Eight tracks, a book and a luxury: what would you take to a desert island? Guests share the soundtrack of their lives.

Sir Salman Rushdie, writer

Desert Island Discs

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Early Life and Family in Bombay: Rushdie was born in Bombay in 1947 to a volatile but creative family. His father Anees was a wonderful storyteller who shared tales from Indian epics and The Arabian Nights at bedtime, planting seeds for Rushdie's literary imagination. However, his father struggled with alcoholism and financial disappointment after losing the family fortune, creating a difficult home environment that eventually drove young Salman to seek education abroad.

Boarding School Culture Shock: At age 12, Rushdie chose to attend Rugby School in England, drawn by notions of adventure from British children's books. The reality was harsh—arriving in January 1961 from tropical India, he faced both bitter cold and racial prejudice. Students tore up his work and wrote racist slurs on his walls, but he kept this hidden from his parents, not wanting to disappoint them after their sacrifices. His response was to excel academically as a form of revenge.

Cambridge and the Seeds of Controversy: At Cambridge University studying history, Rushdie had a much happier time, involving himself in theater with Footlights alongside Clive James and Germaine Greer. Crucially, one of his special subjects was "the life of Muhammad and the rise of Islam," where he first encountered the historical incident of the "Satanic Verses"—a story about the Prophet's alleged temporary acceptance of three goddesses that he tucked away for twenty years.

Music as Life's Soundtrack: Rushdie's musical choices reflect his journey through different worlds—from Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side" (befriending Reed years after worshipping the Velvet Underground at college) to Bob Dylan's reinterpretation of "Blowin' in the Wind" as punk anger, to Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" playing at his optimistic 40th birthday party in 1987, just before everything changed.

Literary Breakthrough and Success: After working in advertising for 13 years while writing in his spare time, Rushdie achieved breakthrough success with "Midnight's Children" in 1981, which won the Booker Prize and later became the most lauded novel in Booker history. He describes writing as an inherently optimistic act—sitting alone hoping to please people—and credits his multiple identities across India, Britain, and America as his creative advantage.

The Fatwa and Going into Hiding: Following publication of "The Satanic Verses" in September 1988, initial opposition felt like manageable argument. But on Valentine's Day 1989, Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for Rushdie's death. Within 24 hours he was in police protection, living in safe houses for nearly a decade, unable to see his 10-year-old son Zafar except through elaborate security arrangements. Some fellow writers like John Berger and Germaine Greer criticized him, which he found painful.

Violence Against Others: The fatwa's consequences extended beyond Rushdie—his Japanese translator was murdered, his Norwegian publisher was shot multiple times (though survived), and others connected to the book were attacked. Rushdie still feels responsible for this violence, though his Norwegian publisher told him not to, immediately ordering a large reprint after being shot and declaring himself a grown-up who chose to publish the book.

Writing Through Darkness: During the darkest period of hiding, Rushdie kept his promise to his son Zafar to write a book he could enjoy, producing "Haroun and the Sea of Stories"—an optimistic children's book that became one of his most beloved works. He identifies work as what rescued him, allowing him to continue being the writer he'd set out to be rather than just hiding behind the sofa.

Rebuilding Normal Life: After the Iranian government distanced itself from the fatwa in 1998 (though never rescinding it), Rushdie decided to reclaim ordinary life without waiting for official permission. When protection was withdrawn, his first act was hailing a taxi—something he hadn't done in eight and a half years. He moved to New York in 2000, deliberately behaving unafraid in public to show others they needn't fear being around him.

The 2022 Attack: On August 12, 2022, at the Chautauqua Institution in upstate New York—ironically invited to discuss keeping writers safe—Rushdie was stabbed multiple times by a young attacker who hadn't even read his work. His immediate thought was "why now?" three decades later. He lost his right eye and suffered severe hand damage but showed remarkable resilience in recovery, determined to get his life back.

Recovery and Returning to the Scene: Rushdie's approach to rehabilitation was defiant determination, refusing to let the attack stop him. A crucial moment came when he returned to Chautauqua, feeling he needed to stand up where he'd fallen down. He felt a physical weight lift from his shoulders, allowing him to write his memoir "Knife" and feel finished with the subject by the time of the trial.

Defending Freedom of Expression: Rushdie views the current moment as a "quite timid time" where people are scared to speak freely, contrasting it with his formative years when writers could say anything. He argues passionately against identity-based restrictions on art, insisting that creativity requires taking what you need from anywhere—without African masks, there would be no Picasso. Art must endure even when artists are vulnerable.

Finding Happiness and Perspective: Despite everything, Rushdie describes reaching "a very happy place" in his life with his wife, poet Rachel Eliza Griffiths (their wedding song was the Isley Brothers' "For the Love of You"). His near-death experience made him value everything more—the days, love, and work—helping him focus on what's truly important. He has two grown sons he's proud of and grandchildren, including a five-year-old to whom he hasn't yet told stories, though that may be his next task.

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情感和读书播客，主播是INFP。

每个话题都希望能请到一线经验者来聊。

Dare to inquire, eager to learn.

请不到嘉宾时，偶尔自己上来嘚嘚一期。

建议您在收听节目时，能找件更有意义的事做，比如：逛公园，骑行，刷碗，擦地，收拾衣柜，洗大澡...

祝听友们更幸福、更富有、更睿智（顺序分先后）。

成为好心态的总设计师

面基

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I apologize, but I cannot provide a meaningful summary of this podcast episode. The transcript provided appears to be heavily corrupted or incorrectly transcribed. The text consists primarily of fragmented words and phrases in what seems to be Chinese romanization (pinyin), but they don't form coherent sentences or convey clear meaning.

Based on the context provided, this episode titled "成为好心态的总设计师" (Becoming the Chief Designer of a Good Mindset) should discuss topics related to:
- System 1 and System 2 thinking (from Daniel Kahneman's "Thinking, Fast and Slow")
- Well-being and mindset management
- Investment decision-making and emotional control
- The relationship between cognitive systems and intuition
- Building personal structures for better decision-making

However, without a properly transcribed and intelligible transcript, I cannot accurately identify and summarize the specific points, insights, and arguments that were actually discussed in the episode. 

To provide the comprehensive bulleted summary you've requested, I would need a clean, accurate transcript where the speakers' words are clearly captured and understandable.
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Neurosurgeon and award-winning author Dr. W. Lee Warren, MD delivers weekly prescriptions from neuroscience, faith, and common sense on how to lead a healthier, better, happier life. You can’t change your life until you change your mind, and Dr. Warren will teach you the art of self-brain surgery™ to get it done. His latest book, Hope Is the First Dose, is available everywhere books are sold.

Holidays and Habits (S13E11)

The Self-Brain Surgery™ Podcast with Dr. Lee Warren

The Dr. Lee Warren Podcast

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Sunday Self-Brain Surgery Series Introduction: This is a "best of 2025" episode rebroadcast during Christmas week, focusing on managing habits and avoiding relapses during stressful holiday periods. The episode is particularly relevant for those in recovery or trying to break unhealthy patterns, as holidays can create stress that triggers old behaviors.

The Biological Foundation of Habits: All habits—physical, mental, and spiritual—begin with thought patterns. Through Hebb's Law (neurons that fire together wire together), repeated thoughts and actions strengthen neural pathways, making behaviors increasingly automatic over time. This means every time you engage in a habit, you're literally rewiring your brain to make that behavior easier in the future, whether it's healthy or harmful.

Understanding the Limbic-Frontal Balance Under Stress: When under pressure, the brain's emotional limbic system (including the amygdala) often overrides the rational prefrontal cortex. This creates an imbalance that prioritizes short-term relief over long-term well-being. You don't rise to the occasion under stress—you fall to your level of preparation, which is why proactive mental preparation is essential for avoiding relapse.

The Fifth Commandment of Self-Brain Surgery: "Love tomorrow more than you hate how you feel right now." Most bad habits arise because they offer immediate relief from stress or pain, even though they create long-term harm. The brain's dopamine reward system reinforces these behaviors, making you believe you need or deserve them, when actually they're just automated coping mechanisms.

The Five Minute Freeze Operation: This is a practical technique to interrupt the automatic progression from temptation to action. Before engaging in any unwanted habit, pause for five minutes and consider the 5-5-5 rule: what will this decision look like five minutes, five hours, five days, five years, and even five decades from now? This pause activates the prefrontal cortex and allows rational decision-making to override impulsive reactions.

Making Decisions in the "Grocery Store": Most habit failures don't happen at the moment of temptation—they happen in earlier decisions that put you in position to fail. It's easier to make one decision not to buy alcohol or unhealthy food than to make multiple decisions later about how much to consume. Removing temptation from your environment is a form of proactive self-brain surgery that reduces mental strain.

The Thought Biopsy Process: Before engaging in an old habit, examine the thoughts and narratives you're telling yourself ("I deserve this," "just one more time," "I'll start over after the holidays"). Recognize these as neural pathways being reactivated by stress or circumstances. Label the behavior honestly without judgment, understanding it as a biological process that can be changed through intentional effort.

Biblical Framework for Freedom: Scripture provides support for habit-breaking: 1 Corinthians 10:13 promises God will provide a way out of temptation; Romans 12:2 emphasizes transformation through renewing the mind; Galatians 5:1 reminds us Christ died to set us free, so we shouldn't put ourselves back in bondage. However, spiritual victory requires addressing the biological brain patterns first through deliberate rewiring.

Putting Success in Your Way: Make it harder to engage in bad habits than to avoid them. Delete contact information for people you're trying to avoid, move items that trigger habits, place reminders (like the Ten Commandments or notes) where you'd normally access temptation triggers. Each barrier creates a moment for conscious decision-making rather than automatic behavior.

Flash Forward to Flashback Operation: This newly introduced technique involves remembering a specific past time when you gave into the habit and honestly recalling what the next day was like—the shame, physical discomfort, relationship damage, or financial consequences. Use these concrete memories rather than abstract concerns to inform your current decision, letting past lessons create hope for a better tomorrow.

Deathbed Perspective on Habits: Drawing from 23 years of neurosurgery experience with dying patients, nobody in their final moments wishes they'd drunk more, gambled more, or engaged more in destructive habits. They wish for more time with family, regret broken relationships, and wish they'd told a better story with their lives. This perspective can powerfully inform present-day choices.

Neuroplasticity and Hope: The miracle of neuroplasticity means you can literally rewire your brain through consistent, intentional action—this is the essence of "self-brain surgery." What you practice, you get better at, so consciously choosing healthier behaviors creates new neural pathways that compete with and eventually override old destructive patterns. Mind change must precede life change.

