Midlifing

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'...

Send us Fan Mail Simon and Lee talk about the size of circles of friends, and being properly in the world. Free tangents included. Send no money. Some other details from the episode: Lee is by himself during the week and gets some space for reflection; Apple Vision Pro; extended/mixed reality; Lee sucks his teeth about AVP; different kinds of reality; George Clooney in ER; video passthrough; Apple...

Send us Fan Mail Lee and Simon discuss any possible plans for their funerals. Some other details from the episode: Simon talks final season of The Crown, Imelda Staunton's performance, and the depiction of Operation London Bridge (Queen's funeral); pineapple on pizza, Simon wearing aprons, Imelda Staunton singing, 11 o'clock numbers, parking and barking, Company (the musical) and He...

Send us Fan Mail Lee asks Simon if he is where thought he would be and also where we wants to be: A conversation about change, ambition, community, regret and going along for the ride. Some other details from the episode: Tearing up over bread, Lee will be missed, vacuum cleaners, living a normal life, most car drivers being above average, David McRaney's You Are Not So Smart, what normal loo...

Send us Fan Mail Simon goes on a couple of unusual benders before he and Lee talk about trust, mistrust, getting a feeling about people, and the ways we humans function in groups. Some other details from the episode: Crying while watching Love Actually on a long haul flight, a Melbourne billboard for erectile disfunction, folding a fitted sheet, Lee's bedding packaging, ironing, The Traitors...

Send us Fan Mail Simon comes in hot with some "content" about margarine and he and Lee discuss health stuff (again), before transitioning into body fat content and (unrelated) a discussion about making ciabatta. Some other details from the episode: Apologising at the beginning of something, attribution and circulation of ideas in dance, saying 'fuck' in multiple languages, marg...

Send us Fan Mail Simon and Lee discuss some health concerns, eating butter, the unrelenting depressing feeling of watching Fleishman is in Trouble , Taylor Swift's Eras film, and the trouble with boys and men. Some other details from the episode: Follow up on Simon's PSA test, some stuff about lipids, heart disease, LDLs, a TV update ( Slow Horses , Reacher , Fleishman is in Trouble , Ta...

Send us Fan Mail Simon and Lee start with yet more cocktail talk and then discuss their respective Christmases. They then talk about the difference between making art and play and marriage as a long-form improvisation, and PSA tests.  Some other details from the episode: A bit about the grey wet weather in the UK; not drinking cocktails in Lisbon; what makes a cocktail a cocktail (three or more in...

Send us Fan Mail Lee and Simon talk about men they are attracted to. Also, Lee takes away Simon's last pleasure in life and they accidentally hang up on each other. Some other details from the episode: Cirque de Soleil, Lee's parents visiting, Norman Miller's (postcard sized) book of life, more on Lee's Swytch wheel, bad Australian accents, Alan Watts (definitely dead), cut gla...

Send us Fan Mail Lee and Simon talk about their experiences of Christmas Some other details:  Simon the Christmas Grinch; Christmas, religion and commercialism; this time of the year in the Northern hemisphere; being communal in the dark and warm; spying on other people's Christmases; stress and violence at Christmas; enforced jollity of being with people; Christmas presents and showing them...

Send us Fan Mail Lee and Simon don't quite talk about bribery and corruption, and instead think through if the world is uniquely crazy in this moment. Some other details: Simon is gifted an advent calendar; being bribed and/or blackmailed; John Wick (pre-emptive revenge); illegal Russian websites; how shit the weather has been; how small human beings are; the wonkiness of the world; Simon&apo...