Do you really know?

In cities across the world, Pride Parades take place in late June and early July, with the London 2023 event set for 1st July. They bring together thousands of people and give visibility to the LGBTQ+ struggle. These events have consistently grown and spread to new places after first taking place in June 1970. They’re also known as pride marches or festivals.    How did Pride marches first begin?...

We have some exciting news: our brand-new format, 'Love Me Love Me Not,' is now fully available on all listening platforms. We invite you to enjoy the episodes and explore the intricacies of love.  Whether real or fictional, discover the behind-the-scenes of the most iconic love stories in our world. Step into the backstage of these seemingly "glamorous" relationships that can sometimes prove to b...

The subject of today’s episode is something that’s happened to many of us. You meet someone special, start spending a lot of time together and gradually fall in love. You go out for romantic dinners, you order takeout and watch Netflix on the couch. You’re so caught up feeling happy and comfortable with your partner, that you don't worry too much about your appearance. Research has suggested that...

2022 marked the driest summer in nearly 30 years according to the UK government. And authorities felt the need to bring in a hosepipe ban across Kent and Sussex, which came into effect from 26th June. Back in April, a National Drought Group spokesperson said that Britain won’t be able to “rely on the weather alone” to sustain water levels, and that preparations were being made to reduce the drough...

The idea that light-colored eyes are generally more fragile is pretty widespread. They’re less resistant to sunlight and require more protection. According to Medical News Today, it’s estimated that around 8-10% of people in the world have blue eyes. When our eyes are open, rays of light pass through the pupil, the black opening in the center of the iris. As you may know, the pupil dilates when it...

Pride month is celebrated around the world in June every year and if you’re attending events, you’ll no doubt see the rainbow flag. However, there are a number of other flags too, each with their own identity and meaning. The rainbow flag is one of the most prominent symbols of the LGBT community, and its struggle for equal rights. But have you ever stopped to consider where the rainbow flag came...

Positive thinking is the attitude of seeing the bright side of things and expecting the best possible outcome. It doesn’t mean ignoring reality or denying problems, but rather approaching them with optimism and confidence. Positive thinking can help you cope with stress, improve your mood, boost your self-esteem, and even enhance your physical and mental health. So how can you train your brain to...

The societies we live in these days, and especially in cities. We sometimes feel exhausted, anxious, depressed, and lonely in this ultra-productive life. What’s more, the constant fast pace can lead to memory and concentration problems. If you’re struggling to keep up, the slow living philosophy could be for you.  Slow Living  is to do less in order to enjoy more. Instead of wanting to have multip...

Overpopulation is often cited as a big factor behind the global climate crisis, so some people think it’s best to limit the amount of children they have, or not have any at all. But then at the other end of the scale you’ve got pronatalism, which is the belief that having more children is actually good for society and the future of humanity. Among its most prominent supporters is Elon Musk, who ha...

Heatstroke is a medical emergency that happens when your body temperature gets too high and you cannot cool down. This can harm your vital organs and even kill you if not treated quickly. Heatstroke can be caused by being exposed to high temperatures, such as during a heatwave, or by working out too hard, such as during a marathon. It is different from heat exhaustion, which is a less severe condi...

Have you ever had a song stuck in your head for hours or even days? One that pops up randomly and repeats itself over and over again? Let’s take a moment to explore what earworms are, what they have in common, what causes them, and how they can affect our health. An earworm is a catchy tune that invades your brain and refuses to leave. The term actually comes from the German word ohrwurm. Accordin...

If you have ever slept with a cat or a dog, you know how cozy it can be. Whether they are at the foot of the bed or on the duvet, pets can make you feel safe and comforted like a plush toy. According to the UK Pet Food Manufacturers Association, 62% of households in the country own a pet, including 13 million dogs and 12 million cats. But are there health risks when you share your bed with a furry...

If you use Tiktok, you may well have seen videos of people walking on a treadmill at a steep incline. Many of them claim to have lost weight and improved their fitness, all thanks to the 12-3-30 workout. If you’re thinking those are some oddly specific numbers, you’re right. The method involves walking on a treadmill that is inclined at 12%, for 30 minutes, at a speed of 3 mph. That's it. No runni...

