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Scholé Sisters: Camaraderie for Classical Homeschooling Mamas

Our goal is to cultivate the maximum number of thinking moms we can. This podcast is for classical homeschooling mamas who yearn for something more than just checking boxes and getting it all done. We discuss topics that matter to those of us who believe that educating ourselves through reading widely, thinking deeply, and applying faithfully equips us for the task of educating our children.
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Scholé Sisters: Camaraderie for Classical Homeschooling Mamas
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Now displaying: Page 2
Oct 14, 2022

Today’s episode is the final in our three-part series designed to get you started on forming an educational philosophy. Whether you have been studying philosophy for years, or you are brand new to classical homeschooling, you are going to LOVE today’s discussion, which explores what a well-educated person is like.

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Have you joined the Scholé Sistership yet? We're about to start our newest Sophie Seminar, TechTonic! Together, we’re going to read our way around the issues surrounding screen time so that we'll all be better equipped to make just judgments about this issue. After all, informed opinions are the only opinions worth having. Head on over to scholesisters.com/join and sign up for the Sophie plan to join in!

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Sep 23, 2022

Today’s episode is the second in our three-part series designed to help you get started forming an educational philosophy. Whether you have been studying philosophy for years, or you are brand new to classical homeschooling, you are going to LOVE today’s discussion, which centers on the definition of education.

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Are you as excited about this year’s local online retreats as we are?? It’s coming up very soon, but it’s not too late to sign up to host a local retreat of your own. Just grab our digital hostess kit and start planning. Our Homeschool Essentials retreats are perfect for homeschool mom groups, even if not all your members are classical or Charlotte Mason. This year we’ll be talking all things habits and habit training. To register to be a hostess, or just to attend, head over to scholesisters.com/habit and sign up!

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Sep 9, 2022

Today’s episode is the first in three-part series designed to get you started on forming an educational philosophy. Whether you have been studying philosophy for years, or you are brand new to classical homeschooling, you are going to LOVE today’s discussion, which centers on the nature of man.

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Are you as excited about this year’s local online retreats as we are??? The physical delivered-in-your-mail hostess kits have sold out just like Brandy predicted, BUT this doesn’t mean you can't still sign up as a hostess. If you want to host, just grab the digital hostess kit and start planning your own local retreat. It’s the perfect thing for the homeschool mom group even if not all your members are classical or Charlotte Mason. This year we’ll be talking all things habits and habit training. To register to be a hostess, or just to attend, head over to scholesisters.com/habit and sign up!

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Aug 12, 2022

In today’s episode, Mystie, Abby, and Brandy discuss the new retreat format and why we love it, what’s different compared to last year, and also take a deep dive into this year’s theme, habits, by discussing what Aristotle had to say about habit in Nichomachean Ethics. We hope you’re ready to geek out about habits with us because that’s what today is all about!

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Are you interested in hosting one of our annual online local retreats?? We are SO EXCITED about this year’s plan! Mystie has gone above and beyond to make hosting dreamy for you. The real – yes: delivered in your mail – hostess kit has exclusive swag for you and your guests, plus all the papers and supplies to make it fun and simple. It’s the perfect thing for the homeschool mom group, even if not all your members are classical or Charlotte Mason. This year at the retreat, we’ll be talking all things habits and habit training. To register to be a hostess or just to attend, head over to scholesisters.com/habit and sign up!

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Jul 29, 2022

Our special guest today is Danielle Cyrus. Danielle was a pre-law student when God disrupted her plans and led her to education. She has 4 children and has been married to Grant for 20 years. She began homeschooling as her oldest reached school age and has been neck deep in books ever since. Danielle is a tutor in the Classical Conversations Essentials program and has led various home-education support groups and retreats on Classical and Charlotte Mason philosophies. She is passionate about fostering supportive community for home-educating parents.

Danielle has been hosting a local Scholé Sisters retreat for years so Abby and Brandy thought it’d be great to get together with her for a bit and discuss the ins and outs of of hosting a local retreat, and get her to explain why she loves retreats so much. Danielle gives plenty of helpful tips along the way so listen up!

