Answer Me This!

This month, questioneers want to know about songs for the year 2000, what the deal is with wax seals, why we say “The butler did it!” when the butler never did it, and how to shirk unwanted company at rowdy retiree lunch club. For more information about this episode, head to answermethispodcast.com/episode414 Got questions for us to answer, or feedback about an episode? Send them in writing or as a voice note to answermethispodcast@googlemail.com, or you can call 0208 123 5877 like the old days. AMT415 will be in your podfeed 26 Febuary 2026, with an episode of Answer Us Back mid-Feb; paying patrons at patreon.com/answermethis also get a batch of Bonus Bits, plus the Petty Problems back catalogue, AND an ad-free version of AMT414. (Sign up at one of the higher tiers to get access to an RSS feed with ALL the AMT stuff EVER, including our entire back catalogue, our six themed albums, the retro AMTs, and every Bit of Crapp from the AMT App!) This episode is sponsored by Squarespace, the all in one platform for creating and running your online empire. Go to squarespace.com/answer, have a play around during the two-week free trial, and when you're ready to launch, get a 10% discount on your first purchase of a website or domain with the code ANSWER. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How do you tell your parents you’ve been married for several years? Is bell-ringing a sport? What should you wear on a TV quiz show? How rich/soggy is Mr Darcy? And what species is a Womble? AMT413 questioneers want to know all these things and more. For more information about this episode, visit answermethispodcast.com/episode413, and let us know your weird snack preferences too. Got questions for us to answer, or feedback about an episode? Send them in writing or as a voice note to answermethispodcast@googlemail.com, or you can call 0208 123 5877 like the old days. AMT414 will be in your podfeed 29 January 2026, and paying patrons also get a fresh edition of our video livestream question-answering session Petty Problems on 16 January. So become a patron at patreon.com/answermethis and you not only get to watch all the Petty Problemses, you also receive an ad-free version of the episode, plus bonus material each month, and if you sign up at one of the higher tiers, you get access to an RSS feed with ALL the AMT stuff EVER, including our entire back catalogue, our six themed albums, the retro AMTs, and every Bit of Crapp from the AMT App. Cor! AND you’re helping with the continuing existence of AMT through 2026. Also, if you want to check out our other podcasts that we mention at the end of this episode: Olly's daily history show Today in History with the Retrospectors is here, and you'll find Helen's Pride and Prejudice re-caps in the archive of Veronica Mars Investigations. This episode is sponsored by Squarespace, the all in one platform for creating and running your online empire. Go to squarespace.com/answer, have a play around during the two-week free trial, and when you're ready to launch, get a 10% discount on your first purchase of a website or domain with the code ANSWER. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello! Here is this month's edition of Answer Us Back, full of your feedback on AMTs old and new - mostly pretty new. On today's menu: Olly Mann himself has a change of heart about Elf On The Shelf since AMT392. Laura found a variety pack of stock, as yearned for by Olly in AMT407 - although is two flavours enough to count as 'variety'? Several people wrote in to chip in on AMT412's discussion of people with your same name using your email address; here we hear from Margaret and Daniel. After hearing AMT411's question from Charlie from Canberra - whose mother had lately found out she was the biological child of a prolific sperm donor and thus has 600+ siblings - we heard from many of you reflecting upon your similar experiences of finding you were the child of a sperm donor, or your parent learning that they were. David, Breanne and Jo share some remarkable responses. If you’ve been storing thoughts about AMTs 1-412, send them to us for future episodes of Answer Us Back. And as always, send in your questions, in voicenote or written form to answermethispodcast@googlemail.com, for all new AMT413 which will be in your podfeed 24 December 2025. And keep AMT going by signing up at patreon.com/answermethis, where highest tier gets access to our ENTIRE back catalogue, including the paywalled episodes, the special albums, the Bonus Bits of Crapp on the AMT App (RIP) and all the Retro AMT episodes. Thanks to Naked Wines for sponsoring AMT, and for providing bottles straight from world-class winemakers, cutting out the middleman, delivered to your door. Head to nakedwines.co.uk/answer to get a £30 voucher on your first 6 pack, including free delivery. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

