THE ADAM BUXTON PODCAST - EP.29 - LOUIS THEROUX

Episode Date: September 12, 2016

Adam talks with old friend Louis Theroux (journalist and documentarian) about infantilism, booze, parenting and a shameful memory, before enjoying a bit of singing. Thanks to Seamus Murphy-Mitchell for production support and Matt Lamont for additional editing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I added one more podcast to the giant podcast bin. Now you have plucked that podcast out and started listening. I took my microphone and found some human folk. Then I recorded all the noises while we spoke. My name is Adam Buxton, I'm a man. I want you to enjoy this, that's the plan Rosie, Rosie, how are you dog dog? Fine What are you doing there?

I'm licking moisture off some grass Oh yeah, why are you doing that? Why are you doing this? Fair enough. All right then, you go and run around and have fun. All right, doggles. And I'll say hi to the podcats. Hey, podcats, how are you doing? Thank you very much indeed for joining me, Adam Buxton, for another podcast.

the podcast and my old friend Louis Theroux, the British and American, he holds dual citizenship, journalist and documentarian. This conversation with Louis took place in May this year in London and as you'll hear I had provided Louis with a wide selection of beverages that I thought he might enjoy while we were recording. I was trying to be a good host. I actually also bought a giant can of frightening looking monster energy drink, which I'd never tried before. But initially, Louis just went for the tea. But about halfway through, we cracked open the energy drink. I'm not sponsored by the energy drink, incidentally. sponsored by the energy drink, incidentally. We cracked it open. Both of us had a glass of this weird milky white concoction.

And I think both of us felt some effect, but it was difficult to tell exactly what the nature of it was. However, things did become slightly unhinged towards the end of the podcast, so perhaps that had something to do with it. And in this conversation, we cover many of my usual favourite chat topics, including infantilism, questionable social habits, and the never-ending challenges of parenting. We also talked about booze and our sometimes fraught relationship with alcohol. And Louis described the process of making a documentary that was on TV earlier this year called Drinking to Oblivion.

Don't know if you saw that. It was really good, I thought. And Louis, in that documentary, spends time with a selection of people in London struggling with the effects of excessive drinking. of people in London struggling with the effects of excessive drinking. And as we discussed, both Louis and I enjoy drinking alcohol and have on very rare occasions done so to excess. And we're both aware that as parents, it's even more important to be responsible with alcohol, but sometimes things get a little blurry. I mean, I'm about to do the TV comedy show Drunk History, in which comedians drink too much and then attempt to relate a story from history, which is then brought to life with actors in costumes on proper sets, all lip-syncing to sections of the drunken historical ramblings. And I told my children I was going to be on the show.

I didn't want them to sort of stumble across it one day by accident and think, what the hell is this? And what are we supposed to glean from this? It was difficult to explain why I was going on there, other than, you know, that it it's a job albeit a slightly weird one and it's a show that I do find funny and it's not supposed to be an indication that it is always wise to drink excessively uh anyway I don't know maybe it'll be one of the many things in my life that I end up regretting.

Speaking of which, Louis and I discuss one of my absolute worst, most shameful memories of a particularly bad bit of behaviour that I undertook under the influence of alcohol when I was at school. Which I found quite painful to recall, I have to be honest. However, by the end of the podcast, we were all hopped up on energy drink and we started singing. And that's always good for the soul, although it might not be good for yours listening to it. Incidentally, the thing I'm fiddling with at that point when we start singing was a guitar tuner app on my phone with which I was attempting to establish whether or not Louis was singing off key. But I think the app got a little bit confused and sad, which you also might. Anyway, that's enough introducing. Let's get listening. Here we go. On your conversation coat and find your talking hat. Yes, yes, yes. La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, OK. OK, here we are.

Here we are. Now, Louis, you've gone for a tea. I presented Louis with a choice, a wide selection of cold drinks before he told me that he just fancied a tea. Well, a coffee, actually, but I went for a tea in the end. I was talking to Richard Herring about tea and coffee drinking and saying that i didn't realize that tea had quite so much caffeine in it does it does they say it's got more than coffee really to believe that because it doesn't doesn't feel like it does i didn't have you down as a tea drinker no i'm trying to become a tea

drinker why because i i have a feeling i was talking well as i said to richard herring i felt like i've got too many silly boy habits left over and i've got to make an effort to embrace a more mature way of life as i that's interesting something you and joe used to have in common isn't it yeah being silly boys that he would be he never drank tea or coffee it was only yeah fizzy drinks fizzy drinks pop and with food he was hasn't he always been quite conservative in what he ate yeah i mean it was he and i were terrible for each other in that respect because we were quite happy and thought it entirely normal to subsist on a diet of burgers and bacon sandwiches mcdonald's and we went to we went inter-railing one year and got stranded in madrid because i lost my passport and so we got stranded

in madrid for a week and literally we ate it it was like Morgan Spurlock before Spurlock. We just ate McDonald's for every single meal. Not good. And thought, this is totally fine, you know. Maybe we varied it by going to Burger King once and thought, ooh, wow, we're getting quite adventurous now. But he's got, I hope this isn't indiscreet, he's got funny little habits, or he used to.

Do you remember he had a thing about every night before he went to bed, he'd eat an orange? Do you remember that? No, I don't remember that. As a kind of concession to good health. Yeah, that was his healthy thing, and it was just, it was like, yeah, it was like a ritual of his. Do you have rituals where you're

are you totting up in your mind like oh I've got myself some health points there I can cash those in later on with a nice little drink drink or um no I've become slightly

fixated on my weight which I'd never had before now that I have some scales, so most mornings I weigh myself and I kind of am aware if I go north of 180 pounds. What's that in stone? I'm still on stone. I don't know what that is in stone. You can do that thing where your voice comes in and tells us. Okay, yes.

Fact-checking Santa. Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho. £180 is nearly 13 stone. Merry Christmas. Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho. Oh, that's interesting. Fact-checking Santa. But that's not rude to talk about Joe even though he's not here, is it?

He had little, yeah, he had funny little rituals, I guess you'd call them. Yeah. And I haven't, I can identify with that. I don't actually have that myself. Not in that form, anyway. He can drive a car, at least, which I still know a few people who. What do you think of people who don't drive? Well, Ricky Gervais can't drive.

