Answer Me This! - Answer Us Back: Tobermory Carvermory

Episode Date: February 12, 2026

Hello! Welcome to this month's edition of Answer Us Back, full of your feedback on AMTs old and new. Today: In response to AMT413's question about unusual food combos, Dan writes in about his sau...erkraut spaghetti, which still doesn't seem that deviant.  The Toby Carvery's appearance in AMT403 was very illuminating for listeners outside of the Toby Carvery-producing regions, including Eric in Oregon, who in return teaches us about the Toby Carvery gold card. In AMT413 we identified what species Wombles are. Amy and her sister are preparing to go on a Wombles-themed holiday in six different locations.  AMT361 prompted a fond memory in Sarah from Leeds of skipping to school with her dad, awww. AMT206, featuring quite reluctant pod-guest Jackie Mason, is making Katie from Halifax, Nova Scotia feel better about her own awkward workplace atmosphere. Erm, you’re welcome, Katie? If you’ve been storing thoughts about AMTs 1-414, send them to us for future episodes of Answer Us Back. And as always, send in your questions, in voicenote or written form to answermethispodcast@googlemail.com. All new AMT415 will be in your podfeed 26 February.  And keep AMT going by signing up at patreon.com/answermethis, where our highest tier grants access to our ENTIRE back catalogue, including the paywalled episodes, the special albums, the Bonus Bits of Crapp on the AMT App (RIP) and all the Retro AMT episodes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:02 It's time for another answer us back in which between our full-length episodes, we take a look back down memory lane in the company of your feedback. Do you mean, Ollie, that our listeners hear a podcast from our 19 years of Answer Me Thising? And to them, it's as fresh as the day we shatter out. And they're like, I have opinions about this too. And we're like, we don't remember. We're in our 20s then. Good God.
Starting point is 00:00:27 That's right. Nothing is truly old, is it? Everything old is new again. Worth remember. isn't it? And everything will pass. Also useful. And then pass back. You know, like how a cow digest things with its multiple stomachs. Well, last month, so this is a recent one, we were discussing listener Zoran's fiancé, who loves tortilla chips dipped in cottage cheese with hot sauce mixed in. We just thought that was not a particularly controversial food combination.
Starting point is 00:00:56 Admittedly, I haven't tried it. Listener Dan has been in touch to say, I have an unusual food combination. Try me, Dan. Try me. This better be unusual or I'm going home. Sourcrow. Mm-hmm. Plus spaghetti plus cream. Okay. So like a creamy, sour, pickly cabbage spaghetti. I could see that working a treat. It's almost like coleslaw, but with pasta instead of cabbage. But with extra cabbage. You've confused it because there is already cabbage. Yeah. It's almost like if you'd cook the cold slore, let it ferment for a while, and then put cream and spaghetti in. He says, this was our go-to meal when we were living in Germany, where the sauerkraut is cheap, abundant and delicious.
Starting point is 00:01:38 Oh, paradise. Doesn't sound disgusting, but it also doesn't appeal. That's where I am on it. For me, the sauerkraut is promising. I'm not a huge fan of cream, so that's where I would vacate the premises. Where do you stand on a classic use of cream on spaghetti? Like, what's the one that's basically like an English breakfast on spaghetti? Oh, Olly, you are wading into some very controversial, uh, creamy waters there because you're talking about a carbonara.
Starting point is 00:02:04 Carbonara, yes, yes. Italians will fuck you up if you talk about putting cream in a carbonara. But it's so creamy, I assume it's got... That is egg, egg, egg only. Oh, I see, okay, but it creates a cream-like effect. Cream is for fuckers who can't cook an egg without scrambling it. Okay, right. That's the official line on that.
Starting point is 00:02:22 Well, here's an email from Eric from Portland who says, I just want to share how answer me this sparked a tiny effervescence. moment of kismet for me this week. Effervescent Kismet is my go-to blend at Joe and the Juice. I am an American who's gotten into watching professional darts. While scrolling through Welsh muscle man Gerwin Price's Instagram, I found this post that Price had been gifted a Toby Carverie gold card. Holy shit.
