Suggestible - The Banshees of Ed Sheeran

Episode Date: June 1, 2023

Suggestible things to watch, read and listen to. Hosted by James Clement @mrsundaymovies and Claire Tonti @clairetonti.Tickets for Claire Tonti’s UK & Ireland Tour this July 2023 available via https://www.clairetonti.com/eventsThis week’s Suggestibles:06:15 The Banshees of Inisherin18:42 Ed Sheeran: The Sum Of It All26:04 Succession (briefly and no spoilers)29:06 Silo34:08 Mama Rising Book by Amy Taylor-Kabbaz34:08 Claire on the Happy Mama Movement podcast41:10 Annabelle Sharman on Insta @liveinoneness42:00 An Invocation for Beginnings by Ze FrankSend 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.

Introducing Uber Teen Accounts, an Uber account for your teen with enhanced safety features. Your teen can request a ride with top-rated drivers, and you can track every trip on the live map in the Uber app. Uber Teen Accounts. Invite your teen to join your Uber account today. Available in select locations. See app for details. It's adjustable time. It certainly is. And that's not an accident. This is, we've sat down purposefully to record an episode, haven't we? We certainly have, Jim Bob.

My name is Claire Tonti. Your name is James Clement. We are married. We recommend you things to watch, read, and listen to. The way that this works is technically I bring two things, just for new listeners. You bring two things. We swap notes. Sometimes we argue. Sometimes we have a little laugh. We often make fun of each other and then we go our separate ways. And often Claire will leave whatever she's brought into the studio until next week. For example, the book that she recommended last week is still in here along with whatever this list of things is.

Oh, that's my notes. Don't read that. That's for today. I'm reading your notes. That's for today. Give it back. That's for today. Give it back.

No, these are mine now. Oh, you're so annoying. These are my – Look, even the goat puppet has just like slid down with his head in his lap. The goat puppet – That's how I feel internally. No, you left the notes out. So these notes are mine.

I actually didn't do my homework. So this is now my homework. I recommend. Stop ruining the surprise. Heal the mother, heal the family. Oh, stop. This sounds right up my alley. It is because this is my recommendation.

Stop reading my notes. That's mine. Jeez, I didn't sleep very much last night. I'm planning this international tour. Who writes physical notes? Me. In a big text style. When I do a podcast interview, which is what these notes are for,

I need to write it big and I like to write it in text style because I actually don't even really look at the notes very much. It kind of is a process of me getting in my head because I'm an artist, James, and that's how I do it. Well, I'm also an artist. Podcasting is an art. So is making videos and make fun of movies. That's an art, some people think.

I am not a judge of art. So you can say what you like. You're not a jart? I'm not a jart. I am a fart. Oh, my God. Oh, I'm so sorry. That's a real Mesa thing to say.

No, it's not because it wasn't really a good joke. No, it really wasn't. Mesa would have said a better joke. He would have. And he would have said something I would have been like, wow. That was so funny. And that would have been because I couldn't think of anything to build on from it.

True, I know. Anyway, do your tour dates. Come on. Oh, yeah, you knew I was going to do it. Jeez, we're rushing along. Come on. Thanks for having me on the Weekly Planet this week. Oh, you're welcome.

It was real fun. We talked about Little Mermaid. It was great. So, international tour. I've got additional dates now too, but let's go through them. So I am going to be in London on 2nd of July, 2pm, the Isle of Dogs, really bloody excitingly.

Holly McNish, who I've talked about on this show before, who is one of my favourite poets in the whole world, her poem Megatron was one of the reasons why I made my album, I reckon. I listened to it so much. She made me feel fierce in my mothering. She has agreed to read some poems at that show. So it'll be Amy Talakabaz, Holly McNish and me, 2 p.m., the Isle of Dogs, the Space UK.

Tickets are all in the links below. Then I'm headed to Exeter on the 4th of July. That's a 10 a.m. show, baby accessible. It is on the top of a big hill though. So it's not very accessible for wheelchairs, but we can make it work. You just have to contact the venue. So that's the Hall Exeter on the 4th of July. Thursday, the 6th of July, I'm going to be in Dublin. That's an evening show. It starts at eight o'clock. It's going to be a candlelit vibe. I'm so excited about this one. Amy is also speaking at that. I'm going to be a candlelit vibe I'm so excited about this one Amy is also speaking at

that I'm going to be playing through my album I might even do some new songs that I've been writing as well and it's getting me really beautiful so 6th of July Dublin now I may be going to Cork on the 7th I'll keep you posted on that I'm not sure so on the 8th of July I'm heading to Glasgow and I'm going to be doing a show at the Kingsborough Garden Sanctuary. Very excited about that one. And then I'm off to Edinburgh. Now this show is at the Caves in Old Town. What a cool atmospheric venue, candlelight. It'll be Sunday afternoon on the 9th of July. And oh my gosh, I can't wait. It's probably one of my favorite venues we're going to do. I just love that all the venues are really different. And this one looks super amazing.

So that's called The Caves, 2 p.m. on Sunday the 9th in Edinburgh. Oh, my gosh. Then I am headed. So on the 11th of July, I am heading to Manchester. I'm going to be playing an evening show there at the Eagle Inn in the band room. Very cool. And then on the 13th of July, I'm going to be in Petersfield playing at the Petersfield Museum and Art Gallery in the courtyard there. That's also an evening show.

And then my last show, I'm heading to Basingstoke and I'm doing an event with Lucy Jones at the Willow Coffee House, which will be a book launch in her local town for her book, Matrescence, and a chance to play some songs, have some yummy coffee and afternoon tea. And that is on Sunday the 15th of July. And then I'm headed home. So that's it. I don't really even have time to scratch my bum. That's a very, very packed in schedule there.

