Do you really know?

It’s been 23 years since the Good Friday peace agreement put an end to The Troubles, a decades-long period of violence which saw 3,500 people die. Nevertheless, in recent weeks riots broke out in loyalist areas of Northern Ireland’s major cities, including Derry and Belfast. Gangs of youths attacked police, injuring scores of officers in the worst violence the country has seen for years.

What’s caused tensions to rise again in Northern Ireland? How did the Troubles begin? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

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What is Operation London Bridge?
What is a lateral flow test?
What is vegetarianism?

A podcast written and realised by Joseph Chance.

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The recent passing of Prince Philip at the age of 99 has served as a reminder that even Her Majesty the Queen won’t be around forever. Queen Elizabeth II has reigned over the United Kingdom and Commonwealth since February 6th 1952, longer than any other British monarch.

Believe it or not, extensive protocol is already in place for the day when the Queen passes away. Plans known as Operation London Bridge were first made in the 1960s and are updated regularly.

Wow - That’s going to be the end of an era! Who will be the first to hear the news? How quickly will the rest of us find out? What are the practical arrangements for Operation London Bridge? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

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What is a lateral flow test?
What is vegetarianism?
What are LGBT-free zones?

A podcast written and realised by Joseph Chance.

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The number of new Covid-19 cases in the UK continues to drop as its vaccination campaign advances. The economy is beginning to reopen with lockdown measures gradually easing.

But it’s not all roses unfortunately. The South African variant of concern, which may be vaccine-resistant to some extent, has arrived in the country. The government is now expanding its testing programme to provide everyone in England with the opportunity to take two free lateral flow tests per week.

These tests can be carried out under supervision at designated sites, or at home. The aim is to quickly detect people who have Covid-19 without displaying any symptoms. Believe it or not, that occurs around a third of the time when someone is infected with Covid-19.

Despite being cheap and rapid, the system is not without its risks. People are sometimes forced to self-isolate unnecessarily when false positives occur and the accuracy of testing data is still unclear.

If I want to do a lateral flow test, do I just go to the pharmacy and ask for a kit like with a pregnancy test?

You can do that if you wish, and the technology behind lateral flow tests has actually been compared to that used for pregnancy tests!

But there are several other ways of obtaining the tests, and you can do so without even leaving the comfort of your home. You can order them online or by phone, or get tests from your employer, if you’re not working from home.

Lateral flow tests, or LFTs for short, contain antibodies which detect coronavirus proteins by binding to them. If administering the test yourself, you’ll need to take a swab from your throat or nose and mix it with an extraction fluid.

Like a pregnancy test, you drip the solution onto a strip of test paper. Within 30 minutes you should have a result which will be either positive, negative or inconclusive. It’s recommended to take a lateral flow test twice a week and report the results on the same day.

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We’ve probably all eaten a meat-free dish at some point over the last few months, but that on its own doesn’t necessarily make a person veggie. Nevertheless, vegetarianism is becoming more and more popular among young people. It’s often about much more than simply taking meat out of your diet. A lot of vegetarians see it as a form of activism which can help protect the environment and animal welfare.

Are there enough vegetarians out there to really have an impact? Do people mainly go vegetarian for environmental reasons then? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

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What are LGBT-free zones?
What are NFTs?
What is pansexuality?

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Last month, the European Parliament declared the E.U. to be an LGBTIQ Freedom zone. That was in reaction to the increasing number of LGBT-free zones in Poland, which have been making headlines for the last two years. Poland has gained a reputation as the worst EU country for LGBT rights.

If we look back to early 2019, the liberal mayor of Warsaw had announced plans to integrate LGBT issues into the curriculum of the city’s schools. This caused anger among conservative politicians and media. In March 2019, the first “LGBT ideology-free zone” was declared in the rural town of Swidnik. Dozens of regions, towns and villages followed suit in the ensuing months, especially in the strongly Catholic South-East and East of Poland.

Is there even such a thing as an LGBT ideology? What has the reaction been among the LGBT community in Poland? So the rest of Europe was outraged, but what did it actually do? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

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What is pansexuality?
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It’s one of the latest crazes in the world of blockchain. Non-fungible tokens are digital certificates of ownership, which state who owns a piece of virtual crypto-art. That’s right, you can now buy collectible digital art, like memes, GIFs, videos and even tweets, all thanks to NFTs.

NFTs emerged in 2017, as part of the Ethereum cryptocurrency blockchain. You’ve most likely heard of bitcoin and blockchain before. Well, NFTs are based on the same technology.

