Do you really know?

What is critical thinking? Critical thinking is the intellectual process of evaluating information, thinking clearly and rationally as a guide to belief and action. You could see it as an attitude whereby no statement or piece of information is accepted as true or false, without first being carefully analysed. Simplistic conflations, generalisations and preconceptions are all challenged, as is any...

What is The Office? It has gained revived popularity since the dawn of the streaming era, becoming the most watched series on Netflix US in 2020, with 57 billion minutes streamed. But the Office was already a new generation sitcom classic well before making its way onto the platform. The first episode was released on NBC back in May 2005. What made The Office stand out? How did the US version go o...

What is deep ecology? Today is Earth Day, so let’s talk about a philosophy that promotes the worth of all living beings on our planet, regardless of whether they cater to our human needs. Deep ecology was theorised by Norwegian philosopher Arne Naess in the 1970. He published his original paper on the subject in a 1973 edition of Inquiry journal. The article was entitled “The Shallow and the Deep,...

Earth Day falls on 22nd April, and to mark this important date, Do You Really Know is rerunning a series of episodes about environmental issues affecting our planet. Let's take a refresher on some of the terms and concepts you need to be familiar with, in order to understand climate change. Happy listening! What is solastalgia? Solastalgia is the distress we feel when our local environment is tran...

What is Seinfeld?    Let’s talk about American TV’s most lucrative sitcom ever, a show which generated over $3bn. To give you some more numbers, it lasted 9 years from 1989 through to 1998, taking in 9 seasons and 180 twenty-three minute episodes. A 2012 poll by Vanity Fair magazine declared Seinfeld the best sitcom of all time, but in Europe, it has never managed to match the success and populari...

What is environmental amnesia? Why are we so slow to become aware of climate change and act against it? The explanation may lie in our brains, which are affected by environmental amnesia. This term was invented in 1999 by American psychologist Peter H. Khan. He theorised that humans were forgetting the history of the environment, or more accurately becoming used to its degradation from generation...

What is a troll farm? Trolls have been around for as long as the internet, but in recent years they've been getting professionalised. Indeed, companies have actually been set up with the specific aim of creating and spreading fake news online. Such organisations are known as troll farms or troll factories, and Russia has been home to some of the most prominent. Based in the city of St Petersburg,...

Earth Day falls on 22nd April, and to mark this important date, Do You Really Know is rerunning a series of episodes about environmental issues affecting our planet. Let's take a refresher on some of the terms and concepts you need to be familiar with, in order to understand climate change. Happy listening! What is the Green New Deal? The Green New Deal is a proposed package of legislation in the...

What is the perineum? The perineum is a surface region of the body which stretches from the pubic arch to the coccyx. It's actually kind of like a hammock, in that it supports our organs, including the rectum and bladder, as well as the vagina and uterus for women. It's also useful at absorbing impact. When it's fully functional, the perineum tenses and relaxes like any muscle. The problem is it t...

Earth Day falls on 22nd April, and to mark this important date, Do You Really Know is rerunning a series of episodes about environmental issues affecting our planet. Let's take a refresher on some of the terms and concepts you need to be familiar with, in order to understand climate change. Happy listening! What is an ecocide? An ecocide is a term for an act that causes significant damage to the e...

What is melatonin? The hormone melatonin is produced naturally by the body at nighttime, in response to darkness. It's nicknamed the sleep hormone due to its role in our Circadian rhythm, getting us ready to go to sleep in the evening. It's secreted by the pineal gland, located at the back of the brain, and then released into the bloodstream. In the morning, another hormone called cortisol takes o...

Earth Day falls on 22nd April, and to mark this important date, Do You Really Know is rerunning a series of episodes about environmental issues affecting our planet. Let's take a refresher on some of the terms and concepts you need to be familiar with, in order to understand climate change. Happy listening! What is biomass? Biomass is organic matter, mainly coming from plants or animals, used for...

