The Hear It Podcast

Dr Thomas Curran from the London School of Economics on Perfectionism and Mental Health

This week we speak with Dr Thomas Curran, Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science at the London School of Economics. His research into the personality characteristics of perfectionism and cultural influences upon it have highlighted the growing impact of perfectionism on young people’s mental health, as well as what society needs to do to address it. 
 
Dr Curran’s research and articles https://www.lse.ac.uk/PBS/People/Dr-Tom-Curran
TED Talk on our obsession with Perfectionism https://www.ted.com/talks/thomas_curran_our_dangerous_obsession_with_perfectionism_is_getting_worse?language=en 
 
Book recommendations 
Brené Brown, The Gifts of Imperfection 
TED talk on the Power of Vulnerability by Brené Brown https://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_the_power_of_vulnerability?language=en 
Karen Horney, Neurosis and Human Growth
More about Karen Horney and her work https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Horney 
Susan Cain, Quiet
TED talk, the Power of Introverts, Susan Cain https://www.ted.com/talks/susan_cain_the_power_of_introverts?language=en
Contact us @hearitpodcast or info@threadandfable.com 

Sue Jones from Ditch the Label on Online Life and Bullying

We explore online life, pressure and perfectionism and its impact on bullying and mental health. Speaking to Sue Jones, Deputy CEO of global youth charity Ditch the Label. Its annual bullying report highlighted the 25% rise in bullying, attributing social media as a major cause, with 47% of young people saying they believe they were bullied based on their appearance. We explore what impact the pandemic has had on this and what we should consider as we build campaigns and initiatives engaging young people moving forward. 
 
Sue Jones @DtLSue 
Ditch the Label https://www.ditchthelabel.org @DitchtheLabel 
Annual Bullying Survey 2020: https://www.ditchthelabel.org/research-papers/the-annual-bullying-survey-2020/ 
Ditch the Label on Twitter https://twitter.com/DitchtheLabel 
Section 28: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_28 
Boo Hoo Ditch the Label Video Insta Life vs Reality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EFHbruKEmw 
United Nations - Digital Rights https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/03/1088182 
Online Harms White Paper: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/online-harms-white-paper/online-harms-white-paper 
Sue's Recommendations
The Washington Post on Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@washingtonpost?lang=en 
Fearless, by Ditch the Label CEO Liam Hackett https://www.ditchthelabel.org/how-to-be-fearless-an-interview-with-ditch-the-label-ceo-liam-hackett/
 
Contact us @hearitpodcast or info@threadandfable.com 

How to reflect youth voice with Dave Musson

Dave Musson from The Access Platform shares his view on why peer to peer student content is the best way to reflect youth voice. 
Hear about how his career has brought him to TAP, what makes for the best youth content and how to manage it without being overly prescriptive. 
An experienced podcaster himself, on everything from Slipknot to his beloved Coventry Bears team, he also shares what he listens to for inspiration.
We mention: Nike, Inspiration on TAP  , Reply All, Heavyweight, 
Follow Dave on Twitter https://twitter.com/davemusson 

Behaviour change and health messages with Dr. Emma Ross

We speak with Dr Emma Ross, co-founder of the Well HQ and former Head of Physiology at the English Institute of Sport.
Emma has not only led research into the data gap that exists within high performance sport to better inform practice and performance of some of Britain’s leading female athletes, she has authored Train Like a Woman (Out March 2021) and launched the Well HQ to break down the barriers for women and girls when it comes to understanding women’s bodies and what this means for physical fitness and overall wellbeing.
We talk about why the gap exists, the impact it has on girls dropping out of sport and the importance of shifting the messaging not just to girls themselves but to the teachers, sports coaches and of course parents around them.
You can follow Emma here https://twitter.com/ezross?s=20  
You can find out more about the Well HQ here https://www.thewell-hq.com/
Train Like a Woman is Emma’s new book and is out soon! https://www.thewell-hq.com/work-with-us/books/
Hear Emma Ross talk with Maisie Hill about the power of periods on Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/fTXbtQrxnLXBMjgZbq83Zf/can-you-harness-the-power-of-your-period
Research Emma mentions about lack of knowledge women have about their own bodies https://www.rcog.org.uk/better-for-women
This is the book Emma and I both read and found fascinating – How the Pill Changes Everything by Dr Sarah Hill https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/oct/19/dr-sarah-e-hill-how-pill-influences-womens-brains
Sport England Active Lives Data I mentioned https://www.sportengland.org/news/childrens-activity-levels-down-many-embrace-new-opportunities
Women in Sport girls data I mention https://www.womeninsport.org/research-and-advice/our-publications/reframing-sport-for-teenage-girls-building-strong-foundations-for-their-futures/
Drop in girls self-esteem/worth research I mentioned https://epi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/EPI-PT_Young-people%E2%80%99s-wellbeing_Jan2021.pdf
Girls Active Campaign from Youth Sport Trust https://www.youthsporttrust.org/girls-active
Books by Maisie Hill which Emma recommends https://www.maisiehill.com/
The Female Pod which Emma recommends https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/female-athlete-podcast/id1501684789

