Do you really know?

Who is Peng Shuai? Thanks for asking! If you’re not a tennis follower, the chances are you may never have heard of Chinese player Peng Shuai. But in her discipline, she is kind of a big deal. A two-time doubles Grand Slam winner, she has also been ranked as high as 14th in the world during her singles career. But rather than asking “who is Peng Shuai?”, the question on everyone’s lips over the las...

What is climate change famine? Thanks for asking!   The COP26 summit, which took place earlier this month, revealed that concerns related to climate change are now more pressing than ever. In June 2021, Madagascar became the first country in the world officially affected by a climate change famine that swept over the south of the island as a result of global warming. What makes it a particularly a...

What is an unvaccinated lockdown? Thanks for asking! Just when we thought Covid lockdowns were a thing of the past, the pandemic has once again taken a turn for the worse in Europe. Despite a full vaccination rate at 65.5% on average across the EU, a new wave is hitting hard in the build-up to winter. Some countries are now taking a more targeted approach by imposing restrictive measures specifica...

What is the four-day week? Thanks for asking! It might be an unlikely dream for most of us, but many Spanish workers will be trying out a four-day week from the start of 2022. 200 companies have put themselves forward for a three-year pilot project. The best part? There won’t be any pay cuts to worry about, thanks to a 50M€ support fund released by the country’s government. Spanish fashion company...

What is the Covid vaccine pill? Thanks for asking! The United Kingdom has announced the approval of the molnupiravir-based Covid-19 tablet treatment developed by the American laboratory Merck. Summer 2021 has seen Covid-19 vaccine campaigns making steady progress around the world. As of the start of August, 15% of the global population had been fully vaccinated. While health authorities in some co...

What are primitive reflexes? Thanks for asking!  According to the UK Office for National Statistics, September 26 was the most popular day to be born over the last two decades, which falls 39 weeks and two days after Christmas day. Babies are born with certain reflexes that result in involuntary movements. These are called primitive reflexes, and the movements happen automatically without the baby...

What is Demon Slayer? Thanks for asking! Forget Squid Game. Kimestsu no Yaiba is the latest big hit. Doesn’t ring a bell? How about Demon Slayer, the new Shōnen Jump bestseller? Shōnen Jump is the iconic Japanese manga anthology that brought to us such gems as One Piece, Naruto, Dragon Ball, and My Hero Academia. But unlike these extended series, the manga by Koyoharu Gotōge ended in 2020, after 2...

What is PMS? Thanks for asking!   Headaches, bloating, painful swelling in the breasts and lower abdomen, stress, extreme fatigue, anxiety, and depression; the list is almost endless. These are some common symptoms of premenstrual syndrome, known as PMS for short.  They usually appear two to seven days before a woman gets her period. In rare cases, they can occur as early as two weeks prior. Gener...

What is Ikigai? Thanks for asking! The Japanese concept of Ikigai roughly translates as “reason for being”, like . The “Iki” part means life, while “gai” refers to value or worth. So it effectively means finding a purpose to life and the things we spend our time doing. This philosophy dates back to the 12th century, but has been gaining in popularity among Westerners in recent years.  That’s in pa...

What are NFTs? Thanks for asking! NFTs are the talk of the town in early November 2021. Quentin Tarantino is auctioning off NFTs of unedited scenes from "Pulp Fiction". It’s one of the latest crazes in the world of blockchain. Non-fungible tokens are digital certificates of ownership, which state who owns a piece of virtual crypto-art. That’s right, you can now buy collectible digital art, like me...

What is PTSD? Thanks for asking! This mental health condition may be invisible, but it ruins the lives of those who suffer from it.  Post-traumatic stress disorder can come on following a number of events. These can include witnessing or being a victim of violence. It could also be a natural disaster or act of terrorism for example. We all experience traumatic events at some point in our lives, wh...

Who are Abba? Thanks for asking!   A full forty years after their last LP “The Visitors”, Abba have only gone and released a new album! That’s right, with Voyage now available for download, let’s take the opportunity to talk about one of Euro-disco's most legendary bands! Why are they called Abba again? What are their most popular classics? Why did the band end up splitting? In under 3 minutes, we...