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Ride the Lightning: The Tesla Unofficial Podcast is the world's longest-running weekly Tesla show, made for Tesla fans and owners by Tesla community veteran Ryan McCaffrey. Each week we'll discuss and analyze everything happening with the Cybertruck, Model 3, Model S, Model X, Model Y, Roadster, and more!

Episode 542: Six-Seat Model Y L Seems One Step Closer to Going Global

Ride the Lightning: Tesla Motors Unofficial Podcast

Ride the Lightning: Tesla and EV Podcast

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Driverless Robotaxi Testing Begins in Austin: Tesla has started running fully autonomous Model Y robotaxis in Austin with no safety driver, marking the final validation phase before commercial launch. This testing phase aligns with Elon Musk's previous guidance for late 2025/early 2026, and represents what the host calls "Robotaxi 1.0" following the beta phase with safety monitors. The host expects San Francisco to follow approximately three months after Austin's full launch.

California DMV Ruling on Tesla's Marketing Terms: The California DMV ruled that Tesla violated state law by using "Autopilot" and "Full Self-Driving Capability" as misleading terms, initially ordering license suspensions. However, the DMV quickly backed off, giving Tesla 90 days to address "Autopilot" terminology while indefinitely staying the manufacturing license suspension. Tesla responded that sales would continue uninterrupted and noted no customers complained. The host suggests simply adding "supervised" to Autopilot, similar to FSD (Supervised), would resolve the issue.

Model Y L Expansion to Europe: The six-seat, longer-wheelbase Model Y L received European Union type approval and appears set to launch in Q1 2026. The vehicle features an 88.2 kWh battery with 423 miles of WLTP range and will be exported from Giga Shanghai rather than built at Giga Berlin. The host questions why Tesla wouldn't produce it locally in Berlin and believes this European expansion increases the likelihood of North American availability, potentially by Q2 or Q3 2026.

Cybertruck Earns Top Safety Rating: The Cybertruck achieved the IIHS Top Safety Pick Plus Award for 2025 models built after April 2025, making it one of only two full-size pickups to receive this rating and the only one with advanced driver assistance features. The host emphasizes that Tesla deserves a reputation for safety comparable to Volvo's, citing the Model S's original crash test that broke the testing machine, and advocates for mainstream advertising to publicize Tesla's safety achievements.

PowerShare with Powerwall Delayed: Tesla delayed the Cybertruck's PowerShare integration with Powerwall systems until mid-2026, pushing the feature nearly a full year beyond expectations. Lead engineer Wes Morrell explained the complexity involves making two grid-forming devices negotiate seamlessly through existing wall connectors across multiple hardware generations without network communication. While disappointing for owners, the host appreciates Tesla's honesty and commitment to completing the feature.

Ford Discontinues F-150 Lightning: Ford announced the cancellation of the all-electric F-150 Lightning and took a $19.5 billion charge while restructuring its EV strategy. The company will shift focus to hybrids, extended-range EVs, and smaller affordable EVs rather than large EVs that have "no path to profitability." Ford has lost $13 billion on EVs since 2023. The host laments the loss of what was by all accounts a fantastic vehicle but notes the EV pickup truck market hasn't developed as anticipated across all manufacturers.

Volkswagen ID.Buzz Production Pause: VW confirmed it won't offer the 2026 ID.Buzz in the US and Canada, just one year after the retro-styled van's North American launch, though insists it's not canceled and will return for 2027. The host attributes poor sales to the combination of a price over $70,000 and only 234 miles of range. He agrees with automotive reviewer Doug DeMuro that the shorter-wheelbase European two-row version would have been more appealing and potentially more affordable than the three-row North American version.

Starlink Integration Patent Filing: Tesla filed a patent application describing an RF-transparent roof assembly that could integrate satellite and cellular communication hardware directly into vehicle structure. The design uses radio frequency-transparent polymer materials like polycarbonate, allowing antennas to be embedded without signal-blocking metal interference. While speculative, this foundational technology would enable native Starlink connectivity in Tesla vehicles, offering coverage anywhere without relying on traditional cellular networks like AT&T.

FSD Performance Update: The host reports that 96% of his driving on his AI4 car has been on FSD version 14.2, with generally phenomenal performance and only minor interventions. He emphasizes the system has become "real good" while acknowledging it's not perfect, and expresses hope that the Tesla AI team gets well-deserved time off during the holidays after their continuous improvement efforts.

Listener Engagement and Community: Multiple listener calls provided insights including corrections about Tesla's traction control automatically disabling regen in low-traction snow conditions, suggestions for licensing FSD to EV RV manufacturers, and pro tips for using the frunk more effectively. The host emphasizes his appreciation for the supportive community after over 10 years and 542 episodes of the podcast.

Tesla Stock Volatility: Tesla stock initially rose with the announcement of driverless robotaxi testing but then experienced a dip following the California DMV ruling, though the overall impact of the DMV decision appears minimal given that sales will continue uninterrupted and Tesla seems unfazed by the regulatory action.

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This Week in Virology is a netcast about viruses - the kind that make you sick. 

TWiV 1281: Sex, herpes, and plankton

This Week in Virology

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Recording at the Ringberg Giant Virus Symposium: This episode was recorded live at the 6th Ringberg Symposium on Giant Viruses at Ringberg Castle in Tegernsee, Germany, featuring three speakers from different parts of the world discussing their research on giant viruses and their hosts.

Susana Coelho's Background in Brown Algae Research: Coelho studies brown algae (seaweeds like giant kelps), which are photosynthetic organisms that independently evolved multicellularity separate from plants and animals. She became interested in these organisms after failing an exam on their complex life cycles, which led to her PhD work and eventual focus on sex chromosomes and sexual reproduction in these organisms.

Discovery of Giant Virus Integration in Brown Algae: While sequencing brown algae genomes, Coelho discovered extensive endogenous viral elements (EVEs) integrated into the host genome. The Ectocarpus siliculosus virus, though known since the 1980s, was found to have a coordinated life cycle with its host, only replicating in specific reproductive structures (gametangia) rather than vegetative tissue.

Temperature-Dependent Viral Activation in Algae: The integrated virus in brown algae only becomes active and produces symptoms at 10 degrees Celsius, not at warmer temperatures like 14 or 20 degrees. This temperature sensitivity helps maintain a balance between virus and host, as the virus sterilizes the algae by replacing gametes with viral particles but doesn't kill the organism outright.

Tom Delmont's Journey to Mirusviruses through Metagenomics: Delmont studies plankton through genomics and bioinformatics, primarily using metagenomic data from the Tara Oceans expedition. He stumbled into virology by discovering unusual viral sequences while analyzing environmental DNA, leading to the identification of mirusviruses—a previously unknown group of double-stranded DNA viruses.

Discovery and Naming of Mirusviruses: Mirusviruses were discovered in 2023 through analysis of Tara Oceans metagenomic data. The name "mirus" comes from ancient language meaning "unusual" or "strange." These viruses are characterized by approximately 250 kilobase circular genomes with around 250 genes and infect diverse unicellular eukaryotes (protists) in ocean surface waters.

Evolutionary Bridge Between Herpes and Giant Viruses: Mirusviruses represent an important evolutionary link, possessing the particle type (major capsid protein structure) of herpesviruses while having functional similarities to nucleocytoviruses (giant viruses). This discovery helps connect previously separate viral lineages and suggests common ancestry between tailed phages, herpesviruses, and mirusviruses.

Metagenomic Methods for Virus Discovery: Delmont explained the process of genome-resolved metagenomics, where DNA from environmental samples is sequenced, assembled into contigs, and then binned into individual genomes based on correlation patterns across multiple samples. The platform Anvio, developed by his colleague Meren, enables visualization and extraction of genomes from complex metagenomic data.

Nuclear Versus Cytoplasmic Replication in Mirusviruses: Analysis revealed two distinct groups within mirusviruses—one with RNA polymerases and functions suggesting cytoplasmic replication ability, and another lacking these functions but enriched in spliceosomal introns, indicating obligate nuclear replication. Late genes containing introns provide strong evidence for nuclear replication cycles.

John Archibald's Discovery of Mirusvirus in Aurantiochytrium: Archibald's lab, while sequencing the genome of Aurantiochytrium (a single-celled relative of brown algae), discovered two distinct mirusvirus elements—an integrated chromosomal copy (V2) and an episomal circular element (V1). Using nanopore long-read sequencing enabled better assembly and detection of these viral sequences.

Direct Visualization of Mirusvirus Particles: Through transmission electron microscopy, Archibald's team successfully visualized mirusvirus particles in Aurantiochytrium cells, finding them in both nucleus and cytoplasm at 120-140 nanometers in size, resembling herpesviruses. This provided crucial physical evidence confirming the computational predictions about mirusviruses.

Challenges in Establishing Infection Systems: Despite identifying viral elements and visualizing particles, establishing controlled infection experiments remains difficult because both integrated and episomal viral elements appear constitutively present in Aurantiochytrium cultures. The complex life cycle of the host organism, which isn't fully controllable in laboratory conditions, adds additional challenges.

Future Directions and Viral Diversity: All three researchers emphasized that viral diversity is far from saturated—many ecosystems remain poorly sampled, and new virus groups likely await discovery. Future work includes understanding replication mechanisms, host range determination, viral defense systems, and isolating naive host strains for infection experiments.

Alternative Entry to Virology: The episode highlighted a modern trend where researchers studying other organisms (algae, protists, plankton) accidentally discover viruses through genomic sequencing and become "accidental virologists." This contrasts with traditional virology where researchers started with infectious particles causing disease, representing a fundamentally different approach to the field.

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"Answers aren't important, the journey is. Truth is the journey"Welcome to Prometheus Lens, the place where we use the allegory of the Prometheus Lens to re examine everything! How many times have we been told something, but later when we dig in for ourselves we find out we've been lied to? It's time for us to go on "The Hero's Journey", where we explore the vast unknown.We will reexamine everything from creation, evolution, paranormal, all the way to conspiracy theories. Welcome to the hero's journey!

The Nephilim, Bigfoot,  and Esau

Prometheus Lens

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Esau's Unusual Physical Description and Biblical Significance: The discussion explores the bizarre biblical account of Esau being born covered in red hair from head to toe, so hairy that goat skins were needed to mimic his appearance when Jacob deceived Isaac. This extreme hairiness, combined with God's explicit statement that He hated Esau (one of the few people God says this about), suggests something supernatural about Esau's nature beyond normal human variation.

The Book of Jasher's Account of Esau Killing Nimrod: Extra-biblical texts like the Book of Jasher provide context missing from Genesis, explaining that Esau didn't casually trade his birthright for soup—he had just killed Nimrod and two other giants (Gibborim) in battle and was fleeing for his life when he desperately needed Jacob's help. Esau also stole Nimrod's supernatural garments during this encounter, which were believed to be the coverings originally given to Adam from the Garden of Eden.

