Made of Stronger Stuff

Psychologist Kimberley Wilson and Dr Xand van Tulleken take a journey around the human body, to find out what it can tell us about our innate capacity for change.

In episode one, Kimberley and Xand take a closer look at the peepers, the mince pies... the eyes! They discover why we don’t always see reality, experience the power of sensory illusions, and hear the amazing story of Jason Esterhuizen, whose sight has been partially restored with the help of a brain implant.

Producer: Dan Hardoon Executive Producer: Kate Holland

A Whistledown Production for BBC Radio 4

Psychologist Kimberley Wilson and Dr Xand van Tulleken take a journey around the human body, to find out what it can tell us about our innate capacity for change. In this episode, Kimberley and Xand pull their shoulders back and examine the spine.

They debunk some myths about contortionists’ spines, ask whether standing tall can really improve your confidence, and explore how we can change our relationship with pain.

Producer: Dan Hardoon Executive Producer: Kate Holland A Whistledown Production for BBC Radio 4

Psychologist Kimberley Wilson and Dr Xand van Tulleken take a journey around the human body, to find out what it can tell us about our innate capacity for change. In this episode, Kimberley and Xand take a deep breath and explore the lungs.

They’re taught how to belly breathe by a champion free diver, get to grips with the science of why deep breaths relax us, and find out how air pollution affects not just our lungs, but almost every part of our body.

Producer: Dan Hardoon Executive Producer: Kate Holland

A Whistledown Production for BBC Radio 4

Psychologist Kimberley Wilson and Dr Xand van Tulleken take a journey around the human body, asking what it can tell us about our innate capacity for change. In this episode, they explore serotonin - a chemical involved in everything from sleep to bowel function, appetite to blood clotting.

Xand and Kimberley find out why serotonin’s reputation as the “happy chemical” is misleading, explore the interaction between serotonin and dopamine in sex drive, and hear about new approaches to treating depression using psychoactive drugs.

Producer: Dan Hardoon Researcher: Emily Finch Executive Producer: Kate Holland A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4

Psychologist Kimberley Wilson and Dr Xand van Tulleken continue their journey around the human body, asking what our insides can reveal about our lives and the world around us.

This time, Xand and Kimberley marvel at the imperfect feats of engineering that are the arches of our feet, exploring how these arches are the key to our capacity to run, whether we should ditch our shoes for good, and finding out which animal has the ultimate foot.

Producer: Georgia Mills Researcher: Leonie Thomas Executive Producer: Robert Nicholson A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4