Off Air... with Jane and Fi - Live from Latitude Festival (with Richard Curtis and Emma Freud)

Episode Date: July 20, 2023

Jane and Fi are live at Latitude and they talk air-con and licking Mary Berry. Richard Curtis and Emma Freud join to talk about their Suffolk themed cooking show at the festival and Richard’s new play Christmas Actually. If you want to contact the show to ask a question and get involved in the conversation then please email us: [e-mail].  Follow us on Instagram! @JaneandFi  Assistant Producer: Elizabeth HighfieldTimes Radio Producer: Rosie Cutler  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

VoiceOver describes what's happening on your iPhone screen. VoiceOver on. Settings. So you can navigate it just by listening. Books. Contacts. Calendar. Double tap to open. Breakfast with Anna from 10 to 11. And get on with your day. Accessibility. There's more to iPhone. Hello, hello.

Good evening, Latitude. Thank you so much for coming. We're under no illusions. We know damn well you're here because it's really heavily raining. Or is that the reason? Sure, no. Well, come on, just be honest. Let's do a short survey.

How many people are here because of the rain? Hands up. Yeah, OK. How many people are here because it's Jane and Fee? Oh, OK, that's better. How many people didn't understand the questions? Keeping our eye on you. Now, look, this is high-tech stuff going on. We've got really fantastic guests for you.

It's Richard Curtis and Emma Freud. But they've got a very, very busy schedule, so they've got to go at 6.15 on the dot. So I've set my alarm, and it's going to go off at 6.15 and a little bit like panto, you've all got to remind me at 6.15 if for some reason the ringer doesn't work. Right. Okay.

I hope that's clear. Yep. Good. So we are here to record an edition of our Times Radio podcast Off Air. How many people in the marquee have ever heard Off Air? Okay, that's not bad. It should be everybody. It drops on's not bad. Should be everybody. It drops on all good podcast platforms Monday to Thursday.

So you have no excuse. And we do have really decent guests, thoroughly decent ones, four nights a week. And you will enjoy them even if you can't stand either of us. So please do have a listen via the Times Radio app, which is free. It's completely free. It's free.

Yes. And you don't get involved in any kind of mucky stuff. It doesn't track your details. You know, it won't sell your house for you or try and sell you intermittent fasting or all of those other things that chase you around the internet. Come on in at the back. Do you people who are standing up,

do you want to come forward and sit down? Are you happy to stand? I mean, it's much easier to make a getaway, isn't it, if you're standing? It's very embarrassing if you're down at the front and halfway through you think, no, I really want to get up and leave. Bear with us.

Would you all like to congratulate Jane on her amazingly sensible footwear? Thanks. I don't know why. I had relatively high hopes for the weather. I should have looked at the weather app. Clearly, I've been slightly let down. But I've had a pedicure, and I think if you've

laid out for one, you may as well let people see your feet, frankly. That's the view I take. Yes, good. Glad other people are going to be wearing flip-flops across the weekend. When, by the way, you can be entertained by other Times radio broadcasters. Who have we got tomorrow, Fi? So tomorrow, Ruth Davidson will be here in this tent between... Well, she's in the afternoon,

and she's got some amazing guests, including Chelsea Manning. And I think in a way, that's just a brilliant illustration of the range of content that Latitude offers. So Ruth, tomorrow afternoon and then on Sunday, Saturday, it's Hugo Rifkind. Yes. Yeah. And on Sunday, we've got John Pienaar, who is a massive fan of Latitude, doing his politics show on Sunday morning. So you'll enjoy that as well, I'm sure. Now, it doesn't actually matter if you're bored stiff by us, because Emma Freud and Richard Curtis will be properly interesting. And you will be able to ask them questions. We've got our roving mics who are there.

They are. There's the roving mics. They don't have names, these humans, they just are microphones. And they'll be going around and sticking the microphone under your nose so you can ask Richard and Emma your questions a little bit later. Now, the sound of the rain is actually bordering on deafening at the moment, isn't it? Or is that something else? No, that's a downpour. So we're competing with some rather fantastic, slow, maybe quite sensual music.

