Suggestible - Welcome to the Internet

Episode Date: June 23, 2021

Suggestible things to watch, read and listen to. Hosted by James Clement @mrsundaymovies and Claire Tonti @clairetonti.Check out Claire’s new podcast Tonts!Sign up to Claire’s weekly bonus newsletters here – tontsnewsletterThis week’s Suggestibles:Bo Burnham: InsideWhite Woman's InstagramWelcome to the InternetSuper Mario PartyHeartsick by Jessie StephensSend 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.

We can wait for clean water solutions, or we can engineer access to clean water. We can acknowledge Indigenous cultures, or we can learn from Indigenous voices. We can demand more from the earth, or we can demand more from ourselves. At York University, we work together to create positive change for a better tomorrow. Join us at yorku.ca slash write the future. Join us at yorku. I could have done that. Yeah, that can be the dessert. I know. Just before we get into you baking me imaginary things, I've got nothing.

I don't even like crow and you didn't even actually bring me any. Did you want me to kill a bunch of crows for you? Yes, I did. That's what chivalry is and I feel like chivalry is dead. That was Claire falling off a cliff. Okay. This is suggestible. I'm eating my crows. Yeah, you're eating your. Okay. This is suggestible. Eating my crows.

Yeah, eating my crows. This is suggestible where we suggest things. I'm James and with me is my wife who's also named James. My wife. That's right. Oh, doesn't that joke always never get old? You know what? Ironically, I ironically find that funny.

It's come around so far that I just find it really funny because it's just so – it's not even lame. It's just funny. I don't know why. I just think it's funny. Because people used to do it all the time and now nobody does it anymore. I just find it funny. Yeah, when people do do it, I just find it funny because like Borat, really?

Yeah. But I also enjoy when people do it knowing that it's like – It's like a really old, terrible reference. Yeah. Okay, cool. What about when I do it? Did it float your boat? It absolutely landed.

Cool. All right. Like a woman falling off a cliff being eaten by crows and while eating humble pie herself. Correct. But why are we saying that this week, Claire? What brings us? Well, because we recommend things.

And last week, we never normally disparage anything on the show. We're usually very positive. Last week, our listener, Jake, wrote in and talked about Bo Burnham inside and I rubbished it. You jumped on his face. I went to, well, I didn't do that. Good Lord. I'm going to go let the dog out.

I'm a married woman. I'm a married woman. I'm just going to keep talking while James goes to let the dog out. Yeah, so I have to eat humble pie because I rubbished Bo Burnham's inside and I said some things. And, look, I still kind of – I stand by the fact that, you know, we didn't have time last year to make a comedy special. No, we didn't.

However, I then had only watched half an hour of it and I felt awful because that is the worst thing to do, to A, review something you've only seen like half an hour of because it's an hour and a half, and also then B, rubbish it without seeing the full thing. So here I am, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum. But I think also we got some interesting emails from people, some interesting perspectives as well, which I think.

They really made me think and this is not to say please don't email me every time you think that I'm wrong. I don't want that. Fuck off. We don't want that. No, but I will say and Jake emailed back as well and he was like really funny too. I got an email from Ben and I also got an email from Josh,

both of whom really implored me to give it another go. I'll just read a little bit of what Ben wrote to me. Do it. Dear Claire and James, but you know, and he knows because you don't read these emails. I don't read them. I'm a long-time listener to the pod, rarely actually take your advice. Oh, fair enough, Ben. But I enjoy the banter.

You recently talked briefly about Bo Burnham's Inside, and I thought I'd try to convince you both to give it another try. I think by only watching the first third, you've really missed what the show is about and you would be correct. Yeah. Who knew? Actually, you know what, to be fair, I did kind of get the gist of it but I didn't really fully understand, partly because I haven't really followed Bo Burnham's work.

Yeah, right. So this is what Ben said. What you've seen has led you to think it's all satirical songs and piss-taking. He does make a lot of fun of women on Instagram. Yeah, I enjoy that segment a lot. It was simply for the, I've made a few notes for it, but sorry to interrupt, but simply for the different scenarios

that he set up, I'm like, these are really complicated shots to perform for this music video. And that alone was like, wow. And I think he nailed the like aesthetic and like four years of Instagram posts that a person might do with like flowers on their eyes and umbrella in the rain. I just thought it was incredible. Anyway, sorry, go on.

