Ep 30: Birdwatching Is Good For You

Imagine this as a sunset.   Find Us Online - Twitter: @ThisIsGoodPod - Instagram: @ThisIsGoodPod - Merch: thisisgoodpod.com/merch - Patreon: thisisgoodpod.com/patreon - Nichole: @tnwhiskeywoman - Multitude: @MultitudeShows - Email: [email protected]   Production - Producer: Eric Silver - Editor: Mischa Stanton - Executive Producers: Amanda McLoughlin and Nichole Perkins - Theme Music: Donwill - Artwork: Jessica E. Boyd   About The Show Nichole Perkins wants people to stop feeling bad about feeling good, and This Is Good For You lets you know you are never alone in what you like. Every episode, Nichole explores something that people love—whether it’s needlepoint, watching bad movies with friends, or cowgirl exercise classes—and asks experts and devotees why it makes them happy. She ends each show with an Indulgence: a recommendation that listeners can enjoy with no remorse. There’s no such thing as a guilty pleasure when you learn to love it freely! To find out what’s good for you, listen to new episodes every other Friday.

It’s been a while since I got dressed up to schmooze and mingle, but recently I attended a gala. I got nervous about what to wear: I didn’t want to be underdressed and I definitely didn’t want to be overdressed. My guest today, Alex Zaragoza, has plenty of thoughts on the joys of overdressing, including the extra razzle dazzle of blue eyeshadow. I’m so fascinated by this phenomenon and I’m glad I got to talk to Alex all about it.    Indulgence Nichole recommends letting the hype settle.   Guest Alex Zaragoza is a tv writer based in Brooklyn. She spent 15 years as a culture journalist, writing for VICE, NPR, Buzzfeed, Teen Vogue, and others. Alex is currently developing a television series based on her life growing up on the U.S.-Mexico border.    Find Us Online - Twitter: @ThisIsGoodPod - Instagram: @ThisIsGoodPod - Merch: thisisgoodpod.com/merch - Patreon: thisisgoodpod.com/patreon - Nichole: @tnwhiskeywoman - Multitude: @MultitudeShows - Email: [email protected]   Production - Producer: Eric Silver - Editor: Mischa Stanton - Executive Producers: Amanda McLoughlin and Nichole Perkins - Theme Music: Donwill - Artwork: Jessica E. Boyd   About The Show Nichole Perkins wants people to stop feeling bad about feeling good, and This Is Good For You lets you know you are never alone in what you like. Every episode, Nichole explores something that people love—whether it’s needlepoint, watching bad movies with friends, or cowgirl exercise classes—and asks experts and devotees why it makes them happy. She ends each show with an Indulgence: a recommendation that listeners can enjoy with no remorse. There’s no such thing as a guilty pleasure when you learn to love it freely! To find out what’s good for you, listen to new episodes every other Friday.

My four years of college I dated the campus local DJ. I loved watching him practice, not just because of the stars in my eyes, but I also love seeing artists practice their craft and seeing what all goes into it. Good DJing is a skill, it is an actual skill. Just go to YouTube, type in ‘turntablism,’ and just watch magic happen. My guest today is H Drew Blackburn, a writer and yes, a DJ, and he's going to get into all things DJing and how it brings peace into his life.   Indulgence Nichole recommends specificity.   Guest Drew Blackburn is a writer whose work has been published by GQ, Texas Monthly, Dallas Morning News, Deadspin, Complex, and more. He’s based in Texas, creeping, crawling, balling, in the mix.    Find Us Online - Twitter: @ThisIsGoodPod - Instagram: @ThisIsGoodPod - Merch: thisisgoodpod.com/merch - Patreon: thisisgoodpod.com/patreon - Nichole: @tnwhiskeywoman - Multitude: @MultitudeShows - Email: [email protected]   Production - Producer: Eric Silver - Editor: Mischa Stanton - Executive Producers: Amanda McLoughlin and Nichole Perkins - Theme Music: Donwill - Artwork: Jessica E. Boyd   About The Show Nichole Perkins wants people to stop feeling bad about feeling good, and This Is Good For You lets you know you are never alone in what you like. Every episode, Nichole explores something that people love—whether it’s needlepoint, watching bad movies with friends, or cowgirl exercise classes—and asks experts and devotees why it makes them happy. She ends each show with an Indulgence: a recommendation that listeners can enjoy with no remorse. There’s no such thing as a guilty pleasure when you learn to love it freely! To find out what’s good for you, listen to new episodes every other Friday.

