Suggestible - Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Septurtles

Episode Date: September 29, 2022

Suggestible things to watch, read and listen to. Hosted by James Clement @mrsundaymovies and Claire Tonti @clairetonti.This week’s Suggestibles:07:38 Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie17:28 The Couple Upstairs by Holly Wainwright23:58 The Patient28:06 Elizabeth Gilbert with Kemi Nekvapil, POWER34:24 Claire's ProjectSend 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.

Hi, I'm Jessi Cruikshank from the number one comedy podcast, Phone a Friend, which I strongly advise you listen to. You know what else I suggest you look into? Becoming a host on Airbnb. Did you like that segue? Thank you. I recently started putting my guest house on Airbnb when I'm out of town, and I didn't realize how easy it would be until I did it. If you have a spare room, you could Airbnb it, or your whole place could be an Airbnb. It's a great way to make a little extra money by doing not a lot, which frankly is my mantra in 2024. To learn more, go to Airbnb.ca slash host.

Ah. Sorry, you were going to say something? I was about to say the inaugural bing bongs. Oh, okay. But you just, eh, and what? Ah, just like that. This is going to be the whole podcast. Right.

Bing bong, whatever. Bing, bing, bong. Bing, bing, bong. Bing, bing, bong. We're here. Hello. My name is Claire Tonti, who's here as well. Great question.

A little creature. Yeah. My name is James and I'm here. And we are like, what are you doing to each other? That's what we say. What's up? What are we doing? Yeah.

What have you been doing? What have you been reading, watching or listening to? Correct. What would you recommend to not only each other but also the listeners of this podcast? You also need to say, we are Suggestible Podcast. It's in the title. They get it, Claire. I know, but just in case you're here the first time, for the first time.

Yep. We love you. We think you're great. Our listeners are always the top-notch quality of the internet. We don't love you. We don't love you. We don't love you. That's not true. It is true.

How can you love? I really value people. How can you love somebody you don't know, you know? Yeah, I just, I can feel them through the microphone. Sure. The heart beating. Oh, wow. That's great.

Well, I don't feel anything. Listen, Claire. Yes, James. You're on the show. We often bring different things to recommend. Do you, by chance, by chance, have anything that you would like to recommend? Okay, for starters, it was my birthday recently. Yep.

And we had birthday cake that you bought. It was lovely. Yeah. I have a bone to pick. About the cake? No, about the eggs. Oh, my God. Steal this.

And you bring it into the digital realm. Unbelievable. But I want to tell you bring it into the digital realm. Unbelievable. But I want to tell you who the bone is with. What? The bone is actually with me. What? Twist. I want to publicly apologize to you because I, on my birthday,

was a massive jerk. No, you weren't. And also. I was a massive jerk. I feel like a big public apology isn't as sincere as you pulling me aside privately and being like, hey, James. Also, it's fine. You've got nothing to apologize for.

Let me set the scene for you listeners. It was my birthday recently and all I asked for for the day was for brunch with my close family because I've been doing some music stuff, squirreled away, and I didn't want to go out and get sick or anything or like drink lots of wines and then have a husky voice to be in the studio. Oh, no. And James was looking after the kids and it was a lot for the weekend. So I was like, that is my present, but I would like to have some brunch.

Anyway, and so he organized this brunch and there was pastries and a fruit platter and dips and cheeses and lovely sourdough breads. And he bought me a coffee in the morning and maybe avocado toast and organized all these beautiful presents. And there was just like, it was so nice. It's true. And he, and he looked after the kids so I could do my favorite thing, which is like walk alone in the bush. Did that as well. Had a lovely morning. Anyway, we sat down to brunch and I realized that I hadn't had my protein in the morning, which to be fair, I'm doing for my blood sugar levels. Everyone should eat protein in the morning.

To be fair, it was like 11 o'clock. What are you talking about? So if you haven't had eggs for breakfast, that's your fault, not my fault. No, but okay, can I remind you that this is a bone to pick with myself? Oh, okay, right. So I don't need to attack you. I don't need to attack you. You don't need to attack me. In tandem.

Anyway, so then I kind of got. Both me and you can be mad at you. I like this. Look, to be fair, yeah, I should have just said, and it is such a good lesson, I should have just said what I imagined as brunch to be eggs and, like, mushrooms and salmon and stuff. Well, brunch is so vague. And also because I'm trying to eat for my blood sugar levels.

Sure. As my episode with Freya Lawler on Todds will tell anyone who listens to that, that we should all be eating a lot of protein in the morning. Anyway, I should have just said that. Instead, I didn't say anything. And when you said you're going to get pastries and you told me many times, in my head I went, I don't like pastries in the morning. I don't like pastries.

Also, it was in the morning. But I didn't say anything. But I didn't say anything. I just like said it in my head. Also, you weren't like pastries in the morning. I don't like pastries. But I didn't say anything. But I didn't say anything. I just like said it in my head. Also, you weren't the only one there. The pastry, I didn't buy several pastries for you to eat. It was for everybody. Everybody liked pastries.

And also the pastries went clear. They got demolished on top of the tarts that your brother bought. I know, which were also delicious. I know. And so I just, it was because, anyway, I don't know what, all I'm saying is I then got really weirdly passive aggressive and sat there. I was in such a weird headspace.

