Suggestible - The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse

Episode Date: March 23, 2023

Suggestible things to watch, read and listen to. Hosted by James Clement @mrsundaymovies and Claire Tonti @clairetonti.New music, merch, live show info and much more available at https://www.clairetonti.com/This week’s Suggestibles:10:25 The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse19:18 Shrinking25:54 The Uncaged Sky by Kylie Moore-Gilbert30:26 The Valley of Vision by Manchester OrchestraSend 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. Bing-a-dee-bong-a-da-da-bing-bing-bong, it's suggestible time. Hello, I'm Claire Tonti, James Clement is also. We are married. There's a dog in the studio too.

And we are about to recommend you things from what we didn't listen to you about first. James, how are you feeling? You've got the news of the week. The news of the week is, if I sound a little high-pitched, it's because about an hour ago I had a vasectomy. A couple of hours ago. Big time. When I went in he said, this is the best situation, he said. I love all of this, he said, when he was pointing at me.

And I was like, wow, thanks, Doc. I really appreciate that. I can't stop laughing. I think because you slightly unwell is weirdly hilarious. What the hell is that? I don't know why you're so funny. If you're like killed, I'm sick in bed, I don't come in and go. I know, but I'm not funny. But for some reason you sick, like not terribly sick,

but just this sort of vibe. I don't know if it's the painkillers you're on or something. I'm on like Canada. I'm not even on painkillers. You just keep like walking around eating Red Rooster chips. I do like Red Rooster chips. And just like making jokes about your balls. I can't exercise for like, I can't lift weights for two weeks, but I can begin to like run

and stuff next week apparently. Now you told me a few hilarious things. Sure. Tell me about the discount. Oh, okay. So I'll just tell it from the start, I guess. It's not that interesting. It's a pretty short procedure.

If you're thinking of getting it, I'd say, well, if you're thinking of getting it, you should think about whether you really want to get it, obviously. But if you're on the fence about going through with it for various reasons, it's a pretty mostly painless and quick procedure. Obviously, like it's different for different people. I know people that had to be put under for it for various reasons, but most people can just go in and get it. You were in and out in like an hour. The surgery itself was like 15 minutes. I was probably there maybe 40 minutes in total. Then get it so easy.

Yeah. It felt that way when you put a needle into my balls, Claire. So then they put you in a room. By the way, it had a little space heater, which I really appreciated because it's definitely a concern. You know when you go in and he goes, wow, never seen that before. You don't want that, do you? And then, you know, your deep pants, but I wore socks.

And then they put a sheet over you, like a surgical kind of thing, and then they put it up and it's got like a square cut out of it. I don't know why. Then they check everything, make sure they go like this. Why do you? Okay, for the listeners, it's an audio medium. He's doing some weird little rubbing thing with both hands. They give you a little like check to see if everything's all – because if anything's like abnormal, they want to be aware of that,

whether or not to go through. Exactly. He puts on some music like it's a date. He put on some Paul Kelly and I'm like, well, my wife is actually related to Paul Kelly. That's my voice. My question was what expression does he have on his face? Because I was worried he'd be like.

Completely neutral. Oh, that's good. You look like the Premier of New South Wales, Dom Perrottet. Oh, I love him. You love him? No, I do because of that press. I do. I look so silly today. You love him because he dressed like a because of that press. I do. I look so silly today.

You love him because he dressed like a Nazi? Is that why, Claire? Oh, no, not Dominic Parashay. I was thinking about the Premier of WA who got the giggles in a press conference during the COVID lockdown. Oh, okay. Because someone asked him legitimately if it was okay that a man stopped on his run to get a kebab from a kebab store

because this particular gentleman got fined because you're not allowed to be eating outside but you can be exercising. That's outrageous quite frankly. I'm with the kebab guy. I just love in a press conference or actually any kind of thing like that, like very formal situation where someone gets the giggles and can't get it back together.

They're just like us, Claire. Which is what's happening to me. Please continue. So anyway, it puts on some music. We have that conversation and then they check everything. They kind of swab you down with like some kind of antiseptic and whatever. I think it's ants. Ants.

They cover you in ants and honey. With a very neutral face. Very neutral face. And some Paul Kelly on the speaker. Yeah. And then they put a needle into each side. I think it was both sides. and I was like, wow, that's really painful actually.