I recently took a break from listening to my boo Hozier so much. I had started feeling self-conscious about how often I was listening to him, and how I felt like I knew him even though we had never met. Today’s guest knows all about what happens when fandom can get a little extra, and we got into all the good and bad parts of the parasocial relationship that happens between artists and their audiences.   Indulgence Nichole recommends being a digital tourist!   Guest Vanessa Willoughby is an editor and writer. Her bylines include but are not limited to Bitch Media, the New York Times, and BookPage.   Find Us Online - Twitter: @ThisIsGoodPod - Instagram: @ThisIsGoodPod - Merch: thisisgoodpod.com/merch - Patreon: thisisgoodpod.com/patreon - Nichole: @tnwhiskeywoman - Multitude: @MultitudeShows - Email: [email protected]   Production - Producer: Eric Silver - Editor: Mischa Stanton - Executive Producers: Amanda McLoughlin and Nichole Perkins - Theme Music: Donwill - Artwork: Jessica E. Boyd   About The Show Nichole Perkins wants people to stop feeling bad about feeling good, and This Is Good For You lets you know you are never alone in what you like. Every episode, Nichole explores something that people love—whether it’s needlepoint, watching bad movies with friends, or cowgirl exercise classes—and asks experts and devotees why it makes them happy. She ends each show with an Indulgence: a recommendation that listeners can enjoy with no remorse. There’s no such thing as a guilty pleasure when you learn to love it freely! To find out what’s good for you, listen to new episodes every other Friday.

For a long time, I tried to hide my love of romance novels. They and the readers who loved them were criticized. Any time someone would ask, “What’s your guilty pleasure?” I’d respond sheepishly “romance novels.” Then I realized how fucked up it was to be ashamed of something that brought me such joy. Today’s guest, Sarah MacLean, knows all about that. We’re starting a new series of episodes,  _______ Is Not a Guilty Pleasure, to open up the types of episodes that can be on TIGFY. Not monetizing your hobbies is a start, but we have to unlearn all the ways that we’ve been told not to enjoy ourselves. And Sarah is an incredible place to start.   Guest New York Times, Washington Post & USA Today bestseller Sarah MacLean is the author of historical romance novels. Translated into more than twenty-five languages, the books that make up “The MacLeaniverse” are beloved by readers worldwide. In addition to her novels, Sarah is a leading advocate for the romance genre, speaking widely on its place as a feminist text and a cultural bellwether. A columnist for the New York Times, the Washington Post and Bustle, she is the co-host of the weekly romance podcast, Fated Mates. Her work in support of romance and those who read it earned her a place on Jezebel.com's Sheroes list and led Entertainment Weekly to call her "the elegantly fuming, utterly intoxicating queen of historical romance."   Find Us Online - Twitter: @ThisIsGoodPod - Instagram: @ThisIsGoodPod - Merch: thisisgoodpod.com/merch - Patreon: thisisgoodpod.com/patreon - Nichole: @tnwhiskeywoman - Multitude: @MultitudeShows - Email: [email protected]   Production - Producer: Eric Silver - Editor: Brandon Grugle - Executive Producers: Amanda McLoughlin and Nichole Perkins - Theme Music: Donwill - Artwork: Jessica E. Boyd   About The Show Nichole Perkins wants people to stop feeling bad about feeling good, and This Is Good For You lets you know you are never alone in what you like. Every episode, Nichole explores something that people love—whether it’s needlepoint, watching bad movies with friends, or cowgirl exercise classes—and asks experts and devotees why it makes them happy. She ends each show with an Indulgence: a recommendation that listeners can enjoy with no remorse. There’s no such thing as a guilty pleasure when you learn to love it freely! To find out what’s good for you, listen to new episodes every other Friday.

