It Chooses You

Hi friends! We're taking a few weeks off. We'll catch up with you in December. Have a great month! Support us on Patreon! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Amazingly, every line in this show is funny, even as it shows us how vulnerable it can feel to acknowledge we may not be great people, and then try to do something about it. Support us on Patreon! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Claire relates the amazing story of the extraction of a KGB defector and his family, as related in Antonio and Jonna Mendez's book Spy Dust. Support us on Patreon! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

A dance contests in space, with a comedian opener. Watch. This. Film. Support us on Patreon! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Technically about the Salem Witch Trials, but really a love letter to Sarah Vowell and her wonderful book The Wordy Shipmates. Happy Halloween! Support us on Patreon! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Keeping people warm when they sleep for 3400 years, quilts are a luxury item that take FOREVER to make, and here's why. Support us on Patreon! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We didn't expect our foray into the history of ski jumping to eventually lead us to 50 Shades of Grey, but it did. Support us on Patreon! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Is there anything better than discovering you have something super fun and weird in common with your neighbors? Oh, and also there's crazy stuff happening all around you? Support us on Patreon! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We aren't offering fashion advice, because let's face it, that's not us. But thinking and talking about how what we wear affects how we feel and where we belong, that's our jam. So enjoy our jam. Support us on Patreon! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

It's super fun to look at group dynamics in the context of a gentle and delicious reality competition show. Teresa's and Claire's picks for this year's winner will be REVEALED. Support us on Patreon! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Eminent Domain is the Devil's real estate. Claire talks about People's Park and gives us a brief and beautiful history of guerilla gardening, including the Oakland Buddha. Support us on Patreon! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Sex Education is a sweet and salty teen drama and Gillian Anderson is a goddess. Support us on Patreon! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Humans have been drinking wine for fun and for ritual for a very long time, and we talk about that, a little bit about Armenia, and a little bit about God. It's fun! Support us on Patreon! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

There are a lot of ways to tell this story, and the best versions have something to say about the context in which women are cruel to each other. Hint: it's not just 'cause. Support us on Patreon! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Look, don't try and give us "Parma" ham when that pig's dad WAS ACTUALLY DANISH. We are not having that. Support us on Patreon! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

A great chat about Kira Jane Buxton's Feral Creatures. It's an excellent book, you will love it, go read it! Support us on Patreon! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

From historical imposters who experience stake-based justice to affable modern con artists who sneak onto the field during All-Star games, Claire explores some fascinating fakes. Support us on Patreon! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Teresa is the last one to arrive to this party, and Claire shows her the way through the blanket (pillow!) fort. Get bonus content on Patreon See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Teresa really likes methods of transportation that people name, so this time we're talking about a tank called Fighting Girlfriend and her heroic driver, Mariya Oktyabrskaya, Hero of the Soviet Union. Get bonus content on Patreon See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We would ALSO rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints, no question.This super catchy classic is WAY more interesting if you imagine that the singer is the Devil. Try it! It's fun! Like sinning! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In It Chooses You style, we're throwing a party to talk about parties! Whether it's a food fight or a birthday party or lifting things skyward, there are expectations for your behavior - pay attention or there may be trouble!

Sometimes your house is legally haunted and that matters in real estate deals. Sometimes there's a dangerous creep writing letters to you and threatening your children just after you've moved in. And sometimes you are fortunate enough to live in a house owned by your relatives, and you reveal and restore its beauty because you love it, and its history.

You don't have to follow the 5 Things Rule, but if you choose to we have some thoughts for you. Or you could just eat a straight-up potato chip sandwich. We accept you. 

Cathy Hay has been working to recreate this dress for ten years, and has recently started coming to grips with the historical context in which it was made. 

Building a better world requires vision, hard work and cooperation. It also sometimes requires shooting Nazis. 

The series asks the important question, "Who decides what's sacred?"

Whether built with bad intentions or existing as the last stand of people who say to hell with eminent domain, these houses are fascinating. 

The averagest looking, smartest, most curious heroine meets the madwoman in the attic. Watch what happens next!

A person at odds with observed reality is a weirdo, but two people who are weirdos in the same way suggest something a lot more interesting is going on. 

Let's gather 'round the table and give thanks for technologies that ended a FOUR DAY laundry process. Also for tractors. 

He created a model of logic and reasoning in Sherlock Holmes, but seems to have been a bit of a credulous fool, himself. 

It's a post-zombie-apocalypse road trip movie starring a crow and a dog, and it will break your heart in the most loving and beautiful way. 

The story of the woman who invented codebreaking in America. Listen, judge, you get me a chalkboard and I can explain everything... 

Having the right tool makes any job easier. Some thoughts about the importance of tools and some recommendations if you work with the land. 

Missing people, art, and crew. Agatha Christie, Richard Serra's Equal Parallel: Guernica and Benghazi, and the Mary Celeste. 

This. Farm. Has. Everything. Teresa reviews the kindest and most informative permaculture gardening channel on Youtube. 

We've told you the story of Carrie Nation, now here's the story of a powerful woman from the Prohibition era who is a lot more fun. Let us introduce you to Gertrude 'Cleo' Lythgoe.

It's a puzzle box of things that make us laugh when our lives are suddenly really hard for a few weeks. 

We LOVE small doses of the drama that comes from a turf war, so here are three stories about folks slugging it out, metaphorically speaking (mostly).  

Teresa's favorite bird from her favorite genus of birds, Corvidae. Drinking yoohoo through an Odin straw since the Middle Miocene.

Three women say a firm 'No, thank you' to their would-be kidnappers, and the most impressive story among them is the one that received the least media attention. 

The best scene from the best series of the last 20 years, revisited with tons of love. Let's watch girlfriends fight at a bar together!

Felix Belmont leads a rich and full life, and for the last 40 years, since he was about 60, has been a volunteer public radio DJ. Also, he and Teresa both love swing music. 

The brilliant Emerald Fennell has written and directed this dark and -absolutely fucking correct- movie for us, starring Carey Mulligan who was clearly sent here to right the world's wrongs.

Claire spins the tales of the Mortgage Lifter Tomato, the North Atlantic Vegetable War, and the Tree that Owns Itself. Outro by wildlife in Weld County, Colorado.

Two small town dramas featuring a badass woman and a woman who is maybe evil? Claire will introduce you to them!

Timothy Dexter a.k.a. the luckiest sonofabitch who ever lived and the USS William D. Porter a.k.a. the Bad News Bear of Fletcher class destroyers. 

"A shop is not a problem to solve, it is a paradox to manage."                                                                             - Adam Savage

It's scary, sure. It also describes both small town life over generations and the invisibility of children in stark, true, terms. 

Find yourself a person to love you who looks at you the way Keith Brymer Jones looks at a well-weighted teacup.