History In The Kitchen

After last Sunday's kitchen work, I didn't think I'd be doing any cooking this weekend. I was looking forward to cleaning my office desk, because I've been working in the sun room this past summer and have been using the desk as a dump spot. Also, there were a few personal things I was hoping to do, stretching out on the couch and reading being right at the top. But my sister and I are running a birthday brunch next Saturday for our elder, and I needed to get started on some baking for that. And, hard though it is to believe, I still needed to stock up on soup. Soup is a thing here.

Saturday's Soup Making Podcast (I Got Started Late In The Day)

On the Media: How The "Fake News" Gets Made This was a discussion with representatives of some of the cable humor news shows. (I'm a fan of Samantha Bee, myself. Kind of lovin' the rage.) I can't say I got a lot out of it, until some guy said that they couldn't just write jokes. That's how I feel about all humor. Yes, this probably has something to do with my 12th grade English teacher dissing Bob Hope for just standing on a stage telling jokes.

Sunday's Cake, Cupcake, Bread, and Cookie Baking Podcasts

Backstory: Untrammeled: Americans and the Wilderness. This was terrific. You could say that it's a history of American beliefs about wilderness. And there are some real eye openers here.

My Favorite Murder: Sidebar Nation.  I found My Favorite Murder on a list of humor podcasts. I chose it because of what someone had said on the On the Media podcast I listened to on Saturday. You can't just write jokes. I wanted to listen to humor about something. It ended up being one of those podcasts where the hosts laugh and laugh, so listeners think something really funny must be going on. It was an hour and sixteen minute podcast, and they didn't get to the first murder until around the 40 minute point. And then things weren't all that funny. The hosts sounded shocked, which seemed odd because they run a podcast on murders. Wouldn't they have heard a lot of this kind of thing before? If they just read newspapers and on-line news sites, they would have heard similar things.

You're probably thinking, Gail, why did you think a subject like murder had any potential for humor, anyway? Hey, I roomed with nursing students for a semester when I was in college. I raised my kids next door to a NICU nurse. My sister is a nurse who's been around. These are women deep into dark, dark humor. Now, those are some people who could have done a funny murder podcast.

So What Are You Going To Do Next Weekend, Gail?

Well, after spending Saturday celebrating three birthdays, I'm hoping that on Sunday I'll finally get to the couch with some reading. But if I'm cooking, I expect I'll be doing it with some history podcasts.

If I'm able to crash on the couch reading next Sunday, I hope to visit some of the participant blogs in Weekend Cooking at Beth Fish Reads.

You can check out my other weekend cooking and podcast posts at my Podcast in the Kitchen Pinterest board.