Snails Are The Loneliest Animals

 Laura: Hello and welcome to what's been dubbed the episode.

Laura: You shouldn't start with of Lexx Education.

Laura: It's the comedy science podcast where comedian me, Laura Lex tries to learn science, excuse me.

Laura: Whilst burping from her non burping, hopefully brother Ron.

Laura: Hi, Ron.

Ron: Hello, I'm Ron.

Ron: I don't feel like you can start the episode off complaining about some notes I made that this isn't a good starter, and then burp during the first sentence of the introduction.

Laura: F*** yourself.

Laura: Because in what way was I complaining there?

Laura: I was just putting that information in.

Ron: In a light was dripping with complaint.

Laura: Oh, my God.

Laura: I thought I was being super fun and helpful there, being like, hey, straight up top, lads.

Laura: It's one for the fans.

Laura: And there's you making a mockery of my professionalism.

Laura: Wasn't a loud burp anyway.

Laura: It was just the sort of burp that is coming out while you're trying to talk.

Laura: So you can't talk.

Laura: I don't think they really count as.

Ron: Yeah, no, you probably could have got.

Laura: Child of the podcast.

Laura: The difference between burps and yawns at the moment, because every time she yawns, she says she's burped like, no, you thick idiot.

Laura: They're different.

Laura: But she doesn't know.

Laura: Yeah, she doesn't know.

Ron: She is an idiot.

Laura: She's been so good this week.

Laura: I've got 26 hours left before Tom returns from a week long away trip, and she has been the most divine little angel bean.

Laura: She's so funny.

Laura: It's been hard work.

Laura: I'm shattered.

Laura: We were supposed to record an episode after this.

Laura: It's not happening, lads.

Laura: We don't even have an episode for next week yet.

Laura: But we're cutting it so fine.

Laura: We're like a Michelin star.

Ron: Why don't we have an episode for next week, Laura?

Laura: Do you know what, Ron?

Laura: Because I've got big stupid fingers this month and I've deleted three episodes.

Ron: Yeah.

Laura: Do you know what, though, mate?

Laura: I realized I've done myself an absolute solid because in deleting episode 88, I have deleted the thickest thing I've ever said on the podcast.

Ron: Oh, my God.

Ron: What was it?

Ron: Oh, that was so thick.

Laura: It was thick.

Ron: And I realized.

Laura: I realized how stupid it was partway through it coming out of my mouth.

Laura: And now it's gone.

Laura: Now it never has to exist.

Ron: What was it?

Laura: I'm not telling you now.

Laura: Why would I delete it and then.

Ron: Tell you now I'm going to have to find it.

Laura: How are you, Ron?

Ron: Yeah, scrolling.

Ron: Through.

Ron: Thanks.

Laura: Listen to how distracted he is.

Laura: Where are you, in Cambridge?

Ron: No, Noah lives in Bristol now.

Laura: Oh, Noah lives in Bristol now.

Ron: Oh, Noah and I talk too much.

Ron: I'm not going to find this.

Ron: What was it?

Ron: No, Laura, what was it?

Ron: Laura, what was.

Laura: It was me forgetting that magnets don't have to be a horseshoe shape.

Ron: Yeah, I got really confused.

Laura: Poles were a magnet and I was like.

Laura: But there and then sort of realized halfway through.

Laura: Anyway, it's gone now.

Laura: That episode doesn't exist.

Laura: So I am officially smart.

Ron: Yeah, and we lost all of the ads that I wrote.

Laura: You can write more, Ron.

Laura: You won't.

Laura: But you could.

Laura: Look, I'm sorry.

Laura: I was trying to clear up space on my laptop.

Laura: I thought I was being very careful and only deleting things that are done.

Laura: And I move all of our stuff to the hard drive and somehow managed to just delete some files.

Laura: It's some real c*** up on my end.

Laura: It's redo season.

Laura: Yeah, today's isn't a redo, though.

Laura: Today's is just an episode where we hated each other.

Ron: Yeah, we tried to record.

Ron: Well, we did record two episodes in a day, which isn't good for our friendship.

Laura: No.

Laura: Do we have a friendship, Ron?

Ron: Yeah, we're friends.

Laura: Yes.

Laura: We're getting tattoos in two weeks, aren't we, Ron?

Ron: Yeah.

Ron: I honestly thought you were welching the other day.

Laura: No, I was just so mad at older sister of the podcast for giving child of the podcast that f****** book.

Laura: Older sister of the podcast was like, do you remember this book about a hairy toe?

Laura: And nobody does because it's weird.

Laura: And then she just ordered it on Amazon and sent it to child of the podcast.

Laura: And now it is the only book that child of the podcast wants to read, ever.

Laura: And it's so s***.

Laura: It's about a woman.

Laura: And the first line of the book, the grammar is not even proper.

Laura: It says, once there was a woman went out to pick beans, and then she's out picking beans and she finds a hairy toe, and she just takes this toe home with her, as you would if you just found a toe in a vegetable patch.

Laura: And then she puts it on her bedstand and goes to bed, and then the wind starts howling and then just a monster turns up at her house and asks for the toe back.

Laura: And that's it, the whole book.

Laura: It's so bad.

Laura: And it's all she wants to do.

Laura: And if you hide it, she just walks around the house going toe, toe, toe, toe until you find it.

Laura: Like, I was so sick of it.

Laura: Today I had to resort to finding somebody reading it on YouTube.

Ron: I've never read this book.

Laura: I've heard of it, but nobody remembers.

Ron: I've managed to escape it.

Laura: I'll bring it when we come back in a couple of weeks.

Laura: You can take over the reading of the hairy toe.

Laura: It's been a very weird weekend.

Laura: Wrong.

Laura: Because I was like, obviously stuff to the gunnels.

Laura: With Tom being away, it's quite hard work gigging and having 100% sort of sole parenting issues, like burning the candle at both ends and just taking a bite out the middle.

Laura: And then on Friday, I just about had everything balanced and Jurgen Klopp resigned.

Laura: And then.

Laura: So that made my socials go mad.

Laura: But then the really stupid thing was the times rang and said, can you write our article about him retiring?

Laura: So I had to just suddenly find space to write, like, a full, proper newspaper article about a man retiring that I know nothing about.

Laura: I said to them, I was like, you know, I don't know anything about football at all, don't you?

Laura: And they were like, yeah, we just want you because of blah, blah, blah.

Laura: And I was like, I mean, I'll do it, but it was insane.

Laura: I was trying to edit it day, just like, what the f*** is happening?

Laura: How am I?

Laura: Sports correspondent?

Laura: That's fun, though, Laura.

Laura: Lex.

Laura: Yeah.

Ron: That is hilarious, because it almost is.

Ron: Like, what f****** right wing hostels complain about.

Ron: Just like a woman in there she doesn't know anything about.

Laura: Nope, not got a clue, mate.

Laura: Yeah, so there we go.

Laura: So, as a consequence, I've not listened to today's episode, but Ron really sells it.

Laura: Ron, you hated this episode.

