Podcast Updates and Closing Remarks

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Collect one of nine legendary cups with a FIFA World Cup meal. participating McDald's for limited time, whilew suppies last All rights reserve twenty six McDald's at FF World Cup twenty six Ray Band Meta glasses take the friction out of travel. moveove through the world with your hands free and your head up. Hey Meta, where's the nearest metro station? Closest metro to you is Union Square, about three blocks away. Hey Meta, text mom. I'm getting on the train now. Sending message. checkle your itinerary, take calls, and listen to music with open your audio. No digging for your phone, no stopping for a map. Just you and your glasses Ray Ban Meta, Iconic style, meets Meta AI, available at Walmart and other authorized retailers. Eally on Netflix, when is it Sona's turn? Can you return a rove to the rover's return In anwer M this four hundred and seventeen, we had our correspondent wondering what the hell to do with fifty two photos of her baby. Yes, the first year of her baby's life Photographed with an orange dinosaur to a week by week. ye Many people suggested the following, but the first was Swapner Swapner says the very first idea I had was to get a custom printed deck of cards. There are fifty two cards in a deck so you can use each of the pictures and it is a fun, useful item. It is ingenious. I can't believe the number fifty two didn't jump out at us for this. No. And also I love novelty cards. My dad had some erotic ones which I enjoyed very much as a Bine you know what? So did my gndad where we only found them after he died though I guess it was an acceptable way to get porn in like the nineteen sixties, I don't know. fifty two porns. Not including jokers. I wish I'd kept some of my grandma's playing cards. When she died, I inherited her runner up trophy from Linford Bridge Club and her sparkly bridge pens.. And even a cushion that says I only play bridge on days ending in Y. And I thought at first I can't stand that up. I'm not that cushion doesn't represent me, but I kept it because it represented her. But I decided not to keep her cards Eva also comments I've been to quite a few one year old's birthday parties where the parents will make a garland out of the weekly your monthly photos and use it for decoration for the party Yeah That is a lovely idea for that one party. But then you just have someone writing intos of me this saying what do I do with the garland of fifty two baby photos I put together for my one year old's birthday party? So I'm sure it helps in the long run. You add a photo every week to the garland until the garland is a mile long and then the child is releached adulthood. Th then it's ready for the king's golden Jubilee. Anyway, there is plenty more feedback on AMT four hundred one seven, including some of your responses to booze free alcohol and shotgun weddings in the most recent episode of Answer us Back, which is now in your feeds. But in the last episode of Answer us Back, we talked about how your friend Ben didn't listen to Answer us Back until his car forced him to. That's right. And then he was like, o, this was good actually. and we thought who else' fallen one to this folly. I'm telling you now. Listen to answers back. It's a sweet time. Igree. It's very laid back. It's a good hang, as is Petty probleblems. ourur live streaming series. We've got another one of those coming up as well, Sunday, june twenty eighth, mark your calendars. Oh, I will. I very much enjoy those. To join in for that or to watch back the old ones patreon dot com slash answer mee this Shall we take a voice question now from Lewis and Joanna in Swanseie I don't see why we wouldn't Dolly. Hi Helen. Hllen Dolly in the sound man we have a bit of a dilemma We have this neighbour who has just built a makeshift driving range in their back garden, which is adjacent to our living room window And it's rather loud when he hits the golf balls into the net. And it's quite annoying But I suppose he's well within his right to do it but it's just annoying, isn't it? Yeah, it's just very annoying. It's just every so often we just get loud like d. ways. In fact, you're do it now and you may hear it in the background He sort of does it sporadically throughout the day at any time really But he's a working gentleman, I suppose he has the power to do that. Could be retired? No, he's not retired, I see he hiss workking him But basically we just want him to stop. We want him peace and quiet, but confront of him and chatting to him isn't an option because we don't want to do that. there U I understand not wanting to talk because I obviously do things myself being the golf perpetrator in this scenaro rather than the person who's annoyed There are things that I frequently do Yeah, in spite of me kind of knowing that my neighbourors won't enjoy it because I don't want them to say no, I don't ask them So for example, my hot tub, which is I've talked about many times Yes. is an inflatable one hasn't gone up yet for this some for those of you that are interested in this granular detail of my life. When's it going up What's the date So I do typically put it up in mayay half terms, so actually at the very day this episode goes out, might be around the weekend that I begin to put it out, yeah But at the time ofling. Yeah, exactly the inlating has not yet happened. But I never asked them, can I put a hot tub next to my side of the fence Because I know it's a bit noisy and if I ask them, they might say no, but it is on my side of the fence. Equally, their barbecue is right next to the fence, next to my hot tub. So they have to listen to this sound of my hot tub. I have to smell their burning sausages. Oh, yum. We've never discussed this. I love the smell of other people's barbecues The worst thing that I did was And I didn't choose this. We got Sky to come aroundound to install our satellite dish and I wasn't attending to what they were doing. And only afterwards when I looked at what they'd done, did I realize that they'd managed to position the satellite dish essentially poking over our fence and pointing directly into their garden, like a monitoring device Did you put big googly eyes in the middle of it? I did feel bad. I was like that's like they didn't sign up for that. Like we've moved in after them and then we've put up a satellite dish pointing into their garden but we've never mentioned it and everything's fine. So I do think Sometimes it's best just to adjust because you're going to bank this, you know, this annoys you, you'll probably do something that annoys him But I would say, as always really, of course, practically, if you actually want to resolve this, you will have to mention it and your window for doing so is now Like he's done this as I say, knowing you may object And so your window to object is now. you can't object in six months time because you'd be like, I've been doing this for months you could just addd another source of noise to dilute this by which I mean hang upps and wind chimes. and then everybody has noise all the time, including you. But it would drown other golf balls. Well, the reason that some lunatics like wind chimes is because they find that noise pleasurable on some level. Yeah, it's all right. I do think psychologically you can play a trick on yourself. I'm not saying this is like a great long term solution, but if you really don't want to speak to him Train yourself to think of the sound of him hitting the golf ball as something that You enjoy The pitter patter of raindrops on the window Exactly. I compare this to when I used to sleep in a bed with my dad if we were on holiday or something, and his snoring was appalling. It really did sound like a tiger was dying next to you. What I used to do was tell myself, well