I don't know why, but I was in such a weird headspace on that day and I just got weirdly passive aggressive. And then a couple of times I was like, does anyone feel like eggs? Does anyone feel like eggs? Normally, don't you have eggs for lunch? And I'm like, hey, do you want me to make you some eggs? You're like, no, I couldn't possibly. This is great.

And then you're like, you know, sometimes when I go out for brunch, and I'm like, I will make you eggs. It will take me like three minutes. And you're like, well, if you insist. And then your brother's like, I will also have some eggs. I'm like, what am I, a fucking chef? What the fuck is this? And I also feel like maybe he's doing that in solidarity with me I will also have some eggs. I'm like, what am I, a fucking chef? What the fuck is this? And I also felt like maybe he was doing that in solidarity with me.

No, he wanted eggs. I think he was hungover. He wanted eggs. Yeah. Anyway, it was fine. It happened. I got my eggs. It was lovely.

And it was a lovely day. And my team wanted to be breaded by me. Also, the eggs, might I point out, incredible. I did an incredible job on them. You're nothing if not humble. Anyway, all I wanted to do was say on this very public forum that I'm sorry for being a jerk on my birthday. And sometimes I think birthdays, I've always been a Bureaucrat person,

but recently birthdays for me have been kind of sucky, even though you have done the most amazing things for me on my birthday. Well, I think we had lockdowns in the past two birthdays. Exactly, and then this birthday came around and I was like, no, no, no, I couldn't possibly organize something with my friends. We couldn't go out because also it was like grand final weekend. So like everything, everyone was busy anyway. Correct.

I know. Exactly. But I just know this about myself from now on, and I'm saying it on a recording, I need to organize a dinner with some friends for my birthday. I could organize some dinner with friends, which I also suggested, but was shot down. No, because I didn't want to go out and get sick because I'd been sick so much

and I'd been healthy for the last little bit. Anyway, this is so boring for anyone else listening. It's so boring and I was there. I know. Anyway, I'm just apologizing for the egg situation. Also, you're really. The jerk egg situation. You know, you're saying like you were like attacked me.

You were fine the whole day. You were very nice and it was fun, I thought. I know. Every now and then you could tell something was up with me because you kept coming over and being like, are you all right? Yeah. Is everything okay? Want some more eggs?

What's going on? I'd be like, I'm fine. I was constantly bringing you different types of eggs during the day. Poached, scrambled, hard boiledboiled, soft-boiled. All the things. I know. And the reason I brought that up as well is because I just had some of my delicious birthday cake that you bought me and I feel a little sick.

It's good, Kat. We should get rid of that goddamn cake. It was a delicious cake. Anyway, thank you very much. And I wonder if anyone else resonates out there with birthdays sometimes being a bit weird. Sometimes you have a weird day sometimes. Sometimes you have a weird birthday.

That's all right. And, you know, you were really lovely and I really appreciate you. I would also recommend, I think I've said this before, if you're looking for something to get your partner for a birthday or a friend or whoever, somebody who is dear to you or you have to get them a present because they're family or whatever, what are you going to do? You've got to listen and you've got to listen for like the year before.

So you can't just do this the day before and whenever they're in passing, mention a thing, you write it in your phone immediately. That's how I get presents. Yeah, because James nails presents. Sometimes. Mine are very – Sometimes I look at the list and I'm like, oh, no, I need more. Sometimes there was that one time where I bought a book,

you bought a book and my sister also bought me the same book. Yeah. You really screwed me that year, I'll tell you that much. Anyway, who would like to go first as a recommendation? I'm going to go first because, Claire, it's Sip Turtles, and I've been missing out this entire time, and I will not sit by and let you sabotage Sip Turtles yet again. With egg timber.

Exactly. Ridiculous. Anyways, Sep Turtles continues with a movie recommendation. Now there's been seven Ninja Turtle movies in total probably, give or take, right? Sure. There was three live action, a fourth which was a semi-sequel, a recall if you will, to number three.

Then there was the two Michael Bay live action ones that came afterwards with horrible creatures. And then this latest one is a Netflix exclusive called Rise of the Ninja Turtles, which is actually, Claire, a sequel to the series of the same name. I've checked out. That began in 2018. Okay.

Now, here's the thing. They're based on the characters created, and you know this I'm sure, by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, and the Turtles this time, they're put to the test when a mysterious stranger named Casey Jones arrives from the future and he says, hello, I'm from the future, to warn the mutant brothers of an impending invasion of the most dangerous alien force in the galaxy, the Krang. Pause.

Does this often happen a lot? That sounds like the plot of The Terminator. Yeah, it's somewhat of the plot of The Terminator. All right, that's all. Unpause. Okay. We didn't pause, though, did we? Yeah, that's how my son plays.

I was watching him with his mate and they go like, pause, can you do my shoelaces? I need a snack. All right, pause. And then they unpause it when they're ready to go. This isn't a game, Claire. Sub-Turtles is not a game, I'll have you know. Life need a snack. All right, pause. And then they unpause it when they're ready to go. This isn't a game, Claire. Sub-Turtles is not a game. Life is a game.

Life is a game. So what I like about the Ninja Turtles is that each time there's a new incarnation, it's like a reinvention, right? So in this version, each of the characters, and I hadn't seen the series that it was based on, which also you don't need to. You absolutely could. It's a good series from all accounts.

