Do you really know?

Beauty standards are always shifting. Back in the '60s through the '90s, especially in the West, the ideal body for women was all about being slim, think long, lean silhouettes and flat bottoms. But by the late '90s and especially in the 2010s, that completely flipped. Celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Nicki Minaj helped usher in a new trend, one that celebrates curves, especially a fuller derri...

Ever feel like a grey cloud is hanging over you? Life seems a bit gloomy, and your days are dull. You’re craving a change, but you’re stuck in a rut. Well,  there is good news and  the solution might be much closer than you think. Sometimes, all it takes is tweaking one or two elements of your day to transform your life. Enter the ‘Yes Man’ technique. Where does it come from? Should You Say Yes to...

LoFi, short for "Low Fidelity," it  blends elements of jazz with hip-hop rhythms, creating a relaxing soundscape. This genre has gained immense popularity, in part due to the YouTube channel *Lofi Girl*, which, as of October 2024, boasts over 14 million subscribers. The channel offers a 24/7 livestream of LoFi tracks designed to serve as ambient background music. Research on this topic offers mixe...

We’ve all become a lot more self-conscious about sneezing since COVID-19 came along. Whether you’re out in the street or worse in crowded public transport, sneezing gets you more concerned looks than it did before, and people tend to keep their distance. On top of that, we now all better understand how sneezing works. That’s right, by sneezing we propel micro-droplets of mucus potentially full of...

Figures from Cancer Research UK show that there are an average of nearly 57,000 new breast cancer cases detected each year in the country. It’s the most common form of cancer, accounting for 15% of all cases. While the vast majority of breast cancer cases are in women, there are actually around 370 diagnoses in men each year too. That’s right; men also have breast tissue around the nipples, so are...

When we talk about the Holocaust, most of us immediately think of death camps like Auschwitz or Dachau, chilling symbols of the Nazis’ “Final Solution”. But before they reached that level of industrialised brutality, the Nazis explored other ways to remove Jews from Europe. One plan, both absurd and terrifying, was to send all Jews to the distant island of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. How on ea...

Ever found yourself swearing off sports after a grueling session, plagued by aches and pains, or feeling like you’re always lagging behind? Whether you’re a novice or a seasoned athlete, jeffing might be the solution for you. Developed by American athlete Jeff Galloway in the 1970s, this method aims to keep athletes of all levels in shape without overexertion. How does it work? How can this method...

Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, in his work The Joyful Wisdom, explored this through a thought experiment he called the "eternal return." He asked us to imagine: What if you had to live this very life, exactly as it is—every joy, every sorrow, every thought—over and over, for eternity? How would you feel? Would you embrace it? Or, as Nietzsche suspected, would you recoil in horror? Nietzsche beli...

Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos… modern billionaires are in a league of their own. We’re often told that wealth comes from hustle, long hours, and smart decisions. But once you reach billionaire level we’re no longer talking about salaries, bonuses, or promotions. Take Jeff Bezos, for example. As of April 2025, Forbes estimated his fortune at around $236 billion. For comparison, the median...

We don’t know about you, but some nights we just can’t fall asleep without turning onto our stomach. And when we do, we seem to drift off more easily when not using a pillow. But we do sometimes wonder whether doing that could have any negative health impact. Just like your mattress and bed base, the pillow plays a key role in sleep quality, but it’s often the most overlooked part of our bedding....

A few months ago we ran an episode on how long people have sex for, and referenced an American study from the 2000s which found that the ideal length for most people is between 7 and 13 minutes. Now that’s probably less than what a lot of you might think, but it’s proof that quick sex can often be just as satisfying as a drawn out love-making session. And let’s be honest - often we don’t really ha...

In 2021, American multi-millionaire Bryan Johnson began his Project Blueprint. Then 43, his stated aim was to restore his body and organs to the state of an eighteen-year-old. To do this, he follows an extreme fitness program and a strict diet, and takes a whole host of medicines and supplements, not to mention undergoing an organ operation every year. All of this costs around $2M per year. His te...