Graham Linehan doesn't drive either. That's right, yeah. What it means is that people are having to give you a lot of lifts. So I think, although I'm not... You know, I failed my licence three times. I'm not a good driver, in fact. Yeah. But I think people probably... I think you probably should learn in this day and age. I mean, in fact. Yeah. But I think people probably,

I think you probably should learn in this day and age. I mean, I cycle most places, as you know. I'm not a fan of the car, but you just, it's a bit infantile, isn't it, not knowing how to drive? Yeah. And another one is knowing how to cook. Right. I think you should know how to cook. You're right, which I don't.

And I think that there are skills in life that, you know, you can't do everything, but really one should master to just feel in control of life, not to be someone who's driven everywhere, not to be someone who's cooked for all the time, or speaking a foreign language. I wish I spoke good French, but I don't. And I think... What's your best language?

Probably English. French would be second. You can get by. You can understand French, OK? Oui. Oui. C'est vrai. Is French the language that you are closest to getting good at? Like if you were to go and live somewhere and think, okay, I'm going to nail this. Yeah, French is the closest, but then Spanish is easier.

So though my Spanish is worse, I might be closer to being able to have a conversation in Spanish. And a good time. And a nice time. Beautiful country. It's a bit of light racing. What do you think on the cooking? So you don't really cook.

No, I mean, I feel as if I could cook a couple of dishes that I picked up from my wife. My wife, she cooks quite well. And I picked up a nice tuna steak with sun-dried tomatoes and balsamic. You looked nervous just saying that. When you said sun-dried tomatoes, you looked a bit panicky. Does it make you nervous even the idea of cooking something? No, because I can cook that really well and I feel as if I'm quite good at it. And it's my go-to dish.

If you came round, right, with your wife, your wife and my wife, then that's what I would cook because it looks like a proper actual yeah thing that maybe a chef might do could you whip up a bechamel no i don't know what a bechamel is what is a bechamel it's creamy though it's a creamy sauce i don't like uh cream it's yeah it's flour and butter and and milk yuck what about um i could do you good scrambled eggs okay what about like a what about you know you know fry some garlic and onion um and mix in some tomatoes and season it and like a little pasta sauce something like that no couldn't do that mean, am I allowed to use passata? No.

No passata? That's just strained tomato, isn't it? I don't like... Yeah, it's all mashed up tomato. So I'm not allowed to do that. All right, yes, you can. All right, then I could. Yeah, I could do that. You can fry an onion.

Yeah, I can fry the hell out of an onion and make it really nice and fried. We were talking about this because of tea, hot tea. We were talking about this because of being babyish with my drink tastes. I still go for the cold fizzy pop and latterly getting into the mild stimulant of tea. and latterly getting into the mild stimulant of tea. And, I mean, you made a show recently about boozes, though. And you and I, we've always drunk alcohol.

Do you feel like you've drunk too much? Probably, yeah. I mean, we've talked about it. Too much then, more than is good for me. You reckon? For sure, yeah. Why do you think that we grew up thinking that it was OK to drink a lot? Because it probably is OK. I mean, in the sense that I think the units that they say you're allowed now

seems to me unrealistic. It's just not realistic. Oh, it went right down, didn't it? Yeah. What is it, 14? Did it go from 21 to 14 or did it go from 28 to 21? Wasn't the health minister saying that it should go down to 14? I thought it went down.

But either way, even before it went down, it seemed too low. Uh-huh. Because the whole units thing is so wrong-headed anyway i think is it because because for me for someone with with like uh silly child brain right with the infantilism mind i get into the thing of thinking that it's just all about the points and you save up your points and you don't have any points during the week, and then you've earned 14 points, and you can spend all your points on one weekend. And maybe even you've got smoking points,

and you could maybe convert those into drinking points. Exactly. If you go for a run, then you can convert those. You get like a big point, and then you can have extra burgers. And it's all this kind of silly point way of thinking, and do you have credit and don't you have credit? And can you cash in these points and those points? And how many nectar points did it take for you to have a baby?

It does. Yeah, that's a good point. But then I heard... That's a good point. Thanks. Then I heard a brain expert one time saying that that way of treating your brain with booze especially is worse than if you just have a drink every night if you go for a week without boozing and then cane it on the weekend that's worse doing yourself

more damage i think that's right but not that you could even cane it with 21 points i mean you could save all your week's points and still um i don't know that you'd get totally lashed, would you? Well, I would. How much is that? Let's say it was 21 points. A pint is two points, isn't it? Or is it more than two? Also, the point sounds good, doesn't it?

So anyway, you want more points. Is a pint two points or three points? Well, doesn't it depend on the strength of the booze? Yeah, it would do, wouldn't it? And a bottle of wine would be probably 14 points. Yeah, like a large glass of wine is at least two points. Two or three. Yeah.

And actually what we should be doing is being French about it and actually just having a nice meal and drinking nice wine. Right. Not just spending our points and having a kebab. Yeah, exactly. But the way that traditionally it is thought that Brits especially approach boozing is to a large degree to get off your head, to get out of yourself. And I totally understand that impulse and can have a great deal of sympathy with it and

have felt that same urge before. And will probably continue to do so. But why is it? Is it really different to other people in other countries? Do the French not have a binge drinking problem? They probably do. but I think they also have a culture of enjoying their food and drink more don't they? Long lunches. What is that impulse then to get out of yourself? What is it the booze gives you? It relieves anxiety is a big part of it and it relieves self-consciousness and also I think it's almost part of our nine to five existence that you have a fairly tight window in which to have a good time. And how do you know if you're going to have a good time? Well, you know because you've drunk ten pints.

So it really doesn't matter how you feel. You just almost by definition are having a good time. Does that make sense? So you've created a space in which… Ten pints. That's a lot, isn't it? Not ten. Ten used to be the aim, didn't it?

Shut up. Have you ever drunk ten pints? But there was always like... I never did this, but Pub Crawl was ten pubs, ten pints. Oh, yeah. No, that was like the... Of legend. Edgar Wright's film, wasn't it?

The End of the World. Was it? The World's End. I know. I wouldn't be standing after four. I got into trouble because i was talking about my show and there's a scene where i'm talking to a guy and he says well i'd have um four or five pints go home open a bottle of wine finish that maybe have a second bottle and i go wow and he goes

that's not actually that shocking not that much and i said well not the four or five pints maybe or even the wine but both together is to is is rather shocking there's a lot and and then people asked me when i was interviewed well would you really drink a bottle and a half two bottles and i was thinking well i probably have yeah in my life um especially if it was a long lunch leading into you know at a week on the weekend or on holiday long lunch leading into evening and then it became a new story louis theroux i put away two bottles after lunch two bottles of wine after lunch like it was a regular thing and um i began thinking like well maybe i maybe I have got a problem. The thing is, though, drinking is fun.

