Suggestible - The Queen of Fairies

Episode Date: May 13, 2021

Suggestible things to watch, read and listen to. Hosted by James Clement @mrsundaymovies and Claire Tonti @clairetonti.Sign up to Claire’s weekly bonus newsletters here – tontsnewsletterThis week���s Suggestibles starting at 9 mins 40 secs:This Way UpFlowers for AlgernonMare of EasttownAlternate Ending for TitanicBack to LifeHuman Heart, Pig BodySend 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. Hey, everybody, we're going to be talking about the Tooth Fairy and Santa and all these other things. If you've got kids in the car, we don't want to know any of the secrets,

you know what I mean? So there's a times code below. Correct. We also talk for a long time. so I'm going to introduce the show now. We're Suggestible Podcast, a podcast where we talk about many things and review things. I'm Claire. James is here also. We are married. And for some reason today, we rant about the Tooth Fairy for a long time. That's right.

On with the show. Jim Jam, I have a surprise for you. Oh, no. This doesn't sound good. You'll like it. You'll like it a lot. I don't like surprises and I don like it a lot. I don't like surprises and I don't like anything. So I don't know how this could pan out well. All right.

I fixed your basketball ring for you. Did you? I did. That is a good surprise. How did you do it? I told you. I wound the thing up. How did you do it? Okay, listeners, this is not interesting to anyone else. However, I will say we have a basketball ring in our backyard that has two different heights and James got stuck at the low height for kids and he was like, ah, shit, I don't know what to do about this. And then I knew it was the kind of thing that you would leave forever. It's true. And I was like, man, I only like doing really big dunks.

I don't like doing these small dunks. Do you know what I mean? Dunks? Yeah. When have you ever done a slam dunk? Well, you've never seen me, but when you go to bed, I come out and do slam dunks. Yeah, I've never seen a lot of things. I've never seen the Tooth Fairy either.

Just because you've never seen it doesn't mean it doesn't exist, Claire. It's called faith. It's called faith. Do you know? God, ever heard of him? Okay, Jesus. I'm not getting into existentialism right now. What I will say on the tooth fairy, our son lost a tooth yesterday.

Yes, he did. He's so deadpan about it too. He just pulled it right out. Pulled it out of his head. Like, no worries. Like, it's only a little bit wobbly. He just pulls it out. Like a serial killer.

I know. It's really bloody impressive in a way and also a bit terrifying. I used to let it hang on to like the very last. Yeah, me too. Like a thread. And then sometimes I do that thing where you tie the tooth to the doorknob. I tried that once. I didn't wear it.

I just banged my head on the door. It was really painful and silly. Wait, so it yanked your whole head into the door? Correct. Was your tooth even loose? Yeah, but I just obviously hadn't tied it properly around my teeth, like I'd tied it up. I don't know how you would have done that.

It's me. I've done a lot of things. I broke my own arm by doing a karate kick once. I fell on my own foot and broke my arm and my head. I got a hook in my eye. I broke my teeth on a brick. That's true. Okay, look, but you always say.

So you really can't believe that I would bang my head on a door. Yeah, you're right. It's a good point. I just don't understand the logistics of it. But you always say I broke my arm doing a karate kick. Were you doing a karate kick or were you doing a regular kick? No, I jumped up. Okay, look, I'm not saying it looked like a karate kick,

but in my mind I jumped up to do a kick where you kick like a karate kick. We were being like karate kids. You were karate kids. Were you being the Hilary Swank karate kid? I was also in year eight, so it was probably a little old to be trying this out in my friend's front room on carpet. One of the funniest things I've ever seen, I don't think I've ever talked to this, my younger brother,

who's now a fully grown man, the one that Mason doesn't like. Correct. He, when he was a kid, he did a karate kick and he put his leg up but then he fell and he did like the full splits. What, like four? By accident. And he was fine.

Like it was fine. It was just like the look of shock. Like oh shit. That's really hard to do. Yeah, I know. I don't think he knew. And he's so long and lanky. I don't think he knew he could do it.

And he probably hasn't done it since. I wonder if he could do it now. He definitely could. It was a complete accident. Anyway, this is. I feel like though. Yeah, this is on a side note. I was telling you a quick story about the fifth fairy. So our son, the serial killer. No, this is on a side note. I was telling a quick story about the tooth fairy.

So our son, the serial killer. No, he's not a serial killer. He's wonderful. He pulled his own teeth out. He's very kind and funny. Anyway, we're sitting eating breakfast and deadpan. I said, oh, mate, the tooth fairy came last night. And he was like, yeah, she did.

She took the tooth back to her queen. What? No, she did. She took the tooth back to her queen. What? No, I never. And I was like, so I was like, oh, I'm going to ask some more questions about this one. Yeah, what's this? Because we've literally never talked about the tooth fairy or a queen. So I just sort of was eating my cereal next to her.

Didn't make a big deal because if you make a big deal, it won't add to anything. It'll shut her down, yeah. I love it. So I just was like, all right, so who's the queen? And he's like, the queen of the fairies, mum. Just deadpan, queen of the fairies. I was like, all right.

So the queen of the fairies, is there multiple tooth fairies then? Yes. See, that's what I asked him. So I was trying really hard not to like get into it. I was like, okay, so do you mean like is the queen like the queen of the tooth fairies? Like all fairies. No, and he's like, no, so do you mean like is the queen like the queen of the tooth fairies? Like all fairies. No, and he's like, no, mum, of all fairies.

What's the hierarchy? Like where does the tooth fairy like in relation to like an enchanted woodland fairy? Look, I didn't get into that level of it because then I wanted to know what he thought the tooth fairy was going to do with his tooth. Yeah. And he looked at me and just went, nah, I don't want to answer that. And then just kept eating his what he thinks.