Laura: You hated it all the way through editing it.

Laura: You presumably hated recording it as well.

Ron: Yeah, I didn't like you very much.

Laura: By the end of so, you know, have a good time.

Ron: It wasn't as snipey as I thought it was going to be, but, yeah, it's not an all timer.

Laura: All right.

Ron: It's a bit of an album track.

Laura: Have a good time, everyone.

Ron: Love you.

Laura: And we are off Runski beat.

Laura: Biology, man, it feels like a long time since we did a proper biology.

Laura: Obviously, we did elf biology, so that somewhat bridged the gap, but happy to be back.

Ron: Yeah.

Ron: And we're starting the year's biology, Laura, with the big one.

Ron: We finished a section last time.

Ron: We finished 4.5.

Laura: Yep.

Ron: Now we're doing basically what we've been covering in the live shows.

Ron: Dna, inheritance, variation and evolution.

Laura: Ooh, I'm going to be really good at this.

Laura: Then because of the live shows.

Laura: If you want to hear any of the live shows, just become a patron and you can hear them all.

Laura: There's two so far, and there will be another one in mid March.

Laura: In fact, I have it scheduled for release on the 29 march, so less mid, more end of or.

Ron: Because this is going out in Jan.

Laura: You could come, it's next month.

Laura: Yeah.

Laura: In fact, it's about two weeks from now.

Laura: When this goes out, we will be in Leicester at the black horse in Ailston performing for an hour.

Ron: Do we just get an hour?

Laura: They're pretty flexed, so we'll see what's on after us.

Laura: If it's just my show afterwards, f*** it, we can do more.

Ron: Lovely.

Laura: I think it was better when it was an hour, though.

Ron: I thought we agreed that we needed an hour and a half.

Laura: I don't know if I told the.

Ron: Place that we walked off the stage and we were like an hour felt rushed.

Ron: I liked it more when we.

Ron: 2 hours would be too much.

Ron: An hour and a half would be perfect.

Laura: Okay, let me talk to the black horse then and ask.

Ron: Okay, yes, Laura.

Ron: 4.6.

Ron: Inheritance, variation and evolution.

Ron: Okay, so we're going to discuss all the way through the journey here again.

Ron: So how you take chromosomes and then how that creates different variation when you're making all of your offspring and whatnot, how gene mutations occur, what those mean, why variation is good for a population, how selective pressures affect that.

Ron: All of these things, Laura.

Ron: All right, we're going to cover genetic disorders.

Ron: Oh, no, we're going to talk about evolution, sexual reproduction.

Ron: Why do you always say that when it comes to evolution?

Laura: I just think it's important that we say it's a theory.

Laura: You know, why?

Laura: Just for clarity.

Ron: But we don't say that about anything else.

Laura: Well, I don't know what theories and what's proven.

Ron: Evolution is proven.

Laura: No, it's not.

Laura: That's why it's a theory.

Ron: It's as proven as anything else.

Laura: Nah.

Ron: This is why we shouldn't do two episodes in a go.

Ron: You've got a nice meaty topic that we should be digging into here and you're just saying, nah, playing with your glue stick.

Laura: I love my glue stick.

Laura: It feels so nice on my skin.

Ron: Shiny, shiny skin covered in grease that you're scraping around with it.

Laura: Yeah, I wonder if I do that, if any comes off.

Laura: No, it's all very stuck to my face.

Laura: Okay, sir, continue.

Ron: So we're going to talk about also how harnessing these things also has allowed sort of human development yeah, Laurie, you can focus up.

Laura: I am focused.

Ron: I can see the vacant look in your eyes like that dumb hyena from the lion king.

Laura: Listen, I think what it is, is when you tell me what we're going to do.

Laura: I don't like those bits.

Ron: But you should listen up so you know what's going to come up, because then it will help you put into context what you're learning.

Laura: It won't know.

Ron: Well, it would if you listened.

Laura: I did listen.

Ron: Good brain.

Laura: We're going to harness.

Ron: Harness what?

Laura: How evolution helps humans.

Ron: We're going to harness how evolution helps.

Laura: Humans, or how harnessing evolution helps humans.

Laura: Those were the words.

Laura: Put them in whichever order makes sense to you.

Ron: You're the worst.

Ron: Okay.

Ron: 4.6.1 reproduction.

Ron: Sex 4.6.1, .1 sexual and asexual reproduction.

Ron: Laura, obviously we've been through this before.

Ron: Can you please run me through how?

Laura: With a sword?

Ron: Meiosis creates.

Laura: What are you doing?

Ron: I'm getting up the bite size thing.

Ron: How meiosis produces variation.

Laura: So what happens is, when it's sexual reproduction, you've got two sets of DNA coming into the one thing, and DNA is a code, and it's made up of four different ingredients that all happen in different orders, and then different sections of it do different things.

Laura: So when they come together to make a new creature, different sections of each of the DNA get used.

Laura: And things that are close together often come as a pair.

Laura: So, like, if you're tall, might mean you're also blind, because tall and blind are next to each other in the DNA, and so you get a mush of the two sets of DNA comes together to make a new DNA in the new creature.

Ron: That's a good explanation.

Ron: Well, it's a possible explanation of sexual reproduction, not of meiosis.

Laura: Well, I don't know what meiosis is.

Laura: You haven't taught me.

Ron: Yeah, I have.

Ron: We went through it in the second live show.

Laura: That was months ago.

Ron: Yeah, all of the stuff that you just said was from months ago.

Laura: Then well done, me?

Laura: Why are you cross with me?

Ron: Because you explained the wrong thing, and I'm not cross.

Ron: You're getting defensive.

Laura: I don't know what meosis is.

Ron: That's fine.

Ron: So meiosis is basically the production of gametes.

Ron: Do you remember what gametes are?

Laura: Were those the little combos of dna?

Ron: The little sperm and eggs?

Laura: Oh, yeah.

Laura: And then we started talking about spam and eggs.

Laura: Have you watched 51st dates yet?

Ron: Like 15 years ago.

Laura: Spam and eggs.

Laura: You want Reese's peanut butter cups in.

Ron: That I hear the blues are calling like tossed salads and scrambled eggs.

Ron: Have you ever think that when you're watching what's it called?

Ron: Seinfeld.

Ron: That just sounds like the most disgusting combination.

Laura: Yeah.

Laura: Also, what's a tossed salad when you.

Ron: Like, toss a dressing through it and scrambled egg.

Ron: Yeah.

Laura: Yuck.

Ron: I guess that's why it's the blues.

Ron: Is that the joke?

Laura: Hey, baby, I hear the blues are calling torsalas.

Laura: Oh, my mercy.

Laura: Maybe I seem a bit confused.

Laura: Yeah, maybe that's what it is.

Laura: I'm confused.

Laura: But, baby, I got you.

Laura: Ha.

Laura: But I don't know what to do with these tosselads and scrambled eggs they're calling again.

Laura: Yeah, maybe it's like a fever dream.

Ron: Have you ever watched Seinfeld?

Laura: Seinfeld?

