Suggestible - The Spice of Life

Episode Date: October 22, 2020

Suggestible things to watch, read and listen to. Hosted by James Clement @mrsundaymovies and Claire Tonti @clairetonti.Visit bigsandwich.co for bonus weekly shows, a monthly commentary, early stuff and ad free podcast feeds for $9 per month.This week’s Suggestibles:Brave New WorldTuria Pitt’s StoryTuria’s NewsletterThe LunchboxHigh MaintenanceSend 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.

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Uber Teen Accounts. Invite your teen to join your Uber account today. Available in select locations. See app for details. Bing, bong, bing. Bing, bong, bing, bong, bing. We're back for another episode. Here he goes.

Here he goes. He's getting to it eventually. All right. You're taking too long now. It's my job to sing. Why are you taking over my job? Was that singing, was it? It was bing-bonging.

I brought back the bing-bong for people because some people said they missed the bing-bong. Don't you do it every week? No, I don't do it every week. I feel that. Other weeks I sing. Last week I sung You Are My Sunshine. Anyway, enough of this pitter-patter.

Yeah, I've had enough already. All right. Let's wrap it up. I've had enough already. All right. Let's wrap it up. I am Claire. James is over there. We're Suggestible Pod and we recommend you stuff. That's right. In your ear holes.

I was going to say ear bones. Are there bones in your ear? There are three bones in the ears and they are the vibrations of which help to actually register sound. Right. There might be three. There are. There are tiny bones in the ears.

Because our business is ear bones. No, we don't need to know the specifics of the human ear. Because then, like, what else do you have to know? You have to know how a heart works. You know what I mean? You don't need to know any of that. Yeah, I know. Funny.

Actually, interestingly, I was having a conversation with my brother today. Oh, yes. Yes. Seen him for the first time in, like, six months in person. Anyway, he's a doctor and he was saying something really interesting about the connection between your brain and your stomach. Okay. And your gut.

Oh, the gut bacteria. Yeah, the gut bacteria. No, but they're actually starting to think about it now as a second brain completely because there are neurons and this is not just sort of, you know, Eastern medicine thinking now, but they're bringing that into Western medicine because the neurons that kind of are connecting your brain and your stomach are, you know, important, very vital.

And so what we put into our body really does change the way we think and they think there's a real connection between anxiety and gut bacteria and they're researching that. So what are some foods we can eat to help with anxiety? Well, I didn't ask him that. I forgot. No, I think it's things like making sure you have a really fibre-full diet, not a lot of sugar, not a lot of processed foods and a wide variety of food.

So that's the other part of the thing. You want to make sure that your gut bacteria has a lot of different flora and fauna or whatever the term is. Maybe not flora and fauna, that's animals, but, you know, diverse bacteria. It seems like whenever I watch like a person's video on how like eating healthy and organic and all these things or like going vegan or trying a different thing, they always look manic and on the verge of a breakdown as they're explaining it. And I'm like, this doesn't seem good.

I mean, I know you're saying that you're enjoying it, but you look like you're about to explode. You look stressed. Yeah. Well, that's actually another part of it. He was saying that stress, I mean, this is all stuff I'm sure everybody knows already, but stress is massively correlated to particular issues in the gut as well and affecting the way that you think. And just if anyone's eating. Are ulcers related to stress as well?

Yes, yeah. And he said something really interesting about diarrhea. Sorry, everybody. I hate that word. Here we go. He said that. How many cups of diarrhea should you drink a day? What's his recommendation?

Oh, no. He said it. Go on. Three. Three? On the hour, every hour. Oh, my God. Except Go on. Three. Three? On the hour, every hour. Oh, my God. Except on Sundays.

Okay, good. It's the day of rest. No, it's the day of rest. No cups of poop on a Sunday. Anyway, back to the seriousness of this. So he was saying that the feeling when you do have diarrhea, it can cause anxiety and the same can be said on the flip side. So there's a link between having anxiety and having loose motions.

I can absolutely see that being connected. Yeah, right? And so that's a part, like a neurological pathway, which obviously our whole bodies are connected. But I think it's interesting that Western medicine is only really starting to research just how connected your gut is to the way that you think. Yes. And I actually watched a Compass show about this recently on the television

that the weight of your gut bacteria, like in weight, is the same as your brain or very similar. Yes, I did know that, yeah. Yeah, so that realistically you really need to be looking after gut health. And to treat anxiety and those, obviously anxiety comes in a really clinical form as well and people who suffer from the clinical form, sometimes medication is the only option. Yeah.

But I do think that being mindful of what we eat and our levels of stress and all those things absolutely play a factor in keeping us calmer. Sure, there are things you can do to, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, you're right. It depends on genetic. Where did it come from? I don't know anything about this stuff.

