Hi Alex! What's your glasses prescription?
Interestingly I don’t wear glasses any more. It turned out I was part of a very small and lucky number of people who’s eyesight improved in their late twenties. (some kind of growth thing). I will need them again soon but it was a nice reprieve :)
Hey Alex
Kind of a random question but
Have you ever dyed your hair and/or would you want to do it? (With like a natural colour or bright colours etc.)
I used to have blue hair, had a lot of piercings and habitually wore a My Chemical Romance Jacket. (I hadn’t even heard their music, I just thought it looked neat.)
I actually might be adding colour again soon but only for a day this time. I still have to look like a grownup for business stuff, blerg.
Hello Alex! Out of pure curiosity, what are your thoughts about mint chocolate ice cream?
Nice but not nicest.
Opinions on Rollercoasters?
Yes please.
Fun fact: Due to queuing weirdness I was refused entry to Nemesis in Alton Towers because I had ridden it so many times in such a short space of time that I was “at a non-negligible risk of an embolism.”
for the sake of your comfort and preferences of course, please feel free to ignore this one. But, if you're okay answering, where does your accent come from in England? I've been trying to place it because I'm practicing for a voice acting role, and they want something like your accent. If I can look up more examples from your region it would help greatly. Thanks! Have a lovely day, bossman!
Hah so I get this one a lot.
I grew up in the Greater Manchester area but my accent is not mancunian. I have a very specific regional accent from the area of Stockport.
Years ago I worked to reduce it because a BBC recruiter told me I’d have to move to London and lose my accent to get work. Then they made Salford a BBC production centre and prioritised regional personalities. (remember, just be yourself kids!)
My original accent is now returning since I moved back up to the rural north and if I’m not careful I am starting to drop my “h"s
Hi Alex! Really enjoyed episode 20, wondering if the feelings on parasocial relationships were somewhat autobiographical? It’s always an interesting and relevant topic in our world. Thanks ☺️
So that case was actually primarily written by Jonny with me as Editor. The character was always going to be engaging with that side of modern culture and I can’t speak for Jonny but it’s definitely not autobiographical at my end. I’ve said before, I am more afraid of the cruelty of modern fandoms and influencers than I am empowered by it. At best I could maybe argue I have more of an insight than your average joe but that’s not saying much.
Hiya bossman! I just started my very long stay in London, and I was wondering if you had any “Alex’s Favorite London Treats” tips or any cool spots you know of to check out. I need to find some cool things to do!! Preferably not tacky tourism stuff because I am better than that (but will probably be forced to do so eventually).
Here are some suggestions for things I have either done, or always wanted to:
> The Vault
> Archery Tag at Canada Water
> labyrinth larp (Chislehurst Caves)
> Highgate Cemetary
> Crossness Pumping Station
> The Hunterian Museum
> Wellcome Collection
> London Postal Museum
> St. Dunstan in-the-east (filmed there before)
> Leadenhall Market (during holidays)
> Camden Stables (the deepest bit)
> Cyberdog
> The Salt Tower (Tower of London)
> Gordon’s Wine Bar
Bonus points:
There is a secret abandoned ghost train underneath/beside the Tower of London that is not open to the public due to being super dangerous. Good luck being granted access but it’s particularly creepy if you are into that kind of thing.
Hello!
I am a giant nerd who keeps podcasts in a spreadsheet and know many other nerds who keep podcasts in a spreadsheet so my question to you is: do you keep your to-listens and listened-tos in a spreadsheet? If so, do you have a favorite spreadsheet function?
Have a lovely day, good sir!
PS my favorite part is conditional formatting and I am happy to provide screenshots if requested
I do not really keep reading lists of any kind anymore. They always grow too fast and make me feel bad.
That said, conditional formatting is the superior option and I will brook no counter arguments on the matter.
so two questions, one is serious you have to guess which is which
So I don’t play MMOS.
Back in the day I played Runescape then Guild Wars which I enjoyed.