Well, I hope you have some time to scratch your bum. I hope you allocate some resources to that. One of the choices is that. Anyway. You know what you paid for. You know. Anyway, all the details are over on my website, Claire20.com. Under events, you can buy tickets all over there on that site

and I would just so love you to come and bring people, bring your friends, bring your mother's group, bring your partner. So if you're a bloke listening to this and you think, I don't know about this album, I would so recommend coming with your partner. Even if you don't have kids, it's such a beautiful chance to reflect on what it means to be a woman, to contemplate the idea of having a family. And I think if I'd known about the concept of matrescence before I had kids, it would have changed so much for me. But aside from that, I'm really just bloody proud of the music. Hey, it's not just about motherhood. It's about love and heartbreak and meeting the love of your life and how we change as people as we go. I had a beautiful comment from Frank, one of the listeners who just said

he listened to my album and he said, if you're going through something, this album will really help you. And I thought, oh God, that just made me feel so seen and really grateful. So that's it. That's enough for me talking about all my music stuff. Why don't you go next and talk about your things? I got this for you, Claire. I got two big reviews.

It's not review suggestibles this week. The first one is called The Banshees of Ed Sheeran. Now, have you seen this movie? Hang on a second. What? What? I'm talking? Hang on a second. What? What? I'm talking about Ed Sheeran. What did you say?

You said The Banshees of Ed Sheeran. No, I said The Banshees of Insheeran. Oh, no, you're doing that. Gaslighting at work. No, I did say Ed Sheeran. You're right. It's written and directed by Martin McDonagh, who people might know as the writer and director of In Bruges,

which is a really great movie if you haven't seen it. And town. We went there. We did go to that town. We had some chippies there. We did, the Belgium-style chips that they do with mayonnaise and whatever, whatever, whatever. Anyways, it stars Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon,

Barry Keirgan, whose name whenever I pronounce it a different way, people are like, no, that's wrong, and then they tell me a different way, but then that's wrong. So I don't know what to believe. Who knows? Anyway, he's great also. Everyone's really good in this. And here's the synopsis.

On a remote island off the coast of Ireland, island off the coast of Ireland, wow, in 1923 Porrick is devastated when his buddy Colm, so Porrick is played by Colin Farrell and Colm is played by Brendan Gleeson. Do you know who Brendan Gleeson is? Mm-hmm. No, you don't. Suddenly puts an end to their lifelong friendship. So with the help from his sister and a troubled young islander,

Podrick sets out to repair the damaged relationship by any means necessary. However, as Colm's resolve only strengthens, he soon delivers an ultimatum that leads to shocking consequences. Tom's resolve only strengthens. He soon delivers an ultimatum that leads to shocking consequences. So it's one man saying to another man who have been friends for decades and they're on this small island together in the 20s, I don't want to be friends with you anymore. And he doesn't really give any explanation up top,

but he's just like, I don't want to go to the pub with you. I don't want to sit with you. We are not friends anymore. And Colin Farrell's character is like, what the flippin' heck or whatever they'd say in Ireland. What the flippin' shamrock. What the leprechaun. Yeah, they'd say, what's the leprechaun?

Watch the listening to the polls. So he's trying to figure out what's. Watch the green clover. That's right. He's trying to figure out like why would he do this. And Colin Farrell's character is like he's a simple man. He's like he's a dairy farmer. Brendan Cleason's character loves music and he's a little bit older.

So he's like what's going on with this guy? They're talking about like has he got depression? They're talking about depression a lot because it seems like it's a new thing that has kind of come into vogue to get depression, you know? Anyway, so it's revealed very early on and this is a slight spoiler. I do recommend if you like Imbruge, if seven psychopaths another one of his movies any of the movies in this kind of vein then i would i would recommend you watch this but it's revealed that colm who's brendan gleason's character is just he feels like he's getting older and he's just wasting his time

talking just absolute nonsense with colin farrell like, talks about like, you know, donkeys and farming and island life and whatever. And he's like, I don't want to do, I don't want to spend my days like wasted, like being bored and just wasting time sitting with you every day, all day. Like, I don't want to do this anymore. He wants to make music and he feels like that Colin Farrell is like sucking kind of any kind of creativity or spark out of him when he just wants to get this done. Which is also like opens up a lot of questions of like, well, isn't that's kind of mean to like just because you think that, you know, you're more high minded and this is he's a simple guy that you have the right to be so mean to him. you have the right to be so mean to him. But also it's a good point in terms of like why should he have to sit there every day and just like have these banal conversations

that he doesn't want to have, you know? I think this is so interesting and, look, I haven't seen it but what I do find fascinating is friendships in that way. Yeah. Where particularly when one person decides to do something different, to try and it could be like an exercise thing, it could be like opening themselves up to new opportunities and their other friend has decided to really knuckle down in life is shit

and miserable and that kind of victimhood of like and to be fair, life can be really difficult and miserable but it is really interesting as you get older where people can sometimes just get stuck in a mindset and then they refuse to see any of the good things in their life or how they could potentially change. They just want to spend their time complaining about it and drinking beer or whatever they like to do with their buddy. And when the dynamic shifts and one person decides to progress or work on themselves or something happens to them and their life completely changes, it's really, it can be

really sad. It can be really tricky. And we're not really taught how to do that in friendships. In relationships, that's still hard, but you're used to having that conversation where like, it's not you, it's me, or like we're moving on you're no longer my partner you know my boyfriend or girlfriend but in a friendship that's it's a hard conversation yeah and also I think more to the point it is kind of this idea that we just have to be friends with people for 40 years because we knew them in high school and that's like a badge of honour. In some ways, like friends are there for a reason or a season and as well, and maybe they are forever, but also it's okay if you move on and you're different people now. Especially I think too, if you feel

like a friendship is holding you back in some way or they want you to stay the same, it could even be, I know that this is in patterns of addiction or, for instance, someone who's a smoker, right, and their friend quits and smoking was a thing that they shared together and they were both kind of in it together and then now they're no longer. Yeah. Or it happens too when two friends are really close and then one of them gets into a relationship.