But like you said, it comes in all shapes and sizes. In all forms, absolutely. It affects people differently. Totally. And I think some of the difficulty around mental health and mental illness, when we talk about this kind of stuff, it's difficult because there's a spectrum and you can be clinically depressed, clinically diagnosed with anxiety or, for instance,

someone could have like OCD. And those kind of terms often people bandy about like, oh, I'm just a bit depressed today or I'm a bit anxious today or I'm definitely OCD when that's not actually a clinical diagnosis. And so I think, anyway, it's an interesting discussion to think about and also be mindful of people who do actually suffer from those that are clinically diagnosed and need to be treated with medication. Anyway, back to the show.

Cool. What a jibble subject. Anyway. No, itble subject. Anyway. No, it's good. It's good that people are more aware of these things when it was just like, you've got a broken brain. That was like what it used to be. It's like you're not normal.

Yeah. I mean, I still think there is some stigma there obviously, but yeah. Yeah. Oh, look, I think it's just like any part of your body that breaks down or has, you know, our bodies are all very diverse and different in what they're able to do and having issues with your mental health is the same or should be treated in the same way that a broken leg is treated, you know.

Yeah. Yeah, I mean not that you put plaster on your brain. Yeah. Anyway, all I'm saying is at the moment everyone's mental health may be a little more fragile as well. Sure, sure, sure, sure, yeah. Anyway, all I'm saying is at the moment everyone's mental health may be a little more fragile as well. Sure, sure, sure, sure, sure. So eating well and trying to keep your levels of cortisone down so you know your stress levels as much as we can.

Breathing is really good for that. Maybe some ASMR. Yeah, you love ASMR. Fire that up for a bloody sleep, mate. I just want to sleep meditation. I don't want anything else aside from that, gentlemen. Anyway, let's get into it. Let's take a deep breath and launch right in.

Gentlemen's first. Oh, really? It's been a long time, but okay. I watched a show where I was initially like, oh, this might be interesting. And then I'm like, this is really interesting. And then I'm like, actually, this isn't that interesting. But I watched the entire thing, so I'm going to talk about it.

It's called Brave New World. I think it's a peacock show that came out in mid-year. I think it was like July, but it just came to Australia on Stan. And it's based kind of loosely on the 1932 novel of the same name and developed by David Weiner, speaking of. Goodness. Last week we delved into another Weiner. Did we?

Was it you? Gotcha. Anyway, so it stars Jessica Brown Findlay, Alden Ironwright, as you might know, as the young Han Solo. Oh, I think he's great, by the way. Like he did a really good job in an impossible role in that movie that I thought was fine. But he was good.

And Harry Lloyd. And so basically it's this society, this ut society of new england and it's in the future and there's like a class system and they've got rid of uh religion and monogamy those things are frowned upon and privacy so everybody's always online all the time and connected you can watch anybody at any point and there's this huge emphasis on like sexual freedom but it's almost like to the extent of like you're expected to have, you know, relations with this many people, you know, this many times a week or whatever, John, I mean, to fit within the norm. So like monogamous relationships are not approved. You

get like cast out for doing something like that. And then on the other side of the world, 11 minutes away, because it's the future via a super plane, it's what's left of the USA and what in this particular region they're going to is called the wastelands. And it's basically if everything went wrong in the US in terms of like society just collapsed. Do you know what I mean? It's like the worst possible outcome, I guess, where nobody's making anything anymore.

It's just they're the remnants of this society where you've got kind of, you know, some hangovers from things that are used before. You know, there's still like religion and relationships and things like that. And the people aren't bad people for the most part, but the society has just collapsed. So you go there like it's like this horrible Disneyland where you're like, look how these people live.

Look at these idiots or whatever. Hold on, James. Yes. I'm going to pause this for a second. Don't tell me this show is about a dystopian future. It's about a dystopian future, yes, Claire. You're nothing if not predictable. Okay, continue.

And that's when I got really interested because society where it's like, you know, it's like, you've seen it a million times before, it's Gattaca with a class system and, you know what I mean, and genetics and whatever, and this person can't love this person and all that kind of shit and whatever. I'm like, yeah, yeah, I've seen this, whatever.

But The Wasteland was really interesting just like the remnants of society and one thing that I particularly found fascinating, which I was talking to you all about, this character of Alden Einreich who lives in this society, he loves music but there is no more music. It's like it's what's left, you know what I mean? There's no nothing. No one's you know what i mean there's no nothing no one's making new music no one's making anything new so it's just whatever you can scrape together so he goes and you find music so he goes to like this store you know often to see what

they've got and they kind of transfer old mp3 files and you just kind of don't know what you're gonna you're gonna get and so you so so like you go in and you might get like it's the abc song or whatever some garbage or it's like a tutorial on whatever an audio book and every now and then you'll come across something like um there's a radiohead song called fake plastic trees from the bends so he gets that song and it's just like this whole moment of like you know when we were talking about this but when you hear a really good song or a song that you relate to, it's just like it changes like your whole perspective, you know what I mean? It speaks to you in a way that, you know, other songs obviously don't.