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May 20, 2022

Our special guest this week is Melissa Cummings. Melissa and her husband Steven are second generation Christian homeschooling parents of five. She directs a Classical Christian homeschool co-op in her rural community, and also manages to pull off the annual Paideia Northwest conference for mamas raising kids for Christ. You can find her at JoyfulDomesticity.com.

In today’s episode, Mystie and Brandy talk with Melissa about creating and nurturing community. Trust us, Melissa knows how it’s done! She built a thriving homeschool community in her own backyard! Building a homeschool community takes time and energy, which is why we don’t just ask Melissa about building community – we ask her how to know if it’s worth the sacrifice.

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This summer, Scholé Sisters will be hosting some workshops led by Melissa who plans to walk us through what it takes to build a community, whether it be large or small. These workshops will be FREE for Sistership Sophie members! Just go to scholesisters.com/sisters to sign up.

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May 6, 2022

So many people are turning to homeschooling these days, and the first question they usually ask is about curriculum – what should they use and how should they use it. In today’s episode, Mystie and Brandy discuss why it’s useful to back up and talk about why everyone needs a philosophy and how to go about building one.

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Earlier this week on Tuesday, Scholé Sisters hosted our annual Spring Training. Our coach this year was Dr. Carl Trueman, professor of biblical and religious studies from Grove City College. He gave us an amazing history lesson on Marx and Marxism and answered a lot of great questions at the end. Replays are available, and if you sign up shortly after this episode comes out, you’ll still have time to register and attend our live debriefing session with Mystie, Abby, and Brandy on May 10th. Just go to scholesisters.com/true to register.

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Apr 22, 2022

To prepare for today’s episode, Abby, Mystie, and Brandy read the first two chapters of Charlotte Mason’s third volume, School Education, which is all about authority. Our conversation centers on trying to grasp exactly what is unhealthy authority, what is healthy authority, and then how do we fight the anti-authority culture we live in? It was s a great discussion!

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Are you ready for this year’s Spring Training? In seeking to understand the times we are in, we have hired as this year’s coach Dr. Carl Trueman, professor of biblical and religious studies from Grove City College. Dr. Trueman is the author of the remarkable book The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self. Understanding the times helps us prepare our children, yes, but also prepares US to live counterculturally with confidence. Dr. Trueman is the perfect coach to help us understand how to navigate these strange cultural waters. Just go to scholesisters.com/true to register.

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Apr 8, 2022

Our guest today is Brett Stroud. Brett is the President of Providence Classical Academy in Bakersfield, California. He is a graduate of the Torrey Honors Institute, a great books program at Biola University, and of the Pepperdine University School of Law. The mission of Providence Classical Academy is “To provide the children entrusted to its care with a liberal education grounded in the Christian scriptures and the Western tradition, with the goal of forming godly, virtuous, self-governing men and women.”

Today’s episode is something of an intervention. It looked like Abby was going to abandon politics altogether and so, naturally, Brandy got a lawyer and came to the rescue. You will love not just that is worked … but HOW it worked!

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Are you ready for this year’s Spring Training? We are SO excited to invite you to join us LIVE for the Excellent Marxmanship Spring Training. This year’s coach is the one and only Dr. Carl Trueman, professor of biblical and religious studies from Grove City College. Dr. Trueman is the author of the remarkable book The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self. We need to understand the times so we can prepare our children, yes, but also so that we can be prepared to live counter-culturally with confidence. Dr. Trueman is the perfect coach to help us understand how to navigate these strange cultural waters. Just go to scholesisters.com/true to register.

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Mar 25, 2022

In today’s episode, Brandy, Pam, Mystie, and Abby discuss the idea that classical education “makes you more human.” Depending on what you think this means, the phrase can come off as offensive, in conflict with Charlotte Mason’s assertion that children are born persons, and more. Because of this, they’re taking a deep dive into what this really means and why they think it matters.

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Do you want to enhance your reading? We’ve still got some copies of our 5x5 challenge reading journal in the shop! The Scholé Sisters 5x5 Journal helps you read, review, understand, and assess. It is designed to help you go deeper in your reading and thinking. Stop waiting for the right time or pen or month! The time is now — start building habits of thinking and cultivate your intellectual life. Go to scholesisters.com/journal and get your copy today.

