Storing scarves and crumpet habits

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Will it help with this heat to rub ice cream in my armpits In answer this four hundred and eighteen We dealt with the question about what you do with a copy of Ainran's Atlas Shrug that you do't want to read Abbic says, I just remembered doing an activity with my kids where we used a book to grow mushrooms Why didn't we think of that? If you can't bear to donate it, then why not boil it and use it to grow something edible? Sure. They have included instructions of how to grow mushrooms on a book. And the thing is Not really edible. the instructions advise not eating this. I was wondering this because the paper has ink on it. It's treated with chemicals. It has O and those go into the mushroom. Exactly. So that's not the best base for an edible food stuff, but I can see that as a like a kids science project try making some fungi at home. what have you got around the house copy of Valasruggs, I can see why an old paperback would be suggested for that scenario. but Yeah. Apparently glossy magazines or books with heavy plastic coatings are harder for the fungi to digest. I'm sure. But then you shouldn't eat anything that's been in ink. No It says you can just have this book with mushrooms growing out of it as an ornament, but then you have an ornamental copy of atl this drug, which is maybe even worse. That's the problem. It's not the reading of it. It's people knowing that you've read it I generally prefer not to think about how mushrooms grow because I quite enjoy eating them Absolutely, me with most foods. I've accidentally grown mushrooms out of a bath before Oh, congrats. It was when me and my flat mate in our twenties were living in our flat in Angel. It was an ex cououncil flat and it hadn't been fully refurbished and there was a hole in the pipes. At the time I blamed us for never cleaning the bathroom. Didn't actually then action anything about that and go ahead and clean the bathroom ever. I've come to realise it is actually just poor ventilation and faulty plumbing, evenven if we had cleaned the bathroom, I think the mushrooms would have come through anyway becausecause it was like a hole under the bath. They're all over the shop. It's like bacteria, still. Yeah, we coexist with a plethora of organisms. Well, that's it, you're never more than whatever it is, two meters from a rat or whatever. I wonder if you're always near a mushroom as well You know Reassuring if so. kindind of. I mean, whenever we raised it with the landlord, like he'd call us once a year and says everything right with the flat, we'd be like, well, there is mushrooms growing out the bath. And he'd always make the same joke. he'd always say hello You make it into a risotto. And then there'd be a pause and then he'd say Just o But never did anything about it. No, no, no, sameame joke every year. In his mind it was obviously like I'm giving them aree source of food so they should be paying me more rent. Andrew from Elbourne, who was the person with the copy of Atlas Shrugged, has been back in touch to respond to our advice though. Cool. There's always more of this sort of thing in every episode of Answerers B backack by the way Yes, do listen, it's delightful He says, Helen, thank you for the advice on what to do with atless shrug. That's what I'm here for Andre Arising from your answer, I will dispose of it in a responsible way rather than reading it, though I haven't worked out how yet He's going to string this over multiple episodes of our podcast. There is a follow up conundrum though Oh shit. I also picked up a copy of Ran's We the Living at the same time And as it's shorter, less vehement in its politics, and on a subject that interests me, the Russian Revolution, written by someone who was directly affected by it I am more inclined to read it Helen answers me this Is it inconsistent to be willing to read some books by an author and not others No. No. Is it A I just lacking in fibre and principles? No, I don't see why. I'll definitely go for the shorter one that I think will be less abhorrent. Yeah, there were some Lovecraft stories that I'd never read and hadn't spotted who was a terrible racist as a result. and having read those I'm glad I hadn't. Previously. S with me in Orwell. So like if you asked me my favorite books, nineteen eighty four an Animal Farm would be up there. I've read them both multiple times, loveove them Have I read Burmese days? Have I fuck? Like what's an Apidistra?m not interested? I have read Keep the Aspidistra flying and it's very different to those other ones you've read. Yeah, it's quite mid. I gathered. Like I've read EXs. Do you know what I mean? I get it? Like he was homeless for a bit, went to wigon fine, but I like nineteen eighty four. I don't need to read all the others. And I think that's simimilarly, I enjoyed reading Virginia Woolf's bitchy diaries Its brilliants I say it's brillant I should be sensitive in these days of awareness of mental health. It is a woman having a mental breakdown who obviously had lots of trouble. but along the way, she's like thoughtfully kept an interesting diary about it. Kept her counsel. Yeah, where she was like This homeless man that walked past me other is disgusting and I hate him. and today I'm working in the garden. Cool. But that didn't make me want to read Mrs. Dalloway again. you know what I mean? Yeah, yeah. We know she bought the flowers herself. Whateverse. Maybe what Andrew is getting at is like having refused to separate the artist from the art with regard to Atlas Srugged even though I think they are inseparable in that and most cases, should I exercise the same for this one that interests me more We The Living is A Ran's first novel So if she got worse over her career, then maybe you can read the early career stuff and feel less bad about it I agree. I mean, welcome you overthinking, Andrew. You might even go as far to say we're inviting you to do so, but at the same time, stop it. Like it's fine. It's a book, there's lots things to do with a book. Grow mushrooms out of it, give it away, read it if you like, donon't if you don't, I mean, seriously. Here is a question from Ben in Spain, who says, Relative latecomer to the podcast here? No, not. It's always a good time, Ben It's never too late. So apologies if this is something I haven't come across in the back catalog yet. Who will replace Tony Blair as Prime Mister? Things could only get better, right? I'm on ten hooks. Ollie answers me this. What is the deadly bit on a four sided cheese grater four? The deeadly bit Ben says, you've got the side which does cheese for toasties. I assume that's the like mainstream grating gauge. Yeah. You've got the side which slices stuff. You've got the side which does fine cheese for toppings. Parmesan side. And then you've got the side with shrapnels of metal sticking out trying to injure you. Everything I've tried to grate on it just gets stuck and it seems impossible to clean. So what is the point to keep you humble, Ben as you shred your flesh off your hands. So this has concerned me this question because I read it and I wasn't certain that I knew which side he was talking about. So I've brought my own cheese grater here to the recording. Here it is. That's exciting. It's an IKA one, prettyt standard I'm not a flashy guy. Yeah got the classics. Yeah. So right, let's go through the sides, right? So the big holes, this is what he means cheese for toasties, the big holes. Yeah cheese Yeah. Okay. Maybe a carrot for a coleslaw size. Oh, lovely. Oh yeah. Requires no explanation. Let's move on. Then the slicing side is here. Mandaline. I never really used that. I've never used it either and I have a separate cheese slicer also from IKA It would never occur to me to just slice cheese using this And even if I did, what's the benefit of the three slices there? I've never really understood. You only want one slice. It's like the Gillette three Braade Rzor for cheese O. that's the benefit. But I think I've tried it and it has not been very effective. Well, apparently you can use it for potato chips as well thenen there's the little holes, okay? The Parmesan side. Exactly. Now this is where I think the confusion is coming in. becausecause there are then some smaller