Hi, my name is Liam Rowe currency trader and trading coach at trading 180 calm We're welcome to this week's supply and demand for us in gold fundamental and technical analysis We're welcome to everybody if you're new or if you're a returning Watcher and please don't forget to like subscribe and share with your colleagues and fellow trading buddies if You like the content and think the content I provide every week is of use. So let's get straight into really the What's going on on the calendar in the week ahead and we'll get into more in-depth fundamental analysis and just a reminder I guess for those of you who are new to the channel We use a combination of fundamental analysis and technical analysis but we're really kind of driven by fundamental analysis in terms of understanding currency exchange rate value and Understanding really where prices are likely to go in the medium to long term short term prices are typically driven by Liquidity in the hunt for liquidity But if you can really kind of zoom out and understand what makes a currency appreciate or Depreciate and devalue Play really the best kind of pairs as far as choose the pairs where one currency is Appreciating versus a currency that is likely to devalue Then that's where you get the trends and those trends can last for actually quite a while and we'll see you know one for example one Currencies like for example the dollar anyways getting into the week ahead and Zooming in a bit so you can go to Trading Economics in the week ahead and I'll post a link in the The chat on YouTube so week ahead next week investors focus will turn to corporate results on the macro front, which is what we're on focusing on is the US inflation rate China and UK GDP growth figures and monetary policy decisions in Canada and New Zealand will offer traders fresh updates on the strength of the global economic recovery so right now there is concerns of the Global risk sentiment and concerns of a global slowdown really But even though we are in probably more of a risk-off environment where there is a lot of fear From things like inflation and economic slowdown Really our job as traders is to try and pick the winners out of you know the Currencies so who's the dog with the least fees is what um, you know I commonly refer to the phrase I commonly refer to so who's the best currency out of all of the Currencies that we do trade and that's the one you want to buy and who's the worst is the one you want to sell right? That's pretty much how it goes. Anyways, let's get into some of the technicals with some more fundamentals on top looking at the dollar index and DXY is just a measure of dollar strength against various currencies like the euro the yen and the pound so Using the dollar index as a guess a bit of confluence you can pretty much see what's been happening with the dollar Just it goes from strength to strength I was actually hoping last week that prices would actually you know come down a bit really Into this demand zone and use it as confluence to get a better price to buy the dollar But it looks like the dollar being not necessarily Strong but just basically as I said before the best of the worst right And my bias on the dollar to you know to buy the dollar of You know is pretty much been for the whole year I've been saying you know my bias is literally just been buy the dollar buy the dollar You can go back for all the weekly videos for anyone who's you know, he doesn't believe me on that never changed my bias I've always said buy the dollar this year have not once had to sell the dollar and Yeah, pretty much This is you know where that where the trend is and this is not hard to you know forecast It's just understanding, you know that dollar was pretty much the better currency now Does that mean that you know every single trade works out? Of course not Because there are pullbacks, right? But overall when you look at the path for these resistance This is what's you know been happening now the dollar right recently had jobs data and so Not giving up so the job data shows just how tight the US labor market really is in the border measure of unemployment Set a record low in June. All right, so that's typically good, right? But it's it's got some knock-on effects All right, but I'll get into that in a sec. So nearly four hundred thousand jobs added in a month and An unemployment rate of nearly a 50 year low is probably enough evidence of the extreme tightness in US labor market, but a look beneath the surface of the junior Employment report and other recent data shows just how hot it really is and the more inclusive measure Yeah, it basically talks about you know the Details into the unemployment and employment but the view that really you should take is that and the view that I Tell the traders in my private trading group is that in fact the Federal Reserve actually need Unemployment to rise. Yeah, and it's because unemployment The lower unemployment goes is the higher wage growth goes which adds to inflation and The Fed have a two percent target most central banks have a two to three percent target inflation target And they want inflation to come down So they need in fact unemployment to rise in order to get inflation down. Yeah, so This is really the link it's not necessarily to understand the necessary to understand the you know the Specifics of this and I'm not going to get into the specifics But just understand this that in times of low unemployment the demand for labor by employers Exceeds the supply in such a tight labor market employers typically need to pay higher wages to attract employees ultimately leading to rising Wage inflation, right? So although the numbers might seem good, right? And you're going to read that the Fed are definitely looking to probably hike say definitely But they're likely to hike by 75 basis points 0.75 percent. The reason why they have to is because of the fact that It's Low unemployment is contributing to continued high inflation. So it's not fantastic. Yes It's decent for you know potential trades But then there's not an effects of the economy and and and the light which I'm not really going to get into this And this is for just really kind of private members analysis But on the surface the numbers look great the dollar for me is still going to be a buy And then he pull backs really To the you know monthly fair value at all below are really, you know And some demand zones within below those areas and or at those areas are really the areas I'm going to be looking for still continued buyers so from a demand zone perspective the nearest demand zone is going to be there and and So around that 105 Yeah, round number to 104 6 4's is going to be the first kind of confidence area To potentially look for if price does that this week next week the week after who knows but This is really where for now. I want to be a potential by all I have some buying confluence For the dollar when I am buying the you know, the dollar yen for example or or any of the other dollar crosses So that's my bias from a sell trade perspective You're really gonna have to wait for if you are looking to sell the dollar then look for you know Proving supply proof of value that so that the dollar is expensive up here, but until prices do pull back Pretty much. There's no supply zones Technically so moving on to the dollar yen and the dollar yen again This week we did have Prices, you know move kind of grind to the upside and we are in an expensive area Yes, price did kind of hit this demand zone and kind of down to the the monthly one of the monthly moving fair values Zone but but for me, I think I'd rather wait for a bit of a deeper pullback And even an even bigger pullback if possible if we can get this now again, there is the 140 area which is being Kind of touted as the zone where if if for example The the World Bank of Japan may start to intervene at the 140 areas if prices drift all the way up there And if they do intervene then there could be You know quite a large drop in price But for now until you know prices reach the 140 or anywhere around there Or if the Bank of Japan come out and do a surprise You know in bank intervention for me again the path of these resistance is to the upside So any pullbacks to beyond the monthly moving fair value or at there I think probably beyond that would be a decent buying opportunity for the dollar yen dollar CAD In dollar CAD, I'm sorry dollar Swiss apologies dollar Swiss Dollar moving from strength to strength prices pretty much bounced off of that demand zone a couple weeks ago This isn't really a pair that I am interested in to be fair that the the Swiss Frank are And the Swiss National Bank are looking to high crates as well as the dollar So you're probably likely to have prices enter into what is known as an auction Traders would typically know that as a range, but it's known as a as an auction and Fair value auction between the one oh One zero zero six and ninety five. It's quite a wide Auction which is basically about five hundred pips, but the point being is that for me And you've got two pairs Currencies that are looking to where their central banks looking to high crates It's not really a currency that I'm looking to To trade and to be fair all central banks are actually hiking rates, but there are a bit of nuances with regards to I Guess the the the economies because the economies would be the difference right who's going into a recession first Who's going into a recession potentially later in last or who's likely to avoid a recession so for me It's a bit. I would say probably out of the two the dollars should be the stronger one to be fair but I just prefer other you know pairs then to trade the dollar Swiss think that supplies and has been taken out the Demand zone now kind of starts from there. So any pullbacks if you're looking at buying the The dollar really looking for a bigger pullback into that zone there if you're looking for a sell trade I would say probably the highs or just above that level would be decent for a for a sell trade Moving on to the dollar CAD and the dollar CAD again Two central banks hiking rates the Bank of Canada have come out recently and said that they are Actually, they didn't say it but there's been announcements or predictions. I guess that from from from traders and analysts and economists that The Bank of Canada are likely to hike by a 75 basis points so that again to currencies that are quite strong put two of the best currencies Probably looking at maybe some more downside potential But ultimately if risk remains off then the dollar should be the one to really Benefit from any kind of risk off Sentiment and continued risk of sentiment. So for example when he fears about global growth Is going to be really the dollars going to be the one or should be the one to actually strengthen If you're looking to buy then any anywhere, I think, you know beyond again Well within this demand zone to look to buy the dollar if you're looking to sell the the dollar and buy the Canadian dollar Then really this was your chance Up at these these supplies on highs Moving on to the New Zealand dollar US dollar again, I was saying last week that Parfait is resistance is probably to the downside and we've pretty much seen what's what's happened There was a decent demand zone here, but again, we're in a risk kind of in a risk-off environment You're gonna, you know, the winner should be the US dollar Again, I'll delete this and I think any pullbacks into these supply zones are okay But again, they're below at the moment the Monthly fair value. So I don't like to take any kind of trades Below the monthly fair value every you know price has to be either there or above it and into any of those supply zones so Again, it's not really a pair that I'm looking to take Eva again the the RB and Z There's a Bank of New Zealand are looking to high