Episode Details

Tonight I kept the format loose and opened the floor up to the audience before Paul English joined me, which made for one of those gloriously unpredictable Fockham Hall evenings. We started with a bit of housekeeping about the show schedule, then wandered cheerfully through British comedy, old films, classic telly and the sort of daft humour that still makes us laugh far more than it probably should. Bullshot got a proper airing, along with nods to Some Mothers Do ’Ave ’Em, Only Fools and Horses, Leslie Nielsen, pirate radio, pubs, tea, coffee and the strange comforts of autumn, candles and roaring fires.

Once Paul arrived, the conversation broadened into a big free-ranging chat about AI, robots, driverless cars, changing work, old versus new technology, social class, architecture, books, history and the uneasy sense that the world is shifting faster than most people can process. We touched on everything from Seiko watches and Swiss Army knives to OpenAI, Tesla, Radio Caroline, Mattias Desmet, Ray Bradbury and wider questions about meaning, progress and whether modern life is making us freer or simply stranger. In short: a proper late-night ramble with laughs, listener contributions and plenty of food for thought.

• Food For Thought Radio: https://www.fftradio.com/
• Paul English Live: https://paulenglishlive.com/
• Eric Von Essex on FFT: https://www.fftradio.com/djs/eric-von-essex/
• Bullshot (IMDb): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085279/
• Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em (BBC Programme Index): https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/service_bbc_four_hd/2023-10-28
• Only Fools and Horses (IMDb): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081912/
• Forbidden Planet (IMDb): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049223/
• The Incredibles – Official Disney page: https://movies.disney.com/the-incredibles
• Radio Caroline: https://radiocaroline.co.uk/
• Seiko 5 Sports: https://www.seikowatches.com/us-en/products/5sports
• Victorinox Swiss Army Knife & Tools: https://www.victorinox.com/en-US/Products/Swiss-Army-Knife%E2%84%A2-and-Tools/c/SAK/
• Twinings Earl Grey: https://twiningsusa.com/collections/black-teas/products/earl-grey
• Yorkshire Tea: https://bettysandtaylors.co.uk/our-brands/yorkshire-tea/
• Toolstation: https://www.toolstation.com/
• Screwfix – About Us: https://www.screwfix.com/help/aboutus
• B&M Stores: https://www.bandmretail.com/
• Mattias Desmet: https://mattiasdesmet.com/en/
• OpenAI: https://openai.com/about/
• Tesla: https://www.tesla.com/
• Fifty Years in the Church of Rome (Pro