Through The (Fox)hole of a Donut: In The Clubmobile with Josh & Katie

What happens when you put four wwii history enthusiasts in one room...er, zoom? This week we're joined by Josh and Katie from Foxhole Chat Podcast and bringing you a good old-fashioned chat amongst friends! How did their podcast come to be, and what do they hope their listeners get out of each episode? Which of the Big Three is their favorite of the Hanks/Spielberg miniseries? We're comparing notes and digging down rabbit holes in this laid back episode! Plus, find out what Josh and Katie, and The Dollies have in common! Grab your coffee and a fresh sinker and join us in The Clubmobile! 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Hey guys, to come to the doll is they got freshest sinkers, hot coffee, and the sweetest smile.

SPEAKER_04 0:15

Hi everyone, welcome back to the Club Mobile.

SPEAKER_02 0:18

Hey everybody, thanks for joining us.

SPEAKER_04 0:20

Today we have a really exciting episode for you. Uh joining us today is Katie and Josh from the Foxhole Chat Podcast. Hi guys, thanks for joining us.

SPEAKER_00 0:29

Oh, thank you for having us. It's amazing to be here, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 0:32

We've been very excited about this one. Yeah. As we said before we even began. For those who don't know, can you tell us a little about yourselves and about your pod?

SPEAKER_00 0:44

Yeah, sure. Um, so I'm Josh and uh I'm an afflicted member of the Second World War community. I feel like this is an AA meeting now, like oh I'm um but yeah, uh absolutely obsessed with the Second World War. Um I started a Instagram channel and a YouTube Instagram, Instagram account and a YouTube channel uh almost a year ago. Um, and then kind of met Katie through that through Instagram. Um and we just got chatting that way, really, became friends. Um, and then uh I think Katie likes to tell the story within a week we went from not having a podcast to having a podcast.

SPEAKER_04 1:22

Um that's a bit like us, really.

SPEAKER_00 1:24

That sounds familiar, yes. Oh wow, okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:29

Very, very similar, yeah. Yeah, um fun funnily enough, we we became friends through uh Discord and we went from just talking all the time. We'd have like a designated evening on Saturday where we would talk on the phone, and then uh we made an Instagram thinking it would be a history page, and then it turned one night. I think I'd had a couple of beers on my balcony and she was half asleep. It was and it turned into it was that time.

SPEAKER_02 1:59

It was that time difference, right? So she's three hours behind me, right? And we'd set time aside on the weekends because I work during the week and she's got the kids, and it would be like this and that. And by the time she'd be like, Oh, I'm I'm gonna have another beer, and I'm like, I'm in bed, it's bed. And I was like, you know what we should do, you know what we should do with this Instagram account? We should turn it into a podcast. Not even thinking, like, yeah, let's let's give it a shot. Yeah, yeah, why recorded the first episode twice because the first time was that bad. Oh wow, and then it was like did the first one twice, the first time never saw the light of day ever. I didn't think anything was gonna like you know, you don't think it's gonna take off, and then all of a sudden we're sitting here, four of us hanging out like this, and it's like, oh, it did. You know, it it was something that people were interested in. So always fun to see how it does.

SPEAKER_04 2:54

Katie, Katie, you go ahead. Please tell us about yourself and how you got into this kind of thing.

SPEAKER_03 2:59

Same really. Um I was bored of doing my day job and wanted something different to do outside of work that could potentially become a d a job. Uh so I started my Instagram and YouTube. And fast forward five years, uh met Josh, started the podcast, and now we're here.

SPEAKER_04 3:21

Amazing. Yeah, I feel like we all have like very similar reasons for doing the same thing, which very heavy on the needed something that wasn't my day job. Yeah, yeah, and something that could then become our job, which is really fun.

SPEAKER_02 3:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 3:35

Um how did it sort of how did it develop from nothing to within a week you have a podcast? What was it, what was the exact subject that kind of spurred you along and said, we have to tell people about this and people are gonna listen to it?

SPEAKER_00 3:50

That's that's a good question. Um, I think from my side, it was just nice to find someone else who has a shared interest um and that you can share it with. And then we were like, originally we were trying to come up with like a collab on like a YouTube video. Um, and we live in obviously not as far apart as you guys, there's no time difference. Uh there's a difference in internet quality. We've we've discovered that during the podcast with our technical difficulties between Wales and England. Um but it was yeah, it was just that shared interest. Um, and then we just wanted, like say, do some kind of collaboration. Um, and then it was Katie's idea uh mainly to come up with a podcast. Um, and it kind of just went from there. It's like, okay, we don't really have anything that links the areas of North Wales and um England where Katie is. So what can we do instead? Okay, well, you know, we'll just create this kind of podcast that's kind of laid back. You know, we we said that in the start, didn't we Katie, of just, you know, we're not gonna be super fact-heavy and and you know, um, because we want it to be accessible, you know. I think we both want history to be spread as far as possible because we think the stories are super important. Um, so it was kind of a combination of of those two things, really. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 5:14

Again, very, very similar, very similar to us. This is so fun to figure out that we're not the only ones who have a similar story or a similar interest um in it, which is really fun. Katie, I assume it was the the same for you, the same as Josh has said in terms of the subject that got you sort of spurred on to do it.

