Everything Is Content - Primavera, Behind The Scenes & Your Questions Answered

Episode Date: June 13, 2025

Huns, 365 partygirls, friends – lend us your ears! The latest EIC episode is a special one, as we take a look inwards and catch-up with you all. We dive into some of our best pop culture reccs from the year so far, before diving into a Q&A from you. You asked us about our friendship, how the podcast came to be and more...Also, we are taking a speedy two-week break to come back bigger, better, stronger for you. Don't cry because we're on a break. Smile because we'll be back so very very soon <3 If you want to send us a virtual kiss, please do give us a 5* review and follow us on your podcast player app. We love everyone who does!! xxxxxIn collaboration with CueAdultsOvercompensatingLady Gaga gigDept. QDying For SexThe BeachAny Human HeartLong Island CompromiseDream StateSinnersPaul Mescal Amazing ReplyThe Handmaiden Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm Beth. I'm Rachira. And I'm Anoni. And this is Everything is Content. The episode where we usually take on the biggest and most fascinating pop culture stories and dissect them in detail. Although this week we're doing something a little bit different. Yes we are. So for only the second time in our EIC history, aside from Christmas, but everyone takes it off, we're taking a two-week break from the podcast. We're intentionally giving ourselves a little

mid-season holiday just to refresh and return to the pod and all of you with batteries at full. And so this week, instead of the usual deep dives, we're doing a 2025 six-month review. So we'll be chatting about some favourite content from this year, books, TV, films, all the things we love and know that you love. We'll then be taking your questions as submitted on Instagram at everythingiscontentpod. Advice, gossip from behind the scenes, thoughts, opinions, whatever you've all thoughtfully dropped into our inbox this week. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok at everythingiscontentpod and make sure you hit follow on your podcast

player app so you never, ever, ever, ever miss an episode. So I want to start this episode with a catch up because I feel like I've not spoken to either of you as much as I would usually like over the last week, week and a half because Ruchira you've been away and now I'm away. I mean, I think we've still probably spoken once every day or two days, but it's still, it's not enough for me personally. So I'm dying to hear about Primavera. Sorry, it seemed like everyone and their nan was there this year. And I'm not usually one for festival jealousy. I love watching other people have their fun, but it's not my scene. But this year there were definitely some little envious pangs. So I'm almost hoping that you're

going to say, it was okay. Ruchira, please tell us all of the goss from Primavera. I'm so sorry. I can't do that for you, Beth. It was the best time ever. I'm happy for you. Oh, it was so good. And I don't know if you can tell from my voice, but today's probably the best it's been in a few days. A few days ago, it was like non. And I don't know if you can tell from my voice, but today's probably the best it's been in a few days. A few days ago, it was like non-existent. It was just like, oh, like, hi, hi everyone. Charlie came out, Charlie was great.

There was one point where she flipped to behind the scenes and Chapel Rowan did the Apple dance and the most guttural scream from the inside of my stomach just erupted out. I felt like crying. I felt like throwing up. It happened to me. I am one of those Taylor Gate fans now. I honestly, on the third day when Chappell-Roean performed, I just burst into tears. I actually sobbed when she played Feminine On. Oh my God. You know the one I mean. It was so good. It was so girly pop. Everyone there was dressing cowboy

hats and glitter. I think what we were talking about with Coachella turning a bit anti-festivally aesthetics wise, everyone going back to that kind of Kate Moss, cool girl festival wellies, that vibe. There was none of that. It was everyone just being glittery, sparkly, sequiny, fun. And the vibe was older as well. It was like a lot of older people, I guess, because if you have to travel to Barcelona, you have to have a bank account that can account for it. So it just felt like my people, everyone was so sweet and so fun. I met with all of my school friends. So it just, I was living out my 15 year old dream as a 30 year old woman. I couldn't have asked for more.

I also agree. I've never seen more people there. What percent, obviously, if you're traveling to Barcelona from abroad, but are there a lot of Spanish, is it more of an international, like are there more people not from Barcelona at the festival, would you say? I think it seemed like a good mix of Spanish people,

but also I will be honest, it seemed like the whole of the UK was on the flight that I was on and multiple other flights, kind of doing, you know, their pilgrimage to Primavera. I couldn't give you a percentage, but my guess is probably something like 50-50, which isn't ideal for people in Barcelona, probably. It looked so appealing to me. And my memory of Primavera, and I'm sure I've said this to you guys before, but I must have got it wrong in the past, was that Primavera was like, whereas Primavera this year to me is like,

oh, that's my playlist. Yeah, totally. I went like a few years ago and the lineup was like Lana Del Rey, Charlie also again, but she was much earlier and then Tyler the creator. So obviously that is just like a mix, a very mixy kind of music headliner set. whereas this time they've gone so hard on pop. It is a choice and it's a choice that I really get behind. I hope they keep doing it. It was so fun. Did you see the big kind of, uh, I want to say installation.

It wasn't installation. It was a sculpture of the Powerpuff Girls and it clicked. Charlie is the green one. Bubbles, I think the blonde one, Sabrina. And then the main one, I can't remember their name, sorry, Ginger one is Chappell, the Power Pop Girls. I did not see that. That's genius. Did you get a picture in front of it? I couldn't. There was the line around it was insane. So I got a horrible like 0.5 selfie like two miles away, which won't be going on the grid. I will say that.

That is so cute. Wait, is that actually officially what it means or is that you've sort of like decided in your own brain? No, so they put that up and somebody told me that Chappell in an interview called them the Power Pop Girls. So they went really hard with the iconography and they had t-shirts with all of them on it as well. And they were like really going hard on being like, this is the festival for the Power Pop Girls. That's so sweet. Is it like glass and we were afterwards, you know, like Dua Lipa was doing all nighters and running around the festival. Were Chapel, Charlie and Sabrina in and amongst

it with your day to day folk or do you think they go off to some like Michelin star restaurant in Barcelona? Oh, I have no idea. I didn't see any celebrity sightings. I didn't see anyone, nothing of the ilk. So I have no idea. They could have been, it was absolutely rammed full of people or they could have been having a good time behind the scenes. I will say, I think Charlie was drunk on set because at one point she was holding her microphone on the floor, but the words were still coming out of the music. So I don't, that's yeah. That's so unlike her.

Yeah. Where does that come from? Because I know that she's like auto-tuned to the health. So I think she kind of just talks into the mic when she sings anyway, doesn't she? And then the auto-tune kind of turns it into musically-esque-ness. I think so. There was a yeah, there's a coalescence of her actual voice and something on the mic. But yeah, it was like Troy Savan was next to her. He was singing into the mic and he was like propping her up

and I think she was like kind of slumped. And then the microphone was on the ground, you know, yeah, interviewing the floor, not her. That is our girl. The thing is, what's great about making being a brat and a mess your brand is you can never get told off for being drunk at work. No, we paid for that.

We paid for what we saw and we saw it. It was, yeah, next time we all have to go. Absolutely. Next year, I'm going to hold you both accountable. Please, can we go? I would like it, I think, because you can sort of go to brunch and I will go to a festival where you can also go to brunch, but you might need to reconvince me next year, but tentatively, go on then. I'm going to do a marketing deck. When you say go to brunch, what do you mean? Well, I just saw, I mean, every single gay person that I follow on Instagram went to Primavera and they at the festival, then they were at brunch, then they were at the festival, then they're at brunch.

