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Bookwaves/Artwaves is produced and hosted by Richard Wolinsky. Links to assorted local theater & book venues Susan Hill: Master of Ghost Stories and Noir Susan Hill, author of “The Woman in Black” and other novels, in conversation by phone with host Richard Wolinsky, recorded November 29, 2021. The Woman in Black, a play by Stephen Mallatratt and directed by Robin Herford is playing in Walnut Creek at The Lesher Center under the auspices of CenterREP from November 5th through November 23, 2025. Susan Hill has written over thirty novels, most of them stand-alones in the gothic ghost story genre, and eleven crime novels featuring her detective Simon Serrailer, the most recent being The Benefit of Hindsight, published in 2020, with A Change of Circumstance published in March 2022. She's also written six collections of short stories, an autobiography among nine non-fiction works, five plays, and 13 Children's Books. She became a Dame of the British Empire in 2020. Complete 48-minute interview. Rita Moreno: Broadway and Hollywood Legend Richard Wolinsky and Rita Moreno, Sept. 16, 2011 at KPFA. Rita Moreno, legendary Hollywood star, actress, dancer and singer, in conversation about her career and her one-woman show, “Rita Moreno: Life Without Make-up,” recorded September 16, 2011 in the KPFA studios. Hosted by Richard Wolinsky. The talented winner of the big four awards, Oscar, Emmy, Grammy and Tony, Rita Moreno continues to work in film and television. In this interview recorded during previews of her one-woman show at Berkeley Rep ten years ago, she discusses not only her work on the show, but her time in Hollywood, her five year relationship with Marlon Brando, her work on the film The King and I, working with Morgan Freeman on PBS, and other stories. Complete 35-minute interview. Review of “Suffs” at BroadwaySF Orpheum Theatre through November 9, 2025 Book Interview/Events and Theatre Links Note: Shows may unexpectedly close early or be postponed due to actors' positive COVID tests. Check the venue for closures, ticket refunds, and mask requirements before arrival. Dates are in-theater performances unless otherwise noted. Some venues operate Tuesday – Sunday; others for shorter periods each week. All times Pacific Time. Closing dates are sometimes extended. Book Stores Bay Area Book Festival See website for highlights from the 110th Annual Bay Area Book Festival, May 31 – June 1, 2025. Book Passage. Monthly Calendar. Mix of on-line and in-store events. Books Inc. Mix of on-line and in-store events. The Booksmith. Monthly Event Calendar. BookShop West Portal. Monthly Event Calendar. Center for Literary Arts, San Jose. See website for Book Club guests in upcoming months. Green Apple Books. Events calendar. Kepler's Books On-line Refresh the Page program listings. Live Theater Companies Actors Ensemble of Berkeley. See website for readings and events. Actor's Reading Collective (ARC). Mary Jane by Amy Herzog, directed by Amy Kossow, November 6 – 30, Magic Theatre, Fort Mason. African American Art & Culture Complex. See website for calendar. American Conservatory Theatre Stereophonic (in association with BroadwaySF, at the Curran), Oct 28 – Nov 23. Awesome Theatre Company. See website for information. Berkeley Playhouse. Annie. November 7- December 21. Once, February 20 – March 22. Berkeley Rep. The Hills of California .by Jez Butterworth, Oct. 31 – Dec. 7, Roda Theatre. Mother of Exiles by Jessica Huang, World Premiere, Nov. 14 – Dec. 32, Peets Theatre. Berkeley Shakespeare Company The Tempest, Oct. 24 – Nov. 2, Immersive theatre. Point Montara Lighthouse. Brava Theatre Center: See calendar for events listings. BroadwaySF: Stereophonic (in association with ACT), Oct 28 – Nov 23, Curran. See website for complete listings for the Orpheum, Golden Gate and Curran Theaters. Broadway San Jose: Kinky Boots, Nov. 28-30. See website for other events. Center REP: The Woman in Black, U.S. Tour, November 5-23.. Central Stage. See website for upcoming productions, 5221 Central Avenue, Richmond Central Works Dada Teen Musical: The Play by Maury Zeff, Oct. 18 – Nov. 16, Cinnabar Theatre. Young Rep: Disney's The Little Mermaid, November 14-23, Studio Space, Petaluma Outlet Mall. Club Fugazi. Dear San Francisco ongoing. Check website for Music Mondays listings. Contra Costa Civic Theatre Ebenezer Scrooge, an adaptation of “A Christmas Carol” by Joel Roster, December 6 – 21. . See website for other events. Golden Thread Pilgrimage by Humaira Ghilzal and Bridgette Dutta Portman, a co-production with Z Space, October 24 – November 8, Z Space's Steindler Stage. Hillbarn Theatre: Murder for Two, a musical comedy, October 9 – November 2, 2025. Lorraine Hansberry Theatre. See website for upcoming productions. Los Altos Stage Company. Freaky Friday, The Musical. October 24 – November 2. A Christmas Carol, November 28 – December 21.. Lower Bottom Playaz August Wilson's King Hedley II, November 8 -30. BAM House, Oakland. Magic Theatre. Actors Reading Collective: Mary Jane by Amy Herzog, directed by Amy Kossow, November 6 – 30, See website for other events and productions. Marin Shakespeare Company: See website for events and productions. Marin Theatre: Sally and Tom by Suzan-Lori Parks. October 30 – November 23. The Lightning Thief, MSC Teen Company, November 7 -9. Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts Upcoming Events Page. New Conservatory Theatre Center (NCTC) Spanish Stew by Marga Gomez, October 17 – November 23. New Performance Traditions. See website for upcoming schedule Oakland Theater Project. Cabaret, November 21 – December 14. Odd Salon: Upcoming events in San Francisco & New York, and streaming. Palace of Fine Arts Theater. See website for event listings. Pear Theater. Ada & The Engine by Lauren Gunderson, November 21 – December 7. See website for staged readings and other events. Playful People Productions. Newsies, November 8-16. Presidio Theatre. Peter Pan Panto, Nov. 29 – Dec. 28. See website for complete schedule of events and performances. Ray of Light: The Rocky Horror Show. October 9 – November 1, The Oasis. Ross Valley Players: See website for New Works Sunday night readings and other events. San Francisco Playhouse. Noises Off by Michael Frayn. September 25 – November 8. SFBATCO. See website for upcoming streaming and in- theater shows. San Jose Stage Company: See website for events and upcoming season Shotgun Players. Sunday in the Park with George, November 15 – December 30. South Bay Musical Theatre: Let It Snow: A Broadway Holiday Celebration, December 20-21, Little Women, The Broadway Musical, January 24 – February 14, 2026. SPARC: See website for upcoming events. Stagebridge: See website for events and productions. Storytime every 4th Saturday. The Breath Project. Streaming archive. The Marsh: Calendar listings for Berkeley, San Francisco and Marshstream. Theatre Lunatico Frankenstein, October 11 – November 2. Theatre Rhino The Break-Up written and performed by Tina D'Elia, November 6-23. Streaming: Essential Services Project, conceived and performed by John Fisher, all weekly performances now available on demand. TheatreWorks Silicon Valley. A Driving Beat by Jordan Ramirez Puckett, Oct 29 – Nov. 23, . Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts Second Stage.Georgiana & Kitty, Christmas at Pemberley by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon, Dec. 3 – 28, Lucie Stern Theatre. Word for Word. See website for upcoming productions. Misc. Listings: BAMPFA: On View calendar for Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. Berkeley Symphony: See website for listings. Chamber Music San Francisco: Calendar, 2025 Season. Dance Mission Theatre. On stage events calendar. Fort Mason Center. Events calendar. Oregon Shakespeare Festival: Calendar listings and upcoming shows. San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus. See schedule for upcoming SFGMC performances. San Francisco Opera. Calendar listings. San Francisco Symphony. Calendar listings. Filmed Live Musicals: Searchable database of all filmed live musicals, podcast, blog. If you'd like to add your bookstore or theater venue to this list, please write Richard@kpfa.org The post October 30, 2025: Susan Hill – Rita Moreno appeared first on KPFA.
What does it take to keep your voice—and your purpose—strong through every season of life? In this episode of Unstoppable Mindset, I sit down with my friend Bill Ratner, one of Hollywood's most recognized voice actors, best known as Flint from GI Joe. Bill's voice has carried him through radio, animation, and narration, but what stands out most is how he's used that same voice to serve others through storytelling, teaching, and grief counseling. Together, we explore the heart behind his work—from bringing animated heroes to life to standing on The Moth stage and helping people find healing through poetry. Bill shares lessons from his own journey, including losing both parents early, finding family in unexpected places, and discovering how creative expression can rebuild what life breaks down. We also reflect on 9/11, preparedness, and the quiet confidence that comes from trusting your training—whether you're a first responder, a performer, or just navigating the unknown. This conversation isn't just about performance; it's about presence. It's about using your story, your craft, and your compassion to keep moving forward—unstoppable, one voice at a time. Highlights: 00:31 – Hear the Flint voice and what it takes to bring animated characters to life. 06:57 – Learn why an uneven college path still led to a lifelong acting career. 11:50 – Understand how GI Joe became a team and a toy phenomenon that shaped culture. 15:58 – See how comics and cartoons boosted classroom literacy when used well. 17:06 – Pick up simple ways parents can spark reading through shared stories. 19:29 – Discover how early, honest conversations about death can model resilience. 24:09 – Learn to critique ads and media like a pro to sharpen your own performance. 36:19 – Follow the pivot from radio to voiceover and why specialization pays. 47:48 – Hear practical editing approaches and accessible tools that keep shows tight. 49:38 – Learn how The Moth builds storytelling chops through timed, judged practice. 55:21 – See how poetry—and poetry therapy—support grief work with students. 59:39 – Take notes on memoir writing, emotional management, and one-person shows. About the Guest: Bill Ratner is one of America's best known voice actors and author of poetry collections Lamenting While Doing Laps in the Lake (Slow Lightning Lit 2024,) Fear of Fish (Alien Buddha Press 2021,) To Decorate a Casket (Finishing Line Press 2021,) and the non-fiction book Parenting For The Digital Age: The Truth Behind Media's Effect On Children and What To Do About It (Familius Books 2014.) He is a 9-time winner of the Moth StorySLAM, 2-time winner of Best of The Hollywood Fringe Extension Award for Solo Performance, Best of the Net Poetry Nominee 2023 (Lascaux Review,) and New Millennium "America One Year From Now" Writing Award Finalist. His writing appears in Best Small Fictions 2021 (Sonder Press,) Missouri Review (audio,) Baltimore Review, Chiron Review, Feminine Collective, and other journals. He is the voice of "Flint" in the TV cartoon G.I. Joe, "Donnell Udina" in the computer game Mass Effect, the voice of Air Disasters on Smithsonian Channel, NewsNation, and network TV affiliates across the country. He is a committee chair for his union, SAG-AFTRA, teaches Voiceovers for SAG-AFTRA Foundation, Media Awareness for Los Angeles Unified School District, and is a trained grief counsellor. Member: Actors Equity Association, Screen Actors Guild-AFTRA, National Storytelling Network • https://billratner.com • @billratner Ways to connect with Bill: https://soundcloud.com/bill-ratner https://www.instagram.com/billratner/ https://twitter.com/billratner https://www.threads.net/@billratner https://billratner.tumblr.com https://www.youtube.com/@billratner/videos https://www.facebook.com/billratner.voiceover.author https://bsky.app/profile/bilorat.bsky.social About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset . Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes: Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us. Michael Hingson ** 01:21 Well on a gracious hello to you, wherever you may be, I am your host. Mike hingson, and you are listening to unstoppable mindset. Today, we get to have a voice actor, person, Bill Ratner, who you want to know who Bill Radnor is, go back and watch the old GI Joe cartoons and listen to the voice of Flint. Bill Ratner ** 01:42 All right. Lady Jay, you better get your battle gear on, because Cobra is on their way. And I can't bring up the Lacher threat weapon system. We got to get out of here. Yo, Joe, Michael Hingson ** 01:52 there you go. I rest my case Well, Bill, welcome to unstoppable mindset. Bill Ratner ** 02:00 We can't rest now. Michael, we've just begun. No, we've just begun. Michael Hingson ** 02:04 We got to keep going here. Well, I'm really glad that you're here. Bill is another person who we inveigled to get on unstoppable mindset with the help of Walden Hughes. And so that means we can talk about Walden all we want today. Bill just saying, oh goodness. And I got a lot to say. Let me tell you perfect, perfect. Bring it on. So we are really grateful to Walden, although I hope he's not listening. We don't want to give him a big head. But no, seriously, we're really grateful. Ah, good point. Bill Ratner ** 02:38 But his posture, oddly enough, is perfect. Michael Hingson ** 02:40 Well, there you go. What do you do? He practiced. Well, anyway, we're glad you're here. Tell us about the early bill, growing up and all that stuff. It's always fun to start a good beginning. Bill Ratner ** 02:54 Well, I was a very lucky little boy. I was born in Des Moines, Iowa in 1947 to two lovely people, professionals, both with master's degree out at University of Chicago. My mother was a social worker. My father had an MBA in business. He was managing editor of Better Homes and Gardens magazine. So I had the joy of living in a better home and living in a garden. Michael Hingson ** 03:21 My mother. How long were you in Des Moines? Bill Ratner ** 03:24 Five and a half years left before my sixth birthday. My dad got a fancy job at an ad agency in Minneapolis, and had a big brother named Pete and big handsome, curly haired boy with green eyes. And moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and was was brought up there. Michael Hingson ** 03:45 Wow. So you went to school there and and chased the girls and all that stuff. Bill Ratner ** 03:54 I went to school there at Blake School for Boys in Hopkins, Minnesota. Couldn't chase the girls day school, but the girls we are allowed to dance with certainly not chase. Michael was at woodhue dancing school, the Northrop girls from Northrop girls school and the Blake boys were put together in eighth grade and taught the Cha Cha Cha, the waltz, the Charleston, and we danced together, and the girls wore white gloves, and we sniffed their perfume, and we all learned how to be lovers when we were 45 Michael Hingson ** 04:37 There you are. Well, as long as you learned at some point, that's a good start. Bill Ratner ** 04:44 It's a weird generation. Michael, Michael Hingson ** 04:46 I've been to Des Moines before. I was born in Chicago, but moved out to California when I was five, but I did some work with the National Federation of the Blind in the mid 19. 