We're Alive: Descendants - Chapter 15 - Valley of the Shadow of Death - Part 1 of 3

Hey, Ryan Reynolds here, wishing you a very happy half-off holiday because right now Mint Mobile is offering you the gift of 50% off unlimited. To be clear, that's half price, not half the service.

Mint is still premium unlimited wireless for a great price. So that means a half day.
You know? Give it a try at mintmobile.com/slash switch.

Upfront payment of $45 for a three-month plan, equivalent to $15 per month required. New customer offers for first three months only.
Speed slow under 55 gigabytes of networks busy.

Taxes and fees extra. See Mintmobile.com.

Hi, folks. It's Mark Bittman from the podcast Food with Mark Bittman.

Whole Foods Market is your holiday headquarters with everything you need, whether you're a guest or hosting the big dinner with show-stopping centerpiece means like bone-in spiral cut ham or bone-in rib roast or even king crab.

And if you want to take a few shortcuts, no one is looking after all, try the heat-neat sides from the prepared foods department.

Shop for everything you need at Whole Foods Market, your holiday headquarters.

Trust. It's not just given.
It's earned. Earned in the early mornings, in the late nights.
Earned by generations of real California dairy families who care. And carried on by even the littlest ones.

Care for their cows, for their land, for their community, and care for you. Because when 99% of our dairy farms are family-owned, you're getting generations of tradition you can trust.

Real California milk. Look for the seal.

If you're an HVAC technician and a call comes in, Granger knows that you need a partner that helps you find the right product, fast and hassle-free.

And you know that when the first problem of the day is a clanking blower motor, there's no need to break a sweat.

With Granger's easy-to-use website and product details, you're confident you'll soon have everything humming right along. Call 1-800GRANGER, clickgranger.com, or just stop by.

Granger, for the ones who get it done.

I am a coach and an alum of Girls on the Run. Kids today carry a lot of stress from school pressure to social isolation to overuse of devices.

We create a space where girls can connect, build confidence, and learn skills like managing emotions, setting goals, and speaking up. Each child's experience is different, and families need support.

I'm proud to be part of a comprehensive solution to youth mental health. Get involved today at EmpowerOurFutureCoalition.com.

Hannah Berner, are those the cozy Tommy John pajamas you're buying? Paige DeSorbo, they are Tommy John. And yes, I'm stocking up because they make the best holiday gifts.
So generous.

Well, I'm a generous girly, especially when it comes to me. So I'm grabbing the softest sleepwear, comfiest underwear, and best-fitting loungewear.
So nothing for your bestie.

Of course, I'm getting my dad, Tommy John. Oh, and you, of course.
It's giving holiday gifting made easy. Exactly.
Cozy, Cozy, comfy, everyone's happy.

Gift everyone on your list, including yourself, with Tommy John, and get 30% off site-wide right now at tommyjohn.com/slash comfort.

The Kickstarter dedication for this episode. This chapter is dedicated to the parents of Raul Miller.
Thank you for doing your best, and I hope you're at peace.

We're Alive

Descendants

Written and directed by Casey Weyland

Chapter Fifteen

Valley of the Shadow of Death

Part One of three

I can't,

I can't do it anymore. This is too far.

You just have to keep going.

Don't give up.

Thanks.

Gloria!

Gloria,

we have to slow down. People are starting to fall behind.
Slow down anymore, and we're never gonna make it. These people realize that, don't they? They're doing the best they can.

Yeah?

Tell it to the people hunting us down. Well, fortunately, I still don't see them.
Walking through the hills must have worked.

Their vehicles couldn't keep up.

For only so long. You haven't heard any explosions, have you, Grant? Nothing.

They should have blown the past by now. If Alex and Dot screw that up, none of this is gonna matter.

How much further is this Atlas place? A few more hours, maybe?

We should have left earlier. Traveled through the night.
There's no shade out here. These people were exhausted then.
They needed every bit of rest for how far we have to go. Would it have mattered?

They're still exhausted. We need some help over here.

Uh-oh. I got some stragglers.

Keep pushing.

Here, cover your head with this. Wrap up.
Keep yourself out of your face.

It's too hot.

Come on, don't fall behind, kid.

Do you have any water?

Only a little left, and I need to ration it.

My legs are tired. Nothing I can do about that.

Carry me.

What?

No.

Just a little bit, please. I can piggyback.

Look, kid, why don't you go ask your parents? I can't.

Why not? They left.

