Olly Mann himself has a change of heart about Elf On The Shelf since AMT392.
Laura found a variety pack of stock, as yearned for by Olly in AMT407 – although is two flavours enough to count as ‘variety’?
Several people wrote in to chip in on AMT412‘s discussion of people with your same name using your email address; here we hear from Margaret and Daniel.
After hearing AMT411‘s question from Charlie from Canberra whose mother had lately found out she was the biological child of a prolific sperm donor and thus has 600+ siblings, we heard from many of you reflecting upon your similar experiences of finding you were the child of a sperm donor, or your parent learning that they were. David, Breanne and Jo share some remarkable responses.
If you’ve been storing thoughts about AMTs 1-412, send them to us for future episodes of Answer Us Back. And as always, send in your questions, in voicenote or written form to answermethispodcast@googlemail.com, for all new AMT413 which will be in your podfeed 24 December 2025.
Help to keep AMT going by signing up at patreon.com/answermethis, where highest tier gets access to our ENTIRE back catalogue, including the paywalled episodes, the special albums, the Bonus Bits of Crapp on the AMT App (RIP) and all the Retro AMT episodes.
Thanks to Naked Wines for sponsoring AMT, and for providing bottles straight from world-class winemakers, cutting out the middleman, delivered to your door. Head to nakedwines.co.uk/answer to get a £30 voucher on your first 6 pack, including free delivery.
Wake up, babe – a new AMT feature just dropped! Midway through the interminable month between new episodes, we’ll be doing an Answer Us Back episode that is all bits of feedback you send in about episodes old and new.
Today we hear from:
Scott, on the lyrics of ‘Sweet Caroline’, first discussed in AMT365 in 2018. By the way, you can hear Helen’s recording of the song seeping out from behind a tall West Midlands hedge, the chorus really kicks in around a minute in.
Steve in San Diego, with some cool tiara trivia following our discussion of that headgear in AMT408;
Elodia and Jess, both former medical students, illuminating us on what really goes on when they dissect human bodies during their training, which came up in AMT404. And Elodia previously wrote to us all the way back in 2011! Read that here, and, good news: famousbelgians.net is still online.
If you’ve been storing thoughts about AMTs 1-411, send them to us for future episodes of Answer Us Back. And as always, send in your questions, in voicenote or written form to answermethispodcast@googlemail.com, for all new AMT412 which will be in your podfeed 27 November 2025.
Also, join us for our fun Petty Problems live video on 16 November 2025 by signing up at patreon.com/answermethis; by doing so, you’re also helping keep the whole podcast going, so congrats and thanks for that.
H&O
Thanks to Naked Wines for sponsoring AMT, and for providing bottles straight from world-class winemakers, cutting out the middleman, delivered to your door. Head to nakedwines.co.uk/answer to get a £30 voucher on your first 6 pack, including free delivery.
Erica has been listening to AMT291 in which we fielded a question about what the Pope does on his holidays. She says:
I once met a priest who had been part of the Swiss Guard, which is basically the Pope’s secret service. He told me that Pope John Paul liked to go downhill skiing well into his 70s. *
I honestly can’t remember if I imagined a white ski outfit with a cross on the front or if he said that is what he really wore. I am fairly certain it’s the former. **
Well, readers, have any of you actually spotted a Pope on his hols? Whizzing down a black run, robes flapping behind him; or sunning himself on a beach in a pair of papal Speedos?
*It’s true! **Also true. But maybe he’s wearing his full pope-dress under the appropriate ski-wear. Dare to dream, Erica.
Retro feedback time! Jeff from Litchfield, New Hampshire has raised the spectre of mid-2013:
I was listening to episode 261 where someone asked how Casper the friendly ghost died. I have the answer.
According to issue #8 of Crazy magazine (December 1974) he was murdered by his abusive father after he watched his mother be stabbed to death. Later he got his revenge with Wendy the witch by letting his father’s new girlfriend burn alive and Wendy cast the the spell “Butcher knives fly like mad, and slice up Casper’s mean ole dad”.
I should mention that my mother bought me this issue when I was 6. I’m assuming she didn’t know this was in it.
And I’m assuming a 6-year-old didn’t clock that this is a parody, and Kaspar the Dead Baby is not canonical Casper the Friendly Ghost material. They have different names and faces:
Great material though. Abuse, murder, immolation – really LOLtastic.
We love to hear how our questioneers have fared in the wake of our counsel. Here’s a brace of emails from questioneers of episodes long past, some happy, some sad. Let’s start happy, with Eleanor from the Isle of Man from AMT305:
You kindly answered my question in January as to whether I should steal my dad’s dough scraper that he clearly had no intention of using. So imagine my excitement this morning when opening my birthday presents from my husband and children to discover they got me not only a dough scraper, but also an Answer Me This apron! Problem solved!
Aaah! Feast your eyes on that birthday joy, then bathe in the sorrow of AMT247‘s Emily:
A few years ago I messaged you about being caught by my boyfriend as I was smoking in the bath and how I tried to play it off as in fact me masturbating.
So, the development is that after 3 years together he has left me, as in ‘stood in the doorway with his bags packed when I got home from work’ left me. I didn’t see it coming and this is really shit.