But each of them has a mystical ability this time around. Like Raphael's got like a big like hologram like armored suit. Leonardo's got the thing that he's got. Michelangelo's got mystical abilities, et cetera, and so forth, right? Now this is normally something that I wouldn't necessarily be into, giving them like magical powers, but I thought it worked really well. And in addition to that, they often change the team dynamic and the art dynamic and the

art style and the voice actors and all of these different things. And this time around, you're not going to believe this, Raphael is the leader of the Ninja Turtles, where normally it is Leonardo. And he's wearing a bonnet. That's right. He's wearing a bonnet. He's wearing a little Bo Peep bonnet. And he sits on a little tuffet and he says, where's the Foot Clan? He says. But Claire, here's the other thing. What else was I going to say? I can't remember. So Leonardo's trying to like he's coming into his own. He's learning to work together as a team and become a leader, right?

He's also voiced by Ben Schwartz who voices Sonic as well, who I don't think voiced him in the series. I'm fairly confident. But he's great. Their voice acting is really good. I also like the art style of this. It's very different to anything that's been seen before. And I would say also this art design might not necessarily be for everybody

because, you know, I don't like the 2014 reboot art style of the Ninja Turtles. It's not so much the art style, Claire. It's more that they're nine feet tall. Like they're giant. They all look like the Hulk, right? It's so weird to me because they're turtles. They're turtles, exactly. Look at this.

Turtles are slow-moving little creatures. Yeah, that's the joke though, Claire. That's the joke, Claire. I know. That's the joke. That was the original concept. So look at these absolute freaks. Actually, I shouldn't be knocking the Ninja Turtles.

I bloody love the Ninja Turtles. Yeah. Look how big they are. This is from the 2019 series. It's ridiculous. They're all too big. I think it's only the size. If you shrunk them down, I think it totally works.

They're huge though. Yeah, they're too big. Yeah, they're too big. And there's another, also, just to go off topic in this movie. And look, it is possible for things to be too big. I agree, Claire. I completely agree. I wouldn't know, but I completely agree. But the thing is, in that movie also, they're completely bulletproof.

There's a moment where one of them gets hit with bullets and they're like, oh, good, we're bulletproof. And I'm like, well, what are we doing then? What's the point of any of this if you're bulletproof? Another one, like, throws a shipping container, like an entire shipping container. That's not possible, Claire. That's not possible.

It means that they're too big. They're too big and they're too Hulk-like. They're too indestructible. Where's the danger? Where's the sense of danger, Claire? Anyways, it's a really tight story. The action is really great and dynamic and fluid. Also, the dynamic between all of them works really well. One of the key components of the Ninja Turtles, Claire, and I think you know this more than anybody, it's just like the Sex and the City characters. You've got to get that dynamic right. You know what I mean? You've got to get that brotherly camaraderie in addition to that little bit of rivalry, a little bit of like, you know,

a little bit of bickering and that. I feel like this nails that. Seth Rogen's actually working on a movie that's going to be coming out mid-next year and he's also going to lean into like the teenage aspect of it, which I think could be really interesting, but I don't know. I like the Ninja Turtles. I like most of the incarnations except for the one.

They're too big, Claire. What are they thinking? Come on. What are they thinking, Claire? I don't know what they were thinking. Ridiculous. They weren't thinking. They weren't thinking.

Exactly. Thank you. They weren't thinking. They were thinking nothing. I tell you what. They were thinking, I know what would be great. I'll make these Ninja Turtles extra big to annoy James. I tell you what. They were thinking, I know what would be great. I'll make these Ninja Turtles extra big to annoy James. I tell you what, Claire.

I could do some turtles every day for the rest of my life and I'd recommend this Ninja Turtles thing. And I would never say that that was a good idea, ever. You could never get me to say it. You could waterboard me. You could put me in Guantanamo Bay and you could, like, put electric clamps on my nipples and I would never say that that is a good idea.

The concept is ridiculous. They're too big, Claire. And you know that better than anybody. This Ninja Turtles thing, tell me. It's running rampant through our house at the moment. Yes, it really is. Where is the chicken and the egg scenario here in this egg timber? Yeah.

Did you start the love of Ninja Turtles and pass it to our son? Or is it the fact that our son has deep dived into Ninja Turtles and now you are remembering your insane obsession? I got him some of the episodes of the cartoon, like the first five of the original cartoon. I mean that show is like very in quality wildly, but those first five episodes, it's like a really tight narrative. It's pretty good.

Like they kidify a bunch of the Ninja Turtles stuff because you need to because it's a flipping cartoon tight like narrative. It's pretty good. Like they kid a fire bunch of the New Shield stuff because you need to because it's a flipping cartoon, man. And they're not too big and I think that's one of the good things about it. Yeah, I love that cartoon series. Everybody loves that cartoon. It was so good. It was really good and I totally get it. So you're saying so our son got into them and then you kind of broke

I think you watched this movie. I think we watched this movie and he was like, tell me everything about this. And when he means everything, he means your brain version of everything, which is like every single detail to the cows come home. He wakes up in the morning and he will tell me some obscure fact about the shredder that was from like the 1980s particular one. He's right.

With the extra, I don't know, additional different costume. My mum recently dropped around a tub of an ice cream container full of Ninja Turtle cards that I had when I was a kid. Oh, my God. So that's it. We were playing Ninja Turtle Snap. It felt like bloody forever. My life, it's just a series of sleeping and Ninja Turtle and making snacks.