crates as well. So Not really a pair that I'm interested in but if I was Be short in the the New Zealand dollar against the US dollar I think in a risk-off environment So if prices do come up to that zone there and then you get the moving fair value monthly moving fair value come back into that Zone as well, then that's some decent Potential confluence or anything higher than there From a buy trade perspective, I'd have to see some proof of value for prices to really kind of you know Prove that there's demand there and then wait for a pullback before looking at getting long into what would be You know a demand zone probably right around here in that Price range between the zero point six one six and the zero point six one two Moving on to the pound dollar and the pound dollar I am interested in Definitely interested in this trying to get short on this So I'm going to Should I keep it there? I will I'll drag this down a bit because there is a supply zone Right here So I do want to Highlight that that is a zone that I'm Probably going to be looking at right if prices can come up into this zone But also at least touch this the monthly Moving fair value. So that's going to be probably around the one two one seven areas Now why am I Bearish on the pound and again i've been bearish on the pound, you know from around april times You can pretty much see what's been happening But the pound Let's go back to sorry. Where was I I think I put them in the wrong place, but um the uk right so the uk Political chaos sees early election creep into traders radars. So net west expects faster bank of england hikes On prospect of fiscal easing early vote could see investors Assess scottish succession risks So the nonchalant nonchalance of of uk markets to The overthrow of the prime minister borris johnson could change in a flash. So If you're you know, if you're not up on uk politics pretty much our prime minister the uk prime minister Had to resign. He's messed up, you know one too many times, but how does that affect us as traders? So Here's a quote from I think it's net west who says the prospect of election itself would be unambiguously negative For the currency as a as why the political Risks escalate said net west analyst including sorry including image and uh basher Um an earlier election and therefore larger than previously expected physical physical easing Increases the risk of the bank of england acting more forcefully in the second half of 2023 and longer dated guilt yields rising. So Um Overall, I think it's still negative. There's a lot of uncertainty around the pound Again, I'm not saying that you know looking at the pound that you know prices are going to You know go to you know the the downside and continue going to the downside Nobody knows in the short term what it's going to do But um if all we can do is look for prices to pull back in as long as the pound has got You know problems. That's a decent price to look for any kind of short trades Or it might even be you know forever up here But as long as the dollar continues to you know outperform and stay the better currency for me The power for lease resistance still remains to the downside also as well adding to that you've got nomura Trading desk sees lack of buyers for the pound. So sentiment is clearly hugely against the pound says for says foster Sterling has tumbled 11 percent this year and made broad dollar strength as well So nomura plc's currency trading desk isn't seeing major buyers for the pound in the wake of prime minister borris johnson's Resignation sterling is moving on pure momentum against technical levels Said antony foster the firm's head of fx spot trading. We have seen no pound buyers of any notes You know, why would you really? I mean, there's going to be obviously pound buyers And it might even be like I said a bit of a liquidity hunt in the short term because there are a lot of The liquidity is really to the upside as far as you know Is located above the market because there's pretty lots of short traders and day traders are going to go short So all their stop losses are residing above. So I wouldn't be surprised if prices pull back You know stop out a lot of traders, but ultimately If you trade the way that we do as far as just being patient and looking for the best prices bargain prices potential cheap prices Then these types of areas are where you probably want to look for, you know, buying opportunities again Not financial advice, of course. I'm telling you what I'm doing. So for me, that's really where we are Buying a pound is not really something I'm looking to do So yeah, moving on to the euro dollar and the euro dollar again similar to the to the british pounds in terms of devaluation against the dollar and Again, we've been saying pretty much week in week out You know for shorts on the on the euro dollar and it continues, right? So the euro have got a lot of problems ahead of a lot of problems And the french minister says russian gas cut off most likely scenario. So nation trying is best to avoid power shortages Uh, le mary says finance minister to update edf nationalization in weeks. So french um finance minister bruno Lee marie Said europe must prepare for russian gas to everyone used to be shut off entirely In retaliation for the region sanctions on the kremlin and support for ukraine and Again over the last week or two. I've been saying this exact same thing These are the stories that I have been put out. I put it out on the 30th of june in in probably that week's Weekly analysis If you go back to to that week as well as jp morgan basically saying that, you know, they see stratospheric $380 oil on worst case russian cut, right? So From that perspective, you know, we're just getting more and more evidence of, you know, a potential weaker Euro so the market is pricing it in of course the market is ahead of You know the average retail trader and so it's probably what it's expecting is probably, you know, that too may be happen If it does it has to price it in so this is the reason why you're seeing, you know, this happened now Prices could obviously rally And do something different if the russians don't, you know, shut off gas suppliers and that Probably may see the euro start to rally A bit more actually a bit more but maybe maybe a lot, right? But either way The euro have got still issues beyond just the the gas problems that you know is And they're they're They're issues with russia. So let's see what happens there But anyways, the the nearest really kind of supply zone is going to be up at the 104s And look for any kind of short trades around there That's really where we're where I'm looking for anyway to continue to short the euro dollar moving on to the australian dollar us dollar and Australia again similar to the new zealand dollar and even the canadian dollar to a certain extent In a in a risk-off environment, you know, the dollar is going to be the winner commodity currencies tend not to do so well in the risk-off environment Any pullbacks, I think above that zone now, I think the 70 cent to 70 oh five Is probably the better level to look for any kind of short trades if we're looking to short this as far as demand is concerned If I zoom out the nearest demand zone was way back in 2020. So I'm not looking to I'd rather wait for proof of value for you know to look for any kind of demand, but I guess they could Put demand there, but it's not really a strong area of demand But just if you are interested in that that's okay I guess for for you to try to look for any kind of long trade, but personally, it's not really like said proven demand But that's where we are with the ozzy dollar the australian dollar I think it's going to definitely be a really good buy I'm probably one of the best buyers against the u.s. Dollar if risk sentiment turns back on so Yeah, just just keep an eye on that one Ozzy yen and the ozzy yen again this demand zone and managed to hold You know long trades around here From last week I was saying, you know, my bias is to the long side and hopefully you could still probably see something like that occur so I'm gonna drag this down Again, not necessarily the strongest demand at the moment, but let's see if The australian dollar does look to strengthen and appreciate, you know, they did They are looking to continue to high grades and I think from there their economy isn't isn't that bad To be fair, so let's see if price continues to Appreciate or the exchange rate at least if you are looking for any kind of short trades on the ozzy Yen and thinking that the yen is a bargain at any of these prices Then I would probably say the best area would be up at the 96 50s And the higher zone before looking at getting short But typically what should happen in the risk of environment the japanese yen should strengthen But I think that's The market is probably a bit more being driven by fundamentals at the moment than risk sentiment. So For me, my bias is still to the upside and gold, which has been a very surprising one I thought that there would have been probably some some buying on gold And it probably is buying doesn't mean that it wasn't buying because prices have gone down but Gold has not been performing and everyone's probably scratching their heads as to why now I do think there is an interesting a very interesting zone This area of demand right here and between us where we are at now down to the 16 81s and I do think that From a buying perspective and buying gold And the accumulation of gold by you know central banks This is this is definitely a bargain if you consider inflation now if inflation starts to you know come back down Right then gold should continue to You know fall away and that would also hopefully mean that Risk is more on than off and that would you know Would probably drive gold a bit lower, right? But if if the dollar I guess starts to Still continue to strengthen This could obviously push prices to the downside But let's see it guys said gold should really be somewhere up here if we consider, you know the world inflation problems Yeah, it's a bit of a very very strange when everyone's kind of scratching their heads on that Also, there's also something a little bit interesting I guess would be jp morgan gold disc ripped off markets for years jurors told so the u.s Says three from bank decided to cheat with spoof trades Defense orders defense says orders were genuine Didn't manipulate prices. This has been going on for years. By the way, they've been caught not they but other banks have been caught I think I think actually manipulating the silver market have been fined and stuff like that So manipulations do happen in the market illegal trading and manipulation of gold and silver markets and precious metals markets So maybe that's what's going on. Who knows but the point being is that um gold If you believe you're a gold bug, I guess this this should be just looked at as a bargain price If you're trading this then obviously Who knows right because you're probably going to be following momentum To the downside and looking for any kind of pullbacks if you are then I would say here It's probably your nearest supply zone to look for any kind of trades, but I think the I think if the dollar starts to cool off a bit, then this is going to be a decent buy considering, you know the the fact that gold has been in this auction for Quite a while. So yeah From 2020. So yeah, I think this is going to be a very decent buy for anyone who wants He wants to buy golden in the long term physical gold or even just trade gold. Anyways guys, that's it for this week Thanks for watching and staying to the end Hope you have a great trading week and take care