Sure, absolutely, yeah. It can change that whole dynamic as well for better or worse. I know Dolly Alderton writes a lot about that and in her show Everything I Know About Love that was the theme that her best friends, she gets so heartbroken every time they get a boyfriend because suddenly she's gone from being their person to not being their person almost overnight for this person that they might have only known for a couple of months and she's known them for 20 years. Yeah.

It's hard. Absolutely. Yeah. And I think what this does really well is there's no like right answer for either of these guys. Like again, he does have the right to be like I don't want to do this. But the way in which he goes about it is also. Really mean.

It's really mean and it kind of escalates kind of wildly and it covers like mortality and like leaving a legacy and friendship and like you mentioned like being stuck there's a really interesting character played by kerry condon who's the sister of colin farrell and they live together and she's i can't remember whether she's never been married or she was married and she's not now i can't remember but she's kind of she's probably late 30s and she's clearly like. I can't remember. But she's kind of a, she's probably late 30s and she's clearly like one of the smarter people in the village and is just in an era where that is not, like being on this island is not, it's not good for her, you know.

And she acknowledges that her brother is like, he's just a pretty simple kind of nice guy, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. But her being there also she finds really difficult because she longs for like something else. And it's interesting seeing how her character in relation to the Brendan Gleeson character who wants to play music and so they both have these higher ideas, but how they both handle it

and how they handle it in different ways. And one, let's say, is probably more healthy than the others without, you know, getting too much into, you know, why that is the case. But it's just a very interesting movie. It's also really, really funny. All of his movies are just kind of I couldn't even explain a scene. It wouldn't sound funny.

Is it absurd, a little bit like Cambridge? A little bit. Or is it more real reality? Yeah, it's a little bit of, yeah, I don't know. It's hard to explain. It's just perfectly timed, like, absurdity. It's, like, brilliantly performed by everybody. It's just, again, I can't explain.

I couldn't explain a joke in this. But it is, at least twice I like laughed out loud in this movie that's not comedy really. Yeah. Do you know what it makes me think of, which I think is just, I find human behaviour really just fascinating in general, but the idea, and I've seen this happen, where someone is genuinely smarter than the rest of their community

or family or the area they live in but they choose to stay. Yeah. And part of it is because deep down they like, even though they kind of hate it, they like that feeling of being a big fish in a small pond. Yeah, and being better than everybody. Yeah, and they kind of hang their hat on that identity. Yeah.

Because then to leave, and sometimes it is, you see this sort of pattern happen where they go and become a little fish in a big pond and it's too uncomfortable or it doesn't quite work or they don't like it so they come back home. Yeah, absolutely. And then they kind of have that, they can hold on to that idea of being, yeah, the big fish in a small pond. It's like being the best runner in your school.

Yeah. But then you go to like, I don't know, a state final and you come like 700th or something, you know, that it's, you know, you realise that, oh, shit, you know, maybe I'm not special. Yeah, there's actually Taylor Swift has a heartbreaking song on Folklore about that and the whole idea it is about, I can't remember the song's name, but it's about this guy or person in their high

school was like the best and brightest in their hometown. Yeah. But then the sheen has kind of worn off. They've become an adult. Nothing worked out the way they thought. And they sort of drink too much maybe and are kind of stuck in a job they don't like. Yeah. Yeah.

It's that whole idea of what you think your world will be and then versus the reality of what it is. Yeah. And then when you're in high school, I think, and you're told you're, you know, the best and the brightest or something like that and the reality of the real world, oh, God, this is very depressing. Sure. Anyway, but there's also people who will find that and then go to,

you know, leave their hometown. We've got friends who grew up in the country who've never gone back. No, and also you can not be the smartest or the best person in high school and still do at any point in life. I mean, look at us. You can do it. Exactly. Yeah.

The stupidest people. No, but, yeah, you know, like neither of us, you know, we really did not pick in high school. Let's put it that way. Yeah, I'm the opposite of an interesting person in high school or in life. I don't think anyone in your high school even would remember you. I'd be shocked. Teachers, pick the people in your grade level.

Some of them might, yeah. But yeah, that's not to say that, wow, look at me now. Look at me podcasting. No, that's not what I mean. I just mean like, yeah, that's not to say that, wow, look at me now. Look at me broadcasting. No, that's not what I mean. I just mean like, yeah. And also I just think that life is way more magic and mysterious and I think if we can sometimes talk ourselves into boxes and convince ourselves of stories like we're not good enough for that

or we're not better, you know, other people deserve that, I don't deserve it or life is always terrible to me and, you know, whatever story we like to tell ourselves, it's really interesting just to think and examine them because most of the time they're not true. Yeah, absolutely. Anyways. Anyway, how do we get there? It's great.

It's kind of, it's interesting from the perspective of also like if you're, if you are depressed or you have, you know, you're clearly going through something, to what extent is it okay for you to be mean to other people? Yes. Why are you using that as an excuse like to be awful? It's also like a metaphor for like a civil war which is also raging in Ireland at the time. It's like about grief and letting go and abuse,

like being born in the wrong era or the wrong place, getting kind of like anger, like it's a very angry movie also. I highly recommend it if you do. If you haven't seen it, you should see it. I've been kind of, I've had it for a while and I was like, oh, maybe not a while, maybe a few weeks. I'm like, okay, I will watch this. I should watch this.

