247 Another unscripted Sunday catch-up, and this time Roberto is behind the wheel of his new Mini Electric - loving every second of it - while Jon is still waiting for his Nissan to be returned after nine months in a dealership. Life is unfair. We cover a lot of ground this week, from a film you absolutely need to see to a battery technology that could change EVs forever.

Today’s conversation covers:

•Jon’s Nissan saga update - nine months since the car was towed for repairs and still no resolution; a surprise service appointment, a head mechanic who said things he definitely shouldn’t have, and how filing a Financial Ombudsman case suddenly made Nissan very interested in picking up the phone

•Mini Electric vs BMW M2 - Roberto drove the M2 to Sussex mid-week for speed and efficiency, but the car he keeps finding excuses to drive is the Mini; real-world range (150–170 miles), motorway behaviour, remote parking via phone, and why driving silently past school parents in idling Range Rovers is deeply satisfying

•Project Hail Mary - both Roberto and Jon are evangelical about the Ryan Gosling sci-fi film; practical effects, an emotionally hopeful story, and why it might deserve a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar nomination; Roberto’s slightly dodgy viewing arrangement and why he booked Odeon tickets anyway to clear his conscience

•Solid-state battery breakthrough - Finnish startup Donut Lab claims the holy grail: a battery with 400Wh/kg energy density (roughly double current lithium-ion), a potential 5–8 minute full charge, unlimited lifespan, and performance unaffected by heat or cold; if it works, this is the tipping point that makes petrol cars obsolete

•Cheshire road trip in the Mini - Roberto is planning to drive the Mini Electric up to Rookery Hall and the Bentley factory visit on 18th May and film the whole thing as a road trip vlog; expect at least two charging stops and a revisit of the earlier road trip format

•Books & tech - Jon has finished the Walter Isaacson Steve Jobs biography (spoiler: sad ending) and moved on to Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Shards of Earth; the Lego Game Boy gets a playable upgrade via the BrickBoy Kickstarter mod; Jon is deep into Final Fantasy VII Integrade on the Nintendo Switch 2

•James Bond - First Light & casting rumours - the IO Interactive Bond game (007: First Light) is roughly six weeks away and Roberto cannot wait, given IO’s pedigree on the Hitman series; Louis Partridge (22) is being linked to the role of a younger, prequel-era Bond, and the lads debate whether the whole franchise is heading in a prequel direction while waiting for Denis Villeneuve to wrap Dune

•Cinema vs streaming - films are leaving cinemas faster than ever, screens can’t fit as many runs of longer films, and both agree Project Hail Mary deserves to be seen again on IMAX - which may well return later in the year

🎧 If you enjoy eavesdropping on these Sunday catch-ups, please leave a rating and review on your podcast app - it makes a huge difference to how many people discover us.

📺 Head to YouTube @TailoringTalkMagazine for video content on lifestyle, gadgets, menswear and more - and stay tuned for the upcoming three-way Project Hail Mary deep-dive with Alex.

Chapters:

00:00 Mini Electric vs BMW M2 - Roberto’s Surprising Verdict


02:46 Jon’s Nine-Month Nissan Nightmare & the Financial Ombudsman Case


03:45 Project Hail Mary Review: Ryan Gosling, Practical Effects & Oscar Chances


05:32 Shards of Earth, Steve Jobs Biography & Sci-Fi Book Recommendations


08:13 Real-World EV Range: Mini Electric, IONIQ 6 & the Joy of Silent Driving


10:18 Cheshire Road Trip: Mini Electric to Rookery Hall & Bentley Factory Visit


13:20 Donut Lab Solid-State Battery: The Holy Grail of EV Charging?


16:45 Lego Game Boy BrickBoy Mod & Nintendo Switch 2 Final Fantasy VII


21:14 007 First Light Game, IO Interactive & Louis Partridge as the Next Bond


25:08 Cinema vs Streaming: Why Project Hail Mary Deserves an IMAX Return

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246 Roberto is on his final morning in Madrid - soaking in the city’s effortless elegance one last time - while Jon is freshly back from an Easter break in the New Forest. In this episode of our Candid Conversations series, we picked up the phone and just… talked. No agenda, no script, no edits. Exactly as it happened.

