Unanswered

Steev and Nick discuss their experiences with the cinema and ask whether the magic of the place has been diminished by the way the industry has treated itself, or whether your hosts are just too jaded to take it on its own, rejigged terms. In a time where we can have a big enough screen at home, does the cinema still deserve to be the ultimate place to take in Hollywood’s finest? There’s also way too much talk about popcorn and penises. Continue reading →

In our twenty-fifth show we expand our horizons beyond amateur philosophy by also trying our hands at amateur history and amateur economics, to really drive home how little we know about the stuff we try to talk about. Gasp you will as we wonder how the idea of money started, who drew the notes, and how that person got paid. We also invent unprofitable businesses, discuss what we did with our pocket money, as well as consider the value of things when we have to work to afford them. Continue reading →

Communication breakdown on several fronts lead to this episode of Unanswered. The show was intended to be a discussion on the differences between loneliness and solitude, and the upsides to be found in the latter. Somehow the conversation stuck around an aside about introverts and extroverts. Additionally, the traditional recording set-up on Nick’s side failed, causing us to rely on the less than stellar Skype feed resulting in the occasional appearance of Robonick. Continue reading →

Recorded in a month all about Europe, Steev and Nick freewheel into a conversation about the UK’s political climate, and in particular the debate around immigration. Captured before the European Parliament elections and released after the dust had settled, this episode is as much a snapshot of a specific moment as it is a record of our own political perspective and prejudices. Find out what the deal is with Question Time, whether political parties have their own official dance, if suburban sprawls are our utopia, and which one of us would love to live near a cheese shop. Continue reading →

Naked as the day you were born is the only true day you were naked as the day you were born. Before long, however, it’s clear we’ve got to cover up: first for warmth and to stop our untrained selves from defecating where we stand; and later, because as much as our egos don’t want to hear it, the rest of the world isn’t particularly interested in dealing with an unwarranted state of clotheslessness. If there’s nothing actually wrong with the human form, and if it’s as beautiful as artists and Gok Wan insist, how come we get so bothered when even the random, non-sexual parts of it are exposed? In an awkward episode Nick and Steev discuss the awkwardness of being born, tread a careful line while talking awkwardly about breasts, and look at a few other situations where states of nudity outside of the home are awkward at best. Continue reading →

Empathy in a world of sympathy must feel like an apologist in a room full of outrage, whilst sympathy in a world of empathy must feel like a narcissist in a room without a reflective surface. It’s just as well the world is much larger than a four metre squared patch of carpet otherwise the complexity of humans could get a bit noticed. It’s a heady mix of the silly and serious as tragedy, charity, plasters, Harvard, and privilege checking are all quickly examined, before Steev and Nick push the concept of empathy into tougher territory—asking is it possible to have empathy with the most loathed people in our society, and if so what does that say about us? Continue reading →

It took Steev and Nick thirteen months to record their first podcast after deciding they would make one together. Twenty episodes of Unanswered later they get around to tackling procrastination as a topic. They are well suited to discuss it. Is procrastination a manifestation of boredom, distractibility or fear? What are the barriers procrastinators build for themselves to avoid doing the things which really matter? Can displacement activities themselves be productive? Steev and Nick ask a lot of questions of themselves in our most personal episode so far. Continue reading →

Returning from a month's hiatus turns out to be a tricky thing, thanks to the disruptive power of moving home. Steev’s moving moving experience is the starting point for a discussion on what home means to us. We look at the various places we call home, and try to figure out what turns a collection of bricks and stuff, or roads and places, into an emotional connection. Continue reading →

We are all prone to bouts of wondering what it is we’re supposed to do with our lives, and it seems one of the most popular answers is to be happy. Our governments and corporations wish for us to be happy as much as our nearest and dearest do. Whilst all this goodwill is lovingly received, can we even begin to understand what our pursuit of happiness really means? Why is happiness the emotion that wins out amongst all others, and do we risk confusing it with a sense of contentment? It’s a densely packed hour as Steev and Nick discuss emotions, the value of dogs, and share their own perspectives and experiences from their happiness pursuits. Continue reading →

“You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression” so the infamous phrase goes, and whilst you often have it told to you before a job interview or going on a date, it also applies to a good book or this year’s must-watch box-set TV show. Inspired in part by the fuss whipped up around the farewell of Breaking Bad, Steev and Nick delve into the dangers of time-shifting our entertainment diet, either by circumstance or by design. If everybody is talking about a thing you haven’t yet seen but want to check out at some point, is it possible to enjoy it unspoiled by others steamrolling their experiences over it? Is it your fault if you chose to do something else instead of grinding through the popular culture checklist, and do you deserve to have the kimono flashed open in your face for not keeping up with the rest of the class? We try very hard not to spoil the TV shows and movies we cite along the way. Continue reading →