You know what, that's a really good, like I think it's a good question. I do too. What is it doing? I suggested maybe she builds her house out of the teeth. Yeah, see, that's weird. What else is she doing with them? A house of teeth. Yeah, well, what else is she doing with them? A house of teeth. Yeah, well, what else would you do with them?

A house of rotting children's teeth. No, but they don't rot because they're like bone. Yeah. They're just, you know, well, why not? Be sustainable. She's tiny, isn't she? Anyway, I don't know how we got off this topic. It's really very boring to anyone else.

We are suggestible podcast. Just get some fucking bricks, man. Like what the fuck's wrong with you? Make a brick house. Who's making tiny bricks? Then pebbles. But, you know, if you've got a whole lot of children's teeth, surely it's a cheaper option.

I mean housing prices, James. Yeah, but you're also sending people out in the world on dangerous missions to go into people's houses and steal teeth for money so you're not even stealing them when really you could just use rocks. Yeah, but I don't think the teeth, she's stealing the teeth for to build the houses. I think she's stealing the teeth for the children and then she just happens to also then have some teeth left over

and she's like, well, what am I going to do with all these? I don't know, build my own palace. She's doing the children a favour. Correct. She's bringing the money. I like it. Look, fairy is a weird thing. Of all the fantastical, like, people that break into your house

and give you things, the tooth fairy is easily the strangest. See, I don't know about that. I disagree. I always loved the tooth fairy. I love it. I bet if you really, like. It's more plausible. It's more plausible than a bloody bunny running around with chocolate eggs

or like a scent, like an old man who somehow gets toys that is very specific to every child in the world. The tooth fairy, much more believable. It's not about believability. She only has to take a tooth and put a dollar there. It doesn't matter. Also, as I was carrying a sack of coins, it's not about believability. That's not my issue with it.

It's just odd. It's a weird thing to do. Yeah. Okay. And why does it not surprise you? And who made this up? Fuck. What kind of weird?

That's the thing with all these like fables and shit people make up. And then you just have to run with these lies to your children until they go, what's the deal with this? And you're like, yeah, it's bullshit. And they're like, what? Why? And you're like, I don't fucking know. It's just a thing we all agreed that we all do apparently. We just lie to children until you figure it out.

Or you figure it out, then you don't tell us, and then we're all lying to each other. It's fucking insanity. It doesn't make any sense. Why can't it be your parents, you lost a tooth, you're getting older other. It's fucking insanity. It doesn't make any sense. Why can't it be your parent? You lost a tooth. You're getting older. Here's a fucking coin.

Click him a coin. It's the same with presents. You're getting older. Here's a fucking present. Good on you. Have some turkey. I don't know. It's fucking bullshit, man.

It does not surprise me on any level that you are of, like, said Grinch of Christmas. Now you're the Grinch of the tooth fairy. Man, I love the magic of it all or whatever. Like I enjoy that. However, you do know that our son knows. He knows already. He knew when he was like three and a half or something.

Didn't he just say to you that Santa's not real? Did he? Yeah, he said to you, I know it's you, Dad. He said it to you. He didn't say that. He did. He was like three and a half because he's so like switched on and, you know. He knows what's what.

To be fair, I figured it out really early and I just didn't tell anyone. It's just like no one needs to know this. I feel like he may have been humouring me about the Tooth Fairy. Anyway. Anyway, what are we doing? That was really very boring, colleagues. You can cut all of that out. This is just a podcast.

This is a podcast where we review things and occasionally review the tooth fairy as well apparently. Do a better job than tooth fairy. All of children's magical, wonderful dreams. At least if you're a fairy shop and be like, what's up? And then you could like have a conversation. That'd be fucking wild. Like that would be amazing, right?

Yeah, but it's not real, James. Yeah, I know. Oh, I know. We should put a disclaimer at the start of this of any parents soliciting with their kids. There's so much faith, like, around this nonsense thing. I just, you know what I mean? It's the magic of childhood. Okay, fair enough.

It's the magic of childhood. All right, what are you up to? All right, excellent. Okay, so the first thing, my turn? Yeah, I guess. Yes, other than the fact, thank you, Claire, for fixing the basketball ring. Yeah, thank you, Claire, for fixing the basketball ring, Yeah, thank you, Claire, for fixing the basketball ring,

which is how we got started. Yeah. You're welcome. Went from karate kicks to basketball rings to two threes. Ridiculous. Let's get on to what we're actually here for today. So, oh, great show. I got onto, I follow the Irish comedian Aisling B on Instagram

and I got onto her through the Guilty Feminist podcast, but also because she was in that really great show with Paul Rudd called? What did I write it down? Twins. Living With Yourself. There's two Paul Rudds. Living With Yourself. Yeah, but that's such a great show too and she was brilliant in it.

Agreed. Anyway, she has written and produced and starred in this incredible show called This Way Up. It's from 2019 and it's a British comedy drama. It's set in London and it's about a young single Irish Catholic woman. Oh, my goodness. I know, called Anya, who has had a nervous breakdown. So it sort of begins the show with her just leaving kind of like a rehab

facility and you don't really find out exactly why initially. She teaches English as a second language and Sharon Horgan plays her sister or her elder sister Shona. She's from Game Night, I believe. She is from Game Night and she's also in this other excellent show I'm going to talk about on another episode called Catastrophe and she's just brilliant as well. But the whole show centres really around the chemistry between the two of them, between the two sisters and the supporting cast is really excellent as well. I watched an interview with Aisling and she was talking about how she wanted to make a show that had that really Irish black comedy

where you can find the, you know, the comedy in some of the darkest themes in life really, in death and grief. And she also wanted to make a show that wasn't kind of like a spiralling into the worst thing that's ever happened but was more about the worst thing that's ever happened but was more about the worst thing has happened and then how you kind of get out of that. Yeah, right. I thought that was a really interesting premise too.