Starting point is 00:02:50 Finally, something to strive for in this life. Something to aspire to. Absolutely, yeah. It's like the American psycho business card, isn't it? Toby Carvery gold card in my world. Eric has helpfully forwarded us a screen grab of this Instagram Goen Price says, thank you
Starting point is 00:03:05 Toby Carvery, can't believe I've been given this gold card. It is literally the home of the roast and my always number one go-toe when I don't want to cook. 2026 has started so well heart-eyes emoji, muscle emoji, heart-eyes emoji. And there's a picture of a red box filled with tissue and a very small box that says Toby Carverie on it.
Starting point is 00:03:21 I think the Toby Carverie Insta PR people know what they're doing, don't they? A, for choosing obviously an influencer who's a Welsh professional darts player, which seems perfect for them. But B, then subverting the sort of influencer gift by having a big plush, red shoebox that looks like it's going to have an expensive thing inside it. And then you open it up and it's an ever decreasing size of box down to the piece of plastic that tells you that you can go to Toby Carverie.
Starting point is 00:03:50 And I looked at the back of the card as well, which Goen Price also helpfully had photographed for us. Oh, thank God. And what it says is it entitles you to, and I'm not dissing this. You would never disneyed Toby Carverie. You look at the back of it and it says it entitles you to quote many Toby treats. Now that's going to be free dessert or some bullshit, isn't it? I want a drive-thru gravy station.
Starting point is 00:04:11 Do you what I mean? Whenever I want it. You want potatoes fired into your gob with a t-shirt cannon. I want it delivered every morning to my doorstep, yeah. Whereas this is like, it's not even you can bring four friends to Toby Carvery and it's free. It looks like it's like. Free lemonade refills. Exactly. It's that, isn't it? Get a free Yorkshire pudding with every English breakfast.
Starting point is 00:04:30 Is it possible that there's a higher tier? You know, there's gold card, but maybe there's also platinum. Maybe there's black card. Who's the influencer then? You. You! I don't go to Toby Carvery that much. I just happen to live in a very Toby rich area. Holly, do you not know yourself? What we all know about Olly Man is that you love a bargain and you love free shit. I do love a bargain, yeah. And there is one right next to Costco, so I mean, I could really, you know, fill my boots. If Costco said to you free rotisserie chickens for life, you'd get one every day even if you didn't want one. So something we didn't talk about in the episode is my photo shoot in the Daily Telegraph for Costco. What did you make of it?
Starting point is 00:05:05 Exquisite, stunning. Thank you. I was just really sad that your dad wasn't around to see it. I think he would have been genuinely proud and amused. Yeah, it's funny. I very rarely get asked to have my photograph taken by any professional publication in this instance. The Daily Telegraph magazine said We're doing an article about
Starting point is 00:05:24 middle class people who shop at Costco and we've heard, it was a fan of the show, we've heard that you've talked a lot about Costco and answer me this. You're a Costco influencer, Ollie. I am a Costco influencer, yeah. And I didn't get anything free out of it. The Telegraph didn't pay for my shopping either.
Starting point is 00:05:39 They just came and took a picture of me in Costco. That is outrageous because they can't even claim it's because of journalistic integrity because that's a lifestyle piece. But something I did discover investigating this Toby Carverie card, Toby now do Toby wear which is their range of
Starting point is 00:05:55 like track suits Oh so not like wear like W-A-R-E where it's Toby Juggs No but I think they should totally do that The Toby Jugs is missing from their range of merch But anyway you can buy a loungeware track suit With big roast energy written up the side What are the legs?
Starting point is 00:06:13 Yeah Would you wear that? I mean it's interesting how they've made loungeware So you're clearly not supposed to leave the house with it That's not true. People leave the house and that all the time. They go to Toby Carvery with their elasticated waistband and soft clothing ready to load up. Yeah. Amy must have been listening to our recent episode where you were talking about what species of creature the Wombles are, Olly. Yes.
