Teach Me A Lesson with Greg James and Bella Mackie

BBC Radio 5 Live
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Teach Me A Lesson with Greg James and Bella Mackie

Greg James and Bella Mackie didn't pay much attention at school. So they're asking Britain's most inspiring teachers to show them what they missed in this series of fascinating and fun lessons. Learn something new every week from their all-killer-no-filler syllabus including: 'How to win an argument by watching RuPaul's Drag Race', 'Why do we get ill?' and ''Are people born evil?' Bad students of all ages are welcome. Expect brilliant teachers, captivating subjects but absolutely no homework.

  1. 14/11/2022

    Can We Make Fast Fashion Guilt Free?

    Greg and Bella get a lesson in ethical consumerism from Design and Technology teacher Mr Brandy. They'll start by looking at their own purchasing decisions: what's the last item they bought and why? They'll look at the oldest items in their wardrobes to see what that might tell us about how sustainable our current fashions are. As a case study, they'll take a look at the phone industry and discuss the ways we can beat planned obsolescence. For the practical element of today's lesson, Mr Brandy will challenge Greg and Bella to set up their own fast fashion brand: coming up with a name and a product line, but also making some difficult decisions about manufacturing, shipping and packaging. Will they choose the more ethical, higher investment option, or will they leave ethics at the door in pursuit of profit? Bad students of all ages are welcome. Expect brilliant teachers, captivating subjects but absolutely no homework. Get in touch with the podcast - email us at teachme@bbc.co.uk

    52 min

  2. 07/11/2022

    Is Taylor Swift Our Greatest Living Poet?

    Following the release of her latest album, 'Midnights', Greg and Bella find out if Taylor Swift is a great poet, as well as a great songwriter. English teacher Miss Tiddy is a Taylor Swift superfan, with an encyclopedic knowledge of Taylor Swift's music (and dating history!). In this lesson, she'll use techniques familiar from English Language GCSE to dissect Taylor's lyrics, such as assonance, alliteration and pathetic fallacy. With the help of Shakespearean actor Olivia Vinall, Taylor's lyrics are brought to life and put under the microscope by Miss Tiddy - are Taylor's songs just nice words strung together, or are they actually poetry? Fellow Swiftie Jeremy Vine pops by to host a game of Taylor Swift vs Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Miss Tiddy continues the comparison to the greats by looking at the similarities between Taylor and Lord Byron, Wordsworth, Robert Frost and Shakespeare. Bad students of all ages are welcome. Expect brilliant teachers, captivating subjects but absolutely no homework. Get in touch with the podcast - email us at teachme@bbc.co.uk

    43 min

  3. 31/10/2022

    Halloween Special: How To Grow A Skeleton

    It's a Halloween special as Forensic Anthropologist and now secondary school science teacher Miss Robinson gives Greg and Bella a lesson about how to grow a human skeleton. Miss Robinson will welcome Greg and Bella into her Forensics lab, to show them a host of props and remains to see what they can teach us about our bones. Along the way, they'll find out what your bones are made of, how they are formed, what happens if you break one, and how possible it is to grow them back if something happens to one of them. And Bella asks, can we grow a skeleton in a lab? There will be lots of amazing facts, some grizzly stories and plenty of laughs along the way as Greg and Bella share their stories of broken bones and marvel at just how long it takes to grow a full skeleton. At the end of the episode, they’ll find out what happens to the skeleton when the body doesn’t need it anymore – meeting the oldest human-ish skeleton ever discovered – Lucy. Bad students of all ages are welcome. Expect brilliant teachers, captivating subjects but absolutely no homework. Get in touch with the podcast - email us at teachme@bbc.co.uk

    52 min

  4. 24/10/2022

    Can We Live Our Whole Lives Online?

    IT teacher Mr Kolawole teaches his favourite lesson to Greg and Bella – after 18 months of WFH, home learning and video calls – could we ever live our whole lives online? He starts by looking at our current internet and social media usage, encouraging Greg and Bella to bare all when it comes to their own screen time figures. He then discusses Dunbar's Number - the idea that humans only have the capacity for a certain number of real life connections - and how the internet might be a brilliant way of finding your own tribe. They'll discuss the potential of the Metaverse and the experiences that could be possible there. To end the lesson, he introduces Greg and Bella to a thought experiment put forward by philosopher Robert Nozick in the 1970s called The Pleasure Machine, to find out what they would make of a world where we get everything our hearts desire, without question. Is this a healthy way to live? Bad students of all ages are welcome. Expect brilliant teachers, captivating subjects but absolutely no homework. Get in touch with the podcast - email us at teachme@bbc.co.uk

    50 min

  5. 17/10/2022

    Will Humans Ever Become Extinct?