Whereas I feel like other festivals in the UK, you're in there, brunch is like a sort of wet sandwich and a warm pie of cider. So it's a bit more chic. Yeah, it was chic. We did paella, apparel, spritzes, and then waltzed into the festival. You know what? It's my kind of festival. You don't have to be dirty.

You don't have to be grimy. There's a bit of that, but then you go back home to your Airbnb. Oh, huge tick. Oh, that is what I want, guys. So I got invited. I don't think I've told you this. I got invited to Glastonbury VIP glamping this year. Oh, it happened to you.

And I thought about it and I really didn't want to go, but I was like, it's such an, I mean, I obviously have to say yes, because it's glamping, it's VIP and it's free. Yes. And then I said to the woman, I was like, I don't think I could do the full thing. Like I really couldn't hack that, but could I come for Friday, Saturday, Sunday? Ideally just Saturday and Sunday. She was like, if you want the tickets, it's so expensive. You have to come for the whole thing.

So I just said no. And the relief of when I got to say no, because I genuinely didn't want to go. I don't think the lineup was that good. I'm still really scarred from Jack Glastonby last year. But I was like, I just cannot, what an incredible opportunity. And then when she said no, I was like genuinely so happy that I couldn't, I was just like, I was like, I guess I can't go then. I was like, that's a shame. Thank you so much for letting me know. Let me know if

there's any other. Such growing behaviour. Yeah. I know. I just don't want to go. What's the boundary? I can't believe after we, you know, said some searing commentary last year about that vibe that a year later you got the invite. You got the invite we all were dying for last year. I know.

I just think, I wonder what, there's so many of you I was talking to recently who are going to Glasgow for the first time. And I just, I wonder if everybody who goes for the first time in the way that I did will not have this magical nostalgia for it in the way that maybe you both do, because I just did not get, No, I didn't. I didn't get joy.

Oh no, I didn't either. I think I had a great time the two times I went, but actually I could never go again in my life. I think, cause our old producer, Faye, we love her. She is so, she loves the festival. It's a happy place. She goes every year. She goes for like a very long time.

I just don't have that connection. And I also, I think I would have said, probably said no as well. And maybe someone else, some other creator was offered that and their dreams coming true. So I'm very proud of you because I think a few years ago, I would have said yes two years ago knowing I probably wouldn't enjoy it. Maybe you would have as well. So no, but the thing is I did say yes initially. I just, I said yes, but I just want to go for it. I actually thought she was going to let me because I didn't know that because a lot of

people just go Friday, Saturday, Sunday. So I thought she was going to let me but she said no. And then honestly, I was so pleased. And then I was like, you should have just said no initially. But I was like, it's actually like, you can't turn down such an opportunity, even though I would have hated it. You knew, I think a small part of you knew that there was a chance of no. And you were just hoping for that chance. So you got the relief. I feel when I look at my calendar, and it's not in my diary. I'm just like, oh, I'm too hoping for that chance so you got the relief I feel when I look at my calendar and it's not in my diary I'm just like oh I'm too tired for that unfortunately. That's we'll get so much bed rest during that week. How good will that feel? So Beth you are on your annual pilgrimage to Hydra, not sure how to say, want to know all

about it as you know I've been trying to go there since I found out about you going. What's been happening over there in Greece? It's been very hot. You've been wearing the leopard print swimming costume. Ah, gorgeous. I want more information. I think that is kind of the full picture at the moment. I got here on Sunday. Do you know what? I left London in such like a fog. I wrote about this on my Instagram, which is quite a vulnerable post, but I was like, fuck it. It's what I'm feeling. I was like, I need to get out of here. Had this panic attack in the hotel airport. It was

all very dramatic, but nothing serious. But I was like, something about this, get me out of here. And so flight to Athens, four-ish hours, landed, hour to Piraeus port, and then it's about another two hours on the ferry. It's a real full day job, but I love it. And so wanky as the ferry was kind of rounding the corner, saw the island, I just felt this immediate sense of peace. I was like, do you know what? Everything's going to be okay. I'm fine. I'm lucky. I'm where I should be. Got off the boat, immediately saw donkey's cats, had a beer, and I just felt so good. I'm fine, I'm lucky, I'm where I should be. Got off the boat, immediately saw donkey's cats, had a beer and I just felt so good. I'm having such a nice time. I'm here with my younger brother and his fiance. So we're just this little trio stomping around the island.

It is so beautiful here. I'm just enjoying it. I'm eating satsuki with absolutely everything and I'm sorry it goes. It's delicious. I have been wearing my SPF 50, it's bloody hot, it's bloody hot. I've just been in and out of the sea. It's just a very chic place. I really think you would both enjoy it. You kind of like splay out on jetties and rocks and dive in the sea and the sea's like super choppy. You're on these rickety old step ladders and there's no like, you know, health and safety, but everyone's looking out for each other and I am in denial that I'm ever coming home. I'm just having just the nicest time.

I'm gearing up to buy everyone some trinkets. I'm sorry, you're both getting a fridge magnet. It can't be helped. I know you don't want one, but I'm coming home with some fridge magnets. I'm just very happy. I know that's such a stupid thing. Obviously I'm on holiday, but I'm working from here and it's just such a nice place to work than my desk in Wales. So I'm having a really nice time. I'm still kind of shaking off the cobwebs of my week in London and my UK life, but I think give me another day, give me another 14 mythos, beers, and I will be a full Island girl.

I wish you were both here. I think it would be the perfect antidote for post-primververa just to get you out of London and only, I think, I just don't think we'd ever come home. I'm going to book flights. Don't worry. I'll see you there tomorrow. Um, also the other thing I was going to book flights. Don't worry. I'll see you there tomorrow. Um, also the other thing I was going to say is holiday looks so good on you.

I know holiday looks good on everyone and it does, but it looks so good on you. I feel, I feel that it does suit me to be on holiday. And I get a few messages like this, people are going to go, I love holiday bath. And I honestly think I'm nicer. I think I'm funnier. I think I'm more engaged. I think I was born to be on holiday and I know that I sort of gave my travel writing career a go, but it was just such like it's so badly paid. It's so exhausting, but I was like, maybe I should have, but actually I'm not built to be a travel writer. I'm built to be on holiday. I'm built to be rich. I think that's the solution. I'm built to have like, what was it that people used to do?

Like the sons of rich families used to go on like excursions around the world, like pilgrimages just to discover Europe and stuff in 15th century or whatever. That is what I was built to do. No, we're all built to be sent to the beach to get over our mental health issues. You know, like they did with Jane Austen. That's what we need. We need to be sent to the sea, but preferably in a hot country so that we can all try and overcome our extreme anxiety, depression and add long list of illnesses.