this is a sign that he is blissfully and vibrantly alive. And how lucky I am to be on holiday with my father. This noise, it asserts the fact that he has life. Now obviously that only goes so far when it's four in the morning and you want to kill him and die yourself. It did help me a little bit through that scenario. So I do think you can, you know, adjust. Yes, that certainly sounds like an adjustment that you made and definitely not an adjustment to becoming a murderer Exactly. yeah. How do you think this conversation should be handled if they do summon up the will to have it? Oh, you've got to turn up at his house wearing full Bill Murray clashing colours to play a round of golf and have the conversation that way It like I assume since you're doing it in my garden, effectively that you wanted me to join in. Here I am Whse rounds first? If either of you were musical, you could treat this as percussion and then be out in your garden playing like a I know a Hurdy Girdy along with him That's very off beat though isnt? In instrument of your choice? I don't think the golf playing is going to be rhythmic think it would be an Avantard rhythm but I was taking inspiration from you, Martin, when we had the noisy sex neighbours, which vintage listeners of answered me this will remember. Whenever you heard them firing up the Barbecue of Lust, you started playing the final countdown by Europe. Yeah, that was more to send a message to them than to participate Musically You didn't play along with their ro No, no. I was just trying to subtly be like We can hear you climaxing, but in a way that wasn't knife through the door. Did theyjaculate after exactly three minutes and thirty five seconds Here's a question from Chris in County Durham, who says Helen answ me this. What is the origin of bumper in phrases like a bumper edition. It seems to indicate something unusually large, but where does the phrase come from? Well had that sense of things that are large in a few hundred years ago, like it does with a bump on the head. like something that grows is what that meant. And so bumper probably came from that. In the sixteen seventies, bumper appeared to mean a glass filled to the brim like a beer or something So from there, took a while, but it then came to mean anything that's unusually large, like crops, I think it was originally And then there's lots of other words that sort of meant the same like swappper and thumper, thacker, spanker, whacker, whaler and Yanker. But I think Yanker was specifically a big lie. I had a look on waterstones. com shortly before we started recording to see if you can still buy bumper books and there is A bumper book of cryptic crosswords, there is a bumper book of peeanuts, as in Charles Schultz, not the snack But also like popular are kids' characters bumper books. So there's like a bluey bumper book and a peepper Pigs super bumper coloring book and I think. It wouldn't be called Ppper Pigs Yanker, would it Spanker. Pepper pigs banking book. Peer Pig's whacker I think the Times sppanker cryptic crossword book would sell. On cars, it makes sense, Bumper, doesn't it? And I wonder if the two things are fed into each other because it's stillilling common currency for that as in a bumper absorbs the shock of bumping into things So it's still in you know use as a word, whereas spanker and Yanker not so much. The spanker of a car has been phased out with electric vehicles. This is from Nigel in Austin, Texas, who says Helen answered me this, what were Hitler mouaches known as? Before Hitler came along. Were they ever considered attractive? There's you know a kink for everything. And has anyone ever looked good with one? Maybe Charlie Chaplin? Was his even real? No actually I know about Charlie Chaplin. Yeahah it wasn't real, was it? I didn't know and I feel so naive. N have know. But I mean, what a good idea to create a famous character and then all you need to do is take off your hat and your fake noustache and you can go around incognito Yeah, fascinating. We did a today in history about him and the moment when he first put the costume on for the tramp because it was all second handand stuff that he got in a Hollywood basement, basically And the idea of the mache was to age him. It works. And that was because He was only twenty five years old and he was playing it was called the tramp because we literally drunken vagrant, like used to be marketed then as Chaplain the Inebriates. That was the character. So it was just to look old. And also that particular mouache style was so that you could still see his facial express. Yeah. But there's this video of him in his studio in nineteen seventeen like showing off to some visitors, of him gluing on the mouache and then taking it off Although it goes on like in just one gesture, taking it off is just him pulling off lots of little bits. It's really disgusting. goosh. But he does look a lot younger and a lot hotter. Oh my God. Soor I've just seen that ph of Charlie Chaplin with that mistake. He looks like Rdolph Niv f now. Yeah, right ne extra fun fact about Chaplin A actually before we get out to Hitler The tramp moustache banned for British troops serving in the trenches. You couldn't have one Well, was that because of the rumors why Hitler first got it, which I don't think are true, which is that like you needed to trim your mouache, otherwise your gas mask wouldn't make a tight seal O ha. Oh, I love that. No, I hadn't heard that. I think it was because he was the world's most famous person And the British Army didn't want to be ridiculed, basically. The British Army didn't want their soldiers to be replicating a clown The name of this mustache before Hitler had it is toothbrush moustache, sometometimes also the one third moustache And it all became popular amongst Americans first in the late nineteenth century. I mean, I say first when it was a big muststache trend, presumably at some point before that someone had had the thoughts. to give it a go. No, but it's worth worth paying respect to mouache trends in terms of impact back in the day. Like I feel like since then there's not been a mouache trend that's really been a trend because it only by definition affect people who have mastaches, which is like nobody. But then everyone did, right? So big deal Yeah. So in the nineteenth century a lot of the prevalent moustache styles, well late nineteenth century were like quite big, quite flamboyant. And so this one taking off in the late nineteenth century was like, look how easy to maintain this is in comparison. You don't want to be a flamboyant mandy. You want to be tidy and hygienic. From the states, it became a trend in Germany around the turn of the twentieth century, but then very controversial because they' like newfangled American thing. And there's lots of articles from the time of people complaining about it because There, the Kaiser Bart or the Kaiser's moustache was the popular star, which is one of those like big sort of sweeping ones that curves up a bit Walrusy maches. Yeah, I mean, slightly less hefty than the Walrus, but yeah, very much in the same school. and that is what Hitler had before the toothbrush. I cannot imagine Hitler with a Walrus' mouache. Can you doing those speeches and everything? That's such a weird thought. No need to imagine it, Ollie. There are pictures. Then there are these unsupported claims about why he switched to the toothbrush, the World War One gas mask seal thing. According to his secretary, he thought it made his nose look smaller But it also might have just been he was following And he wanted to be this site younger exciting new politician rather than like one with this nineteenth century Kaiser style mustoustache. Yeah, but you don't want to be influenced by America if you're Adolf Hitler. Oh, I think you do I think you absolutely do. Do you why Oh I mean, Nazism got a lot from American and white supremacism, I think was He was quite a big fan of America. and Henry Ford circulating antiemitic propaganda, all that stuff. Yeah, but it's all about building a proud German nation. Do you want people looking look at you thinking he looks like a yank? When he got that mouache, it was at least a decade after people had been complaining about the trend in Germany. he got it probablyably in the mid to late nineteen teens. And so he wasn't The adolf Hitler yet. but the trend had also probably detached a bit from its American origins But then when Nigel asks, has anyone ever looked good in one, I think in a post Hitler world, it is really hard to assess it without the association. And Richard Hring, old podcast Associate rival, He did a show years ago called Hitler Moustache where he grew a Hitlerouache and had to wear it for a year the time that he was touring the show and people treated him really differently. Yes. You just have to see it through the prism of Hitler, don't you on Maell from Sparks have a Hitler moustache for a while. In nineteen seventy four, Sparks did play a gig in West Germany and he was wearing a Hitler moustache in that, so interesting choice Martin, when you shave in the mirror Have you ever D m. Just for yourself, just for your own entertainment. You know when you sort of modeling different ideas? No I guess I must have done in a transitional stage. I've Experimented with a lot of very ugly facial hair combinations, like just a full mustouache and nothing else. I've done like the Abe, you know, where you've got a beard, but no mustouache. I've done every combination. Yeah ye. But have you done the hiller? Yeah ye I guess. Yeah, I have. I've wanted to see I with a Hiller mouache and now I know and even if it was acceptable to go to a barber and say, I'd like Adolf. I wouldn't choose that style for myself. Last time I was shaving I was in front of the mirror. I took off the sides first And then before I took off the mache, I had the Craig David Gy. Nice bring myself to actually wear that as a style. Oh come on. Wh should create David have all the fun? But I was looking at myself thinking This actually suits me. This is actually quite good but I just can't I can't leave the bathroom with this. I can't be A forty five year old with a goatey It's such annooy' look, isn't it? It just fell so hard out of fashion. I learnnt in the course of researching this that by the time of his death, most of Hitler's teeth were gold Oh. I don't know why that stuck in my mind I've got some gold teeth. Do you know? Yeah, and the dentist said to me, I don't know why he said this. like I'll be dead. But he basically said, just remember, you've got those in there. I mean they're actually worth a lot more that we wouldn't fit those now. because You've got about five hundred pounds worth of tooth in there. I was like what do you want me to do about that information? Just h them out your mouth and sell them. Probably more because gold prices have been going up. Yeah. apparently gold caps in the nineties was like a standard thing to do and now isn't and mine they still exist in my mouth. So Do they look cool? No they look like teeth. You need a mirror to see the gold bit in my teeth, but apparently I have them. God, what a waste? They're just on the cps. Yeah. ye, exactly yeah. What a waste of a gold tooth I've got a question about your question answer me this podcast at G m. all trusted to a m this podcast at Google Mailord Answe This is sponsored by the London Review of Books. whichich is a phenomenal publication with an incredible range of subjects in it. So you'll go from like three thousand words on Cicero to three thousand words on Britney Spears. Oh yeah. they treated seriously and written by you know great writers. Which I think is how we like to do things as well, just vasillating wildly from pop culture to something ancient through something serious or moral. I agree. I think the variety is reflective of our style. And also unlike us, the LRB has toad bags. Oh, such a good tote bag. I mean, I know I shouldn't say subscribe to the LRB so you get the tote bag, but I mean I looked like the coolest intellectual on the beach You are. I'm sure you're the coolest intellectual on any beach, Oolly I love a paper magazine And more and more the rarer they get. And in this sort of fast paced world that we're in now, that kind of lean back experience I am all here for. And it's sort of simultaneously like luxurious. but also to the point. Yeah, this life can be yours as well because you can get a six month print and digital subscription to the London Review of books and a free tote bag. will just twelve pounds. That's right Subscribe now at lrb d. me slash answer. That's lrb. m forward slash answer Eczema is unpredictable but you can flare less with eGS, a once monthly treatment for moderate to severe eczema After an initial four month or longer dosing phase, about four in ten people taking EBGLS achieve it relf and glare are almost glare skin at sixteen weeks. And most of those people maintain skin that's still more cleare at one year, with monthly dosing.GlS L Givesap LBKZ a two hundred fifty milligram per two milliliter injection is a prescription medicine used to treat adults and children twelve years of age and older who weigh at least eighty eight pounds or forty kilograms with moderate to severe eczema. Also called a topopic dermatitis that is not well controlled with prescription therapies used on the skin or topicals, or who cannot use topical therapies. EBGlS can be used with or without topical corticosteroids. Don't use if you're allergic to EBGlS. Allergic reactions can occur that can be severe, eye problems can occur. Tell your doctor if you have new or worsening eye problems. You should not receive a live vaccine when treated with EBGLS. Before starting EBGlS, tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection Askate doctor about Evglus, and visit EvglS. Lillily d. com or call whenin it hundred Lillily R X or one in hundred five four five five nine seven nine Here's a question from Brent and Vari in Ithaca, New York, B wayay of New Zealand, that's Brent, Scotland. Aavari and Canada both So put that on your big map, Ollie. Gins in all those places. Well, I assume Brent is the narrator of this because the email opens, Vari and I have been listening to your show forever. or at least a very long time. been meaning to ask you this for almost that whole time. Wow, Omy. Answer me this. This is the question that has been burning through them for however long What with Decunters They are an absolute staple of nineteen sixties and seventies office decor on British tele. but show up even in shows set more recently.. Maybe it's a sign of our classlessness, or absence from the halls of government, or maybe just because our bosses do so little day drinking in the office. We've seen decanters for sale in both thrift stores and department stores, but we don't think we've ever encountered them in use in the wild. I don't think I've been offered a drink from a decanter. I actually come to think of it apart from it like a black tie dinner. My dad was very big into decanters, so I have been decanted. Right. But then he was a man who like the seventies were really when he got a lot of his ideas As far as we can tell S Brenton Vari Decanters seem to usually be about the same size as a bottle of whisky or brandy, so why bother pouring it into another vessel? Is it to disguise the shit quality of the whisky or brandy in there Or is there another reason Should we have a liquor decanter in our home? Our offices What are we missing out on? Right. Okay, well, I think you should have one if you have a home bar. Like if you have all the equipment, it's nice to have decanter because it looks good. 'causeuse it looks cool. Which is the only point really in having a home bar because you can just make a drink by pouring stuff from a bottle into a glass without one. But it looks cool. I mean, to have a bar cart, that looks awesome. I don't a drink. Yeah. But I envy that We had a decanter from the charity shop that I kept Martin's bubble bath in. That's brilliant. It's good. Yeah, decanters aren' expensive becauseuse people chuck them out, they go to charity shops and they are beautiful. and you know there's no reason not to have one aesthetically However, The question is,, what's the point of it So that depends on which fluid we're discussing There is a point to having a decanter for wine to oxygenate it, right and let the sediment sediment. So ye. well both things, but the air rating is controversial, the sediment isn't. Oh, but if you know how to decount the wine properly, Which you know, it can be like a three day process to do it properly but. Wha, Jeez I know. it's just a drink. In in the seventies they didn't have internet so to make your own fun I've So if you don't have to put it into the glass properly Then that can remove the sediment and that is a real thing with wine Then there's the aeration thing which is, as I say, more controversial because Most like serious wine writers say there is no like science behind that. There's no reason why exposing it to the air does anything and anyway, wine iss a really broad category, It depends on the grape and it depends where it's from and it depends how where you rate it and It gets aerated anyway when you pour it into a glass. But at the same time, you then read a load of wine critics who say, ye, well, I understand that the scienceces there's not behind it, but I know that this wine tasted better on day two than it did on day one, so I think there is something to it So it's a bit more divisive, but the data isn't there to say, yes, you should aerate your. You can just pour wine into a glass without the decanter But yah some people do swear by the aeration Also, some people decant champagne to reduce bubbles Prevent whis popping. Reduce bubbles. I know. Bummer. What's wrong with themill? Maybe they I prefer flat lemonade so why not the shampers? Exactly But then we come to the whiskey. and indeed any spirit, then it is purely aesthetic Because spirits do not react in the same way to oxygen as wine. R So as much as there's anything to do with aeration with wine, there is nothing with spirits. There is no difference. I suppose you could also maybe disguise how much you were drinking by just topping up the decanter. Yes, it's a bit like the a hip flask in that sense, isn't it? Yeah. If you buy the cheapest shit and you put it in a decanter, then psychologically people will be more well disposed to it, I think Yes, and actually you know, obviously in researching this, I ended up on the pages of a lot of different whiskey brands And they've got blogs in which they, surprisingly to me, expound the virtues of the aesthetic of the decanter and say A beautul. And I was thking, whyy are you doing this? Be Are they selling decunters? No. I thought surely you want your bottle of whiskey on someone's shelf, but then I realized it's because you don't mix brands do you? So once you're gonna have a Jameson whiskey in your decanty, you're going to top it out with more Jamerson, aren't you? I think it's that Okay which is ironic because It was the branding of whiskey mass branding that itself killed off decanters because people wanted to show off in the eighties their yuppy brand of whiskey. They wanted people to know, o, I spent fifty dollars on this bottle rather than twenty. And that's why you had the label, because you can't see label in a decanter. But a lot of decanters will come with like a little plaque that you can hang around its neck to show what booze lies within Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, like a military tag. Like Josh Hartnett would wear in the nineties. I just wonder whether The very presence of decanters in these sort of Hollywood movies and then in things like M Men that you're talking about is what enshrined them as an aspirational object I wonder if, you know the liquid is in that so that they don't have to make a fake brand. Yes. exactly. You know it's easier to just pop it and decigant to them to Greek something. Yeah, quite likely What I did learn through all of this though is if you are going to get a decanter to decant your whiskey for aesthetic purposes, don't use lead crystal as it can leak lead into your whiskkey Do they still sell lead crystal for that reason? I suppose like aniques, but It's the thstal thing. Yeah, you might get one thinking it looks nice, but all those people are dead Okay, good tip Hi Helen and Alie. this is Dan from London, longtime listener, first time caller So not first time emailer I was in a pub. the weekend with my family out in the countryside and There's a condo machine in the jent. And that got me thinking it's a long time since I saw a condo machine in a pub toilet. So Helen Ninali answer me this What happened to all the condom machines? Now I will account for every single one. Well, I think a reason why a lot of these machines have disappeared is because they They're run by third parties. like All vending machines are usually run by a third party. And if they're not making enough money, those companies aren't going to keep them there because there's maintenance, they've got to go and refill them I think a lot of them didn't convert to card payments, but loads of people don't carry cash anymore. I find this generally quite odd. I don't know why there aren't more vending machines that take contactless cards. I know there are a few, but when you think how many used to be out there with cash They haven't all been replaced by contactless cards and I don't know why that is. Just a lot of hassle, I I can only imagine that like online ordering has just killed a lot of the market for the impulse by at all. Maybe if people just aren't going out enough, but apparently it was also easier I was reading an account by a guy that was called Mr. Condom or something that He was a rubber man and his father was also a rubber man. And their business was condom machines and he was saying, it used to be loads easier get independent businesses to agree to have one, then it is big change. So he was working in the US and he was used able to get a mum and pup diner. to take one, but you can't do that with Dennies. like you just can't make a deal with these massive businesses. And I was wondering if that's similar with pubs because a lot of them are owned now by a big parent company But it's also people are far less shamed about buying these things now. so Well, they're in supermarkets, aren't they? And there are self checkouts, so that helps. Yeah. Whereas originally the condom machines, which I think the first one was in nineteen twenty eight and it was installed by one Julius From. who was a Polish Jewish immigrant to Berlin And he had to work early because his parents died, I think when he was fifteen and he had six siblings. and their business was rolling cigarettes at the time, and then that got phased out because they had machines to do that So He studied chemistry and he got really interested in rubber And the condoms at the time were still either made of animal products like gut, or they were effectively kind of like wrapping a tyre around your penis and they had this big seam. And he was like, that's not very good So he invented this method of basically dipping a glass penile mold. into liquefied rubber. And that's still the method they use And his company was hugely successful. He sold three packs in a stripey box, and each box contained a little piece of paper which said, please discreetly hand me a packet of three Froms act, which was what they were called. And then you gave that to the salesperson. Oh yeah, because you had to do everything behind the counter, God No wonder the machinees took off Yeah. and at the time, Germany actually was quite a liberal sexual culture but he still couldn't sell them as contraceptives They could only be sold as preventing sexually transmitted infections because they didn't want the birth rate to be lowered, which you know it's a confused outlook, I suppose, condom wise But he had this hugely successful business and he was like making twenty four million condoms a year. They were shipped worldwide. And then Nazis came to power and his business, he was basically forced to sell it peanuts. it was worth like thirty million euros and he sold it for a pittance to Hermann Guring's godmother who then traded a castle with Guring for the condom business. and from fled to England and then four days after V day he died. He was really upset to leave the business behind because he loved running the business and he was like, when the war's over, I can start up my condom business again and then he fucking died. So did the company survive and carry on benefiting the Gering family? That feels like a confused picture, doesn't it? Stop STIs, but you'll never guess who the money's going to. I think it ended up in Soviet hands immediately after the war and then it went through a bunch of owners, I think a bunch of name changers and then From's sons had to pay quite a lot of money to get the rights to their own name back. So I think it is still trading in some form. It's kind of a sad story, but really interesting one, But he invented the condom machine in nineteen twenty eight, kind of as marketing for the product. Oh whoa, whoa, whoa. The same guy who invented the condom invented the condom machine. The seamless condom. Yeah. Jee. He invented the condom machine That's rare. He invented the condoms in nineteen twelve, the machine in nineteen twenty eight and he was like This will make people more interested in the product and he put them in public toilets, A little out of sight. and it was because condom ads were banned. And he also sold a couple of other rubber products like sponges. and so people knew that if they saw an ad for from spponges in a shop, that is somewhere they could buy the condoms. But then the Nazis banned the condom machines from public spaces except for military buildings It's a novelty purchase then as well as a sexual health purchase, isn't it? Like, obviously there's the market who want to need that product, but there's also just people who are like I wonder what that's like. Yeah, Ph wank. Blowing up as a balloon, seeing what the wrapping' like. I think in the twenties and thirties, the products were good in the condom machines and then at some point in like sixties to seventies they kind of got overtaken by ones that are not very good condoms and To be fair, there were other ways buy condoms at the time and during the seventies condom use It was at a low and it came back with AIDS crisis yeah, I think condom machines got the reputation for a condom that you could do stupid stuff with rather than prevent disease transmission and pregnancy. Yeah exactly. so as much as I've seen these condom machines really in the last like fifteen years, they're in service stations still. nowadays that the machine is like Half other things like baldness, pills and Viagarra pills and stuff in the men's Loo. Oh right. I heard cock rings as well in machines, which sure surprise me peripheries, let's say But still there are still condoms in there, but like from memory, the kind of condom it's never DRX Either a novelty one? like, you know, X X, XL condoms for men with massive cocks and then you give it to someone as a joke Yeah, or something with a novelty flavor. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yes, yes, bubble gum flavor. Yeah. Or just something that looks really old and shit and you think,m is that still going to be a functioning product? People can't really trust them as products. So it's sort of sef perpetuating, isn't it that The condom machines are not a good place to get condoms anymore. I presume but I don't have sex at service stations. I mean, maybe after you've had a salad from Ion, it's exactly what you need is a bubblecum condom. Who knows? I might be missing out. Before Julius From had the machine, you got your condoms sort of like going to a department store and saying, can I see the brooches? and they give you a velvet tray with the broches on? That's how they presented the condoms. quite hard to buy them discreetly I'm pleased that I'm of a generation that's never had to have a conversation with anyone about point of purchase. I think as we've discussed before, like Particularly men in their particularly sixties and above don't seem to give a shit about anything anymore. I don't know what point everyone as they approach middle age gets to that kind of watershed. I feel like I'm nearly there.. But definitely in my twenties, I did do the thing of like, you know, I was just in a branch of boots. And it was a normal thing for someone in their twenties to buy I would make a point of only buying condoms when I had other products to buy so that the basket had other things in it. whichich is inconvenient if you are doing a lot of fucking that day because you don't need the vitamins But you've bought them because you know, you don't want to have to Present yourself as an audacious shager. A sex hover? Yeah, exactly But whereas now wouldnt it wouldn't ocur me that it a thing. Like if I needed condoms I'd just go into boots and buy some condoms. I genuinely wouldn't be embarrassed about that. Would you go to the human checkout and everything? Yeah, I think so. Yeahah, yeah. I suppose maybe where it might be embarrassing is if like there's some delay You know, like sometimes someone's trying to scan their advantage card and the manager has to get called over. If you're there holding clearly just a packet of of rubber Johnies. I'd be aware then that I'm esssentially holding a comedy prop in a comedy sketch setup It's that awareness that would worry me more than actually being embarrassed built my website, he did his best. It's pixillly and spammy and nobody's impressed. To be fair, he died twelve years ago, he can't update it whilst he's at rest. Not that he would have anyway. Well with Squarespace there is nothing to upgrade ever for their sites update themselves. Isn't that clever I wish my uncle could see it, but now he's gone forever. M loved websites. He would have died twice. Thank you very much Squarespace for sponsoring on to Me this. Here's a thing I love about Squarespace, number two hundred fifty million. When you upload a file, Like if you're illustrating a blog post with a photograph, for example. Yes familiar with that process? It gets saved in your asset library So you can use it again multiple times across your site without having to re upload every time you want it that simimple as it sounds It's the kind of thing that other websites don't do and it just saves you, you know, minutes every time you're writing. Yes, I do personally find that very useful Ollie every time I make an illusionist Because the cover art you for the covert. Yes, that's right.. There it is. Asset library. Thankk you, Squarespace. Becauseuse a lot of people listening who don't run the R websites yet might be thinking, oh, what's the big deal? You haven't dipped your toe into the murky AF waters. that can be presented. But you know, with Squarespace, you don't have to go near those waters at all. No. You can keep your feet dry, merk free That's right, go and play around with a two week free trial at squarespace dot com slash answer. And then when you're ready to launch, you can get a ten percent discount off your first purchase of a website or domain using our code Answer. Hi, Helen and Ollie, me from Buckinghamshire media How do non smoking actors the season smokers so convincingly And what do they use in cigarettes they're not real ones At plays at My school, people did smoke real cigarettes, and they thought that was very cool I had one of those Talcum powder joke shhop cigarettes when I was in a smoking play and that doesn't look like a real cigarette at all because it's puffing out talalcum powder which you can sell. And also it's doing that at the wrong time. Was it supposed to be a sexy cigarette? What character were you playing? Ollie I just turned forty six. I'm finally the same age as a character I've played in a play. I've never played a character younger than forty five. And Eugo was playing like, old character. You're playing the granny? Not the old people can't be sexy. Exactly. yeah, you can have a sexy granny. But I was never cast as a sexy granny. I'm trying to pitch that becausecause the way the smoking works is you draw smoke into your luns and then breathe it outir Yes. So did you have to like Take a lot of talk compagent into your mouth and then spit it out afterwards. Nowone that the cigarette is just puffing out the smoke in an unrealistic way, but the screen cigarettes that people use are Usually herbal. The point is that they don't contain nicotine so that they're non addictive because the actors have to smoke so many of them because of all the takes. So sometimes theyll have to smoke fifteen or twenty and you only see one. Now what I was surprised by was that these are still really bad for you. They still contain tar and they're still carcinogenic Buts They do contain herbs, like a proprietary mixture according to Honey Rses Herbal smoes, which one of the leaders of the prop cigarette of marshmallow plant, red clover plant flowers and rose petals with the addition of fruit juices and honey. See, if anything was going to get me into smoking, it would be a marshmallow cigarette. Just a s'ore. a little tubulous sore. P' probably get marshmallow vapes. Tubula'mores was my Coldfield's fourth album. I don't know if you've hadard it John Hamm has talked about having to smoke loads of these on the set of Madmen because his character was always smoking. he said it tasted like a mix of pot and soap It's interesting as well the different legalities around smoking that there are in each country because obviously as well, you know a lot of these movies that they're filming are actually filmed in the UK for the tax break. And I was interested to learn that in Britain, you are allowed to smoke a cigarette on set or on stage in a theater It is a place of work, even though you're not allowed to smoke in a place of work. If there is an artistic justification for it. You have to apply to the cououncil You're not allowed to smoke it in the rehearsal only during the performance. So on the stage might be the first time the actor has ever lit a cigarette, but I presume not And it must be extinguished immediately upon leaving the stage. R. But if it is artistically necessary to the story can get permission to smoke a real cigarette In England, in Northern Ireland it's yes to the herbes, but no to the Reels. Okay. And in Scotland, it's none at all You can only vape, which is really weird if the play set in, you know, eighteen fifty. Well then you can have the t pile of cigarettes and people can just suspend their bloody disbelief.. That's how they're olded in Victorian times just puffing out the t. Also there's the thing around children too. so So this is why Faggin doesn't light up in Oliver evenven though it would be relevant for the character And it would be legal England There's children on stage. so child performance licenses could be revoked if the performance is detrimental to their health. It was also really interesting, I thought that in the US in like nineteen fifties They were smoking real ones because a lot of the programs were sponsored by those tobacco companies. But also everyone was smoking real ones all the time everywhere, children, taxi drivers. Animals probably. And then in the sixties, when they finally acknowledged the link between smoking and cancer That was when the sort of villains smoke cigarettes narratives crept in. And then I think in nineteen seventy one was it? there was a congressional ban on all tobacco ads, which I think included in the shows. But that was in the US. because I remember s In our childhoods in the UK, you know, Yeahah, Hamtate cigar ad Hamil' are a classic Marulborough, yeah Itsny isn't it?ike I can name twenty bras of cigarette, even though I've never smoked, whereereas my children literally have no idea Even the really big ones they've never heard of Silkut. don't know what it I had the good fortune to be holding a microphone on an interview for William B. Davis. to the cigarette smoking manan. in the X files, one of the sort of major and he had quit smoking at the time they started shooting and he was only an instidental character. So he wass like, well, I'll go along and I'll smoke regular cigarettes and then after a few shoots, he realized he was looking forward to the filming because he meant he could smoke. So at that point he was like, okay, look, I got go over to Herbel cigarettes and apparently the crew hated the days when he was on set because the smell was made by Hble cigarettes it's much more unpleasant than regular cigarettes. And of course he'd be just chain smoking these things On a big broad mainstream show like that now, you wouldn't have any character smoke would you? Well I don't know I'm saying that stranger things, would you? 'use it's in the eighties, mayaybe you would. Do like what's he called the Demigorggan smoke or something? He's got a big chimney mouth. Yeah We have another question of Screen magic from Will from Cardiff, who says, I'm watching Jersey Shaw for the first time. Wow. In twenty twenty six. Exciting. And as well as being an amazing snapshot of premium reality TV in twenty ten, I'm wondering, Ollie answers me this How do they record the cast speaking when they're in clubs There appears to be generic unlicensed music in the background. But realistically, they would be playing pop music in the club. Most voice audio is a bit unclear and needs subtitles but doesn't seem to have any Nelly Fatado under it. So Ollie answers me this, how do editors or sound technicians make that work I've got news for you will Everything about Jersey Shw didn't really happen or it wouldn't happen like that if the cameras weren't there. These people don't actually live together apart from the fact they're on an empty three reality show together And so the whole thing's contrived when they go outside and chat on their rooftop deck that wasn't on top of their house either. it was on top of the t shirt shop next door. And so it is the case that in fact, yes, they did film in nightclubs with no music playing at all. Oh wow. That's how you record audio You know, in Hollywood movies where you're in a nightclub, which is often why if you watch, particularly children's films, I've had to sit through a lot of sh kids films where there's a nightcl scene like in Sooy Doo, there's one and if you're looking for it, you can see it instantly The extras aren't dancing to anything. They're dancing to nothing, which is why they look so shit at dancing. Because they need to rec the audio from the actors and then obviously they need to add the track afterwards so they can edit it properly. Yeah. And those earwear ear pieces are expensive, so I'd imagine most of the extras are not going to get one to pipe some music in. Well in Hollwood films, the thing they can do is they sort play a beat that matches what they know is going to be on the final track. Yeah, just get down to the metronome. Exactly. So if the beat is then picked up on the actors's mics, at least it matches. and at least they're going to be in time with the audio they're going to put on afterwards So in reality TV, it's a bit different, obviously to a Hollywood film. But I think that beat soundtrack idea probably is something that they did on Jerseyhore because although they're in real nightclubs when they're being filmed They were usually in, certainly in the later series when these people were basically celebrities, and people wanted to go to the club to be on TV themselves and or shag them. They had to film them to stop them being mobbed in like a separate VIP area as it is.. everyone who's there is effectively acting like the producers would scout for women that wanted to be in the scene with the guys flirting with them And so the whole thing's contrived. There's a massive crew there. you've got bright lights and boom mics everywhere, these pres sccouted extras So it's not really a genuine nightclub. Is it like eleven in the morning as well I think they would film in the evening, but it would be weeknights. and you know, New Jersey doesn't have a lively nighttime scene on a Tuesday evening, particularly. Hey, we don't know. So yeah, you take a club that's basically empty, you fill it with family and friends of the crew, you play either a beat or nothing. and that's how you fit, but also like They know the scene they want and the shots they want and that might only take really twenty minutes out of the four hours they're there. So there's still plenty of time for them to drink and dance and you can film that too And you can have music for that bit, just not the bit way you're going to use the sound. Right. So they would film like cutaways and establishing but a bit more club. Yeah, prerecisely. Also, it's interesting what you say about the unlicensed music It's worth remembering, Jersey Shore was it wasn't just MTV's biggest hit in twenty ten It was the biggest hit on American television for that target demographic of whatever it was eighteen to thirty four, I guess. On both broadcast and cable TV it was bigger than American Idol for that demographic didn't struggle to find songs. You know, record labels wanted their songs on Jersey Shore They would have known in some of those scenes what song they were going to have soundtracking it, because they were fighting over themselves to get the song on it. So that wasn't really the isue. It's just the technical thing of how to record the dialogue Yes I mean, a mix of different techniques, but none of it really genuine filming in nightclubs with loud music blaring. Apart from, there were a series of Jersey Sh where they like went to Italy and stuff like that where they are in genuine nightclubs. They do genuinely have a night out But you can sort of tell they're filmed differently those sequences. They don't get it from every angle. It is just two of the lads go out and, you know vomit or get arrested. you can sort of tell if you're looking carefully that the music isn't music that would have been playing in the background at the time because they're in a real club but it's not of the stage sequences. You know I kind of love wondering what people go through to film these things like a lot of the dating shows where they're paired off and then they get sent on a date to a restaurant that is otherwise totally empty because it's clearly first thing on a Monday morning when the restaurant is not open and you think How on Earth I mean, none of them seem to really hit it off outside of the studio anyway, but of course you can't, like that is atmospherically unhelpful. I agree. Yeah. and I think also like it's perpetuating myths for the audience at home, which you see in dramas as well used to really annoy me I used to watch the OC when they'd have so many crucial scenes. you know, where a relationship was falling apart or getting together or being discussed whichich would take place at a gig. Yes That was a big deal in the OC wasn't it? Yeah, I imagine again, it was the record labels trying to get on a popular show for young people, right? So you'd have a popular band. the killers would be playing in the background or something. That conversation would not be possible whilst that music is happening. Why are you pretending that it is? The reality would be like, What? Who are you talking What She said what? And they never did that. And that's just so Olllyman Wood was. Realistic nightclub conversations. I'm going to the toilet You know what? I'm never expecting you to watch Twin Peaks The Return, but that had a music scene at the end of every episode and people did sit politely and watch the band. Well, that's as it should be Maybe that is what we' going to get you into the work of David Lynchard long last Hello I'm Wilson ball from Castaway and here is my song about my favorite Balls Football, rugby ball, volleyball ball tennis ball, Zoe ball, basket ball Netball, handball, debutant ball. Bowling ball, baseball Big sweaty boo Answer mee Sports Day a marathon of fun and games out now at answerehispodcast dot com slash albums Wishing you could be there live for the big game, soaking up the atmosphere in the crowd Too often, life gets busy, or the price holds you back Priceeline is here to help you make it happen. With millions of deals on flights, hotels, and rental cars, you can go see the game live. Don't just dream about the trip. book it with prriceline. Download the prriceline app or visit priceline. comot Actual prices may vary limited time offer This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome, that's new. It can help you with practically anything on the web, like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a fifty page restoration block, or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks. Gemini and Chrome is here for it. Ready to make anything online makes sense? There's no place like Chrome. Check responsse is setup required compatibility and availability varies eighteen plus And we finished today's episode with this from Andrew in Melbourne, who says A few years ago, I decided I should read all the books on my shelves before buying any new ones Can I just say, I ablored that decision, Andrew. I made the same decision myself and couldn't fulfill it because I kept buying more books than I'm not going to read. Well done I'm about halfway through this now, he says. It's aboutout two hundred down, two hundred to go. That's a lot of reading. I read three books a year, so you're winning. I've read all sorts of books with various levels of enthusiasm and I've got something out of all of them. But I have now reached one that I cannot bring myself to read Atlas Shrugged by Anne Ryand. I bought it when I was a student. he says on the principle that I should read things I disagree with to understand different viewpoints and develop my own opinions. Oh that's outmoed thinking, Andrew, but I don't do that anymore. I feel like I'm exposed to people's shit opinions constantly and I don't need to go seeking them out. That's easy to say, he says when you're an uemployed student But I'm now a time poor full time worker And the idea of wading through over one thousand pages of amphetamine fueled libertarian screed in my free time before bed is not particularly appealing. If it were shorter, he says, I'd read it If it were less ideologically repugnant to me, I'd read it, but the combination of length and ideological repugnance is a deal breaker. It's also badly written, should I already know he says the principles of Ran's phhilosophy, Back than you BA ons majoring in politics and philosophy Helen answered me this Should I stick to my resolution to read every book I own? or follow Ran's principle that the