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PODCAST

Sideways

Best-selling author Matthew Syed explores the ideas that shape our lives with stories of seeing the world differently.

society & culture

All Episodes

29:18

42. The Big Reward

Sideways ·

2023/03/08

When Kevin Burkart dove into a murky lake to find a lost wedding ring, he did it for nothing. But did he really gain something much more? In this episode of Sideways, Matthew Syed explores our preoccupation with rewards and their impacts. With author and lecturer Alfie Kohn, Headteacher of Barrowford Primary Rachel Tomlinson, Felicia Schaefer and Kevin Burkart.Presenter: Matthew SyedProducer: Leigh Meyer Series Editor: Katherine Godfrey Sound Design and Mix by Naomi Clarke A Novel production for

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29:15

41. A Small Bowl of Rocket

Sideways ·

2023/03/01

Lydia Harris has always struggled with food. For as long as she can remember, she has avoided fruit and vegetables - their texture simply disgusts her. But one day, that began to change, with a small bowl of rocket leaves. Eating is one of the greatest pleasures in life for many of us - but, at the same time, it's an arena fraught with choice and decision. No wonder that, as creatures of habit, many of us settle staunchly upon a shopping list of likes, and a mental bank of dislikes. But in this

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29:06

40. The Embodiment of Music

Sideways ·

2023/02/22

A musician is halfway through a public performance when they realise they might not make it to the end. Their body is fighting them, they’re in extreme pain. But stopping is not an option so they push on. No one would know. But boy does the musician know it. When they come off stage, they are in agony. It feels like their career is at an end.In this episode of Sideways, Matthew Syed explores the connection between the musician and their instrument and what happens when that precious relationship is

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29:13

39. Please, I beg you.

Sideways ·

2023/02/15

When Ben Taylor receives a Facebook message from a stranger in Liberia, asking in badly spelled English for financial or business assistance, he quickly assumes it’s a scam. But instead of just ignoring the message, he decides to find out about the person behind it. In this episode, Matthew Syed explores what happens when you let your guard down and make a leap of trust. With author and Oxford University trust fellow Rachel Botsman, philosopher Julian Baggini, Ben Taylor and Joel Mentee-Willie

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28:43

38. Past Your Peak

Sideways ·

2023/02/08

John Nunn learnt to play chess aged four. Since before he can remember, he’s had an exceptional talent for maths. In 1970, aged just 15, he started a degree in mathematics at the University of Oxford.In this episode of Sideways, Matthew Syed ventures into the world of child prodigies. Often depicted as freakish talents with pushy parents, Matthew uncovers the falsehoods and fascinations associated with young brilliant minds. Charting John Nunn’s career, from maths lecturer to chess grandmaster,

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3:12

Season Six – Coming soon…

Sideways ·

2023/02/01

Matthew Syed introduces season six, which explores stories about letting your guard down and making a leap of trust, reaching the peaks of our powers, and finding what truly motivates us to do good things.

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29:49

37. My Last 5p

Sideways ·

2022/12/07

It’s December 2013 and Toni Osborne is struggling, emotionally and financially. She’s five pence short of keeping her electricity on over Christmas. As she heads out into the night to ask her local shopkeeper for help, a homeless man appears and asks for some change. This is Jack Richardson, and when she bursts into tears, it prompts him to give Toni his last five pence. This simple act of giving would alter both their lives in profound ways. In this episode, Matthew Syed explores how the effects of

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29:55

36. All in a Name

Sideways ·

2022/11/30

In the 1970s, Sandra Bundy was working hard at her job at the Department of Corrections in Washington DC. She loved her job, but just turning up to work was becoming unbearable.Sandra’s male supervisors kept propositioning her for sex, asking her out on dates and making inappropriate comments. When she reported the problem to her boss’s boss, he tried to proposition her too. As the situation escalated, the language of sexual violence was used.Sandra knew what she was experiencing was wrong, but she

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29:23

35. The Riddle

Sideways ·

2022/11/23

In 2113, a riddle will be solved under the Eiffel Tower. Matthew Syed tells the story of a riddle hidden in the video game Trials Evolution (Ubisoft Redlynx) that became a worldwide treasure hunt that’s yet to be solved, as he considers the role of legacy. Matthew asks how thinking beyond our lifetimes could make life in the present more impactful and might also challenge us to consider how we meet the problems of the future.With Antti Ilvessuo, creator of the riddle, co-Founder and ex-creative

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28:52

34. It Takes a Village

Sideways ·

2022/11/16

In the early 1970s, Al Garthwaite and some friends move in together in Leeds. They’re about to embark on a big experiment. They’re living communally, sharing clothes, cooking, and housework. But that’s not all. Inspired by that oft repeated phrase, “it takes a village to raise a child”, they’ve decided to share parenting, helping to raise each other's offspring. What follows is an unconventional family but one full of love and care nonetheless. In this episode of Sideways, Matthew Syed explores

