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Ah Caloroga Shark Media. Hello and welcome to Powers Intrigue
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gam your host Mark Francis. Meghan Michael has reportedly ended
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Netflix's involvement in her lifestyle brand as Ever and plans
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to run the venture independently. Netflix had partnered in the
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business when it launched about a year ago, providing staff
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and development support. The brand sells products including fruit spread,
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rose wine, herbal tea, flower sprinkles, and leather bookmarks. According
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to reports, the Duchess of Sussex decided to take full
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control of the company as it prepares for further expansion.
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A source told The Son Meghan is still on good
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terms with the Netflix team and close personal friends with Ted,
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so she hasn't wanted to upset him, but it's very
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happy to have full control of the company. It's a
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good time for Megan to have complete control given recent successes.
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The source added Netflix have been a good partner. She's
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wanted to go global with the brand for some time,
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but has been held back by the more cautious Netflix team.
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A spokesperson four has Ever confirmed the change. As Ever
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is grateful for Netflix's partnership through launch. In our first year,
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we have experienced meaningful and rapid growth, and as Ever
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is now ready to stand on its own. We have
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an exciting year ahead and can't wait to share more.
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Netflix also described the split as amicable. Megan's passion for
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elevating everyday moments in beautiful yet simple ways inspired the
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creation of the as Ever brand, and we are glad
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to have played a role in bringing that vision to life,
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A spokesperson said, as it was always intended, Megan will
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continue growing the brand and take it into its next
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chapter independently. The decision comes several months after Megan's Netflix
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series With Love Megan was not renewed after two seasons.
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Traffic to the as Ever website has reportedly been rising.
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Data cited by Newsweek showed visits increasing from one hundred
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ninety six thousand in October to two hundred and sixty
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eight thousand in January. Despite the spin, somethink Netflix is
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the one who broke up with Megan, An industry source
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told Page six her show did not go on, so
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it did not make sense to continue the partnership. Page
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six also quotes a source of saying we can expect
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to see seasonal specials of With Love Megan, which we
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will believe when we see it. Social media users were
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not buying the notion that Megan entered the partnership. One wrote,
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Meghan tried to clean she had walked away, but Netflix
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confirms it has dumped the talentless grifter. Another epic failed
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by the fraud. Another said if as Ever was doing Gangbusters,
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they'd want to stake. Netflix is letting it go willingly
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to get rid of the dead weight. And in regard
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to Meghan Markel, we can tell she's taking the reins
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because the branding, marketing and social media strategy sucks. Going
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global is not going to fix her problems. It'll just
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exacerbate them. If Netflix didn't want to take the brand
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global so fast, there was good reason. If the products
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are not moving well in the US, it's not going
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to be much better elsewhere. Madam is just living in
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the land of delusion, and Netflix is tired of the
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insanity and letting her fall flat on her face, which
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I believe is exactly what will happen. Even mainstream media
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was not kind. The Hollywood Reporter went with the headline
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Netflix exits Megan Markle's sixty four dollars cented candles business
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Archwell's first look deal just got weird. The Hollywood Reporter
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also got in the sentence. The fifteen dollars fruit spread
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split comes about seven months after Netflix downgraded Markel's production
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deal from an overall to a first look, which makes
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us think they would be good writers for this podcast.
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Eric Schiffer, chairman of Reputation Management Consultants, told Page six
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that Netflix distancing itself from the brand sends a troubling
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signal to potential collaborators. He said, this is a celebrity
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brand suicide in a cashmere apron. Losing Netflix on as ever,
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is a brutal backlash because the halo just got ripped
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off and what's left looks like another failed Montecito money grab.
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The pattern starts looking like lethally unwise brand management. For Megan,
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losing Netflix is the kiss of death to the pitch
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that prestige partners still see unlimited upside in network land.
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Repeated breakups leave a repulsive scent. She now carries the
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scent of high maintenance disappointment, and that is rat poison.
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When executives are already gun shy. If I were advising them,
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I'd amputate the empire fantasy and build one excellent, repeat
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purchase business that doesn't need royal smoke machines more powers
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in just a moment. Meghan and Harry have launched a
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wide range of business ventures since stepping back from royal
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duties in twenty twenty, but several of those projects have
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struggled or failed to meet expectations. One early setback came
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with Meghan's twenty twenty one children's book The Bench. The book,
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based on a poem she wrote for Harry about fatherhood,
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reportedly received a large advance, but failed to break into
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the UK official Top fifty during its debut week and
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later stalled on best seller charts. The couple also saw
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a high profile media partnership collapse in twenty twenty three,
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when Spotify entered its twenty million dollar deal with the
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Archbell Audio company. Meghan's podcast Archetypes produced just thirteen episodes
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and did not return for a second season. Spotify executive
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Bill Simmons later criticized the pair, calling them lazy and
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effing grifters. Her second podcast with Lemonade Media seemed to
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be equally unsuccessful. Meghan's lifestyle brand also faced several challenges.