Also, there's like six cards in that Snap set. I know. But every time we were playing snap with them and every time he'd pull them down, he'd think I wouldn't notice, but he'd be like, and then he'd like read each of the characters. I don't know, whatever it is. Cheese man. Like whatever.

Cheese man. All these weird looking villains. Leatherhead. Okay. Well, cheese man is really not that far stretch from Leatherhead. It absolutely is a big stretch. But all of those, and he just like whispering to himself, like he's kind of learning some kind of like, I don't know,

periodic table. Anyway, yeah, we've got Ninja Turtles, Rain Man 2 in the house. Look at this absolute freak. Look at the size of him. He's too big, Claire. Can I move on from the two big him. He's too big, Claire. Can I move on from the two big Ninja Turtles? Yeah, all right.

Am I allowed? I like that elevator scene from that movie. Yeah, maybe we'll just stay on this for another 15 minutes of the show. Okay, I'm happy to do it. And the listeners can just settle in for James yelling, too big, Claire. Look at that. Yeah, they are. It's the Hulk.

That's the Hulk. Yeah, it is. They made the Hulk with a shell. You know who else is bulletproof? Fucking Hulk, Claire. Ridic know who else is bulletproof? Fucking Hulk Claire. Ridiculous. What were they thinking? Here's Leonardo from 1990.

How conservative is that size-wise? But also muscular-wise. Muscular-wise. What I don't really understand is they look hulking. Yeah. They're all like kind of hunchbacked and like big two muscles. I completely agree. Too many of the muscles as well.

I agree with you. I'm on board. Now, Subturtles will obviously continue next week. Oh, Lord, I thought it was over. This is the original sketch for Ninja Turtles. Yeah, you showed me that. It's a joke, Claire. It's an audio medium.

They can't see it. They can see it. Can we move along? Just looking at the size of these freaks, what were they thinking? All right, well, while you keep looking at that, I'll talk about the things I want to talk about. Take them down like 40%. 40%. That would be fine.

Can we? And they also stole the design. This is the original. The guy, they just stole it from some dude who didn't make the artwork. He's now just staring at his phone, Googling images of giant Ninja Turtles. Just upset. I know you might think this is a bit, but he's really upset about it. I am upset.

He's like deeply annoyed. Nobody thinks it's a bit. Nobody thinks it's a bit. Everyone knows how serious I am. Some people might think it was a bit, but no, the anger is so real. Yeah. It's so real. All right, well, I'm going to move on then while you keep Googling

and fall into a pit of more despair, obviously, because there are a whole lot of atrocities happening in the world, but none so serious as the time that they made the Ninja Turtles too big. I was going to say, yeah, that is number one right now, numero uno. Life is a series of challenges, as I say to my son all the time, and he said to me the other day, why do you always say life's a series of challenges? And I said, because it is a series of challenges,

just like hearing me say it's a series of challenges. Yeah. Here's your cornflakes. All right. The Couple Upstairs by Holly Wainwright is my recommendation. Now this is, remember- Didn't you interview Holly Wainwright? I certainly did.

When she put out her book, I Give My Marriage a Year, that I talked about- Yeah, wonderful book. Yeah, a couple years ago. You loved that and we had a big discussion and deep dive. That was about a couple's marriage and their sort of breakdown and she wrote from two different perspectives. It was really interesting.

So this is her new novel. I've been really raring to go to read this one. It's a real departure from her other novels. So I'll give you a little bit of the synopsis. It's still a fictional story and it's set in Sydney during the pandemic in a block of flats which is similar to where Holly was living. So she was living in a block of flats with two kids and a dog and her husband for the two years of like intense COVID lockdowns

while also working and writing a book. So I feel like. Wait, where does she live? She is Sydney. That didn't count. That didn't have much lockdown. All right. I have no sympathy.

No, you're forgetting the second part where they actually did go into a long lockdown. Not as long as Melbourne where everyone is totally fine now where they had like the longest lockdown in the world. Somebody had to order the vaccine. It's fine. It's fine. Anyway, let's move right along.

So five months after Mel, the protagonist, told her husband to leave, a ghost moves upstairs. Now that's kind of the beginning of the novel, but it's actually not a ghost. It's a young man who moves in upstairs who reminds her of a past lover. And as the story unfolds, it appears that the guy that he reminds her of was quite coercive, controlly basically and emotionally abusive to her. But she also was in this kind of toxic love affair with him and he dies.

And that was in her past. That was before she met her current husband, well, her partner that she separated from. She has two kids in the flat with her. And so this guy moves upstairs and he's one of those kind of travellers who's a backpacker and has been kind of, you know, driving around Australia in a combi van, hanging out with the UK backpackers and kind of basically sleeping

his way around the coast and, you know, just very kind of roguish, very handsome but also has a kind of dark past. Let me say this about people like this. Boo, not a fan. Well, yeah, he's one of those people that talks a big game. So he'll bring a whole lot of people over at randoms to have a party and then he'll make, I don't know, Tom Yum soup and say that he learnt it while he was working in Thailand in a resort where he fell in love

with the owner's daughter or something and she gave him his recipe and, you know, that kind of vibe. Well, I hope he enjoys having rich parents, which is how he's able to do all those things. Actually, no, in this story actually you end up finding out he has a very troubled childhood, which may be one of the reasons why he does some of the things he does. What's interesting is that his girlfriend is a UK backpacker and she starts to babysit Mel's kids in the flat because she's separated

and so looking after them on her own. And then she goes missing. I know. And so the story kind of starts to unravel from there about where the babysitter has gone. A murder mystery perhaps? A murder mystery. Or just a mystery.

