List Envy

List Envy

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List Envy episodes

  • Spooky stories: Part 2
    Guests
    Catherine Turner
    Cat presents Cat’s Cabinet of Curiosities with Tom Clabon, a show about conspiracy theories, cults, cryptozoology, crime and conundrums.
    Cat's Cabinet of Curiosities
    Cat's Cabinet of Curiosities (@catscabinet_pod) | Twitter
    Tom Clabon
    Co-producer of Cat’s Cabinet of Curiosities. general comedy/films/music person.
    Tom Clabon (@tom_clabon) | Twitter
    Mark is joined once more by Cat Turner and Tom Clabon to swap spooky stories. If you haven’t already checked out part one, you can do so now.
    The call is coming from inside the house
    Turns out this old teenage favourite – that feels like it could only happen in the 90s – may be based on some true events.
    The Boston Dynamics robot fights back
    Corridor Digital presented this video to the world, which shows a Boston Dynamics robot finally rising up against its human oppressors. It was of course later revealed to be a very good fake. Or was it? Yes, yes it was. OR WAS IT? Yep.
    Petscop
    Petscop is a supposedly haunted Playstation game from the late 90s or early 2000s, whose gameplay is chronicled on YouTube. Either that, or it’s a creepypasta ARG.
    The Young Ones’ fifth housemate
    If you remember this anarchic comedy from the 80s, you might not be aware that there existed, in a few shots, a creepy-looking silent housemate sat in a corner with hair over their face and hands on their knees. Little would the show’s directors know that twenty-some years later this would become a symbol of absolute terror.
    Links
    Support the podcast
    Listen to Cat’s Cabinet of Curisoities
    Follow Mark on Twitter
    Find more shows from the Outpost
    The Beware of the Leopard Christmas special
    41 min
  • Spooky stories: Part 1

    List Envy is back in the new year with a new slate of guests and lists. To get us back into the spirit, Mark called up previous guests Cat Turner and Tom Clabon to swap “scary ghost stories”, as is tradition, according to It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, which is a Christmas song.


    • (00:00) - Introduction
  • (03:22) - It's the most wonderful time of the year
  • (04:04) - Cat's pick: Mothman
  • (16:50) - Mark's pick: Cropsey
  • (19:08) - Tom's pick: Talking Angela
  • (24:15) - Cat's pick: Olivia Mabel
  • (37:09) - Mark's pick: The body under the bed
  • (39:45) - Cat's pick: Russian sleep experiment
  • (45:16) - End of part one
    • 47 min
  • Spooky stories: Part 1
    Guests
    Catherine Turner
    Cat presents Cat’s Cabinet of Curiosities with Tom Clabon, a show about conspiracy theories, cults, cryptozoology, crime and conundrums.
    Cat's Cabinet of Curiosities
    Cat's Cabinet of Curiosities (@catscabinet_pod) | Twitter
    Tom Clabon
    Co-producer of Cat’s Cabinet of Curiosities. general comedy/films/music person.
    Tom Clabon (@tom_clabon) | Twitter
    List Envy is back in the new year with a new slate of guests and lists. To get us back into the spirit, Mark called up previous guests Cat Turner and Tom Clabon to swap “scary ghost stories”, as is tradition, according to It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year , which is a Christmas song.
    Mothman
    Cat has an enclyopaedic knowledge of this cryptid, and covered him… it?… at great length in an episode of Cat’s Cabinet of Curiosities.
    Cropsey
    Cropsey was a New York urban legend, but according to a 2009 documentary, there may be some truth behind it.
    Talking Angela
    This smartphone app from 2012 had certain corners of the Internet aflutter, and forced the company who mae it to put out a rather unusual, and bold, statement.
    Olivia Mabel
    Spoiler alert: this one isn’t real, but it’s really spooky… apart from one dead giveaway. Good job on the website though.
    The body under the bed
    Turns out this common childhood fear might not be entirely unfounded. Try not to have nightmares, and also don’t let your dogs lick your hand sight unseen.
    Russian sleep experiment
    Another piece of creepypasta, but a good one, especially if you’re in no rush to get some shut-eye.
    Links
    Support the podcast
    Listen to Cat’s Cabinet of Curiosities
    Follow Mark on Twitter
    Find more shows from the Outpost
    47 min
  • Top 5 UK garden birds

    Mark chats with casual birder Suzy Buttress about features, song and flight.


    Suzy has specific criteria she uses to judge the quality of birds (which makes her a List Envy natural): song, plumage, behaviour and impact on the garden. She also provides some great advice if you’re looking to feed the birds, without becoming the crazy pigeon lady from Home Alone, or spreading plants that shouldn’t be spread.