What do they call it? Melancholy and hysteria. Definitely for both of them. That's what we need. We need nine months prescribed sea air and in hot countries. That's what all of us were born to do. Kirsten, if you're listening, you've got a chance to make this right. Let's set things back 150 years. We're already going that direction anyway. Yeah, let's just go a bit further back. We bring back all the bad bits, like abortion rights and like women's health rights. Let's bring back the fun bits where women got sent like abortion rights and like women's health rights. Let's bring back the fun bits where women got sent to the sea for being hysterical. That's, that's

the only bit that I want to bring back. What have you been doing while you've been there? Have you been reading? Have you been catching up with your family? What have you been up to? Reading a lot. I've been reading quite a bit. I have been, I deleted X off my phone, which is probably also why I'm feeling so free. Yeah, I've been doing a bit of reading. I've been listening to, re-listening to an audiobook called The Interestings, which I mentioned on the podcast. Actually, we got a DM from someone that said, I've just finished this book. What other recommendations do you have? And so I recommended

a few. And then I was like, do you know what? I'm going to read The Interestings. It's by Meg Wallace, it's an excellent book. And actually, side note, I have a question, and only because there was a book that I wanted to recommend to this person in our DMs, but I could not remember. I'm convinced that you've read it because I've read it and I think we talked about it, but all I've got are the barest details and I'm hoping that you can solve this mystery. It's about a family and I think there's some daughters and one of them maybe has a teen pregnancy and it's like across the years. That's all I can remember, but I wanted to. The most fun we've ever had? Oh, I think that's it. I think that's literally it. The most fun we've ever had.

I can't remember what the author's name is. I think that's it. It's such a good book by Claire Lombardo. I think that's exactly the book that I wanted to recommend. Yes, that's it. Okay, I will reply to this person, but if you're listening and you ask for book recommendations and I recommended Hello Beautiful and Early Morning Riser, this is the other book. Oh, thank you. I knew you'd be able to solve that. I could so reread the most fun we've ever had. That is such a beautiful book. So I've been reading, I've been drinking beer, I've been eating crisps, I've been putting satsuki on everything. I've been petting cats. It is a sort of eating, drinking, taking easy holiday. I'm also working a bit,

which is lovely, but I'm sort of sitting on the balcony tapping away at what probably will not be the next great British novel. But I'm really enjoying it. I think I've often I'll go away and I won't have no crumb of creativity, whereas here I'm like, I might as well. So I feel like I'm just doing, oh, I don't know if you can hear that, but that's a cruise ship, I think, docking. I've also been speaking of cruise ships, I've been overhearing so many American tourists, they are loud. People talk about Americans abroad. Oh my God. I'm at one end of the port, I can hear a conversation that's happening the other end of the port, which is by the by anyway. I love American listeners, please. I'm not discriminating, but you can be loud. Your

country can be very loud. So that's what I've been doing, sort of like trying to blend in, but also clearly a tourist. That sounds so nice. It does feel like Americans are more over on these continents than they used to be. Like whenever I'm anywhere kind of in Europe that I in Europe, when I was younger, it wasn't so common. But every time I've gone away recently, the Americans have found our holiday destinations. I don't know if you noticed that, just more and more. They are coming.

They are coming and they are holidaying. They call it Euro summer. I was in a supermarket the other day and there was this group of, I think they were probably early twenties American girls and they were doing like a sort of joke British accent to each other. They went, oh, we need to get some lays in it. And I went to the one girl, I went, oh my God, you're from England. And we had a little giggle.

Did you know that in America people watch Emmerdale? What? What? No, I didn't know that. I think I saw this on Love of Hands or something. And there's like a whole generation of people that watch Emmerdale. And then they were like EastEnders, I could understand. Maybe even Coronation Street. But Emmerdale is the thing that apparently has broken through. So I think lots of our like random TV shows have become really big parts of like American culture,

like how they've just discovered Robbie Williams. Yeah. They're living in like 2008 Britain. Downton Abbey. And Oni, I have to know, what have you been up to? We've been away, you've been holding down the fort in London, keeping everything going. I've literally been doing nothing except working and telling everyone that I'm tired all the time, which I'm actually, I was this morning, I was like, I am dying of

something because this is not normal. Like I'm only 30 plus, I can't be this tired. So might go to the GP, but no, I don't know. I'm just very tired. I literally have done nothing. I saw my sister on the weekend with her kids, which was really fun, pretended to be their mom for a weekend. Would love to go on holiday, having some major cashflow issues as a self-employed person who no one wants to pay me on time apparently and have not done for the last five months. So it's very much nothing to report on this end. Oh, not reality. No. Yeah, a little dose of reality. I'll be back over there soon chasing invoices in the trenches

with you. So we're going to do, so it's been six months of 2025, there's been some great content and so we're going to pick our top three. This was my idea and now I'm stressed because it's really hard to pick three and there's so many more things that I actually realized that I've loved. But does anyone have a burning desire to go fast on your top three culture content moments from 2025 so far? I have got one. I mean, one, but it's almost two because I watched them together and I'm willing to bet you've both watched these two or are about to. But I watched at the same time actually, adults and Overcompensating, which are two brand new American sitcoms about sort of young

people and they've really, they've been really splashy and I binged them both. There's been a lot of comparisons between the two of them, I guess, because they're kind of crossing over a similar demographic, but I think they're both really, really good. Have either of you watched? I'm sure you've heard of them, but have either of you watched? So with Overcompensating, I watched one episode and I was on board, but I wasn't convinced. But I heard whilst I was at Prima from a friend that it just gets better and better and better. So I am absolutely going back to that one for adults. I just, I where, where, where are you watching this?

Where are you watching this? I can't find a link. Where are you watching adults? So I watched overcompensating is on prime and then adults is on Disney plus. And I mean, adults is great. It's like, it's an ensemble comedy drama about this group of early 20s friends, kind of recent-ish graduates, but not quite recent-ish to sort of excuse the fact that they're all either not employed or hopelessly employed, living together in Queens in New

York. Although apparently it was filmed in Toronto, and it's very obvious to anyone from Toronto that this was not filmed in New York. It is really funny. There are shades of Broad City in it, in both the action and actually in a couple of the characters. It feels more like homage than I've seen a few people say that one character is, quote unquote, reheating Alana's nachos, which is a phrase which I love, which essentially means copying in modern parlance. But I think it's brilliant. I think it's none of that is to its detriment. It's really funny. It's kind of chaotic. Julia Fox guest stars and she's incredible. It's just like a Gen Z sitcom of which we're off the era now where that will happen. We had our millennial go

and now it's time for a new generation of people to hopelessly relate to a cast of absolute maniacs. I really enjoyed it. I really think it will be a smash. I think it already is getting a lot of praise, but also I have seen some quite cruel criticism, but I don't agree at all. I think it's great. I am definitely going to binge those because I agree with you. I really love that they're having a go at kind of summarizing the era they're in. I feel like we've been gagging for something like that. We needed it. And definitely with overcompensating, I really loved the soundtrack.

I know Charli XCX, I think, informed the soundtrack behind it. So naturally there's a lot of her music on it, which is probably why I like it. But Lucky by Britney Spears kicks off the episode and I just, ah, it feels so good to just really embrace all the best bits of music from like the past decade. Oh yeah, I mean, because Overcompensating is super millennial and also Charlie XCX is in the series. She comes to perform at the university where,

so sorry, Overcompensating for anyone that hasn't watched it is it's about college students focused around this main character who is a closeted student at, can't remember the university, played by Benito Skinner who wrote it. And so she comes to perform at their kind of not terrible university, but she's a bit like, what the fuck am I here? It's very funny. It's very tongue in cheek.

