Jono, Ben & Megan - The Podcast - FULL SHOW: What we'd say for our final words...

Episode Date: February 23, 2026

On today’s show:  After Eric Dane’s passing, we reflect on what we'd want to say to our own kids if they we one last chance. How we feel about the treatment of the viral monkey Punch. Accidentally becoming the richest person alive thanks to £63 quadrillion! Ben’s daughter gets the most confusing fortune cookie… Megan finally gets a reply from Liam Lawson! Dear Megan… I feel like my friend is upset with me for asking her not to apply for a job I really need. Instagram: @THEHITSBREAKFAST Facebook: The Hits Breakfast with Jono, Ben & MeganSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Jono Ben and Megan podcast thanks to Dilma. Goodness really does taste great. Dilma, making the world a better tea. Welcome to the podcast on a, yeah, on Tuesday. Do you know what? I didn't know about my mum in the weekend. We went to the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, and it was the first time she'd ever been to Eden Park over the weekend.

Oh, Jenny. Inside Eden Park. What? She said, I've never been in the inside Eden Park until this weekend. Does she enjoy it? Yes, she did. She went twice to the military taser over the weekend, since she's gone from zero to 100, really,

on Eden Park's experience. You get invited to things there all the time and you've never taken your mum. But she's hours away. You know, she's not in the same city as me. Did your mum not want to go to Travis Scott? Yeah, I know. I mean, I was thinking over the years because I've punished my family, you know, when I was younger, they took me to all sorts of sports games and stuff.

Well, you know, cricket games. I was like, I guess we never went to Eden Park, you know. Yeah. Mom would have to sit through all sorts of stuff like that. So I was like, interesting about it. What was her one takeaway? Um, I didn't really delve two deep. He didn't tell what did she think, what did you think, ma?

Have you never been here? And you're like, okay, no follow-up question, but I didn't really tell her. It should be a bit of a journal about us. I thought, oh, wow, okay, did not know that. Did she enjoy the facilities? She did. Yeah, she had a good time. Yeah, she enjoyed it.

I think she'd go back again, you know? We'd see them again. We flew to Christchurch that day. Man, the plane was full of what I would say would be military tattoo. heading home. Yeah, I've never been to an event where there's people outside afterwards going, do you guys need a wheelchair? Like, to take your new thing?

You're like, there were so many wheelchairs. I know. Yeah. I was like, yeah, I'll take one, mate. I was like, if no one else wants one. You're offering. Like, do you have the option of being wheeled to your seat or having to use your legs. Yeah, it's like, where do you need to ride to?

Well, no, we didn't know. I didn't obviously take one. But yeah. It was only a few weeks ago I felt like the oldest person at Laneway. Well, that didn't be great the other night. Felt like the youngest person there. Bring it back down. Get to the Engelbert Humperdink concerts and all that sort of thing.

But, yeah, no, there was a plane load of military tattoo fans, wasn't it on the way back? Yeah. There was some mechanical issue with the plane. And they're like, oh, listen, we're going to be delayed. And gee whiz. Ah, the frustration. Yeah. I'm patient.

Like, considering, you know, a lot of them are retired, like, do they have things they need to be doing? Yeah, like, where do you need to be? Yeah. You're right. Just chill. Yeah. Yeah. It was frustrated, eh?

I like the bit of the pilot was like, because the pilot was obviously distracted reading about the technical issue. And he was like, oh, we'll get you to the, to the, the, the, the destiny. And he couldn't quite get out where we were going. Someone was like, Christchurch. We're going to Christchurch, love.

Do you know where you're going? Even the love patronising. I had a good lady next week. She was great. She was hard case. She was awesome, yeah. If you need anything else from the crew, don't hesitate.

She's like, lamb roast, please. Oh, was heckling. Yeah, but I didn't go by. She was funny.

She wasn't frustrated at all. It's like a plane load of my mom. Just painful. I was like, that's a good gag. They weren't happy with the trains. The trains in Orton. Well,

that was thing. They were one o'clock or something they got back to their accommodation, you know, which is crazy from something that, you know, ended a couple hours before. And she was a sweet elderly lady,

wasn't she? She got on the train to get the bus, which they had organized, they were like, well, not organized, but they'd planned out that they were going to get on this bus and then just to see

because they're running, trains running late to see the last bus just drive away and they're like, okay, I guess we're walking back to the hotel.

Oh, yeah. Just so they need to sort it out. They really do. It's wheelchair people all the time, everywhere. Yeah,

that's there. I mean, Warriors game, people could probably handle it but it's a thing like the military tattoo. And it was raining. You don't want your nana

standing at the bus stop in the rain at midnight. No, no, you're right. Anyway, some, we did some serious talk on the program today, didn't we?

