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Seriously is home to the world’s best audio documentaries and podcast recommendations, and host Vanessa Kisuule brings you two fascinating new episodes every week.

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Wokewash - Episode 1

Wokewash - Episode 1

2024-03-2929:52

Following on from the success of Green Inc and with the same bold, provocative and entirely un-switchoffable energy, writer, comedian and satirist Heydon Prowse turns his tongue-in-cheek attention corporate Wokewashing. From a razor company talking about #MeToo to an LGBT sandwich and a burger chain tackling depression, writer and satirist Heydon Prowse unpacks how some of the world's biggest corporations are falling over themselves to appear socially conscious, progressive. And he lifts the lid on the advertising and PR companies who've woken up to just how much money they can make helping them.In this first episode, Pride Before a Fall?, Heydon investigates corporations’ approach to LGBTQ+ inclusivity. He’ll trace the history from brands’ first engagements with gay customers to the situation today, where Pride month sees the high street and social media festooned with corporate rainbow flags. Heydon will ask how many companies live up to this inclusive message in actions. This episode will also take a look at the backlash to brand engagement with LGBTQ+ issues that has been seen in the UK and the USA as the corporate world is drawn into the culture wars. It’s led to boycotts and hasty backpedalling, but what’s really going on, and why?To listen to the rest of the series, just search for Wokewash on BBC Sounds.Contributors: Peter Tatchell, Activist and Director of the Peter Tatchell Foundation Prof Alison Taylor of New York University's Stern Business School and author of 'Higher Ground: How Businesses Can Do the Right Thing in a Turbulent World.' Rain Dove, Model and Actvist Andrew Doyle, Comedian, GB News Presenter and author of The New Puritans: How the Religion of Social Justice Captured the Western World.Producer: Sam PeachArchive Credited To: John Sloman (Youtube) Dove US (Youtube) raindovemodel (instagram) dylanmulvaney (instagram) Make Yourself At Home Podcast by Nines Ben Shapiro (Youtube) CNN WKMG News Kid Rock (X)
Since it gained Independence in 1956 Sudan has had at least 2 major civil wars. The last one resulted in Southern Sudan becoming an Independent state in 2011. The latest civil war broke out last April between two rival factions of the military government, the Sudanese Army Force (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF. Thousands have been killed and the country is on the verge of a humanitarian crisis. Why aren't we hearing more about it? James Copnall, former BBC Sudan Correspondent finds out what exactly is going on from historians, personal testimony, government and humanitarian aid agencies. Presenter: James Copnall Producer: Julie Ball Editor: Tara McDermott
Four years ago, one of America’s most progressive states passed the country’s boldest approach to drug policy reform yet. Measure 110 came after a spirited campaign targeting the country’s failed war on drugs.The new law decriminalised possession of all illicit substances, including heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine . The reformers accurately predicted that the new law would result in fewer people of colour being locked up, but it also coincided with the new spread of the deadly drug fentanyl, and a tidal wave of homelessness. Fentanyl is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and is far more deadly. Social workers and police now regularly carry the opioid-blocking drug Narcan to treat people overdosing on the streets. Homelessness also continues to rise alongside the drug’s rampage, creating an epidemic on multiple fronts.In A Reckoning with Drugs in Oregon, local journalist Winston Ross explores the complex issues behind Portland’s fentanyl crisis and lawmakers’ recent decision to roll back Measure 110, speaking across the political divide and to many of those in the eye of the storm. Presented by Winston Ross Produced by James Tindale A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4
A century ago, businessmen from around the world gathered in Geneva, Switzerland, to form a shadowy international organisation called the Phoebus Cartel. Their purpose? To control the production and distribution of lightbulbs across the world - and also, it's alleged, to deliberately shorten their lifespans to make them burn out quicker in order to sell more. It's a manufacturing tactic called planned obsolescence and it's claimed the Phoebus Cartel invented it. In this documentary, Shaun Keaveny goes in search of the mysterious Phoebus Cartel, a journey which takes him from the Industrial Midlands to Switzerland, a testing laboratory in Belgium, and the bizarre story of an immortal light bulb called Byron. Shaun investigates the rise of today's throwaway culture and looks at its enormous environmental impact, with millions of low-cost, poorly-made products ending up in landfill within a year of being bought. Is this a legacy of the Phoebus Cartel? Where does the conspiracy theory end and reality begin?Shaun also hears from the repairers, the activists, the campaigners and the designers who are fighting back against today's culture of accelerating obsolescence.Featuring contributions from: Chris Setz and the team at Haringey Fixers, Helen Peavitt (Science Museum), Catherine Shanahan (Rugby Art Museum), Markus Krajewski (University of Basel), James Hooker (Head of Laboratories for international lighting company), Scott Butler (Material Focus), Jack Holloway (Product Designer), Tim Cooper (Nottingham University), Kate Raworth (Environmental Change Institute, Oxford University) Readings... Joseph Millson Presenter... Shaun Keaveny Producer... Andrew Smith Executive Producer... Kris DyerA Rakkit production for BBC Radio 4
Farmers and Furious