1970s 1976 into 1978 so spent time at the Iowa Commission for the Blind in Des Moines, which became a top agency for the Blind in well, the late 50s into the to the 60s and so on. So Bill Ratner ** 05:15 both my parents are from Chicago. My father from the south side of Chicago, 44th and Kenzie, which was a Irish, Polish, Italian, Jewish, Ukrainian neighborhood. And my mother from Glencoe, which was a middle class suburb above Northwestern University in Evanston. Michael Hingson ** 05:34 I Where were you born? 57th and union, north, south side, no, South Bill Ratner ** 05:42 57th union is that? Is that west of Kenzie? Michael Hingson ** 05:46 You know, I don't remember the geography well enough to know, but I know that it was, I think, Mount Sinai Hospital where I was born. But it was, it's, it's, it's a pretty tough neighborhood today. So I understand, Bill Ratner ** 06:00 yeah, yeah, my it was tough, then it's tough now, Michael Hingson ** 06:03 yeah, I think it's tougher, supposedly, than it was. But we lived there for five years, and then we we moved to California, and I remember some things about Chicago. I remember walking down to the local candy store most days, and had no problem doing that. My parents were told they should shut me away at a home somewhere, because no blind child could ever grow up to amount to anything. And my parents said, You guys are you're totally wrong. And they brought me up with that attitude. So, you Bill Ratner ** 06:32 know who said that the school says school so that Michael Hingson ** 06:35 doctors doctors when they discovered I was blind with the Bill Ratner ** 06:38 kid, goodness gracious, horrified. Michael Hingson ** 06:44 Well, my parents said absolutely not, and they brought me up, and they actually worked with other parents of premature kids who became blind, and when kindergarten started in for us in in the age of four, they actually had a special kindergarten class for blind kids at the Perry School, which is where I went. And so I did that for a year, learn braille and some other things. Then we moved to California, but yeah, and I go back to Chicago every so often. And when I do nowadays, they I one of my favorite places to migrate in Chicago is Garrett Popcorn. Bill Ratner ** 07:21 Ah, yes, with caramel corn, regular corn, the Michael Hingson ** 07:25 Chicago blend, which is a mixture, yeah, the Chicago blend is cheese corn, well, as it is with caramel corn, and they put much other mozzarella on it as well. It's really good. Bill Ratner ** 07:39 Yeah, so we're on the air. Michael, what do you call your what do you call your program? Here I am your new friend, and I can't even announce your program because I don't know Michael Hingson ** 07:48 the name, unstoppable mindset. This Bill Ratner ** 07:51 is unstoppable mindset. Michael Hingson ** 07:56 We're back. Well, we're back already. We're fast. So you, you, you moved off elsewhere, out of Des Moines and all that. And where did you go to college? Bill Ratner ** 08:09 Well, this is like, why did you this is, this is a bit like talking about the Vietnam War. Looking back on my college career is like looking back on the Vietnam War series, a series of delusions and defeats. By the time I the time i for college, by the time I was applying for college, I was an orphan, orphan, having been born to fabulous parents who died too young of natural causes. So my grades in high school were my mediocre. I couldn't get into the Ivy Leagues. I got into the big 10 schools. My stepmother said, you're going to Michigan State in East Lansing because your cousin Eddie became a successful realtor. And Michigan State was known as mu u it was the most successful, largest agriculture college and university in the country. Kids from South Asia, China, Northern Europe, Southern Europe, South America all over the world came to Michigan State to study agricultural sciences, children of rich farmers all over the world and middle class farmers all over the world, and a huge police science department. Part of the campus was fenced off, and the young cadets, 1819, 20 years old, would practice on the rest of the student body, uniformed with hats and all right, excuse me, young man, we're just going to get some pizza at eight o'clock on Friday night. Stand against your car. Hands in your car. I said, Are you guys practicing again? Shut up and spread your legs. So that was that was Michigan State, and even though both my parents had master's degrees, I just found all the diversions available in the 1960s to be too interesting, and was not invited. Return after my sophomore year, and in order to flunk out of a big 10 University, and they're fine universities, all of them, you have to be either really determined or not so smart, not really capable of doing that level of study in undergraduate school. And I'd like to think that I was determined. I used to show up for my exams with a little blue book, and the only thing I would write is due to lack of knowledge, I am unable to complete this exam, sign Bill ranter and get up early and hand it in and go off. And so what was, what was left for a young man like that was the theater I'd seen the great Zero Mostel when I was 14 years old and on stage live, he looked just like my father, and he was funny, and if I Were a rich man, and that's the grade zero must tell. Yeah, and it took about five, no, it took about six, seven years to percolate inside my bread and my brain. In high school, I didn't want to do theater. The cheerleaders and guys who I had didn't happen to be friends with or doing theater. I took my girlfriends to see plays, but when I was 21 I started acting, and I've been an actor ever since. I'm a committee chair on the screen actors guild in Hollywood and Screen Actors Guild AFTRA, and work as a voice actor and collect my pensions and God bless the union. Michael Hingson ** 11:44 Well, hey, as long as it works and you're making progress, you know you're still with it, right? Bill Ratner ** 11:53 That's the that's the point. There's no accounting for taste in my business. Michael, you work for a few different broadcast entities at my age. And it's, you know, it's younger people. It's 18 to 3418 years to 34 years old is the ideal demographic for advertisers, Ford, Motor Company, Dove soap, Betty, Crocker, cake mixes and cereals, every conceivable product that sold online or sold on television and radio. This is my this is my meat, and I don't work for religion. However, if a religious organization calls, I call and say, I I'm not, not qualified or not have my divinity degree in order to sell your church to the public? Michael Hingson ** 12:46 Yeah, yeah. Well, I, I can understand that. But you, you obviously do a lot, and as we talked about, you were Flint and GI Joe, which is kind of cool. Bill Ratner ** 13:01 Flynn GI Joe was very cool. Hasbro Corporation, which was based in Providence, Rhode Island, had a huge success with GI Joe, the figure. The figure was about 11 and a half inches tall, like a Barbie, and was at first, was introduced to the public after the Korean War. There is a comic book that was that was also published about GI Joe. He was an individual figure. He was a figure, a sort of mythic cartoon figure during World War Two, GI Joe, generic American soldier, fighting man and but the Vietnam war dragged on for a long time, and the American buying public or buying kids toys got tired of GI Joe, got tired of a military figure in their household and stopped buying. And when Nixon ended the Vietnam War, or allotted to finish in 1974 Hasbro was in the tank. It's got its stock was cheap, and executives are getting nervous. And then came the Great George Lucas in Star Wars, who shrank all these action figures down from 11 and a half inches to three and a half inches, and went to China and had Chinese game and toy makers make Star Wars toys, and began to earn billions and billions dollars. And so Hasbro said, let's turn GI Joe into into a team. And the team began with flint and Lady J and Scarlett and Duke and Destro and cover commander, and grew to 85 different characters, because Hasbro and the toy maker partners could create 85 different sets of toys and action figures. So I was actor in this show and had a good time, and also a purveyor of a billion dollar industry of American toys. And the good news about these toys is I was at a conference where we signed autographs the voice actors, and we have supper with fans and so on. And I was sitting next to a 30 year old kid and his parents. And this kid was so knowledgeable about pop culture and every conceivable children's show and animated show that had ever been on the screen or on television. I turned to his mother and sort of being a wise acre, said, So ma'am, how do you feel about your 30 year old still playing with GI Joe action figures? And she said, Well, he and I both teach English in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania school system, and last year, the literacy level of my ninth graders was 50% 50% of those kids could not read in ninth grade. So I asked the principal if I could borrow my son's GI Joe, action figures, comic books and VHS tapes, recordings of the shows from TV. And he said, Sure, whatever you want to try. And so she did, and she played the video tapes, and these kids were thrilled. They'd never seen a GI Joe cartoon in class before. Passed out the comic books, let him read comics. And then she said, Okay, you guys. And passed out notebooks and pens and pencils, and said, I want you guys to make up some some shows, some GI Joe shows. And so they said, Yeah, we're ready. All right, Cobra, you better get into the barber shop, because the barber bill is no longer there and the fire engines are in the way. And wait a minute, there's a dog in the street. And so they're making this up, using their imagination, doing their schoolwork, by coming up with scenarios, imaginary fam fan fiction for GI Joe and she raised the literacy level in her classroom by 50% that year, by the end of that year, so, so that was the only story that I've ever heard about the sort of the efficacy of GI Joe, other than, you know, kids play with them. Do they? Are they shooting each other all the time? I certainly hope not. I hope not. Are they using the action figures? Do they strip their guns off and put them in a little, you know, stub over by the side and and have them do physical battle with each other, or have them hump the woods, or have them climb the stairs, or have them search the trees. Who knows what kids do? Same with same with girls and and Barbies. Barbie has been a source of fun and creativity for lots of girls, and the source of of worry and bother to a lot of parents as Michael Hingson ** 17:54 well. Well, at the same time, though, when kids start to react and relate to some of these things. It's, it's pretty cool. I mean, look what's happened with the whole Harry Potter movement and craze. Harry Potter has probably done more in the last 20 or 25 years to promote reading for kids than most anything else, and Bill Ratner ** 18:17 that's because it's such a good series of books. I read them to my daughters, yeah. And the quality of writing. She was a brilliant writer, not only just the stories and the storytelling, which is fun to watch in the movies, and you know, it's great for a parent to read. If there are any parents listening, I don't care how old your kids are. I don't care if they're 15. Offer to read to them. The 15 year old might, of course, say mom, but anybody younger than that might say either, all right, fine, which is, which means you better do it or read, read a book. To me, sure, it's fun for the parent, fun for the kid, and it makes the child a completely different kind of thinker and worker and earner. Michael Hingson ** 19:05 Well, also the people who they got to read the books for the recordings Stephen Fry and in the US here, Jim Dale did such an incredible job as well. I've, I've read the whole Harry Potter series more than once, because I just enjoy them, and I enjoy listening to the the voices. They do such a good job. Yeah. And of course, for me, one of the interesting stories that I know about Jim Dale reading Harry Potter was since it was published by Scholastic he was actually scheduled to do a reading from one of the Harry from the new Harry Potter book that was coming out in 2001 on September 11, he was going to be at Scholastic reading. And of course, that didn't happen because of of everything that did occur. So I don't know whether I'm. I'm assuming at some point a little bit later, he did, but still he was scheduled to be there and read. But it they are there. They've done so much to help promote reading, and a lot of those kinds of cartoons and so on. Have done some of that, which is, which is pretty good. So it's good to, you know, to see that continue to happen. Well, so you've written several books on poetry and so on, and I know that you you've mentioned more than once grief and loss. How come those words keep coming up? Bill Ratner ** 20:40 Well, I had an unusual childhood. Again. I mentioned earlier how, what a lucky kid I was. My parents were happy, educated, good people, not abusers. You know, I don't have a I don't have horror stories to tell about my mother or my father, until my mother grew sick with breast cancer and and it took about a year and a half or two years to die when I was seven years old. The good news is, because she was a sensitive, educated social worker, as she was actually dying, she arranged a death counseling session with me and my older brother and the Unitarian minister who was also a death counselor, and whom she was seeing to talk about, you know, what it was like to be dying of breast cancer with two young kids. And at this session, which was sort of surprised me, I was second grade, came home from school. In the living room was my mother and my brother looking a little nervous, and Dr Carl storm from the Unitarian Church, and she said, you know, Dr storm from church, but he's also my therapist. And we talk about my illness and how I feel, and we talk about how much I love you boys, and talk about how I worry about Daddy. And this is what one does when one is in crisis. That was a moment that was not traumatic for me. It's a moment I recalled hundreds of times, and one that has been a guiding light through my life. My mother's death was very difficult for my older brother, who was 13 who grew up in World War Two without without my father, it was just him and my mother when he was off in the Pacific fighting in World War Two. And then I was born after the war. And the loss of a mother in a family is like the bottom dropping out of a family. But luckily, my dad met a woman he worked with a highly placed advertising executive, which was unusual for a female in the 1950s and she became our stepmother a year later, and we had some very lovely, warm family years with her extended family and our extended family and all of us together until my brother got sick, came down with kidney disease a couple of years before kidney dialysis was invented, and a couple of years before kidney transplants were done, died at 19. Had been the captain of the swimming team at our high school, but did a year in college out in California and died on Halloween of 1960 my father was 51 years old. His eldest son had died. He had lost his wife six years earlier. He was working too hard in the advertising industry, successful man and dropped out of a heart attack 14th birthday. Gosh, I found him unconscious on the floor of our master bathroom in our house. So my life changed. I My life has taught me many, many things. It's taught me how the defense system works in trauma. It's taught me the resilience of a child. It's taught me the kindness of strangers. It's taught me the sadness of loss. Michael Hingson ** 24:09 Well, you, you seem to come through all of it pretty well. Well, thank you. A question behind that, just an observation, but, but you do seem to, you know, obviously, cope with all of it and do pretty well. So you, you've always liked to be involved in acting and so on. How did you actually end up deciding to be a voice actor? Bill Ratner ** 24:39 Well, my dad, after he was managing editor of Better Homes and Gardens magazine in Des Moines for Meredith publishing, got offered a fancy job as executive vice president of the flower and mix division for Campbell within advertising and later at General Mills Corporation. From Betty Crocker brand, and would bring me to work all the time, and would sit with me, and we'd watch the wonderful old westerns that were on prime time television, rawhide and Gunsmoke and the Virginian and sure Michael Hingson ** 25:15 and all those. Yeah, during Bill Ratner ** 25:17 the commercials, my father would make fun of the commercials. Oh, look at that guy. And number one, son, that's lousy acting. Number two, listen to that copy. It's the dumbest ad copy I've ever seen. The jingles and and then he would say, No, that's a good commercial, right there. And he wasn't always negative. He would he was just a good critic of advertising. So at a very young age, starting, you know, when we watch television, I think the first television ever, he bought us when I was five years old, I was around one of the most educated, active, funny, animated television critics I could hope to have in my life as a 56789, 1011, 12 year old. And so when I was 12, I became one of the founding members of the Brotherhood of radio stations with my friends John Waterhouse and John Barstow and Steve gray and Bill Connors in South Minneapolis. I named my five watt night kit am transmitter after my sixth grade teacher, Bob close this is wclo stereo radio. And when I was in sixth grade, I built myself a switch box, and I had a turntable and I had an intercom, and I wired my house for sound, as did all the other boys in the in the B, O, R, S, and that's brotherhood of radio stations. And we were guests on each other's shows, and we were obsessed, and we would go to the shopping malls whenever a local DJ was making an appearance and torture him and ask him dumb questions and listen obsessively to American am radio. And at the time for am radio, not FM like today, or internet on your little radio tuner, all the big old grandma and grandpa radios, the wooden ones, were AM, for amplitude modulated. You could get stations at night, once the sun went down and the later it got, the ionosphere would lift and the am radio signals would bounce higher and farther. And in Minneapolis, at age six and seven, I was able to to listen to stations out of Mexico and Texas and Chicago, and was absolutely fascinated with with what was being put out. And I would, I would switch my brother when I was about eight years old, gave me a transistor radio, which I hid under my bed covers. And at night, would turn on and listen for, who knows, hours at a time, and just tuning the dial and tuning the dial from country to rock and roll to hit parade to news to commercials to to agric agriculture reports to cow crossings in Kansas and grain harvesting and cheese making in Wisconsin, and on and on and on that made up the great medium of radio that was handing its power and its business over to television, just as I was growing As a child. Fast, fascinating transition Michael Hingson ** 28:18 and well, but as it was transitioning, how did that affect you? Bill Ratner ** 28:26 It made television the romantic, exciting, dynamic medium. It made radio seem a little limited and antiquated, and although I listened for environment and wasn't able to drag a television set under my covers. Yeah, and television became memorable with with everything from actual world war two battle footage being shown because there wasn't enough programming to 1930s Warner Brothers gangster movies with James Cagney, Edward G Michael Hingson ** 29:01 Robinson and yeah Bill Ratner ** 29:02 to all the sitcoms, Leave It to Beaver and television cartoons and on and on and on. And the most memorable elements to me were the personalities, and some of whom were invisible. Five years old, I was watching a Kids program after school, after kindergarten. We'll be back with more funny puppets, marionettes after this message and the first words that came on from an invisible voice of this D baritone voice, this commercial message will be 60 seconds long, Chrysler Dodge for 1954 blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I watched hypnotized, hypnotized as a 1953 dodge drove across the screen with a happy family of four waving out the window. And at the end of the commercial, I