Ruthie - Me And My Dad

In a unique experiment in human understanding an 18-year-old girl dismantles Fawlty Towers to decide whether it has any relevance 40-odd years after it was first broadcast. We also examine Deliveroo's role in Britain's obesity crisis, and report on a hopeful development in tackling the mental health problems afflicting growing numbers of students. There's also the latest on Love Island, and a musical battle between British rock 'n' roller Vince Taylor and American pop rapper Lizzo  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In the latest father/daughter podcast, Ruth reveals she's never used a phone box in her life. Phone boxes, like burning CDs, are now part of a bygone era. Also, should we have sympathy for Theresa May following her downfall, asks Ruth, and embarrassingly reveals the meaning of BDSM to her dad. Do Game Of Thrones fans need therapy to cope with the end of the saga, or is Made In Chelsea a suitable replacement, and musically, it's late country legend Guy Clark versus Northampton's Slowthai.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Louis CK is banned from appearing in Leeds right after dad buys tickets. Will he never do stand-up again? Ruth to miss the 25-year Mean Girls reunion for exam reasons, a pop-up shop in Lewisham aims to help people on the last lap of life, is it possible to drink a MacDonalds' milk shake with a paper straw, and how weird are other people's families?  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Ruth unveils her grand plan for the future of the planet - bad news if you're approaching 80. Also the Midnight In Paris syndrome - we're all nostalgic about the era just before we were born (which explains the enduring appeal of Friends), the problem with being a student, Emma Thompson - supercilious or what, and will Ruth lose her Leeds accent when she starts mixing with students from Esher and Hemel Hempstead.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Ruthie and Dad pledge never to go on for more than 45 minutes, and this episode comes in just under the bar. It's a TV special asking 'what's the point of sit-coms, is Naked Beach just a freak show, and is Goggle Box the best programme on TV? Also, Loyle Carner, giving hip-hop a bad name, 16-year-old Greta Thunber's speech to MPs, and the Coachella music festival.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Hey, what's the matter with the kids? Nothing, it turns out. Gen Z are the most socially conscious bunch for a while. Also, lady shavers, colourism, exam stress, Cardi B and her rolling 'r's, what's the point of grammar - and musically, the great Ry Cooder takes on Rejjie Snow.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Ruthie spans generations of entertainment as she mounts a spirited defence both of Game Of Thrones and the French boulevardier and cabaret artist Maurice Chevalier, suspected of being a wartime collaborator. Also, the governments proposed clampdown on pornography, feminism as a class issue, and actor Martin Freeman exploits his children for commercial gain. Imagine.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Following the Love Island suicides, Ruth and Dad ask if enjoyment of the show makes you complicit in the tragedies; and Ruth gets a tiny taste of what public disapproval feels like with her second hate mail in two weeks. Also, conspiracy theories - whether it's Princess Diana, Madeleine McCann, or the moon landing, they remain irresistible to young people. It might have something to do with the teenage brain, which Ruth and Dad also discuss, and musically, Kenny Rogers takes on Subculture Sage.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Ruthie gets her first experience of hate mail in the latest father/daughter podcast, as a correspondent calls her 'supercilious and whining.' In this episode, they discuss transgender participation in women's sport, pro-life campaigners, gaslighting, alternative lifestyles for the future, and father explains blaxploitation movies to Ruth.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Powdered milk, Dolly Parton, Michael Jackson, and Louis Theroux are among topics in the latest father-daughter podcast. Also, if you're feeling charitable, is the best policy to give money to the homeless in the street, and is dad OK to call them hobos? And have our universities become intolerant of views that veer from the mainstream? Musically, Willie Nelson takes on Tyler The Creator.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this week's father-and-daughter podcast, Ruth shocks dad by revealing some of the things teenage boys routinely say, sex education - completely absent in Ruth's Catholic high school - is discussed, and Ruth takes an intelligence test. Also, communism, avocados, and what's the deal with Monty Python? Musically, it's Little Richard versus Oscar Jerome.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In the latest instalment of the father and daughter podcast, Martin and Ruth discuss anti-semitism in France and England, why it's not possible for young people even to boil a pan of pasta without Internet assistance, and the latest app for the lost and lonely. Also brainjacking, a kind of real life Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, thoughts on Shamima Begum, Chloe Kardashian's love-split, and the latest on the Love Island hamster.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode of the father/daughter podcast, Ruth tells dad that in the era of 'deep fake,' the only way to protect yourself is to go completely off grid, says that anyone who has Alexa or similar device is an idiot, and describes a cupboard full of cereal is the impossible dream. Dad, meanwhile, tells Ruth how children are brought up in Israel, tries a rightly derided Geordie accent, and plays Prefab Sprout.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, a father-and-daughter perspective on the Liam Neeson incident, and the concept of 'oversmiling.' Also, do the so-called sofa chat shows - Graham Norton and Jonathan Ross - rely on smut, and are images of smoking - Mad Men, Arctic Monkeys' album sleeve - encouraging teenagers to take up smoking? Plus the secret of pink lemonade, and musically, the death of long songs, and actor Richard Harris v Beirut.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

