EPISODE 76: Success, Sex, and The Cause

Strangers on a Bench

Tom Rosenthal

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

4.8 • 3.5K Ratings

🗓️ 23 February 2026

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ 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: 'paint dry' by Olive Klug

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

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

https://ffm.to/soabendsongs

————————————————————————————

Instagram : @strangersonabench

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hello, sorry to bother you. Can I ask you a slightly odd question?
0:08.5	I'm making a podcast called Strangers on a Bench, where essentially I talk to people I don't
0:16.9	know on benches for 10 or 15 minutes. Are you up for that?
0:22.0	Do you want to give day of the week?
0:50.2	Off the top, I'm going to say Sunday.
0:53.3	Why? I always get'm going to say Sunday. Why?
0:55.3	I always get the most rest on Sunday.
0:58.5	I feel like I set myself up with the least expectations, and that feels good.
1:04.9	What do you expect of other days in your life?
1:07.5	Oh, you know, pressures of productivity and getting certain things done but
1:14.6	Sundays I usually just let the wind blow and tell me what I'm gonna get up to you know
1:22.6	there's a looseness to it that feels really good I I like that. Um, you know what? I really like your painting. Oh, I'm so glad. It's really nice. That's really sweet. I don't, but that's all right. Watercolours, I think, are great. You know, I've never done it before. What? Never? Except for like last week for the first time.
1:44.6	What made you start?
1:45.9	I've always enjoyed oil painting and I've been traveling this summer and watercolor is something that's easy to travel with.
1:57.8	Oil won't dry for months.
2:00.3	Watercolour dries in a few minutes.
2:02.6	I like that. Let's take one of these Sundays then.
2:08.6	What for you represents like an ideal Sunday that lives in the world?
2:12.6	Well, I am very lucky to live in good weather.
2:20.3	What do you mean good weather?
2:21.3	I live somewhere with a climate that's almost always good.
2:25.3	Oh, I see.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Tom Rosenthal, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Tom Rosenthal and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.