Behaviour change and health messaging with Shayoni Lynn

In order to influence behaviour, from the development of your campaign through to how your measure it's impact, has to delve deeper than 'likes' or 'reach' in order to be effective, not least when it comes to habits and behaviours that influence health. 
This episode we speak with Shayoni Lynn, founder of Lynn PR and industry expert in data-driven strategic communications and applied behavioural science. 
Having worked on numerous award-winning campaigns, including some that engage youth audiences, we hear her take on why campaigns so often miss the mark and why context is everything when it comes to engaging young people. 
https://www.lynnpr.co.uk/
https://twitter.com/shayonislynn 
 

Behaviour change and health messages with Leanne Hughes

This episode we're talking all things behaviour change and health as we chat with communications specialist Leanne Hughes from NHS Lothian. We're starting this theme with perhaps the most tricky with youth audiences - sexual health.
How to avoid embarrassing, offending, or missing the point all together when it comes to getting vital messaging out to influence behaviours with a youth audience when it comes to sex? 
She’s commissioned work including an over-sized cartoon willy running around Edinburgh to promote online condom ordering (nil points from Instagram but a laugh from the intended audience) and animations about access to abortion services (in several European countries), which have been classed as acceptable as a clinical consultation by the RCT research attached to the work. 
 
https://www.ccard.org.uk/
 
https://www.healthyrespect.co.uk/Pregnancy/abortion/Pages/default.aspx

Working and creating with young people with Amy Kean

When it comes to creating campaigns and advertising that lands with young people, you'd fall pretty short of the mark if you weren't talking about culture. 
This episode we're speaking with Amy Kean, not only has she had a successful career in the advertising, media and PR industry for over 15 years, she's a lecturer, author, columnist and recently founded her own agency, Six Impossible Things as well as the DICE charter to improve the diversity and equality of industry events. 
If you don't already follow her on Twitter, you really should. We explored what makes advertising and campaigns to youth audiences work, what falls short and why International Men's Day feels tone deaf. 

Working and creating with young people with Jay Richards

This episode we speak with Jay Richards, Co-Founder of Imagen Insights - who's main aim is connecting brands and organisations with Gen Z for brutally honest insights. 
Their 1700+ consultants get opportunities to work with organisations, often getting opportunity to work directly on specific projects and most importantly, getting valuable experience and being paid for it. 
We talk about the chances of this direct discussion allowing more creativity, whether brands are ready to hear youth perspective and the fundamentals to get it right when wanting to work and create with a youth audience. 

Working and Creating with Young People with Harry Beard

A theme which runs through almost all other episode - the importance of working and creating with young people. But what does this actually mean and how can we better do this?
We speak with Harry Beard, a 21 year old entrepreneur, named one of Ernst & Young's Best Student Entrepreneurs in their 'Founders 30' competition and co-founder of Future Labs providing 'Gen Z' consultancy expertise and reports and Prospect 100, an exciting competition spanning a breadth of genres, celebrating youth talent and helping them to connect with their respective industries. 
Harry comes equipped with a stack of relevant examples and ideas about the skill set youth audiences need to be developing to succeed within their careers as well as how brands can better resonate with sub cultures within youth audiences. 

Technology and the student experience with Nathan Monk

As the pandemic continues to force the digitisation of the student experience, what opportunities have presented themselves over the past year - and more importantly, what might stay? We continue to explore technology and the student experience but in this episode we speak with Nathan Monk from Smile, the award-winning digital agency working with universities and colleges on websites and creative tech solutions. 
We explore the opportunities for creativity and exploring ideas throughout the pandemic and beyond not least due the fact that the student experience may not ever be the same again. 
Nathan shares what they've been working on, some predictions for the next couple of years and why he's become slightly obsessed with Twitch!