I know wrestling has a complicated reputation. Is it a sport? Is it entertainment? If it’s both, does that make it less than? Why do we need wrestling to be “real” but have no problems when soccer players flop on the field or when basketball players hunt for fouls? I have questions that can only be answered by getting in the squared circle.

Indulgence

Nichole recommends fountain pens (and the incredible resource of jetpens.com)

Guest

Eric Parsons is a wrestling enthusiast that lives in Chicago, IL. Follow him on twitter at Twitter @homunculusdick.

Sponsors

- Brooklinen, where you can get $20 off at brooklinen.com by using code thisisgood

- Skillshare, where you can get a two week free trial of Premium Membership at skillshare.com/thisisgood

Find Us Online

- Twitter: @ThisIsGoodPod

- Instagram: @ThisIsGoodPod

- Merch: thisisgoodpod.com/merch

- Patreon: thisisgoodpod.com/patreon

- Nichole: @tnwhiskeywoman

- Multitude: @MultitudeShows

- Email: [email protected]

Production

- Producer: Eric Silver

- Editor: Mischa Stanton

- Executive Producers: Amanda McLoughlin and Nichole Perkins

- Theme Music: Donwill

- Artwork: Jessica E. Boyd

About The Show

Nichole Perkins wants people to stop feeling bad about feeling good, and This Is Good For You lets you know you are never alone in what you like. Every episode, Nichole explores something that people love—whether it’s needlepoint, watching bad movies with friends, or cowgirl exercise classes—and asks experts and devotees why it makes them happy. She ends each show with an Indulgence: a recommendation that listeners can enjoy with no remorse. There’s no such thing as a guilty pleasure when you learn to love it freely! To find out what’s good for you, listen to new episodes every other Friday.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Being a sneakerhead is so foreign to me. I know what I like and what serves a purpose for me, but the mythology and processes of it all are beyond me. There’s so much more beyond the surface of “I like these shoes.” I wanted to find out more about this hobby and why it’s become such an elite moment in fashion history, so I asked Jamal to tell me all about the culture of being a sneakerhead and how it’s changing.

Indulgence

Nichole recommends sachets!

Guest

Jamal Smith is a DC area native and co-host of The Participation Trophy Podcast.  When he’s not negotiating contracts, Jamal loves teaching his sons the ropes of boyhood, indulging his sneaker habit, and creating funny content.

Sponsors

- Munk Pack, which is offering 20% off your purchase at munkpack.com with code thisisgood

- BetaBrand, where you can get 30% off when you go to Betabrand.com/THISISGOOD

- Explore your creativity at Skillshare.com/thisisgood and get a two week free trial of Premium Membership.

Find Us Online

- Twitter: @ThisIsGoodPod

- Instagram: @ThisIsGoodPod

- Merch: thisisgoodpod.com/merch

- Patreon: thisisgoodpod.com/patreon

- Nichole: @tnwhiskeywoman

- Multitude: @MultitudeShows

- Email: [email protected]

Production

- Producer: Eric Silver

- Editor: Mischa Stanton

- Executive Producers: Amanda McLoughlin and Nichole Perkins

- Theme Music: Donwill

- Artwork: Jessica E. Boyd

About The Show

Nichole Perkins wants people to stop feeling bad about feeling good, and This Is Good For You lets you know you are never alone in what you like. Every episode, Nichole explores something that people love—whether it’s needlepoint, watching bad movies with friends, or cowgirl exercise classes—and asks experts and devotees why it makes them happy. She ends each show with an Indulgence: a recommendation that listeners can enjoy with no remorse. There’s no such thing as a guilty pleasure when you learn to love it freely! To find out what’s good for you, listen to new episodes every other Friday.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

I tend to treat my books both with and without reverence. I dog-ear pages but I don’t lend out my books. Even if I don’t like a book, I won’t give it away. So when my friend Leonor Mamanna told me she recently started painting in books, I was like “Oh yes. You have to come talk about that.”

Indulgence

Nichole recommends gua sha!

