Appearance Matters: The Podcast!

In the final episode of our Visible Difference Matters mini-series, Dr Ella Guest and Dr Emma Waite explore how people with visible differences experience social media. They cover the benefits, the challenges, and practical tips for a healthier relationship with social media. They also introduce new resources on navigating social media, tailored for young people, adults and influencers with a visi...

How does supporting a child with a visible difference affect parents and carers? In the third episode of our Visible Difference Matters mini-series, Professor Diana Harcourt and Dr Maia Thornton explore the impact of supporting a child with a visible difference. They also share tools for parents and carers developed by the Centre for Appearance Research, including the Visible Difference Parenting...

What's it like growing up with a visible difference? In the second episode of our Visible Difference Matters mini-series, Professor Diana Harcourt and Dr Ella Guest talk about what it's really like to have a visible difference as a young person, and the support available to help young people navigate it. 🔗 Find out more and access free support resources at the Visible Difference Support Hub: http...

What support is available for adults living with a visible difference? In the first episode of our Visible Difference Matters mini-series, Dr Maia Thornton and Dr Emma Waite discuss support for adults with a visible difference. This includes free, evidence-based interventions developed at the Centre for Appearance Research, from apps to podcast-based programmes. 🔗 Find out more and access free su...

In this month’s episode, we bring you Phyllida Swift’s Keynote speech from the Appearance Matters 11 Conference, which took place in Bristol in June 2026. Phyllida is CEO of Face Equality International, a global alliance of NGOs, charities, and support groups who are on a mission to end visible difference related stigma and discrimination. Phyllida's keynote explores how she came to be the CEO of...

Welcome back to Appearance Matters: The Podcast. Earlier this year, we spoke with Dr Zali Yager ahead of her keynote at Appearance Matters 11, where she shared insights into her career, the Embrace Collective, and the themes she would be exploring at the conference. In this special episode, we’re delighted to bring you Zali’s keynote presentation, recorded live at Appearance Matters 11 in Bristol....

How does not being able to find clothes in your size affect body image? In this episode of Appearance Matters: The Podcast, Kat speaks with Dr Sharon Haywood about her research exploring the relationship between clothing size availability, body image, and eating disorder behaviours among adolescents in Argentina. Together, they discuss why shopping for clothes is much more than a practical experie...

Welcome back to Appearance Matters: The Podcast! To mark Women’s Health Month, Ella speaks to Dr Sophie Williams, Assistant Subject Lead for Psychology at University of Derby, and Trainee Health Psychologist, Dr Laura Falconer, UK-based Health Psychologist at Reed Wellbeing, and Dr Melissa Pehlivan, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the InsideOut Institute, University of Sydney, Australia about thei...

Welcome back to Appearance Matters: The Podcast! In this month’s episode, Ella speaks to Dr Helena Lewis-Smith, Associate Professor at the Centre for Appearance Research (CAR), along with Fiona and Lucy, who have lived experience of breast cancer and are expert advisors for Helena’s research. They update us on the findings from Helena’s feasibility trial of the Accepting Your Body After Cancer (AB...

Welcome back to Appearance Matters: The Podcast! In this month’s episode, Kat speaks to Dr Aisha Sobey. Aisha is a Research Associate at the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence, where she studies the ethical implications of Generative AI and digital health systems, especially focusing on the impacts on non-normative bodies, employing Political Economy, Science and Technology Studies,...

Welcome back to Appearance Matters: The Podcast! In this month’s episode, Ella speaks to Research Fellow Dr Emma Waite and Visiting Professor Dr Amy Slater from the Centre for Appearance Research about their work on social media and visible difference as part of the VTCT Foundation Programme of Research at CAR. They are also joined by Laure Dedecker, a PhD student at the Media Psychology Lab at KU...

Welcome back to Appearance Matters: The Podcast! In this month’s episode, Kat speaks to Zali Yager, an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Institute for Health and Sport at Victoria University, Australia, and the founder and executive director of the Embrace Collective. The Embrace Collective: https://theembracehub.com/ If you’re interested in hearing more about the Appearance Matters Conference, h...

Welcome back to Appearance Matters the podcast! This month we are kicking off our Appearance Matters 11 conference series. This month Maia speaks with Phyllida Swift CEO of Face Equality international about her inspirational work with the organisation, her path into working into the visible difference field, some highlights of her career so far, as well as goals for the future. Phyllida also speak...