Yeah. It can like, it can colour your whole world. Yeah, totally. And I was like, oh, my God, I haven't listened to this song in fucking ages and I immediately listened to it like a hundred times. Yeah, but I think that what I loved about what you said and we were talking about this off air because we have conversations off air, believe it or not. You try not to, but I think that what I loved about what you said and we were talking about this off air because we have conversations off air, believe it or not.

You try not to, but yeah. Only very occasionally. I really miss being a teenager, not being a teenager because I hate being a teenager, but I miss being on public transport and listening to your Walkman or your Discman, this is showing our age now, and the music that you had with you was finite or you'd made a mixtape or something and you'd just be sitting watching the world through the window of the train and whatever you were listening to kind

of matched the mood inside you and I don't know and you're sort of thinking through your life. Or you'd find something that would match that. Yeah, yeah. And you've got like a stack of CDs even in a case or something. Yeah, exactly. What I really love though is because we're in a generation that bridged that gap.

So as we were in like our teens and through the 20s, it shifted to digital. And I love that like we had that initial period and just being like, I just want to listen to stuff and I can't. And it was really hard to find stuff. And the only thing you could really know was like you take a punt on an album you don't know or you're listening to the radio, but that's limited. You know what I mean?

And then there was this transition where you can literally get anything, which obviously has its benefits, but also it's overwhelming. You know what I mean? And it's also the value drops in a lot of ways because albums aren't special anymore as much, I feel, because it's just like, oh, what's the new whatever album that you listen to? Oh, yeah, cool, whatever. It's instantly accessible and that's why I think why we've gone back

to records because, you know, you – and you have to like – you put something on and it plays for like 30 minutes on one side and then you flip it or whatever, you know what I mean? I find that really interesting. So anyway, so this society, I'm like, wow, this is super fascinating. But then what they do, they take him and they put him back in the New England society and he's seen as this kind of savage guy and he's kind of integrated into that.

And it's just like, oh, this is way less interesting now. Do you know what I mean? Like it would have been better if it was like I want to see more people kind of shift over or see this side of the universe because I've seen this stuff before, you know what I mean, this other stuff. Yeah. Not that you haven't seen the things that.

The Gattaca kind of world. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And none of it's, like it's fine but it's so many like, there's a lot of like rave orgies and whatever, you know what I mean, and like clean architecture and it's all good but it's just, it felt really like well-trodden, you know what I mean? So it kind of for me kind of bottomed out and there's all good but it's just it felt really like well trodden you know what i mean so it kind of for me kind of bottomed out and there's like a revolution whatever and it kind of ebbs and flows in terms of you know interest for me but um yeah that there's like like that

particular episode was like wow this is really good and then it was like then it changed yeah it's funny i because i'd seen you watching this and we had that discussion and then i was like. And then it changed. Yeah, it's funny because I'd seen you watching this and we had that discussion and then I thought, oh, I'm going to give this a go. I only lasted half of the first episode. And I saw that bit and I thought that was really interesting. I think to me I felt immediately, which is happening to me a lot, and I think sometimes to the detriment of me being able to watch a broader

breadth of stuff when I know that women's voices are written by men. Yeah, totally. And immediately it shuts me off because I think women wouldn't talk like that. Yeah, and it is like a weird futuristic society or whatever. Yeah, and I know it's a weird futuristic society, but even the way that they've depicted women's sexuality just doesn't quite mesh with me and I can see it when it's quite transparent to me.

But I do kind of, I should work through that because, you know, I obviously want to watch and listen to stuff made by a diverse set of people. But for me that's because a lot of it is like sexuality based and I'm not a prude. I don't give a shit. Do whatever you want. Yeah, yeah, exactly.

But that was by far the least interesting and poorly thought out element of the show for me. Yes, that's what I felt. I was like. Because at the start I was like, this is fine, whatever, and then it would cut to the wasteland and I'm like, this is something, like okay. And then when they went and visited, like some people went over and visited

and then there's this kind of coup. There's this like mini revolution that goes on in what's left of the US and that is like, wow, it's like this gun culture stuff kind of resurfaces and you know what I mean? Like, yeah, it's really fascinating. But no, I'm with you because I don't think that's strong at all. I think it's bad. Yeah, it kind of felt too gratuitous and also a bit boring.

