The Why Factor
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The Why Factor
The extraordinary and hidden histories behind everyday objects and actions
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383 Episoden
Millennials and business
Whether it is the growth in co-working spaces around the world full of 20 and 30-somethings starting their own thing, to TV shows on entrepreneurship,...

Why do we text instead of talk?
We can now curate who we talk to in a way that wasn’t thinkable when a bulky landline phone sat in a corner of a house and rang with anonymous urgency...

Why do physical scars matter?
Physical scars can be sources of shame or badges of honour: acquired accidentally or a cry for help. How should we read them, and what do they tell us...

Dystopias
Dystopic fiction is going through a bit of a boom at the moment, but why is it that we can’t seem to get enough of stories where ordinary people strug...

Victim blaming
The trauma of sexual assault is both personal and brutal. But what may be an indisputably traumatic event for one person is often challenged by anothe...

Parties
It’s the festive season, which means there are lots of parties going on. If you’re planning a party, what kind of celebration will it be? Organising...

Resilience
Resilience is one of the buzzwords of the moment with multiple self-helps books and motivational speakers all promising us we can learn to be resilie...

Why does music affect the way we feel?
An exploration of why and how music can exert a powerful effect on our emotions. Why does one particular collection of notes make us want to get up an...

Why do we need to talk about men?
Many men believe their gender is under siege from a welter of criticism about male attitudes and behaviours. Not everyone accepts the idea of a mascul...

Why grandparents are important
Asked to describe your grandparents, you may conjure fond childhood memories of trips to the park or going round for your favourite dinner after schoo...

Why do we cheat on our partners?
Infidelity is seen as the ultimate betrayal, and many relationships are brought down by it. Around the world most of us agree that it’s wrong for a ma...

Why are we conscious?
It turns out that much of what we do – much of our behaviour – can be conducted at an unconscious level. That raises a profound question. What is the...

Why are we conscious of so little?
Sleep, day-dreaming, meditation – these are all different states of awareness. In these states we are not really aware of what is going on around us....

Why are we shy?
About half the population consider themselves to have a shy personality, but most of us feel shyness in certain situations. Although some people may d...

Intuition: Why should we be cautious of it?
In the second and final part exploring intuition Nastaran Tavakoli-Far speaks to cricket players who used data to win championships and hears about bu...

Intuition: Why should we trust it?
In part one of two episodes exploring intuition, Nastaran Tavakoli-Far speaks to a detective who had an intuition that someone was a serial killer, as...

Why do we love camping?
From instant messaging, to online shopping and even smart fridges, we live in a connected age where all of life’s essentials can be obtained at the cl...

Why do some people reject society?
All over the world there are people rejecting the society they live in and choosing radically different pathways. Some are abandoning the idea of a ‘f...

Why are we so gloomy about the world?
Statistics from around the world show huge improvements to our way of life, but many of us think the world is in decline. There are good reasons for t...

Why do we (still) wear make-up?
In the 1970s, second wave feminists declared war on make-up - arguing it oppressed women, distracted them from gaining equality, and forced them to at...

Why learn to be happy?
What does happiness mean to you? Friends, family, the rush of a crowd or the joy of solitude? Happiness is a fundamental human desire, yet we often st...

Why do funerals matter?
Christopher Gunness explores why funerals matter so profoundly to us, as individuals and societies. He talks to people who have lost loved ones in Gha...

Why do we blend?
Blending ingredients to produce something new is a distinctively human urge, and one of our most creative acts. We blend all sorts of products, such...

Why does nature calm anxiety?
As the world grows more urban, humanity moves further away from nature. Could this be the reason anxiety has become the most diagnosed mental illness...

Why do we care so much about games?
The sports teams we support say something about who we are. Our identities are bound up with the men and women who play for our side – and we experien...

Why do some people become hermits?
If the idea of being all alone, in silence, for long periods of time fills you with dread, it might be hard to understand why anyone would choose to b...

Why should we work together?
Open plan offices, hot-desking, group brainstorming sessions: collaboration seems to be king in the modern workplace. Recent studies have found that w...

Schadenfreude
Schadenfreude is a German word that means “harm-joy”. It is the pleasure we feel from someone else’s misfortune, and it can come in many shades. It is...

Why aren’t more women in computer science?
The history of computing is filled with the accomplishments of women. But in the West, the number of women taking computer science degrees has fallen...

Why do we care where we come from?
Most of us feel some need to know a roadmap of our past, our connections with a family tree which took root before we were born. We look for stories t...

Why do people risk death in pursuit of adventure?
What makes some people want to base jump off a building, or climb a cliff with no ropes? A thrill-seeking personality may be necessary, but is it enou...

Why is it so hard to get people to pay tax?
Our attitude to taxation is determined by a wide range of factors: whether we think our neighbours are tax dodgers, how much control we have over how...

Confidence: How it can help us
How confidence can motivate, get us off the couch, make us healthier, enterprising, decisive and help us live up to our potential
We also learn...

Confidence: Why it misleads us
From doctors to politicians to your boss, people often ask us to put our confidence in them. We’re often urged to build more confidence in ourselves....

Why do we find it hard to cut our losses?
At some point in our lives, we’re all likely to make an investment, in time or money or effort, which goes wrong. But, when we know we’re in a hole, w...

Emotional labour
Many jobs require workers to manage their emotional expressions with others. Flight attendants are expected to smile and be friendly even in stressful...

Why is climate change so politicised?
People on the left are more likely to accept climate change than those on the right in the USA, Australia and much of Western Europe. But it’s a quest...

Separating the art from the artist
Why can’t we judge art at face value? How does the identity, behaviour and cultural context of the artist play a part in how we approach their artwork...

Cinderella
Popularly known through the1950 Disney film of the same name, Cinderella has become a childhood classic all over the world. But different versions of...

Why do stories matter?
Telling stories is one of the ways we connect to one and other. Stories teach us empathy and allow us to feel what it’s like to walk in someone else’s...