Starting point is 00:06:35 Amy says, this is hilarious timing. My sister and I are quite literally going on a Wombles themed holiday in a few months. I imagine you put this itinerary together yourself because I doubt Tui Sell this. Amy and sister are leaving from Wellington, New Zealand, going to, to Greece for great-great-aunt Thessaly, Bulgaria for Great Uncle Bulgaria, France for Madame Cholet, Aldony in the Channel Islands, which is also where the creator of the Wombles died,
Starting point is 00:06:59 then Wimbledon Common, and finally, Tobor Mory. Goodness. Putin's being a dick, so we can't go to Tomsk, and Orinoco is in Venezuela, so nope. Wow. Covering a lot of ground there. It's like a heritage tour for Wombles.
Starting point is 00:07:14 It's like you and your sister are the Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin of Wombles. You could add to it the castle of May because the Queen Mother was notoriously a Wombles fan. Yeah, where is that castle? It's in the Highlands. If you're going to Tobolmori, so you're in Scotland anyway. And if you are going to Tobor Mory, there's a really good restaurant there called Café Fish. I had an astonishing meal there once.
Starting point is 00:07:35 Oh, not Tobamori. Tobor Mory Carvermory. Fun Mike Bat Wombles fact that I couldn't squeeze into that episode because Martin rightly pointed out that my interest in the Wombles is made. mainly bat-based. Mike Bat was offered £200 as the fee for composing the theme song. £200 £200 pre-decimalisation? Yeah, but £200 total buyout, you know, usage fee for decades. And he didn't take it.
Starting point is 00:08:06 He waived it in exchange for the character rights for music-related activities. And it's from that you get, by 1976, three gold albums and nine top 40 hits with the Wombles. That guy is canny. It's fascinating, isn't it, when people don't know what they've got? We did an episode of Today in History with the retrospectors on the Smurfs. And it was a similar thing with Paio. He got the merch rights to the Smurfs because the publishers had given them to a serial company to make the Smurfs as little porcelain figures as like one-off things you got in a bowl of corn flakes. And it was really popular and all the kids in Belgium loved them.
Starting point is 00:08:44 And then the publisher were like, great, we've done that. That was fun. But anyway, we make paper. We don't make plastic. Fucking out. And Paya was like, I think there's more in it. And he got the merch rights to the Smurfs, to the fucking Smurfs. The publisher of the Smurfs didn't want the merch rights to the Smurfs.
Starting point is 00:09:01 People are not thinking these things through, except for Mike Bat, clearly. Except for Mike Bat, he's always. Very smart. Maybe he thought £200 is a missable enough amount of money to me at this point in my career that I can take the risk that I'll get something more. Yeah. So my last three columns for reading. Digest before they went bust, I wasn't paid for because they went into liquidation.
Starting point is 00:09:23 And I could have sued them for what they owed me, which was £1,500. Yeah, which would have cost you money to do and you wouldn't have got it. Exactly. It's exactly at the kind of level where it's like, if it had been five grand, then it would have been worth it. But for £1,500, I'd spend £1,500 trying to get the £1,500. It's not worth it. So I thought, what can I get out of it? And I tried to do a pay-o. I tried to do a Mike Bat. I said, can I have the copyright to my column? and actually I got it. They said yes.
Starting point is 00:09:51 If you accept that that's the final settlement from the company on liquidation, yes. You can own the copyright to your columns. But if ever you were to publish them, you can't say that they were the Reader's Digest columns. Why? And I thought that's fine from the point of view of like, it means nothing to my audience as a brand.
Starting point is 00:10:06 I could just publish a book of columns by me. But on the other hand, like, how do you make sense of what they are if they're not a monthly column from a magazine that I did for 10 years? Like there's no context then without saying what it was. Also, if the magazine is defunct, the whole brand is defunct, what's the damage? I suppose they're thinking, you know, they're trying to sell it off in the UK,
Starting point is 00:10:24 maybe if they achieve a separate bio who wants to publish Reader's Digest Books, then I'd be publishing a rival Reader's Digest Books, something like that. But I did think what I should do is record them all as audiobooks, like do an audiobook of me reading my own columns, which would be like three hours long and I can sell it myself, which is a good idea, but of course, like all these things, I haven't done it. So the columns, a lot of them are about gadgets of the past. Oh, no, no, not my tech columns.
