So a couple weeks ago, a friend texted me a link to a Facebook marketplace listing for a bright red baseball hat.

If you want to picture the color, we're talking like a red MAGA hat.

But this one has the logo for Interstate 93.

And on either side of that, the words opening, March 2003.

That, of course, is the opening date for the big dig tunnel underneath downtown Boston, the subject of our first season and the story that launched this

whole podcast. This was one of the commemorative hats that they gave out to the actual

contractors on opening day, and here it was for $40.

I managed to talk the seller down a little bit, but let's be honest, I was going to buy that

hat no matter what, and I wanted this hat because I have a specific use in mind for it.

This is going to take a minute to explain,

but we'll get there. The thing you need to know is that this is going to be a very busy year for our podcast. We are just days away now from announcing our third season, but we are already hard at

work on the fourth season, while also at the same time finalizing the dates for a multi-city tour of live tapings.

So all of that is coming soon.

But I want to kick off the year with an invitation to join our membership program.

I like to think of it as more of a club, personally, a place to build community

around this show, a place where you can get a peek behind the scenes of what we're working on,

and of course, access some members-only perks. It's called the Big Dig HOV lane, and you can

sign up right now for the whole year with a donation of $25,

which I will add is less than what I paid for that red I-93 hat.

So my goal now is to make that $25 donation feel like an absolute bargain.

Like you are getting every bit as much joy and connection and inspiration out of the

HOV lane as I am getting from my hat, which is a lot.

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