Miss Me? - How to Make a Reindeer Fly

Episode Date: December 11, 2025

Miquita Oliver and Jordan Stephens revisit Christmas movies, and talk about aging and flying reindeers.This episode contains very strong language and adult themes. Credits: Producer: Natalie Jamieson Technical Producer: Will Gibson Smith Assistant Producer: Caillin McDaid Production Coordinator: Rose Wilcox Executive Producer: Dino Sofos Commissioning Producer for BBC: Jake Williams Commissioners: Dylan Haskins & Lorraine Okuefuna Miss Me? is a Persephonica production for BBC Sounds

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and architecture. The following episode contains strong language, mainly from me, adult themes, I think, I'm not sure, and some other stuff probably around sexual stuff, because we always talk about that. And Christmas, if you're, you know, if you're anti-Christmas, then I'll tell you what.

You're going to hate this. And Richard, Curtis, and Emma Freud, please skip this one. We'll go get next week. We can talk in person. All right, are we ready? Silent night, holy night. All is well. Calm.

All is right. Come. It's calm, not all as well. When did the last time you went Carol singing? Don't get with me this week. I'm so Christmassy. I'm hosting a Christmas Carol concert at Southwet Cathedral with my mother. That's how carolie I'm getting this week.

Oh, that's cool. Isn't that going to be lovely? You reminded me, actually. I was supposed to respond to it. I normally do like a little choiry, poetry reading night in, oh, I don't know what cathedral. I want to say it's in Chelsea, off a little. It's in Pauls. It's for Sophie Dahl.

Oh, wow. How? Does Jamie Cullum attend? Yes, of course. He performs. I love them both. They're brilliant. Do you remember when Jamie Cullum was my friend? No. When we were really close. Listen to this.

Just underneath your house in West London, you know, there's that like kind of weird little kind of courtyard with the houses on the left and right. Yeah, yeah. That's where his brother lived, Ben. Where his brother lived, right? Ben, Cullum. Yeah. Right.

Wait, where's discovered. This is nuts. That's where I hardly used to live next door to him, you know? That road is insane. when I was 20 for some reason I used to hang out with them a lot

and this is my crew Ben and Jamie Cullum Emma Bunton and Jade from damage unreal and then some other people it was a really weird time for me

KG producer lived opposite KG I hear what you're saying this is where I get my hair cut by the way shout out Michael and Jane let's go it was a mad time

yeah West you're really out of here do you know who else moved into that block who Luke Luke Merry Christmas.

Just to fucking tab it off at the end. But no, Carol concerts, I think, are, I don't think you can really, really immerse yourself in Christmas. Unless you hear carols. I think you have to live in a certain place to have, like, carol singers at your door. That doesn't really happen unless it's a Richard Curtis film. That doesn't happen in Hackney.

Don't bring it up. So you have to go seek them out. Don't bring that up. I won't. I won't. I actually won't. actual glamorized criminal we all grew up with. Oh, you can't.

You cannot say that about Richard Curtis. He's a friend of my mother's. No, not Richard Curtis isn't a criminal. What are you talking about? Who are you talking about? Richard and Emma are sound, mate. I love them. But I think Richard, I'm surely he would be savvy enough to realize

that he has created in love actually a film based around like... The whitewashing of England. Glamarized, but very real criminal undertones perpetuated by men. How is this not? Hang on a minute. Let's break down love actually. McKeeha, come on, no, no, this has been done. Has it?

I've never broken down love, actually. Are you talking about Alan Rickman cheating on Emma Thompson? No, McKita, you know what? I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it for you once, right? Just do it for me once because I've never done this. I'm going to do it, right. Look, firstly, disclaimer, okay?

I had feelings about love actually, but these were all clarified and added to in some viral post I read years ago. So this isn't all entirely from just my gut instinct. Because I did love, listen, love actually is a great Christmas film. But unfortunately, once you step away from it, as an adult, review it. The moral of love actually is if you are a woman who speaks, no one loves you. This is the moral of love actually.

