00:00:01.48
alexei sayle
Hello everybody and welcome to episode 103 of the Alexi Sale podcast. a ah um

00:00:10.73
Talal K
Love it. Thank you, studio audience.

00:00:11.39
alexei sayle
And episode, apparently you're telling me, off air in the green room of our studio complex here at Alexi Sale World.

00:00:16.22
Talal K
e

00:00:22.62
Talal K
Yeah, and there was it in the um penthouse of a premier inn?

00:00:23.32
alexei sayle
I'll just and the and no like just ah just Lexi's sail a world with the, you know, hello, John got new animatronic theme park.

00:00:32.47
Talal K
Oh, the theme park.

00:00:35.55
alexei sayle
And the, uh, the career, the career slide from popularity, the nineties slide from popularity into a relative obscurity water slide.

00:00:37.44
Talal K
ah god

00:00:47.97
alexei sayle
Lexi's career in the nineties water slide. Uh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:00:51.96
Talal K
Nice, new edition. It's expanding theme park. Yeah, we had our and our and our company was housed in a premier inn, if you remember. Months ago, we discussed that, thanks to Lenny's sponsorship.

00:01:05.48
alexei sayle
just I don't remember that.

00:01:06.67
Talal K
So maybe now the around the Premier Inn, we've built Alexi Land.

00:01:10.56
alexei sayle
Yeah, well, there is a premiere and you can stay. Well, there's a number of hotels at different price points, like Disneyland, where you can stay at the Alexi Cell World, Leonardo Hotels, and there's a...

00:01:12.68
Talal K
Yeah.

00:01:15.10
Talal K
Oh, of course, yes. It's accessible.

00:01:24.81
Talal K
You have some luxury cabins.

00:01:26.70
alexei sayle
Yes. And, yeah, celebrity, you know, for glamping in the forest of...

00:01:32.65
Talal K
Yep.

00:01:35.72
alexei sayle
the forest of Jertsy. And there Bobby Chariot Racing.

00:01:41.33
Talal K
Oh, that's great.

00:01:41.92
alexei sayle
That's a... Yeah, that's ah that's a big feature. so Many people have... Many yeah brave men have died in the Bobby Chariot Racing.

00:01:48.55
Talal K
Yeah, it's currently shut down.

00:01:50.24
alexei sayle
You have to take pills.

00:01:50.51
Talal K
Yeah, it is currently shut down.

00:01:51.63
alexei sayle
Or Jaguars. They race horse-drawn Jaguars.

00:01:57.63
Talal K
ah

00:01:58.44
alexei sayle
it's ah It's a complicated metaphor. um Yeah, so it's... ah Yeah, come down to... Alexi Sail World.

00:02:08.81
Talal K
I think it was Alexi land.

00:02:09.07
alexei sayle
and Alexi Land, was it? Alexi Land, yeah.

00:02:11.83
Talal K
Well, the sign changes every few days. I don't, we can't land on a name.

00:02:13.88
alexei sayle
Yeah, just to confuse people. but

00:02:15.72
Talal K
Yeah.

00:02:15.76
alexei sayle
Which is down in Dorset next to Monkey World and the Bovington Tank Museum, of course. Where else would it be?

00:02:22.98
Talal K
We're slowly, slowly ah buying up land until we, you know, until we absorb them.

00:02:25.94
alexei sayle
Yeah, round Monkey. We can make that. Yeah, make that illusion of monkeys driving a T-34, which has always been my dream. ah But yeah, so down in Dorset, in Bovington, in Dorset, Alexi Land, follow signs for Monkey World or Tank Museum and then swerve off into the woods just when you feel like it.

00:02:35.87
Talal K
It will happen.

00:02:51.53
alexei sayle
Just wrench the wheel to the left and smash it into a tree.

00:02:57.61
Talal K
We're working on a new ah spooky sector of the theme park based on our new world building we did last week.

00:03:00.62
alexei sayle
Oh, yeah. Yeah, well, yeah. Yeah, because of our popular Halloween episode. Yeah, so spooky Alexi world. So to tell us all about this, the most divisive episode ever, you say?

00:03:15.00
Talal K
Oh my God. i can't help but be really proud of it because it's got people fucking talking more comments than any other episode we've done.

00:03:24.71
alexei sayle
So they talk to each other.

00:03:24.82
Talal K
And they are...

00:03:25.63
alexei sayle
as I haven't looked at the comments yet, but um they talk to each other. Are there places where they can talk to each other or they talk to each other in the common.

00:03:32.96
Talal K
Well, people can chat with each other in the chat room at patreon.com forward slash AlexiSalePodcast.

00:03:38.53
alexei sayle
Right. Yeah.

00:03:39.88
Talal K
And although you might be listening to this on your favorite podcasting app, There's also the video, the not the video, but the audio goes up on YouTube where there is a comment section.

00:03:51.43
Talal K
So people go back and forth on that.

00:03:53.66
alexei sayle
Oh, did you send them them them films we did for Spotify?

00:03:53.85
Talal K
And

00:03:56.52
alexei sayle
You sent them off, by the way.

00:03:58.15
Talal K
yes, so if you listen on Spotify or if you've listened to Alexei's audio book,

00:03:59.12
alexei sayle
Or apparently...

00:04:02.13
alexei sayle
If you buy my book, my audio dear book.

00:04:03.80
Talal K
on Spotify, you'll get, a as part of your Spotify wrapped, you'll get a little message from Alexi. But Spotify is a huge, evil, horrible ah company.

00:04:13.69
alexei sayle
dear, yes, yes.

00:04:14.85
Talal K
um So we do not, we don't we don't promote or endorse or there's ain't no fucking sponsorship.

00:04:21.13
alexei sayle
Right.

00:04:21.37
Talal K
I've actually switched, i've I've transitioned away from Spotify. I'm a long time.

00:04:24.27
alexei sayle
Have you?

00:04:25.11
Talal K
I was a member of, I joined Spotify when I was at uni back in the,

00:04:30.50
alexei sayle
Crikey.

00:04:30.73
Talal K
like 2009 2010 and you needed to be invited to join spotify and it was just this small swedish startup um on your laptop you to get an invite code from someone who was already a member and it was so hard for me to get because everyone gets five invites and they're very like it would make put you in a position of power you know like the

00:04:33.98
alexei sayle
Yeah.

00:04:39.59
alexei sayle
On your iPod.

00:04:42.75
alexei sayle
On your laptop, yikes.

00:04:53.47
alexei sayle
Like that, it's bit like that um celebrity dating site where Lily Allen met her husband, and she's now perfect written an album of that.

00:04:59.41
Talal K
Raya, yeah, it was like that. That's what I wanted to ask you about. Fuck everything else.

00:05:04.98
alexei sayle
ah

00:05:05.40
Talal K
Have you listened to Lily Allen's album? Because you are a family friend of hers.

00:05:07.27
alexei sayle
No. Yeah. Yeah.

00:05:11.14
Talal K
my My girlfriend's a big fan.

00:05:11.27
alexei sayle
Well, not yet.

00:05:12.62
Talal K
And I was like, you know, you're like two degrees of separation away from Lily Allen.

00:05:16.90
alexei sayle
Unky Lex. That's what Lily used to call me. Unky Lex.

00:05:20.12
Talal K
Anki Lex.

00:05:21.34
alexei sayle
She didn't really.

00:05:22.56
Talal K
Oh. Have you not listened to the album?

00:05:24.90
alexei sayle
um I haven't yet, and I've just read articles in The Guardian about it. It's...

00:05:30.61
Talal K
Any thoughts, any any feelings? What do you think about exposing your whole, you know, a very personal drama into an album like that?

00:05:34.86
alexei sayle
Um, I mean it's not, it's always never been my, it's never been my inclination. It's always my inclination has been tied.

00:05:45.77
alexei sayle
Although there are, there are, I suppose, in a sense, poignant revelatory bits to some extent in, in my ah book, which is coming out next year. But, um, uh, I, I mean, it's, I, I, I,

00:06:04.11
alexei sayle
ah I mix feelings about it, really. I mean, obviously, it is and is something that artists do. um And, you know, if that's, you know, and you know well, I always think,

00:06:22.63
alexei sayle
Years ago, Linda met a comedian, one of the original comedians, and and she said, oh how are you doing? He said, oh, I'm really upset. My father died, just died. She's got a calm story. He said, yeah, I thought I'd get at least 10 minutes material out of it, but so far nothing.

00:06:39.98
alexei sayle
So that um that impulse for artists, I suppose it's in it to mine the... the the you know, the kind of complexities of their life.

00:06:53.41
alexei sayle
I mean, I think it's something that, I mean, Lily's always done, really, hasn't she?

00:06:57.39
Talal K
Yeah, ah especially in songwriting.

00:06:57.61
alexei sayle
Yeah, sh she's talking about Alfie Wanking and stuff like that. um You know, there's a certain, you know, I suppose, you know, Graham Greene talked about the... author the authors needing to have a chip of ice you know in their soul, a kind of coldness, really, yeah a willingness to exploit themselves and those around them. I suppose you could say that in that sense, Lily is just you know following in a noble tradition.

00:07:22.65
alexei sayle
But I have mixed feelings about it, really.