So like the two opposite and the fact they are constantly taking these pills to kind of keep them all happy and all fine and zoned out. You know, people self-medicating or, you know, like the system of like, you know, trying to suppress your problems or whatever. Yeah, exactly. And constantly being, you know, told that you need this drug to help you with this and whatever and it's, you know. Yeah.

I know those problems are worse in other countries than they are in Australia but there's a lot of like advertising towards this kind of stuff. You know what I did think was it was edging towards something interesting and obviously I've only watched half of the first episode but something I think about a lot which is like the fallacy of happiness being something that we reach. And once you reach the summit, there's the happiness, you're just going to be happy forever. And I think that's such a dangerous idea because I think

happiness is fleeting and it isn't something that can just, isn't a permanent state that anyone can be in. And I think it's really a dangerous lie to sell people and especially young people to think, well, if I'm not happy, there's something wrong with me. So I need to seek all these things to give me, and the consumerism kind of does this, seeking all this stuff that will eventually make me happy if I just have that perfect body, if I just have that perfect partner, if I just have that perfect house or perfect, I don't know, music album. Yeah, and there is stuff like that in this. Yeah, I agree.

It kind of touches upon because the idea is of this society, it's built around something else, you know what I mean? Like it's built as a distraction to keep people going. So there's constant parties and, you know, there's things happening. Yeah, and you can't ever form proper relationships because that can lead to pain. Nothing means anything. It's like, you know, the matrix, like it's like, it's not anything. Yeah. And I, I, that's why I guess what I was trying to get at there with that search for happiness and the idea that, well, in the, in the show, you can't have a full on monogamous

relationship with someone because that will lead you to pain and we don't want pain. Yeah, that's right. So let's keep it all in boxes. And also like childbirth and that's not how children are made in this particular future. But the other aspect of it, and this is a slight spoiler if you are going to watch it, Alden Iron Reich's mother is Demi Moore and I remember at the start being like Demi Moore doesn't fit

in this universe because she looks like, you know, she's like nearly 60. She looks amazing and even though she lives in this trailer park, it's like she doesn't seem to fit in this universe because she looks like, you know, she's like nearly 60. She looks amazing. And even though she lives in this trailer park, it's like she doesn't seem to fit in this society. And then it turns out that she's not from there. She was left from the other world. And he's the offspring of somebody from this new world.

So she's had a foot in, but then she, you know. So she had a foot in both. Yeah, she disappears during it. And I'm like, well, that's interesting. You know what I mean? Somebody who kind of bridges that gap as well. But again, that's something that's written out. So I don't know.

I've probably talked about this for too long. No, it is really interesting. Yeah. Yeah. One more thing. Sorry, I quickly want to say is the other reason I think that – I think there's so many like fresh ideas that were so revolutionary when this came out in 1932.

Like a lot of the ideas are like, wow, this was really forward thinking. Well, 1932, that's so progressive. I mean and then they've obviously added new stuff for now to update it or whatever. But, yeah, there's a lot of things that since then have been adapted and done in other mediums. So the time you come around to it, it's like, well, we've seen this. But also it's like, yeah, but this invented that.

So it's kind of like when Star Wars came out and then they made Flash Gordon after and people were like, this is boring. But it's like, no, Star Wars borrowed from Flash Gordon initially. You know what I mean? It's like that kind of. And this apparently borrowed from other stuff as well. And I mean everything comes from everything. Everything borrows from everything else.

Also it's a dystopian future show and that's really all your love, isn't it? I love it. It's your first love. I've got a second dystopian future thing. Oh, really all your love, isn't it? I love it. It's your first love. I've got a second dystopian future thing. Oh, he's got a double whammy. One other thing I will say because I wanted to bang on about happiness a tonne of you more. Turia Pitt, who if you don't follow on Instagram, you should,

she's an incredible writer and activist. She went through this crazy thing happened where she was running an ultra marathon and a freak bushfire came through and burnt her body completely. And so she nearly died, has gone through multiple surgeries, for a long time was wearing a black balaclava mask. Yeah. And now she's this incredible speaker and writer.

And she was before. It wasn't like the fire happened and she suddenly became this incredible person. She was already an incredible person. But since being through what she's been through and she's now, I would say, also an appearance activist too and is really open about mental health struggles and how to overcome your fears and how to, you know, start your

own business anyway. So she has this incredible Instagram, but also I subscribe to her newsletter. So, and she just writes like little things about if there's something you want to change in your life and also big stuff about how to cope with loss and grief, how to get yourself through the day. She has really good little routines too, things that she did to help her through. And she talks a lot about the myth about this whole happiness kind of concept in that it's not about striving in the end for constant happiness.