Laura: Yeah.

Ron: Is it good?

Laura: It wasn't for me.

Laura: It was fine.

Laura: There was some good jokes in it.

Laura: But the trouble with making a sitcom where essentially everybody's kind of unlovable is I don't care very much.

Ron: Fair.

Laura: I think with the exception of always Sunny, I just prefer my sitcoms to be more parks and a bit cozier.

Laura: A bit.

Laura: I love certain people in it.

Ron: Yeah.

Ron: There was discourse on Twitter at the moment about why 30 Rock isn't one of the shows that people always talk about rewatching and whatnot.

Ron: And someone said it was because of that.

Ron: Because, like, parks and rec and the office and stuff, large swathes of it is just about people palling around, being mates.

Ron: You never really get that in 30 rock.

Ron: Like, a lot of the humor is quite mean.

Laura: Yeah.

Laura: I think that's what makes it heartstringy, isn't it, that you miss hanging out with the characters.

Laura: I was thinking that today because we've just got to the end of what's available to watch of the Bear, which is a show about a chef in Chicago.

Laura: And I'm sort of, like, missing being there because it's less comedy.

Laura: It's more like a comedy drama ish, more drama.

Laura: But I was enjoying hanging out with those people and being in the kitchen and stuff.

Laura: And it was just like, oh, I want to just go there.

Laura: And I think that's what makes me rewatch stuff is like with the office, I feel like I'm in the office.

Laura: I sort of feel involved in it.

Laura: Whereas 30 Rock.

Laura: Yeah.

Laura: You feel more spy on the wall watching these people do stuff.

Laura: I haven't really rewatched always Sunny.

Laura: As funny as I think it is, I haven't rewatched it.

Ron: I've rewatched always Sunny a lot of times, but I get that about always.

Ron: Sunny, we've got to be at Patty's.

Ron: Patty's pub.

Laura: Maybe we should recreate Patty's pub for your 30th.

Ron: That's in a couple of years.

Ron: Don't know why I felt the need to just put that out there.

Laura: It's a bit we've been doing where you pretend I'm 40 next year and I pretend you're 30 soon.

Ron: But I am 30 soon.

Laura: Yeah, but I'm, like, 40 the year after.

Laura: You're 30?

Ron: Are you that old?

Laura: Yeah.

Ron: Wow.

Ron: I'm very wise, respectful, youthful face.

Laura: You're 95 and I'm 86.

Ron: No, I'm 28.

Laura: You're about the same age as Aladdin.

Laura: No, toy story.

Laura: Did Toy Story come out the year you were born?

Ron: I think, yeah, before, I think.

Laura: Oh, I've watched a lot of toy story, and I've watched so much Toy story now that I found a flaw in it.

Ron: Okay, do tell.

Laura: Well, you know how pics are.

Laura: Are very detail orientated, and that's kind of what makes them cool, is there's lots of easter eggs and it's all really thought through.

Laura: The world is very clever.

Laura: So in Toy story four, you won't have seen it wrong because you haven't got children and you despise joy.

Ron: That's an undue attack, and I don't know why that.

Ron: Yeah, I think you feel insecure about watching children's cartoons.

Ron: You feel the need to lash out at me for simply saying, I don't have a child, so why would I have seen a kids film?

Laura: I just think you're making it a feature of your personality that you don't watch kids films.

Laura: Like a sort of person that loves to have the argument that diehard's a Christmas film and you're like, literally don't care.

Laura: Watching.

Ron: I don't watch films, full stop.

Laura: Well, that's not my fault anyway.

Ron: So in Toy story, you don't watch films.

Laura: I watch animated films.

Ron: Yeah, because you've got a kid.

Laura: No, I used to watch them before.

Laura: She only watches four films.

Laura: Toy story, Toy story two, toy story three, and Toy story four.

Laura: That's it.

Laura: Anyway, in Toy Story four, he meets up with Bo, who has been gone.

Laura: And at the beginning of it, it shows how Bo ends up leaving the bedroom and stuff.

Laura: And it says, it's nine years ago.

Laura: Then when he meets her, she's a lost toy.

Laura: Right?

Laura: She's just out on her own, not.

Laura: Doesn't have a kid.

Laura: And she says she's been out on her own for seven long years.

Laura: Then if you watch the Toy story short, lamp life, where Bo talks about her backstory, it shows her going through an entire childhood with some more children, plus being taken on, like, a research mission across the world and stuff.

Laura: And she's supposed to have crammed that into two years?

Laura: Like these two little girls grew up from needing a baby lamp to being teenagers that didn't want it in two years.

Laura: And she's been loose for seven years.

Laura: That doesn't fit into nine years.

Laura: Come on, Pixar, sort your f****** timeline.

Ron: Just leaving.

Ron: Break there.

Ron: So, did you ever talk me through meiosis?

Ron: We had waffling there for a long time.

Laura: Meiosis is the production of gametes.

Laura: So they make sperm and eggs?

Ron: Yeah.

Ron: How?

Ron: Talk me through the process of meiosis.

Laura: I don't know.

Laura: I don't know what it is.

Ron: You don't have to talk me through the ins and outs of it.

Ron: But during the product.

Ron: Do you remember when we talked about the production of gametes in the live show at all?

Laura: No.

Ron: Why are you being so confrontational?

Laura: Because we've literally just.

Laura: I said, I don't know what meiosis is.

Laura: I gave you my best explanation and you said, no, that's a different thing.

Laura: And now it's just like you're repeatedly saying, talk me through meiosis.

Laura: Sorry.

Ron: We talked about toy story for a while and I've forgotten where we got up to with it.

Ron: Apologies.

Laura: We got nowhere.

Laura: I don't know what it is.

Ron: So meiosis is production of gametes.

Ron: Gametes have to be haploid.

Ron: That means they've only got one set of genetic information in them because they're.

Ron: Eventually, they're going to join up with another gamete and get the other half.

Laura: Okay.

Ron: So in your cells, you have one chromosome from your mother and one chromosome from your father.

Laura: Wow.

Laura: Thanks, mum and dad.

Laura: The first present I've got mum and dad tickets to see crowded house for Christmas.

Ron: Nice.

Ron: So when a cell that is diploid, that has two sets, one from mum and one from dad, splits into one that is haploid, that is the process of meiosis.

Ron: Eggs are haploid, sperm are haploid.

Ron: Does all of that make sense?

Laura: So most of my cells are diploid.

Ron: All of your cells, apart from your gametes?

Laura: Yeah, I'm just getting there.

Laura: I'm talking through.

Laura: Most of my cells are diploid.

Laura: And then when I'm making eggs, cells split to become haploid.

Laura: To make my eggs?

Ron: Yes.

Ron: Through the process, I'm actually Meiosis.

Ron: My eggs aren't I.

Ron: Yeah, it all happens ages ago.

Ron: But with people that have testicles, this is going on all the time.

Ron: Making new jerse.

Laura: Yeah.

Laura: That's why male contraceptive is harder than female contraceptive.

Ron: Yes.

