Walking The Dog with Emily Dean - Adam Buxton (Part One)

Episode Date: July 7, 2025

This week, Emily and Raymond are joined by podcast royalty - our wonderful pal writer, comedian and podcaster Adam Buxton!We met on a scorching hot day in June, so we made the decision to record inside at the lovely air-conditioned Acast Studios - and they treated our boy like the prince he is!Adam tells us about growing up with an anti-dog dad, how he got pressured into getting his poodle-whippet cross Rosie, and how he broke his resolution to have nothing to do with her when she arrived…We also discuss why he is resisting video podcasts, his much-dissected Tom Hanks interview and why he feels embarrassed about where he went to school. Get your copy of I Love You, Byeee - the long-awaited new memoir and follow-up to the bestselling Ramble Book here!You can listen to The Adam Buxton Podcast on all podcast platformsYou can listen to Emily on The Adam Buxton Podcast - from October 2019 hereYou can listen to Emily and Raymond’s first walk with Adam from July 2017 hereYou can keep up with all things Adam at https://www.adam-buxton.co.uk/ - including details of how you can pre-order a signed copy of Adam's upcoming album! A huge thank you to Lewis Lloyd at Acast Studios for his production support on this episode. Follow Emily: Instagram - @emilyrebeccadeanX - @divine_miss_emWalking The Dog is produced by Faye LawrenceMusic: Rich Jarman Artwork: Alice LudlamPhotography: Karla Gowlett  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You could definitely play it like I'm a brave genius. But the truth would be that I was just a willful pratt who would not be told. This week on Walking the Dog, Ray and I met up with a much-love pal of ours, the wonderful podcast of writer and comedian Adam Buxton. We caught up with Adam when he was in London, so his beautiful dog, Rosie, was back home in Norwich. And as it was another pretty scorching day and a bit too hot for my furry boy to venture out, that's Ray, not Adam by the way. We decided to chat indoors for this one. So I first met Adam. I guess it must be over 25 years ago now, back when he was doing the Adam and Joe show with Joe Cornish. And I've always been not only a huge fan of his work, but also just of him generally as a human being. He's obviously naturally hilarious. But he's also just a very thoughtful, generous nature, decent person. And he let Ray sleep in my bed when I went to stay with his family. And anyone who allows dogs,

in the bed is my kind of person. Adam has had a really successful, fascinating career from his popular partnership with Joe Cornish on TV and radio to his acclaimed live shows to his pretty legendary work as a podcaster hosting the never not brilliant Adam Buxton podcast. He's actually appeared on Walking the Dog before so do go back and listen to that episode if you want to get the full Adam Buxton origin story but it was so lovely to catch up with him again and chat more things Buxton, including his really fantastic new memoir called I Love You by E, which is a follow-up to his best-selling Rumble book. And it's just a total joy of a read, partly because he's so unfailingly and hilariously honest about every aspect of his life, from his professional ups and downs to his

family dynamics, to the disastrous cake he made on Bake Off. And also, he just writes really beautifully. So I thoroughly urge you to grab a copy of it now. Ray and I, it, loved our chat with Adam because frankly, who wouldn't enjoy getting to spend time with buckles? I'll stop talking now and hand over to the wonderful man himself. Here's Adam and Ray Ray. Oh, Ray, stop. I'm getting distracted by my dog. Yeah. Ads.

Well, it is the Walking the Dog podcast to the extent that there is a dog in the studio and it is walking. And that dog, of course, is Raymond. Beautiful Raymond. But we're in ACAST studios in Trendy Hoxton. And do you know why we've decided to do it in a studio today? Because it is one of the hottest days, if not the hottest day, so far of 225, 2025. You're an emperor, Roman emperor. Yeah, it should be back in 225.

Do you think I've been neurotic about that? Because I thought I was doing the responsible thing, keeping him out of the heat. And I've been taking the advice of the Royal Veterinary College and the RISP. What I'm looking for you to do is just completely support and back when I've... Absolutely. Also, there's a 56-year-old man to consider who's in the twilight of his physical glory. And a lovely air-conditioned room in Hoxton is much preferable to stomping about where it was it going to be, like Hampstead Heath or something? No. I don't want to go to Hampstead Heath. Well, interesting you should say that because Ray is a 56-year-old man. Oh, yeah. There you go. There are two 56-year-old men to consider.

Except Ray's doing better on the hair front than I am. My cowardly hair is deserting me. I had a consultation with a hair genius, transplant genius, considering my options. Did you really? Yeah. And he said, two years, it's all going to be gone. It's like, shut up, two years. You're just trying to scare me into parting with 20,000 pounds or whatever he was going to charge.