Yeah, and look, it was really, see, I never post anything like that on Instagram. Oh, come on, Claire. I don't. I don't. Anyway. Live, love, learn. Everyone has to have a poster like that somewhere.

Yeah, correct. Look, from a technical perspective as well, you're absolutely right. That is sheer incredible brilliance to think that he lit the whole thing as well. The lighting in it is insane. And the projections. And the projections. And the way he gets you to really understand just how he did all of that too while you're watching it, you get to see how he sets it up.

Yeah. So you understand. And because we've made stuff, you know, a lot of it is you sitting there being like, oh, this doesn't work. Oh, the tech. Oh, Rita. And it sucks and it's really hard. That's partly why I don't film anything because I'm like,

I fucking hate doing this. It's really, really difficult. Anyway, so Ben writes, the entire show is a meditation on his own mental health and journey as an artist from YouTube to Vine to stand-up and then in a roundabout way back to internet content. Did you follow him on YouTube? I didn't realise he was a YouTuber. I did know that but not from the start, no.

Stand-up is when I started to know him. I love all of his stand-up specials. I don't know if you've seen any of them but the last one, not this one, but the last one in particular I thought was really incredible. It's just like amazing music and, again, with, but the last one in particular, I thought was really incredible. It's just like amazing music. And, again, with the lighting and the timing of things, I loved it. I think it's like genuinely incredible. Well, his musical talent is amazing.

And the songs in this, there are some really great songs in this too, like genuinely aside from obviously they're quite disturbing and unsettling, they're also just really great bangers. And they're really, they fit like a theme, not a theme, a style. Like you can find a rhythm of a particular genre of music. Yeah. And do that really well. Totally. I know like he does that acoustic one on a guitar with the trees

in the background that's so kind of reflective and singing around a campfire. But then you can do that really high tech one, like Welcome to the Internet. I thought that was like so great, that song, and awful and just awful. And that's what I – you know what, you bid email so I'll just stop. Okay, and then we'll get there. Okay, so we criticise Beau for having too much time on your hands, mate.

Oh, God, I did say that. You said it this episode. Oh, God. But the massive effort that went into Inside is reflected in Beau's need to keep doing something, to keep him from putting a bullet in his mouth with a gun. Oh, God. But the massive effort that went into Inside is reflected in Beau's need to keep doing something, to keep him from putting a bullet in his mouth with a gun. Oh, God. More than once, Beau struggles to come to terms

with finishing the special at all because when it is finished, he will be without his crutch. All of this is explained throughout it but could be missed if you only watch the first 30 minutes. Could be. You are correct. It could be. No, he doesn't have a baby to feed or a family to look after,

but not everyone is as fortunate as you to have things to keep them going through this difficult time. Yeah. Money doesn't buy happiness and men's mental health is massively stigmatised in all corners of life. It felt very much like that's what you were doing here. In Western countries, white men make up a disproportionate percentage of the suicide rate.

And I don't agree with this, but this is what Ben has written. That's fine because maybe they should just toughen up, right? And, look, I don't agree with that, but I do know what you're trying to say, that people do say that in a flippant way. He might be saying that like, well, that's fine, right, because people should tell, like I don't think, maybe he's not saying it like that's fine. He's saying like that's what people think.

Correct. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. And Ben writes not to talk about their feelings and problems like Beau did with Inside because millions of women are taking on so much more work than they used to. And I think this is what changed my mind and made me go back and rewatch it because I bang on, as Ben writes later in the year,

about mental health all the time. I'm actually doing a podcast on emotional resilience and mental health all the time. I'm actually, I'm doing a podcast on emotional resilience and mental health and feeling the emotions and getting it out there. And I'm really particularly interested in men's mental health for that reason. And I think in my own head, in my own subconscious, I was watching Beau express all these emotions and being really vulnerable and work through all of his stuff. And a little part of me still had maybe that feeling of like, oh, mate, just get on with it because we've been doing it so tough and this is so hard.