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29:05

33. Doc and Jim: A Beautiful Partnership

Sideways ·

2022/11/09

The story of how Dr William Key and his super smart horse “Beautiful” Jim Key became one of the biggest acts in America, only to disappear into historical obscurity. But not before they made a profound impact on millions of American children, who pledged to always be kind to animals, as a result of witnessing their extraordinary partnership.Dr William Key was a former enslaved man who became a wealthy entrepreneur before turning his hand to patiently training a sickly foal to do maths and spell

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28:43

32. The Social Contagion

Sideways ·

2022/11/02

On Armistice Day 2015, Mel gets a phone call from her son’s school, asking her to come in. When she arrives, she finds the car park filled with ambulances and police cars, emergency services buzzing around. It began with someone fainting in assembly and then, like dominoes, more teenagers began to collapse. Students were sent back to their classrooms, but the outbreak spread, with more and more people feeling dizzy and sick.In this episode of Sideways, Matthew Syed tells the story of a strange

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3:23

Sideways Season Five – Coming soon…

Sideways ·

2022/10/26

Matthew Syed introduces season five, which looks at being less cynical, family and legacy.

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28:31

31. To Absent Friends

Sideways ·

2022/08/24

Nicosia, Cyprus, 2018. Kiri Sofocleous sits down to write a Facebook message to a man she has never met. It has been 40 years since Kiri saw her childhood best friend but she has never forgotten her. Could this be the key to reuniting? Matthew Syed tells the story of one woman’s determination to find a beloved friend, lost for four decades due to a move abroad, a political divide and a mislaid address.It prompts him to explore why we make friends and how they influence the rest of our lives, even

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28:36

30. The Woman in the Portrait

Sideways ·

2022/08/17

Matthew Syed follows the story of Bernice Bennett, a woman driven to uncover the truth behind a treasured family portrait. When Bernice was growing up, she was always told how much she looked like her grandmother, Mattie Kemp Alexander. Looking at her grandmother’s portrait, she saw her own eyes looking back. This woman’s face was familiar, and yet Bernice knew so little about her. Feeling the call to know more, Bernice set out on a journey to uncover the stories of her family tree.Through the

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28:27

29. Fooling the Opposition

Sideways ·

2022/08/10

In 1980, underdog English table tennis player John Hilton stunned audiences with his style of play, effortlessly confounding talented European opponents.In this episode of Sideways, Matthew puts his tactics under the microscope to discover how Hilton used deception to fool his opponents, and use their strengths against them. Deception in sport, Matthew argues, is not underhand, so long as it’s within the rules - and it’s everywhere. With the help of sports psychologist Dr Robin Jackson and

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28:44

28. Exiting the Bunker

Sideways ·

2022/08/03

A pigeon sparks a spy hunt. The clock is ticking and the bunker is calling.In this final episode of our four part nuclear series, Matthew Syed examines the current nuclear landscape. In this complex, multiplayer context how do we create a safer world?We begin in Kashmir, the disputed territory between India and Pakistan, where mutual suspicion has led to nuclear expansion and a delicate balance of power. With our sights understandably on the Ukraine crisis, Matthew argues that while our current

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29:55

27. A Blip on the Radar

Sideways ·

2022/07/27

Angie Zelter is on her way to Loch Goil in Scotland. It’s a beautiful summer’s day, and her friends have packed a picnic. But that’s not the real reason they’re there. Angie has an urgent message to deliver to the world about nuclear weapons. And she’s going to deliver it through an act of destruction. In this episode, Matthew Syed looks at the danger that nuclear weapons pose, even if nations never use them in a deliberate act of war. He hears about the moments we came within a hair’s breadth of

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29:15

26. War Games in the Pink Tower

Sideways ·

2022/07/20

In 1961, a group of American officials decided to play a game of war. Sitting around a table, they tried imagining a nuclear crisis - and how it could be resolved. The outcome of their thought experiment surprised them all, raising far reaching questions about the strength of America’s nuclear strategy.Once nuclear weapons were unleashed into our world in the 1940s, it was obvious that a completely new set of rules of war had to be designed to prevent nuclear annihilation. In this episode, Matthew

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28:28

25. A Nuclear Awakening

Sideways ·

2022/07/13

It’s a little girl’s eighth birthday. She wakes to a sight that looks like the end of the world. A radioactive mushroom cloud rises 130,000 feet in the air. And the world wakes up to the devastating fallout of nuclear weapons.In this new mini series from Sideways, writer and Times columnist Matthew Syed is calling for a nuclear awakening. Since the end of the Cold War, when relations between two of the world’s nuclear superpowers - the former USSR and the USA - seemed more rosy, Matthew argues that

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