I quit them due to poor impulse control and losing a lot of time to them.
I have tried to go back to them a few times but I bounce off them now. They all feel very grindy to me.
I do however adore Balder’s Gate 3 with friends.
If you are inclined to answer, what are some good things to know about farm animal behavior?
I live in bear country, so if you ever visit the American west, here is my tip:
Black bears are pretty chill unless you do something profoundly stupid. That being said, if you ever see a BABY black bear, gtfo IMMEDIATELY.
Anyways thank you for your time, big fan of your work!
Cows are a lot more dangerous than you think and sheep can be really aggressive if they want to be. Cats are actually useful on a farm and sheep dogs are the most amazing animals you will ever see working.
hey king what brand of tea do u drink
Just hot water for me thanks.
So did you grow up on a farm or just sorta in farm country?
If you did, what sort of farm was it animal/production-wise?
American here, so not sure if farming setups are different in the UK then they are here, hence my curiosity
I grew up in farm country but am not a farm kid myself. Generally speaking farms in the UK are either much smaller than in the US or the land is still owned by a Lord. (which is a whole thing)
Hi Alex, saw the livestream got cancelled, hope you’re doing ok!
I was wondering- did you and Jonny meet in a civil service job, or private sector? Because there’s a lot in protocol that’s very accurate. (Just started a CS job). Of course this could just be your sterling research skills, but even in archives I wondered if there was direct experience informing the fiction.
Though, theres a lot of overlap in dumb jargon for private and CS. I will absolutely punch a hole in my computer if Lena tells Gwen she has to engage in agile thinking 😒
thanks for your time 🙂
So the O.I.A.R. is entirely based on the jobs that Jonny and I held when we first met. It was private sector but all of it, the weird job interview, the ancient computers, the unnecessary night work, even the location of the offices is all pretty damn accurate. The only difference is that what we had to summarise, whilst still horrifying, was much more late-stage capitalism horror stories than murderous puppets or whatever.
In terms of civil service stuff, I do my research and know plenty of people who work there.
Weirdly enough I suppose that means that if I was Sam (since I joined later) and Jonny was Alice (in that he was weirdly acclimatised already) that would mean that Sam and Alice both quit to make horror podcasts about their time at… oh god. I’ve gone all recursive.
howdy! u have to sing an entire song from start to finish, no mistakes, no cop out songs (like the alphabet, twinkle twinkle little star) - what do u pick?
The Millionaire by Dr. Hook.
My dad would play their “completely Hooked” album every morning to the point I am word perfect on every song:
(Bet you weren’t expecting that!)
The only time I‘ve ever seen a cow is when I went to my family’s cow farm in Munkwolstrup when I was four so forgive me if I‘m being crass, but what do you mean by „cows are more dangerous than they seem“
It’s incredibly ominous to say the least, considering I‘m already scared of horses.
So as with most dangerous animals, it’s often human error.
Thanks to selective breeding, domestic cows are very, VERY strong and hearding them mostly involves convincing them they are weak when in fact they can easily stomp you.
Now imagine you are a mummy cow and someone is walking through your field with an uncontrolled dog harassing your child. You try to warn it away and the owner comes over to intervene. Finally you push them both away only to discover you are as strong as the hulk and didn’t realise.
Accidents happen.
Not casting aspersions or anything it’s just as with anything, you are taking a risk when you don’t treat something with respect.
hi alex!! me and my cat tim salami (first name tim, middle name salami) are curious: what is the objectively best and/or worst pet name you've ever encountered?
one of the best i've seen is pingle for a cat.
worst is the many, many dogs that share a name with me. it's exhausting
Huh, I have never met a pet with the name Snazzfest before.
For me best I ran into was Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin out hiking:
“Sam would you leave Frodo alone for two minutes! Don’t you start Merry, you’re as bad an influence as Pippin!”
Worst:
Dog called dog. Why on earth did they not call him cat? It was right there as the objectively better option?