At the Australian Open, a protester yelled out in the quiet stadium at the end of the men's tennis final. Jules and Jez unpack what it was all about and how sports deal with allegations against players.

And after hosting a few days of Australia Day events, Jez has been thinking about how we mark important dates.

BUY ADELAIDE SHOW TICKETS HERE

https://www.adelaidefestival.com.au/events/2025-writers-week/not-stupid/

JULES PICK

The Remarkable Normalcy of Being Disabled and in Love: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/16/well/family/interabled-relationships-burcaw.html

JEZ PICK

Ariana Grande reveals the truth about "Holding Space"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOo-e-tR3PI

Have you come back to work after a summer holiday? Are you thinking that this year, you'll get your work/life balance sorted? Are you wondering if it really is possible? 

Jules and Jez chat about whether we should have a "right to disconnect" from the office and it turns out they are just very different humans. 

The Right to Disconnect https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-01-01/we-now-have-the-right-to-disconnect-but-has-it-changed-anything/104711380

Donald Trump has taken office, so what will the next four years look like in the White House? Jez and Jules look at what Donald Trump has done in his first days in the job and who is pushing back. And after a series of Anti-Semitic attacks across the country, the Government is promising to act, but Jules thinks we also need to think more about our history.

SHOW NOTES 

COME TO OUR ADELAIDE SHOW!

TICKETS HERE: https://my.adelaidefestival.com.au/4188/4189

JEZ' PICK: De-extinction https://edition.cnn.com/2025/01/16/science/colossal-de-extinction-funding-resurrection-science/index.html

WATERMELON VIDEO: https://www.msn.com/en-in/food-and-drink/recipes/woman-smashes-most-number-of-watermelons-with-thighs-in-a-minute-to-create-guinness-world-record-watch/ar-AA1xnAGK?apiversion=v2&noservercache=1&domshim=1&renderwebcomponents=1&wcseo=1&batchservertelemetry=1&noservertelemetry=1

Jules has been reading up on solitude after finding a piece in The Atlantic about "The Anti-Social Century". It looks at our changing habits around social isolation and says that Americans are spending more time alone than ever. So is it the same here? And if you love your solitude, do you sometimes think about why?

"The Anti-Social Century" in The Atlantic

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/02/american-loneliness-personality-politics/681091/

Multi-tasking research

https://childmind.org/article/kids-shouldnt-use-phones-during-homework/

The fires in California have been dominating the news for the last couple of weeks and on social media its getting hard to sort the facts from fiction. Jules and Jez look at the conspiracy theories about the fires and whether Meta's decision about fact checking might make it worse in the future. 

And we are a few weeks into January, so how are your new year’s resolutions going?? Have they already fallen by the wayside and does it really matter. 

SHOW NOTES:

Jez' Pick: Every Best Actress Award 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMSoIJl9DWc

Paloma Diamond

https://www.instagram.com/juliansew/reel/DEnoV-yzaMF/

Jules' Pick: Severance https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-01-15/severance-season-one-recap-ahead-of-season-two-release/104803698

A US study found that when a group of people were asked to read poetry by famous authors and poetry written by Chat GPT, they preferred the Chat GPT poems. Jules and Jez put Chat GPT to the test, plus more of your favourite poems.

Buy tickets to our Adelaide show here: https://www.adelaidefestival.com.au/events/2025-writers-week/podfest-not-stupid/

Poems discussed:

"Good Bones" by Maggie Smith

"A May Night On The Mountains" by Henry Lawson

"Wild Geese" by Mary Oliver

"Still I rise" by Maya Angelou

Do you have a favourite kids book? Can you still recite it? Jules and Jez chat about their most-loved children's books and the ones they remember reading to their own kids. Have you got a favourite? We'd love to hear from you. You can email us at [email protected]

Buy tickets to our Adelaide show here: https://www.adelaidefestival.com.au/events/2025-writers-week/podfest-not-stupid/

This year, Jules has been speaking to lots of people about what makes them resilient. She wanted to know how they cope in the aftermath of horrific events or how they deal with ongoing pain. She's been writing about it in her "Staying Upright" column and she and Jez chat about what she has learnt. 

STAYING UPRIGHT

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-24/staying-upright-life-can-be-hard-how-do-people-endure/103615514

STAYING UPRIGHT: JAMILA RIZVI

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-04-07/staying-upright-jamila-rizvi-brain-tumour-diagnosis/103673974

STAYING UPRIGHT: JON OWEN

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-26/jon-owen-wayside-chapel-helping-others-staying-upright/103887876

STAYING UPRIGHT: SARAH LULU FAITH

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-04-14/staying-upright-crochet-and-healing-power-of-knitting-needles/103700364

STAYING UPRIGHT: DAVE TARNOWSKI

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-05/dave-tarnowski-stigma-mental-illness-disappointing-affirmations/103795176

After a big year of pretty toxic politics globally, can we learn to disagree better? Jules has been reading up about the "Dignity Index", so could it make a difference? And the so called "hot assassin" has lots of people talking about healthcare and health insurance in the US. Also, could "Not Stupid" get in the Guinness Book of Records?

SHOW NOTES

Buy tickets to our Adelaide show!

https://www.adelaidefestival.com.au/events/2025-writers-week/podfest-not-stupid/

Utah Governor advert:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5_ajRH0QN8

Jules' Pick:

https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2024/12/record-breaking-best-of-2024-iconic-meet-ups-amazing-animals-and-age-defying-love

Jez' Pick:

https://iview.abc.net.au/show/very-musical-christmas

We asked if you needed any life advice and you've got questions. What's the best trifle recipe? Is a plastic Christmas tree better than a real one? Do I have to buy nice presents for people if they only give me rubbish ones?

Jules and Jez offer their advice and their baking tips.

MADS' EMERGENCY TRIFLE TIPS

1. 1.Use the right bowl. A good bowl is the difference between an amazing looking trifle and slop in a bowl. Making a trifle on holidays? Take the bowl to the holiday house. They never ever have a trifle bowl.
2. 2.Best Christmas trifle recipe: Morello cherry jelly (add alcohol if you want), choc cake (I make and freeze this so its ready when I need it), crushed gingerbread layer, cream or mascarpone cream, more cherries, another chocolate cake, more cream or mascarpone, fresh cherries, shaved chocolate and gingerbread Christmas trees on the top.