Father’s Day is a holiday that honours fathers and celebrates their role in society. It’s celebrated in the United Kingdom on the third Sunday of June, but it wasn’t always a national holiday. In fact, it was imported from the United States, where it started in the early 20th century. The idea of Father’s Day was first proposed by Sonora Smart Dodd, a woman from Spokane, Washington, who wanted to...

It won’t have escaped your attention that the price of your weekly shopping basket at the supermarket has gone up significantly in the last year. Indeed, recent data from Kantar suggests that families are now spending an extra £16 per week on food shopping, due to inflation. More and more people are being plunged into food insecurity. But what can be done?  Well, in late May 2023, UK Chancellor Je...

We all know what it feels like to get pins and needles. It usually happens when we’ve been in the same position for too long, sleeping on one of our arms for example. Bad posture when seated can make this more likely to happen. It’s a slightly uncomfortable feeling of numbness and tingling, as if someone was raking your skin repeatedly with small pointed objects. That’s where the name “pins and ne...

Retinol is a form of vitamin A, which is essential for healthy skin. It has many benefits such as smoothing wrinkles, exfoliating dead cells, clearing pores, and fading dark spots. Retinol works by stimulating the production of collagen, which is the protein that gives your skin strength and structure, and by speeding up the turnover of skin cells, which means it helps remove old cells from the su...

The musical film The Little Mermaid was released in cinemas on 24 May 2023. This movie highlights the importance of representations in the media. This effect has a name: the Scully Effect. The combination made for an unprecedented representation of women on TV at the time, with audiences far more accustomed to seeing scientists played by white men. The fields of Science, Technology, Engineering an...

YouGov data from 2019 showed that 49% of Brits shower once per day, while 20% do so 4 to 6 times per week. And 6% even shower more than once per day! That’s despite dermatologists saying that we don’t really need to shower every day. According to health professionals, both routines come with certain benefits. You might want to know the pros and cons of each option. For example, a morning shower ca...

What do chicken nuggets, margarine and instant noodles all have in common? Wel, they may look tasty, but they’re loaded with sugar, salt, fat and chemicals that strip away their nutritional value. That’s due to the heavy processing that goes into making them, which sees them completely transformed from the original raw ingredients.  And they’re increasingly ever present on our shelves and in our s...

The subject we’re talking about today is most associated with Japan, but is also relevant in many other parts of the world. The Japanese word “Karoshi” means "death by overwork". In a broad sense, it refers to workers who die suddenly from a bodily failure like a stroke or heart attack due to extreme stress and long working hours.  Let’s look into the causes and consequences of a phenomenon that a...

"Here’s my yoga instructor’s number”, "You must try this detox juice", "Download this diet app right now!". Have you ever heard people give this kind of ‘friendly advice’ to others in the past. Perhaps people have said things like that to you, with a little too much insistence for your liking. These days, there’s a certain demand for people to pursue physical and mental well-being, which has becom...

Ozempic is a brand name for a medication called semaglutide, which is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), to treat type 2 diabetes. It works by mimicking a natural hormone that helps regulate blood sugar levels and is taken through weekly injections.  Ozempic can also lower your risk of having serious heart problems, such as heart attack or stroke, if you have type 2 diabetes and h...

Today we're going to talk about a cognitive bias that causes people to believe, often mistakenly, that they are less likely to experience negative events and more likely to experience positive events than others. Estimates suggest that 80% of us display what’s known as the optimism bias. For example, we might think that we are less likely to get sick, lose our job, or have a car accident than the...

As we head towards another summer, isn’t it a relief to be able to shed the layers and wear lighter clothing when out and about? Well, if you’re a woman, you might have mixed feelings about that, due to the constant threat of unwanted attention from strangers when wearing summer clothes in public.  And a lot of the time, it goes further than just unwanted attention. A YouGov survey released in Jan...