No, stop. No, it is. If you're a woman who speaks and has an opinion. and a personality, you don't get love. So, for example, Emma Thompson, arguably best character in love, actually, cheated on by her husband from a woman in the office who says nothing. She says nothing.

It's like the whole film, she wears stockings, she takes pictures, she walks around. Is Daniel Craig's ex-girlfriend? Fantastic. Well... It was a really nice lady in real life. But yes, absolutely. Now, let me just give you another one.

Let me just give you another one. Kira Knightley doesn't shut the fuck up in love actually. She's loved by two men. She doesn't actually say anything, though. Kira Knightley's issue specifically is the fact. that she has her husband's best friend admit to her that he has like a seriously unhealthy obsession with her that he did at his wedding at their own wedding

and then when he turned up to the door behind her husband's back and shows who is it and she says he says say it's Carol Singers and she says it's Carol Singers fucked off we grew up complicit me included all of us grew up going

that is so cute she gives me a kiss on the cheek and he goes enough now. What you mean enough now? Enough of the criminal trespassing. Enough of being a stalker by law. I always thought the enough now was quite interesting because it was him trying to say to himself, I can't do this anymore.

I've got to stop loving her like this. Enough now. He's the child Ejifor is her husband. He doesn't say a fucking thing. All he does in the film is get fucked over by his best friend. That's his entire role in the film. He has a tiny part of the wedding. He's one of the greatest British actors of all times.

and he has to sit there while Andrew Lincoln plays like an actual creep like an actual do you know how fuck that storyline is I might not enjoy love actually the way I have Colin Firth falls in love with a woman who doesn't speak his language yes that's that I think we'll end on that one Martin McCutcheon walks around getting called the fat one in three or four different dialects I know I know that I always found upsetting the guy from my family goes on holiday and brings back two women with him and then gives one to his friends

Also, sorry, also, can I just say, the woman who works in the office who falls in love with like that, like, mysterious guy. Yeah, Laura Lennie. Does she have sex with him? No. Why doesn't she have sex with him? Because she's looking after her mentally ill brother.

No love. No love for her. No sexy time for her. Because she's talking to you much, she's doing too many things. It's unbelievable. I'm sorry. Can we do Notting Hill another day?

I haven't deep Notting Hill so much. Unfortunately, as we have grown... Because obviously, look, we're in a very different world to where we were 15 years ago, 20 years ago. I just wrote about this, actually. In the millennial times, our perception of love and gender was genuinely in hindsight. It was homogenized.

To take some heat off Richard Curtis, because I'm with you on that, Lizzie, Richard and Emma are nice, yeah. He's a fantastic writer. They're all great family. Listen, they've done much more than that. It's just times have shifted, unfortunately, and this was centred from a different time. Big, Tom Hanks.

Oh, that's fucked up. What a film. But he does sleep with her. A 12-year-old boy who shacks an adult woman. She works in advertising. She's a grown-up. And then when he tells her at the end, she goes, well, maybe in 10 years.

What do you mean, maybe, babe, you just banged the 13-year-old. No, what he does is he walks out of the car, and as he walks away from her, he becomes a child. And instead of her screaming in disgust and fear of her own actions and running away, She looks at him and goes, I slept with him last night. Let's do the holiday. I just want to do the holiday quickly. I feel the holiday is such a shame

because when it came out, it was such a great kind of Nancy Myers, rich people in their lovely homes film. But I watched it too early this year. And I think you have to be really careful with your Christmas films when you want to sort of open that floodgate. I watched it too early.

So I was in quite cynical. It's not even Christmassy place. But Phoebe wanted to watch it while she was baking Solomon's birthday cake. I found a lot of problematic themes within the holiday as well. Really? So holiday, that one, that's Jude, Lord, Cameron Diaz. Yes.

