Podcasts about Walrus

Have you ever felt like you should be further along, more certain, or better at something by now? Sometimes the pressure to have it figured out doesn't come from what we actually want—it comes from a story about who we think we're supposed to be. In this conversation, Danielle sits down with therapist, minister, speaker, and founder of Owens Counseling and Consulting, Rev. Hazel Owens, MDiv., LMFT, to talk about what happens when we stop treating expertise like a finish line. Together, they explore perfectionism, curiosity, fear, alignment, authenticity, and the surprising freedom of becoming a beginner again. Hazel shares why she intentionally remains a student of her work, how she decides which opportunities actually belong to her, and why she's learned to turn every anxious "what if?" into an "even if." This is a conversation about owning what you know without pretending you know everything—and learning to recognize when the person you're trying hardest not to disappoint is costing you your relationship with yourself. In This Episode Why becoming more experienced doesn't have to mean becoming more certain—and how staying curious can make us better at what we do. How perfectionism can become an attempt to outrun rejection, abandonment, or the fear that we aren't enough. Why Hazel asks "Who said that?" whenever she hears herself—or a client—say, "I should be…" How to distinguish a genuinely good opportunity from something that is actually aligned with you. Why turning "What if?" into "Even if…" can help you move toward something meaningful without waiting for fear to disappear. Hazel describes her commitment to remaining a student throughout her career and the openness it has created in her work and opportunities. Three Things to Take With You 1. A good thing doesn't have to be your thing. Hazel has learned to ask whether an opportunity is actually aligned with who she is and the mission of her life—not simply whether it looks impressive from the outside. Because when something isn't aligned, she notices herself beginning to perform rather than genuinely show up. And as Hazel puts it: "Just because it's a good thing doesn't mean it's my thing." You added something I love just as much: some of the best things in your life haven't required you to convince yourself that you wanted them. Sometimes all that internal persuading is information. 2. Pay attention to the word "should." When Hazel hears: I should be further along. I should be doing this. I should have figured this out. Her response is: "To who? Who said that?" Because sometimes the standard we're working so hard to meet doesn't actually belong to us. And trying to earn belonging by meeting somebody else's expectations can quietly become a form of self-betrayal. 3. You don't have to eliminate fear before you move. Before Hazel left a career she loved and returned to school, she had plenty of fears and what ifs. Instead of waiting for those fears to disappear, she began answering them: What if I don't have enough money? Even if I don't have enough money… Eventually, she asked herself an even bigger question: "If I removed every single fear—if every fear was gone—would I still do this?" The answer helped her separate what she wanted from what she was afraid of.   Any time I find myself or even one of my clients say, 'Well, I should be,' my question is always, 'To who? Who said that?'" — Hazel Owens   Pull-Over-the-Car Insight In trying so hard to avoid someone else rejecting or abandoning us, we can end up abandoning ourselves. That connection emerges when you recognize that the perfectionistic part of you may be trying to "outrun or prevent abandonment," and Hazel connects it to the ways we align ourselves with expectations that put us at risk of our own self-betrayal.   The Heart of This Conversation Maybe becoming really good at something doesn't mean you finally arrive at a place where there is nothing left to learn. Maybe expertise and curiosity can sit beside each other. You can own your experience. You can say, "I know something about this." And still leave room for another person to teach you something, for an experience to challenge what you thought you understood, for your faith or perspective to deepen or change—or simply for the possibility that there is more here to learn. And perhaps the people who help us most aren't always the people who convince us to trust them. Sometimes they're the people who create enough safety, curiosity, and space that we can finally hear ourselves more clearly. And maybe we leave trusting ourselves a little bit more. A Note From Danielle One of my favorite things about Hazel is that she knows things—and she owns what she knows—without behaving as though knowing something means she's finished learning. She describes herself as "a student of the work that I am becoming an expert in." That feels increasingly rare in a world that rewards certainty, hot takes, expertise, and having an answer ready before the question has finished being asked. Maybe we don't have to choose between confidence and curiosity. Maybe we can become more skilled, more experienced, and more grounded in what we know while still making room to fumble, play, change our minds, and become beginners again. As Hazel says, the last thing she wants is to feel like she has fully arrived. My response? "Yes, because then you're done." Always becoming. About Rev. Hazel Owens, MDiv., LMFT Rev. Hazel Owens is a licensed marriage and family therapist, licensed and ordained minister, speaker, and founder of Owens Counseling and Consulting. Her work includes emotional safety, relationships, faith and mental health, culturally responsive care, and helping people build trust and connection. Hazel also serves as a clinical supervisor for practicum interns at Christian Theological Seminary, the same therapy program where she once trained as a student—a role she says continually gives her opportunities to learn again herself. Connect with Rev. Hazel Owens, MDiv., LMFT Learn more about Hazel's work in therapy, speaking, emotional safety, relationships, faith and mental health: Website: https://www.hazelowens.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_hazelowens/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hazel-owens-mdiv-lmft-04ab2546/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HazelOwens About Don't Cut Your Own Bangs Don't Cut Your Own Bangs is a therapy-informed podcast for high-functioning humans with big feelings who want to understand themselves a little better—without turning self-improvement into another full-time job. Hosted by therapist, speaker, and storyteller Danielle Ireland, conversations blend emotional insight, storytelling, curiosity, and practical shifts designed to help you feel it, understand it, and do something different. Listen + Connect Website: https://danielleireland.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DontCutYourOwnBangs Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dontcutyourownbangs The Treasured Journal: https://danielleireland.com/journal Wrestling a Walrus: https://danielleireland.com/wrestling-a-walrus Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0VFZulonTvaa2HIPyJa4Tq Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dont-cut-your-own-bangs/id1427579922 20-Second Spotify / Apple CTA If something in this conversation made you think of someone who is learning, growing, figuring out what they know—or maybe needs a little permission not to have everything figured out yet—send this episode their way. And if Don't Cut Your Own Bangs has become a place that helps you understand yourself a little better, follow the show and leave a rating or review. It helps more high-functioning humans with big feelings find us.

AI isn't just changing how we use software, it's changing who software is built for.In this episode of Lessons in Product Management, John Fontenot sits down with Kimberly Logan, Head of Product at the Walrus Foundation and former Google leader, to explore the evolution of product leadership and what happens as AI agents increasingly become users of software themselves.Kim shares lessons from her transition from technical program management into product leadership, including the shift from focusing on execution and the “how” to owning the “what” and “why.” They also discuss product-market fit, building better customer feedback loops, prioritizing under resource constraints, and how AI can make strong product managers even more effective.Then the conversation turns toward the emerging infrastructure of an agentic world: persistent AI memory, data ownership, portability between AI systems, verifiability, and the trust problems that arise when agents begin operating across organizational boundaries.What does product management look like when intelligence becomes cheap, but trust becomes increasingly valuable? That's the question at the center of this conversation.Outline:00:00 — Introduction & Kimberly Logan's background 01:29 — From Technical Program Manager to Product Leader 05:15 — Making the transition into Product Management 07:10 — Skills aspiring PMs should develop 09:40 — AI as a force multiplier for Product Managers 10:35 — Is AI a tool or a fundamental technological shift? 12:31 — What happens when AI agents become the users?13:58 — What is Walrus?15:26 — Why your data becomes more valuable in the AI era 17:40 — Portable, programmable & verifiable data18:44 — Solving AI platform risk with portable memory 20:47 — Verifiable AI memory21:50 — Where AI memory is being used today24:44 — Finding real Product-Market Fit 26:18 — How do you prioritize with limited resources? 28:32 — Ruthless prioritization & product trade-offs 30:16 — Where AI goes next 31:45 — The cross-company trust problem for AI agents

Have you ever realized something in your life isn't working anymore—and then immediately felt overwhelmed by everything you'd have to change to make it better? Maybe you finally recognize how exhausted you are, how much you've been carrying, or a pattern in your work, relationships, or family that you can't unsee. And almost immediately, awareness becomes an assignment: Okay. So how do I fix all of this? But your inability to overhaul your entire life overnight isn't evidence that you can't change. In this final episode of Supporting Others Without Losing Yourself, therapist and speaker Danielle Ireland explores what actually happens after you recognize a pattern—and why knowing better doesn't mean a different response will immediately become available in real time. Using the image of a train already moving at full speed, Danielle explains why patterns reinforced over years need more than one breakthrough to change. Awareness isn't nothing. Awareness is the first pump of the brakes. We'll also explore what can happen when you've become so practiced at being useful to everyone else that you've lost touch with what you actually want—and a simple three-sentence practice for beginning to include yourself again: I feel. I need. I will. Not a complete reinvention. One degree. Because self-trust grows every time you hear yourself and respond. In This Episode Why recognizing a pattern doesn't mean you should already know how to change it How years of practice, relationships, and reinforcement create emotional momentum Why awareness can be understood as pumping the brakes, rather than failing to change fast enough What can happen when caring for everyone else disconnects you from your own wants and needs How to use "I feel → I need → I will" to make one small response that includes you Three Things to Take With You 1. Awareness doesn't need to immediately become an assignment. There is a difference between intellectually knowing something and having practiced a new response enough that it becomes available when you actually need it. Recognizing "Oh, I do this" matters—even if you do it again tomorrow. You cannot change a pattern you cannot see. Recognition is already part of the change. 2. You may need to remember what you want. If you've spent years becoming exceptionally good at being useful, responsible, accommodating, or aware of everyone else's needs, "What do I want?" can be surprisingly difficult to answer. The goal isn't to immediately make your ideal day happen. As Danielle says in the episode: "The point is not execution. The point is access." You're practicing having a desire before asking whether it's practical. 3. Make the change one degree smaller. Instead of asking yourself to reinvent your life, try: I feel: What is happening inside me? I need: What might this feeling be pointing toward? I will: What is one thing within my control that responds to what I just learned? Fifteen minutes of rest doesn't solve exhaustion. Five minutes alone in your car doesn't solve an overloaded life. That isn't the point. The important thing is: I noticed myself, and I responded. "Your needs don't have to win every time or make somebody lose, but they always deserve to be represented—especially by you." The Heart of This Conversation You don't have to change your whole life today. There is time and history behind the person you are now. Understanding why a pattern exists doesn't mean you have to stay there—it gives you the opportunity to respond from understanding and clarity rather than punishment. Maybe today's change is five minutes. Maybe it's one boundary. Maybe it's saying what you need even if someone else doesn't particularly like it. Maybe it's simply noticing: Oh. I'm doing that thing again. And instead of turning that recognition into evidence that you should know better, you pump the brakes. One degree at a time. A Gentle Reflection Think of one pattern you already know you want to change. Instead of asking: "Why am I still doing this?" Try: What am I feeling? What do I need? What is one thing I will do in response? Not the thing that fixes everything. The thing that lets you know: I heard myself. A Note From Danielle This three-part series grew directly out of my keynote and workshop Supporting Others Without Losing Yourself. It's a conversation I love bringing to companies, conferences, professional associations, women's groups, helping professionals, and therapists because the goal isn't to teach people to care less. It's to help people continue caring deeply without disappearing from their own lives in the process. That's the through-line Danielle names in the episode's speaking invitation and closing. If your people need this conversation, I'd love to bring it to them. Speaking inquiries: danielle@danielleireland.com About Don't Cut Your Own Bangs Don't Cut Your Own Bangs is the podcast for high-functioning humans with big feelings who want to understand themselves a little better—without turning self-improvement into another exhausting full-time job. Hosted by therapist, speaker, and storyteller Danielle Ireland, MSW, LCSW, each episode offers emotionally intelligent conversations, practical tools, and a little more room to feel → understand → do something different. Listen + Connect Website: https://danielleireland.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DontCutYourOwnBangs Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dontcutyourownbangs The Treasured Journal: https://danielleireland.com/journal Wrestling a Walrus: https://danielleireland.com/wrestling-a-walrus Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0VFZulonTvaa2HIPyJa4Tq Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dont-cut-your-own-bangs/id1427579922 Before You Go If this series helped you recognize something you've been carrying, follow Don't Cut Your Own Bangs wherever you're listening. And if someone came to mind while you were listening—someone who cares deeply and might be carrying a little too much—send this episode their way. Every follow, review, and share helps these conversations find the people who might need them.

Adam is off to Forest Hill in south London for the Horniman Museum and Gardens, and the curious tale of a very overstuffed walrus...The walrus arrived in London in Victorian times, and the story goes that the taxidermist who prepared it had never seen a live one, so he filled out every last wrinkle until it ended up smooth, round and enormous. It has been a south London favourite ever since. There is far more to the Horniman than the walrus though. The World Gallery is packed with objects from across the globe, there is a famous collection of musical instruments, an aquarium and a butterfly house, an Animal Walk that opens in the afternoons, and sixteen acres of gardens with a view right across London.One thing to know before you go: the Natural History Gallery is closed while it is redeveloped, and the walrus is off display until it reopens, currently expected in early 2027. The museum and gardens are free to visit, and the aquarium and butterfly house are ticketed.Find out more by searching for the Horniman Museum and Gardens.Join Fun Kids Podcasts+: https://funkidslive.com/plusSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Vol. 19 of Story Time, featuring an author reading aloud from his/her/their work. In this episode, Ben Loory reads two stories. The first story is called 'The Poet,' from his debut collection entitled Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day. And the second story is called 'The Squid Who Fell in Love with the Sun,' from his second collection, Tales of Falling and Flying. Both books are available from Penguin. Loory's fables and tales have appeared in over 100 magazines and journals, including The New Yorker, Tin House, The Sewanee Review, Electric Literature, BOMB Magazine, TriQuarterly, The Adroit Journal, The Kenyon Review, Fairy Tale Review, Wigleaf, and A Public Space. They have been heard on This American Life, Selected Shorts, and WORDTheatre, and been anthologized in Tiny Nightmares, The New Voices of Fantasy, xo Orpheus: 50 New Myths, andYear's Best Weird Fiction Vol. 5. They have also been adapted to short film, live theater, chamber music, and dance, and been translated into many languages, including Arabic, Farsi, Japanese, Chinese, Turkish, Burmese, and Indonesian. Loory is also the author of a picture book for children, The Baseball Player and the Walrus (Dial Books for Young Readers 2015). He lives and teaches short story writing in Los Angeles. *** ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Otherppl with Brad Listi⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ is a weekly podcast featuring in-depth interviews with today's leading writers. Available where podcasts are available: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, etc. Get ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠How to Write a Novel,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ the debut audio course from DeepDive. 50+ hours of never-before-heard insight, inspiration, and instruction from dozens of today's most celebrated contemporary authors. Subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Brad's email newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Support the show on Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Merch⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email the show: letters [at] otherppl [dot] com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I brani della Fosforo settimanale: Fosforo; Fosforo - Fosforo; Fosforo; Gayance - Liberation Lullaby; Jah Wobble and Tian Qiyi - Tomorrow Never Knows; Baba Zula - Sevsem O¨ldu¨ru¨rler Sevmezsem O¨ldu¨m; Shardik - Orbital Dance; B-52`s - Rock Lobster (Live, Roseland Ballroom, NYC, 04/19/82); Trio Bobo - Bulinka; Lol Coxhill - I Am the Walrus; Spooky Tooth - Feelin` Bad; Ólafur Arnalds - RGB; Adrianne Lenker - anything; Riccardo Tesi - Primo sole; Spooky Tooth with Pierre Henry - Offering Puoi ascoltare le sequenze musicali di Rufus T. Firefly sulla frequenza di Radio Tandem, 98.400FM, o in streaming e anche in podcast.Per info: https://www.radiotandem.it/fosforo

Animal rescuer Reece "The Walrus" Withers chats to Denis about all things animal rescuing.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What do you do when you know something isn't right, but you have absolutely no idea what you want instead? That uncomfortable middle can make self-awareness feel almost dangerous. Because if you admit the job, relationship, routine, business, or version of your life isn't working anymore…does that mean you immediately have to change everything? In this episode of Don't Cut Your Own Bangs, I'm reunited with Kate DeBont six years after her first appearance on the podcast. And a lot of life has happened in between. Kate has left coaching, returned to corporate life, changed jobs, moved through the end of a marriage, found love again, and eventually built work that feels far more like her. But what I love most about her story is that none of it happened in one giant leap. She spent years collecting information. I like this. I don't like that. This doesn't feel like me. This part does. And over time, those little pieces began to point somewhere. We talk about why knowing what you don't want is useful even when it doesn't immediately tell you what you do want, how emotions can become information instead of evidence that something is wrong with you, and why recognizing the truth of how you feel does not mean you have to act on it in that exact moment. Because sometimes two things are true: This isn't where I want to stay. and This is what I need right now. Kate's story is a conversation about the messy space between recognition and action—and learning to trust "not this" without demanding that you already know "then what." In This Episode We talk about: why self-awareness can feel scary when you think it comes with an immediate assignment the difference between recognizing something isn't right and being ready to change it moving back into corporate work when stability mattered more than preference the quiet fear of "am I failing because I can't make the thing I love work?" why emotions can function like a GPS instead of a verdict finding confidence in "I don't know how yet, but I can figure it out" the difference between hope and toxic positivity Three Things to Take With You 1. You don't need to know what you want next to trust what isn't working now. One of the biggest traps in change is believing you can't acknowledge "this isn't it" until you have a perfectly formed alternative. But knowing what you don't want is still information. It may not hand you the answer, but it can help you stop arguing with what you already know. 2. Recognizing the truth does not require immediate action. Kate knew there were times when corporate work wasn't where she ultimately wanted to be—and she still needed stability, income, and structure for her children. That didn't make her awareness less true. It just meant there were multiple truths to hold at once. 3. The things that don't fit may be helping you figure out what does. Kate didn't build her current work from one lightning-bolt moment of clarity. She built it from accumulated information. What felt wrong. What felt right. What she was good at. What she refused to keep doing. Sometimes the path becomes visible backward before it becomes obvious forward.   The Clip Moment "Does self-awareness mean I'm gonna have to blow everything up?" This is the cold open because it captures the exact fear underneath the episode. If acknowledging that something feels wrong means you believe you're immediately responsible for fixing all of it, of course you might avoid looking too closely. But awareness and action are not the same thing. Knowing the truth of how you feel does not require you to do something about it in that red-hot minute. You can recognize what's true. Stay curious. Gather information. Take your circumstances seriously. And wait until you have more clarity, capacity, or choice before making a move.   The Heart of This Conversation Maybe the goal isn't to figure everything out faster. Maybe it's to become a little more willing to trust the information already coming from your life. The irritation. The relief. The tension. The thing that keeps not sitting right. The thing you keep imagining differently. None of those feelings have to dictate your next move. But they may deserve to be heard. One of the most meaningful moments in this conversation comes when we talk about what happens when discomfort stops meaning: "I must be bad at this." and starts becoming: "This is telling me something." That shift turns emotion from a verdict into information—and gives you a little more room to choose what happens next. A Reflection for This Week Where in your life are you quietly thinking: "I know this isn't it." And what changes if you don't immediately force yourself to answer: "Then what is?" Can you simply notice what feels off? What feels better? What you miss? What brings relief? What you keep trying to convince yourself you should like? You do not have to make a major decision. You're allowed to collect information first.   A Note From Danielle This is one of the conversations I love most because it sits right in the space between emotional recognition and action. In my work as a therapist, speaker, and host, I spend a lot of time helping people put language around experiences they've been carrying for a while without quite knowing what to call them. Sometimes that language is the thing that changes the conversation. Not because it gives you a perfect answer. Because it gives you somewhere more honest to begin. If you're planning a company event, conference, retreat, professional association gathering, or continuing education program and thinking, "My people need more language for this," I'd love to continue the conversation with you. Email: danielle@danielleireland.com About Kate Kate is a life coach whose work has evolved through years of experience across coaching, corporate environments, and major life transitions. Her current approach is rooted in listening, practical support, and helping people make sense of what they're carrying without forcing them into a one-size-fits-all framework. One Clear Path

