Now, here’s a thing…
by Tracy Jones
... is the latest podcast from Tracy Jones and Heather Noble in which they talk about random stuff in the hope that you will find it vaguely interesting. Listen to the random ramblings of a couple of women who are in their second (maybe third?) flush of youth and marvel at the sheer skill it takes to consistently talk crap on almost any subject. [Music by Lesfm from Pixabay]
Episodes
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#59 Improv and being late
This podcast is not total improvisation. Yes, and occasionally we do prepare what we are going to say. Yes, and we are also comfortable with winging it. Yes, and today was a mixture of both inspired by "Whose Line Is It Anyway?". Then we turn to a troubling matter, well for Tracy anyway.…
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#58 Music to make you happy, seaweed farming and Ring cameras
Welcome to "Now Here's a Brian Thing". This week Heather shared the top ten songs that have been scientifically proven to make us feel happier. We are not convinced, but we are not scientists. See what you think. Tracy wonders about the new blue economy, ie seaweed farming in Wales. Is…
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#57 Gardening and GoodGyms
Heather is expanding her gardening experience with the help of Charles Dowding, her neighbour Brian (secret garden elf) and a calendar gifted to her by her husband. I can't believe she's not watching Gardener's World yet though. Her Friday nights are sorted from here on in. Poorna Bell wrote an...
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#56 Raging Grannies, elderly acting and images of women
It's still series 1 and we have no plans to move onto series 2 at any point. It's easier to keep track of how many episodes we have published ;) Raging Grannies captured our imaginations this week thanks to Sharon Blackie, author of Hagitude. Social justice activists who dress up and sing protest...
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#55 Reading and Swedish Death Cleaning
In the absence of any credible preparation by Tracy on account of her being totally pre-occupied by a book she's reading, what and how we like to read is the first subject we explored this week. If any of you know what a "novel reader" is, as referenced in the actual novel "Spellbreaker", then...
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#54 Things that still hurt after 50 years and highway robbers
This week Heather has been triggered a couple of times this week and here you'll find out what Heather experienced 50 years ago which has caused her to the the butt of a joke in her family since then and stopped her joining the police force. And please don't offer her the role of a male character...
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#53 An avant garde mother and a moving social experience
Inspired by an article about an avant garde mother in The Observer, Tracy & Heather explore the nature of what it means to be an artist and when you can call yourself one. We also learn that Heather is often surprised to realise that she is indeed an adult. We both need to read this book called...
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#52 Severance and the language of flowers and fans
You may be disappointed when you hear that a slap around the face wasn't one of our "things" for this week. Nevermind, we proceeded to discuss the complicated languages of flowers and fans. That geraniums represent folly did not surprise us, but orange lilies meaning hatred did. But then we blew...
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#51 Royalty, etiquette and humour
Heather goes mad for royalty this week and Tracy exclaims a little too much (not being a massive fan of the concept) although admits to being slightly intrigued by the court circular and the finer details contained therein. And we were both enthralled/horrified/amused by the etiquette guide in...
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#50 Peacocks, idioms and a gallantry award for Simon the cat
Welcome to the podcast with the signature hum/buzz/drone! When we get over this annoyance we chat about animals, specifically medal worthy animals such as Simon the cat. We learned that the PDSA Dickin medal is the highest award any animal can receive whilst serving in military conflict. No…
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#49 Joyful movement and world destruction
To say that these two subjects are diverse would be quite the understatement, as it would also be to say I (Tracy) was annoyed with the background hum that I have tried but largely failed to edit out of this episode. One day we'll find out what is causing the hum and we'll do a whole episode on...
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#48 Childhood memories and crochet
What is your earliest memory? And is it real or learned? Tracy smells a wendy house (pretty sure that's real) and recalls throwing her toys off a balcony (this could be learned from a mother who remembers having to deal with it!). Heather remembers being told off for getting lost at the seaside....
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#47 Weighted blankets and pantomimes
Returning after an extend break for Christmas and New Year Tracy (me) is ready to stay snuggled down under her new blanket. It's weighted don't you know. But words fail her when trying to name the fabric it is made from. But in case you are concerned, I can now confirm that the fabric is in fact...
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#46 White coat syndrome and a teeny tiny Christmas
White coat syndrome is a real thing according to researchers. As well as chatting about what this is, we reveal the guilt that we always feel when walking through the "nothing to declare" channel even though we are totally innocent. And a day you perhaps didn't realise you needed is teeny tiny...
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#45 Winging it, singing and rizz
I (Tracy) did very little (no) prep for this podcast but we still managed to talk at length. When you are winging it you can talk about winging it! Heather's thing is better researched but rather scarily leads us both to have a got a singing. Winging or singing. Which is worse? And if you are…
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#44 Cuddling cows and rosy retrospection
Anyone for cow cuddling? Grandma Snowflake and Cuddlepuff are Highland Cows ready and willing to offer solace at times of need. And then you can look back on the whole experience with rosy retrospection, but only after a little time has elapsed. Eclectic discussions once again!