SPEAKER_03 5:38

Yeah, so I don't have any friends that are interested in history, like particularly uh military history. So they making that connection online was the only way I was gonna have halfway decent conversations about in-depth history. Yeah. Um and Josh was one of the first ones that I properly connected with. You know, with with us being similar ages as well. That I think that helps. That helps as well. Absolutely. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 6:10

Have you have you guys met in real life yet? Or are you kind of like us where we're like on the cusp every okay? We're on the cusp at least three times a year.

SPEAKER_02 6:22

Very similarly to you, Katie. I didn't have any like friends in my like life that I could talk about this with. I would always kind of just go to my dad, who was the reason I got into all of this. My dad was, you know, is still very into like I call one night and what are you doing? I'm watching Patton.

unknown 6:40

Like, okay.

SPEAKER_01 6:42

What are you doing?

SPEAKER_02 6:43

I'm watching Banded Brothers. Okay. But it was always just I would go to my dad. And then I remember Matt Leach starting We Happy Few 506 during the pandemic. And I was like, holy shit, there are so many people that want to talk about this. Yeah. And it felt like you're not the only one. You're just there's nobody around you that wants to talk about it, but you're not the only one. And it felt like comfortable, and I would like kind of wait at the edges and get too involved and get too into it. But I feel like now I'm like, I want to meet everybody. Like, I'm ready to like, I want to meet everybody, I want to have everybody on this podcast, I want to talk to everybody because there's so many people out there. I'm always so surprised. I was very surprised at how many people in my age bracket too were like, no, I'm really into World War II. Like, I'm really into history. Do you find that like you're like surprised at the people that are in our age bracket that are very into this type of history? Because most people assume it's like older generation or like older men specifically is what is older, yeah, older gentlemen specifically. Older gentlemen, yeah, for sure. But yeah, you know, people in their 20s and 30s, it's like, oh, you're into World War II. Why? I get that question all the time, why?

SPEAKER_00 8:00

Yeah, yeah. I it's I I've I've got a story that kind of smells that. So I you're speaking about uh we have a few 506. So I uh went to uh an art gallery down south um in Oxford uh a couple of weeks ago. Uh as uh author Geraint Jones. You should try and get him on the podcast because he's amazing guests we've we've had him on hours, and that was kind of our first like big connection in like the history world. And me and Katie were both like we were like, how has this gone from nothing to us talking to a legitimate World War II author? Like, this is mental. It was insane. Um anyway, so I went to he was doing a talk at this gallery about um his second uh World War II basebook. And I'm not getting you, I was probably the youngest person um that was that was there. Um, but I didn't but I didn't feel like I stood out, like because it was we were all there for the same reason. Right. We wanted to listen to him, we wanted to learn about the war and and his take on it and and things like that. Um, and then I also bumped into uh Leighton from We Happy Few 506. And I was talking to him, and I'd kind of had brief interactions with him on Instagram and YouTube, but then talking to him and I was like, because I knew like he's super involved with the actors from Band of Brothers, yeah. Um and then like watching your guys' podcast and the people that you talk to, I'm like, how have I ended up in this world where I'm so close? Do you know what I mean? It's like it's like Domino's, like, oh, you work with that person and I'm now talking to you, like, yeah, yeah, insane. Very double life is the way we played.

SPEAKER_04 9:39

Yeah, I was gonna say that, and I I love, I love for some reason sitting down and thinking, how many degrees am I from a certain person? So, like at this point, I feel like all four of us are two or three degrees away from Tom Hanks. Did you just say that to me two years ago that I'm two or three degrees away from Woody from Toy Story?

SPEAKER_03 9:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 9:59

What is that about? What is that? Um and then when we get when we get to talk to the the kids of the the men that are in the hundredth bomb group because we have our series about their wives, we don't want them left behind. Um, when we get to meet the kids of these people and they're willing to tell their parents' stories, it's so special. And then again, you're sat thinking, I am talking to the child of Harry Crosby, I'm talking to the child of Everett Blakely. It's all a very strange feeling, and it I think as well to be trusted as well. I feel like we would all share the mutual feeling of we are all trusted to tell these really special stories. And I think it's such a privilege and such an honor.

SPEAKER_02 10:45

Um I get really nervous when we have the kids on, though, because I'm always like, Oh my god, it's the kids, it's the kids. And I was super nervous, and then Rebecca Crosby made a joke about how Anthony Boyle's not tall, and I was like, Well, I don't know if you can YouTube.

SPEAKER_04 11:01

I did a full I did a full spit take in that episode.

SPEAKER_00 11:05

I missed that. I missed it.