00:07:25.05
Talal K
For those who don't know, Lily Allen had a very messy, and but quite public. It was all in the news breakup with her husband, ah David Harbour, who, you know, although they were in a polyamorous relationship as because of his insistence, he broke the rules, the parameters of that relationship.

00:07:44.34
alexei sayle
yeah in an album have you listened to it is it good it melodic

00:07:44.39
Talal K
And now she's exposed him as the sex fiend he is in this, uh, tell all album. And, uh, It is good.

00:07:55.27
Talal K
Yes. It's there's. Sorry, there's some leaf blower outside on the street. So sorry about the noise.

00:08:04.31
alexei sayle
that's okay linda's got a particular yeah

00:08:05.76
Talal K
it's It's got some bangers. It's got some knee slappers. There's some toe tappers. There's some very funny lyrics. There's some very personal stuff. It is very like.

00:08:18.04
Talal K
Dishy gossip, you know, it's like. It's like reading Heat magazine, but like a whole fucking novel of it, you know?

00:08:24.91
alexei sayle
Right.

00:08:26.07
Talal K
it's It's really dishy. um But the music holds up, so it's fine. I don't know whether in 10 years we'll still be talking about it. Hmm.

00:08:37.58
alexei sayle
Now, there is also that thing, I mean, you we're going back to Lily's early years, that yeah kind of singing in that Cockney voice and talking about London and all, you know, while privately educated daughter of ah an actor and a film producer, it is it's that it that kind of posh people.

00:08:47.13
Talal K
Hmm.

00:08:56.35
alexei sayle
Yeah, that's true.

00:08:57.78
Talal K
Yeah, I think it's moved on from that style as well.

00:09:01.03
alexei sayle
Yeah.

00:09:01.17
Talal K
The the style has matured, but I don't know she ever pretended to be not posh.

00:09:01.67
alexei sayle
that's true yeah

00:09:09.22
alexei sayle
No, I suppose not.

00:09:11.11
Talal K
She was a privileged girl, but she was always quite cool in her delivery. And. and

00:09:15.69
alexei sayle
Yeah. I don't There is just a contradiction there. But then, ah you know, maybe it's... Yeah, I don't know. just know very sensitive to that ah particular issue.

00:09:26.25
Talal K
Hmm.

00:09:28.67
alexei sayle
Actually, I've just been... what Have you watched Girl Bands Forever?

00:09:33.96
alexei sayle
It's Girl Bands Forever.

00:09:34.23
Talal K
What's that? Oh, is that a follow-up from the boy bands one?

00:09:37.27
alexei sayle
but From Boy Bands Forever, yeah.

00:09:39.22
Talal K
Documentary about girl bands.

00:09:40.59
alexei sayle
Yeah.

00:09:41.69
Talal K
No, I haven't. Tell me. Tell me everything.

00:09:43.51
alexei sayle
Well, I mean, it's also got, like, you know, the only reason I watch Boy Bands Forever is because I, to see Anthony Costa from Blue, who I did Richard Osmond's House of Games with, was similarity.

00:09:54.07
Talal K
Mm-hmm.

00:09:55.32
alexei sayle
One of the interviews he's in Girl Bands Forever is Kelly Bryant, who also did Richard Osmond's House Games with. And so feel like I have a personal, as she was in,

00:10:02.82
Talal K
Oh, what band is she from?

00:10:08.09
alexei sayle
Eternal.

00:10:10.95
alexei sayle
Yes, and he got fired by fax, I think.

00:10:11.13
Talal K
um

00:10:13.31
alexei sayle
It's daytime, anyways.

00:10:18.18
Talal K
Okay, so...

00:10:19.20
alexei sayle
It's not quite as interesting as boy bands. I think the music is worse, really. But it's, well you know, it was interesting. And certainly, obviously, I didn't know... I've always liked Atomic. I mean, it was really weird. I didn't know that Andy McCluskey of Orchestral Man, who was in the dark, Birkenhead 80s synth band, was the kind of Svengali behind Atomic Kitten.

00:10:42.42
alexei sayle
So that was interesting.

00:10:46.97
alexei sayle
So it isn't... And I didn't, you know, obviously I was... I mean, it partly it wasn't my music.

00:10:50.14
Talal K
Fucking hell, Atomic Kitten.

00:10:52.68
alexei sayle
Push the button and let...

00:10:52.89
Talal K
I haven't heard that name for a long time.

00:10:54.56
alexei sayle
Yeah. I think they still... I think they've all revived. They're all working in that rewind circuit, I think, a lot of them band.

00:11:02.35
Talal K
Mm-hmm.

00:11:04.06
alexei sayle
ah Yeah, the main ones that they featured were Eternal...

00:11:10.18
alexei sayle
Girls are loud, I don't know. um

00:11:12.74
Talal K
Sugar babes?

00:11:13.66
alexei sayle
Sugar Babes, yeah, Sugar Babes are very central. Atomic Kitten and

00:11:25.66
Talal K
All

00:11:28.47
alexei sayle
But yeah, it was interesting if anybody's, you know, I enjoyed it.

00:11:35.24
Talal K
right, that's an Alexi Recommends, Girl Bands Forever.

00:11:37.76
alexei sayle
Yeah, Alexi recommends Girl Bands Forever. Well, it also, because I wasn't, I mean, I wasn't really paying much attention to pop music by then, but also obviously girl bands were not, I was, you know, were not my area of interest, really.

00:11:53.56
Talal K
You know, it's funny, when I was younger, I was ah such grunger. I was fully into rock and some metal and grunge music. And so I fully just rejected pop on a surface level.

00:12:08.19
Talal K
Like if it classified as pop, I wouldn't even fucking listen to it. When it came on the radio, I took great pleasure in being like, oh, this pop shit, fucking bullshit.

00:12:17.31
alexei sayle
Yeah.

00:12:18.07
Talal K
I'm not listening to this. Change the channel, put XFM on and all that. It's so cliquey and divisive, but now that I'm older, I'm like, if it's good, I like it. I don't, you know, I've really gotten over that feeling and I don't know when that switch happened.

00:12:30.45
alexei sayle
Right.

00:12:33.70
Talal K
um

00:12:34.03
alexei sayle
Well, it's very mature of it.

00:12:38.84
Talal K
um But I take great joy in a lot of pop, like Brat is one of the greatest albums I've ever fucking heard.

00:12:45.74
alexei sayle
Yeah, I don't. Yeah.

00:12:46.97
Talal K
It's insane. It's so simple, but it's iconic, yeah.

00:12:49.40
alexei sayle
Charlie X here. Yeah. Yeah, know who that's by.

00:12:53.45
Talal K
Well done.

00:12:53.91
alexei sayle
Yeah.

00:12:54.29
Talal K
Yeah, nice. um But I still love my rock music.

00:12:55.43
alexei sayle
Yeah, I've been listening to it. I've been listening to I really got into Adrian Linker. So a lot of sort of kind of country folk rock.

00:13:06.73
alexei sayle
Sadness is a Gift, I think, is one of the most amazing tracks I've ever heard.

00:13:10.15
Talal K
Adrian Linker.

00:13:11.09
alexei sayle
I've been listening to a lot of, but also like Adrian Linker, Big Thief. I can't remember now.

00:13:23.12
Talal K
Did you ever listen to or encounter the incredible string band?

00:13:28.06
alexei sayle
I went to see them when I was at art school at the Liverpool Philharmonic.

00:13:32.22
Talal K
Oh my God. They're one of my favorites.

00:13:36.22
alexei sayle
Yeah, I couldn't. I wasn't really wanting to eat. I don't really like live music, so ah wasn't able to fully comprehend what was going on.

00:13:48.45
alexei sayle
There was a girl at college who was really into it.

00:13:48.63
Talal K
Oh.

00:13:50.64
alexei sayle
Now, maybe I saw the Maclitheroe. There was a pop festival in Lancashire Town at Clitheroe, Clitheroe 69. I either saw them there or at the Philharmonic Hall. I saw T-Rex, original T-Rex, Mark Bowlin, Steve Pettigrew in Took.

00:14:10.87
alexei sayle
And then I saw Pentangle as well, Philharmonic Hall. I couldn't know what was going on, really.

00:14:19.18
Talal K
and Speaking of white, ah speaking of, um speaking of live performances this Saturday, I'm hoping this will be out by then. um I'll be doing a reading at the White Kite Collectives show

00:14:33.73
alexei sayle
Oh, right. I don't know.

00:14:34.65
Talal K
and

00:14:34.89
alexei sayle
Did they ask me to do that? I don't remember.

00:14:37.46
Talal K
in Stratford East. Let me just...

00:14:46.37
Talal K
If you live in London, come and ah you know do a good thing. Come see Stand with Palestinians, messages from Gaza on 8th of November in Stratford East.

00:15:01.64
Talal K
um And me and Alexi are appearing in, so it's finally coming out. Remember we went and did some filming with Ty Hickey and Nicole Jenes for their new sketch show, YouTube series.

00:15:09.43
alexei sayle
Yes. Yes.

00:15:17.22
alexei sayle
Yes.

00:15:18.59
Talal K
It's got a name and it's got a date. It's coming out on Monday and it's called Now ah with two O's.

00:15:23.23
alexei sayle
Right.

00:15:24.55
Talal K
Not in our, not, not in our,

00:15:27.93
alexei sayle
No. No. No.

