Do you really know?

Is the menopause still a taboo subject? The menopause is the period in a woman’s life when she stops ovulating and having periods, due to lower hormone levels in the body. Despite the fact that it can last 10 years or more and all women go through it, the topic has long been something of a taboo and even seen as an illness. Western medicine only really started paying attention to it in the 18th ce...

What is the Taliban offensive? The Taliban’s offensive against the Afghan government, which began back in May, accelerated dramatically in the last 10 days, leading to the group taking complete control of the country. As of August 13th, the Islamist military group only held 132 of Afghanistan’s 398 districts, according to BBC research. But three days later, capital city Kabul had fallen and the fi...

What is shrinkflation, the sneaky tactic manufacturers are hiding from consumers?  Marketing technique shrinkflation is becoming more and more common in large retail stores, in particular down to the ongoing war in Ukraine. It sees manufacturers quietly reducing the size of their products, but maintaining prices at the same level. Shrinkflation is often a result of an increase in raw material pric...

You’ve heard about it, but do you really know it? In 3 minutes, we help you understand the true meaning behind the trends, concepts and acronyms that are making headlines. After listening, you will really know for sure. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How can we choose the right sunscreen product? July is nearly upon us, which means it’s summer holiday time for many of you. Whether you’re going on a beach holiday, city break or camping trip, the chances are you’ll be soaking up the sun’s rays. Of course sunshine activates vitamin D production in the body, which has numerous benefits like protecting us from disease and improving mental health. B...

What is the global minimum tax? At the end of last week, finance ministers from the G7 countries met in London and formally endorsed a global minimum corporate tax rate. Going forward, companies will have to pay a minimum of 15% tax on their profits. The framework is part of an effort to stop multinationals, and in particular the GAFA companies Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple, from profit-shift...

Could Male Polish be the next big thing in men’s fashion?   A 2021 report from Persistence Market Research predicted that within the next decade, annual sales of cosmetics for men would double around the world. The sector’s growth is largely down to beard grooming products, but makeup is also on the rise, including nail polish. The annual Met Gala brings together the creme de la creme of American...

Why are there so many spin offs in the world of cinema? The world of cinema is full of films and sagas which leave their mark on a generation, sometimes becoming cult films. And another phenomenon is becoming more and more common: that of the spin off. Spin-off films involve the creation of a new work based on the original, focusing on the story of a secondary character. There are a number of reas...

What is cancel culture? Cancel culture is the popular practice of withdrawing support for an individual or company, to such an extent that they become irrelevant as a result. This is usually due to something the person has done or said that is considered offensive. Cancel culture has become an effective tool for so-called social justice movements, with feminist, antiracist and LGBTQ+ activists inc...

What does the future hold for Marvel Cinematic Universe? Marvel has long been one of the most prominent and iconic publishers in the world of American comics. From the turn of the century onwards, its cinematic adaptations breathed new life into the franchise. It started out with the somewhat timid X-men film in the year 2000, but really took off with the launch of the shared MCU universe in 2008,...

How were the Stonewall riots the starting point for the LGBT struggle? In 1960s New York, a bar called the Stonewall Inn was one of the few establishments to serve homosexuals. It was a shabby venue, which operated without a liquor license and had blocked out windows to protect customers from suspicious looks. Situated in the Greenwich Village district of South west Manhattan, it was controlled by...

How did Internet Explorer go out of fashion?  On 15th June 2022, American internet giant Microsoft cut off Internet Explorer, its long standing web browser. At the end of the 1990s and through to the 2000s, it set the standard when it came to browsers. In 2004 it had a usage share of as high as 95%, a figure which was under 1% by the time it closed, according to Irish traffic analysis website Stat...

What is the US Supreme Court? Following the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg in September 2020, Donald Trump made clear his desire to quickly appoint a new justice to the US Supreme Court. To understand the importance of this nomination, it’s important to consider the major political influence of the Supreme Court justices. The Supreme Court was created in 1789, thirteen years after the United States...

