What's Up Docs?

Chris and Xand continue their conversation about comfort with Dr Tiffany Watt Smith, writer and cultural historian interested in the histories of emotion and medicine, former director of the Centre for the History of Emotions at Queen Mary University of London, and fellow of the Royal Historical Society. Drs Chris and Xand van Tulleken want to know what nostalgia is, how it can affect us, how it i...

Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken cut through the confusion around every aspect of our health and wellbeing. In this episode, Chris and Xand dive into winter comforts. What is comfort? How has the meaning of comfort evolved? How did the ancients find comfort in the winter? How do other cultures embrace comfort? They explore the hi...

Drs Chris and Xand continue their conversation about hearing loss with Prof Doris Bamiou, Professor of Neuroaudiology at the UCL Ear Institute, and Honorary Consultant in Audiological Medicine at the University College London Hospitals. Chris and Xand want to know how cognitive processing of sound works, what audio processing disorder is, why it happens, how it is diagnosed, and the external facto...

Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken cut through the confusion around every aspect of our health and wellbeing. In this episode, Chris and Xand dive into the physical side of hearing loss. What is the cocktail party problem, and why does it get worse with age? How does hearing work? What causes hearing loss? How can we protect our he...

Chris and Xand continue their conversation about dopamine with Masud Husain, Professor of Neurology & Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Oxford. They explore how he first became interested in dopamine, what happens when dopamine systems become overactive, underactive, or disrupted, and whether we have any real control over our dopamine at all. Masud also shares the one thing he wishes...

Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken untangle the confusion around every aspect of our health and wellbeing. In this episode, they’re diving into dopamine – one of the most talked-about chemicals in modern wellness culture. But what is dopamine, really? What role does it play in pleasure, motivation, learning, and movement? And how a...

Chris and Xand continue their conversation about belief with Ryan McKay, Professor of Psychology at Royal Holloway, University of London. They want to know why some beliefs take hold so strongly, what’s happening in our brains when we hold on to them, and how trust, identity, and community shape what we believe. Beyond that, they’ll explore why health beliefs can be so difficult to shift, and whet...

Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken confront the confusion around every aspect of our health and wellbeing. In this episode, they’re asking why beliefs about our bodies are so powerful? We often think of belief as something soft – just ideas in our heads. But beliefs can shape how we experience pain, how we heal, and even how societ...

Drs Chris and Xand continue their conversation about dry skin with Dr Tess McPherson, Associate Professor of Paediatric and Adolescent Dermatology at the University of Oxford. The docs want to know what eczema is, why it happens, whether it is worth eliminating triggers and whether topical steroids are an effective treatment. They also explore the stigma around skin conditions and what we can all...

Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken cut through the confusion around every aspect of our health and wellbeing. In this episode, Chris and Xand dive into dry skin and how it can be relieved. Why does dry skin happen? How can your washing and cleansing routine affect your skin? Should you use moisturisers, and how do they work? Can yo...

Chris and Xand continue their conversation about body temperature with Dr Heather Massey, Associate Professor of extreme environments and physiology at the University of Portsmouth. Drs Chris and Xand van Tulleken want to know how cold water swimming and contrast therapy can challenge your body temperature and what the benefits might be. They also explore whether everyone should be challenging the...

Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken cut through the confusion around every aspect of our health and wellbeing. In this episode, Chris and Xand dive into body temperature and how it can be challenged. How does the human body regulate its core and skin temperature? Can you change your body temperature from its average value? Should yo...

Drs Chris and Xand continue their conversation about all-or-nothing thinking with Kimberley Wilson, Chartered Psychologist, author and host of the new mental health podcast, Complex. Chris and Xand want to know how all-or-nothing thinking interacts with out socio-politics, and how age and our relationship with social media shapes our tendency towards binary thought patterns. If you’d like to share...

Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken cut through the confusion around every aspect of our health and wellbeing. In this episode, Chris and Xand dive into the concept of ‘all-or-nothing’ thinking. What does it really mean, and why are our brains drawn to this black-and-white way of seeing the world? They explore how it shows up in eve...

In a specially extended episode recorded in front of an audience at the BBC Radio Theatre in London, What's up Docs? explores the wonders of the human heart. "The heart is more than just a pump—it's a marvel of engineering and history, and in this episode, we're pulling it apart to see how it all works!” Join Drs Chris and Xand van Tulleken as they discover how reliable the human heart can be - be...

In a special episode recorded in front of an audience at the BBC Radio Theatre in London, What's up Docs? explores the wonders of the human heart. "The heart is more than just a pump- it's a marvel of engineering and history, and in this episode, we're pulling it apart to see how it all works!” Join Drs Chris and Xand van Tulleken as they discover how reliable the human heart can be, beating on av...

Chris and Xand continue their conversation about false memories with Dr Linda Henkel. The Docs are digging into the different research studies and experiments that have been done around false memories. They also discuss the concept of repressed memories, and Xand shares some of his own, potentially false memories. If you’d like to share your thoughts on this or any other topic covered on the podca...

Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken untangle the confusion around every aspect of our health and wellbeing. In this episode, the Docs are returning to the topic of memory, delving into the concept of false memories. Chris and Xand are curious about how and why false memories form, whether there’s anything we can do to guard against...

Chris and Xand continue their conversation about napping with Russell Foster, Professor of Circadian Neuroscience at the University of Oxford. They want to know why some people drift off easily while others struggle to shut their eyes. Beyond that, they explore how our ability and even our desire to nap changes depending on our age, and how it differs across cultures and regions of the world. From...

Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken tackle the confusion around every aspect of our health and wellbeing. In this episode, they’re asking, what’s the deal with naps? Some people nod off in minutes, while others can’t manage it at all. So why is napping so different from person to person? Is it actually good for us? Is there a “right...

Chris and Xand continue their conversation about embarrassment with Dr Tiffany Watt Smith, a cultural historian interested in the histories of emotion and medicine. They want to know: how power and hierarchical structures in your relationships affect your levels of embarrassment, and how embarrassment functions within the context of other emotions. If you’d like to share your thoughts on this or a...

Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken untangle the confusion around every aspect of our health and wellbeing. In this episode, the Doctors turn their attention to the curious emotion of embarrassment - why do we feel embarrassed? They want to know how it links to blushing, how it differs from shame or guilt, and whether it might actua...

Chris and Xand continue their conversation about nature with Baroness Kathy Willis, Professor of Biodiversity at Oxford University. They look a little deeper into the relationship between nature and our health and wellbeing. They also discuss Kathy's thoughts on how society interacts with nature. These insights go beyond the science to explore the bigger picture of our relationship with the natura...

Welcome to What’s Up Docs?, the podcast where doctors and identical twins Chris and Xand van Tulleken tackle the confusion around every aspect of our health and wellbeing. In this special episode, Chris and Xand are out of the studio and into the woods, exploring something a little different - the connection between nature and our health and wellbeing. You’ve probably heard claims that just being...

Chris and Xand continue their conversation with Dr James Rucker, a consultant psychiatrist at King's College London who is leading the European arm of a global trial of a psychedelic designed to treat people with severe depression. They discuss the history of psychedelics, the discovery of LSD and the popular (and often illegal) practice of microdosing. Is there any evidence to suggest that taking...