300 episodes

Brilliant solutions to the world’s problems. We meet people with ideas to make the world a better place and investigate whether they work.

People Fixing the World BBC World Service

    • Health & Fitness
    • 4.8 • 212 Ratings

Brilliant solutions to the world’s problems. We meet people with ideas to make the world a better place and investigate whether they work.

    Magic mushrooms and mental health

    Magic mushrooms and mental health

    Could psychedelic drugs help in the treatment of mental health conditions? We look at pioneering research into psilocybin, the active ingredient in so-called magic mushrooms. We visit a clinic in Oregon, the only state in America where the use of psilocybin in therapeutic sessions is legal and hear from one patient who says it's the only treatment she's ever had that makes a difference to her depression. And we hear about some of the widespread concerns that widening access to such drugs could have.
    Presenter: Myra Anubi
    Reporter: Ben Wyatt
    Series Producer: Jon Bithrey
    Editor: Sam Bonham
    Sound Mix: Annie Gardiner

    • 23 min
    Speaking up at work

    Speaking up at work

    Whistleblowers - they're the good guys right? The ones who speak truth to power and have films made about the heroic stands they took? Sometimes. Often the people who speak up in the workplace are ignored or shut down. Worse still they're often bullied or harassed or end up losing their jobs. They're the ones you never hear about.
    This week we hear about two projects that are encouraging people to speak up about wrongdoing at work and how they're improving people’s work environment, saving time, money and even saving lives.
    Presenter: Myra Anubi
    Reporter/producer: Claire Bowes
    Series Producer: Jon Bithrey
    Editor: Penny Murphy
    Sound Mix: Annie Gardiner

    • 23 min
    Clever ways to get kids learning

    Clever ways to get kids learning

    Schools across Senegal have discovered a clever way for children to surf the web even when there isn't any signal.
    They're using a special WIFI hotspot which works without an actual internet connection, so students and teachers can access all the relevant bits of the web, offline.
    Around the world, innovators are coming up with solutions like this - all designed to get children learning. We also hear from an entrepreneur revolutionising how science is taught in Ghana and a night school in Pakistan for children not in formal education.
    Presenter: Myra Anubi
    Producer: Craig Langran
    Reporters: Borso Tall, Tooba Masood
    Series Producer: Jon Bithrey
    Editor: Penny Murphy
    Sound Mix: Annie Gardiner
    (Image: Students using science kit, Dex Technology)

    • 23 min
    Bringing dead languages back to life

    Bringing dead languages back to life

    Australia used to be one of the most linguistically diverse places, with over 200 languages. Today, many of Australia’s indigenous languages are considered “highly endangered”. Inspired by his native language, Hebrew, Ghil’ad Zuckermann is a linguistics professor who is on a mission to revive Australia’s dead and endangered languages, painstakingly piecing them back together from historical documents. We speak to Ghil’ad and Shania Richards from the Barngarla community, whose language is being brought back from the brink.
    Presenter: Myra Anubi
    Reporter/producer: Josephine Casserly
    Producers: Claire Bates & Craig Langran
    Series producer: Tom Colls
    Sound mix: Annie Gardiner
    Editor: Penny Murphy
    Email: peoplefixingtheworld@bbc.co.uk
    Image: Shania Richards, in the uniform of the Youth Governor of South Australia

    • 24 min
    Making life easier for older people

    Making life easier for older people

    Barcelona in Spain is famous for its beautiful streets, lined with tall apartment buildings. But the architecture is a problem for many people who have lived for years in upstairs apartments but who now find the stairs unmanageable.
    In 2008, a survey found that in one district there were 300 people who could not leave their homes alone. A group of volunteers decided to do something about this and got hold of a special wheelchair with caterpillar tracks, so it can be used to take people up and down stairs. After an initial pilot scheme they launched a local service called “Let's Go Down to the Street”, to help elderly residents go shopping or meet up with friends. Sixteen years on, the service is offered across the city.
    Plus, we visit a home for senior citizens in an unlikely location: a university campus. The Mirabella complex at Arizona State University in the US offers its residents the chance to sample the college lifestyle – from lectures to shows and sports fixtures.
    Presenter: Myra Anubi
    Producer: William Kremer
    Reporters: Esperanza Escribano, Anthony Wallace
    Series Producer: Jon Bithrey
    Editor: Penny Murphy
    Sound mix: Gareth Jones

    • 23 min
    Overcoming stigma

    Overcoming stigma

    On this edition of People Fixing The World we meet people who’ve helped overcome long-standing cultural biases to create better outcomes for everyone. In India we hear about the social media campaigns which have helped city dwellers in Bengaluru see those who pick waste from rubbish dumps not as dangerous and dirty but as invaluable recyclers. In Nigeria we meet a traditional healer and a health worker who are collaborating to help improve the treatment of psychosis and break down some of the unhelpful attitudes towards severe mental health problems.
    Presenter: Myra Anubi
    Reporter/producer: Makuochi Okafor, Claire Bowes
    Series producer: Jon Bithrey
    Editor: Penny Murphy
    Sound Mix: Andrew Mills
    (Image: Chief Mukaila Yusuf, BBC)

    • 23 min

Customer Reviews

4.8 out of 5
212 Ratings

212 Ratings

Dame Davies ,

Wizard

Love hearing about wizard and prophet solutions!

paminaerter ,

Name your guests.

A top podcast, science oriented, evidence based and giving hope. Though one thing you need to do is tag and name the people you interview.

midwestBlue ,

9.13

fake meat. i have eaten fake meat for a while and then i quit eating it due to the fact it is all so high in sodium. too much sodium. please solve that.

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