holes which stick out slightly. And I think that is what he's referring to. Like very regular sharp goosebumps. That's how I'd describe them. Ver Nicely done. Yeah. It's like one of those foot skin revolting things that takes your takes your. els wor's for? Yeah, for gring your feet. Gring your feet. But I think he's answered it. I think that is the fine cheese for toppings. I think that's a'an side. Probably for cing something hard, isn't it? I think that side is for maybe nutmeges and ginger. Mmall holes, I think, are for zesting. Garlic possibly I mean, let's be honest It's got four sides on it because that's symetrical and easy to use, isn't it It's already got the filler side with the slicer the slicer work? Yeah, yeah, yeah, but you kind of have two sides ' I mean, you're wasting sides then, aren't you? They're fucking around. Wa, I've gotta go and get my grater out of the distrasion out look at it It's important Show me the four sides Okay, B holes, little holes. Yes, mainstream. basasic bitch. Yeah. Redundant slice Redundant slicees no one uses. And I think the ones that this question is about but they're huge. They are huge. So would those hurt see, I think there might be a slight difference in box grers. Run your fingers along those and tell me if you have a serious injury I think I could if it wasn't so blunt. Right So I think that's the thing. I think some of them he's referring to them sticking out. I don't have that in my wand So maybe that's where I'm strgging to relate I found a lady on YouTube who grated laundry soap into it. as a cheap detergent. Okay. Now I'd never heard of that product. It sort of sounds a bit nineteen fifties, doesn't it laundry soap Well, we have like a big block of soap instead of washing up liquid, Ollie, so Okay. Well I guess it's like that, but for your clothes I could get behind that. So I look to see whether this product was available in the UK because I've never heard of laundry, so and It is But as you read the description on tesco. com, it says it's for pre wasashed stain removal, which makes more sense. like you rub the soap onto where there's a stain then you p clothes into the washing machine with your usual detergent But what she was doing on YouTube, and she had hundreds of thousands of views wasil taking this bar of soap and grating it down the side of the grater, and then saying, And then you have a perfect way to get some highly inexpensive detergent into your laundry machine. I was thinking, well, yes, but those potato chips you were just telling me to slice it, they're going to taste of dazz Well, you could have A laundry grater that you could also use on your footheels. and a separate cheese grater so you don't have a soapy toasty You know to live the life only live the two greater life We have this question from Daniel in Pennsylvania who is a vegetable farmer in small toown, Pennsylvania Daniel says I grow a lot of obscure heirloom vegetables, and my customers know me for things like Mexican sour girkins and pineapple husk cherries. What sorcery is this I them up because I love cherries and I was intrigued by the idea of a cherry in a husk, but it's more like, you know like Cate Goosbury physalis where it's not technically a cherry and it's in a sort of papery Oh those things. Ollie answers me this, what are some obscure British vegetables I could grow here that might interest my customers Bake beans The tins go straight out of the ground. North Americans are fascinated by them. D don't understand. Even though it's a derivative of a North American bean dish We've been quite into the purple stuff the last few years. Oh gorgeous. When I've delved into weird vegetables in the supermarkets here. so purple sprouting broccoli, purple cauliflower. Did they definitely not already have those? I don't know what they have in Pennsylvania, but I know that recently they've become more mainstream here They were developed in Italy, but created to grow in British climes. so they're kind of They're a talking point, aren't they? They're the sort of thing Nigella would put in her TV show if Nigella still made TV shows Because you put it as the centerpiece and everyone's like, Ohh, what's that freakest thing? It tastes like broccoli or cauliflower, but it is quite fun There are some very pretty brassicas for sure, that cauliflower that looks like a fractal, That's cool. Was it Romanesco broccoli? Yes, ye, exactly yeah. Other than that, I would say some fun radishes, Daniel, because small, not too much of a commitment. because like Britain has a lot of different varieties of apple that I don't think grow in the US, but they're so slow for you to cultivate. It would be years before you got Any root vegetable that looks like it's being wicked, one of those, or a mangle whirlzel. Excuse you. It's kind of like an obscene turnip '. It's really long and it's bright red. Oh it's got a crutch. Exactly. somethingomething you talk about, isn't it? Something your customers would be interested in I mean, I was trying to think what is a real trademark obscure British vegetles based on going to like a village fate and they have a competition for vegetable growing and It's not necessarily the obscurity of the type, it's just which one looks most like a cock andballs. That's right, yeah. That is the British vegetable priority. Americans think when you say it like that, I think they understand that there's a British joke around vegetables that look like genitalia, that we all enjoy to laugh at that and that there's a popular culture history in which that's been a trope But they think, I think, that part of the joke is that you pretend that that's the reason you're all there. but of course, really they are judging the best watermelon. But no just to be very clear, It is just vegetables that look like cockon balls. Yeah It's genuinely the village fith thing across the UK. It is the only fruit and vegg that people are interested in. at all stratter of society and all level of fruit and vegetables. It is things that look like cockonballs. It's very important to our culture. Yeah, it really is. I feel like it's a very Allan Titchmash coded episode today. We've done Books vegetables and now insects. This is from Simon, who says Today I saw a ladybird and I spontaneously started muttering, Ladybird, ladybird, fly away home But thenass as I watched the ladybird crawl along my sleeve as I walked along the road and a gust of wind blew it away I thought We are now maybe a quarter of a mile from where we were when the ladybird landed on my sleeve And as ladybirds are little, they're at the mercy of the wind So Helen answers me this Do ladybirds have homes Or do they just live where they end up effffectively the latter, they're kind of like This has got food and shelter. Let's congregate here. So they do end up in you know trees, shrubs Fast Inside hollow plant stems is apparently pretty common. under tree bar garden sheds. I think they often get into like the slightly damp wood of people's window sills and they can huddle there in winter loads of them and then they may use their pheromones that deter predators in warmer months. to indicate to other ladybirds where's a good place for them to hang out and hibernate during the winter? So other ladybirds but not necessarily like their spouse or their parents or their siblings, they're not communal like bees or ants. I don't know. Maybe ladybirds just look at another ladybird and they think we're all family Well that's nice. We're so used to the idea of the colony the hive. It's a lot of insects that un'li like that. fllies don't have hives do they flives But ladybirds are intriguing in a way that flies aren't to the general public. Just becausecause the aesthetic, they get away with so much. Sure. They're cute loves. so cute. I'll tell you how I can distinguish this When I see a ladybird, regardless of whether I'm with an adult or child, I will say, It's a ladybird. Whas Like tractors, for example, I'll only say, Oh look it's a tractor if son' in the back of the car. othertherwise I' feel like an idot. I'm going to point out an adult. Oh, look, come bu an officer But ladybirds feel special still Well, they're very useful because of their role in like pest control You know, they all the former as friends. During the pandemic, I bought