Ben, Jones and Ines are wondering when childhood ends this week. Jonas updates us on his icy river swims, and Ines gives a rousing speech to inspire us for 2021 to come. Ben briefly tries to become a poet, though the results are far from conclusive. As ever, tangents are not only encouraged, but relied upon.

- Show Notes - 

[1] Ben is reading The Science of Storytelling by Will Storr this week

[2] Ben recommended Boyhood this week, a 2014 Richard Linklater film that's worth watching

[2] All visual content (including Ben's poem) will be made available on the NEW @thetangentialists Instagram account

This week, Jonas, Ben and Inès tangent their way through the virtues of stoicisms, the components of a great speech, and the value in making playlists for ducks. Yes, 'to tangent' is now a verb. As ever, tangents are not only encouraged, but relied upon.

- Show Notes -

[1] Speech from The Newsroom - tinyurl.com/newsroomspeech

[2] Speech from Independence Day (1996) - tinyurl.com/idayspeech

[3] Speech from Lord of the Rings - Return of the King (2003) - tinyurl.com/ringsspeech

[4] What happens if you remove a laughter track from Friends - tinyurl.com/friendspsycho

[5] Scene from 12 Angry Men (1957) - tinyurl.com/12angrymenspeech (worth watching the film in its entirety) 

[6] Speech from Mean Girls (2004) - tinyurl.com/meangirlsspeech

[7] Speech given by Hilary Benn in favour of airstrikes in Syria* - tinyurl.com/hbennspeech (*Ben incorrectly said Libya)

- Challenges -

[8] Inès' Duck Playlist - tinyurl.com/inesduckplaylist

[9] Jonas' self-portrait - tinyurl.com/jonasportrait

Ben, Jonas, and Inès were all inspired by Netflix juggernaut The Queen's Gambit this week, and move conversation through its opening moves on chess, to an endgame considering the ingredients of a world champion, all with the grace and poise of Anya Taylor-Joy (we wish, at least). Stay tuned to find out why Ben has stopped believing in mouths, why Inès has traded cows for ducks in her playlist-making endeavours, and which podcast that Jonas recommends as being both interesting and not interesting at the same time. As ever, tangents are not only encouraged, but relied upon.

Show Notes

[1] You can find the Queen's Gambit on Netflix. It's worth a watch.

[2] You can play Beth Harmon online at tinyurl.com/tryandbeatbeth

[3] Listen to Carol Dweck expalin growth mindsets much better than Ben, here: tinyurl.com/growthatmindset

[4] Notes from The Pen can be found here: www.notesfromthepen.com/podcast

[5] We're still awaiting the Duck Playlist from Inès

Ben, Jonas, and Inès are joined by their good friend Helena this week to talk about becoming a Twitter meme, creating a brand new kind of dating algorithm, and discussing what kind of music cows like. As ever, tangents are not only encouraged, but relied upon. 

-Show Notes-

[1] The book Ben and Helena talks about is What Goes Around by Emily Chappell - available at all good bookstores 

[2] To read more about the Elena Canalizares -  tinyurl.com/elenatwittermeme

[3] Further Reading recomended by Ben - So You've Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson - also available at all good bookstores

[4] The Bovine Playlist - tinyurl.com/thebovineplaylist

Speculation is in the air this week, as Ben, Jonas and Inès discuss whether Ben has coronavirus. They also discuss the future of that unpleasant neologism 'content consumption', and discuss discipline in its many forms. Along the way, all three hosts betray the fact they've never worked in a office before. As always, tangents are not only encouraged, but relied upon.

Ths week, Jonas, Ben and Inès discuss working standing up, working on trains, and working in zero-gravity environments. We also talk about the cyclical nature of fashion, Ben's only hope to ever be fashionable. We finish with a debate on whether Elon Musk could pull off wearing swim shorts to work. As ever, tangents are not only encouraged, but relied upon.

*PS very sorry for Ben's tinny audio this week, it will be fixed for last week. We know we said this last week two, but this time it's a promise.

Energy is high in the room this week, as Ben, Jonas and Inès discuss sports, staring at people's faces, and the many life paths of Tinder. They also hypothesise on the existence of the Evil Tangentialists, in a parallel universe somewhere. Perhaps they're better at maths. As ever, tangents are not only encouraged, but relied upon.

This week, Ben, Jonas and Inès tackle education in all its forms - including a 13th Century passage about a biblical courtroom. We also consider whether JK Simmons' character in Whiplash was a role model (he definitely wasn't). As ever, tangents are not only encouraged, but relied upon.

There's a choatic energy in the room this week, as Ben, Jonas, and Inès power through topic after topic. Along the way, we discuss the intricacies of linguistic context, Jonas' thrilling family Christmas, and Ines insults Ben many times. As ever, tangents are not only encouraged, but relied upon.

This week, Inès joins Ben and Jonas on a tour of music tastes, film tastes and food tastes. Fortunately, there is no maths in this episode for us to embarrass ourselves with. Attentive listeners will hear a fit of dog barking half-way through - apologies, Ben has some loud new neighbours. 

The website we talk about at the start is Obscurify - find out if you're as generic as we are here - https://obscurifymusic.com/login.