She also I think plays this very similarly to who she is as a person, obviously with differences. Yeah. But she made a real effort to make sure that the supporting cast of characters were really complex and funny as well. And so it just walks that beautiful line of being really poignant and heartfelt and kind of gets you right in the feels while also just being so hilarious.

And it's the first show I've watched in a long time where I just had to watch all six episodes. You went for broke. I really did. Now there's no more. I know. They're doing a second season though. They did get greenlit for that.

So that's really awesome. And it's currently. And they couldn't film it last year obviously. Yeah, exactly. Because of COVID. It was 2019, the first season. Is that right? Yes, yeah.

So it's set. It's currently on Stan at the moment. What did you think of it? I loved it and I'm only four in because I kind of went, I'm really enjoying this, I'm going to wait because I'm a bit tired so I'm going to come back to this. But, yeah, it's really funny and she's really great and I think I've seen some of her stand-up before as well,

I'm pretty sure. Yeah, I watched some on YouTube. It's really worth going to look at. Yeah, she's really great and really funny and I think the first time I did see her though was in that Paul Rudd show where there's two Paul Rudds, double Rudd. Living with yourself. But no, everything you said to me, like, yeah, rings true. And I think it's got that kind of Fleabag kind of vibe, I would say.

Yeah, it's less like raunchy than Fleabag. It's less explicit. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, it's less explicit. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, it's less explicit. And what I liked about it too is that it could kind of verge into new girl territory, like it could be cutesy and too sweet or something. No, it's mean.

But it is. It's not that. And they made a really conscious effort, I think, to do that because she's quite a caricature as a person. Yeah. And she's just so funny. And she fluctuates between like manic and funny and then like super depressed really well.

Yeah, which I guess is that kind of sad clown analogy, isn't it? Which I think having met quite a few comedians now, I see that. My God, they're so sad. They're all so sad, Claire. Not all of them. Oh, my God. But I think sometimes people who are really, really funny and can see that funny side of life do have a really dark sensibility.

James. I'm not a comedian. I'm just a regular fucking dude. He just bloody hates the world. Well, the world should be better. It's not my fault. No, I just think the chemistry of the cast is what really makes it but there's also some really interesting themes going

on around immigration too. Yes. That's what I really liked about it. The cast is diverse but they don't make a point of it. There's themes around immigration because obviously she's Irish and the supporting cast of characters that they and the actors that they employed all happen to have parents that were not born in the UK either. Yeah, they're talking about Brexit.

Yeah, yeah, they do but it's not in this way and I guess because. And it also pokes fun at themselves for them trying to like be socially aware and things like that. There's a particular hospital. Yeah, scene, exactly right. And I think the fact that she teaches English as a second language, I love those classroom scenes as well because the cast of characters in her classroom are like all different ages and from all different

cultural backgrounds and there's a lot of comedy within that as well and the way she teaches is so gorgeous. And then there's this beautiful storyline around her coming to tutor a little boy who's trying to learn English and he's French and his mother has passed away. And the guy who plays his dad, so the little boy is called Etienne, he's 12. The bad guy in Outlander. Tobias Menzies.

Yeah, he plays it really well too. He looks like the guy that Jack Sparrow would be scurrying away from. He does. But he plays this kind of very conservative English guy who's- Deadpan. Deadpan, who's really struggling to put words around what his son is going through. He doesn't know his son very well and they're finding it very hard to communicate. And so she kind of bursts in the middle of it with like a thousand words and gags and jokes and becomes kind of the

bridge between the father and the son. Yeah. And that's really beautiful. And the other thing I really loved as well, you can tell that she has a sister because of just how beautifully written that relationship is. Yeah, that's the strongest part of the show. Yeah, and it's really based around her relationship with her younger sister who happens to also be an incredible costume designer and designed all of the costumes for this.

But also did like the costuming for Little Women and like really big blockbuster movies. Oh, I didn't know that. Yeah, so the whole like production behind this show was quite a family affair and she's also worked with Sharon Horgan for years. Yes. They were actually writing a different TV show and those two were playing sisters in that that didn't get greenlit.

And so it's just really interesting. Apparently Aisling wrote this in maybe a week. Of the whole thing? Yeah, like the first draft of it obviously in a week and it just came out just fully formed. Yeah, right. And so then this kind of small team created it. And I really like as well the way they've chosen the set of London.

It's got quite a gritty edge to it, but they've shot it with this beautiful kind of camera work. And the way some of the scenes are shot as well, they're done in one fluid movement, which is really cool too. So because they say they wanted to get that flow of the relationship between the sisters and how funny and gorgeous their chemistry is, and sometimes if you break a shot up and you flick between face to face, you're doing multiple takes and it can break the flow.

Yeah. That's our dogs going crazy. And so I loved there's some really clever camera work in this where you might just get they do just, you know, like a play, like the one scene and the cameras are kind of following them through the apartment. Yeah. And there's just some, yeah, really glorious little moments like that.

And some good acting because that's hard to do. Hard to do. Because often the moments where she's like fluctuating in like emotions and tone, it's like it's all done in the one take. Yeah, it's really clever, isn't it? I also really loved Her Mother. Have you seen that episode yet? That's the one I'm on, yeah.

I just. She was this former TV presenter. Yeah, like a weather woman who wore different hats every day on the weather in Ireland and was like a big deal. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But what I really liked about that is that you can immediately see how similar her and Ayan's character is. Yeah.

