discussion to share an artist's perspective as the team talks about skins, Sanctum customization, cosmetic pets, and how Godforge is building a world players want to stay in.Fateless is a dynamic game studio founded by passionate content creators Simon Lockerby (Hellhades), Dan Francis (Phixion), and Hisham Saleh (Sham). Our mission is to create community-driven, immersive RPG Hero Collector games that emphasize player agency, storytelling, and strategic gameplay. Join us as we share our journey from concept to launch and beyond.Support the show

"In “Out of the Woods” new and old swirl together. The primary inputs are field recordings from a violin workshop near the river. All of the percussion sounds come from the wood instrument construction sounds from the workshop. The rhythms were already so compelling, I took long clips of them and did very little processing. The voices are also all from the workshop visit, in the field recording. Voices in the workshop blended four languages, discussing craft and location. “Acero” means maple in Italian. Wood was harvested nearby, connecting nature and human process. Soft sandpaper rubbing underlies the vocals."The only sound I added was viola da gamba, an early bowed, wooden, stringed instrument that was popular in Europe in the Renaissance before the onset of modern strings. This instrument had a musical culture of being played in the home and in small groups, emphasizing soft richness of tone and polyphonic shaping before more modern priorities of loudness and soloists. Visually the instrument looks similar to the violin family, but has more sloped shoulders, 6 strings (generally) with frets, C holes instead of F holes, and all sizes are played upright held between the knees. Strings are tuned mainly in fourths, with the historical tuning of A a bit below modern standards (415hz vs 440hz or higher). The instrument went out of fashion being gradually replaced by the violin family in the Baroque period, though viols started to regain interest in the 20th century. I added reverb and effects to this early music sound, linking past and future. Along with other dedicated players and composers worldwide, I write and play new music for the viola da gamba to keep this instrument alive."In “Out of the Woods,” wood is nurtured by water. Wood is flooded by water. Wood resonates. Wood transforms. Wood speaks. Wood connects. Wood remembers. Wood forms new memories."Section of the river Lech reimagined by Heather Spence. -------Part of Flow, a creative exploration telling the story of a river through the power of sound. Explore the full project at https://citiesandmemory.com/flow.

I recently (and very quietly!) celebrated an important milestone on the Restorative Reading & Writing for Wellness podcast: I reached the 225 episode milestone!It truly seems like yesterday when I nervously hit record and uploaded a very real, raw episode into the world and it's been a wonderful journey of learning ever since. Recently, I've started posting some of these backlist episodes in my current show notes as they relate to the current theme in case you missed it or are new to the podcast and I've loved seeing new life brought to these old episodes. So, I've decided to periodically bring back a backlist episode that relates to my current one-word theme in hopes that it re-energizes your reading and writing life, too. Starting today!Spring is in the air and that means Spring cleaning, organizing and freshening. This kind of work pairs perfectly with my RELEASE theme and might help you let go of the old and make space for the new on your bookshelf….and your life. Today, I am talking about shelf-care or showing love to your bookshelf in mindful and intentional ways to rejuvenate your reading life and how it can lead to self-care in our actual lives, too. Here's a quick overview of the steps I shared in the episode:Know Your WhyFirst, before you even get started, articulate why you are choosing to cull your book collection. Clearly stating your ‘why' behind this work will give you the energy your bookish heart will need to tackle it. Say it out loud. Are you sorting through your books to gain:* a cleaner and refreshed look to your bookshelves?* additional space for new titles and genres?* a chance to sift through your reading life past and plan for the future?Whatever the reason, define your why and hold it close throughout the process.Remove & SortNext, pull all the books off of your shelf so you can literally see and touch each one. This contact is important. Quickly glancing at the titles on your self will not suffice. Pick up each book and sort them into two piles: read and not read yet.Review the Books You've ReadThen, head to the stack of books you've already read. Pick up each book, say the title and author out loud and fan the pages. Saying the title out loud will jog your memory of the book and fanning the pages will highlight any dog-earned passages, bookmarks or sticky notes, all signs you loved the book. If this process does NOT jog your memory of the book, then that's a sure sign you might let it go.Make a decision to keep or donate each book. Is it a book that you read, loved, remembered and want to keep? Yes? Well, why? If you have a compelling reason to keep the book on your shelf waiting patiently for another reader that might never come, then do so. If not, set it aside so you can pay it forward to share with a reader who will love and appreciate it. Continue the process until you have sorted all of the books into KEEP and SHARE piles.But don't put them back on the shelf. Not yet!Review the Books You Haven't Read YetNext, it's time to head to the stack of books you have not read yet. Just as with the books you've already read, pick up each book and say the title and author aloud. How do you feel? Does the book register in your memory? Does it tug at your reading heart? Or do you feel nothing at all? Use that gut feeling to decide whether to keep the book on your shelves or donate to others. These questions might help you decide:* Do you remember when and why you purchased the book?* Are those reasons still relevant in your life today?* Do you remember who recommended it to you and why they thought you might enjoy it?If you can answer these questions and are still interested in the book, keep it. If not and you do not feel any tug at your reading heart, then pay it forward to another reader.Now, there are two steps left: to reorganize your newly culled reading shelves and decide on your donation strategy.Reorganize & ReshelveFirst, let's reorganize. Organization of your bookshelves is a personal process that should be based on your preferences and wishes as a reader AND your desire for organization and accessibility. Here are a few methods you might try:* Shelve books by reading status: read and not yet read* Arrange books alphabetically by author last name* Categorize books by genre and/or format* Sort books by hardcover and paperback* Cluster books by your mood for reading* Visually display books by color, size and/or shape* Celebrate favorite books in a showcaseChoose a method that speaks to your bookish heart and experiment with combinations of strategies, too. You might have a TBR shelf arranged by genre. Or an alphabetically arranged shelf within a certain genre. The choice is yours.Donate Books ForwardLastly, it's time to get your excess books into the hands of its next reader. Here are a few possibilities:* Donate adult books to your local library.* Donate children's literature books to your local school.* Add a few books to a Free Little Library in your neighborhood (or start your own!)* Gift them to family and friends with handwritten recommendations* Declare yourself a book fairy and leave a book in a random place for the next reader to find.Once you see the possibilities for pressing books into the hands of its next reader and making space for the books that need to find you next, it doesn't seem quite so daunting, does it?! Culling your book collections is a necessary stage of the reading life: sharing books that no longer serves you to others and making space for those that need to find you in this season of life:Shelf-Care to Self-Care MagicMoving through this book-culling process and releasing the books that no longer serve you in this particular season of life can feel quite thrilling and leave you with a sense of accomplishment. It also leaves you with new space: space to connect with new books that are just what you need in this moment. So, your last step is to reflect on these three questions, even better if you jot them down in your notebook:* Who do you want to be in this current season?* How do you want to feel?* What do you want to do?Use your unfiltered, gut-reaction responses to connect with new books that can offer you the kind of care you need right now. Here are the books originally mentioned in the backlist episode that I made space for on my newly refreshed bookshelf:ABOVE GROUND by Clint Smith (Amazon / Bookshop)WHEN THE RAIN ENDS by Mary Ellen Taylor (Amazon / Bookshop)ADELAIDE by Genevieve Wheeler (Amazon / Bookshop)And here are the current books I've made space for inspired by the re-airing of this episode:THEO OF GOLDEN by Allen Levi (Amazon / Bookshop)A SPRINKLE OF SWEET SERENDIPITY by Rachel Linden (Amazon / Bookshop)LOVE, FINALLY: UNTANGLING THE KNOT BETWEEN MOTHERS, DAUGHTERS, AND FOOD by Geneen Roth (Amazon / Bookshop)I'd love to hear what you think of this episode! How has culling your book collection helped you move into a new season of your reading life AND your actual one, too? What books are on your newly-curated bookshelf? Share in the comments below!Let's Work Together!I love to connect with others around our shared love of reading and writing.Here are some ways we can work together to create a life you love where restorative reading and writing is at the center of it all:

Visually impaired runners are using AI-powered smart glasses as they prepare for the London Marathon. The AP's Naeun Kim reports.

Join Emma, Rylan, and Shawn this week as they discuss "MIO: Memories in Orbit", a metroidvania platformer where you play as MIO, a robot who is exploring an abandoned vessel with a failing heart. Visually stunning and mechanically challenging, this game blends beauty with discipline as you traverse through an expansive map, unlocking secrets and the story behind this vessel along the way. Do their ratings from last week hold up? Find out on this episode of Let Me Be Your Game Guide. Douze Dixièmes - https://pullupent.com/en/entities/douze-dixiemes Full Credits - https://www.mobygames.com/game/251344/mio-memories-in-orbit/credits/windows/ AMA - https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/1qejb75/mio_memories_in_orbit_ama_with_douze_dixi%C3%A8mes/ Plot Reddit Post - https://www.reddit.com/r/MIOmemoriesinorbit/comments/1qpl01q/the_complete_story_of_mio_memories_in_orbit/ Graphics/Art Inspiration: Juanjo Guarnido - https://www.instagram.com/juanjoguarnido Catherine Meurisse - https://www.instagram.com/catherine_meurisse Boulet - https://www.artstation.com/boulet Accessibility Report - currently unavailable

This time I stepped into sci‑fi territory with Project Hail Mary, and yeah… this one caught me off guard in the best way. Ryan Gosling plays a man who wakes up alone on a spacecraft with no memory, only to slowly realize he's light‑years from Earth and humanity's last hope. The movie balances smart science, great humor, and surprisingly strong emotion. Gosling absolutely carries this thing, often acting solo or off a prop, and he kills it. Visually, it's stunning — you can clearly see where that massive budget went — and if I had known how good it looked, IMAX would've been the move. It's an emotional roller coaster with real highs and lows, and yeah… it got me a little misty. While it runs a bit long and could've used tighter editing, that's minor nitpicking. I walked out smiling, feeling good, and honestly wanting to see it again. A rare, legit must‑see in theaters and a major crowd‑pleaser. #ProjectHailMary #MovieReview #SciFiMovies #RyanGosling #MovieRecommendation

At its most functional level, clothing serves as essential physical protection from the environment, soft armor and tangible comfort. Visually, clothing is one of the most immediate ways to assert individual identity, signaling values and collective belonging to others at first sight. But, when public discourse is polarized and words feel inadequate, clothing becomes a powerful nonverbal language—communicating solidarity, protest, fear or hope at a glance. During periods of political tension and social exhaustion, clothing serves as a palpable reminder of who we are when the world is in flux, offering a sense of control in an uncontrollable world. When institutions feel fragile and the future unclear, getting dressed is no longer trivial—it's an act of care, self-definition, and sometimes even quiet resistance. With insights from fashion industry leaders—educators, designers, reporters, and historians—this panel conversation will address the importance of clothing—as a marker of identity, symbol of resistance, and sign of belonging—in times of crisis.  About the Speakers Laura L. Camerlengo is curator in charge of costume and textile arts with the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. She has organized, co-organized and presented numerous costume and textiles exhibitions for the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, with a focus on sharing the stories of women and artists of color. Her recent publications include Patrick Kelly: Runway of Love (co-edited by Dilys E. Blum, 2021), and Fashioning San Francisco: A Century of Style (2024), as well as contributions to West 86th. She holds a Master of Arts degree from Parsons School of Design, The New School / Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in the History of Decorative Arts and Design. Moderator Natalie Smith is the Fashion Department chair and a full-time tenured instructor at City College of San Francisco. She also works as a freelance fashion show and event producer, stage manager, model coach, and voice-over artist. Natalie earned her Associate of Arts degree in interior design from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM). Anna Chiu is the founder and creative director of Kamperett, a women's wear brand based in San Francisco, where its flagship atelier and studio are located. Shaped by her German and Chinese heritage, her work brings a forward-looking perspective to clothing through an artistic lens. She has dressed women for the Met Gala, countless award shows and red-carpets, including Angelina Jolie, Ali Wong, and Rashida Jones and Chloe Zhao. Kamperett takes an intentional approach to sustainability, with all pieces designed and made in California. Tony Bravo is the San Francisco Chronicle's arts & culture columnist. His areas of coverage include visual art, the LGBTQ community, style, pop culture and “only in San Francisco” stories. He is also a frequent live interviewer and hosts the “Show & Tell” event series at Four One Nine. Bravo is also an adjunct instructor at the City College of San Francisco Fashion Department, where he teaches journalism. The Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California is a nonprofit public forum; we welcome donations made during registration to support the production of our programming. A Grownups Member-led Forum program. Forums at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums. Commonwealth Club World Affairs is a public forum. Any views expressed in our programs are those of the speakers and not of Commonwealth Club World Affairs. Organizer: Denise Michaud  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Have you checked your online sermon retention? Good, me neither. But there's an important truth about preaching – it's not just about carefully crafted theology, but engaging delivery. Research shows that 65% of people are visual learners, but what does that mean for preaching. Easter preaching for a visually-engaged culture.