Farmers and Furious

2024-03-1528:561

Following wide ranging farmers' protests across Europe, now British farmers are starting to show their discontent with thousands of farmers meeting in Wales, as well as protests taking place in England. BBC Radio 4 Farming Today's Charlotte Smith joins farmers as they are protesting and asks if the industry is now at breaking point. Will the new promise by the prime minister to ensure food production is supported, and not just environmental work, be enough to appease English farmers? And has the Welsh First Minister's comments that farmers can not simply decide themselves what to do with millions in subsidies, just inflamed the situation further? With so many demands on our land, from capturing carbon to reversing the biodiversity loss, is there still space for farmers to produce food profitably in the UK?Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Beatrice Fenton.
Decolonising Russia

Decolonising Russia

2024-03-1228:17

All along Russia’s border, in former Soviet republics, the Ukrainian war has prompted a new, more assertive sense of national identity. They’re asking whether – despite independence – they’ve really overcome the legacy of 'Russian colonialism.' Meanwhile activists from the many ethnic minorities inside Russia are increasingly describing themselves as victims of colonialism too - and demanding self-determination. The debate about the 'imperial' nature of Russia has now also been taken up by strategists, politicians and scholars in the West. Many are questioning their own previous 'Russocentric' assumptions, and asking whether 'decolonising' Russia is the only way to stop the country threatening its neighbours - and world peace. But some also wonder whether the term 'decolonisation' is really relevant to Russia – and what it means. Is it about challenging the '0imperial mindset' of its rulers – and perhaps of every ordinary Russian? Or perhaps it means dismembering the country itself? Or, as some claim, is the very idea of 'decolonising Russia' just part of an attempt by the West to extend its own neo-colonialist influence? Tim Whewell dissects a new and vital controversy with the help of historians, thinkers and activists from Russia and its neighbours, the West and the Global South.Sound mixing by Hal Haines Production coordinators: Sabine Schereck, Maria Ogundele, Katie Morrison Editor: Richard Fenton Smith Extract from "Winnie-the-Pooh" by A A Milne, read by Alan Bennett
In September 2023 permission was given to develop Rosebank, the UK’s largest untapped oil field. Located west of Shetland, the UK government says it will provide energy security in the UK for a whole generation, at a time where we have never felt more insecure about the source of our energy and the cost. But will it? A feat of modern engineering, with the latest technology used to create it. Once operational, where is all this money, and oil, going to flow? And how does this fit into a commitment to transition from a dependency on fossil fuels to greener alternatives?  There’s a lot at stake with this new oil field: jobs, investment, income, and oil, of course. There are so many questions about how oil and gas works in terms of its relationship to the UK, yet surprisingly few clear answers. This programme will help fill in the blanks.
The Forensic Jeweller