ran into the kitchen said, Mom, mom, I know what a minute. Is, and it was said, it had suddenly come into my brain in one of those very rare and memorable moments in a person's life where your brain actually speaks to you in its own private language and says, Here is something very new and very true, that 60 seconds is in fact a minute. When someone says, See you in five minutes, they mean five times that, five times as long as that. Chrysler commercial, five times 60. That's 300 seconds. And she said, Did you learn it that that on T in kindergarten? And I said, No, I learned it from kangaroo Bob on TV, his announcer, oh, kangaroo Bob, no, but this guy was invisible. And so at five years of age, I was aware of the existence of the practice of the sound, of the magic of the seemingly unlimited access to facts, figures, products, brand names that these voices had and would say on the air in This sort of majestic, patriarchal way, Michael Hingson ** 31:21 and just think 20 years later, then you had James Earl Jones, Bill Ratner ** 31:26 the great dame. James Earl Jones, father was a star on stage at that time the 1950s James Earl Jones came of age in the 60s and became Broadway and off Broadway star. Michael Hingson ** 31:38 I got to see him in Othello. He was playing Othello. What a powerful performance. It was Bill Ratner ** 31:43 wonderful performer. Yeah, yeah. I got to see him as Big Daddy in Canada, Hot Tin Roof, ah, live and in person, he got front row seats for me and my family. Michael Hingson ** 31:53 Yeah, we weren't in the front row, but we saw it. We saw it on on Broadway, Bill Ratner ** 31:58 the closest I ever got to James Earl Jones. He and I had the same voice over agent, woman named Rita vinari of southern Barth and benare company. And I came into the agency to audition for Doritos, and I hear this magnificent voice coming from behind a closed voiceover booth, saying, with a with a Spanish accent, Doritos. I thought that's James Earl Jones. Why is he saying burritos? And he came out, and he bowed to me, nodded and smiled, and I said, hello and and the agent probably in the booth and shut the door. And she said, I said, that was James Earl Jones. What a voice. What she said, Oh, he's such a nice man. And she said, but I couldn't. I was too embarrassed. I was too afraid to stop him from saying, Doritos. And it turns out he didn't get the gig. So it is some other voice actor got it because he didn't say, had he said Doritos with the agent froze it froze up. That was as close as I ever got to did you get the gig? Oh goodness no, Michael Hingson ** 33:01 no, you didn't, huh? Oh, well, well, yeah. I mean, it was a very, it was, it was wonderful. It was James Earl Jones and Christopher Plummer played Iago. Oh, goodness, oh, I know. What a what a combination. Well, so you, you did a lot of voiceover stuff. What did you do regarding radio moving forward? Or did you just go completely out of that and you were in TV? Or did you have any opportunity Bill Ratner ** 33:33 for me to go back at age 15, my brother and father, who were big supporters of my radio. My dad would read my W, C, l, o, newsletter and need an initial, an excellent journalism son and my brother would bring his teenage friends up. He'd play the elderly brothers, man, you got an Elvis record, and I did. And you know, they were, they were big supporters for me as a 13 year old, but when I turned 14, and had lost my brother and my father, I lost my enthusiasm and put all of my radio equipment in a box intended to play with it later. Never, ever, ever did again. And when I was about 30 years old and I'd done years of acting in the theater, having a great time doing fun plays and small theaters in Minneapolis and South Dakota and and Oakland, California and San Francisco. I needed money, so I looked in the want ads and saw a job for telephone sales, and I thought, Well, I used to love the telephone. I used to make phony phone calls to people all the time. Used to call funeral homes. Hi Carson, funeral I help you. Yes, I'm calling to tell you that you have a you have a dark green slate tile. Roof, isn't that correct? Yes. Well, there's, there's a corpse on your roof. Lady for goodness sake, bring it down and we laugh and we record it and and so I thought, Well, gee, I used to have a lot of fun with the phone. And so I called the number of telephone sales and got hired to sell magazine subscriptions and dinner tickets to Union dinners and all kinds of things. And then I saw a new job at a radio station, suburban radio station out in Walnut Creek, California, a lovely Metro BART train ride. And so I got on the BART train, rode out there and walked in for the interview, and was told I was going to be selling small advertising packages on radio for the station on the phone. And so I called barber shops and beauty shops and gas stations in the area, and one guy picked up the phone and said, Wait a minute, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Are you on the radio right now? And I said, No, I'm just I'm in the sales room. Well, maybe you should be. And he slams the phone on me. He didn't want to talk to me anymore. It wasn't interested in buying advertising. I thought, gee. And I told somebody at the station, and they said, Well, you want to be in the radio? And he went, Yeah, I was on the radio when I was 13. And it just so happened that an older fellow was retiring from the 10am to 2pm slot. K I S King, kiss 99 and KD FM, Pittsburgh, California. And it was a beautiful music station. It was a music station. Remember, old enough will remember music that used to play in elevators that was like violin music, the Percy faith orchestra playing a Rolling Stone song here in the elevator. Yes, well, that's exactly what we played. And it would have been harder to get a job at the local rock stations because, you know, they were popular places. And so I applied for the job, and Michael Hingson ** 37:06 could have lost your voice a lot sooner, and it would have been a lot harder if you had had to do Wolfman Jack. But that's another story. Bill Ratner ** 37:13 Yeah, I used to listen to Wolf Man Jack. I worked in a studio in Hollywood. He became a studio. Yeah, big time. Michael Hingson ** 37:22 Anyway, so you you got to work at the muzack station, got Bill Ratner ** 37:27 to work at the muzack station, and I was moving to Los Angeles to go to a bigger market, to attempt to penetrate a bigger broadcast market. And one of the sales guys, a very nice guy named Ralph pizzella said, Well, when you get to La you should study with a friend of mine down to pie Troy, he teaches voiceovers. I said, What are voice overs? He said, You know that CVS Pharmacy commercial just carted up and did 75 tags, available in San Fernando, available in San Clemente, available in Los Angeles, available in Pasadena. And I said, Yeah. He said, Well, you didn't get paid any extra. You got paid your $165 a week. The guy who did that commercial for the ad agency got paid probably 300 bucks, plus extra for the tags, that's voiceovers. And I thought, why? There's an idea, what a concept. So he gave me the name and number of old friend acquaintance of his who he'd known in radio, named Don DiPietro, alias Johnny rabbit, who worked for the Dick Clark organization, had a big rock and roll station there. He'd come to LA was doing voiceovers and teaching voiceover classes in a little second story storefront out of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles. So I signed up for his class, and he was an experienced guy, and he liked me, and we all had fun, and I realized I was beginning to study like an actor at 1818, who goes to New York or goes to Los Angeles or Chicago or Atlanta or St Louis to act in the big theaters, and starts acting classes and realizes, oh my goodness, these people are truly professionals. I don't know how to do what they do. And so for six years, I took voice over classes, probably 4050, nights a year, and from disc jockeys, from ex show hosts, from actors, from animated cartoon voices, and put enough time in to get a degree in neurology in medical school. And worked my way up in radio in Los Angeles and had a morning show, a lovely show with a wonderful news man named Phil Reed, and we talked about things and reviewed movies and and played a lot of music. And then I realized, wait a minute, I'm earning three times the money in voiceovers as I am on the radio, and I have to get up at 430 in the morning to be on the radio. Uh, and a wonderful guy who was Johnny Carson's staff announcer named Jack angel said, You're not still on radio, are you? And I said, Well, yeah, I'm working in the morning. And Ka big, get out of there. Man, quit. Quit. And I thought, well, how can I quit? I've always wanted to be a radio announcer. And then there was another wonderful guy on the old am station, kmpc, sweet Dick Whittington. Whittington, right? And he said at a seminar that I went to at a union voice over training class, when you wake up at four in the morning and you swing your legs over the bed and your shoes hit the floor, and you put your head in your hands, and you say to yourself, I don't want to do this anymore. That's when you quit radio. Well, that hadn't happened to me. I was just getting up early to write some comedy segments and on and on and on, and then I was driving around town all day doing auditions and rented an ex girlfriend's second bedroom so that I could nap by myself during the day, when I had an hour in and I would as I would fall asleep, I'd picture myself every single day I'm in a dark voiceover studio, a microphone Is before me, a music stand is before the microphone, and on it is a piece of paper with advertising copy on it. On the other side of the large piece of glass of the recording booth are three individuals, my employers, I begin to read, and somehow the text leaps off the page, streams into my eyes, letter for letter, word for word, into a part of my back brain that I don't understand and can't describe. It is processed in my semi conscious mind with the help of voice over training and hope and faith, and comes out my mouth, goes into the microphone, is recorded in the digital recorder, and those three men, like little monkeys, lean forward and say, Wow, how do you do that? That was my daily creative visualization. Michael, that was my daily fantasy. And I had learned that from from Dale Carnegie, and I had learned that from Olympic athletes on NBC TV in the 60s and 70s, when the announcer would say, this young man you're seeing practicing his high jump is actually standing there. He's standing stationary, and the bouncing of the head is he's actually rehearsing in his mind running and running and leaping over the seven feet two inch bar and falling into the sawdust. And now he's doing it again, and you could just barely see the man nodding his head on camera at the exact rhythm that he would be running the 25 yards toward the high bar and leaping, and he raised his head up during the imaginary lead that he was visualizing, and then he actually jumped the seven foot two inches. That's how I learned about creative visualization from NBC sports on TV. Michael Hingson ** 43:23 Channel Four in Los Angeles. There you go. Well, so you you broke into voice over, and that's what you did. Bill Ratner ** 43:38 That's what I did, darn it, I ain't stopping now, there's a wonderful old actor named Bill Irwin. There two Bill Irwin's one is a younger actor in his 50s or 60s, a brilliant actor from Broadway to film and TV. There's an older William Irwin. They also named Bill Irwin, who's probably in his 90s now. And I went to a premiere of a film, and he was always showing up in these films as The senile stock broker who answers the phone upside down, or the senile board member who always asks inappropriate questions. And I went up to him and I said, you know, I see you in everything, man. I'm 85 years old. Some friends and associates of mine tell me I should slow down. I only got cast in movies and TV when I was 65 I ain't slowing down. If I tried to slow down at 85 I'd have to stop That's my philosophy. My hero is the great Don Pardo, the late great Michael Hingson ** 44:42 for Saturday Night Live and Jeopardy Bill Ratner ** 44:45 lives starring Bill Murray, Gilder Radner, and Michael Hingson ** 44:49 he died for Jeopardy before that, Bill Ratner ** 44:52 yeah, died at 92 with I picture him, whether it probably not, with a microphone and. His hand in his in his soundproof booth, in his in his garage, and I believe he lived in Arizona, although the show was aired and taped in New York, New York, right where he worked for for decades as a successful announcer. So that's the story. Michael Hingson ** 45:16 Michael. Well, you know, I miss, very frankly, some of the the the days of radio back in the 60s and 70s and so on. We had, in LA what you mentioned, Dick Whittington, Dick whittinghill on kmpc, Gary Owens, you know, so many people who were such wonderful announcers and doing some wonderful things, and radio just isn't the same anymore. It's gone. It's Bill Ratner ** 45:47 gone to Tiktok and YouTube. And the truth is, I'm not gonna whine about Tiktok or YouTube, because some of the most creative moments on camera are being done on Tiktok and YouTube by young quote influencers who hire themselves out to advertisers, everything from lipstick. You know, Speaker 1 ** 46:09 when I went to a party last night was just wild and but this makeup look, watch me apply this lip remover and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, no, I have no lip. Bill Ratner ** 46:20 You know, these are the people with the voices. These are the new voices. And then, of course, the faces. And so I would really advise before, before people who, in fact, use the internet. If you use the internet, you can't complain if you use the internet, if you go to Facebook or Instagram, or you get collect your email or Google, this or that, which most of us do, it's handy. You can't complain about tick tock, tick tock, tick tock. You can't complain about tick tock or YouTube, because it's what the younger generation is using, and it's what the younger generation advertisers and advertising executives and creators and musicians and actors are using to parade before us, as Gary Owens did, as Marlon Brando did, as Sarah Bernhardt did in the 19 so as all as you do, Michael, you're a parader. You're the head of the parade. You've been in on your own float for years. I read your your bio. I don't even know why you want to waste a minute talking to me for goodness sakes. Michael Hingson ** 47:26 You know, the one thing about podcasts that I like over radio, and I did radio at kuci for seven years when I was in school, what I really like about podcasts is they're not and this is also would be true for Tiktok and YouTube. Primarily Tiktok, I would would say it isn't as structured. So if we don't finish in 60 minutes, and we finish in 61 minutes, no one's gonna shoot us. Bill Ratner ** 47:53 Well, I beg to differ with you. Now. I'm gonna start a fight with you. Michael, yeah, we need conflict in this script. Is that it The Tick Tock is very structured. Six. No, Michael Hingson ** 48:03 no, I understand that. I'm talking about podcasts, Bill Ratner ** 48:07 though, but there's a problem. We gotta Tone It Up. We gotta pick it up. We gotta there's a lot of and I listen to what are otherwise really bright, wonderful personalities on screen, celebrities who have podcasts and the car sucks, and then I had meatballs for dinner, haha. And you know what my wife said? Why? You know? And there's just too much of that. And, Michael Hingson ** 48:32 oh, I understand, yeah. I mean, it's like, like anything, but I'm just saying that's one of the reasons I love podcasting. So it's my way of continuing what I used to do in radio and having a lot of fun doing it Bill Ratner ** 48:43 all right, let me ask you. Let me ask you a technical and editorial question. Let me ask you an artistic question. An artist, can you edit this podcast? Yeah. Are you? Do you plan to Nope. Michael Hingson ** 48:56 I think conversations are conversations, but there is a but, I mean, Bill Ratner ** 49:01 there have been starts and stops and I answer a question, and there's a long pause, and then, yeah, we can do you edit that stuff Michael Hingson ** 49:08 out. We do, we do, edit some of that out. And I have somebody that that that does a lot of it, because I'm doing more podcasts, and also I travel and speak, but I can edit. There's a program called Reaper, which is really a very sophisticated Bill Ratner ** 49:26 close up spaces. You Michael Hingson ** 49:28 can close up spaces with it, yes, but the neat thing about Reaper is that somebody has written scripts to make it incredibly accessible for blind people using screen readers. Bill Ratner ** 49:40 What does it do? What does it do? Give me the elevator pitch. Michael Hingson ** 49:46 You've seen some of the the programs that people use, like computer vision and other things to do editing of videos and so on. Yeah. Bill Ratner ** 49:55 Yeah. Even Apple. Apple edit. What is it called? Apple? Garage Band. No, that's audio. What's that Michael Hingson ** 50:03 audio? Oh, Bill Ratner ** 50:06 quick time is quick Michael Hingson ** 50:07 time. But whether it's video or audio, the point is that Reaper allows me to do all of that. I can edit audio. I can insert, I can remove pauses. I can do anything with Reaper that anyone else can do editing audio, because it's been made completely accessible. Bill Ratner ** 50:27 That's great. That's good. That's nice. Oh, it is. It's cool. Michael Hingson ** 50:31 So so if I want, I can edit this and just have my questions and then silence when you're talking. Bill Ratner ** 50:38 That might be best. Ladies and gentlemen, here's Bill Ratner, Michael Hingson ** 50:46 yep, exactly, exactly. Now you have won the moth stories. Slam, what? Tell me about my story. Slam, you've won it nine times. Bill Ratner ** 51:00 The Moth was started by a writer, a novelist who had lived in the South