Today's conversation with Jen Bowers is an inspiring exploration of branding and personal reinvention. Jen shares her journey from a long corporate career to becoming an entrepreneurial powerhouse, helping women craft brands that resonate on a personal level. We delve into the essence of a brand and its impact, beyond just a logo, discussing the importance of personality and emotional connection. Through her story, Jen shows us that it's never too late to embrace who you are and create a brand true to your essence. Whether you're just starting or redefining your business, Jen's tips on individuality and standing out in a crowded market are invaluable. It's all about feeling authentic, joyful, and connected to your audience. Website instagram **Key Takeaways:** 1. Your brand is how you make people feel, not just a logo. 2. Embrace your unique brand personality for authenticity. 3. Your story is a powerful connection tool. 4. Visually align your brand with who you truly are. 5. Build your brand on solid foundations for longevity.

Join Emma, Rylan, and Shawn this week as they rate "MIO: Memories in Orbit", a metroidvania platformer where you play as MIO, a robot who is exploring an abandoned vessel with a failing heart. Visually stunning and mechanically challenging, this game blends beauty with discipline as you traverse through an expansive map, unlocking secrets and the story behind this vessel along the way. Will MIO save they dying ship? Find out on this episode of Let Me Be Your Game Guide. Douze Dixièmes - https://pullupent.com/en/entities/douze-dixiemes Full Credits - https://www.mobygames.com/game/251344/mio-memories-in-orbit/credits/windows/ AMA - https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/1qejb75/mio_memories_in_orbit_ama_with_douze_dixi%C3%A8mes/ Accessibility Report - currently unavailable

Mike sits down with Julie Wyman, director of The Tallest Dwarf — a documentary that is as personal as it is political. When filmmaker and UC Davis professor Julie Forrest Wyman set out to make The Tallest Dwarf, she discovered she has hypochondroplasia dwarfism herself — and that hers is the last of a body type she has inherited. The film charts her quest to find her place within the little people community at a moment when dwarf identity is poised to radically change, exploring everything from the legacy of exploitation to the thorny ethics of pharmaceutical interventions promising to make little people taller.Visually striking, humorous, and touching, The Tallest Dwarf invites audiences to rethink identity, disability, and what it means to belong in a world that wants to change who you are.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.Become a supporter of The Projection Booth at http://www.patreon.com/projectionbooth 

Mike sits down with Julie Wyman, director of The Tallest Dwarf — a documentary that is as personal as it is political. When filmmaker and UC Davis professor Julie Forrest Wyman set out to make The Tallest Dwarf, she discovered she has hypochondroplasia dwarfism herself — and that hers is the last of a body type she has inherited. The film charts her quest to find her place within the little people community at a moment when dwarf identity is poised to radically change, exploring everything from the legacy of exploitation to the thorny ethics of pharmaceutical interventions promising to make little people taller.Visually striking, humorous, and touching, The Tallest Dwarf invites audiences to rethink identity, disability, and what it means to belong in a world that wants to change who you are.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-projection-booth-podcast--5513239/support.Become a supporter of The Projection Booth at http://www.patreon.com/projectionbooth 

On the Self-Publishing with ALLi podcast, Howard Lovy speaks with Cameron Sutter, founder of Plottr, about how visual planning tools can help authors organize ideas, structure their books, and move more confidently from concept to finished manuscript. Sutter explains how Plottr's timeline, scene cards, templates, and series planning features allow writers to see their stories at a glance, spot gaps in plot or character development, and rearrange scenes as their ideas evolve. The conversation also covers tools for capturing ideas on the go, integrating with writing software like Scrivener and Word, and maintaining consistency across multi-book series. Find more author advice, tips, and tools at our Self-publishing Author Advice Center, with a huge archive of nearly 2,000 blog posts and a handy search box to find key info on the topic you need. And, if you haven't already, we invite you to join our organization and become a self-publishing ally.

Links to research used for the discussion1st resource:https://extension.usu.edu/planthealth/ipm/notes_ag/hemp-nutrient-deficiencies2nd resource: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/9/20/4432This week host @Jackgreenstalk (aka @Jack_Greenstalk on X/instagram backup account) [or contact via email: JackGreenstalk47@gmail.com] is joined by panel with , @spartangrown on instagram or X f.k.a. Twitter at https://x.com/grown43626 or email spartangrown@gmail.com for contacting spartan outside social media, any alternate profiles on other social medias using spartan's name, and photos are not actually spartan grown be aware, @NoahtheeGrowa on instagram and @TheAmericanOne on youtube aka @theamericanone_with_achenes on instagram who's amy aces can be found at amyaces.com on instagram, .... This week we missed Rust Brandon of @fulcrop.sciences / fulcrop.ceo regained @Rust.Brandon instagram page, and products can be found at bokashiearthworks.com , Matthew Gates aka @SynchAngel on instagram and twitter @Zenthanol on youtube who offers IPM direct chat for $1 a month on patreon.com/zenthanol , @drmjcoco from cocoforcannabis.com as well as youtube where he tests and reviews grow lights and has grow tutorials and @drmjcoco on instagram and @ATG Acres Aaron The Grower aka @atgacres his products can be found at atgacres.com view his instagram to find out details about drops!

