Not exactly what you’re looking for, but for a laugh, check out the We’re Here to Help podcast :)

•Bear Brook

•We’re Here to Help

•Reveal

•Radiolab

•Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me

On iOS it’s GUU (Goods Unite Us).

Check out Tom Bihn!! They make durable bags that are of excellent quality, and definitely BIFL. They also have a pretty dedicated following of customers that post to a community forum (you can find the link from the Tom Bihn website). People there were really helpful when I posted about waffling between two styles and sizes for an EDC backpack. I definitely recommend checking TB bags out, and going to their forum for helpful advice.

This is awesome! So I get replace the hose, but then do you prop up the new one so there’s no low point for water to collect? Or will it just be an ongoing issue and need periodic replacement?

Not too scary, but the intro to Tune-Yards’ Gangster makes me reflexively look in the rear-view mirror to see if I need to pull over.

https://txtify.it/https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-02-01/2024-california-election-dodgers-senate-candidate-steve-garvey-kids-family

You could a niche interest that you can lean into and find established spaces that cater to said community. Like gardening? Attend workshops and presentations by your local native plant society. Know how to knit, or want to learn? Weekly Stitch & Bitch events are everywhere. Interested in history and know a bit of mechanics? Volunteer at a historic railroad nonprofit.

Sourdough starter!

Seconding the mythology recommendation! My nine year old loves d’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths and was stoked to find a new podcast called Greeking Out by National Geographic Kids. She’s been listening to it practically everyday, and we just picked up the companion book from the library this weekend.

• Unicorn Rescue Society series by Adam Gidwitz
• Ben Yokoyama Cookie Chronicles series by Swanson and Behr
• Wings of Fire series by Tui T. Sutherland
• Wow in the World books by Mindy Thomas and Guy Roz (they have a companion podcast that’s absolutely bonkerballs as well!)

All of these have a nice mix of comedy and mischief/adventure that he might enjoy.

For anyone else curious about the subject matter, I found this from the National Museums Liverpool, Walker Art Gallery:

Margaret Wilson of Wigtownshire (1667-85) was a Covenanter. She was sentenced to death by drowning because she refused to acknowledge the church hierarchy. Bound to a stake on the shore of the Solway Firth she was engulfed by the oncoming tide. The Covenanters were a group of Scottish Presbyterians who were determined to resist the influence of the Crown and the established Church of England.

Millais’s wife Effie was brought up in Perthshire and may have encouraged his interest in Scottish history. The subject of the Solway Martyr was a popular one, and first appeared as an illustration for the periodical Once a Week, published in 1862.

I lived in the Auburn/Grass Valley area as a teenager, and am glad I got out when I did. Just a heads up: You mentioned leaning left, so I should warn you that Nevada County is pretty conservative (and vocal about it), and pretty white (and proud of it).

You have got to check out Folsom!!

We moved here a few years go from the North Natomas area of Sacramento. I have a nine year old, and the schools here in Folsom are amazing, and besides the lake, there are tons of trails and bike paths (SO many people ride bikes here!).

There’s also Folsom Lake Community College, which houses the Harris Center for the Arts, a very active Historic District that has farmers markets, an ice rink in the winter, craft fairs, etc.

PLUS, Folsom’s location is great for all sorts of day trips: gold mining towns like Coloma and Nevada City are within an hour’s drive, Lake Tahoe is only 2 hours away, ski resorts about 1.5 hours away, and a visit to San Francisco would take you about 2 hours to get there.

The cozy murder genre is my jam. Here’s some more they might want to check out:

• The Doctor Blake Mysteries
• Endgame
• Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators
• The Glades
• Castle
• The Sniffer (in Russian, with subtitles)
• Burn Notice
• Inspector Morse
• Perry Mason (The reboot on HBO starring Matthew Rhys)
• Justified

(Bonus recommendation, with a caveat: the new limited series Bodies on Netflix— I’m 5 episodes in, and it’s pretty good!)

*Mare of Easttown

Second It’s Always Sunny! Absolutely Fabulous and Trailer Park Boys definitely have that lighthearted dark comedy too.

Open a random page in any P. G. Wodehouse novel and you’re good to go! Gussie Fink-Nottle, Bingo Little, Kipper Herring, Stiffy Byng. Or, my personal fave, add in an extra letter like he did for his character Psmith, where, he explains, the “p” is silent, "as in pshrimp.”

The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat by Oliver Sacks

The American Way of Death by Jessica Mitford

Hometown by Tracy Kidder

House by Tracy Kidder

The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan

Blink by Malcolm Gladwell

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich

I found Headbanger’s Kitchen pretty accessible when I was researching keto-centric cooking. He also does a lot of Indian dishes and some vegetarian as well.

https://m.youtube.com/@HeadbangersKitchen

Horns up! 🤘