Yeah, it's a murder mystery but there's kind of an intrigue as well because as the threads of the story are going through you get the sense that mel is more involved in her disappearance than she's kind of letting on she's also kind of weirdly obsessed with the guy upstairs yeah but then also she's really passionately looking for the girl that's gone missing yeah exactly so there's this kind of tension also she's really passionately looking for the girl that's gone missing. Yeah, exactly. So there's this kind of tension. Also she's kind of, it almost seems like she's resentful of all these young, gorgeous people that keep like flishing in and out of these big parties upstairs.

But also they're not supposed to be having parties, James. Oh, because of the pandemic. So there's kind of like that overlay of like disapproval of people partying in her flats and all of those kind of things. Anyway, it's a really different story from I Give My Marriage a Year. Yeah, it sounds good actually. But it is really good. It's really intriguing.

I read this. And I don't want to spoil it, but I will just say the different voices in the narrative kind of come through as well. So it's not told from just one perspective. I'm a ghost. I learnt this recipe from a spooky skeleton. Correct. That's absolutely it.

But it's clear she's also made a departure from her other books in that, yeah, she hasn't written kind of like a mystery or a murder mystery in this way before. And also she wrote it in a much more clinical kind of way as well, which is interesting and quite intricate in the way that the story is kind of woven through. And I just think it does a really good job of depicting, A, the backpacker lifestyle because Holly herself did that before she met her partner.

She was travelling for a long time. She's originally from the UK and she was going to those really remote towns in the Kimberleys and working in pubs. And so there's a lot of lovely nostalgia about it, which I feel like is quite reminiscent. That happened to me during lockdown when there was nothing going on. I started watching The Secret Life of Us. Do you remember? I got really like nostalgic from my twenties. So you hit the bad seasons. Yeah, correct. And then I was like, oh, I remember this. It was as good as I thought. But the first sort of season is excellent. Yeah, I agree.

And that kind of time. So you can see Holly almost as she's writing it. It's not autobiographical but there's definitely elements of her past. Yeah. And I think she also did date some guys that were pretty toxic too. Right, yeah. And so she writes really well about what that's like for women particularly and it doesn't just happen to women but in this particular instance,

for what it's like for a young woman to kind of fall for a guy like that and have this constant thrum of anxiety around trying to keep them happy and not wanting to put a foot wrong and kind of being dangerously obsessed with them and they with her but then also how that goes wrong and then how they kind of unpick their kind of sense of self-worth and self-esteem. Yeah, right. It's just, yeah, it's really, it's interesting and really well worth reading, I think.

So that came out recently, I assume? Very recently. Like only in the last kind of month. Oh. Yeah, so very good. So you're there, that's Halloween, right? Right in the heart of Subturtles. That's brave because you're going up against, obviously, Subturtles.

Correct, exactly. And it's set in summer as well. I don't know why, but I think it's been so cold here. It's lovely to read about city and summer and Sydney, just, you know, somewhere different. Everybody knows Sydney sucks though, Claire. Yeah, it does. I want to live in Melbourne.

Absolutely. You're right. I mean, Holly no longer lives there either. She's moved away. That's not even true. Sydney is quite nice. No, Sydney is beautiful, but I wouldn I want to live in Melbourne. Absolutely. You're right. I mean, Holly no longer lives there either. She's moved away. That's not even true. Sydney is quite nice. No, Sydney is beautiful, but I wouldn't want to live there. Anyway, yeah, so that's it.

Hi, this is Katnett Unfiltered. If you know us, then you know that we do almost everything together, so accommodating seven kids and seven adults on vacation can be challenging. So we Airbnb it. And if you have a spare room in your house, you can Airbnb it. It's that simple. You can even Airbnb your whole house while you are away. You could be sitting on an Airbnb and not even know it. 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. That's the couple upstairs. That's The Couple Upstairs. What's your second one, James? Wow, Claire, that sounded really spooky. Perfect as well because it's also, it's nearly the spookiest time of the year and I'm not just talking about tax season. So, Claire, I watched a series. A series.

It's a series of episodes. It's called The Patient. It's created by Joel Field and also Joe Weisberg. Wow. I know, who worked on The Americans, which is a show I need to go back and watch. A spy show. Spies and Russians and everything.

Espionage. Espionage, yeah. Anyway, it stars Steve Carell and Donald Gleeson, who you might know as the son of Brendan Gleeson and his brothers in that show about bad sisters that we're watching at the moment. He's a redhead detective in that? Yes, yes.

You know Donald Gleeson, don't you? Yes, we discussed this last time. Yes, I know. It's good to know that we're all on the same page. Also, it continues to be excellent. Yeah, it's a great show. Really enjoying it. So this stars Steve Carell, you might know from The Office,

and also the movie Date Night with Tina Fey that wasn't very funny. And you're like, oh, why isn't this very funny? I don't like this. Why isn't this funnier? I don't like how this isn't very funny. Who made this? This should be better. Here's the synopsis.

Therapist Alan Strauss is held prisoner by a patient, Sam Fortner, who reveals himself to be, get ready for this, Claire, a serial killer? Now Sam has an unusual therapeutic demand for Alan, as in the Steve Carell character. It's almost like you're reading this straight up. No, no, this is off the top of my head. I'm just looking at my phone. I'm actually just, it's on selfie mode.