The Sacred Garments as Symbol of Authority: According to Jewish legends, the garments that God gave Adam (taken from the serpent/nachash) represented kingship and priesthood, with all creation subject to their wearer. These garments supposedly passed through the patriarchs—from Adam to Seth to Enoch to Noah, then stolen by Ham and given to Nimrod, and finally taken by Esau. The "birthright" that Jacob obtained was actually these supernatural garments.

Samael as Esau's Guardian Angel: Jewish traditions identify Samael (the viper of God, the angel of death) as Esau's guardian angel, while Michael was Jacob's guardian. The Ascension of Moses confirms Samael as another name for the devil. Esau was also said to bear a serpent's branding, connecting him to the serpent seed prophecy of Genesis 3:15.

The Two Nations in Rebekah's Womb: The text states two nations, two peoples were in Rebekah's womb, fighting each other even before birth. The ancient reader would have recognized this as echoing Genesis 3:15's prophecy about enmity between the serpent's seed and the woman's seed, with Jacob clutching Esau's heel mirroring the "bruising the heel" prophecy.

Edom and the Rothschild Connection: The name Edom means "red" in Hebrew and relates to Adam with an added serpent letter (vav). When translated properly, "Rothschild" means "shield of the Edomites" (Magen Edom), suggesting a possible connection between modern power structures and Esau's bloodline through the Edomites.

Esau's Marriage to Nephilim Clans: After losing his birthright and blessing, Esau married into Canaanite tribes—specifically Hivites and Horites, known Nephilim giant clans. His father-in-law Seir's name means "rough, rugged, hairy," and he reigned from Mount Seir. This union produced the Amalekites, described as blood drinkers, sorcerers, and shape-shifters.

Bigfoot and Ancient Wild Men Traditions: The discussion connects Esau's description to global legends of hairy wild men—Bigfoot, Sasquatch, the European wild man, China's Yeren, and Krampus. Ancient practices like Sardinia's winter solstice ritual (where men cover themselves in black goat fur and chase women) may preserve memories of these hairy giants who were sexually promiscuous and predatory.

The Levitical Prohibitions and the Amalekites: Commands against drinking blood, passing children through fire, and sacrificing to "hairy goat demons" in Leviticus directly addressed practices of the Amalekites (Esau's descendants), who were the first people Israel encountered in the wilderness. God commanded their complete destruction, including animals, because they were known shape-shifters.

Pan, Azazel, and Goat Demon Worship: The scapegoat ritual in Leviticus literally sends a goat "to Azazel" in the wilderness, and prohibitions against sacrificing outside the camp related to Azazel's domain in the wilderness of Sin. Jesus's transfiguration at Caesarea Philippi (Mount Hermon, where the Watchers descended) occurred at a site dedicated to Pan, the goat demon, connecting these ancient traditions.

How Nephilim Returned After the Flood: Multiple theories are discussed: legends say the giant Og clung to the ark and survived; the Testament of Abraham claims Noah's second wife was Naamah from Cain's serpent seed lineage, preserved by divine command to fulfill Genesis 3:15; and Ham's sin of "uncovering his father's nakedness" (a euphemism for sleeping with Noah's wife) may have produced Canaan as an incestuous child carrying corrupted genetics.

The Macro and Micro Narratives of Scripture: The recurring biblical pattern of the younger brother receiving the birthright over the elder (Cain/Abel, Ishmael/Isaac, Esau/Jacob, the Prodigal Son) reflects the cosmic story of humanity (the younger brothers) being favored over the angels (elder brothers) who rebelled. This pattern appears throughout Scripture as God consistently elevates the humble and judges the proud.

The Importance of Extra-Biblical Texts for Context: Books like Jasher, Enoch, and Jewish legends provide crucial context that ancient readers would have known, as biblical writers assumed familiarity with these stories. The Bible often provides "highlight reels" while these texts fill in details—not necessarily all factual, but revealing what people of that time believed and how they understood Scripture.

Practical Application and Faith Building: Rather than being mere speculation or distraction, studying these connections strengthens faith by revealing the intricate layers of Scripture's unified narrative across thousands of years and multiple authors, all pointing to Christ and the cosmic battle between light and darkness, ultimately resolved through Jesus's blood regardless of anyone's physical bloodline.
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The iFanboy.com Comic Book Podcast is a weekly talk show all about the best new current comic book releases. Lifelong friends, Conor Kilpatrick and Josh Flanagan talk about what they loved and (sometimes) hated in the current weekly books, from publishers like Marvel, DC, Image Comics, Dark Horse Comics, BOOM! Studios, IDW, Aftershock, Valiant, and more. The aim is to have a fun time, some laughs, but to also really understand what makes comic books work and what doesn’t, and trying to understand the craft of this great, often under appreciated art form. Sometimes they agree, and sometimes… they don’t. With decades of experience talking about comics, interacting with comic book professionals, this is all about the love of an art form. If the names Brian Michael Bendis, Amanda Conner, Geoff Johns, Gene Luen Yang, Donny Cates, Jason Aaron, Kelly Thompson, David Marquez, Kelly Sue de Connick, Kieron Gillen, Charles Soule, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Scott Snyder, Tom King, Mitch Gerads, Esad Ribic, Rick Remender, Nick Spencer, John Ridley, Skottie Young, Chip Zdarsky, Jöelle Jones, David F. Walker, Grant Morrison, and Darwyn Cooke get you excited, then this is the place for you. This podcast is so good, you don’t even need to read comic books or graphic novels to enjoy it, but it’s a lot better if you do.

2025 All Media Year End Roundup

iFanboy - Comic Books

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The Year in Film Was Uneven: The hosts agree 2025 was a strange, down year for movies overall. There was no cultural "Barbenheimer" moment, fewer theatrical experiences stood out, and they attended significantly fewer screenings than previous years. Despite this, several exceptional films emerged that resonated deeply.

Sinners Transcends Horror: Ryan Coogler's Sinners starring Michael B. Jordan was a standout that elevated beyond typical horror genre constraints. The film about vampires in the Depression-era South incorporated race, culture, and music history, with an unforgettable club scene where musicians from past and future come to life. The performances were exceptional across the board.

Paul Thomas Anderson Delivers with One Battle After Another: This character-driven drama featuring Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, and Benicio del Toro was one of the year's most satisfying films. At 2 hours 40 minutes, it didn't feel overlong, balancing humor with familial drama and political undertones while feeling like movies "used to be made."

Superman Successfully Reboots the Character: James Gunn's Superman was praised as an entertaining, populist superhero film that captured what Superman should be. David Corenswet's performance and the squirrel-saving scene established the right tone, creating a cultural moment that felt special and accessible to broader audiences.

Theatrical Experiences Still Matter: Multiple films benefited enormously from theatrical viewing, including Sinners at a sold-out Vista Theater and Nuremberg with an emotionally engaged audience. The communal experience of watching certain films collectively enhanced their impact in ways home viewing couldn't replicate.

Genre Films Surprised and Impressed: Several hosts overcame initial genre hesitations to discover exceptional films. Weapons, a horror-thriller, and Hamnet, a period drama about Shakespeare's son, both exceeded expectations. These films proved that strong filmmaking transcends genre limitations.

Richard Linklater Had a Banner Year: Linklater released two exceptional films—Blue Moon, a theatrical period piece about Lorenz Hart and Richard Rodgers, and Nouvelle Vague, a meta exploration of the French New Wave shot in black and white. The latter represented a career bookend, with Linklater making a film about the filmmakers who inspired his own debut.

Netflix Continues Puzzling Theatrical Strategies: The hosts expressed frustration with Netflix's limited theatrical releases for films like Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery and Jay Kelly, which played to sold-out audiences but received minimal theatrical distribution, leaving significant revenue on the table.

Television Offered Consistent Quality: Unlike film, television provided numerous excellent series throughout the year. The Pitt emerged as the consensus best show, delivering 15 episodes in a 24-style real-time format with Noah Wyle's compelling performance and weekly release schedule creating appointment viewing.

Period Dramas Excelled: The Gilded Age continued its run with perfect melodrama, treating every plot point with equal dramatic weight while maintaining genuine character investment. Death by Lightning, a Netflix miniseries about James Garfield's assassination featuring Michael Shannon, delivered tight historical storytelling with exceptional performances.

Genre-Bending Shows Captivated Audiences: The Lowdown from Sterling Harjo (Reservation Dogs) starring Ethan Hawke brought noir perfection to Tulsa, while English Teacher provided sharp comedy about modern education. Both shows demonstrated how strong writing and performances can elevate familiar formats.

Music Highlighted Legendary Artists and New Discoveries: David Byrne's "Who Is the Sky?" album and tour demonstrated he remains vital at 73, while Pulp's return and new album proved Britpop legends can still deliver. Queens of the Stone Age's Catacombs tour, featuring stripped-down performances in French catacombs, ranked among the best concert experiences ever.

Books Explored Entertainment History and Crime Fiction: Susan Morrison's "Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live" provided an utterly compelling 656-page deep dive into an unknowable man who shaped comedy. James Ellroy's "Perfidia" delivered intricate LA noir, while Dennis Lehane's Kenzie and Gennaro detective series proved consistently engaging.

Podcasts Analyzed Entertainment and Offered Deep Dives: "The Town" with Matt Belloni became essential listening for entertainment industry news, releasing multiple episodes weekly. "Blank Check" with Griffin Newman and David Sims provided two-hour-plus deep dives into director filmographies, with their Coen Brothers series being particularly excellent.

Comics Showed Strong Year for DC and Marvel: Batman and Robin: Year One from Mark Waid and Chris Samnee delivered exceptional all-ages storytelling with timeless Batman. Wonder Woman had two excellent concurrent series—Tom King's ongoing and Kelly Thompson's Absolute Wonder Woman—making it a great time for Diana fans.

Surprise Comic Standouts Emerged: Daredevil: Cold Day in Hell, a three-issue miniseries from Charles Soule and Steve McNiven, earned pick of the week for all three issues with its innovative Old Man Daredevil story. Uncanny Valley from Image Comics evolved from a weak first issue into some of the best single-issue comics of the year.

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Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover concrete, actionable, and tactical advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.

The coming AI security crisis (and what to do about it) | Sander Schulhoff

Lenny's Podcast: Product | Career | Growth

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AI Systems Are Fundamentally Vulnerable to Attacks: Current AI systems, including those from leading companies like OpenAI and Anthropic, are inherently vulnerable to two main types of attacks: jailbreaking (tricking a model directly into harmful outputs) and prompt injection (getting an AI application to ignore its intended instructions). The attack space is effectively infinite—one followed by a million zeros of possible attacks—making it mathematically impossible to defend against all threats.

