Darned Haze

The haze from the Canadian wildfires has come down into Virginia. Today was not good, and tomorrow's going to be worse. This is bad for me, since I have to run errands tomorrow. My wife is going to visit her parents, who live about an hour and a half away, and leaving me home to be "on call" if anything comes up with our contractors at our house, and to keep from needing a pet sitter for the guinea pigs. I know they won't help as much as they could, but we still have half a box of KN-95s from this school year. I'll wear one outside to try and keep the haze at bay.

The haze has also helped scupper plans for a Latin teacher get-together, since the place we'd picked is further north, and closer to the one of us who lives in the mountains. Our little band of three was looking forward to an end-of-year get-together for coffee and conversation, but we're now moving it off to August. Said colleague who lives in the mountains is going to Spain over the summer to visit family, so is on a limited time-scale of when they can meet. I'm hoping my other colleague and I can get together at some point over the summer - possibly for the housewarming shindig my wife and I are throwing for ourselves once we finish moving into town. More on that later.

In the meantime, if you're a USian getting any of this haze, stay safe. And if you're up in Canada dealing with the fires firsthand, I hope you stay safe and secure.

What am I listening to? Podcast Edition

To give you an idea of the things I like, I thought I'd talk about some of the podcasts I subscribe to.

Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men.
I've been a listener since episode 3 (and yes, I did go back to listen to 1 and 2), seven-ish years ago. It does what it says on the tin: two men, Jay and Miles, go through the X-Men comics, spin-off comics, miniseries, etc., and talk about the story, the art, their place in the greater X-universe and Marvel universe. It's my never-miss podcast. I've been an X-Men and X-adjacent fan since the late 90s (which, at episode 413 from this past Sunday, is about where they've gotten to in the coverage), coming in at the tail end of Onslaught and beginning of Bastion's big storyline. My best friend had gotten X-Men 350 (Trial of Gambit) new from the shops on my first trip around our area with him. Jay & Miles are longtime friends, and they're fun to listen to as they share their x-pertise. There have been more than the 413 episodes, since, in grand X-Men style, there are Summer and Winter Spectaculars, they were part of the "Crisis on Infinite Podcasts" podcast crossover years back, and they've done non-X-men episodes in the form of "Hawk Talks". I cannot recommend this podcast highly enough.

Lore
Another I've listened to since the beginning, Aaron Mankhe's podcast about the folklore and supernatural has been a longtime favorite of mine. The episode length is just about my commute time (for now), so Monday afternoons always have a good set of stories.

Myths & Legends
I have the newest episode on my iPod right now, waiting for tomorrow's errands. I love how detailed the stories get, and how compellingly Jason, the host, tells them. I love Greek and Roman mythology, having studied Classics and being a Latin teacher, but this podcast lets me learn about all sorts of other cultures and times. It's educational and entertaining, and I adore it.

Emperors of Rome
Hosted by Matt Smith (no, not that Matt Smith) out of LaTrobe University in Australia, the podcast began as a chronological look at the lives and legends of the men who ruled Rome following the Republican period's civil wars. It's expanded a bit since then, and loops back on itself when new information becomes available. I studied Classics, as I said, but I wasn't aware of some of the ancient sources the professors who co-host the podcast use when telling the stories. It's not only a refresher course for me, but a way I can keep up with my learning, and fill in gaps I wasn't aware I had.

Expounded Universe
A Star Wars podcast, hosted by Jeff and Jon of "System Mastery" and a slew of other podcasts, that focuses on the books from the old Star Wars Expanded Universe. They choose a book, and discuss a few chapters each week, giving their thoughts, snarky humor, and lots of tangents and running jokes as they go. I love the Star Wars movies and series, but I never got into the books the way I did with other media. My brother did, and it's nice to be able to understand some of the references he makes when he talks "canon" with me. And the first book they covered, Shadows of the Empire, got me through my hysterectomy and recovery, so I have a soft spot for a really terrible book and a murder-droid called Zuri. Xi'Xor can jump off a cliff, however, and land in a pile of fleek eels. The current book they're discussing is the first of the "Wraith Squadron" novels, and it's been a fun listen.

Watchers in the 4th Dimension
This one is on hiatus, and has been since early 2023, following the unexpected death of one of the four co-hosts. It goes through Doctor Who story by story, with all of them watching and discussing, giving out "awards" and "points" at the end of each season. I love revisiting Doctor Who with the Watchers, and I've had comments read out on the podcast during their listener feedback time (under a different username). They were partway through Tom Baker's second season when they went on hiatus, so there's lots of back catalog. There was an Instagram post a month or so ago, showing sound-mixing equipment, so hopefully the remaining Watchers will resume the podcast soon.

If Books Could Kill
This is the newest podcast to my active list, and it features two men, Michael and Peter, who go through various non-fiction books and talk about the ways they've helped and (mostly) harmed the way we think about things. They've discussed the hypocrisy of Rich Dad, Poor Dad, talked about how most of the examples in Nudge aren't really nudges, and gone through some terrible science and economics in other books as well. It's a fascinating listen, especially since it has no real intro or outro, so you feel like you're kind of overhearing a conversation.

There are other podcasts I listen to as well, but they're either ones that I dip in and out of, or that I keep on my feed to re-listen to, even though they're complete. These are all of the active podcasts I subscribe to at the moment.