Starting point is 00:10:48 No, I wouldn't be reading those. That'll be great. Here's my deep dive on the home pod. Yeah. Is it people who are nostalgic for like 2010's technology that didn't really stick? No, it wouldn't be my tech columns. I used to do a lifestyle column that opened the magazine called It's a Man's World, M-A-Double-N. Clever. It was kind of 10 years of me writing about like, you know, having kids and moving house and that sort of stuff, buying things.
Starting point is 00:11:10 You know, middle-class life shit, which would be fun to audio-o-ise one day. Has the Telegraph given you permission to voice the audio? audiobook of what in your Costco trolley. That's mine. That's all mine. I didn't give that away. Yeah. Didn't get paid. I think good. Because I think that's going to be the big hit. Anyway, the Wombles holiday. Have you ever programmed a holiday around such an expansive theme? We are going to Montana this summer. And I suspect that my wife is using the opportunity to secretly construct her fantasy Yellowstone tour, but I've never seen it.
Starting point is 00:11:46 I've never watched Yellowstone, but she watches it. Yeah. Is that because it's got horse content? Horses. She likes Kostner. Really? Yeah? Retro. We went to a fancy dress thing, like someone's 30th birthday, and she just told me that I was Rip,
Starting point is 00:12:03 who's one of the characters from Yellowstone, and now I just took her word for it. She got me a Western shirt and some cowboy boots and told me to chew on a toothpick, so I did. All right. How did you feel? Yeah, quite cool, actually. wearing cowboy boots is quite boss. A good clicky heel.
Starting point is 00:12:18 Yeah. If you're ever on holiday with Martin, he will often arrange things around a cultural tour that no one else would ever do. So we had the Tom Waits tour of L.A. We had a tour of North Island, New Zealand, themed around the film The Quiet Earth. Don't yell with recognition too hard.
Starting point is 00:12:36 Sure. Sorry, Helen. Yeah, I don't know what you're talking about. So retrospectors, what historical events are we ticking off on this week's run of today in history. On Monday, the anniversary of the treason scandal that divided France. On Tuesday, we explain how America fell in love with ice rinks. On Wednesday, they didn't come from Harlem and they didn't travel the world, but the Harlem Globetrotters still broke the mould. On Thursday, Britain's first black member of
Starting point is 00:13:02 Parliament, who was surprisingly pro-slavery. And on Friday, long before the national morning for Princess Diana, the nation stopped for Lord Nelson's funeral. That's today in history with the retrospectors. Ten minutes each weekday, wherever you get your podcasts. Now, episode 361 might only be 53 episodes ago on our feed, but it does in fact date from 2018. Jesus. So you will forgive me, Sarah from Leeds, that I have no recollection about what you've answered us back about. But Sarah says, the question in AMT 361 about socially acceptable ways for adult men to skip in public awoke a long dormant memory for me. Oh.
Starting point is 00:13:46 In my first year or so of school, my dad and I would energetically skip the 10-minute walk to school while singing either the theme tune from the archers or Donald Where's Your Truesers? I'm not familiar with that one. Oh, at the window high and the wind blow, or something, Donald wears your trousers. I mean, it's vague, but it's there.
Starting point is 00:14:06 Number 37 in the singles chart in 1960, and then it became a bigger hit in 1989. Apparently Andy Stewart wrote Donald wears your truzes in 10 minutes while he was wearing no trousers in the lavatory at the recording studio and it's about a Scottish man wearing a kilt whilst travelling around London on the underground. Oh, okay, nice, yeah, that gives it a bit more context. Well, Sarah says regarding skipping to Donald Wers your truzers, it was definitely faster and more entertaining than walking, if unconventional. I'm not suggesting that this was deemed socially acceptable at the time in Reading in the early 2000s
Starting point is 00:14:41 and my dad has gone on to become increasingly eccentric in 20 years since. But perhaps the 31-year-old male questionnaire from 2018 might be comforted to know that he was not the only adult male skipper out there. Yeah, I suppose it's a lot easier to get away with when you have a child because people associate it with youngsters. Yes, and you just think, oh, that's nice, that dad's just entertaining their child rather than being weird. Yeah, people love to give dad's points just for showing up. Yeah, yeah.