No Major Incidents Yet Only Due to Limited AI Adoption: The only reason there hasn't been a catastrophic AI security breach is that AI agents aren't widely deployed or powerful enough yet. Real examples include a Twitter chatbot tricked into making presidential threats, Math GPT having its API keys stolen, the Vegas Cybertruck bomber using ChatGPT for planning, and recent ServiceNow vulnerabilities allowing database manipulation and unauthorized emails.

AI Guardrails Don't Actually Work: Despite widespread adoption, AI guardrails—systems designed to filter malicious inputs and outputs—are fundamentally ineffective. They can't meaningfully defend against the infinite attack space, they don't dissuade determined attackers, and human red teamers can break even state-of-the-art defenses in 10-30 attempts. Claims of "99% effectiveness" are statistically meaningless given the vast number of possible attacks.

The AI Security Industry Has Serious Problems: Many AI security companies sell automated red teaming tools that work "too well" (always finding attacks because all transformer-based models are vulnerable) and guardrails that don't work well enough. Some companies fabricate statistics, their models don't work in non-English languages, and they use misleading testing methodologies that aren't statistically significant.

The Danger Escalates Dramatically with AI Agents: While chatbots pose limited risk (reputational damage at worst), AI agents that can take actions—sending emails, modifying databases, controlling browsers, or operating robots—create serious threats. Any data an AI can access can be leaked by a malicious user, and any action it can take can be triggered through prompt injection.

Classical Cybersecurity Approaches Don't Transfer to AI: The fundamental principle is "you can patch a bug, but you can't patch a brain." Traditional software vulnerabilities can be fixed with near-certainty, but AI vulnerabilities persist even after attempted patches. This requires a new hybrid expertise combining classical cybersecurity with deep AI knowledge.

Simple AI Chatbots May Not Need Security Investment: If you're only deploying read-only chatbots that answer FAQs or help users find information without taking actions or accessing sensitive data, security investments may be unnecessary. Users can already get harmful information from ChatGPT directly, and adding guardrails won't meaningfully prevent determined attackers.

Proper Data Permissioning Is Critical: Organizations must ensure AI systems only have access to data and actions they absolutely need. The key insight: any data an AI has access to can be exfiltrated by a user, and any action it can take can be triggered through malicious prompts. Classical cybersecurity principles around least-privilege access are essential.

CAMEL Framework Offers Partial Solutions: Google's CAMEL (Context-Aware Minimalist Elevation of Language model permissions) restricts AI agent permissions based on user intent. If you ask for an email summary, it gets read-only access; if you ask to send an email, it gets write-only access. However, this doesn't work when tasks require both read and write permissions simultaneously.

Indirect Prompt Injection Is an Emerging Threat: AI agents can be compromised by malicious content they encounter while performing tasks—for example, reading a poisoned email that contains hidden instructions, or visiting a webpage with embedded attack prompts. Recent examples include the Comet browser vulnerability where simply browsing a malicious page could exfiltrate user data.

Frontier Labs Can't Solve This Problem Either: The smartest AI researchers at OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic haven't solved adversarial robustness despite years of effort. No meaningful progress has been made in the past two years. If leading labs with massive resources can't fix it, enterprise security tools claiming to solve it are highly suspect.

Education and Awareness Are Your Best Defense: Understanding that prompt injection is possible prevents poor deployment decisions. Organizations need team members who deeply understand both AI systems and classical cybersecurity. Monitoring all AI inputs and outputs is essential, though it won't prevent attacks—it helps with understanding system usage and identifying issues post-facto.

A Market Correction Is Coming: The AI security industry will likely see a major correction within 6-12 months as companies realize guardrails don't work and revenue dries up. Many solutions are available as free open-source tools that perform better than commercial offerings. Meanwhile, real-world AI security incidents are expected to increase as more powerful agents are deployed.

Focus on Practical Steps Over False Security: Rather than buying guardrails, organizations should: ensure proper data permissioning, implement classical cybersecurity best practices, hire experts who understand both AI and security, consider frameworks like CAMEL where applicable, and carefully evaluate whether agentic systems are necessary. Most importantly, assume any AI system can be prompted to do anything it's technically capable of doing.
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WSJ’s Take On the Week brings you the insights and analysis you need to get a leg up on the business and financial week to come. In less than 20 minutes, we cut through the noise to explain the major business and financial news that may move markets, all so you can make smarter investing decisions and take on the week with confidence. Episodes drop Sundays. Hosted by Dion Rabouin.

How This Fed Hawk Views the Economy, Inflation, AI and Jobs

WSJ's Take On the Week

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Mixed Economic Signals and Cautious Fed Stance: The latest economic data presents conflicting signals, with unemployment rising unexpectedly to its highest level since 2021 while job creation beat expectations. The November CPI came in lighter than expected, but Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack and other officials are taking the data with a grain of salt due to noise from the government shutdown and sampling issues.

Hammack's Hawkish Position on Rate Cuts: Beth Hammack, a former Goldman Sachs treasurer who joined the Cleveland Fed a year ago, has been skeptical of recent rate cuts and believes monetary policy is currently well-positioned. She argues inflation has been missing the Fed's 2% target for nearly five years and has been stuck around 3% for over a year, making it crucial to complete the job of bringing inflation down before cutting rates further.

The Neutral Rate Debate: Hammack believes the Fed may already be at or near the neutral interest rate—the level that neither stimulates nor restrains the economy. She cites healthy GDP growth, strong equity markets, tight credit spreads, and businesses not reporting credit constraints as evidence. She has one of the higher estimates of neutral on the committee and suggests current policy doesn't need further easing.

Business Input on Labor and Pricing Pressures: In her meetings with district CEOs and business leaders, Hammack hears that finding workers remains challenging in pockets, particularly in manufacturing and skilled trades. Businesses report continued input cost pressures and may raise prices in the first quarter of 2026 to offset these costs, suggesting inflation persistence.

Financial Conditions and Private Credit Boom: Despite concerns about high consumer interest rates, capital markets remain robust with healthy activity in equity IPOs, debt financing, and private credit. Hammack notes that 6% mortgage rates aren't historically high when compared to the 1980s-90s, and extremely low rates would likely signal significant economic problems.

Fed Balance Sheet and Ample Reserves Framework: The Fed announced it would allow its balance sheet to grow after years of passive contraction, which Hammack describes as a technical adjustment to maintain the "ample reserves" framework. She defends this approach, arguing it provides financial stability benefits by allowing banks to hold appropriate reserve levels and facilitates smoother payment flows.

Artificial Intelligence's Potential Economic Impact: AI dominates nearly every business conversation Hammack has, with implications for bond markets (data center funding), energy markets (power generation concerns), and labor markets. However, she notes AI impacts aren't yet visible in the economic data, and businesses generally view it as a workforce complement rather than replacement.

Fed Independence and Chair Powell's Leadership: Hammack emphasizes the critical importance of Fed independence for delivering better long-term outcomes on employment and inflation. She expresses high respect for Chair Powell's leadership in bringing together 19 FOMC participants with diverse backgrounds and ensuring all viewpoints are represented, even when disagreements occur.

Tariff Uncertainty and First Quarter Outlook: By March 2026, the economy will be nearly a year into the tariff regime, which should provide clarity on whether tariffs cause a one-time price level shift or persistent inflation. Hawks worry businesses may pass through more significant price increases in early 2026 after holding back during the holiday season.

No Imminent Rate Changes Expected: Hammack sees no evidence warranting a rate cut at the January meeting and believes policy is positioned well to wait and see how the economy unfolds in the first quarter. While rate increases aren't her base case, she remains open-minded about all possibilities given economic uncertainty.

Regional Fed President Selection Process: Responding to Treasury Secretary Bessent's comments about Fed presidents needing district roots, Hammack defends the current selection process where local boards of directors choose their leaders. She notes the Federal Reserve Act has no requirements about where presidents must come from and emphasizes the importance of boards having selection freedom.

Powell's Remaining Influence as Lame Duck Chair: Despite being in the final months of his term, Powell has maintained control of the committee and secured consensus for recent decisions, even from dissenting hawks like Hammack. His internal influence remains strong, though his external market guidance may diminish as his term ends.

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Insights for vegetable farmers and market gardeners who earn, or want to earn, a living growing vegetables profitably.  

In each episode, I talk with a beginning or experienced farmer, diving deep into their story to find out what makes their market farm successful.  I focus on in-the-field farming. Soil preparation, weed management, post-harvest processing, appropriate technology, farm tools and equipment, and growing crops.

Hosted and produced by Diego Footer's Modern Grower Podcast Network.

The Resiliency of Fungal Systems - Gardening Beyond Basics 49

Farm Small Farm Smart

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Fungal Resilience and Persistence Through Catastrophe: Despite human activities and climate change, fungi demonstrate remarkable resilience and have historically survived all extinction-level events. Fossil records show thicker spore layers after major catastrophes, indicating fungi dominated the planet during recovery periods and enabled new generations of life to emerge. While measuring current mycelium abundance is difficult, fungi's adaptive capacity suggests they will persist regardless of environmental challenges on geological timescales.

Climate Change Effects on Fungal Populations: Observable changes include altered fruiting patterns of mushrooms, with seasons extending longer and fruiting occurring later in the year. These shifts affect nutrient cycling, insect populations, and small mammals that depend on mushrooms, creating cascading effects throughout ecosystems. Soil temperature changes from climate shifts are being tracked in studies showing impacts on both plant and fungal populations.

Fungi's Central Role in CO2 Production: The vast majority of atmospheric CO2 (approximately 85% or more) comes from soil through fungal respiration and decomposition, not human activity which contributes only about 7%. Fungi's tissue volume throughout the world far exceeds all human industrial output combined, putting human impact in different perspective while highlighting fungi's critical role in the carbon cycle.

Fungi as the Foundation of Ecological Systems: Rather than viewing animals and humans as independent systems, we should understand them as subsystems within the much older fungal system that has existed for billions of years. Fungi act as keystone species and "grand connectors" in ecosystems—removing them would cause everything to collapse. They kickstart processes in the harshest environments, from Superfund sites to brownfields, enabling other life to follow.

The "Neglected Megascience" of Mycology: Despite fungi's critical importance, mycology remains one of the youngest natural sciences with vast unexplored potential. Academic mycologists previously worried the field might fade from existence due to limited funding and few university departments. The more scientists study fungi, the more they realize how much remains unknown, offering hope for discovering new solutions to current challenges.

