What's with DeepSeek?

The “Hard Fork” podcast released a bonus episode titled “Your Guide to the DeepSeek Freakout: an Emergency Pod” on Tuesday, January 28, 2025. In this episode, Kevin Roose and Casey Newton discuss the impact of a new AI model from a Chinese firm called DeepSeek. This model has caused significant disruption, including affecting global markets and pushing Nvidia’s stock down while simultaneously rising to the top of the iPhone app store. The hosts explore the implications of this development for the U.S. artificial intelligence industry and consider what it means for the broader AI landscape. (AI generated) 

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Dr. Aaron Kheriaty and Dr. Jay Bhattacharya

I recently came across the podcast, "The illusion of Consensus" with Dr. Jay Bhattacharya and Rav Arora. Ep. 13 was an interview with Dr. Aaron Kheriaty whose outstanding career and service as a bio-ethicist at UC Irvine was torpedoed by the censorship of Big Tech and Big Pharma on behalf of the Biden Administration. He's written a book in his "free time," The New Abnormal." The unholy alliance of (1) public health, (2) digital technologies of surveillance and control, and (3) the police powers of the state, the Biomedical Security State. What surprised me was he took a look back to a 1989 conference where the enemy in a pandemic changed from the virus or pathogen to the whole human population who could be vectors. The conference was organized/planned by Dr. Fauci! He's written about that at Substack. He's one of the plaintiffs in Missouri v. Biden. It will probably go to the Supreme Court.

The Illusion of Consensus: Episode 13: Dr. Aaron Kheriaty On The Violation Of Bioethical Principles During The Covid Pandemic on Apple Podcasts

Dr. Fauci's Amnesia - by Aaron Kheriaty, MD (substack.com)

The New Abnormal: A Review (catholicexchange.com)

News about Tucker lit up the Internet

 One of my favorite podcasts. PBD.

EMERGENCY Podcast | Reaction To Tucker Carlson Leaving Fox News & Don Lemon Being Fired By CNN - YouTube

The Left can be very, very vicious

 Julie Hartman, a student at Harvard, wasn't very political, but like most college students, she was "liberal."  Never even thought there's another way.  She came across Prager U and Dennis Prager, and through his radio program had an epiphany. She's a conservative now, and in 2022 her description of a senior trip to Israel came out in which she defended America and criticized her generation, her classmates at Harvard on the trip, for their ignorance about our history. They are using their freedom to destroy freedom she said.  https://youtu.be/6iD09hBRL-Q

She was invited to appear on Prager's radio show, and when she did and her Harvard classmates found out, they were outraged and got really nasty.  But after some soul searching, she decided "coming out of the closet" was much less painful than holding back. She graduated in 2022, and now has her own podcast called Timeless. Timeless with Julie Hartman on Apple Podcasts

https://youtu.be/0xtv8XtjzdA  Her senior address at Harvard "If we lose freedom here."

Today's podcast is on Iraqi society now--on the 20th anniversary of the invasion. And on Ukraine. Timeless with Julie Hartman: The War in Iraq on Apple Podcasts

20 years after the fact, Julie dissects the events that lead to the US invasion of Iraq. Topics include: Defiant Putin visits Mariupol in first trip to occupied eastern Ukraine, the facts on ‘De-Nazifying’ Ukraine, and the long battle over Crimea; HHS Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine says gender affirming care will be normalized …when did tolerance become unabashed support?

  

Letter to God by a mother for her gay son

I've enjoyed listening to Becket Cook's podcasts. He's a celibate man who gave up the gay lifestyle 12 or 13 years ago after becoming a Christian (and that story alone is amazing). He has since attended seminary and has a popular podcast where he interviews many of the people from his former Hollywood life. But yesterday he told about a letter his mother wrote to God before his conversion, that he never knew about. His mother knew about his homosexuality, but she never condemned or nagged him and they remained very close speaking on the phone every night. His sister-in-law found the letter recently (mother died in 2016) and he reads it on his program. In the letter she claims many Bible verses for him and her, and lists about 12 specific requests including protection from HIV. If you have a child you're praying for who has left or never found the Christian life, perhaps you can be Becket's mom or St. Augustine's mother Monica. It's a beautiful prayer.

