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Northwestern University (IL) Professor of Percussion She-e Wu returns to talk about staying at the University of North Texas to attend grad school and study composition (01:45), teaching and performing out of grad school, and her year teaching at the University of West Virginia (09:45), her decade teaching at Rutgers (NJ), building up the facilities, and negotiating for her current job (24:30), and finishing with the Random Ass Questions, including sections about musicality and literature, great movies, books about chefs and her own awesome cooking skills, great athletes, a wild performance story, and an incredible botanical garden (37:30).Finishing with a Rave on the TV series Freaks and Geeks and the documentary on the show (01:12:25).She-e Wu Links:Part 1 with She-e WuShe-e Wu's Northwestern pageShe-e Wu's Majestic Percussion pageShe'e Wu's Innovative Percussion pageOther Links:Robert SchietromaPaul RennickJoseph KleinEd SophBrian WestEllie MannettePaschal YoungePhil FainiDafnis Prieto“Two Mexican Dances” - Gordon StoutConcertino for Marimba - Paul Creston“Northern Lights” - Eric EwazenKeiko Abe“Etude Op. 6, No. 10” - Clair Omar Musser“Suite for Percussion” - Lou Harrison“Third Construction” - John Cage“Ostinato Pianissimo” - Henry CowellThe Motorcycle Diaries trailerThe Lives of Others trailerMission Impossible: The Final Reckoning trailerF1 trailerRatatouille trailerSteph CurryFederer: Twelve Final Days trailerThe Last Dance trailerRaves:Freaks and Geeks on Paramount PlusCultuershock - Freaks and Geeks: the Documentary
What happens if you took one of the classic characters of Chinese literary fiction and dropped him into early 20th-century China? That's the premise of Wu Jianren's novel, New Story of the Stone (Columbia UP, 2025), written in 1905, which takes Jia Baoyu, from the classic Dream of the Red Chamber, and takes him first to Qing China and the Boxer Rebellion, and then to the fantastical “Realm of Civilization,” a world that, in Wu's eyes, reflected what he thought would happen if people embraced Chinese beliefs. Liz Webber just released a new translation on New Story of the Stone, and joins us today to talk about this piece of literary fanfiction, and what political points Wu wanted to achieve by writing his work of early Chinese science fiction. Liz Evans Weber is currently an assistant professor of instruction in Chinese and research assistant professor at the University of Rochester in New York, where she teaches a wide range of courses on Chinese literature and a workshop course on Chinese-to-English literary translation. Her published translations also include the short story “Boundless Night” by Yu Dafu (Renditions, Spring 2021) In 2025, she was awarded a Translation Fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts for work on her next translation project, Flower in a Sea of Resentment by Jin Songcen and Zeng Pu. You can find more reviews, excerpts, interviews, and essays at The Asian Review of Books, including its review of New Story of the Stone. Follow on Twitter at @BookReviewsAsia. Nicholas Gordon is an editor for a global magazine, and a reviewer for the Asian Review of Books. He can be found on Twitter at @nickrigordon. 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
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu trounced challenger Josh Kraft in Tuesday's preliminary election for Boston mayor. What makes Wu so successful? And can she be a model for Democrats nationally? Say More host Shirley Leung talks to Boston Globe politics reporter Emma Platoff and columnist Joan Vennochi about the ‘Trump effect' on the mayoral election. Email us at saymore@globe.com.
What happens if you took one of the classic characters of Chinese literary fiction and dropped him into early 20th-century China? That's the premise of Wu Jianren's novel, New Story of the Stone (Columbia UP, 2025), written in 1905, which takes Jia Baoyu, from the classic Dream of the Red Chamber, and takes him first to Qing China and the Boxer Rebellion, and then to the fantastical “Realm of Civilization,” a world that, in Wu's eyes, reflected what he thought would happen if people embraced Chinese beliefs. Liz Webber just released a new translation on New Story of the Stone, and joins us today to talk about this piece of literary fanfiction, and what political points Wu wanted to achieve by writing his work of early Chinese science fiction. Liz Evans Weber is currently an assistant professor of instruction in Chinese and research assistant professor at the University of Rochester in New York, where she teaches a wide range of courses on Chinese literature and a workshop course on Chinese-to-English literary translation. Her published translations also include the short story “Boundless Night” by Yu Dafu (Renditions, Spring 2021) In 2025, she was awarded a Translation Fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts for work on her next translation project, Flower in a Sea of Resentment by Jin Songcen and Zeng Pu. You can find more reviews, excerpts, interviews, and essays at The Asian Review of Books, including its review of New Story of the Stone. Follow on Twitter at @BookReviewsAsia. Nicholas Gordon is an editor for a global magazine, and a reviewer for the Asian Review of Books. He can be found on Twitter at @nickrigordon.
Sunday is a “Day of Hope” for Yue Wu, music therapist and founder of a Twin Cities nonprofit called Light in the Well. Dancers, singers and musicians with and without disabilities will come together for a performance at the Landmark Center in St. Paul. Wu joins MPR News host Nina Moini to talk about the event and her work.
In this episode of Speaking of Mol Bio, host Steve Lewis speaks with Dr. Melissa Wu, co-founder and CEO of Seeding Labs, a nonprofit that's redefining global scientific access. Dr. Wu shares the inspiring story of how Seeding Labs helps institutions in developing nations build research infrastructure by redistributing surplus laboratory equipment from partners like Thermo Fisher Scientific.With an innovative model that connects equipment donors in the global North with universities and institutes across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, Seeding Labs enables groundbreaking science in places where opportunity is limited but talent is abundant. Dr. Wu highlights examples like the Malawi University of Science and Technology, whose graduates are now staffing the country's first hospital microbiology labs, and a Beninese research team using donated PCR equipment to improve the yield of indigenous crops like the miracle berry.More than a logistics operation, Seeding Labs is also fostering scientific networks, reversing brain drain, and giving researchers confidence, courage, and agency. Dr. Wu offers a compelling vision of an equitable global scientific ecosystem, and shares how listeners can get involved—whether by donating equipment, funds, or simply spreading the word. Subscribe to get future episodes as they drop and if you like what you're hearing we hope you'll share a review or recommend the series to a colleague. Visit the Invitrogen School of Molecular Biology to access helpful molecular biology resources and educational content, and please share this resource with anyone you know working in molecular biology. For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.
It's the eve of Boston's preliminary election and according to a new poll from Emerson College, incumbent mayor Michelle Wu is leading top rival Josh Kraft by 50 points. Wu drew 72 percent support from likely voters, compared with just 22 percent for Kraft. Two lesser-known candidates, Domingos DaRosa and Robert Cappucci, drew 2 percent and 1 percent. Who is your mayoral candidate and why? Spencer Kimball, the Executive Director of Emerson College polling joined us to discuss what the polls say.
Here are 3 big things you need to know— One — The Trump administration taking Boston to court over its immigration policies. On Thursday the Department of Justice filed suit against the city's Democratic Mayor Michelle Wu. The DOJ alleges Boston's policies that limit cooperation between police and federal immigration authorities violate the law. In response, Wu accused the administration of pursuing an authoritarian agenda. Two --- The Trump administration is scrapping a Biden-era proposal requiring airlines to pay passengers for long delays, including up to 700 dollars for extended waits. The Transportation Department says the move aligns with administration priorities and is also weighing whether to roll back a rule forcing airlines to disclose service fees upfront. And number three --- U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers says Detroit's Mayor needs to call President Trump to get federal troops patrolling Motown. The Republican former congressman says Detroit is a hub for violent crime and soars above the national average for murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. A city of Detroit spokesman counters Rogers, saying carjackings in Detroit have fallen 90-percent from 2013.
Endocrinologist Joy Wu says that osteoporosis can affect more than half of women and a quarter of men over 50 – often without symptoms until a fracture changes everything, leading to a loss of mobility and independence. Wu explains why bones weaken with age and how to strengthen them through exercise and smart medicine. Her lab is exploring innovative drugs and turning skin cells into new bone-forming osteoblasts. We're delving into the great mystery of building new bone and making old bones stronger, Wu tells host Russ Altman on this episode of Stanford Engineering's The Future of Everything podcast.Have a question for Russ? Send it our way in writing or via voice memo, and it might be featured on an upcoming episode. Please introduce yourself, let us know where you're listening from, and share your question. You can send questions to thefutureofeverything@stanford.edu.Episode Reference Links:Stanford Profile: Joy WuConnect With Us:Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything WebsiteConnect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / MastodonConnect with School of Engineering >>> Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / FacebookChapters:(00:00:00) IntroductionRuss Altman introduces guest Joy Wu, a professor of endocrinology at Stanford University.(00:03:06) Path into Bone ResearchJoy shares her path from endocrinology training to studying bone biology.(00:04:10) Calcium and Vitamin D in Bone HealthHow these nutrients build strong bones and prevent fractures.(00:05:13) Why Bones Heal ThemselvesWhy bones can regenerate so effectively compared to other tissues.(00:06:26) Can We Feel Our Bones?The mystery of weather-related aches at old fracture sites.(00:07:23) Understanding OsteoporosisThe prevalence of osteoporosis in the elderly, especially in women.(00:08:34) Diagnosing OsteoporosisWhy osteoporosis often goes undetected until fractures appear.(00:09:36) Risk Factors Beyond AgingThe risk factors outside of aging that can lead to osteoporosis.(00:10:48) Steroids, Exercise, and Bone HealthThe impact of systemic steroids and exercise on bone health.(00:12:40) Height Loss and Spine FracturesHow shrinking height in older adults can signal vertebral fractures.(00:14:46) Cancer and Bone HealthHow cancers spread to bone and how therapies affect bone health.(00:17:09) Medications for OsteoporosisThe complexities of using certain medications in cancer patients with bone loss.(00:20:10) Hormones and Bone GrowthUsing SERMs to protect bone while reducing breast cancer risk.(00:21:45) Stem Cells and Building BoneResearch on reprogramming skin cells into bone-forming osteoblasts.(00:23:31) Why Treatments PlateauWhy bone-building drugs stop working after two years.(00:24:49) Challenges in Bone RegenerationThe potential of Wnt signalling and stem cells in lasting bone regeneration.(00:28:09) Validating Osteoblasts in the LabTesting whether reprogrammed cells behave like natural osteoblasts.(00:29:11) Future Outlook for Bone BiologyThe limits of bone cell replication and what it means for future therapies.(00:30:10) Advice for Strong BonesPractical do's and don'ts for optimizing bone health.(00:32:41) Conclusion Connect With Us:Episode Transcripts >>> The Future of Everything WebsiteConnect with Russ >>> Threads / Bluesky / MastodonConnect with School of Engineering >>>Twitter/X / Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook
In this episode, host Sebastian Hassinger sits down with Xiaodi Wu, Associate Professor at the University of Maryland, to discuss Wu's journey through quantum information science, his drive for bridging computer science and physics, and the creation of the quantum programming language SimuQ.Guest IntroductionXiaodi Wu shares his academic path from Tsinghua University (where he studied mathematics and physics) to a PhD at the University of Michigan, followed by postdoctoral work at MIT and a position at the University of Oregon, before joining the University of Maryland.The conversation highlights Wu's formative experiences, early fascination with quantum complexity, and the impact of mentors like Andy Yao.Quantum Computing: Theory Meets PracticeWu discusses his desire to blend theoretical computer science with physics, leading to pioneering work in quantum complexity theory and device-independent quantum cryptography.He reflects on the challenges and benefits of interdisciplinary research, and the importance of historical context in guiding modern quantum technology development.Programming Languages and Human FactorsThe episode delves into Wu's transition from theory to practical tools, emphasizing the major role of human factors and software correctness in building reliable quantum software.Wu identifies the value of drawing inspiration from classical programming languages like FORTRAN and SIMULA—and points out that quantum software must prioritize usability and debugging, not just elegant algorithms.SimiQ: Hamiltonian-Based Quantum AbstractionWu introduces SimuQ, a new quantum programming language designed to treat Hamiltonian evolution as a first-class abstraction, akin to how floating-point arithmetic is fundamental in classical computing.SimiQ enables users to specify Hamiltonian models directly and compiles them to both gate-based and analog/pulse-level quantum devices (including IBM, AWS Braket, and D-Wave backends).The language aims to make quantum simulation and continuous-variable problems more accessible, and serves as a test bed for new quantum software abstractions.Analog vs. Digital in Quantum ComputingWu and Hassinger explore the analog/digital divide in quantum hardware, examining how SimuQ leverages the strengths of both by focusing on higher-level abstractions (Hamiltonians) that fit natural use cases like quantum simulation and dynamic systems.Practical Applications and VisionThe conversation highlights targeted domains for SimuQ, such as quantum chemistry, physics simulation, and machine learning algorithms that benefit from continuous-variable modeling.Wu discusses his vision for developer-friendly quantum tools, drawing parallels to the evolution of classical programming and the value of reusable abstractions for future advancements. Listen to The New Quantum Era podcast for more interviews with leaders in quantum computing, software development, and scientific research.
Good afternoon, I'm _____ with today's episode of EZ News. Tai-Ex opening The Tai-Ex opened up 64-points this morning from yesterday's close, at 24,244 on turnover of $4.1-billion N-T. Expert: High Temps as Tropical Storm Heads to Japan Forecasters say Taiwan can expect high temperatures today as a tropical storm heads towards Japan. Meteorologist Wu De-rong says weather in Taiwan will be sunny both today and tomorrow, with highs in the north reaching 37 to 38 degrees Celsius. The Central Weather Administration has issued a head alert for Taipei and New Taipei in the north, as well as Chiayi County, Tainan City, and Taitung County. And afternoon showers and thunderstorms are expected in mountainous areas. Wu says those traveling to or from Japan should be on the lookout for (密切注意著) Tropical Storm Peipah, which is expected to hit Japan's Shikoku and southern Honshu islands today. From this weekend heading into next week, Wu says moisture from the south will increase, leading to a chance of thunderstorms and heavy rain in the afternoons. And also for travelers, he adds that a tropical disturbance in the South China Sea could affect Hong Kong and Macao on Monday next week. (NS) US Health Secretary RFK Jr hammered by lawmakers US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr has defended his leadership and vaccine policies during a grilling (審問,指責) by lawmakers on Capitol Hill. It follows the departure of several top officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nick Harper reports from Washington. Congo Suspected New Ebola Outbreak Kills Over a Dozen Congo's health minister says a new Ebola outbreak is suspected of causing 15 deaths among 28 people with symptoms. It's the 16th outbreak of Ebola in the central African country, and the minister says the fatality rate, estimated at nearly 54-percent, showed the gravity (嚴重性) of the situation. The suspected cases included four health care workers. They all had typical Ebola symptoms such as fever, vomiting, diarrhea and heavy bleeding. The World Health Organization said it dispatched its experts to Kasai province to strengthen disease surveillance, treatment and infection prevention and control in health facilities. It is also delivering supplies including personal protective equipment, mobile laboratory equipment and medical supplies. And the W-H-O says Congo has a stockpile of treatments and of the Ervebo Ebola vaccine. Peru Commission to Vote on Reserve for Uncontacted Tribes A commission in Peru was scheduled to vote Thursday on whether to create a long-delayed reserve in a remote stretch of the Amazon that would protect five uncontacted tribes from outside encroachment. It would be in the Loreto region near the Brazil border, and is roughly the size of Jamaica. The reserve would safeguard uncontacted tribes vulnerable to disease and exploitation, but faces opposition from logging interests and political resistance. The vote follows decades of delays and comes as Congress debates changes to the Indigenous Peoples in Isolation law that could weaken protections by allowing periodic (定期的) re-evaluation and possible reduction of reserves. That was the I.C.R.T. EZ News, I'm _____. -- Hosting provided by SoundOn
Percussionist, Performer, Freelancer, Educator, Composer, Instrument Designer, Clinician, and Director of Percussion Studies at Northwestern University (IL) She-e Wu stops by to talk about position at the university, getting the job, and how her passion for music and teaching fuels her career (04:30), what it takes to be performance ready at all times, and her work with instrument design for Majestic Percussion (35:15), growing up in Taiwan, getting involved in music, and her percussion and theater background (52:50), and her undergrad years at the University of North Texas, the challenges of being new to the United States at the time, and her deep connections with her percussion colleagues and professors at UNT (01:07:00).Finishing with a Rave on the re-release of the 1975 film Jaws (01:26:45).She-e Wu links:She-e Wu's Northwestern pageShe-e Wu's Majestic Percussion pageShe-e Wu's Innovative Percussion pagePrevious Podcast Guests of note:Matthew Coley in 2021Renée Keller in 2018Edward Choi in 2023Andrea Venet in 2018Jaime Esposito in 2020Becca Laurito in 2023Aaron Ragsdale 2017Sarah Burke in 2018Other Links:Annie StevensChristopher LambCharles GeyerMallory ThompsonGail WilliamsMichael BurrittMatt PenlandDave WecklEd SophPaul RennickJeff ProsperieKeith CarlockJason SutterBill EvansJ. B. SmithRick RodriguezSandi RennickBrian WestRobert SchietromaRaves:Jaws 50th Anniversary trailer
On Wednesday, Orchard Robotics announced that it raised a $22 million Series A funding led by Quiet Capital and Shine Capital, and with participation from returning investors, including General Catalyst and Contrary. Although the idea of using computer vision for specialty crops isn't new, Wu says that the largest farms in the U.S. still rely on manual sampling to make critical decisions about farm operations. Also, French AI startup Mistral AI is finalizing a €2 billion investment at a post-money valuation of $14 billion, reports Bloomberg, positioning the company as one of Europe's most valuable tech startups. The two-year-old OpenAI rival, founded by former DeepMind and Meta researchers, develops open source language models and Le Chat, its AI chatbot built for European audiences. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Send us a textArtificial Intelligence is the future of dentistry, and we're so excited to get the inside scoop straight from the source, Dr. Greg Wu of Mango Voice
Investi con Fineco, 60 trade gratis nei primi sei mesi (#adv). Imparare a costruire un portafoglio di investimenti diversificato e coerente è fondamentale. Ma il portafoglio è solo un pilastro della nostra ricchezza futura. Gli altri due sono il nostro capitale umano e la nostra salute. Entrambi hanno un ruolo preciso e quantificabile nell'asset allocation del portafoglio. Bodie, Merton, Samuelson, Labor Supply Flexibility and Portfolio Choice in a Life-Cycle Model Rosen, Wu, Portfolio Choice and Health Status =============================================== Investi con Scalable, 3,5% di interessi sulla liquidità (*) Prova gratis la newsletter di DataTrek per 15 giorni. Naviga in totale sicurezza con NordVPN Migliaia di libri audioriassunti su 4Books. I link sono sponsorizzati e l'Autore potrebbe percepire una commissione. (*) fino al 31/12/2025, offerta valida per i nuovi clienti. Si applicano termini e condizioni. =============================================== ATTENZIONE: I contenuti di questo canale hanno esclusivamente finalità di informare e intrattenere. Le informazioni fornite sul canale hanno valore indicativo e non sono complete circa le caratteristiche dei prodotti menzionati. Chiunque ne faccia uso per fini diversi da quelli puramente informativi cui sono destinati, se ne assume la piena responsabilità. Tutti i riferimenti a singoli strumenti finanziari non devono essere intesi come attività di consulenza in materia di investimenti, né come invito all'acquisto dei prodotti o servizi menzionati. Investire comporta il rischio di perdere il proprio capitale. Investi solo se sei consapevole dei rischi che stai correndo. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
On this Salcedo Storm Podcast:Michael Quinn Sullivan is a graduate of Texas A&M, former newspaper reporter, one-time Capitol Hill staffer, a think tank vice-president, and Eagle Scout. He is also the publisher of Texas Scorecard.