I can't envisage that. I can't. How did it happen? Did you? So Buckles is up one night, Googling hair transplant plus... No, I met a person who had had the procedure, a well-known personality whose name I weren't mentioning. But I think I can guess who that is. Say, and then you can believe it.

Jimmy Carr? No. He's had it. He's open about it. Jimmy Carr, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I mean... Robbie Williams. No, no, no.

I won't tell you. I don't know if they're comfortable or not. I'm sure they don't mind. I don't think it's a secret. Lots of people have it. And it's a totally legitimate option if you are into it, if you can afford it, that's a factor. If you are in the public eye, if you're an actor, if you need that hair, because you want to look a certain way. If looking a certain way is a central part of your living, then that's an added incentive.

Even though I would say it doesn't have to be the only incentive, that makes you feel good. Do it. but so I was exploring the option because I did see I met this person and I was impressed by their hairline they were a little bit older than I am I was like how why is your hair so good that's transplant is it that's good and he said yeah it's an expensive one but in theory I won't have to have anything more done I was like oh maybe I'll have that if I can afford it anyway so I looked into it had the consultation. In Turkey? No, no. This is, this is... Ireland, it happens a lot as well. Yeah, this was an Irish one. And it all looked pretty great. And the guy was impressive. But he did give me this,

I sort of resented him for, I don't think he was trying to scare me. But he just said, yeah, two years, you're not going to have anything on top in two years. Around the sides, you'll still have a bit. But it'll be gone on top. I was like, oh, okay. But actually at that moment, I think maybe I thought, well, whatever, let it go. And one thing he did say to me actually, which was quite useful, was you've got the wrong haircut for a guy who's losing his hair. You just need to, you know, there's better haircuts. What was this place called? Insults our ass.

He was very nice. He was really good. and he was very thorough as well. He had a long chat. You know, and it's a definitely attractive option. But I think out of sort of bloody-mindedness almost, I kind of thought, nah, screw it. I'm just going to take it as it comes. And then I can just get more hats.

I like hats. And one day, make peace with the way that my hair looks and not wear hats and be happy with that too. Also, I think. because of the, they've been so democratized now, I think transplants, they will ultimately become unfashionable in the same way big lips will become unfashionable because it's so easy to get them. So I actually think it will start to become a status symbol being bald.

Right, okay. So hang on to that. I think you might be wrong about that. I don't think that's the way things are flowing. I've got a feeling that it's going the opposite way. Everyone's just going to carry on getting surgery and surgery and surgery and surgery in the same way that there's all sorts of procedures now that would have been considered fairly over the top.

I mean, when my mum was growing up, everything was over the top. Going to the gym was over the top. It's like, ooh, you go to the gym, do you? It's like, that's a bit vain, isn't it? going to the gym. And it was literally like only Californian people or sort of mental cases or like gymnasts went to the gym. It's like when you'd also get men off and saying,

Oh, look at you having a salad. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Salads were considered. That was you're on some mad health kick. What are you not like heart attacks? You've got something against heart attacks? What do you want to live forever? Can I say the best example of that was Frank Skinner's father?

who said of Frank's brother, Terry, you know he's only gone and got a toothbrush now? Who does he think he is? Yeah. He's changed. He's one of these guys that, so shall we say, showers every day? So I need to bring us back a bit to the original concept. We're not, as you say, going on a walk to date just because it's very hot out there. Too hot.

Too hot. And on a serious note, I do think, I've seen a few. people attempting to walk their dogs. I'm not a fan of it. I don't think dogs like the heat that much. So I do tend to... Not with all that hair. No, I tend to keep Ray in like a spoiled prince when it's over about 22 degrees, even 20 sometimes. Adam has very kindly agreed to do it at our home, ACAST studios, and we're here today in East London. And you're up here anyway, aren't you? Because you're working, but it means Rosie is not with you. I can guarantee that dog legs is lying on the sofa in the kitchen and the kitchen doors will be

open and the windows will be open. There'll be a nice breeze there. The flies will be buzzing through, alighting on all the food in the Buckles' kitchen. And Rosie will be wheezing away on the sofa, looking very happy with her paws over the side of the sofa. and her head down on her paws and her eyebrows kind of moving in opposite directions when she scans the room. And how old is Rosie now? Oh, man.

Is she about 11? No, I think she's 12. Is she 12? Maybe she's going to be 12 this December. Okay. Yeah. And she's a poodle whip it cross. Yes, that's right.

