Midlifing

Send us Fan Mail Simon and Lee talk about obsessions and whether or not to talk about them.  Things they discuss: Being discombobulated, Lee's flight being cancelled, more on Simon's cholesterol and the NHS, budget cuts, brief (tangiential) conversation with Jefrey the dalmation, there will be butter (a film starring Daniel Day Lewis), birthday presents and Bob's birthday present re...

Send us Fan Mail Simon and Lee discuss hosting parties that are performances and re-wiring approaches to food. Things they discuss: Simon hosts a party that is a performance in which he is not the host called We Move In Close Circles, the stress of hosting a party, making a lot of pizza, curious.com (which changed its name to just Curious), On the Scent, cholesterol update, the cost of olive oil,...

Send us Fan Mail Simon and Lee talk about anxiety that persists over time and situations that appear to be high stakes when they are not. Things they discuss: Intrusive thoughts, self-diagnosing online, anxiety, worrying, ruminating and being lost in thought, getting into rows (and arguments) in your head, potentially high-temperature meetings (that are low stakes), Universities being hierarchical...

Send us Fan Mail Simon and Lee talk about no longer being children. Things they discuss: Lee deals with some parent issues, tries out his Australian accent, Simon had dinner with friends and talking about no longer being children, dying from a broken heart, family lineage, a line from Shakespeare's Hamlet, not being nurtured as children, being loved by parents, Lee's Mum wanting udder cr...

Send us Fan Mail Lee and Simon talk about imagining bad things as a way to not do them, Coldplay at Glastonbury, and human beings singing together. Things they discuss: Midlifing show titles, the desire or feeling to jump or fall off heights, the meaning of al fresco, being sucked off a balcony, thinking through the possibilities of a fall or jump, someone walking over your grave, airing out Lee&a...

Send us Fan Mail It's hard to describe what this one's about. Just listen. Things they discuss: Lee cutting half a yew tree (that has grown a lot), Simon's 40th at Riverford Farm, being old and unimportant academics, the foundations of Bob and Lee's house, youse as plural pronoun, the inaccuracy of language, splitting infinitives and Star Trek, mooching versus smooching (a clun...

Send us Fan Mail Simon and Lee are back in the saddle together (finally) and they talk about funerals and one of Simon's experiences in Rome.  Things they discuss: Lee is sick, they discuss Bridgerton Series 3 and Lee's eye for detail, Lee working too hard, a funeral in Portugal, drinking wine at a funeral, the size of one's funeral, Jefrey not technically being a person, dying befo...

Send us Fan Mail A minisode: Lee covers for Simon and talks about having too many water bottles. Get in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net . --- The Midlifing logo is adapted from an original image by H.L.I.T: https://www.flickr.com/photos/29311691@N05/8571921679 (CC BY 2.0)

Send us Fan Mail A minisode: Lee shaves off his beard and Simon doesn't make it. Get in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net . --- The Midlifing logo is adapted from an original image by H.L.I.T: https://www.flickr.com/photos/29311691@N05/8571921679 (CC BY 2.0)

Send us Fan Mail Lee and Simon talk about perfume and where to put it. Some other details from the episode: being overwelcomed, being taken out for dinner, saying thank you and please so much, Lee's shock collar to stop him saying bad words, language being amazing, Lee's Cult Beauty notifications, Lee wearing perfume (in layers), Simon not wearing perfume, half-chubs, more and more about...

Send us Fan Mail Lee and Simon had a real meeting for work before Simon had to sneak off for tooth hurty where he discovers he may not be happy with his smile. A conversation about intimacy and being turned on. Some other details from the episode: Simon is impressed by Lee during a real meeting they had together for work, feeling fraudulent at work, expressing not knowing, professorial training, L...

Send us Fan Mail Lee and Simon try and get up from the floor without using their hands and they discuss quite expensive beds and twilight years. Some other details from the episode: Lee's shoulder, getting sorer as you get older, getting up off the floor, putting your hand on your knee when you bend over, where Lee puts his bakeware, not adapting as you get older, Trikonasana (yoga posture),...

Send us Fan Mail Simon and Lee discuss many things including pizza, the D-Day landings and going dry. No one reads these show-notes so we will just leave it at that. Some other details from the episode: getting things stuck in your teeth, Lee's naked ambition, remote dinner dates, kamaikaze blue tits, stressing syllables in language, how to say Alghero, Cagliari, Dittisham, Broughan, zero-alc...