Oh god, that was actually really loud. I Ordered over $1,000 worth of Nintendo switch video games from play Asia I ordered these two months ago something that's kind of frustrating is if one of the things you order doesn't release for months They'll hold your entire order back until it's out I don't know what game held up this delivery, but I have completely forgotten what I ordered I hope they're good.  So let's see what I got. Oh my gosh, oh Speaking of things that get delivered to my house every month and also are imported and really fun Tokyo treat and Sakurako or Sakurako get it right eventually this video is sponsored by Tokyo treat and Sakurako, oh my god Halloween themed Tokyo treat is a monthly Japanese snack subscription box. Oh Even the KitKats this time Halloween break. I say this every time, but the KitKats are always my favorite They don't make a bad KitKat You'll get up to 20 of the latest most exclusive limited edition and seasonal flavored Japanese snacks They're only available in Japan for a limited time My god these snacks. Just look at that. Okay. Okay. Sorry. All right So obviously popular snacks, right? But if you ain't all about the popular life like me in high school Sakurako is also a Japanese snack subscription box but in this one you'll get traditional and authentic Japanese snacks including Japanese teas and Authentic piece of tableware and it's a little cute dish So this box pairs with local Japanese snack makers aims to share these experiences these Japanese Culture with the rest of the world my favorite thing about this box is there's so many little biscuits that pairs so nicely with teas and the Teas that they give you in here perfect for winding down in the evening So this month's theme for Tokyo treat is Sputacular snacking sweet potato KitKats Halloween caramel corn and Sakurako's theme is Ibaraki harvest There's a sweet potato cake and Ibaraki blueberry Manju and if you're worried about not knowing what's in either box, don't be they both come with these really awesome Little booklets filled with information and dietary restrictions on every single treat now If you want to get either the heaviest Japanese subscription box or one that's filled with authentic snacks good news There's links down below and if you use code beat them up. She'll get $5 off your first box Big thank you as always to Tokyo treat and Sakurako for sponsoring my videos now I've got to try and make the rest of this video While having these snacks taunt me in the background. Okay, that's enough snacks Where were we? Oh my lord? I think we got to get the big boy out of the way first I'm gonna put this over to the side a little bit and hopefully my camera won't decide to focus on the box in the Foreground like it decides to do often when I make videos.  It's for train games Specifically day should they go I believe it's pronounced which I did buy and we're gonna find the game and play it Somewhere in this box. Alright, let's take a look at it. Oh, I gotta say it's actually a really nice controller though Really weighted and heavy, which is what you want so it doesn't slip and slide around. Oh Can you hear that?  I have two copies of this now.  I got so many emails saying oh, I won this platoon I'm not doing a YouTube giveaway again. They're ruining it for everyone. I'll do it on my next twitch stream So come by those links down below. So this is the clonoa double pack It has clonoa one and two highly recommend these if you've never played them this I've been waiting to get for a long time But it's the first three dragon quest games. It really speaks for itself. It's just a cool collector's item I've never played the original dragon quest games. So this is definitely a fun way to do it However, I don't believe this one does support multi language and if I'm wrong, it's here the editor. Thank you so much Too sick games that actually look really good next to each other ender lilies and fatal frame So fatal frame is a really great horror game that originally released on the Wii U And I never played it the cool thing I believe with the Wii U port was you could use the Wii U pad as the camera Which was a really cool idea and then ender lilies really fantastic 2d souls like game Will you use the souls of fallen heroes to attack for you the art style is gorgeous the music is fantastic? I'm really loving the chill vibes of this is like a pick-ups video that I would have done nine years ago when I started my channel Oh, yeah, I bought this I have no idea what it is the cover art and aesthetic reminds me of like a nino-kuni game or Baldo, I think this one was purely just for the collection would why what did I buy H word versus evil? Oh, no, I remember why I was looking at the gameplay and it's weirdly like fortnight But with waifu girls visually it didn't look too bad Not that's not what I mean.  Oh my god We're off to a heck of a stop why are two of them chained up in jail cells looking sad? Oh my god, you can make the thighs bigger and other things. No, okay. We can't put some clothes on. Okay, good Oh some cat ears. Yeah, good. I'll change the hair color. Oh, and like a whole range of skin colors Let's uh, let's dive right in shall we? Oh my god. Yep. It is fortnight. It is It's literally fortnight. This feels like it was made in PlayStation 5's dreams.  Oh, we have to save a girl. Oh shoot get away from me Yeah, I think literally all I can do is jump and by the way, what is that jump animation? That's not a double jump. I'm only pressing it once Okay, I'm gonna go to that red beam over there Which I'm hoping is a way point and not a glitch because at this point it could really be anything Oh wait, who's this? Oh, that's definitely a reaper. Oh, that's definitely a reaper. It's bad. It's obviously bad But I can't save her yet. Oh wait a shotgun. Yeah Okay game of the year. Um, um, um, okay. Well now I'm at five and there is two more here Shoot shoot shoot One more then we save the girl Okay, we did it. Let's go save the girl easy peasy Did that did every zombie just drop dead when I unlocked that that's so funny Oh, and now I've unlocked that as a character wait on sensor. Oh I'm gonna have to blow this out. I guess what I should have expected and yet I didn't I didn't I didn't expect it That's the whole game by the way. There's three levels I guess you have to kill a certain amount of those things and then you get to save a new character that you can play as And um, it's my favorite game ever So anyway moving on from that metallic child I don't think I knew at the time or even no now looking at it. What kind of game this was I think again, I just really liked the cover art This one almost looks like a fan art case for this game But I kind of love that about it summer in mara is a game I have played I reviewed it. I believe in one of my e-shop videos massive win waco vibes But at the same time was a completely different game.  All right. There's one I know that I ordered that started all of this and I'm waiting to get to it It wasn't legend amana legend amana on their super nintendo was always compared to legend of zelda because they have very similar Aesthetics and vibes and this is the hd remaster for the game But again didn't get a physical here and this one just looks so cool.  This game is very devil may cry bayonetta inspired But it's like a full big exploration game with this really fun hack and slash combat This is the japanese import that started it all final fantasy nine While it only released digital on the e-shop here for 20 bucks So I didn't think it needed a physical by any means and I happily bought it when it released But finding out that it had one was a no brainer for me and this is a really interesting box-up It's flipped on its side Then they filled the horizontal space with all of the playable characters from the game and these really nice Rendered models of each of them too. Everyone talked about seven and seven is of course really good But I always preferred nine just the story of z day trying to save the princess of You can see how me being a young zelda fan and just a fan of adventure games in general that that story really resonated with me Young souls. I haven't played this one. I know nothing about it. It just looked fun. Oh my lord There's so much left. I gotta keep going. I gotta hurry up. I want to play some of Did I buy metal dogs? Oh, that's why I bought it. Look how cute they are You know, I don't know how this game is going to go But everything from the hilariously bad, but so fun cover art So the art style on the back the art style here There's so much to love about the presentation of metal dogs. I'm gonna try my best But it is in japanese weirdly it says now loading in english though. Oh, hello So I'm a dog.  You got a few different moves here. It kind of feels diablo-y Oh my lord, you know, I gotta be honest. I usually don't like games like this and I mean Oh, no, I don't like it every time I lose. I have to see that. Oh, I was supposed to lose there Is this going to end up being a roguelite then? Yeah, I'm starting from scratch here I only have one gun and I'm a baby puppy. Oh and my gun is way worse now And now I'm just fighting like bugs and stuff. It has to be a roguelite I wouldn't like this game normally, but the doggo makes it a little bit more fun But I do like roguelites. This could actually be a decent game I might even do a cheeky little look and see. Oh, the game is in early access on steam It has 598 reviews and very positive. Oh, this is not a roguelite This is more like a normal hub based action RPG Not that I don't like it just pointing out for people that think this is a roguelite Okay, funny that it turned out to not be too bad though. I really thought that one was going to be horrible Oh, yeah, I actually don't think I will like this as a game cyberpunk bartender action It looks like a visual novel game and you guys know Me and visual novels don't have a great recent history The real reason why I bought it is I just loved the cover art has a ton of personality This was definitely just a collection purchase. Oh, yeah Oh, yeah So I had a plan to buy eastward from play asia for months now almost a year eastward is easily one of my favorite e-shop games of late. It's gorgeous I wouldn't even say some of the best pixel art style. I would say the best pixel art style You'll ever see so much attention to detail the adventure the story the gameplay is all top notch Yeah, no, I love this game and I'm really happy. I finally bought that chrono cross by square enix I haven't played this game yet either on the switch or when it originally released I'm definitely a broken record in this video, but look at that cover art course. I was gonna buy that Oh, finally denser they go The train game. I imagine without this thing this game's got to be pretty dang boring My buddy bob already has this and made a video on it, which is why I even know about it. Hey I'm hungry. I've been making this video for a while. Oh, I got a bunch of snacks down here I got my train snacks from tokyo tree. I have no idea what I'm agreeing to Oh, I gotta I gotta open the oh, I got it. There's so much to do people are getting on I gotta close the doors. I am gonna hurt some people. I have no idea what's being said to me Oh, this is cool. Wow visually. It's really not too bad. Beep beep Oh, you press B to like flash your lights at other trains. I don't know why okay, so I gotta stop there Okay, I'm stopping the train. I'm stopping the train Oh, I'm missing it by 20 by 25 meters. Oh, I messed up. It's because this it got stuck And I couldn't I forgot you have to press the button in to go further back I can do better. I can do better all the more everybody on stopping at all stations The one thing I'm gonna get right this time. I'm gonna nail stopping.  