Yeah. And you, you've been, you've had previous on this podcast, but just to establish this again, you didn't grow up in a dog family, did you? No. grew up with a dog Nazi, the Hitler of the dog world, which was my dad. Even though Hitler liked dogs, didn't he? Well, Hitler famously had a dog called Blondie.

Oh, right, yeah. Norm MacDonald does a funny bit about Hitler and his dog, and the dog just going, Oh, I can't. You're my favorite guy. I can't wait to see Hitler. He does it better than I do. But it's like be the person your dog thinks you are. Yes, exactly.

You did blondie thinking. Where's Hitler? Is he back yet? But my dad was very anti-dog. Didn't see the point. He travelled for a living. He was a travel writer. So he was off and away.

It wasn't practical for him to have a dog really. I don't know why he, I guess he never had one when he was growing up in the family house. He just thought they were irritating, messy, disgusting, you know, they poo in the house, all that sort of thing. And I grew up sort of sympathising with that point of view and thinking, yeah, I agree, it's not good to shit in the house. It shouldn't be encouraged. You wouldn't tolerate it from a human, except in very special circumstances. And I don't think you should extend any allowances to the doggies either. But obviously I don't feel that way anymore.

And he didn't towards the end of his life either. And when he came to live with us, my dad, at Castle Buckles, in the last months of his life, he was always very loving with Rosie. Yeah, I get the sense of that. Well, it was, was it, was it, I'm not sure what happened. You got the dog, I've got a feeling it would have been around two, no, no, I'm going to get my dates wrong with when you got. got rosy because my maths is so bad. It would be amazing if you've got the dates right. I don't know

the dates of my own children's birthdays, let alone other people when they got their dogs. It was 2013. Was it 2013? I think so. I was going to say 2013. I should have had more confidence. Imagine if I'd have come out with that. I was honestly going to say that. But was it pressure from your kids? Yeah. Oh yeah, from Natty, our middle son. And he was going through a challenging phase. being quite surly and combative. And we just, you know, had that conversation. Well, maybe a pet would be a good thing to focus him and bring out his emotional side, teach him a bit of responsibility,

all that stuff you tell yourself. Yeah. And I said, yeah, yeah, good idea. I don't want to have anything to do with the dog personally. And I do want it noted, preferably in writing, because I'm sure this will get forgotten, that I don't want to do any work with the dog. I don't want to pick up turds.

I don't want to feed the dog. I don't want to clean the dog. I don't want to have anything to do. I'm fine with the dog being around, but it'll be a separate part of my life. I'm going to carry on with my life and you guys have the dog. And my wife said, yeah, fine. Yeah, sure.

Absolutely. I promise. I promise I will pick up all the turds. You will never, ever have to pick up a turd. I promise. Of course that. I mean, it was a deal. dickish thing for me to say in the first place. And then as soon as Rosie arrived, I realized

how dickish it was and how impractical it would have been. It would have been totally unsustainable for me to carry on saying, nope, I'm not doing anything, not feeding it, not picking up that turd. I've got the promise in writing and let's refer to it now. And Rosie, we introduced Rosie and Ray last time because I came to stay with you one of the best nights of my life. It's so nice, I really recommend Carlsabuckles. It's just lovely. There's a very nice energy in that place. Oh, well, that's nice.

And Ray loved it because Ray just liked it because it's quite sort of old-school, posh or house. Like in the decor, it just feels like really classy. It's got a lot of old people's furniture in it. Yeah, but I like that. It feels classy. It's not a sort of like grave velvet sofas. No, it's not.

I mean, we sort of wish it would be. We've come to terms with the fact that we don't have like she-she taste in that way. It's like an antique shop. So it's got old bits of my mum's furniture and my dad's furniture and Sarah's parents' furniture. And there's kind of efforts here and there to try and be a bit more fashionable and get some trendy wallpaper or something. My grandmother would have called effortlessly classy. Oh, okay. But Ray loved it there.

I'll take that. Because there's a lot of stairs and he enjoyed it. So yeah, we brought Ray. And he and Rosie got on quite well, I thought. I was quite pleased with that. Yeah, Rosie's not very sociable. She doesn't see too many dogs. It used to be that she would pass a dog or go near a dog on a walk

and would strain at the lead. And I could never tell if it was, she seemed to want to go and meet them. But then when she did go up and meet them, it was all a bit aggressive. Are you like that? Maybe I am. Yeah, maybe she picked up what I was sending out.