Jack Black. Is this to do with a film producer? Yeah, and Iris is sort of like smart and unlovable and has been in love with the man that she works with for three years. And I remember at the time... Smart and unlovable. If there's not a great, uh, succinct phrase of encompassing the 90s, smart and unlovable.

It's true. It was a disease that you had to cure if you wanted love. And do you remember in the film... It's talkative and smart. I was going to say this as if this is stopped happening, but it's not stopped happening. That's weird. I was going to say,

do you remember like every film in the 90s as well would have a girl in it who was like really hot? But then just wore glasses and had frizzy hair. And then at the end she'd be like, oh, what? She's all that. And the truth about cats and dogs, all they do is take their glasses off. And then they're worthy of love.

Unfucking believable. No. You think that's the worst bit. You think Jude Lord. Thank you, Nat. Nat, our producer, just reminded us about how bad Jude Law's dancing is in the holiday. You think that's the worst bit.

But it's actually when he's crying and she walks back in and he's sort of wiping his tears and he's just got this like, it's just a terrible scene. Can I ask you a question? I am freaking out about the love actually things. I do say it every year, but maybe we need to say it or miss me. You didn't know. You didn't know.

I don't follow all your podcast work. That's true. I think this is probably a good time to talk about Siena being pregnant at 43 and looking just fucking stupendous. I don't know what is in Sienna's water. Oh, Sienna Miller. Probably happiness and joy. Self-acceptance and she's doing the work that she wants to do.

And she's really in love with lovely Ollie, who is, I guess, what, 15 years. younger than her. But I did read an interview with her in Vogue where she said, got a type, hasn't she? Yeah, she got time. Oh, yeah, she got time. But she, yeah, loves a West London pretty boy. But she said in this interview, which I thought was good. She said, you know, I've got my own feelings about being in a relationship with a younger man. I've had to make peace with it. It's not that she's just put it out in the world and everyone's gone, cool man. Everyone has sort of seen it in this exciting new way because of of the work Siena's done with it,

which I don't think was easy. That's cool. And she was really honest about that. But 10 years ago, or even 15, to be 43 and to be seen as even merely attractive, never mind someone that could still breed anomaly, completely ridiculous. What you would have is people in their late 30 still being attractive,

and then Nothingsville, and then people celebrated for being wizened in their 60s or 50s. You did not have this new block of being attractive, 40 to 60. It's incredible. I feel very, very lucky. I could have been born in any other time. And I'd be over, Jordan, over, dead in the street.

They'd drag to the gutter. In what context? Oh, you mean, as in romantically. Romantically, workwise, taken to the gutter, put a muscle on me, stick a bag over my head because I'm ugly and it's over. Oh my, oh God. Thank you, Nat. Are you serious?

That's really important. and Emma Thompson was three years older than I am now when she played the somewhat dowdy mother who is not being able to be loved enough by her husband. And let's be honest, at the end when you realize they are broken up, I think they just give her some earrings to show that she's cut in her funky new face. Oh, no, she finishes the film unhappy.

She does finish the film unhappy because they're still together, aren't they? She gets nothing. This really is a celebration of what women who keep their mouth shut. So tell me what you think about, like how do you, you, when you were younger, because I know you dated a few people that were a bit older when you were younger,

but did you, like, how do you see a 43-year-old woman being pregnant now? What does a man think about that? My immediate thing with, well, the age thing, I've always looked at more through the male lens because men have an incredible ability to somehow produce fertile, something or whatever, into their 60s.

I think it's maybe 70s. Yeah, well, yeah, of course. You've got like Appetino and De Niro or whatever. but Charlie Chaplin. The first thing I started doing is like just doing the maths on how old the kid's going to be if they, when they kick the bucket, I know it sounds a bit crass.