There's a lot of cocaine jokes. Brilliant. Um, and I just think both of, to have got adults got Julia Fox and then overcompensating got Charlie XCX. I mean, that must count for something. I think because overcompensating is Benny Drama, Mary Beth Barone, Charlie XCX, which is a universe that I am really

already inhabiting online. Like I love all of their videos. I almost feel resistant to watch it because I know it's acting. So it's not going to be that, but in my head, it's just going to be one long TikTok. But I've had such great things about it that I do need to get into it, but it's almost like I'm so contemporary with these people that I almost can't quite get my head around it being an actual TV series with them in it, rather than

almost a documentary about them. Do you watch slash listen to their podcast? I think it's Ride Pod. That's Benny Drama and Mary Beth. No, I just, I just watched the clips. I mean, I think they're both fantastic and they play brother and sister in this. And I just, I just knew her before this. Yeah.

It's kind of like, um, comedic sketches, standup comic. Saw her and I think she was in black mirror and was like, Oh, she's a star, she's an actress. And then she is so fantastic in this as this like buttoned up, she's kind of like forged out this university career after being kind of a bit of a weirdo in high school, has this awful boyfriend played by, I want to say his name's Adam DiMarco, who is from White Lotus. He played in the Italian series. He is just a douche, but with sort of a heart, but he's a douche and she is just trying to make this work and her brother comes to university and she's like, this is my place, don't fuck it up. And she, it's kind of a really tender performance. It's brilliant. I was like, oh, she is actually such a star. Okay. We have to watch it and then we'll do a catch up,

possibly in a future review episode of how we all think about it. What do we think? Sounds good to me. I'm in, because I've already done the homework. What about you Isheera? What is one of yours or all of yours? Top three.

I think I've gone in a bit of an unexpected route. Did you guys know that Lady Gaga last month did a 2.5 million fan performance at the Copacabana beach in Rio? So on YouTube, the entirety of that has been uploaded and I watched it two weeks ago with my bestie Grace who listens to this podcast. Hi Grace. And honestly, it was absolutely phenomenal. I assume this is going to be what her upcoming tour is

going to look like and the costumes, the music, the set design, the kind of audience engagement, all of it was just phenomenal. There is no performer quite like Lady Gaga and I'm so glad that she is back and she is back all capitals. She's B-A-C-K back. And the fact that it's free online for all of us to view for any of us who haven't got tickets, me included, which I am absolutely devastated about, this is the next best thing. It is so good.

I have to say watching her perform shallow to that many people when you see the streets are just, it really, I think I really cried. I've only seen like a real, a few things of it, but I know that Brazilian fans are famous for being the most fanny fans. Well, and they've taken off X and everyone was like, what is going to happen now because they literally prop up the whole of the fan economy. Like they are, they are the final boss of fans, but yeah, when she was performing.

Do you think, is she, I thought you were about to say she's going to make a documentary about her tour. Is that a thing? Oh, I don't know, maybe I hope I would hope so. But no, I just, all I meant was that the I think it's maybe like the two and a half hours of this whole set is on YouTube for free. So I thoroughly, thoroughly encourage everyone to just go see it and watch it at home. So the concert was free, the performance was free and now she's done this for free. She really is a woman of the people. So are you a little monster then, Ruchira? Yes. Oh my God, yes. I didn't know this.

It's weird because when she first came out, I was obsessed with her and I can't remember if I've told you guys this, but I think it was her mother set up a fan account and it was like a forum. I think it was called like the Little Monsters site or something. And at this point, maybe a few hundred people had found out about it because she tweeted it. I was one of the first few to sign up for this and it was so plain, so nothing. It was just people talking about Lady Gaga and how much they loved her. And then something happened. I kind of fell off. I think I went to uni, lived a life, everything quietened down. And in the last year, so truly maybe a decade break of liking her from afar, not really being a huge stan, but in this past year,

it's just come back in full force. And I'm so glad to be a little freak again. I'm so glad to be a little monster, just obsessed with her, bringing her up in every conversation because everything relates back to her in my opinion. I'm back. She is mother. Have I told you this before, but the first concert I ever went to is Kelly Clarkson

with my friend and friend of the podcast, Livi, and Lady Gaga opened for her. She opened for Kelly Clarkson? Because she wasn't really famous. And I remember Livi's mum being like, and who's on before her and we were like, someone called Lady Gaga? And she was amazing, I know.

How mad is that? Oh, the distress in my heart when you said someone like Lady Gaga. Like we honestly had, it was just before she got like, started to get really famous. It was so sick. I think it was just at like the Bush, whatever the Bush one's called.

Oh, one final fact from me, before I went to see Lady Gaga, who was my first ever concert and I was 15, I spent weeks buying mirror pieces and made the poker face mirror mask and took it with me. And it's lost, it's lost in the trenches of, you know, life and memories, whatever. I don't know where that physical copy of it is, but the picture lives on on Facebook somewhere and I'm gonna root it out and post it on grid soon. But that's the level I was at back then. That's so cute.

When you were talking, I was just thinking, why was I not like a little monster or part of the B Bay hive or like a really big fan? And then I realized it's because I was spending my whole time heading up the HPFC, otherwise known as the Harry Potter fan club. That is what I was doing at school. And I was making Gurdie boot earrings out of carrots. Oh my. Because I was Luna Lovegood. Anyway, I hate you, JK, for ruining my childhood because I can't stand

that anymore. Such a shame, isn't it? I was like, why was I never like a huge fan of music? And I was like, Oh, I was asking people if they knew what all the Horcruxes were. That's what I was doing. I was texting boys. I hate to say it. I was wasting my, I was actually wasting my youth. I should have been passionate about the culture. No, I was, I was riding in cars with boys and I'm sorry about that. Oh no. I was also, I was also on MSN at my friend's house showing boys my bra, but I was- Cool.

But I was also a H.Buffsy. There was two sides to me. Oh, two wolves. There's two wolves in there. There was two wolves inside me, the young, horny, and he nature, and the Harry Potter nerd. What about you, Anoni? Now I am absolutely desperate to know

what you've brought to the table. Well, so many amazing books I've had this year, so maybe I'll do one of those for my second one. But something I've loved recently, and I don't know if both of you or either of you have seen it, is Department Q or DAPQ on Netflix, which is like a new thriller, crime police drama, with Matthew Goode, who I was trying to remember

what I've seen him in. And actually, he's from loads of like rom-coms when we were younger, but he's so gorgeous in this, which is not the only reason you should watch it. So it's set in Edinburgh and it's a police drama about two separate cases that unfold. It has the woman who plays Murning Myrtle in it, Shirley Henderson, and it has Kelly McDonald, who I also love, who was in Nanny McPhee, again, film of mine that I loved. She was of Angeline and Nanny McPhee again, film of mine that I loved. She was of Angeline and Nanny McPhee.

Anyway, it's a really good mystery thriller, really good. The reason I loved it so much is I haven't watched the show in ages where they do that really annoying thing where at the end of every single episode, they leave you on a really big cliffhanger. So you have no choice, but to keep watching it. And it really sucked me in. I don't know if you even feel like loads of, I

wouldn't say it's like the best TV I've ever watched, but on the other hand, it was some really, really great, just a really great thriller that sucks you in. And Matthew Goode, I want him to be my husband, but I have researched, he did get married in 2014, has three kids and his wife is really beautiful. So he's not going to be my husband, but I did check just in case. So have either of you watched this? I've never, I've never even heard of it, but that sounds right up my street. I really am obsessed with thriller TV and just that feeling of compulsion. I mean, you know, you know, my dalliance with Lost for her about like 20 of our episodes. So this does sound like

my vibe. It's also got Matthew Goode's character has a bit of house about him where he's like this kind of surly bitchy detective that's rude to everyone, always getting in arguments and he's just really smart. So he won't be on a case, but he'll kind of walk past someone else's case and be like, did you even think about the fact that maybe this happened? And they're all like, and he, so it's got that really nice thing, you know, and they're always like working. I love detectives when they're like figuring stuff out and that's not so dumb, but he'll be like, if this is there, had you not thought that potentially actually it's quite legally

blonde our words in that way, you know, I like that he's like, he's such an archetypal male character that's that I like to see in TV secretly soft inside, absolute cunt on the outside, also really smart and very handsome. So. Luther slash who's the guy from Slow Horses? I kind of feel like I like those blends of kind of like, like they're good, but like they kind of get up to no good. I quite like those sort of characters.