Four Eras of Human-Fungal Relationships: Human interaction with fungi has evolved through distinct periods: antiquity and traditional cultures working with fungi; the start of modern mycology 200-250 years ago focused on naming species; the mid-20th century shift with psychoactive fungi and improved cultivation including gourmet and medicinal mushrooms; and the current era of unprecedented applications driven by ecological understanding and technological capability.

The Youth of Mushroom Cultivation: Compared to 10,000 years of plant domestication, efficient mushroom cultivation is only 100-200 years old and developed through trial and error. Only recently have we gained sufficient ecological knowledge and technology to apply creative solutions, making this an explosive period of discovery and innovation in mycological applications across various industries and human systems.
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Dharma Seed is dedicated to preserving and sharing the spoken teachings of Theravada Buddhism in modern languages. Since the early 1980's, Dharma Seed has collected and distributed dharma talks by teachers offering the vipassana (insight) and metta (lovingkindness) practices of Theravada Buddhism. New recordings are being added continuously from contemporary dharma teachers.

Pascal Auclair: Is Consciousness Me?

Dharma Seed: dharma talks and meditation instruction

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Two Metta Practices from Sylvia Boorstein: The session introduces two loving-kindness meditation practices. The first is described as having an "easefulness" to it—a relaxed approach where practitioners think of one person (friend or family member) with each in-breath, holding them in awareness with appreciation and joy throughout the full breath cycle, then allowing the mind to naturally associate to another person with the next breath, moving fluidly through people without forcing or getting stuck.

Breathing People Through with Appreciation: The practice emphasizes simplicity—no specific phrases or words are needed, just holding each person in heart or mind with the recognition that "this being exists." Practitioners are encouraged to notice if something feels "sticky" and either move on or stay longer as needed, maintaining a sense of ease throughout the practice while including sangha members and others who come to mind.

Joanna Macy's Field Visualization: The meditation transitions into a practice honoring Joanna Macy, where practitioners imagine themselves in a countryside field on a summer evening under stars and moon. Friends, family members, and acquaintances gradually appear one by one, each recognized as a unique expression of life force, standing together in silent presence.

Expanding the Circle of Compassion: The visualization expands to include people from nearby villages, children, elderly people, and animals emerging from the woods (deer, chipmunks, birds, fireflies) in a Disney-like scene. All beings gather quietly together in peaceful coexistence, creating a widening circle of presence and connection.

Zooming Out to Universal Perspective: Practitioners are guided to rise above the field, seeing all the gathered beings from above, then zooming further out above the region, continent, and eventually viewing the entire planet—the "big, blue, green, white planet"—with the same tender friendliness and care, ultimately extending to the whole universe, solar system, and galaxies.

Returning to the Present Self: The visualization reverses course, zooming back down to Earth, the continent, Western Massachusetts, the specific building and room where the sangha is gathered. Practitioners ultimately come face-to-face with themselves—the person they know most intimately—experiencing their own breath and presence on the cushion or chair with compassion for all their secrets, wants, embarrassments, and joys.

The Meta Murmur Practice: The session concludes with what Sylvia Boorstein calls the "meta murmur," where all participants simultaneously and gently murmur the names of people they're sending loving-kindness to, creating a collective "sea of meta murmur" between two bell rings. The practice ends with an intention to include "all beings no one left behind," acknowledging those who didn't cross their minds due to time or lack of knowledge.

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Do all paths lead to God? Is the Bible history or mythology? Are we saved by grace or good works? Featuring conversations with Christians from a variety traditions, this program is designed to give you a better understanding of what you believe and why you believe it.

The Theology of the Chronicles of Narnia

White Horse Inn.

White Horse Inn

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C.S. Lewis's Life and Conversion: Clive Staples "Jack" Lewis (1898-1963) was a medievalist and English literature professor at Oxford and Cambridge, not a trained theologian. His mother's death when he was nine and subsequent harsh boarding school experiences led him to atheism. However, authors like George MacDonald and G.K. Chesterton, combined with friendships with Christians like J.R.R. Tolkien, gradually challenged his materialism. After discussions about the "true myth" of a dying and rising God, Lewis became a Christian in 1931, describing himself as "perhaps the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England."

The Origins of the Chronicles of Narnia: Lewis began writing The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in 1949-1950, inspired by a 1939 image of a faun carrying parcels through snow and by children evacuated to his home during WWII. He emphasized these were not allegories but "imaginative supposals"—asking what Christianity would look like if it existed in Narnia. He created the world first, then imagined Christ as a lion (Aslan) within it.

Tolkien's Concerns About Narnia: The supposed falling out between Lewis and Tolkien was overblown. Tolkien disliked how Lewis combined various mythologies without straightforward history, unlike his meticulously footnoted Middle-earth. More significantly, Tolkien read early drafts before Aslan appeared and worried about the faun character Mr. Tumnus, since fauns in classical mythology were unsavory figures—especially when he encountered the reference to "the love life of fauns" on the bookshelf.

Reading Order and Aslan's Introduction: While Lewis once suggested starting with The Magician's Nephew for chronological coherence, the recommended approach is publication order beginning with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. This preserves Lewis's intention that readers discover Aslan alongside the children, knowing nothing about him initially, which enhances the experience of revelation rather than having the creation story spoiled.

Aslan as "Not Safe But Good": This central description captures God's dual nature—loving yet holy, uncontrollable yet benevolent. Like a campfire that provides warmth and cooking but burns if you stick your head in it, Aslan represents divine power that is beneficial when properly approached but dangerous when the relationship is corrupted. Lewis explores how humans respond to God's pursuit of them, whether experiencing Him as the "Hound of Heaven" or something more threatening.

Creation Through Song in The Magician's Nephew: Aslan sings Narnia into existence in a breathtaking scene where his voice brings forth stars, sun, grass, animals, and all of creation. This differs from pagan myths where gods create humans to serve them—instead, Aslan gifts his creation with voice, consciousness, and purpose. The singing represents creation ex nihilo (out of nothing) and mirrors the Psalms' imagery of creation declaring God's glory, with each created thing responding according to its nature.

The White Witch as Parody, Not Dualistic Equal: Jadis, the White Witch, is deliberately portrayed as almost comical and stereotypical—an ice queen with crown, throne, chariot, and magic wand. Lewis intentionally avoids making her a complex character equal to Aslan, emphasizing that good and evil are not balanced forces. She's terrified of Aslan and easily defeated, reinforcing that Satan is a created being with no real power against God, not an eternal opposing force.

Edmund's Betrayal and Turkish Delight: Edmund's fall mirrors Adam's—acting from weakness rather than strength, trading his princely status for empty promises and candy. Like Israel's idolatry in the wilderness, it's simultaneously frustrating and relatable. The scene illustrates human sinfulness as pathetic and foolish rather than sophisticated or powerful, showing how we're "just dumb" when we turn from God despite having everything we need.

Substitutionary Atonement on the Stone Table: Aslan's death in Edmund's place represents penal substitutionary atonement—the traitor deserves death under Narnian law, but Aslan invokes "deeper magic from before the dawn of time" (interpreted as the protoevangelium or first gospel promise). The scene with the girls weeping at the Stone Table parallels women at Christ's tomb, and the mice chewing Aslan's bonds adds poignant detail to this gospel portrait.

Deeper Magic and Deeper Magic Still: The distinction between the "deeper magic" (justice and law) and the "deeper magic still" (grace and resurrection) captures the biblical tension between God's justice and mercy. The resurrection reveals that while the law's demands must be satisfied, grace ultimately triumphs—the witch had no knowledge of this redemptive plan that predated even Narnia's creation.

Eustace's Undragoning and Sanctification: In The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Eustace becomes a dragon by sleeping in dragon treasure, discovering his own awfulness. Aslan must painfully peel off the dragon scales himself—Eustace cannot remove them alone. This baptismal water imagery portrays sanctification as painful but necessary, not a delightful victory walk but the agonizing process of dying to self that only God can accomplish.

The Last Battle and Heavenly Realization: The final Chronicle is considered the most realistic depiction of Christian experience and provides literature's best picture of heaven. Unlike Platonic escapism that devalues material reality, Lewis presents heaven as more real than earth—running without tiring, going "further up and further in," climbing waterfalls against gravity. Narnia isn't replaced but renewed and perfected, with heaven and earth becoming one.

Lewis's Augustinian Use of Platonism: Lewis adapts Plato's forms not to diminish materiality but to suggest earthly pleasures are shadows of greater reality—every meal and joy reminds us of something we haven't yet fully experienced. This "longing for something more" that Lewis felt throughout his life becomes apologetic, suggesting the new creation will be exhilarating beyond imagination, countering misconceptions of heaven as boring.

Imagination as Gateway to Gospel Truth: Lewis hoped Narnia would refresh Christian imagination for the gospel that Scripture proclaims. Aslan serves not as allegory but as signpost to the true Lion of Judah—emphasizing that good news precedes good advice, promise before exhortation, mercy before metrics. The stories should drive readers back to Word and sacrament where Christ actually gives what he promises, not become mere symbol-hunting exercises.
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This Podcast will discuss basketball coaching with Coach Steve Collins. Coach Collins will do this with interviews and on topic discussions. (Discussion will revolve around basketball topics such as: Offense, Defense, Motivation, Team Building, Youth Basketball, High School Basketball, college basketball and much more...) We will publish weekly shows at 6:00 am..... Please check out our site if you like our podcast. www.teachhoops.com.

Ep 2786 Is Your Team Ready for the "Win or Go Home" Pressure?

Basketball Coach Unplugged (A Basketball Coaching Podcast)

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Tournament Preparation Requires a Physical and Mental Shift: As tournament time approaches, practices should become shorter and more focused—ideally no longer than an hour and 15 minutes. The emphasis shifts from physical conditioning to keeping players healthy, mentally sharp, and avoiding injuries. Coaches need to prioritize rest, recovery, and making sure players are making healthy choices with sleep and nutrition.

Control the Controllables in High-Stakes Games: In tournament play, teams must focus on what they can control—effort, energy, sleep, nutrition, and mindset—rather than worrying about referees, bounces, or opponent strengths. This philosophy helps players stay mentally prepared for the inevitable adversity that comes during a championship run.

Simplify Your Offense for Tournament Success: Many offensive sets and actions that coaches run during the regular season won't get executed in tournament games. Coaches should streamline their playbook and focus on their most reliable actions while keeping a few unseen plays—"aces in the hole"—that haven't been scouted and can be deployed at critical moments.

Schedule Tournament-Style Competitions During the Season: Playing back-to-back games during the regular season (like holiday or early February tournaments) helps players experience the physical and emotional demands of tournament play. This prepares them for the fatigue and mental grind of playing 72 minutes over a weekend when it matters most.