SPEAKER_02 11:06

We were so serious, we were so into it. She goes, Daddy's really tall, Anthony Boyle's not, and I was like, And there's me just spitting coffee across my room. I was like, I guess we could have a little bit of fun with this then. We don't have to be so stoic. We could be uptight. We could have some fun with it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 11:21

Uh we've both been really enjoying your podcast. One of my favorite episodes so far has been the AI one. And one of the questions I wanted to ask was, how has AI impacted your mission in bringing history to an audience without sort of, as you said, being without with being laid back and not shoveling facts down people's throats in a world where there's so much AI and so much fakery and manipulation? Do you feel like it has changed the mission somewhat?

SPEAKER_03 11:50

I think it's made the mission a little bit harder. Um being able to diff differentiate between real and AI. Certainly done that. Um behind the scenes, it's made my life a little bit easier. Right. Um like writing scripts and stuff.

SPEAKER_04 12:14

Right, yeah. Yeah, that helps a lot.

SPEAKER_00 12:17

Yeah, I I I think it's a mix of it can be a tool that used that's used for good. I I use it in a way of um, you know, titles and thumbnails and trying to come up with ideas. Um, but it's it's then knowing and just being careful with it of um, you know, using it in a responsible way. You know, you guys saying about the you know, you want to keep the stories alive with with the wives and the from the kids, you know, it's kind of in that similar realm of it can go down a really horrible road, and I'm sure you've seen plenty of it on Facebook and Instagram. And and again, I don't know about you, but it gets me really frustrated because I'm thinking, you know, we all put in so much effort into um researching things and just sitting down and finding time to talk to people, and then there's just people out there who just completely make up random facts and then get uh you know a supercomputer um in a random part of the world to come up with a fake image. And it's I think at the same time, we've got to not let it get to us and just keep on. Like the mission, I wouldn't say has changed. I think it gives us uh a reason to keep going and a motivation to okay, we've we've got to be more authentic than ever, uh I think anyway.

SPEAKER_04 13:30

Absolutely agree. I I feel like it has somewhat changed the way that we have researched, not in a bad way, but also not for good. Sort of in terms of you see a picture on Facebook, you have to decipher whether it is real or not. If it is not real, you are researching the real person to find the truth about them. And if it is real, you are still falling down this rabbit hole. So either way, um, you're jumping down an Alice in Wonderland themed sort of ride.

SPEAKER_02 14:00

Um like images are doctored so well that you really have to like really like zoom all the way in and try and figure out is it really, is it a person? Is it is it a real person? And then it's always the the pages that have the AI generated images, and it's like, you know, there was one of a wasp a couple weeks ago of a wasp. I use that term lightly. It's not, you know, there's no markings on her uniform, there's no wings, there's nothing to indicate that she was a wasp. There's a bumblebee on her hat. And people are like, Thank you for your service. And I'm like, Oh my god, for your service, you know, God bless them. And I'm like, Yes, God bless them, but the real ones, the real ones, not her, and then it's always it's always those pages that get like 20,000, 30,000 views, and I'm like, but you're not even looking at the real history, it's not a good idea. You're not even looking at the real thing, it's not even a real person, and that's the thing. The the then you fall down the rabbit hole. So that I think I'm gonna ask, what is your guys' rabbit hole? What is something that when you see it or when you start digging, that you just can't stop?

SPEAKER_04 15:17

Or something that you have discovered during your time researching for other episodes. What has something that's really captured you in that you it's sort of like you're never gonna go?

SPEAKER_02 15:25

It's gotta hold on you, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:27

Yeah, go on, Katie. I'll let you uh describe it. You were gonna go first. I always feel bad. I always feel bad like jumping in.

SPEAKER_04 15:38

I'm like, oh uh just putting Katie on the spot instead. Go ahead.

SPEAKER_03 15:46

Um, I don't know. See, the last rabbit hole I went down was Nuremberg, but that was just after the film came out.

SPEAKER_04 15:54

Yeah. We still need to watch that, by the way. We still need to get into it. Yeah, excited to see it. Yeah, we've heard, we've heard it's really, really good. Um, I think we sort of jumped down uh like a like a light rabbit hole for Nuremberg when we had uh Rosie Rosenthal's son on for an episode. We had to speak about Nuremberg because of course his parents met on the boat on the way there because they were both lawyers and they were both um so we jumped sort of we haven't gone fully down it, which we need to do. So, yes, absolutely that. Absolutely. Josh, what was yours?

SPEAKER_00 16:29

Um, I've got a quite recent one, actually. So it's not kind of podcast. I was researching for a video I'm hoping to do on my own channel uh soon because I I do this thing where I go to war memorials um and I I called it the Tour of Remembrance. Um and there's there's one kind of in a village close to where I live, and I've run past it loads, and it looks really small. And I kind of this is gonna sound really bad, but I put it off for ages because I thought there's probably not gonna be a lot of information out there on it. Um started digging into it yesterday, uh, and then started going through some of the names. And two of the names that stood out. One was um, he served in third para um in Market Garden and fought for the Battle of uh Arnhem. Uh, and then there was a uh Battle of Britain pilot that was also from this village, and I was like, this is insane. Like I didn't know anything about these people, and I just kind of I did kind of dismiss it and thought, oh, it's a small one, there's gonna be nothing out there. And then it turns out these two incredible stories that if I didn't, you know, have the wherewithal to research it, I never would have I would have known about it. And then now this might sound a bit narcissistic, but you know, I can bring those stories to other people, you know, and hopefully they find it interesting.

