This episode covers the picture books chosen for the December 2018 newsletter. It covers 3 current Christmas titles, plus one title each for Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, and Diwali. I also talk about some Christmas book traditions from my own childhood.

In today's episode I discuss recent research into the "Scully Effect" (by Fox/Geena Davis Inst./J Walter Thompson Intelligence). The Scully Effect refers to the fictional character Dr. Dana Scully's influence on women entering STEM fields.

A brief introduction to the STEAM acronym: science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics. I go into a few examples, such as the modern theater, the Elsinore project from Golden Glitch Studios, and the life of Leonardo da Vinci.

Reviews of the following picture book selections for November 2018:

Hidden Figures;

Vincent Comes Home;

Mustafa;

Sometimes You Fly;

Seb and the Sun;

A House that Once Was;

Orani

Reviews of the following picture book selections for October 2018:

Doll-e 1.0;

Geraldine;

The Littlest Viking;

Hello Lighthouse;

Otis and Will Discover the Deep;

Cece Loves Science;

Mommy's Khimar;

Crow Call

Favorites for October 2018:

Jen Wilkin and The Village Church's 2-semester series on 1 Samuel

The Simply Luxurious Kitchen vodcast

Rick Bragg's memoir "The Best Cook in the World"

Garden and Gun's Whole Hog podcast

Southern Cast Iron Cookbook

This is IT

If a Horse Had Words

Just Like Brothers

Mae Among the Stars

The Magician's Hat

The Turtle Ship

Alma y Como Obtuve Su Nombre

Take Your Time

Welcome to the Almost Always Never Podcast! Episode 1 is an introduction to the show, lays out the goals of this podcast, and briefly discusses STEAM (science, technology, engineering, the arts, and math...and how your podcast host is an expert in absolutely none of these fields).