We did. We'll start with that. With the sad loss of actor Eric Dane. John O'Beehan and Megan. The podcast. The hits. Eric Dane, the actor, best known probably as McSteamy in the TV show, Grey's Anatomy. I want to go save lives.

You see that? Not a drop of sweat. You know why? Because I'm that good. Am I a fantastic leader or what? Like God. Eric, we're hot doctors and babies. Women are going to stare.

So he's mixed semi for his good looks, not his perspiration. Yeah, you're right. He became a global RTB heartthrob, you know, and acted for many, many years. More recently he was in euphoria. That's right. I've seen him in that, yeah. And, yeah, sadly he passed away at the age of 53. A very, like, quick battle with, a 10-month battle with ALS.

It happened very fast and just really heartbreaking to see that he left behind his two teenage daughters. And he was on a new year. Netflix show, which, you know, obviously is a really interesting format. Yeah, it's famous last words, isn't it? Well, they interview people before they've passed. Obviously, it becomes a little problematic to do it after they've passed. Yeah, yeah. And then they release the interview.

Once they've passed away. Yeah. Really, from a production standpoint, a difficult topic to approach to the person. It's almost like a time capsule, though. It was almost like you get to say the things that maybe you want to say. or, you know, and the interviewer asks them questions, and then for the last 20 minutes, the interviewer leaves and leaves to the person just by themselves with the cameras.

No one's behind the cameras in the room. It's just them talking to the camera, and they get to say whatever they want to say. So it's only two of them. The cameras get set up, and the crew don't know who it is. They keep it all secret. And Brad Fulchuk, who is Gwyneth Peltro's husband, is the interviewer.

So it's only him who knows, and most of production don't even know who the person is. Oh, did they just push record on the cameras and leave, do they? Yeah, and then Brad eventually leave, so it's just the camera and the person. So Eric Dane, who was, you know, battling with ALS at the time, was just him in a room, the actor just talking to camera, and he said some, you know, some beautiful messages to his daughters. It's really heartbreaking stuff, you know,

to know that he was going to leave behind his two teenage daughters. Billy and Georgia, these words are for you. I try. I stumbled sometimes, but I tried. fight girls and hold your heads high you on my heart you on my everything good night i love you those are my last work oh my gosh man i watched that yesterday i was walking the dog and we knew we're gonna talk about i just watched that and it really hit me you know like i just going through you know knowing how i've got two daughters pretty much the same age knowing how hard it would be to know you're leaving

behind that you know and just what you all the things you want to say and he said He says a weird of the things about, you know, like to tell them to keep fighting and to, you know, to live every day. It was another one as well, you know, like he seemed to have a really good outlook. If you can have a good outlook in the States. Yeah, well, as you said, live in the present. You regret things you've done in the past. The future hasn't come yet. So all you can do is live in this moment right now.

But it's so hard to just know what you'd say, you know, to your kids knowing that you're not going to be around. That's the painful part is, you miss out on watching them grow. I know In vulnerable age too Teenagers as well What's the one thing you'd say to your kids One thing I've got a couple

Okay First one's more administration Okay Please delete my browser history No that's not a kid job That's like a bent or me But then I'd say Just

You are capable of doing anything you want to do You can hold back in life can't you? And a lot of reasons not to do things or try and achieve things. Yeah, well, he said that Eric Dayne and his thing saying about how you kids, you know, find something you love. And that doesn't necessarily have to be a person. I mean, it's great if you can, but find something that gets you out of bed each day.

And for him it was acting. You know, and he said to his kids, find that, find that passion, the reason to get out of bed in the morning. And, you know, it's going to change your life. And it did for him. And so, yeah, okay, 4487 on the text. What would you say? One thing.

I'd say failure teaches you way more than success ever will. And you really know is a step closer to a yes. So, yeah, same as you. You can do anything. Yeah. I'd also say, don't forget to pick up the dog poo because that's been my job. Lorne's going to be littered. John O'Ben and Megan, the podcast.

The hits. If you're scrolling social media over the last couple of days, being on the internet, you may have seen a sweet little monkey that's stolen the hearts of the world. Punch is the name of the monkey. A zoo in Japan and has gone viral after, well basically, look, the shots of punch, little tiny monkey getting rejected from not only his mum,

but the other monkeys as well. They chase him round and push him over and they're being bullies to him. Workplace bullying punch, aren't they, really? Yeah, but it's also his mum. He goes to run up to his mum and his mum pushes him away. Is it because he's the runt? Because he is quite little. There must be some reason why his mum's like,

No. Oh, it's just the Circle of Life. They sung about it, didn't they? All the cast of the Lion King sung about that. But, yeah, it's very sad. It's heartbreaking to watch it. In fact, if you want to see the video, you can text Punch 4487 and will bounce you back the clip, and you can watch it in real time. Now, punch carry...