With the end of the Jinshin War, Oama, posthumously known as Temmu Tenno, came to the throne. And though they would need a new Great Council of State, they continued to build up and bolster the Ritsuryo state. They were imagining a new Yamato based on continental models of what a state should look like, but also influenced by tradition. This episode we take a look at that reimagining in broad strokes, asking a few questions--what was Oama's relationship with his brother, and touching on the relationship of Nakatomi no Kamatari and his brother, Nakatomi no Kane. We also take a look at some of the literary propaganda that also helped to codify this new imaginary--the Nihon Shoki and the Kojiki. We also touch on other sourcesof information, like the Fudoki and Man'yoshu. For more information, check out our blog: https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-133 Rough Transcript Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan. My name is Joshua, and this is episode 133: Reimagining Yamato As the bells of Houkouji tolled, Ohoama and his wife, Uno, surveyed the construction on going in the Asuka valley. Hordes of workers had been called up, and now they were working furiously towards the deadline of the new year. Where once stood the later Wokamoto palace of Takara Hime, aka Ohoama's mother, Saimei Tennou, now the land was being prepared for a palace on a much grander scale. And just as the palace was being remade, Ohoama's thoughts went beyond the valley, to the entire archipelago. His brother, Naka no Oe, had started something profound. Now here he was, helming the Ship of State, and Ohoama had plans of his own, built upon his brother's ideas. He would build a new state, ensuring that the reforms that started back in 645 would continue for generations. Greetings everyone and welcome back. As we dive back in, let's recap where we are. The year is now 673, and the fighting from the previous year—the Jinshin war—is over. Prince Ohoama and his Yoshino forces were victorious and he is now poised to ascend the throne in the recently built Palace of Kiyomihara, in Asuka. He will be known to future generations by his posthumous name: Temmu Tennou. Ohoama would go ahead and continue to centralize the government under the continental model. That said, he also would pay a not insignificant amount of attention to local tradition as well. His reign would lead to the establishment of the first permanent capital city: Fujiwara-kyo. He is also credited with initiating the projects collecting various historical records, which culminated in the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki, the very chronicles on which this podcast is based – and both of which seem to have been designed specifically to promote the authority of the throne, specifically Ohoama and his descendants. Those descendants—the Temmu dynasty—would rule for almost a century, including four of the eight official female sovereigns (those eight become ten if you count the unofficial Himiko and Okinaga Tarashi-hime, aka Jingu Tennou). This dynasty would reign from the end of the Asuka period up through to the Nara period, and it would see the evolution of the Yamato state into the kingdom of Nihon—which is to say the kingdom of Japan. The politics of this period were also quite something. It is during this coming period that we see the rise of the famous Fujiwara family, who would come to dominate the political landscape. We also see the continued contact with the mainland, with numerous trade goods coming over, many of which would be included in the famous Shousouin storehouse of Toudaiji temple, in Nara. Buddhism would also thrive, with Kokubunji, or provincial temples, being set up in a network around the archipelago. There was also the building of the famous Daibutsu, or Giant Buddha statue, of Toudaiji. Art would also flourish. The Man'yoshu would be published at this time—a collection of around 4,500 Japanese poems, or waka. Meanwhile, the court would also focus on continental styles as well. From this point on, not only do we have more evidence of what was happening through the written record, but the writing itself changed. Different Sinitic characters were borrowed solely for their sound to help spell out Japanese words. These would eventually be simplified, and known as “kana”. The earliest use of these characters is known as “Man'yo-gana” because so many are traced back to the Man'yoshu itself. They would eventually be standardized and simplified, becoming the hiragana and katakana we know and use today. But in 673, all of this is still on the horizon. So this is a great time to pause for a bit in our journey through the chronicles and set the stage for this next, incredibly transformative period in the archipelago by going over these larger patterns in some depth, so that, as we start to go through this period we get a better idea of just what was happening, and perhaps why. That's what we'll do this episode. To start with, let's go back to the relationship between Naka no Oe and Ohoama. As far as we can tell, these brothers were fairly close to one another. Not only was Ohoama married to one of Naka no Oe's daughters, Princess Uno, he had actually taken as consort at least four of Naka no Oe's other daughters—all of which were Ohoama's nieces. In turn, one of Ohoama's own daughters, Princess Touchi, had been married off to Ohotomo, aka the ill-fated Koubun Tennou. On top of that, Naka no Oe and Ohoama both had taken as consorts daughters of Soga no Akaye, and both Ohotomo and Ohoama had consorts from Nakatomi—or Fujiwara—no Kamatari. This demonstrates just how interrelated everyone was at court, presumably as a means of strengthening the ties between them. Of course, as we've seen time and again, those ties were more symbolic than anything else, and certainly did not prevent the occasional use of violence, nor did it protect the fathers of those women from political repercussions when they found themselves on the wrong side. On the other hand, beyond the initial mention of their births, we don't see the two brothers together until Naka no Oe came to the throne. Why? Well, to be fair, we don't see much of anyone but the sovereign in the Chronicles unless there is a specific thing they are called out for—like an embassy, presenting something to the throne, etc. Even Naka no Oe often isn't mentioned directly, even when he was the Crown Prince and supposedly helping run the government. So that could be it. There are two apparent counter arguments to the idea that Naka no Oe and his brother, Ohoama, were tight. First is a mention in the Toushi Kaden, the Family History of the Fujiwara Family, about Ohoama thrusting a spear into a board, which rattled Naka no Oe enough that he was apparently wondering if he needed to have his own brother taken out. Then there is Ohoama's resignation at the time of Naka no Oe's death, presumably because he was warned that a plot was afoot, and that if he accepted Naka no Oe's offer to take the reins of the state in his own two hands then something—we aren't told what—would unfold. I can't rule out the idea that neither of those accounts is quite accurate either, however. It is possible that the Toushi Kaden account is embellished to heighten Fujiwara no Kamatari's own role as peacemaker between the brothers. I also have to wonder if the warning to Ohoama around Naka no Oe's death wasn't so much about Naka no Oe, but about his ministers. After all, they seem to have had no problem supporting the much younger—and likely more malleable—Prince Ohotomo. So it seems to me entirely possible that there were other threats that Ohoama was concerned with. That brings me to one of those ministers: Nakatomi no Kane. We talked about him before and during the war. He first showed up participating in ritual and speaking on kami matters. He would later rise to be one of the Great Ministers of State, and was one of the six ministers who had pledged themselves to Prince Ohotomo. At the end of the Jinshin War, he was put to death and his family was banished. That said, in period leading up to all of that, we spent a good amount of time with another Nakatomi: Nakatomi no Kamatari. He was the head of the Nakatomi clan and the Naidaijin, the Interior Minister, a special position placing him on par, or even above, the Ministers of the Left and Right, but which did not have a well defined portfolio noted in the literature. Interestingly, this position also doesn't seem to have survived Kamatari, at least in the short run. From the time of Naka no Oe, aka Tenji Tennou, to the time of Ohoama, aka Temmu Tennou, it seems that the office of Naidaijin fell out of favor, possibly due, in part, to Prince Ohotomo being raised to a different post, that of Dajou Daijin, placing him in charge of the Great Council of State. The Naidaijin role wouldn't be revived until 717 for Kamatari's grandson, Fujiwara no Fusasaki (interestingly, only three years before the completion of the Nihon Shoki). Nakatomi no Kane was, as far as we can tell, the brother to Kamatari. When Kamatari passed away, Kane seems to have taken on the role as head of the Nakatomi family and he was also made Minister of the Right. This mirrors, in its way, the relationship between Naka no Oe and Ohoama, and the common system of inheritance that would often go brother to brother. And yet, while Kamatari was a hero of the Taika era, Nakatomi no Kane was executed for his role in the Jinshin War. So in the context of the rise of the Fujiwaras to greater prominence later on in Ohoama's reign, it is significant that Kamatari's line would be set apart from the rest of the Nakatomi to the extent of giving it the new Fujiwara name. Although the Chronicles claim that the “Fujiwara” name was actually granted by Naka no Oe, there is a thought that this was granted posthumously, and may have even been retconned by later members of the family, possibly to distance themselves from Nakatomi no Kane and his role on the losing side of the Jinshin War, and tie themselves clearly to Kamatari and his founding role in Naka no Oe's and Ohoama's new vision, instead. This all brings me to my next point: the creation of the national histories. The projects that culminated in what we know today as the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki are said to have been started under Ohoama's reign, though they wouldn't be finished until much later, well into the 8th century. A lot of what went into them was work under Ohoama's wife Uno, who succeeded him as Jitou Tennou, as well as her successors. Prince Toneri, one of Ohoama's sons, is said to have overseen the Nihon Shoki's compilation. Prince Toneri was son of Ohoama and princess Niitabe, one of Naka no Oe's daughters, and while he never sat the throne, himself, one of his sons would eventually do so. As such, we can see a strong royal hand on the project, even though the actual composition was probably by several teams of Chroniclers—we touched on this briefly back in Episode 131. The Kojiki, on the other hand, is said to have been written by Oho no Yasumaro based on the oral history that had been maintained by Hieda no Are. We don't know much about Hieda no Are—there are some that believe they may have been a woman, since a passage in a later work, the Seikyuuki, suggests that they were a member of the Sarume no Kimi family, descended from Ame no Uzume no Mikoto, who is said to have danced and helped lure Amaterasu out of the rock cave. And so they were particularly known for their role as shrine maidens—a particularly female role. That said, Are received the title of “toneri”, which is often assumed to be male, and there is nothing else that explicitly says they were not. Either way, Hieda no Are is said to have been commanded by the sovereign, Ohoama, to memorize the history of the nation, presumably to then perform it as needed, for the court. Only later was Oho no Yasumaro asked to write it down in what became known as the Kojiki. Both of these chronicles were attempts to organize the history of the nation and to put together all the stories in a way that would establish a foundation for the new state that was evolving out of ancient Yamato. A large part of that effort was going to be to justify those who were in power at the time—including both the royal family and the various noble houses at the time, including the powerful Fujiwara. Now, when we talk about how these histories were created to bolster the state, I want to be careful. It may not have necessarily been the case that the chroniclers were actively and consciously promoting a fictional account. From what we can tell, the chroniclers drew from a collection of stories, some written down in diaries and court records, works like the Baekje annals and continental histories, and some that were likely just memorized tales that were part of the general culture. There were a couple of existing histories—we are told, for example, that there was a Teiki and a Kyuji floating around, both attributed to the legendary Shotoku Taishi, and both supposedly including the royal lineage at least to Toyomike-kashikiya-hime, aka Suikou Tennou. However, the copies that were being passed around were apparently suspect, and we are told that there were inconsistencies. Which probably means that the way they told the story did not conform to the way that Ohoama and the royal family wanted it told, though it could also refer to the fact that different accounts had slight variations on the stories, many of which had probably started as oral traditions that were only later written down. It is also likely that there was only so much detail in those ancient texts, but we can't know for sure. The Sendai Kuji Hongi purports to be the text of the original Kyuuji, or Kyuujiki, but that claim is dubious, at best, though it may have used an older, no longer extant history to crib its own notes from. So there were probably some writings, already, but there was also so much more. There were stories from various familial records, stories told by various shrines about their kami and their histories, and stories passed down as local history that had never been captured, previously. All of this was good material for the project of creating an official national history that aimed to tell the whole story. To get an idea of what the Chroniclers of that time might have been going through, imagine that you have some 2,000 random facts about the United States, or any country of your choice, in no particular order—stories of heroes, presidents, wars, etc. On top of that, only a few of them ever give you any kind reference dates, and when they do, those dates are only in relationship to the presidents in office – the third year of the presidency of Roosevelt, for example - or maybe they reference another event. In addition, some of the facts have been lost, or they come from history books with a slightly different format. Or they come from diaries with different perspectives and takes on the same event. And then, without the aid of the Internet or any other reference material, you are asked to put all of that together into a coherent narrative. In all likelihood you would be able to generally construct many of the broad strokes. You would leverage what you know to be true and do your best to put things in place, but there is no guarantee that everything would be in the right order. And in places where there wasn't any clear through line, you may have needed to come up with your best, most plausible explanation and write that down. Also, imagine you had, in the interests of completeness, thrown in some of the more, shall we say, apocryphal stories. George Washington cutting down a cherry tree, for instance, or the story of Johnny Appleseed, or even the more fantastical stories of Davy Crockett. Without other reference points, would you know where they went, or how true they actually were? Add to all of that the lack of a referential calendar. The sexagesimal system helps for units of 60 years, but there was nothing comparable to a western calendar in use at the time. Instead, everything was based on the number of years in a given reign. So instead of thinking about it as “did this happen in 584 or 524?” it was more like “Did this happen in the years of the sovereign reigning from X palace or Y palace?” Now that said, there do appear to have been individuals whose job was to memorize the stories and the histories and recite them. We have, for example, the Kataribe, the guild of storytellers. It may have been out of this tradition that we get the eventual commission of the previously mentioned Hieda no Are, who was to memorize all of the historical events and recite them back, which I can only imagine would have been a kind of performance for the court, helping to reinforce the narrative. But still, as Are was putting everything together, what were the assumptions and guidelines they were working under? After all, there were no doubt certain truths, whether factual or not, that were pushed by the court. Things like the idea of an unbroken line of sovereigns going all the way back to the mythical founding, just like in continental stories. Or, the idea that worship centered from the beginning around the sun goddess, Amaterasu. There is plenty of evidence that while the early Wa people practiced various forms of sun worship, with traces found in their language as well as stories, cultural traditions, etc., it was not necessarily Amaterasu who was the primary deity of worship. Back in the Age of the Gods we talked about the creator deities, Izanagi and Izanami, and about the High god of Heaven, Takami Musubi, who seems to at one point been the most prominent central deity, but who had since been eclipsed, if you will, by the likes of Amaterasu. We also see evidence that there were other sun deities. The language around Sarutahiko no Ohokami suggests that he may have once been worshipped as a sun deity as well. And there is the early primacy of Mt. Miwa as a place of worship, and the spirit of Ohomononushi. This is to say nothing of Ohokuninushi, and all of his stories, up in Izumo. Furthermore, it seems telling that Amaterasu is not even central to the rituals conducted in the palace itself, which likely went back to an even earlier period. If Amaterasu were central, and the ancestral kami of the royal family since its inception, one would expect that Amaterasu would also be central to the rites carried out by her descendants in the royal palace. And yet most of her worship appears to have continued to be set apart from the palace ritual, and conducted out of Ise shrine (albeit after a certain point ceremonially led by a designated female member of the royal line). Even Ise shrine itself isn't the primary shrine in the Ise area—the Ichi-no-miya, or most important shrine, of Ise is actually said to be Tsubaki shrine, worshipping Saruta Hiko no Ohokami and Ame no