I'm just trying to get a good picture. So, Curb? You know, some goals are just not worth striving for. Maybe I should go. Damn it. I really had a good comeback then and I stuffed it up. No, Claire, you nailed it. I think you basically got to the heart of my insecurities.

Some dreams should just be dreams. That's what I was trying to say. There we go. Here we bloody go. So, what is it? Basically, he wants Donald Gleeson. Are you okay? Donal.

Donal. I looked it up. It rhymes with Tonal. That's how you pronounce his name. It wants Alan to curb his homicidal tendencies, right? So in order to survive, Alan must unwind Sam's disturbed mind and stop him from killing again. Now, Steve Carell's character in this, Claire, I'll tell you this much,

it's getting late. We've been trying to record in the day and it's showing because this is not the daytime. He's not very well in himself. He recently had suffered a tragedy also befalled him. He's kind of at a difficult point in his life. He's estranged from his children. Like there's a lot, he's got a lot of things going on,

which he kind of, and then he's tossed into this situation where he's chained to a bed and then forced to give therapy to this man who's obviously a lunatic because he kidnapped him. And also, as he explains to him early on when he's kidnapped, therapy is supposed to be like, it's supposed to be you build trust together and you build a relationship. But if you've kidnapped me, this isn't a situation where therapy can work. But then he's like, oh, this guy's probably going to kill me. So I guess I'll do therapy for him. So he has to stop this guy from killing again and maybe even killing him eventually

and then potentially escape at some point. It's six episodes in at the moment. It's on Hulu if you're in the US of A. It's on Disney Plus Star if you're in Australia or other sections of the world who do that. It's ten episodes in total. I would recommend it. Again, it's only been six, so if the next episode is a big wet fart,

then that is not my fault. Oh, no. That's a horrible description. Well, that's what I'm saying. That was what I tried to convey. Horrible. I'll just say that again. Horrible.

Horrible. Do you have another thing to apologise for? I mean. That's the only time because usually I am faultless. Unbelievable. The absolute audacity, the hubris on this woman. It's my birthday. Just be nice.

No one cares. Birthdays don't mean anything. That's one of my favorite songs. I'm a good woman. For that, it's from The Staves, one of my favorite bands, I'm a good woman. That's from The Staves, one of my favourite bands I've talked about. I love that song. It's really good. I think it's okay.

Go on. No, I won't sing it to you. All right, so my next recommendation is a lovely chat with Liz Gilbert and this wonderful woman, Kemi Nekvapil. Liz Gilbert and this wonderful woman, Kemi Nekvapil. Now, she is an inspirational kind of coach and a writer and an advocate and she's just an all-around incredible human. And Liz Gilbert, as I've talked about many times before, is an author. She wrote the very famous book Eat, Pray, Love,

but she's written a lot of other things besides. She's written good books also. Got her! I haven't read it. I'm looking a lot at her stuff because she's written the book Big Magic that I've raved about before. You do love the book Big Magic as I know. And because I'm in the studio writing all this music

and feeling really like a rollercoaster-y about it and sometimes I'm like, cool, this is excellent and great and this is fun. And then sometimes I'm like this is the most embarrassing thing that anyone has ever done in their whole life. Yeah. And then sometimes I'm like, this is the most embarrassing thing that anyone has ever done in their whole life. And I just, Liz Gilbert's book, Big Magic, it gives me just, I just open it sometimes in a chapter and it just reminds me that like she calls making art,

it's just like jewelry for people's minds. It's, and that makes me feel better because she's like, it's not a big deal. I mean, some art obviously can make a huge impact and change the world and people who are living under house arrest in really terribly difficult circumstances and they write a book and all that stuff, like that can be very stressful. But for most of us, we're just making some art for some people to enjoy or not enjoy. Yeah, that's right.

Sometimes you do that thing where you draw like a perspective art on the pavement with chalk and it looks like you're going to fall off a cliff and it's like, oh, no. And it just represents your internal mind. It's just art, though. It's just art. It's not real. It's just a chalk.

Anyway, all I'm saying is I just find her book really comforting because this whole album thing is terrifying. Yeah, I wouldn't have done it. I'm writing an album. No way. Not in a million years. Look, it's part of. I would sooner recommend the 2014 design for the, that's not true.

I couldn't. I couldn't possibly recommend that. Sorry, go on. Anyway, yeah, so I'm writing this album and anyway, her book has been really helping me and I've also really gone back to her Instagram account because she has some really lovely videos and there was this interview with Kemi where Kemi talks about her latest book, Power.

Now, the book itself I'll talk about in another podcast because it's life-changing. But the conversation itself between her and Liz is so moving. It's all about how we've got this idea of patriarchy as power, right? So power is about what you can get and have over people and greed. And Kemi writes this book about how she wants to change the narrative about power and that actually it's more about being able to impact each other in the world in a positive way and also stop apologizing, particularly for women.

Okay. So to kind of find a way for women to stand in their power in a way that's good for themselves and good for their families, good for the planet. And that's just a reframing of that whole notion. And I just, the chat itself is so vulnerable and also such an important reminder, I think, that as women, we're taught from a very young age to be small, be quiet, apologise all the time, keep everyone happy, please everyone all the time. And she just articulates so well that that is not helpful for ourselves and actually ultimately not help for each other.

