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Simon and Lee talk about metaphors and the tragedy of how poetry is taught, before discussing three truisms from Anthony de Mello.

Things covered: the bell is tolling, true words said in jest, many a slip between cup and lip, not understanding metaphors, being literal, not liking poetry while really liking poetry, the meaning of poetry, Kae Tempest, Lee having an ugly cry at the traffic lights, Simon sneezes, all the Latin Simon and Lee know, the sweetness of dying for your country, Wilfred Owen, nationalism and nation states, Lee recites Owen's "Dulce et Decorum Est", Siegfried Sassoon, the Reform party in the UK, Anthony de Mello's "Awareness", returning love for hate, including the excluded, admitting you are wrong, turning the other cheek (Jesus during Sermon on the Mount), Wikipedia and academic research, Lee definitely married up, the unfettered unfiltered version of Lee, the reason to continue podcasting.

Get in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net.

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Simon and Lee talk about things they love.

Things covered: back in Blighty, the nature of home, putting down roots, having multiple passports (Jason Bourne), freedivers, things we love, what Lee is wearing (again), being self-conscious (or not) about the things we wear, being policed and judged, tortilla covered sourdough, Lee loves perfume and smelling good, layering perfumes, clothes or scent, Dubai chocolate, cookie mix floor tiles, negronis, spending time with friends outside, being social, Simon loves stillness, Stansted Airport, a bus trip to Coventry, TikTok, three hours swiping, the absence of boredom and over-stimulation, Simon's yin phase, two different looks in two different countries, Coventry after dark.

Get in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net.

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Simon and Lee discuss the way age starts not to manner (as we get older), the absurdity of reducing friction in our lives, and then have a quick conversation about Adolescence.

Things covered: Buona Pasqua, Lee's raw early morning voice, the true reason for buying a house, Lee's Dad's 84th birthday, the cost of a pint of Guiness, the way age starts not to matter, eating only the inside of a cake, Lee's vowels, BBQ Norman, Lee's Mum's spreadsheet, buying a storage cupboard to lead a frictionless life, kitchens as a place of work, Sassari apartment update (more about the floors), other languages (and the limits of vocabulary), Adolescence, misogyny.

Get in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net.

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Simon reports in (once again) from Sardegna while attempting to buy a kitchen and the question of consent raises its head again. Lee and Simon also discuss Simon's lack of sartorial elegance.

Things covered: marble floors and empty walls, buying a kitchen, 3D models of kitchens, discounts, putting washing machines in kitchens, boring jobs, sharing news over a negroni, descriptions of spaces in another language, asking for consent in Portughese, another leak in Lee's roof, climate change being real, imagining things (and bodies) in spaces, big cultural shifts, fritelle, the beginning of the end, trying to remove marble from a wall, bumping into friends on the street, having one's arm squeezed by a stranger, not being very dapper in an Italian city, Lee being a little more handsy than he thinks he is (on a train), Winnie-the-Pooh (and wanting to be sure of you), Simon is not dapper and Lee tries to give him some sartorial advice.

Get in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net.

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Simon reports in from Sardegna before Lee and he veer off into talking about what draws us to snake oil.

Things covered: Getting the sound right while recording in a 'cathedral', flight delay, the mundanity of owning a place, Nodi networking function in Alghero, bumping back into Italian, experiences that are both concrete and abstract, dealing with uncertainty, meeting a life-coach, snake-oil, "l'aria fritta" (fried air), what draws us to people selling fried air, having one's buttons pushed over and over again, Sardegna drawing in a dreamcatcher vibe, homemade brick oven and making pizze, primal human experiences, cranio-sacral massages, gong showers (sound baths), golden showers, people talking (or not) about their kinks, piss play, more prevalent than us vanillas, lacking imagination (or perhaps theory of mind), Portishead, Beth Gibbons (singing Gorecki Symphony 3), how to be introduced into something we didn't use to like (e.g. yoga for Lee), the things we end up doing and believing, jam cocktail (listener feedback), unattributed quote from last week to George Saunders' commencement speech (in the links below).

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Related links (and necessary corrections):

• Beth Gibbons singing Górecki's Symphony No. 3 (not number 5): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YlGYxCSDJU
• George Saunders' commencement speech at Syracuse: https://genius.com/George-saunders-graduation-speech-at-syracuse-2013-annotated

Get in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net.

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Simon and Lee don't talk about Adolescene (yet), spend way too long discussing Reacher (again), before discussing whether we become kinder with age.

Things covered: Lee guesses Adolescence, finishing off the Reacher series (and just how bad it is), reading all the Reacher novels, trying to remember Duffy's name from Reacher, the Yankees and the Redsox, Stephen Tin Tin Duffy, founding member of Duran Duran (Lee reads out a bunch of stuff from wikipedia), not talking about Deliverance, becoming kinder with age (or not), a Rolodex, intransigence, Lee's parents getting kinder to Bob and the first time they met her, becoming more ourselves, being comfortable acknowledging our struggles, forgetting people's names, growing into ourselves, getting kinder to ourselves, watching people die, the sense of being connected and part of the human race, the desire to be happy.

Get in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net.

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Simon and Lee talk about the relevance and irrelevance of age as precipitated by a Simple Minds song.

Things covered: Opening a can of beer, being taken out for lunch by a former PhD student, Noble Rot (Lambs Conduit, London), Reacher (the TV show), Anthony Michael Hall (The Breakfast Club), aging and looking aged, Lee and Andrew Child's 'In Too Deep', jumping the shark (again), The Chills, the Dunedin sound, Lee in Portugal again after a heavy pour, Finn and Sophie's visit to Coventry, Simple Minds' 'Don't You Forget About Me', having children versus not having children and the progression of time, not seeing people for a long time, cheque books, very short think pieces on TikTok, Gen X transitioning across so many different media types, Napster, Simon's upcoming visit to Italy, Negroni O'Clock, an empty apartment, a "preventino" or quote for renovation, getting a quote is different from a marriage proposal, Simon going to an online funeral (again) -- the death of his Aunt Adrienne Nolan (RIP).

Get in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net.

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Simon almost got hit by a hearse and as a consequence Lee and Simon discuss the nature of stress.

Things covered: Taking risks on a bike, where humans feel stress, noticing being stressed, degrees of stress, the difference between stress and anxiety, Simon not having headaches, migraines, difference limens, Simon has a panic attack during an Italian lesson, shame and disappointment, Jefrey gives Australian and New Zealand cuisine an 8, Lee on a high with the Falmouth Postgraduate conference, Lee wears his home-knitted scarf, Lee's knitting tension is gorgeous, Lee exceeding expectations (more knitting stuff), becoming expert at things, managing self-expectations, Lee's urge to be liked (food related this time), scrapping out a jam jar, cows with names produce more milk, Lee knitting throughout the entire conversation, Lee going to high-level meetings, advertising for knitting, finding strategies for coping, Lee's first week out of Instagram and just how good it is.

Get in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net.

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