Uzume. So how did Amaterasu come to be so central in Ohoama's vision? There are stories that say that worship at Ise Shrine—and worship of Amaterasu—was specifically conducted by Ohoama's wife during the Jinshin campaign. This is to say Ohoama's wife, primary consort, eventual queen and then queen regnant, Uno, later known as Jitou Tennou. Remember, Uno had fled with Ohoama and had been on the trail with him at first, but had stayed behind in Ise. Worship towards Ise seems to have later been counted as foundational to Ohoama and Uno's victory, and many suspect that they themselves may subsequently have encouraged greater worship of Amaterasu and placed her in the central position of sacral authority amongst the various kami. If so, that could explain why their histories focus so much on Amaterasu and her Heavenly descendant, from which the royal line claimed direct lineage. It might also be around this time that the story of Iwarebiko, aka Jimmu Tennou, and the conquest of Yamato from Himuka may have been introduced: telling how Iwarebiko justifiably took away the land from the descendants of Nigi Hayahi, and then connecting Iwarebiko, in an extremely loose fashion, to Mimaki Iiribiko no Mikoto, aka Sujin Tennou. Another influence on all of this was likely the continental concept that time is a circle, and history repeats itself. Chroniclers seeking to place events in a narrative context would have likely seen reflections of more recent events and used that to help order their compilation. And of course, if there were events that seemed to run counter to the truth as known by the court, well, those could be smoothed over. In this way, co-rulers were probably serialized, inconvenient interim rulers may have been excised altogether, and different dynasties, which may have only had tenuous connections, at best, were written down as direct lineal descendants. It also seems telling that the Chroniclers may have reduced the role of what appears to be matrilineal succession to a more patriarchal and patrilineal determination of legitimacy. Similarly, connections could be made for families to ancient ancestors through whom they were able to claim a certain proximity to the royal family. Likewise, rules for legitimacy could be imposed—or perhaps just assumed—for previous reigns, doing their best to bring them into harmony with the social norms and the cultural imaginaries of the late 7th and early 8th centuries. So that's the general context the Chroniclers were working under. But at this point it's illuminating to take a look at the two histories and how they differ, to see what we can understand about where those differences came from. The work of Hieda no Are, eventually recorded and written down as the Kojiki, seems to have dealt with history that was far enough back that it was likely hard to argue with—it isn't like there was anyone alive who could counter with their own facts. And the Kojiki reads as a fairly straightforward narrative, relatively speaking. The Nihon Shoki, on the other hand, is a different beast. While the Kojiki may have captured the official narrative, the Nihon Shoki seems to have been designed to include more—including some of the competing accounts. Thus you'll get a lot of things like “another source says…” with a different take on the same event. This is much more prevalent in the Age of the Gods, but still pops up occasionally throughout the rest of the text. Nonetheless, it is still very much focused on the royal line from Amaterasu down to Naka no Oe and Ohoama. Even their posthumous names, Tenji and Temmu, specifically reference Ten, also pronounced Ama, at the start of their names, in what appears to be a bid to further connect them to the sun goddess of Heavenly Brightness--Amaterasu. Both of these works have their own character, and while the dates they were presented to the throne—713 for the Kojiki and 720 for the Nihon Shoki—suggest that they were published in succession, there are those that argue that the Kojiki is largely a reaction against the Nihon Shoki. In all likelihood the contents of the Nihon Shoki were known to many people before it was presented. There were groups of Chroniclers involved, after all -- which meant teams of scribes pouring through sources, seeking out myths and legends, and generally trying to bring everything they could to the table. And there is no indication that this was done in secret. So it is quite possible that the writers of the Kojiki had seen some of the early drafts and cribbed from those notes. Some of the ways that the the history differ are in their portrayal of certain accounts. For example, the Kojiki presents Iwarebiko and the pacification of Yamato and archipelago more generally in terms of that mythical sovereign conversing with the spirits. And so he converses with, for instance, Ohomononushi, the deity of Mt. Miwa, a spirit whose name might be translated as the Great Lord of the Spirits, or “Mono”. This idea places the sovereign as an intercessor between the mortal and the spirit world. It hearkens back to earlier systems of sacral kingship, where power and authority came, at least in part, from supposed power of one's sacred sites and protective spirits. The Kojiki is also written in a much more vernacular style, using kanji and what we know of as man'yogana, the kanji used for their sound, rather than meaning, to provide a syllabary with which to write out Japanese words. This may have been done for similar reasons to why it was also used in the Man'yoshu itself—because the Kojiki was meant to be recited aloud, not just read for meaning. The Nihon Shoki, in contrast, is clearly attempting to emulate the continental style. It relies much more heavily on not just the characters but the grammar of Chinese, though not without its own idiosyncrasies. The Nihon Shoki incorporated classical references that mirrored the references found in the histories of the Tang and earlier dynasties. I suspect, for instance, that this is one of the main reasons that Naka no Oe and Ohoama are given the posthumous names of “Tenji” and “Temmu”. Tenji means something like the Wisdom of Heaven while Temmu is more like the Martial Virtue of Heaven. This immediately brings to mind, for me, the continental concepts of Wen and Wu—Culture and Warefare, or Bunbu in Japanese. This even mirrors the founding Zhou kings, King Wen and King Wu. Later, in the Han dynasty, you have Emperor Wu of Han, the grandson of Emperor Wen of Han, and Wu was considered to be one of the greatest emperors of the Han dynasty. And so I can't help but think that there was a similar attempt at mythmaking going on here, connecting these two reigns with the reigns of famous emperors of the continent. Of course, “Wu” was a popular name amongst the imperial dynasties from that period onward, with emperors of Jin, Chen, Liang, and others all being given the same name. This all accords with the way that the sovereign in the Nihon Shoki is less of a sacral king, interceding and speaking with the kami, and more along the continental model of an absolute ruler who ruled by divine right and heavenly mandate. The lands outside of Yamato are subdued and, except for the occasional uprising, stay subdued—or at least that is what the narrative would seemingly have us believe. Now, I would argue that these distinctions are not absolute. The Kojiki contains plenty of concepts of imperial trappings, and the Nihon Shoki contains plenty of examples of the sovereign playing a more traditional role. But it is something to consider in the broad strokes of what they are saying, and I would argue that it also speaks to the duality of what was going on in this period. Clearly the Ritsuryo State was built on the continental model, with an absolute ruler who ruled through a Heavenly mandate. And yet at the same time, we see Ohoama patronizing the traditional spiritual sites and kami worship, like the emphasis on Amaterasu and Ise shrine. Besides the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki, we have one more set of official records that were compiled just as the major histories were beginning to be finished. These were the Fudoki. Fudoki were texts about the various provinces, and they include information on the various places, population, soil quality, as well as various local myths and legends attached to such things. Rather than supporting the royal lineage, the Fudoki were more geared towards supporting the process begun under Karu and Naka no Oe with the Ritsuryo system whereby knowledge of the archipelago was being centralized such that the State could know about its territories. Still, there are many times that the various Fudoki refer to different sovereigns, often to help situate a given event roughly within the historical narrative. The Fudoki were commissioned in 713. At least 48 chronicles were said to have been compiled, but only a handful of them remain extant today. Most are only partial texts, though even those can still contain significant information. We also have purported text from certain fudoki that were reprinted in later histories. The Shaku Nihongi seems to have been one such work, expressly commissioned to try and compile various older records that were likely aging and in danger of being lost altogether. However, there is a concern regarding just how faithful those later transcriptions might have been, meaning that we cannot rely on them, entirely. Still, they are an invaluable addition to our study of the history of this period. I mention all of this because much of this period seems dedicated to remaking the nation of Yamato into what we know as Japan. This evolution didn't happen overnight, and it seems clear that it started gradually, but had now come to a head. There is some consideration, though, that many of the things attributed to earlier reigns—the work done by Shotoku Taishi, for example, or even that of Naka no Oe—may have been embellished in this period. After all, consider the difference between Ohoama trying to institute something entirely new versus pointing back to a previous sovereign and claiming that he wasn't innovating, he was just following tradition. But there are still unmistakable signs of innovation in the following reigns. The creation of the first permanent capital city, for one. There was also the blending of Buddhist and local kami-based traditions. While Buddhism had been ascendant for a while, now, we see Ohoama seemingly paying equal homage to Amaterasu and the local kami. Even while instituting new fangled continental ideas, he is also hearkening back to traditions that I can only imagine helped assuage some of the fears of any traditionalists who saw the rapid speed at which the archipelago was adopting at least the trappings of continental imperial culture. Speaking of culture, there was one other work that we should probably mention, and that is the famous Man'yoshu—the collection of 10,000 Leaves. I mentioned this briefly earlier in the episode, but I do want to discuss it a bit, because as much as we may glean from the official histories, as well as the various fudoki texts, the Man'yoshu provides an invaluable view into the minds of the people of the time, and contains some incredibly useful tidbits of information that, when put together, help give us a better idea of what was happening during this period. The Man'yoshu is a collection of more than 4500 poems attributed to various historical figures, from sovereigns, such as Ohoama and Naka no Oe, to common soldiers. It is remarkable in that the poems are largely in native Japanese and are not using the Sinitic poetry styles that were popular with scholars of the time. These poems are waka, Japanese verse, which typically follows a pattern of repeating verses of 5-7-5 syllables or morae, ending with two lines of 7-7. The most simple of these are tanka—one top verse of 5-7-5, and one bottom verse of 7-7. However, the poems in the collection can vary quite a bit. They are also remarkable in that they are written in what we know as Man'yogana. That is to say they use Sinitic characters—kanji—but for their sound rather than their meaning in many cases. This practice allowed for much more nuanced writing, such that the author could be more certain that the correct meaning could be taken away, since Japanese grammar differs greatly from various Chinese languages, and leverages particles and suffixes that are non-existent in Sinitic script. Often times, when reading something like the Nihon Shoki, one has to infer the Japanese word order, particles, and suffixes from the text as a whole. This is common with any kanbun—a very Japanese style of Chinese writing that often requires its own study to fully understand. Meanwhile, the Man'yogana allowed someone to more easily sound out the letters in the Man'yoshu. This must have been important when morae or syllable count was important to the art form. Furthermore, it gives us tremendous insight into how spoken Japanese may have sounded back in the 8th century. And of course it is great that we have all of these poems, but almost more important is the other information contained in the collection. Most poems not only are attributed to a particular author, but they often give a brief introduction to lay out the circumstance in which the poem was composed. These poems are, in many ways, more straightforward than many later poetic styles, which relied much more heavily on so-called “pillow words”, poetic allusions, or callbacks to previous poems—not that they were completely devoid of such references, especially to other, often continental, works. Some poems are actually paired—a type of call and response. A man would often be expected to send a poem to a lady with whom he had recently had assignations, and she would often respond. Through such correspondence, preserved in the poetic record, we can see connections that might not be as clear in the various historical texts. Now, 4500 is a lot of poems and I'll be honest, I'm probably not going to be researching all of them for historical tidbits, but it is nonetheless important to understand. One should also be careful—while the poems are often attributed to various artists and famous persons, this may sometimes be misleading. The attribution may have been garbled or forgotten, and recreated. Most of the poems in the Man'yoshu are presented with at least some amount of framing around them. They are grouped loosely by various themes. We are then told, for each poem, the composer and the occasion for which it was created. Sometimes this may be as simple as “when they were out hunting”, but that still gives us some context on which to go by as for why the author was writing the poem in the first place. The poems themselves vary in size. There are short poems, or tanka, but also longer form chōka poems, with multiple verses. Some may allude to previous poems, but many of the poems are just about the author's feelings. Unlike haiku, they were not quite so proscribed in terms of “pillow words” or requisite seasonal descriptions. And yet these poems, just as much as the histories, were important in capturing some part of the cultural zeitgeist from that time. We can see what was considered popular or important, and it was there for future generations down until today. Ultimately the Kojiki would largely be overshadowed by the more comprehensive and prestigious seeming history in the Nihon Shoki. The Nihon Shoki would become the official history, inspiring future historical records, such as the Shoku Nihongi, the continuation of the records. The Man'yoshu, likewise, would be emulated, with future compilations like the Kokinshu. These, in turn, would impact the cultural imaginary of the time. They would shape people's ideas about the past, about art, and even about the nature of the kami themselves. During this period it is hard to understate just how much they were setting in place a new system. It is even difficult to tell how much of that system had actually been instituted by previous sovereigns, even though it's hard to tell how much that actually happened as opposed to simple claims by Ohoama and, later, Uno, to justify what they were doing. Up to this point, the Ritsuryou State and the various reforms had been an experiment, but under Ohoama we truly see that the new government upgrades would be fully installed. At the same time, we also see a shake up in the court. Those who had been loyal to Ohoama during the Jinshin conflict of 672 received various rewards—increased rank and stipend, for one thing. As famous individuals passed away, they were also granted posthumous rank, which might not seem like much, but it increased the family's prestige and that of the individual's descendants without actually handing out a higher level stipend that would be a drain on the coffers. All of this also continued to build up the elites' reliance on not just the court, but on the throne itself for their status, wealth, and position. Thus they had a vested interest in seeing that the project succeeded. And that is the world that we are about to dive into. Thank you, I know we didn't get into too much of the immediate history, and some of this is spoilers—after all, this took time and in the moment it could have turned out quite differently. What if Ohoama had gotten sick and died? What if there had been a rebellion? What if Silla or Tang had attacked? While we know what happened from the safety of our vantage point, far in the future, it is important to remember that at the time the people in the court didn't know what would happen next, so please keep that in mind. Next episode, we'll start to get into the actual events of the reign, starting with Ohoama's ascension to the throne at the newly built Kiyomihara palace in Asuka. Until then, if you like what we are doing, please tell your friends and feel free to rate us wherever you listen to podcasts. If you feel the need to do more, and want to help us keep this going, we have information about how you can donate on Patreon or through our KoFi site, ko-fi.com/sengokudaimyo, or find the links over at our main website, SengokuDaimyo.com/Podcast, where we will have some more discussion on topics from this episode. Also, feel free to reach out to our Sengoku Daimyo Facebook page. You can also email us at the.sengoku.daimyo@gmail.com. Thank you, also, to Ellen for their work editing the podcast. And that's all for now. Thank you again, and I'll see you next episode on Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.
After the success of the Wu Tang Clans' debut album Enter the Wu Tang (36 chambers) - Method Man was the first of the clan members to get his solo debut album Tical released in 1994. Backed by songs like Bring the Pain, Release Yo' Delf and All I Need, Tical is held in high regards by Wu fans. RZA's dark and borderline grim beats, paired with Method Man's gravelly flow make this a bonafide classic.