My question is this: how, when you chose the city you inhabit, the flat you live in, the pets you have and the routine that fills your life for your partner, can you stop being constantly reminded of them once they have left you? Note: I now have a grad scheme job, friends here and am tied into a rental contract (foolishly just in my name) so can’t move away.
Comiserations, Emily. But at least now you can do whatever you want in the bath, without stoking his insecurities.
Readers, have you any ideas for Emily to reboot her life? Rearrange the furniture, take a different route into work, hang out with friends in places you haven’t been before? Not sure what you can do about the pets, but perhaps you could teach them to bark in a different key or swim around the little plastic castle in the opposite direction.
Today I read an article about who that mysterious “LTB” guy is. The source is producer Bill Bottrell.
I’m sure I’m the only one who cares about this, but it reminded me of AMT and I thought I’d share, in case anyone else cares. 😀
For those of you who can’t be arsed to read the article, here’s the big reveal:
The mysterious L.T.B. credited as the rapper is none other than…
.
.
.
..
…
…..Bill Bottrell himself!
And apparently he gave away the secret years ago, but in a publication too techy for anyone* to read. So there’s a tip for any of you burtsting with a secret: tell it to Sound on Sound, nobody will ever know.
*Except Martin the Sound Man; there are copies of Sound on Sound in the AMT loobrary.
Re AMT287, I see our well known painted statue gentleman walk through the neighborhood to catch the bus quite often. He is also regularly downtown at the bus stop and outside his post at Pike Place. Regularly in the rain with no running of his body paint. It astounds me.
When I see him walking past my house I always want to say hello and invite him in for a drink but alas, what is the protocol there? Answer me this: how does one go about convincing a living statue to come in and chat? (Is that creepy?! I am so curious about how and what he does outside of work.)
Readers, do you think there’s a romantic element to Angela’s interest in the human statue? Does she want to Pygmalion this situation?
Whether you do or not, head to the comments to suggest non-creepy ways for Angela to extend the hand of friendship – and also to discover the secrets of his stay-put make-up.
I had to email when I came across Munters in episode 16. While my wife Michelle turned up to our wedding in the fancy car, I arrived in my friend’s Munters Van!
Here’s an email from Richard who lives in Hemel, but spends most of his time in Nottingham, né Richard from Halifax from AMT66, as featured in the Intermission in AMT298, on the subject of which he writes:
Good news! and…bad.
I did not ever find my Maharaba princess, my quest for the ultimate holiday romance never materialised, but I did find another girl two years later named Sarah. Sarah and I have now been in a relationship for over 4 years and we are very happy together.
At the tender age of 21 the mentioning of my old story brought back many memories and was rather surprising, but has made me cherish my current relationship even more.
Aaaaah. A happy story! We love to hear how your life problems turned out subsequent to us contemplating them on the podcast, so do let us know. Unless we ruined your life, in which case we apologise, and also accept no legal responsibility.
Mary in New Zealand has done a callback to something I said on an AMT episode so long past, I can’t actually find out which one (possibly 81? If you’ve recently been listening to the back catalogue and can identify the relevant episode, do let me know (UPDATE: Chris has kindly pointed out that it was AMT75, so call off the search.)).
You probably know I do love handicrafts, so the most brilliant thing about Mary’s callback is that it is in the form of EMBROIDERY!
This adage was also immortalized as a cartoon by listener Luke, so it must be Very Wise Indeed. Hang onto my every word, listeners, because I am a great sage. Now go forth and make cross-stitch samplers of everything I have ever said.
Even when questioneers are chronic oversharers, they leave us and you wanting more. Gemma from Manchester but living in Leeds writes:
I’ve been listening to a some of your old podcasts recently on my training runs. (One episode = 5k… It’s a great measurement!!) I would love to know some of the outcomes of the advice you give… So Helen and Olly answer me this, have you heard anything back off the following people:
Alright, Cupcake Lady’s easy: we first heard from her in AMT271, then again in AMT272, and finally here, which suggested that though Office Nemesis was still up to her old tricks, Cupcake Lady had found it in herself no longer to condemn but to pity. Cupcake Lady has grown. Cupcake Lady’s psychological journey continues without us as travelling companions.
As for the rest: we only know as much about our questioneers as they tell us. We don’t know what’s going with Dave from Smethwick between calls. We can’t tell you what’s happened to Graham from Canada (we refer you to 2008-vintage episodes from answermethisstore.com to get your fix of Canada’s most inquisitive teen) because we haven’t heard from him in five years. Whither Matthew Seymour from Colchester and Robert from Dumfriesshire and Sarah from Gaytown? What happened in the love triange between Wade and Ana and Ned from Bath? How many more punctures has Jessii accrued?
So, if you’re one of the people about whom Gemma is curious, please go to the comments and divulge what happened next in your story. In fact, if we’ve ever answered one of your questions, let us know the outcome, for better or worse. Disclaimer: we accept no responsibility for having ruined your life.
Time for feedback about AMT long past, from Adam from Yorkshire:
Just listening back to episode 165 and Olly mentions you have to be circumcised to have a Prince Albert piercing.
Well you’re incorrect!
I’m with a guy atm that has that piercing and isn’t circumcised. And it’s perfectly fine. Nothing going wrong there and can still have as much fun as he wants. Just thought I’d let you know.
Answer Me This! Podcast 