Dr. Treena Orchard is an author and award-winning professor at Western University. Her work on sexuality, gender, and health sheds new light on human behaviour in the 21st century. She has written for Maclean's, Psychology Today, and The Walrus and been featured in top-tier media like The Social, The National Post, Wired, Global TV, Breakfast TV, The Kit, and Huffpost.  Her memoir Sticky Sexy, Sad: Swipe Culture & The Darker Side of Dating Apps was nominated for Book of the Year & People's Choice by Mindvalley. Treena's next book project Vulnerbro: Men, Masculinity & Vulnerability explores how men cultivate their sense of identity and belonging.In this episode, we explore how stigma shows up in dating apps and swipe culture—and how traditional masculine gender norms affect all of us, including men. Treena reminds us why it's worth taking a chance on perspectives and voices we may not have encountered before: “The more we learn about things we don't know a lot about, the wider our sphere of understanding the world is.”Fun. Affordable. Safe. Inclusive. Not too much to ask from a dating app, right?Join us for a conversation about stigma, gender, dating, and what it might take to create more inclusive ways of connecting.Episode hosted by Dr. Carmen Logie. Supported by funding from the Canada Research Chairs program. Original music and podcast produced by Cozmic Cat, who have various production services available to support your podcast needs.

Send us Fan MailNick Coates writes Alice and the Eggmen, a Substack that digs into the tangled links between The Beatles and Lewis Carroll. Here he takes on Glass Onion, from the White Album, and makes the case that its refrain – 'looking through a glass onion' – is really a nod to Through the Looking-Glass. They get into the song's queasy, unresolved chords and its sly nods to other songs, including John's lifelong obsession with the Walrus.Alice & The Eggmen: https://thealicecode.substack.comAlice Songs: https://alicesongs.substack.comFollow My Favourite Beatles SongBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/myfavebeatles.bsky.socialX (Twitter): https://twitter.com/myfavebeatlesFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/MyFavouriteBeatlesSongInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/myfavouritebeatlessongOriginal music by Joe KaneLogo design by Mark Cunningham

Don Gillmor is the author of To the River, which won the Governor General's Award for nonfiction. He is the author of five novels, Cherry Beach, Breaking and Entering, Long Change, Mount Pleasant, and Kanata; a two-volume history of Canada, Canada: A People's History; and nine books for children, two of which were nominated for the Governor General's Award. He was a senior editor at The Walrus, and his journalism has appeared in Rolling Stone, GQ, Saturday Night, Toronto Life, the Globe and Mail, and the Toronto Star. He has won twelve National Magazine Awards and numerous other honours. He lives in Toronto. His latest book is Cherry Beach, published by Biblioasis in 2026. https://www.biblioasis.com/author/gillmor-don/

Animal rescuer Reece "The Walrus" Withers chats to Denis about all things animal rescuing.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Have you ever noticed how much explaining you do when you really want someone to agree with you? You build the case. Provide the context. Anticipate objections. Maybe you even rehearse the conversation so thoroughly that the other person has already said all of their lines approximately eleven times—and they weren't even there. But underneath all that explaining can be a much more vulnerable hope: If I can get you to understand why I need this, maybe I'll feel safer actually honoring it. In Part 2 of Supporting Others Without Losing Yourself, Danielle explores what happens after you've identified what you're feeling and what you might need—but someone else doesn't understand, agree, or respond the way you hoped they would. Because being understood feels wonderful. Support matters. But there's a difference between wanting someone's support and needing their support before you can support yourself. This episode explores why smart, capable, highly responsible people can be especially vulnerable to outsourcing their permission; how over-explaining can quietly become an attempt to make disagreement impossible; and why someone else's disappointment doesn't automatically mean you've done something wrong. The goal isn't to stop caring what other people think. It's learning how to stay connected to yourself even when someone you love sees things differently. In This Episode, We Talk About Why identifying what you need is different from being willing to honor it How over-explaining can look like healthy communication while actually searching for permission A simple experiment for noticing how your body responds to imagined disapproval Why another person's reaction is information—but doesn't erase the information coming from you The difference between wanting support and requiring agreement How radical responsibility can create healthier interdependence The episode intentionally stays with recognition before action. Danielle closes by asking listeners to notice where they may be explaining, defending, or building a case rather than rushing into a dramatic boundary conversation. Three Things to Take With You 1. Wanting support is different from needing permission. Wanting the people you love to understand you isn't a problem. Neither is wanting encouragement, validation, or support. The question is what happens when you don't get it. Can you still take your own experience seriously? As Danielle puts it: "The goal is noticing when wanting support has quietly been acting as a permission slip." 2. Pay attention to what happens after you've explained yourself clearly. Context isn't the problem. Explaining yourself isn't the problem. But if you've already communicated clearly and find yourself explaining for the fourth time, gathering more evidence, anticipating every objection, or trying to make your need impossible to disagree with, something else may be happening. There's a difference between: "I want you to understand me." and "I need you to agree so I can feel okay." 3. You belong in the equation, too. Someone else's feelings matter. Their needs matter. The relationship matters. Context and responsibilities matter. And so do you. Taking your needs seriously isn't saying everyone else's needs matter less. It's simply refusing to remove yourself from the equation. The Heart of This Episode Maybe self-trust isn't becoming completely certain that you're right. Maybe it's becoming willing to stay connected to yourself when somebody sees things differently. Someone can love you and not understand your decision. Someone can be disappointed and you can still take your experience seriously. Someone can need time to process what you're asking for—and you don't have to spend that time putting yourself back on trial. Pull-Over-the-Car Insight "Someone else's freedom to respond honestly is part of my freedom to ask honestly." When you no longer need the other person's "correct" reaction in order to feel okay, both people get more freedom. You can ask honestly. They can respond honestly. And then you can decide what to do with all of the information in the room. Shareable Quote "There is a difference between, 'I really hope you'll support me,' and, 'I need you to support me before I can support myself.'" Try This This Week Don't start with the biggest boundary you've been avoiding for seven years. Just notice. Where are you explaining beyond the point of understanding? Where are you building a case? Where are you rehearsing objections that haven't happened yet? And underneath all of that: Where am I waiting for someone else's agreement before I allow myself to act on what I already know? Recognition is still movement. Part 3 will take the next step: how to begin changing something when there is already years—or decades—of momentum behind the way you've been living. A Note From Danielle If you've ever been sitting in a team meeting, leadership retreat, professional conference—or honestly, at dinner—and thought, We need better language for what is happening here, this is the work I love doing. I'm a therapist, speaker, storyteller, and host of Don't Cut Your Own Bangs. I work with companies, conferences, professional associations, women's groups, helping professionals, and other therapists to create conversations around communication, burnout, boundaries, emotional wellbeing, and self-trust. I don't want to give people another list of things they should be doing better. I love creating rooms where people understand themselves better and leave with tools they actually want to use. About Don't Cut Your Own Bangs Don't Cut Your Own Bangs is the podcast for high-functioning humans with big feelings who are trying to understand what's happening inside of them without turning self-awareness into another full-time job. If this episode made you think of someone who spends a lot of energy making sure everyone else is okay, send it their way. And make sure you're following the show so Part 3 of Supporting Others Without Losing Yourself will be waiting for you. Connect With Danielle Website: https://danielleireland.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DontCutYourOwnBangs Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dontcutyourownbangs The Treasured Journal: https://danielleireland.com/journal Wrestling a Walrus: https://danielleireland.com/wrestling-a-walrus Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0VFZulonTvaa2HIPyJa4Tq Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dont-cut-your-own-bangs/id1427579922

As students go back to school, the issue of “banned books” is once again in the headlines. One Oregon social worker found himself out of a job because of his book display – which included Matt Walsh's “Johnny the Walrus.” Get the facts first with Morning Wire.- - -Ep. 3065- - -Wake up with new Morning Wire merch: https://bit.ly/4lIubt3- - -Today's Sponsors:ZocDoc - Find and book high-quality, in-network doctors without the phone tag. Visit https://Zocdoc.com/WIRE to get started and check that appointment off your to-do list.- - -Privacy Policy: https://www.dailywire.com/privacymorning wire,morning wire podcast,the morning wire podcast,Georgia Howe,John Bickley,daily wire podcast,podcast,news podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of On The Line, host Matt Gurney is joined by two guests for conversations about service, sacrifice, and Canada's place in the world.This episode is brought to you by BioCanRx. Through our partnership with federally-funded Canadian not-for-profit BioCanRx this summer, we're talking about potential solutions for the problems that limit Canada's ability to domestically develop new drugs, especially immunotherapies for cancer. Today: Canada's biomanufacturing capacity. A biomanufacturing industry, like any other industry, does not appear at the swipe of a bureaucrat's pen. Simply allocating money to a new economic development program doesn't replace the years of effort necessary to help a sector put down lasting roots. Canada already has many building blocks in place. For example, infrastructure developed for pandemic readiness after COVID, and money invested in research facilities across Canada, can be leveraged to give us a head start –– but they need to be coordinated and given steady work. BioCanRx supports core Canadian biomanufacturing facilities and connects them with active Canadian research projects, making sure both sides have resources and the chance to gain experience. But more activity is needed to ensure these facilities can build up expertise, maintain readiness, and foster innovation. Building this capacity can position Canada to develop new drugs more quickly –– and to be ready for a health emergency, all while delivering products to Canadian patients today. There are promising paradigm shifts on the horizon that could change the way we manufacture biologic products like immunotherapies. More on that next week. Visit BioCanRx.com to learn more.First up is Anthony Robb, a 24-year veteran of the Canadian Army who now serves with Canada Company. He joins Matt to discuss the organization's work strengthening the connection between Canadians and their military, and why that relationship matters more than ever. They also talk about one of Canada Company's most meaningful initiatives: supporting the children of Canadian Armed Forces members who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to their country, and ensuring those families know their sacrifices have not been forgotten. This episode is also brought to you by the Forest Products Association of Canada. Canada's resilience will not be built through diversified trade and good intentions alone. It will be built with strong domestic supply chains, reliable Canadian materials, and industries that invest in workers and communities here at home.Two months ago, the federal government acknowledged the Forest Sector Transformation Task Force Report and the practical path it set out. Now the focus must be action. Canada's forest products sector can help deliver the homes, infrastructure, and economic potential the country needs. But that requires predictable access to manage our forests, transportation systems that work, and a regulatory environment that rewards investment rather than delays it. The direction is clear. Now Ottawa needs to turn recognition into results.Learn more at FPAC.ca.Then Matt is joined by Peter Jones, professor of international relations at the University of Ottawa, for a conversation about one of Canada's most enduring national stories. Canadians often describe their country as a “middle power,” but Jones argues that label hasn't accurately described Canada for quite some time. If we aren't a middle power anymore, what are we? And, more importantly, what should we aspire to be in a world that is becoming less stable, more competitive, and increasingly defined by great-power rivalry? For more on the professor's thoughts on this topic, please read his recent essay in The Walrus.This episode is brought to you by Cameco. In nuclear energy, timelines and costs matter. Incomplete designs carry real risk of delays and cost overruns. That's why the AP1000 reactor is the right choice for Canada: it is already operating today and ready now to deliver the power we need, with 100 percent Canadian ownership and strong participation from Canadian suppliers. If we are serious about building Canada and powering it on time and on budget, the choice is clear. The AP1000 reactor is the only option that delivers. To learn more, visit ap1000.cameco.com.If you like this — or hey, even if you hated it, we don't mind — check out our main page at ReadTheLine.ca. Be sure to like and subscribe!#OnTheLine #CanadaCompany #CanadianForces #Veterans #AnthonyRobb #PeterJones #ForeignPolicy #CanadaPolitics #NationalSecurity #MattGurney

Episode 432: In February 1884, a Scottish storekeeper named James Bell was shot dead in his cabin along Telegraph Road in Washington Territory, just south of the Canadian border. Within days, a fifteen-year-old Semá:th boy named Louie Sam was arrested on suspicion of murder and placed in lawful Canadian custody on Sumas Prairie. He never made it to trial. On the night of February 27, a mob of seventy armed and disguised men crossed the international boundary from Washington Territory into British Columbia, took Sam from his cell, and hanged him from a roadside tree 169 paces north of the border. No one else was ever charged for Louie Sam's lynching, and the investigation into Bell's death seems to have stopped with Sam's death. Sources: Deadly Neighbours — Chad Reimer (Caitlin Press, 2022) The Lynching of Louie Sam — Keith Thor Carlson, BC Studies No. 109, Spring 1996 The Lynching of Louie Sam — John Vaillant, The Walrus, December 2008 Lynching Information — Tuskegee University Archives An American Mob Crosses the Canadian Border and Lynches Louie Sam — HistoryLink.org Our Territory — Sumas First Nation Sq'éwlets: A Stó:lō–Coast Salish Community in the Fraser River Valley Daily Colonist (Victoria, BC), February–March 1884 — britishcolonist.ca BC Historical Newspapers — British Columbian (New Westminster) 1884, UBC Open Collections Whatcom Reveille, February–March 1884 — Jeffcott Collection, Western Washington University Archives Mesachie and Louie Sam — Chilliwack Progress, October 8, 1958 — Newspapers.com Washington State Expresses Regret Over 1884 Lynching of Canadian Teen — CBC News, 2006 Plain Injustice — Literary Review of Canada, 2022 Louie Sam — Wikipedia PDF of The Lynching of Louie Sam by Keith Thor Carlson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, an emphasis on the importance of this US July CPI hurdle today and different scenarios based on what the data shows, all while emphasizing that geopolitics and the crude oil price are a very important independent variable as well. Also, a look at more AI hardware companies reporting yesterday and the market reception of those earnings reports as well as the next batch of AI-adjacent companies reporting today. Some quality links discussed in today's podcast as well on everything from Fed communication policy to the risks from AI replacing search. Today's pod hosted by Saxo Global Head of Macro Strategy John J. Hardy. Links Mike Green is striking out on a new adventure, one that will eye opportunities in the inefficiencies created by increasingly dominant passive flows. Michael McNair responds to a Stephen Roach substack article on China's Deepening Japan Problem.   Michael Every's latest Global Daily from Rabobank, with some great comments and sub-links Canada's The Walrus with a great piece discussed on today's pod, outlining the risks to the entire quality of the internet as AI results replace Google search. Read daily in-depth market updates from the Saxo Market Call and the Saxo Strategy Team here. Please reach out to us at marketcall@saxobank.com for feedback and questions. Click here to open an account with Saxo. Intro music by AShamaluevMusic DISCLAIMER This content is marketing material. Trading financial instruments carries risks. Always ensure that you understand these risks before trading. This material does not contain investment advice or an encouragement to invest in a particular manner. Historic performance is not a guarantee of future results. The instrument(s) referenced in this content may be issued by a partner, from whom Saxo Bank A/S receives promotional fees, payment or retrocessions. While Saxo may receive compensation from these partnerships, all content is created with the aim of providing clients with valuable information and options.

This week on the podcast, Patrick and Tracy welcome Natalie Zina Walschots, author of VILLAIN. About VILLAIN: The hench once called Anna, now known to her colleagues and enemies as the Auditor, has carved out a wicked name for herself. Any superhero unlucky enough to cross her path knows her potential and powers. Surely, her recent success should taste sweet: she has an incredible job with lots of perks, her boss will literally annihilate anyone who crosses her, and her greatest enemy, the former hero Supercollider, has been utterly defeated—literally ground to a still-living pulp. But the Auditor still has her sights set on a greater work: destroying The Draft, the organization that makes, trains, and manages the world's most powerful superheroes. These “heroes” have shown time and time again that they do more harm than good (she has the spreadsheets to prove it), and now is the time to stop the damage at its source. Yet all is not well for the Auditor and her fellow evildoers. Her employer, Leviathan—the world's most feared supervillain—is not coping well with Supercollider's defeat at someone else's hands. As their relationship deepens, her work-life balance increasingly involves navigating the feelings of someone who doesn't believe they have any. Moreover, her unlikely ally and unexpected friend, Quantum Entanglement, has reappeared, forcing the Auditor to confront all the ways they deceived each other. Tension and uncertainty haunt the Auditor, and the fear that their triumph is about to crumble looms over all of them. The Auditor soon finds herself facing down an opponent unlike any she's taken on before—not another superhero, but someone like her, someone much more dangerous: The Draft's Chief Marketing Officer. Their conflict isn't a test of physical prowess, but ideas, and as their fight escalates, she’ll need more than preternatural pattern recognition, data analysis, and a horrific imagination to meet this challenge. It's guerrilla ad warfare, and the Auditor might have finally met her match. About Natalie Zina Walschots: Natalie cultivates fandoms, builds new communities, develops character voices, leads interactive fiction workshops, designs alternate reality games, constructs branching narratives, and most mornings opens Tumblr before opening her eyes. Her client list includes scrappy indie game studios, critically acclaimed television shows, mixed martial artists, print magazines, talk shows, NGOs, and a few more that defy categorization. Natalie's work wins awards, grows audiences, and introduces people to the thing they often end up loving most in the world. As a writer and journalist, you can find her work in the National Post, The Walrus, Quill & Quire, The Globe & Mail, and beyond. She's the author of two poetry collections, DOOM: Love Poems for Supervillains and Thumbscrews, and the novels Hench and its sequel Villain. Hench, dedicated to the plight of hench-people (the downtrodden and often expendable employees of supervillains), was a finalist on the 2021 season of Canada Reads and a nominee for the Locus Award for Best First Novel. Natalie has presented at Console-ing Passions, CGSA, Digital Odyssey, TCAF/CSSC, and more. She is an active member of Dames Making Games, and has previously worked with Pixelles, Concordia's Technoculture, Art and Games Lab, and The Hand Eye Society. She can be found causing trouble at DMG or talking about heavy metal on Banger TV. She has often been in the newspaper for swearing. She lives in Nova Scotia with her partner and four cats. This week's picks: Natalie #1: Antigen Shift: Verified Unidentified (album) Natalie #2: Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman Tracy: Harley Quinn Vol. 1: No Good Deed Patrick: Pathfinder Bastion of Blasphemies Adventure Path Links: Natalie Zina Walschots on BluSky Tracy Townsend on BluSky Patrick Hester on Instagram The Functional Nerds Patreon Page © 2026 Patrick Hester The post Episode 713-With Natalie Zina Walschots appeared first on The Functional Nerds.