and moved to New York City, successful novelist named George Dawes green. And the inception of the moth, which many people listening are familiar with from the Moth Radio Hour. It was, I believe, either late 90s or early 2000s when he'd been in New York for a while and was was publishing as a fiction writer, and threw a party, and decided, instead of going to one of these dumb, boring parties or the same drinks being served and same cigarettes being smoked out in the veranda and the same orders. I'm going to ask people to bring a five minute story, a personal story, nature, a true story. You don't have to have one to get into the party, but I encourage you to. And so you know, the 3040, 50 people showed up, many of whom had stories, and they had a few drinks, and they had hors d'oeuvres. And then he said, Okay, ladies and gentlemen, take your seats. It's time for and then I picked names out of a hat, and person after person after person stood up in a very unusual setting, which was almost never done at parties. You How often do you see that happen? Suddenly, the room falls silent, and someone with permission being having been asked by the host to tell a personal story, some funny, some tragic, some complex, some embarrassing, some racy, some wild, some action filled. And afterward, the feedback he got from his friends was, this is the most amazing experience I've ever had in my life. And someone said, you need to do this. And he said, Well, you people left a lot of cigarette butts and beer cans around my apartment. And they said, well, let's do it at a coffee shop. Let's do it at a church basement. So slowly but surely, the moth storytelling, story slams, which were designed after the old poetry slams in the 50s and 60s, where they were judged contests like, like a dance contest. Everybody's familiar with dance contests? Well, there were, then came poetry contests with people singing and, you know, and singing and really energetically, really reading. There then came storytelling contests with people standing on a stage before a silent audience, telling a hopefully interesting, riveting story, beginning middle, end in five minutes. And so a coffee house was found. A monthly calendar was set up. Then came the internet. Then it was so popular standing room only that they had to open yet another and another, and today, some 20 years later, 20 some years later, from Austin, Texas to San Francisco, California to Minneapolis, Minnesota to New York City to Los Angeles. There are moth story slams available on online for you to schedule yourself to go live and in person at the moth.org as in the moth with wings. Friend of mine, I was in New York. He said, You can't believe it. This writer guy, a writer friend of mine who I had read, kind of an avant garde, strange, funny writer was was hosting something called the moth in New York, and we were texting each other. He said, Well, I want to go. The theme was show business. I was going to talk to my Uncle Bobby, who was the bell boy. And I Love Lucy. I'll tell a story. And I texted him that day. He said, Oh man, I'm so sorry. I had the day wrong. It's next week. Next week, I'm going to be back home. And so he said, Well, I think there's a moth in Los Angeles. So about 15 years ago, I searched it down and what? Went to a small Korean barbecue that had a tiny little stage that originally was for Korean musicians, and it was now being used for everything from stand up comedy to evenings of rock and roll to now moth storytelling once a month. And I think the theme was first time. And so I got up and told a silly story and didn't win first prize. They have judges that volunteer judges a table of three judges scoring, you like, at a swim meet or a track beat or, you know, and our gymnastics meet. So this is all sort of familiar territory for everybody, except it's storytelling and not high jumping or pull ups. And I kept going back. I was addicted to it. I would write a story and I'd memorize it, and I'd show up and try to make it four minutes and 50 seconds and try to make it sound like I was really telling a story and not reading from a script. And wish I wasn't, because I would throw the script away, and I knew the stories well enough. And then they created a radio show. And then I began to win slams and compete in the grand slams. And then I started submitting these 750 word, you know, two and a half page stories. Literary magazines got a few published and found a whole new way to spend my time and not make much Michael Hingson ** 56:25 money. Then you went into poetry. Bill Ratner ** 56:29 Then I got so bored with my prose writing that I took a poetry course from a wonderful guy in LA called Jack grapes, who had been an actor and a football player and come to Hollywood and did some TV, episodics and and some some episodic TV, and taught poetry. It was a poet in the schools, and I took his class of adults and got a poem published. And thought, wait a minute, these aren't even 750 words. They're like 75 words. I mean, you could write a 10,000 word poem if you want, but some people have, yeah, and it was complex, and there was so much to read and so much to learn and so much that was interesting and odd. And a daughter of a friend of mine is a poet, said, Mommy, are you going to read me one of those little word movies before I go to sleep? Michael Hingson ** 57:23 A little word movie, word movie out of the Bill Ratner ** 57:27 mouths of babes. Yeah, and so, so and I perform. You know, last night, I was in Orange County at a organization called ugly mug Cafe, and a bunch of us poets read from an anthology that was published, and we sold our books, and heard other young poets who were absolutely marvelous and and it's, you know, it's not for everybody, but it's one of the things I do. Michael Hingson ** 57:54 Well, you sent me pictures of book covers, so they're going to be in the show notes. And I hope people will will go out and get them Bill Ratner ** 58:01 cool. One of the one of the things that I did with poetry, in addition to wanting to get published and wanting to read before people, is wanting to see if there is a way. Because poetry was, was very satisfying, emotionally to me, intellectually very challenging and satisfying at times. And emotionally challenging and very satisfying at times, writing about things personal, writing about nature, writing about friends, writing about stories that I received some training from the National Association for poetry therapy. Poetry therapy is being used like art therapy, right? And have conducted some sessions and and participated in many and ended up working with eighth graders of kids who had lost someone to death in the past year of their lives. This is before covid in the public schools in Los Angeles. And so there's a lot of that kind of work that is being done by constable people, by writers, by poets, by playwrights, Michael Hingson ** 59:09 and you became a grief counselor, Bill Ratner ** 59:13 yes, and don't do that full time, because I do voiceovers full time, right? Write poetry and a grand. Am an active grandparent, but I do the occasional poetry session around around grief poetry. Michael Hingson ** 59:31 So you're a grandparent, so you've had kids and all that. Yes, sir, well, that's is your wife still with us? Yes? Bill Ratner ** 59:40 Oh, great, yeah, she's an artist and an art educator. Well, that Michael Hingson ** 59:46 so the two of you can criticize each other's works, then, just Bill Ratner ** 59:52 saying, we're actually pretty kind to each other. I Yeah, we have a lot of we have a lot of outside criticism. Them. So, yeah, you don't need to do it internally. We don't rely on it. What do you think of this although, although, more than occasionally, each of us will say, What do you think of this poem, honey? Or what do you think of this painting, honey? And my the favorite, favorite thing that my wife says that always thrills me and makes me very happy to be with her is, I'll come down and she's beginning a new work of a new piece of art for an exhibition somewhere. I'll say, what? Tell me about what's, what's going on with that, and she'll go, you know, I have no idea, but it'll tell me what to do. Michael Hingson ** 1:00:33 Yeah, it's, it's like a lot of authors talk about the fact that their characters write the stories right, which, which makes a lot of sense. So with all that you've done, are you writing a memoir? By any chance, I Bill Ratner ** 1:00:46 am writing a memoir, and writing has been interesting. I've been doing it for many years. I got it was my graduate thesis from University of California Riverside Palm Desert. Michael Hingson ** 1:00:57 My wife was a UC Riverside graduate. Oh, hi. Well, they Bill Ratner ** 1:01:01 have a low residency program where you go for 10 days in January, 10 days in June. The rest of it's online, which a lot of universities are doing, low residency programs for people who work and I got an MFA in creative writing nonfiction, had a book called parenting for the digital age, the truth about media's effect on children. And was halfway through it, the publisher liked it, but they said you got to double the length. So I went back to school to try to figure out how to double the length. And was was able to do it, and decided to move on to personal memoir and personal storytelling, such as goes on at the moth but a little more personal than that. Some of the material that I was reading in the memoir section of a bookstore was very, very personal and was very helpful to read about people who've gone through particular issues in their childhood. Mine not being physical abuse or sexual abuse, mine being death and loss, which is different. And so that became a focus of my graduate thesis, and many people were urging me to write a memoir. Someone said, you need to do a one man show. So I entered the Hollywood fringe and did a one man show and got good reviews and had a good time and did another one man show the next year and and so on. So But writing memoir as anybody knows, and they're probably listeners who are either taking memoir courses online or who may be actively writing memoirs or short memoir pieces, as everybody knows it, can put you through moods from absolutely ecstatic, oh my gosh, I got this done. I got this story told, and someone liked it, to oh my gosh, I'm so depressed I don't understand why. Oh, wait a minute, I was writing about such and such today. Yeah. So that's the challenge for the memoir is for the personal storyteller, it's also, you know, and it's more of a challenge than it is for the reader, unless it's bad writing and the reader can't stand that. For me as a reader, I'm fascinated by people's difficult stories, if they're well Michael Hingson ** 1:03:24 told well, I know that when in 2002 I was advised to write a book about the World Trade Center experiences and all, and it took eight years to kind of pull it all together. And then I met a woman who actually I collaborated with, Susie Florey, and we wrote thunder dog. And her agent became my agent, who loved the proposal that we sent and actually got a contract within a week. So thunder dog came out in 2011 was a New York Times bestseller, and very blessed by that, and we're working toward the day that it will become a movie still, but it'll happen. And then I wrote a children's version of it, well, not a children's version of the book, but a children's book about me growing up in Roselle, growing up the guide dog who was with me in the World Trade Center, and that's been on Amazon. We self published it. Then last year, we published a new book called Live like a guide dog, which is all about controlling fear and teaching people lessons that I learned prior to September 11. That helped me focus and remain calm. Bill Ratner ** 1:04:23 What happened to you on September 11, Michael Hingson ** 1:04:27 I was in the World Trade Center. I worked on the 78th floor of Tower One. Bill Ratner ** 1:04:32 And what happened? I mean, what happened to you? Michael Hingson ** 1:04:36 Um, nothing that day. I mean, well, I got out. How did you get out? Down the stairs? That was the only way to go. So, so the real story is not doing it, but why it worked. And the real issue is that I spent a lot of time when I first went into the World Trade Center, learning all I could about what to do in an emergency, talking to police, port authorities. Security people, emergency preparedness people, and also just walking around the world trade center and learning the whole place, because I ran an office for a company, and I wasn't going to rely on someone else to, like, lead me around if we're going to go to lunch somewhere and take people out before we negotiated contracts. So I needed to know all of that, and I learned all I could, also realizing that if there ever was an emergency, I might be the only one in the office, or we might be in an area where people couldn't read the signs to know what to do anyway. And so I had to take the responsibility of learning all that, which I did. And then when the planes hit 18 floors above us on the other side of the building, we get we had some guests in the office. Got them out, and then another colleague, who was in from our corporate office, and I and my guide dog, Roselle, went to the stairs, and we started down. And Bill Ratner ** 1:05:54 so, so what floor did the plane strike? Michael Hingson ** 1:05:58 It struck and the NOR and the North Tower, between floors 93 and 99 so I just say 96 okay, and you were 20 floors down, 78 floors 78 so we were 18 floors below, and Bill Ratner ** 1:06:09 at the moment of impact, what did you think? Michael Hingson ** 1:06:13 Had no idea we heard a muffled kind of explosion, because the plane hit on the other side of the building, 18 floors above us. There was no way to know what was going on. Did you feel? Did you feel? Oh, the building literally tipped, probably about 20 feet. It kept tipping. And then we actually said goodbye to each other, and then the building came back upright. And then we went, Bill Ratner ** 1:06:34 really you so you thought you were going to die? Michael Hingson ** 1:06:38 David, my colleague who was with me, as I said, he was from our California office, and he was there to help with some seminars we were going to be doing. We actually were saying goodbye to each other because we thought we were about to take a 78 floor plunge to the street, when the building stopped tipping and it came back. Designed to do that by the architect. It was designed to do that, which is the point, the point. Bill Ratner ** 1:07:02 Goodness, gracious. And then did you know how to get to the stairway? Michael Hingson ** 1:07:04 Oh, absolutely. And did you do it with your friend? Yeah, the first thing we did, the first thing we did is I got him to get we had some guests, and I said, get him to the stairs. Don't let him take the elevators, because I knew he had seen fire above us, but that's all we knew. And but I said, don't take the elevators. Don't let them take elevators. Get them to the stairs and then come back and we'll leave. So he did all that, and then he came back, and we went to the stairs and started down. Bill Ratner ** 1:07:33 Wow. Could you smell anything? Michael Hingson ** 1:07:36 We smelled burning jet fuel fumes on the way down. And that's how we figured out an airplane must have hit the building, but we had no idea what happened. We didn't know what happened until the until both towers had collapsed, and I actually talked to my wife, and she's the one who told us how to aircraft have been crashed into the towers, one into the Pentagon, and a fourth, at that time, was still missing over Pennsylvania. Wow. So you'll have to go pick up a copy of thunder dog. Goodness. Good. Thunder dog. The name of the book is Thunder dog, and the book I wrote last year is called Live like a guide dog. It's le
AI-generated short videos are becoming one of the most powerful tools for local business owners, but only if you use them the right way. In this episode, we explore how to blend AI efficiency with real human connection to build trust, boost visibility, and turn viewers into customers.You'll learn how AI short-form videos can amplify your reputation, drive more branded searches, and strengthen your local SEO. We'll also cover common mistakes to avoid and why authenticity still wins in every market.If you've been curious about using AI for marketing but don't know where to start, this episode gives you the blueprint for using short-form video to stand out and grow your local business.About Adam Duran, Local SEO ExpertLocal SEO in 10 is helmed by Local SEO expert Adam Duran, director of Magnified Media. With offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles & Walnut Creek, California, Magnified Media is a digital marketing agency focused on local SEO for businesses, marketing strategy, national SEO, website design and qualified customer lead generation for companies of all sizes.Magnified Media helps companies take control of their marketing by:• getting their website seen at the top of Google rankings,• getting them more online reviews, and• creating media content that immediately engages with their audience.Adam enjoys volunteering with several community-based non-profits, hiking and BJJ in his spare time.About Jamie Duran, host of Local SEO in 10Local business owner Jamie Duran is the owner of Solar Harmonics, Northern California's top-rated solar company, which invites its customers to “Own Their Energy” by purchasing a solar panel system for their home, business, or farm. You can check out the website for the top solar energy equipment installer, Solar Harmonics, here. Jamie also is the creator and panel expert of Straight-Talk Solar Cast, the world's first podcast focused on answering the questions faced by anyone considering going solar.Thanks for joining us this week! Want to subscribe to Local SEO in 10? Connect with us on iTunes and leave us a review.Have a question about Local SEO? Chances are we've covered it! Go to our podcast website and check out our search feature.
