Appearance Matters: The Podcast!

The Centre for Appearance Research

Appearance Matters: The Podcast! Is the official podcast of the Centre for Appearance Research - a world leading research centre investigating body image and appearance psychology research, based at the University of the West of England in Bristol, UK. Hosted and produced by Maia Thornton, Abbi Mathews, Ella Guest, and Kat Schneider. Music by Sian Evans & John Landau (https://toplinefilm.com)

  1. Episode 107: Social Media & Visible Difference

    MAR 2

    Episode 107: Social Media & Visible Difference

    Welcome back to Appearance Matters: The Podcast! In this month’s episode, Ella speaks to Research Fellow Dr Emma Waite and Visiting Professor Dr Amy Slater from the Centre for Appearance Research about their work on social media and visible difference as part of the VTCT Foundation Programme of Research at CAR. They are also joined by Laure Dedecker, a PhD student at the Media Psychology Lab at KU Leuven in Belgium who researches the role of social media in body image development among young individuals with a visible difference. They talk about the social media experiences of people with visible differences, how social media might be used in a positive way, and discuss Australia’s new social media ban for under 16s. The social media resources discussed will be coming soon to the Visible Difference Support Hub: https://visibledifferencesupporthub.com/ Journal article (Guest et al., 2025) exploring the experiences of adults with visible differences in relation to social media: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0324938 Journal article (Dedecker et al., 2025) examining content and responses to influencers with visible different: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1740144525000725?via%3Dihub If you’re interested in finding out more about the Appearance Matters Conference, hosted by the Centre for Appearance Research (9th – 11th of June 2026), click here: https://www.uwe.ac.uk/research/centres-and-groups/appearance/news-and-events/am-conference Cover image by Armin Rimoldi via Pexels Music by Sian Evans & John Landau: toplinefilm.com Episode developed and produced by Ella Guest

    1h 5m
  2. 106: In Conversation with Zali Yager – AM11 Keynote Speaker

    JAN 16

    106: In Conversation with Zali Yager – AM11 Keynote Speaker

    Welcome back to Appearance Matters: The Podcast! In this month’s episode, Kat speaks to Zali Yager, an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Institute for Health and Sport at Victoria University, Australia, and the founder and executive director of the Embrace Collective. The Embrace Collective: https://theembracehub.com/ If you’re interested in hearing more about the Appearance Matters Conference, hosted by the Centre for Appearance Research (9th – 11th of June 2026), click here: https://www.uwe.ac.uk/research/centres-and-groups/appearance/news-and-events/am-conference Appearance Matters 11 early bird registration is available until the 31st of January! Cover image by Trevor James Music by Sian Evans & John Landau: toplinefilm.com Episode developed and produced by Kat Schneider

    30 min
  3. 105. In Conversation with Phyllida Swift - AM11 Keynote Speaker

    12/15/2025

    105. In Conversation with Phyllida Swift - AM11 Keynote Speaker

    Welcome back to Appearance Matters the podcast! This month we are kicking off our Appearance Matters 11 conference series. This month Maia speaks with Phyllida Swift CEO of Face Equality international about her inspirational work with the organisation, her path into working into the visible difference field, some highlights of her career so far, as well as goals for the future. Phyllida also speaks about her previous AM conference highlights and key messages she hopes to share in her keynote in June. Join us for a really reflective and insightful discussion about combining the personal and professional in the non-profit sector and to hear some teasers for Appearance Matters 11. To find out more about the work of Face Equality International click here: https://faceequalityinternational.org/ Registration for Appearance Matters 11 is now open! Early bird registration fees will be available until the 31st of January 2026! For more information about Appearance Matters 11 click here: https://www.uwe.ac.uk/research/centres-and-groups/appearance/news-and-events/am-conference or follow this link to go directly to the registration page: https://www.uwe.ac.uk/research/centres-and-groups/appearance/news-and-events/am-conference/registration

    33 min
  4. Episode 104: Family planning when you have a heritable visible difference

    11/30/2025

    Episode 104: Family planning when you have a heritable visible difference

    Welcome back to Appearance Matters: The Podcast! In this month’s episode, Ella speaks to Dr Kerry Montgomery, who is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Appearance Research, about the STAR Project. Kerry’s work explores how people with conditions that affect appearance and that can be passed on to their children make decisions about starting a family.  They talk about research Kerry has carried out with prospective parents who have visible differences and genetic counsellors. Please be aware that this episode contains discussion of pregnancy, family planning, and termination, which might be sensitive for some listeners.  If you’re interested in hearing more about the Centre for Appearance conference, Appearance Matters 11 (9th – 11th of June 2026) click here:  https://www.uwe.ac.uk/research/centres-and-groups/appearance/news-and-events/am-conference Photo by Warren Umoh on Unsplash https://unsplash.com/photos/a-chain-link-fence--qycBqByWIY?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditShareLink Music by Sian Evans & John Landau: toplinefilm.com Episode developed and produced by Ella Guest