Home Inspections During the Winter Months: What Buyers & Sellers Need to Know At Boston Connect Real Estate, we believe every move should be a moving experience no matter the season. While many people associate real estate with spring flowers and sunshine, the winter market is alive and well… snowbanks and all. On a recent episode of Talk Real Estate Roundtable, Sharon McNamara, Broker/Owner of Boston Connect Real Estate, and Melissa Wallace, Director of Operations & Agent Relations, discussed an important topic for this time of year: home inspections during the winter months If you're buying or selling this winter, here's what you need to know. Winter Market Is Here, Snow Doesn't Stop It Despite piles of snow and freezing temperatures, inspections, showings, and even multiple-offer situations are still happening  In fact, winter can offer advantages: Less buyer competition Motivated sellers Homes being tested under real-life weather stress Winter inspections aren't “worse” they're just different. What Snow Can Hide (Exterior Considerations) Snow and ice can limit visibility, accessibility, and safety. That means some exterior components may not be fully evaluated. 1. Roof Conditions If snow covers the roof, inspectors typically cannot walk it. That means: Shingles Flashing Chimneys Roof penetrations may be visually limited. Pro Tip for Sellers: Take photos of your roof before winter hits. Pro Tip for Buyers: Ask for any previous roof photos or documentation. 2. Ice Dams Ice dams form when heat escapes from the attic, melts snow, and refreezes along roof edges  Inspectors look for: Heavy icicles Ice buildup along eaves Water staining in attics Mold or damp insulation  Ice dams can signal: Poor insulation Inadequate ventilation Air leakage from living spaces  Winter may actually reveal insulation issues you'd never notice in July. 3. Foundation & Grading Snow piled around the foundation can hide: Cracks Settlement issues Improper grading Walkway damage  You also can't easily evaluate how water drains away from the home when everything is frozen  4. Decks, Patios & Exterior Living Areas Snow-covered decks can conceal: Rotting boards Loose railings Structural concerns  Safety First: Inspectors are not required to remove snow or ice themselves. Sellers should clear: Driveways Walkways Entry steps Decks Access to bulkheads and electrical panels  Failure to do so can limit findings, delay the process, and create liability concerns  Systems That Can't Be Fully Tested in Winter Air Conditioning Air conditioning systems cannot be safely operated in freezing temperatures. Inspectors will: Visually examine the condenser Note age and condition Recommend spring testing  Smart Seller Move: Have the AC serviced before shutting it down in fall and keep documentation. Pools Pools that are covered and winterized cannot be fully inspected Buyers should: Request documentation from the pool company Ask about liner age, pumps, heaters, and prior repairs  Budget for a spring opening inspection  Remember: A general home inspector does not fully inspect pools regardless of season  What Inspectors CAN Fully Evaluate (All Year Long) Even in winter, inspectors can thoroughly examine  Interior & Structural Walls, ceilings, floors Stairs and railings Visible framing Foundation areas Signs of settlement or moisture  Electrical Systems Main panel and subpanels Breakers and wiring GFCI & AFCI protection Smoke & CO detectors  Plumbing Interior supply and drain lines Water pressure Signs of leaks or corrosion  Inspectors often start appliances (like dishwashers) early in the inspection to check for leaks and proper function  Heating Systems Boilers Furnaces Heat pumps (heating mode) Thermostats Venting & safety controls  Winter is actually the best time to evaluate heating performance. Stay With Your Inspector One of the biggest takeaways from the show: A home inspection is not just about renegotiation — it's about learning your home  Buyers should: Stay with the inspector Ask questions Learn maintenance routines Review the final report carefully If something couldn't be inspected due to snow, it will be noted in the report  revisit those items in spring. Final Takeaways for Buyers & Sellers  Snow may hide exterior conditions, but it does not eliminate inspection value  Home Inspections During The Win… Safety and access always come first Winter inspections show how a home performs under stress  Understanding seasonal limitations helps buyers move forward with confidence  Winter real estate is active. It's strategic. And with the right preparation, it's absolutely manageable. If you would like a copy of our Winter Home Inspection Checklist for Buyers, email us at realestate@bostonconnect.com. Thinking about buying or selling this season? Let's talk real estate.

Find us on social media: Facebook & InstagramEmail us: hello@thetinlounge.com On this episode of Advisor Highlight, Korrine and Theresa sit down with Crystal Armstrong to hear all about her business, her goals, and her definition of success. And we get to hear all about her experience being on Below Deck!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's Monday, February 9th, and The Rizzuto Show kicks off your daily comedy show the only way we know how: by celebrating Chocolate Day, Pizza Pie Day, and the sacred holiday known as Brown Monday. Productivity is optional. Judgment is not.The crew dives headfirst into Valentine's chaos, breaking down which states are actually romantic (congrats, Alabama… we guess?) and which states are apparently just vibes and isolation. Missouri lands just outside the top 10, proving we almost care. Love letters are back, matching tattoos are a terrible idea, and AI-written romance is officially on Lern's list of marriage-ending offenses.Then things get spicy. A deep dive into cheating stats reveals which states are searching Ashley Madison the hardest (Colorado, what are you doing?), followed by the most unhinged cheating excuses ever recorded by mankind. From “I forgot to break up with you” to “that was my other personality,” the excuses get worse, dumber, and somehow more confident.The Super Bowl recap? Painfully boring. Commercials? Mid. Halftime show? Visually impressive, musically confusing, and guaranteed to make at least one person yell “I don't know this song!” at their TV. But the real Super Bowl tragedy was food.Moon's Wingstop pickup turns into a one-hour hostage situation, ending with half the order missing and everyone silently judging each other in a packed restaurant. Rafe attends a Super Bowl party with the weakest food spread in human history (Pop-Tarts were involved). The crew debates proper Super Bowl etiquette, shames weak contributions, and accidentally invents new snack-based laws.Then… the mystery deepens. Someone is drawing wieners on cars. Not metaphorically. Literally. Windshields across the area are under attack, and no one knows who the Doodle Wiener Bandit is. The crew debates drawing styles, angles, psychology, and somehow turns it into a full-blown art critique.Add in car cleanliness confessions, hoarder tendencies, Super Bowl party politics, awkward butt dials, and the emotional damage of waiting for wings that never came — and you've got another beautifully unproductive daily comedy show episode.Listen now, laugh irresponsibly, and remember: if someone brings Pop-Tarts to your Super Bowl party… they are not your friend.Follow The Rizzuto Show → https://linktr.ee/rizzshowConnect with The Rizzuto Show Comedy Podcast online → https://1057thepoint.com/RizzShowHear The Rizz Show daily on the radio at 105.7 The Point | Hubbard Radio in St. Louis, MO.Americans to Eat 1.48 Billion Chicken Wings for Super Bowl LXThe Life and Times of the Piggyback Bandit‘Piggyback Bandit' sows chaos in Northeast Ohio, prompting police responseChicken wing champs for Super Bowl: Americans to set consumption record during Sunday's gameWhat is the viral Chicken Banana song and why is it so popular?‘Vagueposting' trend sparks social media fury with intentionally confusing postsThis Southern State Was Just Named The 'Most Romantic' In The U.S.What is everyone talking about this week: As Valentine's Day beckons, love letters are making a comebackSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of the Official Xbox Podcast, we're so excited to have the Overwatch team in studio with us! We're talking about game's 10-year anniversary, diving deep into the new heroes, and getting information on the story. We're also looking ahead to what will be a massive year for both the franchise and Blizzard as a whole.00:00 Introduction01:09 Overwatch is having its 10th anniversary this year. How is the Overwatch team there at Blizzard feeling about the last ten years and about this big year to come? 02:47 There's a name change with Overwatch 2 going back to Overwatch? What was the thought behind it? How's this going to work? 03:28 Along with that change, there are some other changes as well when it comes to how you're handling seasons moving forward, right? 03:55 Season 1 is launching on February 10th, and that's starting off something huge for Overwatch, right? 04:17 Talon is seeing some leadership changes at the top. Doomfist is no longer in control, right? 04:57 New heroes coming to Overwatch. This year we're getting 10 new heroes overall, which is more than triple what we get normally in the year. Five of those are dropping during season 1? 06:53 Domina deep dive 09:07 Two new DPS, let's start with Emre. 10:43 Anran deep dive 12:34 Mizuki deep dive 14:54 Jet Pack Cat deep dive 17:51 We know our roles of DPS, Tank, and Support, but you guys are rolling out Sub-Roles and Passives as well? 20:37 Visually, the game is getting a bit of an update with the UI and some engine advancements. 21:43 Plus new Post-Match Accolades? 22:48 What can you share about the new cosmetics, and if you can, which one is your favorite? 23:36 For you two, personally, what's the thing you're most excited for players to get to experience over this upcoming year? 26:15 Final thoughts? 28:00 Do you have favorite heroes or villains? 29:12 Outro FOLLOW XBOXFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Xbox​​​ Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/Xbox​​​ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Xbox