Micro Details Matter More Than You Think: Coaches need to pay attention to small details like gym temperature (which can spike in late February/March when heating systems haven't been adjusted), hydration levels, and nutrition. Players cramping up in the second game due to dehydration can derail a tournament run, making these seemingly minor factors critical to success.

Build Program Traditions Around Tournament Time: Creating special rituals and traditions specifically for tournament play helps signal a mindset shift to players. These traditions, passed down from player to player and parent to parent, create a cultural moment similar to a holiday—marking the shift from regular season to "win or go home" mentality.

Emphasize Situation Work Leading Up to Tournament: In the month before tournament play, coaches should increase time spent on game situations—being down three with two minutes left, handling foul trouble, managing late-game scenarios. This situation work should become a daily 10-15 minute practice component to prepare for high-pressure moments.

Defense Wins Championships: When shots aren't falling or things aren't going your way, defensive energy and effort are always controllable. Teams that develop a defensive-first mentality throughout the season have something reliable to fall back on during tournament pressure, and historically, the best defensive teams advance the furthest.

Expect Adversity and Prepare Players for It: Coaches should explicitly tell players that something will go wrong during a tournament run—bad calls, injuries, illness, shooting slumps. By normalizing adversity and discussing how to respond before it happens, teams can maintain poise when challenges inevitably arise.

Develop Poise Through High-Pressure Regular Season Games: Intense, emotional games late in the regular season serve as valuable preparation for tournament pressure. How teams respond to adversity in these games—whether things go their way or not—is critical preparation for the win-or-go-home scenarios ahead.
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The latest news from the fastest growing radio news network, FOX News Radio. Listen to the power of FOX News on radio! Updated hourly!

9AM ET 12/21/2025 Newscast

Fox News Hourly Update

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Sydney Hanukkah Attack Memorial: Thousands gathered at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia for a vigil one week after gunmen killed 15 people at a Hanukkah event. The two-hour ceremony included a moment of silence at the exact time and location of the attack, with speakers from the Jewish community and politicians. The Australian prime minister was booed by attendees over perceived failures in combating anti-Semitism, and a young injured survivor gave a moving speech about saving children during the attack. The attackers, a father and son who pledged allegiance to ISIS, were both neutralized—the father was killed and the son critically injured.

Turning Point USA's America Fest Finale: The final day of America Fest in Phoenix featured high-profile conservative speakers including Eric Kirk, Donald Trump Jr., Vice President J.D. Vance, Speaker Mike Johnson, and border czar Tom Homan. The sold-out event drew 31,000 registered attendees, with one-third being students—a 50% increase from the previous year. Turning Point USA announced plans to support President Trump's congressional control throughout his term and potentially back J.D. Vance for a 2028 presidential run.

South Africa Tavern Mass Shooting: Nine people were killed and at least 10 injured when gunmen opened fire at a pub west of Johannesburg around 1am. Multiple suspects arrived in vehicles, shot at people inside the tavern, and continued firing as they fled. This marked South Africa's second mass shooting in three weeks, highlighting the country's ongoing gun violence crisis, with a manhunt currently underway for the suspects.

U.S. Military Actions Against ISIS and Venezuela: U.S. forces conducted extensive strikes against 70 ISIS targets in Syria using F-15E Strike Eagles, A-10 Warthogs, Apache helicopters, and satellite-guided bombs in retaliation for the deaths of three Americans killed the previous Saturday—two soldiers in their 20s and an interpreter. Additionally, the U.S. Coast Guard seized a second Venezuelan oil tanker, following a similar seizure on December 10th.

Winter Solstice Arrives: The first day of winter marked the darkest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, with varying amounts of daylight depending on latitude—ranging from 10.5 hours in Miami to no sunlight at the Arctic Circle. Meanwhile, the Southern Hemisphere experienced the first day of summer with the most daylight of the year.

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There’s more news and less comprehension today than any historical period that didn’t involve literal witch trials, and trying to stay on top of it all can feel like playing a game of telephone with 30 people, except everyone’s speaking at the same time and like a third of them are openly racist for some reason. From Cracked co-founder Jack O’Brien, THE DAILY ZEITGEIST is stepping into that fray with some of the funniest and smartest comedic and journalistic minds around. Jack and co-host Miles Gray spend up to an hour every weekday sorting through the events and stories driving the headlines, to help you find the signal in the noise, with a few laughs thrown in for free.

Weekly Zeitgeist 412 (Best of 12/15/25-12/19/25)

The Daily Zeitgeist

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Space Potatoes and Celestial Mechanics: The show explores the informal astronomical term "space potatoes" - objects in space that aren't massive enough to become round. Gravity works equally from the center of celestial bodies, and once objects reach a certain mass threshold, gravitational force overcomes the material strength and naturally forms spheres. The Fisher Cats baseball team briefly adopted "Space Potatoes" as their name, featuring an angry potato mascot.

Grammar Policing as Gatekeeping: Discussion about how enforcing strict grammar rules is often unnecessary and sometimes prejudiced. The key point is that successful communication happens when your audience understands you, regardless of technical correctness. Historical examples include websites that would annually "cancel" slang words, which often targeted language used by Black people.

Erica Kirk's Failed Media Tour: President-elect Trump's widow Erica Kirk has been attempting to rehabilitate his image through media appearances, but with little success. She struggles to defend his racist statements and controversial positions, comparing her communication style to ChatGPT's "fake portentousness" - using dramatic pauses before saying nothing of substance. She appeared on Bari Weiss's show attempting to contextualize clearly problematic statements.

Trump's Cognitive Decline on Display: Multiple instances of Trump's deteriorating mental state, including an awkward coin toss at the Army-Navy game where he barely flipped the coin, instead releasing it gently like "handing a child to a nanny." His two-handed water drinking and inability to perform simple physical tasks are increasingly noticeable, yet he continues to mock others with disabilities.

Economic Promises With No Substance: At a Christmas reception, Trump promised vague economic improvements in "six to 12 months" with no specific plans. His economic advisor Kevin Hassett could only point to cherry-picked data like prescription drug prices declining 0.6%. Trump's approval ratings are dropping even among MAGA supporters, from 78% to 70%.

Bizarre Christmas Reception Behavior: Trump spent 40 minutes at a White House Christmas reception rambling about venomous snakes in Peru, mistaking guests for his daughter Ivanka, and revealing that his son Don Jr. would rather hunt than attend his funeral. The speech revealed both his cognitive issues and his awareness that his family doesn't care about him.

New Photos Connect Trump to Epstein: Approximately 90 new photos surfaced showing Trump with Jeffrey Epstein, bringing the total to 95 known images. The Trump team's defense was essentially complaining about "cherry-picking" - ignoring that 87 of 90 photos containing Trump also showed him with the convicted trafficker.

NYC Schools' Phone Ban Success: New York schools banned phones using lockable pouches, and the results exceeded expectations. Instead of finding workarounds, students embraced analog activities like board games, card games, and volleyball during lunch. Teachers report "a pleasant buzz in the lunchroom" where there was previously dead silence, with kids actually talking to each other and making new friends.

The Return of Social Interaction: The phone ban revealed how profoundly disconnected students had become, with cafeterias previously being "dead silent." Students are now playing poker with hair ties, stacking board games, and engaging in conversations. The seamless transition suggests humans naturally gravitate toward social interaction when given the opportunity.

Christmas Movie Quality Debate: Discussion of worst Christmas movies, including "Christmas with the Cranks" (5% on Rotten Tomatoes but popular with audiences), "Santa Claus: The Movie" (a creepy 1980s $50 million flop), and "Polar Express" (criticized for unsettling CGI eyes). The consensus is that Christmas movies don't need to be "good" - they just need to provide "cozy" texture and holiday aesthetics.

"It's a Wonderful Life" Controversy: One guest called the classic film "an absolute depression" due to its darkness and black-and-white cinematography, despite it being many people's favorite. The film's intense suffering in the first two acts before the uplifting conclusion makes it difficult viewing for some during the holiday season.

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The day’s top stories from BBC News. Delivered twice a day on weekdays, daily at weekends.

The Global Story - Why Australia’s gun laws aren’t as strong as you might think

Global News Podcast

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Australia's Gun Control Paradox: Despite Australia being held up as the gold standard for gun control, particularly by Americans advocating for stricter regulations, the number of registered firearms in the country has nearly doubled since 2001, reaching over 4 million weapons. This increase is occurring even as the per capita number of licensed gun owners has decreased, meaning individual owners are accumulating larger arsenals.

The Port Arthur Watershed Moment: In 1996, a gunman named Martin Bryant killed 35 people and wounded 23 others at the Port Arthur historic site in Tasmania, using a semiautomatic rifle that killed 12 people in just 15 seconds. Within 12 days, Prime Minister John Howard implemented sweeping gun reforms, including banning semi-automatic and automatic weapons, establishing a national gun buyback program, and requiring a "genuine reason" for gun ownership. Howard faced significant opposition, famously wearing a bulletproof vest while addressing hostile crowds.

Gun Ownership as Privilege, Not Right: A fundamental difference between Australia and the United States is that gun ownership in Australia is legally considered a privilege subject to public interest tests, not a constitutional right. Australians must demonstrate a "genuine reason" to own firearms, such as farming, pest control, or sport shooting. Self-defense is explicitly not accepted as a valid reason for gun ownership.

The Bondi Beach Attack: At least 15 people were murdered in an antisemitic attack during a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi beach in Sydney. The alleged perpetrators were Sajid Akram (50 years old, killed by police) and his son Navid Akram. Sajid legally owned six firearms with a recreational hunting license, while Navid did not have a license but had previously been under intelligence investigation for potential radicalization in 2019.

Concerning Gun Accumulation Patterns: Investigation revealed that gun license holders in Australia now average more than four firearms each, with some individuals owning extraordinary arsenals. In Sydney alone, over 70 people owned more than 100 firearms, including one person with 385 active, fireable weapons. This concentration of weapons in suburban areas raises questions about enforcement of the "genuine reason" requirement.

Swift Political Response: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese quickly announced proposals for stricter gun laws, including limits on the number of firearms individuals can own and preventing non-citizens from acquiring firearms licenses. The New South Wales Premier Chris Minns recalled parliament early from the Christmas break to pass urgent firearm reform legislation, demonstrating the political momentum for action.

Political Division Over Solutions: Unlike the bipartisan response to Port Arthur in 1996, current political parties are not in complete alignment. While the Labor government pushes for gun reform, the Conservative opposition argues that antisemitism and radicalization are the core issues that need addressing, not gun laws. Rural representatives express concern that responsible firearm owners are being punished for the actions of extremists.