The Forensic Jeweller

2024-03-0529:271

Jewellery can tell us so much about people - the ones that wore it, and the ones that made it. It reveals something about status, or power, or belief systems - religion and relationships. There's so many interesting things that you can uncover about a person, or a group of people, by their jewellery. This makes it an incredibly useful tool for forensic analysis. Dr Maria Maclennan, is the world's first, and currently only, Forensic Jeweller. In this show, we accompany Maria to the Evros region of Greece, where she, along with her team of Dr Jan Bikker, Professor Pavlidis Pavlos and Filmmaker Harry Lawson, are using the forensic analysis of jewellery to identify deceased migrants.The goal is to give back a name to many of the missing and unidentified who sadly lose their lives trying to enter Europe. A single piece of jewellery can unlock an entire identity.
Cultural Sociologist Rachel Hurdley travels round England and Wales to uncover what walls tell us about how we live, from iron age roundhouses to Victorian mansions, medieval halls to terraced workers’ cottages, castles to the domestic interiors of today.Rachel explores how walls, which we often take for granted, define the spaces we inhabit and make sense of everyday life and our place in the world, talking to a range of experts and academics including architectural writer Jonathan Glancey. She tries her hand at making wattle and daub for roundhouses at Castell Henllys in Wales, with archaeologist Dr David Howell . She climbs through the thick stone walls of the Norman castle at Conisbrough in South Yorkshire, with buildings archaeologist James Wright and English Heritage curator Kevin Booth. From the top of the tower, Rachel explores ideas of status and wealth, where building the tallest tower was as much about impressing the neighbours, as it was about military defence and protecting the vast wealth of the aristocratic elite. She also visits St Fagans National Museum of History Wales – a living museum of vernacular buildings throughout the ages. Rachel looks at the way walls have redefined our living spaces from medieval times, such as the longhouses where farmers lived side by side with their animals and the great medieval halls. Here, daily life carried on in one space – masters and servants - until the ruling family was wealthy enough to seek privacy by building first floor solars. Now in modern day Britain, privacy can be at a premium in warehouses and factories converted into rented accommodation to meet to housing demand in sought after areas such as Hackney in London. She also hears stories of horror and superstition – people and animals incarcerated in walls – as well as the use of burn marks at Gainsborough Old Hall in Lincolnshire to keep evil spirits away and visits one of the oldest medieval houses to survive in England, the National Trust’s Ightham Mote in Kent, to see centuries of change through its walls with conservation architect Stuart Page and collections manager Amanda Doran, She looks at how fashions and styles have changed with a visit the Museum of the Home where Director Dr Sonia Solicari tells Rachel more about social change through the Museum room sets. Wallpaper was a game changer, a much cheaper alternative to tapestries or rich wall paintings. She hears some surprising facts - the introduction in the 18th century of wallpaper tax, and also how the arsenic in some of the wallpaper pigments was poisoning people. Yet it was the industrial revolution which brought wallpaper and the other mass produced trappings of the home to almost everyone and a chance to curate our spaces - like those of British born Caribbean playwright and artist Michael McMillan, who remembers from his childhood the power of the front room to impress and reveal who we are.Presenter: Rachel Hurdley Producer: Sara Parker Executive Producer: Samir Shah A Juniper production for BBC Radio 4
The Rise of Sinn Féin

The Rise of Sinn Féin

2024-02-2729:04

Ireland correspondent Chris Page looks at the growth of Sinn Féin across the island of Ireland over the last 30 years and explores how it has achieved that. He examines the party's current aims and policies, from housing to the economy. And he asks, given the current trend in the polls, what the implications might be of the party being in government in two jurisdictions - in Belfast and in Dublin.Presenter: Chris Page Producer: Camellia Sinclair Lead broadcast engineer: Ilse LademannCredit: "Two Tribes", RTÉ One, 22nd December 2022
We’re a nation obsessed with genealogy. Millions of us are gripped by TV shows like 'Who Do You Think You Are', where genealogists show celebrities their famous ancestors - like Danny Dyer being descended from Edward III, the first Plantagent King! But what if Danny doesn’t get exclusive bragging rights? With the help of mathematician Hannah Fry and Habsburg Royal Historian professor Martyn Rady, population geneticist Dr Adam Rutherford sets out to prove that we're all descended from royalty, revealing along the way that family trees are not the perfect tool for tracing your heritage. But can it really be true? Can we all be descended from Henry VIII or Charlemagne!?
Prosecuting Polmont

Prosecuting Polmont

2024-02-2029:14

In 2018, within a few months of each other, Katie Allan and William Lindsay took their own lives at Polmont Young Offenders Institution in Scotland. There have been nine suicides at Polmont since 2012 and the overall suicide rate in Scottish prisons is at a record high. Katie's mum Linda believes many of these deaths were avoidable. She was told by the Crown Office that there were sufficient grounds for prosecuting the Scottish Prison Service for potential failures of duty of care to both Katie and William, but they couldn't proceed because, unlike the police, the NHS, or even a private prison, the prison service has immunity from prosecution. With a Fatal Accident Inquiry about to open into Katie and William's deaths, Linda has little faith it will hold the prison accountable. Dani Garavelli Presenter and Researcher Liza Greig Producer Elizabeth Clark Executive ProducerBBC Scotland Productions for BBC Radio 4
When journalists tell stories, they rarely start at the beginning but instead with the latest development. Context comes towards the end. It’s called the ‘inverted pyramid’. When scandal at the Confederation of British Industry hit the newspapers and boss Tony Danker was dismissed, he complained that articles didn’t state right at the start that he was not accused of the worst misconduct. If you didn’t make it much past the headlines, you might not realise that. We discover why journalists write stories ‘the wrong way up’, how that affects how we understand them, and how that might change with new technology.‘How to Read the News’ - this series is all about giving you the tools to decode the news. Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Charlotte McDonald Researchers: Beth Ashmead Latham, Kirsteen Knight Editors: China Collins, Emma Rippon
Graceland in the Glens