Ron: The process that most cells go through most of the time is called mitosis.

Laura: The process of cell division.

Ron: Yep.

Laura: Diploid teenage witch.

Ron: A diploid cell splits to produce two other diploid cells.

Laura: Do you think diplo, the musician is short for diploid?

Ron: No, the d in diploid just comes from, like, died.

Ron: Like, two.

Laura: Maybe it should be diploid.

Ron: Yeah, it could be.

Laura: And hate ployd like Hagrid.

Laura: That's how I thought you said it.

Ron: But then there's the Pl.

Laura: Diploid, dipoloid, noid.

Ron: When there's two consonants in between the vowels, you usually go soft, don't you?

Laura: I have no idea, Ron.

Ron: So during meiosis, rather than producing two diploid cells, you produce four haploid cells, okay?

Ron: Because parent cells start.

Laura: Wait, mitosis or meiosis?

Ron: Meiosis.

Laura: So mitosis is where you make diploid cells and meiosis makes haploid cells.

Ron: Yes.

Ron: A mitosis cycle makes two diploid cells.

Ron: It just replicates itself exactly as it was before.

Ron: Meiosis makes four different haploid cells.

Laura: Okay.

Ron: Because what happens is it doubles up all of its genetic information.

Laura: Mrs.

Laura: Nerg.

Ron: No.

Laura: M one, r one, m two.

Ron: That's mitosis.

Ron: Yeah.

Ron: So it doubles up all of its information.

Ron: So you have chromosome.

Ron: That's all of your mum's information.

Ron: A chromosome.

Ron: That's all of your dad's information.

Ron: But they are still.

Ron: So humans have 23 chromosomes, right?

Laura: Sure.

Ron: Labeled one to 22.

Ron: And then you have your x and.

Laura: Your y, that's 24.

Ron: No, one to 22.

Ron: And then you have your x and Y.

Laura: Well, X and Y is the same chromosome.

Ron: Yeah.

Ron: Well, women are xx and males are X Y.

Laura: In mammals, no one's Y.

Laura: Y.

Ron: No, you die.

Laura: Why?

Ron: There's not a lot of information on the Y chromosome.

Ron: It's actually a really fascinating bit of evolutionary genetics.

Ron: The Y chromosome.

Ron: Because the X chromosome attacks it.

Laura: Oh, bloody women.

Ron: Well, yeah, actually, because you can exist.

Ron: Xx.

Ron: That means that having all x's in sort of your litter of children, you'd still have children.

Ron: So, yeah, the x axis discriminates against the y axis axis chromosome, which is also why the Y chromosome is really short, because basically anything that it has in it is a target to be attacked.

Ron: It's also one of the most highly conserved bits of the gene pool as well.

Ron: Yeah.

Ron: So then we have all the chromosomes, one to 22, lined up and then the one chromosome from your dad just squelched.

Ron: You've probably got a bunch of cream in it.

Laura: Yeah, they have been stinging a lot lately.

Ron: So you get the one chromosome from your dad and your one chromosome from your mum and they will line up and then they will swap bits between each other.

Ron: So this pertains to what you were talking about when you were describing sort of sexual reproduction, the idea of linked genes.

Ron: So let's say that I inherited from our dad his lovely blue eyes, which I have.

Ron: But then let's say that the gene for having blue eyes is next to the gene for having a chrome dome.

Ron: If that is the case, then when this process of the shuffling goes on with mum's genes, all a mum's family, all the men, had luscious, thick, sleepy grandpa George.

Ron: He had a hair right up till the end.

Laura: Yeah.

Laura: Big carpet.

Ron: Yeah.

Ron: The probability of when this mix happens, the mixing point being in between the blue eyed gene and the bold head gene, if they're right next to each other, is very, very low.

Ron: So likelihood is that those things are going to get passed on together, whereas if the blue eyed gene and the bold head gene are at other ends, very, very likely that they're going to get mixed up, so then there's no genetic linkage between them.

Ron: Does that make sense?

Laura: But still, if there's only two hair options in there, you're going to get one or the other.

Laura: So it's still quite likely.

Ron: Yeah, it's still quite likely, but it's got nothing to do with the blue eye gene.

Laura: Yeah.

Ron: Then that cell splits.

Laura: That's the problem with me, really, is I got all of dad's physical genes and all of mum's emotional genes.

Ron: Yeah.

Laura: I'm sort of short with lovely blue Eyes.

Laura: I suppose I've got mum's side of the family's nose.

Laura: I did avoid dad's nose, but I've also got thin hair, dad's t***.

Ron: That cell then, with its mixed doubles splits, and then you have two unique diploid cells.

Laura: Okay?

Ron: Those then split again, but don't replicate.

Ron: So then you have four unique haploid cells.

Laura: Sometimes science needs to stop about three paces back where I still cared.

Ron: So this is why it's basically that process, that is why so many different.

Ron: Well, why sexual reproduction has gone on to be such a prolific mechanism that creatures have used that.

Laura: And it just feels nice, doesn't it?

Ron: Well, it feels nice because of this.

Laura: I don't think so, because I've had lots of sex and it's never been for reproducing.

Ron: But you like it because you're designed, in a way, to like it because of this.

Laura: I don't think so.

Ron: Okay.

Ron: Do you understand why that step is put in there?

Ron: To mix everything up?

Laura: Yeah.

Ron: Do you want to tell me?

Laura: Well, it provides variation so you don't all have the same strengths and weaknesses, which is not good for a herd.

Ron: Yeah.

Laura: Although, are we a herd animal because our eyes aren't on the side of our head.

Ron: We're social animals.

Ron: We're not a herd animal.

Laura: Okay.

Ron: Asexual reproduction, obviously.

Laura: Are monkeys herds?

Laura: No, but they hang out in big groups.

Laura: So that's a social animal.

Ron: Troops?

Laura: We're a troop animal, I'd say, then.

Ron: Well, we'd live in vast, vastly complex civilizations.

Laura: Yeah.

Ron: It's kind of a different thing above everything else.

Laura: Okay.

Ron: You can actually tell that we're social animals because our eyes are on the front of our heads.

Laura: Why?

Ron: Because I don't have to see what's behind me.

Ron: Because one of my mates will.

Ron: And we're smart enough to communicate that to each other.

Laura: But, like, a deer has its eyes on each side of its head.

Ron: Yeah, but a deer can't go, ah, a bear.

Laura: No, they do.

Laura: They go, stamp and run.

Ron: Yeah, but those things are different.

Laura: And a tiger has its eyes on the front, doesn't it?

Ron: Yeah.

Ron: Predators often have their eyes on the front because they don't really care what's behind them.

Laura: Yeah, because they're a Predator.

Laura: Nothing's fighting a tiger except us.

Ron: Also, having eyes on the front of your head gives you much better perception of depth.

Ron: Humans also being predators, that helps us, too.

Laura: Yeah.

Laura: All right.

Ron: Next stage is four points.

Laura: That means snails are some of the loneliest animals.