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Mar 11, 2022

Our special guest today is the one and only Gregory Wilbur! Greg is founder and president of New College Franklin—a Christian college that concentrates on the classics and the seven liberal arts with a discussion-based approach and spiritual formation. In addition to teaching and developing curriculum, his current academic focus is advancing the disciplines of the Quadrivium by bringing together leading voices in its renewal. An award-winning musician, Greg has released seven albums of his compositions of congregational psalms, hymns and service music as well as theatrical musicals and film scores, and his hymns can be found in more than ten hymnals. Having taught for almost thirty years, he is a frequent speaker on music, the Quadrivium, arts, liturgy, and worship and serves as Chief Musician and liturgist at Cornerstone Presbyterian Church in Franklin, TN. Greg, his wife, Sophia, and daughter, Eleanor, enjoy travel, reading, cooking, taking walks and life in middle Tennessee.

In today’s episode, Mystie and Brandy dig interrogate Greg about music. In The Liberal Arts Tradition, music appears twice: once as a sort of poetic mode of knowing, and later as a liberal art that looks suspiciously like math. We want to know where instruments come in.

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It’s not too late to join the Excellent Marxmanship seminar going on now in the Sistership. Excellent Marxmanship is all about Marx with an X – and how he has made his marx (pun intended!) on the world around us. To join us as we read Plutarch, the Communist Manifesto, and more, go to scholesisters.com/marx

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Feb 25, 2022

In today’s episode, Abby, Mystie, and Brandy dig into Josef Pieper’s lesser-known work Abuse of Language, Abuse of Power. They end up spending a lot of time on the idea of flattery which is … super uplifting. The good news is that they decide in the end that what we are already doing in classical education works for this issue, too!

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It’s not too late to join the Excellent Marxmanship seminar going on now in the Sistership. We are already learning lots and having a great time. Excellent Marxmanship is all about Marx with an X – and how he has made his marx (pun intended!) on the world around us. To join us as we read Plutarch, the Communist Manifesto, and more, go to scholesisters.com/marx

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Feb 11, 2022

Welcome back to Scholé Sisters. Today kicks off our 17th season of the show. This episode has been SIX YEARS in the making! It’s our one hundredth episode! In honor of 100 episodes and also over a MILLION downloads, Mystie went through and figured out our top five most-referenced books. Today we’re sharing a little bit of the personal history of the podcast, and then we jump into these top five books and tell you why you should own them, too.

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On Monday, February 7th our Excellent Marxmanship seminar started up in the Sistership. It’s not too late for you to come and join us! Excellent Marxmanship is Marx with an X – and how he has made his marx (pun intended!) on the world around us. Join us as we read Plutarch, the Communist Manifesto, and more. You’ll be glad you did!

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Dec 3, 2021

Today is our annual so-called Christmas episode, and the least Christmassy one we’ve ever done. Oops. No matter! We were all together in Idaho and recorded this conversation, inspired by chapter 3 of the book The Supper of the Lamb just for you. It might not be super Christmassy, but we like to think this episode is a gift nonetheless.

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Please note: If you are not in the Sistership, you are really missing out! Our 2021 Sophie Christmas gift came out this week. It’s a Plutarch resource you will NOT want to miss. The annual gift is only available until January 6th, so go grab yours ASAP. We will also be giving away the prizes for 5x5 Challenge Finishers soon so watch for instructions on how to get that. There is also ... so much more! Why don’t you just head over to scholesisters.com/sistership and join us?

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Nov 12, 2021

Today’s episode is the second of the two that we are doing that cover ideas from CS Lewis’ book The Abolition of Man – more specifically from his first essay in that book, entitled "Men Without Chests." If you haven’t listened to episode 97 yet, we recommend you go back and do so before listening to this one. Today we’re discussing yet another phrase that gets thrown around in classical circles: ordo amoris, or, in English, ordering the affections.

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The end of the year is sneaking up on us and with it comes the end of our annual 5x5 Reading Challenge. There will be prizes available for finishers, of course! Do you long for some accountability to help you get your reading done? Some interesting discussion? General help finishing strong? All of that and more is available inside the Scholé Sistership. Just go to scholesisters.com/sistership and join us!

