Rum Doings

In a very special edition of Rum Doings, Nick and John sit down with Boing Boing co-editor Cory Doctorow, and MakieLab founder and former head of Channel 4 Games, Alice Taylor. Just like John and Nick, they too are a married couple, one half obsessed with copyright issues, the other with games. It only made sense. For some reason we chose to make Nick sit in an echo chamber - sometimes he needs to be kept aside for our safety. We begin discussing Disney, considering dark rides as an art form, the nature of their theme parks' sponsorship, and the consequences of their idealism. Which is the most evil games publisher of the day, did Blackbird destroy the internet, and are Adobe in trouble? What happens when printers print something better than themselves? And then as inevitably as day turns into zombie apocalypse, we turn to intellectual property law. What copyright issues will 3D printing lead to? What code is running on our computers against our will? And will our predictions of the future always be "insuff

Welcome to Rum Doings... Late. Episode 75 was recorded after midnight, which means things are a little more... sexxxxy. It must be listened to after midnight, naked. Ideally on a creaky leather sofa. We're not discussing whether Madonna's gone too far with her latest reinvention. But instead do discuss dipping biscuits in wine, and Nick quite alarmingly holds John's hand. There's chatter about booth babes, prosperity preaching, and the singularity. Find out about the nature of Nick's aquatic affair with John's sister, find a middle name for Laura, and what John and Laura's vows should be. Especially to Dexter. And it's all so sexxxxxxxxxxxxxy. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Late night. Mmmmmmmm.

In episode 74 of Rum Doings we don't discuss whether celebrity is good for democracy. But we do drink gingerbread cream liqueur. It's also the third and final episode containing Judge Martin Coxcombe, who will finally rule on whether John Walker is allowed. Thoughts appear on stag dos, and then there's a splendid foray into making up facts. Something Nick doesn't quite get. We get all serious about anti-Semitism, less so about night terrors, riddles, and video toasters. Is John a bear? Does his Gay Day contribute to that? Are brown eyed people normal? And how does Judge Coxcombe finally rule on John?

With Nick on holiday, and John in the throes of E3, it's a good job we pre-recorded Episode 73 of Rum Doings. This week we don't discuss... we forget! Until ages in! We get too excited by potentially gloopy liquid. And then with a sense of topicality you can only hope for from us, we discuss the distinct lack of a rapture. Special guest Judge Martin "Coxcombe" Coxall is inspired to start a new religion. Via a brief chat about cats, we then ponder copyright, publishing and piracy. Oh, the topic! Is the NHS just a fairytale that won't have a happy ending? And are there ladytits at E3? Which brands of mental allow you a blue badge? And then we're very sensitive about DID. And Operation.

In a sweary, adult-themed Rum Doings episode 72, we allow an email from a listener to provide a foundation for a good proportion of the episode. Which means we need an arbitrator, who exists in the form of special guest Judge Martin Coxall. The email prompts discussions about the roles John and Nick bring to the podcast: Nick’s unabashed intelligence, and John’s desperate, failed attempts to try to be funny. Should we swear more? Should we not swear less? Is there anything wrong with the word “poo”? No. No there is not. We introduce a new system for Nick to indicate when John’s trying too hard, such that Judge Coxcombe can interject with a ruling. Once that’s complete, we move on to discuss super-injunctions. And Nick goes to some lengths to get himself sued into outer space. A pretty in-depth discussion of privacy, law and blackmailing follows.

Nick and John forget how their own running jokes work, then Nick forgets how jokes work. We have rather an intelligent chat about physics (disclaimer: not true), Nick's synesthesia gets out of control, and we regale you with tales of book shopping. Do blind people appreciate black? For some reason we talk about Fawlty Towers, what we'll tell our children about death, Nick accuses John of murder (again), and then move on to smelling wee. Long-suffering fiancée Laura had better prepare for her Rum Doings exam if she wants to get married, we learn of Dexter's immortality, and the deadline for the holocaust. And cat sick. And find out that John's a racist.