Graceland in the Glens

2024-02-1329:191

In 2019, Elvis Presley Enterprises threatened to deconstruct Graceland and move it to Saudi Arabia, Tokyo, or whoever was the highest bidder. Artist, writer, KLF member and money burner - Bill Drummond - realised something had to be done. Bill's relationship with Northern Ireland began before his relationship with Elvis - but at some junction, these two relationships were bound to collide. It seems the Curfew Tower at the junction of the crossroads in the village of Cushendall in the Glens of Antrim is where this collision will be taking place. Producer: Conor Garrett
The Screening Dilemma

The Screening Dilemma

2024-02-0928:501

Ronnie Helvy is on his way for a screening test. He's in his sixties and wants an assessment to check for a variety of cancers. He isn't currently displaying any symptoms but is seeking reassurance. His blood will undergo a series of tests in exchange for over a thousand pounds. The outcome might be able to determine whether he is susceptible to cancers that some of his family have died from. It sounds like a good thing. Or is it?Advances in health screening have allowed us to see far into our bodies' future. During the pandemic home testing became an everyday routine. The same technology has helped develop new tools that can sequence our DNA quickly. Simple tests are making the process less intrusive than ever before.These improvements have also seen the development of a number of major national screening programmes. Including Our Future Health and the UK Biobank. Both of these are large scale research studies to help researchers prevent chronic health conditions. They could also inform the NHS on how to implement generalised screening across more of the population.Private health clinics are also offering health check-ups -- tests that could spot future warning signs. Home-testing kits can be ordered from the internet. But what does this information tell us? And is it information we can trust? We look at whether the private industry is acting responsibly when it comes to genetic testing.The BBC's Health Correspondent Matthew Hill finds out whether screening programmes can really help us live both better and longer lives. And he asks: can diagnosing conditions decades before they might affect us cause more harm than good?The promise of diagnosing conditions early is an exciting one. But there are fears among some health professionals that more screening might not be entirely helpful. We take a look at what lessons from the past could tell us about the current surge in screening. And we consider some of the dilemmas it might present us with.Presenter: Matthew Hill Producer: Robbie Wojciechowski Editor: Richard CollingsContributors: Dr Paul Cornes, Oncologist and International Advisor on cancer Prof. Clare Turnbull, Division of Genetics and Epidemiology at the Institute of Cancer Research Helen Wallace, Deputy Director of GeneWatch UK Prof Sir John Bell, Regius Professor of Medicine at the University of Oxford and the UK’s Life Sciences Champion
Hotel Room Art