Twenty-six foreign heads of state and government will attend China's Victory Day commemorations, which will include a military parade, on Wednesday as Beijing hopes to use the event to reaffirm its commitment to defending the victorious outcomes of World War II and contributing to world peace and development.Russian President Vladimir Putin and top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea Kim Jong-un will be among the world leaders attending the commemorations, Assistant Foreign Minister Hong Lei said at a news conference in Beijing on Thursday.It will be Putin's first visit to China since he held talks with United States President Donald Trump on the Ukraine crisis in Alaska earlier this month. Putin will also attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit in Tianjin, to be held from Sunday to Monday.His China visit also comes following President Xi Jinping's state visit to Russia in May and Xi's attendance at the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Soviet Union's Great Patriotic War.Hong said that during that visit, Xi and Putin together sent the strong message that "the history of World War II must not be distorted, the victorious outcomes of World War II must not be denied, and the postwar international order must not be challenged".Regarding Kim's China visit, Hong said that safeguarding, consolidating and developing relations between China and the DPRK is the firm position of the Communist Party of China and the Chinese government.China stands ready to work with the DPRK to continue to enhance exchanges and cooperation and advance socialist development, coordinate closely on promoting the peace and stability of the region and safeguard international fairness and justice, he said.Sept 3 is celebrated in China as Victory Day, marking the signing of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender on Sept 2, 1945.The Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45) was the first war to break out and the longest-running campaign in the World Anti-Fascist War. It resulted in over 35 million Chinese military and civilian casualties.With regard to a question about some forces in Japan seeking to remove restrictions on its military, including downplaying its history of aggression and even distorting historical truth to paint themselves as a victim of war, Hong said that such acts pose challenges to the post-World War II international order, to human conscience and to all who love peace."We urge Japan to face history squarely, reflect deeply upon its crimes of aggression, make a clean break with militarism and pursue the right path of peaceful development, good neighborliness and friendship," he said.Former Japanese prime minister Yukio Hatoyama, who said that Japan should reflect on its stance on history, will be among the former statesmen invited to attend the commemorations.A total of 50 international friends who have contributed to the war of resistance against Japanese aggression or their families from 14 countries, including Russia, the US, the United Kingdom, France and Canada, will also attend the commemorations.Wu Zeke, deputy director of the Office of the Leading Group for the Military Parade and a senior officer of the Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission, said at the news conference that the preparations for the V-Day military parade are basically complete.The parade will feature a wide range of weapons and equipment, much of which will be unveiled for the first time, Wu said, adding that the event will highlight the Chinese military's recent advances in modernization and enhanced combat readiness.When asked about what message China will send to the world about the military parade, Hong said, "We hold the military parade to show our firm determination to pursue the path of peaceful development, our strong will to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and our great capability to safeguard world peace and tranquility."
Houston Democrat Gene Wu has received a burst of national attention for being the leader of the Texas House Democrats as they fled the state to try to stop President Donald Trump's redistricting plan. Ultimately, the maps passed despite Wu's efforts. He sits down with Texas Take host Jeremy Wallace to explain what if anything Democrats accomplished, how he's dealt with racists attacks as his profile has grown and why many in his community warned he about making too many waves in politics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
China is accelerating the construction of an integrated national computing power platform, aiming to enhance the quality and efficiency of computational resources and strengthen the country's capabilities in core technologies such as AI chips, said officials and experts.官员和专家表示,中国正在加快建设国家综合计算能力平台,旨在提高计算资源的质量和效率,加强国家在人工智能芯片等核心技术方面的能力。As the backbone of AI development, computing power has become the battleground for global technological supremacy, and China is charging ahead with unprecedented momentum despite challenges, they said.他们表示,作为人工智能发展的支柱,计算能力已经成为全球技术霸权的战场,尽管面临挑战,中国正以前所未有的势头向前迈进。The move is China's latest plan to scale up the digital infrastructure that is key to buoying its AI economy and to hone its technological prowess in strategic industries.此举是中国扩大数字基础设施的最新计划,数字基础设施对于提振其人工智能经济和磨练其在战略行业的技术实力至关重要。Vice-Minister of Industry and Information Technology Xiong Jijun emphasized the government's commitment to "guiding the orderly development of computing infrastructure and improving the supply quality of computing resources" at the 2025 China Computational Power Conference, which concluded on Sunday in Datong, Shanxi province. 上周日,在山西大同市闭幕的2025中国计算能力大会上,工业和信息化部副部长熊吉军强调,政府致力于“引导计算基础设施有序发展,提高计算资源供应质量”。He emphasized the need to accelerate breakthroughs in key technologies such as graphic processing units and algorithms for large language models, which are crucial for sharpening China's competitive edge in AI.他强调,需要加快在图形处理单元和大型语言模型算法等关键技术上的突破,这对提高中国在人工智能领域的竞争优势至关重要。Roughly defined as the ability to process data, computing power includes technologies such as chips and data centers to support information processing, data storage and network capacity in the digital economy era.计算能力大致定义为处理数据的能力,包括芯片和数据中心等技术,以支持数字经济时代的信息处理、数据存储和网络容量。Wu Hequan, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said that computing power is an invisible yet indispensable force behind any AI-driven metamorphosis, and that without enough computing power to process data, it is impossible to support large-scale AI applications.中国工程院院士吴贺铨表示,计算能力是任何人工智能驱动的蜕变背后一股无形但不可或缺的力量,没有足够的计算能力来处理数据,就不可能支持大规模的人工智能应用。"Every yuan ($0.14) invested in computing power drives 3 to 4 yuan in GDP growth," Wu said. "In the global race for AI leadership, expanding computing power supply is critical." “在计算能力上每投入1元(0.14美元),就能带动3到4元的GDP增长,”吴说。“在争夺人工智能领导地位的全球竞争中,扩大计算能力供应至关重要。”China's total computing power has been growing at approximately 30 percent annually, driven largely by soaring demand for intelligent computing fueled by AI applications, data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology showed.工业和信息化部的数据显示,受人工智能应用推动的智能计算需求飙升的推动,中国的总计算能力以每年约30%的速度增长。Rao Shaoyang, director of the strategic development research institute of the China Telecom Research Institute, said, "AI is expected to contribute over 11 trillion yuan to China's GDP by 2035."中国电信研究院战略发展研究所所长饶少阳表示:“到2035年,人工智能预计将为中国的GDP贡献超过11万亿元人民币。”"That will account for 4 to 5 percent of the total economy," Rao said. "This growth could multiply computing power demand by 10 or even a hundred times." “这将占到经济总量的4%到5%,”Rao说。“这种增长可能会使计算能力需求增加10倍甚至100倍。”To address this demand, China is building a nationwide computing power platform that integrates resources across regions and industries. The platform, described as a "unified network" for computing power scheduling, already includes subplatforms from 10 provinces and municipalities such as Shanxi, Liaoning, Jiangsu and Shanghai, according to the ministry.为了满足这一需求,中国正在建设一个全国性的计算能力平台,整合跨地区和行业的资源。据该部称,该平台被描述为计算能力调度的“统一网络”,已经包括来自山西、辽宁、江苏和上海等10个省市的子平台。Its intelligent scheduling capabilities allow efficient matching of supply and demand. For example, enabling businesses in eastern China to leverage idle computing resources in western China, significantly reducing costs and improving efficiency.其智能调度功能允许有效匹配供需。例如,使华东地区的企业能够利用西部地区的闲置计算资源,从而显著降低成本,提高效率。In one notable case, a Beijing-based healthcare company completed an AI computing task using resources from the Ningxia Hui autonomous region at a cost of just 10,000 yuan, compared with the typical expense of over 2 million yuan for purchasing and maintaining servers.在一个值得注意的案例中,北京一家医疗保健公司利用宁夏回族自治区的资源完成了一项人工智能计算任务,成本仅为1万元,而购买和维护服务器的典型费用超过200万元。According to Wei Liang, vice-president of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, more than 100 computing service providers have joined the platform, along with over 1,000 registered enterprise users, while nearly 100 large language models have been connected, providing diverse online services to more than 1,000 developers.据中国信息通信技术研究院副院长魏亮介绍,已有100多家计算服务提供商加入了该平台,以及1000多名注册企业用户,同时连接了近100种大型语言模型,为1000多名开发人员提供了多样化的在线服务。Meanwhile, Chinese AI chip companies are also working hard to beef up their prowess in graphic processing units, prompting their stocks to be favored by investors, as the US company Nvidia's H20 chips face weak demand in China.与此同时,中国人工智能芯片公司也在努力增强其在图形处理单元方面的实力,这促使它们的股票受到投资者的青睐,因为美国公司英伟达(Nvidia)的H20芯片在中国面临疲软需求。On Monday, Chinese AI chip stocks continued their strong upward trajectory, with Cambricon Technologies emerging as a potential challenger to beverage giant Kweichow Moutai for the title of the highest-priced stock on the A-share market.周一,中国人工智能芯片股票继续强劲上涨,寒武岩科技(Cambricon Technologies)成为饮料巨头贵州茅台(贵州茅台)在a股市场上价格最高股票头衔的潜在挑战者。Cambricon closed at 1,384.93 yuan per share on Monday, surging 11.4 percent for the day. Since mid-July, its share price has more than doubled, and it has skyrocketed by more than 562 percent since September 2024. The company now trails only Moutai, which ended the session at 1,490.33 yuan per share.寒武纪周一收于每股1384.93元,当日上涨11.4%。自7月中旬以来,其股价上涨了一倍多,自2024年9月以来,其股价飙升了562%以上。该公司目前仅次于茅台,该股收于1,490.33元。The AI chip intellectual property products of Cambricon, which was founded in 2016, have powered smartphones and data server chips, including those made by Huawei Technologies Co and Alibaba Group. 寒武纪成立于2016年,其人工智能芯片知识产权产品已为智能手机和数据服务器芯片提供支持,包括华为技术有限公司和阿里巴巴集团生产的芯片。Chen Tianshi, co-founder and CEO of Cambricon Technologies, said in an earlier interview with China Daily that "there is rigid demand for AI chips in China. We don't worry about orders, as long as our technologies are strong enough".寒武纪科技联合创始人兼首席执行官陈天石在早些时候接受《中国日报》采访时表示,“中国对人工智能芯片存在刚性需求。我们不担心订单,只要我们的技术足够强大。”Pan Helin, a member of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's Expert Committee for Information and Communication Economy, said, "The Nvidia incident offers a strategic window for ambitious Chinese AI chip designers to expand their market share."工业和信息化部信息通信经济专家委员会成员潘鹤林表示:“英伟达事件为雄心勃勃的中国人工智能芯片设计师提供了一个战略窗口,以扩大他们的市场份额。”l integrated national computing power platform n.国家综合计算能力平台/ˈɪntɪɡreɪtɪd ˈnæʃnəl kəmˈpjuːtɪŋ ˈpaʊə ˈplætfɔːm/l AI chips n.人工智能芯片/eɪ aɪ tʃɪps/
In this deep-dive segment, the GAHHDcast crew—Burnz, VSOP, and Maxlo—review Raekwon's latest album, The Emperor's New Clothes. The team breaks down the production, sequencing, and standout moments, while exploring how this new release stacks up against other chapters in the Chef's storied discography. They also analyze the cinematic visuals of the “Bear Hill” video and reflect on Raekwon's evolving place within the Wu-Tang legacy. It's a rich convo filled with respect for the art and sharp hip-hop insight—Wu heads won't want to miss this one.
Dems contemplate nominating President Trump for a Nobel, a Rhode Island AG pulls a "do you know who I am", and the Mayor of Boston flips the bird to Pam Bondi. The world has been turned upside down as you will hear in our "did they really just say that" clips from this week.
New episode! In this weeks roundtable I'm joined by Raven Hunter & Kane to talk about a member of one of the most legendary groups Hip-Hop has seen, Wu-Tang Clan. Probably the member of the Wu who has had the most solo success, in music and acting, the Iron Lung gave us a whole run of solo records for us to pick from. From his classic "Tical" to his newer projects, we cover it all. This week, Top 10 Method Man solo songs. Did your favorite Meth solo joint make the list? As always the audio version is on all major podcast platforms and the video version is on YouTube. Follow the podcast on Instagram, X & Tik Tok: @b_boypodcastFind us online: www.riplak .comFollow Raven Hunter on Instagram & X: @ravenhunteryps
Sun, 24 Aug 2025 15:04:00 +0000 https://jungeanleger.podigee.io/2521-alsercast-16-der-billa-im-franz-josefs-bahnhof-wer-hat-beim-1090er-hotspot-nr-1-eigentlich-vorrang c38ca9e680df1c599a787bbe6a9267ad Ein spontaner Alsercast #16: Solange die alte WU noch brach liegt (dann mal zur nächsten Megabaustelle wird) ist wohl der Billa im Franz Josefs Bahnhof, jener Ort, an dem die meisten Menschen täglich durchlaufen. Rabattaktionen freuen, polarisieren und irritieren gleichzeitig: Wer hat eigentlich Vorrang? Frag ich mich oft. https://audio-cd.at/alsercast1090 Fotos zum Alsercast: https://photaq.com/page/index/4137 Initiative Lebenswerter Alsergrund: https://www.facebook.com/groups/167595683857161 Alsergrund, die Gruppe für (fast) jeden…: https://www.facebook.com/groups/633186561975947 Partnergrätzel in Wien 22: http://www.treffpunktessling.at About: Der Alsercast ist eine Facette im audio-cd.at-Podcast von Christian Drastil. Der Jingle wurde mit der Opernsängerin Ruzanna Ananyan aufgenommen. Bewertungen bei Apple (oder auch Spotify) machen mir Freude: http://www.audio-cd.at/apple bzw. http://www.audio-cd.at/spotify . 2521 full no Christian Drastil Comm. (Agentur für Investor Relations und Podcasts) 246
This broadcast dives into two separate, yet interconnected, stories that reveal what the hosts believe are the dangerous consequences of poor governance. First, the hosts discuss a recent recall of "radioactive shrimp" imported from Indonesia, a situation they link to what they call "stupid environmental rules" that drive up the cost of domestic goods and force consumers to seek cheaper, and potentially more dangerous, foreign alternatives. The second and more prominent topic is the ongoing debate over sanctuary cities. The hosts specifically focus on the situation in Boston and its mayor, Michelle Wu. They argue that sanctuary policies turn cities into "magnets" for dangerous international criminals, citing horrifying examples of child rapists, gang members, and drug traffickers who were released from local custody despite ICE detainers. The hosts contend that these mayors, including Wu, should be arrested for "harboring and smuggling" illegal immigrants and that their actions are a deliberate play for political power. The segment concludes with a plea for the public to understand the terrifying reality of these policies.
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This week on Radio Free Cybertron: The crew dives into Hasbro's new Transformers fan vote, where listeners choose a fresh alt mode for one of four classic characters, with results due September 17th. We cover the newly announced $405 (!?!) Predaking, the Missing Link Nemesis Prime, and the latest Age of the Prime reveal. We review Dr. Wu's Brutality and Slaughter cassettes (plus the winged Rathalus Prime), and share first impressions of the new Studio Series 86 Megatron.
This week on Radio Free Cybertron: The crew dives into Hasbro's new Transformers fan vote, where listeners choose a fresh alt mode for one of four classic characters, with results due September 17th. We cover the newly announced $405 (!?!) Predaking, the Missing Link Nemesis Prime, and the latest Age of the Prime reveal. We review Dr. Wu's Brutality and Slaughter cassettes (plus the winged Rathalus Prime), and share first impressions of the new Studio Series 86 Megatron.
