SERIES 15: Episode 7 - Lola's Leads, Leg Stretcher, Wolf & Badger, Happy Place Festival

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0:59Michael Douglas: me that you've got and acquired. That we've summoned. Yeah. Some good food. And you've got anchovies from Mark Spencer's.

1:06Sabina Brennan: I've got fishy stuff. Smoked mackerel. We've got salad, we've got avocados, tomatoes.

1:13Michael Douglas: I told people this, my new favourite breakfast movie, I mentioned it, the mackerel filler with a couple of poached eggs on it. Oh man. Olive oil. Proteintastic. Mmm, bit of olive oil on there. And I mean I like a little splash of vinegar, balsamic vinegar or something like that on there as well. It's not for everybody that, but the fish and the vinegar thing, there's like twank fish and vinegar. Oh, bloody hell. It's magic. Yes. Let me tell you. Hello, everybody. Hello. Apologies for last week's episode. I think we already explained on Instagrams that we were just mega busy. It was hard just to try and find the time last week, wasn't it?

1:52Yes, and even hard to just try and find the time to think of the things that we needed to talk about. I mean, it's been wild. It's been a wild ride.

2:02Michael Douglas: Yeah. We had a lovely weekend, though, so there's a few things to tell you about there. Yes. We had our friends Joel and Hannah over on Friday, which is Joel Domet and his lovely wife, Hannah Cooper. And they are just the nicest people. Oh, it was so nice, wasn't it? We've known them, like, for about six years now because the Masked Singer's been going mostly for six years. And we're always saying, oh, we should hang out us four. We'd get on really well. and this was our very first opportunity in six years to do that. It's no joke though, is it? I know, but all four of us trying to coordinate a diary is a lot.

2:36Michael Douglas: Yeah, it really is. But we finally did it and it was really good fun.

2:41Sabina Brennan: And they are both, I think it's so nice to meet another couple where both of us love both of them equally. You know, it's like they are both brilliant human beings and their son, I mean, Wilde is a lucky boy. Yeah, yeah.

2:59Michael Douglas: He's got mega parents.

3:02Sabina Brennan: Yeah, they're lovely.

3:03Michael Douglas: So it was really good. We had a lovely day because it was like really sunny and warm and everything. We spent literally most of the time just in the garden, like chatting and drinking nice drinks and stuff like that. Oh, my God, it was great. It was really brilliant.

3:18Sabina Brennan: Oh, God, we've got to tell people the thing that we did that would be great for any dinner party or family get together better than charades.

3:28Michael Douglas: Yeah, it is good, isn't it?

3:29Sabina Brennan: So if you're having a dinner and you're having dinner with some people who you like and you'd like to get to know a bit better. So that was kind of us with Joel and Hannah. We thought, you know, how can we kind of, but in a fun way. Yeah, yeah.

3:44Michael Douglas: It's like, show us yourself. Yes. You know, it's that kind of thing. It's a nice,

3:48Sabina Brennan: actually that's a nice thing to call it. Show us who you are.

3:52Michael Douglas: Yeah, let's call it that.

3:53Sabina Brennan: So Michael had this brilliant idea of we all go to a place with some, you know, good speakers. And we sit down and one person kind of gets up and sits in front of the others or stands in front of the others and tells a story. And so my story, because I don't want to divulge any sort of secrets about Anne and Joel, but my story was about when I used to run nightclubs.

4:18Davina McCall: and I set the scene and I was talking about it was at Subterranea and Jeremy Healy who is still an amazing DJ used to DJ there a lot and at the end of the night the track that they used to play

4:32Sabina Brennan: at the end of every Saturday night the lights would go on everybody would be sweaty messes hands up in the air and they would play State of Independence by Donna Summer and the place would

4:43Davina McCall: her up but anyway I kind of elaborated on that story and talked about what we would wear and who we were with and the kind of people that were there and how old I was and I was working at

4:55Sabina Brennan: Models One and like running clubs and how much I enjoyed that and and then we played the song and what was lovely about all of our songs when we listened to the song knowing the story behind it that was happening to our friend at that time, or you, Michael, the song took on a much greater meaning and depth, didn't it?

5:18Michael Douglas: Yeah, yeah, of course.

5:19Sabina Brennan: And then we all felt like we knew each other a lot better because we'd heard like a story that we might not hear around a dinner table. And explain what you were saying about choosing the song because I loved that.

5:34Michael Douglas: Well, one of the kind of, it's not a problem really, but it's an interesting kind of like dilemma is that when you realize your turn is coming up it's like oh what am I gonna talk about and you've probably got you've probably got 10 songs that you really like that you would like to say I like this song and then there's probably 10 different stories about you know all the different things that are connected to these songs they might you might have been in hospital once or it might because that's when you had your baby and this song came on or it may be even more profound than that you know a weird kind of synchronicity of a moment and boom there's a song and it meant this and but one of the interesting things is it's like you have to choose one you can't have them all so you have to go through this process of letting go of like let's say nine ideas in order to just choose one and everybody goes I don't know I've got like loads and it's like yeah you've got to choose yeah you know you're like fuck and the point being is you could say look we will do this again like yes don't worry about it just pick one tell us the story you know and it's such a nice thing to do i did it at a dinner party probably about 1996 my friend andrew and we were at a dinner party and he said oh let's play this game pick a song tell us a story of why that song is important to you and then when we were with joel and hannah i was like oh i've forgotten about this thing i mean honestly i think we're gonna do it a lot yeah yeah yeah i really i really enjoyed it

6:57Sabina Brennan: and I learnt and heard something about you.

