Dig It with Jo Whiley and Zoe Ball - 71: Managing Overwhelm & Making Time to Rave

Episode Date: March 4, 2026

Zoe & Jo discuss how the constant stream of shocking global headlines can make you feel anxious, helpless or emotionally drained, and suggest some ways to navigate these feelings. The Brit Awards felt like a welcome release from the tough news - with the likes of Rosalía, Björk and Harry Styles lighting up the stage. Plus - the joys of going out on your own, how to show your roses who’s in charge, and some music documentary recommendations for fans of Jeff Buckley and Paul McCartney.

Coming up on Digit. There is never a moment when I'm not worrying, whether I'm worrying about World War III, whether I'm worrying about my children, about the future. There is just so much to worry about it. It can be really, really overwhelming. I love going to eat on my own. I know some people don't like it. Oh, yes.

They can't bear the thought of going to a restaurant on their own. I can think of nothing better. And I was thinking, right, I need to find somewhere to go where I can just go and rave and put my hands in the air and feel euphoric. Yeah. All of that right up to this. Hi Zoe. It's, oh my gosh, it's ridiculous how we didn't speak to each other from week to week and people

won't believe that it's like I diggers will be going, oh, you probably chat all the time. Like, no, we just don't. So it's really, really nice to see you and to hear all your news and find out what's been going on. It's quite funny because someone had said to the lodger, oh, you know, so you must know know Joe really well and he's like, no, I've never met her because she lives there. We live there. It's, yeah, it's a funny thing. So this really is my catch-up with you. I love it. Joe, can I say to you? Happy, can I say this to you? I always struggle with this word. Happy meteorological spring. Did I say it right? Wow. I don't know. I'll take it. If it's a good positive spring thing, I will take that. But it is now officially spring. Or meteorological spring. It's such a difficult word to get your head right. I need Carol Kirkwood or lovely Matt Taylor showing me how to do it. I don't know if you've noticed.

There has definitely a little change in the air. Yeah, there is. The light in the morning and the evening. Yeah. I think that makes such a huge difference. I know the weather's still a bit dodgy and there are days when you kind of get caught out by it and think, oh, here we go. Jumpers off. Yeah.

And then you go out and it's absolutely bitter cold still. But I don't know. I just sort of starting to feel a difference in people out and about as well. everybody just, it feels like everyone's coming out from hibernation. You know, people are saying hello again in the street. Hi, how are you? You know, all the spring flowers are showing and there's hope. I say that.

Obviously, the news this weekend has been quite horrific. And it can be a lot to take all of this on. There's a great lady on socials. She's called Dr. Rachel Barr. And I follow her and she's done a really good post on how to cope with, you know, really bad news that surrounds us at the moment. And we'll show you a little clip of her right now. Constrain the scale of your moral responsibility.

I'm not saying don't do world-changing activism. We need people capable of world-changing activism right now. But for those of us who feel helpless, that is not good for you. We're probably slipping into a state called learned helplessness. You can get lost in it and it can feel so hopeless and depressing. and terrifying sometimes. So it's trying to find that balance, isn't it? Of watching and understanding and knowing

if there's ways that you can help people and make a difference. And yet also, remember, there's lots of hopeful stuff and that balance is tricky. I find it really hard with the kids. Yeah. You know, when the news starts coming through and you just want to ignore it.

You want to block it out and then they start asking questions about it. And you just want to go, la, la, la, la, la. If things okay in the world, it's all fine, it's fine. Don't read that stuff. Don't you don't have to know about it. But obviously we do have to know about it. it and it is very important, but also just trying to keep things in perspective so that they're not frightened. I just don't want my kids to be unhappy ever, ever, ever.

Also, you know, I was looking at a chaparach called Sandy's socials this weekend and Omedjolili was on the news, you know, well-known British-Iranian folk that we know talking about their country and their people and what this means for them. So I think it's imperative that we we educate ourselves and try and understand a situation that's going on. And I think also that the news can be so terrifying. And I think you'd sort of need to step back and listen. Also, I've been trying to learn a bit about the history of what's happened in Iran over the years. I think there is just so much to worry about.

I don't know. I bet all of our diggers will say exactly the same thing. But I'm just, there is never a moment when I'm not worrying, whether I'm worrying about World War III, whether I'm worrying about the environment, whether I'm worrying about children about the future, there is just so much to worry about. It can be really, really overwhelming. I feel like in Mary Poppins, you know when her nose twitches and there's something in the air and the wind changes.