And that's a rare background for our podcast. But I think it could work, Jane. Yes, I'm not sure we're able to compete with it all that well, to be honest. No. And now the sound of rain on marquee roof has rather given away the reason why we've got a full marquee this evening. I think it's fair to say. So Richard and Emma will be joining us in a moment. It is probably worth saying that one of the subjects that has galvanized our listeners to the podcast this week has been climate and the weather.

And people have been emailing about their horrendous holidays abroad and I'm in no way joking about this because it sounds absolutely diabolical in parts of southern Europe right now and you've got some of those emails haven't you? Well we have and actually we started off the week on our Times radio show just talking about the way that we just have to change our own journalism regarding how we report, especially on summer holidays, because invariably the way that we're talking about Europe at the moment is putting ourselves at the heart of the story and saying, isn't it awful? You know, all of these poor people are going on holiday and they're having to stay in their air-conditioned villas, or they're having a very difficult time trying to get to see the Colosseum. And of course, that's just, I think most of you here, I think, would agree that we should be

beyond that place in our own heads at the moment. And we should be able to see the damage that we're all doing to the planet in a much kind of clearer way. So quite a lot of our emailers this week have completely agreed with that and I tell you what actually here's a random question for you do we have any air conditioning engineers in the house serious really seriously right at the back and you're not joking because we wanted to have quite a proper conversation about whether or not we should just ban air conditioning because it's nonsense, isn't it, to just keep increasing the planet's surface temperature and then just using more and more energy to cool ourselves down. And then Jade and I realised we didn't really understand

how air conditioning worked anyway. I don't think you're going to get an air conditioning engineer to agree to ban air conditioning. That's very true. Good point. It's probably unlikely. And it might be too much to explain it as well with the rain. There'll be an

irony in not being able to even hear that conversation as it takes place. Yeah, okay. You can email our podcast and many people do very regularly which we're really delighted about. It's janeandfee at times.radio and no, and I do mean this,

no subject is off limits. We've had some amazing conversations on the podcast in the last couple of weeks about all manner of things and you are very welcome to contribute. So it's janeandfee at times.radio and unlike radio, which is governed by Ofcom,

on podcasts you can say more or less what you like within reason, including mild swearing and various suggestive remarks. So podcasts are like the Wild West of the broadcasting arena, aren't they? Well, and you like to have a drink during the podcast as well. I don't normally drink during podcasts, but I do find this sort of thing weirdly terrifying. normally drink during podcasts but I do find this sort of thing weirdly terrifying. Why would that be? I don't know. You all seem reasonable but it is frightening. Fi doesn't need a drink. She's much tougher than me. It's because she's from Hampshire and they breed a tougher sort of woman

I think. Well I'm not sure about that but I've been on the receiving end of Jane's Liverpudlian-based very barbed comments about my upbringing for a long time now. And I feel that I need to stay sober in order to stay sharp in order to rebut it. The contingent who is sitting just over there, you're getting a kind of jungle view of proceedings, aren't you? No, I quite like it, actually. I'm going to stay doing that. I tell you what, because this is being recorded as part of our podcast feed, so we kind of have to give a nod

to people who'll be downloading it at a time in the future. We should note Jenny, who sent us an email to say that she's very, very sad that we're only at latitude briefly. Jenny says I feel like I'm destined never to see you live. My first

attempt got cancelled due to COVID. Second was thwarted by feeling unsure of going alone. Now do you know what? That's been a huge topic on our podcast going out to see things on your own, especially if you're a woman. Has anybody come to see us today on their own?

Well, well done. woman. Has anybody come to see us today on their own? Well, well done. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it, is there? So Jenny, I'm sorry about that, and I hope that you'll come and see us another time. And Jenny goes on to say, I'll be setting up camp in the family camping

before leaving my husband and son and returning home with my daughter, who has serious FOMO around missing the last day of term. Luckily we're close enough that this is possible but I'm hugely aggrieved to miss you especially when it sounds like you'll be running away as quickly as possible and Jenny sent us clear road vibes to get us through the A12 roadworks which I have to say were absolutely clear today. We had a lovely run. Such a good run. We had a lovely run.

