McGST Podcast

Joanne and I discuss unfairness and Artificial Intelligence. Will the latter help the former?

Joanne and I ask two questions in this episode-

Is a 20 year old today as resilient as a 20 year old was 30 years ago?

How do we fix the NHS, and by association the UK?

A quick rant to myself about how the UK government has negatively impacted my life over the past 12 years, and how they dealt the final blow just a few weeks ago.

Some questions from me to Joanne-

How real is empty nest syndrome?

Where does the UK go next? Managed to end up debating trans rights…

Do you regret buying a cockapoo?

Final thoughts: The un-ultra Apple Watch Ultra

In this episode Tom and I discuss the following-

Trade unions: have they lost their power? Are workers suffering? Is this a natural change that is unavoidable?

How long has Boris got left? 

The recent Supreme Court decision on Roe v Wade

My recent experience dealing with ASUS on a Chromebook repair.

What's the next big thing and do we even need it?

Is life meant to be hard?

We make them more human than they are.

I didn’t have much time to edit this one so the sound may be ropey in places.

Joanne and I discuss our ignorance of other people’s lives and answer some questions- 

Would you take in a refugee? You talk a good left-wing game. Sam

Why do you stick with Apple? The products are so boring and closed-down. Kennie

Jo and I discussed our desire to change where we live, the jobs we do and so much more in the latest episode. It seems that we are not alone as the following from The Sunday Times states-

Just when we thought we had the pandemic beaten, it brings a further wave of pain: we are burning out and dropping out en masse. New figures show that midlife Britain is in peril of doing a Reggie Perrin — leaving its work clothes piled on the beach and disappearing.

Official figures last week showed that since the start of the pandemic in 2020, nearly a quarter of a million Britons aged between 50 and 65 have left paid work altogether and are not actively seeking new jobs.

Why is Boris Johnson still Prime Minister? I think I know why.

The explosion of complaints over Jimmy Carr's World War II joke is worrying.

Site update: running out of space...

The Withings Scanwatch is the best hybrid watch I have used to date, and possibly the best fitness watch of all.

Tom and I talked for some time about ideas to improve the lives of everyone and how we should be levelling up opportunities. We inevitably discussed moving on from Covid and, at the end, fell back into old ground. It went on for longer than I expected so maybe ignore the last 20 minutes!;)

References-

I tried to be positive when looking back on 2021, I really did.

I failed of course, but I am more positive about 2022. Thanks for visiting the site and listening to the podcast this year. I hope you all have a peaceful and safe Christmas and New Year.

I this episode I discuss, with myself, if the tech we use today could cause health problems in the future when we realise what effect they have on us.

This was quite a long discussion between Joanne and I, but we covered a topic that has been on our minds for some time.

Is women’s mental health talked about more because it is often linked with milestones in their lives?

Is men’s mental health not talked about because men themselves don’t talk about it?

Do men suffer from the manopause when their partners suffer from the menopause?

What have we learned about dealing with Covid one year later? In the UK, not a lot...

Where have our margins for creativity gone? Are we all using our tech the same way now because the tech brands want us to do so?

For how long can someone go to work where the fear is strong? It's not just a stressful job, it's not just busy, it is scary...

We will have a new Prime Minister by Christmas…

Why I won't be upgrading to the iPhone 13 or Apple Watch series 7 for two very different reasons...

Why I shouldn't really be thinking about upgrading any device.

Why Biden and Johnson are talking nonsense...

Alice and I discussed gender (again), AirPods Pro, paper books and a few other select subjects.

Myself and Alice sat down to have a chat and we managed to cover quite a few topics such as resilience, education and the differences between our generations. It was an enjoyable discussion.

If you are looking for a happy and cheery podcast episode to listen to you may want to avoid this one. We found ourselves falling down a rabbit hole and we struggled to get out of it, but alas everything we discussed is actually happening. Seriously, DON'T LISTEN!

Would you vaccinate your child?

A third wave is incoming because of so many completely avoidable problems.

There is no misspelling in the title of this podcast. Fweedom Fighters are real.

In this episode Tom and I discuss the following-

How do we fix education to make it suitable for 2021? It appears that a lot of what we teach children, and how we do it, is purely out of habit and tradition.

Is Google right to want to pay employees less if they work from home?

What is the philosophy behind mask wearing and is it really a stepping stone to more tyrannical things in the future? Tom and I very much disagree on this topic.

I started off by talking about competition, with myself, while waiting for my daughter in the car. Excuse the sound quality, but I only had my iPhone handy at the time.

When I got home the conversation continued with my son, Thomas, and we began with a quick discussion about trans athletes followed by competition. It’s fair to say that we went deep on the subject of whether competition is a good or bad thing, or if it is inevitable. 

Joanne and I discuss Laurel Hubbard's participation in the Olympics as a transgender athlete. 

We thought we knew where we were with the subject until the end and then it hit us. It came to us that this cannot be resolved in a way that would satisfy the majority, if anyone.

Questions-

I got married last year and am looking forward to many years of happiness. What’s the secret? You two seem very happy together. Lucy

You both speak highly of Apple products. What other brands do you like and / or rate as highly as Apple? Douglas

Sick of NHS people moaning. You get a 3% pay rise when many people have lost their jobs and homes. Many of us would kill for your job security! Billy

You are woke. I hate woke people and you are a coward for taking comments off your site. Why are you hiding comments? Septre

Are we all victims of confirmation bias?

Likely my shortest episode yet in which I talk about my instincts with regards to where the Apple Watch will go next, and how the Garmin Instinct compares to it. They are polar opposites in literally every way, but Apple has the room to kill it overnight.

A very short episode in which I discuss, with myself, how the UK's freedom day is going so far.

