About this episode
Oct 23
Five ways El Niño is affecting weather around the world
10m 39s
Oct 22
Hangxiety: Why some people experience anxiety after drinking alcohol
8m 58s
Oct 21
How have the protests in France changed?
9m 10s
Aug 2025
Why Big Tobacco is buzzing over nicotine pouches
20m 58s
Jul 2024
Nicotine Pouch Use in the US
10m 36s
Jan 2025
Influencers Fueled Zyn’s Rise. Could the Attention Backfire?
16m 54s
Aug 2025
326. The psychology of nicotine
46m 9s
Jun 2024
Smoking is Cool. Now, So is Quitting.
15m 45s
Oct 2025
Why Teens Just Can't Quit Nicotine
25m 4s
More and more people are using snus. Maybe you’ve noticed this where you live: people walking around with circular plastic tubs in their pockets and slipping small white parcels into their gums? There are two types: brown snus and white snus. Brown snus has been around for a while, and contains tobacco, whereas white snus is newer and tobacco-free; it’s a nicotine pouch. Some of the biggest brands are Zyn, Velo and On! and they’re made by the big tobacco companies.
White snus is a booming market with “Zynfluencers” promoting it on social media. But it’s not only young people who are into it. According to one study in England, almost one in five professional male football players are using snus too.
BBC Health reporter Elena Bailey talks us through snus’s health impacts. Sweden has particularly high snus use among teenagers. According to Swedish government data, 27% of 15-year-old girls and 31% of 15-year-old boys have used it. Swedish radio journalist Matilda Skarehag explains why it’s so popular there. We also hear from Fanna Ndow Norrby who got addicted to snus.
Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld
Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk
WhatsApp: +44 330 12 33 22 6
Presenter: Hannah Gelbart
Producers: Julia Ross-Roy and Mora Morrison
Video Journalist: Baldeep Chahal
Editor: Verity Wilde
El Niño has been strengthening for several months now and is already having a significant impact on global weather patterns.Countries including Indonesia, India and the United States have been experiencing droughts, floods and heatwaves in line with projections about how extreme ... Show More
After drinking alcohol, some people don’t just have a headache - they feel guilt, dread, low mood and a deep sense of embarrassment. It’s known as ‘hang-xiety’ or hangover anxiety, and science backs up that it’s a real phenomenon. Alcohol affects all systems in the body, includin ... Show More
Protests are still ongoing across France, but now it’s no longer just about schools. People of all ages are protesting over a high cost of living. But there was violence and riots over the weekend, with thousands of arrests.Dramatic pictures of wreckage, fires and police clampdow ... Show More
This is a revised version of an earlier episode and clarifies the position of Zyn in the US market.As the popularity of cigarettes has slid in the past couple decades, Big Tobacco has been searching for a new hit product. Now, they think they’ve found it: nicotine pouches. FT rep ... Show More
<p>Oral nicotine pouches are becoming more popular in the US, based on a survey performed in 2022. Hongying Daisy Dai, PhD, from Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, discusses nicotine pouches and more with JAMA Deputy Editor Kristin L. Walter, MD, MS.<br /> <br /> <strong>Related Con ... Show More
Zyn nicotine pouches hit the market as a run-of-the-mill tobacco-replacement product, but over the past few years, they’ve gone viral thanks to so-called “Zynfluencers”: content creators who post about Zyn. They’re not paid by Zyn’s parent company Philip Morris, and while the onl ... Show More
Nicotine is everywhere - but not in the way we once knew it. It’s not just in cigarettes anymore. It’s in sleek vapes, tiny pouches, lozenges, gum, even diffusers marketed as 'wellness'. And somewhere along the way, it stopped feeling like a vice and started looking... aesthetic. ... Show More
Well, smoking is cool again. Run go watch any of the biggest films and tv from the past year. What do you notice? They all feature cigarettes and vapes. And today, many Gen Z who try e-cigarettes remain e-cigarette users (CDC).
So we talk with a new company called Blip about how ... Show More
A few years ago, vaping was at the top of every parent’s list of worries — including Sanjay’s. But in just a few short years, the landscape has shifted again. Teen vaping rates have dropped, but new nicotine products have quickly taken their place. Dr. Pamela Ling, a professor at ... Show More