So like which is kind of gorgeous and then her sister is kind of stuck in the middle of these two really larger than life characters and as that episode kind of progresses there's some beautiful moments and quite touching moments in there too. Anyway, I loved it. Highly recommend. I agree. And it's on Stan and other things if you're overseas in a different place

than here. Correct. Exactly. Good stuff. And I keep pronouncing Awn-ya wrong. I'm trying really hard. The main character's name is Awn-ya. Awn-ya.

Very good. Awn-ya. Yep. It's hard with an Australian accent. I know. Because you just want to say Awn-ya. Yeahya. Very good. Onya. Yep. It's hard with an Australian accent. I know. Because you just want to say Onya. Yeah, right. Onya, mate.

I met an Onya once. Did you? Once. One time. There you go. Spelled A-I-N-E. Yeah. There you go.

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I read a book. Whoa, that's huge for you. I've been reading books, Claire. Are you sure, or do you mean you've been listening to books? I've been listening to books, Claire. All right, yeah, I thought so. Well, I can't be reading a book when I'm taking our daughter for a walk around the river or whatever I'm doing, you know what I mean?

I'm going down to a park or whatever's going on, you know? I know. I know. This is a novel from 1959 by Daniel Keyes. It's called Flowers for Algernon. I just want to say up top as well, if you are going to this book, you might have heard of this book. It's a classic book,

but it's got a lot of like outdated phrases in relation to people with intellectual disabilities, like things in there that's like, yeah, you don't really say that word anymore, John, because things kind of, you know, things evolve and it's a 50-plus-year-old book. And also there's some weird stuff about like the lead guy in it, Charlie, who's like, I can't have sex. It's killing me. There's like a bunch of that shit, which doesn't really,

I feel, help the book. But other than that, it's amazing. So basically it's about this character called Charlie Gordon. He's got a low IQ. He's in his early thirties. He lives a simple life. Like he works at a bakery. He's kind of like, he's got his mates there and he feels like they kind of take care of him. And he's got this one task that he does and he's been doing it for like a decade kind of like on his own. You know what I mean? But he wants to improve himself so he starts – he's doing these classes where he's learning to read because he's always kind of got it in his head

that he wants to be smart. Like he's at the level where he knows that he's not as smart as he wants to be but he can't kind of break through that. Do you know what I mean? He always feels like there's a social barrier between him and other people. He thinks like, if I can just learn to read, if I can just be smart, then all these walls will come down and I'll kind of be like everyone else. Anyways, then he's given this opportunity to participate in an experiment

to increase his mental capabilities. So what ends up happening from there is they test this on, they've been testing this on mice and so he meets this mouse and it's this like super advanced mouse and they're like, we can probably, and this is a mouse who can also beat him in a maze. Do you know what I mean? Like they'll run the mouse in a maze and he'll do like a similar human-sized, not a human-sized maze but, you know, on a piece of paper.

And they're like, yeah, this will probably work. So anyway, they do this experiment on him. And then over the course of a few months, he rapidly, he goes from kind of this, like this, this simple term for lack of a better word to, to an extreme genius. But in doing so, he realizes kind of the pitfalls of being that way, especially when he doesn't have the emotional capability to deal with the things that he's suddenly realizing. Like he, he says that, you know, some of the people at work who he thought were his friends realizes that a lot of time people are like laughing at him or he's, or he thinks people are laughing at him and it's not everybody. So he's got this real kind of warped

view of humanity. And even the people who are helping him, he sees all, he used to like look up to, you know, certain people in his life and he realizes that everybody is human and everybody has flaws. And that's kind of, it disgusts him in a way, John. I mean, that he was this guy and people that he felt people would take advantage of and he realized that everybody has their faults and nobody really kind of knows anything. So, yeah, it's interesting because he starts to see people, how they are, and he's trying to find his humanity in that. And then at the same time there is this kind of looming threat that he might be reverting back to the person that he was beforehand.

So in the same way that he kind of ramped up this level of genius, he might be like bottoming out at a certain point. So you kind of might have to watch him kind of unfold and go back to the way that he was and again being aware of that and being aware of what he used to be and what he became and then what he might become again that's brutal it's really sad and uh i've actually written here it's it's it's quite poignant i know you had point you said poignant as well no no i've already i've already written it down i wrote've written it in this document already.

But it was really great. Like it was well ahead of its time, really interesting stuff in terms of, I don't know, like intelligence isn't like a free pass a lot of the time, I think, and a lot of people, you know, a lot of super intelligent people I know and even kids that you teach, you know, you get some kids that are just like fucking next level. Do you know what I mean? Every now and then you get one that's just like a super genius.

I mean you would know because your family is fucking full of them. But, yeah, but it doesn't count for anything if you can't apply yourself or kind of converse with people. I feel like there's an emptiness there to being intelligent without having that connection. And I think this book does a really good job of highlighting that, how it's a gift, but it's also a curse. And maybe there is something to be said for just being blissfully unaware of stuff. Do you know what I mean?

Totally. Yeah. Totally. Yeah, I definitely think that there's this myth that if you're super smart that that automatically means you'll be living a super great life and that's the key to everything. But I think in some ways that can really, A, ostracise you, particularly as a kid if you're really gifted.

I know I worked with gifted kids and have, you know, did some study with kids who are gifted as well. And it doesn't necessarily mean that you're going to not enjoy your life, but it can create social barriers, I think, because you are so much more aware than other kids sometimes. And it can sometimes come hand in hand with either like super overachieving, which means your streets ahead of where your classmates are, or boredom and ending up kind of completely disengaging from school and dropping out or being really disruptive. So there's lots of factors that can happen for gifted kids, which can mean that life

can be very difficult. And sometimes being gifted at one thing means that, yeah, your social skills really suffer. Yes. Or there are other physical things that happen. You know more about this, but they don't really encourage moving kids up anymore, do they? That was something that you used to do. Not you, but people used to do. Me, specifically. You know what I mean? Because you miss out on that social emotional stuff when you're conversing with people that are older than you and adults. And whereas you kind of have to grow up with people your own age and go through these things together because being emotionally intelligent is vastly different than being academically gifted.