Story of the Week (DR):Trump Demands Intel CEO's Resignation, Says He's ‘Highly CONFLICTED' AND Eric and Donald Trump Jr. to Own Millions of Shares in New U.S. Manufacturing SPAC MMESG Analyst Tom Cotton: Trump's attack, posted on Truth Social Thursday, came two days after GOP Sen. Tom Cotton flagged Tan's prior investments in Chinese companies and his previous leadership at Cadence Design Systems, which recently pleaded guilty to unlawfully selling its tech to a blacklisted military university in China.Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan (~$70M golden hello in March; max potential $400M) directly addressed employees on Thursday after Donald Trump demanded his resignation over national security concerns, saying he has the full support of the board.Tan set up a venture firm called Walden International based in San Francisco that pumped more than $5 billion into over 600 companies. More than 100 of those investments were made in China, including deals with once-obscure startups such as Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp.—today China's largest chipmaker—where he served on the board for a decade and a half.Today, the executive is still chairman of Walden International. And he's the founding managing partner at Walden Catalyst Ventures, which focuses on investments in the U.S., Europe and Israel. He also serves in that role at another venture fund, Celesta Global Capital.Tan stepped out of the venture world and joined the chip industry full-time when he became interim head of San Jose, California-based Cadence Design Systems Inc. in 2008. The executive, who had previously served on the board, went on to take the permanent CEO job the next year. He stayed in the role until 2021, when he transitioned to executive chairman, and is widely credited with restoring the company's fortunes. In late July of this year, the Department of Justice announced a plea deal that cost Cadence more than $100 million in fines. Employees at Cadence's China unit allegedly hid the name of a customer—the National University of Defense Technology—from internal compliance in order to keep supplying it. That organization had been put on the Department of Commerce's blacklist in 2015. The Chinese university was one of a group of supercomputer operators there that had conducted simulations of nuclear explosions, the DOJ said.Shares of American Eagle surge 20% after Trump calls Sydney Sweeney campaign 'hottest ad out there' AND Epstein victims are a growing political threat to TrumpThe Fall 2025 campaign, titled "Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans," centers on a deliberate pun between "jeans" and "genes.""Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color... My jeans are blue."All the hallmarks of a dick-tatorship:American Eagle gender influence gap is -36%: Jay L. SchottensteinMr. Schottenstein has served as our Chief Executive Officer since December 2015. Prior thereto, he served as our Interim Chief Executive Officer from January 2014 to December 2015. He has served as Chairman of the Board since March 1992. He previously served the Company as Chief Executive Officer from March 1992 until December 2002 and as a Vice President and Director of the Company's predecessors since 1980Creepy nepobaby son: The grown son of an Ohio billionaire is a hooker-loving drug addict who threatened to destroy the renowned Manhattan psychiatrist his parents enlisted to help him, according to bombshell court papers. Dr. Paul Conti, a Stanford-educated psychiatrist from Oregon, alleges in a federal suit that the son also gambled away millions of dollars during trips to Las Vegas while running up credit bills and borrowing money from mobsters.SB360 Capital Partners: owned by Jay and his 3 sons (sorry wife): 13 listed executes: all white menlast time there was a vote on Jay (2023)CEO/Chair control: has been CEO 3 times; chair since 1992; $300k security; 2,011:1 ceo pay ratio; 7% of shares (passive BlackRock/Vanguard/Dimensional/Wellington: 41%; 71% board influenceAudit Committee Chair (which net 20 times last year) and Lead independent Director Noel Spiegel is 77 and over a decade of serviceNominating chair Janice Page is 76 and has served for over 2 decadesCompensation Committee chair has served for nearly 2 decadesUber's Sexual Assault Problem AND Uber beats on revenue, announces $20 billion stock buybackA recent New York Times investigation revealed that Uber has been dealing with a significant sexual assault problem. From 2017 to 2022, the company received over 400,000 reports of sexual assault or misconduct in the United States, which averages to about one incident every eight minutes.The investigation, based on thousands of internal documents, found that while Uber studied the issue and even developed potential safety features like in-car cameras and a feature to match female drivers with female passengers, the company chose not to implement these safeguards because they were concerned about their bottom line and potential lawsuits.Tesla Grants Musk $29 Billion in Stock to Keep ‘Elon's Energies Focused' AND Elon Musk Accused of Stiffing Small Businesses for Millions of Dollars, Causing Some to File for Bankruptcy AND Elon Musk Shares Shockingly Sexist Tweet About Woman Being Property. This one's disgraceful, even for Musk AND "This Will Open the Floodgates": Tesla In Trouble as Jury Orders It to Pay $329 Million After Autopilot Death AND Tesla withheld data, lied, and misdirected police and plaintiffs to avoid blame in Autopilot crash AND Elon Musk Appears to Now Be the Most Hated Person in America, According to New ResearchGoodliest of the Week (MM/DR):DR: Waste from Ben & Jerry's ice cream factories is now powering the Vermont gridNow that the ice cream waste can travel by pipe to become biogas, Ben & Jerry's can also make 600 fewer truck journeys a year, reducing the company's carbon emissions.DR: Gates Foundation is giving $2.5 billion to fund women's health research MM: Musk, Bezos, and Zuck are going full alpha male. America's girlbosses are fed up.When companies won't offer work-from-home policies or the flexibility that working parents need, it can embolden people to become more entrepreneurial and build under their own terms.This is the greatest backlash - if every woman in a “masculine default”, “founder mode” 13 year old man baby culture where “Jamie Dimon says” and John Stankey (see assholiest) says “maybe you don't fit” goes and founds there own firms, I'm giddy to see them wipe the floor with those smug billionaire assholes. Side note - I missed this quote from January FT article in the post-Zuck-on-Rogan “masculine energy” interview, but it would have been assholiest of the decade:“I feel liberated,” said a top banker. “We can say ‘retard' and ‘pussy' without the fear of getting cancelled . . . it's a new dawn.”MM: In that vein - A long-running anti-DEI lawsuit could help companies defend themselves from reverse-racism claims DR MMHello Alice as goodliest of the week - take down that fucknut Stephen Miller and his fake Nazi manboys.Assholiest of the Week (MM):Alex Karp and the men who go to elite universities and say elite universities are bullshit manbabiesPalantir CEO says working at his $430 billion software company is better than a degree from Harvard or Yale: ‘No one cares about the other stuff'Karp went to Haverford, then Stanford for a JD where he met Peter Thiel (who also doesn't like elite education)This past spring, the company also notably established the Meritocracy Fellowship, a four-month, paid internship for high school graduates who may be having second thoughts about higher education. Program admission is solely based on “merit and academic excellence,” but applicants still need Ivy League-level test scores to qualify. This includes at least a 1460 on the SAT or a 33 on the ACT, which are both above their respective 98th percentiles.According to Karp, the internship was created in direct response to the “shortcomings of university admissions.”Here's the problem: there ARE shortcomings to elite colleges, mostly that they exude exclusivism and a commodity - but it's still a pretty rich for a guy who WENT to Stanford where he met his future funder and mentor to talk about how bullshit it wasJohn Stankey and the re-rise of the Jack Welch man-directive manbabies MMIt is incredibly encouraging that 73% of our employees took the time to respond to the survey, with 79% of those respondents feeling committed and engaged with their work at AT&T. While this is reassuring, especially considering the amount of change we've navigated as a company recently, it wasn't a surprise to me that we fell short of our engagement goal.TRANSLATION: I'm not surprised so many of you think we suck, I've been here 5 years as CEO and I'm not awesome at my job… but hold your breath while I tell you how it's your faultThis note may also help you identify areas where your professional expectations might be misaligned with the strategic direction of this company.TRANSLATION: It's your faultI understand that some of you may have started your tour with this company expecting an "employment deal" rooted in loyalty, tenure, and conformance with the associated compensation, work structure, and benefits. We have consciously shifted away from some of these elements and towards a more market-based culture — focused on rewarding capability, contribution, and commitment.TRANSLATION: Fuck your job, this is a meritocracy now. A manly meritocracy.I understand that many may find the demands of your daily lives challenging and difficult. Elder care, job stress, child rearing challenges, economic uncertainty, community unrest, technology anxiety — the list can get long…We run a dynamic, customer-facing business, tackling large-scale, challenging initiatives. If the requirements dictated by this dynamic do not align to your personal desires, you have every right to find a career opportunity that is suitable to your aspirations and needs. That said, if a self-directed, virtual, or hybrid work schedule is essential for you to manage your career aspirations and life challenges, you will have a difficult time aligning your priorities with those of the company and the culture we aim to establish.TRANSLATION: We know your life is hard, but shut the fuck up about it because I don't care.WHERE THE FUCK IS THIS BOARD?Here are the “go hard or go home” board membersBill Kennard, lead "independent" director connected in 13 loops to other directors, been there for 11 years, who got his undergrad in communications from Stanford and worked at the FCC and was an ambassador - proving once again that “communications” isn't a qualification for communicating?Marissa Mayer - maybe this business thing isn't for you? Mike Mcallister, ex Humana CEO, who was investigated for duping elderly into thinking Obamacare's passage would cut Medicare?Scott Ford, who lead the biggest landline company before pivoting to selling coffee, as your bright star into the future of tech?That's where the board is - unqualified for the moment, highly interconnected, with long careers of average performanceLuis von Ahn and the tech bro “sorry, not sorry” we were just “being edgy” no but seriously I know what's best for you secretly manbabiesDuolingo's CEO says he learned a hard lesson about 'edgy posts' and going viralFirst, says Duolingo, the app for learning languages, would be “AI-first”Then says they're not hiring anymore as long as it can be done by AIThen says schools will really just be childcare with AI teachers, and teachers will just “take care of the children” and you need schools for the “childcare”In his apology, he said sorry for being “edgy”Yes, it was the edginess, not the assholeryIf you want to quickly identify a manbaby, it's easy: first they “say” something they really think, then their apology basically is “sorry you didn't get it, I won't say it again”Headliniest of the WeekDR: Shareholders Judge Directors by Their Faces, Study FindsMM: Trump calls for Intel CEO to 'resign immediately'More ESG analysis:Boeing's ex-CFOBlackRock's ex founderThe former CEO at Jack Dorsey's SquareA partner at SequoiaA Princeton professorThe former CEO of HPThe chair who's a VC and has been there since 2009Who Won the Week?DR: Boston Mayor Michelle Wu for calling out the billionaire Kraft family regarding the new stadium proposed for the New England Revolution: “We haven't asked for anything out of the ordinary for any significant development, much less a mega-development like this one … To this day, the Kraft Group has provided the city no meaningful technical information … What we've heard has stayed at a conceptual level that is insufficient for any serious negotiation.Citing the proposed figure of $750,000 that the Kraft Group would pay to Boston as a mitigation fee, Wu said, “It is an unserious proposal … the figure is “just 1.1 percent of the $68 million mitigation package that was paid for the Everett casino project right nearby years ago.”Wu, who as the incumbent is also campaigning against Josh Kraft (son of Revolution owner Robert Kraft) in Boston's mayoral race, didn't miss a chance to land a political dig at her opponent: Referencing the proposed mitigation fee, she said that “$750,000 is just one-and-a-half month's of a billionaire son's allowance. It is nowhere near the scale of what we need to address the plans that have already been laid out by our residents, with our traffic engineers, with the coordination of the entire region.”MM: Jamie Smith at EY for writing the only other 2025 US proxy review that included a whole section on director votesPredictionsDR: Trump tries to fit into a pair of Sydney Sweeney's jeans (re: the OJ glove) to prove he did not know Epstein. The American Eagle stock surgesMM: Duolingo releases a new language choice, “Manbro”, in which it teaches how to apologize, how to be more intense, and why you should bow to your AI overlords
In this episode of the Epigenetics Podcast, we talked with Erica Korb from the University of Pennsylvania about her work on BRD4 and the histone variant H2BE, which influences synaptic genes and neuronal activity. Dr. Korb discusses the focus of her lab, which centers on epigenetic mechanisms impacting gene regulation in neurons. Her research primarily examines histone biology and its connection to neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disabilities. Dr. Korb expounds on the collaborative environment at UPenn's Epigenetics Institute, emphasizing how the rich diversity of research topics fosters innovative ideas and projects within the community. Reflecting on her earlier work from her postdoctoral studies, Dr. Korb discusses her first significant findings regarding the protein BRD4. This work demonstrated BRD4's role in mediating transcriptional regulation crucial for learning and memory processes. She explains how disrupting this protein's function in neurons hindered critical gene activations required for memory formation in mice. This foundational understanding opened avenues for exploring the broader implications of chromatin regulation in various neurodevelopmental conditions. Transitioning into her current research endeavors, Dr. Korb reveals how she aims to expand her focus beyond Fragile X syndrome. With her lab now investigating multiple chromatin regulators implicated in various forms of autism spectrum disorders, she describes a recent project where RNA sequencing exposed substantial overlaps in gene expression changes associated with five distinct chromatin modifiers, each contributing uniquely to neuronal function while collectively demonstrating sensitivity to chromatin disruptions. A significant portion of the discussion centers around Dr. Korb's unexpected exploration into how COVID-19 intersects with chromatin biology through a phenomenon known as histone mimicry. Leveraging bioinformatic tools during the pandemic, her lab discovered that certain viral proteins mimic histone sequences, which may lead to altered transcriptional outputs in host cells. This coincidental finding illustrates both the creative adaptability needed in scientific research and the importance of collaborative efforts across disciplines to uncover new insights. The conversation also delves into Dr. Korb's recent work regarding the histone variant H2BE, initiated by one of her graduate students. She explains how prior research only recognized H2BE's expression in the olfactory system, yet her lab has demonstrated its significant role in regulating synaptic genes and memory formation throughout broader neuronal contexts. Notably, they identified a single amino acid change that influences H2BE's function in chromatin accessibility and gene transcription, emphasizing its potential evolutionary conservation across species. In terms of H2BE's role, Dr. Korb elucidates that its activity is integral in response to extracellular stimuli, particularly within the context of neuronal activation. Intriguingly, they found that H2BE expression decreases in reaction to long-term neuronal stimulation, suggesting a complex mechanism of homeostatic plasticity crucial for regulating neuronal activity levels. This research not only advances understanding of chromatin dynamics but also holds implications for neuronal health and disease mechanisms. References Feierman, E. R., Louzon, S., Prescott, N. A., Biaco, T., Gao, Q., Qiu, Q., Choi, K., Palozola, K. C., Voss, A. J., Mehta, S. D., Quaye, C. N., Lynch, K. T., Fuccillo, M. V., Wu, H., David, Y., & Korb, E. (2024). Histone variant H2BE enhances chromatin accessibility in neurons to promote synaptic gene expression and long-term memory. Molecular cell, 84(15), 2822–2837.e11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molcel.2024.06.025 Korb, E., Herre, M., Zucker-Scharff, I., Gresack, J., Allis, C. D., & Darnell, R. B. (2017). Excess Translation of Epigenetic Regulators Contributes to Fragile X Syndrome and Is Alleviated by Brd4 Inhibition. Cell, 170(6), 1209–1223.e20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2017.07.033 Kee, J., Thudium, S., Renner, D. M., Glastad, K., Palozola, K., Zhang, Z., Li, Y., Lan, Y., Cesare, J., Poleshko, A., Kiseleva, A. A., Truitt, R., Cardenas-Diaz, F. L., Zhang, X., Xie, X., Kotton, D. N., Alysandratos, K. D., Epstein, J. A., Shi, P. Y., Yang, W., … Korb, E. (2022). SARS-CoV-2 disrupts host epigenetic regulation via histone mimicry. Nature, 610(7931), 381–388. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05282-z Feierman, E. R., Paranjapye, A., Su, S., Qiu, Q., Wu, H., & Korb, E. (2024). Histone variant H2BE controls activity-dependent gene expression and homeostatic scaling. bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology, 2024.11.01.620920. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.11.01.620920 Related Episodes Neuroepigenetic Mechanisms and Primate Epigenome Evolution (Boyan Bonev) DNA Methylation Alterations in Neurodegenerative Diseases (Paula Desplats) The Role of Histone Dopaminylation and Serotinylation in Neuronal Plasticity (Ian Maze) Contact Epigenetics Podcast on Mastodon Epigenetics Podcast on Bluesky Dr. Stefan Dillinger on LinkedIn Active Motif on LinkedIn Active Motif on Bluesky Email: podcast@activemotif.com