And not that I did that consciously, but there is a part of me. It's like internalised misogyny. It's the same. It's like maybe that internalised messaging that we've grown up with, that men need to be tough all the time, which I absolutely don't believe at all. And I think that's why watching the entirety of the show was so important to me. Because I think the same thing has happened with someone like a Prince Harry, who has come out and explicitly stated how hard it was for him on his mental health

when his mother died and, you know, millions of people around the world watched him walk behind his mum's coffin and he's talked about so much of the impact of being in the royal family on his mental health. And people are like, boo-hoo, rich. Yeah. And it's like we're encouraging men to speak up and say how they really feel and then when they do, I think often culturally there's

that kind of underlying message of like, oh, well, come on, get over it, which isn't actually the way that I think or the way that I think will help men to move forward. What's your perspective on it? No, I think you're absolutely right. And look, to be fair, like I try to do this all the time. I mean I've never got anything wrong so I can understand this is difficult for you to come out and say this. but no, it is definitely like, and there is like definitely

part of me with like Prince Harry where I'm just like, I don't give a fuck, like you're a prince and whatever, but like his experience is as valid as anybody else's, you know what I mean? And actually really important because he's someone as a straight white guy articulating what's going on for him. Because as we know, if you don't address your mental health and you don't talk through your emotions, you don't end up coming to terms with them and being able to move forward in a positive way and enjoy your life and be a good role model for your kids and, you know, a citizen that contributes in a way that is effective and, you know,

ignoring that side of things ends up in really difficult, you know, ignoring that side of things ends up in really difficult, you know, domestic violence, suicide, depression, you know, so many different aspects of life when we ignore our mental health and don't open up about it. And I think also it means that we miss out on really strong connections with people because if you don't say how you feel and then the other person isn't saying how they feel either, you never actually get that really deep feeling of satisfaction and I've been heard and people know who I am and they like me regardless of what I've got going on. And actually some of the stuff that I'm going through and often most of the stuff that you're going through is

other people have actually gone through it or are going through it, which is I think what's so valuable of watching this special, I'm sure, as you said and as people have written in to say on Twitter too, they've experienced this kind of stuff and seeing it and what Beau's done in the gift of being so vulnerable and opening up himself in that way, he's allowed other people to go, oh, yeah, me too.

Yeah, absolutely. Not the me too movement, which I guess is the same kind of thing, right? There's solidarity in knowing you're not alone in it and then you can start moving forward because I think the worst thing is to bottle it all up and you really do just feel completely isolated. Absolutely. And I think what was interesting about this special, which I also watched today, by the way. You did? Well, you watched the movie Luca with our kids. Which is super cool. Yeah. Absolutely. And I think what was interesting about this special, which I also watched today, by the way.

You did? Well, you watched the movie Luca with our kids. Which is super cool. Yeah. Yeah. I didn't enjoy it, and I don't mean that in like a negative way. It just, and I guess I'll spoil a bit of it here if you haven't seen it, it just spirals.

Like it starts with like funny bits and vignettes, which are great. Like he has a song about FaceTiming with his parents or his mum in particular. She's recounting like season finale of The Blacklist or whatever the fuck. And then there's the moment where he does that jazz song and then he's reacting to it and then it flips back around on him and then he's reacting to his reaction and it just keeps. Oh, it's so clever. The timing of that alone and and also that moment

where he plays the video game of himself he's in like the all of these things are like worlds that I'm familiar with like reaction videos and twitch streamers and you know people streaming games and things like that and again it goes back to his past and he was a big part of vine taking off initially as well because he was like putting out all this all this amazing content and then and then it just like takes a dive where he doesn't know, again, like whether he wants to finish it or whether he's even going to release it, like you said, because if he releases it, it's done, then he's kind of – then he's aimless.

And the fact that he talks about how like, you know, he wants to like shoot himself at some point and he's like partially joking but kind of, you know what I mean? Not, yeah. Because then he gets into towards the end about how he was some point and he's like partially joking but kind of you know what i mean there's not yeah because then he gets into towards the end about how he was in such a good place of january of last year like he'd quit comedy because he was having panic attacks on stage and that's something i did actually know and then at the start uh in january of 2020 he was like i've been working on myself

and i'm ready to do this and now he's afraid that this year alone he's walked back all of his progress. So it was just grim. And, again, like not in the I hate this way but in a way that like. It's unsettling and uncomfortable. Yeah, it was. It was. Yeah. But, again, incredible.