It's about finding peace within yourself and contentment, like riding through those waves of difficulty and that your life isn't ever just going to be a straight line of contentment and happiness. There's going to be lots of ups and downs. And one thing, a couple of little things she always talks about that when she gets up in the morning and she's like, right, I feel like this is going to be a bad day. I can already sense it. Just kind of giving into that feeling and going, okay, it's not the end of the world. It's just today I'm feeling like this. And then she has some strategies to help her out of it, particularly when she came out of waking up and trying to recover from having, you know, I think it was something like 70% of her body just burnt

and melted. Yeah. And so she lives with so she lived with a lot of constant pain and so the mental strength to get her through. And she was an incredibly sort of stunning person too and so she's sort of rebuilt herself. Anyway, she's just really inspiring. But what I was going to say in her routine, what she does, she has two things that really help her music and scent right and so when she was found like the things that she can yeah and so she said that scent has

really helped her she's got different like essential oils and smelling salts we talked about that yeah yeah yeah that kind of help her so when she's in a particular mood she'll like put a scent in her room or on herself to get to change her thinking and also her music. So she'll have like pump up playlist for when she's about to go on stage and do a presentation or relaxation music or workout music. Anyway, I just think I really recommend following her. Everyone's got their like methods. I think it's really important to like try out different things and what works for you. You know what I mean? Because for years they were like this is a bad example, but like I was bad at like studying.

I can't sit down and read a book. If I'm not interested in being like, you know, because I used to study like economics, barely. Study economics, yeah. I mean, but you did a business degree, James. You're all about the business. You're a better business person than I am, but you did a business but um and then I worked out that that's not how I learn like I learn by listening so I just read out my notes and then listen to them and I'm like I instantly remember this like straight away so

it's just like different ways of but it's it's interesting like kind of acknowledging where you this is shows about whatever I guess now but uh but acknowledging kind of how where you – this shows about whatever I guess now. Yeah. But acknowledging kind of how you feel because I remember when I worked at McDonald's years ago, I was like, oh, my God, it's going to be one of those days. And the boss was like, it's only one of those days. Have you let it be one of those days? And I just wanted to be like, shut the fuck up. How about that?

How about just let me have this? Like I'll do the work regardless but just fucking shut up. But then Jeff Ridges who who we found out has cancer, I don't know if yesterday, so boo for that. But it happened to what, sorry, I see an interview with him and how he talks about how he still gets nervous, how he was sitting across from this really great actor whose name I can't remember who he admires,

and the guy lifted his hand off the table and he was like sweating. And he's like, oh, he's nervous. Why are you nervous? You're a great actor. And he's like, I feel I would be nervous if I wasn't nervous. You know what I mean? This is what makes me better. And I acknowledge that this is part of me and who I am

and it makes me better. It's not like I don't let it like hold me back. Keeps you me, yeah. But it's something that I just, I have it and I have to just live with it. I'm not saying you have to live with it. No, but it's like the thing I was when we were teaching our son to ride a bike and I say this to him all the time and he repared it back to me that I am like being brave. Is it not feeling fear? It's feeling fear and doing it

anyway, which is what Brené Brown, who I love says all the time, but that's it. Right. It's like not, not being nervous. It's like using that energy. You're going to fall off. And I'm like, probably at some point. Yeah. Yeah. But you'll be fine. Like I fell off my bike a lot and still do. But I'm fine, you know? Yeah. Yeah, exactly. That was a long tangent, but you're right. You do have to find those things. And that's the kind of joy in getting older that you get to know yourself more and more. And so you find what your body, what your brain needs to function better and function more comfortably in yourself and in your world. You know, like if you're an introvert, not looking at anyone in particular

except hello, you need more time alone and more time to listen to yourself, talking to yourself or whatever you do, you know, to have energy. And if you're not that kind of person, someone who's an extrovert, you might need different things to keep you kind of in an equilibrium. Yeah, totally. Yeah, and I don't think that's like necessarily the pursuit of happiness but more the pursuit of contentment and peace in who you are. Also I think there's like this misconception about people

who are introverted that you have to be like mean or rude or whatever. But like, you know, you don't have to. You can still be nice to people. Do you know what I mean? Is that a thing? Totally. I think there's some introverts who are like, well, I'm an introvert so I'm kind of like, you know, I don't really.

I'm an asshole. Yeah, it's like. I'm an asshole. How about don't? How about just be civil to people? Anyway, that's not everybody. I'm an asshole. Yeah, it's like, well, just. I'm an asshole. How about don't? How about just be civil to people? Anyway, that's not everybody, I'm sure. 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. But anyway, what are you doing? Oh, yeah, I've got a really cool thing and we're running out of time, but I really wanted to tell you about it.

Yeah, let's do it. All right, I've got two things, but I'll just do this one. Okay. So it's a film called The Lunchbox. Have you heard of this? I haven't. I'm going to Googs it now. Oh, it's so good.