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Oct 29, 2021

Today’s episode is the first of two that we (Brandy, Pam, Mystie, and Abby) are doing that covers ideas from CS Lewis’ book The Abolition of Man – more specifically from his first essay in that book, entitled Men Without Chests. This book contains a lot of terminology that gets thrown around in classical circles and we’re going to tackle those definitions together!

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Announcement: We are doing reading journals again this year! (The real, physical copies that we sold out of so quickly last year.) They are going to have the same great layout you have come to love, which helps you make a reading plan, track your progress, and also improve in your ability to process and review a book. The cover will be updated so that you can tell last year’s copy from this year’s copy on your shelf. Make sure you are in the Sistership so you can be one of the first to know when it's available in the shop. Just go to scholesisters.com/sistership to join.

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Oct 15, 2021

Today, Mystie, Pam, Abby and Brandy toss around the question of whether or not virtue can be taught. This can be a controversial subject, but we think you’ll find it is worth talking about rather than avoiding.

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Last Saturday was our annual retreat and it went SO WELL. It was so refreshing to spend a whole day thinking about memory and remembering, why it’s essential for education, and how we can incorporate it into our educational process. If you missed you, replays are STILL available! In fact, you can even still host a group; it just won’t be live, and you’ll use the replays instead. If you want to get in on the 2021 annual retreat, head on over to scholesisters.com/memory and sign up.

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Oct 1, 2021

Our guest today is Dr. Christopher Schlect. Dr. Schlect has been a fellow of history at New Saint Andrews College for many years where he teaches courses in ancient and medieval civilizations, US history, the history of American Christianity, medieval education, and Classical Rhetoric, among other subjects. Dr. Schlect is the Director of New Saint Andrews College’s graduate program in Classical and Christian Studies and also serves classical and Christian Schools around the country through his consulting and teacher training activities.

Mystie and Brandy cornered Dr. Schlect and demanded an answer to that strangely confounding question: What is a liberal art? What followed was wonderful thoughts on what liberal arts are, what they are for, how to use them, and much encouragement for homeschooling moms like all of us.

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If you are listen to this episode right when it comes out, the big thing you need to know is that our annual fall retreat is coming up NEXT WEEKEND! We have been preparing something super special and we cannot wait to share it with you. We are meditating on the idea of memory and its connection to education – you might even say that this whole retreat is a response to Hugh of St Victor’s assertion that without memory there is NO education. Memory is essential, which means it pays to spend time thinking about it. We hope you join us for a rich feast of ideas and practices on Saturday October 9. Go to scholesisters.com/memory to register.

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Sep 17, 2021

Our guest today is Betsy Farquhar. A Southerner by birth, Betsy currently lives in the Northwest with her Renaissance man husband and their three amazing teenagers. She’s the managing editor for Redeemed Reader where she and her team read ahead FOR you and review new books for children and teens. Betsy learned to make bread with her grandmother at age 11, owns several cast iron skillets, and believes running out of butter is a bonafide emergency. She still calls her mother regularly for advice about dinner and life.

This year as the New Year rang in, Betsy and a friend gave themselves a cooking challenge: cook like it’s 1999, which basically means very little internet. Along the way, Betsy has learned about a lot more than cooking. From digital noise to treating the art of educating a bit like a recipe, we think you will LOVE her thoughts.

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Remember: our fall retreat is all about MEMORY. Will we cover ideas about memory WORK? Yes. Will we cover the topic far beyond those narrow bounds? Also yes. Head on over to scholesisters.com/memory register and prepare to think about memory like never before.

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Sep 3, 2021

Our guest today is Karen Harris. Karen Harris is married to Wes and is the homeschooling mother to 10 children. She and her family love to read, travel, and have adventures together. The author of "A Happy Mother of Children: Disciplines of Happiness," Karen continues to write and learn from her home in Maryland.

Karen and a friend have been on a mission to give themselves the classical education they never received using Susan Wise Bauer’s plan from her book The Well-Educated Mind. Abby and Brandy were SO inspired by Karen’s story of burnout and revival that they couldn't wait to share with you!