Hotel Room Art

2024-02-0628:592

The inside story of art in hotel rooms - and why hoteliers think it's so important to get it right. Ian McMillan has always been fascinated by the artworks he finds on his travels. Here he encounters mass produced flowers, abstract excitement and ancient artefacts. In three very different hotel bedrooms he meets curators, designers and artists - but most importantly he meets the art, and asks why we have ‘art’ hotels .
Becky Ripley and Sophie Ward take a cold hard look at the psychology behind each of the seven deadly sins. Rolling with the order established by Pope Gregory the Great, first up is pride, followed by greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and (finally) lazy old sloth. Why have we evolved these ugly emotions? What’s going on in the brain and the body when we feel them? And how best can we live alongside them - in ourselves and with others?Pride - also known as the "original sin" - is now a bit of a double-edged word. The good side is motivating and self-affirming: to be proud of your work, your kids, or your identity. But then there’s the ugly side of pride: thinking you’re better than others. Arrogance, narcissism, an inflated sense of superiority. How can we have one without the other? Confidence without arrogance? Self-worth without self-aggrandisement? To guide us through this mess is evolutionary anthropologist Dr Anna Machin from the Department of Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford, neuroscientist and clinical psychologist Professor Ian Robertson from the Department of Psychology at Trinity College Dublin, self-aware narcissist and motivational speaker Lee Hammock, Professor Jessica Tracy from the Department of Psychology at the University of British Columbia, and a parade of people at a Pride march.Producer: Becky Ripley
Becky Ripley and Sophie Ward take a cold hard look at the psychology behind each of the seven deadly sins, in the order established by Pope Gregory the Great: pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and lazy old sloth. Why have we evolved these ugly emotions? What’s going on in the brain and the body when we feel them? And how best can we live alongside them - in ourselves and with others?Greed is in the spotlight today. And we're not talking food. (That’s gluttony, we come to that later in the series.) We're talking greed for money, for land, for material things – and ultimately for control, status, dominance, power. The kind of greed that separates the "haves" from the "have nots". On one hand, greed is a great motivator, driving us all forward in our pursuit to get more of whatever it is we want. But at its ugliest, greed can come at a huge cost to other people, and to the planet. When does self-interested behaviour become selfish? And can we be greedy for the good? To guide us through this mess is evolutionary anthropologist Dr Anna Machin from the Department of Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford, psychologist and social scientist Professor Paul Piff from the Department of Psychological Science at the University of California, Executive Director of the New Economy Organisers Network, Ayeisha Thomas-Smith, and a few wise words from Sir David Attenborough.Producer: Becky Ripley
Becky Ripley and Sophie Ward take a cold hard look at the psychology behind each of the seven deadly sins, in the order established by Pope Gregory the Great: pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and lazy old sloth. Why have we evolved these ugly emotions? What’s going on in the brain and the body when we feel them? And how best can we live alongside them - in ourselves and with others?Lust is today's hot topic. It's crucial to the continuation of our species, but it's also a form of neurochemical madness that can lead us astray. We all have wildly different brains, bodies, and cultural references, so everyone’s relationship to lust is highly personal. Is it true that men want it more than women? When was the "lustiest" time in history? And, back in today's world, how can we navigate our drives alongside cultural expectations and the issue of consent? And how can we feel desire without shame? To guide us through this mess is evolutionary anthropologist Dr Anna Machin from the Department of Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford, sexologist with a specialty in men’s health and sexual function, Dr Anand Patel, and sex historian Dr Kate Lister, lecturer at Leeds Trinity University and author of 'A Curious History of Sex'.Producer: Becky Ripley
Becky Ripley and Sophie Ward take a cold hard look at the psychology behind each of the seven deadly sins, in the order established by Pope Gregory the Great: pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and lazy old sloth. Why have we evolved these ugly emotions? What’s going on in the brain and the body when we feel them? And how best can we live alongside them - in ourselves and with others?Envy is in the spotlight today. On one hand, it indicates what it is you want, and it motivates you to go out there and get it. On the other hand, it can be a corrosive feeling of yearning that eats you up from the inside. And at its ugliest, it can drive you to seek the destruction of others...How can we listen to our feelings of envy, without being riddled with resentment? And how can we make peace with that restless, nagging feeling that the grass is always greener? To guide us through this mess is evolutionary anthropologist Dr Anna Machin from the Department of Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford, psychotherapist and author of 'Coping with Envy', Professor Windy Dryden, from the Department of Psychotherapeutic Studies at Goldsmiths University, author and scholar Professor Ilan Kapoor, from the Department of Critical Development Studies at York University in Toronto, and clinical psychologist, poet, writer and educator, Dr Sanah Ahsan.
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Comments (10)

Michael Brodie

More time with noxious towel heads

Feb 3rd
Reply

Padraig Sweeney

Maybe the most useless podcast I've ever listened to

Dec 18th
Reply

everachelt

I can't even with this. talk to some more white middle aged women why don't you??? such ignorance and such a shame when there are so many legitimate issues to discuss re women's rights. smdh #okboomer

Jul 10th
Reply

Elodie Mayo

very important discussion, more cross class conversations need to be made 🙌🏾🙌🏾

Apr 9th
Reply

Aamal Al Kharusi

such a beauty 💕

Mar 16th
Reply

N

This episode hits the nail on the head of something I've seen happen frequently in online spaces that is incredibly odious and tiresome. No more purity circles for me

Feb 5th
Reply

David Cook

9 loñ 9ñ9

Aug 10th
Reply

Sankul R. Mandavia

That sound in the background is terrible. Painful if youre using headphones

Apr 12th
Reply

Adam Lester-George

Really good series but jesus fuck! That screechy sound effect that is played repeatedly every episode is one of the most obnoxious sounds, especially in headphones. Please don't do that again!!

Apr 2nd
Reply

Mark Powelson

help, broken source error message

Aug 21st
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