Everything Under The Sun

Hello, Hello, Hello! We have news! Everything Under The Sun won a bronze award at the British Podcast Awards, we were so pleased to win an award after only twenty three episodes, so thank to all of you for listening, telling your friends, sending in questions and generally being amazing! You're all wonderful, thank you.  I’m also writing a book full of your Everything Under The Sun questions...

Butterflies! We all love seeing them flying around in spring and summer, so to celebrate their arrival this year this week's episode is all about them. We answer three questions, from Martha & Heidi, Natty and Fynn! They would like to know: Why do caterpillars turn into butterflies? What happens inside cocoons? and do butterflies have bones? Find out on this week's show! To help answer the fir...

We have our first history question this week! Answered by top historian, Dan Snow. It comes from Ethan who would like to know how many men were in a Roman army? Dan Snow tells us the answer, which is more complicated than you’d think!   Dan tells us about some different battles and how many men took part. Discover how local men were recruited and how many more men there were than in the Roman...

Frida asks our first question which is, do aliens exist? Find out what Doug from the Science Museum thinks, where scientists think alien life might live, such as on exoplanets – planets outside of our solar system! Plus a reminder of how lucky we are to be here on a planet that gives us all we need, fresh air, water and oxygen to breathe! So let’s enjoy it and look after it. It’s bluebell season s...

Hello, hello, hello! Welcome to the 23rd episode of Everything Under The Sun, which this week is about OCEANS! We have three questions from Molly, Cooper and Lara , which are: How Much Water is in All the Oceans? How violently did Titanic shake when it hit the Iceberg? And What is the Deadliest Shark and why?   Find out how much of the Earth’s water is in the oceans and why we ought to r...

ROOOOOAAAAAARR! It’s a dinosaur special this week, with help from dinosaur experts at the Natural History Museum in London and Tring.  This week we answer questions from Darcy, Jake and Marcus who would like to know about dinosaurs. Then we have a special EASTER question from Aoife , because it’s now Easter weekend!  First up Darcy’s question is  “what was the first dinosaur and wer...

Birds! Birds! Birds! Welcome to episode twenty one of Everything Under the Sun, a weekly podcast answering all the most pressing questions children around the world have about life on earth. This week the show is all about birds, nests and eggs! So what questions about BIRDS do we have this week? Our first question is about bird EGGS and comes from Henry, he would like to know, “ How do Birds Lay...

Spheres! Round things! The Moon! Bubbles! Planets! This week’s perfectly circular, spherical, round show is all about things of similar shapes. As usual we’re answering brilliant questions from children. This week we have Dotty, Ahmed and Evelyn, they would like to know: Why do we only see one side of the moon? Why do planets have cores? Why do parrotfish sleep in bubbles made of snot?  To fi...

Animal mums! Paints! Colourful creatures! This colourful episode of Everything Under The Sun has three lovely questions!   Since it’s almost Mother’s Day our first question is about Mums, it comes from Lara who wants to “Which animals make the best Mummy?”  Well there are LOTS of great Mummy’s in the animal kingdom. Find out about orang-utan Mums, gorillas, polar bears, koalas and a...

Squeak, squeak, whistle, whistle! Welcome to a noisy 18th episode of Everything Under the Sun.   This week we answer three questions from Alyssa, Walter and Matilda. They are:   How do Dolphins Squeak? How does a Football Referee’s Whistle Work? And Why do Giraffes have Such Long Necks?   Find out all about how dolphins use their foreheads to squeak with Travis, who studies dolphins...

Hello and welcome to the 17th episode of Everything Under the Sun, a weekly podcast answering all the most pressing questions children around the world have about life on earth. Today we have three questions about sleeping and dreaming!    Our first question is from Millen - he wants to know about dreams! His question is  “Why on some days do we remember dreams but not on other...

It’s World Book Day ! To celebrate, this week we've got three answers to a great question, from Bonnie, which is... ‘Where do Ideas Come From?’   Our first answer is from children’s book writer Abi Elphinstone. Abi is a 2019 World Book Day author and you can get her new book, Everdark on World Book Day with your WBD tokens! She talks about how adventures, daydreaming and looking at the sky ou...