And I'm like, hey, just so I know and I knew this, but like this is the worst part, right, when you put a needle into my balls and he's like, yeah, it is. Don't spit that drink, Claire. Do not do it. This is a very expensive equipment that you're sitting in front of. And then they go to work. And there's nobody else.

There was nobody else there, which is good because you don't want like a revolving door of like people coming through. So I'm just lying on my back just with like no pants on. It would be really funny to me if he had like a total neutral face and was doing like a regular chat conversation but then he put the music on and it was like. Exactly. Like some Barry White or something.

Yeah, yeah, exactly. And then he just chatted and we talked about my job and his job and the text they do one side each and he's like we had to shut down for a time during COVID and I said, when you came back to that after like- So they only do vasectomies? No, he does a bunch of other stuff, but he does like 12 of them a week, which is quite a lot, really.

That's a lot. But he mostly does them at the end of the week because that's when guys get time off work, apparently. He does like a lot on Friday. And then he, and then I was like, do you ever, like, do you do both sides? I'm like, do you ever do one side? Then I'm like, well, I guess you would if someone only has one testicle. And he goes, yeah, and we give people a discount if they have one testicle.

And I'm like, that's great because I think I actually know a couple of people who do have one testicle. So I just threw it out in the group chat and just said, made a little video and I said, just for anybody who's just curious, I'm not pointing any fingers, but if you do happen to have one testicle, I know you're gone. And then you listed the guys in the group and you know only one. Weirdly, I also know which of your friends have one testicle. I don't even know if it's true.

I don't know why I know that either. Some of them I think have rubers or whatever. By the way, who cares? No one cares. It's not a big deal at all. Even if you have none, who cares? Exactly. Yeah, and he was talking about how he listens to a lot of medical podcasts. He was talking about how in the 30s there was was this particular procedure might have been earlier i think where like they'd for like male virility if they couldn't like sustain an erection they'd remove one

testicle and the idea was that that would then somehow boost like your virility and i'm like but that's not true is it and he's like no it's not people would just apparently freud did it as well so yeah it's a thing that people did and then we high-fived um i got a little bit of a hug and then no it's true and we didn't high-five didn't cup your balls no and then uh just kind of just like a micro incision and micro incision was like put your pants on and uh that's it and that was it and now it's like you're not fully, if it takes, which it more than likely will because like the failure rate

on this is like it's not very common. It's like three months to clear out your whole system just to make sure and then there's a test, which I will not describe, but there's a test, and then to see if you're, you know, not producing any. But it doesn't affect you like at all, like physically, like emotionally. Everything's kind of the same.

You don't shoot dust. Everything kind of is the same. So if you can't have kids. It is reversible, but it's a microsurgery and it's about $8,000 to $15,000 or something. Okay. Because it's like a, it's not just like severing a cord. There's like this, it's like a a very specific type of knockout surgery.

God, life is weird. Yeah, to get it done. Isn't it strange? Well, congratulations. Thank you for jumping on the mics with me. It was like 500 bucks or something like that. Something like that in total. Yeah.

And there's like a rebate on it of something. I don't know why I keep thinking about how annoying it is that it's fairly cheap, very quick, painful but not really that painful. You're just having panadol. Yeah, the bit when you put the needle into my ball. And then I think about all the procedures that I had to go through when I was having kids and even like the procedures women have to have to get like a marina inserted or like deal

with their periods forever. Well, that's one thing we talked about. And this is one thing that you just get to do and it's so easy in terms of like obviously Needlesy Ball is not fun. No, it isn't. But it's like you're in and out, in a day, in an hour. Yeah, I drove myself. So I would say though like it's something you can just go

by yourself, which I did. But if you're a bit worried or you just want a bit of moral support, I know I took my brother, both my brothers have had it, but I took one of my brothers when he got his done just to stand behind the glass and give him the thumbs up, which wasn't true. He just went into a room and I sat in the whatever. Yeah, take someone if you want. But, yeah, it's fine.

Cool. Interesting. But there is a, they're talking about, he was talking about there is a male contraceptive that they're working on, which basically like switches off the tail of the sperm, which leaves them dead in the water. Apparently it works on mice, which is good. And then you eat that, that mouse and see what happens.