Guest

Leonor Mamanna is a photo editor by day, passion project pursuer by night. Leonor has a weekly newsletter with recommendations on what to read, watch, listen to, places to go, things to see, and internet happenings, all framed by a personal essay. She is a born and raised New Yorker and mom to a very strong-willed toddler.

Sponsors

- Best Women's Erotica of the Year Volume 7, edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel, is out now in print, ebook and audiobook, wherever you buy books.

- Brooklinen, where you can get $20 off at brooklinen.com by using code thisisgood

Find Us Online

- Twitter: @ThisIsGoodPod

- Instagram: @ThisIsGoodPod

- Merch: thisisgoodpod.com/merch

- Patreon: thisisgoodpod.com/patreon

- Nichole: @tnwhiskeywoman

- Multitude: @MultitudeShows

- Email: [email protected]

Production

- Producer: Eric Silver

- Editor: Mischa Stanton

- Executive Producers: Amanda McLoughlin and Nichole Perkins

- Theme Music: Donwill

- Artwork: Jessica E. Boyd

About The Show

Nichole Perkins wants people to stop feeling bad about feeling good, and This Is Good For You lets you know you are never alone in what you like. Every episode, Nichole explores something that people love—whether it’s needlepoint, watching bad movies with friends, or cowgirl exercise classes—and asks experts and devotee why it makes them happy. She ends each show with an Indulgence: a recommendation listeners can enjoy with no remorse. There’s no such thing as a guilty pleasure when you learn to love it freely! To find out what’s good for you, listen to new episodes every other Friday.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

I like watching sports, but I don’t have the dedication to be a diehard fan. To be a fan–especially a body-painting, tailgating kind of fan–you have love any player who joins the team or forgive constant losing and that ain’t my bag. There’s a lot of shit within sports fandoms I don’t understand, so I asked Josh Terry help break down what goes on behind the face paint. 

Indulgence

Nichole recommends Queens of Mystery, available online via AcornTV!

Guest

Chicago-based writer Josh Terry has covered music and culture for a number of publications since 2012. His writing has been featured in VICE, Rolling Stone, Billboard, Vinyl Me Please, Chicago Magazine, The A.V. Club and others. He's also an avid sports fan and tweets about that more than his writing at @Joshhterry.

Sponsors

- Munk Pack, which is offering 20% off your purchase at munkpack.com with code thisisgood

- BetaBrand, where you can get 30% off when you go to Betabrand.com/THISISGOOD

- Best Women's Erotica of the Year Volume 7, edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel, is out now in print, ebook and audiobook, wherever you buy books.

Find Us Online

- Twitter: @ThisIsGoodPod

- Instagram: @ThisIsGoodPod

- Merch: thisisgoodpod.com/merch

- Patreon: thisisgoodpod.com/patreon

- Nichole: @tnwhiskeywoman

- Multitude: @MultitudeShows

- Email: [email protected]

Production

- Producer: Eric Silver

- Editor: Mischa Stanton

- Executive Producers: Amanda McLoughlin and Nichole Perkins

- Theme Music: Donwill

- Artwork: Jessica E. Boyd

About The Show

Nichole Perkins wants people to stop feeling bad about feeling good, and This Is Good For You lets you know you are never alone in what you like. Every episode, Nichole explores something that people love—whether it’s needlepoint, watching bad movies with friends, or cowgirl exercise classes—and asks experts and devotee why it makes them happy. She ends each show with an Indulgence: a recommendation listeners can enjoy with no remorse. There’s no such thing as a guilty pleasure when you learn to love it freely! To find out what’s good for you, listen to new episodes every other Friday.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When people hear I’m from Nashville, they always ask me about country music. They’re also surprised to hear I’ve never gone honky-tonking: enjoying and dancing to country music in a bar or place full of other people who also love that type of music. But I do have a friend who does it all the time. Today’s guest, Donkey Dover, Jr., tells me all about the honkytonk scene and might even help me get over some preconceived notions about that kind of nightlife. 

Indulgence

Nichole recommends asking for help.