This week we have three questions from Rob, Alex and Violet. They would like to know: what the biggest tree in the world? How much water is in an apple? How many bunnies are there in the world?    Find out about the biggest tree in the world, called General Sherman, which I wrote about in my book, Natural Wonders of the World. I read an extract from the book about the ancient, giant tree...

Welcome to this week’s episode of Everything Under The Sun!    This week we have four questions, the first is from Evey who lives in Australia, she would like to know why some animals are warm-blooded and some are cold-blooded?    To answer her we have Katie Thomas, a biologist from The Natural History Museum in London!  She is studying how frogs see the word, so tell...

Talking and writing! We all do it every day, and its one of the most important things we do! Today on Everything Under The Sun we explore who came up with the idea of writing with a brilliant guest from the British Museum, Irving Finkel who looks after the oldest writing in the world – so old it is written on clay! Plus why we talk different languages. Our first question, from Benjamin is “Why do...

Ahoy Me Hearties! Shiver Me Timbers! Yo Ho Ho and a bottle of rum! This week's Pirates episode comes from The Victoria & Albert Museum of Childhood and Globe Primary School in London. The V & A Museum of Childhood have a free show on at the moment called A Pirates Life For Me! So I've made a special show with them all about pirates, with questions from the local school children who helped...

Yum, yum, yum! This tasty episode of Everything Under The Sun has three delicious questions. Why do we taste differently when we have a cold? This is our first question, from Sanem, and it is brilliantly answered by top chef Heston Blumenthal who knows everything there is to know about how our sense of smell affects our sense of taste. He tells us about an experiment to do with a piece of apple to...

In this week's show we answer three questions from Alessandra, Sophia and Isaac, with help from special guest expert Marina Fogle. Alessandra would like to know the answer to a question we all ask at some point in our lives, which is, "Where do Babies Come from?" Parental Warning! In case you don't want your children to listen to this answer. As this can be quite a tricky one to know how to answer...

In this week's show we answer three questions from Sophia, Romilly and Alice, with help from special guest experts Harry Cliff and Amy Davey, from London's Science Museum. This week I'm at the Science Museum in London to answer your questions about The Sun, with the help of Harry and Amy, both curators at the museum involved with their current exhibition The Sun - Living with Our Closest Star. Thi...

In this week's show we answer three questions from Ray, Maya and Amelia, with help from special guest expert Chris Chittick, from the TV show Tornado Chasers. Ray would like to know: why we fart? Find out why humans can’t help farting sometimes and what they’re made up of. Ever wondered whether other animals fart? Find out whether millipedes do, whether dinosaurs did and about whale farts, as well...

In this week's show we answer four questions from Etienne, Douglas, Camille and Isabel, with help from special guest experts Roberto and James, from the Natural History Museum. Happy New Year! Welcome to this week’s episode of Everything Under the Sun, a weekly podcast answering all the most pressing questions children around the world have about life on earth. This week we're headed into the Natu...

This week we have three questions from Teddy, Eleanor and Molly, with help from special guest expert Simon Loader from the Natural History Museum. They would like to know why holly is spiky, why we sing Auld Lang Syne on New Year's Eve and what it means as well as why some animals have four legs and some have two legs? Discover why we sing Auld Lang Syne on New Year's Eve, where the song came from...

In this week's special Christmas show we answer five questions from Tommi, Rosie, Gigi, Lottie and Wren, with help from special guest expert Neil Gaiman. The first is from Bea , she'd like to know if Mrs Christmas helps Father Christmas to work out who has been naughty and who has been nice? To answer her question we have the brilliant writer Neil Gaiman, author of Coraline, Stardust, Fortunately...

This week we answer questions from Oscar, Harry and Caleb. They would like to know why penguins can't fly, why snakes shed their skin and how big can a giant crab get to? We find out why chubby penguin Dads are popular, how penguins that build nests for their eggs poo without making the nests messy, why snakes shed their skin and all about different giant crabs, where they live and what they get u...

In this week's show we answer three questions from Millie, Diah and Tommi. They would like to know why flamingos stand on one leg, why waves break on the beach and why bears hibernate when they've got such long fur to keep them warm? We find out about flamingo legs, how they sleep standing up, why they're pink and why they sometimes lose their pink colour when they have new baby chicks! We answer...