“Screen Time” Must Die!
Depression. Anxiety. Sleep deprivation. Addiction. The headlines about "screen time" and today’s kids sound like the end of the world. But in the Season 2 opener of ILL EFFECTS, Rich walks Ben through...
17 Apr 20251h 30min
Can the media sway an election?
In this bumper Very Special Episode ahead of this week’s UK General Election, we take it in turns to examine whether “the media” can “sway” election results. First, Ben examines the always-silly and s...
2 Juli 20241min
Did The Beatles make fans hysterical?
In the 1960s, parents, the press, psychologists, and many others were confronted with a large, terrifying, global problem: Beatlemania. In this episode, Ben talks Rich through how the world tried to m...
20 Juni 20241min
Did 13 Reasons Why increase teen suicides?
Can media representations of suicide really be “contagious”, driving vulnerable audiences to end their own lives? Rich introduces Ben to a frustratingly large field of psychologists, counsellors and y...
6 Juni 20241min
Did pro wrestling make kids try this at home?
After a defence lawyer blamed the killing of a six-year-old on pro wrestling, the Parents Television Council went to war with the World Wrestling Federation. Lifelong pro wrestling fan, Ben, talks Ri...
23 Maj 20241min
Does Cuties sexualise young girls?
In 2020, a French indie movie called Cuties somehow found itself at the epicentre of the US culture wars. Outraged conservatives accused the filmmakers and Netflix of encouraging paedophilia and stoki...
9 Maj 20241min
Do racing games cause reckless driving?
From Death Race to Grand Theft Auto, driving games have long fuelled claims that players might be inspired to start mowing down pedestrians outside of the game. Starting with a story about a Toronto p...
25 Apr 20241min
Does background music make you more focused?
Before “deep focus” and “study beats” playlists came muzak—one of the most widespread (and widely hated) forms of music of the 20th Century. But does background music really have the power to improve ...
11 Apr 20241min
