Barrel-Aged Algae and Existential Dread w/ Chloe Radcliffe

Summary

The Nightly – "Barrel-Aged Algae and Existential Dread w/ Chloe Radcliffe"

Host: Hatch Podcasts
Date: February 22, 2026
Guests: Chloe Radcliffe (comedian, actor, writer)
Theme: A cozy, late-night wind-down exploring bedtime routines, pop culture, and existential musings—peppered with humor, relatable moments, and the comfort of pop culture camaraderie.

---

Episode Overview

This episode of The Nightly brings a playful and relaxing slumber party atmosphere, aiming to help listeners de-stress before bed. Hosted by Mat and Kristen, the show welcomes comedian Chloe Radcliffe for a candid, often hilarious conversation spanning British wedding trends, wellness routines (cold plunges and skin care!), the quirks of journaling, and coping with existential dread. All along, the trio’s banter exudes the cozy, non-judgmental vibe the show is known for—leaving listeners both amused and comforted.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Introductions, Locations, and Wedding Trends

Timestamps: 00:32–03:35

• Chloe’s Transatlantic Life: Chloe is in Ruislip (just within the London boundary) visiting her British boyfriend. Mat is in Banbury, Oxfordshire.
• Cultural Notes: Playful ribbing about the technicalities of being “within London,” and the current British trend of having weddings in non-traditional venues—barns and castles are all the rage.
  • Quote:

    "Every wedding is in a castle... There's a weird trend at the moment for basic people having weddings in anywhere but a wedding venue." (A/Mat, 02:41)

  • Quote:

    "Nothing more romantic than an allergic reaction." (C/Chloe, 03:29)

2. Chloe & Kristen Bond Over Minnesota Roots

Timestamps: 04:06–05:13

• Both Kristen and Chloe are Minnesotans; they delight in the “small world” moment, mentioning local towns and media.
• Chloe recalls the chilly reputation of Prior Lake and the local “polar plunge” event.
• Writing About Cold: Chloe is scripting a movie ending with a polar plunge, despite never having done one herself.

3. Cold Plunges Gone Awry & Barrel-Aged Algae

Timestamps: 05:16–07:19

• Matt’s Home Spa Fails: Mat shares his attempt at cold plunges in a repurposed whiskey barrel, which became "barrel-aged algae" territory.
  • Quote:

    "It got full of algae, basically... I did try and combat that with like chlorine tablets, but it's quite a concentrated area... It is barrel-aged algae." (A/Mat and C/Chloe, 06:15–06:33)

• The Upside: The barrel smelled of whiskey for months—a minor winter comfort gone “honking” in summer.
• Wellness Irony: Conversation pivots to how “algae is supposed to be good for your skin.”
  • Quote:

    "Algae's supposed to be good for the skin though, right? ...It's supposed to refresh us and give us the complexion of a 7 year..." (B/Kristen, 07:02)

  • Quote:

    "I'm actually 84." (A/Mat, 07:14)

4. Pop-Quiz: Bedtime Routines & Nightly Wind Downs

Timestamps: 07:19–10:36

• Chloe’s Routine: Brushing, flossing, and the now-daily ordeal of removing waterproof mascara. Skin care “serums and moisturizers” prompted by both age and showbiz.
  • Quote:

    "I now take my makeup off every night, which sucks... I don’t think it has made me look any different." (C/Chloe, 07:34–08:38)

• eBay Rituals: Rather than scrolling feeds, Chloe winds down by prowling eBay, mainly “watch listing” instead of buying—searching for items like a vintage NY Post cover for her father.
  • Quote:

    "I put things on my watch list and I never buy them... I have a perpetual saved search... ‘Ford to City: Drop Dead’." (C/Chloe, 09:00–09:56)

• The Most Niche Routine:
  • Quote:

    "Normally you talk to people and they're like, well, you know, I read my book and then I put some white noise on. [But yours is] trying to outbid people for really obscure paraphernalia from the 80s in New York City for my father." (A/Mat & D, 10:02–10:19)

