Midlifing

Send us Fan Mail Lee and Simon navigate tech issues, family estrangement, censorship, and a terrible Wimbledon defeat. 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 Simon and Lee swap stories about how AI makes writing easier and helps smooth out prickly emails, even if they feel a bit uneasy about it all. They also talk a bit about underpants, academic jargon, and the oddities of midlife. 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/...

Send us Fan Mail Lee and Simon discuss whether they’re in a second act or nearing the end of their working lives. They reflect on legacy, how little most of us are remembered, and how not having children changes that. 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...

Send us Fan Mail Simon reflects on feeling in and out of control while managing tinnitus; Lee discusses boxers, rewilding sleep, and lime wall repairs. 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 Simon shares a new tinnitus struggle; Lee discusses scones; both reflect on midlife pride, sleep, and renovation woes. 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 go from jam donut focaccia to knitting mistakes, obscure theatre shows to random celebrity run-ins – just the regular midlifing drift. 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 high school reunions before Simon launches a broadside against Meta (and gets a little hot under the collar) and then they finish with a quick chat about pronoia. Things covered: Bob and Lee's 29th wedding anniversary, Simon's 40 year high school reunion, reminiscence bump, the consequential things that happen to us when we are young, who we are...

Send us Fan Mail Lee and Simon talk about a moral conundrum: whether we ought to follow the wishes of the dead or that we owe more to those who remain alive.  Things covered: video calls and the future, Blake and Jerusalem, Simon dancing in Dorset, Helen Poynor, transformative art, Jefrey infected by another dog (Lola), Lee practising looking up, Simon has a moral conundrum about following the wis...

Send us Fan Mail Lee and Simon talk about changing their minds about things that matter, and finding compassion. Things covered: scent update and the feeling of clean fresh skin, schoolboy French, 'believing' in climate change, scepticism without an object, anthropogenic climate change, changing your mind, perspectives changing through what we read (or not), Lee's binary nature, dan...

Send us Fan Mail Lee and Simon discuss scent profiles and the ways bodies smell. Things covered: jam donut focaccia, waking up early, cli-fi (climate fiction), The Deluge by Stephen Markley, description of a suicide bomber's body (from the inside) at the moment of detonation, Simon's scent profile, delving into the olfactory, not showering often, bottom hygiene, Crocodile Dundeee and two...

Send us Fan Mail Lee and Simon discuss furniture and curated maximalism (obviously Lee does most of the talking here), and chronic pain. Things covered: the excitement of countdowns, Lee goes to a wine festival, how many Beatles are left, whether the Beatles voted or not, the trailer for Sinners, Hitchcock's "The Birds" (and its soundtrack), spring cleaning, Swedish death cleaning,...

Send us Fan Mail Simon and Lee talk about metaphors and the tragedy of how poetry is taught, before discussing three truisms from Anthony de Mello. Things covered: the bell is tolling, true words said in jest, many a slip between cup and lip, not understanding metaphors, being literal, not liking poetry while really liking poetry, the meaning of poetry, Kae Tempest, Lee having an ugly cry at the t...

Send us Fan Mail Simon and Lee talk about things they love. Things covered: back in Blighty, the nature of home, putting down roots, having multiple passports (Jason Bourne), freedivers, things we love, what Lee is wearing (again), being self-conscious (or not) about the things we wear, being policed and judged, tortilla covered sourdough, Lee loves perfume and smelling good, layering perfumes, cl...

Send us Fan Mail Simon and Lee discuss the way age starts not to manner (as we get older), the absurdity of reducing friction in our lives, and then have a quick conversation about Adolescence.  Things covered: Buona Pasqua, Lee's raw early morning voice, the true reason for buying a house, Lee's Dad's 84th birthday, the cost of a pint of Guiness, the way age starts not to matter, e...

Send us Fan Mail Simon reports in (once again) from Sardegna while attempting to buy a kitchen and the question of consent raises its head again. Lee and Simon also discuss Simon's lack of sartorial elegance.  Things covered: marble floors and empty walls, buying a kitchen, 3D models of kitchens, discounts, putting washing machines in kitchens, boring jobs, sharing news over a negroni, descri...

Send us Fan Mail Simon reports in from Sardegna before Lee and he veer off into talking about what draws us to snake oil.  Things covered: Getting the sound right while recording in a 'cathedral', flight delay, the mundanity of owning a place, Nodi networking function in Alghero, bumping back into Italian, experiences that are both concrete and abstract, dealing with uncertainty, meeting...

Send us Fan Mail Simon and Lee don't talk about Adolescene (yet), spend way too long discussing Reacher (again), before discussing whether we become kinder with age. Things covered: Lee guesses Adolescence, finishing off the Reacher series (and just how bad it is), reading all the Reacher novels, trying to remember Duffy's name from Reacher, the Yankees and the Redsox, Stephen Tin Tin Du...

Send us Fan Mail Simon and Lee talk about the relevance and irrelevance of age as precipitated by a Simple Minds song.  Things covered: Opening a can of beer, being taken out for lunch by a former PhD student, Noble Rot (Lambs Conduit, London), Reacher (the TV show), Anthony Michael Hall (The Breakfast Club), aging and looking aged, Lee and Andrew Child's 'In Too Deep', jumping the...

Send us Fan Mail Simon almost got hit by a hearse and as a consequence Lee and Simon discuss the nature of stress.  Things covered: Taking risks on a bike, where humans feel stress, noticing being stressed, degrees of stress, the difference between stress and anxiety, Simon not having headaches, migraines, difference limens, Simon has a panic attack during an Italian lesson, shame and disappointme...

Send us Fan Mail Lee and Simon talk about things that bother them about themselves and learning to live with them. Things covered: Apple iCloud shared accounts and how shit they are, a ladybird backflip a la Jackie Chan, ladybugs, speaking all Northern, living in Lancaster, Blackpool, depressed British seaside towns, PIGS acronym (Portugal, Italy, Greece, Spain), Bob and Lee's ladybirds exper...

Send us Fan Mail Lee and Simon talk about things in life that are abstract and concrete, some things about Lee's knitting, freedom of thought and action, being happy in difficult times. Things covered: Being homeowners, sliding doors, pocket doors, porta a libero (bifold door), talking about futures (all part of an apartment update), a(nother) knitting update (including the possibility of a k...

Send us Fan Mail Lee and Simon talk about songs that make them dance (or not in Lee's case). Things covered: an Oliver Spencer jacket, body size, Simon's nickname "Snogglegrass", having brothers, David Byrne's American Utopia (by Spike Jonze), I Zimbra by David Byrne, songs that make you dance, songs that make you sing, songs that make you cry, Nina Simone's "Don...

Send us Fan Mail Lee and Simon have a conversation about moral compromises. Things covered: knitting update, Simon's management training (difficult conversations), adult egos, being able to express emotions clearly, being compromised (morally) at work, being party to more privileged information, safe spaces, being responsibility for things that are bigger than me, the compromises of undergrad...

Send us Fan Mail Simon shows up late so Lee bangs on fabulously. But then they talk about how much time we spend in our bodies (versus in our heads) and whether it's possible to spend too much time (in our bodies). Things covered: Lee gets going by himself while waiting for Simon to show up (late), if only dogs could talk, Saturday Night Live, Lee failed to plug in his microphone (up until 06...

Send us Fan Mail Lee and Simon talk about becoming experts (in knitting), reducing screentime and nostalgia for things we have never experienced. Warning: episode includes SPOILERS for the film Conclave. Things covered: Knitting update from Lee, maintaining the intensity of a hobby, well-being and knitting, novices, expertise and thinking, changing sides while teaching a dance class, being the bes...