some ladybats because I managed to get a tomato plank cutting They attract Aphids and I like, the way to kill aphids to get ladybird. So I got a load of ladybirds the post. You bought twenty ladybirds. I released them in direct proximity to the tomato plant and I would say seventeen of them immediately fucked off. Like I have no idea where they went this fl at the window. they had no loyalty to me at all. I don't like tomato Aphids Allight we're going to get chips So there's three left one and two of them spent I just think about three days. Like fucking. It was five days and you know, I wouldn't normally be perving on Ladybirds fucking, but it was COVID lockdown. so what else was going be busy with it? Yeah, there wasn't much to do. So they were just crawling around O on the back of the other for several days. Right, okay, o. But are they continuously fucking or even not even aware that each other's there? I think you'd notice if there was something your weight on your back. L I think It's noticeable. Maybe they were just hugging some of the time. And they had baby ladybirds and baby ladybirds are not pretty, but they do eat a lot of aphids because they're growing so they laid eggs underneath one of the leaves and then that really helped clear out the aphids. So Martin was a proud ladybird grandad at that point Yeah. until And then there's little babies all fucked off. They all left me as well. It's hard to be a parent They all leave. Still still had some of the rewards though, didn't you You still had the feeling of facilitating some procreation. I mean, that's not really what a parent feels about their children, I don't think. I don't think they're thinking I hope they fuck soon. I mean, in a roundabout way, it does, of course, answer Simon's question No ladybirds don't have homes. You know, you offered them a very loving home and theyve fucked off. Yeah successfully eliminated the aphids on the tomato plants and then they're like, My job here is done. They left. The aphids came back, but they didn't Devastating If you've got a question email you question to answer me this Podcast at Google mailot com Answer me this Podcast at Google mail dot com Answer me this Podcasted Google mail ot com Ier me this Pot Casted pgle male dot com 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 toe bags. suchuch 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 look like the coolest intellectual on the beach You are. I'm sure you're the coolest intellectual on any beach, Jolly 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. me slash answer. That's lrb. m forward slash answer Do you hear that Sounds like breakfast is ready. Because Quakers coming in hot with morning nutrition one hundred percent whole grain oats and a good source of fiber Fuel the rhythm of your morning and kick startart your day That sounds absolutely delicious. Fuel to start whatever's next. Quaker, offfficial sponsor of FIFA World Cup twenty six Hiss question from Sam from Nottingham who says longt time listener here, I think I found you guys at around episode one hundred two nine two thousand nine, Nbie I was procrastinating on YouTube recently, and Autolay gave me a short reel about the seemingly famous lush infamous Tom Cruise cake list Well, I'm so excited to explain it to you all I had never heard of this, says Sam And I just have to know more. It's coming It seems that every year Seemingly hundreds of people get sent a cake from Tom Cruise Helen aners me this. What is the origin story of the Tom Cruude cake list Once upon a time Who is on the list What are the logistics of sending out hundreds of cakes? What is the cake? Should we start an online petition to get AMT on the cake list? Basically what he's saying Helen is. Tell me about Tom Cruise and his cake. asking whether we can get answ me this onto the cake list. Perhaps we would get on it just from answering this question because Gardian journalist Stewart Heritage wrote about the cake in twenty twenty And in twenty twenty one for Christmas, he got sent two of the cakes and again and again in subsequent years But the reason why I would not want to be on the cake list is because of what the cake is. It is a white chocolate coconut Bnt cake. I don't know, Bundnd cake isn't conjtering up an image for me. White chocolate coconut sounds okay. White chocolate and coconut are two of my least favourite ingredients The cake is round with a hole through the middle. It's a really fun word to say, but as a cake format, I think it means there's too much dry cake on the inside and then all the icing is just on the outside. Don't Ruin our chance of getting the cake, Helen. I'll receive the cake. Yeah, send Ollie two cakes. The cake is from Doan Bakery in Woodland Hills, California, just over the hills to the northwest of LA And it's a family bakery. The Matriarch inventedist cake recipe twenty five plus years ago All right I mean, what the fuck He started sending the cakes to people that he'd worked with or you know interacted with, so like Barbara Walters got one. I assume they had been on her show.. Kirsten Dunts gets one because she was an interview with the vampire with him in the mid nineties, but her husband, Jessseie Plemens also gets one because he's been another filmer Tom Cruise. a two cake household So it's just a Christmas card list, really? Yeah, but he does cake Okay, but he first found the cake thanks to Diane Keaton who was the original celebrity fan of this cake She was filming a Mad Money with Katie Holmes, the two thousand eight film Kateie Holes was married to T Cru at the time. R remember that? Yes,. Yes, we all do. I wonder what Kate she likes was not a question I was asking about that marriage. Well, you should have been because She and Dian Keaton had a contest about who could produce the best cake And Dian Keaton got one of these cakes flown in from Doanne's bakery And the reports don't tell us what Katie Holes chose. Right. But Tom Cruise did a taste test to pick the winner and the White chocolate coconut bnt cake Uh w And so that's where he first found them. And the reason why he sends them to people is he says, I love Sugar But because I'm training nearly all the time for action stuff, I can't eat it. So I send cakes to everyone else and then I sit and wait for them to phone me up and tell me what they thought of it and I love that part. he's a That's interesting. Yes, it's not just Philanthropy, it's secondh pleasure. Also in the Outsiders in nineteen eighty three, he decided his character was going to eat chocolate cake for soene and then they had to do like a hundred takes and he ended up puking, so I wonder whether he can't actually eat cake now because the associations with it. And then he sends at least a hundred of them, but I reckon way, way more. in twenty twenty one. He sent a private jet to the UK with at least three hundred for the Mission Imossible Dead Reckoning crew. So why haven't I heard of this then? I don't know. that's I think on you, Ollie, because every year there's more and more tell of the Tom Cruise cakes because you know, it starts with a hundred celebs and then each year They talk about it and they like Instagram saying, thanks for the cake Tom Cruise and show the gift label. And then other celebs are like, how do I get on the list? We've covered the Toby Cvery VIP system in detail on this show. So I'm not immune to this insider stuff Just obviously my timeline doesn't have Tom Cruise's cake recipients on it, I suppose. You're using the internet wrongly, Ollie. You need to get a coach. Brooks Shield says she was on the list for like a decade after Tom Cruise apologized for saying some shitty stuff about her taking antidepressants. But then She was like, I stopped getting the cakes every year. they'd arrive sporadically and now I don't get them at all. and how do I get back on the list? because it's the best cake? She could buy her own cake? Is it the pain of not being on the cake list rather than the pain of not eating the cake? It's knowing that other people are getting the cake and you're not getting the cake. That's the issue. You're not part of the club. K knowowing that you've been removed from a list that is otherwise perpetual You are naturally going to think, what have I done to deserve this or not deserve this? I'd