As a member of the displaced Karen people, BYU international-relations student Laesgaw K’Chawtee spent his early childhood in a Thailand refugee camp—about as far from Provo, Utah, as you can get. So how did he become a sophomore at Brigham Young University teaching a 300-level Karen-language course for returned missionaries? Listen to this new Y Magazine podcast or read the article on the magazine website.

Curious about how good things sound in the new Music Building? The BYU Philharmonic recently recorded there with the National Parks. New arrangements of four of the band’s songs by commercial-music grad Sam Clawson can be found in this playlist, along with a throwback video from when Brady, Sydney, and Paige of the National Parks were still BYU students.

In this Church News podcast episode, President C. Shane Reese opens up about his career, passion for statistics, and deep love for BYU and its rich history. Hear his testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and learn about his vision for BYU.

The Cougars caught fire (and thankfully Cosmo didn’t) in BYU’s first Big 12 victory in LaVell Edwards Stadium. The team extinguished the Cincinnati Bearcats while Cosmo cleared a fiery jump rope with 12 consecutive backflips. Next game is against TCU in Fort Worth on Oct. 14.

Homecoming is less than two weeks away, kicking off Oct. 17 with an opening ceremony in the Marriott Center. Don’t miss this year’s Hike & Light the Y, Alumni Award lectures, Midnight Madness, baseball game, Cougar Run, and football game against Texas Tech! Check out all of the events.

Not in Provo? Rise and shout from wherever you are! Compete with your family and friends in BYU’s Homecoming from Home contest to win one of several swag boxes or even a grand-prize trip to campus! Sign up by tomorrow, Friday, Oct. 6, to register and receive further communication about contest details.

Despite losing the use of his right arm in a farm accident at age 4, BYU alum Porter Ellett developed a passion for sports, playing basketball and baseball in high school. Ellett also aspired to become a coach and, after starting as Andy Reid’s “left-hand man” years ago, he is now assistant running backs coach for the Kansas City Chiefs. Read about Ellett’s early history and watch this recent Deep Blue video.

Anyone with access to the internet can get onto any website and say whatever they want. And negative reviews, real or fake, are bad for business. A new study led by BYU business professor Ben Beck offers strategic measures that businesses can take—and that consumers should be aware of—to instill a greater sense of trust in online-review platforms and combat misinformation. Read all about the study and resulting strategies now being used by Yelp, TripAdvisor, and Trustpilot.

In depicting Lehi’s dream (above), Catholic woodcarver Roman Śledź captures the crowded sensation of “numberless concourses” (1 Ne. 8:21) pressing to reach the fruit of the tree of life. See a gallery of 13 Book of Mormon carvings that were displayed at the BYU Museum of Art. Don’t miss the interesting details from BYU emeritus professor and art collector Walter Whipple and art-history major Candace Brown, the MOA intern who created the labels for the pieces loaned to the museum.

YouTube superstar and BYU grad Mark Rober challenged BYU engineers to join him in the quest to make the world’s tiniest Nerf blaster: “I knew I wanted to use nanotechnology, and I needed to go to the school that was the cutting edge, that led in this field, which just so happens was my alma mater—BYU.” Watch Rober’s original video, then go behind the scenes to see how he and BYU made this world-record research project a small but significant success.

For more than a decade, BYU law grad Eric Baxter has worked to defend religious rights. “We challenge everybody to think about what it means to have religious freedom,” he says. “It’s not just about your own religious freedom but respecting the rights of other people.” Learn about a case where Baxter helped observant Sikhs obtain grooming accommodations from the United States military.