And it is my favourite drug. What is the most... Can you quantify the most fun thing about it? Because it's so ineffable, isn't it? The fun part. Because there is a fun part about drinking and then there is so quickly it switches to being colossally shit and making you feel awful and and and uh making you behave in a terrible way um i get i get a sense of uh it depends you know oddly it depends on what the

drink is and lately i've discovered that may you know i've been drinking red wine for ages and i started thinking actually maybe that's not the right drink for me and i but when i drink um especially uh white wine champagne prosecco tequila certain um drinks like that that are there they make me feel sort of silly and uh they i get energy and i just get a feeling of tremendous well-being i i mean it's it's does that sound i just i feel a bit weird saying that but yeah i do and it feels it feels as though i think and if you get it right if you don't because you can hit a sort of peak point of pleasure and then after that you can get a bit sloppy. But if you get it right, it's a wonderful thing. Do you feel like you're getting better at drinking,

i.e. better at not drinking too much and just being able to feel good and then leave it at that and not push it and not have another drink and then another drink? Yeah, I think I probably am. Yeah. I mean, that is a great art to master, isn't it and i do envy it and when i see other people it's like the thing of drinking during the day and not feeling as if oh i'm i've had a glass of wine so i can have another four and then get hammered i think for me as well is a lot of it is just knowing

when to go to bed and that i i feel that you can as long as the problems start when you try and push through into uh the early hours and that you are trying to keep the night going and drinking more and then your sense of time is warped and you are actually no longer feeling much happier but you are feeling more bleary. Whereas if you can just sort of surf the wave from maybe having, say it's the weekend, from a few drinks at lunch, keep drinking through the afternoon, and then kind of coast down into bedtime

and then just be quite happy to go to bed. Yeah. Does that sound really banal? No, that makes total sense. But also it's something I've noticed that that's always been your MO and you're an early disappearer at parties. And so, you know, you'll turn around and it's like, where's Louis gone? And that'll be you having reached that point

and just taking yourself off, generally without a proper goodbye, it has to be said. And why do you not do the goodbye? You just think, oh, I can't be bothered with all that palaver. Yeah, pretty much. Yeah, yeah, fair enough. But that's something I'm working on. I think I was worse about that before.

But that's a good policy, though, because then you do, I mean, I used to always be last man standing and trying to, as you say, keep the night going and come on, let's have one more. All right, okay. And you are just chasing the fun part earlier on in the night and it's never going to come back. That's the thing.

No. I really enjoyed watching the show though. I mean, it was one of those things because I think we've established that you and I do like to drink and both though, you know, think about it and worry about it to some degree. And so the idea of you going and talking to these people who are really struggling with the effects of alcohol was not totally exciting. And I felt a bit anxious watching it. I was like, is this just going to completely depress me? But I was really glad I watched it.

And it was very sad, though. What was the process of making that programme? How did you find those people? Well, the first thing was the idea, which was to do something in the UK that would not necessarily be better in America. You know, an idea that absolutely would work here without us thinking, God, this is kind of funny, but it would be more extreme and weirder in America.

And an idea that I thought was tellable because while there's a stigma attached to it, it's not illegal, there's plenty of people doing it, this is a realistic proposition in terms of finding the characters. So then it was a case of getting access to... The director, Tom Barrow, thought the best approach, and I'm sure he was right, was to contact liver units around the UK. I think we reached out to four or five

because they deal with the consequences of extreme drinking. And there were a couple in contention and we settled on kings in in denmark hill in south london and then it was a case of them that being my director and his ap rachel hanging out there for weeks if not months um meeting people get making contacts talking to staff and also talking to what they call their frequent flyers and seeing who was willing to go on camera. And then late August of last year, that was when they called me

and said, well, we've got someone we think is good, and that was Joe, who's sort of the main character, I suppose. He's the one with what seems to be the most hopeful um story yeah yeah he and he's he's a young guy I think mid maybe mid to late yeah late 20s I think and he nice looking intelligent um thoughtful sympathetic but with this recurring alcohol situation where he will just go on. The word bender doesn't do justice to the kind of drinking he would do. It might start as a bender, but it would spiral out into an all-consuming fugue state of oblivion in which he'd more or less become homeless and drink vodka round the clock,

picking up injuries that he couldn't really explain until usually a good Samaritan would call an ambulance because he'd be collapsed on the street somewhere. And so in the documentary, that scene where I first meet Joe and he's got these weird bruises on his leg and he's in hospital that was the first day of shooting that was the first thing we shot

and then the obvious question is how do you tread the line as far as intervening in their lives and to what extent was there a compulsion to do so to give them advice to give them practical help you know did you establish clear guidelines in your mind before doing that well yeah i mean that is the obvious question and in a sense it

was something that i've dealt with versions of that before but it was an extreme case of people who were very vulnerable i i i think you know we all knew that the aim was to make the program, you know, we're not a counseling service. I also wanted to be a human being about it. I try, you know, it didn't really become too much of an issue for most of the contributors because they had either they had either friends around them though they were somehow in the system joe was different because his his friends and family weren't around and so why because he did alienated dad was in brighton i think his friends his close friends had seen him in this state before and made the very understandable decision that there wasn't much they could do to help and that he needed to find it in himself to help himself and um so it was an awkward passage

when he'd we knew that he'd fallen off the wagon he was texting the director to say that um he was in a bad way and um it was not totally clear straight away quite how our role would play out at that point you know it didn't sit well with me the idea of going down and trying to find him on the streets and filming him on the streets while he was messed up while he was messed up it just somehow that didn't feel right and then it became so so the decision was we need to uh wait for him to connect with services wait for him off his own bat uh to go along to the hospital and then meet him at the hospital at the point at which he's now being um cared for does that make sense yeah yeah yeah but it's a really i mean can you imagine it's a really tough call isn't it very yeah very um but uh you know

people were thrilled to see you being less callous and robotic. Right. Than you normally would be. It's good to hear that. Did people say that to you? People not like the callous robotic side. But people, like I heard a few people say, oh, wow, Louis is really, in fact, you're on Gogglebox.

I think they showed a clip. Right, I heard that. And everyone said, oh, he's nice, isn't he? Oh, he's being really sensitive, as if normally you're not. Maybe you can shed light heard that. And everyone's saying, oh, he's nice, isn't he? Oh, he's being really sensitive, as if normally you're not. Maybe you can shed light on that. Well, I guess you've got a kind of quality of aloofness, of detachment sometimes, which you need to have in order to be sort of semi-objective

in making the films that you make, right? But personally, I've never thought that that, well, I guess because I know you, to me it doesn't equal emotional aloofness. I don't, but you know, what, like, why is there water coming from your eyes, sort of thing.

