PodFest 2020

During the COVID-19 crisis the Rowett Research Institute, at the University of Aberdeen, is not able to conduct human nutrition trials but that doesn’t mean we can’t find other ways to help. Normally our Human Nutrition Unit team design diets and feed our volunteers as part of the human nutrition trials conducted by our researchers. The team are interested in nutrition and care about what we eat, but what do they do when they have no one to feed? Will they keep on creating healthy nutritious recipes? Our podcast tells you how the team does it and why it is so important to eat healthily. 

The podcast discusses how MSPs might work within a post-Brexit, post COVID-19 Scotland, the potential of a further referendum and possible new ways of governance. Furthermore, he will examine his own and his country’s dysfunctional relationship with the beautiful game, to understand the soul and spirit of Scottish football. Neil McLennan is a Senior Lecturer and Director of Leadership Programmes at the University of Aberdeen. Neil and Henry are both fellows of the RSA, previous supporters of May Fest. The University of Aberdeen WORD Centre has kindly supported this event.

Their key goals are for the treaty to permit freedom of marine scientific research and allow the sharing of any benefits that arise from commercial use of marine biodiversity. Marcel and Abbe are also trying to bring this work to a wider audience, and they are joined by composer Professor Paul Mealor and poet Dr Grahame Davies who have together created the wonderful ‘Song for the Oceans’ to highlight these issues. 

The podcast will also look at how the charity's programme work has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, touching on issues of period poverty, sustainability and menstrual waste. It will explore how community-based organisations differ from international non-governmental organisations. 

From Brexit to Veganuary, new words, or neologisms, play an important part in our language. Most of them are short-lived and quickly sink into obscurity but a few eventually become part of our vocabulary. So why do some words survive while others do not? What makes us, as speakers, decide on whether to use a new word? Join PhD student Sabrina Link as she discusses the factors which might influence a word’s success or failure, what makes a word attractive to speakers and what impact real-life changes have on our vocabulary.