What is healthwashing? Thanks for asking! We’ve already talked about greenwashing, pinkwashing and sportswashing in past episodes. Well even the world of health doesn’t escape from cynical marketing practices. Let’s talk about healthwashing. The term covers a pretty wide range of practices, but it’s most commonly associated with the food industry. Manufacturers often overplay the addition of certa...

What is the Big Quit? Thanks for asking! Remember our episode on #QuitMyJob, about thousands of Americans publicly quitting their jobs on TikTok? Since then, the phenomenon has continued gaining momentum in the United States under a new name: the Great Resignation, or the Big Quit. According to a report published by the US Department of Labour on October 13, 2021, this August alone saw 4.3 million...

What is collapsology? Thanks for asking! At COP26, leaders from more than 100 countries, including Brazil, will commit to halting deforestation, restoring forests and ending land degradation by the end of the decade. Collapsology is the transdisciplinary study of how our industrial civilisation could collapse, and indeed what may come afterwards. Its ideas are gaining in visibility and popularity....

What is Jackass? Thanks for asking!    On October 27, 2021, "Jackass Forever", the American squad’s fifth and last feature film, was released in cinemas. It’s the perfect opportunity to look back at an MTV show which achieved huge popularity in the early 2000s.   The Jackass Squad is a group of somewhat provocative and downright daredevil friends, who take on crazy challenges, often with reckless...

What is Squid Game? Thanks for asking! Since its release in September 2021, Squid Game has become the most popular Netflix show of all time. The South Korean production tells the dystopian tale of 456 people mired in debt, who face off against one another in survival games. The show has become the most-watched series in 90 countries. Along with other trials, the game of Statues takes place on a de...

What is wokeism? Thanks for asking!  The term “woke” took off in the United States in the 2010s. The past form of the verb “to wake” is used to imply an awakening to injustices inflicted upon minorities by an oppressive system.   Woke activists call out systemic racism and police violence against groups like Black Lives Matter. Since then, it has become a go-to in public and media debates. Its cri...

What is sex work? Thanks for asking! Sex work is basically a term used for any practices involving a sexual service, whether physical or not, in exchange for money.  Contrary to popular opinion, it’s not simply limited to prostitution. The term also includes lap dancing, phone sex, erotic massage and escort services for example. Not to mention online services like webcam performance and adult cont...

What is carbon footprint? Thanks for asking! Postponed for a year because of Covid-19, COP26 meets in Scotland from October 31 to November 12. A carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gases emitted by the energy and raw material consumption of a person, organisation or event. It is measured in the volume of CO2 emitted. Per capita emissions in the USA are estimated at around 16 tons pe...

What is restless anal syndrome? Thanks for asking!  Although the global vaccination rate reached 40% in mid-October, Covid-19 clearly hasn’t gone away for good just yet. The most common symptoms of coronavirus are mostly well-known, but it keeps surprising us with new repercussions, like restless anal syndrome for example. On September 23rd, the BMC Infectious Diseases journal reported on the case...

What is eco-anxiety? Thanks for asking! The UN’s COP26 summit is due to start this Sunday, and it’s pretty clear to most of us that climate change is the most serious threat to our health. Of course it’s a physical threat, especially to the vulnerable, due to extreme weather events like heatwaves, storms and fires, which are increasingly frequent and intense.  But we mustn’t neglect the mental imp...

What is the metaverse? Thanks for asking! We had already had hints over the summer, but it’s now been confirmed by a recent statement from Facebook HQ. The Silicon Valley tech giant has big plans to hire 10,000 new highly-skilled staff in Europe over the next five years, as part of plans to develop the metaverse. It’s even planning to change its name, with a rebranding announcement expected any da...

What is Netflix? Thanks for asking! In its fifteen years of existence, Netflix has revolutionised the way we watch films and series, becoming synonymous with the explosion of online streaming.  The company actually started out as a DVD rental business in the United States before the turn of the century. But of course it's now known for its transformation into an on-demand streaming service, the fi...

What are e-cigarettes ? Thanks for asking!  The British government wants to get tough on smoking. On October 20, 2021, MPs submitted to Parliament an amendment to the Health Bill that would allow each cigarette to carry the words "Smoking kills". This is an opportunity to return to the term "e-cigarette". An e-cigarette is a vaporizer that simulates smoking without tobacco consumption. A product l...