Yeah, robot man. Why are you involved? You are involved in this strange cult. I will not judge you, but I am curious to see where you are. Where are you involved? You are involved in this strange cult. I will not judge you, but I am curious to see where you are. Where are you going to now? Who was that man you were speaking to? There is, I mean, that's a stupid way of characterizing what you do,

but I feel like some people think of you that way. The thing is, is I have always... The thing is, is I have always... Me and Joe always used to say, pick up on this thing that you would sometimes do. You would hear people describing something, usually something odd that they did in their lives. This is me in real life or on television? No, on TV. Yeah. So they would say something weird and you would go, meaning?

Meaning. Yes, meaning. In order to get them to expand. Yeah. But me and Joe always used to say meaning because it sounded, that was robotic. Robot, yes. No, that's fair. And I knew when I said go on, which I have to stop myself

because I was in the edit and I kept going, go on. Like I'm too lazy to ask a question. So it's just like, go on. Yeah. Keep speaking. And the editor said, you know what, you really need to. She was engaged with the rushes and she said, you might want to watch out. You're saying go on a lot.

I can cut around it. It's fine. But I just thought you should be aware but i guess i guess i guess it's what we were just talking about which is to what degree do you engage with these people in a practical way people whose circumstances are quite extreme or desperate sometimes yeah and you you know in order to carry on doing what you do you need to remain objective for all kinds of different reasons. But in this programme, because Joe actually at one point reaches out... He was reaching out to me both literally and figuratively. Yeah, and he's desperate and he's crying and he wants a hug and you give him a hug.

And the odd thing is people say, oh, well, it's nice to see, you know, Louis's got a human side, but I found it more uncomfortable in some ways because uh my role became more confused and so i was having to juggle being a sort of sensitive decent person with also remaining a little bit robot what is going on meaning his arms up meching to me respond with arms up turned mouth smile twinkle eyes and it wasn't always a comfortable mode in the sense that well i suppose there's a part that me that doesn't want to be phony right i want it to be i want to be real and i almost feel that having the

camera there i mean it's just such a cheap trick in TV in general to be, we see so much fake, what appears to be fake emotion or cynically used emotion in things like X Factor or Britain's Got Talent or any kind of extreme makeover reality where oh lives have been transformed soaring music hugs and it's cheap isn't it no

no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no

no no no no no no no no

no no no I like it when I like hearing about things that you and Joe say about me when I'm not there. And the disappear-er thing and the meaning. I fed the disappear-er thing to your brother for your... For the best man speech?

For the best man speech, yeah. And worried that it might be a bit of a betrayal no my my wife is a uh bit more of a party animal than i am and so you're okay with you saying that yeah i think she'll be fine with it and um so she like we were at the bafflers on sunday night oh yeah and midnight i'd had enough i said um i think i'm thinking i'm really tired you know we hadn't won which what were you nominated for uh best single documentary for which one uh for the transgender kids oh yeah and we lost to my son, the Jihadi. And so it's very good. And then so midnight, I've had enough. And my wife said, I said, I am thinking of going to bed,

recharging batteries. And she said, well, hang on, I'm just going to the loo. Let's talk about it. I'm really tired. I just feel really tired and I want to go home. I haven't won. And she said, well, hang on. I said just going to the loo. Let's talk about it. I'm really tired. I just feel really tired and I want to go home. I haven't won. And she said, well, hang on. I said, no, I think I am.

She said, well, hang on. I'm just going to go and talk to her. I'll be right back. So then she went off and I just said, you know what? I don't want to get into a thing about, oh, don't go. I'm a bit tired. Oh, don't go. So I thought, I'm just going to go.

You just took off. And I just went out and i just got in a cab and 15 minutes later i was halfway home thinking yes i've done it i'm not gonna be in i'll be in bed did you text her in my pjs and my jimmy jams at um half past midnight as you know i've got a small child who wakes up around 6 30 so i can get a decent six hours sleep you know it's not not enough but it's going to be thanking you i can get up and um that'll be fine and um it's all good and then she called said you just ran off i said you know i i thought i said i was leaving she said no i just went to the loo i said i thought you said you're going to talk to someone she said no i just went to the

loo and i came back and you'd gone where where are you? I said, I'm halfway home. She said, I was only going to be another 20 minutes. I said, well, it's fine. You just take your time, have fun. Anyway, she stayed out till 3.30. Good effort. She literally was one of the last people there. It was her and Tom Hiddleston. That's cool. Is he Thor? He's going to be, they say he's going to be the? Ah. He's going to be... They say he's going to be the new Bond.

He's not Thor. Ask, um, Fact-Checking Santa. Tom Hiddleston played Loki in the Thor movies. He was also in The Night Manager this year. Did you see it? I thought it was marvelous. And he was in Archipelago and High Rise. And he also just split up from Taylor Swift.

I'm sorry, Tom. Go down to the gym. Shake it off. That's not cool. Oh, that's Tom Hiddleston. Yeah, there you go. And so what's the point of the story? It's that, yeah, so I did, I guess that's absolutely,

I plead guilty to that disappearing. Sometimes it's easy just to kind of crap out and do your own thing. Of course it is. I did tell her I was going to go. Come on. You knew in your heart, though, that that wasn't totally. Yeah, you just thought, oh, well, there's a little bit of a grey area. I'll just.

I did exploit the grey area. I'll take off. But the point is, so she knows how to have a good time and sometimes i try and keep up with her um and stay up late just out of bloody mindedness that i'm not going to let her be i'm not going to let her sort of be the last man standing yeah it's an almost competitive thing and i think she has it with me so i know we've had parties at yours in the past with have gone quite late and it's been me and her that's good on the dance floor yeah he's always the first one to go to bed is he yeah i mean he will 11 30 he's

off and he's one of the only people as well that i've ever i've taken a chance and called after the watershed a phone call like what's the watershed for you for a phone call 10 30 right so i called after 10 i think thinking it's on the edge here and he was cross pretty cross no yeah what did he say he's just like hey ad what's up? It's really late He's like, oh, sorry, mate You know, it's like the Tao Te Ching, I'm told Says, sleep when you're tired Eat when you're hungry Drink when you're thirsty

There's a lot of truth in that If you're tired, go to bed Yeah, listen to what your body's telling you Listen to what your body's saying Somehow you think There's a part of you that thinks Oh, as it gets later Yeah, listen to what your body's telling you. Listen to what your body's saying. Somehow there's a part of you that thinks, oh, as it gets later, later means funner, and it'll get more late and I'll have more fun, and then I'll reach maximum fun around four or five in the morning.