She has this story about being nice and she puts it in inverted commas that she was always taught to be really nice. And for one of the reasons being that she was, she grew up in the foster system. And so she, she kind of, in order to survive and she's black as well. So she was often fostered by white families too. And that's a whole other thing as well. But because of that, she felt like she had to just be nice all the time and hide how she felt about things. And she said, nice is not kind. And I love that. Yeah, that's true, yeah.

Because when you're just nice, you're actually hiding yourself and you're not actually giving people what you really think about anything. Nice is awful also. Yeah, isn't it? Yeah. But it's just that is awful also. Yeah, isn't it? Yeah. But it's just that where people are trying. Yeah. But it just often then means that she said this phrase

and it just hit so, it just was so true to me. It just hit something incredibly deep in me because she said that by being nice I wasn't there. Yeah, okay, yeah. And I feel that sometimes when I talk to people who are being nice. They're not actually there. Yeah. They're not really being themselves.

They're not really saying what they think. And I don't mean that you go around being a jerk. No, you're talking about being genuine and kind. That's what you're saying. Yeah, and being kind sometimes is actually saying something quite direct and not just sugarcoating it. Like, hey, stop that. Hey, what are you doing?

Is that an example? Correct, exactly. Get down from there. It's more the difference between saying, oh, yes, oh, thank you, of course, you know, and oh, what a lovely jumper, as opposed to saying, I really appreciate you as a friend. How are you going? That jumper sucks. I really love you as a friend. How are you going? That jumper sucks. I really like that jumper sucks.

Oh, no, but just giving people, yeah, you as a person and actually being okay to stand in your opinions. Yeah. And I think maybe guys are much culturally more able to do that. I think women are really taught from a very early age that also it's our responsibility to keep everyone happy and I've felt that a lot in situations. And sometimes that's a beautiful quality, having, you know, trying to create environments

where everyone feels comfortable and safe. Yeah, totally. I mean, but that's different than being like artificially nice all the time. Like those are different things, you know? Yeah, completely. Anyway, I just thought it's a really beautiful and powerful conversation between two really cool women who are writers and creators and doing really incredible things in this space.

And I just loved it. It made me smile. I came out of it feeling a lot more joyful about it. It's quite funny as well, the chat too, and just really inspiring. So that's on Liz Gilbert's Instagram and it's a chat with Kemi Nickvapil about her book Power. That sounds amazing, Claire.

I think you would hate it. But anyway. Maybe. Maybe. I don't think so. Here's one other question before we finish. Oh, my God. How are you going coping with me and my neuroses over this project?

So this is a question about you, is it? It is, yeah. Fine. It's my birthday week. I'm allowed. I'm allowed one question. Your birthday week this is a question about you, is it? It is. Yeah. Fine. It's my birthday week. I'm allowed. I'm allowed one question. Your birthday week turns into a birthday month when she knows it's Subturtles as well. It's ridiculous. No, fine. Good. I'm glad, I'm glad you're doing it. It's good that you're doing it. Like you need to do it and I want to give you the space to do that. Like that's, that's, it's a good thing. Thank you. Yeah. Yeah. It's weird. Cause I feel like

I was talking to another friend about this. For. Yeah, it's weird because I feel like I was talking to another friend about this. For some reason I've always felt like any work that I do isn't legitimate and it's a hobby and I'm not able to ask for the time to work. I just squirrel away and do it when I can. Yeah. I used to anyway. And I would sort of give you full range to be like, well,

we have to look after James' work. James' work is important. But internally I would think mine isn't. Which is ridiculous. But it's just, yeah, I know, right? But it's the way that I. If anything, clearly my work is not important. No, but it is.

It's just, it's not even, I just find it really interesting, right? And I think that's a feeling that a lot of women come up against, that their work isn't as important or it's just like Camille was kind of talking about as a creative woman too, being able to say legitimately to your friends and your family and the people in your life, I'm working and this is a really important time for me. Get away from me.

And I, yeah. A jumper looks like shit. Get out of here. You know what I mean though? Like I'm allowed to do this. Absolutely. I'm allowed to take up the space. I guess the difference with our work is that we're technically

always available because we work when we want to work. Not when we want to work but, you know, we're. But we can fit it around when we need to. Yeah, exactly. Which is also like not every now and then you're like, okay, I'll just do this thing. But like I was kind of in the middle, all right, fine, you know, and you get pulled away because you can, you know. Yeah.

Whereas like if we were teaching and someone was like, hey, have you got a minute? It'd be like, well, no, because I'm on my job obviously. You fucking idiot. Get out. Get out of here. Yeah. And that's I think's a jumper looks like shit

but actually that's what's been really interesting to me for the first time and i've been making podcasts for a long time but it's always been just around the edges and like running a company but around the edges of everything even then and so just the idea that like with this music writing and recording and things, I guess part of it is I have to go to a studio. So I have to work. That's not the only part of it. Like you do a lot of it here as well, you know,

like listening to stuff and practicing and like trying different things. It's driving you crazy. No, it's not. It's really not. Remember that day when I sung the word feel? That was a different thing. That was a different thing. Over and over again.

She was trying to hit this one word. So she was literally just singing the same word like over and over again and it just broke my brain. I'm like, hey, can you not do that like all day because it's literally killing me and I'm going to kill myself. I swear to God. I swear to God. A little dramatic.

