Ruthie Kelner

Ruthie (dad not pictured)

Ruthie - Me & My Dad  "charming"

A regular fixture in my Podcast Diary is the charming Ruthie - Me & My Dad. I'm absolutely bowled over by its relaxed sensibility; that and its Route One approach at getting to the nub of all 21st. Century tribulations; be it anti-Semitism or the Kardashians, Ruth and her dad (Martin) nail it.

Back in 2014 Martin very kindly agreed to do a quickfire Q&A this blog and I thought it would be great if Ruth would like to follow in her dad's footsteps and answer a few questions (nothing too taxing) of her own. She did. And for that I really can't thank her enough.


As Ruth is about to sack it off to Uni and has got some important exams coming up, instead of writing down her answers, she fired them back at me during the latest podcast episode - Eternal Sunshine. Tune in from 02:30. Thank you again Ruth. And Martin.

And while I'm in thanking mode, I'd also like to thank the pair of them for putting me onto Schtum - Jem Lester's account of his profoundly autistic 11 year old son. It's now on on my ever expanding to-read list.

Go into settings

What a year it's been; and continues to be. I'm sure there are other fairground mechanical contraptions that can I can compare the last 12 months to, but I'm struggling at the moment to call one to mind.

I'm jumping on a plane in a couple of hours. Five nights away - a bit of sun on my back, catch up with the latest Anne Tyler, and gorge on a few of my favourite podcasts*. I may even have a few glasses of the local grog, it has been known. As ever when I'm away, my thoughts will be wandering. But in a good way this time.

* Including: Ruthie - Me & My Dad. I've just discovered this quirky podcast where washed up radio presenter Martin Kelner and his 17 year old daughter Ruth sit down at the kitchen table and tell each other what it's like to reside in 2018. Essential listening.

It was going to be called 'Go Into Settings' - Ruth explains in the first episode (or is the second?) that whenever she's telling an 'old person' how to do something on their phone it's the first thing she says. Ouch, sounds familiar.