We came straight out, didn't we? Oh, it was amazing. Yes. So could you be very kind and just all say, what should we say to Jenny? Because this will be absolutely frightening and knobs off when she listens to it. Just something positive like, hello, Jenny.

Hello, Jenny. On the count of three. One, two, three. Hello, Jenny. Oh, that's spooky. You see, Jenny, loads of other people made. One, two, three. Hello, Jenny. Oh, that's spooky. You see, Jenny, loads of other people made the effort, so you weren't missed. No, Jenny, I'm really sorry that you're not here. And next time we're round and about, if we are allowed out again, please do come and see us.

So do we have any word on when Emma and Richard... They're here. Oh, fantastic. Right, to the relief of the audience, let's ask them to come on stage. Emma Freud and Richard Curtis. Just getting their microphones on. I'm sure this can't take much longer. Yay! Yes, please. Yes, please. Oh, Richard, thank goodness. How are you? At least at last.

Very happy. Hello. Yes. Is it nice to get some time away from Emma? It's been a frantic afternoon. Has it? Yeah. Have you been cooking already?

I am in the programme as sous chef, but all I've done is cut some rosemary. Right. I'm a terrible cook you'd better explain exactly what you're doing with yes so we're uh there's a dinner every night they have a sort of guest chef and 300 people have a dinner curated by somebody I remember Gary Lineker doing it last year. I think Sophie Ellis-Bexter's doing it in a couple of days' time. And Emma and I are doing it tonight. Right. So 300 people are going to be there.

And the food is very particular in our one, the name of the event. Whoa! It's the lady. Just take a seat. So literally It's the lady. Just take a seat. So literally, you go there. Kazem knows so much

about it. She's such an expert. But the name of Visit Weather Night is Suffolk, actually. Right. Because everything in the whole thing, all the food, all the ingredients, all the art, everything, is from Suffolk. Okay. So you've also got,

and we'll come back and talk about the chef thing a little bit more, but you've got a, is it another show coming up that's called Christmas, actually? Yeah, it's a really useful word, isn't it? So do you put it on the end of everything in your house? Well, I'm just advising you, you could put it on the end of yours.

Well, off air, actually. Off air, actually. But would we have to pay you something? Well, no. There's probably quite a nasty book that I saw on the shelves in America called Shit, Actually, which has quite a long chapter about my film,

which the author clearly didn't enjoy. Right. So, no, I don't think actually it's been copyrighted. Yeah, but we are doing a kind of Christmas box of tricks, a massive sort of variety show at the Royal Festival Hall for Comic Relief at Christmas. Lovely. Well, look, people might mock Love Actually,

but I'm just going to ask the marquee, how many people here have seen Love Actually? There you go. Richard, you win. I wouldn't worry about it. They didn't say they liked it. It's like that moment the other day. How many people think we should send people to Rwanda? We should ask them and hope.

Okay. How many people think that it's a disgraceful film about stalkers, sexism and exploitation? He does. Okay, yeah, I mean, yes. I think, I'm going to say myself, I mean, let's just be honest, there are aspects of the plot that

haven't aged all that well, Richard. Is that alright? Yes. I like to think, though, that, like me, they just haven't aged well so i think it's fair it's reflection of the author okay but do you think you get more flack for that than other writers get because there are loads and loads of films that haven't really aged particularly well um no i mean i only i mean i think in the because there's quite a lot about Bridget Jones as well, for instance. You know, I think when you're dealing in the field of romantic comedy

and when things are changing fast, as it were, when between you and the work of art comes the Me Too movement, I think you would expect it. I think it's only a good thing. Yeah. Can we return to the chef's tent, please? Yeah. Can you tell us a little bit more about what will be on the menu?

And you have cooked for some extraordinary people in your time, haven't you? How do you know that? Well, because I've done some research about that thing. Oh, great. Yes. So you've done Mary Berry. Yep. What did you cook for her?

