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Dig It with Jo Whiley and Zoe Ball

90: The Jackie Annual and Bathing with Eels

06 May 2026

Transcription

Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?

0.031 - 1.234 Zoe Ball

Coming up on Dig It.

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Chapter 2: What surprising music revelation does Jo share?

1.735 - 21.989 Zoe Ball

If you had told 16-year-old me that Paul Weller, who was on my wall and who I loved and adored, was going to send me flowers one day, I would never have believed you. I remember being accidentally caught when a friend came over. There were a few hands in certain places and my granddad walked in. It's like, oh, my God. It's so humiliating.

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22.209 - 52.849 Zoe Ball

If Beastie Boys did a gardening show, it would look like this. And God damn it, it's so good. I don't like 60s music, I'll be honest with you. What? It's the kind of thing I don't like. Hang on. The Beatles? Oh, no. Unpopular opinion. No, I don't. Really? None of that. All of that, right after this. Hello, Jo. Happy May to you and yours. Hi, happy May to you. I'm very happy it's May, aren't you?

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53.23 - 70.032 Zoe Ball

Best month of the year because it's all about flowers and plants and gardens and hope and joy and all the good stuff, all the good stuff. It's almost officially the beginning of summer, isn't it? I mean, I know it's spring really, but, you know, with climate change and everything, it's sort

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70.012 - 93.707 Zoe Ball

of become summer for many of us i know it's sort of you know but the garden has really come to life and everyone's thinking about chelsea flower show and other flower shows that are happening and yeah it is quite an exciting month i finally planted my father gills my tomato seeds and my cosmos i put them in these i got these father gills little plug things that you buy in a little box

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93.687 - 114.666 Zoe Ball

And I've got photos so I can show you. And you basically fill them with water and then you drop the seeds into these tiny little holes. You put a little plastic lid on and then they start growing. And then when you're ready to transfer them, you plant them with these little plugs. So it makes it quite easy. That's a good idea. They're finally in. Okay, you'll be two days ahead of me.

115.034 - 132.486 Zoe Ball

Not that I'm competitive or anything, but you know, we'll see who gets the biggest blooms at the end of all this. Who gets the most tomatoes? We can have our own little village show. I love that. I'm not competitive, but let's see who gets the biggest blooms. I think I know who's going to win this somehow. By the way, before we talk about anything else, can I just say...

132.466 - 151.491 Zoe Ball

Pigeon in session on your radio show absolutely blew my mind. How brilliant are this band? They are phenomenal. It was so much fun because on the radio show, it's all about having new artists and giving them a platform and getting people to hear this amazing talent.

Chapter 3: What childhood memories are evoked by the Jackie Annual?

151.511 - 166.454 Zoe Ball

There are so many cool, great bands around at the moment and musicians and artists. And PJ and I didn't really know so much about them, but I knew Frank, who works on my show, had been to see them and said they were great live. We'd been playing a couple of the songs. And then they did this session, and it was just one of the best sessions we've had in years.

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166.835 - 185.023 Zoe Ball

There was so much energy, so many instruments. They were obviously proper geeks, and they kept talking about all the synths and the sound effects and the instruments they'd got. And then their singer is a guy called Fale, and he was a real character. Their album is called Outer National, and it's out now. It came out on Friday, just gone. Out to national is what he kept saying.

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186.025 - 205.116 Zoe Ball

But they were really good, weren't they? I'm so glad because you were messaging me while I was doing the show, just going, oh my God, I'm going to go and see them in Brighton. And I heard their track. Miami. That is a terrible way of singing it. But the first time I heard that track, I sent it straight to Woody. It was like, you will love this.

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205.096 - 224.723 Zoe Ball

And it's just, when you hear it, it's one of those songs that makes you stop whatever you're doing. And you just start, I just start doing sort of mama bass dancing around the place. It makes me so happy. And then you said they were coming on your show. And they're a sort of collective of a lot of musicians who've worked with loads of other bands like Salt and Michael Kiwanuka.

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224.763 - 230.851 Zoe Ball

They've been in his band. And I think some of them have played with Little Sims and Fally.

Chapter 4: What gardening tips and experiences are discussed?

231.011 - 249.844 Zoe Ball

And they're the most amazing collective ever. Are they from Margate or something they were saying? Yeah, they've gravitated to Margate and Ramsgate because they said it's really creative. And also, you know, the Libertines are there and they've got their studio. They've got the Albion there. So they were able to go and record the album in the Libertines studio.