But it's, you know, like if you've had a kid at 60, you're going to be 80 when that kid's 20. That's intense. So that's the only thing I think about. In terms of everything else around it, like if everybody's safe and happy, then great. I know there's some people have spoken about there's some like slightly heightened risk

of the child, some kind of difficulties. be like the older you the both both parents are but no I mean for me specifically no man I've like welcomed um this shift in in approach to aging and you know what I will say something that I have to admit but it really shifted me when I said this and I want to admit it I feel ashamed of me saying this but when I was younger when I was in like my mid-20s I remember that film boyhood came out great film yeah and the mum is played by Patricia Arquette, right? And I'd only seen her in true romance before that point.

Alabama. And when I was watching it, I made a comment to my friend about her appearance changing, obviously. But I made it. It was a disparaging remark, basically, about her appearance. And how she was looking at that age. She was about 40, 40, 40, or 45. And my friend rightfully pulled me up

and said she just looks like a normal 40 to 45 year old. obviously immediately felt like completely embarrassed. And then I'm glad that he said that because it completely made me realize how much I'd been indoctrinated by my expectations of what people should look like at certain ages. Yes, exactly.

Hollywoodified I was. Or like whatever, these people who were like using surgery and the highest form of health and nutrition and medicine and whatever else to like try and maintain this kind of youthful glow where actually Patricia Arquette has just grown old gracefully and quite wonderfully actually. Yeah, definitely.

And I couldn't even recognise that on a screen. And so, yeah, from that point onwards, fortunately, culture I think has shifted where we have started to celebrate and embrace and actually find old women very sexy. I know there was a whole thing around Helen Mirren and... Well, yeah, I mean, I think that's... I was 25, by the way. It's 25, right? So this is five, six, seven, eight years ago.

That is long enough ago for 40s to be a different time for women, regardless of the way we looked, exactly, regardless. And I think what we're talking about is it's not that Sienna is not a scientific marvel. This isn't like unbelievable that she's managed to be pregnant at 43 with her third child, but second baby with Ollie. This is the perception of women has changed. And so suddenly these things that I'm sure we were always able to do are just perceived differently. But we were told we couldn't have kids after 40.

I think it's a geriatric pregnancy after 32. 35, yeah, but yeah, I hear what you're saying. It might be 35. So, yeah, just to confirm it is 35, which is considered a geriatric pregnancy, although they have altered the words. They call it like an advanced maternal age, which, you know, take from that what you will. They're still incredibly young. Also, can I just say, I've just looked at Patricia Arquette in boyhood,

and she looks great. I can't even believe, like, it's actually mind-boggling that I even had that thought as a 25-year-old. Like, that's how... That's how the older woman was... But that's how the older woman was sold to you. I'm not saying they were like, look at this hagg, an old woman. But if she was 45, she wasn't even 50, 45. Yeah, 45.

She would have been 40 or something. I also, as a woman, would have been like, that's old. She's old, I know. What was it, in X Factor as well? Wasn't there like an over 30th category? Oh, yeah, the over 20. Over 25s. Over 25s, bro.

And you were in the, what was it called the oldest? You're just like the old people. It's like Love Island as well. If you're over 30 in Love Island, you might as well be in a fucking home. you might as well be in a home but it's actually quite amazing if you think about it because this is real change

I don't think X Factor not that X Factor could exist now but if it did I don't think it would still be like that over 25s I'm glad that we're moving away from kind of worshipping youth to the same extent

because I don't think that helped anybody I hope so I really hope so and I do I just want to reiterate how I really do feel lucky because I could have been born in the 16th century

where I would have probably died at 28 I could have been born 20 years ago where you were told that it was over at sort of 38 to 40 and I feel like I'm just getting started like truly feel like I'm just getting started what a blessing what a blessing on this critic

you haven't said anything about my Christmas set up it looks cool I worked all night for this what do you think? There's no lights on the tree it's kind of bugging me out a bit that's not like fairy lights that's because they turned up

and they were blue and I will not have blue lights so we've done the candles this is what we've decided Oh, what blue lights make you feel poor? Yes. You remember? You remember my painful childhood.