You've got the skills and experience, but now you're ready to take the next big step - building a business of your own. In this episode, we'll walk you through five essential steps to start attracting customers, building your reputation, and creating a steady flow of new work without relying only on word of mouth.You'll learn how to set up your online foundation, get reviews that build trust, make your business easy to find, run small but effective local ads, and build referral networks that keep your phone ringing.If you've ever thought, “I could do this on my own,” this episode gives you the roadmap to make it happen and start turning your skills into a real, thriving business.About Adam Duran, Local SEO ExpertLocal SEO in 10 is helmed by Local SEO expert Adam Duran, director of Magnified Media. With offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles & Walnut Creek, California, Magnified Media is a digital marketing agency focused on local SEO for businesses, marketing strategy, national SEO, website design and qualified customer lead generation for companies of all sizes.Magnified Media helps companies take control of their marketing by:• getting their website seen at the top of Google rankings,• getting them more online reviews, and• creating media content that immediately engages with their audience.Adam enjoys volunteering with several community-based non-profits, hiking and BJJ in his spare time.About Jamie Duran, host of Local SEO in 10Local business owner Jamie Duran is the owner of Solar Harmonics, Northern California's top-rated solar company, which invites its customers to “Own Their Energy” by purchasing a solar panel system for their home, business, or farm. You can check out the website for the top solar energy equipment installer, Solar Harmonics, here. Jamie also is the creator and panel expert of Straight-Talk Solar Cast, the world's first podcast focused on answering the questions faced by anyone considering going solar.Thanks for joining us this week! Want to subscribe to Local SEO in 10? Connect with us on iTunes and leave us a review.Have a question about Local SEO? Chances are we've covered it! Go to our podcast website and check out our search feature.
In this week's podcast we discuss the cancellation of several large scale solar projects and how Costco is making a move to going fully off grid for their distribution centers in #California.About Jamie Duran & Solar HarmonicsBrought to you by Solar Harmonics in Northern California, who invite their customers to “Own Their Energy” by purchasing a solar panel system for their home, business, or farm. You can check out the website for the top solar energy equipment installer, Solar Harmonics, here.In each episode we discuss questions facing people making the decision to go solar. The solutions to your questions are given to you – straight – by one of the leading experts in the solar industry, Jamie Duran, president of Solar Harmonics.Feel free to search our library for answers to questions that you're facing when considering solar.About Adam Duran & Magnified MediaSolarcast is produced and co-hosted by Adam Duran, director of Magnified Media. With offices in downtown San Francisco, Los Angeles & Walnut Creek, California, Magnified Media is a digital marketing agency focused on digital marketing, local and local & national SEO, website design and lead generation for companies of all sizes.Magnified Media helps company leaders master their marketing by:• getting their website seen at the top of Google rankings, and• getting them more online reviews,• creating media content that engages with each client's target audience.In his spare time, Adam enjoys volunteering on the board of several community-based non-profits and his own weekly podcast Local SEO in 10.
Ranking on Google is only half the battle. Getting seen doesn't guarantee sales. Too many business owners treat SEO as the finish line when in reality it's just the foundation.In this episode, we break down the full picture: how SEO makes your site visible, how design builds trust in the first five seconds, and how conversion tools turn visitors into paying customers. You'll learn why most businesses lose leads even after they rank, and the practical steps to fix it; clear calls-to-action, proof of credibility, and an experience built for humans, not just search engines.If you've been investing in SEO but still aren't seeing results, this episode shows you the missing piece: creating a site that not only shows up, but sells.About Adam Duran, Local SEO ExpertLocal SEO in 10 is helmed by Local SEO expert Adam Duran, director of Magnified Media. With offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles & Walnut Creek, California, Magnified Media is a digital marketing agency focused on local SEO for businesses, marketing strategy, national SEO, website design and qualified customer lead generation for companies of all sizes.Magnified Media helps companies take control of their marketing by:• getting their website seen at the top of Google rankings,• getting them more online reviews, and• creating media content that immediately engages with their audience.Adam enjoys volunteering with several community-based non-profits, hiking and BJJ in his spare time.About Jamie Duran, host of Local SEO in 10Local business owner Jamie Duran is the owner of Solar Harmonics, Northern California's top-rated solar company, which invites its customers to “Own Their Energy” by purchasing a solar panel system for their home, business, or farm. You can check out the website for the top solar energy equipment installer, Solar Harmonics, here. Jamie also is the creator and panel expert of Straight-Talk Solar Cast, the world's first podcast focused on answering the questions faced by anyone considering going solar.Thanks for joining us this week! Want to subscribe to Local SEO in 10? Connect with us on iTunes and leave us a review.Have a question about Local SEO? Chances are we've covered it! Go to our podcast website and check out our search feature.
AI search is changing the way customers find local businesses. Whether it's Google's AI Overviews, ChatGPT, or Bard, people are asking “best near me” questions and the AI is picking winners and losers.In this episode, we break down five practical steps local business owners can take right now to make sure they're the ones showing up in AI-driven answers. From optimizing your business profile to creating AI-friendly content, you'll learn how to seed these systems with the right signals so they recommend you, not your competitor.If you want to stay visible, build trust, and capture leads in the age of AI search, this episode gives you the playbook.About Adam Duran, Local SEO ExpertLocal SEO in 10 is helmed by Local SEO expert Adam Duran, director of Magnified Media. With offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles & Walnut Creek, California, Magnified Media is a digital marketing agency focused on local SEO for businesses, marketing strategy, national SEO, website design and qualified customer lead generation for companies of all sizes.Magnified Media helps companies take control of their marketing by:• getting their website seen at the top of Google rankings,• getting them more online reviews, and• creating media content that immediately engages with their audience.Adam enjoys volunteering with several community-based non-profits, hiking and BJJ in his spare time.About Jamie Duran, host of Local SEO in 10Local business owner Jamie Duran is the owner of Solar Harmonics, Northern California's top-rated solar company, which invites its customers to “Own Their Energy” by purchasing a solar panel system for their home, business, or farm. You can check out the website for the top solar energy equipment installer, Solar Harmonics, here. Jamie also is the creator and panel expert of Straight-Talk Solar Cast, the world's first podcast focused on answering the questions faced by anyone considering going solar.Thanks for joining us this week! Want to subscribe to Local SEO in 10? Connect with us on iTunes and leave us a review.Have a question about Local SEO? Chances are we've covered it! Go to our podcast website and check out our search feature.
A review bomb can feel like a nightmare - dozens of sudden negative reviews that damage your credibility overnight. But you don't have to sit back and watch your reputation crumble.In this episode, we walk you through the playbook for fighting back fast. You'll learn how to spot a review bomb, the exact steps to flag and appeal fake reviews using Google's tools, and how to respond publicly in ways that protect your brand. We'll also share how to recover stronger by encouraging real customer feedback and building long-term defenses.Don't let a review bombing campaign destroy years of hard work. This episode gives you the strategies and resources you need to take back control.Resources Mentioned in this EpisodeGoogle Help: Manage and Flag ReviewsGoogle Reviews Management ToolGoogle Business Redressal Complaint FormAbout Adam Duran, Local SEO ExpertLocal SEO in 10 is helmed by Local SEO expert Adam Duran, director of Magnified Media. With offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles & Walnut Creek, California, Magnified Media is a digital marketing agency focused on local SEO for businesses, marketing strategy, national SEO, website design and qualified customer lead generation for companies of all sizes.Magnified Media helps companies take control of their marketing by:• getting their website seen at the top of Google rankings,• getting them more online reviews, and• creating media content that immediately engages with their audience.Adam enjoys volunteering with several community-based non-profits, hiking and BJJ in his spare time.About Jamie Duran, host of Local SEO in 10Local business owner Jamie Duran is the owner of Solar Harmonics, Northern California's top-rated solar company, which invites its customers to “Own Their Energy” by purchasing a solar panel system for their home, business, or farm. You can check out the website for the top solar energy equipment installer, Solar Harmonics, here. Jamie also is the creator and panel expert of Straight-Talk Solar Cast, the world's first podcast focused on answering the questions faced by anyone considering going solar.Thanks for joining us this week! Want to subscribe to Local SEO in 10? Connect with us on iTunes and leave us a review.Have a question about Local SEO? Chances are we've covered it! Go to our podcast website and check out our search feature.
The True Cost Of The American DreamAccording to new research, the price of the American Dream is now more than $5-million.The study reveals that the price has skyrocketed $600-thousand from last year's total of $4.4-million and it's nearly 50% higher than it was just two years ago.Investopedia added in the estimated cost of healthcare over a lifetime - $414,208 - which wasn't included in previous years. It combines everything from the cost of a wedding and college tuition for your kids.The Top 10 Tried-and-True Ways to Boost HappinessKeep your mind and body activeBe nice to othersSpend your money on loved onesCheck on your health statusJoin a clubEngage in physical activityBelong to a faith and practice itGo out in natureBuild connections with colleagues outside of workGive back and be generousWays to Declutter Without Procrastinating: With everything going on in our lives it's tough to manage household clutter. Procrastination is the biggest stumbling block , but luckily expert therapist Meredith Beardmore is offering some advice on how to overcome the hurdles. There are three steps to focus on:Categorize! Make three piles: items that belong elsewhere, items for trash, and items you are not ready to decide aboutRemember Your “Why.” Keeping the reason why you are decluttering in the forefront of your mindMove On Without Regret. Don't feel guilty about tossing something you spent money onSecond Date UpdateSofia called us about Leo. They matched on Hinge and met for cocktails in Walnut Creek. Sofia said the drinks were great, the conversation flowed, and Leo even walked her to her car. She thought he was into it. But he ghosted.
Sofia called us about Leo. They matched on Hinge and met for cocktails in Walnut Creek. Sofia said the drinks were great, the conversation flowed, and Leo even walked her to her car. She thought he was into it. But he ghosted.
Rules Americans Ditch On VacationHalf (49%) of respondents intentionally avoid reading work emails when traveling and 59% skip normal to-dos, like working out and tidying up.Two-thirds say they eat out for every single meal and 23% have dessert with every meal on a trip.54% admit they rarely stick to a budget on a getaway, and 48% confess to using credit cards more than usual. Nearly two-thirds (63%) believe that returning texts or calls is completely optional in non-emergency situations and 33% admit they ignore texts and emails altogether.A big part of the vacation mindset is saying “yes” more often, as 82% say traveling is a time to embrace the extras, from dessert to new adventures.“Treat yourself” is the top vacation motto for 41% who say it describes their approach to time off, while others relate to “Try everything once,” (18%) and “No alarms, no plans” (12%).Favorite parts of traveling include sleeping in (42%), forgetting what day of the week it is (36%) and wearing comfy clothes 24/7 (30%).And the best part? Nearly three-quarters (72%) say they don't feel guilty at all about overindulging on vacation.Gen Z RegretsThese are the trends that make the over 35 crowd yell “What are you guys thinking?!”"Dubai chocolate. It is $$$, and maybe it's just me, but it does not look appealing to me at all.""Giant pants. People are wearing jeans that could fit a family of three in each leg hole...why? They also often wear them with a t-shirt that's two sizes too small. It's so goofy looking!""In the past few years, I've noticed there is no shame anymore. It's 'cool' and 'funny' to make a fool of yourself for views. Stop pranking employees who are just trying to work, stop making a mess at Walmart to be funny, stop singing and dancing in public while filming yourself, etc. I refuse to watch any creator that pulls that sh*t.""Labubus. They're just Beanie Babies.""Mullets. Like, I get the irony standpoint, but no, they're genuinely fashionable and attractive right now, and that confounds the hell out of me."These Sleep Hacks Sound A Bit Wild, But People Swear They WorkRedditors are here to help share their best sleep hacks. Some may sound weird, but they supposedly work!"Relax your toes, relax your ankles, follow all body parts...By the time you reach your forehead you're asleep.""Reading something boring. The minute I start, I fall asleep. Also having a cold room.""World building! I like to just imagine the same fantasy world of my own every night. I go over every little detail until I fall asleep! It works wonders — you just keep making new rules or places!""I listen to something boring! On Spotify, there is a podcast called ‘I Can't Sleep'. It's a guy who reads Wikipedia pages on various topics. His voice is quite relaxing and puts me out every time. 10/10 Highly recommend!""I use a red color filter on my phone screen (if I do scroll before bed).""Do a pose called legs up the wall. It's exactly how it sounds, but Google it if you're not familiar. Try 5-10 minutes. It'll reset your nervous system and help make ya sleepy.""Straw breathing works wonderfully for me. 10 breaths with a very slow exhale is good. Yoga nidra works as well.""I take a piece of paper and write the word sleep over and over, usually about a half page. If you wanna try it, just take your time, and if it turns into other writings, just let it flow...and hopefully it's calming to your mind."Second Date UpdateRosa called us about Miguel. They matched on Hinge and went out for dinner in Walnut Creek. Rosa said they split calamari, ordered pasta, and lingered over dessert because the conversation was going so well. She thought Miguel was funny and attentive, and she couldn't figure out why he ghosted.