Send us Fan Mail Lee and Simon talk about the books that changed them and what it would take to join a revolution. Some other details from the episode: Non-dual awareness, Lee reading during his Masters, Portugal's The Carnation Revolution (military coup), Eurovision song contest, Chega political party (Portugal), igniting a revolution to over-throw a Government, uprisings in the UK, what wou...

Send us Fan Mail Lee and Simon go on a strange ride through some "visual culture" before talking about body dismorphia, Lee's natural form, exhibitionism and the things people do to switch off. Some other details from the episode: Pitch Perfect (the original and classic), just sit outside and watch the waters rise (climate change), And While London Burns (audio performance), Bob eat...

Send us Fan Mail Simon is dog tired from baking too much bread, and Lee is in the midst of a work load that is barely sustainable: enter Grover from Sesame Street. Some other details from the episode: Enjoying making processes efficient; sourdough and allergens; Lee figuring out the rhythm of his job; being surrounded by kindness; a packet of crisps and a sandwich; cheese and Simon's LDLs; sh...

Send us Fan Mail Lee and Simon have stories of spring before a brief chat about entertaining the possibility of being wrong. Some other details from the episode: Lee and Jefrey saw a seal (eating a fish); scroggin; supermarkets in the UK and class; swans; woman jogging; deer; Simon's bird feeder; anxious Blue Tits; Lee's biodiverse garden; Lee interviewing PhD students; Lee's selfie...

Send us Fan Mail Simon and Lee talk about how well humans know ourselves versus how well we are known by others (with a diversion into Lee scaring someone in a toilet). Some other details from the episode: BST does not stand for Big Sexy Time, the difference between falling and having a fall, manifesting a fall, Lee crashing his bicycle in Lisbon, Dr. David Corbet (@corbetron) is our Ask Jeeves fo...

Send us Fan Mail A side-thought in real-life Subbuteo before a conversation about content moderation online and human beings filming and photographing stuff and putting it online. (Oh, and a bit about trains in the UK). Some other details from the episode: Simon's prior understanding of England: Match of the Day, Subbuteo, and the FA Cup; Lee's laugh (again); fish and chips; fish and chi...

Send us Fan Mail Lee laughs weirdly and sets in motion a sprawling natter about cartoons and Penelope Pitstop, before together Simon and Lee drop into a) what it is to be disciplined and committed and b) taking family for granted. Some other details from the episode: Hanna Barbera cartoons, double feature films, staying awake in films, VHS and Betamax, TikTok and the ubiquity of culture, John Berr...

Send us Fan Mail Simon and Lee talk about affective states (as opposed to emotions) and in doing so veer terrifyingly close to their field(s) of expertise. They also talk about other stuff. Some other details from the episode: Lee reprises some Wet Leg, Simon has been doing some dancing with Katye Coe, the other C word, a place called Beer in the UK, not being interested in being watched, being a...

Send us Fan Mail Lee recounts his visit to the UK's corridors of power before they talk about using correct accents (or not) for words that are not English. Some other details from the episode: Gwyneth Paltrow's mother, the original Westworld, a bad joke about a week in tents, Bob and Lee's keynote in Malta, The Beatles (and Paul McCartney) Lee's intemperance and his flibbertig...

Send us Fan Mail Lee has watched a couple of films and cried a lot. Simon asks Lee about the pleasure of crying.  Some other details from the episode: Eating chocolate in the morning, Jeffrey helping Lee decide whether or not to make cake, Lee's capacity to cry, Adam Sandler and Carey Mulligan in Spaceman and All of Us Strangers by Andrew Haigh, Sixth Sense spoiler (Bruce Willis is dead), Sta...

Send us Fan Mail Lee takes us through his record buying spree, and they both rabbit on before Simon asks Lee what he is afraid of. Some other details from the episode: Lee's selfie photo on work website (see show notes), Lee's face for radio, Simon watching 2024 version of Mean Girls (a musical), Lindsay Lohan's cameo, being frightened by a mediated horror film, Lee goes on a record...

Send us Fan Mail A surprise guest appearance gets ruined by Simon. Instead they talk about achievement orientation and finding out what people  think of you. Some other details from the episode: Some blow back from last week's episode from Simon's frolleagues, Finn's girlfriend Sophie (and brownies), the oddness of the phrase "fuck me sideways" and its mechanics, Lee'...