Anyway, I got it in the end. You did. But at what cost? My sanity. Correct. I can't even hear that word. I flinch. Yeah.

Anyway, it's just been really nice and I'm really – I think I'm really proud of myself that I've been able to do it, to say, no, fuck off, everyone. This is important to me and I'm going to give it a go. But also I'm really grateful to have the time and space to do it. It feels like a real privilege and I also am grateful to you for, you know, handling the ship and all of that. Well, Claire, the feeling is mutual because that is what you also do.

Thanks, mate. Yes. Cool. Anyway, all right, let's get on with the reviews now. Enough of me banging on about stuff. Oh, normally I like to subtly pivot into the reviews, but now I can't. Now you've spoiled the surprise. But if you do want to review this show, guess what, Claire?

Can I sing you the word feel? Better not. Thank you. Better not. You can do it in app, any app, any app of your choice, whatever you're listening to this on, you can do that, except if you're at bigsandwich.co where everything goes up early and there's bonus content, et cetera.

This is for a five-star review. Oh, my goodness, thank you. We got some reviews this week. I read out one each week. This is from Mick Delaware who says, I love them. First off, happy anniversary to this power couple. Thank you. They say there are two people battling inside of you,

and for me it's Claire and James battling for my attention. James has me with all the comic book and nerdy suggestions, but Claire helps me reconnect with myself with her wonderful suggestions of poetry, great books, and music. Which one will one day consume my heart and soul? Find out next week. Wow. I like that review a lot.

I like that review a lot. That was an excellent review. You should review it, listener. We would love you to. Just do it in app. Give us some stars. Except if you're a bad person from Delaware. Oh, no, because they've really done an excellent one.

Correct. You can also write in to Suggestible Pod with recommendations for things to watch, read, and listen to, just like Jonathan Berkovich has. There's a tagline, he's Laundry Memes. I don't know if you remember. I know this name. Has he written before?

Mm-hmm. Hi, Claire. I think he has, yeah. Hi, Claire. Just wanted to share mine and my wife's favorite laundry meme. Love the podcast and love all of you. Remember we talked about a laundry meme last week? Laundry meme? Yeah. I talked about one. You didn't listen. I don't know what you're talking about. What is it? It's just a meme about laundry. Oh. What was it? What was the meme?

My meme or did you send us in a meme? Oh, I thought you said, what was we talking about last week though? It was a laundry meme when it was just like adult life, like something like, I don't know. It was something about it. I butchered it. But it was basically about laundry and the dream of getting to the bottom of your basket and it's just like, no, find a new dream. I don't remember this at all.

All right. Let's do it. He's blanked it. But anyway, he says, love the podcast and love all that you do. What you said about validation really hit home. We learned it from the daycare the kids went to. Thanks for bringing it up. That was also a parenting discussion from last week that James is looking at me blankly. I don't think so. Dr. Becky, good insight. We're talking about validating kids' feelings. No, this is a trick. This person has invented with you in conjunction with a fake episode

to confuse me. Are you okay? I'm ready. All right. So his meme goes, doing laundry as an adult, washing 30 minutes, drying 45 minutes, folding five to seven business days. Very good. Or like in our house, mostly never.

Never. Don't even worry about it. Correct. Exactly. Thank you so much, Jonathan. You can write in at stressfulpodapod at gmail.com. I've been Claire Tonti. That's true.

Who else is here? I don't know. Jesus. A really angry Ninja Turtle. I was going to say, yeah, Jesus. A giant Ninja Turtle's walked in the room. I don't like him. He's too big.

Get out of here. Get out of here, Ninja Turtle. I'd shoot you, but it's pointless because you're invincible. Stupid Ninja Turtle. What are they thinking? Well, thank you, James Clements. What are they thinking, Claire? It's hard to tell.

Probably they're just making a movie about some turtles dressed as ninjas. They're not dressed as ninjas. They are ninjas, Claire. No, they're dressed as ninjas. Okay, here's the thing. Next week you're going to bring a Sub-Turtles recommendation. Yeah, I probably can. I've got so much bloody research. I've got two people that all they're talking about to me is Ninja Turtles.? Yeah, I probably can. I've got so much bloody research.

I've got two people that all they're talking about to me is Ninja Turtles. Maybe you could watch. I will bring some shredder facts. Not facts. Splinter. Recommendations, Claire. What do you mean? You've got to go away and watch them read something.

I've got a recommendation for you. What's that? Put them all in the bin. What? That's ridiculous. You can go. I will do something. You can make a suggestion for me.

I'll go and do a thing as well if you want. Nah. Okay. Yes. Okay. Yes, I do. Okay. You have to go and find me a lovely heartfelt poem that I haven't read before on the show.

How long does it have to be? Like a regular poem length. What's that look like? I don't know, a couple of paragraphs? A couple of paragraphs. Not even. It can be one paragraph, James. It can be a haiku.

I don't mind how long. I mean, obviously like 20 pages, don't do that. But bring in a lovely poem that's really touched you and moved you. That's it. And it can't be one that I've read and it can't be one that a listener has recommended. Well, I can't guarantee that, but I will try my best. And I will bring be one that I've read and it can't be one that a listener has recommended. Well, I can't guarantee that, but I will try my best. And I will bring in your dumb Ninja Turtles recommendation.

Fine. I'll see you next week. I will see you next week. I hate this show. Goodbye, everybody. Goodbye. Thanks, Colleen, for editing. Appreciate it.

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