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Spirit Levels
Role Play: A Priest and a Navy Captain Walk Into a Bar
Are you related to either Jenny or Frank? If so, back away now – this one is NOT for you. Nor is it suitable for under-18s. Okay. In A Priest and a Navy Officer Walk Into a Bar, Jenny and Frank work out ways to role play that aren’t cringe-inducing, with the notion that starting a scenario in public – a bit like high-risk improv – is key. They recruit their friends Jan and Steve – who’ve been happily married for 50 years – to dress them in character for their latest date and then record the outcome, and you’ll meet a cast of their existing regular characters, from Xavier the masseur to Marcel the frottage-loving creep. There’s also a detour into props. No, not furry handcuffs from Sexyland. Frank builds the sort of props that a carpenter on a medieval movie would envy.
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29:00||Season 2Who the hell would want to be a Stoic? That was journalist Brigid Delaney’s thought when she was commissioned to write a book on Stoic philosophy. Brigid felt she was more Epicurean by nature if anything, but having now written the book Reasons Not to Worry: How to be Stoic in Chaotic Times, she's happy to admit Marcus Aurelius and co. rule her life.In this episode, Brigid walks us through:What to do when you have FOMO in your career.What to do with feeling of failure.What to do when you piss off your neighbour.What to do when conflicts escalate.How to cope with disaster.How to create structure around your drinking habits.And how to make your own shame vaccine. Jenny reflects on how her thinking was transformed by Stoicism during a stint at Alcoholics Anonymous. Frank insists he’s a Stoic, despite regularly pulling hand guns on tradies.LINKSBrigid Delaney's book Reasons Not to WorryBrigid Delaney's book WellmaniaSpirit Levels on InstagramOur newsletterLife Coach Cults
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32:38||Season 2The English and the Australians – of which we here at Spirit Levels represent both – are notoriously prudish when it comes to nudity, so Frank and Jenny want to know if they can break their conditioning. This episode takes us from tischtennis halls of Berlin to the secret beaches of Australia. Listen along:01.16 Frank slept in his mum and dad’s bed till he was six.02.33 Titillation is not the same as nudity (yeah, Frank).03.56 Lucian Freud: Oh my god.04.20 Are all nudists = perverts or is that just an English equation?05.48 Nude sport options in Berlin.06.35 Visiting Stadtbad Neukölln.08.41 Freikopterkultur (FKK) and ‘free body culture’ in Germany.10.15 Ela, from Frankfurt Oder, tells us about FKK when she was growing up.16.18 How Bravo magazine freaked out Ela’s sister’s host family in the US.18.21 Finally! Time for the nude table tennis.20.01 Naturists and conservation (featuring a cameo from a rare orchid).22.35 Jenny and Frank go ‘beyond the wire’ in Portsea.25.02 A sad story about jetskis.29.44 Ritualistic nude events, like Dark Mofo’s Winter Solstice Swim and the Sydney Skinny.30.20 Yoni sunning – the kinda Taoist practice that draws in solar energy and Vitamin D.LINKSStadtbad NeuköllnDark Mofo Nude Solstice SwimThe Sydney SkinnyLeave us a voice message for a future episode on SpeakpipeSpirit Levels on InstagramOur newsletterWhat Can a Performance Coach Teach Us All?
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