Guest

Donkey Dover, Jr. is the eldest of 10 siblings, born in the Carolina Piedmont and raised all over the small-town South. Versed in bicycles, tall ship sailing, and native plants, they’ve been queering dancehalls and honky-tonks since 2003. Donkey currently teaches high school science in West Philadelphia and country line dancing at Baby’s First Rodeo, Philly’s monthly Cosmic Country party.

Sponsors

- Brooklinen, where you can get $20 off at brooklinen.com by using code thisisgood

- Munk Pack, which is offering 20% off your purchase at munkpack.com with code thisisgood

Find Us Online

- Twitter: @ThisIsGoodPod

- Instagram: @ThisIsGoodPod

- Merch: thisisgoodpod.com/merch

- Patreon: thisisgoodpod.com/patreon

- Nichole: @tnwhiskeywoman

- Multitude: @MultitudeShows

- Email: [email protected]

Production

- Producer: Eric Silver

- Editor: Brandon Grugle

- Executive Producers: Amanda McLoughlin and Nichole Perkins

- Theme Music: Donwill

- Artwork: Jessica E. Boyd

About The Show

Nichole Perkins wants people to stop feeling bad about feeling good, and This Is Good For You lets you know you are never alone in what you like. Every episode, Nichole explores something that people love—whether it’s needlepoint, watching bad movies with friends, or cowgirl exercise classes—and asks experts and devotee why it makes them happy. She ends each show with an Indulgence: a recommendation listeners can enjoy with no remorse. There’s no such thing as a guilty pleasure when you learn to love it freely! To find out what’s good for you, listen to new episodes every other Friday.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

I know I’m not the only one out there who still has a fondness for VHS tapes of old, so I asked my buddy Tyler Sorensen to come on the show and talk a little bit about his collection of tapes. But Tyler’s VHS collection isn’t what you think; they’re mostly erotic thrillers— those movies that are basically film noir gone cheesy. Yes, I was also quite surprised.

Indulgence

Nichole recommends the album Catching Leaves by Avi Wisnia.

Guest

Tyler Sorensen is an audio ad producer who has worked at Spotify, Gimlet Media, and BuzzFeed. He lives in New York City and is the host of Different Head, an online radio show devoted to alternative music of the 1980s.

Sponsor

- Dipsea is offering a 30-day free trial when you go to dipseastories.com/thisisgood!

Find Us Online

- Twitter: @ThisIsGoodPod

- Instagram: @ThisIsGoodPod

- Merch: thisisgoodpod.com/merch

- Patreon: thisisgoodpod.com/patreon

- Nichole: @tnwhiskeywoman

- Multitude: @MultitudeShows

- Email: [email protected]

Production

- Producer: Eric Silver

- Editor: Brandon Grugle

- Executive Producers: Amanda McLoughlin and Nichole Perkins

- Theme Music: Donwill

- Artwork: Jessica E. Boyd

About The Show

Nichole Perkins wants people to stop feeling bad about feeling good, and This Is Good For You lets you know you are never alone in what you like. Every episode, Nichole explores something that people love—whether it’s needlepoint, watching bad movies with friends, or cowgirl exercise classes—and asks experts and devotees why it makes them happy. She ends each show with an Indulgence: a recommendation listeners can enjoy with no remorse. There’s no such thing as a guilty pleasure when you learn to love it freely! To find out what’s good for you, listen to new episodes every other Friday.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The holidays are hard for me, so I'm constantly looking for things to occupy myself in a way that suits me. Last year, I started buying jigsaw puzzles. Someone on Twitter posted a puzzle that was a collection of erotic pulp fiction and I thought “well, surely that was made for me!” It was great until I adopted my cat, who liked to sit on top of the puzzle and pull at it. But my special guest today may convince me to get back into them!

Rachel mentions the NYT Guide to starting crossword puzzles, the Queer Qrosswords collection, and her Buzzfeed piece on puzzles. Her favorite puzzle producers are Galison, Mudpuppy, and NY Puzzle Co (especially ones by Jim Golden).

Indulgence

Nichole recommends showing off.

