Justin Bieber cannot have every birthday
Scott began March feeling mildly ill, although both he and Chris recognised their habit of responding to somebody else’s complaint by announcing that they had the same problem, only worse. The greater injustice concerned everybody born on 1 March. Justin Bieber was celebrating his birthday, filling entertainment websites and social media with photographs and tributes, while less famous people with exactly the same claim on the date struggled for attention.
Ellie called about her boyfriend Sam, who was turning 23 while working at a car dealership and feeling distinctly overlooked. Scott asked listeners to use the hashtag Happy Birthday Sam, and the messages poured in. Another caller named Justin had both the same name and birthday as Bieber but none of the fame, which may have been the most unfortunate combination of all.
What should I do if…?
The Google Game asked Scott and Chris to complete the search question “What should I do if…?” Scott initially wanted embarrassing videos of himself removed from the internet and wondered whether befriending somebody senior at a search engine could arrange a complete digital spring clean. Chris raised a more serious dilemma: what to do if he suspected a male friend was cheating on his girlfriend, who was also a friend.
They chose the cheating question, but the public’s most common searches were much more practical: feeling sick, having a fever or flu, and being bitten by a dog. Scott advised against biting the dog back.
Learning English from the wrong teachers
Dutch listener Krista explained that she was using the show to improve her English. Scott and Chris accepted that this was a bad idea, then offered supposedly useful phrases involving Radio 1, parking fines and asking for more wine. Their attempts to provide Dutch in return were considerably less educational.
The conversation revived Café des Rêves, the school language programme remembered by generations of pupils learning French. Scott initially dismissed its plot, then discovered an early performance from a ginger-haired Jake Wood and started recommending it as a forgotten box set.
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