    41 min
  5. 103: Weight-Inclusive Physical Activity

    10/30/2025

    103: Weight-Inclusive Physical Activity

    Welcome back to Appearance Matters: The Podcast! In this month’s episode, Kat speaks to Dr Luciana Zuest (Towson University, US) and Dr Eva Pila (Western University, Canada) about weight bias and weight stigma in sport and exercise settings, and how to make physical activity spaces more inclusive for all bodies. Dr Eva Pila: https://www.uwo.ca/fhs/kin/about/faculty/pila_e.html Body Image & Health Research Lab: https://bihlab.com/, @bihresearch (Instagram) Dr Luciana Zuest: https://www.towson.edu/chp/departments/kinesiology/facultystaff/luciana-zuest.html Weight-Inclusive Thinking for Fitness Spaces: https://www.weightinclusivethinking.com/ If you’re interested in hearing more about the Appearance Matters Conference, hosted by the Centre for Appearance Research (9th – 11th of June 2026), click here:  https://www.uwe.ac.uk/research/centres-and-groups/appearance/news-and-events/am-conference Appearance Matters 11 abstract submissions are now open and the deadline is the 7th of November! Cover image by Trevor James Music by Sian Evans & John Landau: toplinefilm.com Episode developed and produced by Kat Schneider

    41 min
  6. 102: The Visible Difference Support Hub

    09/30/2025

    102: The Visible Difference Support Hub

    Welcome back to Appearance Matters: The Podcast! In this month’s episode, Maia speaks to Prof. Di Harcourt about the development of The Visible Difference Support Hub, a brand new website that is aims to provide easy access to evidence-based support for people with visible differences and their families which has been developed at CAR. Di and Maia talk about the research that has gone into creating these support resources, the development process of the support hub, and the kind of materials people can find on the website. If you’d like to explore or share The Visible Difference Support Hub please follow this link: https://visibledifferencesupporthub.com/ If you’ve spent time on The Visible Difference Support Hub and would like to provide us with some feedback, please click here: https://uwe.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_57m45grMC7LHeWa If you’re interested in hearing more about the Centre for Appearance conference, Appearance Matters 11 (9th – 11th of June 2026) click here: https://www.uwe.ac.uk/research/centres-and-groups/appearance/news-and-events/am-conference Appearance Matters 11 abstract submissions are now open and the deadline is the 30th of October!

    26 min
  7. Summer Short Series: Visible Difference Parenting Toolkit

    08/28/2025

    Summer Short Series: Visible Difference Parenting Toolkit

    Welcome to our 2025 Summer Short Series! We're back with bitesize episodes showcasing recent work from our team at the Centre for Appearance Research! In this episode, we are joined by Dr Maia Thornton, Senior Research Fellow at CAR, who tells us about her recent paper entitled: The Visible Difference Parenting Toolkit: development of an ACT-based intervention to improve the well-being of parents and caregivers of children with appearance-affecting conditions and injuries. Maia discusses a support intervention for parents of children with visible differences, which she developed during her PhD. In this episode, we also introduce two new podcast hosts. Dr Kat Schneider and Dr Ella Guest are both Senior Research Fellows at CAR who will be joining the podcast team. Read Maia's open access paper: https://academic.oup.com/jpepsy/advance-article/doi/10.1093/jpepsy/jsaf054/8205549 Find out more about the Visible Difference Support Hub https://visibledifferencesupporthub.com/ Cover image by Trevor James Music by Sian Evans & John Landau: toplinefilm.com Episode developed and produced by Maia Thornton & Ella Guest

    16 min
  8. Summer Short Series: Appearance-Inclusive University

    07/06/2025

    Summer Short Series: Appearance-Inclusive University

    Welcome to our 2025 Summer Short Series! We're back with bitesize episodes showcasing recent work from our team at the Centre for Appearance Research! In this episode, we are joined by Emma Waite, Research Fellow at CAR, who tells us about her recent paper entitled: “Make sure that everybody feels there is a space for them”: Understanding and promoting appearance inclusivity at university." Emma discusses this qualitative piece of work and what it tells us about how we can improve appearance inclusivity in universities in a meaningful way. To read the full paper follow this link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1740144524001311 Cover image by Nada via Unsplash Music by Sian Evans & John Landau: toplinefilm.com Episode developed and produced by Maia Thornton

    12 min
See All (156)

5
out of 5
10 Ratings

About

Appearance Matters: The Podcast! Is the official podcast of the Centre for Appearance Research - a world leading research centre investigating body image and appearance psychology research, based at the University of the West of England in Bristol, UK. Hosted and produced by Maia Thornton, Abbi Mathews, Ella Guest, and Kat Schneider. Music by Sian Evans & John Landau (https://toplinefilm.com)

Information

  • Creator
    The Centre for Appearance Research
  • Years Active
    2015 - 2026
  • Episodes
    156
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © All rights reserved
  • Show Website
    Appearance Matters: The Podcast!