In this video, Chris and Gerry review and discuss Dario Argento's 1977 horror masterpiece Suspiria, one of the most visually striking films in cinema history. From its bold use of color and dreamlike production design to the unforgettable Goblin score, Suspiria redefined supernatural horror and helped cement Argento's legacy. Join the discussion and let us know what you think of this cult classic.

Welcome to a special holiday edition of Born to Watch as we kick off 2026 with our first episode of the year, diving headfirst into James Cameron's latest visual behemoth, Avatar: Fire and Ash. Released during the peak Christmas blockbuster window, this third chapter continues Cameron's decades-long obsession with Pandora, spectacle, and pushing cinematic technology to its absolute limits. In this Avatar Fire and Ash Review, Whitey and Damo reunite for what has now become a strange but sacred tradition, reviewing each Avatar film together as it hits cinemas. Sixteen years after the original Avatar changed blockbuster filmmaking forever, Fire and Ash arrives with enormous expectations, a massive runtime, and the promise of something darker, angrier, and more volatile than anything we've seen on Pandora before.Picking up shortly after the events of The Way of Water, the Sully family are still dealing with grief, fractured relationships, and the relentless pursuit of humanity's returning forces. This time, however, the danger doesn't just come from sky people and recombinants. We're introduced to the Ash People, a fire-driven Na'vi tribe led by the ferocious and unforgettable Varang. Their volcanic environment, brutal ideology, and complete rejection of Eywa mark the franchise's most radical departure to date.Visually, Fire and Ash is everything you expect from Cameron. The world-building is astonishing, with volcanic landscapes, new creatures, and large-scale action sequences that exist purely to remind you why Avatar films demand the biggest screen possible. Whether it's underwater chaos, airborne combat, or creatures that feel ripped straight from Cameron's sketchbooks, the film is an undeniable technical achievement.But Born to Watch isn't here to admire pretty pixels. Whitey and Damo dig into the film's biggest talking points, including the now-familiar Avatar formula, the film's staggering three-hour-plus runtime, and whether this chapter actually moves the story forward or simply spins its wheels. Is this Avatar 3, or Avatar 2.5? Does the franchise still have emotional weight, or has it become a tech demo in search of a story?There's plenty of discussion around returning villain Quaritch, whose moral tug-of-war continues to be one of the franchise's more compelling arcs, and Spider's expanding role as the human caught between two worlds. The episode also tackles the darker tone of Fire and Ash, its surprisingly violent moments, and the question of whether Cameron is setting up a satisfying endgame or stretching Pandora beyond breaking point.As always, the episode starts spoiler-light before diving fully into spoilers, dissecting character arcs, repetitive beats, and the growing sense that Avatar may be more about visual wonder than narrative payoff. There's praise where it's due, criticism where it's earned, and a lot of laughs along the way.If you loved the first two Avatar films, this one will feel familiar, immersive, and impressive. If you've ever questioned where this franchise is heading, Fire and Ash may give you just as many questions as answers.JOIN THE CONVERSATIONIs Avatar still cinema's ultimate big-screen spectacle? Is this chapter bold evolution or safe repetition? Can James Cameron realistically deliver two more Avatar films?Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or at BornToWatch.com.au#AvatarFireAndAshReview #BornToWatch #Avatar2025 #JamesCameron #MoviePodcast #FilmReview #BlockbusterCinema #SciFiMovies #IMAXExperience #Pandora