Despite themselves and their often inflated sense of self-importance, humans do a relatively good job of all getting along. That is, unless one of their contemporaries is proving to be an obstacle purely by performing the duties their employer has bestowed upon said ghastly hurdle. Surely it is not too much to ask to appeal to the hurdle’s better nature and sense of fairness? Well, yes you can ask. Questions have a habit of providing unwelcome answers, however. And the wind cries Jobsworth. Steev and Nick try and deconstruct the title of Jobsworth and the people who wield it. Learn about That’s Life!, porcelain hearts, The Great British Traffic Warden, supposed power trips, and who amongst us can genuinely claim to win at life. Continue reading →

Everybody’s business is their own until it becomes somebody else’s. The question is: who gets to decide to make it somebody else’s business? Steev and Nick address privacy: where it exists in real life, and how online life has eroded our boundaries and highlighted the breadcrumb trail we leave, causing us to wonder what we’re left with. Follow us on a journey around baby pictures, condoms, soul stealing databases, the lives of the rich and famous, and what terrorists keep in their pants. But keep it to yourself. Continue reading →

With only days to go before the birth of his first child, Nick is in the mood to talk about some of the big changes in life and how we come to make them. Specifically, we discuss the milestones we pass in our relationships, why the decision to pass them seems like a big deal at the time, and why the weight of expectation can have a detrimental effect. Also, learn more than you’d ever wish to know about caffeine, what would terrify the versions of us from ten years ago, and which of us gurns at a camera that isn’t there. Continue reading →

The neighbourhood, let alone the world or the universe, is a pretty large place compared to a single solitary human being who would struggle to put a dent in anything most days. If we are so powerless to affect change wouldn’t it be more comforting to know that someone or something is making the dents for us? Luck is the term we commonly use to give reason to the things happening in our lives which we care not to analyse. Why are we so prepared to let luck take the wrap for the wrong stuff, and take credit for those times we managed to dent our worlds for the better? Continue reading →

When a person finds themselves offended it is described as them ‘taking offence’. We should be thankful for this grammatical distinction for offence, like beauty, lies in the eye of the beholder. This episode explores the modern malaise of militant indignation where the simple act of getting the hump somehow means this poor, fictional victim awards themselves the ability to force the rest of the world to adapt. Several examples from the world of comedy are brought into play, as well as racism, some bigoted woman, trigger warnings, and the Boyle family Christmas. Trigger warning: this episode contains words that could offend if the listener has no grasp of the concept of context. Continue reading →

When a like turns into a devotion and becomes a part of your emotional well-being, it’s possible you have become a fan. You enjoy, support and loyally follow an individual or group making something entertaining, or succeeding or failing in a sport. And that’s OK because you’re allowed to enjoy the fruits of another’s hard work. The person who worked hard to make it wants you to enjoy it. It’s a simple relationship. However, how much devotion is unhealthy and where can the relationship break down? Can one’s investment grow to create hopes that can never be met? Does our fanaticism threaten to spoil our fancy? Nick and Steev use a few of their own examples to consider the faults in being a fan. Steev yet again struggles with his sinuses. Apologies. Continue reading →

Nick has taken a look through his many swanky notebooks full of ideas, thoughts and observations. Starting along the path of youthful exuberance, and whilst the tenth episode started with the intention to be a bit of a round robin, we ended up focusing on affairs of the heart. We dissect the hopeless romantic; deconstruct the honeymoon period; and decide what defines an actual relationship from a schoolyard fling. We also talk crushes and crazy attention-grabbing schemes, and peek behind the curtain of marriage. And Steev says “you know” a lot. Continue reading →

Cities: Hulking great machines keeping its populace in sportswear and takeaway coffees, hiring people to sell sportswear and takeaway coffees. With our attention so divided between threats, opportunities and more bus stop ads than you could shake Adam Sandler at, are we able to focus on anything but the next few minutes? Steev and Nick are your tour guides of a ramshackle conversation covering African tribes; cherry bakewells; suburban sprawl; Hitler’s legacy, and The Wow Factor. Curiously, Hitler’s Legacy and The Wow Factor are on tour to your city later in the year. Continue reading →

Once only residing in Nordic legend, trolls have rampantly multiplied and found new, fertile ground along the Information Superhighway. As the world started to connect, and as technologies and services grew to house it, the human race re-encountered behaviours that the rigours of meatspace had started regulating years before. What’s troubling is, as more significant and influential people are thrust into online confrontations they weren’t expecting, we’re all struggling for a term to describe it. Steev and Nick aren’t so sure putting it under the umbrella of largely innocuous attempts to derail discussion threads for a cheap and easy, angry reaction is really that suitable. Has the term evolved or is it being hijacked where other, existing descriptions already exist? Continue reading →

Nick takes us back to his formative years to share a story about a llama, and relates it to the type of true stories told on The Moth podcast. This leads us to examine whether his tale could cut the mustard on the stage. We also ponder whether anecdotes or verbal vignettes, which don’t always guarantee a tidy resolution or lesson learned, really fit in anywhere without the context of already knowing the storyteller. No testicles were harmed during the making of this podcast. Continue reading →