More than 90 active wildfires are burning across British Columbia, with tens of thousands forced from their homes (many of which are destroyed). It's prompted a province-wide state of emergency, yet B.C.'s not alone. More than 300 wildfires are active across Canada as we record this conversation with award-winning environmental journalist Arno Kopecky (3:00), who lays out the reality of the situation, what it'll take to turn around the "wildfire season" trend, and the political implications of it all. Feature interviews on Real Talk are presented by Mercedes-Benz Edmonton West.  THIS EPISODE IS PRESENTED BY RapidEX FINANCIAL. THE CRYPTO WORLD MOVES FAST, AND YOUR TRUST IN AN EXCHANGE SHOULDN'T BE A GAMBLE. RapidEX IS SECURE, FINTRAC-REGISTERED, AND NON-CUSTODIAL. SAVE 50% ON FEES ON ONLINE INTERAC E-TRANSFER TRADES WITH PROMO CODE RYAN50 AT https://rapidexfinancial.com/. MBEW: https://www.mercedes-benz-edmontonwest.ca/ 1:19:30 | Arno takes us into his reporting for Maclean's on B.C.'s Cowichan decision and what it means for property owners in the Lower Mainland and beyond. We wrap with touching insights on Alzheimer's and Dementia (1:36:10), which prompted Arno's National Magazine Award-winning essay for The Walrus.  ARNO'S PIECE on MARK CARNEY and CLIMATE CHANGE: https://thewalrus.ca/carney-endorses-pipeline/ ARNO'S COWICHAN PIECE: https://macleans.ca/longforms/richmond-cowichan-land-claim/ A SON, A SCIENTIST, and THE SECRET OF BIOLUMINESCENCE: https://thewalrus.ca/a-son-a-scientist-and-the-secret-of-bioluminescence/ OUR JUNE 2023 INTERVIEW with JOHN VAILLANT on A HOTTER, MORE FLAMMABLE WORLD: https://rtrj.info/062023JV OUR JULY 2026 INTERVIEW with BRANDI MORIN on ALBERTA SEPARATION and TREATY RIGHTS: https://rtrj.info/072426Brandi REAL TALK'S LIVE CHAT IS POWERED BY PARK POWER. SAVE on INTERNET, ELECTRICITY, and NATURAL GAS: https://parkpower.ca/realtalk/ REAL TALK'S LIVE STREAM IS PRESENTED BY CALIFORNIA CLOSETS. BOOK YOUR FREE CONSULTATION: https://californiaclosets.ca/ REAL TALK HIGHLIGHTS ARE PRESENTED BY KUBY ENERGY AND CANADIAN GREEN TECH, YOUR TRUSTED SOLAR PROVIDERS. LEARN MORE AT https://kuby.ca/ or in-store at Costco. SIGN UP for YEGplus, CANADA'S FIRST AIRPORT REWARDS PROGRAM: https://yegplus.com/realtalk SAVE 10% on ONLINE MEN'S CLOTHING PURCHASES at THE HELM with promo code REALTALK: https://thehelmclothing.com/ FOLLOW US ON TIKTOK, X, INSTAGRAM, and LINKEDIN: @realtalkrj & @ryanjespersen JOIN US ON FACEBOOK: @ryanjespersen REAL TALK MERCH: https://ryanjespersen.com/merch RECEIVE EXCLUSIVE PERKS - BECOME A REAL TALK PATRON: patreon.com/ryanjespersen THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING OUR SPONSORS! https://ryanjespersen.com/sponsors The views and opinions expressed in this show are those of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Relay Communications Group Inc. or any affiliates.

This podcast is an excerpt of a longer episode featuring an author interview with Marcello DiCintio.Marcello Di Cintio is the prize-winning author of six books, including Walls: Travels Along the Barricades, Pay No Heed to the Rockets: Palestine in the Present Tense, and Driven: The Secret Lives of Taxi Drivers. He has also written for the Globe and Mail, The Walrus, The International New York Times, and Canadian Geographic, among others. He lives in Calgary. His latest work for Windsor's Biblioasis Press is Precarious: The Lives of Migrant Workers.https://marcellodicintio.com/https://www.biblioasis.com/shop/new-releases/precarious-the-lives-of-migrant-workers/

Why learning something new can feel like going backward—even when you're growing Why is learning something new so hard? And why does finding yourself in a familiar struggle make it feel like all the progress you've made has somehow disappeared? Maybe the technology changed, and suddenly you feel like you have no idea what you're doing. Maybe the names and faces in your relationships have changed, but the conflict feels painfully familiar. Maybe you thought you had already learned this lesson—so why are you standing here again? In this solo episode of Don't Cut Your Own Bangs, I'm talking about the discomfort of learning, the stories we carry about what we are and are not capable of, and why real progress rarely looks like a clean staircase leading steadily upward. More often, it looks like a spiral. We meet similar fears, patterns, and challenges again—but with a little more information. A little more awareness. A little more confidence. And hopefully, a little more compassion for ourselves while we figure out what comes next. I share my own very sweaty experience of trying to solve a video-editing problem that took roughly three hours, several searches, many slow clicks, and a strong desire to abandon the entire project. But when it was finally over, something new happened. Instead of only thinking, "That took forever," I was also able to recognize: I know a lot now. That effort became evidence. And when I faced the same task only a few days later, it took a fraction of the time—not because I magically became an expert, but because I was no longer beginning from the same place. I also share a powerful moment from a therapy session in which a client recognized that although a relationship pattern felt familiar, they were not meeting it as the same person. They were able to ask clearer questions, honor what they had learned, and move forward with greater self-respect. Because sometimes growth isn't never facing the same struggle again. Sometimes growth is seeing it sooner. Understanding it more clearly. Responding more gently. And shrinking the gap between feeling uncomfortable and knowing how to care for yourself inside that discomfort. In This Episode, We Explore Why learning something new often feels awkward, slow, and emotionally uncomfortable How old stories about what you are capable of can follow you into new experiences Why "How?" and "What?" are often more helpful than shame-based "Why?" questions The difference between seeing progress as a staircase and seeing it as a spiral Three Things to Carry With You 1. Struggle Is Not a Personality Trait If the process feels slow, awkward, or uncomfortable, that does not mean you are bad at learning. It means you are asking your mind and body to move through something that's not practiced yet. The familiar patterns may feel like a smooth, freshly paved highway. The new ones may feel more like a rocky path through the woods. Both can take you somewhere. They just feel very different while you are traveling them. 2. Progress Doesn't Mean We Never Struggling Again We often imagine growth as a staircase. We learn the lesson. We move up. We never repeat the mistake. Then we move up again. Real learning is usually messier. It may bring you back to a familiar situation, but with more awareness than before. You might notice the pattern sooner. Ask a better question. Recover more quickly. Choose differently. Or simply offer yourself more kindness while you work through it. That still counts. 3. Let the Effort Become Evidence It is easy to look back on a difficult experience and focus only on how long it took, how messy it felt, or how much you wish you had done differently. But you also know more now. You have information, experience, and proof that you can carry into the next attempt. You can be a beginner and still be proud of yourself. Both things can be true. The Heart of This Episode Progress isn't about avoiding the struggle. Sometimes it's recognizing what's happening sooner and knowing how to meet yourself differently. You are not necessarily back at the beginning. The situation may feel familiar, but you are carrying information you did not have before. The Clip Moment The truth with a capital T is that learning something new feels more like a spiral than a staircase. Each time we meet a similar challenge, we may be able to make the connection sooner, see the situation more clearly, and shrink the gap between feeling discomfort and knowing what to do with it. Reflection Think about something in your life that currently feels frustratingly familiar. Then ask: What feels the same about this experience? And: What is different about the way I am meeting it now? You may be carrying more evidence of your growth than you have allowed yourself to recognize. A Gentle Practice When you notice yourself slipping into questions like: Why can't I figure this out? Why is this always happening? Why am I not better at this? Why am I back here again? Try shifting toward compassionate curiosity: How could I approach this? What do I know now? What is different this time? What if this works out? How could this information help me in the future? Am I treating myself with the kindness and respect I am hoping to receive from someone else? You do not need to force an immediate answer. The shift in the question itself can begin changing the experience. If This Episode Resonates Share it with someone who feels like they should be farther along by now. Sometimes the most helpful reminder is not that everything will suddenly become easy. It is that difficulty does not erase progress. You may not be starting over. You may simply be meeting the next turn of the spiral. My hope is that every conversation leaves you feeling a little more understood, a little less alone, and a little more curious about yourself. Come when you're ready. Stay as long as you need. Take what serves you. Leave the rest. Connect With Danielle Website: https://danielleireland.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DontCutYourOwnBangs Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dontcutyourownbangs The Treasured Journal: https://danielleireland.com/journal Wrestling a Walrus: https://danielleireland.com/wrestling-a-walrus Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0VFZulonTvaa2HIPyJa4Tq Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dont-cut-your-own-bangs/id1427579922  