    • (00:00) - Introduction
  • (05:46) - Suzy's pick: Robin
  • (09:10) - Mark's pick: Goldfinch
  • (11:44) - Suzy's pick: Blue tit
  • (13:58) - Mark's pick: House sparrow
  • (17:00) - Suzy's pick: Blackbird
  • (21:24) - Mark's pick: Chaffinch
  • (29:18) - Honourable mentions
  • (34:20) - Suzy's pick: Bullfinch
  • (36:40) - Mark's pick: Magpie
  • (40:42) - A cat amongst the pigeons
  • (46:10) - Introducing Company Man
  • (52:10) - Building the final list
  • (55:58) - The Casual Birder


    • Listen to the Casual Birder podcast, and get all Suzy’s contact details on her website.

    1 hr
  • Top 5 UK garden birds
    Guest
    Suzy Buttress
    Birdwatcher, nature lover, and host of the Casual Birder podcast.
    The Casual Birder Podcast
    Suzy Buttress (@suzybee_2) • Instagram photos and videos
    Mark chats with casual birder Suzy Buttress about features, song and flight.
    Suzy has specific criteria she uses to judge the quality of birds (which makes her a List Envy natural): song, plumage, behaviour and impact on the garden. She also provides some great advice if you’re looking to feed the birds, without becoming the crazy pigeon lady from Home Alone , or spreading plants that shouldn’t be spread.
    Honourable mentions
    Dunnock
    Sparrowhawk
    Suzy’s picks
    In order of discussion:
    Robin
    This nearly didn’t make Suzy’s list as it’s not obscure enough for a bird lover, but she appreciates the “gardener’s bird” for its beautiful song, iconic plumage, and its personality.
    Blue tit
    A small acrobatic garden bird with striking plumage, the blue tit provides good alarm calls for other birds, but you’ll want to keep them away from your fruit trees if you’re precious about your fruit.
    Blackbird
    Confusingly, only the male of the species is black, whereas female blackbirds are in fact brown. Regardless, their song is beautiful and you’ll hear it from rooftops… even if you’re trying to sleep (especially if you live in an area of light pollution).
    Bullfinch
    Although the male’s plumage is much brighter in northern Europe, they’re still striking in their red and orange, with the females a coffee colour.
    Mark’s picks
    In order of discussion:
    Goldfinch
    According to Suzy, goldfinches were originally kept in cages because they had such a beautiful song. If you’re maintaining your garden during the autumn, you might want to think about leaving thistles and dandelions around, as they provide seeds.
    House sparrow
    The UK has lost 70% of these little pinstriped birds, but have been introduced worldwide thanks to good old colonisation. Suzy especially appreciates listening to their gossipy tones, and thinks we need to do more to value them.
    Chaffinch
    Once the most populous bird in the UK, this David Dickinson lookalike — to Mark’s eyes, at least — has a distinctive trill towards the end of its call. If you’re planning a visit to a stately home, you might see some chaffinches, so why not bring along some sunflower hearts?
    Magpie
    These are smart, mischievous little blighters, that can attack, but have an interesting, chattery song that is often a warning of a looming threat.
    Song thrush
    They can be mistaken for juvenile blackbirds, and Mark has notes on their call, but the way they kill snails is pretty dark.
    More of Suzy Buttress
    Listen to the Casual Birder podcast, and get all Suzy’s contact details on her website.
    Links
    Support the podcast
    1 hr
  • Top 5 films about computers

    Mark is joined by podcaster and self-confessed computer nerd Nick Moreton, to talk about films where people talk about mainframes and UNIX systems.


    There are quite a few swears in this episode, and more than a little discussion about a mutual friend, co-host of Nick’s podcast and Mark’s, and previous List Envy guest, Jon Hickman.

    • (00:00) - Introduction
  • (10:20) - Nick's pick: Hackers
  • (16:26) - Mark's pick: The Matrix
  • (21:44) - Nick's pick: The Social Network
  • (26:16) - Mark's pick: Existenz
  • (30:18) - Nick's pick: The Internet's Own Boy
  • (33:30) - Mark's pick: The Net
  • (37:40) - Nick's pick: Wreck-it Ralph
  • (40:18) - Mark's pick: Ex Machina
  • (43:54) - Nick's pick: Jurassic Park
  • (47:34) - Mark's pick: Flight of the Navigator
  • (50:48) - Honourable mentions
  • (55:48) - 10: GO TO BREAK
  • (59:00) - Building the final list
  • (01:00:22) - More of Nick Moreton


    • You can keep up with Nick on Twitter, and listen to his running podcast, You Don’t Look Like a Runner