TV and Movie Reviews to Listen to Around the Yule Log This week on the podcast, Brian and Darryl talk about a couple movies the saw this week in individual mini-reviews (Avatar: Fire & Ash and The Housemaid). Then breakdown season 2 episode 1 of Fallout. Then give a review of HIM. Episode Index Intro: 0:07 Avatar: Fire and Ash: 12:35 The Housemaid: 25:05 Fallout: 34:18 HIM: 49:41 Avatar: FIre and Ash (2025) Rating Out 10 It’s the Third Movie and It’s Fine… it’s Fine Darryl: 6.2/10 Summary Avatar: Fire and Ash expands the world of Pandora by pushing the story into darker, more volatile territory. This chapter introduces a new Na'vi culture shaped not by water or forest, but by fire, ash, and survival in a brutal volcanic region of the moon. These clans challenge everything Jake Sully and Neytiri believe about what it means to live in balance with Pandora. As tensions rise between Na'vi factions and the ever-encroaching human presence, the film shifts from a clear-cut nature-vs-invaders narrative into something far more morally complex. Fire and Ash explores how trauma, rage, and vengeance can fracture even the most deeply spiritual societies, forcing characters to confront uncomfortable truths about leadership, legacy, and the cost of endless war. Visually, the film leans hard into contrast. Lush blues and greens give way to scorched landscapes, molten rock, and smoke-filled skies, creating a harsher, angrier version of Pandora that mirrors the emotional state of its characters. At its core, Fire and Ash is about consequence. Not just for humanity's actions, but for the choices the Na'vi themselves make when survival demands brutality. This entry reframes the Avatar saga as less of a mythic adventure and more of a generational reckoning, setting the stage for a future where Pandora's greatest threat may no longer come from the stars, but from within. The Housemaid (2025) Rating Out of 10 The Dad Who Rocks the Cradle Brian: 6.5/10 Summary The Housemaid is a 2025 American psychological thriller directed by Paul Feig, adapted from Freida McFadden's bestselling 2022 novel. It stars Sydney Sweeney as Millie Calloway, a troubled young woman recently released on probation who desperately needs steady work. When she lands a live-in housemaid job with the wealthy Winchester family on Long Island, things initially seem like a fresh start. But behind the manicured lawns and spacious rooms, the Winchesters' life is anything but perfect. Millie soon discovers that Nina Winchester (Amanda Seyfried) is temperamental and volatile, her daughter Cecilia is cold and disrespectful, and unsettling secrets lurk beneath the surface of this elite household. As Millie becomes more entangled in their lives, the film steadily shifts from domestic drama to a gripping, twist-heavy thriller where trust is scarce and danger hides in plain sight. The tension escalates when Millie realizes that the family dynamics are far darker than she suspected, leading to shocking betrayals and a violent confrontation that upends everything the audience thought they knew. The Housemaid blends suspense, psychological games, and interpersonal manipulation in a holiday season release that delivers both unpredictable twists and intense character play. Fallout (Amazon Prime) Season 2 Episode 1 Title: The Innovator Directed by: Frederick E. O. Toye Written by: Geneva Robertson-Dworet & Graham Wagner Date Aired: December 16, 2025 Summary In 2077, before the war, a man supportive of Robert House, CEO of RobCo Industries, implants a control chip in a bar patron, forcing him to murder his companions before the chip detonates. After uncovering Vault-Tec’s secret plans, actor Cooper Howard attempts to flee with his daughter Janey, but Lee Moldaver convinces him to stay and spy on his wife Barb, who is traveling to Las Vegas to meet House. In 2296, Lucy MacLean and the Ghoul kill a group of Great Khans while tracking Lucy’s father, Hank, which leads them to the abandoned Vault 24, where they discover a Vault-Tec experiment using chips for brainwashing; a man with a chip implanted briefly speaks to Lucy before the chip explodes. Trapped in Vault 31, Norm, without food or water, awakens cryogenically preserved Vault-Tec executives. In Vault 32, Overseer Steph struggles with leadership, while in Vault 33, Overseer Betty supervises repairs to the water chip. Meanwhile, Hank arrives at an abandoned Vault-tec facility and leaves a message for an unknown figure that he will finish his project. Rating Out of 5 Exploding Heads for Everyone Darryl: 3.35/5 Brian: 3.2/5 HIM (2025) Summary HIM is a psychological horror film that uses the world of elite sports to explore obsession, identity, and the dangerous cost of chasing greatness. The story follows a promising young football player whose talent earns him access to a rare and secretive mentorship under a legendary athlete. What begins as an opportunity of a lifetime slowly reveals itself to be something far more disturbing. As the mentorship deepens, the film peels back the glossy surface of fame and success, exposing a culture that treats athletes as assets rather than people. Training pushes beyond discipline into control, blurring the line between motivation and manipulation. The closer the protagonist gets to his dream, the more he begins to lose his sense of self. Rather than relying on jump scares, HIM builds dread through atmosphere and psychological pressure. The horror comes from systems, power dynamics, and the unspoken expectation that personal sacrifice is the price of excellence. The film questions how far someone is willing to go to be “chosen” and what parts of themselves they are expected to surrender along the way. At its core, HIM is a cautionary tale about hero worship and the myth of meritocracy, wrapped in a slow-burn horror framework. It leaves the audience unsettled not by monsters, but by the realization that the most terrifying forces are often the ones we willingly submit to in the pursuit of success. Rating Out of 10 QB1 Blood is Waaaaay Better Than WR2 Blood Darryl: 5.2/10 Brian: 5.7/10 Contact Us The Infamous Podcast can be found wherever podcasts are found on the Interwebs, feel free to subscribe and follow along on social media. And don't be shy about helping out the show with a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts to help us move up in the ratings. @infamouspodcast facebook/infamouspodcast instagram/infamouspodcast stitcher Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Play iHeart Radio contact@infamouspodcast.com Our theme music is ‘Skate Beat’ provided by Michael Henry, with additional music provided by Michael Henry. Find more at MeetMichaelHenry.com. The Infamous Podcast is hosted by Brian Tudor and Darryl Jasper, is recorded in Cincinnati, Ohio. The show is produced and edited by Brian Tudor. Subscribe today!