Anti-heroes? Yes. Complex male characters. We need more of them. Thing is, I think the complexity is literally just emotional repression, which actually is quite common in men. So it's probably not. It's not so complex actually.

We see it all the time. It's not so complex. Yeah, it's just a really heightened version of kind of how men have been socialized since we've been born, I'd say, at least. What's your second thing, anyone? I know you did two, Beth, but we're counting them as one, I imagine you've sort of lumped them in together. Do you know what, another one that I think I've mentioned

here, but I had to mention again, which is the Disney Plus dying for sex, which I did mention a few months ago. It was Michelle Williams playing a woman who is dying of terminal cancer, who leaves her husband to enjoy sex and to f*** and to discover herself. And Jenny Slate plays her kind of scatterbrained but amazing best friend slash like true slum mate of her life. Rob Delaney is her horny but quite irritating, difficult neighbor. And it's like, it's yeah, I think I mentioned it when I was sort of part

of the way through and then I breeze through the rest of it and it has lingered with me in the months since I mentioned it, like so good on like these fundamentals of life, but like really unflinching on sex and death and love and life. I kind of thought, I think it did do really well. I think it was really critically acclaimed, but I did think it would stay in the moment a lot more. I think I thought more people would talk about it and it's so beautiful. And I think I'm kind of drawn at the moment to just the big themes like death and sex

and things like that. And I'm almost excited to rewatch it because it moved me that much. And I just, yeah, I just kind of wanted to bring that up for anyone who hasn't watched it to say, please do watch it because I finished series the series and I just, I just adored it. I can't believe that you've just reminded me. I had that on my list and I never got around to watching it. I will absolutely binge that this week, yes. I also need to watch this. I've been recommended this by a couple of people now

and I don't know why I've not gotten into it, but it is on my to-do list. My second one is a book and it's The Beach by Alex Garland. It's the book of which the film starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tilda Swinton is based on. It's, you know, cults in Thailand, also talks about Western tourists and who gets to own and I guess, protecting gatekeep, own and I guess, protecting gatekeep these oasis oasis is in different parts of the world under the guise of being the good tourist versus everyone else who's the bad tourist. And I also watched this around the time of the new series of White Lotus, apart from the fact that both based in Thailand, there was a lot of like overlapping themes of trying to live a better

life and kind of see searching for elsewhere and spirituality. And yeah, I just, I really enjoyed it. It was such a page turner. It was a thriller and maybe some slight problematic-ness, but also this super dated book. I think it's like 20, 25 years old in terms of the writing out of Thai accents when speaking English, which definitely gave me the like stomach, ugh, moment. But still, if you can get past that, which understandably in this day and age, totally fine if you can't, the rest of the book has a lot of meat to it and it just was so thrilling. Have you guys read this or heard of this?

The beach, the film, informed so much of my ideas about adulthood and travel. Like so much. If I could have stayed in the universe of the beginning of the film and the beach before it kind of turns, I would have wanted to live in that world forever. I just am obsessed with it. So I can't believe I've never read the book. And now I really want to because that film, especially with the Moby soundtrack is one of my favorite. I've probably watched that film about 50 times. Honestly, the book is even better than the film and the book has enough difference in it that it does feel like a slightly different beast.

And I won't tell you how just in case you do read it, but that is my one gripe. And I can't blame anyone else. This is definitely a me problem, but you know, when you read a book after watching the film it's based on, and it's just line for line, the exact same thing. I kind of prefer it when the film goes for something slightly different. So you can catch up with the book and just have a different experience. I think that's so dependent on how,

what you've done it though. Cause I think if you've watched, if you've read the book first, you love it when the film or TV adaptation is line for line what you're anticipating because you feel a lot of loyalty to the book. But I agree if you did the other way around you watch the film and then the book's way better and

actually kind of different. Because I started what I can't, maybe it was Any Human Heart, which was one of the books I was maybe going to pick for this by John Boyd. They turned that into a series and I started watching it and it is kind of true to it. But because I just read the book, it wasn't true enough. I like couldn't watch the series. What I wanted was someone to animate the book I just read so I could have the exact same experience over again. No, I actually agree with you. It is exactly that order. You're right. It's so frustrating though, yeah, when you just properly love something and then you feel really protective over it. Probably one of the best examples I can think of this is one of my favorite

books, Under the Skin by Michelle Faber, which was made into a film starring Scully Hansen. They are so wildly different, but they both take just like, the film just takes kind of the essence of the book and does something amazing with it. I think, oddly enough, most people really enjoyed that because the book is so weird. It's about an alien that drives around the Scottish Highlands kidnapping men basically in the form of a beautiful woman, but because this alien species looks nothing like a human woman she feels repulsive. It's fascinating. It's one of the best books I've ever read. Then the film does something a lot eerie, a lot spookier, and both of them. I think they're in nice conversation with each other. But yeah, sometimes you just go, this is dog shit.

Actually, I just rewatched Nine Perfect Strangers on Amazon Prime, which is based on a book by Leanne Moriarty. And I just think it is trash and really frustrating because it was such a good premise, but I digress. The series is not good. It's not a good series that. I didn't finish it. No. And Oni, what's your second?

This has been really tough because I've read some really, really great books this year. And I was trying to think every time I've read a book, I'm like, oh, that's the best one I've read this year. But maybe the one that I've, I really can't decide. So Long Island Compromise and the ones, two that I've read recently, Our Dream State by Eric Puth, and Long Island Compromise by Taffy, Rhodessa, Akna and they're kind of similar veins and a bit similar to the most fun we've ever had but darker in that they span a generation like generations and whole lifetimes and there's so many insights into the human condition. And so I've just loved both of those books and I found it so interesting how much of

myself I found explained through characters. You know, and there's characters that experience or go through things and the way that they, their interiority is explored, actually explains something back to you that you've been unable to vocalize. It's one of my favorite parts about reading books that really kind of get deep into the characters' minds.

Because in both of those stories, there was characters that I didn't relate to at all, but just when you got that comfort of feeling like, oh, that's something that I think, or like, this is just what it is to be human, these feelings, these emotions, these neuroses, these melancholy, whatever it might be. And both of those books gave me that in different ways. And I love reading, and maybe because it's like the time of my life, but I love reading stories where people's eyes either do or don't work out,

or things go in different directions than you thought, but life carries on and you carry on living. And it's a very un-Hollywood, unpolished way of attacking what it means to live a full life. And so I found both of those books really great. I wouldn't say they're necessarily uplifting. Long Island Compromise is especially anxiety-inducing, but that's also weirdly comforting

because it kind of makes you feel better about your own life. I'm definitely with you on those themes. I feel like I gravitate towards them at the minute and it might just be the turning 30 of it all. They're wondering what the future holds and what the past has just looked like era that I'm in, I guess. But yeah, no, definitely, definitely adding those to my list.