That's the method. But it only works for a couple hours. And yeah, cause it's like, there's some risks associated with like, you know, with contraceptives and there are, you know. There's so many risks. Women have been risking blood clots and the list of side effects for the pill are insane. And there's obviously different versions as well.

And obviously different versions and different people react differently to different tablets as well. And for some people the pill is wonderful. However, women have been sold up the river because they've been prescribed it for so long even when they haven't necessarily needed it for skin conditions and other things without being informed of all of the risks. Just another thing. Shall we move along? I think we should move along. That was oddly hilarious. There's a little bit of news for everybody. I hope you're feeling better soon. I feel all right. It's fine. I just feel like somebody just put a needle into my ball. So I would say if I had to put a particular feeling.

Can I talk about my recommendation this week? Sure. I'd love to go first. Is it having a good laugh at me and the great deed that I did? I'm a hero, Claire. Oh, my God. That's what my friend Flick and I were talking about, that like then you get applause.

It's like when men get applause for like walking their kids to the supermarket. They deserve it. You're right. You just all this applause and women just quietly like shredding their vaginas every day with human birth and no one's like, I mean I guess people do congratulate you, but really we don't get like applauded in the same way.

Sure. I feel. Let's move along. Boo hoo. I have a good recommendation this week. I love recommendations. For a lovely, just gentle film. We've talked about this before.

I love a film. The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse. Oh, did you watch this? I did. How long is it? Only half an hour. Oh. It's pretty short.

So the book is glorious. It's wonderful. It's by a bloke called Charlie McKeezy, who's an illustrator. And it's very gentle. The art style is amazing and it's very thoughtful prose and poetry, I guess, and reflections on life. It sounds boring. It's not.

It's incredibly moving. No, I mean the book is great so I'm not surprised. Yeah. And the fact that they took it to like half an hour and didn't try to extend it. No, it's very close to the book which I find really lovely. Like they didn't try and make it? No, it's very close to the book, which I find really lovely. Like they didn't try and make it into more of a story. The story really is just that there is a boy lost in the winter wilderness

and he meets a friendly little mole who offers to help him find his way. And while he's searching for a home, which he's never had before, and wishes he could grow up to be kind, he meets a fox and a horse. And so those two characters also have their own personalities within the story. And then it just kind of follows the, I guess you would say, trio, like group of four as they wander through. Wanderers.

Yeah, as they walk through the woods and over rivers and through the snow. Into the woods, et cetera, et cetera. And that's really it, really. However, what I find so beautiful about it is the art style is so close to the way that the book has been illustrated. And Charlie McKeezy won so many awards for his book and now also the film has also won awards too. So it was made during COVID.

Are you interested to know how they made it, James? I actually am interested. Tell me the process and then I'll know. I think this is really interesting. So it's an international crew of over 150 people from over 20 countries went into making it. It blows my mind that I keep forgetting how long animation takes to make. So because of the fact that it was made in that way,

the team became really close and each frame was kind of poured over. Okay, cool. What's clever about it too, and I will just mention that the team behind it was directed by Peter Banton, written by John Crooker and Charlie McKeezy as a collaboration. And then it features the voices of Jude Coward-Nicole, Gabrielle Byrne, Idris Elba and Tom Hollander. Tom Hollander or Tom Holland?

Tom Hollander. Oh. Not Tom Holland. I'm Tom Holland. I'm Tom Holland. I'm a little boy. Yeah. What I think is really special about it is that it was clear,

as Banton talked about, that Charlie McKeezy knew a lot about fox anatomy and horse anatomy and boy anatomy, for want of a better word. Like their penises and stuff. The way they put needles in their balls. No, the way that they, so he drew those characters very true to life and the way that they move in the story and in the animation is very true to the way that horses

and foxes and boys move. Yeah. However, in the book, and they managed to recreate this in the animation, the mole is its own little kind of character and it's drawn very differently in kind of sketched kind of lines and the mole is kind of this comedic little character in a much more serious. Yeah. But it's obsessed with cake and it's kind of.

Oh, like in the book. Yeah, like in the book. So they had to kind of find a way in the animation style to create this kind of whimsical impressionist little mole alongside the more correctly drawn horse and fox and boy. Right. Which I think is really interesting and they've done that really well. It's exquisite, this film.