ABOUT BRYAN:LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/bryanmeszarosWebsites:openeyeglobal.com (Company)marketscale.com/industries/podcast-network/experience-by-design/ (Experience By Design Podcast)experienceunitedsocialclub.com (Experience United Social Club)email: bmeszaros@openeyeglobal.comBio:Bryan Meszaros is a 25-year veteran of the digital signage and experience design industry, known for blending innovation with measurable impact. As the founder of OpenEye Global, he proved that a small, focused team can deliver big results and helped shape the early evolution of digital engagement.He later made history as the youngest President of SEGD and the first with a digital centric background, while also contributing to the Digital Signage Federation and Shop! Association to advance industry standards.Bryan is also the founder of the Experience United Social Club (XUSC), an international networking series all about bringing together creative minds from the AV, digital signage, and design industries to share ideas and collaborate. With global experience across Europe and APAC, he has spoken at major events including EuroShop, ISE, InfoComm, and DSE, and regularly contributes to leading industry publications.Dedicated to pushing boundaries, Bryan remains focused on shaping what comes next in digital signage and experiential design.SHOW INTRO:SHOW INTRO:Welcome to Episode 83! of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast…In every episode we continue to follow our catch phrase of having “Dynamic Dialogues About DATA: Design, Architecture, Technology and the Arts.” And as we continue on this journey there will be thought provoking futurists, AI technology mavens, retailers, international hotel design executives as well as designers and architects of brand experience places.We'll talk with authors and people focused on wellness and sustainable design practices as well as neuroscientists who will continue to help us look at the built environment and the connections between our mind-body and the built world around us. We'll also have guests who are creative marketing masters from international brands and people who have started and grown some of the companies that are striking a new path for us follow.If you like what you hear on the NXTLVL Experience Design show, make sure to subscribe, like, comment and share with colleagues, friends and family.The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is always grateful for the support of VMSD magazine. VMSD brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. I think the IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing us to keep on talking about what makes retailing relevant. You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience. SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.org Today, EPISODE 83… I talk with Bryan Meszaros founder of EpenEye Global. Bryan is a 25-year veteran of the digital signage and experience design industry, known for blending innovation with measurable impact. Naturally, in a world that is increasingly digitally mediated, Bryan's business is significantly focused on the emergence of Artificial Intelligence as a tool in his experience place-making toolbox.We'll get to more of how Bryan sees the use of AI in digital applications in brand experience places in a minute but... first a few thoughts…*                     *                          *                          *I grew up on Star Trek. They original version with Shatner as Captain James T Kirk. These were the sightly campy years in black and white but wonderfully prescient in foretelling what was to come. I used to say that my father, who lived to the ripe old age of 97 was so into it that was holding out until he could just beam up through the transporter to the next phase of his existence. We all watched, my 4 brothers and I every week, my mom? Well not so much…I got used to thinking about digital communication, robots, space travel and technology integrated into our lives facilitating everything from washing dishes to extending lifespans. There isn't a day that goes by now where my media consumption doesn't include something on the evolution of Artificial Intelligence. Both the amazing and the alarming.  How it will make workplaces completely different replacing much of what we now do with human brain and brawn with algorithms and computer chips that can fit 1000 computers from the old Star Trek days on your fingertip. How it is changing the way human brains are wired, though when it comes to our neural networks that trundle along at a speed ridiculously slow compared to the digital pace of change that is exponential and moving at the speed of light.How as a visualization tool it is becoming indistinguishable from real life people and places. Creating deep fakes that are so good at impersonating humans that avatars are no longer cartoonish but facsimiles of us that are, well, exactly like us - but whose knowledge base is the compendium of all human knowledge that can be accessed on the internet and provide cogent answers to well-crafted prompts and have them served up in a few seconds. ‘The times they are a changin' but at a pace that even Dillan couldn't have imagined. Don't even get me started about when we finally, and I don't think it is going to take too long, get to Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) and what that portends for humankind. I am often concerned for my sons and the world they are growing into as young adults. I wish sometimes that they'd have had the experience of growing up in the 60's and 70's when times were simpler – but of course they weren't really. Every decade has it's messes – sometime beautiful sometimes not and sometimes each of these ends of the human experience spectrum were happening at the same time.What we are experiencing now is evolution at a revolutionary pace. A slow simmering flame has exploded into a blast furn ace of change propelling us all, whether we like it or not, on a path that at times seems to be heading towards the edger of a cliff. Concerned? Well you'd have good reason to be.But then again, if you accept the Ray Bradburry adage of sometimes while standing at the edge of the cliff ‘you need to jump and build your wings on the way down', may we all then transform in midflight into some sort of lemmings with wings.The subject of AI has surfaced a number of times on this podcast notably with data visualization artists like Refik Anadol and architect artist Samar Younes,  spatial computing specialist and near futurist Neil Redding and Synchronicity Architect Justin Bolognino. Each of these creators and theorists shape the AI narrative to their own ends, each of them proclaiming the virtues and vices of the technology.Uses of AI in design and architecture, as well as other industries, is multifarious and, I would admit, well beyond my more general appreciation for using it as an ideation tool and writing assistant in my everyday work.In the world of experience design there are at least 2 ways - although I would guess many more - to look at it:- on a very basic level there is the physical integration of digital media facilitated by Ai and then there is actual content that ends up on the digital interface – be it a touch screen kiosk, a display array in a sports bar or an enormous multi-story wall in Times Square. Getting these screens to work with the environment is always a challenge. Mainly I believe because they come as an afterthought rather than an integrated design solution and part of a digital experience strategy.In the second case of content, one size does not fit all. Places and people are different. The same content being played on those screens all day are visual noise detracting from overall experience rather than enhancing it. These days, every minute of every day things are changing. Why should digital content on screen of any size and shape be any different?If purveyors of brand experiences are not changing content to adapt to customers everchanging needs across the journey, digital content simply becomes part of the visual texture of the environment slipping into irrelevancy and lending nothing to the embodied memory of a place.This is one area Ai is able to change the game – creating content to meet customer needs more directly. Now it would be difficult, if not impossible to change digital content in Times Square to continually meet the needs of the thousands of people in that digital epicenter in New York. But then we all carry cell phones – person digital devices. All of those phones are geolocated. Each of those those has an address – a personal identifier about who it belongs to and bunch of other information about you – personal, financial, home address, etc.Are a bunch of guys at google looking at you individually as you make your way across Times Square – not really – but your Hazel and Gretel trail of ones and zeros from purchases, GPS searches, app use, etc., etc., tell a lot about you should anyone want to do a little digital forensics.The idea here is that we are giving up this information every time we turn our phones on. That information isn't snatched from us without our consent (generally) it's in our service agreement terms and conditions – that impossibly long text that most of us scroll through to the end and click “agree.”But that information could be used to make your path across Times Square more relevant to you. Perhaps your device communicates with other devices or screens and changes the content that you see.This isn't quite Minority Report yet, where Tom Cruise courses through a store and the displays are talking to him because they recognize his retinas – but it is possible to create messaging that is more personalized to you, specifically, as a customer.Digital signage can change either on the wall of as shelf signage.It is about recognizing your customer and understanding that they are used to creating experience narratives that are more relevant to them because they, in part, have contributed to their making. Want to stay relevant to your customers, new or old? Support their collaboration in the shopping journey offering up opportunities for them to write themselves into the narrative. Story and strategy must be connected. Doing good by your customer is about building a relationship and Ai can support that effort but including engaging digital content that recognizes them as individuals, with relatable and relevant messaging.But the whole enterprise needs to be seamless. Sometime I think that the best tech is the tech you don't see, but it think it is also perfectly OK to see it if there are no disconnects in journey. Signature moments in the customer journey have to link up so the customer follows the bouncing ball from their first connection point through the purchase moment and then beyond. And this is where this episode's guest comes into the picture.Bryan Meszaros is a 25-year veteran of the digital signage and experience design industry, known for blending innovation with measurable impact. As the founder of OpenEye Global, he proved that a small, focused team can deliver big results and helped shape the early evolution of digital engagement.Bryan was the youngest President of SEGD and the first with a digital centric background, while also contributing to the Digital Signage Federation and Shop! Association to advance industry standards.He is also the founder of the Experience United Social Club (XUSC), an international networking series all about bringing together creative minds from the AV, digital signage, and design industries to share ideas and collaborate. With global experience across Europe and APAC, he has spoken at major events including EuroShop, ISE, InfoComm, and DSE, and regularly contributes to leading industry publications.Bryan likes the idea of staying dedicated to pushing boundaries, so he is a natural fit for the show. ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582bWebsites: https://www.davidkepron.com    (personal website)vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645  (Blog)Email: david.kepron@NXTLVLexperiencedesign.comTwitter: DavidKepronPersonal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/Bio:David Kepron is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand ‘why', ‘what's now' and ‘what's next'. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe. David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriott's “Premium Distinctive” segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels. In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies. As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace. David currently shares his experience and insight on various industry boards including: VMSD magazine's Editorial Advisory Board, the Interactive Customer Experience Association, Sign Research Foundation's Program Committee as well as the Center For Retail Transformation at George Mason University.He has held teaching positions at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), the Department of Architecture & Interior Design of Drexel University in Philadelphia, the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (L.I.M.) in New York, the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Montreal and he served as the Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School (L.I.F.S.) in Singapore.  In 2014 Kepron published his first book titled: “Retail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven World” and he is currently working on his second book to be published soon. I caught up with Bryan at the SHOP Marketplace event in Charlotte and chatted about his focus on shaping what comes next in digital signage and experiential design. The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production is by Kano Sound. The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL “Dialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Arts” wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.

