Do you really know?

According to the Office for National Statistics, the number of smokers in the UK is estimated at 6.6 million. The proportion has been steadily dropping for years now. Given the health risks, you’d think smokers would be delighted to give up, but the prospect of putting on weight is a cause of concern for many. To be fair, it i’s a well-founded fear to some extent. In 2014, Addiction journal report...

Since Elon Musk acquired social network Twitter in October 2022, the company has been pretty much constantly in the spotlight, and not really for the right reasons. It started very shortly after, with controversy erupting when the new owner fired 80% of the company’s workforce, including CEO Parag Agrawal. Of course, the change of name from Twitter to X.com then followed in summer 2023. There’s be...

You may remember that we’ve talked about the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index in the past on Do You Really Know, which assigns each of the world’s countries a score from one to ten based on how democratic they are.   But have you ever heard of a kleptocracy? It’s a phenomenon that can creep into democracies and drag down their scores. A kleptocracy is a political system where corrupti...

At a time when Europe faces a "baby bust," the role of children in public spaces is sparking new debate. Increasingly, restaurants, hotels, and even tour operators are rolling out “adults only” policies. Gone are the sounds of crying babies or kids running around tables, but this shift raises questions about individualism in society. In recent years, child-free options have doubled globally, with...

Today, “left” and “right” are the main labels we use to categorise political views, but their origins go back over two centuries. To understand, we have to go back to the French Revolution in 1789. That spring, France’s King Louis XVI convened a meeting known as the Estates General, bringing together representatives from three groups, or “Estates”: the clergy, the nobility, and the Third Estate, w...

Giving Tuesday is a worldwide initiative which encourages people to do good. The movement was created in the United States in 2012, and has since spread to have a presence in 75 different countries as of 2021. In 2022, like every year, Giving Tuesday is celebrated the Tuesday after Thanksgiving and Black Friday, meaning it falls on 29th November. A lot of companies and charities match donations to...

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing was only created in the late 20th century, but it’s since established itself as a popular and increasingly used form of therapy. EMDR is especially recommended for children and adults dealing with trauma from physical or psychological violence, such as sexual abuse. It was discovered relatively recently in 1987, but that doesn’t mean it’s an alternativ...

Vegetarians and vegans, do you ever find it difficult to keep your diet balanced? Meat-eaters, if you’ve ever considered going veggie, was that something that dissuaded you? It’s certainly fair to say that simply loading up on fruit and veg isn’t enough to stick to a balanced meat-free diet. You really need to be including grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds, perhaps not on a daily basis, but as a re...

You may well be aware of Movember, the month-long focus on men’s health that began in Australia in 2003 and takes place in November each year. But it’s actually not the only male-related November trend that’s grown in prominence in recent years. The idea of the somewhat less serious No Nut November challenge came about in 2011, when a user posted about it on Urban Dictionary. But it wasn’t until t...

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...

No doubt at some point in your life you’ve skipped a meal, whether it was to save money, lose weight or just because you were too damn busy with work. Maybe you even do it on a regular basis, without really knowing whether it’s good or bad for you. Skipping meals makes us more likely to snack afterwards, eating food items which are often high in fat and sugar. Another risk is that you compensate b...

Imagine a virtual country where women come together to push back against misogyny and celebrate female empowerment. Born on French TikTok, Tanaland has captured the imagination of over 18 million women who envision a world free from patriarchy and judgment.  Tanaland is a fictional, women-centered country that has emerged as a satirical safe haven, inspired partly by the 2023 Barbie film starring...

If you believe the marketing slogans printed on their packaging, light or reduced-calorie food products offer you the same enjoyment but with fewer calories. It seems like a no-brainer, right?! In order for a product to be labelled as “light” (with either “-ght” or “-te” at the end), current rules in the UK state that it must be “at least 30% lower in one typical value (calories or fat) than that...

After over three decades of relentless searching, the Golden Owl was finally found on October 3, 2024. This €150,000 treasure was hidden back in 1993 by writer Régis Hauser, who took on the pseudonym Max Valentin to publish ‘Sur la trace de la chouette d'or’  ("On the Trail of the Golden Owl"). The book has 11 riddles, each one a clue to the owl’s secret location, setting off what would become the...

It might only affect between 0.3% and 0.6% of the population, but still public awareness of kleptomania is pretty strong. It’s come to our attention through portrayals in films and TV series over the years, as well as real-life examples of Hollywood celebrities being prone to it despite all their riches. So the chances are you already know that kleptomania is a behavioural disorder which sees peop...

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...

Figuring out how well the economy is doing might seem like the preserve of those working in big accounting firms or financial institutions, dealing with complicated graphs and calculations on a daily basis. But in reality, we’re exposed to certain clues going about our everyday lives, without even realising that they offer insight into our spending habits. An interesting example to look out for is...

In our professional lives, just as in our personal ones, we all wear many hats. But how does juggling all those roles make us feel? For some, it can be a fulfilling challenge, while for others, it can lead to burnout and a loss of identity. This is especially true for managers, who often find themselves in the toughest spot. Think about your coworker who’s always balancing the demands of their tea...

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....

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...

Depersonalization, a dissociative psychological syndrome, can be incredibly destabilising. It often takes years for sufferers to identify it. Characterised by altered self-perception, individuals may feel dead, detached, or anaesthetised. They might not recognize themselves in the mirror and struggle to distinguish between reality and a dream. According to Stanford University School of Medicine, t...

I don’t know about your love life, but let’s be honest; for most people having sex doesn’t work out as smoothly as what you see in the movies. Not only is the act itself idealised, but so is what comes after. On screen, you tend to see couples snuggling and drifting off in each other's arms, all cosy and serene.  But what movies tend to skip over is the part where you have to slip out of bed with...

In late October 2024, thousands of musicians, actors and authors signed a protest letter against their work being used to build artificial intelligence tools. Signatories included actress Julianne Moore, Björn Ulvaeus of Abba, actor Kevin Bacon, and Radiohead.  Their main gripe is that their work is being used to train algorithms that could ultimately jeopardise their very careers. And even worse,...

Society tends to make sex all about penetration, but it really doesn’t have to be that way. Giving your partner oral sex can be an invigorating experience on its own.  Women often like to joke that men don’t know what they’re doing when they go down, so with that in mind let’s discuss some tips for giving your partner the pleasure they deserve. You have to know that every vulva is unique, and ther...

Greying hair can be triggered for a number of reasons, genetics; some people’s hair turns grey earlier than others. Stress, a recent study in mice showed that stress can cause stem cells to leave the hair follicle and migrate to other parts of the body, leaving no cells to produce melanin. Some Illnesses like thyroid disease and of course ageing. But could the days of grey hair be over? Possibly. ...