Yeah, because an IQ is like it's a very kind of vague and specific test that you can take for a very narrow idea of intelligence when intelligence is beyond that really. And that's exactly right. I think I was speaking to a mum the other day about this too, that we've had historically quite a narrow idea of what intelligence is and how obviously there's multiple intelligences which if anyone's a teacher, you know, we've gone through uni and done all of this kind of stuff

and talked a lot about it. But I really do think that there's like, you know, there's emotional intelligence is as important as well as being able to be super creative and think in a creative way as well. So, yeah, and there's, you know, music intelligence as well as being able to be super creative and think in a creative way as well. So, yeah, and there's, you know, music intelligence and people are able to be, you know, great at sport or really gifted in that way in moving their bodies. Absolutely, yeah.

So there's not just one narrow focus on being able to read and remember facts or do numbers really well or whatever it is. Yeah, I do think. That's what I don't like about a lot of school because a lot of it is not always and I think it's better now than what it used to be is geared towards just remember a bunch of shit and then regurgitate it back. Yeah, I don't know. I don't totally agree with that.

I think there's actually a lot more focus when I was going through on applying knowledge and questioning knowledge to the point where I feel like maybe some of the content wasn't actually taught that very well. Like I don't think when we were going through school, we were taught really sequential steps through like grammar and spelling. I don't think we did enough in terms of rigorous mathematics. I think there's a lot of stuff that rote learning actually really does improve and we're swinging back the other way. Yeah, I think it's a balance.

And I think there's some real gaps in our knowledge when you think about what even in terms of like learning like a language, oh, you've just ignited one of my like bombs of like, you know when you ignite a bomb with someone and then they just regurgitate all this stuff. Anyway, I'll just keep going now because I'm here. Like language as like the way that we teach like a second language in Australia is abysmal and quite embarrassing.

And I think part of it is because we don't do some of that rigorous rote learning that we I think historically have done when you look at our parents' education and what they learnt in terms of the fundamentals of like English but then the fundamentals of French or whatever it is that they study, they can actually have a conversation. I think it's also because we're an island and we don't border anything. Yeah, look. Because the people I know who speak multiple languages or more than one

are usually from families where that language is spoken. Yeah, exactly. But, look, I agree with that partly. Yeah. Because you have to be immersed in it, I feel, to really. But you can teach it better as well. Yeah, I you have to be immersed in it, I feel, to really. Yeah, but you can teach it better as well. Yeah, I agree with that. I agree with you in one way, but I also think there are

so many opportunities in Australia. We're so multicultural. If you're going to teach Lote properly. You told me today we were too multicultural. That's what you said to me. No, I didn't. You said stop the boats. You yelled stop the boats at the TV.

James, don't be telling jokes like that. People think that's what I actually said. When that's the word I said. No, I wouldn't even have that conversation. Anyway, this is probably very boring for people, but I genuinely I think I don't think that argument holds up because I think our communities have so many different languages that we can access and tap into.

I mean the Italian community, the Chinese community, Vietnamese, like there's just so many different language groups here that if we wanted to incorporate that into our schooling we absolutely could. It's probably a good app for it anyway because it's doing art. Yeah. It's getting art. Anyway, I just think that there are some real gaps and I don't know how we got onto the topic of education.

Really I just think, oh, gifted education. Yes. That's where we were at. Look, and you were asking me about whether they move kids up into different grade levels or not. And, yeah, you're right, often education. Yes. That's where we were at. Look, and you were asking me about whether they move kids up into different grade levels or not. And, yeah, you're right, often they don't. But I think it's really up to the kid. I think it depends on the student and what they're into

and how challenged they are in a mainstream setting. And I think the problem with that is and I think a lot of education in general is because you're catering, when you've got a class, you're catering to such a wide variety of abilities and it's very difficult between one teacher and 20 to 30 kids. And often you might have a couple of aides in your classroom if you're lucky. It's fucking impossible.

You can't cater to everybody individually all the time because you'd run yourself ragged. It cannot be done with one person. Not effectively, I feel. So yeah, I don't know. What's the answer? I don't know. Stop the boats. That's what you think. It's so bloody annoying. Anyway, yeah, I don't know. Yeah, I agree. That's why teaching is an impossible job. And if you're a teacher, I love you and respect you and think you are doing an amazing job because it was really hard and nearly broke me. Maybe it did and my brain's now broken officially. Maybe it did.

Anyway, it's a massive job to do and I think that the other part of teaching is that it's never finished. No. Because you could always be doing more or doing it better or trying. Or less, exactly. Which was my motto. Exactly. All right.

Anyway, that sounds really cool and I'm really glad that you're getting into books. I didn't realise there were so many books. I thought there were like eight books. But looking at them, there's at least. How did you get onto that book? It's a story that I've always kind of roughly known about and I'm like, I'm going to read this book.

I'm going to listen to this book. I'm going to listen to somebody tell me a story I said to myself. I love that. I think I'm going to get into this storytelling rather than this podcast game. Yeah, get out of it. Yeah. All right.

I have another recommendation. I would love to hear it. And we're almost at half an hour now. We are at half an hour. We've bloody barrelled along and quacked away with lots of quacking and words. Yes, yes, yes. Anyway, not running a tight ship this week.

My second recommendation is a show called Mare of Easttown. Oh. Yeah. So it's Mare, M-A-R-E. Oh, this one. Yep, yep, yep. So this is created by Brad Inglesby and it's on HBO. It stars Kate Winslet.