Rosa called us about Miguel. They matched on Hinge and went out for dinner in Walnut Creek. Rosa said they split calamari, ordered pasta, and lingered over dessert because the conversation was going so well. She thought Miguel was funny and attentive, and she couldn't figure out why he ghosted.
In this week's podcast we discuss the nationwide shortage of solar panels and what customers and installers can expect as we speed to the finish line of 2025.About Jamie Duran & Solar HarmonicsBrought to you by Solar Harmonics in Northern California, who invite their customers to “Own Their Energy” by purchasing a solar panel system for their home, business, or farm. You can check out the website for the top solar energy equipment installer, Solar Harmonics, here.In each episode we discuss questions facing people making the decision to go solar. The solutions to your questions are given to you – straight – by one of the leading experts in the solar industry, Jamie Duran, president of Solar Harmonics.Feel free to search our library for answers to questions that you're facing when considering solar.About Adam Duran & Magnified MediaSolarcast is produced and co-hosted by Adam Duran, director of Magnified Media. With offices in downtown San Francisco, Los Angeles & Walnut Creek, California, Magnified Media is a digital marketing agency focused on digital marketing, local and local & national SEO, website design and lead generation for companies of all sizes.Magnified Media helps company leaders master their marketing by:• getting their website seen at the top of Google rankings, and• getting them more online reviews,• creating media content that engages with each client's target audience.In his spare time, Adam enjoys volunteering on the board of several community-based non-profits and his own weekly podcast Local SEO in 10.
Most business owners think the secret to success online is ranking in the top spot on Google. The truth is that being number one is no longer enough. Customers are finding businesses through maps, AI-powered search results, and highly specific local queries that often never touch the traditional rankings.In this episode, we dig into why chasing that single position is outdated and how forward-thinking local businesses are getting more leads by showing up in multiple places at once. If you want to future-proof your marketing and capture more customers where they are actually searching, this episode is for you.About Adam Duran, Local SEO ExpertLocal SEO in 10 is helmed by Local SEO expert Adam Duran, director of Magnified Media. With offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles & Walnut Creek, California, Magnified Media is a digital marketing agency focused on local SEO for businesses, marketing strategy, national SEO, website design and qualified customer lead generation for companies of all sizes.Magnified Media helps companies take control of their marketing by:• getting their website seen at the top of Google rankings,• getting them more online reviews, and• creating media content that immediately engages with their audience.Adam enjoys volunteering with several community-based non-profits, hiking and BJJ in his spare time.About Jamie Duran, host of Local SEO in 10Local business owner Jamie Duran is the owner of Solar Harmonics, Northern California's top-rated solar company, which invites its customers to “Own Their Energy” by purchasing a solar panel system for their home, business, or farm. You can check out the website for the top solar energy equipment installer, Solar Harmonics, here. Jamie also is the creator and panel expert of Straight-Talk Solar Cast, the world's first podcast focused on answering the questions faced by anyone considering going solar.Thanks for joining us this week! Want to subscribe to Local SEO in 10? Connect with us on iTunes and leave us a review.Have a question about Local SEO? Chances are we've covered it! Go to our podcast website and check out our search feature.
On today's show a musician from Walnut Creek makes it to the quarter finals on "America's Got Talent." Then, "Misfit Cabaret" celebrates 10 years of out-of-the-box fun on stage. And we look back at a documentary about women scientists trying to save little brown bats from extinction.
In this week's podcast we discuss the energy needs of new AI technology and the roll solar power plays in solving this energy demand issue.About Jamie Duran & Solar HarmonicsBrought to you by Solar Harmonics in Northern California, who invite their customers to “Own Their Energy” by purchasing a solar panel system for their home, business, or farm. You can check out the website for the top solar energy equipment installer, Solar Harmonics, here.In each episode we discuss questions facing people making the decision to go solar. The solutions to your questions are given to you – straight – by one of the leading experts in the solar industry, Jamie Duran, president of Solar Harmonics.Feel free to search our library for answers to questions that you're facing when considering solar.About Adam Duran & Magnified MediaSolarcast is produced and co-hosted by Adam Duran, director of Magnified Media. With offices in downtown San Francisco, Los Angeles & Walnut Creek, California, Magnified Media is a digital marketing agency focused on digital marketing, local and local & national SEO, website design and lead generation for companies of all sizes.Magnified Media helps company leaders master their marketing by:• getting their website seen at the top of Google rankings, and• getting them more online reviews,• creating media content that engages with each client's target audience.In his spare time, Adam enjoys volunteering on the board of several community-based non-profits and his own weekly podcast Local SEO in 10.
Reputation management isn't just about chasing a perfect 5-star rating. In fact, a flawless score can hurt your credibility. In this episode we dive deep into what really matters for local businesses when it comes to reviews and how to handle the bad ones when they show up.In this episode we challenge the conventional wisdom about reviews, share why chasing perfection can actually hurt you, and reveal smarter ways to build trust and generate leads. You'll also learn how to handle bad reviews the right way, when to fight back using Google's own reporting tools, and why a strong review strategy is one of the best lead-generation systems you'll ever create.If you've ever felt frustrated by reviews or worried that one negative could sink your business, this episode will give you a whole new playbook.Google Redressal Complaint Form LinkFlag reviews via Google Business ProfileAbout Adam Duran, Local SEO ExpertLocal SEO in 10 is helmed by Local SEO expert Adam Duran, director of Magnified Media. With offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles & Walnut Creek, California, Magnified Media is a digital marketing agency focused on local SEO for businesses, marketing strategy, national SEO, website design and qualified customer lead generation for companies of all sizes.Magnified Media helps companies take control of their marketing by:• getting their website seen at the top of Google rankings,• getting them more online reviews, and• creating media content that immediately engages with their audience.Adam enjoys volunteering with several community-based non-profits, hiking and BJJ in his spare time.About Jamie Duran, host of Local SEO in 10Local business owner Jamie Duran is the owner of Solar Harmonics, Northern California's top-rated solar company, which invites its customers to “Own Their Energy” by purchasing a solar panel system for their home, business, or farm. You can check out the website for the top solar energy equipment installer, Solar Harmonics, here. Jamie also is the creator and panel expert of Straight-Talk Solar Cast, the world's first podcast focused on answering the questions faced by anyone considering going solar.Thanks for joining us this week! Want to subscribe to Local SEO in 10? Connect with us on iTunes and leave us a review.Have a question about Local SEO? Chances are we've covered it! Go to our podcast website and check out our search feature.
Hello Hillside! You are warmly invited to church this Sunday morning to praise God, re-bond with your fellow disciples, and hear some “mission thoughts as we move ahead,” which is precisely the focus of the messages we are excited to share with you. I (Dan) remind you that church will be happening in two places: our main campus at 2060 Magnolia Way, and Civic Park in downtown Walnut Creek. So, pick a service and join your church family on Sunday morning to hear from King Jesus and be rejuvenated for the week ahead. Whichever service you attend, please be ready to notice and welcome newbies (we're getting them every week). Looking forward to seeing you!Come worship with Hillside Covenant Church LIVE at 10:00 AM both online and in person as Dan Seitz teaches from Matthew 28:18-20 & Ephesians 4:11-13.If you are new to Hillside and are looking for ways to get connected and build community, visit our website: https://www.hillsidecovenant.org/ We welcome you to Hillside and are so glad you joined us today!To give in support of Hillside Covenant and its ministries follow this link: https://hillsidecovenant.churchcenter.com/givingThe full service from Hillside Covenant Church, Sunday, August 24, 2025.
Hello Hillside! You are warmly invited to church this Sunday morning to praise God, re-bond with your fellow disciples, and hear some “mission thoughts as we move ahead,” which is precisely the focus of the messages we are excited to share with you. I (Dan) remind you that church will be happening in two places: our main campus at 2060 Magnolia Way, and Civic Park in downtown Walnut Creek. So, pick a service and join your church family on Sunday morning to hear from King Jesus and be rejuvenated for the week ahead. Whichever service you attend, please be ready to notice and welcome newbies (we're getting them every week). Looking forward to seeing you!Come worship with Hillside Covenant Church LIVE at 10:00 AM both online and in person as Dan Seitz teaches from Matthew 28:18-20 & Ephesians 4:11-13.If you are new to Hillside and are looking for ways to get connected and build community, visit our website: https://www.hillsidecovenant.org/ We welcome you to Hillside and are so glad you joined us today!To give in support of Hillside Covenant and its ministries follow this link: https://hillsidecovenant.churchcenter.com/givingThe sermon from Hillside Covenant Church, Sunday, August 24, 2025.
In this week's podcast we discuss the recent attack on solar by the president and the impact the tariffs are having on rising utility costs across the county.About Jamie Duran & Solar HarmonicsBrought to you by Solar Harmonics in Northern California, who invite their customers to “Own Their Energy” by purchasing a solar panel system for their home, business, or farm. You can check out the website for the top solar energy equipment installer, Solar Harmonics, here.In each episode we discuss questions facing people making the decision to go solar. The solutions to your questions are given to you – straight – by one of the leading experts in the solar industry, Jamie Duran, president of Solar Harmonics.Feel free to search our library for answers to questions that you're facing when considering solar.About Adam Duran & Magnified MediaSolarcast is produced and co-hosted by Adam Duran, director of Magnified Media. With offices in downtown San Francisco, Los Angeles & Walnut Creek, California, Magnified Media is a digital marketing agency focused on digital marketing, local and local & national SEO, website design and lead generation for companies of all sizes.Magnified Media helps company leaders master their marketing by:• getting their website seen at the top of Google rankings, and• getting them more online reviews,• creating media content that engages with each client's target audience.In his spare time, Adam enjoys volunteering on the board of several community-based non-profits and his own weekly podcast Local SEO in 10.
Law firms spend thousands on lead generation platforms, but do they actually deliver? In this episode, we dive into real data and experienced feedback on services like LegalMatch, Martindale-Nolo, Avvo and others. We'll also cover better alternatives: building SEO-driven landing pages, retargeting site visitors, testing Google Local Service Ads, using interactive tools like settlement calculators, and creating referral pipelines through LinkedIn.If you want more clients without relying on middlemen, this episode shows you how to build a system that's faster, smarter, and sustainable.About Adam Duran, Local SEO ExpertLocal SEO in 10 is helmed by Local SEO expert Adam Duran, director of Magnified Media. With offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles & Walnut Creek, California, Magnified Media is a digital marketing agency focused on local SEO for businesses, marketing strategy, national SEO, website design and qualified customer lead generation for companies of all sizes.Magnified Media helps companies take control of their marketing by:• getting their website seen at the top of Google rankings,• getting them more online reviews, and• creating media content that immediately engages with their audience.Adam enjoys volunteering with several community-based non-profits, hiking and BJJ in his spare time.About Jamie Duran, host of Local SEO in 10Local business owner Jamie Duran is the owner of Solar Harmonics, Northern California's top-rated solar company, which invites its customers to “Own Their Energy” by purchasing a solar panel system for their home, business, or farm. You can check out the website for the top solar energy equipment installer, Solar Harmonics, here. Jamie also is the creator and panel expert of Straight-Talk Solar Cast, the world's first podcast focused on answering the questions faced by anyone considering going solar.Thanks for joining us this week! Want to subscribe to Local SEO in 10? Connect with us on iTunes and leave us a review.Have a question about Local SEO? Chances are we've covered it! Go to our podcast website and check out our search feature.
We discuss the long term results of the Oaks, Derby, and GALE studies looking at the benefit of early treatment of geographic atrophy in AMD with Dr. Roger Goldberg of Walnut Creek, California.
In this week's podcast we discuss the recent CA Supreme Court decision to send back to the lower court the decision to end NEM 2.0 in 2022. We discuss the impacts this decision could have on upcoming solar policy going forward.About Jamie Duran & Solar HarmonicsBrought to you by Solar Harmonics in Northern California, who invite their customers to “Own Their Energy” by purchasing a solar panel system for their home, business, or farm. You can check out the website for the top solar energy equipment installer, Solar Harmonics, here.In each episode we discuss questions facing people making the decision to go solar. The solutions to your questions are given to you – straight – by one of the leading experts in the solar industry, Jamie Duran, president of Solar Harmonics.Feel free to search our library for answers to questions that you're facing when considering solar.About Adam Duran & Magnified MediaSolarcast is produced and co-hosted by Adam Duran, director of Magnified Media. With offices in downtown San Francisco & Walnut Creek, California, Magnified Media is a digital marketing agency focused on digital marketing, local and national SEO, website design and lead generation for companies of all sizes.Magnified Media helps company leaders master their marketing by:• getting their website seen at the top of Google rankings, and• getting them more online reviews,• creating media content that engages with each client's target audience.In his spare time, Adam enjoys volunteering on the board of several community-based non-profits and his own weekly podcast Local SEO in 10.