So are NFTs cryptocurrency then? What are the advantages of using the blockchain? Why would anyone spend millions on something that can be copied endlessly and can’t even be hung up on their wall? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

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What is pansexuality?
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What is Covax?

A podcast written and realised by Joseph Chance.

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More and more celebrities are talking about their sexuality. Just two weeks ago, Demi Lovato talked about being pansexual during an interview with Joe Rogan. According to Kim Rice, who wrote the Encyclopedia of Human Sexuality in 2015, pansexuality can be defined as sexual, emotional, romantic or spiritual attraction for other people, regardless of their biological sex, gender identity or sexual orientation.

This sexual orientation is still pretty unknown, but Demi Lovato is far from being the only public figure to have claimed it. Others include Cara Delevingne and Miley Cyrus.

Isn’t that the same thing as being bisexual? Is the term pansexual a little more inclusive? But why do some people feel this need to identify as something and find a name for it? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

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What is Covax?
What is the Suez Canal?
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There was a time where the only way to impose power was through violence and war. But for a few decades now, the power of a country or group is also affected by its soft power. By that we mean its ability to influence other parts of the world by spreading its cultural model.

Soft power can be held by states, but also by international institutions, NGOs, businesses or citizen movements. It’s actually nothing new. Looking back in history, you can find examples of soft power in the times of ancient Greece or the British Empire. But only in 1990 was the theory of soft power developed by international relations professor Joseph Nye.

Nye argued that the rise of globalisation meant using military force, or hard power, alone was no longer an option. His country, the United States, had grasped that and was using a new and highly effective form of power, which depended on its ability to attract and persuade others, thus shaping their preferences.

What does soft power look like? Are the Americans the kings of soft power in that case? What countries are on the first place of soft power? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

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What is Covax?
What is the Suez Canal?
What is a ghost kitchen?

A podcast written and realised by Joseph Chance.

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Described as the “biggest worldwide rollout of vaccines in the history of humanity”. the Covax scheme is part of the international battle against Covid-19, with the aim of ensuring people all around the world have access to vaccines, especially in poorer countries. This global initiative is led by the World Health Organisation, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness, with the support of Unicef and other international NGOs.

190 countries are participating, divided between 98 higher-income and 92 low- and middle-income economies. In the long term, Covax should help vaccinate 20% of the population in countries belonging to the latter group.

Which countries are due to benefit from Covax then? So is it mainly African countries who are set to benefit then? Who is donating all the Covax vaccine doses? What challenges does the Covax initiative face? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

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What is a ghost kitchen?
What is the precautionary principle?
What is poverty porn?

A podcast written and realised by Joseph Chance.

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On March 23rd, the Ever Given container ship ran aground in the Suez Canal, blocking traffic in both directions. Such a blockage had never occurred before and it took six days for salvage crews to free the 220,000-ton cargo ship.

Over 400 ships were forced to queue, waiting for Ever Given to be moved. Shipping data suggested the obstruction was holding up $9.6M worth of goods each day. Insurer Allianz estimated that each additional day contributed to a further $6bn - $10bn loss for world trade.

Wow, that sure is one important waterway! When was the Suez Canal built? Who does the canal actually belong to? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

To listen to the last episodes, you can click here:
What is a ghost kitchen?
What is the precautionary principle?
What is poverty porn?

A podcast written and realised by Joseph Chance.

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For many of us, it’s been a long time since we last set foot in a pub or restaurant. We’ve become more accustomed than ever before to navigating our favourite food delivery apps until we find something that catches our fancy. But do we actually know how and where our meals are prepared?

Ghost kitchens, or dark kitchens as they are also known, have really taken off in the last two years. Their success has come hand-in-hand with that of online delivery platforms, and the Covid-19 pandemic has only served to speed up the process. The idea is simple: a kind of virtual restaurant with no seating, no diners and no waiters. That’s right, ghost kitchens operate only to serve online customers.

Uber Eats claims to now have 10,000 such providers on its US platform, compared to just 3,000 in 2019.

Don’t they need a restaurant in order to prepare delivery food? So are ghost kitchens going to kill off traditional restaurants? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

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What is poverty porn?
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Who is Ousmane Sonko?

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While over 50% of people in the UK have received at least one coronavirus vaccine dose, the EU is lagging far behind at 16%. Just two days ago, the World Health Organisation described the rollout in Europe as being “unacceptably slow”. The delays are down to several factors, one of which is the precautionary principle.

In mid-March, 18 countries suspended use of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine, including some of the EU’s biggest member states like Spain, Germany and France. They cited the precautionary principle as justification. This followed reports of blood clots in some patients who had received a dose of the vaccine.