The ‘nocebo effect’ is new to me, but it may answer a lot of the questions I have had over the past year about the differing ways people have handles the pandemic.

The ‘luxury effect’ details a recent experience in a high-end jewellers that made me feel completely alien to the world of luxury.

A quick talk about personal responsibility and masks. Who exactly is the government protecting with their new unlocking in the UK? 

Joanne and I answered some of your questions to start-

Any good new music recommendations? Matt

Why have you not done YouTube? Marie

No government has succeeded with Covid. We need to accept it is here for years! Get over it! Stan

What 1st and 3rd party apps can you not live without? Tyme

Why end the site? Robson

And then we discussed the relevant merits of Garmin and Apple for fitness and smartwatchery…

Thanks for listening to the podcast over the past year. Really do appreciate the questions and feedback you guys sent in.

Joanne and I discussed three questions that has been sent in and then we tried to cover near impossible topics including how long we will have to live with Covid for and if we are in fact all living in a version of the Hunger Games.

Are we stuck using Amazon and does the company have too much of a lead to ever be caught?

Are we stuck with covid restrictions for years to come and are we heading back to exactly how we were pre-covid?

Thought on being the parents of adults.

The need to create is undeniable for many of us…

A quick chat with Alice about-

The Royal Family

Megan and Diana

Black + white does not = black

God

A new beginning

Psychopaths

Some thoughts about why we tend to prefer to fix things rather than preventing a problem from happening.

“Climate change is a political problem of the future. A government of now isn’t interested in doing anything that costs them money NOW. Covid is different because they have to do something now.” Simon.

“I think you pretty much hit the nail on the head with this one Shaun & Joanne. Most people don’t care.

Most people don’t care as they don’t see or feel the effects of the climate change themselves. Or what they do see is so gradual that it doesn’t register. Many also know that it won’t really effect them.

It is the future generations that will really pay the price.

Here in the UK and other developed countries we don’t feel the effects quite the same because we have the systems that hide the impact. Our waste magically disappears, we don’t have massive amounts of rubbish littering our shores. Perhaps if more waste washed up on our beaches some would think differently.

The habitats most impacted by climate change are not on our doorstep, albeit everything around us is being affected in some way.

Perhaps if we watched in person massive chunks of the ice caps melting or saw the Amazon rainforest on fire we might feel differently.

We can all make a change. Small changes add up. You don’t loose weight by going to the gym once. Constantly doing so over weeks and months helps shed the weight. It is the same with the environment . If we did turn down the thermostat or take 1 less car trip then it does make a difference. Small, steps over time make a difference. Multiply this by the millions of people and slowly but surely.

I am no eco warrior, but in the last 2 years I have made big steps in being better to the planet. We drive less, if we can. I still have 2 cars, but it is very likely we will be down to 1 in the next few months. I do my best to reduce my plastic use. I do more to reuse. I recycle more items, including those that don’t go in normal household recycling. I am far from perfect but I now make more conscious decisions.

People turn a blind eye most of the time thinking there is a solution on the horizon, but the solution will ultimately take all of us.

We need to ask our employers to make a changes. We need to think more about where we spend our money. We need to think about who we bank with and what we invest in. Most of us have pensions that invest in some of the most polluting companies in the world. If we began to switch to more ethical or environmental investments perhaps things would change?

With a shift in demand comes change. Unfortunately the demand is still focused too much on not being environmentally conscious.

It needs governments to put in place legislation ultimately to drive big change. Reward those that take positive steps and penalise those that don’t. But, unfortunately it probably won’t be until the next generation of politicians are in power that we see this change as we have too many of the old guard in place.” Jon.

Do any of us really care about climate change? Probably not is the conclusion Joanne and I came to...

Tom and I had what was supposed to be a quick discussion about a couple of topics. It went on a bit…

We covered the following-

Racism in the UK

How do you solve big cultural issues such as race and gender?

Should we celebrate difference more?

Footballers ‘do’ deserve to be paid more than nurses.

Are people too stupid to help us get through the pandemic?

Does our government have too much power?

Trump!

Political obsession

Are pro-lifers treated unfairly?

Oh Canada

If you woke up tomorrow morning and were Prime Minister?

In this episode I answer the latest questions sent in by yourselves. Some people are getting angry...🙄

What have you learned from lockdown and what will stay with you? Carl

Why do you love the EU so much? Look at the state of their vaccination program! Kris

Any advice for someone new starting a website? Adam (aged 15)

You are such an Apple fanboy! Lu-cern

Joanne and I discuss #notallmen and it turned out to be quite a wide ranging discussion.

What makes a mechanical watch special? There are almost too many reasons...

What makes the not so special Apple Watch special? It's a conundrum...

What makes the Kindle so special? Is it because of everything it cannot do?

In this short episode I try to answer a simple question. What makes the iPhone so special?

Somehow we got to episode 50 in which Joanne and I discuss the following-

Should bullies be forgiven for what they did at school?

Why do we let governments govern?

QUESTIONS-

Cats or Dogs? Millie

I want a 50th birthday Rolex, but my wife is against the idea even though we have the money for it. Any ideas? Stan

If we were told tomorrow that we have to lockdown for another year what would be the first thing you do? Terry

What next for the podcast? Jane

I intended to talk to Alice about the way we use casual sexism in speech, but we needed up discussing gender fluidity, gender-specific toys for children, gay / straight / bisexual, men and women, fathers and daughters, and mums and sons. She opened my old eyes to a younger world.

In this episode Joanne and I discuss the right to citizenship, socialised healthcare (the good and the bad) and digitised analogue tasks.

It was quite a low key epode and I was pondering whether to record it again when we were less tired, but I think it just about stands up.

An unplanned episode where Jo and I discuss relationships and how people's expectations have changed over time. We come to some unexpected conclusions about how such things could actually be better today that they ever have been.