PODCAST · science
Mind & Matter
by Nick Jikomes
Whether food, drugs or ideas, what you consume influences who you become. Learn directly from the best scientists & thinkers about how your body & mind react to what they're fed. New episodes weekly. Not medical advice. mindandmatter.substack.com
Episodes
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Mitochondria Peptides: MOTS-c, Humanin, Genetic Variation in Health & Disease | Pinchas Cohen | Episode 304
Wide release: Available for free by August 12, 2026, on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, etc. Not medical advice. Nick speaks with Dr. Pinchas Cohen about mitochondrial-encoded microproteins, including humanin and MOTS-c. Cohen discusses how these small peptides regulate metabolism, muscle mass, innate...
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Neuro-Immune Interactions: Pain, Inflammation, Peptides & Healing | Isaac Chiu | Episode 303
Wide release: Available for free by August 5, 2026, on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, etc. Not medical advice. Nick speaks with Harvard neuroimmunologist Dr. Isaac Chiu about bidirectional signaling between nociceptors and immune cells. Dr. Chiu describes how pain-sensing neurons directly detect...
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MOTS-c & Mitochondrial Peptides in Health & Aging | David Lee | Episode 302
Wide release: Available for free by July 30, 2026, on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, etc. Not medical advice. Nick speaks with Dr. David Lee about the mitochondrial-encoded peptide MOTS-c. Lee describes its discovery within the mitochondrial genome, its movement into the nucleus under metabolic stress…
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Peptides & GHK-Copper in Skin Health | Rahi Sarbaziha | Episode 301
Wide release: Available for free by July 22, 2026, on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, etc. Not medical advice. Nick speaks with Dr. Rahi Sarbaziha about GHK copper, a naturally occurring tripeptide that binds copper and participates in skin wound repair and collagen regeneration. Sarbaziha notes that...
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Peptides & Blood-Brain Barrier in Health & Disease | William Banks | Episode 300
Wide release: Available for free by July 15, 2026, on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, etc. Not medical advice. Nick speaks with Dr. William Banks about the blood-brain barrier. Banks, who has spent over 45 years studying it, shows that the barrier is a sophisticated, regulated interface that permits...
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Iron Overload & Lipid Peroxidation in Cell Death & Neurodegenerative Disease | Pamela Maher | Episode 299
Wide release: July 8, 2026. Not medical advice. Nick speaks with Dr. Pamela Maher, research professor at the Salk Institute, about ferroptosis and its contributions to neurodegenerative disease. Maher’s central argument is that chronic exposure to elevated iron or partial glutathione depletion,...
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GLP-1s & Novel Peptides in Obesity, Diabetes & Metabolic Health | Katrin Svensson | Episode 298
Wide release: June 30, 2026. Not medical advice. Nick speaks with Dr. Katrin Svensson, a Stanford physiologist, about peptide hormone biology and its applications to energy regulation and weight loss. Svensson explains the precursor processing that allows one gene to produce different peptides in...
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Deuterium, Metabolic Water & Cancer | Gábor Somlyai | Episode 297
Wide release: June 18, 2026. Not medical advice. Nick speaks with Gábor Somlyai, PhD about the biological role of deuterium, a heavier, non-radioactive isotope of hydrogen present in water and organic molecules. Somlyai’s key argument is that small shifts in the deuterium-hydrogen (D-H) ratio act...
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Do Antioxidant Supplements Promote Cancer? | Isaac Harris | Episode 296
Wide release: June 11, 2026. Not medical advice. Nick speaks with Dr. Isaac Harris about the biology of antioxidants and oxidative stress. Harris shares his lab’s recent work showing that breast cancer tumors catabolize extracellular glutathione to acquire cysteine and support growth. The...
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Opioid Addiction: RNA Biology, Brain Inflammation & Psychedelic Therapy
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mindandmatter.substack.com Wide release: February 19, 2026. Not medical advice. TOPICS DISCUSSED: * Gene regulation basics: DNA transcribes to RNAs, including non-coding types like microRNAs that inhibit mRNA translation into proteins,...