5. Journaling, Existential Dread, and Keeping It Real

Timestamps: 10:36–16:20

• Journaling Practices: Chloe journals mostly on her phone when feeling “bad”—a cathartic way to manage existential anxiety and negative self-talk, sometimes in a physical notebook if momentum carries from creative work.
  • Quote:

    "It’s a bloodletting exercise." (C/Chloe, 12:01)

    "Mostly what I'm writing is things like, I am worried I will never be successful, sort of over and over again... That's what we call positive affirmations." (C/Chloe & D, 12:36–13:03)

• Balancing Venting and Positivity: Recognizing the importance of also recording good moments; trying not to “ruminate” excessively.
• Accessibility of Habits: Mat finds her approach more relatable than the highly-optimized routines of self-improvement influencers.
  • Quote:

    "It's nice to hear it from, like, somebody normal." (A/Mat, 14:31)

  • Quote:

    "Usually when I hear people talk about these kind of good habits, it's people who are successful in life, but finally a schlub like you comes up with it, and I feel like I can do it too." (D, 14:57)

6. Let Your Bed Breathe—Wellness “Hacks” & Social Media Satire

Timestamps: 16:20–17:25

• Bed-Making Debates: Kristen skips making her bed, claiming, “the bed breathes better if you don’t make it.” They poke fun at wellness trends and social media “life hacks” that are just common sense (“open a window” to air a room).
  • Quote:

    "The bed breathes. Let my bed breathe." (B/Kristen, 16:20)

  • Quote:

    "It was some mad name for basically just opening the window in the bedroom... this revolutionary thing: if you open the window, it feels airier in here." (A/Mat, 16:31–16:58)

  • Quote:

    "Did it also have a caption? 'My grandmother taught me this hack'... and it's closing the refrigerator after you've been in it?" (B/Kristen, 17:02)

7. Plugs, Projects, and Friendly Goodbyes

Timestamps: 17:25–18:52

• Chloe's Current Pursuits: Touring standup dates at chloeradcliffe.com and on socials as @chloebadcliffe ("like Radcliffe, but bad"); a tandem bike web series (“In Tandem with Chloe Radcliffe”).
  • Quote:

    "None of the things I talked about today are in my standup jokes. If you liked this—more of this; if you didn’t—do you like to gamble? Come see me on the road." (C/Chloe, 18:03)

• Bike Talk: Chloe never rides tandem in the back: “I would hate being in the back of the bike… you have no control!” (C/Chloe, 18:22–18:36)
• Warm Goodnights: Hosts and guest exchange affectionate send-offs, reinforcing the comforting, inclusive vibe of the show.

---

Memorable Quotes

• On journaling realness:

  "Mostly what I'm writing is things like, I am worried I will never be successful, sort of over and over and over again... That's what we call positive affirmations."
  — Chloe Radcliffe (12:36–13:03)

• On wellness industry absurdity:

  "There was something quite cozy about [the barrel] in the winter. But yeah, summer, it's honking."
  — Mat (06:48–06:53)

• On relatability:

  "It's nice to hear it from, like, somebody normal."
  — Mat (14:31)

• On bed-making wisdom:

  "Let my bed breathe."
  — Kristen (16:20)

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Introductions & Locations: 00:32–03:35
• Minnesota Bonding & Cold Plunges: 04:06–07:19
• Bedtime Routines & eBay Diversions: 07:19–10:36
• Journaling & Existential Dread: 10:36–16:20
• Wellness "Life Hacks": 16:20–17:25
• Chloe’s Plugs & Web Series: 17:25–18:52
• Goodnights & Sign-off: 18:52–19:04

---

Tone & Takeaway

Warm, witty, and authentic, this episode of The Nightly is a perfect wind-down for pop culture lovers who want to feel seen in their imperfect routines—and maybe laugh about barrel-aged algae along the way. Whether you’re journaling your existential worries or opening a window to “refresh max,” you’re in good company in the pillow fort tonight.

Transcript

[A]

Hello. You're about to drift into an episode of the Nightly, a podcast designed to help you unwind and relax. For the full phone free immersive light experience, visit Hatch Co. Enjoy. All right, I'm Mat.