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Originally launched as American riv Era Orchard. The brand was
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later renamed as Ever after trademark issues. The company encountered
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further complications with paperwork submitted to the US Patent and
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Trademark Office and criticism of its branding. One product, and
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apricot spread, was mocked by jam expert Donna Collins, who said,
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it's a real disappointment that Megan is selling a fruit spread,
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which is what you make when your jam fails. The
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Duchess's Netflix lifestyle series with Love Megan also struggled during
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its second season. After a middling first season, the follow
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up reportedly drew about five hundred thousand fewer viewers and
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failed to reach Netflix's top ten list. Critics were harsh
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as well, with Lucy Mengan of The Guardian calling the
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show boring, painfully contrived, and so effortfully whimsical. The couple's
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charitable organization also faced difficulties. Archwell Philanthropies lost several senior
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staff members in twenty twenty five and reportedly reduced staffing significantly.
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Financial filings showed the organization spent about five point one
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million dollars while bringing in about two point one million
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in donations. Meanwhile, several entertainment projects connected to their Archwell
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Productions company have remained stalled. A planned adaptation of the
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novel Meet Me at the Lake, for which Netflix reportedly
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paid about three million dollars for the rights, has remained
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in development for years without a director or cast. Another
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adaptation based on Jasmine Guillery's The Wedding Date has also
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reportedly stalled. Meghan shared a lifestyle message with subscribers to
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her as Ever brand just hours after news broke that
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the company had parted ways with Netflix. The Duchess of
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Sussex's team sent an email titled three mood Boosting Daily Rituals,
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offering what is described as simple steps to brighten any day.
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The message included photos of Megan, including one with her children,
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Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. The first suggestion encouraged readers
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to spend time with loved ones. The email read, embrace
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a loved one. Begin the morning by sharing a moment
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with someone dear to you. The second tip focused on
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personal quiet time. Take a moment for yourself, light a
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candle or linger with a chapter of a good book
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before the day begins. Mark your place for later. The
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hold that Thought leather bookmark. It was unclear if said
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candle needs to be a sixty five dollar candle, or
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if any old candle will do. The third suggestion promoted
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one of the brand's food products, Share something sweet, sprinkle
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flour sprinkles over blueberry pancakes, or add a spoonful of
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strawberry spread and cream to warm golden toast. Megan faced
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a new criticism after its latest product launch sold out
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almost immediately, prompting questions about the company's strategy and inventory planning.
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The Duchess of Sussex announced the release of a limited
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edition leather bookmark through the band's Instagram account at around
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five oh three pm on Friday. By five oh four pm,
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the product was already listed as sold out on the
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website and could not be added to customers' baskets. The
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item featured a new phrase, hold that thought, which the
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brand described as a reminder that not everything needs to
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be finished at once. A pause, mid page, mid idea,
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mid evening. The bookmark was launched alongside three themed products
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sets intended for quiet hours, golden afternoons, and evenings that
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settle slowly. It is unclear whether the rapid sellout was
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due to extremely limited inventory or a possible website glitch,
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but the pattern has raised questions among branding observers. PR
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expert Renee Smith tells The Express that repeated sellouts could
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signal deeper operational issues rather than overwhelming demand. Smith said
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demand forecasting is not especially complex in twenty twenty six.
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You can analyze waitlists, traffic data, and social signals. If
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you are repeatedly caught short, that's not mystique, it's mismanagement.
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The criticism comes despite signs of increased interest in the brand.
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Smith said that while website traffic growth is encouraging, it
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does not necessarily indicate strong long term performance. A thirty
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six percent traffic increase from October to January's solid growth
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on paper for a relatively new lifestyle brand without a
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traditional retail footprint. That's respectable. Traffic is not the same
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as track. What matters more is conversion rate, repeat purchase behavior,
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and inventory management. She added that extremely fast sellouts can
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sometimes be misleading without knowing how many items were actually available.
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We've seen items sell out in minutes, including the recent
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bookmark that reportedly went in under a minute. That can
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mean high demand, but it can also mean extremely limited
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stock without context. A one minute sellout is just a headline,
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and there you have it. If you like to email
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us addresses the Palace intrigu at gmail dot com, Please
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follows on Spotify, Apple or the app of your choice.
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I'm Mark Francis. Thanks to John McDermott. This is Palace
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Intrigue in good times.