Turn now to our video podcast, Settle In. In our latest episode, I speak with actor Nick Offerman,

who joined me on a video call during a break on set. Since playing the curmudgeonly libertarian

Ron Swanson on NBC's Parks and Rec, he's avoided being typecast, most recently portraying

President Chester Arthur and Netflix's Death by Lightning. We spoke about that role in his latest book, Little Woodchucks.

It's a guide to woodworking for kids and much more.

Here's some of that conversation.

So this book, it is such a joyful, mischievous guide to working with your hands.

What made you come up with this idea to write a woodworking book

specifically for kids, but also their parents who might be learning alongside them?

Well, I've had my wood shop for 20 plus years, and I ran the shop with my co-author, whose name

is Lee Buchanan.

And before, I mean, we both came from families where we were taught to use tools and make things,

whether it was sew buttons on our clothing or make things in the kitchen or make things with tools in the shop.

And it has just made our lives better. And so over the years, we talked about

different ideas for passing along this knowledge to families, because it's funny. You know,

the book is designed for families to learn to make things together, but it's kind of a gentle way

of saying, hey, parents, you can teach your kids

to use tools, but also, I know a lot of you also don't know how to use tools. So this is a really

fun way to put people's phones and iPads down and spend time together improving their lives

without using any algorithms just with a hammer and a pair of pliers and a good time.

Well, that's one of the things I love about the book is that these projects, when you show the finished result, they look as if the kids actually made them, as opposed to, you know, no disrespect to set designers,

but a set designer making them and saying, here, kid, hold this.

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