Why are you driving? Punch carries around a toy monkey, which is just a bit of investigation. It's a toy from Ikea. You can get the little soft toy monkey and all carry it around, carries it everywhere, cuddles with it, sleeps with it. That is kind of its comfort. his friend. So that's the only sort of monkey interaction that poor punch has got. It's so sad.

It's so sad. They're beating him up right and he's running around and he gets all upset and runs over to his little toy monkey and cuddles that instead. If I worked at the zoo, I just could not help but lean over into the thing and just pick him up and go, come on you, buddy. We'll take you home with me. But I guess they've got to just stay out of it. That'd be a tough watch for the zoo staff.

I mean, they are looking after all the monkeys and making sure nothing, you know, but you're right. They kind of do have to sort of let it all sort of play out. Yeah, they're not seriously injuring him. I mean, they're hurting his feelings. How's his mental health? Probably not great. He's not.

He's not. I ask him about his mental health. Lonely? And Ikea, rubbing their hands. Geez, they're sold out of these monkeys. They've just been shifting. Here's a conspiracy theory. Ikea.

Okay? They overawered on these soft toy monkeys. They're like, damn, we need to get rid of these. What do we do? We'll dress up a couple of employees as monkey. Bullie, bully this little baby monkey. Galane's Galane, she was in there

She was in there Probably the whole Charlie Kirkie is involved You need to rescue Jono from Epstein was directing the whole shoot You name it You know it So yeah

So you're right They have sold out these toys Around the place as well Although we have got some on order When they arrive So we thought We've got a couple on order Why don't we give them away

to 0800 That's 4487 When they arrive We'll give you one If you can get on the air And tell us about your soft toy And at all right now With a soft toy

Yeah Clarification not the actual monkey The soft toy that the monkey's holding, which is what we've got to give away. Punch, you're getting paid for this influencer campaign? No, I don't think so. I don't think, no. I've got a couple of, my mum sent up a couple of my toys. I've got Barclay, the dog.

I remember having Barclay when I was 11. Do you still sleep in the bed? No, Barclays in the cupboard. But I've got a little, like, bulldog toy that, his name Spud, and I gave him to my daughter. So she sleeps with Spud. And I used to also have a Spud. No, that's... But you, just to clarify, you're not sleeping with soft toys.

But there are people who do. And we will not... It's not here. It's not a mockery... No, exactly. I had a... My Nana's old petticoat. I talked to bed when I was a kid.

That was my comfort. So there you go. I'm going to say, well, I would take it. I like the feel. It was my feeling petticoat. And I would feel that petticoat when I was... Did she give it to you or did you steal it? I don't know how.

But yeah, she does remember one time I was sitting next to her and a little hand went up and, you know, grab the petticoat and just, you know. What, your hand went up and ripped? Not too far up, mate. Knee, like shin, shin length.

You know, maybe just in knee. Was that your dog that was bringing undies to your house? Yeah, yeah, it was. Anyway, I'm just sharing a bit about me, okay? You know, so you don't feel so vulnerable like punch. So you, did you pull the petticoat off? No, I didn't pull it off.

Did you steal it out of your undie draw? I don't know how I ended up with it like punch. I don't know how I ended up with that toy for my care, but I would take it. to bed for a little bit. We need to ask your mum about that one. Yeah, take the feeling petticoat to bed. Yeah, right, enough about me. Do you still, do you still cuddle lingerie at night?

No, but I have got it. So I'm sitting in a box somewhere in the house. He's still got it. Yeah, I think I'm feeling petticoat somewhere in the house. The feeling petticoat. Mom gave it to me, I'm like, well, I'm probably past that stage now, but thank you. I haven't heard the word petticoat for such a long time. It's just like a slip that you wear under, yeah, under a dress and stuff. John Oven and Megan. The hits.

It's making big news. Monkey in a zoo in Japan called Punch, who seems to be rejected by his mum and the other monkeys, right? All of the monkeys in the enclosure. So they chase him around, they bully him, and when he goes to hug his mum, she pushes him away.

So it's quite, he's only little. He might be the runt of the litter. But he does have a little soft toy that he runs back to and cuddles that instead. A little monkey toy from... IKEA, available at 1999. If you want to buy that, plus goods and stuff.

services taxes. Long, we do, we do love a novelty animal to get our, to get behind, don't we? Harambe, remember Harambe, the gorilla? Yeah, I feel like every generation has a monkey we get behind. Shrek the sheep, Shrek the sheep was a big player in the animal game for a while. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, to veer away from the... King Kong back in the day, you know?

That would have got back in, it was probably the OG monkey, right? We all got behind. Harambe sort of veered out into, get your genitals out for her own days. Yeah, I think that was just a lads, laz, laz thing. I don't think that was widely. I'd have my pants down. I was like, why am I doing this for Herumba? No one asked.