Well, where are they? They left the worker camp a long time ago. Never came back.

So it's just you? By yourself? Yep.

That man you were talking to, he said we all had to go. And I couldn't stay in Prim.

Now can you please carry me?

I'm tired enough just dragging myself along.

Please.

But look, you can have some of my water. Ooh, thank you.

Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, wait, no, no, I got I gotta

ration it

Sorry

That's fine, I guess I'll manage I feel much better now. Well, that makes one of us

What's your name, kid? Gus

Gloria

What are you wearing? Where'd you get all that stuff?

What this? This is my equipment. I brought the body armor with me to be safe.

Which I wasn't expecting to be wearing when I was walking home. You're not from Prim?

No. Where are you from?

Well, if you can keep up, then you'll find out. Okay.

Is it better than the camp?

What?

Yes, it's way better. Cool.

So cool. Just, you know, just wait and see.
I will.

Gloria.

I think we might have a few more.

Oh.

Is that...

Yeah.

That's... That's Ellix and Dot.
They must have set the explosives off. Oh, thank heavens.
I'm starting to get worried. Well, I still am.
This is only a delay.

Once the Boers' trucks find a way around the pass, and they will, there's nothing between us and them anymore. We can't let anything slow us down now.

About that, a few people have fallen way behind. They aren't able to keep up.
Maybe we should divert. Looks like there's a town just a little south of us if we just keep...
No, we stay on the path.

Don't go anywhere near settlements. This is the only way, trust me.

If you say so. But we're losing people.
And we're going to lose more. more.
You have to accept that grant.

This is a race now, where the losers don't survive.

I know, I know. You're right.
You're right. It's just hard.
I mean, some of these people I've gotten to know. And some are just too old for this.
Some too young. There's only so much we can do.

Don't forget, you need to make it there too.

Focusing on the others helps distract from my own pains.

Well, not me.

What

you sent only two explosives with Alex and Dot, right? Uh-huh.

No, that's

that's something else.

Go

hang

on

my head

Alex

Alexander My head.

I'm bleeding.

Yes.

Did we?

Did it? Dot.

It worked.

You sure? Uh-huh.

Ow! No shit! The whole rocky patch came down.

They're trying to shoot their way through.

But

last thing I remember was setting it off, and then

their tank firing right where I was at, and pieces of the rock going everywhere.

Wait, you pulled me out

and on to demon?

Strong

This.

Yeah.

That's good. Yeah.

Man, my head is still pounding, but

Vest took most of the shrapnel, thankfully.

Good thing we still had the body armor.

Okay, okay, yeah, yeah. We gotta go.
Come on, come on, demon.

I

write

thinking. I'll get on the front and just hold on.

Rope?

Yeah, okay, time to me. Time me to you.

Okay.

Okay, I think so.

Get!

Get!

I'm just gonna close my eyes for a sec. Just for a sec.

Thank you, Da.

Descendants will continue after a word from our sponsors.

Just delicious, easy-to-make meals. Get 20% off your first two orders with code APRON20.
Terms and and conditions apply. Visit blueapron.com/slash terms for more.

Hey, Ryan Reynolds here, wishing you a very happy half-off holiday because right now, Mint Mobile is offering you the gift of 50% off unlimited. To be clear, that's half price, not half the service.

Mint is still premium unlimited wireless for a great price. So that means a half day.
Yeah? Give it a try at mintmobile.com/slash switch.

Upfront payment of $45 for a three-month plan, equivalent to $15 per month required. New customer offers for first three months only.
Speed slow under 55 gigabytes of networks busy.

Taxes and fees extra. See me at mobile.com.

Hi, folks. It's Mark Bittman from the podcast Food with Mark Bittman.

Whole Foods Market is your holiday headquarters with everything you need, whether you're a guest or hosting the big dinner with show-stopping centerpiece means like bone-in spiral cut ham or bone-in rib roast or even king crab.

And if you want to take a few shortcuts, no one is looking after all, try the heat-neat sides from the prepared foods department.

Shop for everything you need at Whole Foods Market, your holiday headquarters.

Hey, it's Adam Grant from Ted's podcast, Work Life, and this episode is brought to you by ServiceNow.

AI is only as powerful as the platform it's built into. That's why it's no surprise that more than 85% of the Fortune 500 companies use the ServiceNow AI platform.

While other platforms duct tape tools together, ServiceNow seamlessly unifies people, data, workflows, and AI, connecting every corner of your business.