We cooked a cake together, I think. And then I loved her so much. And even though I'd licked her when she came, she didn't mind. it just by listening books contacts calendar double tap to open breakfast with anna from 10 to 11 and get on with your day accessibility there's more to iphone you licked her how could you not lick mary if she was in your house? Have you ever licked Mary Berry, Jane? I haven't. Did she taste of cinnamon? Tasted of icing sugar, really. Okay.

But she then came for supper. Right. And I can't remember what I cooked. I can't remember, but it went well and nobody died. And I'm still in love with her. And she mentions the licking often. She did this brilliant thing, Mary Berry. She came to our house and, you know, she's perfect.

She is our queen. Is her hair always... Yes. Yes. Oh, she's so perfect. And my cat was waiting on the steps as it often was. And he's called Badger. And he's, we like to say big boned.

He's obese. But he's beautiful. And she saw him and she picked him up and she went, oh, it's like Mary Berry's holding my cat. Wow. And she went, oh, he'd make a lovely coat. Oh. She has a dark side.

I knew it. Thank goodness. So Suffolk, actually, I mean, our dinner tonight. So can I get, growing up for one second, which is that I've lived in Suffolk my entire life and my dad and his family lived in Suffolk from the time that they had to flee Germany because of Hitler. So from the 30s they came to England, none of them spoke English,

three sons plus extended family and they all came to the little village just down the road from here where we live and they bought homes there and they began to live there and it's a tiny little sleepy fishing village and suddenly there were 14 I think German Jews only German speaking living within their, and they were never made to feel anything other than valuable. They were looked after, they were supported, they were liked, they were talked to, and they were just welcomed in a way that I think was rare. And our village, and I think Suffolk, is still like that. It's very egalitarian that it's very egalitarian it's very welcoming it's

very very kind it's not the most glamorous it hasn't got the rolling dales and of you know Cornwall and Oxfordshire and it doesn't have that side of things but what it does have is amazing produce and amazing kindness both from the people who make the food here and the farmers, but also the people who live here. And I have had the most incredible life in this county. And I really wanted our guest chef moment to reflect all of that and to champion it. And so every single item on the menu is sourced here including all the alcohol and it's small artisan people, cheesemakers, bread makers, vegetable growers and you know the vegetables don't all look the same size

and aren't perfect, aren't immaculate but they're real and they're amazing. So it was incredibly important to me to be able to have that within our menu. And it's been embraced and we're feeding 300 people. That's quite a lot. In about 15 minutes' time. Yeah, no doubt. I've set the alarm to make sure that you can go on time. Yeah.

Lovely. Oh, also, will you come? Well, that's a very kind offer. Say yes. Well, no, we'd only be able to come if we could bring our entire audience with us, Emma. Yeah, yes. And they're a very demanding lot yeah but actually I just wanted if we could get from the marquee just a bit of Suffolk appreciation for

what Emma said about what a wonderful place this is though isn't it if you're from Suffolk yeah well you actually roll your sleeves up and muck in and, you know, you're doing chopping duties and you're actually doing the cooking too? Can we cut that question? Oh, yes. Or lie. Lie.

Yes. Yes, well done you. Well done you. No, that's absolutely marvellous. No, we had the nicest job of conceiving the menu and then going to the chef's office and eating it about a month ago and commenting on it.

Or salt. Okay. And they're called Social Pantry, aren't they? They are, because they've got a very strong social message and they're all about local, sustainable, organic. Yeah, it sounds amazing. Yeah, it'd be really cool. You two have a lot of focus.

You can pink fee. No. No, don't worry about us. Okay, all right. No, that was such a quick no. No. So to cut a very long and slightly dull story short, we were meant to be in a yurt, weren't we?

And we had prepared ourselves. It would have been Jane's first yurt experience as well. So we'd done a checklist and I was going to bring my mini kettle because I can't do without the first cup of coffee in the morning and all that kind of stuff. And then we got downgraded. We're being

we're off to Don't give the address. We're off site. We're being off sightsited for the night. Because I think there were quite a few senior management meetings about Jane Garvey never having had a yurt experience before. And Rupert Murdoch just didn't want that on his sheet. No.