And then I'm so glad that I finally sat down and watched it. I really enjoyed it. Yeah, because I knew that like this is going to be something I can just kind of put on in the background and, you know, do something else. I had to sit and watch it. Yeah, which is great. I'm glad. Awesome.

All right. Cool. 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. I will then talk about my recommendation. I think that's the time of the show that we are in. Oh, how exciting. All right. So I mentioned this on the Weekly Planet, but I thought I'd talk about it here as well. I watched the Ed Sheeran documentary. Banjoos of Ed Sheeran? Yeah, Banjoos of Ed Sheeran. It's Ed Sheeran dressed as a banshee screaming. So it's four episodes.

It's on Disney+, and I found it so fascinating and heartwarming. He's completely kind of different in a way to what I assumed I knew about him. Well, what's interesting is because, and we both agree on this, he's not like super good looking. So if he wasn't so talented, then he wouldn't even be that popular. So James keeps saying the stupid thing that his friend always says about like Ed Sheeran wouldn't get as many women. It's not just Ed Sheeran.

It's anybody who's not like super good looking. I just find that the least interesting thing about this documentary. You've said it over and over again. I know, but I love that. We talked about it recently on Weekly Planet. Yeah, I know. But it's also just a limiting view on what's attractive as well. I just think like just because I just think people,

it's not just an aesthetic thing. No, obviously not. Also like he is good looking. Let's be real. But he is. He's obviously very charismatic as you would think. But what I hadn't realised was how hard he works and also how talented he is, which I know sounds strange

because he's one of the biggest pop stars in the world, but you often think, oh, he's like a guy playing guitar and singing. It's like an aesthetic. I kind of thought maybe he's kind of the product of a record label in a way or something. But you see from very early on that as a teenager he just decided that was what he wanted to do. And he was so driven and he just saw his peers kind of playing once a week or something in pubs. And he's like, well, I'm going to play three gigs a night. And

if they won't have me at the folk club, I'll go to the hip hop bar. And if they won't have me at the hip hop bar, I'll play at the jazz club. And because of that, you can see it's had a real impact and influence on his music and the area of London that he grew up or England that he grew up in as well, he's heavily steeped in that hip-hop scene. And a lot of the story actually, the whole kind of documentary based in four parts starts with how Ed Sheeran became Ed Sheeran really. And Jamal Edwards, who I hadn't realised played such a pivotal role in Ed's career.

So Jamal not only played a pivotal role in Ed's career but a lot of other musicians' careers. And what he was doing was taking his iPhone or camera and filming young black people his age, his peers, who are really incredible musicians and putting them online, back when no one was doing that. Okay. And he really made so many careers, which is really amazing.

Just by doing that. Yeah, particularly in the R&B and hip-hop scene. And he was also an artist in his own right and just best friends with Ed. They were just inseparable. And you see how much Jamal meant to him. And this isn't a spoiler as you find out early on, but he passes away and I think it's a drug overdose from what I can understand. Right.

And very suddenly and in that same little bit of time, Ed's wife who you get to meet and see and she's actually a friend of his from high school. They've known each other a really long time. Yeah. She also gets diagnosed with cancer while she's pregnant with their second child. I'm like, has he got kids?

Yeah, he's got two. Does he? And this is what I found really interesting as well. Oh, he's 32. Yeah. I always think that like he's like 22, but yeah, he's been around for ages. What's really beautiful about it too is you can see he's really grounded. I know it's a documentary, but he lives in Suffolk in England

and he's gone back there because that's kind of his hometown and his parents live very close. He's like got this really close group of mates that he goes a lot of the time on tour with who he's known for a really long time. The documentary kind of shows him before and after kids and then how their life has changed. And it's just a really beautiful look at a really, really talented performer and also just how hard you have to work to be where you are.

But also, as you know, I love the genesis of songwriting and you see him in the studio writing songs and that in itself is really interesting. Even like his song Bad Habits, that came because his wife was talking to him about how his daughter's developing bad habits getting into their bed at night time, which we can really resonate with. And so it became this whole other song that's actually about like being in a nightclub or whatever and like desiring someone. But like that whole phrase came from there and you see him kind of, you know, creating that in the studio.

It's so interesting. And just, yeah, when you watch someone in real time experiencing grief and then not being able to process that. And I think you kind of get the sense that he's this like really kind of joyful little kind of enthusiastic lad that, you know, everything's kind of gone right for him for most of his life. And then that hits him where his wife gets cancer and Jamal, his best mate, dies very, very suddenly. Plus he was embroiled in a court case over copyright to do with his music all in a very short amount of time. I know about that, yeah. That would have been very, that would have been like awful

for the music industry if that had have gone through. Oh, yeah, completely. Because it's like particular chord progressions that you can't use, which is lunacy. Yeah, it's just crazy because every particular chord progressions that you can't use, which is low in C. Yeah, it's just crazy because every chord, like there's only so many notes in the scale and so many chords in the chord progression. Yeah. What I find kind of great about it as well is that you get to then see,

like because most of his career he's made these big pop hits that like people have adored and like that song, you know, Perfect or about his partner and they're beautiful. And then all of a sudden when that year hits him, he then writes this album of like really very personal, very heartbreaking songs and he gets up and performs them in this church and cries on stage and his wife says into the camera. I saw a bit of that.

Yeah, it's the first time I've ever seen Ed cry on stage and definitely he very rarely cries in his personal life anyway. It was so raw and such a beautiful performance but really, really different for him. And just quickly before I finish, the other wild thing I hadn't realised was that he is a solo artist and when he performs, he does it all himself. Yeah, I didn't know that either.