When the wind changes. When the wind changes and there's something imminent. I feel like that on a personal family scale, like for this year, it just feels like, oh, this is a year of change, big change. And it makes me anxious and some of it is really exciting, but it still makes me anxious, even when things are exciting. India and Alex have just got their first house. they're getting their keys today, which is amazingly exciting.

I'm so proud of them. They've got to this point. They've worked incredibly hard and they've got a house. But it's a new era. It's a new dawn, which they'll take the piss out of you for saying. But it is. But you know, you kind of get excited. And then I'm like, oh my God, this is different.

She's not going to be living at home anymore. It's really weird. And I know she feels a little bit like that as well. And then Coco is 17. So in a year's time, she'll be going off to uni. So now I'm panicking about finding foundation courses or what I should be doing for her. I don't know. I'm worried that Cass is bored at home because he's around.

all the time. Jude, where's he going to be living? There's just always someone to worry about my sister, my parents, just this ongoing level of anxiety. There's never a moment when I'm just thinking, oh, I feel really good and happy about life. And I can't remember the last time that I did. Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah, that's, it's a hell of a lot, isn't it? I'm only saying that because I think everybody feels the same, like from all the conversations I've had with people who are our kind of age, there is, you're just always worrying about somebody because you want people to be fine, you want them to be happy. So it's not, I'm not saying this as a sob story. I'm just saying, I just feel a little bit on edge like, oh my God, what can I do? How can I manage this? How can I make things all right?

But actually, it's just life. It's just, this is just the way it is. But then there are amazing moments and little things that happen that bring you joy and bring. And I think that's what this psychologist was saying, you know, find ways to escape some of the bigger stuff, you know, the little bits in life. And for us, I guess that is getting out in our gardens, having time with our kids, you know, getting lost in a tele series. I mean, no wonder we all like to watch some trash telly because it's such great escapism sometimes. You're like, I just need to switch my brain off

and stop worrying about everything by watching this. And this weekend was, there was quite a lot going on that was really fun. Did you catch any of the Brits? Yeah, that's exactly what I was going to say. That's why Saturday night was really precious because I was just so aware of what was going on with Iran and then, yeah, just worrying about it.

everybody and everything and all the kids came around and partners. We all sat and we watched the Brits and it was just such a fun evening. And that's what it's about because we can't control those world events. We can be aware of them. Yeah. But we cannot control them. And I think that's really important to know. Focus on the things that you can control and make good things and appreciate those good things. So on Saturday night, I appreciated cooking a meal for my family and then just watching the Brits and looking at all the amazing outfits and the great performances. And the astounding women that were on at the Brits. So we're talking, Rosalia, who I think stole the show.

Wow. That performance. I mean, what an exceptional, yeah, exceptional performance. And then she brought Bjerk on. When Bjerk stepped forward to do her bit of that song, I was like, oh my God, she's actually there. What an incredible visionary she has always been, Bjerk. I mean, her styling, her attitude to life as an artist, a creative artist.

She is something else. She really is. But that combined force of those two women at the Brits was amazing. It was so joyous and so inspiring. and we've been talking about her album, Lux, Rosalia's album, and it just gets better and better with every listener. To see it performed at the Brits, I think people now will go, oh, I get what you're going on about now.

She's amazing. Hopefully people will go back and listen to the record and appreciate it. Singing that live, that incredible voice. When you listen to that album, it goes all over the place with genres. She's singing like torch songs and really romantic little songs. But that performance was something next level. about it. One, it struck me how young she is. She is so young and she's so talented. You know, that performance was next level, her voice and then to go into the full kind of sort of

rave version of it and then Bjork to come out and those outfits. And I noticed someone had made sort of comparisons to why we loved that performance so much and why we loved Harry Stiles performance so much. Again, Harry with the incredible dancers. Yeah. And And this person was talking about the connection. Her song is called Burghine, a name of a club in Berlin. And Harry is there and he went and lived in Berlin and had some, you know, had some nights out with friends and lived alive because he hasn't really had a chance to do that because he's been a pop star from such a young age.