Starting point is 00:15:07 I do think that still skipping is yet to be fully reclaimed. for the adults unaccompanied by a child. And that is a shame because it is a fun form of motion compared to a lot of the other ones. Yeah. If you're going to do one of the quirky walking around things, you know, be like one of those guys who like trails a bag full of crap with you everywhere you go.
Starting point is 00:15:27 Do skipping instead. It was different. Yeah, I wonder if skipping lost some currency because a lot of kids have the little scooters instead. It's funny because, like, theoretically, I'm supportive of dad skipping and I think it sounds cute, but the reality is with my own children, I am the fun police.
Starting point is 00:15:44 Like, they want to do this. They're like, oh, cracks are lava! And I'm like, cracks are not lava. Watch out for the mud splash, please. Listen to what I'm saying. You're like, look, I'm an entertainment professional and this just doesn't opt to my standards. Toby, actually, my younger one, did say the other day
Starting point is 00:16:01 that he wants to do, he doesn't really understand what it is I do for a living, obviously, because I... He's a child, yeah. He's a child, and it's a strange job. And like, I don't know why I do for a living. He describes it as the news. And he's like, when I'm older, I want to do the news. Yeah, you are the news, Oli.
Starting point is 00:16:17 I am the news. I'm the one-man news. Just going around the village. Any news? Any news today? That would be quirky, wouldn't it? Even more so than skipping. Well, it's about time you entered your exit and Tristie era. Get some practising. It's time someone brought back the oldie-worldy sort of news of the world-style town crier, actually.
Starting point is 00:16:36 Do you mean I mean? Like, gather you round and I'll tell you the headlines. Well, totally could be you, Ollie. Yeah. Just like a living audio book that people couldn't escape. Here's an email from Gaty in Halifax, Nova Scotia, who says, I've been re-listening to your back catalogue to get me through some stressful times at work and in life. Exactly what we're for.
Starting point is 00:16:54 I recently listened to your episode with special guest Jackie Mason. Are you trying to make me feel stressed about my life and work? That is one for the collector. What was that, 206? She says, it was truly a treat to hear someone else struggling to produce. a jolly time with an entirely uncooperative interlocutor. It gave me joy to know the painful group dynamics that I'm trying to manage will one day be as far in the past as that episode is.
Starting point is 00:17:20 Great. Happy to be of service, Katie. The problem shared is a problem doubled and all that. It is bad. I don't think it was even our fault that it was bad. Yeah, but also like, we're all professional talkers, all three of us. Even though it's bad, it's still two stars. It's fine.
Starting point is 00:17:35 That's less than one star per professional talker on it. But it's still, it's quite good to have a souvenir on there, a momento of a time that it was awkward and the conversation didn't flow. Because that is life, isn't it? Sometimes that's what happens, particularly intergenerationally. If you had your time again, Ollie, it was your choice to book that interview. Would you do it again? Yes. You'd put us through that again, knowing what would happen. Thanks a fucking bunch. I mean, at the time, I was out touting the show trying to get sort of bigger and bigger guests onto the show as a way of leveraging, you know, our audience and trying to, trying to grow the show.
Starting point is 00:18:10 And you thought this will get all of the elderly North London Jews. Precisely that. Podcasts. Yeah. I thought it was, I thought he'd say yes. I thought he was at a stage in his career where, although he's a big name,
Starting point is 00:18:22 like he's obviously not selling out this West End theatre that he's booked for a run that's too long, he'd say yes because we're Jews. And it might be that he really goes for it and we have a laugh. And it doesn't matter because we can edit it anyway. But yes, it just wasn't very good. Really discovered the limits to what editing can achieve that day. Actually, with similar reasons, I was trying to get Joan Rivers as well.