    1 hr 5 min
  • Top 5 films about computers
    Guest
    Nick Moreton
    Coder, teacher, punk, tea lover.
    You Don't Look Like A Runner
    Nick (@NGMoreton) on Twitter
    Mark is joined by podcaster and self-confessed computer nerd Nick Moreton, to talk about films where people talk about mainframes and UNIX systems.
    There are quite a few swears in this episode, and more than a little discussion about a mutual friend, co-host of Nick’s podcast and Mark’s, and previous List Envy guest, Jon Hickman..
    Honourable mentions
    Her
    The Terminator
    Independence Day
    Sneakers
    Blade Runner
    Big Hero 6
    The Imitation Game
    Hidden Figures
    Nick’s picks
    In order of discussion:
    Hackers
    This 1995 cyber thriller starring Jonny Lee Miller and Angelina Jolie is essentially the only film Nick wanted to talk about, which he describes as being like the Matrix but if someone spilled coloured paint all over it. It also has exactly the kind of depiction of a computer system you would expect from a mid-90s film.
    The Social Network
    This 2010 Fincher/Sorkin collaboration is Nick’s second pick because it tells the simple story of someone who created something in their bedroom that then went on to change the world.
    The Internet’s Own Boy
    This 2014 documentary tells the story of Aaron Swartz, to whom we as Internet denizens owe a debt of gratitude we’ll sadly not get the chance to repay. He co-founded Reddit and helped architect the Creative Commons licensing framework, worked with John Gruber on the text system Markdown, and was involved in the spec that is used to deliver podcasts to millions of people every day.
    Wreck-it Ralph
    This 2012 CGI kids’ film from 2012 makes Nick’s list purely on merit… no ironic liking here. It’s got video game nods, good performances and a simple, solid storyline. What’s not to love?
    Jurassic Park
    This 1993 blockbuster might not, at first glance, seem to be about computers. But think about it… it’s a UNIX system, you know this. Like all good films about computers in the 90s, there’s a 3D operating system, unnecessary bleeps and bloops and animation that, had the developers spent as much time on park security as they had on taunting other developers, they might have saved that guy from being eaten off of the toilet.
    Mark’s picks
    In order of discussion:
    The Matrix
    Mark’s first pick is a film he knows almost by heart, to the point of being more than a nerd about it. It took him a few go-rounds to fully grok — as the cyberkids say — this ’99 classic, but grok it he did.
    eXistenZ
    Proving that the mid-to-late 90s is where all the best computery films happened, eXistenZ is a less-than-mainstream adventure through a fully realistic virtual reality game. There are tropes to watch out for if you’re familiar with gaming, and a decent cast.
    The Net
    Mark was probably in his second year of secondary school when this Sandra Bullock cybercrime thriller came out. Mark didn’t really know much about the Internet when the film came out, but neither did the writers.
    Ex Machina
    This sizzling near-two-hander between Domhnall Gleeson and Oscar Isaac — with a stand-out performance by Alicia Vikander — makes Mark’s list for its drama, acting, staging, and tension.
    Flight of the Navigator
    If you’re unfamiliar with this Disney adventure from 1986, think 2001: A Space Odyssey , but more fun, and for kids. David is a boy who gets taken up in a tiny, beautiful shiny ship, and whips around the world at high speed.
    More of Nick Moreton
    You can keep up with Nick on Twitter, and listen to his running podcast, You Don’t Look Like a Runner
    Links
    Support the podcast
    1 hr 5 min
  • Top 5 Bond villains

    We look down the barrel of a gun, at a besuited comedy magician called Thom Peterson. He enters centre-frame, aims his gun and fires. Red washes over the screen. Fade to black.


    Thom maintains that magicians just want to be Bond, and who can blame him? He and Mark talk about their favourite — and least-favourite — Bonds, the trouble with the E-on canon (which is not a villainous super-weapon), and much more.


    Expect swearing, Bond trivia, an extraordinary amount of incorrect information, and spoilers.

    • (00:37) - Introduction
  • (12:49) - Thom's pick: Francisco Scaramanga
  • (15:59) - Mark's pick: Francisco Scaramanga
  • (21:19) - Thom's pick: Gustav Graves / Colonel Moon
  • (23:13) - Mark's pick: Alec Trevelyan
  • (25:05) - Thom's pick: Xenia Onatopp
  • (27:03) - Mark's pick: Auric Goldfinger
  • (30:13) - Thom's pick: Max Zorin
  • (33:47) - Mark's pick: Hugo Drax
  • (35:33) - Thom's pick: Rosa Klebb
  • (37:31) - Mark's pick: Renard
  • (39:53) - Honourable mentions and villainous actors
  • (43:03) - Finding the next Bond
  • (46:01) - A View to a Break
  • (48:57) - Building the final list
  • (55:07) - The Amazing Guy

