Suggestible - Best Suggestibles of 2020 (Part Two)

Episode Date: January 7, 2021

Suggestible things to watch, read and listen to hosted by James Clement @mrsundaymovies and Claire Tonti @clairetonti.This year’s Suggestibles:Normal PeopleNormal People ConfessionsConnell's Chain on InstagramFeel GoodThe SplitBridgertonThe Spoon Lick (NSFW)UprightSearch PartyPasta by Angie McMahonRooftop Dancing by Sylvan EssoOn the Wire by Kev CarmodyThe OId Man and the ClockStaying In with Emily & KumailThe Last Days of AugustArmchair Expert with Dax Shepard - Day 7The Tim Ferris Show with Jerry Seinfeld2020: The Year of Little Griefs & How To Process ThemThe Moment of Bundt TruthEverything is Going to be All Right read by Andrew ScottSend your recommendations to [e-mail], we’d love to hear them.You can also follow the show on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook @suggestiblepod and join our ‘Planet Broadcasting Great Mates OFFICIAL’ Facebook Group. So many things. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Gets a little loose, this one. It gets super loose. I'm sorry about the story at the end. No, it's great. It's really good. Hang around to the end. But, yeah, thanks and we're going. Happy New Year.

Happy New Year. We're going. Yeah, you'll be listening to this in 2021. Happy 2021. You're in the future. Here's hoping it's better than right now. How's your flying car? I hope it doesn't go into the side of a building.

TV. I've written my top three, but what have you got? Oh, mate, I have so many. All right, make it quick. Make it quick. All right, okay, so my TV. I feel like this year TV really came into its own. It was great. I feel like we all watched really came into its own. It was great.

I feel like we all watched a hell of a lot of it and it really got us through. It worries me for next year because all that stuff was filmed like 2019. I know. So I don't know what. I mean I know things they're doing like COVID lockdown filmings and that, but I don't know. I think I'm going to get a lot of Zoom meeting television, which quite frankly I fucking hate that.

Wasn't there like a space movie that was made? Wasn't that one with what's her face when pears? I love you. Didn't they film that remotely? Yeah, didn't they film that remotely? I don't know. I started that. I couldn't.

It got cancelled anyway. That was like right up my alley. Yeah, I know. You know what it was? The first episode really got you in and was so engaging and great. And then the rest of it became more like a drama about like between the people on the spaceship. Not so great.

Okay. And then I was like, I don't care if all these people die in space. Correct. Okay. I'm just going to go through. Remember Normal People? Yeah, man. I've written Normal People down.

Remember when people went bonkers about Normal People? It was great. That's why. It was based on the very popular. Marianne. Marianne. Oh, Marianne. Connell.

Connell here, Connell. We're beautiful but we can't be together. That's not his accent. Yeah, so it was based on the book by Sally Rooney that was also extremely popular. It's about obviously Marianne and Connell and their love story. Everyone just, it was quite sexy and interesting. He was very popular at school. She was not because she was quite alt, if that is the right word to say.

So weird. Alternative. They were like the same level of attractiveness. It didn't make any sense. I know. And they were sleeping together but like he couldn't let his friends know and then he treated her horribly. And then the power dynamic shifts when they go to university and she becomes like super cool and edgy and interesting and he's kind

of like a fish out of water. Sucked in, got him. Anyway, everyone got obsessed with it and so did I and it was really good. And I also really enjoyed later the sexy priest from Fleabag and Marion and Connell did a little like for comedy relief. Oh, yeah, I've got to watch that. In the confessional box. It's a really great video too.

I would highly recommend that. A particular mention to Connell's chain, which eventually got its own Instagram account. I don't know what you're talking about. Does he wear this gold chain? Oh, mate, if you're a woman or into blokes, you would know. The gold chain, super sexy, on him for some reason. Who knows why?

Yeah, these were like big in like the late 90s. Yeah, mate, but that's the whole thing. It's all come back around. I think I've got one of these. It's all come back to 2020. I should start wearing it. I don't know if you can carry it off, to be honest. Look at this dude punching a dart wearing a chain.

I can do this. Yeah, that's achievable actually. That look for you is achievable. He's even wearing it playing rugby. Yeah. Yeah, the rugby in it was very enjoyable. Soiree? Soiree.

This one's just a photo of him shirtless running, but it's not for normal people. No, he's not. They've just posted and you can see he's like, he's packaged through his shorts. Yeah. Well, you know, women and men and people who are into Connell would really appreciate that. I'm into this guy.

I think he's cool. I like him. Yeah, I really enjoyed him. Yeah. Anyway, all right. So yeah, I thought they were both excellent, mate. And so that was normal people. My other recommendations, I've got Feel Good by Mae Martin.