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Estrogen & Body Fat: Menopause, Puberty, Females vs. Males
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit mindandmatter.substack.com Wide release: February 14, 2026. Not medical advice. TOPICS DISCUSSED: * Adipose tissue basics: White fat primarily stores energy in large lipid droplets, while brown fat burns fatty acids for heat via high...
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The Claustrum: Cognition, Consciousness, Alcohol & Psychedelics | 278
Wide release: February 9, 2026. Not medical advice. TOPICS DISCUSSED: * Cerebral cortex structure: Described as a six-layered structure with pyramidal neurons and inhibitory interneurons; information flows between layers and regions to process sensory input and enable complex behaviors. *…
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Psychedelic Neurobiology: Sex-Specific Effects of MDMA & Psilocybin in Addiction & Reward Behavior
Wide release: February 4, 2026. Not medical advice. TOPICS DISCUSSED: * Biased agonism: Different drugs activate the same receptor (e.g., 5-HT2A) but trigger varied intracellular pathways, explaining why LSD is psychedelic while similar lisuride is not. * Enantiomers & isomers: Mirror-image...
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AMPK: Biochemistry of Nutrient Sensing, Fasting, Cell Repair & Growth | Greg Steinberg
Wide release: January 25, 2026. Not medical advice. TOPICS DISCUSSED: * Cellular energy basics: ATP/ADP/AMP as energy currencies; AMP kinase activates on low ATP to conserve and redirect resources, like a budget manager. * AMP kinase mechanics: Heterotrimeric enzyme phosphorylating 100+…
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Farm Food: Soy in Animal Feed, Pesticides, Phytoestrogens, Seed Oils & Regenerative Farming
greags Thank you so much for having me. I always love nerding out about PUFAs in the context of food system inside of our bodies. So I’m excited. Nick Jikomes 03:47 - 03:50 What do you do for a living? Ashley Armstrong 03:50 - 04:06 Yeah, this is confusing. So I was in mechanical engineering in...
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Personalized Nutrition: Individual Responses to Foods, Fiber, Fats & Maternal Health
Wide release: January 14, 2026. Not medical advice. TOPICS DISCUSSED: * Personalized health profiling: Snyder’s lab sequences genomes and measures molecules from blood, urine, and microbiomes to detect diseases early, emphasizing data-driven discovery over assumptions. * Fiber variations and...
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Nutrition Content of Animal & Plant Foods: Beef, Plant-Based Meat, Raw vs. Processed Milk
Wide release: January 9, 2026. Not medical advice. TOPICS DISCUSSED: * Nutrient density profiling: Labs analyze thousands of compounds beyond macros and vitamins; this “dark matter” includes phytonutrients that may support health despite not being essential. * Phytonutrients in foods: Plant...
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Metabolic Effects of Oxidative Stress in Development & Neurodegeneration Disease | Robert Lustig | 272
Wide release: January 4, 2026. Not medical advice. TOPICS DISCUSSED: * Cellular growth vs. burning: Cells alternate between growing (using glucose for building blocks in low-oxygen environments) and burning (generating ATP in mitochondria with oxygen); dysregulation leads to metabolic issues. *…
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Carbohydrates vs Ketosis in Exercise, Fatigue & Sports Science | Andrew Koutnik | 271
Wide release date: December 31, 2025. Not medical advice. TOPICS DISCUSSED: * Insulin as a powerful metabolic hormone: regulates nutrient storage across tissues, overriding others like glucagon to promote fat and glucose storage during abundance. * Glucagon & GLP-1 roles in metabolism: Glucagon...
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Stress & Psilocybin: Effects on Maternal Care & Offspring Development | Danielle Stolzenberg | 270
Wide release date: December 26, 2025. Topics Discussed: * Maternal care behavior in rodents: Nursing, pup retrieval, grooming, and nest-building, essential for altricial pups’ survival; conserved across mammals but varies by species. * Hormonal changes in pregnancy: Estradiol and progesterone…
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Soybean Oil: Obesity, Fatty Liver Disease, Gut Health, IBS & Colitis | Frances Sladek | 269
Wide release date: December 21, 2025. Not medical advice. Topics Discussed: * Historical trends in soybean oil use: Consumption increased dramatically since the 1960s due to farming subsidies, now providing over 10% of calories for many Americans, far exceeding the 1-2% required biologically. *...