And it just wasn't fun, to be honest. I guess in the way that like Hannah Gadsby's special, like it's completely different obviously. But it's not fun, you know what I mean? No, because it's examining something that's really hard to look at, which is the inner workings of ourselves and that part that we often hide from the world. And I can also relate to that when you're like doing a project

and you've got all that enthusiasm up top and you've got all these ideas and then it's just like what am I doing, you know what I mean? Yeah. You see it kind of trail off at the end into just kind of madness, you know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, it does. He really follows that creative arc where you're on and up and then you're like the deep troughs of pain where you clearly

really just hate what you're doing and you're just sitting there by yourself looking at it going, this is actually literally the worst thing and I'm the worst human and why did I ever think I could do this? I'm just staring at my own face and it's awful. Yeah. Which I guess as an artist people have to go through in order to get stuff out there.

And I sometimes think too someone like Beau who clearly is a really sensitive person. Yeah. In order to make stuff like that, his mental health is quite fragile and in a way that's the strength of it. That's what's allowed him to create the comedy he does and do the stuff because he's a sensitive person. And I don't mean that in a negative way. I mean that in he feels everything.

Well, I wouldn't even say that. I would say like everybody feels in their own way but he is able to express it. Yeah. You know? Because often people can't or can't like put a label on it or kind of come to grips with what's going on necessarily, you know, and one of his skills is demonstrating, like putting his thoughts into.

Yeah, and a lot of it is just his facial expression. Yeah. And just his eyes. Wow, yeah, isn't he? Like the funniest bit for me, though, was I hate to go back to it, that reaction video where he talks about how, oh, this is just a silly song. And then it goes back around and he's like, oh,

this is me being self-deprecating about how it's just a silly song or whatever. And it comes around again and it's just like layers upon layers of meta-commentary. And I'm just like, what was he looking at? Like he must have had like a stopwatch so he knew what time it would loop and just a mate and like the sock thing, I know you were like, you laughed about the sock thing last week, that was dumb. But it would have taken a lot.

I loved it. I thought like technically it's just like it's brilliant. Like it's really like. There's layers and layers of work. Oh, my God, yeah. I mean you can see why it took him over a year to create. And just I can't even imagine being trapped in making that either because it seems like a fucking nightmare, like the cords and the cables

and the screens and the monitors and the different lighting setups and like, you know what I mean? It would be my nightmare. I hate that shit. And that added to like a level of anxiety. Through the whole thing. Yeah. Totally.

I'm interested to know what you thought of that song, Welcome to the Internet, because that was the one that stuck out at me. Yeah. And there was one line in it in particular where he talks about, you know, it's this kind of amazing way of depicting and personifying the internet and how it is this kind of messed up place, right, where everything and anything is possible and the world is at your fingertips. And it's just this like insane thing of like cat videos and then like pornography and like,

you know, a recipe for a no brush shooter or whatever. But then there's that kind of bit where he takes it back to where it started and talking about being a kid and where that started from. Definitely, yeah. What did you take from that? I mean, it's a mess. Like the internet, it's a nightmare. Like I think it's a wonderful resource and I'm glad we've got it. Like genuinely it's been able for people to connect

and like become part of communities that you would never find. You know what I mean? It's given me a career for one,, or both of us, you know, something that wouldn't have existed 20 years ago. Nothing like this would have existed. But it's also a hellhole. It's an absolute hellscape. Yeah.

So it's kind of – It's complicated. Yeah. It made me think a lot because he was talking about being two and getting an iPad, you know, from your mum or whatever to look at. And I think that generation that was after us, so I guess when he was born in the 90s or whatever. Yeah, 90s.

