In this debut episode, I introduce you to the Tri-Valley corner of the San Francisco Bay Area and explain the top ten reasons this podcast had to exist—whether the world asked for it or not.

Along the way, we’ll cover:

• Why “try-hard” should be a compliment, not an insult• The strange comfort of parasocial relationships with podcast hosts—and their dearly departed pets• Tri-Valley grocery stores that are objectively superior to LA’s Gelson’s (fight me)• Carole King’s feral fraternal twin (C’est moi!)• An accidental throuple featuring Anthropic’s Claude as the unicorn• John Madden and the man I called Swole Dilbert• A 30+ year crush on a Hall of Fame pitcher that has frankly gone on long enough

Try-Hard Valley is a show about messy, sincere, occasionally uncomfortable effort—the kind that powers suburban ambition, personal reinvention, and the weird little obsessions that make life interesting.

Get full access to Try-Hard Valley at carriegilbert3.substack.com/subscribe