Starting point is 00:18:42 Oh my God. Joni would have turned it out, though. Like, she knew what she was doing. I also met her when I was a researcher on this morning. And there, of course, she was absolutely incredible. Yeah. I had the honour of being because I was the researcher, not the producer, the person who would call up the day before to get the brief written.
Starting point is 00:19:00 And usually, celebrities of her stature will not do a pre-interview interview. Like, they will not give you, you know, anything. You just like talk to my publicist. read the article in the Times, I'll say that. But Joan, you called her Sweet in the Ritz. And she picked up and she was like, first I'm going to say this, then Philip's going to ask me that, then Holly's going to say this, then I'm going to say that,
Starting point is 00:19:21 then I'm going to say, oh, you never believe it with this. And then she'd say the joke, like, do the whole routine. And I was obviously laughing on the phone, but she was listening to see what the laugh was like. And she was like, I'm not sure about that one. Whoa, you were her test audience. Yes, yeah. And the presenters were quite happy to do that
Starting point is 00:19:36 because Joan Rivers is on, just feed her the lines she needs to be funny. She produced the segment. She produced the whole set. She wrote the segment. Wow. Yeah, it was impressive. Anyway, I did think,
Starting point is 00:19:46 should I abuse my position of responsibility and try and invite her on to answer me this directly? Because if you go through her people, they'll obviously be like, Joan doesn't get out of bed for less than $2 million. And I never did. But Katie from Halifax finishes her email by saying, who is the best guest you've ever had on the show?
Starting point is 00:20:01 And is there anyone you tried and failed to get on the show? I don't think there was. Everyone we invited on to answer me this said yes, I think. Because this show has so rarely had guests, I think what, like five or six total? Yeah. I mean, John Ronson, as a guest, provided so many memorable moments and ones that I don't think he has wheeled out in any other interview. No. Talking about Mr. Blobby theme park.
Starting point is 00:20:24 Never heard him talk about that elsewhere. Or the Pocahontas character breakfast in Disney. I don't think even wrote a column about that. But it's on Answer Me This. Or his views on Pippa Middleton's ass. not the person you'd go to for that commentary normally. John Ronson gives good interview. He does.
Starting point is 00:20:39 I wanted to make an illusionist about people who got tattoos that have been misspelled. And so I never tried to get her, but I do think it would be really funny to get Ariana Grande to talk about the Japanese tattoo she has on her hand that was supposed to say something else, but instead what it says in Japanese is small barbecue grill. That's brilliant. Do you think she'd think that was funny, though?
Starting point is 00:20:59 I think she would think it was funny. she seems to have a sense of humor but she's also very busy and I have no idea how you contact big celebs with such a ludicrous request for a podcast like mine Yeah yeah yeah Like I think she'd go on good hang with Amy Polar And talk about it but I don't have that booking power
Starting point is 00:21:15 Yes yeah exactly you need someone in someone in L.A. Someone whose people knows her people Exactly that's not me Although actually of course like meeting big celebs is exciting I genuinely think my favourite ever guests on Answer Me This were Richard Zaltzman and Grandma Terry. Oh, Grandma Terry. Yeah, my brother was very salty, but actually I loved Martin's mom.
Starting point is 00:21:37 When we had our family on episode 200, Martin's mom really blossomed on Mike. His dad was surprisingly shy and nervous, but his mom was just letting it all out. It was terrific. Katie mentions in this email that, you know, she's trying to keep up group fun dynamics and the group she's in isn't fun. And that's so often, you know, there are some really miserable fuckers out there. It's fine because your job is to g them along, but you sometimes just think, fuck sake. Like you agreed to do it just like cheer up, you know.
Starting point is 00:22:04 And it's it can be hard work. I was watching Zoe Ball interview Phil Collins on telly. Oh, I mean, he's notoriously difficult guy. Seriously, I'm not joking. I think she deserves a BAFTA for this interview. Like she doesn't get much out of him, but he is such a miserable old cunt. I mean, obviously it's not helped by the fact. I know he's been unwell.
Starting point is 00:22:26 I think he's in chronic pain. I acknowledge that. But he doesn't have to do interviews. He doesn't have to be such a common. It's just like, exactly. He's come out of quasi-retirement, really, to pay tribute to his career for a series of programs. Say something. Say anything.