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249.864 - 263.889 Zoe Ball

And they were saying on the show that they loved it. actually can use the instruments. So they were using Carl Barat's guitar, I think, when they were recording the album, which is great, isn't it? That the band have set up this studio, they've left the instruments there and they've just said, oh yeah, if you come and use the studio, just help yourself.

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264.069 - 282.699 Zoe Ball

I mean, don't take it away, leave them behind. But that's very, very cool. And they were really smart. They were so much fun. We had the biggest reaction from listeners, people blown away who'd never heard them before. So it's worth, if people are watching this, to go back and listen. It's on BBC Sounds. They can listen back to the session. And go and see the band.

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282.719 - 299.451 Zoe Ball

If you're going to a festival over the summer, chances are they might be there. So look at the line-up and see if Pigeon are there. Get yourself in the tent, get down the front. But thank you, Jo, for, honestly, you really... When I hear sessions like that on your show, I'm like... damn it, this woman's so good at what she does.

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299.932 - 318.716 Zoe Ball

And you find such gems and you enlighten our lives with your love of music and these fantastic musicians that you find. And what great energy. So yeah, check out Pigeon. And what's the name of the album again? Outer National. Obviously, that's how he was saying it. That's how Fully was saying it. He comes from Africa.

318.756 - 323.863 Zoe Ball

He was, yeah, he was talking a lot about his life and living on a war camp when he was very, very young.

323.943 - 324.203 Jo Whiley

Yeah.

324.183 - 337.061 Zoe Ball

And the reason that they're called pigeon is because pigeons are quite sacred in Africa and they were very important. And so he talks about the importance of pigeons because I hate pigeons. I don't know about you. I don't mind them. Really? Oh no, they give me the heebie-jeebies.

337.382 - 352.924 Zoe Ball

I think I'm at Euston a lot because I get my train to Euston and there are so many pigeons there and they dive bomb you. You're walking to get your train and low-flying pigeon kind of takes you out. So I'm always kind of really jittery around pigeons. But Fali was like, no, no, they're sacred in Africa. They're very, very important.

Chapter 5: How does Jo react to the new band Pigeon?

433.314 - 454.326 Zoe Ball

It's awful. Because also they must be really hard to catch. Because they're just, well, they slither everywhere, I know. But then my grandma would cook them, honestly. This was, you know, back in the early 70s, I guess. So he'd catch the eels, keep them in the bath, then grandma would go and get them. She'd cook them and we'd walk into the kitchen, the smell of eels. Jellied eels. No, no.

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454.346 - 472.004 Zoe Ball

When people talk about eels being a delicacy now, I just can't get past the bath. Yeah. There you go. It's making my tummy turn a little bit at the moment. And I'll eat anything, to be honest with you. I remember once someone making me some razor clams. You know, they're razor clams that come up and down out of the sea.

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472.945 - 490.983 Zoe Ball

And I said to them, I really just would like to say I'd really rather not eat this because I don't know why. There's just something about knowing that they make that strange movement where they come up and down out of the sand. I don't know whether they're physically coming up and down or whether the tide's going in and the sand's going down, but I don't know why we even talk about this.

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491.023 - 510.551 Zoe Ball

It's making me feel sick now. And I ate the razor clams, to be polite, and I was so ill. Now, I don't know whether that's psychosomatic, but I will never eat razor clams again. I mean, it actually sort of makes me feel like I might throw up into a bin right now. Here we go. Please don't take offence anyone because I'm sure there's people out there who love a jelly deal.

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510.731 - 529.218 Zoe Ball

Any diggers who might be listening or watching this now, any memories that you've got of your childhood and like bizarre things. So whether it was your grandparents who you stayed with like me or whether it was your parents, just some weird, weird things you'd open the fridge and see. Tripe. Tripe. I was going to say tripe. Yes. That and it stank. Oh, awful. Awful. I love that, though.

529.238 - 542.88 Zoe Ball

I think it's going to be hard to top coming home and finding your grandad's eels in the bath. That's quite spectacular. Also, as I'm imagining it, because of the era, I'm imagining one of those lovely sort of 70s pink baths. It was a white enamel bath. I remember it really clearly because I used to be bathed in that bath as well.

543.001 - 553.698 Zoe Ball

Were the eels removed in a bucket before you got in the bath or did you have to get in the bath with the eels? I used to be bathed in eels every day. Eels up inside you. That's a Mighty Boosh reference.

554.179 - 555.12

LAUGHTER

555.556 - 581.147 Zoe Ball

It is as well. Oh my God. Where is this conversation gone? God, this is an abstract episode. I've no idea. If you're loving Dig It so far, hit follow or subscribe. That way you'll get brand new episodes as soon as they're out. Talking of nostalgia, I've spent quite a lot of time at my mum and dad's recently because mum had an operation. Finally, she got her operation. Oh, how's she doing?

Chapter 6: What are the highlights of the charity Mind Over Mountains?

711.644 - 735.455 Zoe Ball

Not much happened. It was quite tame. You know, I wasn't very academic. We did a lot of mucking around. We were taught by nuns. You know, there was... They were quite healthy in days. But it's funny because I haven't seen everyone from school for so many years. I've just sort of put it in a little place I've slightly forgotten about some of the daftness that went down.

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736.116 - 741.825 Zoe Ball

And it was just joyous to see all our faces and see how young we were and hear what's happened to everybody.

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741.805 - 762.565 Zoe Ball

And also just looking at things like the fire drill register and being able to pretty much name the entire class in chronological order, you know, in the way, because you just remember everyone's full names, Angela Kilcoyne and Liz Davis and Sophia Davinsky, like all my, Vicky Jobling, Emma Baxter, the whole crew. We had the Jobling, we had David.

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762.545 - 791.252 Zoe Ball

did you have a david jobling i wonder if any probably no relation you never know um and there's pictures of us doing dance routines i'm like oh my god even then what was it with always with the performances and the dance routines i was always putting on plays like right he wants to be in a zoe ball production what a knob honestly i must have driven everybody freaking mad i saw those photographs because you posted them on instagram and i thought that exact thing i thought god you were all you were a born performer right from the very beginning you're there and you're

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791.232 - 806.575 Zoe Ball

And I could see Nell in you as well. But you and Nell look very, very similar. Same body shape and just that energy that shines out. And it really, really made me think of Nell. But also I could so see that you were there just loving it, like entertaining everybody, which is what you do now.

806.555 - 822.657 Zoe Ball

Carrie and I were laughing because there's us doing a dance routine at the front of the class and then half the class are just carrying on doing their own thing like, oh, here they go again. Some other performance we're going to have to endure, you know, and just stupid, ridiculous, childish behaviour. And I just would like to apologise to anyone who had to do it.

822.637 - 852.255 Zoe Ball

to teach me for being such a dick at school but years later you sort of when you learn about ADHD and all that sort of concentration stuff and focus problems and I've seen it in my own kids I'm like oh right yeah that's probably why that was it I just couldn't concentrate and I couldn't write I found it hard to write things down in huge paragraphs and stuff but it was a joy to see and it was quite funny how many people

852.235 - 875.048 Zoe Ball

had seen the photographs and thought that they were their own school photographs because they just brought back so many of the memories of those days. And I love those girls. So I'm going to try and meet up with more of them because I've never been to a school reunion. Have you done one? Yeah, I did one a few years ago and it was lovely. There were not that many people that I hung around with.

875.389 - 894.139 Zoe Ball

I went to a local comp and I moved there when I was about 13, which is never a good time, I don't think, to start at a new school. So I lived in town, gone to school there, had all my friends and then we moved up to the countryside, started the comp and I never got over that feeling of being an outsider. I just felt like I was joining and everybody had already made their friendship groups.

Chapter 7: How does Jo feel about her unexpected bath-time companion?

1252.068 - 1271.798 Zoe Ball

And Father Gill's sow and tell seeds. Just click the link to subscribe in the show notes. Right. Time for a break. Dig It is brought to you in partnership with Starling, the bank that helps you organise your money, build great habits and stay in control of your spending.

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1272.239 - 1292.846 Zoe Ball

Now, we put a call out on our Substack and our Instagram and we asked you for your best good with money habits and you have not disappointed. We knew you wouldn't. Some of these are brilliant. Yeah, I really loved looking through what everyone sent us. I might pinch some of these ideas, actually. And it really does show that being good with money doesn't mean you've got to be a financial whiz.

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1293.367 - 1316.723 Zoe Ball

It's just about little habits you introduce into your life that can make such difference. So we got this text from Angela who said, my favourite habit is automating everything to come out on the first of the month, including savings contributions. I also love a no spend weekend. Genius. Hard, possibly, but genius. Plus buying good quality things that last over the latest fads. Yeah, good quality.

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1316.904 - 1338.921 Zoe Ball

You see, you only have to pay once then, don't you, supposedly. No spend weekend. We should give that a go next weekend, Jo. Yeah, might have to. I'd be hopeless. It has to be really organised. But it's such a good idea. Lee sent us this. I round up transactions to the nearest pound and add it to this account. It's like a loose change jar.

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1339.362 - 1362.181 Zoe Ball

It can be up to 800 quid a year and really helps me out with Christmas. Brilliant. Such a good idea. We also got this from another Joe who said, I use pots to budget for everything at the beginning of the month. So petrol, hair... Eyebrows, very important. Christmas, holidays, my car. And it genuinely really helps me keep right on track. Ah, you guys, excellent work.

1362.602 - 1385.067 Zoe Ball

That budgeting habit actually reminds me, Jo, have you heard of admin nights? Well... No, I haven't. You know, I mean, they fill me with horror, but I am intrigued. Maybe I should know about admin nights. Tell me. Well, check this out. Instead of dreading all the boring life admin, paying bills, reviewing subscriptions, whatever, you know, this stack of letters that build up on the

1385.047 - 1410.025 Zoe Ball

kitchen sideboard? Well, you set aside one evening, perhaps twice a year, and you make a night of it. You get some good food in, whack a good playlist on, maybe get a couple of mates over and you devote an evening to doing your admin. And if you've got mates around, you can help each other out. People are saying it's a total game changer. I'm thinking I need to do this with my kids. I'm

1410.005 - 1433.306 Zoe Ball

Although Woody and I try to sort our admin and any bills and stuff like that because we're both ADHDers. We both avoid doing these things and it could be chaos. But maybe that's if we could help each other. maybe something good could come from this. Yeah, no, that's a good idea. I've got a couple of friends who are particularly organised and I would trust them with my life.

1433.366 - 1448.263 Zoe Ball

So if I could have either Amy or Elizabeth over, they are really good at making decisions and helping me see clearly. Because I just, when it comes to finances and money, it just feels really foggy. I can never actually see with clarity. So, but they can. So maybe I'd have those over. I'd probably have a

Chapter 8: What nostalgic stories do they share about school friendships?

1750.638 - 1774.525 Zoe Ball

Are you a human dustbin? Can you answer this quiz? Yes, I am. In this also, I love it. Some of the celebrities in my Jackie annual are amazing. Both the guys from the professionals who I was completely in love with. I've got all the Osmonds in here. And also, what's the worst Christmas present you've ever had? The worst Christmas present ever given to Kate Bush?

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1774.505 - 1794.169 Zoe Ball

The worst of all was a shower set somebody gave me. Do you remember those? It had curtains, rails, pipes, the whole bit. As far as I was concerned, it was useless. You see, I really love lying in the bath for ages. Oh, that's so Kate Bush, isn't it? And I've practically never used a shower in my entire life. I don't know where it is now, stuck in a drawer and forgotten.

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1794.73 - 1812.871 Zoe Ball

It certainly never got fitted. But the photos of the people we loved. I mean, you know, it's all David Bowie and Elton John and Phil Linnett. Amazing rock star. And then David Cassidy and the Osmonds as well. There's a page for us, though. It's our favourite bad guys. And then they've got pictures of all the favourite bad guys. I bet we fancied all of these people.

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1812.931 - 1813.792 Jo Whiley

So Mick Jagger.

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1813.892 - 1836.726 Zoe Ball

Yes. Tick. Clint Eastwood. Yes. Kermit. That's you, not me. Yeah, you hate Kermit. Ilya Nastassi, the tennis player. Definitely fancied him. He was so naughty, wasn't he? I did used to do all the quizzes. I loved the quizzes so much. I'd go through. Could you light his fire? Oh, no, this is a good one. How to cope when he says goodbye. The first thing you'll do is cry for him.

1836.946 - 1855.174 Zoe Ball

So go ahead and cry. Lock your bedroom door and cry all you want to. Stare at his picture. Torture yourself with the thought that you will never see him again. Woo! Oh my God. Imagine him kissing his new girl and cry some more. Oh my God. Hilarious. Absolutely hilarious. Do let us know, Diggers, what were your favourite magazines?

1855.354 - 1875.293 Zoe Ball

Did you answer the quizzes and did you ever feature in any magazines? Did you write into them? I used to look forward so much every week to getting my magazine, to getting my Jackie. I'm my guy and oh boy, it was just something to look forward to. And I'd go up into my bedroom and I'd just go through all the pages and I'd do all the quizzes and I'd read all the stories.

1875.373 - 1892.082 Zoe Ball

I remember at school when we were teenagers, it was very much people reading out the problems from just 17 quite a lot. I'd forgotten about just 17. You know, the creams and the potions and, you know, how to shave your legs and all that stuff. And I was so, I was just so disinterested in that stuff because I was a complete tomboy.

1892.102 - 1904.94 Zoe Ball

I couldn't do makeup or hair, as you can see from photographs of me at that age. I was just sort of disinterested in all of that stuff. But I do remember some very funny conversations about problem pages and stuff like that. Are you a gusher? Hang on a minute.

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