Wherein the people come together to recommend a crowd-sourced repository of comfort watches, listens, and reads.

A few days ago, I asked folks on BlueSky to recommend their favorite comforting, low-stakes stuff to consume when everything is terrible. The reads/watches/plays they turn to when they feel overwhelmed and full of despair and need a recharge, or maybe just a little break from Everything.

Feels like the right time for a report-back on that.

Me? I turn to Roku’s nonstop 24/7 “Dick Van Dyke Show” channel for a wholesome lift, or the History of English Podcast, which serves as a soothing reminder that people and our languages change all the time.

Here’s what other folks recommended, with blurbs as applicable:

• The Repair Shop. I was absolutely inundated with recs for this. Says Martha Smith: “It’s like a valium for my heart.”
• The BBC’s “Uncanny,” a “fave sweet and spooky podcast.”
• Antiques Roadshow, streaming on Tubi and Roku and probably YouTube and elsewhere.
• Bob Fucking Ross! Every episode on YouTube. “Absolute audiovisual Xanax.”
• The Little Shop of Found Things series, specifically on audiobook.
• Looking at adorable period homes for sale in England and France. To wit: “I look up period homes for sale in England and France, like stone cottages in medieval villages, Elizabethan half-timbered lodges, and thatched roofs in the countryside. Then I can breathe.”
• The Sleeping With Celebrities Podcast. Max Fun shows are almost always a gimme in the comfort category. Says Jenny Benny: “John Moe talks to celebrities about topics that are not supposed to be stimulating (for example, Alan Tudyk talked about his yardstick collection).”
• Amoeba Music’s What’s In My Bag? series. Riley Fox: “I enjoy the “What’s In My Bag?” series on Amoeba Records’ YouTube channel, where musicians go around the store and pick out records that they love and nerd out about music for a few minutes.”
• “Flowers. Just flowers.” Says Alisha Grauso: “Just beautiful little spots of color and brightness in the world that exist only to feed and nourish other beautiful little spots of color and brightness in the world.”
• Cracking the Cryptic and Baumgartner Restoration. Via Marcelo Teson: “Gentle brits solving daily sudokus, or a super hip art restorer with a soothing voice walking you through how he conserves a painting for half an hour.”
• Beach Too Sandy, Water Too Wet podcast. Lyndsay on Bluesky says: “It’s a podcast where 2 siblings read one star reviews based on a theme each week, plus one of them will have a challenge (“find reviews where the author is actually mad at a family members behavior and not the business they are reviewing”).”
• Tokyo Lens Explore. Skulleigh on Bluesky says it does what it says on the tin: “this guy does walks in Japan and films them.”
• Dungeons and Dragons campaigns on YouTube, specifically Dimension 20 and Transplanar RPG.
• Bunch of recs for Call the Midwife! (I still haven’t watched this ever and I know I need to.)
• Claim to Fame on ABC. Allison says: “Low-drama reality tv where relatives of celebrities have to figure out who other contestants are related to and protect their own identity. They play games for clues and stuff. It’s fun!”
• Laying in hammocks with goats.
• Via Aria Velasquez: Bob’s Burgers, ever a balm, The Read podcast, and some Housewives + Batman: “The first 9 seasons of RHOA. All 4 seasons of RHOSLC. Joel Schumacher’s Batman movies from the 90s.”
• Jill Weinberger recommends Flea Market Flip and “a three-part documentary on octopuses narrated by Paul Rudd that was SO soothing.”
• Tasting History with Max Miller. Says the Rev. Jesus “H” Christ hisself: “I don’t cook, nor am I much of a foodie, but I love watching Tasting History with Max Miller. I really like when he does the super-simple dishes, like 19th-century goldminer’s breakfast or firehouse chili.”
• Many recs for basically Terry Pratchett’s entire ouevre.
• The Secretly Incredibly Fascinating podcast. Jason says “the hosts are magnetically adorable.”
• The Sporkful podcast. The Gravel Influencer says: “Just a fun, entertaining, and often insightful listen on food. Sometimes interviews and sometimes cool stories focusing on things like how Appalachian Trail hikers manage food.”
• Drumming. Says Peter Ellis: “i know i’m shit at it, i don’t have any plans to get good, i don’t need to be good, so i can just enjoy playing.”
• One Strange Thing podcast. Says Lyn: “Thing is great, generally a tight and often funny 30 minutes for what is sometimes a decades-long story, and Laurah’s voice is very soothing.”
• Just this guy sailing across the Ionian sea.
• The Handsome Podcast. Says MizzO: “it makes me so happy. One of few pieces of media where I laugh out loud multiple times most episodes.”
• Many recs for “Murder She Wrote,” which is streaming on a bunch of platforms.
• Many recs for Gardener’s World, “the ultimate in soothing British horticulture and regional accents.”
• Recipes for Love and Murder, book and tv!
• Pianist Kara Baldus on Instagram, who plays with her dog! Rec: “I wish her videos were longer.”
• Oliver Stone’s “Alexander.” RaccoonMoose says: “Pretty boys in history bleeding on each other with amazing scenery. This movie is the backbone of my coping strategies.”
• The Great Pottery Throw Down
• Surely the Great British Bake-Off goes without saying, but just in case.
• Not to be missed in the Great British Soothing Show category, the Great British Sewing Bee.
• The precious and doggily delightful books of Andrew Knapp.
• Rearranging bookshelves, per Ashley, “even when done in short bursts.”
• Mythbusters. Says Shana: “Totally unfancy, no politics, just… can we prove this urban legend true, plausible, or busted using only our wits, science, and ballistics gel. (Also: witnessing how Grant Imahara lived his best life.).”
• This guy, Martijn Doolaard, renovating cabins in the Italian Alps. Says Ella Morrow: “He doesn’t speak much, just shows the work he’s doing plus some amazing drone footage. Very relaxing.”
• The Great North. Says Karen: “Honeybee Shaw-Tobin and company always soothe me.” I haven’t seen it but I’ll go anywhere Wendy Molyneaux takes me.
• Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing
• The Beechgrove Garden. Says Lynn: “It has been around since 1978. It is available on Amazon Prime and on YouTube. The climate-specific aspects are not very useful in my South Carolina garden but much of it is, and it is a lovely show.”
• Art stuff!!
• Maine Cabin Masters
• Many recs for Spooked, one of the all-time great podcasts and specifically probably the best paranormal show of any kind on any platform ever.
• For the anime crowd: Natsume’s Book of Friends. Says Ridley: “Everything wraps up in two episodes at most, the rural setting is relaxing, and the running themes of people helping each other and healing from past trauma by surrounding yourself with people who love you just makes me feel better.”
• Taskmaster. I think it’s all streaming on YouTube? Says Archer: “a gazillion seasons if goofy, hilarious idiocy.” Please allow me to enthusiastically cosign this as hard as I possibly can. I’m obsessed with this show. It’s so good. It’s perfect. Best game show of all time. No notes.
• Bernadette Banner‘s sewing YouTube. Says Helen: “beautifully shot and soothing walkthroughs of her historical sewing projects, often done at least partially by hand, which I find rather calming and out-of-my-wheelhouse interesting at the same time.”
• Monk. Says Carly: “I rewatch Monk because it tells me everything will just work out.”

If readers have recommendations to add, I’ll try to track them — y’all leave ’em in the comments!

Lord knows we need it.

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