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:Yesterday's bomb threat against the hotel where Texas Democratic quorum breakers were staying - some with children, and surrounded by innocent bystanders - has thus far not been condemned by any Republican in elected office: https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/bomb-threat-at-illinois-hotel-where-dozens-of-texas-democrats-are-staying-244482629733Targeted in particular for removal from office by Governor Abbott, House Minority Leader Gene Wu has also found himself the target of (even more) anti-Asian racism: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/08/06/texas-house-democrat-gene-wu-anti-asian-mayes-middleton/Another side effect of all of this, a significant bump in Rep. Wu's national public profile: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/07/us/politics/texas-redistricting-gene-wu.htmlIllinois Governor J.B. Pritzker continues to pledge that he will shield the quorum breakers from federal arrest as long as they are in his state: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5440204-pritzker-law-texas-democrats-arrest/Legal experts are in general agreement that federal law enforcement has no business involving itself in Illinois: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5439973-fbi-texas-democrats-return/Back in Texas, Ken Paxton - a man once impeached for bribery - is probing Beto O'Rourke's Powered By People organization on the notion that they have committed bribery by helping with the quorum breakers' travel expenses: https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/politics/2025/08/07/ken-paxton-probes-beto-orourke-pac-over-texas-democrats-travel-funds/85555895007/Please help Progress Texas continue our important work as the 60th anniversary of LBJ's signing of the federal Voting Rights Act arrives: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/60th_vraTickets are on sale now for our live podcast taping with legendary Austin FC goalkeeper Brad Stuver on September 15 at Hopsquad Brewing in Austin! Tickets are limited and are available here: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/allstaractivism_2025...The Brad Stuver interview will be co-hosted by Landon Cotham of the Austin FC podcast Moontower Soccer: https://www.moontowersoccer.com/Progress Texas' financial reserves have dropped to about 3 months worth of funding. Help us avoid going on a permanent vacation this summer by becoming a sustaining member: https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-driveThanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:In developments leading into the third day of the Texas House quorum break, Senator John Cornyn has requested that the FBI intervene, capture and transport the Democratic lawmakers avoiding the special session back to the Capitol: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/cornyn-fbi-arrest-texas-democrats_n_68925f14e4b0d3424bc402f3...Next, Attorney General Ken Paxton declared he'll ask that the seats of any Democrats still absent on Friday be declared vacant by the courts: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2025/08/05/texas-ag-ken-paxton-will-ask-state-courts-to-declare-absent-house-democratic-seats-vacant/...Then, Governor Greg Abbott asked the Texas Supreme Court to remove Democratic State House Minority Leader Gene Wu from office by 5pm on Thursday: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2025/08/05/gov-greg-abbott-asks-texas-supreme-court-to-remove-house-democratic-chair-gene-wu/...Then, Paxton piped up that Abbott doesn't have the authority to make that move, and the Governor took to social media to counter that he does: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/08/05/texas-democrats-ken-paxton-court-vacate-seats-quorum-break/...Meanwhile, Cornyn has been badmouthing Paxton, ahead of their likely GOP primary faceoff, for doing all of this from vacation: https://www.rawstory.com/cornyn-paxton/...And Houston State Senator Mayes Middleton, who's running to replace Paxton at Attorney General, issued a blatantly racist tweet against Rep. Wu, which remains up this morning: https://x.com/mayes_middleton/status/1952430829587829074All of this Republican crazy provides a unique opportunity for national Democrats to display some backbone ahead of the 2028 presidential election: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/abbott-texas-redistricting-newsom-pritzker-b2802534.htmlPlease help Progress Texas continue our important work as the 60th anniversary of LBJ's signing of the federal Voting Rights Act arrives today: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/60th_vraAustin friends and soccer fans! Mark your calendar for Monday September 15, when we will gather for a live podcast taping with legendary Austin goalkeeper Brad Stuver! Sponsorship opportunities are available now, and individual tickets will go on sale soon: https://act.progresstexas.org/a/allstaractivism_2025...The Brad Stuver interview will be co-hosted by Landon Cotham of the terrific Austin FC podcast Moontower Soccer: https://www.moontowersoccer.com/Progress Texas' financial reserves have dropped to about 3 months worth of funding. Help us avoid going on a permanent vacation this summer by becoming a sustaining member: https://progresstexas.org/join-pt-summer-vacation-membership-driveThanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
En este episodio lo último en salud y fitness edición de julio 2025, vamos a platicar de varios temas que sin duda son bastante interesantes.Veremos si la melatonina puede hacerte más rápido (sí, leíste bien), cómo el ejercicio actúa como un antioxidante natural en tu cuerpo, los beneficios del entrenamiento de fuerza para mujeres mayores con obesidad sarcopénica, qué pasa cuando combinas ayuno intermitente con superávit calórico, y hasta cómo la jardinería en realidad virtual puede mejorar la cognición en adultos mayores.Este mes nos enfocamos en estudios que no solo tienen buena base científica, sino que también puedes aplicar en tu día a día. Mi idea es que al terminar este episodio tengas información clara, basada en evidencia, pero que también puedas usar de inmediato. Sin tanta teoría complicada y con consejos que realmente funcionan.Referencias: 1. Mahdi, N., Delleli, S., Jebabli, A. & Maaoui…, K. B. Melatonin Supplementation Enhances Next-Day High-Intensity Exercise Performance and Recovery in Trained Males: A Placebo-Controlled Crossover Study. Sports (2025).2. Xie, Y., Gu, Y., Li, Z., Zhang, L. & Hei, Y. Effects of exercise on different antioxidant enzymes and related indicators: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Scientific Reports (2025).3. Guo, C., Dai, T., Zhang, H., Luo, M. & Gao…, J. Effect of resistance training on body composition and physical function in older females with sarcopenic obesity—a systematic review and meta-analysis of …. Frontiers in Aging … (2025).4. Blake, D. T., Hamane, C. & Pacheco…, C. Hypercaloric 16: 8 time-restricted eating during 8 weeks of resistance exercise in well-trained men and women. Journal of the … (2025).5. Chuang, I. C., Abdullahi, A., Chen, I. C. & Wu…, Y. R. Effects of immersive leisure-based virtual reality cognitive training on cognitive and physical function in community-based older adults: A randomized controlled trial. Digital … (2025).
Use code SWIMSETS10 to get 10% off your custom mix at Blank's Sports Nutrition https://blankssportsnutrition.com/Total Distance: 5400m WU 600 mixed Strokes 3x 100 25 drill 25 Steady 50 easy 2x 100 IM 100 Kick Main Set 2x 5x200 Swim Smooth on 2:505x 100 Pull + Paddles Strong on 1:304x 50 25 Sprint 25 Back on 1:00Pull Set 3x 200 Pull Easy on 3:00Cool Down 100 kick 100 swim Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/@SwimSetsbythePool Patreon: patreon.com/SwimSetsbythePool Instagram: @swimsetsbythepool @gharpzorz @natefdot
Boston mayoral candidate Josh Kraft is trailing behind incumbent Mayor Michelle Wu in the city's race for City Hall this Fall. A recent poll of likely Boston voters showed Kraft trailing Wu by at least 30 points. Can Kraft turn his campaign around and catch up to Wu? Josh Kraft joined Dan to talk about his campaign.
"MMA ist eine der komplexesten Sportarten." Mixed Martial Arts, der Name sagt es bereits: Verschiedene Kampfkünste vereint in einem Sport. In Deutschland wächst der Hype rasant und OKTAGON MMA ist mittendrin. Die größte MMA-Organisation Europas begeistert nicht nur in der Arena, sondern auch digital: "Bei einem durchschnittlich guten Event haben wir so um die 30, 40, 50 Millionen Impressionen." Klar ist: Neben dem Sport geht es vor allem um Entertainment. Denn welche entscheidende Rolle Storytelling spielt, wird bei dem Erfolg von Athleten wie Frédéric Vosgröne deutlich (Follower verhundertfacht in zwei Monaten). Welche Rolle spielt Sichtbarkeit in der Vermarktung und warum heißt es nicht ohne Grund: "Wir kämpfen auf einer Werbefläche"? Welche zentralen Bausteine machen das Geschäftsmodell so erfolgreich? Und welche Vorurteile müssen auf dem deutschen Markt (und vor allem bei Brands) noch abgebaut werden? Unsere Gäste Philipp Masurat, Country Manager Germany, OKTAGON MMA Pascal Krauss, Ex-UFC-Fighter, OKTAGON MMA Experte und Kommentator Unsere Themen Vorurteile MMA: Mehr als ein "menschlicher Hahnenkampf" Vergleich: UFC vs. OKATAGON Der Aufstieg von MMA = der Rückgang des Boxens? Wie Athleten durch Storytelling an Reichweite gewinnen Zielgruppe: männlich, 18+, gebildet Geschäftsmodell: Ticketing, Pay per View, Sponsoring Vermarktung MMA vs. Bundesliga Best Case Squid Game: Zusammenarbeit mit Brands Wie der Hype weiter bestehen kann Zum Blogartikel: https://sportsmaniac.de/episode504 Unsere Empfehlung Abonniert unser WU: https://sportsmaniac.de/wu Unser Kontakt Folge Sports Maniac auf LinkedIn, Twitter und Facebook Folge Daniel Sprügel auf LinkedIn, Twitter und Instagram E-Mail: daniel@sportsmaniac.de Wenn dir gefällt, was du hörst, abonniere uns gerne und empfehle uns weiter. Der Sports Maniac Podcast ist eine Produktion unserer Podcast-Agentur Maniac Studios.
According to a new Suffolk University/Boston Globe poll of 500 Boston voters likely to participate in the September 9th preliminary election, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu has a 30-point lead over challenger Josh Kraft. In addition, the polling shows Wu leading Kraft across age groups and racial demographics, as well as among Democrats, whereas Kraft is polling better with Republicans and Independents. David Paleologos, director of Suffolk University Political Research Center says all the ingredients are here to set up a big win for Mayor Wu this Fall. Pollster David Paleologos joined us to discuss.
Today on Hustling Sideways, Allen and Jim make a call out to Los Angeles to talk to Dr. Roger Wu, an optometrist with more than two decades of helping the world see things more clearly. This also led to the creation of The Eye Drink, a mixture that Dr. Wu and his team have been developing to help prevent macular degeneration, which we experience from overexposure to things like our computer screens. Learn more about Dr. Wu and The Eye Drink at TheEyeDrink.comFollow us:Allen HalasAllenHalas.comBreakingAndEntering.netThreads/Bluesky: @AllenHalasInstagram: @AllenHalasJim LoveGoAuthenticYou.comTwitter: @jim_m_loveInstagram: @jimm.loveHustling Sideways is a business podcast hosted by Milwaukee-based music writer Allen Halas and keynote and motivational speaker Jim Love. The two both attended Marquette University, and now host the show to discuss the side hustles and passion projects of people that they meet, all while continuing to run their own side businesses. Every Monday, they're either interviewing a guest, or talking about the different aspects of business that side hustlers go through when balancing their 9-to-5 and their entrepreneurship endeavors. You can get the podcast wherever you download podcasts, as well as on our YouTube channel.
In this episode, I talk about teas, salves, candles, decoctions, herbal medicine and plant medicine. Episode 39 is all about magically charging your sacred medicines (and more) so they take on a HEART affinity. When you listen to episode 39, you'll learn more about: - The timely powers and functions of the human heart in healing and awakening - The #1 stone I use to infuse heart energy into other medicine and creations - A NEW application of stone medicine that involves magical jars - The simple (Wu) ritual you can do to merge the heart stone with your creation If you MAKE things and you want to learn how to make them GO TO the HEART, this is the best episode for you.
The Nutrition Diva's Quick and Dirty Tips for Eating Well and Feeling Fabulous
Resistant starch acts more like fiber than starch—and may offer unique benefits for blood sugar, gut health, and more. In this episode, we break down the different types, where to find them, and how they compare to other sources of fiber.Transcript: https://nutrition-diva.simplecast.com/episodes/resistant-starch-your-questions-answered/transcriptMentioned in this episode: Episode 915, Multi-grain vs whole grainEpisode 560, Fiber 2.0—Fiber's New Science of Health-Boosting BenefitsEpisode 728, Tapping into the many benefits of resistant starchesReferences:Wang, Y., Chen, J., Song, Y.-H., Zhao, R., Xia, L., Chen, Y., Cui, Y.-P., Rao, Z.-Y., Zhou, Y., Zhuang, W., & Wu, X.-T. (2019). Effects of the resistant starch on glucose, insulin, insulin resistance, and lipid parameters in overweight or obese adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. PubMed. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31168050/Yuan, H. C., Meng, Y., Bai, H., Shen, D. Q., Wan, B. C., & Chen, L. Y. (2018). Meta-analysis indicates that resistant starch lowers serum total cholesterol and low-density cholesterol. PubMed. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29914662/ New to Nutrition Diva? Check out our special Spotify playlist for a collection of the best episodes curated by our team and Monica herself! We've also curated some great playlists on specific episode topics including Diabetes and Gut Health! Also, find a playlist of our bone health series, Stronger Bones at Every Age. Have a nutrition question? Send an email to nutrition@quickanddirtytips.com.Follow Nutrition Diva on Facebook and subscribe to the newsletter for more diet and nutrition tips. Find out about Monica's keynotes and other programs at WellnessWorksHere.comNutrition Diva is a part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network. LINKS:Transcripts: https://nutrition-diva.simplecast.com/episodes/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/QDTNutrition/Newsletter: https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/nutrition-diva-newsletterWellness Works Here: https://wellnessworkshere.comQuick and Dirty Tips: https://quickanddirtytipscom
"Mir ging es damals nicht um das Geld". Als Jasmina Čović vor zehn Jahren ins männerdominierte Business der Spielerberatung einstieg, fühlte sie sich nicht ernst genommen. Ihr Antrieb, Fußballerinnen bestmöglich (und vor allem persönlich) zu unterstützen, zahlte sich dennoch aus. Heute gehört ihre Women's Football Agency zu den weltweit führenden Beratungsagenturen im Frauenfußball. Erfolgreich berät sie u.a. Laura Freigang bei lukrativen Kooperationen (die mehr einbringen als das "normale" Vereinsgehalt) und baut nebenbei die globale Plattform "The Rise of Women's Football" auf. Wie hat Jasmina es geschafft, trotz vieler Bedenken ihren Traum zu verwirklichen? Welche Fähigkeiten sind für sie als Spielerinnenberaterin essentiell? Und wie hoch sind die Einnahmen im Provisionsgeschäft wirklich? Unser Gast Jasmina Čović, Spielerinnenberaterin Unsere Themen UEFA Women's EURO: Mehr Hype um Frauenfußball? Spielerberatung learning by doing Motivation: Innerer Drive trotz Bedenken Warum es eine Lizenzierung braucht Provisionsgeschäft im Frauenfußball: 500 bis 20.000 Euro Lukrative Partnerschaften von Laura Freigang Social Media Game & Vermarktung Wann ist „The Rise of Women's Football“ ein Erfolg? Zum Blogartikel: https://sportsmaniac.de/episode503 Unsere Empfehlungen Abonniert den "The Rise of Women's Football"-Newsletter: https://theriseofwomensfootball.com/news Abonniert unser WU: https://sportsmaniac.de/wu Unser Partner (Anzeige) IST: Als Anbieter von Weiterbildungen (auch in der Spielerberatung) und (dualen) Studiengängen kommt an der IST-Hochschule im Sportbusiness keiner vorbei. Exklusiv für alle Sports Maniac Hörer*innen gibt's jetzt 150 € Rabatt auf die erste Monatsgebühr bei Neuanmeldung - ganz egal, ob du dich persönlich weiterbildest oder dein Team verstärken willst. Dein persönlicher Ansprechpartner Marcel Schumacher hilft dir dabei gerne weiter. Jetzt Marcel mit dem Code "Sports Maniac" kontaktieren: Tel.: +49 211 86668 614 // E-Mail: mschumacher@ist.de Unser Kontakt Folge Sports Maniac auf LinkedIn, Twitter und Facebook Folge Daniel Sprügel auf LinkedIn, Twitter und Instagram E-Mail: daniel@sportsmaniac.de Wenn dir gefällt, was du hörst, abonniere uns gerne und empfehle uns weiter. Der Sports Maniac Podcast ist eine Produktion unserer Podcast-Agentur Maniac Studios.