So we're in walls tonight. Right, OK. I think you've said enough about what... We're not camping. We're not camping. That's the gist of it. Are you camping? No, I live here. Okay, I think you've said enough about what... We're not camping. We're not. That's the gist of it. Are you camping? No, I live here.

No, I know. I just thought, you know, I'd offer you the opportunity to say you were, and people could really understand what a woman of the people you are, Emma. No. No, but you're not. Do you both do camping?

Have you ever done camping? No. It's very cold. It's very cold. Well, yes, we might not be in front of the right audience to have this. I sense you're right. So let's move on. I was just going to ask you about your relationship together.

Oh! Because you... I mean, congratulations, you've been together for such a long time. You seem incredibly happy with each other. Again, this might not be the setting for you to tell us that you're not. But please do, because it would be a great story. Yes, that would be exclusive. Yeah, I'm having doubts. Okay.

But I wonder whether that ever gets a little bit kind of annoying. People seem to feel that they can, as I have just done, ask you why you aren't married, whether or not you're going to get married, who might have proposed to who, all that kind of stuff. I did propose to him once.

Yes, and then you ended up having a conversation about it on Twitter, didn't you? Well, no, that was when... I was asleep at the time. I did it on air. I was doing a radio show, doing Loose Ends on Radio 4, and I proposed to him, it was February the 29th, knowing that he was listening to the show.

And then he always came to the pub after the show, every time we did it. I said how much I enjoyed the show. As he walked in, all our table went very, very silent, because they'd heard, obviously, that I'd proposed to him and it was like, what's he going to say? And he didn't say anything apart from,

great show, loved every minute of it. It was fantastic. Beginning, middle and end, fabulous. And then nothing else. And the table just kind of went, ooh. Like this. And he sat down and he went, how was it? I didn't hear a word.

I slept through it. Oh, thank you. So that was it. So we haven't got very good form there. But look, there have been a lot of, I've made up for it by weddings in my films of this. There have been about 17.

Yeah, that's good. He did once propose to me. Don't say this. I'm going to It was about 16 or 18 or something years ago And he was reading Hello Magazine Which he very rarely does But he was

It was a Sunday morning And he opened it and it said Kate Moss pregnant with What's his face's child Him And Richard went, sorry, and he went, oh, I suppose we could get married then.

I mean, that's such a terrible story. What? Because it implies all sorts of presumptions, but I've always... He loves Kate Moss. Yeah. Always loved her more than me. Yeah.

I think it's not a good romantic... She was no longer a virgin, more than me I think it's not a good No longer a virgin I think it's I think it's I think it's best if the person you're with Is only your second favourite person Then It kind of makes it easier It takes the heat off them

I'm Emma's second favourite person She prefers David Tennant. Do you? David Tennant? Yeah. Oh, well. Well. Well. Jane's got a bit of a story about it. Well, it's not, you couldn't really call it a story. Have you had sex with him? I have had, no.

In a yurt. In a yurt, that's it. He always, he won't have sex outside a yurt. Won't he? She's not had sex with him, but she's had a mighty old flirt with him. She got her dimples out for him. Well and proper last week. I'm with you, Jane. No, actually, he's a very, very handsome and attractive man,

but he's a bit too sinewy for me. He actually looks as though he could do with one of your good meals. I agree. But a brilliant actor. He was accompanied by a woman I can only describe as a formidable operator who said he would need an Americano upon arrival. And we got an Americano. And then when he turned up, the Americano was the very last thing he wanted.

In fact, he said, I've had so much coffee today, I couldn't think of anything worse. And I felt like bursting into tears and saying but your lady said you wanted a coffee David but he didn't so that's the extent of the story not much of one but he was a very good interviewer I was expecting more the problem with David is he is nicer

than me and you know I don't know if you've watched Comic Relief recently but he's extraordinary on that show now every time he asks for money because he I don't know if you've watched Comic Relief recently, but he's extraordinary on that show now. Every time he asks for money, because he feels it, we make half a million pounds in a minute. You can see the money come in. That's a really interesting point, actually.