What’s the link between the vaccine and the precautionary principle then? Couldn’t you argue the EU leaders were right to exercise caution? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

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What is poverty porn?
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Who is Ousmane Sonko?

A podcast written and realised by Joseph Chance.

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Poverty porn is a provocative term of criticism which looks at how poor people and their living situations are portrayed in films, on television or on social media.

The term became more widespread after the release of Slumdog Millionaire in the late 2000s. The Oscar-winning film tells the story of a young boy who grew up in the slums of Mumbai and is close to winning ₹20 million on a TV quiz show.

Despite the film’s massive success, there were debates about whether it was poverty porn. Some suggested director Danny Boyle created it for a white audience looking for images of deprivation in a faraway setting.

What’s the link with porn then? But is it really such a bad thing? Can you have poverty porn in Western countries too? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

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Who is Ousmane Sonko?
What is Generation Covid?
What are HFCs?

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On March 16th, a series of shootings in Atlanta caused eight deaths. The murders took place at three different spas, and six of the deceased victims were Asian women.

The 21-year-old perpetrator claims to have been motivated by shame at his own sexual addiction, rather than specifically targeting the Asian community. But some believe the killings should be classed as hate crimes. The Stop Asian Hate hashtag has been trending on social media ever since.

On the day of the shootings, social media analytics platform Visitbrain recorded 4 million tweets using the hashtag. It was notably shared by the Black Lives Matter movement, who released an anti-white supremacy statement.

Is Stop Asian Hate a recent development? Do we have any statistics on the crimes being carried out? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

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Who is Ousmane Sonko?
What is Generation Covid?
What are HFCs?

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Since early March, Senegal has seen a series of violent protests, a rare event in a country known for its political stability. Behind it all is the arrest of one man - Ousmane Sonko. The 46 year old MP is the main opponent of President Macky Sall and came third in 2019’s presidential election.

Sonko is the leader of the PASTEF political party, and identifies as an anti-establishment candidate. He’s particularly popular among Senegal’s youth, and it’s worth noting half the country’s population is under the age of 20.

Why was Sonko arrested? What are the Senegalese youth demanding? What’s happened to Ousmane Sonko in the meantime? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

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In social sciences, a generation refers to a group of the population whose members are around the same age and have hence lived through the same era. Think the baby boomers, Generation X, Millennials… and now Generation Covid!

While they may be significantly less at risk of serious illness from Covid-19, young people are bearing the brunt of the pandemic’s economic consequences. Their development into adulthood is increasingly being affected, and it’s taking a mental toll.

So who exactly do we count as part of Generation Covid? What about students and young adults? How have they been affected? Is there any cause for optimism? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

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Fridges, freezers and air conditioning. In cooling our individual homes, humans are heating up our collective home - planet earth. That’s partly down to hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs for short. These industrial chemicals are mainly used for cooling and refrigeration, but they generate a huge amount of pollution.

The adoption of HFCs is relatively recent as until the 1980s we used chlorofluorocarbons as refrigerants. Scientists then realised these greenhouse gases were contributing to ozone layer depletion, with a global warming potential of around 10,000. That’s a multiple of the heat that would be absorbed by the same mass of carbon dioxide. So in 1987, states signed the Montreal Protocol, which would see the production of CFCs drastically reduced. To be replaced by....

HFCs? What is that? Is it good for the environment? How are we going to produce refrigerants without CFCs or HFCs? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

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In the last 12 months, we’ve all spent more time at home than we expected. As a result, our use of computers or smartphones has increased to the point where many of us spend almost all day gazing into a screen.

This can lead to eye strain and dry eyes, as well as other disorders or diseases. OK, so in this day and age it’s difficult to totally go without all these digital tools which are part of our daily lives. But there are some tips to prevent or slow vision loss.

Eye yoga allows us to train our eye muscles. It’s a natural method which comes from Indian medicine. We often forget to exercise our eyes, which function thanks to muscles. And muscles need to be trained!

This sounds like it must be the latest fad! Is it actually effective? What are the exercises to stimulate eyes? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

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Living through a pandemic has seen many of our favourite pastimes turn from harmless fun to high-risk activity! Think of going for a beer with your colleagues after work, taking your grandma to the cinema or dancing the night away in a club for example.

The whole culture sector has suffered and the music business is among the industries which have been affected the most. Concerts have been at a halt for some time now but we can finally see light at the end of the tunnel. With vaccination campaigns now underway in many countries, there’s hope performing arts will return in the coming months. Test concerts are being arranged in some places to see the impact of allowing limited crowds to gather.