Yeah, I don't need an uplifting novel. At the moment, I just kind of want, I want like a zoomed out, I want a whole life sort of look, which is again why I'm rereading this book, The Interestings, because it is from teenage to I think 50s, you follow this group of people and it is so much happens in a life and it's like, sort of makes me feel better about because you always feel like you're zoomed in, it's so granular, you're like, no one's ever been through this before. And then actually, you know, everything constantly changes. And then suddenly you're 50 years old, you're like, yeah, there's some good and some bad times. So that's exactly what I'm looking for. And I'm going to get them on my Kindle. Can I ask you something? This might be quite a self aggrandizing idea, but whenever I,

there's something, there's always characters in books and obviously books are written by writers and there's these specific feelings that whenever I speak to other writers, they also experience this. But say I speak to like my ex in finance and I'm like, do you relate to this? He's like, I've never, I really don't understand what the character is going through with. And I'll speak to like Livy, my friend who's an author and she's like, I get that all the time. I'm like, maybe writers relate to this? He's like, I've never, I really don't understand what the character is going through. And then I'll speak to like Livy, my friend who's an author and she's like, I get that all the time. I'm like, maybe writers are just writing these characters. Maybe what it makes, maybe to be a writer, you have to have these quite melancholic moods and be extremely self-reflective and really self-interceptive probably to the

point of being slightly narcissistic. So that's maybe why we relate to these characters. I can't quite explain what I'm trying to say, but it's like whenever I read a book, I'm like, oh, this is me. And it's like, oh, maybe all writers, maybe the thing that compels you to write is this very deep internal fire that burns, which is just like an uncomfortability with the way that life works. Is that even an idea? Does that make sense? It's like, um, on we and a slight level of nihilism and just like never fitting in the world vibe, like an outsider aspect. Is that what you're saying? Just like perennially, just this constant feeling of that, which is easy to tap

into when a character has that in a book, because it's just, if you are a creative or if you see the world in that way, you just constantly feel that. It's maybe like the Miranda July parking versus drivers analogy thing, where she basically was like, some people will always be happy and other people will constantly be slightly dissatisfied because they're striving for something all the time. Yeah, I think it's like when you're someone who's like creatively brained or seeking out, you know, creativity as your means to find your way in the world. Maybe it's just like a constant need to understand everything that's happening around you and

understand the whys and the hows. Whereas some people, probably much happier people, go through the process of life as a process rather than a question or a quest. And so that's maybe why when writers write about that specific feeling and their characters have it, I'm like, oh my god, I always keep finding these characters that I really relate to. But maybe that's just because I relate to writers and creatives who then make their characters have those feelings too. Yeah, I think writers a lot of the time are people that are like, well, I've got to make sense of something and this is just one way to do it. I think a lot of people, yeah, are

just trying to sort of create mirrors that they can see themselves in and other people can see themselves in and that's why it's so popular. There's a book, it's a non-fiction book called First We Make the Beast Beautiful, which is about anxiety and mental health. It's really, really excellent. The writer, whose name I've forgotten, writes about something called Life Naturals, which are basically people that can go through life and things happen and they pay their taxes and it all sort of, it doesn't seem to phase them and it doesn't seem to give them the deep, you know, questioning, despair and big questions that some of us do experience. And I always, I quite like that because I don't think it's disparaging

to quote unquote life naturals. It doesn't mean they're less interesting or less fully formed, but it just means they aren't sort of scuppered the same way. And I think there's something in a lot of writers' minds that is not life unnaturals, but they get kind of stuck in places and so they write their way through it. And so that's why I do think so many of us see ourselves in these quite difficult characters, quite introspective, and in my case, quite neurotic characters. I wonder what the evolutionary point of view, like what were we doing back then that our brains needed to be like this? What was our function? I'd love to know because I'd love to do it so that I can finally feel at peace. Maybe I will have to go hunting again and like find our food to try and

like get rid of the anxiety. Do you think we, I don't know if we were the hunters, what would, what would, what would we do? What were we doing? That's what I'd like to know. That's the question I want to know. Organizing? No. Well, we would have been quite, I say this, I'm talking to myself, but really

anxious people, we would have been great at running from predators because we're constantly identifying threats on there. We would have been running away through the forest. So maybe we were hunters. Yeah. Just not very good ones. Or maybe we literally would have been running away through the forest. So maybe we were hunters. Yeah. Just not very good ones. Or maybe we literally would have been the people sat around the campfire and identifying

sort of like mythical, magical creatures. We would have been the drunken sailors on the boat thinking the seals were mermaids. We would have eaten the berries and licking the frogs. Okay, so for our third one, let's do a final fast fire round. Beth, what's your third? I'm going to join you both in having watched and loved Sinners.

It's on Amazon Prime now. I watched it in the airport before I flew to Greece and it is that film. If anyone was on the fence, the trio has aligned, go and watch this film. It was, I mean, if you want to hear us talk about it, we did an episode in mid-May where Richie Ronanoni talks at length about it, but it's just gorgeous. And I just read that it's now kind of climbing the ranks of one of the highest-gracing horror films of all time. So love to see it. Wow. Okay. Anoni, yours.

Okay. Mine is a pop culture moment and it's from a press junket with Paul Meskell the other day, where someone asked him about his new film with Josh O'Connor, The History of Sound, which is an LGBTQIA plus queer drama. And they said they somehow like related it to Brokeback Mountain. And he was said, I hate this question. It's so lazy because Brokeback Mountain is a film about repression and people hiding their sexuality. And it's such a beautiful film. This film is not at all like that. It's about like the celebration. And it was such a good mic drop moment and he was so sincere and obviously understood it so well and explained why Breakback Mountain was this thing and why the history of sound is this thing and it was such a good point about how we see queer

representation in media aka, oh we've already got one of those and it was one of those my other press junket favorite moment was And it was one of those, my other press junket favorite moment was Andy Murray when he said the first male winner of whatever it was. And so it was just that moment. I really enjoyed it. Would recommend watching again, Paul's just hot. So this made him hotter. That's my third thing. What about you, Rachel? Gorgeous. So my third one is Handmaiden, which is a South Korean erotic thriller. And I think now having watched this film, I now realize there are films

that can just completely bamboozle you and take you left, right, upside down, 360, 365, and back to the end. And I think Saltburn was trying to do something like this, didn't get there. And this is like the height of what film can be. And it doesn't have to be, you know, abstract thoughts, difficult to follow. It can just be fucking excellent to watch and really, really thrilling. Ooh, adding to the list. So we put out a question box for all of you listeners and we got some amazing questions and yeah, we're just going to filter through them and answer some of your burning,

absolutely searing questions for us. One that came up time and time again was, how do you know each other and why and how did you start to work on the podcast? And this one among many came from Lucy Scott. So it was a story in like multiple parts. So maybe we'll tell it in multiple parts. But I think the origin of the origin was a meeting that I had, I want to say late 2022. I was contacted by a production company who will remain nameless. I mean, we're not going to be for them or anything, but I best will let them stay nameless about doing a book podcast, which I thought, okay, great idea. And I was suggested by another writer.

