Midlifing

Lee Miller and Simon Ellis

Two friends Lee and Simon have serious conversations about silly things, and silly conversations about serious things. Together they dig into the pleasures, absurdities and imperfections of being human.

  1. 3d ago

    292: The Room Where It Happened

    Send us Fan Mail Simon and Lee open on the tyranny of public pianos: one played beautifully by an old friend at Euston station, another axed to pieces in Lisbon after one too many renditions of the same tune. It tips into a longer meditation on recognition, virtuosity, and the icky feeling of wanting to be seen, prompted partly by Simon's nephew Finn asking how the professorship (announced last episode) is actually sitting with him a week in. Lee has his own news too: after two headache-inducing years, his university's research degree awarding powers bid has finally gone in. Mentioned Chopin – composer; played by an old friend of Simon's at Euston station, mid-piece, as he arrived to meet herCais do Sodré – train station in Lisbon; site of a public piano playing the same tune on loop until commuters had it removedHamilton – the musical; the "room where it happened" line recurs, and Lee had recently been watching an excellent Japanese-language productionMeta Ray-Ban glasses – smart glasses; cited as an emblem of frictionless recording cultureMichael Barrymore – British TV entertainer and former host of The Generation Game; recalled via the detail that someone died in his swimming pool years ago, then (probably wrongly) credited with now filming strangers in shops via Meta Ray-Bans for TikTokThe Generation Game – UK Saturday-night variety/game show; cited as an example of personality-driven light entertainmentNoel Edmonds' House Party – UK entertainment show, named alongside Strictly Come Dancing and Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway as part of the same "Saturday night" lineageStrictly Come Dancing – UK dance competition show; named as a descendant of that variety traditionAnt & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway – UK Saturday-night entertainment show; offered as the closest contemporary equivalentGet in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net. --- The Midlifing logo is adapted from an original image by H.L.I.T: https://www.flickr.com/photos/29311691@N05/8571921679 (CC BY 2.0)

    25 min

  2. Jul 1

    291: Maya Got A Job In Cyber

    Send us Fan Mail Simon arrives buzzing with news: a professorial confirmation panel that left him pacing the line between anxiety and excitement for weeks beforehand. He and Lee dig into where exactly anxiety lives in the body, comparing notes on heart rate variability, breath control, and the relief of a panel that turned out far less hostile than feared. The conversation widens into the precarious state of UK higher education and the dance sector specifically, capped off with a half remembered government ad campaign about a ballerina who finds her true calling in cyber. Mentioned Kate Bee – guest on last week's episode; praised for having "a good voice for radio"Starsky and Hutch – cop buddy show; raised as a model for a good cop buddy dynamicRishi Sunak – former UK chancellor and prime minister; jokingly blamed for the state of arts funding and the wider higher education sector"Fatima's next job could be in cyber" advertising campaign – UK government ad campaign depicting a ballet dancer retraining for a career in cyber; referred to in conversation as "Maya," but the dancer in the original campaign was named Fatima; discussed as evidence of precarity in the arts and dance sector. Independent coverageGet in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net. --- The Midlifing logo is adapted from an original image by H.L.I.T: https://www.flickr.com/photos/29311691@N05/8571921679 (CC BY 2.0)

    25 min

  3. Jun 24

    290: Working In The Greyzone With Greyzone Drinkers

    Send us Fan Mail Simon and Lee are joined by Kate Bee, founder of The Sober School, for a conversation that opens with the rock-bottom mythology of AA before sliding into personal history: Lee traces his unusual relationship with drink back to growing up in a pub in the mid-80s, and on through the British ladette culture he lived through at university in the 90s, complete with Zoe Ball and Bacardi Breezers. Kate maps the particular shame attached to women's drinking, drawing the three of them into a digression on Julia Kristeva's abject and the quietly respectable, middle-class drinkers no news report ever pictures, with Simon noting how his wife Lil's brush with an alcohol-tracking app in Italy preceded Kate's email by mere days. The episode closes on what Kate found to replace alcohol's pleasure once she gave it up: smaller gatherings, an early exit, and the relief of just being herself the next morning. Mentioned The Sober School – sobriety support for women who don't want AA or rehab, founded by the episode's guest, Kate Bee, ten years ago out of her own experience quitting drinking"Take Your Time" – Nirvana; song that prompts a singalong at the top of the episodeAlcoholics Anonymous (AA) – raised as a model of recovery that doesn't suit everyone; its rock-bottom narrative and "anonymous" framing discussed as barriers for someZoe Ball – British TV and radio presenter; cited as an exemplar of 90s British ladette culture, noted as now soberThe Spice Girls – pop group raised as a possible comparison to ladette culture, then dismissed as not quite fittingBacardi Breezers – alcopop brand discussed as a 90s drinks-industry product aimed at womenJulia Kristeva – French feminist philosopher; her concept of "the abject" used to discuss the language ("messy," "sloppy") applied to women's drinkingJoe Rogan – podcast host referenced jokingly as a contrast to this podcast's toneGet in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net. --- The Midlifing logo is adapted from an original image by H.L.I.T: https://www.flickr.com/photos/29311691@N05/8571921679 (CC BY 2.0)