Lucid dreams are dreams in which you become aware that you are dreaming while you are dreaming. This means that you can recognise that the events and characters in your dream are not real, and that you are actually asleep in your bed. Some people can even control their dreams to some extent, and shape them according to their wishes. Imagine being able to fly, visit exotic places, or meet your favo...

Regular listeners will remember how astrology has undergone somewhat of a revival in recent years. Knowledge of terms like “Saturn return” and “retrograde Mercury” is now actually pretty common, in particular among young people.  The topic of today’s episode actually blends astrology with the modern insights of psychology. The idea behind astropsychology is that the positions and movements of cele...

Paracetamol, a staple in UK households, is widely available over the counter and commonly used to alleviate headaches, toothaches, joint pain, flu symptoms, menstrual pain, and fever. In the UK, paracetamol is one of the most frequently used painkillers. The British Medical Journal reports that from April 2022 to March 2023, 16 million prescriptions for paracetamol were dispensed in England alone....

You know how an orgasm usually goes, right? It starts with those little shivers, then the heat builds, your heartbeat picks up, everything’s racing and boom! It peaks, and then everything just… drops. Curtain closed, show’s over. But picture this: what if you stayed right before that point of no return? Stretching out the pleasure, teasing it, keeping it going… and going. Well, that’s basically wh...

According to the American Academy of Sleep medicine, 50% to 85% of adults experience occasional nightmares, with 2% to 8% of people having nightmares that cause sleep problems. No one likes having nightmares, do they? These vivid, distressing bad dreams often cause us to jolt awake, heart pounding, in fear or anxiety. They can feature threatening scenarios, monsters, or deeply unsettling experienc...

Ever since the 1960s, the minimalist movement has been captivating art and interior design enthusiasts. It’s all about simplicity, emphasising a return to the essentials, and encouraging us to let go of our attachment to material things as far as possible.  If you tend to struggle with clutter in your home environment, the 12-12-12 method may just be able to help you counter that problem. It was c...

What are the warning signs of a toxic friendship? Today is World Friendship Day, a chance to reflect on how important friends are in our lives. Generally speaking, having friends is a positive thing which brings us moments of fun and joy. But toxic friendships can exist too and in such cases, the relationship can be more of a burden than anything else, for one of the people involved at least! Let’...

Let’s start with a number: 63. That’s South Africa’s Gini index score, a measure of income inequality. Zero means perfect equality, 100 means total inequality. At 63, South Africa is the most unequal country in the world. Why such a high score? Where does it still exist? So who are the Afrikaners? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions! To listen to the last episodes, you can click here: Wha...

Affectionately known as Nessie, the mythical Loch Ness Monster has been a source of fascination and terror for many centuries. Many sightings have been reported over the years, but no conclusive evidence of its existence has ever been unearthed. Still, there are many believers out there. In late August 2023, the largest Nessie hunt in 50 years took place, organised by the local Loch Ness Explorati...

As the summer holiday season draws to a close, ask yourself this. Did you manage to get as much rest as you would have liked? A lot of people out there would say no. Perhaps their holiday wasn’t actually restful at all, or they didn’t even get a chance to go away. American internal medicine physician Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith has dedicated a lot of research towards the issue of chronic fatigue. In...

Still in this day and age, the burden of being responsible for birth control falls mainly on women. You’ve got an almost endless list of reversible female methods, such as the pill, coil, vaginal ring and the implant, with new ones never ceasing to emerge. On the other hand, when it comes to male contraceptives, the options out there are pretty limited. Mentalities are evolving but there is little...

Being overweight is a stigma. While around 13% of the world’s population are obese, they are largely absent from the public limelight and often find themselves the target of mockery or discrimination. Overweight people are humiliated and ostracised throughout their lives, having to put up with regular criticisms about their lifestyle and appearance. This is what’s known as fatphobia, a form of dis...

Girl Dinner is a TikTok phenomena though you would be hard pressed to find any recipes as it is more of a style of eating than anything specific. It’s a term used to describe a meal that consists of random snacks or leftovers, for example, you might have some cheese and crackers, a handful of grapes, a glass of wine and a few pickles for your ‘girl dinner’. Or maybe you just have some popcorn and...