And poverty, I think, is a really big thing at Christmas. Actually, Mom and I just did, we're working with the Trussle Trust, and we just did some work with Hackney Food Bank, which was quite an interesting day. I mean, scary, the numbers. It was a really good day, but, and these people working so fucking hard, Jordan. And there's so many different, like, things that they do. It's not just like, because, you know, they really think about the way people feel.

They think about the shame and self-consciousness that comes with like queuing up outside of food bank. So they've got these vans that don't say food bank and they say more things about your spirit. I just can't believe you have to do this. I know, I know. I know. I can't really actually live in a wild way we have to do this. Listen to this. Five years ago, they were feeding 160 people a week and now they're feeding 670 people a week.

Last week I had a debate with someone about this. You know what did something? I was debating somebody who was voting for a political party, the other side of the spectrum, to the one I would vote for. And, you know, that was, this was a thing about, like, the current angle from that side is that this idea of taxing the wealthy is ridiculous, economically insufficient. This is the kind of language, you don't get it, you don't understand it,

but it's like, sure, sure. Maybe by the standards that we've grown to become accustomed to, the suggestion that people should be lifted out of poverty might seem like financially insufficient. But also, how are we here now? Why didn't anybody at any point say, isn't it mental for like such a small proportion of people to hoard so much wealth at the expense of loads and loads?

Like, why isn't that? Why aren't people pointing at them going? That seems economically ridiculous. I would urge your friend to just spend one afternoon in a food bank. It's disgraceful. It's a shocking. reality that I, that made me feel uncomfortable and scared and angry. And I sat in it, sat in those

feelings for a really long time and made myself stay in those feelings. And you know, I have had a really hard year, as you know, but I have ended the year in a really beautiful flat and I feel really safe and I feel really fucking lucky. And when we left there and I left the food bank to come back to this house, I swear to God, you can't, you can't really explain how grateful you feel. It's deeper than gratitude. It's, I have to do something. That's who we're hosting the Carol concert for the Trust Trust. This is the season for it. That was the original purpose of Christmas was to give to those you don't have. Let's have a break. Should we jingle bell all the way to the break? Yes. That's not very Christmasy. Shall we jingle bell all the way

to the break? Ho, ho, ho. There you go. Welcome back to this very special edition of the beginning of Christmas and the beginning of the biblical era, the biblical time for all of us, especially me and Jordan. I go to church on Christmas Eve. That's cute. This is the tree I've always wanted. Very classic, a little bit colonial.

Why? With a 50s twist. No, I'm obviously joking, but I did look at it yesterday and go, does this look a little bit like a sort of 1950s postcard and maybe there is a part of me that kind of idealises that it's a wonderful life, technicolor, 1950s Hollywood film kind of tree. I mean, yours is like Babe in the Woods.

I like yours. Yours is kind of like the forest. Yeah. Did you even dress that tree? No, I did a job for a dog food company and they left it here. So when are you and Jay going to have that moment of dressing the tree listening to Nat King Cole? We dressed a tree in the kitchen.

We did that. How many trees you got? I actually was so busy this year that I didn't have as much involvement in the tree as I have in the past. Oh, how many? I don't want to talk about it. She's on one.

She's on one. She's on one. She's Christmas crazy. This is Jade's month. And listen, like I say, just for my own backstory of Christmas, like I didn't really celebrate Christmas before I met Jade.

I know in England people think that's really sad for some reason. I'm not Christian, not that bothered about it. Well, I've had Christmas with you at Sandra's with her. up with you We go boxing day

yeah and days after we're going celebrate I love anything that encourages a sense of community

I'm down for but in terms of feeling obliged to do the things me personally not that stressed so my last

Christmas I woke up before Jade just me and Spike was very quiet very lovely went to the beach are you in Margate

yeah and then my mum came in the evening and we had some food and then boxing day yeah I probably went Sandra's

so like but Jade obviously loves Christmas her birthday's boxing day. Oh shit! I didn't not know that. Her mum used all the strength in her body

to keep her in until boxing day. She probably wanted to be a Christmas day, baby. No, no, no, no, no. She really didn't want that for her. I don't know. Anyway, either way, the North East has shifted my perception of Christmas slightly. I'll be real.