But actually, why do we think that? Well, because that was true for a small window when you were young i think right like there was a summer holiday where that was the case and maybe there's been a couple of parties where yeah that were legendary and all it takes is like a handful of incidents like that and that's it that's your script for the next 20 years or something if you try and recreate but in fact we see our kids and they're like if i stay up late it's going to be can i stay up late tonight and you see and it's nine it's 10 30 and they look really tired and they're not having more fun they're just getting ragged and and

crotchety yeah and that's you yeah it's true hey well that brings us on to um parenting the world of parenting in general which we spoke about last time. But you're someone I like to check in with about parenting techniques. Your children are turning out well. Thank you. They don't seem overly psychotic. And they're nice people. And so are mine, I'd like to say.

They absolutely are. Sorry, I should have said that, shouldn't I? No, that's okay. But, you know, we all, we can agree that none of us is perfect, right? Absolutely. As parents. And there are many dark moments of soul searching where you think, should I really have been allowed to have children?

Yes. Because they make you do things. Right. That you don't want to do. Yeah. What do you mean? Well, they behave in ways that demand a response, and you give the response, and you don't, for me.

You're not responsible for what you do. Right. They are. Also, you don't know what the correct response is necessarily. No. And you're thinking, I don't know what the answer to that is, but I've got to give you something. I can't just say, I don't know what the correct response is necessarily. No. And you're thinking, I don't know what the answer to that is, but I've got to give you something. I can't just say, I don't know.

I mean, that's an option, I suppose, isn't it? Yes. I don't know. And there must be parents who've just gone for, mate, no, no clue. You figure it out. I've tried that. And have you really? Yeah, it's not satisfying.

No, it's not. Eventually you feel like I've got to just plump for a bit of guidance here. How are you dealing with these sorts of things? Has this happened to you? You're in a restaurant and I find this with table manners in general, trying to instill some sense of what is and what isn't acceptable around the table. When they say, why? Why is it important that i sit up straight when we were at a

restaurant the other day uh where was it uh cafe rouge at center parks we were and it's the end of the day and they're kind of knackered or whatever and one of my sons decided that it was time to lie down on the we're sitting on the bonquette. He's like, yeah, I'm going to lie down. So he just lay down there. And, you know, the restaurant's quite full and there's lots of other diners and there wasn't too much lying down. I said, hey, sit up. Come on, just sit up, finish your meal.

Because we're all still eating. He's got his meal there. Why? Because just, I didn't know why it was important that he didn't lie down. I mean, first of all, I was thinking, who really cares? No one really cares, do they? Or do they? I mean, he's 11.

He's tired. It's not the end of the world. But he's right on the cusp of, like, you can't get away. You're not six. If it was six, fair enough. But he's 11. I think you've got to sit up now. You can't lie on the bonquette anymore. Were his feet on the bonquette? No, the shoes weren't on the bonquette. The shoes weren't.

No, no, that wasn't an issue. He was just lying down. Doesn't sound too bad lying down. It's not too bad, but at the same time, I made the decision in my mind that it could not be tolerated. And he had to, I was like, mate, you've got to sit up. Sorry. So then he sits up with a great deal of complaint and then it's maximum elbows on the table, you know, like.

Head down on the table. Right, drama. Yeah, but sit up, sit up. Elbows off the table. Why do I have my elbows off the table. Right, drama. Yeah, but sit up, sit up. Elbows off the table. Why do I have my elbows off the table? At each point I'm thinking, I don't have a good answer for that. What's the good answer? Why is it important to sit up?

I can understand don't eat with your mouth full because it's not appealing to see the inside of someone's mouth with food in it. Right, that's a bit of a drag. But why sit up straight? Why is that so important? Is it some facet of... It looks nicer, doesn't it? It looks nicer, but who cares?

It's like slouching. Sit nicely, walk nicely. Why does it look nicer, though? What is implied by someone sitting up? That you're making an effort to appear... You're attentive. Right. Yeah. So it's a form of... You're composed.

It is a form of manners. Were you in a position to say, do you want to go back to the room and have a lie down? Yeah, we said that. We pulled that. And he was like, no, no. Sometimes I think, God, I think I might be being more strict than my parents were. That can't be good. And I remember having lunch with my dad.

We were on a skiing holiday when I was about 14. And I had some soup and I don't know why I put it in my mouth. And then I just sort of spat it back into the bowl. You dribbled it back out. I just thought it'd be like funny and just see what it looks like it feels like to do that you put the soup in my mouth and poured it back into the bowl and my dad looked at me i think he dropped his spoon he was like what what the hell do you think you're doing what do you think you're it was really angry and um

and i said you know i'm sorry i wasn't really thinking and the weird thing was and then it was almost i was so panicked because he could be scary i was so panicked that my reaction was to put another spoonful in my mouth and do the same thing again i just did it again but i think he knew that it was a nervous response, so he didn't go totally ballistic. But it's just, I don't know. I think with my dad, although he was sort of progressive or, you know, tried to be liberal-minded on stuff, but there was still behind it a kind of rather disciplinarian attitude,

and I have a little of that. But you're searching for structure, aren't you? You're searching for a state that is not meaningless chaos. That was my dad's constant refrain. He couldn't get with so many of the things that I liked and I enjoyed, pop music especially. I remember always him, we got him to review a track called Higher state of

consciousness by josh wing oh yeah do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do which i've absolutely loved yeah that was a classic and um it blew his mind and he just thought that it was a perfect encapsulation of everything he was against and everything he didn't understand. He thought it was the sound of chaos in a bad way. And of course it is. He would have been anti-lying on the bonkette. But if you were ill, I'm thinking that if you were ill, I'm just thinking about if your son had been ill, right? Yeah.

Then that's different. And in a way, if you're very tired, it's not that different from being ill, is it? If you're really tired, no one will mind. Have a little lie down. Yeah. No, Dad, I don't want to. I want to do what you want me to do,

and I know you want me to stay at the table, but I'm so tired. So very tired. Sit, lie down. It's fine, son. I can't. fine son i can't okay i can't you be disappointed i don't want to embarrass you and my mommy i knew i don't want to tear apart the fabric of society that's the last thing i want to do we sort of like that's that's we want that kid that's sort of thinking about duty and responsibility there's something so beautiful

about someone torturing themselves for a um for a principle isn't there for like something yeah my son my son's not in any danger of torturing himself for that principle at the moment that's the thing is and then you can then that makes you feel better because then you can be like no son you must lie down and instead of which you're the guy saying yeah exactly you can say hey rules let's who cares about the rules no you relax and lie down but daddy those people are looking over those people at the other table are looking over are you sure who cares what they think? It's you and me. Exactly. So, Lou, how are you doing for a drink?