It's really current. It only just came out in April. So Kate Winslet is a detective called Mare and she's investigating a murder in a small town near Philadelphia. Oh. Yes, correct. So in the suburbs of Philadelphia, a teenage mother is murdered in the very first episode.

Oh. And Kate Winslet's character is known as kind of like a local hero because she once helped 25 years ago their high school basketball team to win the championship with like a winning shot. Oh, yeah, that's something I would do. Correct. But I would do a dunk. You would.

I would do a slam dunk on the buzzer. Yes, okay. And they'd say three points and I'd say, make it ten. And they'd say, all right. All right. And I'd go on. Sorry. Can I continue?

Yeah, yeah. Sorry, Kate Winslet. Shorty McShortison. Kate Winslet. You've never bloody done a slam dunk in your life, mate. I'm told you. You can't even bloody reach the ring. I'll wind it back down for you now that I've fixed it.

I'm doing slam dunks all day. All day, every day. Yeah, anyway. Right, exactly. Speaking of. We all have dreams. We're doing Space. Speaking of. We all have dreams. We're doing Space Jam next week. We all have dreams.

For Caravan of Garbage. Oh. Which is a bad movie. It's a bad movie. It's not good. Anyway, sorry, go on. Not a shock. Anyway, what I like about this show is it's a very small town

and Kate Winslet's character just basically knows everybody. She's friends or related to most people in the town. So when she does her kind of brand of policing, she's quite, what do I say, aggressive as a character. She's very disgruntled. She's quite bitter about the world. She's often like scoffing hot dogs and, you know, she's not kind of Kate Winslet sort of Titanic-esque.

At one point she has a limp for a while. It's a little bit overdone. Sure. A little bit overdone, I'll say. She was like 19 when she did that as well. Yeah, yeah, exactly. But I still really like her in this. And as the story unfolds, you kind of understand why she's so bitter.

And as always happens with detectives like this, they have a difficult home life and she's divorced. Yeah, yeah. But it is also quite darkly funny in spots as well. And then she lost a son to suicide. Oh, boo. That is kind of discussed and then she's kind of battling for custody of her son, like her son's son, so her grandson.

And, well, there's kind of themes about mental health there as well. Yeah. Yeah, so I'm just three episodes in, so I'll let you know how it goes. It's not particularly uplifting, but it is really good. I love a grim show. I love a grim, sad thing. You do. I don't often love a TV show set in an American small town.

Oh, really? I don't know. You should watch Fargo. Yeah, you love Fargo. Fargo's good. I've got to finish the new season with Chris Rock. Ah, I see. Yeah.

Great. I don't know why but for some reason my little heart is always drawn to small towns in the old Yukon United Kingdom. Well, maybe it's the Kate Winslet thing that's getting you over the edge. Yeah, I do love the British and the Irish. Kate Winslet's fucking amazing. She bloody is. And she's really good in it.

She plays a very different character to her usual kind of character in this. And it's quite interesting trying to make someone who is so beautiful look much less beautiful. Like she's never done like any weird surgeries or diets or anything. No, she looks like she should look. Like her face looks like it should look, which is very comforting. I mean she's still stunningly gorgeous and it's quite funny because obviously she's playing this like hot dog kind of limping around.

I think she either might have put on weight for the role or they've put some weight on her. I don't know. Or it's the way they dress her. You're so often in like a flannel shirt stomping around. But then she goes on a date and it's just so funny to me because she puts a little tiny bit of make-up on, like it's very little for the character,

and she's immediately unbelievably stunning. That makes sense because she's a famous actor. Yeah, but she's just such a beautiful looking person. Is everyone in the bar like, whoa, looking good, Kate Winslet? She's like, shut up, I'm just a small town girl. Don't even talk to me. No, it's not even like that because she's not wearing heels or anything. She's wearing pants or whatever.

So it's really supposed to be quite a downplay. Like what a regular person would wear if they were going on like a weeknight out for a drink with someone. But it's just because she's, you know, naturally got those cheekbones. Got that look. Got that look. Got that look about it like a bombshell. There was a reason James Cameron cast her in the movie Titanic. Titanic 2.

Titanic. There was only one Titanic. No, that's Titanic 2. It's when the boat rises back up again, comes back together, and they all sing as skeletons on the deck. I was a robot boat the whole time. And Jack comes back and yells at Rose, why didn't you just let me on the door so I was a robot boat the whole time. And Jack comes back and yells at Rose, why didn't you just let me on the door so I wouldn't die?

She's like, they did it on Mythbusters and they worked out that I couldn't have actually saved you on the boat. They did it on Mythbusters, Jack. I'll never forget you. And she pushes him down again. I'll never forget you. Oh, God, I saw that movie four times in the cinemas. You know what?

It's my level of love of Leonardo DiCaprio. You know what? What? It's a fucking great movie. It's a fucking great movie. Thank you. I mean, no. It's got everything.

It really is. You know why I know it's got everything? Why? Because when I saw it at the time in the cinemas with my family, everybody got something out of it. What, you think a posh girl can't drink? You think I can't drink? Oh, I love that scene out of the decks and all the Scottish things

that she like goes up on her toes. That's right, yeah. Anyway, continue. What were you saying? It's crazy that boat's a robot. But they show all the inner workings. And my dad, this is a very like dad thing to love. He's like, I love the inner workings of the Titanic.

You've seen the piston shifting and all those kinds of things. And I'm like, well, I liked the action and adventure. It's got something for everybody. It's got something for everybody. He's your dad with love. He loves steam trains. He does. He's a big fan.