Welcome back to Appearance Matters: The Podcast! In this month’s episode, Ella speaks to Dr Kerry Montgomery, who is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Appearance Research, about the STAR Project. Kerry’s work explores how people with conditions that affect appearance and that can be passed on to their children make decisions about starting a family.  They talk about research Kerry has carried ou...

Welcome back to Appearance Matters: The Podcast! In this month’s episode, Kat speaks to Dr Luciana Zuest (Towson University, US) and Dr Eva Pila (Western University, Canada) about weight bias and weight stigma in sport and exercise settings, and how to make physical activity spaces more inclusive for all bodies. Dr Eva Pila: https://www.uwo.ca/fhs/kin/about/faculty/pila_e.html Body Image & Health...

Welcome back to Appearance Matters: The Podcast! In this month’s episode, Maia speaks to Prof. Di Harcourt about the development of The Visible Difference Support Hub, a brand new website that is aims to provide easy access to evidence-based support for people with visible differences and their families which has been developed at CAR. Di and Maia talk about the research that has gone into creatin...

Welcome to our 2025 Summer Short Series! We're back with bitesize episodes showcasing recent work from our team at the Centre for Appearance Research! In this episode, we are joined by Dr Maia Thornton, Senior Research Fellow at CAR, who tells us about her recent paper entitled: The Visible Difference Parenting Toolkit: development of an ACT-based intervention to improve the well-being of parents...

Welcome to our 2025 Summer Short Series! We're back with bitesize episodes showcasing recent work from our team at the Centre for Appearance Research! In this episode, we are joined by Emma Waite, Research Fellow at CAR, who tells us about her recent paper entitled: “Make sure that everybody feels there is a space for them”: Understanding and promoting appearance inclusivity at university." Emma d...

Welcome back to Appearance Matters: the podcast! In this episode, Maia speaks to Ginny Ramseyer-Winter, an Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota, and Savannah Roberts, a PhD student at the University of Pittsburgh. This episode focuses on appearance and body image through the lens of sexuality, sexual health, and gender. Tune in to hear a great discussion reflecting on the role of app...

Nadia, Kirsty and Harriet from CAR talk about an exciting project focused on boosting young children's body image. Links: Blippi's Wonderful Talent Show on Neflix https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/81910281 Blippi's Wonderful Talent Show on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h281Ojvs0Bc Research Papers Protocol: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-20869-z Outcomes: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.body...

Welcome back to Appearance Matters: The Podcast! This month’s episode focusses on a project aimed at providing peer support for young people with cleft lip and/or palate. Abbi is joined by Kenny Ardouin, a speech language therapist and lecturer at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand. As part of his PhD, Kenny has been involved in running a youth camp for children with cleft aged 10-18. In...

Maia speaks to CAR's own Christine Ramsey-Wade (Associate Professor in Counselling Psychology) about her PhD exploring whether mindful eating programs can be beneficial for people experiencing disordered eating. Maia and Christine discuss the research, reflect on the PhD process, and even practice a mindful eating exercise together. Content warning: Mindful eating exercise starts at 28:52 If you’r...

This Girl Can turned 10 this year so to celebrate, we are sharing an episode from deep in our archive (ep 20!!) on exercise and body image with with Tanya Joseph - architect of Sport England's 'This Girl Can' Campaign and body image & body functionality researcher, Assistant Professor Jessica Alleva. To find out more about CAR: www.uwe.ac.uk/car Follow CAR on Twitter: twitter.com/car_UWE For more...

Happy New Year from Appearance Matters: The Podcast! New year, new episode. Today, we are joined by PhD candidate and Associate Lecturer Mia Morgan from the University of Derby, who is conducting a body of research into the benefits of nature connectedness for individuals who are experiencing disordered eating / eating disorders. Mia shares the results of her PhD so far, including a literature rev...

This month Maia speaks to local Bristol artist, Gail Reid, and visible difference advocate, Amit Ghose, about a project which focussed on representing visible difference through art. Gail was commissioned to paint a portrait of Amit which was unveiled at CAR's AM10 conference in June 2024. We discuss the process of Gail, Amit and CAR working together to create the portrait and reflect on the unvei...