[B]

And I'm Kristen. Welcome to the Nightly from Hatch, a slumber party for pop culture lovers. And tonight it definitely is a party because, Matt, we are joined by a third person here in the pillow fort, the hilarious comedian, actor and writer Chloe Radcliffe. Oh my gosh.

[C]

Chloe, hello.

[B]

This is.

[C]

It's so funny. I'm usually, I would call myself fairly high energy. And because this is like a, you know, this is like a wind down podcast, I really feel like I'm like trying to.

[D]

I'm trying to stuff myself down into a. Into sleep.

[A]

I have to do that every single night as well. Yeah, I'm normally super high energy, but.

[D]

But listen to that.

[C]

Listen to that bedtime voice, Matt.

[A]

Yeah. No, it's an absolute lie. I couldn't be more low energy if I tried. I mean, on stage, if I went any slower, I'd. I'd be going backwards, so. Really? Yeah.

[C]

Matt, where do you live?

[A]

I'm in Banbury in Oxfordshire.

[C]

Okay. I'm currently in Ruislip.

[A]

Oh, you're kidding.

[C]

Is that a place?

[D]

You know where it is?

[A]

Yeah. I drive past Ruislip all the time to go to London. Yeah.

[C]

Yeah. I'm like, technically within the London mayoral election boundary.

[D]

Technically I am in London by about 25ft.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. It is a technicality. I think that's about the perfect distance from London, really. It's easy to get to, but you're not too close.

[D]

Yes, that is exactly what somebody who lives in Oxfordshire would say.

[B]

Are you there for work or are you living there full time?

[C]

Neither. My boyfriend is British and he has lived in Ruislip for several years and now he has a visa. He's over in the us so he's in New York a bunch. But I try and get over here sometimes.

[A]

Nice. How long are you over for?

[C]

Just a week and a half. We're going to a wedding in a castle and then we fly back. But it turns out that's normal in this country. Every wedding is in a castle.

[A]

Yeah. Quite a lot of them. There's a weird trend at the moment for basic people having weddings in anywhere but a wedding venue. Do you know what I mean? Like, it always used to be hotel like rooms or what do you call them? Like function rooms.

[C]

A bar room.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. But now anywhere but there. Like, I've been to way Too many barn weddings in recent years.

[C]

Are there barn weddings in England?

[A]

Yeah, but not. It's people with no agricultural background.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[C]

They just really like that. That loopy cursive handwriting that winds up on all of the posters at the barn weddings.

[A]

That is exactly it.

[B]

The mason jars bales of hay.

[A]

Yeah. I'm yet to figure out any sort of logistical positive for having a wedding at a place like that, but yeah,

[C]

nothing more romantic than an allergic reaction.

[A]

How have you been, Kristen? It's been. Been a little while.

[B]

It has been a little while. I'm doing good. We've gotten out of, at least temporarily, the most frigid times. I feel like the last couple times I saw you, Matt, I had 17 layers on and now I'm just wearing one set of pajamas instead of six at bedtime. So this is really nice progress. Yes, we're coming along. We're coming along.

[A]

That is good to hear. Well, thank you very much for coming on, Chloe. This is genuine. It's great to have, you know, meet different people. Where are you from originally, Chloe?

[C]

In the US I grew up in Minnesota.

[B]

Stop it. I'm from Minnesota too.

[C]

Really?

[B]

Yeah. Where I grew up in Richfield, Bloomington and Minneapol. Whereabouts are you from?

[C]

Pryor Lake.

[B]

Oh my gosh.

[C]

South of the river.

[B]

Matt. I'm sorry, you probably don't know about any of these places.

[A]

Well, as much as I was playing dumb basically, Chloe, I used to do a show on Hatch where I would read local newspapers. And out of interest, I did have a look at the Prior Lake compass.

[C]

Uh huh.

[A]

I mean it looks cold. That seems to be the vibe that I'm getting here.

[C]

Totally. Definitely. What tripped me up was I thought our newspaper was called. I didn't think it was called the Compass, but now I'm. But now I don't have the name for what our local newspaper is. So maybe you're right. Maybe it is the compass. Now everything, the scales are falling from my eyes. Everything is crumbling in my life.

