The Why Factor

Latest Episodes:

The 100th Programme: The Life of Why Sep 05, 2014

Show notes

In the 100th edition of the Why Factor, Mike Williams explores what we have learnt about our very existence. From teenagers and coming of age to retirement, burial and much more along the way.

Producer: Helena Merriman

Gardens Aug 29, 2014

Show notes

For thousands of years, in every corner of the world, people have been gardening – including in war and in prisons. Helena Merriman explores the peculiar magic of garden and asks why people take so much pleasure in it.

She talks to the designer of 58 of China’s public gardens, finds out what swimming mice reveal about the secret properties of soil and hears about the extraordinary lengths one man went to create a garden in Guantanamo Bay.

(Image of a Classical Chinese Garden. Credit: Shutterstock)

Gossip Aug 22, 2014

Show notes

It’s a regular, if not always a reliable source of news. Without gossip, cafes, bars and workplace water-coolers would often be silent. But why do so many of us feel the need to discuss other people’s lives? Gossiping’s been punished in the past, but it’s big business now and may, Mike Williams explains, even be good for us

Produced by Chris Bowlby

(Image of two girls gossiping to one another. Credit: Science photo library)

Ghosts Aug 15, 2014

Show notes

Ghosts have been haunting people all over the world for centuries. But why do they persist in this age of reason? Mike Williams explores the fear and fascination ghosts produce and finds out how our reaction to apparitions has changed over the years.

We join a group of ghost hunters in England on a spooktacular tour of a derelict orphanage; Mike meets the cultural historian Dr Shane McCorristine in the birthplace of the Victorian ghost story; and the psychologist Professor Christopher French explains the mind’s capacity to produce hallucinations.

(Image of a ghostly woman standing by the window. Credit: Shutterstock)

Chastity Aug 08, 2014

Show notes

From the Europe of the Middle Ages to the wired world of today, The Why Factor this week looks at chastity – a complicated subject, tangled up with morality and modesty, with politics and religion, and with the role of women through the ages. Mike Williams speaks to, among others, an American campaigning for abstinence in US schools and a nun for whom chastity is an important part of the job. He examines chastity chosen, and chastity imposed.

Produced by Nina Robinson

Picture: Chastity belt, Credit: BBC

The Pilgrimage Aug 01, 2014

Show notes

The Pilgrimage is one of the most popular and collective human activities, and continues to grow in size. Tens of millions of Hindus bathe in holy waters at the Kumbh Mela. Jews from around the world make their way to the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Islam has the Hajj and Christians have walked the same paths for centuries. Others find themselves on a pilgrimage for very different reasons. Mike Williams finds out why.

(Photo: The Grand mosque and the Kaaba in the holy city of Mecca. Pilgrims pelt pillars symbolising the devil with pebbles to show their defiance on the third day of the hajj to mark Eid al-Adha or the Feast of the Sacrifice. Credit: Fayes Nureldine/AFP/Getty Images)

The Walk Jul 25, 2014

Show notes

Why do we go on long walks? Aside from the seemingly obvious health benefits of exercise, what is it about walking which has had such long-lasting appeal? The German film director Herzog described walking as “spiritual” whilst Charles Dickens used walking to plot his novels. From the German tradition of the wandern to urban street walking, it seems we’ve always gone on long walks for reasons other than necessity. Why? Mike Williams puts on his walking boots and goes in search of answers.

(Photo: Hikers walk along a path as what remains of the Findelgletscher glacier near Zermatt, Switzerland. Credit: Getty Images)

The Moon Jul 18, 2014

Show notes

The moon has fascinated humans everywhere and for all time. Why? Mike Williams explores the moon in culture, how it affects life on Earth and he asks Alan Bean – one of the handful of people who have walked on it – what the moon is really like.

Producer: Richard Knight

(Image shows a full moon as seen from the sky at night. Credit: AFP/Getty Images)

The Apology Jul 11, 2014

Show notes

Why do we say sorry – and what do we really mean by it? Mike Williams explores the apology, from ancient Greece to today’s penitent politicians. Is an apology alone worth anything? Is it just part of a process, leading to action or forgiveness? And can one generation apologise for the actions of another?

Producer: Nina Robinson

(Photo: A banner reading 'Sorry’. Credit: AFP/Getty Images)

Coincidence Jul 04, 2014

Show notes

What is coincidence and why do we attach meaning to it? Jo Fidgen hears World Service listeners’ gripping coincidence stories.

Some of them are almost unbelievable. But are we simply failing to understand randomness, and the law of truly big numbers?

Produced by Charlotte Pritchard

(Photo of a young woman with her hands over face. Credit: Getty Images)