Laura: They literally have to have their eyes out on stalks so they can see everywhere because nobody's helping them.

Ron: Yeah, but nobody likes snails.

Laura: I do.

Laura: I don't mind snails.

Ron: I hate them.

Laura: Do you?

Ron: Yeah.

Ron: And slugs.

Ron: I think that bit in Harry Potter where Ron throws up slugs might be my worst nightmare.

Laura: Yeah, that bit is disgusting.

Ron: So the next bit is about DNA.

Laura: Okay.

Ron: 4.6.1 .3 DNA in the genome.

Ron: It says students should be able to describe the structure of DNA and define genome.

Ron: What can you tell me about the structure of DNA?

Laura: It is made up of four proteins.

Ron: No, f***.

Laura: It is a protein made up of four acids.

Ron: No.

Ron: Well, they are acids.

Ron: I don't know where you've gotten that.

Ron: It's a protein from.

Laura: I thought DNA was a protein.

Ron: No, it stands for deoxyribosenucleic.

Ron: Acid.

Laura: Well, can't an acid be a protein?

Ron: Technically it could, but let's not dally about that.

Laura: Okay?

Ron: We should stop.

Ron: We shouldn't have done two episodes in once because this is great stuff that we're just not doing a good job on.

Laura: We're having a nice time.

Ron: No, we're not.

Laura: Okay.

Laura: You're not.

Laura: Are you hungry?

Ron: No, I've had three breakfasts.

Laura: I just thought it was a protein, that's all.

Laura: Okay, so it's an acid.

Laura: It's made up of four building blocks.

Ron: Bases.

Laura: Bases, yeah.

Laura: But not alkali bases.

Ron: No, nucleotides.

Laura: Bases.

Laura: Nucleotides.

Laura: And they're called, like, ATG and something else.

Ron: C.

Ron: C.

Ron: Yeah, at adenine, thiamine, cytosine and guanine.

Laura: Yeah, thiamine, guanine and cytosine.

Laura: Um, yeah, and then there's loads of those in different orders and different sections of it sort of are different sentences.

Ron: What sentence?

Laura: A metaphor for, like, a quality that DNA codes for a protein that it codes for.

Laura: You said it wasn't protein.

Ron: It's not a protein.

Ron: It's a protein that it codes for.

Ron: It's a gene f******.

Laura: It's a recipe for a Protein.

Ron: Yeah.

Ron: It's a recipe for every protein in your body.

Laura: Yeah.

Laura: So that's how that bit works.

Ron: What's how?

Ron: One bit.

Laura: What I just said.

Ron: You can't just tack on it.

Ron: As if not good enough, I'm afraid.

Laura: What I just said, though, Ron.

Laura: So you have all these atgcs and then they make up orders and then different segments of it are a little sentence, and that bit tells you, oh, I'm a recipe for blue eyes.

Laura: Oh, I'm a recipe for big ears.

Laura: Oh, I'm a recipe for being a jerk to squirrels, that is.

Ron: Tell me about the structure of DNA.

Ron: What does it look like?

Laura: A drain.

Laura: Double helix.

Laura: Double helix.

Laura: Double helix.

Ron: It's a double helix.

Laura: It's a double helix.

Ron: How many strands of DNA are there in the double helix?

Ron: Yes.

Ron: One going each way.

Ron: When you have a gene, can you remember the mechanism by which that becomes a protein?

Ron: So if a gene is a sentence, what's one of the words?

Laura: A gamete.

Ron: What's a gamete?

Laura: I don't know.

Ron: A gamete.

Ron: Sperm and eggs, isn't it?

Ron: We were talking about that earlier, so it's probably not that.

Laura: No.

Laura: What was that other word you said just now that began with G?

Ron: Classic example of just saying things.

Laura: No, I swear.

Laura: You said a word beginning with G just now.

Ron: Genome.

Laura: That's it.

Laura: Is it one of those?

Ron: What's your genome?

Laura: I don't know.

Ron: Your genome is all of your genes.

Ron: It's all of your dna in a one.

Laura: Okay.

Laura: It's not that I can't remember.

Ron: Ron, do you remember that the genes were broken down into little sequences of three letters, no codons.

Ron: And then each of those corresponded to a certain number of amino acids that then become the protein?

Laura: No, I don't remember that.

Ron: They had, like, a little table of all the three.

Laura: Don't remember it.

Laura: I'm sorry.

Ron: That's why I'm telling you.

Ron: That's why I'm telling you.

Laura: But you're telling me about it in the past.

Laura: You're telling me like, oh, we had this.

Laura: We had this.

Laura: Don't do that.

Laura: Just tell me about it.

Laura: Afresh, anew.

Ron: No, because it's not in the syllabus.

Laura: Then why the f*** are we doing it?

Ron: Because you've seen it before, like a couple of months ago.

Ron: Other people listening have.

Ron: So I was just referencing back to it.

Laura: Do you want to stop?

Laura: Because you're being rude.

Ron: No, you're being really annoying.

Laura: That's not true.

Ron: This is one of my favorite topics, and it's not been fun at all.

Laura: Make it fun.

Ron: I'm trying.

Ron: Yeah, and you're sat there going, that.

Laura: I don't remember the last one.

Laura: Instead.

Ron: No, you're interrupting me, saying you don't remember it when I'm literally telling you about it.

Laura: You're being the ghost of Christmas past when you should be goes to Christmas presents.

Ron: Yeah, and you're being that c*** Jacob Marley just clanking your chains around.

Laura: I don't think you needed to call me a c***.

Ron: I'll call you a c*** if I want to.

Ron: Genomes all of the genetic material in an organism.

Laura: Wait, do I need to know this stuff about codons?

Ron: No.

Laura: We had that argument for nothing.

Ron: Yeah, okay.

Ron: This is all for nothing.

Laura: I know that.

Laura: It's just a hobby that we're doing.

Laura: In the race to the grave, students.

Ron: Should be able to discuss the importance of understanding the human genome.

Laura: This limited all of your genetic information?

Ron: It is, yeah.

Ron: This is limited to three things that it wants you to understand.

Ron: The search for genes linked to different diseases.

Laura: Yeah.

Laura: Okay.

Ron: Why do you think that's important?

Laura: Because then we can test for whether we might be getting it in the future, or you can have a look and see if a baby is going to have it, and you can see why that becomes passed on or whatnot.

Ron: Yeah, absolutely.

Ron: So testing to see whether people are going to get these things is definitely part of it.

Ron: But if you're testing someone's dna, they've already got it.

Ron: So that is only one part of it.

Ron: And the causes of diseases in your genome can be very seemingly trivial.

Ron: The gene that causes Huntington's disease, basically at the end of it, there is a portion of it where it just repeats CAG for quite a long time.

Ron: When you have areas of the genome where it's repeating the same thing over and over again, these areas tend to be very error prone because the checking mechanism is just going, CAG, CAG, CAG.

Ron: Ah.

Ron: So you can get it extended or you can get it cut down when it's replicated.

Ron: Basically, the gene that makes Huntington's is just cag over and over again.