When my mind tries to protect me from things that cause me pain, I have to redirect my sadness onto something else. I won’t cry about the lack of clarity in my professional life so I’ll listen to my “Sad White Boys” playlist and let a tear go for the ache in Chet Baker’s voice as he sings “My Funny Valentine.” Ashley C. Ford does something similar, and I’m so glad I got to talk to her about the catharsis that happens when you make yourself sad on purpose.    Indulgence Nichole recommends a painting kit!   Guest Ashley C. Ford’s New York Times best-selling memoir, Somebody’s Daughter, was published by Flatiron Books in June 2021. Ford is the former host of The Chronicles of Now podcast, co-host of The HBO companion podcast Lovecraft Country Radio. Ford has written or guest-edited for ELLE Magazine, Slate, Teen Vogue, New York Magazine, The New York Times, Domino, Cup of Jo, and various other web and print publications. She currently lives in Indianapolis, Indiana with her husband, poet and fiction writer Kelly Stacy, and their chocolate lab Astro Renegade Ford-Stacy.   Find Us Online - Twitter: @ThisIsGoodPod - Instagram: @ThisIsGoodPod - Merch: thisisgoodpod.com/merch - Patreon: thisisgoodpod.com/patreon - Nichole: @tnwhiskeywoman - Multitude: @MultitudeShows - Email: [email protected]   Production - Producer: Eric Silver - Editor: Brandon Grugle - Executive Producers: Amanda McLoughlin and Nichole Perkins - Theme Music: Donwill - Artwork: Jessica E. Boyd   About The Show Nichole Perkins wants people to stop feeling bad about feeling good, and This Is Good For You lets you know you are never alone in what you like. Every episode, Nichole explores something that people love—whether it’s needlepoint, watching bad movies with friends, or cowgirl exercise classes—and asks experts and devotees why it makes them happy. She ends each show with an Indulgence: a recommendation that listeners can enjoy with no remorse. There’s no such thing as a guilty pleasure when you learn to love it freely! To find out what’s good for you, listen to new episodes every other Friday.

As much as birds bother me, there’s something enviable about them. They can just take off when they’re tired of us, and pull up to the wide view of everything. Maybe that’s why folks are so interested in watching them. I put my annoyance with birds aside and ask my guest Grace Bonney what’s so wonderful about following these little creatures of land and air.   Indulgence Nichole recommends a cooking class!   Guest Grace Bonney founded the blog Design*Sponge, the print magazine, Good Company and hosted two podcasts, After the Jump and Good Company Radio. Grace has written three best-selling books, Design*Sponge at Home, In the Company of Women, and Collective Wisdom. Grace lives in the Hudson Valley with wife, Julia, and their three pets. Grace is currently studying to be a Marriage and Family Therapist at Syracuse University.   Find Us Online - Twitter: @ThisIsGoodPod - Instagram: @ThisIsGoodPod - Merch: thisisgoodpod.com/merch - Patreon: thisisgoodpod.com/patreon - Nichole: @tnwhiskeywoman - Multitude: @MultitudeShows - Email: [email protected]   Production - Producer: Eric Silver - Editor: Mischa Stanton - Executive Producers: Amanda McLoughlin and Nichole Perkins - Theme Music: Donwill - Artwork: Jessica E. Boyd   About The Show Nichole Perkins wants people to stop feeling bad about feeling good, and This Is Good For You lets you know you are never alone in what you like. Every episode, Nichole explores something that people love—whether it’s needlepoint, watching bad movies with friends, or cowgirl exercise classes—and asks experts and devotees why it makes them happy. She ends each show with an Indulgence: a recommendation that listeners can enjoy with no remorse. There’s no such thing as a guilty pleasure when you learn to love it freely! To find out what’s good for you, listen to new episodes every other Friday.

We’ve been doing this for one year! I can’t believe it. As an anniversary present, producer Eric interviewed me about how I ask questions, reveal truths to guests, and turn the things I like into work.   Find Us Online - Twitter: @ThisIsGoodPod - Instagram: @ThisIsGoodPod - Merch: thisisgoodpod.com/merch - Patreon: thisisgoodpod.com/patreon - Nichole: @tnwhiskeywoman - Multitude: @MultitudeShows - Email: [email protected]   Production - Producer: Eric Silver - Editor: Mischa Stanton - Executive Producers: Amanda McLoughlin and Nichole Perkins - Theme Music: Donwill - Artwork: Jessica E. Boyd   About The Show Nichole Perkins wants people to stop feeling bad about feeling good, and This Is Good For You lets you know you are never alone in what you like. Every episode, Nichole explores something that people love—whether it’s needlepoint, watching bad movies with friends, or cowgirl exercise classes—and asks experts and devotees why it makes them happy. She ends each show with an Indulgence: a recommendation that listeners can enjoy with no remorse. There’s no such thing as a guilty pleasure when you learn to love it freely! To find out what’s good for you, listen to new episodes every other Friday.