So he's gone out and lived alive. And, you know, looking at their performances, what have we got in both performances? Lots of people together connecting through dance, through. you know, smiling and being a community. And I thought that's actually a really powerful thing because we need to be with other people. We need to dance. We need to, what was that fantastic dance move that they were doing?

The choreography of those moves. Oh my God. I'm determined. I've noticed lots of people. Loads of people who've learned Harry's choreography. And it's always amazing to me that people do that. And then you look the next day and people have done the full dance performance down,

hotel corridors and in the street and everybody's doing the dance. I thought both performances brought so much energy and light and joy and it made me really excited to go see Harry in concert. He's going to be phenomenal. And I really would love to go and see Rosalia as well. Yeah, she's in May. She's doing some dates in the UK in May. I think, yeah, they will be fantastic.

There was a real humility, I thought, to the Brits this year too, because it was in Manchester and it was really lovely that they recognise the heritage of Manchester. So the tribute to Manny was really beautiful. Having Bobby Gillespie doing that incredibly long speech was just wonderful. And then even Noel Gallagher getting up there and accepting his award and just turning it up to the people and saying the reason that all those gigs were amazing work because of the people. And he wrote those songs. But it was all about the people who took those songs and they became something other. And that was really lovely because, you know, he doesn't do humble too much.

No. I just, I love that. I was actually quite emotional watching that. And also Mark Ronson talking about Amy Winehouse too and saying that he owed everything to Amy and the reason that everybody wants to work with him is because of that record he did with Amy and it was paying tribute to her. So it was a really, really lovely Brits, I thought, this year.

Really entertaining. It was, wasn't it? It was really positive, really joyous. Loads of wins for our favourites. Olivia Dean absolutely smashed it and won everything. I was really chuffed to see Salt had won. I love Salt. They'd won Best at R&B.

B and geese. Oh, that was so good. It was so great. Also, could I say when Rosalia said Liam Gallagher, you might not know who I am, but I know who you are and then did sunshine. That was great. See, that's the thing about Rosalia. She is everything.

Like, there is so much that is great about her. She's as sexy as hell. I mean, she is such a sexy hot woman. But she's also, the words that she said, she's talked about celebrating the otherness, which is the very essence of how we should live as human beings, celebrate the otherness. Do not be prejudiced. Do not give people a hard time. Just celebrate the otherness.

And then she thanked all those people who had had her back throughout the years. And I was like, that's it. That's how you should live your life. Celebrate the otherness and have people's backs. If you're enjoying Diggett, please hit follow or subscribe wherever you watch or listen. That way you get brand new episodes as soon as they're out. Can I also just thinking, you were just talking about the coming together of people with Rosalia and with Harry Styles and the community. I did another gig on Friday.

in Birmingham this time. And there were a bunch of Coco's teachers came along. I give people the opportunity to come along to my shows because they, you know, teachers do so much. So they came along and they had the time of their life. But there were a couple of teachers there who were newly single. They were women our age between us. And they were newly single. And this was the first time that they'd gone out and were able to let their hair down and sing and dance and have a great night out. I have a drink and really have some fun. And it was, they were really emotional. and it made me really emotional because it was like they were,

you know, people talk about the next chapter of your life. This was a new beginning for them and of course they still want to go out. They still want to have a great time. There's not that many opportunities to go out and do that. So it was just lovely. It was really, really, really lovely to have a deeper appreciation of women who are newly single.

They're divorced. They've had a really, really tough time and now they're all about embracing life. And that's what happens a lot, I think, at my gigs, the 90s anthem shows. It's just women going, And then I'm just going to embrace life and I'm going to sing and dance like I used to and have great memories from the past but also create new memories going forward. So yeah, it was a very, very moving night for me as much as it was for them and fun.

And really fun. I know this weekend it hit me more than it has in a long, long time. I think I suddenly was really excited about music. Again, I saw two music-based films this weekend which blew my mind and I watched the Brits. And I was thinking about dancing and being in a collection of people. And my son was having a celebration for his girlfriend, Rugi, for her birthday. And I was like, I need to dance. I want to dance.

I want to go out. I want to go. And then I was panicking. So I was like, there's no clasterbury. There's no glastrory this year. And that is my one weekend of the year when I guarantee I will dance and lose, you know, I just don't care. You don't care.

