Midlifing

Written by: Lee Miller and Simon Ellis
  • Summary

  • 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.

    © 2025 Midlifing
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Episodes
  • 219: So many heaven songs
    Feb 12 2025

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    Simon shows up late so Lee bangs on fabulously. But then they talk about how much time we spend in our bodies (versus in our heads) and whether it's possible to spend too much time (in our bodies).

    Things covered: Lee gets going by himself while waiting for Simon to show up (late), if only dogs could talk, Saturday Night Live, Lee failed to plug in his microphone (up until 06:50mins), needing a checklist and checking them off, Heaven songs, spending time in your body, spending too much time in your body, what it means to be 'in your body', different from using your body, physical labour, noticing your body from the inside as opposed to how your body looks, Simon agrees with himself, over sensitivity to what is going on in your body, a joke coming down the pike (not masturbation), paying too much attention to one's self and to others (say when someone is walking towards you), sensitivity to others when teaching, when we are aware of our bodies, Lee's impinged neck nerve, ibuprofen, Lee spending a lot of time ranking things (in his job), Simon sitting on a ball all day, more on consent and yoga (it really happened), the problem of not spending enough time in our bodies, not having computers in meetings, getting rid of desks and chairs, sending emails during meetings, Dilit school in Rome (and the choreography of chairs).

    Get in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net.

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    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)

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    24 mins
  • 218: Like any new drug you start to take
    Feb 5 2025

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    Lee and Simon talk about becoming experts (in knitting), reducing screentime and nostalgia for things we have never experienced. Warning: episode includes SPOILERS for the film Conclave.

    Things covered: Knitting update from Lee, maintaining the intensity of a hobby, well-being and knitting, novices, expertise and thinking, changing sides while teaching a dance class, being the best in a (yoga) class, the slowness of learning a new skill, Lee being a slow study, knitting becoming a meditation, being distracted from stress, much less screentime, knitting in bed, spending less time on our phones is a really good thing, using a phone to talk to people, anemoia, millenials being nostalgic for the time before smartphones existed, how rare videos were in the 1990s, our conversations were not recorded, audio recording from 1977 of watching Star Wars at the cinema, the complexity of growing up with smartphones, Lee watched Conclave (his homework) -- WARNING spoilers included (but not written here), Gabrielle Eastwood-Ellis as a woman in the Catholic Church, Lee finds a new Chicken Restaurant, being a chicken in Portugal, many restaurants at the bottom of Bob and Lee's road in Portugal, gentrification, Simon participates in a yoga class, consent to touch in a yoga class.

    Get in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net.

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    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)

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    25 mins
  • 217: What to do if you are shit at knitting
    Jan 29 2025

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    Lee and Simon go on a typically chaotic ride that is tricky to summarise other than they catch up. Just read below.

    Things covered: Lee takes up knitting, the latest on Mark Zuckerberg, Badly Drawn Boy's Pissing in the Wind, Lee's knitting sticks, reducing screen time, finding a hobby that isn't reading, Lee's year of not buying anything, Simon's recording mishap, screentime by proxy, finger knitting, Lee travelling the globe (Portugal) in a mini-van, taking knitting needles on a plane, Hannibal Lecter, dog muzzles, Simon saw two films with John Lithgow (Footloose, Conclave) and Lee guesses the first very quickly, The World According to Garp, The Adventures of Buckaroo Bonzai, the overlap in Simon and Lee's taste, Conclave (no spoilers), David Lynch's death and his films, Lee remembers Victoria Wood's death, Eraserhead, The Elephant Man, Ecosia (search engine), changing which side of the bed you sleep on, lying on top of Bob, body temperature, people with English as a second language, true facts, no content at the 23min mark, Lil's Permesso di soggiorno, three suitcases full of cash in Sardegna, there's many a slip between cup and lip, not gifting the suitcases, man with a van, how best to get stuff from Coventry to Sassari (and the emotional implications), paying customs, Brexit, not having two of everything and doing it all in one fell swoop, one's forever home, second-hand things, number of phone pickups a day, not even real bodies, Tim Cook paying $1m to Donald Trump's inauguration, Elon (doesn't get a mention), knitting for weeks, touching dough too much when you are learning.

    Get in touch with Lee and Simon at info@midlifing.net.

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    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)

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    29 mins

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