You want so hard to meet them, but it never quite works out. I want to be liked. But when it comes down to it, I just can't be bothered. That's why I have a podcast. So I can edit myself into someone who is like that, who's nice, the nice version of me. That is true, actually. Well, Rosie is one of the reasons that you have this podcast, I feel. Yeah, that's true.

Because you were going for walks, weren't you, with Rosie? And you were sort of doing, was it voice notes you were kind of doing to yourself and rambling? Therapy rambles. And then you thought, well, maybe I could turn this into a podcast. Yeah. Yeah, turn my therapy. It was around the time, it was before my dad came and moved in with us, in fact. And I think it was partly because we had Rosie.

And so suddenly I was walking regularly because, of course, I turned out to be the one that walked Rosie. Not anybody else, certainly not Nat. But it was that and it was the fact that I was thinking, because I used to keep a journal. I still do. But sometimes it would take up to an hour to do my journal entry, which is ridiculous, but that's how it was. So it would be like an hour for journal entry in morning.

Then I have to go and walk Rosie. And it's like something's got to give because I'm just blazing through hours here in the limited spectrum of time in the day. And so I thought, okay, well, I'll go on the walk with Rosie, but instead of writing the journal, I'll sort of dictate voice notes. And so that's what I did. And then I thought, well, these voice notes are so terrific. Surely I can turn them into a podcast.

Because it was me chatting to Rosie and then I started doing the Rosie voice and I thought well this is gold this is absolutely brilliant stuff but then then I realized that it wasn't and actually what I needed was actual guests yeah but I could retain a little part of that in the intro and outro which is now my USP and is the reason we were talking before we started recording about the fact that there's a lot of pressure on podcasters nowadays to film their podcasts and I don't and I won't but partly and for you too it's a practical thing like you don't want a camera crew with you when you're doing the dog walk just because I mean it's a whole extra layer of complication who edits that afterwards and it's bad enough just making sure all

the audio stuff is right and the files of recording do you think yeah it's interesting that move to that do you think you is it? Is there a reason why you resist that, aside from the practical side of it? It's mainly the practical side, but it is also the fact that I really, well, it's a control thing for me. Because what I want to do is make a crafted thing that is just the way I want it and it fits together. And as far as possible, it's like a, you know, if it was up to me, I'd spend a month on each episode and I'd just make it at this kind of sonic palace. It would be like an audio documentary with an interview in the middle. So I want to spend as much time as I possibly can getting the sound of the thing right.

Do the jingles, make sure the ads sound good, and that it all fits together. It's all of a piece. And as soon as you introduce a visual element into that, then it makes it much more complicated. You've got to think about, you know, because if that's your mindset, then I've got to think about titles. I've got to think about graphics. I've got to think about what's going to happen when the jingles play. I've got to think about editing. All these sort of things.

It is possible, but that's a whole other thing. That's like making a TV show. And I'm, you know, that's the whole reason I'm doing podcasts is because I didn't want to do TV shows anymore. Luckily, or did anyone else. But the trouble is, I suppose, that's what's interesting, is that you think you were very early at the party, along with Richard Herring. I came a little bit later, but I still like to think I was certainly in a dingy trailing behind your guy's boat. And I feel what's a bit weird now is that podcasting was for, I suppose, people that were not other necessarily, but we were a bit different. It was people who weren't putting stuff out on mainstream, through the mainstream.

But what's happened now? It's people who weren't allowed to be on television. People who weren't allowed to be on television. And now all the people on television have said, oh, we want to come over to that weird geeky, forbidden planet party. And it's like, no, get out. It's crowded here and now we can't move. I know. Tell me about it. I mean, you know, my, I go on about Louis all the time in that context and how.

This is Louis Theroux, we should say. And how I really genuinely felt angry when he started doing podcasts. So I was like, oh my God. you all you have to do is ask to do a TV program or probably a film and everyone goes, yes, please, yes, please, Louis, yes, whatever you'd like. And then it wins a BAFTA and then on it rolls. And so it should because he's really good at it. But it's like, don't do a podcast.

Why do you need to do a podcast as well? And the reason he did it was because he needed to be at home more because his kids were young. He didn't want to travel so much and do the docks. It's like, well, fine, but be at home and do some cooking or something. Be a gardener or start DJing or anything, but don't do a podcast because it'll be really good. And you'll get much better guests or you'll get your pick of guests. Which is exactly what happened. You talked to him not long ago about your interview with Tom Hanks.