Oh my god. I did so much worse. Oh, it's raining What a vibe everybody on it's wet out there. Watch your step This is a really nice vibe. Okay, so I flashed my lights at that guy and that seemed to be good Okay, so I can do 95 so I might speed up a little bit speed limits 95 We could probably go full alert information. Okay, I'll slow down I don't know why oh because the speed limit dropped to 55. Okay. Oh, I gotta slow back down to 45 Okay, I'm doing good. I'm getting points this time. Gotta stop pretty soon So I'm gonna start slowing down now.  So happy. Let's see how I did boom 6.9612 keep racking them up 15 Hey, I got it. Hey All right, if I keep playing this I'm gonna have too much fun and get accidentally addicted Oh Okay, we got a couple more games that I definitely only bought for the cover art I can't even look up what this game is. There's no English on this at all But again, look at it the little cat guy down there. You're wondering why I bought this Alba wildlife adventure I don't remember that one at all I think I was banking on that having English and then final fantasy crystal chronicles. Look Broken record me coming in again. God that was cringe. No physical here Look the game kind of tanked on switch kind of tanked in general this kind of remake of the game was screwed up We either loved it or you hate it. It was multiplayer for four players I am a big fan of the original the idea of it coming to switch was fantastic I'm trying to remember now offhand something about the multiplayer was completely botched final Fantasy doesn't have any local multiplayer options Even though it's tailor made for that style of gameplay the online multiplayer is region locked So you can't enjoy the game with friends who live in another country Why limit the options of a game like that that said I was a fan of the game back in the day So I really just wanted this one in the collection. I think this is literally the last one It's a big box too. It's really the only special edition I got Why why did I get this? I mean it doesn't look bad by any means But I don't see me forking out for a special edition on something that probably has a standard I'm gonna have to go to my computer to figure this one out Okay, so I didn't buy the special edition of this. I definitely only paid 30 bucks I want to play this so we're gonna open up and see what the special edition comes with since I have no idea now I didn't buy that. Oh, so we have an art book and we have a soundtrack. Hey, that's a really nice little upgrade Thank you play Okay start. Okay. No, it's in English We had a nice little cut scene of me floating down from space onto a planet Okay spring day two we're already on day two a new day begins and there's lots to be done First I shall collect some berries from the bushes by the lake. All right, so we're diving straight in Definitely getting animal crossing vibes. Although the planet is much smaller than I expected it to be This feels more like mario galaxy than stardew valley right now I mean, I do like the visuals so far just kind of an odd choice here. I think oh, okay Wait, what's happening now? Hello? I didn't realize you were here. I live here alone You don't really live here alone. You kind of just appeared here yesterday He's very comfortable with everything so far. All right, the pacing of this game is kind of whack And I think the story is just a means to an end. We're already making a Farming tool and we already have the stone and the wood to make it. I didn't even have to collect that It said there were NPCs to talk to do they all just come and visit this little area or Okay, so I'm glad they sent the special edition and it's definitely gorgeous box art However, I cheated a little bit. This felt kind of budgety I looked up switch ups review friend of the show and I like them a lot I trust their reviews too and they gave it like 58% said it felt very stiff and wooden That's kind of a shame. I was hoping to get stuck into that one a little bit more So that was everything play Asia sent me for the thousand dollars that I spent Obviously these weird and wacky's at the end were just for fun. I like having them in the collection for the Most part if you want to see a video where I review some of those games I can do that separately. Just let me know in the comments like the video and subscribe It's because of you guys that I get to make videos like this. Check out tokyo treat links down below for that as well I have nothing else to say Except goodbye


Hi, welcome to the All Things LGBTQ Interview Show where we interview LGBTQ guests who are making important contributions to our communities. All Things LGBTQ is taped at Orca Media in Montpelier, Vermont, which we recognize as being unceded indigenous land. Thanks for joining us and enjoy the show. I'm here with Becca Ballant. Congratulations, Becca. I don't think you need much introduction here in Vermont, but we're very honored to have you here to talk about your book. Thank you again. I'm excited to be here. I've had a wonderful time reading it and reviewing it and rereading it. And I can't thank you enough for writing it. Thank you. Maybe viewers out of the Vermont viewing area might be interested to know that Becca is a congressional candidate here in Vermont for the at-large seat from the Democratic Party. She's president pro tempore of the Senate currently. She has had many incarnations, including as a middle school teacher and in other capacities that we'll talk about in the interview and is now maybe heading to Congress. We certainly hope so. Yes, thank you. So welcome again. Thanks. Let's start with some announcements, if I may. This is Becca's starting much of her book tour. She had a launch in Brattleboro when the book first came out, but now she's going to be reading at the Green Mountain Book Festival in Burlington on September 24th at 2.30. And this is very interesting. It's a new incarnation of the old Burlington Book Festival. It'll be at the library. And there are several other appearances that will occur before the show airs. So I'm not going to announce them. But then at Bartleby's in Wilmington on September 8th, I'm sorry, September 28th, Becca will be appearing again with the book. And if you want to purchase it, feel free to go to your independent bookstore. And there are digital venues that we won't mention because they're very corporate. Exactly. And Green Writers Press has published it. And if you want to get it from them, it's prominently displayed.  Can you tell us a little about Green Writers Press? I'm so interested in independent presses. Yeah. So, you know, it was really important to me when we had the idea and by, I mean, we thinking about my wife, Elizabeth, and some of our closest friends who really encouraged me in this project. And, you know, actually we should say, I thought, oh, yeah, I've written by my count a quarter of a million words over the course of, you know, nearly 10 years writing as an op-ed columnist. And I thought, oh, this is going to be easy. And I'll just pull together my favorite columns, do a little editing, slam bam, and all we've done. Oh my gosh, a much bigger project and took a lot longer than I thought. But I'm very pleased with how it came out. But we wanted, if at all possible, to go with a small publishing house in Vermont, preferably. And it just so happens that Green Writers Press, based here in Brattleboro, DD Cummings is someone who actually for a while was a neighbor of mine. She has published some of Madeleine Cunan's books and some other great writers. And, you know, it was, it's a value of mine to take care of the people who have taken care of me, right? It's one of the reasons why we had our big celebration of my victory in the primary here in Brattleboro, even though we know that's not necessarily the center of power, political power in the state, but it was really important to me that it be a hometown crowd. And same with the book. So many people were longtime fans of mine in this column and would respond to me in real time at the grocery store, the post office, when I would publish a column. And so we reached out to DD Cummings. She was so enthusiastic, really, such a joy to work with. And I have to give a shout out to my spouse, Elizabeth, because she's really been the one as I've been out campaigning so hard. She's been the one picking up the pieces on the bookside, because as I was telling you earlier, we didn't really anticipate that the timing would work out so that it would be released right in the middle of the primary that it hadn't been the plan initially. But, you know, I'm delighted it's out. And so I hope people will go to GreenWritersPress.com, check out their other books, learn more about that publishing house, and, you know, throw them some work if you can. It's a really neat model for local writers. Well, I corresponded a little with DD Cummings about the book, and she seems like a lovely person. Yeah, an interesting interview, interested in seeing this interview. So yes.  So I couldn't be, I couldn't be happier with the way the book came out. It's really just, it's also just to, I have it right here. And I know you have it. It's just a very lovely book too. It feels good. It is exactly how I wanted it to look, because I think aesthetics are really important. It's not just the words on the page, it's how it all fits together. So, yeah, I'm, I'm so happy. So Elizabeth, if you would say is your literary manager? She is. And also, you know, I always like to say, you know, I had a lot of help with the editing on this book from Michael Fleming, who was my editor, but also from Chloe Leary, who is a dear friend in Ella Spotswood and other dear friends who did a lot of editing. But when the columns first came out in the paper, the person who was always my editor before I hit submit was Elizabeth. And she would be the one that said, do you really want to say it this way? This is how I'm reading it. I actually think if you organize it this way, it's going to be more accessible to the reader. And so she, she's been fantastic. And she will tell everyone that for essays, you know, I'm, I know how to bring a reader in. I know how to build a narrative. I know how to weave ideas in. My weakness is how to close. And she helped me so much over the years to get much better at that. And so I, I strongly recommend it. Everyone needs a good editor. And if it happens to be your wife, fantastic. You don't have to put them on payroll, right? That's right. Shout out to Elizabeth then. And she seems very organized too, which is a great gift in a partner in general. Let me ask you how long it took you when you decided to publish it as a book? How long did it take? We were trying to figure that out. And because it was so many fits and starts, I started it the, at least, at least two years ago, that the whole idea of it. And we did an initial call of the columns and made a list of the ones that I thought that I wanted to be in there. And we, we, what happened was I went back when I thought we had the ones that I wanted. I went back and read them again, you know, as often as what you read it, you read it with new eyes. And I was like, actually, I don't want that one in there. And I don't want it to be chronological. And so it took, it had a number of iterations. And it really felt like we landed on the right format when I realized all of them over the years really fit in these, these buckets, essentially. And they weren't, I didn't write them that way. They just, that's how they came, came out.  And so sometimes when you're a writer, you have to work so hard at getting out an idea.  