7:00Michael Douglas: Yeah. You know. I did the fact that moving my body and dancing and things like that really does something for me in not just a trivial way, in quite a deep, profound way. And there's this amazing song which we've talked about on this podcast several times.

7:14Sabina Brennan: And that's connected to your break dancing and how old you were then and how free it made you feel and connected to yourself. And it was kind of spiritual for you dancing, really, in a fun way. It still is. That's what it is.

7:24Michael Douglas: It's like a spiritual endeavour, you know. So I chose Free by Florence and the Machine. And the opening line of that song, if you don't know it, is it says, sometimes I wonder if I should be medicated, if I would feel better just slightly sedated. The feelings come so fast and I cannot control it. I'm on fire, but I'm trying not to show it as it picks me up and puts me down, picks me up, puts me down. I hope Florence is so mega. Poet, right. And then, of course, the bit in the song gets to the bit where as soon as she starts to move her body and start to dance, all her depression goes away and she starts to become, you know, her true self and starts to feel free.

8:01Michael Douglas: And the song is called Free. But when I hear that song, like, there's a little bit inside of it that just snaps, you know. And I think, fuck, yes, I understand. I deeply understand. When I was a break dancer when I was a kid, you know, I didn't realize really what I was doing. It was a type of meditation. I was escaping, you know, I've probably got ADHD or ADD or something like that. I'm not hugely bothered about being diagnosed or anything, but I just realised that I have to move to think, you know, like I just can't sit still and think. Yes. And the more I move, the deeper I think. Yes. The longer I move for, the more profound my thoughts become.

8:36Michael Douglas: Wow. I love that. So that song's a biggie for me. But I had real difficulty letting go of like six or seven others that have all got, I've probably got better stories attached to them. I'm looking forward. But I wanted to say that.

8:48Sabina Brennan: Because we're going to be together for the rest of our lives. Yeah, yeah. I'm really looking forward to hearing all of the stories to all of the songs.

8:56Michael Douglas: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's good. I didn't realise that. I subconsciously do that anyway, I think, when I hear a song. It's like I attach a story to it, you know.

9:05Sabina Brennan: Do you mean like a new song? A new song? A new story? No. Oh, okay.

9:10Michael Douglas: I just like hearing a song that I know and then thinking, oh, why do I like this song? Yes. And I'll go, I remember. I like it because of this, that, and that. Yes. And then I go through my imagination of telling perhaps you or my mom or something like that. And then it's logged. A lot of people may or may not know this. I'm not entirely sure. But the way you remember anything is by wrapping a story around it.

9:32Sabina Brennan: Yes.

9:32Michael Douglas: We tell ourselves stories all the time about our lives. And that's why some of your life feels like fiction because you wrap a story around it. Some of it's true and some of it's perhaps slightly exaggerated to prove a point or something like that. but your whole life is a story all your memories are stories of your life you know you can't really escape it and of course the bible you know is a great big story yeah go on i'm gonna i'm gonna turn the tumble dryer off um yeah yeah and i'm not suggesting uh that anyone you know should be interested in these big religious books but the way they explain life the universe and everything because the bible and all these other religious books are ideally a guide to how to live a good life although you know people corrupt that information terribly obviously um it's a story you know the story of jesus is a story and and it's designed to try and help you remember what is good about you and try to push away the bad bits about you um so the reason that project i think is really good or that little thing you do where you pick a story and pick a song and tell a story and helps you remember not just the song but everything around it stories are so deeply important which is why good literature is so powerful yes you know and anyway we've prattled on about that long enough but that is a good recommendation yes we are now calling it show

10:59Davina McCall: us something about yourself show us something about yourself yeah that's what it's called yeah

11:04Michael Douglas: um do you want to start i love these so you start yes these things are bloody brilliant

11:08Davina McCall: So a while back, we talked about a kind of collective called the Glorious Edit. Yeah, yes, great. With lots of different brands that are on there. And actually, if you go to the Glorious Edit, we've already talked about them, but they've got so many great bands. But I want to talk about this one brand that we found that I just think is so phenomenally useful. And it's like, if you're going to start a business, find something that is brilliant and do it better or differently. Yes. Find something that people need and want and make it better or differently. And this is exactly what Lola's Leads has done.

11:51So Lola's Leads is a brand, lolasleads.co.uk.

11:58Davina McCall: And you can find them on the Glorious Edit as well. That's where we found them initially. But what they do is they make leads, different lengths, different colored cables. They make European plugs with all sorts of plug boards. So you can have a European plug with five plug sockets, UK plug sockets. You can have one with just two if you don't need that many. You can have black, you can have USB collections, you can have any kind of brightly coloured lead that you like. But it's basically saying goodbye to unsightly, ugly extension cables. And this is such a brilliant idea. So we bought some to go to...