[A]

It might be another Prior lake.

[C]

No, no, I don't think so.

[A]

The registrations are now open for the local polar plunge in February.

[C]

Yes, yes.

[B]

Have you ever done that, Chloe?

[C]

I have not, but I happen to be. I am literally like what I was doing 10 minutes before I got on this is. I'm writing a movie script that ends in a big polar plunge.

[A]

Oh really?

[C]

And I've never done one. And I have frankly less than zero interest in drawing.

[B]

Oh my gosh, Matt. Actually you like cold plunges, right Matt?

[A]

Well, I Do I like the idea of it? I struggled to execute it because I didn't have the right tools for the job. I bought a giant whiskey barrel at one point, which was great, and filled it with ice. I didn't fill it with ice. It was just with water. So it worked perfectly. In the winter months.

[C]

Sure.

[A]

But then when it got to summer, obviously it's just lukewarm water.

[C]

Well, that's when you need the ice. How do you climb into a whiskey barrel?

[A]

Well, it came with a little wooden ladder.

[C]

Okay.

[A]

Which is now being used to house some plant pots. And the whiskey barrel has been cut into three pieces because I stopped. It got full of algae, basically.

[C]

Sure.

[A]

And yeah, that'll happen. I did try and combat that with like chlorine tablets and stuff, but it's quite a concentrated area.

[C]

It is barrel aged algae.

[A]

Yeah. There's a lot of stuff living in that wood.

[D]

You know, I think you can sell that.

[A]

I'll tell you what, it did smell of whiskey really, like for a long time. Yeah, yeah, it really, really smelled of whiskey.

[B]

Oh, wow.

[A]

And there was something quite cozy about that in the winter. But yeah, summer, it's honking.

[C]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Nobody wants to tell you that the smell of whiskey is just the smell of algae. We've been sold a lot.

[B]

Algae's supposed to be good for the skin though, right? Aren't there all those products that are made out of natural things like algae? It's supposed to refresh us and give us the complexion of a seven year look at Matt. It's working.

[A]

I'm actually 84.

[B]

Speaking of wellness trends, things that make us feel better like algae and cold plunges. Chloe. We like to ask all of our guests what their bedtime routine is. Do you have a sleep hygiene practice or something you do every night as you're getting ready for sleep?

[C]

Like beyond brush and floss. I brush and floss. I take my makeup off. I now take my makeup off every night, which sucks. I used to not. I used to just sleep in my makeup and it was fine. And a combination of now I am in my 30s and I'm now wearing. I was on set for a movie and the makeup artist curled my eyelashes and I was like, I've tried curling my eyelashes and they look fucking psychotic. And then she showed me how to do it and she showed me what mascara to use. And it's this like hyper intense, super waterproof mascara. And it works perfectly. And my eyelashes look amazing all day, except at the end of the day, I now if I don't take them off. I like, actually sleep worse if I don't take my stupid mascara off. So now I have a much more, like, rigid. And I do the serums and the moisturizer and it's like, I hate it and I'm not good at it and I don't know what to do. But I try it and I gotta say, I don't think it has made

[D]

me look any different.

[C]

And then usually I'll look at ebay for a little while because that's sort of. That's a thing that I can look at. That's not technically a feed.

[A]

That's unusual.

[C]

I like that. An ebay decompress.

[B]

Do you put things in your basket but never buy them?

[C]

I put things on my watch list and I never buy them.

[B]

Yes.

[C]

I've never understood the cart. I think it's the same, right? I don't know the difference between a watch list and the basket.

[B]

Not sure. Are there certain things that you're searching for on ebay, like vintage used bras

[C]

that should.

[D]

I keep listing.

[A]

It's great.

[C]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I really do have a lot of searches for a lot of used bras. They're so expensive. And the nice ones are. You can find them, I think. It's a New York Post cover page. It's from the 80s, I believe. And it says, this is when Gerald Ford was president. And it says, ford to city, colon. And then in quotes, drop dead. And I have a saved search. I would love to buy my dad a copy of that cover page.

