Everything Under The Sun

  In this week's show we answer three questions from Goldie, Tasso and Sophia with help from special guest expert Zephyr Wildman.  Zephyr is a wonderful yoga teacher who teaches in London as well as on retreats around the world and knows all about yoga.  We find out how yoga helps us with focus, memory and resilience and how practicing can help us feel more peaceful. We discover the history of yoga – how it began in Northern India, how priests started it and when it came over to the west. Also it’s really fun to make yoga shapes with our bodies! We talk about the fastest dog in the world, the Greyhound as well as some of the slowest and the reasons why they run fast or slowly and how all dogs love a good walk and run each day.  We find out how rabbits bounce as well as the Grand Nationals for rabbits held in Norway and other countries.  Social media: Instagram: @everythingunderthesunpod Twitter: @everythinguts Facebook: @everythingunderthesunbyMollyOldfield Website: www.everythingunderthesun.co.uk Find out how to submit an answer on our website. Molly Oldfield studied History at Oxford before becoming a QI elf, writing and researching questions for the BBC quiz show for twelve years. She has written three books. They are The Secret Museum, a book about all the things that are in museums that rarely, if ever, go on display; Wonders of the World’s Museums filled with things you can see, and Natural Wonders of the World about all kinds of creatures and places on our beautiful planet we call home.  This podcast will also be published as Everything Under the Sun – A Year of Curious Questions in September 2021 by Ladybird at Penguin Random House.  More about Zephyr and her classes here: https://zephyryoga.com With thanks to Ash Gardner, Tyler Simmons Dale, Billy Colours, Audio Networks.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this week's show we answer lots of questions from Tabitha, Jensen, Eleanor, Alice, Ollie, Jack, Chessie and Eleanor with help from the wonderful writer Neil Gaiman.  Neil is the author of lots of books for children and adults including Coraline, Stardust, Fortunately The Milk, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, picture books about a sneezing panda called Chu, American Gods and much more. He knows a lot about magic and mystery and helps us uncover the secrets of Christmas Eve. Neil answers lots of questions about Christmas Eve and Father Christmas and explains how the magic is made possible on this most special of nights.  We find out about Wilson Snowflake Bentley who was the first person to photograph snowflakes.  And we delve into the history of Boxing Day and how it got its name.  Happy Christmas!  Social media: Instagram: @everythingunderthesunpod Twitter: @everythinguts Facebook: @everythingunderthesunbyMollyOldfield Website: www.everythingunderthesun.co.uk Find out how to submit an answer on our website. Molly Oldfield studied History at Oxford before becoming a QI elf, writing and researching questions for the BBC quiz show for twelve years. She has written three books. They are The Secret Museum, a book about all the things that are in museums that rarely, if ever, go on display; Wonders of the World’s Museums filled with things you can see, and Natural Wonders of the World about all kinds of creatures and places on our beautiful planet we call home.  This podcast will also be published as Everything Under the Sun – A Year of Curious Questions in September 2021 by Ladybird at Penguin Random House.  Check out Neil on twitter @neilhimself With thanks to Tyler Simmons Dale, Ash Gardner and Billy Colours.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this week's show we answer questions from Orla, Emilia, Zac, Ambrose and Portia with help from special guest expert Lee Davies from Kew Gardens in London.  Lee is curator of fungi at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Lee tells us all about mushrooms and toadstools and why they like the dark. Plus we uncover the biggest living thing in the world, which happens to be an enormous mushroom!  We find out about how the movement of the earth and the sun creates different seasons around the world as well as what happens at the equator in the tropics.  Find out all about the Northern Lights and what the similar lights in Australia are called as well as why the fire brigade was called when the Northern Lights made it to England!  Social media: Instagram: @everythingunderthesunpod Twitter: @everythinguts Facebook: @everythingunderthesunbyMollyOldfield Website: www.everythingunderthesun.co.uk Find out how to submit an answer on our website. Molly Oldfield studied History at Oxford before becoming a QI elf, writing and researching questions for the BBC quiz show for twelve years. She has written three books. They are The Secret Museum, a book about all the things that are in museums that rarely, if ever, go on display; Wonders of the World’s Museums filled with things you can see, and Natural Wonders of the World about all kinds of creatures and places on our beautiful planet we call home.  