AMT412’s questioneers want to know why Innocent smoothies wear little woolly hats, how to increase someone’s spice tolerance, whether someone making you a mixtape is definitely a sign of romantic interest, and what to do about similarly-named strangers using your email address. For more information about this episode, visit answermethispodcast.com/episode412 Got questions for us to answer, or feedback about an episode? Send them in writing or as a voice note to answermethispodcast@googlemail.com, or you can call 0208 123 5877 like the old days. AMT413 will be in your podfeed 24 December 2025, and halfway through the month you’ll get an episode of our new feature Answer Us Back in your podfeed, full of your own contributions to AMT questions recent and ancient. Become a patron at patreon.com/answermethis to help with the continuing existence of AMT. All tiers get an ad-free version of the episode, plus bonus material each month, and our live video question-answering session Petty Problems which is next happening 18 January 2026; but spend a bit more and you get access to an RSS feed with ALL the AMT stuff EVER, including our entire back catalogue, our six themed albums, the retro AMTs, and every Bit of Crapp from the AMT App. This episode is sponsored by Squarespace, the all in one platform for creating and running your online empire. Go to squarespace.com/answer, have a play around during the two-week free trial, and when you're ready to launch, get a 10% discount on your first purchase of a website or domain with the code ANSWER. Thanks to Naked Wines for sponsoring AMT, and for providing bottles straight from world-class winemakers, cutting out the middleman, delivered to your door. Head to nakedwines.co.uk/answer to get a £30 voucher on your first 6 pack, including free delivery. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wake up, babe - a new AMT feature just dropped! Midway through the interminable month between new episodes, we’ll be doing an Answer Us Back episode that’s all bits of feedback you send in about episodes old and new. Today we hear from: Scott, on the lyrics of ‘Sweet Caroline’, first discussed in AMT365 in 2018; Steve in San Diego, with some cool tiara trivia following our discussion of that headgear in AMT408; Elodia and Jess, both former medical students, illuminating us on what really goes on when they dissect human bodies during their training, which came up in AMT404. And Elodia previously wrote to us all the way back in 2011! If you’ve been storing thoughts about AMTs 1-411, send them to us for future episodes of Answer Us Back. And as always, send in your questions, in voicenote or written form to answermethispodcast@googlemail.com, for all new AMT412 which will be in your podfeed 27 November 2025. Also, join us for our fun Petty Problems live video on 16 November 2025 by signing up at patreon.com/answermethis; by doing so, you’re also helping keep the whole podcast going, so congrats and thanks for that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

AMT411’s questioneers want to know whether snakes really are charmed, if people of Yore really slept sitting up, and what you should do when your mum finds out she’s the child of one of the most prolific sperm donors in history and wants to meet her hundreds of half-siblings. For more information about this episode, visit answermethispodcast.com/episode411. Got questions for us to answer? Send them in writing or as a voice note to answermethispodcast@googlemail.com, or you can call 0208 123 5877 like the old days. Next episode will be in your podfeed 27 November 2025, so get your festive questions in, or hang onto them for a full year. Become a patron at patreon.com/answermethis to help with the continuing existence of AMT, and to get an ad-free version of the episode, plus bonus material each month, and our live video question-answering session Petty Problems which is next happening 16 November 2025. This episode is sponsored by Squarespace, the all in one platform for creating and running your online empire. Go to squarespace.com/answer, have a play around during the two-week free trial, and when you're ready to launch, get a 10% discount on your first purchase of a website or domain with the code ANSWER. Thanks to Naked Wines for sponsoring AMT, and for providing bottles straight from world-class winemakers, cutting out the middleman, delivered to your door. Head to nakedwines.co.uk/answer to get a £30 voucher on your first 6 pack, including free delivery. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a piggyback ride, who is the piggy? WHO IS THE PIGGY??? A questioneer simply must know! We also learn about cleaning swimming pools pre-chlorine, fruit wine in song lyrics, TV character crossovers, and telling fibs in a wedding speech. For more information about this episode visit answermethispodcast.com/episode410. Got questions for us to answer? Send them in writing or as a voice note to answermethispodcast@googlemail.com, OR - thanks to Adam of SocialComms.uk who has revived our phone number - you can call 0208 123 5877. Next episode will be in your podfeed 30 October 2025 so get your Halloween questions in, or hang onto them for a full year. Become a patron at patreon.com/answermethis to help with the continuing existence of AMT, and to get an ad-free version of the episode, plus bonus material each month, and our live video question-answering session Petty Problems. This episode is sponsored by Squarespace, the all in one platform for creating and running your online empire. Go to squarespace.com/answer, have a play around during the two-week free trial, and when you're ready to launch, get a 10% discount on your first purchase of a website or domain with the code ANSWER. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s questioneers want to know whether to hide bawdy home decor when kids visit, how one comes to own a cemetery, why cities are full of artist-decorated animals, whether you can eat slugs, what to do with three unwanted sets of boules, and what the most ordered item is from the enormous menu at Cheesecake Factory. For more information about this episode, and pics of the very special furniture we mention, visit answermethispodcast.com/episode409. Got questions for us to answer? Send them in writing or as a voice note to answermethispodcast@googlemail.com, OR - thanks to Adam of SocialComms.uk who has revived our phone number - you can call 0208 123 5877. Next episode will be in your podfeed 25 September 2025. Become a patron at patreon.com/answermethis to help with the continuing existence of AMT, and to get an ad-free version of the episode, plus bonus material culled from the show, and our live video question-answering session Petty Problems - you can catch up on previous editions too. This episode is sponsored by Squarespace, the all in one platform for creating and running your online empire. Go to squarespace.com/answer, have a play around during the two-week free trial, and when you're ready to launch, get a 10% discount on your first purchase of a website or domain with the code ANSWER. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s questioneers want to know, among other things, what private investigators actually do, what happened to Deely Boppers (Deely Bobbers?), how to greet your spouse when you’re attending the same business meeting, how to steer someone to not want to work for you, and how to persuade someone to GTFO of the massage chair at the airport that they’re not getting massaged in. For more information about this episode, visit answermethispodcast.com/episode408. Got question for us to answer? Send them in writing or as a voice note to answermethispodcast@googlemail.com. Next episode will be in your podfeed 28 August 2025. Become a patron at patreon.com/answermethis to help with the continuing existence of AMT, and to get an ad-free version of the episode, plus bonus material culled from the show, and our live video question-answering session Petty Problems, the next edition of which is happening 23 August 2025. This episode is sponsored by Squarespace, the all in one platform for creating and running your online empire. Go to squarespace.com/answer, have a play around during the two-week free trial, and when you're ready to launch, get a 10% discount on your first purchase of a website or domain with the code ANSWER. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s questioneers want to know why a coffee shop will have either good coffee or good chairs but not both, WTF Judi Dench’s voice is doing at Disney World, how to stop their coworkers pushing MLMs onto them, how to get their wife to like their malepolish, and why Phoebe from Friends would say lobsters mate for life when actually lobsters just want a quick hot fling and no commitment. For more information about this episode, visit answermethispodcast.com/episode407. Got question for us to answer? Send them in writing or as a voice note to answermethispodcast@googlemail.com. Next episode will be in your podfeed 31 July 2025. Become a patron at patreon.com/answermethis to help with the continuing existence of AMT, and to get an ad-free version of the episode, plus bonus material culled from the show, and our live video question-answering session Petty Problems. This episode is sponsored by Squarespace, the all in one platform for creating and running your online empire. Go to squarespace.com/answer, have a play around during the two-week free trial, and when you're ready to launch, get a 10% discount on your first purchase of a website or domain with the code ANSWER. 