12:47Michael Douglas: Just go on holiday with them.

12:49Davina McCall: To go on holiday. So they are priced at... So let me have a look. So one kind of extension cable, so it's like, let's say it's jute and it's on a four plug board is about 40 pounds, 39, 40 pounds. They're all around 39, 40 pounds. I'm just trying to find one that's more expensive. But we've got, now I think they're all 39 pounds. Oh my God, is that true?

13:19Michael Douglas: The ones with like a four pins. Oh yes, the four pins are a bit more expensive.

13:23Davina McCall: So the European ones with the multi-board and is£42, but affordable. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's a brilliant idea.

13:35Sabina Brennan: It's an affordable thing. And I would say, I know this sounds mad, but for anybody who is creative, artistic, likes designing, likes their home, this would be just an amazing gift.

13:50Michael Douglas: It's mega. So in my studio, I'm just full of cables all over the place. I have extension leads everywhere and they're bloody ugly. I didn't realise now I can just buy a bunch of these. Yes. And they're all braided, beautiful coloured cables. Now you can have a three pin plug into the socket and European converters into the extension lead or vice versa. Or have it all European or all that. But go on to lolasleads.co.uk and have a look. But I just realised I'm going to actually buy a couple of these now.

14:19Sabina Brennan: I mean, it's brilliant, isn't it?

14:21Michael Douglas: The turquoise teal thing. Oh, so nice.

14:24Sabina Brennan: And I mean, they literally have a colour for every single type of interior. It's knockout.

14:30Michael Douglas: Yeah, God, there's so many.

14:32Sabina Brennan: Michael, we've got a podcast to present. Yeah, sorry. You can't buy leads now.

14:36Michael Douglas: Sorry, sorry, sorry. But I'll keep this up here so you can buy it. We go to a festival where we get electric hookup out in Europe. And these will be perfect facts. Yes, perfect. yeah but all the things we take are okay very good Lola's Leeds is mega okay um I almost don't know where to start really I tell you you've got a lot I've got a lot going on here yeah um I'm gonna start with the splits machine I've been wanting to do the splits for ages when I was a breakdancer when I was like 13 I could do the splits and I've been trying to breakdance on and off for the last couple of years now my mind knows how to do it my muscles even know how to do it But my ligands and tendons, ligaments and tendons.

15:22Sabina Brennan: Oh, my God, that was so brilliant. Ligands and tendons.

15:25Michael Douglas: Tendons, yeah.

15:26Sabina Brennan: I love that.

15:27Michael Douglas: I invented some new things.

15:29Sabina Brennan: My God. No, but this is, what are they called? A malaprop or a spoonerism?

15:34Michael Douglas: Oh, I have no idea. Okay, you keep going, looking it up. Yeah, so I've been trying recently to bend my body in ways that it doesn't like, but in order to stretch out and tear those tendons and ligaments a little bit, then get them to heal and so on and so forth is how you start to stretch them out so i was like great i'm going to do that so i've been doing all sorts of kind of yoga poses and things like that but i am struggling a bit to get i've hit a wall basically and i'm still not very flexible anyway we were in Ibiza recently and we bumped into Nick Brewer this friend of ours who runs primal primal moves and he was doing the splits in the swimming pool just his legs against i mean he was

16:11Davina McCall: leaning on the side of the pool with both of his legs going out left and right of his body and he was stuck against the pool that's how split so he's he's not he's were against the wall of the

16:27Michael Douglas: pool against the wall of the pool his legs were out and i was like 90 degree angle i mean unbelievable yeah that my brain was like you're seeing that for a reason michael it's called inspiration and I was like jealousy yeah yeah and I thought okay so first of all um we're we've got a few things planned in August and I would like to be much more flexible for them so that's soon so I'm thinking okay let's go go go and I'd seen some of these machines on um Amazon and stuff like that so I bought a leg splitting machine right so the one I've bought I'll tell you what it is and then you can go have a little look at it yourself it's called muscle forge I think um muscle forge three bar leg stretcher for the splits and abductor stretch spreader over 180 degrees splits machine trainer for martial arts ballet stretching equipment etc etc so it's 30 pounds in 99p it's from amazon it's called it's from a shop called muscle forge and it's black and red oh sorry it's all right um you can get that if you want chester don't speak because you'll be on our podcast yeah we're doing the podcast 25 minutes or so we'll call you back love you so it's a you know one day delivery and all that stuff so I've been using it for two days yeah and it's it's nice basically you put your feet on the handlebars at the end and then there's a handlebar in the middle as you draw that towards yourself it pushes your legs apart and it is like it's quite full-on so what you do is you bring it to the point of resistance and then you leave it there for like five minutes and so you don't want to pull too much because obviously you call yourself a little injury there you want to make sure you're warm so it's quite nice after a sauna after a hot bath or having done some exercise like a run or something like that so i did yesterday's i haven't done any today i did try and do this morning but i just couldn't bring up the energy to do it so i'm going to do that later but what i'd like to do perhaps is i'll take some pictures of myself now starting out and then hopefully there's a little bit of pressure that i'm going to put on myself yes maybe i'll post some stuff on making the court i can talk about it and then I can do you a little reel of like or even just a progression of progress you know of how I'm getting on what I've realized about my own body is that I'm not very good at lifting weights not massively good at cardio either you know I can run 5k and all the rest of it but I get a bit bored and um I run 5k in about 28 minutes and that's fine it's good for me I can sweat and get out of breath that's good I'm really bored of lifting weights I just don't feel like it's my thing you know and my body's fine I'm not carrying lots of fat or anything but you look great thanks the flexibility bit of me is is a problem and I think from all the stuff I've read and when I see older people that can really flex I'm jealous and I guess my conscience is telling me that this might be the thing that I should really be focusing on at the moment

