Suggestible - How To Fail

Episode Date: September 2, 2021

Suggestible things to watch, read and listen to. Hosted by James Clement @mrsundaymovies and Claire Tonti @clairetonti.The One About Failure with Mr Sunday Movies and Chanel Lucev - Available here!This week’s Suggestibles:HacksMiracle WorkersHarry PotterHow To Fail with Elizabeth DaySam Loy and Human/OrdinaryFour Corners ABCSend 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.

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. Find out how much at airbnb.ca slash host. We're on. We're on.

Bing bong, bing bong, bing bong. I'm continuing with that farcical thing that I do at the beginning of each episode. I love a farcical thing. Yeah, I love you. Including this marriage. Yeah, I got your best. You didn't. Boom, boom, chakalala, boom. Boom, boom love you. Including this marriage. Yeah, I got your best. You didn't. Boom, boom, chaka-la-la-la-boom.

Boom, boom, chaka-la-la-la-boom. All right. Well, this is the show where we suggest things. We go, hey, we listen to this, so watch this. Why don't you watch this? I'm Claire. James is here also. We are married and we have so many things to tell you about.

It's true. It's a real delight. James is slowly going mad. Why do you say that? Because you have to record tonight at midnight. I do. With the old Nick and Mason. It'll be the new What If episode because he's at work so we're doing it late.

But then even worse than that, Collings has to edit. He loses five hours of editing time. What's he going to do? Oh, my God. I know he's listening to this right now. This poor man. This poor bloke. He's a long-suffering legend, that dude.

He certainly is. He certainly is. He deals with all my neuroses on a daily basis. Oh, really? Not a daily basis. I can't imagine what that's like. Got you. Yeah, but unlike you, Collins is a nice person.

Yes, it's true. What are you suggesting, though, this week? What have you got for us? I'm joking. All right. So I have got a TV show that has been everywhere. Everyone's been talking about it. Chit Chats.

And you've been wanting to watch it but I got in first. I have. Ha ha. It is called Hacks. It is on Stan and it's an American comedy drama. It's not on Stan in the US obviously. No. I'll look it up.

All right. Thank you very much. It's on HBO Max actually. Oh, okay. Cool. Yes. And it just came out in May on HBO Max, and we only just got it. So basically the premise is Debra Vance, who is played by Jean Smart, is a legendary Las Vegas comedian trying to maintain relevance

as the head of the casino where she performs, tries to pare down on a performance date. So basically she's got a residency at this Las Vegas casino that she's had for like 30 years and her career is kind of winding up. She's kind of based on Joan Rivers. Yeah, I imagine I've talked about this a little bit. Yeah. Yeah, and so she's kind of been doing the same routine every night

for years and years and years and years and she's really good at what she does but it's clear that, you know, her audience is kind of, would you say octogenarians? Yeah. I can't remember which comedian said but it's like playing the hits when you do like a show like that in Vegas. You're an afterthought, you know what I mean? It's like, ah, we'll catch this after whatever, you know what I mean?

Yeah, exactly. And she lives in this like crazy mansion and is like super wealthy. So she's obviously had this brilliant career. She's got quite a difficult personal life though and that kind of unfolds through the season. The other main character is Ava who is played by Hannah Einbinder who is a down-on-her-luck comedy writer from Gen Z. And she was in the opening episode,

she's just been cancelled for an overly insensitive tweet, which is very, you know, current, very 2021. Cancer culture, yes. Yeah, and so she is given a second chance by an agent or by Debra Vance's agent and she's sort of kind of brought in to help Debra with her writing of kind of brought in to help Deborah with her writing and kind of freshen it up. Yeah.

And that's kind of the premise. Carl Clemons Hopkins plays Marcus who's Deborah's chief operating officer and basically like her right-hand man for absolutely everything and he's been with her since he was 18 or something and worked his way up in the company. So it's just, it's so funny. It's touching in moments and really heartwarming. The chemistry between Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder is great

and really zingy. It's quite dark comedically in spots. And then it also deals with a lot of stuff that women have had to deal with in comedy going forward. And that's kind of really interesting. Like the juxtaposition between how woke, in inverted commas, the character of Ava is versus Debra's character who's like had to fight tooth and nail through this industry to get where she is.

And at one point they had this massive argument because Debra is accused of not doing enough for women because she talks about a guy who ran a comedy club who basically took advantage of women and, you know, was very similar to Cosby. But she says it in this kind of offhand way because it was obviously quite a common occurrence in some ways. Ava then calls her up and then is like, how come you haven't done so much now you're so rich and famous?

Why haven't you spoken out about it? Why is he allowed to get away with it? And Debra basically says, well, I did more for women by just being me and being on that stage and I opened up so many doors just by being me. I had to battle so hard to even just get there. Because like if she had have come out, her career would have sunk. Yeah, she said at the time there was just no way at all. He owned like half the comedy clubs on the East Coast or whatever

and, you know, to be a woman in comedy you just had to suck it up and deal with it. And I think that's a really interesting conversation between generations of women about what like looking back on it you think why didn't you say something. And I think it even happens in the Australian political arena now. Yeah, now, where you're looking at women who've been in politics for 30 years saying, well, you don't say anything when there's bad behavior, you just prove it by being the best. And now this new wave of women who are coming through saying, actually, no, you need to

call it out. And, you know, there's power in that, but it's because the balance of power has shifted and women have more power so that the consequences of them speaking out are less dire. Right, yeah. Well, who knows? That's the whole argument itself. I mean, I can't even like in the 60s and 70s when she was coming up, was that the era?

Yeah, yeah. Probably a bit later even. Yeah, like people do get away with things. If they were like this person was sexually harassing, nobody cared. No, no one cared. No, no, exactly. You just had to be tough as nails as a woman and just get away with things. If they were like this person was sexually harassing, nobody cared. No, no one cared. No, no, exactly. You just had to be tough as nails as a woman and just get on with it. So anyway, I loved it.

I think it's really great and really funny and fresh and I really enjoyed it. What do you give it out of 100 stars? I would give it 90 out of 100 stars. Wow, because it's got 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. Oh, yeah. I would give it 90. Why would I give it 90? No, I would probably give it a hundred.

Look, I don't know. I think it's really great. I think the things I don't like about it, her daughter's character. Deborah Vance has a daughter who's quite spoilt and has had a lot of, has a difficult upbringing, obviously, being on the road with her. And I don't know know i didn't quite enjoy her storyline as much though she's really great too no i'm giving it a hundred wow yeah i mean you're supposed to not like her i assume yeah you are that's what i exactly i was

starting to think about i realize you are supposed to not like her and um and that's kind of interesting to explore but yeah jean's smile is bloody great. Yeah, she's amazing. She's so good in this. And she does a really good job of depicting how hard you have to work to be that successful. Yeah, right. That's what I like about it. That's what surprised me in the very first episode. Ava turns up and you kind of expect her to maybe be this character that's not very smart and is more kind of, as in Debra Vance,

so Jean Smart's character, the older comedian, you kind of expect her to be more vapid or something because she presents that way when actually she's just done reams and reams of research on Ava and knows everything she's ever written and clearly gets up before the crack of dawn, works her ass off still. Yes. You know, works and works and works and works and works and works really hard to get her face to look the way that it does with plastic surgery and like dieting and, you know,

that's what I really enjoyed about it. They really show. She's the mayor of Easttown. Yeah, yeah, she's the mother in mayor of Easttown. She's also recently in the new Watchmen series. Ah, okay. Yeah, and she was great in that as well. She's always been good. She's been good for like forever. Yeah, and she was great in that as well. She's always been good.

She's been good for like forever. Yeah, well, she's brilliant in this. Yeah, that's what I really liked about it, that you get to see exactly why she's as famous as she is in this and what it takes to get to that point. My husband died this year. Oh, really? I didn't know that. He married since 87.

He died in March. Oh, that's really sad. It sucks, yeah. Yeah, that's really sad. It sucks. Yeah. Yeah. Isn't that the way sometimes like when things are going great in life and one end everything else goes tipped up? Yep.

That's the way it swings and rounds. It does. I've actually, have you found this, that sometimes when there's really great stuff, the really bad stuff happens at the same time? Yeah. Sometimes they happen in conjunction. Yeah. It's like weird life stuff like that. Sometimes it's like the peaks and the troughs happen at the same time

and then the rest of it is boring. P's and T's, yeah, and then everything else is just filler. Yeah, that's why I'm really maybe getting older is just getting to enjoy the filler, you know, the bits in between where things are just ordinary. Yeah. Yeah. When will we get back to ordinary, do you reckon?

Never. Yeah, that's probably. We're in a constant state of panic. Listen, Claire, here's a show for you. Actually, I'll save that one for one second. This is a show called Miracle Workers. It's up to season three. It's on Stan, but also it's a HBO Max show.

The reason we don't get HBO Max is because of Rupert Murdoch, mostly, who I also want to talk about today. But it's an anthology series based off the writings of Simon Rich. Now, each season, it's like Blackadder for anybody who's my age or older. Blackadder was a Rowan Atkinson show where they played the same characters, sort of, but it was in different eras, and this is the same thing. So the first season is set in heaven, but it was in different eras and this is the same thing. So the first season is set in heaven and it was kind of a, I was going to say like a knockoff of The Good Place,

but some of the ideas might have even come before The Good Place, I'd imagine, from the books. It was fine. Then they did a season in the Dark Ages and now they've got one based on the Oregon Trail, which is like you've got to go across America to find new land and new liberty and whatever the fuck, you know what I mean? Anyway, it stars Daniel Radcliffe, who people might know as Harold Potter, Geraldine Vishwanathan, who's awesome.

You might have seen her in a bunch of teen rom-coms and more recently other things. She's not a teen anymore. And maybe she never was. I don't know. Hang on, question. What did it have to do with Blackadder? I missed that bit at the start. Because it's an anthology because it's a different setting.

The characters play different people in different settings every time. Like in Blackadder. Like in Blackadder. Is that? I never understood Blackadder. That's why I didn't understand it because, like, the same actors were dressed in different characters. So Blackadder, like, started in, like, the Darkadder. Yeah. That's why I didn't understand it because like the same actors were dressed in different characters.

So Blackadder like started in like the Dark Ages. Yeah. And then it basically worked its way up to like World War I. And then there was a few other things after I think. But whatever. That was essentially what Blackadder was. You just blow my mind. I understand.

Do you always just see random episodes of Blackadder and be like, what the fuck is happening now? Yeah, I never understood. I'm like, he's wearing a fucking war hat. A minute ago he was dressed in a black robe. That last season is really like it's really sad and quite moving because they have to, it's World War I and they have to like go over the trench at the end.

That's like the last bit and they all just get murdered. I mean he's often murdered. I think he gets murdered at the end of every season. But that one like, yeah, it's quite good. It also stars Steve Buscemi who you'd probably know from many, many things, and Karan Soni, who he plays the cab driver in Deadpool, but more recently he played Jerry Seinfeld in Auntie Donna's show on Netflix.

He turns up and he's like, hey, it's me, Jerry Seinfeld, and he just looks nothing. Like he doesn't act or look anything like Jerry Seinfeld. That's great. Anyway, again again the first season's not good but i think it finds its feet after after that so a lot of the times it's like modern sensibilities of these characters in ridiculous times so often you know it's daniel radcliffe looking around being like what's going on here and he's kind of got not always because

they play different people but like you know it's kind of like you look at like the lunacy of the dark ages and whatever from you know like isn't this weird how we hang people in the middle of the square and everybody comes out to it and you know things like that so it's good it's just like a nice ridiculous kind of show and it's a bit of fun it doesn't you know it's just just silly people doing silly things but also social issues maybe but just a little bit not enough where you'd be like oh oh social issues so it's good to watch for times like these. Yes, but I would say also you could probably skip season one. Right.

And it's not even bad. It's not. It's totally fine. And Steve Buscemi plays God in it. Remind me again who Steve Buscemi is. I don't have my phone on me. You were like, you'll definitely know him. And as soon as you say that, I never know him.

Because I have a terrible memory for names. You know Steve Buscemi. Show me a picture. Oh, of course I know Steve Buscemi. He's in Boardwalk Empire. Yeah, he's in Boardwalk Empire. You're absolutely right. Correct.

He's in many, many things. Yeah, he's in too many things. To be honest. Yeah. And the other person, Daniel Radcliffe. Oh, yes. Is he good in this? Yeah, he is.

He is good. He's a good actor and I was recently listening to an interview with him and Conan O'Brien and Conan O'Brien's like, why are you so normal? Why didn't you go off the deep end? Yeah, because he's so famous. Yeah, and he just said he had like good parents and good people around him and all the people on the set of Harry Potter were good. He also said a lot of people had like low expectations of him.

Like, you know, if you basically don't end up as like a drug addict, people are like, good for you, you know. Yeah. But you met him once and he was nice. I did. He was so lovely. I was working at a cinema and I had a gold necktie on and he came for. For work or just.

For work. Yeah, just in life, you know, my favourite gold necktie. Sure. And, yeah, he walked up the stairs and he was very short. He's a little fella. And he tripped over the. He's a little guy. He is.

And we were all lined up and he was going to talk to each of us and he tripped over the top step and was like, oh, sorry, fellas, or something, and then like proceeded to be really awkward and embarrassed. And I was like, this is amazing. You're really nice. He was like the most famous person in the world for like 10. Oh, he's still, he's still. He's still really.

But Harry Potter. Like as soon as you see him, there's just an underlying voice in your head going, Harry Potter. But he's good. Like he's, I mean, you know, early on in those movies and he admits this, he's like, I wasn't, you know, a good actor and whatever. But they're all kids.

He was so tiny. But he, and you see in those movies, like he gets better as well and by the end, like he's very good. Yeah. You know, so. Yeah, and I think he tried to really branch out, didn't he, and do some kind of indie movies and some nudie scenes and try and, you know, bad boy up his image or something.

Yeah, he's got a bunch of stuff. Yeah, no, he's great. He's good. Like he's talented. It's just like he just happened to be in the most famous movies in the world for like a decade. Yeah, totally. But this show as well, it's like it's not hugely budgeted

or anything like that. It's, you know, it's got a pretty decent budget because, you know, the setting, but like just doing TV, you're just like, fuck it, I'll do some TV. It's really interesting, isn't it? Because Daniel Radcliffe and also like Ron Weasley and. Yep, they're other people over names too. My brain is just dead.

I can't. Hermione. Who plays Hermione Granger? Hermione Granger. What's her name?. My brain is just dead. I can't. Hermione. Hermione. Who plays Hermione Granger? Hermione Granger. What's her name? Emma Watson. Emma, yeah.

Emma Watson. And Rupert Grint. Rupert Grint. Okay. Yeah. Collins, can you edit that out so I look like I can remember the name of a very famous actress? No, Collins. People like how relatable Claire is.

No, but not this relatable. I've literally got a brain like Swiss cheese at the moment. Yeah, but okay. So what I wanted to say was it is interesting because Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint all ostensibly seem pretty switched on and fairly normal and haven't gone off the rails as far as I know. I was saying that, yeah, that on set of Harry Potter because there was the same people the whole time pretty much.

They swapped some directors now and then but it's mostly the same cast and crew. Everybody just kind of kept everyone else in check and there was no like slapping people to get back in place. But, you know, they all kind of knew each other and were family and looked out for each other and, yeah, I don't know whether that was like a result of being a British thing, I don't know, and being a British crew and not being in LA.

I don't know. Yeah, because did they film in London, in England? Mostly England and Scotland. Yeah, and so maybe it was a little bit removed from Hollywood and all of that kind of stuff. Like Hollywood. I mean, and it's really disappointing to me. I won't go into JK Rowling and all the things and the problematic stuff,

but one of the things I loved about her before all of that came out was like the same with the stage show when Harry Potter came out, there was this real feeling that she looked after the actors and they had really great holiday pay and great wages. And I spoke to someone that her mum was in the cast and said she's been paid the best she's ever been paid in any stage production and she got the best wages and she got sick leave, which just never happens.

It doesn't happen. There's no stability. Particularly in the theatre. Yeah. Yeah, I mean she's not all terrible. No, exactly. Multiple things. And I wonder if that was.

She just had some weird takes on stuff. Exactly. And I wonder if that was partly J.K. Rowling's influence on that set too. Well, she did. She had massive influence on that, on those movies. She was, she got final say on like literally everything. I don't know who wrote that deal for her but she got to decide, like they wanted Hayley Joel Osment for Harry Potter.

Oh, really? He's American and she was like there aren't going to be any Americans in this and there's not. I don't think. There might be some exceptions but no, it's a mostly like British cast. And it feels British which is what I love because, you know, that's my happy place, British crime shows. It does feel like weird and small and British like a lot of the time.

Yeah, which is something I really love. If you live in Britain, I probably love you. I doubt it. Anyway, they're going to bring that soon. They're going to wrap up this fantastic beast, whatever the fuck, and they'll bring Harry Potter back. They'll do another three, I reckon. Yeah.

Based on the cursed boy or whatever. The cursed boy. Anyhoo, is that it? You were recommending that one? I'm recommending Harry Potter. Harry Potter. No, can you remind me of the name of the show that you just talked about? Cursed Child? Oh, sorry, Miracle Workers. Miracle Workers. And where do we find it? Stan and HBO Max. Stan and HBO Max. I don't know why I say it

in a funny voice, but I will. Okay. I don't know anything. Is it my turn? Yeah, you really don't. No. Okay. Introducing Uber Teen Accounts, an Uber account for your teen with always-on enhanced safety features. Your teen can request a ride when you can't take them. You'll get real-time notifications along the way. Your teen feels a sense of independence. You can follow their entire route on a live tracking map. Your teen will get assigned a top-rated driver. You'll get peace of mind.

Uber Teen Accounts. Invite your teen to join your Uber account today. Available in select locations. See app for details. Excellent. Oh, just on a side note, the next recommendation I have is very relevant to today because I have gone a little bit loopy in the pandemic slash lockdown that we're in because we're in Melbourne, in lockdown, and it's just extending now for infinity until everyone gets 70% vax, which probably won't be until like November. So we're just locked down with no playgrounds and no school

and homeschooling. I'm just going to miss all the big movies. Yeah, I know. I tried to get you Shang-Chi. You did. No dealio, Emilio. Anyway, so I bought all this furniture from IKEA and other places. Just cluttering up our house.

I know. No, it's all, to be fair, it is going to be great once it's all put together. I agree, yeah, yeah, yeah. Anyway, but James hates putting together furniture. I do. And this podcast today is very relevant to this. It's called You're Also Really Bad At It. No, I'm actually very good at it.

We're both really bad at it. No, I'm good. I've got skills. They're multiplying. You got some skills. I just don't like doing it. And I'm losing control. I don't think like if you buy a bit of furniture

and then it turns up in 400 pieces, that is absolute bullshit. I know it is. It should not happen. I know, and I've really tried to steer clear of that furniture until the pandemic where I've lost my mind. I'm redoing our whole kids room. Anyway, no one needs to hear this. What they do need to hear about is my next recommendation, which is How to Fail by Elizabeth

Day. I don't need a book or whatever this is on how to fail. No, it's not a book. It's a podcast. Oh, I don't need a podcast. I do two podcasts. And it's by a book. It's a podcast. Oh, I don't need a podcast. I do two podcasts. It's by a journalist and award-winning writer, Elizabeth Day. She is really amazing.

She is a British. Oh, you love her. You love her. I do. I do. And look, this is an old podcast. So I'm sure if you're a big podcast aficionado, you've probably already heard of this show.

Okay. It's been around for quite a long time. I remember when I started Just Make the Thing, which was my podcast about creativity ages ago, it came out at around a similar time and was immediately like super highly successful and amazing. And it deals with kind of similar content that Just Make the Thing did and I was always like.

Well, you must feel like a right prat. Yeah, bloody do. But anyway, and so I didn't really listen to it because, I don't know, I was being a brat. You were doing your own thing. And having babies and things as well. Anyway, I didn't listen to it because, I don't know, I was being a brat. You were doing your own thing. And having babies and things as well. Anyway, I didn't listen to it. And so I've started listening to bits and pieces of it now.

And it is just so good. And she's such a brilliant interviewer. She looks at her guests and she gets amazing guests. She's still doing it? Yeah. So she guests like, you know, Gloria Steinem. The episode I want to recommend is Phoebe Waller-Bridge, which is from like 2018.

It's an old episode. Oh, my God. Lily Allen, you know, Malcolm Gladwell. Phoebe Waller-Bridge isn't cool anymore maybe. I don't know. Anyway, like Dolly Alderton, she just interviews all these really cool people that I really admire and love. And because she's a writer as well, she has this really interesting kind

of take on the world and it just explores people's biggest failures. So they kind of bring like three failures to the table and she asks them about them. Okay. And what they've taught them about their life. So it's basically the premise is how failure actually ends up leading to success really and what failure teaches you. So I think it's just a really interesting topic

and a really beautiful podcast. I bloody love it. But it sucks when you're in it, failure. It totally does. Hey, on that, what are some of your failures that have led to big successes that you're really glad about? Do you have any? Yeah, probably.

I don't know. I mean I'm not really like big successful. I'm like moderately. Yeah, but it doesn't have to be like spectacular. It's just like a story about a failure in your life that has ended up like a blessing in disguise. Oh, God. I can't think of anything.

A bunch of stuff. Like I fuck up things all the time, but I can't think of like a specific. I started doing like movie news videos, I guess, and then I stopped doing them. Was that a failure? I could have. I think for like the first five years of YouTube, I could have been doing like other things.

Do you know what I mean? Like I could have been doing it better. Does that make sense? Yeah. It's a more efficient way of like getting to the medium point where I am at the moment. You know what I mean? And same with podcasts and same with, you know, yeah, that's it.

I don't know. Give me a week, Claire. Let me think about it. I'll come back next week. All right. What's a failure for you? Yeah, I know. It's really hard to be asked on the spot, isn't it?

It's probably why she gives them a heads up before she asks them. Probably. I don't think she springs it on her, does she? Oh, I've got like this spectacular long list because I can't concentrate very long on anything and I jump around from activities all the time. But I'll give one example. So Just Make the Thing, I started because I was never really good at following through with any of my creative endeavors

and I wanted to try something. Yeah. And I just started it and there was an episode I did on failure, which was when I remember I recorded a whole episode and it took me like hours and hours and hours to edit anything because I didn't know how to edit and I was trying to teach myself on the fly and then I lost it all. Oh, no.

And then I jumped on the mic with you. Do you remember this? I do remember that, yeah. And it was like, I don't know, it was super late at night for me and I'd been like sobbing into my hoodie because I'd lost all the work that I'd started and I couldn't find it anywhere. And we just had this whole chat. It was a conversation with Chanel. Yeah, right.

But I'd put all this work into like because Just Make the Thing was conversations with a friend of mine, Chanel, and then also kind of I was experimenting with different formats and one of it was narrative stuff plus I'd edited in like clips and grabs of other things. Yes. And it was supposed to be on failure anyway. And then you blew it. And then I blew it.

But in the end what was interesting is that I did that episode with you and I sat down and talked to you about all of the failures and I cried and it was just awful. I do remember that. When you lose stuff, it's terrible. and I cried and it was just awful. I do remember that. When you lose stuff, it's terrible. And then Sam Loy, like a year later, chose that episode

to be played on the ABC. Did he really? Yeah, it was the only thing of mine that's ever been on like a national radio station. I forgot that. Really? I mean it was probably on Late at Night and no one heard it because he used to have like a weekly segment.

Yeah. He used to produce a show called Human Ordinary. He's now working. He's back doing real stuff. Isn't he? He is. He's making podcasts for big people like Headspace and other organisations. That guy's awesome, man.

I'm a big fan of that guy. Yeah, he's so nice. I've got to get him back with the new Aliens movie. You do. He doesn't really do stuff anymore of his own. No, he doesn't. I reckon he will again. Yeah.

He's too good to not do it. Yeah, he's got little kids too. So I can't even imagine how you're going doing audio stuff with two little kids. Me too. He's awesome. Anyway, but I guess that's one of my things I always think about, that episode where I like nearly gave up on the whole show because of it

and I sat down with you and you made me talk to you about it on the mic. And I still get messages occasionally from people who say they listened to that episode. Maybe we should put that at the end of this or in the feed or something. I don't know. Yeah, okay. Maybe Collings can put that in. Just the first bit.

The first bit is us talking about. Just put the whole thing in. Yeah, okay. I don't know. It's just that people don't have to listen to it, I guess. Yeah, that's true. They can be like, I want to listen to this bullshit thing. I don't know if I want to listen to it.

No. It's just us talking late at like, I want to listen to this bullshit thing. I don't know if I want to listen to it. No. It's just us talking late at night after I've just sobbed and sobbed about things. And I think you're really good actually at giving me advice because I am very quick to jump from I can do this to I cannot do this, I'm the fucking worst person in the world, I suck at everything and nothing is ever going to be good enough and I'm just going to give up.

Cool. Like that's where I land. I go from like perfectly rational person to throwing things and like giving up immediately. And you're not like that. You're much more measured. I'm more like just get it done. Like I know that it's not good or my best, like most,

probably 99% of things that I've recorded or put out. But I'm just like, just get it done. That's how you get better. You know what I mean? Yeah. And I'm not happy about it. Like I'm not like great, but it's just, you know,

I have great editors as well, which make a huge difference, you know. So my shortcomings, some of them are, you know, some of the gaps are filled in. My colleagues, for example, who edits this and a bunch of other stuff. Anyway, do you want my last suggestion, Gabul? I would love that. Okay. This is a Four Corners ABC investigative journalism series.

So Four Corners is, it's news. They report on things in Australia on ABC, not the American ABC, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. So it's in three parts. The first two parts are out right now. And this is what the first one is called. How Murdoch, as in Rupert Murdoch's Fox News, allowed Trump's propaganda to destabilize democracy. And the next one is Fox and the Big Lie. Trump returns to campaign trail amid stolen election lawsuits. So essentially what this does, they're about 48 minutes each and they're on YouTube if you're doing a Give McGurgs

or they'll be linked below. It explores the relationship between Rupert Murdoch, for those who don't know, is an Australian media, what is he, like a, he just buys a bunch of shit. Mogul. Mogul, that's the word. I couldn't think of the word. And he just just puts out a bunch he owns a bunch of media outlets and newspapers and online stuff and he just it's poison he's just an absolute fucking venomous

i was gonna drop a c-bomb but that's i don't say that word on podcast i've decided not to so it's about him and his sons and the Trump presidency. So it starts with how he started building the empire at the start of Fox News and then what it eventually ends up becoming under Roger Ailes, who I don't know if you know Roger Ailes. He's the guy who ran Fox News and then there was a sexual harassment cases against him and then he was fired and then he died like immediately after. And then it's the dissolving of his company because he realised that his sons were kind of, one in particular was diametrically opposed to his opinions on say like the way, you know, like the country

or the US or the world should be run and what they should be reporting on in addition to things like climate change and whatever. Because what basically happens, what they go through is, so they use Trump for ratings, right? And they played a bunch of his rallies, but in turn, he used them to kind of build a fan base. So then when it comes to the point where he lost the election and Fox News was the first to call it to say, Trump will lose this presidency, the audience did not like that. But they'd already created this. Look, I don't want to get into the specifics of how he lost the election because a lot of people do not believe that anymore

at this point, which that's a whole other thing. So they've created this audience and this kind of this fervor, is that the right word? Yeah. In like in and around Trump, which is now out of his hands, you know. So they've created this monster essentially that is now taken on a life of its own and it's led down a whole lot of other paths and like QAnon and other conspiracies, theories and like lunatic politicians and whatever and anti-vax stuff

and, you know, stolen election, this and that and whatever. And so it's also about like Rupert Murdoch's fractured family because one of his sons ends up completely stepping away. He's just like, I don't want anything to do with this anymore. And it's just about how Rupert Murdoch is responsible for just so much misery in the world. But it's specifically focused on the US, but he's everywhere, like in the West, at least

I should say. Yeah. Anyway, he's awful. He sucks. But he's just poison. Like he's just poison. And he's been doing it for so long and everything, like he's got so much influence over everything, but it's just the worst, like just pitting people against each other,

anything for ratings kind of guy. He's responsible for like why we have terrible internet here in Australia, for example, because, you know, he backs, you know, because he's in league with certain companies, which means that certain, you know, basically yada, yada, yada, there's steps in between and we don't have high-speed internet because of him and it's because of Foxtel, which is like a cable network that he owns here.

So, yeah, that's all connected. I didn't know any of that. Yeah, yeah. It's him. So like every, and I know I sound like it's not just him because it's beyond one person but he's so influential, you know, and Kevin Rudd who's a former Australian Prime Minister, is currently going after him in Australia to bring an inquiry about like his kind of grip on the modern media

and all of these kinds of things. Because he credits him with what happened in Australian politics with our Prime Ministership. Yes. Because we had Kevin Rudd who was quite progressive PM and made some mistakes but then was sort of usurped, I guess, by his party and Gillard was then instated as the next Prime Minister.

And then she had such a massively rough time of it and eventually Kevin Rudd was then put back in and, you know, there's all this kind of messy stuff that happened. And then the coalition which the Conservative Party then won. Well, he's responsible for, getting in pretty much every prime minister for the last 30 years. Yeah, and that's what I mean. So Kevin Rudd's.

Including Rudd, I should point out as well. Yeah. Like because he kind of had enough of Howard who was, but it's a whole other thing. Yeah. But what I'm trying to say is I think that Kevin Rudd's kind of premise is that Rupert Murdoch is responsible for a lot of what happens in that party room

and then also Malcolm Turnbull. And then because he has such staunch anti-climate views basically, I might not be getting this right, but my understanding is, and I want to see if this is kind of concurred, that he got rid of those prime ministers and also got rid of Malcolm Turnbull because of their views on climate change. Yeah, he doesn't, like if you see him in an interview, he doesn't believe in climate change.

Like he's just like the earth's always warming or whatever. I don't know. I've seen the interview but it's one of those things where it's interesting about people who are, like he's clearly intelligent and clearly very savvy, obviously, you know, because he's ruthless. He's a monster. But he's not smart, you know, in like an empathetic or like academic or scientific way, you know.

But I think that's the thing that people misunderstand about perceived geniuses is they're not geniuses at everything, you know, and he's not. And he's awful. And I think that that is the problem with climate change and with our environmental crisis at the moment in general, right, because people who are highly intelligent and gifted in that particular area and climate scientists are not necessarily

gifted communicators. Yeah, exactly, yeah. And because science never deals in absolutes as well, they've managed to muddy the waters so much. Especially like because science changes and evolves and when there's more information, you know, presented, the previous information is, you know, not disregarded but, you know, it's moved on to a different thing and people are like,

well, you said this before and now this. And it's like, well, yeah, that's science. That's how it works, you know, it's moved on to a different thing and people are like, well, you said this before and now this. And it's like, well, yeah, that's science. That's how it works. You know, because you're constantly finding things out, you know, and this is the best information we have currently. And I guess that's kind of, and you can easily like manipulate that to be like, well, you said no masks and now you said masks and whatever, you know, or wait, you said it was only one vaccine, but now it's two vaccines.

And, you know, it's. Yeah. Yeah. Anyway, sorry to end on a downer. I wanted to put it at the back end. So I did like. It's really interesting though. Four Corners, ABC. Look it up.

It's great. It's really good. It's really well researched. It's got a lot of interviews with like insiders who like worked at Fox and will let go. interviews with like insiders who like worked at Fox and were let go. The guy who was responsible for confirming that Trump was going to lose was fired. He was right though. Like he was right. He did lose, but he got fired because of backlash.

So, you know, what do you do? Nothing. Anyways, it's been suggestible. And if you want to review the show, this highly uplifting show. I don't know why that made me so depressed, but it has made me so depressed. But I also think partly it's- I think people need to know. They absolutely do.

No, I think it's really important to talk about because I think that's where a lot of the problem with our discourse at the moment is there's so much misinformation and it's done deliberately. He's also a racist. I should point that out. He's very like anti-immigration. Like he's, yeah, he's just everything that I personally don't like in a human being, I guess.

Cool. Sorry. I know. I didn't, I'm not someone that has gone on championing Rupert Murdoch as someone who's wonderful. No, I know. I completely agree with I'm not someone that has gone on championing Rupert Murdoch as someone who's wonderful. No, I know. I completely agree with you. I completely agree with you.

I think what it is is that everything at the moment is so infuriating and depressing. Yeah. Like the pandemic and climate change, the IPCC report that came out, just all of it is heartbreaking and if I think about it in too much in depth, I will just lie on the floor and scream into the carpet. Yep. Like just on my face, just that's it and I don't think I'll ever get up again

because it makes me so sad and it makes me, when I'm not so tired, incredibly furious because I feel like men like Rupert Murdoch, and it is men in the majority. I mean there are exceptions like Gina Reinhart, for example. There are, but in the majority. And I love men. I'm not saying it's like all hashtags, not all men. But this particular cohort of very privileged men who have destroyed

our planet and set up a culture that does that for greed and power and wealth rather than for the good of each other, you know, because the good stuff about life, the real stuff that really matters is the small stuff. They're, you know, hanging with your kids stuff and they're looking at the sky stuff and they being able to. And your friends and your family. Yeah, but like the being able to enjoy a really good meal with the people that you love and your community right in front of you. And I think as human beings we're designed to be living in community like that with each other, person to person, caring for our environment. I could talk about this for ages but being present and connected

in with our world and the planet. And when you have guys like that that don't see any of that, that deal in these like kind of murky waters of power and greed and misinformation and ego and disregard for anyone else other than themselves. Yeah, dangerous because they don't, they'll do anything. Yeah, exactly. And what ends up happening is we chew up the world's resources

and we end up with capitalism and consumerism and all the bullshit that we've landed ourselves in now. This is fun. This is a good one. Yeah, I know. It's really depressing. But I could rant on about this for so long because in the end, the end result is they'll be dead and then my kids are going

to inherit a bloody shithole with none of the good stuff that actually matters. Like who the fuck cares if you've got the latest bloody iPhone, if you've dug enough out of the ground and you just keep spruiking the same things and like it just but I don't know how to get out of it because I live within that kind of society and that's the way our society functions because of people like Rupert Murdoch and, you know, a hundred other corporations who run most of the way that our planets

and society and economy work. And until we can change that at that high up level, it just feels really hopeless even though I know it's not hopeless. No. So one thing I will say, which is giving me heart, is that my sister currently is writing a book about sustainability and about clothes and fashion. She's going to fix everything.

No. Well, that wouldn't make me good. No, but what she has said to me and another friend of mine who is a plant scientist as well has said the same thing. Who's your plant scientist friend? Our friend. Oh, yeah, I know. You know.

Yeah, I know the same thing. Who's your plant scientist friend? Our friend. Oh, yeah, I know. You know, very smart. They have both said the same thing, irrespective of each other, which is that because they're looking at this all the time and the science, they know that the research is there and that things will be okay. Because having looked at all of the research, the smartest people in the world, the greatest minds are on this stuff and they'll figure it out. Maybe. I mean, hopefully. Yeah. But I think they genuinely, and that gives me heart because I think where,

you know, society and human beings are incredibly clever and, yes, the research and the science is there to figure all of this stuff out. It's just we need those dinosaurs like Reuben Modok to get out of the bloody way. Well, he won't unless. Just go and sit on a fucking island. He doesn't want to do that. Exactly.

He doesn't want that. He loves power and influence. No. And like being in the ear of like, you know, men in power. I hate, you know, the other thing Michelle Obama has said and then I've listened to a lot of other really smart women talk recently about this, when they get to those rooms where the powerful decisions are being made, the overwhelming feeling is mediocrity.

Yeah. So you meet these people and you're in those rooms where the deals are being done or whatever, where these huge sweeping decisions are happening for our communities. And we just have dullards up there making mediocre fucking decisions and then going and drinking whiskey and self-congratulating themselves. And that is the most depressing thing because then that's why we have these decisions that are so heartless and without any empathy for our kids and our kids' futures and the planet because we have dullards who are bloody clapping themselves

on the back and then, I don't know, but I'm just so sick of it. I just think why can't we have inspiring leaders with heart and with courage and with, you know, actual moral fibre? Because if you, why would you do it? But, yeah, instead we have these like vapid, you know, not everyone but so much of them just seem to be like, especially in our country, just these, in in the majority white men in suits who've led very privileged lives, whose wives do everything for them,

and then they make all these decisions that are like so depressing. Yeah. And disregard people who come from a multitude of different experiences and cultural backgrounds and disabilities and have, you know, because they are completely disconnected from the real world and what it's really like to be living through this stuff. Anyway, but we also have great politicians. I shouldn't land on this.

I don't know. Colleen, this is going to be a nightmare to edit because it's been really depressing. Colleen, maybe don't put that extra podcast at the end. Just link it below. This will be enough. This will be enough depression in one episode. Anyways, we should wrap it up, Claire. We should.

Take a breath. I know. It's going to be okay maybe. I don't know. If you do want to review the show, maybe that will make you feel better. Just like Tyrion the Cat who says, this podcast makes me happy. Tyrion the Cat just did this in app, by the way. I just opened it up and went bada bing, bada bam.

Here we go. I wish I could listen to Claire and James every day. Probably not after this one. I haven't actually watched, read or listened to most of the things I suggested. However, the things I have I've really enjoyed and listening to them joke and debate and express their opinions always brightens my day. Also, Claire's new podcast, Brackets Taunts, is great and obviously Weekly Planet is great too, obviously.

I mean, obviously. That goes without saying. But yeah, thank you very much, Mr The Cat. Thank you, Mr The Cat. That is so lovely. And if you would like to email this show and tell us how wrong we are about the political landscape and how two people who have no political background at all.

I mean, it's not even about like I'm not talking about left and right and things. I'm talking about just blatant misinformation and just hate, which gets people just like riled up. Riled up into those two camps, right? Anyway, go on. No, I completely agree with you. I didn't mean to kick this off. Because I don't mean that either.

Like I think that there are wonderful people on both sides. I think at heart most people are good. And if you meet somebody like one-to-one, people are good. And people also want similar things. But it gets, you know, they want generally. You know, everybody do have a fair go as they say and whatever, but that's not always the case necessarily. Anyway, what am I doing?

Go. Do the thing. I'm sorry. Oh, my God. All right. Yeah, so you can also email the show at testforpot.gmail.com. I love emailing the show. I know.

And this is a happy thing to end on. This is from David Krappenschitz. Is that really their name? I don't know. Wow. School must have been brutal. I don't think that's really their name. I'm not really sure.

He's written, hey, guys, love the pod. Your conversations are so heartwarming and wholesome. Not today, mate. Wow. Well, my suggestion is the last leg coverage of the Tokyo Paralympics. Oh, yeah. And the wider Channel 4 coverage of the games. The Last Leg is a TV show which started in the 2012

and is hosted by Adam Hill and Ozzy and Alex Brooker, who both have one leg as well as Josh Whittacombe. The show is a celebration of all the amazing athletes involved in the Paralympic Games and also gives a good overview of all the events that happened that day. They also involve and interview a lot of the athletes themselves, which most of the UK coverage of the Olympics didn't. The show and the rest of Channel 4's coverage has made the

Paralympics feel a lot more enjoyable and fun than the Olympics for me. I'm really excited, actually. I've been meaning to show my son because I got so into the Olympics and I've been meaning to show my son some Paralympic stuff and we just haven't got there because of homeschooling. But I think that's going to be an activity for tomorrow. I think, as I said to you as well, I think they should have the Paralympics in the later because I think people are like, oh, the Olympics are done or whatever.

But they're not. They're these massive, like these incredible athletes. Oh, yeah. And I think if you just had it as like, you know, because it feels done when the Olympics are done, you know what I mean? But you could make it, if you made it like a one-month kind of thing or do like two weeks and then a week and then have a break and then anyway, I don't know.

I feel like, you know what I think? I think they shouldn't have had the break in between, even though I'm sure logistically they have to. I'm sure there's a reason why, yeah, yeah. But I just feel like it got, and maybe our media and things weren't reporting on it in the same way. That's certainly true, yeah. Because it's just so incredibly moving and also just incredible

what people are achieving. Like I just think bloody amazing. Absolutely, yeah. Yeah, so I'm really excited to watch some of the Paralympics. Excellent. Thank you so much, David Krapenschitz. Mr. Krapenschitz. It's been an absolute pleasure.

It's been a pleasure. All right, this has been Suggestible Podcast. Look, we're sorry, all right? We're sorry. Oh, no. Guys, guys, real talk. We've been stuck in this house, just the two of us. It's true.

And two other little humans and a dog for a long time. But we have to move on. First day of spring. First day of spring. It's all coming up roses. It'll be fine. It's okay. Everything will be all right.

Will it? Who knows? I don't know. Anyway, bye, everybody. Don't put that thing on the end, Colleen. Just link it below. People can find it if they want. Goodbye.

Goodbye. It's too long. It's too long. This podcast is part of the planet broadcasting network visit planet broadcasting.com for more podcasts from our great mates introducing uber teen accounts an uber account for your teen with enhanced safety features your teen can request a ride with top rated drivers and you can track every trip on the live map in the uber app uber accounts. Invite your teen to join your Uber account today. Available in select locations.

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