35 episodes

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.

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

    • Education
    • 4.8 • 918 Ratings

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.

    Can We Make Fast Fashion Guilt Free?

    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
    Is Taylor Swift Our Greatest Living Poet?

    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

    • 42 min
    Halloween Special: How To Grow A Skeleton

    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

    • 51 min
    Can We Live Our Whole Lives Online?

    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
    Will Humans Ever Become Extinct?

    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
    Why Do We Need Sadness?

    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

Customer Reviews

4.8 out of 5
918 Ratings

918 Ratings

Bcompo7 ,

Incredible❤️❤️👍👍👍

I love listening to this as it is stress relief if you are struggling to fall asleep and I always turn to this whenever I need it. Tailenders is recommended as well if you are a big cricket fan like me!!😃😃

mrg 123423 ,

MORE

When are you going to do another series
The podcast is amazing please more
I also recommend tailenders if you like cricket

archie.dh ,

Such an enjoyable listen

The premise of this podcast - that school is slightly wasted on us when we are young and that learning is an ongoing, lifelong activity - is what drew me in. As well as, of course, my appreciation of Greg James’ boundless charm and energy, and admiration for Bella Mackie - the ultimate cool girl and one I would certainly have been too intimidated by at school to talk to! Their chemistry and slight competitiveness combined with the excellent teachers invited on to the podcast is a brilliant recipe, and I have learned so much as I have smiled along. Well done - keep them coming!

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