Doing It Right with Pandora Sykes

We need to talk about postpartum psychosis, with Catherine Cho

So many women experience a postpartum mental disorder after having a baby. For me, it was postnatal depression. For Catherine Cho, it was postpartum psychosis.    You might not have thought about postpartum psychosis before. Certainly, I had no idea …

Decolonising beauty, with Afua Hirsch

I’m really interested in talking about the gnarly parts of the beauty industry - where things like tanning and hair removal actually come from. In the last series, Jessica DeFino debunked many myths about make-up and skincare. This season, I talk to …

The myth of the sociopath, with Patric Gagne

What does the term ‘sociopath’ mean to you? Serial killer? Social outcast? Or wait - is that a psychopath?    Patric first told her story in a column for the cult Modern Love series, titled ‘He Married a Sociopath: Me’. After the piece received an en…

How tech flattened personal taste, with Kyle Chayka

The homogenisation of popular culture is something I’ve been thinking about for a long time. In my 2020 book, How Do We Know We’re Doing It Right? (which spawned this very podcast), I wrote an essay called Get The Look - inspired by a wildly successf…

Why you might be languishing, with Corey Keyes

Feeling demotivated? Aimless? Without meaning, or purpose? According to sociologist and psychologist Corey Keyes, you could be languishing.   In this episode, I talk to the renowned pioneer of mental wellbeing about his theories of languishing and fl…

How to have a more meaningful social life, with Priya Parker

Welcome to the last episode of Series 3! I really hope you have enjoyed the series and it’s given you some pause for thoughts. Don’t forget to rate and review the show on iTunes to help other people find me.   Priya Parker is a conflict resolution st…

The expectation effect, with David Robson

Can the way you think about your body, change the way it works? Can a positive outcome about ageing, actually cause you to live longer?   I’ve been curious about the mind-body axis for a while, and then I read The Expectation Effect by the award-winn…

The myth of the ‘baby brain’ with Chelsea Conaboy

Did you find yourself scrambling for words, losing your keys, forgetting basically everything, when you had a baby? Perhaps you witnessed it in your best friend, your sibling, your partner. The jokes about how women are lobotomised by motherhood are …

What we get wrong about sleep, with Russell Foster

Tired all the time? Worried you’re not getting the fabled ‘8 hours’ ? You’re not alone: we’ve become a nation of orthosomniacs. But panic not, because sleep scientist Russell Foster is here to help.    The University of Oxford neuroscientist and the …

The many myths of fast fashion, with Venetia La Manna

Have you ever wondered what greenwashing is? You know that fast fashion is bad for the planet, but you’re hazy on the details? Like, where do the clothes go the charity shop doesn’t want? If so, this episode is for you.    I’ve been wanting to do an …