Yeah. It's so wild because he does these giant stadiums and he just has loops and loop pedals and he uses his guitar for percussion and then he has keys and then obviously he has like things he turns on and off. But that's wild. I heard him say. Because there's no safety net there. No, and it's interesting because I heard him because I saw that bit and you see him run around the stage like hitting different loop pedals

or whatever and singing into different microphones to get like, I don't understand music, but to get loops going. Yeah. And then he says that so every time he performs that song, songs, it's remade every time and then it's instantly gone. Yeah. Which I thought was really cool. Really cool and so difficult and he would not need to do that.

At this point he could easily have like a whole band. He could have more than a whole band. He could have like whatever the bloody hell he wanted. He could mime. Yeah. And people would be probably not knowing B. Farmer that. Yeah, and I just loved that artistry. Watching him do that was so cool and really inspiring.

So anyway, I loved it. Ed Sheeran. The Banshees of Ed Sheeran. Check it out. That's what it's called. Cool. I won't watch that but from what I loved it. Ed Sheeran, Disney+. The Banshees of Ed Sheeran. Check it out. That's what it's called. Cool. I won't watch that, but from what I saw it was good because there's no point in me watching something

if you've already watched it because then I can't recommend it. I recommend the TV show Succession. Oh, what? I have never heard of that. What is that show that you speak of? I mean, it's good and it ended well. So if you're like, oh, but will it end like shit? Should I watch it?

I think you should. That's actually really hard to do because very often, like for instance, the finale of Game of Thrones, terrible. I mean, so many shows have actually ended well. Like there was only like a handful of examples that have really truly dropped the ball, I feel, and

Game of Thrones being one of them. But not even everybody thinks that. Some people think it was cool. But anyway, All right. I'm not really talking about Succession but I do recommend Succession. What a terrific show. And also it ended and it's like I could definitely watch like another season of this and more. Which is a nice way to finish it. Yeah, but it was also like I wasn't like boo.

It's just finish where it should finish. There is like an ambiguity to it but if you kind of know the characters and know what has been set up and has been put in play, you have an idea of where everybody will end up. Does that make sense? Yeah, it does make sense which is great. I saw a beautiful Instagram post by Sarah Snoke who's just so incredible in this show.

Australian. Australian. Australian. Yeah, but I just thought it was a beautiful post about what the show has meant to her and how hard everyone has worked on it and how life-changing it has been for her. Yeah, she's really good in that show. Yeah, love that.

And she's younger than me, which is quite frankly outrageous. Oh, God, that's happening a lot. She's actually younger than you. No one's younger than me. I found my second grey hair. I pulled it out of my head, don't you worry. Do you know what happens when you pull out the hair though? They all come.

The grey ones are connected to your brain. Oh, no. Worth it. Worth it. Worth it. All right. Here you go. Here you go.

Second grey hair. I had my second grey hair when I was nine. Mason is not here. Saved it. Wow. I saved it. Oh, no. No, I watched the show.

Watching the show. Do you follow Mason Clare sometimes? I think I definitely have. Wow. I saved it. Oh, no. No, I watch the show. Do you call Mason Claire sometimes? I think I definitely have. Yeah. Yeah. But he's probably the name other than our children and you that I say the most in my life. Yeah, and you always say it in that same tone. Mason.

Mason. Mason. Mason, let me tell you. And sometimes when he arrives at the door before you've got the mics on, he's like, Mason, what are you doing here? It's interesting. I saw a comment that at the door before you've got the mics on, he's like, Mason, what are you doing here? It's interesting. I saw a comment that was, I think it was in the Reddit, I can't remember, that was like,

oh, it was nice seeing Claire and Mason interact and Claire seeing how funny Mason is, which I thought was really funny because it's like you know each other. You see each other like every day. You talk like, not every day, but whenever he comes here to record. We chat. You're friends. You've probably known each other for nearly 20 years.

You've known each other as long as we've known each other. Like at least 17. Yeah. I know. I love that. I know. It's just so funny to me. It's like what do I see?

I never see him. Like he only appears in the pod studio like a little puff of smoke. So strange. Anyway. That's nice. But it was nice. The person was like it's nice to see Claire and Mason hanging out. Yeah, a couple of people were like, you should have your own podcast.

You guys should do at least one of these together one day, I reckon. Yeah, that would be quite fun actually. Yeah, do it. Yeah. All right, this show I'm watching, it's still in the process of being watched because it's not finished, it's called Silo. It's created by Graeme Yost and it's based on the Wool series by Hugh Howery.

It stars Rebecca Ferguson, Rashida Jones, David Oyelowo, Tim Robbins. Now here's the synopsis. In a ruined and toxic future, a community exists in a giant underground silo that plunges hundreds of stories deep. There, people live in a society full of regulations they believe are meant to protect them. So something has happened to the outside world. It went full toxic all the time, they think, right? So for generations, people have lived in the silo. There

was nobody in the silo who has even a shred of an idea of what has become of the outside world. It's so many generations deep that like it's just, it's stories and, you know, things that have maybe been written down and recorded about the outside world. But everybody only knows the silo that they're in. There's about 5,000-odd people in there. But the question is, like, why are they in the silo? Like what is this actually going on? It's this huge infrastructure that they all live in and there's one screen or there's one camera to the outside world and when you look through

and there's a big screen, you know, there's one particular big screen in like the main area but everyone can, you know, there's a few all over the place where you can see what's going on in the outside world and it just looks like a barren, dead, like wasteland that's out there. And so there is this sense of like is this real? Like is what is being shown real? And if it is real, how much of it is actually

real? Is it like a distortion or manipulation of what is actually outside? And because they're all inside internal, there's limited resources in terms of like food, in terms of like everything has to be recycled that can be recycled. You don't throw anything out because you need it. It either becomes fuel or it gets repurposed, right? All the food is grown internally and et cetera. There's also limits on what you can learn due to a series of rules that were put in place, including like really specifically weird ones like magnification.

