Showing results by publisher "Highbridge Audio" in Home & Garden

Jennifer Howard's Clutter is an expansive assessment of our relationship to the things that share and shape our lives. Sparked by the painful two-year process of cleaning out her mother's house in the wake of a devastating physical and emotional collapse, Howard sets her own personal struggle with clutter against a meticulously researched history of just how the developed world came to drown in material goods.  

These days, high-quality coffee can taste all kinds of ways, thanks to roasting techniques that help draw out the qualities of the bean. In addition to that characteristic coffee taste, you really can find hints of fruit, chocolate, and nuts in your cup—all it takes is a little knowledge, a little practice, and the ability to slow down and savor. In How to Taste Coffee, bestselling author Jessica Easto explains why flavor notes are not always as straightforward with coffee as they are with other beverages, such as wine, beer, and spirits. 

At age four, Phyllis Biffle Elmore was plucked off her front porch in Detroit and dropped on her grandmother Lula Horn's doorstep in rural Alabama. Phyllis felt utterly abandoned until Grandma Lula showed her both all-encompassing love and her intricate "Quilts of Souls." Phyllis listened intently as Lula told epic stories of folks who had passed on as she turned their clothing into breathtaking quilts for their families.

In the winelands of 16th-century Germany, Obsopoeus witnessed the birth of a poisonous new culture of bingeing, hazing, peer pressure, and competitive drinking. Alarmed, and inspired by the Roman poet Ovid's Art of Love, he wrote The Art of Drinking (1536), a how-to manual for drinking with pleasure and discrimination. In How to Drink, Michael Fontaine offers the first proper English translation of Obsopoeus' text, rendering his poetry into spirited, contemporary prose and uncorking a forgotten classic that will appeal to drinkers of all kinds and (legal) ages. 

Though the Torah prohibits eating pig meat, it is not singled out more than other food prohibitions. The pig has become a symbol for people to signal their Jewishness, non-Jewishness, or rebellion from Judaism. Starting with the Hebrew Bible, Jordan D. Rosenblum historicizes the emergence of the pig as a key symbol of Jewish identity, from the Roman persecution of ancient rabbis, to the Spanish Inquisition, to Shakespeare's writings, to modern memoirs of those leaving Orthodox Judaism.

By the time life had finished hitting Rick Crandall from all sides, he was at the lowest point of his life, both personally and professionally. His wife, Pamela, makes an astute and life-changing suggestion: "Let's get a dog." So begins the story of Emme, a 200-pound Saint Bernard trapped in the body of a five-pound Australian terrier puppy. Soon, Emme and Rick hit the hiking trails around Aspen, Colorado. While she is groomed to be a show dog, it's soon obvious that her heart is in the hills and with Rick, who decides to add more challenging hikes to the mix.

In this authoritative but light-hearted account of beers gone by, archaeologist Tate Paulette brings the famous "land between the rivers" back to life in vivid detail. We meet not only the beers of ancient Mesopotamia, but also the people who brewed them and drank them, the places where these people lived and worked, the taverns and temples and tombs where they did their drinking, the stories they told about beer, their preferred styles of drinking, their brewing equipment and drinking paraphernalia, the gods and goddesses who governed their lives and who were also partial to a drink.

In Riding, Pardis Mahdavi meditates on the lessons learned over a lifetime of horseback riding and the falling, failing, and joy it brings. At once a history of Caspian horses, an exploration of Mahdavi's Iranian-American identity and family history, and a consideration of the capacity for self-reflection and self-compassion through human-animal relationships, Riding offers a roadmap for learning to live in harmony with the self and the environment around us.

Steve Almond doesn't just love candy, he unabashedly worships every aspect of confectionary culture, from the creation of an exceptional malt ball through the tragic demise of a badly conceived candy bar, from the emotion-laden memories stirred by a bite of chocolate to his near-drooling anticipation of spotting a new package on the candy shelves.