Wow. It's really gentle. It's really moving. The art style is just magical and it's really cosy too. It's just done so beautifully. Now, also interestingly, the music really makes it and it's written by Isabel Waller-Bridge who is the sister of Phil Waller-Bridge. I was going to say, I am familiar with that name, yeah.

Yeah, so she's done the score and she said of the music, it's a really Charlie energy. I think that really sort of. What does that mean? So she says, I think that really sort of fed the score, so his personality, Charlie McKeezy, as well as the actual material from the book. They're so closely related as you can imagine. So it was just listening to Charlie, honestly, the way he speaks,

the way he looks at the world, and then paying close attention to exactly why he made the book and why he felt it was an important thing to make the film. So the music was really just an extension of that energy and everything down to the instrumentation, the choice of the piano that felt really, really important. A lot of those important choices came from Charlie as well, which felt like the right way in. So the sound design and music happened simultaneously and the score was written even before the film was complete. The orchestra portions were performed by the BBC Concert Orchestra

with Jeff Alexander conducting and it's an 18-track album, which I think is really interesting. And I didn't realise this but Isabel Waller-Bridge also did the score for Fleabag as well, which I think is really interesting. And for Emma, the 2022 movie and Munich, The Edge of War and also The Phantom of the Open. Oh, that one that's got the BFG guy in it. What's his name? Is that good, Phantom of the Open? I don't know that's got the BFG guy in it. What's his name?

Is that good, Phantom of the Open? I don't know. I haven't seen it. Golf. Oh, there you go. Well, anyway, I found it just glorious and sweet and moving and Tom McKee is a really special human being, I think. It's just really lovely to watch something that's obviously had

so much care and thought put in to recreate that kind of atmosphere. I love the idea of just, again, being 30 minutes as well because you can really take the time to like frame by frame like perfect it. I assume it's hand drawn. Yeah, it's like a painting. And even I read an interview with Charlie McKeezy who was saying that he loves watching it because he can see in each frame the little, you know, arguments and nuances and kindness see in each frame the little, you know,

arguments and nuances and kindnesses of each of the people that helped him make each portion of it, which I find really special, which is one of my favourite things about making a thing, that when you rewatch it, no one else notices. They just like watch the movie. But you know all of the tiny details that went into each frame and each portion or each part of the music or for you, like your animations that you've made.

I don't make animations, but yes. No, but as in like you've worked with people to make them together and you've had like even the way that you make your thumbnails, someone will look at it for literally 0.3 seconds, but you have spent so long perfecting it. Just got to get that right face when it goes. And it says terrible movie underneath. But do you know what I mean?

I find that really interesting and that would be the same, I'm sure, with anything anyone makes, like books or movies or whatever, that with the team that are behind it can see just how many, you know, hours that went into that one tiny decision. Yeah. And I just love that. I love that. That's why I love the making of it.

It's like music, Claire, would you even say? I would. Yeah, well, I know. I'm just bringing everything back to my album. But that's one of the things I've noticed. It's weird. You hear someone listening to the song and they put it on and they're just hearing the song and being like,

yeah, that was really good, pretty good, or I didn't really like it or whatever. But I'm hearing all the choices that went into making that song at each step of the way and all the iterations and all of the takes and all the ones that I threw in the bin, you know, all of the ones, all the place where we recorded it and the choice of the instrument, all of that. And what I love about that too is that to make something really good

like this animation or any really great film, there's been so many, there almost has to be a lot of tension and kind of arguments and decisions made at that really micro level. Collaborative. Yeah, but they're made at such a micro level to make something extraordinary. But in the finished product you wouldn't see. It's like we watched that Frozen 2 documentary.

I didn't. You did. All right, anyway, but just like the length of time that it takes to make one frame or, you know, 10 seconds of a Disney film like that and the hours and hours and hours and hours and hours that that one particular person spent on that one motion. Yes. That's just amazing. Like that magical elephant movie you watched the other day. Oh, now is that one particular person spent on that one motion. Yes. That's just amazing.

Like that magical elephant movie you watched the other day. Oh, God, that was awful. Do not recommend that one. Hard no. Anyway. The Magician's Elephant on Netflix. Anyway, but this is on Apple TV+. It is.

Yeah, it is. It's out now and on Apple TV+. And I really recommend it. It would be a great movie to watch with kids. But it's also there's adult themes in it that would go over kids' heads. Like drug use? Yes, just all of Charlie McKeezy and the mole smoking doobies. The mole does a big marijuana, does he?