Guest

Rachel Wilkerson Miller is a Senior Editor at Vox and the author of The Art of Showing Up: How to Be There for Yourself and Your People and Dot Journaling: A Practical Guide. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, BuzzFeed, VICE, and Huffington Post, and she’s been a guest on NPR, the Today show, and Good Morning America. Find out more about her at rachelwmiller.com

Sponsor

- Dipsea is offering a 30-day free trial when you go to dipseastories.com/thisisgood!

Find Us Online

- Twitter: @ThisIsGoodPod

- Instagram: @ThisIsGoodPod

- Merch: thisisgoodpod.com/merch

- Patreon: thisisgoodpod.com/patreon

- Nichole: @tnwhiskeywoman

- Multitude: @MultitudeShows

- Email: [email protected]

Production

- Producer: Eric Silver

- Editor: Brandon Grugle

- Executive Producers: Amanda McLoughlin and Nichole Perkins

- Theme Music: Donwill

- Artwork: Jessica E. Boyd

About The Show

Nichole Perkins wants people to stop feeling bad about feeling good, and This Is Good For You lets you know you are never alone in what you like. Every episode, Nichole explores something that people love—whether it’s needlepoint, watching bad movies with friends, or cowgirl exercise classes—and asks experts and devotees why it makes them happy. She ends each show with an Indulgence: a recommendation listeners can enjoy with no remorse. There’s no such thing as a guilty pleasure when you learn to love it freely! To find out what’s good for you, listen to new episodes every other Friday.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This episode is two things good for you for the price of one from some of my favorite longtime podcasters. Brittany Luse and Eric Eddings started For Colored Nerds, which morphed into The Nod, and now they’re bringing back For Colored Nerds, and I can’t wait for it. But today, we’re talking about what they do when they’re not working: the pleasures of wandering aimlessly and  coloring outside the lines. 

Indulgence

Brittany recommends eating by yourself. Eric recommends A Million Little Things.

Guests

- Brittany Luse is an award-winning journalist, on-air host, cultural critic, producer, and editor. She most recently co-hosted and executive produced The Nod with Brittany and Eric, a daily streaming show. Before that, Brittany hosted and produced The Nod and Sampler podcasts at Gimlet Media, and the independent podcast For Colored Nerds. Follow her @bmluse on Twitter and Instagram. 

- Eric Eddings is the Director of Lifestyle Podcasting at Stitcher and co-host of the For Colored Nerds podcast. He most recently co-hosted and executive produced The Nod with Brittany and Eric, a daily streaming show about Black culture on the Quibi platform. Previously, Eric hosted and produced the podcasts The Nod for Gimlet Media and The Decade Wrapped for Spotify. Follow him @eedings on Twitter and Instagram. 

Sponsor

- BetterHelp, a secure online therapy service. Get 10% off your first month at betterhelp.com/thisisgood

Find Us Online

- Twitter: @ThisIsGoodPod

- Instagram: @ThisIsGoodPod

- Merch: thisisgoodpod.com/merch

- Patreon: thisisgoodpod.com/patreon

- Nichole: @tnwhiskeywoman

- Multitude: @MultitudeShows

- Email: [email protected]

Production

- Producer: Eric Silver

- Editor: Brandon Grugle

- Executive Producers: Amanda McLoughlin and Nichole Perkins

- Theme Music: Donwill

- Artwork: Jessica E. Boyd

About The Show

Nichole Perkins wants people to stop feeling bad about feeling good, and This Is Good For You lets you know you are never alone in what you like. Every episode, Nichole explores something that people love—whether it’s needlepoint, watching bad movies with friends, or cowgirl exercise classes—and asks experts and devotees why it makes them happy. She ends each show with an Indulgence: a recommendation listeners can enjoy with no remorse. There’s no such thing as a guilty pleasure when you learn to love it freely! To find out what’s good for you, listen to new episodes every other Friday.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Books are my happy place. When I was younger and read something that moved me or something that I recognized as being superbly crafted, I would sleep with the book under my pillow, hoping to absorb the talent. Even as my job revolved around writing, the act of reading has always felt important and constant. And Traci Thomas, host of The Stacks, feels exactly the same way.

