Send us Fan Mail Two nights under the stars, a series of unfortunate events, and a bill that could’ve sent us to Europe. This is the story of a 'budget' family weekender became a financial thriller.

Send us Fan Mail Ben, a life-long friend, and I talk about a few minor issues, such as the LA wildfires, roof sprinklers, solar power, rolling blackouts, alternative energy, political polarization, the Gulf of Mexico/America, sky-high childcare costs and his very favorite spatula. Also, Kanye West. I mention the Media Bias chart, which is totally worth looking at: Media-Bias-Chart-13.0_Jan-2025-Licensed-Unprotected.pdf

Send us Fan Mail My father, Charles Wilson, is a lifelong, amateur philosopher. In this episode, I sat down with him to talk about why he got his degree in philosophy, which leads quickly to tales of barber shops, bad haircuts and the gangs in Spokane, where he grew up in the 50s and 60s. We talk cars and home ownership. It's a winding tour through the study of wisdom, sometimes with actual philosophy and definitely with frequent stops and a final conclusion for the ages!

Send us Fan Mail Christy McCay and I are cousins who didn’t know one another existed until we were adults, when our parents, full-blooded siblings, met for the first time. We talk about finding new family, the surprising role of genetics in shaping personality, and the importance of staying open and staying connected with family. We talk about adoption, about having kids and about losing our mothers, who both died in the past three years.

Send us Fan Mail Melvin "Mel Brooks" Kaminsky is America's greatest director, screenwriter, actor, composer and comedian. Now, after 40 years, his "History of the World, Part I," is getting a sequel. This is just the latest cinematic event for Mel, 96, who also wrote/directed "Blazing Saddles," "Young Frankenstein" and "The Producers." He's a national treasure and a personal hero of mine.

Send us Fan Mail With one voice, the governors of Oregon, Washington and California condemned the recent US Supreme Court ruling overturning the right to abortion created in Roe v. Wade. This isn't the first time the West Coast has locked together on political matters. All three states ended their coronavirus restrictions at the same time earlier this year, and they were among the last states to do so. There isn’t a single Republican in statewide elected office from San Diego to Seattle. Poli...

Send us Fan Mail Jan Jutte steered the Washington State Auditor's Office through a major crisis when the then-elected State Auditor Troy Kelley was charged with federal financial crimes. Jan was about to retire from her long career in public service, but instead stepped up as acting state auditor. We talk about the bizarre situation of telling your boss that they don't get to make the decisions. Dealing with the press. Trying to put distance between professional work and politics. And ...

Send us Fan Mail Today we're talking to Kevin Mayer, a long-time, great, friend of mine who has taken up smoking. And I don't mean of the nicotine variety, but smoking all variety of foods. And it's really amazing, the repertoire he's built up, from bacon-wrapped Oreos to making jalapeno cheese. He talks about the delicacy of trying to smoke cheese -- which I hadn't thought about before, but cheese does tend to melt. So how do you avoid melting the cheese while you're smoking it? Through it a...

Send us Fan Mail With the Russian invasion of Ukraine, I turned to a Ukrainian friend to ask her what we, the Americans, need to understand about the conflict. Olha's response came down to this: Ukrainians are not Russians. They have their own history, their own language, their own culture, their own country. But Russian leader Vladimir Putin has predicated his war on a rewritten history, in which the Ukraine is the little brother to Russia, and the people there are just Russians with a diale...

Send us Fan Mail Is America in a new civil war? Are we headed there? In this episode, I take on the question posed by Politico recently: "We are in a new civil war ... about what, exactly?" I propose the Compass of Power, a theory that holds the center of power in a democracy moves with the people. And Americans have been moving South for decades, tilting the center of national power away from the North, Democrats and liberals. We talk about the Jan. 6 storming of the US Capitol,...