This podcast will also be published as Everything Under the Sun – A Year of Curious Questions in September 2021 by Ladybird at Penguin Random House. Waterstones link is here - https://www.waterstones.com/book/everything-under-the-sun/molly-oldfield/9780241433461 Lee Davies  - https://www.kew.org/science/our-science/people/lee-davies With thanks to Tyler Simmons Dale, Ash Gardner, Audio Networks.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this week's show we answer three questions from Evangeline, Roman and Clara with help from special guest expert the artist Grayson Perry.   Grayson is a world-renowned artist, writer and TV presenter and works a lot with clay to make incredible pots so he is the perfect person to answer Clara’s question.   We discover how to make clay last forever and what temperature it needs to go in the oven at in a great answer recorded in Grayson’s art studio.   We also find out ways to make fire and how humans discovered it and how to create it. Plus what things can burst into flame by themselves, from nuts to computers!   In the third question we talk about the invention of chimney sweeps, the rules they lived by and why it was usually boys who did the job. But girls did it too! Plus how we clean chimneys now.   Social media: Instagram: @everythingunderthesunpod and @mollyoldfieldwrites Twitter: @everythinguts @mollyoldfield Facebook: @everythingunderthesunbyMollyOldfield Website: www.everythingunderthesun.co.uk Find out how to submit an answer on our website.   Molly Oldfield studied History at Oxford before becoming a QI elf, writing and researching questions for the BBC quiz show for twelve years. She has written three books. They are The Secret Museum, a book about all the things that are in museums that rarely, if ever, go on display; Wonders of the World’s Museums filled with things you can see, and Natural Wonders of the World about all kinds of creatures and places on our beautiful planet we call home. This podcast will also be published as Everything Under the Sun – A Year of Curious Questions in September 2021 by Ladybird at Penguin Random House.   For more info about Grayson Perry check out his twitter: @alan_measles and Instagram: @alanmeasles   With thanks to Ash Gardner for the theme song, Tyler Simmons Dale for editing and Billy Colours for artwork and Audio Networks for the music.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Welcome back to the second series of Everything Under The Sun! Thanks for sending in your questions.   In this week's show we answer three questions from Ithaca, Benji and Elijah with help from special guest expert Sir Richard Branson.   Richard Branson founded Virgin Records, Virgin airways and now Virgin Galactic which is working hard to make it easier for people to go into space. One day flying to space might be as easy as flying from London to Paris.   Richard knows all about why rockets fly to planets and tells us the different reasons humans might want to fly them and leave earth in search of adventure.   We discover how far a helium balloon will travel if you let go of it outside and what will happen to it and why. We also talk about why helium makes your voice squeaky and what makes it go low. Plus, find out about the record-breaking man who flew into the air tied onto 600 balloons.   Discover how many satellites there are in space, where a record of them is kept and what they do!   Plus we have a competition to win a Tonies Box! And a competition to win the chance to ask Neil Gaiman a Christmas question on Christmas Day on Everything Under The Sun!   Social media: Instagram: @everythingunderthesunpod and @mollyoldfieldwrites Twitter: @everythinguts Facebook: @everythingunderthesunbyMollyOldfield Website: www.everythingunderthesun.co.uk Find out how to submit an answer on our website.   Molly Oldfield studied History at Oxford before becoming a QI elf, writing and researching questions for the BBC quiz show for twelve years. She has written three books. They are The Secret Museum, a book about all the things that are in museums that rarely, if ever, go on display; Wonders of the World’s Museums filled with things you can see, and Natural Wonders of the World about all kinds of creatures and places on our beautiful planet we call home. This podcast will also be published as Everything Under the Sun – A Year of Curious Questions in September 2021 by Ladybird at Penguin Random House. Check out Virgin Galactic - www.virgingalactic.com Check out Tonies at www.tonies.com   With thanks to Ash Gardner at House of Strange for the theme song, Audio Networks for the music and Billy Colours for the logo.      See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week we answer three questions, how are dictionaries made? How are Blue Plaques decided and how is earwax made? Our guest expert is Catherine Sangster from the Oxford English Dictionary! Find out who the first blue plaque ever was for and how they are made in Cornwall. Do subscribe to the podcast wherever you listen to it and tell all your friends! For more info go to www.everythingunderthesun.co.uk Thank you!  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Today we answer four spring like questions, they are from Seraphina, Alex, Elizabeth and Anurada they are: how do buds appear on trees?  how do trees make their leaves?  what the husks of seeds are made out of? Why are blueberries skin blue?    A big thank you to Seraphina, Elizabeth, Anurada and Alex for this week’s questions and to Jess Evans at the National Trust and Alys Fowler for this week’s excellent answers about buds, leaves and the husks of seeds!  Remember to send everyone who doesn’t know about it and might like it the link to the podcast and ask them to subscribe to the show. If you get time you can leave a review and send me a question! To send a question just ask an adult to borrow their smartphone, record yourself saying your name and your age and a bit about yourself and send it into me at molly@everythingunderthesun.co.uk Thanks everyone! Sending lots of love for a good week ahead, thank you and GOODBYE!      See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Hello and welcome to episode 58 of Everything Under The Sun – I hope everyone is doing okay at home! This week we're talking about sleepy sloths, dreams and camels. Our first question is about a sleepy animal, called a sloth and it comes from Alice, 5, she would like to know why do sloths sleep so much?  We also discuss Catrin's question, which is why do we dream?  I have David Eagleman who is a neuroscientist - that’s someone who studies the brain - and a best selling author. He has written books all about the brain and is interested in dreams, he has an answer for you, over to David!   Our third question is about something grumpy which you might feel if you don't get enough sleep, or you have a bad dream it is from Christopher. He would like to know why are camels grumpy?  A big thank you to Christopher, Catrin and Alice for this week’s questions and to David Eagleman for talking to us about why we dream!  I hope you all have a lovely week, coming up with fun things to do while you’re all at home and wishing you all sweet dreams. Do send everyone who doesn’t know about it and might like it the link to the podcast and ask them to subscribe to the show. If you get time you can leave a review and send me a question! To send a question just ask an adult to borrow their smartphone, record yourself saying your name and your age and a bit about yourself and send it into me at molly@everythingunderthesun.co.uk If your parents are on instagram tell them to follow @mollyoldfieldwrites so we can all stay in touch!  Thanks everyone! Sending lots of love for a good week ahead, thank you and GOODBYE! David Eagleman - https://www.eagleman.com Podcast website: www.everythingunderthesun.co.uk Twitter @mollyoldfield  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Hello and welcome to episode 57 of Everything Under The Sun – a weekly podcast answering all the most pressing questions children around the world have about life on earth! Even though we can’t visit any at the moment there are still lots of countries out there filled with children doing the same thing as you – staying at home! I thought we’d have an episode with questions about different things in other countries this week so we can imagine places we might go in the world in the future. Our first question is a BIG one and it comes from Annabel. How many countries are there in the world and how were they made? Alastair Pinkerton, who is Geography professor at Royal Holloway University has the answer! We also find out why the Red Sea is called the Red Sea and why Poland has a desert thanks to questions from Iris and Jagoda. Remember to subscribe to Everything Under The Sun on apple podcasts, ACast or wherever you listen to podcasts so you don't miss an episode! To send a question just ask an adult to borrow their smartphone, record yourself saying your name and your age and a bit about yourself and send it into me at molly@everythingunderthesun.co.uk Thanks everyone! Sending lots of love for a good week ahead, thank you and GOODBYE! For a link to Natural Wonders of the world go here - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Natural-Wonders-World-Discover-marvels/dp/1526360667  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Hello and welcome to episode 56 of Everything Under The Sun – a weekly podcast answering all the most pressing questions children around the world have about life on earth!  