So you can literally see it coming in. Yeah. 30 seconds at a time. Wow. Okay. And that's because he's a proper empath. Yeah. And I think he really feels that he cares

about it and the public trust him in a particular way. It's really interesting the question of who people will take charity from. So who's a really rubbish celebrity in terms of generating... Is there anyone who makes it dick? You know, English... No, here's the thing.

English people don't like Americans asking them for money. OK. Once or twice we've said, well, we've got an incredibly famous person. Why don't they ask for money? And I think they're not having it from someone from a different culture who doesn't sort of understand why we'd give money here.

Yeah. And is it just Americans? We've never tried. Never tried any of those. We've never tried a money here. Yeah. You know, Texas would pay. And is it just Americans? We've never tried. Never tried anything else. We've never tried a French person. No. I wouldn't bother Richard. That would be...

Well, it probably is now the right time to ask the difficult white saviour question. No, because it's 14 minutes past six. And they've got to go in a second. Yes. But can we just briefly... Because there is a discomfort around the idea of lovely,

you know, decent caring and people who are filled with empathy going to some very difficult places who happen to be white and then asking for money to save others. And you know this. I'm not telling you anything.

And we don't do that anymore, is the truth. We listen. We did listen. It's so interesting. When you found something, as we did in 1988, you really do watch culture shift. I mean, mobile phones didn't exist when we started Comic Relief.

And I think that there were great complexities there, and it's the whole thing of letting people speak with their own voice and tell their own stories becomes more and more important. So I think it was a good conversation at the right time. And how much money has Comic Relief

raised in its entire life? I think it's about one and a half billion. It's extraordinary. You know, thanks to everyone like you, it's always an odd thing. You think, well, have the comedians done it? But the generosity of the British public is extraordinary. And it's been particularly interesting in the last sort of three years when I think people have started

to give a lot more money to the appeals about the UK. Yeah. Because I think people are more aware of quite how hard a lot of people's lives are here in quite a sort of dramatic and visceral way. Maybe it started with the pandemic,

but I think it started earlier. Yeah. You two have such a busy schedule. We hugely appreciate you popping in to see us. It's been really, really lovely. The tin pot little alarm has just gone off. My little alarm went off. That was so sweet.

Emma was just so excited. It's so great to talk to you. Well, you're very kind to pop in. No, thank you both. I've got this horrible feeling that even though I asked your producer and the guy who did the microphones if you would come to our supper, that you are going to say no.

Yeah. Well, we are promised. I'll just be really honest. We're promised to our team tonight. Oh, well. I know, I know, I know. But it's a lovely invitation. It means, because I was going to do this at the supper.

Oh, God. Because as you know, I'm the most pathetic fangirl of you both. So I was just going to lick you a tiny bit tonight. I'm going to do it now. Oh, she did, everybody. I need a drink now. Thank you. Oh!

Thank you both. I can't apologise enough for everything that just happened. It's all right, Richard. Thank you. Definitely worth marrying. So she actually did liquor? Yes, she did. I'm here to tell you that she did.

And I'm actually desperate just to wipe it off. Can I just do that? That's extraordinary. Well, there we are. You have to come to Suffolk for that kind of thing. Right. People are bolting for the exit. I understand that. That's fine.

But actually, whatever you might say about the white saviour question, you cannot argue with one and a half billion pounds, can you? Billion. One and a half billion. Billion, yes. I know. I mean, it's a tricky area and I think we're all aware of the complexities around it, but that is an enormous amount of money.

Right. Can we just squeeze in a few questions before we all have to go? Let's get our roving microphones up and at it. Who would like to ask anything? That's if anyone does have a question. Yeah, of course. You're all bound to have loads and loads of questions.