I'm fine. Would you like... I'll tell you what I've got. I've taken the liberty of pouring you a glass of Monster Energy Ultra. Have you ever had one of these Monster drinks? No, no. It looks weird. It's milky. Can I see the can? Why is it milky?

It's got no calories, which always strikes me as odd. How can it have no calories? That's just got nothing in it. It's invisible. Well, what's the definition of a calorie? Surely everything's got a little bit of a calorie. I thought calories were the thing that gave you energy, weren't they? Well, that's a great point, and it's an energy drink. It's not making any sense.

It's like a magic potion. Hey, that's much tastier than I thought it was going to be. Actually, no, I'm immediately... I quite like it. It's so claggy, isn't it? The aftertaste is very intense. It really hangs around. It's so chemically. It's so claggy, isn't it? The aftertaste is very intense. It really hangs around. It's so chemically.

It's very chemically. When it hits you, it's quite pleasant and it's sweet. But it just won't go away, the aftertaste. Yeah, that's true. I'm quite liking it, to be honest with you. Are you? Yeah. Are you getting jangling?

I think there's a lot of things like this where you kind of love it and then you never want to drink another one. Right. Yeah. I remember I had... It's got inositol in it. Inositol? That's got to be a made up thing.

I don't know. Is that real chemical on there? It does say it's got some. Inositol. Inositol. That's got to be what it is surely it's like unobtainium it is like unobtainium is it is one of the other chemicals he's totally jazzed one of the other ones is gives you energy

should i say something you have to see if they're real. If it's real, all right. Okay, ready? Yeah. A-sulfame. A-sulfame. Wait. A-sulfame K. Sucralose. Alkanatine. Jazoboam.

Not real. Jazoboam. Glucuronalactone. Izogavanestamineamine Guarana seed extract Inositol One of those was made up Guarana seed extract No, I can't remember what it was

Givajazamectamine That's good though, you could make him Fazajax Terestolol El tartrate Prostitutalon That's good, though. You could make him. Fazerjacks. Fazerjacks. Terestolol. Fazerjaculate. El Tartrate. Prostitutalon.

El Tartrate was the real one. Yeah. Oh, you've almost finished your glass. Fazerjacks. Fazerjacks could be real. Did you make up Fazerjacks? Yeah. That's, um, isn't that a track by Dave D. Dose dozy beaky mick and titch isn't it vasiljax i think there's one called zazajax or something uh

zaberdas or something that's an ingredient zaberdas um right i wanted to ask you about music i heard you on on Marianne Hobbs' show on Six Music the other day. And she said, let's talk about music. And then she just asked you why we did the Groovers in the Heart video. She did, yeah. You never really got a chance. Although you did talk about gangster rap a bit. I couldn't give a good answer on the D-Lite dance session

because that was all you were doing. Well, we just used to film a lot of stuff, didn't we? Me and Joe especially. Yeah. you're doing well we just used to film a lot of stuff didn't we me and joe especially yeah anyway i was um thinking about music and specifically singing you like singing right i love to sing i don't i usually sing along either with records or in the car or karaoke. I don't know that I sing solo on my own, sort of whistling while I work, but I... Because you've never sung on TV, have you? I wish I had a better voice. That's my thing.

Right. I've sung a little bit here and there. You've rapped on TV. I've done... I sang Get By With A Little Help From My Friends in one I did about off-Broadway actors. I auditioned for Craig Revel Horwood To be in a Norwegian Cruise Line

Entertainment thing And he was It was him and a couple of other guys And I went in and I was incognito They didn't realise that I was doing it for a TV show Have you never seen that? No It's unreal because I got so nervous

That whatever limited singing ability i had completely deserted yeah and i couldn't find the yeah i think i get hi i i get i i get i couldn't i couldn't find i couldn't find the key that's the thing and i was so it was so embarrassing yeah but not only was i embarrassed everyone in the room was embarrassed and craig revel forward i can't remember him looking down like this is so awkward i can't read no one when did you do that i did that in in the second season of weird weekend so it would have been 99 so he didn't necessarily recognize you oh definitely didn't recognize me and i said i was called louis castle he wouldn't have known anyway i'm sure but uh it was i was I was undercover. Oh.

It was awkward. It's very distressing, isn't it, that you... Because I think both of us feel like we can carry a tune, right? More or less. More or less. Can't carry it that far. No, exactly. But when you're put on the spot,

you realise the difference between a mere mortal and someone who's actually a professional singer. You've got a pretty good voice, I think. Well, it depends what the material is. You sang at school, do you remember, in Shady People? Oh, yeah. It was like a Talking Heads cover band. That's a painful memory.

And you were like the front man. I was the David Byrne. We did a cover of Cross-Eyed and Painless. You actually, you sort of winced when I brought that up. It's one of my painful memories yeah i'm glad i'm glad see i had a painful one and now you've got one and that's which is your oh you're the craig gravel does that make you cringe when you think when i watch it it's pretty

awkward i feel bad about the the gig though because it involved letting down our friend chris barnes as well why you did. No, I walked out of the gig. Halfway through? Yeah. Oh, I forgot that. Yep. Did you get zrunk? I got absolutely hammered.

Yeah, it was terrible. To steady your nerves? Yeah, we were very nervous. So it was our friend Chris and he was really gifted musically. And he put together this band. He's kind of prodigious with the piano. And I loved the idea. You know, it's my dream to be in a band and to be musical.

And Chris was nice enough to let us kind of co-opt this live music project. And we were working towards playing a gig in the music centre at school. The Adrian Bolt Music Centre. And I got very nervous. And me and my friend Patrick were in this band. He was playing guitar, I think. And one of the added attractions of the whole exercise was that two of the sexiest girls in the year

were going to be doing backing vocals julia and saskia and uh and we all the four of us me and patrick and julia and saskia went and drank a bottle of wine beforehand to steady our nerves but it meant that we were pretty hammered by the time we actually did the show and we were all over the place. And also we hadn't realised that... And I dressed up. I dressed up in a sort of collarless shirt and I had a white waiter's jacket that I'd bought that I thought made me look like David Byrne.