There are roughly 100x more people who use code than who can write code. As code that “just works” becomes easier to generate, this group may be the biggest prize of all — if you can get the agentic interface right.A key trend we have been tracking over at AINews is the absolute explosion in Codex usage this year, with MAU now up >10x from Jan 2026. Less than two weeks after their July 9th launch, OpenAI said ChatGPT Work and Codex had reached 10M users combined (as we cover in the pod, Codex now powers ChatGPT Work, so all ChatGPT Work users are now users of the Codex harness, even if they aren't traditional engineers) — showing the early innings of what happens when you graduate from coding agents to knowledge work agents:We've been calling out how coding agents are “breaking containment” to do everything else this year to power every other part of knowledge work - and it started with the org chart, with a major reorg last month that amounted to two of Codex's most prominent leaders, Greg and Tibo, taking responsibility over product and ChatGPT specifically, completing a “Superapp” consolidation cycle first discussed in March.With these updates Codex is no longer just a coding tool. In June, OpenAI said knowledge workers already accounting for roughly 20% of Codex's user base and growing more than 3x as quickly as developers. A product dedicated for knowledge workers was being pulled out of the Codex team.However, knowledge work has a different set of problems and environments than coding. For decades, knowledge work has been scattered across different primitives like documents for writing, spreadsheets for analysis, slide decks for communication, and specialized applications for everything else. ChatGPT Work now enables users to work across every primitive with agents. Instead of opening an application and manually operating its features, the user can describe an outcome and collaborates with an agent that can assemble the tools, context, and artifact needed to reach it.From building no-code products at Airtable to leading Productivity Engineering at OpenAI, Akshay Nathan has spent much of his career trying to make the power of software accessible to people who do not write code. In this episode, Akshay joins swyx and Vibhu to unpack the launch of ChatGPT Work, why Codex unexpectedly took off among non-developers inside OpenAI, and the company's broader plan to bring useful agents from software engineers to knowledge workers and eventually everyone.We go deep on the shared agent harness behind Codex and ChatGPT Work, why OpenAI brought the experiences together without making them identical, and how persistent computers, artifacts, Sites, plugins, memory, and sub-agents are changing what people can delegate to AI. Akshay explains why some teams are replacing decks and spreadsheets with interactive websites, how agents can gather context across code, Slack, documents, and local files, and what OpenAI learned from personal-agent products like OpenClaw.Side note: also don't miss Abhihek's sandbox track keynote at AIE, which now powers a lot of the sandboxing for ChatGPT Work… and yes was also broken by an unreleased OpenAI model in the recent HuggingFace incident.Akshay also reflects on how AI is transforming product development itself: why more people will become generalists with a specialty, why ideas and taste become the bottlenecks when almost anyone can build, why LLMs still struggle to generate genuinely grounded new ideas, and why teams must distinguish increased motion from actual progress.We discuss:* Why Codex unexpectedly took off among non-developers inside OpenAI* Why employees felt like using Codex gave them a new superpower* The product insight that led OpenAI to build ChatGPT Work* Why Codex and ChatGPT Work share the same underlying agent harness* How their UX, Git visibility, artifacts, and sandboxing defaults differ* Why OpenAI merged its agent experiences instead of building separate products* How AI is blurring the boundaries between engineering, design, strategy, and operations* Why OpenAI wants the default model configuration to work for most users* When power users should use deeper reasoning, Ultra, or multi-agent modes* Artifacts, agentic spreadsheets, and creating high-fidelity work products* Why interactive Sites may replace decks and spreadsheets* The challenge of designing a simple interface for an agent that can build almost anything* Why users should retry tasks that models could not handle three or six months ago* How AI can gather context for performance reviews without replacing human judgment* The OpenAI automation that turns internal Slack and document activity into memes* What reaching ten million ChatGPT Work and Codex users means for the product* How OpenClaw inspired persistent environments, scheduled tasks, and personal agents* Using ChatGPT for financial planning, budgeting, workouts, meals, and household management* The design tradeoffs behind sub-agents and how much of their work users should see* ChatGPT memory, Chronicle, and long-term context* Why AI may make more people generalists with deep specialties* Why ideas and taste become more important when almost anyone can build* Why LLMs still struggle with the instruction “bring me new ideas”* Measuring productivity through quality at-bats instead of commits, tokens, or pull requests* The critical difference between AI-generated motion and meaningful progressAkshay Nathan* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akshaynathan/* X: https://x.com/akshaynathan_Timestamps00:00:00 Introduction and Bringing the Power of Code to Everyone00:01:33 Joining OpenAI and Preserving a Startup Culture00:02:40 What OpenAI Learned from Enterprise AI Adoption00:05:28 Why OpenAI Built ChatGPT Work00:07:17 Codex vs. ChatGPT Work and the Shared Agent Harness00:12:07 Why OpenAI Merged Its Agent Experiences00:16:24 Models, Reasoning Levels, and Choosing the Right Default00:20:26 Artifacts, Agentic Spreadsheets, and Model–Product Collaboration00:24:22 Why Sites Could Replace Decks and Spreadsheets00:30:08 Designing an Agent That Can Build Almost Anything00:34:28 From Developer Agents to Knowledge Work—and Everyone00:36:07 Power-User Advice and AI-Assisted Performance Reviews00:40:41 OpenAI's Internal AI Memes and the Ten-Million-User Launch00:44:39 OpenClaw, Personal Agents, and ChatGPT as an Operating System00:50:24 Sub-Agents, Ultra Mode, and How Much Control Users Need00:54:39 ChatGPT Memory, Personalization, and Chronicle01:00:19 How AI Is Reshaping Product Development and Tech Roles01:03:15 Ideas, Taste, and Why LLMs Struggle to Generate New Ideas01:04:42 Measuring Productivity, Quality At-Bats, and Motion vs. ProgressTranscriptIntroduction: Akshay Nathan, ChatGPT Work, and the No-Code ArcSwyx [00:00:00]: We're here in the studio with Akshay from OpenAI. Welcome.Akshay Nathan [00:00:07]: Thank you.Swyx [00:00:08]: And with our trusty co-host, Vibhu. So you recently launched ChatGPT Work. You lead Core Product Engineering. It's been a long journey, into all this. I find it very interesting that you started with no code or low code, with Walrus and Airtable. And to some extent, ChatGPT Work is like the super app of super apps of, well, here is the ultimate no code. You just write a prompt.Akshay Nathan [00:00:32]: Yeah. It's funny how things come, full circle. I think for a long time in my career, I started my career working consumer fintech, but then after that, like, there's this hypothesis that, the things that we were able to do with code, like, as engineers, like, if we could bring that to many more people in a more, accessible way, then that would be truly magical. We were working on a startup. It's funny, like, before LLMs, before vision LLMs, on how to do automated testing with AI. It was just kinda jank, back then, but doing what we can, and then worked at Airtable for a while on the same thesis that, like, if we can bring a database or the primitives behind a database to people, that'd be really useful to them. But once LLMs came onto the scene, it became clear that, this was the missing piece, like, the missing technology required to, like, bring the magic of code to everyone without them having to know what's going on underneath the hood. And so, like, I think this launch and a lot of the stuff that we've been up to is, like, the manifestation of that.From Walrus and Airtable to OpenAIVibhu [00:01:33]: How was stuff when you joined? So you joined OpenAI 2023. Now we've got, so much more stuff, so ChatGPT, Codex app, ChatGPT Work. Have things changed?Joining OpenAI and What Hasn't ChangedAkshay Nathan [00:01:44]: I think the more interesting thing is how things haven't changed. Like, one, I joined I remember when I joined, it was, like, five hundred people. One thing I was worried about was, like, I was looking for something, more early stage and, like, was it gonna feel startup enough? And I joined, and I was like, “This feels even more startup-y than I could ever imagine.” And, like, that really hasn't changed even till now. I think the, like, level of, like, bottoms-up ambition and, like, the ability of anyone to, like, do anything or have an idea and ship it is really cool. But on the, like, mission side, I think what was really compelling to me is this mission of, bringing frontier intelligence to everyone. Like, building AGI and then bringing it to everyone. And, I think acknowledging back then that, like, that vision is gonna, not be a linear progression. Like, we're probably gonna, like, try different products and have different things that succeed and don't. But the vision has stayed the same, and the mission has stayed the same, and we're starting to see the pieces, fall together, and that's really cool.Enterprise Lessons: No One-Size-Fits-All AISwyx [00:02:40]: You worked on Enterprise. What A lot of people never touch ChatGPT Enterprise. What is something that you learned from there that you're bringing into your work now?Akshay Nathan [00:02:52]: I think how there's no one-size-fits-all solution in Enterprise. I remember in the early days of ChatGPT Enterprise, like, when we talked to customers and, like, everyone. That was, like, when I think it was a year after ChatGPT was released, and everyone was so excited to bring, AI into their enterprise. And, there were all these teams being stood up. It was, like, the AI deployment team with, like, these enormous budgets. And if you asked anyone, like, what were they excited about? Like, what were they excited about solving? Like, at first, you'd get, like, kinda like the baseline answers of, like, “Yeah, we have all this context and data and all this stuff.” But then if you ask them, like, “What was, like, a discrete use case that, like, they want AI to enable in their workplace?” You get such a different, like, variance, like, explosion of, different types of answers. And it's interesting, like, you using, like, these models and these products, you have this box, and you can say anything to it, which is the magic. But it'on the flip side, it also means that, like, you don't know what to do with it. And in Enterprise, I think a big part of that is, like, meeting the users where they are, like, what use case were they trying to solve, and then teaching them how they can use AI to, like, gain leverage there.Swyx [00:03:56]: Do you meaningfully differentiate that from forward-deployed engineering?Akshay Nathan [00:04:01]: I think there is the go-to-market side of it and then there is the product side of it. I think you need someone on the product side. And I think, like, however good we get at FDE motion, like, I think at the end of the day, if we have a user who's, like, looking at their computer or looking at their phone, like, it's our job in the product to, like, be enabling them and showing them where to go. So we're really excited about that.Vibhu [00:04:24]: Do you think there's been changes, over the past three years of adoption? So there have been, step function changes. You have reasoning models and whatnot. Is there still the same problems of Enterprise has black box, don't know what to do with it, or have things changed?Adoption, Agents, and the Next 10x MarketAkshay Nathan [00:04:39]: We're seeing now that, like, there's this huge uptake, right? Everyone is extremely excited about it. It feels like, many people are, millions, hundreds of millions of people are using ChatGPT. They understand, like, how generally to work with AI. But then, like, every time, like, a new capability gets unlocked, so now, like, we're seeing with agents, like, there is probably a contingent of, like, early adopters still who, truly get it, who are like, “ we you can do anything. You just have to make sure the right context is there, it's connected to the right tools, and that you are supervising it, but, like, anything is possible.” But then there's, like, this, like, 10x or 100x bigger market where, like, they don't yet get that, or they don't yet see that. And so I think that's the next stage here. So to answer your question, like, I think the adoption is there and growing fast, but I think the opportunity is, like, far bigger than that. That's where we wanna play, especially with ChatGPT Work.ChatGPT Work, Codex, and the Super App MergeSwyx [00:05:27]: Yeah. well, let's, let's skip ahead to ChatGPT Work. only, like, a month ago or so, announced. what was the decision process that led into it? there was this, overall merging of the super app. Is that what we're officially calling it? you deprecated the browser as well. Just, summarize your last, like, couple months of working on this thing.Akshay Nathan [00:05:50]: Yeah. It feels like forever now, but it's only been a few months. I think maybe the one, impetus that, like- Is most salient is when we release Codex, or even internally had Codex, like, it was really surprising to us, I think we recently put out some stats on this, that there was this, like, real inflection of, like, adoption among non-developers at OpenAI. And, I, through this product development process, like, would go to, like, these UXR sessions to talk to people internally. And the thing that stuck out to me is, like, one, like, you go talk to, like, strategic finance or marketing or whatever, and they're all using Codex for, their use cases. That part's cool, but the thing that really stuck out to me is how proud people were that they were using Codex. Like, how, likeSwyx [00:06:34]: It's like, “I'm not supposed to be using it, but I am.”Akshay Nathan [00:06:36]: It was that. It was, like, that they were, early to this, like, new thing, but it was also this thing of, like, they felt like they had a superpower, right? And, what we recognized then is that, like, the power of Codex, the power of agents, like, we already had this massive distribution base of people who have, come to know and love ChatGPT. Like, how do we show that to them? Like, how do we bring it to them? Which is, like, a hard product problem, and it's, like, a tricky thing, right? There's many ways you can go about it. And so that's what we called the Merge and the Super App over time, and ultimately launched it in ChatGPT Work, is how do we do that? But it came from that initial realization that, like, the power was not only for developers, like, much earlier than probably even we thought. Like, it could be extended to everyone.Swyx [00:07:17]: How do you see the products differently? So, like, who is it for, right? So Codex started out even CLI, then app. Now there's a merge of ChatGPT Codex and ChatGPT Work, so is it the opening for the average user, for enterprise, for work? How do you position it?Akshay Nathan [00:07:36]: I think we want to get it to position it for if you're doing work-related things, for lack of a better word, right?Who ChatGPT Work Is ForAkshay Nathan [00:07:42]: I think productivity is what, like, the pillar that I support. Like, that's the name of the team. And the reason for that, the reason we call it productivity and not, like, enterprise or, like, work or something like that, is because there's also personal productivity, right? And, like, I think ChatGPT Work is I've seen people do things in their personal lives that you wouldn't classify as, like, work technically, but, like, these agents are, super capable for. Like, one recent example that someone posted about, on our Slack is, like, someone had, like, a missed package, like they didn't receive it, and then they got, like, the picture of it, from Amazon or whoever the courier was, and they, like, asked ChatGPT Work to, like, find out where that package is. And, like, the agent, is extremely tenacious and, like, took the image and, like, looked at a bunch of, like, listings around their neighborhood and figured out exactly the apartment complex in which the package was, like, gave them some information. And so, like, I think there's all these things that, like, you, work-related or productivity-related things, I think that's what we want the product to be. You asked about Codex. I think we think Codex is, a durable brand, but we have a principle that, like, the user we don't want a user to get stuck in a tab or an experience where they don't get the power of the product. And so, like, everything that you can do, in the Codex portion of the product on desktop, you can do in ChatGPT Work and vice versa. But we made some opinionated product decisions on, like, how much of the Git state, if you're in a Git repo, do we wanna expose to the end user? Or how much do we wanna make the experience of seeing the agents thinking, like, diff forward so that you get exposed to the diffs out of the box. And then, like, on the safety side, like, how do we wanna think about, like, sandboxing and making sure that we have the right defaults in one state versus the other? So, there's, like, some opinions that go behind that, but we do want We don't want the user to need to choose which experience they're in.Swyx [00:09:26]: That is a good goal for AGI, right? Like, people don't want, like, to hide to choose what version of AGI they want. They just want the AGI to decide for them. can I get an answer or, like It's not super clear to me. Is the Codex harness and the ChatGPT Work harness the same? Is it just UI affordances, or are there prompt level or even deeper differences?Shared Harness, Different UX: Codex vs. WorkAkshay Nathan [00:09:49]: So the harness is the same. The harness is shared. on In both of the products, we made improvements to the harness to make it good for knowledge work, especially as it relates to plug-ins or computer use or artifacts. You get that power regardless of which experience you're in. On the UX side, there's opinionated takes that we have when you're in Codex mode, what the UX should be how the UX should behave, and some stuff around the sandbox like I mentioned, but the underlying harness and capabilities should be the same.Swyx [00:10:16]: I'm just kinda curious. Maybe we can, -- Is there a query that we can run that would look different in the two modes?Akshay Nathan [00:10:23]: Yeah. I tried to create, like ask it to create, like, a retirement calculator spreadsheet or something, in both modes. And then in Codex mode, you might have to be in a repo for this, but you'll see, like, the diffs of, like, the sheet that it's creating and stuff like that, and the file edits. But in Work you won't be able to see that.Swyx [00:10:42]: I think that's, that's super clear. And then also the other thing I wanted to dive into was your, the productivity team. what else is there? first of all, what are the top-level teams other than productivity? Isn't productivity everything?Productivity Teams and Core ChatAkshay Nathan [00:10:55]: SoSwyx [00:10:55]: Science?Akshay Nathan [00:10:55]: We have a team focused on ChatGPT. Like, the core chat experience, for consumer, which is like, not, I think all productivity. Like, there'People are using ChatGPT every day for search to, figure out how to write messages to loved ones, to think about, how to, like, learn a new topic, et cetera. And so there's so much more inside to create images. And there's so much more in chat that, the hundreds of millions of users are using that warrants, like, a very dedicated effort. And there's teams focused on enterprise and infrastructure and API and stuff like that, so.Swyx [00:11:33]: I will bring it up.Retirement Calculator Demo and Git-First UXSwyx [00:11:34]: Yeah. So I have them both running. This is ChatGPT Work. There's a Codex version here. I picked “Five Little Ducks” song, so this will take a while.Akshay Nathan [00:11:43]: Huh.Swyx [00:11:43]: I think we'll just keep it in the background and, as they finish, we'll look into some of the differences.Akshay Nathan [00:11:48]: Yeah. But immediately, I think if you flip back to the Codex version you'll see that,Swyx [00:11:53]: That it assumesAkshay Nathan [00:11:54]: Like theSwyx [00:11:54]: It assumes Git. Yeah. Yeah.Akshay Nathan [00:11:56]: The, like, dynamic island assumes that you're in a Git repo. And you might miss some stuff because some of it is, like, in the actual chain of thought with those changes and how we display that, but yeah.Swyx [00:12:07]: Is there an unintuitive like, is there a thing that you wanted to ship and then you got feedback, and you were like, “No, let's not do it?” Like, what's the thinking behind that?Why Merge the ExperiencesAkshay Nathan [00:12:14]: In, ChatGPT Work?Akshay Nathan [00:12:17]: I think one direction we could have gone with this is, like, keeping the experiences, like, completely separate. So it's like, whySwyx [00:12:22]: Different apps.Akshay Nathan [00:12:23]: Exactly, like different apps or even in the same app, like different, completely different experiences. Like, why merge it all? Like, what is. Codex, people love. Like, why bring these products together? And I think the intuition here is that, like, all of our jobs are, like, changing dramatically with AI. Like, for, like, every few months, like, I feel like I wake up, and I'm, like, doing a completely different thing than I was doing a few months ago. And my hypothesis here is that, or I should say our hypothesis is that, like, part of what we're, we're building, this technology is giving people leverage. Like, the things, maybe it's the more mundane parts of your job or parts that, like, if you were able to automate, you'd be able to share more ideas faster or whatever, like, you're able to do now. And because of that, like, that might blur the lines between someone who's, like, only writing code or creating strategy docs or, planning events or, helping with marketing or doing podcasts or whatever, right? And so, like, these things are gonna get blurred over time. And so, like, trying to draw a hard boundary based on, like, the who you are is gonna be, is gonna be tough. And, like, we should enable users to choose, but we shouldn't box them in. And so a lot of the work that went in here, like, keeping the primitives the same, like for example, plugins are, like, unified across, this product and ChatGPT and the cloud, was because of that. It's this thesis that, like, eventually things are gonna come together and we don't wanna be Like, we wanna be prescriptive about when to be in either experience, but we don't want to box anyone in.Swyx [00:13:45]: I wonder if there's users who are very tuned to the old ChatGPT harness that is effectively now replaced by the Codex harness. I can't imagine what that was, but maybe they're more the more conversational side. Can you compare and contrast the two harnesses? ‘Cause only you've seen it.Akshay Nathan [00:14:02]: Yeah. I think ChatGPT, the existing harness, like, still exists today. Like, it exists in this app,Harness Engineering: ChatGPT vs. CodexSwyx [00:14:08]: The classic, right?Akshay Nathan [00:14:09]: TheVibhu [00:14:09]: You just start a new chat, and you don't go under Work, right?Akshay Nathan [00:14:13]: Yeah. If you startVibhu [00:14:13]: SoAkshay Nathan [00:14:14]: A new chat and go to chat, then you're, you're talking to ChatGPT with the instant model.Vibhu [00:14:16]: Oh, we can technically do another. But on instant.Swyx [00:14:21]: Yeah. So this one's not gonna code or it's gonna be in line. It's on a in line in a sandbox.Akshay Nathan [00:14:26]: It'llVibhu [00:14:27]: Oh, that's coolAkshay Nathan [00:14:27]: We try to push you to go to Work if you're creating a spreadsheet. Yeah, but this isSwyx [00:14:30]: And this is a router decision? Sorry. Is it a router decision?Akshay Nathan [00:14:34]: This is the decision that, the model is making, and then, like it sees that you're able to. or you're trying to do something that would be better served in Work mode. But I think your question was like, what are the advantages of, like, the chat, like ChatGPT chat harness?Swyx [00:14:48]: It's more broadly, like, I wanna, do an oral history of harness engineering. Right? the ChatGPT harness lasted us from, let's call it the ‘01 era, until now, and now it's being replaced by the Codex harness effectively. And they're, they're overlapping somewhat, but I'm curious what changed if there is.Akshay Nathan [00:15:10]: My perspective on this is, like, there's, there's, there's there's like a constant process of, like, divergence, convergence, divergence, convergence. And in chat, like, many of the use cases I was talking about before, like, search or learning, I think we're, we're really optimizing for latency and optimizing for personality and, like, different things that, over time, like the product The reason people love ChatGPT is because we've been optimizing for those things and working on them for so long. Codex, what we learned was that, like, if you give the agent access to this infinitely flexible environment as a computer, it can do really powerful things. And so when we think about, like, okay, well, for knowledge work, like, what is which mode should we choose? It was like it felt more natural to us to bring that to this, like, computer environment and, maybe abstract some of the details of this computer away from users who might not be used to that, but, like, give them that same power. But ultimately, I think that we want the power in all places, right? We wanna meet people where they are. So I'm sure there'll be work down the road in order to get things to be, equivalently capable in all scenarios. But it's just a question of, like, what we've been focusing on the product on historically and what we're focusing on now.Models, Defaults, and the Reasoning SliderVibhu [00:16:24]: I think alongside that, outside of just harness and when to use Codex, ChatGPT, or Work, there's also the new models you've released, right? any guidance there? So people love to min-max what to use, like only use Terra on high reasoning versus, for this, you wanna use Sol here, ignore all theseAkshay Nathan [00:16:44]: There's 32 options.Vibhu [00:16:46]: But, that being said, for people that are expanding, so, productivity trying stuff for work that don't have the breakdown of what all this is what's, what's the advice, right?Akshay Nathan [00:16:59]: Well, I think before the advice, like the first thing is, like, none of this would be possible without these models. Like, the, I think you asked earlier, like, what was, like, the inspiration for work and, like, early on, like I mentioned, like, what we were seeing with Codex, but that was also because the models were getting infinitely more capable. That's happening again. I think it's like another step function jump now. And to answer the question on advice, like we want this default to be the best possible. Like, we wanna be opinionated about the default, and so we've we've chosen a default that we think is gonna be the best for everyone. And, we have for power users options under the hood. We could One could argue that there might be too many right now, and we're, working on simplifying it. But you can extend, the reasoning level, and you can change between the different model classes if you need to, but the default should be the best for most use cases. So my advice to most people would be to stick to that. And then, if you reach a situation in which you think that you could, you wanna try, a different configuration, if you're not seeing either the efficiency on the cost side or the quality on the intelligence side, then you can change the defaults and see if you can get something better. But we think that the default should be good enough.Swyx [00:18:09]: I have, I'm just gonna run something by you since you have way more experience than me. I've recently been doing Sol Lite but with goal, with the idea that the goal augments the reasoning effort, but with more terminations and turns.Swyx [00:18:24]: Is that a good way to think about it as opposed to Sol Ultra or Sol, Extra High?Akshay Nathan [00:18:29]: Yeah. It's hard to say becauseSwyx [00:18:31]: Yeah. It's like an interaction effect.Akshay Nathan [00:18:33]: exactly. It's like there's a preference on, for you as an individual, like how do you like to collaborate with the models? Like how many of those like terminations, as you call them, do you want where, you can steer or make sure that it's doing the right thing?Akshay Nathan [00:18:46]: I think generally people should try whatever works for them. I think that like using Ultra or the like multi-agent setups are best for like when you have like tasks that are either incredibly complicated, like open explorations or very paralyzable. I think even for tasks using goal, I think is best for tasks that you'll be able to make consistent progress in a way that's verifiable over time. But I think for most tasks, they don't fall into either of those buckets. And so like at least when they're starting, and so that's why I think the best first step is like trying it with the default configuration and then seeing like where you wanna go from there.Swyx [00:19:29]: Right. You guys worked on a slider, which is super helpful for reducing the amount of panic.Vibhu [00:19:36]: It's nice on mobile at least. There's a nice slider there.Swyx [00:19:38]: It's nicer.Vibhu [00:19:39]: I haven't tried it.Swyx [00:19:40]: So you have the advanced view there, but if you click advanced view. Yeah.Vibhu [00:19:44]: Ooh, it's just a nice slider. Yeah.Swyx [00:19:46]: Very pretty, very colorful.Akshay Nathan [00:19:48]: Yeah. The idea was here was like reduce it to like one dimension even though there's multiple dimensions, right? Try to project it onto a single dimension for the user. Like, something from that represents like, speed and efficiency on one side and then like quality and thoroughness on the other side.Artifacts, Spreadsheets, and the Work LaunchSwyx [00:20:04]: I am just puzzled that it uses Sol so much, like the lowerVibhu [00:20:07]: NoSwyx [00:20:07]: Grounds I would've usedVibhu [00:20:08]: I think the slider, if I'm not mistaken, isSwyx [00:20:09]: Terra.Vibhu [00:20:10]: Oh, it is.Swyx [00:20:11]: Yeah. See? So they preset Terra to only be the light one. But like I think a lot of people would more people should use Terra. One, because Sol keeps running out of capacity.Vibhu [00:20:22]: I'm the reason. Here's ten minutes of ourSwyx [00:20:24]: There you goVibhu [00:20:25]: Retirement calculator.Swyx [00:20:26]: Oh, that's the Excel thing working for you.Vibhu [00:20:28]: This is,Swyx [00:20:28]: Oh my God. Look at thatVibhu [00:20:28]: This is work, and then Codex is still cooking, so we'll get back into it. I think it'll be interesting to see the thought process, the reasoning, and also, this is eight minutes on work. Codex is still cooking.Swyx [00:20:41]: Yeah. And by the way, so I've, do Gabriel Chua? He's part of the OpenAI Singapore team. He showed me this, and I was like pretty shocked that this looks like Excel. It edits Excel files. You never paid an Excel license, right? Like, but somehow this is like workable and it's agentic Excel.Akshay Nathan [00:21:01]: Yeah. one of the big like pushes that we made for this launch was like artifacts, right?Akshay Nathan [00:21:05]: Like both on the model side, like I think if you compare this with GPT-5.5 and GPT-5.4 before that, you'll see that there's been pretty dramatic improvements in the quality of these artifacts and then also on the product side.Vibhu [00:21:16]: The UX side is also crazy, like hosted sites and whatnot. No longer needing to host your own little webpage, like itSwyx [00:21:23]: Oh, I have a story about that. I can do, a separate thing. I'll need to take the visuals here, but we-we'll, we'll cut to that later. Was there co-training, because you were moving making this big move and you launched GPT-5.6 on the same day as ChatGPT Work? Was there influence between the model training teams and the harness teams, or did they did the launch dates just happen to line up the same day?Akshay Nathan [00:21:46]: I think the we collaborate heavily with the research teams, and I think that's like one of the most magical parts of the job, like the most fun parts of the job. But yeah, just using artifacts as an example. Like, a lot of what you're seeing, like underneath the hood, there's a lot of work that went into making sure that like, we had the right infra to be able to train the models to get better at this. And then on the product side, like had the right experience for users to be able to collaborate with the model on an artifact like this. In fact, like this whole viewer, like the intuition here is that like, it's not necessarily that you wouldn't need an Excel license. This is stage one, right? Like, this is probably not what you meant when you're like making a retirement calculator.Vibhu [00:22:24]: Yeah, you can iterate very easily. Yeah.Akshay Nathan [00:22:24]: You wanna iterate and like when you're seeing it, and if this thing is high fidelity to like what you would see in or what your coworkers would see if you were to send this to Sean, like that I think makes it so easier and makes you trust the product in terms of iteration.Vibhu [00:22:39]: When you say coworkers would see, do you see a multiplayer, multi-team collaboration with artifacts? Any things you guys think about that?Multiplayer Artifacts and CollaborationSwyx [00:22:46]: You can already share it, right?Akshay Nathan [00:22:48]: Yeah. It's inter It's something that, we're actively thinking about. one thing that, we've noticed internally without talking too much about the roadmap is that like there's many times when someone will ping me about something, and I will ask ChatGPT Work the question, and then I'll ping them back the answer.Akshay Nathan [00:23:04]: And then I'll be thinking likeVibhu [00:23:04]: Like the simplest would be, the three of us are just all on one hosted.Akshay Nathan [00:23:07]: Exactly. And I'll think about like was I required in this loop or and then maybe it was, rephrase like what they were asking or pulled from certain context or whatever. But like, when I gave them back the answer, that process was also lossy, right? Like I gave them just like my interpretation of what ChatGPT Work cooked up. But like underneath the hood, there's so much context like in the rollout and stuff that could be interesting.Vibhu [00:23:28]: Yeah, it'sSwyx [00:23:28]: So like the answer was preemptively respond to every inbound request?Akshay Nathan [00:23:33]: No, it was just like literally like this is what I do sometimes as my job.Swyx [00:23:36]: I know you copy-paste and then you're just a message forwarding serviceAkshay Nathan [00:23:39]: Yeah. Yeah, exactlySwyx [00:23:39]: From AI to AI.Vibhu [00:23:40]: But I think it's interesting, right? It helps people understand the capability of what you can ask and delegate that oftentimes people don't realize until they try or someone shows you, and then you're like, “Oh, okay. Okay, I see.”Swyx [00:23:52]: I think it's als there's also like a, light security issue, where like you're the permissions layer. Like yes, I could query everything that you query, and I could get an automated response, but maybe I'm not supposed to see it. And that there's no way I would know because I'm not supposed to know what I don't know.Akshay Nathan [00:24:07]: Especially as like, with ChatGPT Work, we're, we're asking you to connect your plug-ins and, it's pulling from your local files and stuff like that. Like the amount of context that the agent has access to is like- Deeply personal and like that's something I think we need to preserve, so that'll be definitely a challenge.Swyx [00:24:22]: There's Excel, there's PowerPoint, there's Docs, the, grand trio of work. What other formats of work do you think about? like you worked on Airtable. Is there a future where there's like OpenAI Airtable? Like what does that look like if you ever ended up doing it?Akshay Nathan [00:24:41]: It's a really good question. I think,Formats of Work: Sites as Knowledge ArtifactsAkshay Nathan [00:24:43]: one that you didn't bring up was Sites, and I think that wasSwyx [00:24:46]: SitesAkshay Nathan [00:24:46]: A core part of this launch. There's one side of Sites that I think people commonly talk about, especially on Twitter and stuff or X, of like, this like prototyping tool. And like we saw that happen with this launch even. The model slider that you guys were referencing earlier, like that was developed almost fully in a Site. Like, the collaboration between design and engineering and product on that was like on a site where we play with, the affordance and figure out how it feels and all of that. But the other aspect that I think is a little bit less talked about is like Sites as like an artifact for knowledge work. I was talking to someone the other day who's on like our corporate finance team, and like we were mentioning how like now when they have these reports that they're, they're working on as a team month to month, historically those things were in slide decks and in spreadsheets, and now they're just in Sites. And like Sites is the mechanism that they collaborate across the team. And the reason is ‘cause it's like, it's like somewhat higher bandwidth. Like, at these tools like PowerPoint and Excel are like infinitely flexible, but at some point you reach the boundary of like either as a human you may not know how to use some feature or something, or the product itself doesn't support it. But with a site you can do anything. You ask for anything and you can get that. once people see that magic, I think it's been really valuable.Swyx [00:26:02]: Yeah, let me show you my case study. this involves all the hot topics including ChatGPT Work, but also GPT-5.6 token billionaires and token maxing and Sites and auto research. I'm a fan of this game called Strata. It's, it's like a little board game that youSites, Auto Research, and Research DashboardsSwyx [00:26:17]: That you play with, physical blocks, that come on top of it like that. So over the weekend I took like thirty photos and just threw into ChatGPT. one point seven billion tokens later, out comes this site with a fully playable thingAkshay Nathan [00:26:32]: WowSwyx [00:26:32]: With 3D, block placement and everything. Because it requires physical blocks and I needed friends to train on it so they can get better, so I can play against them. But also, I could also, do things like train an AI on it and that's, thatAkshay Nathan [00:26:45]: That's your auto researchSwyx [00:26:46]: That gets into auto research. So, you want to train your own AIs, and then make sure they self-play against, each other. I need to set both AIs. So this is AI versus AI, and they're, they're gonna self-play. the AIs start out bad and then you want to define a loss function and get good. I wasn't gonna supervise all this. I was at, I was down in San Mateo, attending a conference. What I ended up doing was, auto researching and on this and creating benchmarks and that there was just way too many parameters for me to read. So I started asking it for a site, and it's created this lab, panel. Where is there a, is there a shortcut for a site that is created?Akshay Nathan [00:27:28]: You should be able to go in the sidebar to Sites, top of the sidebar. The left sidebar.Swyx [00:27:33]: This one? Oh, left?Akshay Nathan [00:27:35]: Yeah. Just scroll all the way to the top.Swyx [00:27:36]: Oh. Oh, it says Sites. Oh, there you go. Yeah.Akshay Nathan [00:27:39]: Ooh.Swyx [00:27:40]: So it create, it creates the sites. I don't, I don't think this is, it is exactly what I wanted, but let me show you what it popped up, right? Like I think as a research artifact, it is very important to communicate, exactly, what is being done. Outputs this thing which I eventually started publishing. So I moved it off of Sites because I wanted more, database and infrastructure than Sites afforded me. But this is like a research output that you can start to mess with and like try to think about like what hyperparameters are you tuning for training AIs. And like I was trying to make like scaling laws and everything and doing all sorts of like game optimization stuff. And the fact that you can just throw this up as a research artifact, like I no longer need to read ChatGPT output. I read Site output. But then there's also a huge sprawl. Like look at how long this thing is. There's so many numbers. It is pretty overwhelming, so then I have to start pruning it from there. But, it's an interesting transition from Markdown effectively that you're putting out to, you're putting out a whole functional site.Akshay Nathan [00:28:41]: I think Markdown just isn't that optimal for people to read, right? Might as well just write HTML website and I don't know. I think you can do a lot with customizing this, right? You have your skills that explain what you want. Like I noticed they're quite verbose. I don't need a lot of this information.Swyx [00:28:57]: It's very verbose.Akshay Nathan [00:28:58]: So and then the nice thing of having a site side by side is, you just iterate on what you want and what you don't, right?Swyx [00:29:05]: Yeah. I don't know if, any that triggers any stories for you of how it's run internally. Am I doing this right?Akshay Nathan [00:29:11]: Yeah. I think that this is like a workflow that we're seeing like all different types of teams use, where like the canonical artifact that was previously a deck or something is now becoming a site. And like with a site you, because it's just HTML, you can like. It's infinitely flexible. And so, if you want to give more prominence to a certain thing that like in a slide deck would, feel like it was buried, like you can do that. You can have it be like the hero image, right? And so I think that like, people are starting to see that. There's more work to be done to make these things like much more easier, easy to collaborate on. You mentioned that they're very, they're long and verbose, could be broken up. I'm sure that there's still something to do there.Swyx [00:29:53]: They're super long. Yeah.Akshay Nathan [00:29:54]: Yeah. But I think we're starting to see that like there is this aspect of this is a really interesting, format, for people to use, that's like much more flexible than what they ever had before.Swyx [00:30:07]: I think your job also comes becomes meta. You're not designing the products. You're designing a product to make products, and I'm curious how you manage that.Designing a Product That Makes ProductsAkshay Nathan [00:30:18]: I think one thing that we've been Like when we look at the UX, like that we've been thinking a lot about is how can we balance like simplicity with capability? Like if we're designing a product, like you said, that like is made to make up build other things, right? You can build so many different things. But we can't put that all in front of you because you'll get overwhelmed.Vibhu [00:30:41]: Yes.Akshay Nathan [00:30:41]: And so we had similar problem or similar challenges even Chat-with ChatGPT, but especially now, like when there's so much that can be done, I think the balance that we're constantly trying to strike is like, how can we give the user enough of a UI surface where, they can be expressive, they can tell the agent what they need, they can verify that it's using the right tools, it's pulling from the right sources, et cetera, but then it gets out of the way. And then how can we build the right system such that we can show them instead of telling them what can be done? Because so much of this is gonna be like, how do they discover the next use case and the next one after that if they really want to be super powered by the AI.Games, Private Evals, and Show-Don'TellVibhu [00:31:19]: Yeah. It's interesting. I feel like everyone also just has a different way to do it, right? I made a similar version of this same game. I didn't take any pictures of board or rule game. I threw in at goal eighteen minutes, fifty-three seconds later, a lot of tokens later, I've got a similar version. not with all the auto research and whatnot, butAkshay Nathan [00:31:39]: You gotta do all the latest trends.Vibhu [00:31:40]: And yeah, I did it with, did it with Codex, not Work, but it's interesting, right?Akshay Nathan [00:31:45]: Yeah. And this is GPT Image generating the pro avatars. Very good for game design. LikeVibhu [00:31:51]: AndAkshay Nathan [00:31:52]: A lot of game designers were like really into GPT Image for assets.Vibhu [00:31:54]: I will say like the broader takeaway probably is the reason that we do this is more so just to test the tools, right? Like, this was also a test for GPT-5.6 came out. I had done the game on GPT-5.5, right? The ability for me to no longer need it to. I had to feed it the rules. It's, it's a pretty niche game. It couldn't find how to do this on its own.Akshay Nathan [00:32:15]: Oh, yeah.Vibhu [00:32:15]: GPT-5.6Akshay Nathan [00:32:16]: It is out-of-distribution, which is why I was also very keen on testing the GPT-5.6 capability.Vibhu [00:32:21]: But, this is just as work comes out, as new things come out, these are just our side ways to test things, right?Akshay Nathan [00:32:27]: Yeah. It's some private eval. That is not this private.Vibhu [00:32:31]: But also valuable because now you can send this to your friends and I learned about this game through seeing this.Akshay Nathan [00:32:36]: It's a hard game. He's very good.Vibhu [00:32:39]: It's good to when no one is competing with you. But yes, it's a classic RL problem of like self-play, bootstrapping your game AI. yeah, you see how easily work becomes personal and personal becomes work because the thing I do for personal, it directly informs people I work with because I showed it to them. They were like, “Oh, you can do that with GPT?” Which like I imagine is the growth strategy.Akshay Nathan [00:33:02]: Yeah. The show not tell is a big piece that, I think we've we're not still not fully cracked of like, showing people all the things that they can do with the product versus like trying to teach that to them through like, articles or onboarding or whatever.Akshay Nathan [00:33:18]: So meeting them in the moment.Vibhu [00:33:19]: It's a career risk for me, because I used to be in developer relations, right? Where your job is to show, and then you're like, “What do you mean? You don't, you don't need.” your job is to tell. And then. But the product people are like, “Well, we don't need you if our product is intuitive enough.” SoAkshay Nathan [00:33:37]: Yeah. that's the magic of the models. So you can tailor the telling or the showing to like specifically what the user needs, like what they care about, what they've done in the past, exactly where they are on the adoption journey. So I think that's like gonna be a super big opportunity.Vibhu [00:33:50]: Seems easier and easier now to tailor custom showing, right? People have different use cases. As much as you said you don't wanna segment different people into different buckets, right? It's also not that hard to for people that are in different categories. But the question, is you said your team is more broadly on. What was the term you used? Productivity?From Developers to Knowledge Work to EveryoneAkshay Nathan [00:34:12]: Productivity.Vibhu [00:34:12]: Productivity. So howAkshay Nathan [00:34:12]: Which is now work.Vibhu [00:34:14]: Is it work? Is there another distribution that we're not hitting? Is there a group of people that will have something different than ChatGPT, Codex or Work? Is there more that the mass isn't targeting?Akshay Nathan [00:34:28]: I see it as like a sequencing, like. The vision is like bring useful agents to everyone. We started with like developers. Like developers historically are like early adopters that are willing to put up with more friction, set things up, et cetera. Like that's where, Codex started. I think the next opportunity is like what we call general knowledge work, all the other functions around developers. I think when you go from developers to this segment, like there's inherent challenges with like, this show not tell thing that we're talking about, making the product more understandable, bringing in new capabilities that matter more for this cohort than matter for developers, things like artifacts, things like computer use, et cetera. And then I think like the same learnings, like similarly how we took the learnings from developers and brought it to, general knowledge work, the next stage will be like taking the learnings from general knowledge work and bringing it to everyone no matter what they're doing in their lives. And we're already seeing that a little bit. Like this game example that you have is, something that's like on the border of like fun and personal life to, your professional life. I use ChatGPT Work full-time at home for everything, like for whatever I'm doing. I used it the other day to come up with a meal plan and like, save that on the like computer environment that it has and something that I can continue going back to. Like is everyone doing that yet? Probably not because the thing says work on it, but eventually, we wanna get people there.Vibhu [00:35:51]: ChatGPT life.Akshay Nathan [00:35:52]: Yeah, exactly. ChatGPT cooking. But I think there's a lot of, there's a lot of opportunity there, but I see it as like, we're, we're built we built a foundation in software engineering, and we're gonna take the same learnings that we take from software engineering to knowledge work to everyone.Vibhu [00:36:07]: Do you have any power user advice? I feel like, there's a group of people that will live it, use it for everything, stay on it twenty four-seven. And then there's a bit of a gap between that crew and people that, okay, I use it for work. I use it occasionally. Sometimes I type questions. any advice, any learnings, anything you recommend or just, takeaways that you've found that help bridge that gap?Power User Advice: Push the Frontier of ImaginationAkshay Nathan [00:36:30]: I think a couple things that I've seen is like, one, that it really helps to broaden your imagination of what's possible, and this has been a learning even for me. Like, the technology has progressed so fast that, something that, like, even three months ago, like, no way the models can do this. Like, now it's like, wow, it's like it can. Like,Swyx [00:36:52]: Give an exampleAkshay Nathan [00:36:52]: We're going through right now our, like, review cycle internally, and, people always talked about this as, like, a thing that the models are good at and like, there's a cliché of like: Okay, like, no one wants to be writing reviews and, like, we just use AI to do it. But in all seriousnessSwyx [00:37:09]: And it can evaluate it as well.Akshay Nathan [00:37:10]: Yeah, exactly. In all seriousness, before it was, like, just, like, slop and, like, I think it was helpful, but, not super productive. Now I've found that, like, the model can do a much better job than me, especially in this environment of, like, pulling context on, like, what people are up to, how they've like the things that they've done to make a difference, highlighting like, wins that they've had that, like, I might may not even have seen. It has access to, like, everything, right? Like the code, like, things that they've caught, reviews, Slack, everything. And so it's, like, incredibly powerful in that domain and, like, just like six months ago, the last time we did this cycle, like, I didn't even I tried using it, but it was not at all helpful. And this time it's been, like, incredibly helpful and, like, so I think continuing to push the frontier of imagination of what's possible, even if you tried something before, I think is maybe the my biggest piece of advice. The other, thing is, like, the more you put in, especially in this environment where, like, the model has access to everything on your computer or in ChatGPT Work, like you can create, artifacts over time and save them in your library and, like, the model will continue having access to those. Like, the more information you give it about whatever domain you're in, whether it's your life or your work, the more valuable it becomes, and it'll become valuable in, like, ways that might surprise you. Like, it might pull from context in a way that, may be proactive and that you might not even have thought about. But it needs to have access to those, to that those tools or that context first.Reviews, Agentic Search, and Context GatheringSwyx [00:38:27]: One thing I just wanna talk about the review stuff because I'm still that's a very sensitive thing and you're, you're a founder, you've managed people, you've hired people. As manager myself, I'm very reticent to put out any LLM-generated things especially when it comes to people, ‘cause it feels like you don't care.Swyx [00:38:46]: Presumably at OpenAI, people are more open to being eval rated by GPT. But are there any unofficial rules around this? Like, what's the etiquette?Akshay Nathan [00:38:57]: Oh, I think the etiquette is that, like, I would never write something via, like, well, solely via AI and, like, present it as, like, a review for someone. What I was talking about is more, like, gathering context. That's the place where it's incredibly helpful.Swyx [00:39:08]: So it's just search.Akshay Nathan [00:39:09]: Yeah, exactly.Swyx [00:39:09]: It's agentic search. Yeah.Akshay Nathan [00:39:10]: It's like agentic search, but, that you can tailor and steer much more capably than you could before, ‘cause, like, the thing is it's all there's a flywheel happening, right? Because of Codex, people are able to do, and because of ChatGPT, people are able to do so much more now than ever before. And if you're able to do so much more, it's easy to miss things as well. And so, like, I think we need to use these same tools to keep up with all the impact that people are having and understand, where we can be helpful.Swyx [00:39:39]: I think the thing, like, I run a small company, so easy to search, but at the scale of OpenAI with the amount of messages that you guys put in Slack, do you think that it misses things?Remembering What Humans MissAkshay Nathan [00:39:50]: Probably, but I think that I also miss things.Swyx [00:39:52]: Like, it doesn't matter, right?Vibhu [00:39:53]: I think sometimes it'sSwyx [00:39:53]: Like it's, as it needs to be human-levelAkshay Nathan [00:39:54]: It's all relative, right? Yeah.Vibhu [00:39:56]: Sometimes it's nice when it finds things you wouldn't, right? Like right now, my Codex system prompts, they're set up in such a way that every project I have has a secret- separate, notes MD, and it just writes learnings to there. And then the global one can pull from all these. So sometimes it'll be like: Oh, there's this project you did like four months ago. Here's a note that we had, and it randomly pulls it back into context that I would never do, I haven't thought about.Vibhu [00:40:20]: And I'm like, okay, this is quite superhuman, right? Like, stuff that would. And, it'll save like hours on chunking of stuff or find something that's already been done. I'm like, as much as it might miss stuff, I would too, but it's very useful when it finds stuff. And I have like a very, non-super engineered solution to this. It's just marked down files that get pulled whenever they want.Akshay Nathan [00:40:41]: Yeah. I have a funny anecdote about this. Like, recently gearing up to this launch, the team has been, really cooking on it for a couple months, and over that time, like there's so much conversation and chatter going on in Slack and Docs and elsewhere. And, one of the members of the team set up this, scheduled tasks, like automation to like look at everything that's going on and, like, come up with the best memes and then post it in one of our shared channels. And like, there are two cool things about this. Like, the first is, like, I think the models are, over time, like starting to become like funny.Swyx [00:41:13]: Funny. Nice.Akshay Nathan [00:41:13]: Whereas like, a year ago, like that was not at all the case. The second is, it was what you were saying, like they find things that in surprising ways that you may not have thought of and like create connections that you may not have thought of. And that really helps with like the meme generation because then you can see something that, genuinely surprises you and, is funny in that way. So yeah, that's like not like the most productive, use of this the technology, but it does it does uncover this, like this capability that's emerging, which is just like to find information that you otherwise would not know of.Launch Momentum and the 10 Million User MilestoneSwyx [00:41:43]: Talking about the launch, I think, I have pretty much said this is the most successful launch in a long time. I think even more successful personally than 5.0, and they're announcing ten million users. Does it feel different? You've been through a lot of launches.Akshay Nathan [00:41:58]: I think it feels like a culmination. Well, I think two things. One, it feels like a culmination, like I was mentioning earlier, like this like vision mission that we've been on for a long time. Like I said, we saw the magic of Codex internally, and then we're like extremely excited to bring this to many more people and to see it working, to like see us reach, the distribution goal, numbers that you mentioned, like I think that's like huge and super exciting. The flip side of that is like, there's so much more to do too. Like, that's also really exciting. Like, ChatGPT as a whole, like the this product that, everyone almost equates to AI and like loves, has hundreds of millions of users. And so like ten million is really cool, but like we need to get this to everyone. Like, we need everyone to feel this magic. And so that's the next step from here. But yeah, I think extremely pumped about how it's going so far and the opportunities.Swyx [00:42:46]: Awesome. I did want to also Because I've, I've, I've been tracking the number closely, it transitioned at some point from just Codex users to Codex plus ChatGPT Work, because they're same harness. The whole point is that you don't, you can't, count them separately. Do you have roughly a billion, ChatGPT users? Why did it just jump to one billion right away? Like, isn't that the default on ChatGPT or no?Codex, ChatGPT Work, and the Developer BrandAkshay Nathan [00:43:11]: We don't default you into ChatGPT Work if you're on ChatGPTSwyx [00:43:14]: If you're free. YeahAkshay Nathan [00:43:15]: It's also only available to paid users right now. And I think there's like a process of, educating users of what is the value of this product, having them try it, learning from their feedback, and making it better over time. But the goal is to, get as many of the people who love ChatGPT today to like feel the power of ChatGPT Work. But I think it'll be a journey.Swyx [00:43:36]: Yeah. And Codex will still be alive as a brand for the foreseeable future. And we'll just toggle between them as needed for UI stuff.Akshay Nathan [00:43:44]: Yeah, I think it's even stronger point than that. Like, I think we fully intend to like, treat developer. Like, developers have been, a core market for us for so long, and like there's, there's so much more that we can do to make Codex great specifically for, software development, and we'll continue to do that. This doesn't take away from that at all. If anything, it should increase the utility of something like Codex, because now you can move seamlessly between writing a diff to creating an artifact or, doing a search over your factor.Swyx [00:44:11]: I do wonder how much this terminology leaks to the non-technical user. Like, do they have to learn to say artifact if I want artifact? Or.Akshay Nathan [00:44:20]: It's funny, like we call it artifacts internally ‘cause that's what the teams call it.Swyx [00:44:23]: It's nice. Yeah.Akshay Nathan [00:44:23]: But like externally, like no one says that, no one calls it an artifact. But I think that people like often, like describe things, whatever they're used to, right? So if, ChatGPT Work is good at creating slides, they'll say ChatGPT Work is good at creating slides, and that's what we want.OpenClaw, Personal OS, and Persistent ComputersSwyx [00:44:38]: One big Another, it's July of twenty-six. One big thing that also happens in, for OpenAI was OpenClaw, and that's I think a lot of people's first time really maxing a agent for personal stuff, but also crossing over to work in essence same way. As far as I understand, OpenClaw is still independent, but did you go through your own OpenClaw moments? Were there any lessons you took from OpenClaw to Codex or back? Whatever.Akshay Nathan [00:45:06]: I think there's a lot of inspiration. I did go through my own OpenClaw moment. I,Swyx [00:45:10]: Yeah, tell the storyAkshay Nathan [00:45:10]: Me and my wife like set up an OpenClaw to like try to manage everything in our house. Not that there's like a ton, but it was like quite useful. We gave it a calendar. It started, creating events for us and stuff. At some point, the laptop that we were running on, it died and never got a chance to pick it back up. But there was a lot of inspiration there, like, in ChatGPT Work, in web and mobile, like you get access to this like persistent computer environment where, you can store files, and those files stay around between sessions. And the idea is to be able to enable use cases like this. one of the members of our team uses ChatGPT Work for what they used OpenClaw from before, and then feel like it has like completely transitioned, which is like, workout planning and like meal tracking. which again, it's like a work-related thing, right? It's like not work necessarily, but it's like in personal productivity space. But it has all the same primitives. So it has scheduled tasks. It has the ability to store files on a file system. It has the ability to like reference those things over time. And so you start to see the same types of use cases emerge, which has been really cool.Swyx [00:46:14]: Is there a point that ChatGPT Work completely replaces OpenClaw? they're independent, so.Akshay Nathan [00:46:20]: Yeah, I'm, I'm not close to it, so I can't speak to the OpenClaw roadmap, but I don't think so. I think that there's gonna be, there's always a need for like this like incredible, like open source technology that team has built. And I think that we can draw inspiration, in the product and, ChatGPT, I think many more people have like heard about and used ChatGPT than have used OpenClaw. And if we can take the magic from OpenClaw and bring it to them, I think that'll be a success. I think that like one thing on the ChatGPT Work side that we feel strongly about is that like the core experience is that you come to this product and you have a conversation, start a session, whatever you wanna call it, with this agent. And the magic of the product is that you can do anything in that moment. And we would like to create a product where you don't have to click a button or to go to a different place, whatever, and you can get whatever functionality exists in, your finances app or where or any other product like in this one place. And so that's the goal. It's like it we want an extensible system with plugins where you can connect to the tools that you need in order to be able to accomplish like a financial task, where you can, if you're doing like science work, like we have an ability to like extend the system in such that you can like write the tech and it performs well. There'll always be like products that we support that are best in class at those things, but we want as much of the magic as possible in that core experience.Swyx [00:47:45]: Yeah. Do you think that you can do everything you used to do with Wealthfront in ChatGPT Finance?Finance, Data Access, and Centralized ContextAkshay Nathan [00:47:50]: I tried it. like ChatGPT doesn't yet custody, cash and assets for me. So that part, no, not yet. But I, there was like a whole component of like retirement planning and, like financial planning and budgeting and stuff that, we were looking into when I was there. And like with the finances plugin, like that's all possible with ChatGPT today. So, I feel