No one looks at you. You know, and I was thinking, right, I need to find somewhere to go where I can just go. and rave and you put my hands in the air and feel euphoric. All those feelings because it's so part of freedom in a person. You just get to be free. And I forget how much I love that feeling. And I haven't had that for a while because you get to our age. There's not many things to, you know, there's not that many weddings at the moment.

I've got any weddings to go to. I'm like, I need to dance. Come to a 90s anthem show. That's what you need to do. Yes, that's what happens, isn't it? You've got everybody in a room and you have fantastic nostalgia. You remember how much you love music, the freedom of dancing and laughing and not caring. Yeah, with your mates or on your own.

Yeah. I've been inspired by diggers who got in touch saying about going out on their own. I took myself to a cinema a man on Saturday. I loved it. I've got some gigs coming up that I'm going to on my own. I don't care because everyone's work. working or doing stuff. So yeah, but God, Joe, I need to do, I need your dates. I need to find out where you are. I love going to places on my own. I really like it. I like, I like, I like solitude.

I like being on my own and I love going to eat on my own. I know some people don't like it. Oh, yes. They can't bear the thought of going to a restaurant on their own. I can think of nothing better. You're not having to make small talk, not having to have any conversation. Yeah. Just, just focus on the food. Focus on the food. Think about the stuff you want to think about. Treat yourself to a little drink and then do some brilliant people watching. to make up stories about who people are and who they're with and who they've met and yeah are they on a date you can usually tell when people are on a date because there's that slight

awkwardness yes so more of that please can i show you something really really cute that i think you might like okay um so we did did a pup dates last week so the story is if you're if you knew to this we lost brodie in the summer we've waited bided our time to get a new puppy we've researched what animals might be good what dog breed might be good Australian labradoodles seem to be the thing that might suit our family. Lots of people saying how great they are, very calm but playful. So we found a breeder. There's a really lovely woman called Jill who runs didgerie doodles. And the way she does it, it's so fantastic because you wait until the puppies are born and then she just, like every single day, we get an update about the puppies. So we've seen them

from the second they were born and then, you know, a few hours later and then the next day and the next day and the next day and the next day. So it's like being a new mum all over again. I'm being so so soppy. Anyway, we're on to day 10 And we don't know what puppy we're going to get because she likes to choose the puppy according to the family and what they're like. So we've given a lot of information about what we're like. I know. When they get to six weeks old, she decides, yeah, this is the right puppy

for you. And she says that she's never wrong. So I'm going to show you a bunch of puppies now. One of these is ours. I don't know which one, but I'll take them all at the moment. They're all so adorable. But they're super, super cute. So one of these will be coming to live with us in seven weeks time, which is really, really exciting. Oh, my goodness.

How cute are they? So tiny. That's so many. Look, they do look like tiny little guinea pigs with the pinkest noses. Their eyes are all close. They're all wrapped up in each other asleep. They're so dinky. I can't believe.

So they can't hear, they can't see at the moment. No eyes open yet. No, that's just about to happen, I think, day 11, 12 onwards. But a lot of them have got little hearts on their heads as well. So I'm kind of hoping I'll have a heart head baby. And they've all got names. So it's all America-based. They're all named after American streets

and things to do with America. So we've got Apple. We've got Thompson. There's a Brooklyn. But they're super, super cute. They are very cute. New addition to the Digget family in seven weeks or so.

Also, do you know what? There's something really lovely about this. We can't really have a dog because I'm sort of to and from. There's never, you know, there's quite a lot of time when no one's here and people are popping and look after Wilbur. But a dog and he's walking every day

is kind of a bit tough. And so we can't have a puppy. So I can live my pup life through you and your pups, which is lovely. I'll bring her along, hopefully, or him. I'll bring them along to when we have Digit events. Oh, yes, when we go to crossed wires. Yes. We talked a lot about the Olympics and the Paralympics are starting this week.

I've got my radio times. I've got my guide. I will be following. And good luck to everybody in Team GB who's taking part. And Team G.Bs, Jacks, Jeffreys, mum has been in touch. And she says, thanks for giving Jacks a shout out on the pod. It's great to have some support for the little people who don't quite meet their own expectations at big events, like the games. And she sent pictures of her going, I'm his mum.