What is Face Wine, the latest viral beauty product from Tiktok? Over the last few years, Chinese platform Tiktok has taken over as the social network of choice for teens and young adults. Unsurprisingly then, it’s also become a prime target for influencers and brands looking to promote their products, ahead of Instagram, Youtube and Snapchat. Since the start of May 2022, a beauty product called Gr...

What are the signs you might have sleep apnea? According to a study published in the Journal of Thoracic Disease in 2015, 10% of all people are affected by obstructive sleep apnea. That figure rises for some population groups, like men, over-50s and overweight people. It’s actually a mechanical disorder, rather than an illness. When we go to sleep, our muscles relax; that's totally normal. But whe...

The annual celebration of World Music Day on 21st June is upon us and Do You Really Know? is aiming to strike a chord with listeners. We'll be harping on about music all week long, covering related terms, concepts and famous figures. Who is Rosalia? Following the release of her latest album Motomami, Rosalia Vila Tobella was called a visionary and compared to artists like M.I.A. and Madonna by the...

Can carbon farming help us reach net zero by 2050? Reaching carbon net zero by 2050 is one of the main objectives in the struggle against global warming. It’s also part of the Green New Deal the EU agreed upon in 2019. Since the start of 2022, many figures in agriculture have been pushing for a carbon farming policy which would see farmers rewarded for their efforts in sequestering carbon.   How d...

The annual celebration of World Music Day on 21st June is upon us and Do You Really Know? is aiming to strike a chord with listeners. We'll be harping on about music all week long, covering related terms, concepts and famous figures. What is the Mozart Effect? What if listening to 10 minutes of Mozart could increase your IQ? That’s exactly what Frances Raucher and her Californian research team sug...

The annual celebration of World Music Day on 21st June is upon us and Do You Really Know? is aiming to strike a chord with listeners. We'll be harping on about music all week long, covering related terms, concepts and famous figures. What is K-Pop? On October 15th, Big Hit Entertainment debuted on the Korean stock exchange. If you’re not familiar with the company itself, you’re more likely to have...

How did Where’s Wally become an international phenomenon over the last 35 years? With his red and white hooped jumper, round glasses and funny hat, our man Wally is easy to recognise, but much more difficult to find! Anyone who’s read through one of his books will tell you that. And that’s a lot of people, given that as of 2007, 73 million copies had been sold. As the series turns 35 years old, le...

The annual celebration of World Music Day on 21st June is upon us and Do You Really Know? is aiming to strike a chord with listeners. We'll be harping on about music all week long, covering related terms, concepts and famous figures. Who are Oasis?   On August 10th 1996, Oasis drew over 250,000 fans to their gigs on two consecutive nights at Knebworth Park. Much like the band, these record-breakin...

What is art nouveau and how did it flourish around the turn of the 20th century? This aesthetic movement dominated many artistic fields in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was influenced by nature and used trademark organic shapes and sinuous lines, moving away from previous limits to create new kinds of design objects. Let’s take a few minutes to reflect on where art nouveau came from,...

The annual celebration of World Music Day on 21st June is upon us and Do You Really Know? is aiming to strike a chord with listeners. We'll be harping on about music all week long, covering related terms, concepts and famous figures. Who are Abba? 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 downloa...

What are subliminals? If you listen to some people out there, they’ll tell you you can improve your self-esteem, change your eye colour, or become a mermaid simply by viewing or listening to certain clips on Youtube. Sounds far-fetched right? Well, the idea is based on subliminal messaging, so let’s discuss how realistic it is. It’s important to distinguish between audio and visual subliminals. Th...

What is sadfishing? Since the advent of social media, we’ve gotten used to seeing highlight reels of people’s lives on our newsfeeds. But in recent years, people have been more and more willing to share posts about moments of sadness, rather than acting like everything’s perfect all the time. More authentic, or simply another veiled form of attention seeking and like hunting? The practice has been...