The way they do it up in South Shields, like they really do pour most of their energy into this part of the year. And Jay didn't grow up loads of money and neither did you, neither did I. So do you think there is a part of us that now feel like, you know, we're three successful people in the world and I'm proud of us. We've worked really hard.

And I feel like I'm really happy that Jade loves this month so much. Like she needs a fucking break and she needs to dip into the magic and replenish. I think there is a part of replenishing as well, which is why I'm really happy that we're all going to be a way together over the new year and stuff because I've really got into that recently. You have the Christmas, but then it's like how do I fill back? up my cup so that this year I'm giving out enough

to people and to myself. I think it's a really good time to have those conversations with yourself like how you want to live. But then you can just do Rasta and just do good. Always just do good. Yeah. I mean, I like that fact that it's so powerful it enforces a holiday. That's great.

Just a fucking break. We just have to go to Sri Lanka to reflect. Like you have literally no one's working. Can I shout out the fact that this city is basically kept running by non-Christians during the festive period. It's true. Bossaman keeps going. Boston keeps going.

So just before you jump into whatever fucking echo chamber you've stuck yourself in, just remember who's going to be driving that bus if you're late. Yeah, exactly. And everyone's getting Uber's and stuff. Actually, Boss Man Christmases were really important to me when I was young. I was trying to find those decorations yesterday. You remember the kind of gel ones and then you pulled them apart? Like, because of course, I'm an asshole and I like a bit of,

Fortnham and Masons, just a little bit of a New Bond Street. Sure. But what I really like is CAFs and pubs. When they've got their Christmas decorations up, then I feel like I'm seven because that was where we spent our Christmases. You know, Mike's Calf on Port Bella Road. And that's where we got our Christmas decorations from the boss man on Portobello. So I quite like cheap Christmas decoration.

What are you saying about presents? I really have to get on that. Yes, I've got a new thing, right? And it's really good. When I was younger, my mum didn't like having photographs taken of herself. And it goes back to what we were talking about with anger the other day. It's something that I have resented because there's not enough pictures of my child and my mom's like, I didn't want any pictures of anything.

I'm like, but what about my? I was cute. Why didn't we just say pictures of me in nice little outfits? But that's fine. So there's a lot of my past and childhood I can't look at visually. So what I do now is I find pictures because my nan has a lot. I find really sentimental pictures, for instance, there's a picture of me holding Solomon as a baby. And now, obviously, we're building a business together.

so he'll know his Christmas present now I'm going to get that blown up and framed last year I got Garfield's dearly beloved past mother Lynette's picture of her blown up and framed get a good picture blow it up frame it red bow around it you're done

true and what about you what do you get for the girl who has everything how do you shop how do you think about what you want to get to say it's got to be thoughtful to be honest we're not me and Jay ourselves aren't that worried bothered about Christmas

obviously I got a spoiler on her birthday but Christmas is more for the kids than that I do have I've made my feelings clear to her family about the amount of presents I think it's like I think they you know it's verging on excessive Really? Yeah because they're not For them it's not about how much each present cost at all

It's more just like having loads of things to unwrap And I do you know I do it is cute And especially with the kids it's cute But I'm just like from a different I just got a different I'd be like one each I'd be like secret I'd be like Secret Santa every year Yeah, we're doing that because there's 25 people coming to mums now That's what I'm where one person thoughtful

Like that's kind of my vibe I do I'm not into like I'm not into like excessive consumer vibes But the point is like I do I do I get the ritual part of it I love the lights I love the family element I love I love the food Coming together around a table eating Like that is that if anything I think we shouldn't just do that At Christmas we should be doing that as much as possible Yeah

And you're right about pubs too I remember that when I was a kid I remember Also, when I was a kid, when I was a teenager, I have vivid memories of just Christmas Eve being absolute fucking chaos. Yeah, see, then, then, oh, I'm so happy you jog my memory. Going out on Christmas Eve was fucking the apocalypse, bro. Fuck a duck.