And with AI agents working together autonomously, anyone in any department can focus on the work that matters most. Learn how ServiceNow puts AI to work for people at servicenow.com.

I am a coach and an alum of Girls on the Run. Kids today carry a lot of stress from school pressure to social isolation to overuse of devices.

We create a space where girls can connect, build confidence, and learn skills like managing emotions, setting goals, and speaking up. Each child's experience is different and families need support.

I'm proud to be part of a comprehensive solution to youth mental health. Get involved today at EmpowerOurFutureCoalition.com.

If you're an HVAC technician and a call comes in, Granger knows that you need a partner that helps you find the right product, fast and hassle-free.

And you know that when the first problem of the day is a clanking blower motor, there's no need to break a sweat.

With Granger's easy-to-use website and product details, you're confident you'll soon have everything humming right along. Call 1-800GRANGER, clickgranger.com, or just stop by.

Granger for the ones who get it done.

And now we continue with Descendants.

Oh, man,

have I been out long?

Okay.

I'm good.

Still haven't caught up to Glory and the others.

At least that means they're getting ahead.

It's good.

We sure they went this way?

Oh.

You're following their tracks.

Look.

Oh no.

Oh, is that one of our people?

Just laying there?

You th you think they're

taught

dead.

I mean,

I knew people would fall behind, but I didn't think it'd be this bad.

Today,

no, no, keep going.

The man was old,

still sucks.

Is that another one?

Shit.

Nothing we can do.

We just need to focus on those we did get out.

Dot.

Hey, how you doing, demon? Hanging in there?

Boars people still aren't through the pass. Good job, buddy.
We'll get you some really nice oats, carrots, or something when we get there. And whatever Gloria has left.

Talon?

Yeah, yeah, I see it over there.

But the group went this way. We should follow, maybe catch up a bit.

Demon,

can you?

Yeah.

Here we go. Good boy

Hell of a lot better than walking

My head still hurts

I can't wait till we get there and I can just lay down

Damn I think I chipped my tooth at the pass.

Dot

I mean hey if that's the worst thing I gotta deal with, then

shit.

Another refugee. They fell behind the group, but at least they're still walking.

Little.

It's a kid.

Damn.

Demon, you able to take one more?

They just left him behind?

Can't believe it.

Hey.

Hey, kid.

Hey!

He's not stopping.

Must be delirious out here in that hoodie.

Can you untie me?

Give me the canteen.

Tot.

Dot?

It's all right.

There's enough water to share. No, Dot.

What? I mean, we have to do something. We can't just leave him out here.
It's gonna end up like the others.

Hey, kid.

Wait up. Kid.
Dot.

Are you- are you hurt? Dot, get the first aid kit. Dot.

Come on, he needs our help.

We got you. Don't worry.
We'll fix you up. We gotta ride back to the group and...

see that now.

Get the fuck off of me! Shoot! Yes, Judith! Help me! Do something! I can't!

God damn it, stop trying to fight me!

There's more of them!

Oh shit! You broke it! You broke it neck! No

blood!

Smart!

Come!

How many more are there?

They must be from the town. They look like goddamn kids.
The fucking thing actually dressed itself to resemble us.

Go, go.

Nice, demon. Now get us out of here.

It's you.

Okay.

How the hell was I supposed to know?

They sure as hell looked like real kids to me. Those were clean clothes.

Trick.

Hell of a good one. Makes us think they're human and then...

BAM!

Oh man, if you weren't there, I'd.

Tut, tut.

Stay away from the towns. Yeah, no shit.
We better catch up to the others and warn them about those. Uh-huh.

The Borsch people were bad enough.

Hey, maybe those things will go after them.

That'd be something, right?

Never even heard of any infected like that before. Are they new?

It even said words-like, not as many as you got now, but a few.

I wonder if anyone else knows about this kind.

Oh, there are so many species listed in here.

Listen to this one. Mimics.

These short infected, I only recently discovered. I thought the name was fitting as they will find human clothes, right?

Ones that aren't tattered or well used, to better hide and disguise themselves among us.

With only the use of a handful of English words and their natural childlike physique, entire encampments have been lost. Fallen victim to their copycat nature, preying upon the empathy of humans.

Once one gets in, others like it are soon to follow. Trust your instincts.
If someone or something feels suspicious, it oftentimes is.

Damn, your grandma's journal is incredible. These creatures just keep getting worse and worse.

And it says here that given their birth rates and growth, there could be millions in the southwest, many of which we have yet to encounter.