It's a 2013 Indian epistolary romance film written and directed by Ritesh Batra and produced by Gunit Mongar. I know the people in this. Yeah, the film was jointly produced by various studios. Anyway, it's set in Mumbai. So you probably recognise, well, you definitely would recognise one of the lead actors, Irrfan Khan. Yeah, he died.

He died of colon infection. Yeah, people would know him as he's in Jurassic World. He's the guy who flies the helicopter. Yeah, and Life of Pi. And he's also in The Amazing Spider-Man. He is. He's one of the lizard doctors, yeah. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

And the other actor is Nimrat Kaur, who's an Indian actress, and she started her career as a print model and then went into theatre and she's been in quite a few films. So this was really well regarded at the time and I got recommended it to me. I got recommended it by a wonderful listener called Abhishek Pandey. I hope I've said your name right. You definitely haven't. Yeah, I absolutely haven't. So it's in Hindi, yeah? So I've given it my go. No, yeah, it's a blend. It's Hindi and English, more Hindi than English. And, yeah, set in Mumbai, but it's about this fascinating thing

that happens in Mumbai that I had no idea about. So it's a lunchbox delivery service. Have you ever heard about this? No, I've never heard of this. Oh, it's so interesting. So it's called the Dabawala and basically I think how many people? It's just crazy. Right. So the Dabawala is a delivery lunch service throughout Mumbai that delivers 6 million lunches a year across the city. So, and basically what it is, is instead of going out to buy your lunch,

if you're working in the city of Mumbai in your office, you get a home-cooked meal from your home, usually done by your wife or mother because in Mumbai they still have quite traditional roles, delivered to your office. So it's like Uber Eats but they bring you the food from your house. Yeah, that your wife or mother has lovingly prepared. Why don't you just bring it to your – Because it's quite –

It's all fresh. And it's made sort of lovingly at home. And then they put them in these special lunch boxes. Just have a peanut butter bloody sandwich, man. So go on. You're so annoying. Anyway, they put them in these kind of four-tier lunch boxes. And the bottom usually has rice and then there's a curry, a side of vegetables, dhal, flatbreads and a dessert.

Sounds amazing. Yeah, and they're in the film. They're circular in like tin and then they're put into a little bag. And so the Dabawala arrives at the house, at the apartment. The mother or wife will hand them the lunchbox and then it goes on a train. The man kind of takes it on a train and then takes it into the city and then it's delivered to the office building. And it's so spot on.

They very rarely have an error, maybe one in a month, say, and they deliver like 200,000 lunches a day. And so it's so accurate that Harvard came to study it because it's just incredibly accurate. And it's done on a system of mathematics carried out by people who are most likely illiterate but who have made the process an efficient breeze for the last 127 years. Yeah, so it's like a logistics conundrum.

Yeah, yeah, exactly. And each lunch has got a little description written on it with code, which is really interesting. Anyway, so the film is based on that concept and one lunchbox is made by a housewife whose husband you find out is having an affair and the lunchbox accidentally gets delivered to the wrong person who's Irfan Khan's character and his wife has died so he's sort of like a lonely widow and they start writing letters

to each other through the lunchbox and it goes and they kind of end up developing this sort of romance and friendship. Without ever meeting. Yeah, without ever meeting, yeah. And then the film develops from there. So it's like a love romance and friendship. Without kind of meeting. Yeah, without ever meeting, yeah. And then the film develops from there. So it's like a love story, friendship. It's also really authentic and an amazing look at this incredible system that they have in Mumbai.

And it's very atmospheric as well. It's obviously very accurate to the culture, I'd imagine. Yeah, it feels like it is, yeah, absolutely. Does it feel like real streets and real people and real food and all that? Well, it is, yeah, because it's filmed in Mumbai. And Abhishek has said this too, that he feels like it's very authentically Mumbai. Yeah, right. And it gives you just the sense of the food just looks amazing.

But it's also. I've got food in film. Oh, yeah. We should get Indian this week. I was thinking that. No, I really was. When in film. Oh, yeah. Would you get Indian this week? I was thinking that. No, I really was. When I watched this, I thought we have to get Indian this week because it just looks so delicious.

There is a good Indian place near us. Yeah, there really is. What I really liked about it, other than looking at a culture that I didn't really, I didn't know anything about this, the Dabawala, but I also, I just, I love the film because it has a lot of quiet moments in it, which sounds strange because it's obviously Mumbai, which is such a vibrant, busy city, but it does look a lot at aging, at love, at roles in culture that you're sort of supposed

to fulfill. So it's clear that Nimrat Kaur's character is really lonely. She has a little girl and she dreams of taking her away and away from her husband and away from her life and going somewhere different and starting again. And this guy who she's speaking to, his wife has died. He's kind of given up on life. He's been almost like an accountant for, you know, 40 years or something. Where did he get his lunch from prior? Oh, just from this really sad shop.