feel slightly nervous being on a list that Tom Cruise held, even if it would diggalick. Well, that gets to one of the other questions I think. Why does Tom Cruise do this I think it's because hundreds of celebs are giving him good publicity every Christmas. He's not wrapping all these cakes himself and sending them out here he's making ph call. His manager is making a ph call. He's got cake assistant.. His assistant's assistant is making a phone. Yeah ye. The cake section of his production company Odin Productions is doing this. It's an amount of money, even if it Six thousand cakes. That is a meaningless amount of money to him. It is keeping this family bakery afloat. They're very grateful for it. How much did you say each cake was The small ones are forty, the big ones are like a hundred, then there's delivery and then his team gift wrap them elaborately. Average sixty plus ten. Yeah, ten dollars. let's say seventy dollars per cake. And then you put them on a fucking private jet. so three hundred grand. fourour thousand cakes, that's two hundred eighty thousand dollars. Yeah, he can afford that. And then you've got to probably double that for the private jet, haven't you? So could be you could be easily getting half a million pounds. I wouldn't call that meaningless even for him. I appreciate it's not what it is to me. id you just driven than six thousand cakes? That's a really big list. No, I just plucked out a big number that's probably more than the amount of cakes What if it's a thousand cakes or five hundred? like then it tens of thousands of dollars? Yeah, sure. If we're back in the two hundred thousand dollars territory, I suppose it's achvable for Tom Cuise, yes I think The amount of image washing this does for him is probably worth it because it counteracts A lot of the bad publicity of his association with scientology and all the damage that he did to his public persona in the Katie Holmes couch jumping years where everyone is like this guy is acting really strange. The other thing they say about him, isn't it every year is when he does the red carpets, is that he'll spend more time with fans than other stars But I always think with that and with philanthropy actually Yeah, but so would so would I and so would anyone like if anyone normal, to the position where they were commanding sixty million dollars to appear in a film and where people have traveveled across the world to come and meet them in a queue in Leicester Square for an hour. A, you would give some of your money away because you don't need that much money and B, you would spend time with people. It's good that he does it, but it's more of a shocking commentary that other people don't, I always think. Do you what I mean? L Yeah People said this about George Michael as well. He was famous for it. He would get stoned and watch daytime TV and when I worked it this morning People would field calls from George Michael who'd seen a sob story on the telly and wanted to give money to them And when he died, all these people came out and said, you know, he always said it was a condition that we never said it was him that did it, but now now he's dead. We're going to say, you know, he dotosed to this woman's IVF, he doted to this person's HIV treatment or whatever. He'd leave five thousand pound tip for waiters And I think that is really cool, but also He was worth hundreds of millions of pounds and he's from Bushy. So I would do that too if I was in that snatch. You know what I mean?ike That's nice, But why doesn't every rich person do that Why doesn't every rich person give people cake? I mean, a lot of rich people do sock Hly, That's the point. Is it Mike Sur that did the good place? Yes. And he did ethics podcast for a while. And he said, If you look at a billionaire Like, what's the amount of money that they would have to give away to be an ethical person? Like ninety percent of their wealth and ninety nine percent of their wealth? Beuse no one needs a billion quid. L no one needs two hundred million dollars. Everyone has a different level of where they feel rich in quotation marks. But no one needs a billion books. Like you should give most of that away if you ever find yourself with a billion dollars. Elon Musk definitely doesn't need a trillion dollars even though I think a lot of his money is made up Yeah, he doesn't have a trillion dollars. He has a trillionllars worth companies, doesn't he Butem Yeah, I mean, everyone's a hypocrite that as well, aren't they?ike, obviously I think he's the world's biggest scnt, but if he said X would like to sponsor your podcast and you're allowed to have complete creative control over it. and we'll give you a million dollars a year to fund it. I'd probably say, okay then So that's how he gets away with his whims. For this podcast or one of your other ones? Well, it would have to be one of my other ones because I think you'd say no. But I still believe as long as we had creative controls, as we could say on the show, every week, Elon Musk is a massive cunt. He's contt washing his money through answer me this. Yeahuck Oll, now we're doing it for free. He might pull the contract after one episode if we were to do that I't think would I think he'd listen to it would he?, he wouldn't list Sox, if you're interested, anyway, cake's cheaper than that. So anyway, I think Tom Cruise does this because there's very little negative impact for him and it makes him seem like a better guy. And also apparently he's the kind of guy that like remembers people's names if he met them fleetingly years ago and he remembs their kids' names, he ask after them, which is some real kind of like Business manual shit, isn't it?' L like how to be the person everyone loves the most at a conference use their first name all the time. I try to be that guy because I'm a freelancer. I often find myself in a studio with people who are like haranged and rushed and don't know who I am. And I always think, okay I've got an opportunity here to remember that this makeup person, I met them last time. I could ask her about her child and remember the child's name. I've cynically thought that before. Try and be that person. You can't fake that. No. because I'm not interested. I'm not interested in that person's child. at that moment I'm not being nice. I'm thinking about I'm here to do a job. And I'll be chatty and not be horrible But actually I think that is then a special put. you know, unlike rich people who should give away more, I feel like it is a special person who takes a level of interest in Tom Cruzise, the amount of menial people around him from his perspective, if he really does take an interest and remember that that is Notable, isn't it? That's not about ordering cake. That is a special skill Tonkrees. probably meets more people than we do in our lifetimes and therefore his memory is some hot shit. He's also just a gifty guy, I think, because Dakota Fanning has talked about how for her birthday Ever since she was twelve because they'd worked together on War of the Worlds in two thousand five, he has sent her a pair of shoes for her birthday And I'm like, o that's a bit much because I wouldn't want other people choosing my shoes, but she says he does have good taste and she does wear them and she will keep them forever. Hm. It's bit like fragrance, isn't it that Absolutely. Personal. Not something to be guessed Yeah, so in a way that seems a bit too intimate. For her eleventh birthday, he gave her a motorller razor phone because mid two thousands But then her twelfth birthday, she was excited that was the first time she was able to wear adult sizeed shoes. and to commemorate that, he got her the shoes. And I wonder whether he's still buying her twelve year old size shoes or whether he gets updates on her shoe size. Well if he was really considerate though, he'd also take reviews on the cake seriously too. So does everyone call and so when he gets his secondary pleasure about,h, it's great you're cake done Some people must say For being honest, this year three stars. It was better last year. somethinghing went wrong in the post I mean? And then he'd think, well next year, olive oil basket But he doesn't he send to the fucking cake You know, some of the celebs rave about how delicious the cake is, and then others like Care