How do you set a boundary without upsetting people? You cannot control whether someone feels disappointed, but you can communicate your limits with honesty, warmth, and clarity. If the word no gets stuck in your throat—or you find yourself saying yes before you have checked your calendar, energy, or actual desire—this episode is for you. Sometimes the hardest part of setting a boundary is not finding the words. It is the fear that another person's disappointment will mean you have done something wrong. So, instead of simply saying no, you begin building a case. You explain your schedule. You list your symptoms. You offer supporting documentation, emotional exhibits A through F, and perhaps a photograph of yourself looking convincingly exhausted. All because a quiet part of you is saying: Please don't be mad at me. In this solo episode, Danielle explores why saying no can feel so emotionally loaded—especially for recovering people pleasers, people who are highly attuned to others, and anyone who has learned to measure their goodness by how available they are. You will learn why boundaries are not rejection, why your capacity matters as much as the empty spaces on your calendar, and how to communicate a clear no without becoming cold, harsh, or unkind. Because a boundary is not a punishment for somebody else. It is a commitment between you and you. In This Episode, We Talk About Why saying no can feel threatening even when the request is completely reasonable The fear underneath overexplaining your decisions Why some people instinctively look outward to determine who they need to be How people pleasing, attachment patterns, and family dynamics can shape your relationship with boundaries The difference between having time and having capacity Why an invitation can feel more like a blazing cast-iron pan without oven mitts The hidden energetic cost of saying yes too quickly Why boundaries are commitments to yourself—not attempts to control another person How to care about someone's feelings without becoming responsible for preventing them Three simple ways to say no with clarity and kindness Three Practical Takeaways 1. Check Your Capacity, Not Only Your Calendar Something may technically fit into an open hour without truly fitting into your life. Before answering, consider: preparation time travel and transition time emotional energy recovery afterward what else you are already carrying what this yes will ask of your future self The question is not only: Do I have time? It is also: Do I have the energy to do this without abandoning myself? 2. Match the Detail to the Relationship You do not owe every person the same amount of explanation. A close friend may receive more context because the intimacy of the relationship supports it. A casual acquaintance, distant contact, or unsolicited email request may only need: Thank you for thinking of me, but I can't commit to that right now. Kindness does not require complete access to your private life. 3. Practice One of These Three Responses Polite and firm: "Thank you for thinking of me, but I can't commit to that right now." Gentle redirect: "I don't have the capacity for that, but here is what I can offer." Clear no: "No, thank you." The goal is not to sound perfectly scripted. The goal is to have language available when your nervous system wants to panic, overcommit, or start preparing a courtroom defense for your exhaustion. The Moment Would you rather fake a medical emergency than simply say no? It sounds dramatic—until you remember the last time you gave someone six paragraphs of evidence to prove that your boundary was legitimate. Sometimes we do not explain because the other person needs more information. We explain because we are trying to prevent them from having a feeling about our decision. The Heart of This Conversation Boundaries are not rejection. They're clarity. A boundary does not mean: "I do not care about you." It may simply mean: "I am no longer willing to run myself into the ground to prove that I do." Danielle's Favorite Quote If everyone gets a yes from me, eventually there is nothing left for me. Another Line to Keep I can care about your disappointment without making it my job to prevent it. Reflection Question Where in your life are you currently offering a yes because you are afraid of what someone might feel if you said no? Before you judge yourself, pause and get curious. What are you afraid their disappointment would mean about you? A Gentle Practice The next time someone asks something of you, try not to answer immediately. Even if your instinct is to say yes. Even if the message has been marked as read. Even if you are already imagining the awkward silence. Try: "Let me check a few things, and I'll get back to you." That small pause creates enough room to consult the person who is often left out of the decision: You. Before you go Listen to the full episode for a deeper look at why saying no can feel so difficult, how boundaries protect your energy before burnout sets in, and the exact words you can use when you want to be both clear and kind. And remember: You do not need to become less caring to set a boundary. You may simply need to stop using self-abandonment as proof that you care. 20-Second Spotify and Apple Podcasts CTA Does the word no ever get stuck in your throat? In this episode of Don't Cut Your Own Bangs, we're talking about how to set kind, clear boundaries without building a legal defense for your capacity. Follow the show on Spotify or Apple Podcasts so you never miss a conversation created for high-functioning humans with big feelings. Resources Mentioned The Treasured Journal A seven-part guided journal and meditation series designed to help you reflect, reset, and listen to yourself before burnout sets in. https://danielleireland.com/journal Wrestling a Walrus A playful book for little people with big feelings—and the grown-ups helping them name and navigate those feelings without shame. https://danielleireland.com/wrestling-a-walrus Connect With Danielle Website https://danielleireland.com Substack https://danielleireland.substack.com YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@DontCutYourOwnBangs Instagram https://www.instagram.com/dontcutyourownbangs The Treasured Journal https://danielleireland.com/journal Wrestling a Walrus https://danielleireland.com/wrestling-a-walrus Listen on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/0VFZulonTvaa2HIPyJa4Tq Listen on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dont-cut-your-own-bangs/id1427579922  