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#43 Eating weeds and moss and learning about happiness
The the event of surviving an apocalypse, the skills of foraging and, importantly, how to cook your finds so that they don't kill you will probably be valued quite highly. Thanks to Harvard University you can spend 14 weeks learning how to cook microbes and fungi - for free. You could also listen...
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#42 Lies, the Nietzsche Thesis and submariners
If on average we tell 30 lies a day (we as in humans, not just me and Heather) how many did we tell during this episode? Everything we said about Epistemic Vigilance and the Nietzsche Thesis was the truth as we see it, courtesy of bigthink.com. They also provide us with three useful tips to…
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#41 Superstitions and witches
No tricks, just treats from us two this week. Heather digs up some more of our old memories talking about superstitions (this podcast is starting to become a nostalgia-fest). And we have a question - do the younger generations have the same superstitions as we did? And I got excited about the...
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#40 Right to grow and entertainment nostalgia
This episode is not about poo samples and I did my best to remove the humming sound that appeared from nowhere. Apologies for the residual rumbling - which at least is not as loud in the podcast as it was in the room on the night. What we did talk about was the council of Hull passing a motion...
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#39 Humblebragging and reality TV
Humblebragging appears on a list of 50 things that annoy people and, as well as wondering why the list wasn't longer than 50, we ruminated on the reasons why people do this (no doubt, we've done it too in the past so apologise profusely to anyone we annoyed at the time!). So what we took from…
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#38 World Mental Health Day, spend £1 to do good and a lesson in deciduous trees
Whilst discussing the process of leaf shedding by deciduous trees we discover that the process is actually quite gruesome (if badly explained!) and also that we don't have sleepless nights worrying about storm damage if we aren't in our own homes. World Mental Health Day is 10th October and we...
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#37 Sea glass and A-ha driving EVs in Norway
It's been a few weeks since we last met up and so the start of the podcast is a bit of a rambling catch up of a couple of middle aged birds. It all sounded fine as we were talking but as I'm editing it sounds more like the content of a fever dream. We had fun anyway. As we delve into the actual...
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#36 Migration, the first sleep and the watch
We're squeezing a podcast recording in between holidays (Heather and Tracy) and gym visits (Heather only). Whilst on holiday I (Tracy) was inspired to look into the history of sleep, particularly biphasic sleep, and felt the need to discuss it with Heather. So we I did, but not during the watch...
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#35 Field names and statement jewellery
On the evening that my (Tracy) son made katsu chicken for tea, we also recorded a podcast in which we explored field names and ended up with more questions than answers. At least Heather was able to point us towards a couple of useful books that might help. And old maps reveal that I live in…
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#34 Life before sat navs and the Escape 100 list
What did we do before we had sat navs? In the olden days we had adventures with a road atlas and an A to Z. But what about before we had maps? One thing is for sure I (Tracy) knew very little about OS maps until Heather tested me with a quiz. Have a listen and be amazed by maps (and my lack of...
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#33 BookTok and workations
We start with double rumblings (I only managed to edit out part of it, sorry) and a couple of bangs from next door, but eventually settle into a explanation of BookTok by Heather who discovered it in one of our favourite publications, Positive News. I apologise profusely for my lack of editing…
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#32 Eating for net zero and how to enhance your Glastonbury experience
We start off by considering a Nanna/Grandad/Noble (?) nap but revive sufficiently to natter on for the best part of half an hour. We are treated to Heather reflecting on how we ate in the olden days as we discuss a recent report by WWF about how to achieve a healthy and sustainable diet, and it...
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#31 Parthenogenesis and poets
No, this episode is not about poets who've had virgin births. But it is about virgin births and poets. I am fairly certain that there is no intersection of these two subjects.... but.... maybe.... And I have also decided that should I be required to wear a dress made from a book it will be In...
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#30 Languages and financial wellbeing (not STDs)
Very quickly we recognise that we speak French like old ladies and that Heather is unlikely to progress with learning Mandarin even if her 5 year old niece teaches her (Japanese and Korean are already discarded). Spanish comes much more easily to her but won't boost her income as much as if she...
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#29 The Kinder Shop and volunteering
We both love the idea of The Kinder Shop in Cumbria (thanks AGAIN to Positive News) where items on sale have prices expressed in terms of hours of voluntary work pledged. A great initiative that we hope will cause ripples through more communities. Technical kerfuffles result from a low battery on...
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#28 Mental health soothers, CQ and cultural intelligence
We both love a new concept and CQ is one that rather pleased us to explore in this episode. After recording I (Tracy) did a bit more research and confirmed that we have clearly been living under a rock because the concept has been around for at least 20 years. Hey ho. So much for proclaiming that...
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#27 Living history and famous last words
They say that you continue to live as long as people still talk about you and Heather is still talking about farmer Hannah Hauxwell, subject of several TV documentaries starting with Too Long a Winter from 1972. Google her name and talk about her with someone you know - and Hannah lives on in our...
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#26 Bank holidays and adaptations
We are well blessed with 3 bank holidays in May this year and that prompted Heather to research the history of bank holidays and we both looked back on holidays and boring Sundays when we were kids. And during the 1st bank holiday in May I (Tracy) binge read Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus...