SPEAKER_04 17:42

Yeah, that doesn't sound narcissistic at all. Like we are very much the same of if we find something and we kind of grip onto it, it's always a case of we're not going to keep it to ourselves. We want to share it with people. Um and it's like I said earlier, it's such an honor and a privilege to be able to do such a thing. Even if you know we cannot find the children of these people if they had if they had children, um, we are still willing to tell these stories that are lost. If you hadn't have had the wherewithal to to Google these two people, the story would have remained unknown for more people. So it I don't think it's narcissistic or self-centered at all to think such a thing.

SPEAKER_02 18:22

I think it's almost like a breath uh a second breath of life for a lot of these people that maybe wouldn't get spoken about or wouldn't have somebody dig into their story, you know, that they get this kind of second life. Because Winnie and I have this theory that, you know, until you actually stop saying somebody's name, they're not actually gone, they're not erased, they're not deceased. Yeah. You know, physically, yes, but not in the realm of relevance. And I think that by, you know, finding these rabbit holes and finding people that maybe somebody wouldn't have thought to look up or do a little digging on, it's like they get the second chance almost. Yeah. Which is absolutely which is important in history because there's no one person I think that was more important than anybody else in this war. I think everybody fought, everybody gave, and everybody deserves that opportunity to be remembered. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 19:16

Um were you were you guys very much like us getting into World War II history through like Banda Brothers and the Pacific and stuff like that? Was that like the catalyst for you both?

SPEAKER_00 19:27

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 19:30

Yeah. Do you have a favorite between their Pacific? Pick your pick your favorite child. Pick your favorite kid.

SPEAKER_00 19:38

Oh, that's so that's so difficult because I do I do love Banda Brothers, but then when Masters of the Air came out, I'm I'm massive on the RAF and Spitfires. Um, and I I know that you know it's American bombers in that series.

SPEAKER_04 19:53

Oh of course, it's the same, it's all the same thing, yeah. But planes, it's all the same, right? Yeah, planes.

SPEAKER_00 20:00

Planes is my autism, like that is 100%. You know, some people with trains, it's it's planes for me.

SPEAKER_04 20:05

Um, I'm the same. I'm the same.

SPEAKER_00 20:08

Um, so I think it would be a close tie between band and master the air. I the Pacific, it's never really gripped me. Um, and I don't know if why, if that's because I kind of compartmentalize that as being really far away. So it's something that I can't touch. Whereas Bander Brothers happen in Europe, so I can I can go there, you know, I've been to Normandy, I've been to Breakout Manor. You know, it's it's almost like you can touch it. Whereas the Pacific, that's way more expensive if you want to go over there and you know, um so that might be a bit more saving that needs to happen, you know.

SPEAKER_04 20:46

Yeah, um you you you you say that we Gabby and I re-watched it because we had Scott Gibson and we had Josh Baton with us, and we had Jacqueline Basilone, and we re-watched in order to research all of these things, and it I think it grew on both of us. Yeah, it was sort of a case of like um. I always kind of didn't like it. And then we were like, Whoa, this is amazing. It's gory as hell. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:14

Oh, it's that's I think what it was initially that kind of put me off. And I was like, oh my god, it's so gory. And then I have to like, you know, my dad's always like, Well, you have to remember they didn't have foxholes, they couldn't take shelter, they lived under trees, and I'm like, I know. I'm like, but it was still really gory, and I had kind of slotted it into that middle child spot with the three shows. I'm like, Yeah, it's the middle child.

SPEAKER_04 21:37

I mean, it still is, but we know but I have a different I have a different respect for it now, I think.

SPEAKER_02 21:43

Yeah, absolutely differently, but band will always be banned. Band will always be banned. That was the one, but masters just pulled me in. And I don't know, I don't know what it was, I don't know what it was about the planes, about the The men and I was like, but it's such a different perspective of the whole war. It's not fought on the ground, it's a completely different perspective. Exactly.

unknown 22:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:08

And you see, what's your favorite?

SPEAKER_03 22:12

Um again, uh it's close tie between Bander Brothers and Masters. Yeah. Um I never never really got into the Pacific again.

SPEAKER_04 22:22

Yeah, it's fair. Yeah, it's understandable because it's such uh because I watched Band kind of late. I didn't watch it till I was an adult. And so I watched Band and then right after I watched the Pacific because on HBO Max it went from it did the countdown and just died.

SPEAKER_01 22:40

Oh yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 22:41

So I was like, oh cool, it's the second instalment. And I remember watching it, like this is this is different than from I just watched. Yeah, this is a different ball game.

