Rik's Mind Podcast

Today we are joined by Conor Burton. Connor is an NSCA Certified Personal Trainer for the Multnomah Athletic Club and NXT Level Fitness in the Portland, Oregon area and a Competitive Amateur Bodybuilder who has competed 5 times and is qualified for Nationals to become an IFBB Pro. He is Co-owner and Co-Host of the Blue Collar Fitness Podcast. Conor holds a Bachelor's Degree in Kinesiology from Oregon State University. You can find more about Connor on his Instagram.

Show Notes:

Conor Burton Personal Training | Official Website

Connor Burton | Instagram
Blue Collar Fitness Podcast | Instagram

Blue Collar Fitness Podcast | Official Website

Blue Collar Fitness Podcast | Apple Podcast

Men’s Bodybuilding Categories and Divisions Explained | Spot Me Bro

Eat Right 4 Your Type (Revised and Updated): The Individualized Blood Type Diet Solution | Amazon

The Miracle Moring | Official Website

Andrew D. Huberman | Stanford University

Cephalopod | Britannica

Today we are joined by Steven G. Deeks, MD. Dr. Deeks is a Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. He is an expert on HIV and its impact on health during antiretroviral therapy. In early 2020 he leveraged his HIV cohort (SCOPE) to implement one of the first prospective studies aimed at defining the natural history, biology and treatment of Long COVID (LIINC cohort). Dr. Deeks has published over 700 peer-reviewed articles, editorials and invited reviews on these and related topics. He is the contact principal investigator (PI) of DARE (the Delaney AIDS Research Enterprise), an NIH-funded international collaboratory aimed at developing a cure for HIV infection and the PI for the amfAR Institute for HIV Cure Research. He is also the contact PI for one of the adult cohort sites within RECOVER, a national Long COVID research program. Dr. Deeks was elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI) and the Association of America Physicians (AAP) and serves on the scientific advisory board for Science Translational Medicine. He maintains a primary care clinic for people living with HIV. Check out more about Dr. Deeks on his UCSF profile.

Show Notes:

40 Years of AIDS: A Timeline of the Epidemic | UC San Francisco

US case of monkeypox reported in Massachusetts man | AP News

PrEP | HIV Basics | HIV/AIDS | CDC

The Modern Epidemic of Syphilis by Khalil G. Ghanem, M.D., Ph.D., Sanjay Ram, M.B., B.S., and Peter A. Rice, M.D. | The New England Journal of Medicine

Rare monkeypox outbreak in U.K., Europe and U.S.: What is it and should we worry? | NPR

CCR5: From Natural Resistance to a New Anti-HIV Strategy by Lucia Lopalco | National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine

Veteran HIV/AIDS Researcher Helps Uncover a New Strategy Behind Potential Cure | University of Miami Miller School of Medicine

Experimental Gene Therapy Reverses Sickle Cell Disease for Years | Columbia University Medical Center

Long Covid: 'I have to choose between walking and talking' | BBC News

What Went Wrong With Russia’s Sputnik V Vaccine Rollout? | Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

If you've had omicron before, are you safe from infection by the new variants? | NPR News

‘I Had Never Felt Worse’: Long Covid Sufferers Are Struggling With Exercise | The New York Times

It’s another classic and chaotic fireside chat! Jon delights and entertains with his experiences in the imperial core, Rik wears many shirts, Jon rants about TERFs. Its going down now, so stick around and enjoy the fun.

Show Notes:

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden | Smithsonian

Yayoi Kusama’s extraordinary survival story | BBC News

Patrick O'Donnell | Official Website

Today we are joined by Ford Fischer. Ford is a video journalist, primary source documentary filmmaker, and the Editor-in-Chief of News2Share.com, where he primarily focuses on political activism and extremism in the United States. His work has been featured on every major news network as well as Oscar, Emmy, and Golden Globe winning films. You can find more about Ford on his Twitter and News2share.com

Show Notes:

News2share | Official Website

News2Share | Youtube

Ford Fischer | Twitter

News2Share | Twitter

Primary Research | Purdue University Online Writing Lab (Purdue OWL)

Trey Yingst | Twitter

The Michael Brown killing: What you need to know | Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Who was Freddie Gray? How did he die? And what led to the mistrial in Baltimore? | The Washington Post

We Own This City | HBO

Summer of Hate: Charlottesville, USA by Hawes Spencer | Amazon

Unite the Right, the violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, explained | VOX

Two Years Ago, They Marched in Charlottesville. Where Are They Now? | Anti-Defamation League (ADL) Official Website

US jury awards $25m in damages over Unite the Right rally | BBC News

A Voice of Hate in America’s Heartland | The New York Times

Readers Accuse Us of Normalizing a Nazi Sympathizer; We Respond | The New York Times

The Overton window | Conceptually

H. L. Hunt, American industrialist | Britannica

The Right‐Wing ‘Life Line’ Program, Lacking H. L. Hunt's Aid, Has Lost Radio Outlets and Revenues | The New York Times

Faith and Freedom Coalition | Open Secrets

No Joke: Trump Really Does Want To Buy Greenland | NPR

Trump reportedly wants to buy Greenland. So did the Truman administration. | The Washington Post

Punishing Disney, DeSantis Signals a Lasting G.O.P. Brawl With Business | The New York Times

Facebook accused of censorship after hundreds of US political pages purged | The Guardian

No Longer a Hater: The Long, Strange Journey of Megan Phelps-Roper | Observer

How YouTube’s Demonetization Strategy Fails — and What They Can Do About It | Cornell Tech

'Cowboys for Trump' founder appears in January 6-related trial | CNN

January 6 defendant Couy Griffin speaks out before and after verdict | News2Share Youtube

NASA paid SpaceX for safety review after Musk smoked pot | Politico

Elon Musk cancels Tesla car pre-order by 'super rude' customer | CBC News

So much for free speech: Flashback to when Musk cancelled ‘rude’ blogger’s Tesla | The London Economic

Tesla fired an employee after he posted driverless tech reviews on YouTube | CNBC

Elon Musk Admits Not 'Biggest Fan' of Nikola Tesla-- the Man Behind His Car Brand | Tech Times

Today we are joined by the man, the myth, the legend Killah Priest. Brooklyn rapper Killah Priest has spent his lengthy, respected career making intensely spiritual music that connects Gnostic religious philosophy with the contemporary Black struggle. He made his first appearances on several Wu-Tang Clan side and solo projects, including albums by Gravediggaz, Ol' Dirty Bastard, and Genius/GZA, leading to the signing of his group Sunz of Man and the release of his acclaimed debut album, 1998's Heavy Mental. After leaving the major-label system, he went independent with 2001's Priesthood, and became an integral member of supergroups the HRSMN (aka the Four Horsemen) and Black Market Militia. He's continued releasing ambitious, metaphor-heavy solo albums such as 2007's The Offering and 2013's The Psychic World of Walter Reed, and produced some of the most experimental, spiritually advanced work of his career with later works such as 2020's Rocket to Nebula.

Born in Brooklyn and raised in Bedford-Stuyvesant and Brownsville, Killah Priest (Walter Reed) became infatuated with hip-hop as a child, listening to old-school and new-school acts alike. He also was influenced by local figures Genius and Onyx's DJ Suave, who would often play local parties. Killah Priest began working on his rhyming and eventually earned a considerable reputation in his neighborhood, but instead of furthering his musical career, he took a sabbatical to educate himself, primarily about religion and history, which had a major impact on his songwriting. Priest made his return to rap in 1994, appearing on several Wu-Tang projects including Gravediggaz' 6 Feet Deep, Ol' Dirty Bastard's Return to the 36 Chambers, and Genius/GZA's seminal Liquid Swords. All of his cameos were noteworthy, but his role on Liquid Swords -- especially "B.I.B.L.E. (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth)," essentially a Priest solo track -- earned special attention. By the end of 1996, his own group, Sunz of Man, was off the ground, having become the first act signed to Wu-Tang Records. In 1997, GZA suggested to Geffen that they should sign Priest, and the label took his advice. Priest worked on his debut solo album with True Master and 4th Disciple, two producers who were also associated with Wu-Tang. The resulting album, Heavy Mental, was dense with religious imagery and filled with evocative sounds. It received excellent reviews upon its March 1998 release and was a respectable commercial success, debuting at number 24 on the Billboard 200. Priest issued his second album, View from Masada, in May 2000, further bolstering his status as one of the most compelling solo artists in the extended Wu-Tang family (even though, at the time, he was disconnected from the crew). Although View from Masada was well-received, it failed to do well commercially, and he was dropped from his label.

While many rappers let go from a major-label either vanish or take years to resurface, Priest wasted no time and established his own imprint. July 2001's Priesthood, involving no Wu-Tang input whatsoever, was produced by Luminati and Nirocist, and released on the MC's Proverbs imprint. July 2003's Black August, however, came out on Recon. Although he certainly wasn't silent after this -- Black Market Militia (featuring Tragedy Khadafi and Hell Razah), the HRSMN (featuring Ras Kass, Kurupt, and Canibus), and Sunz of Man were ongoing concerns -- a few years passed before Priest's next solo album. March 2007's The Offering appeared on the Traffic-distributed Good Hands Records. His release schedule picked up considerably -- Behind the Stained Glass, Black August Revisited, and Beautiful Minds, the latter a full-length collaboration with Chief Kamachi, were all released in 2008. The Exorcist, Elizabeth, and several mixtapes appeared in 2009. The 3 Day Theory, featuring guest appearances by several emcees including Cappadonna, Ill Bill, and the Last Emperor, was released by Man Bites Dog in 2010. Following several delays, Killah Priest returned in 2013 with the ambitious double-CD The Psychic World of Walter Reed, a reunion of sorts with the Wu-Tang family, featuring guest rhymes and production by GZA, RZA, Inspectah Deck, and Ghostface Killah, as well as an appearance by George Clinton. The more sci-fi-themed Planet of the Gods appeared in 2015, and Priest formed the group Moon Crickets with Toronto-based rapper Lord Fury and DJ Mercilless. The Infinite Universe, with Vendetta Kingz, was released in 2016, and the mixtapes Don't Sit on the Speakers, Vol. 1 (with 4th Disciple) and The Untold Story of Walter Reed, Pt. 2 appeared in 2017. A 2020 mixtape with frequent collaborator Jordan River Banks, Journey to the Planet of the Gods preceded one of Priest's deepest, most abstract releases, Rocket to Nebula, an often-beatless record filled with reversed samples and ambient textures. A proper album with Banks, The Third Eye in Technicolor, closed out the year. The cinematic Lord Sun Heavy Mental 1.1 appeared in March of 2021.

Show Notes:

Killah Priest | Official Website

Killah Priest TV | Youtube

Killah Priest | Instagram

Killah Priest | Twitter

Killah Priest Discography | Discogs

Ghostface Killah | Twitter

RZA | Twitter

Nature Knows No Color-Line: Research into the Negro Ancestry in the White Race by J.A. Rogers | Amazon

The Songhai Empire | Students of History

Miyamoto Musashi, Japanese soldier-artist | Encyclopedia Britannica

Sunz of Man | Wikipedia

Jordan Maxwell | Killah Priest LIVE

Tehuti Amun Hotep Ra | Killah Priest LIVE

Sophia Stewart - Creator / Owner of The Matrix & Terminator Franchise | Killah Priest LIVE

Professor Abraham (Avi) Loeb | Dept. of Astronomy, Harvard University

Prof. Sara Seager | Official Website

Origin of the Species, From an Alien View | The New York Times

Santos Bonacci | Killah Priest LIVE

Today we are joined by Los Angeles-based musician and visual artist Micah Nelson. Micah, a prolific artist and musician of many disciplines, performs and releases under the name ‘Particle Kid’. Particle Kid’s new sprawling epic double-LP, ‘Time Capsule’, released April 22, ‘22 via Overseas Artists Records, pulls listeners down the rabbit hole to experience the music he’s been making over the past five years.

His self-described “experimental future-folk solo project” takes listeners on a nearly two-hour trip through various genres, ideas and sounds. An eclectic palette of sonic colors, both familiar and exploratory feelings painted together like a collage, as if 90s alt, 60s psych, 70s electric jazz, and some abstract future were all magazines—chopped up and somehow cohesively glued together by Micah’s voice and lyrics as well as guest spots from Margo Price, J Mascis and Sean Ono Lennon, among others.

Micah Nelson’s diverse releases as Particle Kid have taken an exploratory bent, combining lo-fi loops and strange textural elements with more straight forward Folk and Indie Rock songwriting. Micah, youngest son of country music icon Willie Nelson and occasional member of brother Lukas Nelson’s band, ‘Promise of the Real’, has been performing since his live debut at the age of 3, playing harmonica on stage with his dad. You can learn more about Micah’s artwork and music via his official website particlekid.com, His instagram @particlekid, Bandcamp, Spotify and Apple Music.

Show Notes:

Particle Kid | Official Website

Particle Kid | Bandcamp

Mickey Raphael | Official Website

Tato Melgar Discography | Discogs

Particle Kid’s “Everything is Bullshit” Music Video | Youtube

Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies - MAPS | Official Website

Regenerative Agriculture 101 | Natural Resources Defense Council

Fantastic Fungi (2019) | IMDb

Hawaii Farmers Union United | Official Website

William Randolph Hearst – Anslinger’s Right Hand in Cannabis Prohibition | Veriheal

Hemp For Victory - USDA Full Official 1942 | Hemp Industries Association Youtube

Today we are joined again by friend of the show Nick Ramos. Nick is a podcaster and host of the History of the Cuban Revolution. Nick helps us work through all the wrinkles of the Ukraine - Russia conflict, all the way back from the Kievan Rus’ days to modern times. NATO Expansion and antagonism, The Monroe Doctrine, the murder of Georgiy Gongadze, the Euromaidan Revolution and the overthrowing of Viktor Yanukovych. We’ve got it all. Stick around and get some great info the mainstream media won’t tell you. You can follow Nick on his twitter @nickramos_1 and his History of the Cuban Revolution Podcast

Show Notes:

Ukraine’s Identity Crisis – from Independence to Invasion by Nick Ramos | 2nd Look News