A Mother's Prayer for Her Gay Son - The Becket Cook Show - Omny.fm

From the web page: The Becket Cook Show

"The Becket Cook Show was created by Becket Cook to discuss relevant topics and to crush the lies of culture with truth. Becket Cook was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. After graduating from college, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue his dream of writing and acting, finding success in both. He eventually became a production designer working on fashion shoots for brands such as Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Gap, L'Oréal Paris, and Nike. Becket lived as a gay man until 2009, when he reluctantly agreed to attend a church service at which he was transformed by the gospel and gave his life to Christ. He also knew that homosexuality was a sin and that he could no longer live that life. Becket spends much of his time in ministry speaking at churches, universities, and conferences helping people understand this issue biblically, theologically, culturally, and personally. Becket graduated from Talbot School of Theology at Biola University in 2017 with a Master of Arts in Theology."

Eat real food, get more rest, and move more

It's odd for me to enjoy podcasts (auditory processing), but I do. Since I got a smart phone, I use it more for podcasts than phone calls. Here's Bari Weiss (one of my favs) in a conversation with Dr. Casey Means, a Stanford trained physician who left the traditional medical system behind to solve the one problem that she says is going to ruin us all: bad food.

Honestly with Bari Weiss: Eating Ourselves to Death on Apple Podcasts

I've often wondered about the "equity" push in medicine and public health. A large number of health problems are caused by lifestyle--eating, drinking/drugs, exercise (or lack of) and sexual promiscuity. Like Covid. We knew 2.5 years ago obesity was a predictor of serious Covid complications, including death. But pushing pills and vax was the solution. What if "equity" is just one more way to kill off Americans, particularly minorities? (Someone out there hates BIPOC, and it isn't the Trumpsters).

Dr. Means in this podcast talks about all the body parts that go bad from poor nutrition, and particularly obesity. 4 out of 5 black women are obese or overweight. Body positivity can kill you and that's a hot trend. Healthy at any size is a lie. 93% of us have metabolic disfunction according to her even if we aren't obese. By the time you find out you're pre-diabetic, it may have been 10 years in the making. Is this all a part of Big Pharma profits? Which foods are really bad for you, according to Dr. Means? Fake meats (highly processed); seed oils; sugar. She approves of intermittent fasting.

Just bought Halloween Candy today. The first 4 ingredients in those little orange pumpkin candies are sugar, corn syrup, salt and honey. Now I'll have to hide it from me.

The Best and Worst Foods for Your Metabolic System – Dr. Casey Means - Levels (levelshealth.com)

Russia, Ukraine and Ivan the Terrible

It's been 61 years since I graduated from College and I've forgotten most of my Russian language and history. However, today I've been listening to a fabulous podcast on "The Third Rome," which is a term for the history of Christianity through the eyes of Moscow, the Third Rome. Rome fell apart sometime after the 5th c. I think through corruption, mismanagement and invasions by barbarians, and Constantinople (the 2nd Rome) was taken over by the Muslims, so the Russian Christians see the Moscovy empire as the seat of Christianity (the 3d Rome) in the 16th century. I managed 5 miles on the exercycle learning about Ivan the Terrible and Muscovite Russia. Its name is “Paradise and Utopia,” and the speaker, Fr. John Strickland serves as priest at St. Elizabeth Orthodox Church in Poulsbo, Washington, and he is part of "Ancient Faith Ministries." I've only begun to explore the web site and its riches, but the podcast on Ivan reminded me so much of Vladimir Putin. He was a defender of the faith, yet was so bloodthirsty he killed his own son in a fit of rage, had his own priests and boyars (nobles) murdered. He was really paranoid, but believed he was saving the church. If you want to know the symbolic roots of Putin's craziness in attacking another Orthodox Christian nation, listen to this. It was recorded several years ago, before the current invasion, but somehow it all makes sense now. https://www.ancientfaith.com/podcasts/paradiseutopia/the_third_rome_i_ivan_the_terrible_and_the_murder_of_saint_philip

Do you like True Crime stories?

True crime and mysteries are genres I almost never read unless it’s on my book club list. However, a few days ago I heard J. Warner Wallace interviewed about his book, “The Person of Christ; why Jesus still matters in a world that rejects the Bible.” He tells about how using his skills as a detective he proves that Jesus is who he says he is—even without the testimony of the Gospels or New Testament (a cold case—no body). Talk about the glory of God in arranging things!   https://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2022/01/a-detectives-case-for-christ? I’ve been a subscriber to First Things for years, and only recently found out about its podcast.

Wallace's story is amazing, beginning with his own—he was an atheist, didn’t even know very many Christians. But he and his wife decided to try a church because they thought maybe it would be good for the children. He heard the pastor say, Jesus was the smartest person who ever lived, and that set him on his journey. I can’t actually vouch for the book—haven’t read it—but thought the interview was great. https://www.amazon.com/Person-Interest-Jesus-Matters-Rejects/dp/0310111277/?