SPEAKER_01 22:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 22:53

Um, so the first time I did not enjoy it, but then I saw your man from Jurassic Park, and then I saw your man from Bohemian Rhapsody and I robot. I was like, wait, it's these guys.

SPEAKER_02 23:03

Yeah, um, yeah, that's why I initially watched it. I was like, oh, the little boy from Jurassic Park made a new show. Oh, cute.

SPEAKER_00 23:12

He didn't get eaten by dinosaurs and he made it to get eaten by the raptors and he made it to Pelilo. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 23:20

Yeah, to get eaten by mosquitoes for the next three years.

SPEAKER_00 23:24

Yeah, yeah. Um I um I I I don't know about you guys, but uh I'm I'm a big crier. Uh and I have cr I don't think I've cried at go away. I I don't think I've cried at Bond of Brothers from what I can remember, but I definitely cried at Masters of the Air. Um specifically like the the bookie, um, you know, Egan and and that relationship. Um like when they when he appears at the POW camp, I was like, oh he's got his friend back.

SPEAKER_04 23:52

Oh my god. Yeah. Actually, when we when we rap, I'm gonna find this picture of me, me crying at masses of the air. I'm gonna send it to you both on a little. My face is so swollen, and I you can see my lip twitching in the photo. It was like motion set. Um and it was right after when um when Kurt crashed, and I'm full on like I couldn't breathe, I couldn't see, but yes, I'm gonna send you guys this picture because I'm just swollen.

SPEAKER_02 24:26

I wasn't prepared for no glasses, by the way. And I'm red of her crashing or her photo.

SPEAKER_04 24:32

Um it was beautiful, it was a beautiful thing.

SPEAKER_02 24:37

Um do you feel like do you feel like they kind of made Buck Clevin more straight and narrow than he really was? Because you know, you read about him and they're like, you know, the two bucks were wild. And they were, you know, they were, you know, real, you know, test pilot type 12 o'clock high pilots. I think they made him too straight and narrow to try to make uh like parallel to Winters and Nixon.

SPEAKER_01 25:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:06

And I'm like, oh, and everybody was like comparing them, like, oh, it's Winters and Nixon 2.0. And I'm like, but he wasn't really like he wasn't. He was just as bad as his friend, just as wild as the other one.

SPEAKER_04 25:20

From what we've read in in the book, obviously, uh again, we have to tackle this this tome of a book, Masters of the Air. Because I think we sitting on my table for two almost two years.

SPEAKER_02 25:31

I can't finish it.

SPEAKER_00 25:32

I've yeah, I've read it all the way through. Um God bless you. Yeah, it's how it it to it took me so long, and like the because I was expecting I came in, so I did it opposite. I watched Banda Brothers, then I read the book, watched Masters of the Add, then then read the book. Same. Um, so you kind of go into it thinking like Banda Brothers is really good because I as I was reading it, I was like, oh, that's that, and you kind of go through it in your mind, you're like, Oh, that's Breako Manor. Yeah, exactly. So Master the Air was thinking it might be the same, not the same.

SPEAKER_02 26:04

No, no, that's the whole history of the Eighth Air Force.

SPEAKER_00 26:07

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:08

But Crosby's book Crosby's book is what you really were. It's like what you're expecting, it's what you wanted. Crosby's book was great. Okay, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:18

I will I'll add that to the list.

SPEAKER_02 26:19

Any of those, like Crosby's book, uh Lucky's book is great, and then Frank Murphy's book, those are the those that's what you're expecting when you open Masters of the Air. Something like that. First person perspective of what happened to them during the war. Yeah, add those three to your list. Those are fantastic.

SPEAKER_04 26:36

Yeah, Katie, have you have you read Masters of the Air all the way through?

SPEAKER_03 26:40

No, started it.

SPEAKER_04 26:42

Yeah, we did the same. We got like a third into it. She's one of us. Throwing it away. Yeah, we got like a third into it, and it's been abandoned in my case on the bookshelf, and in in Gabby's case on the keep going back to it, and like I'll read a couple pages, and it's like I want more.

SPEAKER_02 27:00

Like, this is real, like history textbook. It's it's dense, it's dense. I'm like, I want more meat and potatoes. Like, tell me what you were doing. Like, were you were you sitting, uh were you sitting in the co-pilot seat? Like, what were you doing? Give me your perspective of it. Like, I that's why I would much rather read like a combat diary.

SPEAKER_04 27:21

Yeah, I think as well, with also with trying to go back to Masters of the Air, we also have our little book club as well. So we have like four or five books on the go at any given time. Yeah. So so to go back to this, I've made uh an error in this cycle of book club because I started uh Five Came Back by Mark Harris, and it's about the five Hollywood directors that enlisted into the military in World War II, and it is a tome. It's hardback as well, which doesn't help. And it's like this big, and I'm I'm almost done with it. But I um I made a uh yeah, I made a vital error. Last week you said to me, I don't think I'm ever gonna finish this book. Oh, I got stuck in because they started talking about um they started talking about Mrs. Miniver and they said one of the best jizz of our lives, and that's two of my favorite movies.

