Main content
Sorry, this episode is not currently available

Josh Widdicombe

Wake up and embrace the day with Zoe Ball and the team. It鈥檚 The Why Workshop, and Zoe quizzes the QI Elves plus funny man and all round lovely chap Josh Widdicombe stops by!

Wake up and embrace the day with Zoe Ball! Josh Widdicombe is in to give us the low down on what we can expect from the new series of 'Hypothetical' with his pal James Acaster.

It鈥檚 The Why Workshop, and Zoe quizzes the QI Elves with more wonders and ponders, including your questions. James Elf and Andy Elf tell us where birds go to die and why we don't sneeze when we sleep.

Plus we hear why Zoe had crocuses unexpectedly popping up on her lawn!

Along with Tina Daheley on news, Richie Anderson on travel and Mike Williams on sport, Zoe and the team have the best start to your morning. With celeb guests, quizzes, headlines, tunes chosen by listeners and more music that you can shake a glitterball at!

There's also a Pause For Thought from religion and ethics teacher Rae Duke and listeners on the line as Zoe entertains the nation with fun for the family!

2 hours, 59 minutes

Last on

Wed 5 Feb 2020 06:30

Music Played

  • Average White Band

    Let's Go Round Again

    • The Best Of.
    • Rhino.
  • The Script

    Run Through Walls

    • Sunsets & Full Moons.
    • Columbia.
  • Kylie Minogue

    In Your Eyes

    • (CD Single).
    • Parlophone.
  • Limahl

    Never Ending Story

    • Kajagoogoo & Limahl: The Singles.
    • EMI.
  • Cher

    I Found Someone

    • The Greatest Love (Various Artists).
    • Telstar.
  • Donna Summer

    Bad Girls

    • Donna Summer - Summer Collection.
    • Mercury.
  • Billy Ocean

    One World

    • One World.
    • Sony CG.
  • Cyndi Lauper

    Girls Just Want To Have Fun

    • Fantastic 80's Disc 1 (Various Artis.
    • Columbia.
  • Kygo & Whitney Houston

    Higher Love

    • (CD Single).
    • RCA Records.
  • Roy Orbison

    Oh, Pretty Woman

    • Fifty Number Ones Of The 60's (Variou.
    • Global Television.
    • 16.
  • Duran Duran

    Girls On Film

    • Duran Duran - Decade.
    • EMI.
    • 1.
  • Jonas Brothers

    Sucker

    • (CD Single).
    • Republic Records.
  • Wilson Pickett

    In The Midnight Hour

    • Soul (Various Artists).
    • Polygram Tv.
  • Rihanna

    We Found Love (feat. Calvin Harris)

    • Now That's What I Call Music! 80 (Various Artists).
    • Now.
  • James Blunt

    Halfway (feat. Ward Thomas)

    • Once Upon A Mind.
    • Atlantic.
  • Maroon 5

    Moves Like Jagger (feat. Christina Aguilera)

    • (CD Single).
    • A&M.
    • 1.
  • Stacy Lattisaw

    Jump To The Beat

    • Let Me Be Your Angel.
    • BBR.
    • 009.
  • DNCE

    Cake By The Ocean

    • (CD Single).
    • Republic.
    • 1.
  • David Bowie

    'Heroes'

  • Pet Shop Boys

    Monkey Business

  • Janet Jackson

    When I Think Of You

    • Janet Jackson - Design Of A Decade.
    • A&M.
    • 7.
  • The Kooks

    She Moves In Her Own Way

    • (CD Single).
    • Virgin.
  • Paul Simon

    Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard

    • The Paul Simon Anthology (Disc 1).
    • Warner Bros.
    • 3.
  • McFly

    All About You

    • (CD Single).
    • Universal.
  • Tina Turner

    The Best

    • Tina Turner - Simply The Best.
    • Capitol.
  • Diana Ross

    Chain Reaction

    • Now That's What I Call Music '86.
    • Now.
  • Robin Beck

    First Time

    • Hits Of The 60s, 70s & 80s (Various).
    • Kenwest.
  • Gabrielle Aplin & Nina Nesbitt

    Miss You 2

    • Dear Happy.
    • Never Fade Records.
  • Rod Stewart

    Baby Jane

    • The Best Of Rod Stewart.
    • Warner Bros.

Pause For Thought

Pause For Thought

From Rae Duke, Religion and Ethics teacher and broadcaster.

This last couple of months or so has seen my daughter Rory, who鈥檒l be 2 in April, start to copy every single thing I say or do. She may not always listen to me, after all who does need a coat when its 3 degrees outside? But she certainly has no problem imitating me 鈥 of course this means exercising greater caution when it comes to the words I unthinkingly utter after missing a bus or losing the keys!

Christmas saw her giving tea-parties for her teddies, sussing out the micro pods in her mock coffee-machine and refusing to sit in the buggy in favour of pushing it herself; both endearing and irritating in equal measure.

It turns out that imitative play isn鈥檛 a skill that babies learn, but an ability we鈥檙e born with 鈥 and the child development types out there tell me that mimicking a simple action, like sticking out their tongues, doesn鈥檛 only get that new trick up their sleeve, but actually helps them develop that most vital skill; empathy.

The same thing happens when we as adults mirror one another; psychologists are convinced we better experience other鈥檚 emotions when copying their postures and gestures and talk of incredible things called 鈥榤irror neurons鈥. These clever nerve pathways are essentially the parts of our brains that allow us to feel what another person is feeling, to walk in their shoes鈥

So I guess its little surprise that a child鈥檚 imitation of others is the first step we take towards empathizing. After all - a little further-on-up-the-road 鈥 actually participating in the story of another is what empathy鈥檚 all about. (On that note, I鈥檇 better be embracing the snail鈥檚-pace that comes with Rory pushing her own buggy from here on in!)

Inherent in many faiths is the idea that empathy is a launch pad for new possibilities; change can come about from getting out of our own heads and taking on the experience of others instead. The result is that, for those who are empathized with, their story is somehow transformed for the better. It鈥檚 why St Paul鈥檚 advice to 鈥渃lothe yourselves with compassion鈥 is one sure gem of an instruction that, I reckon, holds the key to better friendships, households and communities.

Broadcast

  • Wed 5 Feb 2020 06:30