[D]

Ford to city, drop dead.

[C]

He just thinks it's so funny. So I have a perpetual saved search on that for ebay.

[A]

This is honestly the most. The most niche bedtime routine. Normally you talk to people and they're like, well, you know, I read my book and then I put some white noise on trying to outbid people.

[D]

Really obscure Paraphernalia from the 80s in New York City for my father.

[C]

Sometimes I journal. I would say I journal a lot.

[A]

I'd love to get into that a bit more. Do you do it like an actual notepad and pen?

[D]

You're like, finally, we found something less psychotic.

[C]

Oh, no.

[D]

We found something that our listeners can relate to rather than looking for used underwear online.

[A]

Listen, I can talk about Eureka by addiction for hours. I'm more than happy to go down that route.

[D]

No, but journaling.

[C]

Journaling. Do I do it with paper and pen? I mostly not. I actually write with paper and pen a lot, but it's mostly. I'm mostly writing comedy or, like, I'll do the first draft of any screenplay in paper and pen. It's just in my notebook. And so then if I'm already in my notebook and I'm, like, feeling sort of like. Like, sloshy brain, then I sometimes will just stay in my notebook and keep journaling there. But for the most part, I journal in my phone. I just have a notes folder that's labeled journal. And I mostly journal when I am feeling bad. Sometimes I journal when I'm feeling good. And that's, like, a really nice thing to look back on. But mostly it's like a purgative process. It's an exercise to. To get to. It's a bloodletting exercise.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Get it out of your system. Get that out there. Yeah.

[A]

I do really want to do it, though, because I find I was thinking the other day, I'm so bad at retaining information and remembering stuff.

[C]

Me too. Me too.

[A]

If I ever got wrongly convicted of anything and I had to be interviewed, I would be in so much trouble. Because if they said, well, where were you last Thursday? I got no idea.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

I don't know what I was doing. So. But does that help then, if you find. If you write stuff at the end of every day?

[C]

Well, it would help if I wrote, like, what happened that day every day. I'm just. I'm inconsistent. I actually. I think. I think my life would actually probably be better if I. If I formed, like, a more consistent journaling practice, but I'm not quite consistent enough. And mostly what I'm writing is things like, I am worried I will never be successful. Sort of over and over and over again. Like, it's not like, that's what we call positive affirmations.

[D]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Exactly, exactly.

[A]

Exactly.

[D]

It's not so much like, you know,

[C]

I had a really nice dinner or even, like, if it's negative journaling. Right. It's not so much even like, the

[D]

dinner tonight tasted bad, and then I

[C]

can be like, oh, yeah, it was a dinner. It's more, you know, the existential. Yeah. The. The noise that's in my head.

[A]

Okay. Yeah.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

But it is good to just, like, just dump that out somewhere else.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Get it out of your head. Make sure that when you fall asleep at night, it's not rattling around your brain, those kinds of thoughts. It's out there now. Now it's on that paper. Now it's somewhere else.

[C]

Also, Kristin, I absolutely love your Minnesota accent.

[B]

Oh, you can hear.

[D]

Oh, my God.

[C]

It's so. It's so Strong.

[B]

Some people can hear it and some people.

[C]

I love it. I love it.

[D]

Oh, you can hear it.

[B]

Oh, gosh. Yeah. Oh.

[D]

Oh, so sweet.

[C]

Drop.

[B]

Sorry about that.

[D]

Sorry about that.

[C]

But the thing that I found. Sorry. I'm really on my soapbox now. In the last year, I was like, oh, I'm only writing bad things so much, and I have to stop thinking like that. Like, at some point, you know, your back is just against a wall and you have to be like. You just have to focus on the positive.

[D]

Anyway, that's where I'm at now.

[B]

That makes so much sense. It's a delicate balance between getting it out of your brain versus ruminating versus here's something I need to fix versus fixating. Right?

[A]

I'm gonna start doing that. I think it's also quite. It's nice to hear it from, like, somebody normal. Do you know what I mean? Cause a lot of time when you hear people talking about journaling, it's all really high performance people. And I can't identify with what they're doing on that level.