Let's get Natasha on the phone. Welcome. How are you? Oh, good morning. Not too bad. Not too bad. Taking along. Good on you.

That's all you can ask for on a Tuesday, Natasha. Now, are you a fully grown adult with a soft toy like a punch? I am. I am. I'm 49 years young and I go to bed every night with Mr. Floppy. He's a gorgeous soft bunny. and he just makes the best we're going to sleep with. I was going to say there are some tablets for that nowadays.

Oh, no, I think those as well, honey. Yeah, you're right. It doesn't always have to be Mr. Floppy, but that's all right. Oh, I get it. Oh, my gosh. Oh, that's adorable. That's adorable. So how many years have you had this toy, Natasha?

I've had him for about three years now. I had to upgrade because one of my children stole one of my other petties I had. And is it a comfort thing? Is it a, you know, feel weird? No, you know, it's cuddling a pillow. And, yeah, cuddling a rabbit is much more appealing than cuddling a pillow. And I thought, no, I need a replacement for my bear. Society, do they judge?

No, no, no. Everyone that comes over knows that I have it. My daughter's tried to steal it for one of her babies. And I'm like, I'm kind of attached to it. Oh, good on you, Tasha. Yeah. Good on you. All right, we're going to send you out one of these,

punch monkeys, okay? You get one of those. Oh, brilliant. Thank you. Blessings to you as well. Thank you very much. Shari, hi. Hi.

You're a fully grown adult and still in the soft toy game, the cuddly toy, the plushy game, are you? Yes, you guys have met me. We were dual leaper for, do a leap, do a leap. Oh, yeah. I did. Shari. Yeah. Yes, I've got a hug-mey teddy bears, one of those tattie gray teddy bears.

and I've had him for 26 years and you sits next to me on my dressing table when I got to sleep so my husband gave it to me when we started dating Oh, that's cute He can't even be mad about it because, you know, it came from him Don't know, why would you be mad about it too? Well, I mean like a cuddly toy in the bed

You're like, you know, coming between you say, Yeah, right, but you know, gave it to the household Yeah, that's awesome, that's very cute Yeah, Shari, we're going to give you one of these Punch Influence, a little punch, monkey influence soft monkey toys. Okay, another one to add to the collection. Awesome.

Thank you so much. We've got a back order from Ikea. We'll wait for that to come through. Have we made the order, have we? No, I think we're on the waiting list at the moment. Andrea. Hi. Great to have you on.

Happy New Year. Happy New Year. You've got a plushy. You've got a stuffed toy, and how old are you? It's 36. Okay. There's no judgment here. What is it?

What's its name? His name is Gary. Gary, I like the name. And what's Gary? Gary is a builder bear pig. Oh. So builder bear has only been around recently. Yeah.

It is recent. The most recent one that my son made. He's now gone away for camp. So he's this little Gary is now my little buddy. Oh, that's really cute. Yeah, a cute backstory, heartwarming, wholesome backstories. And so what do you do with Gary? What's his day to day?

Well, day to day is in the car On the way to drop off my other child to school And then kicking with me until lunchtime when we have a little knot Oh, so you take Gary everywhere, do you? Yeah That's very cool, that's pretty adorable Gary like a monkey friend To hang out with

Yeah, I would love a monkey friend, thank you All right, well, I can make that happen You've got two soft toys yet Yeah Yeah, I'm going to go, you guys John O'Bin and Megan The podcast, the Hats Talk about this yesterday.

A lady making world news from the UK. Sophie Downing's her name. She went to a local coffee shop to spend a 10-pound gift card, and she's made news when her remaining balance came through on the card at 63 quadrillion pounds, making her the richest person in the world. Now, she joins us from the UK now. Good morning. Good morning to you guys.

Good evening to me. Yeah, sorry, the time zone's really a confusing thing. But thanks so much to joining us. You are making international news. That's pretty wild. It's absolutely crazy. I did not expect this at all. How many desperate radio shows like us have storked you down?

Actually on my, I'm on BBC Nottingham tomorrow morning. I've had quite a few requests, to be honest, and it's trying to fit it around my schedule as well. Oh, thank you for fitting us in. Thanks. Thank you so much. So this is an amazing story. You had a gift card. Who gave you the gift card?

My clients gave me a gift card for Christmas. And so you went in there to buy a coffee and you were thinking, what? Because with the exchange rate and everything like that, we were a bit confused. So you had 10 pounds on the gift card, is that right? And you thought you'd get the receipt afterwards for what was left. Yeah, exactly, yeah. How much is a coffee?