As new Trump tariffs appear on the horizon, Full Press assesses whether a patriotic press becomes compromised, critiques The Walrus magazine's revisionist trucker convoy history, and wonders why the CBC is only showing one side of the criminalizing “residential school denialism” debate. They also examine veteran Globe journalist Robert Fife's admission that the press Gallery is likely biased against Conservatives.The Hub is Canada's fastest growing independent digital news outlet. Subscribe to The Hub's podcast feed to get all our best content:https://tinyurl.com/3a7zpd7e (Apple)https://tinyurl.com/y8akmfn7 (Spotify)Watch a video version on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheHubCanadaFollow The Hub on X: https://x.com/thehubcanada?lang=en CREDITS:Amal Attar-Guzman - Producer and EditorHarrison Lowman - Host Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is it too late to start over? Maybe you're not wondering whether you're capable. Maybe you're wondering whether you've already missed your chance. If you've ever looked at your life and quietly thought... "I should have started sooner." "Maybe I waited too long." "What if I fail?" This conversation is for you. This week I'm joined by entrepreneur, community builder, and founder Martha Hoover—a woman who has reinvented herself again and again without waiting for certainty, permission, or the perfect moment. Together we explore what it really means to commit to something meaningful, navigate change, redefine success, and discover that beginning again isn't a sign you've failed... It may be the bravest thing you ever do. Whether you're considering a career change, wondering if your best work is still ahead of you, or simply trying to trust yourself enough to take the next step, I hope this conversation reminds you that you don't need every answer before you begin. Sometimes you just need to trust that you'll figure it out. In this episode we explore: • Why it's never too late to begin again • The surprising freedom that comes from letting go of perfection • How change becomes less frightening when you stop expecting certainty • Why comparison quietly steals joy—and how to stop measuring your life against someone else's timeline • The power of knowing your non-negotiables • Why creativity—not calm—is often the opposite of anxiety • Martha's unforgettable "stick shift" story that completely changed how I think about commitment. Three Takeaways 1. You don't have to know exactly how to do something before you begin. Sometimes commitment comes first. Confidence catches up later. 2. The goal isn't to avoid failure. The goal is becoming someone who isn't afraid to learn from it. 3. Your life doesn't end after one career. One identity. One dream. Or one chapter. You can always begin again. "If Plan A is meaningful enough, there shouldn't be a Plan B." Reflection Question Where in your life have you been waiting to feel ready... instead of simply allowing yourself to begin?   If this conversation encouraged you today, would you take 30 seconds to help more people find it? Following the show on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, leaving a rating, or writing a quick review tells those platforms this is a conversation worth sharing. It's one of the simplest ways you can support the show, and it helps more high-functioning humans with big feelings discover that they aren't carrying all of this alone. Thank you for being here. Martha Hoover Won't Stop Hospitality https://www.wontstophospitality.com/who-we-are/ A Longer Table https://alongertable.org/ MSH Collective https://mshcollective.com/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/msh_collective/ Danielle Ireland Website https://danielleireland.com Substack https://danielleireland.substack.com YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@DontCutYourOwnBangs Instagram https://www.instagram.com/dontcutyourownbangs The Treasured Journal https://danielleireland.com/journal Wrestling a Walrus https://danielleireland.com/wrestling-a-walrus Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/0VFZulonTvaa2HIPyJa4Tq Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dont-cut-your-own-bangs/id1427579922