Oh, yeah. Which I've gone on about way too much. I apologize. I mean, it's the same thing. O contrar. I still think that's got legs in it still, that story. And you interview Tom Hanks, quite famously, we should say, on your brilliant podcast. And you have said subsequently, and you said to Louie, I don't feel that went well that interview.

You weren't happy with it. And we should say you weren't slacking off Tom Hanks in the slightest. It was you that you feel. Yeah, it was one of those times when it didn't, there wasn't the connection that I was fantastic. exercising there might be. Why do you think that was? Well, it was because we were on Zoom mainly. Right. And but I also think that it was because he thought it was going to be something else. I think he thought it was going to be a more formal interview. Yes. And I don't know that he had listened to it and I don't think he was prepared for or up for a more relaxed chat. He'd written a novel. And so I think that he thought,

oh, I'm going to be talking, I'm going to be talking to a British guy, and he's got one of the most popular literary podcasts in the world. There's a snake in my boot. That's what Tom Hanks is like. I always have to say that there's a snake in my boot to make it clear that it's Tom Hanks. And, yeah, we'll be on there. We'll talk about typewriters and writing and literature. And there's a snake in my boot. and it turned out that it was just a silly man on Zoom.

I re-listened to it recently. You did? Oh yeah. How was it? Well, it's one of those things. You know when someone goes on and on about how terrible something is? I was expecting it to be so awful. No, it was.

It was never awful. And it wasn't at all, but I... There's a couple of good bits. A couple of bits made the news. Did he? Was it the drink he has? That was my favourite bit. And that was the result of...

Tom Hanks, we should say, revealed that he likes Coca-Cola with champagne and he calls it cocaine. Diet cocaine. I was at a party. I don't really drink too much. I had some diet Coke. And they were offering some champagne. Sure, just pour a little bit in there.

I call it diet cocaine. I was like, here we go. Here's the podcast. Come on, Tom. What else do you do? What other stuff? I was like, I was thinking maybe, you know, he's mentioned cocaine. I said, that's not very on brand for Tom Hanks, is it?

Have you had cocaine? I was thinking maybe I could ask him about drugs. He must have taken some drugs. Maybe I can get him on a whole different thing. Anyway, that didn't quite evolve. But the other, that was the result of asking my family the night before when we were having supper. What shall I ask Tom Hanks? You know, I already had all the stuff I wanted to ask him.

I had done so much prep. I had read his book. I had listened to so many interviews. I genuinely love so many of his films. I was just good to go with this thing. And I thought, like, as icing on a cake, as a sort of fun thing that I can do at the end, maybe, is, oh, my family had some questions.

So everyone said, well, Natty said, ask him what his favorite drink is. I was like, uh-huh, okay, thanks for that, Nat. I won't be asking him that. That's a ridiculous, boring question. and Sarah said, ask him how he feels about AI and the legal implications about intellectual property rights because she's a lawyer, my wife. And I was like, uh-huh, it's a little dry, but sure, okay. Anyway, so those two bits turned out to be the best bits.

Ask him what his favorite drink is because I was really struggling at one point. I was thinking, oh, I think it's time for me to ask the family's questions. And you asked about the dog. That was a family question and that almost had me in tears that answer. That's true. That was very emotional. Yeah, he got emotional about his dog.

That might have been hope or I don't know who asked that one. Yeah. No, my family bailed me out. And then Sarah's question about the AI stuff, we were talking about, you know, and this was a couple of years ago as well, before the subject had become quite so pervasive as it has now. Anyway, he talked about, you know,

the implications for, doing voices on animations and how they can generate that stuff. And I got the impression that at that point, a couple of years ago, he hadn't really got his ducks in a row as far as saying, no, you can't do this and that. And it was all fairly open-ended. I think that's why there's such a panic around it in the entertainment industry, because they are still figuring all this stuff out. Anyway, that was reported on BBC News, his answer to that.

That hasn't happened too many times with my podcast. That's what I mean. I think listening to it, I think possibly what happened was that because you had Tom Hanks, everyone wants to do the definitive interview. Because your interviews are, you always get more than you would out of a standard interview. Your bar's quite high, is what I'm saying, because you're an incredible interviewer. But I think it's like trying to do an interview. It's a bit like with Premier League footballers. There's only so much you're ever going to get out of them. Do you know what I mean? because they've done so many interviews and they're so media trained and it's so much part of their job. Yeah. It was like whenever you'd see someone trying to interview Ryan Giggs at the peak of his fame and you think there's just no point, you know. Yeah. And that's actually the reason that I sometimes would avoid bigger stars.