You did look like David Byrne. And the hard guys from the year turned up. All the scary guys in drainpipe trousers and winkle pickers and Jesus and Mary Chain hair turned up and stood at the back and cheered. Cheered? Cheered. Well, they were friends of Patrick's, weren't they?

They were. There was a weird crossover. Friendly jeering. It was semi-friendly. It was targeted jeering. Was it? Was it like sensible out? It was like Buxton out?

No, I mean, Chris bore the brunt of it. Oh, really? Why? Because he was seen as being too earnest and too into the whole thing, maybe. I mean, it was just, it was, the whole, everything about it makes me anxious and sad. It's one of the things I wish I could take back. Really? Because at a certain point, we just bailed.

And we thought, this is not cool. This is... Who bailed? Well, I think me and Patrick exchanged looks and thought, you know, let's split. Let's just go. And leave Chris out there? Yeah. And he looked at us like, what are you doing?

And we were just like, we're out of here, man. We're going to split. We're going to blow this nowhere scene right in the middle of the gig. And it was, on every conceivable level, not cool. I'd forgotten all of that. It's awful. It makes me really sad when I think about it. Did Chris carry on without you?

I think he did, yeah. But he was pretty angry justifiably afterwards uh so if he was here now what would you say to chris i would say i'm i would just apologize humbly and try and blame it on youthful insecurity you can say blame it on patrick would you blame it on rio would you get down on your knees no i mean it yeah but would that would that make him feel better if you if you thought it would make him feel better if i thought it would would you prostrate yourself yeah yeah i would definitely i would i would i would do anything to to take it back and to be a to be less of a dick about it.

It was awful. I mean... To be less dicky. To be, yeah. So anyway... I think everyone's got something like that. Yeah, yeah, I've got loads, though. And some of them are from only a few years ago.

What are your ones? Have you got any that you can talk about? I remember being at a crazy... A friend, when I was about 13, said they're having a crazy space party. Everyone dress up, right? 13? 13, yeah. 13 years old. OK, so we would have known each other.

Yeah, and so I didn't feel like dressing up. In fact, most people didn't dress up, but there was one girl who I didn't know. I didn't know many girls, but she was there, and she sort of made a little outfit out of tinfoil and she just sat in the corner the whole evening and looking a bit depressed and lonely and a grown-up came up to me and said hey Louis why don't you go and ask her if she'd like to dance, you know? And I said no. Because you thought she's not cool. She looks like a loser.

Right. It's not, it's passive cruelty, isn't it? But later on, it just became a sort of emblem to me of, well, I could have done something. It's that feeling of like, because it represents, there's junctions in your life where you can either be the big guy and do something nice, but actually what you tend to do, I find, is think, is it like a contagion? That's not going to, I'm just hanging on to the little bit of cool that I have.

Yeah. If I go and talk to the girl dressed in tinfoil at the crazy space party, then I'll be like her. And I'm just clinging on. And we'll both get picked on. I'm clinging on just by the skin of my teeth, by my nails, to not being bullied and looking like a total dick. So I haven't got enough free capital to go and help her out.

You know, it's like maybe if I was really popular but – Yeah, that's the thing. That's the thing. And I think so many of those social situations are driven by – I think it's similar to you in the sense that it's driven by fear and he's like, I'm not – he's like, Chris, you're on your own. I'm going to save – it's every man for himself out here and I'm not cool enough or popular enough to be able to save you.

Don't you think? It's a cowardly instinct. Yeah, it really is. It's terrible. Well, if you're listening, Chris, I apologize. And let's get together and do it all again. Let's do an anniversary gig. And I promise not to walk out.

And if you're the girl in the tinfoil crazy space outfit, I apologize and I'll dance with you any day of the week. Cool. All right. We've made some peace. made some peace um how are you feeling after your monster drink you're right it really gets weird at the last sip i had the second half of the of the taste was really odd but i think it's done the job it's yeah it's very syrupy i feel anxious now though I don't know if it's what we've been talking about Or if it's the drink

We were talking about singing weren't we Yeah One thing I wanted to mention is that I don't have a strong voice But I've got this weird thing where I'm quite comfortable In the falsetto range Oh really Yeah I like a bit of falsetto

I'm much more comfortable and I feel that I'm totally in command of my instrument. How high do you go? Not as high as I used to, but I'd rather have an actual song. Well, what's your... Do you do falsetto when you do karaoke? Well, I do, yes.

What's your go do you do falsetto when you do karaoke? Well, I do, yes. What's your go-to karaoke? It's Baccarat, Yes Sir, I Can Boogie. Do you know it? Sure. Have a go. Oh, yes, sir, I can boogie. Yeah. But I need a...

Satan song. I can boogie, boogie, woogie all night long. Oh, yes, sir. I can boogie, but I need a certain song. I can boogie, boogie, woogie all night long. It's a very clean sound. But that's off-key, isn't it? I think I just woke a baby up somewhere.

I don't think it's off-key. I think it's on-key. Why does that make me laugh so much? I think it's the key of mirth, certainly, but it's not. Oh, yes, sir. I could do that all night. Actually, the longer you do it, the better you feel. Oh, yes, sir. I could do that all night. Actually, the longer you do it, the better you feel. Hang on, hang

on. I've got a... Oh, yes, sir. I can boogie. I can tell you like that. But I need a southern song. I'm doing a little Asian, but that's all right, isn't it? They're sort of Euro, aren't they? I don't know what. Baccarat, I think they're

from Turkey or something like that maybe your eyes are full of hesitation uh that bit's not so interesting but it sounds quite check it on your machine it sounds um i need a certain song it's the robot again are you measuring it i'm trying to find my app here we go I can boogie, boogie-woogie all night long. There it is. Are you measuring it? I'm trying to find my app. Here we go. Guitar.

I want to swing from... That wasn't right. I want to swing from the chandelier. Oh, is that... The chandelier. I can't go higher than that. I have to start lower for that. She's a very good singer though. Amazing.

I want to sing. Swing from the chandelier. The chandelier. I want to fly like a bird in the day. feel my tears as I dry.

Why is it waggling? It's waggling because you're way, way off key. Look. I don't think that's right. Let me see. It is right. Look, if you're on... Look, the pitch is...

That's an E, but it's way off pitch. I can boogie, boogie, boogie, all night long. I'm going to break your microphone just to reserve it. Don't go so close. Ah, yes, sir. Is that going to break it? I can boogie. Can I make it?

Back off. It can be a certain song. All the levels are maxing out. Are they maxing out? I can boogie. Back off. Back off. You back off.

Boogie woogie. You asked for it. You're going to get it. All night long. I don't like the minus plus. All right. What about harmonies? I mean, we've done harmonies in the past, right?