SPEAKER_02 28:10

Yeah, last week she got all I'm never gonna finish this. I don't think I'm ever gonna finish this. And now she's like, I'm in the world now. I better get to I better get to reading then.

SPEAKER_04 28:20

That that that segues me into my next question. Do you guys have a favorite war film or piece of war media apart from band and apart from masses of the air? Do you have that other favorite?

SPEAKER_00 28:32

That again is like choosing your favorite child. Um agreed. Because there's there's there's so much, and I'm I'm I'm happy there's so much, and I'm glad that they're still making them, you know, with the with the pressure film coming out um this year as well. Um but I think to narrow it down for a long time I tried to watch Dunkirk, Christopher Nolan's uh Dunkirk years ago, and I I wasn't like uh at my current state of obsessiveness over the Second World War. It was just kind of there. And I tried to sit down and watch it, and I was like, I was like, there's there's not much talking. Like, oh, what's this? Like, oh no, boring, just to turn it off. Turn it off. Didn't didn't touch it for years, um, and then I became obsessed with it. And uh I they re-released it in cinemas um uh for a bit, end of last year, and I went to watch it. Um Amazing and I cry at that film as well. Um, like the end with the with the Spitfire and it's gliding and the the the score, it gets me in the fields there every single time. Um, so I'd probably say that one holds a holds a special place. Um, but again, like we said, there's there's just so many. It's it's difficult sometimes. So so many.

SPEAKER_04 29:40

Katie, what's your favourite?

SPEAKER_03 29:42

Uh I think for me it'd be a mix between Ice Cold and Alex and Memphis Bell.

SPEAKER_04 29:51

I love Memphis Bell.

SPEAKER_03 29:53

They're the movies I used to sit and watch with dad because he got me into well it he was interested in World War II. He's like, oh you'll like this movie, it's about planes. So we'll we'll sit and watch Memphis Bell and say, Oh, you'll like this movie, it's you know, they're driving an ambulance across the desert.

SPEAKER_04 30:11

Yeah. Was it the was it the William Weiler Memphis Bell that he recorded on like on the missions, or was it the the Sean Aston?

SPEAKER_03 30:20

Uh yeah, the Sean Aston in the movie. Yeah.

unknown 30:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 30:23

I have a very funny story about that. So obviously, you guys know that I don't live in England anymore, I live in the States. It's because I met an American airman who was stationed near my hotel. So when I was younger, I watched Memphis Bell and I fell in love with Eric Stoltz.

SPEAKER_01 30:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 30:39

And it just so happened that my life turned in a way that I married an American airman who was also ginger. So I had a type from very young. So I love Memphis Bell. I watched the I watched the original recently by William Weiler, and it is excellent. Yeah, that when that one I go back to the original. If you haven't seen the like the original mission log one, I really recommend watching that one. It's it's very, very good. Um, and I found out from reading the book I mentioned Five Came Back that he lost 80-90% of his hearing because he wouldn't defend his ears while filming the the guys on these bombing missions. So he was then he was then mostly disabled for the rest of his life just because he wanted to serve his country in a way that he could, which I find so admirable. Yeah, lost most of his hearing. And I think another one of the directors was was shot while filming. Um it wasn't a bombing mission, it was somewhere in North Africa. Um, so these while they were filming, they these guys really put their their lives on the line, and it's I think it's it's it's why I've got through this book so quickly because I need to know everything that that yeah, it's excellent. What is the favorite subject you guys have covered so far on the pod, and what are you most excited to cover in the future?

SPEAKER_00 32:07

Oh god. Um I feel I feel like because we're still at the start, I think we've got maybe nine or ten out, Katie. I can't remember how how many we've actually done.

SPEAKER_03 32:20

Yeah, our ninth went out on Tuesday, so it'll be this uh in two days will be our tenth episode.

SPEAKER_00 32:27

There we go. Yeah. So I I think as we're still at the beginning, we've literally like scratched the surface and we're always like talking about ideas and like, oh, we could do this and we could do this. Um, I think I don't I don't know about uh you, Katie, but I even though we've only had we've had one guest on and that's gone out. And spoiler alert, we've got another guest um that's gonna be next week's episode.

SPEAKER_02 32:50

I really like um so it's uh you can tell us because this is gonna come out in May. So by the time this episode comes out, it comes out, it would have happened.

SPEAKER_00 33:00

It would have happened. There we go, then um, so he's called Ben and he has a YouTube channel called Walking for History. Um, and he kind of we've had it, it's been really nice. We've had quite a few people like message us, like like you guys, you know, we've kind of connected, message us and be like, hey, you know, can I come on? I really want to come on. Um, and I really enjoy that, you know, speaking to Garrine and now speaking to Ben. Because then you develop these friendships and you hear like other perspectives of, oh, you know, um, that's how you got into this hobby and that's how you got interested. And I don't want to use a very like business term, but it's good for networking as well. You know, you know so many people, um, and it opens doors, you know, that you never would have thought of before. Um so I think it's for me, it's the guests, um, but then it's also really good because we try to do a lot of um like the the unheard stuff or the topics that you wouldn't necessarily think of. Um so you know, the the AI one, um which one we uh we've done one, spoiler alert, it's it's in the pipeline on like the the movie stars uh who served in the Second World War.