So much happens in the background. But often it's only medals that count. But the incredible hard work of all the athletes and coaches from lesser-known GBC. sports can go unnoticed. So thank you. That's from Sam Jeffreys, Jack's Jeffreys' mum, and she must be so proud. And bravo to your boy. I really loved watching all his videos because you've got a real sense of behind the scenes and he's got such great energy. What a fantastic son. You must be so proud of him, Sam. We just love watching you whatever you do. You don't have to win medals. It's just you're doing things that we cannot do. We cannot dream of doing.

I know. And we'll be doing that with the Paralympics. I'm a God. I cannot wait. I'm so excited to it. Yes, so the Paralympics, winter Paralympics, kick off on Friday, opening ceremony. Great, so we will be reporting back on the pause on anyone who's caught our eye, who is really rather special. And if you have, members of your family or perhaps your friends are taking part in the Winter Paralympics, do let us know if you want to wave a flag for them or big them up. We'd love to hear from you. You can get in touch with us. All the details on how to get in touch for this are in the show notes. We just say, don't be shy as well. I met some. someone, a really brilliant woman the other day in a shop, and she told me a whole

guynie story, which I'm, I'm really hoping she sends it into us because I said, oh my God, you've got to send us a voice note. And she went, no, no, I hate my voice. I hate my voice. And obviously everybody hates their voices. But I said, write it down, write it down. And and it's just so nice because we are like a big community and we feel like we know you and you know us. And we just want to hear all the funny, stupid stuff that goes on in your lives. Because it's good to share. It's good to make each other laugh. It is. And you can always make up a name. You can always call yourself Mary from Guildford. You know, you don't have to give us your real name. If you want to remain anonymous, that is okay as well. So as we are surrounded by

the early days of spring, it does feel like we can finally crack on with making some progress in the garden. I went out this weekend. I started to cut back some of my grasses so I could see where I'm going to move them. I'm just going to wait for the next couple of weeks before I'm I moved them just to check that we've not got crazy, crazy rain coming still. And Joe, I can see all the life coming, you know, at the bottom of all the plants of last year. Because it was new last year, now it's really coming into its own in the second year. And my osmantas now have the little blossom leaves on them. They are these beautiful leaves.

They give off this sort of slightly orangey smell, the stunning. And my Amalenka are in bud, I reckon another week or so. and they'll be in blossom. It's so exciting. No way. Yeah. That's really soon. I'm going to,

right, I'll go down and check mine. Mine at the bottom of the garden. I haven't looked at them yet. So that's really soon. You are a little bit further north. So, you know,

I think this makes difference. Yeah, I've had a lot of people as I was putting pitches up of my daffodils. And some people were like, wow, they're early.

And I guess the further north you go, the colder is a little bit, you know, not always, but sometimes. So things take a little bit longer. So I'm right on the South Coast. So I guess it's sort of happening

quite soon. But this week we are joined by the Always Sunny. We adore him, Mike the Gardner, with some tips for rose pruning. Hello, Zoe and Joe. I was listening to you both chatting about rose pruning on the podcast the other day. So I thought I would share some tips on what to prune and when and why. Now I'm going to be talking specifically about shrub roses and not ramblers or climbers, which are dealt with quite differently. So when it comes to shrub roses, here are my tips. As we head into autumn, late autumn, before we go into winter, I cut all of my shrub roses down by approximately half. Now the reason I do that is to stop what we call wind rock. If you leave roses too tall, they blow in the wind and then the roots

can actually be rocked out of the ground. So end of the season, late autumn going into winter, cut roses down by half. And you're cutting to an outside. bud just to keep it nice and clean just above that. Then as we head into spring I cut them down again. Now this time I'm looking for three things. Dead, diseased and dying wood. So anything that doesn't look healthy I've got some dead wood on this one here. Where the wood is dead like it is here that brown colour just clip it with a pair of secateurs and remove it so you're cutting back into green wood so any Dead, diseased and dying wood needs to be cut out.