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#25 Bifurcation, colours, smells and the rhythm of life
We love a new word and this time we offer you.... bifurcation.... have a listen and then try to use it in a sentence. Better still, ram the phrase "fallacy of bifurcation" into a sentence and revel in the glory of your knowledge watch your friends drift away. Anyone who's ever met Heather will…
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#24 Fascinating titbits and amusing purchasing errors
Tid or tit? That is the question. We opt for titbits instead of tidbits. And then Heather fascinates us with hers. Listen in if you want to learn some facts and figures to dazzle your companions with if you are stuck for small talk at a party. I'm sure your fellow guests will be thrilled as you...
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#23 Rationing recipes, names for lady parts and Dad la Soul
What a week to start recording when hungry.... at least the recipes that Heather dug up from the 1940/50s archives weren't all that appealing. And then we pivot from mock goose to vulvas, vaginas and labia and the problems that the embarrassment about naming these parts of our anatomy is putting...
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#22 Lost jobs and remembering, or not
Saggar makers had bottom knockers, did you know? And what about gandy dancers, do you know what they did? Listen to this episode and find out about these and more nuggets of information that you didn't realise you needed to know. And, don't you forget that this week I (Tracy) remembered to talk...
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#21 Women talking about Women Talking and binge watching
Turmeric stained Tracy and, presumably unstained, Heather are women and are talking about Women Talking (film) and about bingeing (TV). We convince ourselves that we don't have a binge watching problem..... and then identify a few binge-worthy programmes coming up later this year to feed the…
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#20 Loquacious etymology, turtles, tortoises and wool
Talkative? Us? Well yes, we have to agree. We kicked of this episode with words and the origin of words and origin of the word that means the origin of words. We rambled our way through a discussion about turtles and tortoises and Jonathan and ended up discussing wool from The Falklands. Random…
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#19 Small talk and world days for books and other stuff
As well as learning about Heather's desire to buy an inflatable cow suit, we chatted this week about World Book Day and other days that we hadn't known about before (and, honestly, will probably forget about again). I also let Heather know that we had been invited on a night out with my husband…
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#18 Shrive on Fat Tuesday, rage and know when life means life
This episode is brought to you with the support of the much valued (by people who have to speak for a living) Jakemans cough sweet. Be grateful I edited out some of the (more phlegmy) coughs at least.... As this was recorded on Fat Tuesday we delved into the eggy and fatty world of pancakes and...
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#17 Futurology, Daniel Pink's difficult questions & punk rock menopause
I (Tracy) did indeed edit out the first couple of minutes of our chat where Heather was venting her anger with f***ers who hacked her social media accounts and messed up her access to her Google calendar. Not because I don't agree that they are indeed f***ers but there was quite a bit of…
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#16 Food from times gone by and the helter skelter of life theory of time
Heather was hungry and taunted herself by talking about food, not that nettle pudding sounds particularly appealing and cockentrice sounds positively bizarre. Straight after this recording I (Tracy) expect her to whip up a quick fromenty...... or order a pizza..... whatever. Warning, if you…
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#15 Vinyl revival, solar punks and love around the world
In this episode we enjoy Heather's newly refurbished office and Heather manages to stand up without making an old person noise. Nice one. In other news, and in different seats to normal, we muse about the revival (or resurgence?) of vinyl and are amazed at how long it's been reviving (resurging?)...
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#14 Unfriending the unfriendly and attracting creativity by being creative
Heather seems to be a magnet for creatives at the moment and is wondering whether she unleashed the creativity dragon by attending a boozy art class last week. I reckon I should join her next month to see if it has the same effect on me. I've got a good portion of creativity in my life already…
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#13 Words, new words & lost words, kinkeeping and transparency of information
In a week with few technical hitches (apart from an interruption by the ever vigilant Alexa) Heather shared some new words with us and Tracy shared a love of digging up useful/usless (you decide) information from public bodies. Something for everyone including the kinkeepers amongst us (which is...
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#12 Camera fright, New Year honours & tracking sharks
Apologies aplenty for our absence in December. I (Tracy) proved to be a technical doofus (again!) and my masters degree in IT clearly counts for naught. But here we are now. It's a brand new year and we are still talking, and in this episode you'll learn that the best way to stop me talking is to...
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#11 Fun (?) facts about us and collecting coins
You're at a training course/workshop/meeting and the facilitator asks you to introduce yourself and tell everyone a "fun" fact about yourself. Is that fun fact actually fun or do you offer up a list of serious illnesses you have suffered from and your last meal request....? Perhaps one of your…
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#10 Causes of death in 1632, steam trains & cultural birthday gifts
Although the title of the episode could perhaps suggest that steam trains and cultural birthday gifts were causes of death in 1632, neither of those two things appeared on the list we found on Twitter today. Instead we were faced with flux, wolf, surfet and the king's evil - and had to look them...
About this show
... is the latest podcast from Tracy Jones and Heather Noble in which they talk about random stuff in the hope that you will find it vaguely interesting. Listen to the random ramblings of a couple of women who are in their second (maybe third?) flush of youth and marvel at the sheer skill it takes to consistently talk crap on almost any subject.
[Music by Lesfm from Pixabay]
Hosted by
Tracy Jones