SPEAKER_04 34:10

Yes, amazing.

SPEAKER_00 34:11

Yeah, we we both really loved that one, and um we had a good laugh towards the end um with uh some uh a fact that Katie found and I was I was howling. I was absolutely howling.

SPEAKER_04 34:25

Go on, what was it?

SPEAKER_00 34:27

Go on, Katie.

SPEAKER_03 34:28

So um Don Rickles, yes, was an actor. So the adult head. Yes, yes, Mr. Potato Head, he was a motor torpedo boatsman in the Pacific. Uh-huh. So we were just picturing Mr. Potato Head riding riding a torpedo boat. Yeah. And then we're compared with the bullets. Yep, and then we went to uh Woody storming the beaches of Normandy because of Tom Hanks in Saving Private Ryan. Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_00 35:05

Right? That's what I that's what I had in my head.

SPEAKER_04 35:07

Monkey Chow for the monkeys, of course.

SPEAKER_02 35:11

His angry eyes and monkeys. Monkey Chow for the monkeys. And a dime in case you need to make a phone call. And a dime. Um yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:24

Oh my god, that's it.

SPEAKER_04 35:26

My kids have been on a Toy Story kit recently. So this was the perfect conversation. Oh my gosh, that's so I didn't know that Mr. Potato Head was in the Pacific.

SPEAKER_00 35:35

Yeah. Okay. Now you do. That's incredible.

SPEAKER_04 35:37

Now you do. Now I do. I love that. Um I'm good when the episode comes out, I'm gonna be all over it. Because I one apart from this and World War II, another one of my big things is old Hollywood. And I love um the I love the actors enlisted and served their their country. So if anything, we can come back together on your side and do the American side of that episode, which I think would be really, really fun.

unknown 36:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 36:03

All of us to do together. That would be really fun.

SPEAKER_00 36:05

That would be amazing, absolutely, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 36:07

Um, Katie, which episode are you looking forward to that's in the pipeline, or have you already done your favorite and you're like, cool, nothing else will beat this?

SPEAKER_03 36:17

Um, I think the one I've enjoyed the most so far, I think was actually the very first one we did. Um, just a chill chat about Normandy travel tips and the museums and everything. Not sure I've got a favourite coming up yet. But we've got plenty of things still to cover and plenty plenty of ideas coming up. So I think that the favourite to come is still to come.

SPEAKER_04 36:49

Still to come, still to come. And we're like that. We're super excited for you both, and we're so excited to watch it grow in a way that ours has. And it's such a surprising, you feel like nothing is happening, and then suddenly everything is happening, everything happens, and then you have a then you have a second job, which is uh falling down rabbit holes and reading good books.

SPEAKER_02 37:13

It's true, it's true.

SPEAKER_04 37:14

It's a hard life, gang.

SPEAKER_02 37:17

Do you find that when Winnie and I say this all the time that you know, I haven't met anybody in this community that's not been like kind and willing to lend a hand or you know, help, or just hey, if you need anything, or hey, you want to network or want to come on? Do you guys feel the same way? Like the it's just like a like the community in general is just genuinely good people, like there's no, you know, no funny business or anything like that.

SPEAKER_00 37:45

No, no, absolutely. I mean, the stand up for me is is when we had Garrett Jones on the author, and he was like, he was like thanking us for having hit having him on our podcast. And I was like, in my head, I'm thinking, mate, you've done us a favor because you're like, you know, you're insane. You know, he's former soldier, done it all, seen it all. Um, and then I I I specifically remember I will never ever forget this. At the end of the episode, um, he said, you know, let me know if you need anything, if you need any help with anything. And like for him to say that, it just shows you what kind of guy that he that he truly is.

SPEAKER_01 38:20

Um yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:22

And yeah, I think it's it's the same with other people I've come across. I mean, I mean, you know, us and Katie, you know, we support each other um, you know, on our own channels and stuff like that. Um, and it's yeah, it's just super lovely to to meet like-minded people. And I've not come across a bad egg yet, which is good.

SPEAKER_02 38:40

Right. Uh us either. Because it's not really a fandom, like you know, it's like you know, I'm part of like the Marvel fandom. Yeah. But it's not like fan, it's it's more like community. Community, yeah. I was gonna say, I don't know how to explain it. The word is right there, community. It's more of a community. There's no like nobody's really trying to one-up each other or anything, it's just cool. Everyone's just nice, level playing field, it's just very relaxed with everybody, it's very fun. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 39:11

This has been so much fun, and I'm really sorry that we have to end it. But I have one final question. Apart from Mr. Potato Head being in the Pacific, what is your favorite historical fact?

SPEAKER_00 39:22

God, um, favorite historical fact. Goodness me. Um we've stumped them. You really have, because that's that's that's again, there's so many. Um God, favorite historical fact. Um, oh goodness me.

