The Why Factor

Latest Episodes:

Why Do we Support Sports Clubs? Oct 16, 2015

Show notes

Every week, hundreds of millions of people around the world surrender their emotions; leave them - for a while - in the hands of strangers. They might face dejection or, with luck, jubilation. The US National Basketball association say that less than 1% of fans globally will ever watch a game live. While the Premier League is played in England and Wales, almost half of the fans (470 million of them) live in Asia and Oceania. Mike Williams explains why sports fans do it.

(Photo: Sports fans pictured during a football match waving their flags. Credit: Getty Images)

Why Does Commuting Make us the Way we Are? Oct 09, 2015

Show notes

Hundreds of millions of us bear the stress and boredom of the same journey day in day out - the commute. For some it is a time of reflection while for others it is a time to turn the air blue with howls of frustration. Why does commuting make us the people we are and how?

(Photo: Rush hour traffic in Nairobi. Credit: Abdinoor Maalim)

Graffiti: Why do we do it? Oct 02, 2015

Show notes

From Stone Age caves, to the buildings of Pompeii and on the walls of our modern cities we find evidence of a very human – and ancient – urge to leave a mark. Why? Mike Williams joins the artists at a Graffiti competition held in London and talks to Art Historian Richard Clay, professor of Digital Humanities at Newcastle University.

This still illegal activity has gained a more acceptable face in the growth and popularity of street art, but in many countries, graffiti writers still risk their lives to paint political messages on public walls. Researcher Rana Jarbou has been documenting Graffiti in the Arab World since 2007. She reveals the role it has played in the war in Syria.

Graffiti can be political and artistic, but sometimes it is as simple as scratching names and love hearts into desks. For four years Quinn Dombrowski took photographs of the Graffiti left on the study desks of The University of Chicago’s Library. The scrawled messages are an insight into the emotional lives of the students there.

Finally, back in London at the Graffiti competition, Mike picks up a spray-can and has a go himself.

(Photo: The letters TWF graffiti sprayed on a wall. Credit: Mike Williams)

Why Do We Love Dolls? Sep 25, 2015

Show notes

They are human and inanimate, beautiful yet disturbing; made for children but collected by adults. From the rag dolls of Ancient Egypt to the mass produced plastic fashion dolls of today, they have existed in almost every culture. Traditionally, they have been used to teach young girls to dress well and look after others. So are they still relevant in a world where women are taking on different roles in the home and the workplace?

Mike Williams meets collectors from Syria and Switzerland. He looks at the evidence that playing with dolls develops children’s social skills, and hears how a South African maker was told ‘black dolls will never sell’ in her country.

Produced by Hannah Moore

(Photo: Dolls faces. Credit: V&A Museum)

Why Does the World Love Drinking Tea? Sep 18, 2015

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Tea comes in many guises - milky, sweet and spicy for those in India. The Chinese drink it as nature intended green with no milk and strong with two sugars for the average British builder. So how did this Asian leaf conquer the world to become the second most consumed drink after water? Mike Williams slurps and sips his way through this cup of calm to find out how this unassuming shrub conquered the world.

(Photo: Preparations for the Chinese Tea Ceremony, at Chaya Tea House, London)

Why do Humans Need so Much Space? Sep 11, 2015

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Some of us are content to surrender our personal space to serve on a submarine, while some of us struggle with claustrophobia. As we become more urban and the global population increases, we have to get used to having less space but some architects say we need more of it because it boosts our sense of wellbeing. Why do we have such a complicated relationship with the space we live in?

(Photo: Dense cityscape of office buildings in Hong Kong and China. Credit: Shutterstock)

Why do we have Human Rights? Sep 04, 2015

Show notes

The UN proclaimed its Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, after the horrors of World War Two. But they are far from universally upheld. Yecenia Armenta Graciano’s right not to be tortured was grievously violated in Mexico, when she was beaten, suffocated and sexually assaulted to sign a confession.

Yet Human Rights are being used in an increasingly wide range of legal cases, whether to force governments to provide food for the poor, or to cut CO2 emissions to help avert climate change. So what are they, how are they evolving, and what if one person’s human right clashes with that of another?

Mike Williams talks to philosopher and law professor John Tasioulas of Kings College London; international law scholar and former UN rapporteur Philip Alston; Dutch lawyer Dennis van Berkel of the environmentalist organisation Urgenda; and India Supreme Court lawyer and human rights campaigner Vrinda Grover.

(Photo: Yecenia spent three years in prison since she was tortured to sign a confession for a crime she says she didn’t commit. Credit: Amnesty International)

World War One: Sacrifice Aug 29, 2015

Show notes

To mark the centenary of World War One, Mike Williams explores the meaning of sacrifice. We often talk of military sacrifice - young men and women, giving their lives for a higher cause. The “ultimate sacrifice”. Countless acts of bravery on the battlefield have ended in death. Some are remembered, many are not. But is that sacrifice? Or, is there a darker side to be considered - not the willing self-sacrifice of a soldier, but a soldier sacrificed? And have we, as one philosopher suggests, misunderstood the meaning of sacrifice completely?

(Photo: A flower appears alongside the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Credit: AFP/Getty Images)

Why do people sacrifice their lives? Aug 28, 2015

Show notes

Why do people give their lives for a nation? For a cause?

As the world marks the centenary of the First World War, bereaved families reflect on the sacrifices made by their loved ones. What is the true nature of modern sacrifice?

Presented by Mike Williams Produced by Ben Crighton

(Photo: Poppies pegged on a wall bearing the names of soldiers who lost their lives in World War One. Credit: Philippe Huguen/AFP/GettyImages)

Talking about Death Aug 21, 2015

Show notes

It’s something that will come to all of us. So why is it so hard to talk about death? Mike Williams meets a British doctor facing her own mortality and another in India who wrestles with telling her patients the bad news.

Produced by Smita Patel

(Photo: Four gravestones in a graveyard. Credit: Shutterstock)