And you don't know when that's going to happen. And when it happens, it's magical, right? There are times when you, you look at what you wrote and you thought that came from somewhere else, right? So I often think about sometimes we are just the medium through which ideas pass, right? From the ether, from, from the universe. And so for me to sit down and say, oh, gosh, without even thinking about it, it actually fits into these themes of how I try to live my life, not just as a writer, but as, as a leader, as a teacher, as a mom. And that once we figured that out, then it really started to fall into place. But it took us a while to get there. It really did. Well, it's a really thoughtful pattern organization, I think. And you mentioned that it's an eight-year arc and that your thinking has changed over the eight years. I would imagine you'd want to take, maybe some of the columns were so rooted in the time that you might want, might have edited them out or not. That's exactly right. There were, there were columns that I loved that I just felt so connected with. But in talking with my editor, Michael, and with, with others in my, my core group, and they would say, I know why you love this, but it's really time specific, or it's really incident specific. And we don't know whether it will be universally accessible. We want this to be something that anyone can pick up, even if they never followed your column, even if they're not a news junkie, right? Because I, as a, as a long-term social studies teacher, as someone in politics, I do read several newspapers a day, right? And, but that's not the norm. And so people would remind me that's not the norm, Becca. And so really think about the larger ideas that, that fit together in the book. Well, it's so well informed, though. And it's well researched, but the research doesn't bog you down. You know, there's research in each column and it shows that you know what you're talking about, or you're just based in research, but it doesn't, it doesn't weigh us down. It's very fast moving and accessible. And there's rereading. I've certainly reread it. And I've recommended it to every single friend I've talked to, including my Champlain Book Group that I have, I'm no longer part of, because for that reason, it's engaging and accessible and fast-paced and smart and research and inspiring. Thank you. Thank you. Well, it is, it's great to hear that. I really wanted something that people could pick up, you know, pick up, put down, if they only had a few minutes, read something before they started their day, or before you go to bed at night, and having them be fully formed ideas that were digestible, right, in small amounts of time, but get you thinking beyond that. And to hear you say that it is fast-paced, but it's also inspirational. That, that's exactly what I wanted. And so thank you for telling me that. That means a lot to me. And it is, I had a wonderful moment a couple of weeks ago when a dear friend of mine, his wife got it for him, and he was reading it out loud from other way around. She was reading it out loud to him. And in the middle of it, they said, they had no idea. They were like, Oh my God, that column is about our daughter. And it was. And before, so by the end, they were both crying. I was just like, you know, she knows, she knows who our daughter is in the world, and who she wants to be. And that is the greatest gift, right, that a writer can get back is to have somebody tell them, you touch them so deeply. So there's so many points in these narratives that have that certainly had that effect on me. So how long did it, you mentioned four specific influences in your introduction. And I was wondering if you could talk a little about them starting with your experience at the Farm and Wilderness Institute, the Farm and Wilderness Foundation. So it's a group of camps in Plymouth, Vermont. So centrally located. And I had worked there as a rock climbing instructor, a backpacking leader, went on to direct one of the camps, met my wife there, her parents met there. My daughter goes there now. It is a Quaker based organization. And so it's based in Quaker philosophy and practice, but most of the people go there are not actually Quaker, but they they understand the importance of being able to see the light of the spirit in each person and taking that time of quiet. And so it was a place where I went to work when I was in my 20s. And it was really the thing that got me both to fall in love with Vermont, absolutely almost from the very first night I started working there back in 1994. I thought, this is where I want to make my life, not just because of how beautiful the landscape is, but also just fell in love with that sensibility that so many Vermonters have, which is the natural world is a critical part of who they are as people. And it is, it is an incredible gift that I was given to learn about this, this organization and to meet my spouse there. And the people who have really guided me in my career have been to a large extent connected in some way with the Farmer Wilderness Foundation. It's a group of a very loving people doing really good work in the world. And I work with a lot of young people there that I'm still in touch with. And so that idea of being able to see the light in other people or the goodness in other people was a really big part of me figuring out how I wanted to be a public official. And it was a through line that I saw through my teaching and then into public service as a politician and a leader is that you're not always going to agree with people. In fact, sometimes you're going to have really, really hard conversations. And, but if underneath it all, you can continue to go back to at our core, we want to be seen, we want to be loved. And, and even when I get it wrong, even when I do lose my temper, even when I do say something I regret, that when I can regroup and come back to that, I'm able to reach back out to that person or at the end of a conversation say, you know what, I came on, you know, hot at the beginning of this conversation, I apologize. I know that you just, you need help on this issue. And you're reaching out to me, you know, through impatience because you're, you need help and you're fearful. And so that frame has helped me so much navigate really hard dynamics in politics. And also just made me, I think a better person. So farm and wilderness was a really big influence on my life and continues to be seeing the light and other people is so important in these polarized times. So that's a very powerful message. And your next influence is Brené Brown. Tell us a little about every, a lot of people know her. I think you've even listened to the podcast you mentioned about vulnerability, but refreshing it. So Brené Brown is a professor of social work at the University of Texas at Austin, I think, I think I'm getting that right. And she has done Houston. Could be Houston. It could be Houston. So we will, we'll make sure we get that right. But she is a prolific author. She's a podcaster. She's had a number of really influential TED talks. And really the core of her research is that it is only through getting in touch with our own shame and vulnerability that we can have true connection with other people. If we are so concerned about protecting ourselves from people really seeing who we are, then we're not able to have true connection. But of course, we fear that we won't be accepted, right? Or that we'll be rejected. And what's been so interesting for me as a leader, as a politician, and having gone through this really hot primary, that as I call my supporters, which is what I've been doing since the victory, is you call the people who were there who volunteered time for you, who gave money, who were with you when other people weren't, who endorsed you when other people didn't. And time and time again, what I've heard from people is it was your willingness to be vulnerable, your willingness to be authentic, to be genuine when you were talking not just one-on-one with someone, but in a group about who you are, what are your struggles, how do you want to show up in the world. That's what I think made it possible for us to win this, given that I was not from Burlington or Montpelier. I was a school teacher from southern Vermont. People said there was no way we're going to be able to do this. And what I heard time and time again was you were showing up in a different way through vulnerability, authenticity, genuine connection. And on the night of my primary win as part of my speech, and it's something I put in at the last minute, but a friend helped me realize the whole core of the work that I've done in the legislature has been about relationships and not about connections. Like not transactional connections about relationships. And so I really got that frame from Bernay Brown, and it's something that I go back to time and time again. There is a particular video that I watch of hers of a talk that she gave, and it's called, your critics are not the ones who count. And what she means is you've got to know who are those people in your core circle, friends, family, who will tell you the truth, right? Good, bad, ugly. They are the ones whose feedback matters, not the people making nasty comment on social media, on Twitter, all of those things or the person who doesn't know you on the street who's screaming at you about something.    Don't listen to the critics who don't have skin in the game.  There's so much noise, so much noise. And I get caught up in it sometimes.  And so those folks who are watching who are not familiar with her work, I strongly recommend it. I feel like it is insight into how all of us can be better leaders, even if we don't see ourselves as leaders within the work that we do within our relationships. And one of the things that really stayed with me from her research was that trust is built in tiny little moments. It's not built in grand gestures, right?  Yes, that matters. But what really matters is day in and day out. Does that person help you through the rough patches?  And so I really think about that in terms of my work in politics, too. It has to be built in these tiny little moments. And that's why, for me, it's never been about transactional relationships, because you have to keep going back to establish that you have a true connection with somebody. And it's more private than public, if you're going to dichotomize it. Yes, it is. It's, oh my gosh, I'm so glad you mentioned that. It's in all these moments that most people will never see. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Tell us about Laura Coyle. So Laura Coyle has been a long time mentor to me. So we got to know each other through a mutual friend, but we were both involved in an organization called the Coactive Coaching Institute. And she became my, you know, for lack of a better term, my personal coach, mentor, therapist, someone who kept me focused on my values and what I wanted in my life. And she's someone that I've worked with for over a decade now. And I know that without her and her guidance and her poking at the edges of saying, are you doing the thing that you're supposed to be doing? I know if I didn't have her in my life, I wouldn't have run for state senate. I wouldn't have run for Congress. I wouldn't have finished this book.  And if you're not living your values, how can I help you live your values? And so she is, I talked to her twice a month. And she's actually, I met her in person, but she now lives on the West Coast. And we, you know, when you have someone that's been a mentor for over 10 years, they know where all the bodies are buried. They know all the skeletons in the closet. They know all the pitfalls. And so she can reflect back to me, you know, I feel like you're collapsing everything. You're worried about this thing and you're calling in all the other things that ever went wrong in your life. And let me just reflect back to you that actually, you know how to do this, right? You know how to do this. You can do this. And you know, I think lots of people, they forget that it's not cheating to have somebody in your life helping you stay focused on what's important to you. Because as you said, there's so much noise. We get pulled in so many different directions. There's a lot of half dues and shoulds that come from work, from family, from friends, well, you have to do this, you should do this. And one of the things, a gift that she has given to me over the years is there's no half due. There's only choice. There's only choice. So what choice are you going to make in this moment? And yeah, she's, she's a spitfire. And you can find her on coilcoach.com if you're curious about her.  