logo
episode-header-image
Oct 2023
50m 16s

Fashion to dye for

Bbc World Service
About this episode

Lagos Fashion Week makes some unexpected connections to vegan wool, 1920s car marketing, and Right to Repair legislation. If we consider our obsession with the clothes we wear to be some result of sexual selection, do any other animals evolve their self-expression with such frequency?

Dr Ellen Garland of St Andrew’s University tells how male humpback whales change their song with surprisingly infectious rapidity, and talks us through some recent hits. Also, some catalytic promise for wastewater management, and how choosing a language in which to think changes your decision making.

Plus, this week’s messages from you, and can poetry help science?

Presenter: Caroline Steel, with Chhavi Sachdev and Godfred Boafo Producer: Alex Mansfield, with Tom Bonnet and Margaret Sessa-Hawkins

Up next
Aug 22
Mountains of overtourism
As Nepal makes 97 peaks free to climb, we look at the science of overtourism – especially on mountains. How do so many visitors affect these environments, and what can be done? Plus, are mountains carbon sources, or carbon sinks? And why do we feel the drive to summit these peaks ... Show More
49m 29s
Aug 18
Why do we follow trends?
What's got rabbit-like ears, huge eyes, nine teeth and a demonic grin? It’s Labubu! These ugly-cute toys have gone viral online, largely thanks to social media’s trending machine. Their fame was previously limited to China and parts of Asia, but since 2024 their popularity has gr ... Show More
49m 29s
Aug 8
Floods, mangroves and rampaging tractors
This week, floods have hit the global headlines. First up, we delve into the various reasons why floods form. After learning about the causes of floods, we discover a nature-based solution in the form of mangrove forests. Laura Michie from the Mangrove Action Project tells us why ... Show More
49m 30s
Recommended Episodes
Jul 2023
Tom Mustill, "How to Speak Whale: A Voyage into the Future of Animal Communication" (Grand Central Publishing, 2022)
What if animals and humans could speak to one another? Tom Mustill—the nature documentarian who went viral when a thirty‑ton humpback whale breached onto his kayak—asks this question in his thrilling investigation into whale science and animal communication.“When a whale is in th ... Show More
53m 45s
Jul 2023
The science of sound
Scientists, conservationists and other researchers are using audio soundscapes in innovative ways to record the natural world in rich detail and help develop strategies to preserve it. Gaia Vince visits the Dear Earth exhibition at London’s Southbank Centre where she interacts wi ... Show More
35m 39s
Nov 2023
The Devil wears fast fashion
Most of us love a bargain, but when it comes to our wardrobe, there’s a high cost for those cheap clothes. Fast fashion has taken the world by storm, with brands having tens of thousands — if not over a million — designs available at any moment. The consumption comes at a cost: t ... Show More
41m 10s
Jul 2023
Fashion
Tweed suits, penny loafers: who said philosophers were out of touch? In episode 81 of Overthink, Ellie and David talk everything from Shein to Ferragamo, from high school lunchbox trends to Machiavelli’s nightgowns. As they chart the history of clothing, and the shift from functi ... Show More
53m 23s
Jun 2024
Is treated sewage worse for the environment than raw?
There has been increasing public outrage at raw sewage discharges into our rivers and seas, but new research at Lake Windermere suggests that treated sewage is as much to blame. Wastewater experts Simon Evans and Ali Morse get into the nitty gritty of sewage treatment and why it ... Show More
27m 31s
Sep 2022
58) The History of Fast Fashion | with Sara Idacavage
Fashion historian and educator Sara Idacavage is exploring the origins of mass-produced clothing and the forces that gave way to the fast fashion industry as it stands today.Hit play and join us in this important conversation as we explore how history influenced the present-day f ... Show More
1h 3m
Oct 2020
I. Newkirk and G. Stone, "Animalkind: Remarkable Discoveries about Animals and Revolutionary New Ways to Show Them Compassion" (Simon and Schuster, 2020)
The founder and president of PETA, Ingrid Newkirk, and bestselling author Gene Stone explore the wonders of animal life and offer tools for living more kindly toward them. In the last few decades, a wealth of new information has emerged about who animals are—intelligent, aware, a ... Show More
49m 23s
Jan 2021
Vaccine Hesitancy and Ethnicity; The Joy of catnip; Lake Heatwaves
Reports this week talk of some BAME ethnic minorities being significantly less likely to take a covid vaccine if offered. Vittal Katikireddi and Tolullah Oni both sit on the SAGE ethnicity subgroup, and they discuss with Alex Lathbridge where the figures come from and quite what ... Show More
30m 54s
Aug 2023
The Evolution of Acceptable
Why do we struggle to change when our world changes around us? Philadelphia’s Mütter Museum is beloved by its visitors. Styled as an homage to Victorian displays of medical and biological curiosities, its exhibits include human remains with extreme pathologies…and sometimes dubio ... Show More
55m 14s
Apr 2023
Delphinology Part 1 (DOLPHINS) with Justin Gregg
Giant brains! Communication mysteries! Infamous sensuality! Dolphins are here to blow your relatively tiny mind with their squeaks, clicks, cliques, history, lore, zany evolutionary path, psychedelic experiences, and so much more. Learn why some dolphins are pink, why NASA poured ... Show More
1h 3m