In the final episode of ‘The Root of the Matter’, JC takes us to the least human habitat of all – the wasteland. It’s a space which often fills us with a sense of foreboding and yet, these places teach us some of the most profound lessons about the plant world and our relationship to it: Author of Islands of Abandonment: Life in the post-human land…

What does the word ‘wetland’ mean to you? Many of us don’t encounter them at all, and at best we might think of a muddy, boggy marshland. But these landscapes, and the plants that thrive in them, are crucial for ecological health, biodiversity, and capturing carbon. In this episode, JC and her contributors invite you to see these misunderstood spac…

We think of forests and woodlands as wild spaces, or areas where we can lose ourselves in nature, and yet they also provide us with a wealth of resources such as food, building materials, or medicines. But they are also globally under threat of destruction… In this episode, JC delves into the contradictions in our relationship with woodlands, and e…

Fruit and veg are a clear link to our relationship to the plant world. Yet many of us have little understanding of the farming industry and the impacts it has on our planet, in bringing crops to our plates.In this episode, JC untangles the knots of these complex global food systems - and focuses on a grain that is central to many of our diets, whea…

Gardens are hugely personal, they are an extension of how we see ourselves and how we are in the world. They can also be a strong reminder of what is excluded as much as what is included. In this episode JC asks, what does the Garden reveal about the way we relate to the natural world and to each other? Writer and grower Claire Ratinon explores col…

In Wellcome Collection’s new series, ‘The Root of the Matter’, we join JC Niala on a journey to understand how plants can provide a lens on human health, history and belonging.بقلم Wellcome Collection

In the final episode of our podcast, Bidisha takes us on a journey through the highest of highs, from nightclubbing and the ecstasies of religion and drugs, to mania. Artist Harold Offeh shares his personal take on the connections between movement, music and bodies. Annie Macmanus (‘DJ Annie Mac’) speaks about the power of nightclubbing, how ecstas…

Bidisha explores joy, from the psychology of our earliest laughs to collective and solitary pleasures like comedy, food and performance. Hear historian of emotions Thomas Dixon describe and define joy, before listening to comedian Daliso Chaponda and developmental psychologist Caspar Addyman talk with Bidisha. They remind us to let our inner jester…

When was the last time you felt utterly tranquil? Moya Lothian-McLean searches for an oasis of calm, taking Wellcome Collection’s ‘Tranquillity’ exhibition as a point of inspiration. She visits St Bartholomew’s Hospital to experience the installation ‘Regarding Forests’ by Chrystel Lebas. Hear tips from staff and visitors as they share how they fin…

Hello Happiness is the first series of The Wellcome Collection Podcast. In this episode, Bidisha chats to her guests about their personal experiences of resolve, and considers its complicated relationship to happiness. Psychotherapist Susie Orbach and broadcaster Jeff Brazier discuss the power and limitations of resolve in managing grief and mental…

Hello Happiness is the first series of The Wellcome Collection Podcast. In this episode, Bidisha asks: What are our emotions and how are they made? She then attempts to pin down the purpose and uses of hope. Listen to historian Tiffany Watt Smith explain how our understanding of emotion has been shaped throughout time, from the ancient Greeks to ou…

Bidisha introduces a new five-part series from Wellcome Collection, exploring the meaning of positive emotions: hope, resolve, tranquillity, joy and ecstasy.بقلم Wellcome Collection