Family Gatherings When I was a kid, I loved holiday gatherings. My mom and dad were each one of five siblings, and once you added in all the spouses and children and guests and roommates and visiting foreign exchange students and grandparents …well … both sides of my family could throw a pretty big fiesta. …
Episode #14: Talking Politics: “Can We Change the Subject?” Read More »
Introduction My grandmother grew up during the Great Depression in a rural town outside of Worcester, Massachusetts. Her family did the wash by hand. Milk was delivered to the doorstep every day. And the baker showed up at their house with a cart. While her mother would buy their bread, gram would swoon over the …
Episode #13: Bread: A Story of Alien Sex and Lost Civilizations Read More »
Thanksgiving: An “I Heart This Manifesto” Introduction In October of 2022, I decided to start a podcast about things that I loved. At the time, this seemed like a not-terrible idea. It turns out that I am the world’s foremost authority on things that I love, so I was actually somewhat qualified to speak on …
Episode #12: Thanksgiving–An I Heart This Manifesto Read More »
IHT Ep 011 Field Guides and Dichotomous Keys The Wall of Green When I was in high school, I was part of this program called Project Discover. The basic idea was to connect students with a mentor in a field that interested them. My most passionate interest at the time was the wild and natural …
Episode #11: Field Guides: Voices of the Ancestors Read More »
IHT Ep 010 School Fresh Notebooks When I was a kid, the best thing about school was getting new notebooks. Man, I loved ‘em. All those crisp, blank pages just called out to be filled. Some kids like to draw, and yeah, I had a fair number of doodles in the lined leaves of my …
Episode #10: School: Four Years Prostrate to the Higher Mind Read More »
Show Notes Robin Hood: I cannot find the version of the legend of Robin Hood that I read on my grandfather’s shelves when I was young. The book was old, maybe over a hundred years. The glue in the binding had long since crumbled. I remember that the one that I read was written in …
Episode #09: Mount Desert Island or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Tourism Read More »
IHT Ep 008 Pain Arraignment In February of this year, I took my kids to a trampoline park. It was a pretty good one. There was a dodge-ball trampoline gym, a climbing wall, an obstacle course, and this cool trampoline wall where you could hurl yourself at the wall and spring back out over a …
IHT Ep 007 America Show Notes Voicemail Special thanks to my daughter, Eva Lord, for providing the voice of America’s voicemail message. Tisallee Actually, this is my wife, Laura’s, story. She went for years believing that Tisallee was America’s other name before someone straightened her out in the third grade. Mountains of California When I …
Episode #7: Dear America: Why I Still Love You (Even After We Broke Up) Read More »
In the last season of the show, Mythbusters, they pulled out all the stops. And its third episode was one of the biggest stunts they ever pulled. In every episode of Mythbusters, of course, there has to be a myth for them to test. And in this episode, it was this: Not too long ago, …
Episode #6: Air–The Most Amazing Thing You Can’t See Read More »
If you haven’t seen the movie before, be forewarned. I am about to give away pivotal moments, including the climax and final scenes. So if you’re the person who likes to watch a movie unspoiled now would be a perfect time to go watch it. Go ahead. I’ll wait. This podcast will still be here …