Do you remember that? This has 170,000 followers, this chain account on Instagram. That's what I'm telling you. It's massive. It went insane. I'm going to follow it. There we go. All right, good job.

Sorry. What was that, sorry? Feel Good by Mae Martin. Do you remember that, Trey? I have no idea. So Mae Martin's a comedian and she identifies as queer and it was kind of like a queer love story where she falls in love with a girl who's straight.

You tell me about this. Yeah, and it's sort of semi-biographical based on her life but not completely and it deals with drug addiction. It's very heartfelt and very funny and she's really charismatic in it. It features some of her stand-up as well. I think they're doing a second season. She also was interviewed on The Guilty Feminist, but I just thought it was such a great TV show.

You would really enjoy that one. It's really, really good. So that was one of my favourite TV shows of this year. The other one I really enjoyed was The Split, created by Abby Morgan starring Nicola Walker. And it's a law firm of women dealing with family law and divorce. It deals with themes of infidelity. It deals with, like, different people's sort of parenting styles

and relationships between families. The clothes are amazing. It's set in London. And also the women in it are interesting and sort of clever and their faces aren't frozen. You know, they look like women at that age. But stop commentary after everything I say. Just bloody shut your pie hole for a minute and let me speak.

Sorry, mate. Anyway, and so obviously the tailoring, as I spoke about before on the podcast, is like really on point. But it's got a bit of like sort of intrigue and a bit of seduction happening and sort of office romances. But it also deals with I think just a lot of themes around families. And I just bloody loved it. It was really good.

And the women in it are all diverse and different and their characters are really complex. It's created by and written by a woman. They're slightly different bobs. That's what you mean by that. I know. Anyway, I really enjoyed that. But I reckon just recently I finished watching one of my favourite TV shows

of the year that I binge-watched. It just snuck its way into 2020. If anyone has not watched Bridgerton yet or heard about it, it has gone off on the interwebs. Everybody is talking about Bridgerton. It's based on the eight-book series of romance novels by Julia Quinn and it was created by Chris Van Dusen and produced by Shonda Rhimes, who created Grey's Anatomy.

It's set in 17th century London's high society and it's just, it's got a really diverse cast. It's very, it's like Pride and Prejudice but a lot more of like a sexy romp. Yes. The chemistry of the cast is really great. Oh, so sexy.

Yeah, very sexy I would say but also I think really cleverly done and I mean it's like the best parts about even The Crown this year that the budgets for TV shows are out of this world, right? So like the settings for this and the clothes are quite sort of sumptuous and colourful and gorgeous and the settings, like, you know, the rooms, the way they've done it. The songs in it are really clever as well because the way they speak to each other in the like between the dialogue between the characters

sort of flicks between being oldie worldie but also modern at the same time. Yes. It deals with a lot of themes around women's rights at that particular time or lack thereof and women's, you know, women's choices and what happened to them. And it's stuff that you sort of know but when you really see it in a more modern context when the characters and the women are not being,

you know, so quiet and demure when they're really saying what they think, you really get a sense of how absurd it was for women to be in the situations they were in and how really they were just seen as cattle and also not educated around sex or love and sort of put out in, because it begins with the debutante ball, which I even did a debutante ball actually. I did a debutante ball also. At 16 women are kind of put out into the market, into society for men to, you know, ask for their hand basically and then get married off. And that's kind of all their worth is around. And then even the fact that if they're promiscuous or even seen

to be with a man alone or even the notion that someone might have heard that they were with a man alone, even if nothing happened, they can bring their entire family to ruin. It ruins them. Yeah, and just the absurdity of all of that, which is dealt really well in like Jane Austen novels, but I really enjoyed this. Anyway, I was going to talk about the music very briefly.

I like that they've interwoven modern songs. What if James is bringing up there's a part in the show where the Duke of Hastings is like the main character licks a spoon and it's like a one second. James still can't quite understand. I don't get it. It's just a guy licking a spoon. If any women are out there or like anyone who's into like. He's licking it weird as well.

Is that why? It's just literally a fleeting moment. I had a question about this. And I remember thinking it was like really cool to watch. Cool to watch. Anyway, and I'm going bright red now. But I thought it was so funny because I thought that and then I kept watching.

You just don't think anyone else thinks the same thing. And then I looked at my phone and like that particular image of him licking the spoon had just gone viral all over Instagram. What if it wasn't a spoon? What if it was like a knife? No. What if it was a bee? Would you be like, ooh, dangerous?

No. I'm going to delete this off my camera roll because I'll be flicking the door and they'll be like, why do you have this? Look, I think part of it is, okay, one of the reasons why I think this show is so successful is, A, it's escapism, pure and simple. Yeah. It's ridiculous escapism and don't we all need some of that at this time

of year and at this year particularly. But it's also written and obviously sexuality is a spectrum, but I would say this particularly being a lot of the dialogue is clearly written by women. Yeah, right. And created, well, Julia Quinn wrote it. So it writes from a woman's perspective on sex basically. Yes, yes, yes.

And you can tell because there is so much in it like that scene with the spoon that if a bloke was writing it, he would never think to write that scene. No. He would never feel that. Did they actually write it? What do you mean? Or did he just improv licking a spoon?

No, it's obviously planned. But the whole thing is like. Obvious. Obvious, okay. No, I just mean that's just one tiny example of a broader show in that there are so many tiny moments like that through it. The way they build the tension between the main characters.

No, the way they build the characters and the relationship and the tension within the show, it's obvious but it's also so spot on. And I think often sexuality for women is just written so badly in film. And so it's just kind of like, it's always written with the male gaze, like men looking at women in a particular way and then they're like, oh yeah. And then the sex scenes are always written from the man enjoying himself and the woman just being like, this is great. But like, whereas often for women, it's much more complex than that. There's all this story interwoven and there's like this real tension

that kind of builds in that way. And I just think it's so refreshing to see more and more television that's written from all different types of perspectives. Yeah, absolutely. Not even just for women but for queer storylines and there's queer storylines in this show actually as well as having like diverse characters too. So there are black cast that aren't kind of in there

for any particular like pointed reason. It's just that they've made characters that, you know, transplanted them into this world and you just, they become part of the narrative. And I think it just makes it more interesting and engaging and refreshing, I think. Yeah, absolutely. Just to see the cast like this but also writing that isn't

from one perspective that we often get. Even in the period dramas that I've watched, more often than not, it's the male gaze, male perspective. So this is not that. I mean it's a bit gratuitous. It's a lot gratuitous in some parts. Sounds sexy to me. Look, it's fun.

It's just a really fun time. So, yeah, I would enjoy it. Get into it? I would totally get into it. I'll get into it. There's like two rival families. I do want to watch it. How many episodes is it, like 10 I would enjoy it. Get into it? I would totally get into it. All right, I'll get into it. Yeah, there's like two rival families. I do want to watch it. All that stuff.

How many episodes is it, like 10? Yeah, 10. They're hour-long episodes too. They're very long. Mr. Bridgerton, this is hardly appropriate. Does anyone say that? Yeah. I know the family's called Bridgerton but the main girl is called Bridgerton.

Bridgerton family in the Featherstone family, something like that. And they're kind of the two rival families plus the Duke of Hastings and there's a prince thrown in there. Oh, my God. And there's also like a secret writer who writes this newsletter, which is really great too, that kind of uncovers all of the gossipy secrets. So it's Gossip Girl also? Yeah, basically.

It's written a little like in that Gossip Girl style. So that's what all the scandals are kind of uncovered and no one knows who this writer is who's writing this newsletter. But the Queen is also in it as well. Oh, the Queen. The Queen. Yeah, I think it's Queen Anne. The Queen can get fucked.

All right, let's go to the next one because my shows, you mentioned Normal People Upright, the Tim Minchin led I forgot about that Yes, to take your piano across Australia It's really good, it's got great music and great acting And there's a fist fight Oh yeah, there is a fist fight in that

And a beat up piano, I love that And Search Party I really loved as well Which is getting a final season in 2021 Oh fantastic Have you seen Search Party? It starts as like a girl goes missing But but then it turns into a different thing. It totally does. But I walked in just as it turned.

Oh, yeah. I was watching it for like five minutes. And I got really mad. And there was a gruesome murder. You're like, what are you watching? And I'm like, it wasn't this. He said it was a comedy. It was whimsical for eight episodes.

Yeah, it was good. I've got music here, but I've just written none. What have you got? Just whatever's on Spotify Totally, you know what, I have a few I have a running playlist Oh okay, cool, well I just have a few songs I've mainly listened

Which is what I did a lot with all of this stuff To stuff I already have listened to For a long time Because this year I just wanted comfort stuff I wanted comfort food, I wanted comfort food. I wanted comfort viewing. I watched a lot of the same movies I'd already seen rather than watching something new or same TV shows that I've watched some, you know,

Friends and Frasier and kind of comfort stuff. And so I was a bit like that with music. But there are a couple of songs that I discovered this year that made me really happy. One was Pasta by Angieti McMahon and I recommended that on a previous episode. It's just sort of become my playlist for lockdown and it just represents all the feels of lockdown,

that kind of idea of sitting around your house eating too much pasta, thinking about doing creative things that you should be doing and other people doing stuff outside and the mundanity of that. Cut yourself some slack. I loved it. It's also just a banger of a song. Rift Top Dancing by Sylvan Esso was recommended by a listener

and I bloody love that. I listened to it on repeat. It was one of my Spotify playlists most played. I can't leave this bluff here. That was another one that made me think about lockdown and I think I will always associate that song with this year. Kev Carmody released an album which I really enjoyed on vinyl, particularly his song The Wire is really great. He's like an Australian folk singer. And another song that was reckoned to

me by a listener that Collings edited into just the most hilarious little part of this whole little show that we do that I loved called The Old Man and the Clock by Elliot Park. Remember when he edited you yelling into it? You were pretending to be stuck in a clock. Oh, yeah, I do remember that. I remember things. He made that funnier. It was so funny.

He did such a good job. So I would recommend if you haven't listened to that, scoot on back to the episode called The Old Man and the Clock and just listen to the last couple of minutes. It's just James pretending that he's stuck in a clock. I wasn't really stuck in a clock. It's clever editing. He's positioned with this lovely song by Elliot Park.

Anyway, that was really good. Okay. Hey, folks. It's Mark Maron from WTF. I travel all over North America doing stand-up, and it's always good to know Airbnb is an option when I'm away from home. But if you're away from home, why not take your own place and Airbnb it? Airbnb your whole home to make some extra cash.

Or if you have a spare room that's not in use, just Airbnb that. Whether you could use extra money to cover some bills or for something a little more fun, your home might be worth more than you think. out how much at airbnb.ca slash host podo castos i've only got one it's staying in with emily and kamau uh which is uh emily v gordon and kamau nonjiani um they did the big sick and various other things um i don't listen to it anymore i've just stopped listening to podcasts in general now. I don't know why. Is that because you listen to –

Because I make them. You make them? But I make YouTube and I watch YouTube. I don't know. I've just stopped listening to podcasts recently. I don't know why. I think it goes through cycles. Yeah, definitely.

I think you also have to find something new or different. I need to find a good murder mystery where at the end they go, we don't know, we didn't figure it out. Nobody knows. Well, speaking of, one of the podcasts I really enjoyed this year, though it's a little bit disturbing, is called The Last Days of August. Only if you remember this was created by John Ronson. Is that the one where she went down the chute, the garbage chute or something?

No, that's a different one. That was based in Australia. That was someone's fall or something? Phoebe's fall. Phoebe's fall, yeah. Yeah, that's a really good show. That was a long time ago. No, The Last Days of August was actually a look at the porn industry.

Oh, right, okay. Yeah, and what happened, August was found dead in a park. Yes. And kind of it looks, it examines porn industry but also her life in particular and interviews people and it was just a very gripping show. Now, I have three episodes of podcasts that have really grabbed me this year and in particular just recently. So the first one is Dax Shepard's Armchair Expert.

I don't always enjoy his show, but he does do some cracky interviews. But the episode that I'm going to give a special mention to is called Day 7 and it's just really where he just breaks open his story around addiction and how he'd been sober for something like 15 years and fell off the wagon. And so he was at Day 7 and he just kind of talks through the mind of an addict and what he went through to kind of hide it from everybody. Yeah, right, okay. And it's just raw and great and such an interesting listen because I don't have anyone in my life who suffers from addiction

in exactly that way. Yeah, right. And it really gave me a compassion and an understanding that it doesn't matter how many years, you know, down the road you are in AA or wherever else that things can get to you. Well, recently John Mulaney went into rehab and he'd been sober for like 16 years or something like that. Yeah.

And I think that it's sort of like a broader lesson about being brave and honest about your life and when that happens, how it can be scary but once you do it, it's like a big pressure valve and a release. Yeah. And how he was kind of embraced by his listenership and also helped a lot of people. Yeah. Because he said he was basically lying to himself.

I thought what was really interesting too is he journals a lot about, he said he journals every day. It's part of his sobriety and he'd stop journaling because he wasn't even- Oh, because then he's like, because then you're not- Admitting it to himself. Yeah, right. Yeah, and the stories you tell yourself, which I guess we can all relate to. I read something else recently.

I can't remember. Yeah, anyway, he interviewed Hillary Clinton too recently. I really enjoyed that episode. Yes, that's that episode. Another episode I really, really enjoyed this year was Tim Ferriss interviewing Jerry Seinfeld. Oh, was he like, you can't say anything these days. No.

Comedy's dead. I dated a 17-year-old when I was 38. Did he say any of that? Sorry, go on. What did they talk about? Can I go on? Yeah, what did they talk about? Have you finished your bit?

I'm sorry. Really annoying because I really like this episode and I think you should listen to it. Thanks. Really nice because I really like this episode and I think you should listen to it. There can be many things. Anyway, the interview with Jerry Seinfeld is fascinating and so valuable if you are someone that makes stuff because he just breaks open his 40-year vault of all the things that he processes and systems for how he creates comedy and how he keeps himself still on the stage at like 66 or however old he is.

And it's just absolutely invaluable inside knowledge. Yeah. For anyone who is a creative, anyone who writes, anyone who makes anything or anyone who wants to make something, this is the like genius place to start because he just makes it so simple and clear and helps you to just get out of your head and get over yourself. And the main, I think, premise of it is the work. Yeah, absolutely. But the other part of it is just treating your brain like a dog that needs to be trained and

you just need to have systems and processes to do that. Like you can't sit down and say, I'm going to create something and write all day. It's better, he said, to give yourself half an hour. And that's what he does. He writes every day of his life and he just has notepads and he sits down for an hour. And when it's an hour's done, he's done. And he just treats himself with massive amount of kindness. He said, it's really important to reward yourself at the end of an hour and say, I've done it. Well done me. And then the second day he'll go back and go over his notes and be super ruthless with what he's created. But even then when he's going over it, it's an hour and it's done. He makes it so simple. And so I just, it's just invaluable. And I've felt really grateful to have listened to it because it's someone who's, you know, got a lot of wisdom to share

and I really struggle with that creative process. I think that's a good way to look at it, yeah. Yeah, and he really just breaks it down into minutiae and I really appreciated it. Okay, so that was that. And the last one is an episode I think everyone should listen to with Mia Friedman. It was just released recently.

It's called 2020, The Year of Little Griefs and How to Process Them with Patria King. And Patria King is a grief counsellor and someone who's been through a lot in her life but is probably one of the most famous kind of people in this space in Australia. She set up this amazing foundation, Quest for Life, where she counsels people through cancer diagnoses and works. This year, she's worked on digitally with, you know, from principals and teachers to people in the armed

forces, basically dealing with the stuff of life that is difficult. But I just found this episode so comforting because she taps into an emotion I think we're all feeling at the end of this year, which is grief, and allows you to give permission to yourself to grieve the small things as well as the big things, like the loss of your commute to work, the loss of certainty around your world, and the loss of going to cin work, the loss of certainty around your world and the loss of going to cinemas and catch-ups with friends, then the bigger losses like losses of events and weddings

and holidays that were planned and then as well as seeing loved ones and all of those things. And she said grief and trauma in the immediate moment of it is very unlikely to be processed. So all of that stuff happens and you're in adrenaline mode just dealing with it. And often she said it can be a year later. So a lot of the people who went through the really horrific fires at the start of the year here in Australia are only now just dealing with the grief.

So if you're someone that's sleeping a lot, if you're confused and tired, if you can't remember things, if you're slipping in life and just feeling flat and don't know why, it's probably because you're now starting to feel all of that grief and loss from the year. And so she just gives some really comforting words of advice. So I would totally recommend that. Fun.

You just sent me that. I didn't want to listen to it. No, absolutely. I completely agree. It's super valuable. How have you felt at the end of this year? It sucks, man. I don't know.

I'm just tired. I'm just tired and I want to lie down forever. Yeah. Which sounds like I want to die, but that's not what I mean. No, it's just the sleep. Yeah. I mean, that's partly we had a newborn this year. But I also think part of it is we had a newborn in a global pandemic

and we just had to keep going. Everybody did. Yeah. Like our situation was, I guess, unique in that sense, but everybody had their own situation. But I'm glad also you could do it. Sorry. No, you go.

I was going to say that a lot of the hospital appointments and things we could do before, a lot of this stuff kind of, and not so much the tail end, but we had a friend who was going to appointments by herself and sitting in waiting rooms by herself and she's like super pregnant. She's got a mask on and like, you know, and you're waiting to hear good news or bad news and it's awful. Totally.

I think, look, we were really, really lucky. Something that Patria talks about and it really resonated with me was that that's what everybody's doing at the moment. It's kind of like saying, oh, but we're so lucky. Oh, everything worked out for us. We weren't as bad as that person. We still have our job. We have this or that and everything's okay.

And you're right, like we're so lucky but you're still allowed to be feeling, you know, sad if you're feeling sad or whatever the emotions that you're feeling around this year even if there are people who are a lot worse off than you, you know. Yeah, absolutely. You're still allowed to say I'm not feeling okay. No, of course not. Yeah.

Of course you can because of course there's someone worse off than you. There's one person who's the most worst off and they're probably dead. Oh, my God. Yeah, but I just think we should allow some kind of cushioning around ourselves at this time of year. Should we quickly talk about the things that we've made this year? Yes. A baby, as mentioned.

Correct. Mostly you. Mostly me. One thing I'm very proud of that happened the other day I unclogged a toilet But it was like mess free I looked it up on YouTube and it's basically this dude's video Where I like use washing detergent and like a bucket of hot water

And it was like amazing And I was like this is the best thing that's ever happened to me It was like a public holiday or whatever And it would have been like who knows how long this is going to take Or if someone's a public holiday or whatever and it would have been, who knows how long this is going to take or if someone's going to come and how much it's going to cost. And I'm not very handy and I fixed it. I was so thrilled about it too. Here's the thing, like I can do stuff, handy stuff, if I apply myself.

I just hate it. And I'm also not like, I say I can do it, I'm not good at it obviously. Do you get satisfaction from it? No. I mean that I did. But no, generally not, no. I don't like when I mow the lawn, I'm not like, look at this, I've done it. I'm like, I fucking hated that.

That's how I feel. That's probably why you don't do it because you don't get a feeling of satisfaction. Do you get a feeling of satisfaction after you've created a great thumbnail? Sometimes. You're such a bloody miserable person. Not really. Why is that miserable?

It's got a big yellow text. I get joy from anything. Yeah, I get joy from being alone. My own company. Yeah, God. I haven't been alone in a million years. I don't think I've ever been alone in my entire life. The irony.

Some people piled on top of me since I was a kid. The irony of you, the irony of top of me since I was a kid. The irony of you that all you want to do is be alone and you went from like sharing a room with your brother in your house to then sharing with me and you just have never been alone. I've never been alone. To be fair, you have this studio now. That's true.

You're alone in it sometimes. The funniest thing was that our son is like often very similar to that. And the other day he just got sad because I said we have to go to like a fun thing. Yeah. To go out to a fun thing. And he just got, he burst into tears because he was like, I'm going to miss my home. And then you're like, I know all your stuff is here, mate. I know home's the best place. I love home too. Sometimes we've got to leave. And, like, it's just like you.

Once you're out and about, you actually enjoy it. But the act of leaving home is so bloody full on for both of you. The baby and I are just going to leave the house. Oh, the baby's loving going out, mate. Oh, she bloody loves it so much. She went to the shops with me today and loved it. But I was going to say, as Charlie Brooker said, most things aren't really worth doing. Like you do them and they're like, it's all right.

I beg to differ. Anyway, so that's what you're proud of, unclogging a toilet. You've made a whole lot of videos. Because we used to live with a very small apartment where the toilet would constantly get clogged. Totally, because the pipe was connected to that place above us. It was a constant nightmare. So it was like this high-level anxiety whenever you'd go to the toilet

that it was going to like backfire on you or whatever. And just to have it here, I'm like, not here, no. I thought I escaped this. That was like the light coming into our bedroom. You thought everywhere we go there's always a street light shining into our bedroom. We nearly bought a house. I vetoed a house, a very nice house because I was like the light coming into our bedroom. You thought everywhere we go there's always a streetlight shining into our bedroom. We nearly bought a house. I vetoed a house, a very nice house because I was like, no,

I cannot sleep with this because I always had a, I said when I was a kid, yeah, but a streetlight like right outside my window. When we lived up north, we lived in a paddock away from everything and yet for some reason there was a streetlight, like a proper streetlight in our yard. Like it was in the yard, like right outside the window. I can't have it.

I can't be having it. Okay, can I talk about what I'm doing? Don't give me this block out blind shit as well because there's the edges. I've done it. Believe me, I know. Anyway, go on. Oh, my God. I feel like your enemy, your arch nemesis is those Venetian blinds.

Is the sun. It's the sun. It's the sun. That's the other thing Petrie talks about. Everyone needs to get some vitamin D because we haven't got enough vitamin D this year. I get enough sun. All right. I don't think you do. All right.

Let's bloody wrap this up. What did you make? What I made this year, a baby. I'm bloody so proud. Can we all just take a moment? It's a good one too. I had a baby in a pandemic and I bloody did it and she's bloody the best and she makes me laugh and she's just so fun.

She's the best. I wish I could show everybody. I'm not going to because I don't post to social media. The internet would explode with how cute she is. And to be fair, we might just be her parents. They're both cute I feel. They definitely are. But we are also their parents and like maybe like a little bit coloured. And to be fair, we might just be her parents. Well, they're both cute, I feel. They definitely are.

But we are also their parents and, like, maybe, like, a little bit coloured. However, people do stop me when I'm about. Check this out. Check this out. What are you? Oh, I know. She's so cute. Anyway, I can't show anybody that. I know.

Why? It's just an audio medium. We can't be showing me videos of our children. It's the end of the year. Do what I want. This has gone to a really low point now. Anyway, is that it? Is that it?

No. The other thing I'm really proud of equally is my cherry ricotta bunt cake. Do you remember that? No, I don't. Do you remember? You filmed me making the bunt cake. Remember? I put it on my Instagram.

Oh, yeah, I do. And it was like a super fun moment. Don't you remember that? Was it good? Remember? It came out of the tin and it was like a magical. Oh, yeah, I do. And it was like a super fun moment. Don't you remember that? Was it good? Remember it came out of the tin and it was like a magical fun time. Yeah, no, I remember. Was it good? Yeah, it was delicious.

I don't remember. I only remember that. I only remember the fun thing. Well, you didn't want to eat any of it. So I had a piece and I gave it to my sister and my mom. I'm getting abs for summer. Because you're a miser. I'm getting abs for summer.

Exactly. However, you filmed me and just the uncovering of that bunt cake and how I was really not sure, I'd never made one before, whether it would get stuck in the tin and I bloody did it and you helped me through it. I loved that video and I loved making that bunt. Oh, I fixed my hair this year. I'll talk about that another time though.

I cannot talk anymore about you and the top of your head and the weird photo montage that you keep showing to everybody, including your dad and Christmas. We'll go into it another episode. It's a whole thing. We'll go into it another week. It's a whole thing. Anyway, also I guess the other thing I'd recommend is, like,

get some wireless earbuds if you can. You use Apple ones. I use the Raycon ones. But whatever you can get, whatever works for you. They're great. They're way better than like wires. I think people are on to that. I know, but it took me a while.

I only just adopted them last year, this year, whatever. Whatever fucking year it is. Anyway, that's it. I'm done. That wasn't a sponsor. Get literally whatever you want. I don't care. And just to end this year with my favourite comforting words of the indomitable,

very handsome Andrew Scott from Fleabag reading, Everything is Going to be All Right. Do I have to listen to this? Yes, Collings is going to put in here. Oh, I can't listen to it now? No. Okay, terrific. Everything is Going to be All Right by Derek Mahon.

How should I not be glad to contemplate the clouds clearing beyond the door and the window and a high tide reflected on the ceiling? There will be dying, there will be dying, but there is no need to go into that. The poems flow from the hand unbidden and the hidden source is the watchful heart. The sun rises in spite of everything. And the far cities are beautiful and bright. I lie here in a riot of sunlight, watching the day break and the clouds flying.

Everything is going to be all right. All right, let's leave the show here. I think this is long enough. Got a review. Normally we do letters but we might save that for whenever we're back. When are we back? There's a best of and then we'll be back sometime like late January maybe. I think we won't be back till February.

So it's May. All right. I've got nothing in the tank. I need January off. Fair enough. I'm taking it. I'm calling it. But we love you very much.

We do. And we will be in your ears still. There's content at bigsandwich.co as well. There's many moons of content. That's right. But we will be back in your ears fresh and rejuvenated in February. Or some other time. Maybe March. Maybe never.

This is from Taylor from Virginia. You can review and add. This says perfect analogy. I love the podcast because it's like having a great dinner with a couple of your friends with. They tell you about some show or book that you must get into and you blindly nod your head and say, oh, yeah, check that out. Knowing full well you're never going to read it or watch that thing,

but they're nice enough and it was an enjoyable meal and you're done in less than an hour. Best dinner ever. I may be an old boot, but listening to these two makes me happy. James and Greg, hashtag goals sincerely. Taylor from Virginia, PS. What do you have to do to get some bonus Claire content for BigSandwich.co?

Oh, mate. She seems like a natural conversationalist and a decent Instagram baker. I would love to hear some long-form interviews with her and people she finds interesting. Yeah, that sounds great. We should do some stuff. Oh, that's so lovely. Maybe I will.

Maybe I will. Maybe I have some big plans for 2021. You do have some stuff on the boil, which is in early days, but very interesting, I think. All right. We'll see. We'll see. Big love to you guys.

Thank you, Collins, for this year as well, for the editing and the socials and everything else he does all the time. He's amazing. And also, thank you out there for listening to our show. We would love you and appreciate you. Happy to do it. And feel very, very privileged. I know James has like a million ears on his stuff and eyeballs all the time.

But I really appreciate you guys out there listening to this show and us making fun of each other every week for half an hour. It's actually, to be honest, I have to say this to you, old Jim Bob, over there. I'm not interested. This half an hour a week that we do has really got me through this year. What? Because it's been really hard.

Now I'm going to cry. Well, I'm not going to cry because that's lame. No, but I just wanted to thank you so much because you've made me laugh all year and kept us going and I love you very much. If anything, you've kept us going. I've just been screaming into the void. You don't know this, but I go into the other room and I grab a pillow and I put it over my face and I go,

can I hold this here long enough to make me pass out? And I never have the guts to go through with it. But, no, you've been amazing this year. And having a baby? You're kidding me? Incredible. Oh, look. I fucking suck.

Like I spend every second with me and I'm like, oh, boo, I'm the worst. And every year I'm like oh boo, I'm the worst. And every year I'm like oh, I've always been bad. I've only just realised. Yeah, you did have an existential crisis recently where you said to me, I need to be better. Yeah, I'm like what's wrong with me? I'm such a negative person. I suck. You've only just

realised you're a negative person. That's your entire personality. You said to me, I'm going to change, Claire, and I thought to myself, what do you mean, like transplant? No, I just mean openly. I'm just going to be openly more positive. Not on this, but just like in real life.

I feel like if you counted the amount of negative things you've said over the last hour, I feel like I believe you could do anything you want, James. I think it's real. By being a positive person. No, I can do it. Even though it was like nothing's worth doing, I literally said that. Anyway, we've got to go. Well, I love you.

I love you. Thank you for this, yeah. And goodbye. And we love you, the listeners, in a very platonic way. We do. Yeah. And go watch Bridgerton. Yeah, watch Bridgerton.

Watch a man lick a spoon. Watch a man lick a spoon. Maybe I'll put a video of me licking a spoon. Um, yeah, you can give it a go. What? Why isn't, why can't I lick a spoon? You can lick a spoon. I'll lick a spoon. Alright. I'm gonna lick

a spoon right now. I'm gonna lick a spoon all the way up. I'm gonna lick the length of the spoon. It'll be a wooden spoon. A long wooden jam spoon. You end up with a splinter on your tongue. Yeah, Bridgerton. I have a story to tell you very quickly. Oh, God, what?

What? No, no, I'll save it. No, no, why not? I totally forgot about this story. You can't leave it because you'll forget. I'm saving it for the podcast. Okay. It's probably not even the greatest story, but it made me happy.

So I was sitting the other day. I went to go and had an appointment at the hospital. Yep. And then afterwards I went to have some soup in a cafe and it was like really delicious chicken and vegetable soup and I loved it and I was loving myself. Okay, mum, you were raving about this soup. It was such delicious soup and it was in this little like Vietnamese

kind of hole in the wall in the hospital. I'd never noticed it was there before, run by these two beautiful women and they were chatting to their customers and it was such a lovely day and I'm just sitting there. I'm going to get some of this soup. I'm like, well, here you go. I want to see your reaction. Anyway, so I'm slurping away at this delicious soup and then

out of the corner of my eye I see a pigeon, like a very fat, happy-looking pigeon just walking. And this was like the restaurant was in the hospital, by the way. Like it wasn't on the street. It was like inside the hospital. Yeah. And this pigeon just like walks under my chair and then walks around the corner, around the counter and into the kitchen.

And I hear a woman behind me go, oh, there's a pigeon in your kitchen. And the lovely Vietnamese lady behind the counter said, oh, yes, when the pigeon arrived, it was my first customer of the day every day. And when we opened up, it was a skinny little pigeon and it was fluttering around and so scared. I'm sorry, they have a wild bird going into the kitchen. Is that what you're telling me? Yeah, and the woman was like, oh, and I was just listening,

just eating my soup, just like slowing down. She's like, yeah, so every morning it comes in and I feed it some rice and now look at it. It's beautiful and chubby and fat. It's the fattest pigeon and it's so happy. That's so, like everything about that is wrong. Are you not supposed to give birds rice? Isn't that like a thing?

Probably. Well, this pigeon looks very happy. The bird is just, like, stuffed with rice like a beanie baby. I'm telling you, this pigeon looks so happy and confident. It's just strutting around. Had a little newspaper under its wing. Yeah, seriously. You know normally birds inside like flutter around on the windows

and panic? No, this bird just like chuffed its way in like with its little chest all puffed out, like just like chuff, chuff, chuff around under my chair like with no fear, just like around the counter into the kitchen. And the kitchen had these beautiful fabric like blue patterned doors that were just made out of fabric obviously and it just kind of walked like through them into the back and I thought to myself this is a real test of whether or not I'm a joy-filled person or whether this is an OH&S issue. And I have totally, I cannot find a skerrick of me that is not just full of joy about that story.

Yeah, look, man, we've been to some places in the world. We've eaten some weird shit. And just like, if that was me, especially this year, I'm like, whatever. And also the soup was so delicious. And I just, I kind of just loved those two women who ran that store. It was just this like beautiful moment. Yeah, well, don't get used to it because they're going to be shut down for feeding a bird in the kitchen.

Anyway, that's my little pigeon story. Man, if a health inspector saw that. I know. He did say where it was. No, I did say where it was. Anyway, it just filled my heart with joy with their little pet pigeon. And it, like, comes to her every morning at, like, six o'clock in the morning when she's opening up.

She's going to kill that bird. Oh, you're such a my. Anyway. Do you think the episode should be called The Bridgerton Spoon? Or The Happy Pigeon. Or it'd have to be, like, brackets. Maybe next year. Best of the year.

Maybe next year your nickname can just be the happy pigeon. Have we been going through an hour and 15? Yeah, we have. I mean, I know because we had to get it somehow because I had to go on 10. Oh, my God. All right, goodbye. Oh, my God. Bye.

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