19:17Sabina Brennan: so that's what I'm going to do we can't wait to see the progress yeah thanks and I I you've slightly inspired me as well so I'd quite like to join you. Yeah great you can borrow the leg spreader. Yeah.

19:27Michael Douglas: Yeah I can inspire you in some way to get them legs spread just that little bit further. Say no no I'd like them spread a bit further if you don't mind. Thank you. Okay. Thank you yeah. Okay I draw the line at that just there.

19:40Sabina Brennan: Just there line is drawn.

19:41Michael Douglas: You're not going to talk about Wolf and I draw you.

19:43Sabina Brennan: Is that okay?

19:44Michael Douglas: I went in yesterday.

19:45Sabina Brennan: Oh did you? Isn't it the best shop ever?

19:49Michael Douglas: So I work on Brewer Street and around the corner is Berwick Street. And Berwick Street's got all these kind of pop-up shops and little shops like Farrah's on there. Remember the old Farrah trousers there on there? Yes. But they've got this shop called Wolf and Badger. Now, Davina has a cardigan.

20:01Davina McCall: Yeah.

20:02Michael Douglas: That's from Game Workshop or something, though, isn't it? Glass House. Glass House, that's the thing.

20:06Davina McCall: Yeah, which is next door to Wolf and Badger. Which is next door to it.

20:08Michael Douglas: So I ended up in Wolf and Badger and I moved around. I have to say, it's fucking expensive.

20:12Davina McCall: Yeah, I mean...

20:13Michael Douglas: Like, some of the jackets in there were£700.

20:15Davina McCall: Yeah, the clothes... But it can be, but it doesn't have to be.

20:18Michael Douglas: But I tried on three or four jackets. Yeah. They were largely women's jackets.

20:22Davina McCall: Yes.

20:22Michael Douglas: But my God, did I look good in them? Really? And the woman in there, she said, you look really good in that. I was like, thanks very much. I was like, what is it with men's shops? They're so bloody boring. Yes. I have never been so bored than going into a men's clothes shop. Yes. Anyone. He's trying to sell me another pair of fucking linen trousers and some trainers with a white sole. I'm going to vomit all over them. It's like, I don't want to be like that. I don't want to look like that thing. you know like a bloody mannequin you got in the window like please men's fashion designers like up your game like think more creatively god but wolf and badger it's so true straight away

20:57Sabina Brennan: i agree i hadn't really appreciated that some of the stuff is quite costly but there is a salon and things like they're a kind of prince at the moment in a frame for 32 quid quite nice they've got lovely jewelry it is the perfect place to look for gifts for people yeah so um they've got a sale

21:22Davina McCall: on i feel like pretty much they've had a sale on ever since i've been following them or going in

21:27Michael Douglas: the shop is on berwick street berwick street in soho which is the same street where i get all my euro accessory glasses and hats and festival clothes and stuff like berwick street's brilliant Come to London, have a mooch up Berwick Street.

21:41Sabina Brennan: But there must be Wolf and Badger shops elsewhere,

21:44Davina McCall: but do look up where they are and see if there's one near you. Oh, is there one here? Stores. Okay, great. So we can tell you that there's one in London, Los Angeles or New York. So if you're listening in Los Angeles or New York.

22:01Sabina Brennan: But so, well, as we were saying,

22:03Davina McCall: Berwick Street's actually a really good fun street to go to. People get around, don't they? But their online shop is epic. So if you're not buying clothes and you just want something for the home, for gifts or jewellery, all of it is epic.

22:18Michael Douglas: What's on my list to talk about?

22:19Sabina Brennan: Oh, my God, that's so funny. Look.

22:22Michael Douglas: Yeah. So we make a list of what we're going to talk about on this podcast, but we don't share that list. And that wolf and badger was on the thing I was going to talk about today. That's so funny. It's mad, isn't it? Yeah.

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23:45Michael Douglas: Happy Place Festival. Should we talk about that? Yes, I'd love to talk about that. There's another one coming at Tatton Park in Cheshire, so that one's up and coming, 30 and 31st of August.

23:53Sabina Brennan: And I would really like to recommend it for next year for anybody down south who hasn't been to it yet. We absolutely loved it. Mega wanted. And the talks that happen there and the guests that they get and the type of variety of kind of subject matters that they cover.