And it's so funny because then for 10, 15 years, you'd just be obliterated on Christmas Day. I had so many Christmas days. Bro, the half of Christmas was like trying to rehydrate your entire body, like just there. And hide the cum down, for sure. Hide the come down. I did a North London one once

when I was going up with this boy, Leo. We went to where is it? It's like an archway but like everyone from North London every teenager and everyone in their 20s goes to this one pub club and I loved it. I was like this is a vibe but then I was thinking about

all the North London families the next day just hating their children for being disgusting buses but I'm not really drinking at the moment as I told you so I'm looking quite forward to a sober Christmas which is quite new for me. You never had one?

I don't think that, yeah, it's interesting, schler. Ah, schler or schlog? Uh, schler. Oh, well, schlog is like, I guess like non-alcoholic mulled wine and it's Swedish. Oh, what? How they could do that? Fire. It's amazing.

It's so good. Oh, Glog. Sorry, it's not schlog, it's Glog. Oh my God, my Swedish family are going to be disgusted by me. Sorry, cherries, it's glug. It's actually glug. It's actually glug vine. Wait, can I just say something mental I just realized.

I spent Christmas in L.A. once, right? Which I loved because no rules, sunny. Also, you know, L.A. is way more split. You know, there's a big Jewish population in L.A. But I just definitely didn't feel like Christmas was like the only thing that people were focused on in L.A. And people were working on Christmas Day. It just seemed way more chill.

You can go and get Christmas meal and stuff. And obviously people are Christian there. Why are we there? This was like peak hedonism times for me. I was just away. I was just constantly away. just running around. Yeah, I ended up in Mexico

like a week later and then I, anyway, but... You were such a fucking firecracker. Do you want to know where I ended up on Christmas Day? You won't even believe this. Courtney Cox's house. Oh my God.

I know. Mad, isn't it? I'm trying to think what the link would have been, like who, what would have got you to Courtney Cox's house? Was it like a music producer? No, it's Ed.

Ah, Sheeran. Yeah, yeah. That's where he's going for Christmas. No, no, Ed wasn't there. Well, I was with Ed's cousin Murray. Shout out Murray, by the way. So we were with Murray, yeah And we were just fucking around

And Christmas day You Courtney Cox And he goes, yo Do you want to go Malibu And so I rocked up And then me I've never felt more out of place In my life

Literally Bro, it was crazy But it was so surreal It's a lovely house I'm going to the details As a huge friends fan I bet you were pretty fucking excited Yeah, yeah I was

She had a great telescope That's all I remember was being like, wow, this is amazing. You have a telescope. Well, that's a good Christmas present. That's a great Christmas present, a telescope. Yeah, yeah. Shout out, Courtney, by the way. Like, how hospitable is that?

Two random little fucking British tyrants, just rocking up to your yard in pajamas, by the way. Absolutely. Why am I here? Why are we, why? Thank you, Angel Courtney Cox. That's very sweet. views you could have left you on the street.

Merry Christmas one and all. This is the beginning of the Christmas period of Miss Me, hence the set-ups. I've got a whole new set-up. I wanted to just explain, this is the taste of Christmas. Next year, it's going to be like, bam, no, I mean next week. A lot of things didn't arrive on time. Oh, you're just trying to say your Christmas set-ups going to go up a level. It's going to go up even more.

No, I know. Is this all we can expect? Yeah. Could you at least wear something A bit more Christmassy next week? You're not wearing anything Christmassy. This is Christmas-y. I'm in a heel.

I'm in a zebra heel. A blue cocktail trouser, diamonds. This is Christmasy. Oh, I was supposed to dress up. This is like, I did today like we're going to like a Christmas cocktail party, but next week I'm sure we'll... Oh, you want me to wear a fucking suit or something?

