logo
episode-header-image
Aug 2018
23m 33s

Why Millions Listen to This Girl

Bbc World Service
About this episode

A nine-year-old child announcer has been recruited on the London Underground. The idea is that her voice will surprise passengers, so they listen to her safety message. It’s an example of nudge theory in action, the art of subtly persuading large numbers of people to change their behaviour, by adjusting their environment. People Fixing the World also visits a university campus, which is nudging its students with a subtle price change, encouraging them to use fewer disposable coffee cups.

Presenter: Harriet Noble Reporter: Dougal Shaw

Photo Caption: Nine-year-old announcer Photo Credit: BBC

Up next
Mar 24
The Kindergarten makeover
How mums are helping transform early years education in Ghana.Pre-school, or early years education, is seen by experts as providing an important foundation for children’s schooling and development. Ghana has long been a leader in this field, and has boasted a mandatory pre-school ... Show More
23m 21s
Mar 17
Making cities feel quieter
Cities are getting bigger - and louder. As urban noise increases, we look at how sound itself can be used to make things feel quieter. Myra Anubi visits an audio lab in London to experience immersive soundscapes for herself and then hears how a park in Montreal, Canada uses sound ... Show More
22m 59s
Mar 10
The power of poetry
Can poetry change how we think, feel and act? We’re looking at how poetry is being used in some innovative and unexpected ways. We’ll hear from the Hot Poets - a group who ‘live translate’ at conferences on everything from climate change to coding. They’ve taken part in several U ... Show More
23m 17s
Recommended Episodes
Dec 2022
Look who’s audio describing you
The families of seven teenagers with complex needs have just one week to find a new school after they were asked to leave Purbeck View School in Dorset following an “inadequate” rating by Ofsted.Mum, Sarah London, whose son Harrison, is one of those being forced to leave, shares ... Show More
38m 59s
May 2024
Tuesday, May 7: Tiffany Haddish, Teacher Appreciation Day
In today's Hot Topics, the co-hosts discuss their favorite looks from the Met Gala and the criticism that the event was "tone-deaf," Trump saying he would go to jail over gag order violations, and Whoopi Goldberg announces the release of her new memoir, "Bits and Pieces."Tiffany ... Show More
43m 31s
Sep 2023
Naomi Klein on How To Stay Sane In An Increasingly Warped Online World
tail spinning
1h 3m
Apr 2024
'Rewilding' the smartphone generation: one school's story
<p>With young people in Britain and across the world increasingly reliant on smartphones, and many teens now openly admitting they’re addicted to social media, could an entire generation be suffering serious and irreversible damage, and what should we as a society do to stop it?< ... Show More
32m 16s
Mar 2024
Every scary thing Meta knows about you
<p>Data journalist Matilda Davies opened her first Facebook account when she was 11 years old. Years later, she requested all the information the social media behemoth had been collecting on her. What she uncovered shocked her. So, how exactly does the data gathering work? And wh ... Show More
24m 34s
Jul 2021
Next slide, please: The enigmatic Chris Whitty
<p>As the pandemic was changing all of our lives, the most private of men was forced into the pressure cooker of public life, facing increasing public harassment. Sixteen months on, how well do any of us really know the doctor charged with keeping the country safe?</p><br><p><em> ... Show More
27m 27s
Jul 2021
Anna Meredith on Bumps Per Minute, British Podcast Awards, Generational Differences in Publishing
This summer Somerset House in London will be home to a new work by composer Anna Meredith, Bumps Per Minute, which has a distinctly fairground feel. It uses the random interactions of dodgem cars to create a new piece of music. And members of the public are invited to take part i ... Show More
28m 33s
Sep 2021
'Typical Girls' - a new play by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm, set in a women's prison; Coming out at 44; Student counselling.
As if one new play opening wasn’t enough pressure Olivier award-winning playwright, Morgan Lloyd Malcolm, has two this month. ‘Typical Girls’, set in a women’s prison, opened this week at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, and tomorrow ‘Mum’ begins previewing at the Theatre Royal ... Show More
57m 43s