Earth Day falls on 22nd April, and to mark this important date, Do You Really Know is rerunning a series of episodes about environmental issues affecting our planet. Let's take a refresher on some of the terms and concepts you need to be familiar with, in order to understand climate change. Happy listening! What is carbon footprint? Postponed for a year because of Covid-19, COP26 meets in Scotland...

What is war rape? In a report published on 3rd April, international NGO Human Rights Watch made allegations of "war crimes" carried out by Russian soldiers against civilians in occupied areas of Ukraine. These included executions, violence, threats and war rape, which is the subject of today’s episode. Since the start of the war, accounts have begun to emerge, with the truth being brought to light...

Earth Day falls on 22nd April, and to mark this important date, Do You Really Know is rerunning a series of episodes about environmental issues affecting our planet. Let's take a refresher on some of the terms and concepts you need to be familiar with, in order to understand climate change. Happy listening! What is carbon neutrality? All over the world, states are committing to reaching carbon neu...

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 Wall Street Journal. It’s fair to say she seems destined to be one of the biggest pop stars of her generation. So let’s take a moment to discuss the career of a singer who is winning critical and popular acclaim with everything she d...

What is deepfake democracy? On 9th March, opposition leader Yoon Suk Yeol won the 2022 South Korean presidential election. His campaign stood out through a fascinating and creative use of deepfake technology. Think back to our previous episode on the subject of deepfakes. You’ll remember it’s an online media technique which consists of creating realistic but fake visual content through deep learni...

What is dissociative identity disorder? Still to this day, this psychological condition is most often referred to by its previous name: multiple personality disorder. That’s in particular down to exaggerated representations in popular culture like books, TV or cinema. Some prominent examples are the story of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho or, more recently, Split. Experts have cr...

What is environmental racism? We’ve covered a lot of environmental issues on Do You Really Know? so regular listeners will be well aware of how the climate crisis is affecting the whole planet. But it’s important to also note how these problems don’t affect everyone equally. People in developing countries, particularly in the Southern Hemisphere, are already feeling the impact on their income, phy...

What are plant milks? Plant milks have been all the rage for a number of years now, and they’re gradually taking up more and more space on supermarket shelves, to the detriment of animal milks. In 2020, British shoppers spent £100m more on plant milks compared to the previous year, according to research from Mintel. That was a rise of over 30%, demonstrating their growing popularity. But these pro...

What is HAARP ? The acronym HAARP stands for High Frequency Auroral Research Program. It’s an American research project dedicated to analysing the ionosphere. HAARP is funded by the American armed forces, and has been the target of conspiracy theorists since the 1990s. They believe the program is responsible for natural disasters and mind-controlling radio waves. The ionmmm osphere is a layer of t...

What is hay fever? The start of spring is often synonymous with the appearance of hay fever and you may have already started feeling the first signs. Also known as seasonal allergic rhinitis, it’s caused by exposure to certain pollen in the air. Hay fever affects over 15% of the population according to New Scientist magazine, and incidence has reached as high as 30% among adults in the UK. Further...

Who is Scrooge McDuck? In 2022, the richest, brightest and wiliest of all ducks is celebrating the 75th anniversary of his creation. Uncle Scrooge is one of the most well-known Disney characters, and brings back childhood memories of watching cartoons for many of us. What's so unique about Scrooge McDuck? When did Disney create the Scrooge character? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions! T...

What is permafrost? Permafrost is ground that remains frozen for two years or more. It’s made up of soil, rocks and sand, and held together by ice. In some places, this ground layer formed over 100,000 years ago, and can reach several miles in depth. Around 24% of land in the Northern Hemisphere has permafrost underneath it, according to the US National Snow and Ice Data Center. It’s mostly found...

Who are the Red Hot Chili Peppers?   With their new album Unlimited Love having been released on 1st April, let’s talk about the famous Californian funk rock group. The band has cited many influences, and they have been associated with a number of musical genres, including funk rock, alternative rock and rap rock. The Red Hot Chili Peppers unique style is precisely one of their distinctive charact...