DOGS!

my new favorite tv binge + weekend listening recommendations

Hello! 

In your Death, Sex & Money feed this week, we revisit our episode with Mason Earle, a former pro climber, on adjusting to life with a debilitating chronic disease. Mason also sent us an update on how things are going today, and he posted this on Instagram this week: 

And a reminder that if you live in the Bay Area, you can come out *tomorrow* to see me in conversation with Anna Quindlen at Book Passage in Corte Madera. We’ll discuss her new novel on Saturday, 3/23, at 3 pm. Anna Q and I were on writer Kelly Corrigan’s podcast for a special series where we shared some of our writing and talked about family life, but this will be our first time gabbing in person. 

This week, I want to tell you about something that brings me a lot of comfort these days. It’s a television show called The Dog House. 

I got served up an ad for this show on Max, and right away, I was hooked. It’s a reality show recorded at a dog rehoming shelter in the UK. You get to watch people bringing in dogs they have to tearfully let go of — often because the owner become too frail to take care of the dog, other times because the dog chased the family cats too aggressively. The show includes these wrenching scenes of surrender — the people are sad and the dogs are sad — but the real heart of the show is the matchmaking with new families. We meet all sorts of families in search of a new companion. We see the short interview process, the behind-the-scenes scheming to find the right fit, and then the real moment of drama: the selected pup is left alone to meet the family for the first time while the cameras roll. 

While we watch, the shelter staff watch on screens too, providing real-time interpretations of the dog’s body language during the initial meeting. “The staff seem inordinately invested in each match working, and the tension can be unbearable,” The Guardian wrote in 2019. I agree! You are watching up-close how humans and dogs ask for love. “Shy and sensitive dogs slowly start to trust hopeful and patient new faces; boisterous dogs delight the boisterous people that start to rough and tumble with them from the off,” the Guardian described. “When the magic is there, it’s beautiful.” 

MAGIC AND BEAUTIFUL. 

After watching, I noticed myself taking a beat longer to stare lovingly into my dogs’  eyes, both the pup Rosie (pictured above, having worn out my husband last weekend) and our more chill lab Lupine. All this also makes me miss our good boy Jack. (If you missed our episode about saying goodbye to pets last year, you can listen here. Bring a tissue.) 

Whether you are a dog person or not, let me tell you about a book that you should keep your eyes out for. Tommy Tomlinson, the host of the great interview podcast Southbound, has a new book coming out called Dogland. It’s about dog shows — so yes, there is some Best In Show-level hilarity — and it also explores the co-evolution of dogs and humans and what we have come to mean to each other. 

I got to read an early copy of Tommy’s book and I loved it. I carried it around for a few weeks and I noticed that other people would pick up it up too, and then stop to read a paragraph out loud that made them laugh. There are many such moments, but one that sticks out is Tommy’s earnest explanation of his repeated use of the word “bitch,” which is apparently common parlance at elite dog shows and also a little jarring if you’re coming in from outside the scene. 

Finally, an update about what’s happening with Death, Sex & Money. We continue to record new interviews for you and have started our first edits on upcoming episodes for you from Slate. Getting into the thick of episode structure and tape together as a team has reminded me how much I love making this show for you. They are coming soon!

There has been one production snag. After my triumphant new home office chair purchase, I’ve had to roll the home office chair to another room because my home office windows were leaking. As in: huh, why is there a puddle in the middle of my cozy, newly organized home office? Turns out California’s winter atmospheric rivers flowed right through a couple of windows, into the drywall and insulation, and onto the floor. It’s been a whole ordeal – discovering dry rot in window sills that probably started before I was born – but we are dealing with it! It should be all fixed up very soon, at which point I will keep snazzing up the office space with a new 5-6’ round rug. So — for your next assignment - please send me your favorite places to shop for rugs in the comments.

Until next week, 

Anna 

p.s. Thank you for sharing your ideas for our listener last week who is trying to think about creative ways to manage her land after she’s gone. Your suggestions got me curious about the local land trusts around me, and if you also want to do some searching, you can start here.

Some listening for your weekend: 

• I enjoyed hearing writer Michael Arceneaux on Slate’s Dear Prudence podcast. He’s got a new book out called I Finally Bought Some Jordans. I talked to Michael back in 2019 about student debt, growing up in Houston, and healing relationships with family, and then we spoke again in 2020 about his second book, I Don’t Want to Die Poor.

• I think (and worry) a lot about the future of journalism, and I learned so much in this conversation between PJ Vogt and Ezra Klein on this week’s episode of the podcast Search Engine. I spoke to a conference of young high school journalists last week in New York, and afterward, a high school senior approached me and tearfully told me how much she loved reporting but worried she’d never have job security. I told her it was a gift to know what you love as a teenager, but yes, practicing journalism these days means knowing that you’ve also got to learn about entrepreneurship, revenue models, and career flexibility. It’s no fun telling an impassioned teenager that the way forward may be rocky, so for those of us who can, this is a reminder to pay for the journalism you value. (If that includes Death, Sex & Money, you can do that here!) And if you missed it, hear Ezra and I talk on Death, Sex & Money about home, place, and DIY-ing a network of support for our nuclear families.) 

• As I was filling out my NCAA men’s basketball bracket this week, I listened to the new podcast Ways to Win with Craig and Coach Cal. What made me press play was their first guest was Barack Obama – it’s a production of Higher Ground – but I may check back into future episodes because I’m curious about their promise to “use their on-court wisdom to solve your off-court problems.” Like, maybe this will be the audio version of The Bear’s Ayo Edebiri reading Coach K’s book while planning a restaurant opening. I’m not sure how many rabid sports fans there are in the Death, Sex & Money universe, but I do know we’re suckers for stories of teamwork making the dream work. If you want to watch basketball on mute this weekend while listening to a sports-related Death, Sex & Money episode, let me recommend one featuring great listener stories and hosted by Liliana Maria Percy Ruiz: When Sports Movies Got You Through It.

• This week’s episode of Today Explained, How gangs took over Haiti, helped me understand the origins of the current governance crisis there. It prompted me to look up some reporting I did in Haiti in a hospital after the 2010 earthquake, and I found a recording of a hymn sung by a woman who’d lost both a leg and her lower arm. It was recorded fourteen years ago this week, and her voice sounds clear and present. It makes me wonder where and how she is now. You can hear Marie-Genese Pompee sing here.

---

Remember that the best way to support our work at Death, Sex & Money is to join Slate Plus. You’ll get ad-free listening to our show, and all other Slate podcasts – and the team and I are also dreaming up other goodies for you we can tell you about soon. Sign up for Slate Plus here, or if you listen in Apple Podcasts, click “Try Free” at the top of our show page.