Allwes has said, Normally I don't eat cake, but when it comes from Tom, it's mission impossible not to remains vague about whether he likes the game But then let's talk about how They have a party for their friends like Glen Powell has a party each year because his friends are so hyped for the cake to come and they all want some, but they're all restricted to a tiny amount so that everyone gets a bit Right Well, thank you for educating me. now I know It is the kind of torment from which there is no rarepite if she asks what's a widget again, I will kill her with a rusty spy brick or spad or a Rainsaw. Squarespace is so easy even your mum can use it. She can drag and drop and cut and pase that's all there is to it. So Helen put that spike down. I beg you for Christ's sake, don't do it. Sorry, Mum Thank you very much to Squarespace for sponsoring this episode of Answ M me This. Yes, it's very good of you, Squarespace. I'd give you a hug, but I can't because you're a purveer of websites and your corporeal existence is unknowable to me. Here's a magical thing If you run a shop online using Squarespace, but also sometimes have sales in the physical world. like for example, you take your stock to a market to sell at the weekends or you sell merch at the end of your show, that kind of thing. Yes. You can now with Squarespace, accept in person payments via the Squarespace app on your phone. Your phone works like a till No extra hardware needed You can just enter in a custom amount. And your customer can use their credit card, tap your phone through your Squarespace website. Honestly, that is one of the things that I do love about living in the twenty twies is that kind of thing because I do have to vend merch after shows and I do love that my phone can be the till now. They save you money, they simplify your accounts. Can you tell me that I did a good job after the show while I'm selling the merch? Please. Go to squarespace dot com slash answer Have a play around during the two week free trial. and when you're ready to launch, you can save ten percent off your first purchase of a website or domain using our code Answer. Here's a question from Meghan from Seattle Washington. homeome of T Mobile Park and Lumen Field. It's delivered in the style of a baseball announcer, Helen. Home of T Mobile Park and Lumen Field It's a real calling for you Yeah, sorry, they say T mobile in North American, I think. They do T mobile, That's right. We don't actually have T Mbile in the UK anymore. They're part of the EU Yeah Ollie answer me this, What will happen to places named after corporations if those companies go out of business? Will those venues exist with the same names even if the company goes bankrupt If cell phones are replaced by totally new technology, are we still going to go to TMobile parks Will it be like Carnegie Hall where people just accept the name and don't think about why it's called that? Is this normal for places to be named so blatantly after companies like this? It feels like a new thing. So the phenomenon you're describing Megan is called naming rights. and if you look up new stories about naming rights, you will see that it is A quite a big deal in how global entntertertainment is funded, and B No, not new. So just a little bit about the history of how things started to be named after companies. it goes all the way back to the Chicago Cubs, arguably in nineteen twenty six renaming their home Wrigly field as in Wigglely's G gum But William Wiggley did actually own the Chicago Cubs. So I mean, yes, it was promoting his product, but it was his product. He kind of had the right to do that. The first example of it just kind of being sold to the highest bidder Like who would like to name our stadium after their company that's nothing to do? with our baseball team or our football team It' still a generation ago, nineteen seventy three Rich Products Corporation and Erie County, New York came to a deal to name the Buffalo Bill's new home stadi It's a bit on the nose, isn't it rich product in the first place? It's like evil corp, isn't it as the name of for business? Well, you may think so Helen, the partnership lasted a quarter of a century, but this is the crucial point before expiring in nineteen ninety eight. that is no longer called Rich Stadium And there are lots of examples of this where particularly football stadiums changed corporate names regularly Yeah The most stark example in the UK that I could find is in the lower leagues, obviously, because you know, if your football team's becoming less successful as the years go on, you're more likely to shed your way through corporate sponses Dunbart and FC in Scotland in the last fifteen years have had their stadium called variously Strathclyde Home Stadium. The Bet Butler Stadium the cheaper insurance direct stadium The Y Radio one hundred three FM stadium. The CNG systemystems stadium The Mrooom d. com stadium and now the Marbille Coaches Stadium Oh the indignity. I suppose it does shed light on the follies of capapitalism, not to just give the stadium a name and then a tagline sponsored by cheaper sofas. Well, I actually do think like in the world of corporate sponsorship, the ones who get it right are American Express because that's what they do. they go for that second tier. Oh ye So there are a few stadiums called the AMX Stadiums But American Express have a deal across stadiums around the world where there'll be like a corporate lounge where if you've got an American Express card, you can go and use the lounge. or if you pay with American Express card, you get ten percent off a drink And they're one of the sponsors But I always think when I'm in those venues Like in terms of brand associations, that's really clever because then I as a customer see it as a plus. like AmX are making my life more convenient, more comfortable and cheaper rather than They're changing the name of the building. You know we all know that this is Wembley Arena. No one calls it the Ovo arerena Weembley. And it makes no benefit to me that their gas and energy is supplied by OvO as a customer. So I kind of feel like it is a bit counterproductive sometimes when these big sponsors come in and want to rename the whole shibang But I guess you get these examples where And in the UK, the biggest is probably the O two which is one of the venues where American Express has this second tier sponsorship, which I'm referring to. But I mean everyone does refer to the millennium Dome as the O two now And that deal has you know, promoted O two. I mean, you couldn't have paid for Michael Jackson and Prince to say the words O two, could you? It wouldn't have been possible. But because that was the name of the venue they were scheduled to perform at, they said it in their publicity material. So I suppose that was worth it for them and Interestingly, that's probably as we speak being renegotiated right now because Oz two signed a ten year deal for one hundred twenty five million pounds in twenty seventeen. so it's up next year. Oh. But then you think whoever's coming in after, I wonder if they get a slightly lower rate because people have had ten years of calling it the O two It's like people still call the London higher bikes Boris bikes. Yeah after the former mayor Boris Johnson, even though I think it was Ken Livingston's policy that made the bikes. We did call them Kenny Farthings for a while. And they're now what like Santander sponsored So they were Bclys, then they were Santandeer, and I don't think they're available anymore. I can't remember you only see line bikes and those bikes you just leave randomly on the street for people to die in. You don't see o you don't see the ones you have to actually responsibly return to a stand anymore But there are some terrible examples. I mean, like Olympia which is a historic venue in London, albeit not one you associate with music particularly, that's reopening next year as the British Airways Arc ARC. O That's what I thought. There's probably a lot of pllaces that are named after former corporate interests is just historical enough that we're not registering it anymore. likeike whole towns in the US. probably named after an industry that was there Hershey toown And what is Hershey? No one ever buys it now. I like it in London where you see the ghost of corporate confidence because you have all these Victorian buildings where the name of a brand is in the brickwork Yeah. And it just it bespeaks this nineteenth century attitude of like, this will stand forever Yeah, absolutely. And when you see an example that has stood for more than a century, is actually remarkable because it has, isn't it? you know Tayaton Lyle or something like that. Two vast and trunkless legs of stone. In Brixton, there's that building with Borel in the paintwork. even though Bovrel is not manufactured there anymore. No, I agree. It's funny, isn't it It comes out the other side, I suppose, at one point and becomes something that feels redolant the era in which it was built rather than the era in which it's supposed to be attracting customers. I think when the Bvew comes to the other side. Bv com to the other side. looks very similar to the way we' in on. C op is an interesting one. I you if you were following the story of the co op live arena in Manchester that opened over last summer? No. They just kept fucking up basically. I think I can't remember who in the end ended up opening it, but there were like three or four big gigs like Harry Styles, Peter Kay that had to be postponed because the arena wasn't ready. It started getting called like the K fllop arena, the cock up arena, stuff like this. C op had to like issue a public se. Bear in mind, they paid millions to have their name associated with the arena. They had to then put on social media We don't own or run this venue, stop complaining to us about your tickets not being refunded. To flop The one I always used to think was weird was the Staples Center in L.A. Can't buy staples there. Do you remember Staples got Staples where we live. Fine, so you're regular customers. But I mean I haven't been in the Staples for twenty years I always thought it was odd when like Michael Jackson's funeral was at the staples center and I remember thinking like, What are they gonna to do? Hole punch him them into the ground It's just strange, you know There' an association. You can make a coffin from some very large staples. They're the right shape. Yeah, well, they do have some very big box viles The u The stadium there is now known as the crypto. com arerena and that's even worse. Oh my God, it's so cringe, isn't it? It is really cr. Crypto. com just seems like it's going to age like a fine shit, doesn't it? Well, this is it, so Enron is the classic example there So Dacin Park in Houston. Us to be known as Enron Park. Enron paid a hundred million pounds. What could possibly go wrong? For a thirty year deal and then went bust two years later And the Houston Astros the team had to pay Enron's creditors two million dollars to buy back the rights. and erased the name from the stadium. Wh because they were being hurt by association by being called Enron. That's so weird. I do feel like once Enron had like gone tits up then really the obligations for the team should have been minimal, but totally Being able to buy debt seems so weird to me anyway. I know, but yeah, that just yeah, that tells you everything you need to know about like sport and lawyers in the United States, doesn't it? it was someone's job to still be fighting on behalf of Enron for their naming rights on the stadium when the company doesn't exist anymore it is kind of extraordinary Yeah. One of the few things that Martin is interested in with regard to sports is teams being bought with the whole name for a different city. and then it making so little sense. It's wellild to anyone outside America that your team would just fuck off if they' offered enough money. Like it's so weird. L ide that Manchester United would be like, well, no, we're London United That would never happen. They would literally their stadum would be burnt to the ground. But the MK Ds were Wimbledon So that did happen there. But I think Wimbledon went bust. Do people care about the Mcadons? No offense, but that is an outlier. It is an outlier, but it's good bit of trivia. I think I think Wimbledon was a bit hooliganzy. I think that's what happened. and I think Wimbledon fans didn't want to be associated with Wimbledon anymore So they're like, Melton Keeenes is a clean slate. Okay, yeah, that's an exception. But you've got like these huge teams like the LA Dodgers. That's because there were the Brooklyn Dodgers dodging trolley cars. The Utah Jazz because that was a Louisiana team that actually has some fucking connection to jazz, like the idea thatar is the home of jazz is the funniest thing we've ever heard. And there's just example after example of these huge, huge sporting teams that have done that and it just seems It's very capitalism p to not think this is weird Here's a question from Stuart from Bridge North who says Bridge North. It that in the midlands, I didn't know it was in the midlands. That's your way of telling me it's in the mids. It' like a ping on Google Maps. That's where Robert Plantt lives. Right Isn't everywhere in the midlands where Robert Plant did a thing? Yeah, to be fair, he does live Briden. Who's your top three Midlands people? Like Rubber Plunk comes up a lot. I mean, Ossie Osborne, obviously Lenny Henry? I mean, who else is there? Yeah, Lenny Henry. Martin loves that Tiffany lived in Staffordshire for quite a while. Yeah, that's great. As in I think we're alone now. Yeah, yeah.ved in Canock There's a lot in there. There's Julie Ws Julie Walters yees. She'saz young. No, sheins, she's number one, isn't she? That woman, Allison Hammond, is that what she's called? Show some respect, Martin. A well known woman, yes. Allison Hammond, get it right. She's lovely. but I don't watch a lot of reality TV, but she's from King Standing. which is where I was when I was born, I was born in hospital when I was until I was five. Okay. topop top three I asked for went on to ten. Stuartth. And he says, When I lived in London, do you want to make a noise for London? I was always bemused by those human statues that used to stand around in Covent Garden in the south bank. And then he says in brackets, I assume there's still a thing. Can confirm Stewart still a thing. Right. Not only was I amused as to what the attraction was and why people gave them money, what the logistics are of being one. They all have very thick makeup and costumes, but you never see them tralling into their places via tube or bus. Do they go into nearby public los to get made up and dressed It might be quite hard to generalize Some have big heavy counterweights, so they look like they're hovering, yes, that's right. That is the trick isn't it the first time you see it?re like whoa, how the fuck is like Oh my God. And now you just walk past, you just like, o yeah it's one of those yoda things, ye. V impressive. How do they get those counterweights there to the centre of London? I can't imagine they make enough money to employ a van driver to get them there every day. So Helen answers me this How do human statues get to work You had it right, Stuart when you said, do they go into nearby public les to make up and get dressed? Yes, that tends to be what they do. although good luck finding a public glue in London, there really aren't that many. Yeah. Or sometimes they go in wearing their costume already and just do the makeup. and I think You can travel on London transport, dressed like a Victorian or a Greek statue or whatever, and people are like, yeah whatever. you know, it's unremarkable. It's when you're covered in silver face paint that maybe people would bat an eye. But then my question is, how do you get from public toilet to and from your statue plinth because that seems like non statuey behaviour. I guess you just have to make sure that it's in character even when you're moving because they don't never move. Sometimes they move as part of the act. I have seen a statue off duty Oh and they didn't kill you to preserve the mystery. Oh No, they were like sitting having a Pepsi max on a wall So I think If you look, you do see, but maybe they make a point of not doing that in view of Punters in Covent Garden. You know, mayaybe I've seen them in one of the streets behind. but I have seen it. Yeah. It's very easy, especially if you're a performer of any kind Having done the thing that you do to make people look