Having cut out dead, diseased and dying, you're then looking for any stems that cross or rub together. Now, if stems rub or cross together, it bruises the stem, which can cause an open wound, which is then prone to disease. So if any stems are crossing or rubbing together, cut one of them out to make sure that they're not crossing together. Then just make sure you've got a nice open goblet.

shape and with any cuts you're making cut to an outside healthy looking bud. I know from talking to so many people that pruning is one of those things that scares a lot of people but don't be scared. I remember seeing Monty Don take a chainsaw to his roses many years ago and they all grew away beautifully so don't be afraid of pruning. Show the plant who's in charge. There's still plenty of time to prune roses so don't worry about having to rush out this weekend. So long as it's done before spring, you'll be absolutely fine. Then in spring, once you finish pruning your roses,

just pop a handful of proprietary rose feed around the base of the rose, give it a good water in, and you're good to go. You can just sit back and watch them flower. Thank you, Joe and Zoe. I'll see you again soon. Bye bye for now. Oh, thank you, Mike the garden. I just, I want a hat.

I don't look good in hats, but I want a hat. like Mike. Think carefully about what you're saying. Flowers on. Or maybe an Alice band with flowers on inspired by Mike. You see, Mike, you're great there because I've heard lots about the pruning and stuff, but I never really knew why we should not have the crosses. I thought it was because it was too crowded.

But that makes complete sense because you don't want your roses to have disease. And I left a few of mine quite tall before the winter. And I didn't realize about the wind. And it's very windy in my garden at times. So I will cut them down in the orchids. autumn as well. You've got to be, got to be brave, I think. And it is daunting. Like my Mike says, it's really, I've spent so many hours just looking, staring at a rose, just going, my God, I cannot work out which one to take out. I know I've got to take which one out. Some

one of one will come along and they'll be like, oh, just take this one. They chop it right down to the very bottom. And you go, oh my God, but they grow back. I mean, generally it's really hard to kill a rose. It really is. And you just make it stronger. And, you know, they want to survive. It's all about survival. So you cut it hard and it will. And it will. flourish. And they are pretty hardy roses as well, aren't they? And leave the buds on the outside so that the shoots will go that way. You don't want them kind of crossing over. So buds are always on the outside. So when you make your cut, have a bud going out. Thank you, Mike. I love that story about Monty Dillon taking a chain saw. Monty told me once, actually, I asked him, I was like,

I've got a couple of roses and they're not in the right place, kind of move them. And he went, Zoe, you can do anything you like. They'll either move and love it or they won't be scared to try it. I'm not saying that Monty says do that, but I did and they were fine. In fact, one rows I've moved hasn't done so well. But the others I've moved have done great. That's how you find out whether the plant is suited to that particular area. So you might have to like, again, gardening teaches you patience all the time because you do something. You put your plant in.

It doesn't like it there. You've got to wait until the next year probably to have it in a different place to watch it flourish again. So it's trial and error. That is, gardening is all about trial and error and patience. And you told me last year I was saying I was desperate. to have echinacea pallida in my garden because I love them. They're so beautiful because it gets so hot down here. It's nice to have the bee blossoms and the salviors and the grasses because they do quite well

when it's so warm and quite dry down here. And I was desperate for echinacea pallida, but they just don't seem. I put loads in last year and they've all gone and they've not survived. And you said to me they're really tough to grow. I might find them really hard. Yeah. Might have to put my hands up and again. accept that they don't like my garden.

That's all right. Yeah, that is okay. Look for an alternative. Maybe we could get Mike back to do one on climbing and rambling roses as well for us. Yeah, I find them much trickier. I'm clueless when it comes to climbing and rambling. So that would be great. And obviously, if you have anything you're growing in your garden,

you would like to sew and tell or show us about things that you've popped in, perhaps things you've moved, things you've planted for someone special. And they're doing quite well and you can see a little bit of life. Success stories, failures, weeks. all of them. We'll take it all. Yeah, any of your garden delight you want to share with us, do get in touch. And right, records delight or record delights.

Can I show you those? Can we share it? Can we do great digging? Okay, so show me yours. I'll show you mine. Albums that are out, which I recommend. This is a beautiful bit of vinyl from Gorillas that I'm showing. If you're watching this, you'll know what I'm talking about.

Otherwise, just listen and then go and listen to Guerrillas album. It's long. I mean, there's a lot on it. But it's a nice to have one in the background. It's a good soundtrack. So the mountain gorillas are some really, really beautiful bits on there. and obviously the amazing artwork from Jamie Hewlett, which is just something else to behold and enjoy.

It's gorgeous. They were really fun when they came on your show as well. They are the most hilarious and difficult band to interview. They are so funny. I've got the measure of them now. Jamie is great. Damon can be really stubborn and awkward, but he loves doing being like that and I love him for it.

