Matt talks about the benefits of looking at art in real life.
Hiding Disappointment
Matt and Sophie talk about moments where they have had to hide their disappointment.
Collecting
Matt summarises some points from a lecture about collecting.
Duration
Matt talks about the duration of the podcast and about maybe doing a longer, live version for an exhibition.
Diagnoses
Matt talks about the feeling of being, and not being, diagnosed.
Not Drinking Water
Matt talks about how he doesn’t drink as much water as he used to.
Feeling Festive
Ho ho ho! For the first podcast of 2026 Matt and Ross have a (slightly late) chat about surprising things that make you feel festive such as: bin days, landlords, going up in the loft, prison escapes and more.
Covid Embarrassment
Matt talks about being embarrassed when people talk about Covid.
Ill Children
Matt talks about his daughters being ill. (Spoiler alert: everyone is fine.)
Undermining Yourself
Matt drives home and talks about being given a neat idea to frame his PhD work, along with his worry that he’ll undermine it by going on about it for too long.
Lee Lozano's Notebooks
Matt drives home and talks about the US artist Lee Lozano’s notebooks
Clearing Sewage
Matt makes meatballs and talks about clearing a blocked drain.
Making Art out of Rubbish
Matt talks about a workshop he ran with his students where they all went out and picked up things from the streets to make sculpture.
Bad Back
Matt talks about having a bad back.
Gaslighting
Matt talks about misremembering where the term gaslighting originated.
Celebrity Traitors (Performing Normal)
Matt drives home from the station, talking about the Celebrity Traitors and how celebrities are really good at performing normalness. He’s also got a cold.
Clarity and Complexity
Matt walks around the reservoir and chats to Ross about clarity and complexity.
Inarticulacy
Matt walks around a reservoir in Suffolk and talks about being inarticulate.
Taking Notes
Matt talks about the various platforms that he uses to take notes and make lists.
Men's Facewash and Packet Lattes
Matt talks about Men’s facewash, packet lattes, Andrea Long Chu and the erotics of performing the role of the consumer.
n.b This is a re-performance of the episode after I realised the first version's audio quality was terrible.