He really is. But it is. It's got something for everyone. It's a good movie. It's funny. The chemistry's great. It's very well cast. Bloody amazing costumes.

Billy Zane. I know. I love Billy Zane. He nails it. We recently did cast. Bloody amazing costume. Billy Zane. I know. I love Billy Zane. We recently did a commentary for The Phantom with Billy Zane. It's not a good movie, but I love Billy Zane. I love Billy Zane too. And also, I mean, he's a bad dude in this, but I also really like him. It's also like quite interesting from a historical perspective.

Totally. It's very accurate to like they rebuild a bunch of shit. Yeah, and it's like a long movie. It's real long. But it's really great. And then the way they do the whole like sinking thing, God, it gives me vertigo. You think they're not going to hit the iceberg every time you watch it.

You know what I mean? Why is that? I don't know because it looks like they're not going to hit it, but they did hit it. I know. And it scares me right to my cockles because one of my deepest fears is deep ocean. Yeah. Because what the fuck is in there?

We don't know what's in there. It's so deep. It's just a bunch of fish. There's so many things in there. It's just a bunch of fish. Don't worry about it. No, they're giant fish. They're big fish and weird tentacly things and then those weird fish

with like the googly eyes that glow in the dark weirdly with like giant teeth and then there's like a giant squid and also just kilometres of ocean floor that apparently there's nothing there. But of course there's stuff there. It's the ocean. This is why you love the movie The Meg for some reason. Yes. Even though The Meg is a bad movie.

Yeah, but it's about the megalodon, like the giant shark because we don't know. There's probably more megalodons there. There's no megalodons, but it's about the Megalodon, like the giant shark, because we don't know. There's probably more Megalodons there. There's no Megalodons, Claire. All I'm saying is. They ran out of Megalodons. The way I feel about the deep ocean, it's very connected into how I feel about like the vastness of space.

I feel like it's very similar. Well, James Cameron has like a love. What are we doing here? It doesn't matter. He has a love of the ocean and part of the reason he made this movie, the movie Titanic, because he spent a lot of time in submarines. He loves like single-person submarines going underwater because he made The Abyss before that, which is an underwater movie.

The next Avatar movies are all set underwater as well. Why? He loves underwater. He's done a bunch of documentaries about being underwater. That's where he's been. If you're like, why isn't James Cameron making movies? Because he's just been underwater for 20 years. That's why.

What's he looking at under there? I don't know because he made Titanic in 97. I think it was 97. And then he made Avatar in 2009 and he hasn't made anything since because he's underwater. And he's done a bunch of docks and underwater shit. That's why. Didn't he make, he made Tintin that I tried to watch.

No, that was Steven Spielberg. Oh, I always confuse those dudes. Yeah. I always confuse them, but they're not the same. They're different men. Aren't they white bearded dudes though? They're both white bearded dudes, yes. That's why I confuse them because they basically look the same.

Yeah. And they make big films. I should show you the alternate ending to Titanic because it's terrible and there's a very good reason why they cut it. Was it happy? No. Okay, so I'll explain it, but everyone should watch it, right? So you know how the old woman at the end, she's on the back of the boat

and she drops the diamond in? And she goes, oh. Yeah, she does that, right? I don't know why she makes that weird sound, but yes. What happens is they all run to the back of the boat because they think she's going to kill herself. They're like, don't kill yourself, Rose. Also, she looks nothing like Rose.

They should have cast her better. But anyway, and then they realise she's holding the diamond, right? Oh, yeah. And they're like, don't drop it because I'm Bill Paxton and I'm after this diamond. That's my story in this. And she puts her hand out and he holds the diamond in his hand and then she drops it into the water and they just let it fall down

and then they all start laughing hysterically. And it's just bizarre. It's so weird. Why would they find that funny? Isn't it worth like a bisquillion dollars? It's worth so much money, yeah. It's the heart of the ocean. Yeah. It's the heart.'s worth so much money, yeah. It's the heart of the ocean. Yeah.

It's the heart. It's the heart of the ocean. It's the heart of the ocean. Oh, it's much better that she just does that. Yeah, exactly. And Bill Paxton never gets what he wants, which is money. Yeah, that's the whole point of that movie, isn't it? I forgot about that.

So just give it to Bill Paxton. What do you care? I know. It's a little bit selfish, right? It's very selfish. Because, like, Jack doesn't care. You bloody left him to die in the ocean. He doesn't care for your gem.

He doesn't care at all. He doesn't want it. But I think that was her letting go, wasn't it? Was that it? Yeah, yeah. But, like, what kind of how rich are you that you can throw away, like, a bazillions of dollars just for, like, your own kind of cathartic mental health?

She's dying. She doesn't care. She doesn't care. Yeah, what about your kids though? Like that could set up a lot of people. No. That could buy a lot of vaccines now. You can actually, if you crank the sound up during that scene

when it's shot from underwater, you can hear the old woman saying, and this is kind of garbled, but she's like, fuck Bill Paxton. Which is crazy because that's not even the name of the guy, the character. She just hates Bill Paxton. RIP. RIP, by the way. Incredible.

He died. Fuse bag. Did he really? What did he die of? Cancer, yeah. Oh, man. Bill Paxton. He's had a real rollercoaster of a life.

Few people to be killed by an alien, a Terminator and a Predator. And then cancer got him in the end. Cancer got him in the end, yeah. He wasn't that old. It's like maybe 60. That's a lot of things to have killed you. He was in Twister, that movie people were like, anyway, we should get out of here.

But before we get out of here, do you know people can review this show? No, get out of town. They can just open their app and go. Get out of town. They can say let me get a review their way and help them out. This is from Wolfpack Mama who says the best mood booster. This podcast is exactly what I need in my life. Awesome suggestions given by awesome people.