5 STEPS a Day to Feed Body, Mind, and Spirit w/ Dr. Len Lopez5 S.T.E.P.S. a Day...is taking ‘to-do' lists and journaling to the next level by Visually tracking Body, Mind, and Spirit...to Improve Habits and Attitudes. Created by Dr. Len LopezNutrition and fitness expert, Dr. Len Lopez, is the creator of 5 S.T.E.P.S. a Day... a unique ‘to-do' list to help improve your Habits and Attitude by tracking how You Feed Body, Mind, and Spirit.  Everyday shade-in One or all 5 S.T.E.P.S. for the action you took and tap into your 'visual' and 'kinesthetic' learning centers to help anchor those better habits and attitude.  If you're already tracking your Physical steps or closing your Rings for your PHYSICAL Body... this will be easy, but What am I doing for My Mind and Spirit?Every day ask yourself these 5 questions?SLEEP ----- Did I Sleep/Dream with a Smile?THINK ----- Did I Think Better?EAT ------- Did I Eat Right?PHYSICAL -- Did I Get Physical?SPIRIT ------ Did I work my Spiritual muscles? ....if you did, shade-in that step. By the end of the day... week... month... you can quickly see how good you are at feeding your body, mind, and spirit.It's NOT Rocket Science... It's Feedback and Accountability. In less than 2 minutes you can track and see, if you are doing the things that will make you Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise?  Or at least get you to be Bigger, Better, Bolder?  Dr. Len also created a TEEN version. The 5 S.T.E.P.S. are the Same - but Different.So, let's learn more about 5 STEPS with Dr. Len LopezPlease welcome...Dr. LenLinks:https://5stepsaday.com/https://www.instagram.com/5stepsadayTags:Accountability,Christianity,Confidence,Daily Discipline,Faith,Habits,Personal Development,Personal Growth,Self Help,Self-Improvement,5 STEPS a Day to Feed Body, Mind, and Spirit w/ Dr,Live Video Podcast Interview,Phantom Electric Ghost Podcast,Interview,PodcastSupport PEG by checking out our Sponsors:Download and use Newsly for free now from www.newsly.me or from the link in the description, and use promo code “GHOST” and receive a 1-month free premium subscription.The best tool for getting podcast guests:https://podmatch.com/signup/phantomelectricghostSubscribe to our Instagram for exclusive content:https://www.instagram.com/expansive_sound_experiments/Subscribe to our YouTube https://youtube.com/@phantomelectricghost?si=rEyT56WQvDsAoRprRSShttps://anchor.fm/s/3b31908/podcast/rssSubstackhttps://substack.com/@phantomelectricghost?utm_source=edit-profile-page

In this episode, we dive into the often-overwhelming world of building a tech stack for your coaching business! We know the thought of sorting through all the technology options can make your eyes glaze over, but fear not! We break it down into manageable pieces, discussing everything from accounting software to payment processors, calendaring systems, and even email marketing tools. Adding tech to your process should save you time and money, not cause you headaches and cost you cash. Our goal is to help you streamline your processes so you can focus on what you do best – coaching! Are you ready to take your coaching business to the next level? Listen in as we share our personal experiences with different tools and provide recommendations that can help you build a solid tech foundation for a thriving coaching practice.