Most of us use GPS—the Global Positioning System—on a daily basis: to find our location when we're driving, running, shopping, dating, and so much more. But GPS is even more important, and more vulnerable, than you think.In the last few years, GPS interference has been reported all over the world, from war zones to shipping routes to public squares. What was once the fanciful plot of a Bond movie—bad guy manipulates GPS to start World War III—is increasingly plausible. How did the world come to rely so heavily on such an unreliable system?In this episode of Decoder Ring, host Willa Paskin talks to journalist Katherine Dunn, author of the new book Little Blue Dot: How GPS Shaped the Modern World. You'll learn how GPS works, why it was created, how it became so ubiquitous, and why it's now under attack. You'll also hear from Dr. Todd Humphreys, an aerospace engineer who manipulated GPS to trick an $85 million superyacht into following his direction—for science, of course.This episode was written and produced by Max Freedman. It was edited by Willa Paskin and Evan Chung, our supervising producer. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director. Our intern is Phoebe Mulder.If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at DecoderRing@slate.com or leave a message on our hotline at (347) 460-7281.Sources for This Episode Burgess, Matt. “When a tanker vanishes, all the evidence points to Russia,” WIRED, Sep. 21, 2017.Dunn, Katherine. Little Blue Dot: How GPS Shaped the Modern World, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2026.Dunn, Katherine. “How to Hack a Superyacht,” The Walrus, Jun. 13, 2026.Hopper, Nate. “The Thorny Problem of Keeping the Internet's Time,” The New Yorker, Sep. 30, 2022.Hopper, Nate. “The Timekeeper of Ukraine,” The Atlantic, Sep. 21, 2024.Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Most of us use GPS—the Global Positioning System—on a daily basis: to find our location when we're driving, running, shopping, dating, and so much more. But GPS is even more important, and more vulnerable, than you think.In the last few years, GPS interference has been reported all over the world, from war zones to shipping routes to public squares. What was once the fanciful plot of a Bond movie—bad guy manipulates GPS to start World War III—is increasingly plausible. How did the world come to rely so heavily on such an unreliable system?In this episode of Decoder Ring, host Willa Paskin talks to journalist Katherine Dunn, author of the new book Little Blue Dot: How GPS Shaped the Modern World. You'll learn how GPS works, why it was created, how it became so ubiquitous, and why it's now under attack. You'll also hear from Dr. Todd Humphreys, an aerospace engineer who manipulated GPS to trick an $85 million superyacht into following his direction—for science, of course.This episode was written and produced by Max Freedman. It was edited by Willa Paskin and Evan Chung, our supervising producer. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director. Our intern is Phoebe Mulder.If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at DecoderRing@slate.com or leave a message on our hotline at (347) 460-7281.Get more of Decoder Ring with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of Decoder Ring and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Decoder Ring show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus for access wherever you listen.Sources for This Episode Burgess, Matt. “When a tanker vanishes, all the evidence points to Russia,” WIRED, Sep. 21, 2017.Dunn, Katherine. Little Blue Dot: How GPS Shaped the Modern World, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2026.Dunn, Katherine. “How to Hack a Superyacht,” The Walrus, Jun. 13, 2026.Hopper, Nate. “The Thorny Problem of Keeping the Internet's Time,” The New Yorker, Sep. 30, 2022.Hopper, Nate. “The Timekeeper of Ukraine,” The Atlantic, Sep. 21, 2024.Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our FAQ at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Most of us use GPS—the Global Positioning System—on a daily basis: to find our location when we're driving, running, shopping, dating, and so much more. But GPS is even more important, and more vulnerable, than you think.In the last few years, GPS interference has been reported all over the world, from war zones to shipping routes to public squares. What was once the fanciful plot of a Bond movie—bad guy manipulates GPS to start World War III—is increasingly plausible. How did the world come to rely so heavily on such an unreliable system?In this episode of Decoder Ring, host Willa Paskin talks to journalist Katherine Dunn, author of the new book Little Blue Dot: How GPS Shaped the Modern World. You'll learn how GPS works, why it was created, how it became so ubiquitous, and why it's now under attack. You'll also hear from Dr. Todd Humphreys, an aerospace engineer who manipulated GPS to trick an $85 million superyacht into following his direction—for science, of course.This episode was written and produced by Max Freedman. It was edited by Willa Paskin and Evan Chung, our supervising producer. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director. Our intern is Phoebe Mulder.If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at DecoderRing@slate.com or leave a message on our hotline at (347) 460-7281.Get more of Decoder Ring with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of Decoder Ring and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Decoder Ring show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus for access wherever you listen.Sources for This Episode Burgess, Matt. “When a tanker vanishes, all the evidence points to Russia,” WIRED, Sep. 21, 2017.Dunn, Katherine. Little Blue Dot: How GPS Shaped the Modern World, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2026.Dunn, Katherine. “How to Hack a Superyacht,” The Walrus, Jun. 13, 2026.Hopper, Nate. “The Thorny Problem of Keeping the Internet's Time,” The New Yorker, Sep. 30, 2022.Hopper, Nate. “The Timekeeper of Ukraine,” The Atlantic, Sep. 21, 2024. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Most of us use GPS—the Global Positioning System—on a daily basis: to find our location when we're driving, running, shopping, dating, and so much more. But GPS is even more important, and more vulnerable, than you think.In the last few years, GPS interference has been reported all over the world, from war zones to shipping routes to public squares. What was once the fanciful plot of a Bond movie—bad guy manipulates GPS to start World War III—is increasingly plausible. How did the world come to rely so heavily on such an unreliable system?In this episode of Decoder Ring, host Willa Paskin talks to journalist Katherine Dunn, author of the new book Little Blue Dot: How GPS Shaped the Modern World. You'll learn how GPS works, why it was created, how it became so ubiquitous, and why it's now under attack. You'll also hear from Dr. Todd Humphreys, an aerospace engineer who manipulated GPS to trick an $85 million superyacht into following his direction—for science, of course.This episode was written and produced by Max Freedman. It was edited by Willa Paskin and Evan Chung, our supervising producer. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director. Our intern is Phoebe Mulder.If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at DecoderRing@slate.com or leave a message on our hotline at (347) 460-7281.Get more of Decoder Ring with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of Decoder Ring and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Decoder Ring show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus for access wherever you listen.Sources for This Episode Burgess, Matt. “When a tanker vanishes, all the evidence points to Russia,” WIRED, Sep. 21, 2017.Dunn, Katherine. Little Blue Dot: How GPS Shaped the Modern World, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2026.Dunn, Katherine. “How to Hack a Superyacht,” The Walrus, Jun. 13, 2026.Hopper, Nate. “The Thorny Problem of Keeping the Internet's Time,” The New Yorker, Sep. 30, 2022.Hopper, Nate. “The Timekeeper of Ukraine,” The Atlantic, Sep. 21, 2024. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Most of us use GPS—the Global Positioning System—on a daily basis: to find our location when we're driving, running, shopping, dating, and so much more. But GPS is even more important, and more vulnerable, than you think.In the last few years, GPS interference has been reported all over the world, from war zones to shipping routes to public squares. What was once the fanciful plot of a Bond movie—bad guy manipulates GPS to start World War III—is increasingly plausible. How did the world come to rely so heavily on such an unreliable system?In this episode of Decoder Ring, host Willa Paskin talks to journalist Katherine Dunn, author of the new book Little Blue Dot: How GPS Shaped the Modern World. You'll learn how GPS works, why it was created, how it became so ubiquitous, and why it's now under attack. You'll also hear from Dr. Todd Humphreys, an aerospace engineer who manipulated GPS to trick an $85 million superyacht into following his direction—for science, of course.This episode was written and produced by Max Freedman. It was edited by Willa Paskin and Evan Chung, our supervising producer. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director. Our intern is Phoebe Mulder.If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at DecoderRing@slate.com or leave a message on our hotline at (347) 460-7281.Sources for This Episode Burgess, Matt. “When a tanker vanishes, all the evidence points to Russia,” WIRED, Sep. 21, 2017.Dunn, Katherine. Little Blue Dot: How GPS Shaped the Modern World, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2026.Dunn, Katherine. “How to Hack a Superyacht,” The Walrus, Jun. 13, 2026.Hopper, Nate. “The Thorny Problem of Keeping the Internet's Time,” The New Yorker, Sep. 30, 2022.Hopper, Nate. “The Timekeeper of Ukraine,” The Atlantic, Sep. 21, 2024. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Something feels off—but what if you're wrong about what you're feeling? Self-validation is the practice of naming what is true about your experience without dismissing it, or demanding that you immediately know what to do next. It can quiet anxious spiraling, calm self-doubt, and help your nervous system settle enough to find clarity. In this solo episode, therapist Danielle Ireland explores why we so often question our own feelings, how unanswerable "why" questions intensify anxiety, and why saying "I don't know" can be more grounding than forcing certainty you don't yet have. You don't need to prove that your feelings are reasonable before you acknowledge that they are real. Sometimes the most stabilizing thing you can say is simply: This is hard. This is what I feel. This is what I know right now. In This Episode You'll learn: What self-validation is—and what it is not Why acknowledging your feelings does not mean agreeing with every thought How anxious "why" questions create more uncertainty instead of clarity Why "I don't know" can be an emotionally grounding answer How naming the truth of your experience can calm your nervous system A simple practice for moving from spiraling to greater self-trust Three Practical Takeaways 1. Name the experience before trying to solve it You don't have to know what happens next before you can acknowledge what is happening now. Try: "I feel scared." "This is disappointing." "I don't know what to do yet." A truthful statement with a period can be more regulating than another question your mind cannot answer. 2. Replace unanswerable questions with what you know Instead of repeatedly asking: "Why did this happen?" "Why haven't they called?" "What if I made the wrong choice?" Pause and ask: What do I know right now? You may know that you made the best decision you could. You may know you are breathing. You may only know that you do not know yet. That is still somewhere solid to begin. 3. Let your experience be real without making it anyone else's responsibility Validation means recognizing that your feelings make sense within your experience. It does not mean someone else must agree with you. It does not mean you know the entire truth of the situation. And it does not mean your feelings get to make every decision. It means your experience belongs in the conversation too. The Clip Moment "The truth, no matter how hard, is the right kind of hard—and arguably more certain and more settling than any beautifully told half-truth." The Heart of This Conversation The hardest part is not always the feeling itself. Sometimes it's the fear that you are not allowed to trust it. Self-validation helps you stop fighting for permission to have your own experience. It gives you a place to stand before you know what to do next. Pull-Over-the-Car Insight Your body responds to truth. You may still have work to do after admitting what is real. But clarity often begins the moment you stop negotiating with your own experience. Reflection Question What is true about this for you—even if you do not yet know what to do with that truth? Take a breath before answering. And if the answer is: "I don't know." Try following it with: "What do I know?" A Gentle Next Step If this episode helped you put language to something you have quietly been carrying, share it with someone who may need permission to believe their own experience too. Follow or subscribe wherever you listen so you never miss a new conversation. And if the show has helped you feel more understood, leaving a rating or review is one of the most generous ways you can help another high-functioning human with big feelings find their way here. Listen, Connect, and Explore Website: https://danielleireland.com/ Substack: https://danielleireland.substack.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DontCutYourOwnBangs Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dontcutyourownbangs The Treasured Journal: https://danielleireland.com/journal Wrestling a Walrus: https://danielleireland.com/wrestling-a-walrus Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0VFZulonTvaa2HIPyJa4Tq Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dont-cut-your-own-bangs/id1427579922 Before you go. If this conversation helped you feel a little clearer or a little less alone, follow Don't Cut Your Own Bangs wherever you listen. It makes sure you never miss an episode, and it helps more high-functioning humans with big feelings find these conversations too.

This week we are comparing Misery (1990) and Tusk (2014) - two films about men held captive by obsessed people who will go to any length to keep them there.-----The Movies:Misery (1990)Directed by Rob ReinerWritten by William GoldmanBased on the novel by Stephen KingiMDb Rating: 7.8Tusk (2014)Directed by Kevin SmithWritten by Kevin SmithiMDB Rating: 5.4-----Find us on:Discord - https://discord.gg/dxgmcfj552Tumblr - @ItTakesTwoPodInstagram - @ItTakesTwo_podFacebook - @ItTakesTwoPodYoutube - @ittakestwonzBluesky - @ittakestwoOur website - ItTakesTwo.co.nz-----Content Warning: Discussions of injury, death, mutilation, body horror, violence, gun violence, drug addiction

Walrus – WiinarpakWiinarpat guu'gpagtuut. – Walrus have big teeth.

That's what Jimmy Failla calls Maine Senate Candidate Graham Platner. I talk with Jimmy in episode #967 of The ANEZ SEZ podcast...

What happens when the life you planned disappears—and something even more meaningful begins. What if the hardest thing you've ever lived through wasn't the end of your story—but the beginning of becoming someone you never would have met otherwise? There are moments in life that divide everything into before and after. Sometimes it's a diagnosis. Sometimes it's grief. Sometimes it's becoming a parent, losing a relationship, changing careers, or waking up one morning and realizing the life you imagined isn't the life you're living. The details are different. The question is the same: Who am I now? If you've ever found yourself wondering whether you'll ever feel like yourself again, I think this conversation is for you. This week on Don't Cut Your Own Bangs, I'm revisiting one of my favorite conversations with magician, speaker, TEDx presenter, and storyteller John Kippen. John walked into the hospital expecting answers. Instead, he received a diagnosis that would change every part of his life. He had no way of knowing that saying yes to a life-saving surgery would also mean saying goodbye to the face he'd always known, the future he'd imagined, and the version of himself he thought he'd always be. He thought he was fighting to save his life. He didn't know he was about to discover it. What followed wasn't simply a story of survival. It became a story of grief, healing, identity, connection, and discovering that the most meaningful parts of ourselves sometimes emerge only after life asks us to let go of the plans we thought we needed. In many ways, the greatest magic trick John has ever performed wasn't on a stage. It was learning to love the person he became after everything changed—and sharing that hope with others. In this episode, we explore: • Why major life changes often leave us asking, "Who am I now?" • How grief and possibility can exist in the same season. • Why curiosity can become one of the kindest ways to meet change. • What it means to stop chasing the life you imagined and begin discovering the one that's unfolding. • How self-acceptance becomes possible, even after life changes in ways you never would have chosen. One sentence from this conversation has stayed with me ever since: Sometimes the greatest magic isn't becoming who you used to be. It's discovering there's still so much of you left to meet. I have a feeling I'll carry that one for a long time. Maybe you will too. Reflection Where in your life are you still measuring yourself against a version of the future that no longer exists? What might become possible if you allowed yourself to get curious about the person you're still becoming? The Heart of This Conversation Sometimes surviving isn't about finding your way back to who you used to be. It's about discovering there's still so much of you left to meet. If this conversation resonates... My hope is that every conversation leaves you feeling a little more understood, a little less alone, and a little more curious about yourself. If this episode brings someone to mind, I'd be honored if you'd share it with them. Sometimes the right conversation arrives at exactly the right time. If you're enjoying the podcast, subscribing and leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify is one of the best ways to help more high-functioning humans with big feelings discover these conversations. Connect with John Kippen Website: https://www.johnkippen.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johnkippen/ Connect with Danielle Website: https://danielleireland.com Substack: https://danielleireland.substack.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DontCutYourOwnBangs Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dontcutyourownbangs The Treasured Journal: https://danielleireland.com/journal Wrestling a Walrus: https://danielleireland.com/wrestling-a-walrus Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0VFZulonTvaa2HIPyJa4Tq Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dont-cut-your-own-bangs/id1427579922

This week on the Experience, Jim reviews Paul Heyman's interview with Chris Van Vliet, and AEW Dynamite! Plus Jim looks at a 2007 TNA agent report, and the letter he wrote to Jeff Jarrett! Also, WWE ticket prices, Dave Meltzer's thoughts on the Meltzer Driver, Chris Adams & Rod Price, Ole & the Road Warriors, and much more! Thanks to our episode sponsors: TUSHY: 3 Million Butts Love TUSHY. Get 10% off TUSHY with the code JCE at https://hellotushy.com/JCE ULTRA: Don’t sleep on @ultrapouches. New customers get 15% Off with code JCE at takeultra.com! #UltraPouches Follow Jim and Brian on Twitter: @TheJimCornette @GreatBrianLast Join Jim Cornette's College Of Wrestling Knowledge on Patreon to access the archives & more! https://www.patreon.com/Cornette Subscribe to the Official Jim Cornette channel on YouTube! http://www.youtube.com/c/OfficialJimCornette Visit Jim's official site at www.JimCornette.com for merch, live dates, commentaries and more! You can listen to Brian on the 6:05 Superpodcast at 605pod.com or wherever you find your favorite podcasts!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"If what I want is for someone else to respect my time, then maybe I'm the one who needs to respect my time first." Oof. That realization hit me right between the eyes. Have you ever noticed how quickly frustration turns into a story about someone else? The person who cancelled. The coworker who dropped the ball. The partner who isn't helping. The kids who need one more thing. And sometimes that's true. But sometimes the thing you're frustrated with isn't actually the problem. "Your frustration isn't the problem. It's the clue." Sometimes frustration is the moment your needs, boundaries, exhaustion, or truth have been trying to get your attention for a while—and you've been too busy carrying everything else to hear them. In this solo episode, I'm unpacking two frustrating experiences from my own life and walking you through the exact process I use to understand what frustration might actually be trying to tell me. Because emotions aren't the problem. They're information. And frustration is one of the most revealing emotions we have. Together we'll explore why frustration almost never stands alone, how it can point us toward unmet needs and hidden truths, and a simple framework you can use to move from irritation to clarity. In This Episode • Why frustration is always trying to tell you something • The surprising difference between being frustrated with someone else and being frustrated with yourself • How irritation can reveal needs you've been overlooking • Why emotions work like an internal compass • A simple reflection process you can use anytime frustration shows up • The powerful shift that happens when you stop asking "Why am I so frustrated?" and start asking "What is this trying to teach me?" Three Takeaways Your frustration isn't the problem. It's the clue. Frustration often points toward something important that needs your attention. Sometimes frustration is what happens when you've abandoned yourself. Not intentionally. Not dramatically. Just quietly, one small compromise at a time. Emotional clarity begins with curiosity. The goal isn't to get rid of the feeling. It's to understand what it's trying to show you.   Reflection Question What would your frustration say if it trusted you enough to tell you the truth? Before you go... If this episode felt like a conversation you needed today, would you share it with someone who might need it too? Follow the podcast, leave a rating or review, and help more high-functioning humans with big feelings find a little more clarity, connection, and calm without having to earn it.   Links & Resources Website: https://danielleireland.com Substack: https://danielleireland.substack.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DontCutYourOwnBangs Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dontcutyourownbangs The Treasured Journal: https://danielleireland.com/journal Wrestling a Walrus: https://danielleireland.com/wrestling-a-walrus Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0VFZulonTvaa2HIPyJa4Tq Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dont-cut-your-own-bangs/id1427579922

