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Simon and Lee discuss how Lee's relationship with his parents is changing (or not) and Simon going through his Mother's writing.

Things they discuss: Jefrey is inbetween breakfasts, Lee's breakfast, brushing your teeth when you wake up, not talking about the science of brushing your teeth before or after breakfast, bacteria replicating at night in your mouth, water squirters, mouthguards at bedtime, sleep apnea, Lee not making breakfast because he's dead, Weekend at Bernie's, how the age of Lee's parents is manifesting itself, Jonathan Silverman, Andrew McCarthy, Brighton Beach Memoirs, the documentary Brats, Rob Lowe making sense, Molly Ringwald not appearing on the documentary, repeating stories as we age and how long between the stories (days, minutes), Lee's Dad's pool is leaking, the man dug or the man Doug, a cubic meter, ladling out water of a pool, elderly people exercising, how Lee's relationship with his parents is changing, being more anxious about them (and expressing it), dying of emptying a swimming pool out, the challenge of doing all of Netflix (Lee's Mum rising to it), South Korean dramas on Netflix, Atal Gwande's "Being Mortal" (the medicalisation of death), Simon going through his Mother's writing (by posthumous request of his Mother) and putting it off, journalling instead of diarying, "What will I tell the children?" (G.A. Ellis), talking about midlife-ing, the beauty of your lives being ahead of you and the flip side of that, thinking about life ending.

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

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Simon and Lee talk about the things they have learned from their enemies.

Things they discuss: Mars the planet and who owns Mars the confectionary thing, Lee's newfound love of stickers, Pema Chodron's "Living Beautifully", the people we don't like, Bob interviewing a student who talked about their nemesis, Lee getting the discards, the wisdom of Ru Paul, feeling happy at the misfortune of another, Simon's greatest teacher, gentle hints to help you get rid of people, being an outsider, Peter Kramer helping Lee with a bullying situation years ago, the force of personality to be an actor, teachers are not to be trusted and they know fuck-all (except the brilliant ones), the value of terrible things, imagining if Lee were still an actor, the directors Lee would have liked to have worked with (David Lynch), Simon would go with Terrance Mallick, Wild at Heart (by Lynch), Nicholas Cage before he was a little bit Nicolas Cage, not Blue Velvet, Willem Dafoe losing his head, David Lynch having lunch with some actors and getting a phone call from Dennis Hopper, Lee being a fancy human being.

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

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Simon and Lee share a tricky conversation about the politics of representation.

Things they discuss: finding the note about the tricky subject, Lee extemporising, representation and optics, box ticking, Bayo Akomolafe and representation on slave ships, Simon's confusion about representation, the end game of the politics of representation, Guild HE report on "Understanding the lived experience of ethnic minority students in postgraduate research", the vitality of role models that we see ourselves in, visible markers of identity, female vice-chancellors and a patriarchal narrative, Lee goes all Derridean on us and getting to the point where the binary has been dismantled, gender-based violence in the UK and positioning women as chattle.

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

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Simon and Lee talk about "youngest and smallest" and the long-term effects of this feeling (and other similar feelings).

Things they discuss: visual but small, knowing things (or not) in meetings, refiling funding pots, knowing less than other people and what gets said (or not), speaking with confidence and authority, being the youngest and smallest, a curse of humility and inferiority, the opposite of a humble brag, walking towards police, Jefrey climbing into police cars, lots of cutting out, a drop off and pick up zone for Jesus, Jefrey being blessed by a vicar, miscreants outside the church, The Outsiders (film), beat cops swinging around their thing-a-rings, the image we have of ourselves and if/when it changes, ozempick thin and ozempick face (and list of people related to this), OJ Simpson trial defence attorney (Robert Kardashian), reorienting perception of one's body and mind, wanting to be quiet and by one's self, Simon confesses to being ignored by Lee, Lee's deep sense of comfort with Simon, being aware of the conditions of our performing in the world, looking physically older.

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

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Simon and Lee tier list the shit out of films starring Keanu Reeves.

Things they discuss: Dangerous Liasons (including the book), Valmont (L&S got this name wrong), The World According to Garp, Sea of Love and having the hots for Ellen Barkin, slightly dirty (erotic) thrillers, Cruel Intentions, all the Keanu films (can't be bothered listing them all), Interview with the Vampire (not a Keanu film), two lads banging (in televisual remake of Interview with the Vampire), the final of Wimbledon in which Alcaraz was called 'hot' by Annabelle Croft (who was on Strictly Come Dancing), Nicole Kidman in Eyes Wide Shut, the eroticism of Ken and Barbie, River's Edge (homework for Simon), River Phoenix's death, Gus van Sant, Mission Impossible directed by Brian de Palma, To Die For (Kidman film), Dirty Dancing, True Blue by Madonna, top 5 Beyonce songs, a conversation about Ms Swift, Destiny's Child.

Top 5 according to your hosts: 1. John Wick; 2. The Matrix; 3. Speed; 4. My Own Private Idaho; 5. Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure.

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

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Simon and Lee talk about obsessions and whether or not to talk about them.

Things they discuss: Being discombobulated, Lee's flight being cancelled, more on Simon's cholesterol and the NHS, budget cuts, brief (tangiential) conversation with Jefrey the dalmation, there will be butter (a film starring Daniel Day Lewis), birthday presents and Bob's birthday present registry, Bear (note-taking application), annual subscription services, shitting and kissing balls, putlocker (again), very delayed update on Kamala Harris, Eames House Bird, reading in the pub with a frolleague, articles about Lidar ("light detection and ranging"), Quicksilver (launcher application from back in the day), being obsessed with things, dickhead rabbit holes, sub-reddits, Lee going further than Madonna in his (yoga) practice, teaching classes on Brecht and Stanislavski, Artaud and total theatre, why Simon quit instagram years and years ago, and the sourdough line of conversation (getting high on your supply).

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

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Simon and Lee discuss hosting parties that are performances and re-wiring approaches to food.

Things they discuss: Simon hosts a party that is a performance in which he is not the host called We Move In Close Circles, the stress of hosting a party, making a lot of pizza, curious.com (which changed its name to just Curious), On the Scent, cholesterol update, the cost of olive oil, intermittant fasting regimes (5 days 2 days), snake dinners, Lee's commute, Lee hallucinating about talking to Jefrey, thinking about when you can eat before bedtime and how that's a midlife thing, the Anatomy Colouring Book, Bob and the Death Star (ie charity shopping), Lee in a second-hand Zegna shirt, witchcraft.

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

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Simon and Lee talk about anxiety that persists over time and situations that appear to be high stakes when they are not.

Things they discuss: Intrusive thoughts, self-diagnosing online, anxiety, worrying, ruminating and being lost in thought, getting into rows (and arguments) in your head, potentially high-temperature meetings (that are low stakes), Universities being hierarchical, people doing what they are told, the clarity of a work position as opposed to the height of it, the diminishing size of undergraduate theatre and dance programmes in higher education in the UK, smelling people's emotions (and Psychoneuroendocrinology), a specialist who just does root canals, teeth grinding and the pandemic, childhood mental health and the pandemic, children being kept home for so long during COVID19, a new labour Government in the UK, the UK being a conservative nation and serfdom, Keir Starmer or not, and people never being happy.

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

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The Midlifing logo is adapted from an original image by H.L.I.T: https://www.flickr.com/photos/29311691@N05/8571921679 (CC BY 2.0)