As the Brexit debate gets more toxic, father and daughter debate whether it's fair game to bring Winston Churchill into the argument. Meanwhile, Ruth discovers that it's quite wet in Lancaster, and discloses the latest on Love Island's Meghan and Wes and their hamster. Also, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jennifer Aniston's de-cluttering regimes are questioned, and musically, young Tom Misch takes on reggae giants Toots and the Maytals.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In the latest father and daughter podcast, the two generations disagree about what it's OK to make jokes about. Also they ask if the university admissions system is crazy, reveal which university is using bubble wrap as stress relief, and ask listeners to decide which university Ruth should go to, Lancaster or York. Questions posed this week include why misery memoirs are so popular, and a new take on Cinderella, asking whether shoe size is a sensible system for deciding royal succession.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In the latest father-and-daughter podcast, Ruthie illustrates the secret of life with a colourful elephant metaphor, while Martin wonders if pointing to the innate sexism of the Muslim faith makes him an Islamophobe. Also, father is sceptical about the controversial Gillette online advertisement, without going the full Piers Morgan, and agrees with Bryan Cranston that there's nothing wrong with a non-gay actor playing a gay character. Musically Ruth introduces her dad to Frank Ocean, while father reveals to Ruth that Steely Dan isn't just 'a bloke called Dan.'  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week Ruth speaks up for the great white shark, and against vending machines, which she says are responsible for more deaths than the terrifying denizen of the deep. Also, Ruthie and Dad discuss the difference between happiness and satisfaction, the nature of memory, and, in a rare moment of middle-class discourse, sending back a below-standard sea bass in a restaurant. James Graham's Brexit drama, An Uncivil War, is discussed, Ruth explains milennial burn-out, and wonders if there's a racial element to the relative lack of publicity given to accusations of sexual impropriety against R n B singer R. Kelly.  If you enjoy 'Ruthie - Me & My Dad', then it would be great if you could rate us on iTunes here; https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/ruthie-me-and-my-dad/id1350367213?mt=2 If you REALLY like us, it would be be even better if you could leave a review. And be sure to subscribe and never miss an episode, and tell your friends.You can get in touch with the show via email here; martinandr

The first Ruthie Me & My Dad of 2019 ranges further and wider than ever before, covering school uniforms for girls ('Outside school, no girl ever wears a tie - except Annie Hall'), the plague of hippos that followed Pablo Esobar's death in Colombia, the fact that free movement of people has led to an exodus of the young - from Latvia and Burnley, Keira Knightley's fear that the MeToo movement has morphed into man hating, the nature v nurture debate prompted by documentary film Three Identical Strangers, and Ruth's hard line on disgraced American comedian Louis CK...  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, 'the whole dog year thing,' as Ruth takes on the phenomenon of the years passing more quickly as one ages, and dad asks if ageism is the one remaining safe form of humour. Meanwhile, Ruth takes advantage of a Catholic education to explain transubstantiation to her dad, but takes the term 'right wing' to cover anything she is not too keen on. Woody Allen rears his nebbish head again, as Ruthie and Dad ask if he's finally beyond the pale. Also Brexit, the dance of death, 'men are weird,' & Merle Haggard takes on Migos in the strangest musical face-off ever.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.