24:15Davina McCall: But I loved it because, you know, we were like, oh, where's our mate? And it was like, oh, he's having a sound bath over there. Yeah, yeah. you know where someone said like oh they're in a yoga class like there's so much to do and get done and I just have got to say that the people that like happy place are happy people uh they were just so but can I tell you listeners you might be interested in this but something truly extraordinary happened to me at happy place so we've talked about you me bum bum train haven't we uh yes and we said that we can't we can't talk too much about it because we don't want to give too much away but there was a moment in you me bum bum train where i was hugged um as part of an experience um by a few people but the third and final hug meant something to me you know when you hug somebody and you have an exchange of information it's like um downloading yeah their spirit and they download yours yeah and this woman hugged me as part of this scene that i was involved in and i lost i like i really fucking lost it like i cried so hard and normally in that scene they are told to kind of release after 30 seconds okay and then the person is goes on to their next scene and she didn't let go because her boss saw that it was a bit like disney

25:52Michael Douglas: saw that i needed to let go of something and let her hug me longer which i really needed but at the end that was all i could really think about i knew that i would probably never see this person again we didn't speak I couldn't thank her I couldn't see her and a girl came up to me at a happy place and said Davina and I was like yes and she said my name's Karin and I said hi Karin and she went I was the third hug and I just started crying again I was like what she went it was me she said I've been dying to meet you yeah to just tell you that I got as much from it as you did Like we had this thing.

26:39And I was like, give me on Humber immediately. And she's Austrian. She lives in Austria. Okay. Bloody hell. Yeah. And she comes to do, to help in You, Me, Bum, Bum train every few years. And she loved it. But I, even somebody at the end of it very kindly came up and checked in on me to see if I was okay. But that was an extraordinary gift at Happy Place. That's the kind of thing that happens at Happy Place. You know what I mean?

27:08Michael Douglas: Very, well, I've got another example of that strange thing happening we'll talk about in a minute. One of the things we were a bit overwhelmed by was Glastonbury was just how loving and how friendly and how nice everybody was. And I thought, oh, you know, we've had the happy experience, the happy festival experience we've had. And then we walked into the happy place. I was like, oh, it's got the same vibes. It's got the same vibes. Exactly. Everybody was smiling and super, ironically super happy. Quickly want to also recommend somebody else. You and I love Jordan Stevens.

27:44Davina McCall: And Jordan Stevens is amazing. Follow him. I wrote him down. Follow him on Instagram. Follow everything that he does. Read, I think he's on Substack. He has written, I mean, a brilliant book. And it was a Sunday Times bestseller from last year. It came out last year in September. And I would have promoted it more, but I went mad, obviously, in November after my operation.

28:09Sabina Brennan: And I forgot about it. But Jordan Stevens is one to watch. There's something about him. He is going to do something.

28:18Michael Douglas: He's tapped into the thing.

28:20Sabina Brennan: I don't know what it is, but he is a thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Okay.

28:27Michael Douglas: It's a funny thing. You need to leave yourself open in order to become. and a lot of people don't believe in it, I think. I know at the moment you're a bit like, believe in what? Do you mean to become you? I think it's a journey to become you, but also to realise that there is something else going on outside of rational thoughts and rational behaviour. Yeah, I mean, it has been mad recently for us. To question your impulses sometimes is not to do yourself any favours. There's something about doing what you're compelled to do for no apparent reason. And then the reason becomes clear. Well, you find out later, but you would never find out had you done the thing.

29:09Michael Douglas: That might appear to be a bit irrational at the time.

29:12Sabina Brennan: And we're not talking about illegal, irrational. No, no, not at all. We're talking about...

29:16Michael Douglas: Why should you go to that shop over that shop for your lunch? If something... Is telling you. ...completely obscure and irrational is saying, go to that shop for your lunch today, then go to that shop for your lunch today. and don't question why because something will happen being driven by something that's way more powerful than you could understand and I don't think I ever believed in that but since my operation I've had my eyes open yeah well I've been it's mad been playing that game for about six years now yeah but that's I think that's because you died yeah maybe but that was a long time ago no but you had your eyes open

29:50Sabina Brennan: but you you shut them for a bit

29:52Michael Douglas: yeah yeah I think so and yeah yeah

29:55Sabina Brennan: you know we've we've we've been on a journey

29:59Michael Douglas: We talked about the Carl Jung book, Synchronicity, not long ago that we were reading. And then we've realized that we've synchronized up in some way something that's going on. And again, I don't really articulate it properly. But I think there's just too many coincidences to be a coincidence. Yeah, I'd quite like to. This is a kind of big philosophical recommendation, I guess, which is what I would like to do is recommend people stay open hearted and lean into their desires slightly more because the things you want get you the things you want. You need. Yeah, but need. Because if you set about a desirable outcome and you've said, well, I would like to retire in five or six years time and then you push that out into the atmosphere or the universe or whatever you want to call it or bury it into your heart, then it's highly likely that your own instincts will start to guide you towards that solution.

30:55Michael Douglas: and you won't necessarily be able to make sense of those at the time um yeah yeah okay i interviewed

31:01Davina McCall: a woman this week i'm going to be very quick about this you can hear it on you can hear it on the begin again but she's called dr sabina brennan she went and studied in her 40s to become a psychologist yeah and she is now and the people were like what are you doing why are you doing that like it's just so late and now she goes around the world and she does talks and she's amazing and she has written a book called the neuroscience of manifesting but what i love is all her work she does on dementia and she does a lot of work around that there are people out there will that will know that they have genes that put them at slightly increased risk of dementia and if you have two people are really worried she was like you must not concentrate on that the lifestyle risks are way more influential than the gene you just because you've got genes you can influence your genes so she talks about in this podcast she's on begin again i'm i'm sorry i'm i'm promoting that but i am promoting her really um she's also brought out this thing um dr sabina brennan she said um you've got to exercise your mind and learn new things and she said that's not just saduko and crosswords now i'm so guilty of that oh i'll do a sudoku it's good for my brain no because once you've learned how to do it it's not challenging anymore you just know how to do it and these cards are called brain gym 40 workouts to boost your brain health and i'm going to pick a card out at random but this one says gratitude brain fix write 100 words about one thing or person you're grateful for and then it tells you the brain fix and then it tells you the science weirdly the next card that I pulled out after everything that we've just talked about is intuition okay and it says if you base a decision for example not to work with someone on a gut feeling question where that feeling stems from do you feel they are different from you in some way is there something in their manner that makes you feel that they are unsuitable the former is a harmful bias the latter is intuition that may serve you well.

33:11Davina McCall: And then it talks about the science, about the brain-gut axis. So it's really interesting because everything is explained to you in a way that is based in science. So you know this isn't all just namby-pamby.

33:25Michael Douglas: That is good because it's really interesting because I find myself trapped in a contradiction sometimes where you will say, well, trust your intuition. Sometimes it's not intuition. has some kind of other bias going on in there. Yes, yes. So, you know, I say trust your intuition, but sometimes don't. Sometimes don't, yeah. You know, like it's funny. It might be something that happened to you when you were a kid and you just don't like that type of thing. I've also had many experiences in my life where doing the thing you don't want gets you the thing you want. Yes. So there's a little paradox in there.

33:58Michael Douglas: But what I said about five minutes ago was doing the things you want gets you the things you want, which is the opposite of what I'm saying now. And in the end, it's actually a bit of this and a bit of that. Yeah, you have to kind of learn about who your instinct is and then question your motive behind something. Is it pure? But as you get older, if you've lived well, I think is probably a good way to describe it, I think it gets more and more accurate.

34:29Davina McCall: Yes.

34:30Michael Douglas: Whatever it is, whether you want to call it your conscience, the word of God or your gut or whatever can I just say quickly word of God you are not religious I just want people to know that you're not trying to this isn't a religious thing but when I talk about God I talk about my own conscience that's how I see God I was just explaining to our listeners because I didn't want everybody to go oh my god are we turning into a I was going to tell the John Hopkins story but I think I'll leave that for another day but that's another very big big synchronicity story. Oh, mad.

35:04Sabina Brennan: Like, that was absolutely mad coincidence.

35:07Michael Douglas: Well, even just the fact it's him and we ended up having breakfast with him. Yeah. And he was the guy who was on your Sleep My Love playlist, which I gave you before your brain tumour. Yes. Like, the synchronicity going on there that happened on Sunday morning for us. Well, tell the story.

35:23Sabina Brennan: You've got to tell the story now.

35:24Michael Douglas: So, the night before Davina went for a brain operation, I made her a playlist to help her sleep.

35:29Davina McCall: We should put that somewhere. Yeah.

35:30Michael Douglas: Yeah, it's on Spotify. It's called Sleep My Love and it's on my account, which I think is public, so you're probably going to get it.

35:36Davina McCall: Sleep My Love, it's an amazing half an hour playlist. You will love it.

35:41Michael Douglas: It's a meditative playlist. It's not really music in the traditional sense.

35:44Davina McCall: It was to support me the night before the...

35:46Michael Douglas: But three of the songs are produced and created in conjunction with someone called John Hopkins. John Hopkins made a lot of those Ram Dass songs, but he's also worked with Coldplay since about 2007. I didn't know any of this, by the way, when I made the playlist. I just made the playlist. And it just so happens that three of the four songs were John Hopkins songs.

36:09Davina McCall: And just to put it in context how important that playlist's been to us, we have listened to it every single day since the operation.

36:17Michael Douglas: Since the 15th of November. Yeah. There's probably not been a day goodbye where we didn't listen to it. Yeah. Starts with a song called Moon Music, which is Coldplay and John Hopkins. Then it goes on to Ram Dass, I Am Loving Awareness. Awareness. And then it goes on to Sitting Around the Fire, which is John Hopkins and Ram Dass. And then it goes on to One World, which is John Hopkins and Coldplay once again.

36:33Davina McCall: And it's really meditative and lovely. Just close your eyes and enjoy it. Let it wash over you.

36:38Michael Douglas: First song's a little problem. The final song's the solution. And the bit in the middle is the work, basically. That's how I created it to do that job. Anyway, where are we now? July?

