Podbit · Parenting Hell with Rob Beckett and Josh Widdicombe
Lauren Laverne had planned to be a historian like her academic father. Instead she fell into TV via Never Mind the Buzzcocks, then into radio because it was 'showing off in private'. She now has the office full of books and records she always wanted — just arrived by a very different route.
Where this was said
At 24:44 · chapter starts 22:20
The conversation turns to what working in television as a new mother was like twenty years ago, and Lauren Laverne is unflinching about how different the industry was. She had four weeks of maternity leave with her first son. [1] — Lauren Laverne "Lauren Laverne took only four weeks of maternity leave with her first son — and spent it receiving texts from colleagues warning her that p…" 22:10 During those four weeks, people on the TV show she was working on sent her texts warning that 'such and such is after your job'. She went back. She acknowledges it was a different industry then — and a very different era. She had no expectation of being able to continue her career after having children, and assumed her husband would remain the primary earner. Then, unexpectedly, around the time of her second pregnancy, her career accelerated dramatically and the household economics shifted — she was earning enough that it made more sense for her to work and for her husband to stay home with the children. It's a portrait of a specific cultural moment in the British media industry that has genuinely changed.
Robby Hoffman isn't fearless — she's terrified all the time. The difference is she does it anyway, because not doing it feels worse than the fear itself.
John Mulaney texted Robby Hoffman out of nowhere saying he'd been a fan for a while and wanted to make a Netflix special with her. Robby called it 'shocking, horrifying, anxiety-inducing, surreal and thrilling' — and said yes.
Mulaney is buttoned-up, suit-wearing, classy. Robby is gritty, raw, and undefined. Together they made the collab nobody expected. Batman and Robin. Eminem and Dido.
Music had Pope Gregory forcing notation. Comedy has had 'magical thinking' — he's just got funny bones. But jokes work through discoverable, teachable mechanics. Writing down the rules doesn't kill the magic; it gives more people access to it.
Howard Ashman had one insight nobody else had: animated Disney films should be Broadway musicals. The third song of every great musical is the character sitting alone explaining what they want. That's 'Part of Your World.' That structure — combined with Alan Menken's compositions — generated Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King, and turned Disney Animation into the most profitable creative engine in entertainment history.
The Lion King musical has been running for 30 years across Broadway, London's West End, and global touring companies. It has grossed over $11 billion in total revenue — more than Avatar, more than Avengers: Endgame, more than any album, more than any video game. It generates an average of $350 million in revenue every single year. Disney owns it outright.
The anonymous French artist Invader has hidden 1,500 pixelated mosaic artworks across Paris alone, with thousands more scattered across 80+ cities — affixed to the Eiffel Tower, the Hollywood sign, and even sent to the International Space Station. He might be even busier than Banksy.
The Flash Invaders app turns city streets into a treasure hunt, letting players scan Invader's hidden mosaics for points. Players have collectively logged over 47 million flashes. Unlike most mobile games that glue you to a screen, this one forces you to look up and engage with your surroundings.
New York draws thousands of young, talented performers every year chasing Broadway stardom — but the hard truth is that most of them never make it. Zelig Williams was one of the rare exceptions.
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