    27 min

  4. Jun 17

    289: Nothing Has Rocked My World Like the Walkman

    Send us Fan Mail Lee gets back from a holiday in Lisbon – computerless, app-deleted, and topped up with regular visits to a masseur who is also, confusingly, named Simon – while back home Simon is locked in a slow-motion battle with a magpie raiding his bird feeder. The conversation moves from what counts as a real holiday (a "leaky bucket list" versus a hammock and an endless cycle of naps and swims) into a nostalgic detour through the Walkman, suitcase-sized mobile phones, and post restante, tracing how mobile data quietly took over the time email used to take to find you. Mentioned The Omen (1976 film) – referenced for its scene of a journalist's eyes being pecked out by crows, raised during a riff on how clever and vindictive crows can beJeff Bezos – invoked in a bit imagining him ("Jeff Birdsos") running a conspiracy to push magpies onto bird feeders so seed prices riseSteve Jobs – cited as the figure behind the iPhone's "revolution product" (2007), framed as less transformative for holiday habits than the later rise of cheap mobile dataPoste restante – historical postal system letting travellers collect mail abroad; recalled fondly as the highlight of pre-internet travel at 22Sony Walkman – portable cassette player; held up as the single device that changed everything more than the smartphone ever did, prompting a dive into how many models and headphone setups were used over the yearsGet Smart (TV show) – referenced via its shoe-phone gadget, recalled alongside memories of a family friend's brick-sized suitcase mobile phone in the 1980sGet in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net. --- The Midlifing logo is adapted from an original image by H.L.I.T: https://www.flickr.com/photos/29311691@N05/8571921679 (CC BY 2.0)

    27 min

  5. Jun 10

    288: All Those Cars Going Past

    Send us Fan Mail A face full of acupuncture needles and a sourdough microbiologist on a country road in Sardinia: this week Simon and Lee cover a lot of ground. The main story is a hitchhiking adventure from an agriturismo near Tempio – Lil's first time ever, Simon's first in perhaps thirty-five years – that ends with a chance encounter so improbable it needs several minutes of recounting before either of them quite believes it. From there the conversation opens into what happens to your assumptions about people when you're somewhere unfamiliar, and what it means to feel genuinely lucky rather than merely privileged. Mentioned Mary Shelley – 19th-century English author; referenced when the acupuncture needles prompt a comparison to a scene from a horror novelChega – Portuguese far-right political party; mentioned as a Portuguese equivalent of Fratelli d'Italia and Reform UKFratelli d'Italia – Italian far-right political party; cited as a European parallel to ChegaReform UK – British populist party; mentioned as a point of comparison.Get in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net. --- The Midlifing logo is adapted from an original image by H.L.I.T: https://www.flickr.com/photos/29311691@N05/8571921679 (CC BY 2.0)

    24 min

  6. Jun 3

    287: What Would I Need Protecting From?