at you, it's actually quite easy to then turn that off, isn't it? You know how to do the opposite of that and melt back into the scenery, I think, and they do that. you just don't notice them. Yeah, that's true. even though they're covered in silver baint. You know what I mean? Also I think a lot of living statues, a lot of the gigs are not in the public gates, they're private parties and corporate events or theme parks and so maybe they get changing space provided there. Yeah, but there is stretches of London still where you'll see a line of them in like three or four pitches. I'd read that there are battles over who gets the pitches because in Covent Garden, there's only actually a handful of legal pitches and so if you don't want to get moved on then you have to turn up really early like at three in the morning sometimes to get one of them And so statues have been documented as getting into fights with each other over those pitches. I mean, that is tricker happy TV stuff, isn't it? We would pay to see that, yes I did read a story back in twenty eleven about kind of turf war between two living statues, they were sharing a flat T Oh But every morning they would race each other to get the best pitch they could on the south bank And it was kind of friendly rivalry, but whoever got the best pitch made the most money for the day And one day the guy who didn't get the best pitch just snapped and brought his concrete block that he was bouncing on down on the head of the other statue Oh no. And yeah, he went to prison for GBH. Yeah. And the other blke was in hospital for like three months Historically the liivving statue goes back many centuries, but in the early twentieth century specifically, They became more of a thing in theaters because nudity was banned on stage unless there was no movement.. So naked people would just stand stock still on the stage and often were dressed up like a statue. Yeah. You know, those like contraptions that you referred to earlier where people look like they're hovering? Yes. It's a support rod, isn't it? that runs up their sleeve or whatever? or town a trap bake, and there's a hidden seat or a harness. Like how small do those pack down for transportation? I think the really serious ones surely would be easier to transport by car But then if you're there four in the morning, that's kind of okay, isn't it? Like if someone gives you lift. I guess if it's small enough to get into their costume, it's probably small enough to carry home without it being like this huge spectacle that Stuart is maybe expecting from a human statue on the move. Actually, a human statue on the move on their way home is in itself a spectacle and maybe a missed opportunity for revenue You know, if they were somersaulting all the way home, jazz hands In their full gold paint, when you're in the carriage with them, you would feel intimidated to give them money. I'd respect it, as not? Yeah, So would I'd prefer it H our hotel. It had an omelet station, a multitude of pools, but thirty quid for parking WTF Whatotel There's Eethern it, not W Fi like it's nineteen ninety eight, but there was a swim bar in the rooftop pool. star Hotel A bit more down to earth. They did still have a pool but it was full of kids Two star Hotel! A lot more down to earth. They also had a pool but it was full of dogs. One star hotel! There's a body in the pool. Answer me this holiday. All the fun of travelling with none of the stinky toilets or frightening food. outut now at answer meeispodcast dot com slash albums This episode is brought to you by Palm Olive Family time isn't just the big moments, it's weeknight dinners. sitting around the table, everyone talking all at once. So when the plates are empty and the sink is full, use Palmaloive Ultra. Palmaloive's most powerful formula removes up to ninety nine point nine percent of grease, leaving your dishes sparkling clean, and the new convenient pump makes cleaning even easier so you can spend less time tackling dishes and more time together. Shop now at palmaloive dot com d Experience a membership that backs what you're building with American Express Business Platinum. Enjoy complimentary access to the American Express Global Lounge collollection and apply to find out your welcome offer, which could be as high as three hundred thousand membership rewards points American Express Business Platinum. There's nothing like it. Terms apply. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer. Learn more at Americanexpress d. com slash businessash platinum. Some frequent questionnaires to the show like to e out their inquiries over a number of months. So you will sporadically hear the same name on the show if someone's a good, ardent questionnaire. A others of you send nothing for years and then boom, spaff all your ideas at once into one dynamite email with multiple questions in it. And that is what Victoria has done. Yay. Victoria's Qestion the first. Helen answer me this. Why are baby kangaroos called Joeys? It's of one of these origin obscure things, but in the late eighteen eighties an article on Australian colloquialisms said that Joey is a familiar name for anything young or small, and is applied indifferently to a puppy or a kitten or a child While, a wood and water Joey is a hanger about hotels and a doer of odd jobs I don't know what that means. So anyway, maybe it was just that's what you call a baby animal qu really and then because they're already pupy and kitten words in currency. U people are like, well, let's keep this for the kangaroos. So do you think there are still Australians who call kittens joeys as well What happened is that as kangaroos sort of went global, both I suppose through you know nature documentaries and stuff, but also in zoos and safari parks around the world, people use the deliberately Australian term for a young thing because they're an Australian animal and that's their identity but it wasn't exclusive to kangaroos That was such a long sentence that I slightly lost the thread, but I'm going to agree with you. Yes. Koalas also have Joey. they go. I suppose they are in the same kind of animal category as a kangaroo being marsupial? I think I'm right. I think it's basically themed entertainment, isn't it? You have your Australian zone of the Safari park in other countries and so they use the Australian terminology And that's how it's kind of solidified Wow, female koalas have three vaginas. Two are for sperm and one is for birth. s thats efficient? Yeah, Nice to have options Do you think they rotate when they're having their period? Maybe they've got a fourth just for that. Secret vagina? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Here's Victoria's second question. Ollie answers me this. What happens to old police cars from the UK? Someone told me once that they have specific engine adaptations, which means they can't just be sold off to the domestic market, and they can only be in service for a few years. So are they sold abroad or scrapped? The old pandaal, the old jam sandwich? The jam sandwich is not a term I've ever heard before. Yeah, yeah, yeah because of the line down the middle, you see? Oh, okay. They are often scrapped, yes because they've They've had a difficult life, speeding around multiple chases, crims in the back, scratches everywhere. You don't necessarily want one. But yes, you can buy one typically via auction. They're basically never sold as far as I can tell like owner to owner They're sold via auction. and although there are ex police car specialists online, you can Google it and you find the website that just auctions ex police cars. Interestingly on each like listing for the car, it doesn't talk about its history because I kind of feel like be a market for like if they arrested a famous person in the car or if the car came from a particular force But that is not mentioned. So any value that you'd have out of in history, is not given The giveaway is it'll say one owner, but it'll have done one hundred forty thousand miles and it'll only be five years old. Oh, interesting because it's been considered like driven hard forever. But I think there must be some restriction on Private sale which is why it's always through auction and kind of monetizing its value as an ex public service car by saying anything