How many pound over there? The coffee that I got was five pounds and 15 pints. So I'm not sure how much that is to you guys. To have 485 left over, you would do assume. Someone had punched in a different number. In fact, the number that was written on the coffee card, the barcode number. and what was 63 quadrillion pounds in the balance? What was your reaction when you saw that?

I didn't even click on at first. I was just, it took me about five minutes to realize when I was looking at the receipt. And then I took a photo over and sent it to my partner. I was like, am I reading this right? And he was like, you're technically the richest woman on paper right now. In the world, yeah. Only in coffee, however.

Only in coffee, coffee and cross-arms and tape. So was your partner like you have to tell them? No, well, no, to be fair, when I was in the coffee shop, the guy on the till, he looked quite confused. He said he'd not, like, done a gift card before. So he got his colleagues to come over, and she also looked really confused. And I still didn't clock on at that point. Obviously, it was early in the morning, needed caffeine.

And then she was like, never seen that before. She was like, that's quite a big number. But just keep using it. I was like, okay then. So she said keep using it. I was like, I'm not going to take advantage because otherwise their accounts will go back and look through and be like, what is going on? 63 quadrillion dollars spread across the world's population. That's about $7.8 million for every person on the planet Earth.

Oh, my gosh. So we can all have coffee. You could buy the world coffee a few times over. So what did they say? It's such an honest thing that you did. I mean, good on you for going back. Did they at least give you a free cup or something or a croissant? or something? Well, I've not actually heard anything from that company as of yet.

I know they are now aware because one of my other clients is friends with someone who works for them and apparently they didn't know until she sent them something and then apparently they're all talking about it in the group chat. You never know. I might hear something this week. It would be nice. So technically have you still got that money on the card? I believe so. I've not gone back into checks. Oh, well, that's... Sophie.

I'm too scared to go back in At least go get one freebie Well thank you so much for talking to us And 15 minutes of fame It feels like you're in it right now Oh my gosh, I know it's crazy Absolutely crazy I did not expect this at all

You're a 63 quadrillion dollar lady I know what can I say If only it was real money That would be amazing Jono Ben and Megan The podcast The hits We're having a manifestible

If you can dream it You could win it So keep your things you want to manifest in your life coming through to 4487 Yeah getting a whole raft of stuff It's uh yeah including a raft I think someone was a raft as well They did yeah so it was nice we can manifest that for you But Megan you've been on your own manifestation journey I have I really would love to interview I was going to say email

Can email Liam Lawson interview Liam Lawson So that's a dream of mine for like years now You love Formula One you love Liam Lawson you're a big supporter of him, as we all are in New Zealand, and we want to see him succeed on the world stage? Look, you guys said you had a surprise or something like that. I've just checked.

There's no response because we sent an emoji to him. There's no response. I haven't seen, he hasn't followed us. I haven't seen anything like that. Because we did put it out to the world, right? Yeah, well, we made you, well, we also had obligations to film some content for the Manifestable. So we filmed a video of you in front of a Liam Lawson shrine,

candles, you name it. And then Liam commented, Liam himself commented on that video. No! Oh no! Cleo! No! I'm saying no because it was creepy and it's not the video I wanted to see him to see.

Didn't want him to be tagged in. Anyway, we did, we tagged him in it. He replied back and then we're like, well, what? Well, yeah, is that a good thing? So he replied back with the side of the eyes, but they're looking to the right, aren't they? And we took this to the Gen Z market in the office. Good or bad, good or bad? I think it's good.

I think it means watch the space, Megan. keeping out in your DMs because I think that means he's going to message you. Oh, I even check my DMs! So there we go. It was overwhelmingly positive and then we were like, what emoji does Megan send back? And, you know, all the lowbrow stuff

came through, you know, all the vegetables and all that nonsense. I checked my DMs, not so much to see if he'd written to me, but if he'd like seen any of the messages that I've said to him. He hasn't. Nothing, nothing. Well, this is the emoji that we settled on. Well, the peaking on

emoji, the hands over the face with the eye peeking through. That's not bad. That's what I said to one of the Gen Zs out there and she said that was perfect. So we sent that back. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Seven days deep. Nothing back. Still nothing. Until yesterday.

An email has come through. Now we thought that you wouldn't believe us reading it out. So producer Troy's coming right now. An email has come through. It's exciting. You want to get Liam Lawson. You want to Manifest Liam Lawson on the show. And email has come through from Red Bull.

Oh, guys, please. I'm shaking. Now, just his affiliation with Red Bull is he races for the Red Bull. So the racing Bulls, doesn't he? Yeah. And he loves Red Bull. He loves Red Bull. Yeah, that's his association, too.

And they probably pay him a lot of money. He loves it. He drank it. They didn't pay him. He loves it. The email reads, Troy. Hi, team. Amanda from Red Bull here.