Why, it’s episode 70 of Rum Doing, where we’re joined by very special guest, the late John Walker. This week we don’t discuss the lessons we’ve learned from the electorate about the tough choices we’ve had to make in dealing with the economic mess that Labour have left us to deal with. We talk about the return of Adam & Joe, which brings us onto Nick’s plan for a movie where nothing goes wrong. There’s detailed discussions of the nature of scones, and what should replace “obey” in marriage vows. And then, well, I’m sorry – we have a nice long discussion about John’s bumhole. Therefore of course we move on to the wholesome topic of suppositories. And having fingers stuck up your bum! Make sure to listen to this episode while eating. What’s your favourite biscuit? Is probably our lowest ebb. But it at least brings us to something of some vague substance, as Nick tries to explain his issues with the SNP. And how rubbish Laura is. She says “haitch”. Ew. We tell off people for their autobiography names, South Af

It’s episode 69 of Rum Doings! Tee hee hee! Snort. In this episode we don’t discuss whether it’s time to put an end to the scourge of supermarket self checkout before it is too late. But we do discuss tomorrow’s vote. That’s why this is up a day early. We recorded it in a day from the past, expecting to post it on Thursday, but in the wake of the swell of support for AV we’ve decided to put it up a day early. Because we really want to encourage Britishers to spoil. For arguments why, make sure to check out this fine post about it. Beforehand we risk our lives with some ASDA energy drink, and with that coursing through our veins we begin a discussion of the upcoming vote. John makes the argument for spoiling, while Nick puts forward some even more radical positions. John discusses his encounter with a troubled Lib Dem councillor, and we get alittlebitpoliticalladiesandgentlemen. An attempt to change gears by addressing more listener questions is almost immediately interrupted by the noisiest escape attempt

Today, in episode 68, we are not discussing: Are the councils bowing to politically correct madness in banning bunting for health and safety craziness? But instead we talk about an upgrade to business class, and then with exceptional timing review 2007′s Portal. At length. We then, inevitably move on to discussing our complete lack of interest in tomorrow’s wedding, before moving on to some questions from Twitter. The first being, what are the ladylike things we do? There’s chat about the inappropriateness of men taking their tops off in public, a trip to the zoo, some extreme snobbishness, and education reform. Oh, and is happiness a good thing?

For episode 67 of Rum Doings, you join Nick and John in one of London’s most average hotels, where for some reason they’ve taken a room together. While we don’t discuss whether we’re sacrificing children on the altar of working mums, we do instead moan about the mediocrity of hotels in the UK. Each of us offers some racism that we exhibit, there’s some discussion of radio continuity, Mel Gibson’s films, and the difference between uninterested and disinterested. We try to stop people stopping the war, the future of Dexter, and British beers. John has forgotten all of his chemistry A Level, and then it turns out we both have precisely the same recurring dream. Dreams takes John onto confessing his sleep-based infidelities, which takes us into a somewhat uncomfortable discussion about the real world. We’ve both got a new t-shirt, talk about anti-Semitism, and somehow get back to naughty dreams again and the King James Bible. You know, those subjects that always go together.

Goodness, it’s Rum Doings 66. While not discussing whether the decimalisation experiment has been a failure, we tuck into Christmas pudding wine. And then dig up the argument over whether the Amiga or Atari was best (it was the Atari). Then we embark on an episode based on discussions inspired by the following randomly selected Wikipedia articles: Bosko (cartoons, Loony Tunes Back In Action, Mary Poppins, CAP Alert) Humber—St. George’s—St. Barbe (Yorkshire Ridings, island hopping, aeroplane maps, long flights and upper class, the S9 mp4 player, They’re Back, the Kindle, sharing is bad) Tiny Broken Heart (Tragic Songs, alien robots) Silchar (Why we don’t want to go to India, Chinese democracy) Ribbon-tailed Astrapia (what we can learn from peacocks, John’s split wedding, the plan for cream teas, complete lack of million pound donations) Nut (nuts) Atasca (moth wrangling, the biggest thing we’d kill, The Man With Two Brains)

Filled with the spirit of Spring, in episode 65 of Rum Doings we don't discuss whether we've forgotten the true meaning of Easter. Then almost immediately start complaining about how rubbish schools are. And urinals. In fact, there's much wee-wee discussion, including an innovative idea for bed weeing. And much more besides.

Welcome to Rum Doings Episode 64, a very special episode scripted by former Doctor Who helmsmen, Russell “T” Davies. As part of their multiracial, intrasexual, post-masculinism relationship, Nick and John discuss the lameness of John’s name, the tendency for Victorians to not die properly, and how we actually recorded this episode before the Ben Goldacre one. Our Welsh accents make another appearance, we discuss Old Man Murray, and John explains the full glory of the Cat Moustache puzzle from Gabriel Knight 3. THAT HE NOTICED FIRST. See behind the scenes for how we come up with our topics to not discuss. Then we moisten our palates with a mixed fruit cider. And then wedding cakes. We continue our hatred of the blind, ponder Brian Blessed’s continued existence, and the collapse of Leslie Nielson’s career. Especially of late.

