Podcast Corner: Mosley returns with more health tips and motivational listening
Michael Mosley covers such subjects as weightlifting for brain-power, and how tai-chi helps your immune system. Pictures: Maud Craigie
Come January and the start of a new year - and new you? - we think of Dr Michael Mosley, and his Just One Thing podcast. He’s since released a book of the same name, which will likely prove popular this month, and a new series of the podcast is under way. The premise is simple: “In each episode I’ll explore one quick, simple, scientifically proven thing you can do to benefit your health, wellbeing, and life.”
Search for the show on the BBC Sounds app and you’ll have a plethora of short, sharp episodes to dig into already (the new series is only available on BBC Sounds, but previous episodes are widely available on your podcast app of choice), on topics such as why dark chocolate can help your heart and brain, how video games can make your mind sharper, and why houseplants may help your productivity.
There are 10 new episodes coming to start off 2023. A taster: 'How the martial art of tai-chi can bolster your immune system, how weightlifting can give your brain a boost, and how swapping out sugary snacks for fruit could help reduce your cravings.' If you’re still looking for some resolutions, Mosley has plenty of ideas to offer.
Meanwhile, The Diary of a CEO with Steven Bartlett proved one of the most popular in 2022, a couple of episodes a week and a guestlist of luminaries such as podcast stalwarts Louis Theroux, and Peter Crouch, as well as heavyweights like Richard Branson and Gary Neville, helping Bartlett to the top of the charts alongside Joe Rogan. He has a couple of recent episodes that might help with your resolutions too, or at least challenge some preconceptions.
His bonus Moments series features clickbait titles like ‘The MOST important skill to learn’ and ‘The incredible and unexpected power of vulnerability’, while he’s also tackled the perennial January topic of weight loss and diets (‘The shocking new truth’) and scientific rules for making and breaking habits. If you haven’t started listening to Diary of a CEO, maybe it could inspire you in 2023.
You’re Wrong About is a perennial podcast favourite - it reconsiders a person or event miscast in the public imagination - and is worth subscribing to. One of the original hosts, Michael Hobbes, left in October 2021 to focus on Maintenance Phase, which is similarly lauded. It seeks to debunk “the junk science behind health fads, wellness scams, and nonsensical nutrition advice”. The first episode of the year discusses myths about fat people. Maybe a good topic to mull on before you start counting the calories.