So I think they were just fishing around and then we had this meeting and they said, who do you know that Reads A Lot has as many strong opinions about books as you do, who you could do this podcast with. And I had met Anoni, I think about a year before at a party or like an event hosted by Emily Ratyszkowski in London. And that's when we'd met for the first time. It was about Emily's book, The Body, My Body, which I actually think is a

very good book, but anyway. And I immediately, because Anoni did the book club and she was writing all of these really, really good reviews on Instagram. I was like, do you know Anoni from online? And then I think we all had a meeting, which maybe Anoni, you can pick this story up from here. Because then we met, I think probably for the second time at a meeting with this production company. So yeah, then we met and it was at Megan's, in case anyone knows, the White Girl branch location. And basically, I then kind of put a span in the works because I said that I thought a book podcast was too prescriptive and too difficult because if you're talking about a book every week, I wouldn't necessarily listen if I

hadn't read the book. I just thought it was a bit complicated, but what I said, I thought there was a dearth of and that I would love to listen to is a pop culture podcast. So, so then we were talking about that for a little bit and I think Beth and I did a couple of pilots, but we were like, I for a little bit and I think Beth and I did a couple of pilots, but we were like, I don't know if this is two voices in this space. It just doesn't feel that interesting. Maybe we should bring in a third voice so that we've got like more opinions. And also that's kind of different from any other podcast in the space. And I said, they were like,

well, who do you know that is good on pop culture? And I was like, well, the year before I met Ruchira Sharma at Annie Lord's book launch in Waterstones. And since then had like been following her writing online. At the time Ruchira was writing like a lot of pop culture pieces and stuff. And I was like, I think she'd be really good. So we bought in Ruchira and we did our first pilot as a three and everyone was like, snap, snap, snap, this

is it. And bear in mind, no names, but this production company is a big production company. We all thought absolute jackpot. We then started piloting every week. We were spending a lot of time doing it. We all turned down other work and we were like, we are about to be millionaires. Do you want to pick up the next bit, Raja? Yeah.

Okay, so from that point until I guess the next stage would have been about six months. So we spent about six months meshing, planning, plotting, piloting, and we kept trying to push on when is this going to come out? We think we're ready. We have this amazing thing. We're ready to go.

At the six month mark, we find out from unnamed production company that they are going to drop the idea. They give a kind of wishy washy reason. And yes, it is absolutely heartbreaking, but we all are in agreement. We just mutually come to the decision that we know that we have a really good thing here. We have to keep going. We decide, let's just do this on our own with our producer who wonderfully decides to join us.

At this point, I think it's a week later, we see this production company comes out with a very similar podcast to the idea that they were working on us with. So we see this other podcast that looks like ours, we wish them the best and we just plow on with ours. And then we get to December. So I imagine maybe two months after we find out that we were dropped by our original production company. And that's when we release our first episode on Saltburn and two other subjects I can't remember now. And that is the origin story of how this came to be. But also, so we, bear in mind, so with this, we, our producer brought us on with another unknown production company who were great, but because we'd spent like a year, if not

more piloting, spending loads of time figuring it out, we had a really clear cut idea on what we wanted to make as a podcast. And we went to this new production company and they also had a really clear cut idea. So we then decided in March, when was it last year? June? I think it was about July, June, July, we started having the conversations. Yeah. And I think it was August. I think it was about June, July, we started having the conversations. Yeah.

And I think it was August. So yeah, around about a year ago, we were like, actually, we really, we're going to try and do this by ourselves, which is what we've been doing up until about six months ago, Q, our current production company, help us edit this Friday podcast and have been invaluable with their production support. But we have full creative control, which was something we really wanted. And so it's been a really long journey. And we also had so many great episodes that we'd piloted for ages that have just disappeared into the ether,

although I think Beth was trying to resurface some of them. I have been re-listening to old episodes. And do you know what? We're all sitting in a noni, your flat flat at the time with our mics on the sofa, we're giggling away. I mean, it's less, it's interesting. It's less polished than it is now because I think we've all learned as we go. Like I used to be, I used to not laugh and I used to, I was so gleeful to kind of interrupt you both, but it's really, I would love actually at some point in the future to include some of those clips because I think they're great. And also on the topic of origin story, I will say it just wasn't really like bad blood,

but for us to have gone independent means that these episodes you listen to now, which they're about an hour long, we talk about sex, drugs, rock and roll. We're very candid. Like it just means that we can do that. So as much as it's been, it looks on paper like setbacks. We've made life technically more difficult for ourselves. We've taken the long road, but it means that we're on the road where we could do hour-long episodes where we fully dish and there's nobody going, we're going to have to cut that because we're like, fuck it, we're going to say it. So I am actually very thrilled with our journey as long and as

hard as it's been at some points. I agree. It's all going to go in the memoir, the EIC memoir. Okay, next question. Are you guys ever going to do a live show? And this was question mark exclamation marks. I think it is, are you guys ever going to do a live show? Yes, is my answer. I would absolutely love to do this. I think we, because we do, we're essentially doing this live. We're just talking off the cuff, but in our separate apartments, I think we would have the most fun. And I think we've got some irons in the fire to do this. It is just managing the work and logistics, but London would love to. I live in Wales. I would love to do one in Bristol, Cardiff. I'm getting ahead of myself, but well taught incoming.

Short answer, definitely. Long answer, we're working on it. But they will be coming. We just can't tell you when. Agree. We, yeah, watch this space. She's coming, she's coming, she's in the oven, but we just need to switch the oven on soon.

Next question. How have your friendships developed since starting the podcast? We hate each other is my answer. It's a working relationship and nothing more. It's a really weirdly intimate thing doing a podcast I have to say because we talked, I talk to you both more than I talk to anyone else because obviously we speak to each other about three hours a week in recordings, doing both episodes. And then we're talking every day, just on WhatsApp, like catching up about stuff. We haven't seen each other as much, obviously, recently because we've all been doing it remotely.

But when we used to do it in person, we had a really big night out after Soho House Festival. Oh my. That was one for the ages. The less said, the was one for the ages. The less said the better. But you know, I think because we've been through so like these things that we have been through, it's like crushing disappointments. You need, we kind of were put through, we were kind of forged in that fire.

I think that does bring you very close. Also like the group chat for, we've got the group chat, which is for business, but a lot of non-business happens there. And I just think it is, it's impossible to, it's like being in a band, I think it's really impossible to describe to people, but you're really like, we're right on the front lines of everything going on in each other's lives. Because if we're recording and I'm like, I've just gone through a breakup or I'm having a bad day, like I have to tell you because we're part of this like business. So I think it's like, it is such an intimate relationship and it's so impossible to, we're kind of just like

Fleetwood Mac, but with less drama. In this time, because we started, we started recording piloting or Beth and I had that first meeting, I think I was 28. And I was like, I was living in, I've lived in about four different flats. I've had like one boyfriend, two situationships. I don't like, I've lived in about four different flats. I've had like one boyfriend, two situationships. Like we've been through a lot. You're living and you're living it all in real time. We've had how many breakdowns each of us individually, I can't, I couldn't possibly put a number on it. A lot has happened. And also, I feel like one thing I will say about the communication between us is because

you have to just say what you're feeling, whether that's, you know what, guys, I'm really burnt out. I can't do this thing that is technically my thing to do this week, or I think we need to change this thing. I don't think it's working. You have to really just say what's on your mind with your chest and your full chest and just say it straight. And because of that, I feel like our communication is a hundred percent like it's the best it could be.