Liam has seen the many great videos coming from the hits breakfast. No. Lies. Great videos. No. And he has listened. We have an extremely small window of time with him on Zoom next week.

And we want to offer you an interview with him. Is this of interest? Is this of interest? No. Are we interested? Of course we're interested, right, Megan? Here's the email. It's legit.

The manifesting. It's worth. It's worth. Oh my God. It's legit. Manifesting slash stalking has worked. Hand-on heart is 100% real. There's no twist from us in this at all.

There's no AI. There's no twist. This has come through. It's happening. Okay. Oh my God. How do you feel? I don't know what I'm going to say to him now.

Better get yourself a nice frock, mate. Nice frock. Oh no. And you're all going to see me be like so awkward. It's placle, placle, plackle. Okay. Yeah, no, I'm really excited. I'm so grateful.

You're going to wear that denim jacket? Oh, why? Yeah, I probably wouldn't. No, exciting times. What do I wear? Well, this is, I mean, we can chuck it out to the audience. Oh, my mouth's gone dry. Do we put her in a costume?

Do we put her in a costume? Maybe do, maybe. Like a racing. Why has my mouth gone dry? I mean, it's on Zoom. You can put one of those cultures, like a cat fills her over your face or something. That'd be fun. You know, Ben, Ben, it'd put you in a costume.

I'll put you in a costume. No, I'm not wearing a costume. Say no more. Say it's out of more. My mouth is dry. All right, this is exciting. Well, you need to help us plan this over the next week. Whenever it is next week, we're going to plan it all together.

Lawson. He's here. He's on the, it's come true. Is that real? It's real. Well, yeah. And a great advertising campaign for the Manifestable. John O'Ben and Megan.

The podcast. The Hats. About this a couple of times over the last week. It's Chinese New Year at the moment. Lunar New Year. I see a lot of celebrations. You're on the Mall the other day. They were playing over the loud speaker as well, right?

Yeah, I love the dragons too. There are multiple people in the dragon. That's a big trust exercise putting your torso inside that dragon, isn't there? Yeah. I imagine visibility at an all-time low. Yeah. Somebody at work the other day, it was great, actually. It was really good.

And a lot of businesses around the place are getting involved, which is good to see. And, you know, Hallow Fresh used to be sponsor of this radio program. Since we had started to having HulloFresh, we've continued on with it. And it's been really good. We've really enjoyed it. My daughter, Indy, in particular, she's 14 years old. and she loves it. She really loves.

She makes probably once or twice a week. She probably makes the meals herself and chooses them all. And so she's quite excited. She's quite invested in the Hullo Fresh program. She's a big backup. I know what you're going to talk about because I've got the HulloFresh at the moment too. So she chooses the meals arrived. She cooks by herself.

She does a couple of meals a week. I'm like, this is great. She's learning heaps about it. Amazing. And then the box arrived in the weekend and it had, you know, the Chinese New Year celebrating it with fortune cookies. And India was very excited about this. She was like, great, I get my fortune as well.

That's a lovely touch. First time my kids had fortune cookies last night. Really? Like, crack them and they couldn't read the nose. As we say, yeah, we've loved HulaFresh. Indi loves it. We're like, Indie loves it. Indie, you get the cookie because that's, you know, you deserve it.

You're the Hulletrich ones. You do some cooking. She opens up, very excited, and she opens up, and she's like, oh, what does it say? She said, it says, fun vegetables and healthy recipes await. They've done bespoke corporate fortunes. Oh, no. I was like, click this link to order them. And I was like, well, we're playing a hello fresh.

I mean, they're not like. Bespoke hello fresh fortune cookies. She was a little bit like, oh, well, that's just preempting the box. We got a free, like, promo code in ours. And your fortune cookie? Yeah. It's like scan this QR code. Hey, well, that is a good fortune.

Yeah. 20% discount. And I mean, they weren't lying. There was fun vegetables and how many recipes are waiting. Well, I lied to my children. They were like, what? does it say? And I was like, it says, Aya, you will go to bed by yourself

tonight. She was like, no. It's probably not going to happen. There you go. Well, it's a disappointing fortune. It just becomes like a really bland biscuit then, doesn't it? You've been our correspondent throughout this process, producer Troy, haven't you?

I don't know if I should be. The show's official, European Chinese New Year consultant. My girlfriend's half Chinese. Because you know somebody's half Chinese. You just told us happy New Year? And I heard this on Amy Lee's political ad on the radio. At the end, she signed off.

Sheen-in-quai-le. Is it? Happy New Year? Please text us and let us know if that was accurate. Once again, Troy, Shin-in-quail-le-le-le- Just give us a year. Out of ten, how much did he nail that one? Did you sound good?

Clarify that. Like, you're not saying something horrifically offensive. No, I did say it to Neve the other night, and she said, where did you hear that? Who told you that? I didn't teach you that. So I think her anger was the fact that I nail it. it.