00:15:30.26
Talal K
Watch. Not on our watch.

00:15:31.36
alexei sayle
i

00:15:32.90
Talal K
Now with two O's. And it's coming out on Monday on YouTube. And it'll come out every Monday after that for seven weeks or five weeks.

00:15:40.62
alexei sayle
He films

00:15:44.48
alexei sayle
five weeks, think.

00:15:45.79
Talal K
um And I really hope you can all go and subscribe.

00:15:49.66
alexei sayle
Yeah, Tag's a very nice guy. And, of course, he also he was on the Sumud Freedom.

00:15:56.42
Talal K
Yep, the Freedom Flotilla.

00:15:56.59
alexei sayle
um So he's got the best experience of Israeli hospitality.

00:16:02.85
Talal K
Yeah, absolutely mental. And Alexei does a sketch and I do a bunch. And I'm really actually quite excited for that. And it's finally coming out and they've got big aims to do a second series that's bigger and better. And um they said they want to create like an anti-imperialist um Saturday Night Live, basically.

00:16:25.53
Talal K
And that's Now Media on YouTube. N-O-O-W Media on YouTube.

00:16:32.08
alexei sayle
Now,

00:16:33.33
Talal K
Go give that a follow, folks.

00:16:36.47
alexei sayle
just to come back to, um Linda's got a particular hatred of leaf blowers.

00:16:42.44
Talal K
Oh, yeah.

00:16:42.66
alexei sayle
She can't see the sense in them, really.

00:16:44.49
Talal K
So do I right now.

00:16:45.42
alexei sayle
Yeah. It's also, what is that? Wouldn't a brush, rather than a sort of machine, a huge, noisy, snouty machine with a motor in it, why can't you just sweep the leaves up with a brush?

00:16:58.24
alexei sayle
That's what grinds my gears. Leaf blowers. I'm just trying to read some read my Bible. there's this terrible racket outside. It's a guy with a leaf blower.

00:17:11.66
alexei sayle
That's what grinds my gears. Why not just use a brush?

00:17:16.16
Talal K
Yeah.

00:17:17.04
alexei sayle
Yeah, what's so what's all that about? and but Any pro-leaf blower? I think there's probably an intersection between Zionism and leaf blower. Maybe they're all made by Albert Systems. I don't know, but they're irredeemably evil. what's the um Anybody who wants to defend the leaf blower, I'll debate with them at the...

00:17:37.94
alexei sayle
Oxford Union. This house believes that the leaf blower is an essential adjunct to a tidy patio.

00:17:44.59
Talal K
Yeah, yeah, agree.

00:17:45.51
alexei sayle
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I i debate that with them. um

00:17:49.86
Talal K
Hit us up in the comments.

00:17:51.43
alexei sayle
Yeah. So that's that's a circle. but So we we still haven't got why our most, if you'd like to describe to those that weren't involved in this, um why episode 102 of the Lexington podcast was the most divisive ever.

00:18:06.16
Talal K
Well, last week we did a Halloween special and I created a Dungeons and Dragons one shot for Alexei to play through.

00:18:06.26
alexei sayle
Over to you, Talal.

00:18:14.57
Talal K
was like a little horror story involving like a spooky castle, but Obviously, I want ah wove in loads of like references to his career and like your party, basically, and people he hates.

00:18:29.11
Talal K
But um the comments, I couldn't be happier. So people the comments were so on so harshly on either end of the spectrum of completely loving what it was or just being like,

00:18:38.45
alexei sayle
Right.

00:18:44.28
Talal K
Okay, Rick Rika said never let Talal do this again. He's not a good he's not a good narrator or storyteller. Painful, dull, kill me now.

00:18:53.65
alexei sayle
ah

00:18:55.26
Talal K
ah Someone's...

00:18:55.46
alexei sayle
That is a phrase that I did use in the, I did set it in Spanish, didn't I be better?

00:19:00.38
Talal K
Yes.

00:19:02.06
alexei sayle
I did use that phrase myself.

00:19:02.26
Talal K
This was so awful, says enjoy yourself now. Please don't do it again. Turned it off after six minutes. Infinity of Six said I made it to one minute twelve. Think I'll skip this one. um so And if it had only lasted 10 minutes, it might have been funny ah in a postmodern, ironically painful and horrifying way. But to keep going, just torture.

00:19:23.94
Talal K
um I'm with Alexi on this one, says Ruth. i don't think I'd keep listening if it became regular.

00:19:32.97
Talal K
um And then the some of the people would comment and then also emailed us, like just to drive the...

00:19:34.89
alexei sayle
There.

00:19:40.35
Talal K
the message home you know making sure someone said talal needs to be gagged um so some really fucking harsh and awful shit you know worse than some of the shit you were saying and let me see if there's another really awful one uh this one's funny ian said listening to this is like watching a dog being forced to learn how to play the piano

00:19:42.17
alexei sayle
yeah

00:20:07.83
Talal K
um However, on the other side of the spectrum. um Yeah, this was hilarious and excruciating in equal measure. I look forward to the remainder of the campaign, says Andrew.

00:20:20.48
Talal K
um

00:20:23.40
Talal K
That was all right. A bit like something out of a horror movie. Good effort, Talal. A lot of people said and good effort. Robotic, polishing, buffing, deburr said nice effort, Talal. Nice to hear. from you both.

00:20:34.32
Talal K
ah Jamie said, the best comedic parody of D&D since um the IT crowd, arguably even better.

00:20:42.61
Talal K
I think there's more chance of Alexei doing another D&D session than your party getting their shit together.

00:20:47.72
alexei sayle
Heh. Heh.

00:20:48.40
Talal K
That was brilliant lads, a perfect antidote to a hangover hungover drive from Glasgow. Best episode so far. Love it when you tackle the important issues.

00:20:59.40
alexei sayle
ah

00:21:00.29
Talal K
um And that's just on the YouTube comments. Talal, you're a legend and Alexei doesn't deserve you. I've never played D&D, but now I want to.

00:21:07.40
alexei sayle
ah

00:21:10.92
Talal K
and Then, wait, one there's another nice one.

00:21:17.51
Talal K
Oh, never mind, Talal, can't win them all. D&D can be quite Brechtian at times. Can't believe Alexei didn't go for it. um

00:21:27.89
Talal K
Five minutes in, but I had to comment already. Talal, that intro, I love it. and Great stuff, man. And then on the Patreon, scary as fuck.

00:21:39.17
Talal K
ah Laura says, by the end, I was enjoying Alexei's sincere exasperation and anger. think I'd watch another one of these, but only one more.

00:21:47.45
alexei sayle
Yeah, it'll be a while. i can go and do that.

00:21:49.87
Talal K
ah Thoroughly enjoyed listening to the desperate Dungeon Master grind through his beautifully crafted mini campaign. Ha ha, that was excruciatingly awful in the best possible way. So obviously we found...

00:22:01.61
Talal K
And I got a lot of love because I also shared my flow chart and my writings on a separate post on the Patreon.

00:22:05.73
alexei sayle
Okay, right.

00:22:08.51
Talal K
If you go to patreon.com forward slash Alexi podcast, you can see how much fucking work I put into this. And I got a lot of appreciation for that. I really appreciate you all, everyone at home. And so does Alexi.

00:22:19.03
alexei sayle
Yeah.

00:22:20.02
Talal K
ah for your comments and interactions. Honestly, leaving comments, liking the the ah thing. You can review it on Spotify, review it on Apple Podcasts. That really helps the podcast get out there.

00:22:31.27
alexei sayle
Yeah.

00:22:31.39
Talal K
You don't understand how important doing that stuff is.

00:22:32.10
alexei sayle
Yeah.

00:22:34.46
Talal K
So getting interactions like this is so good for the podcast. So I don't care if you hated it. It was an experiment. It was a one-off until next Halloween probably.

00:22:41.76
alexei sayle
yeah

00:22:43.69
Talal K
um But, you know, we found a fun gag that like every time I would ask you what do you do, you'd say you want to kill yourself. Like that was like funny.

00:22:50.19
alexei sayle
Yeah.

00:22:50.87
Talal K
Yeah.

00:22:51.55
alexei sayle
Yeah.

00:22:51.73
Talal K
But I do think honestly, maybe if we do it again next Halloween, if you actually.

00:22:56.54
alexei sayle
Right.

00:22:57.49
Talal K
So now we've done that joke. That's good. We've done it. All right.

00:23:00.16
alexei sayle
Right.

00:23:00.33
Talal K
I did D&D.

00:23:00.44
alexei sayle
But it wasn't a joke. It was a genuine reaction.

00:23:02.21
Talal K
You hate. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sure. Sure.

00:23:03.98
alexei sayle
wasn't being funny.

00:23:04.92
Talal K
But if you actually like engaged with it and did some, put your acting skills into it and actually engaged with the story and talked to the characters, you can find a way to take the piss out of it through doing that.

00:23:05.69
alexei sayle
Well, I was...

00:23:10.55
alexei sayle
Right.

00:23:14.87
alexei sayle
Right.

00:23:19.13
Talal K
Rather than doing the same thing again, i think if we do it again, ah want to see you, otherwise going stop the recording and we won't care.

00:23:19.37
alexei sayle
Right.

00:23:26.72
Talal K
I want to see you actually engage and do it properly.

