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Strangers on a Bench

EPISODE 43: The Definition of a Mystery

Strangers on a Bench

Tom Rosenthal

Documentary, Bench, Random, Society & Culture, Park, Strangers, Conversation

4.81.7K Ratings

🗓️ 7 July 2025

⏱️ 48 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Tom Rosenthal approaches a stranger on a park bench and asks if he can sit down next to them and record their conversation.

This is what happened! 


Produced by Tom Rosenthal

Edited by Rose De Larrabeiti

Mixed by Mike Woolley

Theme tune by Tom Rosenthal & Lucy Railton 

Incidental music by Maddie Ashman


End song: 'Certain Uncertainty' by Richard Walters

Stream it here: https://ffm.to/uncertaincertainty


Listen to all the end songs featured on the podcast (so far) on one handy playlist:

https://ffm.to/soabendsongs


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Instagram: @strangersonabench


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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Hello, sorry to bother you.

0:05.0

Can I ask you a slightly odd question?

0:09.0

I'm making a podcast called Strangers on a Bench

0:14.0

where essentially I talk to people I don't know on benches for 10 or 15 minutes.

0:19.0

Are you up for that? Do you want to give it a go? Is there a day of the week that you favour?

0:46.3

You know, it's probably not a weekend day.

0:50.3

Maybe I go for like a Tuesday or a Wednesday.

0:52.3

Straight in the middle there? there yeah if you had to choose

0:55.1

between those yeah what would you choose tuesday okay in as much detail as you feel comfortable with

0:59.9

showing me at this early stage in our meeting can you take me through a ideal tuesday lived in the world

1:08.3

for you i work kind of irregular hours so I wake up slowly.

1:15.6

Spai? Well, yeah, I'm not supposed to tell you that yet, am I?

1:19.6

Yeah, I wake up kind of slowly, have a coffee, have some breakfast with my girlfriend.

1:28.3

I might go for a walk, I might play my guitar.

1:32.3

But I'm not, it's not all about doing for me.

1:35.3

I just, I like to find moments in my week where I can just, just kind of be in a, in a pleasant way.

1:40.3

So, thinking...

1:41.3

So it's the absence of events and makes Tuesday potentially. Exactly.

1:45.3

Exactly. Yeah. And are there any particular rituals related to the absence of events that you make sure you do?

1:52.1

I think the slow morning and coffee and having a chat with my girlfriend having some yoghurt.

1:57.5

The yoghurt is very important. When you have a chat with your girlfriend yeah where do you start

2:03.2

from how does one talk to a girlfriend it just happens doesn't it I mean we like talking about

...

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