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Dietary Fat & Light Regulation of Circadian Biology | Louis Ptacek | 268
Wide release date: December 17, 2025. Topics Discussed: * Evolutionary context of circadian rhythms: All organisms have adapted to Earth’s 24-hour day for survival, with internal clocks slightly offset and adjusted by environmental cues. * Molecular clock mechanism: Involves a feedback loop where...
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Ketosis & BHB: Metabolic Diet Therapies, Brain Cancer & Exercise | Dominic D'Agostino | 267
Wide release date: December 12, 2025. Topics Discussed: * Organs have different fuel preferences: brain strongly prefers glucose, heart prefers fatty acids, skeletal muscle is flexible and likes fat/ketones. * Humans evolved with high metabolic flexibility; regular ketosis was normal for…
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Seed Oils, Chronic Inflammation, Heart Health & Marijuana | Ganesh Halade | 266
Wide release date: December 7, 2025. Topics Discussed: * Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs): Omega-6 from seed oils like safflower and corn can convert to pro-inflammatory molecules, while omega-3s produce resolving ones; imbalance biases toward chronic inflammation. * Inflammation regulation:...
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Evaluating Science: Clinical Trials, Epidemiology, Preclinical Studies & Mendelian Randomization | George Davey Smith | 265
Wide release date: December 2, 2025. Topics Discussed: * Epidemiology basics: Studies disease influences using observational designs like case-control and prospective cohorts, plus trials, to identify patterns and test hypotheses. * Hierarchy of evidence critique: Rejects rigid pyramids favoring...
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Energy Metabolism & Information Processing in the Brain | Luis Felipe Barros | 264
Wide release date: November 26, 2025. Topics Discussed: * Brain energy efficiency: Brains are much more energy-efficient than computers for similar processing, relying on adaptive metabolic strategies evolved under energy scarcity. * Metabolism vs. information processing: Core metabolites like...
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How & Why Mitochondria Make Their Own Fat | Sara Nowinski | 263
Wide release date: November 18, 2025. Episode Summary: Dr. Sara Nowinski explains how mitochondria not only burn fuels to make ATP but also synthesize their own fatty acids inside the matrix; this conserved pathway produces lipoic acid (an essential enzyme cofactor) and longer-chain fats required...
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Hormones & Instincts: Hunger, Aggression & Parenting Behavior | Jonny Kohl | 262
Wide release date: November 7, 2025. Episode Summary: Dr. Johannes Kohl explains instinctive behaviors in mammals, emphasizing how states like hunger and hormonal cycles modulate actions such as parental care; they discuss hypothalamic circuits, hormone integration, and pregnancy-induced brain...
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Mitochondrial Transfer, Obesity & Immune-Metabolism Interactions | Jon Brestoff | 261
Wide release date: November 2, 2025. Episode Summary: Dr. Jon Brestoff talks about mitochondrial dynamics inside cells, their transfer between unrelated cells (distinct from inheritance during division), and its roles in adipose tissue communication, macrophage cleanup, and systemic metabolic...
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Energy Resistance Principle in Life, Healing & Disease | Martin Picard & Nirosha Murugan | 260
Wide release date: October 28, 2025. Episode Summary: A reframe of biology as energy flow through resistance rather than mere molecular machinery, introducing the Energy Resistance Principle (ERP): life requires a Goldilocks balance of electron flow from food to oxygen via mitochondria; too much…
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Menstrual & Lunar Cycle Synchrony, Circadian Rhythms | Charlotte Förster | 259
Wide release date: October 20, 2025. Episode Summary: Dr. Förster talks about how biological clocks, including circadian, tidal, lunar, and annual cycles, regulate behaviors in various species, with a focus on lunar cycle effects on human menstrual cycles. They explore historical and modern data...