No, but next week, maybe an elf hat. I've got some Christmas jumpers for sure. I love a bit of knitwear. me. Okay, a Christmas jumper, but I think maybe a reindeer is. That's my favourite part of the magic. Flying reindeer. I quite like to get you a reindeer hat and some elf shoes. Wait, wait, wait. I've got a sick thing. Oh my God, I've got a to tell you this. I've got a, I've got a, I've got a Makita fact. Wait, wait, wait. Is it a Christmas historical? It is not just the historical, it's the historical. Okay, so hotly contested for years,

yeah, the colours of Christmas, right? People would say that St. Nick was green, right? Green and white. And then people say Coca-Cola, this is the myth. Coca-Cola did the big Christmas advert and they changed the color of Christmas. This is the whole thing. Coca-Cola probably bent mad into that idea. But apparently, it's actually not true. Apparently. And one of the biggest arguments against it is in Scandinavia, there were ancient shamanic rituals, sorry, originated from Siberian semantic rituals involving a particular mushroom called Amanita muscaria, which you will remember is red with white dots on it. Of course. Right. So the shaman's

psychotropic journeys are believed to be the origin of Santa Claus flying through the air with fucking rainiers on a sleigh. Shut up, they're tripping. They basically said that. Christmas is an acid trip. Fuck on. No, it's a mushroom trip.

It's literally a red and white mushroom trip. Yes. Wow. So I've been looking at a lot of articles on the internet and I'm aware people will have strong opinions. on this. I'm not promoting these ideas. The summary that I just gave was from

obviously chat GPT on Google and then I'm looking through the articles and there's just various well they source it. They source the information from articles anyway, don't they? It tells you the links. National Geographic what do Santa have to do with psychedelic mushrooms? NPR did shrooms send Santa in his reindeer flying.

Yeah, it's a widely shared. The Atlantic 2018 is Santa based on a psychedelic shaman. Love it. I mean, God, it just It makes so much sense. It makes so much more sense. You know what? This is what's mad is that the reindeer's eat these mushrooms,

like seek these mushrooms right out. And they exhibit strange drunken behavior, which they think is inspired the idea of flying. Of flying rainiers. Okay, you know what's so funny? The whole, what, millennia of like, you're not meant to understand it. That makes me understand it.

That gives what Christmas has become a, like, reasoning. Yeah, it's a fucking mushroom trip. I love that. That means so much to me that you told me that. It means so much. Oh my God. That's the greatest Christmas gift I could have ever had. I'm so happy we could share that with millions of people around the world.

Take that in. Drink that in. Because it is a fantastical ride through the mind. That is what Christmas is. Look it up. Look. It's not 100% confirmed, but it's pretty convincing. It's pretty convincing.

And that's how we begin Christmas at Miss Me. That's a good shit. That is the greatest Christmas gift you could have given me. Truly. Thank you. Truly. I'm going to try and name the episode around that story because that is, I feel like we just fucking educated the world.

Honestly. And they needed to know. Right. Woo! I feel ready now. Yeah, man. Christmas-E listen bitch next week. The theme is,

Great Christmas expectation. Dickens couldn't have said it better himself. We will see you on Monday. Let the festival. Astivities continue. Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer. There's actually a mushroom trip. Dripping balls.

Thanks for listening to Miss Me. This is a Percephonica production for BBC Sounds. How did Bruce Springsteen become the boss? And what did it cost him to get there? Maybe I was to get there. I get the guitar, I get the car, I get the girl. Then it adds up to a big, so what. From the makers of the award-winning first season of Legend,

join me, Laura Barton, for the story of my favorite artist, Bruce Springsteen. We'll get to know the life beyond the legend to discover how a scrawny, long-haired introvert from small-town New Jersey transformed into the iconic rock star figure of his 80s glory. We're all going, he has muscles now, which was a little hard to take because we were scrawny.

Do we have to go get muscles? Legend, the Bruce Springsteen story from BBC Radio 4. Listen first on BBC Sounds.