Data Gaps Complicate Assessment: A significant challenge in evaluating Australia's gun control regime is the lack of comprehensive data about where firearms are located and for what purposes they're used. Only New South Wales provides detailed statistics broken down by area, making it difficult to get a complete national picture of gun ownership patterns and compliance with licensing requirements.

Cultural Context Differences from America: Australia lacks the constitutional right to bear arms, has no history of civil war on its territory, and the majority of its population lives in cities where most people have never seen or used firearms. However, both countries share frontier histories, though Australia's colonial expansion involved mass violence against indigenous populations that hasn't resulted in the same cultural attachment to firearms.

Rural vs. Urban Divide: Gun ownership in Australia is strongly associated with rural and agricultural communities where firearms are genuinely needed for controlling feral animals like rabbits, deer, and wild boar. Politicians advocating for gun reform, including Premier Chris Minns, have indicated they don't want to restrict legitimate agricultural use, potentially creating carve-outs in new legislation to avoid conflict with farming communities.

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A daily news analysis show on all things artificial intelligence. NLW looks at AI from multiple angles, from the explosion of creativity brought on by new tools like Midjourney and ChatGPT to the potential disruptions to work and industries as we know them to the great philosophical, ethical and practical questions of advanced general intelligence, alignment and x-risk.

Power Ranking the Big AI Ideas for 2026

The AI Daily Brief (Formerly The AI Breakdown): Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

The AI Daily Brief: Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

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Taming Multimodal Data Chaos: Jennifer Lee predicts startups will tackle the massive challenge of organizing and structuring enterprise's unstructured multimodal data, which currently comprises 80% of corporate knowledge. This gets high marks for likelihood (4/5) as it's a universally recognized problem, though efforts may be more surgical and category-specific rather than comprehensive. The value is also rated highly (4/5) for companies that can successfully unleash their organized data with AI, though it lacks glamour as an X-factor (1/5).

Agent-Native Infrastructure: Malika argues that 2026 will require a fundamental rearchitecting of enterprise backends to handle agent workloads that trigger recursive fan-outs of thousands of subtasks in milliseconds, rather than the predictable human-speed traffic systems were designed for. While the broad pattern gets a moderate likelihood score (2/5) due to its generality, the value (3-4/5) and X-factor (4/5) are high because this relates to the "Dr. Strange theory" of AI agents performing the same task repeatedly or executing thousands of parallel subtasks.

Multimodal Creative Tools: Justine Moore predicts creative tools will become truly multimodal, allowing users to feed models various reference content to create or edit across video, voice, music, and images. This receives lower scores (2/5 for likelihood and value) as the prediction seems to focus on consumer tools that require minimal input, whereas the more likely near-term development is prosumer and professional tools with fine-grained controls, akin to an "AI-native CapCut."

Stepping Inside Video: Yoko Lee envisions 2026 as the year video becomes an interactive environment where users can inhabit generated content, with sustained characters, physics, and consequences. Despite being extremely cool (5/5 X-factor), this prediction receives the lowest scores for likelihood and value (1/5 each) because the timeline seems off—this feels more like a 2028-2029 development given current capabilities.

Vertical AI Goes Multiplayer: Alex Immerman predicts vertical AI software will evolve from information retrieval and reasoning to multi-party collaboration, where agents coordinate across stakeholders, maintain context, and sync changes. This gets a moderate likelihood (3/5) reflecting uneven distribution across industries, with high value (3-4/5) if successful handoffs between agents can be achieved, though multi-agent systems remain challenging to implement in practice.

Creating for Agents, Not Humans: Stephanie Zhang argues that as agents take over web interactions, optimization will shift from human visual design to machine legibility, fundamentally changing how we create content and the tools we use. This receives top marks for likelihood (5/5) as it's already happening in e-commerce, though the value and X-factor are harder to gauge—it could unlock new possibilities (3/5) or potentially damage aspects of the web we value (negative 3/5).

End of Screen Time KPIs: Santiago Rodriguez predicts a shift away from screen time as the key performance indicator for applications, moving toward outcome-based pricing that better aligns vendor and user incentives. While directionally correct, this gets moderate likelihood (3/5) as the transition to new pricing models will be slower and more experimental than anticipated, with practical value but low glamour (1/5 X-factor).

World Models and Interactive Storytelling: Jonathan Lai predicts AI-powered world models will revolutionize storytelling through interactive 3D environments generated from text prompts, potentially creating generative experiences like "Minecraft" where players co-create evolving universes. Similar to stepping inside video, this has high X-factor appeal (4-5/5) but low likelihood and value (2/5) for 2026, as current demos from World Labs and DeepMind represent very early stages—more like "GPT-1" than the "GPT-3.5 moment" needed for revolution.

The AI-Native University: Emily Bennett envisions institutions built from the ground up around AI systems, with courses, advising, research, and operations that continuously adapt in real-time based on data and feedback loops. Despite being an interesting topic (3-4/5 X-factor), this receives lower likelihood and value scores (2/5) because it represents an intermediary step—future skill needs may look so different that these changes might need to evolve again soon after implementation.

ChatGPT as the AI App Store: Anish Acharya predicts ChatGPT's 900 million users and new Apps SDK will create a "once in a decade gold rush" as a new distribution channel for consumer AI products. This receives skeptical scores (2/5 likelihood) as it likely functions more like a new version of SEO or targeted ad channel rather than a true app store where users actively browse, though the high intent of ChatGPT users does create targeting opportunities.

Voice Agents Expanding Beyond Point Solutions: Olivia Moore predicts voice agents will expand from handling specific call types to managing entire workflows and full customer relationship cycles. This receives high scores across the board (4/5 likelihood, high value and X-factor) because voice as an interaction modality remains wildly undertapped—current native voice-to-text solutions are still "unbelievably bad," suggesting enormous room for improvement as people get comfortable talking to devices.

Multi-Agent Orchestration and New Enterprise Roles: Seema Amble predicts Fortune 500 companies will shift from isolated AI tools to coordinated multi-agent systems, requiring new orchestration layers and reimagined organizational roles. This gets consistent scores of 3/5 across likelihood, value, and X-factor—it's directionally correct over 2-3 years and could significantly improve workplace satisfaction through new roles and redesigned interactions, though implementation will be challenging.

The Death of the Prompt Box (Skeptical Take): Mark Androsko predicts 2026 marks the end of visible prompting, with AI observing user actions and intervening proactively rather than requiring explicit instructions. This receives the lowest possible scores (1/5 across all categories) because chat interfaces keep proving to be effective defaults despite attempts at alternatives, and proactive suggestions often feel more like products trying to prove value than being genuinely useful—subtle variations in guessed intent can make suggestions completely useless.

Building the AI-Native Industrial Base: David Ulovich and Erin Price Wright predict America will rebuild its industrial strength through AI-native, software-first approaches to energy, manufacturing, logistics, and infrastructure, entering a "new golden age of industrial strength." This receives maximum scores (5/5 or even 6/5 on likelihood, 5/5 on value and X-factor) because of immense financial incentive, strong demand, and—crucially—this represents the best answer to political backlash against AI in 2026, potentially turning infrastructure building from a liability into an asset for communities.

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The daily news podcast from the BBC, Newscast dives into the day's big stories so you're never out of your depth.
 
Newscast picks the brains of BBC News experts so you're ready if someone picks yours, covering the latest developments in politics in Westminster and beyond.Follow the new Labour government led by Sir Keir Starmer. Who will win the race to lead the Conservative Party? Newscast will give you all the best insights from BBC News so you're across all the day's top stories. 
 
Newscast is hosted by trusted journalists including Adam Fleming, BBC Political Editor Chris Mason, Laura Kuenssberg and Paddy O'Connell. You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast”. It works on most smart speakers.Catch Newscast seven-days a week and watch on BBC One at 23:40 on Thursday night or later on BBC iPlayer. 
 
GET IN TOUCH:
You can join our Newscast online community here: https://tinyurl.com/newscastcommunityhere
Send us a message or voicenote via WhatsApp to 03301239480
Email Newscast@bbc.co.uk
Or us #NewscastNewscast is part of the BBC News Podcasts family of podcasts. The team that makes Newscast also makes lots of other podcasts, including The Global Story, The Today Podcast, and of course Americast and Ukrainecast. If you enjoy Newscast (and if you're reading this then you hopefully do), then we think that you will enjoy some of our other pods too. See links below.The Global Story: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/w13xtvsd
The Today Podcast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0gg4k6r
Americast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p07h19zz
Ukrainecast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0bqztzm

The Best Bits of Newscast's Podcast-a-Thon (Part Two)

Newscast

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The 25-Hour Podcast Challenge for Children In Need: Adam Fleming was challenged by Pudsey Bear to host a 25-hour continuous podcast for Children In Need charity. The number 25 was chosen to mark 2025, with all that year's challenges built around that number. Throughout the marathon recording session, various members of the Newscast family dropped in to keep Adam company and discuss both serious news topics and lighter personal subjects.

Voice Care and Stamina Strategy: Voice coach Sally Lawrence provided crucial advice for surviving the long broadcast, recommending Adam drink water regularly to lubricate his vocal cords, avoid dairy products (including chocolate) which coat the larynx, limit caffeine intake, and practice diaphragmatic breathing exercises. The main challenge proved to be balancing hydration needs with bathroom breaks during the 25-hour session.

Scottish Mince Recipes and Food Politics: A late-night conversation with Nick and Paddy from Newsnight turned unexpectedly to the rising cost of beef and mince, which had become symbolic of cost-of-living pressures in both the UK and US. This led to sharing Scottish mince recipes, tips on buying cheaper fatty mince and draining the fat, and nostalgic discussions about 1970s cooking innovations like Habitat's chicken brick and the introduction of duvets to Britain.

Income Tax Speculation and Budget Drama: Henry reported breaking news from the Financial Times that the government had abandoned plans to increase income tax rates, despite weeks of speculation and apparent willingness to break their manifesto pledge. This represented a significant policy reversal just 12 days before the budget, leaving questions about how the government would raise needed revenue, potentially through fiscal drag by changing tax thresholds rather than rates.

Lyse Doucet's Canadian Roots and Holiday Retreat: International correspondent Lyse Doucet called in from Canada at 3am UK time to discuss her ancestral home on the Chaleur Bay in New Brunswick, explaining her mixed Scottish, Irish, and Acadian French heritage. She described her beachside retreat with lagoons and kayaks, and reflected on the importance of face-to-face journalism despite technological advances, while praising Adam's big heart for taking on the Children In Need challenge.

