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Matthew Syed asks what happens when we shun excellence and embrace mediocrity. Read more
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55. Perfectly Mediocre
Matthew Syed asks what happens when we shun excellence and embrace mediocrity.
56. A Cinderella Story
How a Cinderella film from 1970s Czechoslovakia became a Christmas tradition across Europe
Sideways: Season nine - coming soon...
A slamming new season... starting with a pro wrestling grudge that got too real.
57. Grudge Match
A wrestling grudge spills out of the ring and into the real world.
58. The Keeper of Lost Memories
One man’s mission to return lost photographs to their original owners.
59. What's Your Name?
Matthew Syed explores the importance and influence of something we all have - our name.
60. For the love of maths
Meet the former child star who considers mathematics to be 'a balm' for her brain.
61. Brain Strain
Matthew Syed explores the uncomfortable psychological phenomenon of cognitive dissonance.
62. Lost and Found
A 48-hour fight to survive, lost in a snowstorm. And the data that helps rescuers find us.
A New Frontier
Introducing – A New Frontier
Travel into the cosmos for a four-part series about the ethics of space exploration.
A New Frontier: 1. A Message to Ourselves
Matthew Syed traces humanity’s first attempt to send a radio message to aliens.
A New Frontier: 2. For All Humankind?
Matthew Syed goes back to the origins of the space race to question who benefited.
A New Frontier: 3. Life on Mars
How commercial companies in space are expanding the possibilities for colonisation.
A New Frontier: 4. With the Gods
Matthew Syed explores the transcendental possibilities of living in space.
63. The Art of Unfinishing
Matthew Syed explores the hidden value in leaving things unfinished.
64. The Masks We Wear
Matthew Syed explores the revealing power of masks.
65. Divergent Histories
Two people, with a shared painful history, learn to understand themselves in a new light.
66. One is a Whole
Matthew Syed explores whether you can find joy and fulfillment in the single life.
Appetite for Distraction
Appetite for Distraction: 1. Postman’s Prophecy?
Matthew Syed asks what it means to be distracted in a media world vying for our attention.
Appetite for Distraction: 2. Have We Always Been Distracted?
Appetite for Distraction: 3. Medium and Metaphor
Appetite for Distraction: 4. Attention Shortfall?
Appetite for Distraction: 5. The Future of Attention
Sideways: Series eleven - coming soon…
Sideways returns with seven new stories of seeing the world differently.
25 Years of the 21st Century
25 Years of the 21st Century: 1. The Age of Digital Warfare
Matthew and his guests look back at some of the big events of the past 25 years.
25 Years of the 21st Century: 2. The Age of Mistrust
Have we lost faith in institutions, politicians - and even money?
25 Years of the 21st Century: 3. The Age of Outsourcing
Have we outsourced our memories to our phones?
25 Years of the 21st Century: 4. The Age of Changing Families
What is technology doing to something as human as forming relationships?
25 Years of the 21st Century: 5. The Age of Artificial Intelligence
Matthew interviews the 'Godfather of AI', Geoffrey Hinton.
67. Reality Shifting
Matthew Syed explores the nature of reality and the possibility of its hidden layers.
68. Bliss in Suffering
Matthew Syed ponders the possibility of experiencing bliss in the midst of suffering.