I think they kind of hit it really hard, right, because we were kind of kids when it was just coming in. Like I remember getting a computer in our classroom in grade five. So, you know, for most of our childhood the internet really wasn't a thing and I think that's such a gift because what I thought that show demonstrated, that song, was just how dangerous it is to expose our kids' minds to that level of knowledge and the world and all of that stuff all at once so that it dulls your receptors

and it doesn't allow you to be bored. It doesn't allow you to have that time of stillness or apathy. Like the internet is kind of designed and, you know, things like iPads and iPhones are designed to play with your dopamine receptors and make you have, like Twitter, you care about everything. You have to have an emotional hit with everything. And so everything has to be heightened, which means that the things in life that actually

do give you centering and joy, and I know you hate this kind of conversation, but I think partly because it triggers you. I do. Maybe. Genuinely, because I think it makes you have to think about how all day or every day you're connected in, right, to the internet basically. And it does something to your brain when you do that. Yes. Because I think it doesn't allow you, and I know I half on about the sky,

but I do think it takes away some of the beauty of ordinary life because the internet is so heightened and everything is so heightened on your phone and the imagery and the films and the TV shows that kids, and especially when we're young kids, I think it's different as adults. We can put boundaries around it, sort of, not really with phones. See, this is where I think I disagree with you on that the younger kids have it worse. And I think they, in a lot of ways they do because it was always there.

But I think every generation falls into that, this trap on different social media platforms or whatever. You see like our generation and older generations and boomers, like they're just lost in Facebook, you know? And they spent 50, 60 years not having it and it's just fucking got them. So I don't think it's an age thing. I think it gets anybody. Yeah, but I just think the younger you are, the more dangerous it is because the longer you have of your lifespan for those brain-altering chemicals to really get into your head.

I think it's dangerous in different ways for every generation. I mean, we've seen it influence people in elections and increased suicides and all these kinds of things. So I think, yeah, it does – I'm not saying it doesn't affect young people, but I'm saying it affects everybody. Yeah, and I just think if you've lived 60 years of your life without it – I don't think it makes a difference. No, but I've – like looking at that older generation, I know that they're into Facebook and stuff,

but I think they still get a lot of joy out of their relationships and friends and their, you know, their making stuff and more hands-on. I do think that. Some, maybe. Yeah, I do. I think that's in every generation, I don't think. I think it comes down to the individual.

Yeah. I just think it makes me really worried that, and I do sound like a real old fogey, and I work on the internet so I'm not saying that it isn't valuable at all. I just think I'm hoping that the generation of the kids that are, like our kids, right, we understand this now. Like when we were growing up and even, or for everyone, say, regardless of how old you were, we were given iPhones and given iPads without any idea, and the internet internet without any idea of just how shit it is for us,

how bad it is for our mental health to have no boundaries around it. It's not that it's bad at all. Yeah. It's that we need boundaries around it. We need to be conscious of how much we use it. We need to understand what those apps are designed to do to us so we can still use them but be able to disconnect from them. Yeah. But I think also the younger generation, I'm not talking like little

kids because they don't know, you know, they don't know what an ad is in comparison to an unboxing video or whatever. Yeah. But I think like from, you know, early teens, maybe even a bit younger and up, they are aware of the impacts of it and they are more careful and they're more savvy. And, yes, it is still a trap for them as well. But I think having grown up with it, I think it could very well go the other way, you know what I mean, where they do disconnect and they know kind of what's going on.

I'm really hopeful that's the case and I think that. I don't know. I'm just. No, I mean I'm really hopeful that's the case. I think that. I don't know. I'm just. No, I mean I'm really hopeful that's the case. I don't think it is at the moment. And like think critically about things. Yeah. Again, not everybody.

No. It's a generalisation. Yeah. I think the research at the moment for young people and teenagers is that their risk taking is an all-time low. Yeah. Which is actually not good, which seems counterintuitive. Like pregnancy, teenage pregnancies are down.

Oh, boo. Teen drinking, teen drug taking is down. But rates of suicide, depression are up. This is in Western countries, obviously. Yeah. And the research that they're looking at seems to be because of the fact that everyone has a phone and a camera immediately there, that kids are much more afraid to take risks and go to those parties

and kiss that boy or whatever else they're doing. I'll kiss a boy. You'll kiss a boy. You'll put a boy in front of me. Good job. Man. Man. Man.