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Evolution of Bipedality, Human Pelvis, Muscle & Brain | Terence Capellini | 258
Wide release date: October 15, 2025. Episode Summary: Dr. Terence Capellini talks about the evolution of bipedalism in humans, exploring when and why it emerged, the anatomical changes required, and the genetic mechanisms behind these adaptations. They discuss how environmental shifts, like...
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Sleep, Mitochondrial Metabolism & Oxidative Stress | Gero Miesenbock | 257
Wide release date: October 10, 2025. Episode Summary: Dr. Gero Miesenböck discusses the evolutionary and metabolic basis of sleep, exploring how mitochondrial energy production in neurons, particularly in fruit flies, drives the need for sleep to manage harmful byproducts like reactive oxygen...
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Bacterial Infection, Oral Hygiene, Atherosclerosis & Heart Disease | Pekka Karhunen | 256
Wide release date: October 6, 2025. Episode Summary: Dr. Pekka Karhunen explains the connection between oral bacteria, cholesterol, and cardiovascular disease, discussing how oxidized LDL cholesterol triggers inflammation in arteries, how bacteria from the mouth can infiltrate arterial plaques to...
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Unlocking Energy: How Nutrition & Drugs Impact Your Mitochondria | Chris Masterjohn | 255
Wide release date: October 1, 2025. Episode Summary: Dr. Chris Masterjohn talks about the intricate relationships between nutrition, prescription drugs, and mitochondrial health, discussing how molecules like acetaminophen and SSRIs affect the body beyond their intended purposes, particularly...
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How Genes & Environment Shape Your Brain: ApoE, Alzheimer's & Space Radiation | Jacob Raber | 254
Wide release date: September 26, 2025. Note: technical difficulties affected the audio quality of this recording somewhat. Episode Summary: Dr. Jacob Raber explains how apolipoproteins, particularly ApoE, influence brain health and disease risk; their role in cholesterol metabolism, Alzheimer’s...
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Maternal Obesity, Immune System, Fatty Liver Disease & Epigenetics | Elvira Mass | 253
Wide release date: September 21, 2025 Episode Summary: Dr. Elvira Mass talks about macrophages, specialized immune cells that vary by tissue and play crucial roles beyond fighting infections, such as supporting organ function; Kupffer cells (liver macrophages) and how maternal obesity during...
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Scarring, Fibrosis, Oxidative Stress, and Psilocybin & Aging | Louise Hecker | 252
Wide release date: September 16, 2025 Episode Summary: Dr. Louise Hecker discusses her research on tissue repair and regeneration, explaining how fibroblasts drive wound healing by forming scar tissue but fail to resolve properly with age, leading to fibrotic diseases like pulmonary fibrosis and...
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Protein Restriction & Liver Hormones: Appetite, Brain, Behavior | Chris Morrison | 251
Wide release date: September 12, 2025 Episode Summary: Dr. Christopher Morrison talks about how animals sense and prioritize nutrients like protein, discussing defense mechanisms for essentials such as oxygen, water, sodium, and energy; the brain's role in detecting protein deprivation via…
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Cognition, Form, Regeneration & Metaphysics: Does Biology Arise From Math? | Michael Levin | 250
Wide release date: September 7, 2025 Episode Summary: Dr. Michael Levin talks about cognition manifesting at scales beyond brains, including in cells and tissues via bioelectric networks; analog vs. digital coding in biology; how bioelectric patterns guide development and regeneration (e.g., in...
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Fructose, Microglia, Anxiety & Brain Development | Justin Perry | 249
Wide release date: September 3, 2025 Episode Summary: Dr. Justin Perry talks about the body's constant cellular turnover—about 3 million cells die per second in adults (double in children and women)—handled by phagocytes like macrophages that engulf and digest debris to prevent diseases like…
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Autism, Acetaminophen (Tylenol) & Oxidative Stress | William Parker | 248
Wide release date: August 29, 2025 Episode Summary: Dr. William Parker talks about autism spectrum disorder (ASD), its rising prevalence since the 1980s, and the controversial hypothesis that acetaminophen exposure in susceptible infants and children triggers most cases via oxidative stress. They...