Joining Rachel in her living room is friend Sarah Donaldson, Director of Sales Planning at SkinnyDipped, back for her second appearance on the pod. They cover Queer/Bar's ownership change, Seattle's surpising decline in flights, a labor dispute at a beloved Seattle restaurant group, Bed Bath & Beyond's return, and a very eventful night on Lake Union.Top Stories:1. Queer Bar sells to The Cuff Complex2. World Cup fever is up in Seattle, but flights are down 21% year-over-year (but everyone loves our stadium!)3. Walrus and Carpenter employees strike, forcing a temporary closure4. Bed Bath & Beyond is reopening its first location since the 2023 bankruptcy5. Event venue MV Skansonia starts to sink on Lake UnionAbout Sarah Donaldson — Director of Sales Planning, SkinnyDipped: Sarah has been with SkinnyDipped for seven years, helping grow the Seattle-based, mother-daughter-founded snack company from a small Wallingford kitchen operation to a brand now carried at Starbucks nationwide. As Director of Sales Planning, she oversees demand forecasting, trade budgets, and new product launches across the company's line of better-for-you almonds, cashews, and chocolate snacks.About host Rachel Horgan:Rachel is an independent event producer, emcee and entrepreneur. She worked for the Business Journal as their Director of Events interviewing business leaders on stage before launching the weekly seattle podcast. She earned her communication degree from the University of San Diego.Contact:Email: info@theweeklyseattle.comInstagram: @theweeklyseattleWebsite: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.theweeklyseattle.com

Federal judge sides with WA over Trump's vote-by-mail order, bargaining begins between Seattle Public Schools and teachers union, and The Walrus and the Carpenter and unionized staff reach a tentative agreement to end strike. It’s our daily roundup of top stories from the KUOW newsroom, with host Patricia Murphy. We can only make Seattle Now because listeners support us. Tap here to make a gift and keep Seattle Now in your feed. Got questions about local news or story ideas to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at seattlenow@kuow.org, leave us a voicemail at (206) 616-6746 or leave us feedback online.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Have you ever looked at your life and thought: "This isn't what I pictured." Not necessarily bad. Not necessarily wrong. Just... different. A different career. A different timeline. A different version of yourself than the one you imagined years ago. And somewhere underneath all of that, a quiet question: What if I missed my chance? This week's conversation has stayed with me long after we stopped recording. My guest, Eli Martinez, spends his days leading wildlife safaris around the world, photographing sharks, whales, crocodiles, anacondas, and some of the most breathtaking places on earth. But what struck me most wasn't the wildlife. It was a story about a fractured hip, a dream that didn't work out, and the surprising realization that not becoming a professional bull rider ended up giving him a life he never could have planned for. The more we talked, the more I realized this episode isn't really about sharks. It's about grief. It's about letting go of the future you thought you'd have. It's about curiosity. And it's about what becomes possible when you follow curiosity faster than disappointment. In this conversation, we explore the healing power of nature, why understanding creates connection, what happens when life takes an unexpected turn, and how some of the greatest gifts in our lives arrive disguised as detours. 3 Things You'll Take Away From This Episode • Sometimes the thing you're grieving is making room for something you couldn't have imagined yet. • "Something's wrong" is often where emotional awareness begins—not where failure begins. • You don't always need a new plan. Sometimes you only need enough curiosity to take the next step. Clip Moment "Not becoming a professional bull rider was the best thing that never happened to me." Shareable Quote "Sometimes 'something's wrong' is where emotional awareness begins." Pull-Over-The-Car Insight The thing that broke your plan might be the thing that gives you your life. Reflection Question What dream, timeline, or version of your future are you still grieving—and what might become possible if you loosened your grip on it just a little? If This Episode Resonated If this felt like a conversation you needed today, share it with someone who might need it too. Follow the show wherever you listen so you don't miss next week's episode, and if you've been enjoying the podcast, leaving a rating or review helps more people find these conversations. Connect with Eli Martinez Website: https://sdmdiving.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sdmdiving Connect with Danielle Website: https://danielleireland.com Substack: https://danielleireland.substack.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DontCutYourOwnBangs Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dontcutyourownbangs The Treasured Journal: https://danielleireland.com/journal Wrestling a Walrus: https://danielleireland.com/wrestling-a-walrus Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0VFZulonTvaa2HIPyJa4Tq Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dont-cut-your-own-bangs/id1427579922

Stephen Carter and Zain Velji continue their live reaction to Carter's appearance at The Walrus debate at the Canadian Vote Summit. As the conversation turns from democratic engagement to political reality, they unpack whether candidate debates still matter, why Question Period might be little more than political theatre, and what politicians actually learn from the process. Are democratic reforms solving real problems or chasing idealized outcomes? Is civility a moral virtue or a strategic choice? And can Stephen Carter make it through an entire democracy summit without calling someone the worst politician in Canadian history?Zain Velji, as always, picks the questions and keeps everybody in line.Join our Patreon for ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, and access to our exclusive Discord.https://www.patreon.com/c/strategistspodYou can also watch our episodes on YouTube.https://www.youtube.com/@strategistspod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why can't this feel easier? Maybe you've been carrying that question around for a while. Maybe you're doing all the things. Showing up. Working hard. Taking care of people. Following through. Keeping promises. Building the life you wanted. And somehow you're still exhausted. Not because you're doing it wrong. But because somewhere along the way, you started believing everything had to be hard to count. In this conversation, I'm revisiting one of my favorite interviews with cake artist, educator, and creator Asia Coffee. What starts as a conversation about creativity, business, and baking turns into something much bigger: a conversation about permission. Permission to stop proving. Permission to let things be good enough. Permission to choose ease when ease is available. Asia shares her journey from posting imperfect YouTube videos to growing a community of more than 100,000 subscribers, competing on Food Network, navigating imposter syndrome, and learning one of the most powerful lessons I've heard on this podcast: "I can do hard things. And how hard do I want to make things for myself?" If you're a high-functioning human with big feelings who is carrying a lot right now, this episode might feel like a deep exhale. Three Takeaways: • Consistency often matters more than perfection. • Just because you can do hard things doesn't mean everything has to be hard. • Sometimes growth looks less like pushing harder and more like offering yourself grace.   "I don't think we're always exhausted from doing too much. Sometimes we're exhausted from believing everything has to be difficult to be worthwhile."   Reflection Question: Where in your life have you been proving you can do hard things when what you really want is a little more ease?   If this felt like a conversation you needed today, send it to someone who's carrying a lot right now. Share it with a friend, a coworker, a sister, or someone who keeps trying to earn rest instead of receive it. And if you haven't already, follow the podcast so you don't miss next week's episode.   Connect with Asia Coffee Website: https://www.cakesbycoffee.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrs.coffeescakes/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/AsiaCoffee Connect with Danielle Website: https://danielleireland.com Substack: https://danielleireland.substack.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DontCutYourOwnBangs Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dontcutyourownbangs The Treasured Journal: https://danielleireland.com/journal Wrestling a Walrus: https://danielleireland.com/wrestling-a-walrus Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0VFZulonTvaa2HIPyJa4Tq Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dont-cut-your-own-bangs/id1427579922  

Adeniyi Abiodun has been in crypto since 2012, built trading and risk systems at investment banks, and led R&D on Facebook's Project Libra at Meta before co-founding Mysten Labs. So when he says every other L1 has a "skill issue" baked in at architecture time, it's worth listening.David Sencil sits down with Adeniyi at Consensus 2026 to walk through how Sui solved horizontal-scale consensus, why a famous L1 founder said it was impossible, and what comes next — native stablecoins, private payments by default, Walrus storage, and the agentic payment rails Stripe is pricing at a billion TPS.We cover:- Why every other L1 is capped by a single CPU and Moore's Law- The Project Libra story — "way too early" and what survived into Sui- 300ms finality vs Solana's 12 seconds- SuiUSD: $63M in a month and a half, free stablecoin transfers- Protocol-level private stablecoin transactions launching this year- Walrus storage outgrowing Arweave in a year- Why "AI doesn't care about your tribe"Filmed at Consensus 2026.Host: David Sencil

In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with editor, poet, and author, Terese Mason Pierre about As the Earth Dreams: Black Canadian Speculative Stories (Spiderline, 2025). A ground-breaking anthology of haunting speculative stories by contemporary Black Canadian writers that explore growth, futurity, and joy. Edited by esteemed poet Terese Mason Pierre, this bold and innovative anthology of speculative short fiction reveals and uplifts the spectacular imaginings, reveries, reflections, experiments, and hopes of Black writers in Canada. A masseuse attends her mother's fourth funeral, only to encounter family she's never met. A postdoc instructor navigates an almost-life in an Elsewhere realm of safety and comfort. After societal collapse, an immigrant leaves her precarious station, and her memories, behind. A woman isolating from a new virus starts hallucinating. A young nanny accepts a job with a peculiar employer in search of immortality. A medium is tasked with summoning a spirit that hits too close to home. And two teenagers test a friendship over magic carpet flying practice. These ten breathtaking stories explore natural and urban landscapes, living and dead relationships, economic catastrophe, love, and desire--all while celebrating the persistent and ever-changing self, and envisioning beautiful Black futures. Featuring stories by:Trynne Delaneyfrancesca ekwuyasiWhitney FrenchAline-Mwezi NiyonsengaChimedum OhaegbuSuyi Davies OkungbowaChinelo OnwualuLue PalmerTerese Mason PierreZalika Reid-Benta TERESE MASON PIERRE (she/her) is a writer, poet, and editor whose work has appeared in the Walrus, ROOM, Brick, Quill & Quire, Uncanny, and Year's Best Canadian Fantasy and Science Fiction. Her work has been nominated for the bpNichol Chapbook Award, Best of the Net, the Aurora Award, the Rhysling Award, and the Ignyte Award. She is one of ten winners of the Writers' Trust Journey Prize and was named a Writers' Trust Rising Star. Terese is the chief programming officer at Augur, a speculative arts nonprofit, and co-director of AugurCon, Augur's biennial speculative arts conference. Terese lives in Toronto. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/african-american-studies

There are a handful of conversations that have stayed with me long after the microphone turned off. This is one of them. In fact, this may be the episode that changed how I think about effort, desire, and building a life that actually feels good to live. Because if you've ever found yourself wondering: "Why does everything feel harder than it should?" I think this conversation is going to feel like a deep exhale, and exactly why I chose to release it a secind time. It's that good. My guest today is coach, author, and speaker LaShell Wooten, and together we explore what happens when we stop treating ourselves like projects that need fixing and start listening to ourselves differently. We talk about emotional intelligence as an internal GPS, why so many high-achieving people get trapped in "efforting," and how freedom often starts by getting honest about what you actually want. If you're functioning externally while quietly feeling overwhelmed internally, this episode might offer a different way forward. Three Takeaways • Sometimes staying busy feels safer than looking at what's driving it. • The goal isn't becoming a better version of yourself. It's becoming more aligned with who you already are. • Emotional intelligence isn't about controlling your feelings. It's about listening to what they're trying to tell you.   Quote For You "I don't think most people are tired from doing too much. I think they're tired from being disconnected from themselves for too long." Reflection Question Where in your life are you currently forcing something that might be asking for a different kind of attention? CTA If this conversation felt like something you needed today, send it to someone who's been carrying a lot lately. And if you haven't already, follow the show so you don't miss future episodes. Every week we're helping high-functioning humans with big feelings feel a little calmer, a little clearer, and a little less alone.   Connect with LaShell Wooten Website: https://www.liinks.co/lashell.wooten Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lashellwooten   Connect with Danielle Website: https://danielleireland.com Substack: https://danielleireland.substack.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DontCutYourOwnBangs Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dontcutyourownbangs The Treasured Journal: https://danielleireland.com/journal Wrestling a Walrus: https://danielleireland.com/wrestling-a-walrus Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0VFZulonTvaa2HIPyJa4Tq Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dont-cut-your-own-bangs/id1427579922  

In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with editor, poet, and author, Terese Mason Pierre about As the Earth Dreams: Black Canadian Speculative Stories (Spiderline, 2025). A ground-breaking anthology of haunting speculative stories by contemporary Black Canadian writers that explore growth, futurity, and joy. Edited by esteemed poet Terese Mason Pierre, this bold and innovative anthology of speculative short fiction reveals and uplifts the spectacular imaginings, reveries, reflections, experiments, and hopes of Black writers in Canada. A masseuse attends her mother's fourth funeral, only to encounter family she's never met. A postdoc instructor navigates an almost-life in an Elsewhere realm of safety and comfort. After societal collapse, an immigrant leaves her precarious station, and her memories, behind. A woman isolating from a new virus starts hallucinating. A young nanny accepts a job with a peculiar employer in search of immortality. A medium is tasked with summoning a spirit that hits too close to home. And two teenagers test a friendship over magic carpet flying practice. These ten breathtaking stories explore natural and urban landscapes, living and dead relationships, economic catastrophe, love, and desire--all while celebrating the persistent and ever-changing self, and envisioning beautiful Black futures. Featuring stories by:Trynne Delaneyfrancesca ekwuyasiWhitney FrenchAline-Mwezi NiyonsengaChimedum OhaegbuSuyi Davies OkungbowaChinelo OnwualuLue PalmerTerese Mason PierreZalika Reid-Benta TERESE MASON PIERRE (she/her) is a writer, poet, and editor whose work has appeared in the Walrus, ROOM, Brick, Quill & Quire, Uncanny, and Year's Best Canadian Fantasy and Science Fiction. Her work has been nominated for the bpNichol Chapbook Award, Best of the Net, the Aurora Award, the Rhysling Award, and the Ignyte Award. She is one of ten winners of the Writers' Trust Journey Prize and was named a Writers' Trust Rising Star. Terese is the chief programming officer at Augur, a speculative arts nonprofit, and co-director of AugurCon, Augur's biennial speculative arts conference. Terese lives in Toronto. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Have you ever noticed how quickly you reach for noise the second things get quiet? Another project. Another scroll. Another task. Another thing to organize, clean, fix, or plan. Not because you actually want to. But because sitting still feels strangely uncomfortable. In this episode of Don't Cut Your Own Bangs, I'm exploring something I think many of us quietly struggle with: the fear beneath the busyness. Because sometimes staying busy feels safer than looking at what's driving it. As a therapist, I've noticed that the people who seem the most capable on the outside are often carrying the heaviest emotional load on the inside. They're functioning externally and exhaling privately. They're exhausted, but they can't seem to stop moving. They're desperate for rest, but the moment things get quiet, they reach for more noise. If that's you, I want you to know this episode isn't about becoming more productive or finding a better routine. It's about understanding what your exhaustion might be trying to tell you. Because I don't think most people are tired from doing too much. I think they're tired from being disconnected from themselves for too long. In This Episode We Explore: • Why your brain won't shut off even when you're exhausted • How busyness can become a way of avoiding difficult emotions • The hidden fear underneath productivity, perfectionism, and constant striving A Few Things I Hope You Take With You: • Rest isn't always hard because you're busy. Sometimes it's hard because quiet creates space to feel. • Exhaustion can be a signal, not just a problem to solve. • You are not failing. Your nervous system may simply be responding to more than you've acknowledged.   "Sometimes staying busy feels safer than looking at what's driving it."   A Quote To Keep "I don't think most people are tired from doing too much. I think they're tired from being disconnected from themselves for too long." Key Insight The goal isn't to stop thinking. The goal is to become curious about what your mind is working so hard to keep you from feeling. Reflection Question If your busyness suddenly disappeared for a day, what feeling might finally have room to catch up with you? Before you go If this felt like a conversation you needed today, would you share it with someone who might need it too? And if you haven't already, follow the show so you don't miss next week's episode. Every week we're making big feelings feel a little less scary and a little easier to understand. I'm so glad you're here. My Links Website: https://danielleireland.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DontCutYourOwnBangs Substack: https://danielleireland.substack.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dontcutyourownbangs The Treasured Journal: https://danielleireland.com/journal Wrestling a Walrus: https://danielleireland.com/wrestling-a-walrus Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0VFZulonTvaa2HIPyJa4Tq Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dont-cut-your-own-bangs/id1427579922

You know that feeling where you're technically functioning… but internally it feels like your nervous system is running on fumes? You're answering emails. Making dinner. Showing up. Smiling. Handling responsibilities. Maybe even achieving things you once prayed for. And somehow, underneath all of it, there's this quiet fear: "What if I'm not actually capable of holding the life I worked so hard to build?" In this episode, I'm starting a brand new 3-part series called You Were Never Meant to Live Like a Machine. We're talking about burnout—but not just the productivity version of burnout. We're talking about the emotional layer underneath it: The fear that struggling means failing. The shame that shows up when the thing exhausting you is also something you deeply wanted. And why so many high-functioning people quietly override themselves in order to keep everything moving. I also share some very personal reflections about stepping back into public speaking, navigating motherhood, marriage, ambition, and the uncomfortable reality of reaching for a new version of your life while feeling terrified you won't be able to sustain it. If you've been telling yourself: "I just need to get through this week…" this episode is for you. 3 things we explore together in this episode: • Why burnout often starts long before exhaustion • How fear of disappointing others quietly fuels over-functioning • Why honesty—not rest—is often the first step toward burnout recovery The thing exhausting you may not actually be the workload—it may be the fear of what slowing down could mean about you. What part of your exhaustion have you been afraid to acknowledge because of what it might say about you? If this episode felt like a conversation you needed, send it to someone else carrying too much quietly. And if you haven't already, make sure you're following the show and leave a rating or review—it genuinely helps more people find these conversations.   Mentioned in this episode: The Treasure Journal https://danielleireland.com/journal Wrestling a Walrus https://danielleireland.com/wrestling-a-walrus The Bangs Club https://danielleireland.substack.com My Links: Website https://danielleireland.com/ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@DontCutYourOwnBangs Instagram https://www.instagram.com/dontcutyourownbangs Listen on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/0VFZulonTvaa2HIPyJa4Tq Listen on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dont-cut-your-own-bangs/id1427579922

"See?" Are you surprised a Walrus is larger than a Wildebeest? Will the Lakers win a single game this postseason? And are more of the players who've had a spectacular career post-40 great with their pliability or their lie ability? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices