A blast of hot wind shakes the house, rattling the windows. Outside my basement studio, the towering sweetgums thrash and sway, flinging their prickly seedpods down the hill.

“We’re rolling,” Benny says. “Whenever you’re ready.”

My focus slides back to my best friend. Back to his ruddy beard, to the untamed curls squashed by his oversized headphones, to the workstation where we sit in our ergonomic swivel chairs—anywhere, everywhere but his eyes. “Ready.”

Benny doesn’t comment on how distracted I am as we start recording. I force myself to pretend nothing is wrong, and as usual, my anxiety falls away as we find our rhythm. By the time we wrap our rambling podcast intro, I’m more at ease. Benny is leading the episode today, which means I’m in the hot seat ad-libbing survival tactics for the life-threatening topic of his choice.

He’s watching me now with an impish grin. “What do you know about humpback whales? Anything specific?”

“Beyond the giant mammal part?” I look to my sister-in-law at the opposite end of the table, hoping for a hint, but Mallory’s focused on the mix board; she adjusts a fader, turns a knob, and sweeps her platinum blond hair into a low ponytail. Into the mic, I say, “Embarrassingly little.”

“Excellent.” Benny leans back in his chair, hands clasped across a faded black T-shirt from our original merch line. Our catchphrase stretches across the front in white block letters: WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU MAKES YOU. . . A SURVIVOR. “Let’s say you’re kayaking along the Pacific coast. It’s a warm fall day. Cloudless skies. Glistening water. You’re working up a sweat. Life is good. Then all at once, dozens of sardines start hurling themselves into your boat.”