SERIES 15: Episode 5 - Girls, Merlin, B London, Fat Tony, Airport Music, Just Being Melani, Pacha

0:00Therapy's biggest impact doesn't show up in some dramatic breakthrough. It shows up in the smallest moments. You bite your tongue instead of escalating. You put your phone down instead of firing off that text. You say what you actually mean instead of what would hurt someone else the most. Nobody applauds those moments, but they quietly change your life. That's what growing feels like. And that's exactly what Grow Therapy is here for. Grow is therapy that works, covered by insurance. Sessions average$21 with insurance, and some pay as little as$0, depending on their plan. There are no subscriptions, no long-term commitments.

0:37You just pay per session. Grow connects you with thousands of high-quality, licensed therapists across the U.S., offering both virtual and in-person sessions, nights and weekends. You can search by what matters, like insurance, specialty, identity, or availability. And you can book a therapy session in minutes and begin in as little as two days, not the national 48-day average. See if you could pay as little as$0 for therapy in seconds at growtherapy.com slash ACAST. That's growtherapy.com slash ACAST. growtherapy.com slash ACAST. Availability and coverage vary by state and insurance plan.

1:25Michael Douglas: Hey there, folks. This is Michael Douglas, obviously, from Making the Cut. Now, me and Davina aren't together this week because she is in the south of France with her lovely daughter Holly and her boyfriend and a couple of friends, and I've had to stay at work and do a lot of work, largely because we're going to Glastonbury. So when you listen to this, folks, we will be raving in Glastonbury. Hopefully with the sun out and all of that jazz. But it just means we weren't together at all this week, so we decided to record this podcast separately. So I am here in London, my studio in Soho, and she is in the south of France.

2:04Morning. So I am here in France. I've actually come to the south of France, and I really miss you, Michael. but I know that you have been so extremely busy with MD London and everything that you're doing and I'm so enormously proud of you but it's always quite deliciously painful not being with you and I cannot wait to see you this weekend but anyway so I've come to the south of France with my oldest Holly. Chester was going to come but he's obviously on the razzle dazzles with his friends and I've come with Holly and her boyfriend and then Holly's best friend Harriet and her boyfriend and I haven't been back here I don't think I've been back to the south of France for about four years I don't I can't quite figure out why but maybe because Holly left home and she's been at universe just there's been a multitude of different reasons but I went back to all my old haunts yesterday and the day before and it's been a really emotional journey and I guess the first thing I'm recommending is to remember the things you love doing or the places you love going to sorry if you can hear that in the background it's the watering system in the garden of the house I'm renting but when I went back yesterday to visit the, you know, restaurants that I used to go to with the kids and they're still the same people were working there and they remembered me.

3:46I've been coming here. I came here every single year for 25 years. Oh, a bird just flew into the window. God. Wow. That was really horror movie. Jesus. god sorry how weird is that um but nostalgia as you get older is everything it's such a beautiful thing to revisit places that you used to when your kids were young but with your kids wow like even if it's just a chippy you know in a village next door to where you live now but you just haven't been for years don't think about it do it so just accepting and acting on pangs of nostalgia this has been absolutely enlightening this trip because I was thinking about this yesterday that I will come back to the south of France every year for the rest of my life now having done this because it has meant so much to me.

4:53I mean, you all know me by now. I cry at the drop of a hat. This has really been extremely healing.

5:02Michael Douglas: I have got a couple of recommendations for you this week. And the first one is a new TV show. No, it's not a new TV show. It's an old TV show that I watched a long time ago, but I've just finished Mad Men and I was really looking for something new to watch. Anyway, my youngest son, Joel, said, I've started watching Girls. Now I watched Girls ages ago, this is the Lena Dunham show that's got people like Adam Driver in it This was before Adam Driver became, you know, the kind of baddie in Star Wars But I don't know if you've seen this show or not, but I think it's probably one of the best shows I've ever seen I think there's about six or seven seasons of it, the half hour episodes And there are about four young girls in New York Now it was the perfect antidote to Sex and the City, this show It was exactly how it should have been portrayed about four young girls in New York trying to get by and work out what they wanted to do with their lives, all the different relationships they have with each other, with the people they have outside, their gay best friends, their lovers, their careers.