    Send us Fan Mail Back from his travels and biking to work in Coventry, Simon clocks two encounters with men radiating pure confrontational energy – and wonders aloud what it must cost to move through the world that way. The conversation rolls into territory neither of them usually treads: class, inherited masculinity, and whether any of us really choose who we become. Along the way, Lee recalls a boy on the bonnet of a Capri saying "Miller" with such effortless swagger that six-year-old him wanted to be that person on the spot – and a woman's answer to the question "who would protect you?" lands like a wriggly thing under an upturned rock. Mentioned Zebra crossing – the UK term for a black-and-white striped pedestrian crossing; the setting for Simon's two confrontational encounters that open the episodeFord Capri – long-nosed British sports car from the 1970s and 80s; Lee recalls sitting on the bonnet of one as a child when a boy walked past and addressed him by his last name with striking swaggerRough Guide (TV series) – late-80s/90s travel and youth culture magazine show; referenced when trying to place the era of a viral clip about men and protectionNaples / Napoli – Simon spent six weeks there; he recalls young boys walking deliberately into his path as a kind of confrontational test, contrasting it with the encounter back in CoventryNew Zealand – Simon grew up there; notes that the kind of masculine confrontation they're discussing isn't unique to the UKJefrey Miller – Lee's dog (one F in Jefrey); cited as an example of animal threat-response: snapped at by a spaniel he knows well, he barked back immediately, then moved on without residueGet in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net. --- The Midlifing logo is adapted from an original image by H.L.I.T: https://www.flickr.com/photos/29311691@N05/8571921679 (CC BY 2.0)

    29 min

  7. May 27

    286: Trapped in a Hug

    Send us Fan Mail Simon and Lee open with friendship: Simon has spent the day building a clay oven in Sardinia with Igor and Moreno and finds himself moved by the sheer fact of having people like that in his life. From there the conversation turns to a harder question - whether either of them can actually ask for help when it really counts - and two stories emerge: Lee's account of a yoga acquaintance who showed up with a kindness he couldn't receive, and Simon's retelling of a moment when Lil found herself trapped in a long hug from a friend's partner that felt vampiric rather than warm. The episode closes on a mix-up between a work anniversary and thirty years of marriage, and the one piece of advice Lee has yet to take himself. Mentioned Walt Whitman – 19th-century American poet; referenced as "Uncle Walt" alongside his phrase "we contain multitudes," offered as a gentle counterweight to a moment of harsh self-assessmentLinkedIn – professional networking platform; the source of an automated work anniversary notification that sets off the episode's closing exchangeGet in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net. --- The Midlifing logo is adapted from an original image by H.L.I.T: https://www.flickr.com/photos/29311691@N05/8571921679 (CC BY 2.0)

    25 min

  8. May 20

    285: The Thing That Sounds Like It Knows What It's Doing

    Send us Fan Mail A Devo earworm at a Sardinian birthday party is the unlikely start of a conversation about what expertise actually is. Lee draws on Collins and Evans's distinction between interactional and contributory expertise, and the two probe whether AI is simply the pinnacle of sounding like it knows what it's doing, and what that means for the hours both of them have put into embodied practices. Simon ends up confessing to late-night vibe coding, somewhere in the murky territory between hating it and loving it. Mentioned Devo's "Whip It" (1980) – new wave song; came up when a community group with the acronym WIP sparked a group singalong at a birthday party in SardegnaWIP – community organisation in Sardegna; the acronym's unusual capitalisation convention (only the first letter uppercase) became a topic in itselfUK Government White Paper on Post-16 Skills – published by DSIT in November; prompted reflection on what specialism and expertise mean in the age of AIRethinking Expertise (Harry Collins and Robert Evans) – academic book introducing the distinction between interactional expertise (talking the talk) and contributory expertise (advancing a field through practice)Malcolm Gladwell / 10,000 hours – the idea that mastery requires 10,000 hours of deliberate practice; cited and gently questionedLord of the Flies (William Golding) – briefly referenced as a comic false attribution when trying to recall Gladwell's nameVibe coding – AI-assisted web development; tried late one night building an interactive front page, with mixed feelings about itClaude – AI assistant; mentioned as the tool used for writing template-heavy applicationsGet in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net. --- The Midlifing logo is adapted from an original image by H.L.I.T: https://www.flickr.com/photos/29311691@N05/8571921679 (CC BY 2.0)

    26 min
See All (294)

Ratings & Reviews

About

Two friends Lee and Simon have serious conversations about silly things, and silly conversations about serious things. Together they dig into the pleasures, absurdities and imperfections of being human.

Information

  • Creator
    Lee Miller and Simon Ellis
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    294
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Midlifing
  • Show Website
    Midlifing

You Might Also Like