And because literally the sun has just come out and look, people are running over small children. No, sir, in the gilet. There's no point in just waving as you go. Yeah, see you. Yeah, bye. Thanks a lot. Yeah, I'll have half a pint.

Thanks. No, all right. He's heading for a plant-based chicken burger, isn't yes oh look we've got a lovely lovely have we got a lady down the front yes let's have your question madam the mic is on here we go I'd really like to know if you could tell us who your dream guest would be on your show. If you could pick just one person, who would it be? Alive or dead? Oh, gosh.

Oh, gosh. Okay. So, well, over the years of us podcasting together, we've had what I think you might call a range of guests. And we've had some, what you also might call, challenging encounters. We have. Including at least one with someone whose name we probably won't mention, but whose appearance on our previous podcast caused a certain amount of discomfort amongst the audience.

So we probably won't go there tonight, but we could talk a bit about Will Self. Well, we could, yes. He was extremely awkward. He was the other one. Yeah. Will Self. Well, we could, yes. He was extremely awkward. He was the other one. So he just didn't warm to us and we didn't warm to him. And I think that's the funny thing about the podcast, isn't it?

Is that you, darling? Because, you know, what we gain in authenticity, we sometimes lose in Bon Ami with our guests because if it doesn't work, then you our guests because if it doesn't work then you can really bloody hear it doesn't work. But it's a good question about who we'd really, really, really want. Who would you really, really, really,

really want? The figure from history, the one who crops up most frequently actually in our email inbox at the moment is Eleanor of Aquitaine. And she's going to be a really difficult guest to get, let's face it. She slightly haunts me because I did once ask, when I was presenting Woman's Hour,

where was Eleanor of Aquitaine from? It really... I still wake up at 3.20 in the morning sweating about that. Although, actually, some historians don't think she was from Aquitaine. Oh, shut up! Sorry, there you go. So, shut up. Yeah, sorry. There you go. So, obviously, Hillary Clinton.

If we could get her, that would be good. I'd love to have five minutes with Melania Trump just to ask why. You know, what is this? And then Mike Pence was always the other man, the man who got away. The man who got away. Yeah. And we did think he might have some time on his hands but i think he's seriously considering running isn't he yes i would genuinely love to have taylor swift on oh yeah i think she's just a phenomenon absolute

phenomenon and i don't think that we will all realize how much she's moved the goal posts for another 20 or 30 years but just in her re-recording of her albums in order to get away from the bad man who was taking all the previous money, I just thought what an absolute move you've made. I think she's brilliant. So I'd love to have her on. And she's not busy.

So I think, you know, if we keep on emailing her people, we're bound to get there in the end. So if we could get her and Lizzo and Eleanor of Aquitaine, that would be the ultimate line-up. Yeah, and maybe Lizzo could do a nice little flute. She'd play a flute. You could get your oboe out.

I'd get my oboe out any time, Jane. You know I would. Okay, is there another question? Thank you. Can you hear me? Yes, we're good. Hi, I'm Ruth Bushway. I am a GP locally.

Oh, yeah. And I'm working with lots of other leaders in the health and social care to inspire young women. Because it's a really tough time out there for people, young people, and particularly girls. So my question is, who has inspired you? And what would you say to inspire young women that they can do stuff? Okay, gosh, good question. Yeah, so those are the meaty ones, aren't they? So I had a classics teacher at school called Mrs Rankin.

She features on the podcast quite a bit. And she was just so amazing. She was such a big brain. I mean, a bigger brain than I think anybody else in the staff room at school. And she was really inspirational because she, I used to dick around at school quite a lot. And she was so forthright in just saying, don't let yourself down, actually. And the way that you carry yourself is just really important. It's just how people will judge you. And if you dick dick around people just think you're a dick and she just made an enormous difference

actually enormous difference she was just a brilliant brilliant teacher yeah so she would be my inspiration always yes and i was very lucky with i had two particularly brilliant english teachers who really really helped me as well uh m Mrs Barnes and Miss Kenwright, who I still think about. And it was actually really lovely. Mrs Barnes very sadly died some years ago, but Miss Kenwright I was able to take out for lunch a couple of years ago. And it actually really meant a tremendous amount to me that I was able to spend time with this woman as an adult

and have a proper conversation with someone. Because we did a radio lesson when i was in the third year at secondary school and i broadcast from the stationary cupboard um and i actually thought i really want to do this this is what i want to do just chat i just want to talk not necessarily in a stationary cupboard um for the rest of my life and get money for it and incredibly that's what's happened i know j, Jane. No, I know. It has, look. But actually, I take your point about it being tough.