But yeah, the live shows are going to be amazing. Incredible. I know my friend Pat left me a voice note yesterday, and he just said, So, I've just listened to the Gorillas album. you need to listen to it, you will love it. And we are going to see them live because I remember the first time I played you,

their first track ever. We were at Mark Williams's house. Remember from The Far Show, we want to be together. And I played it to you and you loved it. And I was like, God, he's got such an amazing memory to remember that. So Pat, I'm on it. I'm getting tickets. We're going.

Yes. Other one, Mumford and Sons. Again, I've mentioned this lots, but now I've got the vinyl in front of me. And, I mean, they've worked really hard promoting this album. But that's because they really care. about it, they really believe in it because the songs are fantastic. It's really beautifully produced. Erin Destner, I think, has worked on this. And they've worked with lots of people. Gracie Abrams,

we mentioned her last week. Hosey is on there. Chris Stapleton. It's a fantastic album to listen to. I love this record. I love this band. They are on fire at the moment. They really are. And Mitzki is the other one. I haven't got the record here with me, but I love Mitzki. She's got real joy and energy and fun about her. She does stuff that's ethereal. She's got a song on the at the moment called Where's My Phone, which is really fun. It's about just losing the plot when you split up with someone and you just go crazy. Mitzki and nothing's going to happen to me. It's a great album to listen to.

It's only 35 minutes long, I think, but it's a fun listen and she's a really great character. Excellent. I was playing Mitzky and Nalph said, you're playing Minsky? Like, yes, I do like quite cool music. Thank you very much. I had such a treat of a weekend with, I was trying to see three music films. this weekend. I only managed to see two, but I took myself to the cinema in Uckfield down here. And at Uckfield cinema, you get served food. It's such a pleasurable experience.

And no one else was around. So I was like, I don't care, I'm going to go and sit on my own. I went to see, it's never over. Jeff Buckley. It's a film by Amy Berg that she has made about this incredible musician who was gone too soon. He died when he was 30. He drowned. and he was just next level. I think his album, Grace, is definitely in my top 10 favorite albums ever. And Amy has made the most beautiful film about this incredible boy. It features his loved ones, including his mom, Mary, two of his wonderful girlfriends, and including Joan Wasser, Joan, who we know now as Joan as Police,

and she was, they were engaged, I think, when he died. And his band members like Michael Tai, who's fabulous and Matt Johnson. And it just tells the story of this little boy born to effectively a single mom because his dad was a musician Tim Buckley, but he died very, very young and didn't have a huge role in his son's life, which I think it explains a lot that happens in Jeff's life later on. And then you just see him growing up with his mum and how quickly she figured that he was going to be a singer after hearing him sing in the bathtub. And it's all put together with photographs and footage of him growing up and in the bands he was in when he was young. When

he was living in New York, he used to sing and work in this club. I think it was called Chenet. And he worked there, but he would do performances and he would do poetry. and readings and he would play covers and he'd also play his own songs and there is footage of him there and there's an amazing album which is called Jeff Buckley Live at Chenay and this is some of the incredible performance art

that he did but he as a musician was just next level he had I think it was a four octave range there's a fantastic guy who did some of the arranging on Grace who said you know that Jeff's understand of classical music was just unbelievable for someone who was effectively, you know, a rock star or a pop star. And he toured, I think, for about three years. He played at Glastonbury Joe. I was there. I didn't see him. I've never forgiven myself for that. Whenever I watched the footage. There wasn't the awareness of him at that point. We were just oblivious, really. He spent, there was a period that he came to the UK, wasn't they? He had, I don't know how long he was here for.

Yeah. But no one really, really knew or cared that much about him. So, yeah, he was at Glastonbury and we didn't go and see him. And it's only now that we don't have him here, that we appreciate his artistry in that voice. But also the chance that, you see, I wanted to go and see him, but did that classic thing of being at Glastonbury. And then you're like, oh, I'm here. And then I've met people and I'm dancing in a tree. And, you know, it's only afterwards.

You're like, oh, no, because I'd intended to go and see him. But anyway, the footage through this is wonderful. listening to his mom and these beautiful women in his life and his band members talk about him, you will cry. But my goodness me, the soundtrack is wonderful. And I just, I drove home from the cinema and there was this beautiful moon and the blue sky and I sobbed.

