Links and Gifts and Gifts and Links and and and

We haven’t had a links post since SEPTEMBER and I have a bunch of weird and precise recommendations I’ve been saving up for gift-giving (which, of course, includes self gift-giving): recs for runners, and gardeners, and the earrings that are guaranteed to get the most compliments in any situation, and the undefeated gift for people without kids to give kids, and a whole lot more.

But first, a few announcements:

For an upcoming episode of TOWNSIZING, my HGTV podcast about moving to/living in small towns, I’m looking to talk with a teen who’s grown up in a small town and/or has recently moved to a small town. Maybe you know this teen; maybe they live in your house; maybe you’re otherwise related to them. All that matters is that they have thoughts that they’d like to articulate in an interview with me (who also grew up in a small town!) about what it’s like — and that they can get parental permission. You can find previous episodes here to get a feeling for the podcast, and if you know this teen….check in with them and send me an email at annehelenpetersen @ gmail with SMALL TOWN TEEN in the subject line.

AND THEN THERE’S OUR MUTUAL AID UPDATE!! Culture Study Subscribers (which includes people who can pay and people with comp subscriptions for any of the many reasons listed at the end of each newsletter) just organized our fourth round of mutual aid…..and we raised a total of $36,837.37 in mutual aid to take care of each other! That money came from hundreds and hundreds of subscribers + over $800 in Bookshop affiliate money, which you add to every time you buy a book linked here in the newsletter.

• We had a total of 36 requests for aid from members of our community totaling to $39,627 and were able to meet 22 needs in full. For the 14 larger needs we weren’t able to meet in full, we gave a baseline of $1,000 + 88% of the remaining need.

• Together, this community was able to:

  • Help with emergencies/repairs

  • Help multiple people cover rent

  • Cover unexpected medical, dental & vet costs

  • Help folks catch up on their utility bills

  • Cover household costs for people who are needing care and support

• The round was facilitated by volunteers from the Culture Study community, who’ve done a tremendous amount of work to transparently collect and distribute funds. This community rules, and I feel endlessly grateful to be a part of it.

And now, some links and gifts and gifts and links (yes this is paywalled, just like the links at the end of every Sunday’s newsletter are paywalled; for whatever reason it’s the small thing that convinces people to subscribe to the content they value)

[AS ALWAYS, NO AFFILIATE LINKS OR PROMOS; THIS IS JUST SHIT I LIKE]