Ron: If you have too many of them, it causes one disease, like in the 40 or 50 range.

Ron: If you have like around 30, you're just kind of fine.

Ron: And then if you have fewer than that, you have Huntington's and it's just that causes it.

Laura: Can you cut bits off people's dna?

Laura: No, because it's in every.

Ron: Well, it's actually a very new technology, but, yeah, that is being developed at the moment where you could cut things out and add them in as well.

Ron: Gene splicing and gene editing is the forefront of sort of this at the moment.

Laura: So you could literally change your genes.

Laura: To change your eye color, you'd have.

Ron: To do it to a baby because obviously your eyes are already that color.

Laura: But they wouldn't change if you slowly started to change the dna in my body.

Ron: Probably not, no.

Laura: Okay.

Ron: You probably could with your hair, because your hair keeps growing.

Laura: Or I could get like stronger fingernails or something.

Ron: Yeah, probably.

Ron: But like I say, if you've already color, probably could.

Laura: Yeah, because you can get diseases that do that, can't you?

Ron: Yeah, exactly.

Ron: Well, it's like they've bred cats that glow green.

Laura: Wow.

Laura: That does not sound helpful.

Ron: No, it's more just a proof of concept.

Ron: There's a jellyfish protein that glows green.

Ron: That is just completely harmless.

Ron: So they put it in stuff all the time, like I saying.

Ron: So clocking on that, you've already got the gene, while good, so that you can live a life that helps you with it and stuff.

Ron: Obviously you've already got it.

Ron: So what else would identifying the gene linked to a disease help with?

Laura: Eugenics?

Ron: Sure.

Ron: You could design a babies.

Ron: That's a whole ethics conversation that's going on in genetics at the moment.

Ron: Anything else?

Ron: So let's say we've got ten people that all have this really rare disease.

Ron: And we find out, we sequence their dna and we see that they've all got the same mutation in a gene on one of their chromosomes.

Ron: What could that tell us?

Ron: We have the sequence.

Laura: Yeah.

Ron: What does the dna sequence translate into?

Laura: What is gene?

Ron: Yeah.

Ron: So we know the gene that's got the mutation and we know the proteins that's going to make.

Laura: Yeah.

Ron: So we could potentially develop new medicines that maybe do the job of that protein.

Ron: Or if that protein is having an antagonistic effect, we could create a medicine that knocks out that protein and gets rid of it, that sort of thing.

Laura: Okay.

Ron: Or we might see that.

Ron: Oh, the gene that they've actually all that's got the mutation in this gene is one of the genes that's used in muscles.

Ron: So actually, this was a muscular problem rather than something else, and it's in the enzyme that should be breaking down this.

Ron: So maybe they need to lower their diet to not have so much of that, because the mutations in the gene that should break it down.

Laura: Okay.

Laura: Yeah, that makes sense.

Ron: The next bit that it wants you to understand is the understanding and treatment of inherited disorders.

Ron: So obviously, understanding inheritance patterns on things is very important, again, from a sort of knowing yourself thing as well.

Ron: But for example, you might know that you have one gene.

Ron: So let's take cystic fibrosis as an example.

Ron: That's a gene that causes babies to have blocked up lungs.

Ron: It's a recessive gene.

Ron: So I could have one cystic fibrosis gene and be absolutely fine.

Ron: That knowing that, though, isn't just like, oh, cool.

Ron: But it means that if I wanted to have biological children with someone, we could check their gene as well.

Ron: And then if they also have a cystic fibrosis gene, maybe you choose to adopt because then you're not going to.

Ron: Yeah.

Laura: Okay.

Laura: So you're reducing the likelihood of passing on genes that can be sort of health problematic.

Ron: Exactly, yeah.

Ron: Okay.

Ron: And the royal families are very interesting for understanding these inherited disorders.

Ron: Yeah.

Ron: Like the habsburg stuff, that's just kind of a general ugliness that comes with wealth.

Ron: But basically they've worked out that a mutation that happened in Prince Albert's ball sack led to the fall of, well, led to the start of the Soviet Union.

Laura: What?

Ron: So, you know, the whole Bobbish that's gone on with, like, Alexei and.

Laura: Yeah, yeah.

Laura: He was hemophilia, wasn't it?

Ron: Yeah.

Ron: And they've traced that back to maybe it wasn't Prince Albert, because that would have been going on the same time, they know exactly whose ball sack that happened in because it was never in the family beforehand.

Ron: And then they can see the inheritance pattern from there.

Ron: I could have sworn it was Prince Albert, but then.

Ron: No, that doesn't make sense, I think.

Ron: Although then they were around for a long time.

Ron: Can't remember.

Ron: But you see what I mean.

Laura: Yeah.

Laura: No, that must be a little bit too early for Prince Albert, wasn't it?

Laura: Because I don't think Alex was it.

Laura: Alexandrina was the SA of maybe.

Laura: Who was she then, Cyrus Alexandrina.

Laura: Whose kid was she?

Laura: No, she wasn't, Albert.

Laura: And what's it not?

Laura: She was Alex of Hess.

Ron: Oh, and that's the other thing, is.

Laura: That favourite granddaughter of Queen Victoria?

Ron: Yeah.

Ron: No, I think it was Queen Victoria's, dad.

Ron: Because the hemophilia gene is on the x chromosome.

Laura: Yes.

Laura: It says, favourite granddaughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.

Laura: She was like her grandmother, one of the most famous royal carriers of hemophilia.

Laura: So Victoria was a carrier as well and bought a hemophiliac heir, Alexei Nikolaevich Sarovich of Russia.

Ron: Yeah, I think they traced it to Queen Victoria, basically.

Ron: And then it all gets disseminated from there because it's on the x chromosome.

Ron: That's right, yeah.

Ron: And then the last thing I want to say.

Laura: Sorry about slandering your balls, Albert.

Ron: Yeah, I think I was just thinking of his balls because there's that whole prince has only got one ball and it's in the.

Laura: Genital piercing, isn't it?

Ron: Yeah, I heard that.

Ron: That is for horse riding.

Laura: What, like, it feels good when you're riding a horse?

Ron: No, like you have like a ring in the tip of your p**** and then you can button it up when you're horse riding.

Ron: That feels dangerous.

Laura: That feels like a quick way to have an abrupt circumcision.

Laura: Yeah, I don't think I'm.

Ron: But not even just a circumcision.

Ron: Like, it doesn't go through the foreskin.

Laura: Does it not?

Ron: It goes through the head of your knob.

Laura: I don't want that.

Ron: No, me neither.

Laura: I don't have a knob and that makes me.

Laura: And my teeth feel furry.

Ron: Yeah.

Ron: And the idea of it being functional helps, though, I think.

Laura: I think it's grasping at dirty straw.

Ron: And then any.

Ron: The last bit that it wants you to understand is how these things can be used in tracing human migration patterns.

Laura: Oh, yeah.

Laura: Okay.

Laura: So you can see where different things entered the local gene pool by who was coming in and out at that time.

Ron: Yeah, basically.

Ron: Where things went a lot of this whole 23 andme, oh, I'm 14% african, 25% european or whatever, is a lot of that is largely bollocks, because all of these places are and have always been great melting pots.

Ron: However, there are.

Ron: On the timescales of anthropological timescales, there are parts of the genome that are so well conserved that you can trace this.

Ron: The y chromosome, like I was saying, is very well preserved, so you can use that for tracing.

Ron: And when they say, like, oh, 80% of men in China are related to Genghis Khan or something, they've done that study by genes in the Y chromosome and stuff like that.

Laura: Yeah.

Ron: And that's probably a good place to leave it for the day.

Laura: That, like, geneticist says it's Dr.

Laura: Adam Rutherford.

Laura: He's always saying, though I have never looked into it loads, but he says stuff, know when people are like, oh, I'm a direct descendant of Jack the Ripper.

Laura: He's like, honestly, at this point, most of us kind of are, or know not Jack the Ripper, let's say.

Laura: But that sort of thing.

Laura: Because just the way breeding works and moving out, like, we're all related to William Shakespeare at this point, that kind of thing.

Ron: Yeah, he's absolutely right in that his beef is always with cheddar man.

Laura: Oh, that's it.

Laura: Yeah.

Laura: Well, he's, like, super early.

Laura: Yeah.

Ron: I mean, Jack the Ripper is obviously only, like, what, like 150 years ago?

Laura: Yeah, that was a bad example.

Ron: Not quite on that scale, but, yeah, especially back in the day.

Ron: I think it's Charlemagne is the other one that people always talk about, and especially these f****** royal lads.

Ron: Like, Genghis Khan had, like, 400 children, so of course everyone's related to him.

Laura: Yeah, all right, Ron, well, listen, I think you're going to listen back to that and realize you were mad at me for no reason, because I was actually paying attention and being lovely all the way.

Ron: All my fault.

Laura: Last recording of 2023.

Ron: Yeah.

Ron: Thank goodness.

Laura: See you in our third calendar year of Lex education.

Ron: Bloody h***.

Laura: Oh, sorry about that little burp that I did.

Laura: Had some strong gases eating out of my b*** that day.

Laura: Bear with me.

Laura: I'm just going, okay, clickety clicking is gone.

Laura: It's time for a quiz.

Laura: I have just no memory.

Laura: The more science we do, the worse I get at remembering what the h*** we did.

Ron: So this was meiosis and variation.

Laura: Two pages of notes.

Ron: Notes.

Laura: I got excited by the word diploid.

Laura: I wonder if I liked that word in the show, too.

Ron: When did we record this?

Laura: That must have been Precrimbo I think it was Precrimbo.

Laura: Yeah.

Ron: Wow.

Laura: Because then we did identification of common.

Ron: That was our gooch record.

Laura: Yeah.

Ron: Oh, well.

Laura: This is literally going to be an exercise in reading gel pens off a page.

Ron: Laura, what are gametes?

Laura: Yeah.

Laura: So are they sets of genetic information, Ron?

Ron: No.

Laura: Sperm and eggs.

Laura: They're sperm and eggs.

Ron: Sperm and eggs, yeah.

Laura: That is a set of genetic information, isn't it?

Laura: A sperm and an egg.

Ron: Sperm and egg has a set of genetic information, but doesn't make that them because there's quite a lot more to it.

Ron: There's a yolk in an egg.

Laura: Yeah.

Laura: Delicious.

Laura: Delicious yolk.

Ron: Nil pois so far, but I said.

Laura: It right the second time.

Ron: I think if you're going to admit at the top of the quiz that you're just reading, you got one shot.

Laura: So look at the notes.

Laura: Gametes has two arrows coming off it, and I just went for the wrong one.

Ron: Babe, who made the notes?

Laura: Well, kind of you, because they are.

Ron: Just written down what you said, that's actually libel.

Laura: I don't think we should be introducing the idea of suing each other.

Laura: I think that will get problematic very quickly.

Ron: Okay, next one.

Ron: This is a biggie.

Ron: We're going for three marks here, please.

Laura: Like the ones that have more than one mark?

Ron: No, because it's hard for you.

Ron: Please describe the main differences between mitosis and meiosis.

Laura: Mitosis is the process of cell division.

Laura: They make.

Laura: So in mitosis, the cell divides into two cells, or diploids, that are the same.

Laura: It's like a replicate and divide, whereas in meiosis they make haploids.

Laura: So it creates four different things and they are all.

Laura: Hmm.

Laura: What do you think about that?

Laura: Three points.

Laura: Well done, Laura.

Laura: Three points from me, your brother, handsome, caring Ron.

Ron: I'm going to generously give you two out of three.

Laura: No.

Laura: Give me three out of three.

Laura: That would be true generosity.

Ron: No.

Ron: So, yeah, mitosis is normal cell division for growth and repair.

Ron: It creates two identical diploid things.

Ron: They're not diploids.

Ron: They are diploids.

Ron: That's an adjective.

Ron: In meiosis, it makes four different haploid daughter cells.

Ron: The thing that you are missing in terms of the differences is that meiosis is a two stage process.

Laura: Well, I didn't know that.

Ron: Well, you didn't write it down.

Laura: Well, that slander.

Ron: Laura, why is meiosis important for the overall health of a population?

Laura: Oh, because it shuffles the deck on different features being passed down in the.

Laura: Not the food chain, but the baby chain.

Ron: Correct.

Laura: Yeah.

Ron: It increases biodiversity yeah.

Ron: What are the pros and cons of asexual reproduction?

Laura: You can always choose what is on the television.

Laura: Snoring isn't really an issue.

Laura: He's not even smiling.

Laura: So it takes less energy to find.

Laura: You do have to find a mate, spend your life finding a mate, so that's good.

Laura: But on the downside, there's less genetic diversity in your.

Ron: Yeah.

Ron: Yeah.

Ron: Nice.

Laura: I didn't even read any notes for that, Ron.

Ron: I just thought that was good.

Ron: Yeah.

Laura: Yes.

Ron: And that's the quiz.

Laura: That was very short quiz.

Ron: No short answers.

Ron: You just did good.

Ron: You did good.

Laura: Darn good answers.

Laura: Look at my pen.

Laura: I got this pen for Christmas.

Ron: Well, that's a nice pen.

Laura: Yeah, it's well heavy.

Laura: And look, I've got some chocolate Florentines.

Ron: I don't know what those are.

Laura: They're those some biscuits that are like a load of nuts all stuck together on a chocolate base.

Ron: Oh, you love those.

Laura: I love them, yeah.

Ron: Nice.

Laura: Bought some yesterday to cheer myself up.

Laura: Actually, no, that was before the news, but anyway, I ate them to cheer me up.

Ron: Good job.

Laura: Hooray.

Laura: Bye bye.

Laura: There you go, Ron.

Laura: Now you never have to listen to that episode again.

Ron: Yeah, that was the episode.

Ron: There it was.

Laura: Shall I delete that one?

Laura: Shall I delete it?