All right. Anyway, it's beautiful. It's hockey season, and you can get anything you need delivered with Uber Eats. Well, almost, almost anything. So, no, you can't get a nice rink on Uber Eats. But iced tea, ice cream, or just plain old ice? Yes, we deliver those.

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See app for details. On to you, my friend. I'm going to recommend a show, Claire. It's called Shrinking. That's actually created by Bill Lawrence. And you might know Bill Lawrence as one of the minds behind Scrubs and Ted Lasso. I love both of those shows.

It's also behind the minds of Jason Segel who's in it and Brett Goldstein who's also in it. I see. He's the gruff guy and Ted Lasso is like, oh, bloody fucking, he's that guy. Anyway, it stars Jason Segel, Krista Miller, Jessica Williams, Luke Tenney, Harrison Ford. Well, well.

Famously old actor. Here's the synopsis. Here he goes. A grieving therapist starts to break the rules by telling his clients exactly what he thinks. Jimmy, this is played by Jason Segel, has lost his wife and wants to try a new approach to his loss, but it's unclear how this will help others.

So it starts that way. It's about like a therapist who's suddenly talented like it is and he's like, you should leave your husband because he sucks or whatever. People are telling me that all the time. I know and maybe they're correct. And, yeah, I stick around. It's true. But it's not really what it's about.

Like there's an element of that and there's like a few characters that like carry over as a result of it. But it's not strictly about that really. It's more about the relationships of people in his life and to some extent like one particular client who moves in with him. So he's been spending a year like numbing himself with like drugs and alcohol and he's got this teenage daughter, right? And so then he comes out of that and he's like, oh,

I should start parenting and start dealing with my grief. And he's like, I've been grieving for a year. And Harrison Ford's like, you haven't been grieving, you've been musking the pain. I'm Harrison Ford. I'm a psychologist too or whatever but I have my own issues. I've heard that James Clement is really obsessed with how old I look. That's true.

I'm not obsessed with it. You're obsessed. You spent hours talking to me about it. Hours. I had to look at so many photos of him like before and after. You are exaggerating greatly. I am not. It was days.

It was like five minutes. It was weeks. If that. I was like, look at him. Look at this guy. And I showed you young photos and you're like, wow, pretty good. And then I made the observation about the fluffy duck hair. The back.

And you were right on that. What's kind of wild about Harrison Ford is, like, first of all, he's a million years old. But secondly, like, you look at, like, the last Indiana Jones movie, Indiana Jones 4, and I remember at the time thinking, wow, he looks old as shit. But if you look at him now, he's like a withered grape. And so you go back to the one from 2008 and you're like,

he looks great. There is nothing funnier than the phrase, he looks old as shit. I don't know why I find that so funny. And he was probably like early 60s and he's doing all his own stunt work and stuff. He's like, I mean, it's not a great movie but, you know, he's doing it, isn't he? Anyway, Claire.

Yes. So I don't think Shrinking is as good as Ted Lasso or Scrubs at its peak. I see. I think Scrubs like, I know people talk about the last season of Scrubs being terrible but I feel that's like the, that's a new incarnation. But the very, very last season of Scrubs with the original core characters, I feel is actually good. But before that, it dips a couple of seasons. The first like four and a bit seasons of Scrubs

are also really, really good. But look, at the same time, I think it's light and it's funny. And I think it also gets stronger as it goes, as you kind of get to know the characters. I don't think it's ever going to be like the runaway success that like Ted Lasso is, you know. Maybe, who knows, maybe it'll take off. But, yeah, it's good. And I also feel like this is like the closest version of what Harrison Ford is like in real life because apparently, according to those close to him, including Mark Hamill,

who played, who'd Mark Hamill play, Claire? Luke Skywalker. Very good, Claire. Apparently like he's got this kind of gruff persona or whatever, but apparently in real life like he's very like, like he's grumpy, but he's very like silly and kind of stoned and just kind of like he's dry, but he's like quite personable, you know what I mean? He's not, he's nice by all accounts.

He's just like a funny stoned old man just like just running about. Luke Hamill. Crashing it. No, Harrison Ford is. And he even said that when he was younger, He's just like a funny stoned old man just running about. With a camel. No, Harrison Ford is. And he even said that when he was younger, like he'd be all serious when people were around and then when people had gone, he'd do like little dances and stuff and whatever. Harrison Ford, you know.