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Memory is an essential ingredient in our homeschools.​ We homeschool moms worry if we're doing it right, if we're doing it enough, if it's going to work at all. Want to sort out your ideas about memory in education? Come to the Scholé Sisters retreat — ​Homeschool Essentials: Memory —​ and rest assured that no matter how imperfect our efforts, they are all worthwhile. After the retreat day — which is basically a homeschool mom in-service — you will reenter your homeschool with renewed vigor and vitality and vision. Go to scholesisters.com/memory to register!

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Aug 20, 2021

Today, Brandy, Mystie, Pam, and Abby are tackling the big issue of censorship. They attempt to juxtapose some thoughts from Plato and John Milton and pursue questions like what is censorship, why would we do it, and when we should avoid it.

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If you want to dig into this topic with more depth and practical advice, you'll love our Spring Training event taught by Rosaria Butterfield: Intellectual Hospitality. We only have so much time with our kids at home. Whether or not we censor particular books, we still have to choose where our time and energy will go, which books we will buy and read, and what to prioritize during our school hours. Rosaria's sessions are down-to-earth, relatable, and practical. Intellectual Hospitality is your next step to dig into today's topic. Find it at scholesisters.com/hospitality

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Jul 16, 2021

This special summer season is one episode long and all about our annual retreat. We are in the process of making some major changes to it, all of which we think you’re going to love. The purpose of the retreat has always been to foster, first and foremost, real life community. We’ve taken steps to make that time of homeschool fellowship even better than before.

Want to know more about it? Listen up! Pam, Mystie, Abby and Brandy are discussing all the many changes they’ve come up with so far and explaining the how and why behind them. You’re going to be as excited as they are about it!

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Don’t leave without registering for this year’s retreat! As you just heard, the new topic is Homeschool Essentials and this year’s theme is Memory. This retreat is going to be so much fun. Registration is open TODAY and you know you hostesses want to get your hands on that awesome hostess pack so go to scholesisters.com/memory to get yours. Early bird pricing ends August 6th, so don’t delay!

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May 21, 2021

In today’s episode, Pam, Mystie, Abby, and Brandy discuss portions of Saint Augustine’s book On Christian Doctrine that deal with the need for background knowledge in order to read with understanding, especially understanding metaphors. This was a very fun reading assignment!

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Don’t forget to become a Sophie level member of the Sistership! You will get our Spring Training sessions with Rosaria Butterfield this month, along with access to all the other wonderful things going on, AND our annual summer gear! Click here to sign up.

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May 7, 2021

Renee Shepherd is back with us again today. Renee and her husband, who were both homeschooled, are now homeschooling their six children. She is currently finishing her graduate degree in Classical Christian Studies at New Saint Andrews College, where her favorite things to study are theology, Latin, and literature.

Renee brought a lesser known article by Dorothy Sayers to our attention, and that’s what Mystie and Brandy are discussing with her today. We think you will be interested in how it rounds out what Sayers said in her well known Lost Tools of Learning.

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Spring Training is coming up later this month!

Registration is open for our annual Spring Training. Our coach is the one and only Rosaria Butterfield, author of a number of wonderful books, including The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert and The Gospel Comes with a House Key. We asked Rosaria to coach us on what we like to call Intellectual Hospitality. How do we read classics with discernment, handle disagreements with grace, or confront inconsistency & error with love? Rosaria is going to help us with all that and more. Just click here to register.

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Apr 23, 2021

In today’s episode, Pam, Mystie, Abby, and Brandy break down the transition to independent work from preschool all the way to high school and beyond. This conversation gives us a lot to think about!

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Spring Training is coming up next month!

Registration is now open for our annual Spring Training Our coach this year is the one and only Rosaria Butterfield, author of a number of wonderful books, including The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert and The Gospel Comes with a House Key. We have asked Rosaria to coach us on what we like to call Intellectual Hospitality. How do we read classics with discernment, handle disagreements with grace, or confront inconsistency & error with love? Rosaria is going to help us with all that and more. Just click here to register.

***

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