Like you can't have magnification too strong to a certain extent and that might be something to do with developing technology that can figure out kind of what's happening so if you limit what people can learn then you limit you know what they can know does that make sense i mean so yeah and the government system that runs it like it's it seems weird but it also might not be they might not even know what actually has happened maybe they're just all on this treadmill together, you know, trying to figure it out.

But, again, it's just it's generations of people that have been in this silo with no concept of anything else which is happening like on the outside world or really has happened. There's a few kind of relics of the past which might pop up every now and then, but they don't, again, they don't really know why they're there. Rebecca Ferguson, who's a lead in this, is really great. People might know her from some of the Mission Impossible movies and other things.

There's going to be ten episodes. I think it's a bit over halfway at the moment on Apple Plus if you do want to check it out. Don't you love an Apple Plus series, Claire? I actually really do. They really often have good ones. They've been making some good stuff. Whenever there's a new series, it's always at least worth

checking out. Unlike with something new on Netflix, I'm usually like, no. I think I'm going to cancel Netflix. Really. And I've been watching people do that. There's just nothing on there, man. Like, what's on there, really? I don't know.

I mean, the kids use it, I guess, sort of. Do they? But they, yeah, mainly watch ABC Kids. It's true. Really? I don't know. I cancel Binge because Succession finished. I'm like, cancel, done. I'm finished with that. Cool. Excellent. It's true. Really? I cancelled Binge because Succession finished. I'm like, cancelled, done.

I'm finished with that. Cool. Excellent. I love that. I reignited our Paramount+. Whoa. I know. I didn't even know it was unignited.

I know. I don't know why I did that. Was it cancelled? It seemed cancelled. Okay. Anyway, it was a show that I wanted to watch. What was it? I can't remember.

Wow, it must have been really good. I know. Yeah. Oh, it's have been really good. Yeah. Oh, it's that one with Pacey from Joshua Jackson. You know the one? There's like some like sexy thriller thing. Oh. What's that?

It's supposed to be good. Yeah, there was a movie with like Glenn Close and Michael Douglas. Yeah, yeah. And, yeah, it's some kind of thing. I thought I haven't watched it yet, but I had the intent. Do you know how I've been struggling to watch TV recently? It's called like Mysterious Affair or whatever. Yeah, yeah, some kind of thing. I thought I haven't watched it yet but I had the intent. Do you know how I've been struggling to watch TV recently? It's called like Mysterious Affair or whatever. Yeah, yeah, something like that.

Indecent Affair. I've always loved Joshua Jackson. Fatal Attraction. Is that what it is? It's called Fatal Attraction. Yeah, yeah, yeah, there you go. I thought it might be worth a watch. I think I saw it on the advertising works on some big banner.

Yeah. And I was like, oh, yeah, maybe I'll get into that because I really have not had much grab me recently TV wise. So, which, you know, to be fair, did you know I'm an artist, James? I'm still finished. Yeah. That's also got Lizzie Kaplan in it, who's great, who I really like Lizzie Kaplan. Yeah.

Well, that's another reason. Anyway, so if I do get around to watching that, which I will now because I've got my parents. Well, I hope you enjoy it. It's got a 37% on Rotten Tomatoes. Oh, God. Terrible. People are saying that it's bad.

Oh, no. Oh, no. All right. Well, there you go. Okay. Can I God, terrible. People are saying that it's bad. Oh, no. Oh, no. All right. Well, there you go. Okay. Can I talk about my thing now? Not that it matters. Like don't listen to reviews or us.

Do whatever you want. Who knows? I'll just watch it. I'll watch a little and see. All right. So I am recommending a book by Amy Taylor-Gabaz. Now, you may have heard me talk about her before. She's a matrescence activist and she's coming with me on tour.

Oh, my God. I am so excited. I'm going to be talking to her for Taunts, my podcast. And I've actually recorded an episode of her podcast called Mama Rising, and that is available now. So if you want to go and have a little listen, I do a real deep dive into a lot of the songs and she's done this beautiful job. It's only half an hour. They've interwoven a lot of my songs from the album in between our discussion. I think it's just like a really unique half an hour's worth of podcast and I loved it. So she's really an interesting person. More interesting than me? Oh, always. Most people are. What?

No, I love you. Anyway, let me talk about her podcast, but also her book. Now, Amy was an ABC journalist. And then when she had kids, she kind of had this sort of full circle searching moment where she was looking for a word to kind of understand what happened to her during that time. And she found matrescence. And she actually has met with Aurelia Athan, who is one of the people that has really done a lot of research into matrescence itself. And she's just been on this kind of, it's almost 15 years, I think, or more journey finding out more about it. So she's a real matrescence guru. Her book called Mama Rising is beautiful. It really does an incredible job of unpacking what matrescence, so the transition to motherhood really means for women.

But it's also interwoven with her own wisdom. And because what Amy does is she runs like guided meditations. She has coaching and workshops and so many strategies. So it's not just about this is what matrescence is and this is how it affects your body and your mind and your life, which as I've talked about on this show before is profound. You're profoundly changed when you have kids. It changes the, you know, makeup of your brain. It changes the way that you view the world.