But she is a big part of why I ever started writing these columns. She was one of them. I think you mentioned her in the context of starting to write the columns. Yes, I was terrified. I was like, what do you mean I'm going to write one every week? And she was like, you can do this. And I don't know if it made it in the acknowledgments, but when I first was writing the columns, it would take me so long to write each one. And she was like, oh my gosh, you're spending too much time on this. I, you know, your goal for the next column is you're going to cut the time in half that you're spending on writing it. I was like, are you joking me? Like cut the time in half. And then, you know, we would do that. And then she's like, okay, and now we're going to do it again. Like we're going to cut the time in half. You know how to do this. You know how to weave together these ideas. And I think she was the one who finally said to me, no one cares about your semi-colon, Becca. No one cares. You're the only one who cares about your semi-colon. And of course, writers, we get, you know, we get caught up in our own heads. Absolutely. But we need champions. Creatives need champions. People who put themselves out there need people in their lives to keep them focused on getting through the rough patches, because there's always going to be critiques and criticism. But almost always, we are our own worst critics. And we have instincts that we don't always listen to. That is true too. Morally and otherwise. And you work at the training institute, the Collector Training Institute also was influential, you said. Yes. Yes. So I went and got trained as a co-active coach. And in its simplest terms, it's essentially about how to ask the right expansive questions of people to bring them to who they most want to be. Okay. And it's something that I use in my work in a legislature too, that sometimes what gets in the way of passing good policy or coming to a decision about a bill is not actually the stuff that's in the bill. It's sometimes caught up in ego and self-doubt and issues that happened years ago between colleagues. And more than once, having that training through a co-active coaching institute helped me to realize even in those moments when it seems to be about a particular issue, if you ask a more expansive question, you'll get at what's really at the heart of it. And I'll just give you a quick example. We had a very difficult policy battle that we were having between the House and Senate a couple years ago. And partway through this, I realized, oh, it's not actually about the dollar figure, right? Like, we wanted this, they wanted that, we're trying to haggle over money. And at some point, I realized, oh, it's actually about a values proposition that they have a different set of values around this policy. And as soon as that dawned on me, I realized I could go into the next conversation in a really different way. And I'll never forget one of my colleagues in the Senate was just like, that's ridiculous. We just need to hammer out how much money they're willing to give. I said, if we focus on that, we will never get to an agreement. We will never, because it's not about that. Of course it's about that. I was like, no, it's not. And I was so pleased. And I did not gloat, but I could have.  It's actually not about the money. It's about this other thing. And I wouldn't have gotten there without having that view of how to question, how to sort of poke at the edges of an issue to get at what's really at the heart. And that was through the Coactive Training Institute. Another, I'd encourage people just to check it out. If you don't have to take the whole series of training, you can, you can do them in separate pods. And you can also go online and find a coach who's been trained in this way of inquiry. And it can help you get to where you want to be. That's great. I have a lot more questions, but you've also agreed to read, to do a couple of readings for us. You have something in particular you want to hear. And yes, please. What page so I can follow. I think one of the most powerful essays is the one about your grandfather. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. If you wouldn't mind reading from now, I would love to. I think that's page 58. Yeah. And this was one actually when I felt, and I have to go back, yeah, 2012. This was when I felt like I understood my writer's voice in a different way with this essay. So this is called On Being Neighborly. And I wrote it May 1, 2012. This weekend is my birthday. It is also the anniversary of a more gruesome milestone. May 5, 1945, was the day Mount Housing Concentration Camp was liberated near Linz, Austria, the birthplace of Adolf Hitler. I know this date and I keep track of it because my paternal grandfather, Leopold Ballant, Leo to his friends and family, was murdered while on a forced march from Mount Housing to the town of Gunzkirchen in the waning days of the Third Reich. On April 22, only two weeks before the camps liberation, Leo stopped to assist another ailing prisoner. He knew, as they all did, that stopping along the march meant certain death. But he did what so many others before him and after him have done. His humanity and empathy overpowered his fear.  His already low reserves were soon spent and they fell dangerously behind the group. As I witnessed his informed, my grieving grandmother afterwards, both Leo and his comrade were summarily shot and their bodies heaved into the chilly waters of the Danube. I know, Leopold, only from the family stories I have heard and from the memoir my father is working valiantly to finish. And yet the story still gives me an ache in my chest whenever I allow myself the quiet space to think about it. My grandfather's murder impacted so many lives and continues to do so. Elie Wiesel has written, time does not heal all wounds. There are those that remain painfully open. From my parents, I get my sense of humor, my insatiable curiosity, and a deep love of history. But because we have also passed this pain from generation to generation, I am a latecomer to the belief that neighbors can be a force for good in the world. My father was always and remains hesitant about connecting with neighbors. I used to chalk it up to his European manners. But in my adulthood, I've come to realize it is actually a manifestation of the complex trauma of the Holocaust. Of course, he doesn't want the neighbors to know too much about him and his family. Neighbors can betray you. Indeed, they did betray him and his family. So I think what I'll do, and instead of reading all of it, I want I want to just pause here for a moment and say the stories of my grandfather's experience and his death was something that really haunted me from the time of my teens until today is this question of what would I do in that same situation? Would I have the strength? Would I have the humanity? And in writing this essay was really when I was able to understand that, although I think that question will always be a part of me, I realized that the question, the deeper question was actually much more important. And I think that's all I'll skip to that part. When faced with stories of atrocity and bravery, we often ask ourselves, would I have had the courage to stand up and do the right thing? But I think this is perhaps the wrong question, because most of us will never be faced with such a situation. Instead, the real question is, do I have the courage day in and day out to show kindness to and concern for my neighbors? The small gestures do really matter. When I bake bread for a neighbor, even if our politics don't match, or check on another when she's sick, although sometimes she talks my ear off, I am asserting that there is still basic humanity in the world. I do it for me, for my parents, for my children, and for their great grandfather, Leopold Ballant, who retained his humanity in the midst of the Holocaust. That is one of the most powerful essays in the collection. Thank you. I'm really glad you asked me to read that one, because more than anything else on this campaign trail, what I heard was, in every community I went to, was, Becca, I want to be able to talk to my neighbors again. People feel completely traumatized from the Trump administration, from January 6th, from the big lie, from all of that. And they have said to me, I used to feel like I could talk to my neighbor, and now I feel like because we have different political signs, or because I know that they support this movement, and I support a different one, that we can't talk anymore. And that is so dangerous. It's so dangerous. But it gave me so much hope that I was hearing this time and time again, that there is a hunger for this, that people want to be more courageous. But we need models for doing it, right? And it isn't going to take, I think, community by community, it's not going to take one person nationally or as a figure here in Vermont. It's going to take each of us doing these things, inviting the neighbor over to the barbecue, even though you know they voted for Trump, inviting people to come and sit and have tea with you, even if you were on the opposite issue, size of an issue at the local level. I mean, that's the thing. People say they don't want to go to their select board meetings or their school board meetings anymore. This is where we are. And so for me, that essay, even though I wrote it back in 2012, it's even more impactful for me right now when I read that because that's what I'm hearing from everyone. I want to reconnect with my neighbors again. And then balancing that, you have another wonderful neighbor story about the lawnmowers. Yes. Yes. And it is so funny. I mean, that just this very light and humorous and, you know, packs a powerful punch also. Thank you. And it's, you know, I do think a lot. So when I first moved here, and I don't actually know. Briefly summarize it since I used the shorthand because I've read it several times. Yes. Yes. So yes. So is it a tail of four mowers? Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. So essentially, for those of you who haven't read it, the tail of four mowers is talking about essentially my neighborhood. And I use the the experience that I had trying to mow my lawn and realizing, right, one mower breaks, I borrow another mower, that breaks, that one runs out of gas, and to keep going around neighbor to neighbor, and realizing that that experience itself knowing that we had this network around the neighborhood that I felt comfortable connecting with. And I think we feel better as people, even if we're introverts, because I'm an extrovert, but my wife's an extrovert, we feel better as people when we know there's a broader network. And what's been interesting is when that first ran in the paper, I heard from people across Wyndham County, because it ran in the Broward Brewery former, who said, wow, like, I wish I lived in a neighborhood like that. And I thought, you can. You can. And you have to you have to cultivate that, right. And I don't.  I don't think we are extraordinary exceptional people, right. We just realized that we all feel better when we pitch in, you know, and, and I could not have run for office, even as a state senator, without the neighbors helping, keep keep my lawn up, you know, make sure my mail comes in, you know, when when the house was broken into one time, you know, neighbors got me in touch with someone who could repair the window, like all of those things. And I do think we have this sense of, oh, that can happen somewhere else. But that can't happen in my neighborhood. And I get it. Many people in Vermont live in more rural areas, and a neighborhood could be an entire rural dirt, you know, dirt, you know, dead end road, or it might be a much broader sense of what your neighborhood looks like. It could be your whole town if you're in a tiny settlement. But I would encourage people to understand that those kinds of networks get built, one loaf of bread at a time, one mower at a time. You know what I mean? I do. I do. I mean, we live in the senior center. In the beginning, I had resistance over the city, but you know, it's turned into a very neighborly environment. And we all disagree politically, I think. Yeah. If you have pets or all kinds of needs, you know, neighbors. I'd like to switch gears, if I could, before we use up too much time, you know, the title of the show is all things LGBTQ and you call us queer TV, colloquially. That's right. And you mentioned in your introduction that one of the impediments to becoming a political figure was that you were at 17, you knew that you were gay.  Can you tell us when did you come out and what was that like? Right. So, you know, as you know, and these things often have several iterations, right?  Of course, I had strong friends across the gender identity spectrum, but in terms of love interests, and I was thinking about how the thing that saved me at that age, because you get so many, I mean, that was, you know, I was, that was the 80s. That was the early 80s. And getting so many messages, so many homophobic messages, hateful messages. And it was really my town library that really saved me. It was knowing that I could go there. My mom would drop me off and I would just escape into the stacks. You know, that is always, it's funny. I didn't put that all together until just now that on the campaign trail, when we were in a new town, and I had a little bit of downtime, I would tell my staffer take me to the library. And I would go and just, you know, quiet my mind, sit in the stacks, sometimes read a book and sometimes just be there because it's a place where I feel the most safe, honestly. And so as a kid, reading, read a May Brown, you know, reading Kate Millet and others, just seeing yourself, right? It's that seeing yourself in a work of fiction or nonfiction. So I'll through middle school and high school really knew that that's, you know, who I was and didn't know how I was going to navigate that. And then, you know, we're looking back on some yearbook pictures at the beginning of this campaign. And I was elected, you know, for the superlatives in my yearbook, I was nominated to be most humorous. And also the one that cracks me up is all American, which I never quite knew exactly what that meant. But I didn't feel comfortable telling my closest high school friends until right after graduation. And it just, you know, they were wonderful friends, but I just didn't know whether I could be safe with them and wanted to have a life in politics and just didn't think it was possible. And it is when you feel this incredible drive and yearning like for me to be in public service, to make life better for people and to feel like, oh, that is my calling. And also I don't think I'll ever get there because the only hero I have is Harvey Milk, and he was assassinated, right? So that you say to yourself, it's not safe yet, right? It's not safe for me to do that. And so it's kind of remarkable that I am where I am right now, given how long it took me to really come back to this thing that I knew about myself, which is I want to be somebody who is working on a large scale to alleviate suffering. And the way that I can do that is through politics that I have some skill in that. And now the world has changed so much that Vermonters just nominated me. I won the primary, handily. I didn't think that was possible even a few years ago, Ann. I really didn't.  And so because people say things, right? Like, people would say, yeah, I really support you.  Like, don't- Oh, I've heard that. Yeah. Yeah.  But yeah. Yes. Yes.  I mean, I was a teacher for many, many years. I wasn't out to my students or my colleagues. Absolutely not. And so it is this now being a public figure and being completely and totally out. It's different. It's great. It's gratifying. You're doing a lot of people around the country, hope. I know. You have, you know, you have a national profile, which is fabulous. Yes. Yes. And I'm learning just how much that's true. I bet. I bet. There are a couple of other matters I'd like to focus on. Vulnerability is one that one of the strengths of the book, I think, is that you do organize it in an unconventional way according to eight values that you have. And one of them is vulnerability. And I love that section in the book. And you mentioned in the intro that you felt reservations about writing the column because of, because of the personal self-disclosure that was going to occur. So my question now is, do you feel that way about publishing the book? I did at first. When it first came out, I felt, well, a couple things. One, I thought, and I said, poor Elizabeth, she heard this over and over again. I said, who would want to read it? She was like, what do you mean you would want to read it? I said, well, I mean, yeah, I wrote these columns, but yes, I had a following. But who would want to read them in this form? And does anyone care? I must have said that so many times. Does anyone care about these ideas? And I got to just say, we all need those people in our lives that will say time and time again, I know that you are feeling vulnerable. I know you're feeling, what I would say, I have a vulnerability hangover. I was vulnerable. I don't feel very good right now. And it's so delightful when people say to me, reading this book or reading these essays has given people permission to do certain things, to be more vulnerable, to be more kind to someone they wouldn't necessarily be to, to be someone who will stop and talk to a stranger, even though they never would have done that before. That is the power of this book. That's what I'm realizing is that it is, I do know courage is contagious. I see it time and time again. But if the book has that impact on people, inspires them to go a little bit out of their comfort zone with someone they don't know, or building that kind of neighborhood connection that we want, or giving that person who they knew they absolutely know they disagree with on really a hot button, political issues, but giving still them the time of day to talk about something that's worth it all. That's worth all the blood, sweat, and tears in getting this through. And so I feel less and less that vulnerability hangover than I did when we first released it, because I honestly thought, okay, so now we've done this, and now nobody's gonna buy it, and I'll feel like the biggest loser. Never. Let's talk about the reception of individual columns, because last night I listened to a Zoom panel with some friends whose book came out six months ago, and they've been going around on their tour. And so they're able to gauge a little bit public reception, but your book tour has really almost just started. But we do have responses to individual columns that you can tell us about. What really was successful, do you think, or what resonated?  The whole group, grouping on hope, I think people, they desperately need that right now. And I'm looking at the lists here, you know, A Walk in the Woods, The Natural World, The Spiritual Realm, Peak Moments, Pink Light on the Stone, all of these, I think give voice to what so many Vermonters feel, is they feel more hopeful when they get out in the natural world, when they're thinking of things larger than themselves. I mean, I'm just hearing it time and time again, and on the campaign trail that people don't want to watch the news anymore. They don't want to watch, they don't want to read. These are people who have always been some, you know, people who are up on current events, they say they're so exhausted from it. And that knowing that they have this tool outside of them, the natural world, you know, resetting outside to give them hope, I want, I desperately want people to feel more hopeful, because when we don't, we've lost, we've completely lost. And so those, those columns are definitely resonating with folks right now. I think a lot of people are really interested in seeing how the issues that I'm talking about on the campaign trail are issues that I was talking about 10 years ago. It's just a continuation, right? My fear about authoritarianism and the rise of the autocrats and, you know, how, when I look at how the Republican party was changing dramatically, even before Trump won the primary, right? A lot of people point to that moment.  But in terms of people moving away from mainstream Republican ideology, that was happening before. And so I think in some ways it's scary for people to see that in this book, but also in a way it's helping them to connect the dots of how we got here. Because I think so many people just didn't realize what had been in the works. Does that make sense? Absolutely. And one essay I loved that resonated with me personally, because Linda and I were just in New York and I saw Hades Town for the first time. Yes.  It's a whole power dynamic that is operative in this country and the Trump, you know? Exactly. And, and I think too that we all can fall prey to that if we are not vigilant about our own feelings about when groups are scapegoated or when we look for easy answers, right? That it's, that we all should be vigilant to, to monitor our own feelings and, you know, and our thoughts around these issues that, that, that rile us up, that it is, it's obviously I'm a Democrat, right? So I'm a Democrat, I run a Democratic ticket. I, you know, it is, it is a a policy, a set of policy goals and philosophy that I deeply believe in. I also know that it's important for me day in and day out to question my own thinking about things, to do that, that, that exercise. Because when I don't, when I sit in smugness, or I sit in, you know, I've got all the answers, then I, I stop bringing sort of an academic rigor to the work that I do, right? Let me see the footnotes. I want to see the footnotes. Oh, I love that in the book too. My favorite selection in the hope section was a sense of wonder to balance out the anger. Yeah. And you know, you mentioned people not watching the news. Yeah. A lot of the mainstream media is just so angry. Yes. Yes. Almost. I mean, I'm much more selective now because I become, you know, stressed out and despairing. Yes. You know, I am, you may have seen this. I think it was in the Washington Post, probably a month ago now, maybe, maybe over three weeks, a writer named Amanda Ripley, who has had, you know, several bestselling nonfiction books and she used to write for, I think the Atlantic and Politico. She wrote a column that was about how mainstream news right now is actually not fit for human consumption.  And I understand it. It also worries me. And so I think we do need to have those moments in our lives when we are looking for hope in awe and audacity and it can't just always be this anger and fear or else we become hopeless ourselves. That's such a good note to end on. Believe it or not, we're out of time. I had a million more questions. We'll have to come for a sequel. Maybe if you're free, I know you're going to be very busy now, but maybe after you're, you finish the book tour, we can come and talk again. I would love that. I would love that too. And thank you so much. This has been a real treat. I've been looking forward to it and I enjoyed preparation and the execution of it. It was really fun, Becca. Thank you for joining us and please come again. I will. Thank you so much. Thank you for joining us. And until next time, remember, resist.