    Greg and Bella explore the science of extinction with the help of dinosaur enthusiast Mr Yates. Together, they’ll look at some famous recent extinctions, find out what role conservation plays in the preservation of species, and explore the major mass extinction events that shaped our world today. They’ll also look at just how possible it might be to bring lost species back to life – is the film Jurassic Park science fact or just science fiction? They’ll meet the animals that have somehow managed to defy extinction – what set them apart from the species that didn’t make it to today? And finally, we’ll take what we’ve learnt and apply it to the human race – are we at risk of our own major extinction event? What will our world look like in the future? Bad students of all ages are welcome. Expect brilliant teachers, captivating subjects but absolutely no homework. Get in touch with the podcast - email us at teachme@bbc.co.uk

    43 min

  6. 10/10/2022

    Why Do We Need Sadness?

    Greg and Bella are back with a brand-new term of teachers teaching their favourite lesson! To kick us off we have RE teacher Mr Bonfield with a lesson about sadness – why do we need it? To mark World Mental Health Day, Mr Bonfield looks to three great philosophers - Aristotle, Nietzsche and Schopenhauer - to see what they thought the point of sadness was. Wouldn't the world be a happier place without sadness? Or could understanding sadness be the secret to unlocking happiness? As the lesson unfolds, Greg and Bella find out what Pixar films, superheroes, and pop songs can teach us about sadness - and find out why a whale called Blue 52 might be the saddest animal on the planet. They’ll explore why the colour blue is linked with sadness, discuss the things that make them cry and talk about the historical heroes who lead their best lives despite the challenges they faced. Greg also reflects on how the poem Guesthouse by the ancient poet Rumi changed how he thinks about sadness, and Bella talks about her own experiences with anxiety. Mr Bonfield ends the lesson by finding out what Greg and Bella’s strategies are for beating the blues – from exercise to laughing with friends, being creative to having a hug. Bad students of all ages are welcome. Expect brilliant teachers, captivating subjects but absolutely no homework. Get in touch with the podcast - email us at teachme@bbc.co.uk

    49 min

  7. 11/07/2022

    How To Never Lose A Penalty Shoot-Out

    In the last lesson before the summer break, Greg and Bella get schooled in penalties by primary school teacher Miss Sheridan. Can they find out how to score the perfect penalty before the summer holidays? Miss Sheridan will share how she and her students spend a whole week on this one topic, looking at it across the curriculum. Skimming history, geography, psychology, maths, biology and English, Greg and Bella will learn about the origins of the penalty shoot-out and the countries who pioneered it; they'll uncover the psychology behind the perfect penalty and hear about how hugs can help! We'll also find out the most important part of the body to use when taking a penalty, and why you should never turn your back on a goalie! Plus just how quickly should you take one? Bad students of all ages are welcome. Expect brilliant teachers, captivating subjects but absolutely no homework. Get in touch with the podcast - email us at teachme@bbc.co.uk

    40 min

  8. 04/07/2022

    What's So Great About '68?

    Greg and Bella welcome back Drama teacher Mr Yale with a lesson about the year 1968. '68 might seem to fall through the history books - dwarfed by other more dramatic years - but Mr Yale is here to make a case for it being a turning point year. Vietnam and the Space Race were in the news; Oliver! was on the cinema screens; and the Theatres Act 1968 lead to this year being known as the "Year Zero for British Theatre" with the first performance of Hair the Musical taking the West End by storm (starring none other than Elaine Paige!). Mr Yale will use these real events as a springboard to take Greg and Bella through some classic drama practicals - from who can best embody the voice of a significant object from '68 - to is Bella brave enough to let Greg catch her when she falls? Bad students of all ages are welcome. Expect brilliant teachers, captivating subjects but absolutely no homework. Get in touch - email us at teachme@bbc.co.uk

    42 min
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Greg James and Bella Mackie didn't pay much attention at school. So they're asking Britain's most inspiring teachers to show them what they missed in this series of fascinating and fun lessons. Learn something new every week from their all-killer-no-filler syllabus including: 'How to win an argument by watching RuPaul's Drag Race', 'Why do we get ill?' and ''Are people born evil?' Bad students of all ages are welcome. Expect brilliant teachers, captivating subjects but absolutely no homework.

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