Rum Doings

It's a lot of Trump. That was fairly inevitable. John continues to argue for hysteria and panic, Nick continues to argue for calm uninterest. Via this exquisite example of Hegelian dialectic, a synthesis is eventually reached. (Actually, this episode presents a much more realistic example of real-life communication within the twenty-year friendship between the two hosts - this is how we normally get anywhere.) Then there's a smattering of the idiotic lawsuit between Bethesda and Oculus.

After Nick finally gets done whining and whining about how pathetic he is, we get on to a traditionally rambling, frequently sidetracked discussion of the Trump presidency so far. What might happen to NPR? We analyse Data's poem to his cat. And we read some of Trump's tweets.

Discussions of our Christmas break, Lappish holidays, and festive feasts breaks way into an accidental conversion to Catholicism. We laugh at the colossally stupid Canary, forecast 2017, and then talk about the Mandela Effect, and specifically this article about it. And then mailing lists, and a surprise celebration of George Michael.

In another pleasingly mixed episode we talk all over the place, from remembering Fight Club to from where the next child abuse scandal shall emerge, adoption and fostering to the luck and timing of creative success. We try to fathom YouTube like old, old men, and then laugh at how silly Googles are.

We recorded this last week, but then John's life went crazy and he finally got around to posting it today. But thankfully we chatted aimiably about non-topical things for a change! So here is a lovely episode that should distract you from the 2016s of 2016.

This is a slightly shorter emergency episode, responding to the US election result as soon as we were both alive again this morning. It's glum, obviously, but you do get to hear Nick say words that you'll have never heard before (his family and friends included). We talk about what isn't going to happen, how there won't be a wall, what limits Trump will operate under. And then we talk terrifying worst-case scenarios. But the good news is, it all ends with lovely cute Toby chatting his madness at us.

We talk about how all judges are pure evil hellbent against the will of the people, the Brexit effect (Brexfect), and move on to the American election. Plus we accuse just about everyone of terrible crimes, and then explain why everyone should vote Trump.

We discuss the magical futuristic technology of voice activated personal assistants, the peculiar national forgetting of what the Liberal Democrats did six years ago, and six year old antisemitism.

Lots of lovely arguing this week, after a boring bit of agreeing over the horror that is Theresa May's Brexit policy. We argue over food, sexism, fundraising, bone broth and Nick's magic teeth.

After Nick's ugly hatred of the disabled is revealed, we move on to John's tale of a horrible accident that nearly took out Toby, and broke one elderly cyclist. Which then leads on to a refreshingly politics-free episode, except that we just bang on about our children throughout.

We talk statins, home schooling, and then Nick makes John talk about No Man's Sky. This naturally leads on to lazy writing in Star Trek, the madness of Knob Hill, and when will the Labour vote finally be over?

Welcome to our discussions of getting struck off dentistry, last-minute dissertations, and the extraordinary private life of Wendy Deng Murdoch. We review Deadpool, and we discover why the second law of thermodynamics is why we can't have nice things.

In our 222th ever Rum Doings, our topic has been removed due to offensive language. We discuss why Twitter should have been an open protocol, the opening of the Olympics, and then an extended argument about trampolining. We learn about the complexities of imaginary private beaches, the arrival of Olympic baseball and as you'd imagine, a dissection of Radio 4's Loose Ends.

We talk about the subject that is at the forefront of the English-speaking world's current interests: a vintage bus rally. And this tattoo and this image leads us to considered the delightful Nazism of Disney. Nick grills John on Toby's pink pram, and then we consider Owen Jones' latest peculiar twist. John tells a story that means no one will ever touch him again, we attempt to understand Pokemon GO and the potential of augmented reality gaming, and consider just how awful are the Cornish.

The big headline! Nick's broken his foot! Hear all the background to the story that's rocked the nation. We then move on to talk Corbyn, as you might imagine. We talk Trident. We talk Owen Smith and his problematic ways. We talk May's evil cabinet. And then we're invaded.

We make some predictions for the future. All of them will come true. So better get your stuff in order, Quennie. We talk YouTube, and then obviously get into the hilarity of the Labour leadership coup, and the monstrousness of Theresa May. What news might we have read if Britain hadn't gone bonkers? Do you remember the Chilcot enquiry? Do you wear shoes? Is there a single ugly cello player?

Now everything's back to normal and the country's running tickety-boo, we're able to move on to... no, of course not. But we do cut off the politics talk after a bit and focus on more pressing matters, like how did PacMan mate? And what would we do if we had vaginas? This leads us to making a new rule about sex: no sharp corners. We also make a big stakes bet over the possibility of a Trump presidency.

So, yeah. Recorded at 7.30am, this is our immediate reaction to Britain's voting to leave the EU. We discuss the possible consequences, the devastating impact, and ponder best case scenarios for the future. Which is tough, at this point. Worth noting that Cameron announced his resignation the very moment we stopped recording, so we only speculate that he will.

This week we talk about Brexit vs Bremain, and as you might imagine a week before the vote, that's about it. We look at some of the arguments, we discuss some of the potential consequences, and we implore people to get off their bums on Thursday to vote for things to stay the same.

We've got a pamphlet! This week you can learn all about The Original Copper Heeler Registered Trademark, and the panacea it presents to the universe. We ponder on immigration and the EU referendum, and Nick's impressive encounter with some Brexiteers. And Toby's tact.