Coffee & Flowers: A podcast about The National

Season 1 will be available 4 March on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other listening thingys!

A warm welcome to Coffee & Flowers, explaining who, what and why.

We begin exploring 'Boxer' with a tiptoe through the album's melancholic first track, exploring the real, the fake, and the big opener that almost wasn't.

We consider the unmagnicifcent lives of adults and the reluctant deal we all make with the world as we leave youth.

We follow the footsteps of two people in a game of cat and mouse with help from Brainy herself, Carin Besser.

We consider the unheavenly travails of white-collar employment in a track that, for Matt, was all about restraint.

This episode we find a tender exploration of humans, their objects, and the connections we form.

The album hits its mid-point and a fork in the roads: to go to the party, or to stay in? We explore the pros and cons of socialising and the curious lure of home.

Unpacking 'Slow Show's "fraternal twin", we consider relationships within four walls. How do we enjoy comfort when it all too often rubs up against claustrophobia?

The (im?)possibility of reconciliation is explored in 'Start A War', and when the right time is to walk away. Plus, how identical twins approach guitar harmonies.