Ruthie - The Lockdown Sessions

Ruthie is dragged back to the mic for another lockdown session in which she stresses the importance of mattress toppers, and worries she's not committed enough to anything. 'What am I going to do for the rest of my life when I don't care about anything?' she asks. 'Well, there's always journalism,' replies dad.  Musically, the Kinks take on Mahalia.

In the latest lockdown session, an increasingly demotivated Ruth - with student life suspended - tackles Black Lives Matter, explains Tik Tok, and learns some new words from Dad and Suzie Dent, although Dad gives a totally misleading definition of the word 'anomie.' Also Ella Fitzgerald, mundane celebrity sightings, and the efforts of the French to keep their language pure.

'When we establish the matriarchy,' says Ruth, 'The two men we'll save are Bill Gates and Richard Osman. And maybe Leonardo DiCaprio and Harry Styles.' This week Ruth and Dad talk Eurovision, and Iceland's superb entry. Also Ruth looks at Coronavirus as a class issue, and gets some support for her views on colonialism. She also bizarrely takes issue with Dad's pronunciation of the word 'California.'

Ruthie and Dad remain locked down, and added to the hell of being stranded with aging parents, Ruth is also frustrated by the lack of progress in her Uni work. Online tuition is just not working, she says, and no-one seems to be thinking about a solution for Britain's students. Also, the 'New Normal' everybody's talking about - although Ruth was quite happy with the old Normal - should include a rebalancing of the nation's resources away from London to the North. Ruth also has a 400-year-old swipe at the Mayflower pilgrims of 1620. Popular culture references include Love Island, Grays Anatomy, Friends, Frazier, and Tootsie.

In the first of a new series, 19-year-old Ruthie is feeling the generation gap particularly keenly, reluctantly furloughed from the Universtiy of York and trapped in lockdown with her ma and pa. In this first episode she delves into cinema history, explaining to her dad the 'cool girl' trope in modern movies, and luxuriating in 'comfort TV,' Gilmore Girls and How I Met Your Mother. Meanwhile, as Ruthie and dad swap music suggestions, there's a taste of Bob Dylan, Jeremy Zucker, and Kanye West.

The very last Ruthie - Uni, Dad & Me, for the time being at least, as University shuts & Ruth is isolated with parents. In the swansong podcast, we look at the economics of Coronavirus, the death of expectation, whether you want to be on the wagon or off, what Dame Harriett Walter would do if a lecherous male put his hand on her knee, and musically Isaac Hayes faces off against Childish Gambino. Thank you all for your support during all three seasons.

...in which dad questions whether some young people view Coronavirus in some bizarre way as a payback for Brexit, and Ruthie laments losing what might have been the best summer of her life. She also offers free French lessons just to fill the yawning time chasm in front of her, and to keep in practice. And why it's not right to compare the current crisis to wartime - and Wakefield's dance of death, the Gas Mask disco in the city. Musically, Sly and the Family Stone take on British singer Emily Burns

...in which dad is confused when a leopardskin bowtie and comedy leopardskin ears arrive for him. AlsoRuthie and dad discuss what the effects of Coronavirus are likely to be on University life. Ruth, meanwhile, has discovered the American TV show Love Is Blind, which it turns out not to be, She explains the patriarchy to dad, and musically country singer Iris DeMent faces off against Tegan and Sara.