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The Why Factor

The extraordinary and hidden histories behind everyday objects and actions

Episodes

Total: 383

Millennials and business

2020/2/3

Whether it is the growth in co-working spaces around the world full of 20 and 30-somethings starting

We can now curate who we talk to in a way that wasn’t thinkable when a bulky landline phone sat in a

Physical scars can be sources of shame or badges of honour: acquired accidentally or a cry for help.

Dystopias

2020/1/13

Dystopic fiction is going through a bit of a boom at the moment, but why is it that we can’t seem to

Victim blaming

2020/1/6

The trauma of sexual assault is both personal and brutal. But what may be an indisputably traumatic

Parties

2019/12/16

It’s the festive season, which means there are lots of parties going on. If you’re planning a party

Resilience

2019/12/9

Resilience is one of the buzzwords of the moment with multiple self-helps books and motivational sp

An exploration of why and how music can exert a powerful effect on our emotions. Why does one partic

Many men believe their gender is under siege from a welter of criticism about male attitudes and beh

Asked to describe your grandparents, you may conjure fond childhood memories of trips to the park or

Infidelity is seen as the ultimate betrayal, and many relationships are brought down by it. Around t

Why are we conscious?

2019/11/4

It turns out that much of what we do – much of our behaviour – can be conducted at an unconscious le

Sleep, day-dreaming, meditation – these are all different states of awareness. In these states we ar

Why are we shy?

2019/10/21

About half the population consider themselves to have a shy personality, but most of us feel shyness

In the second and final part exploring intuition Nastaran Tavakoli-Far speaks to cricket players who

In part one of two episodes exploring intuition, Nastaran Tavakoli-Far speaks to a detective who had

Why do we love camping?

2019/9/30

From instant messaging, to online shopping and even smart fridges, we live in a connected age where

All over the world there are people rejecting the society they live in and choosing radically differ

Statistics from around the world show huge improvements to our way of life, but many of us think the

In the 1970s, second wave feminists declared war on make-up - arguing it oppressed women, distracted