SPEAKER_02 39:39

Um or let's let's let's twist it. Or favorite historical, favorite historical site or museum that you've used. That's better. Let's go there. Let's open it up a little more.

SPEAKER_00 39:53

Um for me, I've not been to super many yet. Um I would probably say uh the beaches in Normandy. Um that was uh like super emotional. Um, you know, Utah, Omaha. I didn't manage to get to the British beaches, that's on my list. Um, but I would just say Normandy in general. Like I still miss it. Like I had a bit of a traumatic time um with hotels and things, um, but I still miss it and want to go back so much because it's just just the perfect place for us people who are uh obsessed with World War II.

SPEAKER_04 40:28

Yeah, Katie?

SPEAKER_03 40:31

Yeah, I agree, Normandy. Um but like Aramanch, like the British side of things, that's where where we normally stay. We'll go.

SPEAKER_04 40:42

Yeah, it's wonderful. I it I know it's on our list. Um I think our our first thing for this year is to try and make a trip to England and do all the air bases that we have been researching, like Thorpe Abbott. Gabby's already been to Thorpe Abbott's. Um, can you believe I lived 20 minutes from Thorpe Abbott's and never went and didn't know it existed? I grew up 20 minutes away.

SPEAKER_01 41:03

No, isn't that gross?

SPEAKER_04 41:05

Yeah, isn't that bad? It's terrible. So we're gonna do all that. I get to show Gabby my hometown, which is gonna be really fun. Nice. Um, but I Normandy's definitely on our list.

SPEAKER_02 41:16

Normandy's on our list for sure. I want to see Churchill's War Room too. Absolutely. Wanna see Churchill's War Room, but I feel about Thor Babbitt's the way you feel about Normandy. I went and I'm like, I miss it. I want to go back. There's something very peaceful about being there.

SPEAKER_00 41:31

Yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 41:33

There's something very peaceful about being there. And I mean, also the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. I was there last year. That's a beast of a museum. Phenomenal, but a beast of a mistake. It took us two days to get through the whole thing. Through, yeah. Oh my god. And I could have spent forever in the Boeing room because they have a they have a B-17 just suspended from the air, just suspended from the ceiling.

SPEAKER_04 41:58

That reminds me, have you guys been to Doxford yet?

SPEAKER_03 42:03

I have not.

SPEAKER_04 42:04

You have you've been Katie?

SPEAKER_03 42:06

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, we used to get regular when I was younger, and we went uh last last week.

SPEAKER_04 42:12

Oh amazing! Awesome, lovely. Yeah, I went when I was a kid. That's on our list too. Completely, yeah. I completely glazed over the fact that I was looking at the only airworthy B17 in England.

SPEAKER_01 42:24

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 42:24

Um, but I was like seven at the time, and I was like, oh please, goodbye. Um which again upsets me. I had I had this world at my feet and I ignored it my whole life, and it took me moving out of the country to go back home again, which is really quite sad, isn't it? To end, where can we find you guys? Where can people subscribe? Where can people listen to you?

SPEAKER_00 42:50

So we are Foxhole Chats on YouTube, Spotify, Apple, all your podcast in places if you just want to listen or watch. Uh, and then Instagram, I think we're just at Foxhole Chat as well, from what I can remember. Just all one word.

SPEAKER_04 43:03

Smash in. Like we said, we're so excited to watch you guys grow. I can't wait to see what you guys come out with next because thanks, guys.

SPEAKER_00 43:11

That means a lot. That really does mean a lot.

SPEAKER_04 43:13

We're we're super excited to to keep plugging it and to all of the community from us into you guys because you what you guys have is something so special.

SPEAKER_00 43:23

It really is.

SPEAKER_04 43:24

We're really glad that we've been able to do this with you both.

SPEAKER_00 43:27

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, yeah. Like likewise for you, you know, it's amazing to watch your guys and the people you talk to is just mind blowing. Mind blowing. I can't wait to to see who you have on next.

SPEAKER_04 43:37

It's a surprise. There's so many surprises. There's so many surprises. So many surprises.

SPEAKER_02 43:45

But we're just thrilled we're thrilled for you guys. And anybody that's in our community and in our network, please, we are urging you to go check out Josh and Katie at Foxwell Chat because you won't uh you won't be sorry.

SPEAKER_04 44:00

No, you won't be sorry. It's excellent. You definitely won't be sorry. Like we have just spoken about there is zero competition, there is no bad eggs. Now, yeah, we are so happy for the both of you. And we're so happy to have like-minded people on this incredibly double life-esque crazy journey. So this is nice. I'm so glad that we have done this because now we can talk more and we can commiserate in some ways. So I'm so happy this has happened.

SPEAKER_02 44:27

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 44:29

Great. Thank you both so much for joining us. And thank you everyone again for listening. And we will see you next time.

SPEAKER_02 44:35

We'll see you guys soon.

SPEAKER_04 44:37

Bye, guys. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 44:39

Bye, guys.