6:00Michael Douglas: I just think it was one of the best shows that I'd ever really seen and it was so modern and I love the fact that it was about kind of women really and a kind of window into the life of what it was like to be a young modern woman in New York. It made Sex and the City look like some kind of old-fashioned TV show. It was remarkable, really. Anyway, it's on Now TV, and if you've not seen it, I just couldn't recommend it enough. You can check it out on IMDb. There are a lot of episodes that get over eight, and they're really easy to watch, but Lena Dunham is just utterly brilliant in it, and so kind of funny and likeable, but Adam Driver, just as soon as you see him on the show, you're just like oh my god yeah this guy's going to be a movie star he is just brilliant in it and he's in it from the start he's always topless in it for some weird reason but um the way they kind of developed his character and how dynamic he was I didn't realize how much I'd learned about myself through watching Adam Driver in the show I just just thought it was absolutely knockout there's loads of other great characters in that you will have seen in other tv shows American-based tv shows But it's really cheeky It's quite naughty And it's hugely entertaining So yeah, Girls is absolutely one of my favourite TV shows ever I've forgotten a lot of it So I'm really enjoying watching it again I've only just started with this Only on episode 2, season 1 But I would like to say a farewell to Mad Men I watched the final episode this week And it's a brilliant season finale really And what it is I think what I like about it is the real, you know, you've been on this journey with Don Draper, along with lots of other characters as well.

7:43Michael Douglas: You've been on this journey with Don Draper for 13 episodes a season, seven seasons, I think someone was saying there's like 96 episodes of it. And of course, he's a kind of broken man, you know, like a lot of men, really. And about trying to deal with his past while trying to walk forward into this future of the 1970s, which you've got to remember just how radically different the world was after those 10 years, 1960 going all the way through to 1970. The world changed radically for everybody, especially women. But I think men really started to struggle with this changing landscape. And he really embodies that struggle, I think, in so many brilliant ways, where he's examining his past and how he can break free of himself.

8:30Michael Douglas: the final episode is just a brilliant insight into how you cannot escape yourself really in the end you know there are perhaps some things you can do i'm of the opinion at the moment anyway that there is little or no free will you can't really just choose to be whoever you want you have to understand I think that you have to surrender into yourself at some point and there's something about this final episode where I think Don Draper realises that that he's a kind of reflection or a metaphor of what it means to be a human being and how in the end you have to live with yourself it's a brilliant episode because it finishes with him at a retreat like a spiritual retreat which is not the kind of place that you would normally go but he has to interact with lots of other people who are on a quite difficult journey.

9:26Michael Douglas: It's just a brilliant bit of self-reflection and the final scene is just a true work of art I think. It's one of the greatest bits of telly I think I've seen and one of the greatest kind of, what do you call it, conclusions to this huge 10-year epic journey. Anyway it's great but I thought instead of looking for something new to watch I would do the same thing again and go back on something that I know is really good and an extremely rewarding watch and girls is that you can buy it on prime but if you've got now tv anyway it's pretty much free to watch on there so i'm downloading that and watching that the next thing i would like to recommend is an app it recognizes birdsong so you can log and take photographs and learn all about birds and birdsong, where you live, where you're staying.

10:28I can learn about birds here. I can look up photographs. I can take photographs and log them. It's called Merlin. It is a bird app. I'm going to find out what birds are around me right now, so I'm going to be silent for a few seconds.

10:50interestingly the only song that i could hear in those few seconds was the eurasian collared dove so what happens is that a picture of the bird that you've just heard comes up it tells you where you are exactly in the world and what time it is so you know what time the birds sing and i'm going to play you the the i mean obviously we all know doves but this is what it sounds like so you can play you know the song of the Eurasian collared dove and you can explore more sounds I mean it's an absolutely brilliant app who would have thought that I would be bird song lady but that is who I've become I'm really I'm really really enjoying it and um it's very funny because I never really thought I would get into something like that, but I absolutely love it.