I don't know whether it's particularly for young women. From your experience, do you think it is? Or do you think it's all young people at the moment? All, yeah. No. You mean you think feminism's gone backwards? It sometimes feels that way, I know. And when you think about some of the things happening in America in particular,

it can be immensely depressing. But I think this country has the potential to be a bit of a beacon in some respects. I mean, it's far from perfect, but I still maintain that Britain's one of the least worst places to live. I know it's not. You couldn't put that on a poster. Come to Britain, we're not that bad.

Well, actually, you could. Why not? Yes, it's better than some of the other slogans that are doing rounds about our country. I would just say, actually, just not, you know, to all our beautiful, amazing, wonderful young people, is just find your own little gauge and sometimes just staying still

is not a bad thing to do. I think the pressure on them all to super zoom is just really, really insane and us older people will never understand it. We will never understand the fact that the young people can just look into everybody else's world all the time. So just sitting still sometimes is a really,

it's a nice place to just, like you're a great big ball of dough having a bit of a prove because the bake will be better in the end, Jane, won't it? I'll tell you what you're all you're channeling you're in a Mary Berry I am it's really well it's because I've been licked by Emma Freud I don't really want to revisit that episode actually if that's all right with you um any more questions yes we've got one here thank you very much this is from the sublime to the ridiculous yes I just wondered how Nancy is.

Oh, that's such a nice question. So Nancy is my greyhound, in case anyone thought that was an alarmingly personal question. And she is... Are you a greyhound owner yourself? But you're a Nancy. Oh, beautiful name.

Absolutely beautiful name. So Nancy's grand. She is getting a little bit old. Obviously, you're not, madam. You look in the absolute prime of your life. How are your hind legs? Nancy's are getting a bit creaky. But no, she's beautiful, absolutely beautiful.

And it is a great name. There is something about Nancy that is so... It's isn't it it's a lovely lovely bright name yeah yeah so isn't it short for Sarah I know it's a stupid thing to say but I thought it was no no an Agnes oh right okay. Right. Don't feel the need to ask about my cat. I'm absolutely fine about it. She wouldn't care anyway. Absolutely fine. Right.

I think we may be in danger of overrunning our set. Yes, I think we are. So, Jane and I, in all seriousness, when we came to do our sound check this morning, we thought, shit, nobody's going to come. Nobody's going to come. So we did a rain dance. Guess what?

We had prepared our team. Our lovely team over here is Eve in the polka dot and Rosie's our producer. And because we love them so much, we're not going to go to Richard Curtis and Emma Freud's dinner tonight. We're having fish and chips with you. and we're looking forward to it very much and it's really lovely of you to come out and see us we appreciate it I hope

that all of you are a little bit drier now and enjoy the rest of your festival have a lovely time thank you we're bringing the shutters down on another episode of the internationally acclaimed podcast off air with jane gar and Fee Glover. Our Times Radio producer is Rosie Cutler and the podcast executive producer is Henry Tribe. But don't forget that you can get another two hours of us every Monday to Thursday afternoon here on Times Radio. We start at 3pm and you can listen for free on your smart speaker. Just shout Play Times Radio at it. You can also get get us on dab radio in the car or on the times radio app whilst you're out and about being extremely busy and you can follow all our tosh behind the mic and elsewhere on our instagram account just go on to insta and search for jane

and fee and give us a follow so in other words we're everywhere aren't we jane pretty much thank you for joining us and we hope you can join us again on Off Air very soon. So you can navigate it just by listening. And get on with your day. Accessibility. There's more to iPhone.