Yes. Man. Yes. Correct. Because then because of the fear of it'll go online. Yeah. And it'll be put everywhere. And what the danger of that is that teenagers actually have

to separate from their parents. Their brains are wired to risk take and we need to obviously do that in a safe way. You don't want them, you know, obviously going the other way. I'm not saying like everyone take drugs and drink heaps and like have lots of, you know, promiscuity with sex or whatever. That's not what I'm saying. drink heaps and like have lots of, you know,

permission to have sex or whatever. That's not what I'm saying. But as teenagers, part of becoming a mature adult is finding your boundaries and exploring that and exploring that, you know, your sexuality and relationships and doing that person to person. I think that not actually experiencing things in real life but experiencing it digitally is not the same and isn't good for mental health. I don't disagree.

Yeah, and so that's the kind of worrying step. So I'm hoping the generation that's coming up after that generation, which is our kids basically. Basically, look, the generation under us, you fucked it. You blew it. So you need to step aside. No, not at all. I just think that.

You thought you were better than us, but guess what? You're just the same. No, it's more just that I think that, and I guess they are as well, we all need to wake up. And I think that is happening, you're right, and I'm hopeful it's happening more and more, and it's through education to understand how addictive our phones are and what they're doing to us.

They're the same technology that's in the pokies. Oh, yeah. It's the same movement. Oh, yeah. It's the same dopamine hit. Yeah, I mean and we talked about how like the people who create these things don't let their kids go on whatever. Correct, yeah, and it's so important.

It's absolute poison. Yeah, and it's like the idea of giving a five-year-old an iPad with no parental controls and the whole of giving a five-year-old an iPad with no parental controls and the whole of the internet is basically like dropping them in the middle of a strip mall in Las Vegas and saying, have fun, I'll see you in an hour. Yeah. I mean, yeah.

No, genuinely, if you give them an internet browser and they know how to use it, within five minutes they can look up pornography. Yeah. Less than, if they can spell. We should time it. Probably if they can't even. I know, I just get really passionate about this because I'm worried

for our kids and I sound like an old lady and I'm worried for Bo Burnham because of what he was saying in that song about the effect of him, of the internet on him as a 14-year-old and how it is, it kind of draws you in. Yeah. But then it's like too much for our brain to, you know, cope with all at one go. And so we need to be able to put boundaries in it.

But it's really hard because the people that have designed all these apps and computers and things don't want you to put boundaries on. They want you to be there 1,000% of the time. It's all about engagement, like everything that I make. Maybe you're the same. It's about engagement. It's about keeping people on for as long as you can, you know. That's what the YouTube algorithm is designed for.

Yeah, see, I never even thought about that. I just turn a mic on and I'm like, this is what I want to talk about and this is someone I think is interesting, which is probably why. We can tell, Claire. Yeah, exactly. That's the problem. I should be much more scientific about the whole thing. That's why I've got segments in my podcast.

No, that's not why. Yeah. Anyway, I don't know. We did do a lot of comedy routines in this episode, did we? It was very silly. We can recommend a couple more things. Yeah, anyway, I would totally recommend going to watch Bo Burnham and then have an argument with your partner about phone usage.

I don't know. I would recommend it. Like it's pretty grim. But then again, maybe if you're feeling like not great, maybe it will make you feel better. So I don't know because I'm not 100% of them. I always say I'm a 40% but I'm a bit sick at the moment. Yeah, he's running at like 25% today, guys.

Oh, no. So like just watching this and I've got like I'm just running at like 25% today, guys. Oh, no. So like just watching this and I've got like, I'm just a bit like fluey or whatever. I'm just like, oh, fuck, this is pretty heavy. Yeah, it's really, really heavy. I know. You can get anything you need with Uber Eats. Well, almost, almost anything. So no, you can't get an ice rink on Uber Eats. But iced tea and ice cream? Yes, we can deliver that. Uber Eats. Get almost, almost anything.

Order now. Product availability may vary by region. See app for details. Oh, yeah. All right. Well, let's go to recommend some fun stuff. Have you got something fun? Well, I have a really grim thing.

I might save that for next week. But I fucking loved it. I might save it for next week. Here's something fun. I've been playing Super Mario Party party on the switch uh with our son uh where it's basically if you've played mario party before you use the the little joy cons and you have played like mini games with each other there's 80 mini games and some are more complex than others but we figured out the one that we like is when we're rowing we're going down the river rapids together

we're going to get the balloons and then we do a little mini game. When we don't compete, we work together. I could hear you yell. The first time you played it, you were like, go left, go left. You've got to row. God damn it. Row, row. I wasn't saying God damn it.

God damn it. But, yeah, I'm like, I need to just chill out in this fucking Mario Party game. But it's not everybody's favourite Mario Party because there are previous ones with like better games, people say, but this is good for like kids because you can use the Joy-Con as like a, you know, you can use it as a motion sensor kind of thing and it's just fun. And it's only short, like we only play for like maybe a couple

of times a week for like half an hour at a time, you know, but it's fun. Cool. Excellent. Well, I have a fun voice memo that I thought you might want to listen to. I don't have my headphones, Claire. Sorry, why don't you just put mine on? I've already heard it. All right, I'll put your, or you mean mine on.

Yeah. There you go, my friend. I'm sure I'm passing you the headphones on this audio medium. I presume you've listened to this. I have listened to it already. Have you plugged it into the computer? I have. I've done all the things.

Are you ready? I'm ready. Hello, Jane and Claire. How are you guys doing I've done all the things. Are you ready? I'm ready. Hello, James and Claire. How are you guys doing? Still at 40%. That is great to hear. I'm less. My name is Tristan, and I just recently got hired as a paramedic in Canada, which is very

exciting and also terrifying at the same time. You guys will definitely be helping me stay awake during my drives home from my night shifts to make sure I don't crash into the ditch. So here's a question for you two. Even though you two have very different interests, what are some activities you guys like doing together? Claire, I love the new podcast. Your first guest was super amazing and super

interesting to listen to, and I hope to spark those conversations with my friends when I get to see them after this bloody lockdown ends. Anyways, you guys are great, and here's a five-second guitar solo that completely made up, completely original. Just enjoy. I'm going to get a guitar solo. Top of my head, you know, super original.

All right, see you guys. That's the Becca theme, Claire. I don't even know what that is. Is this show Becca from the 90s with Ted Danson? Oh, yes. Mason and I have been doing a lot of Becca talk recently on the podcast, but that was great. Thanks, Tristan.

All of that was really cool. Oh, it was so lovely, Tristan. What a legend. And what are some activities that we do? Did he say together? Together, yeah. Yeah, what do we do together? I like walking, so we both kind of like walking,

but it's harder with a baby. We find it harder to do things together. One will be like, okay, you watch the kids and I'll go and do a thing or whatever or vice versa. But no, that's one thing I like doing together. Yeah. Going for a bushwalk and taking the pram and the dog and- Or not even. And not even. Which never happens. But that's often what we do. Even if like we do get my mum or your parents to babysit,

we'll go out for dinner and they go for a walk. Yeah, that's true. We just like walking together, hey. And we used to like running together when we ran. Yes, but we don't. I don't run as much anymore because I'm doing different forms of cardio. I'm trying to keep my knees intact. Intact.

I know, me too. The other thing, I actually just really love doing this show. Yeah, me too. We get to sit down together. I know. We used to watch a lot of movies together, like at the cinemas because you worked at the cinemas so we'd just kind of see. There was like with Mason I'd see the movie Paycheck, for example,

but with you like we'd go watch some art whatever. Art house film. No, in a good way. It was good. I loved it. And, yeah, so we used to do a lot of that. We did. And, you know, the other thing we love to do, which we haven't done

because pandemic and babies got in the way, we go for a really lovely, like full-on lovely dinner. Fuck yeah. Like a delicious dinner and a few cocktails in the city or something. Yeah. And just splash out on a big fancy dinner, which we don't do very often. Last week we managed to get out, which was good. We did.

We went and had Vietnamese and that was so good. I can't decide if it was so good because it was just so good or whether because we just never do it. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter either way. But you posted a picture from it on your Instagram. I did. I did.

Just thanking you as well for just being generally awesome. Yeah. And also did you appreciate the wordplay on the Foe King? Well, yes, I did. That was the name of the place that we went to and, yes, I very much did. Exactly. No, it was very good. But, yeah, that's kind of what we do.

And thank you, Tristan. That cheered me right up, that voice memo. If you also have an email, if you want to tell me I've been wrong and encourage me to change my mind. You've opened a real kind of box here for you. I know. You can email or not email suggestivepod at gmail.com with a voice memo to have your voice on the show or just to email me

and tell me to eat humble pie. We get I'm actually quite a lot. And that's not what this is. I think this is actually a really good feedback. I do too, which is why I brought it up because normally and internally I get my back up when someone's like, well, actually, and I'm like, I'm so mad. I'm all right.

I'm going to dig my heels in. But I really felt like I needed to watch this whole thing and I'd been thinking about it all week how much I needed to really watch the whole thing first. Yeah. And also, yeah, about that sitting with some of those uncomfortable feelings and processing them. So both those emails made me a bit uncomfortable,

but also in the end I feel like I've grown as a person. So really I'm just saying I'm better than everybody. Wow. You had some flaws, but you've dealt with that this week. Correct. Done. No more self-improvement. It's fine.

How was that bowl of crow? Oh, yum, yum, chef's kiss. Excellent. Delicious. Is that the episode then? Because I have a review which people can do. Ooh, go for it. They can go, here we go, here's a review,

and they open up their app, whatever they're using, and punch it in. This is from Tyron101 who says, needs more rants. Great pod. That Tooth Fairy rant was a top three rant. There have been a lot of classic rants, so it's tough to break into the top tier. It's great for James to have someone to bounce off his passionate feelings on such things off of. You're with St. Clair, Matt and Megan from Nashville, Tennessee.

Oh, Matt and Megan, you guys are the bomb. Diggity. So just before we finish, Jim Bob, I wanted to remind everybody that I have a new episode of Taunts that's just come out. Oh, my God. I know. I was supposed to listen to it today but I had to watch Bo Burnham. You did, correct. And you hear enough of me talking at you. I do. You don't need to hear anymore. I. I know. I was supposed to listen to it today but I had to watch Bo Burnham. You did, correct.

And you hear enough of me talking at you. I do. You don't need to hear anymore. I don't know. But this is actually not much of me talking. This is an interview with Jessie Stephens who wrote the book Heart Sick that I talked about I think a little while ago. I definitely put it in my newsletter.

It's all about she's a journalist and she looks at the specific ways that three different relationships kind of fall apart. And it's written as a narrative fiction kind of book and she writes it like a thriller even though it's three true stories about heartbreak and it is unputdownable, horribly anxiety-inducing and fascinating and she also shares some of her own stories. Oh, very good. And so we talked about her book and how she wrote it but we also deep dive

into some of the stuff we just talked about her book and how she wrote it, but we also deep dive into some of the stuff we just talked about in this episode, actually. Mental health, kind of emotional resilience, men's mental health particularly, and she did a master's in heterosexual relationships and men's lives, charting from the 1970s to now, which was actually so interesting and kind of a difficult subject to kind of bring up and talk about. But her insights, I think, I don't know, I'd just be really interested to see what you think. Excellent. Well, the show is an absolute delight, Claire,

if you don't mind me saying so. Oh, mate, that's lovely. You have to say that. I'll pay you later. You don't have to pay me. I will accept a deferment. That low-cal cheesecake ice cream that I bought. That is, I'm thinking I'm going to have to see that.

I'm going to have to see. I know I'm not feeling well because I had actual ice cream last night with a bunch of tiny teddies like crunched into it. That sounds delicious. It was excellent. I might do it again tonight if I'm honest. Yeah, I bought new fresh ice cream. I really had a weak moment because I'm a little bit sick as well.

So, anyway, this is just dragging on. It's not a competition, Claire. Well, I'm sorry. I think it is, mate. All right. Well, let's get out of here. Thank you to Colin, who I think is editing this. I don't know.

I hope so. We'll find out. If not, I can do it. Or I can do it. If it sounds good, it was probably him. Yes. Correct. All right.

Until next week, we've been suggested Will Potter. Thanks, guys and girls and anybody else, non-binary, wherever you feel like you fit. Correct. We love it. We love you all. So long. So long. So long.

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