00:23:29.38
alexei sayle
Okay.

00:23:29.50
Talal K
But take the piss out of me or as much as you like by, you know,

00:23:32.56
alexei sayle
Okay.

00:23:35.29
Talal K
By using the system, ah you know, you can you can do that in a clever way, I believe.

00:23:41.84
Talal K
But anyway, I really fucking enjoyed doing it. I laughed my fucking ass off. It was so nice.

00:23:45.55
alexei sayle
Okay. It was...

00:23:46.43
Talal K
Someone said, this looks like elder abuser. I was like, yeah, there was a really there was a really sadistic part of me that really enjoyed doing that to you.

00:23:53.81
alexei sayle
ah was

00:23:59.12
alexei sayle
All right, well, yes, all right. Halloween tradition then.

00:24:03.10
Talal K
But something that came up was a couple of people had a big go at you um because you said Halloween is an American import, but Halloween is actually an Irish import.

00:24:09.35
alexei sayle
Oh.

00:24:15.59
alexei sayle
Oh,

00:24:18.69
alexei sayle
no.

00:24:19.63
Talal K
i it's Halloween is Irish and some people are Alexi, you should know that. um America stole it from Ireland.

00:24:25.45
alexei sayle
Well.

00:24:27.77
Talal K
And I suppose we've imported America's version of Halloween.

00:24:30.11
alexei sayle
Yes. I mean, obviously, All Hallows is a, you know, is a kind of ah presumably, I don't know, predates Christianity that it has the feeling of being. So I should, yes, I should refine my hatred really to the trick or treating and that aspect of.

00:24:47.47
alexei sayle
that commercialization of Halloween and the, you know, the Halloween shit in the supermarkets and stuff like that. Obviously all Hallows itself. I assume, I don't know, educate me please that ah it, and you know, it's presumably something like day of the dead.

00:25:04.95
alexei sayle
It's a, it's a pre, I imagine it lot like Christmas itself or, you know, May day.

00:25:10.19
Talal K
Well, it's an Irish tradition called Samhain. And um please forgive if I've pronounced that incorrectly.

00:25:14.80
alexei sayle
Right.

00:25:19.20
Talal K
ah But it's spelt Samhain and I'm saying Samhain for the moment.

00:25:23.07
alexei sayle
But, well, we I mean, we've always had Halloween ah here.

00:25:24.41
Talal K
and

00:25:27.59
alexei sayle
It just took a different form. And, you know, ah you know like it would have...

00:25:30.81
Talal K
Well, you might be surprised. um So traditionally it was celebrated on 31st of October. The festival Samhain is meant to celebrate the end of the harvest season and the coming of winter.

00:25:42.20
alexei sayle
Yeah. Yeah.

00:25:43.70
Talal K
Samhain marks the time of year when livestock were brought in from their summer grazing grounds. Great feasts, the ancient Celtic people also traditionally lit enormous bonfires to keep away the spirits of the dead, thought to awaken during Samhain.

00:26:01.74
Talal K
um And the Irish is Celtic, right? And Scottish is Celtic, have I got that right?

00:26:05.14
alexei sayle
thinking I don't know, but probably.

00:26:07.50
Talal K
Please, dear God, I hope so. um I don't want to get any hate online after last week. According to Celtic culture, the transitions between seasons are associated with spirits and fairies.

00:26:20.44
Talal K
So there is a ghostly an element to the origins when the boundaries between the worlds were at their weakest.

00:26:22.19
alexei sayle
Yeah, of course, yeah.

00:26:27.76
Talal K
yeah The most significant time of the year for spirits was Samhain when the boundary, why are you repeating yourself? This is the one night of the year between the 31st of October, 1st of November, ah where it is said that spirits and fairies could easily cross into our world.

00:26:47.07
Talal K
Okay, um if I may carry on just a little bit, there's two more points here. Ooh, three more points. Why do we hand out food and sweets? To keep the spirits at bay, the people left out offerings, mostly food and drink.

00:27:02.38
Talal K
Not unlike the offerings given out during American Halloween. as well as a seat at the feast table to appease those stowaway ancestors and fairies. This was meant to appease the spirits and convince them not to get up to any mischief.

00:27:18.43
Talal K
Perhaps not the same as handing out free candy to kids, but you can see the connection. I'm reading this from wildernessisland.com, by the way.

00:27:27.36
alexei sayle
okay

00:27:28.53
Talal K
Why do we wear Halloween costumes? Well, the idea wasn't to dress up as something like a pirate or a vampire. Instead, the practice of disguising oneself is sort of a countermeasure to hide from the spirits and fairies.

00:27:43.72
alexei sayle
Right. Well, see, I approve of all that, really. It's just this... another Actually, a friend of mine was also saying, friend who's got nervy dog,

00:27:56.24
alexei sayle
She has to take it to her parents now for about three weeks because fireworks, everything seems...

00:28:00.25
Talal K
Fireworks. Oh, my God.

00:28:02.50
alexei sayle
Halloween seems to involve fireworks now. And then you've got Diwali as well and Bonfire Night, which... So you've got got fireworks going off for about three weeks or sort towards the end of October...

00:28:20.48
Talal K
mate and it's gone wild i woke up to news stories today of like people attacking police and firefighters with fireworks like firing fireworks at firefighters um all over the country um and it's gone fucking wild as well as in london obviously um and i went last night there's this tradition

00:28:22.49
alexei sayle
so

00:28:27.61
alexei sayle
Right.

00:28:34.72
alexei sayle
Yes, it does feel like it. Yeah. Yeah.

00:28:44.13
Talal K
that um it's so my first time doing it in you know in this neighborhood, but like up the road, there's Telegraph Hill, which is a nice park on top of a hill. You can see all of London.

00:28:52.76
alexei sayle
Right.

00:28:53.24
Talal K
Huge gathering there of families and youngsters all drinking. and And on the lower part of the park, people were setting off fireworks. And it's some one guy, ah love and pyrotechnic enthusiasts, because you know this one guy, he had a high vis on,

00:29:12.30
Talal K
He made a little cordon, told everyone to stand back and was just doing a little display for the neighborhood, not being paid or anything like that. And it was very nice and really well put together.

00:29:23.40
Talal K
And then he finished and then you got these like, Utes came and they'd gotten this massive rocket. don't know where they fucked. Well, I guess they went to fireworks shop and spent all their money on one big rocket.

00:29:37.96
Talal K
and they just stuck it in the ground instead of putting it in that pipe that you're meant to put it in.

00:29:42.15
alexei sayle
Yeah.

00:29:42.97
Talal K
And so it didn't take off.

00:29:45.05
alexei sayle
No.

00:29:46.61
Talal K
And there was like families and kids around and then the rocket, the fuse lit and the rocket just like wasn't taking off and was just like wobbling on the grass.

00:29:52.64
alexei sayle
Yeah. Yeah.

00:29:56.21
Talal K
And everyone was like, take cover. People were like diving behind bushes and it blew up. It was so oh fucking massive.

00:30:03.77
alexei sayle
Yeah.

00:30:04.18
Talal K
and bright and colorful and all the fizzy bits, but it was on ground level. was terrifying.

00:30:08.86
alexei sayle
yeah

00:30:09.59
Talal K
It's like being, well, it's the closest thing we've had to a war zone in this country since the Blitz.

00:30:16.17
alexei sayle
yeah Yeah, well, again, to add your way in on this argument, people, but it it's i mean in a sense, i mean they i mean there are loads of misrule.

00:30:18.51
Talal K
Mad.

00:30:28.36
alexei sayle
and i mean um on one level, but brief public disorder is something I quite like. I think it's also got a kind of an ancient...

00:30:35.24
Talal K
Yeah.

00:30:37.65
alexei sayle
I remember, Reid, when we lived in Fulham,

00:30:38.98
Talal K
It was fun. It was really fun.

00:30:42.35
alexei sayle
reading the, you know, when you think of the old and timey days as being, you know, placid. But I, yeah for some reason, I remember when we lived in Fulham, reading some back copies of the Fulham Chronicle, the local paper, from like, that I think around about 1910. And the headline most weeks was troops being called to put down...

00:31:07.14
alexei sayle
public licentiousness on Parsons Green and stuff.

00:31:10.19
Talal K
The fuck?

00:31:10.99
alexei sayle
But actually calling out, literally calling out the military or the the local yeomanry or whatever. And that was like a regular occurrence.

00:31:20.74
Talal K
Whoa.

00:31:22.28
alexei sayle
Yeah.

00:31:24.08
Talal K
OK, we've not seen that yet here.

00:31:26.64
alexei sayle
Now, anyway...

00:31:28.51
Talal K
Could be coming.

00:31:30.04
alexei sayle
Fireworks, they grind my gears. What's it with firework night?

00:31:32.66
Talal K
Do they?

00:31:34.17
alexei sayle
We're not just celebrating the burning of Catholics any anymore. were It's all over the place.

00:31:43.92
Talal K
So Guy Fawkes was a Catholic then, and was that his whole...

00:31:44.25
alexei sayle
Presume...

00:31:46.81
alexei sayle
Yeah.

00:31:47.16
Talal K
him and but And I know he wasn't even like the main guy in his posse. He was just the guy who was guarding the gunpowder barrels in the basement, right, of House of Commons.