Every now and again, people will dangle very big stars because they're on a movie junket. And I'll generally say no. But with Tom Hanks, I just thought, this is an open goal. love the guy and I know that he can really deliver, obviously. But then Louis reigned on your parade once again, we love you, Louis, but you will rain on Buckles parade by saying, oh, I was offered him, but I turned that down. That genuinely annoyed me. Genuinely made me kind of angry. It's like, you dick. Don't say that. Why do you need to say that? As we're here to chat to you anyway, because I love you.

But we also have to take care of business. Sure. And you have a book out. Oh, yeah. You don't have to take care of business. It's just nice to see you. Well, handily, it does tie in with your backstory. Sure.

Which is really convenient for me. Thank you for that. So I won't have to do any this morning clunky gear changes. Okay. You know when they do that on this morning? Oh, yeah. Well, it's normally it's always something about recipes. and then and coming up a colon cancer.

Oh no. No, no. I've had a few of those interviews recently because this book does include stuff about my mum dying in 2020 and every now and again I'll do a radio interview or something and you've only got 10 minutes and it'll be live. And then it is Gear Change City. So it's like small talk for five minutes and everything's nice.

And then it's like, and then you write about. your mom dying. Oh yes, yes. Yes, I do. Yes, she died. And I loved her. It was cancer. And I felt like I let her down.

And it was so sad and shocking. And I was just very sad for months afterwards. Anyway, thanks for coming in. Thank you. Bye. And then it's all over. is like, oh God, I should really figure out how I'm going to talk about these things if I only have a short amount of time. You don't think about it when you're writing it, do you?

That's the thing. When you're writing it, I mean, there's definitely moments maybe you had them too where you're thinking maybe I shouldn't be writing this. Who needs to know this? Why am I writing this? What function is this serving? Is this going to improve anyone's life? Is this going to improve my life? Is this just me being a little bit navel-gazy and, you know, oversharing to, you know,

because I've got issues I need to resolve with my therapist rather than writing about them publicly. Or, you know, you're thinking all these things. But then I resolved most of them and I talked them through with my friends and with my wife and felt okay about. writing about them. But then, yeah, you don't think about what it's going to be like when you have to sell the book and pitch the book and talk to people you don't know as well. That's the other thing. Because in my world, I always think of my world as being this enclosed, walled garden of people that listen to my podcast. Yeah. And they know who I am and they know what I'm like and they make allowances for me or they understand where I'm coming from. They're unlikely to misunderstand me

most of the time. But that's not really true once you go into the wider world. And there's people who don't know you and they're making quick assumptions about you by the way you sound or the little they know about you. And all this stuff is landing on them totally differently. And there's not the time and there's not the bandwidth and to actually make it come across the way you would like it. it to come across. Like I always remember meeting, being on another show, a TV thing, maybe for Sky Arts or something, a book club type show. And talking about the first book, my first book.

This is the Ramble memoir, yeah. Which I love as well. Two memoirs I've done, Emily. For someone who has had quite a marginal career, I've managed to get two memoirs out of it. But anyway, I was on there and they had a little book club segment. within the show. And it was all these kind of stockbroker type guys who'd all got together. They're all wearing like nice jeans and smart shirts.

And they'd all, they were just a bunch of pals. Like every week they would have a different gang of pals. You know what I mean? Like some weeks it would be a bunch of moms or whatever. Right. Some weeks it would be ambulance drivers or I don't know what. This week it was like stockbroker guys. And they'd all had to read my book.

And there's a lot of stuff. that first book about my dad's financial shortcomings and his struggle with money and he bankrupted himself sending his kids to private schools and all this sort of stuff is a fairly central theme of the book and in one chapter I reproduce a bunch of letters that my dad actually sent to people begging for money that were all that he'd saved in this big envelope and written on the envelope of interest to anyone should they come to write my biography or whatever. So So I figured like he's okay with me using this stuff. He's left it behind in this envelope saying.

Well, also he's a writer and I think he said everything is copy. Yeah, yeah. You know, he believed in that. Oh yeah, definitely. I think so. So I felt okay about it. But these guys, they were like, I didn't like the stuff where you printed those details about your dad's financial problems.

I mean, begging people for money. I thought, no. why would you want to reprint that? I mean, did you think carefully about that before you made that decision? I said, yeah, yeah, I did. It was in a big envelope saying, please stick this in your memoir, basically. No, no, I didn't. I liked some of the rest of it, but no, I found that pretty cringe.

You don't dick around with money. Yeah, okay? You certainly, what you want to do with serious problems like that is bury them. and bury them pretty deep. Don't talk about them. Don't bloody write about them in a book for crying out loud, what are you thinking about? What are you?