We’re very pleased to say that in episode 40, 50, 60 and 63 of Rum Doings (a four-way simulcast, and double-length), we are joined by very special guest, Dr. Ben Goldacre. The man behind the Bad Science blog and Guardian column, and the book of the same name, allows us into his London studio to discuss the subjects about which he and we are passionate. We think this was a unique opportunity for the subjects to be discussed with enough space to consider them properly, and for the good doctor to speak in a way that five minute radio interviews cannot. In a sweary episode, we begin by talking about the peculiarities of those who threaten to sue Goldacre for libel, and the way quacks will create misleading statistics. Then via Nick’s desire for robot doctors, we discuss whether doctors are obliged to tell the truth to their patients, how new technology may change the role of doctors in diagnosis, and the potential for conflicts of interest depending upon how doctors are paid. And Nick lets John speak after the f

We're really sorry that this is a clicky episode. We have no idea what causes it, and there's nothing we can do to fix it. It's really not that big of a deal. In episode 62, Nick's broken voice becomes the first point of discussion, once we've established we won't be talking about whether the English have forgotten how to make a good cuppa. We then move on to talking about Nick's wife's breast milk ice cream, Nick introduces a new indication law, and John tells the story of the crazy Welsh ex-policeman at his door. We have a discussion of Sweden, talk about why John's risking becoming a rapist by playing Bulletstorm, and then chat about violent videogames. Make sure to tune in to next week's too, when we'll be releasing episodes 40, 50, 60 and 63 all in one episode, with a truly excellent celebrity guest.

A discussion of quantum mechanics, Christian Voice and DEATH.

I'm far too busy to tell you what's in this episode. We've recorded a couple in advance - this week's and next week's. Amazingly Nick has been told by the doctor he must not speak for two weeks. At all. That's how come you've heard those angels singing. So I imagine we probably talked about some drink, radio, probably wittered on about TV at length, and Nick probably accused John of being something terrible. You know how it goes. Very entertainingly. That's how.

Welcome to a leathery 58th edition of Rum Doings, where we don’t discuss what we are doing to protect our English cricket greens. But we do instead discuss celebratory Welch’s grape soda. What are we celebrating? Well, it seems that John has proposed to a woman. And not curtains. So there’s much discussion of that, as you might imagine, with the full story of how it all happened so John can point people to listen to this rather than have to tell everyone who asks. We explain the necessity to avoid diamonds, and the means by which a lady will agree to marriage. Then there’s some familiar ranting about the Liberal Democrats, discussions of the death of the NHS, and Nick takes on some sacred cows of classic radio comedy. We ponder the Two Ronnies, Sorry!, and then misery of 70s and 80s sitcoms. And there’s an explanation of how to write like your favourite RPSer. And then after a bit we stop.

Episode 57 begins with a discussion of the number 56. You can’t pin us down. And we’re not discussing for how much longer we shall have to put up with the SCOURGE of HOMMOsexual adoption. Then we take leave of our senses and attempt an alcohol free beer. We attempt a few one or two-word impressions. Then we discuss the poly-attractive nature of Susan Kennedy. At length. And finally, after mentioning it a hundred times, we explain what a BEMLi are. Which takes us onto discussing the sad collapse of Chris Morris, and the rise of Charlie Brooker. Nick angrily points out why John’s job is stupid, and then attempts to get himself – and himself alone – sued. John painfully attempts to explain why it’s bad business to be a corrupt games magazine, and Nick explains that it’s Stockholm Syndrome. The attacks on John continue as Nick tries to uncover corruption in his past, and John wants to cry. Then we discuss Kieron Gillen’s riches, and RPS slash fiction.

Heavens to Betsy, we're back. After a very well earned and enjoyable break, Rum Doings returns with a fifty-sixth episode. We discover the reasons behind little finger etiquette, recall Christmas, irritating anachronisms, and flu vaccines. John's hatred of chickens is exposed, Nick proves he's the same as Naomi Wolf, and Jesus sends John to hell. We introduce a new law, and then go on something of an extended rant about train-based digital displays.