Because also the other thing with Jeff Buckley and I think a lot of people who love him, you know, his songs have been there for us through falling in love, through utter heartbreak, through devastation, through loss, those records speak to us as a lot of people have Jeff Buckley played

at their funerals because he was just such a talent and those songs mean so much they definitely do to me so if you can try and see it while it's on at the Cisne Mara to go and see it you're just immersed in his music

he's wonderful but do take a tissue because you will cry but it's such a great celebration of an incredible artist so this has been on the stereo this weekend Jeff Buckley live at Chenet and it's amazing

because there's some really funny little moments in there there's poetry and performances. And then, and I won't hang on about it because I've talked about Jeff Buckley a lot, but I also watched Man on the Run. Paul McCartney, the documentary about his life after the Beatles broke up and him going away to live in Scotland with his family on the farm with Linda and the kids and what happened next in the beginning of wings and how he made a life for himself

after the breakup of the Beatles and got over the depression of that period of his life. And it goes pretty much up to when we lost John Lennon. So it's, again, great documentary. I love Paul. We all do, don't we? I thought it was fascinating because it's a period of his life that you didn't really know so much. And there's some really good footage there. Yeah. Beautiful, beautiful footage of him on the farm with, you know, baby Mary and then Stella.

And then you get to hear the reflections of Sean Lennon and Mary McCartney and Stella McCartney and all his, you know, Mick Jagger, everyone's narrating this whole story, but we've never really understood what it must have been like, Paul McCarney. He was 27 when the Beatles broke up, 27 years old, what do you do with your life for the rest of your life?

And he picked himself up, and he made some great music. He played Madison Square Gardens. There's great footage of that. But also, it was really difficult, and he did some, you know, not so great stuff. He did some amazing stuff. And to see that story told through lots of footage

and Paul's narration as well, I thought was really fascinating. Isn't it crazy when you think of the amount of songs that's so important in our lives that he had written with John or written himself by the age of 26, 27? I remember Mull of Kintyre coming up. Mull of Kintyneux takes me back to Christmas Day.

I can remember I had the best Christmas present ever. It was some kind of sofa set and Barbie trailer. And it was the best present ever. And we had Top of the Pops on in the background and Mull of Kintyre came on. And when I was watching the documentary, I just cried at that point because it was such a lovely moment in my life. And it's such an emotional song. They told the story of how that song came together.

And it was number one for like 28 years, I think. It went on to be such a huge record. And band on the run. That cover of Band on the Run. Oh, I know. You're like, what is Kenny Lynch and Michael Parkinson and what are all these people doing in this photograph? There's so many great stories like that. So also on the stereo this weekend, I treated myself and really nice.

naughty to this fantastic wings box set. A must for any wings. There's some really beautiful box sets actually out there at the moment. So there are two delights. Obviously, Grace and band on the run have definitely been on the stereo this weekend. And one more for you. She played a piano room at Radio 2 this week. Again, someone I discovered through listening to Joe's radio show, Lefe.

I'm hoping I'm saying her name right. She's Icelandic. I think it's V. I think it's Leavis. There's a great clip of her trying to teach a load of actors how to say it on Graham Norton. And she says it's impossible because in Icelandic it's almost loyvei, but you can't. But anyway, she is this just incredible songstress. It's sort of like jazz.

It's like old school. It's like Nina Simone or Ella Fitzgerald with big bands. She is quite a phenomenal talent and it's really out there. but I love her and she writes these brilliant heartbreak relationship songs as well and they're all quite funny there's a lot of tongue in cheek as well

yeah she's a real talent and so I'm loving that too it's called a matter of time there you go as I'm looking out I think there might be a chink of sunlight in the sky I think there might be some blueness around I'm going to go and investigate and see if there's anything I could do in my garden and also I've got to start some flipping running because I'm doing a half marathon

in like four weeks time so I'll inspect the garden and then I'm going to get my trainers on and go out and do some running. I'll update you with how that's going next week. We'll hold you to that. We'll find out how that went. Yeah, good luck with that. Joe.

It was the Brighton-Hawroman this weekend. And well done to everybody, did it. You're all brilliant. So good luck. I'm off to Priyne-Maroses. Thank you very much, Mike McArdener. See you next week, darling. See ya.

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