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On this special episode of Skimm This, we wanted to take a break from the news for some comic relief, and get a chance to hear some of your voices. A few weeks ago, we asked you to fill out a survey about how the past year has been. The good, the bad, and the ugly. And we started getting a lot of must-read responses to one question in particular: what was your best or worst pandemic purchase? 

• First up: A wannabe survivalist builds out his basement to store lots and lots of powdered milk. We decided to check in with him...and his wife.
• Then: We heard about some toys for kids that didn’t exactly come as advertised. 
• Next: Millennials are becoming farmers, with new chicken coops and garden boxes sparking joy. 
• Later: Some purchases ended up being some serious silver linings. Looking at you, new mattress and blow-up swimming pool. And other pandemic buys became new hobbies that are hopefully sticking with us post-COVID.   
• Finally: We’ll break down the trends from the year’s purchases...and give you some tips on what makes a good one (and how to avoid the bad). 

On this episode, you’ll hear from: 

• Luke Vargas, senior audio producer, theSkimm
• Skimm’rs Dominique, Lisa, Heather, Mia, Julia, Shelby, Sara, Anissa, Jessica and Kelly 

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Skimm'd by Alex Carr, Ciara Long and Luke Vargas. With additional support from Peter Bonaventure. TheSkimm’s head of audio is Graelyn Brashear.