Sometimes I wonder if we overcomplicate clay work. @hannahh22 makes valid points about grog and screening, but for casual pottery, isn't a bit of cracking part of the charm? Last year, I used unsifted beach clay for planters, and despite some fissures, they've held up for seasons. Speckles from natural impurities often add character rather than weaken the piece. Maybe rigorous testing is essential for production potters, but for hobbyists, embracing the clay's quirks can be more rewarding.

Did you catch that investigative piece on how common 'frankenbiting' is in these shows? In my experience, once you know they're stitching together audio from different days, every confession feels suspect. Barbarah19 nailed it about the reputational damage, since contestants get painted as villains based on pure fabrication. I read somewhere that editors have entire libraries of reaction shots to plug in wherever they need drama, which totally explains Sarah's fake crying. It makes you wonder if any genuine moment survives the edit, and honestly, that skepticism ruins the fun for me too.

Read an article last week about the true crime series 'The Vanished' podcast team flying to three states for a single episode. They interviewed family members in person for 'authenticity' but could have used Zoom, especially since the episode was about environmental activists. The carbon footprint from those flights probably offset any message they were trying to send, lmao. It's exactly the kind of disconnect the post is talking about.