Amazing Gracie tells the story of Gracie's first morning, racing around Dan in the snowy yard, and her determination to prove to her step-sisters, Dottie the Dalmation and Sarah the Black Lab, that she's one of the girls. But when Gracie's delicate constitution starts turning into anorexia, Dan must find a solution. In three days he is baking her the cookies that will spur her appetite, launching Three Dog Bakery, and transforming their lives forever.

Calvin Trillin proves that he is one of America's funniest food writers, while recalling his efforts to write a definitive history of the Buffalo chicken wing to his attempts to lure his older daughter back from California by finding an irresistible bagel.

Cask Strength is more than a history book. In it, Mike Gerrard, an award-winning travel and drinks writer, investigates the making, buying, and selling of barrels and details how drinks like wine, tequila, rum, cognac, and others are enhanced by specific kinds of barrel production.

The idea that our homes can communicate professional as well as personal identities may seem as new as the work-from-home revolution. But it was second nature to the ancient Romans, for whom the home was in many ways the center of public and private life. Roman authors saw infinite practical and symbolic value in houses, and they have much to say about them. How to Make a Home presents some of the best Roman writings on houses—from buying and selling to designing and decorating.

John Hanson Mitchell has long written about his garden outside of Boston, and about the plants and animals with whom he shares this land. In 2022, the United Nations and others started reporting the true severity of the climate crisis as the Earth passed a point of no return. All across the globe it was the worst year on record for climate-related disasters. Mitchell, like so many, felt overwhelmed. He looked to the story of Voltaire's Candide, and settled on the famous aphorism from that book: "We must cultivate our garden."

"When in doubt, walk your dog" is the first of many valuable maxims in Dog Lessons, a heartfelt reflection on what dogs can teach us when we open ourselves to listen and learn. After sixty-plus years living and working with dogs, Hersch Wilson shares self-deprecating stories and lighthearted musings on a life filled with fur-covered furniture, unexplained messes, and destroyed property. The resulting compendium of dog wisdom—from universal values like loyalty and curiosity to practical lessons on napping, playing, and avoiding a serious fight—is not only poignant but eminently good advice.

The Kingdom of Rye unearths the foods and flavors of the Russian land. Preeminent food studies scholar Darra Goldstein offers listeners a concise, engaging, and gorgeously crafted story of Russian cuisine and culture. This story demonstrates how national identity is revealed through food—and how people know who they are by what they eat together. The Kingdom of Rye examines the Russians' ingenuity in overcoming hunger, a difficult climate, and a history of political hardship while deciphering Russia's social structures from within.

Whether you farm or garden, live in the country or long to move there, or simply enjoy an occasional rural retreat, you will be delighted by this cornucopia of writings about living and working on the land, harvested from the fertile fields of ancient Greek and Roman literature. An inspiring antidote to the digital age, How to Be a Farmer evokes the beauty and bounty of nature with a rich mixture of philosophy, practical advice, history, and humor.  

NPR celebrates the joyful, inspiring, and downright delicious culture of food with this smorgasbord of radio stories, featuring visits with celebrity chefs and famous foodies Gastón Acurio, Mark Bittman, Alton Brown, Julia Child, Amanda Cohen, Dana Goodyear, Dorie Greenspan, Jeff Henderson, Christopher Kimball, Maricel Presilla, Ruth Reichl, Marcus Samuelsson, William Sitwell, and many others.

Car Talk: Why You Should Never Listen to Your Father When It Comes to Cars is a hilarious collection of the Tappet brothers' favorite calls over the years about fathers, fatherly advice, and fatherly negotiations around the use of cars and car care. Fathers may be wrong most of the time, but Tom and Ray show us why we love them anyway.

Dog lovers will delight in this audio celebration of the canine character. From our earliest encounters with Lassie, to the magical moments we share with our own imperfect but thoroughly lovable companions, dogs have become an integral part of our culture and beloved members of our family. NPR proudly presents these tales of unforgettable animals and their devoted human friends.