    • Thom died in March 2023 after battling an illness. He was a good friend, a talented and funny performer, and an overall Amazing Guy. He is profoundly missed.
    57 min
  • Top 5 Bond villains
    Guest
    Thom Peterson
    Humour, mystery and downright stupid stuff! That’s his middle name….erm…..names.
    Thom Peterson (@AmazingGuyMagic) on Twitter
    www.AmazingGuy.com
    We look down the barrel of a gun, at a besuited comedy magician called Thom Peterson. He enters centre-frame, aims his gun and fires. Red washes over the screen. Fade to black.
    Thom maintains that magicians just want to be Bond, and who can blame him? He and Mark talk about their favourite — and least-favourite — Bonds, the trouble with the E-on canon (which is not a villainous super-weapon), and much more.
    Honourable mentions go to Mr Wint and Mr Kidd from Diamonds are Forever. Mark also reveals that he’s looking forward to seeing Rami Malek as the next villain, when No Time to Die hits cinemas in April 2020.
    Expect swearing, Bond trivia, an extraordinary amount of incorrect information, and spoilers.
    Thom’s picks
    In order of discussion:
    Francisco Scaramanga
    The titular Man with the Golden Gun, played by Christopher Lee makes it to the top of Thom’s list, for deeply personal reason. Also he shot people with gold, was an equal-opportunity employer and liked to bone down before a kill.
    Gustav Graves / Colonel Moon
    The entrepreneur from Die Another Day is Thom’s next pick for one specific line, which you’ll hear in the episode. (Try and ignore the fact that Mark then launches into talking about GoldenEey , which is a different film).
    Xenia Onatopp
    If you gotta go, why not get strangled to death by Famke Janssen? Thom enjoys the character and Janssen’s portrayal on merits of psychopathy alone.
    Max Zorin
    Christopher Walken’s outing as the villain from A View to a Kill is next on Thom’s list, and is a perfect opportunity for them both try out their impersonations. It’s not necessarily a Bond highlight, but it’s Walken, so it makes the list.
    Rosa Klebb
    Played by Lotte Lenya, Klebb was part of the blueprint for Frau Farbissina, of Austin Powers fame. Thom likes the fact she can go from warm and caring to entirely on fire in the blink of an eye, and she can attack a man with a shoe-blade.
    Mark’s picks
    In order of discussion:
    Ernst Stavro Blofeld
    Blofeld has been played by a number of bald men, and Thom suggests that maybe it’s the cat thing that Mark likes about this iconic villain… or is it that Blofeld is very much the archetypical supervillain? Incidentally, Donald Pleasance is the actor Thom is thinking of, who portrayed Blofeld in /You Only Live Twice/, and the film Mark is criticising for having a “bad Bond” is On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, the George Lazenby one.)
    Alec Trevelyan
    Mark’s second pick (who he keeps calling Alex) is a 006 agent played by Sean Bean. The character has a good death, which is one of Mark’s criteria for judging Bond villains.
    Auric Goldfinger
    Goldfinger had the simple scheme of eradicating all the gold in Fort Knox, exercising his entirely logical belief that if he couldn’t have all the money, no-one should have any of the money.
    Hugo Drax
    Mark’s next pick wants to build a new moon kingdom and press people to cucumber sandwiches. He also gave viewers the chance to be reunited with Jaws, one of the best henchpeople (which is perhaps a list for another day).
    Renard
    Victor Zokas, more commonly konwn as Renard, was portrayed by Robert Carlyle in The World is Not Enough. Mark enjoyed the Carlyle of it all, but also found the character’s backstory interesting. He also had a very good death. Incidentally, Thom is thinking of Denise Richards (not Linda Hamilton) as the woman behind Dr Christmas Jones.
    More of Thom Peterson
    You can follow @AmazingGuyMagic on Instagram, and find out more about him and his work from his website.
    Links
    Support the podcast
    57 min
  • Top 5 journalism films

    Mark gets to the truth, with political podcaster Karin Robinson, as they share their lists of films about the people who keep the presses running.


    Karin hosts the Primarily 2020 podcast, which tracks the ongoing story of the Democratic primaries (the thing where they elect the party’s Presidential candidate). She feels that films about journalism tell the best stories about people engaging with public life.

    • (00:00) - Introduction
  • (03:42) - Karin's pick: Spotlight
  • (07:02) - Mark's pick: Network
  • (11:26) - Karin's pick: His Girl Friday
  • (15:24) - Mark's pick: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
  • (19:02) - Karin's pick: Good Night, and Good Luck
  • (23:56) - Mark's pick: Frost/Nixon
  • (27:26) - Karin's pick: All the President's Men
  • (30:58) - Mark's pick: Almost Famous
  • (34:10) - Karin's pick: The Post
  • (39:36) - Mark's pick: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
  • (46:02) - A break in the story
  • (48:12) - Building the final list
  • (50:12) - Honourable mentions
  • (54:24) - Primarily 2020


    • You can follow Karin on Twitter, and make sure to check out her podcast, Primarily 2020, available wherever you get podcasts.

    58 min

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