Scary shit in there. Huh.
Not all of it. The research she documented is fascinating.
She really did a hell of a service putting this together. Even her infected equation is spot on.

The flexible genome idea is brilliant.

And

you understand all of that? Well, a fair amount. I studied bio and chembooks in my free time.

Of course you did. I'm just very impressed, is all.

She was pretty awesome.

Yeah.

I know.

Now, you mind putting that away? Look, I get it. It's another book for you to absorb, but I could really use an extra set of eyes on this road right now.

Right. Right.

Everything in this swampland is so overgrown now. Lots of spots for things to hide.

Give it all a wide berth.

Sorry, I just uh...

Well, this is my first time out I want to be prepared and you will be more prepared if you can anticipate something coming Oliver said that the highway was clear but we cannot trust that I mean things change all the time

right

now

look from here to here is my sector of fire I got the front of what we call point

you cover the rear if you see anything move call it out then wait for me before you engage

uh right. And and uh to engage or shoot, I rotate this little switch here, and then I can pull the trigger.
Just rotate it once. Don't go to three-round burst or fully auto.

Knowing you, you'll just waste ammo. Hmm.
And how many shots does this one have? 29 rounds for the MP5. I made sure before we left.

Why not 30? I never fill a magazine all the way. Overcompresses.
It's not good for the spring. Could jam easier with older equipment like this.

Yeah, that

makes sense.

There's some sort of book or manual I could read up on this?

Yeah, I don't have one. I'm sure someone did at one point.

How did you learn all this?

Back in Westport? Sure did. Guardian training.
Different weapons require new skill sets. They taught a wide variety so that if we ever found a weapon in the field, we can be effective with it.

Hard to shoot something that you don't know. Especially cleaning and maintaining them.
Yeah, um, yeah, makes total sense.

You.

you alright there?

Does that make you nervous?

No, I'm um I'm fine with this. Uh I mean, look, it's it's okay if you are.
My mom, I mean my my adopted mom, Peggs, doesn't handle guns, like, at all.

No,

it's it it's not that uh

just still feeling the withdrawals.

Oh um

is it bad?

Yeah, very.

Yeah,

you have no idea

maybe I do.

R

really?

You

Uh, a while back, I uh struggled with a few things.

Took me a while to get clean.

W were you forced t to use?

Me.

No, I, um.

I I chose to.

Why?

That's, uh...

That's hard to say.

I mean, I don't I don't know if it was ever really one thing

I Was going through a lot help me forget

Yeah,

well well, what do you need to forget?

You know Will you ask a lot of questions

Sorry, I'm just curious.

Is that bad? Not really.

I just uh

I just don't really like to talk about this kind of stuff.

Uh

why?

Because it's hard to

well

for me, right, it it it was nice to hear that you may know what this feels like because I I just I don't know how much longer I could take it

Everything

I've been feeling is catching up with me all at once

Stardust helped me keep it at a distance. No

It was making you feel numb. Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.
And now,

all these new experiences, the plane, those people, these environments,

to absorb it all, it's so overwhelming. And I'm exhausted just by my thoughts.

It's just. It helps to know that I'm not alone, is all I was trying to say.

I get it.

That's sort of how I became an

addict.

It was all starting to become too much.

The world?

My world.

So many expectations, what people thought I should be, how they wanted me to act, their goals for my life.

Like you said,

it was exhausting. Was it

because you were a guardian? No.

Mostly because of who my dad was. I mean, my real dad and mom.
I thought you said people didn't know he was immune. There were rumors, and that was enough.

But it was also because of what my dad did.

People wanted me to be the same,

act like him.

I couldn't even be myself.

Didn't know who I was.

Maybe I still don't.

So you

have some big shoes to fill back home.

You don't even know the half of it.

My foster dad, Michael,

He waited so long to tell me what really happened with my parents. And when he did, it all came at once.

And I just got

so tired of people trying to protect me.

It didn't help. It just made it harder to deal with.

So that's why you became an addict.

It was only the start.

And it wasn't just the booze or whatever.

Look,

I don't even know if I should tell you half of the shit I got into. Well

Who would I ever say anything to

and trust me being from Prim

Nothing you could tell me could be worse than what I saw there

I don't know it was bad

like really bad looking back at it all

Where I grew up I'll admit I got really really spoiled people would just keep feeding the issue, giving me whatever I wanted. Even

whoever.

How did that work out? How do you think?

A 16-year-old boy getting offered up a lot of daughters.