00:31:53.63
alexei sayle
Yeah, let's see.

00:31:56.21
Talal K
He's the one they caught.

00:31:57.48
alexei sayle
yeah it was so Yeah, I think it was partly an excuse to to crack down on Catholics.

00:31:58.73
Talal K
He's basically a lackey.

00:32:03.34
alexei sayle
But it's a Catholic plot to murder the Protestant Parliament, I think.

00:32:08.37
Talal K
And I thought of this did because, ah you know, every country has their like version of fireworks night. And, you know, you've got Bastille Day in and France and Independence Day in America, but they all tend to be Independence Day celebration.

00:32:20.85
alexei sayle
Yeah, there's in the...

00:32:21.98
Talal K
And like in the UK, we don't have that because we've always been the colonizer, right?

00:32:24.42
alexei sayle
No, its just we just have some fire to Catholics. Yeah.

00:32:28.30
Talal K
And so our one is the day we stopped in Independence Day.

00:32:33.13
alexei sayle
Good point.

00:32:34.53
Talal K
It's our fireworks night.

00:32:35.25
alexei sayle
I think there's also, but like with Diwali and stuff, again, i don't my I think a kind of a festival of light is perhaps fireworks is about trying to maybe...

00:32:49.70
alexei sayle
maybe because you're going into the months of darkness, a kind of final, um

00:32:56.83
Talal K
Yes. Mmm.

00:32:57.89
alexei sayle
ah final, you know, kind of shower of light before we go into the darkness, which they didn't know, you know, they didn't know that spring was going to return, really. they They could only hope.

00:33:09.85
alexei sayle
It's also, that's why people argue, I mean, bullfighting is obviously a hideous thing. thing which i think is dying out in spain but it is so it is also you know bullfighting is a is a a religious ritual again a pre-christian religious ritual because the matador with is with his suit of lights is is the sun and what he essentially does is sacrifice the bull to the gods.

00:33:36.48
alexei sayle
So it's a kind of, it's a very, ah it's a, it's, that's my understanding anyway, again, and which is not to justify bullfighting because it's obviously gruesome, but it is, it is, it's weird in that it is both, but not really a sport, whatever, but it's, it's actually, people are going to watch a ritual sacrifice of an animal by toreador who essentially, in my understanding, represents the sun.

00:33:47.16
Talal K
No, but just to understand it.

00:34:04.75
Talal K
But however much like Halloween, it's not only linked to religion or or folklore beliefs, but it's also very much linked to farming and harvesting.

00:34:16.27
Talal K
Because you know when they when they kill the bull, they would cut it up and and give it give it out to the neighborhood and and everyone would get to eat that night.

00:34:16.85
alexei sayle
Yeah, well, that's how people survived. Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

00:34:25.69
alexei sayle
Yeah. I realise my knowledge of all this is is is very patchy. I think sumo might be a sumo that was recently in the yeah Royal Albert Hall.

00:34:33.91
Talal K
Royal Albert Hall.

00:34:35.74
alexei sayle
I used to love the sumo when it was first on Channel 4. I think that might also be a religious ritual.

00:34:39.54
Talal K
Yeah.

00:34:42.32
Talal K
ah Originated in ancient times as a Shinto ritual to entertain the gods and pray for a bountiful harvest. Well, surely you'd send your skinniest people if you want a bountiful harvest.

00:34:54.91
Talal K
Its mythical origins are described in ancient Japanese texts, which recount a wrestling match between gods and legendary match in 23 BC between two strong men in front of the emperor.

00:34:59.33
alexei sayle
Yeah.

00:35:09.55
alexei sayle
You can't say that about Premier League football, can It's not. work Well, and I mean, people make it a religion, but very enjoyable match, I have have to say, between Liverpool and Real Madrid the other night.

00:35:25.17
alexei sayle
great truly great game and... Also, there was a great Trent Alexander-Arnold that was the hero of Liverpool went to play for Real Madrid. as When he came on, as being boot there was a bloke, mean, just the epitome of kind of football fan idiocy, a bloke, the cutters shot of a bloke screaming at him, and yeah wearing Liverpool's strip and then kissing the liver bed on his breast and screaming at Trent Alexander-Arnold. It was everything that is grotesque and magnificent about.

00:35:59.99
alexei sayle
ah Football. Soccer. That

00:36:04.76
Talal K
sir

00:36:06.60
alexei sayle
was a good game.

00:36:06.90
Talal K
I saw a video recently about how events like football matches and festivals are a kind of government-prescribed way of allowing people to release their revolutionary energy in there.

00:36:19.64
alexei sayle
Yes, absolutely. I did. that There was a big bit in Sandwich Bar about it. and The second series about...

00:36:24.36
Talal K
Oh, yeah. Do it.

00:36:25.91
alexei sayle
Yes.

00:36:26.17
Talal K
do the whole thing.

00:36:26.31
alexei sayle
don't know.

00:36:27.44
Talal K
Sorry. Go on. Carry on.

00:36:29.70
alexei sayle
But, yeah, this kind of catharsis, you know, it's because it's it's catharsis, really. You know, it's sinking your emotions into this thing uncritically. It's what Brecht always criticised about players was, you know, this kind of bestial submersion.

00:36:48.45
alexei sayle
You know, or, you know, maybe, yeah, I think definitely we always, because, you know, because we live next door to Liverpool's football ground, more or less, you know, we um our family always felt partly that if it wasn't for Liverpool FC, then the workers would be studying, you know, wages, prices and profits by Vladimir Ilyich Lenin.

00:37:10.95
Talal K
yeah

00:37:11.15
alexei sayle
It was done only football that was getting in the way. But got...

00:37:15.55
Talal K
And if you could harness that fucking energy in it at those events.

00:37:18.42
alexei sayle
Although we did support we did support Moscow Dynamo, so... Wearing the Moscow Dynamo away kit on ah going into school on a Monday morning.

00:37:30.11
Talal K
Yes, sumo as well, man. it's it's ah It's appeasing the gods, but also about farming. They want it to ensure a successful harvest. Like these things happen when when food was important.

00:37:37.87
alexei sayle
Yeah. Well, also sacks.

00:37:40.38
Talal K
Imagine now it's like, ah football matches in order to pray for more bountiful fucking microwave burgers or whatever. It's like...

00:37:49.61
alexei sayle
Well, football, I i don't know. what it's I mean, a few years ago, you could see that football was being very much co-opted by the military, really. They'd sort of sneaked their way into, you'd often get military displays before matches. I don't know whether that's still going on, really. But it was, i mean, again, that that sort of was was part of the bit that I did in Samuelspar about it.

00:38:13.43
alexei sayle
And clearly, obviously, in the States, it's militarised and it's ah kind of xenophobic. um

00:38:22.15
alexei sayle
you know, kind ritual about baseball and football

00:38:29.76
alexei sayle
are deeply em bedded in the state. What's happened to that Colin Koepernick, you know, the one who took the knee? How's he doing? Maybe somebody could tell us.

00:38:45.17
Talal K
Colin Kaepernick.

00:38:46.53
alexei sayle
Kaepernick. How's he doing these days? Old Colin Kaepernick, how's he doing now?

00:38:52.63
Talal K
He's not played to an NFL since 2016 after he began kneeling during the National Anthem.

00:38:55.27
alexei sayle
No. Yeah.

00:38:58.33
alexei sayle
Yeah.

00:38:59.11
Talal K
After his contract expired, he became a free agent but was not signed by any teams. ah He filed a grievance against the NFL for collusion.

00:39:09.89
Talal K
They settled in 2019. He continues to train and advocate for social justice. And though he has expressed a desire to return to the league, no NFL team has signed him.

00:39:22.01
alexei sayle
There you go.

00:39:23.45
Talal K
So he is now...

00:39:29.77
Talal K
an advocate an activist.

00:39:36.25
Talal K
He just graduated, it looks like. Congratulations. Went back to his studies.

00:39:43.07
Talal K
And he does talks.

00:39:44.87
alexei sayle
Wait.

00:39:47.55
Talal K
Appears on TV.

00:39:47.77
alexei sayle
He's okay, though, is he?

00:39:50.31
Talal K
He seems he's smiling in his pictures.

00:39:54.22
alexei sayle
Oh, good. All right.

00:39:55.05
Talal K
So in old, oldie timey Ireland, they used to wear costumes to confuse any spirits who might be looking for a specific person.

00:39:55.49
alexei sayle
Good.

00:40:04.54
Talal K
And they also used to carve vegetables before they ever had pumpkins in Europe. They would carve turnips in order to ward off the spirits. Okay, and lastly, a Halloween was, it said that what ah Halloween was carried to the USA by Irish immigrants, much like St. Patrick's Day.

00:40:23.67
Talal K
And over time, the holiday gradually, they say changed, but got bastardized to fit with the American idea, commercialized, yeah.

00:40:29.56
alexei sayle
Yeah, commercialized.

00:40:35.58
Talal K
Which is elaborate costumes, scary movies, blah, blah. So shame on you, Alexei, for thinking it was American. and

00:40:43.81
alexei sayle
no i take Yeah.

00:40:44.56
Talal K
But we live and we learn.

00:40:45.19
alexei sayle
Yeah. I take your rebuke, comrades, and resolve to be better.