36:50Sabina Brennan: So we just, yes.

36:51Michael Douglas: So you met a friend of yours.

36:53Sabina Brennan: Yes, and we ended up meeting John Hopkins. and her, his girlfriend, who is lovely.

37:00Michael Douglas: But you knew her, but you didn't know she was dating John Hopkins. Yeah, and she's like, John Hopkins is my partner. We're like, holy shit, you're kidding me. Can we meet for lunch? And she was like, yeah, of course. So we all met for lunch. And in the morning, I was like, oh, I'm going to meet this guy. Like, his work is sensational. I also want to big up Josie as well. Of course, yeah. They are an amazing couple because she started Choose Love, which is the most brilliant charity. Yeah, so they're mega, mega people. They're mega, mega, mega people. It's a great privilege to go to lunch with them, you know.

37:31Michael Douglas: So anyway, I'm thinking, oh, what shall I wear? I'm going to meet John Hopkins. And I thought, I know what I'll put away. So Brian Gallivanter, as we call him, Gallivanter the DJ, who we've got to know for the last few years. As you know, I've bugged up his playlist. We've talked about them on here. As a gift, as a thank you gift, he sent me a cardigan. Now, it's a mad cardigan. There's only about five of them in the world. They're from a Japanese shop. they're about they're nearly two thousand pounds these cardigans just so you know like when he said it to me i was like what the fuck's he said like what is this like i would never wear this cardigan but my son was like dad you gotta wear that cardigan it's absolutely amazing anyways the one you've probably seen on instagram i wore it on the post the other day it's green red white and fluffy it's got a real kind of tribal vibe to it it's a bit like a dressing gown i suppose anyway i thought i'll wear me gallivant a cardi for john hopkins you know like try and get dressed up for him you know anyway we sat down for lunch and they turned up and he went I've got that cardigan and I was like no fucking way if you've got this cardigan and then he showed me a picture of him on Instagram at the Maida Vale Studios for the BBC in that cardigan in that cardigan absolutely mad wasn't it I was like how a second so the playlist that I made her you know and then the John Hopkins connection and of course everybody knows how much we love Coldplay so it's like but then the the random Gallivanter cardigan and then meeting John Hopkins to find he's got there's only five of them in the world and they are

39:01Sabina Brennan: the loveliest people

39:03Michael Douglas: we had a really nice time we went deep very quickly it was brilliant so I'm going to recommend here the oh why is that a picture of you and Gillian Anderson

39:15Davina McCall: wow Wow.

39:16Michael Douglas: So you've got Gillian Anderson on your podcast.

39:18Davina McCall: Yeah, she, oh, she, listen, I was going to recommend very quickly her book, Want.

39:22Michael Douglas: Yeah.

39:23Davina McCall: Want is a brilliant book that Gillian Anderson brought out. I wanted to talk about this ages ago, but because of the op, I just kind of forgot. But what do you want when no one is watching? Who do you fantasize about when the lights are off? And when you think about sex, what do you really want? Yeah. This is such an important book for us to stop feeling ashamed about our fantasies. It's just a fucking fantasy. You know, the whole point about a fantasy is that really you don't want it to become real. No, no. It's where you can think your most outlandish thoughts and imagination. And it's just imagination.

40:01Davina McCall: It's okay. Yeah, yeah. And when you read this book, you feel it's okay. It's okay, yeah. It's really brilliant. and well done Gillian Anderson for opening us up in that way. Thank you. She was a great interview, by the way.

40:17Michael Douglas: Yeah, I got the feeling she would be. So I'm going to recommend Jimmy Carr's Instagram account if you're not listening to it. Now, a lot of people don't like Jimmy Carr's comedy, which is fair enough. Oh, are you going to play it? I'm going to play two clips, I think. These are amazing. He is so wise. Yes, well, he's very philosophical. He's done a lot of work on himself. He worked out a lot of stuff. I'm not telling you to follow Jimmy Carr's account for the jokes. That's not what it's about. He does a bit in his show where he just gets the audience to ask him questions. You ask him anything, you know.

40:48Michael Douglas: And lots of people ask him, you know, quite personal questions and things like that. And then he comes up with an answer. But there's been several answers that I've thought, bloody hell, more people should know about that or more people should listen to it. So this is the first one I'm going to play. I think this is someone asking him whether he's rich or not. So I'll play this one. How rich am I? Well, let me put it in terms you'll understand, sir. I've got a hundred money.

41:19I don't know. If having... I think rich is relative, right? I think there might be many rich people in here this evening. And here's how I define rich. If having more money wouldn't change what you do, then you're rich. That's so deep.

41:37Michael Douglas: It's so good that, isn't it? That is so deep and brilliant. It's very good. Now, I'm just going to see if I can find. I absolutely love that.

41:49Davina McCall: That wealth. You know, I just interviewed Simon Scrib. Jesus wept. It was like... It's a good one. It was one of the most enriching...