So there you go. That sounds like you. Well, you know a real-life story of Harrison Ford, don't you? I've told this story about how he came into your work once and he was really, really kind to like a Star Wars fan. Oh, yes, I'd forgotten about this story. Yeah. He was really, really nice and everyone really liked him a lot.

Well, it was for the movie. I'll tell it if you don't mind because you probably don't remember. Yeah, because I don't remember it. No, I don't remember it. This comes from Liam. What's his name? You still work with him? And then he was Spartacus.

He was second Spartacus. Yes. McIntyre. Thank you. Liam McIntyre who, yeah, after first Spartacus died, he became Spartacus. He was second Spartacus. Yes. McIntyre. Thank you. Liam McIntyre. Yeah, after first Spartacus died, he became Spartacus. He said, I'm Spartacus. That's a Spartacus reference for you.

Anyway, Harrison Ford came to Australia to promote the movie Firewall. I've forgotten this entire story. I'm sorry, Liam. I want to say 2004. Wow. And he came to Rivoli Cinemas, which is where you were working. Correct. 2006, I apologise.

Fire was in the movie. How is it 2023, 2006? I don't even know anymore. Time is strange. When can we get it over with and die, you know? Anyway, and apologise if I've told this story before and you've heard it, but there was like a bunch of people there obviously and like famously or like it's kind of the it's like an unspoken or probably well-known kind of thing that you just he doesn't want to talk about star wars like ever and this is 2006 so he's not

he hasn't done star wars for 23 nearly 30 years at this 30 years yeah like 33 years he's sick of it doesn't want to talk about Star Wars. He hates it and all and everything, even though it made his career and whatever. Anyway, there was a guy there in a wheelchair who'd made this like little hand solo, like statue that he wanted him to sign. And he, and Harrison Ford like came up to him and like sat with him and sat with him for ages. And the guy had a booklet of how he made it. And Harrison Ford like sat with him and went through the book and everything inside it. And at the end he just said something like, it was all worth it.

Like you've done a great job on this. Like I really appreciate it. And the guy just like burst into tears. So that's how I like to think of Harrison Ford, whether or not that story is true, which it is. You're getting teary too. You are literally tearing up and I am not tearing up. You always do that. You're like, you're sad. You're getting teary too. You are literally tearing up and I am not tearing up. You always do that.

You're like, you're sad. You're projecting. You are literally projecting. I'm not. You are getting glassy eyes. I am not. You are. I don't know if it's all the painkillers from the needles in your balls,

but you're definitely getting teary. I don't appreciate this quite frankly. Anyways, it's on Apple TV+. It's called Shrinking. It's all right. It's like if you want a lightish fun thing. I love that. Anyway, you got anything else or should we?

Yes, I do have one thing quickly I'll just talk about very quickly. I am reading a book at the moment. It's called The Uncaged Sky by Kylie Moore Gilbert. Now, I met Kylie last weekend at all that women's festival in Sydney. I don't believe you. And it was one of those times where she was just a really lovely person and we got chatting and I was like, what brings you to this festival? And she's like, I spent 804 days in an Iranian prison.

Then I had to be like, what was that like? Yeah, it was great. I really enjoyed it. She's utterly incredible and her story is fascinating. So on September 12, 2018, she's Australian. Kylie Moore Gilbert was arrested at Tehran airport by Iran's feared Islamic revolutionary guards, convicted of espionage in a shadowy trial presided over by the country's most notorious judge. Dr. Moore Gilbert was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Now she was invited over

to speak at an Iranian university, which is fascinating. She spent just two weeks there and was on the way home at the airport when they arrested her. Then she was incarcerated in Tehran's Evin and Karchak prisons for 804 days and this story is the full account of her harrowing ordeal. She was held in solitary confinement for months and she was subjected

to relentless interrogation and pushed to the extremes both physically and psychologically. She said really interestingly that the thing that got her through was the friendships that she made within the prison. Yeah, right. And how did she get out? Why did they let her out? Well, in the end, so she was in there for essentially two years.