00:40:51.27
Talal K
Thank you.

00:40:55.80
Talal K
Right, Mamdani.

00:40:57.72
alexei sayle
Oh, yes, we haven't even got to that. Yes, so this is the day after, I think. ah The joy it was to be alive, but to be young was the very heaven. and ah with The day or the day after Mamdani, Mamdani, yes, has been elected democracy socialist, been elected to mayor of New York.

00:41:19.99
alexei sayle
Obviously, you know, there was a string of people on the... yeah

00:41:27.60
alexei sayle
on the Sky News BBC yesterday, resolutely avoiding his position on Palestine, which is anti-Zionist, I would say, really.

00:41:36.46
Talal K
Oh, really? Yeah.

00:41:37.94
alexei sayle
I mean, nobody mentioned the dicky beard about that. And yet I think that is a crucial part of his appeal. frankly, um and certainly a crucial part who he is.

00:41:47.45
Talal K
yeah

00:41:50.84
alexei sayle
know, and there is that amazing, the wonderful bit when not when he's he's easy he's involved in a five-way debate between the candidates. I think before this was before he got the Democratic nomination, but they all say, you know, where was the first country you would go to after you were made mayor? And they all said Israel, and he said, I'll stay here.

00:42:11.09
Talal K
Yeah.

00:42:12.49
alexei sayle
um And he has to pay, you know, without waffle, which, you know, some of our, even our best politician are politicians, our left politicians, you know, do you believe, and they ask him, do don't you believe in that Israel's right to exist?

00:42:12.66
Talal K
Wild.

00:42:25.12
alexei sayle
And he says, I believe it has a right to exist as a, not as a Jewish state, but a state where all have rights, which is very much a position.

00:42:33.01
Talal K
It's a democracy, yeah.

00:42:36.67
alexei sayle
this podcast would endorse and he's been, read and he hasn't watered that down or walked away from that at all really. And it was, it was a remarkable how certainly every commentator I saw. And the other thing that they, I mean, the, the two governors, I think, Spanberger and the other one, and i think one of them was actually in the CIA and one of them was a,

00:42:59.67
alexei sayle
like a Navy helicopter pilot or something of both from the centrist, I don't i mean, right wing of the Democratic Party. So, I mean, he is, hopefully he is the future and we can, um

00:43:14.99
alexei sayle
we you know, I mean, the left here can learn awful, lot from him is uh remarkable it'd be interesting to see how much um how much obstruction both the right-wing i mean the democratic party there's walking corpses of nancy pelosi and chuck schumer and people like that uh whether how much they try and um put in his way and also of course Trump as well but then but you know the US establishment most democratic and the republican and I guess don't want him to succeed really so we'll see how that plays out it's it's an interesting time really was I think

00:43:59.52
Talal K
A strong advantage he has, however, is that the New York mayor, the office of the New York mayor has spent decades kind of increasing its power, increasing its ability to be...

00:44:15.43
Talal K
to actually change or influence law and policy in New York, you know because it's had such cunts in its seat.

00:44:23.31
alexei sayle
Right.

00:44:23.92
Talal K
And now suddenly the socialist is in in that seat and hopefully we'll be able to wield those powers that the capitalist billionaire class has has been taking advantage of.

00:44:28.18
alexei sayle
yeah

00:44:34.34
alexei sayle
Yeah. Yes.

00:44:36.72
Talal K
But yes, they're gonna put as many fucking hurdles and blockages.

00:44:39.30
alexei sayle
Yes. You would think so. So, yeah, it would be interesting to see how he ah we navigates that. Obviously, we wish him well.

00:44:51.27
Talal K
And I think Polanski...

00:44:51.47
alexei sayle
And if he wants to come on the podcast, we could probably spare him five minutes.

00:44:53.62
Talal K
Oh, please.

00:44:57.43
Talal K
And Polanski is very much carrying that kind of similar energy, isn't he?

00:44:59.59
alexei sayle
but Yeah, yeah. but You know, you think of him as very similar in a sense. Yeah. He has that similar, you know, again, he's very good media performer. Yeah.

00:45:10.15
Talal K
Yep, and good on the socials. and You know he's got his own podcast as well,

00:45:17.34
Talal K
which is pretty good. You know, he speaks...

00:45:20.62
alexei sayle
Yes, well, if he wants us to have us on his podcast, or him come on our podcast, we'd be happy to...

00:45:28.36
Talal K
It's called Bold Politics. Yeah, absolutely. Bring us on, Zach. I think...

00:45:32.12
alexei sayle
Yeah, yeah. yeah um

00:45:37.55
alexei sayle
Yeah, I thought something else and I've forgotten it now.

00:45:41.14
Talal K
Yeah, ma'am.

00:45:41.30
alexei sayle
ah But yeah, so it's, ah it's a you know, it's a we we have few enough successes in our line of work, so it's nice to have a victory for once.

00:45:50.61
Talal K
Right? Yeah. And the energy in in New York seems to be really fucking revolutionary and loud and exciting.

00:46:02.51
Talal K
So I hope that spreads.

00:46:04.29
alexei sayle
Yes, that's what I was thinking.

00:46:05.75
Talal K
breads

00:46:06.24
alexei sayle
I mean, both Navarro and I noticed Owen Jones, are because he, you know, like fucking West Street sent him, you know, say, you know, victory for progressive politics. You know, i mean, as many people have pointed out, Mamdami wouldn't, because of the views he's expressed on Palestine and other things, he would have been expelled from the...

00:46:25.65
alexei sayle
Labour Party long ago.

00:46:27.60
Talal K
Mm-hmm.

00:46:28.50
alexei sayle
um And, you know, would never, you know, the Labour Party is the antithesis. And I noticed there was a bit of a bit of Bridget Phillips and the Education Secretary, just pretending she'd never heard of him.

00:46:43.07
alexei sayle
And one of the things you realise, I'm watching Rachel Reeves, and the called David Lammy's lamentable performance on, this is getting very Westminster Village, isn't it? But David Lammy's lamentable performance on Prime Minister's Questions yesterday, one of the things about,

00:47:01.74
Talal K
Wait, what happened? not everyone saw it including me.

00:47:03.12
alexei sayle
oh, and so there's some Tory had found out already that, the the prison service had released two more, accidentally released two more prisoners that they shouldn't have released.

00:47:15.45
Talal K
Yeah.

00:47:15.95
alexei sayle
And so questioned him, asked him five times whether anybody had been prematurely released, and Lammy refused to answer, but sort of went on the attack in a kind of ludicrously Baroque way. Pull yourself together, man. I know I'm Justice Secretary. i mean, it was just a really...

00:47:33.33
alexei sayle
zero stars kind of performance, really. But one of the things you realise about all them Labour people is, you know, Rachel Reeves and Lammy and Starmer himself is how, apart from how wicked they are, is how stupid they are, that they're really, really stupid people.

00:47:52.93
alexei sayle
second Fourth-rate people. And, you know, one thing they were good at, really, was conspiring to... lock left-wing members out of the Labour Party. and now But then now that they're left in charge, this tiny, narrow coterie of reactionaries, it's just how shit they are at their job, which is politics, really.

00:48:03.16
Talal K
yeah

00:48:15.63
alexei sayle
um And it was just, I mean, Lammy yesterday was embarrassing, yeah.

00:48:19.25
Talal K
embarrassing. And all it does is it gives space to these far right people who are now leading.

00:48:24.73
alexei sayle
Yeah, I mean, clearly they are. Yeah, they are. Deliberately or accidentally, they are enabling the far right. I mean, they're just fucking idiots.

00:48:34.95
Talal K
And do we really think they're gonna be any better at politics, this fucking and

00:48:39.92
alexei sayle
Well, no, but they'll...

00:48:40.92
Talal K
far right millionaire, billionaire appeasing, corporate Musk sponsored

00:48:45.05
alexei sayle
I suppose the plan is to... suppose the plan is to use the weight, then, of the state to crush opposition, really.

00:48:49.01
Talal K
one

00:48:53.80
alexei sayle
Like what Hitler did.

00:48:56.24
Talal K
We have to keep resisting, keep supporting the good people and as little as possible, have any infighting, like where possible.

00:48:59.86
alexei sayle
Yeah.

00:49:05.84
alexei sayle
ah Yeah.

00:49:07.40
Talal K
ah for Interesting theory about um labeling yourself as a socialist, for example,

00:49:07.79
alexei sayle
That's a good idea.

00:49:15.07
Talal K
and as opposed to being socialist, politically not categorizing yourself, as opposed to not categorizing yourself politically, it puts you in this box and anything outside of that box you have to disagree with.

00:49:32.13
Talal K
Because if you're a socialist, then anything that's not socialist, by definition, you have to say, no, that's wrong, that will never work. And that's what breeds this kind of just pure fighting between socialists versus communists versus, no, it's something, another the thing I read online, but, um, it's, uh,

00:49:46.56
alexei sayle
Is this your theory or is this um something somebody said? Yeah, some truth in that. Well, certainly you have to be open to, you know, all influences.

00:49:58.76
alexei sayle
i mean, I think your core has to be, you know if you are a socialist, you know, if you believe in, you know, I believe in Marxism and therefore I see everything through that lens, but it doesn't mean that I'm not, you know,

00:50:10.22
alexei sayle
I'm not open to other voices really, other influences. That's what makes me so great.

00:50:16.85
Talal K
We have to be able to evolve and learn and and and adapt.

00:50:21.41
alexei sayle
Oh, that's what I was going to say. In this Girls Aloud video, not Girls Aloud, sorry, go Girl Bands Forever, there's a scene, I think it's Eternal, was it was Louise who became Louise Redknapp, I think.

00:50:37.79
alexei sayle
She'd just left. Anyway, there's a bit scene of them on...

00:50:39.58
Talal K
Yeah, yeah.

00:50:42.08
alexei sayle
Top of the Pops, but the ones introducing them are Stuart Lee and Richard Herring, who obviously back in the 90s, Lee and Herring hosted there um

00:50:50.40
Talal K
Oh my god, Lee and Herring.

00:50:55.88
Talal K
Top of the pops.

00:50:56.81
alexei sayle
Top of the Pops. And Stuart looks, they both look really uncomfortable at doing it. And Stuart's got like hair growing down in front of his face, kind of dangling down.

00:51:05.85
Talal K
Trying to cover his face.

00:51:07.03
alexei sayle
Yeah. And well, you know I think it was the look. He's a very pretty boy when he was young. But, um,

00:51:11.13
Talal K
Yeah, yeah.

00:51:12.18
alexei sayle
I don't know whether it was just funny really. And then so they, you can see them both kind of squirming with the contradictions I think of hosting top of the box.

00:51:20.88
Talal K
That's funny.

00:51:21.51
alexei sayle
um and And then to,

00:51:26.34
alexei sayle
ah

00:51:28.23
Talal K
Who hosted it when you did when you were on top of the pops?

00:51:29.93
alexei sayle
I did, I've never hosted top of the box.

00:51:31.64
Talal K
No, but you were on top of the pops with your pop hit.

00:51:31.69
alexei sayle
I was just on it. I was on top of the box twice. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

00:51:35.23
Talal K
Who was the host?

00:51:35.37
alexei sayle
But that's different in it. I wasn't the host though.

00:51:38.02
Talal K
I'm asking who was the host?

00:51:39.58
alexei sayle
Oh, it was... um Sorry.

00:51:41.79
Talal K
Jesus.

00:51:43.86
alexei sayle
I'm only 73. Stop shouting, I mean.

00:51:46.06
Talal K
And I gave you Alzheimer's last week.

00:51:47.59
alexei sayle
Yeah.

00:51:47.62
Talal K
Yeah, sorry.

00:51:48.44
alexei sayle
um It was John Peel.

00:51:52.47
Talal K
Okay, that's not...

00:51:52.67
alexei sayle
And who's that? The Canadian one. It was Mike Smith. No, Mike.

00:52:04.14
Talal K
Dennis Penis?

00:52:05.33
alexei sayle
No, no. Radio 1

00:52:09.67
Talal K
I know that was played by Paul Kaye. I'm not an idiot. um I am an idiot. Okay, so it wasn't any of the pedos. Good. Good.

00:52:17.88
alexei sayle
Well, I think there's some question marks about John Peel, but if we're allowed say that.

00:52:22.99
Talal K
Whoops.

00:52:25.19
alexei sayle
But not, he said.

00:52:25.97
Talal K
Now we're allowed, I think

00:52:30.78
alexei sayle
but that and And so anyway, so Stuart says, no, eternal. And then just as they cut, Richard Herring shouts out, where's Louise? Because they'd just been through this traumatic...

00:52:41.86
alexei sayle
I'm sure the band didn't hear him, but...

00:52:42.37
Talal K
How anarchic.

00:52:44.29
alexei sayle
Exactly, i think it sounds like Sun just... Don't try and pretend you're not part of this process. Just fucking... don't you know But it was funny seeing these two two of them squirming with kind of... I don't know. i mean, if Stuart listens to this...

00:52:59.66
Talal K
but So they're about to cut they're walking on about to sing and they hear this and and it affects them, does it?

00:53:00.44
alexei sayle
but

00:53:03.41
alexei sayle
Yeah, it's... Well, they're miming anyway, so it doesn't matter.

00:53:05.85
Talal K
Oh my God.

00:53:07.75
alexei sayle
But, I mean...

00:53:09.44
Talal K
That's like fucking Jarvis Cocker showing Michael Jackson his ass.

00:53:10.35
alexei sayle
It was interesting.

00:53:14.00
alexei sayle
Yeah. ah Yeah. Yeah. yeah

00:53:17.57
Talal K
um

00:53:18.92
alexei sayle
So I don't know if anybody else has pointed out the shoes on that.

00:53:19.08
Talal K
ah You were talking about

00:53:23.29
Talal K
I think, I'll try and squeeze this in. You were talking about how you know Democrats and know the right wing, the Democrat Party here have been really shitty about Mamdani.

00:53:35.67
alexei sayle
Yes.

00:53:37.17
Talal K
Listen to this tweet by Kamala Harris. I'm saddened to learn of the passing of former Vice President Dick Cheney. Vice President Cheney was a devoted public servant from the halls of Congress to many positions of leadership in multiple presidential administrations.

00:53:46.31
alexei sayle
Oh.

00:53:57.44
Talal K
His passing marks the loss of a figure who with a strong sense of dedication gave so much of his life. To the country he loved.

00:54:08.76
alexei sayle
Fucking hell, she's awful, isn't she? I so hate her, really. mean, on so many different levels.

00:54:13.12
Talal K
He's a fucking war criminal. He's a murderer.

00:54:15.00
alexei sayle
Yeah, yeah. As is she.

00:54:18.86
Talal K
As is she.

00:54:19.17
alexei sayle
As is she.

00:54:20.29
Talal K
Yeah. So there's no difference. but They're all just in bed with each other.

00:54:24.72
alexei sayle
yeah.

00:54:25.39
Talal K
And as long as the killing carries on and the profits keep coming in.

00:54:25.89
alexei sayle
Yeah. yeah

00:54:29.69
Talal K
And their sponsors are happy. Then they will just say anything.

00:54:33.07
alexei sayle
Yeah. It's a problem.

00:54:35.10
Talal K
And it

00:54:36.50
alexei sayle
don't anybody else agrees with me. I think this is a problem. I'm going to put myself out there, but i think it's wrong. I don't, you know, I don't wish to...

00:54:46.77
Talal K
Careful, Lex.

00:54:47.00
alexei sayle
Michael McIntyre say, you know, if you take it political political position, you alienate half your audience. So I don't wish to do that, but...

00:54:56.23
Talal K
Where's Louise?

00:54:57.45
alexei sayle
Where's Louise? Yeah!

00:54:59.01
Talal K
Where's Louise?

00:55:00.56
alexei sayle
Where's Louise? Eternal. yeah

00:55:09.55
alexei sayle
ah You've hosted Top of the Pops. You've already fucking signed on. Don't pretend you're not.

00:55:16.86
Talal K
No, but he's he's saying what the public want to hear.

00:55:19.88
alexei sayle
Where's the reason? Yeah, it's a very... for the i can't I urge people to watch it just for that because the two of them, you know, very very obviously we're very, very fond of Stuart here, but the two of them, younger the younger selves, look contorted with...

00:55:28.21
Talal K
And they'll...

00:55:34.54
Talal K
and but Him saying, where's Louise, is like Mamdani saying, you know, Zionism is questionable.

00:55:37.36
alexei sayle
Yeah.

00:55:41.20
Talal K
Him saying, where's Louise, is like Zach Polanski saying, tax the billionaires. Him saying, where's the louise where's Louise, is like Corbyn saying, for the many, we should look after the many, not the few.

00:55:52.53
alexei sayle
Exactly.

00:55:53.39
Talal K
And where's Louise could be actually the analogy.

00:55:53.72
alexei sayle
Yeah.

00:55:56.76
alexei sayle
Could be um our slogan. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's from the 90s.

00:55:59.44
Talal K
It's our...

00:56:02.99
Talal K
It's our version of, what's that they used to say about Joe Biden? and ah Brendan, fuck you, Brendan, or something. What did they used to say

00:56:10.81
alexei sayle
What was that?

00:56:16.31
Talal K
say? Let's go, Brandon. In America, you know, the Trumpists during the election, they would say, let's go, Brandon, and it means fuck you, Biden, but it was their code.

00:56:21.05
alexei sayle
Is that...

00:56:23.43
alexei sayle
Yeah.

00:56:27.50
alexei sayle
All right. All right.

00:56:29.08
Talal K
And so where's Louise?

00:56:30.90
alexei sayle
Where's Louise? It could be our slogan. Let's let's adopt that as our slogan.

00:56:34.98
Talal K
It's our rebellious outcry.

00:56:35.42
alexei sayle
Where is Louise?

00:56:36.42
Talal K
we we We're not supposed to say it. It's the one thing you're not supposed to say. Tax the rich, fuck Israel. ah you know

00:56:45.00
alexei sayle
Where's Louise?

00:56:45.82
Talal K
Where's Louise? Okay, if we're not allowed to say it, we'll say a thing that everyone knows what it means.

00:56:47.35
alexei sayle
Yeah.

00:56:50.03
alexei sayle
Yeah. Okay.

00:56:51.06
Talal K
know Revolution.