This week’s unscripted conversation covers:

•Madrid vs. London living - what Roberto keeps coming back to the Spanish capital for, the food culture, the street energy, and why the fashion just hits differently

•Easter in the New Forest - Jon’s family catch-up, a delightful 22-month-old second cousin, and the very real pain of UK bank holiday traffic

•Electric vehicles deep-dive - the state of public EV charging in Britain, Jon’s VW ID4 and its genuinely bizarre “unlock seven times” cable trick, Roberto’s new Mini Electric, route planning for a potential Cheshire road trip, and why Top Gear’s 50 Best Family EVs list is pure clickbait

•Tech on the road - Roberto’s real-world verdict on the M5 MacBook Air after editing video on it in Madrid (spoiler: it might be the MacBook for most people), plus speculation about the upcoming Apple Mac Studio M5

•Reading & culture - Jon is deep into Walter Isaacson’s Steve Jobs biography; Roberto has cracked open Ian Fleming’s Casino Royale and is discovering Bond on the page is considerably more swarthy - and considerably more chain-smoking - than on screen

•A style epiphany - sitting alone in an elegant Madrid hotel bar, Roberto quietly resolves to start dressing with genuine sophistication: suits, winter blazers, and leaving the “late forties dressing like mid-twenties” era firmly behind

•Coming up - a potential Fleming novel vs. film review mini-series, the new Bond video game dropping 27th May, and plans to get Alex involved in a future three-way episode

Whether you’re a long-time listener or discovering Tailoring Talk Magazine for the first time, this is the kind of honest, rambling, genuinely fun conversation that reminds you why podcasts exist.

Chapters / Timestamps

00:00 Roberto's Last Morning in Madrid & the iPhone Volume Button Fix

02:36 New Forest Easter Break, Bank Holiday Traffic & UK EV Charging Infrastructure

05:32 Top Gear's 50 Best Family EVs, VW ID4 Tips & Mini Electric Road Trip Plans

08:08 M5 MacBook Air Real-World Review & Apple Mac Studio M5 Rumours

10:49 Ian Fleming's Casino Royale Novel vs Film, James Bond's Lifestyle & a Wardrobe Epiphany

13:29 Bond Video Game May 2026, Future Episodes & Listener Shoutout

🎧 If you enjoy these candid episodes, please leave us a rating and review on whatever app you’re listening on - it genuinely helps more people find us.

📺 On YouTube? Head over to @TailoringTalkMagazine for video content covering lifestyle, gadgets, menswear and more.

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245 On April 1, 1976, Apple was founded. Fifty years later, Bobby and Jon jump on the phone for a candid, unfiltered conversation about the company that shaped so much of their tech lives.

This isn’t a polished keynote-style retrospective. It’s two Apple fans talking honestly about the products, moments and memories that stuck with them most.

They get into their earliest encounters with Apple, from old Macs and the first iPods to the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone X and the original iPad. They also talk about why Apple still has such a hold on people, how certain products changed the wider tech industry, and what might come next as rumours continue around foldables, AR glasses and future Apple Watch upgrades.

There’s nostalgia here, but there’s also scepticism. Bobby and Jon also touch on Apple in 2026, Tim Cook’s legacy, privacy, product strategy and whether the company can still deliver the next truly era-defining device.

If you’ve ever owned an iPod, queued mentally for an iPhone, or wondered whether Apple still has the magic, this one’s for you.

In this episode:

• Apple’s 50th anniversary and why it still matters
• The first Apple devices that pulled us in
• Why the iPod changed everything
• The iPhone models that felt genuinely revolutionary
• The original iPad and how opinions changed
• Foldables, AR glasses and Apple’s future
• Apple Watch Ultra, Vision Pro and what we’d actually buy next
• Tim Cook, ethics and the harder questions around Apple today

Listen now and tell us: what was your first Apple device, and what’s your all-time favourite?

Timestamps

00:00 Intro and setting the scene

01:10 Travel chat, hand luggage and taking tech away

06:22 MacBook vs iPad and the convenience debate

09:58 Apple’s 50th anniversary and current Apple books

12:27 Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Apple’s founding story

15:53 Ronald Wayne, the early Apple story and what might have been

20:08 Jon’s first Apple experience using an old Macintosh

22:02 The first iPod and the moment Apple became irresistible

26:56 First iPhones, networks and early Apple buying memories

27:52 Why the iPhone 4 was such a landmark device

30:11 The iPhone X and the jump to Face ID

31:44 The original iPad and how different it felt

35:55 What Apple might do next - foldables or AR glasses?

41:37 Apple Watch Ultra, future upgrades and rumours

44:08 Meta glasses, privacy and waiting for Apple’s version

46:53 Tim Cook, politics and the more complicated side of Apple

49:18 Final thoughts at the 50-minute mark

Apple 50th anniversary, Apple podcast, Apple history, Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, first iPod, first iPhone, iPhone 4, iPhone X, original iPad, Apple Watch Ultra, Apple foldable, Apple AR glasses, Tim Cook, Apple nostalgia, tech podcast, Apple fans

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