[D]

Matt, what a backhanded compliment.

[A]

Let me clarify this.

[D]

You know, usually when I hear people talk about these kind of good habits, there's people who are successful in life, but finally a schlub like you comes up with it. And I feel like I can do it too.

[A]

If you can do it, anybody can.

[D]

I didn't even think you were literate, honestly.

[A]

Let me just qualify that. You know, the people who are so unobtainable, like unattainable, what they're talking about, and it's all that kind of that nonsense language that they use about, you know, like Stephen Bartlett and all that

[B]

they're constantly optimizing and synergizing, and they're living life on 11 and they have their 15 step program they do for every single thing in their life, whether it's putting on their socks in the morning or getting ready to go to work, those people.

[A]

Thank you, Kristen. Thank you for just filling in the hole that I started digging. I feel like we got out of there scot free.

[D]

You know, those people who have lives that I will never reach, but this chick is in Ruislip right now. I can definitely get to her level.

[A]

It's a compliment. All those people, their lives I don't want to reach because as far as I'm concerned, they're down here and people like you up here.

[C]

Thank you.

[A]

That's where I want to get to.

[C]

Thank you.

[D]

I don't make my bed in the morning.

[A]

Exactly.

[B]

Nor should you Nor should you, apparently. The bed breathes better if you don't make it. That's what I tell myself every day. I remember reading that somewhere. The bed breathes. Let my bed breathe.

[A]

Yeah, I saw something online the other week about, I can't remember what they called it, but it was some mad name for basically just opening the window in the bedroom. Just airing out a bedroom.

[D]

Sure, sure, sure.

[C]

They had like a process, like a refresh maxing or something.

[A]

It's almost exactly that, I think. Yeah. And it was like this revolutionary thing where they were like, you know, if you open the window, it feels a lot airier in here.

[C]

Insane.

[B]

Did it also have a caption? My grandmother taught me this hack.

[D]

And it's opening over.

[B]

There's so many of those. I seen him like, your grandmother taught you this hack. And it's closing the refrigerator. After you're in the refrigerator. That's your hack. That's your whole hack.

[C]

What? But it got lost for generations.

[A]

It wasn't until we accidentally broke a window and then we thought, hang on.

[C]

I feel so old fashioned.

[B]

Oh, my gosh, Chloe, this has been so much fun learning about your bedtime processes, maps, learning that we can open a window to refresh, max ourselves, the whole thing. But Chloe, before we wrap, is there anything our listeners should be checking out that you've been working on?

[C]

I'm on the road performing standup and all of my tour dates [e-mail] or I am ChloeBadcliffe across all socials. It's like my last name Radcliffe, but bad. And none of the things that I talked about today are in my standup jokes.

[D]

So if you liked this, more of this, if you didn't like, like this. Do you like to gamble? Come see me on the road.

[C]

You know, I do all sorts of shit. I do a tandem bike web series

[D]

where I put a comedian on the back of a tandem bike and we

[C]

ride around, Check that out.

[D]

You know, all sorts of stuff.

[B]

Are you always in the front of the bike?

[C]

Yes, absolutely. Okay. I honestly think, I think I would hate being in the back of the bike. I think it's not fun to be in the back of the bike, which

[D]

is why I put my guests there.

[B]

I agree with you. The back of the bike is kind of.

[C]

It's terrifying. You have no control.

[B]

You have to give up your control. You have to be like, I trust whoever is in the front of this bike. Where they're going, I'm going, I have no choice in the matter. Yeah. Oh, that's fun. I'm definitely checking that out.

[C]

It's called in tandem with Chloe Radcliffe.

[A]

Lovely stuff.

[B]

Nice.

[A]

Thank you very much for coming on, Chloe. It's been a pleasure. And Kristin, I will see you soon. Good night.

[D]

Good night.

[B]

Good night to both of you. This has been so fun. Sweet dreams.

[C]

Sleep tight.

[A]

Sa.

[C]

Foreign.

[A]

To learn more about our phone free light and audio experience, head to Hatch Co. You can also follow us at Hatch Podcasts.