NATO Expansion: What Gorbachev Heard | National Security Archive

Monroe Doctrine | Britannica

1936 Convention Regarding the Regime of The Straights, Adopted in Montreux, Switzerland on 20 July 1936 | Center for International Law at the National University of Singapore

The Nisour Square Massacre | Tidings Media

Blackwater Guards Found Guilty in 2007 Iraq Killings | The New York Times

Timeline of the Killing of Journalist Georgiy Gongadze | Justice for Journalists, Foundation for International Investigations of Crime against Media

Ukraine- A Murder in Kyiv, October 2005 | PBS Frontline

The Murder of Gongadze: 20 Years of Searching for the Truth | Public Interest Journalism Lab

Ukraine’s Euromaidan Revolution | The Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington

Everything you need to know about the 2014 Ukraine crisis | Vox

The Far Right in Ukraine During the “Euromaidan” and the War in Donbas by Ivan Katchanovski | ResearchGate

Putin’s world: Selected quotes from a disturbing speech | Euractiv

Kaliningrad, city, Kaliningrad oblast, Russia | Britannica

Turkey’s Canal Istanbul dispute explained | AlJazeera

Turkey slams admirals' warning over Bosphorus treaty | France 24

Why Michael Shellenberger, A Centrist, Is Challenging California Gov. Gavin Newsom | HuffPost

Homelessness Meets Cluelessness: Michael Shellenberger applies conservative culture war clichés to the housing problem | The American Prospect

How Russia rescued the ruble | NPR Planet Money

Russia Asked China for Military and Economic Aid for Ukraine War, U.S. Officials Say | The New York Times

The 2021 Defense White Paper and Japan’s Taiwan Policy: Interview with Yasuhiro Matsuda | The National Bureau of Asian Research

Defeated Axis Powers Germany and Japan Rearm After Ukraine Invasion | Greek Reporter

War Is A Racket: Original Edition by Smedley D. Butler | Amazon

Yemen: US-made weapon used in air strike that killed scores in escalation of Saudi-led coalition attacks | Amnesty International

Today we are joined by Jay Wellik. Jay is a seismologist for the USAID-United States Geological Survey (USGS) Volcano Disaster Assistance Program (VDAP). VDAP works as a liaison between USGS volcano observatories (Hawaii, Cascades, Alaska, California, and Yellowstone) and foreign volcano observatories. VDAP donates equipment and expertise with the goal of improving volcano monitoring efforts worldwide. Jay helps analyze and interpret seismic data to better understand volcanic activity and improve eruption forecasting. You can find more about Jay and his work on the USGS website.

Show Notes:

USGS | Twitter

USGS Volcano Disaster Assistance Program | Facebook

Who We Are and What We Do | USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory

Why the Tongan eruption will go down in the history of volcanology | Nature

2022 Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha'apai eruption and tsunami | Wikipeida

At least four killed after 7.4-magnitude quake shakes east Japan | Al Jazeera

Six types of volcanic eruptions | Britannica

The National Volcano Early Warning System (NVEWS) | USGS

The Active Volcano in Alaska; Mount Pavlof | GeologyHub

Aleutian Islands | Wikipedia

Active Tectonics Program | State of Alaska Department of Natural Resources Geological & Geophysical Surveys

Eyjafjallajökull | Smithsonian Institution Global Volcanism Program

Artificial Intelligence Applications at the USGS by Hong Jiang, Ph.D. | USGS Maryland-Delaware-District of Columbia Water Science Center

Today we are joined by Antonio de Jesus Garcia. Antonio is a young visual artist and poet who’s originally from Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, Mexico, now living in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. He has been making art and poetry for roughly 2 years creating over 500 pieces that are inspired by the people he meets everyday. Antonio sells his art in the streets of New York mostly showcasing his works in Washington Square Park, there Antonio connects with his audience by asking them to pick a number from 1 to 10 and then asks a question based on the number they picked. The intimate and vulnerable responses he gets from the people he meets later inspire many of his pieces. Now at 25, Antonio hopes to inspire people to do more than they ever believed possible not only with his art, also with his words. You can fine more of his work on his Instagram @antoniogarcia274

Show Notes:

Eagle Against the Sun: The American War With Japan by Ronald Spector | Amazon

The Hurt Locker (2008) | IMDb

Antonio Garcia NFTs | Rarible

The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield

Andrew Allen joins us for a chat! We make fun of Rik for being a Cowboys fan, Andrew got robbed at Costco, and we debate some NFL football. Stick around for the fun!

Show Notes:

Person on Orlando ride appeared to question seat restraint before 14-year-old boy fell to his death | CBS News

Number of participants in tackle football in the United States from 2006 to 2018 (in millions) | Statista

The NFL Once Banned All Black Players For 12 Years | Black History