proper moral purpose of one's life is the pursuit of one's own happiness and thus for the sake of my happiness, not read her book. And if I don't read it, what should I do with it? If I'm not going to read it, it doesn't seem worth keeping it, but I'd feel bad bidding any book and it seems unkind to leave this weighty tom in one of my local little libraries or second handand bookshops waiting to fall on some unsuspecting innocent lookingoo for a bit of light reading. that's a problem. Yeah. just dump it somewhere. You can always leave a note in it. It's not mine campph. I mean, there are people that would enjoy it. Someone who's going to pick that up in a bookhop knows what it is. I think it's fine. You can donate it. That's fine. Martin actually met someone who did enjoy it. We were in a local brunch spot and he was wearing his t shirt that says, never trust a man who reads Aine Rand. Which is a good principle to go by. And the server was like, Oh, why not? She said, whyy not? And I said, because she's awful. And the server said Do they think she's a brilliant satirist in the Mould of Kurt Vonnegher These are not conversations I have in the coffee shop. My conversations is like, Ollie with a Y. Not wanting to manplain a book by a woman to a woman, I said, o I'd never looked at it that way. But She's not a satirist. she just believes all this terrible stuff and she's a poor writer and doesn't understand human beings or hate to write character But I just thought if I said that I'm going to see my total tip So I sort of went Hmm, o. I mean, I'm genuinely like, I'm glad she read that book and was like, o, this person must be a satirist because these views are so stupid and abhorrent But yeah there's a lot of stuff that happens in atmosphherphere that suggests that It is a parody, but it's not a parody. You complained mightily whilst reading it I mean, D' be bits where this guy someone stops a guy on his way to out the car to interview him or just get a soundbite and he'll talk for like fifteen pages about why money is good. It's just like, come on. I suppose the very simple answer to the question though, is surely Try the first chapter Try the first chapter. No'tother it's a waste of time It Ns a waste It's a waste of time. It's never a waste of time too decide for yourself is whether something is engaging and entertaining to you It's boring. I' just read the clliff notes. like she's so long winded about it. Because of all my years as a book reviewer I always found that if I wasn't enjoying a book within a hundred pages or a third of the runtime, it never picked up And so as a result, I'm an advocate of people just not reading books they don't particularly want to read because there's not enough time to read all the books you want to read. So I think free yourself, Andrew by not opening this book at all, because I think that would then be changing the parameters that you've set yourself. I think if you get rid of the book before reading it, then it still kind of counts in your promise to yourself. But as soon as you start reading it, I think you are committed because of the challenge that you've set. But if you get rid of it then it's not on your bookself there you don't have to read it. Yeah, I think you can get rid of it prophylactically. I mean, the funny thing about Imind is that so many people take it seriously, so you're probably getting like some measure of like arandeian exposure just by like listen to Elon Musk says because there were all these like Silicon Valley You know, andphetamine onekers u obsessed with it So I think you've probably got a pretty good sense of philosophy. you sumed it up pretty well and you've also experienced it secondhand through the world that we live in. so I think it's absolutely fine not to expose yourself to that. Well, listeners, what would you do with a copy of Atlas Srugg? Would you read it? If not, how would you dispose of it? You can let us know. and you can also send us questions for next episode of Answerers. You can send us your feedback to episodes Old and New for Awer respect feature. All of our contact details are on our website answerpodast d. comot And also do let us know if you've ever started something you thought you would enjoy only to find you haven't I always take on holiday with me because I don't read very much and I make myself read on holiday. A book that I think will be a challenge and a book that I think will be easy. Yeah. O my last holiday For the challenge book, I brouought something Victorian. I can't remember what it was now. It always remains unopen the Victorian on. And then for the easy book, I bought a collection of PG Woodhouse short stories because I thought, well that'll go down well Couldn't bear the PJ Woodhouse. open the PJ Woodhouseight. I was like fifty pages in and I was like pretending I was enjoying. I was like this is just boring. I've read PG Woodhouse before and enjoyed it and I know that lots of people that I like enjoy it. And I know that it's distracting and fun for a lot of people, but I'm finding it really tedious and so light and about nothing that I'm not enjoying it had to be honest with myself. You know, a lot of things that I that used to work for me don't anymore We just got to find the new fun for volities. Which is what for you, Helen, what's new? We have our Petty probleblems video live stream. Hey, that's a distraction, isn't it? happenapping on june twenty eighth, ten PM UK time and we'd love for you to join us because not only can you see all of us once having a jolly time, you can answer the questions also in the chat. That's right. Yes. It's a communal effort To join Petty probleroblems live stream on june the twenty eighth at ten PM UK time, you just need to sign up at patreon. com slash answer me this where you can also Listen to answer me this, like episodes like this on an ad free feed, either via the Patreon app or for a bit more money via Apple podcasts or pckcasts or Overcast or other casts All the casts. Yeah. all the details are at patreon. com slash answer mee this And at any tier at patreon. com slash answ Me this, you get a chat room with other answ mee this fans, you get bonus bits every month And you get that opportunity to join or watch back our Petty Problems liveestream series. and most importantly, you support us. So thank you. But also we have other podcasts and we would love for you to listen to them in the That's right. Excruciating gaps between Answer Me this episodes. Ollie, what have you got cooking? Extraordinarily, Helen. It has now been to the month five years since we decided to stop making Answer Me this season one Shitting hell. Once I realized that that decision was incoming I thought shit, but I still want to make a silly show full of trivia in which I can learn a little bit about lots of stuff So in that gap I created a show with my friend Matt called Today in History withith the Retrospectors And that show is now five years old. Wow. There are over a thousand episodes now for you to sample. F So yeah, each day we talk about curious moments from that day in history comoming up in June How they filmed Ghostbusters in New York City A deep dive on crazy frog and the man who invented the donnut Today in History with the Retrospectors, wherever you get your podcast. Helen. Well, Ollie, speaking of books that we didn't want to read, I have a minieries at the moment on the illusionist about Not only Bram Stoker's Dracula, but also The Icelandic adaptation of that book and also the Swedish adaptation of that book that the Icelandic one turned out to be based on and it took people more than a hundred years to realize that. and those are very different books. The Scandinavian ones are a lot sexier than the original. The Icelandic one is a third the length, but the Swedish one is twice as long.