11:53Therapy's biggest impact doesn't show up in some dramatic breakthrough. It shows up in the smallest moments. You bite your tongue instead of escalating. You put your phone down instead of firing off that text. You say what you actually mean instead of what would hurt someone else the most. Nobody applauds those moments, but they quietly change your life. That's what growing feels like, and that's exactly what Grow Therapy is here for. Grow is therapy that works, covered by insurance. Sessions average$21 with insurance, and some pay as little as$0, depending on their plan. There are no subscriptions, no long-term commitments.

12:29You just pay per session. Grow connects you with thousands of high-quality, licensed therapists across the U.S., offering both virtual and in-person sessions, nights and weekends. You can search by what matters, like insurance, specialty, identity, or availability. And you can book a therapy session in minutes and begin in as little as two days, not the national 48-day average. See if you could pay as little as$0 for therapy in seconds at growtherapy.com slash ACAST. That's growtherapy.com slash ACAST. Growtherapy.com slash ACAST. Availability and coverage vary by state and insurance plan.

13:16Okay, so I think Michael will agree with me. The next place that I would like to recommend is a place called B London, and that is the letter B. And it's a club in Old Brompton Road. It used to be a club called, I think it was Bijou. I actually never went to it when it was Bijou. but it's been completely redone it has been redecorated and a girlfriend of mine who just got the all clear from breast cancer Sarah and I had a little bit of a party there to celebrate making it so it was called looks like we made it and it was basically to say we're still here thanks to all the people that supported us so a lot of it was actually people who have helped us on our journey more than a sort of because we were quite restricted on numbers so I couldn't kind of invite everybody I'd ever known sort of thing but it was definitely people who had gone the extra mile in our recoveries or really supported us and it was the greatest evening.

14:23I've got to say Fat Tony is, so this is another recommendation, Fat Tony is a very very old friend of mine now very good friend of michael's as well we went to his wedding recently it was fucking ace but he dj'd for us that night and it was off the charts brilliant if you ever get a chance to go to any of fat tony's events please go i mean i've never known anybody walk into an event and just turn up and start and deliver in such a major, major way. So just to give you a few ideas of some of the places that he's playing this summer, he's going to be at the Ministry of Pride on the 5th of July, which will be mega.

15:16He's going to be defected in Croatia and in Malta. So that's July and October. he's going to be as one in the park on the 19th of July Hoopla Malta on the 26th of September all back to Minehead on the 7th of November but also at Glitterbox in Ibiza so definitely make sure that you try and catch him at some point over the summer he's worth travelling to another country for let me just tell you that much Also, if you don't follow him, I'm pretty sure I've told you to do this before. But if you don't follow him on Instagram, follow him, Fat Tony DJ. He is really fucking funny. I want to get back to Be London because Be London, it's smallish.

16:10It's about 250 people. It is really, really brilliantly decked out. Brilliant lights. All the staff that work there are super nice. if you want to have a big party or somebody is um or if you just have a look at some of the events and go and check it out i really really liked it as a club and then the other thing i think i

16:31Michael Douglas: probably would like to drop in is that i've stumbled across this thing called airport music by brian eno which i'm guessing is a kind of therapeutic type music if you're trying to relax so if you like meditation you like being in nature and you don't want to listen to music with lots of words in it but more music that gives you a sense of feeling and escape a little bit from this modern busy world then take a little look at Brian Eno Airport Music their 2025 records seems to be three of them I've only listened to them briefly but I was like oh wow this is right up my street I know we talked about John Hopkins recently and those music for psychedelic therapy which I've thoroughly enjoyed and I'm listening to regularly but this feels like a little spin-off from that Brian Eno as you may know um is an incredible music producer and worked with everyone from U2 and Coldplay to David Bowie and Iggy Pop and he's been around for years and anything that Brian Eno has touched is generally absolutely golden so um I would feel that it comes with a huge amount of experience and brilliant reputation so have a little listen to that if you're interested in more therapeutic music.