🎧 Olly's new BBC Sounds series about the building of a new Universal Studios theme park in Bedfordshire is here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why do Danes slice up the bride’s veil and the groom’s socks at a wedding? Is it OK to take pats of butter from a cafe? How/when do Popes learn Italian? And what happens if you drop your phone into the toilet at a festival? (Spoiler: nothing good.) Questioneers want to know all these things and more in AMT406. For more information about this episode, visit answermethispodcast.com/episode406 Got question for us to answer? Send them in writing or as a voice note to answermethispodcast@googlemail.com. Next episode will be in your podfeed 26 June 2025. Before that, AMT patrons will be getting a new feature: Petty Problems, a live YouTube version of the show where we only deal with questions that are trivial, unserious, minor. And because it’s live, you can interact with us in real time! The first edition will be 10pm UK time on Sunday 15th June. Patrons also get bonus cuts from the show, an ad-free version of the episode, and the glow of satisfaction of bringing this podcast back to life; so for all that, go to patreon.com/answermethis. This episode is sponsored by Squarespace, the all in one platform for creating and running your online empire. Go to squarespace.com/answer, have a play around during the two-week free trial, and when you're ready to launch, get a 10% discount on your first purchase of a website or domain with the code ANSWER. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's one of those fantasy questions that gets batted around when "Who would you want at your fantasy dinner party?" has been wrung dry: what would you spend the money on if you won the lottery? Except one questioneer has actually done it, and now they need to figure out what to spend the money on in a way that doesn't tip anyone off that they won the lottery. Plus, questioneers want to know: what do pretzels mean, when did sports winners start kissing trophies, who had the incredible idea to make biscuits into spread, what do you do with your late spouse's underpants, and how to do you stop being given gifts of toe socks. For more information about this episode, visit answermethispodcast.com/episode405. Got questions for us to answer? Send them in writing or as a voice note to answermethispodcast@googlemail.com. Next episode will be in your podfeed 29 May 2025. AMT patrons will be getting bonus material before that, as well as an ad-free version of the episode, and the glow of satisfaction of bringing this podcast back to life; so to become a patron, go to patreon.com/answermethis. This episode is sponsored by Squarespace, the all in one platform for creating and running your online empire. Go to squarespace.com/answer, have a play around during the two-week free trial, and when you're ready to launch, get a 10% discount on your first purchase of a website or domain with the code ANSWER. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In AMT404, listeners want to know where to go to see the northern lights, why Jesus's official birthday and deathday aren't on the same calendar, and who is being weird: them, or their family? We also learn about sand heists, leaving your body to science/Disneyland, and werewolf menstruation. For more information about this episode, visit answermethispodcast.com/episode404. Got question for us to answer? Send them in writing or as a voice note to answermethispodcast@googlemail.com. Next episode will be in your podfeed 1 May 2025. Our patrons will be getting bonus material before that, as well as an ad-free version of the episode, so to become one, go to patreon.com/answermethis. This episode is sponsored by Squarespace, the all in one platform for creating and running your online empire. Go to squarespace.com/answer, have a play around during the two-week free trial, and when you're ready to launch, get a 10% discount on your first purchase of a website or domain with the code ANSWER. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We've been making this show for a long time. We have had SO many questions about weddings. And yet, in AMT403, we get a whole fresh spin on the Wedding WTFery genre of question. Plus, questioneers ask about understudies' pay, popcorn's popularity, and who has to clear out your shed after you die. For more information about this episode, visit answermethispodcast.com/episode403. Got question for us to answer? Send them in writing or as a voice note to answermethispodcast@googlemail.com. Next episode will be in your podfeed 27 March 2025. Our patrons will be getting bonus material before that, so to become one, go to patreon.com/answermethis This episode is sponsored by Squarespace, the all in one platform for creating and running your online empire. Go to squarespace.com/answer, have a play around during the two-week free trial, and when you're ready to launch, get a 10% discount on your first purchase of a website or domain with the code ANSWER. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Can you bloody well believe it? New AMT in your ears in the year 2025?? Well, it's real! In AMT402, listeners ask about roller derby names, baked bean beans, shopping on planes, and the danger of bagpipes. For more information about this episode, visit answermethispodcast.com/episode402. Got question for us to answer? Send them in writing or as a voice note to answermethispodcast@googlemail.com. Next episode will be in your podfeed 27 February 2025. Our patrons will be hearing from us before that, so to become one, go to patreon.com/answermethis. This episode is sponsored by Squarespace. To build an online home for your side hustle, or front hustle, or underhustle, go to squarespace.com/answer, have a play around during the two-week free trial, and when you're ready to launch, get a 10% discount on your first purchase of a website or domain with the code ANSWER. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Happy birthday to AMT, turning 18 years old today! Which means our baby is now an adult, and we are celebrating by.... 🎉 BRINGING THE PODCAST BACK! 🎉 We're going to try it out with new monthly episodes on the last Thursday of the month, for the next three months. So the show will return with AMT402 on 30 January 2025, 403 on 27 February, 404 on 27 March... And after that? Well, if we're enjoying it, and you're enjoying it, we hope to continue. We need your help, though, in the following three ways: Send us your questions. This podcast depends on them! Send them in writing or as a voice note to answermethispodcast@googlemail.com - ideally including the formula "Helen and/or Olly, answer me this", and let us know a name (pseudonyms are fine) and pronouns to use for you. As always, your questions can be about all sorts of things: pop culture, history, moral dilemmas, romance, workplace feuds, etiquette, myths, whatever is causing your brow to furrow. Also, if you want to fill us in on how you are and what's been happening in your life in our absence, please do. a) Tell people the show is back. Social media? Great! Old media? Fantastic. Writing it across your face and running around the supermarket? Could work. We'd love for listeners old and new to hear that AMT is returning. b) Resubscribe in your podcast app: follow the links at https://pod.link/208516732. And set to auto-download new episodes while you're there. (Nowadays a lot of the podcast-listening apps will stop updating you with new episodes if you haven't recently listened to one. Don't let 'em!) Fund the show at patreon.com/answermethis. Your contributions will help keep it going. And we have some sweet extra perks for you coming up just as soon as the show is up and running again. That's all our demands! For now. We're excited to answer your questions again, and to witter in your ears while you commute or work out or do the gardening or nurse the baby or fall asleep. Happy New Year! x H & O Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back AMT for one special new episode! So much has changed since we retired nearly two years ago, but what remains is our desire to answer your questions. Today, questioneers wonder about what to say about working in a world-famous place, romantic bacon competitions, unromantic but important kebab competitions, Danielle Steel's sleeping habits, and looking at their own semen through a microscope. Find out more about this episode at answermethispodcast.com/episode401. We don't know whether/when we will pop up in your feed again, so stay subscribed! And follow us on facebook.com/answermethis and twitter.com/helenandolly. Hear our other work: Olly Mann has a daily podcast, Today in History with the Retrospectors, and his monthly magazine show The Modern Mann, both of which you can find along with his other work at ollymann.com. Helen Zaltzman makes the The Allusionist, an entertainment podcast about language, which you can find at the podplaces and at theallusionist.org. Martin Austwick's music is available at palebirdmusic.com, his Tom Waits podcast Song By Song at songbysongpodcast.com, and his experimental fiction podcast Neutrino Watch at neutrinowatch.org. This episode is sponsored by: • Wondrium, the streaming library of tutorials, lectures, documentaries, how-to videos, travel, craft and much more! AMT listeners get a month of free access to the whole library at wondrium.com/answer. • Squarespace. Want to build a website? Go to squarespace.com/answer, and get a 10% discount on your first purchase of a website or domain with the code 'ANSWER'. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mr Blobby made his debut on anarchic BBC show Noel's House Party on 24th October, 1992. Oscar Bilby, of Tulsa, Oklahoma grilled a beef patty, and - for the first time in documented history - PUT IT IN A BUN - on 4th July, 1891. It is of such consequential and amusing events that Olly's daily podcast, 'Today in History with The Retrospectors' is comprised, and, in this compilation especially for Answer Me This! listeners, he introduces two of his favourite episodes. FOLLOW THE SHOW now to get a ten-minute episode each weekday in 2023! Just search for 'Today in History with the Retrospectors' in your podcast app of choice, or visit theretrospectors.com APPLE PODCASTS: https://apple.co/3xCWWQX SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/4BwUqSOfCS6sSrADe834BR GOOGLE PODCASTS: https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9yc3MuYWNhc3QuY29tL3RoZS1yZXRyb3NwZWN0b3Jz AUDIBLE: https://www.audible.com/pd/Podcast/B08K571PXV POCKET CASTS: https://play.pocketcasts.com/web/podcasts/share?id=e6c14e00-8c37-0139-34f5-0acc26574db2 CASTBOX: https://castbox.fm/channel/Today-In-History-with-The-Retrospectors-id4096213?country=us PODBEAN: https://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail/9evhk-1c6f5f/Today-In-History-with-The-Retrospectors-Podcast TUNEIN: https://tunein.com/podcasts/History-Podcasts/The-Retrospectors-p1438500/ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producers: Emma Corsham & Sophie King. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023.

Hello! There's a sleighful of fun festive episodes of Helen's podcast the Allusionist over at the theallusionist.org and in the podplaces - episodes about Santa/Father Christmas/St Nick's many names, meaty greetings cards, what to do when kids' letters to Santa are delivered to you, and how to write a festive hit for a very Covid Christmas. But, right here in your AMT feed are a couple of Festivelusionist highlights: Winterval, about the term that unwillingly became a byword for the War On Christmas; and How The Dickens Stole Christmas, explaining why Christmas is so damn Dickensian. Also, we have a lot of delightful AMT festive episodes on the feed - seek out ones released in Decembers - as well as our Christmas album, available from answermethisstore.com/albums! We answered so many seasonal questions, about the Spanish shitting log tradition, the cause of Rudolph's red nose, how come there's a Flintstones Christmas episode though they lived long before Christ was born, and how artificial Christmas trees were begat by bog brushes. Merry Winterval to one and all!

Well this is it, listeners. After 14 years and 8 months and many thousands of questions, AMT400 is the last episode of the show. But we go out on some terrific inquiries, about pigeon navigation, saving Joni Mitchell's childhood home/destroying Shakespeare's final home, the inspiration for Sherlock Holmes, diamond skulls, and eating brunch dangling 150 feet up in the air. Huge thanks to all of you who sent in lovely messages - and songs! - with your AMT-related emotions and memories. We only included a tiny fraction of your affection in the episode, but know that we read/listened to everything. And maybe wept over it a bit too. Find more about this episode, including a mega bonus episode of all the extra answers we didn't have room for, at answermethispodcast.com/episode400. Keep in touch! Here's how to find the three of us: Olly Mann is @ollymann on Twitter. His podcasts include The Retrospectors and The Modern Mann, and you can find all of his shows at ollymann.com. Helen Zaltzman is @helenzaltzman on Twitter and Instagram. Her podcasts include The Allusionist and Veronica Mars Investigations. Martin The Sound Man Austwick is @martinaustwick on Twitter and Instagram. His podcasts include Song By Song, Neutrino Watch and Maddie's Sound Explorers - and you can hear his songs via palebirdmusic.com. This episode is sponsored by: • Manscaped, a full range of grooming products for your furry parts. Get 20% off plus free shipping with the code ANSWER at Manscaped.com. • Squarespace. Want to build a website? Go to squarespace.com/answer, and get a 10% discount on your first purchase of a website or domain with the code 'ANSWER'. Stay subscribed to this feed, cos you never know what the future holds. Until the unknown future happens: bye!!! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices