Welcome, Citizens of Sophie Land.

If I sound a little bit deflated, it is because I just recorded what I thought was a

brilliant intro to this episode.

And then I realized I'd been recording it with the wrong microphone.

So it sounded tinny and shitty.

And there was a moment where I thought, can I get away with this?

And then I thought, no, they deserve good audio, even if the content

is now someone who's very deflated and annoyed with themselves. I sounded happier. This was back

when I was proud and happy and I enjoyed speaking to you. And now I'm like, oh, what did I say?

How was that? Can I recreate the magic?

I think the trick is to know that it wasn't really magic.

I just did my job.

So, hello, welcome to the podcast.

I am going to tell you a few things before I let you listen to my chat with Helen Bauer.

Helen Bauer was the first name I wrote down when I wanted to think of guests for the episode, for the podcast. She, she, she, she, she, I didn't make these mistakes in the

first intro. Let me tell you that. She is a joy. She's so funny. She is so funny. I just, and I don't

understand why she isn't. I don't understand why every single

one of her videos doesn't go viral. Like, I don't understand why she's so, I'm so smitten with her,

I think is a saying. She's like right up my street. I could watch her for hours. And I think you should

too. I think we should all watch Helen for hours and it was a lovely conversation I had with her.

She came to my tiny cramped hotel in Essington.

Smallest room possible.

...