I mean, that kind of thing sounded good at the time, but

it really messed with my head.

So, um...

So people assumed you were immune be because of the rumors of your dad that's that's why you'd be propositioned

Yeah,

it was pretty fucked up

They all wanted children of the Sun

They figured I could give them something that no one else could

That's that's really messed up

Wait

So then you you have kids

honestly

I don't

I don't know.

Didn't want to know.

I mean, I didn't tell no one about what happened.

Shit, I can't even deal with the thought of it now.

I was raised away from my real dad, and now...

Who knows? Maybe I did the same to some strangers.

It was a lot to put on a kid. Especially a dumb, spoiled one like me.

Nick,

listen,

how we had to grow up

doesn't have to change who we grow up to be.

I understand this changes something I have to do for myself.

Where I started out, how my life was in prim, that that can't be the end of me, only my beginning.

I like that well.

But um

what sucks is that the only person I think that knew any better for me who didn't let me get away with half the shit that I tried

He's um

He's fucking gone now

So that's that's who Michael was to you

the only dad I ever really knew

I'm so so sorry.

Yeah.

Meanwhile.

So, what about you? Well, your mom and dad like that?

Me?

Oh, um, my parents were killed in the arena before I could even remember them.

Oh.

Oh, God.

Are you are you serious?

Uh, yeah.

I I had to practically raise myself. There was some help from other workers, but then those people either died from living in the camps or were sent to the arenas to help fill a spot.

Wow.

And here I was complaining.

I can't even begin to imagine.

How long did you live like that?

Um till I was

ten.

Some of the higher skilled workers that were engineers started giving me a few books and and drawings to study, mostly because I never stopped asking questions.

They let me read their notes and schematics, put the pieces together. I was able to do a lot of what they could do very quickly.
Supervisors would even give me special assignments.

And

then the board took notice.

Allowed me to leave the camps and work for her exclusively.

Yeah.

Well, uh

first I started repairing bits of her casino slot machines, moved over to the motor pool, refurbishing vehicles, then then security systems,

then I developed and installed life tracking monitors in the arenas. Uh eventually I I

pretty much ran all the technology.

And you're pretty young still. And you're so taught?

Yeah.

Yeah, well, um, mostly.

I love figuring out how stuff works and then how to improve it ever since I was very young.

Apparently my m my mom would call me her little genius. Or

that's what people

told me who who knew her.

So

yeah.

Well, back in the old world my mom and dad worked for some advanced industries.

Knew a whole hell of a lot and and

then

like that they uh were forced into the arenas and died like so many others.

All that knowledge wasted. And you still worked for the Boer, even after all that?

What could I do? I told myself that I would never get into the position that my parents were in. Power, even if given from bad people, is better than being helpless.

And

well, I was right. Working with the Boer, gave me the opportunity to help you and your friends

Yeah,

I didn't even think about it like that

We owe you a lot. No, no, no, you you don't

You're helping save me, too.

You just

may not know it

What's it, man? Look, we get back to Westport and I'm gonna help you start over, all right? You have no idea how much we could use someone like you there.

Really? Oh, yeah.

You would be able to make some real changes in this world.

I'd like that.

I would.

Just gotta get there first.

Which means we gotta step it up if we're gonna make it to that train on time. Right.

Hey, Nick,

you think Vera and Nakoma will make it back there too? To Westport?

Vera could take care of herself. She's in a good position, too.

Nakoma.

Now that's another story.

She better not get caught.

I mean,

she does have some skills. She snuck up on all of us.

Been doing that kind of shit for a while.

If Nakoma plays things right,

they won't find her.

Let go of me!

If you want.

I caught one of our trespassers held up in a townhouse nearby.

Where did the other two go? They're long gone.

On their way to the rail line. You should have gone with them.

We may have others still on the perimeter. Do a full sweep.

Why did you come back? We let you go. I didn't know if I could believe you.
What you told Vera, it didn't make sense. Oliver gave you a chance.

He told you the truth and warned you about what would happen if you came back. Fine.
I'll leave then.

I'll leave this time. It's too late.

What does that mean?

Your protection ran out, which means you're trespassing.

So?

So?

You haven't put it together yet? This is the family. We're very strict.

We kill trespassers.

To be continued in the next episode of We're Alive Descendants.

And now, a word from our sponsors.

You've been listening to We're Alive, Descendants. Produced by Wayland Productions.
Written and directed by KC Weyland. Starring Datan Gilber as Nicholas.
Christy Carlson-Romano as Gloria.