My name is Molly and today I have three questions for you: The first is who was the first comedian? We find out all about the history of comedy and funny people of the past from Dan Schreiber from No Such Thing as A Fish and QI. The second question is from Martha and Heidi who sent me a photo of something they saw out on a run and wanted to know what it was. Also we find out why ducklings learn how to swim so fast. If you get time you can leave a review and send me a question! To send a question just ask an adult to borrow their smartphone, record yourself saying your name and your age and a bit about yourself and send it into me at molly@everythingunderthesun.co.uk Thanks everyone! Sending lots of love for a good week ahead, thank you and GOODBYE! Website: www.everythingunderthesun.co.uk  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Hello and welcome to episode 55 of Everything Under The Sun! I know a lot of you children listening might be at home at the moment, hopefully with lots of people around you having fun but still you might be missing your friends a bit as lots of schools have closed for a while - if so this is for you!  I hope you enjoy the show and remember, do send in a question and I can answer it for you!  To help all the other children around the world who are home from school please do send the link to the podcast to all of your friends, ask your Mummy or Daddy to do it and just tell everyone about it as I think that there will be lots of children who would like to hear each others voices and learn new stuff about our world right now.  Now for our first question, which is about koalas comes from Frances, she would like to know... Why do koalas climb? Find out why koalas climb, how much time they spend in trees a day and why they HUG trees! We also chat about water boatmen with Ingrid's question, how do water boatmen not sink?  We find out how they have interesting legs that store air to help them skate over the water and how they manage to be the loudest singers of any creatures on earth compared to their size. Our third question is about frogs, it comes from Eliza, who asks how do frogs jump? Paolo Viscardi, who is a curator of zoology at the National Museum of Ireland and knows about all kinds of creatures, including frogs has the answer. If you get time you can leave a review and send me a question! To send a question just ask an adult to borrow their smartphone, record yourself saying your name and your age and a bit about yourself and send it into me at molly@everythingunderthesun.co.uk Thanks everyone! Sending lots of love for a good week ahead, thank you and GOODBYE! Podcast website: www.everythingunderthesun.co.uk Twitter: @mollyoldfield Insta: @mollyoldfieldwrites Paolo! Twitter: PaoloViscardi  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Hello and welcome to 54th episode of Everything Under the Sun, a weekly podcast answering all the most pressing questions children around the world have about life on earth. My name is Molly and today I have three questions! They’re about armadillos, music and mermaids!   Our first question comes from Wolf, who lives in Paraguay! He sent me a photo of an armadillo he saw on holiday in Uruguay and asked me a question about these curious creatures! It is... Why do armadillos have little heads and big bottoms? Find out all about the different armadillos from Pink Fairy armadillos to screaming ones and giant ones! Our next question is about music and it comes from from Rose, she would like to know, who invented music!  To answer Rose's lovely question I have Jack Savoretti who is a wonderful musician – his new album Singing to Strangers has songs he wrote along with with Bob Dylan and Kylie Minogue! He's got an answer he came up with alongside his musical director about where they think music came from. Our third question is from Alice, it’s about mermaids...her question is how do mermaids wee?   I have a good guess, based on how fish wee and we discover how fish pee makes things in the ocean grow. I wonder what creatures would be able to make use of mermaid pee?    So that’s our three questions! Wishing you all a very lovely week! A huge thank you to the wonderful Jack Savoretti and Shannon Harris for talking to us about music and of course a big thank you to Rose, Wolf and Alice for this week’s questions!   I’ll be back next week answering more questions from children around the world in another episode of EUTS!  If you like the show people do rate, review and subscribe and tell all your friends to do the same, it really does help!  If you want to send me a question just record it and send it into me at molly@everythingunderthesun.co.uk Thank you and GOODBYE! X  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Bumblebees! Baboons! Saguaros! This episode is for all the children who are going to be at home for a while, this is so you can all hear each other's voices and learn new things! Please do send your favourite episode of Everything Under The Sun to your friends so they can listen and learn new things! Remember if you'd like to send in a question you record it using an adult's smartphone, using a voice recording app and send it into me at molly@everythingunderthesun.co.uk This week's questions are from Poppy, Alena and Archie! They are: How do bumblebee wings support their wings? We find out how bumblebees move through the air like we swim through water. Why do Saguaros have arms? Find out about these enormous cactus plants, their flowers, how they're like a sponge and why they have arms. Why do Baboons Have Bare Bottoms? Discover why baboons have travel cushions on their bottoms. I hope you all have a lovely week, coming up with fun things to do while you’re all at home, remember to send everyone who doesn’t know about it and might like it the link to the podcast and ask them to subscribe to the show. If you get time you can leave a review and send me a question! To send a question just ask an adult to borrow their smartphone, record yourself saying your name and your age and a bit about yourself and send it into me at molly@everythingunderthesun.co.uk If your parents are on instagram tell them to follow @mollyoldfieldwrites so we can all stay in touch!  