Some sort of evolved, man? Well, I do want to talk about both your books, but I've recently re-read your Rammell book, your first book, and I recommend buying them together, by the way. Yeah. They look great. No, but it's really nice because your first book focuses a little more heavily on your dad.

Yeah. I guess he was the more obvious person to write about because he's informed your work and he bled over into your professional life as well. He was in our TV show. Yeah. In his 70s on the Adam and Joe show, reviewing music, going to festivals. Largely Louis Thruy's idea. That's true. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I have a lot to thank Louis for. Which is why maybe he feels fine about crashing my party, my podcast party. And the second book, I Love You, Bye, and I love that. title. Focuses a little more, it kind of brings us up to date more, but it also focuses a bit more on your mum and her history specifically and her relationship with your dad. I mean, I love both books, but it was really interesting reading about your mum as well, because I felt, I've chatted to you before in this podcast about your dad, and I had a sort

of idea of him, but I actually find some of the first parts of that book or some of the stuff you write about you were just talking about the final. financial stuff. I found it really heartbreaking. And your dad was a fascinating man, wasn't he? Because very aspirational, super intelligent and smart and articulate and pretty well educated, wasn't he? Oh yeah, yeah. And been to Oxford. But there was this sense of him always wanting, I suppose always striving to belong to this, this kind of almost. quite an old-fashioned view he had. Very old-fashioned.

Connected to the class system. Yeah, he wanted to be part of the establishment. Yeah. And he wanted to mix with those people because he thought those were the best people. Because his parents worked for those people as servants. And I think their whole life was one of feeling very grateful to those people. They, you know, it was kind of noblesse oblige. They were looked after by this aristocratic family.

And they liked them. They were treated well by them. Their whole life was kind of lived in their shadow, more or less. And so my dad sort of thought, well, wouldn't it be nice? Rather than, I think you can go two ways, can't you? If you're in that situation, I'm guessing. Because that was not my experience. But I'm guessing that either you get resentful about it.

And especially if you're treated badly by those people, then you would go, how are you with swearing on this podcast? Oh, we love it. Okay. Then you go, fuck those people. and you live your life in opposition to that system. Or you feel grateful to them and you aspire to being part of that world. And that's the way my dad went.

He thought, yes, manners, yes, class, yes, well-read, well-educated, good taste, all those sort of things. He thought were important and there was such a thing as good taste, bad taste. And there's boundaries, you know, that should not be crossed and should not be messed with. And yes, you can have a little bit of irreverence, but not much. Certainly not the big slice of irreverence that I felt that I should have. And so he was always mystified by all the things I liked because I like the opposite. But I didn't know any of that growing up or I didn't even think about any of those things. You know, I didn't really question my cozy life growing up.

And it was only later on when I sort of thought harder about what his life would have been like. and the journey that he had taken and why all that stuff was so important to him, it was only then that I started thinking about like, oh, yeah, you know, I get it now. I get why he was so baffled by what I wanted to do and why he was kind of disappointed, really, by what I ended up doing.

Because you were sent to boarding school. Yeah. I was saying it must be quite traumatic. Well, no, I mean, it was. I didn't, it was awful. At the time, it was the worst thing. I could imagine because I really had a cushy number. I really liked my cozy life. It was all going really well. I loved mum and dad. They were really nice. They used to get on in those days. They were

very in love and they were nice together. And I mean, my dad was away a lot, I guess. Because we should say he was a travel. He was a travel journalist, editor of the Sunday Telegraph. But when he was around, it was great. And we would go on holidays. He would take us on holidays to places. And he would write about them. So we were really very privileged in all sorts of ways. And then suddenly, I got sent off to boarding school when I was nine because, I suppose, yeah, it was the practical thing to do from his point of view because he was away so much. And by that time, I had a brother and a sister. So my mum was probably grateful for less work. I don't know, even though she said herself that It was awful when I used to phone up in tears in the first term or the first year.

And she said, yeah, it was the worst feeling in the world, as it would be if you've got kids and your nine-year-old kid is away from you and you miss them and they phone up and they're in tears and they're saying, please, can you come and get me? Oh, my God, that would be awful. I'd be so sad if one of my kids was like that. I couldn't bear it anyway. And I said, like, mom, wasn't that a time? terrible feeling. She said, yeah, it was awful, awful. So I was like, why did you do it then?