Starting point is 00:22:44 Laugh when someone's telling a joke. And I don't think he's awkward either. I think he thinks he's the kind of person that doesn't have to fill the silence, you know? Whereas like, you know, when I interview people that I really like, sometimes on Times Radio, I suddenly find myself, like, they'll book me a guest that I didn't even know I was going to be interviewing. It's like in an hour's time. And because I'm not a news and politics guy. It doesn't bother me so much, actually weirdly.
Starting point is 00:23:05 It can be a really well-known MP. That's okay. I'm not bothered about that. But when it's like Neil Hannan, which it was. But you love Neil Hannan, don't you? Yes, exactly. I love Neil Hannan. I was like, oh, my God, I'm going to be talking to Neil Hannan.
Starting point is 00:23:18 Like, don't fuck this up. I don't, like, you want him to like me. You know, that's the thing. I'm thinking I'd want it. Stuart Murdoch from Bell and Sebastian I've interviewed recently. Yeah. Did he like you? I mean he seems like quite an awkward guy which in a way takes the pressure off you. Well, he wasn't desperate to be liked. He came on to talk about some stuff and we talked about it. But it's just, it's not a real conversation, is it? Because a real conversation would start with me like effusively kind of fanboying him and I didn't want to do that obviously.
Starting point is 00:23:43 Yeah, I mean, that's not a real conversation in that you then aren't having a conversation with that person because they're like, this is not an equal interaction. Exactly. The status is all skew with. And I suppose the status is then like, Like, you know, the status is changed by the fact you have a microphone in front of your face and you're representing an organisation, but it's not really. Like, I'm still the same person there underneath it. The best person, actually, the best celebrity interview that I've done for that is Nigel Plainer, weirdly. Really? Yeah. He was just up for a laugh, really interesting, clever.
Starting point is 00:24:12 Like, actually listened to the questions, came up with interesting things, reacted in the moment. Seemed like a cool guy. I think he's not of a fame level now where he could be like an asshole. No, I know. but I know he's always worked as well like literally never stopped working and he's a really great actor and all that but at the same time there could be a part of him
Starting point is 00:24:29 that's bitter that like every time he comes on they play the fucking young ones do you what I mean but he's not at all he's just like yeah people know me as the hippie from the young ones that's fine let me tell you a funny story about it and then we'll talk about something else oh liked him I don't interview celebrities very much
Starting point is 00:24:42 and that's fine by me because I like interviewing people that are not interviewed that often so things come out fresh they're not like this is my press release version of my life that I've said a hundred times Me too. I mean, it's interesting we both basically have that policy on our shows, don't we. On the modern man, on the illusionist, I don't talk to people that you've heard of generally. Yeah, the one time I interviewed someone who was super famous, I was like, I'm not going to get anything off brand there.
Starting point is 00:25:05 There's two PR people either side of her just off camera. And Julie, I did not. Anyway, thank you for your feedback. Do you continue to send it in to the usual places where you can also send questions. That is, of course, our website, answer me this podcast.com. but also if you patronise us at patreon.com slash answer me this, there are some tiers where you can get the entirety of our back catalogue. If you're listening to this thinking someone's written in about episode 55, what's on that? You can get that as well as all of our other shit that we've ever recorded,
Starting point is 00:25:35 including a special album we did about love just in time for Valentine's Day. That's right, just a few days to go until the day where, of course, our relationships all hit their peak. Yes. And we present each other with some Belgian chocolates. I personally love to get chocolates to celebrate the patron saint of epileptics and beekeepers. We recorded an hour-long album of romance-based questions back in, what was that? I don't know, 2014 maybe, sometime. And it is available to buy for a fiver at AnswerMe This Store.com.
Starting point is 00:26:07 But if you are on our top two tiers on Patreon, it's included. You can listen to it right now along with all that other stuff. Patreon.com slash Answer Me This. We will be back, of course, with a fresh new episode of Answer Me List 415 on the last Thursday of February, 2026. See you then. Bye.

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