Ron: Yeah, why not?

Laura: Roll of deleting episodes at the moment.

Laura: Let's make it four.

Laura: Four?

Ron: Four for f***.

Laura: I can't believe we were so far ahead of our schedule as well.

Laura: And now we're just right back in the next three episodes.

Ron: Yeah, when you delete two weeks worth of work, mate, it will do stuff like that.

Laura: Three this year.

Laura: So far I've deleted now.

Ron: Yeah, it's great because you obviously do most of the organization and put in most of the effort, but I've never deleted full f****** episodes, so I can lord this over you somewhat.

Laura: Sure, go for it, mate.

Laura: Hey, do you want to cheer us up?

Laura: Everybody listening?

Laura: You should.

Laura: Can you send your detail pictures in?

Laura: Send those in, please.

Laura: Draw your little detail picture and send it to lexeducation@gmail.com.

Laura: Then maybe before you do that, buy some Leicester tickets.

Laura: Come on, lads.

Laura: It's two weeks to go and we'll be at the Leicester festival.

Laura: It's going to be lovely.

Laura: Buy your tickets.

Laura: Okay, thank you.

Laura: And if you can't do either of those for whatever reason, can you leave us a review, please?

Laura: We know lots of people listen to this show and the reviews have dropped off a little bit, and we just want to make sure that we're still appealing to all the sexy people out there who've yet to join the club.

Laura: So can you just do a nice thing, please?

Laura: Thank you.

Ron: One or the other.

Ron: And we have a map of all of you.

Ron: Well, not all of you.

Ron: The ones that consented and put their locations in.

Ron: We have a map of the lab rats.

Ron: We know that some of you f****** live in Leicester, so buy a.

Ron: Yeah, yeah, come on.

Laura: I mean, we've sold enough tickets.

Laura: That will be fun, whatever happens.

Laura: But I just think more of you should be there.

Ron: Hang on, hang on.

Laura: What are you doing?

Ron: Is that Leicester?

Ron: No, that's Leeds.

Ron: Where are you, Lester?

Laura: There you are, just underneath Nottingham.

Ron: Where's Leicester?

Laura: Just underneath Nottingham.

Ron: Andy.

Ron: Andy, you live in Leicester by f****** ticket, mate.

Laura: Maybe he has.

Laura: Might be one of the ones that has.

Laura: Yeah, Andy, if you are just Andy, actually, send us your tea towel picture.

Laura: All right, that's what we need next is your tea towel pictures.

Ron: Ada, you're in Nottingham, so that's not far.

Ron: So come on down, Eleanor, you're not far away.

Ron: Come on.

Ron: Who's that?

Laura: Our podcast is weird.

Laura: I keep getting loads of.

Laura: Have you noticed that the spam emails from people trying to get us to pay them to promote the podcast have got more and more neggi lately?

Ron: Yeah, they're getting more annoying.

Laura: Yeah, I've started just blocking them.

Laura: Now I'm just blocking the contact so they can't email us because they're just like, you've done 85 episodes and you've only got this many reviews.

Laura: Oh, we could help you with that.

Laura: And this is not the way to get me to pay you to do something for me, mate, by just being rude about what I've achieved.

Laura: F*** off.

Laura: So it's not the biggest podcast in the world.

Laura: Fine.

Laura: If I wanted it to be, then I'd have taken a different approach to doing the GCSE science syllabus with my brother.

Laura: God, f****** people.

Ron: Yeah, and also, like, yeah, 24 eight isn't that bad.

Ron: And also, they're all five stars.

Laura: P*** off.

Laura: Why does everybody think that you're always trying to make the biggest, most mainstream thing in the world?

Laura: Maybe we're just trying to make a beautiful thing.

Laura: Do you know what makes me.

Laura: Fills me with joy about this podcast is even when we have a week where, like, the downloads are low or whatever or something like that, the discord has genuinely become like a chat group that chats every day.

Laura: And I find that so lovely that us titting about doing this has made people genuinely friends.

Ron: Yeah, it's gone to my head a.

Laura: Bit though, has it?

Ron: Well, I was just in there making them.

Ron: No, I made them do a trivia off about us.

Laura: Oh, that's exciting.

Ron: Do you not see that I missed that?

Laura: I've been very busy.

Laura: Oh, there's a Patreon episode out this Friday as well.

Laura: We roped agony dad in to give us a sailing lesson.

Laura: So if you want to hear, oh, it's a lovely questions and catch up with our dad, then that comes out on Friday, you join the Patreon.

Laura: We keep it as cheap as we can because, hey, guess what, spammy marketing a*******.

Laura: We're not trying to be millionaires, we're just trying to make a nice thing that maybe covers its expenses.

Laura: It doesn't do that yet.

Ron: I wouldn't mind being a millionaire.

Laura: Yeah, be lovely, but it's not going to happen through this one.

Laura: So just three pounds a month, that's all we ask.

Laura: And yeah, you get two extra episodes for that and the discord and everything.

Laura: So there we go.

Laura: Right, I have to go and have some dinner now and sit and stare into me.

Laura: What are you having for your dinner, Laura?

Ron: I'm working on a secret project.

Laura: What are you working on?

Laura: Secret project.

Ron: I'll tell you when we're not recording.

Laura: Or for your work.

Ron: No, likes education.

Laura: That's exciting.

Laura: What are you going to have for dinner?

Ron: Yeah, I'll tell you when we start recording.

Ron: We're going to order a big curry.

Laura: I'm jealous.

Ron: Yeah, okay, well, were you having nuggy tea?

Laura: I think I'm just going to have rice cakes.

Laura: I can't be bothered to cook.

Ron: Have something a bit nicer.

Laura: If I cook something else.

Laura: Put something in the air fryer.

Laura: No, because then I have to wash it up and I just.

Laura: You have a dishwasher, you can't put the air fryer in the dishwasher.

Ron: No.

Ron: Then just don't wash it and let make Tom do it when he gets back.

Laura: He's not back for another 25 hours.

Ron: Yeah, it's fine.

Laura: No, it's not fine.

Laura: Just don't use the air fryer tomorrow, it's difficult.

Laura: And I've got a friend coming over tomorrow.

Ron: Ron's just in the air fryer.

Laura: Ron, I was so brave.

Ron: She's not going to come over.

Laura: I made a new friend, Ron, I was so brave.

Laura: Right, and there was this mum there who had a little boy who was same age as child of the podcast, and I was just like, let's be friends.

Laura: And we swapped numbers and she's coming around for coffee.

Ron: Oh, nice.

Laura: She lives around the corner.

Laura: I have a friend that lives around the corner from me.

Laura: Isn't that brave, Ron?

Laura: Because none of my siblings were willing to drive to Brighton on Saturday to help me out.

Laura: So I just went to the park and met this woman.

Laura: I'll report back on how it goes next week.

Ron: Okay?

Laura: All right, well, bye, everyone.

Laura: Love you.

Ron: Bye.

Ron: Glass.

Ron: Dismissed.

Laura: There we go.