Writer, broadcaster and comedian Jo Caulfield joins Stephen to talk about inheriting a steely backbone of strength from her Mum and a childlike playfulness from her Dad. Due to her father’s job in the Air Force, Jo constantly moved home as a child, meaning there were always new people to meet and dinner parties to throw. She chats about the delights of blackcurrant tea, Knickerbocker Glories and chewy American cookies. She revels in the unexpected joy of getting to know your parents anew as they grow older.

Jo Caulfield is an award winning writer and comedian. Find out more about Jo here! https://jocaulfield.com/ Catch her new tour Bad Moon Rising in 2026 and watch her Comedy Special ‘Here Comes Trouble,’ here! https://nextupcomedy.com/programs/jo-caulfield-stand-up-special-here-comes-trouble And buy her book ‘The Funny Thing About Death’ here! https://www.amazon.co.uk/Funny-Thing-About-Death/dp/1846976359/

00:00 Intro to Me? I Blame the Parents

00:36 Stephen K Amos introduces comedian, writer and broadcaster Jo Caulfield.

01:23 Jo Caulfield introduces her mum and dad, children of the Silent Generation born between 1928 and 1945.

02:51 Jo Caulfield’s father joined the Air Force to get out of Northern Ireland, but he really wanted to be an actor like David Niven in films about the Air Force.

03:42 Jo says that she sees her mum’s steeliness within her and recalls laughing after her mum told a rude joke about a nurse’s dubious rubber gloves.

07:15 Jo says her father was quite childlike and that playing make believe games with him was a serious affair.

08:02 Jo’s parents were quite grand and loved throwing dinner parties with her dad playing guitar to entertain everyone at the end of the evening.

09:30 Jo is the youngest and her older siblings fought her battles.

10:09 Jo tells a hilarious story about the time her parents went out one day, and she assumed they’d left the family forever.

15:12 With a father in the Air Force, Jo recalls having to move every 2 years, which meant the kids would regularly lose all their friends and have to start again.

16:49 Jo spent summers on holiday in Northern Ireland and remembers the joys of her first Knickerbocker Glory.

19:53 Jo and Stephen accept that their parents were strict due to the fact they had a much harder life growing up

21:50 Jo went to a convent school where she says they were taught that sex was best to be avoided all your life.

25:43 Jo’s best friend at 15 was gay but neither of them knew it. Being a New Romantic meant that it was OK to wear lace and lots of makeup.

26:54 Jo delights in the meeting of an African American family on the Air Force base and trying her first soft, American cookie.

31:04 Jo talks about being closer to her mother as a child. It’s only as an adult, having one-on-one dinners with her father, she realized how charming he could be.

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