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What are the big ideas shaping how we think about our lives? New research, new theories, new data and new experiments are redefining how we behave as individuals and in our communities and societies. But where do these big ideas come from, who’s behind them and what do they say? This hour-long programme provides a simple guide to the big ideas reshaping our understanding of both mind and body, and how the two are linked.

In The Big Idea, a programme based on the podcast with the same name, David Edmonds looks at some of the latest research on the body. We look at the role of laughter. We ask how politicians manipulate our sense of disgust. We test the links between our body and our emotions. We ask why some drug addicts want drugs, but don’t like them. And we examine why humans spend a third of our lives asleep – and what goes wrong if we’re awake for too long.