It then changes your body permanently. The way your life runs on a day-to-day basis, right? But then she goes a step further and gives some really beautiful, grounded advice for how to navigate matrescence in a way that will enrich you as a person and really give birth to this new version of you where you can feel really grounded and solid in your new role and also fly with it, which I think is just so beautiful. So it starts with childbirth and her own story. She had a really traumatic birth with her first child. And then how when we talk about spiritual growth,

it's kind of like dilating and contracting, so opening and closing and slowly growing. But it's not always, you know, 10 steps forward and we just stay there. It's often then a couple steps back. Absolutely, yeah. So to grow, to move through matrescence is going to be some steps forward and then some setbacks. Yeah, like a lot of things, you know.

It's not normally a clean line. Yeah, and that's how growth is, right? But just even knowing that you're in a state of growth and flux and becoming is really powerful. She has this phrase, mother becoming, which I really love. And her book is sort of divided into sections, kindness, strength, trust, grace, connection, and then the birth of you. And at the heart of it, I think, is this word connection, which is my word of this year.

Oh, is it? Yeah. Did I not tell you that? I thought you had a different word. I don't know. I feel like you changed the word. You had a different word, but you've changed it. Yeah. Did I not tell you that? I thought you had a different word. I don't know. I feel like you changed the word. You had a different word, but you've changed it. No.

All right. I'm trying to be sincere. I'm sorry. I just thought that I'm making a connection actually by derailing. Let's get back on track. Go on, please. Anyway, and I think feeling deeply connected to yourself and the earth is the way through all of it to then feel deeply connected

to your kids and then if you're walking with kind of honesty and heart open, you're then more likely to really make connections with other people too from a really deep place, which I think is incredibly special and which I think is what happens with art as well. When you make art then you're putting out something in the world and what I found, I know people are going to be like, you're teaching me the music. Anyway, yes, I am sincere and I really believe this and I know

that it might sound, you know, naive or whatever. I don't think it's naive. I think it's actually very truthful. When you put something out in the world, writing or art or music or painting or whatever, it's like shooting a beacon into the air and saying this is how I feel. Does anyone else feel like that? And when it comes from a really deep, sincere, honest place,

it's amazing who comes back towards you to seek you and connect with you and it's just the greatest gift. And I feel so privileged to be doing the work that I'm doing and Amy's book really solidified a lot of things for me and I'm so excited to hear her speak in person. So her podcast is called Mama Rising. Her book is also called Mama Rising. She also has just the best episode other than the one that we did together.

Obviously there's so many other much more wise and wonderful people that she talks to. But one that I loved particularly that really moved me was with an author called Annabelle Sharman. And she's on Instagram at Live in Oneness. And her book is called The Future Ancestors. And she is a First Nations Mutti Mutti woman who honours her ancestral cultural heritage through her work as a multidisciplinary artist and healer. She's a certified social worker, Reiki master and holistic counsellor. And today her work is located at the intersections of art, culture, community, health and wellbeing. At the core of her mythology is the Yulma

spirit cloth healing process, a unique merging of therapeutic practices, cultural knowledge, storytelling, and art that cultivates a deeper connection to self and others, and that often leads to improved wellbeing and emotional healing. And all that is to say, this episode is so profound. Listening to a First Nations woman talk about her relationship with place, with land, with community, with family. And it made me think so deeply that the problems that we're having in matrescence, in motherhood, really come back to a lack of connection to community and that women are having to do it and parents are having to do it in such isolating circumstances, regardless of whether you've got the privilege of money and, you know, like a warm, comfortable house,

you may not have those extended family networks. And listening to Annabelle talk about the way her family dynamics work even and what they mean in her life, what her nephews and nieces mean to her, all of that, it was just so beautiful and moving and made me realize how many things we often get wrong in Western culture and how sometimes solutions might seem really complex, but also are simple. Yeah. So it's just a really profound episode. And I'd recommend going to follow Annabelle Sharman as well at Live In Oneness.

Okay. That's really cool, Claire. Thanks. Wow. The sincerity. cool, Claire. Thanks, James. Wow, the sincerity. What? I can't make connection and be cool? No, I really love that. Thank you.

That's really good. It sounds like it's something that has deeply affected you and is something you've thought about and then you wish to share with other people, and I think that's a good thing. Great. Do you have a review for us, James? Well, I was actually going to say, speaking of good things, by the way, thank you for everybody putting up with my episode

where I was super sick last week. I was like, I'm dying. Oh, your poor little brain. I'm dying. I got my gust. Your brain, your brain. My brain's back sort of. I have to say, you did a really great job despite all the challenges.

I'm a professional, Claire. A lot of people don't know that, but I'm excellent. I'm a big fish in a small pond, and I like to carry that with me everywhere I go. Good, good. This review, I think you're going to love, Claire. It's from Decoy Frank. And you know you can just review this show in app, any app,

whatever you're listening to. I see. Decoy Frank says this. First of all, five stars, thank you. It says, James and his other wife add more stuff to my backlog. James and his other wife, Claire, suggest so much. I couldn't possibly get to everything in one lifetime. Claire often suggests thoughtful pieces of music and literature.

Well, James daydreams of Ninja Turtles and Nick Mason's magnificent beard. Sometimes he suggests stuff too, probably a comic or something. I have a suggestion for Claire, an invocation for beginnings by Z Frank on YouTube. It was posted as his first video after a long hiatus. I have had chronic depression since I was a teen. I'm in my mid-30s now and keep this video on every device I have as a way to kick my brain out of the inevitable morass of unmotivation and negative

thoughts that I sometimes just wake up with. You often speak of mental health and suggest ways to better oneself. So I think you'll appreciate it as much as I do. Maybe James will too, if he can stop performing the ninja rap for a whole three minutes. Love the show. Thank you so much for all the suggestions, even though I know I'll never get to even half of it all. That's from Franco. Thank you, Franco. That recommendation was An Invocation for Beginnings by Z Frank on YouTube.