Federal law enforcement officers use a variety of different types of ammunition, depending on their need and purpose. During the 1980s, law enforcement agencies began a rapid transition from revolvers to semi-automatic pistols. As a result, many agencies discovered they needed a cartridge with more power than the standard 9mm bullet. In 1990, the Olin Winchester and Smith & Wesson corporations answered the call with the development of a 40-caliber cartridge that was more powerful than the 9mm cartridge and had improved ballistics. Designed for use in medium-frame semi-automatic pistols, the 40-caliber cartridge has proven to be both versatile and reliable for law enforcement use. The Immigration and Naturalization Service, after study and consideration, has committed to use the newly developed 40-caliber cartridge as its duty round. Many other agencies, such as the National Marine Fishery Service and the General Services Administration, also use this ammunition. The 40-caliber cartridge is designed to provide more stopping power than the 9mm and may be used in a medium-frame semi-automatic pistol. This, for example, is a large-frame 40-caliber Beretta 96D Brigadier pistol, which is standard issue to the Immigration and Naturalization Service. This 40-caliber bullet is controlled expansion ammunition. By shooting this jacketed hollow-point bullet into a block of ballistic gelatin, we can show how the bullet expands. This gelatin block will demonstrate the effect the 155-grain bullet has on the human body. Now, let's see the effect with the 165-grain bullet. Finally, the 180-grain projectile. What kind of power does the 40-caliber pack? See for yourself as the officer fires the weapon. The bullet penetrates this piece of metal. The weapon with the 40-caliber ammunition has good range. As you can see, it can be shot accurately and effectively from a distance of more than 100 yards. Three bullet weights are currently available. The 155-grain, the 165-grain, and the 180-grain. The 155-grain bullet, for example, has a velocity in excess of 950 feet per second at a range of 100 yards. It delivers over 300 foot-pounds of energy. Another example, the 180-grain hollow-point bullet shot into ballistic gelatin simulating human tissue with heavy clothing penetrates 13 inches. The bullet expands to nearly 7 tenths of an inch in diameter while retaining 99.9% of its weight. This is what happens when the ammunition is fired at a range of 10 yards at a car door. In this case, our officers use the 155-grain bullet. From the same range, this is the effect of the 165-grain bullet. Now, the 180-grain bullet. As you can see, the 155-grain bullet barely penetrated the door. While the 180-grain bullet completely penetrated the door, passed through the mannequin and the driver's side door, shattering the window. Remember, some car doors have a reinforced steel guard rail. This could affect the impact of the bullet, causing it to slow down or change direction. More than one round may need to be fired to ensure maximum results to stop the suspect. This is what happens when different-grain 40-caliber bullets are fired through car side windows with tempered glass. Now, the effects of shooting through a car windshield using the three different-grain bullets. Because officers also work at seaports, it may be necessary to fire at suspects who are in boats. This is what the 40-caliber bullets do when fired at a fiberglass boat hull. Now, let's take a look at the results of the 40-caliber bullets as they hit the lower unit of an outboard motor. While the bullets penetrated the outer skin, the drive shaft stopped the rounds from going all the way through. Here's what happened when the same 40-caliber bullets hit the powerhead of an outboard motor. As you can see, the damage varies. This is the result of the 180-grain bullet. Here is the damage caused by the 165-grain bullet. And finally, the 155-grain bullet. While the bullets penetrated the engine block, not one went all the way through. In situations that require the use of force, officers or suspects may sometimes take cover behind objects such as mailboxes. Here is the effect of the 155-grain 40-caliber hollow-point bullet being fired into a standard mailbox of the United States Postal Service. It may or may not penetrate and exit the mailbox. Now let's try the 155-grain ball round. Officers also work at airports. This is the typical material used in a light airplane fuselage. Back at the firing range, our officer fires the 40-caliber bullet at the fuselage door, producing the following result. Here's what happens when the 40-caliber bullet is shot through the plane's plexiglass window. Of course, most of the time you discharge your weapon during training. For that reason, the 40-caliber bullet comes in two types. Service ammunition for use in the field and training ammunition that's used for practice. Currently, for example, there are six types of non-led training ammunition. They are the solid-core jacketed zinc bullet, the stranded zinc-core jacketed bullet, the solid-core tin bullet, the plastic matrix bullet, the frangible copper bullet, and the frangible metal bullet. The purpose of non-led, non-toxic, or reduced hazard training ammunition is to ensure the safety of the student and the environment. The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center at Glencoe, Georgia has an official policy that training ammunition containing no lead be used at its facility whenever possible. This is to protect students, instructors, and the environment. However, the training ammunition is the ballistic equivalent of standard-issue field ammunition. Recoil, accuracy, and range are similar. In this case, the training bullet is being fired at a paper target. One of the advantages, for example, is when frangible training bullets hit a metal target. They're designed to shatter, so no splashback occurs. This will reduce the hazard for the students and instructors. For agencies using this frangible training ammunition, or who are converting to it, this video is intended to show the value of the 40-caliber Smith & Wesson bullet. Recent developments with zinc-core, tin-core, and plastic matrix training ammunition have allowed the students to practice their shooting without the toxicity of leaded bullets or the dangers of training accidents due to splashback. Along with the reduced hazard ammunition, new technology in cleaner burning powders and primers reduces the student's exposure to heavy metals in the training environment. Remember, the 40-caliber Smith & Wesson bullet has more stopping power than a 9-millimeter bullet. It can penetrate car doors, windows, wind shields, boat hulls, airplane fuselages, mailboxes, and other objects. It has good range and good accuracy. This ammunition ensures that officers will face no compromise or limitation in overall performance and reliability when using their weapons.


This is an exploration of the American heart. What was beating in their hearts, what drove them to do what they did in their lives. Much of it, actually we can never find, but in spirit we can touch these dimensions. Matilla tribe, we are so honored and so humbled to have you here present on our soil. Welcome to Total Island. I can see the spirit, it's very strong. The world awaits, Sadguru's next move and ladies and gentlemen he's off and he's gone. Sadguru, ladies and gentlemen, Sadguru, Sadguru. There is a lot that modern societies need to pick up from ancient societies. Beautiful words, touch my heart, thank you very much. It's a wonderful opportunity for us to be able to enjoy this time with you. For twelve hours in a day. Because a day is twelve hours, other twelve hours is night. Whatever it is, we can do something with you. There are still many, many aspects of this nation, this land, these people. We are seeing how to look at bringing out the dimensions which are hidden from the eyes of a tourist brochure. So this is an exploration of the American heart. Let's see what we discover, let's see what exciting things we encounter and what amazing sights we definitely bound to have. Probably one of the oldest structures in North America still surviving. Nearly two thousand years old, a ritualistic fortress that was built by the Native American tribe. The Native Americans who built mounds for various purposes built cities along the Mississippi banks. The next one is going to be one long ride. On the way, there's a very unique mound system called the effigy mound. They are in the form of birds and animals. Evening after the effigy mounds, we rested there for a couple of hours and started off just before midnight, back to old ways, full night riding. American buffalo, in many ways it's the buffalo migrations which determined the Lakota life. Killing of the buffalo was a part of the strategy to starve the Lakota nation and it worked, unfortunately. We will be going west towards Black Hills in the next couple of days and we will be exploring this possibility of who they were, their spiritual process. They had very elaborate systems of rituals. We will explore these dimensions. We are here right now at Bear Butte, Black Hills. The gift that I'm going to present to my friend is not coming from me, it's coming from this mountain, it's from the Creator. These are the most sacred to us and I can see the spirit is very strong. With absolute passion for everything around them and a certain sense of dispassion about their own life, about their own death, I think there is a lot that modern societies need to pick up from ancient societies because there was a certain cohesiveness with life around them. Without that cohesiveness, everything seems to be a problem. We have a long way to come Native Americans to heal ourselves. When we are connected to the land, cleansing in the waters and speaking our languages to our relatives, which are the plants and the animals, then we are living something which we call Hishokishtsawak, which translates to everything is one. People are talking about equality as a science, that way it will never work. Equality should become our heart as it was with the indigenous people here. Their heart was land, that is one dimension that we really want to present to the world. That's the reason why I'm meeting all Native American leaders, medicine men and others so that they express themselves clearly and their message is not of the past, it is most relevant for the future. Matoti Pila, in my experience, in the entire North American continent, at least in United States and Canada I would say, is probably the one most powerful space that you can see in this part of the world.  Anybody who realizes or opens up the throat center, their ability to connect with life, I'm saying when I say connect with life, you can touch beyond your physical reach, literally touch. Here there's an energetic body expressing this dimension of the throat center in the human system in an extremely powerful way, which is I've never seen a place like that in my life. I've traveled literally everywhere, I'm telling you. This Matoti Pila is a must for every indigenous person, it's a must. The basis of your culture in some way energetically is here and with connecting with that could also be the liberation for the future. I wish our leaders thought like you, man. I love that, I commend you, Sebu, for thinking like that. I love that oneness mentality, we need more of that. So here we are at Bryce Canyon, most incredible formations. They're almost like frozen people, the way it looks. Definitely important thing is people lived here for ten to twelve thousand years without disturbing anything, without pulling down anything. That is the significance. Most incredible rock formations. Wow, I don't know if cameras can ever do justice to these rocks. And I came here yesterday and even now it gives me goosebumps from head to toe. I'm still yet to sit down here with eyes closed and figure out what is it that it's doing to my body. I'm so jealous of your trip, it looks phenomenal. I love that you're spreading awareness about culture's connection to nature and spirituality. Thank you very much, Alexander. Namaskar. These tremendous structures of nature for millennia has been an inspiration for the Hopi, for their explorations, for them to come and wonder about the nature of the Creator. If you're in this valley, even now I'm saying if you stay in this valley for a few weeks all by yourself, the very energy and the tremendous power that these rock structures exude would leave you in some way transformed. If at all ever in the history of humanity we can transform human beings, this is the moment. Initially I thought it's the rocks but it's the very space and it's so sensitive to human presence and I'm sure those natives who are sensitive to this dimension would definitely say there are spirits working upon them, which they're not very wrong in a way. It's the spirit of the earth but there's a phenomenal amount of energy flow. It's existed here not as exploiters of land but as land itself. Conversing, understanding and above all projecting the image of Native American people in a positive and relevant way to the rest of the world, this is the mission. We've been utilizing yoga as a tool for healing. It was gifted to us from the people of the east and it was written in our prophecies that we would receive this gift. Yoga is helping us to heal at the cellular level. Our people are on a journey to reclaiming their bodies and minds and this is a practice that we are honored and blessed to be able to utilize today. I've been deeply, deeply touched by the way the indigenous people in North America have lived their sensitivity towards earth. These things are very, very important for me and also because what they have gone through in the last few centuries, these have a very deep and profound place in my heart. In whichever way we can help you and your people, we are most willing to do that as you should know by now. We are also offering the in-engineering program in a special offer for all the indigenous people in this country. Please, in whichever way you can make use of it, please do that.