I’ve been thinking a lot about peace in recent years, and how I eventually want to buy a home and make it a haven, I daydream about having a large entertainment room with a corner with board games. I love word games and two-player games, but not as much the collect-pieces-and-build-worlds ones. So to broaden my horizons, I talked to K. Alex Mills and Tracy Clayton about their favorite games and how they make their lives better.   Indulgence Tracy recommends Wingspan!   Guests - K. Alex Mills is a writer, English teacher, and HBCU grad. Follow her on Twitter at @KAlexIsWrite. - Tracy Clayton is a writer, humorist, podcaster, and social media expert born and raised in the West End of Louisville, Kentucky. Tracy is co-host of the award-winning podcast Another Round with Heben and Tracy. She loves bourbon, true crime, animals and fancy cheeses, and hates most seafood, all beer, and every owl on the planet. She is the co-creator and co-host of Back Issue.   Sponsors - Skillshare is an online learning community where you can learn—and teach—just about anything. Explore your creativity at Skillshare.com/thisisgood and get a two week free trial of Premium Membership.   Find Us Online - Twitter: @ThisIsGoodPod - Instagram: @ThisIsGoodPod - Merch: thisisgoodpod.com/merch - Patreon: thisisgoodpod.com/patreon - Nichole: @tnwhiskeywoman - Multitude: @MultitudeShows - Email: [email protected]   Production - Producer: Eric Silver - Editor: Mischa Stanton - Executive Producers: Amanda McLoughlin and Nichole Perkins - Theme Music: Donwill - Artwork: Jessica E. Boyd   About The Show Nichole Perkins wants people to stop feeling bad about feeling good, and This Is Good For You lets you know you are never alone in what you like. Every episode, Nichole explores something that people love—whether it’s needlepoint, watching bad movies with friends, or cowgirl exercise classes—and asks experts and devotees why it makes them happy. She ends each show with an Indulgence: a recommendation that listeners can enjoy with no remorse. There’s no such thing as a guilty pleasure when you learn to love it freely! To find out what’s good for you, listen to new episodes every other Friday.

I am not someone who just goes for a walk. I’m from a place of strong car culture so if I can’t walk there within 15 minutes, I’m over it. Plus, I can’t separate walking from the years of street harassment I’ve been subjected to. So I don’t just have to figure out my physical energy levels but also… how safe will I be? If there was someone who can talk me into the meditative powers of going for a walk, it would be Isaac Fitzgerald, who’s reworked his life around incredibly long walks.   Here is Garnette Cadogan’s essay Walking While Black and here is a recipe for huckabucks.   Indulgence Isaac recommends ice cream!   Guest Isaac Fitzgerald appears frequently on The Today Show and is the author of the bestselling children’s book How to Be a Pirate as well as the co-author of Pen & Ink: Tattoos and the Stories Behind Them and Knives & Ink: Chefs and the Stories Behind Their Tattoos (winner of an IACP Award). His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, The Best American Nonrequired Reading, The Boston Globe and numerous other publications. His debut memoir, Dirtbag, Massachusetts, is forthcoming in July, 2022. He lives in Brooklyn.   Sponsors - Listen to Shmanners today at shmanners.com or wherever you listen to podcasts   Find Us Online - Twitter: @ThisIsGoodPod - Instagram: @ThisIsGoodPod - Merch: thisisgoodpod.com/merch - Patreon: thisisgoodpod.com/patreon - Nichole: @tnwhiskeywoman - Multitude: @MultitudeShows - Email: [email protected]   Production - Producer: Eric Silver - Editor: Mischa Stanton - Executive Producers: Amanda McLoughlin and Nichole Perkins - Theme Music: Donwill - Artwork: Jessica E. Boyd   About The Show Nichole Perkins wants people to stop feeling bad about feeling good, and This Is Good For You lets you know you are never alone in what you like. Every episode, Nichole explores something that people love—whether it’s needlepoint, watching bad movies with friends, or cowgirl exercise classes—and asks experts and devotees why it makes them happy. She ends each show with an Indulgence: a recommendation that listeners can enjoy with no remorse. There’s no such thing as a guilty pleasure when you learn to love it freely! To find out what’s good for you, listen to new episodes every other Friday.