Your meta titles and descriptions can make or break whether someone clicks your site or your competitor's. In this episode, we share advanced, unorthodox ways to write them so they stand out, boost clicks, and drive more local leads. You'll also get powerful ChatGPT prompts to help you create high-performing titles and descriptions in minutes.ChatGPT Prompts for Better Local SEO Meta Titles & DescriptionsTarget ClicksWrite 10 meta titles for a [business type] in [city] that boost CTR using urgency, benefits, and trust.Power WordsCreate 8 meta titles with persuasive words, front-load the best hook, length can exceed 60 characters.Unique TitlesFor these services [list] in [city], write unique titles with the service, city, and a benefit.Add a CTAWrite 5 meta descriptions with a friendly CTA like "Call now" or "Book today."A/B Test VariationsGive me 5 variations of this meta title: [title], each with a different hook or benefit.Social ProofWrite 5 meta titles that include review counts, years in business, or awards.About Adam Duran, Local SEO ExpertLocal SEO in 10 is helmed by Local SEO expert Adam Duran, director of Magnified Media. With offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles & Walnut Creek, California, Magnified Media is a digital marketing agency focused on local SEO for businesses, marketing strategy, national SEO, website design and qualified customer lead generation for companies of all sizes.Magnified Media helps companies take control of their marketing by:• getting their website seen at the top of Google rankings,• getting them more online reviews, and• creating media content that immediately engages with their audience.Adam enjoys volunteering with several community-based non-profits, hiking and BJJ in his spare time.About Jamie Duran, host of Local SEO in 10Local business owner Jamie Duran is the owner of Solar Harmonics, Northern California's top-rated solar company, which invites its customers to “Own Their Energy” by purchasing a solar panel system for their home, business, or farm. You can check out the website for the top solar energy equipment installer, Solar Harmonics, here. Jamie also is the creator and panel expert of Straight-Talk Solar Cast, the world's first podcast focused on answering the questions faced by anyone considering going solar.Thanks for joining us this week! Want to subscribe to Local SEO in 10? Connect with us on iTunes and leave us a review.Have a question about Local SEO? Chances are we've covered it! Go to our podcast website and check out our search feature.
Hello Hillside! I (Dan) invite you to church this Sunday morning at 10:00. Please remember that church will be happening in two places: our park-like Hilltop campus at 2060 Magnolia Way, and the green and glorious Civic Park in downtown Walnut Creek. The passage we'll be covering as we begin the “descent” of our Grace 180 message series from I Thessalonians is unlike any passage that has come before it in Paul's “pep talk” letter. How does this “command cluster” speak to us today? Kian Ameli and I have been wrestling with these verses all week and we're excited to share with you what God has given us. So, pick a service and join your church family on Sunday morning for an inspiring time in Jesus' presence. And be ready to talk to and welcome anyone you see who looks like a newbie. We're getting visitors every week and our privilege as Hillside members is to communicate a warm welcome. If you're away on a midsummer adventure, we invite you to watch the service online and join us in person next Sunday.Come worship with Hillside Covenant Church LIVE at 10:00 AM both online and in person as Dan Seitz teaches from I Thessalonians 5:12-22.This week's sermon notes are available at: https://u.pcloud.link/publink/show?code=XZJNMW5ZS2nOawuwXiSXoFKvwBNivbLmthmXIf you are new to Hillside and are looking for ways to get connected and build community, visit our website: https://www.hillsidecovenant.org/ We welcome you to Hillside and are so glad you joined us today!To give in support of Hillside Covenant and its ministries follow this link: https://hillsidecovenant.churchcenter.com/givingThe sermon from Hillside Covenant Church, Sunday, August 10, 2025.
Hello Hillside! I (Dan) invite you to church this Sunday morning at 10:00. Please remember that church will be happening in two places: our park-like Hilltop campus at 2060 Magnolia Way, and the green and glorious Civic Park in downtown Walnut Creek. The passage we'll be covering as we begin the “descent” of our Grace 180 message series from I Thessalonians is unlike any passage that has come before it in Paul's “pep talk” letter. How does this “command cluster” speak to us today? Kian Ameli and I have been wrestling with these verses all week and we're excited to share with you what God has given us. So, pick a service and join your church family on Sunday morning for an inspiring time in Jesus' presence. And be ready to talk to and welcome anyone you see who looks like a newbie. We're getting visitors every week and our privilege as Hillside members is to communicate a warm welcome. If you're away on a midsummer adventure, we invite you to watch the service online and join us in person next Sunday.Come worship with Hillside Covenant Church LIVE at 10:00 AM both online and in person as Dan Seitz teaches from I Thessalonians 5:12-22.This week's sermon notes are available at: https://u.pcloud.link/publink/show?code=XZJNMW5ZS2nOawuwXiSXoFKvwBNivbLmthmXIf you are new to Hillside and are looking for ways to get connected and build community, visit our website: https://www.hillsidecovenant.org/ We welcome you to Hillside and are so glad you joined us today!To give in support of Hillside Covenant and its ministries follow this link: https://hillsidecovenant.churchcenter.com/givingThe full service from Hillside Covenant Church, Sunday, August 10, 2025.
In this week's podcast we discuss the new California Senate Bill 784 and the impact on the solar industry loans and the consumer protections included.About Jamie Duran & Solar HarmonicsBrought to you by Solar Harmonics in Northern California, who invite their customers to “Own Their Energy” by purchasing a solar panel system for their home, business, or farm. You can check out the website for the top solar energy equipment installer, Solar Harmonics, here.In each episode we discuss questions facing people making the decision to go solar. The solutions to your questions are given to you – straight – by one of the leading experts in the solar industry, Jamie Duran, president of Solar Harmonics.Feel free to search our library for answers to questions that you're facing when considering solar.About Adam Duran & Magnified MediaSolarcast is produced and co-hosted by Adam Duran, director of Magnified Media. With offices in downtown San Francisco & Walnut Creek, California, Magnified Media is a digital marketing agency focused on digital marketing, local and national SEO, website design and lead generation for companies of all sizes.Magnified Media helps company leaders master their marketing by:• getting their website seen at the top of Google rankings, and• getting them more online reviews,• creating media content that engages with each client's target audience.In his spare time, Adam enjoys volunteering on the board of several community-based non-profits and his own weekly podcast Local SEO in 10.
Your Google Business Profile has a powerful section most businesses barely use: the Products and Services feature. In this episode, you'll learn how to turn it into a lead-generating machine.We cover how to write keyword-rich titles and descriptions, link to the right pages, use seasonal updates, and add visuals that get clicks. You'll also hear advanced tips like geo-tagging images, creating service listings for keywords you don't have on your website, and rotating content to stay fresh in Google's eyes.If you want more calls, more visibility, and a competitive edge in local search, this is the episode to listen to.Resources Mentioned in this Episode:CanvaAbout Adam Duran, Local SEO ExpertLocal SEO in 10 is helmed by Local SEO expert Adam Duran, director of Magnified Media. With offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles & Walnut Creek, California, Magnified Media is a digital marketing agency focused on local SEO for businesses, marketing strategy, national SEO, website design and qualified customer lead generation for companies of all sizes.Magnified Media helps companies take control of their marketing by:• getting their website seen at the top of Google rankings,• getting them more online reviews, and• creating media content that immediately engages with their audience.Adam enjoys volunteering with several community-based non-profits, hiking and BJJ in his spare time.About Jamie Duran, host of Local SEO in 10Local business owner Jamie Duran is the owner of Solar Harmonics, Northern California's top-rated solar company, which invites its customers to “Own Their Energy” by purchasing a solar panel system for their home, business, or farm. You can check out the website for the top solar energy equipment installer, Solar Harmonics, here. Jamie also is the creator and panel expert of Straight-Talk Solar Cast, the world's first podcast focused on answering the questions faced by anyone considering going solar.Thanks for joining us this week! Want to subscribe to Local SEO in 10? Connect with us on iTunes and leave us a review.Have a question about Local SEO? Chances are we've covered it! Go to our podcast website and check out our search feature.
In this week's podcast we discuss the trend in California to eliminate natural gas from homes, and especially eliminating natural gas ovens & stoves.About Jamie Duran & Solar HarmonicsBrought to you by Solar Harmonics in Northern California, who invite their customers to “Own Their Energy” by purchasing a solar panel system for their home, business, or farm. You can check out the website for the top solar energy equipment installer, Solar Harmonics, here.In each episode we discuss questions facing people making the decision to go solar. The solutions to your questions are given to you – straight – by one of the leading experts in the solar industry, Jamie Duran, president of Solar Harmonics.Feel free to search our library for answers to questions that you're facing when considering solar.About Adam Duran & Magnified MediaSolarcast is produced and co-hosted by Adam Duran, director of Magnified Media. With offices in downtown San Francisco & Walnut Creek, California, Magnified Media is a digital marketing agency focused on digital marketing, local and national SEO, website design and lead generation for companies of all sizes.Magnified Media helps company leaders master their marketing by:• getting their website seen at the top of Google rankings, and• getting them more online reviews,• creating media content that engages with each client's target audience.In his spare time, Adam enjoys volunteering on the board of several community-based non-profits and his own weekly podcast Local SEO in 10.
Think posting a few random photos to your Google Business Profile is enough? Think again.In this episode, we walk through advanced photo and video strategies that help your business stand out in search and drive more calls. You'll learn what types of visuals to post, how often to update them, and pro-level tips like using EXIF data, adding logo and service overlays, and filming short videos that build trust fast.These are the same strategies we use with top-performing local businesses. If you want better visibility, more engagement, and more leads - this is the episode to listen to.Resources Mentioned in this Episode:CanvaAbout Adam Duran, Local SEO ExpertLocal SEO in 10 is helmed by Local SEO expert Adam Duran, director of Magnified Media. With offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles & Walnut Creek, California, Magnified Media is a digital marketing agency focused on local SEO for businesses, marketing strategy, national SEO, website design and qualified customer lead generation for companies of all sizes.Magnified Media helps companies take control of their marketing by:• getting their website seen at the top of Google rankings,• getting them more online reviews, and• creating media content that immediately engages with their audience.Adam enjoys volunteering with several community-based non-profits, hiking and BJJ in his spare time.About Jamie Duran, host of Local SEO in 10Local business owner Jamie Duran is the owner of Solar Harmonics, Northern California's top-rated solar company, which invites its customers to “Own Their Energy” by purchasing a solar panel system for their home, business, or farm. You can check out the website for the top solar energy equipment installer, Solar Harmonics, here. Jamie also is the creator and panel expert of Straight-Talk Solar Cast, the world's first podcast focused on answering the questions faced by anyone considering going solar.Thanks for joining us this week! Want to subscribe to Local SEO in 10? Connect with us on iTunes and leave us a review.Have a question about Local SEO? Chances are we've covered it! Go to our podcast website and check out our search feature.
Hello Hillside! I (Dan) invite you to church this Sunday morning at 10:00. You will find your church family in two places, our beautiful, park-like, retreat center-esque main Hillside campus at 2060 Magnolia Way, and in leafy green Civic Park in the heart of Walnut Creek. Both gatherings will feature musical praise, info about upcoming events, and a message from an exciting passage in I Thessalonians, the focus of our “Grace 180” message series. Who knows what the living Lord will do in these twin gatherings of the Hillside family, apart geographically but united in one “making disciples” mission. Consider texting a Hillside friend you haven't seen for a while and inviting him/her to join you for church. If you're out of town, enjoy your journey and we'll see you back on the hill for the Communion service next Sunday.Come worship with Hillside Covenant Church LIVE at 10:00 AM both online and in person as Dan Seitz teaches from I Thessalonians 5:1-6.This week's sermon notes are available at: https://u.pcloud.link/publink/show?code=XZ8ub25ZemjzMLBx6qQFzhm6XLPYJQX3mj0XIf you are new to Hillside and are looking for ways to get connected and build community, visit our website: https://www.hillsidecovenant.org/ We welcome you to Hillside and are so glad you joined us today!To give in support of Hillside Covenant and its ministries follow this link: https://hillsidecovenant.churchcenter.com/givingThe sermon from Hillside Covenant Church, Sunday, July 27, 2025.
Hello Hillside! I (Dan) invite you to church this Sunday morning at 10:00. You will find your church family in two places, our beautiful, park-like, retreat center-esque main Hillside campus at 2060 Magnolia Way, and in leafy green Civic Park in the heart of Walnut Creek. Both gatherings will feature musical praise, info about upcoming events, and a message from an exciting passage in I Thessalonians, the focus of our “Grace 180” message series. Who knows what the living Lord will do in these twin gatherings of the Hillside family, apart geographically but united in one “making disciples” mission. Consider texting a Hillside friend you haven't seen for a while and inviting him/her to join you for church. If you're out of town, enjoy your journey and we'll see you back on the hill for the Communion service next Sunday.Come worship with Hillside Covenant Church LIVE at 10:00 AM both online and in person as Dan Seitz teaches from I Thessalonians 5:1-6.This week's sermon notes are available at: https://u.pcloud.link/publink/show?code=XZ8ub25ZemjzMLBx6qQFzhm6XLPYJQX3mj0XIf you are new to Hillside and are looking for ways to get connected and build community, visit our website: https://www.hillsidecovenant.org/ We welcome you to Hillside and are so glad you joined us today!To give in support of Hillside Covenant and its ministries follow this link: https://hillsidecovenant.churchcenter.com/givingThe full service from Hillside Covenant Church, Sunday, July 27, 2025.
In this week's podcast we discuss the opportunity to start mining Bitcoin with excess solar production. We discuss how to get started and when to know if it makes sense to investigate generating your own Bitcoin.About Jamie Duran & Solar HarmonicsBrought to you by Solar Harmonics in Northern California, who invite their customers to “Own Their Energy” by purchasing a solar panel system for their home, business, or farm. You can check out the website for the top solar energy equipment installer, Solar Harmonics, here.In each episode we discuss questions facing people making the decision to go solar. The solutions to your questions are given to you – straight – by one of the leading experts in the solar industry, Jamie Duran, president of Solar Harmonics.Feel free to search our library for answers to questions that you're facing when considering solar.About Adam Duran & Magnified MediaSolarcast is produced and co-hosted by Adam Duran, director of Magnified Media. With offices in downtown San Francisco & Walnut Creek, California, Magnified Media is a digital marketing agency focused on digital marketing, local and national SEO, website design and lead generation for companies of all sizes.Magnified Media helps company leaders master their marketing by:• getting their website seen at the top of Google rankings, and• getting them more online reviews,• creating media content that engages with each client's target audience.In his spare time, Adam enjoys volunteering on the board of several community-based non-profits and his own weekly podcast Local SEO in 10.