Last time we spoke about Black Saterday and Operation Iron Fist. Conflict erupted in Shanghai on August 13, when Japanese marines disguised as civilians provoked Chinese guards, resulting in fierce gunfire and urban warfare. Both sides engaged in skirmishes around vital locations, with the Eight Character Bridge becoming a focal point. On August 14, air raids misfired catastrophically, killing over a thousand civilians in what became known as "Black Saturday." In an attempt to regain control, Chiang Kai-shek authorized Operation Iron Fist, a bold offensive targeting Japanese strongholds. The attack commenced early on August 17, involving coordinated assaults aimed at exploiting weak points in the enemy defenses. However, poor coordination, entrenched opposition, and the complexity of urban combat resulted in further devastating losses for the Chinese troops. By August 18, Operation Iron Fist had failed, with the Japanese reinforcing their positions and announcing a strategic shift towards expanded military engagement. #158 The Battle of Shanghai Part 3: The Chinese Counteroffensive “Drive them into the Sea!” Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. On August 18, the Japanese military reinforced their presence in Shanghai, shipping an additional 1,400 marines from Manchuria to bolster the ranks of the Japanese Shanghai Special Naval Landing Force or “SNLF”. Yes, all of you who don't listen to my Pacific War week by week podcast are going to get a lot of acronym lessons soon. And yes, they are not quote en quote real marines, but like most telling these stories its easier to refer to them this way. This influx of troops was a significant escalation in the ongoing conflict, heightening tensions as the battle for control intensified. As the battle in Shanghai raged on, a growing sentiment emerged among Chinese leaders that crucial chances had been squandered. On August 18, Chiang Kai-shek sent his trusted aide, Deputy War Minister Chen Cheng, to confer with General Zhang Zhizhong at the front lines. They assessed the situation and agreed that instead of attacking the heavily fortified Hongkou area, they should redirect their focus to the Yangshupu district. The aim was to breach the defenses and split the Japanese forces along the Huangpu River. This strategic shift was precisely what the German military advisers and frontline commanders had anticipated, signaling a decisive move away from their earlier hesitance to engage within settlement boundaries. As attrition took its toll on the Chinese troops already committed in Shanghai, the responsibility for the offensive was placed on the newly arrived 36th Infantry Division, a unit highly trained by German forces. They were positioned to advance from the eastern edge of Hongkou, with two regiments tasked to march south toward the Huangpu. In the early hours of the 19th, two regiments of the 36th launched their long-planned attack, moving swiftly towards the front lines. The night was illuminated by the flames of sabotage and incendiary bombs, aiding visibility amid the chaos. However, the assault quickly faced significant challenges. Many of the Chinese soldiers were inexperienced, becoming easy targets for Japanese infantry positioned in rooftops and upper-story windows. In the absence of cover, some troops were forced to take shelter behind the fallen bodies of their comrades. For a moment, the Chinese troops felt a surge of hope, believing they could push the Japanese into the Huangpu River. General Zhang Fakui, observing from the opposite bank, envisioned a breakthrough. However, upon reaching Broadway, parallel to the river, they confronted a formidable barrier. High walls guarded the wharves, and even the largest artillery pieces struggled to breach the defenses. Attempts to scale the steel gate resulted in devastating fire from entrenched Japanese machine gunners, while fortified factories like the Gong Da Cotton Mill proved equally impenetrable. As the Chinese forces suffered under relentless bombardment, their momentum diminished. The 88th Infantry Division, previously effective, showed signs of disarray and hesitated to engage. Compounding their woes, Japanese reinforcements arrived, swelling their ranks to 6,300 well equipped marines. Despite these challenges, the Chinese committed to deploying their newly acquired British built Vickers tanks, a symbol of their efforts to modernize their military over the years. But with each hour, the balance of power tilted further in favor of the Japanese forces. Meanwhile the 87th Infantry Division was assigned two armored companies, yet it suffered catastrophic losses. The tanks, recently shipped from Nanjing, had crews untrained in coordinated assaults, and many were left without infantry support. The Chinese forces struggled to secure adjacent streets, allowing Japanese armor to outflank and destroy their tanks. The Japanese, too, faced coordination challenges between their armor and infantry, resulting in some of their tanks being annihilated by Chinese anti-tank weapons. On the 20th, General Zhang Zhizhong inspected the Yangshupu front and encountered a former student leading a tank company ready to attack the wharves. The tanks, hastily repaired and ill equipped for battle, faced fierce enemy fire, and the young officer expressed concern about the infantry's ability to keep pace. Despite Zhang's insistence that the assault must proceed, the attack ended in disaster as the tank company was decimated by shells from anchored vessels. The battle blended modern warfare with tactics reminiscent of earlier centuries. An officer named Wu Yujun managed a position during a Japanese cavalry attack on the 18th. After two unsuccessful assaults, Wu set an ambush that resulted in the annihilation of the Japanese riders. This incident illustrated the stark contrast on the battlefield where Chinese soldiers often confronted a technologically superior enemy while grappling with their own inexperience. Many of the Chinese units arriving in Shanghai were very green, countless having never faced battle before, and their lack of experience proved costly in the initial days of fighting. Brigade Commander Fang Jing of the 98th Division observed that his soldiers constructed inadequate fortifications that crumbled under the Japanese 150mm howitzers. He lamented, “Often, the positions they built were too weak and couldn't withstand the enemy's artillery,”. On the 20th, 5 Chinese aircraft returned after yet another unsuccessful attack on the Japanese battleship Izumo, which remained anchored in the Huangpu. During their flight over western Zhabei, they encountered two Japanese seaplanes. One Chinese pilot broke formation, diving steeply to fire a brief machine-gun salvo, but his plane was quickly shot down, bursting into flames before crashing. The Chinese attacks had posed a significant threat to Japanese bombers, particularly the vulnerable Mitsubishi G3M medium aircraft targeting Shanghai and central China. Japan's First Combined Air Group suffered heavy losses, with half of its medium attack planes damaged or destroyed within the first three days of fighting. However, the Chinese pilots, largely inexperienced and inadequately trained, began to falter against the superior Japanese fighters, eventually withdrawing from the skies over Shanghai. Ground troops expressed frustration over the lack of effective air support, as they rarely saw their planes after the 20th, instead carrying out major troop movements only under the cover of darkness. The Japanese air superiority drastically affected operations on the ground, dictating when Chinese soldiers could eat and transport supplies. Without effective fighter protection and limited anti-aircraft capabilities, the Chinese troops were left exposed. Most of their anti-aircraft weaponry consisted of 20mm Solothurn guns that were ineffective against aircraft and were more often used against infantry. Officers hesitated to use these guns for fear of revealing their positions to the enemy. By the morning of the 21st, the 36th Division had been relentlessly attacking the wharf area for over 48 hours, yet victory remained elusive. Although some tanks had infiltrated the wharf, they were met with dishearteningly strong Japanese defenses and a well-manned enemy presence. The commanders recognized that they had advanced too quickly without securing their flanks, and their reserves, which could have provided crucial support, remained in the rear. Reluctantly, they concluded that a withdrawal was necessary. The retreat was a painful acknowledgment that pushing the Japanese into the Huangpu River would not be as straightforward as hoped. Part of the Chinese failure stemmed from an inability to execute joint operations across different military branches. German advisors noted that artillery support for the forces in Yangshupu from the Pudong side was limited. In contrast, Japanese naval guns were actively providing support, significantly relieving the pressure on their marines. This imbalance resulted in heavy losses for the Chinese, with the 36th Division suffering over 2,000 casualties by the late 22nd. Meanwhile, Japanese naval aircraft attempted to impede the movement of additional Chinese troops to Shanghai by bombing the railway from Suzhou. Although several bridges were destroyed and railway stations sustained damage, the delays were minimal, offering some reassurance to Chinese commanders who understood that reinforcements were essential for a successful continuation of the battle. The light cruiser Jintsu, carrying the 3rd Division, set to land six miles north of Shanghai, while the 11th Division would disembark a dozen miles further up the Yangtze River. By the evening of the 21st, the task force arrived at the Yangtze River and the Saddle Islands off the river estuary. The soldiers had to transfer to smaller vessels capable of navigating the shallow waters of the Huangpu River. On the 23rd, Matsui Iwane got aboard the light cruiser Yura and was greeted by Rear Admiral Chuichi Nagumo, then the commander of the 8th cruiser division. Yes, the same man who would be blamed for losing at Midway in 1942. The Japanese fleet had made a strategic sweep as far south as Hangzhou Bay the previous day to disrupt Chinese troop movements and force them to spread thin along the coast. However, with the landings imminent, it was clear the assault would happen at Wusong and Chuanshakou. Initially, Matsui preferred landing both divisions at Chuanshakou for a sweeping advance into the lightly defended countryside west of Shanghai, which would encircle tens of thousands of Chinese soldiers. The 3rd Fleet, however, proposed a bolder strategy: the 11th Infantry Division would proceed with the landing at Chuanshakou, while the 3rd Infantry Division would land at Wusong, directly confronting the heavily concentrated Chinese forces around Shanghai. This plan aimed to exert pressure from both the front and the rear, a tactic that could yield success but risked high casualties if faced with stiff Chinese resistance. Aware of the operation's risks, the naval officers sought to ease potential tensions with their army counterparts by offering over 500 elite marines to support the assault, preparing for what could be a pivotal moment in the campaign. Shortly after midnight on the 23rd, the marines designated as the primary assault wave at Wusong arrived in a convoy of steamers from Shanghai. Their arrival was eagerly anticipated, as they would spare the 3rd Division from being the first to land. As the naval artillery barrage reached a deafening climax, the boats glided across the smooth water towards the shore. Any time a Chinese machine gun opened fire, it drew immediate response from the Japanese gunners, swiftly silencing the threat. Meanwhile, trench mortars onshore targeted the advancing vessels, but their rounds fell harmlessly into the water without causing any damage. At 3:00 am, the first landing craft reached the bank, dropped anchor, and lowered its ramp. The marines waded ashore, climbing the 15 foot high dike to survey the terrain. Suddenly, machine gun fire erupted from a Chinese position just 50 yards away, cutting down several marines. Undeterred, the marines charged with fixed bayonets across the open field. An explosion marked the spot where a soldier had triggered a landmine, followed by more detonations, but there was no retreat; they pressed on, swarming over the Chinese trench and engaging in a brief yet fierce hand-to-hand struggle. Within moments, they had taken the position. The marines quickly cleared the area, paving a path to their immediate objective, a military road running parallel to the Huangpu River. While setting up defensive positions, the 3rd Division began to disembark at the water's edge. By 8:00 a.m, the divisional command stepped ashore as the last unit to arrive. Meanwhile, naval pilots were busy bombing and strafing roads further inland to impede any enemy reinforcements. The landing had unfolded with remarkable success, marking a significant moment in the operation and setting the stage for greater advances by Japanese forces. Meanwhile the 11th division began setting foot on the beach north of Chuanshakou at 3:50 am. As the soldiers advanced towards the town's outskirts, they encountered only minimal resistance as Chuanshakou was defended by a single Chinese company. Matsui was pleased with the outcome; everything had unfolded according to plan and, in fact, better than he had dared to hope. Casualties in both divisions were surprisingly low, amounting to little more than 40 soldiers. At 5:30 am, Zhang Zhizhong received an urgent phone call at his new headquarters in a small village near Nanxiang. On the line was Liu Heding, commander of the 56th Infantry Division, reporting that an enemy force of unknown size had landed near Chuanshakou. With heavy bombardment disrupting communications, details were scarce, but Zhang immediately recognized the gravity of the situation: a new front was opening, complicating his command significantly. Realizing he could not effectively manage the situation from Nanxiang with communications down, Zhang decided to head to the command post of the 87th Infantry Division in Jiangwan, a town closer to the landing area. By the time he arrived at the 87th Division's base, it was nearly 9:00 am. He was informed that the Japanese had not only landed at Chuanshakou but also at Wusong. Recognizing the urgency, he quickly dispatched half of the 87th Infantry Division and a regiment from the recently arrived Training Brigade, an elite unit fresh from Nanjing, to respond to the threat. Given that the 56th Infantry Division alone could not secure the area around Chuanshakou, Zhang assigned the 98th Infantry Division to defend most of the Yangtze riverbank under threat. He also dispatched the 11th Division, which had just arrived in the Shanghai area with Deputy War Minister Chen Cheng to move toward Luodian, a town just a few miles from the landing zone at Chuanshakou. Meanwhile, the Japanese forces were advancing swiftly. While the main landing contingent engaged in fierce fighting for control of Chuanshakou, a small unit of a few hundred soldiers was dispatched down the road to Luodian. Marching under the scorching August sun, the reservists, weary from the trek, found little resistance upon reaching Luodian. They hastily set up camp without adequately preparing defenses, making them vulnerable targets. Later that afternoon, advance units of the 11th Infantry Division reached Luodian, shaken but determined to attack even after facing air raids on their journey. The ensuing skirmish was swift; within an hour, the Japanese were repelled. Back over at Wusong Hu Guobing received orders to push back the Japanese on August 21st. He led his regiment towards the Japanese lines, as his platoons dispersed further, dividing into smaller squads. Soon, the sharp crack and rattle of small arms fire resonated along the regiment's front. Battalion Commander Qin Shiquan, a graduate of the Central Military Academy, led two companies toward the enemy positions, taking care to remain unnoticed. When they drew close enough, he ordered his bugler to sound the charge. Then, raising his Mauser pistol, he turned to face his men and shouted, “Attack! Attack!” This sudden noise revealed his position, making it vulnerable. Japanese observers hidden nearby quickly relayed his coordinates to warships offshore. Within minutes, shells began to rain down on the unit with alarming accuracy. Amidst the storm of fire unleashed by the Japanese, all semblance of order disintegrated, and chaos ensued as each unit fought to survive. Hu Guobing spent most of the day dodging Japanese aircraft that circled overhead, waiting for targets to emerge. As Hu Guobing recalled “It felt as though the enemy could see everything. It was crucial not to act rashly. Our only real options were to take cover in a hole or hide behind a ridge”. The gunfire continued throughout the afternoon and did not relent until darkness began to fall. Only then could the soldiers breathe a little easier, grab a few bites of their field rations, and quench their parched throats with sips from their water canteens. Seizing the relative safety of night, they hurried to improve their positions, knowing that once dawn arrived, it would be too late; a shallow trench or inadequate camouflage could spell doom. Although it had been Chiang Kai-Shek's decision to place Zhang Zhizhong and Feng Yuxiang in charge of Shanghai, now designated the 3rd War Zone, he was having regrets. In a telephone conversation with Feng Yuxiang shortly after the Japanese landings, Chiang emphasized the importance of monitoring the younger front-line commanders. He urged “Don't hesitate to give them advice,”. Feng assured him that he would not hold back. He then recounted an anecdote about General Nogi Maresuke, who, during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, allegedly delegated all major decisions to his chief of staff. Feng told him “The frontline commanders possess courage and a fighting spirit. Their role is to take orders and engage in battle. Mine is to stay back, like Nogi, write a few poems, and wait for the inevitable,”. Chiang persistently insisted, “Regardless of the situation, don't be shy. Share your insights with them.” “Of course,” Feng responded. “If I notice something amiss, I'll address it without hesitation. You can count on me.” However, this assurance did little to calm Chiang's concerns. A great concern was Zhang Zhizhong. Much of his rhetoric about fighting the Japanese seemed to lack substance. Zhang had not demonstrated the necessary resolve to launch attacks against the small Japanese forces in the city when decisive action could have turned the tide of the battle. With Japanese reinforcements firmly entrenched in two locations within the greater Shanghai area, it was now too late to pursue a quick victory over the enemy. Compounding the issue, Zhang appeared to spend an excessive amount of time making grandiose statements to the newspapers rather than focusing on the ground situation. Chiang's frustration was palpable, and it was shared by his German advisors, who concurred that Zhang lacked the requisite “toughness” to confront Japanese resistance effectively. The decision to send Deputy War Minister Chen Cheng to the front was an early indication that Chiang was considering replacing Zhang. In a particularly humiliating twist, Zhang was not even informed of Chen Cheng's appointment and learned about it indirectly through other field commanders. Fearing that he was being sidelined, Zhang Zhizhong hurried to the 3rd War Zone headquarters in Suzhou to assess the situation. While in Suzhou, called Chiang, whom began harshly criticizing him for being so far behind the front lines. “What are you doing in Suzhou? What are you doing in Suzhou?”