That sounds exciting, but still risky! How do we know these test concerts won’t turn into super-spreader events? having avoided COVID for this long, is it really worth the risk? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

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What is the baby bust?
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What is newspeak?

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Euthanasia is the act of intentionally ending a person’s life in order to relieve their suffering. The practice is often confused with assisted suicide but there is a key difference. When it comes to euthanasia, medical practictioners carry out the final deed, whereas with assisted suicide it’s the patient who commits the act.

Laws on euthanasia and assisted suicide vary across the world, and it’s a complex ethical subject. The general trend in the Western world is that people are becoming more open to the idea of legal euthanasia. It’s being debated in a number of places.

In the countries where euthanasia is legal, how is it carried out? So where is euthanasia actually allowed then? What are some of the main arguments for and against euthanasia? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

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What is the baby bust?
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You’ve almost certainly heard of the baby boom, which saw birth rates soar in many countries following the end of the Second World War. Well, we’re currently experiencing the opposite of that thanks in part to the Covid-19 pandemic. Many observers have labelled this a baby bust.

Are you saying there’s been a significant drop in the number of births? What are the likely consequences of this baby bust? Are governments taking action to stop this trend? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

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What is newspeak?
What is the three-finger salute?
What is class-passing?

A podcast written and realised by Joseph Chance.

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Menstrual hygiene products are an essential expense, but many women on low incomes find that the cost is out of their reach. This is known as period poverty and it affects more people than you might think, even in developed countries. A survey in the UK found that over 40% of 14-21 year olds had used items like socks, tissues or paper as a makeshift replacement for sanitary products.

Activists have been campaigning for a number of years now to bring about change. They see period poverty as a form of injustice and want to put an end to it once and for all.

Surely tampons and sanitary pads don’t cost that much, do they? Why are periods such a taboo subject? Have these campaigns led to any concrete change so far? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

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What is newspeak?
What is the three-finger salute?
What is class-passing?

A podcast written and realised by Joseph Chance.

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Lockdown, patient zero, social distancing and PCR tests - the last year has seen the emergence of many new terms due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Some have labelled this vocabulary Coronaspeak. At Do You Really Know, we’ve covered several such topics to decipher their meaning. But today we will be discussing a different type of newspeak. The idea of newspeak didn’t emerge at the time of the Covid-19 pandemic; rather it was invented by George Orwell in his dystopian novel 1984. The book sheds light on the mechanisms behind modern-day thought control.

So what is newspeak like as a language? Can it be learned? How is newspeak relevant in the 21st century? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

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What is class-passing?
What is the Matilda Effect?
What is cyclothymia?

A podcast written and realised by Joseph Chance.

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Since the start of February, protesters in Myanmar have been pictured making a three-finger gesture as a symbol of opposition to the country’s recent coup d’état. They’ve taken to the streets to protest against what they see as an attack on democracy.

So why are the protesters using the three-finger salute?

Well it might look like a scout salute but it actually comes from the Hunger Games series of books and films. The story sees heroine Katniss Everdeen lead a revolt against the rich, sadistic elite in the nation of Panem. District 12 villagers use the three-finger salute as a symbol of unity. The franchise met huge success in Asia upon the release of the first film in 2012. And the three-finger salute was actually used in Thailand in the aftermath of a coup d’état in 2014. It even ended up being made illegal. It reappeared at Hong Kong protests in 2019 and 2020, as a symbol of resistance against the Chinese government. Some activists have suggested the three raised fingers represent the French Revolution ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity.

Are you saying we can compare what’s going on in Myanmar to Hunger Games? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

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What is class-passing?
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A podcast written and realised by Joseph Chance.

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Everybody loves a rags-to-riches story, but the reality is social mobility is far from easy. Class-passers are those who manage to successfully improve their status and navigate their new life as part of a higher socioeconomic group.

To understand class-passing, let’s first discuss the idea of social classes. Within our societies, people are divided according to factors like their family background, education, wealth, occupation and income. Most commonly these categories are described as the lower, middle and upper classes. A person’s life path and opportunities are often defined by their social background. For example, just 26% of poorer school pupils in the UK went on to higher education in 2017, compared to 44% among their better-off peers.

Is there a surefire way to climb the social ladder? Or do I just need to hope for a lucky break? Shouldn’t class-passers be proud to have made it? In under 3 minutes, we answer your questions!

To listen to the last episodes, you can click here:
What is class-passing?
What is the Matilda Effect?
What is cyclothymia?

A podcast written and realised by Joseph Chance.

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