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Cholesterol: Immune Benefits, Heart Health, Statins & Research Malpractice | Uffe Ravnskov | 247
Wide release date: August 25, 2025 Episode Summary: Dr. Uffe Ravnskov talks about his decades-long career challenging the idea that high cholesterol causes heart disease, discussing LDL's protective role in the immune system by binding to bacteria, the harms and biases in statin research…
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Appendix, Gut Worms, Allergies & Autoimmunity | William Parker | 246
Wide release date: August 18, 2025 Episode Summary: Dr. William Parker discusses gut anatomy, the appendix's role in harboring beneficial bacterial biofilms and immune tissue, and how modern hygiene depletes helminths (intestinal worms), causing immune overreactions like allergies, autoimmunity,...
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Cannabinoid System: Metabolism, Evolution & Energy Storage | Giovanni Marsicano | 245
Wide release date: August 13, 2025 Episode Summary: Dr. Giovanni Marsicano is a neuroscientist based in Bordeaux, France, where he leads a research group at INSERM focusing on the endocannabinoid system. About the guest: Giovanni Marsicano, PhD discusses the endocannabinoid system, starting with...
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Seed Oils & Heart Disease: Oxidized LDL, Cholesterol, Fat & Cardiology | Tucker Goodrich | 244
Wide release date: August 7, 2025 Episode Summary: Tucker Goodrich is an engineer by training who has become a prominent independent researcher and blogger on nutrition and metabolic health, focusing on the harms of seed oils and polyunsaturated fats. About the guest: Nick Jikomes and Tucker...
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Evolution & Variation in Human Diet, Energy Expenditure & Metabolism | Herman Pontzer | 243
Wide release date: August 1, 2025 Episode Summary: Anthropologist Dr. Herman Pontzer discusses human evolution and metabolism, comparing humans to primates like chimps and gorillas to explain our higher energy use, bigger brains, and longer lives despite trade-offs in reproduction and activity;...
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Sunlight: Cosmology, Energy Metabolism & the Physics of Life | Robert Fosbury | 242
Wide release date: July 27, 2025 Episode Summary: Astrophysicist Dr. Robert Fosbury discusses the sun's characteristics as a star, its analogies to living systems via entropy and complexity, and Erwin Schrödinger's insights on life as order-maintaining entities; he explores how near-infrared…
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Synapse Energetics & Fat Metabolism in the Brain | Timothy Ryan | 241
Wide release date: July 23, 2025 Episode Summary: Dr. Timothy Ryan talks about the high energy costs of synapses, the role of mitochondria and glycolysis, and challenge the long-held view that the brain relies solely on glucose by discussing new evidence that neurons burn fats from lipid droplets...
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Microbiome as a Modifiable Organ System | Eugene Chang | 240
Wide release date: July 18, 2025 Episode Summary: Dr. Eugene Chang talks about the microbiome’s role as a vital organ, the impacts of antibiotics and Western diets on microbial health, and strategies for restoring a damaged microbiome through diet and fecal microbial transplants. They delve into...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Whether food, drugs or ideas, what you consume influences who you become. Learn directly from the best scientists & thinkers about how your body & mind react to what they're fed. New episodes weekly. Not medical advice.
mindandmatter.substack.com
HOSTED BY
Nick Jikomes
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Mind & Matter have?
Mind & Matter currently has 265 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Mind & Matter about?
Whether food, drugs or ideas, what you consume influences who you become. Learn directly from the best scientists & thinkers about how your body & mind react to what they're fed. New episodes weekly. Not medical advice. mindandmatter.substack.com
How often does Mind & Matter release new episodes?
Mind & Matter publishes regularly with 265 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to Mind & Matter?
You can listen to Mind & Matter on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Mind & Matter?
Mind & Matter is created and hosted by Nick Jikomes.
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