David Blake

In this episode, Jean Jackman traces a joyful birthday of local adventures with her husband, hiking flower-bright canyons and planning future travels. Maggy Gorrill turns a rogue cockroach into a witty, heartfelt look at vermin and the vulnerability of building a new life on the West Coast. And David Blake shares three hilarious animal escapades—from a naked bird rescue to a cat-launched midnight attack, plus the fire-saving dog—that reveal how creatures shape our lives in the most unexpected ways.

Jim Purdy takes us on a flavorful journey through Central Texas barbecue, from his first taste of smoky Austin brisket to a lifelong quest to recapture that perfect bite. David Blake turns a summer evening in Normandy into a fiery, hilarious Tex-Mex adventure, complete with hot sauce mishaps and a family-inspired country ballad. And Ann Russell immerses us in the final summer at Fish Camp, capturing leaping salmon, tireless net hauling, and the bittersweet rhythms of a life spent on the river.

David Blake takes us on a wild midnight adventure from posh Woodside to the tattoo parlor frequented by Hells Angels. Maggy Gorrill shares a 4 a.m. brain dump of insomnia and menopause. Hal George remembers a single thank you note that shaped his career, growth, and love, and Maggy Gorrill joins us a second time to reflect on mentoring a shy student abroad and the lasting power of a dance lesson.

David Blake entertains us with the babysitter who somehow finds the ‘special’ brownies, while Dan Rott’s service station uniform seems to change size. Xiaomei Chen’s story begins when her mother was a girl at the beginning of the cultural revolution in China.

Each of these stories is about trying something new. Mo Ose tried meeting a new person every day for a year, while Pieter Pastoor tried new bedding, a duvet, and it changed his life. David Blake tried poetry for the first time, then thought better of it.