So he was just getting this like bog standard food from this like because you can also just order it from like a restaurant. Yeah, yeah. And so then he starts getting this food from her and initially he goes into the restaurant and gives them this like rave review and the guys look really confused because they're like, we haven't done anything different. And then it turns out it's from her and then he starts giving,

like telling her what he likes and so she's making these incredibly intricate, like beautiful dishes. Cool. Anyway, but it just says a lot about, yeah, the roles that we play in society and he's kind of given up on life and was ready to retire and just kind of pack it all in. And then this relationship with her and the food itself kind of brings him back into what really is important about life

and it's that sense of wonder and awe in things and he starts noticing things in his life. I love the colour in Indian food as well. Yeah, yeah. Well, you go to sense like the spices that she's cooking with represent sort of bringing him back into himself and into the spice of life, for want of a better word. Into the spice-averse.

Yeah. Well, no, yeah, correct, the spice-averse. Thank you. Exactly. Anyway, so it's got a lot of layers to it. But also I just started researching the Dabawalas and it's just really, really interesting too. Cool. Okay. All right. That's it. That to it. But also I just started researching the Dabawalas and it's just really, really interesting too.

Cool. Okay. All right. That's it. That is it. From this week. Only a couple of recommendations this week, but that's okay. Isn't it, Claire?

Now I have a suggestion for next week. I don't know if you know this, but next week it's the spookiest day of the year. Ooh, spooky. So you have to do one spooky thing. Really? Yes. All right. Fine. It has to be one. It can be a movie or spooky thing. Really? Yes. All right.

Fine. It has to be one. It can be a movie or a book or a comic book. Okay. Or a book. All right. Or a book. Or a comic.

Or a comic. Or a movie or a book. Or a book. Or a comic. Or a TV show. Or a book. All right. It has to be spooky though.

Spooky. You can bring some other non-spooky stuff, but you need one spooky thing. All right. Okay. One spooky thing. Yep. I can do that. And do you know people can also review this show?

That's not so spooky, but you can do it in app. It's incredible. It's the easiest thing in the world. You open it up, five stars if you want to. You don't have to, but we'd really appreciate it. It really helps the show. Like this person from Slim CW said, good on you, mate. I really enjoyed this podcast.

Found my way here through the other more successful podcast, but really enjoy it just as much. It's different and nice to get some other suggestions on media to check out that maybe might not be within the genre that I'm typically interested in. Mr. and Mrs. Sunday Movies have a real enjoyable banter that I find really entertaining. Oh, mate. Thank you, Slim.

Thank you so much. What a ledge. Yeah. All right. I have an email. You can email the show at suggestiblepod.gmail.com. We always love to hear your suggestions. And this email is from Ben Kwok.

Hi, James and Claire. Loving the podcast and all the recommendations so far. Ooh, imagine if we get one wrong. I know. Today I have one I think you might both enjoy. High maintenance. High maintenance. I've got enough bloody high maintenance at home, mate.

I've got it. What are you talking about? I'm the lowest of maintenances. Yes, yes, yes. So low maintenance, mate. I'm so. What are you talking about? I'm the lowest of maintenances. Yes, yes, yes. So low maintenance, mate. I'm so low. You wouldn't even know. What's this high maintenance show?

It's a show on HBO about a bike riding weed dealer in New York. It's not quite what you'd imagine. Yeah, my sister recommended it to me as well, so I need to get onto it. The dealer is kind of the vehicle for the show where he delivers his products to different characters around the city but then leaves you with that person and explores what life is like for them. It's got Yellowstone. Okay.

Each episode is different. That's a good cast. Yeah, it's supposed to be really good. Each episode is different and the show is masterful in its ability to blend its tone between funny, sad, strange, thoughtful and euphoric but it's always heartfelt and honest. The characters you meet throughout the show couldn't be more varied and they will always surprise you.

Characters you didn't like in one episode may come back a few later and completely change your opinion. It's one of my favourite shows of all time. I think James will love it because of its humour and the unique way it's structured, and Claire will love it for its stellar representation. I'm always on board with some stellar representation. That's right.

But not humour and fun. No. And I'm obviously against representation, so he's come at us the right way. That's really good. Anyway, it's on HBO. And he's a Brit who moved to New York six years ago, and he thinks this show captures New York and Brooklyn in all its glory. Oh, I bet New York's just like a character in the show.

All right. Pipe down over there. Gosh, I said the spice of life, so, you know, I bet New York's just like a character in the show. All right. Pipe down over there. Gosh, I said the spice of life. So, you know, I'm talking cliches. It's on binge. Boo. Hopefully I can rent it from somewhere else. It's also on YouTube though.