The banter between these two is infectious. Kind of reminds me of me and my husband and I as well, which is very relatable. I highly recommend this podcast if you need to pick me up because it will no doubt have you laughing out loud. In addition to some very well thought out and explained suggestions. Thank you. All reviews, we appreciate it.

And we appreciate people telling other people about this podcast because that's how we grow this audience, isn't it, Claire? That is how we do it. Which equates to more money, which is what I'm about. Ooh, excellent. All right, so you can also email the show with suggestions for us because we need more suggestions in our lives. We really do.

And we also just love to hear emails from you guys because you guys are awesome. These peeps, they're so good peeps. We get some good emails. Our suggestible podo peeps are the best peeps. That might be true. You really are the best peeps, I have to say. Youeps are the best peeps. That might be true. You're the best peeps. I have to say.

You bloody are the best peeps. And this is from Lewis. So Lewis Copland, in fact, which I like your surname there, mate. I've heard of it. Yeah, so he has written in to suggestiblepod.gmail.com. Hello, both. After trying and thoroughly enjoying James' recommendation of detectorists, oh, my goodness, we found the white whale,

a listener of Suggestible who actually listened to watch something and really read it. People love listening to stuff. They do. They do actually watch what we suggest and I appreciate it. Anyway, back to Lewis' email. From the detectorist from the episode, Goss Knows What He's Doing, I have another show which I think is a pretty good follow-on. Some of the titles of our episodes, mate.

What's happening there? Collings is crushing it. I don't know what you're talking about. He's bloody crushing it. I know. It's just funny when I read back to them. Like, do you remember Human Heart, Pig Body? No.

You don't remember that episode that we did? I don't remember that at all. Human Heart, Pig Body? What does that mean? I don't know. It was a joke that you made. I have no idea. Anyway, there's a lot of ridiculous names of shows that we've created.

Anyhoo, back to Lewis's email. Sorry, Lewis. This is Lewis's recommendation. Back to Life is a BBC dark comedy drama starring and co-written by Daisy Haggard and centres around a woman returning to her hometown after serving an 18-year prison sentence for manslaughter after accidentally killing her best friend as a teenager. If you've seen the show Fleabag, have I ever? We see that show.

Oh, I've seen it so many times actually. I love that show. Then Back to Life is essentially that and detectorists mixed together. Oh. Very understated, often dry comedy combined with small town England attitudes and an absolutely fantastic performance from Haggard who does an excellent job of portraying a young woman whose social development was impacted by prison

and whose last experience of the outside world was 2001. Definitely not nearly as. She's from that other show that I watched with Martin Freeman that got kids or whatever. Ah, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. I don't know. Whatever that one's called. We talked about it.

Trying. Trying, yeah, yeah. Yeah, correct. Was it? No. Was it Trying? No, it was a different one. Martin Freeman.

I don't know. Anywho, Paul Lewis, we've just demolished his email. I'm sorry. Definitely not nearly as wholesome as Detectorous, but a bloody good show with similar humour. Would love for you guys to check it out. Many thanks for all the lockdown suggestions. Lewis.

Thanks, Lewis. I will check that out. Yeah, me too because I actually got Back to Life suggested as if you liked Aisling B's show, This Way Up, then you would like Back to Life and Fleabag and a few others as well, which I'm going to check out too. Thank you so much. All right, we've been to Just for a Pod.

We've had a super bumper long episode. This was supposed to be shorter. I don't like it. I know. It's been a bit rambly because it's been late at night and we're rambling and I had a whole packet of tiny teddies before we started. A whole packet of tiny – it's not very many though. It's like eight tiny teddies.

Yeah, I know, but I'm on like – You're on the wedding crackdown. You're on the wedding crackdown. I'm on the wedding crackdown because I'm becoming a bridesmaid. And they weigh you on the day as well. They're going to let you do it. Which I think is unfair. I think they should do a full body scan because muscle weighs more than fat. So you could actually be losing fat but gaining muscle.

Right. I think it's outdated is what I'm saying. The method of weighing bridesmaids on the day. Weighing bridesmaids on the day. Is there a certain way that if you don't hit, you won't be walking down the aisle or if you do hit it, you won't be allowed either because you have to look not as good as the bride or something.

No, what happens if you don't fit in, they just give you like a sack of potatoes to wear. One of those barrels you see in a cartoon with the straps. It's where a big wooden barrel lumber down the aisle. I will say, mate, I don't know if I'm losing that much weight, but I'm bloody getting ripped. I tell you that. You're getting jacked, mate.

I've been smashing it at the gym. You're doing push-ups? You're doing sit-ups? I'm just doing all kind of witch ways. You're doing box jumpsups. You're doing sit-ups. I'm just doing all kind of witch ways. You're doing box jumps. I'm doing so many box jumps. I'm doing some cycling. I'm getting in there.

I'm getting up there. I'm getting around. That's right. Lifting things. You've got to do it. I'm doing it all. We've got to go. All right.

We've been stressful pod. Thank you to Collings, as always, for editing our ramble, and we will see you in the deep, dark ocean. What's in there? Nobody knows. Who cares? You don't, dark ocean. What's in there? Nobody knows. Who cares? You don't care about nothing. True.

You care about slam dunking. I'm going to do some now. And the tooth fairy, apparently. Fuck the tooth fairy. This podcast is part of the Planet Broadcasting Network. Visit planetbroadcasting.com for more podcasts from our great mates. I mean, if you want. It's up to you. If you're away from home, why not take your own place and Airbnb it? Airbnb your whole home to make some extra cash.

Or if you have a spare room that's not in use, just Airbnb that. Whether you could use extra money to cover some bills or for something a little more fun, your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at Airbnb.ca slash host.