We have really good communication. Also, another thing is we literally do not make money from this podcast at this point in time. So we are, this is podcast is, is living off the strength of the fact that we all really respect each other, think that we've got a great thing and get on. If any of those pillars fell down, there is like, we're not doing, we are not making money right now. Like we're in the long game, we're hoping that this at some point, like contribute towards our bills, but it's very much off the strength of our friendship and this shared experience and actually going through that kind of upheaval with our origin story that gave us such big designs on like where we wanted to go with this. But yeah, we're not doing this for anything other than the love of it and each other at this

current moment in time. Yeah, it's a passion project fueled by stubbornness in part, but also pure passion, respect for one another and a lot of instant black coffees on my end. Okay, next question by Oceanic Feeling, which is a gorgeous, a gorgeous Instagram name. This sounds very silly, but I, but how do you find articles to read? I want to read more articles, short reads and love all of your recommendations, but have no idea how to find them myself. Love you girls.

Beth, I've always wondered how do you find those amazing substacks that you bring to the table? Do you know what I think it is. I spend time now on substack. I used to spend time just being like, oh, what should I write? What do people want from me? And now I'm like, no, I should read my homepage. I should follow more interesting people. And I think for me, it comes down to who do I follow online and on substack who posts interesting stuff is really curious. And I think that's it. It's like, It's kind of the modern day broadsheet, follow the right people, get on your Subsec homepage and see what other people are liking

and recommending. Because I find, especially on Subsec more and more, I find such interesting pieces on absolutely everything. Because a lot of traditional writers have turned to that as a place to do investigative pieces as well as personal pieces, as well as kind of really topical stuff that I wouldn't think I'd be interested about. Like I read a lot about money and sport weirdly and I have no real interest in those things. So I think it is about following the right people, especially on Substack because you'll just unearth just this little gem of writing, like the piece that we did on summer bodies, that I think it did really well, but

I found it quite early on. And I just thought, what a gorgeous piece of writing from a young writer. It would have been maybe a few years until I'd heard of this person. So I think it is. Just treat it as though it's a part of your daily routine, like you're opening up the paper and reading the headlines. I think it's a treat it as though it's a part of your daily routine. Like you're opening up the paper and reading the headlines. I think it's, it's way better habit than what I used to do, which is open up X and raise my blood pressure significantly. Oh, but I was going to say X Twitter was where I found a lot of articles before, because I followed loads and loads of journalists and also just interesting

people who would retweet interesting articles. Less and less do I open that up and less and less is it useful for that kind of thing. But I follow lots of writers on social media, so I'm often being pointed in the direction of their work or being reminded to read them. And they in turn will also recommend good things. I also do just sometimes check the New Yorker, the publications which I know write things which are interesting, and more recently, The Atlantic, because of Beth often suggesting pieces in there. So I think it is just a matter of having your finger

on the pulse of actually following the writers and their work, and then it kind of falls into, it's not so much you're having to go out and seek out, it's just that there's so many writers that I love, like Moir Lothian-McLean and Chloe Grace Laws and I can't even think now of everyone's name is falling out of my head. Who wrote Don't Touch My Hair? Emma Deberry. Emma Deberry, that's it. Yeah. So there's like, that's just like a few, but I follow so,

so many writers and journalists. I think I'm so sad that Gal-Dem's gone because that was always a great source for me, A, to find loads of writers. Like all of the writers, so many of the writers that I follow now were people that I found from Galdem's zine when that was a thing. But yeah, I think when you find a piece you like or find interesting, follow the writer because they often won't necessarily always write for the same publication every single time. At what age did you all feel settled slash out of 20s funk? Honestly, I think turning 30, I feel like I go through phases of being in a funk and out of a funk just in this past year. As soon as I had my birthday, because my birthday was super magical, like both of these two

were here, all my besties were there. I just had the best time and it felt like everything was coming into place. I had this period of just, ah, everything feels at peace in my life. And then in the last few months that's kind of gone and I just feel quite stressed out and quite bent out because of various reasons and just again, that kind of uneases back. So I don't know if there's ever a phase where the funk has gone necessarily, but I think generally compared to my twenties, the periods are much less severe. They go on for much less time. I can see, spot them, look after myself and generally I know this is going to pass. That's my perspective. What about you too?

I agree with that. I think as you get into 30s, you don't necessarily not get into funks, but you are able to kind of hover above your own body and watch it happening and go, oh, I see what's going on there. But I also think the 20s funk is kind of about trying to build, you're trying to build everything and create a structure that you see as a viable life. And you're like, oh, okay, so this is where I'm going. And then thirties or my thirties has been a lot of letting go. So the funk is actually coming more from like, that might not happen. Let's just walk down this road and see where it ends. Whereas I think in your twenties, you maybe have more of a tunnel vision and it feels

like a race to get to whatever the milestones you've been told are important in whatever world you exist in. And yeah, then your thirties, I still get in funks, but it is a completely different thing. And I also think you feel more agency in your thirties. Like I feel very, very concretely in my thirties that this is up to me now. I've got to make a decision. Everything that I do, that will have a result. So I think you're more in control in that way. Whereas I think in your twenties, maybe you feel less, more out of control. Like life is happening to you or at you and you're battling against that. Whereas in your

thirties, I think it's like, okay, let's buckle in. We're here now. And yeah, a lot of letting go. What would you say, Beth? As the podcast elder, so next time you will hear my voice, I will be 32, which is such a fake age. I feel odd. I feel fine. The lesson of my 30s is that there is a way you expect it will go and have gone and that will time, time again be proved not the way. I think it's that like quiet and slow and patient acceptance of I'm on a journey, I shouldn't have arrived, there is no arriving, I'm figuring it out. And I think I felt a funk, or I go through little funks here and there. And then the way to get out of those funks is to remember,

one, you're still in spitting distance of your proper youth. Every plan that you had is not sunk, dead in the ground, let life surprise you. I think you have to face forward and live in reality, but also don't act like it's eons and eons since you were young and vibrant. It's very much mindset. I think no door is closed, but occasionally, and I've been guilty of this, we sort of closed the door ourselves. We're like, I'm past it. I can't have that. I'm not going to do it. I follow, I think maybe you both do as well, an influencer called Danielle Pisa, who is great. I don't know her. We went on a press trip a few years ago together and she's really lovely.

She just turned 37 and she posted this carousel on Instagram where she went back over the last five years and wrote where she was at that time. She said a year ago, she was a new mom, terrified, but also in this bubble of love. A year before that, maybe I just started dating her current partner. A year before that, 34 was completely lost. 33 was battling with low self-esteem and she goes right back to 32. I was like, fuck, this is really insightful. We don't need to worry about how to arrange the next half many years. Stuff does fall into place or it doesn't. It's actually very normal to feel the funk. Just try where possible, to have a good day, to be good to yourself. It's very normal.

Thank you so much for listening both to this episode and all the episodes from this year and before. And thank you too for your excellent questions this week. Remember to give us a follow on Instagram and TikTok at everythingiscontentpod and also on X and also on your podcast player app. If you need to catch up on any episodes you've missed, that's your homework for the next two weeks. Get on board, get up to scratch,

we'll be back very, very soon. We will see you as normal in a couple of weeks time. Bye! Bye!