I love that. Colleen will link that below. And I'm going to put that to my list right now of things. Beautiful. All right. And I have a wonderful letter. If you would like to write into the show at suggestiblepod at gmail.com, we would love to hear from you.

Recommendations, comments, suggestions, a voice memo if you feel you can record your little voice into your phone. Do you have a voice memo this week? And send it to us. No, we don't. But I'm asking for people to send one in if they would like to. I'd love to hear your voice. It doesn't even matter where you are, if you're walking or in your car,

we'd love to hear from you. This is a beautiful email from Cat Hill. Dear Claire and James, I would first like to congratulate Claire on the truly beautiful album. Every time I listen to it, I have to stop what I'm doing because it hits me in so many ways. You're welcome. As a trans woman and a mum in the UK, boo.

The album told me things. Wait, they're saying boo or you're saying boo? No, they're saying boo. Yeah, that would be terrible. That's a trans woman in the UK. Boo. Oh, God, no, no, no, no. They've written in the UK in like inverted commas boo

because obviously that's a tricky time. In the UK in general, I feel it seems like a very tricky time. Oh, it is, yeah. So they say the album told me things about my children, sis, mum and myself that I doubt I would have been able to access without this album. And the many things I have learnt via the build-up to the release of the album. It has been lovely to talk to my own mother about the themes of the album too.

I continue to suggest and recommend it to all. Oh, Pat, thank you so much. James, you're a good man. No, I don't know about that. I was going to follow up that with a humorous deprecation, but the thing is you do appear to be, at least from what one can glean from the various bits and bobs we do and say, that you are a good man and we need more good men.

And that's no joke, you big dickhead. Gotcha. That's a really nice thing to say. Thank you for saying that. I don't know whether it's always true, but I appreciate that. No, it's really true. I don't know about this straight shot kind of compliment that I'm getting. I'm not used to it.

I'm like, what was that? But it was very nice. I think I feel good from that. Oh, you should. That's a really nice thing to say. I mean, look, Kat did call you a dickhead at the end there. Well, that's true also. Just to stay in context.

Things can be, both can be true. But you are a really good man. Well, some days. And I'm very grateful. I have some days. Some days are better than others. So Kat also says, throw Mason a snack for me, perhaps one of those truly hideous sounding ones you recommended the other week.

Yeah, they do sound hideous, Kat. I totally agree. No, that's not true. That's not true. I would like to humbly suggest St. Giles Church in Wrexham as a venue for a gig. I've been to many there and they're always good. There is a classical season in town at the moment. Ooh, okay.

I did have a look. I'm not sure if I can make it all the way there. I've just been cramming so many gigs in. You've already got nine, maybe ten shows. Yeah, I know, in two and a half weeks, which seems like a lot. And I do want to be able to actually see a little bit of the UK as well. Totally, yeah, yeah. So we'll just see. But thank you so much for the recommendation.

Maybe if not this time, next time. Yeah. Definitely. I would politely venture Adwaith, I think I probably pronounced that wrong, The Oozes and Baby Brave for new music and Om Unit's Threads album as a classic. Bid which? Catherine Fox.

I don't know how you pronounce that. I'm assuming that's Welsh. That sounds right. Thank you so much, Kat. Really appreciated that letter. That was really beautiful. Yeah. Thank you so much for sharing your heartfelt words.

That was just that meant so much to me actually. And you are. I'm really grateful for James. I come down on it. All right. I'm getting a little emotional now. I'm so emotional. Think about when I interrupted before.

Yeah, that's true. And you gave me the death stare. Think about that. I do have to say, and I know that men sometimes do get applauded for doing things that women do just constantly, like turning up for their kids and, you know, being a parent, all of those things. Basic stuff.

But it happened to me actually today where someone assumed that I was the primary carer in our household. Oh, okay. And I think that happens a lot and often that is the case. And I had to correct them and say, well, we don't have a primary carer. We parent equally. And in some ways, some weeks James will do more parenting than me

or vice versa. It depends, yeah. But overall I don't have to blink an eyelash about the idea of going away for two weeks. It's a huge thing to undertake. But from the very get-go, you've been nothing but, yep, I'll do it, what do you need? And I am forever grateful for that.

And I know that in the reverse, so many women do that constantly for their partners, right, whether their partners work, fly in, fly out jobs or overseas or in whatever context. But I think I'm still allowed to say just how grateful I am. Well, I accept your gratefulness and I have nothing to say in return. I really accept that. I take that on board and I move forward. Now, it obviously works both ways, including last week when I was sick

and you did literally everything. Well, I was like, I'm dying. I think I'm dying for real. Wait, I'm getting better. Oh, no, I'm worse. I got worse. I thought I was getting better, but I got a different thing. That's marriage.

That's what happened. This is 40. All right. Lots of love to everyone out there. We've been to just for podcast. Thank you as always to Royal Collings for editing this week's episode and to Maisie for running our socials. And we will talk to you soon.

That's right. Buy tickets to my show. I'd love to see you. I'll be there. I won't. I've got to be here. Yeah, true. Maybe we'll call you during the show.

Maybe call me. Okay, bye. Bye. Hi, this is Katnett Unfiltered. If you know us, then you know that we do almost everything together, so accommodating seven kids and seven adults on vacation can be challenging. So we Airbnb it. And if you have a spare room in your house, you can Airbnb it. It's that simple. You can even Airbnb your whole house while you are away. You could be sitting on an Airbnb and not even know it. Whether you could

use extra money to cover some bills or for something a little more fun, your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at airbnb.ca slash host.