Yeah. The government in Australia wasn't doing anything, but eventually because of public pressure and a big campaign. So she was put in in 2018 and 2020. Really? Yeah. So the government that was in then didn't do anything. Correct. Who knew? Exactly. But they relented under public pressure and also she was exchanged in a prisoner deal. Did we give up? I don't know. Cool. But that's what happened.

So that's how she was released. Yeah. But what I, I mean, it's beautifully written. She's an incredibly intelligent person in general and just warm and lovely as well. I saw her moderate a panel with three other Iranian women, including Galata Poh, who I talked about last week, the musician. The musician, yeah. I just think it's a fascinating and horrifying and interesting look at what's happening in

Iran at the moment and the revolution, the women-led revolution that's happening there as well. So many women are incarcerated for very minor offences or not even offences at all, what we would just consider existing. But I love that idea that she actually said as much as there were so many dark times, there were also so many beautiful times and particularly in the strength of the friendships and the women that she met during that time.

So light and dark, fascinating. It's called The Uncaged Sky. Right. Yeah, all right. What would you give it out of 10? 10. Whoa. Now, do you have a recommendation?

I do, but I might save it for next week so I can go and rest my balls. I think that's a good idea. You've shared your ball story. Ah, but I will. Rest your balls. And tell us, James, are there any reviews for us this week? I do. And you know what?

The best thing you can do to help me and my balls is review this show in app, which you can do, whatever you're listening to, unless you're subscribed to BigSandwich.co, which we also appreciate that. This is from Nicholas Rust, B-R-U-S-T. It's five stars. And he says, what a dab-a-doo, he says. Hey, Claire and James. I found the podcast after being a long-time listener of The Weekly Planet

and now I listen to Suggestible every week. Also, Claire, I listened to your whole album and loved it. Can't wait for the follow-up to come out. Wow, thank you so much. I am actually just starting to make any more. He also says, P.S., just joking. That's crazy that you wrote that. Fair enough.

I mean, I don't care what you write as long as you give it five stars. Correct, exactly. Thank you so much. Thank you. I really appreciate it. Yeah, I just really appreciate it. I really appreciate it. Yeah. I just really appreciate it. I really appreciate everyone for listening. Even when you said just joking.

No, I really appreciate it. Now I'm getting teary. Am I getting teary too? I just really appreciate people listening. Am I getting teary, Claire? Yes. No. Look at me.

Maybe sort of. What do you got in terms of letters this week? All right. So if you would like to review, not review, recommend something for us. I know. It's suggestible. You can email the show, suggestible.gmail.com. You can also send us a voice memo just in-app if you like, record your little voice memo and email it straight away from your iPhone.

We love to hear from listeners. That's crazy. Or just write us a letter. This is from Fernando. Hola, misters and Mr. Claire Tonti. Oh, I already like this. I'm a little behind on the pod and I'm currently catching up, but I must say I've missed you two so much.

Going to keep this short and sweet and suggest this latest EP from my favourite band, Manchester Orchestra. Oh, my goodness. They've been around for a good while, so do yourself a favour and give their catalogue a listen. I'm sure you won't be disappointed. Their more recent albums deal more with them becoming parents, so perhaps you might find something meaningful in some of their songs.

Keep up the great work. I will keep up the great work. Thank you so much. What a delight. I know. Thank you, Fernando. The Valley of Vision. The Valley of Vision.

Yeah, by Manchester Orchestra. I'm really excited to check that out. Thank you, Fernando. You can email the show at jessapod at gmail.com. And as always, thank you to Royal Collings for editing this week's episode. I don't understand how he does it. I don't like that he does it, but he does a great job. I like that he does it.

You told me you don't. Oh, what? No, don't tell him that. Also, I better go save that dog. I don't know what she's doing barking away. Wasn't she in here before? Didn't you come back in? Did she go out again?

No, she's in the house now having a little barky bark. All right. That's it. Till next time. Bye. Bye. Hi, I'm Jessie Cruikshank from the number one comedy podcast Phone a Friend, which I strongly advise you listen to. You know what else I suggest you look into? Becoming a host on Airbnb. Did you like that segue? Thank you. I recently started putting my guest house on Airbnb when I'm out of town, and I didn't realize how easy it would be until I did it. If you have a spare room, you could Airbnb it, or your whole place could be an Airbnb. It's a great way to

make a little extra money by doing not a lot, which frankly is my mantra in 2024. To learn more, go to Airbnb.ca slash host.