Thanks everyone! Sending lots of love for a good week ahead, thank you and SEE YOU NEXT WEEK!    See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Hello and Welcome to a very special episode of Everything Under The Sun. Today is the 52nd episode of the podcast, which means this beloved podcast has taken a full trip around the sun! It has been such a lovely year of making Everything Under The Sun, because I’ve had such fun creating it. I love waking up to find your questions waiting for me each morning in my inbox, I love pressing play on the audio recordings you send me and hearing your clever, curious voices. I like the letters and emails your parents and teachers send me and hearing about how happy you feel when you hear your questions answered on the show. I love discovering new things about the world when I hear your questions and set off to find answers for them. I’ve loved the generosity of all the experts who have given the time to answer your questions – we’ve had so many brilliant people taking part including curators at the museums, zookeepers, people who care for our world at The National Trust and Greenpeace, chefs, physicists, biologists, art historians and even a tornado chaser! There’s also been a book created since the podcast began, the Everything Under The Sun book will be filled with all of your questions, 366 of them, one for every day of the years. Thank you very much for listening and being such an important part of this first year around the sun! I am excited for another trip around our nearest star, so do keep sending in your questions and I’ll answer them for you on the podcast! Do tell your friends all about the show and help to spread the word so that no child’s curiosity need go unanswered again! This week our first question is what is inside of tree trunks? We discover all the layers that make up a trees trunk. How the rings inside the trunks help us work out things that the tree has lived through and how old it is, plus how to tell how old a fish is. Next we answer a great question: why do flowers smell? Sir Tim Smit, who founded The Eden Project in Cornwall - where you can see plants, trees and flowers from all over the world, go on England’s longest zip line and even explore a rainforest – has the answer! Thirdly, find out how high do bees fly? Plus there’s a chance to win family tickets to the Eden Project so do enter the competition! Thanks to every one of you for listening and being such an important part of this first year around the sun! If you want to send in a question or anything you like to the show record yourself on an adult’s phone asking the question, just say your name your age a bit about yourself and and ask them to send it into me at molly@everythingunderthesun.co.uk Or there’s lots of info about how to send in a question on the show’s website www.everythingunderthesun.co.uk Wishing you all a lovely week full of flowers, trees and perhaps you’ll spot a bee or two! Thank you and GOODBYE! X Twitter - @mollyoldfield Website www.everythingunderthesun.co.uk  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

  Today’s questions are about DEW, BUBBLES and HICCUPS.   First up is Maggie who would like to know - what is dew?   Find out how water can be three things, and how it turns into dew.   Our next question is why do bubbles pop? To answer it I have writer, physicist, oceanographer Helen Czerski, who knows all about bubbles!   She’s written a book called Bubbles: A Ladybird Expert Book all about bubbles and she’s here to answer the question and even tell us about how dolphins use bubbles as toys!   Our third question is from Charlie, who asks why do we get hiccups?   Find out all about how and why we get them and some funny ideas of how to get rid of them.   I’ll be back next week answering more questions from children around the world in another episode of EUTS. Do send in your questions, there’s info about how to do that on the show’s website, everythingunderthesun.co.uk.   If you like the show people do rate, review and subscribe and tell all your friends to do the same, it really does help!   Thank you, have a lovely bubbly week!   Helen is here - https://www.helenczerski.net/   Everything Under The Sun is here: www.everythingunderthesun.co.uk  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.