If you're a plumber looking to grow your business, being visible online is one of the most important things you can do. In this episode we walk through our proven local SEO playbook designed to bring in more calls, more bookings, and more real leads.You'll learn practical steps to get your plumbing company found by local customers. We cover the right way to set up your Google Business Profile, how to create pages for the cities you serve, and which tools can help you track what's working.Whether you're just starting or want to take your business to the next level, this episode gives you clear, simple actions that can lead to real growth.Resources Mentioned in this Episode:City Pages Are Hurting Your Business—Let's Fix emAvoid SEO Scams: A Checklist for Local Business Owners About Adam Duran, Local SEO ExpertLocal SEO in 10 is helmed by Local SEO expert Adam Duran, director of Magnified Media. With offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles & Walnut Creek, California, Magnified Media is a digital marketing agency focused on local SEO for businesses, marketing strategy, national SEO, website design and qualified customer lead generation for companies of all sizes.Magnified Media helps companies take control of their marketing by:• getting their website seen at the top of Google rankings,• getting them more online reviews, and• creating media content that immediately engages with their audience.Adam enjoys volunteering with several community-based non-profits, hiking and BJJ in his spare time.About Jamie Duran, host of Local SEO in 10Local business owner Jamie Duran is the owner of Solar Harmonics, Northern California's top-rated solar company, which invites its customers to “Own Their Energy” by purchasing a solar panel system for their home, business, or farm. You can check out the website for the top solar energy equipment installer, Solar Harmonics, here. Jamie also is the creator and panel expert of Straight-Talk Solar Cast, the world's first podcast focused on answering the questions faced by anyone considering going solar.Thanks for joining us this week! Want to subscribe to Local SEO in 10? Connect with us on iTunes and leave us a review.Have a question about Local SEO? Chances are we've covered it! Go to our podcast website and check out our search feature.
Is your career site delivering the conversion you need? Dalia's plug-and-play tech turns any employer career site into a high-performance candidate conversion engine — no replatforming required, live in days.Visit dalia.co to learn more. AND by jobcase, Jobcase is an online community where workers of all kinds – like hourly employees, tradespeople and healthcare technicians – access jobs, make connections, and support each other in any aspect of their work life.Visit jobcase.com/hire and tap into their 120 million strong job seeker network First up…1848 Ventures, an AI-first venture studio building SaaS solutions for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in the US, today announced it has led a $3 million seed funding round for Propel People, a mobile-first hiring platform built to help contractors hire skilled tradespeople faster. Propel People has also appointed industry veteran Dexter Bachelder as CEO, bringing deep expertise in construction tech and go-to-market execution to the growing company. https://hrtechfeed.com/1848-ventures-leads-3m-seed-round-for-propel-people/ WALNUT CREEK, Calif.—-BetterComp, a leading provider of compensation management software, today announced its $33M Series A funding round, led by Ten Coves Capital. The investment will fuel BetterComp's continued growth and innovation, enhance its AI-powered market pricing and pay recommendation capabilities, expand into new product adjacencies, and scale operations to better serve a rapidly growing global customer base. https://hrtechfeed.com/compensation-management-software-lands-33m-in-funding/ RICHMOND, Va — goHappy, the leading provider of innovative frontline employee engagement tools, today announced it has received a significant growth investment from Pamlico Capital, a private equity firm focused on high-growth technology and services businesses. The investment amount which was not mentioned… will support goHappy's next phase of growth as it continues to pursue its vision of helping employers drive stronger business outcomes through better engagement of their frontline teams. https://hrtechfeed.com/employee-engagement-tool-announces-investment/ Ashby, a rapidly growing company, has announced a successful $50 million Series D funding round. The investment was led by Mark McLaughlin at Alkeon, with co-lead support from existing investor Lachy Groom, and participation from F-Prime, Elad Gil, Gaingels, and other new and returning backers. https://hrtechfeed.com/ashby-raises-50-million-series-d/ SAN FRANCISCO—-CandorIQ, the AI-powered platform transforming how organizations plan and manage people spend, today announced a $4.8 million seed funding round led by Array Ventures, with participation from Y Combinator, CRV, and Switch Ventures. The funding will be used to grow CandorIQ's engineering and go-to-market teams, accelerate product development, and expand the platform's AI capabilities across compensation and workforce planning workflows. https://hrtechfeed.com/workforce-planning-tool-lands-4-8m/ The highly anticipated Monster/CareerBuilder auction has concluded, and the winning bidder is not JobGet, as some might have expected. Instead, BOLD Holdings emerged victorious with a staggering final bid of $28.4 million! Jobget emerged as the backup with a bid of $27 million. https://hrtechfeed.com/bold-holdings-snags-monster-careerbuilder-auction-for-28-4-million/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this episode of Exploring the National Parks, we're spotlighting a gem that's easy to miss: Walnut Canyon National Monument. We're here to tell you why you should definitely add this spot to your itinerary, especially if you're cruising between the Grand Canyon and Petrified Forest. It's small, it's packed with history, and it's got some seriously cool cliff dwellings! Join us as we discuss… Why this small park is the perfect pit stop for a dose of ancient history The epic 60-million-year story of how Walnut Creek carved this canyon (Spoiler: it involves a lot of time and a little bit of water) Who the Sinagua people were and why they're different from other ancestral Puebloans in the Southwest What you can do in this small but mighty park Why this monument has opening and closing hours (it's not just to be annoying, we promise!) We hope you're ready to add Walnut Canyon to your must-see list! It's an incredible place to experience a piece of Native American history up close. So, hit the island trail, soak in the views, and as always, get some dirt in your shoes! Head over to the Dirt In My Shoes Facebook and Instagram page for more travel planning and ideas!! For a full summary of this episode, links to things we mentioned, and free resources and deals to get your trip-planning started, check out the full show notes. .................................... Are you hoping for an epic and stress-free national park trip? Check out these FREE resources to make trip planning a breeze! Master Reservation List – learn about the camping, lodging, and activity reservations required for every park. National Parks By Month List – see the best parks to visit during every month of the year. National Parks Checklist – track where you've been and where you still need to go. National Parks Packing List – pack the essentials to be confident and prepared as you explore the parks. And for more information about Grand Canyon or Petrified Forest, check out our Grand Canyon Podcast Episodes and Petrified Forest Podcast Episodes! ....................................
In this week's podcast we discuss some of the positive outcomes of the OBBB towards the Solar Industry.About Jamie Duran & Solar HarmonicsBrought to you by Solar Harmonics in Northern California, who invite their customers to “Own Their Energy” by purchasing a solar panel system for their home, business, or farm. You can check out the website for the top solar energy equipment installer, Solar Harmonics, here.In each episode we discuss questions facing people making the decision to go solar. The solutions to your questions are given to you – straight – by one of the leading experts in the solar industry, Jamie Duran, president of Solar Harmonics.Feel free to search our library for answers to questions that you're facing when considering solar.About Adam Duran & Magnified MediaSolarcast is produced and co-hosted by Adam Duran, director of Magnified Media. With offices in downtown San Francisco & Walnut Creek, California, Magnified Media is a digital marketing agency focused on digital marketing, local and national SEO, website design and lead generation for companies of all sizes.Magnified Media helps company leaders master their marketing by:• getting their website seen at the top of Google rankings, and• getting them more online reviews,• creating media content that engages with each client's target audience.In his spare time, Adam enjoys volunteering on the board of several community-based non-profits and his own weekly podcast Local SEO in 10.
In this episode of Absolute Trust Talk, California estate planning attorney Kirsten Howe examines the explosive trust dispute erupting over Jimmy Buffett's $275 million estate. When the legendary Margaritaville songwriter passed away, he left his fortune in an irrevocable trust with his widow Jane Buffett and co-trustee Richard Mozenter managing the assets together. Now they're locked in competing estate litigation across Florida and California, each seeking to remove the other as trustee through costly court battles. This high-profile celebrity estate case illustrates why co-trustees in estate planning often create more problems than solutions. Walnut Creek estate planning attorney Kirsten analyzes how a quarter-billion-dollar trust generating only $2 million annually raises serious trust performance red flags and reveals why 25% of estate planning clients make this same dangerous trustee selection mistake. The key estate planning lesson: co-trustees must agree on every trust administration decision, and when trustee disagreements arise, expensive estate litigation almost always becomes inevitable. Time-stamped Show Notes: 0:00 Introduction 0:52 Jimmy Buffett left his $275 million estate in a trust managed by his wife Jane and co-trustee Richard Mozenter, but they're now locked in bitter legal warfare. 1:30 Legal battle erupts across two states as Richard sues Jane in Florida, claiming she's uncooperative, while Jane countersues in California, alleging he withholds financial information. 3:10 Why is a $275 million trust only generating $2 million annually for Jane, and can this income sustain the wealthy lifestyle she's maintained for decades? 4:35 Learn why co-trustees create inevitable disaster when two people must agree on every decision, and disagreements force expensive court intervention. 5:15 The simple solution that prevents family warfare - choose one trusted person instead of co-trustees to avoid years of costly litigation.
In this week's podcast we continue to document the dismantling of the solar industry and what the approval of the #OBBB mean for existing and future solar customers.About Jamie Duran & Solar HarmonicsBrought to you by Solar Harmonics in Northern California, who invite their customers to “Own Their Energy” by purchasing a solar panel system for their home, business, or farm. You can check out the website for the top solar energy equipment installer, Solar Harmonics, here.In each episode we discuss questions facing people making the decision to go solar. The solutions to your questions are given to you – straight – by one of the leading experts in the solar industry, Jamie Duran, president of Solar Harmonics.Feel free to search our library for answers to questions that you're facing when considering solar.About Adam Duran & Magnified MediaSolarcast is produced and co-hosted by Adam Duran, director of Magnified Media. With offices in downtown San Francisco & Walnut Creek, California, Magnified Media is a digital marketing agency focused on digital marketing, local and national SEO, website design and lead generation for companies of all sizes.Magnified Media helps company leaders master their marketing by:• getting their website seen at the top of Google rankings, and• getting them more online reviews,• creating media content that engages with each client's target audience.In his spare time, Adam enjoys volunteering on the board of several community-based non-profits and his own weekly podcast Local SEO in 10.
What if everything you're doing for local SEO is just… noise?In 2025, Google is clearer than ever about what matters most when ranking local businesses - and most companies still miss the mark. In this episode, we break down the 5 most important local SEO ranking factors backed by real data, and give you one powerful tip to boost each one.But that's not all.We'll also reveal a bonus strategy that turns your service area into a lead-generating flywheel - one your competitors likely haven't even heard of yet.If you want real local visibility that compounds over time, this is your roadmap.Resources Mentioned in this Episode:What Is Schema? Why Your Website Needs ItSolving Business SEO: Tackling the #1 Problem with SchemaAbout Adam Duran, Local SEO ExpertLocal SEO in 10 is helmed by Local SEO expert Adam Duran, director of Magnified Media. With offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles & Walnut Creek, California, Magnified Media is a digital marketing agency focused on local SEO for businesses, marketing strategy, national SEO, website design and qualified customer lead generation for companies of all sizes.Magnified Media helps companies take control of their marketing by:• getting their website seen at the top of Google rankings,• getting them more online reviews, and• creating media content that immediately engages with their audience.Adam enjoys volunteering with several community-based non-profits, hiking and BJJ in his spare time.About Jamie Duran, host of Local SEO in 10Local business owner Jamie Duran is the owner of Solar Harmonics, Northern California's top-rated solar company, which invites its customers to “Own Their Energy” by purchasing a solar panel system for their home, business, or farm. You can check out the website for the top solar energy equipment installer, Solar Harmonics, here. Jamie also is the creator and panel expert of Straight-Talk Solar Cast, the world's first podcast focused on answering the questions faced by anyone considering going solar.Thanks for joining us this week! Want to subscribe to Local SEO in 10? Connect with us on iTunes and leave us a review.Have a question about Local SEO? Chances are we've covered it! Go to our podcast website and check out our search feature.
Jacob & Maggie went for drinks and appetizers in Walnut Creek. They were only supposed to have drinks, but things were going so well...they ordered food. But now she has ghosted.
Jacob & Maggie went for drinks and appetizers in Walnut Creek. They were only supposed to have drinks, but things were going so well...they ordered food. But now she has ghosted.
In this week's podcast we discuss the latest updates to the #OBBB and the effects of these changes. We also briefly discuss ChatGPT and how it recommends the best solar companies local to clients.About Jamie Duran & Solar HarmonicsBrought to you by Solar Harmonics in Northern California, who invite their customers to “Own Their Energy” by purchasing a solar panel system for their home, business, or farm. You can check out the website for the top solar energy equipment installer, Solar Harmonics, here.In each episode we discuss questions facing people making the decision to go solar. The solutions to your questions are given to you – straight – by one of the leading experts in the solar industry, Jamie Duran, president of Solar Harmonics.Feel free to search our library for answers to questions that you're facing when considering solar.About Adam Duran & Magnified MediaSolarcast is produced and co-hosted by Adam Duran, director of Magnified Media. With offices in downtown San Francisco & Walnut Creek, California, Magnified Media is a digital marketing agency focused on digital marketing, local and national SEO, website design and lead generation for companies of all sizes.Magnified Media helps company leaders master their marketing by:• getting their website seen at the top of Google rankings, and• getting them more online reviews,• creating media content that engages with each client's target audience.In his spare time, Adam enjoys volunteering on the board of several community-based non-profits and his own weekly podcast Local SEO in 10.
In this week's podcast we discuss the Senate's revisions on the #BBB and the impact on the solar industry going forward. Next up is the House approval.About Jamie Duran & Solar HarmonicsBrought to you by Solar Harmonics in Northern California, who invite their customers to “Own Their Energy” by purchasing a solar panel system for their home, business, or farm. You can check out the website for the top solar energy equipment installer, Solar Harmonics, here.In each episode we discuss questions facing people making the decision to go solar. The solutions to your questions are given to you – straight – by one of the leading experts in the solar industry, Jamie Duran, president of Solar Harmonics.Feel free to search our library for answers to questions that you're facing when considering solar.About Adam Duran & Magnified MediaSolarcast is produced and co-hosted by Adam Duran, director of Magnified Media. With offices in downtown San Francisco & Walnut Creek, California, Magnified Media is a digital marketing agency focused on digital marketing, local and national SEO, website design and lead generation for companies of all sizes.Magnified Media helps company leaders master their marketing by:• getting their website seen at the top of Google rankings, and• getting them more online reviews,• creating media content that engages with each client's target audience.In his spare time, Adam enjoys volunteering on the board of several community-based non-profits and his own weekly podcast Local SEO in 10.
As part of Youth Takeover Week at KQED The Bay and Bay Curious have teamed up to collaborate with four high school students who live in San Pablo, Fremont, Walnut Creek and San Jose. For several months, these teenagers — two juniors and two seniors — have shared what's going on in their lives, what's got them worried, what's making them excited and what they're passionate about. Additional Resources Read the transcript for this episode Check out more from Youth Takeover Sign up for our newsletter Enter our Sierra Nevada Brewing Company monthly trivia contest Got a question you want answered? Ask! Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts This episode was produced by Alan Montecillo, Jessica Kariisa, Ericka Cruz Guevarra and Katrina Schwartz. Bay Curious is made by Katrina Schwartz, Gabriela Glueck and Christopher Beale. Additional support from Mel Velasquez, Kyana Moghadam, Olivia Allen-Price, Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad, Alana Walker, Holly Kernan and everyone on Team KQED.