Was it to hear it on Amy Lee, the national MP? Yes. Maybe she's like... Oh, I thought you meant from Evan essence. Is Amy Lee from Evannesses? Taking out an ad on the radio. I know what I'm in the Chinese year? Wake me up.

Make me up. You know what I'm going to do? I'm going to book some lucrative radio advertising time in New Zealand. Was she... Say, me. Happy Chinese New Year. Oh, happy Chinese New Year to you. John O'Ben and Megan.

The podcast. The Hits. Someone has slid into me. DMs again. This one, an interesting dilemma between two friends we put on Facebook last night.

So many comments coming through. Yeah, I feel like someone's about to get absolutely roasted. It reads... I feel like my friend is upset with me and I don't think that's fair. An HR manager position opened up at my work and I asked my friend

not to apply. I told her how much this job means to me. I'm also under heaps of pressure financially and I feel like I've been overlooked for a promotion for years. To me, friendship means sometimes stepping aside when you know something would mean more to the other person, but she definitely seemed pissed when I asked her. She's really talented, but she's also on a more stable place than I am.

So is it really that bad to ask your friend for help and to let me have this one? Woo, geez, you're asking your friend to basically step away from the job market for a brief second there, for friendship. First thoughts, who else is applying for the job? I mean, it could very well go to a man who'll be paid 10% more than the both of them. You're right, no, we're not right with the man,

but you're right, to do a better job, wouldn't he? It could go to somewhere else, someone else. Yeah. It's not guaranteed to be, you know, either one of those two, right? Yeah. Which I think is a big what-if

to bust up a friendship over. You're right. Unless, yeah, unless she knows it's only the two of them. Maybe they're hiring internally, I don't know. Actually, you're right, yeah. But even still, it's a big, if you've got the cahunas to ask your friend to do that, like, that's crazy to me. Well, we don't know the dynamics of the friendship as well,

but it does seem like a bit of an awkward question to ask someone. Yeah. What would you do? What would you do in this situation? I probably wouldn't. I wouldn't go ask someone, not to, you know. Because you don't know their situation as well. I mean, we don't know their situation, the person that you've asked to knock.

have the job. I mean, they wouldn't be going for it, you know, if they didn't want it, you know. Yeah. And someone has said on Facebook that they feel like this person is acting like the world owes them a favour because they're going in with like a victim mentality. Like, I need this. I'm in a worse position than you. You don't know what. I mean, you're friends, but you don't know exactly what they're going through. I reckon this, does, this changes dear Megan today. I think from does she follow through with it or not? Two, how does she make good on this? Because you can probably just go, oh, listen, I screwed up, sorry.

It was a moment of stress. I'm overworked. I'm really struggling financially. And I said something that I shouldn't have. And asked something of you that I really, in hindsight, shouldn't have. Right, yeah, gotcha. Rather than saying step back from the job, just say, hey, should I have done that or not?

Beb! That whole situation is so hard, though, because even if she hadn't seen anything, the two friends are going for the job that they both want. One's inevitably going to be left behind. and then you've is there bad blood after one gets it

and the other doesn't? Well potentially but then you both got to just go well it's really a company decision it's not a personal one between the pair of us but can you put your big girl pants on there I think they're available at glasses this week 3999

99. John O'Benn and Megan The podcast The Hats. T.M. Megan. Someone has slid into Megan's DMs with a dilemma involving two friends going for the same job in a conversation that one friend has already had

about the other one stepping aside and not going for the position. Yeah, can you step aside and let me go for the job because they're saying, you know, they need it more than the other person, which is, well... Awkward. It's an very awkward conversation.

I mean, it's awkward all around. The whole scenario is awkward. Lots of what? What do they say? Will you tell me what they're saying on the Facebook page there, Megan? I say lots of comments on Facebook. All kind of on the side of the friend that's been asked not to apply.

Rochelle says a friend wouldn't ask you to do this. She has as much right to go for the position as you do. This gives me the ick. You should support each other and know at the end of the day it's just a job. And who knows, maybe neither of you will get it. You know, just from our point of view, and I'm sure it's the same with a lot of workplaces across the country, everyone in the office is friends.

It's a competitive industry, you know, broadcasting. And people go for, you know, the same jobs and people miss out all the time. But I think for the most part, there's no bad blood, or at least not to your face in media anyway. Everyone's talking behind your back and stabbing in the back. But, you know, facing out in the shop, everything's all roses, baby. We're going to go and get the phones. Chris, lovely to have you on.