Oh, is it good? Yeah, he said not the whole thing, but I think it did start as a YouTube show. Oh, cool. Because I've got YouTube Red. Well, there you go. So I think you can watch it on YouTube. Yeah, which is cool. Hope you both like it and I hope you aren't going too crazy in lockdown,

but I do a bit because it's Bonser Content, the crazier to get. I'm going to watch this, man. I feel like we peaked at craziness and now we're sliding into like some serious dog rules. True, but at least we're not talking about politics this week. No politics, poll polls. Oh, yeah, sweet. I can watch it.

I can buy it on YouTube. Vote, please vote. That's it. No, Claire. Tell people not to vote. Vote, please vote. That's it. No, Claire. Tell people not to vote. Vote, please vote. It's seriously important. It's real important.

It's real important. All right. Okay. Next week, spooky things. Have you got spooky recommendations? If you do what you did to me bloody last Halloween with your bloody spooky recommendation, I'll be bloody mad. No, that was Christmas when I tricked you with spooky Christmas things.

Oh, really? That was no good. Maybe I'll flip it and I'll do a nice thing next week. I doubt it. You don't have a nice bone in your old bod. I've got a few of them in my ear. Let me say that again. You're old.

I just heard that. Thank you. You've got three. Yeah, I should Google that. Do your bones in your ears get old? Well, they get hairy. Well, ears, mine definitely do because every now and then you're like, James, your ears are out of control.

Your ears need a haircut. But ears and nose keep growing. What? Which is why I like to see how tall. Just how it is. If you look at Harrison Ford. Hang on. It's that how it is.

His nose is growing off his face and his ears. But if you look up, I've got tiny ears, so I'm like, this is great. So eventually you'll have ears the size of a regular man. The size of ears. If only that could happen with other parts of your body too, like your hands. Oh, I thought you were going to say something else, Claire. No, I'm perfectly.

No, I don't know. I don't want to go down this road of backpedaling. I'm backpedaling right away. How's that story about that guy that was caught on the old things on the Zoom? Zoom dick was trending. Yeah. That was, I mean, that was inevitable. I mean, yeah, I think it's.

It was going to happen to somebody. I think it's also like it's shady for like I haven't really read into it, but my understanding is it's not. Like why did he even have it on? Like it's like, do you know what I mean? Like why was he even still in the chat? But, yeah, I think that's probably happened to a lot of people. Or not even like that, just like being

nude or picking their nose or whatever. Yeah, totally. The amount of Zooms that are happening, I would just think it's inevitable that there's like... They make me anxious. I try not to do them. I don't like them. I prefer to do it like just voice. Yeah, this is true. I do, yeah, I don't do them very often

either. I find them awkward. But we don't have to do them for work. I don't like recording. I've done it a little bit but I don't like recording over Zoom either. I find it really it just doesn't flow as well. You're not in the room with the other person. No, you're not. Because you're a serious human being that likes to

connect deeply, you know. I did one with Michael Shanks. With the feelings of others. True. I did one with Michael Shanks not that long ago. And that worked really well because he's a good conversationalist guy or whatever. But even then, because there's that pause, when you do the edit, you take out like the gaps and when you talk over each other and things like that.

It's just more of a pain in the ass. Anyway, who cares? Who cares about this? We're just – God, we've really gone over time. What time is it on the thing? It's 40 minutes. Do we have an ad? No.

We had an ad last time. What time is it on that thing? It's 40 minutes. Do we have an ad? No, we had an ad last week. Thank God. Thank God. See you guys next time. Bye. We've been to Just a Little Pot of. Who is this show anymore? It doesn't matter, does it?

No, it does. It's like the weekly planner. People don't actually, people want actual content, right? You can just Google lists of books that are good. All right. But if you want people blathering, if you're coming for like a certain type of personality, then this is what you get here. I really feel like the last couple of shows recently we've really overdone

our time. It's fine. Look, yeah, probably. But the thing is the stuff that I like, and this isn't for everybody because believe me, I get comments. I don't need like a list of shit. I go to things for like personality and people adding their own spin on it. That's what I like.

That's not everybody because I get comments that are like, well, you didn't mention this in this video or whatever. I'm like, if you want a fucking synopsis, read the Wikipedia. I'm just losing it. Do you know what I mean though? So that's what I like. But anyway, whatever. Goodbye.

Also, can I just say one more thing? What? I am sick of this fucking lockdown well we're coming out of it we're coming out of it that's it's all i wanted to say yeah i love you hope you guys are right out there this podcast is part of the planet broadcasting network visit planetbroadcasting.com for more podcasts from our great mates. I mean, if you want. It's up to 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.