17:45I've got another Instagram account for you to follow. Just being Milani. All one word. Just being Milani. She has started something called the Why We Don't Care Club. And she is so funny. I'm going to quickly just play you a clip. So hang on a second. I'm going to play you an old one that I listened to. she she looks hilarious she um wears very very funny clothes and basically she's talking about being perimenopausal and menopausal okay listen to this existing members of the we do not care club i started this club for all women going through perimenopause and menopause we are simply putting the world on notice that we no longer care anymore i would like to go ahead and get started on our announcements for today we do not care if we washed your socks and drawers inside out that is how you left them and that is how you will receive them back we do not care if something is not dishwasher safe it is now and will be from now on yeah so she is really really funny i also wanted to say big up to pasha in ibiza because pasha have done something which i think is really incredible and i'm not sure why we're trying to figure out if there is a financial reason why they've done it or if they're struggling to get people in but I would like to think that they have done it for clubbers because I have a thought all the time oops I've thought all the time that drinks in nightclubs for young people are just way too expensive nobody can afford to go to a club to pay to get into the club to pay to have any drinks and nobody's really dancing they've all got their phones out they're all waiting for the beat drop and I thought something's got to change like clubbing is well clubs are closing down people aren't going so I think clubs should consider taking people's phones off them at the beginning of the night which when Michael and I went out clubbing the other night and we didn't have our phones it was the most amazing thing ever and secondly I think all clubs should follow Pasha's example and cut the prices.

20:16So check this out, right? So three bottles of water at Pasha used to cost 42 euros. Now they're charging 15. So five bottles of water used to be 70 euros. I mean, Jesus wept. And now it's 25 euros. Three drinks, alcoholic drinks, used to be 72 euros. and now it's 30 euros each and five drinks now I thought you can get five drinks for 40 euros so even cheaper and I think that all clubs really should have a look at their pricing again because they're just pricing themselves out of the market kids and let's face it clubs are for kids clubbing was the greatest part of my youth and growing up and music and we all know now music sound waves the vibe of being in a collective area where everybody is dancing to the same thing is incredibly powerful and it's even I think they've said it carries health benefits clubbing I'm pretty sure I saw it on insta it must be true but Michael and I have often talked about what a space would look like if we were going to own a club like we would love to open a club which was a not-for-profit that just was about bringing joy music and connection to our clubbers.

21:42And obviously we'd have to play at least one Paul Weller track a night. We'd have to get really well-known DJs to mix a Paul Weller track. That would be so good, wouldn't it?

21:52Michael Douglas: Anyway, I've got to go. My Nando's is just about to turn up. Me and my son are about to eat it. It's half past six on Wednesday night. I'm catching a train at 8.40 tonight to Bristol to stay the night with a friend. and we arrive at Glastonbury at about 9, 10am tomorrow morning and then the beautiful Davina is going to arrive I think at 2 o 'clock on Friday where we can really let our air down and go absolute bonkers for a few days. Neither of us have been to Glastonbury before. So expect a little review of that I suppose and we'll tell you what we got up to. I'm really sorry this is brief this week.

22:29Michael Douglas: We are just absolutely chock-a-block and I just thought well I didn't want to not put a podcast out I thought it would be nice to put something out So I rang Davina and said Why don't you do a 10 minute voice note I'll do a 10 minute voice note Maybe Saskia could weave it together In some kind of skilful way And then boom You know you can get your little fix of the podcast And we'll try and do a little post on Friday as well From Glastonbury on the Making the Cup page But I hope you all have a fantastic weekend The weather's looking absolutely bloody banging Isn't it So really enjoy that and if you're with your family or your kids or your friends or your pets have a wonderful wonderful time and we'll speak to you next week we're actually in Ibiza next week we'll definitely try and do a podcast next week the summer has begun ladies and gentlemen let's lean in all right take care everybody take care I've said that already all right bye-bye anyway listen I've nearly done 15 minutes so I just wanted to say sorry we're not together this week our worlds have not collided and we haven't even been together this week but we just want to say well I'd just like to say how much um we love doing this podcast and we will bring you something next week together we promise um but we love you lots and thanks for listening and yeah I miss you Michael and Saskia thanks for editing bye

24:01Thank you.