Kid Sets World Record, Drag Queens Are Thriving In Nashville, Harry Potter Goes To HBO, In-Bred Appalachian Family And Dog Birthdays

Are we all feeling better today?

As my colleague Zach Dean pointed out in yesterday's Nightcaps, the entire United States had a contentious weekend. Lots of anger going around. And if you stayed up drinking for last night's National Championship game, you're probably hurting.

But hopefully we've all had a chance to unwind, watch some basketball and get the week started on the right foot.

A big, humongous right foot. But we'll get to that in just a second.

Today we've got for you a kid setting a world record and drag queens thriving in Tennessee (despite what you might have heard). Plus, there's a new HBO series coming that you won't want to miss. And we'll introduce you to a clan that makes your dysfunctional family look like the Cleavers.

How many of you youngins did I miss with that reference?

And — today you get to see my hidden talent.

See, I bet you're feeling better already. So quit pretending to work, grab yourself some hair of the dog and let's get rolling.

And if you're still on the struggle bus, just remember you're doing better than Jordan Poole that time he lost a fight with his arm sleeve.

We have a Bigfoot sighting!

And it's actually a 10-year-old girl.

No, seriously. A fourth grader in Michigan just set the world record for having the biggest feet of anyone her age.

Ruby Labuschewsky wears a whopping size 10.5 shoe. And her mom says, since setting the world record, she's actually now in an 11. And still growing.

For my fellow "King of the Hill" aficionados out there, Ruby is a spitting image of a young Peggy Hill. Peggy grew up to rock size-16.5 shoes on her left foot and size-16 on her right.

Sadly, Peggy is deeply insecure about her dogs, despite the fact that they could give her perfect posture and exceptional athletic ability.

So Ruby has that going for her.

And before you tell me to pick on someone my own size, she's definitely taller than I am (and with much bigger shoes).

Plus, Ruby says she was "extremely excited" about the award, and she likes the attention. The lunch ladies at her school even gave her extra sauce packets and three extra scoops of broccoli when they heard the news.

Not really what I'd consider great perks, but whatever makes the kid happy.

"Embrace yourself. Because you can't change yourself," Ruby said.

We could all learn a lot from Ruby.

By the way, Kids World Record breakers can be ages 4 to 16, and categories can range from the longest time hula-hooping to the fastest time solving a Rubik’s Cube — and everything in between.

Too bad I'm just now finding out about this. As the hula hoop champion of Fort Myers Beach, I really feel like I missed my calling.

You're welcome.

Meet America's most in-bred family.

I know that seems like a wild pivot, but I actually have a train of thought here.

The legend of Bigfoot is part of the folklore of both the Pacific Northwest and the Appalachian Mountains. The Appalachians are an ancient and mysterious mountain range (formed long before the dinosaurs!), whose peaks at one time rivaled the Himalayas.

See, I try to teach you things here on Nightcaps.

Anyways, there's lots of strange and legendary things that go on in Appalachia, and this next story I'm going to tell you is one of those things.

Let's head to Odd, West Virginia (Yes, that is really the name of the town.) and check in on the Whittaker family.

The Whittakers are described as America's most in-bred family. Its members communicate only in grunts and bark at passersby.

If you've seen the 1972 thriller "Deliverance" ...yeah, it's something like that.

Photographer Mark Laita first encountered the family in 2004 and photographed them for his book, "Created Equal."

"The one guy you’d look at him in the eye or say anything and he’d scream and go running away and his pants would fall around his ankles and he’d go running off and go kick the garbage can," Laita said. "This would happen over and over."

And before you think I'm here to ridicule these people, I'm not. We all have family issues. The Whittakers just have — well — way more.

Laita returned to West Virginia in 2020 and shot video of the family. Since then, he set up a GoFundMe page to help them with their living conditions. It raised more than $52,000.

In a video taken during Laita’s most recent visit in 2022, one of the siblings gives Laita a tour around their newly-renovated home, which now has a refrigerator, a bed with a box spring and other amenities thanks to the fundraising efforts.

Laita says his ultimate goal is to shed light on issues in parts of the country that people seldom see.

I'm calling it now. The Whittaker Family TV show — coming soon to TLC.

Drag shows are alive and well in Tennessee.

And if anyone told you otherwise, it's fake news.

If you watch CNN or you saw Sunday's CMT Awards, you probably think cops in Tennessee are just arresting drag queens left and right in the streets. All the so-called fascists are ripping wigs off performers' heads and stomping them with their stripper heels.

Oh, the bedazzled humanity!

But that's not what's happening. Not even close.

If you're looking for a drag show in Nashville, there are dozens of options. You can even hop aboard the drag party bus, crack open a Bud Light and see the city while you lip sync to all of your favorite Cher hits.

OutKick's Hayley Caronia explains:

There you go. All the glam and twerking you could ever need.

"If you're still outraged over this so-called ban and you're fighting to dance like this in front of minors, I'd ask yourself why that is."

Stop it, Hayley. You're making too much sense.

So if you want to watch men in dresses leave lipstick marks on giant inflatable male genitalia, absolutely be our guest.

Just leave the kids out of it, will ya?

There's a new 'Harry Potter' TV series in the works.

I know, I know. How dare I say it's wrong to sexualize children. Next thing you know, I might suggest that men and women have different body parts.

I'm basically J.K. Rowling (minus about a billion dollars).

Speaking of — Despite her outrageous belief in biology, Rowling is about to add to her stacks of millions.

HBO is reportedly nearing a massive deal for a "Harry Potter" TV series. Reportedly, each of the seven books will become a full season of television.

And my inner 12-year-old is seriously pumped.

Now, I'm not the kind of person who can watch a movie or read a book more than once. If I already know what's going to happen, what's the point?

But this is different.

With the series airing on HBO, it will be interesting to see if the beloved children's story becomes more of a dark, adult drama. The last few movies were already pretty sinister.

This TV show could be an absolute must-watch.

Send me your dog photos.

If you know me a little bit (or you follow me on Instagram), you know I'm THAT obnoxious dog mom.

So there's no way I'm ending this Nightcaps without sharing this photo from my dog Lucy's 14th birthday party over the weekend.

I bribed Lucy with a cake to make her wear that hat, and I bribed all my friends with burgers and beers to make them spend their Saturday night at a dog's birthday party.

But that's the beauty of these little furballs of joy. No matter your opinion of Angel Reese, Dylan Mulvaney or Trump's indictment, we can all find common ground on one thing — Dogs are the sh-t.

And if you don't agree with that, I'm sending Kid Rock after you.

Now, please spam me at @TheAmberHarding with all the pictures of your precious mutts. Go ahead, make my day.

OutKick Nightcaps is a daily column set to run Monday through Friday at 4 p.m.

Email me at Amber.Harding@OutKick.com.