Indulgence

Nichole recommends saying no.

Guests

Traci Thomas is the host of The Stacks, a weekly podcast about books and the people who read them, where she interviews authors and other book lovers about their relationships to books. Traci also moderates book and author events, and writes a monthly book column for shereads.com.

Sponsors

- Dipsea is offering a 30-day free trial when you go to dipseastories.com/thisisgood!

Find Us Online

- Twitter: @ThisIsGoodPod

- Instagram: @ThisIsGoodPod

- Merch: thisisgoodpod.com/merch

- Patreon: thisisgoodpod.com/patreon

- Nichole: @tnwhiskeywoman

- Multitude: @MultitudeShows

- Email: [email protected]

Production

- Producer: Eric Silver

- Editor: Brandon Grugle

- Executive Producers: Amanda McLoughlin and Nichole Perkins

- Theme Music: Donwill

- Artwork: Jessica E. Boyd

About The Show

Nichole Perkins wants people to stop feeling bad about feeling good, and This Is Good For You lets you know you are never alone in what you like. Every episode, Nichole explores something that people love—whether it’s needlepoint, watching bad movies with friends, or cowgirl exercise classes—and asks experts and devotees why it makes them happy. She ends each show with an Indulgence: a recommendation listeners can enjoy with no remorse. There’s no such thing as a guilty pleasure when you learn to love it freely! To find out what’s good for you, listen to new episodes every other Friday.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

One of the ways I end up stuck inside during the winter is too much comfort tv. I’ll burrow into a cave of old sitcoms from my high school days when all I had to worry about was how not to get caught skipping school. I don’t fool myself into thinking the old days are better. I know they’re simply different, but sometimes the nostalgia does take over. But Tracy Clayton and Josh Gywnn, hosts of Back Issue, love that nostalgia so much they made a podcast examining it.

Indulgence

Josh recommends big cooking projects. Tracy recommends elementary-school-style arts and crafts.

Guests

- Tracy Clayton is a writer, humorist, podcaster, and social media expert born and raised in the West End of Louisville, Kentucky. Tracy is co-host of the award-winning podcast Another Round with Heben and Tracy. She loves bourbon, true crime, animals and fancy cheeses, and hates most seafood, all beer, and every owl on the planet. She is the co-creator and co-host of Back Issue.

- Josh Gwynn is an audio producer and host from Southern California who has created work for companies like Pineapple Street Media, The New York Times, Netflix, Essence, Stitcher, Mailchimp, and Nike. He is passionate about providing platforms for underserved voices. Given his California roots, Josh describes his vibe as a combination of palm trees, confetti, limes, rhythm, vitamin E oil, melanin, and bones. He is still waiting on a ticket to Oprah’s Legends Luncheon. He is the co-creator, co-host, and senior producer of Back Issue.

Sponsors

- BetterHelp, a secure online therapy service. Get 10% off your first month at betterhelp.com/thisisgood

Find Us Online

- Twitter: @ThisIsGoodPod

- Instagram: @ThisIsGoodPod

- Merch: thisisgoodpod.com/merch

- Patreon: thisisgoodpod.com/patreon

- Nichole: @tnwhiskeywoman

- Multitude: @MultitudeShows

- Email: [email protected]

Production

- Producer: Eric Silver

- Editor: Brandon Grugle

- Executive Producers: Amanda McLoughlin and Nichole Perkins

- Theme Music: Donwill

- Artwork: Jessica E. Boyd

About The Show

Nichole Perkins wants people to stop feeling bad about feeling good, and This Is Good For You lets you know you are never alone in what you like. Every episode, Nichole explores something that people love—whether it’s needlepoint, watching bad movies with friends, or cowgirl exercise classes—and asks experts and devotees why it makes them happy. She ends each show with an Indulgence: a recommendation listeners can enjoy with no remorse. There’s no such thing as a guilty pleasure when you learn to love it freely! To find out what’s good for you, listen to new episodes every other Friday.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.