42:01Michael Douglas: Anyway, carry on. Play it. Okay, so this is one which I think is really interesting. we are meeting quite a few people that are reaching an age where they're questioning whether they should have kids or not yes now I do want to just put a little caveat in here I'm in no way wanting to put pressure on anybody to have kids or not have kids you can do whatever you like yeah no problem at all with that but if you're sat on the fence and you're thinking you know if I was pushed hard enough I might have them um then this might be a little push that might be helpful um but Jimmy Carr gets asked about why did he have kids um why did I have kids uh that's a good question I had kind of an existential crisis what's wrong yeah I really wanted them you didn't want kids have you got kids okay here's what i did genuinely man to man i'll tell you i thought i'd gamed the system by not having kids i thought i was fucking smart because i had such an easy life i thought i was playing a video game of life and i'd found the cheat code and it was just easy easy easy and then i got to my kind of mid 40s and went oh i'm sitting at a bullshit low stakes table and there's a bigger games had been played and then I had kids and every other status game seemed trivial

43:29Michael Douglas: and it was a great little moment I thought when I read that because I was always trying to work out like someone said if somebody says I don't think I'll have kids I think I want a really useful thing to say at that point that would be encouraging and with love and I thought that was a really bloody nice one brilliant isn't it yeah it's really really good so Jimmy Carr's on Instagram and there's a lot of that kind of you know kind of instant philosophy that's really worth latching on to anyway that's a recommendation

44:00Sabina Brennan: I think we should wrap it up with a few shout outs

44:03Michael Douglas: got a few got a few lined up okay this was a good one so this is Ross Taylor who's I was going to say an old listener and follower but she's probably not old at all but she's been here from the beginning hi guys fab to have you back together and I loved hearing you talk about your Glastow experience. Makes me want to go and do tense. I don't do tense, she says. Oh, I don't do tense, yeah. My recommendation is on the BBC iPlayer and it's a three-part documentary about Live Aid which celebrates 40 years this year. 1985 was 40 years ago. What? Sir Bob Geldof is interviewed along with many other key players from that time about how Band Aid came together, the Live Aid shows and all the background information which adds context and is so interesting.

44:45Michael Douglas: I have to say Sir Bob is bloody brilliant. And watching this kind of restored my faith in humanity. There is so much going on in the world right now and it's easy to think that people are bad or evil. But this really brings home the vast majority of people are inherently good and will help others less fortunate themselves. Totally agree, by the way. It's called Live Aid at 40 When Rock and Roll Took on the World. Peace and love to you all and especially to you gorgeous people. Ross, that's absolutely brilliant. Thanks, Ross. That's a brilliant idea

45:13Sabina Brennan: and I think we will definitely watch that.

45:14Michael Douglas: There's a lot of stuff on socials at the moment. I really want to see that. I'm really enjoying that. Two snaps and a twist are back. So, every week I listen to you for the injection of joy and you never fail. Michael wearing your heart on your sleeve, speaking about caribou, fired me up today. I cherish your words and insight. It speaks to me. Dvina, I am beginning again every day as you play a huge part in that. I wish we were mates because I would love to be around you both. I'm 50 and heading to Oku in Ibiza soon. Yes. So we'll be checking out Unders at Pikes as per normal. Thank you both for making the cut.

45:48Michael Douglas: It really is worth love and abundance. That's so great. I know.

45:52Sabina Brennan: If you see us out there, say hi.

45:55Michael Douglas: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.

45:58Sabina Brennan: Hope you are both well and enjoyed Ibiza. It's your male listener. Yeah, thank you. GD Brown, 19. Can I recommend a band who are currently touring the UK? They're called The Allergies. they are two DJs from Bristol plus a guy on the sax and two vocalists that sounds brilliant one male and one female the girl Marietta is unbelievably good oh it sounds so good they play soul funk, Latin, disco and anything that gets you dancing saw them last week in Glasgow they blew the roof off they've released half a dozen or so albums and you can get tickets if you can get tickets you should definitely go they play London on August the 22nd Oh my God, Gary, that is mega.

46:42Sabina Brennan: The allergies, looking them up right now.

46:46Davina McCall: Freak the speaker. Freak the speaker. Okay, I am going to do that on Spotify right now. I think we should play a little bit of it before we finish.

47:01Michael Douglas: Okay, I'm in already. Love it, done. Rolling forwards.

47:20Michael Douglas: Oh my God. Yep, we're in.

47:22Sabina Brennan: My God, where have we...

47:25Michael Douglas: Yeah, very good, very good.

47:26Sabina Brennan: Oh my God, like where have we been? Why do I not know this man? We're going.

47:31Michael Douglas: We've got to go. We're on a sheet together, 21st, 22nd. But we're probably back in London. We might be able to get back. Yeah. Okay. Oh. Banging.

47:39Sabina Brennan: the allergies

47:40Michael Douglas: yeah thank you so much lots of stuff lots of stuff we haven't talked about this week we were sent some insoles this week I'm really looking forward to trying them out I love an insole one because gives me a bit of cushion also gives me a little bit of extra height don't need it I do sometimes don't need it so thanks Heather for sending them okay folks we'll speak to you all next week

47:59Sabina Brennan: can't wait see you then bye

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