Yes. You could do... Bye, bye, love. Bye, bye, happiness. You do that. Am I going high? I'll go low. No, you do the main one.

Bye, bye, love. Bye, bye, happiness. It's hard, isn't it? Hello, love. I'm just singing an octave up. Bye, bye... Okay, go. Bye, bye, it? I'm just singing an octave up. I can go. I'm here.

Bye-bye happiness. Hello loneliness. I think I'm going to die. Bye-bye my love, goodbye. That was okay. There you go. We got it. I like my go-to falsetto stuff is Beach Boys,

singing along with Pet Sounds. So the key bit being, well, after. I know perfectly. Oh, no, I've started too high. I know perfectly well I'm not where I should be. well I'm not where I should be I've been very aware you've been patient with me Every time

Oh, what's that? Every time I break up you bring back your love to me And after all I've promised you how can it be you still believe in

me I wanna cry And then it comes back. That's brilliant. It's good though, isn't it? Like there's something... We're not doing harmonies though. It's hard to do it on the hoof. That takes a special talent. This is an advert for Squarespace.

Every time I visit your website, I see success. Yes, success. The way that you look at the world makes the world want to say yes. It looks very professional. I love browsing your videos and pics, and I don't want to stop. And I'd like to access your members area and spend in your shop. These are the kinds of comments people will say about your website if you build it with Squarespace. Just visit squarespace.com slash Buxton for a free trial. And when you're ready to launch, because you will want to launch,

use the offer code Buxton to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. So put the smile of success on your face with Squarespace. Yes. Ah, beautiful sun-soaked harmonies there. My crimes against the Beach Boys are stacking up. Thanks very much indeed to Louis Theroux. Really enjoyed talking to him, as ever, and actually I'm doing a Q&A, a live Q&A with Louis about his new film. Well, it's his first feature-length documentary,

My Scientology Movie. You'll never guess what that's about. On the 10th of October of this year, 2016, at the Royal Festival Hall on the South Bank. And if you can't make it to London for that, then perhaps you can catch the film and the Q&A broadcast live to Odeon Cinemas around the country on that date. I'm looking forward to that. Speaking of live events, thank you very much to everyone who came along to the End of the Road Festival a couple of weekends back out there in Wiltshire.

Llama Tree Gardens. I'd never been there before. Very beautiful Llama Tree Gardens and very good bands. Eleanor Friedberger, Cat Power and Goat. I liked goat. Never seen goat before. They're Swedish. And they were just going absolutely nuts in the area with their big, crazy masks and stuff, jumping around. They're a bit like, you know, they get into long,

slightly African grooves, a bit like Sun Ra, James Brown meets Talking Heads kind of thing, but more poppy than that sometimes and difficult to pin down exactly, but very intriguing and enjoyable. Could have watched a lot more of that than I did if it hadn't been pouring with rain, which it was, unfortunately, for much of the day that I was there, the Saturday. It was a real shame. It just wouldn't let up. It kept on every time you thought, oh, there you go, maybe the skies will clear now. It would just set in again and get a little bit colder. And for the folks that came out to see the live podcast that I did,

it was a real drag because I think they probably got the absolute worst of the rain the whole day. It was completely torrential at one point. And yet a good crowd of people who had come along to see myself and my guest speaking at the so-called piano stage out there in a outdoor part of the garden obviously they and they weren't covered the audience so they sat there in their cagoules but i felt very bad for those people anyway i hope you had a good time if you were there i i did it was was great. My guest was Bridget Christie. And it was a really fun conversation that she and I had that veered in and out of serious stuff, political stuff.

Hard not to talk about Brexit this year. And sure enough, we did hear her views on that, which were strong and passionate. And what else? Oh, we talked about family stuff and it was good. It was a good mixture of serious and stupid, which is what I like. So thanks to Bridget. I don't know exactly when we're going to have that

edited and ready for you. There's quite a few other episodes piled up that we're trying to get together. It's, you know, it's difficult. I say we, it's me and Seamus Murphy Mitchell, my sort of production support guy

who gives me notes on some of the interviews and then Matt Lamont who helps me edit the interview or he does a pass on the interviews and then matt lamont who helps me edit the interview or he does a pass on the edit and then i do another one so it's a question of when we get it all together but that should be in the next few weeks sometime my conversation with bridget and steve mason came along as well that was great and he sang a song for us and that will also be included it was a fun afternoon so thanks

what else more housekeeping someone said the other day what happened to the app the adam buxton app now i spoke about this after the podcast i did with garth earlier in the year the northern waiters podcast and uh at the end of that i said oh i've, I've got an app, the Adam Buxton app. And it was made for me by these folks at Doonlood, D-W-N-L-D, out in New York. They had got in touch with me and said, hey, we like your stuff. Would you like us to make an app for you? So I said, OK. And sure enough, you know, as is always the way with things online like that,

it was only a temporary situation. I think eventually the idea was for me to start paying for the upkeep of the app and find ways to monetize it and make it worthwhile, but I'm struggling to maintain my own website, let alone a whole other app. struggling to maintain my own website, let alone a whole other app. Anyway, it is a few days after I recorded the introduction to this podcast today. And it's now a beautiful day. When I recorded the intro, it looked as if it was the end of the summer. And it was all cold and dreary and now it is the summer's back it's beautiful and hot but fresh like me and it's just a great day to be alive and in the intervening days since i recorded that intro i did the drunk history episode that i talked about and it was quite a strange experience. Pretty fun. But it certainly made me realize that actually these days, I very seldom drink excessively.

In fact, you know, it happens on some special occasions, but once or twice a year, really. And I'm not cut out for it. And I'm not cut out for it. I think after a certain age, you've really got to be committed to carry on hammering away at those points. Speaking of which as well, I checked online and the current NHS guidelines, points wise for alcohol, are indeed 14. Fact-checking Santa didn't bother jumping in there at the time, but I can tell you that it's supposed to, because it used to be higher for men, but they've decided, nah, let's get rid of that. It's 14 for everybody, which isn't really very much. But anyway, there you go. I guess to a certain degree you ultimately have to um do what you feel is right for you don't you uh and on that completely woolly note i will say thanks very much indeed

for listening rosie rosie come on should we head back come on look i've got a schwippy stick Come on. Look, I've got a schwippy stick. This is what they use to make the sound effects for all the whip pans on Spaced. Did you know that? What do you think of that, dog-dog? I think it's boring Alright, listen folks Be careful out there And I look forward to being reunited with you sometime soon

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