Children In Need Projects Making a Difference: Adam highlighted innovative projects funded by Children In Need, particularly "Living Paintings" - a library service for blind and visually impaired children that combines Braille books with tactile artwork and audiobooks featuring celebrity narrators like Olivia Colman. This allows blind children to understand what characters and creatures look like through touch rather than just descriptions.

Newscast Community Engagement: Listeners shared voice notes explaining their devotion to the podcast, with one describing how they listen in every spare moment throughout the day, and another explaining how Brexitcast helped them cope with the stress of Brexit through detailed analysis and behind-the-scenes information, along with lighter moments about cakes and food that helped balance heavy subject matter.

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The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's largest public affairs forum. The nonpartisan and nonprofit Club produces and distributes programs featuring diverse viewpoints from thought leaders on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast — the oldest in the U.S., since 1924 — is carried on hundreds of stations. Our website features audio and video of our programs. This podcast feed is usually updated multiple times each week.

Social Impact Holiday Mixer: Celebrating Philanthropy, Partnership and Purpose

Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

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Willie Brown's Personal Story of Fair Housing Activism: Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown shared a pivotal 1950s experience when his wife was denied the opportunity to view housing on Christopher Drive due to racial deed restrictions. This incident sparked community mobilization that led to San Francisco passing fair housing legislation, which eventually influenced California and national fair housing laws, demonstrating how collective action creates systemic social impact.

Elizabeth Fullerton's Unified Approach to Social Impact: Fullerton advocates viewing social impact holistically rather than separating nonprofit philanthropy from corporate ESG initiatives. Her work spans wildlife conservation through Wild Africa Fund, music education via the Castro Theater organ project, and supporting vulnerable children in Oakland through Eat Learn Play Foundation, emphasizing the importance of measurable outcomes, accountability, and transparency in both for-profit and nonprofit ventures.

Eddy Zheng's Work with Invisibilized Communities: As founder of New Breath Foundation and a formerly incarcerated person, Zheng highlights the invisibility of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities affected by mass incarceration, who receive only 20 cents per $100 in philanthropic funding. The Foundation established a $10 million fund and has distributed $7.7 million using trust-based philanthropy to support marginalized populations including sex workers.

Healthcare Access and Equity Challenges: Multiple speakers addressed healthcare as a privilege rather than a right, with discussion of women's health being underserved, differences in how heart disease presents in women versus men, and the need for decentralized healthcare systems. Fullerton proposed creating tech platforms to connect social healthcare workers, mobile units, and doctors to provide access to rural and underserved communities.

Tiny Homes Initiative Thwarted by Bureaucracy: An audience member shared that their organization had secured funding to build tiny homes for every homeless person in San Francisco but was blocked by zoning and permitting issues, with local officials unwilling to make necessary decisions due to political concerns about location placement.

Reentry and Criminal Justice Reform: Several formerly incarcerated individuals spoke about the challenges of reintegration, including one person who called over 700 organizations seeking housing and support with only 20% responding. The discussion emphasized the need for coordinated ecosystems providing housing, employment, healthcare, family reunification, and mental health services to prevent recidivism and end violence.

Women's Health and Wellness Spaces: Lucretia Clark introduced The Vibrancy Foundation, addressing the gap in wellness spaces for Black women who typically serve as support for others but lack spaces for their own rest and rejuvenation. The discussion expanded to emphasize the need for women across all communities to support each other rather than viewing each other as threats.

Trust-Based Philanthropy and Community Solutions: The principle that "people closest to the problems are closest to the solutions" emerged as a key theme, with emphasis on investing in grassroots organizations and practitioners rather than imposing top-down solutions. Fred Blackwell of San Francisco Foundation was recognized for leadership in investing in people, power, and places.

Storytelling as a Tool for Social Change: An ITVS representative discussed the power of documentary storytelling through PBS to build empathy and change perspectives, citing the film "Belly of the Beast" about forced sterilization in female prisons, which led to reparations for affected women through its impact campaign.

Government's Need to Listen to Communities: Mayor Brown emphasized that public policymakers must listen to activists and community members rather than imposing what they think constituents need. He noted that nonprofit organizations function as another form of government, filling gaps where official government fails to respond to community needs.

Personal Revolution Before Collective Liberation: Zheng closed with three principles: the 50th anniversary of the end of the war in Southeast Asia and ongoing intergenerational trauma; the need to "surrender in order to be victorious"; and most importantly, the requirement to "engage in a personal revolution before embarking on a collective liberation," emphasizing breath, mindfulness, and cherishing freedom.

Corporate Experience Applied to Social Impact: Fullerton drew parallels between her for-profit work in computers, catalytic converters, solar technology, and software development with her philanthropic efforts, emphasizing that both sectors should focus on outcomes, mission, and measurable impact rather than pursuing big-name brands without substance.
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Jack Farley interviews the very best financial minds about macro, markets, and monetary matters. Follow Jack on Twitter @JackFarley96.

Investing in India’s Macro Tailwinds & Aerospace & Defense with Andrei Stetsenko

Monetary Matters with Jack Farley

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Gymkhana Partners' Small-Cap India Focus: Gymkhana Partners, founded in 2017 but investing in India since 2013, focuses on underappreciated smaller-cap Indian companies with median market caps below $1 billion. This strategy has outperformed every US dollar-denominated India mutual fund and ETF, as well as the Sensex and MSCI India indices on an after-fee basis. The portfolio trades at approximately 15 times forward PE compared to over 20 times for major indices.

India's Superior Earnings Growth Story: Unlike other emerging markets such as China, Brazil, and Russia where GDP growth hasn't translated to equity earnings growth, India's equity earnings growth matches its GDP growth. The country consistently grows at 6-8% annually, with certain sectors serving the expanding middle class growing at 30-40% year-over-year. This creates a dynamic economy where new brands and businesses can take hold more easily than in mature markets.

Competitive Advantages Over Large-Cap Funds: While large foreign funds are constrained to investing in 100-150 multi-billion dollar companies like HDFC Bank that everyone already knows about, Gymkhana can move the needle with investments in smaller companies that are "blue chips of tomorrow." The portfolio looks sectorally different from indices, with zero allocation to telecoms and utilities to avoid companies whose success depends on government licenses rather than competitive advantages.

Modi's Business-Friendly Reforms: The Modi government has been a tremendous tailwind since 2014, reducing regulatory complexity and dismantling rules that previously prevented businesses from growing beyond certain sizes. The implementation of GST (Goods and Services Tax) eliminated state-by-state tax collectors and created a unified market, while also benefiting tax-compliant companies by making it harder for competitors to operate outside the tax net.

Demonetization and Financial Market Growth: India's demonetization policy, combined with GST, reduced the advantage of "black money" competitors and made gold and real estate less attractive for tax evasion. This has driven more investment into productive assets and listed equities. Systematic Investment Plans (SIPs), similar to 401(k)s, now contribute over $3 billion monthly to Indian markets, providing stability and reducing dependence on foreign investors.

Limited Trade War Exposure: India is largely insulated from US trade tensions, with exports to the US representing only about 2% of GDP. Major Indian export sectors like pharmaceuticals and electronics are largely exempt from Trump's tariffs. The economy's growth is driven primarily by domestic demand and urbanization rather than exports, making it fundamentally different from China's export-dependent model.

Civil Aviation Boom: India has become the world's third-largest aviation market, up from eighth a decade ago, with domestic air traffic exploding as first-time flyers emerge from the expanding middle class. However, per capita flights remain below 0.2 per year compared to multiples of that in other major markets, indicating enormous room for growth. Indian airlines are now placing the largest aircraft orders globally, surpassing Chinese and Middle Eastern carriers.

Aerospace Manufacturing Opportunity: Indian companies are becoming key suppliers to Airbus, Boeing, and other aerospace manufacturers due to low-cost but highly skilled engineering talent. Dassault Aviation is planning to produce aircraft outside France for the first time, choosing India. Companies like Dynamatic and Sika are winning contracts for complex components, MRO (maintenance, repair, and overhaul) services, and are positioned to grow as aerospace production scales up.

Defense Indigenization Push: India is pursuing sovereign defense capabilities in response to border conflicts with China and Pakistan, as well as observing US treatment of partners. The government now requires 60% domestic content in defense contracts (up from 40-50%), benefiting nimble private sector companies over traditional state-controlled defense contractors. There's recognition that profitable private companies are needed to invest in R&D and capacity expansion.

Chemicals and Agricultural Sectors: India's chemicals sector benefits from multiple tailwinds: reducing import dependence, lower shipping costs for domestic customers, and cost-competitive labor including highly skilled engineering talent. Agricultural companies are addressing markets growing much faster than overall GDP as farmers adopt new technologies and products for the first time, with many companies also finding success in export markets like Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa.

HoldCo Investment Strategy: Gymkhana invests in undervalued holding companies (HoldCos) like Maharashtra Scooters, which trades at less than half its net asset value. These structures were created by industrialists to simplify inheritance across generations and now hold stakes in high-quality businesses like Bajaj Finance and Bajaj Auto. Recent regulatory changes by SEBI allow these HoldCos to distribute shares without adverse tax consequences, potentially catalyzing discount narrowing.

Financial Services Without the Premium: Rather than paying high multiples for well-known banks like HDFC (which once traded at 9 times book value), Gymkhana invests in smaller, high-quality financial services companies with longer growth runways. An example is Kotak Mahindra Financial Holdings, accessed through an undervalued HoldCo, which operates as a financial supermarket particularly strong in prosperous southern India with management focused on prudent growth.

Competitive Moat Through Research: Over 18 trips to India and a decade of research, Gymkhana has built a database of approximately 2,000 companies including corporate governance assessments, management reputation checks, and counterparty feedback. This "scuttlebutt" research creates a moat that helps identify high-quality opportunities while screening out governance risks, with the firm still sometimes being the first foreign investor to visit certain listed companies.

Avoiding Overhyped Sectors: Gymkhana avoids hot sectors like e-commerce and fast delivery despite their popularity, as these face intense competition from deep-pocketed players like Amazon, Walmart-owned Flipkart, and SoftBank-funded competitors. The firm also avoids IT outsourcing companies (over 10% of Sensex) due to concerns about AI automation potentially eliminating India's labor cost advantage and exposure to H1-B visa restrictions.

Alphabet's AI Positioning: Outside of India investing, Farley Capital's exposure to AI is primarily through Alphabet, which Andrei views as underappreciated. Alphabet controls the entire funnel with Google Cloud compute, the world's information index, YouTube (the second-largest search engine), and massive user bases across Gmail and Google Maps. This integrated data silo positions Gemini AI to deliver personalized services even if the underlying model isn't technically superior to competitors.
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