glamorous attached to it So I think the kind of key clients for these are private security companies basically, who want to carry on using the modifications that as you allude to Victoria might be in there. you know, it might be a Voxelastra but it can drive faster than a normal Voxelastra or it might have space for wires in the back that you need to record conversations or wherever the thing is. But you're not allowed to make it look like a police car again. I think maybe if you're a collector, yes, you can. but there is legislation in place to deal with people who use a vehicle to impersonate emergency services. so you have to be careful what you're insinuating. I think you'll dress it up as a police car from the seventies, that's okay Okay, so Dennis Waterermman style police are f. Exactly. that's my belief I assume that a reason why they are auctioned rather than private sale is they're not privately owned in the first place. Yeah. Precisely, yeah. We wouldn't want individual police forces to be monetizing the activities that they've done with the car by rating it and saying what the history of it was, it wouldn't feel right feel like an aberration of public service, so they distance themselves from that. Yeah, I mean, the police would never do aberrations in public service. That's right. N. Here's another question from Victoria who says, Helen answks me this., wereere crumpets designed only to be eaten toasted Um Not exactly if you're talking about the original crumpet Because if you are cooking them from scratch and you're eating them straight from a hot griddle, then they're already hot enough. Comercial ones, they're very damp and dense batter and so commercial ones which come cold are meant to be toasted and they are sold a tiny bit undercooked for that purpose because you want them to be crisper and you want them to be hot so the butter melts into the holes. I was reading an article about crumpets And it was illustrated with what appeared to be a photo, but I'm assuming was AI of several Jaffer cakes arranged with four slices of orange in a small paella pan Who's searching for that? That is not Crumpet. Where's it learn that from, though? You know, it can only regurgitate human behaviour of the past. That feels deviant. Oh, Drew, the fuck you doing humans Here's another question from Victoria Ollie asks me this What is an efficient way to store scarves of many different sizes and styles, etc. In a giant crumpet. Hmm, Nice. rooll them up in the little holes. I mean actually, you can get scarf organisers that are effectively giant grumpets that hang on the wall. That's exactly what you know. like the sort of port holes you see when you take children to soft play and they have to put their shoes off, those things. Well that's an image that I don't understand so I never have to take a child to soft play. Yeah, I can't really think of another equivalent apart from, I suppose in the old fashioned Oxbridge College Porters Lodge where you'd have your little cubb hole to put your letters Yeah, you're really helping mainstream this way By know what you mean like a sort of grid that can go in a drawer or can hang up. Yeah. a hanging pigeonhole The best solution actually that I've seen and I did go down the Pinterest rubbit hole on this.rave is You take a normal hanger And on the bottom bit where you normally put the trousers you thread curtain hooks onto it and then you can Thread the scarves through the curtain hooks and therefore you can put like half a dozen scarves on one hanger So even if you've got like twenty scarves, that's only three hangers in the cupboard. You can also get those ones which hang multiple pairs of trousers. to sort of flat against each other. that would probably work for bulky scarves. For scarves. Yeah, I've got one of those for ties. Yeah, you could get the tie ones and put loads of thin scarves like silk scarves on it But mine are just crammed into a bag. I have like, I don't know, seventy silt square scarves just crammed into a bag If you're a podcaster, perhaps you'll have at home one of the little zipped bags that shoes come in when you're advertising shoe subscription services. They send you a sample. Shoes subscription services, I've never been bidden to advertise those. There go. Well I have and I've got four of those special zip bags. each individual pair of shoes comes in a little zipped kind of linen bag. they're perfect for stuffing ten scarves into. So that's what I use. And if you let your subscription lapse, do they take all your shoes back like Cinderella? No no, They send you a pair of shoes, I mean, the company that I'm referring to has now gone bast.ot surprised. But they did used to send you a pair of shoes And if you didn't want it, you'd send it back, but no they're yours to keep and the bag they came in. Perfect for scarves Well, this brings us to the end of today's episode of Answer Me this, but don't weep, don't despair. There will be more episodes of Answer me this if You send us your questions in the form of voice. A. wrriting Our contact details are listed on our website. Anw me thispodcast. com And also send us your feedback for Answer us Back, which appears in your pod feed halfway through each month and that features your responses to answer me, This is old and new. And if you happen to be listening to this, upon the week of release, there is an edition of our live streaming series Petty probleroblems, all three of us live in video form. This Sunday at ten PM UK time Sunday the twenty eighth of june twenty twenty six. It's not too late to send in your questions for that as well. Well, I say questions, your problems, your petty problems, your tinky troubles. Not serious problems, like how do human statues get to work? No Or what beans do I grow? Well actually, efficient scarf storage is exactly the kind of thing we like to discuss on petty problems, Bab. we've done it here. But if you have a petty problem you would like to discuss, you can send it to us the usual channels And if you'd like to join in live, then to see it You need to join our Patreon first at patreon. com slash answer me this. It's a good time though, because you also get Bonus bits culled from every episode, a little dispatch each month and so much more. For instance, you can get all of the Asw to Me This episodes and albums and bits of crap on the basically everything we've ever done. And also perhaps most appealingly, if you're someone who just likes listening to the show every time we put out a show, but would maybe like to support us and skip the ads If you join our top two tiers at patreon. com slash answer me this. You can listen to an ad free version of every episode on your preferred podcast provider. That now includes Spotify. You can also do it on Apple podcasts, you can also do it on YouTube music All of the episodes will come on your usual feed, but they'll be ad free and you'll be supporting us as well Patreon. com Sash ans mee this. We will be back with a Nu anw mee this at the end of July, but before that you can check out all the other podcasts we make. What's Holly M man being up to? There's been quite a lot of news in the UK this week, you may have noticed. If you find that quite exhausting and you would like a break from that May I recommend my news podcast The Wek Unwrapped, which is the show that I present. You said it was a break from the news. It's all the news that you may have missed because everyone else has just been talking about Andy Burnham. So for example, recently, we've discussed the completion of the Sigrada famamiliar in Barcelona We talked about how drivervelless cars are getting on in London and we have discussed whether Japan has broken with pacifism. See? notot Andy Bernard. Well, you know, they topped off the Sigrada familiar and there he was sat on the tallest spire. The week unwrapped wherever you get your podcast U Helen can people find from your podcasting career? In the llusionist back catalogue, there are episodes about ladybirds with a lot of useful ladybird information in And also about apples. You know, we're talking about unusual British fruits and vegetables earlier. The apples episode is very amusing on that score. And then in the present I've just finished my mini series about Dracula and Dracula spinoffs and fan fiction