00:56:54.27
alexei sayle
There is that myth that um the girl who says who's that fat bastard in the second series of Lexi Sales stuff is Cheryl Cole, Tweedy Cole.

00:57:00.62
Talal K
It's Shera Cole, right?

00:57:04.21
alexei sayle
It isn't really. I know Andrew Marshall, one of emailed me the other day saying he only just learned that. Linda texted back to it. It's not true. I don't think it is true really.

00:57:15.87
alexei sayle
Yeah. but what There was actually ah I think there was another girl who was supposed to say it, but her mum stopped her because she was a Christian. So ah that girl with the T-shirt that says Cheryl was certainly a replacement for the girl that was supposed to say it.

00:57:32.22
Talal K
And you don't think it was Cheryl Cole?

00:57:32.23
alexei sayle
Who's that fabulous? Who's the leader of the gang? It's

00:57:37.67
Talal K
A-L-E-X-E-I-S-A-Y-L-E. Alexis Ale.

00:57:48.16
Talal K
Hey, I was going to try and wrap us up, but I have to know, actually.

00:57:48.90
alexei sayle
Everybody gives me cheers except the BBC.

00:57:52.06
Talal K
God.

00:57:53.81
alexei sayle
Yes?

00:57:54.00
Talal K
Shut up. Shut up. I was going to wrap up, but I have to know you you. Did you have that phone call a couple weeks ago with the American producer writer?

00:57:59.79
alexei sayle
With who?

00:58:02.49
alexei sayle
Oh, yeah.

00:58:03.89
Talal K
What was his name? And he was going to give you the lowdown on the Golden Hotel ah fiasco.

00:58:08.64
alexei sayle
Golden Palace.

00:58:10.03
Talal K
Golden Palace.

00:58:10.46
alexei sayle
Jim Vallely.

00:58:12.02
Talal K
Yes.

00:58:13.37
alexei sayle
Yeah.

00:58:15.39
Talal K
Well, would you like to share your findings?

00:58:16.21
alexei sayle
I did. um Yeah, well, he said, i mean i I mean, it was obviously, well, it was slightly different to what I thought, really. I mean, I'd said comedically, he is a listener of the podcast.

00:58:26.40
alexei sayle
so Hi, Jim. Thank you very much for settling that. I knew it wasn't really about Rue McClanahan's tomatoes. my So star

00:58:32.66
Talal K
Would you remind us actually to give us what you thought and tell us the news?

00:58:35.24
alexei sayle
when i was when i was thirty nine i went to the united states to star in a

00:58:43.93
alexei sayle
a sitcom, I essentially replaced Bea Arthur in The Golden Girls, for those who remember that. ah that in After she left, they kept the series going, but it was called The Golden Palace. dude Three other women, Estelle Getty, Rue McClanahan, and Betty White,

00:59:02.66
alexei sayle
bought a hotel in Miami,

00:59:06.54
alexei sayle
and the receptionist was, oh God, I've forgotten his name, Don Cheadle. He never mentions that.

00:59:12.51
Talal K
Oh, wow.

00:59:14.26
alexei sayle
And I was the wacky East European chef. and he And Jim Vallely told me that what happened was that during, it was a very troubled production, really, didn't

00:59:24.15
Talal K
Wait, tell us what you think, thought happened. Or do you want to...

00:59:27.38
alexei sayle
Well, Linda thought that that they would replace me with Cheech Manning from Cheech and Chong, and Linda thought that they always that they were always going to do that.

00:59:28.00
Talal K
do

00:59:35.90
alexei sayle
They were just using me to get Cheech to lower his price.

00:59:39.76
Talal K
Right.

00:59:40.62
alexei sayle
Jim Valladie says that wasn't quite what happened, that during rehearsals I think they felt I wasn't working out. So one of the producers. He also had this story that Susan Harris, the writer,

00:59:52.86
alexei sayle
wanted my character to originally be played by conjoined twins, by Siamese twins. So they auditioned a load of Siamese twins. I don't think there are that many. Anyway, that's a bizarre side note.

01:00:06.25
alexei sayle
But

01:00:07.46
Talal K
Sideshow.

01:00:11.39
alexei sayle
they thought I wasn't working out. And so one of the producers, Susan susan harris is husband had bumped into Cheech Marin in, I think in Aspen or somewhere, and offered him the part.

01:00:27.92
alexei sayle
And so they were just going to let it play out until Cheech was ready. They would just let me shoot two episodes. But when we came to do the pilot, on the opening, I just got this um massive laugh on every line, because what had seemed flat in rehearsals, I made work in in front of an audience.

01:00:34.90
Talal K
oh Oh, yeah.

01:00:49.12
alexei sayle
And so my character was getting these massive laughs.

01:00:49.26
Talal K
Yes.

01:00:52.70
alexei sayle
and But by then, they'd kind of hired Cheech, and so they just fired me anyway on my 40th birthday.

01:00:56.47
Talal K
Shit.

01:01:02.37
alexei sayle
And I remember Jim saying to the producer, whoever came to fire me, he said, did he see it coming? And he said... He said, no, I didn't see it. don't think I did see it coming. I mean, i was I was very conflicted about doing it anyway. so but But it was it was a horrible experience, really.

01:01:18.80
alexei sayle
But it all compounded by the fact that I was making that part work. And then when Cheech Marin did it, he wouldn't do Hispanic. He wouldn't do Cheech. So he just delivers his lines, apparently. I never watched it in a kind of neutral way. It doesn't get any laughs at all.

01:01:35.12
alexei sayle
And so the show was cancelled after one series.

01:01:38.05
Talal K
Shit.

01:01:38.29
alexei sayle
But I was getting these amazing Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

01:01:40.00
Talal K
I can picture that. You in front of the audience just absolutely fucking killing it.

01:01:42.77
alexei sayle
yeah

01:01:44.36
Talal K
Like, obviously you're going to do much better in front of a live crowd.

01:01:44.56
alexei sayle
yeah

01:01:47.42
alexei sayle
yeah

01:01:48.04
Talal K
These people, they don't do their research properly, man. And then what a waste of money to film two episodes that they know they're going to reshoot.

01:01:56.06
alexei sayle
Yeah, yeah. It was, um, it was a salutary experience.

01:01:58.24
Talal K
Oh.

01:02:01.60
alexei sayle
I'm very grateful because I came back to Britain really and Jim Moyer, who was then head of comedy at the BBC, was very good to me. And we did another, we did the all new Alexi Sall show with Graham Lynn and Arthur Matthews.

01:02:11.25
Talal K
Good.

01:02:12.61
alexei sayle
And then, um, uh, no, that was before.

01:02:13.01
Talal K
And you got to meet Cheryl Cole.

01:02:17.02
alexei sayle
And, uh, I did like a film for the BBC and, you know, they were, Jim was very supportive. Um, um

01:02:27.26
Talal K
Okay.

01:02:27.35
alexei sayle
Yeah, so, but it was, ah yeah, it was ah it was a really, it was a particularly,

01:02:30.16
Talal K
So this is a bit of a conspiratorial kind of plot, really, to just, like, drag you along.

01:02:34.88
alexei sayle
yeah, I mean, it was a, mean, yeah, I shouldn't have done in the first place. I wouldn't have done it it was in Britain. only did it because it was in the States.

01:02:42.84
Talal K
America.

01:02:43.94
alexei sayle
I would have been better having nothing to do with it, really. um And um really, I mean,

01:02:52.42
alexei sayle
If I was ever going to crack the States, it should have been as a stand-up, really. and I never did. I should have done the Montreal Comedy Festival, which I never did out of laziness and cowardice.

01:03:03.38
alexei sayle
Oh, that's what I was going to say. My friend Oscar is in Buenos Aires at the moment, and he says our videos, our Marxism videos, are super famous.

01:03:16.51
alexei sayle
I'm famous in Argentina because of those Marxism dance videos.

01:03:19.47
Talal K
Oh, great. Yeah, a lot of the comments are Spanish.

01:03:22.45
alexei sayle
Yeah.

01:03:22.73
Talal K
Oh, let's go do a gig over there.

01:03:26.46
alexei sayle
ah yeah All right. Are we going to...

01:03:29.02
Talal K
Ask Oscar if they can get us a... But it's going to have to be an arena show because, you know, it's a lot of casts.

01:03:33.98
alexei sayle
Yeah, it's business class. I'm not flying long haul. I'm not flying economy. So business class to Argentina is expensive.

01:03:44.29
Talal K
Right, go to Alexi Sale or go to Patreon, please. Right, go to patreon.com forward slash Alexi Sale podcast to support the show. Watch video episodes. Check out Lisa, Alexi, Lisa, Nigel. Watch the young ones. Look at the writings and the flowcharts from our D&D game.

01:03:59.05
Talal K
And to just support this independent production that you're listening to right now. Leave a comment on the YouTube. That's patreon.com forward slash Alexi Sale podcast leave a comment on the youtube um review us on itunes or whatever apple podcast spotify um please uh you can email us at excel podcast.gmail.com thank you dear listeners and uh where's louise i think that's donde esta all right it's time to say hasta luego lex

01:04:38.39
alexei sayle
proema sema

01:04:42.06
Talal K
Yeah, but i can't press...

01:04:42.40
alexei sayle
by by

01:04:43.16
Talal K
There we go. Thank you