Suggestible - I Hate Places

Episode Date: November 25, 2020

Suggestible things to watch, read and listen to. Hosted by James Clement @mrsundaymovies and Claire Tonti @clairetonti.Visit bigsandwich.co for a bonus weekly show, monthly movie commentary, early stuff and ad-free podcast feeds for $9 per month.This week’s Suggestibles:The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air ReunionWil’s Father SceneBel-Air Gritty RebootRed Table TalkThree Hours by Rosamund LuptonNew Super Mario Bros. U DeluxeUnlocking Us with Gabby RiveraJuliet Takes a Breath by Gabby RiveraMarvel’s Voices: Indigenous VoicesWerewolf By Night (2020)Send 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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Uber Teen Accounts. Invite your teen to join your Uber account today. Available in select locations. See app for details. Hello, listeners. James just said yos instead of yes. I would never say yos in my life. Oh, you've made me say it.

That's a word I promised I'd never say. Well, as I've already established on this show, I'll always get you anytime, anywhere, any day. It's true. I'm Claire. James is here also. We are Suggestible Pod. We're married and we recommend you stuff.

That's it. That's it. I was going to add something but you said it all. I have to say to you, I'm done with the waffle. I feel like during lockdown we got waffley. We got complacent. We're getting loose. We got loose.

These used to be 30-minute shows. Yeah, and now I don't know what happened. We lost our minds. But now we're back, baby. We're out of lockdown. That's right. We can even leave our house without a mask on. That's right.

The clock's on. It's a tick and a tick-tock and a tick-tock-tick. So. I think we probably mentioned this last week, but if you are going into lockdown or in some stage of lockdown, best of luck depending on how the rest of the country is reacting also, I guess. I'm so sorry, friends. But, you know, they're rolling out the vaccines.

Vaccines are coming over the horizon. They might even start in December. But then, of course, that depends on, you know, if everybody takes it or not. Updates and all the things. Whether it affects herd immunity and whatever and so forth. What are we here to talk about? No. Whether it affects herd immunity and whatever and so forth. What are Tina talking about? No. We're here to bring you some jollies.

Things we don't understand. We're here to bring you some jollies from sunny Australia, mate, because it's sunny over here. It's no longer winter and I'm sorry if you're going into winter. But you know what? Christmas is a great time. I've never experienced a cold Christmas. But if you're having one this year, ooh, snug as a bug.

Get into the old Christmas spirit and eat lots of pud. You don't have to leave your house. No one has to see you. No. Just sit there in front of the television and we're going to give you loads of things to read, watch and listen to while you're in there. So, James, you're up. First up.

I feel like I'm running a bit low on like things to watch that are like. Cheerful? No. That's not a surprise. I'll watch a grim thing. I've got a couple. Both of mine are cheerful this week actually. Someone's got like a show.

That's like. Then again, I haven't seen The Wire. I haven't watched all of like Sopranos. Like there's things that I haven't watched that I should just be. I haven't watched Veep. It's so good. Yeah, so anyway. I've got some other things that I'm working on.

You know what I haven't watched? Schitt's Creek. I just named. I'm like I don't have anything. I just named, I'm like, I don't have anything. I just named like five shows. And I'm currently watching like two shows at the moment. Exactly. Ridiculous.

Dear God. All right. Well, do you have something? I got something. What I watched, and this was on, I think it was on, might have been HBO Max. I'm just drinking a Diet Coke while you do that. Nothing wrong with that.

Zero calories, all cancer. So what it is, Airdong, I think Stan here, it's the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air reunion where they get – did you ever watch that show? What do you mean did I ever watch that show? Like it was an obscure show in the 90s. No, not obscure. I mean it was –

We didn't get every show all the time. I love the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Are you kidding me? That was part of my childhood, mate. Yeah. I pulled up to the house about 7 a.m. He does the time. I love the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Are you kidding me? That was part of my childhood, mate. Yeah. I pulled up to the house about seven o'clock. He does the rap. I yelled to the cab, you know, I'll tell you later.

Look at my kinder, my smiley there. The suit on my throat is the Prince of Bel-Air. He does the rap at the end. Will Smith does the rap with the cast. Oh, really? So what they do, they rebuild the set. Like it's like one-to to one exactly the same as it was and they all wander on they all look great by the way uh james avery who i think yeah he who played

um the uncle phil he's passed on since oh i think he passed in like 2013 so that's a big focus of it but basically it's just this round table discussion of they're just going through memories and all these kinds of things that happen. I'm not really a huge fan of like reunion specials. There was one like MASH that I quite liked from, that was probably like a couple of decades ago now. Did you watch the Full House one they did? No, this isn't like a new episode. It's just the re-edits going over.

They're just talking about like memories from the show and behind the scenes stuff. And it's really funny. They've clearly got like great chemistry still. It's got great insight into their personal lives and also their professional lives and kind of how they've gone since and in terms of like they all kind of knew like Will Smith was going to be a star and how he talks about how he wasn't an actor.

You're going to be a star. Every time someone says that I always think of someone with one of those like funny hats on an angle. He's got a cigar. Yeah, exactly. You're going to be a star. Every time someone says that, I always think of someone with one of those, like, funny hats on an angle. He's got a cigar. Yeah, exactly. You're going to be a star. Yeah, that's. I'm going to make you a star.

You're going to be a star. Have your name up in the light. Up in the light. Here's looking at you, kid. Yeah. Okay. That was fun. So he was really young.

I think he was, like, 21 when when it started and he wasn't an actor and you see in scenes he's like mouthing other people's lines because he's like memorised the whole script. Yeah, yeah, yeah. None of them, they're all actors except for him. Yeah. They go into like the relationship between him and Carlton in the show and how that reflected them in real life also.

You know Emma Watson, sorry, I just interrupted you. You know Emma Watson does that in Harry Potter a lot because she wasn't a trained actor either. Yeah, right. Playing Hermione. There's the baby monitor. Every time. Just in time.

Yeah. She's often, you can see if you zoom in into scenes, she's like mouthing all the words of all the other characters because she's such a cool book nerd. She memorised everybody's lines. No doubt. I think that's, there's something kind of endearing about that as well. Like you don't look at it and go, oh, man, this ruins it.

It kind of adds to it, do you know what I mean? Oh, totally, yeah. It makes it more interesting. But one of the things that they really get into is James Avery and how like he was the linchpin of the show, like he was this huge like force to be reckoned with but like really kind and gentle and this father figure to all of them, you know, and how in many ways because a lot of them were so young and they'd spent six years together

five days a week, they'd see each other more than they saw their actual families, you know. So they became this really tight-knit unit and it goes through a number of the scenes and his influence in particular. You've probably seen it, the scene where Will Smith's dad leaves. Have you ever seen this scene? where Will Smith's dad leaves. Like they're supposed to go on. Have you ever seen this scene? Yeah.

It's really great. It's like this amazing piece of acting. But it's basically his father turns back up in his life after disappearing when he was five. And, like, it's like this kind of whirlwind of, like, my dad's back, we're going on a trip together, whatever. And then his dad tries to, like, skip out and be like, and he's like, oh, just tell Will that I can't, I can't, I've got something else.

And, and, and then Will Smith has this like moment where he like breaks down and it's amazing. It's incredible. It's such, it's a really, it's a really powerful scene. It's, it's, it's probably the most well-known scene from the show, but he talks about the experience of that and working with James Avery to kind of make that work and the way that he helped him be like a better person and a better actor. So the other big part of it is there were, I don't know if you remember this,

there were two Aunt Vivians in that show. So in the first couple, two seasons, three seasons, her name was Janet Hubert and she was, at the time it was reported that she was pushed out, that she was fired from the show. And she's got this really amazing episode, I don't know if you remember it, where she goes to a dance studio because she wants to audition for a dance group. I can't remember what it's for exactly, but the other women make fun of her

and they're like, you're too old to do this and whatever. And then at the end of the show, she busts out this amazing choreographed dance. And because she's – this woman in real life is incredible. She's obviously a professional trained dancer. She's a terrific actor. Like she looks stunning as well. And even now, like she looks incredible.

But that really had massive ramifications for her because she also speaks about, nobody had spoken to her in like 30 years. Like it was kind of implied that Will Smith kind of was very difficult to her and like got her kind of pushed out or like kind of locked her out of the show. And so they had this sit down. It's just those two and they kind of was very difficult to her and like got her kind of pushed out, all that kind of locked her out of the show. And so they had this sit down, it's just those two, and they kind of go through it. Like she's been very critical of him on social media like the past like 10 years talking about like what had happened.

And he – so they actually sit down and talk about how that kind of unfolded. And one of the main things they get into was she was pregnant during that entire year, which is something that he also talks about since he's having had kids since that he didn't understand, do you know what I mean? He didn't understand what this impact can have on a person. She was also in like, she hints towards this like abusive relationship that she was in and she was so stuck at home, she's not getting any support. She comes into work and she's kind of, I feel like she's being like frozen out.

And so she ended up, they kind of, I think she quit or they asked for, she wanted like, it wasn't more money, but it was like a reasonable amount of money. And they just fired her and they just replaced her. And the woman who they replaced her with, she's good. Like she's not terrible. It's not her fault, you know. And it's just, it's a really like frank and like just

out there discussion which you kind of don't see with this stuff, you know what I mean, because they have all this history together. And also what they go through is a lot of the stuff in the show, a lot of the social issues are still really relevant. There's a scene where they get pulled over by the cops and they're in like a, you know, they're a rich family and they're in like a Mercedes Benz or something. And Carlton doesn't have an understanding that the police,

like this could go south for him. And Will Smith, because he's from Philly, his character, like does know that. So they both, he has this kind of awakening of how like people are being treated and they even talk about how like that's, these are issues that you look at it now and don't go, oh, that was like 30 years ago or whatever. That's still very relevant. A lot of stuff that they talk about how like that's these are issues that you look at it now and don't go oh that was like 30 years ago or whatever that's still very relevant a lot of stuff that they talk about like class systems and race and all these things play a huge factor and how influential this show

was it's it's really amazing like it's always a show that i've like really enjoyed but it it just kind of highlighted for me that like this was it was very like pioneering and very real in a lot of ways and also like silly and ludicrous and there's a lot of like ridiculous shit and fun dances and whatever. Like it's all of these things. And it's just a – it was really great. Like I really loved it and you should watch it. Definitely.

Well, it's so interesting because I was quite young watching it and I remember it as being funny and fun and had a lot of great chemistry and I loved Will Smith's character and the idea of the family just seemed like such an amazingly warm place to spend time in. But I hadn't, I don't think I was conscious of that kind of social commentary that was going on behind it. I remember we were quite young when it came out. Yeah.

And we didn't also get like every sitcom and I think the reason, or like consistently, and I think the reason or like consistently and the reason like I know this show so well is because towards like the mid to late 90s they just started playing it every afternoon at like 4.30. Yeah. So I just started like I've just seen them all. Like I don't think there's an episode I haven't seen.

And like Roseanne I have barely seen because it's not, like it was maybe on once a week at like 8 o'clock on a Thursday or something. I don't fucking know. But this show just happened to be on every day. So it was like, it was the same with MASH. Like I have this kind of connections that you just happen to have because luckily the network picked it up. Of the time because MASH was on at 5 o'clock and I'd always watch,

I do, I'd watch Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and then I'd watch MASH. And actually, interestingly, both of those shows were pioneering in different ways, weren't they? Totally, yeah. And actually really progressive and kind of with a lot of adult themes in them, particularly MASH, I guess. Yes. And I'm watching it as an eight-year-old.

They both are, like, in their own ways. They have a lot of adult themes, yeah. It was really incredible. And just, like, I know someone made like a fake trailer for like a gritty reboot and I think they're actually doing it. Like they're rebooting it but they're doing it as like a drama kind of thing which I think it's one of those things like if you're going to reboot it, which you probably shouldn't, you can't recast it

as a comedy. So it could potentially work. I don't think they should bring it back. No, because it's lightning in a bottle, right? I mean that's Will Smith in that era being just like this kind of, well, not a trained actor coming in with all the charisma that he has into that cast and the chemistry they all had. That's lightning in a bottle.

You can't reboot that in a way. It's just, yeah. I'm a bit worried about the Friends reboot. I feel like, and I don't even, I mean, it's not a reboot, they're doing a reunion. Yeah, a reunion show. I feel like that's not going to be, I mean, maybe it'll be amazing, but like I don't, I don't like Friends that much.

Like I like it and I've seen a lot of it, probably not as much as you have. See, I love it. I still really love it. I mean, I know it's problematic in lots of ways, but it was just like Sex and the City. It was really progressive at the time. And when you look back, you think, ooh. Yeah.

But also you have to take it. You've got to look it through that lens. And, I mean, I think the comedies and the characters feel like family to me. And I think that's what's part of the joy of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air as well, is when shows become part of your childhood in that way, they kind of become a part of the way that you grew up and you almost feel like you know them because you come home from school and you might have had a really rough day and you can sit and just watch this kind of world unfold and it's funny and I don't know.

Yeah, I think I had a crush on Will Smith. You ran out of crush on Will Smith. He was awesome. What I find interesting about Will Smith, like he was super cool and I feel like in the last 10 years he's sort of like become way less cool. But I think this and maybe some other things that he's done has started to like it's coming around again. Have you heard about what he's doing on Facebook?

I have no idea what he's doing on Facebook. All right. So I think it's called The Red Table. So his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, and their family, Jada has sort of launched this TV show on Facebook. You can have sort of shows. It's called The Red. I think it's called The Red Table.

It's basically like a confessional. And I wonder whether Will got the idea for sitting with that cast member from the format that he takes with Jada. Oh, is this where they sat down and they talked about when she cheated on him and whatever? Yeah, she cheated on him in their breakdown of their marriage and she kind of brings people in and has these really raw sort of, I guess, honest conversations.

She does it with her daughter. That's interesting. Yeah, yeah. And so like their whole family comes in and so her and Will have had quite a few times where they've sat and really had this very, very kind of raw discussion and very frank about where they've been at. So, yeah, I wonder whether that was an influence in the table range.

You know what, it started in 2018, so, yeah, probably. And I think what makes this show so. It is called The Red Table, right? Yeah, I just googled it, yeah. It's been going for like so many episodes. Yeah, it's like. I just thought there was that one. It's been going for like so many episodes. Yeah, it's like – I just thought that was that one. I didn't really –

No, no, it's a whole series. I was going like Tony Braxton and Kid Cudi, Tiffany Haddish. There's a lot of really interesting names. Gabriel Union, yeah, that's interesting. Yeah, yeah. Don Lemon. And it's a new – well, it's not new but it's an interesting format. I've never really used Facebook in that way and I still don't really.

No. But there is content on there like TV shows and stuff that you can watch. Yeah, cool. Through Facebook. So there you go. Not sponsored but that sounds so good I'm totally on board for that. Yeah, I don't see like the Fresh Friends being that interesting

but, you know, maybe it will be. Maybe they'll be like we all hated each other or whatever. No, I can't really see that. No, I don't think that. Yeah. They'll be like we all got a million dollars an episode or whatever. Yeah, I think, yeah, it'll be interesting anyway. Anyway, we should.

We're talking about 30 minutes or shit, right? I know. I've got to keep moving the ball rolling. All right, I'm so excited about this first recommendation. Oh, my God. I know on the surface of it it might sound like something I would recommend often, but this book, Three Hours by Rosamund Lupton, I'd never heard of Rosamund Lupton before and this book, Three Hours by Rosamund Lupton, I'd never heard of Rosamund Lupton before and this book,

I just got it recommended to me by someone. From the very first page I could not put it down. You were banging on about this book. You were like this book is my book. It's been a long time I think since I've really just been grabbed by the horns by a book and absolutely like just ripping through it page after page. Like a book. Yeah. So yeah, like a book. Anyway, so if you at Find It Hard are in a reading rush at the moment, this is the book for you because you'll just race through it. So the

tagline is three hours to save the people you love. Rosamund Lupton is a bestselling author of four books. This is her fourth, particularly her book Sister, which I'm so excited to read, is another thriller as well. She writes bestselling stylish thrillers that are outstandingly suspenseful and fast-paced. Three hours, this novel, is narrated in 10-minute increments throughout a terrifying snowy morning set in rural Somerset in the UK in the middle of a blizzard. And it's set in a progressive school, like a high school,

and basically the school is then put under siege. So the opening scene is the headmaster, I'm not spoiling anything, being shot. Yeah, right. And so we're used to seeing these kind of stories and heartbreakingly because of, you know, what's happening in the US, we're used to hearing about them happening in the US. Yeah, though not this year.

No, no, interestingly, yeah. Whereas in the UK it's kind of a jarring setting. It would be the same here. Like if it happened it would be very unusual. It could definitely happen. Totally. But it's very, I mean, our gun laws are very different. Anyway, so it's told from the point of view of the people at the heart

of the story, from the wounded headmaster in the library, unable to help his trapped pupils and staff, to teenage Hannah, who's in love for the first time, to the parents gathering desperate for news, and that in itself as a parent is just, or as anyone, but a parent particularly is heartbreaking because you see there are kindergartners as well who are quite young. So it's a school from prep to year 12 and so there's kids stuck in the pottery room and so you see the parents of the kindergartners

and also parents of kids who are missing and they can't find them and you get into their heads. It also then moves to Raffi who's a 16-year-old refugee trying to rescue his little brother Bassie and he becomes like a central figure in the story. Right. And another interesting character is a police psychologist who must identify the gunman and it goes through her psychology and she's sort of sitting in the police trucks and she's pregnant actually

at the time as well. This sounds like it would make a great British show. Yeah, I do not doubt that someone is going to try and turn this into a TV show. To the students taking refuge in the school theatre, so the students in the school theatre are currently rehearsing for Macbeth and so they end up continuing to rehearse Macbeth throughout the novel and she kind of quite cleverly, I think. Works it into the narrative?

Yeah, she works it into the narrative, which I think is really interesting because there's also themes of the refugee crisis in Syria and you get a lot of flashbacks for Rafi and his brother in the journey that they took from Syria in losing their parents and their story starts to become intertwined with the school and why it's under siege. I won't spoil it but there's a lot to be taken from the novel. On the surface it reads as a thriller and it's very gripping

but it's also a lot about the plight of humanity and about love and forgiveness and redemption, about what you would be like in that kind of scenario and imagining whether, you know, you would be brave or whether you would hide and what lengths you would go to for the people that you love. And then also being a parent in that situation or a teacher and what you would do. And I think being a parent and a teacher, it's kind of interesting to think about the responsibility you have as a teacher to a group of kids and then the kind of way that different teachers respond to the crisis initially.

Yeah. And some people shut down and some people are extraordinarily, you know. It's kind of terrifying that you don't really know how you'd react. No, and you like to think you'd be that really brave person who would go out there. But some people in a crisis freeze. You know, there's kind of that fight or flight and some people freeze. So, you know, you could run away or you could step up to the mark.

It also deals a lot with PTSD, particularly with Syrian refugees because Rafi is the one who discovers the bomb first up. Oh, wow. And the headmaster believes him. I thought it was a shooting. Oh, yeah, so there are bombs planted around the school. But it is a shooting. There's armed gunmen that come into the school,

but it begins with a bomb exploding and it kind of unravels from there. So it's, yeah, I would highly recommend it. It's just, yeah, really, really, really. That sounds really good. Unputdownable. You can't put it down. You can't put it down. Don't even bother.

So, yeah, and I'm so excited because Rosamund Lupton has three other books I haven't read. Oh. So I love that when you stumble onto an author and it happens literally all the time. Yeah, and you suddenly realise there's a whole other, like, a lot of books to get through. So I'm really looking forward to that. Perfect.

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Uber Teen Accounts. Invite your teen to join your Uber account today. Available in select locations. See app for details. Well, I'm going to tell you about the game New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, which is a re-release that came out in 2019, but it originally came out on the Nintendo Wii U in 2012, I believe. So it's got the classic Mario feel.

It's a 2D side-scroller like the original Mario. It's not in this 3D world thing, and the reason I started playing it again. But does's got the classic Mario feel. It's a 2D side scroller like the original Mario. It's not in this 3D world thing. And the reason I started playing it again. But does it have the theme song, James? Yeah, it's got the theme song probably, I guess. Are you sure? I don't know. I can't remember.

It's got other stuff going on in it. Are you proud I got the theme song right this time? But what... Our food's probably here. So I want to get through this. I can eat all the Indian food. So like most Mario stories, it's very minimal. You know, the castle gets taken over, princess kidnapped and whatever.

You can choose between four playable characters, but I've kind of been slowly kind of playing a little bit of video games with our son, like, you know, maybe 20 minutes a day. I know. Which you love. It's very limited and it's not every day. And he loves it so much because he did say to me today, I hate places. Yeah.

And I've really come to realise that you and him are very similar and I'm understanding you more as I get to know him more. I also hate places. And you love video games and you love staying at home and not going to places. True. So I think I'm giving in. But the good thing about this game is that, no,

I don't want it to be like hours on hours. I just get worried about addiction. Totally. I get worried about being absorbed in that and wasting time. Yeah, which is why I'm trying to limit it as well because I think with anything, you know, it shouldn't be like it's a recreational thing but it's like you've got to put a cap on it. But it's kind of like he's picked it up fairly quickly but it's still like it's not super easy, you know what I mean?

Like it's quite brutal at parts. So it's just interesting watching him kind of learn and like the way that the game is designed, it kind of teaches you as you go. And like I like giving pointers like, I'll try doing this and whatever and what the different power-ups do. But, yeah, it's really good because we've done, we did a little bit of the Super Mario 3D All-Stars, which I talked about.

We did a bit of Mario Kart 8, which has, like, an auto-driving thing you can put on. So he does, like, a lot of the steering, but you can, it'll keep you on the track essentially. But this is, like, kind of the next level of, like, kind of difficulty. I know, you know, are you saying you seem real no i'm actually really impressed and i like as much as like a big part of me is like i think also like if he likes him we can't if we if we keep him away from him it'll it will backfire yeah in the long term you're right i know i know it's like all of this

stuff that it's like the internet you can't just just say, no, internet, it's not safe. You have to teach them how to be in there. It's like anything, right? Like the internet is just like another version of the world out there. Yeah, totally. You can't prevent, you know, them bumping into terrible things. You have to help them negotiate and navigate how to recognise when things are going to be dangerous and then how to step back from them. Exactly. Unfortunately, as much as I'd like to wrap them in cotton wool

and keep them at home. They turn weird, you know, on that. Yeah, even though, I mean, he does like to stay at home. Literally all I wanted to do was go to a park this morning. If it's a thing that he knows. I hate places, Mum. What places? All the places.

No, no, no, that's not even true. Like it's only when you've got to like he's had to have been there or you kind of show him what it is. You know what I mean? He doesn't like you. He likes to know, like me as well, I like to know what I'm walking into. Even when it's like a new playground. Yeah.

I showed it to him actually and then he was happy to go. Exactly. Because you two are so suspicious of life, whereas I'm like, sure, I'll do a thing. I don't mind. Well, let's just get there and see what it's like. And I'm like, sure, I'll do a thing. I don't mind. Well, let's just get there and see what it's like. And I'm like, oh, this fucking guy. Anyway.

They're like, hello. I'm like, no, no, definitely not. That's what happened at the playground today. A kid started following him and he just said, mummy, I don't like it. That kid's following me. He's like four. I was like, mate, just tell him to go away. He's like, I told him to go away.

He wouldn't go away. Let's go home. That was it. He was having a great time. Let's mate, just tell him to go away. He's like, I told him to go away. He wouldn't go away. Let's go home. That was it. He was having a great time. Let's go home. We have to go home. That kid was following me. I love him.

He's hysterical. He is. Anyway, can I recommend one more thing? Or have you got any more Mario to talk about? Get into it. It's fun. Okay, cool. Okay, so I think you might already know about this.

Do you know about Gabby Rivera? I don't know about Gabby Rivera. All right. So I listened to a podcast by Brene Brown called Unlocking Us. Love that podcast. She's an American writer, I would say. Yeah. So Gabby Rivera is a Bronx-born queer Puerto Rican author on a mission

to create the wildest, most fun stories ever. Oh, she's worked for Marvel. Yeah. So she's the first Latina to write for Marvel Comics, penning the solo series America About America Chavez, a portal punching queer Latina powerhouse. Yes, I wondered whether you knew about her. I do.

This particular interview with Brene Brown and Gabby is just joyful. She talks about herself as being joyfully rebellious, which I just love. She talks about kind of growing up in her community and how connected she was with her family and with food. But obviously she grew up in a very Catholic, conservative part of the Bronx. And then being queer and being, you know, a chubby, different kind of girl and really kind of nerdy and how she developed her writing ability through that. And then how her parents basically supported her to write her first book, which I can't wait to read. It's called Juliet Takes a Breath. And Roxane Gay, who is this incredible feminist activist and writer, called it effing outstanding. And I think she self-published it and then Penguin Random House

have since published it in September 2019. That's really cool. Yeah, it's really, really cool. Full props for doing that. Yeah, bloody amazing. It's so hard to get something published. Right, exactly. So she's also an LGBTQ youth advocate and she just goes around the country

spreading her joy revolution, talking about writing and creativity and she's really into superheroes and comics and all that stuff. I mean, obviously, Claire. Obviously. And Juliet Takes a Breath, I think, is such an important, it's actually a young adult novel. You're right.

So I think it would be perfect to you if you have a teenager in your life. It would be such a good novel to recommend to them. And the protagonist, Juliette, is sort of loosely based on Gabby herself and what she went through as a teenager but also kind of not and it's a classic kind of hero's journey. So anyway, but this particular conversation with Brené is just heartwarming and really interesting. particularly the conversation with Brene is just heartwarming and really interesting.

And I just love how she ended up writing this like amazing, you know, solo comic series and working for Marvel. Like that's just amazing. That's really great. Yeah. And all on the back of her creativity. It's always good to have like different voices in any industry. Right, in diversity.

But yeah, just hearing different people, it's really interesting. Correct. Yeah, exactly. I never understand why people are doing it in different people is really interesting. Correct. Yeah, exactly. I never understand why people are like, oh, I can't relate to this. Or like there's a lot of like this is just diversity for diversity's sake. Well, we live in a diverse world so I guess the planet is diversity for diversity's sake. Exactly.

I think the best thing I actually loved about what I took from their conversation on the podcast, Unlocking Us, was the way she described storytelling in her family and how her dad and her auntie are just these incredible storytellers and any time anyone was in the house, they would just be telling these really colourful, hilarious. And do you think that's where she got her? Totally. Yeah, yeah.

You can see it. Don't let the dog out. Oh, totally. Yeah, you can really see the colour and life that she brings into her writing and into her activism kind of come alive through her childhood and the stories of her childhood. So it's, yeah, and I just that the way she talks about culture too. Way to cross over though. Good work, Claire. People who've come over from my more successful

podcast, The Weekly Planet will be very impressed. Anyway. Yeah. So I recommend listening to that podcast. I haven't read the book yet, so I'll let you know, but I'm assuming it's going to be awesome. There's been some really great reviews. That's it. That's the show. Speaking of awesome though, we've got a new way to do letters this week, don't we? Oh, yes. So I came up with it last week. Basically you can send a voice memo in. You can also just email the show with a regular email. Yeah, we'll take your regular emails.

I love those as well. But if you would like to have your voice on the actual show, you can record on your iPhone a voice memo. Please make sure that you say your name and where you're listening from. Yeah. That would be amazing. Up top. Up top. Straight up the top.

And, yeah, just email us and through the wonders of technology, Raw Collings, who always edits this show so wonderfully, can put it into the show. No, no, we can do it here because you can just play it through. Oh, yeah, we can. Even more wonderful technology. We can totally do it. So let's listen together.

All right. Okay, so this is our first one. Cheers. Let's go. Hi, Claire and James. My can totally do it. Let's listen together. All right. Okay, so this is our first one. Cheers. Let's go. Hi, Claire and James. My name's Nathaniel. I'm voice reviewing in from unceded Omaha land, what is also known as the state of Nebraska.

It's Native American Heritage Month, and as a member of the Oglala Lakota Nation, I have a couple of new comic books to suggest to celebrate. Marvel's Voices, Indigenous Voices No. 1, and the first two issues of Werewolf by Night. Indigenous Voices No. 1 brings together some of the hottest

indigenous writers and artists to tell stories of your favorite indigenous Marvel characters. Already, this issue makes it apparent that the solution to better stories

and fewer stereotypes of indigenous characters is to have their stories told by actual indigenous people. This special issue is cool, but I'm even more excited to keep reading

the new run of Werewolf by Night. Issue 2 comes out this week. It's a cool book written by Taboo of the Black Eyed Peas. So check them out. If you hear any noise in the background, I'm a stay-at-home dad and my little one is playing away. My wife and I love the podcast and appreciate your parenting suggestions and personal stories. It's really made us feel not alone during our first year as new parents.

So thanks a lot. Have a good one, guys. Bye. Oh my goodness. That was awesome. We should do this all. So thanks a lot. Have a good one, guys. Bye. Oh, my goodness. That was awesome. We should do this all the time. I know. It's so good, isn't it?

Thanks so much, Nate. We really, really appreciate it. Thanks for the recommendation. I was going through the comics that are out this week, and I had Werewolf by Night issue one, like, literally in front of me, like on my computer. Oh, there you go. It's almost like you guys have a lot in common.

I'm sticking out the indigenous voices. Yeah, who would have thought? Yeah, absolutely. Well, thanks so much, Nathaniel. Yeah, amazing. So if you would like to have your voice on the podo, please email us your voice memo in. That's right. We would love it. All right. And how can you review the show, James Balls? Just open up the app and you're like, how do I do this? Appity app, bada b-bada-bada-bada. Appity-app, bada-bada-bada-bada. This one is from RPG Whiz. I love the podcast.

Does he like to whiz? It doesn't say it's a man, woman, anything in between. We don't even know, Claire. We're on the spectrum. Who's to say? But they say honest, hilarity, candor and suggestions from a bantering, bickering and opinionated married couple who are both great people. Well, James and Claire.

Well, I am. I don't know about that guy over there. James and Claire are the best. Keep on suggesting. P.S. I, for one, love it when you guys get political. Well. Well, don't you worry.

We'll continue to possibly. Cool. Never stop, won't stop. You know what might stop? What might stop? The hair on your head growing. You never know. Because you're getting old, mate

I'm getting old, mate I'm getting old You look great I don't believe you You shouldn't Let's Alright, is that it? Thank you

Listen, I just want to turn up on the first day of school with my son And look around and go Yeah, I'm not the worst looking guy here You're already doing that. We had our first transition for like first year of school for next year and you just had a long time. It was a Zoom call. On the Zoom call just looking at everybody, comparing yourself.

No, no, I was making fun of everybody, Claire, if anything. Don't tell everyone. No, I wasn't doing that. No, I was mostly trying to get a rise out of you. Yeah, you were. And we were on the screen and I felt like the kids at the back of the classroom where the teacher's talking and I'm trying to listen and I've got my mate in the corner just trying to make me laugh.

So then they were talking about something very serious and social emotional and I'm giggling away on the Zoom because you kept telling ridiculous things. I'm a teacher. I heard it all before. But, you know, it was good, I guess. Like it was good to hear too, make a really good score. And honestly, the people seemed very nice of what we saw

on the Zoom call. And I'll get to meet them all very soon. And then we've got a brand new bunch of friends and there's barbecues every week. And people recognising us up the street. And a whole decade of new people in our life. And maybe some of them will listen to this one day and be like, does James actually hate me?

And maybe I do. No, you just don't like people. I don't like places, Claire. Yeah, you don't like places. It's just like us. It's good to make friends. You say that like you're telling yourself. Let's go because I want to eat food.

All right. So long. Have a great week. Thanks, Colleen. Yeah, thanks, Colleen, for editing. We've been Chessable Pod. We'll never stop. Bye.

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