Real samples

How did a Welsh farm boy become the most famous buccaneer of the Caribbean and end up with a rum brand named after him?

Eva Schubert tells the story of Captain Henry Morgan, the privateer who raided Spanish colonies from his base in Port Royal, Jamaica, in the 1660s. The episode covers the rivalry between England and Spain over the Spanish Main, how letters of marque gave pirates a veneer of official permission, and why the governor of Jamaica was happy to look the other way. Then come the raids: a night attack on Portobello using nuns and friars as human shields, the accidental explosion of Morgan's flagship the Oxford, and a narrow escape from a Spanish fleet at Maracaibo using a disguised fireship and a canoe decoy. It ends with Morgan arrested, knighted by Charles II and sent back as deputy governor of Jamaica.

• Why rum became the pirate drink of the Caribbean
• Privateers, buccaneers and corsairs: letters of marque explained
• Cromwell's seizure of Jamaica and Irish indentured servants
• How pirate crews shared plunder under signed articles
• The sack of Portobello and Morgan's letter to the governor of Panama
• The fireship ruse at Maracaibo against Don Alonso's Windward Fleet

What if happiness had less to do with what you believe and more to do with what you notice?

Tokyo-born author, translator and folklorist Hiroko Yoda joins Jason to talk about her book 8 Million Ways to Happiness: Wisdom for Inspiration and Healing from the Heart of Japan. Hiroko explains the old idea of yaoyorozu no kami, or 8 million spiritual beings, and why most Japanese people don't know how to answer the question "Are you religious?" She shares how an exchange year in rural Indiana in the 1980s, plus studies in peace and conflict resolution, shaped her work building bridges between cultures. She also talks about re-engaging with Japanese spiritual traditions after her mother's death, and is honest that none of this makes life easy.

• Why the Japanese word for religion, shukyo, was only coined in the late 19th century
• A Shinto priest's view of kami as a space in your heart you fill with gratitude
• What Shugendo mountain practice teaches about our dependence on nature
• Radical inclusivity: temples and shrines side by side, and the Seven Gods of Happiness
• How to behave respectfully at Japanese shrines and temples, and why Asakusa is a textbook example
• Japan's World Happiness Report ranking, a 107-year-old calligraphy master, and happiness as perspective

Scott Selix left a law career to return to brewing, and now runs recipes at Lua in Des Moines, Iowa, where hazy IPA pays the bills and lager is brewed for love.

Host Jamie Bogner talks with Selix about his path from Big Grove to law school and back, building Lua with partner Zach Dunbar and a Michelin-trained chef, and launching the THC beverage brand Climbing Kites. Selix explains why Lua's flagship hazy IPA, Sun for Miles, is rarely brewed the same way twice, why he thinks the look of a hazy IPA can sell it more than the flavor, and how the brewhouse was designed for decoction, step mashing, and low dissolved oxygen brewing on pale lager.

• Pushing hazy IPA grists to around 65 percent adjunct malt with oat malt and red wheat
• Nelson, Citra, and Galaxy for haze stability, and A72 yeast for a drier finish
• Consumers liking sweet beer they don't perceive as sweet, plus a sulfate-forward water profile
• De-aerating liquor and brewhouse with CO2, decoction, and lagering one week per degree Plato
• A 2.5 percent spelt table lager with Strisselspalt hops, and what "rustic" means in lager
• Cereal-mashing local corn grits for a lime lager served in a frozen mug, with citric acid for balance

A light, take-apart job site workbench sounded simple, until the racking and sagging started.

In this episode of the DW woodworks podcast, I go back over the portable plywood worksite bench from my last video and talk honestly about what went wrong and what might fix it. The idea came from the Kettler-style pop-up bench. Rather than spend 80 pounds, I built my own from a cheap sheet each of half inch and three quarter inch spruce plywood, borrowing the slot-together concept from my old tool caddy and my main slot bench. I assemble it on camera, point out each mistake, and run through possible solutions, from a viewer's suggestion to new joint ideas.

• Why I cut the slots oversized for easy assembly, and how 2 to 3 mm of play led to racking
• Flex in the 12 mm legs and how much bracing is too much for a portable bench
• Tabs and wedges versus a locking centre piece that won't get lost
• Bottom shelf sag, adding a lip, and the weight cost of 3/4 inch ply
• What works well: the bottom shelf for a track saw, drill and impact driver when space is tight on site
• Ideas for storing tracks in the legs and making the bench carry like a suitcase

If you have a better way to solve these problems, leave a comment or send a message.

Katie Schide explains why she runs with almost nothing on her mind, and why that helps.

Recorded live on stage at TrailCon 2026, Rich Roll interviews Katie Schide, a Western States, UTMB and Hardrock champion and two-time Trail Runner of the Year. Katie talks about the summers she spent carrying 50 pounds of supplies up the White Mountains on a wooden pack board, how her relationship with pressure changed after winning big races, and life in a French village of about 50 people. She is open about the plantar fasciitis that has kept her off start lines since October, what it has taught her about flexibility, and how she fills the time. She also covers her training with coach Jason Koop, the pros and cons of living with another professional ultrarunner, and where she wants the sport to go.

• Routine over motivation, and training on perceived exertion ("structured vibes")
• Working with a sports psychologist to manage pre-race anxiety
• Her view that anyone winning Western States or UTMB runs a lot, sometimes fast, and stays healthy
• Keeping race nutrition simple: water, gels, sandwiches, sometimes Coke
• Why she has no interest in 200-mile races
• Rich Roll on sobriety, service and the impact of his work