Vanessa Bourne as Nacoma. Sam Skolnick as Will.
Austin Trace as Alex. Briarly as Dot.
Alita Lachey as Fingers. Leonard Kelly Young as Conductor Grant.
Augie Wayland as Gus.

Charlotte Evelyn Williams as Phyllis. And I'm Michael Swan.
Additional voices by Phil Mieto. Masaka Malimba.
Shannon Zimmerman. Hero Carlisle.
Amy Newman. Eric Daines.
Auggie Wayland.

Produced by Casey Whaland. Editing and sound design by Casey Whaland.
Additional editing by Ryan Liu. Trailer editing by Vicki Lucas.
Post-production supervisor Casey Wheland.

Original music by Robert Mai. Theme music by Danny Berkhoff Hopkins.
Score assistants by Evan Tamani. Recording and Engineering by Wayland Productions.

Sound Engineering by Gino Jang and Victoria Cheng. Script supervisors Gino Jang, Aaron Reardon, Kelsey Hughes, and Lynn Michaela.
Audio production manager Dimitri Keogh.

Associate Producers Jace Oly, Mistress Zeneka, Raul Miller, John Grills, Mandy Arnold, and Christophe Laputka. Co-produced by Rusty Quill.
Executive Producer Alexander J. Newell.

Chief Marketing Officer Callum Dougherty. Marketing Assistant, Hattie Quinlan.
Network Liaison, Tom Park.

Thank you to the following Kickstarter backers: Raul Miller, Elizabeth Keys, Michael Hellman, Sean Mahon, and Josh Maloney.

For more info about the show and a complete list of cast and crew, visit us at www.we'realive.com. Access exclusive content and lore on our Patreon and follow us on social media for regular updates.

Special thanks to our patrons and Kickstarter backers for making this series possible.

This has been A Theater for the Mind by Wayland Productions.

Hi folks, it's Mark Bittman from the podcast Food with Mark Bittman.

Whole Foods Market is your holiday headquarters with everything you need, whether you're a guest or hosting the big dinner with show-stopping centerpiece means like bone-in spiral cut ham or bone-in rib roast or even king crab.

And if you want to take a few shortcuts, no one is looking after all, try the heat-neat sides from the prepared foods department.

Shop for everything you need at Whole Foods Market, your holiday headquarters.

Trust. It's not just given.
It's earned. Earned in the early mornings, in the late nights.
Earned by generations of real California dairy families who care. And carried on by even the littlest ones.

Care for their cows, for their land. for their community and care for you because when 99% of our dairy farms are family-owned, you're getting generations of tradition you can trust.

Rio California Milk, look for the seal.

I am a coach and an alum of Girls on the Run. Kids today carry a lot of stress from school pressure to social isolation to overuse of devices.

We create a space where girls can connect, build confidence, and learn skills like managing emotions, setting goals, and speaking up. Each child's experience is different and families need support.

I'm proud to be part of a comprehensive solution to youth mental health. Get involved today at EmpowerOurFutureCoalition.com.

If you're an HVAC technician and a call comes in, Granger knows that you need a partner that helps you find the right product, fast and hassle-free.

And you know that when the first problem of the day is a clanking blower motor, there's no need to break a sweat.

With Granger's easy-to-use website and product details, you're confident you'll soon have everything humming right along. Call 1-800GRANGER, clickgranger.com, or just stop by.

Granger for the ones who get it done.

Hi, this is Joe from Vanta. In today's digital world, compliance regulations are changing constantly, and earning customer trust has never mattered more.

Vanta helps companies get compliant fast and stay secure with the most advanced AI, automation, and continuous monitoring out there.

So whether you're a startup going for your first SOC2 or ISO 27001 or a growing enterprise managing vendor risk, Vanta makes it quick, easy, and scalable.

And I'm not just saying that because I work here. Get started at Vanta.com.

Hey, it's Adam Grant from Ted's podcast, WorkLife, and this episode is brought to you by ServiceNow.

AI is only as powerful as the platform it's built into. That's why it's no surprise that more than 85% of the Fortune 500 companies use the ServiceNow AI platform.

While other platforms duct tape tools together, ServiceNow seamlessly unifies people, data, workflows, and AI, connecting every corner of your business.

And with AI agents working together autonomously, anyone in any department can focus on the work that matters most. Learn how ServiceNow puts AI to work for people at servicenow.com.