Like, why wouldn't people be interested in knowing that the African slave trade of the colonial period actually started with Jewish kids, but they all died in the African climate of Sao Tome, so the Portuguese started buying slaves from the Congolese, which they captured from neighboring tribes, to work the fields??
For me, it was watching a lot of Lockpicking Lawyer's videos, then ordering a $35 set of beginner picks. I went with Southord's PXS 14 set,, but honestly I usually only use the standard short hook, the diamond, and the twisty tension wrench. My favorite tension wrench by far is Sparrows top-of-keyway heavy bar, specifically the rounded one on the left.
I'm not being paid by Southord or Sparrows, so order them from wherever you want, just don't get the cheap chinesium ones off of Wish or something.
Then just get some cheap padlocks from Walmart or something, and take a crack at it! Sometimes you'll find a lock that you can't quite pick, but for the most part the cheaper locks are easy
You can also buy fancy-pants clear padlocks on the internet. I've never used one, so I can't make any actual recommendations. I've heard they're really useful for helping you understand what your hands are feeling
Look into the laws in your area, but generally in the US it's totally legal to keep a set of picks at home. Here in Kansas, I'm allowed to keep a set on me all the time unless I commit a crime.
Oh thank you so much for taking the time to write all this up for me! Super fascinating stuff, I think this might be one of my next special interests