. Zhang Zhizhong replied “Mr. Chairman, I'm back in Suzhou to discuss important strategic matters. Otherwise, I'm constantly at the front What's the matter with you?” Chiang was incensed by this perceived disrespect. “What's the matter with me? You ask me what's the matter with me!” His voice rising to a hoarse shriek, Chiang Kai-shek abruptly hung up. At this point, Zhang must have had little doubt that his days as the chief field commander were numbered. The Japanese landings had accomplished their immediate objective of relieving pressure on the small marine forces holed up in Shanghai. As a result, the Chinese were forced to halt their attacks on Hongkou and Yangshupu and had to reconsider how to allocate their resources across various fronts. If the Japanese landing party grew large enough, the Chinese forces could risk becoming the target of a Japanese pincer movement. In essence, within a few days, they had shifted from an offensive posture to a defensive one. Against this backdrop, Chen Cheng, leading the 15th Army Group, arrived in Suzhou on August 24th. His presence aimed to bolster resistance, and he was also there to familiarize himself with local conditions, as he was expected to take on a greater role at the front shortly. Chen's confident demeanor and readiness to overrule local commanders indicated that real authority already resided with him. While he agreed with Zhang Zhizhong's plans from the previous day to counter the landings, he deemed them insufficient given the threat posed by the fresh Japanese troops. Consequently, he ordered that more soldiers be redeployed from Shanghai proper to the landing zones. To counter the dire situation, Falkenhausen devised a plan aimed at reigniting enthusiasm for the offensive among the Chinese forces. During a meeting on the 25th, he proposed rallying all troops in the Luodian area to mount a coordinated attack from all sides against the Japanese landing force. Emphasizing the German preference for a decisive strike, he aimed to push the invaders back into the Yangtze. The assembled officers expressed their agreement with the plan. However, as dawn broke, the optimism from the night's discussions began to wane. It had been 48 hours since the landings, and the Japanese army had solidified its foothold at Chuanshakou, rapidly approaching a point of strength that would make it nearly impossible to dislodge them. Tanks and artillery were assembled along the riverbank, while engineers constructed a pier to facilitate the faster unloading of troops and supplies. They had already established a bridgehead that extended 10 miles in length and reached a depth of five miles, initiating the construction of a road heading inland, an evident preparation for a major offensive. In a secret report to Chiang Kai-shek, Falkenhausen outlined the challenging situation as the Japanese consolidated their material advantages. “It should be noted that the enemy's army and navy operate in close coordination. Although their land-based artillery is still relatively weak, this is offset by their robust naval artillery and ship-based aircraft,”. He further noted that the airfields on Chongming Island contributed to Japan's now “complete air superiority, as a result, the main operations on our side should be executed after dark.” From late August onward, most Chinese movements occurred after sunset. Only then could Chinese and Japanese infantry engage on more equal footing, without the overwhelming advantage provided by air support. Night became the great equalizer in the uneven battle for Shanghai. During the day, the relentlessly active Japanese forces seemed to be everywhere. They deployed rubber boats up small rivers to scout and disrupt. Their observation balloons hovered on the horizon, keeping a vigilant watch on the Chinese and swiftly scrambling aircraft upon detecting any movement. They combined technological superiority with a bravery that bordered on the suicidal; when faced with the prospect of capture, many Japanese soldiers preferred death. Following a fierce battle in the vicinity of Luodian, the Chinese retrieved the body of a sergeant major who had committed hara-kiri, while a gravely injured private was found attempting to slit his own throat with his bayonet. Luodian remained the immediate target for nearly all the Japanese forces in the area, facing the same Chinese units that had driven them out on August 23rd. The Chinese were well entrenched in and around the town, but they lacked the numbers to consider launching offensive operations against the Japanese at Chuanshakou. Instead, their priority was to strengthen their defenses. While waiting for the Japanese to resume the assault, they endured massive and sustained bombardment. Among the Chinese officers, there was a growing sense of crisis and a palpable fear that their defensive line could collapse at any moment. From their perspective, the Japanese appeared to be gaining momentum. However, the situation looked quite different from the Japanese invaders' point of view. Japanese casualties began to rise as the Chinese reinforcements sent to the Luodian area started to make an impact. Two days after the landings, the number of dead and injured from the 11th Division had exceeded 400, and the toll continued to climb. Among the casualties was a senior staff officer who was killed moments after stepping off his landing craft at Chuanshakou, struck down by a Chinese aircraft that had evaded Japanese fighter cover. The death toll escalated so quickly that not all bodies could be cremated, as was customary for the Japanese; privates and junior officers were hastily buried instead. For an army that prided itself on honoring its fallen soldiers more than those left alive, this was a significant blow to morale. The 3rd Division faced different challenges in its sector. It was subjected to relentless attacks on the first day of the landing and had to repel two further major enemy assaults on the second day. Additionally, it experienced occasional shelling from Chinese artillery located on the Pudong side. The greatest threat, however, came from the division's right flank. North of the landing zone lay Wusong Fortress, which had been guarding the approach to Shanghai since the wars against British and French forces in the mid-19th century. From their fortifications, Chinese infantry and artillery continuously targeted the Japanese as they disembarked from their boats and advanced inland. They also fired upon small vessels navigating up the Huangpu River, delivering supplies to the division. As the 3rd Division expanded its bridgehead in the days following the landing, Wusong Fortress remained a persistent threat, impeding the buildup of Japanese forces on shore. Compounding the Japanese sense of being encircled, the village of Yinhang to the south was also under Chinese control. This, combined with the steadily increasing number of Chinese defenders in front of the landing zone, created a challenging tactical situation for the Japanese. Although initial casualties had been lighter than the planners had feared, the number of Japanese losses began to rise. By the 25th, the 3rd Division, often referred to as the “Lucky” Division, reported over 300 accumulated casualties. Two days later, that number had escalated to 500, the majority of whom were killed in action. On the 28th, the 3rd Division was finally able to capture the village of Yinhang, freeing itself somewhat from the tactical constraints it had faced up to that point. On the same day, following an intense naval bombardment, the 11th Division launched an assault on Luodian. Leading the charge was Wachi Takaji, a 44-year-old regimental commander who surged forward with his sword drawn, personally dispatching several enemies along the way. The Chinese defenders were driven out of the town and fled down the roads leading inland. By noon, Luodian was firmly under Japanese control. However August 29th marked a significant triumph for Chinese diplomacy, as Chiang Kai-shek's signed a non-aggression treaty with the Soviet Union. The pact between Nanjing and Moscow laid the political and diplomatic groundwork for Soviet military aid to China while ensuring that the Soviet Union would not reach an agreement with Japan as long as hostilities continued. Initially, Chiang Kai-shek had been wary of Soviet intentions, expressing concerns in his diary on August 1st, when the diplomats were preparing the treaty, that he feared the Kremlin might use the agreement to pressure Japan into signing a similar pact with Moscow. However, following the signing, skepticism gave way to optimism. Three days after announcing the treaty, Chiang confidently predicted in a speech that the Soviet Union would eventually enter the war against Japan. Chiang would not be wrong about that, but it would only come in 1945, officially. Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin had a clear reason to encourage China to engage in a full-scale war with Japan: it would secure Russia's western flank while he focused on the strategic challenges posed by a Europe dominated by Hitler. A conflict with China could drain Japanese resources, thereby reducing the threat from Asia in the long term. Exasperated British diplomats attempted to warn Chiang Kai-shek about what they perceived as a Soviet ruse, advising that the Russians “only have their own interests in mind.” Nevertheless, this did little to undermine the Chinese leader's belief in the Soviet Union's willingness to help. At a deeper cognitive level, there was a reason why Chiang Kai-shek and his associates clung to the belief that not only Soviet aid but also direct Soviet participation in the hostilities was imminent. This aligned with their expectations of how a war with Japan would unfold. The Chinese General Staff's War Plan A, drafted in 1937, was based on the premise that a conflict with Japan would soon trigger a larger conflict involving either the Soviet Union or the United States. Thus, the key objective for China was to withstand the superior Japanese forces until relief could arrive from a more powerful ally, whether that be Russian or American. This strategy was not as naive as it might seem; it was based on the understanding that neither Moscow nor Washington would want to see Japanese power grow too strong on the Asian mainland. Despite the capture of Luodian and Yinhang, the Japanese continued to face significant challenges. Their grip on the Shanghai region remained highly precarious, relying on control of two isolated pockets north of Shanghai and a beleaguered garrison within the city. Due to their numerical inferiority, they were under intense pressure from Chinese forces. The landings at Wusong and Chuanshakou had initially bolstered the manpower in the Shanghai area by fewer than 8,000 troops, and although reinforcements were gradually arriving, the pace was slow. Matsui Iwane recognized the need for a more radical increase in troop levels to achieve a decisive outcome. By the end of August, he cabled Tokyo, arguing that to complete the operation successfully, he required a total of five divisions or at a minimum the release of the 11th Division's Amaya Detachment, currently stationed in northeast China, to reunite with the division at Chuanshakou. The Japanese imperial staff and navy command responded mostly favorably, agreeing to redirect the detachment to Shanghai alongside several units of the elite marines. One week after the landings, Wusong Fort continued to pose a significant problem for the 3rd Division and the navy, which was responsible for supplying the division. Chinese artillery fire made anchoring near the landing zone a perilous endeavor, resulting in several naval officers being killed when caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. At times, the shelling was so severe that vessels had to interrupt their operations and retreat to a berth in the middle of the Huangpu River, unloading only part of their supplies. Matsui now planned for the 3rd Division to launch a frontal assault on Wusong, while the 11th Division would maintain a support role, dispatching only one regiment to assist. The attack commenced at 10:00 am on August 31rd. Following an intensive naval and aerial bombardment involving 30 planes, a regiment from the 3rd Division boarded landing craft, sailed down the Huangpu River, and landed on the riverbank north of Wusong. Throughout the afternoon and into the evening, the soldiers engaged in fierce skirmishes with scattered Chinese units in front of Wusong in preparation for a final entry into the city. Meanwhile, the Asama Detachment from the 11th Division initiated its part of the offensive by marching along the bank of the Yangtze toward Shizilin. On the morning of September 1st, the Japanese tightened their grip on Wusong. The regiment from the 3rd Division seized a hamlet west of Wusong and readied for an assault on the town itself. The defending Chinese forces put up strong resistance, and it was not until late afternoon that the Japanese made any significant progress, aided by artillery fire from their ships. The Asama Detachment experienced somewhat greater success that day, successfully capturing the fort at Shizilin in the afternoon. The Japanese launched their final offensive against Wusong at dawn on the 2nd. To their surprise, the fort fell with relative ease. By 10:00 am, Matsui saw the Rising Sun flag hoisted over Wusong. “I felt boundless gratification,” he noted in his diary. With the fall of Wusong, the town of Baoshan became the last major obstacle to uninterrupted Japanese control of the riverbank, stretching from Chuanshakou to the outskirts of Shanghai. The fort at Baoshan also posed a significant threat to Japanese naval operations due to its strategic location at the confluence of the Yangtze and Huangpu rivers. Chiang Kai-shek fully recognized the importance of Baoshan and ordered a battalion of the 98th Infantry Division to hold the town at all costs. Baoshan had one notable advantage: like many ancient Chinese towns, it was encircled by a thick city wall that had historically helped fend off invaders and still served its defensive purpose well. The Japanese were acutely aware that Baoshan favored defense, and even a small contingent of Chinese forces could potentially hold out for an extended period. On the 4th, the 3rd Division sluggishly advanced toward Baoshan. Around mid-afternoon, an artillery unit arrived to assist by bombarding the city wall. Despite this support, the Japanese soldiers, sent in waves to scale the wall, suffered significant casualties and failed to penetrate the defenses by nightfall. At noon on September 5, Japanese bombers launched an air raid on Baoshan, while naval artillery rained shells indiscriminately over the town's gray roofs. The land attack began an hour later when Japanese tanks advanced toward the town gates. The Japanese pressed the Chinese defenders into a shrinking perimeter. By sunset, the defenders were left with only 100 soldiers. The night passed without incident, as the Japanese refrained from attacking without air support, but everyone knew that dawn would herald the end. Just as the sun rose above the horizon, the assault resumed. As the city neared its fall, the defending commander Yao Ziqing ordered a soldier to escape and report the situation to his superiors. Unnoticed by the Japanese, the soldier scaled a wall and fled into the surrounding countryside, becoming the sole survivor of the battle. He carried with him a message from the battalion: “We are determined to stay at our posts and to continue fighting the enemy until each and every one of us is killed.” I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. Despite initial Chinese hopes for a counteroffensive by the newly arrived 36th Infantry Division, their inexperience and poor coordination led to heavy losses. As the Japanese gained reinforcements, they executed strategic landings at Chuanshakou and Wusong, overwhelming Chinese defenses. Amidst escalating casualties, Chinese troops struggled to maintain morale. However, their resolve to fight persisted, even as defeat loomed over the besieged city and its defenders.
Super Mario Bros is 40 years old. It's an incredibly simple game (it takes up the same memory as a smartphone wallpaper), yet it's incredibly popular. Over 40 million people have played it. Why? Because it's packed with psychological tips that hook players in and keep them playing. Today, Ramli John explains the subtle behavioural science tricks Super Mario games use to keep us playing. --- Ramli's book EUREKA: https://www.delightpath.com/book/eureka Ramli's website: https://www.delightpath.com/ Subscribe to the (free) Nudge Newsletter: https://nudge.ck.page/profile Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phill-agnew/ Watch Nudge on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@nudgepodcast/ Visit the new website: https://www.nudgepodcast.com/ --- Sources: Alter, A. L. (2023). Anatomy of a breakthrough: How to get unstuck when it matters most. Simon & Schuster. Allen, E. J., Dechow, P. M., Pope, D. G., & Wu, G. (2017). Reference-dependent preferences: Evidence from marathon runners. Management Science, 63(6), 1657–1672. Fishbach, A. (2022). Get It Done: Surprising lessons from the science of motivation. Little, Brown Spark. Graves, P. (2010). Consumer.ology: The truth about consumers and the psychology of shopping. Nicholas Brealey Publishing. Kivetz, R., Urminsky, O., & Zheng, Y. (2006). The goal‑gradient hypothesis resurrected: Purchase acceleration, illusionary goal progress, and customer retention. Journal of Marketing Research, 43(1), 39–58. Music by Koji Kondo, © 1985 Nintendo
Takara Tomy has a new Transformers / Macross crossover figure, Dr. Wu has recolors of some G1 Decepticon Cassettes, and somehow M.A.S.K. is making a comeback. All this and much, much more on this episode of TransMissions! Order our exclusive Skybound Transformers #1 comic with cover art by E.J. Su! Want some TransMissions swag? Check out our online shop, powered by Dashery! Show Notes: If you enjoy TransMissions, please rate us and subscribe on Apple Podcasts and Spotify! These ratings greatly help podcasts become more discoverable to other people using those services and is an easy way to help out our show. Contact us: Continue reading The post Episode 650 – Brand Synergy appeared first on TransMissions Podcast Network.
Takara Tomy has a new Transformers / Macross crossover figure, Dr. Wu has recolors of some G1 Decepticon Cassettes, and somehow M.A.S.K. is making a comeback. All this and much, much more on this episode of TransMissions! Order our exclusive Skybound Transformers #1 comic with cover art by E.J. Su! Want some TransMissions swag? Check out our online shop, powered by Dashery! Show Notes: If you enjoy TransMissions, please rate us and subscribe on Apple Podcasts and Spotify! These ratings greatly help podcasts become more discoverable to other people using those services and is an easy way to help out our show. Contact us: Continue reading The post Episode 650 – Brand Synergy appeared first on TransMissions Podcast Network.
THE HUNT IS ON! Batgirl is on the run — but not for long. As three deadly warriors from the League of Shadows, the Blood of Wu, and the Unburied each trail her, Cassandra Cain arrives at a ranch seeking answers from her mother's past... but time is running out. As shocking family ties unravel, the first of the three swords arrives, hell-bent on ending Batgirl's story for good. https://wrightonnetwork.libsyn.com/website @TimPrice17 on most social media websites feathersandfoes@gmail.com www.patreon.com/wrightonnetwork
Timothy & Chase talk with Jack & Jason Bergeron about their new brand BY J.WU with their latest Collection 001 releasing in Fall 2025. Follow:@by.jwu and @shop.byjwu on Instagramwww.byjwu.comCustomer Service Podcast on Instagram @customerservicepod Canoe Club on Instagram & YouTube @shopcanoeclub www.shopcanoeclub.com
What to do when a member of your community is an apex punisher. A letter writer from a close-knit community seeks advice for how to tell a cranky coworker they're office kryptonite, and the boys go traipsing into the Riff Weeds because Producer Ron is still out of town. What grew with the Wu, y'all, let's get into it. CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR THIS WEEK'S WINNER (Poll opens at 10:00am Mountain Time—anyone can vote!) LINKS: Follow us for show dates and more: Adam Cayton-Holland • Ben Roy • Andrew Orvedahl • The Grawlix Support this podcast on Patreon to get ad-free episodes, bonus videos, exclusive merch, birthday shout-outs and more. UPCOMING SHOWS: See the Grawlix live at the Bug Theatre on Saturday, July 26th with Django Gold and Britt Boyd! See Adam performing in Petaluma, Sacramento and Oakland, California on July 10th-12th See Ben performing at the Realto Theater in Casper, Wyoming on July 11th-12th See Adam peforming at the Southeast Arizona Birding Festival in Tuscon on August 8th! Check out Andrew's new tabletop roleplaying games! Got a question? Email us: question@advicefight.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices