Suggestible - Radical Empathy

Episode Date: February 17, 2021

Suggestible things to watch, read and listen to. Hosted by James Clement @mrsundaymovies and Claire Tonti @clairetonti.Sign up here for Claire's brand new weekly newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/4ec4475df6f4/tontsnewsletterThis week’s Suggestibles start at 13:10:A TeacherI May Destroy YouThe RentalThe Mother FaultDrivewaysSend 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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All right. Anyway, bing bong, bing bong, bing bong. Yes. We're here. We're back. Yes, indeedy-doody-day. I feel good because we're. Doody-day, doody-day.

Between this week and last week's episode. There were seven days. There were seven. Yeah, in total last week's episode. There were seven days. There were seven, yeah, in total. That's right. But little to my knowledge, I think everybody else saw this coming who was watching the news, we were heading towards another lockdown and then we went into lockdown on Friday and then by the time this goes out, we're out of lockdown.

It was like a quick five-day lockdown and I'm just like, thank Christ, because I don't think I could do another 100 months or whatever we did last year. We did like over 100 days, didn't we, in lockdown? It was brutal. Look, hello. Just before we get started, I'm Claire. James is here also. We are married.

This is a suggestible podcast and we recommend you things. We do not, however, recommend lockdowns. I know, Claire. We do recommend them for personal health and safety. Oh, we absolutely do. They're super important. I just meant on a personal level. Oh, no, they're terrible.

Not for, like, a good fun time. No. Now, I want to say this because in Melbourne we had a massive lockdown last year and we've just done this five-day lockdown. Yes. If you are someone in the UK or the US or anywhere else all over the world, If you are someone in the UK or the US or anywhere else all over the world, in Europe, anywhere, in South America, in Africa.

I was going to name all the countries. Yeah, everywhere, all over the world. In Asia, I am so sorry if you are stuck in your home. It sucks. It sucks really bad and we're here to cheer you up and I'm just so sorry. We are so lucky where we are in Australia that we just did a five-day lockdown just in our state and we're out of it again. But I don't mean to throw our joy at being released from our house in your face if you were stuck in your house.

Oh, I do. I very much do. Anyway, however, so putting that aside, we're here to support you. We think you're great. Agreed. However, I have to say I hated these five days. I sunk into like some kind of despair. It was grim.

And I know it sounds ridiculous, but I think I thought it was going to go for longer. Well, because we had no idea. Oh, no. Yeah. And our son had just started school and it was just like I can't. He was so excited. And he was fine. Like he didn't seem bothered by it at all.

No, no, because he gets to do his favourite thing, which is stay home and hang with us and play Nintendo Mario. Oh, my God, it's so fun. It's such a fun game. We made cupcakes, we made cookies, we painted his face. Yeah. He had some fun time. But he was really excited to go back to school as well.

Yeah, that's true. I think that part of it, and I've been reflecting on why it was that we both had like struggled with it in different ways. I've also been reflecting on it. So this is what I – Let me give you my theory on life which I've been doing constantly and you're probably real sick of. Please do.

Because you said the other day you'd just fallen into a funk. I did. You went into – and I think it was more like a pit of despair. Sure. Well, let's call it a funk. I was also in a funk too and tired, like super exhausted all of a sudden. And I think it's because the memory of all those days that we did last year, that's a little bit of trauma right there.

And the fact that your life can all of a sudden drop on, and I know in other places in the world this is a lived experience of people all the time. People are still doing it. But we live in a society in the world this is a lived experience of people all the time. People are still doing it. But we live in a society in Australia at the moment. We live in a society. Oh, my God. No, because people will – that's great.

Don't worry about it. Keep going. You're a little worse. Anyway, we live in a society where we're not used to the government stepping in and just being like, hey, guess what? You get to stay in your house and not leave your 5K radius and only leave the house for two hours a day. It's just not something in our radar that I thought we thought would be possible.

And suddenly we're having to grapple with that. And so, of course, we're finding it bloody tough. I think that's why other countries also are struggling with it because, you know, I know there's a lot of people in the US who have, not just the US, it's here as well, people have problems with lockdown and the government telling people what to do. Yeah, it's a shock. Especially when you look at it and you're like, hmm, that seems wrong.

Do you know what I mean? It feels like you have to wear a mask even when you're outdoors and nobody's around. It's like, why? It's fucking ridiculous. But it's like, all right, well, what's the rule? Yeah. Do you know what I mean?

And look, I think in all of this, the best thing to do is err on the side of caution. Oh, totally, yeah. And wear a mask. It's so important. And the distancing, all of that stuff because, you know, there are real, real consequences to people. However, it is ridiculous. I mean, for a bushwalk, I had to wear a mask in 30 degree heat.

Yeah. For me, though, like the reason I do these things, and I know there's been people like Joe Rogan, Neil, or Musk, or like they're not going do these things, and I know there's been people like Joe Rogan and Elon Musk who are like, oh, they're not going to get the vaccine because they're healthy and whatever. There's Joe Rogan, Elon Musk, and James Clement from Mr. Sunday Movies. Yeah, exactly. The world is waiting with bated breath.

We're the triangle of amazing. Of white men. Of white men. Of white men thinking everyone needs to listen to your opinion. Thank you. Finally somebody said it. But they're like, we're not going to get the vaccine because it's not, you know, because it won't affect them, the virus,

because, you know, they're happy and healthy and young. They've both said that. Maybe, yeah. God, they have so much influence on people. I know, but the thing is as well, it's like, yeah, it's not fucking for you, idiot. So if you get it, then you don't pass it to somebody else. Exactly.

Like that's why I wear a mask. I don't wear a mask because I think I'm going to die. I think I could kill somebody, you know, because if I, sure, I might have some kind of underlying health condition I don't know about. Now we've been married for so long and I never knew that you thought you could potentially be a murderer. No, definitely. I could definitely murder somebody.

But that's why I do it because I don't want to infect those around me and kill anybody. It's empathy. Exactly right. Even though also we will say that even if you're fit and healthy and everything, the virus can just take you down. Exactly. It can still wipe you out.

It can have like really small symptoms or it cannot. Anyway, yeah, I totally agree. So much of this is about empathy and thinking about other people, not just your own self and your own safety and your own family. And I think the more that we can do that, the better is have like just the deeper the empathy, radical empathy. Radical empathy. Radical empathy, mate.

Oh, God. I was reading up about my recommendation today and it talks a bit about radical empathy. Empathy on a skateboard, radical. Rad. That's how old I am.. Empathy on a skateboard, radical. Rad. That's how old I am. I'm like radical skateboards, yeah. I think they've come back though, mate.

I don't know. I think you're so old that they've come back full circle. When are rollerblades coming back? James, I know all of this like important stuff we've been talking about and I'm very disappointed in Joe Rogan and Elon Musk, though not overly surprised. Something that I have to talk about that is, you know, of immediate importance.

I have found out this week that I part my hair on the side and it's wrong and it makes me old. It makes me old and not cool. No, your face makes you old. Your hair just accents it. Okay, yeah, well, well, well. But I just didn't know. Look, I have to say, full disclaimer, I've never been cool.

It's never been my forte. Never. Not even in primary school. Not even in high school. Not for a minute. It was never in my radar. That's cool. Have I ever been cool?

I think if I have to think about it, I probably haven't been cool. What have you got? No, hang on. I have to talk about this back. That means I can part my hair in the middle again. No, no, no. Yeah, I've got my hair long. This is what I'm saying. Okay, you were? No, hang on. I have to talk about this back. That means I can part my hair in the middle again. No, no, no. Yeah, I've got my hair long. This is what I'm saying.

Okay, you were saying you weren't cool and I am going to tell you right now, you were sort of in a coolish group. I, on the other hand, was nowhere near being cool. I was not. I wasn't even cool adjacent. I was bottom tier and that's cool because, like, you know how I know I was bottom tier? Because my favorite novel in year nine was Isabel Carmody. And I got put into the advanced English class where I had to go and do a presentation for the year tens in their English

class. Like they put me into the English class and I was so thrilled about it. I got up and did this whole presentation on Isabel Carmody's novel Over Newton and I had thought that everyone would know what I was talking about when I made jokes about the main character because clearly everyone should have read Over Newton by Isabel Carmody. I know, exactly. I did not know this story. Of course no one had bloody read it. And so there was just like silence and as I was reading my little nerdy report,

my little heart just like sunk into my shoes. Yeah, and you know what happened? All those girls are all dead. Anyway. And that's fine. The thing is like who wants to peek at school? Anybody I know who peeks at school is a piece of shit and they're not doing anything.

They are doing literally nothing. Because they went, this is it. I'm on the track. Because everything comes easy. So you don't have to try. You're either good looking or you're cool and whatever. And then that shit doesn't mean anything in the real world. I mean, it helps to be like good looking.

I think it does. But if you're just an obnoxious, cool person, guess what? No one gives a fuck. People just think you're an asshole. It doesn't matter. It doesn't mean anything. If you're cool and snarky and mean, people fucking hate you. They don't care.

That's why you see those friendship groups. We know people like that. They all marry each other. They all marry each other, all the cool groups. You had girls at your school who had a school reunion adjacent to your school reunion because they didn't agree with certain things that were going on. It's like no one gives a fuck.

No, it wasn't even that. Nobody cares. It was my 10-year school reunion, which I didn't go to because why the hell would I want to relive the hell that was high school? You can do your report again. I am on the Overnoun Chronicles, which I stand by. It was an excellent series. Anyway, so dystopian, you would love it.

Yeah, I would. Anyway, no, so my school reunion was organised. It was like 10-year-old. I didn't go. But I bumped into an old friend I went to school with and she was like, oh, did you hear that the cool group in inverted commas boycotted the 10-year reunion and made their own you hear that the cool group in inverted commas boycotted the 10-year reunion and made their own one that only the cool people in inverted commas could go to?

That's so fucking lame. That is the lamest thing I've ever heard. I'm trying to fix the purpose of the reunion because that's basically their weekend every Saturday, I'm assuming. It's so sad. I don't even know. Look, anyway, I don't want to, look, everyone's like. That's so, like, I hear that want to – look, everyone's like – That's so – like I hear that and I'm like that's grim. Like it's not even like – like you're an idiot, obviously, all of those people.

No, they are. It's fine. I don't want to say that. They are. I'm saying it. I don't know any of these people. We just were talking about radical empathy and now we're telling people they're idiots. But they just mean like we're having the cool school reunion.

Guess what? No one gives a fuck. That's so dumb. Look, but that's also life, right? Life is hard and becoming an adult is hard and people's like different points in where they saw themselves being and, you know, their friendship groups, all that stuff, go for your life. If they want to have their reunion, great.

I don't have to go to either of them and I'm very happy. All I'm saying is, James, I thought that I had a pretty, you know, up with it haircut. Oh, yeah, I always thought you did. I didn't do. Turns out, no. Turns out it's totally lame. Yeah, well, look.

It's middle aged. You can't. Okay, so now I have to part my hair in the middle but I have a big forehead and it looks ridiculous. You've got a big forehead, mate. My face is like 80% forehead. See, I think the problem with this is the moment that I discovered the side part, I really felt like it came into my own.

And then I had the realisation this week that that makes me the same as those people that I used to make fun of who were stuck in the 80s with their 80s hair and now they're in their 50s but they've got to look from the 80s. Don't chase trends. It'll destroy you. Just do what you think looks good and don't be chasing like age-appropriate trends because you're going to be ending up looking ridiculous.

Do you know? No, well, I don't. Yeah, I know. However, I'm sure but that same advice could be applied to people who are still wearing their mullets from the 80s. No. I mean there's a difference between having a mullet. I think mullets are back in now.

I'm really confused. There's a difference between like having a mullet still and not like a new mullet as in you're a person who had a mullet and still has a mullet. Also, God bless you if you've still got that hair. You should have a mullet if you had a mullet in the 80s. All respect. Yeah, but like honestly just do whatever, man. Do whatever you want. Actually, that is the main thing, honestly, just do whatever, man. Do whatever you want.

Actually, that is the main thing, isn't it? Okay, you've made me feel better. And then when you go to your 20-year school reunion, which by the way, mine is this year. Jesus, you're so old. Yeah, I know, I'm so old. I'm going to dye my hair jet black and they're going to be like, this guy looks exactly the same.

All right, we have rambled for way too long. I'm so sorry. Okay, we get started. Colleen, please cut all this out. What nonsense. Put this up top if you could. Hi, we're going to ramble for like 12 to 13 minutes about school reunions and being cool and side parts and whatever.

And middle parts, which is what I should have been doing my whole life. But if you could, there's a time code if you want to skip to the actual content. But look, if you want to hear us like talk about how cool we are at school, then you're going to love it. All right. to hear us like talk about how cool we are at school and you're gonna love it all right 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 the 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. Do you want to start or do you want me to start? You can start. Go for it. Well, I watched a miniseries. I believe I watched it earlier this year or late last year, but it's from 2020. It's called A Teacher or A Teacher. Not N Teacher, but it's created by Hannah Fidel and it's based on her book

of the same name. It stars Kate Mara, who you would probably know from, what's the one about politics with Kevin Spacey or whatever? Oh, House of Cards. Yeah, she's like the reporter that he has an affair with or something. Oh, she's so good. She's great.

I saw you watching this. Yeah, it's really great. And Nick Robinson who is from Kings of Summer, he's from Jurassic World. He's from a new movie that I was watching called Silk Road, which I wasn't enjoying very much so I turned it off. But anyway, it's about a teacher. She's married. She moves to a new school, a new high school, right?

She's an English teacher or whatever. She teaches the senior kids and one of her students. She's a teacher in the story, right? Do you understand? Yes. Cool. I've got it. Nick Robinson plays a final year student who she ends up tutoring

and trying to help, you know, find a college for or whatever. And anyway, as a result of them spending time together, they form this relationship, sexual in nature. It's an affair between student and teacher. And what's really interesting about this series, it's either six or eight episodes. How old is he? He'd be 17.

So he's of legal age? No, it's illegal. You cannot have sex with your students. No, but it's, yeah, you're right. Oh, maybe it is. Depending on the state, I think it might. I don't know. No, but 16, I can't be confused about the legal.

It depends on the state. The state. I think it might be, depending on the state, I think it might be 16 or 17 is the legal age. But if you are like in a, if you're a leadership role or whatever, then no, it's illegal. Correct. But just in case you were wondering, Claire,

in case you were planning anything, I see what you're up to. No, but so it's the idea is that so it's it's framed like a love story initially, like they've got this kind of secret kind of relationship and it's all lovely and they're teaching each other things and whatever. And it's like, you know, it's all like fun and it's like when you're falling in love and whatever. But then what happens when like it's kind of revealed what's happening to the community, you see it, it unfolds in this like horrible way. And it is when you look at it, it's kind of revealed what's happening to the community you see it it unfolds in this like horrible way and it is when you look at it it's like an abuse of power because there is that

you know there's the age gap and there's obviously one is a teacher and one is not there's also the long term like psychological effects effects and damage which what comes with having an affair with a with an older person you know um because often you know, because often, you know, when you see with, you know, these things happen like a teenage boy like has an affair with an older woman, people are like, yeah, that's so cool or whatever, but it's like it's not cool. It really fucks you up. We actually know somebody who this happened to and as a result

their life is, well, they're pretty good to be fair now, but like not to get into it or name names, but pretty fucking grim, I would say. But, yeah, so you see how afterwards, like, their life falls apart. Like, her life falls apart because she's this, like, social pariah. He, like, feels at first, like, that it was his fault, you know, because he, like, instigated a lot of all of those things, but he realised that, you know, he was a student. Like, he was taken advantage of.

Do you know what I mean? He was a student, like he was taken advantage of. Do you know what I mean? He was a child essentially. So it really looks at how the relationship is perceived by like society also because a lot of his friends when he goes to college are like, yeah, you're that cool dude who like, you know, had sex with a teacher or whatever and she's like a monster. But it's kind of – it delves into like the reasonings behind and like the – well, they're both obviously troubled.

Like because even though like you do feel empathy for her even though she did this terrible thing because there's something, you know, there's something wrong with her. Like it would have to be if you do something like that. So it was fascinating. It's really good and grim. You should watch it. What I find really interesting about that is how they turned the story around to make

you really think more deeply about the characters and their arc. Because it's kind of lovely, like, in moments where, like, you know, they're sharing moments and, like, you know what I mean, and they're educating each other, but it's like, oh, no, this is actually, oh, you know what I mean? Yeah, that sounds similar to Promising Young Woman in some ways, in the whole love story arc that happens there and then it gets turned on its head. Yeah.

And I'm really enjoying it. It's interesting you chose to bring that up because it kind of is similar in theme in a way to my recommendation. Oh, really? It's on Hulu, by the way. Oh, excellent. I'm definitely going to watch that. My recommendation is one a lot of people have watched and raved about.

So it's not old, old, but it's been raved about and talked about a lot of people have watched and raved about. So it's like an old, it's not old, old, but it's, you know, it's been raved about and talked about a lot. I May Destroy You by Michaela Cole. Yeah, I've been meaning to watch this but I heard it's like dense and I'm like I need some like headspace to kind of. Yeah, it's very dense. It's very unsettling, I would say, challenging. It's so different though and super fresh. The writing is incredible.

You kind of feel like you're living inside Michaela Cole's brain in a way. But the reason why I link it to a teacher that you were just talking about is because the characters shift and change and no character is all good or all bad. So she really plays with that a lot and with your perceptions of characters. So her best friends. So this is her second TV series. Chewing Gum.

Yeah, Chewing Gum was her first one. No, I haven't. So I now want to go back and watch that. That's got two seasons. So she had this really interesting life story as well. So she grew up in East London and had a pretty challenging upbringing in lots of ways, didn't grow up with a lot. She became kind of obsessed in a Christian church basically

and started doing kind of poetry readings and things within this kind of evangelical faith that she'd become a part of as a young person. And someone saw her doing some poetry at a cafe and then suggested that she try and go to drama school. And so she did that. And then from there she created Chewing Gum Dreams, which was like a one-woman show. And she explores a lot of themes of racism throughout both her schooling

at the drama school because it was a very posh school with sort of upper middle class. She calls them middle uppers. That's right. And so she kind of explores all of that too and what that was like to be a black woman in that context and how, like she said in one moment in the classroom, they said, can all the people who are from, whose parents own their own home, go to one end of the room and parents who don't go to the other? And she was the only woman, only person whose parents didn't own their own home.

What kind of exercise is that? Yeah, I know. Well, you know how you might say people who like ice cream run to that side. That's so weird. Like it's so specific. Yeah, it is. But it's very, it's really thoughtless, I guess, which is what she kind of says later on. So she explores a lot of that kind of stuff and Chewing Gum is that kind

of one-woman show where she plays multiple characters. Anyway, so in the second season of Chewing Gum, when she's writing that show, she's sexually assaulted. Right. And so I May Destroy You kind of explores a sexual assault. So it's not kind of autobiographical, though it does have a lot of elements of her own life in it and the main character does have a lot of similarities to her

in a lot of ways. So she kind of explores what happens when, yeah, someone is sexually assaulted. She's raped and she gets roofied basically in a bar and then is assaulted and wakes up the next day and she's a writer. So she's kind of like a social media star who put out a piece of writing and it went viral. This is her character in I May Destroy You.

And then from that viral piece she gets offered a book deal and so she's in the middle of writing this second book when the assault happens and it kind of derails her life. Yeah. And then you kind of explore the fallout of that in her personal life and with her friendships and relationships. And, yeah, it's just disturbingly good. I had no idea it was about any of that.

Yeah. It's really interesting because it speaks to a completely different experience too. There are queer characters in there. There are characters that look at gender identity. She wears a lot of different wigs as well, which I think is really interesting. They're really cool, yeah. Yeah, and that kind of whole world to me is really outside my experience.

So what I loved about it was that she was able to let the audience stand in the shoes of each of the characters but also she confronts you with these really horrific scenes too that are quite, yeah, hard to watch really. Is it one season? Yeah, it's just one season. It's just one complete show. I don't think she'd be bringing anything else out.

Yeah, because people are talking about this like, I know there's a comparison to like Fleabag, but I think that's more in terms of like it's one of the best shows of the last couple of years. I can see how there are comparisons to Fleabag. I think the writing is completely different. It's funny in lots of ways but not in the same way that Fleabag is. I mean it just deals with different themes too because there's obviously

elements of racism that run through the show too and exploring people's preconceived ideas about that kind of stuff. And she just drops little hints. It's so layered. So she'll drop sort of elements of climate change kind of within the show. So there's just kind of scenes like that where it's not the main content of the show at all but it's kind of running as a backdrop. Yeah.

And she also looks a lot, it heavily draws on social media and the problem of social media and how we are growing up as this generation that just want to be constantly filming ourselves and being seen and being heard, which is ironic because I'm saying this on a podcast. And so that in itself, she kind of is exploring her relationship with all of that because she's moved away from apps now because she said they were kind of taking over her life.

Another of the storylines follows one of her best friends who becomes obsessed with Grindr and he's kind of using Grindr to escape his own life really and he's kind of got this real addiction to it and then he's assaulted in the context of Grindr. Right, right. And then you can kind of see the fallout for him as a queer black man and how she's treated very differently to him when he goes to report the assault in the police station.

So there's that kind of theme running through it as well. I won't spoil the ending but I will say. Please do not. Sorry? Please do not. No, I won't spoil the ending. But it's definitely, definitely worth watching, definitely not around kids because there's a lot of kind of drug taking

and very explicit sex scenes and all those kind of things. Kids love drugs these days. Anyway, the reason I also, one other thing I thought was really interesting is that she was determined to own and produce and kind of be in charge of her own content for I May Destroy You. Yeah. Because in Chewing Gum she found that she didn't have any creative control, any at all, any ownership.

She'd never written a TV series before. And so when she looked at the way it was set up, she realised it was super flawed. So Netflix initially offered her $1 million up front for I May Destroy You and she turned it down. And then she also fired her agent as well who basically said, you should take this deal. Yeah.

And she said, no, I'm not searching for crumbs for ownership. I want to have my entire show. And so in the end the BBC came through and she said, no, I'm not searching for crumbs for ownership. I want to have my entire show. And so in the end the BBC came through and she managed to get all the writing, you know, ownership of her show and not give over any of her creative license. Did it then go to Netflix anyway? No, I think it's on Stan now. Yeah, okay. Or in Australia at least.

Yeah, yeah. So I think that. Oh, good for her. Yeah, absolutely. But to get it made she didn't make it with Netflix. And I think that – I agree with that. Yeah, absolutely. But to get it made she didn't make it with Netflix. And I think that's really brave but also – Because there's not a lot of money in the BBC either. No, no.

So I think that she just so highly values her creative content and her writing over any of that other stuff, which I think is the only way to get something really, really, really great made in the way that you envision it is if you can have creative control over it. So anyway, I thought that was really interesting and she is an incredible person and just so articulate in the way and so different in the way she speaks about the world.

And you can see that kind of an evangelical kind of Christianity, the way that she speaks is almost biblical and there are biblical kind of themes of angels and devils in the show as well. So anyway, fascinating person. Okay. Fascinating person. I need to watch that. I was going to have another recommendation but we're coming up on 30 minutes

and we might need to move to letters. No, let's keep going. Are you sure, Claire? We warned people. We warned people about the 13 minutes before. We should do a couple of it. All right, fine, Claire. I watched The Rental and you watched some of The Rental.

This is different again. It's directed by Dave Franco. People might know as Dave Franco from things, Dave Franco. So it stars Dan Stevens, Alison Brie, Sheila Vand, Jeremy Allen White. And it's about a couple's retreat where they go to a lovely Airbnb. Their retreat is a couple's? They do. You saw a bit of this.

And they go there and before it kind of becomes anything and turns into anything, and this is, I guess, a spoiler if you do want to jump ahead. You don't want to know anything about this going in. So, you know, it's their relationships and their work life and, you know, and there's jealousy and a little bit of infighting. But it all kind of comes to a head when it turns out there's a murderer. So it just turns into a movie where there's an axe murderer running around.

It's like a horror movie, I know. Yeah. And it's one of those things where it's a cut above like your average like slasher. And it does like the murderer stuff pretty well, if I'm honest. It's pretty good. But I think the reason why that stuff works is because you believe the characters because often in times you don't.

The people being murdered aren't fun or realistic or interesting. It's like who gives a shit, you know what I mean? But this does a good job of setting them up as very realistic couples and then you throw an axe murderer at them and then they're already infighting about like infidelity and jealousy and all these other things that are going on. And then on top of that there's a man running around with an axe, you know what I mean?

Correct. It also has got a really interesting use of sound. There's a few moments where like the killer will be rushing at somebody and just before they're about to, like, smash a window to attack them and they get right there, it cuts. So you don't get that, like, release of, like, tension. There's, like, the build-up, build-up, build-up of somebody coming to attack and then it cuts to, like, a different scene and there's no noise

or, like, you don't see the attack. And it's kind of more upsetting, do you know what I mean? Because like you're expecting something and then you just don't get that thing that you're used to saying. So, yeah, I liked it. It was good. I don't have much else to say about it. I watched the first half of it until the axe murderer became apparent.

Because you were like, what is this? And I'm like, I don't know yet because I didn't really. Yeah, and it was good. I really enjoyed that first part of it. I mean, I really don't ever want to go to like a remote Airbnb ever again after watching it. I also like the soundtrack. Yeah.

And I just really like Alison Brie. I think she's just like really great. Yeah. And, yeah, so I just thought it was, yeah, really good. I couldn't watch the end of it because I get too spooked. And Alison Brie and Dave Franco married in real life. Well, there you go. Didn't know that.

All right. I have a very other quick recommendation. Oh, my God, I love it. I know. I thought you would. This is a book that you gave me for Christmas. I did. Do you remember?

It's called The Mother Fault by Kate Mildenhall. How did you know? How did you know? Because it's got The Mother F false written in bold on the top. Do you want to know how I picked it? I was at the bookstore and I was getting the new Treehouse book for our son. Yes. And I saw that and I went, this cover and title looks like something Claire might like.

That's literally how I picked it. Do you know anything else about it? I read the blurb and whatever. I think I googled the author as well. Did you read that on the front it says imagines a world as terrifying and visionary as Margaret Atwood's Gilead? I didn't say that at all, but that's interesting. But so yeah, honestly, it looked like a book you would read. Like it just looks like a book that I've seen you read. So that's why I initially jumped at it. All right.

Well, it's a really gripping read. So you just can't – it's one of those books that like rolls along. You can't put it down. It's set in – You're literally – you've been holding it for nine days straight. You're still holding it. Great. It's stuck to my hands now.

I don't know why it's weird. No. So basically it has similarities to Gilead, you know, The Handmaid's Tale. Sure. It's set in Australia. What kind of spooked me is that it's set in a future Australia that is very similar to the one we're living in now.

It's set in present-day Australia. Interesting. No, but it's just got, you know, underlying themes of, like, climate change and how the world's changed and obviously how much government control has started to sneak into their lives. We should change this podcast into sneaking climate change into every episode.

Yeah, we should. Okay. Anyway, yeah, so it's kind of got a little bit like 1985. It's got that similar kind of vibe to it. Oh, yeah, 1994. Oh, God. 1995 was probably like the year after that book was set. It's probably still pretty bad.

Anyway, go on. I was born James Orwell. I don't know who wrote it. No, his name was Rick Astley. Anyway. Oh, Lord. It's late. It's very late.

You've read 1984, haven't you? It's so late. Yes, I have read 1984. I don't know why. I was born in 1985. It was a good year. Anyway, so the central character is called Mim and her husband is missing and no one knows where he is but everyone wants to find him,

especially the department which are basically like the government organisation that are controlling everything. And they should know that all seeing government body has fitted the entire population with a universal tracking chip to keep them safe, in inverted commas. Well, like a bloody telephone, am I right? Correct, exactly. But suddenly Ben can't be tracked and he goes missing

and Mim has to go on the run with her two children when she finds out that Ben basically his life is under threat and all of that kind of stuff. Cool. And, yeah, it kind of goes from there. So she's on the run trying through the Australian outback to a terrifying sea voyage as well to try and find her husband. Oh, my goodness, a terrifying sea voyage.

Correct, exactly. Anyway, so that's kind of how it unfolds. But it's great and I really enjoyed it. And she's a badass, kick-ass main character and there's kind of like a love affair in the middle of it and it just does make you think a lot about where our future is headed. God, we're having some depressing recommendations this week, aren't we? Can you lighten the mood, James?

No. Yes, I can actually because I've got a lovely review and if you do want to review the show, you can. You can do it in-app. It's a good way to sneak in a recommendation as well. I know you're lining up a voice memo, aren't you? Correct, I am. So why are you doing that?

It's from Rex Quimpo who says, a podcast for couples. I love this podcast. I'm a fan of both James and Greg from their other podcast, but this one is my favourite. I listen to this with my partner every week. We love watching the movies they recommend because they span multiple genres so we can find something we enjoy. My favourite suggestion so far was a poem called Home by Worshen Shire.

I'm not much of a poetry person, but when Claire read it on the pod, it instantly stuck with me. Thank you, guys, for all the good you do. While you're reading this, I would like to suggest an album called Spark by Maxwell Young. It's one of my favourite albums of all time. It is smooth and melodic, but with hip-hop and soul elements, some of the tracks get a little experimental, but don't let it stop you from giving it a listen. That's from Rex. Thank you so much. Oh, that's so lovely.

Because a lot of people are like, why my partner hates The Weekly Planet. We get a lot of emails like, sometimes I meet those people in real life. They're like, hi, I'm so and so. This is my partner. I'm like, hello. And they're like, she hates you. And I'm like, hi, I'm so-and-so. This is my partner. I'm like, hello. They're like, she hates you. And I'm like, okay, cool. Thanks. Good to know. Correct.

Exactly. So if you have a partner in your life, pass on this pod to them. If you could. We would love that. Yeah. Seriously, if you have someone that you think likes podcasts or even if they don't, suggest the show to them. Put it on in the car machine.

We would love that. Yeah. We're all right. We're pretty cool. All right. You can also email the show the car machine. We would love that. Yeah. We're all right. We're pretty cool. All right. You can also email the show with your suggestions. We would love that. Email suggestablepod at gmail.com.

Yeah. And if you so choose, you could even send us a voice memo. You just pop the little voice memo app on your phone, record it, and then email it all on your phone just like Alvin Marufo has. I can't hear anything. Oh, plugged in. Is it muted? Oh, yeah, my laptop's muted.

Do you reckon that's why? You fucking hate me sometimes. I don't. I love you. Or maybe I don't. Okay, can we just goddamn listen to this? I'm ready. Hello, Claire and James.

This is Alvin from Venezuela. I wanted to talk about the film Driveways from last year. It's the story of a young Asian single mother and her son who are in this new neighborhood where the boy develops a friendship with an old man who is a war veteran. And it's a very sweet sweet very sweet story about life and this young boy learning new things and this old man having you know some regrets about life and yes beautiful

very very beautiful film i really recommend it is one of my favorites from last year so i hope you enjoy it so bye-bye. Thank you very much. Driveways, I remember hearing about it. Yeah, because this came out in 2019. I was just Googling it. Look at this cast. It's also got Brian Dennehy who died recently.

So it might have been one of his last roles. Interesting. Driveways. All right, yeah, I'm going to put that on my list right now. Yeah. Thank you very much. Thank you so much, Alvin, from Venezuela. Also, crisp, clear voice memo as well. Oh, my goodness. Brilliant. Yeah. Thank you very much. Thank you so much, Alvin, from Venezuela. Also, crisp, clear voice memo as well.

Oh, my goodness. Brilliant. I know. And the accent. Hey, that's the second time in a row we've had classic accents. Classic people listening to us. Real good. I love it.

Love it. I really enjoyed that. Just check me if this was Brian Dennehy's last one. And nice and succinct too. Yeah, loved it. Under a minute. Well spoken. Well done, Alvin.

Well convinced. You're a legend. And thanks for listening, mate. Yeah, loved it. Under a minute. Well spoken. Well done, Alvin. Well convinced. You're a legend and thanks for listening, mate. All right. Okay. So just before we finish, James. Yes. It wasn't his last movie but that's still true. All right.

There you go. I have an extra little thing to say. So pipe down over there, touchy. You should have seen the face that like went with that sight or groan or whatever it was. All right, so I have a little present for a present. No, not for you. Though you did give me a Valentine's Day present.

I'm a beautiful bunch of flowers. What did you give me? The joy of my sparkling wit and company, which I am also going to give you guys for free. Oh, no. If you would like to sign up to my newsletter, which I have decided is going to come out once a week on a Friday. That's right.

You can. There's a link in the show notes below. It's called Tons. That's right. Because that's what a lot of my friends call me. You have friends? I thought you lost them all at school because you weren't cool. No, I found some.

Oh, that's great. I said I wasn't cool. I didn't say I had no friends. Oh, that's friends? I thought you lost them all at school because you weren't cool. No, I found some. Oh, that's great. I said I wasn't cool. I didn't say I didn't have any friends. Oh, that's right. Yeah. Can I just say also, having read your first newsletter, I loved it. And I genuinely did. Look, because you want to put a bit of sizzle in there because people are like,

what was the newsletter? It was like a flyer or whatever. He's mansplaining a newsletter. No, I'm telling people why they like it. There's a very funny story in there about a boob out on a public transport. So, look, I think that's a big enough hook to get you in. I panicked. I didn't know what to do.

No, I think it's really funny. I think it, yeah, because it ties into it. It's not my boob, though. Well, you don't want to give that away, do you? Because then people go, oh, my God, it's a close boob. And then they go in to see. But what if they never read the newsletter and they just go through their life thinking that I had my boob out on public transport? If I wanted to know, no, I'd want to see. But what if they never read the newsletter and they just go through their life thinking that I had my boob out on public transport?

If I wanted to know, no, I'd want to know and I'd click on the newsletter. So, yeah, definitely. I think it's very funny. So definitely check it out. Thanks, mate. Yeah, so you can subscribe at the link below and it's just coming out once a week with a download of what I've been thinking about this week and some also excellent recommendations.

I agree. Some extra ones, some bonus stuff. So if you like some bonus stuff and some boob-related stories. I do. Are you going to do a boob story every week? I'll try. I'll try just for you. Boob of the week.

Boob of the week. I thought that was you. You bloody got me. I got you. Anyway. All right. We'll be back next week for more Suggestibles where we tell you what to watch and if you don't watch it, you have to stop listening.

And James patronises me. I'm going to patronise Claire every week. Good. Yeah. Just to be clear. If anyone's patronising me. Just to be clear. Just to be clear.

I'll be excellent with a side part, not a middle part. Are you going to do it? Are you going to middle part it? I'm going to try, but I just have, I used to middle part. How middle part is middle part? Like central. I had a middle part. Are you going to do it? Are you going to middle part it? I'm going to try, but I just have – I used to middle part. How middle part is middle part? Like central. I had a middle part. I could probably post some photos.

Yeah, you look bloody terrible. No, before I knew you, I had a middle part. No, no, I know. I've seen the photos. It was worse. It was worse. Worse than this? Worse than this grim outlook?

All right. Anyway. I look like the specter of death. If I walk past a nursing home, people are like, oh, he's come for us. Outlook. All right. Anyway. I look like the specter of death. We have been suggested. If I walk past a nursing home, people are like, oh, he's come for us. It's also my black cloak and my big hook that I carry with me. What's it called? Scythe?

We should go. I'm in the middle of watching a show and I have to watch Superman fucking four. All right. Thanks, Colleen, for the editing. Thanks, Colleen, for the editing. Thank you. We're sorry. We are sorry.

And, yeah, so sign up below. Or if you don't want to, you don't have to. No pressure. Do it. All right. Goodbye. Bye. We can wait for clean water solutions.

Or we can engineer access to clean water. We can acknowledge Indigenous cultures. Or we can learn from Indigenous voices. We can demand more from the earth. Or we can learn from indigenous voices. We can demand more from the earth. Or we can demand more from ourselves. At York University, we work together to create positive change for a better tomorrow. Join us at yorku.ca slash write the future.