Good morning. Good morning. And a happy new year to you, Chris. Yeah, and happy new year to you too. You've been through this. What? Through something similar. We were both in a position where we had to downsize

and somebody needed to lose their job. So it came down to the two of us. We both had to apply. It was a really stressful time. We were both good buddies. He actually wrote our letters of application together. And, you know, like, oh, we don't forget to put this in. Oh, you remember to say you could say this in a little.

Oh, so you kind of supported each other in some ways. Yeah, absolutely. And as horrible as it was, it's ended up all right. I got the position but she ended up in a position that she now loved she got a chance to study and then moved on. So we're still

best of buddies, I couldn't have done it if I hadn't have been doing it with a good buddy. It would have been terrible otherwise. She was, so what's your advice to this lady who's written in, Chris? Oh, it's really hard saying somebody not to apply like we both applied. I think

you both have to apply I think they both have to Otherwise you would always wonder Maybe it's a conversation Just go hey it's a moment of madness Shouldn't have said it Let's see how we're going to navigate through this Yeah

Absolutely good on you Chris Thanks be cool appreciate that yeah wow Seanie welcome to you Hey mate how are you Yeah good Sean Okay this is your best friend She's gone I've just told my mate Not to apply for a job that I want

What are you saying to them Sean I'm not I don't know, there's a key attitude right there That's all you did to say Harden up The car throw world out there You don't get a head by being nice And if I ever got to ask

To step aside I'd say well you're obviously shit for the job So you go to my way Where are you on the New Zealand apprentice Yeah, hardin up mate Doggy dog out where there, mate I love it I love it, I'm like

Cut to the chase Just remind me you never go to Sean If I've got any emotional issues I mean what you're saying though is, you know, I think what a lot of people were saying in other words on the text, but yeah. Not as distinct.

A lot, yeah, most people agree you can't really ask your friend to do that. You've got to just go into it for a fair competition and be happy for whoever deserves the job at the end of the day. So that's what we're going back to them with. Yeah. Okay, well... John O'Ben and Megan, the podcast.

The Hits. A week of summer. What's summer question mark? That's kind of been the thing. And the final week is going to bring sun, heat and showers as well to the country. So a real mix just to end what has been a mixed summer. But then do you think March might be a little... Yeah, maybe.

It's that optimism. We love to do that. I feel like we say that every year. More settled than March. That's what we say. I remember there's a time of February's the time. And now that's been pushed out, isn't it? That's right.

I don't know if I'm the only person who does this, but I'll throw it out there. You know, the pedestrian crossing. Were you... I'm not going to explain a pedestrian crossing. I've gone. But do you mean traffic lights? where you push the button.

No, I just mean your zebra crossing. You're right. And I find myself at times, not all the time, but a fair amount of the time, when both sides of traffic are stopped, I feel an obligation to sort of make the transaction as quick as possible. Yeah. So what I end up doing is sort of a sort of a weird half jog across the thing and sort of waving to both sides of the traffic,

like an NBA player running onto the court, you know, is this a slight jog, waving to the crowd. Yeah. And I'm thinking, the motorists, they never acknowledge it back. They're like, why are you waving at me? Why are you thinking me?

Well, it's just the road. Yeah. Because sometimes they don't stop. And to be honest, if someone walks really slow, I'm like, oh, by all means, move at a glacial pace. It really annoys me. Do you like the half jog? Yeah, I appreciate the half jog.

It's a weird little, it's a weird level, find yourself in between walking and fully jogging, is it? Your legs don't quite know what you're up to. It's like a saunter. Yeah. You quickly saunter. I get told off by my wife because she's,

you know, she works at school. Obviously it's very important for kids to use the crossings and stuff. But I am such a people pleased. I don't even like stopping the traffic. So if I could, I'll just cross. And she's like,

you need to cross at the pedestrian crossing. I'm like, yeah, but I'm just slowing people down in their day. Oh, so you avoid the zebra crossing. If I can, but she's like, it's not, yeah. That's dangerous. It's dangerous, exactly. So I shouldn't do it.

But I'm like, oh, I don't like that feeling of just holding up these people. Yeah. But, you know, so I'm with you. I'm a little bit of like, I'm a little bit of like. I also do the same half jog. I also do the same half jog if someone's opening up the door for you and holding the door, you find yourself in that saunter, don't you? You're like, you need to pick up the pace. Otherwise, people are like, come on.

But it's not actually that much faster than walking. It's just you're acknowledging them by putting in a bit of effort. But physically going, I'm trying to be faster than if I was walking. As opposed to just walking quickly, you're like, hey, I'm going to. commit to this almost running I guess I'm not going to run for them but I'll fastball

I don't run for anything unless it's chasing me no well you said you got a very very weak don't you I don't know what yeah she says she's like can't go on a tree of a lean oh yeah

oh bladder oh yeah oh you know there's children and stuff yeah there's children so I've been joined the little wee club too excuse me after he got a fright The little wee club, exactly.