EPISODE 82: The Only Mussel Road in Cornwall
Strangers on a Bench
Tom Rosenthal
4.8 • 3.5K Ratings
🗓️ 6 April 2026
⏱️ 64 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: 'Mussel Shell Road' by Toby & Jen Kessell
Stream it here: https://ffm.to/musselshellroad
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. 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 know on |
| 0:17.1 | benches for 10 or 15 minutes. Are you up for that? Do you want to favorite day of the week? |
| 0:48.3 | Day off? |
| 0:50.3 | Day of the week? |
| 0:51.3 | No, just a day off. |
| 0:53.3 | Any day off. Any day off is great. It's my favourite day of the week. No, just a day off. Any day off. Any day off is my favorite day of the week. |
| 0:58.0 | Okay, let's imagine a day off. Yep, yep. What for you is a perfect day lived on this funny earth thing. |
| 1:07.0 | We call home. We call home this funny earth thing. And my perfect day, I have three children. |
| 1:14.9 | So if I could see all of them, that would always be my first starting spot. I have two |
| 1:20.4 | granddaughters. If I can see them. This is also good. This makes my day. |
| 1:26.4 | But can we start from waking up well okay we need to start |
| 1:29.3 | in bed presuming you tom presuming you do so we're in bed coffee okay i like a little stare out |
| 1:39.9 | the window just a little one i've got a great view from my kitchen window. What can you see? I can see this harbour, all these boats, and I feel like I'm really important because I might be the first person that sees what damage might have happened overnight, or if someone's left their knickers on a flagpole. Does that happen? Nickers on a flagpole? It does in this village quite a lot. |
| 2:01.1 | Not mine. What is it? Not my knickers. What is it about this village in knickers on a flagpole? |
| 2:06.6 | I think it's generally this village can bring the mischief out of everybody. |
| 2:11.6 | Wow. One of the favourite things, and I don't know who does it, but the windscreen wipers standing up. |
| 2:16.6 | So you know if it's been a bit of a wild night, |
| 2:19.2 | if the windscreen wipers have been all, they're all out. Do you know when they pop? Oh, I see. Sorry, when so someone's come along and done that. Yeah. So, yeah, that's quite an odd one to wake up. So you have your morning stare before your morning coffee or with your morning coffee. my morning coffee. |
| 2:33.2 | Fantastic. |
| 2:33.9 | And then from there, what happens after that? |
| 2:36.0 | Dog walk. |
... |
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