She said, well, you know what? I've never thought about it. I've never thought about it before now. Because I think it's just, that's just the way the world was. I mean, it's like we're saying about going to the gym and stuff like that. You're not talking about an evil race of people 50 years ago or something. You're just talking about society being different and having a different set of values. And it's not like where genius is now. In another 50 years, they're going to be looking back at us in 20, 25 and going, what the fuck were they thinking about with this, this and this, you know. Well, it's a bit like, it is like, you know, for example,

I might tolerate really awful sexist, misogynistic behavior in the workplace when I started out. Because that's just what it was like. Do you know what I mean it's true? There didn't seem, so I can understand oddly with the boarding. school thing, that felt like, well, that's a necessary tax you have to pay if you want your child to be part of this world and to be properly educated. Yeah. I mean, that's, obviously, that was only what a certain small part of society thought. Most other people thought going to a boarding school was pretty weird. But yeah, amongst my

parents' peer group, they all sent their kids to boarding school. So my parents thought, yeah, yeah, fine. Plus, it was a nice boarding school. It was like, there's way worse. I went to a, it was a co-ed. Richie was there. Guy Ritchie was there. Even though he kind of denied it when he met up with you. Adam ran into Guy Ritchie for anyone who, I think you put this in the Ramble book or is it in the second book. It's in the latest one. It's in I love you, Brian.

I don't know if I'm even going to tell you this story because I want you to buy the book and find out what happens when Adam has, what I hoped would be a very touching reunion with Guy Ritchie. At the Comedy Awards. I was with you guys that night. Yes. Jonathan Ross was hosting. and me and Joe had become friends with Jonathan and Jane and we met you. That's how Adam and I we should say know each other. Yeah.

Because Jane Goldman is my much-loved, treasured best friend of several since we were kids, really. Yeah. And so when would that have been? Well, if Guy Ritchie was invited to the Comedy Awards. For lockstock and two smoking barrels, 99 maybe? I mean it was around then. Is he more of a 2000s figure? You might be right.

I've got the feeling it was still 90s because I remember what I was wearing. I was wearing a very fun-loving criminals, kind of silky black shirt with Chinese dragons up both sides. Oh, ouch. Okay. And I wore it the other day on House of Games. Because I had it, I was sort of, you know, like it's five shows they're filming for House of Games. It's come back in now. It's fine.

Right. And so you've got to have five outfits for House of Games. Time to dig out the old silk shirt. Yeah, because usually it's like, well, am I going to wear the black fleece or the green fleece? Time to dig out the old Rayleigh Otter number. So I went for the black shirt with the dragons up that I had last used for Guy Ritchie. Did you look like a waiter in a Chinese restaurant? I think it's okay.

I think you look good in it. Richard Osman said, yeah, he said, oh, it looks like, an old guy who's reformed his scar band. I bet you look lovely. I think I looked insane. We need to cover also, in case anyone doesn't know, and again, you touch on, I think you touch on this in both books, but you went to Westminster.

Yes. And if that was, if I was looking at your biopic, I feel that would be a key moment. Because that's where you met Joe. It's where you met Louis. I think you found your tribe there, socially. Yes.

In the biopic, though, if it was made around now, it would have to be made very clear that people who go to those kinds of school are very evil. Do you know what I mean? It would be like salt burn slash mountain head type. They'd have to be very winkle-vi twins. Yeah. Like most of the characters would have to be completely amoral and horrible and detestable.

Which maybe we were, I don't know, perhaps we were like that a little bit. It's a weird environment. Do you still feel a bit embarrassed about having gone to Westminster? Yeah, because, obviously, because it marks you out as someone who has been brought up in an atmosphere of undeserved privilege. And you can kind of, I mean, I rationalise that in all sorts of ways. And for me, it's all tied up with, you know, my dad and all the things I've written about. and on the one hand there's lots of things that are quite embarrassing and uncomfortable about that that you that you do feel weird about but then you can't for me it's all bound up with all the

wonderful things that have happened in my life as well you know I met all those people I met Joe and Louie and so many of my friends that I'm still close with now so I was really grateful for it and that's kind of what my parents were hoping for I mean I think specific they were hoping that I would end up, you know, running some corporation or something or being part of the establishment in a more traditional way. But actually, it worked out great because I ended up meeting so many of the people that I did end up being able to have a career with. Yeah. Not the career that they would hope for. You know, they, yeah, they were hoping it would be less silly.

I really hope you love part one of this week's Walking the Dog. If you want to hear the second part of our chat, it'll be out on Thursday, so whatever you do, don't miss it. And remember to subscribe so you can join us on our walks every week.